 |
Claims  |
|
|
What is claimed is:
1. Apparatus for processing a group of orders of various customers, wherein
each order typically includes requirements for specified items, and where
various items are supplied to the apparatus, all items of the same variety
having corresponding characterizations that differ from the
characterizations of items of different varieties, said apparatus
including
(i) order recording means including means for storing customer-related data
for each order of the group and means for storing the requirements of each
of the orders for the specified items of the order,
(ii) scanning means for registering the characterization of each item
supplied to the apparatus,
(iii) labeling means for applying customer-related data to at least some of
the supplied items,
(iv) allocating means jointly responsive to the scanning means and the
order recording means for allocating each scanned item to one of the
orders, if any, among those orders for which there is a stored requirement
for the same variety of item as the scanned item, said allocating means
comprising (a) means for selecting one of said orders, if any, having such
stored requirement, and (b) means for controlling said labeling means to
label each item whose registered characterization corresponds to a stored
requirement in the selected order with customer-related data in accordance
with the selected order, and
(v) accounting means for limiting the allocation of items scanned by the
scanning means to those orders represented in said order registering means
whose storing means contain requirements for the same variety of item as
the scanned item exceeding prior allocations of such variety of items to
such orders, respectively, in processing the group of orders.
2. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said labeling means includes selective
printing means controlled by said means for storing customer-related data
for printing such customer-related data.
3. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said means for storing the customer
related data includes means for storing the customer's name and address
and wherein said labeling means includes selective printing means for
printing the customer's name and address in labeling respective scanned
items.
4. Apparatus as in claim 3 wherein said selective printing means is
arranged to print a succession of labels and wherein said laabeling means
includes means for applying each newly printed label to the related
scanned item.
5. Apparatus as in claim 1, further including means for conveying items
successively past said scanning means and said labeling means.
6. Apparatus as in claim 1, further including means for conveying items
successively past said scanning means and said labeling means, wherein
said conveying means includes sortation means responsive to said
allocating means for delivering said labeled items to order-assembly sites
related respectively to said customers.
7. Apparatus as in either in claim 5 or 6 wherein said labeling means
includes at least two labeling devices each of which includes a printer
controlled selectively by said order recording means for printing said
order-related data on a label and means for applying each newly printed
label to an item, said apparatus including means to coordinate said
labeling devices so that, while one such labeling device is labeling any
one item, another such labeling device is being prepared to label another
item following said one item on said conveying means.
8. Apparatus for processing orders of various customers, wherein each order
typically includes a list of specified items and specified quantities of
those items, and wherein various items are supplied to the apparatus, all
items of the same variety having corresponding characterizations that
differ from the characterizations of items of different varieties, said
apparatus including
i. order recording means including means for storing customer-related data
of each of the orders, means for storing representations of the varieties
of items specified in the orders, and quantity storing means for storing a
representation of the specified quantity of each variety of item in each
of the orders,
ii. scanning means for registering the characterization of each item
supplied to the apparatus,
iii. labeling means for applying customer-related data to at least some of
the supplied items,
iv. allocating means jointly responsive to the scanning means and the order
registering means for (a) locating and selecting an order, if any, having
a stored representation of the variety of item corresponding to the
registered characterization of each scanned item, and for (b) controlling
said labeling means (b.1) to label only those items whose registered
characterizations correspond to stored representations of items in the
registered orders, respectively, and (b.2) to select customer-related data
to be applied by the labeling means in accordance with the selected order,
thereby allocating such items to the selected orders, respectively, and
(v) accounting means for limiting the allocation of any particular item
scanned by the scanning means to one of the orders having a quantity
representation of the same variety of item as the scanned item in its
quantity storing means that exceeds the aggregate prior allocations to
that order of items having a stored representation corresponding to the
characterization of said particular item.
