Mail Sorting Device Using Three-Pass Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mail sorting methods require multiple passes through sorting machines, which increases the number of sorting end points, reduces throughput rate, and increases space and cost requirements.
Innovation Solution
A device and method utilizing three sorting passes with two feeders, a converging apparatus with elevator and divert modules, and a merge module to reduce sorting end points while maintaining throughput rate, incorporating storage modules and virtual machines to optimize the sorting process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If multiple sorting passes are used to reduce the number of sorting end points, then the number of sorting end points is reduced, but the sorting period increases and throughput rate decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The sorting process is divided into multiple passes, with each pass handling a specific sorting dimension. The sorting system is segmented into multiple independent sorting assemblies (first sorting assembly, second sorting assembly, third sorting assembly) that can process mail articles in sequence, reducing the need for a large number of sorting end points while maintaining throughput efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces multiple sorting dimensions by adding sequential sorting passes. Instead of using a single pass with many sorting end points, the system uses multiple passes with fewer end points each, effectively trading spatial complexity for temporal processing steps. This dimensional approach allows mail articles to be sorted along multiple criteria across different passes.
2Quantity of substance
If the number of sorting passes is increased to reduce sorting end points, then the number of sorting end points is reduced, but the sorting period increases
Solution Approach 1:
Mail articles undergo preliminary sorting in earlier passes to organize them into groups that require fewer sorting end points in subsequent passes. The first sorting pass performs initial grouping, and the second sorting pass further refines the sorting, allowing each subsequent pass to work with pre-organized subsets rather than the entire mail volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The sorting process is segmented into discrete passes, each handling a specific sorting task. This segmentation allows the system to reduce the number of sorting end points in each pass while distributing the total sorting work across multiple time steps, effectively managing the sorting period.
3Adaptability or versatility
If more sorting bins are used to process mail for more addresses, then more addresses can be processed, but the space and cost requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses multiple sorting passes to extend the addressing capacity beyond the physical number of sorting bins in a single pass. By distributing the sorting of different address groups across multiple passes, the system can handle more addresses than the number of physical bins, effectively using the time dimension to overcome spatial limitations.
Solution Approach 2:
The sorting system segments the address space into multiple groups that are processed in different passes. Each sorting assembly handles a subset of addresses, and the sequential processing across passes enables the system to accommodate a larger total number of addresses without requiring proportional increases in physical sorting infrastructure.
Data Source
AI summary
A delivery point sorting device with two feeders for receiving and forwarding mail in streams, where a diverging apparatus divert module is configured to process the mail from the two feeders and a merge module converges the streams of mail from the two feeders and distributes the mail to respective endpoints. Sorting endpoints are used for loading the mail received from this converging apparatus. A method where items of mail are sorted through sorting passes including a first, second, and third sorting pass. Sorting passes are; processing mail through two feeders by receiving the mail by the feeders and forwarding the mail articles in streams of mail, converging the streams of mail from the feeders to a conveyor apparatus, loading the mail at sorting endpoints by the conveyor apparatus, and sequentially passing the mail through the first, second, and third sorting pass.