Abstract: A position-determining system is provided for a charging station for a vehicle being driven at least partially electrically. The position-determining system serves to determine a position of a contact interface of the vehicle in relation to a charging interface of the charging station. The position-determining system determines the position visually in at least two dimensions. As a result of the at least two-dimensional determination of the position, the vehicle is not tied to a predefined route. This increases the reliability of the positioning of the vehicle when it approaches the charging station.

Abstract: A positioning system for determining the position of a vehicle when driving into a charging station for charging an energy accumulator of the vehicle includes a vehicle-side marking having at least one marking property changing in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. A route-side sensor device measures a distance from the marking to the sensor device when the vehicle passes the sensor device and generates a distance signal indicating a distance from the marking to the sensor device in the transverse direction of the vehicle. The sensor device reads out the marking property in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and generates a longitudinal vehicle direction signal indicating the position of the marking and/or the vehicle relative to the sensor device in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. A charging station, a vehicle and a method for determining the position of a vehicle, are also provided.

Abstract: A charging device includes an electrically chargeable vehicle and a stationary charging station. In order to establish a galvanic connection between the vehicle and the charging station, the vehicle and the charging station each include at least two electrical contacts being in mutual contact for establishing the galvanic connection between the vehicle and the charging station. The contacts are each elongate. The contacts have specified lengths that are less than the width of the vehicle. The contacts of the vehicle are disposed in a fixed manner on the vehicle. The contacts of the charging station are movable at least vertically. The mutually complementary contacts are disposed in such a way that the contacts extend transversely to each other in a predefined charging position of the vehicle for establishing of the galvanic connection.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus measure a quantity parameter during the transport of objects. The objects are in particular flat mail items and are tipped onto a conveyor component of a transport device and are transported by the latter. At least one recording time, in each case at least one photograph of a measurement sector of the conveyor component is taken. For each recording time, the value which a quantity parameter which describes the quantity of objects in the measurement sector has at the recording time is calculated. For this purpose, the proportion of the area of the measurement sector which is covered by objects is measured. A prescribed functional relationship between the quantity parameter and the measured proportion is evaluated. The speed at which the conveyor component transports the objects is changed depending on the quantity parameter value measured.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus measure a quantity parameter during the transport of objects. The objects are in particular flat mail items and are tipped onto a conveyor component of a transport device and are transported by the latter. At least one recording time, in each case at least one photograph of a measurement sector of the conveyor component is taken. For each recording time, the value which a quantity parameter which describes the quantity of objects in the measurement sector has at the recording time is calculated. For this purpose, the proportion of the area of the measurement sector which is covered by objects is measured. A prescribed functional relationship between the quantity parameter and the measured proportion is evaluated. The speed at which the conveyor component transports the objects is changed depending on the quantity parameter value measured.

Abstract: A sorting device has at least one mail item buffer receptacle, a number of storage pockets for mail items arranged one after another and circulating continuously in a conveyor belt and moved past one or more loading stations. Below straight transfer sections of the conveyors fixed intermediate storage receptacles open at the top are arranged to accept one or more mail items from the loaded storage pockets to be opened under control in the transfer sections. On a transport path below the intermediate storage receptacles there are also continuously circulating mail item containers open at the top as sorting end points assigned to the destination addresses or destination address groups.

Abstract: The sorting device according to the present invention has at least one mail item buffer receptacle, a number of storage pockets for mail items arranged one after another and circulating continuously in a conveyor belt and moved past one or more loading stations. Below straight transfer sections of the conveyors fixed intermediate storage receptacles open at the top are arranged to accept one or more mail items from the loaded storage pockets to be opened under control in the transfer sections. On a transport path below the intermediate storage receptacles there are also continuously circulating mail item containers open at the top as sorting end points assigned to the destination addresses or destination address groups.

Abstract: An apparatus for detecting overlapping flat objects, wherein each object has flat sides and narrow sides, includes a doubles detector configured to derive at least one feature of an object, a first imaging unit configured to produce an electronic image of a first flat side of the object, and a second imaging unit configured to produce an electronic image of a second flat side of the object. A determination facility of the apparatus is coupled to the first imaging unit and the second imaging unit to receive the electronic images, and to derive at least one further feature of the object. Further, a decision facility of the apparatus is coupled to the doubles detector and the determination facility to receive the least one feature and the at least one further feature of the object, and to determine whether the object is a single object or a number of objects.

Abstract: A sorting device has at least one mail item buffer receptacle, a number of storage pockets for mail items arranged one after another and circulating continuously in a conveyor belt and moved past one or more loading stations. Below straight transfer sections of the conveyors fixed intermediate storage receptacles open at the top are arranged to accept one or more mail items from the loaded storage pockets to be opened under control in the transfer sections. On a transport path below the intermediate storage receptacles there are also continuously circulating mail item containers open at the top as sorting end points assigned to the destination addresses or destination address groups.

Abstract: An apparatus for detecting overlapping flat objects, wherein each object has flat sides and narrow sides, includes a doubles detector configured to derive at least one feature of an object, a first imaging unit configured to produce an electronic image of a first flat side of the object, and a second imaging unit configured to produce an electronic image of a second flat side of the object. A determination facility of the apparatus is coupled to the first imaging unit and the second imaging unit to receive the electronic images, and to derive at least one further feature of the object. Further, a decision facility of the apparatus is coupled to the doubles detector and the determination facility to receive the least one feature and the at least one further feature of the object, and to determine whether the object is a single object or a number of objects.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method whereby the average costs for each unidentified overlap in a distribution and sorting process and the average costs for the renewed sorting and distribution of each identified overlapped item of mail are determined. Before the sorting operation, the identification rate of the detector is determined at different working points according to an adjusting parameter. During the sorting operation, the respective actual overlap rate of the sorting machine is estimated, for defined time intervals, from the identification result, the identification rate and the error rate, according to the adjusting parameters. The actual adjusting parameter, with the greatest utility which is used to operate the detector until the next interval, is determined by optimization calculations from the relation for the utility of the sorting and distribution process for the operator.

Abstract: The sorting device according to the present invention has at least one mail item buffer receptacle, a number of storage pockets for mail items arranged one after another and circulating continuously in a conveyor belt and moved past one or more loading stations. Below straight transfer sections of the conveyors fixed intermediate storage receptacles open at the top are arranged to accept one or more mail items from the loaded storage pockets to be opened under control in the transfer sections. On a transport path below the intermediate storage receptacles there are also continuously circulating mail item containers open at the top as sorting end points assigned to the destination addresses or destination address groups.

Abstract: Firstly, a fan sorting pass is carried out during which a postal article, which is removed from a stack, or a multiple withdrawal is to be distributed one after another in m, m=1 passes at P sorting terminals of the sorting machine. The number m of passes is selected according to the required precision. Afterwards, both the number NAD of multiple withdrawals measured by the detector and the number NAS of the individual withdrawals measured by the detector are determined as well as the number NSD of incorrectly detected individual withdrawals and the number NDS of incorrectly detected multiple withdrawals by comparing the number of the postal articles, which are located in each involved sorting terminal, with the measuring result of the detector, said measuring result being assigned to the respective sorting terminal.

Abstract: A method of applying labels to flat objects transported along a conveying path includes determining the acceleration time from the starting time of a pressure and applicator drum as far as the peripheral speed corresponding to the defined, average transport speed of the objects at a circumferential region accommodating the labels and measuring the times at which the front edge of the respective object passes two sensor devices located one after another in the transport path before the pressure and applicator drum and determining the starting time of the pressure and applicator drum in accordance with a mathematical relationship.

Abstract: The invention provides an apparatus and method for detecting overlapped mail pieces when sorting batches of flat mail pieces as the pieces are conveyed on their narrow sides, whereby the sorted mail pieces are moved successively standing on their narrow sides in a longitudinal direction along a bed or path. Positioned below the path is an electronic line camera arranged with its longitudinal axis perpendicular to the feed direction of the sorted mail pieces that scans the lower narrow edges of the mail pieces through a gap in the bed. In one aspect, two sources of light, such as light emitting diodes, are positioned laterally from the line camera diagonally illuminate the mail pieces from below as the mail pieces pass over a window in the path so that the edges of the scanned narrow sides are emphasized by shadowing.

Abstract: A method of applying labels to flat objects transported along a conveying path includes determining the acceleration time from the starting time of a pressure and applicator drum as far as the peripheral speed corresponding to the defined, average transport speed of the objects at a circumferential region accommodating the labels and measuring the times at which the front edge of the respective object passes two sensor devices located one after another in the transport path before the pressure and applicator drum and determining the starting time of the pressure and applicator drum in accordance with a mathematical relationship.

Abstract: The invention provides an apparatus and method for detecting overlapped mail pieces when sorting batches of flat mail pieces as the pieces are conveyed on their narrow sides, whereby the sorted mail pieces are moved successively standing on their narrow sides in a longitudinal direction along a bed or path. Positioned below the path is an electronic line camera arranged with its longitudinal axis perpendicular to the feed direction of the sorted mail pieces that scans the lower narrow edges of the mail pieces through a gap in the bed. In one aspect, two sources of light, such as light emitting diodes, are positioned laterally from the line camera diagonally illuminate the mail pieces from below as the mail pieces pass over a window in the path so that the edges of the scanned narrow sides are emphasized by shadowing.

Abstract: The invention relates to the determination of distribution information located on the surface of mailed items located in a plurality of processing machines (ILV), with the images with the distribution information being recorded and automatically read in each machine. Unrecognized distribution information is determined by means of video-encoding locations (VCD) via a network. According to the invention, the images of the mailed items whose distribution information could not be read automatically during temporary storage are stored and administered in each processing machine. Status information about the degree of fullness of the temporary storage is exchanged regularly between the processing machines, and from this information, ranking-order values for all processing machines are determined in each processing machine.

Abstract: In a device and a method for monitoring the transit time of transported articles, in which the movement of a consignment is recorded by a monitoring system acceleration sensor of which the measured values are stored and delivered to an evaluation arrangement, a predetermined number of K frequency spectra are determined in each predetermined cycle period T in order to give predetermined number of N measured values in each case, the K frequency spectra are integrated, and the integrated frequency spectra are stored in a memory.