JPH05169030A - Sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The present invention relates to a postal code automatic reading / sorting machine,
The most important feature is to achieve further automation and mechanization of classification processing. [Construction] The postal items which cannot be recognized by the main body recognition unit 17 are attached with barcode information by a barcode attachment unit 15 and accumulated in a reject unit 16. In addition, the re-recognition is performed by the auxiliary recognition unit 21 by a different algorithm, and the postal code that cannot be recognized even by this is manually input from the manual input unit 22 by offline processing. When the bar code information is read by the scanner unit 12 by re-feeding the rejected mail item, it can be read again according to the re-recognized or manually input postal code stored in the main control unit 18 correspondingly. The undelivered mail items are predicted to be sorted based on the stacking order in the reject unit 16, and are sorted by the sorting unit 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

 [Object of the Invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorting device such as a postal code automatic reading / sorting device and an address automatic reading / sorting device for automatically sorting mail according to a postal code or an address writing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a general automatic zip code reading / sorting machine has a feeding / unloading section, a scanner section, a conveying section, a sorting section, a recognizing section, and a control section for controlling the whole.

In this type of sorting machine, postal items are picked up one by one by the supply and take-out section, and the postal code is read by the scanner section while being conveyed by the conveying section. And
The postal code is recognized by the recognition unit, and the postal matter is classified into a plurality of pockets (classification ports) according to the result.
It is designed to be integrated into one of the In addition, postal items whose postal code cannot be recognized are rejected and stored in a dedicated cassette. However, in the case of the sorting machine described above, the rejected mail items are manually sorted, so that there is a demand for automation and mechanization.

Therefore, information such as a postal code is artificially added to a rejected mail item and then re-supplied, and a sorting process is performed based on this information, or a sorting destination is specified while the mail item is being conveyed. It has been proposed to input the information to be shown and perform the processing in real time.

However, in the case of manually inputting information that could not be recognized in the first process and simply re-supplying it, if the manually input information cannot be recognized, manual sorting work is eventually performed. It had the drawback of being needed.

Further, in the case of processing by inputting the information indicating the sorting destination during the transportation of the mail, all the processing must be carried out in real time, and the work environment of the operator is significantly deteriorated. was there. Furthermore, the distance for transporting the postal items is required to be long, which may damage the postal items.

[0007]

As described above, in the past, the sorting of rejected mail items was automated,
When attempting to mechanize, there are drawbacks such as a high probability of being rejected again and a heavy burden on the operator.

[0008] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a sorting apparatus which can reduce the burden on the operator, increase the recognition rate, and reduce the reject rate of the re-supplied mail. There is. [Constitution of Invention]

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, in the sorting apparatus of the present invention, the sorting information attached to the mail is read, and the mail is sorted according to the recognition result. In this case, the assigning means for assigning identification information to the rejected mail pieces that could not recognize the sorting information, the stacking means for sequentially stacking the rejected mail pieces to which the identification information has been added by the granting means, and this stacking means Re-recognizing means for recognizing the classification information for the rejected mail items accumulated again by a different algorithm, and an input means for inputting the classification information about the rejected mail items that could not be recognized by this re-recognition means,
The reading means for reading the identification information from the reject mail items accumulated by the accumulating means in the order of accumulation, and the classification information or the input means corresponding to the identification information read by the reading means and recognized by the re-recognizing means. It comprises a sorting means for sequentially sorting the rejected mail items according to the inputted sorting information.

Further, in the sorting apparatus of the present invention, the first recognition for recognizing the sorting information for reading the information from the supplied mail and the sorting information for the mail based on the information read by the reading means. Means, a sorting means for accumulating the mail in one of a plurality of sorting ports according to the sorting information recognized by the first recognizing means, and the sorting information can be recognized by the first recognizing means. Temporary collecting means for accumulating missing mail pieces, giving means for giving identification information to the mail pieces accumulated by the temporary collecting means, and the identification information given by the giving means, and accumulated by the temporary collecting means A second management means for managing the order of stacking of the mail pieces and the first recognition means, which recognizes the classification information from the information for the mail pieces that cannot be recognized by the first recognition means. Recognition hand And input means for inputting the classification information for the mail piece whose classification information could not be recognized by the second recognition means, and the classification information input by this input means or the classification recognized by the second recognition means. information,
A storage unit that stores the order information and the identification information managed by the management unit in association with each other, and a mail piece whose classification information cannot be recognized by the first recognition unit for each stacking unit of the temporary stacking unit. Corresponding to the identification information stored in the storage unit based on the re-supply unit that re-supplies to the reading unit and the identification information that is re-supplied by the re-supply unit and read by the reading unit from the postal matter. And a control means for controlling the sorting means so that the postal matter is accumulated in one of the sorting ports according to the sorting information.

[0011]

According to the present invention, since the division information can be input off-line by the means described above, the working environment of the operator can be greatly improved. Further, since the recognition processing can be performed by different methods, it is possible to further improve the possibility of recognizing the classification information which could not be recognized conventionally.

Further, since the final division destination can be determined from the order in which the identification information is read and the division information, even when the identification information cannot be read, the division destination is determined from the identification information before and after the identification information. It is predictable.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows a postal code reading / sorting machine according to the present invention.

That is, this zip code reading / sorting machine controls the supply and take-out section 11, the scanner section 12, the conveyance control section 13, the sorting section 14, the bar code giving section 15, the reject section 16, the main body recognizing section 17, and the whole. The main body device is composed of the main controller 18, and the auxiliary device is provided separately from the main body device and is composed of an auxiliary recognition unit 21 and a manual input unit 22.

The supply / delivery unit 11 is
A large number of postal items to be sorted are taken out one by one and supplied. Also, when re-supplied, rejected postal items to be sorted, that is, rejected due to unreadable postal code (unrecognizable) in the first sorting process. The mail is taken out in order and supplied.

The scanner unit 12 reads the image information from the postal matter supplied at the time of the first sorting processing, and also reads the bar code information (described later) as identification information from the rejected postal matter supplied at the time of re-supplying. is there.

The transport control unit 13 is
According to the classification information as a result of the recognition by the main body recognition unit 17, that is, the mail items are conveyed to be accumulated in a predetermined pocket (sorting port) in the sorting unit 14 according to the postal code.

Further, during the first sorting process, the transport control unit 13 causes the mail recognizing unit 17 to recognize the unreadable postal code in the postal code in the rejecting unit 16 via the bar code assigning unit 15. The cassettes are transported so as to be collected.

Further, when the rejected postal matter is re-fed, the conveyance control section 13 sorts the postal matter based on the sorting information (described later) corresponding to the bar code information from the scanner section 12 described above. It is conveyed to be accumulated in a predetermined pocket inside.

Further, at the time of re-feeding the rejected mail, if the bar code information becomes unreadable in the scanner section 12 described above, for example, from the classification information corresponding to the bar code information of the preceding and following mails. The postal matter is conveyed at the expected sorting destination (pocket) so as to be collected, and the postal matter whose sorting destination cannot be predicted is passed through the bar code giving unit 15 and is accumulated in the cassette in the reject unit 16. It is carried in order to do so.

The dividing section 14 has a plurality of pockets, and a zip code is assigned to each of them. Then, the mail items corresponding to the postal codes are accumulated in each pocket.

In the first sorting process, the bar code giving unit 15 gives bar code information consisting of, for example, a serial number to a postal item whose postal code is unreadable in the recognition process of the main body recognizing unit 17. Is.

The reject unit 16 has a detachable cassette inside, and sequentially collects the mail items to which the barcode information is assigned by the barcode assigning unit 15. The main body recognition unit 17 recognizes the postal code as the classification information from the image information from the scanner unit 12 described above, for example, by the composite similarity method.

The main control unit 18 controls the above-mentioned units and has a storage unit (not shown) to store and manage the stacking order of rejected mail items in the reject unit 16. ing.

