System and methods for detecting harmful agents within contents of mail

• US 7,019,655 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2002
• Issued: 03/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Technology Solutions International, Inc. (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Technology Solutions International, Inc. (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Inventors: Lopez, Steven W., Whittle, Jeffrey S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lieu, Julie Bichngoc
• Application Number:
  US10/134,941
• Publication Number:
  US 20030058099A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,428 Days
• Field of Search: 340/573.1, 340/632, 73/232, 73/233.4, 222/52
• US Class Current: 340/632
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2001/022 sampling for security purposes, e.g. contraband, warfare agents
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2001/025 postal items
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/12 responsive to undesired emission of substances, e.g. pollution alarms
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/14 Toxic gas alarms G08B21/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 23/00 Alarms responsive to unspecified undesired or abnormal conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 31/00 Predictive alarm systems characterised by extrapolation or other computation using updated historic data

Abstract

A system and methods of the present invention advantageously provide efficient mail processing and handling that, as compared to existing procedures, enhances detection within the mail being processed or handled of biological, germ, chemical, or other harmful agents. A system and methods provide additionally a higher level of quality and consistency for processing and handling mail so that concerns over contamination of postal workers and potential mail recipients are reduced. A system and methods further provide enhanced disabling of contaminated mail contents, mail, mail equipment, mail containers, and mail personnel due to exposure or contact with harmful agents associated with mail. The system and methods preferably includes the use of at least one harmful agent sensor associated with mail processing equipment, and the at least one harmful agent sensor preferably includes at least one of the following: an olfactory device, an ultraviolet device, an infrared device, an x-ray device, a laser device, and a heat sensing device.

Claims

1. A system for detecting harmful agents within the contents of mail, the system comprising:

a plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment positioned within a mail processing facility, at least one of the plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment also being positioned to individually separate and contact a plurality of pieces of mail as the plurality of pieces of mail pass through the at least one of the plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment at a relatively high rate of speed;

at least one harmful agent sensor positioned adjacent the at least one of the plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment to sense the presence of a harmful agent in the plurality of pieces of mail as the plurality of pieces of mail are processed by the at least one of the plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment, the at least one harmful agent sensor comprising an olfactory device positioned to sense the presence of a harmful agent within the mail;

at least one system processor in communication with the olfactory device to process data received from the olfactory device; and

at least one alarm indicator responsive to the at least one system processor to indicate that the olfactory device has sensed the presence of a harmful agent.

2. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the olfactory device includes a smell sensor positioned to sense smell associated with a piece of mail, an olfactory device processor in communication with the smell sensor to process data received from the smell sensor, and memory in communication with the olfactory device processor to store smell sensing data to be processed by the olfactory device processor, and wherein the smell sensing data includes data indicating a plurality of different harmful agent smells, the plurality of different harmful agent smells comprising at least about 40 different harmful agent smells.

3. A system for detecting harmful agents within the contents of mail, the system comprising:

a plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment positioned within a mail processing facility;

a plurality of harmful agent sensors each positioned adjacent one of the plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment to sense the presence of a harmful agent in mail as the mail is processed by each of the plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment, each of the plurality of harmful agent sensors comprising an olfactory device positioned to sense the presence of a harmful agent within the mail to thereby define a plurality of olfactory devices;

at least one system processor in communication with each of the plurality of olfactory devices to process data received from the plurality of olfactory devices;

at least one alarm indicator responsive to the at least one system processor to indicate that at least one of the plurality of olfactory devices has sensed the presence of a harmful agent; and

a harmful agent disabling fluid applicator positioned to apply a harmful agent disabling fluid to a plurality of pieces of mail being processed to thereby disable harmful agents within the plurality of pieces of mail during one of the following conditions;

when all of the plurality of mail pieces pass through at least one of the plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment, when the presence of a harmful agent is detected in a mail piece being processed, or when the absence of a harmful agent is detected in a mail piece being processed.

4. A system as defined in claim 3, wherein the harmful agent disabling fluid applicator includes a fluid storage container positioned to supply the harmful agent disabling fluid for application to each of the plurality of pieces of mail, wherein the harmful agent disabling fluid comprises either a liquid or a gas, and wherein the harmful agent disabling fluid includes a nanobomb material.

5. A system for detecting harmful agents within the contents of mail, the system comprising:

a plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment positioned within a mail processing facility;

a plurality of harmful agent sensors each positioned adjacent one of the plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment to sense the presence of a harmful agent in mail as the mail is processed by each of the plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment, each of the plurality of harmful agent sensors comprising an olfactory device positioned to sense the presence of a harmful agent within the mail to thereby define a plurality of olfactory devices, and wherein the plurality of olfactory devices sense individually separated pieces of mail;

at least one system processor in communication with each of the plurality of olfactory devices to process data received from the plurality of olfactory devices;

at least one alarm indicator responsive to the at least one system processor to indicate that at least one of the plurality of olfactory devices has sensed the presence of a harmful agent; and

a mail piece marker to individually mark individually sensed mail pieces to indicate the marked mail piece has been sensed to thereby increase the accuracy and proper identification of whether a mail piece contains a harmful agent.

6. A system for detecting harmful agents within the contents of mail, the system comprising:

at least one piece of mail processing equipment positioned within a mail processing facility to individually separate and contact a plurality of pieces of mail as the plurality of pieces of mail pass through the at least one piece of mail processing equipment at a relatively high rate of speed;

at least one harmful agent sensor positioned adjacent the at least one piece of mail processing equipment to sense the presence of a harmful agent in each individual piece of mail as the mail is processed by the at least one piece of mail processing equipment, the at least one harmful agent sensor comprising an olfactory device;

at least one system processor in communication with the olfactory device to process data received therefrom; and

at least one alarm indicator responsive to the at least one system processor to indicate that the olfactory device has sensed the presence of a harmful agent.

7. A system as defined in claim 6, wherein the olfactory device includes a smell sensor positioned to sense smell associated with a piece of mail, an olfactory device processor in communication with the smell sensor to process data received from the smell sensor, and memory in communication with the olfactory device processor to store smell sensing data to be processed by the olfactory device processor, and wherein the smell sensing data includes data indicating a plurality of different harmful agent smells, the plurality of different harmful agent smells comprising at least about 40 different harmful agent smells.

8. A system for detecting harmful agents within the contents of mail, the system comprising:

at least one piece of mail processing equipment positioned within a mail processing facility;

at least one harmful agent sensor positioned adjacent the at least one piece of mail processing equipment to sense the presence of a harmful agent in each individual piece of mail as the mail is processed by the at least one piece of mail processing equipment, the at least one harmful agent sensor comprising an olfactory device;

at least one system processor in communication with the olfactory device to process data received therefrom;

at least one alarm indicator responsive to the at least one system processor to indicate that the olfactory device has sensed the presence of a harmful agent; and

a harmful agent disabling fluid applicator positioned to apply a harmful agent disabling fluid to a plurality of pieces of mail being processed to thereby disable harmful agents within the plurality of pieces of mail during one of the following conditions;

when all of the plurality of mail pieces pass through the at least one piece of mail processing equipment, when the presence of a harmful agent is detected in a mail piece being processed, or when the absence of a harmful agent is detected in a mail piece being processed.

9. A system as defined in claim 8, wherein the harmful agent disabling fluid applicator includes a fluid storage container positioned to supply the harmful agent disabling fluid for application to one or more of the plurality of pieces of mail.

10. A system for detecting harmful agents within the contents of mail, the system comprising:

at least one piece of mail processing equipment positioned within a mail processing facility;

at least one harmful agent sensor positioned adjacent the at least one piece of mail processing equipment to sense the presence of a harmful agent in each individual piece of mail as the mail is processed by the at least one piece of mail processing equipment, the at least one harmful agent sensor comprising an olfactory device, wherein the olfactory device senses individually separated pieces of mail;

at least one system processor in communication with the olfactory device to process data received therefrom;

at least one alarm indicator responsive to the at least one system processor to indicate that the olfactory device has sensed the presence of a harmful agent; and

a mail piece marker to individually mark individually sensed mail pieces to indicate the marked mail piece has been sensed to thereby increase the accuracy and proper identification of whether a mail piece contains a harmful agent.

