Claims
- 1. A method for controlling an arrangement to distribute articles to be sorted to physical target locations, comprising:
- feeding articles to be sorted to respective ones of a plurality of receiving elements, each article containing an information set having a reference content corresponding to one address;
- transporting the articles to be sorted in the receiving elements along a conveying path past physical target locations;
- detecting the respective information sets provided on the individual articles to be sorted;
- assigning a logical target location to each article to be sorted in a predetermined dependence on the detected information set;
- determining flow rate values during an operating sequence for the articles assigned to the logical target locations;
- determining the physical target location to which each article assigned a logical target location is to be delivered in dependence on the flow-rate values;
- delivering and selectively releasing the articles from the receiving elements to a respective one of the determined physical target locations.
- 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining flow rate values includes determining, during a unit of time, a sum of thicknesses measured along a predetermined direction in space of the articles to be sorted which are assigned to a respective one of the logical target locations.
- 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the step of determining a sum of thickness includes measuring the thicknesses of the respective articles to be sorted prior to the feeding step.
- 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of detecting the information sets occurs prior to the feeding step.
- 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining the physical target location includes determining more than one physical target location for a logical target location having a high flow-rate as compared to other logical target locations.
- 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further including keeping the articles to be sorted, which are assigned to a logical target location having a low flow rate as compared to other logical target locations, inside their receiving elements for the duration of a dwell time and delaying the step of determining the physical target location for the logical target location having the low flow rate during the dwell time.
- 7. The method according claim 1, including changing the assignment of the logical target locations determined by the preset dependence during the operating sequence and determining physical target locations, selected from a number of physical target locations determined under the previously preset dependence, for the logical target locations assigned under the new preset dependence on the basis of the detected information sets.
- 8. A control device for an arrangement designed to distribute articles to be sorted to physical target locations comprising:
- a plurality of receiving elements;
- a feeder for feeding articles to be sorted to respective ones of the plurality of receiving elements, each article containing an information set having a reference content corresponding to one address;
- a plurality of physical target locations;
- means for conveying the receiving elements along a conveying path past the physical target locations;
- the receiving elements each including a first device that can be activated to release the article to be sorted from the receiving element to a selected physical target location while the receiving element is transported past the physical location;
- a second device for detecting the information sets on the articles to be sorted;
- a control device for activating the first device in dependence on the detected information sets for a selective release of the articles to be sorted to the physical target locations, the control device comprising:
- a third device for assigning logical target locations to the articles to be sorted in accordance with a predetermined dependence on the detected information sets;
- a fourth device for determining flow rate values for the articles to be sorted which are assigned to the logical target locations; and
- a fifth device for determining the physical target locations to which the articles to be sorted are delivered in dependence on the determined flow-rate values.
- 9. The arrangement according to claim 8, wherein the third device includes a first memory region where the preset dependence of the logical target locations on the detected information sets is stored and from which the respectively assigned logical target location is read out for each detected information set, and a second memory region which stores for each receiving element the logical target location assigned to the article to be sorted and delivered to the receiving element.
- 10. The arrangement according to claim 8, wherein the fifth device includes a third memory region for storing the assignment between the logical target locations and the physical target locations.
- 11. The arrangement according to claim 8, wherein the fourth device includes: means for measuring a thickness of the individual articles to be sorted along a predetermined direction in space, and a sixth device for summing up the thicknesses measured over a specific unit of time of the articles to be sorted which are assigned to each logical target location.
- 12. The arrangement according to claim 8, wherein the third device is responsive to an external switching command for making an assignment according to another preset dependence, and the fifth device selects physical target locations from a number of physical target locations that were determined based on the dependence predetermined before the switching command was issued.
- 13. The arrangement according to claim 12, wherein the control device includes a unit for reprogramming the first memory region of the third device.
- 14. The arrangement according to claim 8, and further comprising a visual display associated with each physical target location and which is actuated by the control device for displaying information showing the respectively corresponding logical target location.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
2208/96 |
Sep 1996 |
CHX |
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Priority is claimed with respect to Swiss application No. CH 1996 2208/96 filed in Switzerland on Sep. 9, 1996, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
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DEX |