JP2768898B2 - Sorting device and sorting method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorting apparatus and a sorting method for automatically paying out a large number of packages placed on a conveyor at a delivery center or a truck terminal for each delivery destination from the conveyor. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a belt conveyor type sorting device using a steel belt or the like, a plurality of payout devices (hereinafter referred to as diverters) as shown in FIG. 10 are arranged for each sorting destination along the belt of the sorting conveyor. ing.
Such a diverter 50 is configured to reciprocate the dispensing plate 51, which is a component of the diverter, between a standby position and a dispensing position around a turning shaft 52 provided at one end of the dispensing plate 51. An operation of paying out the sorted luggage (hereinafter simply referred to as “luggage”) placed on the belt and conveyed to a chute provided on the side of the belt.
In addition, the standby position refers to a position on the one end edge side of the belt in the transport direction, through which the baggage placed and transported on the belt passes, and the payout position,
The position where the luggage is paid out from the belt to the chute.

In a conventional sorting apparatus, a sorting conveyor and a pulse encoder are interlocked, and a controller counts outgoing pulses output from the pulse encoder when a package to be sorted passes a predetermined reference point of the sorting conveyor. To start. The controller reaches the position where the package should be paid out when the pulse value preset for the package corresponding to the transport distance on the belt to the sorting destination matches the count value for the counting. Then, a sorting signal is transmitted to a predetermined diverter among the plurality of diverters. The diverter 50 to which the sorting signal is supplied swings the payout plate 51 to the predetermined payout position at a preset constant speed, and pays out the luggage on the sorting conveyor to the chute.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional sorting apparatus, there is not much problem if the size of the load does not vary, but the size of the load, especially the load in the transport direction, is not so large. If the load lengths vary, a phenomenon occurs in which the load delivered by the diverter 50 does not correctly enter a predetermined chute. That is, the starting timing, which is the timing for swinging the dispensing plate 51 of the diverter 50, the swing angle and the operating speed of the dispensing plate 51, are set for the most standard size luggage in consideration of the speed of the sorting conveyor. Is determined. Therefore, the standard-sized luggage is correctly paid out to the chute as shown in FIG. 11, but the diverter is activated at the same timing as the standard-sized luggage even with a long luggage. In such a case, the diverter pushes a part that is more than necessary away from the center of gravity of the load (the center of gravity is unknown because the position of the correct center of gravity is unknown). Therefore, the movement of the center of gravity of the luggage toward the chute becomes insufficient, and when the luggage does not enter the chute correctly as shown in FIG. 12 or when the luggage is long and light, the luggage becomes excessive as shown in FIG. In some cases, the spinning occurs and the shot gets stuck at the entrance.

[0005] The cycle time, which is the time interval for the diverter to return from the standby position to the standby position via the dispensing position, is such that the subsequent luggage enters the diverter's operating range before the diverter returns to the standby position again. In this case, the trailing luggage comes into contact with the diverter during the return operation, and the course of the trailing luggage changes. In an extreme case, the trailing luggage may be paid out to the chute from which the preceding luggage has been paid out.

In order to prevent such a situation from occurring, even in the conventional sorting apparatus, the cycle of the diverter is required before the package arrives at the payout portion, preferably before the package gets on the belt of the sorting conveyor. The luggage is supplied at a time interval longer than the time (hereinafter, such an operation may be referred to as “luggage cutting operation”), or the interval of the luggage being conveyed is measured and the cycle time of the diverter is calculated. A method is adopted in which the cargo conveyed at short intervals is carried out to a mischute provided before reaching a predetermined payout portion.

