JP3189665B2 - Paper sheet stacking device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper sheet stacking device for mail letters and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various sheet sorting apparatuses have been developed to save labor for sorting sheets.
Among these apparatuses, a sheet stacking apparatus is a section that stacks sheets sorted based on information written on sheets for each sorting information. The paper sheet accumulating device includes a conveying unit that conveys the paper sheet, a plurality of accumulating units that accumulate the paper sheet,
Gate means for guiding the paper sheets from the transport means to each stacking means based on the information written on the paper sheets corresponding to each stacking means, and the stacking means stacks the stacked paper sheets. And a guide means for guiding the paper sheets guided by the gate means onto the loading table.

[0003] As one example of a paper sheet accumulating apparatus, European Patent No. EP4077795B1 (Document 1) describes:
A postal letter stacking device, which is one of paper sheets, is disclosed. The letter stacking device includes a transport unit that transports the letter,
A stacking means comprising a stop plate inclined in the direction of conveyance of the letter and a loading table in which the upstream side in the direction of conveyance swings according to the amount of accumulation of the letter (the inclination becomes gentler as the amount of accumulation increases); And a guide means having a straight body and an arc-shaped tip.

[0004] The guide means serves to guide the letter guided by the gate means to the loading table or the upper side of the letters already accumulated. The guide means is rotatably attached to the fixed shaft of the holding means, and its tip rises in accordance with the amount of accumulated letters. A cover of the transporting means is provided below the transporting means, and the leading end of the guide means can be raised until the guide means hits the cover. The tip shape of the guide means is a curve in which the contact point between the guide means and the loaded letter is a fixed distance from the inclined stop plate, and the letter is held down even if the accumulation amount of the letter changes. The pressing position of the guide means is configured to be kept substantially constant. The guide means has a cross-sectional shape obtained by bending a plate into a mountain shape, and both ends of the mountain form a letter-shaped guide surface.

Further, as another example of the paper sheet stacking device,
JP-A-49-94056 (Document 2) discloses a conveying means for conveying a letter, an accumulating means including a loading table and an accumulating box which move up and down by a motor, and guiding the letter from the conveying means to the accumulating means. Gate means, guide means having a bent shape that is fixed around the rotation axis and rotates according to the amount of accumulation of the letter, and a detection unit that detects the angle of the rotation axis to which the guide means is attached, and is composed of letter accumulation There is disclosed a letter stacking apparatus that adjusts the height of the loading table so that the stacking position is substantially constant (the angle of the guide means to the horizontal plane is substantially constant) even when the amount changes.

[0006]

In order to sort a large number of paper sheets with a predetermined volume of the paper sheet stacking apparatus, it is necessary to reduce the storage capacity of the paper sheets stacked on each of the sorting shelves. It is necessary to downsize the shelf. In the above document 1, the contact point between the guide means and the letter comes to be on the extended surface of the guide surface of the gate means in a state where the letters are fully accumulated. Therefore, the contact point is separated from the conveying means by an amount obtained by multiplying the length from the attachment portion of the guiding means to the point of contact with the letter by the sine of the angle at which the guide surface of the gate means intersects with the conveying means. In other words, the space is left between the conveying means and the uppermost letter even when the letter is full. In this configuration, since the area between the conveyance means above the contact point when full is not effectively used, the size of the letter stacking apparatus can be reduced, or the number of sorting shelves in the height direction can be increased. It becomes difficult.

If the guide means as shown in the above-mentioned document 1 is used, and the guide means at the time of fullness and the contact point of the letter are higher than the extended surface of the guide face of the gate means. In this case, the leading end of the guiding means has a curved shape in which the contact point between the guiding means and the letter is a fixed distance from the stop plate, so that the leading end of the guiding means protrudes greatly toward the conveying means. Become. Therefore, there is a large empty area formed inside the curved portion at the tip of the guide and the cover of the conveying means. In this case, it is difficult to reduce the size of the section shelves or increase the number in the height direction.

