Mail processing system and method of deliverying mail items to delivery location therein

• US 20050061615A1
• Filed: 09/03/2004
• Published: 03/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Berdelle-Hilge, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 7,197,376 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 198/370.10
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 1/00 Measures preceding sorting according to destination
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/00 Sorting according to destination collating the pages of a book B42C1/00
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/008 Means for collecting objects, e.g. containers for sorted mail items pile receivers in general B65H31/00
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/082 In which the objects are carried by transport holders and the transport holders form part of the conveyor belts conveyors with carriers B65G47/00
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 5/36 Sorting apparatus characterised by the means used for distribution sorting according to destination B07C3/003, B07C3/02

Abstract

In a mail processing system that delivers articles to delivery locations a first transport vehicle at a first loading point is loaded with a first article, and guided along a first delivery path to a first delivery location. A second transport vehicle at a second loading point is loaded with a second article, and guided along a second delivery path to a second delivery location. Depending on a determination of whether the first and second transport vehicles deliver the first and second articles to the respective first and second delivery locations, the method returns an empty transport vehicle to the nearest one of the loading points and bypasses one of the first and second loading points for a still loaded transport vehicle. This allows to minimize the number of transport vehicles within the system.

Claims

1. A method of delivering articles to predetermined delivery locations within a mail processing system, comprising;

loading a first transport vehicle at a first loading point with a first article;

guiding the first transport vehicle along a first delivery path towards a first delivery location;

loading a second transport vehicle at a second loading point with a second article;

guiding the second transport vehicle along a second delivery path towards a second delivery location;

determining if the first transport vehicle delivers the first article at the first delivery location and if the second transport vehicle delivers the second article at the second delivery location;

guiding the first transport vehicle to the second loading point if it delivered the first article at the first delivery location, and the second transport vehicle to the first loading point if it delivered the second article at the second delivery location, and

guiding the first transport vehicle to the second delivery location if it did not deliver the first article at the first delivery location, and the second transport vehicle to the first delivery location if it did not deliver the second article at the second delivery location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second loading points are at different locations within the mail processing system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein guiding the first transport vehicle to the second delivery location if it did not deliver the first article at the first delivery location includes by-passing the second loading point, and wherein guiding the second transport vehicle to the first delivery location if it did not deliver the second article at the second delivery location includes by-passing the first loading point.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising vertically diverting the first and second transport vehicles.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising vertically merging the first and second transport vehicles.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising re-circling the first and second transport vehicles if an article cannot be delivered.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising sorting exception articles using an exception line.

8. A mail processing system, comprising:

a predetermined number of casing towers arranged in parallel, each casing tower having a plurality of slots to receive articles;

a first feeder at a first loading point to load a first transport vehicle with a first article;

a second feeder at a second loading point to load a second transport vehicle with a second article; and

a transport system associated with the casing towers and the first and second feeders and configured to guide the first and second transport vehicles along delivery paths to respective first and second delivery locations, wherein the transport system is configured to determine whether the first and second transport vehicles deliver the first and second articles to the respective first and second delivery locations, to guide an empty transport vehicle to one of the loading points and to guide a still loaded first transport vehicle to the second delivery location and a still loaded second transport vehicle to the first delivery location.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising divert elevators associated with the casing towers.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising merge elevators associated with the casing towers.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein two casing towers, two divert elevators and two merge elevators form a loop coupled to the first and second feeders.

12. The system of claim 8, further comprising an exception line for handling exception articles.

13. The system of claim 8, further comprising a re-circle line for handling transport vehicles having undelivered articles.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the transport system comprises switches to move the transport vehicles from one track to another track.

15. The system of claim 8, wherein the transport system comprises ramps to move the transport vehicles from one level to another level.

16. A method of delivering articles to predetermined delivery locations within a mail processing system, comprising:

inserting a first article at a first loading point into a first delivery path, and a second article at a second loading point into a second delivery path;

transporting the first and second articles towards the first and second delivery locations, respectively;

by-passing the first delivery location if the first delivery location does not include a destination address that corresponds to an address of the first article; and

by-passing the second delivery location if the second delivery location does not include that corresponds to an address of the second article.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising transporting the first article to the second delivery location after by-passing the first delivery location, and the second article to the first delivery location after by-passing the second delivery location.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising by-passing the first loading point after by-passing the second delivery location, and by-passing the second loading point after by-passing the first delivery location.

19. A method of delivering articles to predetermined delivery locations within a mail processing system, comprising:

inserting a first article at a first loading point into a first delivery path;

transporting the first article towards the first delivery location;

determining if a delivery of the first article at the first delivery location occurs; and

transporting the first article to a second delivery location if a delivery of the first article did not occur at the first delivery location.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising transporting the first article to a second loading point if a delivery of the first article occurred at the first delivery location.