JPH0318952B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a sorting method for sorting mail, etc., which has a sorting display with multiple levels of size classification.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

For example, in the postal service, due to the introduction of the postal code system, automatic sorting machines, stamping machines, postal code reading and sorting machines, etc., are becoming more mechanized for so-called dispatch sorting operations. However, in the so-called delivery sorting work, in which mail delivered to each post office is sorted by deliverer and then sorted by the delivery order, humans still perform the sorting by reading the addresses. ing.

Therefore, in recent years, methods have been proposed to mechanize the delivery sorting work. That is, in this method, the address written on the mail is visually read, the information is keyed into an information input device, the information is converted into a code, and a bar code or the like is printed on the mail as a classification display. The mail is then put through a sorting machine and sorted based on information such as barcodes.

Furthermore, with the mechanization of such delivery sorting operations, radial sorting methods and rearrangement sorting methods have been proposed for sorting mail.

First, the radial sorting method for sorting mail into 52 directions will be explained with reference to FIG. The sorting machine used here has 16 sorting ports, of which 15 are effective, and the remaining one is used for recycling. The result of putting the mail P through the sorting machine for the first time is shown as Step 1 in the figure. At this stage, the division into 10 areas, for example wards 10 to 19, is completed. Other wards are pre-combined comrades such as 1st to 9th ward, 20th to 29th ward, 30th to 39th ward, 40th to 49th ward, and 50th to 52nd ward, and each has 5 divisions. It is divided into In the second sorting, one of the five sorting openings, for example, 20th to 29th ward, is taken out and re-supplied, and divided into 10 wards to complete the sorting. This is shown as Step 2 in the figure. By repeating this process, the classification of 52 areas will be completed. Therefore, the feature of this radial sorting method is that even if the machine breaks down midway through, it can still be used until the sorting is completed, but on the other hand, it requires a large number of sorting times and takes a long processing time. There are drawbacks.

Next, a rearrangement method for sorting mail in 72 directions will be explained with reference to FIG. The sorting machine used here has 16 sorting ports, of which 15 are effective, and the remaining one is used for recycling. 1 to sorted mail P
Assuming that a sorting number of 74 is given, the result of the first time the mail P is run through the sorting machine is shown as Step 1 in the figure. This classification collects postal items P that have the same last digit of the classification number given to the postal item P.
The 10 directions show the divided state. Then, for the second sorting, after taking out all the mail items that have been sorted for the first time, they are re-supplied in the specified order (in this case, the order starting from the one with the smallest number in the last digit), and the sorting numbers are sorted. Classify by the second digit. Each time the mail P is poured into each sorting slot, eight dividing plates A (separators for the middle sorting) are poured in. By repeating this process, the classification of 74 areas will be completed. This state is shown as Step 2 in the figure. When rearranged and sorted in this way, mail P sorted in several directions will be accumulated in one sorting slot. Here, in order to indicate the divisions between these several sections, a method will be described in detail in which the division plates A are placed in a sorting machine together with the mail P and are automatically used as divisions for each section.
In the first method, in Step 2, after the mail P that has been sorted in Step 1 is passed through each sorting port, the number of partition plates A is passed through the number of sorting ports required for sorting. In this method, if the division direction is displayed on the partition board A, each time the partition board A is flown, the board A
It is necessary to confirm the direction of the section above, and if the direction of the section is not displayed on the partition board A, this is not necessary, but a plasma display or the like to display the direction of the section is required at each section entrance. The second method is to use a dividing board A that is labeled with the sorting direction using a bar code, etc. In this method, the dividing board A is supplied from Step 1, and the mail P and Treat in the same way. An example of completion of classification using this method is shown in FIG. As you can see from this diagram, mail P
For example, if you want to divide the area into 80 directions, use the partition board A.
Since it also sorts into 80 directions, the sorting machine will sort into 160 directions. Therefore, this reordering and sorting method has the advantage that the number of sortings is small and the processing time is short, but it has the disadvantage that if the machine breaks down midway through, the previous sorting becomes useless. .

As described above, the radial sorting method and the rearranging sorting method each have advantages and disadvantages, and therefore, recently, a sorting method that does not have any of these drawbacks has been desired.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to reduce the number of classifications, shorten the processing time, and to make the previous classification as effective as possible even if the machine breaks down midway. The objective is to provide a classification method that can be used as

