FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970)
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(Section 10)
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR UNASSISTED SEGREGATION OF PARCELS AND MAINTAINING THEIR TIME/DATE RECORDS AT POST OFFICES

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR UNASSISTED SEGREGATION OF PARCELS AND MAINTAINING THEIR TIME/DATE RECORDS AT POST OFFICES
FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
This invention relates to the field of image processing, embedded technology and mechanical actuation to facilitate systems and methods for unassisted segregation of parcels based on their destination of delivery and maintaining their time/date records at post offices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
In the present art, the invention related to segregation of parcels in post offices are known to have following disadvantages:
1. The Indian Postal is the most widely distributed postal network in the world. It is in need of easily implementable automation.
2. The present segregation systems are not automated. Any automated systems are located only in four major urban cities. The majority of post offices located at rural areas and other urban areas have manual methods of segregation.
3. The present automated segregation systems make use of barcodes or QR codes. The proposed system makes use of the existing address printed or written on the parcel thereby reducing the need of creation of extra image codes such as barcode or QR code and providing a cheaper solution.
4. Indian postal service remains prevalent over commercial courier services. The mail is delivered by India Post reliably in two to three days to the major centres and within up to a week in rural areas. There is a lot of manual intervention and a lot of delay in Indian Postal services.
Thus there is a need to address the above mentioned disadvantages. The present invention aims to address the above mentioned disadvantages.
OBJECTS OF INVENTION:
Object of the Invention is to provide a segregation system which:
1) Automatically detects the address and segregates the parcels according to their respective cities.
2) Reduces manual intervention and increases the efficiency of Indian Postal network. The system can run throughout the day and night and reduce delay caused by piling up parcels or irregular sorting mistakes caused due to human error.
3) Compared to the prevailing sorting system, our system is more cost effective with increased
adaptability quotient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention in a preferred embodiment provides systems and methods involving:
The system provides a scalable and versatile system of unassisted parcel segregation according to the destination of delivery while maintaining real-time time/date records. This system comprises of a transporting medium, which carries the parcels throughout the process, the sensing element which scans the address written on the parcel and transmits the captured image, the processing element which extracts the pin code from the image and determines the destination, the controlling element which controls the mechanical element which is activated when provided with necessary inputs. Multiple sorting arms are present, which are configured to displace the parcels from the conveyor belt to the section of its respective destination.
The present invention in a preferred embodiment provides systems and methods involving:
The method provides a scalable and versatile system of unassisted parcel segregation according to the destination of delivery while maintaining real-time time/date records. The method comprises o( a transporting medium, which carries the parcels throughout the process, the sensing element which scans the address written on the parcel and transmits the captured image, the processing element which extracts the pin code from the image and determines the destination, the controlling element which controls the mechanical element which is activated when provided with necessary inputs. Multiple sorting arms are present, which are configured to displace the parcels from the conveyor belt to the section of its respective destination.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
Figure 1 provides an example of the detailed system block diagram of the invention. Figure 2 provides an example of the system diagram of the invention Figure 3 provides an example of the flowchart of the invention
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION: Description of Detailed System Block Diagram
The parcel to be sorted 105 is placed on the conveyor belt 108. A single-phase AC induction motor 104 is used to facilitate the motion of the conveyor belt 108, whose speed is controlled using a Control Unit consisting of VFD, PLC and Computer. The Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) 103 controls the speed of the motor without affecting its torque. A Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) 102 is used to program the VFD 103 using a programmer which is provided by the Computer 101. The development of a programmable logic makes it possible to incorporate the required

changes without changing the electrical circuit connections. The conveyor belt 108 can be switched on and off simply using the ladder logic developed in Simatic Manager instead of changing the electric connections.
Image of the address written on the parcel is captured by the camera 107 which is placed as shown in Figure 2. This image is then sent to the Processor 106 where the image is read, the pin-code from the image is detected and matched with the pre-defined templates using template matching algorithm of Image Processing to detect the destination city of the parcel. The processor 106, then simultaneously updates the time, date and destination of the parcel 105 in the database 109, which in this case is a text file, and serially sends the variable corresponding to the destination city of the parcel 105 to the Controller 110. The controller compares the variable received from the processor with its predefined data, and sends electric pulses to the servo motor 111 corresponding to the destination city of the parcel. On receiving the pulses, the servo motor 111 switches on and the corresponding sorting arm 112 moves thereby pushing the parcel off the conveyor belt 108 to its destination section 113.
Description of the System Diagram
In accordance with an embodiment of this invention, Figure 2 shows the actual model of the invention/system diagram of the invention. Component 201 is the parcel which is to be sorted, it has the destination address. Component 202 is the conveyor belt, a transporting medium which carries the parcel to be sorted. Component 203 signifies the camera, which scans the address written on the parcel as the parcel moves on the conveyor belt. Component 204 signifies the microcontroller where the variable is sent. Component 204 also controls the servo motor which is component 205. According to the variable sent to component 204, respective component 205 is selected. Component 205 then moves in the direction that it is programmed in, component 205 also causes displacement in component 206 as they are coupled. Component 206 is the sorting arm. Component 207 is a single phase induction motor which is coupled with the conveyor belt and 208 is a control unit comprising of VFD and PLC which is used in speed-control of the conveyor belt.
Description of Process Flow Diagram
In accordance with an embodiment of this invention, Figure 3 shows a flow diagram of a process beginning at 300 by placing the parcel 105 onto the conveyor belt 108. At step 301, the image of the address on the parcel 105 is captured using a camera 107. In step 302, using the cv2 function, the coloured image is converted to greyscale as a preprocessing step. This step is performed as all

