EP0552778A2 - A post-sorting machine with holding line - Google Patents

A post-sorting machine with holding line Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0552778A2
EP0552778A2 EP93100919A EP93100919A EP0552778A2 EP 0552778 A2 EP0552778 A2 EP 0552778A2 EP 93100919 A EP93100919 A EP 93100919A EP 93100919 A EP93100919 A EP 93100919A EP 0552778 A2 EP0552778 A2 EP 0552778A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
machine according
station
line
item
holding
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.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP93100919A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0552778A3 (it
Inventor
Mauro Levaro
Michele Scarnera
Gian Carlo Repetto
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.)
Elsag Bailey SpA
Original Assignee
Elsag Bailey SpA
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 Elsag Bailey SpA filed Critical Elsag Bailey SpA
Publication of EP0552778A2 publication Critical patent/EP0552778A2/en
Publication of EP0552778A3 publication Critical patent/EP0552778A3/xx
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current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
    • B07C3/02—Apparatus characterised by the means used for distribution

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a post-sorting machine with a holding line.
  • Modular post-sorting machines which take in a substantially orderly flow of postal items (letters and postcards) and which are provided with an optical coding unit which reads (most conveniently with the assistance of electronic optical reading means) the post code, which must then be printed on the letter to be sorted.
  • the optical coding time normally varies between 1 second and 10 seconds according to the clarity with which the address has been written on the letter.
  • the letter must be held "waiting" and not sent to subsequent sorting stations.
  • Prior art post-sorting machines have long stretches of belt onto which letters waiting to be optically coded are sent; owing to the length of these belts such machines are very large, complex and highly expensive.
  • the object of the present invention is to provide an extremely compact post-sorting machine with a holding line which is able accurately to control the time a letter remains inside the machine.
  • the said object is achieved by the present invention, which relates to a post-sorting machine with a holding line provided with at least one inlet able to receive a flow of incoming postal items and provided with at least one outlet through which the postal items leave, characterised in that it includes at least one primary conveyor line connecting the inlet to the outlet; at least one secondary conveyor line as an alternative to the primary conveyor line; at least one connecting section joining the primary and the secondary conveyors; at least one holding station along the connecting section; the said station including grip means able to receive, block and move postal items so as to temporarily hold these items in the holding station.
  • a post-sorting machine is generally indicated 1, provided with an inlet 4 for receiving a flow 6 of incoming postal items 7 (letters and postcards) and with an outlet 10 through which a flow 13 of postal items leaves the machine.
  • the flow 6 does not have the code (subsequently printed onto the letters, for example as a bar-code) which will be printed onto the items after they leave the machine 1.
  • the machine 1 includes a rectilinear primary conveyor line 17 which connects the inlet 4 with the outlet 10 and conveys the postal items 7 in a manner which will be explained later.
  • the machine 1 also includes a secondary conveyor line 21, parallel to the line 17 and connected to this by a plurality of connecting sections 25, parallel to each other and connected with the line 17 by diverter means 27.
  • the secondary line 21 is connected to an introduction section 29 which extends from an end portion of the line 21 to merge with the primary line 17.
  • the post-sorting machine 1 is also provided with a plurality of holding stations 33 disposed in cascade along the connecting sections 25 and provided with grip means 37 able to receive, retain and move the postal items 7.
  • Each station 33 is further provided with a position sensor 39 able to detect the position of a postal item 7 relative to the grip means 37.
