Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Holger Schererz

Armin Zimmermann

Frank Voss

Gerhard Obier

Peter Enenkel

Wolf-Stephan Wilke

Frank Gerstenberg

Andre Rompe

Eberhard Mandler

Rolf-Peter Skrdlant

Nikolaus Haselberger

Michael Schwarzbauer

Florian Buehs

Werner Frank

Juergen Francke

Bertram Wanner

Goeran Keil

Jürgen Francke

Peter Bretschneider

Florian Bühs

Dieter Powollik

Erich Groegor

Matthias Prasser

Joachim Kuehnapfel

André Tolksdorf

Göran Keil

A non-rail-bound vehicle, in particular a truck, includes a current collector for supplying electric energy from a two-pole overhead conductor. A rocker can be vertically lifted or lowered by a rocking movement of a support extension arm about horizontal tilting axes of lower hinge assemblies and can be laterally displaced by a tilting movement of a support extension arm about vertical pivot axes of the lower hinge assemblies. The lower hinge assemblies are supported on a lifting device which is connected to a vehicle frame of the vehicle and through which the current collector can be vertically moved between a lower parked position and an upper operating position. In this manner, overhead conductors with an extended height range can be contacted without the current collector influencing the entire length of the vehicle.

Non-rail-bound vehicle

A sorting installation and a sorting method jointly sort two kinds of flat mail items. For each article to be sorted, a value that a prescribed sorting feature assumes for the article is measured. The article is transported by a first transport device to a separating filter. An article of the first article kind is redirected in a first outward-transfer device. On the basis of the ascertained sorting feature value, one sorting output from a first set of sorting outputs is selected. The article is transferred outward to the selected sorting output from the first sorting output set. An article of the second article kind is redirected to a second transport device and transported to a second outward-transfer device. On the basis of the ascertained sorting feature value, one sorting output from a second set of sorting outputs is selected.

Sorting installation and sorting method for jointly sorting different kinds of articles

A transfer device for mail items with a transfer unit which has an ejection point for transferring individualized mail items to an item carrier is provided. Further, the transfer device includes a transport device for transporting the mail items to the ejection point in a direction of transport. The transport device includes two belts for holding the mail items on both sides and for transporting the mail items and further has means for adapting a space between the belts to the thickness of a mail item. The means for adapting is a belt tilt means which is pivotal about an axis of rotation, the pivotal movement pivoting one of the belts and therefore a distance between the belts is variable.

Transfer device for mail items

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 and a method separate flat objects, including flat mail items. The apparatus has a first and a second separator. Each separator extends a plurality of overlapping objects in a direction parallel to the object planes. The second separator has a transport element and a retaining element. The second separator can be operated optionally in a separating mode, in which it is capable of separating objects, and a transport mode. An overlap detection device checks whether an item which is transported by the second separator contains a single object or a plurality of overlapping objects. The overlap detection device measures the respective length of the transported item at at least two instants. If the length changes, the item contains a plurality of overlapping objects. If a plurality of objects has been detected, the second separator is switched over into the separating mode and it separates the objects.

Apparatus and method for separating flat objects by use of two separators and a length detector

A device for stacking flat, flexible postal items in a stacking compartment in an upright position includes a stacking roller positionable in proximity of the stacking compartment. A covered belt system feeds the postal items consecutively to the stacking roller, wherein the belt system has a first belt and a second belt. A deflection roller on an axis deflects the first belt from the second belt so that the second belt continuous to transport a postal item to the stacking roller. A first profile roller on the deflection roller has a predetermined roller length and includes a number of diameter taperings over its roller length. Deflectable pressure means press the postal items into the diameter taperings of the first profile roller to reduce a free flexible lengths of a postal items.

Device for stacking flat, flexible postal items in a stacking compartment

A sorting device has at least one mail item buffer receptacle, a number of storage pockets for mail items arranged one after another and circulating continuously in a conveyor belt and moved past one or more loading stations. Below straight transfer sections of the conveyors fixed intermediate storage receptacles open at the top are arranged to accept one or more mail items from the loaded storage pockets to be opened under control in the transfer sections. On a transport path below the intermediate storage receptacles there are also continuously circulating mail item containers open at the top as sorting end points assigned to the destination addresses or destination address groups. In the mail item containers the mail items are unloaded downwards in a horizontal position in accordance with their read destination address through controllable opening of the relevant intermediate storage receptacle at the point, in which the mail item container assigned to the address is located in the corresponding position below the intermediate storage receptacle with mail items for this mail item container.

Method of sorting flat mail items

The sorting device according to the present invention has at least one mail item buffer receptacle, a number of storage pockets for mail items arranged one after another and circulating continuously in a conveyor belt and moved past one or more loading stations. Below straight transfer sections of the conveyors fixed intermediate storage receptacles open at the top are arranged to accept one or more mail items from the loaded storage pockets to be opened under control in the transfer sections. On a transport path below the intermediate storage receptacles there are also continuously circulating mail item containers open at the top as sorting end points assigned to the destination addresses or destination address groups. In the mail item containers the mail items are unloaded downwards in a horizontal position in accordance with their read destination address through controllable opening of the relevant intermediate storage receptacle at the point, in which the mail item container assigned to the address is located in the corresponding position below the intermediate storage receptacle with mail items for this mail item container.

