Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Licentia Patent-verwaltungs Gmbh

Hitachi, Ltd.

Siemens Production & Logistics Systems Ag

Ehg Electroholding Gmbh

Armin Zimmermann

Peter Enenkel

Holger Schererz

Wolf-Stephan Wilke

Andre Rompe

Werner Frank

Eberhard Mandler

Dietmar Oexle

Nikolaus Haselberger

Uwe Maertin

Keven Mohr

Dirk Nolte

Dirk-Udo Eisser

Peter Berdelle-Hilge

Itsunori Utsumi

Beat Fritsche

Toshihiko Tajiri

Christoph Hofmann

Rolf-Peter Skrdlant

Hanno Gillmann

Goeran Keil

Rainer Vogel

Jochen Loose

Dieter Altenburg

Boris Lohmann

Juergen Braun

Erich Groegor

Klaus König

Meinhard Nattermann

Thomas Buckenmaier

Zsolt Balogh

Otmar Kechel

Dietman Oexle

Peter Berdelle-hilge

Uwe Märtin

Arndt Felder

A truck, a loading bridge, a sorting system for items being dispatched and a retrofit kit for a sorting machine for items being dispatched. In order to ensure that an item being dispatched can be removed in simple ways from the sorting machine for items being dispatched and transported to a further sorting step, the truck has a displaceable floor and the loading bridge has a driving device for the floor.

Truck, loading bridge, sorting system for items being dispatched and retrofit kit for a sorting machine for items being dispatched

A method and an apparatus for sorting flat mail items into delivery point sequencing include sorting the mail items into sequence and deposited them in a sorting facility with a number of F compartments. In order to achieve sorting into delivery point sequencing to a plurality of mail addresses with a comparatively small number of compartments, the mail items are presorted into a number of M storage modules, which differ from the compartments in that they have an internal withdrawal apparatus, in a presorting facility.

Method and apparatus for sorting flat mail items into delivery point sequencing

A sorting system for flat items of mail has N&#x2267;2 parallel-connected groups of storage modules for simultaneously storing a multiplicity of items of mail. The items of mail are fed through N&#x2267;1 parallel mail feeders to in each case a plurality of groups, and discharged via N&#x2267;2 parallel mail dischargers from in each case a plurality of groups. A process controller controls a joint storing of items of mail from a stream of mail into storage modules belonging to at least one group and simultaneously controls discharging of jointly deposited items of mail from storage modules belonging to at least one other group. It is thus possible to intersperse the streams of mail with little or no intersecting, accompanied by a high throughput rate through the sorting system.

Sorting system and method for flat items of mail

A method is specified for sorting flat mail items, which allows sorting according to delivery order to be carried out swiftly and reliably. With the method a first sorting pass is carried out in a first segment with at least N storage modules of a sorting device and a second sorting pass is then carried out in a second segment with at least N storage modules of the sorting device. The overflow items, which are assigned to a storage module that has been closed because it is full, are deposited into one of the other storage modules in the first sorting pass and are included in the sorting process of the second sorting pass.

Method and device for sorting flat mail items

A sorting system for sorting flat objects, particularly mail items, and a method for sorting such objects. The sorting system has a discharge device and an arrangement having at least two output devices. The output devices are arranged one behind the other as viewed in a longitudinal axis. The discharge device is designed to discharge each flat object to be sorted into one of the output devices in each case in such a way that the objects discharged into the same output device form a stack. Each output device has a bottom. The bottom of each output device rises with respect to the horizontal as viewed in a rising direction. An edge appears between the bottoms of two adjacent output devices. The edge slopes downward vertically or aslant as viewed in the rising direction.

Mail-sorting installation with a plurality of output means, and mail-sorting methods

A method and an apparatus enable the reversal of direction in a transport of articles, in particular flat mail items. The length of the leading article is measured. The two articles are transported, with a gap between them, to a direction reversal device. The direction reversal device possesses a 'head station' and transports the two articles over a transport path in a transport direction and, subsequently, over the same transport path in the opposite transport direction. If the measured length is greater than a stipulated standard maximum length, the leading article is additionally transported over an additional transport route which follows the transport path, specifically, first, in the transport direction and, subsequently, in the opposite transport direction. The two articles are subsequently transported away in succession.

Method and apparatus for the reversal of direction in the transport of articles

A method and a configuration for handling objects, wherein a multiplicity of objects are stored in a storage container and one or more objects to be processed are divided from objects to remain in storage. Depending on the number of objects to be processed or depending on a differential value between the total number of objects in the storage container and the number of objects to be processed, a decision is made whether the division of the object or objects to be processed from the objects to remain in storage takes place in the storage container by the object or objects to be processed being removed directly from the storage container, the objects to remain in storage remaining in the storage container during said removal operation, or whether the division of the object or the objects to be processed from the objects to remain in storage takes place outside the storage container by all of the objects being removed from the storage container and the division of the objects to be processed from the objects to remain in storage taking place separately from the storage container.

