JPS6153114B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is applicable to first-class non-standard size mail, third-class mail, and fourth-class mail, which have become difficult to sort manually due to an increase in the amount of handling and sorting in recent years. This invention relates to a large mail sorting device for mechanically sorting flat, thin mail such as articles and book parcels.

BACKGROUND ART In recent years, the amount of large mail items such as first class non-standard size mail, third class mail, fourth class mail, and book parcels has been increasing with the development of postal services. Traditionally, mail has been sorted manually at post offices using sorting shelves partitioned into about 40 directions. However, in the end, the number of divisions is
Since the number ranges from 100 units to about 300 units, multi-level divisions such as 2-level and 3-level divisions have been carried out.

This multi-stage sorting has disadvantages in that it takes more time to transport than the one-stage sorting, and it also requires redundant address reading, resulting in wasteful processes and increased costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a small and medium-sized mail sorting device that allows sorting from several dozen to several hundred slots in one stage.

In order to achieve the above object, the large mail item sorting device according to the present invention receives a large mail item, conveys the input large mail item to a feeding section in a three-dimensional state, and opens and closes the bottom of the feeding section. By controlling a plurality of large mail supply mechanisms that drop large mail items downward, and a collection box that accommodates the large mail items for each destination, the group is arranged in one direction into two upper and lower groups. The case consists of a sorting and stacking section arranged in tiers and a group of slits that accommodate large mail items in an upright position and perpendicular to the transport direction, and whose bottom part is controlled to open and close. Pins planted in each of the four corners of the case are attached to four bi-pitch chains with attachments at predetermined intervals so that the drive direction remains horizontal even when the drive direction changes, and this bi-pitch chain with attachments is driven in a loop. By causing each case to move back and forth between the lower part of the supply part and the upper part of the sorting and accumulation part of the plurality of large mail supply mechanisms, the large mail pieces are dropped into a predetermined slit of the case. and a control unit that determines the timing of opening the bottom of the supply unit and the timing of opening the bottom of the slit based on address information in order to sort the large mail items accommodated in the slit into predetermined collection boxes. It has been done.

According to the above configuration, the object of the present invention can be completely achieved.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings.

First, an outline of the overall operation will be explained.

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an embodiment according to the present invention, showing an example in which there are three supply mechanism sections and two stacking sections.

For large mail items, address reading units 101a, 101b,
101c, etc., the operator picks out one mail from a mass of unprocessed mail, reads the address, and inputs the address information to a control unit (not shown) by keystroke or voice (not shown). be done.

The large mail items whose addresses have been read are sent to the supply units 103a and 103a, one of which is arranged in each address reading unit.
03b, 103c through input slots 102a, 102b, 102c placed in front of the destination reading section. In the supply parts 103a, 103b, 103c, attachment bipitch chains 301, 30
2, 303, and 304, it is dropped into the slit portion of the case 201, which is conveyed at regular intervals.

Then, the case 201 moves in the direction of the arrow, and when it reaches the upper part of a predetermined collection box in the stacking section, the bottom of the slit in which the large mail is accommodated opens and the mail is divided into predetermined collection boxes.

A large number of cases are separated by numbers and connected at regular intervals, so that the position of each case can be determined by counting electric pulses, etc. Therefore, when a large piece of mail with a specified destination is fed into a certain slit in some cases from the feeding sections 103a, 103b, and 103c (the slit into which it should be fed is determined for each feeding mechanism), Since the bottom of the slit opens when a certain number of pulses are counted based on address information, large mail items are reliably sorted into the desired collection box.

Next, details of the operation and structure of each mechanical section will be explained.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the supply mechanism section.

This figure shows an embodiment of the supply mechanism section at the forefront of FIG. 1.

Large mail piece 501 dropped from the input slot 102a
passes through the duct 104a, and both sides are connected to the side plates 105.
a, 105b, and the bottom part is formed by a bottom plate 1096a.
Large mail traveling direction changing section 107a consisting of
Pause.

Here, the large mail item is transported to the next stage if there is no other large mail item in front of it.

The conveyance method is by a crosspiece 109a attached to a belt 108a installed on the outside of the side plate 105a.

The crosspiece 109a is an elongated hole 1 provided in the side plate 105a.
It protrudes from 10a into the conveyance path. This crosspiece serves as a stopper when it is in front of a large piece of mail, and as a pusher when it is on the back of a large piece of mail.

Note that the belt 108a may be a chain.