Sorting device for flat mail items

An apparatus for conveying mail flats in an upright position with at least one conveying module has a circulating, horizontally oriented floor belt guided via return rollers, and two endless lateral guide belts guided via deflection rollers. A distance of the lateral guide belts from one another at ends of the conveying modules is greater than a thickest mail item. A height of a first lateral guide belt is less than that of a second lateral guide belt. Below the first lateral guide belt an elastic, narrow, endless pressure belt is provided, which is resiliently pressed against a lower part of the second lateral guide belt by pressure deflection rollers and pressed away from the second lateral guide belt by the mail items according to their thickness. Guide rails are mounted obliquely to a conveying direction and tangentially to the pressure deflection rollers.

Device for conveying flat postal articles in an upright position

The invention relates to a device for the delivery of flat objects to a friction/suction picking device with a suction head, the objects standing in a stack on a thin edge thereof on a support surface arranged on a stop surface and transported in the direction of the picking point using conveyor means. A sensor for measuring the vacuum in the suction head, is arranged on or in the suction head, which is connected to the drive controller on the conveyor means. Depending on the measured vacuum the conveyor means can be controlled such that the front object has an inclination as low as possible with the lowest possible stack pressure on the at least one friction picking device.

Apparatus for feeding flat items

A mixed mail sorting machine includes a feeder that receives a stack of incoming mail pieces and outputs the mail pieces one at a time in a vertical position; a scanner which receives mail pieces from the feeder and scans each mail piece in a vertical position to read sorting information thereon; a reorientation conveyor which receives the scanned mail pieces from the scanner and re-orients each mail piece from a vertical to a horizontal position; a transport device for turning mailing through a 180&#xb0; arc; a splitter conveyor including a movable divert section which diverts each mail piece to an upper path or a lower path; a bin module which includes upper and lower bin sections which receive mail pieces from the upper and lower paths, respectively, wherein each bin section includes a row of bins and an associated series of tiltable conveyor sections which can be actuated to drop a mail piece into the associated bin; and a control system which tracks each mail piece as it moves from the scanner to the bins and controls operation of the divert section and the tiltable conveyor section so that each mail piece is sorted to predetermined bin based on the sorting information read by the scanner.

Mixed mail sorting machine

The invention pertains to a transport device for rerouting flat mail pieces ( ) that are transported clamped between an endless lower band ( ) and an endless upper band ( ), wherein the upper band ( ) is realized in a longitudinally elastic fashion and guided back in an outwardly directed loop. According to the invention, an inexpensive and space-saving rerouting with the least possible stress on the mail pieces is realized due to the fact that the driven lower band ( ) is guided on a stationary, immovable guide element ( ) with a sliding surface that has the shape of a curved segment, and the sliding surface of the curved segment has a lower coefficient of friction than the lower band ( ) and the mail pieces ( ). The lower band ( ) has a low coefficient of friction on its side facing the guide element ( ) and has a high coefficient of friction on its side facing the non-driven upper band ( ) and the mail pieces ( ). The lower band is deflected inward by means of deflection rolls ( ) in such a way that it is looped around a driving roll ( ) arranged within the guide element ( ) with its side that has a high coefficient of friction.

Transportation device for deflecting flat consignments

The invention relates to an apparatus for turning flat shipments, which are delivered in succession standing on their short sides by a conveyor system, into a recumbent position, without interrupting the conveying. According to the invention, the apparatus has a driven under-floor belt (,) with a low coefficient of friction, which on one side has a projection (,) with a higher coefficient of friction. Located next to the under-floor belt (,) on the side without a projection is a side belt (,), which is positioned obliquely outward and is driven at the same speed as the under-floor belt (,) and likewise has a low coefficient of friction. Downstream thereof in the conveying direction is a conveyor belt (,), whose bearing face together with the bearing face of the under-floor belt (,) defines a plane; the under-floor belt (,) and the conveyor belt (,) are disposed and/or embodied such that the air cushion that forms when the shipments drop is quickly dissipated. Next to the under-floor belt (,), on the side with the projection (,), is a guide device (,), facing the side belt (,), for tipping the shipments onto the side belt (,).

Apparatus for turning flat shipments

A method for controlling an intermediate stacking device for flat shipments, in particular in letter sorting facilities, comprising a stacking device (SR) on a movable stacking cart (SW), a bottom transporting belt (UB) on which the shipments are positioned crosswise to the belt movement direction, and a separating device with a withdrawal means (AR), as well as a shipment sensor (FH,), which detects the shipments at the separating device. In order to correct without problems a slanted position of the shipment stack at the separating device, the normal operational control of the intermediate stacking device becomes invalid if a predetermined time interval during which no shipments are detected at the withdrawal means (AR) is exceeded, the supply of shipments to the intermediate stacking device is interrupted, the bottom transporting belt (UB) is stopped, and the stacking cart (SW) is put into motion in the direction of the separating device. If a shipment is once more detected at the withdrawal means and taking into account a preferably linearly dependent lag time that depends on the measured filling level of the intermediate stacking device, the compression movement of the stacking cart (SW) is stopped, the supply of shipments to the intermediate stacking device is resumed again and the drives for bottom transporting belt (UB) and stacking cart (SW) are again controlled in the normal operation.

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Rehfelde, Germany

Holger Schererz