Description:FIELD OF INVENTION
[001] The present invention relates to a bag mounted multi-level put to light (PTL) rack based system and a method thereof. Particularly, the present invention relates to a bag mounted on a multi-level PTL racks for two level sorting of shipments which can be closed and handed over directly to field executive at the last mile delivery hubs.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] A Put-to-Light (PTL) system is a semi-automated system that aims to provide a rapid, accurate, and accessible sortation process. The PTL system is utilized to allot items to a designated location from: transported containers, previously selected containers; picking carts having multiple orders.
[003] The PTL system is installed on the shelves. The PTL system comprises of a set of light (LED) display that lights up and directs the operators regarding the location on the shelf to put the items and the number of items that need to be deposited inside the designated shelf, on scanning the items using the RF scanner. The PTL system is connected to a warehouse management system (WMS), which regulates the light displays, thereby guiding the operator items along with the quantity thereof. The WMS connected to the RF scanners used by the operators to analysing the products to be sorted.
[004] The PTL system aids in reducing costs associated with reverse logistics as well as operating cost, and increases the number of orders picked per day, reduction in operating costs.
[005] However, conventionally used racks for sortation are manually emptied into a gunny bag and then later segregated as per the location of the delivery bag, which is time and effort consuming. Also, this process may result in disposing the shipments into wrong bins due to similar sounding or spelled names of the destinations bins on the display of RF scanner. However, the use of PTL racks may simplify the process as clear indication of lamp and numeric display shall reduce risk of wrong sortation of the shipments.
[006] There are several Patent Applications that provides a PTL based/light based guidance system for simplifying the sortation process. One such United States Patent Application US8423431B1 discloses a visible-light based display system providing visual guidance to picking and/or stowing agents in a materials handling facility dependent on their current location. The system comprises of a plurality of fixed-location display devices and/or mobile display devices coupled to a control system. The control system send messages to particular ones of the display devices for projection of visual guidance usable to direct an agent to a particular inventory area in which an item is to be stowed or from which an item is to be picked, to identify a particular position within an inventory area, and/or to identify a particular item stored within an inventory area. The messages may include location, position, and/or descriptive information associated with an item to be stowed or picked. The projected visual guidance may include light or laser beams, text, graphics and/or images, and may be agent-specific, item-specific, and/or order-specific. However, the cited prior art fails to disclose direct mounting of delivery bags on the racks, thereby enabling direct sortation of shipments into bag slots/delivery bag, which can further be sealed and handed over to field executive.
[007] In view of the problems associated with the above state of art, there is a need for PTL based/light based guidance system enabling direct sortation of shipments into the delivery bags, thereby simplifying the sortation process, and saving time and efforts of field executive.
OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION
[008] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a bag mounted multi-level put to light (PTL) rack based system and a method thereof.
[009] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a put to light rack for sorting of shipments directly into the delivery bag.
[0010] Another objective of the present invention is to provide a cost-effective and time saving solution for the last mile delivery hubs.
[0011] Another objective of the present invention is to reduce manual handling of shipments at different stages of last mile delivery application.
[0012] Another objective of the present invention is to ensure safety of shipments and prevent misplacing or loss of shipments.
[0013] Another objective of the present invention is to develop a system that monitors overweighing of the bags, using load cells and a pre-set cut-off limit programmed into the system.
[0014] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, the aspects of the present invention are disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0015] The present invention will be better understood after reading the following detailed description of the presently preferred aspects thereof with reference to the appended drawings, in which the features, other aspects and advantages of certain exemplary embodiments of the invention will be more apparent from the accompanying drawing in which:

[0016] Figure 1 illustrates isometric view of Bag mountable multi-level Put-To-Light (PTL) rack based system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0017] The present invention comprises of a bag mounted multi-level put to light (PTL) rack based system and a method thereof. The system comprises of a plurality of sliding plates to divide the PTL rack into different slots; a plurality of delivery bags; a PTL module is configured for at least three slots of a rack corresponding to partitions in a bag; a lamp mounted on the PTL module to indicate delivery bag of a particular location; a numeric display unit integrated in the PTL module to indicate the slot of the bag; a plurality of load cells are integrated into the PTL rack; at least two fastening means are configured at the backside of each slot of the PTL rack to hold the bags with the PTL rack. The system provides two level sorting of shipments /parcels. The bag is closed once the cut-off limit is reached and fastening means are unfastened from the rack, so as to hand over the delivery bag to the field executive with a system generated list of shipments placed in the bag.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0018] The following description describes various features and functions of the disclosed system with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, similar symbols identify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise. The illustrative aspects described herein are not meant to be limiting. It may be readily understood that certain aspects of the disclosed system can be arranged and combined in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which have not been contemplated herein.

