JPH11165933A - Paper sheet handling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure proper gap lengths and surely section and accumulate the mails into object section ports by carrying only the thin mails which become short in gap length between the mails and the front and rear mails to a branch carrier path and joining the mails in an original carrier path after the gap lengths between the mails are corrected. SOLUTION: The thick mails such as envelopes of a fixed value or more in thickness are carried to a main carrier path 20. As for the mails such as postcards which are comparatively thin or have a certain fixed value or below in thickness, gap lengths between the mails are measured by a photoelectric sensor 29. When gap corrections are judged to be required, the mails are carried to a branch carrier path 21 by switching a switching gate 22 when the mails reach a switching gate timing sensor 23. The gap lengths are corrected by performing accelerating or decelerating for the mails by a driving body 25 so that the gap lengths may be the ones which can be sorted by a sorting gate by taking time when the mails reach the photoelectric sensor 24 as an opportunity. Subsequently, the mails are sectioned and accumulated into object section ports by joining the mails in the main carrier path 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for handling sheets such as a mail sorting apparatus, and more particularly to a sheet handling apparatus for correcting a gap length between mails being conveyed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique, Japanese Patent Publication No.
There is a mail sorting device as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8 (JP-A-8). In this sorting device, mails are separated one by one, and then the postal address, address, postal code, etc. are read and transported and collected to the sorting port corresponding to the result. If the length is less than a certain length, the sorting gate for collecting at the sorting port cannot operate, so a jam occurs at the time of the gate operation at the sorting port, or the sorting cannot be performed at the target sorting port, and the sorting cannot be performed. It is eliminated in the exclusion bin that collects mail. Jams can damage mail,
Since the device is temporarily stopped, the operation time of the device is reduced and efficiency is reduced. Also, the mail removed in the rejection box is inefficient because the attendant will manually sort the mail later.

In order to solve such a problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
There is a device for correcting the conveyance state of a paper sheet as described in JP-A-77772. This device automatically detects the transport interval and skew amount of paper sheets with a substantially constant thickness, such as banknotes fed from the feeding mechanism, and from the detection result, regardless of the thickness of the paper sheets. The conveyance interval and the skew amount are corrected to an appropriate state by a driving roller to reduce a jam.

However, in the above apparatus, the thickness is 0.2 m.
For postal items that differ from about m to 6 mm, read the postal address, address, postal code, etc., and print a barcode according to the result, or read the barcode and sort and accumulate it. The sorting device has the following problems. That is, when a mail piece having a particularly large thickness or a mail piece whose contents are unevenly distributed passes through the conveyance path in which the above-described drive roller is arranged, the drive roller cannot follow the step of the mail piece, and It may collide with the roller and cause a jam. Jams can damage mail items and temporarily shut down the equipment, resulting in reduced uptime and reduced efficiency of the equipment.

[0005] In addition, when the bar code is printed on the mail, depending on the position of the driving roller described above, or when there is a plurality of mails, the surface of the mail on which the bar code is printed is rubbed. In addition, the bar code is blurred, so that the bar code cannot be read in the sorting machine that reads and sorts the bar code.
As a result, it is not possible to perform the division into the intended division port, and the division is performed by the attendant, and as a result, the efficiency of the apparatus is reduced.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is intended to induce fluctuations in the thickness of mail, and to cause a jam in a mail having a large thickness or a mail in which contents are unevenly distributed. By compensating the gap between mail items, the appropriate gap length can be ensured and the switching time of the sorting gate at the sorting gate can be secured, without causing jams during the sorting gate operation or in the exclusion box. The sorting efficiency can be improved by surely collecting and collecting at the target sorting port without being excluded.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mail sorting apparatus without increasing the size by providing a mechanism for correcting a gap length in a transport path.

