Abstract:
A method that enables the recipient to receive notification of the letter mail, flats and/or packages (mail) that the recipient is going to receive prior to the delivery of the mail. The recipient is then able to inform a post or courier e.g., Federal Express®, Airborne®, United Parcel Service®, DHL®, etc. of the manner in which the recipient would like the mail delivered. The post and courier hereinafter will be referred to as “carrier”. For instance, the recipient may want the mail physically delivered to their house faster or slower, or the mail physically redirected to the recipient&#39;s temporary address, or physically delivered to the recipient&#39;s agent, or physically delivered to the recipient&#39;s attorney, or physically returned to the mailer, or have the carrier open the physical mail and have the post e-mail or fax the contents of the envelope to the recipient and/or parties designated by the recipient.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Reference is made to commonly assigned patent application Ser. No. 09/818,721 filed herewith entitled “Sender Elected Messaging Services” in the names of Ronald P. Sansone, Robert A. Cordery and Donald G. Mackay; Ser. No. 09/817,998 filed herewith entitled “Messaging Services For The Visually Impaired” in the name of Ronald P. Sansone; Ser. No. 09/818,800 filed herewith entitled “Messaging Services For Uniquely Identified Mail”; Ser. No. 09/818,480 filed herewith entitled “Recipient Elected Messaging Services For Mail That Is Transported In Trays Or Tubs” in the name of Ronald P. Sansone; Ser. No. 09/818,195 filed herewith entitled “Method For Determining If Mail Contains Life Harming Materials” in the name of Ronald P. Sansone; and Ser. No. 09/818,277 filed herewith entitled “Method For A Carrier To Determine The Location Of A Missing Person” in the name of Ronald P. Sansone. 
   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention relates generally to the field of mail delivery systems and more, particularly, to systems that may deliver mail by physical and/or electronic means. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
   People have directly transmitted information from one person to another. Information was first transmitted by spoken words and later by written words. Writings enabled people to transmit information by messengers from a location in which the sender of the writing was present to another location where the receiver was present. In time, postal services were developed in which a person would deliver letters to the post office in one city and an agent of the post office would deliver that letter to a post office in another city, where the letter mail would be picked up by the person to whom the letter was sent. 
   Ever since the numeric codification of streets and buildings received general acceptance, an individual&#39;s name and household postal address have been linked. The sender of a letter or package would deliver a letter or package to the post that had the correct recipient postal address, and the post would deliver the letter or package to the numeric street address of the recipient of the letter or package. A correct recipient postal address for the delivery of the letter or package to the recipient included: the name of the recipient; the street address of the recipient; the city and state of the recipient; and the zip code of the recipient. Thus, the correct recipient postal address is usually the actual location of the recipient. 
   Typically, it takes the post three to five days to deliver letters and/or packages to a recipient. Sometimes, recipients of letters and packages like to know what letters and packages they are going to receive before they receive them. For instance, if someone is going on a trip, they may want to receive their bills, e.g., credit card, electric, gas, oil, hospital, doctor, etc. before they leave on the trip so that they may pay the bills before a finance charge for late payment of the bill is applied to their account. Someone may also want to receive a package before they go on a trip so that they may take the contents of the package on the trip. The recipient may also want to delay delivery of a particular letter or package until they return from their trip. The reason for the foregoing may be that the recipient does not want to retrieve the letter or package at the post office or have the letter or package waiting at a vacant house. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a method that enables a receiver or receiver&#39;s agent (hereinafter “recipient”) to obtain notification of the letters, flats and/or packages (mail) that the recipient is going to receive prior to the delivery of the mail. The recipient is then able to inform a post or courier e.g., Federal Express®, Airborne, ® United Parcel Service®, DHL®, etc. of the manner in which the recipient would like the mail delivered. The post and courier, hereinafter, will be referred to as “carrier”. For instance, the recipient may want the mail physically delivered to their house faster or slower, or the mail physically redirected to the recipient&#39;s temporary address, or physically delivered to the recipient&#39;s agent, or physically delivered to the recipient&#39;s attorney, or physically returned to the mailer, or have the carrier open the physical mail and have the carrier e-mail or fax the contents of the mailpiece to the recipient and/or parties designated by the recipient. 
