JPH06134200A - Plaiting, sorting and stacking device for sheets - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To save manpower by providing plural take-out ports along the carrying-in direction of a carrying-in conveyor for carrying in the sheets plaited by an automatic plaiting machine, opening the shutters provided in the respective take-out ports according to the sizes of the sheets successively carried in and sorting the sheets. CONSTITUTION:This plaiting, sorting and stacking machine is successively provided behind a plaiting machine constituted to plait the sheets washed in a washing factory for business purposes by the automatic plaiting after subjecting the sheets to roll finishing by a sheet roll machine. An article measuring sensor measuring the lengths of the sheets to help decision of the kinds of the sheets is provided on the inlet side of this sorting and stacking machine. The sorting and stacking machine has the plural take-out ports 1 to 3 along the carrying-in direction of the sheets and the respective take-out ports 1 to 3 are provided with the shutters 11, 21, 31 to be opened and closed downward. These shutters 11 to 31 are opened according to the kinds of the successively carried in sheets 41 to 43, by which the sheets are dropped so as to be transferred to a stacking place by means of ejection conveyors 12 to 32.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention folds sheets and
Further, the present invention relates to a folding and classifying stacking apparatus for sheets, which automatically sorts and folds the folded sheets according to their size.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a commercial laundry factory, laundered sheets (sheets and futon covers, etc.) are put into a sheet roll machine for roll finishing, and then an automatic folding unit connected to the discharge side of the sheet roll machine. The machine automatically folds it. Then, the folded sheets are arranged in the same size and stacked by a predetermined number of sheets and packaged.

However, sheets have different sizes such as single, semi-double and double, and further,
Even for the same single, the dimensions are different for hotels and hospitals. For this reason, conventionally, before being put into a sheet roll machine, the sheets are sorted according to their sizes in advance, and the sorted pieces are roll-finished and folded by a folding machine.

However, in the prior art as described above, the sheets have to be sorted in advance according to size, and there is a problem that the sorting work requires a considerable amount of labor.

In a folding machine for a small woven cloth such as a pillow cover or a table cloth, the fairness 1-3575
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-63, there is known one in which a folded woven fabric is automatically classified according to its size and discharged.

[0006] The apparatus for classifying into sizes described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-35756 is provided with a plurality of outlets of different sizes along the conveying direction and is folded corresponding to each of these outlets. A pair of sensors for measuring the size of the woven cloth is provided along the conveying direction, and when the pair of sensors detect that the size corresponds to the outlet, the opening / closing door of the outlet is opened. And the folded woven fabric is discharged from the outlet.

The invention disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 4-93100 is known as a method for folding a large woven cloth such as a sheet by sectioning. This is a sorting and stacking apparatus for sheets, which includes an article detection sensor arranged in the traveling direction of folded sheets and an article width detection sensor for detecting the width of the article, and the article width detection sensor has a predetermined width. When detecting that the article detection sensor has reached the predetermined outlet, the shutter of the outlet is opened and the folded sheets are dropped.

[0008]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
According to the technique described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56, since only the dimension of the folded sheets in the transport direction is detected and classified, the folded woven fabric may be misaligned or transported in an inclined manner. In that case, there is a problem in that the product is erroneously determined as a product larger than it actually is, and the larger sheets and the smaller woven fabric are mixed and sectioned and stacked.

Further, even in the technique disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-93100, both the article detection sensor and the article width detection sensor detect the presence of the sheets when the sheets are conveyed at an angle. However, there is a problem in that sheets that are larger than the actual sheets are erroneously determined, and sheets that are smaller than the sheets that are larger than the sheets are mixed and stacked.

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, and even when the folded sheets are misaligned or when the folded sheets are introduced into the sectional stacking apparatus in an oblique state, they are folded. An object of the present invention is to provide a folding section stacking device for sheets, which can be accurately sorted and stacked for each size before being folded.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The apparatus for folding and stacking sheets according to the present invention connects a folding machine for automatically folding a plurality of sheets conveyed in sequence and a sheet discharging side of the folding machine. A plurality of outlets are provided along the carrying-in direction of the carry-in conveyor that carries the folded sheets one by one, and each of the outlets has a shutter, and each of the outlets is folded to a predetermined size. When the sheets arrive, the shutter of the outlet is opened, and the sheets having different sizes are separated from the plurality of outlets and are configured to be dropped. is doing.

