EP0018057B1 - Singler device for flat articles, e.g. letters - Google Patents

Singler device for flat articles, e.g. letters Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0018057B1
EP0018057B1 EP19800200376 EP80200376A EP0018057B1 EP 0018057 B1 EP0018057 B1 EP 0018057B1 EP 19800200376 EP19800200376 EP 19800200376 EP 80200376 A EP80200376 A EP 80200376A EP 0018057 B1 EP0018057 B1 EP 0018057B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
driving means
article
detector
letter
operated
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
EP19800200376
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0018057A3 (en
EP0018057A2 (en
Inventor
Willy Alfons Franciscus Mens
Ludovicus Van Dorst
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Nokia Bell NV
International Standard Electric Corp
Original Assignee
Bell Telephone Manufacturing Co NV
International Standard Electric Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Bell Telephone Manufacturing Co NV, International Standard Electric Corp filed Critical Bell Telephone Manufacturing Co NV
Publication of EP0018057A2 publication Critical patent/EP0018057A2/en
Publication of EP0018057A3 publication Critical patent/EP0018057A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0018057B1 publication Critical patent/EP0018057B1/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H3/00—Separating articles from piles
    • B65H3/08—Separating articles from piles using pneumatic force
    • B65H3/12—Suction bands, belts, or tables moving relatively to the pile
    • B65H3/124—Suction bands or belts
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B07—SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS; SORTING
    • B07C—POSTAL SORTING; SORTING INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES, OR BULK MATERIAL FIT TO BE SORTED PIECE-MEAL, e.g. BY PICKING
    • B07C1/00—Measures preceding sorting according to destination
    • B07C1/02—Forming articles into a stream; Arranging articles in a stream, e.g. spacing, orientating
    • B07C1/04—Forming a stream from a bulk; Controlling the stream, e.g. spacing the articles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H2301/00—Handling processes for sheets or webs
    • B65H2301/30—Orientation, displacement, position of the handled material
    • B65H2301/32—Orientation of handled material
    • B65H2301/321—Standing on edge
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H2406/00—Means using fluid
    • B65H2406/30—Suction means
    • B65H2406/32—Suction belts
    • B65H2406/322—Suction distributing means
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H2701/00—Handled material; Storage means
    • B65H2701/10—Handled articles or webs
    • B65H2701/19—Specific article or web
    • B65H2701/1916—Envelopes and articles of mail

