EP3765213A1 - Sorting machine comprising a bucket conveyor with reduction of sorting outlets - Google Patents

Sorting machine comprising a bucket conveyor with reduction of sorting outlets

Info

Publication number
EP3765213A1
EP3765213A1 EP19717518.5A EP19717518A EP3765213A1 EP 3765213 A1 EP3765213 A1 EP 3765213A1 EP 19717518 A EP19717518 A EP 19717518A EP 3765213 A1 EP3765213 A1 EP 3765213A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
sorting
mail
outlets
conveyor
control unit
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Withdrawn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
EP19717518.5A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Inventor
Karim Kara
Frédéric BADIER
Didier Tresse
David Morisot
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.)
Solystic SAS
Original Assignee
Solystic SAS
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 Solystic SAS filed Critical Solystic SAS
Publication of EP3765213A1 publication Critical patent/EP3765213A1/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

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
    • 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
    • B07C3/008—Means for collecting objects, e.g. containers for sorted mail items
    • 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
    • B07C3/08—Apparatus characterised by the means used for distribution using arrangements of conveyors

Definitions

  • the field of the invention is that of postal sorting machines.
  • the invention relates to a mail sorting machine with a bucket sorting conveyor which moves the buckets over sorting outlets to removable storage bins under the control of a control unit for sorting the goods.
  • sorting machines have a sorting capacity which is determined by the number of sorting outlets present under the bucket conveyor, typically the number of storage bins aligned in the sorting outlets.
  • Machines marketed to date can thus have up to 480 aligned sorting outlets under the bucket conveyor.
  • Such a bucket conveyor sorting machine has a very large footprint, such as that described in WO-A-2009/081008.
  • the idea underlying the invention is that if a current mail item is presented in the bucket conveyor while its destination address is not served by an available sorting outlet, then a manipulator robot is substituted automatically. the tray of a sorting outlet (which can be partially filled) by an empty tray and this sorting outlet is assigned to the destination address of this current mail item.
  • the bin that has been removed from the sorting outlet is placed on the shelf shelf by the shuttle robot so that this bin (which may contain mail) can be placed in a sorting outlet again. during the sort process if necessary by substitution with another sort output bin.
  • the invention thus relates to a mail sorting machine with a bucket sorting conveyor which moves the buckets over sorting outlets to removable storage bins under the control of a control unit for sorting the mail items in the storage bins according to a sorting plan which associates destination addresses of the mail items respectively to said sorting outlets, the control unit being able to detect that a mail item having a certain destination address can not be sorted in a sorting outlet available for this destination address, characterized in that the machine further comprises a manipulator robot able to move along the outputs sorting and carrying out a tray replacement, and in that the control unit is arranged to, in response to said detection, identify among the sorting outlets a sorting outlet and control the manipulator robot to replace the tray.
  • said sorting output by an empty tray (or already containing mail with the same destination address), the tray of this sorting outlet being placed on the shelf by the manipulator robot, and at the same time update in the sorting plan the association between said certain destination address and said certain sorting output.
  • This arrangement helps to increase the separation capacity of the bucket conveyor sorting machine by reducing the sorting outlets. According to the invention, it is possible to provide several robot manipulators that cross each other or not to carry out several substitutions of bins at the same time.
  • the sorting machine according to the invention can still have the following features.
  • It may include a temporary storage shelf bins that is disposed above the bucket conveyor and on which are placed the bins pending.
  • the control unit may be arranged to select said sorting outlet tray from the sorting outlets according to a priority criterion based on the time of non-use of the sorting outlets or a criterion of weakness of use based on a criterion of Weakness of use based on the ratio between the number of mail items present in the conveyor for the bin in place in the sorting outlet and the number of mail items present in the conveyor for the waiting bin.
  • It may comprise a conveyor of bins adapted to convey bins along the sorting outlets, said manipulator robot being furthermore arranged to supply the conveyor of bins in bins filled with mail items extracted from the sorting outlets or placed on hold on shelf.
  • FIG 1 shows very schematically the machine according to the invention.
  • Figure 2 illustrates the control of the manipulator robot.
  • Figure 3 illustrates a correspondence table of the sorting plan.
  • Figure 4 illustrates a flat mail item with a destination address.
  • FIG. 1 very schematically shows in side view a machine for sorting mail items according to the invention which comprises a bucket conveyor 1 fed with mailpieces by a feed inlet 2, here an article per bucket.
  • the mail items are referred to as A and the buckets of the bucket conveyor are designated 3.
  • the buckets 1 of the conveyor move here in a closed loop in the direction indicated by the arrow D.
