MAIL PROCESSING SYSTEM WITH INCREASED FIRST AND SECOND PASS SORTING SPEED

Abstract

A mail hazard screening machine is configured to compress mail pieces or envelops through compression rollers and draw out this air and any hazard that may have been contained in the envelope. The system may be able to detect a wide range of hazards such as chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, explosive and drugs, abbreviated CBRNE+D. The sample air, the air drawn out from the hazard screening system, may be directed to one or more analysis devices and the mail processing machine may be stopped if any hazard is detected. The mail piece containing the hazard can then be found and further inspected safely.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to mail processing systems, which are described generally in the prior art, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,303, 188; 7,361,861; 7,777,919; 8,162,214; 5,226,547; 5,398,922; 5,521,365; 5,544,758; 6,523,697; 6,571,958; 6,651,878; and 7,185,748. Specifically, the invention relates to mail processing systems having a conveyor that de-shingles or shingles the mailpieces for processing purposes including weighing, address scanning and postage application and to a biohazard check apparatus configured to compress mail pieces or envelops through compression rollers and draw out this air and any hazard that may have been contained in the envelope.

BACKGROUND

Mail processing generally includes at least the steps of address scanning, postage application and weighing of the mailpieces. Scanning, postage application, and other steps may be conducted at a faster rate than weighing the mail. Therefore, the mail weighing step is rate limiting for a continuous, streamline process.

In the past, terrorist and other criminals have contaminated mail with hazards, such as anthrax, and sent the letters to specific individuals including Senators and other government officials. Millions of pieces of mail are processed each day and it is not practical to check each one for the presence of a hazard.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An exemplary mail processing system may include conveyors for moving mailpieces to one or more mail processing stations that include an address scanner, a postage applicator and/or a scale to weigh each mailpiece. The mail weighing step requires each mailpiece to be positioned on the scale in a singulated fashion, whereas the address scanning and postage application may be conducted with the mailpieces singulated. In order to achieve high speeds, two or more scales may be included in a mail processing system to weigh each mailpiece individually and then the mailpieces may be shingled for subsequent processing, including postage application and/or address scanning. Mailpieces may be shingled prior to reaching the scale for weighing and a de-shingling conveyor may singulate the mailpieces before they are passed over the scale. Subsequent to the weighing step, the mailpieces may enter a shingling conveyor where they are shingled for high speed throughput In some situations, mail processing system may utilize two passes for mail processing, wherein in a first pass, the mailpieces undergo the slower speed weighing step and in a second, higher speed pass the mailpieces undergo processing steps such as address scanning and postage application. In this situation, mailpieces may remain shingled while passing through the scale in the second pass in order to maintain a faster overall rate of processing in the second pass. In this manner, the footprint of the mail processing system may be kept small and overall speeds may be optimized with a multi-pass method of processing the mail.

In an exemplary embodiment, a mail processing system comprises a conveyor that comprises a first belt assembly and a second belt assembly that can be driven at varying speeds. A camera is configured to take images of the mailpieces as they pass into or through the conveyor and the speeds of the belts may be adjusted to either shingle or de-shingle the mailpieces. The belt speeds of the first and second belt assemblies are different relatively to belt speeds of other belt assemblies to move a first mailpiece relative to a second consecutive mailpiece in the conveyor, wherein the first mailpiece moves either faster or slower than the second mailpiece. In this way, the first mailpiece may be moved to overlap the second mailpiece to create shingled mailpieces, or the first mailpiece of shingled mailpieces may be moved to separate from the second mailpiece to create singulated mailpieces with a distance between each singulated mailpiece. A controller may utilize image analysis software to determine dimensional aspects of the mailpieces and may utilize these dimensional aspects to control the first and/or second belt speeds of the first and second belt assemblies, respectively. For example, an exemplary mail processing system comprises a shingling conveyor and image analysis of images taken by the camera is used to determine a singulated distance, or gap distance between two consecutive mailpieces in the conveyor and the controller may adjust the belt speed, based on this gap distance, to move the first mailpiece to overlap with the second mailpiece and create shingled mailpieces. In another example, an exemplary mail processing system comprises a shingling conveyor and image analysis of images taken by the camera are used to determine a shingle overlap distance of two shingled mailpieces in the conveyor and the controller may adjust the belt speed, based on this gap distance, to move the first mailpiece away from the second mailpiece and create singulated mailpieces. It is to be understood that the controller may control the speed of one or both belts in one or more conveyors to move mailpieces relative to each other, either away from each other or towards each other to create or increase an overlap distance.

An exemplary shingling conveyor has two belt assemblies that have a mail conveyor portion, wherein a portion of the first belt and a portion of the second belt extend parallel with each other to create a pinch to grab and move mailpieces from an inlet to an outlet of the conveyor. An exemplary shingling conveyor may comprise one, two, three or more belts and any number of rollers to guide the belts. An exemplary shingling conveyor comprises a drive, such as a drive motor, that moves the belts to transfer the mailpieces. A drive motor may be coupled with one of the rollers of the shingling conveyor.

