EP3552720B1 - Mail sorting installation with a tray conveyor with retractable edge and shuttle robot for handling trays - Google Patents

Description

Technical area

The field of the invention is that of sorting mail items in bins in postal sorting centers.

The invention relates more particularly to an installation for sorting mail items comprising sorting outlets aligned along a sorting conveyor each provided with a housing for a bin in which sorted mail items are stored and a conveyor. of bins which extends below said sorting outlets for transporting the bins filled with sorted mail items from the sorting outlets to a feed inlet of the sorting conveyor.

Prior art

It is common today to have bin conveyors under the sorting outlets on the one hand to minimize the floor area in postal sorting centers and on the other hand to reduce the transfer distance of the bins between the sorting outlets and the bin conveyor.

Indeed, this arrangement makes it possible to manually transfer the bins by sorting operators who retrieve the bins at arm's length from the sorting outlets to place them on the bin conveyor in the appropriate orientation.

However, the weight and volume of the bins loaded with mail items make handling inconvenient and tiring for the operator.

This type of sorting installation is described in particular in the document WO-A-01/12348 .

Statement of the invention

The aim of the invention is therefore to remedy the aforementioned problems.

To this end, the invention relates to an installation for sorting mail items comprising sorting outlets aligned along a sorting conveyor each provided with a housing for a bin in which sorted mail items are stored, the sorting installation also comprising a bin conveyor which extends under said sorting outlets for transporting the bins filled with sorted mail items from the sorting outlets to a feed inlet of the sorting conveyor, characterized in that it comprises a shuttle robot manipulator of bins able to move along the bin conveyor in front of the sorting outlets and to extract a bin from a housing of a sorting outlet which has associated with it under the control of 'a control / command unit for transferring it to the bin conveyor, said shuttle robot comprising a slide mechanically connected with the bin conveyor designed to transfer the extracted bin from the housing onto the bin conveyor by the effect of gravity and in that the bin conveyor comprises a pivoting outer edge between a retracted position allowing transfer of the bin from the slide onto the bin conveyor and a raised position preventing the bins conveyed on the bin conveyor from being ejected from the bin. conveyor during transport to the feed inlet.

The idea underlying the invention here consists in eliminate the operation of transferring bins by sorting operators from the sorting outlets to the bin conveyor and using a simple and non-motorized system for the injection of the bin on the conveyor.

The idea is also to prevent any overflow or ejection of the bins during their transport to the feed inlet while temporarily allowing the transfer of the bin from the slide to any point of the bin conveyor thanks to the pivoting edge.

• le toboggan et la rive pivotante sont agencés de sorte que le bac pousse la rive pivotante en position escamotée lors de son transfert sur le convoyeur de bacs ;
• la rive pivotante comprend un moyen de rappel de sorte à ramener la rive pivotante de la position escamotée à la position relevée ;
• la rive est segmentée en tronçons pivotants indépendamment les uns des autres, et en ce que sous chaque sortie de tri s'étend un desdits tronçons de sorte que le robot navette commandé par l'unité de contrôle/commande est apte à venir se placer à la fois devant une sortie de tri et un tronçon de la rive pivotante ;
• le convoyeur de bacs comprend des rouleaux de convoyage motorisés droits ;
• le convoyeur de bacs comprend des rouleaux de convoyage motorisés inclinés ;
• le convoyeur de bacs comprend une rive extérieure fixe du côté opposé à la rive pivotante.

The sorting installation according to the invention can also have the following features:

• the slide and the pivoting edge are arranged so that the container pushes the pivoting edge into the retracted position during its transfer to the container conveyor;
• the pivoting edge comprises a return means so as to bring the pivoting edge back from the retracted position to the raised position;
• the bank is segmented into pivoting sections independently of each other, and in that under each sorting outlet extends one of said sections so that the shuttle robot controlled by the control / command unit is able to come to stand at both in front of a sorting outlet and a section of the pivoting bank;
• the bin conveyor comprises straight motorized conveyor rollers;
• the bin conveyor comprises inclined motorized conveyor rollers;
• the bin conveyor comprises a fixed outer edge on the side opposite to the pivoting edge.

