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US-20260125226-A1 - Method for Loading Transport Units with Packages

US20260125226A1US 20260125226 A1US20260125226 A1US 20260125226A1US-20260125226-A1

Abstract

A method for loading at least one transport unit with packages is described and illustrated. In order to prevent damage to packages as a result of loading the packages into a transport unit, it is provided that the packages are scanned one after another with an optical scanner, that at least one stability parameter for each package is determined based on the images of the optical scanner by an evaluation unit, that the evaluation unit assigns a stability score to each package based on the at least one stability parameter, and that the packages are loaded into different locations in the at least one transport unit depending on the respective stability scores.

Inventors

  • Frank Langer
  • Saira Pathan

Assignees

  • DEUTSCHE POST AG

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251106
Priority Date
20241107

Claims (16)

  1. 1 . A method for loading at least one transport unit with packages, in which the packages are scanned one after another with an optical scanner, in which at least one stability parameter is determined for each package based on the images captured by the optical scanner by an evaluation unit, in which the evaluation unit assigns a stability score to each package based on the at least one stability parameter, and in which the packages are loaded at different locations in the at least one transport unit depending on the respective stability scores.
  2. 2 . The method according to claim 1 , in which the packages are loaded at different height levels in the at least one transport unit depending on the respective stability scores, and in which, preferably, the packages are loaded at least at the different height levels high, medium, and low in the at least one transport unit depending on the respective stability scores.
  3. 3 . The method according to claim 1 , in which the at least one transport unit is a roll container, a mesh box, a pallet, a pallet with walls, a so-called swap body, truck, or unit load device (ULD), and/or in which the packages are scanned by a six-sided scanner and/or by a line scanner, in particular an RGB line scanner, and/or a volume scanner.
  4. 4 . The method according to claim 1 , in which the packages are loaded by at least one robot and/or by at least one person into different locations in the at least one transport unit depending on the respective stability scores, and in which, preferably, the robot and/or the person is shown and/or informed of information concerning the stability score and/or information concerning the loading location determined based on the stability score.
  5. 5 . The method according to claim 1 , in which the packages are scanned one after another in a transport sequence with the optical scanner, in which the packages are arranged into a loading sequence that differs from the transport sequence depending on the stability scores assigned to the packages and are loaded into the transport unit in the loading sequence, and in which, preferably, the packages are transported in the loading sequence to the robot loading the packages into the transport unit and/or to the person loading the packages into the transport unit.
  6. 6 . The method according to claim 5 , in which the packages are automatically arranged by a sorting device in a loading sequence that differs from the transport sequence depending on the stability scores assigned to the packages and/or in which packages are removed from the transport sequence and/or the loading sequence as non-stackable based on the assigned stability score, and/or in which the packages are automatically transported by a transport device in the loading sequence to the robot loading the packages into the transport unit and/or to the person loading the packages into the transport unit.
  7. 7 . The method according to claim 1 , in which at least one stability parameter of the packages is determined by the evaluation unit in form of a size parameter, in particular in form of a height, a width, and/or a length, and/or in which at least one stability parameter of the packages relating to the shape and/or the surface is determined by the evaluation unit.
  8. 8 . The method according to claim 7 , in which the at least one stability parameter is assigned to a determined package type and/or a determined packaging material of the package and/or a multi-layered structure of the determined packaging material and/or a coating of the packaging material and/or a moisture content of the packaging material and/or at least one stain on the packaging material, and/or in which the stability parameter is assigned to a logo, a sticker, a return address, and/or a return label.
  9. 9 . The method according to claim 7 , in which the at least one stability parameter is associated with the type of adhesive tapes affixed to the package and/or the arrangement of adhesive tapes affixed to the package and/or the size of the opening area of the package and/or the arrangement of the opening area of the package on the package and/or the degree of opening of the opening area of the package.
  10. 10 . The method according to claim 7 , in which the at least one stability parameter is assigned to at least one degree of damage to the package and in which, preferably, the at least one degree of damage is assigned to the shape of the edges of the package and/or the shape of the corners of the package and/or the shape of the seams of the package and/or the shape of the surface between the edges, corners, and/or seams of the package.
  11. 11 . The method according to claim 10 , in which the at least one stability parameter is associated with the shape of the surface, scrapes, dents, creases, cracks, and/or cuts on the surface of the package and/or in which the at least one stability parameter is associated with a reuse characteristic value of the package.
  12. 12 . The method according to claim 7 , in which the evaluation unit assigns at least one stability parameter to a relative position of the package relative to the shape of the package and in which, preferably, the evaluation unit assigns a direction-dependent stability score to each package based on the at least one stability parameter.
