Insuring personal mail delivery with automatic acknowledgement

• US 20100097222A1
• Filed: 11/12/2008
• Published: 04/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Menguy, Eric, Marmigere, Gerard, Truntschka, Carole, Picon, Joaquin
• Application Number:
  US12/269,353
• Publication Number:
  US 20100097222A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/572.1
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 17/00024 Physical or organizational aspects of franking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/0004 Determining the location of mailpieces outside apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00629 Circuit, e.g. transponder
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00896 specially adapted for particular uses
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/257 electronically G07C9/26 takes precedence

Abstract

An intelligent mailbox and a method for authorizing a user to pickup a parcel with acknowledgement of receipt in a mailbox. Exemplary embodiments include a method to insure personal mail delivery in a mailbox, the method including determining a first biometric data as required by an RFID tag enclosed in a parcel having been previously introduced in the mailbox, determining an insertion of a second key including a second biometric data into a biometric reader, determining if the second biometric data is granted a procurement to pickup the parcel, opening a biometric lock if the second user is granted a procurement, opening a traditional lock if the biometric lock has been opened, displaying one of an indication to a user of the presence of the parcel and an indication to a postman and recording a pickup of the parcel.

Claims

1. A method to insure personal mail delivery with automatic acknowledgement of receipt in a mailbox, the method comprising:

determining a first biometric data as required by an RFID tag enclosed in a parcel having been previously introduced in the mailbox and requiring an acknowledgement of receipt from a first user having a first key;

determining an insertion of a second key including a second biometric data into a biometric reader;

determining if the second biometric data is granted a procurement to pickup the parcel;

opening a biometric lock if the second user is granted a procurement;

opening a traditional lock if the biometric lock has been opened;

displaying one of an indication to a user of the presence of the parcel needing acknowledgement of receipt from the addressee and an indication to a postman that an acknowledgement of receipt can be picked up; and

recording a pickup of the parcel by a processor and a memory in the mailbox and information including user identity, date and time related to the pickup, which is retrievable by the postman either in person or remotely via a transmitter.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the pickup information is transmitted after a predefined delay to the post-office.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the pickup information is retrieved locally by the postman and stored in the key of said postman.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising utilizing a key reader and writer, the key reader and writer being configured to read keys inserted in the mailbox by one or a plurality of users, and further configured to write keys with data.