Patent Grant
7195236
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to, among other things, systems for handling mail (including, e.g., flats, envelopes, letters, postcards and/or other mail) and/or other objects, and certain preferred embodiments relate, more particularly, to automated systems for pre-processing mail flats handled by mail flats sorting systems.
2. Background Discussion
The following discussion is based on the inventors' knowledge and should not be construed as admissions of knowledge in the prior art.
Currently, a variety of systems are used for the handling of objects, such as, e.g., thin objects like mail flats and/or other mail. For example, the United States Postal Service (USPS) uses various systems to facilitate and enhance the handling of mail flats. Some illustrative mail processing systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,443,311 (the '311 patent), assigned to Northrop Grumman Corporation, entitled Flats Bundle Collator, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as though recited herein in full.
As another example, one illustrative mail processing system is the AFSM100™ flats sorting system built by Northrop Grumman Corporation and Rapistan Systems and used by the USPS The AFSM100 flats sorting machine is a mail sorting system that can process, e.g., large pieces of flat mail, such as for example magazines, in large volumes. Each AFSM100 system has three mail-feeding units.
In some of these existing mail processing systems, feeders are used to deliver mail into the systems for processing. In some illustrative and non-limiting examples, these feeders include a delivery portion and a destacking (e.g., singulating) portion. In such systems, mail is typically placed onto the delivery portion and delivered to the destacking portion. In these example systems, the mail pieces are usually delivered to a sorting section in pieces (e.g., usually having a fixed gap and/or a fixed pitch).
In such systems, operators typically load (such as, e.g., manually from mail storage hampers) the mail to be processed onto the delivery portion at the beginning of the operation. The operators usually continue to load the mail while the system processes the mail.
While the USPS processes approximately 200 billion pieces of mail per year, the mail that is processed requires substantial manual loading and tending by operators. With reference to
This manual process involves a substantial amount of demanding labor and imposes a set of repetitive motions on the operators performing the loading. For letter mail, processing systems may demand about 40,000 pieces an hour. For flats mail, systems may require between about 20,000 and 40,000 pieces per hour distributed over a number of loading consoles (usually, three or four). In such cases, operators may be required to load between about 7,000 and 10,000 flats per hour. With reference to flats, by way of example, these consumption rates can require the operators to lift, transfer and groom approximately 5000 pounds of mail per hour.
In modern-day mail processing environments, sorting and other systems are continuing to run faster and longer than that in the past. The burden placed upon the operators who feed and/or operate the systems, thus, continues to increase. In many instances, the performance of mail processing equipment is increasingly dependent upon an operator's capacity to support the system.
As described above with reference to
Among other things, the elevated demands placed upon the operators who feed the systems, requires that operators present more mail and/or present mail at a faster rate. This can, e.g., reduce the amount of time available for operators to adjust, groom and/or otherwise manipulate the mail on the delivery system (e.g., to ensure that it is properly oriented for, for instance, efficient destacking).
With existing mail feeding systems that have a transport system and a pusher system that are tied together through a single drive mechanism, the synchronous nature of these systems inhibits them from being able to automatically compensate for poorly stacked mail (e.g., leaning too far forward [such as, e.g., in a manner similar to that denoted by dashed lines B shown in
The stack of flats depicted in solid lines in
Therefore, a need exists for a systems and methods that can overcome, among other things, the above and/or other problems with existing systems.
Various embodiments of the present invention can significantly improve upon existing systems and methods. In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, one or more of the above and/or other problems with existing systems can be overcome.
The preferred embodiments enable the automatic loading of prepared mail in carriers onto mail processing systems. The process of automatic loading can reduce the requirements on operators—such as, e.g., enabling one operator to tend multiple feeders or systems. The accuracy, repeatability and/or delivery speed of the preferred embodiments can support higher throughput than was available with prior systems. In preferred embodiments, the system can still be run manually and can still retain full functionality for operators to even manually move a paddle during the process. In various embodiments, a variety of configurations and indexing means can be used to provide the desired paddle movements, such as, e.g., ball screws, slide mechanisms, belt drives and/or any other appropriate drive mechanisms.
