EP0036237B1 - Système d'enlèvement pour traiter des lettres et des objets similaires - Google Patents

Système d'enlèvement pour traiter des lettres et des objets similaires Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0036237B1
EP0036237B1 EP81200289A EP81200289A EP0036237B1 EP 0036237 B1 EP0036237 B1 EP 0036237B1 EP 81200289 A EP81200289 A EP 81200289A EP 81200289 A EP81200289 A EP 81200289A EP 0036237 B1 EP0036237 B1 EP 0036237B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
take
letters
stacker
processor
reversing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
EP81200289A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0036237A1 (fr
Inventor
George Lourens Bordewijk
Wim Balthasar Verbeek
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Staat der Nederlanden (Staatsbedrijf der Posterijen Telegrafie en Telefonie)
Original Assignee
Staat der Nederlanden (Staatsbedrijf der Posterijen Telegrafie en Telefonie)
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Staat der Nederlanden (Staatsbedrijf der Posterijen Telegrafie en Telefonie) filed Critical Staat der Nederlanden (Staatsbedrijf der Posterijen Telegrafie en Telefonie)
Publication of EP0036237A1 publication Critical patent/EP0036237A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0036237B1 publication Critical patent/EP0036237B1/fr
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B07—SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS; SORTING
    • B07C—POSTAL SORTING; SORTING INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES, OR BULK MATERIAL FIT TO BE SORTED PIECE-MEAL, e.g. BY PICKING
    • B07C1/00—Measures preceding sorting according to destination
    • B07C1/02—Forming articles into a stream; Arranging articles in a stream, e.g. spacing, orientating
    • B07C1/025—Devices for the temporary stacking of objects provided with a stacking and destacking device (interstack device)
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B07—SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS; SORTING
    • B07C—POSTAL SORTING; SORTING INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES, OR BULK MATERIAL FIT TO BE SORTED PIECE-MEAL, e.g. BY PICKING
    • B07C1/00—Measures preceding sorting according to destination
    • B07C1/18—Orientating articles other than in a stream, e.g. turning, deflecting or changing direction

