US PATENT SUBCLASS 198 / 434
CONVEYOR SYSTEM FOR ARRANGING OR REARRANGING STREAM(S) OF ITEMS

Current as of: June, 1999
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198 /   HD   CONVEYORS: POWER-DRIVEN

434CONVEYOR SYSTEM FOR ARRANGING OR REARRANGING STREAM(S) OF ITEMS {5}
435  DF  .~> By distributing items onto vertically tiered conveyor/receiver
436  DF  .~> By distributing items from one stream into plural streams {5}
443  DF  .~> By queueing items from quantity source of items into stream(s) of items {4}
456  DF  .~> By laterally or vertically moving successive items in longitudinally moving stream {2}
459.1  DF  .~> By longitudinally respacing successive articles in stream {7}

DEFINITION

Classification: 198/434

(under the class definition) Apparatus including at least two conveyor sections cooperating for the purpose of moving a succession of articles from one conveyor to another, and during such movement changing the relationship between, or the direction of movement of, or the path of, successive articles.

(1) Note. A conveyor system of this or an indented subclass functions to form a stream of items from a random mass or quantity of such items, or functions to redirect or respace the items of such a stream relative to each other, or functions to change the number of streams passing through the system. The term "stream of items" refers to a plurality of articles moving in accordance with two criteria. The first criterion is that the articles move in succession, one article followed by another which is followed by a third, etc., the number of articles so moved being indeterminate or indefinite. The second criterion is that the succession of articles moves along a predetermined line or path. It is not necessary that the line be straight, but if it is other than straight, it must be a line along which each article of the succession moves in its turn. It is not necessary that the line be the only line (i.e., there may be plural lines or streams), but if there are plural streams (e.g., one stream alongside another stream) the claimed disclosure must clearly describe the presence of such plural streams or describe means to channelize or guide each such streams separately from the other(s). Thus, a disclosure of a belt carrying a plurality of articles extending along the direction of movement of the belt and articles extending across said direction would not be considered as a disclosure of plural streams unless the specification clearly described the articles as being arranged in plural successions of articles or the structure indicated channels to form plural successions. In the absence of such "stream" disclosure the belt would be considered as a quantity source of articles or as a destination for articles.

(2) Note. A distinction should be made as to the structural and functional difference between a conveyor system for conveying plural articles arranged as a stream of items and a conveyor system for conveying plural articles, each article being a specific load as a separate unit. In the stream conveyor (found in this subclass (434) and indented subclasses) there is no means for dividing and maintaining separately one article from the preceding or succeeding article. The emphasis in the claimed disclosure of a patent to such a system is in the manner of forming the stream, or reforming the stream into other streams. In the unit conveyor (found in subclass 463.1, and indented subclasses) there is a means for dividing one article from the preceding or succeeding article and conveying it separately even though a plurality of articles may be conveyed simultaneously. The emphasis in the claimed disclosure of the patent in subclasses 463.1+ is in the individuality of each of the plural articles, rather than in the plurality of the

articles. A particular conveyor section proper as part of a system for subclass 463.1 could be used as a means for combining or dividing streams and thus be proper as part of a system for subclass 434.

(3) Note. If the structure of a patent comprises a conveyor moving its load against a member that serves to deflect, or guide, or restrain, or regulate the movement of the load, and if the claimed disclosure of the patent significantly describes the load as comprising a plurality of articles, and further significantly describes the function of the structure as for forming a stream (defined in (1) Note above) from a source of such articles, or for changing the arrangement of streams a) from a particular number of streams upstream of the member to a different number of streams downstream of the member, or b) from a particular path of stream upstream of the member to a different path of stream downstream of the member or c) from a particular space between successive articles upstream of the member to a different space between successive articles downstream of the member, in such a disclosure the upstream conveyor will be considered as one conveyor section and the downstream conveyor will be considered as a different conveyor section despite the apparent use of one conveyor element.