The auxiliary recognition unit 21 is the main body recognition unit 1 described above.
With respect to the mail piece whose postal code could not be recognized in 7, the recognition processing is performed again using the image information from the scanner unit 12 described above. The auxiliary recognition unit 21 is adapted to perform a more sophisticated and complex process using an algorithm different from that of the main body recognition unit 17, for example, a neural network.

The manual input unit 22 is a unit for the operator to manually input a postal code as classification information for postal items that cannot be recognized by the auxiliary recognition unit 21. The manual input here is performed by an offline process different from the above-described classification process. FIG. 2 shows the concept of the above-mentioned auxiliary device.

The auxiliary device is composed of an existing operating system having a built-in CPU, for example, a personal computer. Then, by using this operating system, the re-recognition process from the image information corresponding to the unread mail in the main body recognition unit 17 described above,
Even in this re-recognition process, a postal code is manually input for the postal matter that cannot be recognized. FIG. 3 shows the format of the management data stored in the storage section of the main control section 18 described above.

Here, the number of the cassette set in the reject unit 16, the bar code information of the rejected mail items accumulated in the cassette, the stacking sequence information indicating the stacking order of the rejected mail items, and the rejected mail items. The postal code of the product is associated with each other and stored.

That is, in the sorting process at the time of re-feeding in this sorting machine, the bar code information is read by the scanner unit 12 in order from each rejected mail item re-supplied in cassette units by the supply and extraction unit 11, and the bar code information is read. The sorting destination is determined according to the postal code derived based on the cassette number corresponding to the code information and the stacking sequence information. Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. FIG. 4 shows the flow of the first sorting process. First, when a large number of pieces of postal matter P, ... Are set in the supply and take-out section 11, one of them is taken out by the supply and take-out section 11 and sent to the scanner section 12. The postal matter P sent to the scanner unit 12 is further sent toward the conveyance control unit 13 after the image information is read there. The image information read by the scanner unit 12 is sent to the main body recognition unit 17 and is used for the postal code recognition process.

Here, for example, when the postal code of the first (No. 1) postal matter P is recognized, the postal matter P is sent to the sorting section 14 by the conveyance control section 13. At this time, if the postal code is assigned to the pocket A, the first postal matter P is collected in the pocket A.

Similarly, for example, when the postal code for the second (No. 2) postal matter P is recognized, the postal matter P is assigned a predetermined pocket in the dividing section 14 to which the postal code is assigned in advance. It will be accumulated in C.

On the other hand, when the postal code is unrecognizable as a result of the recognition by the main body recognizing unit 17, the postal matter P is sent toward the bar code assigning unit 15. And
After the barcode information is attached by the barcode attachment unit 15, the barcode information is accumulated in the cassette in the reject unit 16.

At this time, the number of the cassette set in the reject unit 16, the bar code information of the rejected postal matter P'collected therein and the order information thereof are stored in the storage unit of the main control unit 18.

When the postal code cannot be recognized by the main body recognizing unit 17 described above, the image information for the postal matter P'which is rejected as unreadable is displayed as the auxiliary recognizing unit 21.
Then, the recognition process is performed again.

By the recognition processing here, the above-mentioned mail P '
When the postal code for the above is recognized, the postal code is stored in the storage unit of the main control unit 18 in association with the cassette number, the bar code information, and the stacking sequence information. It

If the postal code for the postal matter P'cannot be recognized by the recognition processing here, either in parallel with the above classification processing or after the first classification processing is completed, The operator manually inputs the postal code of the postal matter P ′ from the manual input unit 22. The postal code is stored in the storage unit of the main control unit 18 described above in association with the cassette number, the bar code information, and the stacking sequence information that are already stored.

In this way, the sorting process for all the postal matter P set in the supply and take-out section 11 is similarly performed. In addition, the reject unit 1
When the cassette in 6 is fully delivered by the rejected postal matter P ', the processing is restarted after exchanging the cassette. Also, when the first sorting process for the next mail P, ... Is performed, the process is started after the cassette is replaced. FIG. 5 shows a flow of processing for re-supplying the postal matter P ′ rejected by the first sorting processing described above.

