SORTING MECHANISM FOR A CONVEYOR
A sorting mechanism for a conveyor is disclosed. The sorting mechanism comprising one or more pushers, and at least one actuator unit coupled to the one or more pushers, wherein the at least one actuator unit is installed underneath a plane of a plurality of rollers of the conveyor. Further, the at least one actuator unit is configured to move the one or more pushers in a lateral direction along an axis and in between the plurality of rollers to sort one or more objects on the conveyor.
1 . A sorting mechanism for a conveyor, the sorting mechanism comprising:
one or more pushers; and
at least one actuator unit coupled to the one or more pushers, wherein the at least one actuator unit is installed underneath a plane of a plurality of rollers of the conveyor;
wherein the at least one actuator unit is configured to move the one or more pushers in a lateral direction along an axis and in between the plurality of rollers to sort one or more objects on the conveyor.
2 . The sorting mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the at least one actuator unit comprises a motor coupled to a screw shaft for providing rotational movement to the screw shaft.
3 . The sorting mechanism of claim 2 , wherein the one or more pushers are mounted on the screw shaft, wherein the rotational movement of the screw shaft facilitates the movement of the one or more pushers in the lateral direction.
4 . The sorting mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the one or more pushers have a rake-shaped profile and correspond to at least one of a pop-up pusher or a shoe shaped pusher.
5 . The sorting mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the one or more pushers are one or more pop-up pushers, each pop-up pusher being configured to reciprocate vertically between a deployed state or a stowed state.
6 . The sorting mechanism of claim 5 , wherein in the stowed state, the pop-up pusher is positioned below the plurality of rollers to allow the one or more objects to move along the plurality of rollers in a forward direction that is orthogonal to the lateral direction.
7 . The sorting mechanism of claim 5 , wherein in the deployed state, the pop-up pusher protrudes out from in-between the plurality of rollers and laterally moves to push the one or more objects from the plurality of rollers.
8 . The sorting mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the one or more pushers are one or more shoe shaped pushers, each shoe shaped pusher being connected to the at least one actuator unit via a linking rod such that the shoe shaped pusher is positioned over at least two of the plurality of rollers.
9 . The sorting mechanism of claim 1 , further comprising at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one actuator unit, wherein the at least one processor is configured to actuate the at least one actuator unit in a manner to align the one or more pushers in a diagonal pattern while sorting the one or more objects.
10 . The sorting mechanism of claim 9 , wherein the diagonal pattern forms a predefined angle, wherein the predefined angle is determined based at least on an angle of a take-away belt positioned adjacent to the plurality of rollers where the one or more objects are sorted.
11 . The sorting mechanism of claim 1 , wherein:
each of the one or more pushers are pop-up pushers that are configured to reciprocate vertically between a deployed state or a stowed state, and
the sorting mechanism further comprises at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one actuator unit, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
actuate each actuator unit to move each of the pop-up pushers (1) from a home position and to an end position and (2) from the end position to the home position,
reciprocate each pop-up pusher to the deployed state when the pop-up pusher is moved from the home position and to the end position, and
reciprocate each pop-up pusher to the stowed state when the pop-up pusher is moved from the end position to the home position.
12 . The sorting mechanism of claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to actuate a first actuator unit to move a first pop-up pusher from its respective home position and to its respective end position while actuating a second actuator unit to move a second pop-up pusher from its respective end position and to its respective home position.
13 . A method of sorting one or more objects on a conveyor, the method comprising:
moving one or more pushers in a lateral direction along an axis and in between a plurality of rollers of the conveyor to sort the one or more objects on the conveyor;
wherein sorting of the one or more objects involves rotating, via a motor, a screw shaft to facilitate movement of the one or more pushers in the lateral direction to laterally push the one or more objects from the plurality of rollers and towards a take-away belt positioned adjacent to the plurality of rollers where the one or more objects are sorted.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the one or more pushers have a rake-shaped profile and correspond to at least one of one or more pop-up pusher or one or more shoe shaped pusher.
15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising reciprocating each pop-up pusher of the one or more pop-up pusher that are the one or more pushers vertically between a deployed state or a stowed state.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising positioning each pop-up pusher below the plurality of rollers to allow the one or more objects move along the plurality of rollers in a forward direction that is orthogonal to the lateral direction in the stowed state.
17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising protruding at least one of the one or more pop-up pusher out from in-between the plurality of rollers and laterally move the at least one of the one or more pop-up pusher to push the one or more objects from the plurality of rollers in the deployed state.
18 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising connecting each shoe shaped pusher of the one or more shoe shaped pusher of the one or more pushers to at least one actuator unit via a linking rod such that the shoe shaped pusher is positioned over at least two of the plurality of rollers.
19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising actuating, via at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one actuator unit, at least one actuator unit in a manner to align the one or more pushers in a diagonal pattern while sorting the one or more objects.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the diagonal pattern forms a predefined angle, wherein the predefined angle is determined based at least on an angle of the take-away belt positioned adjacent to the plurality of rollers where the one or more objects are sorted.