Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080211178 | Method and device for diverting flat objects - In a transport method, a leading object is diverted from an initial direction to a target direction and transported and stopped by a guiding facility. If the following object has reached a specific position during transport in the initial direction, the guiding facility triggers continuation of the transport of the leading object, diverts the following object to the target direction, and transports the following object in the target direction. If a determined sum of the thicknesses of the objects is less than or equal to a predetermined thickness limit, continuation of the transport of the leading object is triggered such that the following object moves onto the leading object when diverted and overlaps the leading object when transported in the target direction. If the thickness sum is greater than the thickness limit, continuation of the transport of the leading object is triggered such that a gap exists between the objects. | 09-04-2008 |
20080279670 | Method For Depositing a Freely Moving, Flat Object - In a method for depositing a flat object dropping freely into a lower compartment, a wall of the compartment at an angle in relation to a vertical is used as a flat deposit point for a flat side of the flat object. During passage of the flat object into the lower compartment an angular momentum is imparted to the flat object such that an angle of incidence between the wall and the flat side of the flat object is minimized. | 11-13-2008 |
20090065407 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR TRANSPORTING AN OBJECT AT VARIABLE SPEED - A device and a method for transporting a flat object are provided. A feeder module temporarily holds the object in a feeder gripping area and transports it. A first transfer component takes the object over from the feeder module, holds it temporarily in a first transfer gripping area, transports it in the first transfer gripping area at a first transfer speed which can be changed in terms of time and passes it on to the second transfer component. A second transfer component takes the object over from the first transfer component, holds it temporarily in a second transfer gripping area, transports it in the second transfer gripping area at a second transfer speed which can be changed in terms of time and passes it on to a removal module. The removal module temporarily holds the object in a removal gripping area and transports it. | 03-12-2009 |
20090115127 | Method and Device for Transporting a Flat Object - A method and a device transport a flat object, especially a mail item, over a conveyor path. The transport device has two conveyor elements, a thickness sensor and a gap-altering device. With the aid of the thickness sensor the thickness of the object is measured, before the object reaches the conveyor path. With the aid of the gap-altering device the gap between the two conveyor elements is set to a computed value. The effect of this setting is that after the setting the gap is smaller than the measured thickness and the difference between the measured thickness and the gap is smaller than a predetermined limit. This setting is concluded before the subject matter reaches the conveyor path. The two conveyor elements clamp the object for a time between themselves and transport the clamped object over the conveyor path. | 05-07-2009 |
20090145817 | Method and Device for Sorting Flat Mail Items - A method is specified for sorting flat mail items, which allows sorting according to delivery order to be carried out swiftly and reliably. With the method a first sorting pass is carried out in a first segment with at least N storage modules of a sorting device and a second sorting pass is then carried out in a second segment with at least N storage modules of the sorting device. The overflow items, which are assigned to a storage module that has been closed because it is full, are deposited into one of the other storage modules in the first sorting pass and are included in the sorting process of the second sorting pass. | 06-11-2009 |
20090145819 | Sorting system and method for flat items of mail - A sorting system for flat items of mail has N | 06-11-2009 |
20090173669 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SORTING FLAT MAIL ITEMS INTO DELIVERY POINT SEQUENCING - A method and an apparatus for sorting flat mail items into delivery point sequencing include sorting the mail items into sequence and deposited them in a sorting facility with a number of F compartments. In order to achieve sorting into delivery point sequencing to a plurality of mail addresses with a comparatively small number of compartments, the mail items are presorted into a number of M storage modules, which differ from the compartments in that they have an internal withdrawal apparatus, in a presorting facility. | 07-09-2009 |
20090211953 | Method of Sorting Flat Mail Items - A sorting device has at least one mail item buffer receptacle, a number of storage pockets for mail items arranged one after another and circulating continuously in a conveyor belt and moved past one or more loading stations. Below straight transfer sections of the conveyors fixed intermediate storage receptacles open at the top are arranged to accept one or more mail items from the loaded storage pockets to be opened under control in the transfer sections. On a transport path below the intermediate storage receptacles there are also continuously circulating mail item containers open at the top as sorting end points assigned to the destination addresses or destination address groups. In the mail item containers the mail items are unloaded downwards in a horizontal position in accordance with their read destination address through controllable opening of the relevant intermediate storage receptacle at the point, in which the mail item container assigned to the address is located in the corresponding position below the intermediate storage receptacle with mail items for this mail item container. | 08-27-2009 |
20090236251 | Device for Emptying an Open-Topped Mail Item Container and Mail Item Container - A device for emptying a mail item container that is open at the top and serves for transporting mail items. The mail item container has sidewalls and a container underside. The device has a lifting device for moving the mail items relative to the sidewalls. In order to enable postal articles, such as, for example, letter mail items, to be emptied from a mail item container in an ergonomically favorable and efficient manner without adversely affecting its mechanical stability to too great an extent, it is proposed that the lifting device is provided for passing through the underside of the container. | 09-24-2009 |
