Patent GB-1000320-A (GB)
Title: Article handling system
Inventor: ABBE EDWARD HOWARD
IPC: B07C3/08
Filed: 1963-09-02
Abstract: 1,000,320. Endless conveyers; shoots. GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. Sept. 2, 1963, No. 34642/63. Headings B8A and B8S. Mailbags fed from a conveyer A, and from a shoot 53 to sorting stations 31-35 may be diverted to temporary storage conveyers C1- C4 when a metering shoot 30 becomes full. The shoot 30 comprises three streams T1, T2, T3 corresponding respectively to input from the shoot 53 via conveyers J and J2, from conveyer A via conveyers B1 and B2 and from the storage conveyers C1-C4 via conveyers D and E. Light responsive means T1H, T2H, T3H in alignment with the streams T1, T2, T3 are arranged at the top of the shoot 30 and cause a signal to be generated when the respective means is more than momentarily obscured by a bag. This indicates that the shoot in the zone of the stream concerned is full. When the T2 stream is full the T2H signal causes the B1 and B2 conveyers to be stopped. Mailbags continue to be fed on to conveyer B1 from conveyer A until they cover a sensor B1. This causes conveyer B1 to restart but is stopped again when bags cover a sensor B1-Full (thus indicating that conveyer B1 is completely filled with bags). A shuttle member A1 is then caused to move from conveyer B1 to storage conveyer C1 and the latter is filled from conveyer A under the control of sensors C1-Full and C1-inch in the same way as conveyer B1 was filled. Shuttle A1 then moves to conveyer C2 and the process repeats until all of conveyers C1-C4 are filled. However, if the T1 stream of the shoot 30 is not filled (as indicated by the T1-H sensor), conveyers D and E continue to run and conveyers C1-C4 will discharge into them instead of filling up. There are also sensors T1-L; T2-L; T3-L; at the foot of the shoot 30. When sensor T2L is again uncovered the conveyers B2 and B1 are caused to restart the shuttle A1 is returned to conveyer B1. The shoot 30 delivers on to a conveyer P1 which leads via conveyers P2, P2A, P3 to a series of coding stations 31-34. Each of the latter comprises a keyboard 193 (Fig. 4) and a first pair of hopper flaps 191 openable to a second pair of hopper flaps 194. The latter are operable to deposit bags successively on to a sorting conveyer 195 (F in Fig. 1). The operation of flaps 191 and 194 is controlled by the combined action of timed pulses from an advance circuit (Fig. 5A) (not shown), and signals received from an input control connected to the keyboard 193 (83 in Fig. 5B, not shown). The input control also supplies signals to a shift register. The arrangement is such that bags are deposited on to the sorting conveyer at a separation distance of 1À52 metres centre to centre. The sorting conveyer F leads to a number of discharge stations (Fig. 5C, not shown) at which a mailbag is discharged when the code in the shift register corresponds with the station code originally selected (at 193, Fig. 4) for the particular mailbags. One such station is indicated in Fig. 1 by the discharge member 42 which deflects bags on to a conveyer 29 leading to conveyers G, H, I. According to the code the bag may be diverted by a member 41 corresponding to each discharge station to one of two separate shoots 43. Any bags on conveyer P3 which are not dealt with at the coding stations 31-34 are deflected at 47 on to a conveyer P4 which leads via a conveyer J2, to the input of the shoot 30. In a modification, the input conveyers J and A may be fed from a single input. The input bags are fed successively to hopper flaps (516; 517, Fig. 12, not shown) adjacent a keyboard 511. According to the information entered at 511, each parcel is delivered by the flaps on to further hopper flaps 518, 519 on a carriage movable by a rod 510. According to whether the bag is to be fed to conveyers 514 or 515. Relay circuitry governing the mechanism is described.