Delivery notification system

• US 7,525,429 B2
• Filed: 04/19/2007
• Issued: 04/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: PerSage, Inc.
• Original Assignee: PerSage, Inc.
• Inventors: Carrigan, James M.
• Primary Examiner(s): TRIEU, VAN THANH
• Application Number:
  US11/788,206
• Publication Number:
  US 20070279222A1
• Time in Patent Office: 740 Days
• Field of Search: 340/569, 340/568.1, 340/539.1, 340/539.23, 340/538, 340/531, 340/527, 340/505, 709/206, 232/17, 232/34, 232/36, 232/46, 395/200.34, 395/200.36
• US Class Current: 340/569
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 2029/1226 comprising electrical parts
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 29/1201 Letter-box assemblies for apartment buildings
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 29/1218 Post office boxes
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 29/1225 Signalling devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

A delivery notification system for operation with a repository. The system includes at least one node module that may have a sensor for detecting the presence of a delivered item, as well as an interface for receiving a selection input representative of a predefined condition. The system also includes a notification server for transmitting to the recipient a delivery notice in response to the detection of the delivered item or the receipt of the selection input. The delivery notice may be transmitted to the recipient over a variety of transmission modalities.

Claims

1. A delivery notification system for operation with a repository, comprising:

at least one node module corresponding to a compartment of the repository associated with a recipient, the node module including;

a sensor for detecting the presence of an item delivered to the compartment and generating a sensor output in accordance therewith;

an interface having a plurality of inputs each for generating an interface output and corresponding to a unique one of selectable notifications; and

a notification server for transmitting to the recipient a delivery notice pursuant to notification parameters, the delivery notice being transmitted in response to a triggering signal associated with the sensor output and the interface output.

2. The delivery notification system of claim 1, wherein the triggering signal is defined by the sensor output.

3. The delivery notification system of claim 1, wherein the triggering signal is defined by the interface output.

4. The delivery notification system of claim 1, wherein the triggering signal is defined by a combination of the sensor output and the interface output.

5. The delivery notification system of claim 1, further comprising:

a gateway aggregating the sensor outputs and interface outputs from a plurality of the node modules for transmission to the notification server, the gateway being associated with the repository.

6. The delivery notification system of claim 5, wherein the notification server is in communication with a plurality of gateways, each gateway being associated with different repositories.

7. The delivery notification system of claim 1, further comprising:

a database containing a plurality of records, each record corresponding to a one of the recipients and including an identifier of the node module and the notification parameters associated therewith.

8. The delivery notification system of claim 1, wherein the selectable notification relates to a type of the item delivered.

9. The delivery notification system of claim 1, wherein the selectable notification relates to a status of the compartment of the repository associated with the recipient.

10. The delivery notification system of claim 1, wherein the transmission modality is selected from the group consisting of:

e-mail, short message service, instant messenger, telephone, fax, and pager.

11. The delivery notification system of claim 1, wherein the notification server includes an administration module accessible by the recipient to modify the notification parameters.

12. A sensor module installable in a mailbox for notifying a recipient associated with the mailbox upon delivery of an item thereto, the sensor module comprising:

a plurality of input keys, each input key being mapped to a predefined key output signal and corresponding to a notification function selectable by delivery personnel; and

a processor for receiving the key output signal and for generating a corresponding notification signal for alerting the recipient, the notification signal being related to the selected notification function and translatable into a message delivered to the recipient.

13. The sensor module of claim 12, further comprising:

a proximity sensor for detecting the item in the mailbox and generating a sensor signal in response.

14. The sensor module of claim 13, wherein the sensor module includes:

a flat elongate board with the proximity sensor mounted thereon, the flat elongate board being engageable to an internal surface of the mailbox; and

a primary enclosure attached to an end of the flat elongate board and housing the processor and the input keys.

15. The sensor module of claim 14, wherein the primary enclosure is engageable to a lip defining an opening of the mailbox.

16. The sensor module of claim 12, wherein the sensor module includes:

a support board engageable to an internal surface of the mailbox; and

a primary enclosure attached to the support board;

wherein the primary enclosure houses the processor and the input keys.

17. The sensor module of claim 12, wherein the message is delivered to the recipient over a modality selected from the group consisting of:

e-mail, short message service, instant messenger, telephone, fax and pager.

18. A notification server for notifying a recipient associated with a mailbox upon delivery of an item thereto, the notification server comprising:

an input module for receiving a notification signal including a sensor output representative of a detection of the item in the mailbox, and a key output representative of a notification function selected by delivery personnel;

a database containing at least one record corresponding to the recipient and notification parameters associated therewith; and

an alert module for translating the received notification signal to a corresponding message deliverable to the recipient in accordance with the notification parameters, the alert module including an outgoing interface to a transmission modality.

19. The notification server of claim 18, wherein the transmission modality is selected from the group consisting of:

e-mail, short message service, instant messenger, telephone, fax and pager.

20. The notification server of claim 18, further comprising:

a recipient administration module accessible by the recipient to modify the notification parameters;

a mailbox administration module accessible by a manager of the mailbox to add or remove records relating to the recipient; and

a server administration module for modifying the configuration of the notification server including the reassignment of the key output to a different notification function;

wherein the recipient administration module, the mailbox administration module, and the server administration module are accessible over a wide area network.