DELIVERY PROCESSING APPARATUS AND DELIVERY PROCESSING METHOD

• US 20160159602A1
• Filed: 12/04/2015
• Published: 06/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: SEZAKI, Kentaro, Aoki, Takashi
• Granted Patent: US 9,969,589 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/02 Apparatus characterised by the means used for distribution
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2301/424 in sorter
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 29/58 Article switches or diverters
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 31/24 multiple or compartmented, e.d. for alternate, programmed, or selective filling
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 43/08 Photoelectric devices

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a delivery processing apparatus includes a plurality of stackers configured to stack delivery objects; a conveyer configured to transport the delivery objects to a designated stacker out of the plurality of stackers; a first detector configured to detect that a monitored stacker out of the plurality of stackers is in an overflow state in which more than a predetermined amount of delivery objects have accumulated; a second detector configured to detect that a monitored stacker out of the plurality of stackers is in an empty state in which all delivery objects have been retrieved from the stacker; and a main controller configured to specify a regular stacker that is a stacker out of the plurality of stackers and serving as a sort destination of the delivery object, based on address information that is obtained from the delivery object and, control the conveyer such that the delivery object is transported to the regular stacker serving as the sort destination, out of the plurality of regular stackers, that is specified, wherein, if the stacker serving as the sort destination specified is in the overflow state, then the main controller stops the transport of delivery objects to the regular stacker serving as the sort destination that has gone into the overflow state and assigns a backup stacker that is a stacker out of the plurality of stackers not correlated with any address information as a sort destination substituting for the sort destination that has gone into the overflow state, and after assigning the substitute sort destination, when a regular stacker that had gone into the overflow state goes into the empty state, the main controller stops transport of delivery objects to the backup stacker that has been assigned as the substitute sort destination, and resumes the transport of delivery objects to the regular stacker that has gone into the empty state.

Claims

1. A delivery processing apparatus comprising:

a plurality of stackers configured to stack delivery objects;

a conveyer configured to transport the delivery objects to a designated stacker out of the plurality of stackers;

a first detector configured to detect that a monitored stacker out of the plurality of stackers is in an overflow state in which more than a predetermined amount of delivery objects have accumulated;

a second detector configured to detect that a monitored stacker out of the plurality of stackers is in an empty state in which all delivery objects have been retrieved from the stacker; and

a main controller configured to specify a regular stacker that is a stacker out of the plurality of stackers and serving as a sort destination of the delivery object, based on address information that is obtained from the delivery object and, control the conveyer such that the delivery object is transported to the regular stacker serving as the sort destination, out of the plurality of regular stackers, that is specified,

wherein, if the stacker serving as the sort destination specified is in the overflow state, then the main controller stops the transport of delivery objects to the regular stacker serving as the sort destination that has gone into the overflow state and assigns a backup stacker that is a stacker out of the plurality of stackers not correlated with any address information as a sort destination substituting for the sort destination that has gone into the overflow state, and after assigning the substitute sort destination, when a regular stacker that had gone into the overflow state goes into the empty state, the main controller stops transport of delivery objects to the backup stacker that has been assigned as the substitute sort destination, and resumes the transport of delivery objects to the regular stacker that has gone into the empty state.

2. The delivery processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the backup stacker that has been assigned as the substitute sort destination has gone into the overflow state after the regular stacker that had gone into the overflow state has gone into the empty state, the main controller stops the transport of delivery objects to the backup stacker that has been assigned as the substitute sort destination, and resumes the transport of the delivery objects to the regular stacker in the empty state.

3. The delivery processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, if a backup stacker that has been assigned as a substitute sort destination has gone into the empty state, then the main controller cancels the assignment of the backup stacker as the substitute sort destination, and after that, if any regular stacker serving as the sort destination specified has gone into the overflow state, then that backup stacker is taken as a subject to assignment as a sort destination substituting the regular stacker that has gone into the overflow state.

4. The delivery processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a list production unit for producing a list of characteristic information of each delivery object, based on a timing at which the regular stacker has gone into the empty state.

5. The delivery processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, for each storage container in which the delivery objects are collected that have been retrieved from the regular stacker, the list production unit produces a list of characteristic information of the delivery objects collected in that storage container

6. The delivery processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second detector is a switch to be operated by an operator that retrieves the delivery objects from the regular stacker.

7. A delivery processing method for a delivery processing apparatus comprising a plurality of regular stackers configured to stack delivery objects;

a conveyer configured to transport the delivery objects to a designated regular stacker out of the plurality of regular stackers;

a first detector configured to detect that a monitored regular stacker out of the plurality of stackers is in an overflow state in which more than a predetermined amount of delivery objects have accumulated;

a second detector configured to detect that a monitored stacker out of the plurality of stackers is in an empty state in which all delivery objects have been retrieved from the stacker; and

a specifying unit configured to specify a stacker serving as a sort destination of a delivery object, based on address information that is obtained from the delivery object;

the method comprising;

controlling the conveyer such that a delivery object is transported to that stacker serving as the sort destination, out of the plurality of stackers, that is specified by the specifying unit;

if the stacker serving as the sort destination specified by the specifying unit is in the overflow state, stopping the transport of delivery objects to the stacker serving as the sort destination that has gone into the overflow state and assigning, out of the plurality of stackers, a backup stacker that is not correlated with any address information, as a sort destination substituting for the sort destination that has gone into the overflow state; and

after assigning the substitute sort destination, when a stacker that had gone into the overflow state goes into the empty state, stopping transport of delivery objects to the backup stacker that has been assigned as the substitute sort destination, and resuming the transport of delivery objects to the stacker that has gone into the empty state.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:

when the backup stacker that has been assigned as the substitute sort destination has gone into the overflow state after the stacker that had gone into the overflow state has gone into the empty state, stopping the transport of delivery objects to the backup stacker that has been assigned as the substitute sort destination, and resuming the transport of the delivery object to the regular stacker in the empty state.

9. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:

if the backup stacker that has been assigned as the substitute sort destination has gone into the empty state, cancelling the assignment of the backup stacker as the substitute sort destination, and after that, if the regular stacker serving as the sort destination specified by the specifying unit has gone into the overflow state, taking that backup stacker as a subject to assignment as a sort destination substituting the regular stacker that has gone into the overflow state.

10. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:

producing a list of characteristic information of each delivery object, based on a timing at which the regular stacker has gone into the empty state.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:

for each storage container in which the delivery objects are collected that have been retrieved from the regular stacker, producing a list of characteristic information of the delivery objects collected in that storage container.

12. The method according to claim 7, wherein the second detector is a switch to be operated by an operator that retrieves the delivery objects from the regular stacker.