JPS6115753B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention reads sorting information given to paper sheets, such as mail, for example, and sorts and stacks them in a stacking unit group arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction, and also separates the stacked paper sheets in the stacking unit. The present invention relates to a sorting machine with an automatic take-out device that automatically takes out leaves from each stacking section and transports them to the next process.

In recent years, various automatic mail processing machines have been put into practical use as postal services become labor-saving. Also, part 1
One example of this is an automatic postal code reading and sorting machine that automatically reads postal codes and automatically sorts them according to destination. The mails are manually taken out from each stacking section by a staff member, and a destination card is placed on the taken-out stacked mail and bundled together. Therefore,
The problem was that a dedicated staff member had to be stationed at all times, and the staff had to move over a wide area, placing an extremely heavy burden on them.

Therefore, there is a need for a sorting machine with an automatic take-out device that can automatically take out the mail items sorted and stacked in the stacking section group and sequentially transfer them to the next process, the destination card adding device section and the loquat bundle device section.

As for the method of taking out mail from the group of stacking sections, since a large number of stacking sections are arranged horizontally,
A suitable method is to push the mail to the rear, that is, to the back side of the sorting machine body, transfer it to a horizontal conveyance path, and convey it to the next process. In addition, since the stacking section group is provided with multiple stages in the vertical direction, multiple horizontal conveyance paths are also required to convey the mail pushed out from the stacking section, and the next process is the destination card adding device and the bundling device. In order to efficiently process mail by minimizing the number of such units (one set), it is desirable that the mail sent out from the plurality of horizontal conveyance paths are finally merged into one conveyance line.

As a method for this, the method shown in FIG. 1 has recently been considered. In other words, an automatic extrusion mechanism (not shown) is provided in each accumulation section b..., c..., d... of the sorting machine main body a, and when an appropriate amount of mail A... is accumulated, this mail group A... Endless transport conveyors e, f, which are automatically pushed backward and are provided corresponding to stacking section groups b..., c..., d..., which are provided in multiple stages vertically on the back side of the sorting machine body a. g and transport horizontally.

Thereafter, the cards are transferred to an elevator and a transport line (not shown) and transported, so that destination cards are placed thereon and the cards are bundled.

However, in such a method, after the stacking section is full of mail items, the empty tray is pushed out when the corresponding position is reached.
For this reason, even when there are many mails accumulated in the stacking section where the extrusion is performed on the conveyance path during the extrusion time, that is, there are many mails that are rejected, the extrusion continues as is.

This invention was made in view of the above circumstances,
The purpose of this is to activate the take-out mechanism of the stacking section after the paper sheets stacked in the stacking section are ready to be taken out before the stacking section is full, and when the number of sheets stacked on the stacking section on the conveyance path is less than a predetermined number. An object of the present invention is to provide a sorting machine with an automatic take-out device that can be driven to reduce the number of rejected sheets when taking out stacked paper sheets.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. FIG. 2 shows a sorting machine with an automatic take-out device according to the present invention, which has the following configuration.
That is, a group A of postcards, envelopes, etc., which is set in the supply section 1 in a standing position, is taken out one by one by the take-out section 2, starting with the foremost mail A, and is conveyed through the take-in conveyance path. The postal code given to the postal item A is read by the reading unit 4 placed in the middle of the postal item A.

Next, the mail A is transported by the gate mechanism 5 into divided transport paths 6a, 6 which are provided in multiple stages in the vertical direction.
b, 6c, and 6d are selectively sorted based on the reading results of the reading section 4, and sent to the horizontal division conveyance paths 8a, 8b, and 8c of the automatic extraction function-equipped sorting section 7 or to the exclusion pocket 9. There is.

The sorting section 7 with an automatic take-out function is provided with a plurality of stacking sections 10 along the lower surface of the horizontal sorting conveyance paths 8a, 8b, 8c, respectively. The sent mail A is sorted and stacked in a predetermined stacking section 10 based on the reading result of the reading section 4.