Further, the present invention aims at eliminating the damage to the printed result by arranging the driving body so as not to be rubbed and rubbed with the bar code printed on the postal matter, and it is also an object of the present invention to classify by the bar code reading. Another object of the present invention is to provide a mail sorting apparatus which can reliably sort and accumulate at the sorting port of the mail and improve the sorting efficiency.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a branch runway provided with a switching gate on a runway after a barcode is printed, and mail is sent to the branch runway at a specified speed. By providing a driving body that can increase or decrease the speed, using information corresponding to the thickness of the mail and information corresponding to the front and rear gap length,
Only the relatively thin mail with a thickness less than a certain value and the gap length between the preceding and following mail fluctuated and shortened are transported to the branch transport path to correct the gap length between the mail. Then, means for joining the branch conveyance path to the original conveyance path is used. Further, the driving body divides the branch conveyance path,
The driving body is provided in the interval, but is arranged such that the contact surface with the mail is out of the barcode printing range.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a front view schematically showing a mail sorting / accumulating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing one sorting port of a sorting shelf for stacking mail. It is a front view.

After separating the mail pieces 2 from the bundle 2 placed on the hopper 1 shown in FIG. 4 one by one into a transport path 3, the thickness of the mail pieces is measured by a thickness measuring device 4. The measured thickness information is sent to the control unit 7, and the control unit 7 checks whether the mail is too thick, which may cause a jam on the transport path or damage the mail itself. judge. Then, the postal matter determined not to be conveyed is rejected to the reject box 5. The thickness information of the mails determined to be normal is stored in the order of the mails in the control unit 7 as the thickness information of each mail. Thereafter, information such as an address, an address, a postal code, and the like described on the mail is read by the reading unit 6, and the read information is sent to the recognition unit 19 and recognized.

Next, the double feed detector 60 detects whether or not mails overlap. If it is determined that the mails overlap, the mails are rejected to the reject box 61. For mail items determined not to overlap, the recognition unit 19
Generates a barcode corresponding to the above recognition information. The mails pass through the transport path 8 even during the generation.
After a barcode corresponding to the read information is generated, the printing device 9 prints the barcode on the surface of the mail.

Thereafter, the postal matter passes through the transport path 10 and is transported to the stepped path transport path 11. The postal items sequentially sent by the step path transport path 11 are sorted into the respective stages of the sorting shelves 14 arranged in a matrix as shown in the figure.

Next, the operation after mail items are distributed to each stage will be described with reference to FIG.

The mails distributed from the step-pass transport path 11 in FIG. 4 to the respective sections of the sorting shelf 14 are transported through the transport path 17 in FIG. Thereafter, when the postal matter passes through the sorting gate timing sensor 16 arranged on the transport path 17, the sorting gate 12 is operated when it is to be sorted into the target sorting port 15, and is sorted into the sorting port 15 and accumulated. You. In this case, sorting is performed based on information from an address or the like written on a mail or information from the above-described printed barcode.

In the process of transporting the mail separated and conveyed from the hopper 1, if the gap between the mail and the next mail, that is, the gap length fluctuates during the transfer and becomes longer or shorter, the sorting gate is used. If the normal operation of the switching gate 12 occurs, the switching time of the distribution gate 12 is not secured, and there is a risk that a jam occurs. Therefore, the sorting gate 12 does not operate, and the sorting shelf 1 passes through the sorting opening 15 without passing through.
The distribution gate 12 is controlled by the control unit 7 so that the distribution gate 12 is rejected to the rejection box 18 installed at the end of each stage.

FIG. 1 shows a transport path 1 of the transport paths shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a front view showing details near 0, and FIG.
It is a top view showing the detail of the branch conveyance path 21 branched from 0.

The mail conveyed from the conveyance path 10 is
The paper is conveyed to either the conveyance path 20 shown in FIG. 1 or a branch conveyance path 21 branched from the conveyance path 20 (the conveyance path 20 is also referred to as a main conveyance path with respect to the branch conveyance path 21). A switching gate 22 for selecting a postal matter as a transport path is provided at a connecting portion separating the main transport path 20 and the branch transport path 21. Further, the switching gate 22
Is provided with a switching gate timing sensor 23 for obtaining information for controlling the timing. As will be described later, a photoelectric sensor 29 is provided upstream of the switching gate timing sensor 23 for measuring a gap difference (also referred to as a gap difference) between a mail conveyed from the conveyance path 10 and the next mail.

