During the sorting procedure, mail for distribution is initially subjected to a primary sorting in which the mail is distributed in accordance with the routes that relate to a given area. This is carried out by a number of postmen, and each postman is subsequently to fetch the mail that is destined for his or her route from the pri- mary sorting, and then to carry out the secondary sorting in which the mail is distributed in accordance with the roads and ways of the route. In the primary sorting, the mailman has a sorting rack at his disposal that contains receiving compartments for each route and there below a receiving compartment for the mail to the route of the postman in question. The secondary sorting is carried out by means of another sorting rack with receiving compart- ments for the roads and ways of that route.

For one thing this means that the individual postman han- dles the mail twice that is sorted by himself in the pri- mary sorting in accordance with his own route, and sec- ondly a disproportionately large amount of space is needed since many of the postmen need racks for both the primary sorting and the secondary sorting.

It is the object of the invention to provide a sorting rack that enables space economy compared to the prior art racks and that also requires the least possible handling procedures for the mail during the sorting.

This is obtained with a sorting rack as featured in the introductory part of claim 1, which rack is also config- ured as featured in the characterising part thereof, and by exercising the method according to claim 4.

The sorting section that is turnable about a vertical axis enables the postman to sort mail towards the one or the other side of the section, depending on its orienta- tion, and by configuring the one side of this section with a compartmentalisation that matches the route of the postman, and wherein the other side matches the routes in the area, thereby enabling the postman to carry out both the primary and the secondary sorting at the same rack.

Thereby space is saved. A further section in the rack can be configured with a compartmentalisation corresponding to the route of the postman in question, as featured in claim 3, and thus the postman is able to sort out mail directly when mail is discovered that belongs to his own district, and thus this mail is handled only once. This option is of interest only when the primary and the sec- ondary sortings are performed on the same location, which is exactly what is enabled by the turnable section. When the sorting is finished, all the postman has to do is to combine the mail from the mail that was ready-sorted al- ready during the primary sorting from the side section with the remaining secondary-sorting mail from the turn- able section.

Conveniently the rack is configured as featured in claim 2 with one turnably journalled section arranged cen- trally, and one or more side sections to each side thereof. Thus one section to the one side can be config- ured for sorting unaddressed items according to business, type of housing and other, whereas one section to the op-

posite side is configured for secondary sorting in accor- dance with the route of the postman, as described above.

In the following, the invention is described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 shows a sorting rack according to the invention with a central turnable section and a non-turnable sec- tion to each side thereof; Figure 2 shows the rack shown in Figure 1, seen from be- hind; Figure 3 shows the rack shown in Figure 1, seen from above; Figure 4 shows an alternative embodiment of the inven- tion; Figure 5 is a top plan view of the rack shown in Figure 4; Figure 6 is a photo of a sorting rack seen from the side, to which sorting is carried out; Figure 7 is a photo of the rack shown in Figure 6, seen from the opposite side; and Figure 8 is a photo from the side of the rack shown in Figures 6 and 7.

The rack shown in Figures 1 through 5 comprises a frame 1 with a foot 2 shown schematically, wherein these parts of

the rack can, in a manner known to the skilled person, be configured in various ways. Figure 1 shows a rack with three sections, viz a turnably journalled central section 3 and a section 4 and 5 to each side thereof. The arrows 6 show that all sections are in a manner known per se configured such that they can be elevated or lowered for adjustment to the individual postman who is currently us- ing the rack.

The arrows 7 indicate the turnability of the central sec- tion 3. At the front, which is shown in Figure 1, this section 3 is configured for the primary sorting, and the side section 4 to the right of this is configured for secondary sorting to own district. This can be accom- plished simultaneously with the primary sorting. The side section 5 to the left of the turnable section can be used for unaddressed items that are to be arranged in accor- dance with their very own criteria, such as eg business, type of housing and other.

Figure 2 shows the rear side of the rack shown in Figure 1, and herein the turnable section is configured with compartments for the secondary sorting. In the embodiment shown the side section has sixteen different compartments for the secondary sorting, and the turnable section has twenty-eight compartments for the same secondary sorting.

In this case it is possible, to the extent that the sec- ondary sorting needs twenty-eight different compartments, to finally distribute only a portion of the mail to own district during the primary sorting. Of course, it is possible to modify the compartmentalisation and configure more, but smaller compartments in the side section, thereby avoiding this problem.

As will appear from Figure 3, the turnable section is em- bedded about a vertical axis, shown schematically by the reference numeral 8, and also the side sections can be configured to provide the option of performing some de- gree of pivoting movement about vertical axes 9 and 10.

The side sections are configured with sorting compart- ments that face in only one direction, viz towards the front of the rack.

The configuration of the sections as such is accomplished in accordance with usual technically convenient methods of manufacture, eg of sheet metal.

Figures 4 and 5 show a rack wherein not only the central section is turnable, but both the right 4 and the left 5 side racks may be turned, as indicated by the arrows 11.

Thus, Figure 5 shows that the side sections have receiv- ing compartments that face both forwards and backwards.

This rack has an increased capacity, but it is also more demanding to manufacture.

Figure 6 shows a photo of a sorting rack according to the invention, showing further details of the rack. Thus, a horizontal plate 12 is shown herein that is fitted in the front of and below the sorting sections. Figures 7 and 8 also show a plate 12a that faces backwards and is useful when the rack is emptied from the back following the pri- mary sorting. In the photo shown in Figure 8, the middle section is shown halfway through its turning motion. It will appear that the central section is turnably mounted in a frame 13 comprising vertical and horizontal bars. As will appear from Figure 7 there is space between the ver- tical bars and the corners of the middle sections, thereby enabling the turning movement to occur without the frame 13 being in the way.