As described above, when the first sorting process for the series of mail items P, ... Is completed (at this point, it is assumed that the operator manually inputs the postal code), the reject mail item P is displayed. ′ Is set in the supply / extraction unit 11 in cassette units.

Then, the supply and take-out section 11 takes out the rejected postal matter P'firstly collected, that is, in the ascending order of the stacking order information, and sends them to the scanner section 12. The rejected postal matter P ′ sent to the scanner unit 12 is further sent to the conveyance control unit 13 after the barcode information is read there.

Here, the rejected postal matter P'in which the bar code information is read is the postal code recognized by the re-recognition process stored in the storage section of the main control section 18 or the postal code manually input by the operator. Based on this, the classification destination is determined.

That is, when the bar code information on the first (No. 1) reject mail P'is read, the storage unit is searched based on the bar code information on the reject mail P'and the corresponding action is taken. The zip code to be used is read. Then, according to the postal code, the transport controller 13
By controlling the
It is sent to a predetermined pocket position in the No. 4. At this time, if the postal code is assigned to pocket A,
The first rejected postal matter P ′ will be accumulated in the pocket A.

Similarly, when the bar code information on the second (No. 2) rejected postal matter P'is read, the postal matter P'is stored in association with the bar code information. The zip code is assigned, for example, it is collected in a predetermined pocket C in the sorting section 14.

On the other hand, when the barcode information cannot be read as a result of reading by the scanner section 12 described above,
The rejected postal matter P ′ is predicted to be classified based on the bar code information, the accumulation sequence information, and the postal code of the postal matter P ′ before and after the rejected postal matter P ′.

That is, based on the management data in the storage unit, for example, the first (No. 1) reject mail P'is the pocket A, the second (No. 2) reject mail P 'is the pocket C, and the third. If the rejected postal matter P ′ of (No. 3) is classified into the pocket E, and if the bar code information on all the rejected postal matters P ′ can be read, the respective postal matters P ′ are determined as predetermined. It can be accurately divided into division destinations.

If the second reject mail P '
If the bar code information for the postal mail could not be read, "No. 1 is assigned to pocket A" for the immediately preceding rejected mail piece P'and "No. 3 for the immediately rejected mail piece P '. It is easily predicted that the reject mail P'for which the bar code information could not be read will be "classified into pocket C by No. 2" because the management data "classified into pocket E by No. 2" is obtained. It will be possible.

For example, if the bar code information for the first rejected mail P'cannot be read, and if the bar code information for the next second rejected mail P'can be read, the second bar code information for the second rejected mail P'can be read. Bar code information, stacking sequence information,
The storage unit is searched based on the postal code and the postal code. Then, the postal code corresponding to the bar code information whose order information is smaller than the second rejected postal matter P'by one is read out, and the postal code is assigned, for example, a predetermined number in the sorting section 14. The first rejected postal matter P ′ is sorted into the pocket A.

Similarly, when the bar code information about the second reject mail P'cannot be read, and when the bar code information about the first reject mail P'is read, this first reject mail The storage unit is searched based on the bar code information for P ', the stacking sequence information, and the postal code. Then, the zip code corresponding to the bar code information whose order information is larger than the first rejected postal matter P ′ by one is read out, and the zip code is assigned, for example, a predetermined number in the sorting section 14. Second reject mail P'to pocket C
Is classified.

In this way, the rejected mail P'for which the bar code information could not be read is predicted immediately before or immediately after the stacking order information of the rejected mail P'for which the bar code information has been read, and the prediction is made. Based on the postal code corresponding to the rejected postal matter P ′, the final decision of the sorting destination is made.

In this case, if the recognition rate of the postal code is 90% when the sorting process is first performed, the reject rate of the postal matter is 10%. Also, the bar code information reading rate when re-supplied rejected mail items is 9
In the case of 0%, in the case of the conventional method of simply reading the bar code information and sorting, 1% of the mail pieces must be sorted by hand, whereas according to the above method, it is rejected by re-feeding. There is a possibility that the mail will not be recognized only if the mail cannot be continuously recognized, and 0.1% (0.
It is sufficient to manually sort 1 × 0.1 × 0.1) mail pieces.