The branch conveying path 21 is located on the upstream side (obliquely upper right in the figure).
And downstream (diagonally below left).

On the upstream side of the branch conveying path 21, the driven roller 3 fixed to a base plate 50 (see FIG. 2)
0, a conveyance path constituted by the conveyance belt 32 is arranged. On the other hand, on the downstream side, a transport path including a driven roller 31 and a transport belt 33, which are also fixed to the base plate 50, is disposed.

Further, a photoelectric sensor 24 for detecting that the mail is conveyed to the branch conveyance path 21 is provided on the upstream conveyance path.
Is arranged. Further, a driving body 25 capable of increasing or decelerating a mail to a specified conveyance speed by a driving source (not shown) between a conveyance path on the upstream side and a conveyance path on the downstream side, a spring 28 and a support An opposing swing roller 26 supported by a member 27 is provided. The driving body 25 and the swing roller 26 are, as shown in FIG.
The barcode of the postal matter is arranged so that the contact surface with the postal matter 40 is out of the printing range of the barcode 41 so as not to rub the barcode of the postal matter. As described above, the driving body 25, the swing roller 41, and the like increase or decrease the transport speed of the mail, and are collectively referred to as a transport speed changing unit. Further, as the transport speed changing unit, for example, it is conceivable to control the transport speed of mail by using an endless belt provided on a pair of rollers instead of the driving body 25.

Next, the details of the control method of the mail transport gap according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3 and FIGS.

In the above-mentioned mail sorting / stacking apparatus, a method of separating mails one by one in a state where postcards and envelopes are mixed (mixed mode), and a thickness similar to a New Year's card or a postcard. There is a method (postcard mode) of classifying mail items having a certain range. The user can select one of these two methods from the operation panel 13 shown in FIG.
01).

When the mixed mode is selected (101), the switching gate 22 shown in FIG.
Switching is performed so that the mail is conveyed to the main conveyance path on the 0 side (102). At that time, after separating them one by one with hopper 1 (1
03), the controller 7 determines whether the thickness measured by the thickness measuring device 4 and stored in advance is equal to or smaller than a certain value (104).

In general, the gap length during conveyance between mail items fluctuates frequently when thin mail items and thick mail items are alternately conveyed. Therefore, by correcting only the gap length of a thin mail item among the mail items to be conveyed, the gap length between the thin mail item and the thick mail item is corrected. Also, if the transport speed is controlled by the above-described transport speed changing unit for mail having a thickness such as an envelope, unevenness such as an envelope is torn by a transport roller or the like, causing a jam, and thus the thickness is small. It is more efficient to control the mailing speed.

For this reason, a thick postal matter such as an envelope whose thickness is determined to be a certain value or more (104) is transported to the transport path 20 of the main transport path and gap correction is not performed. Partitioning (108).

On the other hand, for a postal matter such as a postcard whose thickness is relatively thin and is determined to be less than a certain value, (10
4) The gap length between the postal matter and the next postal matter is measured by the photoelectric sensor 29 installed on the upstream side of the switching gate timing sensor 23.

The positional relationship between the switching gate timing sensor 23 and the photoelectric sensor 29, that is, the arrangement method will be described. Since the photoelectric sensor 29 first detects the leading end of the conveyed mail and then detects the trailing end, the length of the mail can be measured in relation to the conveying speed. Next, in order to detect the leading end of the next postal matter, the interval length between the postal matters described above, that is, the gap difference, can be measured. Then, it is necessary to calculate whether to transport the postal matter to the main transport path 20 or to the branch transport path 21 until the target postal matter reaches the switching gate timing sensor 23.