   This invention accomplishes the foregoing by: depositing with the carrier mail containing the recipient&#39;s name and physical address and the sender&#39;s name and physical address; capturing the name and physical address of the recipient and the sender; translating the name and physical address of the recipient into an e-mail address; notifying the recipient via e-mail of the availability of the deposited mail; notifying the carrier via e-mail of the manner in which the recipient would like the mail delivered; and delivering mail to the recipient in the manner specified by the recipient to the carrier. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
       FIG. 1A  is a drawing of a metered mailpiece; 
       FIG. 1B  is a drawing of a permit mailpiece; 
       FIG. 1C  is a drawing of a stamped mailpiece; 
       FIG. 1D  is a drawing of a flat or package that is going to be delivered by a carrier; 
       FIG. 2  is a drawing showing how this invention may be used by a post in the processing of letter mail; 
       FIG. 3  is a drawing showing how this invention may be used by the post and/or a courier in the processing of flats and packages; 
       FIG. 4  is a drawing of the information that appears on one or more of receiving devices  36  and 
       FIG. 5  is a drawing of major mailer site  90 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring now to the drawings in detail and more particularly to  FIG. 1A , the reference character  11  represents a mailpiece that has a sender address field  12 , a recipient address field  13  and a postal indicia  14 . 
     FIG. 1B  is a drawing of a permit mailpiece. Mailpiece  15  has a sender address field  16 , a recipient address field  17  and a permit  18 . 
     FIG. 1C  is a drawing of a stamped mailpiece. Mailpiece  19  has a sender address field  20 , a recipient address field  9  and a stamp  10 . 
     FIG. 1D  is a drawing of a flat or package that is going to be delivered by a carrier. Package  40  has a label  39  affixed thereto. Label  39  has a sender address field  41 , a recipient address field  42  and may have other sender information, e.g., the sender&#39;s phone number  44 . Indicia  43  is affixed to label  39 . Indicia  43  may be a postal indicia or courier symbology. 
     FIGS. 1A-1D  show various methods of evidence for the payment of postage. It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that additional methods of evidence for the payment of postage exist. 
     FIG. 2  is a drawing showing how this invention may be used by a post in the processing of letter mail. Letter mail that is deposited in trays  6  and delivered to the post is read by multiple optical character reader (“MLOCR”)  23 . Collection letter mail may be; metered letter mail that is produced at a mailer site  7  or a sender household  8  by a postage meter or a personal computer meter; stamped mail; or permit mail. Collection letter mail is placed in collection mail input  21 , e.g., mail boxes or delivered to the United States Postal Service unsorted. Collection letter mail is sent to advanced facer canceller (“AFCS”)  22 . AFCS  22  first faces the letter mail. Then AFCS  22  electronically identifies and separates prebarcoded mail, handwritten addresses and machine-imprinted address pieces for faster processing through automation. Letter mail that AFCS  22  determines is optical character readable is sent to MLOCR  23 . MLOCR  23  reads the entire address on the letter mail: sprays a bar code on the mail; and then sorts the mail. Letter mail that is able to be scanned and sorted by MLOCR  23  is sent to bar code sorter/code printer (“BCS”)  24 . Letter mail that the mailer has prebarcoded and contains a facing identification mark is sent to a printer contained in BCS  24 . 
   Trayed mail  82  (mail in which the sender is entitled to discounts) that is produced at a major mailer site  90  ( FIG. 5 ) is sent to a delivery bar code sorter/code printer (“DBCS”)  25  or a carrier sequence bar code sorter/code printer (“CSBCS”)  26 . Sorters  25  and  26  sort the letter mail in the order that the mail is going to be delivered by postal carrier  27 . Letter mail that AFCS  22  determines is not optical character readable is sent to bar code sorter/code printer (“BCS”) 28 . Letter mail that AFCS  22  determines is not optical character readable is sent to bar code sorter/code printer (“BCS”)  28 . Letter mail that AFCS  22  obtains electronic images from and letter mail that MLOCR  23  obtains electronic images from transfers the electronic images to RBCS  32 . RBCS  32  matches the look up zip code for the letter mailpieces from AFCS  22  and merges them. RBCS  32  electronically transmits the bar code information to sorter  28  where the bar code information is sprayed on the mailpieces. Letter mail that is able to be scanned and sorted by sorters  24  and  28  is sent to DBCS  25 . Sorters  25  and  26  sort the letter mail in the order that the mail is going to be delivered by postal carrier  27 , or hold the mail for recipient diversion for a specified period of time in divert mail options rerouting controller  62 . 
