FR2887478A1 - METHOD FOR MERGING LARGE FORMAT AND / OR NON-MECHANIZABLE POSTAL LETTERS AND OBJECTS IN A SINGLE FACTOR TURN - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves passing an insert (52) carrying visual codes (53, 54) and sorting information into a sorting machine. The sorting machine is programmed to distribute the insert based on the sorting information to fragment letters (51) of a postman`s walk into several letter groups, where the insert separates the groups into two consecutive distribution points of the walk. Large and non-mechanized objects are manually inserted between the letters by marking letters using the visual codes.

Description

The invention relates to a method for preparing a tour of the factor with

  large-format postal objects and / or non-machinable postal objects which are merged with letters, in which the mailman's tour is first made in a sorting machine with

  letters and then insert large format objects and / or non-machinable objects between the letters of the postman's tour.

  Preparing a mailman's tour with letters and large-format objects, such as packages or magazines, and / or non-machinable objects, for example some letters that can not be sorted by machine, merged with Letters consist of ordering letters and large format and / or non-machinable items according to the order of distribution points of the postman's tour to allow the postman to distribute with a single bag.

  There are so-called "sequencing" postal sorting machines that can process both letters and so-called large format objects as indicated in US-6822182. However such machines are still unprofitable because of their low speed.

  To prepare a single tour of the factor containing both letters and large format objects, one can still proceed in the following way. We first prepare a postman tour with letters only. Then we prepare on another sorting machine the same tour of the factor with the large format objects. We then merge manually the two tours to make one. The preparation of this unique postman tour therefore requires a lot of manipulations that increase the cost associated with distribution, which currently accounts for about two-thirds of the total cost of processing a mailing. In addition, many small sorting centers do not have a sorting machine for large objects. The preparation of the postman's tour with the large format objects must then be done completely manually, which makes the preparation of the fused factor tour particularly long and tedious. Also, the manual insertion of large format objects among the letters is tedious and the operator must scan a large number of letters to locate the appropriate place for insertion of a large format object.

  The object of the invention is therefore to propose a simple solution to facilitate the preparation of a mailman's tour with letters and large format objects and / or non-machinable objects merged with the letters.

  For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a method for preparing a tour of the postman with so-called large-format postal objects and / or non-machinable postal objects merged with letters, in which a machine is first constituted. of sorting the postman's mail with the letters and then the large format objects and / or non-machinable objects are inserted between the letters of the mailman's post, characterized in that during the sorting of letters, the machine is put in the machine sorting tabs which each carry a visual code and sorting information readable by the sorting machine, in that the sorting machine is programmed so that it distributes said spacers in the sorting outlets according to the sorting information affixed to the dividers so as to fragment the letters of the postman's tour into several groups of letters, said dividers separating the groups of letters between two points of the letter; consecutive tribution of the tour, and in that an operator manually inserts large objects and / or non-machinable objects between the letters by identifying themselves using the visual codes affixed to the tabs.

  The idea underlying the invention is therefore to use tabs that serve as visual cues and separators to fragment the tour of the postman in packets or small groups of letters at locations corresponding to a change of distribution point in the tour of the postman.

  In particular, the letters of the postman's tour are first ordered according to the succession of consecutive distribution points of the tour.

  When a large format object or a non-machineable object is to be inserted into the letter tour, the operator can use the tabs to visually identify where this object is to be inserted into the tour.

  In this way, it no longer needs to scan a large number of letters to find the appropriate place for insertion of a large format or non-machinable which helps to accelerate this operation of manual insertion of the objects of large format and / or non-machinable objects.

  It is known from experience that the operators responsible for preparing and merging shipments in postman tours know how to quickly and visually associate a mailing address and a distribution point in a postman's tour.

  With the method according to the invention, certain points of the succession of letters constituting the tour are thus visually marked by the dividers which facilitates the manual search of the places where the objects to be sorted manually must be respectively inserted.

