Patent Publication Number: US-2006016738-A1

Title: Addressing and printing apparatus and method

Description:
This application claims priority of U.S. Ser. No. 60/588,531, filed Jul. 16, 2004. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD  
      The invention relates to mail processing for delivery, and in particular, to the use of prearranged or pre-ordered material used to package groups of letters, flats and small parcels to facilitate delivery of the mail.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Each day the United States Postal Service (USPS) receives, sorts and delivers millions of mail pieces to millions of postal patrons across the United States. In order to sort this huge volume of mail pieces faster and more efficiently, a number of different methods, machines and systems have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,263, issued Dec. 9, 2003 to Hendrickson et al., proposes the use of staging towers disposed over a conveyor for collating flat mail pieces onto the conveyor. U.S. Pat. No. 6,555,776 issued Apr. 29, 2003 to Roth et al. discloses a system for sorting letters and flats in a single feed one pass mixed mail sequencer. Schererz et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/969,274, filed Oct. 2, 2001 (Publication No. U.S. 20020070149) is directed to a mixed mail sorting machine. Pippin et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/142,348, filed May 9, 2002 (Publication No. U.S. 200300386065) discloses an apparatus and method for mail sorting in which one or more delivery robots receive mail pieces and travel along a track to deliver the mail pieces to one of a plurality of destination slots.  
      Currently, mail carriers deliver mail pieces, including letters, flats and parcels, to postal patrons on a daily basis. At local postal offices, carriers receive mail for delivery from a number of sources, which may be unsorted or sorted to varying degrees. Letter mail typically arrives in several separate streams. First, manual letter mail origination from a processing facility arrives at the local postal office in the early morning hours. This mail may be pre-sorted by carrier route before delivery at the processing facility manual cases or through an automated sort. The mail carrier cases this mail to place it in delivery point order. Second, delivery sequenced letter mail arrives in trays that the carrier takes directly onto his or her route. Finally, the carrier receives non-automated enhanced carrier route letters that are prepared in delivery point sequence or line-of-travel order. The carrier may case this mail or take it directly onto his route.  
      In addition to letter mail, the carrier will receive tubs of carrier route flats from the processing facility which have been prepared by automated systems. The carrier will also receive manually prepared carrier route flats. The flats can either be delivered to the local postal office by the processing facility where the flats have been crossed docked or sorted on a Small Bundle Parcel Sorter (SBPS) or delivered directly from the mailer via destination unit drop shipment.  
      Parcels constitute another stream of mail pieces that the carrier receives. Parcels may arrive from the processing facility or directly from the mailer. Parcels are sorted to delivery route at the local postal office.  
      The mail carrier arranges the mail in manual cases and/or tubs based upon the practicalities of the route and the mix of mail to be delivered. After the casing operation has been completed, the carrier pulls the mail down from the cases and places each bundle or mail piece in delivery order sequence in a hard plastic tray. As each tray is filled, it is placed in a hamper. Thus, the carrier ends up with multiple containers of different types of mail. Carrier casing, pull down and fingering through multiple containers of mail is an inefficient, time consuming operation. Carrier productivity could be greatly enhanced if the carrier were to spend more time delivering mail than performing casing and sorting operations. Thus, there is a desire among postal services world wide to automate these manual operations.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      A method of processing unsorted mail pieces for delivery includes the steps of: (a) scanning the mail piece for destination information, (b) sorting the mail pieces onto a plurality of stacks, (c) transmitting delivery point destination information for each of the stack to a system controller, the system controller transmitting the information to a printer, (d) printing destination information for each of the stacks on wrapping material, the destination information being printed in human readable form, and (e) wrapping each stack with a section of wrapping material having human readable destination information printed on the wrapping material to create a bundle of mail pieces destined for the same delivery point. In one variation, the system controller transmits the information to a printer controller which, in turn, transmits the destination information to the printer. After wrapping, the bundles are loaded into a container. The amount of mail loaded in the container may be monitored with one or both of a proximity switch which measures the level of the stack of bundles in the container or a scale which monitors the weight of the container. When the level of the bundles of mail in the container reaches a predetermined height or the weight of the container reaches a predetermined amount, the system controller signals for an automated or manual replacement of the container with an empty container.  