   Letter mail that can not be scanned and sorted by sorters  24  and  28  is sent to LSM  29 . Letter mail that can be sorted by LSM  29  is sent to hand casing  30 . Hand casing  30  is the process in which the postal carrier sorts the letter mail in the order that the letter mail is going to be delivered by postal carrier  27 . Letter mail that can not be sorted by LSM  29  is sent to manual process  31 . Manual lookup/scan  31  attempts to classify the previously rejected letter mailpiece to redirect the mailpiece; declare the mailpiece dead; or manually re-code the mailpiece for redelivery. Then the letter mailpieces that have not been processed in manual lookup, scan and sortation process  31  are sent to dead letters  33 . In process  31 , an operator may determine the address of the recipient and produce a label to be placed on the letter mail. Then the letter mail would go to postal hand casing  30  where the mail is sorted in the order that the mail is going to be delivered by postal carrier  27 . 
   Letter mail that can not be faced and cancelled by AFCS  22  is sent to manual lookup/scan  31 . Manual lookup/scan  31  attempts to classify the previously rejected letter mailpiece to redirect the mailpiece; declare the mailpiece dead; or manually recode the mailpiece for redelivery. Then the letter mail that manual process  31  is able to classify is sent to postal carrier hand casing  30  before it is delivered by postal carrier  27 . 
   RBCS  32  electronically transmits the bar code information that represents the destination of the letter mailpiece and the party to whom the mailpiece is to be delivered and the image of the face of the mailpiece to data center  34 . The aforementioned scanners scan all of the information appearing on the face of the letter mail, e.g., the sender&#39;s name and address  12  ( FIG. 1A ), the recipient&#39;s name and address  13  and postal indicia  14 . The scanned information is transferred to accept process images  52 . Then the information is sent to encode, sort, store  53 . At this point, the recipient&#39;s physical address is verified by checking postal address data base  54 , and the recipient&#39;s e-mail address is determined from e-mail data base  55 . Temporary data base  56  is then searched to determine whether or not the recipient has left any forwarding addresses. Encode, sort, store  53  then encodes and sorts the information obtained from data bases  54 ,  55  and  56 . 
   The aforementioned encoded and sorted information is stored in mail image data base+archive  57 . Then the mail image information is sent to manage mail image db  58  where the various options and the costs associated therewith that the recipient may have for delivering the information contained in the letter mail are determined. Then the mail images and options that the recipient has for receiving the letter mail are sent to send user images  59 , where the information appearing on the face of the letter mail in alphanumeric and graphic form and the options in alphanumeric and graphic form, the recipient has for receiving the letter mail is transmitted to receiving device  36  (personal computer, television, facsimile machine, personal data assistant, etc.), which is located at the recipient&#39;s business or household  35 . Device  36  also may be a mobile device located with the recipient for use outside the recipient&#39;s business or household  35 . The options that the recipient has for diverting the letter mail are described in the description of  FIG. 4 . 
   The recipient may use device  36  (personal computer, facsimile machine, personal data assistant, etc.) located at the recipient&#39;s business or household  35  to inform, receive and process user options  61 , located at data center  34 , of the manner in which the letter mail should be delivered. The recipient may also use a touch tone and/or voice telephone  87  to inform receive &amp; process user options  61  of the manner in which the recipient would like the letter mail displayed on the receiving device  36 , e.g., television delivered. For instance, the recipient may want the letter mail physically delivered to the recipient&#39;s house faster or slower, or the letter mail physically redirected to the recipient&#39;s temporary address, or physically delivered to the recipient&#39;s agent, or physically delivered to the recipient&#39;s attorney, or physically returned to the mailer, or have the post open the letter mail and have the post e-mail or fax the contents of the letter mail to the recipient and/or parties designated by the recipient. 
