Feeding system and method for placing a plurality of objects on a tray of an automated sorting system

A method for placing a plurality of objects on a conveying device of a sorting system adapted to transport and distribute a series of objects from loading stations to unloading stations of the sorting system, said method comprising the steps of:

• reading destination information from said objects;
• measuring a dimension of said objects;
• at a first loading station, loading a first object onto said conveying device within a designated destination area;
• determining whether a second object having the same destination as said first object will fit within said designated destination area with said first object;
• and
• if said second object will fit within said designated destination area with said first object, loading said second object onto said designated destination area.

A feeding system for use with a sorting system of the type having a plurality of trays movable under the control of a programmable controller to transport and distribute a series of objects from at least one feeding station to a plurality of unloading stations, said feeding system comprising:

• a scanner adapted to read address information from said objects;
• an optical sensor adapted to determine a width of said objects in a feeding direction;
• said scanner and said optical sensor being connected to provide to said programmable controller data indicating a destination and a dimension of each of said objects;
• and
• at least two feed conveyors positioned to load said objects onto said trays;
• said controller being responsive to said destination and dimension data to determine when two objects sharing a common destination will fit within a single tray, and to operate said feed conveyors to load said two objects onto said single tray, one from each of said feeding conveyors.

A sorting system, comprising:

• a conveying device movable between at least one loading station and a plurality of unloading stations;
• said loading station including a feeding system for placing a plurality of objects on said conveying device, comprising:
• a data input device;
• a programmable controller connected to receive from said data input device data indicating a destination and a dimension of each of said objects;
• and
• one or more feed conveyors positioned to load said objects onto designated destination areas of said conveying device;
• said controller being responsive to said destination and dimension data to determine when two or more objects sharing a common destination will fit within a single designated destination area of said conveying device, and to operate said one or more feed conveyors to load said two or more objects onto said designated destination area.