JP5916015B2 - Sorting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sorting apparatus, and more particularly, to a sorting apparatus that supplies a package from a manual insertion port and discharges the package at a predetermined sorting chute position.

Sorting devices are used, for example, when sorting parcels, letters, etc. (hereinafter referred to as packages) according to their destinations.
This sorting device is provided with a traveling rail arranged in an endless manner, and a luggage supply line and a sorting chute are installed at arbitrary locations on the traveling rail, and a traveling cart connected in an endless manner is arranged along the traveling line. While circulatingly moving, the tray disposed so as to be tiltable to the traveling cart via the pivot is tilted at the position of a predetermined sorting chute so as to pay out the luggage on the tray.

In order to pay out a predetermined baggage at a position of a predetermined sorting chute, it is important to manage which tray is loaded in which tray (hereinafter referred to as the association between the baggage and the tray) in this sorter. Become.
In this association, after reading the package information of the package from an IC tag such as a barcode attached to the package, the worker places the package on a tray that passes in front of the manual insertion slot in about 3 seconds. When the reflective tape affixed to the luggage placement surface of the tray is covered, and the received light signal of the reflected light emitted from the reflective photoelectric switch is interrupted, the luggage information is displayed. After reading, it is determined that the package has been loaded on the tray that has passed in front of the manual insertion slot, and if the signal is continuous, it can be determined by determining that the package is not loaded on the tray. It was.
If there is no signal interruption on the tray that has passed in front of the manual insertion slot within a certain time, the read bar code baggage is treated as a missing item.

  As described above, in associating the package with the package information that has been read, whether or not the package is placed on the tray is the most important for sorting work, but the reflective tape attached to the tray is damaged. If it is broken or partially missing, there is a problem that the photoelectric switch that reacts to the reflected light erroneously detects that there is a load on the tray.

  In order to deal with such a problem, as a technique for determining the presence or absence of luggage on the tray, predetermined irregularities are formed on the surface of the tray on which the luggage is placed, and image data relating to the position and color tone obtained from the concave portion of the tray is used as a reference in advance. Data stored in a memory and the presence or absence of a transported object on the tray is determined by comparing image data at a position corresponding to the reference data with the reference data (see, for example, Patent Document 1) A light emitting device that irradiates light so as to look down toward the mounting surface, and light on the mounting surface of the tray load irradiated from the light emitter is deflected in a right angle direction and emitted from other surfaces other than the mounting surface A tray having a light guiding function, a light receiving device for separating and receiving light emitted from the tray, and a transported article determining means for determining the presence or absence of luggage on the tray based on a change in the amount of light detected by the light receiving device. What was example (e.g., see Patent Document 2.) It has been proposed.

  By the way, the means for determining the presence / absence of luggage on the tray of these sorting apparatuses determines the presence / absence of luggage on the tray by using the shape of the loading surface of the luggage on the tray and the reflected light from the loading surface. Since the information on the baggage read from the barcode attached to the baggage before loading the baggage and the presence / absence of the baggage on the tray, the tray and the baggage are associated with each other depending on the shape and size of the baggage. In fact, there are cases where it is not possible to determine the presence of luggage even though the luggage is placed on the tray, and there are restrictions on the shape of the luggage to be sorted when determining the presence or absence of luggage on the tray. There was a problem that it might be imposed.

JP 2004-206594 A JP 2003-160222 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a sorting device that can determine whether or not there is a load on a tray regardless of the shape of the load to be sorted.

  In order to achieve the above object, the sorting apparatus according to the present invention has a tray disposed on a traveling carriage that travels along a traveling rail, and loads are placed on the tray at the position of a manual insertion port. In a sorting apparatus that pays out the loaded baggage at a predetermined sorting chute position, the baggage placed on the tray by the operator at the position of the manual insertion port and the hand of the worker holding the baggage A two-dimensional laser distance meter for detecting the position, and calculating the position and movement speed of the load and the operator's hand from the detection data of the two-dimensional laser distance meter. It is characterized in that it is determined that the package has been placed on a tray at a position corresponding to the position when reversed.

  In this case, the two-dimensional laser rangefinder is activated by a reading operation of the baggage information of the baggage placed on the tray by the operator, and stopped when the reading operation is not continuously performed for a predetermined time. To be able to.

  Further, the detection of a load placed on the tray by the worker and the object other than the hand of the worker holding the load by the two-dimensional laser distance meter is cut off between the worker and the traveling rail. A partition can be provided.

