One-Pass Carrier Delivery Sequence Sorter
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A sorting system for a group of mail pieces where the mail pieces in the group each have two faces, the sorting system for sorting the group of mail pieces into a sequence having unique destinations according to delivery information thereon, comprising:
- reader means for retrieving delivery information associated with each mail piece from the mail piece;
a plurality of holders, each holder dimensioned for receipt of one mail piece with its faces in a generally vertical orientation;
means for placing each mail piece from the group of mail pieces in a specific one of said plurality of holders;
means for creating an association between the retrieved delivery information of each mail piece with its specific holder; and
a sorter for moving the holders so that mail pieces are at least temporarily positioned face to face to each other in a generally vertical orientation and for moving the holders based upon the association of each holder with the retrieved delivery information of the mail piece held thereby, so that the mail pieces held by said holders are sorted according to the sequence.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A mail sorting device and method (FIG. 1) comprising a reader (20, 24), a plurality of holders (28) for receiving mail in a generally vertical orientation, and a sorter (26), wherein mail pieces held by said holders are sorted according to sequence into interim unloading stations and then wrapped and encoded with the respective delivery address.
146 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A sorting system for a group of mail pieces where the mail pieces in the group each have two faces, the sorting system for sorting the group of mail pieces into a sequence having unique destinations according to delivery information thereon, comprising:
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reader means for retrieving delivery information associated with each mail piece from the mail piece;
a plurality of holders, each holder dimensioned for receipt of one mail piece with its faces in a generally vertical orientation;
means for placing each mail piece from the group of mail pieces in a specific one of said plurality of holders;
means for creating an association between the retrieved delivery information of each mail piece with its specific holder; and
a sorter for moving the holders so that mail pieces are at least temporarily positioned face to face to each other in a generally vertical orientation and for moving the holders based upon the association of each holder with the retrieved delivery information of the mail piece held thereby, so that the mail pieces held by said holders are sorted according to the sequence. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A sorting system for a group of items where each item in the group has two faces, the sorting system for sorting the items according to a sequence having a plurality of unique destinations, comprising:
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means for retrieving information associated with each item of said group of items;
a plurality of holders, each holder dimensioned for receipt of an item with its faces in a generally vertical orientation, each holder being identifiable;
means for placing each item of said group of items with a specific holder of said plurality of holders;
means for associating the retrieved information of said item with said specific holder;
a plurality of interim unloading stations, where an interim unloading station is at least temporarily associated with one of the unique destinations, where the holders are moveably positioned relative to the interim unloading stations so that each of the holders can interact with each of the interim unloading stations; and
a sorter for moving the holders so that items in said holders are at least temporarily positioned face to face to each other in a generally vertical orientation and for moving the holders relative to the interim unloading stations so as to be able to interact therewith and cause an item in the holder to be moved to a specific interim unloading station if the information associated with the item corresponds to the temporary unique destination associated with the interim unloading station;
whereby the items held by said holders are sorted according to said sequence. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A sorting method for a group of mail pieces where the mail pieces in the group each have two faces, the sorting method for sorting the group of mail pieces into a sequence having unique destinations according to delivery information thereon, comprising the steps of:
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retrieving delivery information associated with each mail piece from the mail piece;
providing a plurality of holders, each holder dimensioned for receipt of one mail piece with its faces in a generally vertical orientation;
placing each mail piece from the group of mail pieces in a specific one of said plurality of holders;
creating an association between the retrieved delivery information of each mail piece with its specific holder; and
moving the holders so that mail pieces therein are at least temporarily positioned face to face to each other in a generally vertical orientation and moving the holders based upon the association of each holder with the retrieved delivery information of the mail piece held thereby, so that the mail pieces held by said holders are sorted according to the sequence. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification