JP2014076867A - Paper sheet processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately adjust ejection timing without relating to a variation of a paper sheet.SOLUTION: Timing adjustment means E includes: a push-out mechanism 11A for pushing out a received paper sheet 13; and a stopper mechanism 11B for stopping the paper sheet 13, which is pushed out by the push-out mechanism 11A, so that the paper sheet 13 is not ejected before downstream conveying means 12 stops and then releasing the stopping. The push-out mechanism 11A, after the stopper mechanism 11B releases the stopping and before the downstream conveying means 12 starts conveying operation, pushes out the paper sheet 13 on the downstream conveying means 12.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a paper sheet processing apparatus.

  In a paper sheet processing apparatus such as a mail processing apparatus, the paper sheet taken out from the take-out unit is sent to, for example, an exclusion determination unit by an upstream conveying belt, and a paper sheet that can be handled is discriminated here. Then, only the paper sheets determined to be handleable are transported by the upstream transport belt and sent to the downstream transport conveyor. The paper sheets fed to the downstream conveyor are conveyed to, for example, a sorting processing unit, and are subjected to sorting processing based on the sorting information.

  By the way, the above-described downstream conveyor is operated intermittently and receives paper sheets discharged from the upstream conveyor belt in a stopped state.

  However, conventionally, since the paper sheets discharged from the upstream conveyor belt are sent to the conveyor at the same transport speed, if the discharge timing of the paper sheets from the upstream conveyor belt changes, There was a problem that a deviation occurred with the stop timing of the conveying conveyor on the side, making it impossible to send out the sheet properly.

  Therefore, it is considered to provide a timing adjustment mechanism between the upstream conveyor belt and the downstream conveyor, and adjust the discharge timing of the paper sheets to the downstream conveyor by this timing adjustment mechanism. .

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-30707

  However, since the conventional timing adjustment mechanism adjusts the conveyance speed by sandwiching the paper sheet with the adjusting roller pair and imparting frictional resistance, there are variations such as the paper sheet being thick or thin. If so, there is a possibility that the frictional resistance varies and the discharge timing cannot be adjusted well.

  Accordingly, an object of the present embodiment is to provide a paper sheet processing apparatus that can adjust the discharge timing satisfactorily regardless of variations of paper sheets.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, this embodiment receives upstream paper transporting means for transporting paper sheets and the paper sheets transported from the upstream transporting means, adjusts the discharge timing, and discharges them. A timing adjustment unit; and a downstream side conveyance unit that conveys the paper sheet that has been discharged after the discharge timing is adjusted by the timing adjustment unit. An extruding mechanism for extruding the paper sheet, and a stopper mechanism for releasing the stop after the paper sheet extruded by the extruding mechanism is stopped so that the paper sheet is not released before the downstream conveying means stops, The pushing mechanism pushes the paper sheet onto the downstream conveying means after the stopper mechanism releases the stop and before the downstream conveying means starts conveying operation. It is.

The block diagram which shows the paper sheet processing apparatus which is one Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the discharge | release timing adjustment part of FIG. The figure which shows the adjustment operation | movement of paper sheets in the discharge timing adjustment part of FIG. The figure which shows the locus | trajectory and elapsed time of paper sheets in the discharge timing adjustment part of FIG. The figure which shows the 1st example of the downstream conveyance conveyor of FIG. The figure which shows the 2nd example of the downstream conveyance conveyor of FIG. The figure which shows the 3rd example of the downstream conveyance conveyor of FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a paper sheet processing apparatus such as a mail processing apparatus according to an embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, A is a take-out section for taking out paper sheets such as postal items one by one in a standing position. The paper sheets taken out from the take-out section A are conveyed by a conveying means. In the conveyance direction of the taken-out paper sheets, an exclusion determination unit B, an exclusion unit C, a twist unit D, a timing adjustment unit E, and a downstream conveyance unit F are sequentially arranged. The upper level management unit G is connected to the timing adjustment unit E.

  The downstream transport unit F is controlled to operate intermittently at a predetermined timing by the upper management unit G, and receives paper sheets in a stopped state.

  In the above-described configuration, the paper sheet taken out from the take-out unit A is sent to the rejection determination unit B, where the rejection determination unit B discriminates the paper sheets that can be handled, for example, an excessive length or an excessive height. Etc. are determined. When it is determined that the handling is impossible, it is removed by the exclusion unit C, and the one that can be handled is conveyed to the twisting unit D.

  The paper sheets conveyed to the twisting part D are twisted by 90 ° from the standing position and conveyed in a horizontal state in order to match the posture when discharged to the downstream conveying part F. The paper sheets are sent to the timing adjustment unit E, where the discharge timing to the downstream conveyance unit F is adjusted and discharged. The discharged paper sheets are received by the downstream transport unit F and transported to a subsequent process, and are subjected to sorting processing according to the sorting information, for example.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing the timing adjustment unit E described above.

  The timing adjustment unit E includes an extrusion mechanism 11A and a stopper mechanism 11B.

