WO2007039164A1

WO2007039164A1 - Stacking tray for falling flat object

Info

Publication number: WO2007039164A1
Application number: PCT/EP2006/009280
Authority: WO
Inventors: Beat Fritsche; Wolfgang Scheibl; Armin Zimmerman
Original assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
Priority date: 2005-10-03
Filing date: 2006-09-25
Publication date: 2007-04-12
Also published as: EP1937579A1; EP1937579B1; ATE488461T1; DE502006008353D1; DE102005047675A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a stacking tray for a falling flat object (1) comprising a top opening for admitting said object, a lateral stacking surface (2) for arranging and deposing one side of the object and a lower closure flap (3) for arranging and deposing the lower edge of the object. A lower holder (4) which is positioned in front of the side wall and is used for slowing down and damping the falling object prior to the contact thereof with the closure flap makes it possible to avoid the object rebound and rolling inside the stacking tray.

Description

description

Storage compartment for a falling flat object

The invention relates to a storage compartment for a falling flat object according to the preamble of claim 1.

When sorting flat objects, such as postal items, storage compartments are used as storage means for falling flat objects. These slots can also z. B. may be used as latches, which are arranged between two running paths of postal containers. In this way, a mail item from a running container of the first upper web here is stored in the buffer memory until a running desired container of the second here lower web arrives to receive the mail item in the lower delivery region of the buffer.

Such a falling flat article storage compartment is known having an upper opening to the inlet of the article, comprising: a lateral storage surface for aligning and depositing one side of the article, a lower closure flap for aligning and depositing a lower edge of the article.

The page of the article is to be understood as the page with the largest area in contrast to the edge, on the example of a postal item such as an envelope or a magazine. With the edge or its width is thus decisive the thickness of the flat object meant. Furthermore, z. As directories or elongated cardboard boxes in question.

In most cases, an object falls into the storage compartment by gravity in a vertical or slightly inclined (top-to-bottom) direction of the side of the article, by anyway first lowering the bottom edge of the article. te of the article penetrates the opening of the storage compartment and impinges on the flap. The lower edge is therefore also referred to in this sense as the leading edge.

The following requirements are placed on the closure flap of this storage compartment or intermediate storage:

When storing in the temporary storage, it must be ensured that the items do not rebound appreciably and their leading edges come to a standstill in a small area of the storage compartment,

- The rolling up of the consignments upon impact with the closing flap must be prevented

When emptying the intermediate store, preferably by opening the closing flap, the frictional forces from the closing flap and, if applicable, from other holding or aligning means in the storage compartment are to be minimized,

In the case of deformable mailings, the contour of the lateral depositing surface should be impressed by additional pressure in order to stiffen it and thereby stabilize the movement during the subsequent ejection from the closing flap.

- The flap should exert a leading influence on the programs, in particular when the message is dropped over the open flap.

The invention has for its object to provide a storage compartment for a falling flat object, in which the above-cited requirements are met.

According to the invention the object is achieved by the features of claim 1.

This document describes a storage compartment for a falling flat object with an upper opening to the inlet of the article, comprising: a lateral storage surface for aligning and depositing one side of the object, a lower flap for aligning and depositing a lower edge of the article.

The fact that opposite the lateral wall a hold-down is arranged, which causes a delay and a damping of the falling object from impact of the article on the closure flap, all known disadvantages of the prior art are eliminated according to the invention.

In the process, items that fall into the buffer store slide on the shelf in the direction of the flap. Before they strike there, they encounter one or more juxtaposed hold-downs. Advantageously, the transmission is braked by the friction between hold-downs and sender so that their low residual kinetic energy no longer leads to a significant rebound on the closure flap. A possibly still occurring backward movement of the consignment is also slowed down by the hold-downs. In addition to the effect of the weight of the hold-down, pressure forces and the behavior during movement can still be adapted to the requirements by using springs or / and dampers. For example, the braking effect can be designed so that it also increases with increasing mailing thickness. With an approximately constant density of the shipments, this results in the desired greater deceleration of heavy shipments.

Due to the targeted braking of the shipments, therefore, the consignment leading edges are located in a small, defined area of the storage compartment. The timing of the drops from the intermediate container are thus approximately the same over a wide range of broadcasting. Since no major time tolerances have to be taken into account, a higher throughput is possible.

In addition, by pressing forces from one or more hold-downs and the places of action of these forces are the shipments held flat against the lateral shelf, and thus the curling and fanning are advantageously prevented.

Rolled or fanned programs may not leave the cache on their own and must be removed by hand. By the invention, this danger can be effectively minimized by flattening and keeping the package closed.

In the following two different types of holders are shown. In the two embodiments, when opening the closure flap, the hold-down is taken along by the closure flap, and without being further influenced by the closure flap and the hold-downs, the consignment slips off the intermediate storage on the storage surface for further processing.

By removing the braking effect of the hold-down when dropping the programs, the beginning of the slide takes place in a small, defined time range.