[0019] Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

[0020] Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments.

[0021] The terms and words used in the following description are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but are merely used to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustrative purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention.

[0022] It is to be understood that the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0023] The term “PTL rack” and “rack” in the present disclosure may interchangeably be used.

[0024] It should be emphasized that the term “comprises/comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, components or groups thereof. The equations used in the specification are only for computation purpose.

[0025] The present invention relates to a bag mounted multi-level put to light (PTL) rack based system and a method thereof. Particularly, the present invention relates to a bag mounted on a multi-level PTL rack (102) for direct sorting of shipments which can be closed and handed over directly to field executive at the last mile delivery hubs. The system provides a PTL Rack based system coupled to a plurality of PTL module (114) with Indication Lamp (118) and a numeric display unit (116) for two level sorting in the last mile delivery applications. The system ensures a clear indication through the indication lamp (118) for primary sort and a numeric display for secondary sort to reduce any wrong sortation of the shipments.
[0026] The multi-level put to light (PTL) rack based system with a provision to directly mount delivery bag comprises of: a PTL rack (102), a plurality of delivery bags (106), a plurality of sliding plates (112) to divide the PTL rack (102) into different slots (104) and ensure smooth transition of shipments into the bag, a PTL module (114) affixed to the PTL rack (102) for at least three slots (104), a lamp (118) mounted on the PTL module (114) indicates delivery bag of a particular location, a scanning means (124), a numeric display unit (116) integrated in the PTL module (114) indicates the slot of the bag in which the shipment has to be dropped, a plurality of load cells (126) configured on base of the PTL rack (102) for each bag and at least two fastening means (110) for each slot configured at backside of the PTL rack (102) to hold the bags (106) with the PTL rack (102).
[0027] In an alternate embodiment, the delivery bag is designed on a similar concept of PTL rack based system, but without any means of sliding plates (112). As per this embodiment, the delivery bag mounted on the PTL rack (102) comprises of at least three slots (104) by means of partitions in the bag itself, where the bag is attached to the PTL rack (102) by at least two fastening means (110) for each slot configured at backside of the PTL rack (102) to hold the bags (106) with the PTL rack (102). In an exemplary embodiment, the bags (106) designed with three slots (104) are aligned with slots (104) of PTL rack (102) to stow the shipments on the concept of last in first out sequence wherein shipments are segregated into different zones through the partitions available in the bag (106), such as but not limited to Zone-1, Zone 2 and Zone 3, based on the destination and route to be taken for delivering the shipments. The shipments provided into the slots (104) of the delivery bags (106) mounted on the PTL rack (102) are sorted based on the nearest location to farthest location from the delivery hubs wherein Zone 1 is the top most compartment of the bag (106) comprising shipments nearest to delivery hub; Zone 3 is the bottom most compartment of the bag (106) comprising shipments farthest to delivery hub; Zone 2 is the middle compartment of the bag (106) comprising shipments that belong to locations between Zone 1 and Zone 3, which reduces significant amount of time spent by field executive at delivery hub to arrange the shipments in the bag (106) based on the sequence of delivery locations.
[0028] The components of Bag Mounted PTL rack system are described herein detail:
[0029] A) PTL rack (102): The PTL rack (102) is a rectangular shaped mild steel (MS) frame, ensuring stability while receiving shipments on the PTL rack (102). In an exemplary embodiment, the rectangular frame comprises of a matrix arrangement having 1 column and 6 rows.