On the other hand, in the above document 2, the letter is guided above the extended surface of the guide surface of the gate means by bending the guide means and controlling the height of the loading table. However, in order to always keep the landing position and landing angle when letters are collected in an optimal state, a control mechanism such as a drive unit, a sensor, and a control circuit for changing the height of the loading table is required, and the cost is high. Become.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost paper sheet stacking apparatus in which the entire stacking apparatus is reduced in size or the number of sorting shelves in the height direction of the stacking apparatus is increased without reducing the stacking capacity as much as possible. It is in.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a conveying means for conveying paper sheets, a plurality of accumulating means for accumulating the paper sheets, and the conveying means for conveying the paper sheets based on information of the paper sheets. A gate means for guiding the stacking means to a predetermined stacking means, and a loading table in the stacking means, which is held by holding means rotatably held coaxially with the gate means, and on which the paper sheets are stacked. Guide means for guiding the paper sheets to the stacking surface or the upper surface of the paper sheets stacked on the loading table; and the guide means and the paper sheet in the stacking means according to the amount of the paper sheets loaded. In a sheet stacking device having a stacking table whose contact height with the sheet changes, the guide means includes a rotation center of the holding means, and a point at which the guide means contacts the sheet stacking surface. Has a convex bent portion on the guide surface side of the paper sheet from the straight line connecting Jo of the bent portion is achieved by configuring such that the arc-shaped trajectory drawn according to the accumulated amount of the paper sheet, and extended surface of the sheet guide surface of said gate means intersect.

In one aspect, the guide means is formed so as to project from the straight line connecting the center of rotation of the holding means and the point at which the guide means comes into contact with the paper stacking surface to the guide surface side of the paper sheets. Having a bent portion, between the holding means from the convex bent portion closest to the holding means of the guide means,
A guide surface for guiding sheets continuously from the gate means, and a guide surface of the gate means and a guide surface of the guide means become parallel from a state where sheets are not stacked on the loading table; The sheet is guided by the guide surface of the gate unit and the guide surface of the guide unit up to the amount of stacked sheets. This is achieved by guiding paper sheets by means.

[0012]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a sheet processing apparatus to which a sheet stacking apparatus according to the present invention is applied. The letter sorter shown in FIG. 1, which sorts postal letters such as postcards and sealed letters, reads not only the postal code written on the letter but also the address, and prints this information as a barcode on the letter. Is performed. Therefore, in addition to the separating unit 1 for separating letters one by one, the detecting unit 2 for detecting double feed and thickness of letters, and the positioning unit 3 for correcting skew and shift of letters, a postal code and an address are also provided. A reading unit 4 for reading, a printer 5 for printing barcodes, and barcode reading units 6 and 12 for reading barcodes are provided. As the printer 5 for printing barcodes, an ink jet printer is used to print letters in various thicknesses and materials.

[0013] There are two types of sorting machines, off-line and on-line, for recognizing postal codes and addresses and printing barcodes. The letter sorting machine shown in FIG. 1 uses a letter whose address cannot be read. This is an off-line type in which an ID code is once assigned, the letter is eliminated, and the classification is performed again using another device. Of course, the present invention is not limited to the off-line type letter sorter.

Next, the flow of a letter in the letter sorter shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The letters 8 set on the hopper 7 of the letter sorter are separated one by one by the separation unit 1. The detection unit 2 detects the double feed, the bending rigidity (hardness) of the letter, and the thickness of the letter in order to prevent misclassification of the letter and an obstacle during transport in advance. . This detector 2
Letters with a large bending rigidity (hardness) or letters with a thickness greater than a predetermined value
The transport gate 9 on the downstream side of the detection unit 2 is switched and taken into the reject box 10.

The letter which is not regarded as abnormal by the detection unit 2 is conveyed to the alignment unit 3, where the skew and shift are corrected. The positioning unit 3 corrects the posture of the letter and performs the barcode printing position to the reading sensor position in order to normally read by the address reading unit 4 and the barcode reading unit 6 on the downstream side. It is provided to correct it to fit.

The letter 8 that has passed through the positioning unit 3 is read by the address reading unit 4 first with the postal code and the address, and then by the bar code reading unit 6 provided downstream thereof.
The barcode given to the letter by the sender or another station is read.

A letter without a barcode is printed by the ink jet printer 5 on the letter position where the barcode is determined based on the information read by the address reading section 4.

The letter on which the barcode is printed is read by the barcode reading unit 12 located downstream of the printer 5. The gate 14 and the gate (not shown) provided on the upper part of the sorting shelf are switched based on the barcode information so that the letters are accumulated on the predetermined sorting shelf 13. The letter whose address could not be read is provided with an ID code, and is conveyed to the reject section 13A.

In the sorting machine shown in FIG. 1, a letter-shaped overlapping transport path 15 composed of two long and short transport routes is provided downstream of the bar code reading section 12. This is to improve the reliability of stacking by stacking the next letter on the preceding letter and stacking the two letters on the sorting shelf when two letters are successively stacked on the same section shelf. It is for. Normally, a letter is conveyed on the longer one 15A of the conveying path of the letter overlapping conveying path, but when the letters are superimposed, the subsequent letter is conveyed on the shorter conveying path 15B to form the preceding letter. Overlap. By stacking letters like this,
When letters are successively accumulated on the same section shelf, a jam caused by a succeeding letter colliding with a preceding letter is prevented.