The large mail item conveyed to the next stage is further conveyed to the next stage by the same means if there is no large mail item in the direction of movement, as in the previous stage.

Further, the large mail item transported to the next stage is transported to the supply section 103a under the same conditions as above. The supply unit 103a has side plates 105a, 105 on both sides.
b, the front side is the stopper 111a, the bottom side is the flap 11
2a, and the bottom flap is rotated by a rotary solenoid 113a so that it can rotate downward approximately 90 degrees.

Under such a mechanism, when a large piece of mail is conveyed from the previous stage to the supply section 103a, its lower end is first supported by the flap 112a, and then it moves forward and hits the stopper 111a, stopping its movement due to its inertia. . At this time, either the left or right side plate 10
5a or 105b, it stands still in the supply section 103a.

When the large mail reaches the supply section 103a in this state, the flap 112 rotates at a fixed timing, and the large mail falls freely into one of the plurality of collecting slits made in the case 201.

In this case, since there are a plurality of supply sections as described above, the timing in this case is such that one supply section corresponds to a predetermined collective slit. In other words, when you take out one case, the list at the end contains, for example, supply section 1.
The next slit is supplied only from the supply section 103b, the next slit is supplied only from the supply section 103c, and the next slit is again supplied only from the supply section 103a.

In this embodiment, for example, the feeding mechanism at the forefront will be fed into one of the 1st, 4th, 8th, and 12th slits.

Next, we will discuss the main body transport section, which consists of a case and an attachment chain.

FIG. 3 shows a front view of the sorting conveyance section for explaining the movement of the entire case, and FIG. 4 shows an enlarged perspective view of the turning section of the case.

As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the case has polymeric slits 202a, 202b, 202c, 2
It stores 12 pieces such as 02d and is driven by a bipitch chain with attachments.

In other words, the main body conveyance section has two collecting slits.
The square of the case holds the case, transmits the driving force, is connected to the case by pin joint, and transports the case from the supply section to the sorting and accumulation section, and the empty space after sorting. Continuously driven 4 that moves the case back to the supply
Bi-pitch chain 30 with book attachment
1, 302, 303, 304 and a plurality of sprocket groups 30 for driving and holding this chain.
5a, 305b, 305c, and 305d.

Normally, the bottom of each of the slits is locked and the bottom cover is closed, and the bottom plate is opened when the slit reaches a predetermined segmented shot section according to a control signal from the control section. measures are being taken.

In addition, each case is transferred from the supply section to the lower compartment accumulation section 7a, 7b, 7c, 7 as shown in FIG. 3 without changing its horizontally maintained state.
It moves like d, 7e, 7f.

At the position 7a, for example, a large mail piece 50 is fed from the supply unit 103 to one of the collecting slits of the case 201.
1 is supplied, the case containing the slit that accommodates this large mail item is square, and each of the four points is independently pin-joined to the four bipitch chains with attachments, so the case shown in Figure 4. In conjunction with the movement of the bi-pitch chain with the attachment, the bi-pitch chain with the attachment is first fed horizontally, and then the bi-pitch chain with the attachment is applied to the sprocket, and when the direction of movement is changed to vertical, the distance traveled in the horizontal direction becomes smaller. , the case temporarily decreases its horizontal velocity and gradually changes its direction of travel vertically upward.

At this time, the distance between the case and the case sent next becomes small, but if the distance is set appropriately, it is possible to prevent the cases from colliding with each other. 7
c, 7e and the cases whose positions have been changed further change their conveyance direction horizontally again.

At this time as well, the distance between the top and bottom of the case temporarily narrows, similar to when the conveyance direction is changed from horizontal to vertical, but there is no collision.

The horizontal case is transported to 7f, 7g,
Large mail items are sorted into the lower sorting and accumulation section.

After the cases have been sorted into the lower sorting/accumulating section, the conveyance direction is again changed perpendicularly to 7i and 7j, and this time the conveyance direction is reversed to 7l and 7j.
Large mail items corresponding to the upper sorting and accumulation section are sorted into categories such as m and 7n.

In this embodiment, the separated cases are first moved vertically downward as shown in 7p by changing the conveying direction so as to make the entire apparatus compact.

In this way, the height of the machine is lowered near the supply section, and it moves vertically downward again at 7n and 7s, and finally returns to the position at 7t in preparation for the next supply.

Next, the relationship between the pins that hold the case and the bipitch chain with attachment will be explained using FIG.

