System and method of deferred postal address processing
First Claim
1. A method for deferred processing of a mail piece through an outgoing mail center and an incoming mail center for ultimate delivery to an addressee, the mail piece having an destination address field with a first address portion including sufficient information to route the mail piece to the incoming mail center and a second address portion including sufficient information to deliver the mail piece to an addressee from the incoming mail center, comprising the steps of:
- receiving the mail piece at the outgoing mail center;
resolving the first address portion to determine the incoming mail center;
associating a unique identification mark with the mail piece and marking the mail piece with the unique identification mark;
maintaining a record of the unique identification mark independent of the marking on the mail piece and a record of the first and second address portions in association with the record of the identification mark;
sorting the mail piece to an appropriate transport vehicle at the outgoing mail center for transport to the incoming mail center based on the resolved first address portion;
transporting the mail piece from the outgoing mail center to the incoming mail center;
maintaining data relating the outgoing mail center and the incoming mail center, the data including at least a predetermined transit time indicative of the time required for the mail piece to be transported from the outgoing mail center to the incoming mail center;
consulting the maintained data and establishing a predetermined deferral time based on the transport time data, the deferral representing at least an acceptable maximum length of time that can elapse from an established point in time in the processing of the mail piece before the second address portion is resolved and made accessible to the incoming mail center; and
transmitting a record of the identification mark and rendering accessible to the incoming mail center the resolved second address portion in association with the record of the identification mark within an elapsed time not exceeding the maximum acceptable time of the predetermined deferral time such that the resolved second address portion can be associated with the mail piece at the incoming mail center and the mail piece routed for delivery to an addressee.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is characterized in certain aspects by data processing architectures and methods of processing a mail piece having a destination address field through outgoing and incoming mail centers. An illustrative method includes receiving a mail piece at an outgoing mail center for transport to an incoming mail center and subsequent sorting and transport from the incoming mail center to an an addressee. The mail piece includes a destination address field that is divided into a first address portion and a second address portion. The first address portion is interpreted at the outgoing mail center and used to sort the mail piece for transport to the incoming mail center. The second address portion is eventually resolved and used by the incoming mail center to sort the mail piece for subsequent delivery to an addressee. Because resolution of the second address portion is not required until the physical mail piece arrives at the incoming mail center, secondary address resolution is delayed in accordance with a set of predetermined time parameters. The second address portion is eventually resolved to generate a set of sorting instructions that are made accessible to the incoming mail center in accordance with the specified time parameters. By assigning a deferral time unique to each mail piece of a selected plurality of mail pieces, secondary address resolution for those mail pieces can be prioritized according to need.
24 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method for deferred processing of a mail piece through an outgoing mail center and an incoming mail center for ultimate delivery to an addressee, the mail piece having an destination address field with a first address portion including sufficient information to route the mail piece to the incoming mail center and a second address portion including sufficient information to deliver the mail piece to an addressee from the incoming mail center, comprising the steps of:
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receiving the mail piece at the outgoing mail center;
resolving the first address portion to determine the incoming mail center;
associating a unique identification mark with the mail piece and marking the mail piece with the unique identification mark;
maintaining a record of the unique identification mark independent of the marking on the mail piece and a record of the first and second address portions in association with the record of the identification mark;
sorting the mail piece to an appropriate transport vehicle at the outgoing mail center for transport to the incoming mail center based on the resolved first address portion;
transporting the mail piece from the outgoing mail center to the incoming mail center;
maintaining data relating the outgoing mail center and the incoming mail center, the data including at least a predetermined transit time indicative of the time required for the mail piece to be transported from the outgoing mail center to the incoming mail center;
consulting the maintained data and establishing a predetermined deferral time based on the transport time data, the deferral representing at least an acceptable maximum length of time that can elapse from an established point in time in the processing of the mail piece before the second address portion is resolved and made accessible to the incoming mail center; and
transmitting a record of the identification mark and rendering accessible to the incoming mail center the resolved second address portion in association with the record of the identification mark within an elapsed time not exceeding the maximum acceptable time of the predetermined deferral time such that the resolved second address portion can be associated with the mail piece at the incoming mail center and the mail piece routed for delivery to an addressee.
