Mixed product delivery point sequencer and method of use
First Claim
1. A device for sequencing disparate products, comprising:
- a first feeder mechanism feeding a stream of a first product type in a pre-sequenced order;
a packet former which packetizes the first product type into packets having common product information;
a second feeder mechanism feeding a separation item before or after each packet of the packets formed by the packet former;
a third feeder mechanism feeding a stream of second product type though a sequencing process;
a reading device reading product information of the first product type and the second product type;
a controller coupled to at least the first, second and third feeder and the reading device; and
a pausing device, which under control of the controller, intermittently pauses at least one of the packets formed by the packet former and the second stream of the second product type, during second pass, to intermix and sequence the packets and the second stream of the second product type having the common product information into a merged stream of first and second product type.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A device and method for device for sequencing disparate products includes at least a first feeder mechanism feeding a stream of a first product type in a pre-sequenced order. At least a second feeder mechanism feeds a stream of second product type though a sequencing process. A reading device reads product information of the first product type and the second product type. A pausing device pauses the first stream of the first product type or the second stream of the second product type in a first pass sort order of the sequencing process based on the information read from the reading device. The first product type and the second product type are intermixed into a stream forming a merged stream of sequenced first and second product type. A separation item may be placed between groupings of the intermixed product.
59 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A device for sequencing disparate products, comprising:
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a first feeder mechanism feeding a stream of a first product type in a pre-sequenced order; a packet former which packetizes the first product type into packets having common product information; a second feeder mechanism feeding a separation item before or after each packet of the packets formed by the packet former; a third feeder mechanism feeding a stream of second product type though a sequencing process; a reading device reading product information of the first product type and the second product type; a controller coupled to at least the first, second and third feeder and the reading device; and a pausing device, which under control of the controller, intermittently pauses at least one of the packets formed by the packet former and the second stream of the second product type, during second pass, to intermix and sequence the packets and the second stream of the second product type having the common product information into a merged stream of first and second product type. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A sequencing method, comprising:
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providing a first type of product in a pre-sequenced order; packetizing the first type of product into packets based on common information; placing a separation item at a beginning or end point of each of the packets; sorting a second type of product through a first pass sort into delivery groups; and during sequencing of the second type of product, intermixing the packets of the first type of product associated with a common group of the second type of product into a stream to form a merged sequential order of the first type of product and the second type of product with a separation item between groupings. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A sequencing method, comprising:
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providing a first type of product in a sequenced order; passing a second type of product through a two pass sort to sequence the second type of product; and intermixing the first type of product in the sequenced order with the second type of product during a second pass sort of the second type of product such that the second type of product forms a merged sequential stream, in a delivery point sequence, with the first type of product; placing a separation item between different groups of the merged sequential stream prior to the intermixing step in order to form defacto packages. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification