Patent ID: 11858006
Assignee: UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICES
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 19:
20. A system for sorting delivery items, the system comprising:
a first sorting area and a second sorting area, each of the first and second sorting areas being configured to receive a plurality of delivery items, wherein each of the first and second sorting areas comprises:
a sorting area conveyor configured to move the plurality of delivery items from a first end portion towards a second end portion thereof;
a first sorting area sensor disposed in the first end portion of the sorting area conveyor and configured to determine the presence or absence of a delivery item from among the plurality of delivery items at the first end portion of the sorting area conveyor;
a second sorting area sensor disposed in the second end portion of the sorting area conveyor and configured to determine the presence or absence of the delivery item at the second end portion of the sorting area conveyor;
one or more sort locations disposed about the conveyor; and
one or more indicators configured to indicate a proper sort location of the one or more sort locations for the delivery item;

a roller-table disposed directly adjacent to and downstream of the first sorting area, and configured to receive and store the delivery items from the first sorting area;
an accumulator area disposed directly adjacent to and downstream of the second sorting area, and configured to receive and store the delivery items directly from the second sorting area, the accumulator area comprising:
an accumulator area conveyor configured to move the delivery items from a first end portion towards a second end portion thereof, the first end portion of the accumulator area conveyor disposed directly downstream of the second sorting area;
a first accumulator area sensor disposed in the first end portion of the accumulator area conveyor; and
a second accumulator area sensor disposed in the second end portion of the accumulator area conveyor; and

a computing system operably coupled with the accumulator area and each of the first and second sorting areas, the computing system being configured to perform operations comprising:
determining the proper sort location of the one or more sort locations for the delivery item based at least in part on data related to an indicia of the delivery item;
sending a signal to the one or more indicators to indicate the proper sort location for the delivery item;
determining an arrangement of the first sorting area, the second sorting area, and the accumulator area relative to one another; and
determining an arrangement of the accumulator area conveyor and the respective sorting area conveyor of each of the first and second sorting areas relative to one another.