U.S. patent application number 11/129768 was filed with the patent office on 2005-09-15 for device for turning flat mailing items through 90.
This patent application is currently assigned to SIEMENS SCHWEIZ AG. Invention is credited to Boller, Manfred, Fritsche, Beat, Maier, Wilhelm, Zimmermann, Thomas.
Application Number | 20050200074 11/129768 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32668973 |
Filed Date | 2005-09-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050200074 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Boller, Manfred ; et
al. |
September 15, 2005 |
Device for turning flat mailing items through 90
Abstract
The invention proposes to turn rectangular mail items of
differing thicknesses and sizes and containing different page
ratios through 90.degree.. To achieve this, the mail items are
conveyed away in at least one direction at right angles to the
feeding direction by eccentric rollers. In order to pick up the
mailing items without damaging the latter, the eccentric rollers
are configured from an elastic material and include segments
arranged in a non-radial manner.
Inventors: |
Boller, Manfred;
(Hohentengen, DE) ; Fritsche, Beat; (Greifensee,
DE) ; Maier, Wilhelm; (Wettingen, DE) ;
Zimmermann, Thomas; (Wutoeschingen, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SIEMENS SCHWEIZ
I-44, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
ALBISRIEDERSTRASSE 245
ZURICH
CH-8047
CH
|
Assignee: |
SIEMENS SCHWEIZ AG
ZURICH
CH
|
Family ID: |
32668973 |
Appl. No.: |
11/129768 |
Filed: |
May 16, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11129768 |
May 16, 2005 |
|
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PCT/EP04/09064 |
Aug 15, 2003 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
271/225 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H 29/00 20130101;
B65H 29/60 20130101; B65H 2301/321 20130101; B65H 2701/1916
20130101; B65H 2301/341 20130101; B65H 2301/34112 20130101; B65H
2404/1112 20130101; B65H 2404/1122 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
271/225 |
International
Class: |
B65H 029/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 13, 2003 |
EP |
03 003 326.0 |
Claims
1. A device for turning flat mail items, comprising: means for
feeding mail items individually in a first direction to a
deflection point and individually in at least one second direction
away from the deflection point, the second direction being
essentially orthogonal to the feeding direction, the deflection
point comprising at least one eccentric roller having a peripheral
part with at least one flattened position and the eccentric roller
is actuatable in two rotational directions corresponding to the
second direction in order to convey the mail items away according
to two different positions.
2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral part
comprises elastic material.
3. The device according to claim 1, further comprising means for
carrying non-flattened section of segments in a non-radial
direction.
4. The device according to claim 3, wherein the segments are
arranged in an S-shape.
5. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a cross belt
arranged in the second direction to the eccentric rollers in order
to convey away the mail items.
6. The device according to claim 5, further comprising another
cross belt arranged in the opposite second direction to the
eccentric rollers in order to convey away the mail items.
7. The device according to claim 5, further comprising a first
motor arranged to drive the eccentric rollers and a second motor
arranged to drive the cross belt.
8. The device according to claim 7, further comprising a free wheel
mechanically coupled to the eccentric rollers and the cross belt so
that at higher conveying speeds of the eccentric rollers the cross
belt is likewise accelerated to the higher conveying speed and that
the second motor is not thereby entrained to the higher conveying
speed.
9. The device according to claim 7, wherein the first motor is a
stepping motor.
10. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a nubbed
belt comprising supports and arranged so as to feed the mail items
in the first direction to the deflection point.
11. The device according to claim 10, further comprising a feeder
rotationally coupled to the nubbed belt in order to ensure a
defined position of the mail items when they are conveyed away by
the eccentric rollers.
12. The device according to claim 1, wherein the eccentric rollers
are actuatable the moment a mail items reaches the conveying away
position.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a device for turning flat mail
items through 90.degree. according to the pre-characterising clause
of Claim 1.
[0002] The present invention relates to the field of postal
automation. For automated sorting and distribution of flat mail
items such as letters or leaflets, the latter are transported to
their target locations--also known as destinations--within a
processing and distribution centre by means of conveyors and/or
conveying belts. For this purpose it is necessary for the conveying
direction to be changed relative to the mail item, e.g. from a
vertical conveying direction to a horizontal conveying direction or
vice versa.
