Manually written, machine readable code system

A manually-written, machine-readable code system employs the application of indicia to an article, such as a mail envelope or package, having a number of rows/columns of blank spaces in a predetermined code field which are manually marked or darkened corresponding to a destination or identifying code for the article. The indicia may have been applied previously, as in the form of a preprinted envelope. The darkened spaces are machine-readable and convertible to a numeric code that can be used by an automated machinery to generate appropriate control signals for controlling its functions. The system is particularly applicable for automated sorting of mail according to postal area (Zip) codes. The indicia is readily applied to an envelope by preprinting or by using a rubber stamp or an adhesive label. The indicia can include a predetermined indicia-identifying bar code which is recognized by the mail sorting machinery in its normal bar-code-recognizing mode, and causes the machinery to switch to manually-written code recognition and conversion. The system can be used for recognition and conversion of postal area codes in different countries and/or for sorting mail intended for other countries, and may also be applied to other fields, such as, for account number codes, credit card account codes, or document, user, or product identification codes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention generally relates to a machine-readable code system, and 
more particularly, to one where manually written code marks are readable 
by machine and used to control an associated machine process, such as 
high-speed automated mail sorting. 
BACKGROUND ART 
Postal office mail sorting operations increasingly use automated, 
computer-controlled machines for recognizing machine-readable destination 
codes printed on mail envelopes and controlling the sorting of mail into 
groups to be delivered to areas of common destination (e.g., "Zip") codes. 
For high-speed sorting, printed bar codes are universally used because 
they can be readily recognized by machine reading with a high degree of 
reliability. The postal offices typically offer incentives of reduced 
postal rates for mail that has the destination bar codes printed on them. 
To take advantage of the rate incentives, senders of bulk or volume mail 
utilize automated addressing machines which access an electronic address 
database for printing each addressee's address including the Zip code on 
the envelope, together with the destination bar code corresponding to the 
Zip code. The postal office machines sort the bar-coded envelopes into 
respective groups of common Zip codes for batch handling and ultimate 
delivery. 
A typical automated mail sorting system is illustrated schematically in 
FIG. 1. Incoming mail envelopes 10, such as shown in FIG. 2, have bar 
codes 10a printed thereon which correspond to the numeric Zip codes 10b of 
the address. The envelopes are placed on a high-speed conveyor 11 which 
moves them past a reader head 12. The reader head is electronically 
coupled to an image processing and code conversion unit 13. The current 
type of reader head scans a predetermined optical field 12a as each 
envelope moves through the field, and transmits the scanned image field 
data to a temporary memory in the processing unit 13. As indicated at 
block 13a, the image field data is processed using optical recognition 
algorithms to detect the presence, location, and orientation of the bar 
code field within the scanned image field. At block 13b, the bar code 
field is processed to recognize the bar code and convert it into the 
corresponding numeric destination code. At block 13c, a mail sorting 
control signal is generated corresponding to the recognized destination 
code, and is output as the control signal for controlling a sorting unit 
21 which has an array of routing guides for routing envelopes to the 
appropriate batch collection bin corresponding to the recognized 
destination code (dashed arrows indicate paths to other collection bins). 
Such sorting machinery, processing units, and image recognition algorithms 
are well known in the industry, and need not be explained in further 
detail herein. 
One major problem area for such automated mail sorting systems is that mail 
with handwritten or printed addresses, particularly where different print 
fonts are used cannot be processed through such a system and must be 
diverted from the automated sorting line for manual sorting. Such manual 
sorting is labor intensive and costly for postal office operations. 
Senders who do not have access to automated addressing equipment that can 
generate bar code are not able to take advantage of the reduced postal 
rates offered for bar-coded mail. 
High-speed automated sorting equipment are used not only by postal offices 
but also banks, insurance, credit card firms, governmental agencies, 
manufacturing, shipping, inventory control, etc., which all have need for 
sorting vast quantities of handwritten and machine printed articles. 
Although sophisticated machines are under development which can recognize 
and convert handwritten, typed, or printed addresses and other indicia to 
machine-readable form, the variability of handwriting especially and, to a 
lesser degree, different type fonts and typed or printed conditions always 
presents a significant risk of erroneous machine recognition. Currently, 
handwritten letters cannot be sorted by automation. Thus, the U.S. Postal 
Service has as one of its main goals the placement of bar codes, which are 
machine recognizable with very low error rates, on all letter mail. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, a method and related system are 
provided for allowing an individual to manually mark a destination or 
identifying code which is machine-readable and convertible to a numeric 
code that can be used by automated sorting or identifying machinery to 
generate appropriate control signals for controlling its functions. The 
system is particularly applicable for automated sorting of mail according 
to Zip codes. This is accomplished by manually applying to an envelope a 
preprinted or stamped indicia or an adhesive label which incorporates 
machine-readable markers defining a predetermined code field, and a 
plurality of rows/columns of delineated blank spaces arranged within the 
code field, wherein each such row/column is used to designate a respective 
digit of the Zip code by darkening the corresponding blank spaces. 
At the mail receiving end, a code recognition and conversion program is 
loaded with the mail sorting machinery. When the code-marked envelope is 
scanned by the machinery, the markers defining the predetermined code 
field are recognized, the darkened spaces in the predetermined code field 
designating the digits of the Zip code are recognized and converted to the 
corresponding numeric code, and the converted numeric code is used by the 
machinery to control its sorting functions. 
As a further feature, the code field markers may include a predetermined 
indicia-identifying bar code which identifies the code field as one that 
is manually written. The mail sorting machinery recognizes the identifying 
bar code in its normal bar-code-recognizing mode, and switches its 
processing to manually-written code recognition and conversion. The use of 
the indicia-identifying bar code allows the system to be adapted for 
recognition and conversion of destination codes of postal office systems 
in different countries and for sorting mail intended for other countries. 
The manually-written, machine-readable indicia and recognition/conversion 
system of the present invention can also be used for other applications 
besides postal code designations, for example, account number codes, 
credit card account codes, document, user, or product identification 
codes, etc.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The invention provides an overall method and related system for allowing a 
destination or identifying code to be manually written in a format which 
is also machine-readable and convertable with very low error rates to a 
numeric code for automated sorting or identification machinery. A 
preferred embodiment is described herein applying such method and system 
to the manual marking of machine-readable Zip code indicia on mail, both 
envelopes and packages, and for automated recognition and conversion of 
such indicia to corresponding numeric codes for automated sorting 
machinery. However, it is to be understood that the principles of the 
invention are broadly applicable to other fields of automated sorting 
and/or identification of manually-written, machine readable indicia. 
Referring to FIG. 3, manually-written, machine readable indicia is applied 
to a mail envelope 10 by hand stamping, printing, or applying an adhesive 
label, as generally indicated by reference numeral 14. In this version, 
which is adapted for marking Zip codes used by the U.S. Postal Service, 
the indicia includes code field markers 14a, which can be readily 
recognized by automated scanning or reading equipment, for designating the 
position, orientation, and length L of a manually-markable code field 14b 
between and below the markers 14a. The code field has a plurality of rows 
or columns of blank spaces for manually marking the digits of the 
destination or identification code in a format that is readily machine 
readable. In this example, the length of the code field accommodates the 
first five numbers of the Zip code, a hyphen, the more specific four 
numbers of the Zip code, a second hyphen, and two further digits which may 
be used to indicate the mailing rate, country code, or other Post Office 
codes. The depth of the code field encompasses ten rows of blank spaces, 
here, blank circles 14c, for marking the decimal numbers 0-9 corresponding 
to the Zip code. The dimensions and spacings of the rows of blank spaces 
may be established beforehand as a standard, and set for programmed 
reading by the scanning/reading equipment. Alternatively, the positions of 
the blank spaces 14c may be detected by the positions of the digit markers 
14d, and the depth and row spacings may be detected by the lower border 
14e of the indicia. 