  The method according to the invention may have the following features: the sorting machine is programmed to distribute the spacers at equal intervals over all the distribution points of the postman's tour; - each visual code affixed to a tab is an alphanumeric code; the operator uses a manual sort assistance system which renders information indicative of a visual code of an interlayer in response to an address information.

  - The manual sorting assistance system comprises a voice recognition system address.

  By equidistantly distributing the dividers according to the succession of distribution points of the postman's tour, the mental association for the operator is accelerated between a postal address of an object to be inserted and a place where this object must be inserted in groups of letters. In practice, it will be possible to use several tens (50 to 60) of spacers on a factor tour comprising several hundred distribution points.

  With the method according to the invention, the insertion of the large format objects and non-machinable objects between the letters can be performed directly in the sorting outlets of the machine at the end of the preparation of the Letter Factor tour but the method according to the invention also applies to a manual insertion in letter trays grouping the letters taken from the sorting outlets of the machine.

  The method is advantageously applied when the preparation of the tour of the factor is carried out for example in three sorting passes on a sorting machine having a small number of sorting outlets. This type of machine is today very widely used in postal distribution centers.

  The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows and on examining the figures which accompany it. This description is given as an indicative and non-limiting example of the invention.

  Figure 1 shows in perspective a postal sorting machine arranged to implement the method for preparing the tour of the factor according to the invention.

  Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating the preparation of the sorting plan.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the steps implemented in the method according to the invention.

  FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of a voice-recognition manual sorting assistance system for implementing the method according to the invention.

  Figure 5 illustrates a bin containing a set of letters fragmented into groups of letters by means of tabs.

  The invention thus consists in preparing one or more rounds of the factor containing both letters and objects to be inserted manually. Objects to be inserted by hand are large objects as well as non-machinable objects to which the invention can be applied jointly or separately.

  For the preparation of a tour of the postman with letters and objects to insert manually merged with the letters, according to the invention are used intercalary. The use of tabs in the postal sorting is known per se, for example to separate in a sorting outlet tray or in a receptacle the shipments of two rounds of factor.

  The spacers used to implement the method according to the invention are of course designed to differentiate visually from other conventional spacers used in postal sorting.

  This differentiation can be done by choosing a particular color or a particular format so as to make them easily identifiable by an operator.

  According to the invention, each interlayer has a visual code and in particular an alphanumeric code, more particularly a numerical code easily visible by the operator when the insert is inserted between letters for example in a sorting outlet tray.

  An interlayer according to the invention also carries a sorting code readable by the sorting machine, for example a bar code. This sort code is used by the machine to insert the tab into the stream of sorted letters.

  According to the method of the invention, it will be possible to use on a tour of factor a set of about fifty tabs each carrying a numerical code ranging for example from 1 to 50. The numerical code may be affixed to the four corners of the interlayer to be always identifiable by an operator regardless of the orientation of the separator between the sorted letters.

  Figure 1 shows a sorting machine 1 in which the preparation of a tour of factor is performed in three letter sorting passes.

  The machine comprises a letter destacker 2, a device 3 for reading code (bar code for example) or OCR address recognition and sorting outputs 4 to packer for example.

  Typically, the letters coming out of the unstacker 2 are sent in series on edge in the device 3 to recognize their address and are then directed according to the automatically recognized address to a sorting outlet 4. This classic sorting process in So is repeated three times according to a sorting plan in three passes.

  FIG. 2 illustrates, by a simplified flowchart, the process for preparing a sorting plan that also incorporates a preparation (programming) phase of the sorting machine for taking into account the spacers indicated above.

  In a first step 10, an operator edits one or more rounds of the postman on a screen by entering, using software tools, the distribution points of each round according to the order of movement of the postman during the tour.

  In step 11, factor rounds are already stored in memory and in this case the operator has only to load the factor rounds that are the subject of the sorting plan.

  The number of sorting passes can also be entered by the operator.