  Also, a failure that detects an abnormality of the two-dimensional laser rangefinder by collating the partition position calculated from the partition detection data detected by the two-dimensional laser distance meter with the partition position information recorded in advance. A detection means can be provided.

  According to the sorting apparatus of the present invention, the load placed on the tray by the operator and the two-dimensional laser distance meter for detecting the operator's hand holding the load are disposed at the position of the manual insertion port. The tray is located at a position corresponding to the position when the load speed of the operator and the hand of the operator is calculated from the detection data of the two-dimensional laser rangefinder and the calculated movement speed of the hand of the operator is reversed. The sorting apparatus is capable of determining whether or not there is a load on the tray from the operation of the worker who places the load on the tray regardless of the shape of the load. be able to.

  Further, the two-dimensional laser rangefinder is activated by an operation of reading the package information of the package placed on the tray by the operator, and is stopped when the reading operation is not continuously performed for a predetermined time. Therefore, even when a two-dimensional laser distance meter with a mechanical part is used, the deterioration of the two-dimensional laser distance meter can be prevented and the life of the device can be extended. The interval can also be increased.

  Further, the detection of a load placed on the tray by the worker and the object other than the hand of the worker holding the load by the two-dimensional laser distance meter is cut off between the worker and the traveling rail. By arranging the partition, the two-dimensional laser rangefinder can accurately detect the presence of the load on the tray without erroneously detecting the load and an object other than the hand of the worker holding the load. it can.

  Also, a failure that detects an abnormality of the two-dimensional laser rangefinder by collating the partition position calculated from the partition detection data detected by the two-dimensional laser distance meter with the partition position information recorded in advance. By providing the detection means, it is possible to prevent erroneous sorting caused by abnormality of the two-dimensional laser distance meter.

It is the schematic which shows one Example of the sorting apparatus of this invention. The work state in which an operator places a load on a tray at the manual insertion port of the sorting apparatus is shown, (a) is a plan view, and (b) is a front view. It is a top view which shows a locus | trajectory when the laser which the two-dimensional laser rangefinder of the sorting apparatus irradiates a load. It is the schematic which shows the calculation method of the distance to the object which the two-dimensional laser rangefinder of the sorting apparatus detects. It is the schematic explaining the general motion of the operator's hand after the trigger event (reading operation of package information) in the sorting apparatus. It is the schematic explaining the detection of the load and the operator's hand by the two-dimensional laser rangefinder of the sorting device, (a) is the behavior of the operator, (b) is the Y-axis coordinates of the detected distance data Shows the time transition. The flowchart after the trigger event (reading operation of package information) in the sorting apparatus is shown.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a sorting apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 7 show an embodiment of a sorting apparatus according to the present invention.
This sorting device 1 is provided with a tray 20 on a traveling carriage 2 that travels along a traveling rail R, and loads W are placed on the tray 20 at the positions of manual insertion ports A1 to A3. The baggage W is delivered at the position of the predetermined sorting chute B, and the worker M holds the baggage W and the baggage to be placed on the tray 20 by hand in the positions of the manual insertion ports A1 to A3. A two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 for detecting the operator's hand is arranged, and the position and moving speed of the load W and the operator's hand are calculated from the detection data of the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3, and the calculated operator's hand It is determined that the luggage W is placed on the tray 20 at a position corresponding to the position when the moving speed is reversed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the traveling rail R is arranged in an endless shape, and manual loading ports A <b> 1 to A <b> 3 for placing the cargo W on the tray 20 at any location of the traveling rail R and a plurality of sortings. Install chute B.
Further, the traveling carriage 2 is connected endlessly along the traveling rail R so that the traveling rail R is circulated and moved.

The tray 20 can be tilted to the traveling carriage 2 by being pivotally supported on one side by a pivot, and is also disposed on the traveling carriage 2 on a hook-shaped tray stopper extending from the lower surface side. It is supported in a non-tilting state by the support portion of the lever coming into contact.
Then, the tilt lever is operated by the tilting means provided at the position of the sorting chute provided on the traveling rail R, the non-tilt state is released, and the tray 20 is tilted so that the luggage on the tray 20 is tilted. W is paid out.
Note that the tilting means has a known structure that is selectively projected and retracted between a retracted lowered position and a raised position contacting the tilt lever by a computer-controlled cylinder (not shown).

