U.S. patent application number 12/671520 was filed with the patent office on 2011-09-15 for system for depositing documents into boxes.
This patent application is currently assigned to SAVOYE. Invention is credited to Pascal Catric, Florent Gal.
Application Number | 20110221127 12/671520 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39149379 |
Filed Date | 2011-09-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110221127 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Gal; Florent ; et
al. |
September 15, 2011 |
SYSTEM FOR DEPOSITING DOCUMENTS INTO BOXES
Abstract
The invention relates to a system adapted for printing and for
consecutively placing in boxes moving on a conveyor, documents of
the slip type (11) in correspondence with the boxes and with the
products to be received therein. The system (6) comprises, at the
outlet (12) of a printer (5) supplying documents (11) in the form
of one or more printed sheets for each box, advance and storage
means (13, 14) with a succession of locations (19,20,21,22) for
receiving the sheets, between which the documents (11) advance step
by step. Means (27, 28) for transferring the documents (11) to the
boxes are provided at the last location (22). The advance and
storage means (13, 14) define a flat U-shaped path. The system is
intended for order preparation lines.
Inventors: |
Gal; Florent; (Labergement
Les Seurre, FR) ; Catric; Pascal; (Villars,
FR) |
Assignee: |
SAVOYE
Dijon
FR
|
Family ID: |
39149379 |
Appl. No.: |
12/671520 |
Filed: |
July 30, 2008 |
PCT Filed: |
July 30, 2008 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/FR2008/001139 |
371 Date: |
January 13, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
271/279 ;
271/303 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65B 61/20 20130101;
B65B 63/005 20130101; B65H 29/16 20130101; B65H 33/18 20130101;
B65H 2301/4213 20130101; B65H 31/28 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
271/279 ;
271/303 |
International
Class: |
B65H 29/16 20060101
B65H029/16; B65B 61/20 20060101 B65B061/20; B65H 31/28 20060101
B65H031/28; B65H 33/18 20060101 B65H033/18 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 3, 2007 |
FR |
0705707 |
Claims
1. A system for depositing documents in boxes, the system being
intended for an order preparation line with a conveyor along which
the boxes, each intended to be filled with products corresponding
to an order, advance, this system being designed to print, and feed
in succession into the boxes, shipping-type documents corresponding
to these boxes and to the products which are intended to be placed
in these boxes, the system comprising a storage zone for the
printed documents, prior to their being fed into the boxes, wherein
it comprises, at the output of a printer delivering the documents
in a form of one or more printed sheets for each box, advancing and
storage means in the form of a series of sheet-receiving locations,
between which the documents advance step by step, from a starting
location where the sheets are received at the output of the
printer, to a final or waiting-for-deposition location, via one or
more intermediate locations, means for transferring the documents
to the boxes being linked to the final location, the advancing and
storage means defining a sideways U path for the documents that are
to be deposited, with an upper run on which the starting location
is located, and a lower run on which the waiting-for-deposition
location is located.
2. The system for depositing documents as claimed in claim 1,
wherein it is designed to store the documents of a minimum of four
boxes, the number of receiving locations being preferably equal to
four.
3. The system for depositing documents as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the advancing and storage means comprise endless parallel
belts, each provided with at least one jogger and capable of
advancing the sheets from one receiving location to the next, and
barriers operated by actuators at the various receiving locations
for retaining or releasing the sheets.
4. The system for depositing documents as claimed in claim 1,
wherein a penultimate receiving location comprises a location
preceding the waiting-for-deposition location and further comprises
a barrier operated by an actuator and thus made movable in a
reciprocating manner at high speed, this barrier being in
particular moved in an opposite direction to a sheet-advancing
direction in order to put the stacks of sheets back into a
squared-up condition.
5. The system for depositing documents as claimed in claim 4,
wherein stapling means are provided at a final or
waiting-for-deposition location, to unite sheets required to form
one document, immediately prior to their transfer to the boxes.
6. The system for depositing documents as claimed in claim 1,
wherein stapling means are provided at the starting location, to
unite sheets required to form one document immediately upon exit
from the printer.
7. The system for depositing documents as claimed in claim 1,
wherein, at the final receiving location, the means for
transferring the documents into the boxes take the form of a pusher
actuator that moves each document flat and in a guided manner,
until it arrives on top of the corresponding box.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a system for depositing
documents in boxes. More specifically, in the context of an order
preparation line, with a conveyor along which boxes made of
cardboard advance, each needing to be filled with products
corresponding to an order, the invention is concerned with a system
designed for outputting, and feeding in succession into the boxes,
"order preparation" type documents or "shipping documents"
corresponding to these boxes and to the products which are intended
to be placed in them.
