Abstract:
This invention creates a hierarchy of radio frequency identification tags that are related to the mail pieces in mail trays and the pallet on which the mail trays sit. This hierarchical method provides a layered approach that is designed to minimize the probability that a mailer or the post office will misassemble or misroute a mailing or elements of a mailing.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Reference is made to commonly assigned co-pending patent applications Docket No. F-457 filed herewith entitled “Method For Detecting And Redirecting Misdirected Mail” in the names of Ronald P. Sansone, Claude Zeller, Robert A. Cordery, Marc Morelli, Arthur Parkos, Leon A. Pintsov and Ronald Reichman; Docket No. F-483 entitled “Method For Processing And Delivering Registered Mail” in the name of Leon A. Pintsov; and Docket No. F-484 filed herewith entitled “Method For Detecting And Redirecting Major Mailer&#39;s Special Service Mail” in the name of Ronald P. Sansone. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates generally to the field of mailing systems and, more particularly, to systems for maintaining the integrity of a mailing. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Governments have created post offices for collecting, sorting and distributing the mail. The postal service typically charges mailers for delivering the mail. Mailers may pay the post office for its service by purchasing a stamp, i.e., a printed adhesive label, issued by the post office at specified prices that is affixed to all letters, parcels or other mail matter to show prepayment of postage. 
     Another means of payment accepted by the post office is mail that is metered by a postage meter. A postage meter is a mechanical or electromechanical device that maintains, through mechanical or “electronic registers” or “postal security devices,” an account of all postage printed, and the remaining balance of prepaid postage; and prints postage postmarks (indicia) or provides postage postmarks (indicia) information to a printer that are accepted by the postal service as evidence of the prepayment of postage. 
     Other methods of payment accepted by the post office are for manifest mail and permit mail. In a typical manifest mailing system, a mailer produces mail in accordance with a mail manifest list and determines the quantity of mail and weight thereof. Then the mailer prepares the appropriate postal forms and delivers the mail and forms to the post office. Then, the post office checks the manifest list, the appropriate forms and checks the quantity and weight of the mail. The post office also requires permit imprints to be printed on the mail piece. The mailer prepares postal forms and brings the mail and postal forms to the post office. The post office checks the forms, checks the mail pieces and confirms that the completed forms coincide with the checked mail pieces. Then the postal clerk debits the value of the postage placed on the mail pieces from the mailer&#39;s postal account. Groups of individuals and businesses that produce very large quantities of mail use manifest and permit mail. 
     Major mailers typically use manifest and permit mail for their bulk mailings. Correspondences, bills, sales literature, marketing material, advertisements, coupons, dunning letters, etc. may be inserted into mail pieces produced by major mailers. Files that represent the mail piece are typically stored in a computer where the files may be presorted for the trays in which they will be transported. 
     A disadvantage of the prior art is that it is difficult for the post office to maintain the integrity of the mail pieces in a bulk mailing. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by reducing the cost to the mailer and the post office or other carrier to prepare and process bulk mailings while maintaining the integrity of the mail pieces in a bulk mailing. 
     The foregoing is accomplished by constructing a hierarchy of radio frequency identification tags that are related to the mail pieces in mail trays and the pallet on which the mail trays sit. This hierarchical method provides a layered approach that is designed to minimize the probability that a mailer or the post office will misassemble or misroute a mailing or elements of a mailing. 
     From a mailing integrity point of view, a cross-reference between hierarchical components of the invention is established, namely mail piece, tray or sack containing mail pieces, palette containing trays, and vehicle containing palettes. The hierarchical components of the system are typically under the control of different entities. For example, mail pieces and trays and sacks are under the control of the mailer during the mail generation process. On the other hand, palettes and vehicles are under the control of the post office and/or an independent transportation contractor. Thus, various means of identification may be employed and, when desired, the information may be encrypted for the exchange of information between the hierarchical components; i.e., communication networks, telephone, internet, CD ROMs, etc. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a drawing of a mail piece having a radio frequency identification tag; 
     FIG. 2 is a drawing of a top view of a mail tray containing mail pieces; 
     FIG. 3 is a drawing of a side view of a palette containing a plurality of mail trays; 
     FIG. 4 is a drawing of an end view of a vehicle containing a plurality of palettes; 
     FIG. 5 is a drawing showing the process steps in the tracking of bulk mailings through the post office; and 
     FIG. 6 is a drawing showing the data process steps that enable the post office to audit mailer quality and compliance while providing mail piece track-ability from creation to delivery of the mail piece. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings in detail and, more particularly, to FIG. 1, the reference character  11  represents a mail piece that has a sender address field  12 , a recipient address field  13 , a postal indicia  14 , a radio frequency identification tag  15 , and a bar code  16  that contains specified information. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tag  15  may be the 4×6 RFID Smart Label Philips manufactured by RAFEC USA of 999 Oakmont Plaza Drive, Suite 200, Westmont, Ill. 60559. The information contained in tag  15  is the sender address field  12 , recipient address field  13 , and reference information for tray, palette, and vehicle units that may contain a mail piece with a tag  15 . The reference information in tag  15  is a unique identifier of the mail piece. The unique identifier may contain an eight-digit mailer account number, a four-digit date indicator, a six-digit tray identification, three digits to identify the mail piece within the tray, the electronic or e-mail address of the mailer, six digits to indicate a value for the contents of the mail piece, four digits to indicate the contents of the mail piece, and a three-digit code that identifies the mail carrier. If the mail pieces have been presorted by the mailer, tag  15  may also contain the postal code, i.e., zip code, of the recipient to allow for the mail pieces to be returned to the tray if they are accidentally removed from the tray. 