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a singler device for flat articles, e.g. letters, including first and second article driving means to engage and drive said flat articles sequentially off a stack located in an input position and sideways therefrom via a passage into a delivery position laterally separated from said input position by lateral guiding means for said flat articles, and article detector means mounted in said delivery position for controlling said driving means.
  • first and second article driving means to engage and drive said flat articles sequentially off a stack located in an input position and sideways therefrom via a passage into a delivery position laterally separated from said input position by lateral guiding means for said flat articles
  • article detector means mounted in said delivery position for controlling said driving means.
  • a drawback of this known device is that due to the first driving means being mounted close to the guiding means comprising a guide plate even a small misalignment with respect to the guide plate between two consecutive letters in the input position may give rise to an erroneous operation. Indeed, when for instance the leading edge of two such consecutive letters of the stack are misaligned to such an extent that the second letter instead of the first one is positioned in front of the first driving means the second letter and not the first one will be carried away off the stack when this driving means is operated.
  • An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a singler device of the above type but which does not present this drawback, i.e. wherein the flat articles are separated from the stack in the correct order even when they are misaligned to a certain extent.
  • said singler device is characterized in that said article detector means include first and second detector members, that said first and second driving means are both mounted in said input position, said first and second driving means and said first and second detector members being arranged in succession along the path followed by an article from said input position to said delivery position and that said second detector member subsequent to having been operated operates said first or second driving means depending on said first detector member being in its non-operated or operated condition respectively.
  • the misalignment between two consecutive articles of the stack may be relatively large before it gives rise to an erroneous operation.
  • the maximum permissible misalignment is substantially equal to the distance between the first driving means and the guiding means comprising a guide plate.
  • British patent 1 094 917 discloses a letter singular device including first, second and third driving means and first and second detector members. However, only the first driving means is mounted in an input position and the second and third driving means are associated with the first and second detector members respectively. Moreover, this device operates in a different way than that according to the present invention and is apparently not suitable for treating letters the leading edges of which are misaligned in the input position.
  • the singler device as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 includes a horizontal bottom plate 1 on which are mounted a vertical lateral guide plate 2 and an L-shaped front plate 3. These plates 2 and 3 have cut-out end portions 4 and 5 respectively.
  • An endless perforated belt 6 runs over rollers 7, 8, 9 and 10 and between parts of the front plate 3 which are disposed in the plane of the belt 6.
  • the guide rollers 7, 8 and 9 are idlers mounted on axles fixed on the bottom plate 1, whilst roller 10 is a drive roller mounted on a shaft 11 of a drive motor (not shown).
  • a feeler 12 of a microswitch is mounted between lower portions of the front plate 3 to which strips 44, 45 made of a friction material are affixed.
  • Suction devices 13 and 14 are secured to the front plate 3 and have suction openings 15 and 16 terminating behind the belt. These suction devices are for instance diaphragm valves of the type disclosed in British patent 1 225 562. Each of these suction devices is able to create an underpressure or not in its suction opening.
  • the bottom plate 1, the lateral guide plate 2, the front plate 3 and a portion of the belt 6 define an input position 17 for a stack 18 of letters or other flat articles.
  • This stack 18 is urged gently towards the working face of the perforated belt 6, for instance by means of a pusher plate (not shown) such as described and shown in the above mentioned US patent 2 970 834 and aided by three auxiliary feeder belts 41, 42, 43 with their working faces supporting the letters running toward and transversally of the working surface of the suction belt 6.
  • the motor (not shown) driving the feeder belts 41, 42, 43 is controlled by the microswitch feeler 12.
  • the input position 17 communicates with a delivery position 19 via a passage 20 delimited by the portion of the belt 6 located in front of the cut-out portion 5 of front plate 3 and the end portion of the lateral guide plate 2.
  • a separator 21 comprising a freely rotatable vertical piece having a substantially L-shaped cross-section is mounted on the bottom plate 1 and in the cut-out portion 4 of the lateral guide plate 2. By not shown spring means the separator 21 is continuously urged into contact with the portion of the belt 6 located in front of the cut-out portion 5 so as to normally close the above passage 20.
  • the separator 21 is followed by a suction chamber 22 wherein an underpressure is continuously created and by a pressure roller 23.
  • the latter roller 23 is an idler roller mounted on a bracket 24 which is able to pivot about axle 25 fixed on bottom plate 1 and connected to a fixed pin 26 through a spring 27 which continuously urges the roller 23 into contact with the belt 6.
  • the delivery position 19 also includes two electric detector members each comprising a light emitting diode and a photocell mounted in front of each other above the belt and at either side thereof.
  • Light emitting diodes 28 and 29 are mounted on brackets 30 and 31 respectively, whilst photocells 32 and 33 are mounted on the supports 34 and 35 respectively.
  • the delivery position 19 is followed by a pair of belts 36, 37 carried by rollers 38 and 39, 40 respectively the belts moving in the direction of the arrows.
  • the electric monitoring circuit shown therein includes:
  • both the photocells 32 and 33 are illuminated by their associated light emitter diodes 28 and 29 respectively as a consequence of which both the inverse outputs f1 and f2 of these photocells are activated (or on 1).
  • the start key SK (Fig. 3) is temporarily operated to trigger the monostable circuit MS1 to its unstable condition via the OR-gate M 1 and the AND-gate G 1 which is enabled due to the inverse output f1 being activated.
  • the 0- output of the monostable circuit MS1 becomes activated, as a consequence of which the bistable circuit K1 is triggered to its 1-condition wherein it operates the suction device 13 (Fig. 4).
  • This device then exerts a suction in the suction opening 15 so that the suction belt 6 starts moving the terminal letter off the stack 18 sideways from the input position 17 into the delivery position 19 against the action of the friction strips 44, 45.
  • the output f1 thereof becomes activated as a consequence of which the bistable circuit K1 is reset to its 0-condition. Also the suction device 13 then becomes inoperative. However, simultaneously with the bistable circuit K1 being reset the bistable circuit K2 is triggered to its 1- condition via the AND-gate G3 and the OR-gate M2 as the 1-output k1 of the bistable circuit K1 1 is then still activated. Due to this the suction device 14 is then operated so that the perforated belt 6 displaces the above terminal letter further into the delivery position 19 from the suction chamber 22 towards the pressure roller 23.
  • the inverse output f2 thereof becomes activated so that a trigger pulse is produced at the output of the differentiator D and therefore at the output of the OR-gate M1.
  • the monostable circuit MS1 or the monostable circuit MS2 is triggered to its 1-condition via the AND-gate G 1 or G2 depending on the output f1 or f1 of the photocell 32 being activated at that moment respectively i.e. on a letter following the above mentioned terminal letter, hereinafter called second letter, being absent or present in front of this photocell 32 respectively;
  • the monostable circuit MS2 is triggered to its unstable condition (Fig. 5). After a time interval T2 has elapsed the 0-output of the monostable circuit MS2 becomes activated as a consequence of which the bistable circuit K2 is triggered to its 1-condition wherein it operates the suction device 14 so that the perforated belt 6 displaces the above second letter further into the delivery position. The rest of the operation is as already described above.
  • the distance between two consecutive letters must at least be equal to a minimum value in order that sufficient time should be available to perform other operations, such as for instance the control of a points mechanism.
  • This distance is supposed to correspond to a time interval T, taking the operation speed into account. This means that the time interval elapsing between the moment at which the trailing edge of the terminal letter leaves the photocell 33 and the moment at which the suction device 13 (Fig. 4) or 14 (Fig. 5) is operated to displace the second letter should be such that the leading edge of this second letter comes in front of the photocell 33 after a time interval T.
  • the suction device 13 is operated when the second letter is not located in front of the photocell 32 at the moment the terminal letter leaves photocell 33.
  • the suction device 14 is operated when the second letter is located in front of the photocell 32. Taking the thickness of the second letter and the dimensions of the pressure roller 23 into account, the minimum distance between the leading edge of this letter and the point of contact of the roller 23 and the belt 6 is about 5 mm because otherwise the letter would be gripped between the roller and the belt. Because the photocell 33 is in line with this point of contact, it is therefore clear that also the minimum distance between the leading edge of the second letter and the photocell 33 is about equal to 5 mm.
  • the second letter is not located in front of the photocell 32 at the moment the trailing edge of the terminal letter leaves the photocell 33 the second letter will be advanced, a time interval T1 later, by the cooperation of the belt 6 and the suction device 13.
  • T1 time interval
  • the trailing edge of this letter should still be completely in front of the suction device 13 in order to prevent a third letter following the second letter to be displaced by this suction device.
  • the minimum letter length able to be processed by the present device is substantially equal to the distance separating the suction device 13 and the photocell 32.
  • the second letter is located in front of the photocell 32 at the moment the trailing edge of the terminal letter leaves the photocell 33 the second letter will be advanced, a time interval T2 later, by the cooperation of the belt 6 and the suction device 14.
  • T2 time interval
  • the trailing edge of this letter should still be completely in front of the suction device 14 in order to prevent a third letter following the second one to be displaced by this suction device.
  • the minimum letter length able to be processed by the present device is also substantially equal to the distance between the trailing end portion of the suction device 14 and the photocell 33.
  • the maximum permissible misalignment of the front edges of the letters of the stack 18 is equal to the distance between the leading edge of the suction device 13 and the guide plate 2 because when the leading edge of a first letter coincides with the leading edge of the suction device 13 and the leading edge of the second letter following the first one makes contact with the guide plate the suction device 13 will be operated because no letter is sftuated in front of the photocell 32, so that-as it should be-the first letter will be carried off the stack 18 by the belt 6. On the contrary, if the misalignment is larger the second letter instead of the first one will be displaced from the input position towards the delivery position 19.
  • the distance between the suction device 13 and the guide plate 2 should be a maximum i.e. the plate 2 should be mounted as close to the photocell 32 as possible.
  • the distance between the guide plate 2 and the photocell 32 should be sufficient to mount the separator 21 and the suction chamber 22 so that this limits the maximum permissible alignment.
  • the maximum permissible misalignment of the front end portions of the letters of the stacks 18 is somewhat smaller than that at the start of an operation because of the space required by the suction device 14. Indeed, this misalignment is equal to the distance between the leading edge of the suction device 14 and the photocell 32 because when the leading edge of a first letter coincides with the leading edge of the suction device 14 and the leading edge of the second letter following the first one is situated in front of the photocell 32 the suction device 14 will be operated, so that-as it should be-the first letter will be carried off the stack by the belt 6. On the contrary, if the misalignment is larger the second letter instead of the first will be displaced towards the delivery position 19.
  • the distance between the suction device 14 and the photocell 32 should be a maximum i.e. the suction device 14 should be as close as possible to suction device 13. But since the distance between the suction device 14 and the photocell 33 is equal to the minimum letter length this means that the photocell 33 should also be as close as possible to the photocell 32. However between the photocells 32 and 33 sufficient room should be provided to mount the elements 21, 22 and 23.
  • Soft polyvinylchloride has a hardness between 60 and 80 Shore A.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Controlling Sheets Or Webs (AREA)
  • Sorting Of Articles (AREA)
  • Sheets, Magazines, And Separation Thereof (AREA)
  • Delivering By Means Of Belts And Rollers (AREA)
  • Laminated Bodies (AREA)
EP19800200376 1979-04-24 1980-04-23 Singler device for flat articles, e.g. letters Expired EP0018057B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL7903193 1979-04-24
NL7903193 1979-04-24

