Flat-article sorting apparatus

• US 4,388,994 A
• Filed: 11/14/1980
• Issued: 06/21/1983
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nippon Electric Company Limited (NEC Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nippon Electric Company Limited (NEC Corporation)
• Inventors: Tsuda, Kiyoshi, Fujimura, Akira, Suda, Kazuyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Reeves, Robert B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): WACYRA, EDWARD MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US06/207,038
• Time in Patent Office: 949 Days
• Field of Search: 209/563, 209/564, 209/569, 209/583, 209/584, 209/900, 270/58, 271/297, 271/305
• US Class Current: 209/564
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/02 Apparatus characterised by the means used for distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/06 Arrangements for sorting, selecting, merging, or comparing data on individual record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 209/90 Sorting flat-type mail

Abstract

A mail sorter has a sort code reader which sequentially reads the sort codes on each piece of mail, a processor for determining the order in which the mail is to be sorted, primary sort storages, and secondary sort storages. After the sort codes are read and processed, the mail is first sorted into the primary sort storages forming groups of mail sorted according to the determined order of sorting, although the mail in each group is unsorted. Thereafter, the mail in each primary sort storage is sorted into the secondary sort storages according to the determined order of sorting and the mail is subsequently extracted from the secondary sort storages and stored.

Claims

1. A flat-article sorting apparatus for rearranging an order of flat articles, each of the flat articles being provided with a sort code thereon, the sort codes corresponding to the order in which the flat articles are to be rearranged, comprising:

means for advancing the flat articles sequentially one by one;

means for scanning the flat articles to read the sort codes thereon as the flat articles are sequentially advanced;

means responsive to the scanned sort codes for determining the order in which the flat articles are to be rearranged;

a plurality of primary sort storages ranked in a first priority to which said flat articles are advanced;

means responsive to said determining means for assigning said flat articles so that a substantially equal number of said flat articles are assigned to each primary sort storage;

means responsive to said assigning means for sorting the flat articles into the respective primary sort storages in such a manner that numbers of the flat articles stored in the respective primary sort storages are substantially equal;

a plurality of secondary sort storages ranked in a second priority;

means for advancing said flat articles from said primary sort storages to said plurality of secondary sort storages;

second means for sorting the flat articles from the primary sort storages into the secondary sort storages according to the order determined by the determining means; and

means for extracting the flat articles from the secondary sort storages and accumulating the flat articles in the order determined by the determining means.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second sorting means sorts all the flat articles from the highest-ranked primary sort storage containing flat articles into the secondary sort storages, each secondary sort storage containing one flat article, and the extracting means extracts and accumulates the flat articles from the secondary sort storages before the second sorting means sorts the flat articles from the next highest-ranked primary sort storage containing flat articles.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second sorting means sorts all the flat articles from a plurality of the highest-ranked primary sort storages containing flat articles into the secondary sort storages, each secondary sort storage containing one flat article, and the extracting means extracts and accumulates the flat articles from the secondary sort storages before the second sorting means sorts the flat articles from the plurality of next-highest ranked primary sort storages containing flat articles.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said scanning means scans said flat articles after said flat articles are advanced from the primary sort storages to the secondary sort storages by the advancing means, and the detecting means determines the order in which the flat articles in each primary sort storage are to be rearranged.

5. A flat-article sorting apparatus for rearranging an order of flat articles, each of the flat articles being provided with a sort code thereon, the sort codes corresponding to the order in which the flat articles are to be rearranged, comprising:

a stacking unit in which the flat articles are stacked;

discharging means for discharging the flat articles stacked in the stacking unit sequentially one by one;

a code reader arranged to scan the flat articles discharged sequentially by the discharging means to read the sort codes on the flat articles;

means for returning the flat articles successively scanned to the stacking unit so that the flat articles are stacked therein in the same order as initially stacked therein;

means responsive to the scanned sort codes for determining the order in which the flat articles are to be rearranged;

memory means for memorizing the determined order;

a plurality of primary sort storages ranked in a first priority;

means for assigning the flat articles to the primary sort storages so that a substantially equal number of said flat articles are assigned to each primary sort storage in accordance with the order memorized in said memory means;

means responsive to said assigning means for sorting the flat articles sequentially discharged from the stacking unit into the primary sort storages in such a manner that numbers of the flat articles stored in the respective primary sort storages are substantially equal;

a plurality of secondary sort storages ranked in a second priority;

means for extracting the flat articles from each of the primary sort storages sequentially one by one;

means for distributing the flat articles extracted by the extracting means to the secondary sort storages according to the memorized determined order, one flat article being distributed into each secondary sort storage; and

means for extracting the flat articles from the secondary sort storages so the flat articles are arranged according to the memorized determined order.

6. A flat-article sorting apparatus for rearranging flat articles comprising:

means for extracting sequentially the flat articles from a stack;

means for reading out codes marked on the extracted flat articles;

means for re-stacking the flat articles whose codes have been read out;

means responsive to the read out codes for determining the order in which the flat articles are to be arranged;

means for transferring the re-stacked flat articles;

a plurality of first-stage sort storages, the first-stage sort storages being ranked in priority to receive a plurality of the flat articles;

means responsive to the determining means for assigning the flat articles to the respective first-stage sort storages so that a substantially equal number of said flat articles are assigned to each first-stage sort storage in accordance with the order determined by the determining means;

means coupled to the transferring means for distributing the transferred flat articles to the first-stage sort storage in response to said assigning means in such a manner that numbers of the transferred flat articles to be stored in the respective first-stage sort storages are substantially equal;

second extracting means coupled to the first-stage sort storages for selectively extracting the flat articles stored in the first-stage sort storages; and

means coupled to the second extracting means for sorting the flat articles extracted from the selected first-stage sort storage according to the order determined by the determining means.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the sorting means includes a plurality of final-stage sort storages each adapted to receive one flat article, and further comprising means for extracting the flat articles from the plurality of final-stage sort storages in the order determined by the determining means.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the sorting means coupled to the second extracting means includes a plurality of final-stage sort storages having outlets, each final-stage sort storage storing a flat article determined according to the order determined by the determining means, the outlets of the final-stage sort storages being arrayed in a line, and further comprising means for simultaneously discharging the flat articles stored in the final-stage sort storages through the outlets of the storages.