  An IC code (for example, a bar code) in which the package information of the package W affixed to the package W to be loaded by the worker M is recorded at the manual insertion ports A1 to A3 (hereinafter collectively referred to as the manual insertion port A1). Etc., hereinafter simply referred to as a bar code) with a reading device (for example, a bar code reader, hereinafter simply referred to as a bar code reader 4). The luggage W is placed on the upper surface of the approaching empty tray 20.

When the luggage W is manually placed on the tray 20 by the worker M, the traveling speed of the traveling carriage 2 on which the tray 20 is disposed is generally set to a traveling speed of 60 m / min to 80 m / min. The traveling direction 2 is a direction in which the worker M approaches a worker who can easily grasp the load W.
In general, since there are many right-handed people, a manual insertion port A1 is provided on the left side of the sorting apparatus 1 (left side when facing the traveling direction of the traveling carriage 2 (see FIG. 1)), and a lightweight item of about 1 kg. Works with only the right hand, and a large load A or a load W of about 2 to 3 kg places the load on the tray 20 with both hands.
In addition, in the section (work area) occupied by the sorting apparatus 1 per worker M, whether the body is reversed 90 degrees from the standing position with respect to the work table disposed at the manual insertion port A1? A space of about three trays 20 (traveling carriage 2) is generally used as a space for moving the luggage W on the empty tray 20 after moving one or two steps.

The two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3 has a load W placed on the tray 20 by the worker M and a hand of the worker M holding the load W (after the baggage W is placed on the tray). It is arranged at the position of the manual insertion port A1 that can detect the hand of the worker who does not have the luggage W (hereinafter collectively referred to as the hand of the worker).
A two-dimensional laser is provided between the traveling rail R and the traveling carriage 2 provided with the tray 20 that travels along the traveling rail R and the worker M, and between the worker M and the traveling rail R. A partition 5 for blocking detection of an object other than the hand of the worker holding the load W by the distance meter 3 and the load W placed on the tray 20 and the hand of the worker holding the load W is provided.
As a result, the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 can accurately determine whether or not there is a load on the tray 20 without erroneously detecting the load W and an object other than the hand of the worker holding the load W.

As shown in FIG. 2, the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 is installed downward by an angle φ with the Y axis of the coordinate axis as a rotation axis (so as to face downward with respect to the horizontal plane).
The two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 irradiates a laser beam in a range of a predetermined angle (for example, 240 °) at a predetermined pitch (for example, 0.36 °) in the plane space (scanning of the laser beam), and the predetermined angle The distance L and the angle θp to the object hit by the laser beam are output.
As shown in FIG. 4, the relationship between the two-dimensional coordinates (Xp, Yp) of the measurement object on the scanning plane P scanned by the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 and the polar coordinate format data detected by the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3. Is
Xp = L · cos θp
Yp = L · sin θp
It is represented by

When the three-dimensional space coordinates of the installation position of the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 are (Xs, Ys, Zs), the mounting angle of the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 is an angle downward with respect to the horizontal plane as described above. The coordinates (X, Y, Z) of the measurement object in the three-dimensional space coordinates when tilted by φ are
X = Xs + L · cos θp · sinφ
Y = Ys−L · sin θp
Z = Zs−L · cos θp · cos φ
It is represented by

The luggage W and the hand of the worker M change with time, and data obtained by detecting the luggage W and the hand of the worker holding the luggage W is variable data.
On the other hand, the distance data when the partition wall 5 is detected is fixed data that returns the same distance data for the same scanning angle θp in each scan.
Within the range of one manual insertion port A1, the distance to the farthest point detected by the two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3 is about 3 m, the scanning direction of the two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3 is the ZX plane with the Y axis as the rotation axis , The scanning angle is approximately within a range of ± 60 ° (θ = 60 ° shown in FIG. 2A). The laser beam can be scanned (a scanning angle beyond that is not appropriate because the laser beam irradiates the area exceeding the height of the partition wall 5). In this embodiment, the laser beam is irradiated from the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3. In the scanning plane P, the laser sequentially moves the partition wall 5 when the worker M is not working, and in the working state, the luggage W present on the scanning plane P and the hand of the worker M holding the luggage W. And the distance L at the scanning angle θp is detected and output.
The locus 10 when the laser emitted from the two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3 is hitting the load W in the working state is as shown in FIG.

  Then, the sorting device 1 attaches the detection of the hand of the worker holding the baggage W and the baggage W held by the worker with the hand by the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 to the baggage W by the worker M. The bar code in which the package information is recorded is detected when the bar code reader 4 performs a reading operation (trigger event).