9. Apparatus for processing a group of orders of various customers, wherein
each order typically includes requirements for specified items, all items
of the same variety having corresponding characterizations that differ
from the characterizations of items of different varieties, said apparatus
including
(i) order recording means including means for storing customer-related data
for each order of the group and means for storing net requirements of each
of the orders for the specified items of each order, a net requirement
being the requirement for an item specified in an order as reduced in the
course of the operation of the apparatus in processing the group of
orders,
(ii) scanning means for registering the characterization of each item
supplied to the apparatus,
(iii) labeling means for applying customer-related data to at least some of
the supplied items,
(iv) allocating means jointly responsive to the scanning means and the
order registering means for allocating each particular scanned item to one
of the orders, if any, among those orders whose storing means has a stored
net requirement for the same variety of item as the scanned item, said
allocating means comprising (a.) means for selecting such an order based
on correspondence between the registered characterization of each
particular scanned item and the stored net requirement for an item of the
same variety in the selected order, and (b.) means for controlling said
labeling means to label only those particular scanned items with
customer-related data in accordance with the selected orders, and
(v) accounting means responsive to said allocating means for adjusting
respective ones of said net requirements storing means related to items
being allocated to the orders for thereby limiting subsequent allocations
to orders having unfilled requirements for subsequently scanned items.
10. Apparatus as in any of claims 2-6, wherein said labeling means includes
plural labeling devices operable in sequence to label successively
allocated items or.
11. Apparatus as in claim 8 or 9, further including means for conveying
items successively past said scanning means and said labeling means, said
conveying means including sortation means responsive to said allocating
means for delivering said labeled items and packages to order-assembly
sites related respectively to said customers.
12. Apparatus as in claim 1, 7, including a conveyor for transporting
successive items, as supplied to the apparatus, to said scanning means and
thereafter to said labeling means.
13. Apparatus as in claim 12, wherein said labeling means includes plural
labeling devices operable in sequence to label successively allocated
items so that, while one such labeling device is labeling any particular
item or package, another such labeling device is being prepared to label
another item or package following said particular item or package.
14. Apparatus as in either of claims 8 and 9 wherein said labeling means
includes plural labeling devices operable in sequence to label
successively allocated items or packages of items.
15. A method of concurrently processing plural orders of various customers,
wherein each order typically includes specified items and a specified
quantity of each of those items, all items of the same variety having
corresponding characterizations that differ from the characterizations of
different varieties of items, including the steps of
(i) recording data representing the orders to be processed including the
orders and characterizations of the specified items for said orders and a
representation of the specified quantity of each item of each order,
(ii) supplying a succession of items corresponding at least approximately
to the sum of the quantities of all the items in the orders to be
processed concurrently,
(iii) registering the characterization of each of the succession of
supplied items,
(iv) comparing the registered characterization of each of said succession
of supplied items to the recorded characterizations of items for said
orders and, where a recorded characterization of an item for an order is
located that corresponds to the registered characterization of a supplied
item, allocating that supplied item to the located order by selecting such
order and labeling such item with data particularly related to the
selected order,
(v) keeping account of each item allocated to each of said orders, and
(vi) limiting the allocation of supplied items whose characterizations are
registered to only those recorded orders wherein the specified quantities
of such items exceed the prior allocations of such items in such orders,
respectively.
16. The method as in claim 15, further including the step of conveying the
item or items allocated as aforesaid to corresponding order-assembling
sites.
17. A method as in claim 15 wherein an address of the recorded data
representing the customer is stored as part of each order and wherein the
data in the labeling comprises at least an address of the customer.
18. A method of concurrently processing plural orders of various customers,
wherein each order typically includes a list of various specified items,
all items of the same variety having corresponding characterizations that
differ from the characterizations of items of different varieties,
including the steps of
(i) recording data identifying a series of orders and recording the
characterizations of the items specified in the orders so as to show the
items required for each of the orders,
(ii) supplying a succession of items corresponding at least approximately
to the items in the orders to be processed concurrently,
(iii) registering the characterization of each of the succession of
supplied items,
(iv) comparing the registered characterization of each of said succession
of supplied items to the recorded characterizations of items in the orders
to locate and select an order that requires an item whose recorded
characterization corresponds to the registered characterization of a
supplied item, and
(v) labeling each such required item with data particularly related to such
order. |
|
 |
|
 |
Claims |
|
|
|
Description |
|
|
This application relates to apparatus for labeling packages and to
apparatus for labeling and sorting packages, and to corresponding methods.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A large amount of effort has been devoted to improving the efficiency of
assembling orders of merchandise in warehouses, and in expeditiously
labeling the ordered merchandise preparatory to shipping it to consignees,
typicaly to retailers. In a proposed system, a computer stores all of the
data representing orders of various consignees, and the computer is
programmed to print labels for each item in each order. Warehouse
personnel then pick from stock the items identified by the labels. Each
label has man-readable data related to the order's consignee, such as the
consignee's name and the consignee's selling price for that item. Each
label also bears a bar code that uniquely identifies that specific package
in the day's operations, used later in sorting the picked packages and in
accounting.
