JPH06232B2 - Paper sorting device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a paper sheet sorting apparatus that sorts paper sheets in a predetermined order by a plurality of stages of sorting, and particularly, a mail sorting apparatus. Regarding

[Conventional technology]

An example of application of a mail sorting device that rearranges mail in a certain order is mail sorting business. The delivery staff performs sorting work called "door-to-door assembly" in which the mail items in the delivery area in charge are viewed and the mail items are rearranged in a certain order along the route for delivery. Various sorting devices have been proposed for the mechanization of the door-to-door assembly work.

In the conventional mail sorting device, the mail address is generally
Once the barcode is read, it is converted into a classification information code that is easy to read and added to the mail. By reading the code that has been added in advance, the classification information is obtained, and the information is divided into classification boxes and divided into multiple stages. After that, the mail items are arranged in a certain order.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional mail sorting device described above, the distribution of the quantity of mail handled by each destination varies greatly depending on seasonal factors such as time, region, or New Year's time. There is a drawback that the box capacity must be large enough to allow for those fluctuations.

It is also possible to prepare a spare sorting box so that when the regular sorting box used from the beginning is full, the spare sorting box can be filled with mail, but the regular sorting box is full. However, there is a drawback that complicated control is required such as detecting the occurrence of a change and switching to a spare division box.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and to sort a mail piece into a sorting box having a constant capacity, and there is no need to increase the capacity of the sorting box because there is no need to allow for fluctuations in the number of mail pieces by destination. Another object of the present invention is to provide a mail sorting device that requires a small number of sorting steps.

[Means for solving problems]

The paper sheet sorting apparatus according to the present invention includes a primary stacking unit that stacks a plurality of paper sheets, and one sheet at a time from the primary stacking unit to stack the sheets into the secondary stacking unit. And a reading means for reading the sorting information given to the paper sheets sent by the feeding means, and the sorting information is input from the reading means to arrange the paper sheets in accordance with a predetermined priority order. An information processing device that determines a changing order, and the paper sheets are taken out from the secondary stacking unit into a plurality of primary sorting boxes according to the priority order based on information from the information processing device and each primary sorting box. A first sorting means for sorting so as to collect a predetermined amount of the paper sheets;
The paper sheets accumulated in each of the primary sorting boxes according to the order of sorting by the primary sorting means of the next sorting box are transferred to a plurality of secondary sorting boxes according to the priority order based on the information from the information processing device. The secondary sorting means for sorting, and the above 1
Storage means for taking out the paper sheets from each of the secondary sorting boxes according to the priority and storing the sheets in the stacking box each time the sorting by the secondary sorting means for each of the next sorting boxes is completed. .

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an example of a mail sorting device according to the present invention. The postal matter 2 manually supplied to the primary stacking unit 1 having the function of supplying and accumulating postal matter is sent out to the conveying path 3 one by one. Along with the information on the thickness of the mail piece 2 measured by the thickness detector 4, the bar code information previously given to each mail piece at another place is read by the code reader 5, and the information is read by a computer (Fig. Sent (not shown). The postal matter 2 from which the thickness information and the bar code information have been read is sent to the secondary stacking unit 6 and stacked as shown in the drawing. The information sent to the computer is the mail 2
Are sorted in a fixed order to be finally sorted and are stored as classification information.

Next, the postal matter 2 is sent out from the secondary stacking unit 6 to the conveyance path 8, and the code of each postal matter 2 is read by the code reader 9. The postal matter 2 that has passed through the code reader 9 is primarily sorted into five primary sorting boxes 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 in the example of FIG. 1 by a computer command. That is, the thickness information of the postal matter 2 read by the code reader 9 and the bar code are compared with the divisions stored in the computer, and the division box in which each postal matter 2 is put is designated as a result.

The number of mail pieces 2 in the primary stacking unit 1 is 40, and each of the mail pieces 2 is represented by symbols n1, n2, ... N40 according to the order in which the mail pieces 2 should be rearranged. This postal matter has entered the primary stacking unit 1 in a random state, and first of all, the order to be finally rearranged in the primary section is 1/5 from the front, that is, n.
From 1 to n8 to the primary sorting box 10, and so on from n9 to
n16 to the primary sorting box 11, n17 to n24 to the primary sorting box 12, n25 to n32 to the primary sorting box 13 n33 to n
40 are divided into the primary division boxes 14, respectively. Mail 2
If the thicknesses of all the boxes are the same, each of the primary bins is equally divided, but in the case of mail items of different thickness, the total thickness of the mail items accumulated in each bin is It is divided based on the thickness detection information so as to be even. Here, the case where the postal matter 2 has the same thickness will be described.

The postal items n1 to n8 are accumulated in the primary sorting box 10, but since the order of accumulation depends on the order in which the primary accumulating unit 1 has been placed, it is necessary to rearrange them again. The same applies to the other primary sorting boxes 11, 12, 13, and 14. Therefore, first, the mail items in the primary sorting box 10 are sent to the transport path 15 one by one, and the code is read again by the code reader 16 provided along the transport path 15,
Based on the division information stored in the computer, the secondary division box 1 from the front of the order to be finally rearranged.
7, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 are sequentially stacked in these secondary bins. That is, the postal item n1 is in the sorting box 17, the n2 is in the sorting box 18,
n3 is a sorting box 19, n4 is a sorting box 20, n5 is a sorting box 21, n6 is a sorting box 22, n7 is a sorting box 23,
n8 are accumulated in the sorting boxes 24, respectively.

