The present invention provides automated systems and methods of loading finished mail within the trays for subsequent processing. The systems and methods of the present invention result in economic and operational efficiency to increase the process of loading the mail in the trays.

A method for decreasing the time spent on inserting postal objects in and discharging them from a parcel terminal and a parcel terminal comprising at least one storage space with multiple compartments within the parcel terminal for loading and storing postal objects on movable trays; an insertion and discharge area with one or more insertion and discharge slots equipped with a door, and a control unit; a loading mechanism for transporting postal objects from the insertion and discharge area to the storage space of postal objects and from the storage space to the insertion and discharge area. For performing the method, the parcel terminal is provided with a stack of movable trays, an area for storing the stack of movable trays and a stacker of movable trays, the terminal includes a user zone and an internal zone and the method comprises the cycles of inserting and discharging a postal object in the user zone, a cycle parallel with the insertion and/or discharge cycle which is performed in the internal zone of the parcel terminal, a cycle of stacking and/or emptying the stack of trays in the user zone, and gathering and analysing statistical data on the use of the terminal by means of the control unit.

A mail singulator system determines a position of an optical panel to automatically adjust a loading conveyor speed to prevent stacked and overlapped mailpieces in the singulator and large gaps between mailpieces. The optical panel is configured between the front mailpiece of a mail stack on the loading conveyor and the optical sensor. The optical panel changes position with the pressure exerted by the mail stack and provides signals to the controller to adjust the conveyor speed. An optical sensor may detect a far threshold position or limit distance to increase the speed of the conveyor and may detect a near threshold position of limit distance to reduce the speed of the conveyor. The optical panel may have a low friction surface to allow the mail to slide into the conveyor and an optical surface to allow reliable optical sensor detection of the optical panel position.

An automated system for transferring articles from a container. An item transfer system includes a rotatable tray rotary assembly, a translatable and rotatable intermediate rotary assembly, and a translatable and rotatable output rotary assembly. The system is configured to transfer articles from the tray to processing equipment by an automated process including rotationally transferring the articles from the tray to the intermediate rotary assembly and rotationally transferring the articles from the intermediate rotary assembly to the output rotary assembly. The output rotary assembly can move to align with a shelf or other input of the processing equipment and a paddle assembly can slide the items from the output rotary assembly onto the shelf or other input of the processing equipment.

Embodiments of a system and method for unloading articles from a container of items for use in an automatic stack feeder are disclosed. The automatic stack feeder may comprise a belt, a moveable lower paddle, and a moveable upper paddle, wherein the lower paddle is configured to partially extend through a belt of the automatic stack feeder. The movement of the belt, the lower paddle, and the upper paddle are coordinated such that there is no need to interrupt the operation of the automatic stack feeder to unload the container.

A material handling system reduces or eliminates human interaction with articles sorted and deposited into an order container to maintain validation and integrity of the order. Validated articles are inducted onto a sortation conveyor that selectively dispenses or deposits each article at a destination into a container. A shuttle vehicle moves along a first side of row of such containers to replace an empty container in place of any container that holds a completed order and moves the latter onto a transport conveyor.

Systems, devices and methods for receiving an item in a receptacle are disclosed. Features are disclosed for receiving and guiding an item in a receiving space of a receptacle so as to attenuate or remove the impact force of the item on the receptacle. Some embodiments of the disclosure include a bumper having an impact surface which absorbs most or all of the impact force of the item and thereby mitigates or removes the imposition of cyclic impact loads on the receptacle from repeated receipt of items. The bumper may be structurally and/or functionally de-coupled or otherwise physically separated from the receptacle such that an advantageous division of labor is created between absorbing the impact and receiving the item. This disclosure may be useful, for example, in modern industrial operations where a high volume of items are received daily, such as in mail sorting and handling operations.

Embodiments of a system and method for sorting and sequencing articles in a processing facility are disclosed. Delivery endpoints are divided and grouped into stop groups. A first sorter sorts items according to stop group and outputs the items to trays. The output trays from the first sorter are loaded to a second sorter in stop group order. The second sorter sorts items for each stop group into separate lanes. Each lane can then be sorted into output bins in delivery sequence order.

Systems, devices and methods for receiving an item in a receptacle are disclosed. Features are disclosed for receiving and guiding an item in a receiving space of a receptacle so as to attenuate or remove the impact force of the item on the receptacle. Some embodiments of the disclosure include a bumper having an impact surface which absorbs most or all of the impact force of the item and thereby mitigates or removes the imposition of cyclic impact loads on the receptacle from repeated receipt of items. The bumper may be structurally and/or functionally de-coupled or otherwise physically separated from the receptacle such that an advantageous division of labor is created between absorbing the impact and receiving the item. This disclosure may be useful, for example, in modern industrial operations where a high volume of items are received daily, such as in mail sorting and handling operations.

An automatic stack feeder having a moveable stack or product guide is disclosed. The automatic stack feeder may be configured to receive a stack of articles and a container enclosing a stack of articles. To ensure the stack of articles is properly supported following unloading from the container, the stack guide is moveable between a first and a second position, wherein the stack guide is in contact with the stack of articles while in the first position, and not in contact with the stack when in the second position.