Flats bundle collator

• US 6,241,099 B1
• Filed: 05/12/1999
• Issued: 06/05/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Northrop Grumman Corporation
• Inventors: Mileaf, Daryl, McConnell, William P., Hendrickson, David Brian, Tilles, David Jerome
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tuan N.
• Application Number:
  US09/310,221
• Time in Patent Office: 755 Days
• Field of Search: 209/539, 209/540, 209/541, 209/542, 209/545, 209/584, 209/900, 209/914, 209/918, 209/919
• US Class Current: 209/542
• 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 3/02 Apparatus characterised by the means used for distribution
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2301/4311 Making personalised books or mail packets according to personal, geographic or demographic data
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 209/90 Sorting flat-type mail
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 209/918 Swinging or rotating pusher feeding item

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for collating a plurality of groups of mail items, such as flats mail, each group being pre-sequenced according to prioritized delivery addresses, into a final sequenced set of the mail items from the groups, utilizing the prioritized delivery addresses, each bundle of mail items is formed into a single input stream of the individual mail items. The mail items are transported along a conveyor system from the input stream to a staging station. The mail items are sorted at the staging station into a plurality of subsets of mail items re-sequenced as an intermediate step to achieving the final sequenced sets. The mail items are then collated and merged into a single output stream from the respective subsets of mail items in the final sequenced set. Portions of the output stream from the staging station are collected in batches which maintain the sequence consistent with the prioritized delivery order sequence of the mail for a given carrier route.

Claims

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 steps 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 as an intermediate step to achieving said final sequenced set by routing the items to predetermined areas of a plurality of stacks of items, the items in each stack being loaded in a last-in-first-out sequence;

thereafter unloading the stacks in a predetermined order with each stack unloading the items by beginning at the bottom of the stack;

merging the items into a single output stream from the respective subsets of items so to provide 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.

2. A method of collating a plurality of bundles of mail items, each bundle being pre-sequenced according to prioritized delivery addresses, into a final sequenced set of mail items from the bundle, utilizing the prioritized delivery addresses, comprising the steps of:

separating each of said bundles of mail items, one by one, into a single input stream of the individual mail items;

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

sorting the mail items at the staging station into a plurality of subsets of mail items re-sequenced as an intermediate step to achieving said final sequenced set;

wherein said sorting step includes storing each subset at the staging station in a separate vertical stack of a plurality of vertical stacks of mail items by routing the mail items to predetermined ones of the vertical stacks, the mail items in each stack being positioned thereon in an ascending order number from the bottom to the top of the stack;

thereafter unloading the mail items in said stacks in a reverse order beginning at the bottom of the stack;

merging the mail items into a single output stream from the respective subsets of mail items in said final sequenced set; and

collecting portions of the output stream of mail items consistent with the sequence of the final sequenced set to form batches of mail for orderly delivery to the prioritized delivery addresses according to delivery criteria reflected in said final sequenced set.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the mail items comprise flats mail items from the group consisting essentially of:

magazines, newspapers, padded envelopes, single sheet fliers, compact disks, and poly-wrapped items.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the separating step includes merging the pre-sequenced bundles to form the input stream during feeding of the last pre-sequenced bundle of mail items into the input stream.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein each mail item has a prioritized delivery address thereon, with a machine readable number for each mail item therein, the machine readable number being part of a numerical delivery order sequence with lower numbers representing high delivery priorities, and including the further steps of reading the numbers, and generating control signals for routing the mail items to the vertical stacks.

6. The method of claim 3, the mail items having substantially flat major surfaces, bound edges, and unbound edges, comprising the steps of:

edge-justifying the unbound edges by aligning the unbound edges against a planar surface; and

placing the edge-justified flats mail into a vertical stack with the unbound edges aligned on one side of the stack.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein a portion of said flats mail includes a saturation mailing of a plurality of substantially identical flats mail items, said saturation mailing being fed into the input stream after all other mail for a given mail carrier route is stacked in the vertical stacks of the staging station.

8. The method of claim 3, including the further steps of measuring the distance between flats mail items being transported, and generating a signal indicating a jam condition of the mail items if the distance between any two or more flats items is outside of a predetermined range of distances.

9. A system for collating a plurality of bundles of mail items, each bundle being pre-sequenced according to prioritized delivery addresses, into a final sequenced set of mail items from the, utilizing the prioritized delivery addresses comprising;

a separating device for serially separating each bundle of mail into a single input stream of the individual mail items;

a transport conveyor for feeding the mail items from the input stream to a staging device,

a sorting device for sorting the mail items at the staging device into a plurality of subsets of mail items arranged in respective vertical stacks of mail items re-sequenced as an intermediate step to achieving said final sequenced set;

a merging controller for merging the mail items into a single output stream from the respective subsets of mail items in said final sequenced set; and

a collection device for collecting portions of the output stream of mail items consistent with the sequence of the final sequenced set to form batches of mail for orderly delivery to the prioritized delivery addresses according to delivery criteria reflected in said final sequenced set; and

wherein the staging device comprises a plurality of mutually adjacent staging towers disposed along a transport conveyor, each staging tower including;

a housing;

a shelf storage zone in the housing in a space below a conveying path including the transport conveyor for storing a plurality of vertically stacked empty shelves separated by a predetermined pitch between the shelves;

a mail item storage zone above the conveying path for storing the shelves and mail items thereon to form a stack of mail items separated by a predetermined pitch;

a transfer zone between the shelf storage zone and the item storage zone for accommodating the transport conveyor; and

an elevator mechanism for moving the shelves one at a time from the shelf storage zone, through the transfer zone, and into the mail item storage zone;

each shelf selectively picking up mail items on the conveyor in the transfer zone and lifting the mail items into the mail item storage zone.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the separating device is initiated to merge the pre-sequenced groups to form the input stream during feeding of the last pre-sequenced group of mail items into the input stream.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the mail items comprise flats mail items from a group consisting essentially of:

magazines, newspapers, padded envelopes, single sheet fliers, compact disks, and poly-wrapped items.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein said mail items have a prioritized delivery address and a machine readable number thereon, the machine readable number being part of a numerical delivery order sequence with lower numbers representing higher delivery priorities, and further including a reader for reading the numbers, and generating control signals for routing the mail items to predetermined ones of the vertical stacks at the staging station, the mail items in each stack being positioned in ascending order number from bottom to top of the stack.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein each flats mail items has a prioritized delivery address and a machine readable number thereon, the machine readable number being part of a numerical delivery order sequence with lower numbers representing higher delivery priorities, and further including a reader for reading the numbers, and generating control signals for routing the flats mail items to predetermined ones of the vertical stacks at the staging station, the flats mail items in each stack being positioned in ascending order number from bottom to top of the stack.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein said transport conveyor includes a plurality of spaced movable members defining a conveying surface and the shelves include spaced fingers vertically movable through the space between the movable members in response to engagement with the elevator mechanism.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the elevator mechanism comprises;

a first endless belt disposed on rotatable pulleys for vertical movement through the shelf storage zone; and

a plurality of spaced lugs extending from the endless belt for engaging and lifting the shelves;

a second endless belt disposed on rotatable pulleys for vertical movement through the transfer zone, and a plurality of lugs on the second endless belt for engaging shelves in the transfer zone as the shelves emerge from the top of the shelf storage zone; and

a third endless belt disposed on rotatable pulleys in the item storage space, said third endless belt having lugs extending therefrom for picking up shelves emerging at the top of the transfer zone with the items thereon and lifting the shelves and items into the item storage zone.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the collection device comprises:

at least two collection assemblies for selectively extracting mail items from the conveyor, each collection assembly including a pop-up conveyor section movable between a first position operatively aligned with the transport conveyor for receiving mail items exiting the transport conveyor and moving the mail items along the pop-up conveyor section to bypass an associated container, and a second position for diverting the mail items exiting the transport conveyor into the associated container, said collection assemblies being disposed in tandem at an output end of the transport conveyor;

an actuator for each pop-up conveyor for moving the section between the first and second positions; and

a collection controller for selectively energizing the activators.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein each said associated container comprises a rectangular tub with five closed sides and one open side, and there is further provided means for supporting the tub with the open side tilted at an angle with respect to horizontal, an inclined chute for feeding mail items diverted by the pop-up conveyor section into a selected tub and an indexing assembly for moving the selected down relative to an output end of the inclined chute as the tub is being filled with mail items at an indexing rate related to the rate of flow of mail items into the selected tub.

