Installation for separating and singulating non-uniform postal articles with a vision system having laser sources

• US 10,058,896 B2
• Filed: 01/26/2016
• Issued: 08/28/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Solystic
• Original Assignee: Solystic
• Inventors: Hicham, El Bernouss, Crest, Karine, Philppe, Agnes
• Primary Examiner(s): Rodriguez, Joseph C
• Application Number:
  US15/030,666
• Publication Number:
  US 20180056333A1
• Time in Patent Office: 945 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 1/00 Measures preceding sorting according to destination
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 1/04 Forming a stream from a bulk; Controlling the stream, e.g. spacing the articles
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/08 using arrangements of conveyors transport of sheets B65H; transport in general B65G
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 15/0616 with vacuum
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1697 Vision controlled systems
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2203/0225 Orientation of the article
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/1485 using suction or magnetic forces
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/521 from laser ranging, e.g. using interferometry; from the projection of structured light

Abstract

An installation for separating and singulating non-uniform postal articles of the small parcel or packet type is characterized in that it comprises a platform for storing a pile of loosely placed postal articles, a vision system adapted to form digital images of the pile of loose postal articles, which pile is static on the platform, and a pneumatic pickup head of a robotized arm. The vision system comprises at least one laser source that projects a beam of fanned-out laser lines onto the pile of articles, thereby making it possible, on the basis of images including the laser lines on the pile of articles, to compute accurately a map of depths, and to perform digital silhouetting so as to singulate an article from the pile of loose articles.

Claims

1. An installation for separating and singulating non-uniform postal articles of the small parcel or packet type comprising:

a platform for storing a pile of loosely placed postal articles;

a vision system adapted to form digital images of the pile of loose postal articles;

a data processor unit adapted to identify a postal article to be singulated that has a non-covered pickup face, on the basis of said digital images; and

a pneumatic pickup head of a robotized arm that is controlled to take said postal article to be singulated via said non-covered pickup face, and to deposit said postal article on a deposition zone that is off the platform;

said vision system including at least one laser source that projects fanned-out laser lines onto the pile of postal articles; and

the data processor unit being adapted to identify the postal article to be singulated on the basis of an image of the pile of postal articles that includes said laser lines, and on the basis of a contrast image of the pile of postal articles, wherein said vision system includes a first laser source that projects onto the pile of postal articles a beam of first fanned-out laser lines, and a second laser source that projects onto the pile of postal articles a beam of second fanned-out laser lines that intersect the first laser lines, said vision system further including a third laser source that projects onto the pile of postal articles a beam of third fanned-out laser lines, and a fourth laser source that projects onto the pile of postal articles a beam of fourth fanned-out laser lines that intersect the third laser lines, the angular spacing between the first laser lines being different from the angular spacing between the third laser lines, and the angular spacing between the second laser lines being different from the angular spacing between the fourth laser lines, and in that the vision system is adapted to form a first digital image of the pile of postal articles that includes the first and second laser lines, and to form a second digital image of the pile of postal articles that includes the third and fourth laser lines, and to form a contrast third digital image of the pile of postal articles, and in that the data processor unit is adapted to identify the postal article to be singulated on the basis of said first and second images of the pile of postal articles that include said laser lines, and on the basis of the contrast third image of the pile of postal articles.

2. The installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the first and third laser sources and the second and fourth laser sources are placed mutually facing one another.

3. The installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the first and second laser sources are arranged to project onto the pile of postal articles a grid of 25×

25 laser lines, and the third and fourth laser sources are arranged to project onto the pile of articles a grid of 63×

63 laser lines.

4. The installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the laser lines are directed towards the platform at angles of incidence varying from 7.2°

to 33.8°

in steps of 1.15°

relative to the axis of the camera of the vision system.

5. A postal sorting machine, comprising an installation according to claim 1 upstream from a sorting bin conveyor in which the small packets or parcels are moved past sorting receptacles.