A transport path 16 for transporting letters to the partition shelves is provided above the partition shelves. The conveying means are endless belts 17A and 17B which are opposed and contact with each other in order to pinch and convey the letter. Power is transmitted from a not-shown conveyance belt drive motor to these conveyance belts 17 to be rotationally driven.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the individual shelves 13 of the paper sheet stacking apparatus of the present invention. The sorting shelves 13 include the transport belt 1
Gate means 2 for separating letter 8A from 7A and 17B
04, a loading table 208 for loading the letters 8B, a guide means 201 for guiding the letters 8A from the gate means 204 to the loading table 208, and a partition plate 207 for partitioning the sorting shelf 13. The entire shelf 13 is the base frame 2
06. Conveyor belts 17A and 1
Letter 8A conveyed by 7B is sent to gate means 2
04, and is guided into the section shelf by the guide means 201.
If the letter conveyed by this is the first letter, loading table 2
In the case of the second and subsequent sheets, the document is guided to the upper surface of the letter 8B accumulated on the loading table. The letter 8A includes a partition plate 207.
, And is stopped by being pressed by the leading end of the guide means 201.

The gate means 204 is fixed to the shaft 203. The shaft 203 is a rotary solenoid 20
5 is fixed. The rotary solenoid 205 is fixed to the base frame 206. The power of the rotary solenoid 205 is supplied to the gate means 2 via the shaft 203.
04 to open and close the gate means 204.

The guide means 201 is attached via a holding means 202 to a shaft 203 to which the gate means 204 is attached. Since the holding means 202 is rotatably mounted around the shaft 203, even if the gate means 204 is opened and closed, power is not transmitted from the shaft 203 to the guide means 201, and the letter 8A is stably guided. The letters 8B accumulated on the loading table 208 can be stably pressed.

Since the guide means 201 is not directly fixed to the shaft 203 of the gate means 204, it is possible to assemble the rotary solenoid 205, the shaft 203, the gate means 204, and the holding means 202 in a different place in advance. it can. The gate unit driving unit assembled in this manner is fixed to the base frame 206 from the rear surface of the base frame 206 through the mounting hole 211, and the guide unit 201 is fixed to the holding unit 202 later. Also, the assembling accuracy of the machine is improved.

The partition plates 207A and 207B are fixed to the base frame 206. The loading table 208 is rotatably fixed to the partition plate 207A by a joint 209 on the downstream side in the transport direction, and is supported by a leaf spring (not shown). When letters are not stacked, the loading table 208 is higher on the upstream side in the transport direction than on the downstream side in the transport direction by a leaf spring, and the upstream side in the transport direction is lowered to the horizontal level according to the amount of letters accumulated (tip of the guide means). The height of the sheet varies depending on the amount of stacking, and is intended for the case where the loading table 208 is fixed or the upstream side in the transport direction swings. Is a mechanism for sharpening the angle). The loading table 208
A notch is provided at the center on the operation side, and the operator can grasp the upper and lower sides of the letter when the operator puts the sorting shelf 13 hand, so that the letter can be easily taken out.

The discharging brush 213 is attached to the holding means 202. This is because the letter 8A is
This is the position where it comes into contact with the portion sandwiched between A and 17B. When the letter is transported by the transport belt, slippage occurs between the letter and the transport belt at the pinched portion, and the letter and the transport belt rub against each other. This is a source of static electricity. Since the surface of the letter is an insulator, the charge on the surface is difficult to move. Therefore, since the electric charges are accumulated in the portion sandwiched by the transport belt, the conductive charge removing brush 213 is placed at this position, and the electric charges accumulated in the letter form are released to the base frame 206 through the shaft 203. As a result, the easily-charged letter is changed to the guide means 201 by static electricity.
And sticking to the gate means 204,
It is possible to prevent an operator from being electrocuted by the electric charge stored in the integrated letter and from malfunctioning the control device. If the electric charge of the neutralization brush 213 cannot be sufficiently escaped, for example, when conduction between the shaft 203 and the rotary solenoid 205 is poor, the neutralization brush 213 and the base frame 206 may be connected by a conductive wire and short-circuited.

