Method for synchronizing a number of paper feeding channels of a paper processing system

ES 2 223 922 T3

DESCRIPTION

Procedure for Synchronizing Multiple Paper Feed Channels of a Paper Handling Facility.

The invention relates to a method for the automatic synchronization of several paper feed channels of a paper handling plant, especially a plant for inserting sheets into envelopes.

A procedure of this type is required, for example, in installations for inserting sheets into envelopes with several paper feeding channels for the automatic composition, for example, of electricity, gas, water and telephone bills or of account statements and deposits (for example, example CH675853A5). In an installation for inserting sheets into envelopes, with two channels, for example, a first channel can contain the letter or the address support and a second channel the detail relation. The groups located in the channels can be made up of several sheets each. To achieve the desired composition, the feed from the corresponding channels must be controlled or synchronized accordingly. In conventional installations for inserting sheets into envelopes, generally, a formation of groups is carried out in the different channels. Next, it is checked whether the corresponding groups from the different channels are complete, checking if there are all the individual pages of a group and a characteristic to identify a group end. Before assembling the groups, with the help of the matching feature it should be further checked whether the groups correspond to each other. In order to allow these different steps of the process, generally, in addition to the information characteristics to characterize a number of sequence of folios and sequence of groups and an end of group, for each channel there must also be characteristics to verify the coincidence and an identification to a selective or constant channel call. However, this procedure is time consuming and prone to failure. In the conventional control procedure, in addition, for example, in the event of a reading failure, a failure in checking the sequence of pages, the sequence of groups, the coincidence or the channel call, caused by the removal of objects or by a paper jam, automatic development is interrupted and manual synchronization of all part channels is required by the operator. Therefore, in this type of installations for introducing sheets into envelopes, there is a greater need for operators and the effective performance of the installation is lower.

The object of the invention is to provide a method for controlling a paper handling installation of the type mentioned at the beginning, which makes it possible to collect objects from various channels in the simplest, most reliable and effective way possible.

According to the invention, this objective is achieved with the features of claim 1.

Some convenient variants and advantageous embodiments of the invention are indicated in the dependent claims.

The process according to the invention is characterized by a particularly simple and effective procedure. Multiple channels can be automatically synchronized and processed for any group composition without operator intervention. Each channel can be the guide channel, that is, the channel with the first folio sequence number. It is possible for the user to freely design a group of any number of channels. Also, the user does not have to distinguish between single-channel and multi-channel jobs. Furthermore, an essential advantage of the control procedure is that the processing continues even in the event of failures. In the event of a fault, only one group is affected, which can be separated and completed, for example by hand, if necessary.

Other special characteristics and advantages of the invention result from the following description of an embodiment with the aid of the drawing. They show:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an installation for inserting sheets into envelopes with several channels and FIG. 2 is a diagram of operations of a method according to the invention for controlling an installation for inserting sheets into envelopes with two channels.

The envelope inserting plant shown schematically in figure 1 contains a envelope inserting machine 1 in which the sheets fed from various channels K1 to Kx and composed into a desired group are inserted into envelopes and issued accordingly. for shipment. Each channel K1 to Kx comprises a supply device 2, a reading device 3 to record the data located on the sheets and a corresponding collection station 4, in which the supplied sheets are collected for their next transport to the machine to introduce sheets in envelopes 1.

Each sheet contains data or corresponding information to identify the sheet's membership in a specific group, data to identify the sequence of sheets within a group, and additional data that indicates whether the sheet is a last sheet or a correlative sheet. of a group. This data can be applied to the sheets, for example, with the aid of a barcode, a 2D code or other suitable coding. The consecutive group number can be composed, for example, of a sequence of six digits (GRPFLG = 0000000-999999) and the consecutive number of sheets of a sequence of two digits (BLTFLN = 00-99). Identifying a

ES 2 223 922 T3 group in progress or end of group (GRE) can be realized in the form of a bit (0 = sheet in progress and 1 = end of group).

An example of the sheets arranged in the two channels of a 2-channel installation with the data or information located therein is represented in the following table.

<td rowspan="2">Group (on)</td><td rowspan="2">Channel K1 Sequence group</td><td rowspan="2">from</td><td rowspan="2">Leaf sequence</td><td rowspan="2"></td><td colspan="2">Channel K2</td><td rowspan="2">Leaf sequence</td>

<td>Sequence group</td><td>from</td>

<td> 1</td><td colspan="2"> 000001</td><td> 01</td><td></td><td colspan="2"></td><td></td>

<td> 1</td><td colspan="2"> 000001</td><td> 02</td><td></td><td colspan="2"></td><td></td>

<td> 1</td><td colspan="2"></td><td></td><td></td><td colspan="2"> 000001</td><td> 03</td>

<td> 1</td><td colspan="2"> 000001</td><td> 04</td><td></td><td colspan="2"></td><td></td>