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a take-off system for handling letters and the like, comprising a first take-off device into which the letters are supplied in an upright position on a transport bed from where they can be conveyed one by one to a reversing station for reversing the direction of movement, and further comprising an outlet for separating letters with a non-acceptable length from the stream.
  • a take-off system of this kind is known from the Netherlands patent specification 160743, according to which a take-off device known from the Netherlands patent application 7507870 is made use of.
  • this take-off device With this take-off device the pitch at which the letters are taken off is constant. As the lengths of the letters are different the distances between them are, consequently, unequal. The maximum length allowed is determinative for the length of the pitch, due to which the capacity of the take-off system is limited.
  • the invention provides a solution for the difficulties mentioned, the outlet being situated before the reversing station, the reversing station being formed by the combination of a stacker and a second take-off device, and the moment when a next letter is taken off being determined by the signal from a photodetector concerning the passage of the letters taken off by said second take-off device, and by the information from a measuring point with regard to the lengths of the letters which are supplied to the stacker, the measuring point being connected to a processor via a store, the photodetector being also connected to the processor, and means being provided by which the processor can put the second take-off device into operation at calculated points of time.
  • the reversing station according to the invention can temporarily store letters, thus creating the possibility of adapting the capacity.
  • the invention will be elucidated with the help of the drawing, in which
  • Fig. 1 The known system according to Fig. 1 comprises a take-off device 1, a transport bed 2, a reversing station 3, a measuring point 4 and an outlet 5. Moreover, Fig. 1 shows a pair of devices 6 for aligning the letters (Netherlands patent 141.461), a reading station 7 (Netherlands patent application 7614338) for reading a bar code, an outlet 8 to a battery of pigeon holes (Netherlands patent application 7412347), a branch path 9 for overflow and a branch path 10 for letters with a rejected code.
  • the corresponding parts in Fig. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals.
  • the letters 11 are provided with a thickened portion 12, which represents a stamp in the top right-hand corner.
  • the letters on the transport beds 2 of the take-off device 1 and on the branch paths 9 and 10 are in the same position. So the stacks can be taken from the transport bed 2, from the branch path 9 and, if present, from the branch path 10 and simply be placed on the transport bed 2 of the take-off device 1, that is, without turning and shaking the stacks. This is realized by the reversing station 3.
  • the position of the letters is important with a view to the reading station 7. The above applies to Figs. 1 and 6; regarding the reversing station 3 according to Fig. 6 it will be further explained.
  • the take-off devices 1 (Figs. 1 and 6) supply a stream of letters with a constant pitch 13.
  • a suction port 15 (Fig. 4) stops with a light suction a letter as long as the preceding letter has not yet been taken along by a belt 16. Every time an opening 17 in the belt 16 moves past a suction chamber 18 a letter is taken along with a suction which is a little larger than that of the suction port 15. The rhythm at which letters are taken off is determined by the time of revolution of the opening 17.
  • Fig. 5 shows a known take-off device for a constant distance between the letters. In this case it is not feasible to place a suction port 15 at the trailing edge of the letters.
  • a photodetector 19 detects the trailing edge of the letter, after which, after a certain interval a time, a vacuum pulse is given in the suction chamber 18.
  • a belt 16 moves past the suction chamber and due to the many holes in this belt a letter is immediately taken along as soon as a pulse occurs.
  • the suction port 15, which here too has to stop a next letter, is placed at the leading edge of the letter. This is less favourable than the position of the suction port 15 according to Fig. 4 because limp letters are easily crumpled and it occurs that two letters are taken off at a time.
  • the take-off system according to Fig. 6 distinguishes from that according to Fig. 1 inter alia because of the fact that the reversing station 3 is formed by the stacker 3' and the second take-off device 3", and that the outlet 5 for letters with a non-acceptable length is not coupled to the reversing station.
  • the second take-off device 3" ensures a stream of letters with a constant distance between them, and yet it has the constructional advantage of the take-off device according to Fig. 4.
  • By measuring beforehand by means of a photodetector 20 the lengths of the letters are known, as a result of which a vacuum pulse can be delivered at the right moment via a store 21 and a processor 22.
  • the measuring point 4 functions in the same way as with the take-off system according to Fig. 1. Two letters which overlap each other and slightly stick together will cause difficulties when they are machine-handled, which can also be the case with letters that are too long.
  • the measuring point 4 detects letters which are too long, inclusive of overlappings. The actual length does not matter.
  • the letters that are too long are separated via an outlet 5, a swtich 23 of which is controlled by the measuring point 4.
  • the take-off device 1 can have a larger capacity than the rest of the system in consequence of which the dropouts via the outlet 5 need not mean a loss of capacity.
  • a stack of letters is placed on the take-off device 1 in the usual way, and they are taken off at a constant pitch of 36 ⁇ 3.6 cm.
  • the transit speed from take-off device 1 to take-off device 3" amounts to 4 ms-1, which means a capacity of 40,000 letters per hour.
  • the stacker 3' informs the pro-. cessor 22 by means of a detector 24 that it is full, the take-off device 1 is temporarily stopped (stop-signal line 25).
  • stop-signal line 25 By measuring the lengths of the letters by means of the photodetector 20 the store 21 knows what lengths the take-off device 3" can expect.
  • a detector 26 informs the processor 22 of the passage of a letter, after which the processor 22 delivers pulses to the take-off device 3" at the right moment. This is elucidated with the help of Figs. 7 and 8.
  • the detector 26 detects the leading edge of a letter 11.
  • the lengths of the letters plus the distance 14 between them are determinative for the moment when the next letter has to be detected.
  • a pulse (i) has to be delivered to the take-off device a fixed time T (indicated as a distance T in Fig. 7) earlier.
  • the processor 22 calculates the time t (also drawn as a distance), which is between the detection point and the moment a pulse is delivered.
  • the detector 26 detects the trailing edge of a letter 11. Now the length of the next letter is an important factor to determine the time t.
  • the distance between the letters can be 12.5 ⁇ 3.6 cm, in which case the capacity can be from 30,000 to 40,000 letters per hour.

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  • Sorting Of Articles (AREA)

Claims (3)