11. A method of detecting the presence of a harmful agent associated with mail, the method comprising:

smell sensing the presence of at least one of a plurality of harmful agents possibly associated with the contents of mail by the use of an olfactory device, the olfactory device including a memory having indications of a plurality of smell sensed conditions stored therein, each of the plurality of smell sensed conditions being indicative of at least one of a plurality of harmful agents;

indicating an alarm condition responsive to the sensed presence of one of the plurality of harmful agents; and

individually marking sensed pieces of mail to indicate a marked mail piece has been sensed to thereby increase the accuracy and proper identification of whether a mail piece contains a harmful agent.

12. A method as defined in claim 11, wherein the smell sensing step includes comparing a sensed smell with at least one of the plurality of smell sensed conditions, the method further comprises storing a plurality of harmful agent smells within the memory, and wherein the plurality of harmful agent smells comprises at least about 40 different harmful agent smells.

17. A method as defined in claim 11, further comprising the step of contactingly capturing each of a plurality of separate pieces of mail between a plurality of belts as the plurality of separate pieces of mail travel at a relatively high rate of speed prior to the step of smell sensing.

13. A method of detecting the presence of a harmful agent associated with mail, the method comprising:

smell sensing the presence of at least one of a plurality of harmful agents possibly associated with the contents of mail by the use of an olfactory device, the olfactory device including memory having indications of a plurality of smell sensed conditions stored therein, each of the plurality of smell sensed condition being indicative of at least one of the plurality of harmful agents;

individually separating pieces of mail prior to the step of sensing, wherein the step of sensing includes sensing the individually separated pieces of mail;

indicating an alarm condition responsive to the sensed presence of one of the plurality of harmful agents; and

individually marking sensed pieces of mail to indicate a marked mail piece has been sensed to thereby increase the accuracy and proper identification of whether a mail piece contains a harmful agent.

14. A method of detecting harmful agents associated with a piece of mail, the method comprising:

positioning at least one harmful agent sensor to be associated with each of a plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment positioned to process a plurality of pieces of mail and to individually separate and contact the plurality of pieces of mail as the plurality of pieces of mail pass through each of the plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment at a relatively high rate of speed;

sensing the presence of a harmful agent associated with at least one of the plurality of pieces of mail; and

indicating an alarm condition responsive to the sensed presence of a harmful agent in at least one of the plurality of pieces of mail.

15. A method as defined in claim 14, wherein the step of sensing includes the use of at least one harmful agent sensor, the at least one harmful agent sensor including one or more of the following:

an olfactory device, an ultraviolet device, an infrared device, an x-ray device, a laser device, and a heat sensing device.

18. A method as defined in claim 14, wherein the positioning step includes contactingly capturing each of a plurality of separate pieces of mail between a plurality of belts as the plurality of separate pieces of mail travel at a relatively high rate of speed prior to the step of smell sensing.

16. A method of detecting harmful agents associated with a piece of mail, the method comprising:

positioning at least one harmful agent sensor to be associated with each of a plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment positioned to process a plurality of pieces of mail;

sensing the presence of a harmful agent associated with at least one of the plurality of pieces of mail;

individually separating the plurality of pieces of mail prior to the step of sensing, and wherein the step of sensing includes sensing the individually separated pieces of mail;

indicating an alarm condition responsive to the sensed presence of a harmful agent in at least one of the plurality of pieces of mail; and

individually marking sensed pieces of mail to indicate a marked mail piece has been sensed to thereby increase the accuracy and proper identification of whether a mail piece contains a harmful agent.

19. A system for detecting harmful agents within the contents of mail, the system comprising:

at least one piece of mail processing equipment adapted to be positioned within a mail processing facility to individually separate and contactingly capture each of a plurality of pieces of mail between a plurality of belts as the plurality of pieces of mail pass through the at least one piece of mail processing equipment at a relatively high rate of speed;

at least one harmful agent sensor adapted to be positioned adjacent the at least one piece of mail processing equipment to sense the presence of a harmful agent in each individual piece of mail as the mail is processed by the at least one piece of mail processing equipment;

at least one system processor in communication with the at least one harmful agent sensor to process data received therefrom; and

at least one alarm indicator responsive to the at least one system processor to indicate that the at least one harmful agent sensor has sensed the presence of a harmful agent.