BACKGROUND
[0002] In this kind of application, the priority is therefore to
coordinate the printing and delivery of the documents with the
forward movement of the boxes along the conveyor, and to guide
these documents into the boxes.
[0003] One known arrangement is to deposit the documents directly
into the boxes, these documents being output one by one as the
boxes reach a station equipped with a deposition system provided
with a printer or photocopier. In particular, if each document is a
bundle comprising a large number of sheets, the deposition rate
depends in this instance on the speed with which the printer or
photocopier can print and output the sheets. The maximum speed of
such a system is six boxes per minute. To achieve a higher speed,
two systems have to be placed side by side above the conveyor.
[0004] With this known solution, the documents can be guided into
the boxes by a chute, the sheets being drawn downward by gravity
alone, or the documents are guided and moved forward between
endless grab belts driven at the same speed, one on either side of
the sheets to be deposited.
[0005] Document NL 1028696 C2 gives an example of such a device, in
which the sheets descend vertically directly into the boxes.
[0006] Another arrangement, allowing higher deposition rates, is to
print the documents before the boxes arrive, and have a means of
intermediate storage of the printed documents in a "buffer" zone,
before depositing them at the appropriate moment in each box as the
box arrives at a precise point.
[0007] In one particular type of device of this kind, the sheets
are stored vertically, which means that the buffer zone occupies a
large volume. In addition, the sheets are not guided all the way
into each box: they are ejected from their storage zone and then
descend by gravity into the box. Ducting is required to channel the
sheets properly, but the ducting is not adaptable to the height of
each box. Consequently the accuracy with which the documents are
deposited is still random, and serious problems of document
reception occur when documents are fed into boxes that are already
full of products.
[0008] In another known category of device, a bundle of sheets
making up the document is deposited on an endless belt, or other
device for the flat transport of sheets, sheet storage being
horizontal. At the end of each printout of a bundle of sheets, the
belt advances one step, the length of which is equivalent to the
width of one printed sheet plus a few centimeters. Since the sheets
in this case are stored horizontally, the buffer zone is long; to
shorten this buffer zone would not be appropriate because it would
then approach the first arrangement, that is to say direct
deposition of the documents. All in all, the speed of these
horizontal-storage systems can be high, for example around 1800 to
2000 boxes per hour, but their great length is still a
drawback.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0009] The disclosure intends to solve all of the drawbacks
described above, and it therefore aims to provide a system for
depositing documents in boxes that is particularly suitable for
order-preparation lines, which allows the rate of deposition of the
documents to be increased, yet occupies minimal space, and that
deposits the documents reliably and accurately in the boxes, even
if the boxes are full, and adapts if necessary to the height of
these boxes.
[0010] For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a system
for depositing documents in boxes, more particularly a system which
is intended for an order preparation line with a conveyor along
which the boxes, made for example of cardboard, and each intended
to be filled with products corresponding to an order, advance, and
is designed to print, and feed in succession into the boxes,
shipping-type documents corresponding to these boxes and to the
products which are intended to be placed in these boxes, the system
being of the type comprising a storage zone for the printed
documents, prior to their being fed into the boxes, this system for
depositing documents being essentially characterized in that it
comprises, at the output of a printer delivering the documents in
the form of one or more printed sheets for each box, advancing and
storage means in the form of a series of sheet-receiving locations,
between which the documents advance step by step, from a starting
location where the sheets are received at the output of the
printer, to a final or waiting-for-deposition location, via one or
more intermediate locations, means for transferring the documents
to the boxes being linked to the final location, the advancing and
storage means defining a sideways U path for the documents that are
to be deposited, with an upper run where the starting location is
located, and a lower run where the waiting-for-deposition location
is located.
[0011] This deposition system, which is of an especially compact
configuration, is thus capable of collecting the sheets from the
printer output, collating all of the printed sheets intended for a
given box, and depositing the sheets in the box when the box
arrives, the sheets being deposited flat. The system is prefer-ably
designed to store the documents of a minimum of four boxes, and the
time required to resume printing can run at the same time as four
groups of sheets are being deposited, so that the pauses in the
printing process do not affect the overall speed of the system.
[0012] A number of receiving locations strictly equal to four is in
this case a preferred solution, to keep the system compact.
[0013] The advancing and storage means comprise, in one embodiment
of the invention, endless parallel belts, each provided with at
least one jogger and capable of advancing the sheets from one
receiving location to the next, and barriers operated by actuators
at the various receiving locations for retaining or releasing the
sheets. The documents, consisting of one sheet or two or more
collated sheets, can thus advance in a controlled manner from their
starting location, at the printer output, to a final location where
they wait to be deposited, the movement of the documents from one
location to the next being dependent on the fact that the next
location is empty or has been cleared of the sheets which were
present there previously. The actuator-operated barriers provided
at each inter-mediate location prevent the sheets making up
consecutive documents from becoming mixed up, by preventing sheets
in one location from sliding by gravity to the next location.
[0014] In one advantageous feature of the system of the invention,
the penultimate receiving location, i.e. that preceding the
waiting-for-deposition location, comprises a barrier operated by an
actuator and thus made movable in a reciprocating manner at high
speed, this barrier being in particular moved in the opposite
direction to the sheet-advancing direction in order to put the
stacks of sheets back into a squared-up condition.
[0015] Stapling means may be provided at the final or
waiting-for-deposition location, to unite the sheets required to
form one document, immediately prior to their transfer to the
boxes.
[0016] In a variant of the system of the invention, stapling means
are provided at the first receiving location, to unite sheets
intended to form one document immediately on their exit from the
printer.
[0017] At the final receiving location, the means for transferring
the documents into the boxes are advantageously a pusher actuator
capable of moving each document flat and in a guided manner until
it arrives on top of the corresponding box. The documents are thus
guided all the way to the boxes and there is no need to cover the
boxes with ducting. As it lands in the box, the document's printed
face is uppermost, and therefore easily readable without having to
handle the document inside the box.
[0018] In a variant, the final function of transferring the
documents into the boxes may optionally be done by blowing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] A clearer understanding of the invention will be gained from
examining the following description, with reference to the attached
schematic drawing showing, by way of example, one embodiment of
this document deposition system.
[0020] FIG. 1 is a general top plan view of an order-preparation
line equipped with a document deposition system in accordance with
the present invention;
[0021] FIG. 2 is a side view of the document deposition system on
its own;
[0022] FIG. 3 is a top view of this document deposition system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0023] FIG. 1 shows, in a highly schematic top plan view, an order
preparation line in which cardboard boxes 2 rest on a conveyor 3
and advance in the direction of arrow F, forming a continuous
stream of boxes. At the start of the line is a barcode reader 4 for
identifying each box 2, which at this point is still empty. The
barcode reader 4 enables the correct computer file corresponding to
this box 2 to be sent, for the purpose of printing a document known
as an "order preparation" document, which must be placed in the
corresponding box as explained later. Downstream of the barcode
reader 4, to one side of the conveyor 3, is a printer 5 linked to
the document deposition system itself, which latter has the general
reference 6 and is shown more particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3.
[0024] After the printer 5 and the document deposition system 6
there is also a series 7 of two barcode readers whose provided
purpose it is to check for consistency between each box 2 and the
deposited document which in theory is supposed to correspond to
this box 2.
[0025] The installation shown schematically in FIG. 1 also includes
an entrance barrier 8 that can be raised above the plane of the
conveyor 3 in front of the barcode reader 4, another barrier 9 that
can be raised above the plane of the conveyor 3 in front of the
deposition system 6, and optionally an exit barrier 10 situated
downstream of the series 7 of barcode readers to check consistency.
These barriers 8, 9 and 10 can each be housed between two of the
drive rollers of the conveyor 3: they are raised above the plane of
this conveyor 3 to stop a box 2, and dropped below this plane to
allow the boxes to pass freely. The barrier 9 in particular allows
a definite and repeatable stopping of each box 2 underneath the
deposition system 6 to allow the corresponding document or list to
be correctly deposited in it (as detailed later). The optional exit
barrier 10 allows optional changing of direction of the boxes 2, as
for example to allow a box to move from one conveyor to another (in
a configuration comprising two or more conveyors).
[0026] In a manner not illustrated, the deposition system 6 is also
linked to an electrical control box containing an automatic
controller, a control panel, and a computer that can be of the PC
type, with control software.
[0027] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the deposition system 6 itself,
which receives documents 11 at the output 12 of the printer 5 and
feeds each document 11 into the corresponding box 2 (not shown
here) will now be described. Each document 11, represented
schematically as a single sheet, is in reality a document including
one or more printed and collated sheets.
[0028] The deposition system 6 comprises, for the advancing and
intermediate storage of the documents 11, a set of endless parallel
belts 13, e.g. three belts 13, each having a jogger 14. The belts
13 pass around a driving drum 15 and a deflector drum 16 mounted on
horizontal axes 17 and 18, respectively.