  • the feed inlet 2 is able to identify or recognize the destination address of each mailpiece A loaded in a bucket 3 of the conveyor 1, for example optically as is well known.
  • the control unit 4 of the machine based on optical recognition of the destination address Ad, for example illustrated in FIG. 4 for a flat mail article A, is able to trigger the opening of the bucket loaded with this item when it passes over the sort output bin which is the sorting output associated in the sorting plan to the destination address Ad of the mail item.
  • FIG 1 there is illustrated a series of removable storage bins 5 aligned under the bucket conveyor 3 which constitute as sorting output S1, S2, ..., Sn to separate the mail items according to their destination address .
  • the sorting outputs S1, S2, .... Sn are in correspondence here with sorting data A1, A2 ... An which are representative of groups of destination addresses. different, the distribution being a function of the desired sorting plan.
  • the machine can for example have a separation capacity on 480 active sorting outlets which consist of as many storage bins 5 aligned under the bucket conveyor 1.
  • this separation capacity is increased without increasing the footprint of the machine, thanks to a container manipulator robot indicated by the reference R in FIG. 1 which is able to substitute in a sorting outlet a tray partially filled with mail items by an empty bin (or already containing mail with the same destination address), the substituted bin being put on shelf 8 while waiting to be handed over by the manipulator robot R in an output of sorting during the sorting process.
  • the separation capacity of the machine is 600 sorting outlets.
  • This manipulator robot R is designed, for example with a telescopic fork 6 mounted on a lift 7.
  • the manipulator robot R is arranged to move (by rolling or sliding for example) along the sorting outlets S1, S2, etc., under the control of the control unit 4 so as to position itself in front of a certain tray 5 of a sorting outlet chosen by the control unit 4.
  • the choice of the sorting output by the control unit 4 can be made according to a priority criterion based on the time of non-use of this sorting output, that is to say that the control unit 4 chooses the output sorting which is the least busy among active sorting outlets.
  • the occupancy rate can be measured by counting for example the number of mail items stored in each sort output bin.
  • control unit 4 is arranged to detect (block 20 in FIG. 2), for example in the supply inlet 2, a current mail item Ac which is presented to the loading in a bucket 3 has a destination address Ad which is not served by an available sorting outlet (sorting output present in the table T1) of the machine.
  • control unit 4 determines at 21, the most passive sorting output in which must be substituted an empty tray.
  • control unit 4 controls the movement of the manipulator robot 3 to position it facing this passive sorting outlet, for example the sorting outlet S10 in FIG. 1.
  • step 23 the manipulator robot performs the tray replacement: it extracts the tray 5 partially filled here in the output S10 and raises to the height of the shelf 8 to deposit it on.
  • the on-shelf bin remains waiting to be returned to an active sorting outlet or to be evacuated at the end of the sorting process.
  • the manipulator robot under the control of the control unit 4, fetch an empty container (or already containing mail with the same destination address as the current mail) which can be waiting on the shelf 8 as the tray 5A and comes to place this tray 5A in the sorting outlet S10.
  • the control unit updates the sorting plan, namely a reallocation of correspondence in the table T1 by matching the sorting output S10 provided with of the bin with the destination address Ad of the current mail item Ac as illustrated in FIG.
  • control unit 4 maintains in memory a spatial position record of the tray A10 placed on the shelf so as to allow its subsequent automatic recovery by the manipulator robot R.
  • the shelf 8 is here a horizontal stage extending along the entire alignment of the sorting outlets. A specific length segment of this shelf can be reserved for the storage of empty bins.
  • Bins partially filled with shelf-mounted mail items may also be placed on a specific length segment of that shelf.
  • a bin put on shelf can be put back into a sorting outlet, and thus the bin of this sorting outlet is put on shelf, if a mail piece needs to be sorted.
  • the sorting machine may comprise a conveyor of bins which serves to evacuate the bins filled with mail items either to an output of the sorting machine or to the feed inlet for recirculation of mail items. in a new sorting pass.
  • the conveyor of bins is indicated by the reference 9 in FIG.
  • the manipulator robot R may advantageously be designed to, under the control of the control unit 4, replace an empty bin with a bin filled with mail items from a sorting outlet and put this bin full on the conveyor of bins. .
  • It can also be designed to transfer to the tray conveyor 9 a partially filled tray of mail items which is placed on the shelf 8, in particular at the end of a sorting pass.
  • manipulator robots R which move along the sorting outlets under the control of the control unit 4.
  • these manipulator robots serve different segments of the sorting outlets.
  • the invention extends to a sorting machine with several conveyors with superimposed buckets.
  • the manipulator robot that replaces empty bins with full (or partially full) bins may also be used during the preparation phase of the machine as a system for loading empty bins in the sorting outlets, which contributes to reducing the time required for loading in empty containers of the machine.

