WO2018190635A1

WO2018190635A1 - Method of automatically adjusting zero point of diverting roller

Info

Publication number: WO2018190635A1
Application number: PCT/KR2018/004245
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yong An Lee; Eun Sung Choi
Original assignee: Cj Logistics Corporation
Priority date: 2017-04-14
Filing date: 2018-04-11
Publication date: 2018-10-18
Also published as: KR101817325B1

Abstract

Discloses is a method of automatically adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller when the diverting roller deviates from its set position in a process for the diverting roller to return to its original position after it is rotated in order to sort parcel service articles in the sorting process of the parcel service articles. The method of adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller for sorting parcel service articles includes detecting the current default position of a diverting roller and adjusting the zero point of the diverting roller by changing the detected current default position of the diverting roller when a difference between the current default position and preset default position of the diverting roller exceeds a permitted permissible range.

Description

METHOD OF AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTING ZERO POINT OF DIVERTING ROLLER

The present invention relates to a method of automatically adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller when the diverting roller deviates from its set position in a process for the diverting roller to return to its original position after it is rotated in order to sort parcel service articles in the sorting process of the parcel service articles.

In general, articles are kept in a warehouse (freight station) after they are fabricated, sorted into respective delivery areas, and released. A logistics transport company operates a hub warehouse in which articles of a wide area are controlled and a sub warehouse in which articles of areas classified into smaller units are controlled within an area controlled by the hub warehouse for the smooth transfer of articles.

Conventionally, in the loading/unloading of articles in the warehouses and a process of delivering articles, service masters (SM) have personally sorted the articles. Equipment for automatically sorting articles, for example, automation equipment equipped with a conveyor and an actuator for a direction change requires a very high cost compared to article sorting efficiency. Accordingly, investment in an automatic article sorting system is insufficient.

However, as e-commerce is increasingly used, the amount of articles to be delivered has been significantly increased compared to a conventional amount. Accordingly, the importance of fast and accurate delivery and a problem, such as the shortage of manpower, have emerged. In order to overcome various problems generated when articles are sorted through the interest and manpower of a company for satisfying a customer's needs, a need to introduce automation equipment in the sorting of parcel service articles is gradually increasing.

For example, Korean Patent Application Publication Nos. 10-2015-0131739 and 10-2009-0065032 have been disclosed as prior arts regarding equipment for automatically sorting parcel service articles.

This prior document basically includes a diversion apparatus (or diverter) for changing the transfer direction of articles to a specific chute on a conveyor.

The diversion apparatus includes a plurality of diverting rollers continuously disposed to have a plurality of columns and a driving motor for selectively driving the plurality of diverting rollers based on the selection of a transfer direction.

An automation article sorting system needs to process hundreds or thousands of articles within several minutes. Accordingly, the diversion apparatuses move very quickly to help the transfer of articles and the sorting of articles to a predetermined chute.

In such a sorting process, the diverting roller must immediately return to its first set zero point, that is, the original position, after a direction change. There is a problem in that the diverting roller does not return to the zero point due to some causes, such as if the design of equipment itself is insufficient (e.g., the calculation of an excessive friction coefficient, a reduction of the elastic modulus of a belt member that revolves the diverting roller, the abrasion of a part, and an insufficient design or assembly of other equipment), when an excessive load is applied to the diversion apparatus (e.g., when a heavy article is moved), and when a control error occurs.

If the adjustment of the zero point of the diverting roller is not normally performed as described above, a sorting error is generated because the position of a sorted article is distorted or information about an article obtained through a monitoring apparatus may be distorted.

An object of the present invention is to prevent the aforementioned problems which may be caused due to the failure of the adjustment of the zero point of a diverting roller in a process of driving an automation article sorting system by providing a method of adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller for sorting parcel service articles, including adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller for sorting parcel service articles includes detecting the current default position of a diverting roller and adjusting the zero point of the diverting roller by changing the detected current default position of the diverting roller when a difference between the current default position and preset default position of the diverting roller exceeds a permitted permissible range.

In accordance with one embodiment, the method may further include determining whether the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed is satisfied before detecting the current default position of the diverting roller.

In accordance with one embodiment, the method may further include checking the preset default position of the diverting roller before detecting the current default position of the diverting roller.