The tray 214 is provided with the partition plates 20 on both sides of the partition shelf.
7, it is fitted and attached and can be easily removed. The tray 214 prevents the operator's hand from touching the transport path of the lower section shelf (not shown). In addition, a concave portion is provided at the center of the tray, and when the operator takes out the letter, the hand is guided by the concave portion, so that the letter can be easily taken. Further, when a letter jams in the transport path below the tray 214, the tray 214 can be removed to easily perform maintenance on the lower transport path. Further, on both sides of the concave portion of the tray 214, there are paper wallets 215.

A display plate 216 for displaying information, a display lamp 217 for indicating that the sorting shelf is full, and a print button 218 for printing a paper tag attached to the bundle of letters that have been collected are attached to the partition plates 207A and 207B, respectively. Have been. The display panel 216 displays a destination, a number of a section shelf, and the like. The display lamp 217 is turned on when the letters 8B are almost full, to notify the operator that the sorting shelf is full. When the operator presses the print button 218, a paper tag corresponding to the section shelf is printed by a printer (not shown).

Guide means 201 holding letter 8B
In the full state, when the full state detection plate provided in the guide means 201 shields the full state detection sensor (not shown), the control unit (not shown) detects this and the indicator lamp 217 is turned on in red by supplying a current thereto. Indicator lamp 217
Is blinking first when the shelf is nearly full, and remains illuminated the next time it is full. The lighting pattern and display color of the display lamp 217 are not limited to these. When a shelf is full, the controller inhibits the gate means 204 for that shelf from opening, preventing new letters from being placed on the shelf.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the guide means of the present invention viewed from a guide surface side for guiding a letter. As shown in FIG. 3, the guide unit 201 includes a base 310 on the side fixed to the holding unit 202 with the bent portion 302 as a boundary, and an arm 311 for holding the accumulated letters. The rib 301 provided on the base 310 and the bent portion 302 will be described later.

The arm 311 is provided with a guide surface having a chevron cross section and a letter presser 304. Since the arm portion 311 has more space than the base portion 310, a guide surface having another cross-sectional shape may be used. The tip portion 304 is rounded to prevent the guide means 201 from sticking into the letter when the amount of letters accumulated is small and to stabilize the holding of the letter. In addition, since the width of the distal end portion 310 is made narrower than the entire arm portion 311, a change in the holding position of the letter due to the inclination of the surface of the accumulated letter is unlikely to occur.

The base 310 has a full notice board 305 for blocking an optical switch (not shown) for indicating that the section shelf 13 is almost full, and a light switch (not shown) for indicating a full state. Full detection plate 3
06 is provided. The light beam of the optical switch for determining the full detection is transmitted through the transmission hole 30 when the section shelf is not yet full.
Go through 7. Due to the accumulation of the letters, the guide means 201 is rotated and moved, so that the full notice detecting plate 305 blocks the optical switch, and then the full detecting plate 306 blocks the optical switch. It goes without saying that the full notice and the fullness detecting means are not limited to the optical switch.

The guiding means 201 is held by the holding means 20 by positioning projections 308 and 309 provided on the base 310.
2 is positioned. Thus, the guide means 201 can be easily moved to the holding means 20 with an attachment screw (not shown).
2 can be fixed.

The holding means 202 is further provided with a sticking prevention protrusion 313 to prevent the letter from sticking to the holding means 202 and to stick the letter to the guiding means 201 and the gate means 204 in FIG. This prevents jams from occurring.

A bush 312 is press-fitted into both openings of the holding means 202. The material of the bush 312 is copper. The bush 312 is preferably made of a material having good conductivity, but any material may be used as long as the material is conductive.
Further, it is desirable that the friction resistance is low. The bush 312 is connected to the guiding means 20 through the holding means 202.
The charge charged to 1 and the charge charged to the letter are released to the base frame 206 shown in FIG. The charge transferred to the base frame 206 is released to the ground by providing a ground wire (not shown).

FIG. 4 is a view of the section shelf as viewed from the front.
In FIG. 4, θ1 is an angle formed by the arm 311 with the loading table 208, and θ2 is an angle formed by the base 310 with the loading table 208. A point 410 is a point at which the arm 311 of the guide unit 201 presses the letter (hereinafter, referred to as a pressing point 410). Point 4
Reference numeral 11 denotes a point at which the extension of the base 310 intersects with the loading platform 208 or a surface on which letters are accumulated (hereinafter, referred to as an accumulation surface), and a point at which the letters input to the sorting shelf land (hereinafter, landing point 411). Do).