Landscapes

  • Sorting Of Articles (AREA)

Abstract

The sorting machine for sorting mail items comprises a sorting bucket conveyor (1) which moves the buckets (3) above sorting outlets (S1,S2,Sn) comprising removable storage trays (5), under the control of a control unit (4). The control unit can detect (20) that a current mail item has a destination address that does not correspond to a sorting outlet available in the machine. In this case, a manipulator robot (R) replaces the tray of a sorting outlet with an empty tray (or a tray already containing mail for the same destination address) into which said current mail item is sorted, the replaced tray being placed on standby on a shelf (8).

Description

MACHINE DE TRI AVEC UN CONVOYEUR A GODETS ET UNE SORTING MACHINE WITH A GODET CONVEYOR AND ONE
DEMULTIPLICATION DES SORTIES DE TRI DEMULTIPLICATION OF SORTING OUTPUTS
Domaine technique Technical area
Le domaine de l'invention est celui des machines de tri postal. The field of the invention is that of postal sorting machines.
L'invention concerne plus particulièrement une machine de tri d'articles de courrier avec un convoyeur de tri à godets qui déplace les godets au-dessus de sorties de tri à bacs de stockage amovibles sous la commande d'une unité de contrôle pour trier les articles de courrier dans les bacs de stockage suivant un certain plan de tri qui associe des adresses de destination des articles de courrier respectivement auxdites sorties de tri .  More particularly, the invention relates to a mail sorting machine with a bucket sorting conveyor which moves the buckets over sorting outlets to removable storage bins under the control of a control unit for sorting the goods. mail items in the storage bins according to a sort plan that associates destination addresses of the mail items respectively with said sorting outlets.
Technique antérieure Prior art
Ces machines de tri ont une capacité de tri qui est déterminée par le nombre de sorties de tri présentes sous le convoyeur à godets, typiquement le nombre de bacs de stockages alignés dans les sorties de tri. These sorting machines have a sorting capacity which is determined by the number of sorting outlets present under the bucket conveyor, typically the number of storage bins aligned in the sorting outlets.
Des machines commercialisées à ce jour peuvent ainsi présenter jusqu'à 480 sorties de tri alignées sous le convoyeur à godets. Une telle machine de tri à convoyeur à godets a une emprise au sol très importante, comme celle décrite dans le document WO-A-2009 / 081008.  Machines marketed to date can thus have up to 480 aligned sorting outlets under the bucket conveyor. Such a bucket conveyor sorting machine has a very large footprint, such as that described in WO-A-2009/081008.
Il existe un besoin d'augmenter les capacités de tri d'une telle machine sans toutefois augmenter son emprise au sol. L'objectif est d'attendre par exemple 680 sorties de tri possibles. Résumé de l'invention There is a need to increase the sorting capacity of such a machine without increasing its footprint. The goal is to wait for example 680 possible sorting outlets. Summary of the invention
L'idée à la base de l'invention est que si un article de courrier courant se présente dans le convoyeur à godets alors que son adresse de destination n'est pas servie par une sortie de tri disponible, alors un robot manipulateur vient substituer automatiquement le bac d'une sortie de tri (qui peut être partiellement rempli) par un bac vide et cette sortie de tri est affectée à la l'adresse de destination de cet article de courrier courant . The idea underlying the invention is that if a current mail item is presented in the bucket conveyor while its destination address is not served by an available sorting outlet, then a manipulator robot is substituted automatically. the tray of a sorting outlet (which can be partially filled) by an empty tray and this sorting outlet is assigned to the destination address of this current mail item.
L'idée est aussi que le bac qui a été enlevé de la sortie de tri soit placé en attente sur étagère par le robot navette de sorte à ce que ce bac (pouvant contenir du courrier) puisse de nouveau être placé dans une sortie de tri au cours du processus de tri si nécessaire par substitution avec un autre bac de sortie de tri.  The idea is also that the bin that has been removed from the sorting outlet is placed on the shelf shelf by the shuttle robot so that this bin (which may contain mail) can be placed in a sorting outlet again. during the sort process if necessary by substitution with another sort output bin.