[0030] B) Sliding plates (112): The PTL rack (102) is configured with a plurality of Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Sliding plates (112) to divide each PTL rack (102) into a plurality of slots (104) so as to receive the shipments in a designated slots (104). The sliding plates (112) connects the PTL rack (102) with the partition flaps (108) of the bag (106) to facilitate the movement of shipment directly into the designated slots (104). At least three slots (104) of the PTL rack (102) are mapped to a cluster or locality, which is further split into zones based on the routes to be taken for delivering the shipments. Each slot defines a zone based on distance from the delivery hub, such that shipments belonging destinations nearest to the delivery hub slide into the slot for Zone 1, farthest into Zone 3 Slot and shipments belonging to destinations between Zone 1 and Zone 3 go into slot for Zone 2.
[0031] C) PTL module (114): In an embodiment, the PTL rack (102) is configured with a PTL module (114) affixed on top and middle of the PTL rack (102). At least one PTL module (114) is configured for at least three slots (104) of the rack (102) corresponding to the partitions in the bag (106). In an exemplary embodiment, the PTL rack (102) is configured with a clip on type PTL module (114) with an attaching member to attach the PTL module (114) on the rack (102).
[0032] D) Scanning means (124): In an embodiment, a scanning means (124) is connected to the software module (122) via the cloud server (120). The scanning means (124) is configured to scan the barcode affixed on a parcel or shipment by an operator and sends the barcode data of the scanned shipment to a software module (122).
[0033] E) Cloud Server (120): A cloud server (120) in the present invention, is connected to the PTL module (114). The cloud server (120) is installed with a software module (122), not limited to, ERP or hub management system to analyze to analyze the scanned barcode data to identify cluster or locality of a shipment along with generating a system generated list of shipments
[0034] F) Lamp (118): A lamp (118) mounted on the PTL module (114) is connected to the cloud server (120). The lamp (118) is configured to glow and indicate the cluster or locality to which the shipment belongs based on the data received from the software module (122) via the cloud server (120).
[0035] G) Numeric display unit (116): A numeric display unit (116) integrated in the PTL module (114) affixed on the rack (102) indicates the operator about the slot of the bag (106) depending on the location tracked by the operator through a scanning means (124). The numeric display unit (116) shows a number 1, 2 or 3 simultaneously with the lamp (118) of the PTL module (114) to show the destination zone for the shipment. In an exemplary embodiment, the numeric display unit (116) may include, such as, but not limited to, LED display.
[0036] H) Load cells (126): A plurality of load cells (126) are integrated into the PTL rack (102). The load cells (126) captures the bag (106) weight to the system to ensure the bag (106) is not reaching overweight limit. The cut-off limit for the bags (106) is defined based on the allowable maximum number of shipments for the delivery bag (106) or maximum weight of the bag (106). The load cells (126) is integrated to the PTL rack (102) with the help of a mounting frame (128). The mounting frame comprises of a bar on which the bags (106) rest, which provides support and stability to the delivery bag (106) while it is mounted on the rack (102).
[0037] I) Fastening means (110): In an embodiment, at least two fastening means (110) for each slot configured at the backside of the PTL rack (102) to hold the bags (106) with the PTL rack (102) and as the cut-off limit fed into the PTL system is reached, the delivery bag (106) is unfastened and dismounted from the PTL rack (102). The fastening means (110) and angle of inclination ensure safety of the shipments, thereby preventing falling out from the bag (106) or left in the PTL rack (102).
[0038] Further, the bag (106) is provided with a bag strap (130) to close the bag (106) once the cut-off limit is reached, after which the fastening means (110) gets unfastened from the rack (102), to hand over the delivery bag (106) to the field executive with the system generated list produced by the software module (122), such as an ERP or hub management system. The list of the shipment is generated in a sequence based on the zone wise segregation, which is from nearest (Zone 1) to farthest (Zone 3).
[0039] The put to light rack based system is designed for a multi-level sorting of shipments. The put to light rack based system comprises of a group of three slots (104) defined for a cluster or locality wherein each of these three slots (104) are designated for a distinct zone based on the route to be taken while delivering the shipments. The system is designed to add shipments directly into the delivery bag (106) via the PTL rack (102). The shipments are sorted depending upon the route and distance from the delivery hub as per the geographic coordinates of their delivery destinations. The bag (106) after being filled is closed and handed over to the field executives at the last mile delivery hubs. The sequential stowing of the shipments and closure of the bag (106) are based on a pre-set number or weight limit of the shipments, which helps the field executives to proceed for delivery without recounting and sequentially arranging the shipments in the bag (106) based on delivery destinations. This sequential sorting also eliminates shipments loss and misplacement owing to manual handling of shipments at various stages.
[0040] In a preferred embodiment, a bag (106) mounted multi-level put to light (PTL) rack based system, comprises of: a PTL rack (102) comprising a plurality of slots (104); a plurality of delivery bags (106) mounted on the PTL rack (102), each comprising a plurality of partition flaps (108); at least two fastening means (110) for each slot configured at the backside of the PTL rack (102); a plurality of sliding plates (112) connecting the PTL rack (102) with the partition flaps (108) of the bag (106); PTL module (114) configured for at least three slots (104); a numeric display unit (116) integrated in the PTL module (114); a lamp (118) mounted on the PTL module (114); a cloud server (120) connected to the PTL module (114) and the lamp (118); a software module (122) installed in the cloud sever; a scanning means (124) connected to the software module (122); and a plurality of load cells (126) integrated into the PTL rack (102). The PTL system is fed with a predetermined weight cut off limit such that once the cut-off limit of the bag (106) weight is reached, the fastening means (110) gets unfastened and dismounted from the rack (102). The scanning means (124) is configured to scan barcode affixed parcel or shipment by an operator and sends barcode data of the scanned shipment to the software module (122), so as to analyze the scanned barcode data to identify cluster or locality of a shipment along with generating a system generated list of shipments. The lamp (118) glows to indicate delivery bag (106) of a particular location based on the data analyzed by the software module (122). The sliding plates (112) is configured to direct shipments into any one of the slots (104) of the PTL rack (102) based on nearest to farthest delivery location of the shipments, providing two level sorting of shipments/parcels. The numeric display is configured to indicate any one of the slots (104) of the bag (106). The load cells (126) configured to monitor weight of the shipments dropped into the bag (106), so as to receive shipments weight up to a cut-off limit and avoid overweighing of the delivery bag (106).
[0041] In another embodiment, a method for sorting of shipments into a bag (106) mounted to a multi-level Put-To-Light (PTL) rack (102) based system comprises of the following steps:
i. mounting of a delivery bag (106) onto a multi-level PTL rack (102);
ii. fastening the delivery bag (106) to the multi-level PTL rack (102) through a plurality of fasteners affixed at backside of the PTL rack (102);
iii. scanning of a barcode affixed on a parcel or shipment by an operator via a scanning means (124);
iv. sending barcode data of the scanned shipment via the scanning means (124) to a software module (122) installed in a cloud server;
v. analyzing the scanned barcode data by the software module (122) to identify cluster or locality to which a shipment belongs and generating system generated list of shipments;
vi. transmitting analyzed data to the lamp (118) via the cloud server (120);
vii. glowing of the lamp (118) mounted on a PTL module (114) to indicate cluster or locality to which a shipment belongs;
viii. displaying of a slot number (1,2,3) on the PTL module (114) numeric display, indicating the operator regarding zone/slot of the bag (106), where the shipment has to be dropped into;
ix. placing the scanned shipments in a designated slot of the bag (106) by the operator based on the indication provided in step (vii-ix);
x. monitoring weight of the shipments constantly through a load cells (126), so as to receive shipments weight up to a cut-off limit and avoid overweighing of the delivery bag (106);
xi. releasing the fasteners of the PTL rack (102) once the bag (106) is full pertaining the cut-off limit for maximum weight or number of shipments, dismounting the delivery bag (106) from the PTL rack (102); and
xii. ensuring all shipments are sequentially stowed in the delivery bag (106) by the operator and closing the flaps (108) of the delivery bag (106) for handing over to the field executive along with a system generated list of shipments generated by the software module (122).

