Apparatus and method for variable weight mail processing

This invention relates to apparatus and method for the presentation of mail to the post office with assurance that postage has been paid for each mail piece. It is more particularly concerned with mail on which there is no evidence of postage payment, such as permit mail. This is accomplished by weighing each mail piece to determine the weight, packaging the mail either in batches with a fixed weight or in batches with variable weight that gives but fixed stack dimension and sending a statement sheet to the post office that gives the number of mail pieces in a batch of mail, the weight of the batch and the postage due.

RELATED PATENT AND PATENT APPLICATIONS 
Attention is directed to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/459,418 filed 
Jan. 2, 1990 and entitled Mail Piece Weight Quality Control System and 
Method; U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,124 entitled Method and Apparatus for 
Categorizing and Certifying Mail; U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,694 entitled 
Distribution Mailing System Having a Control Database for Storing Mail 
Handling Categories Common to the Databases of Selected Mailer Stations; 
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/282,713 filed Dec. 13, 1988 and 
entitled Apparatus and Method for the Processing of Mail; and U.S. Pat. 
No. 5,142,482, entitled Mailing System with Information Feedback. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Mail presented to the post office for delivery is required to have 
sufficient postage. A discount is provided to high volume mailers when the 
mail presented to the post office meets an elaborate set of preparation 
requirements. These presort requirements cover physical order of the mail 
pieces, proof of postage for each mail piece and documentation for the 
mail run. Ascertaining appropriate payment of postage is often a problem 
when no indication of postage payment, such as a postage indicia, is 
present on the mail pieces. 
Acceptance of the mail by the post office usually involves using a scale to 
weigh individual mail pieces and a calculation of the number of mail 
pieces. This is then multiplied by the piece postage rate to determine 
total postage required. The physical order of the mail is checked against 
the mail's documentation and presort requirements. Groups of mail pieces 
that do not meet presort requirements are called residual mail pieces 
which require additional postage. Mixing of non-identical weight pieces in 
a single run inhibits the ability of the post office to calculate a piece 
count by using a scale. By taking advantage of the ratio of mail pieces 
vs. conventional scale round off, it is possible for a mailer, or other 
individual, to "salt" the mail run with mail pieces for which no postage 
has been paid. By "salting" is meant the adding of mail pieces for which 
postage has not been paid. 
Although "salting" is not a problem with mail pieces that have an 
indication of postage payment thereon, such as a postage printed indicia 
or a postage stamp, permit mail and manifest mail presents a problem, 
because there is no such evidencing of the payment of the postage on the 
face of the mail piece and the post office must rely upon the 
representations and presentations of the mailer upon acceptance of the 
mail therefrom. As was stated previously, although measures can be taken 
to assure that the number of mail pieces in a tray is correct when the 
mail pieces have substantially the same weight, there is no easy method of 
doing this with a batch of mail in which the weight of the mail pieces 
varies from piece to piece. 
Clearly, it would be advantageous to provide a system and method whereby a 
mail batch containing mail pieces with different weights can be presented 
to the post office in such a way that the post office is assured that 
sufficient postage payment has been made for the mail received from a 
mailer. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It has been found that using a high speed scale having the accuracy to 
weigh individual mail pieces within the tolerances provided by the post 
office makes it possible to devise a system which assures accurate 
determination of the payment of postage and would uncover "salting" of a 
mail run. An example of such a scale is shown and described in U.S. Pat. 
No. 4,778,018. Such a high speed scale can be used in a system operating 
either in one of two modes, the first mode, the scale is used to 
accumulate individual mail piece weights into an aggregate or batch weight 
of predetermined weight such as eight ounces. The composition of the batch 
is determined by a processor having a mail list and could be a batch of 
mail pieces with identical five digit zip codes or three digit zip codes. 
The scale to determine the maximum number of envelopes which will comprise 
a batch without exceeding the predetermined batch weight limit. Each batch 
would weigh close to the same amount making easier for the mailer or post 
office to verify the total weight. If anyone were to add mail pieces to 
the batch for which postage had not been paid, subsequent inspection of 
the batch would reveal the same because of the discrepancy in weight. 
In the second mode, the scale is used to determine the weight of a batch of 
mail comprised of a plurality of mail pieces with the same five digit or 
three digit zip code that is placed in a tray in fixed batch dimension. 
The weight of each batch would be included in a manifest like printout for 
verification by the mailer or by the post office.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference to FIG. 1, a system is shown generally at 10 which can be 
used by a high volume mailer to either form mail batches of pre-determined 
weight or for determining the weight of mail containing trays that are to 
be sent to a post office. The system includes the functions of inserting, 
sealing, sorting, and a mail processor 12 counting of mail pieces 
according to zip codes printed thereon. Downstream from the mail processor 
12 is a scale 14 that receives mail pieces individually from the mail 
processor 12. Both the mail processor 12 and the scale 14 are in 
communication with a data processor 16. The data processor can be one of 
any number of commercially available computers such as an I.B.M. AT 
personal computer. Downstream from the scale 14 is a traying station 18 
where the mail pieces are placed into trays. A post office 20 is shown 
which will receive the trays of mail. In FIG. 1, double arrows are used to 
indicate conveyance of mail pieces from the mail processor to the scale 14 
to the traying station, and to the Post Office 20. Such conveying 
mechanisms are well known in the art and will not be discussed in detail. 
Single lines are shown for the purpose of indicating electrical 
communication between various units for the purpose of providing data 
communication therebetween. 
With reference to FIG. 2, a statement sheet 24 is shown of the type that 
will accompany a tray for describing the contents of the tray. FIG. 2B 
shows the statement sheet that will be supplied to the post office for 
providing information relative to a run of mail that will include one or 
more trays. 
In operation, mail is first assembled in any one of a number of well known 
techniques with a zip code designation such as by the 3 digit zip code or 
5 digit zip code. Mail pieces processed by an inserter, which is part of 
the mail processor, will have dash codes thereon indicating the zip code 
to which the mail is to be sent. As the mail is being processed the mail 
processor 12 will determine from the dash codes when a change in zip code 
takes place. Such zip code brakes can be evidenced by a marking on the 
mail piece that starts a new zip code and the mail pieces will be sorted 
or segregated in accordance with their zip code designations. The zip code 
brake can be a different five digit code or a different three digit zip 
code. After zip code identification, the mail pieces are conveyed in 
series to the scale 14 by any convenient conveying means. The scale 14 
must be a high speed scale capable of weighing with the tolerance of 
postal requirements, such as that shown and described in the U.S. Pat. No. 
4,778,018. Both the mail processing unit 12 and the scale 14 upload data 
to the data processor 16 relative to the mail that is being processed. The 
mail processing unit 12 will send to the data processor 16 the number of 
mail pieces being processed as well as the zip codes of these mail pieces. 
The scale 14 will send data to the data processor 16 relative to the 
weight of each mail piece. The data processor 16 will determine the 
postage required based on the individual weight of the mail pieces, the 
number of mail pieces and the class of mail. Thereafter the mail pieces 
will be trayed by any convenient manner so that mail is transferred from 
the scale to a tray in accordance with the zip code brakes. More 
specifically, each tray 18 will contain mail that has the same 3 digit zip 
code, but can contain the same 5 digit zips therein if the mailer has a 
sufficiently high volume of mail. 
Upon receipt of data from the mail processing unit 12 and scale 14, the 
data processor 16 will be in a position to determine the number and the 
weight of mail pieces placed into a tray 18. The data processor can 
determine when a predetermined weight of mail pieces has been reached and 
cause that quantity of mail to be placed in a tray. Such a fixed batch 
weight can be banded, placed in a tray or both. Alternatively, a fixed 
stack dimension can be achieved, such as the length of a tray. By stack 
dimension is meant that dimension that varies as mail pieces are stacked 
face to face. Where all the mail pieces are identical, the number of mail 
pieces in a fixed batch dimension would be the same from tray to tray. 
But, when the mail pieces are of variable weight, a determination must be 
made as to the number of mail pieces required to obtain a fixed batch 
dimension. This is achieved by coordination between the traying station 18 
and the data processor 16 wherein the data processor will make a 
determination of the thickness of mail pieces based upon the weights 
thereof and the traying station will fill a tray of mail under control of 
the data processor. In either case, the data processor will cause the 
printer 22 to print two statement sheets, one statement sheet 24 for 
attachment to the tray 18 and the other statement sheet for the benefit of 
the post office 26. It will be appreciated that there will be instances 
when the number of mail pieces of a given zip code is not sufficient to 
either form a fixed weight batch or a fixed stack dimension batch. This 
occurs when there is an insufficient number of mail pieces for a given zip 
code at the outset or there are mail pieces left over. Such mail pieces do 
not fit in the general scheme of this invention and would be required to 
be processed separately. 
The first statement sheet 24 will simply indicate the tray number into 
which the mail pieces are placed, the number of mail pieces in that tray 
and the total weight of the mail pieces and tray. The second statement 
sheet 26 is one that will be sent to the post office 20 and would include 
a summary of all the trays that have been processed as well as the weight 
of each mail filled tray and the total postage required for all the mail 
included within statement sheet 26. Although the number of mail pieces is 
represented by the statement sheets, 24, and 26 it will be appreciated 
that the weight data is controlling in determining accuracy of the postage 
due or paid. Even though the left over mail pieces will not form a fixed 
weight batch or a fixed stack dimension, they would be included in the 
totals of statement sheet 26. 
In this way, individual trays can be weighed and the weight of the trays 
with the mail therein can be checked taking into account the tare weight 
of the tray. By doing this, one can determine if the correct number of 
mail pieces has been placed inside of the trays and if the postage paid is 
sufficient. If there is a discrepancy, the tray contents can be inspected 
more closely to see whether there has been an attempt to fraudulently add 
more mail or whether the system has erred. 
Thus what has been shown and described is a system and method whereby the 
post office is able to receive mail assurances that can be easily checked 
to determine if the postage has been paid on all the mail received for 
delivery.