A method and apparatus are provided for sorting items to a plurality of sort destinations. A scanning station evaluates one or more characteristics of each item fed into the apparatus. The items are loaded onto one of a plurality of independently controlled delivery vehicles. The delivery vehicles are individually driven to sort destinations. Once at the appropriate sort destination, the delivery vehicle ejects the item to the sort destination and returns to receive another item to be delivered. A re-induction conveyor may be provided for receiving select items from the vehicles and conveying the items back to the input station for re-processing. Additionally, a controller is provided to control the movement of the vehicles based on a characteristic each item being delivered by each vehicle. When an item to be manually sorted is encountered, a visual alert aligned with a selected destination is activated until manual transfer is confirmed.

A method and apparatus are provided for sorting items to a plurality of sort destinations. A scanning station evaluates one or more characteristics of each item fed into the apparatus. The items are loaded onto one of a plurality of independently controlled delivery vehicles. The delivery vehicles are individually driven to sort destinations. Once at the appropriate sort destination, the delivery vehicle ejects the item to the sort destination and returns to receive another item to be delivered. A re-induction conveyor may be provided for receiving select items from the vehicles and conveying the items back to the input station for re-processing. Additionally, a controller is provided to control the movement of the vehicles based on a characteristic each item being delivered by each vehicle. When an item to be manually sorted is encountered, a visual alert aligned with a selected destination is activated until manual transfer is confirmed.

Embodiments of a system and method for sorting and delivering articles in a processing facility based on image data are described. Image processing results such as rotation notation information may be included in or with an image to facilitate downstream processing such as when the routing information cannot be extracted from the image using an unattended system and the image is passed to an attended image processing system. The rotation notation information may be used to dynamically adjust the image before presenting the image via the attended image processing system.

Embodiments of a system and method for sorting and delivering articles in a processing facility based on image data are described. Image processing results such as rotation notation information may be included in or with an image to facilitate downstream processing such as when the routing information cannot be extracted from the image using an unattended system and the image is passed to an attended image processing system. The rotation notation information may be used to dynamically adjust the image before presenting the image via the attended image processing system.

An approach is provided for tracking and managing physical mail items using image recognition. An image is captured of a mail item and may include any information on the mail item, such as sender information, recipient information, a postmark, a cancellation, as well as artifacts of the mail item, such as seams, markings, coloration, texture, damage, etc. A unique value is generated for the image, for example, by processing the image data for the image using one or more hash functions to generate a hash value. The hash value uniquely identifies the mail item based upon the information included in the image, such as the sender and recipient information, postmark, cancellation, artifacts, etc., and is used to track and manage the mail item.

An approach is provided for tracking and managing physical mail items using image recognition. An image is captured of a mail item and may include any information on the mail item, such as sender information, recipient information, a postmark, a cancellation, as well as artifacts of the mail item, such as seams, markings, coloration, texture, damage, etc. A unique value is generated for the image, for example, by processing the image data for the image using one or more hash functions to generate a hash value. The hash value uniquely identifies the mail item based upon the information included in the image, such as the sender and recipient information, postmark, cancellation, artifacts, etc., and is used to track and manage the mail item.

A system for processing a logistic object, comprising: a sorting apparatus, a transportation apparatus, and an output apparatus. The sorting apparatus comprises: a logistic object conveyor, at least one chute, and at least one sorting platform. The logistic object conveyor is connected to one end of the at least one sliding chute, and the other end of each chute is connected to one sorting platform. The transportation apparatus comprises a supporting assembly. The output apparatus comprises an output apparatus body and a control device. Also provided are a sorting apparatus and a method for processing a logistic object. The system for processing a logistic object can automatically implement the sorting of logistic objects to complete the packaging processing of the logistic objects, thereby improving the logistic processing efficiency.

A method of sorting baggage at an airport, which method comprises acquiring a plurality of digital images (IN) of a piece of baggage, which piece of baggage carries an unambiguous identification label bearing textual information about a flight, the method further comprising video coding in which a computer unit automatically detects the presence of characteristic elements of the unambiguous identification label in the digital images, computes a score for each of the digital images on the basis of a count of the characteristic elements, ranks the images as a function of their respective scores, and displays the images on a screen (132) as a function of the ranking.

A method of sorting baggage at an airport, which method comprises acquiring a plurality of digital images (IN) of a piece of baggage, which piece of baggage carries an unambiguous identification label bearing textual information about a flight, the method further comprising video coding in which a computer unit automatically detects the presence of characteristic elements of the unambiguous identification label in the digital images, computes a score for each of the digital images on the basis of a count of the characteristic elements, ranks the images as a function of their respective scores, and displays the images on a screen (132) as a function of the ranking.

Printed transactional documents are enclosed in a document size-inclusive envelope that gives the appearance of being a traditional windowed envelope in which the send address shows through from the address vehicle page inside, but actually has the address printed on an adhered patch that shows through the window, keeping the data inside more protected and allowing production processes to be more efficient, and the patch or envelope has a serialized identifier that ensures the address printed on the patch and seen in the window corresponds with the document on the inside.