That is, with respect to the sheets conveyed to the folding machine in sequence, the length of the sheets before folding is sequentially measured, and the type of the sheets is judged and stored based on the measured length. 1 means and one of a plurality of shutters for dividing the sheets based on the type of the sheets stored in the first means for the sheets sequentially conveyed from the folding machine to the sorting and stacking device. And a second means for opening the shutter when the sheets arrive at the outlet provided with the shutter.

[0013]

According to the present invention, the length of the sheets before folding is measured by the first means, and the type of the sheets is specified. Then, when the folded sheets are conveyed by the second means, the shutter of the take-out port for discharging or stacking the sheets of the type specified by the first means is opened.

Therefore, according to the present invention, even if the folded sheets are misaligned or the folded sheets are introduced into the sectional stacking device in an oblique state, the length of the sheets before folding is improved. Since the sheets are measured and the type of the sheets is specified and the sheets are stacked in sections, the sheets can be accurately classified and stacked.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings will be described below.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a folding section stacking apparatus for sheets according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, the sheets S are conveyed to the roll press machine 100, where they are roll-finished. Next, the sheets S are
It is conveyed to the folding machine 200 and automatically folded there. The folded sheets S are conveyed to the stacking machine 300, and the sheets S having the same size are stacked and packaged.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, the sheets S conveyed to the folding machine 200 include an item measurement sensor 20 provided near the conveyor.
Its presence is detected by 1. As a result, the pulse signal output from the pulse generator 202 passes through the AND circuit 203 and is input to the counter 204. When the sheets S pass the article measuring sensor 201,
Since the pulse signal is not output from the AND circuit 203, as a result, the counter 204 counts the number of pulses according to the length of the sheets S. The count value of the counter 204 is input to the comparator 205 and compared with a preset value in the setter 206. As a result of the comparison, the comparator 205 indicates that the length of the sheets S is 3000 mm, for example.
When the length of the sheets S is 2100 to 3000 mm, the signal B is output, and when the length of the sheets S is less than 2100 mm, the signal is not output. The output of the comparator 205 is sequentially input to the shift register 207, and the stacker 30 is output at a predetermined timing.
It is output to 0.

Further, the folding machine 200 detects that the final folding of the sheets S has finished and detects the final folding end signal LS.
Is output. The final folding end signal LS indicates the folding machine 200.
At, the valve for final folding is opened.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a main part of an embodiment of the sectional stacking machine 300 in which a carry-in conveyor and the like are omitted. As shown in FIG. 3, the sorting stacker 300 includes a folding machine 20.
A plurality of outlets, for example, a first outlet 1, a second outlet 2, and a third outlet 3 are provided along the loading direction of the folded sheets that are loaded from 0, and the respective outlets are provided. Shutters 11 that open and close downward at exits 1, 2, and 3,
When the shutters 11 and 21 are provided and the shutter 11 is opened, the folded sheets 41 located at the first take-out port 1 drop downward and ride on the first carry-out conveyor 12, and the shutter 21 is opened. The folded sheets 42 located at the second take-out port 2 drop downward to cause the second carry-out conveyor 22.
It is configured such that when the user gets on the top and opens the shutter 31, the folded sheets 43 located at the third outlet 3 drop down and get on the third carry-out conveyor 32.

In this embodiment, each of the outlets 1,
2, 3 and each of the shirts 11, 21, and 31 are set to have substantially the same size, and the respective outlets 1 and 1
2 and 3 are provided with article detection sensors 51, 52 and 53 facing the traveling direction of the folded sheets 41, 42 and 43, and an article passage detection sensor 61 is provided in front of the first outlet 1. There is.

The shift register 207 of the folding machine 200
When the signals A and B are not transmitted (no signal) and the article passage detection sensor 61 and the article detection sensor 51 are turned on, the shutter 11 of the first outlet 1 is opened. In addition, when the signal B is transmitted from the folding machine 200 and the article passage detection sensor 61 and the article detection sensor 52 are turned on, the sheets 11 are not opened without opening the shutter 11 of the first outlet 1. And the shutter 21 of the second outlet 2 is opened. When the signal A is transmitted from the folding machine 200 and the article passage detection sensor 61 and the article detection sensor 53 are turned on, the first outlet 1
The sheets are sent to the third outlet without opening the shutter 11 and the shutter 21 of the second outlet 2, and the shutter 31 of the third outlet 3 is opened.

In this embodiment, the folded sheets are divided into three sizes, and the number of divided sheets can be appropriately increased or decreased or changed according to the type of product. Further, the article passage detection sensor 61 is not always necessary and may be omitted.