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention is characterized in that, in sorting paper sheets having a classification display with multiple levels of size divisions, a radial sorting method is used for the large sectioning stage, and a rearrangement sorting method is used for the small sectioning stage. It is something to do.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 shows a mail processing system employing the sorting method according to the present invention. In the figure, numerals 1, . . . indicate a plurality of automatic coding desks arranged in two rows. Reference numeral 2 designates a first small-sized sorting machine, which can be used for both radial sorting and rearranging sorting, and is of a type in which the program for sorting can be changed by switching a switch. The first sorting machine 2 also has a supply section 3 for mail P, as shown in FIG. The mail P supplied to the supply section 3 is taken out one by one by the take-out section 4. Further, a barcode reading device 5 is disposed near the takeout section 4 in the first sorting machine 2.
Furthermore, inside the first sorting machine 2, a plurality of sorting boxes 6 are arranged in parallel. Mail P is sorted and accumulated in these sorting boxes 6 through gates 7. Further, a plurality of mail sorting shelves 8 are arranged in the front part of the first sorting machine 2, and furthermore, a mail supply auxiliary table 9 is provided in the front part of these mail sorting shelves 8. ing. Further, a second sorting machine 10 having the same configuration as the first sorting machine 2 is provided near the mail supply auxiliary table 9, and a mail sorting case is provided in the front part of the second sorting machine 10. 1
1 is provided. Furthermore, an L-shaped manual sorting shelf 12 is provided on the side of the mail sorting case 11. Note that 13 is a storage location for unprocessed mail P, 14 is a storage location for coded mail P, and 15 is a delivery location.

Thus, the mail P stored in the unprocessed mail storage area 13 is carried and set by each operator in the number of copies assigned to him/her. Then, when the destination information is entered from the keyboard of the coding desk 1..., a code is given to the mail P as a classification display, and
The coded mail P and the rejected mail P are separated and accumulated in sorting boxes. The coded mail pieces P are collected onto a fiber 16 by an operator and transported to the coded mail storage area 14. Similarly, mail items P for manual sorting, such as mis-delivered items without codes, are collected on the fiber 16 and transported to the manual sorting shelf 12.
At the predetermined machine sorting start time, the coded mail P is delivered to the supply section 3 of the first sorting machine 2.
The fibers 16 are carried to a nearby location, taken out from the fibers 16, and passed through the first sorting machine 2 to perform major sorting of the delivery sorting. At this time, the first sorting machine 2 performs a radial sorting method. The mail P accumulated in the sorting box 6 of the first sorting machine 2 is transferred to the mail sorting shelf 8 placed in front of the first sorting machine 2, and when the main sorting is completed, the mail P is transferred to the sorting box 6 of the first sorting machine 2. All the mail items P are taken out and put into the mail sorting shelf 8. Next, in order to subdivide the delivery categories, one cassette is removed from the mail sorting shelf 8 (usually one cassette corresponds to one delivery area, but delivery areas with a large number of copies may have several cassettes). ) is taken out, placed on the mail feed auxiliary stand 9, carried, the sorting direction designation set to one sub-sorting direction, and fed to the second sorting machine 10. In this second sorting machine 10, a rearrangement sorting method is performed. The mail P that has been sorted and accumulated in the sorting boxes 6 is taken out, bound with rubber bands, etc., and collected into fibers 16 for each group. At this time, it is necessary to insert a partition plate into each section in the fiber 16, and when taking out the partitions from the sorting box 6 and bundling them, a paper bill with a predetermined serial number printed in that section is attached. There is a need. For each subdivision, the subdivision is completed repeatedly and delivered to the door-to-door assembly service.

As mentioned above, since the radial sorting method is used at the major sorting stage and the rearranging sorting method is used at the small sorting stage, the number of sortings is small and the processing time is short, and even if the machine breaks down midway through, it can be done quickly. The classification can be used as effectively as possible.
That is, since there are few division directions at the large division stage, even if the radial division method is used, the problem of the number of divisions, which is a disadvantage of the radial division method, can be solved. In addition, at the subdivision stage,
Since this is the final stage of classification, even if the rearrangement and classification method is performed at this stage, the influence of mechanical failure, which is a drawback, can be kept to a minimum. Therefore, only the respective advantages of the radial partitioning method and the reordering partitioning method can be obtained.

In addition, the first and second sorting machines 2 and 10 are configured so that the radial sorting method and rearrangement sorting method can be selectively performed by switching the respective switches.
Even if one of the sorting machines 2 or 10 fails, the sorting method of the present invention can be carried out only with the other sorting machine 2 or 10.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, when sorting paper sheets having a division display with multiple levels of size divisions, the radial division method is used in the large division stage, and the rearrangement division method is used in the small division stage. Since these are performed separately, the number of times of classification is small, the processing time is short, and even if the machine breaks down midway through, the previous classifications can be used as effectively as possible, providing excellent effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the radial sorting method, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the rearranging sorting method, Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the completion state of sorting by the same method, and Fig. 4 is an illustration of the sorting method according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a mail processing system, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a sorting machine of the embodiment. P... Paper sheets (mail), 2... First sorting machine,
10...Second sorting machine.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sorting method that is characterized in that, in sorting paper sheets that have a sorting display with multiple levels of size divisions, a radial sorting method is used in the large sorting stage, and a rearranged sorting method is used in the small sorting stage. .