FR2654955A1 - Safety shoe identification - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a machine for the automatic sorting of unsorted shoes contained in a storage receptacle. The machine comprises: - a track (3) on which said shoes are transferred in a direction of movement F, which includes an inclined part upstream - entering said storage receptacle (2) and possessing transverse projections (4C) in the direction of movement, at regular intervals from each other, in such a way that said shoes are driven individually by said transverse projections so that each positions itself on its sole on said track in the space defined between two consecutive projections; - means (14) for identifying each shoe driven along said transfer track (3) according to its size and whether it is for the left or right foot; and - means (15) for ejecting said identified shoes into corresponding receiving receptacles (16) provided along said transfer track (3).

Description

The present invention relates to an installation for the automatic sorting of shoes initially contained in bulk in a storage receptacle, according to their sizes and their left or right side.

Such an installation is of great interest in industries for which the personnel or at least one category of the personnel must wear protective clothing and / or shoes to perform the various tasks assigned to each. This is particularly the case in the nuclear and chemical industries and, to a lesser extent, the aeronautical and automotive industries.

Currently, the size sorting of the pairs of shoes is carried out manually which implies, in addition to a long and tedious work, risks of potential error in the sorting proper because of the high number of shoes to sort.

The present invention aims to remedy these drawbacks and relates to an installation for automatically sorting shoes initially contained in bulk in a storage receptacle, in order to arrange them in pairs.

To this end, the installation for the automatic sorting of shoes contained in bulk in a storage receptacle is remarkable, according to the invention, in that it comprises: - at least one transfer path for said shoes in a direction of movement, which has an inclined upstream part plunging into said storage receptacle and provided with projections transverse to the direction of movement, regularly spaced from one another, so that said shoes are driven individually by said transverse projections to position each, by its sole, on said track in the space delimited between two consecutive projections: - means for identifying each shoe driven on said transfer track, as a function of its size and of its left or right side; and, - means for ejecting said identified shoes into corresponding receiving receptacles, provided along said transfer path.

Thus, the sorting of said shoes is carried out automatically, since the shoes stored in bulk in the receptacle are driven, one by one along the transfer path to be then identified, then ejected into the receiving receptacles which correspond.

Preferably, said transfer path consists of an elevator, corresponding to the inclined upstream part, and a conveyor extending said elevator and with which are associated said means of identification and ejection of said shoes.

In this embodiment, said elevator advantageously comprises an endless drive belt provided with said transverse protrusions, and, said conveyor may comprise two drive chains spaced apart from one another and connected together by buckets for receiving said said shoes, arranged transversely to the direction of travel.

Furthermore, said upstream part of the transfer path has an inclination of the order of 450, and the height of said transverse projections is such that it allows the driving of said shoes when they rest, by their sole, on said upstream portion inclined, but allows the fall thereof to the storage receptacle when they are presented differently. We note that these geometrical characteristics (inclination of the elevator and height of the projections) are particularly important since, thanks to these, the shoes position themselves and in the same direction on the band of the elevator in all resting by their soles on said strip.

Each shoe is thus housed between two consecutive projections of said strip, the distance between them being slightly greater than the width of said shoes, the latter being positioned transversely, preferably perpendicularly, to the direction of movement of the transfer path. Each of said shoes thus driven is then transferred in this position to the bucket pransporter, each of which is capable of receiving a shoe. On the other hand, if a shoe presents itself differently on the belt of the elevator, that is to say that its sole does not come to rest thereon, said shoe, according to the speed of movement of the elevator , its inclination, and the height of the projections, falls by gravity into the storage receptacle.

In a preferred embodiment, said identification means may comprise a coding system, provided on each shoe and corresponding to the size and to the left or right side of each of them, and a reading station of said coding system, associated with said transfer path, whereby, after the identification of each shoe, a signal is sent, via a central control station of said installation, to the ejection means for discharging each identified shoe in the corresponding receiving receptacle .

Preferably, the coding system of said shoes is defined by a series of studs or the like inserted in the heel of each shoe, and said reading station is of the optical reading type. Note the simplicity of making said identification means providing high reliability in use. Each series of studs therefore corresponds to one size and one side, left or right, of the shoe.