   At this juncture, the recipient may inform options  61  via a device  36  of the manner in which the recipient would like the letter mail processed. Options  61  will then inform the recipient via device  36  of the cost to the recipient to process the letter mail in the manner selected by the recipient. The recipient may then inform the post to deliver the letter mail in the manner selected by the recipient. The recipient&#39;s selected manner of letter mail processing is forwarded to options rerouting controller  62 . If the post specified time to deliver the letter mail has not been reached, the letter mail is sent to recipient options  64  and delivered in the manner selected by the recipient in optional diversion processes  65 . Then optional diversion processes  65  informs manage mail image data base  58  to archive the image and also to notify bill user and pay post couriers  66  to bill the recipient and pay the post. At this point, the next letter mail image is ready to be processed. 
   The letter mail may then be delivered to the recipient at mail box  37  at a faster or slower rate than that selected by the sender; held by the post for a specified amount of time and then delivered to an address specified by the recipient; opened, and the contents of the letter mail faxed to recipient-selected fax numbers; opened, and the contents of the letter mail faxed to recipient-selected fax numbers, and then the letter mail may be delivered to the physical address specified by the recipient; opened, and the contents of the letter mail e-mailed to recipient-selected e-mail addresses; or opened, and the contents of the letter mail e-mailed to recipient-selected e-mail addresses, and then the letter mail may be delivered to the physical address specified by the recipient. The recipient may also have instructed the post to return the mail to the sender, to destroy the mail, or to recycle the paper in the letter mail. Receive &amp; process user options  61  will also send the cost of the recipient selected manner of delivery to bill user &amp; pay post/couriers  66  so that data center  34  may inform the post to debit the recipients account or send a bill to the recipient. 
     FIG. 3  is a drawing showing how this invention may be used by a post or courier in the processing of packages and flats. Packages and flats that are deposited with the carrier at sender mail input  50  are scanned by scan/print ID image to text format/sort send  51 . Scan/print ID image to text format/sort send  51  scans all of the information appearing on the face of the package or flat, e.g., as in  FIG. 1D , the sender&#39;s address  41 , the sender&#39;s phone number  44 , the recipients address  42  and courier symbology  43 . The scanned information is coded, formatted and sorted, and the physical flat or package is sent to internal routing for physical delivery of the package or flat  63 . The aforementioned information is transferred to accept process images  52 , which is located at data center  34 . Then the information is sent to encode, sort, store  53 . At this point, the recipient&#39;s physical address is verified by checking postal address  54 , and the recipient&#39;s e-mail address is determined from e-mail  55 . Temp.  56  is then searched to determine whether or not the recipient has left any forwarding addresses. Encode, sort, store  53  then encodes and sorts the information obtained from data centers  54 ,  55  and  56 . 
   The aforementioned encoded and sorted information is stored in mailpiece images DB+archive  57 . Then the package or flat image information is sent to manage mail image DB  58  where the various options and the costs associated therewith that the recipient may have for delivering the information contained in the package or flat are determined. Then the mail images and options that the recipient has for receiving the package or flat are sent to send users images  59 , where the information appearing on the face of the package or flat in alphanumeric and graphic form and the options in alphanumeric and graphic form the recipient has for receiving the package or flat are transmitted to receiving device  36  (personal computer, television, facsimile machine, personal data assistant, etc.), which is located at the recipient&#39;s business or household  35 . The recipient may use device  36  (personal computer, facsimile machine, personal data assistant, etc.) located at the recipient&#39;s business or household  35  to inform, receive, and process user recipient options  61 , located at data center  34 , of the manner in which the package or flat should be delivered. The recipient may also use a touch tone and/or voice phone  87  to inform receive &amp; process user options  61  of the manner in which the recipient would like the package or flat displayed on the receiving device  36 , e.g., television delivered. For instance, the recipient may want the package or flat physically delivered to the recipient&#39;s house faster or slower, or the package or flat physically redirected to the recipient&#39;s temporary address, or physically delivered to the recipient&#39;s agent, or physically delivered to the recipient&#39;s attorney, or physically returned to the mailer, or have the post open the package or flat and have the post email or fax the contents of the package or flat to the recipient and/or parties designated by the recipient. 
