Method and system for multi-stream object sorting
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for sorting articles, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a multiplicity of articles to be sorted, each one of said multiplicity of articles having an associated sorting key;
providing a multi-bin article sorter having a first plurality p of input bins and a second plurality n of output bins, n being greater than or equal to p;
using the multi-bin article sorter to sort the multiplicity of articles based, at least in part, on at least part of the sorting key associated with each one of said multiplicity of articles, to produce n output groups of articles corresponding respectively to the second plurality n of output bins; and
performing a further sort comprising;
grouping the n output groups of articles into p input groups; and
resorting the p input groups using the multi-bin article sorter, each of the p input groups being placed in one of the first plurality p of input bins, to produce n new output groups of articles corresponding respectively to the second plurality n of output bins, wherein each of the n new output groups is associated with and fed by exactly one of the p input bins.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A sorting machine has multiple input bins which are used for all passes of sorting. At each sorting pass, each output bin is associated with and receives input from exactly one input bin. A multi-bin sorter has p input bins and n output bins, n being greater or equal to p. A first sort is performed on the basis of at least part of the sorting key which is associated to each article, providing n output groups of articles corresponding to the n output bins. The sorted articles in n output bins are then grouped in p input bins and resorted by the multi-bin sorter providing n new output groups of articles, each output group being associated with and fed by exactly one of the input bins. The first sorting could be based on a first portion of the sorting key, and the second sorting could be based on a second portion of the sorting key, the first and second portions being non-disjoint.
-
Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A method for sorting articles, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a multiplicity of articles to be sorted, each one of said multiplicity of articles having an associated sorting key;
providing a multi-bin article sorter having a first plurality p of input bins and a second plurality n of output bins, n being greater than or equal to p;
using the multi-bin article sorter to sort the multiplicity of articles based, at least in part, on at least part of the sorting key associated with each one of said multiplicity of articles, to produce n output groups of articles corresponding respectively to the second plurality n of output bins; and
performing a further sort comprising;
grouping the n output groups of articles into p input groups; and
resorting the p input groups using the multi-bin article sorter, each of the p input groups being placed in one of the first plurality p of input bins, to produce n new output groups of articles corresponding respectively to the second plurality n of output bins, wherein each of the n new output groups is associated with and fed by exactly one of the p input bins. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A system for sorting articles, comprising:
-
means for providing a multiplicity of articles to be sorted, each one of said multiplicity of articles having an associated sorting key;
means for providing a multi-bin article sorter having a first plurality p of input bins and a second plurality n of output bins, n being greater than or equal to p;
means for using the multi-bin article sorter to sort the multiplicity of articles based, at least in part, on at least part of the sorting key associated with each one of said multiplicity of articles, to produce n output groups of articles corresponding respectively to the second plurality n of output bins; and
means for performing a further sort comprising;
means for grouping the n output groups of articles into p input groups; and
means for resorting the p input groups using the multi-bin article sorter, each of the p input groups being placed in one of the first plurality p of input bins, to produce n new output groups of articles corresponding respectively to the second plurality n of output bins, wherein is each of the n new output groups is associated with and fed by exactly one of the p input bins. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
Specification
-
- Resources
Litigation Campaign Assessment
Thank you for your request. You will receive a custom alert email when the Litigation Campaign Assessment is available.
×
-
Current AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
-
Original AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
-
InventorsWalach, Eugene
-
Primary Examiner(s)Walsh, Donald P.
-
Assistant Examiner(s)RODRIGUEZ, JOSEPH C
-
Application NumberUS09/407,142Time in Patent Office686 DaysField of Search209/584, 209/583, 209/DIG.900, 209/576, 209/577US Class Current209/584CPC Class CodesB07C 3/00 Sorting according to destin...Y10S 209/90 Sorting flat-type mail