That system depends on accuracy of the personnel in picking merchandise
from inventory and in applying the labels. Printed labels for items not in
inventory are not only wasted, but such labels must be read into the
computer to reveal ordered but not-shipped merchandise. If automated
picking were used in such a system, the warehouses organization would of
necessity become tightly organized all the way from the storage bins to
the shipping docks, becoming correspondingly inflexible in many respects
and costly. Such a system is practical only for limited application.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of this invention resides in providing a novel apparatus and
method for labeling packages of items with data related to the consignees
of the packages, plus optional additional data.
A further object of the invention resides in providing novel
order-processing apparatus and methods that avoid many of the
complications and limitations of the systems outlined above.
Many manufacturing provide a service of "pre-ticketing" or labeling each
package with the customer's selling price of each package. If stocks of
various items are preticketed for various consignees and stored in
readiness for filling orders, the stock of each preticketed item of each
consignee must be stored separately. The number of stocks of items
requiring separate storage would in effect be multiplied. Moreover, the
total warehouse inventory would be increased correspondingly, and there is
an inherent risk that items preticketed for one consignee may be picked in
filling another consignee's order. Even if picked supplies of items are
preticketed immediately before assembling the items to fill an order, the
preticketing operation entails added expense and it complicates management
of the warehouse.
A still further object of the invention resides in novel apparatus and
methods for pre-ticketing merchandise in a way that avoids or ameliorates
the foregoing disadvantages.
Another object of the invention resides in providing novel apparatus and
methods for dependably applying a shipping label to each separately
handled item in a shipment, as part of a high-integrity system of filling
orders and developing dependable shipping records as a basis for billing.
The foregoing object finds application in shipments from a warehouse to a
retailer, but it also has other applications. For example, corresponding
considerations apply to supplying books or sound recordings ordered by
subscribers in a plan that offers multiple choices. Each item being
processed is checked against subscriptions stored in a computer. When an
item is needed for a subscription, it is labeled with the address of a
subscriber who ordered that item and an entry is made against that
subscription showing that the item has been supplied.
The foregoing and other objects, advantages and novel features of the
invention in its various aspects are achieved in the illustrative
embodiment that is described in detail below and shown in the accompanying
drawings. Orders to be processed are stored in a computer. The packages in
inventory bear machine-readable codes that identify or characterize the
package contents. Scanning of a package triggers a search in the computer
storage to select an order requiring that item. The match between the item
characterization and a requirement for that item in a selected order
results in labeling of the scanned package with data related to the
selected order including derived data. Such data may take the form of the
selling price of that item established by the consignee, optionally with
the consignee's name, or it may take the form of a complete shipping
label. Coordinately, the stored record of the quantity requirement in the
selected order for that item is adjusted to reflect the allocation of that
package to that order.
In the example of orders representing a subscription list, an order of a
subscriber for any item (e.g. a book title) is satisfied after allocation
of but one package to a designated consignee. Plural packages of any one
item may appear in a retail establishment's order for an item. The package
may be only one unit of an item. Otherwise the package may be a one-dozen
carton of like units (for example) or a multiple-gross case of an item.
Allocation of each package to an order is registered in the computer in
any suitable manner, whether to reduce the registered quantity requirement
for the order or to provide a separate record of quantities of each of the
items allocated to that order. When the number of allocated units of an
item reaches the number of units required in the order, that order is in
effect erased from the subsequent order-selection process. Accordingly,
when a package has been scanned to determine its item identity, the
package is allocated to a selected order, the package is labeled with data
related to the consignee, and the registered quantity requirement for that
item in the selected order is adjusted accordingly.
It is contemplated that supplies of preprinted labels (e.g. pre-ticketing
labels) may be prepared. Devices having supplies of such labels may be
selectively activated for labeling packages allocated to respective
consignees. However, it is preferred to use commercially available
computer-controlled printers for labeling of packages. Labeling may be
performed by printing directly on the packages, or on labels to be
applied.
The packages are advantageously transported by conveying apparatus past the
scanning device to the labeling apparatus. The entire operation is speeded
up by employing multiple labeling devices in sequence. Thus, where two
labeling devices are used, they may be operated in alternation. During the
time interval required for one labeling device to apply a prepared label
to a previously scanned package, another labeling device operates to
prepare the next label to be applied. In this way the speed of the entire
system in processing packages is not limited by the cycle time of a
labeling device.