The hold-down exercise distributed over the broadcast side forces on the shipment, which advantageously press this against any existing contour of the lateral storage area. Forces and movement can be designed individually for each hold-down device.

By a defined deformation of the shipment a stable, predictable behavior is achieved during the ejection.

The side surfaces of the hold downs carry the consignments and keep them on a straight path. Therefore, unwanted rotation of the programs and changes in the direction of movement are prevented by the influence of the guide of the hold-down (s).

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are set forth in the subclaims. Subsequently, the invention will be explained in an embodiment with reference to the drawings.

1 shows a first storage compartment with a closed closure flap,

2 shows a first storage compartment with an open closure flap,

3 shows a second storage compartment.

In FIG. 1 there is shown a first storage compartment for a falling flat article 1 having an upper opening to the inlet of the article, a lateral storage surface 2 for aligning and depositing one side of the article and a lower closure flap 3 for aligning and depositing a lower edge of the article , Opposite the lateral wall, a hold-down 4 is arranged, which causes a delay and a damping of the falling object before an impact of the article on the closure flap.

In this case, the holding-down device is rotatable and connected to a spring means 6, 7, so that prior to the impact of the flat object on the closure flap, the holding-down device exerts pressure forces in the direction of the lateral depositing surface on the flat object. In this case also closure flap and hold-down on a same axis of rotation, but for different purposes on: on the one hand for opening / closing the flap and on the other hand for activating / deactivating the blank holder.

The spring means with spring 6 and damper 7 has a variable resistance, which increases with the distance of the blank holder from the lateral storage surface. The Adjustment of the resistance is designed such that with a thick or heavy falling object, the damper 7 acts more strongly than with a thin or light falling object. The spring 6 causes the pressure force of the hold-down against the lateral support surface.

Also, the closure flap is rotatable and forms an L-shaped profile, the L-base of which is provided as an alignment element of the lower edge of the article and whose L-side forms a wall opposite the lateral deposition surface. At this opposite wall while the axis of rotation is arranged. The axis of rotation could also be arranged instead of this opposite wall on the side wall (see further Figure 3). In this case, the lateral shelf forms the L side, and an L side opposite wall is also provided. In all cases, the hold-down or its area of action between the L-side and the opposite wall is arranged.

The L-base has a stop, with which the hold-down is taken with an opening of the flap. This stop is simply realized that in its lower region, the closure flap has at least one slot into which the hold-down penetrates.

Advantageously, the hold-down is arcuate in at least one vertical plane (fall direction) and has a convex portion which forms a friction surface upon contact with the object. For example, the hold-down may have a plurality of hold-down elements arranged side by side in a transverse direction of the lateral storage surface and the closure flap. The Niederhaitelemente penetrate into juxtaposed slots of the flap, which can extend U-shaped to the lateral support surface or are provided as rectangular recesses in the L-base. The adjacent hold-down elements can cause different delays and losses. ken, preferably by their different shape and / or material and / or associated suspension. The juxtaposed Niederhaitelemente may also have different distances to the lateral storage surface. This produces any arcuate or convex hold-down shapes and pressure influences in a mono- or multi-dimensional manner relative to the lateral storage surface.

Furthermore, the lateral storage surface has a concave profile. Thus, especially thin shipments are better

Stiffness e.g. own against rolling. Here, the convex shape or arrangement of the holddown is well. By pressing the hold down the flat object takes on the here concave profile shape of the lateral storage area.

To receive the flat object, the shelf and the blank holder form a funnel along the width of the mail item (i.e., perpendicular to Figure 1). This supports the alignment of slightly inclined falling shipments on the lateral storage surface. This can be achieved by means of an upper extension arm of the hold-down, whose distance from the lateral support surface is maximum when the closure flap is closed.

A feeder for tilting the falling flat object before striking can also be coupled with the hold-down, so that a better alignment of the side of the mailing takes place on the lateral storage area. The above-described extension arm can be used for this purpose.

Furthermore, the hold-down can be arranged such that in thin objects, the damping and the delay are minimal or ineffective. This does not damage sensitive items. Figure 2 shows exactly according to Figure 1, the storage compartment with open flap.

An actuator 5 is also used to open the rotatable closing flap. When opening one or all hold-down can come to rest on designated areas of the flap. In essence, an opening of the closure flap is coupled to a removal of the hold-down from the flat object.

In Figure 2, the extension arm remains immobile, so that in the upper part of the storage compartment still a funnel is formed, if another falling shipment should be stored.

FIG. 3 shows a second storage compartment, which in principle has the same components as FIGS. 1 and 2: the lateral storage surface 2, the rotatable closure flap 3 and the hold-down 4 (or a plurality of hold-down elements 4 arranged arbitrarily opposite the lateral storage surface 2).

