JP2007504940A - A merger that combines a manually processed flat shipment with a stream of shipments automatically sorted according to a distribution sequence - Google Patents

Abstract

  A movable container (3) is provided above a part of the section conveyor belt (1) for processing the delivery according to the dispensing sequence. The movable container circulates in the closed conveyance path (5), and has a plurality of delivery sorting boxes (4) that can be opened downward in a controlled state. The sorting box (4) can be emptied only when the container (3) is stationary at the sorting station (6). This emptying is automatically performed to the section belonging to the delivery point corresponding to the identified delivery destination. After the container (3) has been emptied, the container can travel to a loading station (9) having a sorting box full of deliveries. The sorting box containing the shipment is assigned to a delivery point corresponding to the destination of the shipment, and this assignment is transmitted to the opening device of the sorting box.

Description

  The invention relates to a device according to the superordinate concept of claim 1. At the time of the fine division of the sent matter, the sent matter is sorted by a predetermined distribution sequence according to the delivery point.

  All delivery segment automation systems (German Application No. 19943362) according to a well-known distribution sequence so far combine delivery streams or delivery stacks (German Patent No. 19842484, WO 2004). However, there are some deliverables that must always be manually processed based on characteristics such as dimensions and stiffness. These shipments cannot be mechanically inserted into the stack and are manually processed by the delivery person. The cause of this problem is mainly in the format characteristics. If these deliverables cannot be packed into “packs” for each delivery point, or at least inserted into the stack at the correct position, the time that would be saved during delivery is reduced. This is because the courier must manually process the “pack” stack as well as other stacks of shipments that do not fit into it.

  Since automation systems usually exist at a sorting center, the deliverer cannot add these manually processed shipments to a mechanically formed shipment stack. When manually processed shipments are added (“integrated”) to a segmented stack according to a mechanical distribution sequence, the mechanically segmented shipment stack is classified into a manually processed shipment. It will be sorted again into the same sorting box. This process takes a lot of work.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a merging device that combines a manually processed flat shipment with a stream of shipments that are automatically sorted according to a distribution sequence, so that the cost of manual processing required can be reduced. It is.

  This problem is solved by the configuration described in the characterizing portion of claim 1.

  That is, in the present invention, a movable container is provided above a part of a section conveyor belt for automatically processing a delivery according to a distribution sequence, and this movable container circulates in a closed conveyance path and is controlled respectively. A plurality of delivery boxes that can be opened downward in a closed state. Sorting boxes can only be emptied if the container is stationary at a fixed sorting station, but this box emptying is done automatically to the section belonging to the delivery point corresponding to the identified delivery destination. After the container has been emptied, the container can be run to a loading station having a sorting box full of deliveries. The bin containing the shipment is assigned to a delivery point in the distribution sequence corresponding to the destination of the shipment, and this assignment is transmitted to the bin opening device. This greatly reduces manual sorting tasks by personnel.

  Advantageous embodiments of the invention are described in the dependent claims.

  To save time, the sorting box advantageously accommodates each shipment in an upright position and has an openable bottom, the opening of which is a stationary first associated with the opening mechanism at the bottom at the sorting station. The operation element is used to slide down the delivery.

  In order to ensure that the delivery slides in a defined state on the part of the moving section conveyor belt, the section box is preferably inclined obliquely backwards relative to the conveying direction of the section conveyor belt. Yes.

  Also advantageously, a stationary second operating element for closing the sorting box is arranged behind the sorting station as seen in the transport direction of the container. This reduces the technical cost for the opening and closing mechanism of the sorting box.

  In order to separate the loading and unloading processes of the container, the container transport path advantageously places a fixed number of loaded containers in front of the loading station and / or in front of one or more sorting stations, respectively. Hold at the storage position until the station becomes empty.

  Also advantageously, the loading station is provided for manual loading into the bin and comprises a coding device for manual entry of the destination.

  In order to reduce the online coding costs, the loading station advantageously has a divider for manually pre-segmenting the shipment before loading into the bin, and addresses for the pre-segmented distribution area Data is entered into the section's shipment before loading into the bin. Therefore, all that remains is to coat the house number.

  Also advantageously, in order to avoid input errors, the partition partition loading position and the partition position are provided with a display for displaying the distribution section currently loaded.

  Subsequently, the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the device of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a side view of the container of the sorting station.

  FIG. 1 shows how a section conveyor belt 1 transports a delivery 2 from left to right according to a distribution sequence to a collection station not shown. Here, there is a delivery for each delivery point in each section. At that time, the delivery is collected in a container according to a distribution sequence. In front of the collection station is a packing station where the delivery is packaged or bundled at each delivery point.

  The delivery 2 is placed on each section of the section conveyor belt 1 as a result of the automatic sorting process. A conveying path 5 extends above a part of the section conveyor belt 1, and a plurality of containers 3 circulate in the direction opposite to the section conveyor belt. The container is provided with a plurality of sorting boxes 4 for holding the thin delivery items upright. During operation, the plurality of containers 3 move asynchronously. This is provided with a drive mechanism specific to each container 3 and can be driven independently of the drive mechanisms of the other containers or can be continuously rotated and coupled in a controlled manner to each container. Separable endless transport means are provided and are achieved by being able to move to a predetermined waiting position or to a stationary container. At the sorting station 6 above the section conveyor belt 1, the container 3 full of deliverables 8 that cannot be processed automatically by the sorting machine is stopped, and the known assignment of each section of the section conveyor belt 1 to each delivery point and According to the known delivery address, the container is emptied in the appropriate section. This will be described in detail below.

