Method and apparatus for processing mail to obtain image data of contents

• US 20070110277A1
• Filed: 01/10/2007
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Opex Corporation
• Original Assignee: Opex Corporation
• Inventors: Hayduchok, George, Chezik, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 7,992,853 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/101
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/00 Sorting according to destination collating the pages of a book B42C1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/987 with the intervention of an operator
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/2253 Recognition of characters printed with magnetic ink G06V30/2247 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/40 Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition

Abstract

A method and apparatus for processing documents is provided. Documents having a selected characteristic are placed into a first area, whereas documents not having the selected characteristic are placed into a second area. A sensor in the first area detects the presence of documents in the first area. The documents are conveyed to a scanner that scans the documents to obtain information regarding the documents. The processing of the documents is controlled by a processor. A document is electronically tagged as having the selected characteristic and processed accordingly in response to the detection of the document in the first area and in response to whether the document arrived at the scanner during a pre-determined time frame.

Claims

1. A method for processing document, comprising the steps of:

dropping a first document onto a first area;

conveying the first document from the first area to a scanner;

scanning the first document to obtain image data for the first document;

dropping a second document onto a second area to identify the second document with a characteristic;

conveying the second document from the second area to the scanner; and

scanning the second document to obtain image data for the second document.

2. The method of claim 1 comprising the step of tracking the document along a document path between the second area and the scanner to verify that the document arriving at the scanner corresponds to the document dropped in the second area.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of tracking comprises tracking the progress of the second document along the document path against one or more windows of time.

4. The method of claim 3 comprising the step of sensing an edge of the second document at a plurality of points along the path.

5. The method of claim 4 comprising the step of detecting the time at which an edge of the second document was sensed at each of the plurality of points.

6. The method of claim 5 comprising the step of comparing the detected times against a plurality of windows of time.

7. The method of claim 6 comprising the step of electronically tagging the second document with the characteristic in response to the step of comparing the detected times, and processing the document in response to the identified characteristic.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of tracking comprises analyzing the time that a portion of the second document reaches a pre-defined location to determine whether the portion of the second document reaches the pre-defined location within a specified window of time.

9. The method of claim 1 comprising the step of selecting the characteristic for a batch of documents from among a plurality of potential characteristics.

10. An apparatus for processing documents, comprising:

a conveyor for conveying documents, comprising;

a first portion for receiving documents having a first characteristic; and

a second portion for receiving documents not having the first characteristic;

a scanner for receiving documents from the conveyor, wherein the scanner is operable to scan the documents to obtain image data for the documents;

a first sensor operable to detect the presence of documents received on the first portion of the conveyor;

a second sensor spaced apart from the first sensor, operable to detect the presence of documents as the conveyor conveys the documents from the first portion of the conveyor to the scanner;

a processor operable to analyze the progress of the documents in response to the time that a signal is received from the first sensor regarding a first document and the time that a signal is received from the second sensor regarding the first document;

wherein in response to the analysis of the progress of the first document, the first document is selectively electronically tagged indicating the presence of a characteristic.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processor is operable to analyze the time that a portion of the first document reaches the second sensor to determine whether the portion of the first document arrived at the second sensor within a pre-defined time window.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the pre-defined time window is defined based on the time that the first sensor senses a portion of the first document.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the portion of the first document is the trailing edge of the document.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the processor is operable to determine that the first document is not to be electronically tagged indicating the presence of a characteristic in response to the portion of the first document reaching the second sensor at a time outside the time window.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 comprising a third sensor positioned adjacent the scanner, operable to detect the presence of documents as the documents are conveyed from the first portion of the conveyor to the scanner.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the processor is operable to determine whether documents are to be electronically tagged in response to the time that signals are received from the first, second and third sensors.

17. An apparatus for processing documents, comprising:

a conveyor operable to receive and convey documents;

a first sensor positioned along the conveyor;

a second sensor positioned along the conveyor;

a scanner positioned adjacent the conveyor, wherein the scanner is operable to receive documents conveyed by the conveyor and to scan the documents to obtain image data for the document;

a processor operable to control the processing of the documents in response to signals received from the first and second sensors;

wherein the second sensor is spaced apart from the first sensor and is positioned between the first sensor and the scanner;

wherein the processor is operable to determine the time that signals are received from the first and second sensors, and wherein the processor is operable to selectively electronically tag documents in response to a signal from the first sensor indicating that the first sensor sensed the presence of the document and a signal from the second sensor indicating that the second sensor sensed a portion of the document within a select period of time.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the processor is configured to determine that a document is not to be electronically tagged if the first sensor senses the presence of the document but the subsequent signal from the second sensor occurs before or after the selected period of time.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 comprising a third sensor positioned between the second sensor and the scanner, wherein the processor is operable to determine whether a document is to be electronically tagged in response to the time that a signal is received from the third sensor indicating that the third sensor senses a portion of the document.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the select period of time for a document is determined in response to when the first sensor detects the trailing edge of the document.

21. A method for processing documents, comprising the steps of:

dropping a document in a first area;

sensing the presence of the document in the first area with a first sensor;

recording the time the first sensor detects an edge of the document;

conveying the document away from the first area and past a second sensor;

recording the time the second sensor detects an edge of the document;

scanning the document to determine a characteristic of the document;

selectively electronically tagging the document as having a pre-determined characteristic in response to signals from the first sensor indicating the presence of the document in the first area and the time of recording the second sensor detecting the edge of the document; and

processing the document in response to whether the document is electronically tagged.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the step of recording the time the first sensor detects an edge comprises recording the time the first sensor detects a trailing edge of the document.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the step of recording the time the second sensor detects an edge comprises recording the time the second sensor detects the trailing edge of the document.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein the step of scanning the document comprises scanning the document to obtain image data representative of the image of the document.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein the method comprises processing the document without electronically tagging the document if the first sensor senses the presence of the document but the second sensor senses the edge of the document at a time that is outside a pre-determined window of time.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the window of time is determined in response to the time that the first sensor detects the edge of the document.

27. The method of claim 21 comprising the steps of:

conveying the document away from the second sensor and past a third sensor; and

recording the time the third sensor detects an edge of the document;

wherein the step of electronically tagging the document comprises electronically tagging the document in response to the time of recording the third sensor detecting the edge of the document.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the step of recording the time the third sensor detects an edge of the document comprises recording the time the third sensor detects a leading edge of the document.