JPH0829881B2 - Form sorting device and form sorting method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial applications]

The present invention relates to a technique for arranging forms such as bills and checks that have respective reference numbers and are randomly arranged regardless of the reference numbers in the order of the reference numbers.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, as a technique related to the above-mentioned form rearrangement, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-6
A "form number sorting method" described in Japanese Patent No. 0566 is known. This technology applies all the data in a group of forms to be arranged one by one to the reading means and reads the entered data (for example, the data such as the reference number written by numbers or codes on the form). , The read data is newly rearranged in a predetermined order (for example, in ascending order) to give a new order number according to the size of the reference number to each form, and then the forms are conveyed one by one. However, based on the order data, the sorting process of sorting and storing the pockets in the middle of the carrying route is repeated. That is, at the time of the first reading, regardless of the number, the order data up to the nth number is given to each form according to the number n (n is a natural number), and the number of times corresponding to the number of digits of the number n is increased. , P (usually 10) distribution of forms to pockets and collection of distributed forms and putting them into the device all at once, to arrange all forms in order of serial number can do. For example, if n = 30, the first sort sorts the forms into the pockets 0 to 9 for each numerical value of the least significant digit (for example, ranks 10 and 20 are ranked 0,
1,11,21 goes to No. 1, rank 3,23 goes to No. 3 ...), after collecting forms from each pocket and stacking them in order, 2 from the bottom
After categorizing the forms into the 0th to 9th pockets for each digit of the 2nd digit, collecting the forms from each pocket and stacking them, the 1st to 30th forms are sorted in the order of serial numbers. Can be organized. According to this technique, the order data is given to the forms separately from the reference number, and the rearrangement is performed based on the order data. Therefore, the form rearranging technique before the invention described in the above publication, that is, , Like the technology that repeats the sort over the number of digits of the form data,
Depending on the number of forms to be organized without being affected by the number of digits in form data, 1000 sheets will be 4 times (including 1 reading of form data), 100 sheets will be 3 times (same as above) You can organize by the number of sorts such as.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, since the above technique uses all pockets for each sort, there is a problem in that the complicated work of collecting forms from each pocket must be performed each time. That is, taking a device with 10 pockets P as an example,
Regardless of whether the number of sheets to be sorted is 1000 or 101, similarly, one reading and three sortings are required. There is no change in the complexity of the collection work, and regardless of whether there is a need to sort out about 1000 sheets of documents or 101 sheets of documents, It will be necessary to use a device with pockets. Therefore, there is a lack of flexibility in increasing or decreasing the number of target forms, and depending on the number, 10 pockets must be excessively present, which causes unnecessary cost increase. In addition, the increase in the number of pockets is accompanied by an increase in the number of sorting means for sorting the forms into each pocket and the number of guide means or conveying means for guiding the forms from the sorting means to the pockets. There is also a possibility that the clogging of a class or malfunction will increase, and the reliability of the sorting result will be impaired. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to reduce the complexity of the recovery work from a pocket and to increase the utilization efficiency of the pocket to improve the reliability of the device.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 reads the serial number data from the supply means for separating and feeding out the forms to be processed one by one, and the forms supplied from the supply means. It is composed of reading means and sorting means for allocating the forms to P pockets under predetermined conditions based on the reading result of the reading means. All the forms are fed out from the supply means and serial number data. After collecting the data by the reading means and collecting it from the supply means, a sort processing device for rearranging the sorting processing according to the reference number data by repeating the sorting processing for distributing to the pocket under predetermined conditions for S times. In the above, the number is determined by the counting means for counting the number N of processing target forms supplied from the supply means, the number P of pockets and the number S of sorts. And compares the count result N of numbers P ^S and said counting means is to be constant, and sort method selection means for selecting a combination of the close P ^S to the most N be more than N P and S, the Based on the number P of pockets in the combination selected by the sorting method selecting means, N rank data based on the counting result of the counting means are converted into a P-adic system, and the converted rank data correspond to the reference number data. And a ranking data assigning unit that assigns each form to each form in the specified order. The sorting unit assigns each form to a specific digit value for each S digit of the rank data converted to the P-adic system. According to the above, the sorting process for allocating to each pocket is repeated. The invention described in claim 2 is based on the value of P determined in advance in claim 1 as a reference.
In order to set S corresponding to this P, a setting means for supplying a setting signal to the sorting method selection means is provided. The invention described in claim 3 is, in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a pocket number input means for supplying a signal for setting a range of P selectable by the sort method selecting means is provided. It was done so. The invention according to claim 4 includes a step of reading a reference number from each form to be processed, a step of counting the number N of the forms, and a number P of distribution destinations of the forms. compared to the distribution destination P ^S is a numerical value determined by the number S of the processing for distributing paper sheet and a count result N of the counting means, the P ^S to a size closest to N be more than N According to the step of selecting a combination of P and S that satisfy the requirement, and the specific P included in the selection result, the number N is converted into the P-adic number, and the converted number N is converted.
Of assigning N rank data corresponding to each of the above to each form in the order of serial numbers, and for each S digit of the rank data converted to the P-adic number, each form is assigned a numerical value of a specific digit. The forms are organized by a process of repeating the sort process of distributing the forms to each distribution destination according to the above.

