Method for preparing a postal item delivery run

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for preparing a run for delivering postal items (3), in which the postal items are conveyed (100) onto a sorting conveyor (2) in a certain conveying direction (F1) and then sorted (200) by gravity according to a certain sorting plan into sorting receptacles (4) distributed in series in the conveying direction underneath the sorting conveyor. The sorting plan consists in sorting a postal item by receptacle such that all the postal items sorted into the receptacles form a sequence (SEQ) of postal items in the conveying direction that are ordered according to the delivery run. The postal items are then discharged (300) simultaneously from the receptacles onto a collection shelf (5) arranged underneath the sorting receptacles so that the postal items retain their alignment in the conveying direction and their ordering according to the delivery run.

Description

Method of preparing a postal item distribution tour

[0001] The invention relates to the field of sorting postal objects and relates more particularly to a method for preparing a distribution round of postal objects such as parcels or packages.

[0002] The preparation of a postal item distribution round generally begins with automatic sorting of bulk postal items into large capacity sorting receptacles, respecting a certain sorting plan for the distribution round.

[0003] Each sorting receptacle thus receives postal items corresponding, in the sorting plan, to a sequence of postal items in the order of the delivery round. A sequence of postal items, also called a batch of postal items, will include all or part of the postal items of a delivery round.

[0004] Typically, sorting receptacles are placed on carts so that they can be moved to a manual mailpiece rearrangement area where an operator unloads the bulk of mailpieces and then scans each mailpiece to rearrangement in the rearrangement area in the order of the delivery round. The operator then loads the mailpieces one by one into a delivery vehicle in reverse order of the delivery round.

[0005] The successive sequences of postal items loaded in the order of the delivery round into the delivery vehicle thus form the distribution round.

[0006] Preparing the distribution tour as previously described therefore requires significant handling and no longer meets current flow and reliability constraints.

[0007] Document WO2006 / 100589 describes a method for preparing an automated delivery round but which also does not allow postal items to be sorted in the order of the delivery round.

[0008] The objective of the invention is therefore to solve the aforementioned problems.

[0009] To this end, the invention relates to a method for preparing a postal item distribution round, in which the postal items are conveyed on a sorting conveyor in a certain conveying direction and then sorted by gravity according to a certain sorting plan in sorting receptacles distributed in series in the conveying direction under the sorting conveyor, characterized in that said certain sorting plan consists of sorting one postal item per sorting receptacle so that all the postal items sorted in the sorting receptacles form a sequence of postal items in the conveying direction ordered according to the distribution round, and in that the postal items are unloaded simultaneously from the sorting receptacles onto a recovery base arranged under the sorting receptacles so that the postal items retain their alignment in the conveying direction and their ordering according to the distribution round.

[0010] The idea behind the invention is to automatically sort postal items in the order of the delivery round directly on a suitable recovery platform so that an operator can load the postal items one after the other into a delivery vehicle. The operator thus does not have to rearrange the postal items in sequence according to the order of the delivery round before loading them into the delivery vehicle.

[0011] The invention therefore consists of using a particular sorting plan which is designed to allow the unloading of one postal item per receptacle so that postal item No. 1 in the order of the delivery round is sorted in sorting receptacle No. 1, postal item No. 2 in sorting receptacle No. 2, etc. When the postal items of a sequence of the delivery round are sorted in the sorting receptacles, all the postal items of the sequence are transferred simultaneously onto a recovery floor so that the ordering of the postal items in sequence according to the delivery round is preserved.

