EP0215469B1 - Installation d'indexation d'objets plats, notamment de courrier postal - Google Patents

Installation d'indexation d'objets plats, notamment de courrier postal Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0215469B1
EP0215469B1 EP86112760A EP86112760A EP0215469B1 EP 0215469 B1 EP0215469 B1 EP 0215469B1 EP 86112760 A EP86112760 A EP 86112760A EP 86112760 A EP86112760 A EP 86112760A EP 0215469 B1 EP0215469 B1 EP 0215469B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
printer
conveyor
letters
optical reader
level
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
EP86112760A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0215469A1 (fr
Inventor
Claude Pavie
Patrick Guebey
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.)
Compagnie Generale dAutomatisme CGA HBS SA
Original Assignee
Compagnie Generale dAutomatisme CGA HBS SA
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 Compagnie Generale dAutomatisme CGA HBS SA filed Critical Compagnie Generale dAutomatisme CGA HBS SA
Priority to AT86112760T priority Critical patent/ATE48248T1/de
Publication of EP0215469A1 publication Critical patent/EP0215469A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0215469B1 publication Critical patent/EP0215469B1/fr
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • 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
    • B07C3/00—Sorting according to destination
    • B07C3/20—Arrangements for facilitating the visual reading of addresses, e.g. display arrangements coding stations
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S209/00—Classifying, separating, and assorting solids
    • Y10S209/90—Sorting flat-type mail

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an installation for indexing flat objects, in particular postal mail as defined by the preamble of claim 1.
  • Such an installation is known, for example from document EP-A 2 0 148 487.
  • the postal mail is indexed to allow its sorting by automatic sorters during its transfer from its sender to its recipient, via the postal organization in charge of its routing.
  • the mail to be routed is usually indexed using routing indications allowing it to be sorted with a view to dispatching it to the distributing offices, or even using distribution indications enabling it to be sorted for its dispatch. distribution to recipients. These indications are registered in coded form, via printers, on the postal mail according to the addresses indicated by the senders.
  • the addresses are read either by human operators or by specialized optical readers. Specialized optical scanners usually do not have the adaptive capacity that human operators have, and the mail they agree to process must meet much more demanding standards.
  • the present invention therefore aims to optimize automatic coding by optical reader and manual coding by combining an optical reader at each manual coding station and by allowing variations in processing time as a function of input difficulties so as to offer optimal mail throughput, limiting the number of rejects due to non-reading and optimizing the work of human operators.
  • the indexing installation presented in FIG. 1 is intended to allow the recording of coded indications on flat objects, of the postal mail type and in particular letters, according to the written or printed inscriptions on these objects to specify the postal addresses of their respective recipients.
  • these coded indications are, for example, routing indexes or distribution indexations and they are presented on the letters in a form recognizable by sorting machines and by specialized personnel; their composition is therefore likely to vary according to the needs of the users and according to the writing and reading materials used, these are usually printed distinctive marks, of parallel bar type with determined spacing, or possibly alphanumeric inscriptions.
  • a printer 1 for example of the inkjet type, duly positioned along a conveyor 2 responsible for transferring the letters in the installation of indexing between a destacker magazine 3, where the letters to be indexed are stored, and a storage assembly, for example consisting of tampers not shown, receiving the indexed letters.
  • the unstacker magazine 3 is designed to contain a large number of postal envelopes, for example a thousand envelopes, which are stacked one against the other and which are capable of being extracted one after the other from one of the ends. of the unstacker magazines 3, designed for this purpose, as the example shown in FIG. 3 later shows.
  • a logic 0 conventionally organized around at least one processor commands, via a command link L1, the output of the letters one to one outside the destacker store 3.
  • Each letter travels from the unstacker magazine 3 to the storage assembly via the conveyor 2 conventionally constituted using movable elements, such as pulleys or drive belts, and fixed elements, guides or slides type, ensuring the movement of the letters one by one between the mobile and / or fixed elements, according to a determined route, each letter moving under the action of pulleys or belts bearing on at least one of its two faces .
  • movable elements such as pulleys or drive belts
  • fixed elements guides or slides type
  • An optical reader 4 is placed along the path of the conveyor 2 downstream of the destacker magazine 1 so as to see the letters coming out one by one from this destacker magazine separately, under the control of logic 0, to find the position of the inscriptions preexisting necessary for indexing and to read these inscriptions.
  • the optical reader 4 is of conventional structure and will only be briefly recalled here, its own structure having only an indirect connection with the present invention.
  • This optical reader conventionally comprises an arrangement intended to illuminate the surface to be read and a lens concentrating the light reflected by this surface on an optical sensor assembly usually composed using photodiodes.
  • This optical sensor assembly produces electrical signals, a function of the light it receives and transmits them to logic 0.
  • This logic compares the signals it receives from the optical sensor assembly with those contained in a character memory, not shown, which it comprises in order to translate, in the form of predetermined numerical combinations, the different characters recognized by comparison.
  • the images provided by the optical sensor are stored for the benefit of logic and possibly the manual coding station.
  • optical readers logic 0 is included, an example of such a reader being described in particular in European patent application 0063243.
  • the processing logic 0 may alternatively be external to the reader because of its coordination role for the installation, in particular with a view to solving the problems due to the parallel actions of the operator and the optical reader.
  • the optical reader 4 seeks to decipher the inscriptions which are necessary for indexing a letter when this letter passes in front of it on the conveyor 2 arranged for this purpose.
  • the latter comprises, for example, an opening forming a viewing window facing the optical sensor, so that the latter sees the letter face portion where the inscriptions to be read are likely to appear.
  • a switch 5 is placed downstream of the optical reader on the path of the conveyor 2, this switch 5 is intended to orient differently the letters for which the reader is able to make a decision after reading and those for which human intervention or more processing along with the optical drive are necessary, it also makes it possible to supply the human operator with letters if need be.
  • the optical reader 4 transmits letters to the manual coding station in a certain number of cases, for example when it is not able to determine the location of the inscriptions to be taken into account for various reasons linked for example to the abnormal positioning. of these inscriptions or that of insignificant inscriptions likely to lead to confusion.
  • the optical reader 4 transmits letters without going through the manual coding station either when it has read or as soon as the inscriptions are unambiguous, for example if the letter is already indexed, or even if the face of the letter examined is blank .
  • a first channel of the switch 5 therefore leads to the manual coding station 6, via a branch branch 2D1 of the conveyor 2 and a buffer store 7 in which are piled up the letters intended to be examined by a human operator serving said manual coding station.
  • the branch branch 2D1 is constituted like the branch 1 by a usual assembly not shown of pulleys and / or belts. drive holding the letters together and moving them one behind the other most often in an upright position.
  • the buffer magazine 7 is a destacker-stacker magazine preferably of the first-in-first-out type which will be explained below.
  • the manual coding station 6 is a conventional arrangement having a display unit 6A, in direct view or on screen, which allows an operator to look at at least one of the two sides of a letter in order to index it. using a 6B coding keyboard according to the inscriptions read on this letter.
  • the screen can optionally receive images read by the optical sensor of the reader and memorized for the benefit of the manual coding station.
  • the display unit 6A is possibly constituted by video equipment comprising a shooting camera supplying a display monitor not shown, in one embodiment, it essentially comprises a device making it possible to illuminate the letters to be coded, in isolation or in small groups, this device possibly being that of the optical reader, and of viewing them through a window provided on one of the edges of the branch 2D1 of the conveyor 2.
  • the keyboard 6B is a classic keyboard with keys preferably adapted ergonomically and in a specific manner to the indexing tasks to be performed, it is connected to the printer 1, via the processing logic 0 and two links L2 and L3, in view of it transmit the indexing orders, as does the optical reader 4 for the letters it processes.
  • the keyboard 6B also allows the human operator to activate the switch 5, via logic 0 and a control link L4, as does the optical reader 4.
  • a second channel of the switch 5 leads to a second switch 8, via a branch branch 2D2 of the conveyor 2.
  • the second switch 8 makes it possible to direct the letters it receives either to the buffer store 7, via a branch of 2D3 branch, either to the printer 1 via the 2D2 branch, it is normally controlled by the optical reader 4, via logic 0 and a command link L5, depending on the result of the read operations.