L'invention a ainsi pour objet une machine de tri d'articles de courrier avec un convoyeur de tri à godets qui déplace les godets au-dessus de sorties de tri à bacs de stockage amovibles sous la commande d'une unité de contrôle pour trier les articles de courrier dans les bacs de stockage suivant un certain plan de tri qui associe des adresses de destination des articles de courrier respectivement auxdites sorties de tri, l'unité de contrôle étant apte à détecter qu'un article de courrier courant ayant une certaine adresse de destination ne peut pas être trié dans une sortie de tri disponible pour cette adresse de destination, caractérisée en ce que la machine comprend en outre un robot manipulateur apte à se déplacer le long des sorties de tri et à réaliser un remplacement de bac, et en ce que l'unité de contrôle est agencée pour, en réponse à ladite détection, identifier parmi les sorties de tri une certaine sortie de tri et commander le robot manipulateur pour remplacer le bac de ladite certaine sortie de tri par un bac vide (ou contenant déjà du courrier avec la même adresse de destination) , le bac de cette certaine sortie de tri étant posée en attente sur étagère par le robot manipulateur, et en même temps mettre à jour dans le plan de tri l'association entre ladite certaine adresse de destination et ladite certaine sortie de tri. The invention thus relates to a mail sorting machine with a bucket sorting conveyor which moves the buckets over sorting outlets to removable storage bins under the control of a control unit for sorting the mail items in the storage bins according to a sorting plan which associates destination addresses of the mail items respectively to said sorting outlets, the control unit being able to detect that a mail item having a certain destination address can not be sorted in a sorting outlet available for this destination address, characterized in that the machine further comprises a manipulator robot able to move along the outputs sorting and carrying out a tray replacement, and in that the control unit is arranged to, in response to said detection, identify among the sorting outlets a sorting outlet and control the manipulator robot to replace the tray. said sorting output by an empty tray (or already containing mail with the same destination address), the tray of this sorting outlet being placed on the shelf by the manipulator robot, and at the same time update in the sorting plan the association between said certain destination address and said certain sorting output.
Cet agencement contribue à augmenter la capacité de séparation de la machine de tri à convoyeur à godets par démultiplication des sorties de tri. On peut prévoir selon l'invention, plusieurs robots manipulateurs qui se croisent ou non pour réaliser plusieurs substitutions de bacs en même temps .  This arrangement helps to increase the separation capacity of the bucket conveyor sorting machine by reducing the sorting outlets. According to the invention, it is possible to provide several robot manipulators that cross each other or not to carry out several substitutions of bins at the same time.
La machine de tri selon l'invention peut encore présenter les particularités suivantes.  The sorting machine according to the invention can still have the following features.
Elle peut comprendre une étagère de stockage temporaire des bacs qui est disposé au-dessus du convoyeur à godets et sur laquelle sont déposés les bacs en attente.  It may include a temporary storage shelf bins that is disposed above the bucket conveyor and on which are placed the bins pending.
L'unité de contrôle peut être agencée pour sélectionner ledit certain bac de sortie de tri parmi les sorties de tri suivant un critère de priorité basé sur le temps d'inutilisation des sorties de tri ou un critère de faiblesse d'utilisation basé un critère de faiblesse d'utilisation basé sur le rapport entre le nombre d'articles de courrier présents dans le convoyeur pour le bac en place dans la sortie de tri et le nombre d'articles de courrier présents dans le convoyeur pour le bac en attente. The control unit may be arranged to select said sorting outlet tray from the sorting outlets according to a priority criterion based on the time of non-use of the sorting outlets or a criterion of weakness of use based on a criterion of Weakness of use based on the ratio between the number of mail items present in the conveyor for the bin in place in the sorting outlet and the number of mail items present in the conveyor for the waiting bin.
On peut aussi utiliser un critère de priorité basé sur un rapport entre le nombre d'articles présents dans le convoyeur ayant une destination disponible  It is also possible to use a priority criterion based on a ratio between the number of items present in the conveyor having an available destination
Elle peut comprendre un convoyeur de bacs apte à convoyer des bacs le long des sorties de tri, ledit robot manipulateur étant en outre agencé pour alimenter le convoyeur de bacs en bacs remplis d'articles de courrier extraits des sorties de tri ou posés en attente sur étagère .  It may comprise a conveyor of bins adapted to convey bins along the sorting outlets, said manipulator robot being furthermore arranged to supply the conveyor of bins in bins filled with mail items extracted from the sorting outlets or placed on hold on shelf.
Un exemple de machine de tri selon l'invention est illustré par les dessins. An example of a sorting machine according to the invention is illustrated by the drawings.