Method and configuration for handling objects

An apparatus and a method stand up and process articles of different dimensions, in particular flat mail items. A conveying device transports articles to an up-ending apparatus. The up-ending apparatus transports the articles further and, in the process, up-ends the articles such that the up-ended articles stand on an edge. Up-ended articles are transported to a separating apparatus. The separating apparatus separates flat articles such that a stream of upright, spaced-apart articles leaves the separating apparatus. Up-ended and separated articles are transported to a format-separating device. The format-separating device divides the articles as a function of the dimensions thereof into article classes such that all of the articles of a set of articles belong to the same format class. All of the articles of a set of articles are transported as a stream of upright and spaced-apart articles to an appropriate processing device. The processing device processes the articles.

Apparatus and method for processing articles of different dimensions

An apparatus for sorting items has a buffer device with a multiplicity of buffer storage locations, filled by a loading device, and an intermediate store with a multiplicity of intermediate storage locations. The intermediate store and the buffer device are arranged such that items stored at a buffer storage location can be transferred into an intermediate storage location. The intermediate storage locations are movable at a relative speed with respect to the buffer storage locations and are suitable for receiving more than one item, for presorting. The buffer device is arranged over the intermediate store such that an item located in a buffer storage location can fall into an intermediate storage location. The apparatus has a multiplicity of collecting containers, arranged under the intermediate store, and are at rest during the sorting operation and are filled during the sorting operation with items contained in the intermediate storage locations.

Apparatus and method for sorting items

A sorting system for mail items includes sorting registers, a storage module operating on a last-in/first-out principle, a sorting circuit to convey a stream of mail items. The sorting registers and the storage module are connected via switch points to the sorting circuit, wherein the storage module comprises a storage area and an insertion function. An extraction function extracts mail items from the storage area, and a process controller controls the mail item stream and the switch points. The process controller sets, if there is a conveyance fault, part of the switch points so mail items intended for the faulty sorting registers are introduced into the storage area. When the fault is rectified and/or a predefined occupancy level is reached, mail items stored in the storage area are extracted by adjusting a remaining feeding of mail items into the mail item stream, and fed to the sorting registers.

Sorting system with storage registers and a storage module with last-in/first-out operation and automatic mail item feedback

An apparatus for the discharge of an article, in particular of a flat mail item. A first conveyor device is able to transport the article in a primary transport path, a second conveyor device transports it in a branched transport path. A diverter is configured to leave the article either in the primary transport path or to discharge it into the branched transport path. A conveyor belt of the first conveyor device is guided around a roller. This roller is mounted onto the diverter. Thus a pivoting of the diverter from a standby position into a discharge position causes the roller and the conveyor belt resting upon the roller to be displaced perpendicular to the pivot axis of the diverter.

Apparatus for discharging a flat article

A sorting installation for letters of a first kind and letters of a second kind includes circulating stacking locations for receiving the letters of the first kind delivered in any desired sequence, and circulating end locations ordered by destination addresses. A first controller is operable to transfer a letter of the first kind from a circulating stacking location to an end location assigned to a destination address of the letter of the first kind. The installation includes further letter-stacking locations for letters of the second kind. A second controller is operable to transfer a letter of the second kind from a letter-stacking location to an end location assigned to a destination address of the letter of the second kind.

Sorting installation and sorting method for letters and large letters

A device for emptying a mail item container that is open at the top and serves for transporting mail items. The mail item container has sidewalls and a container underside. The device has a lifting device for moving the mail items relative to the sidewalls. In order to enable postal articles, such as, for example, letter mail items, to be emptied from a mail item container in an ergonomically favorable and efficient manner without adversely affecting its mechanical stability to too great an extent, it is proposed that the lifting device is provided for passing through the underside of the container.

Device for emptying an open-topped mail item container and mail item container

A method and a device transport a flat object, especially a mail item, over a conveyor path. The transport device has two conveyor elements, a thickness sensor and a gap-altering device. With the aid of the thickness sensor the thickness of the object is measured, before the object reaches the conveyor path. With the aid of the gap-altering device the gap between the two conveyor elements is set to a computed value. The effect of this setting is that after the setting the gap is smaller than the measured thickness and the difference between the measured thickness and the gap is smaller than a predetermined limit. This setting is concluded before the subject matter reaches the conveyor path. The two conveyor elements clamp the object for a time between themselves and transport the clamped object over the conveyor path.

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Constance, Germany

Armin Zimmermann