JP2006519739A - Device for 90 ° change of flat shipment - Google Patents

Abstract

At least one direction (D2, D2 ′) orthogonal to the supply direction (D1) by the eccentric roller (11) in order to change the 90 ° direction of rectangular shipments with different thicknesses and sizes and different aspect ratios It is proposed to carry out the shipment. In order to grip the shipment gently, the eccentric roller is made of an elastic material and comprises a web (20) that is not radially arranged.

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for changing a flat shipment product by 90 ° as described in the premise of claim 1.

  The present invention relates to the field of postal automation. In order to automatically sort and distribute flat shipments such as letters and pamphlets, the shipments are transported to their destination (also called destination) by a transport track and / or conveyor belt in a postal distribution center. . For this transport, it is necessary to change the transport direction relative to the shipment. That is, it is necessary to change from the vertical conveyance direction to the horizontal conveyance direction or vice versa.

  The delivery of flat shipments is demanding because the dimensions and handling of flat sorts vary over a wide range. On the one hand, from a format standpoint only, the variety of width, height, and thickness dimensions is hardly limited. In addition, the packaging and strength of flat sorting products vary greatly. This change is indicated, for example, by a hard and rigid cardboard cover and by a soft booklet or periodical packaged in a film. As an assortment, there are loose pamphlets that are not packaged. In the case of various dimensions of a rectangular shipping product, it is not easy to change the shipping product from a comparative vertical transport direction to a horizontal transport direction at a high transport speed. On the one hand, the length to width ratio varies within a wide range, and on the other hand, the absolute length or width varies within a wide range. This variation occurs, for example, from the horizontal or vertical direction of the format B6 to the vertical or horizontal direction of the format C3. The problem of easy redirection at high transport speeds is that, for example, when turning 90 ° as an elongated shipment, it must be carried out much faster in the vertical direction than when it is fed to this redirection point. It is. In this specification, shipments are used for simplicity, but the term “shipment” includes flat shipments such as rectangular letters, leaflets, samples.

In Patent Document 1 “Double Pocket Type Right Angle Rotation for Envelope Conveying System”, an apparatus for conveying envelopes supplied in two rows in one row has been proposed. In this case, one row is rotated by 90 ° with respect to the two rows. However, this device is only suitable for shipments that are somewhat homogeneous in size, proportion and mass.
US Pat. No. 6,234,468

  Thus, the problem underlying the present invention is to provide an apparatus for redirecting and transporting flat shipments that allows high throughput regardless of the mass or proportion of the shipment.

  This object is achieved according to the invention by an apparatus as claimed in claim 1.

  By carrying out the shipment with the eccentric roller, the shipment with different dimensions can be reliably conveyed from the first direction to the second direction orthogonal thereto. At that time, the processing amount can be easily adjusted in direct proportion to the peripheral speed of the eccentric roller. Since the eccentric roller can be operated in two rotational directions corresponding to the second direction in order to carry the shipment at two different locations, the shipment can be processed on the other two paths. Or an extractor, for example a double take-out part from another transport part, is easily removable.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are described in the other claims.
i) The eccentric roller and the lateral belt are mechanically connected via one freewheel, so that when the eccentric roller has a high conveying speed, the lateral belt is similarly accelerated to a high conveying speed, The second motor that drives the lateral belt by means of
Shipments are reliably carried out without reducing the throughput at the direction change point, in which case costly synchronization is unnecessary, and there is no need to rotate the second drive motor together at a high rotational speed. (Claim 8).
ii) In order to supply the shipment from the first direction to the direction change point, a knurled belt including a support member is provided.
The shipment is supplied to the direction change point in a predetermined manner, whereby accurate conveyance by the eccentric roller is achieved (claim 10).
iii) The feeder is connected to the knurled belt so as to transmit the rotational movement in order to hold the predetermined position of the shipment when the shipment is unloaded by the eccentric roller.
The connection can be made so that the shipment is transported to the humped belt somewhat above the feeder support member, for example 2 cm, via the conveyor belt. Thus, while further transported by the knurled belt, the shipment will drop onto the support member with a small drop height and will not bounce. Thereby, a predetermined position for carrying out in the lateral direction by the eccentric roller means, that is, a horizontal position is generated.

  Next, the present invention will be exemplarily described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a transfer device 1. This transport device includes a feeder 2 that transports a disassembled shipment to a direction change point 10 by means of a conveyor belt 3. The feeder 2 is provided with a take-out drum 6 equipped with two operable grips 7 for gripping the shipment. The take-out drum 6, the knurled belt 4 and the conveyor belt 3 are driven synchronously by a motor M. The shipped product is transferred in the conveying direction D1 by the knurled belt 4. This knurled belt is provided with a support member 5 for a predetermined supply to the direction change point 10. As will be described in detail later, the shipment is picked up by at least one eccentric roller 11 and transferred to the transverse belt 21 at right angles to the direction D1. The direction change of the shipment according to the invention is effected by at least one centrifugal rotor 11.

