GB2342745A

GB2342745A - Sorting scannable articles

Info

Publication number: GB2342745A
Application number: GB9924338A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew O'donnell; Alan Wilcockson
Original assignee: Red Ledge Ltd
Current assignee: Red Ledge Ltd
Priority date: 1998-10-16
Filing date: 1999-10-15
Publication date: 2000-04-19
Anticipated expiration: 2019-10-15
Also published as: GB2342745B; GB9822467D0; GB9924338D0

Abstract

Apparatus for automatically scanning and sorting articles such as bar-coded garments mounted on hangers 32, comprises a conveyor for moving the articles in spaced apart relationship along a path. A first bar-code scanner 40 is aimed obliquely so as to scan the front end and a side of each article, and a second bar-code scanner 44 is aimed obliquely so as contemporaneously to scan the back and a side of the same article. At least one output gate 38 controlled by a signal transmitted from either one of the scanners by way of electronic equipment directs each successfully identified article along an acceptance route. A rejection route is provided for articles which have not been successfully identified. A detector 52 verifies that an article is present for scanning and resets the scanners after each signal. A bar-code scanner 58 aimed along the path can scan the entire front of each article, and a radio frequency identification aerial 62 can detect radio frequency tags carried by the articles.

Description

"Sorting Scannable Articles." This invention relates to apparatus for automatically sorting scannable articles, and more particularly to apparatus for automatically scanning such articles and separating successfully identified articles from those not successfully identified. The invention is primarily intended for rapidly checking large numbers of bar-coded garments mounted on hangers with a high degree of accuracy, but it is by no means confined to the checking of such garments.

Hitherto, bar-coded articles have generally been scanned manually. This is labour-intensive, relatively slow, and not consistently accurate.

The object of the present invention is to provide apparatus for effectively sorting scannable articles automatically. A further object is to provide apparatus for automatically scanning bar-coded garments mounted on hangers which can be fed directly from or into the motorised rail systems commonly employed by manufacturers and distribution centres of garments.

According to the invention, apparatus for automatically scanning and sorting bar-coded articles comprises means for conveying the articles successively along a path in spaced apart relationship, a first scanner aimed obliquely so as to scan the front and a side of each article, a second scanner aimed obliquely so as contemporaneously to scan the back and a side of the same article, and an output gate controlled by the scanners for directing each successfully identified article along an acceptance route.

The apparatus may have a plurality of output gates and associated acceptance routes.

The apparatus routes may be disposed at both sides of the path.

The apparatus preferably has also a rejection route for articles not successfully identified.

Preferably, both scanners are disposed at one side of the path, the first scanner being aimed so as to start scanning each article at its edge on the other side of said path so as to scan progressively across the front of the article and then that side of the article at said one side of said path as the article is conveyed along said path, and the second scanner being aimed so as to start scanning each article at its edge on said one side of said path so as to scan that side of the article at said one side of said path and then progressively across the back of the article as the article is conveyed along said path.

Preferably, also, control of the output gate is effected in response to a signal-from the scanners, a detector verifies that an article is present for scanning and resets the scanners after each signal, and means are provided for ensuring that only one signal per article effects control of the output gate even though there are two scanners.

The apparatus preferably has an individual article infeed.

The apparatus may comprise also a bar-code scanner aimed along said path so as to scan the entire front of each article.

The apparatus may comprise also a radio frequency identification aerial adapted to detect radio frequency tags carried by the articles.

The articles may be garments mounted on hangers.

The articles are preferably garments mounted on hangers and each having a bar-code on that side disposed at said one side of said path.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of apparatus for automatically scanning bar-coded garments mounted on hangers and separating successfully identified garments from those not successfully identified; Figure 2 is a plan view of said apparatus; Figure 3 is a plan view of part of another embodiment of apparatus for automatically sorting scannable garments mounted on hangers; and Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 in Figure 3 on a larger scale.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, one embodiment of apparatus for automatically scanning bar coded garments mounted on hangers and separating successfully and unsuccessfully identified garments comprises a frame 10 which can be enclosed by light-weight cladding (not shown) except in its infeed and output areas.

