System and method for automated document processing
First Claim
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1. A method for processing envelopes containing transaction of at least three documents, comprising the steps of:
- feeding envelopes to a transport at a feed rate;
opening one of the envelopes having a transaction of at least three documents;
extracting the at least three transactional documents from the envelope;
transporting the at least three transaction documents from the envelope to a singulator;
varying the feed rate in response to the number of documents in the extracted transaction;
singulating the at least three extracted documents with the singulator to separate the documents;
serially conveying the singulated documents along a document path;
monitoring the transactional boundaries of the documents to ensure that the documents from one envelope are tracked separately from documents of a separate transaction;
sorting the documents.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for processing mail is provided. A stack of mail is placed in an input bin in a feeder module. A feeder serially feeds the envelopes into a transport path. The envelopes are then examined to determine if the contents are qualified for extraction. Envelopes that are qualified for extraction are opened in a cutting module and then conveyed to an extraction module to extract the contents from the envelopes. The contents may then be scanned and reoriented as desired so that the contents are in a pre-determined orientation. The contents are then sorted into a stacker.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method for processing envelopes containing transaction of at least three documents, comprising the steps of:
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feeding envelopes to a transport at a feed rate; opening one of the envelopes having a transaction of at least three documents; extracting the at least three transactional documents from the envelope; transporting the at least three transaction documents from the envelope to a singulator; varying the feed rate in response to the number of documents in the extracted transaction; singulating the at least three extracted documents with the singulator to separate the documents; serially conveying the singulated documents along a document path; monitoring the transactional boundaries of the documents to ensure that the documents from one envelope are tracked separately from documents of a separate transaction; sorting the documents. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method for processing envelopes containing transactions, comprising the steps of:
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feeding envelopes to a transport, wherein the envelopes contain a transaction of documents; opening one of the envelopes having a transaction of at least three documents; extracting the at least three transactional documents from the envelope; transporting the at least three transaction documents from the envelope to a singulator; singulating the at least three extracted documents with the singulator to separate the documents; impeding the feeding of at least one subsequent envelope to the transport in response to the time required for the step of singulating the at least three extracted documents; serially conveying the singulated documents along a document path; monitoring the transactional boundaries of the documents to ensure that the documents from one envelope are tracked separately from documents of a separate transaction; sorting the documents. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 9)
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8. A method for processing transactional documents, comprising the steps of:
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feeding a packet of at least three transaction documents to a transport; transporting the packet to a singulator; singulating the packet with the singulator to separate the documents; impeding the feeding of at least one subsequent packet of transactional documents to the transport in response to the time required for the step of singulating the at least three extracted documents; serially conveying the singulated documents along a document path; and monitoring the transactional boundaries of the documents to ensure that the documents from one packet are tracked separately from documents of a separate transaction. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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Specification