  If each container 3 is completely emptied at the sorting station 6 and cannot be prevented from traveling by the container 3 present in the front, the container reaches the loading station 9 via the circulating transport path 5 and stops at the loading position. And loaded manually. At the time of loading, each delivery 8 is also coated by the operator. That is, the operator inputs the read delivery destination (destination address) data to the coding device (keyboard) 11. From this data, a delivery point is automatically determined using destination address and delivery point assignment data and additionally depending on the order of the distribution sequence. The delivery point here corresponds to each sorting box 4 and is transmitted to the opening device of the sorting box. The opening device controls the unloading from the sorting box 4 at the sorting station 6 to each section of the section conveyor belt 1. The opening device also has data on which section conveyor belt corresponds to which delivery point, so that when the passing section conveyor belt is located below, the corresponding section box 4 is opened. It is configured. In order to keep the coding cost for each delivery item 8 as small as possible, the delivery item 8 is pre-divided by a partition 10 for each distribution area (for example, street name). When a delivery 8 of a predetermined distribution area is loaded into a container sorting box, the distribution area is displayed on the machine control display, and only the house number needs to be coded at the time of loading. The container 3 may be arranged in the storage position in front of the loading station 9 and in front of the one or more sorting stations 6 until it can be accommodated in the next station.

  According to FIG. 1, the device according to the invention is present behind the sorting machine in the conveying direction in the section conveyor belt 1 and automatically covers the section conveyor belt 1. This brings the deliverable 8 that can only be processed manually to the top of each section. Of course, the apparatus of the present invention may be arranged in front of the sorting machine so that the delivery 8 that can be processed only manually is at the bottom.

  FIG. 2 shows in detail how the container 3 is emptied at the sorting station 6. The container 3 has a plurality of sorting boxes 4 which are narrow and inclined obliquely rearward when viewed in the conveying direction of the section conveyor belt 1. There is a thin shipment in the bin. Each section box 4 has a bottom 13 that can be swung downward, and a lever that moves outward is attached thereto. When the container 3 arrives at the sorting position, the container stops. A stationary release mechanism 12 (for example, a shift magnet) is disposed below the lever protruding from the container 3. Below the container 3, the section conveyor belt 1 loaded with the sorting machine moves to the right, that is, in the direction of the arrow. When a section having a delivery point of the same delivery 8 as the sorting box passes below the sorting box 4, the movable part of the opening mechanism 12 pushes the lever from below, causing the bottom part 13 to pivot downward, thereby sending it. Object 8 falls into that section. In order to form a well-defined stack image, the sorting box 4 is tilted so that the delivery 8 slides into the section. As soon as the container 3 is completely emptied, this container is transported in the direction opposite to the transport direction of the section conveyor belt 1 and passes through the stationary closing mechanism 14 to return all levers to their original positions. That is, the bottom 13 pivots upward and all the dividing boxes are closed again.

It is a top view of the apparatus of this invention. FIG. 3 is a side view of a container of a sorting station.

Claims (8)

While the shipment (2) is transported to the section leading to the collection station by the section conveyor belt (1) of the sorting machine, it is automatically sorted according to the distribution sequence into a delivery stream and manually processed flat shipment ( 8) In the merge device merged with
A movable container (3) is provided above a part of the section conveyor belt, and the movable container circulates in a closed conveyance path (5) and can be opened downward in a controlled state. Has multiple delivery boxes (4),
The sorting box can only be emptied if the container is stationary at the sorting station (6), which is automatically routed to the section belonging to the delivery point corresponding to the identified delivery destination. I,
After the container has been emptied, the container can travel to a loading station (9) having a sorting box full of deliveries;
A merging device characterized in that a sorting box containing a shipment is assigned to a delivery point of a distribution sequence in accordance with the destination of the shipment and this assignment is transmitted to the opening device of the sorting box.   The sorting box accommodates each shipment (8) in an upright position and has an openable bottom (13), the opening of which is fixed at the sorting station (6) associated with the corresponding opening mechanism of the bottom. 2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first operating element (12) is adapted to cause the delivery (8) to slide down.   The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sorting box is inclined obliquely rearward with respect to a conveying direction of the section conveyor belt.   Device according to claim 1, wherein a stationary second operating element (14) for closing the sorting box is arranged behind the sorting station as viewed in the transport direction of the container.   The transport path of the containers holds a fixed number of loaded containers in a storage position in front of a loading station (9) and / or in front of one or more sorting stations until each station is empty. The device described.   2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the loading station is provided for manual loading into the bin and comprises a coding device (11) for manual entry of destinations.   The loading station has a partition for manually pre-sorting the delivery before loading into the bin, and the address data for the pre-distributed distribution area is displayed in the section before the loading into the bin. The device of claim 6, wherein the device is input to the shipment.   8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a display for displaying the currently loaded distribution section is provided at the loading position and the partition position of the partition.

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