Présentation sommaire des dessins Brief presentation of the drawings
La figure 1 montre de façon très schématique la machine selon l'invention. Figure 1 shows very schematically the machine according to the invention.
La figure 2 illustre la commande du robot manipulateur .  Figure 2 illustrates the control of the manipulator robot.
La figure 3 illustre une table de correspondance du plan de tri.  Figure 3 illustrates a correspondence table of the sorting plan.
La figure 4 illustre un article de courrier plat avec une adresse de destination.  Figure 4 illustrates a flat mail item with a destination address.
Description des modes de réalisation Description of the embodiments
Sur la figure 1, on a représenté de façon très schématique en vue de côté, une machine pour trier des articles de courrier selon l'invention qui comprend un convoyeur à godets 1 alimenté en articles de courrier par une entrée d'alimentation 2, ici un article par godet.FIG. 1 very schematically shows in side view a machine for sorting mail items according to the invention which comprises a bucket conveyor 1 fed with mailpieces by a feed inlet 2, here an article per bucket.
Les articles de courrier sont désignés sous la référence A et les godets du convoyeur à godets sont désignés par la référence 3. The mail items are referred to as A and the buckets of the bucket conveyor are designated 3.
Les godets 1 du convoyeur se déplacent ici suivant une boucle fermée dans la direction indiquée par la flèche D.  The buckets 1 of the conveyor move here in a closed loop in the direction indicated by the arrow D.
L'entrée d'alimentation 2 est apte à identifier ou reconnaître l'adresse de destination de chaque article de courrier A chargé dans un godet 3 du convoyeur 1, par exemple par voie optique comme cela est bien connu.  The feed inlet 2 is able to identify or recognize the destination address of each mailpiece A loaded in a bucket 3 of the conveyor 1, for example optically as is well known.
L'unité de contrôle 4 de la machine, sur la base de la reconnaissance optique de l'adresse de destination Ad par exemple illustrée sur la figure 4 pour un article de courrier plat A, est apte à déclencher l'ouverture du godet chargé avec cet article quand celui-ci passe au- dessus du bac de sortie de tri qui constitue la sortie de tri associée dans le plan de tri à l'adresse de destination Ad de l'article de courrier.  The control unit 4 of the machine, based on optical recognition of the destination address Ad, for example illustrated in FIG. 4 for a flat mail article A, is able to trigger the opening of the bucket loaded with this item when it passes over the sort output bin which is the sorting output associated in the sorting plan to the destination address Ad of the mail item.
Sur la figure 1, on a illustré une série de bacs de stockage 5 amovibles alignés sous le convoyeur à godets 3 qui constituent autant de sortie de tri S1,S2, ..., Sn pour séparer les articles de courrier suivant leur adresse de destination.  In Figure 1, there is illustrated a series of removable storage bins 5 aligned under the bucket conveyor 3 which constitute as sorting output S1, S2, ..., Sn to separate the mail items according to their destination address .
L'association des sorties de tri S1,S2,.., Sn en correspondance avec les adresses de destination est réalisée classiquement dans un plan de tri illustré ici sous la forme d'une table de correspondance indiquée par Tl sur la figure 3.  The association of the sorting outputs S1, S2,..., Sn in correspondence with the destination addresses is conventionally carried out in a sorting plane illustrated here in the form of a correspondence table indicated by T1 in FIG. 3.
Les sorties de tri S1,S2,.... Sn sont en correspondance ici avec des données de tri Al,A2...An qui sont représentatives de groupes d'adresses de destination différentes, la répartition étant fonction du plan de tri souhaité . The sorting outputs S1, S2, .... Sn are in correspondence here with sorting data A1, A2 ... An which are representative of groups of destination addresses. different, the distribution being a function of the desired sorting plan.
La machine peut par exemple avoir une capacité de séparation sur 480 sorties de tri actives qui sont constituées par autant de bacs de stockage 5 alignés sous le convoyeur à godets 1.  The machine can for example have a separation capacity on 480 active sorting outlets which consist of as many storage bins 5 aligned under the bucket conveyor 1.
Selon l'invention, cette capacité de séparation est augmentée sans augmenter l'emprise au sol de la machine, grâce à un robot manipulateur de bacs indiqué par la référence R sur la figure 1 qui est apte à substituer dans une sortie de tri un bac partiellement rempli d'articles de courrier par un bac vide (ou contenant déjà du courrier avec la même adresse de destination) , le bac substitué étant mis sur étagère 8 en attendant d'être remis de nouveau par le robot manipulateur R dans une sortie de tri au cours du processus de tri.  According to the invention, this separation capacity is increased without increasing the footprint of the machine, thanks to a container manipulator robot indicated by the reference R in FIG. 1 which is able to substitute in a sorting outlet a tray partially filled with mail items by an empty bin (or already containing mail with the same destination address), the substituted bin being put on shelf 8 while waiting to be handed over by the manipulator robot R in an output of sorting during the sorting process.