  • a double barrier 9 is inserted between switches 5 and 8 to retain one by one the letters transmitted on the branch branch 2D2, until the optical drive 4 has not completed its analysis.
  • the analysis carried out on a letter from the information gathered on one of its faces by the optical reader does not lead to one of the planned possibilities of indexing after a predetermined maximum time, the letter concerned is transmitted to the manual coding station for decryption.
  • the analysis of each letter no longer requires the presence of the letter in front of the optical reader 4 as soon as the indications provided by the optical sensor assembly of this reader, for this letter, are memorized.
  • this letter can be moved by the conveyor 2 towards the switch 5 and through it while the processing of the indications relating to said letter continues by means of the processor of the optical reader 4, which makes it possible to place without loss from time to time a new letter in front of this optical reader 4.
  • the double barrier 9, controlled by the optical reader 4, via the logic 0 and a link L6, makes it possible to delay by a first barrier element any letter transmitted on the branch of derivation D2, via the switch 5, as long as the processing indications relating to this letter is not completed by the processor of the optical reader 4 and that consequently the orientation of said letter towards the manual coding station 6 or towards the printer 1, via the second switch 8, n 'is not decided; a second barrier element located upstream of the first, also makes it possible to stop a letter which follows a letter stopped behind the first element.
  • the concerned ieu cannot be indexed, it is transmitted to the manual coding station 6; for this purpose it is oriented towards the buffer store 7, via the second switch 8 and the branch branch 2D3, otherwise it continues its transit through the branch branch 2D2 to the printer 1.
  • This printer 1 receives on the one hand the letters to be indexed coming from the optical reader 4 via the branch of bypass 2D2, on the other hand the letters to be indexed transmitted by the manual coding station 6, it is therefore supplied via d a conveyor junction device 10 to which the branch branch 2D2 and a branch branch 2D4 connected to the branch branches 2D1 and 2D3, via the buffer store 7 and the manual coding arrangement.
  • At least one of the two branches 2D2, 2D4, and here both have a barrier 11, 12 making it possible to temporarily delay a letter when it is transferred to the printer 1, so as to avoid any overlap of two letters coming simultaneously each on a different 2D2 or 2D4 branch.
  • the barriers 11 and 12 are controlled by logic 0, via selection links which are not shown, so as to prevent their simultaneous opening, priority being given to one of them, for example to the barrier 11.
  • all of the letters supplied by the destacker store pass through the printer 1 for indexing under the control of the optical reader 4 or of the manual coding station 6; in the case provided here, the printer does not index letters for which no indexing code could be found by the reader or the operator due to their abnormality.
  • FIG. 2 shows an alternative embodiment aiming to increase the compactness of the indexing installation, bearing in mind that the dimensions of a sorting assembly comprising such an installation are often large and therefore benefit from being reduced.
  • the indexing installation presented in FIG. 2 is characterized by an arrangement of these constituent elements on two floors making it possible to reduce the area occupied on the ground by the same amount, this being facilitated by the relatively low height required by these constituent elements which is linked to the usual dimensions of postal mail.
  • the indexing installation according to the invention comprises a printer 1 ′ having the same structure and same functions as printer 1, this printer 1 ′ is for example a TILJE model from the applicant company.
  • the printer is supplied with letters to be indexed from a 3 'unstacker magazine.
  • the magazine 3 ′ is of the so-called horizontal type, its practical arrangement is shown in FIG. 3 as well as in FIG. 7; in this latter embodiment, it has a bearing surface 13 of the letters 14 which slopes up towards the extraction end through which the letters are sent through the conveyor.
  • An optical reader 4 ' is placed at the outlet of the unstacker magazine 3' ( Figures 2 and 7) along the path of the conveyor 2 'connecting the outlet of the unstacker magazine 3' to the inlet of the printer 1 '.
  • optical reader 4 ′ is analogous to the optical reader 4 and will therefore not be described further.
  • 0 'processor logic ensures harmonious control of the various components in conjunction with the indications provided by the optical reader and by the manual coding arrangement.
  • a 5 'switch makes it possible to transmit by branch branches 2D1' and 2D2 'different the letters selected for processing by the optical reader 4' from those which are transmitted directly to the operator at his request.
  • the optical reader 4 ' has, like the optical reader 4 in the previous example, a window opening onto the conveyor 2' and allowing it to see one of the letter faces scrolling.
  • the window of the optical drive extends over a surface allowing a vertical row of photodiodes to read the letter as it scrolls horizontally.
  • This window not shown is laterally bordered by pulleys or letter drive belts and parallel to it is arranged a device capable of immobilizing a letter in front of the window and then restarting it on command.
  • the branch branch 2D1 ' taken by the letters directly transmitted to the operator, is directed towards a buffer store 7' in which come to pile up all the letters that the operator will analyze, these letters are indexed by means of a manual coding arrangement 6 'identical to the arrangement 6 mentioned above.
  • the buffer magazine 7 ′ includes a vertical level changer which makes it possible to lower the letters from the level where they have been processed hitherto, that is to say essentially by the optical reader 4 ′ , down to the lower level where they will be processed in particular by the printer 1 and by a sorting assembly 15.
  • the branch branch 2D2 ' is on the upper level like the optical reader 4', the branch 2D1 'and the buffer store 7', it is provided with a barrier 9 'having a role similar to that of barrier 9 it that is, to temporarily stop a letter and the one that follows. This judgment occurs in particular for letters whose reading is finished, but whose analysis of the indications is still in progress, in order to determine if the information necessary for indexing is obtained or if the intervention of an operator is necessary .
  • a switch 8 ′ similar to switch 8 in FIG.
  • the switch 8 ' directs the letter concerned towards the buffer store 7', via a junction device 17, identical to the junction device 10 of FIG. 1, this junction device 17 also being located at the upper level .
  • the level changer magazine 7 ′ feeds the manual coding arrangement 6 ′, allowing the operator to see two letters simultaneously, for example one above the other as shown in FIG. 7, one under review and one pending.
  • the manual coding arrangement 6 ' is connected to the printer by a 2D4' branch of the conveyor 2, via, a barrier 11 'and a junction device 10'.
  • the junction device 10 ′ also receives the letters descended from the upper level to this lower level by means of the level changer device 16.
  • the output of this level changer device 16 is connected for this purpose to a 2D5 branch of the conveyor which the unit to the junction device 10 ', via a barrier 12'.
  • the barriers 11 'and 12' have the same functions as the barriers 11 and 12 and are therefore produced and controlled in a similar manner.
  • the letters examined by the optical reader 4 ′ and / or by means of the manual coding arrangement 6 ′ are indexed by the printer when they pass through this printer, they are then sorted according to their indexing by the sorting assembly 15 which is for example provided with standard tampers, symbolized three in number in FIG. 7.
  • FIG. 3 makes it possible in particular to specify the constitution of an example of a 3 or 3 'unstacker magazine, of the so-called horizontal type.
  • the letters are stored in a single stack on a floor 13 with a slight slope rising towards the unstacking device proper located at the top right of FIG. 3.
  • the magazine is of the conventional type and comprises a floor 13 provided with longitudinal drive belts 18 with a rough or notched surface tending to cause the letters 14 placed vertically on the floor to be moved towards the unstacker device.
  • This floor 13 is bordered on one of its longitudinal edges by a jogging wall 19 against which the letters are aligned by one of their two lateral edges.
  • a pallet 20 is pressed against that of the two large letter faces which ends a packet of letters opposite the unstacker device and at the bottom of the packet in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7.
  • This pallet 20 (FIG. 3) is mobile, for example by sliding along a guide rod 21 which keeps it perpendicular to the jogging edge 19 and to the floor 13, it is driven by the belts 18 on which it rests by its lower end.
  • this destacker device combines a transverse suction box 22 at the end of the floor with a destacker drum 23, shown here opened by a tear off at its top; the drum laterally adjoins the box at the end of the floor near the jogging wall 19.
  • a perforated wall 24 of the suction box 22 is produced in parallel and facing the pallet 20, it allows the suction of the letter immediately adjacent, whose large facing face is pressed against it and against the destacker drum 23.
