System, method and computer program product for containerized shipping of mail pieces
First Claim
1. A containerized mail delivery information system for facilitating sorting of a plurality of mail pieces amongst a plurality of containers by a sorting apparatus and delivery of the plurality of mail pieces to a consignee, said containerized mail delivery information system comprising:
- a mail piece information apparatus configured to determine mail piece information associated with each of the mail pieces;
an identification generator configured to generate a plurality of identifiers, each of said identifiers associated with one of a plurality of containers;
a sorting apparatus controller connected in communication with the mail piece information apparatus, the identification generator and the sorting apparatus, said sorting apparatus controller configured to obtain the mail piece information associated with each of the mail pieces from the mail piece information apparatus and the identifier associated with each of the containers from the identification generation apparatus, said sorting apparatus controller further configured to instruct the sorting apparatus to direct a portion of the mail pieces to a selected one of the containers using the mail piece information and correlate the portion of the mail pieces directed to the selected container with the identifier of the selected container;
a tracking computer system connected in communication with a plurality of tracking devices and configured to receive tracking information from one of the tracking devices indicating detection, at a consignee transfer location, of the identifier associated with the selected container; and
an electronic manifest generation system connected in communication with the sorting apparatus controller, the tracking system and the consignee, said manifest generation system configured to obtain the tracking information from the tracking system, generate a manifest by correlating, using the identifier, the mail piece information associated with each of the mail pieces in the container and the tracking information indicating detection of the container at the consignee transfer location, and electronically communicate the manifest to the consignee to facilitate billing and further delivery of the mail pieces by the consignee.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A mail delivery system for facilitating delivery of a plurality of mail pieces sorted into a plurality of containers to a postal service. The mail delivery system includes a mail piece information apparatus for determining information about each of the mail pieces, such as by scanning delivery addresses of the mail pieces. A sorting apparatus associates an identifiers of the containers with mail pieces sorted into the containers. A tracking system tracks the containers through delivery using the container identifiers. Paperless manifests describing the mail pieces in the containers and delivery of the containers to a postal service location are generated by the system by correlating tracking information on the containers with contents information for the containers using the identifier. The mail delivery system is also configured to implement quality control processes and billing using the tracking and manifest information, resulting in time savings and increased billing accuracy.
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Citations
56 Claims
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1. A containerized mail delivery information system for facilitating sorting of a plurality of mail pieces amongst a plurality of containers by a sorting apparatus and delivery of the plurality of mail pieces to a consignee, said containerized mail delivery information system comprising:
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a mail piece information apparatus configured to determine mail piece information associated with each of the mail pieces;
an identification generator configured to generate a plurality of identifiers, each of said identifiers associated with one of a plurality of containers;
a sorting apparatus controller connected in communication with the mail piece information apparatus, the identification generator and the sorting apparatus, said sorting apparatus controller configured to obtain the mail piece information associated with each of the mail pieces from the mail piece information apparatus and the identifier associated with each of the containers from the identification generation apparatus, said sorting apparatus controller further configured to instruct the sorting apparatus to direct a portion of the mail pieces to a selected one of the containers using the mail piece information and correlate the portion of the mail pieces directed to the selected container with the identifier of the selected container;
a tracking computer system connected in communication with a plurality of tracking devices and configured to receive tracking information from one of the tracking devices indicating detection, at a consignee transfer location, of the identifier associated with the selected container; and
an electronic manifest generation system connected in communication with the sorting apparatus controller, the tracking system and the consignee, said manifest generation system configured to obtain the tracking information from the tracking system, generate a manifest by correlating, using the identifier, the mail piece information associated with each of the mail pieces in the container and the tracking information indicating detection of the container at the consignee transfer location, and electronically communicate the manifest to the consignee to facilitate billing and further delivery of the mail pieces by the consignee. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A containerized mail delivery system for delivering a plurality of mail pieces, said containerized mail delivery system comprising:
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a sorting system capable of obtaining mail piece information on each of the mail pieces in each of a plurality of containers and sorting the mail pieces amongst the plurality of containers, each of said containers being associated with an identifier;
a tracking system configured to obtain tracking information indicating detection of the identifier on one of the containers wherein detection corresponds to delivery of the container to a delivery location;
a manifest generation system connected in communication with the sorting system and the tracking system, said manifest generation system configured to generate a manifest by correlating, using the identifier, the tracking information indicating delivery of the container to the delivery location, with the mail piece information on each of the mail pieces in the container. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A mail delivery information device for facilitating delivery of a plurality of mail pieces to a consignee using information from a sorting system, a shipping order system and a tracking system, said mail delivery information device comprising:
a processing element connected in communication with the sorting system, the shipping order system and the tracking system, said processing element configured to;
receive mail piece information on each of a plurality of mail pieces from the sorting system, said mail pieces being sorted among a plurality of containers, receive a plurality of container identifiers wherein each of the container identifiers is associated with a respective one of the plurality of containers, associate the mail piece information of each of the mail pieces with the container identifier of the container into which the mail piece was sorted, receive tracking information from the tracking system, said tracking information indicating detection of one of the plurality of container identifiers at a consignee location;
generate manifest data by correlating, using the container identifier, the tracking information indicating delivery of the container to the consignee location with the mail piece information of the mail pieces in the container. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method of sorting and delivering a plurality of mail pieces in a plurality of containers, said method comprising:
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obtaining mail piece information on each of the mail pieces;
sorting the mail pieces amongst the plurality of containers, wherein each of the containers is associated with an identifier;
obtaining tracking information indicating detection of the identifier on one of the containers wherein detection corresponds to delivery of the container to a delivery location;
generating a manifest by correlating, using the identifier, the tracking information indicating delivery of the container to the delivery location with the mail piece information on each of the mail pieces in the container. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A computer program product for controlling sorting, delivery and tracking of a plurality of mail pieces in a plurality of containers, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:
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a first executable portion for obtaining mail piece information on each of the mail pieces in each of the plurality of containers;
a second executable portion for sorting the mail pieces amongst the plurality of containers wherein each of the containers is associated with an identifier;
a third executable portion for obtaining tracking information indicating detection of the identifier on one of the containers wherein detection corresponds to delivery of the container to a delivery location; and
a fourth executable portion for generating a manifest by correlating, using the identifier, the tracking information indicating delivery of the container to the delivery location with the mail piece information on each of the mail pieces in the container. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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Specification