The differences lie in the fact that: the axis of rotation for the opening / closing of the closure flap is arranged in the edge area of the lateral storage area 2. FIG. 3 shows the closed position, but one skilled in the art implicitly understands that an opening takes place by means of a relative rotation between the depositing surface and the closing flap, so that a lower opening for the passage of the feed is produced. in contrast to the figures 1 and 2 of the hold-down 4 itself is elastic and a spring means 8, 9 forms. For this purpose, the hold-down device can also be firmly attached to the closing flap, so that the hold-down moves when opening / closing the closing flap. This second difference is of great advantage, since it can ensure deceleration and damping requirements due to the suspension and the arrangement properties of the elastic hold-down. Furthermore, the holding-down device (or a plurality of hold-down elements arranged arbitrarily in relation to the lateral depositing surface) will move more gently relative to the closing flap or will not impinge abruptly on the closing flap, e.g. B. on the aforementioned recesses or attacks.

As an elastic hold-down, one end of an elastic strip 8 may be attached to an opposite side or wall of the closure flap on the L side (or the lateral storage surface). Another end of the elastic strip 8 can penetrate into a recess in the L-base of the closure flap, so that before the impact of the flat object, the strip rests against the lateral support surface or has a small distance to the lateral deposition surface, as shown in FIG , The elastic strip can also be realized in a cost-effective deformable material such as plastic.

However, recesses in the L-base of the closure flap are not required if the strip has a sufficient distance from the L-base when depositing the flat object. This can be avoided recesses, whereby the associated risk of snagging flat objects is reduced.

To enhance the delay and damping in thick or heavy broadcasts can be between the flap 3 and the elastic strip 8, a deformable z. B. elastic loop 9 are arranged. Their deformation allows a variable adjustment of the delay and damping of transmissions of different thicknesses or weights as a function of the distance between the lateral support surface and the opposite wall. Recesses in the closure flap can be arranged in the region of the elastic loop 9. in order to determine by means of a movement possibility of the loop, the damping properties of the hold-down.

Claims

claims

A storage compartment for a falling flat article (1) having an upper opening to the inlet of the article, comprising: - a lateral storage surface (2) for aligning and depositing one side of the article,

- A lower flap (3) for aligning and depositing a lower edge of the article, characterized in that opposite the lateral wall, a hold-down (4) is arranged, which causes a delay and a damping of the falling object from impact of the article on the closure flap ,

2. Storage compartment according to claim 1, characterized in that the hold-down is rotatable and with a spring means (6, 7) is connected, so that prior to the impact of the flat object on the closure flap of the holddown pressure forces in the direction of the lateral storage surface on the flat Subject matter.

3. Storage compartment according to claim 1, characterized in that the hold-down device is elastic and forms a spring means (8, 9).

4. Storage compartment according to claim 3, wherein a hold-down device is fixedly attached to the closure flap.

5. Storage compartment according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the hold-down comprises an elastic strip (8).

6. Storage compartment according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that between the closure flap (3) and the elastic strip (8) an elastic loop (9) is arranged.

7. Storage compartment according to claim 6, characterized in that recesses are arranged in the closure flap in the region of the elastic loop (9).

8. Storage compartment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the spring means (6, 7, 8, 9) has a variable resistance which increases with the distance of the downholder from the lateral storage surface.

9. Storage compartment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the closure flap is rotatable and forms an L-shaped profile, whose L-base is provided as an alignment element of the lower edge of the article and whose L side is a side storage surface opposite wall or forms the lateral storage surface with an opposite wall, between which the hold-down is arranged.

10. Storage compartment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the L-base has a stop with which the lower holder is taken along with an opening of the closure flap.

11. Storage compartment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the closure flap has at least one slot into which the hold-down penetrates.

12. Storage compartment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the hold-down is arcuate and has a convex portion which forms a friction surface upon contact with the object.

13. Storage compartment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the hold-down device has a plurality of hold-down elements arranged side by side in a transverse direction of the lateral storage surface and the closure flap.

14. Storage compartment according to claim 13, characterized in that the hold-down elements penetrate slots of the closure flap arranged side by side.

15. Storage compartment according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the adjacently arranged hold-down elements cause different delays and dampings, preferably by their different shape and / or material and / or associated suspension.

16. Storage compartment according to one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that the adjoining hold-down elements have different distances to the lateral storage surface.

17. Storage compartment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lateral storage surface (2) has a concave profile.

18. Storage compartment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that by pressure of the blank holder, the flat object assumes the profile shape of the lateral storage surface.

19. Storage compartment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that for receiving the flat object, the storage surface (2) and the hold-down form a funnel.

20. Storage compartment according to claim 13, characterized in that a transfer device for tilting the falling flat object is coupled to the hold-down device prior to impact.

21. The storage compartment according to claim 13, wherein a shutter opening is coupled to a removal of the blank holder a from the flat object.

22. Storage compartment according to claim 13, characterized in that the hold-down device is arranged such that in the case of thin layers

The damping and the delay are minimal or ineffective.