Apparatus for variable weight mail processing

Abstract: 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 (26) 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.

Description: Related Patents Attention is directed to U.S. Patent Number 5,119,306 entitled Mail Piece Weight Quality Control System and Method; U.S. Patent Number 5,005,124 entitled Method and Apparatus for Categorizing and Certifying Mail; U.S. Patent Number 5,077,694 entitled Distribution Mailing Systems Having a Control Database for Storing Mail Handling Categories Common to the Database of Selected Mailer Stations; United Kingdom Patent Number 2,226,988 and entitled Apparatus and Method for the Processing of Mail; and U.S. Patent Number 5,142,482 entitled Mailing System with Information Feedback. 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 in a quick and easy manner that sufficient postage payment has been made for the mail received from a mailer. 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. Patent No. 4,778,018. In GB-A-No. 2,226,988 there is disclosed a system for processing mail which includes a so-called "chronicle" device. Mail trays may be employed in this system. The purpose of including a "chronicle" device is so that mail pieces are accompanied by proof of payment of postage that is directly associated with a batch of mail, which system would save the Post Office time while providing the flexibility to a mailer that is required under the present business climate. The '988 document mentions that the information that would be supplied manually through the keyboard or through the computer would be the weight of the mail pieces, the class, the number of pieces to be mailed, the statement sheet number, and other appropriate information. It is also mentioned that the weight of each mail piece, if required, would be determined by the scale and the appropriate information conveyed to the weight address of a RAM. The '988 document however does not address or envisage the placing of either a fixed weight or a fixed dimension stack of mail into a mail tray. GB-A-No. 2,226,525 is directed to the verification of postage. Mail pieces, printed under control of a secure accounting system, include information corresponding to the amount of postage that the accounting system was authorised to dispense at the time the information was printed. Other data relating to the sender, amount of postage, class of mail and serial number may be provided, which may also be encrypted and printed in bar code form. There is disclosed, in GB-A-2,208,021, an inserter-based mail manifesting system which includes a controller that processes information read by a reader from inserts and generates a manifest that can accompany mail to a postal depository. The manifest is printed by a manifest printer under the control of the controller. In a case where a mail run in this system does not include mail pieces all of a standard weight, the weight information may not be available at the time the inserts are generated, and therefore cannot be part of the dash coded information carried thereby. A scale can be provided at the output of the inserter whereat each mail piece is weighed prior to being sent to the stacker. The scale then provides information relating to the weight of each mail piece to the controller and the rate or postage for each piece can be determined by the rate/weight table, preferably, stored in the non-volatile memory of the controller. This specification, like '988 and '525 does not envisage the placing of either a fixed weight stack or a fixed dimension stack of mail into a mail tray. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for providing an easy, fast opportunity to the Post Office to determine the accuracy of postage paid for a batch of mail, comprising: a mail processing unit for assembling mail pieces and identifying assembled mail pieces in accordance with their zip codes, a scale located downstream from said mail processing unit for weighing each mail piece, a data processor in communication with said mail processing unit and said scale for receiving zip code information from said mail processing unit and weight information from said scale, characterised by a traying station for receiving mail pieces after they have been weighed by said scale, the traying station being arranged to place mail pieces into trays, and a printer in communication with said data processor for printing a statement concerning the number and weight of the mail pieces in a tray at the traying station; wherein said traying station, under control of data received from the data processor places a fixed weight batch of mail in the tray. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for providing an easy, fast opportunity to the Post Office to determine the accuracy of postage paid for a batch of mail, comprising: a mail processing unit for assembling mail pieces and identifying assembled mail pieces in accordance with their zip codes, a scale located downstream from said mail processing unit for weighing each mail piece, a data processor in communication with said mail processing unit and said scale for receiving zip code information from said mail processing unit and weight information from said scale, characterised by a traying station for receiving mail pieces after they have been weighed by said scale, the traying station being arranged to place mail pieces into trays, and a printer in communication with said data processor for printing a statement concerning the number and weight of the mail pieces in a tray at the traying station; wherein the data processor determines the thickness of the mail pieces based upon the weights thereof; under the control of the data processor causes a fixed stack dimension of mail pieces to be placed in a tray; and wherein the weight of the resulting stack of mail in said tray is determined by the said data processor. A high speed scale such as that disclosed in the aforesaid U.S. Patent No. 4,778,018 can be used in a system operating in one of two modes. In the first mode, the scale is used to accumulate individual mail piece weights into an aggregate or batch weight of predetermined weight such as 227 grams (8 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 it 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. There now follows a description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, by way of example, with reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a system in which the invention can be practised, and Figures 2a and 2b show statement sheets that are produced by the system shown in Figure 1. With reference to Figure 1, a system is shown generally at 10 which can be used by a high volume mailer to either form mail batches of predetermined weight or for determining the weight of mail containing trays that are to be sent to a Post Office. The system includes a mail processor 12 capable of carrying out the functions of inserting, sealing, sorting and 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 Figure 1 double lines 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 Figure 2a, a statement sheet 24 is shown of the type that will accompany a tray for describing the contents of the tray. Figure 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 breaks 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 break 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. Patent 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 inform the data processor 16 of the number of mail pieces being processed as well as the zip codes of these mail pieces. The scale 14 will send data relating to the weight of each mail piece to the data processor 16. 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 breaks. 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 stack 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 on 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 on mail pieces in that tray and the total weight on 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 on all the trays that have been processed as well as the weight on each mail filled tray and the total postage required nor all the mail included within statement sheet 26. Although the number on mail pieces is represented by the statement sheets, 24, and 26 it will be appreciated that the weight data is controlling in determining accuracy on the postage due or paid. Even though the lent over mail pieces will not norm a fixed weight batch or a fixed stack dimension, they would be included in the totals on statement sheet 26. In this way, individual trays can be weighed and the weight on the trays with the mail therein can be checked taking into account the tare weight on the tray. By doing this, one can determine in the correct number on mail pieces has been placed inside on the trays and in 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 in the postage has been paid on all the mail received nor delivery.