4 and 5 are flow charts showing the operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. The flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are executed simultaneously in parallel.

When it is determined in step S1 of FIG. 4 that the article measuring sensor 201 is turned on, the counter 204 starts counting pulses input from the pulse generator 202 through the AND circuit 203 in step S2. Next, in step S3, the article measuring sensor 201
When is determined to be off, the pulse input to the counter 204 is stopped, and the counting operation of the counter 204 is stopped.
Next, in step S4, the count number of the counter 204 and the count number set in the setter 206 are compared to determine whether or not the signal A should be output. If it is determined that the signal A should be output, the data A is stored in the shift register 207 in step S5.
When it is determined in step S4 that the signal A should not be output from the count number, it is similarly determined in step S6 whether or not the signal B is output from the count number of the counter 204. If it is determined that the signal B should be output, the data B is stored in the shift register 207 in step S7. If it is determined in step S6 that the signal B should not be output from the count number, the shift register 2 is output in step S8.
No data is stored in 07. Shift register 207
Stores a plurality of comparison results obtained by the comparator 205 for the sheets S successively conveyed to the folding machine 200.

Next, the flow chart shown in FIG. 5 will be described. For each of the sheets sequentially loaded into the folding machine 200, when the valve for final folding of the sheets is opened and the final folding is performed, the final folding end signal LS is output for each sheet (Fig. 1). Figure 5
In step S11, the final folding end signal LS
It is determined whether or not is on. Therefore, the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 is executed for each sheet that has been finally folded.

When it is determined in step S11 that the final folding end signal LS is ON, it is determined in step S12 whether the leading data of the shift register 207 is A or not. If it is determined that the leading data is A, the data in the shift register 207 is shifted to the left by 1 bit in step S13. This allows the shift register 2
The head data of 07 (data A in this example) is discarded. Next, in step S14, the article detection sensor 61
Is determined to be on, and when the article detection sensor 53 is determined to be on in step S15, step 1
At 6, the shutter 31 of the third outlet 3 is opened.

When it is determined in step S12 that the leading data of the shift register 207 is not A, it is determined in step S17 whether the leading data of the shift register 207 is B or not. If it is determined that the leading data is B, the data in the shift register 207 is shifted to the left by 1 bit in step S18.
As a result, the top data (data B in this example) of the shift register 207 is discarded. Next, step S19.
If it is determined that the article detection sensor 61 is ON in step S20 and that the article detection sensor 52 is ON in step S20, the second outlet 2 is determined in step S21.
The shutter 21 of is opened.

In step S17, the shift register 2
If it is determined that the head data of 07 is not B,
In step S22, the data in the shift register 207 is shifted to the left by 1 bit. As a result, the top data of the shift register 207 (no data in this example) is discarded. Next, when it is determined in step S23 that the article detection sensor 61 is on, and when it is determined that the article detection sensor 51 is on in step S24, the shutter 11 of the first outlet 1 is opened in step 25.

In FIG. 3, if the article passage detection sensor 61 is not provided, steps S14, S
19, S23 becomes unnecessary.

FIGS. 6 to 8 show a more specific example of the apparatus for stacking folded sheets according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 7 is a view taken along line A--A of FIG.
FIG. 8 is a side view of FIG.

As shown in these figures, the first outlet 1
In, the second take-out port 2 and the third take-out port 3 are provided with carry-in conveyors 71, 72, 73 facing the shutters 11, 21, 31, respectively, and the folding machine 200 for sheets and the like.
The folded sheets are supplied between the shutter 11 and the carry-in conveyor 71 via the conveyor 9 that is linked to the carry-out conveyor. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the first take-out opening 1, the second take-out opening 2 and the third take-out opening 3 have long grooves 81, 8 in the loading direction of the sheets.
2, 83 are formed, and the article detection sensors 51, 52, 53 are slidably mounted in the respective long grooves thereof, and the positions of the article detection sensors 51, 52, 53 can be adjusted. An article passage detection sensor 61 is provided near the entrance of the carry-in conveyor 71. Then, the carry-out conveyors 12, 22, 32 are connected to the outlets 1, 1.
Immediately below the second and third sheets, the required number of sheets are stacked at a low position, and then the workbench 10-
1, 10-2, 10-3 are configured to gradually move upward. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the carry-in conveyor corresponding to the shutter is temporarily stopped before opening the shutter.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 9 shows another embodiment corresponding to FIG. 7, in which the carry-in conveyor 7 is provided with a folding machine 20.
It is designed to be driven continuously in conjunction with the 0 conveyor. In this embodiment, since the carry-in conveyor 7 is continuously driven, the stopper 11- is provided above each shutter.
1, 21-1 and 31-1 are provided, and the shutter is opened with the rear end of the folded sheets held by the stopper.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the folding machine 200. The first sensor 102 detects the total length of the sheets 101 iron-finished by the roll press machine 100, and the sheet 101 hangs down from the end of the first conveyor 103. The first compressed air pipe 104 when it reaches half of the total length
From the end of the second conveyor 105 by injecting compressed air from the first conveyor 103 and the second conveyor 105 to be folded in two, and detecting the total length of the folded sheets by the second sensor 106. When the amount of droop reaches half of that, compressed air is jetted from the second compressed air pipe 107 to make the second conveyor 105 and the third conveyor 108.
When the third sensor 110 detects that the sheets 101 that have been folded in four between and the sheet 101 that has been folded in four have reached a predetermined position on the fourth conveyor 109, the fourth conveyor 109 is stopped and the knife 111 11, the central portion of the four-fold sheets is pushed between the pair of fifth conveyors 112 and 113 as shown in FIG. 11, whereby the sheets are folded in eight and sent to the sixth conveyor 114. It should be noted that even after that, 16-fold and 32-fold are performed.

