JPH10329982A - Paper sheet sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect the overlapping of paper sheets and remove the overlapped paper sheets from the normal classification process by comparing the length of the paper sheet indicated by an input means before supply with the length of the paper sheet during conveyance. SOLUTION: The kind of a paper sheet 1 is inputted via an input means 20, and the length L1 of the paper sheet 1 mounted on a hopper 9 is obtained in reference to the prescribed table. The length L2 of the paper sheet 1 is measured by the first measuring means 4 after it is supplied to a conveying means 3 by a supplying means 2. The lengths L1, L2 of both paper sheets are transmitted to a comparing means 21. The comparing means 21 compares the lengths L1, L2. If the difference is a prescribed value or above, the comparing means 21 judges that the paper sheets 1 are duplexed and reports it to a conveyance control means 19. The conveyance control means 19 switches the first sorting means 10, guides the paper sheets 1 judged to be duplicated to a reject accumulating means 12, and prevents erroneous sorting.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet sorting apparatus such as a letter sorter for sorting letters of a postal matter according to a destination, and more particularly to processing a letter having a fixed size such as a postcard at a high speed. The present invention relates to a paper sheet sorting apparatus that can perform the operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A letter sorter will be described as an example of a sheet sorting apparatus. In the letter sorter, the letters supplied one by one by the supply means are conveyed by the conveying means to a predetermined one of the plurality of accumulating means. On the way, information on the form of the letter, such as the shape and hardness, and division information such as the address are fetched, and the letter is guided to a predetermined collecting unit according to the result of processing the information.

[0003] Here, the supply means supplies one letter at a time, but there is a case where two or more letters are erroneously supplied one after another (hereinafter referred to as double feed). When letters are repeatedly sent, the address of only one letter is read and classified, so that the other overlapping letters are classified into wrong stacking means. Therefore, we detect letters that are sent multiple times,
It is desirable to exclude the normal classification processing in advance.

As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-143132, some conventional letter sorters measure the length of letters and change the supply interval.

[0005]

The above-mentioned prior art does not mention the detection of a double feed letter. here,
When letters are multi-fed, the letters will overlap completely,
There are many cases where they are shifted and overlapped. When the length of a letter overlapped and shifted is measured, the length is longer than that of a single letter.

Accordingly, the present invention detects the overlap of two or more letters by comparing the length of the letter before supply with the length of the letter being transported, and eliminates the overlap from the normal sorting process. The purpose of the present invention is to reduce the misclassification of a sheet sorting apparatus.

[0007]

The present invention has the following configuration to achieve the above-mentioned object. Supply means for supplying sheets one by one, information processing means for acquiring information on the sheets, accumulation means for accumulating the sheets, and the sheet based on the information from the information processing means Sorting means for sorting sorts to the predetermined stacking means, conveying means for conveying the paper sheets from the supply means to the stacking means, measuring means for measuring the length of a letter conveyed by the conveying means, Input means for inputting the type of paper sheet supplied from the supply means, length of the paper sheet obtained from the type of paper sheet input by the input means, and paper sheet measured by the measuring means And comparing means for judging whether or not the difference from the length is equal to or greater than a preset value, and the classification of the paper sheet is determined based on the result of the comparing means.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the letter sorter of the present invention. An example of a paper sheet handled by the apparatus of this embodiment is a fixed postal letter such as a postcard or an envelope.

A letter sorter 50 shown in FIG. 1 reads sort information such as an address and a bar code written on a letter 1, and processes a letter based on the sort information.

First, each component of the letter sorter 50 will be described.

The supply means 2 is a means for sequentially supplying the letters 1 one by one. For example, the letter 1 is attracted to a belt by a negative pressure, and the letter 1 is sequentially supplied one by one by moving the belt.

The conveying means 3 is, for example, composed of a belt moving in opposition, and conveys the letter 1 therebetween.