As a further feature, the indicia 14 may include a bar code field 14f which 
establishes the lower extent of the manually-markable code field 14b and 
includes a predetermined indicia-identifying bar code sequence, e.g., 
representing the number sequence 9-0-9-0-9, which can be readily 
recognized by the reading equipment and used to switch the reading 
equipment from its normal bar code reading mode to a manually-written code 
reading mode. It is to be understood that conventional reading equipment 
operate by scanning a defined field as input graphics data, and a 
recognition program is used to interpret the input graphics data and 
recognize code entities in the defined field. Thus, to perform machine 
recognition of the manually-written code field, the reading equipment 
switches over from a bar code recognition program to a manually-written 
code recognition program when the predetermined bar code number sequence 
has been recognized. The indicia-identifying bar code field 14f may also 
include a further number sequence designating a particular country in 
which the indicia has standardized use. For example, if the number 
sequence designates the United States of America, then the reading of the 
markings in the code field 14b and conversion to a Zip+4 numeric code can 
be confirmed. 
In FIG. 5, another version of the indicia 14 and code field 14b is shown 
adapted for generic usage. In this version, the columns of the code field 
arranged along the length L correspond to the ten decimal digits 0-9, and 
a given number (11) of rows R of blank spaces are provided for darkening 
the digits of the postal area codes of a given country. For example, if 
the indicia-identifying bar code 14f has been pre-coded or pre-printed to 
designate the indicia as used in the United States of America, then the 
user may fill in five or nine rows for the U.S. postal Zip codes, and the 
program control of the automated reader will recognize and convert the 
corresponding five or nine digits. If the bar code 14f designates another 
country having a different number of digits in the postal area codes, then 
the automated reader will be programmed to recognize and convert the 
corresponding number of digits. Thus, the same system and reading/sorting 
equipment can be used in different countries for sorting mail destined for 
that country or other countries. The only requirement is that the user 
uses a rubber stamp or adhesive labels with the identifying bar code 
pre-coded or pre-printed to designate the country of intended destination. 
At the mail receiving end, a manually-written code recognition and 
conversion program is loaded with the mail sorting machinery. An example 
of the basic logic flow of the recognition/conversion program is 
illustrated in FIG. 4. At step 30, the mail sorting machinery scans the 
mail envelope in the usual manner. Upon detecting the code field markers 
14a, the program control shifts, at step 31a, to a manually-written code 
recognition and conversion (MWR/C) program. The position, orientation, and 
length L of the code field 14b are indicated by the markers 14a, and the 
dimensions and spacings of the rows of blank spaces are either established 
beforehand as a standard, or determined from the lower border 14e of the 
indicia. Alternatively, the mail sorting machinery is operated in its 
normal bar-code-recognizing mode, and upon recognizing the 
indicia-identifying bar code, the program control is shifted to the MWR/C 
program corresponding to the particular country designated by the country 
number code indicated in the indicia-identifying bar code. At step 32, the 
MWR/C program recognizes the darkened marks among the rows/columns of the 
code field and converts the data to the corresponding machine-formatted 
numeric code. At step 33, the program generates the appropriate sorting or 
identifying machinery control signal based upon the decoded numeric code. 
At step 34, the program is reset for scanning the next item. 
The manually-written indicia of the present invention allows the user to 
mark the destination (Zip) or identification code on an item in a 
machine-readable format, without the need for any special 
bar-code-printing equipment. The destination or identification code is 
easily marked by darkening the appropriate blank spaces of the code field 
of the indicia. The indicia can be readily applied to the article by 
stamping, printing, or by applying adhesive labels. The code recognition 
and conversion is carried simply by loading an additional program module 
to the standard automated sorting or identification machinery currently in 
use. Hand held scanners can be used with the same results as achieved with 
the automated or scanning equipment previously described. It is also 
within the scope of the invention for the indicia to include blank spaces 
for designating the class, for example, first, second, and third class 
type mail. The convenience and low cost of this approach has the potential 
for widespread adoption and use, thereby allowing new volumes of mail, 
transaction records, documents, etc., to be processed automatically. 
Numerous modifications and variations are of course possible in light of 
the principles of the invention disclosed above. All such modifications 
and variations are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of 
the invention, as defined in the following claims.