Then, an appropriate amount of mail A... is accumulated in the accumulation section 10, and a forced extrusion switch (not shown) is activated.
When is pressed, a take-out mechanism, such as a push-out mechanism (described later), of the stacking section 10 moves, and the mail group A in the stacking section 10 is pushed out to the back side of the sorting section 7 with an automatic pick-up function.

On the back side of the automatic eject function-equipped sorting section 7, there is a tray circulation system in which three horizontal tray conveyance paths 13a, 13b, 13c are vertically arranged corresponding to the stacking section groups 10..., 10..., 10... A section 14 (transfer section) is provided, and the mail groups A..., A... pushed out from each stacking section 10... are transferred to the tray horizontal conveyance path 1.
The trays 15 are sequentially and intermittently transferred through the trays 3a, 13b, 13c.

The tray horizontal conveyance path 13a, 13b, 13c
On the terminal side of
An elevator mechanism section 17 is provided at the terminal end of the mailbox 17 and is arranged to face each other sequentially from top to bottom. ) Tray 15... is received and the next process of mail is carried out.
It will be carried to the separation section of the tray separation mechanism section 18. And mail/tray separation mechanism section 188
At the mail pushing plate 19 and the tray pull-out plate 2
0 reciprocates, and during the forward movement pushes out mail groups A, A..., A... in the tray 15 towards the front side to form the starting end of a common conveyance line. The empty trays 15 are transferred to the arrangement end converting section 23, and during reciprocating, the empty trays 15 are pulled out rearward and sent to the starting end side of the tray return path 24 of the tray circulation section 14.

Further, the mail group A..., A..., A... sent into the conveyance line 21 is conveyed by the assortment conveyance device 25 forming the conveyance line 21, and during this conveyance, the mail items A..., A..., A... The ends and one end perpendicular to the transport direction are aligned. Next, the mail group A that has been sorted..., A...,
A... is transferred to another conveyance line 27 by a transfer mechanism section 26 orthogonal to the conveyance line 21, and is transferred to another conveyance line 27 by a destination card issuing/applying device 28 provided opposite to this conveyance line 27. A destination card 29 is placed on the top surface.

In addition, mail group A to which destination card 29 is attached
. . , A .

On the other hand, the trays 15 sent into the tray return path 24 by the mail/tray separation mechanism 18 are conveyed to the elevator mechanism 31 provided at the starting ends of the horizontal tray conveyance paths 8a, 8b, and 8c. The tray is transferred to the tray mounting table 32 of the elevator mechanism section 31 by a tray transfer mechanism section (not shown) provided opposite the terminal end of the tray return path 24 . The elevator mechanism section 31 has a tray mounting table 32
. . . intermittently circulates through the tray horizontal conveyance path 13.
It is made to face the starting end portions of a, 13b, and 13c sequentially from bottom to top. Then, the trays 15 facing the starting ends of the tray horizontal conveyance paths 13a, 13b, 13c are pushed one by one by a pushing mechanism (not shown) into the tray horizontal conveyance paths 13a, 13b, 13c.
As a result, the trays 15..., 1 in the tray horizontal transport paths 13a, 13b, 13c are pushed into the
5..., 15... are transferred one pitch, and the final tray 15... is transferred to the elevator mechanism section 1.
It will be transferred to the tray mounting table 16 of No. 7. The elevator mechanism section 31 and the tray return section 2
4. Regarding the tray transfer mechanism, patent application 1983-
No. 25095 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 121673, 1982), Utility Application No. 121673
Since it is explained in No. 47088 (Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 147877/1983), it will be omitted here.

Note that 33 is a control unit that controls the entire system device, the details of which will be explained later.