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2. A method for deferred processing of a mail piece through an outgoing mail center and an incoming mail center for ultimate delivery to an addressee, the mail piece having a destination address field with a first address portion including sufficient information to route the mail piece to the incoming mail center and a second address portion including sufficient information to deliver the mail piece to an addressee from the incoming mail center, comprising the steps of:
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receiving the mail piece at the outgoing mail center;
capturing an image of the destination address field at the outgoing mail center and storing the image in computer memory, the captured image including a first address portion image corresponding to the first address portion of the destination address field on the mail piece and a second address portion image corresponding to the second address portion of the destination address field on the mail piece;
marking the mail piece with a unique identification mark representing its identity and storing a computer memory record of the identification mark in association with the stored image of the destination address field;
resolving the first address portion image to generate a first signal representing the incoming mail center;
sorting the mail piece at the outgoing mail center in response to the first signal for transport to the incoming mail center;
maintaining data relating the outgoing mail center and the incoming mail center, the data including at least a predetermined transit time indicative of the time required for the mail piece to be transported from the outgoing mail center to the incoming mail center;
consulting the maintained data and assigning a deferral time based on the transport time data, the deferral time representing at least an acceptable maximum length of time that can elapse from a first established point in time in the processing of the mail piece before the second address portion image is resolved and the results of resolution rendered accessible to the incoming mail center;
transporting the mail piece from the outgoing mail center to the incoming mail center;
resolving the second address portion image to generate a second signal representing the information necessary to further route the mail piece for delivery to an addressee from the incoming mail center;
rendering the second signal accessible to the incoming mail center before the expiration of the maximum acceptable elapsed time;
receiving the mail piece at the incoming mail center;
identifying the mail piece at the incoming mail center by reading the unique identification mark thereon and associating the mail piece with the second signal; and
sorting the mail piece in response to the second signal for delivery to the addressee. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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12. A method for deferred processing of a mail piece through an outgoing mail center and an incoming mail center for delivery to an addressee, the mail piece having a destination address field with a first address portion including sufficient information to route the mail piece to the incoming mail center and a second address portion including sufficient information to deliver the mail piece to an addressee from the incoming mail center, comprising the steps of:
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receiving the mail piece at the outgoing mail center;
capturing an image of the destination address field at an outgoing mail center and storing the image in computer memory, the captured image including a first address portion image corresponding to the first address portion of the destination address field on the mail piece and a second address portion image corresponding to the second address portion of the destination address field on the mail piece;
marking the mail piece with a unique identification mark representing its identity and storing a computer memory record of the identification mark in association with the stored image of the destination address field;
resolving the first address portion image to generate a first signal representing the incoming mail center;
sorting the mail piece at the outgoing mail center in response to the first signal for transport to the incoming mail center;
maintaining data relating the outgoing mail center and the incoming mail center, the data including at least a predetermined transit time indicative of the time required for the mail piece to be transported from the outgoing mail center to the incoming mail center;
consulting the maintained data and assigning a deferral time based on the transport time data, the deferral time representing at least one of (i) a minimum length of time that must elapse from a first established point in time in the processing of the mail piece before resolution of the second address image portion commences and (ii) a maximum length of time that can elapse from the first established point in time in the processing of the mail piece before the second address portion image is resolved and the results of resolution rendered accessible to the incoming mail center and;
transporting the mail piece from the outgoing mail center to the incoming mail center;
resolving the second address portion image after the expiration of any minimum length of time represented by the deferral time to generate a second signal representing the information necessary to further route the mail piece for delivery to an addressee from the incoming mail center;
rendering the second signal accessible to the incoming mail center before the expiration of any maximum length of time represented by the deferral time;
receiving the mail piece at the incoming mail center;
identifying the mail piece at the incoming mail center by reading the unique identification mark thereon and associating the mail piece with the second signal; and
sorting the mail piece in response to the second signal for delivery to the addressee.
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13. A method for deferred processing of a plurality of mail pieces through an outgoing mail center and each mail piece of the plurality through a respective incoming mail center of a plurality of incoming mail centers, depending on destination, for delivery to an addressee, each mail piece having a destination address field with a first address portion including sufficient information to route the mail piece to its respective incoming mail center and a second address portion including sufficient information to further route the mail piece for delivery to an addressee from the respective incoming mail center, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving the mail piece at the outgoing mail center;
capturing an image of the destination address field of each mail piece of the plurality of mail pieces at the outgoing mail center and storing the image corresponding to each mail piece in computer memory, the captured image including a first address portion image corresponding to the first address portion of the destination address field on the mail piece and a second address portion image corresponding to the second address portion of the destination address field on the mail piece;
marking each mail piece with a unique identification mark representing its identity and storing a computer memory record of the identification mark in association with the stored image of the destination address field corresponding to that mail piece;
resolving the first address portion image corresponding to each mail piece to generate a first signal representing the respective incoming mail center for that mail piece;
sorting each mail piece at the outgoing mail center in response to the first signal corresponding to that mail piece for transport to the respective incoming mail center for that mail piece;
maintaining data relating the outgoing mail center to each respective incoming mail center, the data reflecting at least a predetermined transit time indicative of the time required for a mail piece to be transported from the outgoing mail center to each respective incoming mail center;
transporting each mail piece of the plurality of mail pieces from the outgoing mail center to the respective incoming mail center for that mail piece;
resolving the second address portion image corresponding to each mail piece of the plurality of mail pieces to generate a second signal representing go the information necessary to further route the mail piece for delivery to an addressee from the respective incoming mail center for that mail piece;
rendering the second signal corresponding to each mail piece accessible to the respective incoming mail center for that mail piece;
prioritizing the order in which second signals corresponding to mail pieces of the plurality of mail pieces are at least one of (i) generated and (ii) made accessible to the respective incoming mail centers in accordance with when the second signals are required by each of the respective incoming mail centers, depending on the maintained data relating the outgoing mail center to the respective incoming mail centers;
receiving each mail piece at the respective incoming mail center for that mail piece;
identifying each mail piece at the respective incoming mail center by reading the unique identification mark thereon and associating the mail piece with the second signal corresponding to that mail piece; and
sorting each mail piece at the respective incoming mail center for that mail piece in response to the second signal corresponding to that mail piece for delivery to the addressee.
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Specification