Therefore, the switching gate timing sensor 23
And the photoelectric sensor 29 has a positional relationship of (length of mail) +
The sum of (gap length with subsequent postal matter) + (length converted from processing time necessary to determine whether the postal matter is to be transported to the branch transport path or the main transport path), or It is arranged with a longer distance. However, the length of the sum of the above three lengths is preferably about the same.
This is because if the length of the switching gate timing sensor 23 and the length of the photoelectric sensor 29 are abnormally large, the gap length between postal items may change again on the transport path between the sensors. . The switching gate timing sensor 23 and the switching gate 22 are also referred to as switching means, and the switching means may not require the switching gate timing sensor 23. In this case, the function of the switching gate timing sensor 23 is provided to the photoelectric sensor 29 (for example, the switching gate 22 is operated a predetermined number of seconds after the photoelectric sensor 29), and at this time, the positions of the photoelectric sensor 29 and the switching means are changed. A similar effect can be obtained by arranging the distance in the same manner as the distance described above.

Before and after the gap length between mails measured by the photoelectric sensor 29 reaches the gate timing sensor 23, a desired process is required in the control unit 7. Needless to say, this is related to the processing time necessary to determine whether the above-mentioned postal matter is transported to the branch transport path or the main transport path.

The desired process in the control unit 7 is to compare the measured gap length with the minimum gap length between mails which can be sorted by the sorting gate 12 shown in FIG. Is determined (105). This is because the sorting gate 12 finally collects the mail at the sorting port 15 corresponding to the mail address, etc. At this time, if the gap length between the mails is too short, the mail may be jammed by the sorting gate 12. In addition, even if the mail is collected in the exclusion box 18 so that a jam does not occur, the number of mails to be rejected increases, and the efficiency of the mail sorting apparatus becomes extremely low. Therefore, the control unit 7 performs a comparison process between the minimum gap length between mail items that can be sorted by the sorting gate 12 and the gap length actually measured by the photoelectric sensor 29.

If it is determined that the gap between the mails to be conveyed needs to be corrected (105), when the mail arrives at the switching gate timing sensor 23, the switching gate 22 is switched (106). It is transported to the branch transport path 21. Next, when the mail arrives at the photoelectric sensor 24, the driver 25 increases or decreases the speed of the mail so that the gap length can be sorted by the sorting gate 12 described above. By doing so, the gap length is corrected (107), and then merged with the transport path 20 and sorted and collected at the target sorting port 15 (108).

Further, even if the thickness of the mail is a thin mail having a thickness equal to or less than a certain value, the gap length between the mails measured by the photoelectric sensor 29 is longer than the length which can be sorted by the sorting gate 12, and If it is determined that the gap correction is not necessary (105), the mail is conveyed to the main conveyance path 20 and is divided into the target division 15 (108).

As described above, when the thickness is below a certain value,
Since the front and rear gap lengths cannot be sorted by the sorting gate 12, postal matter requiring gap correction is conveyed to the branch conveying path 21 in which the driving body 25 is arranged.
Thereby, in particular, there is also an effect that it is possible to eliminate the occurrence of a jam due to a collision between the drive body 25 and a step of a thick mail item or a mail item in which contents are unevenly distributed.

Further, since the switching gate timing sensor 23 and the photoelectric sensor 29 are arranged with the above-described length, accurate determination and calculation of the gap correction amount can be performed.

Next, a description will be given of control when processing a mail having a thickness within a certain range, which is about the same as a New Year's card or a postcard. It should be noted that a postal matter having a thickness similar to that of a New Year's card or a postcard within a certain range is relatively thin and has no steps, so that no jam occurs due to collision with the driving body 25.

The operator selects the postcard mode from the operation panel 13 of FIG. 4 (101). In this case, since there is no jam due to the collision between the mail and the driving body, the switching gate 2 is set in advance.
2 is switched to the branch conveyance path 21 side (200). After separating mails one by one by the hopper 1 (201), the gap between the mails is measured by the photoelectric sensor 29 in the same manner as described above.
Before the control unit 7 arrives, the control unit 7 compares the measured gap length with the minimum gap length between mails that can be sorted by the sorting gate 12 in FIG. 5 to determine whether gap correction is necessary (202). ).