The pin 203 fixed to the case 201 is attached to the attachment link 306a, 306b of the bipitch chain 301 with an attachment.
7a, 307b, 307c, 307d, etc., and is loosely fitted into a hole 309 in a vertical portion of a bracket 308, which also serves to hold pins attached thereto. With this configuration, even if the conveyance direction of the bipitch chain with attachment is changed from horizontal to vertical, for example, slippage occurs between the hole 309 and the pin 203, and the case 201 is determined to be horizontal. Only the transport direction can be changed without changing the position.

FIG. 6a is a front view showing the relationship between the case of the stacking section and the stacking box, and FIG. 6b is a side view of only the case.
A mechanism is provided at the bottom of the slit in the case, which is always locked and unlocked when it reaches a predetermined sorting/accumulating box 401j.

The figure shows a situation where the bottom plate 204e is rotated by 90 degrees and large mail pieces fall naturally, pass through the stack introduction section, and are stacked.

In this example, the inner width of the slit is 50 mm, and the conveyance speed of the chain (i.e. case) is set to 12 m/cm, for example.
If min, the time it takes for one slit to pass through the feeding section is 250 msec, and the time given for feeding is approximately 250 mes, but if it is a large mail piece with a width of about 250 mm, the entire width will be Since it takes approximately 230 mes for the liquid to be stored in the slit, a fixed free-fall type supply is possible.

Regarding accumulation, even if the width of the inlet port is 250 mm, there is no problem as it takes more than 1 sec. The mechanical processing capacity of this device is chain speed 12m/mi.
n and the number of collective slits per case is 12, the number is 12,000 pieces/hour.

Assuming that the time required to read addresses is 4,000 mails/hour (in the case of voice input), by providing three address reading units as in this embodiment, it is possible to read medium-sized large mail items at medium speeds as described above. sorting device becomes possible.

According to the present invention, large mail items are not held down or pinched during transport, so the contents are stable without being damaged, and the speed of the main transport section is reduced. Since the noise level is low, there is also little noise, and large mail items can be stacked in two tiers, the top and bottom, making it extremely compact.

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a small size mail sorting device for medium-sized mail.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the feeding mechanism from feeding a large mail item to supplying it to the case, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the movement of the case. A front view of the main conveyance section, Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of part A in Figure 3, and is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the case and the bipitch chain with attachment, and Figure 5 is an enlarged perspective view of part B in Figure 4. FIG. 6A is a front view for explaining the shapes of the case and the collection box, and FIG. 6B is a side view of only the case. 101...Address reading section, 102...Input slot, 1
03... Supply section, 104... Duct, 105...
Side plate, 106...Bottom plate, 107...Large mail traveling direction changing section, 108...Belt, 109...
Crosspiece, 110... Hole, 111... Stopper, 112
... Flap, 113 ... Rotary solenoid, 201 ... Case, 202 ... Slit, 2
03... Pin, 204... Bottom plate, 301, 30
2,303,304... Bi-pitch chain with attachment, 305... Sprocket, 306
... Attachment, 307 ... Rivet, 30
8...Bracket, 309...Pin hole, 40
1,402...Separate collection box, 501,502...
Large mail, 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e, 6
f... Case conveyance direction, 7a, 7b, 7c-7
t...Position of the case.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A large mail item is fed into the supply section, and the large mail item is conveyed in a standing position in a feeding section, and by controlling the opening and closing of the bottom of the feeding section, the large mail item is dropped downward. A large mail supply mechanism, a sorting and stacking section in which groups of stacking boxes for storing the large mail for each destination are arranged in one direction in two upper and lower stages, and the large mail is placed in an upright position. The case is made up of a group of slits that are large and housed in a posture perpendicular to the transport direction, and the bottom of the case is controlled to open and close.The drive direction is changed by pins installed at each of the four corners of the case. It is attached to four bi-pitch chains with attachments at predetermined intervals so as to remain horizontal even when the case is tilted, and by driving the bi-pitch chains with attachments in a loop, each of the cases can be connected to the plurality of large mail supply mechanisms. The main transport section reciprocates between the lower part of the supply section and the upper section of the sorting and accumulation section, and the timing of opening the bottom of the supply section and the large mail pieces accommodated in the slits in order to drop large mail items into a predetermined slit of the case. A large-sized mail sorting device comprising a control section that gives timing for opening the bottom of a slit based on address information in order to sort the large-sized mail into predetermined collection boxes.