  FIG. 2 shows the direction change point 10 in detail. In the case of this embodiment, three eccentric rollers 11 are provided. In this case, both the outer eccentric rollers are arranged at the same horizontal level. Depending on the embodiment, the eccentric rollers 11 can be arranged at different levels. For example, they can be arranged in a staircase pattern. The clamping of the present invention also allows only one eccentric roller 11. The changed direction of the shipment is indicated by reference numeral D2 in FIG. Following the eccentric roller 11 in the transport direction D2, a lateral belt 21 for further transporting the shipment is provided. In FIG. 2, one roller 19 that is fixedly arranged is provided to face each eccentric roller 11 in order to grasp the shipment. This roller is suggested in FIG. 2, but its axis of rotation is clearly recognizable without reference signs. Instead of this roller, a guide metal sheet can be provided. As will be described later, the shipment can be further conveyed in two directions D2 and D2 ′ at a right angle to the supply direction. At that time, both directions D2 and D2 'are on the same straight line.

  The transmission ratio for the conveyor belt 3, the take-out drum 6 and the hump belt 4 coupled in a rotationally synchronous manner and the arrangement of the support member 5 on the hump belt 4 are transferred from the conveyor belt 3 to the hump belt 4. Sometimes the shipment is selected to reach the range of the humped belt 4 about 20 mm above the support member 5. Subsequently, the shipped product falls on the support member 5 in the transport direction. Due to this short and limited drop height, the shipment does not rebound when colliding or reaching the support member 5. Thereby, the predetermined position of the shipment is guaranteed at the moment of gripping by the eccentric roller 11. It is particularly advantageous if the operation of the eccentric roller 11 becomes effective for the shipment at the moment when the shipment reaches the position for horizontal transfer. This means that the drive motor 14 must be operated immediately before reaching this position. Due to the constant selected gear ratio, the operation of the drive motor 14 can be directly derived from the position of the support member 5 and the gripping of the shipment by the gripper 7 performed before that. The control device operates the gripping tool 7. If this operation is not performed, the shipment will remain on the stack of feeders 2. In addition, the support member further prevents the shipment from being gripped by one eccentric roller, for example when the two eccentric rollers are offset, and in some cases "impacts" to carry away.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the direction changing portion 10 as viewed from below. A first drive motor 14 or a second drive motor 15 is attached to the rear side of the flange 14 or 15. The eccentric roller 11 or the lateral belt 21 is driven by the belt via the toothed pulley 18. Freewheels (one-way clutches) are indicated by reference numerals 16 and 17 one behind the flange. The function of this freewheel will be described later with reference to FIG. As is apparent from FIG. 3, the lateral belt 21 is mechanically connected to the eccentric roller 11, that is, connected to transmit rotation.

FIG. 5 shows the speed change v in one rotation direction of the eccentric roller 11 with respect to time t. For other directions of rotation, the change in velocity is given by making the image symmetric about the t-axis. It should be understood that the values described are exemplary and reflect the requirements for drive technology, i.e., motors and associated open / close loop control elements. The illustrated speed change relates to the rotation of the eccentric roller 11 measured at the outer radial portion 12. Assume that the transverse belt is driven at a speed of v = 2 m / s in a steady state for unloading the shipment. Shipments whose direction is changed by the device according to the invention are subjected to a speed change according to the curve by the eccentric roller 11, excluding slips, up to the stated time of 130 ms. The lateral belt 21 is urged by the free wheel 16 at a speed according to the graph after the point F16. As a result, the delivery product is further guided at the same speed temporarily by the lateral belt 21 during delivery from the eccentric roller 11. The eccentric roller 11 is again brought to a predetermined initial position for the next conveyance belt unloading. Thereby, in order to complete one rotation completely, the eccentric roller 11 must decelerate to the speed 0 in a very short time. In this case, at the final position to be achieved, the flat part 13 is set substantially parallel to the surface of the shipment or parallel to the surface of the hump belt. The time provided for this is evident from the graph of FIG.
(147-130) ms = 17 ms
It is. Due to the kinetic energy stored during the movement of the transverse belt, the transverse belt coasts at the above 2 m / s. In order to prevent the second drive motor 15 from rotating together at high speed, a second free wheel 17 is provided. The connection between the eccentric roller 11 and the free wheel 17 is released at a point F17 (see FIG. 5). It is very advantageous to provide a stepping motor for the first drive motor 14 of the eccentric roller.

