FR2667806A1 - DEVICE FOR THE RAPID DELIVERY OF FLAT OBJECTS IN A BUCKET CONVEYOR. - Google Patents

Abstract

Dispensing device, designed to be associated with a continuous or semi-continuous movement conveyor, carrying a plurality of buckets or similar containers, arranged vertically and open at their upper part to receive flat objects (5), of the kind in particular of envelopes of letters of variable formats and / or thicknesses and weights. According to the invention, this device is characterized in that it comprises a distribution arm (2) ensuring the displacement of the envelopes one by one in a first horizontal direction towards a temporary storage store (3), capable of moving each envelope received. of the arm in a second horizontal direction but substantially perpendicular to the first in order to introduce it into an injection assembly (4), with discontinuous movement, capable of receiving each envelope from the storage store and of delivering it in a vertical direction in a bucket (6) of the conveyor through the open upper part (7) thereof.

Description

The present invention relates to a dispensing apparatus, allowing

  feeding at high speed a conveyor with buckets or similar containers, in continuous or semi-continuous scrolling, with flat objects, in particular envelopes of letters of sizes, thicknesses and weights possibly variable from one letter to the next. Such conveyors with buckets are already known, used in particular in mail sorting installations, where the envelopes, generally of different sizes and of various consistencies (envelopes of paper, of plastic material, in the form of elongate strips, or else flat packets), are distributed in such buckets or adjacent containers, carried by an endless belt or belt which ensures their displacement from one point to another, by maintaining them in a vertical position, opening at the top, the envelopes being introduced in these buckets with a flow rate which, in the known apparatuses, is ordinarily not greater than two objects per second In particular, the devices currently used make the entry of each envelope from a stack from which these envelopes are delivered one to one in vertical position and horizontal displacement, then successively undergo each envelope a change of direction to 9 0 ', to bring them in a vertical descent movement in a bucket of the conveyor, arranged below

  the position where the envelope is extracted from the pile and diverted downwards.

  The present invention relates to a device for the distribution of flat objects in a bucket conyder, which is more efficient and faster than the devices known to date, in particular by allowing at least the feed rates of the buckets to be doubled. which for the same overall efficiency, avoids a parallel duplication of unstacking systems and automatic reading devices, located upstream in the sorting facility, which

  represent very significantly higher costs.

  For this purpose, the dispensing device considered, intended to be associated with a continuous or semi-continuous movement conveyor, carrying a plurality of buckets or similar containers, arranged vertically and open at their upper part to receive flat objects, of the type including envelopes of letter sizes and / or thicknesses and variable weights, is characterized in that it comprises a distribution arm ensuring the displacement of the envelopes one by one in a first horizontal direction to a temporary storage warehouse, suitable for moving each envelope received from the arm in a second horizontal direction but substantially perpendicular to the first to introduce it into an injection assembly, with discontinuous movement, adapted to receive each envelope from the storage magazine and deliver it in one direction vertical in a bucket of the conveyor by the open upper part thereof. The device according to the invention thus achieves a double change of direction of the envelopes, from that with which these envelopes are delivered by the distribution arm, the intermediate storage magazine, arranged between this arm and the buckets of the conveyor providing regulation. feeding these buckets with the envelopes and at the same time increasing the rate with which they are injected into successive buckets

  parading with the conveyor under the shop.

  According to a particular characteristic of the invention, the distribution arm is constituted by means of two lateral edge belts, moving in two parallel vertical planes, on either side of a sole belt, extending in a horizontal plane, the edge belts guiding in substantially vertical position of the envelopes, delivered one by one by the arm to the storage magazine in the first direction of movement, defined by the driving direction of the sole belt, on which rely

  the envelopes by their lower edge.

  Preferably, the dispensing arm comprises a structure for supporting the stretcher and strut-shaped belts respectively, in the form of a deformable parallelogram, such that the ends of the sole belt and the two edge straps are arranged near the store. storage can undergo a relative movement substantially parallel to the second direction of movement

  flat objects inside this store.

  Advantageously, the edge belts comprise pulleys or rollers for guiding and tensioning of these belts, mounted at their ends and comprising vertical axes of rotation, respectively integral with two distinct supports, the projection of these axes on the horizontal plane of the sole belt constituting the vertices of the deformable parallelogram, two of which are movable in a given direction and the other two mobiles according to

  a direction perpendicular to the previous one.