The accumulation section 10 will be explained using FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. That is, the extrusion part 40 includes an extrusion plate 40a that also serves as a front cover, a side plate 40b, and a bottom plate 40.
The bottom plate 40c is supported by guide rails 41, 41, so that it can move reciprocally. There is a gap between the bottom plate 40c and the inclination maintaining member 40d that is large enough to allow passage of guide grooves 50a, 50a, which will be described later. The extrusion section 40
The bottom plate 40c is equipped with a pulse motor 4 for driving the extrusion section.
2 is connected to the belt 43 which runs as a drive source, and when the drive pulse motor 42 is driven in the forward or reverse direction, the extrusion part 4
0 moves forward or backward along the longitudinal direction of the mounting table 44. Further, the extrusion section 40 is located at a stop position (postal item A) near one of the plate bodies 45 supporting the guide rails 41, 41.
A stop position detector 46 is provided to detect whether the extrusion section 40 is at the return position (extrusion completion position) near the other plate 47.
A return position detector 48 is provided to detect whether the The detectors 46 and 48 are turned on and off by a protrusion (not shown) provided on the bottom 40c of the extrusion section 40.
The moving position of the extrusion section 40 is detected. On the opposite side of the plate body 47 from the guide rails 41, 41, there is an empty detector 4 for detecting whether or not the tray 15 corresponding to the stacking section 10 contains mail A.
9 is provided, and this empty detector 49 is constituted by, for example, a light emitting element and a light receiving element.

The mounting table 44 has the tilt maintaining member 4 approximately in the center.
A plate body 50 provided with guide grooves 50a, 50a for guiding 0d, and a guide groove 50 of this plate body 50.
a, 50a and the extrusion plate 40a
It is constituted by an inclined member 51 provided on the side. On the mounting table 44, the mail items A conveyed from the horizontal divided conveyance paths 8a, 8b, and 8c are placed. The above-mentioned mounting table 44 has horizontal plates 54, 5 fixed to a carriage 53 which is supported by guide rails 52, 52 so as to be movable up and down.
It is installed in 4. The above-mentioned carriage 53 includes
A belt 56 that runs using a carriage drive pulse motor 55 as a drive source is connected, and when the drive pulse motor 55 is driven in the forward or reverse direction, the mounting table 44 is lowered or raised. ing. Furthermore, a control circuit 57 for controlling the entire stacking section 10 is provided below the extrusion section 40 .

A side plate 58 is provided on the control circuit 57 and faces the side portion 40b of the extrusion section 40.
A mail detector 59 for detecting the mail A placed on the mounting table 44 is provided at the center of the upper part of the side plate 58, and the detector 59 is composed of, for example, a light emitting element and a light receiving element. This is a marginal reflection type sensing element. The side plate 58 has the carriage 53
An upper limit detector 60, an extrusion possible detector 61, a full detector 62, and a lower limit detector 63 are provided to detect the position of the mounting table 44 according to the movement of the table. The upper limit detector 60 detects whether the mounting table 44 is at the upper limit (initial state), and the extrusion possibility detector 61 detects whether it is possible to extrude (take out) the accumulated mail group A... It detects
The full detector 62 detects whether the mounting table 44 is at the full position of the mail, and the lower limit detector 63
Detects whether the mounting table 44 is at the lower limit (extrusion position). The extrusion-enabled state determined by the extrusion-enablement detector 61 is a state in which extrusion is possible from a predetermined number of sheets before the full state. If you try to extrude after the stacking section is full, there is no problem if an empty tray immediately responds to the extrusion, but it takes a certain amount of time for the empty tray to respond. In this case, there was a problem in that the mail that was to be accumulated in the full accumulation section was rejected. Therefore, as described above, if the state is set such that extrusion can be performed from a predetermined number of sheets before the tray is full, and the extrusion is performed when an empty tray is available, the above-mentioned rejects can be avoided. This is because it can be done. Note that the detectors 46, 48, 60, 6
1, 62, and 63 are composed of, for example, micro switches.