20. A method of detecting the presence of a harmful agent associated with mail, the method comprising the steps of:

contactingly capturing each of a plurality of separate pieces of mail between a plurality of belts as the plurality of separate pieces of mail travel at a relatively high rate of speed;

sensing the presence of one of a plurality of harmful agents possibly associated with the contents of mail by the use of a harmful agent sensor after the mail has been contactingly captured between a plurality of belts; and

indicating an alarm condition responsive to the sensed presence of one of a plurality of harmful agents.

21. A system for detecting harmful agents within the contents of mail, the system comprising:

a plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment positioned within a mail processing facility, at least one of the plurality of pieces of mail processing equipment comprising a canceller also being positioned to individually separate and contact a plurality of pieces of mail as the plurality of pieces of mail pass through the canceller at a relatively high rate of speed;

a harmful agent sensor positioned adjacent the canceller to sense the presence of a harmful agent in the plurality of pieces of mail as the plurality of pieces of mail are processed by the canceller, the harmful agent sensor comprising an olfactory device positioned to sense the presence of a harmful agent within the mail;

a system processor in communication with the olfactory device to process data received from the olfactory device; and

an alarm indicator responsive to the system processor to indicate that the olfactory device has sensed the presence of a harmful agent.

22. A system for detecting harmful agents within the contents of mail, the system comprising:

a piece of mail processing equipment comprising a canceller positioned within a mail processing facility;

a harmful agent sensor positioned adjacent the canceller to sense the presence of a harmful agent in each individual piece of mail as the mail is processed by the canceller, the harmful agent sensor comprising an olfactory device;

a system processor in communication with the olfactory device to process data received therefrom;

an alarm indicator responsive to the system processor to indicate that the olfactory device has sensed the presence of a harmful agent; and

a harmful agent disabling fluid applicator positioned to apply a harmful agent disabling fluid to a plurality of pieces of mail being processed to thereby disable harmful agents within the plurality of pieces of mail during one of the following conditions;

when all of the plurality of mail pieces pass through the canceller, when the presence of a harmful agent is detected in a mail piece being processed, or when the absence of a harmful agent is detected in a mail piece being processed.

23. A system for detecting harmful agents within the contents of mail, the system comprising:

a piece of mail processing equipment comprising a canceller positioned within a mail processing facility;

a harmful agent sensor positioned adjacent the canceller to sense the presence of a harmful agent in each individual piece of mail as the mail is processed by the canceller, the harmful agent sensor comprising an olfactory device, wherein the olfactory device senses individually separated pieces of mail;

a system processor in communication with the olfactory device to process data received therefrom;

an alarm indicator responsive to the system processor to indicate that the olfactory device has sensed the presence of a harmful agent; and

a mail piece marker to individually mark individually sensed mail pieces to indicate the marked mail piece has been sensed to thereby increase the accuracy and proper identification of whether a mail piece contains a harmful agent.

24. A system for detecting harmful agents within the contents of mail, the system comprising:

a piece of mail processing equipment comprising a canceller positioned within a mail processing facility to individually separate and contactingly capture each of a plurality of pieces of mail between a plurality of belts as the plurality of pieces of mail travel through the canceller at a relatively high rate of speed, the plurality of pieces of mail including a large quantity of either a plurality of letters of a plurality of flats;

a harmful agent sensor comprising an olfactory device positioned adjacent the canceller to sense the presence of a harmful agent in each individually separated piece of mail as the plurality of pieces of mail are processed by the canceller, the canceller contacting each of the plurality of pieces of mail to disrupt the contents of each of the plurality of pieces of mail to thereby enhance detection of the presence of harmful agents by the olfactory device;

a system processor in communication with the olfactory device to process data received therefrom; and

an alarm indicator responsive to the system processor to indicate that the olfactory device has sensed the presence of a harmful agent.