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US 6,587,806 B2Granted
Method and system for determining time to sort mailpieces
AssigneePitney Bowes Inc.
InventorsCindy Mangiameli, Lyle W. Shaw
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for estimating an amount of time required to complete a mail processing job. A control module receives and maintains real time data of quantity of mailpieces and time to sort the quantity of mailpieces during a first sort. A progress module processes the data to determine an estimated time to complete one or more second sorts of the mailpieces. Depending upon the estimated time of completion of the one or more sorts, the progress module advises an operator on whether to change the job schedule.
Claims8
A method for determining a period of time to perform a sorting operation comprising the steps of:
- measuring a quantity of mailpieces to be sorted;
- measuring a first time interval to perform a first sort of the quantity of mailpieces;
- estimating a second time interval to perform a second sort of the quantity of mailpieces as a function of the quantity of mailpieces to be sorted and the first time interval;
- determining an average processing time interval for each mailpiece of the quantity of mailpieces the average processing time interval being a function of the quantity of mailpieces;
- determining a malfunction during a sorting process;
- calculating an average error time for each mailpiece that is a function of the malfunction and the quantity of mailpieces;
- modifying the average processing time interval as a function of the average error time to generate an-updated time interval;
- comparing the second Urns interval to the updated time interval;
- and
- outputting a message signal based on the comparing step.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.