In some embodiments, the automatic loading features can be integrated into a substantially fully automated operation in which carriers of mail are delivered to the system by material handling equipment such as conveyors, transfer mechanisms, elevators and/or other means. The system can be configured to accept carriers from any direction to accommodate various machine layouts and facility constraints.
According to some embodiments, a system for automated loading of a side-by-side stack of thin objects to a thin-object feeder can include: a) a transporter having a transport surface upon which a side-by-side stack of thin objects can be conveyed; b) a carrier, configured to carry a side-by-side stack of thin objects, supported above the transport surface; c) a pusher supported above the transport surface; d) the pusher and the carrier being movable relative to one another between a first position in which the pusher is inside the carrier behind a side-by-side stack of thin objects on the carrier and a second position in which the pusher is laterally displaced from the carrier, such that the side-by-side stack of thin objects on the carrier is laterally slidable off of the carrier by the pusher. In some embodiments, the system further includes independent drive mechanisms for the pusher and the carrier, wherein the carrier is driven in a fore-and-aft direction via a carrier support, and wherein the drive mechanism for the pusher includes a fore-and-aft drive component and an up-and-down drive component, and the pusher is movable into the carrier to engage thin objects therein.
According to other embodiments, a method of automated loading of mail to maintain a side-by-side stack of mail on a mail feeder, comprises: conveying a carrier filled with a side-by-side stack of mail to a location above the feeder; laterally moving the side-by-side stack of mail and the carrier relative to one another such that the side-by-side stack of mail on the carrier is laterally slid off of the carrier and onto a transport surface of the mail feeder to a side-by-side stack of mail on the feeder. In some embodiments, the method further includes laterally moving the side-by-side stack of mail with a pusher towards a mail stack processing location of the mail feeder. In some embodiments, the method further includes conveying another carrier filled with a side-by-side stack of mail to a position adjacent the side-by-side stack of mail at the mail stack processing location. In some embodiments, the method further includes raising the pusher and then moving the pusher to a position within the another carrier adjacent the side-by-side stack of mail in the another carrier.
According to other embodiments, a method for upgrading a mail system having a transporter upon which mail is supported for movement and a pusher against which mail is supported during movement, wherein the pusher and the transporter are originally connected to move synchronously via the same drive mechanism, can include: a) providing a carrier support adapted to move above the transporter; b) replacing the single drive mechanism with independent drive mechanisms for the transporter and the pusher, wherein the drive mechanism for the pusher includes a fore-and-aft drive component and an up-and-down drive component, and the pusher is movable to within a carrier upon the carrier support.
According to other embodiments, a method for processing mail delivered to at least one mail feeder having a conveyor from which mail is fed to a downstream system, can include: a) delivering mail on a carrier via a delivery system; b) automatically delivering the carrier via the delivery system to the feeder without requiring an operator to handle the carrier; and c) automatically transferring mail from the carrier to the conveyor of the feeder. In some embodiments, the method further includes delivering carriers from a plurality of preparation operator locations to a common supply, and delivering the carriers from the common supply to a plurality of feed operator locations proximate respective mail feeders. In some embodiments, the method further includes automatically returning the carrier from the feeder via a return conveyor.
The above and/or other aspects, features and/or advantages of various embodiments will be further appreciated in view of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Various embodiments can include and/or exclude different aspects, features and/or advantages. In addition, various embodiments can combine one or more aspect or feature from other embodiments. The descriptions of aspects, features and/or advantages of particular embodiments should not be construed as limiting other embodiments or the claims.
The accompanying figures are provided by way of example, without limiting the broad scope of the invention or various other embodiments, wherein:
While the present invention may be embodied in many different forms, a number of illustrative embodiments are described herein with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as providing examples of various principles of the invention and such examples are not intended to limit the invention to preferred embodiments described herein and/or illustrated herein.