An exemplary shingling conveyor comprises a camera that takes images of the mailpieces to determine dimensional aspects including a shingled overlap distance of two shingled mailpieces or a singulated distance or gap distance between two singulated mailpieces. An exemplary camera is configured to take images of the edges of the mailpieces in the mail conveyor portion of the conveyor. The controller may then utilize these dimensional aspects to control the speeds of the belts to move a first mailpiece with respect to a second mailpiece.

An exemplary mail processing system comprises a mail processing station that performs mail processing functions including, but not limited to, address scanning, weighing on a scale, and postage application. All of these processes may be in a single mail processing station or one or more of these processes may be performed separately, as described herein. For example, singulated mailpieces may be delivered individually in a consecutive manner to a scale for weighing. Shingled mailpieces may be transferred through a mail processing station that performs address scanning and postage application. A mail processing station may or may not perform a processing function as mailpieces pass through the mail processing station.

An exemplary mail processing system comprises a shingling conveyor that receives shingled mailpieces and de-shingles them to deliver singulated mailpieces to a mail processing station comprising a scale for weighing each mailpiece individually. The singulated mailpieces may then be transferred to a shingling conveyor wherein the singulated mailpieces are shingled.

Conversely, an exemplary mail processing system comprises a shingling conveyor that shingles mailpieces to deliver the shingled mailpieces to a mail processing station comprising a scale that does not weigh each mailpiece. In this manner, when the scale is not weighing mailpieces, the shingled mailpieces may pass through the scale at a higher rate than singulated mailpieces. The shingled mailpieces may then be transferred to a shingling conveyor wherein the shingled mailpieces are singulated.

An exemplary method of processing mail utilizing a mail processing system as described herein comprises at least one conveyor and a mail processing station. An exemplary method of processing mail comprises the steps of de-shingling shingled mailpieces and then weighing them in a mail processing station and subsequently re-shingling the mailpieces in a shingling conveyor.

A further exemplary method of processing mail comprises passing singulated mailpieces through a mail processing system in a first pass to weigh the mailpiece then passing the mailpieces through the mail processing system in a second pass in a shingled fashion until the mailpieces pass a scale, then singulating the mailpieces to perform other mail processing steps such as address scanning and/or postage application.

The invention is also directed to a mail hazard screening machine that is configured to compress mail pieces or envelops through compression rollers and draw out this air and any hazard that may have been contained in the envelope. The system may be able to detect a wide range of hazards such as chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, explosive and drugs, abbreviated CBRNE+D. The sample air, the air drawn out from the hazard screening system may be directed to one or more analysis devices and the mail processing machine may be stopped if any hazard is detected. The mail piece containing the hazard can then be found and further inspected safely.

A mail biohazard screening machine may include a mail feeder system that is configured to deliver mail pieces to the hazard screening system without compression of the mail pieces or envelopes. The mail processing machine may employ a feeder system as describe in U.S. Pat. No. 10,384,896, issued on Aug. 20, 2019 to James Malatesta of Tritek Technologies, Inc., and U.S. Pat. No. 10,640,316, issued on May 5, 2020 to James Malatesta of Tritek Technologies, Inc.; the entirety of both are hereby incorporated by reference herein. As described in these patents, the feeder system has an optical panel that is coupled to a spring element that is compressed by the force of the stacked mail pieces on the feeder belt. The distance of the optical panel from a proximity sensor is detected and this indicates a force of the stacked mail pieces the singulator belt. A controller monitors this distance of the optical panel and controls the rate of speed of the feeder belt to prevent compression of the mail pieces before they are fed into the hazard screening system.

The mail pieces are drawn from the feeder belt by a singulator, such as a singulator belt and are feed through compression rollers that compress the mail from the leading end to the trailing end. Hazard material is force from the envelope and is drawn out by vacuum through a sampling plenum that may be configured upstream of the compression rollers to more effectively draw in any hazard material. The pressure produced by the vacuum device in the enclosure may be low, such as about 400 mbar or more, about 600 mbar or more, about 800 mbar or more, about 900 mbar or more absolute pressure. No vacuum would be atmospheric pressure or about 1013 mbars absolute. The sampling plenum and compression rollers may be configured in an enclosure to prevent any hazard material from being dispensed into the mail processing facility. An air inlet may be configured to provide make up air to the enclosure and may be configured to direct air in through the inlet of the mail piece to the enclosure or into an inlet tunnel.

A sampling conduit may further direct air and any hazard material to one or more analysis devices. The system may have separate analysis devices for the different types of hazards, such as chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, explosive and drugs, abbreviated CBRNE+D. Each analysis device may have a vacuum device to take samples of the sample air from a hub, thereby enabling each analysis device to have equal access to the sampling air. If any hazard material is detected, the mail processing machine may be stopped and the mail piece with the hazard may be found and inspected safely with appropriate safety protocols.

The sample air, or air drawn into the sampling plenum may be disinfected and filtered before being released from the hazard screening system or before being returned as inlet air to the system. The air may be filtered through HEPA or UPLPA filters to remove any particulate hazard material and may be subject to infrared radiation to disinfect any pathogens or viruses.

An exemplary mail hazard screening machine may use an image device to identify a mail piece and may associate a time stamp for the mail piece. The system may then determine a mail piece of mail pieces that contained a hazard through tracking the time stamp and knowing the processing time from compression of the mail piece through the compression rollers and analysis. The system may be able to pin point a particular mail piece of that the hazard was contained in one of a few mail pieces.

