Patent Application
20060036556
The invention relates to mail processing for delivery, and in particular, to a method of pre-processing mixed mail.
Currently in the United States many companies that produce mass mailings such as catalogues, brochures, magazines, advertisements and similar mailings rely on pre-sort mailers to prepare, bundle and deliver the mailing to the United States Postal Service (USPS). Preparation of a mass mailing includes pre-sorting the mail to different delivery zip codes, producing mailing lists and applying indicia such as bar codes and other markings to the individual mail pieces.
The process of pre-sorting mail requires the collection of information from the mail pieces and the printing or labeling of additional information on the mail piece. Such information includes the recipient addresses, identification codes such as zip codes, postal indicia such as stamp marks, permit indicia and/or Information Based Indicia Program (IBIP) indicia. Other information appearing on mail pieces may include Facing Identification Marks (FIM), bar codes, auto marks, identification codes, mail class and weight class. Most of this information has a designated location on the mail piece. For example, postage payment information is located in the upper right hand corner of the mail piece while the Postal Numeric Encoding Technique (POSTNET) bar code appears in a USPS specified zone on the bottom of the mail piece.
Processing mail pieces having varying dimensions (mixed mail) in a system that requires placement of specified information or indicia in a designated location on the mail piece requires additional processing steps insofar as some of the information has to be applied at different heights corresponding to the designated location on the mail pieces. For example, postage indicia must appear in a designated location at the upper right hand corner of the mail piece.
Since the height of the postage indicia relative to the base of a conveying device will vary in the case of mixed mail having varying dimensions, current practice is to apply postage indicia to mixed mail with a metering machine, by hand or during an additional pass through a mail sorting machine in which the mail pieces are fed upside down in order to print the postage indicia in the designated location. Sorting the mail pieces, gathering mailing information and applying a postal bar code and/or other indicia that must be applied in a designated area is performed as separate operation. The method and apparatus described herein are intended to eliminate the need for an additional pass through a mail sorting machine to apply indicia at locations measured from the upper edge of mail pieces having varying heights.
The method and apparatus described herein may be used in a variety of mail sorting applications. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/969,274 (Publication No. 20020070149) filed Oct. 2, 2001 for a Mixed Mail Sorting Machine, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein for all purposes, describes a mail sorter wherein the method and apparatus described below may be employed. In particular, the printer module described herein may be utilized as printer 124 of the mixed mail sorting machine.
A method of processing a batch of mixed mail includes the steps of: a) scanning each of the mail pieces to obtain a mail piece image, b) processing the image to obtain the recipient address and the mail piece dimensions, c) using the mail piece dimensions to calculate a postage indicia print position on the mail piece, d) weighing each of the mail pieces on a scale and calculating the weight class of each mail piece and, e) moving a movable print head to the calculated print position and printing the postage indicia at the calculated print position.
In one embodiment, the method further includes singulating the batch of mail having varying dimensions to create a stream of individual mail pieces that are consecutively scanned. The method also includes printing a bar code on each mail piece in a designated clear zone. The bar code may be a POSTNET code, a PLANETCODE or another destination code. After processing, the mixed mail is sorted to a plurality of receptacles based upon a predetermined sort scheme.
Referring now to
Mail piece 10 also bears a bar code 16 printed at a location on the mail piece that is indexed from the bottom and right hand edges of the mail piece. Bar code 16 may be a POSTNET code, a PLANETCODE, a 4-state bar code or another identifier. In accordance with postal specifications, bar code 16 is printed 0.25+0.0625 inches from the bottom edge of the mail piece within bar code clear zone 15. Bar code clear zone 15 is a rectangular area extending inward of the right and bottom edges of the mail pieces with top and left edge boundaries defined by the USPS Domestic Mail Manual (DMM). Other indicia appearing on pre-sort mail piece 10 include manifest key line information 12 and auto marking 14. Auto marking 14 includes a five digit zip code and an alpha numeric identifier of the OCR, the mail class and weight class. Finally, the mail piece 10 may include an endorsement 17. In accordance with the invention, postage indicia 18, bar code 16 and optionally, key line manifest information 12 and auto marking 14 are applied to mail piece 10 in a single pass sorting operation.
Turning now to
System control computer 40 also determines the speed of mail pieces 20 traveling through apparatus 30 by direct measurement or calculation and measures or calculates the gap between succeeding mail pieces. Instrumentation, systems and methods for measuring and/or calculating the speed of mail pieces 20 and the gap between individual mail pieces are well known in the art. After mail pieces 20 have been scanned, the mail pieces are transported to a scale 42 which weighs the mail pieces as the pieces move across the scale and electronically transmits the weight of each mail piece to system control computer 40. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/251,625 (Publication No. 20040055790), for a Method for Weighing Mail Pieces to Gerstenberg et al., the contents of which are incorporated herein for all purposes, discloses method for weighing mail pieces conveyed through a weighing module that may be utilized in connection with mail pieces 20.
After weighing, mail pieces 20 are then carried to a bar code printer 44 where bar code 16 is printed on each mail piece 20 based on information transmitted to bar code printer 44 by system control computer 40. Optionally, bar code printer 44 also applies key line manifest information 12 and auto marking 14 to the mail pieces. After bar code 16 has been applied, each mail piece 20 is conveyed past a bar code scanner 46 which scans bar code 16 and communicates with system control computer 40 to verify that the bar code applied to each mail piece 20 is correct.
After bar code 16 has been verified, mail pieces 20 are conveyed to a postage indicia printer 50. System control computer 40 utilizes the previously collected and stored destination information along with the mail piece weight to determine the appropriate postage indicia 18 for each mail piece 20 and transmits the information to a postage indicia printer 50. For example, the mail piece class may be determined from a combination of operator inputs, results of the OCR scan and from the weight of the mail piece 20. In embodiment, printer 50 is connected to a postage metering device such that printer 50 applies indicia 18 evidencing prepayment of postage to mail pieces 20.
Since the vertical dimensions of mail pieces 20 vary, printer 50 must be capable of printing postage indicia 18 at different vertical positions corresponding to the specified location 19 for each mail piece. For example, the print head 52 (
Turning to
A motion controller 74 which may be a program linear controller or other microprocessor based computer, communicates with system controller 40 to control the operation of linear drive assembly 54. Since one complete rotation of motor 66 moves print head 52 a known distance, motion controller 74 can utilize an encoder or similar device coupled to motor 66 to control the operation of motor 66 and the vertical movement of print head 52 along rails 58. Alternatively, linear drive assembly 54 may be directly controlled by system control computer 40, depending upon the particular design and application.
In one variation, system control computer 40 transmits the dimensions of each mail piece 20 to linear motion controller 74 which determines the vertical position for print head 52 required to apply postage indicia 18 in the designated zone 19 on each mail piece 20. The height of print head 52 relative to transport base plate 68 required to apply postage indicia 18 at the correct location on a given mail piece 20 is calculated as follows:
Ih=MPheight+MPtansgap−Czu
where: Ih=Height of upper line of postage indicia
Typically, mixed mail is sized between 89×127 mm (3.5×5 inches) to 254×356 (10×14 inches). Assuming that the gap between the transport base plate 68 and the bottom edge of the mail piece is approximately 5 mm, Ih for the minimum sized mail piece having a height of 89 mm is 88 mm while the value of Ih for the maximum sized mail piece having a height of 356 mm is 355 mm. Thus, in the worst case, print head 52 will be required to move a vertical distance of 267 mm (355 mm-89 mm) between succeeding mail pieces 20 to print postage indicia 18 in the designated areas 19 on the mail pieces.
In order to actuate printer 50 when a mail piece 20 is properly positioned for application of postage indicia 18 with print head 52, the time required to position print head 52 for succeeding mail pieces of different dimensions is calculated as follows:
Tmove=(((MP11−LCZMP1−IMPIL+GL+LCZMP2)/VMP)−St)
Where: Tmove=Time to move from print position for mail piece 1 to the print position for mail piece 2;
The information required to calculate Tmove is available to system control computer 40. The speed of mail pieces 20 and the gap length between the mail pieces have previously been determined and stored on system control computer 40. The length of the clear zone between the leading edges of succeeding mail pieces 20 and postage indicia 18 applied to mail pieces 20 is calculated based on the scanned dimensions of the mail pieces. The length of the postage indicia 18 applied to each mail piece 20 may be one or more fixed values, depending upon the particular indicia applied, that are stored on system control computer 40. Alternatively, the length of the indicia 18 may be recorded as the indicia is applied to each mail piece 20 and transmitted to system control computer 40 and/or stored on linear motion controller 74. Thus, system control computer 40 can calculate the time at which a given mail piece 20 will be properly positioned at printer 50 to receive postage indicia 18 and activate the printer accordingly. Alternatively, a sensor such as a photocell or proximity switch may be used to sense when the mail piece 20 is properly positioned and signal system control computer 40 to activate printer 50.
After postage indicia 18 has been applied to mail pieces 20, the mail pieces are sorted to a series of receptacles such as bins 48, based upon a pre-defined sort plan implemented with the information stored on system control computer 40 for each mail piece 20. For example, the mail pieces may be sorted by ZIP+4 code for delivery to a local or regional USPS distribution center. In some cases it may be desirable to further sort mail pieces 20 by size, weight or class, in which case these parameters are incorporated into the pre-defined sort plan or scheme and implemented with the information stored on system control computer 40. System control computer 40 may also generate a mailing list, including the names and addresses of mailers and recipients, codes associated with the mailers and recipients, the total number of pieces in a given mailing, number of mail pieces directed to different zip codes, the postage applied to each mail piece and/or the total postage associated with a mailing and other information that may be of use to the pre-sort mailer or the postal service.
While the invention has been described in connection with the exemplary embodiments it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments shown. For example, an alternative linear drive, such a spindle type drive may be substituted for the belt drive used to position print head 52 of printer 50. Thus, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications, combinations, methods, and subcombinations of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
