Tray handling system and process

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9278376-B2
Application number	US-63407409-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 9, 2009
Priority date	Dec 9, 2004
Publication date	Mar 8, 2016
Grant date	Mar 8, 2016

Abstract

A device and method for sequencing trays includes a tray receiving conveyor and a recirculating conveyor. Trays are placed on the recirculating conveyor and merged with ejected trays into a multiple of sequenced trays at one or more merge locations. The system can include more than one merge location, with one of the merge locations providing a merge of trays into a contiguous sequence of trays.

First claim

It is claimed:

1. A device for sequencing trays, comprising:
a tray receiving conveyor which receives trays outputted from bin locations positioned remotely from one or more input feeders; and
a recirculating conveyor buffer system having two merge locations comprising a first merge location and a second merge location, the recirculating conveyor buffer system being configured to recirculate staged trays and coordinate merging of the staged trays with newly ejected trays received from the bin locations into a multiple of sequenced trays at the two merge locations,
the recirculating conveyor buffer system further comprises a diverting section structured to divert trays away from the first merge location and divert the sequenced trays away from the one or more input feeders and feed the sequenced trays back to the recirculating conveyor buffer system through a path that bypass the first merge location, or directly to an output,
wherein the bin locations include a working area for discharging product into a tray and at least one queued area for storing full trays.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein:
the recirculating conveyor buffer system is configured into a looped conveying configuration with sections connecting the at least two merge locations to the looped conveying configuration.

3. The device of claim 2 , wherein the looped conveying configuration is a recirculating section.

4. The device of claim 1 , further comprising an inclined conveyor connected between the recirculating conveyor buffer system and a tray receiving conveyor.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first merge location merges the staged trays with the newly ejected trays into the multiple of sequenced trays during a preliminary sweep operation and the second merge location merges the multiple of sequenced trays with remaining one or more trays ejected from the bin locations during a final sweep operation into a final, contiguously sequenced set of trays.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein:
the recirculating conveyor buffer system includes a first conveying portion and a second conveying portion;
the first conveying portion includes the first merge location; and
the second conveying portion includes at least two divert locations and the second merge location.

7. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a controller which coordinates movement of the recirculating conveyor buffer system such that the staged trays are coordinated to merge with the with newly ejected trays into the multiple of sequenced trays at the two merge locations.

8. The device of claim 7 , wherein:
the first merge location merges the staged trays with the newly ejected trays into the multiple of sequenced trays during a preliminary sweep operation; and
the second merge location merges the multiple of sequenced trays with remaining trays ejected from the bin locations into a final, contiguously sequenced set of trays during a final sweep operation.

9. The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a tray staging and output conveyor positioned to receive trays from and feed trays to the recirculating conveyor buffer system and also leading to the output;
a diverting location located between the tray staging and output conveyor and a portion of the recirculating conveyor buffer system; and
a controller controlling and coordinating movement of the staged trays at the tray staging and output conveyor, the one or more merge locations and the output.

10. The device of claim 1 , wherein:
the recirculating conveyor buffer system includes a first conveying portion and a second conveying portion, wherein the first conveying portion includes a first divert location, a second divert location and the first merge location; and
the second conveying portion includes the second merge location and a diverting location.

11. The device of claim 10 , further comprising a controller, wherein:
during a preliminary sweep operation, the controller coordinates one or more activities of:
the first conveying portion such that the newly ejected trays are directed to the first merge location;
the first divert location such that the staged trays are transported towards the first merge location;
the first merge location such that the staged trays are coordinated to merge with the newly ejected trays into the multitude of sequenced trays about the first merge location; and

during a final sweep operation, the controller coordinates one or more activities of:
the first divert location such that the sequenced trays are transported towards the second merge location;
the second divert location such that remaining trays within the bin locations are transported to the second merge location; and
the second merge location such that the remaining trays and the multitude of sequenced trays are merged into a final, contiguously sequenced set of trays.

12. The device of claim 10 , wherein the controller, after a final sweep operation, controls the diverting location such that some trays of the contiguous sequence of trays are diverted to a tray staging and output conveyor.

13. The device of claim 1 , wherein mail pieces are placed in trays.

14. A method of sequencing trays, comprising the steps of:
placing a tray from a queued area and a tray from a working area of a same bin location of any of a plurality of bin locations into a flow path in response to a first triggering event for the tray in the working area;
recirculating the trays to a merging location;
placing additional trays from a queued area in any other of the plurality of bin locations in the flow path when the additional trays are qualified for ejection based on second triggering event for trays in a working area and a qualification of the additional trays in the queued area of the other of the plurality of bin locations; and
merging all of the trays into sequence as they pass the merging location.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising filling trays in a first location and moving full trays to a queued, second location prior to the placing steps.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising placing product into the trays in the first location during the steps of claim 14 .

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the first triggering event and the second triggering event are different.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
placing remaining trays in a sort operation into the flow path based on a third triggering event; and
merging the remaining trays into a contiguous, final sequence at a second merging location.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the first and second triggering event are based on an amount of product within a tray located in the working area and a full tray in the queued area and the third triggering event is based on a final product being fed in the sort operation.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the at least other one tray is at least a last remaining tray in a sort operation and the first triggering event is based on an amount of product within a tray located in the working area and a full tray in the queued area and the second triggering event is based on a final product being fed in the sort operation.

21. The method of claim 14 , further comprising feeding the sequence of trays towards at least one feeder in order to provide a sequencing of product therein.

22. The method of claim 21 , further comprising diverting some trays of the sequence of trays away from the at least one feeder until the at least one feeder has the thr

Assignees

• Mclaughlin Jason G
• Morikawa Hajime
• Wisniewski Michael A
• Lockheed Corp

Inventors

• Mclaughlin Jason G
• Morikawa Hajime
• Wisniewski Michael A

Classifications

• B07C3/02 Primary

  Apparatus characterised by the means used for distribution · CPC title

• Y10S209/90

  Sorting flat-type mail · CPC title