Line of travel sequence transformation in mail processing applications
First Claim
1. A method of collating a plurality of items into a final sequenced set of the items in preparation for delivery to predetermined delivery points, some items being pre-sequenced according to a prioritized order reflecting the delivery points, and other items being in a different order than the prioritized order, comprising the steps of:
- forming a single input stream of the items;
transporting the items from the input stream to a staging station;
sampling items in the input stream to determine if the sampled items are part of the pre-sequenced prioritized order or are in said different order;
sorting the pre-sequenced items in the prioritized order at the staging station into one or more subsets of items re-sequenced into an intermediate order, as an intermediate step to achieving said final sequenced set;
rearranging the items in the different order into a repaired sequence reflecting the prioritized order, and inserting items of the repaired sequence into one or more subsets at the staging station;
merging all items output from the staging station into a single output stream from the respective subsets of items into said final sequenced set; and
collecting portions of the output stream of items consistent with the sequence of the final sequenced set to form batches of items in the prioritized order reflecting a preferred sequence of the delivery points.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for re-sequencing mail prepared in enhanced carrier route line of travel (ECR-LOT) format into carrier walk sequence (CWS) format within a flat bundle collator (FBC) system. The mail items in LOT are separated into subsets, one subset being in the same order as CWS, and another subset being in reverse order to CWS. All items from all groups are then merged into a stream of items in CWS for delivery by mail carriers.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method of collating a plurality of items into a final sequenced set of the items in preparation for delivery to predetermined delivery points, some items being pre-sequenced according to a prioritized order reflecting the delivery points, and other items being in a different order than the prioritized order, comprising the steps of:
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forming a single input stream of the items;
transporting the items from the input stream to a staging station;
sampling items in the input stream to determine if the sampled items are part of the pre-sequenced prioritized order or are in said different order;
sorting the pre-sequenced items in the prioritized order at the staging station into one or more subsets of items re-sequenced into an intermediate order, as an intermediate step to achieving said final sequenced set;
rearranging the items in the different order into a repaired sequence reflecting the prioritized order, and inserting items of the repaired sequence into one or more subsets at the staging station;
merging all items output from the staging station into a single output stream from the respective subsets of items into said final sequenced set; and
collecting portions of the output stream of items consistent with the sequence of the final sequenced set to form batches of items in the prioritized order reflecting a preferred sequence of the delivery points. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system for of collating a plurality of items into a final sequenced set of the items in preparation for delivery to predetermined delivery points, some items being pre-sequenced according to a prioritized order reflecting the delivery points, and other items being in a different order than the prioritized order, comprising:
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means for forming a single input stream of the individual items;
means for transporting the items from the input stream to a staging station;
means for sampling items in the input stream to determine if the sampled items are part of the pre-sequenced prioritized order or are in said different order;
means for sorting the pre-sequenced items in the prioritized order at the staging station into a plurality of subsets of items re-sequenced into an intermediate order, as an intermediate step to achieving said final sequenced set;
means for rearranging the items in the different order into a repaired sequence reflecting the prioritized order, and inserting items of the repaired sequence into one or more subsets at the staging station;
means for merging all items output from the staging station into a single output stream from the respective subsets of items into said final sequenced set; and
means for collecting portions of the output stream of items consistent with the sequence of the final sequenced set to form batches of items in the prioritized order reflecting a preferred sequence of the delivery points. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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13. A method of collating a plurality of mail items into a final sequenced set of the items for delivery to predetermined delivery points, some of said mail items being pre-sequenced in delivery point sequence (DPS) of selected carrier routes, and other mail items being in a different order from the delivery point sequence, comprising the steps of:
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a) feeding the mail items from a single input stream to a staging station;
b) sampling each mail item in the input stream to determine if the mail item is in the delivery point sequence, or a different order;
c) sorting the mail items at the staging station into one or more of subsets of mail items re-sequenced into an intermediate order, as an intermediate step to achieving said final sequenced set, said staging station having a plurality of storage units X1 to Xn, wherein n is the total number of storage units, said storage units temporarily storing said items in said subsets by;
1) inserting each mail item into any selected one of said storage units X1 to Xn in accordance with an insertion plan consistent with an extraction plan for the mail items from those storage units for achieving the delivery point sequence (DPS) of the final sequenced set of mail items;
2) rearranging the mail items in the different order into delivery point sequence (DPS) in the staging station by inserting those mail items into one or more selectable storage units; and
3) selectively extracting the mail items from any selected one of he storage units X1 to Xn according to said extraction plan; and
d) merging the extracted mail items into a single output stream from the respective subsets of mail items into said final sequenced set in delivery point sequence (DPS).
