Parcel processing system and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for controllable physical sorting of a plurality of parcels to be shipped and which adaptively accommodates different encoding formats for machine-readable indicia via mapping, the parcels including a plurality of scanable parcel identifiers thereon, the system comprising:
- a scanner configured to a scan machine-readable indicia on the parcels, wherein the machine-readable indicia comprise data that encodes destination zip codes and the parcel identifiers for the parcels;
a database in which a plurality of customer profile data structures are stored, each customer profile data structure being associated with a customer, and each of a plurality of the customer profile data structures comprising data indicative of a plurality of billing rules and preferences for its associated customer, the database further comprising a plurality of mapping data structures that identify how parcel identifiers and destination zip codes are encoded in a plurality of different encoding formats for the machine-readable indicia; and
a computer processor in cooperation with the scanner and the database, the computer processor configured to;
receive scanned data from the scanner that represents the encoded parcel identifiers and destination zip codes from the machine-readable indicia;
decode the encoded parcel identifiers and destination zip codes in the scanned data based on the mapping data structures;
for each decoded parcel identifier, (1) determine a destination for the parcel corresponding to that parcel identifier based on the decoded destination zip code for the parcel associated with that parcel identifier, (2) determine a delivery time frame for shipping the parcel corresponding to that parcel identifier, (3) determine a customer associated with the parcel corresponding to that parcel identifier, (4) retrieve from the database the customer profile data structure associated with the determined customer, (5) select a shipping service level from the retrieved customer profile data structure based on a plurality of rules applied to the determined destination and the determined delivery time frame, the rules configured to identify for selection a shipping service level that is estimated to deliver the parcel to the destination within the delivery time frame at the lowest monetary cost, (6) receive parcel size data indicative of a size of the parcel, (7) calculate a cost to ship the parcel to the destination based on the determined shipping service level and the received parcel size data, (8) generate a bill for the determined customer that includes the calculated cost to ship the parcel, and (9) determine one of a plurality of shipping containers each parcel is to be sorted into; and
a conveyer system configured to move the parcels to any of a plurality of shipping containers, the conveyer system including at least one mechanical sorter under control of the computer processor to selectively sort the parcels for movement into selected ones of the shipping containers based on the determined shipping container; and
wherein the computer processor is further configured to provide control instructions for the mechanical sorter based on a drop point determined by the determined shipping service level and the determined destination for each parcel, the control instructions configured to define which shipping container each parcel is to be sorted into.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A parcel processing system configured to select a permitted shipping service level from among the plurality of permitted shipping service levels based on a plurality of rules, control the sorting of the parcel into one of a plurality of shipping containers, and bill customers.
34 Citations
55 Claims
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1. A system for controllable physical sorting of a plurality of parcels to be shipped and which adaptively accommodates different encoding formats for machine-readable indicia via mapping, the parcels including a plurality of scanable parcel identifiers thereon, the system comprising:
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a scanner configured to a scan machine-readable indicia on the parcels, wherein the machine-readable indicia comprise data that encodes destination zip codes and the parcel identifiers for the parcels; a database in which a plurality of customer profile data structures are stored, each customer profile data structure being associated with a customer, and each of a plurality of the customer profile data structures comprising data indicative of a plurality of billing rules and preferences for its associated customer, the database further comprising a plurality of mapping data structures that identify how parcel identifiers and destination zip codes are encoded in a plurality of different encoding formats for the machine-readable indicia; and a computer processor in cooperation with the scanner and the database, the computer processor configured to; receive scanned data from the scanner that represents the encoded parcel identifiers and destination zip codes from the machine-readable indicia; decode the encoded parcel identifiers and destination zip codes in the scanned data based on the mapping data structures; for each decoded parcel identifier, (1) determine a destination for the parcel corresponding to that parcel identifier based on the decoded destination zip code for the parcel associated with that parcel identifier, (2) determine a delivery time frame for shipping the parcel corresponding to that parcel identifier, (3) determine a customer associated with the parcel corresponding to that parcel identifier, (4) retrieve from the database the customer profile data structure associated with the determined customer, (5) select a shipping service level from the retrieved customer profile data structure based on a plurality of rules applied to the determined destination and the determined delivery time frame, the rules configured to identify for selection a shipping service level that is estimated to deliver the parcel to the destination within the delivery time frame at the lowest monetary cost, (6) receive parcel size data indicative of a size of the parcel, (7) calculate a cost to ship the parcel to the destination based on the determined shipping service level and the received parcel size data, (8) generate a bill for the determined customer that includes the calculated cost to ship the parcel, and (9) determine one of a plurality of shipping containers each parcel is to be sorted into; and a conveyer system configured to move the parcels to any of a plurality of shipping containers, the conveyer system including at least one mechanical sorter under control of the computer processor to selectively sort the parcels for movement into selected ones of the shipping containers based on the determined shipping container; and wherein the computer processor is further configured to provide control instructions for the mechanical sorter based on a drop point determined by the determined shipping service level and the determined destination for each parcel, the control instructions configured to define which shipping container each parcel is to be sorted into. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 46, 53)
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10. A method for controllably and physically sorting a parcel to be shipped and which adaptively accommodates different encoding formats for machine-readable indicia via mapping, the method comprising:
