JPS5918283B2 - Article feeding device to automatic sorting device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an article feeding device to an automatic sorting device that automatically sorts articles according to their destination using a conveyor at an airport cargo terminal, a collection and delivery center of a department store, etc. Even if the sizes are different, it is possible to increase the throughput by feeding the items to the sorting device so that the distance between them is the minimum necessary width and at almost equal intervals. This relates to a supply device.

As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional article supply device to a sorting device includes a supply device 1 equipped with a stumper conveyor 4, a feed conveyor 6, and a spacer conveyor 10, which are mutually connected by a conveyor 12. The articles 3, 3, etc., which are being transported with almost zero spacing, are spread out to appropriate intervals by a stopper conveyor 4 whose conveyor speed is different from that of this transport conveyor 12, and an operator 5 is attached to the articles. It is controlled so that it can read the destination code.

Next, in the feed conveyor 6, the charging cell 1 for detecting the arrival of the article detects the arrival of the article 3', and
The operator 5 reads the preceding code, presses a button on the keyboard 8, and sends the sorting device the power to sort the article into which chute 9, 9, etc. via an appropriate control device.
instruct.

In this way, the articles 3/ whose destination has been determined reach the spacer conveyor 10. After the photoelectric cell 11 in this spacer conveyor 10 detects the rear end of the preceding article 3'', the sorting is carried out regardless of the size of the article. The subsequent articles 3'' were always transferred and supplied to the sorting device 2 after a certain period of time had elapsed.

Here, the certain period of time is a period of time during which the interval between articles on the sorting device becomes the minimum interval at which sorting is possible.

The speed of the conveyor in such a supply device and sorting device is normally set to be faster on the sorting device side.

For example, the conveyor speeds of the feeding device and the sorting device are each on the order of 45 mAn in 80 m/min.

By the way, when an article moves between conveyors having different speeds, the speed of the article is largely controlled by the speed of the conveyor on the side on which the center of gravity of the article is placed.

Therefore, when the sizes of the articles are different, and the preceding article has a shorter force and the following article has a longer force, and there is a difference in force and force between the two, the larger the difference in conveyor speed, the more the sorting device conveyor will move. There was a problem in that the interval between articles in the sorting apparatus became wider than necessary, which significantly reduced the operating rate of the sorting device.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems caused by force and force, and even when a plurality of articles of different lengths are supplied to a sorting device, the distance between the articles can be controlled to be approximately evenly spaced with the necessary minimum width. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic sorting device that can sufficiently improve the operating rate of the sorting device and, by extension, the feeding device.

The present invention will be explained below based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a supply device 21 and an automatic sorting device 22 in the first embodiment of the present invention, and the supply device 21
Following the conveyor 24 from the side where No. 3 is being conveyed, the first
It is mainly composed of a conveyor 25 and a second conveyor 26.

The conveyor 24 immediately before the supply device 21 transfers a large number of articles that are continuously conveyed to the first conveyor 25 of the supply device.
In this step, the operator 21 adjusts to the required article spacing depending on whether the operator 21 is able to identify the destination code attached to the article 23 or the detection sensitivity of the photoelectric cell PH for detecting article arrival.

The first conveyor 25 is a so-called feed conveyor, and includes a photoelectric cell PH1 for detecting article arrival, a light source 29, and a keyboard 30. The photoelectric cell PH1 for detecting article arrival detects the arrival of article 23, and the operator 27 Identify the attached destination code, press the button on the keyboard 30, and select which chute 31°31...
Instruct the sorting device in advance whether to sort the article.

The conveyor speed of this first conveyor 25 is, for example, 30 m/
It's mi'n.

As described above, the keyboard 30 and the like constitute an article sorting optical instruction means.

There are multiple light sources 32.32 in the second conveyor 26 section.
, 32 and charging cells PH2, PH3, PH4, this length detecting device photoelectrically detects and measures the length of the articles 23', 23' in the transport direction. The length measurement signal is guided to a second conveyor control device 33 shown in FIG. 3, and a second conveyor drive motor 35 is controlled via an electromagnetic clutch 34.