  The extruding mechanism 11A has a belt 2 stretched between a driving roller 10a and a driven roller 10b, and a profile 8 as an extruding piece projecting from the belt 2 with a predetermined interval in its running direction. doing. A detection sensor 4 that detects the profile 8 is provided between the driven rollers 10b and 10b.

  The stopper mechanism 11B has a belt 3 stretched between a driving roller 12a and a driven roller 12b, and a profile 9 as a stopper piece protruding from the belt 3. A detection sensor 5 for detecting the profile 9 is provided between the driving roller 12a and the driven roller 12b. The profile 9 protrudes and retracts on the downstream side in the extrusion direction of the extrusion mechanism 11 </ b> A as the belt 3 reciprocates.

  Further, a conveyance guide plate 14 is provided between the driving roller 10a and the driven roller 10b of the extrusion mechanism 11A, and the profile guide 9 is projected on the conveyance guide plate 14 while the profile 8 travels on the conveyance guide plate 14. A groove (not shown) to be immersed is formed.

  A detection sensor 6 for confirming the introduction of the paper sheet 13 is provided on the carry-in side of the extrusion mechanism 11A, and a detection sensor 7 for confirming the discharge for confirming the discharge of the paper sheet 13 is provided on the discharge side. It has been.

  In addition, on the upstream side of the timing adjustment unit E, a conveyance belt 1 as an upstream conveyance unit of the twist unit D is provided, and on the downstream side, a conveyance conveyor 12 as a downstream conveyance unit of the downstream conveyance unit F is provided. It has been. The conveyor 12 is driven while being driven intermittently at a predetermined time interval, and receives the paper sheet 13 in a stopped state.

  Next, the operation of the timing adjustment unit E configured as described above will be described.

  First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the leading edge of the paper sheet 13 that is twisted by the twisting portion D and fed out from the upstream conveying belt 1 in a horizontal state is detected by the detection sensor 6 for confirmation of loading. The By this detection, it is determined that both the front end and the rear end of the paper sheet 13 are within the processable range time.

  At the time of this detection, the profile 9 of the stopper mechanism 11B exists at a position where the paper sheet 13 is blocked. The profile 8 of the extrusion mechanism 11A exists at the position of the detection sensor 4 or at a place not on the path of the paper sheet 13.

  From this state, when it is time for the downstream conveyor 12 to stop, the belt 3 of the stopper mechanism 11B runs as shown in FIG. 4B, and the profile 9 is retracted from the path of the paper sheet 13. At this time, the time from the profile 9 to the conveyor 12 (assuming 214 [mm]) and the transport speed (assuming 2.3 [m / s]) (104 [ms] in the case of a provisional value) ) Operation may be started as soon as possible. Further, the profile 8 of the extrusion mechanism 11A is in a position where the paper sheet 13 is not blocked.

  The profile 8 of the extrusion mechanism 11 </ b> A operates at a position where the paper sheet 13 can be pushed out by the operation timing of the downstream conveyor 12. For example, the extrusion mechanism 11A rotates the belt 2 at a constant speed so that the profile 8 comes to the extrusion start position at regular intervals (for example, 400 [ms]). Alternatively, the profile 8 is stopped at the position of the detection sensor 4 and a certain time before the operation timing of the downstream conveyor 12 (900 mm from the discharge completion position to the detection sensor 4), and the conveyance speed is 2.3 [m / s], the belt 2 is operated 391 [ms] before.

  At this time, when the trailing edge of the paper sheet 13 is not detected by the detection sensor 6 for carrying in, the driving of the extrusion mechanism 11A is postponed, the trailing edge is confirmed, and then the driving roller 10a is accelerated to release the paper. It is also possible to adjust the timing.

  As shown in FIG. 4C, when the paper sheet 13 extruded by the profile 8 of the extrusion mechanism 11A passes over the stopper mechanism 11B, the position where the profile 9 of the stopper mechanism 11B blocks the subsequent paper sheet 13. To be operated. Thereby, even if the subsequent paper sheet 13 enters the timing adjustment unit E, it does not enter the direction of the conveyor 12.

  FIG. 5 shows the trajectory of the paper sheet 13 on the timing adjustment unit E (for example, a paper sheet having a length of 360 [mm] is transported at 2.3 [m / s] and downstream of the stop time 210 [ms]. Assuming the case where it is discharged to the conveyor 12) and the elapsed time.

  The leading edge trajectory of the fastest paper sheet that has not been delayed in the upstream conveyor belt 1 is (1), and the trailing edge trajectory is (2). The tip locus is shown in (3) and the trailing locus is shown in (4).

  At this time, the definition of the fastest paper sheet is a paper sheet whose leading edge reaches the profile 9 of the stopper mechanism 11B at the earliest timing, and the trail of the trailing edge changes depending on the length of the paper sheet.

  In addition, the definition of the latest paper sheet is a paper sheet whose rear end passes through the end A at the extrusion timing of the profile 8 of the extrusion mechanism 11A. Therefore, the locus of the leading edge changes depending on the length of the paper sheet.

