Method of and apparatus for shipping, tracking, and delivering a shipment of packages employing the capture of shipping document images and recognition-processing thereof initiated from the point of shipment pickup and completed while the shipment is being transported to its first scanning point, to shorten the delivery time of packages to point of destination
First Claim
1. A method of shipping, tracking, and delivering a shipment of packages over an Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network including (i) a digital image capture and processing device with memory storage provided at a point of shipment pickup, (ii) at least a first scanning point capable of scanning packages in said shipment and routing said packages to a point of destination, (iii) sorting and routing hubs located along routes leading to said point of destination, and (iv) a central processing station having a network application server and a database management system (DBMS) operably connected to the infrastructure of the Internet, and wherein said shipment of packages has an original shipping document assigned an original shipment tracking number, and each package in said shipment has an original shipping label containing said original shipment tracking number, said method comprising the steps:
- (A) at said point of shipment pickup,(i) using said digital image capture and processing device to automatically capture a digital image of said original shipping document in connection with said shipment of packages, and then buffering said digital image in the memory storage of said digital image capture and processing device;
(ii) automatically processing said buffered digital image so as to read machine-readable information graphically represented in said digital image of the original shipping document, and produce data representative of said machine-readable information and a digital image file for said digital image of the original shipping document;
(iii) automatically encoding said data into said digital image file; and
(iv) transmitting said digital image file over said Internet to said network application server, and storing said digital image file in said DBMS; and
(B) while said shipment is being transported from said point of shipment pickup to said first scanning point,(i) recognition processing said stored digital image file to read shipping information graphically represented in said digital image file, and(ii) storing said recognized shipping information in said DBMS; and
(C) at said first scanning point, (i) reading the original shipment tracking number on said package in said shipment, and accessing said shipping information stored in said DBMS associated with said package, and (ii) using shipping information accessed from said DBMS to sort and route said package toward said point of destination, and(D) at each said sorting and routing hub, (i) reading the original shipment tracking number on said package in said shipment, and accessing said shipping information stored in said DBMS associated with said package, and (ii) using shipping information accessed from said DBMS to sort and route said package to said point of destination,whereby the delivery time of said shipment of packages to said point of destination is shortened by virtue of shipping information being extracted from said original shipping document and stored and made available in said DBMS while the shipment is being transported to said first scanning point, so that said shipping information is available for sorting and routing of each said package at the time when each said package in said shipment arrives at said first scanning point, and at each said sorting and routing hub.
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Abstract
An Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network supporting the capture of shipping document images and recognition-processing thereof initiated from a point of shipment pickup and completed while shipments are transported to its first scanning point in said network so as to significantly increase velocity of shipping information through the network, as well as reduce delivery time over the network.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of shipping, tracking, and delivering a shipment of packages over an Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network including (i) a digital image capture and processing device with memory storage provided at a point of shipment pickup, (ii) at least a first scanning point capable of scanning packages in said shipment and routing said packages to a point of destination, (iii) sorting and routing hubs located along routes leading to said point of destination, and (iv) a central processing station having a network application server and a database management system (DBMS) operably connected to the infrastructure of the Internet, and wherein said shipment of packages has an original shipping document assigned an original shipment tracking number, and each package in said shipment has an original shipping label containing said original shipment tracking number, said method comprising the steps:
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(A) at said point of shipment pickup, (i) using said digital image capture and processing device to automatically capture a digital image of said original shipping document in connection with said shipment of packages, and then buffering said digital image in the memory storage of said digital image capture and processing device; (ii) automatically processing said buffered digital image so as to read machine-readable information graphically represented in said digital image of the original shipping document, and produce data representative of said machine-readable information and a digital image file for said digital image of the original shipping document; (iii) automatically encoding said data into said digital image file; and (iv) transmitting said digital image file over said Internet to said network application server, and storing said digital image file in said DBMS; and (B) while said shipment is being transported from said point of shipment pickup to said first scanning point, (i) recognition processing said stored digital image file to read shipping information graphically represented in said digital image file, and (ii) storing said recognized shipping information in said DBMS; and (C) at said first scanning point, (i) reading the original shipment tracking number on said package in said shipment, and accessing said shipping information stored in said DBMS associated with said package, and (ii) using shipping information accessed from said DBMS to sort and route said package toward said point of destination, and (D) at each said sorting and routing hub, (i) reading the original shipment tracking number on said package in said shipment, and accessing said shipping information stored in said DBMS associated with said package, and (ii) using shipping information accessed from said DBMS to sort and route said package to said point of destination, whereby the delivery time of said shipment of packages to said point of destination is shortened by virtue of shipping information being extracted from said original shipping document and stored and made available in said DBMS while the shipment is being transported to said first scanning point, so that said shipping information is available for sorting and routing of each said package at the time when each said package in said shipment arrives at said first scanning point, and at each said sorting and routing hub. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An Internet-based network for shipping, tracking, and delivering a shipment of packages from a point of shipment pickup to a point of destination, wherein said shipment of packages has an original shipping document assigned an original shipment tracking number, and each package in said shipment has an original shipping label containing said original shipment tracking number, said Internet-based network comprising:
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a digital image capture and processing device with memory storage provided at said point of shipment pickup; at least a first scanning point capable of scanning packages in said shipment and routing said packages to said point of destination; sorting and routing hubs located along routes leading to said point of destination, and capable of scanning packages in said shipment and routing said packages to said point of destination; a central processing station having a network application server; and a database management system (DBMS) operably connected to said network application server and the infrastructure of the Internet; wherein said digital image capture and processing device is configured to perform a number of operations at said point of shipment pickup, including (i) automatically capturing a digital image of said original shipping document in connection with said shipment of packages, (ii) buffering said digital image in the memory storage of said digital image capture and processing device, (iii) processing said buffered digital image so as to read machine-readable information graphically represented in said digital image of the original shipping document, (iv) producing data representative of said machine-readable information and a digital image file for said digital image of the original shipping document, (v) encoding said data into said digital image file, and (vi) transmitting said digital image file over said Internet to said network application server, for storage in said DBMS; and wherein said central processing station is configured so that while said shipment is being transported from said point of shipment pickup to said first scanning point, said stored digital image file is recognition processed to read shipping information graphically represented in said digital image file, and said extracted shipping information is stored in said DBMS; wherein said first scanning point is configured so that at said first scanning point, each said package in said shipment is scanned, the original shipment tracking number on said package is read, shipping information stored in said DBMS and associated with said package is accessed, and the accessed shipping information is used to sort and route said package toward said point of destination, and wherein each said sorting and routing hub is configured so that each said package in said shipment is scanned, the original shipment tracking number on said package is read, the shipping information stored in said DBMS and associated with said package is accessed, and accessed shipping information is used to sort and route said package to said point of destination, whereby the delivery time of said shipment of packages to said point of destination is shortened by virtue of shipping information being extracted from said original shipping document and stored and made available in said DBMS while the shipment is being transported to said first scanning point, so that said shipping information is available for sorting and routing of each said package at the time when each said package in said shipment arrives at said first scanning point, and at each said sorting and routing hub. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification