Method for automatically sorting block-type objects of different categories and apparatus therefor

Claim 1

A method for automatically sorting block-type objects, comprising: supplying said objects onto a plurality of supply means provided separately from the said conveyor means and assigned for carrying the objects onto said conveyor means, loading the objects of various catagories on said conveyor means at different positions without the objects being superposed one upon another, at the same time with said supplying registering the category signal information corresponding to the categories of the supplied objects in a shift register for each of said plurality of supply means and in the order of the supplies affected, registering, at the time of said respective loading, signals indicative of the categories of the loaded objects to such positions in a memory means as correspond to the positions of the sections of the conveyor at which time said objects are loaded, at the time of loading rearranging the registered signal in said memory means in the order with which the individual objects are loaded on the conveyor means, and unloading the said objects off the said conveyor means, the signals coming from the said memory means when the said objects being carried on the said conveyor means arrive at designated sites classified according to the respective predetermined categories of the objects.

Claim 2

A method for automatically sorting block-type objects, comprising: supplying said objects onto a plurality of supply means provided separately from the said conveyor means and assigned for carrying the objects onto said conveyor means, loading the objects of various catagories on said conveyor means at different positions without the objects being superposed one upon another, at the same time with said supplying registering the category signal information corresponding to the categories of the supplied objects in a shift register for each of said plurality of supply means and in the order of the supplies affected, registering, at the time of said respective loading, signals indicative of the categories of the loaded objects to such positions in a memory means as correspond to the positions of the sections of the conveyor at which time said objects are loaded, at the time of loading rearranging the registered signal in said memory means in the order with which the individual objects are loaded on the conveyor means, and unloading the said objects off the said conveyor means, the signals coming from the said memory means when the said objects being carried on the said conveyor means arrive at designated sites classified according to the respective predetermined categories of the objects.

Claim 5

An apparatus for automatically sorting block-type objects, comprising: a main conveyor means having a plurality of partitions for carrying the objects to be sorted; a plurality of branch conveyor means for carrying the objects toward said main conveyor means; a plurality of transfer means each one provided at the end of each of said branch conveyor means for transfering the objects from said each branch conveyor means to said main conveyor means; a plurality of unloading stations provided in the way of said main conveyor means, and each including a receptacle and delivery means for removing the object from said main conveyor means to said receptacle; a plurality of category signal generators each including a category signal initiator corresponding to each of said branch conveyor means for generating a signal indicative of the category of the object loaded on said each branch conveyor means, a shift register connected to said category signal initiator for storing the category indicative signals in the order they come from said initiator, a transfer detector associated with the corresponding one of said transfer means for generating a gating signal upon transfer of the object from the corresponding branch conveyor means to said main conveyor means, and a transfer gate connected both to said shift register and said transfer detector for delivering the earliest stored category indicative signal from said shift register upon receipt of said gating signal; and memory means including memory medium travelling synchronously with said main conveyor means, a plurality of write-in heads each connected to each said transfer gate for writing said category indicative signal delivered therefrom on said memory medium, a plurality of read-out heads each assIgned to respective one category for reading signals indicative of the assigned category out of all said category indicative signals written on on said memory medium, and empty detector heads provided in pairs with said write-in heads except the frontmost one and connected to the respectively corresponding ones of said transfer means for prohibiting the transfer of the object when said empty detector head does not detect an empty signal, each of said read-out heads being connected to the corresponding one of said delivery means for removing the object from said conveyor means to the corresponding receptacle when said each read-out head reads from said memory medium a signal of its assigned category, the positional relationship between said write-in heads plus said read-out heads and said memory medium being the same as the positional relationship between said transfer means plus said unloading stations and said main conveyor means.

Claim 6

An apparatus for automatically sorting block-type objects, comprising: a main conveyor means having a plurality of partitions for carrying the objects to be sorted; a plurality of branch conveyor means for carrying the objects toward said main conveyor means; a plurality of transfer means each one provided at the end of each of said branch conveyor means for transfering the objects from said each branch conveyor means to said main conveyor means; a plurality of unloading stations provided in the way of said main conveyor means, and each including a receptacle and delivery means for removing the object from said main conveyor means to said receptacle; a plurality of category signal generators each including a category signal initiator corresponding to each of said branch conveyor means for generating a signal indicative of the category of the object loaded on said each branch conveyor means, a shift register connected to said category signal initiator for storing the category indicative signals in the order they come from said initiator, a transfer detector associated with the corresponding one of said transfer means for generating a gating signal upon transfer of the object from the corresponding branch conveyor means to said main conveyor means, and a transfer gate connected both to said shift register and said transfer detector for delivering the earliest stored category indicative signal from said shift register upon receipt of said gating signal; and memory means including memory medium travelling synchronously with said main conveyor means, a plurality of write-in heads each connected to each said transfer gate for writing said category indicative signal delivered therefrom on said memory medium, a plurality of read-out heads each assIgned to respective one category for reading signals indicative of the assigned category out of all said category indicative signals written on on said memory medium, and empty detector heads provided in pairs with said write-in heads except the frontmost one and connected to the respectively corresponding ones of said transfer means for prohibiting the transfer of the object when said empty detector head does not detect an empty signal, each of said read-out heads being connected to the corresponding one of said delivery means for removing the object from said conveyor means to the corresponding receptacle when said each read-out head reads from said memory medium a signal of its assigned category, the positional relationship between said write-in heads plus said read-out heads and said memory medium being the same as the positional relationship between said transfer means plus said unloading stations and said main conveyor means.