The conveyor speed of the second conveyor 26 is, for example, 45rrl.
/win is operated by the control device 33,
The time interval between stops is controlled, and the second conveyor 26 adjusts the timing of article supply to the automatic sorting device 22.

On the other hand, the automatic sorting device 22 has a continuous slant 3
6, 36, . . . constitute a slant type sorting device in which a sorting conveyor is formed.

The width of each slant 36, 36, . . . is, for example, 200 ran force, and the moving speed of the conveyor is, for example, 60 to 80 rrL/Itjn force.

In this slant type sorting device, the first conveyor 25 on the feeding device side is used to sort articles 23' and 2 whose tips are keyed in in advance.
3'... moves to the sorting chute 31, 31..., the required number of slants 36 on which the article is placed are tilted and the article is automatically sorted into the specified sort first. be.

Since the slat-type sorting device unloads the articles into their respective chutes using such a mechanism, the minimum required distance between the articles in the sorting device is the width of one slant (200+α)rrrIn. .

Next, the article is transferred by the device configured as described above,
The length of the article is detected by the second conveyor 26 section, and the timing of supplying the article from the second conveyor 26 to the automatic sorting device 22 is controlled according to the length of the article. 26, and the longer the stop time is, the longer the stop time is, the longer the stop time will be explained.

First, the articles 23, 23... are conveyed by the conveyor 24,
The articles are transferred to the first conveyor 25 at appropriate intervals so that the operator 21 can identify the destination code attached to the article.

For the articles 23, 23... transferred to the first conveyor 25, the destination code attached to the article is read by the operator 2γ, the sorting destination is instructed by keying, and the photoelectric cell for detecting the arrival of the article The arrival is detected by 29 and transferred to the second conveyor 26.

If the item is not keyed and the item is a counterfeit cell for item arrival detection 2
9, the first conveyor 2 is moved by an appropriate mechanism.
5 is stopped and the articles are not transferred to the second conveyor 26.

Only after being keyed, the first conveyor 25 is driven and the article is transferred to the second conveyor 26.

The articles 23' are then transferred to the second conveyor 26.

23' reaches the charged cell PH2, and the front end of the article 23' is first detected.

Then, the length of the article in the transport direction is shorter than the distance between the phototubes PH2 and PH3, and the phototube P
When only H2 is blocked.

At this time, the timer T1 in the crawler device 33 is set, and the timer T1 specifies the time T1, when the preceding article 23 is successfully fed and the front end of the succeeding article 23' reaches the position of the phototube PH2. From time, only time T1 seconds,
The drive of the second conveyor 26 is stopped.

After 11 seconds, the motor 35 is driven (by the control device), the second conveyor 26 is moved, and the articles 23' are fed to the sorting device 22.

@; When the length of the article is longer than the distance between the phototubes PH2 and PH3 and the distance between the phototubes PH2 and PH4 is shorter than the distance between the phototubes PH2 and PH4, and only the phototubes PH2 and PH3 are blocked, at this time the timer T2 in the control device 33 is activated. is sent, and this timer T
2 defines the time T2.

This time T2 is equal to the time T1 in the case (①) and l/i, T
1> T2 (for example, at TI), T2 at 3 seconds
= 0.2 seconds.

And these setting times are precisely for each photoelectric cell PH2.
, PH3, and PH4, the second conveyor speed 26, the slant conveyor speed of the sorting device 22, and the required minimum interval for sorting on the slant conveyor.

When the leading article 23 has been fed and the front end of the succeeding article 23' reaches the position of the phototube PH2, the drive of the second conveyor 26 is stopped for 72 seconds, and after 72 seconds, the article is sorted. is supplied to device 22.

O: When the length of the article is longer than the distance between phototubes PH2 and PH4, and phototubes PH2t PH3 and PH4 are shielded from light.

At this time, even if the leading article 2y has been supplied and the front end of the succeeding article 23' reaches the photoelectric cell PH9 position, the second conveyor 2
6, the articles are continuously supplied to the sorting device 22 without stopping.