An imaging device, such as a camera or scanner may be configured to take images, or scan the mail pieces to track the mail piece through the system. A digital camera may take a digital photograph that is read by a computer to read an address, or a scanner may read a quick response (QR) code that contains details of the mail piece, such as a mail to or sender address. In the event that a hazard is detected, the system may use the information determined through the imaging device to aid in retrieval of the hazard containing mail piece.

A hazard may be chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, explosive and drugs, abbreviated CBRNE+D, including but not limited to, anthrax, opioids, fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, uranium, gun powder, and the like.

Mail pieces as used herein includes postcards, letters, newspapers, magazines and flat mail sizes and is particularly suited for envelops having an interior area that can be compressed by the compression rollers to force interior contents to be expelled for analysis.

The summary of the invention is provided as a general introduction to some of the embodiments of the invention, and is not intended to be limiting. Additional example embodiments including variations and alternative configurations of the invention are provided herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows top view of a standard loading system.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an exemplary mail loading system.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an exemplary mail loading system having a mail stack pressing on the loading conveyor.

FIG. 4 shows a top view of a portion of an exemplary mail processing system having a first mail conveyor receiving mailpieces from the loading mail feeder.

FIG. 5 shows a top view of an exemplary mail shingling conveyor having a first and a second belt and a camera to determine a mail overlap.

FIG. 6 show a top view of an exemplary mail shingling conveyor having a camera mounted under the platform and viewing the mail through an opening in the platform to determine a mail overlap.

FIG. 7 shows a side view of an exemplary shingling conveyor.

FIG. 8 shows a side view of an exemplary shingling conveyor.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show exemplary images captured by a camera of mailpieces in a conveyor.

FIG. 11 shows a top view of an exemplary mail processing system having a first mail shingling conveyor a mail processor and a second mail shingling conveyor.

FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of a mail conveyor having conveyor belts and conveyor rollers.

FIG. 13 shows a side view of shingled mailpieces.

FIG. 14 shows a side view of singulated mailpieces.

FIG. 15 shows a perspective view of a mail hazard screening machine having a feeder belt with a plurality of mail pieces or envelopes thereon and a singulator belt that pulls the leading mail piece away from the stack of mail on the feeder.

FIG. 16 shows a top view of a conventional mail singulator that singulates the mail into separated singulated mail pieces.

FIG. 17 shows a top view of an exemplary mail hazard screening processing machine that utilizes a pair of compression rollers to squeeze each singulated mail piece from the singulator to expel any hazard contained within the envelope and a hazard screening system that includes an enclosure, vacuum and analysis device to determine if any hazards are contained in the mail.

FIG. 18 shows a perspective view of a mail hazard screening machine having a feeder belt that feeds mail pieces or envelopes to a singulator belt that pulls the leading mail piece through a hazard screening machine.

FIG. 19 shows a perspective view of a hazard screening system including an enclosure configured around a sampling plenum that draws air from mail pieces as they are compressed through compression rollers and an inlet that is directed down into an inlet tunnel for receiving the mail pieces therethrough and into the compression rollers.

FIG. 20 shows a perspective view of a hazard screening system shown in FIG. 5, with the enclosure removed from the hazard screening system.

FIG. 21 shows a side view of a sampling plenum for drawing air forced out of envelopes as they are compressed in compression rollers.

FIG. 22 shows a perspective view of a sampling plenum for drawing air forced out of envelopes as they are compressed in compression rollers.

FIG. 23 shows a perspective view of the enclosure configured to contain any hazard that may be forced out of the mail pieces by the compression rollers.

FIG. 24 shows a perspective view of the enclosure and inlet tunnel.

FIG. 25 shows a back view of a hazard screening system.

FIG. 26 shows a perspective view of a hazard screening system.

FIG. 27 shows a back view of a hazard screening system.

FIG. 28 shows a top view of a hazard screening system.

FIG. 29 shows a perspective view of a hazard screening system with the sampling plenum configured below the compression rollers and the clean air inlet above the compression rollers.

FIG. 30 shows a perspective view of a hazard screening system with the sampling plenum configured below the compression rollers and the clean air inlet above the compression rollers.

FIG. 31 shows a top view of a hazard screening system with the sampling plenum configured below the compression rollers and the clean air inlet above the compression rollers.

FIG. 32 shows a back view of a hazard screening system with the sampling plenum configured below the compression rollers and the clean air inlet above the compression rollers.

FIG. 33 shows an inlet view of a hazard screening system with the sampling plenum configured below the compression rollers and the clean air inlet above the compression rollers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the figures. The figures represent an illustration of some of the embodiments of the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner. Further, the figures are not necessarily to scale, some features may be exaggerated to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Also, use of “a” or “an” are employed to describe elements and components described herein. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the scope of the invention. This description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.

In cases where the present specification and a document incorporated by reference include conflicting and/or inconsistent disclosure, the present specification shall control.

Certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described herein and are illustrated in the accompanying figures. The embodiments described are only for purposes of illustrating the present invention and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention, and certain modifications, combinations and improvements of the described embodiments, will occur to those skilled in the art and all such alternate embodiments, combinations, modifications and improvements are within the scope of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional mail loading system 10 has a loading conveyor 20 that advances a mail stack 21 comprising a plurality of mailpieces 22 toward a mail feeder 30. The front mailpiece 26 is pulled by the mail feeder 30 to provide a stream of individual mailpieces 22′. Sometimes the mail feeder draws two mailpieces at a time, due to high pressure on the feeder and/or friction between the mailpieces, to create “shingled” mailpieces 24, wherein there is an overlap between the two individual mailpieces 22″ and 22′″. Generally, such double-feeding of mailpieces is not desirable if it is unintentional. However, multiple consecutive mailpieces are sometimes intentionally “shingled” similar to a row of shingles on a roof.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a conventional mail loading system 10 has a loading conveyor 20 that advances mail towards the mail feeder 30. The front mailpiece is fed into the mail feeder 30. The mail feeder advances the mailpieces in a substantially perpendicular direction from the advancing direction of the loading conveyor, as shown by the bold arrows in FIG. 3. The mail stack presses on the mail feeder and one or more mailpieces are advanced into the mail processing system. A controller 60 controls the speed of the conveyor and may control the speed of the mail feeder.

As shown in FIG. 4, a portion of an exemplary mail processing system 100 has a conveyor 101, and a shingling conveyor 110, that is receiving mailpieces from the mail feeder 30. The shingling conveyor has a first belt assembly 111 and a second belt assembly 115 that form an inlet 112 between a first belt 116 and a second belt 118. A camera 50 is configured below the platform 152 and is taking images of the mailpieces as they pass through the shingling conveyor to determine an overlap distance 170 of the shingled mailpiece 24. Shingled mailpieces 24 are shown being transported through the shingling conveyor. The belt speeds of consecutive conveyors and/or shingling conveyors may be different in order to de-shingle the mailpieces or to advance at least one of shingled mailpieces at a faster rate to create a gap between the mailpieces, or singulated mailpieces.

As shown in FIG. 5, an exemplary mail conveyor 101, a shingling conveyor 110, has a first belt assembly 111 comprising a first belt 116 and a second belt assembly 115 comprising a second belt 118 that form a mail conveying portion 113, that extends from the inlet 112 to the outlet 114. A camera 150 is configured to take images of mailpieces within the mail conveying portion to determine a mail overlap of the shingled mailpieces 24 as they pass through the shingling conveyor. The camera is mounted under the platform 152 and views the mailpieces through an opening 154 in the platform. Shingled mailpieces enter the inlet 112 of the shingling conveyor 110 and exit the outlet 114 of the shingling conveyor to be passed to a second shingling conveyor operating at a higher belt speed in order to singulate the shingled mailpieces. The shingling conveyor has a plurality of rollers 122 for guiding the belts. A shingling conveyor 110 is a type of conveyor 101, a conveyor that may operate at different speeds in order to control an amount of shingling of mailpieces.

As shown in FIG. 6, an exemplary mail conveyor 101, a mail shingling conveyor 130, has a first belt assembly 131 comprising a first belt 136 and a second belt assembly 135 comprising a second belt 138 that form a mail conveying portion 133, that extends from the inlet 132 to the outlet 134. A camera 150 is configured to determine a singulated distance 178 between individual mailpieces 22, 22′ in series between the belts of the shingling conveyor. The camera is mounted under the platform 152 and views the mailpieces through an opening 154 in the platform. Singulated mailpieces 22 enter the inlet 112 of the shingling conveyor and exit the outlet 114 of the shingling conveyor to be passed to a second shingling conveyor operating at a lower speed in order to shingle the singulated mailpieces. The shingling conveyor has a plurality of rollers 122 for guiding the belts. A shingling conveyor 130 is a type of conveyor 101, a conveyor that may operate at different speeds in order to control an amount of shingling of mailpieces.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, an exemplary mail conveyor 101, such as a shingling conveyor 110, has a camera 150 mounted under the platform 152 for taking images of the mailpieces as they move through the shingling conveyor 110. The mailpieces 22, 22′ are shingled mailpieces 24 having an overlap distance. As shown in FIG. 7, a mailpiece singulated distance 178 may be formed between the two individual mailpieces 22, 22′.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, images 170, such as digital images 171 taken by the camera provide dimensional aspects related to the mailpieces. The image is of the edges 36, 36′ of a first and second mailpiece 22, 22′, respectively. Image analysis software 64 is used to determine dimensional aspects of the mailpieces including shingle overlap distance 172, leading offset distance 172, trailing offset distance 176 and singulated distance 178, shown in FIG. 7. One or more of these distances determined through image analysis of the images 170 is used by the controller 60, which may comprise a microprocessor 62 and/or a computer 65, to control the speed of shingling conveyors to de-shingle or shingle the mailpieces. The image analysis software 64, or computer program is run by a computing device, such as a computer 65. If computer 65 determines that the mailpieces are shingled when they should not be, computer 65 can cause the mail processing system to stop processing mailpieces or to direct the shingled mailpieces to a reject bin. This ensures that mailpieces do not stick to each other during portions of the mail processing in which the mailpieces should be singulated. Additionally, computer 65 can determine through image analysis of images 170 if mailpieces are non-uniform in size and controller 60 can use information regarding non-uniformity of size to make real-time adjustments to the speed of shingling conveyors.