As described above, the input of the postal code indicating the sorting destination can be processed offline. For this reason, the working environment of the operator can be greatly improved, and therefore efficient manual input is possible, and the burden on the operator can be reduced.

Further, the recognition processing can be performed by different methods. Therefore, the possibility of recognizing a postal code that could not be recognized in the past can be further improved, and the recognition rate can be increased.

Furthermore, the final classification destination can be determined from the order in reading the bar code information and the postal code. Therefore, even if the bar code information cannot be read, the division destination can be predicted before and after the bar code information, and thus the reject rate at the time of re-supply can be significantly reduced without being influenced by the status of the bar code information. It is a thing.

In the above embodiment, when the bar code information could not be read, the sorting destination is predicted and the mail is simply sorted according to it. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to perform a more accurate sorting process by checking the number of postal items that have been accumulated in and comparing them with the management data in the storage unit. Further, the present invention is not limited to the zip code, and can be applied to an automatic address reading / sorting machine that sorts mail by writing an address such as an address. Of course, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0054]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the burden on the operator can be reduced, the recognition rate can be increased, and the rejection rate of re-supplied mail can be reduced. A sorting device can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a postal code automatic reading / sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a concept of an auxiliary device provided separately from the main body device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a storage format of management data in the storage unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram similarly shown for explaining the operation related to the first division processing.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the flow of processing when the rejected mail is re-supplied.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Supply and take-out section, 12 ... Scanner section, 13 ... Conveyance control section, 14 ... Sorting section, 15 ... Bar code applying section, 16 ... Reject section, 17 ... Main body recognizing section, 18 ... Main control section, 21
... Auxiliary recognition part, 22 ... Manual input part, P ... Mail, P '... Reject mail, A, B, C, D, E, ... ... Pocket.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Reading the classification information attached to the mail,
In a sorting device that sorts the postal matter according to the recognition result, an assigning unit that assigns identification information to a rejected postal item that could not recognize the sorting information, and a rejected postal item to which the identification information is assigned by the assigning unit Regarding the collecting means for sequentially accumulating, the re-recognizing means for recognizing the sorting information for the rejected mail items accumulated by this collecting means again by the different algorithm, and the rejected mail items that could not be recognized by this re-recognizing means. Inputting means for inputting the sorting information, reading means for reading the identification information in the order of accumulation from the rejected mail items accumulated by the accumulating means, and the re-recognizing means corresponding to the identification information read by the reading means. According to the recognized classification information or the classification information input by the input means, Sorting apparatus being characterized in that comprising a dividing means for performing the division of bets mailpiece. 2. A reading means for reading information from a supplied postal matter, a first recognizing means for recognizing classification information of the postal matter based on the information read by the reading means, and the first recognizing means. Sorting means for accumulating the postal matter in one of a plurality of sorting ports according to the recognized sorting information, and temporary collecting means for accumulating the postal matters for which the sorting information cannot be recognized by the first recognizing means And a giving means for giving identification information to the postal matters accumulated by the temporary accumulating means, and managing the order of accumulation of the postal matters accumulated with the temporary accumulating means by giving the identification information. Management means and a second recognition means which is provided separately from the first recognition means, and which recognizes the classification information from the information for the mail that could not be recognized by the first recognition means; and the second recognition means. By means Input means for inputting the classification information for the mail whose classification information could not be recognized, and the classification information input by this input means or the classification information recognized by the second recognition means are managed by the management means. Storage means for storing the order information and identification information in association with each other, and a mail piece for which the classification information cannot be recognized by the first recognition means, are re-supplied to the reading means for each stacking unit by the temporary stacking means. Based on the identification information re-supplied by the re-supplying means and read by the reading means from the postal matter according to the sorting information corresponding to the identification information stored in the storage means. And a control means for controlling the sorting means so as to collect an object in one of the sorting ports.