System and method for improving item scan rates in distribution network
AssigneeUnited States Postal Service
InventorRyan J. Simpson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a system and method for improving scan rates of an item in a distribution network. The system may include an item scan database storing item scan datasets containing barcodes, item datasets and optical character recognition (OCR) labels datasets and a processor in data communication with the item scan database. The processor may detect an item barcode with an item orientation so as to output correct orientation information of the item. The processor may also extract available barcode information from the detected item barcode based on the correct orientation information of the item. The processor may further reconstruct a correct barcode from the extracted available barcode information and one or more of the item scan datasets.
Claims21
A system for scanning items in a distribution network, the system comprising:
- one or more databases storing barcode information for a plurality of barcodes;
- a scanner located at a distribution network facility, the scanner configured to scan an item and generate scan information, the scan information comprising barcode information, adjacency information identifying at least one other item processed before or after the item, and a distribution network facility identifier;
- one or more processors in data communication with the one or more databases and the scanner, and configured to:
- extract barcode information from the scan information, wherein the extracted barcode information comprises a computer-readable portion and a non-computer-readable portion;
- identify the computer-readable portion of the extracted barcode information;
- identify, in the one or more databases, a set of candidate barcodes from the plurality of barcodes based on the adjacency information and the distribution network facility identifier;
- retrieve, from the one or more databases, the set of candidate barcodes of the plurality of barcodes that at least partially match the identified computer-readable portion of the extracted barcode information;
- and
- identify a likely barcode from the set of candidate barcodes based on the adjacency information and the distribution network facility identifier.
A method for scanning items in a distribution network, the method comprising:
- storing, in one more databases, barcode information for a plurality of barcodes;
- receive, from a scanner located at a distribution network facility, the scanner, scan information from a scan of an item, the scan information comprising barcode information, adjacency information identifying at least one other item processed before or after the item, and a distribution network facility identifier;
- extracting, by one or more processors, barcode information from the scan information, wherein the extracted barcode information comprises a computer-readable portion and a non-computer-readable portion;
- identifying, by the one or more processors, the computer-readable portion of the extracted barcode information;
- identifying, in the one or more databases, a set of candidate barcodes from the plurality of barcodes based on the adjacency information and the distribution network facility identifier;
- retrieving, by the one or more processors, the set of candidate barcodes of the plurality of barcodes that at least partially match the identified computer-readable portion of the extracted barcode information;
- identifying a likely barcode from the set of candidate barcodes based on the adjacency information and the distribution network facility identifier.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.