     The information that represents the value of the contents and the information that indicates the contents in tag  15  may be encrypted or digitally signed for the purpose of protecting the information from unauthorized use. It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that other information may be used to uniquely identify mail piece  11 . The information written into tag  15  may be by a radio frequency identification tag printer (not shown). The radio frequency identification tag printer may be the Zebra R140 printer manufactured by Zebra Technologies Corporation of 333 Corporate Woods Parkway, Vernon Hills, Ill., 60061. Indicia  14  and tag  15  may be placed on a paper tape  17  that is affixed to mail piece  11 , or indicia  14  may be printed directly on mail piece  11 , and tag  15  affixed to mail piece  11 . 
     FIG. 2 is a drawing of a top view of a mail tray containing mail pieces  11 . Mail pieces  11  have a tag  15  (not shown) affixed to mail pieces  11 . Mail tray  21  contains a plurality of mail pieces  11  that are placed in tray  21  in a manner that one of the edges of mail pieces  11 , preferably the top edge of mail pieces  11 , run along the top of tray  21 . Tray  21  has a front panel  23 , a back panel  24 , and side panels  25  as well as a bottom panel (not shown). Mail pieces  11  have been placed in tray  21  in such a manner that the mailer may be qualified to receive a postal discount. RFID tag  28  is affixed to front panel  23  of tray  21 . The information in tag  28  may be an eight-digit mailer account number, a four-digit date indicator, a six-digit tray identification, an eleven-digit postal code, an electronic or e-mail address of the local carrier office, and three digits to identify the mail piece within the tray. 
     FIG. 3 is a drawing of a side view of a palette  45  containing a plurality of mail trays. Trays  21  and  30 - 44  are held by palette  45 . RFID tag  58  is affixed to palette  45 . Tag  58  contains information indicating the mailer&#39;s account numbers of the mailers having trays in the palette, a code indicating the identity of the local postal operator who formed the palette, a date indicator, a list of trays in the palette, the destination of the palette, the electronic or e-mail address of the local carrier office and the identity of the vehicle that is going to transport the palette. 
     During the processes of mail creation, tray formation, palette formation and transportation, broadly accessible and expandable data bases  151  and  154  (FIG. 6) are maintained. For example, during the mail creation process, the mailer creates identities of individual mail pieces and trays and places them in accessible and expandable data bases. These data bases are made available to all subsequent processes. For instance, during palette formation, the data base is updated by the postal operator by adding palettes identities to the palette. 
     FIG. 4 is a drawing of an end view of a vehicle containing a plurality of palettes. Vehicle  60  contains palettes  45  and  61 - 68 , wherein each palette holds a plurality of mail trays. RFID tag  58  is affixed to palette  45 , and RFID tag  71  is affixed to palette  61 . RFID tag  72  is affixed to palette  62 , and RFID tag  73  is affixed to palette  63 . RFID tag  74  is affixed to palette  64 , and RFID tag  75  is affixed to palette  65 . RFID tag  76  is affixed to palette  66 , and RFID tag  77  is affixed to palette  67 . RFID tag  78  is affixed to palette  68 . RFID tag  80  is affixed to vehicle  60 . Tag  80  contains information indicating the owner of the vehicle, the identity of the vehicle, the operator of the vehicle, a list of palettes in the vehicle, the date, a list of vehicle destinations, flight number or route of the vehicle and the electronic or e-mail address of the owner of the vehicle. 
     Tags  15 ,  28 ,  58  and  80  may also contain information integrity data. Information integrity data is data that provides a verifier assurance that the data in the identifier has not been deliberately changed or inadvertently altered. For example, for the detection of inadvertent errors detection, error correction codes well-known in the art may be employed, while for detection of deliberate alteration of information, cryptographic tools such as digital signatures or message authentication codes may be used. 