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scanning machine-readable indicia on the parcel to generate scanned data, wherein the machine-readable indicia comprises an encoded parcel identifier and an encoded destination; a computer processor selecting a mapping data structure from among a plurality of mapping data structures, the mapping data structures identifying how parcel identifiers and destinations are encoded in a plurality of different encoding formats for the machine-readable indicia; the computer processor decoding the scanned data based on the selected mapping data structure to determine the parcel identifier and destination for the scanned parcel; the computer processor determining a delivery time frame for shipping the parcel based on the determined parcel identifier; the computer processor determining a customer associated with the parcel; the computer processor referencing a customer profile data structure associated with the determined customer, wherein the referenced customer profile data structure comprises data indicative of a plurality of billing rules and preferences for the determined customer; the computer processor determining a shipping service level from among a plurality of shipping service levels based on a plurality of rules, the rules operating on the data in the referenced customer profile data structure to identify which of the shipping service levels is estimated to deliver the parcel to the determined destination within the determined delivery time frame at the lowest monetary cost; the computer processor receiving parcel size data indicative of a size of the parcel; the computer processor calculating a cost to ship the parcel to the determined destination based on the determined shipping service level and the received parcel size data; the computer processor generating a bill for the determined customer that includes the calculated cost to ship the parcel; moving the parcel via a conveyer system that feeds a plurality of shipping containers, each of a plurality of the shipping containers being associated with different drop points; the computer processor determining a drop point for the parcel based on the determined shipping service level; and controlling the conveyer system to move the parcel into the shipping container associated with the determined drop point. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 47, 48, 54)
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32. A computer program product for controlling a physical sorting of a parcel to be shipped and which adaptively accommodates different encoding formats for machine-readable indicia via mapping, the computer program product comprising:
a plurality of processor-executable instructions that are resident on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein the instructions are configured, upon execution by a computer processor, to cause the computer processor to; receive scanned data from machine-readable indicia on the parcel, wherein the scanned data comprises an encoded parcel identifier and an encoded destination; select a mapping data structure from among a plurality of mapping data structures, the mapping data structures identifying how parcel identifiers and destinations are encoded in a plurality of different encoding formats for the machine-readable indicia; decode the scanned data based on the selected mapping data structure to determine the parcel identifier and destination for the parcel; determine a delivery time frame for shipping the parcel based on the determined parcel identifier; determine a customer associated with the parcel; reference a customer profile data structure associated with the determined customer, wherein the referenced customer profile data structure comprises data indicative of a plurality of billing rules and preferences for the determined customer; determine a shipping service level from among the plurality of shipping service levels based on a plurality of rules, the rules operating on the data in the referenced customer profile data structure to identify which of the shipping service levels is estimated to deliver the parcel to the determined destination within the determined delivery time frame at the lowest monetary cost; receive parcel size data indicative of a size of the parcel; calculate a cost to ship the parcel to the determined destination based on the determined shipping service level and the received parcel size data; generate a bill for the determined customer that includes the calculated cost to ship the parcel; determine a drop point for the parcel based on the determined shipping service level; and generate a control instruction for controlling a conveyer system on which the parcel is conveyed to move the parcel into a shipping container associated with the determined drop point. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50)
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33. A method for controllably and physically sorting a parcel to be shipped based on scanning machine-readable indicia on the parcel and adaptively accommodating different encoding formats for the machine-readable indicia via mapping, the method comprising:
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conveying the parcel along a conveyer system; scanning, by a scanner, machine-readable indicia on a parcel while the parcel is on the conveyer system, the machine-readable indicia comprising encoded data indicative of (1) an identifier for the parcel, and (2) a destination for the parcel; the computer processor selecting a mapping data structure from among a plurality of mapping data structures, the mapping data structures identifying how parcel identifiers and destinations are encoded in a plurality of different encoding formats for the machine-readable indicia; the computer processor decoding the scanned data based on the selected mapping data structure to determine the parcel identifier and the parcel destination; the computer processor referencing a plurality of data structures in a database based on the determined parcel identifier, the referenced data structures associating the parcel identifier with (1) data indicative of a customer that is shipping the parcel, (2) data indicative of a permitted shipping service level for the parcel with respect to the customer, and (3) a cost for shipping the parcel to the determined destination in accordance with the permitted shipping service level; the computer processor determining a shipping service level for the parcel in accordance with the referenced data structures; the computer processor determining a cost to the customer for shipping the parcel to the determined destination using the determined shipping service level in accordance with the referenced data structures; generating a shipping label for the parcel based on the determined shipping service level; the conveyer system, based on a control instruction from the computer processor, sorting the parcel for deposit in a shipping container associated with the determined parcel destination and the determined shipping service level; generating a bill to the customer based on the determined cost; and wherein the computer processor performs its steps while the parcel is on the conveyer system. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 52, 55)
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Specification