  • the latter has suction ports 25 in height on a part of its periphery and it internally comprises a suction nozzle 26 which is oriented so as to open parallel to the perforated wall 24 of the box so as to ensure a suction oriented from the magazine towards the inside of the drum when the suction orifices 25 pass in front of its opening.
  • the suction nozzle 26 is connected to a conventional pumping device by a solenoid valve controlled by logic 0 at the request of the optical reader or the operator; the suction device and the solenoid valve, of conventional structures are not shown in the figures.
  • the destacker drum 23 has a continuous rotary movement, here in the opposite direction to that of the hands of a watch, so as to drive, here to the right, the letters successively pressed against it by the suction box 22.
  • the drum 23 is placed under vacuum thanks to the solenoid valve and the passage of the orifices 25 of the drum in front of the nozzle causes a suction of the letter against these orifices which then entrain it in their rotational movement, until the moment when they pass beyond the nozzle opening 26.
  • the unstacked letter 14 is then conventionally driven by the conveyor which comprises for example two endless belts 27, 28 stretched between different shafts so that the two belts are parallel and pressed one on the other over part of their path, only two of these shafts 29, 30 being shown. Any letter coming between the shafts 29, 30 is entrained between the strands pressed against each other of the two bands 27, 28 due to the rotation of the shafts in the directions indicated in FIG. 3, at least some of these shafts being driven by a motor which is not shown.
  • the conveyor comprises for example two endless belts 27, 28 stretched between different shafts so that the two belts are parallel and pressed one on the other over part of their path, only two of these shafts 29, 30 being shown. Any letter coming between the shafts 29, 30 is entrained between the strands pressed against each other of the two bands 27, 28 due to the rotation of the shafts in the directions indicated in FIG. 3, at least some of these shafts being driven by a motor which is not shown.
  • FIG. 4 briefly recalls the constitution of a switch 5, placed between portions of conveyor which allow the letters to be transferred one by one, here by wedging between strands moving parallel, one against the other and in the same sense, of pairs of endless drive belts, on the letter path.
  • the letters arrive between the joined strands of two belts 33, 34 ending in the switch on two practically tangent shafts 35, 36 with parallel axes;
  • two receiving shafts 37, 38 practically tangent and with parallel axes, are placed here in alignment with the shafts 35, 36 on the other side of a flap 31 with an axis 32.
  • the shafts 37, 38 also carry belts endless 39, 40 ensuring by two of their joined strands a transfer of letters from the flap 31 on the branch branch, due to their respective movements.
  • Two receiving shafts 41, 42 with offset parallel axes form with the endless belts 43, 44 a second branch branch.
  • the flap 31 with a flat V-shaped cross section is mounted near the receiving shafts on an axis 32 parallel to the axes of these shafts; it is likely to take two positions alternately under the action of an electromechanical control mechanism not shown. In one of these two positions the upper face of the flap constitutes a passage allowing a letter leaving between the parallel and contiguous strands of the belts 33, 34 to go towards the zone where the belts 39, 40 meet, between the trees 37 and 38, in order to be caught therein and entrained by the contiguous parallel strands of the latter.
  • the underside of the flap 31 constitutes a passage against which a letter exiting between the parallel strands of the belts 33, 34 comes to pass to be placed against the strand of the belt 44 which is joined with the parallel strand of the belt 43, before being wedged between them for its transfer.
  • the barriers such as 9, 9 ′, 11,11 12, 12 ′ are of known type, an example is presented in FIG. 5, they are inserted between two conveyor portions formed here respectively by the pairs of belts 45, 46 and 47, 48 which lead to end shafts 49, 50, 51, 52 of parallel axes which are practically tangent two by two. These end shafts are arranged at a distance on either side of the barrier proper, so that any letter from between the practically contiguous parallel strands of the belts 45 and 46 is transmitted in a straight line between the practically parallel strands contiguous belts 47, 48 via a conveyor belt 53 placed under the letter path perpendicular to the axes of the end shafts. The letters are held in a position perpendicular to the conveyor belt by a guide piece 54 with parallel edges practically joining the end shafts 49, 50 to the end shafts 51, 52.
  • At least one and here two barrier arms 55, 56 are arranged on the letter path between the guide piece 54 and the end shafts 51 and 52.
  • the barrier arms 55, 56 are here mounted on a rotary bracket 57 d axis perpendicular to the plane of the conveyor belt 53. This allows alternately, under the control of an electro-mechanism 58, to place the arms 55, 56 in front of the outlet of the guide piece 54 upstream of the receiving end shafts 51 , 52 to block a letter, or to retract these arms 55, 56 out of the letter path.
  • junctions 10, 10 ′, 17 are of conventional structure in the matter, they are for example constituted in a manner analogous to the switch mentioned in connection with FIG. 4 the directions of rotation of the pulleys and therefore the movements of the belts being reversed.
  • the example of a destacker with level changer magazine shown in Figure 6 is intended to ensure, on the one hand, the creation of a small reserve for letters intended for processing by the operator, on the other hand, to ensure level loading. and simultaneously the presentation to the operator of the letters to be processed.
  • the conveyor part 2 concerned consists for example of two endless belts 59, 60 wound, at the buffer store 7 ', on two shafts 61, 62 rotating in opposite directions so that the parallel and contiguous strands of the belts 59, 60 which pass between them circulate to the buffer store 7 '.
  • These belts 59, 60 and the letters, which they transport, circulate at a level, called higher, in the frame 63 which contains them.
  • the buffer magazine 7 ′ is located at this same upper level and is constituted in a similar manner to the magazine presented in FIG. 3.
  • the letters are stored, perpendicular to a floor 64 provided with transverse drive belts 65, in abutment against a jogging wall 66 and in stack against a pallet 67 sliding on a guide rod 68 to which it is perpendicular.
  • the guide rod 68 is parallel to the drive belts 65.
  • the letters ejected from the trees 61, 62 by the belts 59, 60 slide at the head of the stack of letters under the action of an endless belt 69 stretched around trees 70, 71, 72 entrained in the same direction as the shaft 59.
  • the shaft 70 is located parallel and close to the shafts 61, 62 so that the belt strand closest to the magazine 7 ′ is in line with the parallel strands adjoining the belts 59,60 , which tends to stack any new letter emerging from between the trees on the stack of letters lying perpendicular to the floor 64 against the pallet 67.
  • shafts 70, 71 are offset so as to promote stacking.
  • the belt 69 is preferably provided with perforation 69A over a part of its length and a suction nozzle 73 is formed near the shaft 72 and the jogging wall 67 facing the magazine 7 'and the other side of the belt strand 69 which passes flush with the jogging wall.
  • This suction nozzle 73 which opens flush with the belt 69 on the height of this belt, is conventionally connected to a vacuum pump by means of a solenoid valve, these two elements not being shown here.
  • This letter pressed against the belt 69 is then driven towards at least one and here two pairs of parallel shafts 74, 75, 76, 77 joined two by two, between which it comes to pass; the first two shafts 74, 75 are motorized and tend to propel the letter in the direction of movement, unlike the two shafts 76, 77 following mounted mad which maintain the level of the letter pinched between them.
  • a second suction device 81 moves vertically for example on a second guide rod 82 so that the suction cup which it carries can be positioned immediately below that of the suction device 78, when the latter is in the extreme position in the center of the upper part of the window.
  • suction cup device 81 Since the suction cup device 81 is also connected to a vacuum pump and to a control valve which are not shown, the suction cup which it comprises comes to be pressed behind the letter placed in the upper position by the other suction cup device 78 and is moved by up and down to drive this letter to a lower level for which it is always visible and possibly takeable by the operator.
  • the letter located at the upper level is held in position either by the suction cup of the device 78 or by a system with conventional additional flap, not shown, supporting it; the letter located at the lower level is maintained by the suction cup of the device 81 in the low position or by another flap not shown.
  • the suction cup device 81 is then mounted in the high position so that its suction cup is pressed against the letter carried by the suction cup device 78, the vacuum of which is then canceled.
  • This suction cup device 78 then moves towards the trees 76, 77 to take the letter there which has just been unstacked outside the magazine 7 '.
