Patent ID: 6471039
Filing Date: 2002-10-29
Classification: B65G

Abstract:
A method of operating a conveyor system comprising a plurality of conveyor sections arranged in series, said method comprising:successively loading articles on the conveyor system by at least one loading station arranged along the conveyor sections, selectively driving the respective conveyor sections at varying speed so as to move the articles thereon in a direction of transportation along the conveyor system, detecting the position of an article on the conveyor system by means of detecting means arranged at one or more locations along the length of said system, generating a detecting signal when an article has been detected by the detecting means, determining for each of the plurality of conveyor sections a desired downstream speed of an article at the downstream end of said conveyor section from the speed the article will have when passing to said conveyor section, controlling the varying speed of said conveyor section when said article is conveyed thereby, in response to the detection signal, so as to obtain the previously determined downstream speed of said article when approaching a downstream end of said conveyor section, controlling the varying speed of the conveyor section being adjacent to and subsequent to said conveyor section, so as to obtain substantially the same speed as the article when the article is passing from said conveyor section to said subsequent conveyor section, and successively unloading articles from the conveyor system to a plurality of discharge stations arranged along the conveyor sections.