Mail manifest systems and methods

• US 10,643,169 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2019
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Express Scripts Strategic Development, Inc. (The Cigna Group)
• Original Assignee: Express Scripts Strategic Development, Inc. (The Cigna Group)
• Inventors: Hoffman, Robert E., Joplin, Jonathan W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cumbess, Yolanda R
• Application Number:
  US16/672,609
• Publication Number:
  US 20200065743A1
• Time in Patent Office: 183 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/00 Storing articles, individually or in orderly arrangement, in warehouses or magazines conveyor combinations in warehouses, magazines or workshops B65G37/00; stacking of articles B65G57/00; removing articles from stacks B65G59/00; loading machines B65G65/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers

Abstract

A pharmaceutical filling system for a high volume pharmacy is described. The system can include an outflow conveyor, and an injection conveyor to inject a package located thereon onto the outflow conveyor. The injection conveyor can be adjacent to the outflow conveyor and oriented substantially perpendicular to the outflow conveyor. The system can also include a monitoring system positioned to perform package monitoring of the outflow conveyor and to image the package on the outflow conveyor after the package has been injected onto the outflow conveyor. The monitoring system can be further configured to determine an intended destination of the package based on an identifier detected on the package in the image captured by the monitoring system. A routing device can be positioned to perform package routing of the package to an accumulation area for packages based on the determination of the intended destination of the package.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an inflow conveyor to receive a package;

an outflow conveyor;

a staging conveyor;

a station positioned adjacent the staging conveyor;

an actuator coupled to the inflow conveyor, the actuator to direct the package from the inflow conveyor to the station for placement onto the staging conveyor;

an injection system having an injection conveyor to inject the package located thereon into an open slot on the outflow conveyor by accelerating the package from a still position, the package is advanced onto the injection conveyor from the staging conveyor, the injection conveyor being adjacent to the outflow conveyor, the injection system including at least one camera to image the package to produce at least one image of the package; and

a verification system to receive the image of the package and identify the package, the verification system upon identifying the package, signaling the injection system to inject the package into the open slot.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the injection system includes a weight module to weigh the package and use a weight of the package to identify the package.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the injection system includes an outflow camera to image the outflow conveyor, and the injection system identifies the open slot on the outflow conveyor to receive the package.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the injection conveyor is oriented substantially perpendicular to the outflow conveyor.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the station includes a ramp and a table, and wherein the actuator directs the package from the inflow conveyor down the ramp to the table.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an additional station positioned adjacent the staging conveyor;

a level sensor in communication with the injection conveyor to monitor package volume at the station and the additional station; and

an additional actuator coupled to the inflow conveyor, the additional actuator to direct an additional package from the inflow conveyor to the additional station for placement onto the staging conveyor based on monitoring of package volume at the station and the additional station.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the level sensor is a banner level sensor.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the station further comprises a first station and a second station, the second station positioned adjacent a second staging conveyor;

and

a control device in communication with the level sensor positioned to monitor a volume of additional packages at each of the first and second stations, the control device controlling the actuator to route the package to the station with a lowest volume of packages.

9. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a second station positioned adjacent a second staging conveyor; and

a control device configured to count a number of packages at a first station and a number of additional packages at the second station, the control device controlling the actuator to route a subsequence package to one of the first station and the second station with a lower number of packages.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the outflow conveyor includes a plurality of cleats with the open slot being positioned between consecutive cleats.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the outflow conveyor includes an imager to image the package on the outflow conveyor after the package has been injected onto the outflow conveyor and using the image to assist in determining an intended destination of the package.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the outflow conveyor includes a backstop positioned opposite the injection conveyor as a package injection barrier to ensure that the package is oriented orthogonally on the outflow conveyor.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the camera is configured to image at a rate of 150 frames/second, and wherein the verification system is configured to perform 120 decodes/second.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the verification system receives at least twelve images of the package on the outflow conveyor to verify the package on the outflow conveyor as injected thereon from the injection conveyor.

15. A system comprising:

an inflow conveyor configured to receive a plurality of packages;

an outflow conveyor configured to move the plurality of packages;

a station operably connected to the inflow conveyor and the outflow conveyor to direct a package of the plurality of packages from the inflow conveyor to the outflow;

a verification system at one of the outflow conveyor, the station, or both, the verification system including a plurality of cameras to image the package thereat, the verification system to use an image obtained from one of the plurality of camera to identify the package at one of the outflow conveyor, the station, or both;

an actuator coupled to the inflow conveyor, the actuator to direct the package from the inflow conveyor to the station for placement onto the staging conveyor; and

an injection system to inject the package located thereon into an open slot on the outflow conveyor by accelerating the package from a still position, the injection system being adjacent to the outflow conveyor and oriented to inject the package at an angle relative to a direction of movement of the outflow conveyor.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the injection system includes a weight module to weigh the package and wherein the verification system uses a weight of the package to identify the package.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the station includes a weight module to weigh the package and wherein the verification system uses a weight of the package to identify the package.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the injection system includes an outflow camera to image the outflow conveyor, and the injection system identifies the open slot on the outflow conveyor to receive the package.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the injection system moves the package substantially perpendicularly to the direction of movement of the outflow conveyor.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the station includes a ramp and a table, and wherein the actuator directs the package from the inflow conveyor down the ramp to the table.

21. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

a monitoring system positioned to perform package monitoring of the outflow conveyor and to image the package on the outflow conveyor after the package has been injected onto the outflow conveyor, the monitoring system being further configured to determine an intended destination of the package based on the identifier detected on the package by a scanner; and

a routing device positioned to perform package routing of the package to a package accumulation area for based on the determination of the intended destination of the package.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the monitoring system includes a scale to weigh an additional package, the monitoring system further configured to:

verify a weight of the additional package is within a predetermined amount from an expected weight of the additional package, and

flag the additional package as an exception when the weight of the additional package is not within the predetermined amount from the expected weight of the additional package.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the monitoring system is further configured to:

access data regarding expected pharmaceutical contents and additional materials within the package from a database based on the identifier on the package imaged by the monitoring system; and

determine the expected weight of the expected pharmaceutical contents and the additional materials within the package and the package itself.

24. The system of claim 15, wherein the injection conveyor includes a conveyor belt made of a material having a coefficient of friction such that the injection conveyor may accelerate the package from still to approximately 10.4 inches per second in approximately one second.