  • the suction cup device 81 returns to the lower position where it positions the letter it has taken from the suction cup device 78. The latter then returns to its place in the central upper part of the window 80.
  • the conveyor belt 83 located at the lower level drives the letters it receives in the opposite direction with respect to the belts 59, 60 and the shafts 74, 75, it leads to a new portion of conveyor leading to the printer.
  • This portion here consists of two endless belts 84, 85 which wind around two shafts 86, 87 so as to come flush with the upper part of the conveyor belt 83 on which the letters pass.
  • the shape of the walls of the chute is arranged to maintain in vertical position any letter fallen on the carpet, the latter leads these letters between the parallel and contiguous strands of the belts 84, 85 so that the latter entrain them, under the 7 'magazine, towards the printer.
  • the window is also provided with rear walls which are not shown and front elements intended to guide the letters in their movement, said front elements comprising, for example, wires 88, 89 stretched vertically in the window frame 80 .
  • the level changing device 16 will not be described further since it is likely to be constituted by a chute connecting the upper level to the lower level between conveyor ports or by a level changer of the same principle as the one mentioned above.
  • sorting assembly 15 visible in FIGS. 2 and 7, will not be described further since it is conventional equipment in this field and which has only an indirect connection with the invention.

Landscapes

  • Sorting Of Articles (AREA)
  • Nitrogen And Oxygen Or Sulfur-Condensed Heterocyclic Ring Systems (AREA)
  • Paper (AREA)
  • Liquid Crystal Substances (AREA)
  • Medicines Containing Material From Animals Or Micro-Organisms (AREA)
  • Circuits Of Receivers In General (AREA)
  • Breeding Of Plants And Reproduction By Means Of Culturing (AREA)
  • Supports Or Holders For Household Use (AREA)
  • Controlling Sheets Or Webs (AREA)
  • Warehouses Or Storage Devices (AREA)
  • Credit Cards Or The Like (AREA)
  • Separation, Sorting, Adjustment, Or Bending Of Sheets To Be Conveyed (AREA)
EP86112760A 1985-09-18 1986-09-16 Installation d'indexation d'objets plats, notamment de courrier postal Expired EP0215469B1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AT86112760T ATE48248T1 (de) 1985-09-18 1986-09-16 Anlage zur kennzeichnung von flachen gegenstaenden, insbesondere briefpost.

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR8513831A FR2587240B1 (fr) 1985-09-18 1985-09-18 Installation d'indexation d'objets plats, notamment de courrier postal
FR8513831 1985-09-18

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0215469A1 EP0215469A1 (fr) 1987-03-25
EP0215469B1 true EP0215469B1 (fr) 1989-11-29

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP86112760A Expired EP0215469B1 (fr) 1985-09-18 1986-09-16 Installation d'indexation d'objets plats, notamment de courrier postal

Country Status (11)

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US (1) US4778062A (es)
EP (1) EP0215469B1 (es)
AT (1) ATE48248T1 (es)
AU (1) AU585392B2 (es)
DE (1) DE3667146D1 (es)
DK (1) DK445586A (es)
ES (1) ES2001970A6 (es)
FI (1) FI863761A (es)
FR (1) FR2587240B1 (es)
NO (1) NO863688L (es)
PT (1) PT83398B (es)

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US4913295A (en) * 1985-04-08 1990-04-03 Banctec, Inc. Apparatus for processing remittance and remittance advice documents
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US4778062A (en) 1988-10-18
DK445586A (da) 1987-03-19
DE3667146D1 (de) 1990-01-04
FR2587240B1 (fr) 1989-05-05
ATE48248T1 (de) 1989-12-15
FR2587240A1 (fr) 1987-03-20
NO863688L (no) 1987-03-19
PT83398B (pt) 1993-05-31
FI863761A0 (fi) 1986-09-17
EP0215469A1 (fr) 1987-03-25
AU6279286A (en) 1987-03-19
AU585392B2 (en) 1989-06-15
FI863761A (fi) 1987-03-19
ES2001970A6 (es) 1988-07-01
PT83398A (pt) 1987-05-06
DK445586D0 (da) 1986-09-17
NO863688D0 (no) 1986-09-16

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