Patent ID: 7145095

Claim:
A method for induction of articles onto one or more of a plurality of transport units having side by side article support capability, the transport units being movable along a continuous conveying path, said method comprising: providing at least one induct for loading articles onto the transport units; determining a destination of articles at said at least one induct; loading articles from said at least one induct to the transport units, wherein loading articles comprises loading two articles from said at least one induct onto a respective one of said transport units as said transport unit moves past said at least one induct, said two articles at least occasionally having different destinations; providing at least one reinduction station downstream from said at least one induct and upstream of the destinations of the articles; determining at least partial blocking conditions between two articles loaded on a respective transport unit, said at least partial blocking conditions comprising an interference between two articles based on the destination of the two articles and the side of the transport unit at which the two articles are positioned; and resolving at least some of said at least partial blocking conditions by discharging one of the two articles to said at least one reinduction station and reinducting that one article from said at least one reinduction station onto a subsequent transport unit.