Claims: A system for providing an easy, fast opportunity to the Post Office to determine the accuracy of postage paid for a batch of mail, comprising: a mail processing unit (12) for assembling mail pieces and identifying assembled mail pieces in accordance with their zip codes, a scale (14) located downstream from said mail processing unit (12) for weighing each mail piece, a data processor (16) in communication with said mail processing unit (12) and said scale (14) for receiving zip code information from said mail processing unit and weight information from said scale, characterised by a traying station (18) for receiving mail pieces after they have been weighed by said scale, the traying station (18) being arranged to place mail pieces into trays, and a printer (22) in communication with said data processor (16) for printing a statement concerning the number and weight of the mail pieces in a tray at the traying station (18); wherein said traying station (18), under control of data received from the data processor (16) places a fixed weight batch of mail in the tray. A system for providing an easy, fast opportunity to the Post Office to determine the accuracy of postage paid for a batch of mail, comprising: a mail processing unit (12) for assembling mail pieces and identifying assembled mail pieces in accordance with their zip codes, a scale (14) located downstream from said mail processing unit (12) for weighing each mail piece, a data processor (16) in communication with said mail processing unit (12) and said scale (14) for receiving zip code information from said mail processing unit and weight information from said scale, characterised by a traying station (18) for receiving mail pieces after they have been weighed by said scale, the traying station (18) being arranged to place mail pieces into trays, and a printer (22) in communication with said data processor (16) for printing a statement concerning the number and weight of the mail pieces in a tray at the traying station (18); wherein the data processor (16) determines the thickness of the mail pieces based upon the weights thereof; under the control of the data processor (16) causes a fixed stack dimension of mail pieces to be placed in a tray; and wherein the weight of the resulting stack of mail in said tray is determined by the said data processor (16).

Inventors: TAYLOR MICHAEL P, TAYLOR, MICHAEL P.
Applicants: PITNEY BOWES INC, PITNEY BOWES INC.
Application year: 1992
Main classification: B07C1
IPC codes: B07C1, G07B17