Patent ID: 6515246
Filing Date: 2003-02-04
Classification: B07C,Y10S

Abstract:
An apparatus for sorting products, the apparatus comprising:a separation station, said separation station being arranged for separating products supplied in stacks into single products; a conveyor, said conveyor being arranged for conveying the products from the separation station one by one; and a plurality of sorting stations, said plurality of sorting stations being arranged adjacent the conveyor and connected to the conveyor such that a product located on the conveyor can be supplied from the conveyor to a respective of said plurality of sorting stations for forming a sorted collection of products in the respective sorting station; and a control, said control being arranged for controlling at least the conveyor and the plurality of sorting stations, such that at least two sorting functions can be performed, wherein the first sorting function involves sorting an unordered collection of products according to a type of product, which comes from a customer, whereby products of the same type are collected in a respective sorting station, and the second sorting function involves assembling a number of customer orders, wherein the separation station comprises detection means arranged for informing the control of the type of each product being supplied, the control being arranged for subsequently causing the conveyor and/or the sorting station intended to collect the type of product to be controlled such that the respective product is delivered to the desired sorting station, wherein with regard to each unordered collection of products, the number of copies of each type of product in the unordered collection is determined and stored in the control, and wherein with regard to the second sorting function, the control assigns at least one sorting station to each customer, collections of products of the same type successively supplied to the separation station are distributed over the plurality of sorting stations, such that each customer receives the number of copies of each type of product desired by the customer.