JPH075192B2 - Mail processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a mail processing apparatus, such as an automatic mail processing machine, which can take out mails one by one in which reference end faces are not aligned.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

For example, in an automatic mail processing machine, a conventional mail processing apparatus for supplying mails whose reference end faces are not uniform and picking up and transporting the mails one by one has the structure shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. Has been. That is, (1) is a placing portion for placing the postal matter (P) on the base (2) in a standing state, and the base (2) is provided with an opening (2a) having a long hole. Together with the opening (2a) from the bottom of the base (2)
For example, an alignment roller (3) having an elliptical cross section is arranged to face the wall surface (1a) of the mounting portion (1), and a plurality of lengths are provided along the conveying direction of the postal matter (P). Holes (4a), (4b)
Are provided, and pins (5a) ... Equipped at equal intervals project from the long holes (4a) and (4b) to support and convey the mail (P), and a biasing means capable of projecting and retracting. (5) is placed. Then, the postal matter (P) conveyed by the urging means (5) of the placing section (1) is adsorbed and taken out one by one by the vacuum adsorption action at the conveying end of the postal matter (P). A take-out means (6) and a carrying means (7) for receiving the postal matter (P) taken out by the take-out means (6) and carrying it to a processing unit (not shown) at a subsequent stage are installed.

Therefore, the postal matter (P) placed in the standing position on the base (2) of the placing section (1) is vibrated at the lower edge of the postal matter (P) by the rotation of the aligning roller (3). While being aligned, it is conveyed by the urging means (5) to the take-out means (6). Then, the take-out means (6) adsorbs and takes out the earliest postal matter (P) one by one, and delivers it to the conveying means (7).

The aligning roller (3) has an elliptical cross section, but in addition to this, the aligning roller (11), which has a shape as shown in FIGS. 13 (a), (b) and (c), (12) and (13) are also commonly used.

However, the vibration caused by these alignment rollers has the following drawbacks. That is, the convex part (3
By rotating a), (11a), (12a), (13a), etc., the lower edge (Pa) of the postal matter (P) is scraped and the postal matter (P)
If the rotation speed is increased to damage the paper (see Fig. 14) or increase the vibration force, the lower part of the postal matter (P) will be continuously floated from the base (2) and the alignment roller ( 3), (11), (12), and (13) may cause a dance phenomenon and turn over, or they may turn upside down and fall onto the base (2). Therefore, mail (P)
The rotation speed must be decreased to align the lower edges of the mails. Also, if the rotation speed is decreased, the force for pushing up the mail (P) and aligning it is insufficient, and the effect of vibration cannot be obtained. Had.

[Object of the Invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a postal matter processing apparatus which can relatively effectively align the lower edges of postal items and take them out one by one without damaging the postal items with a relatively simple structure. The purpose is to do.

[Outline of Invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a mail processing apparatus for processing a rectangular mail, comprising a base inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a horizontal plane and provided with an opening, and a wall surface adjacent to the base. Become the first of the mail items on the basis of
And a mounting table for supporting the side of the mail and a second side adjacent to the first side by the wall surface to mount the mail in an upright position and inclined, and swinging around one end as an axis. A swingable member, a drive means including a motor and a fixed roller that is driven to rotate about a predetermined rotation axis by the motor, and one end thereof is rotatably supported at a position eccentric from the rotation axis of the fixed roller. The other end is axially supported by the other end of the swing member, and has an arm that swings by the rotational drive of the fixed roller of the drive means, and swings the swing member, and a flat surface. The flat surface is provided on the other end side of the swing member and projects from the base through the opening of the base according to the swing of the swing member. A positioning member whose surface is inclined to the wall surface side, An urging means that is provided so as to project from the wall surface toward the mail item on the table and that urges and conveys the mail item placed on the table in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the mail item. And a take-out means for taking out the mail items conveyed by the urging means one by one, and when the aligning member projects from the base of the placing table, the flat surface with respect to the first side of the mail item. The first and second sides are arranged by the self-weight of the postal matter by applying a vibration.