[0003] Transporting flat mail items is demanding in that the
dimensions and manipulability of flat sortation items varies
widely. On the one hand, in terms of format alone there exists an
almost unlimited diversity of width, height and thickness
dimensions. In addition, the packaging and stiffness of flat
sortation items can also vary greatly, ranging from hard, rigid
cardboard envelopes to rather soft film-packaged brochures and
magazines. Unpackaged, loose leaflets are also encountered as
sortation items. Due to the different sizes of rectangular mail
items, it is no easy matter to deflect them from a relatively
vertical conveying direction to a horizontal conveying direction at
a high conveying speed. Not only does the length-to-width ratio
vary comparatively greatly, but the absolute variable of length or
width is also wide-ranging, as may be directly seen, for example,
from the formats B6 landscape or portrait to the format C3 portrait
or landscape. The problem with changing the direction of mail items
at high conveying speeds is that, when they are turned through
90.degree., exceptionally oblong items, for example, must be
conveyed away much more quickly in the longitudinal direction than
they are conveyed to that deflection point. Within the meaning of
this publication, for the sake of simplification only mail items
will now be referred to, flat mail items such as letters, leaflets,
samples in preferably rectangular format being subsumed under the
term "mail items".
[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,468B1 "Dual Pocket right angle turn for
an envelope transport system" proposes a device which conveys
envelopes supplied in two rows into a single row, said single row
being at an angle of 90.degree. relative to the two rows. However,
this device is only suitable for mail items that are to a certain
extent homogeneous in terms of size, proportions and mass.
[0005] The object of the present invention is therefore to specify
a device for changing the conveying direction of flat mail items so
as to allow a high throughput irrespective of the masses and
proportions of the mail items.
[0006] This object is achieved according to the invention by the
device set forth in Claim 1.
[0007] Conveying the mail items away by means of eccentric rollers
ensures that mail items having a wide variety of sizes are reliably
transferred from the first direction to a second direction
orthogonal thereto, the throughput rate being directly proportional
to the rotation speed of the eccentric rollers and therefore easily
adjustable. By making eccentric rollers actuatable in two
rotational directions corresponding to the second direction, in
order to convey the mail items away accordingly to two different
points, either the mail items can be further processed generally on
two further paths, or "mavericks" such as double withdrawals can be
easily removed from onward conveyance.
[0008] Advantageous embodiments of the invention are set forth in
further Claims.
[0009] i) Due to the fact that the eccentric rollers and the cross
belt are mechanically coupled via a free-wheel, so that at higher
conveying speed of the eccentric rollers the cross belt is likewise
accelerated to the higher conveying speed and the second motor
driving the cross belt is not thereby entrained to the higher
conveying speed, the mail items are conveyed away from the
deflection point reliably and without adversely affecting
throughput without complex synchronisation and without the second
motor driving the cross belt being thereby entrained to the higher
speed (Claim 8).
[0010] ii) Due to the fact that there is provided a nubbed belt
containing supports in order to feed the mail items to the
deflection point in the first direction, the mail items can be fed
to said deflection point in a defined manner, resulting in precise
onward conveyance with the eccentric rollers (Claim 10).
[0011] iii) Due to the fact that a feeder (2) is rotationally
coupled to the nubbed belt (4) in order to ensure a defined
position of the mail items when they are conveyed away by the
eccentric rollers (11), the coupling can be provided in such a way
that a mail item can be transferred by the feeder via the conveying
belt onto the nubbed belt slightly above the support, e.g. 2 cm, so
that during onward transportation with the nubbed belt the mail
item falls a very short distance onto the support and without
rebounding. This results in a defined i.e. horizontal position for
conveying away with the eccentric roller means in the transverse
direction (Claim 11).
[0012] The invention will now be explained in greater detail in an
exemplary manner with reference to the accompanying drawings in
which:
[0013] FIG. 1 shows a view of a conveying section for feeding mail
items to a deflection point;
[0014] FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a deflection point with three
eccentric rollers;
[0015] FIG. 3 is an oblique view from below of a deflection point,
showing the drive motors and free-wheels;
[0016] FIG. 4 is a view of an eccentric roller;
[0017] FIG. 5 shows a v-t diagram for a peripheral radial part of
an eccentric roller.