<td> 1</td><td colspan="2"></td><td></td><td></td><td colspan="2"> 000001</td><td>05 + GRE</td>

<td> 2</td><td> 000002</td><td> 01</td><td></td><td></td><td></td>

<td> 2</td><td> 000002</td><td> 02</td><td></td><td></td><td></td>

<td> 2</td><td> 000002</td><td>03 + GRE</td><td></td><td></td><td></td>

<td> 3</td><td> 000003</td><td> 01</td><td></td><td></td><td></td>

<td> 3</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td> 000003</td><td> 02</td>

<td> 3</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td> 000003</td><td>03 + GRE</td>

<td> 4 |000004</td><td>01 + GRE</td><td></td><td>Γ</td>

The first sheet in channel K1 carries the group sequence number 000001 and the sheet sequence number 01. Therefore, this sheet constitutes the first sheet of a first group. The second sheet located in channel K1 contains the group sequence number 000001 and the sheet sequence number 02 and is therefore the second sheet belonging to the first group. The third leaf characterized by the group sequence number 000001 and the leaf sequence number 03 of the first group, on the other hand, is arranged in channel K2, while the fourth leaf of the first group is again in channel K1 . The sheet arranged in the channel K2 with the group sequence number 000001 and the sheet sequence number 05 also carries the identification of the end of the group and thus constitutes the last sheet belonging to the first group.

This data from all channels K1 to Kx is communicated, for example, to a collection station arranged before the machine for inserting sheets into envelopes 1, with which all the previous channels are connected. The collecting station can then decide on the basis of the information located on the sheets, from which channel the next material should be processed. Since within each group there is a sequence of sheets, a next sheet can be uniquely identified and collected. The end of group at the end of a complete group ends the group.

Next, a simple control procedure for the automatic gathering of sheets from various channels is described, with the help of an operation diagram represented in figure 2.

When starting the control method according to the invention, in a first step 101, first, a group sequence reference number and a sheet sequence reference number are reset to an initial reference value 1. Then, in a next step 102 it is waited until at least the data of a first sheet of one of the channels is available. As soon as in a next step 103 the existence of these data has been recognized and the sequence number of groups and the sequence number of sheets corresponding to the sheet in question have been decoded, in a next step 104 a comparison of group sequence that checks if the group sequence number on this sheet matches the group sequence reference number.

If the group sequence number of the checked sheet matches the group sequence reference number, in a next step 105 a sheet sequence comparison is performed. During this, it is checked whether

ES 2 223 922 T3 the sheet sequence number of the checked sheet matches the sheet sequence reference number. If this is the case, the corresponding channel is called in a next step 106 and the checked sheet is issued in a next step 107, for example, for transport to a collection station.

Furthermore, in another step 108 it is checked whether the issued sheet already carries the identification of the end of the group and, therefore, if it is the last sheet of a group. If this is not the case, the sheet sequence reference number is incremented by the value 1 in another step 109 and the check of the next sheet is continued with step 102. However, if the check carried out in step 109 shows that the corresponding sheet already carries the group end identification, the group sequence reference number is increased by the value 1 in a next step 110 and the reference number The sequence of sheets is returned to the value 1 in a next step 111. The group is then complete and can be issued, for example, for transport to a machine for inserting sheets into envelopes.

However, if the group sequence comparison carried out in step 104 shows that the group sequence number of the checked sheet does not coincide with the group sequence reference number, as the next step 112 it is checked whether the data of the following sheets in the other channels. If this is not the case, it goes back to step 102 and first waits until all the y data is available and decoded correspondingly in step 103. Then, the group sequence comparison is performed according to step 103 on the following sheets of the other channels. As soon as one of the checked sheets has a group sequence number corresponding to the group sequence reference number, in the next step 105 a sheet sequence comparison is performed again and it is checked whether this sheet bears a sequence number of sheets corresponding to the sheet sequence reference number. If this is the case, proceed to step 106.

However, if the check performed in step 112 shows that the data from all the following sheets is already available, this group is identified as faulty in a step 113, and in a next step 114, the channel with the lowest number is called. of group sequence and the smallest number of sequence of sheets.

Although the sheet sequence comparison performed in step 105 would show that the sheet sequence number of the checked sheet does not match the sheet sequence reference number, in step 112, it is queried first if they are available. and all the data from the other channels. In this way, you can check if the next sheet belonging to a certain group is in one of the other channels. If all the data for the following sheets are available and if the desired match with the corresponding reference values ​​is not determined in the sequence comparison of groups or sheets performed, in step 113, the corresponding group is identified as defective and in a step 114 the channel with the smallest sequence number of groups and the smallest sequence number of sheets is called for the emission of the corresponding sheet.

The operation then continues with the new reference values.

For greater ease, the development of the procedure described above is explained with the help of an example represented in the table above, for the automatic composition of a sequence of sheets in an installation for inserting sheets into envelopes, with two channels K1 and K2. However, it should be expressly noted that the procedure is also suitable for installations with more than two channels.