When it is determined that the postal matter requires a gap correction (202), when the postal matter reaches the photoelectric sensor 24 installed on the branch transport path 21, the driving body 25 is triggered.
The gap length is corrected by speeding up or decelerating the mail (203), and then the target sorting port 15
(108).

On the other hand, if it is determined that the postal matter does not require the gap correction (202), it is conveyed to the branch conveyance path 21, but the gap correction is not performed and the mail is sorted and collected at the target sorting port 15 (108).

As apparent from the above description, when the postcard mode is selected, the operation of the switching gate 22 is not required while the switching gate 22 is being switched to the branch transport path 21. And the jam at the time of operation of the switching gate 22 can be eliminated.

Further, by performing the gap correction,
The sorting gate 1 at the target dividing port 15 shown in FIG.
2 cannot be sorted out, a jam occurs, and the work is not manually separated by the attendant after being removed by the rejection box 18, so that sorting can be reliably performed and sorting efficiency is improved.

As described above, the driving body 25 and the oscillating roller 26 are arranged such that the contact surface with the postal matter 40 is
The driving body 25 does not come into contact with the barcode 41 because it is arranged so as to be out of the printing range of No. 1. For this reason, even if the printing ink is not sufficiently dried,
The bar code 41 is not crushed by rubbing with the driving body 25 (see FIG. 2). As a result, when the same mail is sorted a plurality of times by the mail sorting device, the barcode 41 is blurred in the second and subsequent sorting by reading the information of the barcode 41 by the reading unit 6 in FIG. It cannot be read and the clerk will not manually sort later.

Further, in general, it is necessary to install various devices other than the transport path, such as the reading unit 6, the printing device 9, and the operation panel 13, in the mail sorting device.
The transport path must be set as small as possible. Here, the branch conveyance path 21 is the conveyance path 20 of the main conveyance path.
After the branching from, it joins again to the transport path 20 on the downstream side, but since the transport speed of the postal matter can be set arbitrarily by the driving body 25, the difference between the travel path lengths of the transport paths of the transport path 20 and the branch transport path 21 The gap length between mails can be corrected to a target gap length even if the installation is performed without considering the above. Therefore, since the space for disposing the branch transport path 21 can be installed in an empty space without relatively considering the space, the apparatus can be downsized without taking a special transport area for the apparatus.

Further, when mails conveyed continuously are sorted into the same sorting port 15, a jam occurs due to the end of the preceding mail hitting the tip of the following mail, or There is a problem that the mails jump out of the sorting port 15, but any one of the mails conveyed continuously is conveyed to the branch conveyance path 21, and the speed of the driving body 25 arranged in the branch conveyance path 21 is increased / decreased. Thus, at the junction, if it overlaps with the mail conveyed to the conveyance path 20,
The above problem can be solved.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to reliably sort and accumulate at the target sorting port without causing a jam at the time of the sorting gate operation at the sorting port and without being eliminated by the exclusion box, so that it is possible to provide a device with high sorting efficiency.

Further, it is possible to provide an apparatus capable of eliminating the occurrence of a jam due to a collision between a stepped portion of a thick mail piece or a mail piece having unevenly distributed contents and a driving body.

Further, the control of the branch gate can be simplified, and a jam factor accompanying the operation of the branch gate can be eliminated.

Further, when correcting the gap between postal items, the bar code printed on the surface of the postal item is rubbed by rubbing between the driver and the postal item, so that the bar code can be read in the second and subsequent sections. It is possible to provide a device with high sorting efficiency because the sorting can be reliably performed at the target sorting port.

Further, since the difference between the lengths of the transport paths of the transport path and the branch transport path can be arbitrarily set, the branch transport path does not need to be arranged in a special space, and the apparatus can be downsized. Is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing a branch transport path according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically illustrating a branch conveyance path according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of a control method of a mail transport gap.

