Article sorting apparatus
US4081078A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 31, 1976 |
| Grant date | Mar 28, 1978 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 31, 1996 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB65G47/71
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a carton sorting device which comprises a main conveyor and at least one subsidiary conveyor angled away from the main conveyor at a branching unit. The main conveyor is adapted to apply a lateral force to articles having a lateral dimension below a preselected value so as to urge such articles onto the subsidiary conveyor. Articles having a lateral dimension greater than said preselected value are not affected. In this way, a mixture of the small and large articles are divided into two streams, the main conveyor carrying a stream of larger articles and the subsidiary conveyor only a stream of smaller articles. The invention also makes provision for sorting streams of articles having differences in their longitudinal dimension.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.