JPS5990680A - Conveying section of sorter for large-sized thin mail - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sorting device for non-standard large-sized thin mail items;
In particular, it relates to the conveyor section used therein.

Conventionally, the conveyor section of this type of sorting device has been considered to be as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (side view).

The main transport section screen includes at least one driving chain 1, a plurality of partition plates 2 whose lower ends are comb-shaped and which are attached to the main chain at equal intervals, and rails that engage with the comb-shaped lower ends of the main partition plates. It consisted of a slide substrate 3 having a protruding portion shaped like the above. To explain the operation, mail 5 to which a sorting code has been given by an operator etc. 4 is put into a storage chamber 6 partitioned by a partition plate 2, and is pushed by the partition plate 2 which moves simultaneously with the movement of the drive chain 1. , is transported while sliding on the slide substrate 3.

When the mail is transported to the predetermined sorting collection box 7 corresponding to the assigned sorting code, the bottom plate opening/closing plate 8 provided on a part of the slide board is opened by a solenoid or the like (not shown). falls downward and is collected in separate collection boxes.

However, in such a mechanism, the mail completely falls and is ejected from the storage chamber, and before the open bottom plate opening/closing plate 8 is completely closed, the mail in the adjacent storage chamber closes the bottom plate opening/closing plate 8. If the mail is carried to position 8 and begins to fall, causing missorting, or if the old mail falls completely from the storage chamber and the bottom opening/closing plate closes before it is ejected, the postal mail There is a risk that things may be damaged. In order to prevent this, as shown in Figure 1, a pair of rollers 9 are arranged directly below the bottom plate opening/closing plate to forcibly pull out the falling mail from the storage chamber and allow the mail to fall and be ejected. In order to shorten the time, it is possible to close the bottom opening/closing plate before the mail in the adjacent storage room is brought in, but since the moving speed of the pulled out mail becomes faster, it is possible to There is a risk that the sound of collision with the already stacked mail or the stacking box may become louder, or the mail may be bent.

The transport unit stops while the mail is being removed from the storage room, and starts moving once the removal from the storage room is complete.
A method of performing a so-called inching operation or a method of moving a conveying section at a very slow speed cannot be expected to provide high-speed throughput. In addition, in the conveyance mechanism shown in the first rotation, the mail is conveyed while rubbing on the slide board, which not only risks damaging the mail, but also where the conveyance path is curved, the partition plates are parallel to each other. As the mail disappears, the mail in the storage room becomes unstable and may fall or bend. In addition, since the drive chain 1 used is an ordinary chain that can be bent only in one plane, it is not possible to create a conveyance path with curves in both horizontal and vertical directions, which reduces the degree of freedom in design. Because of the small number of conveyance paths, a device incorporating this conveyance path may not be able to completely satisfy the customer's needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a transport section of a sorting device for large, thin mail that eliminates the various problems described above, allows transport in a direction other than a straight line, and does not damage mail.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 showing one embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 3, mail M is in transport box 1.
0 and transported. As shown in the figure, the transport box 10 is a thin box with openings on the top surface and the front side surface, and a bottom plate that can be opened and closed, and is attached at equal intervals to a universal chain 11 that can be bent horizontally and vertically. Many are installed in The universal chain 11 is driven by a drive system (not shown) and moves along the guide rail 12, and the transport box attached to the chain also moves at the same time. Wheels 13 are attached to the transport box 10 for stable running, and the wheels run on rails 14 that are parallel to the guide rails 12 and placed in a position that does not interfere with the falling of mail. moves stably.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a large number of transport boxes 10 lined up. Near the transport path, there is a synchronous transfer unit 15 for transferring mail to the transport boxes in synchronization with the movement of the transport boxes. is provided. In the synchronous transfer section 15, at least two sets of temporary holding sections 18 each consisting of a pair of belts 16 and rollers 17 are arranged in series, and mail items 19 randomly sent from an upstream device are stored in the synchronous transfer section 15. are sequentially sent to the temporary holding part on the transporting part side, and when they arrive at the temporary holding part adjacent to the transporting part, the exit part of the holding part 15 moves over a certain distance in synchronization with the movement of the transporting box. The mail can be transferred to the transport box while moving. Furthermore, after the transfer is completed, it performs a reciprocating motion to return to its original position. Since the mail 20 being transported is placed in a transport box as described above, it may be bent or bent.
There's no need to worry about getting hurt.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a section for sorting and stacking transported mail. The sorting and stacking section is composed of a plurality of stacking boxes 21, and a drive such as a solenoid is installed near the transport path of each stacking box. There is a tab connected to the source, and when the transport box containing the mail to be sorted moves,
The claw of the corresponding collection box is moved by the drive source, and the hook provided on the transport box is removed. Since the bottom opening/closing plate, which was held and closed by the hook, is opened, the stored mail falls downward under the action of gravity and is accumulated in the accumulation box. During this time, the conveyance section is always running at a constant speed (V). The width of the mail receiving opening of the collection box is set to such a width that there is no problem even if the mail falls while the transport box is running.

Specifically, if the traveling speed of the transport section is ■, and the time from when the mail starts dropping until it completely leaves the transport box is t, then
The minimum required width of the receiving port is Vxt.

In the present invention, since a universal chain is used in the conveyance section, for example, as shown in FIG. It can be placed in a low position. This is because the conveyance path can be bent both horizontally and vertically. This allows the collection box to be placed at a height where mail items can be easily retrieved manually, and the position of the input section 23 (for example, a coding desk) that assigns classification codes to mail items to be supplied to the input section for mail items.
Work efficiency is improved because it can be placed on the floor so that people can easily enter and exit.

As explained above, according to this explanation, since each mail piece is transported in a box, there is no need to worry about damaging the mail during transport, and when removing the mail from the transport section,
Since there is no need to temporarily stop the transport section or slow down the traveling speed, high processing (transport) performance can be expected. Furthermore, the conveyance path can be bent both horizontally and vertically, increasing the degree of freedom in design. Therefore, by using the conveyance section of the present invention, it is possible to design and provide a machine that meets customer needs. Can be done.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are partially detailed views of a conventionally conceived transport unit and a transport unit, respectively, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention, including detailed views of a transport box; FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an embodiment of a sorting machine using the conveyance section according to the present invention. In the figure, 1...drive chain, 2...
...Partition plate, 3...Fly board, 4...
... Operator, 5... Mail, 6...
... Mail storage room, 7 ... Separate collection box, 8.
...Bottom plate opening/closing plate, 9...Roller for removing mail, 10...Transportation box, 11...Universal chain, 12...Guide rail,
13...Wheel, 14...Rail, 15
......Synchronized transfer section, 16...Belt, 1
7...Rollers, 18...Temporary holding section, 19...(・Mail, 20...Mail being repelled, 21...・Collection box 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] It is characterized by comprising a flexible universal chain, and a plurality of thin transport boxes for transporting mail that are attached to the universal chain, have an opening on at least one side, and have a bottom plate that can be opened and closed. Conveyance section of large thin material sorting machine.