The preferred embodiments can provide, among other things, a substantially or entirely automated system for use in the processing of thin objects (including, e.g., three-dimensional objects having a size in first dimension that is substantially smaller than sizes in second and third dimensions). While the preferred embodiments can be used to process mail (including, for example, flats, envelopes, letters, postcards and/or other mail), and the most preferred embodiments can be used to process mail flats, various embodiments can also or can alternatively be used to process other thin objects, such as, e.g., sheets, boards, panels, planar materials, paper goods and/or other thin objects.
Various embodiments of the present invention can be employed in a variety of systems and devices. In some non-limiting examples, embodiments of the present invention can be employed within systems similar to that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,443,311 (the '311 patent), assigned to Northrop Grumman Corporation, entitled Flats Bundle Collator, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as though recited herein in full, such as, e.g., to upgrade the feeder 10 shown in FIG. 1 of the '311 patent.
Additionally, various embodiments of the present invention can be employed, in other non-limiting examples, within an AFSM100™ flats sorting machine built by Northrop Grumman Corporation and Rapistan Systems and used by the United States Postal Service (USPS). The AFSM100 flats sorting machine is a mail sorting system that can process, e.g., large pieces of flat mail, such as for example magazines, in large volumes. Each AFSM100 system has three mail-feeding units and embodiments of the present invention can be utilized to improve one or more, preferably all, of these mail-feeding units. In some preferred embodiments, an AFSM100 system is adapted to employ automatic flats stack correction by, e.g., splitting a mail delivery system into two separately controlled components such that, e.g., the machine can deliver mail more efficiently to a sorting unit. Preferably, this is accomplished substantially independently of an operator.
While some embodiments can be used, e.g., with feeders that feed mail, such as that of the AFSM100 system, various other embodiments can be used with feeders that feed other objects or materials. The terminology feeder includes, as per Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary, “[a] device that supplies . . . material” and is not limited to any particular form of feeding or to any particular object fed.
In some embodiments, a delivery system that delivers carriers to a feeder can include one or more transporter and/or one or more conveyor (such as, e.g., supply conveyor 110 described below). The terminology delivery system includes any system that delivers objects and encompasses one or more, e.g., transporter(s), conveyor(s) and/or the like.
Pusher
While in some illustrative embodiments, the pusher includes a paddle as shown in
In some embodiments, the pusher is adapted to move fore-and-aft in the direction of the arrows A3, while retaining a substantially non-perpendicular or reclined orientation as shown in
In some embodiments, the pusher can be mounted such that, when desired, it can be raised upward and moved back to a left side of the transporter 20 to support additional mail or the like.
Transporter
With respect to the transporter 20, various embodiments of the invention can employ any appropriate structure that is known or available. The terminology transporter includes any device that transports or conveys from one place to another. In some embodiments, the transporter 20 can include a conveyor, a sliding plate, a laterally moved support, a trolley, a plurality of rollers, an inclined plate (such as, e.g., an inclined plate having a low friction surface along which objects can slide due to gravitational or other forces) and/or any other appropriate transporter mechanism known or available having, e.g., a transport surface 23 with which objects may be transported. In that regard, the transport surface 23 can include, e.g., one or more conveyor belt surface(s), one or more sliding plate surface(s), one or more laterally moved support surface(s), one or more trolley surface(s), one or more roller surface(s), one or more inclined plate surface(s) and/or other appropriate surfaces. In some preferred embodiments, the surface 23 can include a single section (such as, e.g., an outer surface of a single conveyor belt as shown), while in other preferred embodiments it can have a plurality of sections (such as, e.g., outer surfaces of a plurality of separate conveyors, rollers or the like). In some preferred embodiments, the surface 23 can be generally planar and generally horizontal (see, e.g., FIG. 2(A)), while in other preferred embodiments it can be substantially non-planar and/or substantially non-horizontal.
In the embodiment shown in
As shown in
Non-Synchronous
In preferred embodiments, the pusher and transporter systems are adapted to be capable of moving non-synchronously and/or independently from one another in a manner to correct for poor stack angle and to allow the pusher to be independently directed to assist in the automatic loading of mail or the like from carriers. In preferred embodiments, the moving devices 50 and 60 include independent devices, such as, e.g., independent servomotors. As discussed above, a variety of mechanisms can be used to effect movement of the transporter and the pusher.
