Transfer conveyor arrangement and control

摘要

A routing module capable of conveying incoming articles from a plurality of infeed conveyor zones to a plurality of discharge conveyors is controlled efficiently to avoid gridlock. The control logic may consider upstream fullness and downstream fullness conditions. Articles may be conveyed to alternative destinations to avoid upstream articles from being delayed due to the lack of availability of the desired destination path for an article.

主权项

1. A method comprising;
controlling a routing module comprising a plurality of conveying zones each having an associated zone control module and configured to receive articles from a plurality of infeed conveyor zones and to discharge the articles to any of a plurality of discharge conveyor zones toward each respective article's final destination; determining whether there is space on said routing module for an additional article; selecting an infeed conveyor zone to release its associated article therefrom to a designated discharge conveyor zone associated with said associated article's final destination; determining whether conveyors downstream of the designated discharge conveyor zone are considered full; and releasing said associated article to said routing module.