[0042] In an embodiment, the ERP or Hub Management system generated list is based on the zone wise sortation of the bags (106), which is from nearest location (Zone 1) to farthest location (Zone 3) from the delivery hub.

[0043] In an exemplary embodiment, the scanning means (124) may include, such as, but not limited to, hand held barcode scanner or hand held scanning device.

[0044] In another exemplary embodiment, the software module is software module (122) is any one of: an enterprise resource planning (ERP); or a hub management system (HMS).

[0045] While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the appended claims.
, Claims:WE CLAIM:
1. A bag mounted multi-level put to light (PTL) rack based system (100), comprising of:
● a PTL rack (102) comprising a plurality of slots (104);
● a plurality of delivery bags (106) mounted on the PTL rack (102), each comprising a plurality of partition flaps (108);
● at least two fastening means (110) for each slot configured at the backside of the PTL rack (102);
● a plurality of sliding plates (112) connecting the PTL rack (102) with the partition flaps (108) of the bag (106);
● a PTL module (114) configured for at least three slots (104);
● a numeric display unit (116) integrated in the PTL module (114);
● a lamp (118) mounted on the PTL module (114);
● a cloud server (120) connected to the PTL module (114) and the lamp (118);
● a software module (122) installed in the cloud sever (120);
● a scanning means (124) connected to the software module (122);
● a plurality of load cells (126) integrated into the PTL rack (102);
wherein,
(I) a predetermined weight cut off limit is fed into the PTL system such that once the cut-off limit of the bag (106) weight is reached, the fastening means (110) gets unfastened and dismounted from the PTL rack (102);
(II) the scanning means (124) is configured to scan barcode affixed parcel or shipment by an operator and sends barcode data of the scanned shipment to the software module (122), so as to analyze the scanned barcode data to identify cluster or locality of a shipment along with generating a system generated list of shipments;
(III) the lamp (118) glows to indicate delivery bag (106) of a particular location based on the data analyzed by the software module (122);
(IV) the sliding plates (112) is configured to direct shipments into any one of the slots (104) of the PTL rack (102) based on nearest to farthest delivery location of the shipments, providing two level sorting of shipments/parcels;
(V) the numeric display is configured to indicate any one of the slots (104) of the bag (106); and
(VI) the load cells (126) configured to monitor weight of the shipments dropped into the bag (106), so as to receive shipments weight up to a cut-off limit and avoid overweighing of the delivery bag (106).
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the PTL rack (102) is a rectangular shaped mild steel (MS) frame, ensuring stability while receiving shipments on the frame.
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rectangular frame comprises of a matrix arrangement having 1 column and 6 rows.
4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least three slots (104) of the PTL rack (102) are mapped to a cluster or locality.
5. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the cluster or locality is split into zones based on routes to be taken for delivering shipments.
6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the numeric display unit (116) is a LED display.
7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the software module is software module (122) is any one of: an enterprise resource planning (ERP); or a hub management system (HMS).
8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system generated list generated by the software module (122) is based on the slot/ zone wise sortation of the bags (106) from nearest (Zone 1) to farthest (Zone 3).
9. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the load cells (126) are integrated to the PTL rack (102) with the help of a mounting frame (128).
10. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting frame (128) comprises of a bar to provide support and stability to the delivery bag (106) while the bag (106) is mounted on the rack (102).

11. A method for sorting of shipments into a bag mounted to a multi-level Put-To-Light (PTL) rack (102) based system, comprises steps of:
i. mounting of a delivery bag (106) onto a multi-level PTL rack (102);
ii. fastening the delivery bag (106) to the multi-level PTL rack (102) through a plurality of fasteners affixed at backside of the PTL rack (102);
iii. scanning of a barcode affixed on a parcel or shipment by an operator via a scanning means (124);
iv. sending barcode data of the scanned shipment via the scanning means (124) to a software module (122) installed in a cloud server;
v. analyzing the scanned barcode data by the software module (122) to identify cluster or locality to which a shipment belongs and generating system generated list of shipments;
vi. transmitting analyzed data to the lamp (118) via the cloud server (120);
vii. glowing of the lamp (118) mounted on a PTL module (114) to indicate cluster or locality to which a shipment belongs;
viii. displaying of a slot number (1,2,3) on the PTL module (114) numeric display, indicating the operator regarding zone/slot of the bag (106), where the shipment has to be dropped into the bag (106);
ix. placing the scanned shipments in a designated slot of the bag (106) by the operator based on the indication provided in step (vii-ix);
x. monitoring weight of the shipments constantly through a load cells (126), so as to receive shipments weight up to a cut-off limit and avoid overweighing of the delivery bag (106);
xi. releasing the fasteners of the PTL rack (102) once the bag (106) is full pertaining the cut-off limit for maximum weight or number of shipments, dismounting the delivery bag (106) from the PTL rack (102); and
xii. ensuring all shipments are sequentially stowed in the delivery bag (106) by the operator and closing the flaps (108) of the delivery bag (106) for handing over to the field executive along with a system generated list of shipments generated by the software module (122).

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the software module (122) is any one of: an enterprise resource planning (ERP); or a hub management system (HMS).