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21. A system for collating a plurality of mail items into a final sequenced set of the items for delivery to predetermined delivery points, some of said mail items being pre-sequenced in delivery point sequence (DPS) of selected carrier routes, and other mail items being in a different order from the delivery point sequence, comprising:
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a) means for feeding the mail items from a single input stream to a staging station;
b) means for sampling each mail item in the input stream to determine if the mail item is in the delivery point sequence, or a different order;
c) means for sorting the mail items at the staging station into one or more subsets of mail items re-sequenced into an intermediate order, as an intermediate step to achieving said final sequenced set, said staging station having a plurality of storage units X1 to Xn, wherein n is the total number of storage units, said storage units temporarily storing said items in said subsets by the combined operation of;
1) means for inserting each mail item into any selected one of said storage units X1 to Xn in accordance with an insertion plan consistent with an extraction plan for the mail items from those storage units for achieving the delivery point sequence (DPS) of the final sequenced set of mail items;
2) means for rearranging the mail items in the different order into delivery point sequence (DPS) in the staging station by inserting those mail items into selectable storage units; and
3) means for selectively extracting the mail items from any selected one of the storage units X1 to Xn according to said extraction plan; and
d) means for merging the extracted mail items into a single output stream from the respective subsets of mail items into said final sequenced set in delivery point sequence (DPS). - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30)
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29. A computer program embodied in a machine-readable medium for collating a plurality of mail items into a final sequenced set of the items for delivery to predetermined delivery points, some of said mail items being pre-sequenced in delivery point sequence (DPS) of selected carrier routes, and other mail items being in a different order from the delivery point sequence from items fed from a input stream to a staging station, the program comprising:
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a) a segment for sampling each mail item in the input stream to determine if the mail item is in the delivery point sequence, or a different order;
b) a segment for sorting the mail items at the staging station into one or more subsets of mail items re-sequenced into an intermediate order, as an intermediate step to achieving said final sequenced set, said staging station having a plurality of storage units X1 to Xn wherein n is the total number of storage units, said storage units temporarily storing said items in said subsets by instructions from the program for;
1) inserting each mail item into any selected one of said storage units X1 to Xn in accordance with an insertion plan consistent with an extraction plan for the mail items from those storage units for achieving the delivery point sequence (DPS) of the final sequenced set of mail items;
2) rearranging the mail items in the different order into delivery point sequence (DPS) in the staging station by inserting those mail items into selectable storage units; and
3) selectively extracting the mail items from any selected one of the storage units X1 to Xn according to said extraction plan.
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31. A computer program embodied in a digital signal for collating a plurality of mail items into a final sequenced set of the items for delivery to predetermined delivery points, some of said mail items being pre-sequenced in delivery point sequence (DPS) of selected carrier routes, and other mail items being in a different order from the delivery point sequence from items fed from a input stream to a staging station, the program comprising:
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a) a segment for sampling each mail item in the input stream to determine if the mail item is in the delivery point sequence, or a different order;
b) a segment for sorting the mail items at the staging station into one or more subsets of mail items re-sequenced into an intermediate order, as an intermediate step to achieving said final sequenced set, said staging station having a plurality of storage units X1 to Xn, wherein n is the total number of storage units, said storage units temporarily storing said items in said subsets by instructions from the program for;
1) inserting each mail item into any selected one of said storage units X1 to Xn in accordance with an insertion plan consistent with an extraction plan for the mail items from those storage units for achieving the delivery point sequence (DPS) of the final sequenced set of mail items;
2) rearranging the mail items in the different order into delivery point sequence (DPS) in the staging station by inserting those mail items into selectable storage units; and
3) selectively extracting the mail items from any selected one of the storage units X1 to Xn according to said extraction plan. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. A method for converting a group of mail items in enhanced line of travel sequence (LOT) into a group of items in carrier walk sequence (CWS) comprising the steps of:
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a) feeding a single input stream of mail items in the LOT group into a staging station;
b) determining which items in the stream are in order with the order of CWS, and which are in reverse order with respect thereto;
c) separating the in-order items and reverse-order items into separate subsets of items in the staging station; and
d) recombining the subsets in the staging station into one sequenced group of items in CWS. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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Specification