Patent Description:
There are known different types of transporting systems utilizing carousel-type conveyors in which particular elements or items are circulated in a loop, for example in a loop between multiple processing or collecting stations.

A Polish patent <CIT> discloses a transporting system according to the preamble of claim <NUM>. It comprises a carousel conveyor with a plurality of containers and a buffer conveyor for feeding items to the containers. The buffer conveyor is able to drop items only to a single position at the carousel conveyor. Therefore, such system is not effective, because it may require an almost full revolution of the carousel before an item can be dropped to a particular container on the carousel.

There is a need to provide a transporting system with improved sorting efficiency.

The object of the invention is a transporting system for feeding items into containers. The system comprises a carousel conveyor with a plurality of containers located on the carousel conveyor. The carousel conveyor comprises: a first longitudinal conveyor; a second longitudinal conveyor parallel to the first longitudinal conveyor; and transversal conveyors arranged at the ends of the longitudinal conveyors configured to move the containers between the longitudinal conveyors. A buffer conveyor for feeding items to the containers is located on the carousel conveyor, wherein the buffer conveyor is arranged above one of the longitudinal conveyors and comprises at least two transporting modules arranged in a series and configured to transfer items along a first axis which is parallel to the longitudinal conveyors and along a second axis which is perpendicular to the first axis. A curved outlet conveyor is provided for discharging the containers from the carousel conveyor.

Preferably, the transversal conveyors are configured to lift the containers above the longitudinal conveyors in order to transfer the containers transversally onto a neighbouring longitudinal conveyor.

The carousel conveyor comprises at least <NUM> containers.

The invention also relates to a sorting system comprising at least one transporting system according to any of previous claims and further comprising: an items supply line connected to the buffer conveyor by means of an inlet; a receiving line connected to the curved outlet conveyor for receiving containers from the carousel conveyor; and an empty containers supply line connected to the carousel conveyor for supplying empty containers to the carousel conveyor.

An essential advantage of the transporting system according to the invention is that the buffer conveyor offers possibility to select the position at which the item can be dispatched from the buffer conveyor to the dedicated container. This may significantly increase the sorting time, as the buffer does not need to delay dispatching an item to the container on the carousel as in the prior art solutions. Moreover, various other constructional features increase the timing efficiency of sorting.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, descriptions and claims.

The present invention is shown by means of preferable embodiments in a drawing, wherein:.

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention.

The transporting system as shown comprises a carousel conveyor <NUM>, on which a plurality of containers are located. The carousel is formed by a first longitudinal conveyor <NUM> and a second longitudinal conveyor <NUM> parallel to the first longitudinal conveyor <NUM>, as well as four transversal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> arranged at the ends of the longitudinal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM>. The transversal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> are configured to move the containers <NUM> between the longitudinal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM> so that they can travel in a carousel-like manner. The transversal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> are configured to lift the containers <NUM> above the longitudinal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM> in order to transfer the containers transversally onto a neighbouring longitudinal conveyor <NUM>, <NUM>.

A buffer conveyor <NUM> is arranged above one of the longitudinal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM> to feed items <NUM> to the containers <NUM> located on the carousel conveyor <NUM>. The buffer conveyor <NUM> comprises at least two transporting modules <NUM> arranged in a series and configured to transfer items <NUM> along a first axis X which is parallel to the longitudinal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM> and along a second axis Y which is perpendicular to the first axis X. A slide <NUM> can be located next to the transporting module <NUM> so as to facilitate transfer of the item <NUM> to the container <NUM> (so as to limit the height from which the item falls to the container <NUM>) - in the present example only one slide <NUM> is shown for clarity of the drawing.

A curved outlet conveyor <NUM> is used for discharging the containers <NUM> from the carousel conveyor <NUM>.

An items supply line <NUM> is connected to the buffer conveyor <NUM> by means of an inlet <NUM>. A receiving line <NUM> is connected to the curved outlet conveyor <NUM> for receiving containers <NUM> from the carousel conveyor <NUM>. An empty containers supply line <NUM> is connected to the carousel conveyor <NUM> for supplying empty containers <NUM> to the carousel conveyor <NUM>.

The carousel conveyor <NUM> is configured follows. The first longitudinal conveyor <NUM> is configured to transfer the containers <NUM> in a first direction and the second longitudinal conveyor <NUM> is configured to transfer the containers <NUM> in a second direction opposite to the first direction. The first transversal conveyor <NUM> and the second transversal conveyor <NUM> are configured to transfer the containers <NUM> from the first longitudinal conveyor <NUM> to the second longitudinal conveyor <NUM>, wherein the third transversal conveyor <NUM> and the fourth transversal conveyor <NUM> are configured to transfer the containers <NUM> from the second longitudinal conveyor <NUM> to the first longitudinal conveyor <NUM>.

Each container <NUM> is to be filled with at least one item <NUM>. For example, each container may be assigned to an order of particular items. The transporting system feeds the items one by one to dedicated containers until the particular container is filled with all desired items - then, that container can leave the carousel conveyor towards the curved outlet conveyor <NUM> that allows to discharge the containers to further transportation conveyors. The curvature of the outlet conveyor <NUM> allows to discharge containers to the transportation conveyor with a higher speed as compared to conventional conveyors attached perpendicularly, which further increases the operational speed of the system.

The transversal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may have a form of narrow belt conveyors wherein the transmission belts of the conveyors are arranged between the rollers of the longitudinal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM>. Hence when the transversal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> are in a lower position they do not interact with the containers <NUM> (the containers <NUM> are moved by the rollers of the longitudinal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM>) and in an upper position the transversal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> lift the containers above the rollers of the longitudinal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM> (then the containers <NUM> are moved by the belts of the transversal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>).

The movement of the containers <NUM> on the carousel conveyor <NUM> may be also performed in directions opposite to the ones described above. The resulting direction of transferring the containers <NUM> on the carousel conveyor <NUM>, depends on the actual position of the particular container on the carousel conveyor <NUM> with respect to the actual position of the particular item (dedicated for this particular container) on the buffer conveyor <NUM> - the item <NUM> which is to be feed to the particular container <NUM>. The direction is selected such that the distance of movement of the container <NUM> to the point at which the item <NUM> is to be received (i.e., fed from the buffer conveyor into the container) is the shortest. This allows to save time needed for the particular container to be moved along the whole circle on the carousel conveyor.

The longitudinal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM> may have a form of a roller conveyors or belt conveyors.

The transporting modules <NUM> are configured to transfer the items <NUM> along the first axis X and alternatively along the second axis Y, therefore the items <NUM> located on the buffer conveyor <NUM> may be fed to the container <NUM> located on the carousel conveyor <NUM> at an end of the buffer conveyor <NUM> or may be fed to the container <NUM> located on the carousel conveyor <NUM> at a side of the buffer conveyor <NUM> (the expression "at a side" means that for example the container <NUM> is located on the second longitudinal conveyor <NUM> while the buffer conveyor <NUM> is located above the first longitudinal conveyor <NUM>). Therefore, the buffer conveyor <NUM> offers possibility to select the position at which the item <NUM> can be dispatched from the buffer conveyor to the dedicated container <NUM>. The items <NUM> may be transferred from the first transporting module to the next transporting module <NUM> until the end of the buffer conveyor <NUM> and may be transferred from each transporting module.

The transporting modules <NUM> may have a form of ball roller tables with active transferring means (i.e., being driven to move the items) configured to automatically transfer the items either in X direction or in Y direction, by actuating the respective transferring means. The transferring means may have a form of mutually perpendicular belt conveying means.

The carousel conveyor <NUM> may comprise for example <NUM> or more containers <NUM>. The amount of the containers <NUM> on the carousel conveyor <NUM> depends on the length of the longitudinal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM>. However the containers <NUM> should fit on the longitudinal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM> such that the space where the transversal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> are located is free. This allows for more efficient transmission of the containers <NUM> between the longitudinal conveyors <NUM>, <NUM>.

A plurality of transporting systems as described above may form a sorting system. In that case, the items supply line <NUM> distributes the items <NUM> which may be put on the supply line manually or automatically for example by means of a robot arm, to the one or more buffer conveyors <NUM>. The items <NUM> are transferred from the items supply line <NUM> to the buffer conveyor <NUM> by means of an inlet <NUM>, which for example may have a form of a chute (i.e., an inclined flat plate) or belt transmission line. The receiving line <NUM> receives the containers <NUM> having a completed order of items from the carousel conveyor <NUM> and transfers them to a reception point. The receiving line <NUM> and the empty containers supply line <NUM> may have a form of roller conveyors or belt conveyors or any other which are suitable for transferring containers or boxes or packs etc..

The sorting system may further comprise a vision system for identifying the items <NUM> and the containers <NUM>. In such case each item <NUM> and each container <NUM> is equipped with an identification code such as a bar code or a QR code etc..

Claim 1:
A transporting system for feeding items (<NUM>) into containers, the system comprising:
- a carousel conveyor (<NUM>);
- a plurality of containers (<NUM>) located on the carousel conveyor (<NUM>);
- wherein the carousel conveyor (<NUM>) comprises:
- a first longitudinal conveyor (<NUM>);
- a second longitudinal conveyor (<NUM>) parallel to the first longitudinal conveyor (<NUM>); and
- transversal conveyors (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) arranged at the ends of the longitudinal conveyors (<NUM>, <NUM>) configured to move the containers (<NUM>) between the longitudinal conveyors (<NUM>, <NUM>);
- a buffer conveyor (<NUM>) for feeding items (<NUM>) to the containers (<NUM>) located on the carousel conveyor (<NUM>), wherein the buffer conveyor (<NUM>) is arranged above one of the longitudinal conveyors (<NUM>, <NUM>) and comprises at least two transporting modules (<NUM>) arranged in a series and configured to transfer items (<NUM>) along a first axis (X) which is parallel to the longitudinal conveyors (<NUM>, <NUM>),
characterized in that the at least two transporting modules (<NUM>) are also configured to transfer items (<NUM>) along a second axis (Y) which is perpendicular to the first axis (X) and in that the system furthermore comprises a curved outlet conveyor (<NUM>) for discharging the containers (<NUM>) from the carousel conveyor (<NUM>).