System for accepting non harming mail at a receptacle

• US 20030110143A1
• Filed: 12/12/2001
• Published: 06/12/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pitney Bowes Incorporated (Böwe Systec AG)
• Original Assignee: Pitney Bowes Incorporated (Böwe Systec AG)
• Inventors: Sansone, Ronald P.
• Granted Patent: US 7,076,466 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/406
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 17/00661 Sensing or measuring mailpieces weighing G01G19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00209 Mailbox, i.e. container for outgoing mail
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00725 Reading symbols, e.g. OCR

Abstract

A system that determines if mail contains life-harming materials before the mail enters the interior of a receptacle, i.e., mail box. This invention accomplishes the foregoing by scanning mail in a control chamber of a receptacle that is addressed to a recipient which contains material that may or may not be life-harming; capturing an image of the face of the mail, which includes the name and physical address of the recipient and the postal indicia; processing the image on the face of the mail to identify the mailer and the mail to access the possibility of the presence of life-harming material in the mail. If certain information in the image on the face of the mail is known, the mail will be allowed to enter an inner chamber of the receptacle.

Claims

1. An incoming mail monitoring system, said system comprises:

a plurality of mailers'"'"' units that stores unique information contained in a postal indicia affixed to mail;

a plurality of receptacles that reads and stores the unique information contained in the postal indicia before the mail enters the interior of the receptacle; and

a data center that receives information stored by the mailers'"'"' units and the receptacles to identify the mailer and assess the possibility of the presence of life-harming material in the mail.

2. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein the receptacle units include a scanner that reads the postal indicia.

3. The system claimed in claim 2, wherein the scanner captures and interprets the information contained in the postal indicia.

4. The system claimed in claim 2, wherein the scanner is located in a control chamber.

5. The system claimed in claim 4, wherein the control chamber has a locked door for isolating suspect mail.

6. The system claimed in claim 4, wherein the interior of the receptacle comprises:

a inner chamber that receives mail from the control chamber that is not suspected of having life harming material.

7. The system claimed in claim 6, wherein the inner chamber has a locked door in which when open mail may be removed from the inner chamber.

8. The system claimed in claim 4, further including a slot for depositing mail into the control chamber.

9. The system claimed in claim 8, further including:

means for closing the slot when the mail in the control chamber is suspected of containing life harming substances.

10. The system claimed in claim 8, further comprising means for indicating a message indicating the status of the receptacle.

11. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein the data center correlates the recipient address of the mail with unique information contained in the postal indicia.

12. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein the mailer'"'"'s unit includes the time and date that the postal indicia was affixed to the mail in the unique information contained in the postal indicia.

13. The system claimed in claim 12, wherein the mailer'"'"'s unit includes other information regarding the mail piece in the unique information contained in the postal indicia.

14. The system claimed in claim 13, wherein the data center further includes:

means for comparing information received from the mailer'"'"'s unit with information received from one of the receptacle units.

15. The system claimed in claim 14, wherein the data center further includes:

means for comparing other information received from the mailer'"'"'s unit with information received from one of the receptacle units.

16. The system claimed in claim 15 wherein the receptacle unit includes:

means for informing the post of possibility of the presence of life-harming material in the mail.

17. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein the mailer'"'"'s unit includes means for automatically transmitting information to the data center at predetermined intervals.

18. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein the receptacle includes means for automatically transmitting information to the data center at predetermined intervals.

19. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein the postal indicia is on a label that is affixed to the mail piece.

20. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein the postal indicia is printed on a piece of paper that may be seen through an envelope forming the mail piece.

21. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein the unique information is encrypted.

22. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein the unique information is printed in an area other than the indicia area of the mail piece.

23. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein the mailer'"'"'s units are digital postage meter units.

24. The system claimed in claim 1, wherein the mailer'"'"'s units are digital processors.