Example of Invention

The present invention will be described below based on an embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 8. However, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 11 and 12 denote the same parts. That is, (21) is a placing portion for placing the postal matter (P) on the base (2) in an upright state, and the base (2) is provided with the opening portion (2a) of the long hole as in the conventional case. The aligning member (22) of the present invention is disposed so as to face the opening (2a) from below the base (2). Further, on the wall surface (21a) of the placing section (21), there are a plurality of elongated holes (4a) along the conveyance direction of the postal matter (P),
(4b) is bored, and pins (5a) ... Equipped at equal intervals are projected from the long holes (4a) and (4b) to support and convey the postal matter (P), and can be projected and retracted. A biasing means (5) is installed. Then, at the conveying end of the postal matter (P) conveyed by the urging means (5) of the above-mentioned placing section (21), the postal matter (P) is transferred to the conveying end by, for example, a vacuum suction action.
Pick-up means (6) for adsorbing and picking up one by one, and conveying means (7) for receiving the postal matter (P) taken out by this take-out means (6) and conveying it to a processing unit (not shown) at a subsequent stage.
Is installed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the aligning member (22) has a flat upper surface (22a) with both ends slightly inclined to the opposite side of the opening (2a). This alignment member (2
The driving means (23) of 2) transmits the driving force from the pulley (25) attached to the motor (24) to the fixed roller (27) via the belt (26) as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. To be done. The fixed roller (27) is supported by bearings (not shown) so as to rotate about the shaft (28), and both ends of the fixed roller (27) are eccentric to the shaft (28).
b) is attached and is connected to the arm (31) via a bearing (30). A shaft (32) is attached to the other end of the arm (31) and is connected to one end of the swing arm (34) via a bearing (33). The end is supported by a shaft (37) attached to a fixed base (36) via a bearing (35). A bracket (38) is screwed to the swing arm (34), and the alignment member (22) is attached to the upper part of the bracket (38).

Therefore, the aligning member (22) oscillates about the shaft (37) by the drive means (23) and apparently reciprocates up and down, and the positional relationship with the base (2) is the base (2). When the upper surface (22a) of the aligning member (22) is aligned with the upper surface of, the surfaces are set to be flush with each other.

The take-out means (6) is the main chamber (8a).
Also, the postal matter (P) having the suction take-out belt (8b), the sub-chamber (9), and the roller (10) around which the suction take-out belt (8b) is wound, and the lower end edge of which is aligned, is the sub-chamber (P). By receiving the suction force of 9), it is possible to prevent the two sheets from being taken out, and the driving means (23) of the aligning member (22) is the taking-out means (6).
It is set to work with the movement of.

Next, the operation of the present invention based on the above configuration will be described. In FIG. 2, the postal matter (P) ... Is inserted between the pins (5a) of the urging means (5) projecting into the placing portion (21) and placed on the base (2). At this time, the lower edge of the postal matter (P) is assumed to be in a non-uniform state as shown in FIG. 6 (A). That is, in the drawing, mail (P
_-1 ), (P _-3 ), and (P _-5 ) have their lower edges in contact with the base (2), while mail (P _-2 ), (P _-4 ) has the base (2). It shows the state that is emerging from. Therefore, when the urging means (5) and the aligning member (22) are urged, the urging means (5) inserts the postal matter (P _-1 ), (P _-1 ) (P- ₁ ) inserted between the pins (5a). _-2 ) ... (P _-5 ) is held in an upright position and conveyed toward the take-out means (6), while the alignment member (22) is driven by a motor (24) to a fixed roller via a belt (26). (27) rotates clockwise, this fixed roller (27)
Ascends via the arm (31) and the swing arm (34) connected to (see FIG. 5). Therefore, the mail items (P _-1 ), (P _-3 ), (P _-5 ) are pushed up by the aligning member (22), and at this time, the upper part of the aligning member (22) forms a flat surface. Because of the mailing (P _-1 ),
The lower edges of (P _-3 ) and (P _-5 ) are not damaged.
Then, the postal matter (P _-1 ), (P _-3 ), (P _-5 ) interrupts the gap between the postal matter (P _-2 ), (P _-4 ) by this pushing up, and the postal matter (P _-4 ). ) The whole exhibits a jumping phenomenon (see FIG. 6 (B)). At this time, the aligning member (22) descends as shown in FIG. 7 (B), and turns up again below the base (2) (see FIGS. 7 (C) and (D)).
On the other hand, the postal matter (P) that has jumped up is the swing arm (34).
Rotates counterclockwise around the bearing (35) as a fulcrum and drops onto the base (2). At this time, mail (P)
The lower edge of the mail is received by the upper surface of the base (2), and the above mail items (P _-2 ) and (P _-4 ) due to their own weight are mail items (P _-1 ), (P _-3 ), and (P _-5 ). ), An interrupt action occurs (see FIG. 6 (D)). Then, the aligning member (22) returns to the position shown in FIG. 7 (A) again, and the above operation is repeated.