Si on dispose par exemple de 120 bacs vides supplémentaires, la capacité de séparation de la machine arrive à 600 sorties de tri.  For example, if there are 120 additional empty bins, the separation capacity of the machine is 600 sorting outlets.
Ce robot manipulateur R est conçu, par exemple avec une fourche télescopique 6 montée sur un élévateur 7.  This manipulator robot R is designed, for example with a telescopic fork 6 mounted on a lift 7.
Le robot manipulateur R est agencé pour se déplacer (par roulement ou par glissement par exemple) le long des sorties de tri S1,S2, etc., sous la commande de l'unité de contrôle 4 de façon à se positionner face à un certain bac 5 d'une sortie de tri choisie par l'unité de contrôle 4.  The manipulator robot R is arranged to move (by rolling or sliding for example) along the sorting outlets S1, S2, etc., under the control of the control unit 4 so as to position itself in front of a certain tray 5 of a sorting outlet chosen by the control unit 4.
Le choix de la sortie de tri par l'unité de contrôle 4 peut être fait suivant un critère de priorité basé sur le temps d'inutilisation de cette sortie de tri, c'est à dire que l'unité de contrôle 4 choisit la sortie de tri qui est la moins occupée parmi les sorties de tri actives . The choice of the sorting output by the control unit 4 can be made according to a priority criterion based on the time of non-use of this sorting output, that is to say that the control unit 4 chooses the output sorting which is the least busy among active sorting outlets.
Le taux d'occupation peut être mesuré en comptant par exemple le nombre d'articles de courrier stockés dans chaque bac de sortie de tri.  The occupancy rate can be measured by counting for example the number of mail items stored in each sort output bin.
Plus particulièrement, selon l'invention, l'unité de contrôle 4 est agencée pour détecter (bloc 20 sur la figure 2) par exemple dans l'entrée d'alimentation 2 qu'un article de courrier courant Ac qui se présente au chargement dans un godet 3 a une adresse de destination Ad qui n'est pas servie par une sortie de tri disponible (sortie de tri présente dans la table Tl) de la machine.  More particularly, according to the invention, the control unit 4 is arranged to detect (block 20 in FIG. 2), for example in the supply inlet 2, a current mail item Ac which is presented to the loading in a bucket 3 has a destination address Ad which is not served by an available sorting outlet (sorting output present in the table T1) of the machine.
Dans ce cas, en réponse à la détection en 20, l'unité de contrôle 4 détermine en 21, la sortie de tri la plus passive dans laquelle doit être substitué un bac vide.  In this case, in response to the detection at 20, the control unit 4 determines at 21, the most passive sorting output in which must be substituted an empty tray.
En 22, l'unité de contrôle 4, commande le déplacement du robot manipulateur 3 pour le positionner face à cette sortie de tri passive, par exemple la sortie de tri S10 sur la figure 1.  At 22, the control unit 4 controls the movement of the manipulator robot 3 to position it facing this passive sorting outlet, for example the sorting outlet S10 in FIG. 1.
Dans l'tape 23, le robot manipulateur effectue le remplacement de bac : il extrait le bac 5 partiellement rempli ici dans la sortie S10 et l'élève jusqu'à la hauteur de l'étagère 8 pour le déposer dessus.  In step 23, the manipulator robot performs the tray replacement: it extracts the tray 5 partially filled here in the output S10 and raises to the height of the shelf 8 to deposit it on.
Le bac sur étagère reste ainsi en attente d'être remis dans une sortie de tri active ou encore d'être évacué à la fin du processus de tri.  The on-shelf bin remains waiting to be returned to an active sorting outlet or to be evacuated at the end of the sorting process.
En 24 le robot manipulateur sous la commande de l'unité de contrôle 4, va chercher un bac vide (ou contenant déjà du courrier avec la même adresse de destination que le courrier courant) qui peut être en attente sur l'étagère 8 comme le bac 5A et vient placer ce bac 5A dans la sortie de tri S10. En 25, en même temps que le processus de substitution se réalise, l'unité de contrôle effectue une mise à jour du plan de tri, à savoir une réaffectation de correspondance dans la table Tl par mise en correspondance de la sortie de tri S10 muni du bac avec l'adresse de destination Ad de l'article de courrier courant Ac comme illustré sur la figure 3. In 24 the manipulator robot under the control of the control unit 4, fetch an empty container (or already containing mail with the same destination address as the current mail) which can be waiting on the shelf 8 as the tray 5A and comes to place this tray 5A in the sorting outlet S10. In 25, at the same time as the substitution process is carried out, the control unit updates the sorting plan, namely a reallocation of correspondence in the table T1 by matching the sorting output S10 provided with of the bin with the destination address Ad of the current mail item Ac as illustrated in FIG.