[0012] The method for preparing the distribution tour according to the invention may also have the following particularities:

[0013] - the postal items are collected from the collection platform one after the other, starting from one end of the sequence of postal items, then loaded in the order of collection into a delivery vehicle for the distribution round;

[0014] - the sorting receptacles form a first row of sorting receptacles distributed in series in the conveying direction and a second row of sorting receptacles distributed in series in the conveying direction parallel to the first row of sorting receptacles, a first sequence of postal objects according to the order of the delivery round being sorted in the sorting receptacles of the first row then a second sequence of postal objects in the continuity of the first sequence of postal objects according to the order of the delivery round being sorted in the second row of sorting receptacles;

[0015] - the sorting receptacles form a first row of sorting receptacles distributed in series in the conveying direction and a second row of sorting receptacles distributed in series in the conveying direction parallel to the first row of sorting receptacles, a first sequence of postal objects according to the order of the delivery round being sorted in the sorting receptacles of the first row then a second sequence of postal objects according to the order of another delivery round being sorted in the second row of sorting receptacles;

[0016] - the recovery floor is a conveyor designed to convey the objects in a certain direction of transport, the conveyor being stopped when the postal objects are unloaded from the sorting receptacles;

[0017] - the routing direction is opposite to the conveying direction so that the postal item furthest downstream on the routing conveyor in the routing direction is the last in the sequence of postal items in the order of the delivery round;

[0018] - the routing direction follows the conveying direction so that the postal item furthest downstream on the routing conveyor in the routing direction is the first in the sequence of postal items in the order of the delivery round. Summary presentation of the drawings

[0019] The present invention will be better understood and other advantages will appear on reading the detailed description of an embodiment taken as a non-limiting example and illustrated by the appended drawings, in which:

[0020] -illustrates in a very schematic manner a distribution center according to the invention;

[0021] -is a diagram of the method for preparing a distribution tour according to the invention;

[0022] - represents step 100 of the method for preparing a distribution tour according to the invention;

[0023] - represents step 200 of the method for preparing a distribution tour according to the invention;

[0024] - represents 4 step 300 of the method for preparing a distribution tour according to the invention. Description of an embodiment

[0025] The method for preparing a postal item distribution round 3 according to the invention will be particularly well suited for preparing a distribution round of parcels or packages but also of letters or any other type of postal item on which a sorting indication is affixed, such as a delivery address.

[0026] The method for preparing the distribution round according to the invention consists more particularly in using a sorting conveyor 2 on which the postal objects 3 are conveyed in series in a certain conveying direction F1 then sorted by gravity according to a certain sorting plan in sorting receptacles 4 distributed in series in the conveying direction F1 under the sorting conveyor 3.

[0027] The sorting plan according to the invention is configured to sort one postal object 3 per sorting receptacle 4 so that all the postal objects 3 sorted in the sorting receptacles 4 form a sequence of postal objects SEQ in the conveying direction F1 ordered according to the delivery round.

[0028] The maximum number of postal items 3 in a sequence of postal items thus depends on the number of available sorting receptacles 4. By available sorting receptacles, we mean any sorting receptacle without postal items.

[0029] Several sequences of postal objects 3 from the same distribution round can thus be sorted consecutively in the sorting receptacles 4 so as to sort all of the postal objects 3 from the distribution round.

[0030] The sorting plan according to the invention knows, for example, all the postal objects 3 to be sorted and the number of receptacles 4 available. The sorting plan can thus determine the number of sorting passes necessary to sort a sequence of postal objects 3 into determined sorting receptacles 4 but also the number of sequences SEQ of postal objects necessary to sort all the postal objects 3 of the distribution round. The use of a sorting conveyor 2 in a loop makes it possible, for example, to automatically carry out the successive sorting passes of the postal objects 3 in the sorting receptacles 4.

[0031] The method for preparing the distribution round according to the invention also consists of unloading the postal objects 3 simultaneously from the sorting receptacles 4 onto a recovery base 5 arranged under the sorting receptacles 4 so that the postal objects 3 retain their alignment in the conveying direction F1 and their ordering according to the distribution round.

[0032] Advantageously, the method according to the invention also makes it possible to recover the postal objects 3 from the recovery floor 5 one after the other, starting from one of the ends of the sequence of postal objects to load them in the order of recovery into a delivery vehicle 6 of the distribution round. This step can be carried out manually by operators or automatically by mobile gripping robots.