Further, the electric circuit of each integrated unit 10 is as shown in FIG. That is, the control circuit 57
motor 5 in response to a detection signal from mail detector 59.
5 in the forward direction, the mounting table 44 is lowered a distance corresponding to a predetermined number of mail items. The control circuit 57 also receives a push-out signal output in response to a detection signal from the push-out enable detector 61, a full signal output in response to a detection signal from the full detector 62, and a detection signal from the empty detector 49. A sky detection signal output accordingly is output to the control section 33. Further, the control circuit 57 lowers the mounting table 44 by driving the motor 55 in the forward direction in response to the push-out signal supplied from the control section 33, and drives the motor 42 in the forward direction in response to the detection signal from the lower limit detector 63. By driving in the direction, the extrusion section 40 is moved forward. Further, the control circuit 57 drives the motor 55 in the reverse direction after the detection signal from the return position detector 48 is supplied until the detection signal from the upper limit detector 60 is supplied, thereby raising the mounting table 44 to the initial position. It is something. Furthermore, the control circuit 57 drives the motor 42 in the reverse direction after the detection signal from the return position detector 48 is supplied until the detection signal from the stop position detector 46 is supplied, thereby moving the extrusion section 40 to the home position. It will force you to move back.

FIG. 6 schematically shows the electrical circuit of the entire system. That is, the conversion section 70 converts the reading result of the reading section 4, that is, the postal code, into the classification code of the accumulating section 10 corresponding to the postal code. The output of the conversion section 70 is supplied to a classification code storage section 71. This classification code storage section 71
After the reading section 4, each transport path 3, 6a..., 8
The sorting codes of mail A being conveyed to various positions of a... are stored, and when a new sorting code is supplied, the stored contents are updated by sequentially shifting each sorting code. The storage contents of the classification code storage section 71 are supplied to a determination section 72, and this determination section 72 has an interface circuit 7.
3 supplies an extrusion enable signal (preliminary full signal) output from each of the stacking units 10 . . . . When the determination unit 72 is supplied with an extrusion enable signal from a predetermined accumulation unit 10, the classification code storage unit 7
A collection in which the classification code corresponding to the mail A that has been transported immediately before the stacking section 1 and the classification code of the mail A that has been transported just before that and within the pushing time of the stacking section 10 can be pushed out. Compare each to see if it matches the classification code of the department,
When the number of matches as a result of the comparison is less than a predetermined number, for example, three, an extrusion designation signal is output, and is configured as follows, for example. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the comparing section 74 is supplied with the sorting code of the extrudable stacking section and the sorting code of mail A that can be conveyed to the stacking section in order from the one in front of the stacking section, and compares them. are sequentially compared, and a logic "1" signal is output only when they match. The output of the comparator 74 is supplied to one input terminal of an AND circuit 75, and the other input terminal of the AND circuit 75 is supplied with a logic "1" signal for a predetermined period of time. This predetermined time is set to a time required for the comparing section 74 to compare the number of pieces that can be conveyed to the stacking section 10 within the extrusion time of the stacking section 10 . The output of the AND circuit 75 is supplied to a counter 76, and the output of this counter 76 is supplied to a comparator 77. This comparison section 77 outputs an extrusion designation signal when the count value of the counter 76 is "3" or less.

The output of the determination section 72, that is, the extrusion designation signal of the comparison section 77, is supplied to the control section 33, and this control section 33 receives the classification code from the conversion section 40 and various signals from the accumulation section 10, that is, extrusion is possible. signal, full signal, empty detection signal, etc. are supplied. The control unit 33 determines that extrusion is possible based on the supplied extrusion designation signal,
Alternatively, it is determined that the mail is full based on a full signal, and when an empty detection signal is supplied from the corresponding stacking unit 10, an ejection signal is output to the stacking unit 10, or the mail corresponding to the sorting code to be supplied. This is to perform classification control of A.

The above-mentioned extrusion possible state means that when a predetermined stacking section becomes full and it takes a predetermined time for an empty tray to respond, the mail that should be stacked in the full stacking section, that is, the reject In order to eliminate mail from being left behind, the system is designed so that it can be pushed out from a predetermined number of mails before the full tray (preliminarily full), and when an empty tray is filled, the pushing is performed.