  According to another characteristic of the device according to the invention, the storage magazine is constituted by means of two helical spirals, horizontal axes parallel to one another and offset laterally and vertically, these spirals being driven in discontinuous rotation at because of a turn each time, having identical but inverted steps and being associated with a vertical jog bank whose plane is parallel to their axes, so that a flat object delivered by the distribution arm in a any space delimited between two turns adjacent to one of the spirals is driven by it and taken again by the other spiral which, in combination with the first, causes the movement of said object in the second direction of movement to the set of injection, with a constant spacing between the objects arranged

  between the consecutive turns of these spirals.

  According to yet another characteristic, the injection assembly consists of a laterally retractable support, parallel to the second direction, in the direction opposite to the direction of movement of the envelopes in the storage magazine, two motorized rollers driven in rotation in a direction that causes friction on the object, the extraction thereof down, out of the store, when the object is at the end of the store and falls on the retractable support, these rollers being respectively disposed at above and below this support, and a pressing member, pivoting on both sides of an intermediate position, adapted to apply the object against one and then the other of the motorized rollers to complete the driving said object towards the open upper part of a conveyor bucket, located below the right of the magazine In a particular embodiment of the invention, the pressing member comprises a support lever articulated on a fixed axis, comprising two free end rollers in rotation, the support lever forming with the direction of the straight Joining the axes of the motorized rollers a dihedron in the angle of which the object is received after removal of the retractable support, the pivotemant of the support lever realizing under the effect of one then the other of its end rollers, the tilting of the flat object leaving the support on the first roller to come into contact with the second , simultaneously

  with the return of the retractable support in initial position.

  In another alternative embodiment, the pressing member comprises two parallel belts and a moving conveyor belt, in continuous movement, this band being movable in a movement of and substantially back and forth

  parallel to the direction of movement of the retractable support.

  Other features of a device for the rapid distribution of flat objects in a bucket conveyor will still appear throughout the

  following description of several examples of

  indicative and not limiting, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure i is an overall perspective view of the device of

distribution considered.

  Figure 2 is a top view, on a larger scale, of the arm of

distribution of this device.

  Figure 3 is a view also from above of the storage magazine

temporary flat objects.

  FIG. 4 shows the injection assembly mounted at the end of the storage magazine for delivering the flat objects into the buckets of a conveyor, the injection assembly being illustrated with its various parts represented in four distinct positions, marked respectively (a), (b), (c) and (d) during a transfer sequence of an object from the store

to the bucket.

  FIG. 5 illustrates another variant embodiment of the injection assembly with its different parts represented this time in six

  successive positions, marked (a) to (f), during a transfer sequence.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, in particular, the device under consideration, designated as a whole under the reference 1, mainly comprises a distribution arm 2, a temporary storage magazine 3 and an injection assembly 4 arranged to allow the transfer then the establishment of flat objects 5, the kind of letters or any mail, inside buckets 6, carried by a conveyor (not shown), continuous or semicontinuous movement, comprising a plurality of such buckets, suitably separated from each other and running under the injection assembly 4, so that the letters, delivered at the end of the storage magazine 3, are transferred in a substantially vertical movement to be introduced to the inside a bucket 6 of the conveyor by the open end 7 thereof In the drawing, the arrow 8 schematizes the direction of movement of the buckets of the conveyor relative to the

storage store in particular.

  The distribution arm 2 is preferably made up of two contiguous parts, respectively 9 and 10, each of these parts being formed by means of a sole belt 11, extending horizontally and driven in continuous displacement, being guided and stretched between end rollers, respectively 12 and 13, one of these rollers being rotated by means of a geared motor (not shown) to cause the movement of movement of the belt and the movement therewith letters 5 resting on the upper strand 14 of the belt by their lower edge, these letters being maintained in a substantially vertical position by means of two edge belts, respectively 15 and 16, extending vertically above the sole belt 11 and being separated from each other by a suitable gap to allow envelopes of varying thickness to be transmitted from the dispensing arm to the storage warehouse temp. The edge belts 15 and 16 are also guided, in each of the parts 9 and 10 of the arm, on end rollers 1-7 and 18, at least one of which is driven to drive these belts. continuous movement in the same direction as the sole belt,

  this direction being shown schematically in Figure 1 by the arrow 19.