  Generally the number of sorting outlets of the machine for the preparation of the rounds of factor is a parameter already registered. According to the invention, the operator activates an optional machine function for melting large format objects and / or non-machinable objects in the letters and introduces a value n indicative of the size of the gap separating two spacers in the list of distribution points Pdi of a tour.

  In step 12, the distribution points of several selected factor runs may be concatenated by the data processing system to generate a unique list of distribution points.

  In step 13, the data processing system inserts in this list an intermediate sorting code (a fictitious distribution point) at regular intervals as a function of the value n introduced previously. Interleaving codes corresponding to interlayer numbers 1,2,3 .... are therefore inserted in the list.

  In step 14, the system generates and stores a sorting plan from this list of distribution points and intermediate sort code. Thus, in the sorting plan, there is an association between the sorting sort codes and the sorting outlets so that an interlayer will be sorted in the same way as a letter, according to its sorting code.

  In step 15, the system can also associate in memory a correspondence between each distribution point of the tour or rounds constituting the sorting plane and information indicative of the visual code of the interlayer which is associated with the distribution point. It should be understood here that the functionality of this last step will be used for a speech recognition system for inserting the tabs into the letters.

  FIG. 3 shows in the form of a flowchart various steps of a multi-pass sorting including steps of the method according to the invention after the generation phase of a sorting plan as indicated above.

  The letters to be sorted in the sorting machine 1 are first introduced in step 20, then a set of dividers according to the invention is introduced in step 21.

  In step 22, a first sorting pass is made in the sorting machine 11 according to the sorting plane indicated by the reference 7.

  In step 23, the letters in the sorting outlets with the dividers are grouped in an orderly manner and reintroduced (step 24) with the input tabs of the sorting machine for a second sorting pass (step 25) in a machine.

  In step 26 again, the letters in the sorting outlets with the tabs are grouped in an orderly manner to be reintroduced (step 27) to the input of the machine for a third and last sorting pass (step 28). At the end of the third sort pass, the dividers separate groups of letters between two consecutive distribution points of a factor tour. The letters can be left in the sorting outlets if for example they are sorting sorting outlets. They can also be stored with the dividers (step 29) in storage bins B (see FIG. 5) associated respectively with the sorting outlets of the machine or in a device designed specifically to facilitate the insertion operation.

  It is understood that there is therefore in each tray one or more spacers separating groups of letters that are for example equi-distributed all n distribution points.

  The large format objects can be inserted (step 30) into a sorting machine adapted to be pre-sorted (step 31) in a single pass for example (pre-sorting) which can facilitate their subsequent insertion between the stored letters. in the storage bins B. In this sorting step 31, the sorting machine 5 can operate the sorting plane 7 and the large format objects can be transferred from the sorting outlets of the machine at the end of the pre-sorting operation. The non-machinable objects are pre-sorted manually in step 38 into R containers by an operator respecting the same sorting plane as for pre-sorting the large format objects.

  The operator now proceeds to the semi-manual fusion of large flat objects and non-machinable objects between the letters stored in the bins B. For this, the operator can use a system 6 voice recognition 'address. Such a system is for example known from patent application US 2002/0036160. For the implementation of the method according to the invention, this system 6 will be adequately programmed to associate a postal address with information indicative of a visual code of spacer and reproduce this information in sound or visual form in response to a request. address.

  To achieve the fusion, the operator's working environment can be designed ergonomically, for example with the B trays aligned on a display rack and R receptacles placed within reach of the operator on a carriage.

  In step 33, the operator seizes an object to manually insert into a receptacle R, read aloud in a microphone of the system 6 address of the recipient registered on this object. The system 6 associates the voice address information with information indicative of a visual code tab (step 35) and returns this information (step 36) for example in sound form in headphones to the operator.

  On the basis of this information, the operator immediately locates in the bins B the interlayer in question using the visual code of the latter and begins scanning the group of letters delimited by this insert and inserts the object of large format or the non-machinable object at the proper location (step 37).

  This insert operation is repeated by the operator for all manually inserted objects stored in the R-bins until all the objects to be manually inserted are merged with the letters.