[0007] However, there is a problem in that the supply of packages at a time interval longer than the cycle time of the diverter reduces the processing capacity of sorting. Therefore, in order to improve the processing capacity of sorting, it is conceivable to shorten the interval between baggage cutouts and shorten the cycle time of the diverter, but simply taking such measures as described above. In addition, there is a problem that the payout operation cannot be correctly performed for a long load. Further, it is difficult to make the cycle time variable with a conventional diverter driving mechanism as shown in FIG.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and a sorting apparatus capable of correctly putting a long load into a chute and further improving the sorting processing ability. The purpose is to provide a sorting method.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a dispensing plate, which is a component of a diverter, provided opposite a chute from which the sorted cargo is discharged from a sorting belt on which the sorted cargo is conveyed. The sorting operation is performed by reciprocating swinging movement between a dispensing position for dispensing the sorted loads to the chute and a standby position for passing the sorted loads around a pivot axis provided at one end of the plate. A sorting device for automatically sorting a package, wherein the sorting device is arranged upstream of a diverter installation position and measures a package length, which is a length of the package to be sorted along a transport direction. Length measuring device, electrically connected to the sorting load length measuring device and the diverter, and based on the load length information supplied from the sorting load length measuring device, A sorting control device for controlling an operation time required for the reciprocating swing motion in the inverter, an angle formed between the standby position and the dispensing position, and a start timing of the diverter; and the sorting control device. Increases or decreases the operating time and the angle in proportion to the length of the load length. When the load length is shorter than a predetermined value, the start timing is shorter than when the load length is longer than a predetermined value. It is characterized by speeding up.

[0010] The present invention also provides a supply belt for supplying the sorting load to the sorting belt at a predetermined time or more, the load length and the adjacent length of the sorting load being conveyed by the supply belt. A supply length measuring device for transmitting a signal for measuring a transport time interval between the sorted packages, and a drive source for the supply belt and the supply length measurement device electrically connected to the supply length measurement device. Based on the load length measurement signal supplied from the load length measuring device, the time between the FFs between the leading ends of the adjacent sorted packages or the BF between the rear end and the leading end of the sorted packages is equal to or longer than the predetermined time. And a supply control device that controls the operation of the supply belt so that the value of the load belt becomes the following value.

[0011]

With this configuration, the sorting control device can determine the operating time required for the reciprocating rocking operation of the diverter, the standby position, and the like based on the load length measuring signal supplied from the sorting load length measuring device. An angle between the payout position and the start timing of the diverter is controlled. Therefore, the sorting control device acts so that, regardless of the load length of the luggage, even if the luggage has a particularly long luggage, it is correctly inserted into the chute.

The sorting load length measuring device corresponds to a photoelectric switch and an encoder described in the following embodiments. The sorting belt corresponds to the steel belt described in the embodiment.

Further, the baggage extracting device supplies the baggage to the sorting conveyor at predetermined time intervals. Therefore, the baggage extracting device acts to improve the sorting processing capability of the baggage.
In addition, the supply belt corresponds to the steel belt in the embodiment, the supply load length measuring device corresponds to the photoelectric switch in the embodiment, and the luggage extracting device corresponds to the supply conveyor in the embodiment.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows, for example, a sorting conveyor 10 for performing a sorting operation of a load 30 placed and conveyed on a steel belt 1 and a supply conveyor for supplying the load 30 to the sort conveyor 10 at predetermined time intervals. A sorting device with 20 is shown. First, the sorting conveyor 10 will be described. Sorting conveyor 10
Are a steel belt 1, divertors 2a ... (may be collectively referred to as diverter 2), shutters 3a ... (may also be collectively referred to as chute 3), photoelectric switch 4,
The steel belt 1 includes an encoder 5 and a sorting control device 6, and in this embodiment, the steel belt 1 is operated at a speed of 130 m / min.

A plurality of diverters 2a are arranged at one end of the steel belt 1 along the conveying direction of the steel belt 1 at appropriate intervals in the same manner as the above-described conventional diverter 50, and are conveyed. The operation of paying out the incoming luggage 30 from above the steel belt 1 to the chute 3 is performed. still,
The chutes 3a are arranged at positions facing the diverter 2a with the steel belt 1 interposed therebetween. Also, in FIG.
The number of diverters 2a is three, but one or more diverters 2a can be provided.