[Action]

According to the above configuration, the number data N is obtained by counting each form, and based on the number data, N ≦ P ^S
It is possible to select P and S that are closest to N from among P and S that satisfy the above condition, and perform distribution with a minimum work amount. Further, S can be arbitrarily set corresponding to P set in advance. Further, the range of P can be set according to the number of pockets actually provided in the device.

【Example】

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control system of the arrangement device of the present invention. Reference numeral 10 is a supply means, and the supply means 10 can accommodate, for example, the forms in an accumulated state, and can separate and feed the forms one by one. The documents fed from the supply means 10 are read in the serial number by the reading means 11 while being conveyed in a conveying path (not shown) constituted by, for example, a belt conveyor, and further read along the conveying direction. Is provided on the front side in the distribution direction of the distribution means 12 by a distribution means 12 composed of a distribution gate (not shown) provided downstream of the means and a drive control circuit (not shown) thereof. It can be distributed to pocket means (acceptance destination) 13. Further, the number of pocket means 13 is P (in the case of the illustrated example, P
= 10) pockets (not shown), and the respective forms distributed to the respective distribution means 12 can be received in a classification according to a predetermined law. The supply means 10, the reading means 11, the allocating means 12, and the pocket means 13 employ, for example, the mechanism described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-60566 as the prior art of the present application. The reference number data read by the reading means 11 is
Form number counting means 14 and reading order form data storage means 15
The sheet number counting means 14 counts the number of sheets to be rearranged from the total number _N of the serial number data D _N , and the reading order sheet data storage means 15 is provided.
The order data D _j is given to the read reference number in a predetermined order (for example, the order with the smallest reference number), and the correspondence between the reference number and the order is stored. On the other hand, the number-of-sheets data counted by the form number counting means 14 is supplied to the sorting method selecting means 16, which sorts the number of sheets and the sorting condition stored in the sorting condition storage means 17. From the data D _S , one sorting condition is selected after considering the sorting method set by the sorting method setting means 18, and this sorting condition is output. Further, the sort condition supplied from the sorting method selecting means 16 is supplied to the order number giving storage means 19, and the order number giving storage means 19 stores the order data supplied from the reading order form data storage means 15. It is converted into a P-adic number according to a predetermined sort condition and stored in correspondence with the serial number of each form, and this sort condition is supplied to the distribution means 12 to be distributed according to a predetermined law. There is. Next, the sort conditions stored in the sort condition storage means 18 will be described. The sorting condition storage means 18 is the number of pockets P to be used for rearranging, with respect to the count value N of the number of target forms.
And the required number of sorts S are stored in order to select them based on the conditional expression N ≦ P ^S (1) (where P ^S represents the S-th power of P). is there. That is, the relationship of the above equation (1) can be expressed as shown in FIG. 2, and if the number of processed sheets N is 1000 in the chart of FIG. Number of times (indicated by ... in the figure)
By setting 5 times, it is possible to sort out 1024 (= 4 ⁵ ) sheets that satisfy the above formula (1) to the maximum. In the case of P = 5, by setting the number of sorts to 5, 3125 (= 5 ⁵ ) sheets satisfying the above expression (1) can be arranged at the maximum. In the case of P = 6, by setting the number of sorts to 4, it is possible to organize 1296 (= 6 ⁴ ) sheets satisfying the above expression (1) at the maximum. The sort condition storage means 17 is supplied with a signal about the number P of pockets from the number of pockets input means 20, and according to the number P of pockets, from the data tabulated as shown in FIG. The data for the area that exceeds the number of pockets that exceeds is invalidated. Note that the value of the number of pockets P is a measured value (for example, a count value of a signal indicating the existence of each pocket) for a pocket that actually exists in the device, or an artificial setting value (not only the total number of pockets). , The number of pockets to be used, which is arbitrarily selected in consideration of work efficiency and the like, is used. Therefore, assuming the number of pockets P = 10,
In the area on the left side of the column for the number of pockets 10 in FIG. 2, by searching for S that satisfies the above equation (1), P = 10, S ≧ 3 P = 9, S ≧ 4 P = 8, S ≧ 4 P = 7, S ≧ 4 P = 6, S ≧ 4 P = 5, S ≧ 5 P = 4, S ≧ 5 are selected, and these P and S values are used as signals from the sorting method setting means 18. The sorting condition is determined by selecting one value based on the above. The sorting method setting means 18 outputs a signal to select a sorting condition that minimizes the number of sorts when the first purpose is to shorten the time required for the sorting work, and If necessary, a selection signal is output by operating a switch based on the operator's judgment. Incidentally, when selection of the sorting, the P ^S -
It is also possible to automatically select P or S that minimizes N. With the above configuration, for example, when the number of target forms N = 1000, normally, the number of pockets P = 10.
Under the condition of, the number of sorts S = 3 is selected. When N = 101, Since each sort condition is selected, if the number of sorts is 3, and the case of P = 5 is selected, the work load of collecting the forms from each pocket can be minimized. In addition, the load of the collection work is the total number of pockets [P x S]
Alternatively, the sorting method setting means 18 may select P and S that minimize the total number of pockets. In the above case, when P = 5 and S = 3 are selected. , The total number of pockets can be minimized. In the form organizing device configured as described above,
The organization is done in the following order. The forms to be processed are put into the supply means 10. Sheets are fed out one by one from the supply means 10 and sent to the reading means 11 to read each reference number. For example, by utilizing a part of the pockets forming the pocket means 13, the documents which have undergone the above-mentioned steps are accumulated in the same order as the reading. The forms are collected and put into the supply means 10. As described above, the serial numbers of all the forms are read, and the number counting unit 14 counts the number of the forms based on the number of the read serial numbers. Number of sheets N = 101
As described above, some combinations of P and S are selected by the sorting method selecting means 16, and the values of P and S are determined by some means (for example, a liquid crystal display (not shown) provided in the device). Section), and the operator selects a predetermined combination of P and S corresponding to this display. Further, according to the selection result, each rank data is converted into a P-adic system, is given to each form having a reference number in the relevant order, and is stored in correspondence with the reference number. When the supplying means 10 is operated and the forms are sent again to the reading means 11, the serial numbers are read from the respective forms and the order in the P-adic system is recognized based on the serial numbers. With respect to a specific one digit of the recognized rank, its numerical value is discriminated, and corresponding sorting means (the numerical value matches the number of pockets because it is a P-adic number) is actuated according to the discrimination result. Send documents to the pocket. When all the forms are sent from the supply means 10 to the pocket means 13, the forms are collected from the pocket means 13,
While preserving the stacking order, stack it and put it into the supply means,
Return to the above. Then, for the set number of sorts S,
By repeating the process of M1 in each pocket means 13
Sheets or M2 sheets (real number M is represented by M = N ÷ P, M1 is the maximum natural number that does not exceed the real number M, and M2 is the minimum natural number that exceeds the real number M) according to the ranking data. When all the forms are stored and collected along with the arrangement of the pocket means, the arrangement of all the forms is completed. Further, in the above embodiment, the number of pockets P is used as a reference,
I configured the table to select the required number of sorts,
Instead of this, a table of sort conditions as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 may be stored in the storage means 17. That is, the number of sorts S may be plotted on the horizontal axis and the number of processed sheets N may be plotted on the vertical axis in the figure, and the necessary number P of possible pockets may be selected from these relationships.

