JPH10156290A - Delivery sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] The present invention relates to the work of taking out and arranging letters from the sorting shelf to the sorting shelf, preventing forgetting to take letters, mistaken storing order of letters, etc., and smooth operability. It is intended to provide a good delivery sorting device. A delivery sorting apparatus according to the present invention has a receiving / transmitting device for indicating the position of a storage in a sorting machine in accordance with a delivery sorting storage program, receives a transmission signal of the receiving / transmitting device, and receives the transmission signal. It is based on a movable hand mechanism that has the function of recognizing and moving letters, and holding and taking out letters from the sorting box, and a letterbox with a letter storage capacity according to the number of each delivery person or a partitioning function with that number of partitions. It is provided with a receiving / transmitting device for instructing a corresponding organizing shelf, and stores a letter in the corresponding organizing shelf according to the delivery category.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a delivery sorting apparatus for sorting postal letters and the like, and more particularly to a delivery sorting apparatus for automatically sorting postal letters in the order of delivery by postal workers based on their destination information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a delivery division for delivering a postal letter or the like (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a letter) is performed in a place where letters are divided and delivered, called a delivery office. The delivery bureau has a sorter in which about 200 sorting shelves and a sorting shelf are arranged facing each other, and a delivery sorter for sorting letters. Hereinafter, a delivery division method using these configurations will be described.

[0003] When each delivery member performs a delivery division roughly divided into units called delivery sections in charge of delivery, the letters are placed on a delivery sorting machine, and the letters sorted from the delivery sorting machines are sorted into each sorting box on the sorting shelf. Is divided into Then, the sorting machine clerk takes out and arranges the letters divided into the respective compartments of the sorting shelf in the sorting shelf of the sorting shelf placed opposite to the sorting shelf in a fixed order (large section).

[0004] Further, the sorting machine clerk applies the letter in the same delivery section to the delivery sorting machine to similarly subdivide the letter, and the letter subdivided in each section of the sorting shelf corresponds to the delivery destination number on the sorting shelf. The pieces are sequentially taken out and arranged (middle section), and the delivery is arranged again by the delivery sorting machine to arrange the letters in the delivery order (small section).

As described above, in the conventional delivery sorting apparatus, since the size of the sorting shelves is always limited due to the problem of the space of the delivery office (for example, about 200 units), the sorting work from the sorting shelves to the sorting shelves is necessary. In addition, several delivery sections such as large, medium, and small sections are required.

[0006]

According to the above-mentioned conventional delivery sorting method, each time a postal letter is sent to the delivery sorting machine, a staff member takes out the postal letter from each section of the sorting shelf in a predetermined order and organizes it. It is necessary to repeat the work of arranging each shelf on the shelf. The removal and rearrangement work performed by this staff is a simple repetition, but because of the large number of times,
It is easy for the operator to forget to take a letter and mistake the order of storing letters, and it takes time and burdens the staff.

[0007] Further, when a postal letter is put on the sorting machine from the storage shelf, the order of letters to be taken out is similarly disturbed, and in order to separate and convey the letters one by one, an attendant arranges the letters and processes them. And each time a letter was issued to the sorting machine, the work load of the staff increased.

In addition, postal letters have a time difference in arrival of the postal letters from the collection and delivery offices. Since the sorting work is performed in the order of arrival and the route assembling work is performed a plurality of times, the burden on the staff increases. It will also cause mistakes in the transfer from the storage to the storage shelf.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art and to take out and arrange letters by a staff member from a sorting shelf to an organizing shelf to prevent forgetting to take letters and to avoid mistakes in the order of storing letters. An object of the present invention is to provide a delivery sorting device with good operability.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a delivery sorting apparatus according to the present invention has a receiving / transmitting device for indicating the position of a storage compartment in a sorting machine in accordance with a delivery sorting storage program, and transmits the transmission signal. And a movable hand mechanism having a function of recognizing the position of the corresponding compartment and moving, and holding and removing a letter from the compartment, and a letter storage capacity corresponding to the number of each delivery person, or the Basically, a sorter having a number of partitioning functions is prepared, a receiving / transmitting device for designating a corresponding sorter is provided, and letters are stored in the sorter corresponding to a delivery category. At the end of each letter take-out / storing operation, the completion is transmitted to the receiving / sending / receiving section to the corresponding storage, thereby communicating the end of the operation and automatically performing the next letter taking / storing processing. .