  In the second part 10 of the distribution arm 2, the vertical axes of rotation, respectively 20 and 21, of the rollers 17 and 18 of the edge belts and 16 are arranged to form the vertices of a deformable parallelogram, these axes being worn, as best shown in Figure 2, by means of two separate supports 22 and 23, one of which 22, disposed closer to the first portion 9 of the arm is movable in a given direction, shown schematically in the drawing by the double arrow 31, while the other 23, can be moved back and forth in a direction shown schematically by the double arrow 24 These arrangements allow in particular to deform the parallelogram consisting of pairs of axes 20 and 21 of the rollers 17 and 18 guiding the two belts 15 and 16, this deformation of the parallelogram resulting from the movement in the direction of the arrow 31 of the axes 20 and the simultaneous displacement of the axes 21 with their support in the direction perpendicular to the arrow 24, so that the letters 5 delivered by the arm are brought into the storage magazine 3, at a specific location thereof but which is not

  systematically the same for each of these letters.

  In the same way, the guide and drive rollers 12 and 13 of the hearth belt 11 are carried by separate supports, respectively 24 and 25 (FIG. 1), the support 24 being pivotally mounted about an axis 26 carried by the fixed support 22 above, while the other support 25 is itself articulated about an axis carried by the movable support 23 (Figure 2), so that the sole belt 11 can exactly follow the deformation of the parallelogram constituted by the four vertical axes of the rollers driving the edge belts 15 and 16 In FIG. 1, there is shown schematically an actuator 28, of the pneumatic, electric or electromagnetic jack type, adapted to control the desired displacement of a housing 29 inside which are mounted the supports 22 to 25 The first portion 9 of the arm 2 is also capable of moving in a guide 30 in the direction of the double arrow 31, to adjust the relative position of the arm vis-à-vis the temporary storage magazine 3. The storage magazine 3 consists essentially of two helical spirals, 32 and 33 respectively, with horizontal axes, each of them being mounted at the end of a shaft 34, controlled in discontinuous rotation by means of a geared motor (not shown), via a set of pinions 35 and 36, so that the two spirals, not reversed, are driven in synchronism but With different directions of rotation relative to each other In addition, the position of the shafts 34 defining that of the longitudinal axes of the spirals is determined so that these axes are offset relative to each other These spirals, which preferably have dimensions and an identical pitch, define between their successive turns spaces 37, able to collect the letters 5, in the vertical direction and in the transverse direction. as they are delivered by the distribution arm, then, because of their relative rotation, to drive them in the direction of their axis in a horizontal direction, shown schematically in the drawing of Figure 1 by the arrow 38, the envelopes being thus maintained in the vertical position with which they

  are driven between the timing arm belts 2.

  The storage magazine 3 also has a lateral jog bank 39 against which the corresponding sides of the envelopes 5 abut to allow a presentation of the latter exactly determined, both in the transverse direction and in the horizontal direction, at the same time. end of the magazine 3, especially where these envelopes are taken by the injection assembly 4, allowing in a downward vertical movement of the

  introduce one by one into the buckets 6 of the conveyor.

  FIG. 4 illustrates a first embodiment of the considered injection assembly, mounted beneath the storage magazine 3 with its spirals 32 and 33, at the end of this magazine. In this example, the assembly 4 comprises a support retractable 40, provided at its end with a stop wheel 41 and having a bearing flange 42 on which each of the letters 5, delivered to the end of the magazine 3 by the spirals 32 and 33, comes to bear by its edge as shown in FIG. 4 (a) In this position, the front face of the letter 5 bears against one of two motorized rollers 43 and

  44, arranged on either side of the support 40, the rotation of the roller 43 located

  above the support having the effect of supporting the letter on the flange 42.

  The injection assembly also comprises a pressing member 45 comprising a lever 46 hinged about an axis 47 and carrying at its ends two rollers, respectively 48 and 49, mounted idle on the lever. A control member, not shown. in the drawings to simplify the latter, but whose action is shown schematically by the arrow 50 in Figures 4 (b), (c), and (d), allows to exert on the lever 46 a tilting effort around its axis 47, either in one direction or in the other, relative to the support 40, in order to come apply one or the other of the rollers 48 or 49 against the letter 5 at its

  transfer to the bucket 6 of the conveyor.

