Patent Publication Number: US-10315229-B2

Title: Postal sorting machine having a sorting outlet jogger provided with a quick-release helical-blade wheel

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of French Patent Application No. 1657637, filed on Aug. 8, 2016. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The invention relates to a postal sorting machine, e.g. for preparing a delivery round or “postman&#39;s walk,” which postal sorting machine comprises an unstacker in a mailpiece feed inlet via which mailpieces are fed in, a sorting conveyor designed to put the mailpieces unstacked from the feed inlet in series and on edge, and sorting outlets, each of which is provided with a receptacle designed to store the mailpieces coming from said sorting conveyor in a stack and on edge cannot maintain view of the road while using the parking assistance system to park the vehicle. 
     The invention relates more particularly to mailpiece joggers that equip such sorting outlets. 
     PRIOR ART 
     Joggers of the helical-blade wheel type are frequently used in postal sorting machines for enabling stacks of mailpieces to be formed in the receptacles of the sorting outlets. 
     The helical blade of the wheel of a jogger generally projects through an opening in the bottom of the sorting outlet receptacle and makes it possible to push the base of a current mailpiece against the stack of mailpieces being formed. 
     The wheel is driven in rotation by a transmission shaft having a motor-driven belt that is disposed under the receptacle. 
     During the sorting stage during which the mailpieces are machine sorted, the movement in rotation of the wheel is continuous so that the mailpieces are nudged automatically as soon as they arrive at the sorting outlet. 
     Generally, helical blades that are made of plastics materials are used because they limit damage to the mailpieces being stacked in the sorting outlets. 
     However, maintenance operatives have observed that the friction exerted on such wheels by mailpieces, most of which are made of paper, a material known for being abrasive, rapidly causes wear on helical blades made of plastics materials. 
     A helical blade in a poor state causes jams at the sorting outlet, and stacking of poor quality. 
     Such frequent wearing of the helical blade rapidly requires the worn wheel to be replaced by maintenance operatives. 
     Unfortunately, the helical blade is difficult to access since, to access it, it is necessary firstly to disassemble at least the sorting outlet receptacle, the transmission shaft, and its belt. 
     Such maintenance therefore requires the sorting machine to be shut down completely for a long period of time. 
     The business interruption costs resulting from such loss of use of the machine are currently higher than the costs generated by poor stacking quality. 
     That is why maintenance departments prefer to wait for all of the wheels of the sorting outlets or for any other parts disposed under the receptacle to be worn before shutting down the sorting machine completely, at the risk of having stacking of poor quality. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This section provides a general summary of the present disclosure and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features, aspects, and objectives. 
     An object of the invention is therefore to remedy those drawbacks. 
     To this end, the invention provides a postal sorting machine comprising an unstacker in a mailpiece feed inlet via which mailpieces are fed in, a sorting conveyor designed to put the mailpieces unstacked from the feed inlet in series and on edge, and sorting outlets, each of which is provided with a receptacle designed to store the mailpieces coming from said sorting conveyor in a stack and on edge, each sorting outlet being provided with a wheel having a helical blade, which wheel projects through an opening in the bottom of the receptacle, and is mounted on a transmission shaft disposed under the receptacle to impart a rotary movement to the helical blade so that the helical blade pushes the base of a current mailpiece in the receptacle against the stack of mailpieces that is being formed, said postal sorting machine being characterized in that the wheel is mounted on the transmission shaft by being clipped by moving in translation across the axis of rotation of the transmission shaft. 
     The basic idea of the invention consists in no longer having to disassemble the receptacle or the transmission shaft in order to change the helical-blade wheel. The idea is also to enable the maintenance staff to change the wheel in a working position that is ergonomic. 