The guide means 201 is initially at the position A,
The leading end in contact with the letter is lifted in accordance with the accumulation of the letter, and the guide means 201 rotates toward B. When reaching the uppermost point B, the base 310 of the guiding means 201 comes into contact with the transport path cover 401. Also, according to the accumulation of the letters, the bent portion 30 which is the downstream edge of the base 310 of the guiding means 201
2 moves so as to cross a surface 420 which is an extension of the guide surface of the gate means 204. This is for guiding the inserted letter firmly to the collecting surface by the guiding means 201 when the amount of accumulated letters is small, and for accumulating more letters when the accumulated amount of letters is large. This is because the part that holds the letter can be moved to a higher position.

In order to allow the portion for holding the letter to move to a higher position, the height of the protruding object on the back side (upper side in FIG. 4) of the letter guide surface of the base 310 contacting the transport path cover 401 is reduced. I have. Further, the letters 8A input to the sorting shelves are made to land on the upper surface of the letters 8B so that they do not collide with the upstream end of the letters 8B that are accumulated. Therefore, the shape of the base 301 is a flat plate. Here, if the base portion 310 is formed of a flat plate, the electric charge charged in the letter makes it easy for the letter to adhere to the guide means 201, and collides with the subsequent letter to cause a jam. Therefore, a rib 301 is provided on the base 310 as shown in FIG. 3 in order to prevent the letters input to the sorting shelf 13 from sticking to the guide means 201.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show how to attach the ribs.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the state of the letter 8 guided along the guide means 201 when cut along a plane perpendicular to the letter guide direction. The letter is guided in contact with the rib 301. In FIG. 5, d1 represents the interval between the ribs 301, and d2 represents the width of the rib in contact with the letter. Here, d2 / d1 is called a contact ratio. However,
d1>d2> 0.

FIG. 6 shows the result of an experiment on the ratio of sticking of letters in the case of changing the contact ratio. In FIG. 6, the horizontal axis of the graph indicates the contact ratio, and the vertical axis indicates the sticking ratio of the letter. As shown in FIG. 6, when the contact ratio is close to 0 and when the contact ratio is close to 1, the sticking ratio of the letter increases. When the contact ratio is close to 0, the interval between the ribs d1 is too large with respect to the width d2 of the ribs, so that the letter is drawn to the flat plate portion between the ribs and is easily attached. When the contact ratio is close to 1, that is, when the rib interval d1 is narrower than the rib width d2, the group of the contact surfaces of the ribs becomes equivalent to a flat plate, so that the letter is easily attached. Therefore, between the contact ratios b1 and b2 where the sticking ratio of the letter becomes a sufficiently small value a or less,
This is an appropriate range for providing ribs. In the present embodiment, the ribs are formed with the contact ratio b3 that minimizes the sticking ratio. The height of the rib is desirably high, but if the rib is too high, the letter input from the gate means collides with the rib, so that the height is preferably not exceeding the extension of the guide surface of the gate means. Further, an inclined portion is provided on the upstream side of the rib, that is, on the end on the holding means 202 side in order to prevent damage to the letter. If an inclined portion is provided, a landing point 41 described later
It is possible to make the height of the rib higher than the guide surface of the gate means within a range that does not affect the position of 1. By configuring the rib 301 in this way, the base 310 can be made thinner, and the guide means 201 in FIG.
Therefore, the partition shelf can be made small. Further, since the letter is inserted along the rib 301, it is possible to prevent the letter from sticking to the guide means 201. As a result, a subsequent letter collides with the letter in contact with the guide means 201, and a jam occurs. And the phenomenon that the letter is damaged can be prevented.

Next, the landing point 411 of the letter will be described with reference to FIG.
Will be described. FIG. 7 is a simplified version of FIG. As shown in FIG. 7A, the letter begins and enters along the guide surface of the base 310 of the guide means 201, and
Lands at 08. The landing point 411 of the letter moves to the partition plate side like a locus 421 according to the accumulation of the letter.
As shown in FIG. 7B, the guide surface of the base 310 of the guide means 201 is a surface 42 extending from the guide surface of the gate means 204.
When it is higher than 0, the partition plate 207 and the landing point 411
L1, which is the length between the two, is the minimum value L11. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7C, the letter does not contact the base 310 of the guide means 201, but directly lands on the landing point 411 on the extension of the guide surface of the gate means 204. Landing point 41
1 is a trajectory 4 along the extension of the guide surface of the gate means 204.
It moves in a direction away from the partition plate as indicated by 22.

