Method and system for automated document processing
First Claim
1. A business reply mail processing system comprising:
- a scanner module to read a business reply mail piece, the business reply mail piece including a plurality of selection areas, each of the plurality of selection areas being associated with a respective option available to a recipient, and control information including a plurality of processing instructions for the business reply mail piece, each of the plurality of processing instructions corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of selection areas; and
a control module in operative communication with the scanner module, the control module receiving information read from the business reply mail piece by the scanner module and determining, based on an option selected by the recipient as indicated by a mark made by the recipient in one of the plurality of selection areas, the respective one of the plurality of processing instructions included in the control information corresponding to the selection area marked by the recipient that should be executed for processing the business reply mail piece.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A business reply mail piece and associated processing system that allows information contained within business reply mail to be scanned and interpreted before the business reply mail reaches its ultimate destination is provided. A machine-readable block of control information that instructs computer-driven actuators what to do with the business reply mail document itself, its digital image (or parts of thereof) and the data elements contained in the document, based on selections made by the recipient, is provided on the business reply mail piece. A scanner module scans the business reply mail piece to read the selection made by the recipient and the corresponding instructions from the block of control information. A control module interprets the data to provide instructions for the processing of the business reply mail piece based on the recipient'"'"'s selection.
4 Citations
57 Claims
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1. A business reply mail processing system comprising:
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a scanner module to read a business reply mail piece, the business reply mail piece including a plurality of selection areas, each of the plurality of selection areas being associated with a respective option available to a recipient, and control information including a plurality of processing instructions for the business reply mail piece, each of the plurality of processing instructions corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of selection areas; and
a control module in operative communication with the scanner module, the control module receiving information read from the business reply mail piece by the scanner module and determining, based on an option selected by the recipient as indicated by a mark made by the recipient in one of the plurality of selection areas, the respective one of the plurality of processing instructions included in the control information corresponding to the selection area marked by the recipient that should be executed for processing the business reply mail piece. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A business reply mail processing system comprising:
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a scanner module to obtain an image of a business reply mail piece, the business reply mail piece including a plurality of selection areas, each of the plurality of selection areas being associated with a respective option available to a recipient, and control information including a plurality of processing instructions for the business reply mail piece, each of the plurality of processing instructions corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of selection areas; and
a control module in operative communication with the scanner module, the control module using the image of the business reply mail piece obtained by the scanner module and determining, based on an option selected by the recipient indicated by a mark made by the recipient in one of the plurality of selection areas, the respective one of the plurality of processing instructions included in the control information corresponding to the selection area marked by the recipient that should be executed for processing the business reply mail piece. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A method of processing a business reply mail piece comprising:
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scanning the business reply mail piece, the business reply mail piece including a plurality of selection areas, each of the plurality of selection areas being associated with a respective option available to a recipient, and control information including a plurality of processing instructions for the business reply mail piece, each of the plurality of processing instructions corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of selection areas;
determining an option selected by the recipient as indicated by a mark made by the recipient in one of the plurality of selection areas;
determining, based on the option selected by the recipient, the respective one of the plurality of processing instructions included in the control information corresponding to the selection area marked by the recipient that should be executed for processing the business reply mail piece; and
performing the respective one of the plurality of processing instructions included in the control information corresponding to the selection area marked by the recipient. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method for generating a business reply mail piece comprising:
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determining at least one possible response for an intended recipient;
determining processing instructions for the business reply mail piece that correspond to the at least one possible response;
defining control information based on the determined processing instructions;
formatting the control information into a machine readable block; and
printing the business reply mail piece, including the at least one possible response for the intended recipient and the machine readable block of control information. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A business reply mail piece, comprising:
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a plurality of selection areas, each of the plurality of selection areas being associated with a respective option available to a recipient; and
control information including a plurality of processing instructions for the business reply mail piece, each of the plurality of processing instructions corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of selection areas, each of the plurality of processing instructions providing instructions related to processing of the business reply mail piece when returned by a recipient based on a selection made by the recipient. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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Specification