In accordance with one embodiment, the method may further include giving a warning of an error of the zero point after adjusting the zero point by changing the current default position.

In accordance with one embodiment, the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed may include an initial condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed after the diverting roller is rotated forward or backward by a preset number or more and returned.

In accordance with one embodiment, the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed may include an initial condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed after the sorting task of a corresponding round in a parcel service article sorting task is terminated.

In accordance with one embodiment, the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed may include a post condition in which a change of the spatial position or rotation angle of the diverting roller measured by sensing the spatial position or rotation angle of the diverting roller is less than or exceeds a preset value.

In accordance with one embodiment, the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed may include a post condition in which the detected number of revolutions of a motor is less than or exceeds a preset value in detecting the number of revolutions of the motor through an encoder.

Furthermore, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed may include a post condition in which the greatest weight or accumulated weight of a target article exceeds a preset value.

Furthermore, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the method may further include checking whether the current default position values of all of diverting rollers including the adjusted diverting roller are identical with the preset default position after the zero point is adjusted.

In this case, the adjustment of the zero points may be performed again when a difference between the default positions and preset default positions of all the diverting rollers including the adjusted diverting roller exceeds a permitted permissible range after the zero point is adjusted.

Furthermore, the method of adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include determining whether the zero point of the diverting roller has been adjusted for each of sections of a diversion apparatus and compensating for the rotating angle of diverting rollers disposed in a section neighboring a specific section in which the adjustment of the zero points of some of diverting rollers is impossible when the adjustment of the zero points of some of the diverting rollers of the specific section is determined to be impossible.

The method of adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller according to an embodiment of the present invention has an effect in that it can prevent the distortion of an article position or the distortion of article information attributable to a failure of the adjustment of a zero point in an automatic article sorting system.

Furthermore, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect in that the automatic article sorting system can be normally driven by compensating for the rotating angle of a diverting roller adjacent to a diverting roller whose zero point cannot be adjusted although the adjustment of the zero point of the diverting roller is determined to be impossible.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an automatic article sorting system and a diversion apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example in which diverting rollers are driven according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example in which diverting rollers are driven according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a system for adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method of adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a method of compensating for a rotation angle if the adjustment of the zero point of a diverting roller is impossible according to an embodiment of the present invention.

10: automatic article sorting system

11, 13: conveyor 12: scanner

14: chute 15: delivery vehicle

100: diversion apparatus 101: plate

102: diverting roller

Embodiments to be described hereunder are provided in order for those skilled in the art to easily understand the technical spirit of the present invention, and the present invention is not restricted by the embodiments. Furthermore, contents represented in the accompanying drawings have been diagrammed in order to easily describe the embodiments of the present invention, and may be different from forms that are actually implemented.

When it is said that one element is "connected" or "coupled" to the other element, it should be understood that one element may be directly connected or coupled" to the other element, but a third element may exist between the two elements. Furthermore, in the entire specification, when it is described that one member is placed "on or over" the other member, it means that one member may adjoin the other member and a third member may be interposed between the two members.

Furthermore, expressions, such as "the first" and "the second", are used to only distinguish between a plurality of elements and do not limit the sequence or other characteristics of the elements.

It should be noted that the use of the term, such as "include" and "have", is intended to denote the presence of the characteristics, numbers, steps, operations, elements, or part described herein or combinations thereof, but is not intended to exclude the probability of presence or addition of one or more other characteristics, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts or combinations thereof.

First, an automatic article sorting system according to an embodiment of the present invention is described in brief with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an automatic article sorting system and a diversion apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example in which diverting rollers are driven according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example in which diverting rollers are driven according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic article sorting system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes

conveyors

11 and 13 configured to transfer articles in a straight-line direction and conveyors, that is, chutes 14 branched to transfer an article in the direction different from the main transfer direction of the conveyor when the article reaches a designated location while the articles is transferred on the

conveyors

11 and 13. Furthermore, a diversion apparatus 100 configured to change the transfer direction is disposed between the conveyor and the chute 14.

A service master is disposed in each chute 14 and performs a task for unloading an article from a parcel service vehicle or uploading an article to a parcel service vehicle. In this case, an error in the sorting of articles is frequently generated because an article is not transferred to a chute number assigned thereto. An error in article sorting is caused by several reasons. An embodiment of the present invention is focused on a case where an error of the zero point of the diversion apparatus 100 provided in the conveyor is generated, that is, one of the reasons.