As described above, in folding sheets, when the sheets are folded in the direction parallel to the traveling direction, the leading end is temporarily stopped at a fixed position regardless of the size of the sheets. The position on the back side of the class is always constant.

[0035]

According to the present invention, even if the folded sheets are misaligned or the folded sheets are introduced into the sectional stacking device in a slanted state, the length of the sheets before folding is improved. Since the sheets are measured and the type of the sheets is specified and the sheets are stacked in sections, the sheets can be accurately classified and stacked.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an arrangement example of a roll press machine for sheets and a folding machine and a section stacking machine.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the section stacking machine.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

5 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG.

6 is a plan view showing a specific example of the sorting and stacking device shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an AA view of FIG.

8 is a side view of FIG.

9 is a side view showing another specific example of the sectional stacking device shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a folding machine.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of an 8-fold process of sheets in the folding machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

1; first outlet, 2; second outlet, 3; third outlet 11, 21, 31; shutter, 12, 22, 3
2; carry-out conveyor, 41, 42, 43; folded sheets, 51, 52, 53; article detection sensor, 61; article passage detection sensor, 7, 71, 72, 73 carry-in conveyor, 100; roll press machine, 200 Folders, 2
01: Item measurement sensor, 202: Pulse generator, 20
3; AND circuit; 204; counter, 205; comparator,
206: setting device, 206: shift register, S: sheets before folding, LS: final folding end signal.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A folding machine that automatically folds a plurality of types of sheets that are successively conveyed, and a carry-in conveyor that is connected to the sheets discharging side of the folding machine and that carries folded sheets one by one. A plurality of outlets along the carrying-in direction, and a shutter at each of the outlets,
When the folded sheets of a predetermined size reach each outlet, the shutter of the outlet is opened, and the sheets of different sizes are divided and dropped from the plurality of outlets. In the folding and stacking device for sheets, the length of the sheets before being folded is sequentially measured for the sheets sequentially conveyed to the folding machine, and the type of sheets is determined based on the measured length. The first means for storing the sheets and the sheets sequentially conveyed from the folding machine to the sorting and stacking apparatus, the sheets provided in the sorting and stacking apparatus based on the type of the sheets stored in the first means. When one of the plurality of shutters for classifying the sheets is determined and the sheets reach the outlet provided with the determined shutter, the determination is performed. Linen folding partition stacking apparatus characterized by comprising a second means for opening the shutter was. 2. The first means is provided in the vicinity of a conveyor that conveys sheets before folding at a constant speed, and a sensor for determining the presence or absence of the sheets and the sensor for detecting the presence of the sheets. The counter that counts the number of pulses generated from the pulse generator, the setter that presets multiple count values corresponding to each length of sheets, and the count value of the counter 2. A comparator comprising: a comparator for comparing the count value set in the setter to determine the type of sheets; and a shift register for sequentially storing the output of the comparator. Folding and stacking device for sheets. 3. The second means described above, each time the sheets are sequentially loaded into the folding machine, the final folding is performed.
A plurality of sheets for classifying the sheets based on the determined type of the sheets is determined by referring to the type of the sheets stored in the first means to determine the type of the sheets that has been finally folded. The folding section stacking device for sheets according to claim 1, wherein one of the shutters is defined.