  FIG. 4 shows the structure of the eccentric roller 11. Due to the very high acceleration that is evident from FIG. 5, the smallest possible mass is accelerated, so that the rotating means 11 has the smallest possible moment of inertia. This is achieved on the one hand by a cylinder 22 which is relatively thin on the wall. A toothed pulley is attached to the other end of the cylinder. The outer peripheral portion 12 is preferably made of a hard rubber such as Vulcolan® or Adipren. The web 20 (also referred to as a spoke), on the one hand, greatly reduces the moment of inertia and, on the other hand, creates additional elasticity between the mating counterpart and the eccentric roller when gripping the shipment. This elasticity is achieved in particular by the fact that the webs are not arranged radially but are arranged spirally as shown in FIG. As a result, the shipment is not pushed transiently. This elasticity is desirable because shipments usually have different thicknesses. In the case of advertising brochures, it is not important, but it should be taken into account that the shipment can contain small samples that are damaged by excessive pressure. The rotation direction of the eccentric roller 11 shown in FIG. 4 is clockwise.

The two advantages of the eccentric roller are as follows.
i) For example, to discharge shipments in the other direction when a double pick-up occurs, and in some cases re-deliver the discharged shipments to the normal sorting or distribution process at the appropriate point. Available for manual feeding.
ii) However, it is also possible to operate the eccentric roller in both directions, for example alternately, and in some cases to provide one lateral belt 21 in each of the two directions D2, D2 '. The eccentric roller 11 is structurally formed so as to ensure the above-described elasticity in both rotation directions by web arrangement, for example, S-shaped web arrangement.

  The above synchronization of the conveyor belt 3, the hump belt 4 and the take-out drum 6 is related to the bi-directional operation of the eccentric roller 11, the formation of the eccentric roller 11, and the arrangement of the lateral belt for carrying out the shipment. It can be freely combined with the above-mentioned special embodiment.

It is a figure which shows the conveyance area for supplying a dispatch goods to a direction change location. It is a top view of the direction change location provided with three eccentric rollers. It is the perspective view which looked at the direction change location which shows a drive motor and a freewheel from the lower side. It is a figure which shows an eccentric roller. It is a vt diagram for the radial direction outer peripheral part of an eccentric roller.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveying device 2 Feeder, supply device 3 Conveying belt 4 Humped belt 5 Humped belt support member 6 Take-out drum 7 Operable gripping tool 10 Direction changing point 11 Eccentric roller 12 Eccentric part 13 of outer periphery Flat part 13. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st flat part, flattened part 13.2 2nd flat part, flattened part 14 1st drive motor, stepping motor 15 2nd drive motor 16 1st free wheel 17 2nd free Wheel 18 Toothed belt pulley 19 Roller 20 opposite to eccentric roller Web, spoke 21 Lateral belt 22 Cylinder 23 Bearing D1 Humped belt conveyance direction D2, D2 ′ to direction change point orthogonal to feed direction D1, Transfer direction after direction change point F16 Engagement point of free wheel 16 F17 Engagement point of free wheel 17

Claims (12)

  Shipments are separated in the first direction (D1) and guided to the direction change point (10), and are similarly separated from the direction change point (10) in at least one second direction (D2, D2 '). In a device for changing the direction of a flat shipment, the second direction (D2, D2 ′) is substantially orthogonal to the supply direction (D1) and is supplied to the direction change point (10). The shipped product differs from the shipped product in that it comprises at least one eccentric roller (11), the eccentric roller comprising an outer peripheral part (12) having at least one flattened point (13). An apparatus characterized in that the eccentric roller (11) can be operated in two rotational directions corresponding to the second direction (D2, D2 ') in order to carry it out in two places.   Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the outer peripheral part (12) is made of an elastic material.   3. A device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the non-flattened part of the web (20) is supported in a non-radial direction.   Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the web (20) is arranged in an S-shape.   5. The method according to claim 1, wherein a lateral belt (21) is arranged on the eccentric roller (11) following the second direction (D 2) for further carrying out the shipment. A device according to any one of the above.   6. A further transverse belt (21) is arranged on the eccentric roller (11) in the opposite second direction (D2 ') for further unloading the shipment. Equipment.   7. A device according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the eccentric roller (11) is driven by a first motor (14) and the transverse belt (21) is driven by a second motor (15).   When the eccentric roller (11) and the lateral belt (21) are mechanically connected to each other via one free wheel (16, 17), the lateral belt when the conveying speed of the eccentric roller (11) is high. (21) is likewise accelerated to a high transport speed, whereby the second motor (15) driving the transverse belt (21) does not rotate together until a high transport speed. Item 8. The device according to Item 7.   9. Device according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the first motor (14) is a stepping motor.   10. A humped belt (4) comprising a support member (5) is provided for supplying the shipment from the first direction to the direction change point (10). The device according to any one of the above.   The feeder (2) is connected so as to transmit the rotational movement to the humped belt (4) in order to hold a predetermined position of the shipment when the shipment is carried out by the eccentric roller (11). The device according to claim 10.   12. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the eccentric roller (11) is operable at the moment when the shipment reaches the unloading position.

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