Device for sorting and stacking substantially flat articles into box-like containers

Abstract: The invention relates to a device for sorting and stacking substantially flat articles into box-like containers which they are destined to. The articles (14) are loaded on channelled carrying trays (1) mounted on respective supporting plates and inclined 30° upwards in the advancing direction. The plates are anchored to draw elements of a synchronous transport system and dragged along a closed loop path passing through loading, labelling, code scanning and sorting stations respectively. An ejector grid (10) disposed at the container inserts, on command, blades (10') in the grooves of the tray abutting against the leading edge of the articles stopping them in the advancing direction, while the tray goes on advancing. An enclosure grid (4) at the trailing edge of the tray is lowered and the articles are laid down by gravity into containers with a velocity having null component in the advancing direction.

Description: The present invention relates to a device for sorting and stacking substantially flat articles into box-like containers which they are destined to, comprising at least one support anchored to a synchronous draw element dragging it along a closed loop path, passing through a loading station and at least one sorting and stacking station including at least one succession of containers; a carrying plate, fixed to the support and inclined upwards in the advancing direction, on which the articles to be transported from the loading station to the sorting station are loaded; ejector means located at the containers for taking the articles outside of the carrying plate upon command and letting them fall into respective containers by gravity. More specifically, the present invention can be used in sorting plants operating in the field of publishing business or, particularly, in the clothing trade in which packets of folded articles are piled up into containers for making up packages. As it is known, in such plants, articles provided with codes containing identification and eventually other information, are located, at at least one loading station including at least one loading position fed in succession with the articles to be sorted, on modules travelling along a closed path defined by a rail guide passing through a reading out and recognition station for the articles, where these codes are read out by suitable means arranged for the purpose, and one or more sorting stations, each including one or more sequences of box-like containers into which the articles, upon command of an electronic control system that controls the entire plant, are let to fall and are stacked therein to make up the packages. There exist various devices for transporting, sorting and stacking articles into containers for making up packages, but they, when handling delicate articles, such as e.g. books with valuable dust-covers, or floppy articles, such as e.g. folded clothing items, have drawbacks either because the two functions, sorting and stacking are carried out separately, with interposition of chutes, or because the gravity trajectory travelled by the article falling into the container is too long and not straight-line, whereby highly undesired effects are produced, such as damages (e.g. scoring of the dust-covers), coiling up (of clothing items inside their packets) and untidy stacks as well. In this situation, the main object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art. Another object of the present invention is to provide a device which is capable of carrying out both sorting and sticking functions at the same time while allowing the discharge of the articles into the containers along a straight-line trajectory which is as short as possible. Still another object of the present invention is so to design a device of the type mentioned above as to be simple and capable of sorting and stacking objects into low-walled containers. These and other objects which will become more apparent in the following description, are achieved, according to the present invention, through a device for sorting and stacking substantially flat articles into box-like containers of the type mentioned at the outset, which is characterized in that the ejector means are designed to take the articles outside of the carrying plate across the trailing edge thereof in such a way that the velocity of the articles relative to a fixed reference system connected to the container during the discharge has a null component in the advancing direction of the carrying plate. Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the drawings, attached merely by way of a not limiting example, in which: Fig. 1 represents schematically a partial perspective view of the device when at a discharge container according to the invention; Fig. 2 represents schematically a partial elevation view of the device approaching a sorting station in accordance with the invention. Referring now in particular to Fig. 1, the device according to the invention comprises at least one plate-shaped support 7 connected with a draw element of a synchronous transportation system (chain and sprocket) not shown in the figures and not described since it is known and of conventional type. Rigidly fixed to the support is a plate for carrying the articles, inclined upwards in the support advancing direction indicated by the arrow A in the figures. Preferably, the carrying plate makes an angle of 30 degrees with a horizontal plane. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the carrying plate is realized by a tray 1 provided with logitudinal grooves 12 interconnected by smoothed longitudinal carrying strips for supporting the articles 14 during motion. The tray 1 is longitudinally bounded by limiting side walls 3 extending upwards above strips 2 and forming a reference transverse abutment for the articles. Disposed in the vicinity of the rear trailing edge are enclosure means openable on command, designed to keep the articles during the motion and serving as a reference longitudinal abutment for the articles. In the embodiment illustrated, the enclosure means comprise a rectangular frame 4 having one side hinged on the tray 1 near the trailing edge thereof and with the opposite side mounting a plurality of blades 4' in correspondence with the longitudinal grooves. A levering 5 rigidly fixed to the hinged side is designed to rotate the same when a roller fixed thereto abuts against a movable cam 6 connected to the structure of the plant. In the sorting area, ejector means 10 are provided for taking the articles 14 outside the carrying plate on command and let them fall by gravity into the containers which they are destined to. These ejector means are constituted by, e.g., a plurality of complanate blades rigidly fixed each other and by actuating means designed to move them from a rest position, in which they are out of the carrying plane, to an operative position in which they are inserted each in a corresponding longitudinal groove of the tray to abut against the leading edge of the items stopping their advancing motion. In the embodiment shown, the complanate blades 10' are mounted on a horizontal shaft 11 extending transversely to the advancing direction and above the leading edge of the advancing tray. The shaft 11 is actuated by a motor 9 connected to the structure of the plant and driven to rotate the shaft one quarter turn thus moving the blades 10' from a horizontal rest position to a vertical operative position in which they are inserted each in the corresponding groove 12 of the tray 1. The device in accordance with the present invention operates as follows. The bar-coded articles to be sorted are suitably positioned on the tray 1 at the loading station of the plant and are transported up to the sorting station where collecting containers for making up packages are located. At a labelling station (not shown) located along the path, the articles are provided with a second code containing other information such as, e.g., price, destination, date, etc. (when, for instance, it is desired to make a practice of a differentiated price). These codes are read at a read-out station by suitable bar-code scanners (also not shown) and the electronic control system (neither shown nor described being known and conventional) on the basis of information received and program loaded, establishes what containers the articles are to be stacked into, and sends the suitable commands. When the tray passes above the container which the loaded article is destined to, on command of the electronic control system, the motor 9 rotates one quarter turn the shaft 11 thus moving the blades 10' to the operative vertical position. This vertical position must be reached when the leading edge of the tray is of such a distance that the abutment against the article is not lost until it has left the carrying plane. Obviously, such a distance depends on the slope of the tray and on the depth of the grooves, as well as on the length of the blades, i.e. if the blades are suddenly lowered before the arrival of the tray (as shown in Fig. 1), then the depth of the grooves and the length of the blades must be so adjusted that the abutment against the article is not lost. Viceversa, if the articles are loaded in abutment against the back enclosure (4, 4') as shown in Fig. 2, then the blades can be rotated gradually up to the vertical position to be reached in the back portion of the tray as shown in Fig. 2 and, in this circumstance, they can be shorter and the grooves can have a lower depth. At the same time, still on command from the electronic control system, cam 6 is brought against roller 5' whereby the frame 4 is lowered to allow article 14 to be discharged into the underlying container 8. A cam pawl 13, fixed to the tray, limits the rotation of the frame 4 and keeps it in its end positions. When blades 10' come into abutment against article 14, the latter is stopped with respect to the fixed structure of the plant and therefore with respect to the container. The tray proceeds in the advancing motion with respect to the article and after some time the latter loses its support and is laid down smoothly on the bottom of the container or upon other articles already stacked in it (see Fig. 2). Subsequently, recovery means (not shown and not described being of conventional type, and anyway not relevant to the present invention) reset the frame 4 to its closing upper position. To be noted that the stacking position in the container depends exclusively on the reciprocal position between the contrasting blades 10' in their vertical position and the downstream (with respect to the advancing direction) wall of the container. Thus the invention fully achieves all the objects mentioned at the outset. In fact, as it appears from what said above, the device according to the invention operates in such a way as to discharge the articles in the most suitable way to avoid damages or undesired coiling up of the floppy articles. The gravity trajectory is a straight-line trajectory (the velocity of the article relative to the container has a null component in the advancing direction) and has a minimized length (the device carries out both sorting and stacking operations; it needs neither interposed chutes nor spacings necessary for allowing opening of trap-doors). This makes the device suitable to carry out the sorting of substantially flat articles of various kind such as books, magazines, audio/video cassettes and, in particular, floppy articles such as folded clothing items. In fact, the articles travel in a low-sloped position and are laid down smoothly in the container without coiling up of the fold clothing items in the respective packets. Moreover, with this device it is possible to stack simultaneously on a plurality of stacks by loading the articles aligned transversally on the tray. Naturally, various modifications and variations are possible which, being obvious to those skilled in this art, should be understood as falling within the scope of this invention. For instance, the contrasting blades for expelling the articles instead of rotating one quarter turn, can be tought as moving up and down in a vertical plane as the articles could be stopped through a push-bar connected to the tray and moved back upon command with a speed equal to the advancing speed; the recovery means for taking the frame back in closure position could be merely counterweights that, once the cam action is ended, take the frame back in its initial position by gravity. Lastly, the materials, dimensions and construction details can be varied according to the type of plant and to needs and circumstances of production and use still fulfilling the characteristics illustrated, described and hereinafter claimed.

