EP1778414B1 - Device and method for providing identification information for containers during the sorting of mail - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (10) for sorting mail items and for providing identification information for containers (20). Said device comprises a processor (30), a plurality of containers (20) provided with electronic displays (21), and transmission devices (40) arranged in a plurality of storage positions (50) of the device, the transmission devices (40) communicating with the processor and comprising means for transmitting data to electronic displays (21). The inventive device also comprises a sensor (60) communicating with the processor (10), for determining the presence of a container (20) in a storage position (50). When a new container is placed in a storage position, the processor transmits a corresponding container identification to the transmission device which transmits the data to the label display.

Description

The invention relates to an apparatus for sorting mail in a plurality of storage positions and for providing identification information for a plurality of containers with electronic displays located at the storage locations, the apparatus comprising a processor for controlling the sorting operation.

The invention further relates to a method for sorting mail in a plurality of storage positions of a sorting device and for providing identification information for containers, which are located at the storage positions of the device and each having a directly attached to the container display, wherein performing the sorting by a processor takes place.

For the visually detectable marking of objects such as goods, containers, containers or pallets, it is known to provide them with labels containing, for example, information about the content, the destination or the price of a product. This tag allows people to read information they need and take appropriate action, such as moving an item to a specified destination. In the case of changeable information, a new marking must be affixed to the object concerned whenever a change is made. Usually, the information is manually removed from the label and replaced with new information. The old Label can also be completely replaced by a new one or pasted over, for example, with a new label.

To overcome the disadvantages of conventional labels, electronic labels based on electronic ink are increasingly being developed. Such a label is described, for example, in international patent application WO 00/16189 A1. The label is constructed of multiple layers such as display, grid array, processor and antenna layers and a memory element, the display layers comprising an electronic ink disposed on a support. About the Antennenachicht the label to be displayed information to be transmitted.

A typical use of electronic tags is in the international patent application WO 00/67110 A1 which discloses electronic tags for variable price marking of goods. In this case, an electronic label is attached to a shelf on which there are goods, so that the display with variable prices or other product information can be controlled.

Furthermore, it is known to replace the visually detectable marking of objects in transport or logistics systems by RFID technologies with electronically rewritable and readable transponders. Such systems have the advantage that in a transponder, a variety of information can be electronically loaded and unloaded, whereby automatic transport, sorting, tracking or distribution operations can be controlled without the visual display of information is required.

An example of the use of RFID transponders in the postal sector is in the international patent application

WO 03/098533 A1 disclosed. The RFID transponders are attached to mailpieces and these are sorted on the basis of readable and readable information and transported to a delivery location.

In particular, in logistics systems such as mailing systems for receiving and / or transporting mail a variety of containers is used, which must be marked at various processing and handling stations. This typically requires a large amount of paper labels that must be printed and replaced for each label change. This is associated with a high material, personnel, disposal and cost. Furthermore, the labeling of containers with unique labels is flawed because it can lead to confusion in the manual attachment of new labels. However, visually detectable labels are required for certain embodiments of mailing systems if at least part of the staff is used to allocate and transport containers.

In particular, in devices for sorting mail items used containers are repeatedly provided with container labels. For mail sorting it is for example from the European patent specification EP 0 595 596 B1 It is known to provide sorting devices with a printer which, on account of the sorting plan used, prints out container labels and transports them into the respectively assigned container.

To avoid the disadvantages of known container markings, electronic labels can be used which comprise at least one visually detectable display on which variable information can be displayed. With variable identification information, the material, personnel, disposal and cost can be significantly reduced.

If containers are provided with an electronic display and used in a mail sorting system which has a larger number of containers in which mail items sorted according to a plan are stored, there is a need for a device for transferring information to the electronic labels of the containers.

The European patent application EP 0 949 015 A2 discloses, for example, a system for sorting mailpieces sorted by a device according to its destination. For this purpose, the device has a kind of carousel with a plurality of containers in which individual mail pieces are received. The containers circle in the carousel until a control system has defined the group of pieces of mail into which a mail piece is to be sorted. If the sorting group is fixed, a piece of mail from the carousel container is ejected into the relevant receiving device. In connection with this recording device is a display on which the next destination of the items sorted therein is displayed. The information for this display is transmitted from the central controller to the display.

