Mail piece consolidation and acountability using advanced tracking methods

• US 20060108266A1
• Filed: 08/09/2005
• Published: 05/25/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DMT Solutions Global Corporation
• Original Assignee: Bowe Bell & Howell Company
• Inventors: Swift, Michael R., Conard, Walter S., Krejcik, Steven J., Bowers, Brian C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,741,575 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 209/584
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/00 Sorting according to destination collating the pages of a book B42C1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 17/00661 Sensing or measuring mailpieces weighing G01G19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00483 Batch processing of mailpieces
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00677 Keeping track of mailpieces inside apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 209/90 Sorting flat-type mail

Abstract

Mail processing methods and techniques for sorting and commingling mail from various mail sources including the tracking of the mail pieces through processing. Such tracking entails uniquely identifying each mail piece, received in batches from the mail sources, and recording the unique identification of each mail piece. The received mail is sorted and commingled in a first pass, to form first collections, and each first collection is loaded into a uniquely identified mail container. For each respective mail piece, the tracking entails recording an association of the unique identification of one of the mail containers into which it is likely the respective mail piece is sorted on the first pass. After processing is complete, postal and client reports can be adjusted based on actual first pass counts.

Claims

1. A method for sorting and commingling mail from a plurality of mail sources and for tracking the mail pieces through the sorting and commingling with a high degree of integrity, the method comprising:

receiving batches of mail pieces from the mail sources;

uniquely identifying each received mail piece and recording the unique identification of each mail piece;

sorting and commingling the mail pieces from the batches of mail, in a first pass, into a plurality of first collections, and loading each of the first collections into a uniquely identified mail container; and

for each respective mail piece, recording an association of the unique identification of one of the mail containers into which it is likely the respective mail piece is sorted on the first pass.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sorting mail pieces from a plurality of the mail containers, in a subsequent pass, into a plurality of subsequent collections based on intended destination information and in accordance with postal authority rules; and

for each mail piece sorted into a subsequent collection, recording a result of the sorting in the subsequent pass.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising processing the recordings to generate a report of processing results for substantially all of the received mail pieces.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the report enables verification of sorting integrity for postage accounting.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the report enables verification of mail piece characteristics which effect postage due.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the report informs the mail clients as to the processing of their mail pieces through the sorting passes.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the recordings comprise an electronic file of records of the mail pieces; and

a record in the electronic file for each respective mail piece correlates the unique identification of the respective mail piece to the unique identification of one of the mail containers into which the respective mail piece is likely sorted on the first pass and/or to the result of the sorting in the subsequent pass for the respective mail piece.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of mail containers comprise mail trays, and the method further comprises:

loading the mail trays onto a uniquely identified pallet, and recording an association of each mail piece in each of the mail trays with the unique identification of the pallet; and

transporting the pallet to a remote location, for performance of the sorting in the subsequent pass.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein:

the recordings comprise an electronic file of records of the mail pieces; and

a record in the electronic file for each respective mail piece correlates the unique identification of the respective mail piece to the mail tray into which the respective mail piece is sorted on the first pass, to the unique identification of the pallet and/or to the result of the sorting in the subsequent pass for the respective mail piece.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

validating identification of the mail trays loaded onto the identified pallet, before transporting the pallet; and

informing an operator if any of the mail trays loaded onto the identified pallet contain mail that should not be transported with the pallet to the remote location.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein the recording of the result of the sorting in the subsequent pass includes a unique identification of a mail container in which each respective mail piece is sorted in the subsequent pass for transport to a postal authority for delivery.

12. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

detecting uniquely identified mail pieces from the plurality of the mail containers, during the sorting in the subsequent pass, and

detecting a mail piece that is missing from one of the subsequent collections based on detection of unique identifications of mail pieces expected to precede and follow the missing mail piece in the one subsequent collection.

13. A method for sorting and commingling mail from a plurality of mail sources and for tracking the mail pieces through the sorting and commingling with a high degree of integrity, the method comprising:

uniquely identifying each mail piece from batches of mail pieces received from the mail clients;

populating an electronic file of records for the mail pieces, including the unique identification of each mail piece;

sorting and commingling the mail pieces from the batches of mail at a first location, in a first pass, into first collections, based on a first sort scheme, wherein a plurality of the first collections do not yet meet postal rules for a desired level of postage discounts;

loading each of the first collections into a uniquely identified first mail container;

for each respective mail piece, associating the unique identification of one of the first mail containers into which it is likely the respective mail piece has been sorted on the first pass with the record of respective mail piece in the electronic file.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

transporting the first mail containers containing the plurality of first collections that do not yet meet postal rules for the desired level of postage discounts to a second location;

at the second location, sorting and commingling mail pieces from the mail containers containing the plurality of first collections together with additional mail pieces, in a subsequent pass, into a plurality of subsequent collections based on intended destination information so as to meet the postal rules for the desired level of postage discounts;