Furthermore, each shoe can be addressed by means of a jack in said reading station, which, after identification, is brought back by said jack on said transfer channel. As for the ejection means associated with each receiving receptacle, they comprise at least one jack or the like.

Advantageously, to reduce the length of the transfer path and therefore the size of said installation, said receiving receptacles are respectively arranged on either side of said transfer path, each receptacle corresponding to a shoe size, and each receptacle has two compartments intended respectively to receive the left and right sides of the same shoe size.

Furthermore, in the case where the identification means are provided only on one side of the transfer path, means for positioning said shoes in a predetermined direction are provided upstream of said identification means, allowing said shoes to be arranged in the same direction, when they arrive in front of said identification means.

Thus, if a shoe is presented in the opposite direction with respect to the chosen directions, the latter is returned in the correct direction by said positioning means.

In a particular embodiment, said means for positioning said shoes comprises a metal element fixed to the end of each shoe and a magnetic sensor associated with the structure of said transfer path, so that, when a shoe is in the wrong direction relative to the chosen direction, it is pushed out of the transfer path by a linear cylinder, on a turntable, which, after rotation of lBO0 under the action of a rotary cylinder, reposition the shoe in the direction chosen, said shoe being returned to the transfer path by said linear cylinder.

According to another characteristic of the installation, when said shoes contained in bulk in the storage receptacle come from hazardous environments, such as, for example, radioactive, said installation also comprises between the inclined upstream part and the means of 'identification, a checkpoint of the radioactivity rate of said shoes allowing to eject in a specific receptacle- provided along the transfer route, shoes whose radioactivity level detected is above a predetermined threshold.

Furthermore, when said shoes, contained in bulk in the storage receptacle, have previously undergone a washing operation, said installation comprises, between said inclined upstream part and said identification means, a device for drying said shoes by which said shoes are taken successively from the transfer path to the drying device, to be dried there, then brought back to said transfer path to then be identified.

Advantageously, the movement of said shoes in the drying device, from their removal from the transfer path to their return thereon, is effected by a plurality of jacks controlled automatically, according to an operating program preset by the station. command center.

In addition, said shoes, which move respectively in the cups of the transfer path, are successively pushed by a jack into the respective receptacles of said drying device, to be, after drying, returned respectively to the buckets receipt of the transfer channel.

The figures of the appended drawing will make it clear how the invention can be implemented. In these figures, identical references designate similar elements.

Figure 1 shows a schematic top view of an embodiment of an installation according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic section along the line II-II of Figure 1, the transfer path of said installation.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of said shoes.

First of all, it will be specified that the installation 1 described below is in particular provided for sorting shoes C which have been worn by the personnel of a nuclear power station, said shoes C after having been washed, being then placed in bulk in a storage receptacle 2 which has the shape of an inverted pyramid trunk.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, said installation 1 comprises a transfer path 3 of said shoes, defining a direction of movement F.

In this exemplary embodiment, the transfer path 3 has an inclined upstream part, as defined by an elevator 4, and a horizontal downstream part, as defined by a conveyor 5.

It can be seen in particular in FIG. 2 that the elevator 4 has an inclination of 450 when dipping into the bottom of the storage receptacle 2. Structurally the elevator 4 of the transfer channel 3 comprises an endless belt 4 A driven by pulleys 4B or the like, which are rotated by a not shown drive member. The strip 4 A is provided at its periphery with transverse projections 4C regularly spaced from one another, by means of which the said shoes can be removed, one by one from the storage receptacle to be driven on the strip 4A, as shown the shoe C1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Each of the shoes removed advantageously rests by its sole CS on the strip 4A in the space delimited by two consecutive projections whose distance separating them from the width of said shoes.