  Next, the locus of the fastest paper sheets in which no delay has occurred in the upstream conveying belt 1 will be described.

  The tip of the fastest paper sheet follows the trajectory (1), and contacts (b) the profile 9 immediately after the closing operation time (c) of the profile 9 of the stopper mechanism 11B ends. Then, the fastest paper sheets are subjected to the rest time (a) of the profile 9 until the rear end is pushed by the profile 8 of the extrusion mechanism 11A after the open operation time (ii) of the profile 9 has elapsed (c). (F) Stand still. After that, the fastest paper sheets are discharged when the rear end portion is pushed by the profile 8 of the extrusion mechanism 11A to start discharge (d), and the rear end portion is detected by the detection sensor 7 for discharge confirmation. Is completed (g). From the start to the completion of the discharge of the paper sheets, it is performed within the stop time (d) of the downstream conveyor 12.

  Next, the trajectory of the latest paper sheet when the delay is the longest among the recoverable timing adjustment units E will be described.

  As for the slowest paper sheets, the trailing edge of the trailing edge passes through the end (A) of the upstream conveying belt 1, and at the same time, the trailing edge is started by the profile 8 of the extrusion mechanism 11A (e). It is discharged to the conveyor 12.

  At this time, the time difference (a) required to reach the profile 9 of the stopper mechanism 11B for the fastest paper and the slowest paper is the time that can be corrected by the timing adjustment unit E.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the timing adjustment unit E is stopped so that the extrusion mechanism 11A and the paper sheet 13 extruded by the extrusion mechanism 11A are not released before the downstream side conveyor 12 stops. After that, the stopper mechanism 11B is configured to release the stop, and the extrusion mechanism 11A moves the paper sheet 13 to the downstream side after the stopper mechanism 11B cancels the stop and before the downstream-side transport conveyor 12 starts the transport operation. Even if there are variations such as thick paper sheets or thin paper sheets, the discharge timing can be adjusted with certainty so that the paper can be pushed onto the transport conveyor completely, and good transport is possible. .

  5A and 5B show a downstream side conveyor 21 as a first other example, in which FIG. 5A is a side view thereof and FIG. 5B is a top view thereof.

  The downstream conveyor 21 conveys the paper sheets discharged from the timing adjustment unit E linearly in the same direction as the discharge direction.

  FIGS. 6A and 6B show a downstream side conveyor 22 as a second other example, wherein FIG. 6A is a side view thereof and FIG. 6B is a top view thereof.

  The downstream side conveyor 22 conveys the paper sheets discharged from the timing adjustment unit E linearly in a direction perpendicular to the discharge direction.

  FIGS. 7A and 7B show a downstream side conveyor 23 as a third other example, wherein FIG. 7A is a side view thereof and FIG. 7B is a top view thereof.

  The downstream conveyor 23 conveys the paper sheets discharged from the timing adjustment unit E in the rotation direction.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  E ... Timing adjustment unit (timing adjustment means), 1 ... Upstream conveying belt (upstream conveying means), 2 ... Running belt, 3 ... Running belt, 8 ... Profile (extruded piece), 9 ... Profile (stopper piece), DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11A ... Extrusion mechanism, 11B ... Stopper mechanism, 12 ... Downstream conveyance conveyor (downstream conveyance means), 13 ... Paper sheets.

Claims (6)

Upstream conveying means for conveying paper sheets;
Timing adjusting means for accepting the paper sheets carried out from the upstream conveying means and adjusting the discharge timing to discharge the paper;
A downstream transport means for transporting after receiving the paper sheets to be discharged after the discharge timing is adjusted by the timing adjustment means;
The timing adjustment unit releases the stop after the extrusion mechanism for extruding the received paper sheet and the paper sheet extruded by the extrusion mechanism are stopped so as not to be discharged before the downstream side conveyance unit stops. And a stopper mechanism that
The extruding mechanism is a paper sheet processing apparatus that pushes out the paper sheets onto the downstream transport means before the downstream transport means starts the transport operation after the stopper mechanism releases the stop.   The paper sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the timing adjusting unit releases the stop of the paper sheets by the stopper mechanism based on the stop of the downstream conveying unit.   2. The paper sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the timing adjusting unit releases the stop of the paper sheets by the stopper mechanism before a predetermined time when the downstream side conveying unit stops.   The paper sheet processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined time is a time in consideration of a distance from the stopper mechanism to the downstream side conveying unit and an extrusion speed of the paper sheet. The extrusion mechanism has a traveling belt and an extruded piece protruding from the surface of the traveling belt and pushing a rear end portion of the paper sheet,
5. The paper according to claim 1, wherein the stopper mechanism includes a traveling belt and a stopper piece that protrudes from a surface of the traveling belt and protrudes and sinks on a downstream side in the extrusion direction of the extrusion unit. Leaf processing equipment.   The paper sheet processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the stopper piece is brought into contact with a leading end portion of the paper sheet and stopped.

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