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Mail screening to detect mail contaminated with biological harmful substances

  • US 8,173,431 B1
  • Filed: 11/09/2006
  • Issued: 05/08/2012
  • Est. Priority Date: 11/13/1998
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method for screening mail to detect a harmful substance conveyed by the mail;

  • comprising steps of;

    (a) automatically sampling air drawn from the vicinity of the mail to screen wherein the sampling comprises continuously sampling the air proximate each one of a plurality of mail handling stations, and further comprising the steps of;

    (i) deploying a filter unit through which air proximate each one of the plurality of mail handling stations is filtered; and

    (ii) at the end of a predetermined period of time, analyzing particles collected by each filter unit, in order determine if relatively low concentrations of potentially harmful particles were missed by the automatic evaluation of the air sampled at the mail handling station, such relatively low concentrations accumulating over the predetermined period of time into a detectable concentration in the filter;

    (b) automatically evaluating the sampled air to detect a potentially harmful substance that is carried by the mail and which is picked up from the mail by the air moving in the vicinity of the mail, such evaluation being characterized as broadly determining if a potentially harmful substance must be present, as opposed to identifying a specific harmful substance, the evaluation comprising;

    (i) determining if a particle count is the sample exceeds a predetermined threshold, and if so determining that a potentially harmful substance might be present; and

    (ii) illuminating the sample to determine if a characteristic fluorescence indicating the presence of biological particles is detected, and if so, determining that a potentially harmful substance might be present;

    (c) providing and indication if a potentially harmful substance is detected while the mail is being screened; and

    (d) in response to the indication of a potentially harmful substance being detected, carrying out an assay of a sample of the potentially harmful substance, to confirm the indication and to attempt to identify a specific harmful substance that is being conveyed by mail.

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