[0033] Without restricting the scope of the invention, the recovery floor 5 may be a conveying conveyor which runs along the sorting receptacles in the conveying direction F1. The conveying conveyor is here designed to convey the postal objects 3 in a conveying direction F2 in the direction of the conveying direction F1 so that the postal object 3 furthest downstream on the conveying conveyor in the conveying direction F2 is the first in the sequence of postal objects 3 in the order of the delivery round or in the opposite direction to the conveying direction F1 so that the postal object furthest downstream on the conveying conveyor in the conveying direction F2 is the last in the sequence of postal objects in the order of the delivery round.

[0034] When preparing the distribution tour according to the invention, the delivery conveyor 5 can also be stopped in order to allow reliable and smooth unloading of the postal objects 3 from the sorting receptacles 4. The stop is preferably carried out when a complete sequence of postal objects 3 from the sorting plan is loaded into the sorting receptacles, for example when all the receptacles are loaded with a postal object.

[0035] Without restricting the scope of the invention, the sorting receptacles 4 may also form a first row 4a of sorting receptacles distributed in series in the conveying direction F1 and a second row 4b of sorting receptacles distributed in series in the conveying direction parallel to the first row 4a of sorting receptacles. Other rows may be arranged in parallel with the first and second rows 4a, 4b to increase the sorting capacity of the postal objects 3 and therefore the speed of preparation of the delivery round.This arrangement advantageously makes it possible to sort a first sequence of postal objects 3 according to the order of the distribution round in the sorting receptacles 4 of the first row 4a and then to sort a second sequence of postal objects 3 in the second row 4b of sorting receptacles either in the continuity of the first sequence of postal objects according to the order of the distribution round, or according to the order of another distribution round.

[0036] An example of implementations of the method for preparing the distribution tour according to the invention is described below.

[0037] In step 100, the postal objects 3 are conveyed onto the sorting conveyor 2 and then sorted at a step 200 into a first row 4a of sorting receptacles according to the sorting plan of the invention. When filling the sorting receptacles of the first row of sorting receptacles, other postal objects 3 of a subsequent sequence of postal objects of the delivery round conveyed on the sorting conveyor 2 are sorted into the second row 4b of sorting receptacles. Several sorting passes 200' are carried out here to sort all the postal objects 3 constituting the delivery round. At each sorting pass, new postal objects 3 of the delivery round are inserted onto the sorting conveyor 2 if the length of the sorting conveyor does not allow all the postal objects of the delivery round to be conveyed.

[0038] At a step 300, the postal objects 3, sorted in the first row 4a of sorting receptacles and forming a first sequence of the distribution round, are unloaded simultaneously onto the stationary conveyor 5.

[0039] In a step 400, the postal objects 3 of the first sequence are conveyed on the forwarding conveyor 5 in the forwarding direction F2, here in the same direction as the forwarding direction F1, to the delivery vehicle 6.

[0040] Once the routing conveyor 5 has stopped, and at a step 500, the postal objects 3 sorted in the second row 4b of sorting receptacles form a second sequence of the distribution round and are unloaded simultaneously onto the routing conveyor F2.

[0041] In a step 600, the postal objects 3 of the first sequence of postal objects are retrieved one by one by an operator starting with the postal object 3 furthest downstream in the routing direction F2 so that the postal object 3 loaded first into the delivery vehicle 6, and therefore the last one to be delivered by the delivery vehicle 6, corresponds to the last postal object 3 of the delivery round.

[0042] At a step 700, the postal objects 3 unloaded from the second row 4b of sorting receptacles onto the forwarding conveyor 5 are conveyed in the forwarding direction F2 to the delivery vehicle 6.

[0043] In a step 800, the postal objects 3 of the second sequence of postal objects are retrieved one by one by an operator starting with the most downstream postal object in the routing direction F2 so that the postal object 3 of the second sequence is loaded following the last loaded postal object of the previous sequence of postal objects, here the first sequence.

