Method and system for electronic commingling of hybrid mail
First Claim
1. A method for processing hybrid mail, comprising:
- receiving at a hybrid mail facility a plurality of mail jobs from a plurality of senders, each mail job comprising variable data corresponding to a plurality of mail pieces to be produced;
generating an electronic data file for each mail job based on the variable data thereof, such that there are a plurality of said electronic data files; and
composing a commingled print file from the plurality of electronic data files, the commingled print file containing images to be printed for each of the plurality of mail jobs, the images including variable data and fixed data.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A plurality of hybrid mail jobs from one or more sources are received at a hybrid mail facility in the form of sets of variable data. The variable data are merged with designated fixed data to produce a plurality of individual print files containing page images to be printed. The individual print files are electronically commingled to produce a single commingled print file containing multiple mail jobs. Presorting is performed to order the commingled print file in accordance with sorting criteria. Before production of the finished mail pieces, the commingled print file, if necessary, is divided into a plurality of divided print files corresponding to different classes requiring different printer and/or automated inserter set-ups.
79 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method for processing hybrid mail, comprising:
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receiving at a hybrid mail facility a plurality of mail jobs from a plurality of senders, each mail job comprising variable data corresponding to a plurality of mail pieces to be produced;
generating an electronic data file for each mail job based on the variable data thereof, such that there are a plurality of said electronic data files; and
composing a commingled print file from the plurality of electronic data files, the commingled print file containing images to be printed for each of the plurality of mail jobs, the images including variable data and fixed data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28)
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13. A method for processing hybrid mail, comprising:
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receiving at a hybrid mail facility at least one mail job from each of a plurality of customers, each mail job comprising variable data corresponding to a plurality of mail pieces to be produced;
assigning each mail piece of each job to one of a plurality of classes;
composing an individual print file for each mail job, each individual print file comprising sets of images to be printed, each set of images corresponding to a finished mail piece, the images comprising variable data and fixed data;
combining the individual print files into a commingled print file comprising images from each of the individual print files;
dividing the commingled print file into a plurality of divided print files based on the class associated with the images in the commingled print file; and
printing each of the divided print files to produce printed pages for incorporation into finished mail pieces.
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17. A system for processing hybrid mail, comprising:
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a first processing facility operable to receive at least one mail job from each of a plurality of customers, each mail job comprising variable data corresponding to a plurality of mail pieces to be produced; and
a second processing facility in communication with the first processing facility and operable to receive variable data therefrom corresponding to mail jobs of two or more of said customers, the second processing facility including a processor operable to;
compose an individual print file for each of the mail jobs, the individual print file comprising sets of images to be printed by a printer, each set of images corresponding to a finished mail piece, the images comprising variable data and fixed data; and
combine the individual print files for the mail jobs into one commingled print file containing images from each of the individual print files.
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24. A system for processing hybrid mail, comprising:
a network of processing facilities operable to receive first variable data from a first customer and merge the first variable data with fixed data to form a first print file containing first images to be printed, to receive second variable data from a second customer and merge the second variable data with fixed data to form a second print file containing second images to be printed, to combine the first and second print files into a single commingled print file containing the first and second images, and to print the commingled print file to produce pages for insertion into finished mail pieces, whereby electronic commingling of customers'"'"' mail jobs occurs only after the images are created.
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25. A system for processing hybrid mail, comprising:
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a plurality of gateways each operable to receive sets of variable data from a plurality of sources, each set of variable data corresponding to a mail job for producing finished mail pieces, the variable data in each set being from one source;
a first processor connected to each of the gateways, the first processor being operable to;
receive a plurality of sets of variable data from the gateways;
split each of the sets of variable data into a plurality of split variable data sets in accordance with at least one criterion for distribution of the variable data; and
distribute the split variable data sets to a plurality of respective mail processing facilities in accordance with the at least one criterion for distribution; and
a plurality of mail processing facilities connected to the first processor, each mail processing facility including a second processor, a printer, and an inserter, the second processor being operable to;
compose a separate print file for each split variable data set received at the respective mail processing facility, the separate print file comprising sets of images to be printed, each set of images corresponding to a finished mail piece, the images comprising variable data and fixed data;
combining separate print files, regardless of the sources thereof, into a commingled print file comprising sets of images from each of the separate print files;
inserting a mail piece identifier in at least one image of each set of images in the commingled print file;
dividing the commingled print file into a plurality of divided print files based upon a class associated each set of images, the class being assigned to each set of images by one of the first and second processors; and
transmitting the divided print files to the printer to cause the printer to print each of the divided print files in turn to produce pages comprising images from the divided print files.
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Specification