JP2002543968A - Mail handling facility for mail handling center - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a postal processing facility including a sorting system that receives mail in trays and sorts mail to trays and a dock area including a plurality of transportation docks that provide interface with transportation vehicles, comprising: a receiving and dispatching system that loads trays of sorted mail from a sorting system to transportation fixtures and unloads trays of mail to be sorted from transportation fixtures to the sorting system; and wherein said receiving and dispatching system is at the dock area of the postal processing facility thereby providing substantially direct movement of fixtures between transportation vehicles and said receiving and dispatching system.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a type of processing mail letters, flat mail articles, such as magazines, for example, by sorting mail articles by zip code or some other convenient index. It relates to mail processing facilities. More specifically, the present invention relates to a process for urgently sorting sorted mail trays from a sorting system to a transport device, and lowering the sorted mail trays from the transport device to the sorting system.

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional integrated processing facility 10 as shown in FIG. 1 receives a letter, a flat mail and the like arriving from a transporting device such as a rolling cart or a pallet of ERMCS. Unload trays and drop them into a tray management system (TM
S), including an unloading system 12 leading to a tray management system (TMS)
Feeds these trays into the rest of the mail sorting system, indicated generally at 14. Further, the integrated processing facility 10 can store trays for letters, flat mail, etc.
Received from the mail sorting system 14 via TMS, the letter tray
It also includes a loading system 16 for loading on transporters, ie carts, pallets and the like. The loading system 16 shown is of the general type disclosed in FIG. 1 of European Patent Application 99/00317, filed Jan. 21, 1999, assigned to the present applicant (
The contents of the disclosure are incorporated herein by this reference). The unloading system 12 may be of the type shown in FIG. 2 of said patent application.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the loading system 16 and the unloading system 12 are provided in the indoor part of the integrated processing facility 10. The transport device is received from a vehicle, such as a semi-trailer truck, at a loading platform (not shown) located at a peripheral portion of the integrated processing facility 10. The loading platform is at the periphery of the integrated processing facility 10,
On the other hand, since the loading system 16 and the unloading system 12 are located in the indoor part of the integrated processing facility 10, it is necessary to carry the transport device over a considerable distance between the loading system 16 and the unloading system 12 and the loading platform. Conventionally, this has been done by manually pushing a cart or transporting a pallet with a forklift. Recently, it has been proposed to use an automated guided vehicle (AGV) to move a transport device between a loading platform, a loading system 16, and an unloading system 12. Such transportation methods add additional processing time and expense, thereby increasing mail processing costs. Further, such conventional processing facilities are inefficient in the use of equipment. The arriving, mailed truck is positioned in the unloading home space relatively close to the unloading system 12 for delivery of the trays, and then to another loading system 16 closer to the loading system 16 for receiving mail to be sent. It was repositioned in the loading / unloading home space. Further, the unloading system 12 is used only for a relatively short period of time, as indicated by a portion designated as "RCS urgent service only" in FIG. Similarly, the loading system 16 is used for a relatively short period of time in the schedule shown in FIG. Therefore, the use of the device in the integrated processing facility 10 is not limited to the integrated processing facility 1.
The use of the device attached to 0 is relatively small.

The present invention provides a mail processing facility receiving and dispatching system that eliminates the need to unload and dispatch from within an integrated processing facility. Furthermore, the present invention
The equipment is used intensively so that the equipment is used all day on the processing day. The present invention also eliminates the need for dedicated entrance and exit doors for loading platforms. Therefore, the truck does not need to move between the entrance door and the exit door, simplifying operation of the truck at the workplace.

[0005] The above and other objects, advantages, and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made to specific embodiments illustrated. The mail handling system 20 includes a building 22 having a loading platform 24, which conventionally includes a plurality of loading doors and other conventional loading platform facilities (not shown), in this embodiment: The vehicle 26 which is a semi-trailer truck is received. Alternatively, vehicle 26
It may be a train car, a van, or the like. Conventionally, the mail processing facility 20 includes a mail sorting system 28 that includes a "tray management system (TMS)" 30 for transporting and sorting trays between a series of mail sorting machines, indicated generally at 32.