In the embodiment shown in
In some embodiments, the controller 70 can include software to control separated pusher and transporter mechanisms using, for example, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), one or more external personal computer (PC) or the like, one or more programmable servo drive and/or other devices. In addition, in preferred embodiments, control is carried out based on input from one or more sensor device(s) D. The sensor device(s) D can be used to sense, detect, estimate and/or otherwise evaluate the condition of the flats (such as, e.g., flat orientation). In some embodiments, the sensor device(s) D can sense flat orientation at a plurality of positions along the transporter 20, or along substantially the entire length of the transporter 20, or along the entire length of the transporter 20. In the illustrated embodiment, two sensor devices D are depicted. However, any appropriate number of sensor device(s) D can be selected depending on circumstances. In some embodiments, the sensor device(s) D can include one or more photo-light beam sensor, one or more photo-light sensor array, one or more pressure sensor, one or more camera and/or one or more appropriate sensor device to, e.g., detect when the flats (e.g., mail flats) are not being presented or delivered properly (e.g., to a sorting unit or the like).
When certain conditions are detected by these sensors, separate drive systems on the delivery system can be adapted to correct for, e.g., poorly loaded mail. For example, the moving devices 50 and 60 can be adapted to alter respective speeds, accelerations, relative positions and/or the like. In this manner, an improved efficiency can be achieved. This can also enable a higher throughput, a reduction in damage to mail, such as, e.g., flats and/or to the system, a reduction in the amount of multi-fed pieces of mail and/or various other advantages.
In some embodiments, an operator (such as, e.g., an operator OpF shown in FIGS. 10(A) and 10©)) can affect or can partly control corrections (such as, e.g., via operator interfaces and/or by manually moving the pusher, etc.), such as by receiving operator input to control the manner of correction, to control the extent of correction, to override operation and/or the like. However, substantial advantages can be obtained, in some preferred embodiments, by substantially or entirely eliminating the dependency of a machine's performance on an operator's ability to groom the mail while the system is loaded. In some preferred embodiments, a substantially automatic or entirely automatic stack correction is provided, as well as a substantially automatic or entirely automatic induction of mail or the like (discussed below).
In some preferred embodiments, a “decoupled” delivery system can thus be provided in which a pusher (e.g., a paddle) and a transporter (e.g., a transport system) can be moved independently to, e.g., correct against stacking errors and to effect automatic induction of mail. With respect to stacking errors, in some illustrative cases, stacking errors can include one or more of the following: a) excessive forward lean of one or more flat (such as, e.g., illustratively depicted in dashed lines at B in FIG. 2(A)); b) excessive rearward lean of one or more flat (such as, e.g., illustratively depicted in dashed lines at A in FIG. 2(A)); c) excessive spacing between flats; d) excessive movement of flats independent of transporter movement (such as, e.g., shifting or the like); e) variation in flat height (such as, e.g., variation of height between adjacent flats and/or variation of height of a specific flat); f) variation in pressure (such as, e.g., lateral pressure upon a pusher and/or upon a system downstream of the pusher, such as a destacking unit); g) slippage or movement of flats during transport; and/or h) other conditions as would be now or later apparent to those in the art based on this disclosure. These and/or other error conditions can be sensed by a number of different methods including, e.g., that described above, such as, e.g., pressure sensors (which can be used, e.g., to sense lateral stack pressure at a destacker system and/or at a pusher system), cameras and/or photo arrays (which can be used, e.g., to sense the stack angle or the like), electromagnet wave or light beam sensors (which can include, e.g., sensing via through beams, reflective beams and/or a combination of thereof for detecting stack angle or the like). As discussed above, the system can further include PLCs, external PCs, programmable servo drives and/or other devices that can be used to control and adjust a stack of flats (e.g., mail flats) on the transporter.