Furthermore, from the European patent application EP 1 255 223 A2 a system for handling financial documents in filing boxes, in which the filing boxes are provided with a wireless electronic label in which data for identification and handling of the financial documents are stored. For example, the financial documents are bank deposits that pass through various machine processing stages, and are transported to different stations. The system processes the documents, sorts them, and ejects them to issuers in filing boxes. A control unit produces messages, which are displayed on the electronic labels of the filing boxes, wherein the message may be, for example, the next processing station of the documents. The messages are transmitted wirelessly from a central transmitting device to the respective labels.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide an improved apparatus and method for sorting mail and providing electronic identification information for containers.

According to the invention, this object is solved by the subject matter of independent claims 1 and 4. Advantageous developments of the invention will become apparent from the dependent claims 2-3 and 5-6.

The invention provides a device for sorting mail and providing identification information for containers comprising a plurality of containers with electronic displays. The apparatus further includes a processor and transfer devices at a plurality of storage locations of the device. In this case, the transmission devices are in communication with the processor and comprise means for transmitting data to the electronic displays of the containers.

The apparatus further includes a sensor in communication with the processor for detecting the presence of a container at a storage position. The sensor may be a switch by which a signal is triggered when actuated by a personal force. If a personnel force a container to a storage position of a device, it operates the Switch and the thus triggered signal is transmitted to the processor. The processor assigns label information to the container and transmits it via the transfer device to the display of the container. In a further particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the sensor is a self-triggering device, through which a signal can be triggered upon entry of the container into a defined area. As a self-triggering device For example, light barriers or motion detectors can be used.

It has proved to be useful to provide containers of a postal sorting system not only with electronic displays, but in addition with RFID transponders. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, in addition to an electronic display, a container has an RFID transponder and the transmission devices comprise means for transmitting data to the RFID transponder of a container.

The invention further includes a method for sorting mail and providing identification information for containers within a device. The method provides for determining the presence of a container at a storage location by means of a sensor in communication with a processor. Further, data is transferred to electronic displays of containers by means of transfer devices at a plurality of storage locations of the device, the transmission devices communicating with the processor.

The sensor is preferably a self-triggering device, by which a signal is triggered when the container enters a defined area. The sensor can also be triggered manually by a personal force. The transmission of data to an electronic display of a container via an RFID chip, for example, in conjunction with the display.

The device according to the invention and the associated method have the advantage that variable identification information of containers of a sorting system is no longer printed out and manually attached to the containers but an automatic transfer of data to be displayed takes place. As a result, misidentification can be avoided and the material and cost of labeling the container can be reduced. Since the processor of the sorting device is fed with the sorting schedule of the current shipment amount and, based on this plan, controls the delivery of the shipments to different storage positions, the container information can be transmitted directly to the container displays.

Other advantages, features and expedient developments of the invention will become apparent from the dependent claims and the following description of a preferred embodiment with reference to Fig. 1 ,

Fig.1 shows a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention in the form of a device 10 for sorting mail and for providing identification information for container 20. There are a plurality of containers 20 at different storage positions 30 of a device. The containers each have at least one electronic display 21.

The storage positions 50 of the device represent compartments in which sorted items are stored according to a predetermined sorting scheme. The apparatus further comprises a central processor 30 which controls this sorting operation. The processor is in communication with transfer devices 40 at the respective storage locations. Also located at the storage locations are sensors 60 which detect the presence of a new container. The placement of a new container can be done, for example, at the start of a sorting pass or when replacing a full against an empty container.

For example, a sensor may be a switch that is operated by a human operator as soon as it places a new container in a storage position. The switch triggers a signal which is transmitted to the processor. The processor then generates identifying information associated with a container which it transmits to the relevant transmission device. The information is played on the display 21 and displayed there, so that a personal force on the next removal of the container information such as the content and / or the next destination can read. In a further embodiment of the invention, the displayed information is at least partially encrypted data such as a barcode. This barcode can be read with an optical device such as a scanner at various transhipment stations of a mailing system.

The sensor can also be a self-triggering device such as a light barrier or a motion detector. When a container is placed by a human operator in the sensing area of the sensor, the processor receives a signal and communicates corresponding identifying information to the display of the container. In a further embodiment of the invention, the identification information is not transmitted when introducing a new container, but during the removal.

The electronic label of a container has at least one optically or visually detectable electronic display. Since the displayed information is no longer visible in monostable display systems in case of failure of the voltage source, preferably bistable display units are used on the electronic information carrier. As a display For example, various technologies can be used based on the liquid crystals. Depending on the application, criteria such as flexibility, shock resistance, service life, maintenance, weather resistance, working temperature range, number of write cycles and generation intervals must be taken into account when selecting a suitable display technology.