The longer the distance L1 between the partition plate 207 and the landing point 411, the shorter the length of the portion of the letter that is not in contact with the upstream stacking surface. Then, the upstream side of the letter is easily restored straight along the downstream side. This is because the speed at which the tail end of the letter arrives at the stacking surface increases as the letter enters and is held down in the middle of the letter.
If the letter 11 is short and can only be held down by the tip of the letter, the time required for the trailing end of the letter to reach the stacking surface becomes longer, causing a problem that the letter cannot be completely dropped before the next letter enters and a jam occurs. I do. Therefore, the minimum value L11 is entered into the sorting shelf, that is, the minimum rigidity of the letters handled by this sheet stacking apparatus, for example, a length at which sufficient restoring force is obtained for a letter made of vinyl, for example. By increasing the length, the upstream side (rear end) of the letter is quickly separated from the guide means for other letters. As a result, the letter is less likely to stick to the base of the guide means, and jams and damage to the letter can be prevented.

In FIG. 4, when the shortest letter among the letters to be handled is in contact with the partition plate 207 in FIG. The value should not hit the tail of the letter.
More desirably, the lighter and more rigid a letter like a government-made postcard, the larger the θ2 becomes, the larger the partition plate 207 becomes.
Therefore, the length of L1 is preferably set to be equal to or less than the limit angle θ2 at which the postcard made by the government can reach the partition plate 207.

In a state where letters are not accumulated, the loading table 2
08 when the upstream side in the transport direction of 08 is lifted, θ2
Can be reduced. When the bent portion 302 is formed in this way, the downstream end of the letter put into the sorting shelf is
When reaching the vicinity of the pressing point 410, the letter is bent 30
Since the letter does not touch the letter 2, the letter can enter the partition plate side without losing the kinetic energy in the throwing direction. With such a configuration, the state of accumulation of letters can be adjusted.

When the letters are accumulated almost to the full, the landing point of the letters moves to the upstream side of the accumulated letters.
By setting the length to be shorter than the length of the letter in which the letter is handled, it is possible to prevent the subsequent letters from colliding with the upstream end of the accumulated letters, thereby preventing the occurrence of jams and damage to the letters.

Next, the state of deformation when letters are stacked will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a simplified version of FIG. The letter put into the sorting shelf is first guided continuously from the gate means to the guide means as shown in FIG. 8A, and the downstream end of the letter lands on the stacking surface. next,
As shown in FIG. 8B, the downstream side of the letter moves toward the tip of the guide along the stacking surface. The downstream side of the letter is decelerated by friction with the accumulation surface, and the entire letter is bent and deformed. Next, as shown in FIG. 8C, the downstream side of the letter enters beyond the pressing point at the tip of the guide means. At this time, the downstream side of the letter receives the pressing force from the pressing point 410, the frictional force increases, and the speed is further reduced. In addition, the upstream side of the letter falls and accumulates on the accumulating surface side due to the restoring force of the letter itself to be straightened and the gravity.

Here, if θ1 shown in FIG. 4 is small, FIG.
(D), the letter comes into contact with the bent portion 302 of the guide means during the bending deformation and receives a drag 230. Since the upstream side (rear end) of the letter continues to bend and deform due to the inertial force 231, the contact pressure between the downstream side of the letter and the accumulation surface increases, and the frictional force increases, making it difficult for the letter to enter. This phenomenon is prominent in light and rigid government postcards. In this embodiment, when the government-made postcard is put into the sorting shelf and lands on the loading table, and the downstream side of the letter is bent and deformed while proceeding to the pressing point side, the bending point 302 of the guide means 201 is positioned above the letter. Θ1 is determined so as to exist. With such a configuration, when the downstream side of the letter reaches the pressing point 410 of the guide means, no drag is received from the bent portion 302 of the guide means. It is possible to enter beyond the pressing point 410. Preferably, when the guide unit 201 reaches the uppermost position, θ1 is set to an angle at which the gap between the arm unit 304 of the guide unit and the transport path cover 401 is minimized, so that the integrated capacity is maximized. Can be.