Among other things, as discussed above, decoupling the transporter and pusher components and placing them on separate drive systems can enable movement the pusher system independently of the transporter system and vice versa. In some embodiments, if the system sensors detect that the mail is stacked too loosely (e.g., leaning away from the destacking surface), the pusher can be actuated to “tighten” the stack by moving toward the destacking system at a greater velocity than the transporter. In some embodiments, if the system sensors detect that the stack is “over tilted” (e.g., leaning towards the destacking system), the transporter can also be moved forward at a greater rate than the pusher. For example, when a stack of mail has been poorly loaded, since the pusher system is uncoupled from the transporter system, a sensing mechanism (e.g., located, for instance, at or proximate a downstream end of the transporter [e.g., at a destacking system]) can send a signal causing, e.g., the pusher to move forward until a good mail stack condition is achieved (e.g., is sensed).
Preferably, the transporter and the pusher can continue to move at a generally consistent velocity (such as, e.g., at a “normal” velocity corresponding to a particular apparatus “feed” rate) and the relative velocity there-between can be increased and/or decreased during such movement (e.g., via respective corrections). In this manner, the preferred embodiments should be able to increase throughput of the system and avoid errors that may decrease throughput. In less preferred embodiments, stack correction can include stopping the transport system as the pusher is moved forward and/or stopping the pusher as the transport system is moved forward. While these latter embodiments may be readily programmed and implemented, in some circumstances, these can be less preferable because, e.g., there may be a slight decrease in throughput of the system due to stoppage of respective devices.
As depicted in
Method of Upgrading
According to some preferred embodiments, a method of upgrading an existing system (such as, e.g., an existing AFSM100 system) having synchronously coupled transporter and a pusher mechanisms can include modifying the existing system to include independently controlled drives for the transporter and the pusher mechanisms, such as discussed above. In this manner, an advantageous upgrade can be effectively and efficiently implemented. For example, a method of upgrading can include modifying an existing feeder 100 so as to replace the drive mechanisms with features depicted in, e.g.,
Implementation In Illustrative Mail Processing Systems
FIG. 10©) shows an illustrative and non-limiting mail processing system in which embodiments of the present invention can be implemented. Embodiments of the invention can be employed in a variety of systems, such as, e.g., within systems disclosed in the above-noted co-pending application 60/469,828 (see, e.g., by way of example
In the illustrative system shown in FIG. 10©), one or more preparation operator OpP can fill empty carriers 160 at an upstream loading zone. Among other things, the preparation operator can facilitate efforts of a feed operator OpF by preparing flats for processing. In some embodiments, the preparation operator can, e.g., de-bundle bundled flats fed to the preparation operator along a conveyor (such as, e.g., feeding bundled flats conveyed from a hamper under the lower supply conveyor 110 shown in FIG. 10©)) and can re-orient and place them inside a carrier (e.g., the preparation operator can start with, e.g., bundles laying flat, debundle the same and place the debundled mail in a generally vertical orientation on a carrier).
It is contemplated that in some embodiments, some or all of the preparation operator's manual tasks may be automated. For example, a substantially and/or entirely automatically controlled mechanism could be provided to cut bundles and/or to reorient mail from a horizontal orientation to vertical orientations inside carriers.
Thus, the system preferably eliminates the need for feed operators OpF to ‘face’ and ‘orient’ the mail during the loading process into the feeder. In some mail handling systems, orienting and facing is desirable because, e.g., mail-processing equipment typically processes mail in specific orientations (such as, e.g., with bindings down and addresses to the right or bindings forward and addresses to the left, etc.). Among other things, orienting and facing can be desirable due to, e.g., the particular nature of how a particular system transports mail in process and, e.g., the location of any automatic address reading equipment relative to the mail in transport (since, e.g., reading is performed as the mail is moving).
