Shoe sorter
A shoe sorter is a continuous conveyor for the transport and sorting of goods , mostly packed in cardboard boxes or containers. The goods that are carried along (the goods to be sorted) are pushed off via slide-off elements ( push-off shoes , or shoes for short ) that are guided between the plates of an apron conveyor. The speed of the apron conveyor reaches max. 3 m / s, with which a shoe sorter can sort up to 15,000 pieces per hour.
Shoe sorters are used, among other things, in outgoing goods in retail distribution centers .
Operation and Mechanism
The goods are transported on a sorter carpet consisting of profiles, which enables the handling of articles with a wide variety of dimensions and weights. The size spectrum ranges from approx. 100 × 100 mm to 1500 × 900 mm per article. A push-off element (shoe) is attached to each profile. The movement axis of the shoes is orthogonal (at right angles) to the conveying direction. Below the sorter carpet, the shoes are forcibly guided in a rail system so that they push the goods from the sorter carpet into the corresponding end point at the right place. The number of shoes varies depending on the item size.
If an article is to be ejected on the right-hand side of the sorter, the corresponding shoes must be brought to the left-hand side of the conveyor and vice versa before being introduced into the sorting line. This usually happens when the profiles are returned below the conveyor.