Summary presentation of the drawings

• La figure 1 est une représentation schématique de dessus d'une installation de tri selon l'invention ;
• la figure 2 représente schématiquement le robot navette devant une sortie de tri de l'installation de tri selon l'invention ;
• la figure 3 représente schématiquement un convoyeur de bacs à rouleaux inclinés selon l'invention ;
• les figures 4a à 4c représentent schématiquement un convoyeur de bacs à rouleaux droits selon l'invention pendant une cinétique de transfert d'un bac.

The present invention will be better understood and other advantages will appear on reading the detailed description of the embodiment taken by way of non-limiting example and illustrated by the appended drawings, in which:

• The figure 1 is a schematic top view of a sorting installation according to the invention;
• the figure 2 schematically represents the shuttle robot in front of a sorting outlet of the sorting installation according to the invention;
• the figure 3 schematically shows a conveyor of inclined roller containers according to the invention;
• the figures 4a to 4c schematically represent a conveyor of tubs with straight rollers according to the invention during a transfer kinetics of a tub.

Description of the embodiment

One represented on the figure 1 a sorting installation 1 according to the invention which comprises sorting outlets 2 aligned along a sorting conveyor 3 each with a housing 4 for a bin 5 in which sorted mail items 6 are stored.

It is also represented on the figure 1 a feed inlet 7 designed to put mail items 6 in series on the sorting conveyor 3 according to the conveying direction F1 in order to then be sorted in the corresponding sorting outlets 2.

A bin conveyor 8 is also provided under the sorting outlets 2 to convey the bins 5 loaded with mail items 6 from the sorting outlets 2 to the feed inlet 7 in a conveying direction F2.

The extraction of a bin 5 from a housing 4 of a sorting outlet 2 and its injection onto the bin conveyor 8 under said sorting outlet 2 are here carried out by means of a shuttle robot 9 capable of rolling at ground S1 autonomously along the sorting outlets 2 in the direction of movement F3 under the control of a control unit 19.

The shuttle robot 9 is mechanically connected to the bin conveyor by coupling to a guide rail 10 which extends in front of the bin conveyor 8 over its entire length, as can be seen on the figures. figures 1 and 2 .

As shown on the figure 2a , the shuttle robot 9 comprises a frame 11, here in the form of an L with a plate 11a on wheels and a backrest 11b, on which is mounted a handling means 12 able to extract a bin from a housing of a sorting outlet and place it on the bin conveyor.

The handling means 12 comprises a motorized gripping head 13 which is telescopic and movable vertically to extract a container 5 from the housing 4 from a sorting outlet 2.

The handling means also comprises a slide 14 for a bin 5 which extends under the telescopic head 13 and the lower end 14a of which is used to make the coupling with the guide rail 10 in a sliding manner.

As visible on the figure 2b , the lower end 14a of the slide comes flush with the bin conveyor 8 so that each bin 5 can slide directly from the slide onto the conveyor without manual intervention or means motorized.

The slope of the slide 14 is therefore chosen so that the bins 5 slide by gravity on the bin conveyor 8.

The slide 14 may also include rollers 15 mounted free to rotate in order to facilitate the sliding of the bins 5 and to tolerate lower inclinations of the slide of the slide.

The telescopic gripping head 13 is also designed to deposit the bin 5 extracted from the housing 4 of the sorting outlet 2 on the slide 14 for its injection onto the bin conveyor 8.

The bin conveyor 8 also includes a pivoting outer edge 16 which extends along the bin conveyor on the side of the hitch of the shuttle robot 9, as seen in the pictures. figures 2 and 4a to 4c .

The edge 16 is here pivoting between a retracted position allowing a transfer of the container 5 from the slide 14 on the container conveyor 8, as shown in figure figure 4b , and a raised position, shown on the figure 2 , 4a and 4c , preventing other bins 5 conveyed on the bin conveyor 8 from being ejected from the conveyor during their transport to the feed inlet 7.

The lower end 14a of the slide 14 arrives here at the foot of the pivoting outer edge 16 so that when transferring a bin 5 to the bin conveyor 8, the bin 5 pushes the pivoting outer edge 16 into the retracted position under the effect of gravity.

