Chemical/biological hazard trigger with automatic mail piece tagging system and method
First Claim
1. Apparatus for detecting and identifying hazardous particulates in a mail stream, comprising:
- A. means for detecting hazardous materials in or on mail pieces in a mail stream and for identifying the mail piece or pieces bearing the hazardous materials;
B. a bar code applicator for applying a unique bar code to the wrapper of each mail piece identified as containing hazardous particulates;
C. said unique bar code providing specific information about the detection data collected at the time of the detection event.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and method for detecting and identifying hazardous material in a mail stream in which hazardous particulates or material in or on mail pieces in a mail stream are detected and the mail piece bearing the hazardous material is identified. A bar code applicator applies a unique bar code to the wrapper of each mail piece identified as potentially containing hazardous material. The bar code applicator is an ink jet which applies the bar code on-the-fly. The bar code applied is encoded with specific information about the detection parameters at the time of the event in addition to specific information about the date, time of day, machine identification, temperature and humidity conditions, etc. present at the time of the event.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. Apparatus for detecting and identifying hazardous particulates in a mail stream, comprising:
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A. means for detecting hazardous materials in or on mail pieces in a mail stream and for identifying the mail piece or pieces bearing the hazardous materials;
B. a bar code applicator for applying a unique bar code to the wrapper of each mail piece identified as containing hazardous particulates;
C. said unique bar code providing specific information about the detection data collected at the time of the detection event. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for detecting and identifying hazardous particulates in a mail stream, comprising the steps of:
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A. detecting hazardous materials present in or on mail in a mail stream;
B. identifying the mail piece bearing the hazardous particulates;
C. applying a unique bar code to the wrapper of each mail piece identified as containing hazardous particulates. D. encoding in the unique bar code specific information about the detection data collected at the time of the detection event. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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- 13. A mail article containing a unique code indicating that the article may bear hazardous material.
Specification