The first measuring means 4 is a means for measuring the length of the letter conveyed by the conveying means 3. For example, it is configured to include a light emitting diode and a phototransistor, and block an optical path only when there is a letter. Since the transport speed is almost constant, by measuring the time when the optical path is interrupted,
The length of the letter can be determined. First measuring means 4
1 is provided adjacent to the downstream side of the supply means 2 in FIG. 1, but may be anywhere on the transport means 3 as long as the length of the letter can be measured, or a plurality of may be provided.

The foreign matter discriminating means 5 discriminates a letter which is inappropriate to be handled by the letter sorter 50 in terms of hardness, shape and the like. For example, for a hard letter, the deformation of the belt is measured at the bent portion of the belt, and when the deformation is large, the letter is determined to be a hard letter.

The first positioning means 6 is a means for correcting the posture of the letter 1. The character reading means 7 is a means for reading the address written on the letter 1. The bar code reading means 8 is a means for reading the address bar code when the address bar code is printed on the letter 1. The first positioning means 6 is located upstream of the character reading means 7 and the bar code reading means 8 and improves the reading accuracy by adjusting the posture of the letter 1.

The hopper 9 includes letters 1 stacked in the thickness direction.
And a hopper transport unit for transporting the hoppers to the supply unit 2.

Letter 1 determined to be abnormal by foreign matter determining means 5
Is guided to the reject accumulating means 11 by switching the transport direction by the first sorting means 10.

The bar code printing means 13 is a means for printing a bar code when no bar code is printed on the letter 1. The second positioning means 12 is located on the upstream side of the barcode printing means 13 and adjusts the posture of the letter 1 before reaching the barcode printing means 13 where the barcode is printed on the letter 1 on which the barcode degree is not printed. Print.

The bar code checking means 14 is a means for checking whether the bar code has been printed normally. In addition,
Letters that have not been printed normally are sent to the reject stacking means.

The stacking means 15 is a means for stacking the letter 1 and the second sorting means 1 for sorting the letter 1 into each stage.
6. Third sorting means 17 for sorting the letter 1 to each collecting means 15. The letter 1 is divided into predetermined stacking means 15 by switching between the second sorting means 16 and the third sorting means 17 in accordance with the sorting information obtained by the character reading means 7 and the bar code reading means 8.

The overlap means 18 comprises two conveying paths 18A and 18B having different lengths, and an overlap sorting means 18C. When letters enter the same collecting means 15 at short intervals, the letters may collide with each other and cause a jam. Thus, by stacking two letters in advance, it is possible to prevent the two letters from colliding with each other in the stacking unit 15. For example, if the transport path 18A is the transport path 1
When the length is shorter than 8B, the overlap sorting means 18C
Accordingly, the two letters can be overlapped by guiding the first letter to the transport path 18B and the second letter to the transport path 18A.

The transport control means 19 is a control means for guiding the letter 1 to a predetermined collecting means 15 in accordance with the classification information.

The input means 20 is a means for an operator to input a sorting method in the letter sorter 50 using, for example, a push switch. Particularly, in the letter sorter 50 of the present invention, it is assumed that the letter sorter 50 is an input means capable of designating at least the shape of the letter 1. For example, it is possible to specify that letters of various shapes are mixed, and to specify that the letter is only a specific shape, such as processing only a New Year's card.

The comparing means 21 compares the length of the letter input by the input means 20 with the length of the letter measured by the first measuring means, and when the difference in length is equal to or more than a predetermined value, the letter Is determined to be abnormal.

Next, an example of the sorting operation of the letter 1 by the letter sorting machine 50 will be described.

First, the letters 1 placed on the hopper 9 are supplied one by one by the supply means 2 and conveyed by the conveyance means 3. The first measuring means 4 measures the length of the supplied letter 1 and transmits the value to the comparing means 21. The foreign matter discriminating means 5 determines whether or not the letter is a letter (abnormal) that cannot be processed by the letter sorter 50.