Claims: Device for sorting and stacking substantially flat articles into box-like containers which they are destined to, in particular for use in sorting plants for making up packages, of the type comprising at least one support (7) anchored to a synchronous draw element capable of dragging it along a closed loop path through a loading station and at least one sorting and stacking station including at least one succession of said containers (8), a carrying plate (1)fixed to said at least one support (7) and inclined upwards in an advancing direction (A), on which articles (14) are loaded to be transported from said loading station to said at least one sorting and stacking station, ejector means (10) located at said containers (8) for driving the articles (14) out of said carrying plate (1) upon command and letting them fall into respective containers (8) by gravity, characterized in that said ejector means (10) are designed to drive the articles (14) out of said carrying plate (1) across the trailing edge thereof in such a way that the velocity of the articles relative to a fixed reference system connected to the container (8) during the discharge has a null component in said advancing direction (A). Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said carrying plate (1) makes an angle, preferably of 30 degrees, with a horizontal plane. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said ejector means (10) are fixed with respect to said reference system and are designed to come into abutment against the leading edge of the articles (14) stopping them in said advancing direction (A). Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said carrying plate is formed by a loading tray (1) having a plurality of longitudinal grooves (12) interconnected by smoothed longitudinal carrying strips (2), said tray being bounded longitudinally by vertical walls (3) extending above said strips and, at the rear, by enclosure means (4,4') openable upon command. Device according to claims 3 and 4, characterized in that said ejector means (10) comprise a plurality of complanate blades (10') rigidly fixed each other at one first end, and actuating means (9) for moving, upon command, said blades (10') from a rest position out of said carrying plate to an operative position in which they are inserted each into a corresponding one of said grooves (12) of said tray (1). Device according to claim 5, characterized in that said blades (10') are mounted on a horizontal shaft (11) extending transversely of said advancing direction (A) and above the leading edge of said tray (1), said shaft being actuated by a motor (9) connected to the fixed structure of the plant and capable of rotating one quarter turn said horizontal shaft (11) to move said blades (10') from a horizontal rest position to a vertical operative position and vice-versa. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that said enclosure means comprise a rectangular frame (4) having one side hinged on said tray near to the trailing edge thereon and rotatable in a vertical plane, a levering (5) for rotating said frame and terminating with a roller (5') designed to abut against a cam (6) connected to said reference system and slidable upon command, a plurality of vertical blades (4') fixed on the side of said frame opposite to the hinged side and designed to form a back closing wall, a cam pawl (13) fixed to said tray (1) and designed to limit the rotation of said frame (4) keeping it in its position, and recovery means for taking said frame back to the enclosure position once the articles are out of the tray. Plant for sorting and stacking substantially flat articles into box-like containers which they are destined to for making up packages, in which the articles identified by a first bar code are transported along a closed loop path passing through at least one loading station including at least one loading point fed in succession with articles to be sorted, a read-out station for reading codes and recognizing the articles, and at least one sorting station including at least one succession of said containers, characterized in that it comprises at least one device for transporting the articles along said closed path of the type as set forth in the preceding claims. Plant according to claim 8, further comprising means located upstream said read out station for attaching a second bar code to the articles. Plant according to claim 9, characterized in that said second bar code comprises destination and price of the article.

Inventors: PASSERO ADOLFO, PASSERO, ADOLFO
Applicants: ALSTHOM CGE ALCATEL, ALCATEL
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B65B5
IPC codes: B65G47, B65B5