JP2505242B2 - Sorting method of conveyed goods by automatic sorting device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for preventing erroneous sorting of an automatic sorting apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, the structure of a conventional automatic sorting apparatus is such that an induction section composed of a plurality of supply conveyors for supplying conveyed articles at a predetermined interval, a merge section for aligning and conveying the conveyed articles, and a merge section for aligning the conveyed articles. It is mainly composed of a sorter unit having a branching device for sorting the transported objects transported at each sorting position. In such a conventional automatic sorting device, when the conveyed goods supplied from the induction section are aligned in the merge section and sent to the sorter section, they are conveyed on the conveyor until the merge section delays and arrives at the sorter section. Since there is variation due to slipping of objects, if the branching device is operated at the timing from the induction section, the timing with the conveyed article will be misaligned, so one sensor will be installed at the entrance of the sorter section to convey the delay at the merge section. The branching device is operated by re-adjusting the timing with the object. Further, in this case, as a method of detecting the interval of the conveyed object with one sensor, a pulse for detecting the belt movement amount of the branching device is used to count the number of pulses when the conveyed object passes through the sensor, and a constant interval. It is determined whether or not the above is the case, and when the interval is narrow, the branching device is not operated and is passed through the branching device. Further, there are various branching devices of such a conventional automatic sorting device. For example, in a wheel type diverter that moves up and down, the branching device rises (turns on) when a conveyed product arrives at the branching device. In some cases, the conveyed articles are sorted and branched, and the branching device is controlled to descend (turn off) when another conveyed article that should not be sorted arrives. Further, unlike such a system, there is a system in which the branching device is turned on when a conveyed article to be sorted arrives at the branching device and is turned off after a lapse of a predetermined time.

In view of the problems to be solved by the invention, in the conventional method as described above, as shown in FIG. 3, the articles A and B are discharged from the induction section 2 of the automatic sorting apparatus 1 at the interval L. When the object A is delayed and is supplied to the branching device 5 of the sorter unit 4 at the interval L ′ at the exit of the merging unit 3, the preceding conveyed product A is placed on the uncorresponding branching device 5 of the sorter unit 4. Even if it is in the middle of passing through the branching device 5, when the succeeding conveyed product B arrives at the corresponding branching device 5, the branching device 5 is actuated, and both conveyed products A and B are shown in FIGS. As shown in (1), the conveyed article A is erroneously sorted by branching together.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, when the succeeding conveyed product B arrives at the branching device 5 while the preceding conveyed product A is branched at the corresponding branching device 5, the succeeding conveyed product B
As a result, the branching operation of the branching device 5 for the preceding conveyed article A is returned, so that the preceding conveyed article A is not completely branched and is conveyed straight along with the succeeding conveyed article B in the middle of the branch. When the product A enters the same sorting destination as the product B, the starting product A is missorted.

Further, in such a conventional automatic sorting apparatus, the method of detecting the interval between the conveyed objects by one sensor 20 cannot adjust the arrival timing of the conveyed object and the pulse of the belt movement amount, and the error within one pulse. Is not accurate.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems in the prior art by providing two sensors at the entrance of the sorter section of the automatic sorting apparatus at intervals to detect normal and abnormal intervals between conveyed articles. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for preventing erroneous sorting of an automatic sorting device that prevents erroneous sorting by causing an overflow, that is, passing the conveyed articles without sorting when the abnormal intervals are likely to cause erroneous sorting. .

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention conveys a conveyed material supplied from an induction portion or the like to a sorter portion while adjusting a distance between them and branching the sorter portion. In the method of sorting conveyed items by the automatic sorting device, two sensors are provided at the entrance of the sorter at intervals in the conveying direction, and the second sensor on the downstream side detects the passage of the preceding conveyed substance and then the upstream side. The first sensor on the side is set so as to detect the passage of the subsequent conveyed object, and the detection signals from both sensors determine whether the interval between the preceding conveyed object and the succeeding conveyed object is proper, Controls the operation of the branching device so that the conveyed objects are sorted at a predetermined position if the distance is equal to or longer than a certain interval, and the conveyed objects are not sorted at the predetermined position if the distance is equal to or less than the certain distance. However, this prevents erroneous sorting of conveyed items by the automatic sorting device.

Two sensors are provided at the entrance of the action sorter at intervals in the transport direction, and the second sensor on the downstream side detects the passage of the preceding transport object and then the first sensor on the upstream side passes the subsequent transport object. It is set to detect, and the suitability of the interval between the preceding and succeeding conveyed objects is judged by the detection signals from both sensors. If the interval is less than a certain interval, the goods to be conveyed are not sorted at a predetermined position, and the operation of the branching device is controlled so that the goods can be passed through that position. Since there is no need to count the number of belt movement pulses from the sensor signal to the next signal because there is no error occurring within one pulse, it is possible to perform accurate sorting with a simple structure. Injuries are possible.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment FIG. 1 of the drawing shows an example of an automatic sorting apparatus in which the method of the present invention is carried out. As shown in the figure, an automatic sorting apparatus 1 for carrying out the method of the present invention has the same basic structure as a normal automatic sorting apparatus, and an induction section 2 composed of a plurality of supply conveyors and an article to be conveyed are aligned. It is composed of a merging unit 3 that conveys the conveyed products and a sorter unit 4 that sorts the conveyed products at respective sorting positions. At the entrance of the sorter unit 4 of the automatic sorting apparatus 1 as described above, two first and second sensors 10 and 12 are arranged at intervals in the carrying direction.
These first and second sensors 10 and 12 are both sensors 10 and 12
The interval between the conveyed articles A and B passing through is detected to determine whether it is normal or abnormal. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the starting material A is passed from the first sensor 10 to the second sensor 12
If the succeeding conveyed product B arrives at the first sensor 10 before the passage of, it is judged as abnormal, and if not, it is judged as normal.
For this purpose, it is necessary to determine the interval between the upstream first sensor 10 and the downstream second sensor 12 in consideration of the speed of the conveyor. That is, in accordance with the normal case, the second sensor 12 on the downstream side is the starting material A
The first sensor 12 on the upstream side is set so as to detect the passage of the succeeding conveyed article B after the passage of the sheet is detected. Further, the first sensor 10 also has a function of correcting variations in the arrival timing of the conveyed product. In this way, it is determined whether the interval between the conveyed items is normal or abnormal. If the intervals are normal, the conveyed items are branched and sorted. If abnormal, the branched items are not branched and overflowed and passed through the sorter unit 4.