In the embodiments shown in
In some preferred embodiments, the elevator conveyor system includes two platforms, including an upper platform 140E for conveying empty carriers 160E and a lower platform 140F for conveying full carriers 160F. In some illustrative embodiments, the platforms 140E and 140F can be mounted together so as to remain a fixed distance from one another (e.g., a distance substantially equal to the distance between the conveyors 110 and 120). In
In the illustrative embodiment shown in
In some illustrative embodiments, the platforms 140E and 140F can include mechanisms to facilitate transfer to and/or from the platform(s). For instance, in some embodiments, the platforms can include powered rollers or powered casters to facilitate movement along one or two axes (e.g., parallel to the platform). In this manner, the carriers can easily be transferred to and/or from the platforms (such as, e.g., at their upper positions proximate the conveyors 110 and 120 and/or at their lower positions proximate the feeder operator OpF). In some preferred embodiments, the front of the elevators 200 in front of the operator OpF will include openings, doors, gates or the like to enable access to the platforms 140E and/or 140F. In some preferred embodiments, fixed and/or pop-up stops can be used to limit movement of the carriers from the elevator until desired.
With reference to the system shown in FIG. 10©), pop-up transfers PT can be used, for example, to transfer carriers to and/or from supply and return conveyors 110 and 120, respectively. FIG. 10©) shows an illustrative system in which full conveyors are conveyed from the preparation operator OpP location(s) via the supply conveyor 110 to the feeders and in which empty carriers are returned to preparation operator OpP location(s). In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10©), the elevators 200 can operate substantially like that described above with reference to
Preferred Automatic Induction Embodiments
According to some preferred embodiments, existing equipment can be modified and/or new processing equipment can be developed that provides the capability for that system to automatically load mail or the like from material handling equipment directly onto, e.g., systems (e.g., consoles of feeders) for processing. The preferred embodiments enable the processing equipment (e.g., feeders) to, for example, run more mail, at higher rates, with fewer operators, and without degrading system performance.
According to preferred embodiments, the system(s) can be run with operators functioning in manual-loading modes to, for example, facilitate current operations and/or delivery and/or to facilitate handling mail pieces that cannot be pre-packaged into carriers and/or the like.
In various embodiments, the delivery of the carriers C to the carrier support CS can be effected using a variety of mechanisms, such as, e.g., using: manual delivery, conveyor delivery, elevator delivery, robotic delivery, transfer roller delivery and/or other appropriate mechanisms. In various embodiments, the system can be configured to accept carriers (e.g., to receive carriers upon a carrier support) from any direction (e.g., from a front side, from a back side, from above and/or from below the processing system) to minimize encroachment into the available space around or near the processing system.
First, as shown in
Carriers
In various embodiments, the carriers 160 can have a variety of constructions (e.g., depending on the characteristics of the objects, such as, e.g., mail, to be carried). In some preferred embodiments, the carriers are made with plastic material. In some preferred embodiments, the carriers are formed by a molding process, such as, e.g., by injection molding. In some preferred embodiments, the carrier size is preferably selected so as to fit a single carrier upon the feeder console.
As described above, in some preferred embodiments, carriers are configured to enable a) mail to be supported thereon and b) mail to laterally slide off of the carrier in the direction of the destacking area. For example, some carrier designs may or may not include covers, one or more side walls and/or one or more movable side support members (e.g., walls, doors, retaining members or the like) to retain the mail in the carrier until it is unloaded onto the feeder console (e.g., proximate a back of the mail stack in process). For example, carriers can have an omitted front wall, such as, e.g., certain carriers described in the above co-pending patent applications or can include a movable front wall. In some embodiments, mail can be automatically and/or manually slid off of the carriers and onto the feeder (preferably, the mail is automatically slid off the carrier as described herein by relative movements of a paddle and a carrier support during processing, while a user can, in some instances, still manually effect such sliding)(although not detailed herein, in some embodiments, a lateral transfer slide, such as, e.g., described in the above co-pending applications can be included and/or the feeder console itself can be inclined to facilitate manual and/or automatic sliding of the mail with respect to the carrier).
While some illustrative carrier designs have been depicted and described, various embodiments can accommodate various carrier designs. For example, various systems according to embodiments of the present invention may operate with a variety of carrier types and designs.