Avantageusement, l'unité de contrôle 4 maintient en mémoire un relevé de position spatiale du bac A10 placé sur étagère de façon à permettre sa récupération automatique ultérieure par le robot manipulateur R.  Advantageously, the control unit 4 maintains in memory a spatial position record of the tray A10 placed on the shelf so as to allow its subsequent automatic recovery by the manipulator robot R.
Tout le processus de substitution et de mise à jour de la table Tl doit bien entendu être réalisé avant que l'article courant Ac n'arrive au-dessus de la sortie de tri S10.  The entire process of replacing and updating the table T1 must of course be carried out before the current article Ac arrives above the sorting output S10.
L'étagère 8 est ici une étage horizontale s'étendant sur tout le long de l'alignement des sorties de tri. Un segment de longueur spécifique de cette étagère peut être réservé au stockage des bacs vides.  The shelf 8 is here a horizontal stage extending along the entire alignment of the sorting outlets. A specific length segment of this shelf can be reserved for the storage of empty bins.
Les bacs partiellement remplis d'articles de courrier mis en attente sur étagère peuvent également être placés sur un segment de longueur spécifique de cette étagère.  Bins partially filled with shelf-mounted mail items may also be placed on a specific length segment of that shelf.
Au cours du processus de tri, un bac mis en attente sur étagère peut être remis dans une sortie de tri, et donc le bac de cette sortie de tri est mis en attente sur étagère, si un article de courrier courant doit être trié During the sorting process, a bin put on shelf can be put back into a sorting outlet, and thus the bin of this sorting outlet is put on shelf, if a mail piece needs to be sorted.
Avantageusement, la machine de tri peut comporter un convoyeur de bacs qui sert à l'évacuation des bacs remplis d'articles de courrier soit vers une sortie de la machine de tri soit vers l'entrée d'alimentation pour une recirculation des articles de courrier dans une nouvelle passe de tri. Le convoyeur de bacs est indiqué par la référence 9 sur la figure 1. Advantageously, the sorting machine may comprise a conveyor of bins which serves to evacuate the bins filled with mail items either to an output of the sorting machine or to the feed inlet for recirculation of mail items. in a new sorting pass. The conveyor of bins is indicated by the reference 9 in FIG.
Le robot manipulateur R peut être avantageusement conçu pour, sous la commande de l'unité de contrôle 4, substituer un bac vide à un bac rempli d'articles de courrier d'une sortie de tri et poser ce bac plein sur le convoyeur de bacs .  The manipulator robot R may advantageously be designed to, under the control of the control unit 4, replace an empty bin with a bin filled with mail items from a sorting outlet and put this bin full on the conveyor of bins. .
Il peut aussi être conçu pour transférer vers le convoyeur de bacs 9 un bac partiellement rempli d'articles de courrier qui est posé sur l'étagère 8, notamment à la fin d'une passe de tri.  It can also be designed to transfer to the tray conveyor 9 a partially filled tray of mail items which is placed on the shelf 8, in particular at the end of a sorting pass.
Avantageusement, on peut prévoir plusieurs robots manipulateurs R qui se déplacent le long des sorties de tri sous la commande de l'unité de contrôle 4. Dans ce cas, il peut être envisagé que ces robots manipulateurs servent des segments différents des sorties de tri.  Advantageously, it is possible to provide several manipulator robots R which move along the sorting outlets under the control of the control unit 4. In this case, it may be envisaged that these manipulator robots serve different segments of the sorting outlets.
Avantageusement, l'invention s'étend à une machine de tri avec plusieurs convoyeurs à godets superposés.  Advantageously, the invention extends to a sorting machine with several conveyors with superimposed buckets.
Avantageusement, le robot manipulateur qui remplace des bacs vides par des bacs pleins (ou partiellement pleins) peut également être utilisé en phase de préparation de la machine comme système de chargement de bacs vides dans les sorties de tri ce qui contribue à réduire le temps de chargement en bacs vides de la machine .  Advantageously, the manipulator robot that replaces empty bins with full (or partially full) bins may also be used during the preparation phase of the machine as a system for loading empty bins in the sorting outlets, which contributes to reducing the time required for loading in empty containers of the machine.

