Patent ID: 7687737

Claim:
A method for routing, via a transportation path, a flow of flat mail items one behind the other in a longitudinal direction according to determined destination addresses and for sorting the flat mail items into sorting outlets depending on recognized destination addresses of the mail items, the method comprising the steps of: setting an average set gap between two mail items to be smaller than the minimum gap between those mail items that are to be transported the longest transport distances to the outlets; after the setting step and before the two mail items enter the transportation path, adjusting a gap between the two mail items with a controllable gap adjustment device, such that the mail items are transported into the corresponding outlets reliably, the gap between the two mail items being adjusted by: creating, with the controllable gap adjustment device, a gap of individual length between the two mail items utilizing a given function of transport distances to assigned sorting terminals and a maximum relative shift of the mail items during transportation, the gap between two mail items being adjusted as a function of that mail item having the shorter transport distance to the assigned outlet; and ejecting from a flow of mail items, a mail item that disturbs the flow, to create a necessary space between two consecutive mail items in the flow of mail items to adjust the gap between the two consecutive mail items individually, according to the minimum gap.