FIG. 4 is a front view schematically showing a mail sorting / stacking apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a front view schematically showing a sorting port of the mail sorting / stacking apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Hopper, 2. Bundle of mail, 3, 8, 10, 17, 2
0: conveying path, 4: thickness measuring instrument, 5, 18, 61: exclusion box, 6: reading unit, 7: control unit, 9: printing device, 11
... Step path transport path, 12 ... sorting gate, 13 ... operation panel, 14 ... sorting shelf, 15 ... sorting port, 16 ... sorting gate timing sensor, 19 ... recognition unit, 21 ... branching transport path, 22 ... switching gate, 23 ... Switching gate timing sensor, 24, 29 ... Photoelectric sensor, 25 ... Driver, 26 ...
Swing roller, 27 ... support member, 28 ... support spring, 30,
31: driven roller, 32, 33, 34: conveyor belt, 3
5: fixed roller, 40: postal matter, 41: bar code, 5
0: Base plate, 60: Double feed detector

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sheet handling apparatus which sorts and accumulates mail at a desired sorting port in accordance with a read result of a mail, a measuring unit for measuring a gap difference between the mails to be conveyed, and a main unit for conveying the mail. A transport path, a branch transport path, and switching means for switching transport of mail to the main transport path and the branch transport path in accordance with a measurement result by the measuring unit; A transport speed changing means for accelerating and decelerating the speed is provided, and the mail is transported to the branch transport path via the switching gate according to the measurement value in the measuring section, and the transport speed changing means on the branch transport path is A paper sheet handling apparatus characterized in that a transport speed of a mail is changed so as to change a gap between mails. 2. A paper sheet handling apparatus for separating a postal matter and sorting the postal matter into a desired sorting port according to information on the postal matter,
A gap measuring unit for measuring the interval between the mail and the next mail, and a thickness measuring unit for measuring the thickness of the mail, wherein the thickness of the mail by the thickness measuring unit is equal to or less than a certain value. And, when the gap difference between mail items by the gap measurement unit is a predetermined value,
A paper sheet handling apparatus comprising a control unit for controlling a transport speed of postal matter to be changed. 3. A paper sheet handling apparatus for separating and stacking and transporting mail to a desired sorting port, wherein a second mode for handling a thickness substantially equal to that of the first mode for handling different thicknesses of mail is provided. Selection means for selecting the mode, a main transport path for transporting the mail, a branch transport path provided to change the transport speed of the mail, and a transport of the mail to the main transport path or the branch transport path. Switching means, and when the second mode is selected by the selection means, switching the switching means to the branch transport path in advance, and transporting the conveyed mail to the branch transport path. Characteristic paper sheet handling device. 4. A paper sheet which separates and conveys a postal matter, generates a code corresponding to the result of reading the address of the postal matter, prints the code, and accumulates it at a sorting port corresponding to the address of the postal matter. In the handling device, measuring means for measuring the interval between mails, conveying speed changing means for changing the conveying speed of mail according to the measurement result of the measuring means, and conveying the mail with the conveying speed change A first transport path and a second transport path for transporting mail, and the first transport path and the second transport path are arranged so as to branch on one side and merge on the other, A sheet handling apparatus, wherein the transport speed changing means of the second transport path is disposed outside a printing range of a code on which a contact surface with a mail is printed. 5. A sheet handling apparatus for sorting and stacking postal matter, wherein said measuring means measures a distance difference between the first and second postal matter being conveyed, and responds to a measurement result of said measuring section. A first transport path for transporting the mail to change the transport speed of the mail, a second transport path that does not require a change in the transport speed of the mail, and a method for transporting the mail to the first transport path. Or a switching means for switching whether to convey to the second conveyance path, wherein a distance between the measuring means and the switching means is longer in a conveying direction of the first postal matter measured by the measuring means. The distance between the trailing end of the first postal matter and the leading end of the second postal matter measured by the measuring means, and the distance required to transport the postal matter to either the first conveying path or the second conveying path. Paper sheet pick-up, characterized in that the processing time is arranged with the sum of the distance converted length There devices.