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US 2016/0239788 A1Published application
Parcel Processing System and Method
AssigneeOne Stop Mailing LLC
InventorGina Marie Hanks
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A parcel processing system configured to select a permitted shipping service level from among the plurality of permitted shipping service levels based on a plurality of rules, control the sorting of the parcel into one of a plurality of shipping containers, and bill customers.
Claims40
A system for processing a plurality of parcels to be shipped, the parcels including a plurality of scanable parcel identifiers thereon, the system comprising:
- a scanner configured to a scan the parcel identifiers for the parcels;
- a database in which a plurality of customer profile data structures are stored, each customer profile data structure being associated with a customer, and each of a plurality of the customer profile data structures comprising data indicative of a plurality of permitted shipping service levels for its associated customer;
- and
- a processor in cooperation with the scanner and the database, the processor configured to:
- receive a plurality of the parcel identifiers from the scanner;
- and
- for each received parcel identifier, (1) determine a destination for the parcel corresponding to that parcel identifier based on the parcel identifier received from the scanner, (2) determine a delivery time frame for shipping the parcel corresponding to that parcel identifier, (3) determine a customer associated with the parcel corresponding to that parcel identifier, (4) retrieve from the database the customer profile data structure associated with the determined customer, (5) select a permitted shipping service level from the retrieved customer profile data structure based on a plurality of rules applied to the determined destination and the determined delivery time frame, the rules configured to identify for selection which of the permitted shipping service levels is estimated to deliver the parcel to the destination within the delivery time frame at the lowest monetary cost, (6) determine a drop point where the parcel corresponding to that parcel identifier is to be transferred to a shipping carrier based on the selected shipping service level, (7) generate shipping label data for the parcel corresponding to that parcel identifier in accordance with the selected shipping service level, and (8) determine one of a plurality of shipping container each parcel is to be sorted into.
4 more elements
A method comprising:
- receiving data representing (1) a destination for a parcel to be shipped and (2) a delivery time frame for shipping the parcel;
- determining a customer associated with the parcel;
- referencing a customer profile data structure associated with the determined customer, wherein the referenced customer profile data structure comprises data indicative of a plurality of permitted shipping service level for the determined customer;
- selecting a permitted shipping service level from among the plurality of permitted shipping service levels based on a plurality of rules applied to the received data, the rules operating on the received data to identify which of the permitted shipping service levels is estimated to deliver the parcel to the destination within the delivery time frame at the lowest monetary cost;
- determining a drop point where the parcel is to be transferred to a shipping carrier based on the selected shipping service level;
- generating shipping label data for the parcel in accordance with the selected shipping service level;
- and
- controlling the sorting of the parcel into one of a plurality of shipping containers based on the determined drop point;
- wherein the method steps are performed by a processor.
6 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a processor configured to:
- receive data representing (1) a destination for a parcel to be shipped and (2) a delivery time frame for shipping the parcel;
- determine a customer associated with the parcel;
- reference a customer profile data structure associated with the determined customer, wherein the referenced customer profile data structure comprises data indicative of a plurality of permitted shipping service level for the determined customer;
- select a permitted shipping service level from among the plurality of permitted shipping service levels based on a plurality of rules applied to the received data, the rules operating on the received data to identify which of the permitted shipping service levels is estimated to deliver the parcel to the destination within the delivery time frame at the lowest monetary cost;
- determine a drop point where the parcel is to be transferred to a shipping carrier based on the selected shipping service level;
- generate shipping label data for the parcel in accordance with the selected shipping service level;
- and
- control the sorting of the parcel into one of a plurality of shipping containers based on the determined drop point.
6 more elements
A computer program product comprising:
- a plurality of processor-executable instructions that are resident on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein the instructions are configured for execution by the processor to automatically select a shipping method for a parcel by causing the computer to:
- receive data representing (1) a destination for a parcel to be shipped and (2) a delivery time frame for shipping the parcel;
- determine a customer associated with the parcel;
- reference a customer profile data structure associated with the determined customer, wherein the referenced customer profile data structure comprises data indicative of a plurality of permitted shipping service level for the determined customer;
- select a permitted shipping service level from among the plurality of permitted shipping service levels based on a plurality of rules applied to the received data, the rules operating on the received data to identify which of the permitted shipping service levels is estimated to deliver the parcel to the destination within the delivery time frame at the lowest monetary cost;
- determine a drop point where the parcel is to be transferred to a shipping carrier based on the selected shipping service level;
- generate shipping label data for the parcel in accordance with the selected shipping service level;
- and
- control the sorting of the parcel into one of a plurality of shipping containers based on the determined drop point.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.