Such a positioning of the shoe, by its sole, on the strip 4A is made possible, on the one hand, thanks to the inclination of the elevator, and, on the other hand, thanks to the height of the projections 4C which is determined to drive the shoes C when they rest by their sole on the band 4A of the elevator 4, while allowing them to fall, by gravity, into the storage receptacle 2 when they appear differently on the strip 4A for example, on the side opposite the sole. In this way, the shoes, taken from the storage receptacle by the elevator 4, are all driven in the same way, that is to say, resting by their sole on the strip 4 A of the elevator and being arranged orthogonally to the direction of travel
F thanks to the transverse projections 4C. The conveyor 5 of the transfer path 3, which extends the elevator 4, comprises two drive chains 5A; spaced parallel to each other and driven by toothed drive wheels 5B. These chains are connected together by receiving buckets 5C of said shoes, arranged transversely to the direction of movement F of the transfer path 3, and therefore parallel to the projections 4C. These buckets have a U-shaped cross section. A deflector 6 is, moreover, provided between the downstream end of the elevator 4 and the upstream end of the conveyor 5 to allow the transfer of each of the shoes
C in the corresponding bucket 5C of the transporter. The speeds of movement of the elevator and of the conveyor are synchronized. A central station 7 of the installation 1 allows the control of the various non-illustrated drive members of the elevator and of the conveyor, as well as of the various equipment which will be described later. Such a station 7 authorizes automatic operation of the installation 1.

In the exemplary embodiment of the installation, there is provided, along the conveyor 5, from its upstream end to its downstream end, a station 10 for monitoring the level of radioactivity of said shoes, a drying device 11 for said shoes, means 12 for positioning, in a chosen direction, said shoes, identification means 14 for said shoes, and means for ejecting 15 said shoes identified in receiving receptacles 16, each of them corresponding to a size specific shoe.

Although the shoes have been washed beforehand before being introduced in bulk into the storage receptacle 2, the installation includes, for safety reasons inherent in the nuclear industry, a station 10 allowing the level of radioactivity of said shoes to be controlled. This station 10 symbolically represented in FIG. 1, comprises, for example, a scintillator 10A, thanks to which the rate of radioactivity is determined. Thus, the shoes C contained respectively in the buckets 5C all pass under the item 10. When the shoes have a level of radioactivity zero or less than a predetermined threshold, the shoes continue to move on the transfer path 3. On the other hand, when the plain shoe has a level of radioactivity higher than said threshold, it is ejected, by a jack lOB associated with the carrying structure 5D of the conveyor 5, in a specific receiving receptacle lOC. There is shown in Figure 1 and in dotted lines the extended position of the cylinder LOB causing the ejection of a shoe, the control of which has proved positive, in the receptacle lOC.

After station 10, installation I comprises, in this application, a device 11 for drying shoes C having been initially washed. This device 11 is actually placed above the transfer path 3, but for reasons of clarity of the drawing, the device has been illustrated schematically next to the transfer path and folded down 900 in the plane of the sheet.

The transfer of each shoe from the transporter to the device is effected by means of a jack 17 mounted on the structure 5D of the transporter 5 and making it possible, when actuated, to address each shoe, such as the shoe C2 shown , from its cup 5C to a corresponding reception tank 11A linked to the device 11.

These tanks llA, in which the shoes are respectively received and which are represented by a square section in FIG. 1, are preferably made of stainless steel and have, on their walls, openings for, on the one hand, reducing the weight of the assembly and, on the other hand, allow the passage of the air flow to dry said shoes.

The means for producing the drying air flow have not been shown but are of a type well known per se.

A lifting cylinder llB then brings, successively, the tanks llA, such as that shown in FIG. 1 containing the shoe C2, inside the device 11. When this cylinder llB is in the high position, a cylinder llC takes up the tank llA to position it on a support 11D linked to the structure 11E of the device, consisting of profiles and panels assembled together. The jack llC pushes the tanks llA on the support, which are then successively taken up by a jack 11F which puts them, one by one, in place on a jack 11G. The latter transfers, one by one, several llA bins, for example five, into a receiving member. From there, these five llA bins are pushed by means of an 11H jack on an llJ support, such as chains. handling rollers, so that gradually a plurality of sets of five trays accumulate on the support llJ. After drying of said shoes contained respectively in said bins for a predetermined time, each set of five bins is successively placed on a receiving plate 11K by means of a jack llL. An llM cylinder locks the plate in position.

Then, each tank is lowered successively by a cylinder lN to be then transferred, by a cylinder llP, on the support 11D.

From there, each bin lîA is transferred, by a jack llQ, similar to jack llC, to the lifting jack lîB which brings them successively to the conveyor 5.

At this moment, the jack 17 brings each of the dried shoes back into the corresponding receiving bucket 5C of the conveyor 5.