[0018] FIG. 1 shows a view of a conveying device 1 containing a
feeder 2 by means of which mail items are transported singly by a
conveying belt 3 to a deflection point 10. The feeder 2 contains a
take-off drum 6 with two actuatable grippers 7 for picking up a
mail item. The take-off drum 6, the nubbed belt 4 and the conveying
belt 3 are synchronously driven by a motor M. The mail items are
transferred by a nubbed belt 4 in conveying direction D1. This
contains supports 5 for defined feeding to the deflection point 10.
As individually described below, the mail items are picked up by at
least one eccentric roller 11 and transferred to a cross belt 21
orthogonally with respect to the direction D1. The inventive
turning of the mail items is accomplished by means of at least one
eccentric roller 11.
[0019] FIG. 2 shows a detailed plan view of a deflection point 10.
In this exemplary embodiment three eccentric rollers 11 are
provided, the two outer ones being disposed on the same horizontal
level. Depending on the embodiment, another arrangement of the
eccentric rollers 11 in terms of level is also conceivable, e.g.
offset in a stepped manner. The inventive teaching also permits a
single eccentric roller 11. The deflected direction of the mail
items is denoted in FIG. 2 by the reference character D2. In said
conveying direction D2 following the eccentric roller 11, there is
provided a cross belt 21 for the onward conveyance of the mail
items. For picking up the mail items there is provided, opposite
each eccentric roller 11, as shown in FIG. 2, a fixed roller 19
which is barely visible in FIG. 2 although the associated axis of
rotation is clearly identifiable without a reference character.
Alternatively to these rollers it is also possible to provide a
metal guide only. As explained below, it is also possible to
accomplish the onward conveyance of the mail items in two
directions D2 and D2' at right angles to the in-feed direction,
said two directions D2 and D2' preferably being collinear.
[0020] The translation for the rotationally synchronously coupled
conveying belt 3, the take-off drum 6 and the nubbed belt 4 and the
arrangement of the supports 5 on the nubbed belt 4 must be selected
such, when it is being transferred from the conveying belt 3 to the
nubbed belt 4, a mail item comes into the region of the nubbed belt
4 about 20 mm above a support 5. The mail items then drops onto the
support 5 in the conveying direction. This tightly limited drop
ensures that the mail item does not rebound on impact or here on
reaching the support 5, thereby ensuring a defined position of the
mail item at the moment of pickup by the eccentric roller 11. It is
particularly advantageous that the actuation of the eccentric
roller 11 takes effect for the mail item at precisely the moment
when the mail item has reached the position for horizontal onward
conveyance. This means that actuation of the drive motor 14 must
take place shortly prior to reaching this position. Thanks to the
permanently selected translation, the actuation of the drive motor
14 can be derived directly from the position of a support 5 and the
prior pickup of a mail items by a gripper 7. A control actuates the
grippers 7; without this actuation, the mail items remain on a
stack in the feeder 2. With the supports it can also be achieved
that a mail item is not picked up by a single eccentric roller in
the case of e.g. two offset eccentric rollers and possibly "bumps"
its way through.
[0021] FIG. 3 shows an oblique view from below onto a deflection
point 10. A first drive motor 14 and a second drive motor 15 are
mounted behind flanges 14 and 15 respectively. The eccentric roller
11 or cross belt 21 are driven by means of belts via toothed belt
pulleys 18. Behind each flange, a free-wheel is denoted by
reference characters 16 and 17. The function of these free-wheels
will be explained below in connection with FIG. 5. From FIG. 3 it
can be seen that the cross belt 21 is coupled mechanically, i.e.
rotationally, to the eccentric rollers 11.
[0022] FIG. 5 shows velocity v versus time t for one rotational
direction of the eccentric rollers 11. For the other rotational
direction, the characteristic is given by mirroring on the t-axis.
