WO1999047444A1

WO1999047444A1 - Paper sheet sorting/stacking device and mail sorting/stacking device

Info

Publication number: WO1999047444A1
Application number: PCT/JP1998/001183
Authority: WO
Inventors: Shinji Miyakawa; Toshihiko Tajiri
Original assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
Priority date: 1998-03-19
Filing date: 1998-03-19
Publication date: 1999-09-23

Abstract

A mail sorting/stacking device for sorting and stacking mails in required stacking boxes in accordance with the address information about the mails. It is judged in accordance with the thickness information about the mails stacked in the stacking boxes whether or not the quantity of mails stacked in the stacking boxes exceeds a certain value. Further, the number of stacking boxes are determined in accordance with the thickness information, and the stacking efficiency is improved, thereby providing an inexpensive mail sorting/stacking device.

Description

Description Paper sheet sorting and stacking equipment and mail sorting and stacking equipment

The present invention relates to an apparatus for handling paper sheets such as a mail sorting / stacking apparatus, and more particularly to a technique for stacking paper sheets of various different thicknesses in a stacking box. Landscape technology

Conventionally, there is a technique of sorting papers such as mails and stacking them in a desired stacking box. The full capacity of the stacking box has been considered by the following method. -There is a paper sheet sorting and accumulating apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-48773.

Method Fixed number of sheets

Method 2. A method in which a pair of optical sensors is disposed at a position where the optical axis is shielded when the stacked sheets reach a predetermined height, and the stacking height is detected.

When sheets of various thicknesses, especially mail, etc., are mixed and collected in the same stacking box, there are many thick sheets (eg, envelopes, etc.) and thin sheets (eg, If there are many (postcards, etc.), the stacking height differs even if the same number is stacked. Therefore, in the method 1 described in the above-mentioned conventional technique in which the number of stacked sheets is fixed, if the full capacity is set to the number of thick sheets, the number of thin sheets is large. When the full capacity is set to the number of thin paper sheets, there is a problem that overflow occurs when there are many thick paper sheets, and the stacking efficiency is poor.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned method 2 using an optical sensor, the full capacity can always detect the same integration height, so that the integration efficiency is good, but the cost is high because it needs to be installed in all the integration boxes. An object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive paper sheet sorting and accumulating apparatus with high accumulating efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of the mail sorting / accumulating apparatus of the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows the configuration of the bin in the mail sorting and stacking device of Fig. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a control diagram of the mail sorting / accumulating apparatus of FIG.

Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the first process of sorting and collecting mails in the collection box.

Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the process of sorting and collecting mails in the bin for the second time. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the paper sheet sorting apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, since the postal materials, such as postcards and envelopes, are sorted and collected as paper, they are also referred to as postal sorting devices or postal sorting devices, or simply postal sorting devices or postal sorting machines. It is also called a route assembling device because it can arrange mail in the order of delivery.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a mail sorting / accumulating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The bundle of mail pieces placed on the hopper 1 is separated one by one by the separation unit 2 and conveyed to the conveyance path 3. In addition, a thickness measuring device 4 that measures the thickness of mail, an exclusion box 6 that collects mail that is determined to be too thick to be applied to the device based on the measurement results of this thickness measuring device 4, There are provided a transport path 8 for transporting, a branch transport path 9 for sorting mails sequentially transported to each stage, and a stacking section 10 composed of a plurality of stacking boxes arranged in a matrix. (Shown by a dotted line) is provided with an overflow accumulating unit 11 for accumulating mail and the like which are full from each accumulation box. As shown in the figure, eight stacking boxes are mounted per row in the stacking section 10. The number of accumulation boxes can be changed. Usually, a stacking box of 150 to 40 ° is often mounted. There is also provided an operation panel 12 for clerk operation, and a control unit 5 for allocating the sorting destination of the bins and determining the destination bin for each mail.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration of each accumulation box of the accumulation unit 10 shown in FIG. When the shaft 24 is rotated by a drive source (not shown), the direction in which the mail conveyed along the gate 2 3 1 transport path 22 attached to the shaft 24 is collected in the collection box 21 is not determined. Switch to the direction. A stack guide 2 δ that guides the course of the mail to be stacked is provided so as to rotate about the shaft 26 and extends into the stacking box 21. An indicator lamp 27 is provided to indicate whether or not the accumulation status of the postal matter in the bin 21 is "almost full", "full", or the like, and whether or not the postal status is particularly full. When mail 28 to be collected in the collection box 21 is conveyed along the conveyance path 22, the gate 23 switches, and the route is guided to the gate 23 and the stack guide 25 to collect the mail. Stacked on stool 29.