The path of the trays llA containing the shoes in the drying device It is represented by a set of arrows in FIG. 1. The set of jacks, associated with the island structure of the device, operates according to a logic programmed and controlled by the central control station 7.

Note that the movement of the trays in the drying device is effected only by jacks, which ensures high operating reliability.

The transfer of said dried shoes along the transfer path 3 continues, so that, after having left the drying device 11, each shoe is presented successively before the positioning means 12.

It should be noted, in fact, that the shoes, driven by the transverse projections 4C of the elevator and consequently arranged orthogonally to the direction of movement F of the transfer path, can be presented in two possible directions of orientation: either , as shown by the shoes C1 and C2 shown in FIG. 1, heel directed towards the bottom of the sheet, or, as shown by shoe C3, heel directed towards the top of the sheet.

To arrange in the agreed direction indicated, for example, by shoes C1 and C2, those which are oriented differently, like shoe C3, the toe
CB of each shoe is provided, with reference to FIG. 3, with a metallic element CM which advantageously corresponds, in this example, to the protective shell provided on this type of shoe. The means 12 further comprise a magnetic sensor 12A fixed on one side of the conveyor 5, a linear transfer cylinder 12B fixed on the other side of the said conveyor, and a turntable 12C disposed opposite said cylinder 12B and mounted on a rotary actuator 12 D linked to the structure 5D of the conveyor.

Thus, when each shoe is in the direction indicated by the shoes C1 and C2, the magnetic sensor 12A detects nothing, so that the sure shoe continues to move in the direction of the identification means 14, the shoe being in the correct meaning. On the other hand, when the shoe is in the direction illustrated by the shoe C3, the sensor 12A detects the metallic element CM of the shoe.

At this time, via the central station 7, the jack 12B pushes the shoe on the plate 12C, which, under the action of the rotary jack 12D pivots 1800 around its axis, then the shoe is brought back by the jack 12B in its bucket. The shoe is then in the right direction.

Then each of the shoes successively arrives at the identification means 14 by which the shoe size and the left or right side of the shoes will be identified. These means 14 include a CD coding system provided on each shoe and a reading station 14A associated with said transporter. Referring to Figure 3, the CD coding system is defined by a series of studs or the like CP inserted in the heel CT of said shoes. Each series of studs therefore corresponds to a size and a left or right side of the shoe.

As for the reading station 14 A, it is of the optical reading type.

It is therefore understood that when each shoe is introduced, by a jack 14B, into the reading station, like that C4 shown in dotted lines, said shoe is easily identified. We note, moreover, the need to have, in this embodiment, means for positioning said shoes 12, so that the latter, when they are inserted one by one into the reading station, are in the direction of orientation previously chosen.

Simultaneously with the identification of the size and the side, left or right, of a shoe, a signal, via the central control station 7, is sent to the ejection means 15 which correspond to evacuate said shoe in the corresponding receptacle .

It can be seen in FIG. 1, that the receptacles 16 for receiving said shoes are advantageously disposed respectively on either side of the conveyor 5. Each receptacle 16 corresponds to a determined shoe size and also comprises a transverse partition 16A allowing to separate into two compartments 16B and 16C each receptacle. Thus, each compartment of the same receptacle is intended to receive a left or right side of the same shoe size. Each compartment is then associated with an ejection cylinder 15 A defining said ejection means 15.

Thus, the shoe C4, previously identified, is ejected, by the corresponding jack 15A having received the signal from said central station 7, in the compartment 16C of the receiving receptacle 16 corresponding, for example, to a left shoe of size 40. We have also shown in dotted lines one of the receptacles 16 outside said conveyor 5. There is also provided, at the end of the transporter, a receptacle 19 for recovering shoes which could not have been identified and which would have a defective coding system.

Such an installation according to the invention thus guarantees an automatic and reliable sorting of a large number of shoes.

