| 摘要 |
<p>An article processing apparatus having a plurality of input conveyors (22, 24) directing articles (10) into a work station (30) and a single turret sorting mechanism (40). The work station (30) processes articles (10) while, simultaneously, unprocessed articles (10) are fed into the turret sorting mechanism (40). The output of the work station (30) is simultaneously fed into the turret sorting mechanism (40). The turret control mechanism (29, 90) engages articles (10, 10') fed to it using a gripper (46). The turret sorting mechanism (40) rotates the articles (10, 10') until, in conjunction with a control system (29, 90), the articles (10, 10') are released onto appropriate locations on a second set of conveyors (26, 28). The second set of conveyors (26, 28) directs the unprocessed articles (10) to a second work station (35) (where the unprocessed articles (10) are processed) and the articles (10') processed by the first work station (30) are directed to an output station (38). Once processed, the articles (10) sent to the second work station (35) are also directed to the output station (38) where they are collected and prepared for further processing.</p> |