As shown in FIG. 11, an exemplary mail processing system 100 has a first mail shingling conveyor 110, a mail processor 160 and a second mail shingling conveyor 130 configured in series, wherein singulated mailpieces are received by the mail processor from the first shingling conveyor and received by the second shingling conveyor from the mail processor. In this mail processing system 110, shingled mailpieces are de-shingled by the first shingling conveyor 110 to provide singulated mailpieces, or mailpieces in series with a singulated distance between them to the mail processor. Alternatively, if the first shingling conveyor 110 receives singulated mailpieces, the first shingling conveyor maintains the mailpieces in singulated fashion and transports them to the mail processor. The mail processor may comprise an address scanner 162 to determine an address for delivery, a scale 164 to determine the weight of each mailpiece, and/or a postage applicator 166, that stamps or otherwise marks the mailpiece with appropriate postage. A scale display 165 shows the weight of mailpiece 22 in the mail processor 160. A mail processor may also comprise any other apparatus desired that performs a mail processing function. For example, a mail processor may comprise a biohazard check apparatus 168, consisting of a roller that compresses a mailpiece to force air out of the mailpiece and a vacuum and sensor apparatus configured to check the air for hazardous substances.

As described herein, weighing of mailpieces can be a slower step than other process steps in a mail processing system because it requires singulated mailpieces and processes the mailpieces at a slower throughput rate than other portions of the system. Accordingly, when the scale 164 is used to weigh mailpieces, an exemplary mail processing system 100 uses a first mail shingling conveyor 110 to ensure mailpieces are singulated before they are weighed by scale 164. When the scale 164 is not used to weigh mailpieces, for example when a weight is not required for the processing being performed, an exemplary mail processing system 100 uses a first mail shingling conveyor 110 to ensure mailpieces are shingled before they pass through scale 164. In this manner, a greater number of mailpieces may pass through scale 164 in a set amount of time despite scale's 164 relatively slow rate of transfer of mailpieces. The second mail shingling conveyor 130 singulates the mailpieces after they pass through the scale 164 for subsequent conveyors operating at a higher rate of speed and processing by other mail processors that are not as rate-limited as scale 164. Some commercially available scales include belts that are part of the scale unit. Scale belts may sometimes be settling belts in which mailpieces settle on top of a belt rather than pinched between two belts. Scale belts frequently operate only at a certain relatively slow belt speed. Thus, scale belts may also be used as shingling conveyors if they operate at a slower or faster belt speed than the belt speed of the preceding conveyor.

As shown in FIG. 12, an exemplary conveyor 101, a shingling conveyor, has conveyor belts 116, 118 and a plurality of rollers 122 to support and guide the belts. It is to be understood that any number of belts may be configured on the first belt assembly 111 or second belt assembly 115. The belt or belts of the first belt assembly 111 have a portion or extension that runs substantially parallel with a portion of the second belt assembly 115 to produce a mail conveying portion 113 between the two belt assemblies. As shown in FIG. 12, the first belt assembly has three belts and the second belt assembly has three belts that run parallel with the belts from the first belt assembly in the mail conveying portion 113. Mailpieces will be pinched between the two belts 116, 118 to move the mailpieces from the inlet 112 to the outlet 114 of the conveyor 101.

As shown in FIG. 13, two mailpieces 22, 22′ are shingled mailpieces 24, wherein the first mailpiece 22 overlaps the second mailpiece 22′ by a shingle overlap distance 172. The first mailpiece 22 has a leading offset distance 174 and the second mailpiece has a trailing offset distance 176. These dimensional features of the mailpieces may be determined through image analysis of images captured by a camera as the mailpieces move through a conveyor. Shingled mailpieces may include two, three or more mailpieces, wherein each mailpiece overlaps with a leading and trailing mailpiece. The camera may take images of the edges 36 of the mailpieces. The address scanning may view the address 28 on the face 38 of the mailpieces and the overlap distance 172 may be small enough for the address of shingled mailpieces to be scanned. The postage 29 is shown being applied to the mailpieces.

As shown in FIG. 14, two mailpieces 22, 22′ are singulated mailpieces wherein there is not overlap of the two mailpieces and there is a singulated distance 178, or gap distance between the two mailpieces.

As described above, one exemplary embodiment of the invention allows for multiple passes of mailpieces through the mail processing system, including a first pass in which scale 164, as shown in FIG. 11, weighs singulated mailpieces, and a second pass in which scale 164 does not weigh mailpieces but shingled mailpieces pass through scale and are subsequently singulated for further processing.