Further, the mail processing facility 20 stores the sorted mail trays in the TMS 30.
Receiving / expediting system 34 for loading mails to ERMCS carts, pallets, etc., and lowering the trays of mail to be sorted from the transporter to the TMS 30
Including. The receiving and dispatching system 34 comprises a plurality of receiving and dispatching sections 36,
And each receiving and dispatching section 36 is interconnected by a sorting conveyor 38, as described in more detail below. Each receiving and distributing section 36 loads a sorted tray of mail into a transport device and unloads the tray of mail from the transport device. This eliminates the need to disconnect loading and unloading systems that are not fully available throughout the processing day, as described above. Conveniently, the receiving and distributing compartment 36 is at the loading home 24. This eliminates the need for the transport system to transport the transport device between the loading platform and the indoor portion of the integrated processing facility. Further, each vehicle 26 removes the transport device from the vehicle 26, removes the sorted mail tray from the transport device, loads the sorted mail tray into the transport device, and further loads the transport device into the vehicle 26, The vehicle 26 does not need to be moved between the unloading door and another loading door, but remains at the location of the single loading / unloading door.

[0008] The receiving and distributing section 36 includes a sorting conveyor 38 having a main line 40, preferably a continuous loop that circulates (FIG. 5). A plurality of branch lines 42 extend from the main line 40 to a receiving and dispatching assembly 44. Sorting conveyor 38 is elevated for each receiving and expediting assembly 44, where the trays are moved by gravity chutes 46.
It is lowered from the sorting conveyor 38 by a mechanism such as (FIG. 6).

Each receiving and expediting assembly 44 includes a plurality of cart positioners 48 and a transport mechanism 50 to carry mail trays between the branch lines 42 and each cart positioner 48. The branch line 42 includes a powered roller conveyor 52 over the entire length of the receiving and dispatching assembly 44. In the illustrated embodiment, the transport mechanism 50 is a robot of the type manufactured by FANUC CORPORATION under the trade name “Model M710i”. Alternatively, the transport mechanism 50 may be suitably modified to not only load the trays on the cart but also unload the trays from the European Patent Application 99/00317, filed Jan. 21, 1999. (The disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference). Preferably, the receiving and dispatching assembly 44 is enclosed using an enclosure 54 such as a fence to prevent personnel from operating the transport mechanism 50. The enclosure 54 is provided with a movable gate 56 at each cart positioner 48 that can be selectively opened to allow loading and unloading of the transport device to the receiving and expediting assembly 44. Advantageously, only one receiving / expediting section is locked out at a time, and even if a particular receiving / expediting section has replaced the cart, the receiving / expediting system 34 can be used with the arrangement described above. Keeps working.

The motorized roller conveyor 52 has a lifting mechanism 58 at an effective location along it.
including. The mechanism 58 (FIG. 7) includes a plurality of support fingers 60 that are selectively raised by a lifting assembly 62 when the tray is positioned on the lifting mechanism. A pair of positioning arms 64 help center the tray on the lifting mechanism. When the lifting mechanism 58 is operated, the tray is raised so that the transport mechanism 50 engages the tray from the side or the longitudinal direction of the end face. Accordingly, the transport mechanism 50 positions each tray on the cart at one of two orthogonal positions. As a result,
The trays can be staggered on the cart in an alternating pattern to increase the security of the cart loading. Receiving and expediting assembly 44 also includes a half tray support 66 near cart positioner 48. This provides a shelf area for the transport mechanism 50 to position the half tray during loading into the cart. When the transport mechanism 50 encounters another half tray, if the two half trays are positioned together, they can have the same outer shape as the full tray. This avoids any instability due to placing the half tray on the cart.

In the illustrated embodiment, the transport mechanism 50 includes a robot arm 70 with an end effector or arm tip tool 72 at the tip. In addition, the transport mechanism 50 also includes a powered roller conveyor 52 and a transport device 82 having legs that span any mail tray thereon. The arm tip tool 72 includes a tray support 74 in the form of a series of forks, and a clamping member 76 for clamping the tray to the tray support 74.
In addition, the arm tip tool 72 also includes an extruder / grasp mechanism 78 that pulls the tray out of the tray support 74 while pulling it out of the cart. Alternatively, the pusher / gripping device 78 engages a catch hole (not shown) on the appropriate side of the tray to draw the tray onto the tray support 74. One or more (preferably two or more) sensors (eg, image sensors 80) are provided at the end of the tray support 74 so that the tray can be easily loaded and unloaded on the tray support 74.

