JPS5948148B2 - Automatic mail processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic mail processing device that sorts mail such as postcards and envelopes, detects stamps, and sorts and accumulates.

While conveying a group of mail items of irregular size and thickness, they are sorted by each sorting section installed during the conveyance, and only the mail items that are within the specified range are guided to the stamp detection section, stamped, and placed in each stacking section. Automatic postal mail processing devices that sort and accumulate are known.

However, since conventional devices of this type are very large and have high throughput, they are not suitable for small offices due to their cost and installation location.

For this reason, the stations where this device can be installed are limited, and there is a lack of versatility.

This invention was made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to miniaturize the device itself, provide a stamp detection section in one place, and reverse the mail items that are not detected so that they can be read again. The purpose is to simplify the structure by allowing mail to be carried into the same detection section, and to provide an inexpensive and versatile automatic processing device for mail.

Hereinafter, this invention will be explained based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

The figure schematically shows the entire automatic mail processing apparatus of the present invention, in which 1 receives mail group A such as postcards and envelopes collected from mailboxes, and supplies them to thickness sorting section 2. This is the supply section.

The thickness sorting section 2 is composed of a wide conveyor belt 3 that slopes upward from the supply section 1, and a belt with claws 4 running in a direction perpendicular to the running direction on the upper part of the conveyor belt 3. The attached belt 4... is designed to exclude non-standard mail that is too thick to pass under, and to transport only mail within the standard.

A V-bell 5 is provided on the leading end side of the conveyor belt 3 to receive mail items within a specified range sorted by the thickness sorter 2 and convey them in an upright position. A portion 6 is formed.

The tilting unit 6 is used to make vertical items stand up in the horizontal direction, and by simply tilting the belt, unstable mail items that are upright in the vertical direction are allowed to fall down in the horizontal direction. A smoothing section 7 is provided on the direction side for separating overlapping mail items and conveying them one by one.

Further, a pair of side bells l- are provided on the conveying direction side of the shifting section 7.
8, 8 and a bottom belt 9 provided at the bottom thereof.

The conveying section 10 is provided with a pair of rollers 11, 11 spaced apart from each other, and is provided with a tilting section 12 for folding down remaining mail items by the tilting section 6, and is also provided with a width sorting section 13. It is being

This width sorting section 13 is provided on the upper part of the conveying section 10,
Only those objects whose protruding length extending upward from the conveyance section 10 is longer than a specified value are picked up.

Furthermore, a conveyance section 14 is provided which is connected to the conveyance section 10 and conveys the mail items while holding them therein, and a single mail takeout section 15 and a hardness sorting section 16 are provided in the middle of the conveyance section 14 .

This hardness sorting section 16 is for removing mail items such as envelopes containing foreign substances, and includes a bent main passage 16a, a straight branch passage 16b branching from the bent part, and a vacuum chamber facing the bent part. 16e, letters containing hard or foreign matter are not conveyed along the bend but are guided to the branch passage.

Further, at the conveying end of the conveying section 14, a buffer 17 is provided for temporarily accumulating mail items within a specified range that have been sorted by each sorting section.
is provided, and an automatic supply section 18 is installed opposite to this.

A first conveyance path 19 is provided that turns back from the automatic supply section 18 and extends to the vicinity of the thickness sorting section 2, and a second conveyance path 20 is provided that branches off from this midway point. It merges into a branch point 21 with the first conveyance path 19.

Further, stamp detection units 23 facing each other are installed at a confluence 22 of the first conveyance path 19 and the second conveyance path 20.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned branch point 2 on the unloading side from this stamp detection section 23
1 is provided with a gate 24, which guides postal items whose stamps have been detected by the stamp detection section 23 to the first transport path 19, and guides postal items whose stamps have not been detected to the second transport path 20. There is.

The first conveyance path 19 is provided with a stamping section 25, a sorting accumulation section 26 consisting of a special delivery accumulation section 260, a normal accumulation section 262, 263, and a reject accumulation section 264.
A reversing section 27 is provided in the middle of the second conveyance path 20 .

This reversing section 27 gives a twist to the pair of clamping belts constituting the second conveyance path 20, and allows the mail to rotate 180 degrees while traveling.
I am converting it so that it is upside down.

In other words, the position of the stamp affixed to postcards, envelopes, and other postal items is fixed at the top left of the front, but since the direction of the moving mail is not constant, the stamps are affixed to the bottom left, top left, and bottom right in the direction of travel of the mail. , there are four positions in the upper right corner, and there are other pieces of mail that do not have stamps affixed to them.