One possible display technology is the FLCD technology (Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Display). Ferroelectric liquid crystal phases are formed by chiral or chirally doped smectic C phases. The tilting of the longitudinal molecular axes within the smectic layers results in a spontaneous polarization perpendicular to the layer normal. By applying an electric field against this polarization, the tilting direction of the molecules and thus also the direction of the polarization is reversed. Both switching states differ visually and are stable. A reflective FLCD basically consists of a polarizer, the liquid crystalline phase and a deposited mirror. Depending on the tilting direction of the smectic phase relative to the polarizer, light and dark states are generated.

Another technology is Electrically Addressable Smectic Liquid Displays (EASL). It is a liquid crystal display based on the electro-optical effects of smectic liquid crystals. The non-tilted smectic layers are aligned parallel to the display cell and, in this state, incident light does not undergo birefringence. The display appears transparent or when deposited with a colored reflective layer in the corresponding color. The second state is characterized by randomly arranged focal conic domains, where scattered light is generated. By then present Birefringence, this scattered light appears white and with the addition of dichroic dyes in the corresponding color. Both states can be converted into each other by applying an electrical voltage.

Zenithal Bistable Devices (ZBD) are displays based on nematic liquid crystals. In this particular type of nematic display, perturbations of the nematic order are induced on a substrate by a trench structure in the micrometer range such that either a planar or a homeotropic orientation can be set depending on the influence of a DC electric field.

The BiNem technology is based on the bistability of two nematic states. The liquid crystal is in a planar orientation and experiences on the one substrate a strong edge connection, while it experiences a weak edge connection on the other substrate. With dedicated current pulses, it is possible to switch between a non-twisted bulk structure and a bulk-twisted structure. If a liquid crystal cell equipped with parallel polarizers is deposited with an absorption foil, the non-twisted state appears white, while the twisted state appears black.

The Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Display (CHLCD) technology is based on twisted nematic liquid-crystalline phases. Chiral nematic phases or nematic phases provided with chiral dopants form helical structures at the molecular level. If the length of the helix is equal to the wavelength of visible light, it is selectively reflected (helix perpendicular to the display surface) or transmitted (random arrangement of the helices). Both states are long-term stability and can be converted into each other by applying a voltage.

The displays may also be a polymer display such as an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode). Such displays consist of a multi-layer system in which a very thin polymer is arranged between two electrodes. As a result, a thin display can be realized, which can be used as a paper substitute for marking objects. It is sufficient to use black and white displays, but it can also be used more complex displays with multiple colors. Such OLED displays have the advantage that they require less energy than LED displays, so that the life of a battery of a container identifier can be increased.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the displays are formed by electronic ink. These are chemically microcapsules containing two different color components of different charge, which align themselves in the electric field. Due to the particle size and the viscosity of the system after switching off the electric field, no immediate return relaxation in a disordered initial state. There is thus no loss of the written information, but it possibly occurs only a decrease in the Kontrastes.

Electrophoretic displays have favorable properties, in particular with regard to the mechanical requirements for flexibility, shock sensitivity and pressure stability. Furthermore, they provide a sufficiently bistable behavior and operate within a temperature range which corresponds to the typical weather conditions for a transport container system. Furthermore, by the comparatively low Control voltage of the circuit complexity for the power supply limited.

In one embodiment of the invention, an electronic label comprises at least one wireless interface for preferably bi-directional transmission of data and a display for visualization of optically detectable information. The interface is preferably an RFID component such as a chip. In addition, a logic circuit for data management is integrated, which performs the transfer of data from the wireless interface to the display. Furthermore, a label expediently comprises a circuit part for the provision of the energy required by the individual system components.

It has proven expedient to transmit the energy required for the operation of the electronic label via the wireless interface. The transmission of data received via the wireless interface to the display is taken over, for example, by a microcontroller in conjunction with a suitable display driver. Depending on the type of connection and the additional wiring of these basic elements, different concept variants of the overall system can be realized.

If active (monostable) LCDs are used, a permanent power supply of the display is required, which requires the integration of an energy storage such as a battery, a rechargeable battery or a capacitor with sufficient capacity. The data to be transmitted is received via an RF interface and stored there directly. Data relevant for the display are transferred to a microcontroller with display driver, which takes over the control of the display. During the data transmission, energy is extracted from the RF signal by a separate circuit part, which is used for Filling an energy storage is used, which ensures the supply of the controller and display.