The receiving and distributing system 34 operates as follows. In order to load the sorted trays of the mail into the transport device, the trays are turned on the branch line 42 by a diverter such as a conventional pop-up rotating belt type diverter, and the chutes 4 are moved by gravity.
Go down 6. The trays are transported by powered roller conveyor 52 to a position suitable for transport by transport mechanism 50. This includes a lifting mechanism 58 for raising the tray,
This is accomplished with the arm tip tool 72 of the transport mechanism 50 engaging the tray from the appropriate direction depending on the need to load the cart. The tray is gripped between the clamping mechanism 76 and the tray support 74 and carried on a suitable cart. This is achieved by moving the transport device 82 in the direction of the conveyor 52. As described above, the tray is removed from the tray support 74 using the push / grasp mechanism 78 and the tray is loaded onto the cart. When the cart is full, the associated gate 56 closing each compartment 36 is opened while the cart is loaded on the vehicle 26 located at the adjacent door. Replace this cart with an empty cart and close gate 56,
Work can be resumed in each section.

At the stage of lowering the tray from the transport device, the full device is removed from the cart positioner 4.
8 and the gate 56 is closed. By the transport mechanism 50, the arm tip tool 7
2 individually engage trays on the cart to be unloaded. Extrusion / gripping mechanism 7
8 extends under the guidance of the image sensor 80 and engages a hole on the corresponding side of the tray. The push / grasp mechanism 78 is retracted, pulling the tray onto the tray support 74. The fastening member 76 fastens the tray to the tray support 74. The transport mechanism 50 places the cart on the lifting mechanism 58 in an appropriate direction. When the lifting mechanism 58 retracts, the tray is properly positioned on the powered roller conveyor 52. The powered roller conveyor 52 includes a powered inclined portion 52a by which the trays to be unloaded are transported over the TMS 30 by ascending the slopes and carrying the trays onto the receiving portion of the sorting conveyor 38. It is. Alternatively, the chute 46 could be replaced with a powered roller conveyor operating in both directions, with the trays to be unloaded being carried upwardly away from each receiving and dispatching assembly. These times rotate in reverse, transporting the trays on the conveyor in the opposite direction, receiving the trays and loading them on carts.

As is evident from FIGS. 4a, 4b, the invention can be used in various ways for expediting and receiving trays. FIG. 4a shows three receiving and displaying sections 36, designated 1, 2, and 3. In this example, parcel 1 is a cart received from a vehicle, and parcel 2 is full of empty carts, and parcel 3 is full of carts ready for expedited shipping. When the trays are unloaded from these carts in Section 3, these carts are available for Section 2 and then Section 2 becomes the receiving section. When the full receiving carts are removed from compartment 1, these carts will then become expedited compartments, replacing the full cart for expedited shipping. FIG. 4b shows an alternative way to use the individual positions in each of the compartments 1, 2 and 3 as either a receiving position, an expedited position or an empty position. A computer system (not shown) manages the pick-up and dispatch system so that the function of each cart position can be determined and monitored.

As can be seen in FIG. 11, the present invention provides a more fully utilized receiving and dispatch system throughout the processing day, thereby ensuring a more effective return on investment. In period A, mail is received from the truck and processed by mail sorting system 28. In the period B, the processed mail is dispatched using the receiving and dispatching system 34. In the period C, mail items that occasionally arrive at the vehicle 26 are received each time they arrive. Any remaining mail is dispatched during period D.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of an integrated processing facility provided by the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the integrated processing facility according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing an area indicated by III in FIG. 2;

4a and 4b illustrate a process for loading and unloading a tray of mail between a vehicle and a sorting system according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view of an area indicated by V in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the view indicated by VI-VI in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the lifting mechanism of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX of FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the robot of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram exemplifying the amount of mail processed daily in the integrated processing facility.

