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Flats bundle collator

  • US 20020074268A1
  • Filed: 02/22/2002
  • Published: 06/20/2002
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/12/1999
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method of collating a plurality of groups of items, each group being pre-sequenced according to a prioritized order into a final sequenced set of the items from the groups, utilizing the prioritized order, comprising the step of:

  • separating each group of items seriatim into a single input stream of the individual items;

    transporting the items from the input stream to a staging station;

    sorting the items at the staging station into a plurality of subsets of items re-sequenced into an intermediate order different from the pre-sequenced order and the prioritized order, as an intermediate step to achieving said final sequenced set;

    merging the items into a single output stream from the respective subsets of items in 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.

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