Optimizing mail delivery systems by routing
First Claim
1. A system for handling mail for delivery between first and second stations, wherein a plurality of delivery routes exist between said first and second stations, and wherein carriers of determinable capacity are available for transporting mail via said routes, said system including a data processing station, a user station for assembling batch mail to be transported to said first station and thence to said second station, and communication paths interconnecting said data processing station with said user station and said first station, the improvement wherein:
- said user station comprises means for transmitting to said data processing station data concerning quantities of mail to be transported therefrom to said first station and thence to said second station,said data processing station comprises a source of data concerning available capacity of said carriers via each of said routes, andsaid data processing station comprises means responsive to said data received from said user station for transmitting to said first station data identifying a carrier that has adequate mail carrying capacity to transport mail of said user station along at least a portion of its respective route.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for optimizing mail delivery of batch mail. A network is established interconnecting plural batch mailers, a data center, and the Postal Service. Mail data on the mail batches is transmitted to the data center. This enables the data center to generate data to the mailers for merging mail batches to achieve additional postage discounts, to schedule and route mail carriers external to and within the Postal System to increase efficiency of handling, and to interact with the Postal Service for logistics planning and drop-off point and timing of mail batches to expedite processing. Scheduling and routing to take into account available resources of available drop-off points for mail for introduction into the Postal System is also described.
136 Citations
26 Claims
-
1. A system for handling mail for delivery between first and second stations, wherein a plurality of delivery routes exist between said first and second stations, and wherein carriers of determinable capacity are available for transporting mail via said routes, said system including a data processing station, a user station for assembling batch mail to be transported to said first station and thence to said second station, and communication paths interconnecting said data processing station with said user station and said first station, the improvement wherein:
-
said user station comprises means for transmitting to said data processing station data concerning quantities of mail to be transported therefrom to said first station and thence to said second station, said data processing station comprises a source of data concerning available capacity of said carriers via each of said routes, and said data processing station comprises means responsive to said data received from said user station for transmitting to said first station data identifying a carrier that has adequate mail carrying capacity to transport mail of said user station along at least a portion of its respective route. - View Dependent Claims (2)
-
-
3. A system for handling mail for delivery between a plurality of first and second stations, wherein a plurality of delivery routes exist between said first and second stations, and wherein carriers of determinable capacity are available for transporting mail via said routes, said system including a data processing station, a plurality of first stations for assembling batch mail to be transported from said first stations to at least one of said second stations, and communication paths interconnecting said data processing station with at least said first stations, the improvement wherein:
-
said first stations comprise means for transmitting data to said data processing station concerning quantities of mail to be transported therefrom to one or more of said second stations, said data processing station comprises a source of data concerning available capacity of said carriers via each of said routes, and said data processing station comprises means responsive to said data received from said first stations for transmitting to said first stations data identifying a carrier that has adequate mail carrying capacity to transport mail of said first station along at least a portion of its respective route. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A system for handling mail for delivery between a plurality of first and second stations, wherein a plurality of delivery routes exist between said first and second stations, and wherein carriers of determinable capacity are available for transporting mail via said routes, and wherein the second stations have different resources for processing mail, said system including a data processing station, a plurality of first stations for assembling batch mail to be transported to a second station, and data communication paths interconnecting said data processing station with said first stations, the improvement wherein:
-
said first stations comprise means for transmitting data to said processing station concerning quantities and parameters of mail to be transported therefrom, said data processing station comprises a source of data concerning available resources at each of said second stations for processing mail, and said data processing station comprises means responsive to said data received from a first station for transmitting to said first station data identifying a second station that has adequate resources to process mail of said first station. - View Dependent Claims (12)
-
-
13. A mail processing system comprising:
-
(a) a plurality of user batch mailing stations each having means for assembling mail batches and determining mail parameters of said batches and computer means for processing and storing said determined mail parameters; (b) a data center having computer means; (c) a postal station for receiving batch mail and for processing same for delivery to mail addressees; (d) a plurality of carriers for transporting mail batches; (e) a communications data link connecting the user station computers and the data center computer and the carriers; (f) said data center comprising; (i) means for collecting from multiple user stations via said data link data representing mail parameters of assembled mail batches to be forwarded to the postal station, (ii) means for collecting from multiple carriers data representing available capacity; (iii) means for processing said mail parameters data and said carriers data for determining ways for merging some or parts or all of said multiple mail batches and delivering them along at least a portion of a route to the Postal Station, (iv) means for communicating via the data link with the user stations whose batches are to be merged and with the carriers to transmit to them a schedule for pick-ups of said mail batches. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. In a mail processing system including a data center, multiple user batch mailing stations coupled to communicate with said data center, and a post office having mail processing facilities and equipment and coupled to communicate with said data center, the method comprising:
-
(a) said data center receiving from said users mailing station data relating to predetermined parameters of batches of mail that has been or will be forwarded to said post office; (b) said data center receiving from said post office logistics planning information; (c) said data center, using the information received in steps (a) and (b), transmitting to said user mailing stations scheduling information for delivering the said mail batches to a post office processing facility. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. A system for handling mail for delivery from a creator to a destination, wherein a plurality of usable delivery routes and intermediate stations exist between the creator'"'"'s and the destination locations, said system including a data processing station and communication paths interconnecting said data processing station with said creator, said creator comprising means for transmitting data to said processing station concerning parameters of mail to be transported therefrom to said destination,
said data processing station having a source of data concerning facilities available at said intermediate stations, said processing station comprises means for processing said data to determine where the creator should introduce its mail into the system to reduce costs or reduce delivery time through the system.
Specification