Patent ID: 11890649
Assignee: UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICES
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A method of sorting and sequencing items comprising:
creating, in a processor, a sort plan for sorting a plurality of items for delivery to a plurality of delivery end points;
assigning, in a processor, a plurality of delivery end points to a plurality of stop groups based on the sort plan;
sorting, in a first pass, the plurality of items on a sorting apparatus according to the assigned stop groups to a plurality of sort destinations;
moving the sorted items from the plurality of sort destinations into a plurality of trays according to the stop groups;
moving the plurality of trays containing the sorted items to a staging farm;
storing, in a memory, an association between the sorted items, an individual tray of the plurality of trays in which at least a portion of the sorted items are located, and a location within the staging farm where the individual tray is stored;
identifying, based on the sort plan, a subset of the plurality of trays for sorting in the sorting apparatus;
retrieving the subset of the plurality of trays from their locations in the staging farm;
moving the subset of the plurality of trays to the sorting apparatus; and
sorting, in a second pass, the items from the subset of the plurality of trays on the sorting apparatus into individual sort destinations of the plurality of sort destinations.