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EP-4496760-B1 - BUFFERING SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DYNAMIC PROCESSING OF OBJECTS

EP4496760B1EP 4496760 B1EP4496760 B1EP 4496760B1EP-4496760-B1

Inventors

  • WILLIAMS, ROBERT
  • PAUL, ANTHONY
  • RITZAKIS, Nector

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230323

Claims (14)

  1. A buffering system (18) for use between an upper processing area (12) and a lower processing area (14), said buffering system comprising a belt (32) and at least one roller (52, 56) around at least a portion of which the belt extends, characterized in that the belt (32) is anchored at a first anchor location (42) to a frame (26), and an actuation system for moving the at least one roller (52, 56) with respect to the first anchor location (42) to cause the belt (32) to move such that a portion of the buffering system becomes open thereby providing a retractable belt door (22).
  2. The buffering system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the buffering system includes a plurality of belts (32, 34) extending around a plurality of rollers (52, 54, 56, 58) to thereby provide a plurality of retractable belt doors (22, 24).
  3. The buffering system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a first end of the belt (32) is anchored at the first anchor location (42), and a second end of the belt (32) is anchored at a second anchor location (46).
  4. The buffering system as claimed in any one of claims 1 and 3, wherein the at least one roller includes a first roller (52) and a second roller (56) around which the belt extends, the first roller (52) and the second roller (56) being attached to a common panel (62).
  5. The buffering system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the second roller (56) is mounted to the common panel (62) on a pivoting mounting bracket (57).
  6. The buffering system as claimed in any one of claims 1 and 3-5, wherein the first anchor location (42) includes a biasing system (230) for maintaining tension in the belt (32).
  7. The buffering system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the common panel (62) includes cushioning material (191, 194) to absorb impact of an object.
  8. The buffering system as claimed in any one of claims 1 and 3-7, wherein the common panel (62) is mounted for reciprocal movement within the frame (26).
  9. The buffering system as claimed in claim 8, the buffering system further comprises a sub-frame (127) suspended below the frame (26) by suspension mechanisms (131) to absorb impact of an object.
  10. The buffering system as claimed in any one of claims 1, 3-9, wherein the buffering system (18) includes a detection system (95, 97) for providing detection data representative of whether an object has been dropped from the belt (32).
  11. A method of buffering an object falling from an upper processing area (12) to a lower processing area (14), said method comprising: providing at least one retractable belt door (22) onto which the object may fall, the retractable belt door including a belt (32) and at least one roller (52, 56), wherein a first end of the belt (32) is anchored at a first anchor location (42), retracting the belt (32) by retracting the at least one roller (52, 56) such that the belt (32) moves to peel away from the object; and permitting the object to fall through the retractable belt door (22).
  12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further includes maintaining tension in the belt (32) with a biasing system (230).
  13. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one roller (52, 56) is mounted for reciprocal movement within a frame (26).
  14. .. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further includes dropping the object from the retractable belt door (22) to a receiving station (30) below the retractable belt door.

Description

BACKGROUND The invention generally relates to object processing systems and relates in particular to object processing systems that determine metrics regarding objects or otherwise individually handle objects being processed (e.g., distributed or sorted) while the objects are being processed. Current object processing systems generally involve the processing of a large number of objects, where the objects are received in either organized or disorganized batches, and must be routed to desired destinations in accordance with a manifest or specific addresses on the objects (e.g., in a mailing system). Current distribution center sorting systems, for example, generally assume an inflexible sequence of operations whereby a disorganized stream of input objects is first singulated into a stream of isolated objects presented one at a time to a scanner that identifies the object. An induction element (e.g., a conveyor, a tilt tray, or manually movable bins) transport the objects to the desired destination or further processing station, which may be a bin, a chute, a bag or a conveyor, etc. In typical parcel sortation systems, human workers or automated systems typically retrieve parcels in an arrival order and sort each parcel or object into a collection bin based on a set of given heuristics. For instance, all objects of like type might go to a collection bin, or all objects in a single customer order, or all objects destined for the same shipping destination, etc. The human workers or automated systems are required to receive objects and to move each to their assigned collection bin. If the number of different types of input (received) objects is large, a large number of collection bins is required. Current state-of-the-art sortation systems rely on human labor to some extent. Most solutions rely on a worker that is performing sortation, by scanning an object from an induction area (chute, table, etc.) and placing the object in a staging location, conveyor, or collection bin. When a bin is full or the controlling software system determines that it needs to be emptied, another worker empties the bin into a bag, box, or other container, and sends that container on to the next processing step. Such a system has limits on throughput (i.e., how fast can human workers sort to or empty bins in this fashion) and on number of diverts (i.e., for a given bin size, only so many bins may be arranged to be within efficient reach of human workers). Human personnel is also sometimes required where the information to be captured regarding an object is difficult to obtain by scanning or camera based systems, or is highly sensitive such as weights of very light objects. If a wide range of objects are being processed, for example, then such a weight detection system must be able to accommodate receipt of the wide range of objects. There remains a need for more efficient and more cost effective object processing systems that process objects of a variety of sizes and weights, and that determine these metrics regarding objects being processed while the objects are being processed by automated object processing systems. It is known from EP 0 124 177 A1 to provide apparatus for transferring rows of articles delivered by a conveyor belt to a transversely extending conveyor belt. SUMMARY In accordance with an aspect, the invention provides a buffering system for use between an upper processing area and a lower processing area. The buffering system includes a belt and at least one roller around at least a portion of which the belt extends, wherein the belt is anchored at a first anchor location to a frame, and actuation system for moving the at least one roller with respect to the first anchor location to cause the belt to move such that a portion of the buffering system becomes open thereby providing a retractable belt door. In accordance with another aspect, the invention provides a buffering system for use between an upper processing area and a lower processing area. The buffering system includes at least one roller mounted for reciprocal movement with respect to a frame, and a belt extending around the at least one roller, and an actuation system for moving the at least one roller with respect to a frame to cause the belt to move such that a portion of the buffering system becomes open thereby providing a retractable belt door. In accordance with a further aspect, the invention provides a method of buffering an object falling from an upper processing area to a lower processing area. The method includes providing at least one retractable belt door onto which the object may fall, the retractable belt door including a belt and at least one roller, wherein a first end of the belt is anchored at a first anchor location, retracting the belt by retracting the at least one roller such that the belt moves to peel away from the object, and permitting the object to fall through the retractable belt door. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The follow