Claim 8

An apparatus for automatically sorting block-type objects, comprising: conveyor means having a plurality of partitions for carrying the objects, a plurality of loading stations provided in the way of said conveyor means and at which are loaded the objects on the partitions of said conveyor means, a plurality of unloading stations provided in the way of said conveyor means and each including a receptacle and delivery means for removing the object from said conveyor means to said receptable, a plurality of category signal generators provided each corresponding to one of said plurality of loading stations for generating a signal indicative of the category of the object loaded thereat, memory means including memory medium travelling synchronously with said conveyor means, a plurality of write-in heads each connected to each of said plurality of category signal generators for writing said category indicative signal on said memory medium, and a plurality of read-out heads each assigned to respective one category for reading signals indicative of the assigned category out of all said category indicative signals written on said memory medium, each of said read-out heads being connected to the corresponding one of said delivery means for removing the object from said conveyor means to the corresponding receptacle when said each read-out head reads from said memory medium a signal of its assigned category, the positional relationship between said plurality of write-in heads plus said read-out heads and said memory medium being the same as the positional relationship between said plurality of loading stations plus said unloading stations and said conveyor means, said memory means further including: spaced rotary members rotatable with their rotatable central shaft driven from a driving means, a required number of spaced memory members having slidable memory pins and being fixed radially on the circumferential peripheries of the said rotary members in a corresponding positional relations to the positions of the partitions formed on the conveyor means so that these memory members are revolved together with the rotary members in synchronism with the shifting in position of the said partitions caused by the travel of the conveyor means, actuating means for actuating the said slidable memory pins, the said actuating means being fixed separately from the said memory members but positioned close enough to the said memory pins to face these pins and so as not to obstruct the sliding movement of the memory piNs and spaced from each other in corresponding relationships to the number and the positions of the sites of the said supply means, sensing means fixed separately from the said memory members to face the said memory pins in a number and at positions corresponding to those of the said receiving units, the said actuating means being adapted to sense the actuated memory pins as the latter approach quite close thereto and to generate signals to open the normally closed opening and closing means for the receiving units when the objects of specific categories arrive at their corresponding unloading stations to thereby allow these objects to be received in their receptacles, receiving means having unloading stations in a number at least corresponding to the number of categories of the objects to be sorted and being provided at designated sites down-stream of the said conveyor means, and means provided in the said memory means for generating signals to actuate, in synchronism with the travel of the said conveyor means, opening and closing means provided for the said receiving units.

Claim 9

An apparatus for automatically sorting block-type objects, comprising: conveyor means having a plurality of partitions for carrying the objects, a plurality of loading stations provided in the way of said conveyor means and at which are loaded the objects on the partitions of said conveyor means, a plurality of unloading stations provided in the way of said conveyor means and each including a receptacle and delivery means for removing the object from said conveyor means to said receptable, a plurality of category signal generators provided each corresponding to one of said plurality of loading stations for generating a signal indicative of the category of the object loaded thereat, memory means including memory medium travelling synchronously with said conveyor means, a plurality of write-in heads each connected to each of said plurality of category signal generators for writing said category indicative signal on said memory medium, and a plurality of read-out heads each assigned to respective one category for reading signals indicative of the assigned category out of all said category indicative signals written on said memory medium, each of said read-out heads being connected to the corresponding one of said delivery means for removing the object from said conveyor means to the corresponding receptacle when said each read-out head reads from said memory medium a signal of its assigned category, the positional relationship between said plurality of write-in heads plus said read-out heads and said memory medium being the same as the positional relationship between said plurality of loading stations plus said unloading stations and said conveyor means, said memory means further including: spaced rotary members rotatable with their rotatable central shaft driven from a driving means, a required number of spaced memory members having slidable memory pins and being fixed radially on the circumferential peripheries of the said rotary members in a corresponding positional relations to the positions of the partitions formed on the conveyor means so that these memory members are revolved together with the rotary members in synchronism with the shifting in position of the said partitions caused by the travel of the conveyor means, actuating means for actuating the said slidable memory pins, the said actuating means being fixed separately from the said memory members but positioned close enough to the said memory pins to face these pins and so as not to obstruct the sliding movement of the memory piNs and spaced from each other in corresponding relationships to the number and the positions of the sites of the said supply means, sensing means fixed separately from the said memory members to face the said memory pins in a number and at positions corresponding to those of the said receiving units, the said actuating means being adapted to sense the actuated memory pins as the latter approach quite close thereto and to generate signals to open the normally closed opening and closing means for the receiving units when the objects of specific categories arrive at their corresponding unloading stations to thereby allow these objects to be received in their receptacles, receiving means having unloading stations in a number at least corresponding to the number of categories of the objects to be sorted and being provided at designated sites down-stream of the said conveyor means, and means provided in the said memory means for generating signals to actuate, in synchronism with the travel of the said conveyor means, opening and closing means provided for the said receiving units.