ARTICLES

3. PREAMBLE OF THE DESCRIPTION: The following complete specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is performed.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The subject matter described herein generally relates to material handling and particularly relates to a solution associated with a conveyor system for sorting plurality of articles such as packages, parcels, and bags.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There exist conveyor systems that convey large numbers of packages. Such systems are more prevalent in the parcel delivery industry in which the packages are sorted according to the desired categories.

Currently, in the field of material sorting and management, process of secondary sorting is a manual process. In this secondary sorting process an operator scans each item such as a parcel and performs the secondary sorting. This secondary sorting is done with or without any technical aids. The technical aids indicated include but not limited to PTL based sorting, screen based sorting, Handheld Device based sorting and the like.

In view of the prior art discussed herein, there remains a need for improved and modernised secondary sorting systems and method for multiple articles which are primarily sorted by high speed sorters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

An object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art solutions.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system to augment the secondary sorting of articles in a conveyor system which are primarily sorted by high speed sorters. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system to automate secondary sorting of articles in a conveyor system.

In an aspect of the present invention is disclosed a system for sorting plurality of articles. The system comprises a receiving unit configured to receive plurality of articles for sorting and at least one secondary sorting unit having at least one sorting hot operationally configured for sorting the plurality of articles. As per this embodiment, the sorting hot is configured to sort the plurality of articles into sorting chutes or containers based on one or more information about the article.

In an aspect of the present invention is disclosed a method of sorting plurality of articles in a sorting system. The method comprises receiving sequentially the articles in a receiving unit of the system, scanning, by a scanning unit, at least one set of data on the articles, performing, by one or more high speed sorters, primary sorting of the article sequence, and performing, by a sorting unit, an automatic secondary sorting.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrate embodiments of concepts that include the claimed invention, and explain various principles and advantages of those embodiments.

FIG 1 illustrates a system for automatic secondary sorting of articles according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG 2 (a) illustrates a 3D view of the sorting bot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG 2 (b) illustrates the wheels and the conveyor belt of the sorting bot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG 3 (a) - (b) illustrates the different positions of the sorting bot on the sorting system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG 4 illustrates a close view of relative positions of the sorting bag, sorting cart and the parcel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Various aspects are now described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more aspects. It may be evident, however, that such aspect(s) may be practiced without these specific details. Further, the elements, and their configuration thereof which are well known in the art are omitted from the disclosure made herein for purposes clarity and conciseness.

Accordingly, those skilled in the art will derive various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

The embodiments of the present invention disclose a solution to augment the secondary sorting of plurality of articles such as but not limited to parcels. The disclosed system augments the secondary sorting of parcels which are primarily sorted by one or more high speed sorters. Currently, the secondary sorting is a manual process. As per the said manual process the operator scans each of the multiple articles arriving at the feed line and performs the secondary sorting with/without any technical aids. The technical aids indicated herein are PTL based sorting, screen based sorting, Handheld Device based sorting etc. The embodiments of the present invention automate the secondary sorting activity. This advantageously increases the effective number of sort destinations without increasing the length of the sorter loop (CBS loop, being an instance and not a limitation). The sorter loop is a costlier proposition in terms of both economic parameter and space consumption factor.

In an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed a system for sorting plurality of articles as illustrated in FIG 1. The disclosed system comprises a receiving unit configured to receive plurality of articles for sorting and at least one secondary sorting unit having at least one sorting hot operationally configured for sorting the plurality of articles. The sorting hot is capable of sorting the plurality of articles into sorting chutes or containers based on one or more information about the article. Thus, the secondary sorting is performed in an automated manner.

The system further comprising a high speed sorter configured to sort the plurality of articles into one or more secondary sorting shuttle (S3) enabled chute. The secondary sorting shuttle feed line is configured to receive the plurality of articles and buffer the articles loading on to the S3 shuttle on a first in first out (FIFO) basis. The S3 shuttle is configured to receive the plurality of articles one after another. The at least one sorting hot of the system is configured to move at a high speed along a path of the conveyor to reach a correct position near a destination unit for discharging the article. Once the article is discharged, the sorting hot moves back at high speed to near the receiving unit. A S3 control system is configured communicate the successful sort event to a sorter control system.

