The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 30, 2009
Filed:
Feb. 23, 2007
Matthew Gene Good, Marriotsville, MD (US);
Robert Lee Schlender, Baltimore, MD (US);
Thomas Anthony Hillerich, Louisville, KY (US);
Jacob L. Timm, Columbia, MD (US);
Charles Michael Miller, Seven Valleys, PA (US);
Mark Thomas Neebe, Catonsville, MD (US);
Matthew Gene Good, Marriotsville, MD (US);
Robert Lee Schlender, Baltimore, MD (US);
Thomas Anthony Hillerich, Louisville, KY (US);
Jacob L. Timm, Columbia, MD (US);
Charles Michael Miller, Seven Valleys, PA (US);
Mark Thomas Neebe, Catonsville, MD (US);
Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
An automated flats handling system is provided that includes mail shuttles, a tray unloading section, a quality control area, a shuttle tilter, a shuttle return section and a stacker/loader. The tray unloading section has a conveyor and unloads mail from a standard tray into one of the shuttles. The quality control area also has a conveyor and facilitates grooming the mail in the shuttle. The shuttle tilter tilts each shuttle prior to unloading the mail from the shuttle. The shuttle return section also has a conveyor and returns the shuttles to the tray unloading section. The stacker/loader cooperates with the shuttle tilter and unloads the mail from the shuttles, creates a mail stack from the unloaded mail, and loads a portion of the mail stack into an automation compatible tray.