When the distance L2 between the pressing point 410 and the landing point 411 shown in FIG. 4 is small, or when the guide means is straight without the bent portion 302, the bend is made as shown in FIG. The frictional force acting on the downstream side of the letter increases due to the pressing force that the letter receives from the pressing point during the deformation,
The downstream side of the letter is decelerated. Since the upstream side of the letter attempts to continue the approach, bending deformation is promoted. Then, the kinetic energy possessed by the letter is consumed by the bending deformation, so that the amount of entry of the letter is reduced.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the distance L2 between the pressing points 410 and the landing point 411, and the length (hereinafter referred to as the amount of entry) of the postcards that have entered beyond the pressing point 410. is there. In FIG. 9, the horizontal axis represents L2, and the vertical axis represents the amount of entry of a letter from the pressing point 410. L22 is a value at which the amount of entry reaches a peak, and L21 is a value obtained by extending a value at which the amount of entry of the letter is stable to the first half of the peak. The amount of intrusion initially increases with an increase in L2, reaches a peak when L2 reaches a certain length, and becomes substantially constant thereafter. L22 at which the intrusion amount reaches a peak is a length at which the bending deformation of the letter is completed and the letter starts to return when the downstream side of the letter reaches the pressing point. After L22, the kinetic energy consumed in bending deformation is minimized,
The amount of letters entered is stable. In the guide means of the present embodiment,
At the initial stage of integration when L2 is minimized, the value of L2 is set to be larger than L21 shown in FIG. 9 so that the letter can reach the partition plate. This L21 is a value obtained by experimenting with an official postcard.

Further, the mounting position of the guide means will be described with reference to FIGS. 10, 11 and 12. FIG.

FIG. 10 is a view of the section shelf as viewed from above. In FIG. 10, reference numeral 810 denotes a reference surface through which the edge of the letter on the base frame 206 side passes in the letter sent by the transport means, and is hereinafter referred to as a reference transport face.
The reference transport surface 810 is a surface on which the letters on the base frame side can be aligned when the letters pass through the alignment section 3 in FIG. 1, and in this embodiment, the letters do not catch on the irregularities on the base frame side. Separated by a distance. L3
Is the pressing point 41 of the guiding means 201 from the transport reference surface 801.
Length to 0.

FIG. 11 shows the results of measuring the state of alignment of letters accumulated on the sorting shelves while changing L3. In FIG. 11, the horizontal axis represents L3, and the vertical axis represents the alignment of letters. The alignment of the letters means that the accumulation range of the letters accumulated on the loading table is determined in terms of the length along the base frame 206 (longitudinal direction of the shelf) and the length in the direction (width direction of the shelf), respectively. It is a value divided by the length in the longitudinal direction and the width direction of the letter. The closer the alignment is to 1, the more the letters are organized and accumulated. FIG. 11 shows the alignment in the width direction which affects the ease of grasping when taking out a letter.

As shown in FIG. 11, when L3 is increased from 0, the alignment in the longitudinal direction and the widthwise direction each decrease until a certain distance, and increase above that. This is because a letter that has been thrown into the sorting shelf or bounced off the partition plate is held at the pressing point of the guide means, and the letter rotates around the pressing point, so that the pressing point contacts depending on the distance from the base frame to the pressing point. This is because the positional relationship between the position of the letter and the center of gravity of the letter also changes, so that the form of movement until the letter stops. This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 12 is a simplified view of FIG. 10 and shows how letters are accumulated. L3 is f in FIG.
In the case of taking values from 1 to f2, the guiding means is as shown in FIG.
(A), the base frame 206 side is slightly pressed from near the center of gravity 220 of the letter. Then, the letter base frame 206 side is slightly decelerated compared to the take-out side, so that the letter rotates by receiving a clockwise moment in FIG. 12, and the downstream end of the letter take-out side collides with the partition plate 207. The letter bounced off by the partition plate 207 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 12 and stops. At this time, the alignment in the width direction is equal to or less than a value e at which the letter is easily taken out.

As L3 becomes smaller than f1 in FIG. 11, the pressing position of the letter becomes closer to the end of the letter on the base frame 206 side as shown in FIG. 12B, so that the rotational moment received by the letter increases. 12, the angle of rotation in the clockwise direction increases. As a result, the upstream side of the letter protrudes toward the take-out side, so that the state of alignment of the letter deteriorates.

Conversely, as L3 becomes larger than f2 in FIG. 11, the position where the letter is pressed becomes closer to the take-out side of the letter as shown in FIG. 12C, and the letter shows a counterclockwise moment in FIG. Upon receiving and rotating, the downstream end on the base frame side collides with the partition plate 207. The letter bounced off the partition plate 207 rotates clockwise in FIG. 12 and stops. As a result, since the upstream side of the letter protrudes toward the take-out side, the state of alignment of the letter deteriorates.

In the case of FIGS. 12B and 12C,
If the upstream side of the letter protrudes too much, the letter jumps out of the section shelf, the balance of the accumulated letters is lost, and the letter spills out of the section shelf, causing the letter to be lost. Considering the ease of grasping when taking out the letter and preventing the loss of the letter, the pressing point position L3 is preferably set between f1 and f2 shown in FIG. Preferably, L3
May be set to f3 which provides the best alignment. Since this position guides the vicinity of the center of gravity of the letter put into the sorting shelf, it prevents the letter put into the sorting shelf from rotating around the guide means as an axis. As a result, the form of accumulation of letters is in order, and it is easy for an operator to grasp the letters when taking out the accumulated letters.
The work time can be shortened, and the letters can be prevented from jumping out and falling off the sorting shelf, so that the letters can be prevented from being lost.