  The operation of the injection assembly 4 shown in FIG. 4 is as follows. In the position illustrated in FIG. 4 (a), the letter 5 falls at the end of the magazine 3 onto the retractable support 40, brought into position. advanced position in the direction of the arrow 51, following the rotation on a turn of the two helical spirals in reverse 32 and 33 In this case, the pressing member 45 has its lever 46 in the neutral position, substantially vertical In the phase As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the support 40 is moved from right to left in the drawing so as to escape under the lower edge of the letter 5, at the same time as the lever 46 is tilted in the direction of the arrow 50 to bring its upper roller 48 against the rear face of the letter, thus grasped between the roller 43 and the roller Due to the drive of this roller, the letter moves downwards in the direction of the arrow 52, until his f the previous ance comes into contact with the second motorized roller 44 as shown in FIG. 4 (c). At this time, the return to the initial position of the support 40 is controlled, simultaneously with the

  tilting the lever 46 in the opposite direction, as shown in Figure 4 (d).

  In this movement, the letter 5 pivots on itself around its point of contact with the motorized roller 44 located under the support 40 and the roller 49 mounted at the lower end of the lever 46, this tilting movement being facilitated by the support of the wheel 41 provided at the end of the support 40 which comes into contact with the letter in the substantially median portion thereof T The motorized roller 44 completes the driving of the letter to the bucket 6 located below,

  by moving it in contact with the rollers 48 and 49.

  Note that, in the preceding sequence, it is possible to start supplying a letter from the storage magazine 3 from the instant when the retractable support 40 has returned to its initial position This particularity makes it possible in particular to increase the flow rate of injection of the letters in the buckets 6 of the conveyor, the supply of a new letter on the retractable support being done while the previous one is not yet out of

the injection assembly 4.

  FIG. 5 illustrates another variant embodiment of the injection assembly 4. In this, there is the retractable support 40 provided with its wheel 41 and having a support flange 42 for the lower edge of each of the letters 5. delivered from the storage magazine 3 Under the support 40 is provided a guide roller 53 and, under the latter, a conveyor belt 541, driven in continuous displacement under two rollers 55 and 56 This band is carried by a support 57 movable in a guide 58 in a substantially transverse direction, allowing a corresponding movement of the band according to the arrow 59 The band 54 is associated with two pressing members, respectively 60 and 61, each comprising a belt 62 driven on rollers 63 and 64, these pressing members which can be articulated independently of one another around two fixed bars (not shown), making it possible to vary their relative orientations with respect to the plane of the band 54 and letters 5 driven by it. The operation of the injection assembly in this second variant is as follows: in a first step, shown in FIG. 5 (a), the first letter 5 delivered at the end of the storage magazine 3 rests on the rim 42 of the retractable support 40 At a given instant, it escapes in the direction of the arrow 51, the letter 5 is driven by gravity downwardly guided by the roller 53 and falling in the kind of funnel or dihedron , delimited by the angle formed between the conveyor belt 54 and the pressing member 60 located at the top, above the other member 61 (See Figure 5 (b)) In this situation, the letter 5 is driven downwards by being clamped between the belt and the belts 62 of one and then the other of the pressing members 60 and 61, thanks to an appropriate displacement of the support 57 in the direction of the arrow 59 (FIG. (c)); simultaneously, the retractable support 40 returns to its initial position, its wheel 41 rolling freely on the front side of the letter Of course, in this second variant, we can, as in the previous, supply the injection assembly with the letters as soon as the retractable support 40 returns to its initial position, without waiting for the letter being transferred to be definitively introduced into the bucket of the conveyor which receives it, thus increasing the rate of processing of the mail. The movement of the letter 5 then continues downwards between the band and the two pressing members until it escapes the one, then the other of these, at the same time as the support 57 in turn returns to its initial position to release the letter and deliver it into the bucket 6 of the conveyor which

  receives it (Figure 5 (d), (e), and (f).

  Thus, a device for dispensing flat objects, in particular letters or mail envelopes, for executing the movement movements of these letters in three successive directions, substantially perpendicular to each other, respectively in the distribution arm, the temporary storage magazine and the injection assembly, with a high rate that can reach or exceed at least three objects per second The letters are introduced into the distribution arm with a

  appropriate spacing and a scrolling speed that can reach 2.5 m / s.