If the letter 1 is abnormal, the foreign matter discriminating means 5 reports the abnormality of the letter 1 to the transport control means 19. When the transport control unit 19 receives the letter, when the letter 1 reaches the vicinity of the first sorting unit 10, the first sorting unit 10
And the letter 1 is guided to the reject accumulation means 11.
Thus, the abnormal letter 1 is not classified.

If the letter 1 is normal, the character reading means 7
Alternatively, the address of the letter 1 is read by the barcode reading means 8. Then, the sorting information obtained from the address is transmitted to the transport control unit 19.

In the above processing, when the bar code is not printed on the letter 1 from which the sorting information is read, the bar code is printed on the letter 1 by the bar code printing means 13.
However, before printing the barcode, the second alignment means 1
The posture of the letter 1 is adjusted in 2 and the letter 1 is conveyed to the barcode printing means 13. Thereafter, when the letter 1 is sorted by the letter sorter 50, the letter 1 is read and then sorted.
Usually, barcode recognition is faster and more reliable than character recognition, so that sorting processing performance can be improved.

Next, the letter 1 passes through the overlapping means 18. Here, when letters are continuously input to the same location of the stacking means 15, the letters collide with each other in the stacking means 15 and a jam is likely to occur. Therefore, the transport control means 1
In step 9, when it is determined that the two letters are to be successively divided into the same stacking means 15, the overlap sorting means 18C is switched to overlap the two letters in advance.

After that, the transport control means 19 switches the transport direction by the second sorting means 16 and the third sorting means 17, and stores the letter 1 in the accumulating means 1 corresponding to the sorting information.
Lead to 5.

Thus, the sorting process performed on letter 1 is completed.

Here, in the above description, an example was described in which only one letter 1 was divided. In practice, however, many letters are processed in parallel in order to improve the performance of the letter sorter 50. Thereby, the number of sheets processed per unit time can be increased.

By the way, when the letter 1 is supplied by the supply means 2, there is a case where two or more letters are erroneously supplied in a state of being overlapped (hereinafter, referred to as double feed). Here, the configuration of the supply unit 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 shows the detailed configuration of the supply means 2.

The chamber 2A has a hollow inside and a hole formed in the surface on which the letter 1 is to be placed. The inside air is sucked out by a blower (not shown), and the chamber 2A is in a negative pressure state.

The separation belt 2B has a hole at a predetermined position. The separation belt 2B is driven by a motor (not shown) and rotates in the direction of arrow B.

The elastic members 2C and 2D such as springs or rubber are locking members made of a high friction material such as rubber. The locking member 2D is supported by the elastic body 2C and is pressed against the separation belt 2B.

Next, the operation of the supply means 2 will be described.

The chamber 2A is sucked by a blower (not shown), and the inside thereof has a negative pressure. A hole is formed in the chamber 2A and the separation belt 2B, and air is sucked in the direction of arrow A through this hole, whereby the letter 1A is attracted to the separation belt 2B. Then, the letter 1A is pulled out downward by moving the separation belt 2B in the direction of arrow B.

Here, when the letters 1 are multi-fed, the second and subsequent letters are not pulled out because a force in the direction opposite to the supply direction is applied by the locking member 2D. On the other hand, since the first letter in contact with the separation belt 2B is attracted to the separation belt 2B, it is pulled out and supplied to the conveyance means 3 as it is.

In this way, the supply means 2 changes the letter 1
They are supplied one by one.

By the way, some letters made of paper are permeable to air and others have a large coefficient of friction. In the case of such a letter, when the first letter 1A close to the supply means 2 is sucked, the air is transmitted, so that the second letter 1A is absorbed.
B also adsorbs. Or, if the coefficient of friction is large, letter 1A
A large frictional force acts on the letter 1B. For this reason, the letter 1A and the letter 1B may be pulled out together, and a double feed may occur even though the locking force of the locking member 2D works.