A shipping label may be applied to each package as part of the operation of
processing multiple orders concurrently. All the labeled packages may be
sorted by the conveyor apparatus in accordance with the consignee-related
data. Where a dozen orders of retailers are being processed as a group,
the packages bearing a particular consignee's labels are delivered to a
packing station or a shipping dock assigned to the related order. It is
also feasible to control the conveyor system for sorting packages to be
mailed in accordance with postal-zone codes stored in the computer and
printed on the shipping labels as part of the order-related data.
With respect to each package allocated to a particular order, the
order-processing system includes means for verifying delivery of that
package to the delivery site of the conveyor system designated for that
order.
Packages allocated to a given order are initially deducted from the
quantity requirement of that item registered for that order. That
registered quantity requirement is corrected in case of non-delivery or
other malfunction of the sorting conveyor. The labeled packages that are
not diverted to the designated delivery sites are routed to a reject lane.
They can be reintroduced to the scanner after removing the applied labels,
or such labeled packages can be delivered to their intended sites
manually. If this is done, the computer records may need corresponding
revision.
It has been found convenient to use commercial expressions in explaining
the invention and its utility. Such expressions are not intended as
limiting. The terms "order", "preticketing", "consignee" and "consignee's
address" are examples of such expressions. The text of the consignees'
addresses normally form part of the controlling computer's stored
information forming part of each "order", and the prices used in
preticketing may also be part of each stored order. However, the storage
representing a selected order may include a "look-up" direction to other
storage that actually provides the text to be used. In both cases, the
text is related to and determined by the selected order among the group of
orders being processed. Moreover, the labeling may well include additional
text (such as the date of shipment in legible form or as a bar code) that
may not be related to any particular order.
The nature of the invention in its various aspects will be better
appreciated, and further objects, novel features and advantages will
become apparent, from the following detailed description of an
illustrative embodiment of the invention and from the accompanying
drawings showing that embodiment.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a labeling and sorting apparatus
embodying features of the invention;
FIG. 1A is a diagram of an illustrative computer-controlled labeler of FIG.
1;
FIGS. 2-14 are a composite flow chart for the apparatus of FIG. 1;
FIG. 15 is a diagram representing a modified organization of the computer
of FIG. 1;
FIG. 16 is a modification of the flow chart of FIG. 2 to adapt the computer
to the data format of FIG. 15; and
FIGS. 17A, 17B and 17C are representations of various tach entries of the
embodiment of FIGS. 1-14.
DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
The apparatus detailed below has a conveyor system whose loading end L
receives packages of merchandise to be distributed to respective sites
that are assigned to the consignees of a group of orders being processed.
In a preparatory routine, a computer is used to accumulate the totals of
each of the items needed to fill all of the group of orders being
processed concurrently. A list of all such items and their totals is
prepared for use as a "pick list". The items are picked from stock and
collected for loading in any random order onto loading end L of the
conveyor system described below. Picking and transfer of the packages may
be done manually or by mechanized apparatus, as may prove expedient. Some
items on order might be unavailable. Also, some of the picked items might
be picked in error, either because they are not needed for any of the
orders or because too many of a given item were picked. Such shortages and
picking errors do not interfere with the routine operation of the novel
systems in distributing the properly picked items.
The term "package" is used in this specification in a broad sense to
signify any entity that is handled separately, such as a box, a bag or a
carton, as well as multiple articles secured together as an entity. The
term "package" will also serve as an abbreviated reference to an
equivalent separately handled entity even if it may not have a wrapping.
The sorting conveyor discharges the packages at various "lanes", a term
here used interchangeably with the corresponding order-assembly "sites" or
"locations".
The apparatus includes label-applying devices that are shown
diagrammatically. The label-applying stroke of those devices may be
downward, or it may be horizontal for applying a label to a side of a
carton. In order to label the successive items properly, the packages
should be located on the conveyor consistently, for example centered
between the side edges of the conveyor or at a side margin of the
conveyor. This can be accomplished by properly placing each item on the
conveyor. Alternatively or in addition, means may be provided for biasing
each unit into its proper location.