  In the conveyor buckets, the letters are moved to the sorting plant with a generally lower speed, of the order of 0.5 m / s, each

  bucket that can naturally contain a fixed number of different letters.

  In addition, it should be noted that the horizontal movement of the letters inside the storage magazine is independent of the downward vertical movement of these letters at the end of this magazine in the injection assembly. Of course, it goes without saying that the invention is not limited to the embodiments more specifically described above and shown in the drawings.

  annexed; on the contrary, it embraces all variants.

Claims (6)

  1 dispensing device, intended to be associated with a conveyor with continuous or semi-continuous movement, carrying a plurality of buckets or similar containers, arranged vertically and open at their upper part to receive flat objects (5), of the particular kind of envelopes of letters of sizes and / or thicknesses and variable weights, characterized in that it comprises a distribution arm (2) ensuring the displacement of the envelopes one by one in a first horizontal direction towards a temporary storage magazine (3) , able to move each envelope received from the arm in a second horizontal direction but substantially perpendicular to the first to introduce it into an injection assembly (4), discontinuous movement adapted to receive each envelope from the storage magazine and to deliver it in a vertical direction in a bucket (6) of the conveyor at the top open (7) thereof.   2 Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the distribution arm (2) is constituted by means of two side edge belts (15,16), moving in two parallel vertical planes, on either side of a sole belt (11), extending in a horizontal plane, the edge belts guiding in substantially vertical position the envelopes (5), delivered one by one by the arm to the storage magazine (3) according to the first direction of travel, defined by the driving direction of the   sole, on which the envelopes rest by their lower edge.   3 Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the distribution arm (2) comprises a support structure of the respective bank and sole belts, in the form of a deformable parallelogram, so that the ends of the sole belt and the two edge belts arranged near the storage magazine (3) can undergo a relative movement substantially parallel to the second direction of movement of the envelopes. inside this store.   4 Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the edge belts (15,16) comprise pulleys or rollers (17,18) for guiding and tensioning of these belts, mounted at their ends and comprising rotation axes. vertical (20,21) respectively integral with two separate supports (22,23), the projection of these axes on the horizontal plane of the sole belt (11) constituting the vertices of the deformable parallelogram, 11 l two of which are movable in one direction (31) and the other two   movable in a direction (24) perpendicular to the previous one.   Device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,   characterized in that the storage magazine (3) is constituted by means of two helical spirals (32,33), horizontal axes parallel to one another and offset laterally and vertically, these spirals being driven in discontinuous rotation at a rate of one turn each, having identical but inverted steps and being associated with a vertical jog bank (39), the plane of which is parallel to their axes, so that a flat object (5) delivered by the distribution arm in any space (37) delimited between two adjacent turns of one of the spirals is driven by the latter and taken simultaneously by the other spiral which, in combination with the first, causes the movement of said object according to the second direction of movement towards the injection assembly (4), with a constant spacing between the objects arranged between the turns consecutive of these spirals.   Device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,   characterized in that the injection assembly (4) consists of a laterally retractable support (40), parallel to the second direction, in the opposite direction to the direction of movement of the flat objects in the storage magazine (3), two motorized rollers (43,44) rotated in a direction that causes friction on the object, the extraction thereof down from the store, when the object is at the end of the store and falls on   the retractable support, these rollers being disposed respectively above and below   below this support, and a pressing member (45), pivoting on either side of an intermediate position, adapted to apply the object against one and then the other of the motorized rollers to complete the drive of said object to the open upper part (7) of a bucket (6) of the conveyor, located below the right of the magazine 7 Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the pressing member (45) comprises a lever of support (46) articulated on a fixed axis (47), comprising two end rollers (48,49) free in rotation, the support lever forming with the direction of the line joining the axes of the motorized rollers a dihedron in the angle at which the object is received after removal of the retractable support (40), the fulcrum pivoting realizing under the effect successively of one then the other of its end rollers, the tilting of the flat object leaving the support on the first motorized roller (43) to come into contact with the second ( 44), simultaneously with the return of the   retractable support in initial position.   8 Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the pressing member (60,61) comprises two parallel belts (62) and a moving conveyor belt (54), in continuous movement, this strip being movable in a movement of back and forth substantially parallel to the direction of movement retractable support (40).