Next, the operation in such a configuration will be explained. For example, now, mail items A set in the supply section 1 are sequentially taken out by the take-out section 2 and sent to the take-in conveyance path 3.
The postal code assigned to the postal item A is read by the reading unit 4 during the delivery. Then, the read postal code is converted into a classification code by the conversion section 70, stored in the classification code storage section 71, and supplied to the control section 33. Thereby, the control section 33 performs transport control and sorting control so that the mail A is accumulated in the corresponding accumulation section 10 according to the sorting code. From now on, supply section 1
The mail pieces A sequentially taken out from the mail piece A are accumulated in the stacking section 10 corresponding to the postal code assigned to the mail piece A. At this time, the storage unit 71 sequentially stores sorting codes corresponding to the mail items A being conveyed on the conveyance path.

In this way, the mail A is stored in the predetermined stacking section 10.
When a predetermined amount of mail A is placed on the mounting table 44, the detector 59 detects the mail A, and in response to this detection signal, the control circuit 57 moves the motor 55 in the forward direction. By driving the mounting table 44
is lowered by a distance corresponding to a predetermined quantity of mail pieces A. Then, each time mail A is supplied, the same operation as described above is performed. In this way, when the mounting table 44 is lowered to the extrusion possible position before it is full due to the supply of a plurality of mail items A, the extrusion possible detector 61 detects this, and upon this detection, the control circuit 5
7 outputs an extrusion enable signal. As a result, the comparison unit 74 compares the sorting code of the extrudable stacking section 10 and the sorting code of the mail A on the conveyance path that can be transported to the stacking section 10, starting from the one in front of the stacking section, and finds that they match. outputs a logic “1” signal. Note that the gate of the AND circuit 75 is open only for the time required for the comparison section 74 to compare the number of sheets that can be conveyed to the accumulation section 10 within the extrusion time of the accumulation section 10. Thereby, the counter 76 counts the number of sheets accumulated in the accumulation section 10 within the extrusion time. Therefore, the comparator 77 compares the counter 76
When the count value of the counter 76 is "3" or less, the extrusion designation signal is outputted, and when the count value of the counter 76 is "3" or more, the extrusion designation signal is not outputted. Note that the determination result of the determination unit 72 is updated every time the postal code of a new postal item A is read. As a result, when the push-out designation signal is output from the determination section 72, that is, the comparison section 77, and the empty detection signal is supplied from the control circuit 57 of the corresponding accumulation section 10, the control section 33 performs the following operations:
When the empty detector 49 detects that the corresponding tray 15 is empty, a push signal is output to the stacking section 10 . Then, the control circuit 57 moves the mounting table 4 by driving the motor 55 in the forward direction.
4 is lowered, the motor 55 is stopped by the detection signal of the lower limit detector 63, and the motor 42 is driven in the forward direction, thereby moving the extrusion section 40 onto the mounting table 4.
4 in the longitudinal direction. As a result, the mail group A... is pushed out to the rear side of the sorting section 7 with an automatic take-out function by the push-out plate 40a, and thereby transferred into the tray 15. When this transfer is completed, a detection signal is output from the detector 48 by the protrusion provided on the bottom 40c of the extrusion section 40. Then, the control circuit 57 drives the motor 55 in the opposite direction to raise the mounting table 44, and also drives the motor 42 in the opposite direction to move the extruder 40 backward along the longitudinal direction of the mounting table 44. urge After that, the mounting table 4
4 reaches the initial position, the upper limit detector 60 detects this, and the control circuit 57 controls the motor 55.
stop. Further, when the extrusion section 40 is in the home position, a detection signal is output from the detector 46 by the protrusion on the bottom 40c of the extrusion section 40, and the control circuit 57 stops the motor 42 to move the extrusion section 40 to stop.

