Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for sorting or retrieving items to/from a plurality of destinations areas. The items are loaded onto one of a plurality of independently controlled delivery vehicles. The delivery vehicles follow a path to/from the destination areas that are positioned along the path. Along the path, the vehicles are scanned to determine if any item on the vehicles extends beyond a dimensional constraint. If it is determined that an item on a vehicle extends above the pre-determined threshold, the vehicle is controlled, such as by stopping or re-directing the vehicle. Once at the appropriate destination area, an item is transferred between the delivery vehicle and the destination area.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for sorting or retrieving items to/from a plurality of destinations areas. The items are loaded onto one of a plurality of independently controlled delivery vehicles. The delivery vehicles follow a path to/from the destination areas that are positioned along the path. Along the path, the vehicles are scanned to determine if any item on the vehicles extends beyond a dimensional constraint. If it is determined that an item on a vehicle extends above the pre-determined threshold, the vehicle is controlled, such as by stopping or re-directing the vehicle. Once at the appropriate destination area, an item is transferred between the delivery vehicle and the destination area.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for sorting or retrieving items to/from a plurality of destinations areas. The items are loaded onto one of a plurality of independently controlled delivery vehicles. The delivery vehicles follow a path to/from the destination areas that are positioned along the path. Along the path, the vehicles are scanned to determine if any item on the vehicles extends beyond a dimensional constraint. If it is determined that an item on a vehicle extends above the pre-determined threshold, the vehicle is controlled, such as by stopping or re-directing the vehicle. Once at the appropriate destination area, an item is transferred between the delivery vehicle and the destination area.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for sorting or retrieving items to/from a plurality of destinations areas. The items are loaded onto one of a plurality of independently controlled delivery vehicles. The delivery vehicles follow a path to/from the destination areas that are positioned along the path. Along the path, the vehicles are scanned to determine if any item on the vehicles extends beyond a dimensional constraint. If it is determined that an item on a vehicle extends above the pre-determined threshold, the vehicle is controlled, such as by stopping or re-directing the vehicle. Once at the appropriate destination area, an item is transferred between the delivery vehicle and the destination area.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for sorting or retrieving items to/from a plurality of destinations areas. The items are loaded onto one of a plurality of independently controlled delivery vehicles. The delivery vehicles follow a path to/from the destination areas that are positioned along the path. Along the path, the vehicles are scanned to determine if any item on the vehicles extends beyond a dimensional constraint. If it is determined that an item on a vehicle extends above the pre-determined threshold, the vehicle is controlled, such as by stopping or re-directing the vehicle. Once at the appropriate destination area, an item is transferred between the delivery vehicle and the destination area.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for sorting or retrieving items to/from a plurality of destinations areas. The items are loaded onto one of a plurality of independently controlled delivery vehicles. The delivery vehicles follow a path to/from the destination areas that are positioned along the path. Along the path, the vehicles are scanned to determine if any item on the vehicles extends beyond a dimensional constraint. If it is determined that an item on a vehicle extends above the pre-determined threshold, the vehicle is controlled, such as by stopping or re-directing the vehicle. Once at the appropriate destination area, an item is transferred between the delivery vehicle and the destination area.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for determining the orientation of documents based upon the acquisition of images of the documents and the detection of barcode images from the documents. A document transport conveys documents along a selected path of movement. A document imaging system is provided along the path of movement for imaging a document conveyed along the path of movement to generate image data representative of the document. A system controller processes the image data to detect the presence of a barcode image. The location and/or orientation of the barcode image is then used to determine the orientation of the document along the path of movement. A document orientor may be provided along the path of movement to orient documents into desired orientations along the path of movement based upon the location and/or orientation of the detected barcode images.

Abstract: A series of documents to be processed are optically inspected, and compared with a reference standard to identify the relative orientation of each document. To this end, an image acquired from the document (preferably from each side of the document) is focused on an array of picture elements (pixels) for electronically converting the acquired image to digital form. This produces a digitally encoded image, which can be enhanced if desired, defined by an array of pixels corresponding to the acquired image. For each acquired image, two reference areas, which are preferably symmetrically located on the document, are inspected for the presence of a pre-selected reference mark. Location of the reference mark in one of the two reference areas operates to determine the orientation of the document.

Abstract: A series of documents to be processed are optically inspected, and compared with a reference standard to identify the relative orientation of each document. To this end, an image acquired from the document (preferably from each side of the document) is focused on an array of picture elements (pixels) for electronically converting the acquired image to digital form. This produces a digitally encoded image, which can be enhanced if desired, defined by an array of pixels corresponding to the acquired image. For each acquired image, two reference areas, which are preferably symmetrically located on the document, are inspected for the presence of a pre-selected reference mark. Location of the reference mark in one of the two reference areas operates to determine the orientation of the document.

Abstract: An apparatus and method is provided for detecting and sorting a document containing an address change request from a group of documents. The apparatus includes a document transport for conveying the document along a selected path of movement. An image scanner positioned along the selected path is provided for reading an image of the document or of a selected area on the document. The image scanner provides density levels corresponding to discrete areas on the document. An image processor determines a set of density levels corresponding to a test line passing through the selected area on the document. Density level transitions are detected along the selected line when two adjacent areas on the document have substantially different density levels. If a sufficient number of density level transitions are detected along the selected line, the document is sorted from the group of documents.

Abstract: A series of documents to be processed are optically inspected, and compared with a reference standard to identify the relative orientation of each document. To this end, an image acquired from the document (preferably from each side of the document) is focused on an array of picture elements (pixels) for electronically converting the acquired image to digital form. This produces a digitally encoded image, which can be enhanced if desired, defined by an array of pixels corresponding to the acquired image. For each acquired image, two reference areas, which are preferably symmetrically located on the document, are inspected for the presence of a preselected reference mark. Location of the reference mark in one of the two reference areas operates to determine the orientation of the document.