Unlike the conventional diverter 50, in the diverter 2 of the present embodiment, the dispensing plate 51 is changed so that the swing angle of the dispensing plate 51 and the reciprocating operation time between the standby position and the dispensing position can be easily changed. A servo motor or a step motor 7 or the like is used as a driving source for driving, and the output shaft of the servo motor 7 and the turning shaft 52 are directly connected via a coupling as shown in FIG. If the servo motor 7 cannot be mounted on the axis of the turning shaft 52 due to the space for mounting the servo motor 7, the output of the turning shaft 52 and the servo motor 7 is output via, for example, an appropriate gear or toothed belt. It can also be configured to connect with a shaft. Also, the servo motors 7 in each diverter 2a.
Are electrically connected to the sorting control device 6 and their operations are controlled based on control signals supplied from the sorting control device 6.

The encoder 5 is, for example, a steel belt 1
The output terminal of the encoder 5 is electrically connected to a sorting control device 6, which is mechanically connected to a roller that rotates with the conveyance of the recording medium and generates a pulse signal in accordance with the rotation. Therefore, the encoder 5 sends the pulse signal to the sorting control device 6.

The photoelectric switch 4 is provided at an appropriate distance in the transport direction from the starting end of the sorting conveyor 10 to which the load 30 is supplied, and its output terminal is electrically connected to the sorting control device 6. You. The photoelectric switch 4 is turned on, for example, when the luggage 30 conveyed by the steel belt 1 enters the detection range, and is turned off when the luggage 30 departs from the detection range. Send to 6. Note that the signal generating means for measuring the load length and the like is not limited to the photoelectric switch 4, and various known means for performing the above-described operation can be employed.

The relationship between the number of pulses of the pulse signal and the transport distance of the steel belt 1 is supplied to the sorting control device 6 in advance.
Calculates the load length of the package 30 based on the ON / OFF signal supplied from the photoelectric switch 4 and the pulse signal described above. In addition, the sorting control device 6 employs the time when the above-mentioned ON signal is supplied as a reference time for distance measurement for transporting each package 30 to the predetermined diverter 2. In the following description, the installation position of the photoelectric switch 4, more precisely, the transmission position of the ON signal is referred to as a “reference position”, and a distance from the reference position to a predetermined position on the dispensing plate 51 of each diverter 2. Is called a “transport distance” and is represented by “a”. or,
The sorting control device 6 stores pulse number information corresponding to each of the diverter 2a.

The sorting control device 6 is connected to the host computer 8 and, from the host computer 8, sorts information on sorting destinations for each package 30, for example, ie, sorting information.
The above-described transport distance information is sorted by the sorting device 6 for each package 30.
Supplied to The information on the transport distance supplied from the host computer 8 is referred to as “host transport distance information”. The sorting control device 6 calculates the following pulse number information for each package 30 based on the pulse number information, the distance information obtained by counting the pulse number of the pulse signal from the reference time, and the host transport distance information. Works like that. That is, the sorting control device 6 recognizes the diverter 2 having the pulse number information corresponding to the host transport distance information at the time when the host transport distance information is supplied from the host computer 8, and then the distance information is converted to the above-described distance information. When the pulse number information is reached, a control signal is sent to the servo motor 7 of the recognized diverter 2 to drive the corresponding diverter 2. In this way, each package 30 is sorted by the diverter 2 according to the sorting destination.

Further, the sorting control device 6 controls the characteristic operation in this embodiment as described below. That is, based on the load length information calculated as described above, the sorting control device 6 determines the operating time (T) required for the reciprocating rocking operation between the payout position and the standby position in the diverter 2 and the payout time. An angle (θ) formed between the position and the standby position and a start timing of the diverter 2 are controlled. In this embodiment, a value obtained by adding or subtracting a predetermined value (α or β) based on the load length information to the transport distance (a) is used as an element for changing the activation timing. That is, as described above, the sorting control device 6 previously stores the pulse number information corresponding to the value a for each diverter 2a..., But the sorting control device 6 performs the above-described processing based on the calculated load length information. The value obtained by adding or subtracting the α value or the β value to or from the a value is used as the pulse number information, and the operation is performed as described above. Here, α is a value exceeding 0 and β is a value of 0 or more. This will be specifically described below.