18. The system of claim 17, and further including an inclined baffle disposed within each tilted tub for engaging mail items exiting the chutes and deflecting the mail items downwardly toward a bottom end thereof.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the indexing assembly includes at least one endless drive belt disposed on rotatable pulleys, the drive belt being operatively connected to the tub for transporting the relative movement thereto, and a motor for driving the endless drive belt.

20. A system for collating a plurality of groups of items, each said group being pre-sequenced according to a prioritized order, into a final sequenced set of items from the groups, utilizing the prioritized order comprising;

a separating device for separating each group of items into a single input stream of the individual items;

a transport conveyor for feeding the items from the input stream to a staging device,

a sorting device for sorting the items at the staging device into a plurality of subsets of items re-sequenced as an intermediate step to achieving said final sequenced set;

a merging controller for merging the items into a single output stream from the respective subsets of items in said final sequenced set; and

a collection mechanism 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; and

wherein each said subset of items is stored in said staging device in a respective vertical stack of items, and wherein said staging device comprises a plurality of juxtaposed staging towers disposed along the transport conveyor, each staging tower including;

a housing for the tower defining a vertically oriented volume of space;

a shelf storage zone in the housing in the space below a conveying path of the conveyor for storing a plurality of vertically stacked empty shelves separated by a predetermined pitch between the shelves;

an item storage zone above the conveying path for storing the shelves and items thereon to form a stack of items separated by a predetermined pitch;

a transfer zone between the shelf storage zone and the item storage zone for accommodating the conveyor; and

an elevator mechanism for moving the shelves one at a time from the shelf storage zone, through the transfer zone, and into the item storage zone in response to signals from the sorting device and merging controller;

each shelf, when elevated, picking up items on the conveyor in the transfer zone and lifting the items into the item storage zone.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the separating device is initiated to merge the pre-sequenced groups to form the input stream during feeding of the last pre-sequenced group of items into the input stream.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein said transport conveyor includes a plurality of spaced movable members defining a conveying surface and the shelves include spaced fingers vertically movable through the space between the movable members in response to engagement with the elevator mechanism.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the elevator mechanism comprises;

a first endless belt disposed on rotatable pulleys for vertical movement through the shelf storage zone; and

a plurality of spaced lugs extending from the endless belt for engaging and lifting the shelves;

a second endless belt disposed on rotatable pulleys for vertical movement through the transfer zone, and a plurality of lugs on the second endless belt for engaging shelves in the transfer zone as the shelves emerge from the top of the shelf storage zone; and

a third endless belt disposed on rotatable pulleys in the item storage zone, said third endless belt having lugs extending therefrom for picking up shelves emerging at the top of the transfer zone with the items thereon and lifting the shelves and items into the item storage zone.

24. The system of claim 20 wherein the collection mechanism comprises:

at least two collection assemblies for selectively extracting items from the conveyor, each collection assembly including a pop-up conveyor section movable between a first position operatively aligned with the transport conveyor for receiving items exiting the transport conveyor and moving the items along the pop-up conveyor section to bypass an associated container, and a second position for diverting the items exiting the transport conveyor into the associated container, said collection assemblies being disposed in tandem at an output end of the transport conveyor;

an actuator for each pop-up conveyor for moving the section between the first and second positions; and

a collection controller for selectively energizing the activators.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the associated container of the two collection assemblies comprise a rectangular tub with five closed sides and one open side, and there is further provided means for supporting the tub with the open side tilted at an angle with respect to horizontal, an inclined chute for feeding items diverted by the pop-up conveyor section into a selected one of the tubs and an indexing assembly for moving the tub down relative to an output end of inclined chute as the tub is being filled with items at an indexing rate related to the rate of flow of item into the tub.

26. The system of claim 25 and further including an inclined baffle disposed within each tilted tub for engaging items exiting the chutes and deflecting the items downwardly toward a bottom end of the tilted tubs.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the indexing assembly includes at least one endless drive belt disposed on rotatable pulleys, the drive belt being operatively connected to the tub for transporting the relative movement thereto, and a motor for driving the endless drive belt.