System and methods for unified routing of mailpieces and processing sender notifications
First Claim
1. A system for unified mail routing and sender notification of intermixed mailpieces including letters and flat mail, the system comprising:
- a mailpiece feeder to individually feed a plurality of intermixed mailpieces, each of the plurality of intermixed mailpieces having separate receiver location address indicators, sender return address indicators, and sender notification indicators positioned on each mailpiece;
a mailpiece transporter positioned adjacent the mailpiece feeder to receive each of the plurality of mailpieces from the mailpiece feeder and transport each therefrom along a predetermined path of travel;
a mailpiece scanner positioned downstream from the mailpiece feeder and adjacent the mailpiece transporter along the path of travel of the plurality of mailpieces to scan the separate receiver location address indicators, sender return address indicators, and sender notification indicators of each of the plurality of intermixed mailpieces to thereby create a single-scan image of address indicators and notification indicator data for each corresponding mailpiece;
a mailpiece labeler positioned downstream from the mailpiece scanner and adjacent the mailpiece transporter along the path of travel of the plurality of mailpieces to label each of the plurality of mailpieces with a preselected routing indicator;
a process controller in communication with the mailpiece scanner and mailpiece labeler to receive the single-scan image, separate the image into discrete data groups of at least address indicators and notification indicator, instruct the labeler to label each of the plurality of mailpieces with the preselected routing indicator, and generate a sender notice when desired, the process controller comprising;
a forwarding address determiner responsive to the receiver location address indication data group of each of the plurality of mailpieces to determine when the receiver address of a corresponding mailpiece corresponds to one of a list of forwarding address indicators and thereby instruct the labeler to label the mailpiece with the corresponding forwarding address indicator, a return-to-sender determiner responsive to the sender return address indication data group of each of the plurality of mailpieces to determine when a corresponding mailpiece is to be returned to sender and thereby instruct the labeler to label the mailpiece with the corresponding return address indicator, and a sender notification determiner responsive to the sender notification indicator data group of each of the plurality of mailpieces to determine when to generate a sender notice; and
a mailpiece stacker positioned downstream from the mailpiece transporter to receive each of the plurality of the intermixed mailpieces from the mailpiece transporter and to direct each of the mailpieces to one of a plurality of preselected stacking positions.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and methods for routing mailpieces undeliverable as originally addressed is provided. The system and methods generate a single scan image of address block attributes that is segmented into discrete indicators for subsequent generation of forwarding addresses and sender notifications so mailpieces are processed in a single operation. The segmented image also provides the information needed to generate sender notifications when such are requested. Mailpieces to be returned to senders are similarly processed in a single operation. Multi-page mailpieces, such as magazines and articles, which cannot be delivered but which are not worth the cost of return postage, are processed by comparing the exposed portion of the mailpieces to a set of stored images to determine who the sender is so that the sender can be notified. These various operations can be performed on the same system and for differently sized mailpieces.
100 Citations
55 Claims
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1. A system for unified mail routing and sender notification of intermixed mailpieces including letters and flat mail, the system comprising:
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a mailpiece feeder to individually feed a plurality of intermixed mailpieces, each of the plurality of intermixed mailpieces having separate receiver location address indicators, sender return address indicators, and sender notification indicators positioned on each mailpiece;
a mailpiece transporter positioned adjacent the mailpiece feeder to receive each of the plurality of mailpieces from the mailpiece feeder and transport each therefrom along a predetermined path of travel;
a mailpiece scanner positioned downstream from the mailpiece feeder and adjacent the mailpiece transporter along the path of travel of the plurality of mailpieces to scan the separate receiver location address indicators, sender return address indicators, and sender notification indicators of each of the plurality of intermixed mailpieces to thereby create a single-scan image of address indicators and notification indicator data for each corresponding mailpiece;
a mailpiece labeler positioned downstream from the mailpiece scanner and adjacent the mailpiece transporter along the path of travel of the plurality of mailpieces to label each of the plurality of mailpieces with a preselected routing indicator;
a process controller in communication with the mailpiece scanner and mailpiece labeler to receive the single-scan image, separate the image into discrete data groups of at least address indicators and notification indicator, instruct the labeler to label each of the plurality of mailpieces with the preselected routing indicator, and generate a sender notice when desired, the process controller comprising;
a forwarding address determiner responsive to the receiver location address indication data group of each of the plurality of mailpieces to determine when the receiver address of a corresponding mailpiece corresponds to one of a list of forwarding address indicators and thereby instruct the labeler to label the mailpiece with the corresponding forwarding address indicator, a return-to-sender determiner responsive to the sender return address indication data group of each of the plurality of mailpieces to determine when a corresponding mailpiece is to be returned to sender and thereby instruct the labeler to label the mailpiece with the corresponding return address indicator, and a sender notification determiner responsive to the sender notification indicator data group of each of the plurality of mailpieces to determine when to generate a sender notice; and
a mailpiece stacker positioned downstream from the mailpiece transporter to receive each of the plurality of the intermixed mailpieces from the mailpiece transporter and to direct each of the mailpieces to one of a plurality of preselected stacking positions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for unified handling and routing of intermixed mailpieces including letters and flat mail, the system comprising:
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a mailpiece feeder to individually feed a plurality of intermixed mailpieces, each of the plurality of intermixed mailpieces having separate receiver location address indicators and sender return address indicators positioned on each mailpiece;