In this embodiment, as shown in Table 1,
The sections to be controlled based on the calculated load length are divided into three cases: less than 500 mm, 500 mm or more and 1000 mm or less, and more than 1000 mm. If the load length is less than 500 mm, the above operation time is set to 0.
3 seconds, the angle is 30 degrees, and the start timing is (a-β) value. Next, load length of 500mm or more 1
In the case of 000 mm or less, the operation time is set to 0.4 seconds, the angle is set to 42.5 degrees, and the start timing is set to a value. Next, when the load length exceeds 1000 mm, the operation time is set to 0.5 seconds, the angle is set to 45 degrees, and the start timing is set to (a + α) value.

When the load length is less than 500 mm, the start timing is not limited to the above value (a-β) but may be set to (a + β) value.

[0024]

[Table 1]

Next, the supply conveyor 20 will be described. The supply conveyor 20 is provided with the sorting conveyor 10 described above.
Are arranged in a straight line with respect to and transport the load in the same direction as the sorting conveyor 10, and in this embodiment, are operated at a speed of 80 m / min. Supply conveyor 20
Has a steel belt 21, a photoelectric switch 22, and a supply control device 23, and the photoelectric switch 22 is electrically connected to the supply control device 23. The supply control device 23 controls the operation of the drive motor of the supply conveyor 20. In addition, the photoelectric switch 22 is disposed near the end position of the supply conveyor 20.

The supply control device 23 will be described. As in the case of the sorting control device 6 described above, the supply control device 23 supplies the package 3 transported by the supply conveyor 20 based on the ON / OFF signal supplied from the photoelectric switch 22.
Measure the load length of zero. Further, the supply control device 23 detects the adjacent cargo 3 conveyed on the sorting conveyor 10.
In order to supply the packages 30 from the supply conveyor 20 to the sorting conveyor 10 so that the transport time between 0 and 30 'is equal to or longer than the predetermined time, the sorting conveyor 1
After the supply to 0, control is performed to temporarily stop the operation of the supply conveyor 20 in order to secure an interval of the predetermined time or more. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the time between the leading ends of both adjacent packages 30 and 30 '(hereinafter, such a case is referred to as "FF"), that is, the time in the supply interval of the ON signal is determined. 450 msec, and between the rear end of the preceding bag 30 and the front end of the following bag 30 in the adjacent bag 30 (hereinafter, such a case is referred to as “BF”).
That is, the supply control device 23 controls the operation and non-operation of the supply conveyor 20 so that the time in the supply interval between the OFF signal and the ON signal becomes 180 msec.

The supply control device 23 includes a photoelectric switch 22
The ON and OFF signals are supplied from the first timer, and as shown in FIG. 2, a first timer that performs a time counting operation for 450 msec from the supply of the ON signal, and 1
There is provided a second timer for performing a clocking operation of 80 msec.
When at least one of the first timer and the second timer is operating (high (H) level in FIG. 2) and the above-described ON signal is supplied, the supply control device 23 determines whether the ON signal is supplied. From the first timer and the second timer, the operation of the drive motor of the supply conveyor 20 is stopped until the timer operation of the timer whose timer operation expires later expires (low level in FIG. 2). A control signal is sent to the supply conveyor 20 to send a stop signal to the supply conveyor 20, and an operation signal for starting the drive motor is sent to the supply conveyor 20 at the end of the timing operation of any of the timers.

The above operation will be described more specifically with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a timing chart illustrating the control operation of the supply control device 23 in the case of the FF, and FIG. 3 is a timing chart illustrating the control operation of the supply control device 23 in the case of the BF. The chart is shown. In the supply conveyor 20, when the luggage 30 is detected and the ON signal is supplied from the photoelectric switch 22 to the supply control device 23 as shown at time t1 in FIG.
The timing operation of ec is started from time t1. If the load length of the package 30 is about 260 mm, the supply speed of the supply conveyer 20 is 80 m / min in the present embodiment, and therefore the supply control device is supplied from the photoelectric switch 22 at the time t2 200 msec after the time t1. An off signal is supplied to 23, and the second timer starts counting time from time t2,
At time t3 after the lapse of msec, the second timer ends the time counting operation. However, at time t3, the timing operation of the first timer has not been completed yet. Therefore, after the time counting operation of the second timer is completed, at the time t4 while the first timer still continues the time counting operation, the next load 30 ′ is output from the photoelectric switch 22 at the time t4.
Is supplied to the supply control device 23. In this case, since the preceding luggage 30 and the current luggage 30 'are not separated by a predetermined interval, the supply control device 23 supplies the luggage from time t4 to time t5 when the time counting operation of the first timer ends. Steel belt 21 of conveyor 20
To stop driving. At approximately the same time as the time t5 at which the timing operation of the first timer ends, the supply control device 23 drives the steel belt 21 and starts the timing operation of the first timer. Also, from time t5, the steel belt 21
Is driven, the load length measurement of the load 30 'is started at time t5. Note that, as described above, the photoelectric switch 22 is disposed at an appropriate position near the end of the supply conveyor 20, and when the operation of the steel belt 21 is stopped, the luggage 30 'remains mounted on the steel belt 21. The transport is also stopped when the operation of the steel belt 21 is stopped, but at time t4, the preceding luggage 30 has already moved onto the steel belt 1 of the sorting conveyor 10, and the luggage 30 is being transported by the steel belt 1. . As described above, when the gap between the load 30 and the load 30 ′ is not longer than the predetermined interval on the supply conveyor 20, the gap between the load 30 and the load 30 ′ is opened by the operation of the supply controller 23. Is controlled as follows.

As shown at time t1 in FIG.
When the ON signal is supplied to the supply control device 23 upon detection of 0, the first timer is set to 450 ms in the same manner as described above.
ec starts counting from time t1 and continues until time t12. If the load length of the load 30 is about 400 mm, in this embodiment, the transport speed of the supply conveyor 20 is 80 m / mi.
n, an off signal is supplied from the photoelectric switch 22 to the supply control device 23 at time t10 after elapse of 300 msec from time t1, and the second timer starts clocking operation from time t10, and the time after elapse of 180 msec. t13
, The second timer ends the timing operation. However, the first
It is assumed that at time t11 when both the timer and the second timer continue the timekeeping operation, an ON signal by the next package 30 ′ is supplied from the photoelectric switch 22 to the supply control device 23. Also in this case, since the preceding luggage 30 and the rear luggage 30 'are not separated by a predetermined distance, the supply control device 23
Is from time t11 to the end of the time counting operation of the timer of the first timer and the second timer, the one that ends later.
In this example, the drive of the steel belt 21 of the supply conveyor 20 is stopped until time t13 when the time counting operation of the second timer ends. Then, the time t at which the timing operation of the second timer ends.
Almost at the same time as 13, the supply control device 23 drives the steel belt 21 and starts the time counting operation of the first timer. Further, since the steel belt 21 is driven from the time t13, the load length measurement of the load 30 'is started from the time t13. As described above, also in the present example, control is performed so that the gap between the load 30 and the load 30 ′ is longer than a predetermined interval.

The time measured by the first timer and the second timer is determined to be an optimum value from the relationship between the processing capacity of the sorting conveyor 10, the operation time of the diverter 2, and the transport speed of the sorting conveyor 10 and the supply conveyor 20, and the like. The time is not limited to the above-mentioned time, but can be set to an arbitrary value. It should be noted that the supply control device 23 does not mistake the package 3 according to the load length information calculated by the ON / OFF signal supplied from the photoelectric switch 22.
The point is that the interval between 0 and 30 'is not controlled. The interval between the packages 30, 30 'to be supplied to the sorting conveyor 10 is controlled to the last according to the time set in the first timer and the second timer.