In general, the diversion apparatus 100 is equipped with a plate 101 that is flat and rigid and has a relatively wide area. A plurality of diverting rollers 102 forms a plurality of columns and lines and is disposed on the plate 101. Although not separately shown, the diversion apparatus 100 may further include a rotation pin configured to rotatably support the diverting roller 102, a support configured to support the diverting roller in such a way as to be hinged, and so on.

A plurality of wheels may have been combined to form the plurality of diverting rollers 102 disposed in the diversion apparatus 100, respectively. The wheel may be equipped with an anti-sliding element (e.g., embossing) for increasing a friction force when an article is transferred.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the automatic article sorting system shown in FIG. 1 is illustrative. Accordingly, the shape, arrangement form, etc. of the diversion apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention are not limited to FIGS. 1 and 2. The chutes may be provided in the left and right directions of the diversion apparatus 100 in its length direction with respect to one diversion apparatus. In this case, the diverting roller 102 may be inclined to the left with respect to the plate 101 and driven as shown in FIG. 2(a) or may be inclined to the right with respect to the plate 101 and driven as shown in FIG. 2(b).

When articles, that is, the subject of sorting, are downward transferred on the basis of FIG. 2, the articles are moved from the original transfer direction to the left in FIG. 2(a), and are moved from the original transfer direction to the right in FIG. 2(b).

In order to consecutively sort a plurality of articles, the diverting rollers 102 that have themselves rotated to change the transfer direction of articles as in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) must return to the state, such as FIG. 2(c). In this specification, the state of FIG. 2(c) is defined as a default state.

The first default state of the diversion apparatus 100 has been predetermined based on design specifications. For the accuracy of article sorting, it is preferred that the diverting roller 102 always returns to its original position. As described in the background art, the returning position of the diverting roller 102 may vary if the design of equipment itself is insufficient or due to various causes generated in a system operation process.

A method of adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller according to an embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 along with FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a system for adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method of adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a method of compensating for a rotation angle if the adjustment of the zero point of a diverting roller is impossible according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The adjustment of a zero point according to an embodiment of the present invention may be performed using the diversion apparatus 100 of FIG. 4, more precisely, a sensor 200 configured to obtain information about the position of the diverting roller 102 included in the diversion apparatus 100 and a controller 300 configured to change the position of the diverting roller 102 based on the information obtained by the sensor 200.

The sensor 200 may correspond to all types of sensors capable of measuring the spatial position or rotation angle of the diverting roller 102, determining the spatial position or rotation angle of the diverting roller 102, and obtaining information about the position. For reference, in this case, the measurement of the spatial position may mean that an indicator is provided on one side of the diverting roller 102 and a straight-line distance between the indicator and a default position, that is, the reference point of the diverting roller 102, is measured.

The sensor 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be disposed at the bottom of the diverting roller 102 or at a place slightly spaced apart from the outer circumferential surface of the diverting roller 102.

Furthermore, the sensor 200 may directly determine the spatial position or rotation angle of the diverting roller 102, but may indirectly determine the spatial position or rotation angle of the diverting roller 102 by measuring the number of revolutions of a motor (e.g., DC motor) that drives the diverting roller 102.

The type of sensor is a rotary sensor or revolution sensor and may include, for example, an electric resistance type sensor (i.e., a sensor having a resistance value varied in response to the rotation of a target and sensing the rotation angle of the target based on the varied resistance value). In some cases, a method of sensing a pulse signal using a hall effect method configured to detect the rotation angle of a target using a magnet and a linear hall sensor may be used. In addition, a method, such as a generation type, an oscillation type, a photoelectric type or a magnetic resistance type, may be used.

The type of sensor having properties different from those of the above examples may include a position sensor, for example, a contact type position sensor or a non-contact type position sensor.

In some cases, a method of measuring the ripple of a current signal may be used.

As described above, the type of sensor is not limited to any one type, and may include any type of sensor capable of compensating for an error of the zero point of the diverting roller 102 or an error of the number of revolutions of a motor.

The controller 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention functions to obtain position information based on the measurement of the spatial position or rotation angle of the diverting roller 102 and to return the diverting roller 102 to its original state, if necessary. In this case, power line communication (PLC) may correspond to the controller 300. The transfer direction of an article may be changed or the transfer speed of an article may be controlled by finely controlling the rotation angle and rotation speed of the diverting roller 102 or the driving of the elements of the diversion apparatus 100 through the controller 300.

A method of adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller is performed as follows using the aforementioned elements.

The method of adjusting the zero point of the diverting roller 102 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes determining whether a condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed is satisfied (S510), checking the preset default position of the diverting roller 102 (S520), detecting the current default position of the diverting roller 102 (S530), and adjusting the zero point of the diverting roller by changing the current default position of the diverting roller 102 to the preset default position if a difference between the preset default position and the currently detected default position exceeds a permitted permissible range (S540~S550).

Furthermore, the method of adjusting the zero point of the diverting roller according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include giving a warning of an error of the zero point (S560) after adjusting the zero point by changing the default position to the preset default position.

Specifically, checking whether the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed is satisfied (S510) is performed to not generate delay in a system control element for a reason, such as that an algorithm for adjusting the zero point according to an embodiment of the present invention overlaps an algorithm used in the normal driving process of the automatic article sorting system.

The condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed includes two lower conditions. The two lower conditions may include an initial condition indicating whether a determination of the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed will be started and a post condition indicating whether the adjustment of the zero point will be performed after the determination of the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed is started. The following examples of the initial condition and the following examples of the post condition may be configured selectively or collectively.

In one embodiment, the initial condition may mean an initial condition in which the adjustment of the zero point of a diverting roller is performed when a diverting roller returns to its original state after the diverting roller is rotated forward or backward by a preset number or more in the sorting task of a corresponding round in a parcel service article sorting task. In some cases, the initial condition may mean an initial condition in which the adjustment of the zero point of a diverting roller is performed after the sorting task of a corresponding round in a parcel service article sorting task is terminated. The initial condition may be optionally applied.

Specifically, the preset number, that is, a criterion on which the adjustment of the zero point of a diverting roller is performed, is based on statistical error information. If the zero point of a diverting roller needs to be adjusted, data regarding that the adjustment of the zero point was necessary when the diverting roller rotated how many times is stored. If sufficient samples are gathered, they are used as basic data for adjusting the zero point of the diverting roller. Accordingly, the adjustment of the zero point of the diverting roller can be performed in real time without stopping the system while the diverting roller is driven.

Performing the adjustment of the zero point of the diverting roller after the sorting task of a corresponding round in the parcel service article sorting task is terminated means that the adjustment of the zero point is performed in a process for failure diagnosis after the completion of article sorting and a transfer task.

Furthermore, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed may include a post condition in which a change of the spatial position or change of the rotation angle of the diverting roller, measured by sensing the spatial position or rotation angle of the diverting roller, is less than or exceeds a preset value. If the spatial position of the diverting roller is less than or exceeds a reference point, the adjustment of the zero point may be determined to have failed and the adjustment of the zero point may be performed. If the rotation angle of the diverting roller is less than or exceeds a reference point, the adjustment of the zero point may be determined to have failed and the adjustment of the zero point may be performed.

Alternatively, in the post condition of the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed, if the number of revolutions of the motor is less than or exceeds a preset value in detecting the number of revolutions of the motor through an encoder, the adjustment of the zero point may be determined to have failed and the adjustment of the zero point may be performed. The adjustment of the zero point may be performed based on the number of revolutions of the motor that drives the diverting roller by monitoring the number of revolutions.

In some cases, in the post condition of the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed, whether the highest weight of target articles or the accumulated weight of sorted articles exceeds a preset value may be determined. If the highest weight or the accumulated weight is exceeded, the adjustment of the zero point may be determined to have failed and the adjustment of the zero point may be performed. If the highest weight of target articles is higher, a mechanical error may increase because a friction force is increased. If the accumulated weight of sorted articles exceeds a specific limit, control of the diverting roller may be influenced because a load is accumulated.

As described above, the adjustment of the zero point may be performed, if necessary, by performing whether a determination of whether the adjustment of the zero point is performed will be started and a determination of whether the adjustment of the zero point will be performed based on the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed. Accordingly, a memory space for system control logic can be minimized, and overlapping with an article automatic sorting task can be minimized. As a result, task efficiency can be guaranteed while performing the adjustment of the zero point, if necessary.