Next, a group of postal goods with mixed delivery destinations is placed twice in the mail sorting and stacking device shown in Fig. 1 in ascending order of delivery destination (the order of delivery destinations assigned numerically is the smallest order). The details of the route assembling process will be described with reference to the control diagram of the control unit 5 shown in FIG.

First, when the attendant selects the sorting processing mode as the first time of the route assembling processing on the operation panel 12 of FIG. 1 (20〗), the sorting destination designation of the stacking box is assigned (2 3 1). In this first delivery, the mail is sorted by the first digit of the delivery destination.At this time, since the mail volume of each delivery destination is unknown, the mail is allocated to a preset sorting destination, and the mail is sent to each mailing destination as shown in the conceptual diagram in Fig. 4. It is accumulated for each accumulation box number assigned to the accumulation box. The first digit replaces the information obtained from the address information etc. written on the mail with a number, etc., and indicates the last digit of the number, and the mail should be actually delivered. Delivery destinations such as homes and apartments are assembled based on this mailing address information. Subsequently, when the clerk turns on the supply switch (205), the bundle of mail pieces placed on the hotbed 1 is separated and sent out one by one in the separation unit 2 (206), and the mail pieces sent out are separated. After passing through the conveying path 3, the thickness is measured by the thickness measuring device 4 (207). Mail that is determined to be a thickness that cannot be applied to the device based on the measured thickness information is sent to the exclusion box 6 and collected (208, 209). The postal matter determined to be normal is sent to the reading unit 7, and the postal information, such as the postal code and address, described on the postal matter is read out (210).

Thereafter, while the mail is passing through the transport path 8, the destination storage bin is determined from the address information and the allocation designation of the storage bin (2 1 1), and it is confirmed whether the storage bin is full. (2 1 2). If the bin is full, if there is a desired bin that is not full at the same destination (2 14), the destination bin is changed and the bin is collected (2 15), but if there is no bin, the destination is overflowed. Box 6 7 is determined and collected (2 16). In this way, the mail sorting / accumulating apparatus of the present invention uses the thickness data (also referred to as thickness information) of the mail obtained by the thickness measuring device 4 at the time of the first sorting / accumulating process to the delivery destination. The data is added and calculated according to the delivery destination of each mail, and the data is saved (233). This is because the amount (thickness) of mail delivered differs depending on the delivery destination, as described later.

During this sorting operation, the accumulated mail 29 in each accumulation box in FIG. 2 is placed in a certain accumulation state (accumulated thickness) based on the aforementioned mail thickness information and the information set in advance by the control unit 5. (Or the height of the stack), it is determined that the battery is almost full (234), and the display lamp 27 in FIG. 2 is flashed to notify the staff (223). When the clerk removes the stacked mail 29 and “almost full” is released (224), the blinking indicator lamp 27 goes off (225) and the mail is collected in the empty bin 21. The postal matter to be conveyed is subsequently conveyed, and the thickness of the postal matter is measured by the thickness measuring device 4 and accumulated in the accumulation box 21 while being added as thickness data (233). In addition, if the clerk took out half the U as `` almost full '' and took out the stacking mail 29 in Fig. 2 stored in the stacking box 21, the stacking box number added to each stacking box and the order of picking up Manage so that you can understand. When the clerk does not take out the stacked mail and takes a certain amount of mail further to the `` almost full '' stacking box 21, the thickness data of the mail is detected by the thickness measuring device 4 as described above. The height of the entire mail being conveyed and collected in the bin 21 is determined sequentially, and it is determined whether the height of the “full” is higher than “almost full” (235). When the reference value set in step 5 is reached, it is determined that the mail is "full" (227), the display lamp 27 is turned on (228), and the mail is no longer collected in the collection box 21. When the attendant removes the collected mail 29 (229), the indicator lamp 27 goes out (225), and the mail to be collected is continuously transported to the collecting box 21 (233).