Reference is made to FIG 2 (a) of the present application that discloses an exemplary embodiment of the sorting hot in accordance with the invention. It includes at least a body placed on at least one pair of wheels, capable of moving on the system for sorting articles. The sorting hot comprises at least a pair of wheels in the x-direction of the Cartesian reference indicated as x-direction wheel and a pair of wheels in the y- direction as the y-direction wheels. Further, the sorting hot includes a cross transfer belt conveyor operably coupled for the cross transfer in the sorting system as seen in FIG 2 (b). The secondary sorting hot is thus capable of include 2D movement on the sorter system. In an embodiment, the sorting bot includes a tilt tray operably coupled for the cross transfer in the sorting system.

In another embodiment of the present invention is disclosed a method of sorting plurality of articles in a sorting system. The method comprises receiving sequentially the articles in a receiving unit of the system; scanning, by a scanning unit, at least one set of data on the articles; performing, by one or more high speed sorters, primary sorting of the article sequence; and performing, by a sorting unit, an automatic secondary sorting .

The secondary sorting by a high speed sorter includes the articles being sorted into secondary sorting shuttle enabled chute and the plurality of articles is received in the feed line (S3). The plurality of articles received is buffered in the feed line for loading on to a S3 shuttle. This buffering of the plurality of articles is based on first in first out (FIFO). The plurality of articles is loaded one-by-one on the S3 shuttle. The method includes sequentially conveying, by a sorter control system, one or more destination information of an article to a S3 control system.

Further, the sort bot or the sorting bot sorts plurality of articles like parcels, into a near destination collection unit, further to which the sort bot discharges the parcels and moves back to near the receiving unit. The sorting and discharging of the plurality of parcels are performed by moving the sorting bot at a velocity. Further to this, the sorter control system is communicated the occurrence of successful sort event. The secondary sorting includes repeating the steps without human intervention.

FIG 3 (a) depicts the position of the sorting bot on the sorting system as per an embodiment of the invention. At the starting point of the system, there is a high speed sorter that is operationally configured with the transfer plates. The transfer plates are further connected to the secondary sorting feed line. As is evidenced from the figure, the sorting bot is capable of movement in x-direction track and also in the y-direction track. The figure depicts an instance of the loaded bot travelling towards the parcel sorting location.

FIG 3(b) shows an instance in which the sorting bot may be found at different locations on the sorter of the system. As would be evidenced from the figure, the sorter bot (indicated as sorting cart in FIG 3(b)) is adapted to discharge the one or more article or parcel at the sorting location. The sorter hot, in a loaded state, is adapted to travel towards the parcel sorting location. Once at the sorting location, the article gets dropped and empty hot goes to the starting point to load parcel. FIG 4 depicts relative positions of the sorting bag, sorting cart and the parcel on the system.

In an implementation of the disclosed invention, parcels get sorted into a S3 feed line by a high speed sorter of the conveyor system. The S3 feed line smartly receives the parcels and buffers them for loading on to the S3 shuttle on a FIFO basis. It is advantageous and hassle free to load the parcels one-by-one on to the S3 shuttle. The sorter control system conveys the destination information of the parcel (sequentially) to the S3 control system. The sorting of the one or more parcels are based on at least one data on the parcel. The S3 shuttle, including a sorting bot, is capable of moving at high speeds along the path. Once the sorting bot reaches a right position near the destination chute/bag, it discharges the parcel and moves back to the receiving position at high speed. The S3 control system then communicates the successful sort event to sorter control system. This process is repeated and parcels are secondary sorted without human intervention. The automation of the secondary sorting activity increases the effective number of sort destinations without increasing the length of the sorter loop. This is advantageous both in terms of money and space occupied. While the present disclosure includes many embodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the essence and scope of the invention disclosed herein is not to be limited by the foregoing examples, but is to be understood in the broadest sense allowable by law.