Further, the storage shelves of the storage shelves are arranged at an angle so that the movable hand can easily store letters, and while the movable hand moves from the storage section to the storage shed, it vibrates like a letter taken out. , The front end of the letter is aligned and aligned on one side, thereby improving the alignment and storage. In order to improve the ability to take out large letters and to assemble directions,
The letters can be easily separated and conveyed, and jams and the like during separation and conveyance can be reduced.

According to the movable hand mechanism of the present invention, in order to take out letters from all of the sorting shelves of the sorting machine, the movable hand mechanism moves to the corresponding sorting box in accordance with a transmission signal to extract letters, and Has the function of taking out and putting it out, and also has the function of moving it to the appropriate storage by a transmission signal from the storage shelf and storing it in order to store the taken out letter on the storage shelf. Also, every time the processing of taking out a letter from the sorting box and storing in the sorting box is completed, a signal indicating the end of the processing is transmitted from the receiving / transmitting unit of the movable hand mechanism, and the position of the sorting section and the sorting box corresponding to each other. It has a function to instruct outgoing calls.

[0013]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a delivery sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a delivery sorting apparatus according to the present invention. In particular, FIG. 1 is a view showing the configuration of a mail sorting machine for sorting mail letters and a sorting shelf for storing the sorted letters in order. . The delivery sorting apparatus includes a supply unit 1 for supplying one postal letter one by one, a scanning unit 2 for optically scanning the address surface of the letter, a discriminating unit 3 for discriminating the address from a scanning signal from the scanning unit 2, and a pre-stored unit. The control unit 4 for rearranging the delivered delivery information and the letter determined by the determination unit 3 in the order of delivery according to the order of delivery, and the ordering unit instructing the ordering unit corresponding to the delivery destination from the control unit 4 in order according to the route. In accordance with the instruction control unit 5 and these controls, the letters are individually collected in each of the bins 8 on the bin 7.

As described above, the postal letters collected in the supply unit 1 are stored in a predetermined compartment 8 based on the address information obtained by the scanning unit 2 and the delivery information stored in advance. It is controlled by the control unit 4 and the compartment instruction control unit 5.
The control unit 4 and the compartment instruction control unit 5 are also simply referred to as control units.

FIG. 4 shows details of each of the bins 8 constituting the bin 7. Letters delivered from the delivery sorting machine are
After passing through a transport path formed in the upper part of the section 8, it is stored in a predetermined section 8 by switching the gate 11 as shown in the figure. The compartment 8 is provided with a transmitter, for example, an infrared transmitter 6, which indicates the position of the corresponding compartment 8 based on an instruction from the compartment instruction control unit 5, and is provided with a movable hand as will be described later. Assists the operation of the mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the configuration of the delivery sorting apparatus of the present invention having a sorting shelf and a sorting shelf installed facing each other and having a movable hand mechanism therebetween, and FIG. The side view which looked at the structure of the delivery division apparatus from the side is shown, respectively. The delivery sorting device of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to these drawings.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a sorting shelf provided opposite to the sorting shelf 7, and the delivery sorting machine and the sorting shelf 7 described with reference to FIG.
Is a shelf that transfers letters in order according to the delivery category. As shown in FIG. 3, the storage shelf 13 is provided with a storage 16 in which the stacking portion is inclined, and the storage shelf 13 is constituted by a plurality of storages 16 like the sorting shelf 7.

A movable hand mechanism 100 is provided between the sorting shelf 7 and the sorting shelf 13. The movable hand mechanism 100 includes a finger 103 for inserting a letter, a joint 105 for rotating the finger mechanism 103 in the direction A shown in FIG. 3, and a rotating joint 103 for rotating the joint 105 in the direction C on a vertical plane. I have. These joint groups can be moved in the vertical D direction and the horizontal B direction, and can access any of the compartments 8 and the organizing compartment 16. The movable hand mechanism 100 includes
Receiving / transmitting unit 101 capable of recognizing signals such as infrared rays, sectioning shelf 7
And a signal recognition control unit 102 for exchanging signals with the control unit 5 or the control unit 15 of the storage shelf 13.