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 11(A)–11©), the carrier 160 includes a floor 160FL, a back wall 160B, a left wall 160L, a right wall 160R and a front wall 160FR. In this embodiment, the front wall 160FR is adapted to provide support of mail or the like contained within the carrier during handling but to be moved out of the way to facilitate removal of mail or the like (such as, e.g., removal by sliding the carrier and the mail relative to one another such that the mail is relatively moved laterally past the front of the carrier). In this illustrative embodiment, the front wall 160FR is supported so as to pivot about left-side and right-side pivots 160P. In this illustrative embodiment, the left and right walls 160L and 160R include upper portions that separate from lower portions as shown in FIG. 11©) when pivoted.
In order to effect pivotal movement of the carrier, a variety of mechanisms can be employed. In some illustrative embodiments, the front wall 160FR of the carrier can be moved via the pusher 30. In this regard, the front wall 160FR and the pusher 30 can be adapted to include engagement members that engage together upon being brought against one another. By way of example, as shown in
The operation of the carriers 160 shown in
Other Pusher Embodiments
Control Features:
In some embodiments, control features can be provided that can, e.g., reduce forces applied by a pusher when, e.g., the pusher is lowered into a carrier or the like (see, e.g., shown in
Interleaved Tines:
In some embodiments, the tines 30IT and 30T can both independently include similar control features (e.g., force-inhibiting control features) to that discussed in the preceding section. By way of example, in some embodiments, upon entry of the pusher into a carrier, the retractable tines 30IT can be made to retract due to contact with the carrier (such as, e.g., contact with tines on the carrier).
Multi-Pusher Embodiments
In some preferred embodiments described above, a single pusher 30 can be employed. While there are a variety of benefits with single pusher implementations, in some embodiments, multiple pushers can be employed. In some circumstances, using multiple pushers can facilitate some aspects of handling a mail stack upon a feeder (such as, e.g., facilitating support of an existing mail stack on a feeder while concurrently supporting newly added mail stacks to the existing mail stack).
By way of example,
Preferably, each of the pushers 30-1, 30-2 and 30-3 are adapted for both fore-and-aft and up-and-down movement. This movement can be effected, by way of example, using similar drive devices as described above for certain pusher 30 embodiments. In some embodiments, using multi-pushers can allow the mail to be slid off of a carrier by the pushers rather than requiring the carrier to be moved away to effect the same (e.g., the pushers 30-1 and/or 30-2 can be used to move the mail from the carrier).
Preferably, once the carrier C is empty and the pushers move the mail to a position such that the pushers 30-2 and 30-3 are adjacent each other or contact each other, the pushers 30-2 and 30-3 are lifted together from the existing mail stack. Then, the pusher 30-1 can move along and function in a similar capacity that the pusher 30-3 did in the prior cycle or the pusher 30-3 can move behind the mail stack and the pusher 30-1 can be removed. Thereafter, the remaining pushers can be used to slide mail off of a subsequent carrier.
Bundled-Mail Embodiments
While in some preferred embodiments, the mail is delivered to the feeder in a non-bundled state, in some preferred embodiments, the mail can be delivered in a bundled state, such as, e.g., as shown in
Slump Inhibiting Embodiments
Among other things, the detectors d can be used to help reduce forward and/or backward slump of mail that can occur in the event that excess space is present in the carrier CC. For example, upon the simultaneous removal of a carrier front wall and lifting of the pusher, excess space can result in slumped mail (see, e.g., illustrative slump shown in
In some preferred embodiments, the front wall is moved, removed or not present prior to removal of the pusher. Then, when mail slumps against the pusher, the carrier C position can be adjusted (or other means can be employed, such as, e.g., another pusher [not shown]) to move the mail towards the pusher to reduce or remove the slump in the mail. In the illustrated embodiment, sensors or detectors d can be used to determine when the mail is properly positioned against the pusher (such as, e.g., when an even pressure is applied against the rear of the pusher). While detectors or the like can be provided on the pusher, it is contemplated that detectors can be located in a variety of other locations as desired. Additionally, in some embodiments, the mail can be moved forward until a particular torque or force characteristic is achieved (e.g., based on experiment or the like, a torque value, a change in torque, and/or a force value on a drive mechanism [such as, e.g., a servo-motor or the like] can be used to identify proper mail orientation). In some embodiments, as illustrated in
Removable Door Embodiments
In some embodiments, rather than pivoting away from the carrier and/or otherwise being movably attached to the carrier, a front wall of the carrier can be entirely detachable or removable. In such embodiments, a mechanism is preferably provided to a) replace the door upon the same carrier it was removed from (such as, e.g., prior to returning the empty carrier) or b) forwarding the removable door to a common return location for replacement on other carriers. In some embodiments, the doors can be manually removed and/or replaced. However, in preferred embodiments, the doors would be automatically removed and/or replaced.