The operation of the sorting apparatus as described above will be described below. The luggage 30 is previously stored in the diverter 2
Is placed near the edge of the steel belt 1 on the side where is located, and then placed on the steel belt 21 of the supply conveyor 20. The supply conveyor 20 detects the load 30 conveyed by the steel belt 21 by the photoelectric switch 22 as described above, and sends the ON / OFF signal to the supply control device 23. As described above, the supply control device 23 controls the operations of the first timer and the second timer,
Based on the OFF signal, the operation and stop of the steel belt 21 are controlled, and the supply interval of the load 30 from the supply conveyor 20 to the sorting conveyor 10 is controlled.

The operation of the supply conveyor 20 will be described below with reference to FIG. In step (denoted by S in the drawing) 1, the supply conveyor 20 is started, and in step 2, it is determined whether or not the steel belt 21 of the supply conveyor 20 is stopped. If so, proceed to step 3. In step 3, the presence or absence of the detection of the ON signal of the luggage 30 is determined. If the ON signal is detected, the process proceeds to step 4; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 7. In step 4, it is determined whether or not the first timer is performing a timekeeping operation. If the timekeeping operation is being performed, the process proceeds to step 9; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 5. In step 5, it is determined whether or not the second timer is performing a timekeeping operation. If the timekeeping operation is being performed, the process proceeds to step 9; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 6. If neither the first timer nor the second timer is performing the timekeeping operation, at step 6, the timekeeping operation of the first timer is started. In step 7, it is determined whether or not the off signal of the package 30 has been supplied. If not detected, the process proceeds to step 2; if not detected, the process proceeds to step 8, and in step 8, the second timer Is started, and the routine goes to step 2.

When the process proceeds to step 9, that is, when the next luggage 30 'is detected and the ON signal is supplied again even though at least one of the first timer and the second timer is executing the clocking operation, In step 9, the operation of the steel belt 21 of the supply conveyor 20 is stopped. In steps 10 and 11, it is determined whether or not the first timer and the second timer have completed the timing operation. When both timers have completed the timing operation, the steel belt 21 is activated in step 12 and the Starts the timing operation of the first timer, and proceeds to step 2. If the timing operation has not been completed in steps 10 and 11, the process proceeds to step 2.

The luggage 30 supplied from the supply conveyor 20 to the sorting conveyor 10 at a predetermined interval or more is sorted by the operation shown in FIG.
That is, the sorting control device 6 in the sorting conveyor 10
In step 200, the load length of the package 30 is calculated in step 200, and in step 300, operating conditions such as the operation time of the diverter 2 are set according to the calculated load length. Then, under the control of the sorting control device 6, in step 400, it is determined whether or not the package has reached the diverter 2 corresponding to the predetermined sorting destination. If so, the diverter 2 is operated in step 500. The luggage 30 is paid out from the steel belt 1.

The operation of calculating the load length in step 200 will be described with reference to FIG. In step 210,
It is determined whether or not the photoelectric switch 4 has transmitted an ON signal. If the signal has been transmitted, the process proceeds to step 212, and if not, the process proceeds to step 218. In step 212, when the sorting control device 6 determines that the length measurement flag is on or off and the flag is off, that is, when starting the length measurement, the process proceeds to step 214, and when the flag is on, If the length is being measured, the load length calculation operation ends. In step 214, the first count number is stored in the first buffer in the sorting control device 6 based on the pulse signal supplied to the sorting control device 6, and the next step 2
At step 16, the length measurement flag is turned on. Then, when the baggage is conveyed and an OFF signal is sent from the photoelectric switch 4 (step 210), it is determined in step 218 whether or not the length measurement flag is on. If the flag is on, that is,
When the trailing end of the package 30 is detected, the process proceeds to step 220, and when the flag is off, that is, when the package 30 is not detected, the load length calculation operation ends. Step 220
Then, the count number of the pulse signal at the time when the OFF signal is supplied from the photoelectric switch 4 to the sorting control device 6 is stored in the second buffer in the sorting control device 6, and the process proceeds to step 222. In step 222, the value stored in the first buffer is subtracted from the value stored in the second buffer, and the load length of the package 30 is calculated based on the result of the subtraction. Then, in step 224, the length measuring flag is turned off, and the load length calculating operation is terminated.

Next, FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the operation condition setting operation of the diverter 2 in step 300. The explanation is omitted because it is the same as the above-mentioned explanation with reference to Table 1. In step 300, based on the length of the baggage 30 calculated in step 200,
The operation time, operation angle, and start timing of the diverter 2 are set for each of the cases where the load length is less than 500 mm, 500 mm or more and 1000 mm or less, and more than 1000 mm.

Steps 400 and 500 will be described. As described above, the sorting control device 6 is supplied with the sorting information on the sorting destination of the package 30 from the host computer 8, and the sorting control device 6 is supplied with the above-described host transport distance information from the host computer 8. At a time point, the diverter 2 having the pulse number information corresponding to the host transport distance information is recognized, and then, when the distance information reaches the pulse number information, a control signal is sent to the servo motor 7 of the recognized diverter 2. Then, the diverter 2 is driven (step 500). In this way, each package 30 is sorted by the diverter 2 according to the sorting destination.

As described above, according to the sorting apparatus and method of this embodiment, the load length is calculated in the sorting conveyor 10, and the operating time of the diverter 2 is changed based on the calculated load length. . Specifically, when the load length is shorter than the reference value, the operation time of the diverter 2 is corrected to be shorter than the reference value, the operation angle is corrected to be smaller than the reference value, and the start timing is set earlier than the reference value. To
On the other hand, if the load length is longer than the reference value, the diverter 2
Is corrected to be longer than the reference value, the operation angle is corrected to be larger than the reference value, and the activation timing is corrected to be later than the reference value. Further, a servomotor is employed as a driving source of the diverter so that the above-described correction can be performed on the apparatus side. Since the operation of the diverter 2 is controlled in accordance with the value thus corrected, the diverter 2 can correctly throw the luggage into the chute even with a long luggage.

Further, in the supply conveyor 20, the first
And a second timer for controlling the time interval for supplying the baggage 30 to the sorting conveyor 10 according to the operation time of these timers, and shortening the time interval as compared with the related art, so that the sorting capacity per unit time Can be improved.

Further, by combining the supply conveyor 20 and the sorting conveyor 10, there is an inconvenience in discharging a long-loading baggage to the chute, which would occur only by shortening the time interval and supplying the baggage to the sorting conveyor. The problem of occurrence can be effectively solved. Therefore, by combining the supply conveyor 20 and the sorting conveyor 10, it is possible to provide a sorting apparatus and a method capable of improving the sorting processing ability as compared with the related art and causing no inconvenience in discharging the luggage to the chute.

In the above-described embodiment, only an example of the method and apparatus for measuring the load length of the package 30 is shown, and various methods and apparatuses conceivable by those skilled in the art can be used. .

In the above-described embodiment, the length of the package 30 is calculated by the sorting control unit 6 and the supply control unit 23 based on the signals sent from the photoelectric switches 4 and 22. It is not limited. That is, a device for measuring the load length may be separately provided, and the load length information may be supplied from the device to the sorting control device 6 and the supply control device 23.

[0043]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, based on the length information supplied from the sorting length measuring device,
By controlling the operation time required for the reciprocating swinging operation in the diverter, the angle formed between the standby position and the dispensing position, and the start timing of the diverter, the load is particularly irrespective of the load length of the load. Even a long baggage can be correctly thrown into the chute.

Further, by supplying the packages to the sorting conveyor at predetermined time intervals, it is possible to improve the sorting ability of the packages.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart for explaining an operation of the supply control device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart for explaining an operation of the supply control device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the supply control device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the sorting control device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the load length calculation shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of setting operation conditions of the diverter shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of a diverter in the sorting apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the distinction between FF and BF in adjacent packages conveyed by a supply conveyor.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a diverter in a conventional sorting device.

FIG. 11 shows a miracle of discharge to a chute in standard luggage.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a miracle of discharging to a chute in a long load.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a miracle of discharge to a chute in a long load.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Steel belt, 2a etc .... Divertor, 3a etc .... Chute, 4 ... Photoelectric switch, 5 ... Encoder, 6 ... Sorting control device, 7 ... Servo motor, 8 ... Host computer, 10 ... Sorting conveyor, 20 ... Supply conveyor , 2
1 ... steel belt, 22 ... photoelectric switch, 23 ... supply control device, 30 ... luggage.