Scales used in mail processing systems must be approved by the relevant postal authority in the geographic area in which the mail processing system is to be used. For example, in the United States, a mail processing system must have a scale approved by and registered with the United States Postal Service if the mail processing system is to be used to process outbound mail requiring weighing and the addition of postage. Such approved scales generally have the major drawback of operating at relatively slow speeds. Approved scales typically operate at approximately 80 inches per second, meaning that they can accurately weigh mailpieces that travel over the scale only at a speed in which the scale receives a maximum of 80 inches of mailpiece length each second. 80 inches per second is approximately equivalent to 10,000 average mailpieces per hour. By contrast, advances in digital cameras, computer processors, and feeding and sorting mechanisms have enabled mail processing systems to otherwise operate at speeds of up to 30,000 mailpieces per hour, or even higher. The scale is therefore the speed-limiting step of most mail processing systems. This speed limitation is compounded by the fact that mailpieces are often sorted in multiple passes through the mail processing system, but need only be weighed by the scale during one of the multiple passes. Such scales generally cannot be adjusted to run at different speeds, meaning that mailpieces pass through the scale at a set rate of inches per second regardless of whether the scale is actually weighing the mailpieces. The mere presence of an approved scale in a mail processing system, therefore, may significantly slow down processing of mail even when weighing is not required for the particular processing being done on a given pass. These slower speeds can add up to significant delays and costs.

In this exemplary embodiment, mailpieces are processed in two passes through a mail processing system. In the first pass, the mailpieces are weighed by scale 164. In the second pass, the mailpieces are not weighed by scale 164 and it is desired that the processing of the second pass not be limited by the speed of the scale.

In the first pass, mailpieces are fed into the mail processing system. First and second mail shingling conveyors shown in FIG. 11 are adaptable to rotate at varying belt speeds depending on the purpose of the current pass for which mailpieces are being processed. The mailpieces proceed into the mail processing system in a shingled fashion. Before the line of shingled mailpieces reaches scale 164, they reach first mail shingling conveyor 110, which rotates at a higher speed relative to previous conveyors. When the leading edge of a mailpieces reaches first mail shingling conveyor 110, it is “yanked” forward by the higher relative speed, separating it from the other mailpieces with which it was shingled. In this manner, mailpieces are singulated before they reach scale 164 and are thus weighed one mailpiece at a time by scale 164. The mailpieces then proceed to second mail shingling conveyor 130 and through the remainder of the mail processing system. The speed of the first pass is limited by the maximum speed at which scale 164 can weigh mailpieces, approximately 10,000 mailpieces per hour.

In the second pass, mailpieces proceed through the mail processing system in the same path as the first pass. In the second pass, first mail shingling conveyor 110 rotates at the same speed as previous conveyors. Thus, the shingled mailpieces remain shingled as they pass through first mail shingling conveyor 110 and scale 164. In this pass, second mail shingling conveyor 130 rotates at a higher speed relative to the speed of first mail shingling conveyor 110 and scale 164. When the leading edge of a mailpiece reaches second mail shingling conveyor 130, it is yanked forward by the higher relative speed, separating it from other mailpieces with which it was shingled. In this manner, mailpieces are singulated after they have passed through scale 164 and can then be processed in any number of ways other than weighing such as sorting, barcode reading, barcode printing, optical character scanning, etc. When mailpieces are shingled, a greater number can proceed through scale 164 in a period of time (approximately 20,000 mailpieces per hour) than can proceed through scale 164 in the same period of time if the mailpieces are singulated and separated by a singulated distance 178 (approximately 10,000 mailpieces per hour).

Thus, the mail processing system can be adapted to operate in a manner such that mailpieces proceed through scale 164 in either a singulated or shingled fashion depending on whether weighing is required for a particular pass of mailpiece processing. Mailpieces proceed through scale 164 in a singulated fashion in a pass for which weighing is required. Optimally, mailpieces pass through scale 164 at the maximum rate (approximately 80 inches per second) of scale 164. In a pass for which weighing is not required, the mailpieces pass through scale 164 in a shingled fashion and can pass through scale 164 at a higher rate (approximately 20,000 mailpieces per hour) than in a weighing pass (approximately 10,000 mailpieces per hour) because the shingling allows a greater number of mailpieces in a given number of inches.

In a second exemplary embodiment, mailpieces are processed in a single pass through a mail processing system and a mail processing system with a larger footprint may be used. In this embodiment, mailpieces enter the mail processing system in shingled fashion. Using first and second mail shingling conveyors 110, 130, the mail processing system singulates shingled mailpieces and directs every other mailpiece to a first scale 164 and a second scale 164′. By using two or more separate scales 164, 164′ in parallel, the mail processing system may maintain a higher overall throughput speed, despite having to singulate mailpieces for weighing.

Referring to FIGS. 15 and 17, a mail hazard screening machine 210 has a loading conveyor 20, such as a feeder belt, with a plurality of mail pieces 250 or envelopes 254 thereon and a singulator 230, such as a singulator belt 231 that pulls the leading mail piece away from the stack of mail on the feeder. An optical panel 222 may be deflected by the stacked mail pieces on the feeder belt 20 and a proximity sensor (not shown) may detected this deflection are relay this position of the optical panel to a controller configured to control the rate of the feeder belt to prevent jamming of the mail pieces on the singulator belt 231. A controller 260 may control the feeder belt speed to prevent the plurality of mail pieces 250 and individual envelopes 254 therein from getting compresses.