When a letter is double-fed, only one address is read and classified, so that a letter whose address is not read is classified into a stacking unit 15 different from the address.

Therefore, it is desirable to detect that a letter is being multi-fed before sorting, and to input the letter to, for example, the reject accumulation means 11 so as not to sort the double-fed letter in the same procedure as in the normal state.

Here, when observing the state in which letter 1 is multi-fed, letters do not overlap completely, but letter 1 in FIG.
It often shifts and overlaps like C. As an example, when a postcard was supplied, about 3/4 of the multi-fed postcards were shifted and overlapped like letter 1C.

FIG. 3 shows how the passage of a letter is measured using the first measuring means 4. Assuming that the length of letter 1 is L1, if only letter 1 is conveyed, it is detected that there is a letter for a time corresponding to the length of L1 as indicated by a solid line. On the other hand, if the letter 1 is shifted and overlapped, it is detected that there is a letter for a time corresponding to the length of L2 as indicated by a dotted line. Here, when L2> L1, it can be determined that the letter is double-fed.

Therefore, when comparing the length of the letter 1 in the state of being placed on the hopper 9 with the length of the letter 1 being conveyed by the conveying means 3, most of the letters 1 which are multi-conveyed are compared. Since the length of the sheet during conveyance increases, it can be detected that the sheet is a double feed.

Therefore, the letter sorter 50 shown in FIG. 1 detects a double feed by the following procedure.

First, before starting the sorting process, the operator inputs the type of the letter 1 using the input means 20,
The length L1 of the letter placed on the hopper 9 can be determined by referring to a table or the like in which the letter length is stored in advance for each type. After the supply unit 2 supplies the letter 1 to the transport unit 3, the length L2 of the letter 1 is measured by the first measurement unit 4. Then, the lengths L1 and L2 of both letters are transmitted to the comparing means 21.

The comparing means 21 compares the lengths L1 and L2,
If it is larger than the predetermined value, it is determined that letter 1 is multi-fed.

An example is shown below. First, the comparing means 21
If a difference equal to or greater than Ld is detected, it is determined to be abnormal. Here, Ld = 5 mm. Next, for example, when only a New Year's card is classified, the letter specified by the input unit 20 may be only a postcard. At this time, since the length of the postcard is about 148 mm, the length of the letter L1
Is L1 = 148 mm. Therefore, when the length L2 of the letter measured by the first measuring means 4 is L2> (L1 + Ld), double feeding is performed. Therefore, when L2 is measured to be (L1 + Ld = 148 + 5 =) 153 mm or more, it is determined to be a double feed.

As described above, when the comparing means 21 determines that the multi-feed has occurred, the fact is reported to the transport control means 19. Then, the transport control means 19 is the first sorting means 1
By switching to 0 and guiding the letter determined to be a double feed to the reject accumulation means 12, misclassification can be prevented.

In the above embodiment, the hopper 9
The operator uses the input means 20 to select the length L1 of the letter placed in the box, but when letters of various lengths are mixed, the lengths of those letters are measured, and L1 is determined. It is desirable to change it because the detection rate of double feed increases.

FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 shows the second measuring means 22A, 2A for measuring the length of each letter in the supplying means 2.
The configuration when 2B is provided is shown. The difference between FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 is that the second measuring means is different.

In view of this, in the configurations shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the length of the letter to be compared can be automatically changed by providing the hopper 9 with a measuring means. That is, the letter 1 near the separation belt 2B
Is provided with a second measuring means 22A or 22B for measuring the length.