   At this juncture, the recipient may inform receive &amp; process user options  61  via a device  36  of the manner in which the recipient would like the package or flat processed. Receive &amp; process user options  61  will then inform the recipient via device  36  of the cost to the recipient to deliver the package or flat in the manner selected by the recipient. The recipient may then inform the carrier to deliver the package or flat in the manner selected by the recipient. The recipient&#39;s selected manner-specified time to deliver the package or flat has not been reached or the package or flat is at internal routing for physical processing  63 , the package or flat will be sent to options re-routing controller  62  and delivered in the manner selected by the recipient in route mail options  65 . Then route mail options  65  informs manage mail image data base  58  to archive the image and also to notify bill user &amp; pay carriers  66  to bill the recipient and pay the carrier. At this point, the next package or flat image is ready to be processed. 
   The package or flat may then be delivered to the recipient at mail box  37  at a faster or slower rate than that selected by the sender; held by the courier for a specified amount of time and then delivered to an address specified by the recipient; opened, and the contents of the package or flat faxed to recipient selected fax numbers; opened and the contents of the package or flat faxed to recipient-selected fax numbers, and then the package or flat may be delivered to the physical address specified by the recipient; opened, and the contents of the package or flat e-mailed to recipient-selected e-mail addresses; or opened, and the contents of the package or flat e-mailed to recipient-selected e-mail addresses, and then the package or flat may be delivered to the physical address specified by the recipient. The recipient may also have instructed the post or courier to return the mail to the sender or to destroy the contents of the package or flat or recycle the contents of the package or flat. Receive &amp; process user options  61  will also send the cost of the recipient-selected manner of delivery to bill user &amp; pay carriers  66  so that the carrier may debit the recipient&#39;s account or send a bill to the recipient. 
     FIG. 4  is a drawing of the information that appears on one or more of receiving devices  36 . The information may appear on the display of a personal computer, the screen of a television set, or paper  70  printed by a printer or facsimile machine. An image of the face of a letter mailpiece is shown at  71  and  72 , and an image of the face of a flat or package is shown at  73 . Data associated with letter mailpiece  71  is shown at  74 , and data associated with letter mailpiece  72  is shown at  75 . Data associated with package or flat  73  is shown at  76 . The options that the recipient has for diverting the mail is shown at  77 , and the time that the recipient would like delivery is shown at  78 . It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that additional services other than those shown at  77  may be added. It will also be obvious when the recipient clicks on one of the items in  77  the carrier will have a record of the item clicked on, so that a work order and receipt record may be established. 
     FIG. 5  is a drawing of major mailer site  90  that is used in the production of mailpieces for trays  82  (shown in  FIG. 2 ). A worksharing mail process application mainframe  91  is located at site  90 . Mainframe computer  91  performs preprocessing of the letter mailpiece by controlling the content and composition of the letter mailpiece as well as the address management, presortation postal requirements and postal process bar code requirements. Computer  91  is coupled to postal address data base  92 , postal discount rules  93 , and tray routes db  94 . Mainframe  91  utilizes postal address database  92 , postal discount rules  93 , and tray routes dB  94  to instruct content printer  96  to print the material that is required for the mailing, e.g., information appearing on the face of the letter mailpiece, and material that is going to be inserted into the mailpiece. Inserter+meter  97  inserts the material into the correct mailpiece, seals the mailpiece, applies the correct postage to the mailpiece, places the mailpiece in the proper tray  82  and prepares documentation for the mailpieces in tray  82 . Mainframe  91  will cause tray label printer  101  to print a label according to mail traying process  100  for the tray  82  that inserter+meter  97  is filling. Then tray  82  containing the letter mailpieces goes to tray routing and booking process  102  and shipping process  103 . When tray  82  is in shipping process  103 , postal discount acceptance document printer  104  will be instructed by computer  91  to print the proper postal documentation for the letter mailpieces in tray  82 . After postal discount rules  93  places the proper documentation in tray  82 , tray  82  is ready to be shipped to DBCS  25  or CSBCS  26  ( FIG. 2 ). 
   The above specification describes a new and improved method that enables a recipient to inform a carrier of the manner in which the recipient would like the mail delivered. 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.