Patent ID: 7482549
Filing Date: 2009-01-27
Classification: B65H,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method of handling mail items in a postal sorting machine with sorting outlets, in which method the mail items are conveyed in the machine towards said sorting outlets during a first sorting pass of a sorting plan to obtain first time sorted mail items, and then the first time sorted mail items are conveyed again in the machine towards said sorting outlets during a second sorting pass of the sorting plan, said method comprising the following steps: during the first sorting pass, assigning to each mail item a machine readable identity code and storing in memory said identity code into a first sequence of identity codes corresponding to a first passage order of said mail items in the machine during the first sorting pass, measuring in the machine a physical magnitude specific to each mail item and storing in memory said measured physical magnitude, computing an expected passage order of said mail items in the machine for the second sorting pass on the basis of said first sequence of identity codes and said sorting plan and storing in memory a second sequence of identity codes which corresponds to said expected passage order of said mails items, during the second sorting pass, measuring and storing the same physical magnitude once again for each current mail item, determining from said second sequence of identity codes if said current mail item is the mail item expected in said second sequence and conveying said current mail item a sorting outlet, and if said current mail item is not the expected mail item, comparing the physical magnitudes measured and stored during the first sorting pass and during the second sorting pass to detect a mail item in multiple takes and upon said detection, conveying in the machine said detected mail item in multiple takes towards a rejection sorting outlet.