When the first sorting is completed in this way, as shown in FIG. 4, the postal matter collected in the collecting boxes 51 to 56 has a postal group having the same first digit for each delivery destination. However, the postal items transported to the overflow bin 57 have the same number in the first digit of the delivery destination, so the clerk will classify the postal items one by one into a group of postal items with the same first digit in the destination. .

Here, the sorting and stacking in each stacking box will be described in detail with reference to FIG. As described above, when mail is sorted and collected for the first time using the mail sorting / stacking device, the thickness of the mail is unknown, so the first digit is “” as shown in Fig. 4 (a). The mailing box with the number 1 is assigned the stacking box number 5 1 and 52, and the mail with the first digit 2 is the box number 53 and 54, and the first digit The collection number “55” and “56” are set in advance for the mail of “3”, and the collection number “57” is set in advance for mail (overflow) where the collection box at the sorting destination is full and cannot enter any more. .

Based on this setting, mail items in which delivery destinations “61-63”, “71-73”, “81-83”, and “91-93” are mixed are shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 4 (b), when the sorting and stacking process is performed by the stacking device, for example, in the stacking box with the stacking box number “5 1”, “6 1 · 6] · 9 1 · 6 1 · 8 1 ... When the mail is full based on the thickness data of the mail, it is stacked one after another in the other bin number “5 2” assigned by the first digit “1”. Then, a group of postal items whose first digit is “1”, which is in a certain state of accumulation, especially full (including almost full and full), is sequentially taken out of the accumulation box as shown in the figure and managed.

By such sorting and stacking of postal items, it is possible to classify the postal items with the first digit of the delivery destination as "1", "2", and "3". In addition, at the time of the first sorting and collecting process, the thickness data is obtained by the thickness measuring device 4 and the address information is obtained by the reading unit 7 corresponding to each mail. The thickness data of the group of items is added, and the total sum can be determined (2 3 2), and the total sum of the thickness of the postal group regarding the second digit of the delivery destination described later can be determined.

Next, when the attendant selects the sorting process mode as the second process of the route assembly process on the operation panel 12 (201), the sorting destination designation of the stacking box is assigned. At this time, the sorting process is obtained in the first process. Based on the added data (sum) of the thickness data of the postal items, the bins are assigned destinations (2 3 1).

This assignment will be described with reference to FIG.

Fig. 5 (a) shows the number of mails collected in the first sorting / stacking process (conventional example) and the added thickness information (the present invention) added according to the second digit of the delivery destination. And shows the calculated results. For example, in the case of a mail item whose second digit of the delivery destination is “9” as shown in the figure, the number of stacked sheets is 1200, but the added thickness is 600 mm. It is clear from comparison with the second digit of other mails, `` 8 '', `` 7 '', `` 6 '', but it is judged to be the largest number of mails compared to other mails when considering the number of mails accumulated However, the value of the added thickness is lower than the second digit “8” and “7”. In this way, the number of mails in the second digit “9” is large in number, but each postal mail is considered to include many postcards with small thickness. Therefore, in the management of mail collection, managing the number of mails based on the number of mails would cause the collection box to be filled up quickly, resulting in poor collection efficiency. Therefore, in the mail sorting / accumulating apparatus of the present invention, in the second route assembling process, as shown in FIG.

assign.

As can be seen from Fig. 5 (a), the figures with the larger added thicknesses are 1800mm for "8" and 1600mm for "7" for the delivery destination. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 5 (b), two bins with bin numbers of “54 and 55” are allocated in the case of the second eyesight power of “8”, and similarly, in the case of the second digit of “7”, Assign two stacking boxes with stacking numbers "5 2 and 5 3". On the other hand, in the case of the second digit power S “6” and “9”, the added thickness of the mail group in the second digit of the delivery destination is small, and therefore the accumulation box numbers “5 1” and “56” respectively In this way, instead of allocating bins using the number of mail items, allocating bins using mail thickness data, it is possible to achieve more efficient sorting and collection. There is an effect to say.

Hereinafter, the second route assembling process will be described with reference to FIG.

In the second process, the mail is sorted by the second digit of the delivery destination. At this time, the mail items sorted in the first process are supplied to the stacking unit of the device in ascending order of the first digit (small numbers). This process has been described in detail in FIG. 3 and will be omitted. It is needless to say that the amount of mail collected in one bin is managed based on the mail thickness data, as in the first sorting process.