Therefore, if there is a stamp on the lower left or lower right of the mail that is supplied from the automatic supply section 18 and introduced into the stamp detection section 23 via the first conveyance path 19, it will be detected.
Anything other than this will not be detected.

Therefore, the postal items for which no stamps have been detected are reversed and guided from the branching point 21 to the second conveyance path 20 in order to bring the stamps to the lower left or lower right. The stamp detector 23 is configured to join the first conveyance path 19 again and be introduced into the stamp detection section 23.

In this case, from the automatic supply section 18 to the first conveyance path 19
It is thought that the mail introduced into the stamp detection unit 23 via the postage stamp and the mail introduced again into the first conveyance path 19 from the second conveyance path 20 overlap when they merge into the merging section 22. However, this is detected by a sensing section 28 provided midway through the second transport path 20, and when there is any mail remaining midway through the second transport path 20, a stop signal is sent to the automatic feeding section 18, and a stop signal is sent to the automatic feeding section 18. From here, the supply to the first conveyance path 19 is stopped,
The supply is controlled to start when the mail traveling on the second conveyance path 20 is completed.

Separately, the distance between the mail items traveling on the second conveyance path 20 may be sensed, and the mail items from the first conveyance path 19 may be inserted between the mail items at the appropriate timing. .

Therefore, although the mail pieces inputted into the supply section 1 are irregular in size, thickness, hardness, etc., the thickness sorting section 2 and the width sorting section 1
3 and the hardness sorting section 16 sort the mail items into those that are within the specified hardness and those that are not, and the mail items that are within the specified hardness are temporarily accumulated in a buffer 17.

Then, when a supply start signal is sent to the automatic supply section 18,
The mail items are taken out one by one and guided to the stamp detection section 23 via the first conveyance path 19, where the stamps are detected.

The postal items for which stamps have been detected are stamped at the subsequent stamping section 23 via the gate 24, and then sent to the express delivery stacking section 26□ and the normal stacking section 26.
263 and a reject accumulation section 264.

Note that the postal items whose stamps have not been detected by the stamp detection section 23 are guided to the second conveyance path 20 via the gate 24, reversed by the reversing section 27, and then returned to the first conveyance path 19.
The stamp detection section 23 detects the stamp.

therefore,. Even if the orientation of the mail item is not constant, it can be detected by one stamp detection unit 23.

As explained above, this invention is simple in structure and allows for miniaturization of the device, since mail that is not detected by one stamp detection section is reversed and transported to the same detection section again. Since it is possible to do this, it requires less installation space and can be used even in small offices, making it possible to provide a versatile automatic mail processing device.

Furthermore, a second conveyance path is provided for reversing and conveying mail items that are not detected by the stamp detection section, and a sensing section is provided on the downstream side of the reversing section of the second conveyance path, and when the postage stamp is detected by the stamp detection section, the first Since the supply of mail to the first and second conveyance paths is stopped, the mail introduced from the first and second conveyance paths are not overlapped, and can be processed reliably in a timely manner. The mail detected by the sensing section is sorted and stacked in the sorting and accumulating section via the stamp detecting section and the stamping section, so that a large amount of mail can be efficiently processed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawing is a schematic structural diagram of the entire device showing one embodiment of the present invention. 1... Supply section, 19... First conveyance path, 20... Second conveyance path, 23... Stamp detection section, 24... ...Gate section, 25...
- Stamp section, 26... Sorting and accumulation section, 27...
...Reversing section, 28... Sensing section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A supply unit that sends out mail pieces one by one, a first conveyance path that conveys the mail pieces sent out from the supply unit, and a predetermined area for the mail pieces that is provided on the first conveyance path. a stamp detection unit that detects the presence or absence of a stamp by scanning the stamp; a stamping unit that is provided in the first conveyance path and stamps a stamp on the postal item for which a stamp has been detected; and a section that accumulates the postal items via the stamping unit. a stacking section, a second conveyance path that branches off from the middle of the first conveyance path and joins the first conveyance path again, and sends the mail items whose stamps have been detected by the stamp detection section to the sorting and accumulation section. , a gate section that sends undetected mail to the second conveyance path, a reversing section provided in the middle of the second conveyance path and reversing the mail carried into the second conveyance path, and this reversing section. a sensing section that is provided on the downstream side of the mailpiece and detects the reversed mail, and the mail that has been carried into the second conveyance path is sensed by the sensing section, so that the mail is sent from the supply section to the first conveyance path. The automatic processing of mail is characterized in that the supply of the mail to the transport path is stopped, the mail is guided to the stamp detection section, and the mail is sorted and stacked in the sorting and stacking section via the stamping section. Device.