Therefore, L3 is determined so that the pressing point is located at a position deeper than the center line in the transport direction of the narrowest letter among the letters handled by the sheet stacking apparatus.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the lower limit of L1 is determined by the letter having the lowest rigidity among the letters handled by the sheet stacking apparatus, and the shortest letter among the letters handling the upper limit of L1. And L2, which is determined based on the lightest and most rigid letter among the letters dealing with L2, based on the narrowest letter among the letters dealing with L3, as shown in state B in FIG.
While the letters handled by the paper sheet stacking device are properly stacked, a wasteful space can be reduced when the paper stack is full by the presence of the folded portion in the middle. That is, as described above, if the waste of the upper space is simply reduced by bending, there is a problem that letters are not properly collected. By using the above values, both problems can be solved at once. effective.

[0060]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a low-cost paper sheet stacking apparatus which can reduce the size of the entire stacking apparatus without reducing the stacking capacity and does not need to drive the stacking table up and down.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a paper sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a paper sheet stacking apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a guide unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of an embodiment of the paper sheet stacking apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a rib-shaped guiding means.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a rib-shaped guiding means.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a landing position when letters are accumulated.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a behavior when letters are accumulated.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a bent shape of the guide means.

FIG. 10 is a top view of an embodiment of a paper sheet stacking apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a pressing point position of a guide unit.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a letter accumulation state.

[Explanation of symbols]

13 ... shelves, 201 ... guide means (stack guide), 301 ... ribs, 302 ... bent portions, 310 ...
Base, 311 ... Arm.

Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Junichi Oizumi 502 Kandachi-cho, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Pref. Machinery Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor ▲ Takahashi Tohru 1 Ikegami-cho, Haruoka-cho, Owariasahi-shi, Aichi Pref. (56) References JP-A-6-345311 (JP, A) JP-A-51-65899 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 31 / 00-31/40

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A conveying means for conveying paper sheets, a plurality of accumulating means for accumulating the paper sheets, and guiding the paper sheets to a predetermined accumulating means from the conveying means based on information on the paper sheets. Gate means, and a stacking means which is held in the stacking means and coaxially rotatable with the gate means so as to be rotatable, and is stacked on a stacking surface or a stacking table of the stacking table on which the paper sheets are stacked. Guide means for guiding the paper sheet to the upper surface of the paper sheet, and a contact height between the guide means and the paper sheet in the stacking means which varies according to the load amount of the paper sheet. In the sheet stacking apparatus having a stacking table, the guide unit is configured to determine a position of the sheet from a straight line connecting a rotation center of the holding unit and a point at which the guide unit comes into contact with the sheet stacking surface. On the guide surface side, there is a convex bent portion, and this convex bent portion is An arcuate trajectory drawn according to the product amount, configured paper sheet stacking apparatus so that the surface formed by extending the sheet guide surface intersects the gate means. 2. A conveying means for conveying paper sheets, a plurality of accumulating means for accumulating the paper sheets, and guiding the paper sheets to a predetermined accumulating means from the conveying means based on information on the paper sheets. Gate means, and a stacking means which is held in the stacking means and coaxially rotatable with the gate means so as to be rotatable, and is stacked on a stacking surface or a stacking table of the stacking table on which the paper sheets are stacked. Guide means for guiding the paper sheet to the upper surface of the paper sheet, and a contact height between the guide means and the paper sheet in the stacking means which varies according to the load amount of the paper sheet. In the sheet stacking apparatus having a stacking table, the guide unit is configured to determine a position of the sheet from a straight line connecting a rotation center of the holding unit and a point at which the guide unit comes into contact with the sheet stacking surface. It has a convex bent portion on the guide surface side, and is most suitable for the holding means of the guide means. A guide surface for guiding paper sheets continuously from the gate means between the convex bent portion and the holding means, and the gate means from a state in which the paper sheets are not stacked on the loading table. Up to the stacking amount of paper sheets in which the guide surface of the guide means and the guide surface of the guide means are parallel, the paper sheets are guided by the guide surface of the gate means and the guide surface of the guide means, and the guide surfaces are parallel. A sheet stacking device for guiding sheets by the gate means when the number of sheets stacked is larger than the number of sheets stacked.