Method and system for routing hardcopy mail

• US 20030065629A1
• Filed: 09/28/2001
• Published: 04/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hill, Clark Thurston
• Granted Patent: US 7,349,853 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/401
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/00 Sorting according to destination collating the pages of a book B42C1/00

Abstract

A method and system for routing hardcopy mail is provided. Specifically, a recipient is assigned a unique identifier. The recipient can electronically designate a mailing address to be associated with the assigned identifier. A sender wishing to send the recipient a piece of hardcopy mail can obtain the recipient'"'"'s identifier and affix the same to the piece of hardcopy mail. The identifier will be read and the piece of hardcopy mail will be routed to the recipient at the mailing address associated therewith.

Claims

1. A method for routing hardcopy mail, comprising the steps of:

providing a unique identifier for a recipient;

electronically associating a mailing address with the identifier;

affixing the identifier to a piece of hardcopy mail; and

routing the piece of hardcopy mail to the recipient at the associated mailing address.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of electronically editing the associated mailing address.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the routing step comprises routing the piece of hardcopy mail to the recipient at the edited mailing address.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier is a machine readable code.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the machine readable code is a bar code.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of sending the associated mailing address to a machine for routing the piece of hardcopy mail, prior to the routing step.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the associated mailing address is sent in response to a request by the machine, and wherein the request includes a value corresponding to the identifier.

8. A method for routing hardcopy mail, comprising the steps of:

providing a unique identifier for a recipient;

electronically associating a mailing address with the identifier;

affixing the identifier to a piece of hardcopy mail and submitting the piece of hardcopy mail to a machine; and

retrieving the mailing address to the machine, wherein the machine can read the identifier and route the piece of hardcopy mail to the recipient at the associated mailing address.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the identifier is a machine readable code.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the machine readable code is a bar code.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the mailing address is a physical postal address.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the machine is a postal machine.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of electronically editing the associated mailing address, prior to the sending step.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the sending step comprises sending the edited mailing address to a machine, wherein the machine can read the identifier and route the piece of hardcopy mail to the recipient at the edited mailing address.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein the associated mailing address is sent in response to a request by the machine, and wherein the request includes a value corresponding to the identifier.

16. A method for routing hardcopy mail, comprising the steps of:

providing a unique identifier for a recipient;

electronically associating a mailing address with the identifier;

affixing the identifier to a piece of hardcopy mail;

electronically editing the associated mailing address; and

sending the edited mailing address to a machine, wherein the machine can read the identifier and route the piece of hardcopy mail to the recipient at the edited mailing address.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the identifier is a machine readable code.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the machine readable code is a bar code.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the edited mailing address is sent in response to a request by the machine, and wherein the request includes a value corresponding to the identifier.

20. A system for routing hardcopy mail, comprising:

a recipient interface for electronically associating a mailing address with a unique identifier for a recipient;

a sender interface for outputting the identifier to a sender, wherein the identifier is affixable to a piece of hardcopy mail; and

a cross-reference system for outputting the associated mailing address to a machine, wherein the machine can read the identifier and route the piece of hardcopy mail to the recipient at the associated mailing address.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the mailing address is a physical postal address.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the machine is a postal machine.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the unique identifier is a machine readable code.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the machine readable code is a bar code.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein the recipient interface allows the associated mailing address to be edited.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the cross-reference system outputs an edited mailing address to the machine, wherein the machine can read the identifier and route the piece of hardcopy mail to the recipient at the edited address.

27. The system of claim 20, wherein the associated mailing address is outputted in response to a request that includes a value corresponding to the identifier.

28. A system for routing hardcopy mail, comprising:

a recipient interface for electronically designating a mailing address for a recipient;

a sender interface for outputting a unique identifier corresponding to the recipient, wherein the identifier is affixable to a piece of hardcopy mail; and

a cross-reference system for outputting the designated mailing address to a machine in response to a request, wherein the machine reads the identifier and routes the corresponding piece of hardcopy mail to the recipient at the designated mailing address.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the request includes a value corresponding to the identifier.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the address i s a physical postal address.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein the machine is a postal machine.

32. The system of claim 28, wherein the identifier is a machine readable code.

33. A program product stored on a recordable medium for routing hardcopy mail, which when executed, comprises:

program code configured to electronically associate a mailing address with a unique identifier for a recipient;

program code configured to output the identifier to a sender, wherein the identifier is affixable to a piece of hardcopy mail; and

program code configured to output the associated mailing address to a machine, wherein the machine can read the identifier and route the piece of hardcopy mail to the recipient at the associated mailing address.

34. The program product of claim 33, wherein the associated mailing address is outputted in response to a request that includes a value corresponding to the identifier.