JPH02184380A - Mail reading and classifying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To independently divide the treating part and to rapidly restore the function when the mail is mechanically jammed by providing first and second mail supply means and first, second and third mail treating means to the device. CONSTITUTION:The mail 13 is delivered by the first mail supply part 1 to a transfer route 14, and supplied to the second mail supply part 2. The mail from the first mail supply part 1 and the mail delivered to a transfer route 102 are supplied to a leveling part 21 by the second mail supply part 2, delivered to a transfer route 101 one by one, and supplied to the first mail treating part 3. The detection of the length of the mail and characters on the mail and the identification of the division information are carried out by the first, second and third mail treating parts 3, 4 and 5. The standardized mail is supplied to the transfer route 101, and further treated. Meanwhile, the nonstandardized mail is rejected to the transfer route 102 respectively through rejection routes 32, 43 and 53, supplied to the leveling part 21, and again treated.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] Regarding the mail reading and sorting device of the present invention, it is particularly useful for restoring the mail reading and sorting device when the mail gets clogged in the water system during operation and stops working. This invention relates to a mail reading and sorting device that speeds up the process and minimizes the time during which operation is stopped.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional mail reading and sorting devices are supplied according to their functions
Mail is processed in the order of reading, sorting, etc., and these are collectively controlled.

However, mail items often have different sizes, and the equipment may become clogged mechanically during processing, causing the equipment to stop working.

In this case, the mail misses at the side closer to the receiving port than the clogged part and stops operating, while the mail closer to the sending port is transported to the sorting section and treated as a mistake, and then stops operating.

Therefore, even if the functions are functioning normally except for the clogged part of the mail, all functions that use the same drive system for each function may stop or occur.
It may be necessary to repeat the process from the beginning once again for the parts that are being executed before the process is stopped. However, even during restoration, human labor is temporarily required to remove mail items near the receiving entrance.

Further, mail items for which normal reading results cannot be obtained due to mechanical or electrical factors are rejected without being processed again. Further, even if a normal reading result is obtained, if the accumulation section is full, the information is accumulated in a dedicated full accumulation section or removed. These mail items require manual sorting.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Conventional dual mail reading and sorting devices stop all functions when the mail becomes mechanically jammed, requiring manual labor to remove the mail, which can be recovered after one day. However, the disadvantages are that the mail that was being processed before the stoppage requires manual sorting, and that the mail is piled up even though it has been read normally. This method has the disadvantage that additional processing is required, and the disadvantage that postal items determined to be unreadable after - times of reading processing are rejected and require manual sorting.

[Means to solve the problem]

The mail reading and sorting device of the present invention comprises: a first mail supply means for sending pre-arranged mail pieces one by one or in duplicate to a second mail supply means; The second mail supply means sends out each mail piece to the first mail processing means, and detects at least the interval, length, and diagonal conveyance of the mail pieces, and selects only the mail pieces that are within a predetermined value range. The first mail item that is sent to the second mail processing means and returns the mail items that are out of the range to the second mail supply means, and operates independently of the other mail processing means. A processing means scans the mail, reads letters, numbers, symbols, or barcodes written on the mail, and the mail has a pre-registered reading result that matches the reading result of the mail. The postal items are sent to a subsequent third mail processing means with predetermined classification information added to them, and the reading results do not match the pre-registered reading results or unreadable mail items. is returned to the second mail supply means and added to the mail from the second mail processing means and the second mail processing means, which operates independently of other mail processing means. It identifies the sorting information that has been added, sorts and stacks the mail pieces to which sorting information that matches the sorting information registered in advance in each of the plurality of stacking units is added, and collects the mail pieces to which sorting information that does not match or matches the sorting information is added. the third mailpiece, which operates independently of other mail processing means, returns to the second mail supply means mail pieces that cannot be stacked due to an abnormality in the stacking section to which sorting information is added; and material processing means.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to drawings showing embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

An outline of the present invention will be described below.

First, the part that processes mail is divided into several processing units, or modules, and each of these is activated independently.