[Description of Signs] 1, 2 and 3 sections 20 Postal processing facility 22 Building 24 Loading platform 26 Vehicle 28 Mail sorting system 30 Tray management system 32 Mail sorting machine 34 Receiving / expediting system 36 Receiving / distributing section 38 Sorting conveyor 40 Trunk line 42 Branch line 44 Receiving / expediting assembly 46 Chute 48 Cart positioner 50 Transport mechanism 52 Powered roller conveyor 52a Powered inclined part 54 Enclosure 56 Movable gate 58 Lifting mechanism 60 Support finger 62 Lifting assembly 64 Positioning arm 66 Half tray support 70 Robot arm 72 Arm tip tool 74 Tray support 76 Tightening member 78 Pushing / gripping mechanism 80 Image sensor

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (81) Designated country EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE ), OA (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, KE, LS, MW, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AE, AG, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, CA, CH, CN, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM, DZ, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR , HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VN, YU, ZA , ZW (72) Inventor DuBois, Matthew Earl United States 49508 Michigan Grand Rapids S.E. Bentley Drive 1324 F-term (reference) 3F079 AA01 AA03 CA01 CA03 CB00 CC00 DA06 DA11 DA12 DA25

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A mail processing system comprising: a sorting system for receiving mail on a tray and sorting mail on a tray basis; and a loading / unloading home area including a plurality of transport homes for providing contact with a transport vehicle. A facility, comprising a receiving / expediting system for loading sorted mail trays from a sorting system into a transport device, and lowering the mail trays to be sorted from the transport device to the sorting system, wherein the receiving / expedited system is In the unloading home area of the mail processing facility, whereby a transport device can be moved substantially linearly between the transport vehicle and the receiving and expediting system. Mail processing facility. 2. The facility according to claim 1, wherein the receiving and expediting system includes at least one receiving and expediting assembly for unloading and loading of the conveying device. 3. A sorting conveyor according to claim 2, including a sorting conveyor having a main line defined by a plurality of receiving and expediting assemblies and a conveyor surface, and a plurality of branch lines extending from the main line to the receiving and expediting assembly. Facility. 4. The facility of claim 3, wherein the branch lines include separate branch lines for moving the tray from the sorting conveyor to the receiving and expediting assembly and for moving the tray from the receiving and expediting assembly to the sorting conveyor. . 5. The conveyor of claim 3, wherein the surface of the conveyor is a continuous loop.
The listed facility. 6. The facility according to claim 3, wherein the conveyor surface is elevated relative to the receiving and dispatching assembly. 7. An individual enclosure having a movable gate that can be selectively opened around the receiving and expediting assembly so that when one transporter is removed, another in the other receiving and expediting assembly. 4. The facility according to claim 3, wherein the facility can be loaded and unloaded to and from a transport device. 8. The facility according to claim 1, wherein the transport device is a wheeled cart. 9. A mail processing facility including a sorting system for receiving mails in trays and sorting mails for each tray, wherein the sorted mail trays are loaded from the sorting system to a transport device and sorted. At least one receiving and expediting assembly, comprising a receiving and expediting system for lowering the tray of mail to be transported from the transport device to the sorting system, wherein the system can both unload and load the transport device. A facility characterized by including: 10. A mail processing facility including a sorting system for receiving mail on trays and sorting mail on a tray basis, and a loading / unloading home area including a plurality of transport homes for providing contact points with transport vehicles. Providing at least one of an expedited delivery system for loading sorted mail trays from a sorting system to a transport device, and a receiving system for dropping sorted mail trays from the transport device to said sorting system. Locating at least one of the receiving and expediting systems in the unloading home area of the mail processing facility; and moving the transport device substantially straight between the transport vehicle and said at least one of the receiving and expediting systems. Receiving a tray of mail from a transport device, How to dispatching the tray conveyor. 11. The method of claim 10 including providing a dispatch system and a receiving system, and positioning both the dispatch system and the receiving system in an unloading home area. 12. A method for operating a mail processing facility including a sorting system for receiving mails on trays and sorting mails for each tray, comprising: providing a receiving / expediting system; Loading and unloading a tray of mail to be sorted from the transport device to a sorting machine from the sorting system, and loading and unloading includes jointly loading and unloading using a common system. A method of receiving a mail tray from a transport device and dispatching the mail tray to the transport device. 13. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of loading the mail tray into a carrier and providing a receiving and expediting system having a transport mechanism adapted to unload the mail tray from the carrier. 12. The method according to 12. 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising providing a plurality of transport mechanisms. 15. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the step of loading a mail tray onto the transport device using one of the transport mechanisms and unloading the mail tray from the transport device using the other transport mechanism. The method according to claim 14. 16. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of loading the mail tray with the transport mechanism and removing the mail tray from the transport apparatus using substantially all of the transport mechanisms.