  Performing in steps 31 and 38 a pre-sorting of large format objects and non-machinable objects before insertion into the bins B reduces the movements of the operator to achieve the merger.

  FIG. 4 very schematically shows a system 6 for manual sorting with voice address recognition. This system 6 comprises a headset 40, equipped with a microphone 41, headphones 42 and a transmitting / receiving antenna 43, which operates with a data processing system 44 provided with a transmitting / receiving antenna 45. data processing 44 is in particular that which was used to generate the sorting plan.

  It is also possible to use a manual sorting assistance system in which the address of the items is determined by reading a bar code representative of the address of this item by means of a manual scanner.

  FIG. 5 illustrates in a perspective view a tray B in which are stored letters 51 fragmented in several groups by tabs 52. It is seen that these tabs, larger than the letters, have a visual code 53 easily visible by the operator. Also shown on the tray B is a visual code 54 indicative of a bin number or a sort output number. The bins B are not filled completely with the letters, so as to leave room for the future insertion of the objects to insert manually between the letters. To prevent sagging letters, they are maintained in the bins by means of tampers for example spring.

  An alternative to the equi-distributed distribution of the spacers described with reference to FIG. 2 is to fragment each turn of the factor with a constant number N of spacers, where N is a number chosen by the operator during the generation of the sorting plane. . In this case, for each round of the factor, the data processing system calculates as a function of N and the number of distribution points of the factor turn, the interval (the number of distribution points) to separate two consecutive dividers in a storage bin B so that this interval is constant for the tour of the factor.

  To prepare several rounds of the factor simultaneously, it may be necessary to have several set of dividers, one for each round of the postman.

  According to another alternative, the sorting machine can be programmed so that the distribution of the dividers in the factor's turn takes into account the volume of the objects to be sorted for each distribution point, which volumes can be statistically known.

  Of course, in the method according to the invention, the sorting of the letters can be done in less than three passes or in more than three passes and the objects to be inserted manually can be inserted between the sorted letters without pre-sorting. be realized.

  As indicated above, the merging of the objects to be manually inserted into the letters can be carried out directly in the sorting outlets of the sorting machine 1.

  The voice recognition assistance system 6 can restore information indicative of a visual code tab also in a visual form, for example on a display screen. According to one variant, the indicative information provided to the operator may comprise the visual codes of the two dividers which delimit the group into which the object to be manually inserted must be inserted.

  The numbering (alphanumeric visual code) of the dividers can be incremental for a whole tour of the factor, for the contents of a bin or for several rounds of the concatenated factor.

  In addition to the number of the insert, the assistance system 6 may indicate the classification of the distribution point of the object to be manually inserted among the distribution points assigned to the group targeted by the insert.

  The method according to the invention has the advantage of being easily put in place on existing sorting machines.

Claims (5)

  1) A method for preparing a postman's tour with large-format postal objects and / or non-machinable postal objects merged with letters, in which in a sorting machine (1) the tour of factor with the letters and then the large format objects and / or non-machinable objects are inserted between the letters of the postman's tour, characterized in that during the sorting of the letters, one passes (21) in the sorting machine tabs (52) each of which has a visual code (53) and sorting information readable by the sorting machine, in that the sorting machine (10-15) is programmed to distribute said tabs in sorting outlets according to sorting information affixed to the tabs so as to fragment the letters of the postman's mail into several groups of letters, said tabs separating the groups of letters between two distribution points; one cons consecutive of the tour, and in that an operator manually inserts the large format objects and / or non-machinable objects between the letters by identifying with the help of visual codes affixed to the tabs.   2) The method of claim 1, wherein the sorting machine is programmed to distribute the spacers at equal intervals on all distribution points of the tour of the factor.   3) Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein each visual code affixed to a spacer is an alphanumeric code.   4) Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the operator uses a manual sorting assistance system (6) which restores information indicative of a visual code of a tab in response to an address information .   5) The method of claim 4, wherein the manual sort assist system comprises a voice recognition system address.