JPS626869B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a mail transfer device, and more particularly to a synchronous transfer device for non-standard large and thin mail.

One of the methods of transporting large non-standard size mail such as square size 2, square size 3, and banded mail is to transport each mail piece in a transport box (hereinafter referred to as transport box). In the case of transport boxes driven by the same chain or the like, it is necessary to transfer the mail to the transport box. At this time, if the transport box is stopped each time, other transport boxes being transported will also be stopped, resulting in a significant decrease in efficiency. Therefore, the transfer is generally performed while the transport box is being moved. In that case, the supplied mail must be transferred to the moving transport box in a timely manner via a suitable buffer. The conventional method for this synchronous transfer was to pinch the mail with pinch rollers from the top of the transport box and send it out.
Since the transport box is moving almost perpendicular to the mail transport direction, the available time for transfer is short, and if the timing of the transfer is even slightly delayed, the transport box will pass the transfer position and the transfer will not be possible. There was a drawback that it could get jammed by being caught between the transport box and the transfer device.

An object of the present invention is to forcibly transfer the load to the transport box by the friction of the belt, and at the same time, to move the exit part of the transfer device in accordance with the movement of the transport box. By transferring while the opening and the exit part of the transfer device run in synchronization,
By extending the transferable time to eliminate the above drawbacks and also providing a buffer function, it is possible to efficiently and reliably transfer the supplied mail to the transport box being transferred. The present invention provides a synchronous transfer device for mail.

According to the present invention, at least two sets of independently driven mail transfer and holding mechanisms are provided in series, each of which includes a pair of endless belts, a plurality of rollers attached thereto, and a detector for detecting the presence or absence of mail. a transfer section located on the exit side of the transfer section, a plurality of transport boxes each attached to a chain etc. and transported, and an end on the exit side of the transfer section being moved. A synchronizing device that drives in synchronization with the transport box,
A synchronous mail transfer device is obtained, which includes a control section for controlling these.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a synchronous transfer device equipped with two transfer and holding mechanisms. In the figure, belt 1, belt 2, roller 3, drive roller 4, and photoelectric switch 5 constitute a transfer and holding mechanism on the entrance side. Drive is transmitted from a clutch brake 7 directly connected to the motor 6 via a belt 8, a pulley 9, a belt 10, and a belt 11 to a pulley 12 directly connected to the drive roller 4. Similarly, the belt 13, belt 14, roller 15, drive roller 16, and photoelectric switch 17 constitute a transfer and holding mechanism on the exit side. Drive is from a clutch brake 19 directly connected to a motor 18 to a belt 20 and a belt 21.
A pulley 2 directly connected to the drive roller 16 via
2 can be conveyed.

The roller 3 and driving roller 4 on which the belt 1 is applied, and the roller 15 and the driving roller 16 on which the belt 13 is applied are on the same substrate 23, and the substrate 23 is supported by a support 24 coaxial with the pulley 9. It is attached to the pedestal 25, and the support 24
It can be rotated around. Further, the roller 3 on which the belt 2 is applied and the driving roller 4 are connected to the substrate 2.
The substrate 26 is attached to the substrate 23 by a column 27 coaxial with the drive roller 4 and is rotatable about the column 27 . Similarly, the roller 15 on which the belt 14 is applied, and the drive roller 16 are on a base plate 28, and the base plate 28 is attached to the base plate 23 by a column 29 coaxial with the drive roller 16, with the column 29 being the center. It can be rotated. Board 23, board 26, board 28
are connected by springs 30 and 31, respectively. The board 23 is attached to the pedestal 2 by a spring 32.
It is tied to 5.

The transport boxes 33 are each attached to a chain 34, and the chain 34 is driven by a speed reducer and a motor (not shown). Chain 34 drives chain 37 from sprocket 35 via shaft 36. The chain 37 is stretched diagonally with respect to the horizontal direction, and the sprocket 3
The 5th side is lower. Claws 38 are attached to the chain 37 at the same intervals as the attachment intervals of the transport boxes 33, and the claws 38 are attached to a plate 41 attached to a guide 40 that can be smoothly moved on a horizontally attached shaft 39. After pushing and pushing for a certain period, the claw 38 is adjusted to come off the plate 41 because the chain 37 is slanted.

The guide 40 pushed through the plate 41 by the pawl 38 is attached to the bearing 4 attached to the base plate 23.
Push the substrate 23 through 2. The transport box is moved by the chain 34, and the claws 38 push the substrate 23 via the plate 41 and guide 40 in mechanical synchronization. The board 23 moves in a fan shape around the support 24, and when the claw 38 comes off the plate 41, it is pulled back to its original position by the force of the spring 32, and by repeating this, it moves back and forth in a fan shape in synchronization with the movement of the transport box. Do exercise. There is also a photoelectric switch 43 for detecting the claw 38, including photoelectric switch 5, photoelectric switch 17, and photoelectric switch 43.
sends a signal to a control section (not shown), and the control section turns on and off the clutch brake 7 and clutch brake 19 based on the signal.

Motor 6 and motor 18 are always rotating, and clutch brake 7 and clutch brake 19
transmits power, each drive roller 4,
The drive roller 16 rotates in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure. When mail is not supplied, the clutch brake 7 and the clutch brake 19 transmit the power of the motor 6 and the motor 18, respectively, and the belts 1, 2, 13, and 14 rotate through the drive rollers 4 and 16, respectively. be done.