Essentially, the same apparatus may be used for processing small packaged
items, small cartons and large bulk-shipping cartons. It may be
appropriate to modify the components of the conveyor system in accordance
with its use, making them large and rugged for bulk-shipping cartons and
of lighter proportions for smaller units. The conveyor system and its
timing as described below are appropriate for preticketing in accordance
with the designated consignee and routing the packages accordingly. The
same program with appropriately adjusted timing can serve for addressing
shipping cartons and routing them to respective shipping docks.
Whether the apparatus is used for preticketing or for addressing, the
program is essentially the same. In both instances, the labeling is
triggered by recognition of what the item is, its characterization and
after selection of an order table showing need for that item, the text of
the label is derived from the selected order. Notably, recognition of the
item at the loading end L of the conveyor triggers a canvassing operation
in the computer to allocate that item to a consignee identified with an
order table. The text of the applied label is taken from (or derived under
control of) the selected order table.
In the embodiment of FIG. 1, a plan view of a sorting conveyor is shown
diagrammatically at the left. That apparatus includes plural physically
independent belt conveyors 40--each being further identified as 40-1,
40-2, etc. in accordance with its location along the route of package
travel from the loading end L and along arrow A. Between each belt
conveyor 40 and the next there is an eject mechanism 42, separately
designated 42-1, 42-2, etc. in accordance with its location following belt
conveyors 40-1, 40-2, etc. A practical form of this eject mechanism is
described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,774 issued Nov. 20, 1979, the
details of which are incorporated herein by reference. Each eject
mechanism or diverter 42 includes a series of constantly driven active
rollers that tend to advance the packages along the direction of the
arrows A from one belt conveyor 40 to the next and, interspaced with such
active rollers there are constantly driven belts that run transverse to
the conveyor path, along the arrows B. The belts operate in a "normal"
direction and they are normally lowered below the level of the active
rollers. In that condition of the diverters, the active rollers serve to
transport packages along the path of arrows A. With appropriate input
control, the eject mechanisms can be raised above the active rollers. They
are controlled to operate in their "normal" direction to eject packages to
the right, or in the reverse direction to discharge packages to the left.
In a practical form of this apparatus, there are six diverters 42, twelve
order assembly lanes 44 and seven belt conveyors 40 leading to the reject
end R of the travel path.
Adjacent to each diverting device there are two order assembly lanes 44,
including order assembly lanes 44-1 and 44-2 for diverter 42-1, order
assembly lanes 44-3 and 44-4 for diverter 42-2, etc., for a total of
twelve order assembly lanes in this example. Each order assembly lane may,
for example, include a discharge ramp sloping to a packing table at a
level below the package-supporting level of the diverters.
Entry electric eye 45 is located near the loading end L of the conveyor
system. Diverter electric eyes 46 (46-1, 46-2, etc.) are distributed along
the package path between the loading end and the reject end R. Immediately
ahead of the entry electric eye 45 there is a single item-code reader,
especially a laser code scanner 48 which may incorporate its own
scan-initiating electric eye. Diverter electric eyes 46-1, 46-2, etc., are
located at the ends of the belt conveyors 40-1, 40-2, etc., to detect the
arrival of a package to diverters 42-1, 42-2, etc. Electric eyes 46a-1 and
46a-2 detect packages passing control points along belt conveyor 40-1.
Two printing and label-applying devices 49-1 and 49-2 controlled by
electric eyes 46-1 and 46-2 are located along belt conveyor 40-1 between
scanner 48 and the first diverter 42-1. In the illustrative apparatus,
each of these devices 49-1 and 49-2 includes a computer-controlled printer
49a that prints data on a label and that includes means 49b for applying
the label to a package. For example, the labels may be the
pressure-sensitive adhesive type. They are supplied by a feeder 49c to the
printer one-at-a-time, as from a roll of release-coated carrier strip, by
means of a customary feeding mechanism. Each printing and labeling device
in this example includes a vacuum label-applying head that grasps each
newly printed label, plus means for peeling away the carrier strip as the
label is grasped. The vacuum head then applies the label to a package.
Details of these devices 49-1 and 49-2 do not form part of the invention
and are not illustrated. Indeed, it is within present contemplation to
perform the labeling operation by directly printing data on each package.
"Acknowledgement" electric eyes 50 (50-1, 50-2, etc.) are arranged partway
along the order assembly lanes 44-1, 44-2, etc.