[0029] The belts 13 thus define, proceeding away from the printer
output 12, a path in the shape of a sideways U for the documents
11, with an upper horizontal run, a 180.degree. downward
deflection, and a lower horizontal run, this path being in a plane
lying transversely relative to the conveyor. Along the sideways U
path may be distinguished a series of locations, more particularly
(in the example illustrated) four locations, which are
respectively: [0030] a starting location 19 situated on the upper
horizontal run, at the printer output 12, [0031] a first
intermediate location 20 situated on the upper horizontal run;
[0032] a second intermediate location 21 situated in the deflection
zone and on the lower horizontal run; and [0033] a final reception
location termed the waiting-for-deposition location 22 situated on
the lower horizontal run.
[0034] At the various locations thus defined are various barriers
23 operated by pneumatic actuators 24 for retaining or releasing
the sheets.
[0035] However, between the final two reception locations 21 and 22
is a special barrier 25 operated in the horizontal direction by a
pneumatic actuator 26.
[0036] Lastly, at the final reception location 22 there are on the
one hand a step in the route of the documents 11 to allow the
joggers 14 to pass (continuing their advance with the belts 13),
and on the other hand a deposition actuator 27 for operating
document ejector pins 28. In operation, the conveyor 3 advances
step by step, causing all of the boxes 2 to advance in the same
way, and simultaneously the printer 5 prints the corresponding
documents 11 and delivers them at its output 12 at the starting
location 19 of the document deposition system 6. In this system,
the documents 11 also advance step by step from one receiving
location to the next, and therefore pass through the two
intermediate locations 20 and 21, in order to reach the
waiting-for-deposition location 22. The actuator 24--operated
barriers 23 control the advance of the documents: before the
joggers 14 of the belts 13 push a packet of sheets to the next
location, the barrier 23 is retracted from the path of the sheets
by the actuator 24 to which it is connected. This barrier 23 is
then returned to its active position once the joggers 14 have
passed by, so that the sheets of the next packet can be stopped.
The last barrier 25, is reciprocated at high speed by its actuator
26 and therefore, by its movement contrary to the direction of
advance of the sheets, puts all the sheets of one document 11 back
into a squared-up condition. Finally, each document 11 reaches the
final location 12 and is transferred flat, by the deposition
actuator 27 and its ejector pins 28, to the corresponding box
2.
[0037] To give an example, the speed of operation (expressed as the
number of boxes handled per minute) of the document-deposition
system described above may be as follows, depending on the number
of sheets in one document: [0038] for one sheet: 25 boxes/minute
[0039] for 2 sheets: 20 boxes/minute [0040] for 4 sheets: 11
boxes/minute [0041] for 6 sheets: 7 boxes/minute [0042] for 8
sheets: 5 boxes/minute [0043] for 10 sheets: 4 boxes/minute
[0044] Thus, for documents having one sheet each, the hourly rate
achieved will be:
25.times.60=1500 boxes/hour
[0045] This performance is achieved within a very small volume,
owing largely to the fact that the documents are guided along a
sideways U path (as illustrated in the drawing).
[0046] In the case of documents having two or more sheets, a
stapling module may also be provided to join together the sheets
required for one document. As FIG. 1 shows in a highly schematic
form, the stapling module 29 may for example be linked to the final
receiving location, termed the waiting-for-deposition location 22.
In this case, all the sheets of one document are stapled together
after being precisely squared up by the barrier 25 operated by the
actuator 26, and immediately before their transfer to the boxes
2.
[0047] In a variant that is not shown, the stapling module is
linked to the first receiving location 19. The sheets required for
a given document are thus united as soon as they come out of
printer 5 and travel through all the locations 19 to 22
together.
[0048] The document deposition system to which the invention
relates may be installed at the beginning or end of the order
preparation line, in a new or pre-existing installation. If the
system is located at the start of the order-preparation line, it
makes it possible to deposit the order-preparation documents in
boxes that are still empty, in other words documents each
containing the list of products to be picked and placed in the
corresponding boxes all the way along the conveyor as the boxes
advance along it. If the system is located at the end of the order
preparation line, immediately before the box closing station, the
system makes it possible to place delivery documents in boxes
filled with previously picked products, for sending off for export
for example.
[0049] The following would not represent a departure from the scope
of the invention as defined in the accompanying [0050] modification
of the details of construction, and use of equivalents of any kind,
such as replacement of pneumatic actuators with electric or
electro-magnetic (solenoid) actuators; [0051] incorporation of any
type of printer into the system; [0052] use of the system for
depositing documents of any kind comprising a variable number of
sheets, whether or not bound together, the information on these
sheets being highly variable to suit the application; and [0053]
design of this system for depositing documents in boxes of any
format and made of any material.
* * * * *