Moreover, the extrusion designation signal is not output from the comparator 77 and the extrusion signal is not output from the control unit 33 between the output of the detection signal of the extrusion possible detector 61 and the output of the detection signal of the full detector 62. Suppose that it is not supplied. Then, the control circuit 57 outputs a full signal in response to the detection signal from the full detector 62. Next, when the control unit 33 is supplied with the empty detection signal from the control circuit 57 of the corresponding integrated unit 10,
An extrusion signal is output to the accumulation section 10.
As a result, in the integrated unit 10, the control circuit 57
The mounting table 44 is lowered by driving the motor 55 in the forward direction. Thereafter, the full mail items A in the stacking section 10 are transferred to the corresponding trays 15 by the same operation as when the mail items A before being filled are moved.

In this way, after the mail A... of a certain stacking section 10 becomes full, the mail A... is transferred to the corresponding empty tray 15, and at the same time, the mail A... of the stacking section 10 is transferred before it becomes full. When the amount of mail A that can be pushed out reaches the amount that can be pushed out, and the number of mail pieces A that is accumulated within the pushing time of the stacking section 10 is 3 or less, the corresponding empty tray 1
Since the mail item A is transferred to the mailbox No. 5, the waiting time for pushing out the mail item can be shortened, and the number of mail items sent to the reject section during the waiting time can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which a postal code is used after being converted into a classification code corresponding to each accumulation section, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the postal code may be used as is. Further, although a case has been described in which the determination section outputs the extrusion designation signal when the number of rejected sheets during the extrusion time is three or less, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of rejected sheets may be any other number, such as 0 sheets. Furthermore, although we have described the case where the push-out detector detects whether the mail is in the push-out state before it is full according to the movement of the loading table, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to count up and detect whether or not the counted number corresponds to a state in which extrusion is possible before the container is full. Furthermore,
Although the case has been described in which the transfer section is provided on the back side of the stacking section, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the transfer section can be similarly implemented in a case where the transfer section is provided on the front side or the bottom side of the stacking section.

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, after the stacked paper sheets in the stacking section are ready to be taken out before they are full,
Furthermore, when the number of sheets stacked in the stacking section on the conveyance path is less than a predetermined number, the take-out mechanism of the stacking section is driven, so it is possible to reduce the number of rejected sheets when taking out the stacked paper sheets. We can provide a sorting machine with an automatic take-out device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of a conventional sorting machine with an automatic take-out device, and FIGS. 2 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a sorting machine with an automatic take-out device of the present invention, FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views showing a stacking section,
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the electric circuit of the integrated section, FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing the entire electric circuit, and FIG. 7 is a block diagram schematically showing the determination section. A... Mail (paper sheets), 10... Accumulation section, 1
4... Tray, circulation section (transfer section), 33... Control section, 40... Extrusion section, 44... Placing table, 49...
... Empty detector, 57 ... Control circuit, 59 ... Mail detector, 60 ... Upper limit detector, 61 ... Extrusion possible detector, 62 ... Full detector, 70 ... Conversion section, 71 ... Classification code storage unit, 72...determination unit, 74, 77...comparison unit, 75...AND circuit, 76...counter.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 By reading the sorting information given to the paper sheets and conveying them along the conveyance path, the paper sheets are sorted and stacked in a group of stacking sections arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction, and the stacked paper sheets in the stacking sections are sorted into each stacking section. in which the stacking section is automatically taken out and conveyed to the next step, a fullness detection means for detecting when the stacking section is full, an extrusion enable means for detecting an extrusion enabled state a predetermined number of sheets before the stacking section is full, and this means. a determining means for determining whether or not the number of paper sheets accumulated in the accumulating section within the unloading time of the accumulating section is less than or equal to a predetermined number when the sheet is taken out after the extrusion possible state is detected by the determining means; A sorting machine with an automatic take-out device, comprising means for driving a take-out mechanism of the stacking section when it is determined that the number of sheets is below a predetermined number, or when the full state is detected by the fullness detection means.