Each processing unit, that is, a module, is provided with an exclusion route 1,
In each processing section, the reading section Manoko transfers the 4J amount of mail removed from the detector, etc., and the mail in the processing section on the input port side when each processing section stops, to the rejection route 1-. The system employs a method in which the mail is fed and processed by merging it into the aisle. Furthermore, when one of the processing units, that is, one of the modules, is stopped, the mail in the processing unit on the sending side continues to be processed.

By adopting such a method, even if one processing section is clogged with mail and stops operating, the mail in the processing section on the input port side will be supplied to the rejection routes 1 to 1 and the mail will continue to be processed. Instead, let it flow down the aisle.

Furthermore, the mail on the output side of the processing section that has been stopped is as described above.
\ta,]: As the processing continues, the rejected mail passes through the rejection route 1~ and joins the mail passage. In parallel with this, postal items are removed from the stopped processing section and cleaned, etc., and the processing section is restored. Since the range of work required by the personnel required for this purpose is limited to the module concerned, the work is considerably reduced compared to the conventional technology, and the recovery time is also extremely shortened.

In addition, characters on mail items may be damaged due to mechanical or electrical factors.
By supplying an exclusion rule l-'\ for mail items whose numbers, symbols, or barcodes are determined to be partially or completely unreadable, and allowing the mail items to merge into the aisle and process them, they can be reread without having to be read manually. Classification is reduced. In the sorting and stacking processing department, if the stacking section is full or cannot be stacked, the mail to be stacked is supplied to the removal route and reprocessed, thereby reducing the amount of mail in the full stacking section, which was previously necessary. Manual classification can be reduced.

Here, the configuration and operation of an embodiment of the present invention will be explained.

Referring to FIG. 1, this embodiment includes a first mail supply section 1, a second mail supply section 2, and a first mail processing section 3.
, a second mail processing section 4 , and a second mail processing section 5 .

The first mail supply unit 1 includes a stacking unit 11, a mail sending unit 2, and a transfer route 4, and collects the mail 3 accumulated in the stacking unit 11 one by one or in duplicate. The mail is sent to the transfer routes 1 to 14 and supplied to the second mail supply section 2.

The second mail supply section 2 includes a transfer route 102, a leveling section 2], a forwarding section 22, and transfer routes 1 to 101, and includes a first mail supply section 1 and a first mail supply section 1. The mails supplied to the υF removal route 1 of the mail processing section 3 through the rejection route 43 of the first mail processing section 4 and the rejection route 53 of the third mail processing section 5 are transferred to the transport route 1. ~ 102, the mail items are combined at 1-102, supplied to the leveling section 21, leveled one by one, and sent out one by one from the forwarding section 22 to the transfer route 1-102, where the first mail The mail is supplied to the article processing section 3.

The first mail processing section 3 includes a length detector 31 and an exclusion route 1.
32, detects the length of the mail items to be transferred, the interval between the mail items, and the diagonal transfer of the mail items, and detects the mail items that are determined to be within the specified size range in the second outline. It is supplied to the second mail processing section 4. specified in advance.”
Mail determined to be outside the scope of the law (for example, abnormally long mail is often sent in one piece) is supplied to the transport route 102 through the exclusion route 1-32, and then sent to the leveling section 21. The second mail processing unit 4 includes a positioning unit 41, a reading unit 42, and the rejection rules 1 to 3.
43. The aligner 41 aligns the mail before supplying the mail to the reading unit 42, and also detects the length of the mail and the spacing between the mail and detects items outside the pre-specified size range. The postal items determined to be present are supplied to the transfer routes 1 to 102 through an exclusion route 43. Furthermore, mail items determined to be within a prespecified size range are sent to the reading section 42.

The reading section 42 of the second mail processing section 4 scans the mail, reads the letters, numbers, symbols, or barcodes written on the mail, and compares it with the pre-registered reading results to find a match. If the mail is not readable or cannot be read, the mail is transferred to removal route 1 through 43 and transported to transport route 1.
02, and if they match, pre-designated sorting information=9 is added to the mail and the mail is supplied to the third mail processing section 5 through transfer routes 1 to 101. The mail items supplied to the transfer loops 1-102 through the removal loop 1-43 are sent to the leveling section 2 and are processed.