      In another aspect, one or more dimensions of each stack of mail pieces is determined as the stacks are conveyed to the wrapping machine using detectors such as photo cells, an encoder or proximity switches. The system controller utilizes this information to determine the amount of wrapping material required to wrap the stack. The system controller also utilizes the dimensions of the stack to determine where the human readable destination information should be printed on the wrapping material. Preferably, the destination information appears in substantially the same location on each bundle of mail pieces and further, may be placed so as to not obscure advertising appearing on the mail pieces. Preferably, the wrapping material is thin plastic film which may be opaque or transparent, depending upon the particular application. One wrapping machine believed to be suitable for use in the practice of the invention is the Eclipse-640 polywrap system provided by Eclipse systems, Buckingham, United Kingdom.  
      In yet another aspect, the system controller is programmed to transmit an abbreviated form of the human readable destination information to the printer controller, thereby reducing the cycle time of the printer and the amount of material needed.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic representation of one system suitable for practicing the method of the invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a front view of a first bundle of mail wrapped in accordance with the invention;  
       FIG. 3  is an end view of the bundle of  FIG. 2 ;  
       FIG. 4  is a front view of a second bundle of mail wrapped in accordance with the invention; and  
       FIG. 5  is an end view of the bundle of  FIG. 4 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 , in a mail packaging and addressing system  10  of the invention, stacks  20  of mail pieces are received from a sorting device  22  and loaded onto a conveyor  24 . Sorting device  22  may comprise a conventional sorting machine such as a DBCS (Delivery Bar Code Sorter) or other sorting machine such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,263, issued Dec. 9, 2003 to Hendrickson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,555,776 issued Apr. 29, 2003 to Roth et al. or Schererz et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/969,274, filed Oct. 2, 2001 (Publication No. U.S. 20020070149). The disclosures of each of the foregoing references are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.  
      Each “stack”  20  of mail is destined for a single address and may comprise a single letter, flat or small parcel, groups of letters, flats or small parcels or a single group consisting of a mix of letters, flats or small parcels. Thus, the sizes of stacks  20  will vary depending upon the amount and type of mail destined for a particular delivery point. The delivery point address of each stack has previously been recorded either with a scanner associated with sorting device  22  or other automated sorting system, or manually, depending upon the particular application. The delivery point address of each stack  22  is transmitted to system controller  26  for use in applying. address information to stacks  20 .  
      As stacks  20  are transported by conveyor  24 , the leading and trailing edges of each stack  20  are sensed with a position detector mounted adjacent to conveyor  24  such as a photocell  28 . Conveyor  24  is also provided with an encoder  32  or a similar speed sensing device that transmits a signal to system controller  26  indicating the speed of conveyor  24 . Utilizing the signals from position indicator  28  and encoder  32  along with the destination codes assigned to stacks  20 , system controller  26  can track the position of a particular stack  20  bound for a particular destination as the stack travels along conveyor  24 . System controller  26  can also calculate the length of each stack utilizing the input from photocell  28  which registers the leading and trailing edges of each stack and encoder  32  which transmits the speed of conveyor  24  to system controller  26 .  
      As illustrated, a roll  34  of wrapping film  36  is positioned adjacent conveyor  24  for wrapping stacks  20 . Preferably, wrapping film  36  is an opaque or transparent polymer film such as a polyethylene polymer or copolymer. Film  36  is fed from roll  34  through or past a printer  38  which is controlled with printer controller  40  which also controls the operation of conveyor  24 . Printer controller  40  is interfaced with system controller  26  which transmits the destination information for stack  20  to printer controller  40 . Printer controller  40  in turn directs printer  38  to print the destination information for stack  20 , in human readable form, on a section of film  36  which will be used to package stack  20 . Conveyor  24  transports stack  20  to an automated packaging machine  42  that wraps stack  20  with the preprinted section of film  36  to create a package or bundle  44  of mail destined for a single address. Bundles  44  are then discharged onto a transfer conveyor  50 .  
      In one variation, system controller  26  includes a database including abbreviated forms of human readable destination information for a plurality of delivery points within the area served or a program for abbreviating human readable language. In this variation, system controller  26  transmits an abbreviated version of the destination information to printer controller  40 , enabling printing of abbreviated human readable destination information on film  36 . Further, in the case of most route carriers, the city, state and zip code information will be irrelevant as the carrier will likely need only enough information to identify a delivery point on his or her route. Thus, for example, “200 Broadway Street, Neverville, N.J. 24568” may be printed as “200 Bor S” thereby minimizing the amount of time and material required to print the information.  
