METHOD OF HANDLING PARCELS, AND A LOGISTICS CENTER FOR HANDLING PARCELS

• US 20150235165A1
• Filed: 08/07/2013
• Published: 08/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Solystic
• Original Assignee: Solystic
• Inventors: Miette, Emmanuel, Chirol, Luc
• Granted Patent: US 9,514,430 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/02 Apparatus characterised by the means used for distribution
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 5/36 Sorting apparatus characterised by the means used for distribution sorting according to destination B07C3/003, B07C3/02
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/00 Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping

Abstract

A method of handling parcels (2) and a logistics center (1) for handling parcels, use is made of superposable racks (5) and motor-driven shuttle carts (6) that are remotely controlled by a central processing unit (7) to travel in freely guided manner and that are suitable for docking with each rack (5), each parcel (2) is unloaded onto a rack (5) and the destination of the parcel is identified (103), a specific location is assigned (104) to said rack (5) using an outward shipping plan, and said corresponding shuttle cart (6) is caused to move (105) so as to store said parcels (2) side-by-side and in superposed manner, and then, using an inward delivery plan, each rack (5) is docked (110), and each parcel (2) is transferred (111) from said stowage zone (11) to a loading point (3) so that parcels (2) are presented in their order of delivery.

Claims

1. A method of handling parcels (2) in a logistics center (1) for handling parcels (2), the method comprising the steps consisting in unloading the parcels (2) at an unloading point (3) of the center (1), in moving said parcels (2) and in stowing them in organized manner in various segments (12) of a stowage zone (11) of said center (1), each segment corresponding to a shipment of the parcels (2), and then in transferring said parcels (2) waiting for loading from each segment (12) to a loading point (3), said method being characterized in that, in order to move and in order to stow said parcels (2), it further consists in using racks (5) of the nesting type on legs and of different formats (heights and widths), suitable for nesting together by being superposed on one another, and in using independent self-propelled motor-driven shuttle carts (6) suitable for docking (100) with each rack (5), which shuttle carts are controlled individually and remotely to travel in freely guided manner, and in that it further comprises the steps consisting in:

unloading (102) each parcel (2) onto a rack (5) of known format that is docked with and that is motor-driven by a shuttle cart (6);

identifying (103) the destination of each parcel (2);

using an outward shipping plan associating each destination of a parcel (2) with a shipment so as to allocate (104) a specific location of a segment (12) to said rack (5) carrying said parcel (2), taking account of the format of said rack (5) so as to enable said parcels (2) to be superposed, and causing said shuttle cart (6) to move (105) towards said specific location so as to store said parcels (2) side-by-side and in superposed manner; and

using an inward delivery plan specifying the delivery sequence for said parcels (2) within the same shipment so as to cause a shuttle cart (6) to dock (110) with each rack (5) carrying a parcel (2) and so as to cause said parcel (2) to be transferred (111) from said stowage zone (11) to said loading point (3).

2. The handling method according to claim 1, wherein racks (5) are used that each have a tray (50) adapted to carry a single parcel (2), and a frame adapted to allow a shuttle cart (6) to fit under said tray (50) with it being possible for said shuttle cart (6) to dock with said frame on command, said frame being adapted to allow a rack (5) of different height and width to fit under or over said tray (50) and to enable said parcels (2) to be superposed.

3. The handling method according to claim 1, wherein racks (5) are used that each have a unique identifier, in that an associative table is established (103) between each unique identifier of a rack (5) and the destination of said parcel (2) that it is carrying so as to enable each parcel (2) to be located in said center (1) on the basis of said unique identifiers of the racks (5), and in that an allocation table is established (104) between each unique identifier of a rack (5) and said specific location that is allocated.

4. The handling method according to claim 1 wherein before moving said shuttle cart (6) to said stowage zone (11), said shuttle cart (6) loaded with a parcel (2) is caused to move from said unloading point (3) to a service zone (15) of said center (1), in which zone at least one operation is performed that is chosen from the group comprising at least affixing a label to said parcel (2), weighing said parcel (2), inspecting said parcel (2), repairing said parcel (2), performing a security inspection on said parcel (2).

5. The handling method according to claim 1, wherein as many racks (5) are used as there are parcels (2) to be sorted.

6. The handling method according to claim 1, wherein a digital image is taken of each parcel and, on the basis of said digital image, said destination of said parcel is recognized.

7. A logistics center (1) for handling parcels (2), the logistics center comprising at least one unloading/loading point (3) for unloading/loading said parcels (2) and a stowage zone (11) that is designed to receive parcels (2) waiting for loading and that is subdivided into various segments (12), each of which corresponds to a shipment of the parcels (2), said logistics center being characterized in that it includes racks (5) of the nesting type on legs and of different formats (heights and widths), suitable for nesting together by being superposed on one another, and independent self-propelled motor-driven shuttle carts (6) suitable for docking (100) with each rack (5), identification means (14) for identifying the destination of each parcel (2), a monitoring and control central processing unit (7) that is suitable for individually and remotely controlling said shuttle carts (6) so that they travel in freely guided manner, and that has an outward shipping plan for shipment of said parcels (2), which plan associates each destination of a parcel (2) with a shipment, and an inward delivery plan specifying the delivery sequence for delivery of said parcels (2) within the same shipment, and in that said parcels (2) are stored side-by-side and in superposed manner in each segment (12).

8. The logistics center (1) according to claim 7, wherein each rack (5) has a tray (50) adapted to carry a single parcel (2), and a frame adapted to allow a shuttle cart (6) to fit under said tray (50) with it being possible for said shuttle cart (6) to dock with said frame on command from said central processing unit (7), said frame being adapted to allow a rack (5) of different height and width to fit under or over said tray (50) and to enable said parcels (2) to be superposed.