In the above description, the configurations of the delivery sorting machine for sorting letters, the sorting shelf 7 and the sorting shelf 13 and the movable hand mechanism 100 have been described in detail, but in the following description, the movable hand mechanism 100 will be described. The control of each component will be described in detail with reference to the block diagrams of FIGS. 6 and 7 that have the same functions as those described above are given the same reference numerals.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram in the case where the movable hand mechanism 100 is provided with intelligence to actively assemble directions.

The mail letters set in the supply unit 1 are separated and supplied one by one by the supply unit, and the address or a code (address information) corresponding to the address is read by the scanning unit 2 and the discrimination unit. At step 3, a discrimination by recognition is executed. Next, in accordance with the address determined by the determination unit 3 or the codes corresponding thereto, the control unit 4 stores the sorting boxes 8 to be stored.
Make an assignment.

When a certain degree of letter division progresses (for example, when all storage in the sorting shelf 8 is completed, etc.), the sorting box instruction control unit 5 determines the position of the corresponding sorting box 8 from which the letter should be taken out according to the delivery destination. The plurality of transmitting units 6 instruct the movable hand mechanism 100 using a signal determined in advance in accordance with the position using infrared light or the like as an example. In FIG. 6, 6
B indicates the corresponding transmitting unit.

Next, the instruction from the transmitting section 6B is received by the receiving / transmitting section 101 of the movable hand mechanism 100, and the position information of the compartment 8 is searched from the information programmed in the movable hand mechanism 100, The recognition control unit 102 instructs the movable hand mechanism 100 to move to the corresponding compartment 8 and takes out the stored letter from the designated compartment 8.

After the letter is taken out, the position of the storage 16 to be stored is changed from the storage instruction control unit 15 to the storage 1 by communication between the storage instruction control unit 5 and the storage instruction control unit 15.
6, the receiving unit 101 of the movable hand receives the signal (eg, 14A) transmitted by infrared rays or the like,
The position of the storage 16 to be stored in the movable hand mechanism 100 is determined by the signal recognition control unit 102. Then, the movable hand mechanism 100 moves to the corresponding storage 16 based on the positional information of the storage.

In the meantime, the finger 103 of the movable hand of the movable hand mechanism 100 is rotated on a vertical plane, and is vibrated by the finger portion sandwiching the letter to arrange the letter while aligning the letter.
To be stored. As shown in FIG. 5, the organizing compartment 16 has a slit-like portion corresponding to the finger 103 of the movable hand, and is meshed in a skewered shape when stored and is attached at an angle, so that it is aligned with one end face. Will be stored.

After confirming the storage, the control section again instructs the next section 8 based on the delivery section in the same manner, and takes out the letter from the section 8 through the movable hand mechanism 100 and arranges the letter 1
6 is stored. In this way, when all letters are taken out from the sorting shelf 7 and stored in the sorting shelf 13, the subdivision of the delivery category is completed.

Here, in order to assemble the route, the letters on the sorting shelf 13 are arranged in a predetermined sorter 16 in accordance with the order of assembling the route.
The letters are sequentially taken out by the attendant or the movable hand mechanism 100 and set in the supply section 1 of the delivery sorting machine main body.
At the same time, the letters set in the supply unit 1 are separated and conveyed one by one in the same manner as in the above-described sorting processing, and the address or the code corresponding to the letter is recognized and discriminated, and the corresponding sorting is performed. Store in 8. As the storage of the sorting box 8 proceeds, the storage in the sorting shelf 13 is performed in the same procedure as described above, and when the letters are stored in the sorting shelf 13, the route assembly is completed. The letter is subdivided through such several degrees of letter division.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment.
The respective control units of the arranging shelf 13 are connected in the same manner as in FIG.
0 is connected to the control unit. Therefore, the transmission / reception unit or the like of the movable hand mechanism 100 as shown in FIG. 6 is not necessary, and the order of taking out and storing the letters is determined by the communication by the respective control units. FIG. 4 is a block diagram for assembling directions.

