MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CLASSIFYING ARTICLES USING A DYNAMICLY CONFIGURABLE CLASSIFICATION ARRAY

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for sorting items to a plurality of sorting destinations; the items are fed into the apparatus at an input station having a scanning station; the scanning station evaluates one or more features of each item; the items are then loaded onto one of a plurality of independently controlled delivery vehicles (140-1-J); the delivery vehicles (140-1-J) are individually driven to the sorting destinations; once at the appropriate sorting destination, the delivery vehicle ejects the item to the sorting destination and returns to receive another item to be delivered; additionally, a controller (110) is provided to control the movement of the vehicles based on a feature of each item being delivered by each vehicle (140-1-J).

Claims

1. A method of sorting items using a system that includes a plurality of delivery vehicles for delivering items to a plurality of destination areas arranged in a series of columns that generally extend vertically, characterized in that the method comprises the steps of: transporting the items along a path; scanning the items with a scanner to identify identifying marks on the items as they are transported along the path; transporting the scanned items from the scanner to the delivery vehicles; loading the scanned items onto the delivery vehicles; determining that one of the scanned items should be sorted manually rather than by a delivery vehicle; identifying the destination area to which the item is to be sorted manually; and manually transporting the item to the identified destination.independently control the operation of the delivery vehicles to drive the delivery vehicles to the destination areas to deliver the scanned items, wherein the step of independently controlling comprises the step of driving the delivery vehicles along a vertical lane.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the step of identifying the destination area to which the item is to be manually sorted comprises the step of providing a visual signal indicative of the destination area to which the item is to be manually sorted.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the step of providing a visual signal comprises illuminating a signal adjacent to the destination area to which the item is to be manually sorted.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises the step of providing a visible alert when a final item required to complete a grouping of items in a destination area has been transferred to said destination area.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of the destination areas are arranged to form an island between a first set of columns and a second set of columns, and wherein the step of independently controlling the operation of the delivery vehicles comprises driving the delivery vehicles along the vertical lane through the island to deliver the items to the destination areas.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises the step of controlling the delivery vehicles to unload items to the destination areas.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the step of determining that one of the scanned items is to be sorted manually rather than by a delivery vehicle comprises the step of determining that the item is to be sorted manually based on identification clues detected during the scanning step.

8. An apparatus for sorting articles, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of destination areas arranged in a plurality of generally vertical columns; a plurality of delivery vehicles for delivering articles to the plurality of destination areas; a vertical track wherein the delivery vehicles are configured to cooperate with the vertical track to drive vertically to the destination areas; an infeed conveyor belt for receiving the articles and transporting the articles to a loading station; a scanner for scanning the articles as the articles are transported to the loading station, wherein the scanner is configured to scan the articles for clues identifying the articles;a central controller programmed to independently control the operation of delivery vehicles to drive the delivery vehicles to the destination areas to deliver the scanned items, wherein the central controller is programmed to determine if one of the scanned items is to be sorted manually instead of by a delivery vehicle; and a visual signal indicating the destination area in which the item is to be sorted manually; wherein the controller is programmed to control the visual signal in response to the determination that one of the items is to be sorted manually.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the visual signal comprises a plurality of luminous elements adjacent to the target areas, wherein in response to the controller determining that an item is to be sorted manually, the controller is programmed to activate the light adjacent to the target area where the item is to be sorted manually.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that a plurality of destination area columns are arranged to form a first set of columns and a second set of columns with an island between the first and second sets, wherein delivery vehicles are configured to drive along the vertical lane through the island to deliver items to the destination areas.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that each delivery vehicle comprises a loading / unloading mechanism configured to load an item onto the delivery vehicle at the loading station and unload the item from the delivery vehicle at one of the destination areas.

12. The apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the visual signal is configured to provide a first visual signal indicating the destination area to which the item is to be manually sorted and a second visual signal indicating the last item required to complete a grouping of items in the destination area that is transferred to the destination area.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that the first visual signal is a light signal having a first color and the second visual signal is a light signal having a second color.

14. An apparatus for sorting articles, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of destination areas arranged in a plurality of generally vertical columns; a plurality of delivery vehicles for delivering articles to the plurality of destination areas; an infeed conveyor belt for receiving the articles and transporting the articles to a loading station; a scanner for scanning the articles as the articles are transported to the loading station, wherein the scanner is configured to scan the articles for clues identifying the articles;a central controller programmed to independently control the operation of delivery vehicles to drive the delivery vehicles to the destination areas to deliver the scanned items, wherein the central controller is programmed to determine whether one of the scanned items is to be sorted manually instead of by a delivery vehicle; and 1 DUZ a visual signal indicating the destination area in which the item is to be sorted manually; wherein the controller is programmed to control the visual signal in response to the determination that one of the items is to be sorted manually; wherein the visual signal comprises a plurality of luminous elements adjacent to the destination areas;and where, in response to the controller determining that an item is to be sorted manually, the controller is programmed to activate the light adjacent to the destination area where the item is to be sorted manually.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, characterized in that the visual signal is configured to provide a first visual signal indicating the destination area to which the item is to be manually sorted and a second visual signal indicating the last item required to complete a grouping of items in the destination area that is transferred to the destination area.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14, characterized in that the first visual signal is a light signal having a first color and the second visual signal is a light signal having a second color.

Images