20100076593 | Mail Item Sorting System with a Separating Switch to Divide the Transportation Line - A mail sorting system includes a transportation line for generating a mail stream of letters or postal items to be sorted, modules for processing the streaming mail and a delay device for reducing the speed of the mail stream from a first to a second speed. Separators divide the transportation line into two parallel lines, with the delay device being disposed in one parallel line. Mail can be transported slowly and therefore slower and simpler print modules can be used. Short transportation paths can be provided for time delay in the parallel lines, in such a way that the mail is handled carefully. | 03-25-2010 |
20100252488 | METHOD AND INSTALLATION FOR SORTING FLAT ARTICLES - A method and an installation for sorting flat articles, in particular flat items of mail, discharges each article to be sorted, in dependence on a respectively measured feature value, into an output device. A resulting stack is moved onto a transporting configuration with planes of the articles of the stack perpendicular to a first transporting direction. The transporting configuration transports the stack toward a processing device. The transporting configuration transports the stack initially in the first transporting direction. Following transportation in the first transporting direction, the transporting configuration rotates the stack around a curve from the first transporting direction into a second transporting direction. The transporting configuration then transports the stack toward the processing device in the second transporting direction. | 10-07-2010 |
20100286815 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SORTING DIFFERENT KINDS OF ARTICLES - A method and an apparatus sort different kinds of articles, in particular flat mail items, according to a prescribed feature. At least one sequence of articles is formed such that each sequence contains a series of subsequences, all the articles in a subsequence have the same feature value, and the order of the subsequences in the sequence corresponds to the prescribed order of feature values. A plurality of insertion steps involve at least one respective article being inserted into a sequence. At least one sequence has a plurality of separating elements inserted into it. A pair of separating elements separates one subsequence from an adjacent subsequence. Each insertion step contains the steps that a pair of separating elements is ascertained which adjoins the subsequence and separates the subsequence from an adjoining subsequence, and that the article is inserted between two separating elements in the ascertained pair of separating elements. | 11-11-2010 |
20110100881 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING ARTICLES OF DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS - An apparatus and a method stand up and process articles of different dimensions, in particular flat mail items. A conveying device transports articles to an up-ending apparatus. The up-ending apparatus transports the articles further and, in the process, up-ends the articles such that the up-ended articles stand on an edge. Up-ended articles are transported to a separating apparatus. The separating apparatus separates flat articles such that a stream of upright, spaced-apart articles leaves the separating apparatus. Up-ended and separated articles are transported to a format-separating device. The format-separating device divides the articles as a function of the dimensions thereof into article classes such that all of the articles of a set of articles belong to the same format class. All of the articles of a set of articles are transported as a stream of upright and spaced-apart articles to an appropriate processing device. The processing device processes the articles. | 05-05-2011 |
20110103929 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE TRANSPORTING AND SORTING OF ARTICLES BY USE OF A CONTAINER - A method and an apparatus for the transporting and sorting of articles uses a container. The container extends along a container axis and has a bottom wall and a plurality of parallel walls. The bottom wall stands perpendicular to the container axis, and the parallel walls are parallel to the container axis. One parallel wall is connected pivotably to another parallel wall of the container. The container is brought into a filling position in which the container stands on a parallel wall. The pivotably fastened parallel wall points upward, so that an orifice occurs. The articles are introduced into the container through this orifice. The container, together with the articles, is transported to a destination and brought into a transfer position. The container stands on a parallel wall. The pivotably fastened parallel wall points to one side. An orifice thereby occurs. The articles are extracted through this orifice. | 05-05-2011 |
20110114544 | APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING ARTICLES - An apparatus for transporting articles has at least one transporting line and a dividing-up configuration, which is connected to the transporting line and is intended for dividing up the articles onto at least two downstream subsidiary lines. Accordingly the dividing-up configuration has a first gripping configuration, which grips and rotates all articles having a predetermined minimum height. Located downstream of the first gripping configuration—as seen in the movement direction—is a second gripping configuration, which grips such articles as have passed through the first gripping configuration without being gripped. A distance between the first gripping configuration and the second gripping configuration is dimensioned such that the articles gripped by the first gripping configuration are rotated out of the gripping region of the second gripping configuration before they pass through the same. | 05-19-2011 |
20110119414 | APPARTUS AND METHOD FOR SORTING ITEMS - An apparatus for sorting items has a buffer device with a multiplicity of buffer storage locations, filled by a loading device, and an intermediate store with a multiplicity of intermediate storage locations. The intermediate store and the buffer device are arranged such that items stored at a buffer storage location can be transferred into an intermediate storage location. The intermediate storage locations are movable at a relative speed with respect to the buffer storage locations and are suitable for receiving more than one item, for presorting. The buffer device is arranged over the intermediate store such that an item located in a buffer storage location can fall into an intermediate storage location. The apparatus has a multiplicity of collecting containers, arranged under the intermediate store, and are at rest during the sorting operation and are filled during the sorting operation with items contained in the intermediate storage locations. | 05-19-2011 |
