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US 5,984,078 AGranted
Automated shuttle sorter for conveyors
AssigneeUnited Parcel Service of America, Inc.
InventorHenri Bonnet
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A conveyor sorter includes a shuttle moving transversely to the conveyor direction to place in the path of articles either a pass-through conveyor or a diverting conveyor. The shuttle is mounted on a reversible belt drive and preferably has two diverting conveyors, one on either side of the pass-through conveyor. Multiple shuttles can be installed in series along the main conveyor to allow sorting to many destinations. Large packages can be sorted at high speed, and the shuttle can be replaced easily to reduce down time when repairs are needed.
Claims11
An article transferring apparatus, comprising:
- a conveyor positioned to carry articles in the direction of a longitudinal axis of said conveyor;
- a diverter positioned across said longitudinal axis of said conveyor, including:
- a transport mechanism;
- a shuttle mounted on said transport mechanism, said shuttle including a pass-through element and a diverting element positioned on one side of said pass-through element,
- said transport mechanism being operative to move said shuttle between a home position in which said pass-through element receives articles from said conveyor and transfers them along the direction of said longitudinal axis, and a diverting position in which said diverting element receives articles from said conveyor and transfers them away from the direction of said longitudinal axis.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.