When it is judged whether the interval between the conveyed items A and B is normal or abnormal, it is decided whether or not the conveyed items are branched and sorted, and in the normal case, when the branching device 5 at the predetermined sorting position is operated, , The number of pulses L ₃ required for the transported object A that has passed through the second sensor 12 to arrive at the first first branching device 5 is calculated, and the pulse number L ₃ is used to determine the current position of the transported object A. It is preferable to control and operate a predetermined branching device 5 of the sorter unit 4 by making judgment and use as information.

That is, in FIG. 1, the number of pulses L ₂ from the arrival of the conveyed product A to the first sensor 10 to the passage of the second sensor 12 is measured, and the first sensor 10 to the first branching device 5 is measured. pull the pulse number L ₂ from the number of pulses L ₁ previous to, conveyed to notify the destination data and the remaining pulse number L ₃ of the transfer product a of starting to calculate the remaining pulse number L ₃ to the sorting control unit The branching of A is performed by the corresponding branching device.

If the space between the conveyed items is abnormal, the first sensor
Although the number of pulses after the arrival of the preceding carrier A at 10 is measured, the subsequent carrier B arrives at the first sensor 10 before the preceding carrier A passes through the second sensor 12. Then, at this time of arrival, it is judged that the interval is abnormal, the remaining pulse number is calculated, and the overflow data and the remaining pulse number are notified to the sorting control device. This abnormal memory is stored in the second sensor 12 after the succeeding conveyed product B passes through the first sensor 10.
It is canceled because the next succeeding article has not arrived at the first sensor 10 by the time when the first sensor 10 passes. In addition, the notification of the overflow data and the remaining pulse number in the case of abnormality may be unnecessary if the control method is different.

As described above, the first and second two sensors 10 and 12 are provided at a predetermined interval at the entrance of the sorter section 4 of the automatic sorting apparatus 1, and when the advance transport material A passes through the second sensor 12. It is determined whether the interval between the conveyed items A and B is abnormal depending on whether the succeeding conveyed item B has arrived at the first sensor 10. If the interval between the conveyed items A and B is abnormal, Sorter part 4
It is possible to surely prevent erroneous sorting by overflowing the conveyed articles A without performing the sorting operation of all the branching devices 5 of the above, and when the interval between the conveyed articles A and B is normal, the conveyed article A is By counting the number of pulses L ₂ from the arrival at the first sensor 10 to the passage of the second sensor 12 and calculating the remaining number of pulses L ₃ The erroneous remaining pulse number L ₃ enables the control operation of the branching device 5 at the sorting position of the predetermined sorter unit 4 and ensures the sorting at the predetermined sorting position.

As described above, according to the present invention, two sensors are provided at the inlet of the sorter portion at intervals in the transport direction, and the second sensor on the downstream side detects the passage of the preceding transport object and then the upstream side. The first sensor is set to detect the passage of the succeeding conveyed object, and the detection signals from both sensors determine whether the interval between the preceding conveyed object and the succeeding conveyed object is proper, and the interval is constant. If the interval is equal to or greater than the interval, the conveyed items are sorted at a predetermined position, and if the interval is equal to or less than a certain interval, the conveyed items are not sorted at the prescribed position, and the operation of the branching device is controlled so as to pass the position. Since this prevents erroneous sorting of conveyed items by the automatic sorting device, erroneous sorting due to the interval between conveyed items is eliminated, and an extra gap is provided between conveyed items supplied from the induction section or the like. Pay the goods It is not necessary to take out the material, and the sorting ability of the automatic sorting device can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an automatic sorting apparatus that implements the method of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of an automatic sorting apparatus according to the conventional method, and FIGS. 4 to 7 are schematic explanatory diagrams of erroneous sorting according to the conventional method. In the figure, 1: automatic sorting device, 2: induction part, 3: merge part, 4: sorter part, 5: branching device, 10, 12, 20: sensor, A, B: conveyed goods.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for sorting conveyed articles supplied from an induction section or the like, which is conveyed to a sorter section with an interval adjusted and aligned, and is sorted by a branching device of the sorter section, wherein the sorter is a sorter. Two sensors are provided at the entrance of the part at intervals in the transport direction, and a second sensor on the downstream side detects the passage of the preceding transport object, and then a first sensor on the upstream side detects the passage of the subsequent transport material. The setting is made as follows, and the suitability of the interval between the preceding conveyed product and the succeeding conveyed product is determined by the detection signals from both sensors, and if the interval is a certain interval or more, the conveyed products are sorted at a predetermined position. , If the interval is less than a certain interval, then the operation of the branching device is controlled so that the conveyed product is not sorted at a predetermined position and the position is passed, and thereby the missort of the conveyed product by the automatic sorting device is performed. The method of sorting conveyed by the automatic sorting apparatus characterized by preventing.