20110172809 | METHOD AND CONFIGURATION FOR HANDLING OBJECTS - A method and a configuration for handling objects, wherein a multiplicity of objects are stored in a storage container and one or more objects to be processed are divided from objects to remain in storage. Depending on the number of objects to be processed or depending on a differential value between the total number of objects in the storage container and the number of objects to be processed, a decision is made whether the division of the object or objects to be processed from the objects to remain in storage takes place in the storage container by the object or objects to be processed being removed directly from the storage container, the objects to remain in storage remaining in the storage container during said removal operation, or whether the division of the object or the objects to be processed from the objects to remain in storage takes place outside the storage container by all of the objects being removed from the storage container and the division of the objects to be processed from the objects to remain in storage taking place separately from the storage container. | 07-14-2011 |
20110203903 | APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING A FLAT ARTICLE - An apparatus for the discharge of an article, in particular of a flat mail item. A first conveyor device is able to transport the article in a primary transport path, a second conveyor device transports it in a branched transport path. A diverter is configured to leave the article either in the primary transport path or to discharge it into the branched transport path. A conveyor belt of the first conveyor device is guided around a roller. This roller is mounted onto the diverter. Thus a pivoting of the diverter from a standby position into a discharge position causes the roller and the conveyor belt resting upon the roller to be displaced perpendicular to the pivot axis of the diverter. | 08-25-2011 |
20110214964 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE REVERSAL OF DIRECTION IN THE TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES - A method and an apparatus enable the reversal of direction in a transport of articles, in particular flat mail items. The length of the leading article is measured. The two articles are transported, with a gap between them, to a direction reversal device. The direction reversal device possesses a “head station” and transports the two articles over a transport path in a transport direction and, subsequently, over the same transport path in the opposite transport direction. If the measured length is greater than a stipulated standard maximum length, the leading article is additionally transported over an additional transport route which follows the transport path, specifically, first, in the transport direction and, subsequently, in the opposite transport direction. The two articles are subsequently transported away in succession. | 09-08-2011 |
20110260393 | MAIL-SORTING INSTALLATION WITH A PLURALITY OF OUTPUT MEANS, AND MAIL-SORTING METHODS - A sorting system for sorting flat objects, particularly mail items, and a method for sorting such objects. The sorting system has a discharge device and an arrangement having at least two output devices. The output devices are arranged one behind the other as viewed in a longitudinal axis. The discharge device is designed to discharge each flat object to be sorted into one of the output devices in each case in such a way that the objects discharged into the same output device form a stack. Each output device has a bottom. The bottom of each output device rises with respect to the horizontal as viewed in a rising direction. An edge appears between the bottoms of two adjacent output devices. The edge slopes downward vertically or aslant as viewed in the rising direction. | 10-27-2011 |
20120118797 | SORTING METHOD AND SORTING CONFIGURATION FOR SORTING TWO TYPES OF ARTICLES TO PRODUCE A SINGLE SUCCESSION - A sorting method and a sorting configuration for sorting two types of articles, particularly two types of flat mail items, on the basis of a prescribed order among the possible values of a prescribed sorting feature. The articles of the first type are sorted on the basis of the order and divided into sequences of sorted articles. A first supply and feed device in a sorting installation takes these sequences to holding apparatuses, so that each holding apparatus contains a respective sequence. A second supply and feed device takes the articles of the second article type to a respective holding apparatus. A transportation device produces a succession of sequences and articles of the second article type and transfers the succession to sorting outputs of the sorting installation. In the sorting outputs all articles have been sorted on the basis of the prescribed order. | 05-17-2012 |
20120241363 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR SORTING FLAT MAIL ITEMS - A method is specified for sorting flat mail items, which allows sorting according to delivery order to be carried out swiftly and reliably. With the method a first sorting pass is carried out in a first segment with at least N storage modules of a sorting device and a second sorting pass is then carried out in a second segment with at least N storage modules of the sorting device. The overflow items, which are assigned to a storage module that has been closed because it is full, are deposited into one of the other storage modules in the first sorting pass and are included in the sorting process of the second sorting pass. | 09-27-2012 |
20130247523 | CONTAINER WITH A ROTARY DEVICE, AND METHOD OF ROTATION - A container has a rotary device for rotating an article in the container, in particular a stack of flat items of mail. The container contains a base, a supporting side wall and a further side wall. The rotary device has a first sheet-like retaining element and a second sheet-like retaining element. These two retaining elements are connected mechanically to one another. In a filling position of the rotary device, the first retaining element rests on the supporting side wall, and the second retaining element is located on the base. In a raising position, the first retaining element is located on the base. An article located in the container then rests on the first retaining element. An article can be moved into the container when the rotary device is located in the filling position. The rotary device is then transferred into the raising position, this action rotating the article. | 09-26-2013 |