When mail is fed between drive rollers 4, it is drawn in by belts 1 and 2;
The board 26 moves around the support 27 by the thickness of the mail, and a pressure corresponding to the displacement of the spring 30 connecting the boards 23 and 26 is applied to the mail through the belts 1 and 2. Can be applied to.
When the photoelectric switch 5 is blocked by a piece of mail, the control section causes the drive roller 4 to continue rotating when there is no mail in the transfer and holding mechanism on the exit side, that is, when the photoelectric switch 17 is in the conductive state. Then, the mail is transferred to the exit side transfer and holding mechanism by belts 1 and 2. Conversely, when the photoelectric switch 17 is in the cut-off state, the clutch brake 7 is activated, the rotation of the belts 1 and 2 is stopped, and the mail is held in the transfer and holding mechanism on the entrance side. The mail discharged from the transfer and holding mechanism on the entrance side is caught between the belts 13 and 14 and blocks the photoelectric switch 17. The control unit receives a signal from the photoelectric switch 17 and controls the drive roller 1 when the transfer to the transport box 33 is possible.
Continue the rotation of step 6. A signal indicating that transfer to the transport box 33 is possible is generated based on a signal from the photoelectric switch 43. In other words, the photoelectric switch 43 detects the claw 38 at a position slightly before the claw 38 comes off the plate 41, and even if the exit side transfer and holding mechanism starts the transfer later, the transfer to the transport box 33 is completed. When the pawl 38 is in a state where there is a possibility that the pawl 38 will come off the plate 41 and cause a transfer failure, the pawl 38 will be removed from the photoelectric switch 43.
It has been adjusted to block the The substrate 23 is the spring 3
2, and until the transfer to the next transport box 33 becomes possible, the control section delays this cutoff signal for a certain period of time and sets it as a transfer prohibition signal. While this transfer prohibition signal prohibits transfer, the transfer on the exit side,
The mail transferred to the holding mechanism is held between the belts 13 and 14 by the action of the clutch brake 19, and when the mail is synchronized with the next transport box 33, it is transferred again by driving the belts 13 and 14. Posting will take place.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing the control of the control section. In the figure, the photoelectric switch signal is L when it is in the cutoff state, H when it is in the normal state, and the clutch brake signal is L when the brake is working and H when the power is being transmitted. The transfer prohibition signal is when the photoelectric switch 43's cutoff signal _S43 is held for a certain period of time.
It is Si. The mail currently in the transfer and holding mechanism on the entrance side is detected by the photoelectric switch 5 and a signal _S5 is sent.
becomes L (A). When the mail that has been transferred to the exit side transfer and holding mechanism is transferred, a signal from the photoelectric switch 17 is activated.
_S17 becomes H, and as a result, the clutch brake 7 is set to H ( _S7 ), the mail is transferred, and the output _S17 of the photoelectric switch 17 is set to L (A'). At this time, the transfer prohibition signal Si is at L and is in the prohibited state, so the control signal _S19 of the clutch brake 19 is set to L to hold the mail, and after waiting for the transfer prohibition signal Si to become H, the clutch brake is turned to H again. (S ₁₉ ).

Similarly, for example, when three pieces of mail are supplied in a row (B, C, D), the pieces are sent sequentially, and B', C',
As shown in D', the items are sequentially transferred from the transfer mechanism on the exit side to the transport box. In this embodiment, an example has been described in which there are two transfer and holding mechanisms, but it is clear that a case in which there are three or more mechanisms can also function effectively as a buffer and allow efficient transfer. In addition, although synchronization is performed mechanically in this embodiment, for example, if the amount of movement of the chain 34 is detected by a rotary encoder or the like, and the board 23 is moved using a servo motor based on the signal, it is electrically driven separately. It is also possible to synchronize. Regarding the control method, this device uses a transfer prohibition signal that prohibits transfer from a certain state until a certain period of time has elapsed.
If the speed fluctuation of 4 is large, another photoelectric switch is used to detect when the claw 38 starts pushing the plate 41, and after the photoelectric switch 43 is shut off, the other photoelectric switch is shut off. A method may be taken to prohibit transfer until the

As described above, the synchronous transfer device of the present invention transfers mail items in synchronization with the movement of the transport box, thereby increasing the transferable time and ensuring reliable transfer during that time. Moreover, since it has a buffer function, even if the supply is irregular, it can be processed efficiently without losing the transfer timing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
This figure is a diagram explaining the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. In the figure, 1, 2, 13, 14...belt (for transporting mail), 8, 10, 11, 20, 21...
...Belt (for driving), 3,15...Roller,
4, 16... Drive roller, 30, 31, 32
...Spring, 34, 37...Chain, 42...Bearing, 35...Sprocket, 7,19...
Clutch brake, 6, 18...motor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first transfer holding mechanism including a pair of belts and a detector provided along the belts to detect the presence or absence of mail; and a first transfer holding mechanism having the same configuration as the first transfer holding mechanism. a second transfer holding mechanism provided at the rear of the transfer holding mechanism; a plurality of transport boxes attached to a chain and transported on the exit side of the second transfer holding mechanism; and the second transfer holding mechanism. a synchronizing device that moves an end on the exit side of the holding mechanism in synchronization with the transport box, and the exit side of the second transfer holding mechanism and the moving transport box run in synchronization. A synchronous mail transfer device characterized by transferring mail to a transport box in between.