     FIG. 5 is a drawing showing the process steps in the tracking of bulk mailings through the post office. The process begins in block  100  where RFID tag  15  is affixed to mail piece  11 . The information contained in tag  15  is the sender address field  12 , recipient address field  13 , and reference information for tray, palette, and vehicle units that may contain a mail piece with a tag  15 . The reference information in tag  15  is a unique identifier of the mail piece. The unique identifier may contain, an eight-digit mailer account number, a four-digit date indicator, a six-digit tray identification, three digits to identify the mail piece within the tray, the electronic or e-mail address of the mailer, six digits to indicate a value for the contents of the mail piece, four digits to indicate the contents of the mail piece, and a three-digit code that identifies the mail carrier. 
     In block  101 , mail piece  11  is placed in tray  21 . The remaining mail pieces that are placed in tray  21  may or may not contain RFID tags. The mailer prepares additional trays for the mailing in block  102 . In block  103 , every tray will be issued a RFID tag. As mail pieces are added to the tray, the RFID tag on the tray is programmed such that it contains information about the mail pieces in the tray. Once the tray is filled with mail pieces, the tray is placed on palette  45  that is a part of a bulk mail shipment in block  104 . In block  104 , RFID tag  58  is programmed to contain information about the trays held by the palette and information regarding the bulk mail shipment. In block  105 , trays are placed on other palettes, and RFID tags that contain information about the trays held by the palette and information regarding the bulk mail shipment are affixed to the palettes. 
     In block  106 , additional palettes that comprise the bulk mail shipment are formed. In block  107 , RFID tag  80  is programmed to contain all the information regarding the bulk mail shipment. Tag  80  contains information about all the palettes contained within the shipment and shipper information. Tag  80  also contains information regarding the shipment&#39;s relationship to the mailing. Thus, tag  80  is programmed to contain all of the information connected to the mailing, including carriers, information about the mailing&#39;s destination, etc. In block  108 , RFID tag  80  is attached to the mailing document and submitted to the post office. 
     In block  109 , information pertaining to the previously programmed RFID tags is sent to and stored in a post office central computer. Then in block  110 , bulk mail shipment arrives at the entry post office, where the tags are scanned to verify the integrity of the mailing and provide induction information such as time of arrival, time of acceptance and other related information to the post office. At this point in block  111 , the scanned information is sent to and stored in the post office Central computer. Then in block  112 , the post office breaks down and scans the palettes and sends the scanned information to the post office central computer. Now in block  113 , the post office sends the palettes to distribution node post offices, where the palettes are further broken down and scanned. Next in block  114 , the scanned information is sent to and stored in the post office Central computer. Then in block  115 , the post office sends the mail trays to the appropriate local post offices. Now in block  116 , the mail trays are scanned and the scanned information is sent to and stored in the post office central computer. Next in block  117 , the mail pieces contained in the trays are delivered to the recipients. 
     The process of entering the information from the RFID tags into a central computer along with the information scanned by the post office from the RFID tags as the mail pieces move through the post office system provide an end-to-end trace of the movement of the mailing without having to process the mail pieces individually as they move through the system. This process also provides a beginning to end audit of the tracking of a mailing at the macro level as well as a systematic quality check from the creation of the mail piece to the delivery of the mail piece. 
     FIG. 6 is a drawing showing the data process steps that enable the post office to audit mailer quality and compliance while providing mail piece track-ability from creation to delivery of the mail piece. The process begins in block  150  where a mailing is created, and RFID tags are enabled. As the mailing is assembled in a plurality of trays and palettes, the information that is programmed into the RFID tags is stored in a relational data bases  151 . The information stored in data bases  151  provides a complete hierarchical view of the mailing. Once the mailing is completed, the information from data bases  151  is uploaded to a post office central computer in block  153 , where mail validation information may be performed, such as mail piece face images, weight, etc., to provide the basis for mailers&#39; discounts. As the electronic information regarding the mailing is provided to the post office in block  153 , the physical mailing, i.e., mail pieces, trays and palettes are delivered to the entry post office. 
     As the mail is processed through the post office, data bases  154  will be updated with routing and handling information. Once the mailing reaches the local post offices in block  155 , and is broken down and sorted for delivery, the mailer up charge for undelivered items is calculated and submitted to the mailer for payment. 
     The above specification describes a new and improved method for maintaining the integrity of a mailing. It is realized that the above description may indicate to those skilled in the art additional ways in which the principles of this invention may be used without departing from the spirit. Therefore, it is intended that this invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.