In this way, the lower edge of the postal matter (P) is conveyed to the take-out means (6) side by the biasing means (5) while being gradually aligned. Then, the take-out means (6) adsorbs the postal matter (P) one by one by the main chamber (8a) and the adsorption take-out belt (8b) and conveys it to the conveying means (7) side. At this time, since the second postal matter (P) is adsorbed by the sub-chamber (9), it is possible to reliably prevent the second postal matter from being taken out (see FIG. 8).

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the placement portion (21) of the mail is arranged such that the wall surface (21a) and the base (2) are pinned (5a) to the horizontal plane.
By arranging the side surface so as to be inclined, there is an advantage that one side surface of the postal matter (P) is aligned with the wall surface (21a) against the vibration effect of the alignment member (22).

FIG. 9 shows an application example of the present invention.

In the figure, (22) is a positioning member, and the driving means (23) for driving the positioning member (22) is the same as that of the embodiment, and is therefore shown in a block diagram. In FIG. 9, (41) is a stop switch for stopping the drive means (23), and (42)
Is a continuous operation switch for forcibly driving the drive means (23). By providing these switches (41) and (42), the mail (P) whose lower end edges have been arranged in advance is placed. When placed on the base (3) of (21), the stop switch (41) is pushed to bring the aligning means (22) into a stopped state, and when the take-out means (6) is stopped, When it is desired to align the misaligned mail pieces (P), the continuous operation switch (42) is pushed to operate the take-out means (6) and the drive means (23) of the alignment member (22). Then, the postal matter (P) can be forcibly aligned.

FIG. 10 shows a detector composed of cells (44a) and (44b) for detecting the presence or absence of the postal matter (P) conveyed from the placing section (21) to the take-out means (6) in the above embodiment. (43) is provided, and the detector (43) detects the presence or absence of the postal matter (P) placed on the base (2) of the placing section (21), thereby It is also possible to drive the aligning member (22) only when P) is placed on the placing section (21) and stop it when it is not placed.

Next, FIG. 15 shows a gate device for sorting the mail (P) transported by the transport means (7) into each sorting box of the sorting device in the above-described embodiment. In the figure, (51) is a fixed roller that is driven to rotate counterclockwise as indicated by an arrow. Conveyor belts (52a) and (52b) are stretched around the fixed roller (51).
The postal matter (P) is sandwiched between a) and (52b) and conveyed. Further, (55a) and (55b) are branch belts wound around branch rollers (54a) and (54b), and one branch belt (55a) is provided in contact with the conveyor belt (52a). The other branching belt (55b) is provided in contact with the conveyor belt (52b) in the direction of arrow a shown in FIG.
The postal matter (P) is pinched and conveyed in the direction of arrow b shown in FIG.

