Automated postal delivery notification based on geolocation

• US 9,609,973 B1
• Filed: 12/16/2015
• Issued: 04/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Anthem Andrew Pleasant
• Original Assignee: Anthem Andrew Pleasant
• Inventors: Pleasant, Anthem Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): FILE, ERIN M
• Application Number:
  US14/971,881
• Time in Patent Office: 475 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 29/1214 including a receiver located remotely from the letter-box and a transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a system for providing electronic notifications of physical delivery of mail. Realtime geolocation services are leveraged to trigger one or more automated notifications. The notifications are delivered via a modern delivery means such as email, SMS text or pre-recorded voice message. No extra equipment is needed to implement the system from the perspective of postal workers since many postal workers already carry a GPS-enabled device. Instead of people passively waiting around for an imprecise time of delivery, people can go about their lives and can respond to actual delivery of paper-based mail via a notification and notification type of their choosing.

Claims

1. An electronic notification system for mail delivery, the system comprising:

a set of geo-location data associated with a physical mailbox, stored in a first database operative on a first computing device, the set of geo-location data including;

a first mail-delivery boundary associated with the physical mailbox, the first mail-delivery boundary received from a user selection provided by an owner of the physical mailbox; and

a threshold dwell time associated with the physical mailbox;

an electronic account credential associated with the physical mailbox, stored in the first database, the electronic account credential including an electronic address of an electronic messaging service;

a GPS-enabled device for carrying by a postal worker delivering pieces of mail to the physical mailbox, and wherein the GPS-enabled device is configured with instructions to communicate its current location to the electronic notification system;

a notification component, operating in a memory of the first computing device, in electronic communication with the GPS-enabled device, the notification component configured with instructions to;

detect a first transition across the first mail-delivery boundary by comparing the current location of the GPS-enabled device with the first mail-delivery boundary;

determine an actual dwell time of the postal worker device remaining geographically proximate to the first mail-delivery boundary;

compare the actual dwell time to the threshold dwell time;

generate an electronic delivery notification; and

send the electronic delivery notification to the electronic account based on the detected first transition and dwell time comparison.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic delivery notification includes a pre-stored text-based message that includes a mail delivery address of the physical mailbox, and wherein the notification component is configured to send the electronic delivery notification upon the GPS-enabled device exiting a second mail-delivery boundary associated with the physical mailbox, the notification component further configured to:

activate an audible alert by the GPS-enabled device upon the GPS-enabled device exiting the second mail-delivery boundary associated with the physical mailbox.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the system includes a second set of geo-location data for a second physical mailbox, wherein a second mail-delivery boundary is associated in the first database with the second set of geo-location data of the second physical mailbox, and wherein the electronic delivery notification is sent in response to the current location of the GPS-enabled device crossing the second mail-delivery boundary associated with the second physical mailbox.

4. The system of claim 1, and wherein the system includes a pre-recorded audio-based message associated with the physical mailbox wherein generating an electronic delivery notification includes appending a computer-generated audio representation of a current time to the pre-recorded audio-based message and wherein sending the electronic delivery notification includes sending the appended audio-based message to the electronic account.

5. The system of claim 1, and wherein the system further comprises:

an image capturing component that is configured with instructions to;

capture electronic images of pieces of mail addressed to the physical mailbox;

perform optical character recognition (OCR) on the captured electronic images, via an electronic device having a camera, a processor and a memory configured within computer-executable instructions to perform the OCR; and

store text-based information based on the optical character recognition;

and wherein the notification component is further configured with instructions to match delivery information derived from the OCR with a delivery address of the physical mailbox;

and wherein generating the electronic delivery notification includes adding, to the electronic delivery notification, information derived from the captured electronic images of the pieces of mail addressed to the physical mailbox.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the information derived from the captured electronic images includes a portion of the image captured corresponding to the physical pieces of mail delivered to the physical mailbox, and wherein the notification component is further configured with instructions to:

store a proof of residency associated with the physical mailbox; and

before sending the electronic delivery notification to the electronic account, confirm an appropriate delivery of mail by comparing the proof of residency with the information derived from the captured electronic images of the pieces of mail addressed to the physical mailbox.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the notification component is further configured to activate a visible, symbol-based alert by the device worn by the second postal worker.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of geo-location data includes a second mail-delivery boundary associated with the physical mailbox, the second mail-delivery boundary received from a user selection provided by a postal worker, and wherein the notification component is further configured with instructions to compare the current location of the GPS-enabled device with the second mail-delivery boundary, and wherein generating the electronic delivery notification is also based on the comparison of the currently location of the GPS-enabled device with the second mail-delivery boundary.