Here, the method of adding classification information to the mail is to print ``Bayo 1'' etc. on the surface of the mail, or
There is a method of adding electrical identification information without any printing on the surface of the mail item (this information is controlled in synchronization with the transport of the mail item), or a method that combines the above two methods, both of which are free of charge. stomach.

The third mail processing section 5 includes a plurality of branching sections 51, a plurality of stacking sections 52, and a rejection loop 1-53, and is equipped with a plurality of branching sections 51, a plurality of stacking sections 52, and a rejection loop 1-53, and is configured to remove the mail that is added to the mail from the second mail processing means. If the sorting information registered in each of the plurality of stacking units matches the sorting information registered in advance in each of the plurality of stacking units, the mail is sorted and stacked in the corresponding stacking unit 52 through the branching unit 51; 7, if the stacking section that should be stacked cannot be stacked due to reasons such as being full, it is supplied to the transfer routes 1 to 102 through the removal route 53. Furthermore, in this case as well, the length of the mail items and the spacing between the mail items are detected in the same way as in the aligner 41, and the mail items that are determined to be outside the pre-specified size range are routed through the removal route 53 to the transfer route. ]02.

Transfer route] Mail sent to 02 is transferred to leveling section 2]
It is supplied to and processed by Futanahi.

In addition, in the rejection route 1-32, 43, and 53, when the mail is supplied to the leveling section 21 through the route and the transfer route 1-1.02 and is processed twice, the mail is scanned during the previous processing. The same side of the mail that was scanned can be scanned again.

Therefore, if any processing section or module becomes inoperable due to a blockage of mail, the module located on the side of the output mail route 01 from the perspective of that module will continue to operate and will not process the previous mail. The silk is supplied to the third mail processing section 5 or the transfer routes 1 to 102 and then operated.
Continue or stop.

In addition, the module on the mail input port side supplies the previous mail to the transfer routes 1 to 102 and the smoothing section 21.
gather at Therefore, when restoring a module, it is best to restore only the module that has stopped working.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As will not be explained in detail below, the present invention is divided into several processing sections, that is, modules, and each module is driven independently, and each module is provided with an exclusion loop, which causes an abnormality. This has the effect of speeding up recovery and extremely shortening the downtime when a module is jammed with mail and stops working. Mail items whose letters, numbers, symbols, or barcodes are determined to be partially or completely unreadable due to electrical factors are fed to exclusion route 1, where they are processed by merging into the path instead. This has the effect of making it possible to reread the mail and reducing the need for manual sorting, and also eliminates mail that cannot be stacked due to reasons such as the stacking section or full IRP in the sorting/accumulation processing section. ~
Since we have decided to reprocess the supply to [2], we have the effect of reducing the need for manual sorting of mail items in a full stacking section, which was previously required.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. ]・First mail supply section, 2...Second mail supply section, 3.First mail processing section, 4.Second mail processing section, 5...Third mail processing section. Mail processing department.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A first mail supply means that sends pre-arranged mail pieces one by one or in duplicate to a second mail supply means; The second mail supply means sends out the mail to the mail supply means, and the second mail supply means detects at least the spacing, length, and diagonal conveyance of the mail, and sends only the mail within predetermined values to the second mail supply means. The first mail processing means operates independently of the other mail processing means, and returns the mail that is out of range to the second mail supply means. Then, the mail is scanned, the letters, numbers, symbols, or barcodes written on the mail are read, and only the mail whose reading results match the pre-registered reading results is scanned. predetermined sorting information is added to the mail and sent to the subsequent third mail processing means, and the mail or unreadable mail that does not match the pre-registered reading result and the read result of the mail is said second mail processing means which returns to said second mail supply means and operates independently of other mail processing means; and a classification added to said mail from said second mail processing means. It identifies the information, sorts and stacks the mail pieces to which sorting information that matches the sorting information registered in advance in each of the plurality of accumulation units is added, and mail pieces to which the sorting information that does not match or the matching sorting information is added are sorted and stacked. The third mail processing means operates independently of the other mail processing means by returning mail that cannot be stacked due to an abnormality in the stacking section to which information is added and is to be stacked, to the second mail supply means. A mail reading and sorting device comprising: means.