  • These sensors 39 are also able to detect the presence of postal items inside the stations 33.
  • the sensor means 39 are of an opto-electronic type and include a photoemitter device 39a and a photodetector device 39b which define an optical path 39c through the connecting section 25.
  • the post-sorting machine 1 includes an electronic control unit 41 which directs the flow of postal items within the machine 1 by controlling the operation of the diverter means 27 and the holding stations 33.
  • FIGS 2 and 3 illustrate some mechanical details of the machine 1; these drawings follow the numbering given earlier to distinguish elements (for example the conveyor lines) which include several mechanical parts.
  • the primary conveyor line 17 and the introduction section 29 are made up respectively of pairs of belts 60a-60b and 60c-60d positioned alongside for a length defining their respective sections, driven in known manner by pulleys and tensioned by tension rollers 63, 63' mounted on a flat surface 70.
  • the line 21 is formed on the other hand by a rectilinear section 200 of the belt 60c and a plurality of belts 60e including at least one section 201 parallel to the belt 60c.
  • each belt 60e passes around a plurality of pulleys 64 positioned perpendicular to the surface 70.
  • each diverter means 27 includes a body 65 which has a triangular longitudinal section and is pivotable relative to the surface 70.
  • This body 65 has an end portion 67 able to intersect the flow of postal items 7 along the line 17 in order to direct these items into the section 25 or the line 17 according to the angular position of the portion 67.
  • a first portion of the connecting section 25 is defined by a belt 68 which passes over a plurality of pulleys 69 and includes a rectilinear portion 68a which extends from the diverter means 27 towards a holding station 33.
  • the section 25 is further formed by two rectilinear rectangular walls 72, 76 which extend substantially from the end of the portion 68a perpendicular to the surface 70 and are positioned parallel to each other, spaced so as to allow the postal items 7 to flow between the walls 72 and 76.
  • the stations 33 are interposed along the walls 72 and 76 and include a flat rectangular base structure 80 positioned on the surface 70 and supporting the grip means 37.
  • These grip means 37 include a pair of rollers 83, 84 disposed parallel to each other and with cylindrical outer surfaces covered with resilient material (for example rubber).
  • the roller 83 is driven by a clutch-brake unit 85 of known type ( Figure 5) which includes a main shaft 86, fixed at the top end to the roller 83 and connected at the lower end to a clutch unit 87 driven by a belt 88 in turn driven by a three-phase electric motor 89.
  • the clutch unit 87 also includes two discs 87a, 87b facing each other and connected respectively to a lower end of the shaft 86 and to a shaft 90 driven by the electric motor 89 via the belt 88.
  • the group 85 further includes a brake unit 91 having a brake disc 92 fixed to the shaft 86 and housed in a body 93 fixed to the frame 70 of the machine 1.
  • the shaft 86 is axially movable by an electromagnetic actuator 94, conveniently controlled by the unit 41, between a first, coupled position (not illustrated) in which the two discs 87a, 87b of the clutch unit 87 are positioned in contact with one another (and the motion of the motor 89 is transmitted to the roller 83) and a second, uncoupled position in which the discs 87a, 87b of the clutch unit 87 are spaced from each other and the brake disc 92 presses against the body 93.
  • the roller 83 drives the roller 84 by friction.
  • the roller 84 is urged towards the roller 83 by a resilient device 95 of known type. All the rollers 83 of the various holding stations of a section 25 can be driven by a single electric motor 89, connected by respective belts to the various clutch-brake units 85.
  • the postal item remains in this position until the roller 83 is again driven to rotate by the clutch unit 87, giving a strong acceleration to the item 7 which is thrown along the walls 72, 76 and exits from the station 33.
  • the item 7 reaches the adjacent station 33 where the operations described above are repeated; in this way the postal item 7 passes from one station 33 to the next, along the connecting section 25.