     For that purpose, in this example, the helical-blade wheel of the invention can be mounted in and removed from the sorting outlet via the opening in the receptacle in which the mailpieces are stacked. The wheel moving in translation across the axis of rotation of the shaft makes it possible, while it is being removed, to extract it easily via the opening in the receptacle, and, while it is being mounted, to insert it through the opening, and then to clip it to the transmission shaft. It can be understood that the maintenance staff can change the wheel frequently without having to disassemble the sorting outlets, merely by positioning themselves in the vicinity of the sorting outlets so as to reach, at arm&#39;s length, the openings in the bottoms of the receptacles. 
     The time saved makes it possible, in this example, not only to change the wheels frequently so as to guarantee good stacking in the sorting outlets, but also to reduce the maintenance time and the downtime of the machine. 
     The sorting machine of the invention may also have the following features: 
     the wheel may have a rim provided with a hole arranged to enable the clipping means to be unclipped via the opening in the bottom of the receptacle; 
     the wheel and the transmission shaft may be provided with guide means for causing the wheel to move in translation across the axis of rotation of the shaft; the wheel moving in translation across the axis of rotation of the shaft enables the wheel to position itself correctly on the shaft, so as that the axes of rotation of the wheel and of the transmission shaft coincide and so as to facilitate clipping by guiding being provided throughout the movement in translation; and 
     the guide means may be formed by a groove that extends transversely across the axis of rotation of the wheel and by a peg that extends at one of the ends of the transmission shaft transversely across its axis of rotation, and that is adapted to move in the groove. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The disclosure is best understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is emphasized that, according to common practice, the various features of the drawings are not to-scale. On the contrary, the dimensions of the various features are arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. 
         FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic view of a postal machine of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagrammatic view of a sorting outlet of a postal machine of the invention seen from above; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagrammatic view of a sorting outlet of a postal machine of the invention seen from below; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagrammatic view of a helical-blade wheel and of a transmission shaft of the invention before clipping takes place. 
         FIG. 5  is a diagrammatic view of a helical-blade wheel and of a transmission shaft of the invention after clipping takes place; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagrammatic view of a helical-blade wheel and of a peg on the transmission shaft of the invention before clipping takes place; and 
         FIG. 7  is a diagrammatic view of a helical-blade wheel and of a peg on the transmission shaft of the invention after clipping takes place. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT 
       FIG. 1  shows a postal sorting machine  1  of the invention for sorting mailpieces  2  into a stack corresponding to the delivery round; 
     The term “mailpieces” is used to mean letters, catalogs, magazines, and any other postal article that can be put into series and that bears sorting information. 
     In this example, the sorting machine  1  comprises a mailpiece feed inlet  3  via which it is fed with mailpieces  2 , a sorting conveyor  4 , and sorting outlets  5 . 
     The feed inlet  3  is designed to receive a storage tray containing a stack of mailpieces to be sorted into the delivery round and it comprises an unstacker  6  capable of putting the mailpieces  2  from the tray into series and on edge on the sorting conveyor  4 . 
     The sorting conveyor  4  comprises conveyor belts (not shown) for moving the mailpieces in series and on edge over a certain conveying path to the appropriate sorting outlets. 
     A digital camera is installed along the conveying path on the sorting conveyor in order to take digital images of the current mailpieces with the postal destination addresses. 
     A central processor unit is also provided in the sorting machine for the purposes of retrieving said digital images, of recognizing the postal destination addresses and of allocating the corresponding sorting outlets to the mailpieces that are being conveyed. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , a sorting outlet  5  of the invention is provided with a receptacle suitable for receiving, from the sorting conveyor  4 , the mailpieces  2  on edge, one behind another and in a certain longitudinal sorting direction indicated by arrow D 1 . The accumulation of mailpieces in the receptacle makes it possible to form a stack. 
     In this example, the receptacle is in the form of tray having three sides and comprising a sloping support  7  on which the mailpieces are stored on edge, a jogging edge  8  against which the stack of mailpieces abuts face-on, and two side separation walls  9  for separating the sorting outlets  5  laterally from one another. 