If the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed is satisfied, a preset default position A is checked and a current default position B is detected as a next procedure. In this case, the preset default position A means the position of the diverting roller determined in the design process. An error between the preset default position A and the current default position B is checked. If the error exceeds a permitted error range, the default position is changed. That is, the adjustment of the zero point is performed. In this case, the adjustment of the zero point may be performed by an actuator that has an independent algorithm or that is independently driven based on received information related to the zero point and or an actuator that is driven based on a default position received from the controller.

Furthermore, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, after the zero point is adjusted, the method may further include checking whether the current default position values of all the diverting rollers including an adjusted diverting roller are identical with a preset default position.

If the zero point has not been perfectly adjusted by checking whether the adjustment of the zero point has been well performed, the adjustment of the zero point is performed again. Even in this case, whether a difference between the default positions and preset default positions of all the diverting rollers including an adjusted diverting roller exceeds a permitted permissible range may be checked. If the permitted permissible range is exceeded, performing the adjustment of the zero point is performed again.

The number of times that the adjustment of the zero point is performed may vary depending on setting. For example, if the adjustment of the zero point has not been performed although a preset repetition number (e.g., 5 times) is exceeded, a warning message may be displayed, so the mechanical alignment of the diversion apparatus can be diagnosed and adjusted again if it is determined that an error is present as a result of the diagnosis.

The method of adjusting the zero point according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include determining whether the adjustment of the zero point of a diverting roller will be performed for each section of the diversion apparatus (S610), determining whether there is any diverting roller whose zero point cannot be adjusted (S620), and compensating for the rotating angle of a diverting roller disposed in a section neighboring a specific section in which the adjustment of the zero point is impossible (S630) if, as a result of the determination at step S620, the adjustment of the zero point of the diverting is impossible.

FIG. 3 shows the state in which the diversion apparatus 100 is divided into some sections.

As shown in FIG. 3, the diversion apparatus 100 may have the state in which the diverting rollers 102 have been divided into a plurality of sections based on respective lines in the state in which the diverting rollers have been arranged to form a plurality of lines and columns. In this case, the diverting rollers classified into the plurality of sections are independently driven. However, in general, diverting rollers included in each section have the same switching direction and change timing.

The diversion apparatus 100 is fixed to the conveyor and thus the direction of the chute that transfers articles is also fixed. Accordingly, the movable range of the diverting rollers 102 disposed in each section within one diversion apparatus 100 is generally constant.

The adjustment of the zero point of the diverting roller 102 may not be unexpectedly performed due to various technical problems or an outbreak situation while the diverting roller 102 is driven. If the adjustment of the zero point of the diverting roller 102 is not performed, a task time taken to sort articles is increased because the operation of the system must be stopped and a procedure of checking the system must be performed.

In order to solve such a problem, the present embodiment proposes a method of compensating for a problem in which the adjustment of the zero point of the diverting roller 102 cannot be performed without stopping the operation of the system although the problem occurs while the diverting roller is driven.

More specifically, if the adjustment of the zero point of a diverting roller in a specific section is impossible, the rotating angle of a diverting roller disposed in a section neighboring the specific section in which the adjustment of the zero point of the diverting roller is impossible is compensated for. Furthermore, if the adjustment of the zero points of some diverting roller within a specific section can be performed, but the adjustment of the zero points of some diverting rollers within the specific section is impossible, the rotation angles of some diverting rollers whose adjustment is impossible may be compensated for using diverting rollers located in another section.

An example in which the direction of an article is changed in order to transfer the article, transferred to the diversion apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, to the chute in the left direction is as follows.

As shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the diverting rollers of a section 1 have been rotated at an angle "a" in the left direction of the direction in which the diverting rollers of a section 4 have been oriented. Next, the diverting rollers of a section 2 may be rotated to the left direction at a rotation angle "b" greater than the angle "a." The diverting rollers of a section 3, that is, the next section of the section 2, may be rotated at a rotation angle "r" greater than the angle "b." It is most preferred that the adjustment of the zero points of all the diverting rollers disposed in the section 1, the section 2, and the section 3 is performed.