Next, the mail items stored in the secondary sorting box are simultaneously conveyed to the transport path 25.
It is discharged to the upper side and is conveyed to the conveying path 25 in the order of n1 to n8, and is conveyed and accumulated in the accumulating box 27 in this order. When the secondary sorting boxes 17 to 24 are vacant, the mails in the primary sorting box 11 are similarly sorted into the secondary sorting boxes 17 to 24 in order, and n1 to n are stored in the stacking box 27 first.
After n8, n9 to n16 are sequentially stacked, and they are successively stacked. Similarly, the mail items in the primary sorting boxes 12, 13, and 14 are sequentially sorted into secondary sorting boxes and stacked in a stacking box 27. Thus,
When all the postal items 2 in the primary sorting box are accumulated in the accumulating box 27, the postal items 2 are finally arranged in a certain order n1.
.About.n40 and accumulated in the accumulation box 27, and the division is completed.

In the above-described embodiment, since there are eight secondary sorting boxes, the maximum number of categories of mail that can be accumulated in each of the primary sorting boxes 10 to 14 is eight. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the maximum number of feeds that can be divided at one time is 5 × 8 = 4 when one division is one.
It will be 0. Generally, if the number of postal items required for individual assembly at the post office is about 600,
As an example, 15 primary partition boxes and 40 secondary partition boxes may be prepared. The number of each may be determined according to the intended use mechanism and size of the device. In this embodiment, the capacities of the primary sorting boxes are the same, and the total capacity is only required to accommodate the postal matter supplied to the primary stacking unit once. If you need a larger number of final bins and you do not want to increase the number of bins too much, after the primary bin, prepare a row of bins that is the same as the primary bin and is a 3-tier bin. You can do this.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the postal matter 2 is pre-assigned with a code and read by a code reader, but a method of directly reading the address of the postal matter by an OCR (optical character reading) device may be considered instead. To be

As described above, instead of assigning a code to each sorting box as in the conventional sorting apparatus of this type, in this embodiment, the order of the codes is assigned to each sorting box, and the mail of the primary stacking unit 1 is sent. Since the objects are equally divided and divided into the division boxes 10 to 14, it is not necessary to prepare a division box having a large capacity in preparation for a variation in the distribution of codes. Also, a complicated control circuit for preparing a spare partition box, detecting that the regular partition box is full, and switching to the spare partition box is unnecessary.

Further, in this embodiment, after the mail items 2 to be supplied for the first time have been sorted into the primary sorting boxes 10 to 14, the primary stacking unit 1 is empty. Therefore, the next mail item 2 to be sorted can be put in the supply unit 1 and prepared. Further, if the computer is provided with a function of receiving new information, the next reading can be started using the thickness detector 4, the code reader 5 and the conveyance path 3. That is, the code of the second mail is read at the time of the second sorting of the first sorted mail 2 and sent to the secondary stacking unit 6 so that the first sorting can be performed immediately. Can be set.

Further, when the code reading process is interrupted due to the time to prepare and put the postal matter in the supply unit such as the primary stacking unit 1 properly, two or more supply units are provided and a switch is provided. It is only necessary to switch the order in sequence to send out the postal matter from one of the supply units, and put the postal matter in the vacant supply unit during the time when the code is being read and prepare for it. If it is inconvenient to start the next stacking operation in the stacking box during the time when all the stacked mail items are taken out,
It is convenient to provide two or more accumulation boxes and switch between them.

Further, in order to eliminate the inconvenience of manually feeding the postal matter to the feeding section or taking it out of the accumulating section and carrying it, it is possible to provide a plurality of detachable so-called cassette type feeding sections and a plurality of accumulating boxes. The paper sorting device can be made more convenient and practical.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the rearrangement order of paper sheets is determined by the information processing apparatus, and the secondary stacking unit sorts the sheets into the primary sorting boxes according to the priority order and is sorted into the primary sorting boxes. The paper sheets are sorted by the primary sorting means so that the amount of paper sheets becomes a predetermined amount, and the paper sheets sorted into each of the primary sorting boxes are secondarily sorted.
By the next sorting means, the sheets are sorted into the secondary sorting boxes according to the priority again, and the sheets sorted in the secondary sorting boxes are sequentially stored in the stacking box, so that the distribution of the sheets in the priority order changes. There is no need to prepare a large-capacity sorting box in preparation for, and there is an effect that the paper sheets can be automatically rearranged according to the priority order.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. 1 ... Primary collection unit, 2 ... Mail, 4 ... Thickness detector, 5,
9, 16 ... Code reader, 6 ... Secondary stacking unit, 10-1
4 ... Primary sorting box, 17-24 ... Secondary sorting box, 27 ... Stacking box.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A primary stacking unit for stacking a plurality of paper sheets,
Supplying means for sending out the paper sheets one by one from the primary stacking portion and stacking them in the secondary stacking portion, and reading means for reading the sorting information given to the paper sheets sent by the supplying means. An information processing device for inputting the sorting information from the reading means and determining the rearrangement order of the paper sheets in accordance with a predetermined priority order; and taking out the paper sheets from the secondary stacking unit to form a plurality of primary sheets. Primary sorting means for sorting the sorting boxes according to the priority order based on the information from the information processing device and for each primary sorting box to accumulate a predetermined amount of the sheets, and the primary sorting means. The first of the box
Secondary sorting means for sorting the paper sheets accumulated in each of the primary sorting boxes according to the sorting order by the next sorting means into a plurality of secondary sorting boxes according to the priority order based on information from the information processing device. And storage means for taking out the paper sheets from each of the secondary sorting boxes according to the priority order and storing them in a stacking box each time the sorting by the secondary sorting means for each of the primary sorting boxes is completed. A paper sheet sorting device characterized by the above.