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A diverter (2) provided opposite a chute (3) from which a sorted baggage is discharged from a sorting belt (1) on which the sorted baggage (30) is conveyed.
Between the dispensing position for dispensing the to-be-sorted luggage to the chute and the standby position for passing the to-be-sorted luggage around a pivot provided at one end of the dispensing plate. A sorting apparatus for automatically performing sorting processing on the to-be-sorted luggage by reciprocating rocking operation, wherein the sorting apparatus is disposed upstream of the diverter installation position and has a length along a transport direction of the to-be-sorted luggage. A sorting load length measuring device (4, 5, 6) for measuring a certain load length, electrically connected to the sorting load length measuring device and the diverter, and supplied from the sorting load length measuring device. Based on the load length information, the operation time required for the reciprocating swing motion in the diverter, the angle between the standby position and the dispensing position, and the start timing of the diverter Gosuru the sorting control unit (6), provided with,
The sorting control device increases or decreases the operation time and the angle in proportion to the length of the load length, and when the load length is shorter than a predetermined value, when the load length is longer than a predetermined value. A sorting device characterized in that the start timing is earlier than in the above. 2. A supply belt (21) for supplying said sorted luggage to said sorting belt at a predetermined time or more.
A supply load length measuring device (22) for transmitting a signal for measuring the load length of the sorted load conveyed by the supply belt and a transfer time interval between the adjacent sorted load, An FF which is electrically connected to the drive source of the supply belt and the supply length measuring device and is located between the leading ends of the adjacent sorted packages based on the load length measurement signal supplied from the supply length measurement device. And a supply control device (23) for controlling the operation of the supply belt such that the time between the rear end and the front end of the sorted load becomes equal to or longer than the predetermined time. The sorting device according to claim 1, comprising a device (20). 3. The sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a driving source of the payout plate of the diverter is a servomotor. 4. The length measuring signal supplied from the sorting length measuring device is divided into three, large, medium and small, and the operation time and the angle are controlled in proportion to the magnitude relation of the three segments. The sorting device according to claim 1, wherein 5. The sorting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined time in the FF measurement is 0.45 seconds, and the predetermined time in the BF measurement is 0.18 seconds. 6. A dispensing plate, which is a component of a diverter, is provided at one end of the dispensing plate, which is provided as a component of a diverter provided on a sorting belt on which the sorted luggage is conveyed. By automatically reciprocating between the dispensing position for paying out the sorted luggage to the chute and the standby position for passing the sorted luggage around the pivot axis, the sorted luggage is automatically processed for the sorted luggage. A sorting method for measuring the length of a package, which is located upstream of the installation position of the diverter and is a length along the transport direction of the package to be sorted, Based on the load length information measured in the load length measuring step, an operation time required for the reciprocating swing motion of the diverter and the standby position and the dispensing position are determined. And degrees, and a sorting control step for controlling the start timing of the diverter, the sorting control step,
The operating time and the angle are increased or decreased in proportion to the length of the load length, and when the load length is shorter than a predetermined value, the start timing is earlier than when the load length is longer than a predetermined value. Sorting method characterized by doing. 7. A step of supplying the sorted luggage to the sorting belt at intervals of a predetermined time or more, wherein the load length of the sorted luggage conveyed by the supply belt and the adjacent sorted luggage. A supply load length measuring step for measuring a transport time interval between the packages, and an FF or the above-mentioned sorted packages between the leading ends of the adjacent sorted packages based on the measurement signal obtained in the supply length measuring step. And a supply control step of controlling the operation of the supply conveyor so that the time between the BF between the rear end and the front end is equal to or longer than the predetermined time.
The sorting method according to claim 6. 8. The length data measured in the sorting length measurement step is divided into three, large, medium and small, and the operation time and the angle are controlled in proportion to the magnitude relation of the three divisions. The sorting method according to claim 6 or 7.