  • the flow 6 of postal items 7 enters through the inlet 4 and passes along the section 17 from which it is sorted according to the readings of the unit 41 which controls the position of the diverter means 27 and directs the items 7 into the various parallel sections 25.
  • postal items 7 waiting for coding are directed into the various sections 25, occupying the holding stations 33 one after the other, starting in unoccupied stations 33 immediately adjacent the line 21.
  • each section 25 operates in known manner as a First In First Out (FIFO) unit, where the first item 7 to enter any section 25 will be the first to leave it.
  • FIFO First In First Out
  • the item 7 is transferred from the line 21 to the section 29 and onwards to the outlet 10, becoming part of the flow 13 and moving to a subsequent sorting machine (of known type indicated by a broken line 400) which will print the appropriate code on the item 7.
  • Figure 4 shows the logic block diagram of the operations which the electronic unit 41 controls the machine 1 to perform for each postal item 7 that arrives at the inlet 4.
  • At the start is a block 100 where a station 33 containing no postal item 7 is sought from the signals from the sensors 39.
  • block 110 takes over, directing the postal item to the station 33 identified by block 100.
  • This operation is performed by operating the diverter means 27 so that the item 7 passes along the line 17 until this intersects the diverter means 27 leading into the section 25 containing the empty station 33; at this point, the said diverter means are activated by the unit 41 so that the item 7 is directed along the section 25 into the holding station 33.
  • each diverter means 27 may be detected by sensor means, for convenience groups of photoelectric cells, or by a time function of the transport speed of the belts 60a and 60b.
  • Block 110 is followed by block 115 which checks whether the coding of a postal item 7 in a station 33 at the end of a section 25 near the line 21 is present and complete; if the code is present the item 7 passes on to block 120, otherwise it passes to block 140.
  • This coding is in fact sent to the electronic unit 41 from an external optical coding unit 117 of known type, through which the flow 6 of postal items 7 passes before entering the machine 1.
  • the unit 117 is provided with an alphanumeric keyboard 118 on which an operator (not shown) manually enters the appropriate code for the item 7.
  • the electronic unit 41 has memory means 300 which associate each item 7 with its respective identification position in the stations 33 and the respective code which subsequently is to be printed onto each item 7.
  • Block 120 controls the appropriate station 33, identified by block 115, to send the postal item 7 to the line 21 by means of the rollers 83, 84; in this way the item 7 (which has a completed code) passes to the section 21, on to the section 29 to reach the outlet 10 and leaves the machine to form part of the flow 13 of items 7 to be printed with their associated codes.
  • Block 120 is followed by block 130 where all the stations 33 along a section 25 before the terminal station 33 are ordered to transfer any postal item 7 to the subsequent station 33, by means of their respective rollers 83, 84.
  • block 140 After block 130 comes block 140 which checks whether coding and sorting operations are completed; if they are, the programme is over, if not, it moves on to block 150 which detects the arrival of a new item 7 at the inlet 4 of the machine 1. Finally, from block 150 it returns to block 100.
  • the post-sorting machine with holding line overcomes the disadvantages of prior art machines as it is of smaller dimensions and avoids the long sections of belt used in prior art machines to deal with postal items on hold.
  • the time that postal items remain in the machine 1 is controlled precisely by the electronic unit 41, and postal items 7 leave the machine 1 as soon as the appropriate coding is available.
  • the dwell time in the machine 1 is therefore not constant and equal for all items 7 but depends on the longer or shorter time required for the videocoding.
  • Each connecting section 25 could include only two stations 33 positioned in cascade, or the various sections 25 could have a different number of stations 33.
  • the shape of the stations 33 could be different from that illustrated and each station could include more rollers for gripping the postal items 7.
  • the various devices for moving and stopping the rollers 83, 84 of the stations 33 could also vary.

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  • Sorting Of Articles (AREA)
EP93100919A 1992-01-22 1993-01-21 A post-sorting machine with holding line Withdrawn EP0552778A2 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
ITTO920045 1992-01-22
ITTO920045A IT1256777B (it) 1992-01-22 1992-01-22 Macchina con linea di ritardo per il trattamento di oggetti postali.

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0552778A2 true EP0552778A2 (en) 1993-07-28
EP0552778A3 EP0552778A3 (it) 1994-03-02

Family

ID=11409932

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP93100919A Withdrawn EP0552778A2 (en) 1992-01-22 1993-01-21 A post-sorting machine with holding line

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0552778A2 (it)
IT (1) IT1256777B (it)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0654309A1 (en) * 1993-11-23 1995-05-24 FINMECCANICA S.p.A. Mail accumulating device
WO1995032812A2 (de) * 1994-05-21 1995-12-07 Phat Chon Chau Postrationalisierung
EP0804975A2 (en) * 1996-05-03 1997-11-05 FINMECCANICA S.p.A. Mail accumulating device
FR2772493A1 (fr) * 1997-10-31 1999-06-18 Ncr Int Inc Tampon parallele de documents et procede pour mettre en memoire tampon des documents
DE102006030096A1 (de) * 2006-06-28 2008-01-03 Siemens Ag Sortiersystem mit Speichermodulen für flache Poststücke mit Last-In/First-Out-Betrieb und verbesserter Adresszuordnung
DE102006030095A1 (de) * 2006-06-28 2008-01-03 Siemens Ag Sortiersystem mit Speichermodulen für flache Poststücke mit Last-In/First-Out-Betrieb

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2440785A1 (fr) * 1978-11-09 1980-06-06 Nippon Electric Co Dispositif d'impression de code postal pour systeme de traitement du courrier
FR2650767A1 (fr) * 1989-08-08 1991-02-15 Rougier Yann Dispositif d'indexation d'enveloppes de lettres ou objets plats analogues
EP0429118A1 (en) * 1989-11-17 1991-05-29 Koninklijke KPN N.V. Buffer system for the temporary storage of flat objects such as letters, and buffer for use in said buffer system

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2440785A1 (fr) * 1978-11-09 1980-06-06 Nippon Electric Co Dispositif d'impression de code postal pour systeme de traitement du courrier
FR2650767A1 (fr) * 1989-08-08 1991-02-15 Rougier Yann Dispositif d'indexation d'enveloppes de lettres ou objets plats analogues
EP0429118A1 (en) * 1989-11-17 1991-05-29 Koninklijke KPN N.V. Buffer system for the temporary storage of flat objects such as letters, and buffer for use in said buffer system

Cited By (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0654309A1 (en) * 1993-11-23 1995-05-24 FINMECCANICA S.p.A. Mail accumulating device
US5433325A (en) * 1993-11-23 1995-07-18 Finmeccanica S.P.A. Mail accumulating device
WO1995032812A2 (de) * 1994-05-21 1995-12-07 Phat Chon Chau Postrationalisierung
WO1995032812A3 (de) * 1994-05-21 1996-03-28 Phat Chon Chau Postrationalisierung
EP0804975A2 (en) * 1996-05-03 1997-11-05 FINMECCANICA S.p.A. Mail accumulating device
EP0804975A3 (en) * 1996-05-03 1998-10-28 FINMECCANICA S.p.A. Mail accumulating device
US5908116A (en) * 1996-05-03 1999-06-01 Finmeccanica S.P.A. Mail accumulating device
FR2772493A1 (fr) * 1997-10-31 1999-06-18 Ncr Int Inc Tampon parallele de documents et procede pour mettre en memoire tampon des documents
DE102006030096A1 (de) * 2006-06-28 2008-01-03 Siemens Ag Sortiersystem mit Speichermodulen für flache Poststücke mit Last-In/First-Out-Betrieb und verbesserter Adresszuordnung
DE102006030095A1 (de) * 2006-06-28 2008-01-03 Siemens Ag Sortiersystem mit Speichermodulen für flache Poststücke mit Last-In/First-Out-Betrieb
US7737378B2 (en) 2006-06-28 2010-06-15 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Sorting system having storage modules for flat mail items with last-in/first-out operation and improved address assignment

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
IT1256777B (it) 1995-12-15
ITTO920045A1 (it) 1993-07-22
ITTO920045A0 (it) 1992-01-22
EP0552778A3 (it) 1994-03-02

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