JPS638824B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sorting device for non-standard, large, thin mail items, and more particularly to a conveyor used therein.

Conventionally, the conveying section in this type of sorting device has a first
The one shown in Figure 2 (side view) was considered. The main conveyance section includes at least one driving chain 1, a plurality of partition plates 2 whose lower ends are comb-shaped and which are attached to the main chain at equal intervals, and a rail-shaped structure that engages with the comb-shaped lower ends of the main partition plates. It consisted of a slide substrate 3 having a protrusion. To explain the operation, mail 5 to which a sorting code has been given by an operator etc. 4 is placed into a storage chamber 6 partitioned by a partition plate 2, and then passed through a driving chain 1.
It is pushed by the partition plate 2 which moves at the same time as the movement of , and is conveyed while sliding on the slide substrate 3. When the mail is transported to the predetermined sorting collection box 7 corresponding to the assigned sorting code, the bottom plate opening/closing plate 8 provided on a part of the slide board is opened by a solenoid or the like (not shown). The particles fall downward and are collected in separate collection boxes.

However, in such a mechanism, before the mail completely falls and is ejected from the storage chamber and the open bottom plate opening/closing plate 8 is completely closed, the mail in the adjacent storage chamber closes the bottom plate opening/closing plate 8. If the mail is carried to the position of There is a risk that In order to prevent this, as shown in Figure 1, a pair of rollers 9 are arranged directly below the bottom plate opening/closing plate to forcibly pull out the falling mail from the storage chamber and allow the mail to fall and be ejected. In order to shorten the time, it is possible to close the bottom opening/closing plate before the mail in the adjacent storage room is brought in, but since the moving speed of the pulled out mail becomes faster, it is possible to There is a risk that the sound of collision with already stacked mail or the stacking box will become louder, or that the mail may be bent or twisted.

In addition, methods that perform a so-called inching operation, in which the conveyance unit stops while the mail is being taken out from the storage chamber and starts moving once the mail is removed from the storage chamber, or methods that move the conveyance unit at a very slow speed. High-speed processing power cannot be expected. Furthermore, in the conveyance mechanism shown in Figure 1, the mail is conveyed while rubbing on the slide board, which not only risks damaging the mail, but also where the conveyance path is curved, the partition plates are parallel to each other. As the mail disappears, the mail in the storage room becomes unstable and may fall or bend. In addition, since the drive chain 1 used is an ordinary chain that can be bent only in one plane, it is not possible to create a conveyance path with curves in both horizontal and vertical directions, which reduces the degree of freedom in design. Because of the small number of conveyance paths, a device incorporating this conveyance path may not be able to completely satisfy the customer's needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a conveyance section of a sorting device for large thin mail items that eliminates the various problems described above, allows conveyance in a direction other than a straight line, and does not damage mail items.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 showing one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, mail M is placed in a transport box 10 and transported. As shown in the figure, the transport box 10 is a thin box with openings on the top surface and the side surface in front, and a bottom plate that can be opened and closed. Many are installed in The universal chain 11 is driven by a drive system (not shown) and moves along the guide rail 12, and the transport box attached to the chain also moves at the same time. Wheels 13 are attached to the transport box 10 for stable running, and the wheels run on rails 14 that are parallel to the guide rails 12 and placed in a position that does not interfere with the falling of mail. moves stably.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a large number of transport boxes 10 lined up. Near the transport path, there is a synchronous transfer unit 15 for transferring mail to the transport boxes in synchronization with the movement of the transport boxes. is provided. In the synchronous transfer section 15, at least two sets of temporary holding sections 18 each consisting of a pair of belts 16 and rollers 17 are arranged in series, and mail items 19 sent randomly from an upstream position are stored in the synchronous transfer section 15. are sequentially sent to the temporary holding part on the transporting part side, and when they arrive at the temporary holding part adjacent to the transporting part, the exit part of the holding part 15 moves over a certain distance in synchronization with the movement of the transporting box. The mail can be transferred to the transport box while moving. Furthermore, after the transfer is completed, it performs a reciprocating motion to return to its original position. Since the mail item 20 being transported is placed in the transport box as described above, there is no need to worry about it being bent or damaged.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a section for sorting and stacking transported mail. The sorting and stacking section is composed of a plurality of stacking boxes 21, and a drive such as a solenoid is installed near the transport path of each stacking box. When a transport box containing mail to be sorted is moved, the claw of the corresponding collection box is moved by the drive source, and the transport box is connected to a drive source. The hook that is attached is removed. The bottom opening/closing plate, which had been held and closed by the hook, is opened, and the stored mail falls downward under the action of gravity and is accumulated in the accumulation box. During this time, the conveyance section is always running at a constant speed (V). The width of the mail receiving opening of the collection box is set so that there is no problem even if the mail falls while the transport box is running. Specifically, if the traveling speed of the transport unit is V, and the time from the time the mail starts falling until it is completely removed from the transport box is t, then the minimum required width of the receiving opening is V x t.
becomes.

In the present invention, since a universal chain is used in the conveyance section, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the conveyance path 22 is arranged at a high position in the accumulation section.
It can be placed at a lower position in the area where mail is transferred to the transport box. This is because the conveyance path can be bent both horizontally and vertically. This allows the collection box to be placed at a height that makes it easy for mail to be taken out manually, and the position of the input section 23 (for example, a coding desk) that assigns classification codes to mail to be input to the mail input section or manually removed. Work efficiency is improved because it can be placed on the floor for easy access.

As explained above, according to the present invention, since each piece of mail is transported in a box, there is no need to worry about damaging the mail during transport, and when taking out mail from the transport section, the transport section can be temporarily stopped. High processing (conveyance) capacity can be expected because there is no need to slow down the travel speed. Furthermore, the conveyance path is horizontal,
Since it can be bent in both vertical directions, there is a high degree of freedom in design, and therefore, by using the conveying section of the present invention, it is possible to design and provide a machine that meets the needs of the customer.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are partially detailed views of a conventionally conceived transport unit and a transport unit, respectively, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention, including detailed views of a transport box; FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an embodiment of a sorting machine using the conveyance section according to the present invention. In the figure, 1...drive chain, 2...partition plate, 3...fried board, 4...operator,
5... Mail, 6... Mail storage room, 7... Sorting collection box, 8... Bottom plate opening/closing plate, 9... Roller for removing mail, 10... Transport box, 11... Universal chain, 12... Guide rail, 13...
Wheel, 14...Rail, 15...Synchronized transfer unit, 1
6... Belt, 17... Rollers, 18... Temporary holding section, 19... Mail, 20... Mail being transported, 21... Collection box.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A holding unit consisting of a combination of a flexible universal chain, a plurality of thin transport boxes for transporting mail that are attached to the universal chain, have an opening on at least one side and whose bottom plate can be opened and closed, and a pair of belts. and a synchronized transfer section which arranges at least two sets of mailboxes in series and loads mail into the transport box while at least one set of the holding parts shifts in synchronization with the movement of the transport box. Conveyance section of large thin mail sorting machine.