Thus, the retracted pivoting outer edge 16 is located substantially flat on the bin conveyor 8 to allow the bin 5 to slide continuously from the container. slide 14 on the bin conveyor 8, without modifying, or only negligibly, the inclination of the bin when passing over the pivoting outer edge 16.

A return means 17, for example of the flyweight or return spring type visible on the figure 2 , can also be mounted on the pivoting outer edge 16 to bring it back from the retracted position to the raised position when the edge 16 is no longer in contact with the tank 5.

The return force of the spring is here less than the force exerted by a container during its transfer to the container conveyor.

It will therefore be understood the movement of the pivoting edge 16 in the retracted position under the action of the tank 5 moving by gravity on the slide 14 and the return of the pivoting edge into the raised position under the effect of the return spring 17 allow actuation simplified and non-motorized swivel outer edge 16.

The pivoting outer edge 16 can also be segmented into sections 18 pivoting independently of each other under each sorting outlet.

In this case, the shuttle robot 9 is controlled by the control / command unit 19 so as to come to stand both in front of a sorting outlet 2 and a section 18 of edge, as shown in figure figure 4a .

The segmentation in section 18 here makes it possible to authorize the pivoting of a section 18 of edge 16 in front of a sorting outlet which has associated with it, while keeping the other sections in the raised position to prevent the ejection of bins 5 along bin conveyors.

The bin conveyor 8 of the sorting plant 1 according to the invention may also comprise straight motorized conveyor rollers 20, as shown in the figures 4a to 4b which allows the bin conveyor 8 to be used in a bidirectional operating mode.

Alternatively, the bin conveyor 8 may have inclined motorized conveyor rollers 21, as shown in figure. figure 3 , which allows use of the conveyor 8 in a one-way operating mode.

In both cases, a fixed edge 22 on the opposite side of the pivoting outer edge 16 makes it possible to hold the trays 5 during their journey towards the feed inlet 7.

Without restricting the scope of the invention, several shuttle robots 9 could be used on the same guide rail 10 in order to accelerate the rate of extraction and injection of the bins 5 on the bin conveyor 8.

Claims (7)

1. A sorting installation (1) for sorting mailpieces (6) comprising sorting outlets (2) in line along a sorting conveyor (3), each outlet having a recess (4) for receiving a tray (5) in which sorted mailpieces are stored, said sorting installation comprising a tray conveyor (8) that extends under said sorting outlets for transporting the trays filled with sorted mailpieces from the sorting outlets to a feed inlet (7) of the sorting conveyor, characterized in that said sorting installation comprises a tray-manipulating shuttle robot (9) suitable for moving along the tray conveyor past said sorting outlets, and for extracting a tray from a recess of a sorting outlet associated with it under the control of a monitoring and control unit (19) so as to transfer it to said tray conveyor, said shuttle robot including a chute (14) connected mechanically to the tray conveyor and configured to transfer said tray extracted from the recess to the tray conveyor by the effect of gravity, and in that the tray conveyor includes a pivotally mounted outer edge (16) mounted to pivot between a retracted position allowing the tray to be transferred from said chute to the tray conveyor and a raised position preventing the trays conveyed on the tray conveyor from being ejected from the conveyor while they are being transported towards said feed inlet.
2. The sorting installation according to claim 1, wherein said chute and said pivotally mounted edge are arranged in such a manner that the tray pushes the pivotally mounted edge into the retracted position while said tray is being transferred to said tray conveyor.
3. The sorting installation according to any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the pivotally mounted edge is provided with return means (17) for bringing the pivotally mounted edge back from the retracted position to the raised position.
4. The sorting installation according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pivotally mounted edge is segmented into segments (18) that are mounted to pivot independently from one another, and in that a respective one of said segments extends under each sorting outlet so that said shuttle robot, as controlled by the monitoring and control unit, is suitable for coming to be placed facing both a sorting outlet and a segment of the pivotally mounted edge.
5. The sorting installation according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the tray conveyor includes straight motor-driven conveyor rollers (20).
6. The sorting installation according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the tray conveyor includes slanting motor-driven conveyor rollers (21).
7. The sorting installation according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the tray conveyor includes a fixed outer edge (22) on the side opposite from said pivotally mounted outer edge.

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