A conveyor is mounted at the top of the frame 10 and comprises a variable-speed electric motor 12 driving a toothed pulley 14 at the infeed end of the apparatus. Said pulley drives an internally-toothed belt 16 which has spaced apart detents 18 on its outer surface and passes around a similar toothed pulley 20 at the output end of the apparatus. A pivotable arm actuated by a pneumatic cylinder (not shown) constitutes an individual garment infeed 22 which takes hanger-mounted garments one at a time from a known motorised rail system 24 forming no part of the invention and transfers each garment to a fixed horizontal rail 26 disposed below and practically in contact with the detents 18 on the lower run of the belt 16. Thus the garments are conveyed successively along a path beneath the rail 26 in the direction of the arrow 28 in a suitably spaced apart relationship determined by the spacing of the detents 18. In the drawings, only one garment 30 mounted on a hanger 32 is shown for the sake of clarity. At the output end of the apparatus there are provided two diverging rails 34 and 36, one of which constitutes a garment acceptance route and the other of which constitutes a garment rejection route. A pivotable arm actuated by a pneumatic cylinder (not shown) constitutes an output gate 38 which directs each garment along the rejection route when not actuated and must be actuated in order to direct each garment along the acceptance route. Two conventional bar code scanners are disposed at one side of the path of the garments. A first scanner 40 is aimed obliquely so as to start scanning each garment at its edge on the other side of said path so as to scan progressively across the front of the garment and then that side of the garment at said one side of said path as the garment is conveyed along said path, thus covering the shaded zone 42. A second scanner 44 is aimed obliquely so as contemporaneously to start scanning the same garment at its edge on said one side of the article at said one side of said path and then progressively across the back of the garment as the garment is conveyed along said path thus covering the shaded zone 46. Each garment carries a barcoded label 48 at or near a point level with the two scanners and on that side of the garment disposed at said one side of said path. The garments are spaced apart sufficiently to allow the two scanners to scan that edge of each garment on the other side of said path. The garments are conveyed along said path at a rate of at least one per second. The arrangement is such that the labels 48 rarely if ever fail to be scanned, even if they have been somewhat misplaced. Control of the individual garment infeed 22 and of the output gate 38 is effected by a programmable logic controller 50 adapted to receive a signal from the two scanners. A detector 52 verifies that a garment is present for scanning and resets the scanners, that is to say quickly switches them off and then back on, after each signal. A computer 54 stores a record of the bar-codes successfully read. Electronic means 56 are provided for ensuring that only one signal per article is passed to the controller 50 and to the computer 54 even though there are two scanners.

A further bar-code scanner 58 of three-dimensional type is disposed just above the rail 26 and aimed downwards along the aforesaid path to cover the zone between the lines 60 in order to scan the entire front of each garment and thus enable another bar-coded label (not shown) optionally carried on the front of each garment or on its hanger to be read. A radio frequency identification aerial 62 is also provided near the output end of the apparatus and is adapted to detect radio frequency tags optionally carried by the garments or their hangers.

In operation, the apparatus automatically directs each successfully identified garment along the acceptance route and each unsuccessfully identified garment (which may be a wrongly included garment or one lacking a bar-coded label) along the rejection route, the controller 50 being timed to do this when the detent 18 conveying such garment reaches the output gate 38.

In a modification, the pivotable arm of the individual garment infeed 22 is actuated mechanically by the detents 18 instead of by a pneumatic cylinder controlled by the controller 50. In another modification, the first scanner is disposed at one side of the garment path and is aimed so as to scan each garment as hereinbefore described, and the second scanner is disposed at the other side of said path and is aimed so as contemporaneously to start scanning the same garment at its edge on said other side of said path so as to scan that side of the garment at said other side of said path and then progressively across the back of the garment as the garment is conveyed along said path. In a further modification, a bar-coded label is provided at each or either side of each garment, and two scanners are disposed at each side of the garment path.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings, another embodiment of apparatus for automatically sorting scannable articles in the form of bar-coded garments mounted on hangers comprises a frame, an individual garment infeed, bar-code scanners, a detector, a radio frequency identification aerial, and associated electronic equipment apart from a programmable logic controller, which are substantially the same as those employed in the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 and are therefore not shown. The functions of said controller are taken over by the computer. A conveyor basically the same as that employed in the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 includes an internally-toothed belt having a lower run 100 supported in guide means 102. A fixed horizontal rail 104 is disposed below the lower belt run 100. Swept-back members 106 are fixed to the belt in a suitably spaced apart relationship and extend laterally on both sides of the rail 104. The members 106 are practically in contact with said rail so as to be able to push garment hangers 108 along it in the direction of the arrow 110. Each member 106 has a brush 112 at each of its ends for a purpose hereinafter referred to. A plurality of, say four, output gates are provided at spaced intervals along the length of the rail 104, each gate comprising a section 114 of said rail which is pivotable laterally into a swept-forward position as shown at 114A in Figure 3 by an associated pneumatic cylinder (not shown) in response to a signal from either one of the scanners. Alternate sections 114 are pivotable to opposite sides of the rail 104, and when each section is pivoted into its swept-forward position it is substantially aligned in end-to-end proximity with an associated fixed forwardlyinclined acceptance arm indicated generally at 116. Each arm 116 has a substantially horizontal portion 118 adjacent its associated section 114 so as to clear the ends of those hangers 108 which continue to be pushed further along the rail 104, and a downwardly-inclined portion 120 remote from said section down which selected hangers 108 slide by gravity into a conventional motorised rail system (not shown).

In operation, each member 106 pushes a hanger 108 along the rail 104 until one of the scanners having detected the bar-code on the associated garment, initiates pivoting of the appropriate section 114. The hanger 108 is accordingly pushed along the pivoted section 114A by the overlying swept-back lateral extension of the member 106 as shown in Figure 3, and then along the substantially horizontal portion 118 of the associated arm 116 by the brush 112 on said extension until it can slide down the downwardly-inclined portion 120 of said arm into the associated motorised rail system. If a garment fails to be selected at any of the output gates it is pushed to a rejection route at the end of the rail 104. A micro-switch (not shown) is provided on the upper surface of each of the arms 116 to indicate if a hanger 108 is dropped. The provision of two output gates on each side of the apparatus advantageously provides a plurality of acceptance routes in a compact space.

In a modification, more or less output gates can be provided as desired.

Bar-coded articles other than garments mounted on hangers can be automatically scanned and segregated using the same principle without departing from the scope of the invention. Scanning techniques other than bar-code scanning can be employed, for example techniques for detecting hangers of different materials.

Claims

Claims:

1. Apparatus for automatically scanning and sorting barcoded articles, comprising means for conveying the articles successively along a path in spaced apart relationship, a first scanner aimed obliquely so as to scan the front and a side of each article, a second scanner aimed obliquely so as contemporaneously to scan the back and a side of the same article, and an output gate controlled by the scanners for directing each successfully identified article along an acceptance route.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, having a plurality of output gates and associated acceptance routes.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the acceptance routes are disposed at both sides of the path.

4. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, having also a rejection route for articles not successfully identified.

5. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein both scanners are disposed at one side of the path, the first scanner being aimed so as to start scanning each article at its edge on the other side of said path so as to scan progressively across the front of the article and then that side of the article at said one side of said path as the article is conveyed along said path, and the second scanner being aimed so as to start scanning each article at its edge on said one side of said path so as to scan that side of the article at said one side of said path and then progressively across the back of the article as the article is conveyed along said path.

6. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein control of the output gate is effected in response to a signal from the scanners, a detector verifies that an article is present for scanning and resets the scanners after each signal, and means are provided for ensuring that only one signal per article effects control of the output gate even though there are two scanners.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, having an individual article infeed.

8. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising also a bar-code scanner aimed along said path so as to scan the entire front of each article.

9. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising also a radio frequency identification aerial adapted to detect radio frequency tags carried by the articles.

10. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the articles are garments mounted on hangers.

11. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the articles are garments mounted on hangers and each having a bar-code on that side disposed at said one side of said path.

12. Apparatus for automatically scanning and sorting barcoded garments, constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated by, Figures 1 and 1 of the accompanying drawings.

13. Apparatus for automatically scanning and sorting barcoded garments, constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated by, Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.