Claims (14)

1 - Installation for the automatic sorting of shoes contained in bulk in a storage receptacle, characterized in that it comprises - at least one transfer path (3) of said shoes in a direction of movement F, which has an inclined upstream part (4) plunging into said storage receptacle (2) and provided with transverse projections (4C) in the direction of movement, regularly spaced from one another, so that said shoes (C) are driven individually by said transverse projections to each position, by its sole, on said track in the space delimited between two consecutive projections - means (14) for identifying each shoe driven on said transfer track (3), according to its size and its left side or law ; and, - means (15) for ejecting said identified shoes into corresponding receiving receptacles (16), provided along said transfer path (3). 2 - Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that said transfer path (3) consists of an elevator (4), corresponding to the inclined upstream portion, and a conveyor (5) extending said elevator and to which are associated with said means of identification (14) and of ejection (15) of said shoes. 3 - Installation according to claim 2, characterized in that said elevator (4) comprises an endless drive belt (4A) provided with said transverse projections (4C), and, in that said conveyor (5) comprises two chains d 'drive (5A) spaced parallel to each other and connected together by receiving cups (5C) of said shoes, arranged transversely to the direction of movement. 4 - Installation according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said upstream part (4) of the transfer channel (3) has an inclination of about 450, and, in that the height of said projections transverse (4C) is such that it allows the driving of said shoes when they rest, by, their sole, on said inclined upstream part, but authorizes the fall of these towards the storage receptacle when they present themselves differently . 5 - Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 4, Characterized in that said identification means (14) comprise a coding system (CD), provided on each shoe (C) and corresponding to the size and to the left or right side of each of them, and, a reading (14A) of said coding system, associated with said transfer channel (3), whereby, after the identification of each shoe, a signal is sent, via a central control station (7) of said installation, to ejection means (15) for discharging each shoe into the corresponding receiving receptacle (16) 6 - Installation according to claim 5, characterized in that the coding system (CD) of said shoes is defined by a series of studs (CP ) inserted into the heel (CT) of each shoe and in that said reading station (14A) is of the optical reading type. 7 - Installation according to one of claims 5 or 6, characterized in that each shoe (C) is addressed by a jack (14B) in said reading station (14A), which, after identification, is brought by said jack on the transfer route. 8 - Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said ejection means (15) associated with each corresponding receptacle comprise at least one cylinder (15A) or the like. 9 - Installation according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said receiving receptacles (16) are respectively arranged on either side of said transfer path (3), each receptacle corresponding to a size shoes, and in that each receptacle has two compartments (15B and 15C) intended to receive respectively the left and right sides of the same shoe size. 10 - Installation according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 9, characterized in that means for positioning (12) said shoes in a predetermined direction are provided upstream of said identification means (14), allowing said shoes to be arranged in the same direction when they arrive at said means of identification. 11 - Installation according to claim 10, characterized in that said positioning means (12) of said shoes comprise a metal element (CM) fixed to the end (CB) of each shoe and a magnetic sensor (12A) associated with the structure of said transfer path, so that, when a shoe is in the wrong direction relative to the chosen direction, it is pushed out of the transfer path, by a linear jack (12B), on a turntable (12C ), which, after rotation of 1800 under the action of a rotary cylinder (12D), replaces the shoe in the chosen direction, said shoe being brought back onto the transfer path by said linear cylinder. 12 - Installation according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 11, wherein said shoes contained in the storage receptacle come from hazardous environments, such as radioactive, characterized in that it further comprises between the upstream part inclined (4) and the identification means (14), a control station (10) of the radioactivity rate of said shoes making it possible to eject, in a specific receptacle (1OC) provided along the transfer path, the shoes whose level of radioactivity recorded is greater than a predetermined threshold. 13 - Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein said shoes, contained in bulk in the storage receptacle, have previously undergone a washing operation, characterized in that it further comprises between said part inclined upstream (4) and said identification means (14), a drying device (11) of said shoes, by means of which said shoes are successively removed from the transfer path to the drying device to be dried there, then brought back to said transfer path to then be identified. 14 - Installation according to claim 13, characterized in that the movement of said shoes in the drying device (11), from their removal from the transfer path (3) until their return thereon, is effected by a plurality of cylinders (llB, llC, llF, 11G, 11H, llL, llM, llN, llP, llQ) controlled automatically, according to a pre-established operating program, by the central control station (7). 15 - Installation according to one of claims 13 or 14, characterized in that said shoes, which move respectively in the cups (5C) of the transfer path (3), are successively pushed by a jack (17) in respective receiving tanks (11a) of said drying device, to be, after drying, returned respectively to the receiving cups of the transfer channel.