Device and method for sorting individual units of conveyed material while simultaneously transporting the units of conveyed material

1 . A method for sorting a first conveyed-good unit and a second conveyed-good unit with simultaneous transport of the conveyed-good units in one conveying direction, comprising the following steps:

feeding of at least the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit from a feeding device to a dynamic conveyor section in a first arrangement, wherein the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit are fed in sections simultaneously in the conveying direction, and wherein the conveyed-good units are fed orthogonally offset to each other in relation to the conveying direction,

typifying detection of the conveyed-good units,

determining a target position of the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit,

controlling and regulating a movement of the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit on the basis of the target position, and

for this purpose, moving the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit using conveyor drives of the dynamic conveyor section, the conveyor drives configured to move one or a plurality of conveyed-good units individually and in a variable manner in any direction of the conveying plane and at an adjusted velocity, in such a way that a sorted arrangement of the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit exists at the time of transfer to a plurality of subsequent conveyor sections, wherein the movement is dynamically adjusted based on control signals which are generated from the typifying detection of the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit and generated from the determination of the target positions of the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit, wherein the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit are transported simultaneously in the conveying direction.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the feeding device is supplying the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit in bulk.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method, after typifying detection of the positions of the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit and/or after determining the target positions of the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit, additionally comprises the following steps:

deciding whether a movement must be executed to reach a target position, then,

in the case of a “yes” decision: calculating the movement direction and the strength of movement,

in the event of a “no” decision: continuing to transport the conveyed-good unit without additional movement.

4 . A conveyor system for sorting a first conveyed-good unit and a second conveyed-good unit with simultaneous transport of the conveyed-good units in one conveying direction, comprising:

a feeding device for feeding at least the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit in a first arrangement, wherein the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit are fed in sections simultaneously in the conveying direction, and wherein they are fed orthogonally offset from each other in relation to the conveying direction,

a dynamic conveyor section with a plurality of conveyor drives positioned in the conveying direction one behind the other and next to each other for the transport of the conveyed-good units at an actual velocity,

detection means for the typifying detection of the individual conveyed-good units,

means of determining a target position of the first conveyed-good unit and of the second conveyed-good unit,

a control system/regulator for controlling or regulating a sorted arrangement of the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit on the basis of the said target positions, wherein

the plurality of conveyor drives are designed and configured to move the individual conveyed-good units individually or jointly in a plurality in each direction on the conveying plane in such a way that the sorted arrangement of the first conveyed-good unit relative to the second conveyed-good unit exists at the point of transfer to a plurality of subsequent conveyor sections, wherein the sorted arrangement is different from the first arrangement, wherein:

the plurality of conveyor drives each are individually driven by a motor and individually controllable by the control system/regulator, and wherein:

the detection means is configured to send a signal to the control system/regulator with information on the characteristics of the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit, the control system/regulator receives signals of the means for determining a target position of the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit and, depending on these signals, generates and outputs control/regulating signals to the plurality of conveyor drives for dynamically moving the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit to the target position in such a way that the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit are capable of being individually moved in a variable manner in each direction on the conveying plane and at an adjusted velocity by the plurality of conveyor drives to the sorted arrangement of the conveyed-good units, wherein the first conveyed-good unit and the second conveyed-good unit are simultaneously transported in the conveying direction, wherein at least two rotational axes of the plurality of conveyor drives of a drive module are not arranged orthogonally to the conveying direction.

5 . The conveyor system according to claim 4 , wherein the plurality of conveyor drives are arranged in a plurality of drive modules so that one drive module comprises two or three or four conveyor drives.

6 . The conveyor system according to claim 5 , wherein the rotational axes of the plurality of conveyor drives of a drive module are either parallel or not parallel to each other.

7 . The conveyor system according to claim 4 , wherein the rotational axes of the plurality of conveyor drives of a drive module are not parallel to the conveying direction.

8 . The conveyor system according to claim 4 , wherein the plurality of conveyor drives are smaller in dimension than the contact surface of a conveyed-good unit.

9 . The conveyor system according to claim 4 , wherein the plurality of conveyor drives in groups are cumulatively driven by one motor.

10 . The conveyor system according to claim 4 , wherein the plurality of conveyor drives of the first conveyor section are rotatably mounted or non-rotatably mounted in a carrier plate.

11 . The conveyor system according to claim 10 , wherein the plurality of conveyor drives can be individually rotated in a controlled manner.

12 . The conveyor system according to claim 4 , wherein the detection means for the typifying detection of the conveyed-good units are sensors, light barriers, cameras, photodiodes, radar or radio devices, ID readers for reading printed codes or combinations thereof.

13 . The conveyor system according to claim 4 , wherein the means for determining a target position of a conveyed-good unit are a computer-program product.

14 . The conveyor system according to claim 4 , wherein the control system/regulator for the sorted arrangement of the individual conveyed-good units on the basis of the said target position comprises control signals to at least two adjacent conveyor drives of the plurality of conveyor drives.

15 . The conveyor system according to claim 4 , wherein the conveyor system comprises means of verifying the target positions achieved.

16 . A method for providing material flow in a material flow system, said method comprising utilizing at least one of the conveyor system of claim 4 in the material flow system.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the method includes splitting same conveyed goods to different destinations.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the method includes sorting different conveyed goods according to their nature and/or quality and/or their destination.