In some preferred embodiments, the removable doors can have dimensions within a range of mail being processed by the feeder (such as, e.g., comparable to flats mail sizes) and/or within a range capable of being handled by the mail processing equipment. For example, in some embodiments, a substantially planar door CRD (shown in
In some preferred embodiments, the released door can be supported within the side-by-side mail stack on the feeder (e.g., along with other mail in the mail stack). Then, the carrier release door CRD can preferably be singulated or destacked at a destacker. For example,
According to one preferred embodiment as shown, one hole 191 and one slot 193 are provided near an edge of the bottom surface of the carrier, with corresponding locating pins being provided on the carrier support bracket CS. However, the mechanisms could be placed at various locations on the carrier to achieve the desired attributes. One such attribute is to ensure proper alignment and positioning of the carrier on the carrier support CS (see
The raised surfaces provide support for the flats loaded into the carrier, and the lowered surfaces allow the ends of the paddle tines to be positioned below the lowest supported mail edge during the retraction of the carrier from the stack in the feeder load cycle. This feature prevents flats from being pulled into the space between the ends of the paddle tines and the bottom surface of the carrier during carrier retraction, and possibly damaged.
Also shown in
Other Objects
While the preferred embodiments pertain to systems for handling mail and the most preferred embodiments pertain to systems for handling mail flats, various embodiments of the invention can be used for handling all types of thin objects. The terminology “thin objects” includes all types of generally thin articles that are capable of being aligned in a side-by-side manner or stacked (i.e., the terminology “stacked” herein includes, among other things, a side-by-side relationship). In certain preferred embodiments, a given system may handle a multitude of thin objects with different sizes, compositions, flexibilities (such as, e.g., substantially rigid, substantially flexible, etc.) and/or shapes at a given time. However, in the most preferred embodiments, the thin objects preferably fall within a predetermined range of characteristics. For example, in certain preferred embodiments, the system can be adapted to handle mail flats having one or more of the characteristics described in the above-referenced co-pending applications, the entire disclosures of which have been incorporated herein by reference. While some preferred embodiments involve the handling of flats having characteristics as detailed above, numerous other embodiments can be employed having various other flat configurations or specifications, such as, e.g., that disclosed in the '311 patent. The foregoing illustrative embodiments do not limit the broad applicability of the invention to various objects having other characteristics, which may vary widely depending on the particular circumstances.
Broad Scope of the Invention
While illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described herein, the present invention is not limited to the various preferred embodiments described herein, but includes any and all embodiments having modifications, omissions, combinations (e.g., of aspects across various embodiments), adaptations and/or alterations as would be appreciated by those in the art based on the present disclosure. The limitations in the claims are to be interpreted broadly based the language employed in the claims and not limited to examples described in the present specification or during the prosecution of the application, which examples are to be construed as non-exclusive. For example, in the present disclosure, the term “preferably” is non-exclusive and means “preferably, but not limited to.” Means-plus-function or step-plus-function limitations will only be employed where for a specific claim limitation all of the following conditions are present in that limitation: a) “means for” or “step for” is expressly recited; b) a corresponding function is expressly recited; and c) structure, material or acts that support that structure or step are not recited.
The present application claims priority to Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/469,828, filed on May 13, 2003, entitled Enhanced Object-Feeder Pre-Processing System and is a continuation-in-part of Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 10/400,522, filed on Mar. 28, 2003, entitled Stack Correction System And Method, the disclosures of which are both incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10400522 | Mar 2003 | US |
| Child | 10649337 | US |