A guide (56) for the postal matter (P), which is rotatable separately from the rotation of the fixed roller (51), is provided below the fixed roller (51), and the tip of this guide guide (56). Is a rotatable roller / guide section (5) including a gate roller (53a) and a guide (53b) provided on the opposite side of the fixed roller (51) to the conveyor belt (52a).
3) is set to contact. That is, the guide guide (56) is configured to interlock with the rotation of the roller / guide portion (53).

When the roller / guide portion (53) returns to its original position, (57) forcibly guides the guide / guide (56).
A return spring for contacting the guide portion (53). The spring (57) is stretched between the base end portion of the guide guide (56) and the fixed plate (58).

With such a structure, even if the conveyed mail (P) is bent or is thin and the transportation conditions are bad, the mail is guided near the branch rollers (54a) or (54b). Guided by the guide (56) and the roller / guide section (53), branching error, damage,
Without causing paper jams, etc., it can be surely distributed to each sorting box (not shown) and sorted and collected.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the placing portion on which the mail is placed is provided with an inclination, and further, when the flat aligning member protrudes from the placing portion, it is inclined toward the wall surface side of the placing portion. As described above, since the aligning member is configured to be swung, the mail is not forcibly moved, and the two sides of the mail are aligned by its own weight, so that the mail is not damaged. It is possible to arrange two sides of the postal matter, and it is possible to reliably take out the postal matter one by one.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of a mail processing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1 seen from the direction of arrow A, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view seen from the direction, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the aligning member and its driving mechanism in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a side view of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a mail piece by movement of the aligning member. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the movement of the aligning member, FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view showing the means for taking out the mail, and FIG. 9 is a plan view showing an application example of the present invention. FIG. 10 (a) is a plan view showing another application example of the present invention,
FIG. 10 (b) is a right side view of the same, FIG. 11 is a schematic partial sectional view of a conventional mail processing apparatus, and FIG. 12 is a front view of FIG. 11 as seen from the direction of the arrow, and FIG. Are cross-sectional views of various shapes showing examples of alignment rollers, FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing damage to the lower edge of the mail piece due to rotation of the alignment roller, and FIG. 15 is a gate for conveying mail pieces to the sorting device. FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the device, and FIG. 16 is a plan view showing a main part of the device. P …… Postal matter, 2 …… Base 5 …… Biasing means, 5a …… Pin 6 …… Ejecting means, 21 …… Standing part 22 …… Aligning member, 22a …… Upper surface of aligning member 23 …… … Driving means, 24 …… Motor 26 …… Belt, 27 …… Fixed roller 31 …… Arm, 34 …… Swinging arm 38 …… Bracket

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Bibliography Sho 56-51728 (JP, U) Rikai 54-120083 (JP, U) Kikou 44-15629 (JP, Y1)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A mail processing apparatus for processing a rectangular mail, which comprises a base inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a horizontal plane and provided with an opening, and a wall surface adjacent to the base, wherein the mail is used at the base. And a mounting table for supporting the first side of the post and supporting the second side adjacent to the first side by the wall surface, and placing the mail in an upright state and tilted, with one end as an axis. A swinging member capable of swinging, a drive means including a motor and a fixed roller that is driven to rotate about a predetermined rotation axis by the motor, and one end of which is rotatably supported at a position eccentric from the rotation axis of the fixed roller. And the other end of which is pivotally supported by the other end of the swinging member, swings by the rotational drive of the fixed roller of the driving means, and the swinging member swings the swinging arm. Has a surface, and the rocking The flat surface is provided on the other end side of the material, and the flat surface projects from the base through the opening of the base according to the swing of the swing member, and the flat surface inclines toward the wall surface side when projecting from the base. And a positioning member for projecting from the wall surface toward the postal item on the table, and biasing the postal item placed on the table in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the postal item. The urging means for conveying and the take-out means for taking out the mails conveyed by the urging means one by one are provided, and when the aligning member protrudes from the base of the mounting table, the mails on the flat surface A mail processing apparatus, characterized in that the first side and the second side are arranged by the weight of the mail by giving vibration to the first side.