As shown in FIG. 17, the feeder system has an optical panel that is coupled to a spring element 224 that is compressed by the force of the stacked mail pieces on the feeder belt. The distance of the optical panel from a proximity sensor 226 is detected and this indicates a force of the stacked mail pieces the singulator belt. A controller monitors this distance of the optical panel and controls the rate of speed of the feeder belt to prevent compression of the mail pieces before they are fed into the hazard screening system.

As shown in FIG. 16, a conventional mail singulator singulates the mail into separated singulated mail pieces 252, 252′ and 252″ but may not have the optical panel system to prevent compression of the mail before hazard screening. A conventional singulator system therefore may prevent effective hazard screening of mail pieces.

As shown in FIG. 17, an exemplary mail hazard screening machine 10 utilizes a pair of compression rollers 40, 42 to squeeze each singulated mail piece 252 from the singulator 30 to expel any hazard 18 contained within the envelope 254. A singluated mail piece 252 is fed through the pair of compression rollers from the singulator belt 31 and the mail piece or envelope 254 is subsequently is passed through processing belts 35. The hazard 86 is drawn through a sampling plenum 78 by a vacuum device 74. One or more analysis devices 80, 80′ may be configured to draw a sample of sample air from the sampling air flow 75 using a dedicated vacuum device 84, 84′, respectively. The sampling air flow 75 may flow to a sampling hub 83 to enable equal air pressure for each analysis device 80.

The sampling air flow 75 may flow to a safety enclosure 90 and may be filtered through one or more filters 95 and may be subject to a disinfecting device 96, such as an ultraviolet light emitter 97. Furthermore, a safety enclosure 90 may be coupled with the enclosure 70 to receive the air for further filtration and disinfection. This safety chamber may have a safety chamber outlet 92 configured with a closure 93, that can be closed in the event that a hazard is detected.

The enclosure 70 may be maintained at a negative pressure to ensure that the expelled hazard is not released into the mail processing facility. The vacuum device 74 draws air from the enclosure and an analysis device 80 may sample air from the enclosure 70 and may utilize an analysis vacuum device 84. The air from the enclosure may be passed through a filter 75 and a disinfecting device 76, such as being passed by an ultraviolet light (UV) light emitter 77. Furthermore, a safety enclosure 90 may be coupled with the enclosure 70 to receive the air for further filtration and disinfection. This safety chamber may have a safety chamber outlet 92 configured with a closure 93, that can be closed in the event that a hazard is detected.

The hazard screening system 17 includes an enclosure 70, vacuum device 74 and analysis device 80 to determine if any hazards are contained in the mail. In the event that a hazard is detected, a controller 60 may shut down the mail processing system and any contaminated mail pieces can be safely removed and further inspected. An inlet for the mail pieces into the enclosure for sampling for hazards may form a tunnel, an inlet tunnel 265 and an air inlet 63 to the enclosure 70 may be configured to flow clean air into this inlet tunnel.

An imaging device 19, such as a camera 219 or scanner is configured to take images, or scan the mail piece to track the mail piece through the system. A digital camera may take a digital photograph that is read by a computer to read an address, or a scanner may read a quick response (QR) code that contains details of the mail piece, such as addresses or sender. In the event that a hazard is detected, the system may use the information determined through the imaging device to aid in retrieval of the hazard containing mail piece.

FIG. 18 shows an exemplary mail hazard screening machine 10 having a hazard screening system 17 coupled to a singulator 30 and an analysis device 80 to detect a hazard.

FIG. 19 shows a portion of the mail hazard screening machine 10 having a hazard screening system 17. The singulator belt 30 feeds mail pieced through the inlet tunnel 265 and into the enclosure 70. The compression rollers 40, 42 compress the mail piece and a sampling plenum drawn 78 draws a flow of sampling air flow into the system. A clean air inlet 63 may direct a flow of clean air to the inlet tunnel. The sampling air flow then flows through the sampling conduit 72.

FIG. 20 shows a perspective view of a hazard screening system 17 shown in FIG. 5, with the enclosure 70 removed from the hazard screening system. The enclosure has an opening for the inlet tunnel for receiving the mail pieces therethrough. As shown in FIG. 6, an alarm 15 is configured to alert people that a hazard has been detected. The mail processing machine 14 may be shut down when a hazard is detected to enable retrieval of hazard containing mail pieces.

Referring to FIGS. 21 and 22, a sampling plenum 78 is configured to extend along the compression rollers and has openings for drawing sampling airflow from the input side of the rollers. The sampling plenum has an elongated opening, with a width that is less than half the height.

Referring to FIGS. 23 and 24, an exemplary enclosure 70 has a lid that is detachably and enclosure sampling opening 79 and an inlet 73. As shown in FIG. 10, the inlet tunnel 265 is configured over the inlet 73. A clean air inlet 63 is coupled with the inlet tunnel to provide clean airflow into the enclosure.

Referring now to FIGS. 25 to 28, a hazard screening system 17 includes compression rollers 40, 42 configured in an enclosure 70 and a sampling plenum 78 configured on the inlet side of the compression rollers to draw a flow of sampling air flow from the enclosure for analysis. A sampling conduit 72 is coupled with the sampling plenum 78. A clean air inlet 63 is coupled with the inlet tunnel 265.

Referring now to FIGS. 29 to 33, an exemplary mail hazard screening machine 10 is configured with a hazard screening system 17 that has the sampling plenum 78 configured below the compression rollers 40, 42 and the clean air inlet 63 above the compression rollers. The singulator belt 31 extends between the compression rollers. The clean air inlet 63 is coupled with the top of the enclosure 70 and forces clean air into the enclosure above the compression rollers. The sampling plenum 78 is configured below the compression rollers and draws sampling air and any hazards expelled from the mail pieces into the sampling conduit for analysis.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Specific embodiments, features and elements described herein may be modified, and/or combined in any suitable manner. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications, combinations and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A mail hazard screening machine comprising: i) a mail processing system comprising a mail singulator that singulates mail into a singulated mail piece;ii) a pair of compression rollers;iii) an enclosure configured around the compression rollers;iv) a vacuum device coupled with the enclosure and configured to maintain a negative pressure in the enclosure by drawing enclosure air from the enclosure;v) an analysis device configured to analyze the enclosure air and detect a hazard;wherein the compression rollers compress the singulated mail piece to expel a said hazard from said singulated mail piece; andwherein the vacuum device draws air from the enclosure and delivers enclosure air to the analysis device for detection of said hazard.

2. The mail hazard screening machine of claim 1, wherein the mail hazard screening machine further comprises a sampling plenum configured proximal to the pair of compression rollers for drawing enclosure air from the enclosure.

3. The mail hazard screening machine of claim 2, wherein the sampling plenum is configured on an upstream side of the pair of compression rollers.

4. The mail hazard screening machine of claim 3, wherein the sampling plenum is configured within the enclosure.

5. The mail hazard screening machine of claim 1, wherein the enclosure further comprises an inlet tunnel configured over an inlet to the enclosure for receiving mail pieces therethrough.

6. The mail hazard screening machine of claim 4, wherein the enclosure further comprises a clean air inlet coupled with the inlet tunnel and configured to direct a flow of clean air into the inlet tunnel.

7. The mail hazard screening machine of claim 1, wherein the singulator of the mail hazard screening machine comprises: a feed belt and wherein the singulator further comprises an optical panel that is configured to be deflected by mail pieces on the feed belt and wherein said controller changes a feed belt speed as a function of the position of the optical panel.

8. The mail hazard screening machine of claim 1, wherein the mail processing system further comprises: a) a first conveyor and a second conveyor, each comprising: iii) an inlet; andiv) an outlet;b) a camera configured to capture images of said mailpieces;c) a controller;d) image analysis software configured to determine dimensional aspects with respect to a first mailpiece and a second mailpiece in series;e) a mail processing station configured between the first conveyor and the second conveyor that receives mailpieces from the outlet of the first conveyor, said mail processing station comprising at least one of a scale to measure the weight of the mailpieces and an address scanner to determine a mailing address of said mailpieces;wherein the second conveyor is configured to receive mailpieces from the mail processing station;wherein the controller controls the speed of each conveyor to move said first mailpiece relative to said second mailpiece so as to achieve a desired distance or degree of overlap between said first mailpiece and said second mailpiece;wherein in a first pass, the first mailpiece and the second mailpiece are singulated in the mail processing station, and singulated in the second conveyor;whereby the first and second mailpieces exit the outlet of the second conveyor as singulated mailpieces;wherein in a second pass, the first mailpiece and the second mailpiece are shingled in the mail processing station, the first mailpiece and the second mailpiece are singulated in the second conveyor from the shingled mailpieces in the mail processing station,whereby the first and second mailpieces exit the outlet of the second conveyor as singulated mailpiece.

9. The mail hazard screening machine of claim 8, wherein the camera determines a shingle overlap distance and detects if the mailpieces are singulated.

10. The mail hazard screening machine of claim 9, wherein the camera and the image analysis software determine a singulated distance or an overlap distance and rejects mail pieces that are shingled.

11. The mail hazard screening machine of claim 8, wherein each of the first conveyor and a second conveyor comprise: i) a first belt assembly comprising: a first belt;a first drive;ii) a second belt assembly comprising: a second belt;a second drive;wherein the first belt and the second belt of both the first conveyor and the second conveyor extend substantially parallel to each other to convey mailpieces from said inlet to said outlet;wherein the first belt of the second conveyor is driven at a faster belt speed than the second belt of the second conveyor to singulate the first and second mailpiece.

12. A method of screening mail pieces for hazards comprising: a) providing a mail hazard screening machine as described in claim 1:b) feeding a plurality of mail pieces into the mail singulator;c) singulating the plurality of mail pieces into said singulated mail pieces;d) feeding the singulated mail pieces through the pair of compression rollers and compressing each singulated mail pieces to expel a hazard into the enclosure;e) drawing the enclosure air from the enclosure by said vacuum;f) analyzing the enclosure air with the analysis device to detect a hazard.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising stopping the mail hazard screening machine when a hazard is detected by the analysis device.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the hazard is a biohazard.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the hazard is a chemical hazard.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the hazard is a radioactive hazard.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the hazard is a nuclear hazard.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the hazard is a drug.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the enclosure is detachably attachable over the compression rollers.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the mail hazard screening machine further comprises a sampling plenum configured proximal to the pair of compression rollers for drawing enclosure air from the enclosure.