In this way, the longer the article length is, the shorter the article is, or the longer the second conveyor 26 is not stopped, the article is started toward the sorting device 22, and the preceding article 2 is transferred first to the sorting device with a higher conveyor speed. :! This is done so that they are not separated by f.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the above-mentioned process, and FIG. 4 shows the relationship between ON and OF''F of the photoelectric cell PH2 and the cent states of the timers T1 and T2.

In the figure, the ON state of the photoelectric cell indicates a light-blocking state.

Further, FIG. 5 shows the relationship between ON and OF"F' of each charging cell and the timing of driving and stopping the second conveyor 26, that is, the timing of supplying articles from the supply device to the sorting device 22. It is.

Furthermore, FIG. 6 shows the control device 3 according to the above flowchart.
This is an example of a sequence circuit in 3.

In the figure, PH2 to PH4 indicate the charged cells PH2 to PH4 in FIG. 2, all of which are photoconductive photocells that exhibit a low resistance value when exposed to light.

Also RH. RH2U are auxiliary relays for timers T1 and T2, respectively, and relay contacts of these auxiliary relays.

Furthermore, RC2 is a relay inserted into the electromagnetic coil circuit of the electromagnetic clutch 34 in FIG. 3, and a relay contact in this relay.

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the lengths of the articles 23, 23, . It leads to 33.

Next, this control device 33 controls the third conveyor drive motor 35 via the electromagnetic flange, and the subsequent article 23'
The longer the length of the second conveyor, the shorter the stop time of the second conveyor is set to drive the faster timing motor 35 to supply the articles to the sorting device.

The time interval between stopping and driving is set appropriately according to the speed of the second conveyor and the speed of the slant conveyor of the sorting device, so that the distance between the articles in the sorting device can be adjusted even when large and small articles are mixed on the side. Adjustments are made to achieve the minimum required interval for sorting.

Therefore, it has the effect of sufficiently increasing the operating rate of the sorting device, and also on the feeding device side, since long articles can be transferred and fed without stopping for a short time or stopping, the feeding process can be carried out. This has the effect of increasing quantity and improving supply efficiency.

Next, FIGS. 7 and 8 show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which two conveyors on the feeding device 41 side are arranged in parallel, and the sorting device 4
A merging conveyor 44 is provided between the second slant conveyor 43 and the second slant conveyor 43.

The 17th conveyor 45, the 11th conveyor 44', the 2nd' conveyor 46, and the 0'th 7y conveyor 46' in the supply device 41 of FIG. The operations are similar to those corresponding to the respective components in FIG.

However, the 2' and 7th conveyors in Fig. 1 are 46.46
' is also called a buffer conveyor because it operates like a buffer and is controlled to transfer articles alternately to the merging conveyor 44.

Further, the conveyor speed of the merging conveyor 44 is almost the same as the conveyor speed of the slat conveyor 43 in the sorting device, for example, 60 to s It operates to smoothly transfer the alternately transferred articles to the slant conveyor 43 of the sorting device 22.

FIG. 8 shows photoelectric cells PH27PH3' and PH4' provided in the 2' and 2nd conveyor 46 and 46' sections.

The measurement signal of PH2ff s PH3'P)f 41 is introduced into the control device 47, and the electromagnetic classic 48.
48''Y shows a control system for controlling the time interval between driving and stopping of the 2' conveyor 46 or the 2nd conveyor 46'.

Next, the article supply process in the second embodiment will be explained, focusing on the differences from the first embodiment.

Now, one article on the second conveyor 46 is transferred to the second conveyor 46.
If the article arrives at the position of the charging cell PH2' before the other article on the conveyor 46', the stop time is set by the control device 47 according to the force and length at the time of arrival. After passing, the 2nd conveyor 46
is driven, and the articles are transferred to a merging conveyor 44 and supplied to a sorting device 42.

Next, the other article on the second conveyor 46' side is controlled by the control device 47 for a time corresponding to the length of the other article from the time when the one article passes the position of the photoelectric cell PH2'. After this time has elapsed, it is supplied to the sorting device 42 which is transferred to the merging conveyor 44.

Next, in the above case, the other subsequent article is charged cell P
We will now discuss how to set the stopping time for the following article when one article has already been transferred to the merging conveyor 44 side when the article reaches position H2''.