The energy required for the RF component is taken from this directly from the RF signal. All components required for this purpose are preferably already contained in the RFID chip. The necessary effort for the circuit for additional energy production, however, is highly dependent on the supply voltage of the other connected components.

When using passive (bistable) displays, a simplified version of the previously mentioned concept can be used. The basic elements of the RF component and the microcontroller with display control are retained. By using a passive display, however, it is possible to dispense with the energy store. Since bistable displays usually operate with a higher operating voltage than conventional LCDs, the control of the display changes. To obtain the drive voltage additional (passive) components can be used, but this increases the number of components.

For passive (bistable) displays, for example, two separate RF components can be used. A component may be an RFID-IC component which contains the circuitry necessary for the generation of energy from the RF signal. The part of the circuit which is provided for driving the display is preferably decoupled from the RFID-IC component. This simplifies the adaptation of the second RF component and additionally required components to the higher supply voltage of the passive display. The data to be transmitted to the display are thus only passed through by the second RF component and displayed via the following microcontroller with display control.

In a further embodiment of the electronic label, the number of system components is minimized by integrating all components except the display within an application specific IC. The goal of such an ASIC (Application Specific IC) or CSIC (Customer Specific IC) is to integrate as many functionalities as possible for an electronic end product into a single semiconductor.

In a further particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the visually detectable electronic display of a container is supplemented by an RFID transponder 70, which is likewise connected to the container. As a result, the same or different information can be stored in the RFID transponder as displayed on the electronic display. Typically, RFID transponders are used to track containers and to generate transport statistics so that information required for them is stored. The transmission means 40 have additional means for transmitting data to the RFID transponder.

The transmission of data to the electronic display 21 is preferably carried out without contact. For this purpose, the transmission device 50 is equipped with a transmitter, which transmits data to a receiving means of the display. In a further embodiment of the invention, the transmission takes place via direct contact of the container display with a contact means of the transmission device. For example, may be provided at the storage position 50, a device for receiving the container, which aligns the container in a position in which the contact means of the transfer device in a Counterpart of the display engages and so a solid contact is made over which data can be transmitted.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

10

Device for sorting mail

20

container

30

processor

40

transfer device

50

storage position

60

sensor

70

RFID transponder

Claims (6)

1. A device (10) for sorting mail in a plurality of placement positions (30) and for providing identification information for a plurality of containers (20) with electronic displays (21) that are located at the placement positions, whereby the device comprises a processor (30) for controlling the sorting procedure,
   characterized by the following features:

   • the electronic displays (21) are each attached directly to the containers (20);

   • the device comprises transmission means (40) at the placement positions (50), whereby the transmission means (40) communicate with the processor (30) and comprise means for transmitting data to the electronic displays (21) of the containers (20); whereby at each placement position (50), a device for receiving the container is provided which aligns the container in a position in which a contact means of the transmission device engages with a counterpart of the display (21), thus establishing a contact via which data is transmitted to the electronic display (21); and

   • a sensor (60) that communicates with the processor (30) in order to determine the presence of a container (20) at a placement position (50).
2. The device according to Claim 1,
   characterized in that
   the sensor (60) is a switch with which a signal can be triggered when it is actuated by an operator.
3. The device according to one or both of Claims 1 and 2,
   characterized in that
   the sensor (60) is a self-actuating device by means of which a signal can be triggered when the container enters a defined area.
4. A method for sorting mail in a plurality of placement positions (30) of a sorting machine and for providing identification information for containers (20) that are located at the placement positions (30) of the device and that each have a display (21) attached directly to the container (20), whereby the sorting procedure is executed by a processor (30),
   characterized by the following features:

   • placement of a container into a device for receiving the container at each placement position (50), whereby the container is aligned in a position in which a contact means of the transmission device engages with a counterpart of the display (21), thus establishing a contact via which data is transmitted to the electronic display (21);

   • determination of the presence of a container (20) at a placement position (50) by means of a sensor (60) that communicates with a processor (30);

   • execution of the sorting procedure by the processor (30);

   • transmission of data to the electronic display (21) of a container (20) by means of transmission means (40) at the placement positions (50) of the device (10), whereby the transmission means (40) communicate with the processor (30) and receive from the processor (30) the data to be transmitted.
5. The method according to Claim 4,
   characterized in that
   the sensor (60) is a switch with which a signal is triggered when it is actuated by an operator.
6. The method according to Claim 4,
   characterized in that
   the sensor (60) is a self-actuating device by means of which a signal is triggered when the container enters a defined area.

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