In the example represented in the table, after resetting the group sequence reference number and the sheet sequence reference number to the value 1, starting the procedure starts, for example, first with checking the sheet 1 from channel K1. After the data from the first sheet of channel K1 is available and the group sequence numbers and sheet sequence numbers applied to the sheet have been correspondingly decoded, in step 104 the sequence number of groups of sheets is first checked. the first sheet. Since the first sheet located in the channel K1 has the group sequence number corresponding to the group sequence reference number, in the next step 105 its sheet sequence number is compared with the sheet sequence reference number. Also the sheet sequence number on the first sheet in channel 1 matches in the example with the sheet sequence reference number set to the value 1 in step 101. Therefore, channel K1 is called in the next step 106 and the first sheet is issued, for example, for transport to a pick-up station in step 107. Then, in step 108 it is checked whether the first sheet already carries identification of end of group. This, however, is not the case in the first sheet of the example represented in the table, so that in the next step 109, the sheet sequence reference number is increased by the value 1 and the next one is checked. sheet in step 102.

Since the next sheet in channel K1 presents the group sequence number corresponding to the group sequence reference number and the new group sequence reference number, incremented by the value 1 in step 109, after comparison of group and sheet sequences carried out in steps 104 and 105, channel K1 is called again in step 106 and the second sheet in channel K1 is output in next step 107, for example, for deposit on the first sheet. Also, the second sheet in channel K1 does not yet carry the end-of-group identification, so in step 109, the sheet sequence reference number is increased again by the value 1 and the process continues with checking the next sheet in channel K1 according to step 102.

Although the third sheet in channel 1 has the group sequence reference number set to the value 1 in step 101, it does not have the new sheet sequence reference number increased by the value 1 in the

ES 2 223 922 T3 step 109. Therefore, following the comparison of sheet sequences according to step 105, in step 112 it is first checked whether the data of the next sheet of channel K2 is also available, pending for the next broadcast. If this is not yet the case, go back to step 102 and wait for the arrival of the data from the next sheet of channel K2. As soon as the data for the next sheet in channel K2 is available, its group sequence numbers and sheet sequence numbers are compared to the corresponding reference values. The next sheet on channel 2 presents in the represented example the sequence number of groups 000001 and the sheet sequence number 03, so that channel K2 is called and the sheet is emitted to be deposited on the two previous sheets. Since this sheet also does not yet carry the end of group identification, the sheet sequence reference number is incremented again by the value 1 and the check of the next sheet continues with step 102.

Also during the subsequent check of the next sheet in channel K2, the sheet sequence comparison performed in step 105 results in a difference from the new set sheet sequence reference number, so that the channel is queried again. K1. On the next sheet located in channel K1, the group sequence number matches the initially placed group sequence reference number and the sheet sequence number matches the new set sheet sequence reference number, so channel K1 is called and the corresponding sheet is issued. Also this sheet does not yet have the end of group identification, so the sheet sequence reference number is increased again by the value 1.

The next sheet checked on channel K2 does not have the required group sequence reference number, so channel K2 is queried first by step 112. On the next sheet, arranged there for issuance, the group sequence number matches the group sequence reference number and also the sheet sequence number matches the new sheet sequence reference number, so that Channel K2 is called and the corresponding sheet is broadcast. Since this sheet also carries the identification of the end of group, in the next step 110, the group sequence reference number is increased by the value 1 and, in step 111, the sheet sequence reference number is reset. to the value 1 before continuing with the next sheet check in step 102. The group 1 that is now complete can then be transported to the machine for inserting sheets into envelopes and further processing accordingly.

If in the example represented in the table, for example, in channel K2 the first sheet identified with the group sequence number 000001 and with the sheet sequence number 03 is missing, from the check performed after the second sheet of the channel K1 turns out that the next sheet in channel K1 has the group sequence number corresponding to the group sequence reference number, but not the required sheet sequence number. Also in the next check of the next sheet of channel K2 no match is detected with the sheet sequence reference number in the sheet sequence comparison. Accordingly, the corresponding group is identified as defective in step 113 and the channel with the least number of sequence of groups and the least number of sequence of sheets is called. In the present example, this is channel K1, the next sheet of which has group sequence number 000001 and sheet sequence number 04. The group identified as defective can either be separated, or it can be supplemented by hand.

The foregoing makes it clear that in the procedure described, the automatic procedure of inserting sheets into envelopes continues even if a fault occurs in any of the channels. The other groups can continue to be processed automatically even in the event of a failure in the previous group.

To increase the throughput per cycle, several collection stations can be used without modifying the procedure. Then, the K1 channel of the previous example can advance the collection, if the sequence of leaves is ascending (n + 1) and if there is the same number of sequence of groups. This channel then delivers the number of early pick-up units and the last sheet sequence number to the second pick-up station. The second pick station knows by the sheet sequence number and quantity, which channel should be processed first.