FIG. 5 shows a general behavior of the hand of the worker M holding the load W and the load W detected by the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 based on a bar code reading operation (trigger event) that is a start event of manual insertion. Show.
When a small package W having a size equivalent to that of a palm is inserted with one hand, the hand H1 with the package W, the package W, and the hand H1 with the package W are detected in this order.
Note that there are parts that cannot be detected due to the shape of the luggage W.
Even when a baggage W larger than the palm is put in with one hand, the hand W1 with the baggage W, the baggage W, and the hand H1 with the baggage W are detected in this order. After detection, a hand H1 holding the load W and a hand H2 holding the load W are detected.
When the worker M places the luggage W on the tray 20 facing the traveling direction of the traveling carriage 2 of the sorting apparatus 1 and moving toward the worker M located on the left side, the hand H1 holding the luggage W Indicates the right hand and the hand H2 holding the luggage indicates the left hand.
Even when working with one hand, a hand that does not have the load W may pass through the scanning plane P of the two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3. This differs depending on the posture of the worker M, the behavior of the body during work, whether or not to walk, and the hand that does not have the luggage W may or may not be detected.

6A to 6B schematically show the behavior of the worker M and the time transition of the distance data on the Y-axis coordinates of the scanning plane P. FIG. A bold line portion indicates a state in which data detected as distance data to the hand of the luggage W or the worker M is projected on the Y axis.
In addition, the fixed data used as the distance data to the partition 5 installed between the worker M and the sorting apparatus 1 is excluded.
FIG. 6B shows a state in which a single throwing operation of about 1 second is divided into 10 parts. As the time axis indicates, a change is detected in which the projected coordinate of the Y axis moves in the positive direction of the Y axis and then moves in the negative direction as time elapses.
This is because the worker M twists the hand holding the load W from the upper arm in order to place the load W on the target tray 20 to reduce the relative speed between the load W and the tray 20. When the user arrives at the side, the hand is released from the luggage W on the tray 20, and the luggage W is placed on the tray 20.

Until the load W is placed on the tray 20, the load W or the hand of the worker M moves in the forward direction as time elapses, and the moving speed substantially matches the moving speed of the tray 20 (two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3 (The method of calculating the speed from the distance data detected by the method will be described later.)
After the luggage W is placed on the tray 20, the hand holding the luggage W is returned to the front of the worker M. At this time, the palm (back of the hand), fingertips, etc. are sequentially two-dimensionally from the vicinity of the wrist of the worker M. Passing through the scanning plane P of the laser rangefinder 3, the hand of the worker M moves in the negative direction.
Therefore, the moving speed becomes negative, and the moving speed at this time and the moving speed of the tray 20 are not related.

The distance data detected by the posture of the worker M, one-handed work, two-handed work, and the size of the load are different, but the common point is that when the load W is placed on the tray 20, The moving speed of the hand is detected as being approximately the same as the moving speed of the tray 20, and thereafter, the moving speed becomes zero and the hand disappears from the scanning surface or moves at a negative speed.
The distance data projected on the Y axis in one scan has a width and is discontinuous. This is because the hand not holding the load W or the other hand when holding the load W with both hands crosses the scanning surface of the laser irradiated from the two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3.
Paying attention to the point of the largest coordinate of the distance data projected onto the Y-axis (the point Q in the bold line of the projected coordinate over time shown in FIG. 5B, hereinafter referred to as the boundary point), the progress of the tray 20 The speed in the Y-axis direction is calculated using the coordinate with the largest Y coordinate in the direction, and it is determined whether or not the load W is placed on the tray 20 with this value.

Next, a procedure for determining whether or not the luggage W is placed on the tray 20 will be described.
The two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3 in the sorting apparatus 1 does not recognize the three-dimensional shape of the object, but irradiates the scanning surface P with the luggage W or the hand of the worker M passing through the scanning surface P. Focusing on the mapping of continuous distance data detected in one scan in the Y-axis direction when crossing the laser to be detected, the speed data is determined by determining the detection time from the scanning angle θp when the distance data is detected When converted to (moving speed) and the moving speed of the operator's hand is reversed, it is determined that the load W is placed on the tray 20 at the position corresponding to the position.

In particular,
Step 1
Data is scanned from the larger Y-axis value toward the smaller value, and the first data of the boundary point that occurs first is extracted. This is Y coordinate data y (i) at time t (i).
Time t (i) is determined from the scanning pitch and the time for scanning one scanning range.
For example, in the case of a two-dimensional laser rangefinder that takes 66.7 msec to scan 240 ° at a scan pitch of 0.36 °, one pitch is about 0.1 msec.

Step 2
The moving speed v (i) of the boundary point in the Y-axis direction from the time and Y coordinate of the head data is obtained from the following calculation formula.
v (i) = (y (i) -y (i-1)) / (t (i) -t (i-1))
(When the above-described two-dimensional laser distance meter is used, (t (i) −t (i−1)) = 0.1 msec.)

Step 3
The moving speed of the boundary point is monitored when v (i) transitions from a positive value to a negative value (when the moving speed of the operator's hand is reversed).
The time when the moving speed of the boundary point changes from positive to negative is defined as tz.

Step 4
There is an individual difference in the time for placing the baggage W on the tray 20 from the hand holding the baggage W, and then returning the body direction from the direction toward the tray 20 to the direction of the workbench, but the average delay value is Assuming that dT is the distance dL during which the tray 20 moves, the moving speed of the tray 20 is Vtr,
dL = dT · Vtr
Get.

Step 5
Position Y (tz) + dT · Vtr obtained by adding dL to position Y (tz) of the boundary point at time tz
It is determined that the package W whose data has been read by the barcode reader 4 is placed on the tray 20 located at the position, and the tray 20 and the package W are associated with each other.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of tracing the tray 20 on which the bar code reader 4 has read the bar code affixed to the baggage W serving as a trigger event for starting the loading, and then places the baggage W corresponding to the event.
In some cases, after one trigger event occurs, a plurality of packages are loaded for one trigger event. In FIG. 6, the number of repetitions is not input from the operation terminal device after reading the barcode. Assume a system in which all inputs until the next trigger event occur are considered to be repeated for that trigger event.
When the number of repetitions after reading the barcode, that is, when the number of packages W to be loaded is designated by an input means such as a keyboard, the flowchart shown in FIG. Loop and detect positive speed detection and speed change from positive to zero in the loop to identify the tray 20 on which the load W targeted for the trigger event is placed (association between the tray 20 and the load W). I am doing so.

  In the present embodiment, the worker M working at each of the manual insertion ports A1 to A3 reads the barcode attached to the package W when the package W is placed on the tray 20. Thus, even the relatively inexpensive bar code reader 4 has an advantage that the bar code can be reliably read on the tray 20 as compared with the case where the bar code reader 4 is automatically read.

  On the other hand, when a method of reading a bar code with a bar code reader installed on the tray 20 of the sorting apparatus 1 is adopted instead of reading the bar code at the time of insertion (in this embodiment, the bar code serving as a trigger event for starting tracking) Even when there is no reading), it is possible to determine the start of the loading operation by monitoring the speed obtained from the projection distance of the distance data in the Y-axis direction by the two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3, so that the tray 20 into which the package W has been loaded can be determined. In all of the above, if the barcode can be read reliably, even a system that reads the barcode later can cope.

In this case, when the barcode is not read on the tray 20 even though it is considered that there is a baggage W on the tray 20, the tray 20 can be circulated as it is when sorting into shoots with unknown destinations. Thus, two types of processing for re-reading the barcode and associating the tray 20 with the package W can be performed.
The barcode can not be read even if it wraps around if the packaging state of the package W or the barcode itself is unclear or dirty, so that it can be reliably sorted into unspecified destination shots.
If the bar code can be read on the tray 20 that is recognized as having no load W placed thereon, the tray 20 is determined to be a prohibited tray, and inspection is performed with human intervention.
The success rate of reading barcodes and the success rate of judging the input tray 20 are lower than the success rate of reading barcodes, and it is possible to reliably prevent misclassification by sorting unknown destinations. .

The two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3 also scans the partition wall 5 at a fixed position in each scan. However, the two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3 tracks the tray 20 (detects the package W and the operator's hand for associating the package W with the tray 20). ), The distance data to the partition 5 which is fixed data is background data and is not used for associating the package W with the tray 20.
However, when the distance data to the desired partition 5 is missing or there is distance data, but is different from the position information (distance data, etc.) to the partition 5 detected in advance, the two-dimensional laser distance There will be a total of 3 abnormalities or abnormal mounting conditions.
Therefore, the position information of the partition wall 5 calculated from the detection data of the partition wall 5 detected by the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 is collated with the position information of the partition wall 5 recorded in advance, so that the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 Failure detection means (not shown) for detecting an abnormality is provided.
As a result, the self-diagnosis of the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 used in the sorting apparatus 1 can be performed.