1. Système d'enlèvement successif pour traiter des lettres et des objects analogues, comportant un premier dispositif d'enlèvement (1), dans lequel les lettres sont amenées en position verticale sur un transporteur, d'où elles peuvent être transportées une à une vers un poste d'inversion (3) permettant le changement du sens du mouvement, et comportant en outre une sortie ml pour séparer du courant de lettres celles qui sont d'une longueur inacceptable, caractérisé par le fait que la sortie (5) est située avant le poste d'inversion (3) et le poste d'inversion (3) est constitué par un dispositif d'empilage (3') et un second dispositif d'enlèvement (3") combinés, le moment d'enlèvement de la lettre suivante étant déterminé par le signal de passage des lettres enlevées par le second dispositif d'enlèvement (3"), transmis par un détecteur photoélectrique (26), et par les informations, fournies par un poste de mesure (20), concernant la longueur des lettres amenées au dispositif d'empilage (3'), le poste de mesure (20) étant relié à un processeur (22) par une mémoire (21), le détecteur photoélectrique (26) étant également relié au processeur, et des moyens ayant été prévus pour que le processeur (22) puisse mettre en marche le second dispositif d'enlèvement (3") à des moments calculés à l'avance.
2. Système d'enlèvement selon la revendication 1, comportant une bande transporteuse perforée passant par-dessus une boîte aspirante, caractérisé par le fait que la bande transporteuse perforée (16) comporte un grand nombre de perforations et que des moyens ont été prévus pour transmettre à la boîte aspirante (18) de brèves impulsions de vide.
3. Système d'enlèvement selon la revendication 1, caractérisé par le fait que le dispositif d'empilage (3') est pourvu d'un détecteur (24) qui détecte quand le dispositif d'empilage est plein et que le premier dispositif d'enlèvement (1) peut être commandé au moyen du signal de détection (ligne de signal arrêt 25).
EP81200289A 1980-03-17 1981-03-13 Système d'enlèvement pour traiter des lettres et des objets similaires Expired EP0036237B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL8001577 1980-03-17
NL8001577A NL174625C (nl) 1980-03-17 1980-03-17 Afneemsysteem voor brieven en dergelijke.

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0036237A1 EP0036237A1 (fr) 1981-09-23
EP0036237B1 true EP0036237B1 (fr) 1983-12-07

Family

ID=19835011

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP81200289A Expired EP0036237B1 (fr) 1980-03-17 1981-03-13 Système d'enlèvement pour traiter des lettres et des objets similaires

Country Status (3)

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EP (1) EP0036237B1 (fr)
DE (1) DE3161571D1 (fr)
NL (1) NL174625C (fr)

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE4241262C1 (de) * 1992-12-08 1994-06-23 Rwe Entsorgung Ag Einrichtung zur Vereinzelung von Objekten eines Objektgemischs

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE1243108B (de) * 1964-12-28 1967-06-22 Telefunken Patent Verfahren und Einrichtung zum Herstellen eines Foerderflusses von gleichmaessiger Dichte, insbesondere von Postsendungen
GB1094917A (en) * 1965-06-24 1967-12-13 Siemens Ag Improvements in or relating to apparatus for transporting flat articles such as letters, postcards and the like
DE1431001B1 (de) * 1963-12-21 1970-02-05 Telefunken Patent Anordnung zum Steuern der Belieferung der Vorratsbehaelter einer Anzahl von Codierplaetzen fuer selbsttaetig zu sortierende Briefe oder aehnliches Foerdergut
US3604702A (en) * 1968-07-22 1971-09-14 Nippon Electric Co Automatic stacker-feeder for a mail-handling system
US3724657A (en) * 1970-05-16 1973-04-03 Nippon Electric Co Switching device for delivering sheet-like articles
DE2419630A1 (de) * 1973-04-27 1974-11-21 Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co Speicherungsvorrichtung fuer flache gegenstaende

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
NL160743C (nl) * 1974-07-16 1979-12-17 Nederlanden Staat Transportinrichting voor brieven en dergelijke.

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE1431001B1 (de) * 1963-12-21 1970-02-05 Telefunken Patent Anordnung zum Steuern der Belieferung der Vorratsbehaelter einer Anzahl von Codierplaetzen fuer selbsttaetig zu sortierende Briefe oder aehnliches Foerdergut
DE1243108B (de) * 1964-12-28 1967-06-22 Telefunken Patent Verfahren und Einrichtung zum Herstellen eines Foerderflusses von gleichmaessiger Dichte, insbesondere von Postsendungen
GB1094917A (en) * 1965-06-24 1967-12-13 Siemens Ag Improvements in or relating to apparatus for transporting flat articles such as letters, postcards and the like
US3604702A (en) * 1968-07-22 1971-09-14 Nippon Electric Co Automatic stacker-feeder for a mail-handling system
US3724657A (en) * 1970-05-16 1973-04-03 Nippon Electric Co Switching device for delivering sheet-like articles
DE2419630A1 (de) * 1973-04-27 1974-11-21 Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co Speicherungsvorrichtung fuer flache gegenstaende

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE3161571D1 (en) 1984-01-12
NL174625C (nl) 1984-07-16
NL8001577A (nl) 1981-10-16
EP0036237A1 (fr) 1981-09-23
NL174625B (nl) 1984-02-16

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