The invention relates generally to systems and methods used for the automated sorting of mail and, more specifically, to systems and methods used to correlate information relating to an item of mail with the associated item of mail.
Barcodes are used by the United States Postal Service (USPS) to sort mail. Automated mail sorting systems can read barcodes on mail and sort mail based on final destination or other factors. This allows for efficient mail processing. Mail sorting systems currently used by the USPS have the ability to recognize and process conventional two-state barcodes, such as POSTNET barcodes. POSTNET barcodes encode zip code and delivery point code information using bars having two possible states, short or tall.
Barcodes for mail sorting have been developed that allow more information to be encoded relative to two-state barcodes. These barcodes are referred to as four-state barcodes because each bar of the barcode may have one of four variations. Specifically, each bar of a four-state barcode consists of a small bar that can have an ascender above it, a descender below it, or both. Two such barcodes are the Flat ID code sort (FICS) barcode and the Intelligent Mail (IM) barcode. FICS barcodes are barcodes that are applied to letters that do not have delivery information recognized by a mail sorter. A FICS barcode encoding sorting information will be printed on a label that is affixed to the letter. IM barcodes are used by mass mailers to identify mail with delivery information and other information (e.g., customer data and/or sender information).
Currently, mail sorting systems used by the USPS lack the ability to recognize and process four-state barcodes, such as FICS and IM barcodes. Accordingly, there is a need for system that can recognize and process four-state barcodes and interface with existing mail sorting systems used by the USPS.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for system that can recognize and process four-state barcodes and interface with existing mail sorting systems used by the USPS. So that the barcode data or other data generated by the system can be used by a mail sorting system, e.g., to sort an item of mail, the data must be correlated with the item of mail from which it was derived. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention relate to systems and methods for correlating data relating to an item of mail with the associated item of mail. The data may comprise information from a FICS barcode, information from an IM barcode, or other information relating to the item of mail.
One embodiment of the invention is directed to a method for correlating an item of mail, subject to sorting by a mail sorter, with data, stored by a processing unit, relating to the item of mail. The method comprises acts of associating the item of mail with a first counter value; associating the data with a second counter value; and corresponding the first counter value with the second counter value to correlate the data with the item of mail.
Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a system, comprising a mail sorter to sort an item of mail; a processing unit to generate data relating to the item of mail; a first counter adapted to generate a first counter value when the item of mail is at a predetermined position within the mail sorter; memory to store the data relating to the item of mail with a second counter value such that the data and the second counter value are linked in the memory; and means for corresponding the first counter value with the second counter value to correlate the data with the item of mail.
A further embodiment of the invention is directed to a processing unit, comprising an input to receive information for identifying an item of mail from a mail sorter; an input to receive an image of at least a portion of the item of mail from a camera; one or more processors to identify a barcode and generate sortable data relating to the barcode; means for correlating a unique identifier with the sortable data using the information; and an output for transmitting the unique identifier and the sortable data to the mail sorter.
a and 4b illustrate data structures for storing information within a shared memory of the barcode processing server 7.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) delivers more than 206 billion pieces of mail each year to over 142 million delivery addresses. Automating the process of sorting mail improves the speed and accuracy with which mail is sorted. One system used by the USPS for automating the process of sorting mail is the Upgraded Flats Sorting Machine (UFSM 1000) manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation of Bethesda, Md. This system comprises a conveyor to transport mail and robotic handling to sort the mail based on POSTNET barcodes and/or address block information. The UFSM 1000 is used in connection with a camera and an object recognition system to acquire images of the mail and recognize and process POSTNET barcodes and address block information in the images. While the UFSM 1000 is able to recognize and process POSTNET barcodes, it cannot recognize and process four-state barcodes.
As an item of mail passes through mail sorter 1, it is imaged by camera 3. According to one exemplary implementation, camera 3 is a line scan camera, model number AV 1520, manufactured by Accu-Sort Systems, Inc. of Telford, Pa. However, other cameras capable of capturing grayscale and/or binary images of mail may alternatively be used. Camera 3 comprises three ports. Two of these ports are used to couple the camera 3 to OCR processor 5, and the other is used to couple the camera to barcode processing server 7. As will be discussed, OCR processor 5 is used to recognize and process address block and two-state barcode information. Barcode processing server 7, in connection with FICS look-up server 9, is used to recognize and process FICS and IM four-state barcodes.
Two-state barcode and address block information is processed by the system of
Four-state barcode information is processed by the system of
After an item of mail enters mail sorter 1 and is imaged by camera 3, the image 19 is transmitted to a camera communication interface 17 within barcode processing server 7 and is stored in shared memory. The shared memory may be located, for example, within the barcode processing server 7. Image 19 may be stored in shared memory with a TIC count 21 requested from mail sorter 1. For example,
Although TIC count 25 is described as being generated by the TIC 10 of mail sorter 1 and being transmitted to the barcode processing server 7, TIC count 25 may alternatively be generated by a second TIC associated with the barcode processing server. For example, as shown in
Referring again to
The OCR communication interface 31 will then determine, based on data 37, what type of barcode(s) were contained within image 19. If the OCR communication interface 31 determines that data 37 comprises a FICS barcode 41, a message is transmitted to processor 29, following which processor 29 notifies FICS look-up server interface 39 that a FICS barcode is ready to be processed. FICS look-up server (FLS) interface 39 transmits the FICS barcode 41 to FICS look-up server 9. FICS look-up server 9 may be a REMLOC server manufactured by Northrop Grumman Corporation of Los Angeles, Calif., or another processor that may be used to perform a lookup to determine sortable data relating to the FICS barcode 41. For example, FICS look-up server 9 may store zip code information associated with a particular barcode. Sortable data 43 determined by FICS look-up server 9 based on the FICS barcode 41 is transmitted back to FICS look-up server interface 39 and stored in shared memory with the corresponding image 19.
Returning again to the data 37 generated by OCR engine 35, if the OCR communication interface 31 determines that data 37 comprises an IM barcode, one of OCR engines 35 and 37 performs a lookup to determine sortable data 38 relating to the IM barcode. Sortable data 38 determined by the OCR engine based on the IM barcode is stored in shared memory with the corresponding image 19.
Once the four-state bar codes have been recognized by barcode processing server 7, processed by the barcode processing server 7 and/or FICS look-up server 9, the resulting sortable data 45, which may correspond to sortable data 43 returned by FICS look-up server 9 or sortable data 38 returned by OCR engines 33 or 35, is stored in shared memory. For example, sortable data 45 may be stored as part of data structure 42 previously described in connection with
EIS communication interface 23 matches TIC count 21, which is stored in memory with the sortable data 45 as shown in data structure 42 of
It should be appreciated that data structures 40 and 42 are one example of how TIC count 21, TIC count 25, mailpiece identifier 27, data 45, and/or image 19 may be stored in memory, however many implementations are possible. For example, a single data structure with all of the data in data structures 40 and 42 may alternatively be used. In addition, other formats for storing data, other than a data structure, may alternatively be used.
It should be appreciated that the system shown in
Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment of this invention, it is to be appreciated various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/687,059, entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Recognizing and Processing Barcodes Associated with Mail,” filed on Jun. 3, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60687059 | Jun 2005 | US |