loading each of the subsequent collections into a uniquely identified second mail container, for transport to a postal delivery authority; and

for each respective mail piece sorted into a subsequent collection, associating the unique identification of one of the subsequent mail container into which the respective mail piece is sorted on the subsequent pass with the record of respective mail piece sorted on the subsequent pass in the electronic file.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising generating a report of results of the sorting passes including results of the subsequent sorting pass, from information in the electronic file regarding all of the mail pieces sorted into the subsequent collections, so as to confirm to the postal delivery authority that the sorting into the subsequent collections meets the postal rules for the desired level of postage discounts.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising generating a client report of results of the sorting passes showing that the mail pieces from a batch received from a particular client were successfully sorted into the collections meeting the postal rules for the desired level of postage discounts.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein:

the plurality of first mail containers comprise mail trays; and

the transporting of the first mail containers comprises loading the mail trays onto a uniquely identified pallet, recording in the electronic file an association of each mail piece in each of the mail trays with the unique identification of the pallet and transporting the pallet to the second location.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising recording arrival, upon arrival of the pallet at the second location.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the record in the electronic file for each respective mail piece correlates the unique identification of the respective mail piece to the mail tray into which the respective mail piece is sorted on the first pass, to the unique identification of the pallet and/or to the unique identification of the subsequent mail container into which the respective mail piece is sorted on the subsequent pass.

20. A system for sorting mail from clients to obtain postal discounts, comprising:

a first sorting system at a first location, for uniquely identifying each mail piece from batches of mail pieces received from the mail clients and for sorting and commingling the mail pieces from the batches of mail, in a first pass, into first collections, based on a first sort scheme, wherein a plurality of the first collections do not yet meet postal rules for a desired level of postage discounts;

a second sorting system, at a second location different from the first location, for sorting and commingling mail pieces from the plurality of first collections received from the first sorting system together with additional mail pieces, in a subsequent pass, into a plurality of subsequent collections for transport to a postal delivery authority, based on intended destination information so as to meet the postal rules for the desired level of postage discounts; and

a data processor system in communication with the sorting systems for maintaining a record of each respective mail piece processed through the first and subsequent sorting systems based on unique identifications of mail pieces provided by the first sorting system, and storing data in each record regarding sorting of the respective mail piece in the first and subsequent sorting systems and of transport of the respective mail piece between the sorting systems, and for processing the records to generate a report of sorting operation of all mail pieces.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the first and subsequent sorting systems are systems of a plurality of cooperative service bureaus or mail production facilities.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the first sorting system is a system of one of a plurality of service bureaus or mail production facilities; and

the second sorting system is a hub system for receiving and consolidating mail initially sorted by systems of the service bureaus or mail production facilities.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the first sorting system comprises;

a feeder for feeding individual mail pieces from the batches of mail pieces received from the mail clients;

a reader for reading information from the individual mail pieces;

a printer; and

a computer responsive to the reader, for deriving unique identifications for individual mail pieces where possible, for assigning a unique identifications to an individual mail piece for which information read from the mail piece can not be used for unique identification, and for causing the printer to print the assigned unique identification on the individual mail piece for which information read from the mail piece can not be used for unique identification.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the first sorting system further comprises a thickness detector for detecting thickness of each of the individual mail pieces fed from the batches of mail pieces received from the mail clients.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the first sorting system further comprises a marker for marking an identified mail piece as a break when the computer determines that one of the first collections will reach a thickness break point for a combined grouping of mail to fit in a tray or tub.

26. A method of tracking processing of mail pieces of a plurality of mail clients, during mail sortation operations, the method comprising:

obtaining a unique identification of each respective mail piece from batches of mail pieces received from the mail clients;

creating an individual record in an electronic file for each respective mail piece, including the unique identification of the respective mail piece; and

populating the mail piece records of the electronic file with information for tracking substantially all of the identified mail pieces individually through and between multiple sortations prior to delivery to a postal authority.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the unique identification of the respective mail piece included in each individual record comprises one or more barcodes or any other unique identifying mark read from the respective mail piece or a unique sequence number assigned to the respective mail piece.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the information for tracking populated in each individual record comprises one or more of a tray identifier, a pallet identifier or staging area identifier, indicating a current location of the respective mail piece.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein the information for tracking populated in each individual record indicates whether or not the respective mail piece has finished final sortation.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein each individual record includes an association of the respective mail piece with one of the mail clients from which the respective mail piece originated.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein the populating of the mail piece records of the electronic file comprises:

receiving a unique identification of a mail tray into which each respective mail piece is likely sorted from among a plurality of identifications of mail trays into which the mail pieces are sorted after at least one of the sortations; and

associating the received unique identification of the mail tray into which each respective mail piece is likely sorted with the record for the respective mail piece in the electronic file.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the populating of the mail piece records of the electronic file further comprises:

receiving a unique identification of a pallet onto which a plurality of identified mail trays are loaded; and

associating the received unique identification of the pallet with each record of a respective mail piece in the identified mail trays loaded onto the pallet.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the populating of the mail piece records of the electronic file further comprises indicating whether or not each respective mail piece sorted into a tray has finished a final one of the sortations.