The self-diagnosis by the failure detection means is performed by using the position information of the partition wall 5 obtained from one-time scan data in which no valid data corresponding to the hand of the worker M or the baggage W exists, and the reference stored when the sorting apparatus 1 is installed. The position information of the partition wall 5 is compared, and if both match, it is determined as normal.
Collation between the position information of the partition 5 calculated from the detected data and the position information of the partition 5 recorded in advance can be performed by sequentially comparing the distance data with respect to the scanning angle θp. Can also be done.
As a simple statistical process, the correlation coefficient of the actually observed distance is calculated with respect to the reference scanning angle θp and the distance L value. If the correlation coefficient value is close to 1, it is normal and deviates from 1. When it falls to 0.98 or less, the soundness of the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 and its attached state can be evaluated by determining that it is abnormal.

In addition, the two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3 used in the sorting apparatus 1 is equipped with a motor for operating the laser, and the MTBF (mean failure interval) is more than in the case where the electronic circuit and the semiconductor laser are used alone. Shortened due to the mechanical part.
The causes that have a great influence on the life of the two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3 are mechanical wear / deterioration of the laser scanning mechanism and a phenomenon in which the light emission amount of the laser decreases exponentially with respect to the lighting time of the semiconductor laser.
For both of these causes, it is an effective means to shut off the power supply when measurement by the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 is not necessary.
For this reason, the two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3 is activated by the reading operation of the baggage information of the baggage W placed on the tray 20 by the worker M, and the reading operation is not continuously performed for a predetermined time. I try to stop.
Specifically, it is activated when the barcode reader 4 reads the barcode on which the package information of the package W affixed to the package W to be loaded by the worker M is read, and the worker M starts the manual loading port A1. When the power is not used or when there is no input from the manual input port A1 for several minutes, the power supply to the two-dimensional laser rangefinder 3 installed at the corresponding manual input port A1 is stopped. ing.
As a result, even a two-dimensional laser distance meter with a mechanical part can prevent deterioration of the two-dimensional laser distance meter and extend the life of the device, and also increase the MTBF (mean time between failures). Can do.
Further, erroneous sorting caused by an abnormality of the two-dimensional laser distance meter 3 can be prevented.

  The sorting apparatus according to the present invention has been described based on the embodiments thereof. However, the present invention is not limited to the configurations described in the above embodiments, and the configurations are appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It is something that can be done.

  Since the sorting apparatus of the present invention has a characteristic that the determination of the presence or absence of luggage on the tray can be performed from the operation of an operator who places the luggage on the tray, the tray is tilted to be dispensed. In addition to being suitably used as a sorting apparatus, it can also be used as a slide shoe extrusion type sorting apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sorting device 2 Traveling cart 20 Tray 3 Two-dimensional laser distance meter 4 Bar code reader 5 Bulkhead A1 Manual loading port A2 Manual loading port A3 Manual loading port B Sorting chute H1 Hand H2 Hand M Worker

Claims (4)

  A tray is arranged on a traveling carriage that travels along the traveling rail, and a load is placed on the tray at the position of the manual insertion port, and the load placed on the tray is discharged at a predetermined sorting chute position. In the sorting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, at the position of the manual insertion port, a two-dimensional laser distance meter that detects a load that the operator holds on the tray and a hand of the worker holding the load is disposed, The position and movement speed of the load and the operator's hand are calculated from the detection data of the two-dimensional laser distance meter, and the load is placed on a tray at a position corresponding to the position when the calculated movement speed is reversed. A sorting apparatus characterized by being judged to have   The two-dimensional laser rangefinder is activated by an operator's operation for reading the package information of the packages placed on the tray, and stopped when the reading operation is not performed continuously for a predetermined time. The sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   A partition between the worker and the traveling rail is provided that blocks the detection of an object other than the hand of the worker holding the load and the load held on the tray by the worker by the two-dimensional laser distance meter. 3. The sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sorting apparatus is provided.   Failure detection means for detecting an abnormality of the two-dimensional laser distance meter by collating the partition wall position calculated from the partition wall detection data detected by the two-dimensional laser distance meter with the pre-recorded partition wall position information The sorting apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising:

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