[Modified Example]

In the above embodiment, the sorting condition is selected based on the number of pockets input from the number-of-pockets input means, but the specific configuration of this number-of-pockets input means is the input means for manual input such as a key switch. Besides, for example, the pocket means and the sorting means may be configured to be attachable / detachable to / from the apparatus as needed, and a signal that increases / decreases with the attachment / detachment may be used. Further, when the pocket means and the sorting means are fixed and the number thereof is not changed, a fixed number P of pockets may be constantly input. b. In the embodiment, when the sorting method is selected, the appropriate P and S are selected from the table stored in the sort condition storage means. However, instead of storing such a table, the input P It is also possible to provide a calculation means for comparing the calculation result with the number of processed sheets N while repeating the calculation of P ^S according to the value. c. In the embodiment, the number of forms is counted from the data of the reference number read by the reading means, but the number data obtained from the counting means provided separately may be used. Of course, the present invention can be applied not only to forms such as bills and checks, but also to classification or arrangement of various numbered articles. e. As the reading means, an appropriate means such as an optical reading means or a porcelain reading means may be adopted according to the description system of the reference number of the forms.

【The invention's effect】

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, based on the counting result of the number of sheets to be processed, P-adic ranking data based on the number P of usable pockets is given to each sheet,
Since the classification is performed by repeating the sorting for each digit of this rank data, it is possible to organize the forms using the minimum number of pockets according to the number of target forms. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the labor of the work of collecting the forms from each pocket, which is required for each sort processing, which must be repeated a plurality of times, and at the same time, the number of sorting means or pockets to be operated at the time of sorting can be reduced. As a minimum, there is an effect that the reliability of the apparatus can be improved or the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 and 2 show one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram, FIG. 2 is a table showing the relationship between the number of processed sheets, the number of pockets, and the number of sorts, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are FIG. 2 and FIG. It is a chart about the same numerical value. 10 ... Supplying means, 11 ... Reading means, 12 ... Sorting means, 13
…… Pocket means, 14 …… Form number counting means, 15 …… Reading order form data storage means, 16 …… Sort method selecting means,
17 ... Sort condition storage means, 18 ... Sort method setting means, 19 ... P-adic ranking number giving storage means.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Based on a reading result of the reading means, a supply means for separating and feeding out the form objects to be processed one by one, a reading means for reading serial number data from the form objects supplied from the supplying means, And a sorting means for sorting the forms into P pockets under predetermined conditions.
By repeating all of the above-mentioned forms from the supply means, causing the reading means to read the reference number data and collecting them, and then repeating the sort process for distributing the number to the pocket under predetermined conditions while repeating the operation from the supply means for S times. In a form rearranging device for rearranging in a predetermined sequence according to the reference number data, it is determined by a counting unit that counts the number N of processing target documents supplied from the supply unit, a number P of pockets, and a number S of sorts. The numerical value P ^S and the counting result N of the counting means are compared, and P and S are N or more and P ^S that is the closest to N.
A sorting method selecting means for selecting the combination, and based on the number of pockets P in the combination selected by the sorting method selecting means, the N ranking data based on the counting result of the counting means is converted into the P-adic system,
The order data adding means for giving the converted order data to each form in the order corresponding to the reference number data, and the sorting means for converting the order data converted into the P-adic number system. A form organizing apparatus characterized by repeating a sort process for allocating each form to each pocket according to a numerical value of a specific digit for each of the S digits possessed. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising setting means for supplying a setting signal to said sorting method selecting means so as to set S corresponding to this P based on a predetermined value of P. The form organizing apparatus described in item 1. 3. A form according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising pocket number input means for supplying a signal for setting a range of P selectable by said sorting method selecting means. Classifier. 4. A step of reading a reference number from each form to be processed, a step of counting the number N of the forms, a number P of distribution destinations of the forms and distribution of the forms to each distribution destination. P, which is a numerical value determined by the number of times S of processing
Comparing ^S with the counting result N of the counting means and selecting a combination of P and S satisfying P ^S which is equal to or larger than N and is closest to N; The step of converting the number of sheets N into a P-adic number by P and assigning N order data corresponding to each of the converted number of sheets N to each form in the order of serial numbers, and converting into a P-adic number For each of the S digits included in the rank data, the process of repeating the sort process of allocating each form to each distribution destination according to the numerical value of the specific digit is performed.