Classifying – separating – and assorting solids – Precedent preparation of items or materials to facilitate... – Sorting special items or sorting by methods and apparatus...
Patent
1997-05-27
1999-09-28
Bollinger, David H.
Classifying, separating, and assorting solids
Precedent preparation of items or materials to facilitate...
Sorting special items or sorting by methods and apparatus...
209584, 209900, B07C 502
Patent
active
059572965
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION
The invention concerns a method and a facility for distributing letter-post items in accordance with the preambles of the independent patent claims.
In letter sorters, the postal goods are sorted in several series-connected sorting processes and are then deposited onto a plurality of stacking surfaces. In this case, it is frequently neither desired nor possible for practical reasons to provide an individual sorting compartment for each smallest class of a sorting operation. For example, if the postal goods are to be sorted according to the sequence of delivery by the mailman, a separate sorting compartment is not used for each mail recipient. Rather, the postal goods are distributed to a specific number of stacking compartments, in the same sequence in which they will later on be distributed by the delivery person during the distribution operation. The postal goods in this case are arranged according to the prescribed sequence within the sorting compartment, so that with a corresponding arrangement of the stacking compartments, the total postal goods are arranged in accordance with the total predetermined sequence. In order to be able to manage with a relatively low number of stacking compartments in sorters, the postal goods are therefore sorted several times and possibly indirectly. A corresponding method is described in the DE-OS 43 02 231. However, for such methods or facilities, where sorting takes place for the smallest and last class of a sorting operation according to the distribution sequence, the number of sorting operations as well as the processing time is higher than for the methods and facilities, for which sorting takes place only to the next to the last class and one is content with the disorderly sequence of letter-post items or postal goods in this next to the last sorting class.
It is the object of the invention at hand to specify a method and a facility, with which the sorting quality is increased, without increasing the number of machine sorting operations and the processing time for the letter-post items through the sorter.
The solution is with the features in the independent patent claims. Advantageous embodiments of the invention follow from the dependent claims, the description, and the drawings.
The invention is based on the fact that for the letter-post items belonging to a predetermined sorting class, each letter-post item is assigned an identification means during the address information reading, which is designed to identify the position of the assigned letter-post items to a letter-post item stack, that each identification means is assigned to an element of a predetermined sequence of distribution positions, and that the assignment of the identification means to the elements of the sequence of distribution positions is displayed. This makes it possible to omit the last machine sorting operation for the letter-post items of the respective sorting class, so that a shortening of the total processing time during the letter sorting is achieved as well. It is advantageous here if the predetermined sequence of distribution positions is arranged according to the distribution sequence for delivering the letter-post items, as well as to print out a list or display the assignment of the identification means to the elements of the sequence for the distribution positions.
It is particularly easy to use as identification means cards made of cardboard or plastic that have either ascending or descending numbers, as well as to arrange a predetermined number of letter-post items together with the corresponding identification means in a stack. The stack is advantageously placed in a container or a pouch carried by the delivery person. The letter-post items are sorted in this way, so that the delivery persons when stopping at the distribution positions remove the letter-post items assigned to these position from the container, wherein the positions of the assigned letter-post items in the stack are indicated by the coordinated identification means.
The invention is explained in more
REFERENCES:
patent: 5042667 (1991-08-01), Keough
patent: 5104681 (1992-04-01), Sansone
patent: 5292008 (1994-03-01), Sansone et al.
patent: 5421464 (1995-06-01), Gillmann et al.
patent: 5470427 (1995-11-01), Mikel et al.
Altenburg Dieter
Kechel Ottmar
Linde Hans-Juergen
Mohr Karl-Heinz
Mok Josef
Bollinger David H.
Licentia Patent - Verwaltungs GmbH
Spencer George H.
Wells Ashley J.
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