  13. 13 . The method according to claim 12 , in which the packages are loaded in a specific orientation in the at least one transport unit depending on the respective direction-dependent stability scores, and in which, preferably, information concerning the direction-dependent stability score and/or information concerning the orientation of the package is displayed and/or communicated to the robot and/or to the person at the transport unit.
  14. 14 . The method according to claim 1 , in which the evaluation unit determines at least one stability parameter using an automated pattern recognition unit by means of artificial intelligence, and in which, preferably, the automated pattern recognition unit has been trained using a plurality of images of packages and stability information, stability parameters and/or stability scores respectively associated with these packages in order to determine stability parameters based on the images of packages used for training and stability information, stability parameters and/or stability scores respectively associated with these packages.
  15. 15 . The method according to claim 1 , in which the stability score is calculated based on the at least one stability parameter, in which, preferably, the at least one stability parameter has a value in the range between 0 and 1, in which, further preferably, the stability parameters are multiplied with one another to calculate the stability score, and in which, in particular, the stability score has a value in the range between 0 and 1.
  16. 16 . The method according to claim 14 , in which real, randomly damaged packages and their actual stability parameters and/or deliberately damaged packages and their actual stability parameters are used to train the pattern recognition unit.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2024 132 422.8 filed Nov. 7, 2024, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The invention relates to a method for loading at least one transport unit with packages. Description of Related Art Methods for loading transport units with packages are known from various applications, wherein the transport units can be loaded manually or using a robot. If the packages have random sizes and weights and are loaded into the transport units in a random order, the cargo space provided by the transport units is not always fully utilized. In addition, packages may be damaged by other packages loaded into the same transport units subsequently. This is particularly problematic in connection with methods for redistributing packages in sorting stations, which are known in various designs and in which the packages are loaded into many mostly similar transport units after sorting in the sorting station. The packages can first be delivered, for example, in truck or trailer superstructures, unloaded, and separated into a transport sequence. The packages are then scanned in the transport sequence, wherein a sorting parameter is recorded according to which the packages are sorted. Depending on the sorting parameter, the packages are then distributed to different transport units, with which the packages are then transported away from the sorting station. In many cases, unlike the transport units that are unloaded at the sorting station, these transport units are roll containers, mesh boxes, pallets, pallets with walls, or unit load devices (ULDs). Unit load devices are pallets and containers that are used to load aircraft and are therefore adapted to the dimensions of aircraft fuselages. However, so-called swap bodies, i.e. truck bodies with supports for parking without a chassis and for driving under with a chassis for the purpose of loading, can also be used as transport units, both as transport units to be loaded and as transport units to be unloaded at the sorting station. After scanning, the packages can be temporarily stored in an intermediate storage facility, such as a rack warehouse or similar, until they are transported further. The packages can then be removed from the intermediate storage facility in a specific or arbitrary order. However, in order to achieve high efficiency and a short dwell time for the packages in the sorting station, intermediate storage of the packages is often dispensed with. The packages are transported by conveyor belts or similar means from the unloading point to the loading point in other transport units and sorted in the process. It is conceivable, for example, that the packages are partially moved from one conveyor belt to another conveyor belt or into a chute in order to sort the packages. There is then a transport sequence, as required, in which the packages are transported, scanned, and fed into a sorting device. After sorting, the packages are typically loaded into different transport units, which is done by a robot as required. In order to make efficient use of the space available in the transport units, the dimensions of the packages are also recorded in some cases. A loading algorithm can then specify where certain packages should be stacked in the transport units in order to minimize wasted space. The current loading status of the transport units can be monitored with sensors. If the packages are temporarily stored in the sorting station, they can be removed from the temporary storage in an order that allows them to be stacked in a space-saving manner. Regardless of how the packages are sorted and how space-savingly or randomly the transport units are loaded with packages, it cannot be ruled out that individual packages may be damaged by other packages in the transport unit. The damage may only affect the packaging. However, this can still lead to damage to the packaged goods or to problems with the subsequent handling of the damaged package. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention addresses the problem of designing and further developing the method of the type mentioned at the outset and explained in more detail above in such a way that damage to packages as a result of loading the packages into a transport unit is avoided. This problem is solved by a method described herein for loading at least one transport unit with packages, in which the packages are scanned one after another with an optical scanner,in which at least one stability parameter for each package is determined based on the images captured by the optical scanner by an evaluation unit,in which the evaluation unit assigns a stability score to each package based on the at least one stability parameter, andin which the packages are loaded into different locations in the at least one transport unit depending on the