The values quoted are only given by way of example and reflect the
requirements placed on the drive arrangement, i.e. motors and
associated open/closed loop control equipment. The characteristic
shown refers to one rotation of the eccentric roller 11 measured on
the peripheral, radial part 12. It is assumed that, for the
conveying away of the mail items, the cross belt is driven under
steady state conditions with a velocity of v=2 m/s. A mail item to
be turned using the device according to the invention experiences
through the eccentric roller 11, apart from slippage, the velocity
characteristic according to the curve up to the specified time of
130 ms. Due to the free-wheel 16, from position F16 onwards, the
cross belt 21 is likewise subject to the velocity according to the
graph. This means that when it is transferred by the eccentric
roller 11, the mail item is transiently forwarded by the cross belt
21 with the same velocity. For conveyance away by a following
conveying belt, the eccentric roller 11 must in turn be brought
into a defined starting position. This means that to complete a
single revolution, the eccentric roller 11 must be decelerated to 0
velocity in a very short time, the flattened region 13 being
specified approximately parallel to the plane of the mail items or
parallel to the plane of the nubbed belt shows the time available
for that purpose, which in this example is (147-130) ms=17 ms. Due
to the kinetic energy stored in the movement of the cross belt, the
cross belt coasts down to the abovementioned 2 m/s. To ensure that
the second drive motor 15 is not entrained to the higher speed, a
second free-wheel 17 is provided. The decoupling between eccentric
roller 11 and free-wheel 17 takes place at the point F17, cf. FIG.
5. It is particularly advantageous to provide a stepping motor for
the first drive motor 14 of the eccentric roller(s). FIG. 4 shows
the design of an eccentric roller 11. The very high accelerations
evident from FIG. 5 require that as little mass is possible has to
be accelerated and that therefore the rotational means 11 shall
have as low inertia as possible. This is achieved on the one hand
by a relatively thin-walled cylinder 22 at the other end of which
is mounted a toothed belt pulley. The peripheral part 12 preferably
consists of a hard rubber such as vulkollan or adipren. Using
segments 20--also known as spokes--on the one hand a considerable
reduction in inertia is achieved and, on the other, there is
produced an additional elasticity between the fixed reverse side
and the eccentric roller for picking up the mail items. This
elasticity is achieved in particular by the segments being arranged
in a non-radial direction, as shown in FIG. 4 in a spiral-shaped
arrangement. This ensures that the mail items are not excessively
pressed. This elasticity is therefore also desirable because the
mail items generally have different thicknesses. In the case of
advertising leaflets this is not so serious, it having to be taken
into account that the mail items can also contains small samples
which cannot withstand pressures above a limit without damage. The
rotational direction of the eccentric roller 11 illustrated in FIG.
4 is clockwise.
[0023] Using the two rotational directions of the eccentric
rollers, the following advantages can be realised: i) This can be
used, for example, when a double withdrawal occurs, to feed this
out in the other direction in order to then feed in the fed-out
mail item manually to a suitable position in the normal sorting or
distribution process in the sense of a re-feed. ii) It is also
possible to operate the eccentric rollers generally in both
directions, e.g. alternating, and if necessary to provide a cross
belt 21 in both directions D2 and D2'. The constructive embodiment
of the eccentric roller 11 must be provided in such a way that the
segment arrangement ensures the aforesaid elasticity in both
rotational directions, e.g. by means of an S-shaped arrangement of
the segments.
[0024] The abovementioned synchronisation of conveying belt 3,
nubbed belt 4 and take-off drum 6 is freely combinable with the
above-mentioned special implementations in respect of the
bidirectional actuation of the eccentric rollers 11 and of the
implementations of said eccentric rollers 11 as well as with the
arrangement of a cross belt 21 for conveying away the mail
items.
LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS USED
[0025] 1 Conveying device
[0026] 2 Feeder
[0027] 3 Conveying belt
[0028] 4 Nubbed belt
[0029] 5 Support on nubbed belt
[0030] 6 Take-off drum
[0031] 7 Gripper, actuatable
[0032] 10 Deflection point
[0033] 11 Eccentric roller
[0034] 12 Peripheral, eccentric part
[0035] 13 Flat section
[0036] 13.1 First flat section
[0037] 13.2 Second flat section
[0038] 14 First drive motor, stepping motor
[0039] 15 Second drive motor
[0040] 16 First free-wheel
[0041] 17 Second free-wheel
[0042] 18 Toothed belt pulley
[0043] 19 Roller, opposite eccentric roller
[0044] 20 Segment, spoke
[0045] 21 Cross belt
[0046] 22 Cylinder
[0047] 23 Bearing
[0048] D1 Conveying direction of nubbed belt to deflection
point
[0049] D2, D2' Conveying directions from deflection point,
orthogonal with respect to feeding direction D1.
[0050] F16 Engagement point of free-wheel 16
[0051] F17 Engagement point of free-wheel 17
* * * * *