Shipments are coming at high speed via the main conveyor line to the parcel sorting system at DHL Logistics in the Netherlands. Here, more than 6,000 different parcels, being large and heavy have to be sorted per hour. Some of the small, medium-sized and large parcels have to be diverted by barcode onto a parallel track.

Parcel sorting system handles large cartons gently

While small packages can be sorted speedy and very quickly, this desirable speed is not possible with large cartons. Large cardboard boxes have to be pushed sideways quite carefully and correspondingly slowly. They are also usually more delicate and heavier. Regardless of their size and weight, they must always come aligned with the transport direction on the parallel lane. Therefore, the system sorts each package individually.

How the parcel sorting system achieves high capacity

The time spent sorting large parcels is made up for with the faster handling of small parcels. Handy, small and light parcels can be pushed over more quickly. In addition, the distances between small packs can be smaller. So the next transfer board of the rotating system is soon ready for the next sorting process. This time-saving design reduces required time compared to conventional systems where the pusher arm has to return to its starting position rotating the full circe.

The size of the parcels is detected by light barriers. Parameters stored in the servo motor’s control system ensure that large bundles are sorted carefully and small bundles fast. Start times and overshoot speeds that are adapted to the respective pack sizes make this possible. We have such systems running at various users.