The second measuring means 22A shown in FIG. 4 is constituted by, for example, a one-dimensional CCD, and can measure the length of the letter 1 by obtaining the ratio of the letter 1 to the range of the image of the CCD. it can.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the second measuring means 22B comprises a roller 101 and a sensor 102 for detecting that the roller has rotated. The roller 101 protrudes toward the hopper 9 from the surface through which the letter 1 passes when the supply means 2 pulls out the letter 1. When the letter is pulled out, the roller 101 rotates in the direction of arrow d due to the frictional force with the letter. . The rotation is detected by the sensor 102. For example, when supplying a short letter 1D, the letter 1D does not contact the roller 101, so that even if the letter 1D is supplied, the roller 101 does not rotate. Therefore, it is understood that the letter 1D is short. On the other hand, when the long letter 1E is supplied, the letter 1E comes into contact with the roller 101, so that the roller 101 rotates. This indicates that the letter 1E is long.

The second measuring means 22A or 22
Using B, the length L1 of the letter 1 on the hopper 9 is measured.
Then, the comparing unit 21 compares the length L1 of the letter measured by the first measuring unit with the length L2 of the letter measured by the second measuring unit. You can judge.

In the embodiment described above, the supplying means 2
Is a configuration in which the supply is performed with the side in which one side of the letter 1 is aligned as the leading end, but the present invention is also applicable to a supply unit 2 that supplies any side with the leading end.

Although the above example has been described using a letter sorter that handles letters as a sort target, a sorter that processes information on paper sheets and changes the sort based on the processing result is used. The present invention can be applied.

[0062]

By comparing the length of the letter before supply specified by the input means or the length of the letter before supply measured by the second measuring means with the length of the letter being transported, Can be detected as overlapping two or more. As a result, overlapping letters can be excluded from the normal sorting process, and erroneous sorting of the sheet sorting apparatus can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a letter sorter that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a supply unit.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing how a first measuring unit detects passage of a letter.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram (1) of a supply unit provided with a second measurement unit.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram (2) of a supply unit provided with a second measurement unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Letter, 2 ... Supply means, 3 ... Transport means, 4 ... First measuring means, 5 ... Foreign substance discriminating means, 6 ... First alignment means, 7 ...
Character reading means, 8 ... Bar code reading means, 9 ...
Hopper, 10: first sorting means, 11: reject accumulation means, 12: second alignment means, 13: barcode printing means, 14: barcode confirmation means, 15: accumulation means,
16: second sorting means, 17: third sorting means, 18: overlap means, 19: transport control means,
20 input means, 21 comparison means, 22A, 22B second measurement means.

Claims (3)

[Claims] A supply unit for supplying sheets one by one; an information processing unit for acquiring information on the sheets; a plurality of accumulation units for accumulating the sheets for each section; Sorting means for sorting the paper sheets to a predetermined stacking means based on information of processing means, conveying means for conveying the paper sheets from the supply means to the collecting means, and a letter conveyed by the conveying means. A sheet sorting apparatus having a first measuring unit for measuring the length, an input unit for inputting a type of the sheet supplied from the supply unit, and a sheet type input by the input unit. Comparing means for determining whether or not a difference between the length of the paper sheet determined from the type and the length of the paper sheet measured by the first measuring means is equal to or larger than a preset value; Determining the sorting destination of the sheet according to the result of the comparing means A paper sheet sorting apparatus characterized by the following. 2. A supply unit for supplying sheets one by one; an information processing unit for acquiring information on the sheets; an accumulation unit for accumulating the sheets; Sorting means for sorting the paper sheets to the predetermined stacking means on the basis of the paper sheet, conveying means for conveying the paper sheets from the supply means to the stacking means, and measuring a length of a letter conveyed by the conveying means. A sheet measuring device for measuring the length of a sheet provided in the vicinity of the supply means; and a first measuring means for measuring the length of the sheet provided near the supply means. Comparing means for comparing whether or not the difference between the length of the paper sheet thus measured and the length of the paper sheet measured by the second measuring means is equal to or greater than a preset value, and the result of the comparing means Wherein the sorting destination of the paper sheet is determined according to Minute device. 3. The paper sheet sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said input means can input that the paper sheet is only a postcard.