34. A computer programmed to execute the method of claim 26.

35. A product comprising instructions for programming a computer to implement the method of claim 26, and a computer readable medium bearing the instructions.

36. A product comprising an electronic file for tracking processing of mail pieces of a plurality of mail clients during mail sortation operations, and a computer readable medium bearing the electronic file, wherein:

the electronic file comprises an individual record for each respective mail piece from batches of mail pieces received from the mail clients;

each individual record includes a unique identification of the respective mail piece, and each individual record is configured for population with information for tracking of the respective mail piece, to enable processing of the electronic file so as to track all of the mail pieces individually through and between multiple sortations.

37. A mail sorting method, comprising steps of:

sorting a stream of mail pieces into bins, based on information related to intended destinations of the mail pieces;

obtaining a value of thickness for one or more of the mail pieces;

based on the value of thickness, determining when thickness of mail pieces sorted into an identified one of the bins reaches a size corresponding to a capacity of a mail container; and

providing a visible break mark on or in the mail sorted into the identified bin at a location corresponding to the capacity of the mail container.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the step of providing the break mark comprises printing the mark on an edge of a mail piece in the stream that will be sorted into the identified bin at the location corresponding to the capacity of the mail container.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the step of obtaining the value of thickness comprises measuring thickness of a plurality of mail pieces in the stream.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein:

the step of measuring comprises measuring thickness of a sampling of mail pieces of the stream, and

the step of determining comprises calculating an average thickness of mail pieces from the measured thicknesses taken from the sampling of mail pieces;

counting number of mail pieces sorted into the identified bin; and

multiplying the average times the number of mail pieces sorted in the identified bin to estimate overall thickness of mail pieces in the identified bin.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein:

the step of measuring comprises measuring thickness of each mail piece to be sorted into the identified bin, and

the step of determining comprises summing the measured thickness until the sum reaches the size corresponding to the capacity of a mail container.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the step of measuring comprises:

measuring thickness of all mail pieces in the stream; and

obtaining the measured thickness for those mail pieces to be sorted into the identified bin while in the stream for using in the summing.

43. The method of claim 37, wherein the mail container is a container selected from the group consisting of:

a mail tray, a mail sack and a mail tub.

44. The method of claim 37, further comprising updating an electronic file of mail piece records with a unique tray identifier for each mail piece between marked mail pieces, to indicate the mail pieces loaded into a particular tray.

45. A mail sorting system, comprising:

a feeder for feeding mail pieces in a cingulated stream;

a sort bin section for receiving the cingulated stream of mail pieces and sorting mail pieces from the stream into bins;

a thickness measurement device, for measuring thickness of at least a plurality of the mail pieces in the cingulated stream before delivery to the sort bin section a marker for adding break marks into the cingulated stream of mail pieces; and

a controller responsive to the thickness measurement device for determining when thickness of mail pieces sorted into each respective one of the bins will reach a size corresponding to a capacity of a mail container based on the thickness measurement, and for controlling the marker so as to provide a break mark at each point in the stream that will be sorted into a respective bin at a location corresponding to the capacity of the mail container.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the marker comprises a printer for printing the break marks on selected mail pieces in the stream.

47. The system of claim 45, wherein the controller obtains a thickness measurement from the thickness measurement device for a predetermined sampling of mail pieces in the stream, determines an average thickness, and uses the average thickness to estimate when thickness of mail pieces sorted into each respective one of the bins will reach the size corresponding to the capacity of the mail container.

48. The system of claim 45, wherein the controller obtains a thickness measurement from the thickness measurement device for each mail piece in the stream, identifies all mail pieces to be sorted into each respective one of the bins, and calculates when thickness of mail pieces sorted into each respective one of the bins will reach the size corresponding to the capacity of the mail container based on summing the measured thicknesses of the mail pieces to be sorted into the respective bin.

49. A method of tracking mail wherein mail pieces have been sorted into a plurality of collections and each of the collections has been loaded into a mail container comprising:

storing a unique identification of each respective mail container; and

loading a plurality of the mail containers onto a pallet, and recording an association of a unique identification of the pallet with unique identifications of the mail containers loaded onto the pallet.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

validating identifications of the mail containers loaded onto the identified pallet, before transporting the pallet; and

informing an operator if any mail container loaded onto the identified pallet contains mail that should not be transported with the pallet to the remote location.

51. The method of claim 49, wherein the loaded mail container is a filled container selected from the group consisting of:

a mail tray, a mail sack and a mail tub.

