US 11,907,890 B2 · Method and apparatus for label-less return shipments

An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause an apparatus at least to perform or control:

obtaining or causing obtaining an image of at least a part of a surface of a consignment unit;
deriving or causing deriving a representation of the at least a part of the surface from the image, the representation comprising a set of values respectively representing a corresponding set of height levels of corresponding sections of the at least a part of the surface;
generating or causing generating a string of characters based on the representation of the at least a part of the surface, the string of characters comprising at least a first portion representative of the set of height levels of the corresponding sections of the at least a part of the surface and a second portion generated based on a function of the representation and/or of the first portion of the string of characters;
and
associating or causing associating information representing the string of characters with shipping information of the consignment unit.

2 more elements

An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause an apparatus at least to perform or control:

obtaining or causing obtaining first information representing a first string of characters with a first portion representative of a set of height levels of corresponding sections of at least a part of a surface of a first consignment unit;
determining or causing determining, based on the obtained first information, whether or not the first string of characters is present in a database;
and
if the first string of characters is present in the database, at least one of (a) or (b):
(a) outputting or causing outputting shipping information associated with the first information representing the first string of characters in the database;
(b) outputting or causing outputting a control signal based on the shipping information for causing an external apparatus to perform a predetermined operation;
wherein obtaining the first information comprises:
obtaining or causing obtaining an image of at least a part of a surface of the first consignment unit;
deriving or causing deriving a representation of the at least a part of the surface from the image, the representation comprising a set of values respectively representing a corresponding set of height levels of corresponding sections of the at least a part of the surface:
generating or causing generating the first string of characters based on the representation of the at least a part of the surface;
receiving or causing receiving the first information via a network connection.

8 more elements

An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause an apparatus at least to perform or control:

obtaining or causing obtaining first information representing a first string of characters with a first portion representative of a set of height levels of corresponding sections of at least a part of a surface of a first consignment unit;
determining or causing determining, based on the obtained first information, whether or not the first string of characters is present in a database;
and
if the first string of characters is present in the database, at least one of (a) or (b):
(a) outputting or causing outputting shipping information associated with the first information representing the first string of characters in the database;
(b) outputting or causing outputting a control signal based on the shipping information for causing an external apparatus to perform a predetermined operation;
wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform or control:
if the first string of characters is not present in the database:
determining or causing determining, based on a metric function, whether or not at least one second string of characters is present in the database, a distance of which to the first string of characters is below a first predefined threshold;
if at least one second string of characters is present in the database, the distance of which to the first string of characters is below the first predefined threshold, at least one of (a), (b):
(a) outputting or causing outputting shipping information associated with information representing the at least one second string of characters in the database;
(b) outputting or causing outputting a control signal based on the shipping information associated with information representing the at least one second string of characters for causing the external apparatus to perform the predetermined operation.

9 more elements

An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause an apparatus at least to perform or control:

obtaining or causing obtaining first information representing a first string of characters with a first portion representative of a set of height levels of corresponding sections of at least a part of a surface of a first consignment unit;
determining or causing determining, based on the obtained first information, whether or not the first string of characters is present in a database;
and
if the first string of characters is present in the database, at least one of (a) or (b):
(a) outputting or causing outputting shipping information associated with the first information representing the first string of characters in the database;
(b) outputting or causing outputting a control signal based on the shipping information for causing an external apparatus to perform a predetermined operation;
wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform or control:
if the first string of characters is not present in the database, the following steps (a), (b), and (c):
(a) obtaining or causing obtaining at least second information representing at least one first model string of characters with a first portion representative of a first model set of height levels of the corresponding sections of the at least a part of the surface of the first consignment unit;
(b) determining or causing determining, based on a metric function, whether or not at least one second string of characters is present in the database, a distance of which to the at least one first model string of characters and/or the first string of characters is below a second predefined threshold;
(c) if at least one second string of characters is present in the database, the distance of which to the at least one first model string of characters and/or the first string of characters is below the second predefined threshold, at least one of (c1), (c2):
(c1) outputting or causing outputting shipping information associated with information representing the at least one second string of characters in the database;
(c2) outputting or causing outputting a control signal based on the shipping information associated with information representing the at least one second string of characters for causing the external apparatus to perform the predetermined operation.

10 more elements

A method performed by at least one apparatus, the method comprising:

obtaining or causing obtaining first information representing a first string of characters with a first portion representative of a set of height levels of corresponding sections of at least a part of a surface of a first consignment unit;
determining or causing determining, based on the obtained first information, whether or not the first string of characters is present in a database;
and
if the first string of characters is present in the database, the method further comprises at least one of (a) or (b):
(a) outputting or causing outputting shipping information associated with the first information representing the first string of characters in the database;
(b) outputting or causing outputting a control signal based on the shipping information for causing an external apparatus to perform a predetermined operation;
wherein obtaining the first information comprises:
obtaining or causing obtaining an image of at least a part of a surface of the first consignment unit;
deriving or causing deriving a representation of the at least a part of the surface from the image, the representation comprising a set of values respectively representing a corresponding set of height levels of corresponding sections of the at least a part of the surface:
generating or causing generating the first string of characters based on the representation of the at least a part of the surface;
or
receiving or causing receiving the first information via a network connection.

9 more elements

A method performed by at least one apparatus, the method comprising:

obtaining or causing obtaining first information representing a first string of characters with a first portion representative of a set of height levels of corresponding sections of at least a part of a surface of a first consignment unit;
determining or causing determining, based on the obtained first information, whether or not the first string of characters is present in a database;
and
if the first string of characters is present in the database, the method further comprises at least one of (a) or (b):
(a) outputting or causing outputting shipping information associated with the first information representing the first string of characters in the database;
(b) outputting or causing outputting a control signal based on the shipping information for causing an external apparatus to perform a predetermined operation;
further comprising:
if at least one second string of characters is determined to be present in the database, the at least one second string of characters comprising a first portion representative of a set of height levels of corresponding sections of at least a part of a surface of at least one respective second consignment unit corresponding to the at least one second string of characters and the distance of which to the first string of characters and/or to the at least one first model string of characters is below the first and/or the second predefined threshold, the method further comprises the following steps (a), (b) and (c):
(a) obtaining or causing obtaining, for each one of the at least one second string of characters, at least third information representing at least one respective second model string of characters corresponding to the at least one second string of characters with a first portion being representative of a second model set of height levels of corresponding sections of at least a part of the surface of the respective second consignment unit corresponding to the at least one second string of characters;
(b) determining or causing determining whether or not at least one string of characters of the at least one second string of characters and the at least one corresponding second model string of characters is present in the database for which a distance to any one of the first string of characters and/or the at least one first model string of characters is below a third predefined threshold;
and
(c) if at least one string of characters of the at least one second string of characters and the at least one corresponding second model string of characters is found, the distance of which to any one of the first string of characters and/or the at least one first model string of characters is below the third predefined threshold, the method further comprises at least one of (c1), (c2):
(c1) outputting or causing outputting shipping information associated with information representing the at least one string of characters of the at least one second string of characters and the at least one corresponding second model string of characters in the database;
(c2) outputting or causing outputting a control signal based on the shipping information associated with information representing the at least one string of characters of the at least one second string of characters and the at least one corresponding second model string of characters for causing the external apparatus to perform the predetermined operation.

11 more elements

Method and apparatus for label-less return shipments

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Method and apparatus for label-less return shipments

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Abstract

Claims24