image processing algorithms are only performed on grayscale images. In step 303, the image processing algorithm is performed. In this system we have used template matching. In step 304, according to the algorithm, we find matches of the destination in the parcel address image. If a match is found we continue to the following steps. Or the previous steps are performed again till an appropriate match is found. In step 305, if a match is found, according to the destination detected, the variable is assigned the respective value. In step 306, as each of the parcel 105 passes on the conveyor belt 108 and the destination is detected, the time and date is saved on the text tile along with the destination. In step 307, the variable defined in step 305 is sent serially to the microcontroller 110. In step 308, the microcontroller 110 sends pulsating signals to the respective servo motor 111, which moves as programmed. In step 309, the sorting arm 112 connected to the respective servo motor 111 moves. So in step 310, the parcel 105 moving on the conveyor belt 108 is moved off it by the sorting arm 112. In step 311, the process comes to an end when the parcel 105 reaches the appropriate destination section. Similarly, the above steps are performed for other parcels and we are left with all the parcels being segregated according to the destination of delivery.
Following are the general definition of terms used in the present specification The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" or "comprising," when used in this specification. specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, or components, but do not preclude or rule out the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or groups thereof.
The process steps, method steps, protocols, algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods, protocol and algorithms may be configured to work in alternate orders. In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may be described does not necessarily indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order. The steps of processes described herein may be performed in any order practical. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously, in parallel, or concurrently.
In addition to the embodiments and examples shown, numerous variants are possible, which may be obvious to a person skilled in the art relating to the aspects of the invention.The aim of this specification is to describe the invention without limiting the invention to any one embodiment or

specific collection of features. Person skilled in the relevant art may realize the variations from the specific embodiments that will nonetheless fall within the scope of the invention.
It may be appreciated that various other modifications and changes may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Furthermore, while this description has disclosed certain specific embodiments of the present invention for illustrative purposes, various modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims, and it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.

CLAIMS
1) A scalable and versatile system of unassisted parcel segregation according to the destination
of delivery while maintaining real-time time/date records. This system comprises of:
a) A transporting medium which carries the parcels throughout the process.
b) A sensing element which captures the image of the parcel.
c) A processing element which acts upon the information received from the sensing element. ^
d) A controlling element which is programmed to control the movement of the mechanical element.
e) A mechanical element which is activated on arrival of information from the controlling element.
Wherein, the sensing element is placed in such a way so that it can easily capture the image of parcel placed on the transporting medium;
Wherein the sensing element transmits captured data to the processing element; Wherein the processing element serially transmits data to the controlling element; Wherein the controlling element sends electrical pulses to the mechanical element.
2) A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transporting medium is a conveyor bell whose motion is facilitated by the use of single-phase induction motor. The speed of the motor is controlled by Variable Frequency Drive (VFD), which is programmed using a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).
3) A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensing element is a camera which scans the address written on the parcel and transmits the captured image to the processing element.
4) A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing element which is a computer. processes the image captured and detects the destination of delivery.
5) A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controlling element is a microcontroller. It serially receives data from the processing element and switches on the corresponding mechanical element.
6) A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mechanical element consists of a servo motor and a sorting arm. The servo motor movement is controlled by the controlling element. There are multiple sorting arms corresponding to the various destinations of sorting.

7) A scalable and versatile method of unassisted parcel segregation according to the destination
of delivery while maintaining real-time time/date records. This method comprises the steps
of:
a) Carrying the parcels throughout the process with a transporting medium.
b) Capturing the image of the parcel with sensing element.
c) Acting upon the information received from the sensing element with a processing element.
d) Controlling the movement of the mechanical element with a programmed controlling element.
e) Activating the mechanical element on arrival of information from the controlling element.
Wherein, the sensing element is placed in such a way so that it can easily capture the image of parcel placed on the transporting medium;
Wherein the sensing element transmits captured data to the processing element; Wherein the processing element serially transmits data to the controlling element; Wherein the controlling element sends electrical pulses to the mechanical element.
8) A method as claimed in claim 4, for maintaining real-time database, the method comprising
the steps of:
a) Maintaining records of arrival time and date of the parcel.
b) Keeping track of number of parcels for each destination.
c) Displaying end of the day statistics for time, date and destination records.