As shown in the figure, the first digit of the delivery destination is younger, that is, mail items “6 1” “7 1” “8 1” “9 1” are stacked in the stacking box of each stacking box number assigned first. To go. The mailing box with the second digit of the delivery destination is “6” in the stacking box with the stacking box number “5 1”, and the second digit in the stacking box with the stacking box number “5 2 and 5 3”. The postal item of 7 '', the bin number of 54 and 55 are the postal item of the second digit `` 8 '', and the bin of the bin number `` 56 '' is the postal item of the second digit `` 9 '' respectively. Classified and accumulated. Although not shown in the figure, the first digit is “6 1”, “7 1”, “8 1”, and “9 1”. "7 2""82""92" mail will be supplied subsequently, and the first digit; "3""63""73""83""93" mail By supplying articles to a predetermined stacking box and sorting and collecting them, mixed mail physical strength before being sorted and stacked by the mail sorting and stacking apparatus of the present invention can be grouped as mail groups according to the delivery destination. It becomes possible to carry out route assembly processing in the order of delivery.

Focusing on the bin with the bin number "5 3" in Fig. 4 (c), the second digit power; although the mail is assigned to be piled up with "7", the delivery destination is "61" Mail, that is, postal matter with the second digit power S “6” is accumulated: This starts sorting processing with the sorting destination designation allocation, and in a short time during sorting operation, the second digit power S “ The additional thickness is increased due to the concentration of thick mails such as 6 '', and when the full number of bins with a certain number of bins is detected in the bin with the bin number of `` 5 1 '', the second digit is If the added thickness of “7” is small and the stacking box number “5 3” is empty, as shown in (2 3 6) in Fig. 3, this stacking box is placed in the destination where the second digit is “6”. change. As a result, the number of mails transported to the overflow collecting box 57 and later sorted by the attendant by hand is reduced, and the collecting efficiency is improved.

Similarly, when selecting the first time of the route assembly processing shown in (2 3 1) in Fig. 3 and setting the sorting destination designation of the bin in advance, it is stored up to the previous time, specifically, the previous day. Statistical processing is performed on the thickness data for each delivery destination during the route assembling process, and control is performed to set up a large number of bins at the sorting destinations that had been increased up to the previous time. Even so, the integration efficiency can be improved.

In the above description, the example where the delivery destination uses the first and second digits, that is, two digits in total, was used. However, the delivery destination of m digits (m is an integer of 1 or more) such as three or four digits. However, it is also possible to use the mail sorting / accumulating apparatus of the present invention to carry out the route assembling process in the order of delivery of mail items. I explained an example where the mail group was subdivided, It is also possible to separate and collect mail three, four, and n (n is an integer of 2 or more) times.

Also, in the first and second route assembly processes described above, mail items mixed in the first time are sorted and collected, and the delivery number 2 is collected based on the thickness data of the mail items obtained in the first time. A stacking box was assigned for the first digit, and the first digit of the delivery number was sorted and sorted in ascending order (small numbers). Conversely, the data of the postal items obtained in the first time were collected in the second time. Even if the first digit of the delivery number is assigned to a collection box and the second digit of the delivery number is sorted and sorted in ascending order, the above-described route assembly can be performed. Needless to say, the route assembling process can be performed in the order of the delivery destination number.

Subsequently, the mail sorting / accumulating device of the present invention indicates whether the mail in the stacking box 21 in FIG. 2 is in a stacking state equal to or higher than a predetermined value, particularly a full state (including almost full and full) and a mail. The relationship with the thickness data is explained in comparison with the conventional technology. In addition, the setting of “almost full” or “full” or the setting from “almost full” to “full” of the stacking box of the present invention can be freely set or changed based on the above-mentioned mail thickness data. Since it can be made variable, the state of accumulation in the collection box can be managed flexibly.