Claims

REVENDICATIONS
1/ Machine de tri d'articles de courrier avec un convoyeur de tri à godets (1) qui déplace les godets (3) au-dessus de sorties de tri (Sl,S2,Sn) à bacs de stockage amovibles (5) sous la commande d'une unité de contrôle (4) pour trier les articles de courrier dans les bacs de stockage suivant un certain plan de tri qui associe des adresses de destination des articles de courrier respectivement auxdites sorties de tri, l'unité de contrôle étant apte à détecter (20) qu'un article de courrier courant ayant une certaine adresse de destination ne peut pas être trié dans une sortie de tri disponible pour cette adresse de destination, caractérisée en ce que la machine comprend en outre un robot manipulateur (R) apte à se déplacer le long des sorties de tri et à réaliser un remplacement de bac, et en ce que l'unité de contrôle est agencée pour, en réponse à ladite détection, identifier parmi les sorties de tri une certaine sortie de tri et commander le robot manipulateur pour remplacer le bac de ladite certaine sortie de tri par un bac vide (ou contenant déjà du courrier avec la même adresse de destination) , le bac de cette certaine sortie de tri étant posée en attente sur étagère (8) par le robot manipulateur, et en même temps mettre à jour dans le plan de tri l'association entre ladite certaine adresse de destination et ladite certaine sortie de tri. 1 / Mail sorting machine with a bucket sorting conveyor (1) which moves the buckets (3) over sorting outlets (Sl, S2, Sn) to removable storage bins (5) under controlling a control unit (4) to sort the mail items in the storage bins according to a sorting plan which associates destination addresses of the mail items respectively with said sorting outlets, the control unit being capable of detecting (20) that a current mail item having a certain destination address can not be sorted into a sorting output available for that destination address, characterized in that the machine further comprises a manipulator robot (R ) able to move along the sorting outlets and to carry out a tray replacement, and in that the control unit is arranged to, in response to said detection, identify among the sorting outlets a certain sorting outlet and order the manipulator robot to replace the tray of said certain sorting outlet by an empty container (or already containing mail with the same destination address), the tray of this certain sorting outlet being placed on shelf (8) by the manipulator robot, and at the same time updating in the sorting plan the association between said certain destination address and said certain sorting output.
2/ Machine de tri d'articles de courrier selon la revendication 1, caractérisée en ce qu'elle comprend une étagère (8) de stockage temporaire des bacs qui est disposé au-dessus du convoyeur à godets et sur laquelle sont déposés les bacs en attente. 2 / machine for sorting mail items according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a shelf (8) for temporary storage bins that is disposed above the bucket conveyor and on which are placed the bins waiting.
3/ Machine de tri d'articles de courrier selon l'une des revendications 1 à 2, caractérisé en ce que ladite unité de contrôle (4) est agencée pour identifier ladite certaine de sortie de tri suivant un critère de priorité basé sur le temps d'inutilisation des sorties de tri . 3 / mailpiece sorting machine according to one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that said control unit (4) is arranged to identify said sorting outlet according to a priority criterion based on time of unused sorting outlets.
4/ Machine de tri d'articles de courrier selon l'une des revendications 1 à 2, caractérisé en ce que ladite unité de contrôle (4) est agencée pour identifier ladite certaine de sortie de tri suivant un critère de faiblesse d'utilisation basé sur le rapport entre le nombre d'articles de courrier présents dans le convoyeur pour le bac en place dans la sortie de tri et le nombre d'articles de courrier présents dans le convoyeur pour le bac en attente. 4 / mailpiece sorting machine according to one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that said control unit (4) is arranged to identify said sorting outlet according to a criterion of weakness of use based on on the ratio between the number of mail items present in the conveyor for the bin in place in the sorting outlet and the number of mail items present in the conveyor for the waiting bin.
5/ Machine de tri d'articles de courrier selon l'une des revendications 1 à 4, caractérisée en ce qu'elle comprend un convoyeur de bacs (9) apte à convoyer des bacs le long des sorties de tri, ledit robot manipulateur étant en outre apte à alimenter le convoyeur de bacs en bacs remplis d'articles de courrier extraits des sorties de tri ou posés en attente sur étagère. 5 / mail sorting machine according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a tray conveyor (9) adapted to convey bins along the sorting outlets, said manipulator robot being further capable of feeding the conveyor of bins in trays filled with mail items extracted from sorting outlets or placed on standby shelf.
EP19717518.5A 2018-03-16 2019-02-28 Sorting machine comprising a bucket conveyor with reduction of sorting outlets Withdrawn EP3765213A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR1852260A FR3078904B1 (en) 2018-03-16 2018-03-16 SORTING MACHINE WITH A BUCKET CONVEYOR AND A DEMULTIPLICATION OF SORTING OUTPUTS
PCT/FR2019/050463 WO2019175490A1 (en) 2018-03-16 2019-02-28 Sorting machine comprising a bucket conveyor with reduction of sorting outlets

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EP3765213A1 true EP3765213A1 (en) 2021-01-20

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EP (1) EP3765213A1 (en)
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WO (1) WO2019175490A1 (en)

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CN114377973A (en) * 2022-01-18 2022-04-22 太原科技大学 Intelligent robot communication control method and system for sorting and carrying

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WO2009081008A2 (en) * 2007-12-13 2009-07-02 Solystic Method for sorting postal items using a process for sorting outputs dynamic allocation
FR3040900B1 (en) * 2015-09-15 2017-09-01 Solystic POSTAL SORTING EQUIPMENT WITH SHUTTLE ROBOTS THAT TRANSPORT BINS

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FR3078904B1 (en) 2020-02-21
US20210094072A1 (en) 2021-04-01
FR3078904A1 (en) 2019-09-20

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