     Each outlet  5  also has a jogger  10  comprising a wheel  11  having a helical blade  12 , which wheel projects through an opening in the bottom of the receptacle, i.e. in the support  7  in this example, which opening is dedicated to this purpose. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the wheel  11  is, in this example, mounted on a motor-driven transmission shaft  13  disposed under the support  7 . The transmission shaft  13  is driven in rotation via a set of belts  14  that are driven continuously by a motor. 
     The entire rotary drive system is disposed under the support  7 , and only the helical blade  12  on the wheel  11  projects through the opening in the bottom of the support  7 , as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . The wheel  11  comes flush with the bottom of the receptacle so as to close off the opening as much as possible. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the helical blade  12  preferably extends around the rim  15  of the wheel  11  from one edge to another so as to extend through one full turn of the rim  15  of the wheel. 
     The helical blade  12  moving in rotation makes it possible to push the base of a current mailpiece  2  into the receptacle in said longitudinal direction D 1  against the stack of mailpieces that is being formed. 
     To increase the quickness with which a current mailpiece is engaged, each wheel may be provided with a plurality of helical blades  12  that are substantially parallel with one another over the rim  15 , and, in this example, with three segments, as shown in  FIGS. 3, 4, and 6 . 
     In addition, quick-acting clipping means are also provided for the purpose of fastening the wheel  11  to the transmission shaft. For this purpose, the wheel is provided with a deformable catch  16  and the transmission shaft is provided with an abutment  17  at its end via which the wheel is fastened. The catch is designed to be deformed over the abutment and to come and be lodged behind the abutment to lock the wheel onto the transmission shaft, as can be seen in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . The clipping takes place in a movement in translation across the axis of rotation A 1  of the transmission shaft, as indicated by arrow D 2  in  FIG. 6 . 
     In order to facilitate mounting the jogger in the sorting outlet, the wheel  11  and the transmission shaft  13  comprise guide means for moving the wheel in translation across the axis of rotation of the shaft. 
     In this example, these guide means, shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  are formed by a groove  18  that extends across the wheel transversely relative to the axis of rotation A 2  of the wheel and by a peg  19  that extends at one of the ends of the transmission shaft transversely to its axis of rotation, as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     It should be understood that the peg  19  is adapted to move in the groove  18  in the transverse movement in translation indicated by arrow D 2 . 
     It should also be understood that the abutment  17  is placed on the peg  19 . 
     The rim  15  of the wheel  11  is also provided with a hole  20  that can be seen in  FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 , and that is accessible from the opening in the bottom of the receptacle to enable the clipping means to be unclipped. 
     More particularly, said hole  20  gives access to the deformable catch  16  by means of a thin tool, e.g. a screwdriver, so as to exert pressure on said catch, and, by a lever effect, so as to dislodge it from the abutment  17  on the peg  19 . 
     It can be understood that the hole  20  also serves as a visual marker for a maintenance operative who wishes to place the wheel in an appropriate position for dislodging the catch  16  from the abutment  17 . 
     In order to change a worn wheel, an operative therefore, firstly, has to turn the worn wheel until the hole  20  is visible through the opening in the support  7 . The operative then engages a screwdriver in the hole until the screwdriver reaches the catch  16 , and then presses against the catch to dislodge it from the abutment  17 . The operative then removes the wheel  11  through the opening in the support  7  by moving it in translation across the axis of the rotation A 1  of the transmission shaft  13 . 
     In order to insert a new wheel  11 , the operative firstly has to insert the wheel  11  through the opening in the support  7  by moving it in translation across the axis of rotation A 1  of the transmission shaft  13 . 
     Then, once the catch  16  reaches the abutment  17 , the operative exerts additional pressure on the wheel  11  in translation across the axis of rotation A 1  of the transmission shaft  13  in order to lodge the catch  16  behind the abutment to fasten the wheel  11  to the transmission shaft  13 .