[0044] The invention also extends to a distribution center 1 for postal objects 3 capable of implementing the method according to the invention. The distribution center 1 comprises in particular a sorting conveyor 2, for example a loop conveyor, and sorting receptacles 4, for example one or more rows 4a, 4b of sorting receptacles, arranged under the sorting conveyor and arranged to each receive a postal object 3 according to a certain sorting plan recorded in the memory of a central unit 8. The central unit 8 is therefore configured to control the sorting conveyor in order to sort the postal objects in the sorting receptacles 4 according to the sorting plan. The sorting receptacles 4 according to the invention can advantageously be sized to receive a single postal item 3, which makes it possible to increase the number of sorting receptacles 4 under the sorting conveyor 2 and therefore the number of postal items sorted in a single sequence.The distribution center 1 according to the invention also comprises a routing conveyor 5 which extends in particular under the sorting receptacles 4 along the sorting conveyor 2. The routing conveyor 5 is designed to receive the postal objects 3 unloaded by the sorting receptacles 4 and to convey them in a routing direction F2 to the delivery vehicles 6. The routing conveyor 5 can thus snake through the distribution center 1 to the delivery vehicles 6. A circulation space for the operators and the mobile robots can be arranged between the end(s) of the routing conveyor 5 and respectively the delivery vehicle(s) 6 into which the postal objects 3 are loaded in the order of the distribution round.The distribution center 1 according to the invention thus makes it possible to eliminate high-capacity sorting receptacles as well as transport trolleys for sorting receptacles which are too bulky and do not meet current flow rate constraints.

Claims

Method for preparing a distribution round of postal objects (3), in which the postal objects are conveyed (100) on a sorting conveyor (2) in a certain conveying direction (F1) and then sorted (200) by gravity according to a certain sorting plan in sorting receptacles (4) distributed in series in the conveying direction under the sorting conveyor, said certain sorting plan consisting of sorting one postal object per sorting receptacle so that all the postal objects sorted in the sorting receptacles form a sequence (SEQ) of postal objects in the conveying direction ordered according to the distribution round, characterized in that the postal objects are unloaded (300) simultaneously from the sorting receptacles onto a recovery base (5) arranged under the sorting receptacles so that the postal objects retain their alignment in the conveying direction and their ordering according to the distribution round. distribution. Method for preparing a postal item distribution tour according to claim 1, characterized in that the postal items are recovered (600) from the recovery floor one after the other starting from one of the ends of the sequence of postal items and then loaded in the order of recovery into a delivery vehicle (6) of the distribution tour. Method for preparing a postal item distribution round according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the sorting receptacles form a first row (4a) of sorting receptacles distributed in series in the conveying direction and a second row (4b) of sorting receptacles distributed in series in the conveying direction parallel to the first row of sorting receptacles and in that a first sequence of postal items according to the order of the distribution round is sorted in the sorting receptacles of the first row then a second sequence of postal items in the continuity of the first sequence of postal items according to the order of the distribution round is sorted in the second row of sorting receptacles. Method for preparing a postal item distribution round according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the sorting receptacles form a first row of sorting receptacles distributed in series in the conveying direction and a second row of sorting receptacles distributed in series in the conveying direction parallel to the first row of sorting receptacles, and in that a first sequence of postal items according to the order of the distribution round is sorted in the sorting receptacles of the first row and then a second sequence of postal items according to the order of another distribution round is sorted in the second row of sorting receptacles. Method for preparing a postal item distribution round according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the recovery floor is a conveyor designed to convey the items in a certain direction of routing, the conveyor being stopped when the postal items are unloaded from the sorting receptacles. Method for preparing a postal item distribution tour according to claim 5, characterized in that the routing direction is opposite to the conveying direction so that the postal item furthest downstream on the routing conveyor in the routing direction is the last in the sequence of postal items in the order of the distribution tour. Method for preparing a postal item distribution tour according to claim 5, characterized in that the routing direction follows the conveying direction so that the postal item furthest downstream on the routing conveyor in the routing direction is the first in the sequence of postal items in the order of the distribution tour.

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