Section instruction control unit 5, Organizing instruction control unit 1
5, each control unit with the take-out storage control unit 102 communicates with each other, and the movable hand 100
For example, it moves to the section 8 of 6B according to the instruction of the take-out / storage control section 102 and takes out the letter from the section 8. Similarly, when the taken out letter is stored in the sorting shelf 13, the letter is moved to the sorting box 16 of the initial value 14A, and the storing is completed. Subsequent letter alignment is performed in the same manner as described above, and a description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, FIG. 6 shows that the movable hand mechanism is almost single and moves between the sorting shelf and the organizing shelf, so that the delivery sorting apparatus can be liberalized. FIG. 7 requires a receiving / transmitting section such as a sorting shelf. Therefore, the delivery sorting device can be simplified. Note that these configurations may be mixed within the range described above, and further optimization of functions may be achieved.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically perform the delivery section and the route assembly using the sorting shelf by using the sorting machine for the delivery section of the letter and the assembly of the route. It is possible to achieve reduction, speeding up, and reduction of misordering.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a delivery sorting device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the delivery sorting device as viewed from above.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the delivery sorting device viewed from the side.

FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of a compartment 8 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of a storage 16 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the operation of one embodiment of the delivery sorting device.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the operation of another embodiment of the delivery sorting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Supply part, 2 ... Scanning part, 3 ... Judgment part, 4 ... Control part, 5
... Section instruction control unit, 6 ... Sending unit 7 ... Segment shelf, 8 ... Section cabinet, 10 ... Postal letter, 11 ... Gate, 13 ... Arrangement shelf,

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A supply unit for supplying a postal letter, a scanning unit for optically scanning the address surface of the letter, a discrimination unit for discriminating the address from a scanning signal from the scanning unit, and delivery information stored in advance. And a control unit for rearranging the letters determined by the discriminating unit in the sorting order in accordance with the delivery order, comprising a movable hand mechanism for taking out the letters from the sorting shelf and storing the letters in the organizing shelf; The side, the movable hand mechanism, and the organizing shelf each have a receiving / transmitting part and a signal transmitting / recognizing control part, and instruct the position of the corresponding bin or organizing in order according to the delivery route, and take out and store letters, and operate. A delivery sorting device, which has a function of automatically processing the sorting and sorting of letters by transmitting the end of the process to each signal sending recognition control unit through the sending / receiving unit. 2. The delivery sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein vibration is applied to the letter taken out by said movable hand mechanism. 3. The delivery sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the storage shelves of the storage shelf is arranged at an angle, and a plurality of slits are provided on at least one surface. . 4. A supply section for supplying a plurality of postal letters, a discriminating section for discriminating a corresponding address from the addressing face of the letter, and a letter discriminating section in accordance with the result of discrimination by the discriminating section. A delivery sorting machine having a rearranging control unit;
In a delivery sorting device including a sorting shelf that stores letters sorted by the delivery sorting machine into a plurality of partitions, and a sorting shelf that sorts and stores letters stored in the sorting shelf,
A movable hand device is arranged between the sorting shelf and the sorting shelf, and the movable hand device has a control unit that can control to take out a letter stored in the sorting shelf and store it in the sorting shelf. A delivery sorting device characterized by the above-mentioned. 5. The delivery sorting device according to claim 4, wherein the sorting shelf and the sorting shelf each have a transmitting unit, and the movable hand device has a receiving unit, and a receiving unit of the movable hand device. The movable hand device selects the compartment of the compartment where the signal is received in response to receiving the signal of the transmitting unit of the compartment, and retrieves the letter stored in the selected compartment. A delivery sorting device characterized by the above-mentioned. 6. The delivery sorting device according to claim 5, wherein the movable hand device receives the signal in response to the receiving unit of the movable hand device receiving the signal of the transmitting unit of the organizing shelf. A delivery sorting apparatus for selecting a storage of shelves and storing letters in the selected storage. 7. The delivery sorting device according to claim 5, wherein the movable hand device has a sorting control unit for selecting a letter stored in a sorting box of the sorting shelf. 8. The delivery sorting device according to claim 5, wherein the movable hand device has a storage control unit for storing letters in the storage of the storage shelf.