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0018057A2 EP0018057A2 (en) 1980-10-29
EP0018057A3 EP0018057A3 (en) 1981-02-04
EP0018057B1 true EP0018057B1 (en) 1983-11-30

Family

ID=19833034

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19800200376 Expired EP0018057B1 (en) 1979-04-24 1980-04-23 Singler device for flat articles, e.g. letters

Country Status (6)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0018057B1 (nl)
JP (1) JPS5928504B2 (nl)
AU (1) AU5767080A (nl)
BE (1) BE882940A (nl)
DE (1) DE3065752D1 (nl)
ES (1) ES250240Y (nl)

Families Citing this family (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3733906C2 (de) * 1987-10-07 2000-12-14 Gaemmerler Hagen Umlenkvorrichtung für einen Produktstrom
US5154407A (en) * 1989-10-04 1992-10-13 Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. Cut sheet feeder with suction device
FR2674834B1 (fr) * 1991-04-03 1993-07-30 Darchis Pierre Dispositif d'extraction un a un d'objets plats a partir d'une pile de tels objets, notamment des enveloppes de lettres.
GB9212004D0 (en) * 1992-06-05 1992-07-15 Esselte Dymo Nv Printing apparatus
US6443444B1 (en) * 1999-10-04 2002-09-03 Lockhead Martin Corporation Singulation mechanism
US6575450B2 (en) 2001-01-30 2003-06-10 Lockheed Martin Corporation Singulation mechanism
KR101399713B1 (ko) 2006-03-10 2014-06-27 티비에스 엔지니어링 리미티드 플레이트들의 공급 스택으로부터 배터리 플레이트를 일렬로 배열하기 위한 장치
US8083462B2 (en) 2007-04-11 2011-12-27 Tbs Engineering Limited Apparatus for placing battery plates in a line
JP6507299B1 (ja) 2018-09-26 2019-04-24 株式会社エレーヌ ブラジャー

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2970834A (en) * 1957-09-06 1961-02-07 Pitney Bowes Inc Letter feeding device
NL6605291A (nl) * 1965-06-24 1966-12-27
NL6512872A (nl) * 1965-10-05 1967-04-06
DE2309756A1 (de) * 1973-02-27 1974-09-12 Licentia Gmbh Einrichtung zur abgabe von einzelnen briefen und aehnlichen flachen sendungen aus einem stapel

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0018057A3 (en) 1981-02-04
BE882940A (nl) 1980-10-24
EP0018057A2 (en) 1980-10-29
JPS5928504B2 (ja) 1984-07-13
ES250240U (es) 1981-05-01
AU5767080A (en) 1980-10-30
DE3065752D1 (en) 1984-01-05
JPS5612241A (en) 1981-02-06
ES250240Y (es) 1981-11-01

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