      In addition to the delivery point information, printer  38  may optionally print a bar code on film  36  that is subsequently scanned by a downstream bar code scanner  46  after stack  20  has been wrapped. The bar code is used to ensure that the sequencing of stacks  20  and bundles  44  is maintained in the correct order according to the sequence of addresses that system controller  26  transmits to printer controller  40 .  
      System controller  26  may also calculate the amount of film  36  required to wrap a particular stack based upon the signals from position detector  28  which transmits a leading edge detection signal along with a trailing edge detection signal for each stack  20 . If desired, a second detector  30  such as a proximity sensor or a vertically aligned array of photo cells may be used in conjunction with or incorporated into position detector  28  to determine the height of each stack  20  in order to provide additional data for determining the amount of wrapping material needed to wrap a particular stack  20 . Since bundles  44  will contain different sizes and amounts of mail pieces, the bundles will vary in size. Thus, for example, a bundle including magazines of catalogues could have the profile illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , whereas a bundle including several letters could have the profile illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 .  
      System controller  26  utilizes the data collected by detectors  28  and  30  regarding the length and height of stack  20  to determine the location on film  36  to print human readable destination code information. The system controller then directs printer controller  40  to print the human readable destination information on film  36  at the calculated location such that the destination information appears at a predetermined or preselected location on each of bundles  44 . Thus, as illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , the delivery point information, in abbreviated form, could appear on the upper left hand corner of bundles  44 . Printing the delivery point information at the same relative location on each bundle aids the carrier in quickly finding and separating mail destined for a given delivery point.  
      In one variation, the location on bundle  44  where the destination information is printed is such that advertising or other information displayed on mail pieces in bundles  44  is not obscured when the stacks are wrapped with film  36 . In this case, film  36  is preferably transparent, at least in the area where it is desired to expose the mail piece. In order to provide the desired contrast for the printed destination information while simultaneously exposing a mail piece in the bundle, it may be necessary to utilize a film  36  having opaque and transparent regions. Thus, if the delivery point information is printed with a dark ink, it may be desirable to utilize a film  36  having a white opaque border region where the destination information is printed while the remainder of film  36  is transparent.  
      After stacks  20  have been converted to bundles  44 , the bundles are conveyed via transfer conveyor  50  past bar code scanner  46  to a loading guide  52 . Loading guide  52  is configured to be inserted in container  54  such that bundles  44  are loaded in container  54  with a minimum amount of handling stress. In one variation, guide  52  may comprise a pivoting conveyor or slide. In another variation, guide  52  may be a device that physically grasps bundle  44 , such as a pair of opposed belt conveyors between which bundles  44  are conveyed into container  54  at a controlled velocity.  
      As bundles  44  accumulate in container  54 , a proximity sensor  56  senses the height of the stack of bundles  44  in container  54  and transmits the information to system controller  26 . When the stack of bundles  44  reaches a predetermined level, system controller  26  signals for a manual or automated replacement of container  54  with an empty container. In one embodiment, the signal from system controller  26  activates an audible alarm to notify the operator that container  54  needs to be replaced or emptied. In a more sophisticated system, the signal from system controller  26  activates an automated system for emptying or replacing container  54 . Upon determining that container  54  needs to be emptied or replaced, system controller  26  also signals printer controller  40  to shut down conveyor  24  until container  54  has been replaced with an empty container.  
      Alternatively, or in addition to proximity sensor  56 , a scale  58  may be used to monitor the weight of container  54 . As bundles  44  are loaded into container  54 , scale  58  transmits a signal to system controller  26 . When container  54  reaches a predetermined weight, system controller  26  signals printer controller  40  to shut down conveyor  24  and transmits a signal requesting replacement of container  54  with an empty container.  
      While certain embodiments of the invention have been illustrated for the purposes of this disclosure, numerous changes in the method and apparatus of the invention presented herein may be made by those skilled in the art, such changes being embodied within the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, while the above description describes separate system and printer controllers, it is contemplated that the functions of these units could be combined in a single microprocessor or similar computer. Similarly, while the preferred wrapping material is a plastic film, it is contemplated that other materials such a paper or a non-woven plastic web could be employed as the wrapping material, depending upon the application and economics.