All of the belt conveyors 40 are alike, except that they may differ in path
length as may be expedient in a given installation, and their electric
drive motors are alike. The diverters are also alike and their motors are
alike. All the motors are turned on and off in unison, and they are
supplied by a common electric power line. Accordingly, the belt conveyors
tend to transport packages at the same speed, which speed may vary with
line voltage and with wear (unless synchronous motors are used). Some
packages may move in near-synchronism with the belts while others develop
a certain amount of "slip", the difference between the belt speed and the
actual package speed. The package-forwarding speeds of the diverters are
also alike, and they are similarly subject to "slip". The package
forwarding speed of the diverters equals that of the belt conveyors and,
in an example, the diverter belts move thirty percent faster. The whole
system is easily installed and accommodates a wide range of package
shapes, proportions and weights. Belt conveyors are inexpensive, widely
available and relatively trouble-free.
One of the belt conveyors 40-1 has a "tach" (tachometer) pulse generator 52
connected to its drive mechanism, producing a train of pulses representing
the belt drive and closely representing the belt speed. The tach pulses
also approximate closely the speed of all other belt conveyors 40 and of
the forward-feed rollers of the diverters. As will be seen, the tach
pulses are part of a system that enables packages downstream of the single
scan unit to be treated dependably as the packages that were scanned
earlier, despite a range of "slip" and "non-slip" conditions. As is
apparent, the tach pulses stop when the conveyor system is at rest.
Computer 54 with its logic and control apparatus 56 responds to the
conveyor system and to manual control, and it controls the selective
delivery of merchandise loaded onto the first belt conveyor 40-1; and the
computer operates message output apparatus 58 (representing CRT displays
and printers as well as any requisite off-line computers and printers) for
issuing reports, for producing shipping papers, and for related accounting
purposes.
Computer 54 as represented in FIG. 1 is organized to have a number of order
tables 60 (designated 60-1, 60-2, etc.) including one such table for each
order assembly lane 50. Each table has a register 61 for an order number
and a register 62 for a lane number, and (where the apparatus is to apply
address labels) it includes storage 63 for the name and address of the
consignee. Each order table also includes as many item entry positions 64
as there are items in that order. Each item entry position has an item
number register 66, an item price register 67, a temporary quantity
counter 68 and a permanent quantity register 70. Additionally the computer
has a quantity counter 72 for each order table, and a quantity counter 74
for the grand total of all the items of all the orders being processed
together. Register 75 may store outputs of scanner 48. The "product
characterizations" provided by scanner 48 and the "item characterizations"
in registers 66 both signify the same items in the orders.
The computer additionally includes an active table 76 providing as many
positions 76a, 76b, etc. as there are packages on the conveyor system 40-1
to 40-6. The table position representing a typical package is designated
"76n". Each table position includes a tachometer ("tach") register 78, an
order assembly lane register 80, an item identification register 82, and
zone register 84. The code number here represents a package containing one
unit of a particular product. The "unit" may be a single product or
multiples of a certain product, and each order then lists the quantity of
each product in terms of single products, dozen-product packages, etc.
This example could be changed readily to accommodate packages of various
numbers of units by adding a number-of-units scanner to the item-code
scanner, plus corresponding arithmetic provisions in the computer.
For example, conveyor 40-1 is to be loaded with up to three packages
between the entry eye 45 and the first diverter electric eye 46-1. This
package density normally provides a safe allowance for tracking packages
of widely different lengths and weights traveling between entry eye 45 and
diverter electric eye 46-1, and it promotes dependable ejection of one
package before the next package is conveyed onto a diverter. It is of
course possible that packages might be jostled or slip so far out of
position along the conveyor as to jeopardize tracking by means of the
system described below. If such a condition should occur, an automatic
alarm develops in the apparatus of FIGS. 1-14 to signal faulty operation
or risk faulty operation.
In a contemplated form of the novel apparatus, the alarm condition can be
set up to half the conveyor for allowing an attendant to locate and
correct the cause of the alarm, and then the system could be returned to
its order-assembling routine. In a further specific aspect of the
invention, the "alarm" may be followed by a "flush" operation of the
conveyor system, in which the diverters are disabled and the packages are
all discharged at the reject end R of the conveyor. When packages pass the
scanner, the temporary quantity registers for the various items in the
order tables are all reduced. However, the packages on the conveyor might
not be diverted to their designated lanes. Surely "flushed" packages do
not reach their intended order assembly lanes. The novel apparatus
includes a safeguard against this erroneous condition. The apparatus
includes means for correcting the temporary item quantity counters in the
order tables for each of the item | | |
