Order sorting system with selective document insertion

摘要

An order sorting system for sorting and assembling a batch of purchaser orders, comprises a plurality of stationary dispensable item dispensers for dispensing dispensable items with on-demand printed literature and a dispensable items conveyor for conveying the dispensable items to a lower level of a sorting station. A tote conveyor conveys a plurality of purchased articles to the upper level of the sorting station. Stationary sorting bins are disposed along an upper level of the sorting station in alignment with the dispensable items conveyor. The purchased articles are moved onto the dispensable items conveyor, either manually or preferably the sorting bins each have a releasable bottom for dropping contents of the sorting bins onto the dispensable items conveyor.

主权项

1. An order sorting system for sorting and assembling a batch of purchaser orders, comprising
a plurality of stationary item dispensers for dispensing a plurality of items, each dispensed item comprising a physical item generated at the order sorting system for a corresponding purchaser order of the batch of purchaser orders, each purchaser order corresponding to at least one dispensed item of the plurality of dispensed items; at least one first conveyor for receiving the plurality of dispensed items and conveying the plurality of dispensed items to a lower level of a sorting station, a plurality of stationary sorting bins disposed along an upper level of the sorting station in line with the at least one first conveyor, a second conveyor for conveying a plurality of purchased articles to the upper level of the sorting station, each purchased article being previously associated with a machine-readable code representing a product identifier for the purchased article; a controller for:
identifying, using the machine-readable code of each purchased article, a stationary sorting bin of the plurality of stationary sorting bins to place each purchased article to fill a respective purchaser order of the batch of purchaser orders, andpositioning the at least one dispensed item associated with each respective purchaser order on the at least one first conveyor in generally vertical alignment with the stationary sorting bin associated with the purchaser order, whereby the purchased articles are moved onto the at least one first conveyor in physical proximity of any dispensed items associated with each purchaser order for packaging the purchased articles and the dispensed items together to deliver to each respective purchaser.