a mailpiece transporter positioned adjacent the mailpiece feeder to receive each of the plurality of mailpieces from the mailpiece feeder and transport each therefrom along a predetermined path of travel;
a mailpiece scanner positioned downstream from the mailpiece feeder and adjacent the mailpiece transporter along the path of travel of the plurality of mailpieces to scan the separate receiver location address indicators and sender return address indicator of each of the plurality of intermixed mailpieces to thereby create a single-scan image of address indicators data for each corresponding mailpiece;
a mailpiece labeler positioned downstream from the mailpiece scanner and adjacent the mailpiece transporter along the path of travel of the plurality mailpieces to label each of the plurality of mailpieces with a preselected routing indicator;
a process controller in communication with the mailpiece scanner and mailpiece labeler to receive the single-scan image, separate the image into discrete data groups and instruct the labeler to label each of the plurality of mailpieces with the preselected routing indicator, the process controller comprising;
a forwarding address determiner responsive to the receiver location address indication data group of each of the plurality of mailpieces to determine when the receiver address of a corresponding mailpiece matches one of a list of receiver forwarding address indicators and thereby instruct the labeler to label the mailpiece with the corresponding receiver forwarding address indicator, a return-to-sender determiner responsive to the sender return address indication data group of each of the plurality of mailpieces to determine when a corresponding mailpiece is to be returned to sender and thereby instruct the labeler to label the mailpiece with the corresponding return address indicator. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. An system for unified mail routing and sender notification of a plurality of mailpieces including letters and flat mail, the system comprising:
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a mailpiece transporter comprising;
a mailpiece conveyor to convey each of the plurality of mailpieces along a predetermined path of travel, a mailpiece receiver positioned upstream from the mailpiece conveyor and downstream from the mailpiece feeder at the initial point of the path of travel from the mailpiece feeder to receive each mailpiece for subsequent conveyance along a preselected path of travel, and a mailpiece dispenser positioned downstream at the terminal point of the path of travel to dispense each mailpiece;
imaging means positioned adjacent themailpiece transporter and comprising receiver location address indicator imaging means and sender return address indicator imaging means for generating single-scan electronic images of receiver location address and sender return address indicators positioned on each mailpiece;
labeling means positioned adjacent the mailpiece transporter downstream from said imaging means along the preselected path of travel for labeling each of the plurality of mailpieces with a preselected routing indicator; and
processing means in communication with the imaging and labeling means for receiving the single-scan images, separating each image into discrete data groups of at least address indicators, and instructing the labeling means to label each of the plurality of mailpieces with the preselected routing indicator, the processing means comprising;
forward addressing means responsive to the location address indication data group of each of the plurality of mailpieces for determining when the receiver address of a corresponding mailpiece corresponds to one of a list of forwarding addresses and thereby instructing the labeling means to label the mailpiece with the listed forwarding receiver address; and
return-to-sender addressing means responsive to the address indication data group of each of the plurality of mailpieces to determine when a corresponding mailpiece is to be returned to sender and thereby instructing the labeling means to label the mailpiece with a corresponding sender return address. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51)
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48. A method for unified forwarding of mail and notifying sender, the method comprising the steps of:
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generating electronic images of receiver location address indicators and sender return address indicators positioned on each of a plurality of mailpieces;
determining a corresponding receiver forwarding address indicator by searching for a match between each receiver location address indicator and a corresponding receiver forwarding address indicator for each mailpiece by making an electronic comparison between the generated electronic image and a preselected set of corresponding forwarding address indicators;
searching for the presence of a sender notification indicator positioned on each mailpiece;
generating a forwarding address indicator on each mailpiece having a match between the receiver location address indicator and the receiver forwarding address indicator; and
generating and storing a sender notification for each of the plurality of mailpieces having positioned thereon a sender notification indicator, the sender notification including the receiver location address indicator, receiver forwarding address indicator, and sender return address indicator.
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52. A method for unified forwarding of mail and notifying sender, the method comprising the steps of:
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electronically scanning a plurality of mailpieces and generating a corresponding single-scan image of receiver location address indicator and sender return address indicators;
searching for a match between each receiver location address indicator and a corresponding receiver forwarding address indicator from among a set of preselected receiver forwarding address indicators; and
labeling each mailpiece for which a match is found between the receiver location address indicator and one said preselected receiver forwarding address indicator with a label formed by interposing the receiver forwarding address indicator onto the single-scan image. - View Dependent Claims (53)
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54. A method of routing mail to be returned to sender and notifying sender of the reason for return, the method comprising the steps of:
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scanning each of a plurality of mailpieces having receiver address location indicators and sender return address location indicators positioned thereon to generate a single-scan image of the address indicators data;
separating the receiver location address indicator data;
electronically comparing the address indicator characters with a preselected list to determine a match from a preselected set of return indicators, each return indicator having an indicator of the reason the corresponding mailpiece was not deliverable; and
generating a corresponding a label positioned on a mailpiece and comprising the receiver location address indicator, the sender return address indicator, and corresponding indicator of the reason the mailpiece was not deliverable. - View Dependent Claims (55)
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Specification