Normally, a staff member is often responsible for processing 50 to 100 stacking boxes, and the stacking box 21 becomes “almost full” when processing other stacking boxes. After that, the mail is further conveyed and judged to be "full", and the subsequent mail is further conveyed to the overflow stacking box 11, where the attendant manually sorts it later, resulting in poor efficiency. If the “almost full” state is set to an earlier timing, the time from “almost full” to “full” will be longer, but the number of removals will have to be removed by the attendant even though there is not much mail accumulated. And the integration efficiency is also worsened. Therefore, in order to increase the integration efficiency, it is necessary to increase the height of “almost full” as much as possible, and further increase the time from “almost full” to “full”.

For example, suppose you handle mail from 0.2 mm to 6.0 mm, Assume that the setting of the bin 21 shown in Fig. 2 is “almost full” with a height of 60 mm and “full” height with a further 24 mm (84 mm in total).

As in method 1 described in the conventional technology, “almost full” and “full” are determined by the number of sheets. If the number of mails is set to 0.2 mm, 300 sheets will be set to “almost full”, and 120 will be set to “full”. If all 6.0 mm mails are conveyed, 14 Since the sheets are physically full and the full state is not detected, the mail will be sent to the stacking box and the mail will be damaged, so the number of thickest mails must be set. Therefore, if the number of Omm mails is set to 6, then 10 sheets will be set to `` almost full '', and 4 sheets will be set to `` full ''. 2m mZ x 1 4 = 2.8mm and 81.2mm is vacant but it is judged to be "full" and the integration efficiency is poor.

On the other hand, if the stacking postal matter is positioned almost full or full as in method 2 described in the prior art and the optical sensor is arranged at the height to detect the stacking height, the above problem is solved but the cost increases. .

In order to solve these conventional techniques, the present invention measures the thickness data of each piece of mail using the thickness measuring device 4 in FIG. 1 and compares the thickness data with the delivery destination of the mail. By managing while storing, as described above, calculation is performed in conjunction with the height of "almost full" or "full" indicating the accumulation state of mail items, that is, the full state, and by managing the state of the accumulation box, It is possible to solve the problems of the prior art, improve the operability of the staff, and provide a mail sorting / stacking device that does not require much cost. Industrial applicability

As described above, according to the detailed description of the present invention, it is possible to provide an inexpensive paper sheet sorting and accumulating apparatus in which an accumulating box for accumulating mails has a good accumulating efficiency, is easy to operate by a staff member, and is inexpensive. There is an effect that can be done.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. Separation unit that separates paper sheets, thickness measurement unit that measures the thickness of paper sheets, reading unit that reads information added to paper sheets, and stacking box that stacks paper sheets A paper sheet sorting / stacking apparatus comprising: a plurality of stacking units; and a control unit that controls each unit, and sorts and stacks in a desired stacking box of the stacking unit based on information read by the reading unit. hand,

The control unit sets the sheets to be stacked in the stacking box to a certain stacking state, and sets the fixed stacking state and the thickness information of the sheets obtained by the thickness measuring unit to the set state. A sheet sorting / stacking apparatus for managing the state of stacking of sheets stacked in the stacking box based on the stacking state.

2. The paper sheet sorting and accumulating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control of the paper sheets of the control unit is a management of whether or not the accumulation state of the paper sheets accumulated in the accumulation box is equal to or more than a predetermined value. And when the control unit determines that the value is equal to or more than a predetermined value, a display indicating that the paper sheet stacking state is full is performed.

3. The sheet sorting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sheet is conveyed to the target stacking box after the control unit determines that the stacking amount of the sheet is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. A paper sheet sorting and stacking apparatus, wherein the sheets are stacked in a stacking box other than the target stacking box whose stacking amount is equal to or more than a predetermined value.

4. The paper sheet sorting and accumulating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting of the stacking state by the control unit is performed from a state in which the sheets in the stacking box are empty to a state in which the sheets overflow from the stacking box. A paper sheet sorting and accumulating apparatus, which can be freely set according to the height.

5. The sheet sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sets the number of stacking boxes on which sheets are to be stacked based on the thickness information obtained by the thickness measuring unit. A paper sheet sorting / stacking device, characterized in that:

6. The sheet stacking device according to claim 1, wherein the stacking state set by the control unit is such that sheets stacked in the stacking box are in a first stacking state and a second stacking state. A sheet stacking / stacking device, wherein a stacking amount of sheets from the first stacking state to the second stacking state is variable based on the thickness information.