However, if the adjustment of the zero points of diverting rollers in the section 1 is impossible, the situation in which the adjustment of the zero points is impossible is compensated for by applying an embodiment of the present invention. For example, if the adjustment of zero points in the section 1 is impossible, the movable range of the section 2 may be temporarily varied by increasing or decreasing the rotation angles of the diverting rollers of the section 2. Moreover, the direction change of an article can be performed more stably by temporarily changing the movable range of the section 3 neighboring the section 2 based on the size and weight of the article.

In some cases, compensation may be performed by completely stopping the driving of the diverting rollers disposed in the section 1 and further increasing the movable ranges of the section 2 and the section 3 by a movable range allocated to the stopped diverting rollers.

If such a method is used, the miss sorting of an article can be prevented although a case where the adjustment of a zero point cannot be performed is generated in a specific section. A problematic section can be normally driven through a maintenance process after a sorting task of this round is performed.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, as described above, if the movable range of the diverting rollers 102 of each section is differently set in one diversion apparatus 100, the adjustment of the zero point of a specific diverting roller having the greatest change in the spatial position and the greatest change in the rotation angle or a change of the number of revolutions of the motor may be configured to be performed more frequently. For example, the adjustment of the zero points of the diverting rollers disposed in the section 3 may be performed more frequently than that of the diverting rollers disposed in the section 1 and section 2 of FIG. 3. The reason for this is that a diverting roller having a relatively greater change of the spatial position or a relatively greater change of the rotation angle may have the possibility that it may have a mechanical error because it is exposed to a frequent impact.

The distortion of the position of an article and the distortion of article information attributable to a failure of the adjustment of the zero point of a diverting roller in the automatic article sorting system can be prevented through the method of adjusting the zero point of a diverting roller according to an embodiment of the present invention. Furthermore, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect in that the automatic article sorting system can be normally driven by compensating for the rotating angle of a diverting roller adjacent to a diverting roller whose zero point cannot be adjusted although the adjustment of the zero point of the diverting roller is determined to be impossible.

The present invention is not restricted by the detailed terms described in this specification and the expressions described in the embodiments and the drawings. Although the present invention has been described in detail in connection with the embodiments, a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains may modify, change and alter one embodiment of the present invention without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The range of right of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description, and the present invention should be construed as covering all modifications or variations derived from the meaning and scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

A method of adjusting a zero point of a diverting roller for sorting parcel service articles, the method comprising:

detecting a current default position of a diverting roller; and

adjusting a zero point of the diverting roller by changing the detected current default position of the diverting roller when a difference between the current default position and preset default position of the diverting roller exceeds a permitted permissible range.
The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether a condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed is satisfied before detecting the current default position of the diverting roller.
The method of claim 1, further comprising checking the preset default position of the diverting roller before detecting the current default position of the diverting roller.
The method of claim 1, further comprising giving a warning of an error of the zero point after adjusting the zero point by changing the current default position.
The method of claim 2, wherein the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed comprises an initial condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed after the diverting roller is rotated forward or backward by a preset number or more and returned.
The method of claim 2, wherein the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed comprises an initial condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed after a sorting task of a corresponding round in a parcel service article sorting task is terminated.
The method of claim 2, wherein the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed comprises a post condition in which a change of a spatial position or rotation angle of the diverting roller measured by sensing the spatial position or rotation angle of the diverting roller is less than or exceeds a preset value.
The method of claim 2, wherein the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed comprises a post condition in which a detected number of revolutions of a motor is less than or exceeds a preset value in detecting the number of revolutions of the motor through an encoder.
The method of claim 2, wherein the condition in which the adjustment of the zero point is performed comprises a post condition in which a greatest weight or accumulated weight of a target article exceeds a preset value.
The method of claim 1, further comprising checking whether current default position values of all of diverting rollers comprising the adjusted diverting roller are identical with the preset default position after the zero point is adjusted.
The method of claim 10, further comprising performing the adjustment of the zero points again when a difference between the default positions and preset default positions of all the diverting rollers comprising the adjusted diverting roller exceeds a permitted permissible range after the zero point is adjusted.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the zero point of the diverting roller has been adjusted for each of sections of a diversion apparatus, and

compensating for a rotating angle of diverting rollers disposed in a section neighboring a specific section in which an adjustment of zero points of some of diverting rollers is impossible when the adjustment of the zero points of some of the diverting rollers of the specific section is determined to be impossible.