In this case, the time of the succeeding article is stopped for a certain period of time, including the time from when the rear end of the preceding article passes the charging cell PH2', until the succeeding article reaches the position of the photoelectric cell PH2'. Regardless of the time at which the rear end of the preceding article passes through the photoelectric cell PH,', when the leading edge of the subsequent article reaches the position of the photoelectric cell PH2N, the force will stop for a certain period of time. It doesn't matter if you set it to do so.

If the latter type of time setting is used, a large variation may occur in the spacing between articles in the sorting device 42, but this will not have a large effect on the operating rate of the sorting device.

Note that when both articles arrive at the photoelectric cells PH2' and PH2'' at the same time, one of the articles is controlled to be transferred to the merging conveyor 44 first.

9 and 10 show that the above process is carried out on the 2' conveyor 46.
This is a flowchart showing only the side.

The flowchart for the second conveyor 46' is almost the same.

In addition, FIG. 11 shows the control device 4 according to this flowchart.
This is an example of a sequence circuit in 7.

According to the second embodiment described above, since the operator performs keying in parallel, it is possible to almost eliminate wetness in supplying articles to the sorting device on the feeding device side, thereby improving the throughput of the feeding device. At the same time, it has the effect of ensuring full operation of the sorting device.

Note that in the device shown in Figure 1, the conveyor line is
Although we have described only the case where two or more units are installed in parallel, the effect will be even greater if two or more units are installed.

Next, FIG. 12 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.

The illustrated device is the same as the device shown in FIG. 1, with a charging cell PH5sPH5' added thereto.

Then, the position of the charging cell PH5 or PH5', which is provided a certain distance before the end of the 21st or second conveyor 53, 53' in the supply device 51, is set to the rear end of the preceding article 54. As soon as the second article 54' passes by, the other subsequent article 54' is started (supplied).

Such a feeding method has the same effect as expanding the timer setting value of the control system to the negative range in the second embodiment, and when the length of the other article 54' is particularly large, the sorting device This is effective when controlling the intervals between the articles 52 to be approximately equal intervals.

Even if such a supply method is adopted, since the wide merging conveyor 55 is provided, one article 54 and the other article 54' will not collide with each other, and both articles 54 and 54' will not merge. When the articles are transferred to the conveyor 55, they are adjusted so that they are arranged in a line and supplied to the sorting device 55 depending on the length of the articles.

In the device examples shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 above, the case where only three charging cells were installed was described, and the case where only four charging cells were installed was described in FIG. 12.

The number of photovoltaic cells installed is not limited to these numbers, and a larger number may be installed.

If a large number of such devices are installed, the length of articles can be detected more precisely, and the supply timing of articles can be controlled in accordance with this detection signal, the distance between articles in the sorting device can be brought closer to the minimum possible interval. Furthermore, the intervals between the articles can be controlled to be evenly spaced.

Similarly, although the sorting device in the device examples shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 12 has been described only with a slant type conveyor, the sorting device that can be applied to the present invention is not limited to only a slat type conveyor. , trolley type sorting device,
Other types of sorting devices are also applicable, such as tray type sorting devices and vertical type sorting devices.

As detailed above, according to the present invention, a charging device for detecting the length of the article is provided near the second conveyor in the supply device, the charging device detects the length of the article, and the charging device detects the length of the article. This control device controls the timing of supply of the second conveyor to the automatic sorting device so that the articles reach the supply end of the second conveyor and are automatically sorted by the second conveyor. The longer the length of the article, the shorter the time interval between feeding it to the equipment, and the shorter the force and
Accordingly, even when articles of different lengths are fed to the sorting device, the distance between the articles can be controlled to be approximately equal to each other at the required maximum width, and the operating rate of the sorting device can be sufficiently improved. Effects can be obtained.

Also, depending on the item, it is supplied at an early timing with almost no time interval, instead of having to wait for a predetermined time as in the past, so the efficiency of the sorting equipment can be increased and the running cost of the entire equipment can be reduced. This effect can be obtained.

Furthermore, if articles are to be sorted with the same efficiency as the conventional method, the conveyor speed of the sorting device can be lowered, which has the effect of reducing noise and increasing the durability of the device.

Furthermore, the present invention has further expanded the present invention by arranging a plurality of supply conveyors, each equipped with an article length detection device, and attaching a merging conveyor, and detecting the length of the article on each supply conveyor with each detection device. The drive time intervals of each supply conveyor are individually controlled via a control device using signals corresponding to the load, and articles are alternately transferred from each supply conveyor to a merging conveyor to separate articles between each article in the automatic sorting device. Since a predetermined equal interval is maintained between the parts, the processing capacity of the feeding device can be increased by 1, and it is possible to almost eliminate the supply wetness when supplying articles to the sorting device, which reduces the operation time of the sorting device. This has the effect of further increasing the rate.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a conventional apparatus for supplying articles to an automatic sorting apparatus, and FIGS. 2 to 6 show a first embodiment of the apparatus for supplying articles to an automatic sorting apparatus according to the present invention. 2 is a plan view, FIG. 3 is a Pronk diagram of the control device system, FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts for explaining the article supply process, and FIG. 6 is applied to the control device in FIG. 3. 7 to 11 show a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a plan view, FIG. 8 is a Bronk diagram of the control system, and FIG. 9 and 10 are flowcharts for explaining the article supply process, FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a sequence circuit applied to the control device of FIG. 8, and FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the article supply process. It is a top view which shows 3rd Example. 2L41,51... Feeding device, 22,42゜5
2...Automatic sorting device, 23, 23', 23
', 54°54'... Goods, 25.45.45
'...1st conveyor, 26, 46.46', 5
3,53'...Second conveyor, 27...
・Operator, 31...Shoot, PH2s
PH3s PH4s PH2, PH3s PH4'
tPH2', PH3't P) (4't PH5, PH
5'""" photocell, 32... light source, 33,
47...Control device, 34°48.48'...
... Electromagnetic clutch, 35 ... Drive motor, 3
6... Slat, 44... Merging conveyor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Article feeding device to an automatic sorting device equipped with a sorting conveyor having a conveyor speed force greater than the conveyor speed of the final stage conveyor in the article feeding device equipped with an article sorting optical indicating means. a photoelectric article length detection device that detects the length of the article transferred on the final stage conveyor and outputs a signal corresponding to the detected length; and an output of the photoelectric article length detection device. A signal is introduced to control the operation and stop of the drive motor for the final stage conveyor, and the time interval from the time when the article reaches the discharge end of the final stage conveyor to the time when the article is supplied to the automatic sorting device by the force is controlled. The apparatus is characterized in that it is equipped with a control device that controls the width to be set to be smaller as the length increases (- so that even if articles of different lengths are supplied, the articles can be sorted at approximately equal intervals with a minimum width) Article supply device to an automatic sorting device. 2. The article supply device has a plurality of conveyor lines with substantially the same configuration and installed in parallel with article sorting optical indicating means, and the final stage conveyor in these conveyor lines is installed in parallel. An article feeding device for an automatic sorting device equipped with a sorting conveyor having a conveyor speed force greater than a conveyor speed, the article feeding device having a conveyor speed force greater than a conveyor speed, the article feeding device having a conveyor speed force greater than a conveyor speed, the article feeding device having a conveyor speed force greater than a conveyor speed, An equal merging conveyor is arranged to supply the articles to the automatic sorting device via the merging conveyor, and the final conveyor in each of the conveyor lines has a length of the article to be transferred on the final conveyor. A photoelectric article length detecting device is provided to detect and output a signal corresponding to the detected length, and the output signals of these photoelectric article length detecting devices are separately introduced to drive each final stage conveyor button. The operation and stopping of the motors are controlled separately, and the articles are alternately transferred from each final stage conveyor to the merging conveyor, and the articles are transferred from each conveyor to the merging conveyor after reaching the discharge end of each final stage conveyor. A control device is installed that sets the time interval until the article is transferred to a smaller value as the length of the article increases, and controls the distance between the articles to a minimum width that allows for sorting, and approximately line spacing even when articles of different lengths are supplied. 1. A device for supplying articles to an automatic sorting device, characterized in that: