Data controlled mail collation system
First Claim
1. A method of sorting mail and collating flats to form stop-sequence mail for a mail carrier, wherein the method comprises:
- receiving flats for delivery to mail stops on a delivery route of the mail carrier;
receiving collation instructions regarding desired delivery of the flats, separate from any material included in or printed on the flats;
automatically sorting mail in stop-sequence order for mail stops on a delivery route of the mail carrier, the sorted stop-sequence mail comprising a grouping of one or more mail pieces intended for delivery to each of a plurality of the mail stops on the delivery route of the mail carrier; and
automatically adding the flats during sorting of the mail, so as to include one of the flats in each of a plurality of the groupings of the sorted stop-sequence mail, based on the received collation instructions.
19 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Today, high density mailings such as “marriage mail,” Advo type advertisements, saturation mail, periodicals, and catalogs often require manual handling by the postal authority. Other than saturation mailings, where every carrier stop gets the same article, these items must be addressed. Verification of production is often desired due to spoilage and damage during production, which requires rework by the mailer. The addition of a data controlled mail collation feeder to existing or new Postal Authority automation equipment or the like eliminates the need to manually handle these difficult mail types and eliminates the need to address specific items. The manual casing at the delivery is eliminated. The data processing system that controls the data controlled mail collation feeder will also perform delivery confirmation and may assess postage due.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method of sorting mail and collating flats to form stop-sequence mail for a mail carrier, wherein the method comprises:
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receiving flats for delivery to mail stops on a delivery route of the mail carrier;
receiving collation instructions regarding desired delivery of the flats, separate from any material included in or printed on the flats;
automatically sorting mail in stop-sequence order for mail stops on a delivery route of the mail carrier, the sorted stop-sequence mail comprising a grouping of one or more mail pieces intended for delivery to each of a plurality of the mail stops on the delivery route of the mail carrier; and
automatically adding the flats during sorting of the mail, so as to include one of the flats in each of a plurality of the groupings of the sorted stop-sequence mail, based on the received collation instructions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A data controlled mail processing system, comprising:
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a sorting system for automatically sorting mail in stop-sequence order for mail stops on a delivery route of the mail carrier, the sorted stop-sequence mail comprising a grouping of one or more mail pieces intended for delivery to each of a plurality of the mail stops on the delivery route of the mail carrier;
a feeder for feeding flats to the sorting system; and
a controller for controlling the feeder in response to delivery instructions, for causing the feeder to supply the flats to the sorting system in such a manner as to enable automatic addition of one of the supplied flats into each of a plurality of the groupings of mail, based on the delivery instructions. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A method of automatically controlling mail processing, comprising:
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receiving collation instructions regarding desired delivery of flats to mail stops on a delivery route of a mail carrier, the received collation instructions being separate from any material included in or printed on the flats; and
controlling an automatic feeder for feeding the flats to an automatic sorting system, to add the flats during sorting of the mail, so as to include one of the flats in each of a plurality of groupings of sorted stop-sequence mail, based on the received collation instructions, each grouping comprising one or more mail pieces intended for delivery to each of a plurality of the mail stops on the delivery route of the mail carrier. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification