Shift and Hold Conveyor for Oversized Parcel Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional conveyor systems face challenges in handling oversized, irregularly sized, or flexible packages, as they often hide smaller parcels, cause sorting confusion, and fail to align packages predictably, leading to inefficiencies and jamming issues due to uneven weight distribution and extreme dimensions.
Innovation Solution
A shift and hold conveyor assembly with a low friction conveying surface and a raised high friction belt that prevents lateral movement of oversized parcels, using skewed rollers to align packages and a diverging sidewall to shift them inward, ensuring packages with unequal dimensions or offset centers of gravity are separated and removed effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If conventional conveyor systems convey packages as an aggregate unit, then high speed conveyance is achieved, but sorting accuracy deteriorates due to packages traveling in side-by-side relationship
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor system is divided into multiple lanes with different friction characteristics. The low friction lane segments oversized packages from the main flow, while the high friction lane maintains control over smaller packages. This segmentation allows simultaneous high-speed conveyance and accurate sorting by creating distinct pathways for different package types.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the conveyor system have different friction properties - a low friction conveying surface for oversized packages and a high friction conveying surface for smaller packages. This local differentiation in surface quality enables the system to handle various package types appropriately while maintaining overall high-speed operation and sorting accuracy.
2Productivity
If oversized packages are conveyed on the conveyor, then capacity utilization is improved, but jamming risk increases due to unpredictable lateral movement patterns
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the friction parameter along the conveyor path. Oversized packages experience low friction that allows them to shift laterally and align with the sidewall, preventing them from obstructing the conveyor path. This parameter change transforms potentially problematic oversized packages into controlled elements that maintain capacity utilization while reducing jamming risk.
Solution Approach 2:
Oversized packages self-align against the sidewall of the conveyor through their own lateral movement on the low friction surface. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for active control systems to prevent jamming, allowing oversized packages to be handled reliably while maintaining high capacity utilization.
3Adaptability or versatility
If packages with unequal loading or offset center of gravity are conveyed, then variety of handled items is improved, but alignment precision deteriorates due to unpredictable movement patterns
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of trying to prevent packages with offset centers of gravity from moving laterally, the system inverts the approach by providing a low friction surface that encourages lateral movement. This causes packages to naturally shift and align themselves against the sidewall, transforming the problem of unpredictable movement into a solution that maintains alignment precision while handling diverse package types.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively separates oversized parcels from the main flow, preventing them from shifting onto the sidewall and ensuring they tip over onto a ramp for recirculation, while allowing smaller packages to pass through, thereby improving sorting efficiency and minimizing jamming risks in conveyor systems.
Implementation Method 1
a low friction conveying surface for moving packages in a forward direction and laterally toward a sidewall of the conveyor
Implementation Method 2
a high friction conveying surface preventing lateral movement of oversized packages resting thereon
Data Source
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AI summary
A conveyor assembly insertable within a conveying system including a low friction conveying surface having both forward and lateral conveying forces for moving articles toward a parallel lateral sidewall and a downstream conveyor. A first diverging sidewall gradually converges parcels toward the center of the conveyor. An inwardly directed offset extends from a first diverging sidewall to a second lateral sidewall for shifting parcels inwardly toward a second lateral sidewall. A raised high friction conveying surface or rail belt extends along an outer edge of the low friction conveyor. At least a portion of the high friction belt is raised above the surface of the adjacent conveying surface in flow communication with the low friction conveying surface. Parcels contacting the high friction belt are prevented from shifting over toward the sidewall and parcels having a center of gravity outside the tipover point fall over the belt onto a recirculation conveyor.