52. The method of claim 49, further comprising receiving the unique identifications of at least a plurality of the mail containers from a barcode scanner having scanned identification tags on the plurality of the mail containers when each of the plurality of the mail containers.

53. The method of claim 52, further comprising receiving the unique identification of the pallet a bar code scanner having scanned an identification tag on the pallet.

54. The method of claim 49, further comprising receiving at least some of the unique identifications of at least a plurality of the mail containers and the pallet via a keyboard input.

55. The method of claim 49, wherein the storing of the unique identification of each respective mail container occurs upon filling of the respective mail container by the loading of a sorted collection of mail pieces into the respective mail container.

56. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

obtaining and storing a unique identification of each mail piece in one of the collections; and

recording an association of the unique identification of a mail container into which the one collection is loaded with the unique identifications of the mail pieces loaded into the one mail container.

57. The method of claim 56, further comprising recording an association of the unique identification of the pallet with the unique identifications of the mail pieces loaded into the one mail container, when the one mail container is loaded onto the pallet.

58. A mail sorting and tracking system, comprising:

a sorter for sorting mail pieces into a plurality of collections for loading into respective mail containers;

a computer; and

identification capture means, for storing in the computer a unique identification of each respective mail container when a collection is loaded into the respective mail container and for storing in the computer an association of a unique identification of a pallet with unique identifications of a plurality of the mail containers when the plurality of the mail containers is loaded onto the pallet for transport to a remote location.

59. The system of claim 58, wherein the identification capture means comprises one or more scanners for scanning unique identifications on tags on the mail containers and a tag on a placard on the pallet.

60. The system of claim 59, wherein each scanner comprises a bar code scanner.

61. The system of claim 58, wherein the computer is configured to:

validate identifications of the mail containers loaded onto the pallet, before transport of the pallet to the remote location; and

inform an operator if any of mail container loaded onto the pallet contains mail that should not be transported with the pallet to the remote location.

62. The system of claim 58, further comprising an electronic file of all of the sorted mail pieces, for recording associations between the unique identifications of each respective mail container and identifications of mail pieces in the collection loaded into the respective mail container.

63. The system of claim 58, further comprising at least one printer controlled by the computer, for printing tags containing the unique identifications of the mail containers for application to the respective mail containers and/or for printing a tag containing the unique identification of the pallet for application to a placard on the pallet.

64. A method of building a pallet of sorted mail for transport to a postal facility, comprising:

identifying each mail piece of each a plurality of collections of sorted mail pieces;

loading each of the collections of mail pieces into a respective mail container;

recording a unique identification of each respective mail container in association with unique identifications of the mail pieces in the collection loaded into the respective container;

loading a plurality of respective mail containers onto an identified pallet for transport to a postal processing facility; and

recording an association of a unique identification of the pallet with unique identifications of the plurality of respective mail containers loaded onto the pallet.

65. A pallet of sorted mail built in accordance with the method of claim 64.

66. A mail sorting method, comprising steps of:

reading data from each mail piece in a stream of mail pieces for mail piece identification purposes;

creating a record for each mail piece containing the data read from the respective mail piece as an identification for the respective mail piece;

sorting the mail pieces from the stream, in a first pass, into a plurality of first collections;

indicating a result of the first sorting pass with regard to each respective mail pieces in the record of each respective mail piece;

sorting the mail pieces from the first collections, in a subsequent pass, into a plurality of subsequent collections based on intended destination information and in accordance with postal authority rules, wherein the sorting in the subsequent pass includes reading the data from each of the mail pieces from the first collections

updating records of mail pieces from which data is read in the sorting in the subsequent pass to indicate finishing of sorting thereof through the subsequent pass; and

processing records of mail pieces identified during subsequent pass sorting to prepare a mail statement reconciling mail pieces actually finished through the sorting in the subsequent pass.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein the processing of the records of mail pieces identified during subsequent pass sorting reflects any mail pieces added or lost between the sorting in the first pass and the sorting in the subsequent pass.

68. The method of claim 66, wherein the statement indicates postage due for delivery of finished mail pieces by a postal authority.

69. The method of claim 66, wherein the statement provides confirmation of presentations to a postal authority for delivery of the finished mail pieces.

70. The method of claim 66, wherein:

the identification data recorded for some but not all of the mail pieces is sufficient to uniquely identify respective mail pieces;

the method further comprises;

identifying a target mail piece sorted in the subsequent pass, for which the data read from the target mail piece is not sufficient to provide a unique identification, based on mail piece records selected in response to unique identifying data read from at least one mail piece adjacent to the target mail piece in one of the sorting passes, and

updating a record of a mail piece corresponding to the unique identification to indicate finishing of sorting thereof through the subsequent pass; and

wherein the processing includes processing of the records of the mail piece corresponding to the unique identification.