7. The paper sheet sorting / stacking apparatus according to claim 5, wherein during the operation of the control unit for sorting the paper sheets, the stacking box to be transported is changed according to the stacking state of each stacking box. Characteristic paper sheet sorting and stacking device.

8. In a mail sorting device that sorts mail in the order of delivery destination by mail address,

A separation unit that separates mail, a measurement unit that measures the thickness of mail, a reading unit that reads mailing address information, an accumulation unit that includes a plurality of accumulation boxes that accumulate mail, and a control unit. Has,

The control unit measures the thickness information of the postal matter delivered from the separation unit by the measurement unit, and accumulates the postal matter in a desired one of the accumulation units from the address information from the reading unit. In this case, the postal matter sorting / stacking apparatus is characterized in that, based on the measured thickness information, the number of the bins to be allocated is set at a point in time before the postal matter is collected in the bin.

9. The mail sorting / accumulating apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the sorting process is performed a plurality of times, based on thickness information obtained from the measuring unit at n (n is an integer of 1 or more) times. N (N is an integer greater than n) A mail sorting and collecting apparatus characterized by the following.

10. The mail sorting / accumulating apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a desired one of the stacking units is selected based on a m-th (m is an integer of 1 or more) digit included in the address information read by the reading unit. A mail sorting / stacking device, which determines a stacking box of mail.

11. The mail sorting / accumulating apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a desired one of the stacking units is based on a m-th digit (m is an integer of〗 or more) included in the address information read by the reading unit. A postal ward characterized by determining a bin

1 2. In the mail sorting / accumulating device described in claim 11, when mails are sorted and accumulated in the bin for the Nth time, mails are accumulated based on the number in the Mth digit (M is an integer not m). Mail collecting and sorting apparatus characterized by determining a collecting box to be stacked

13. The mail sorting / accumulating apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the control unit sets a full state of the collection box, and compares the set full state with thickness information measured by the measurement unit. And determining whether or not the mail stacked in the stacking box is full.

14. The mail sorting apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the thickness information obtained by the measuring unit is statistically processed, and a stacking box is assigned based on the statistical result. Integrated device.

1 5. Separation unit that separates bundles of paper sheets, thickness measurement unit that measures the thickness of paper sheets, reading unit that reads information written on paper sheets, and stores the read information And a stacking unit composed of a plurality of stacking boxes for sorting and stacking the sheets according to the read information, and the control unit determines one or more sorting destinations of the stacking box. A sheet sorting / stacking apparatus that sorts sheets into a stacking destination of sorting corresponding to the information read by the reading unit by designating the stacking box, wherein the control unit stacks the sheets in each stacking box. A sheet sorting and stacking apparatus, wherein the thickness of sheets to be stacked is added for each stacking box, and the sorting destination of the stacking box is changed according to the added thickness of the sheets.

1 6. Separation section for separating paper sheets, thickness measurement section for measuring the thickness of paper sheets, reading section for reading information written on paper sheets, and paper sheet according to the read information A stacking unit consisting of a plurality of stacking boxes to be sorted and stacked, and a control unit to process, and the control unit designates one or more stacking boxes as sorting destinations of the stacking boxes, and information read by the reading unit. Is a paper sheet sorting / stacking apparatus for sorting each sheet into a stacking box of a sorting destination corresponding to the above, and when performing the sorting process N (2≤N) times, the control unit is configured to perform the n-th first (2≤η ^ Ν), add the thickness of each n-th sorting destination based on the thickness information of the paper sheets collected at (2≤η ^ Ν), and add the n-th Specify how many bins are to be assigned to the bins for each bin, and assign the bins to the bins for each of the N sorting processes. Sheet sorting stacking apparatus according to claim.

1 7. A sorting section for sorting mails, a plurality of stacking boxes for collecting mails, a reading section for reading mail addresses, a measuring section for measuring the thickness of mails, and a control section. In the mail sorting machine having the sorting and stacking process by the sorting and stacking unit in a desired stacking box according to the read address, the control unit is configured to measure a delivery destination for delivering mail and the measuring unit. The sum of the thickness information is stored in association with the thickness information of the mail, and based on the stored thickness information of the sum, the allocation of the collecting boxes is made in correspondence with the delivery destination of the mail. A mail sorting machine characterized by setting.