Patent Publication Number: US-6988021-B2

Title: Method of addressing and sorting an interoffice distribution using an incoming mail sorting apparatus

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention disclosed herein relates generally to automated mail sorting and more particularly, to addressee databases and a method of using an incoming mail sorting apparatus to address and sort internal mailings. 
   BACKGROUND 
   The processing and handling of mailpieces consumes an enormous amount of human and financial resources, particularly if the processing of the mailpieces is done manually. The processing and handling of mailpieces not only takes place at the Postal Service, but also occurs at each and every business or other site where communication via the mail delivery system is utilized. That is, various pieces of mail generated by a plurality of departments and individuals within a company need to be addressed, collected, sorted and franked as part of the outgoing mail process. Additionally, incoming mail needs to be collected and sorted efficiently to ensure that it gets to the addressee in a minimal amount of time. Since much of the documentation and information being conveyed through the mail system is critical in nature relative to the success of a business, it is imperative that the processing and handling of the mailpieces be done efficiently and reliably so as not to negatively impact the functioning of the business. 
   In view of the above, various automated mail handling machines have been developed for processing mail (removing individual pieces of mail from a stack and performing subsequent actions on each individual piece of mail). Individual mailpieces are separated from a stack, read using an optical character recognition system (OCR) and compared to an addressee database in order to determine the appropriate destination points for delivery of the mailpieces. The addressee database can contain hundreds or even thousands of individual addressee names, such as names of employees of a company for which incoming mailpieces are being sorted for delivery. In addition to incoming mail, the mailpiece sorting apparatus can also handle interoffice mailpieces which are pre-addressed and then sorted using the incoming mailpiece sorting apparatus and performing a process much like that of sorting incoming mailpieces, i.e. reading the addressee, determining the destination and delivering the mailpiece to the appropriate sort bin. 
   For interoffice mailpieces, this process is duplicative in that the company is printing the addressees for each interoffice mailpiece from a database separate from the mailpiece sorting apparatus and with printing equipment separate from the incoming mailpiece sorting apparatus. 
   Thus, one of the problems of the prior art is that it does not provide stream lined preparation of internal mailings. Another problem of the prior art is that it is time consuming and costly. Another problem of the prior art is that it is dependent upon multiple databases and/or requires updating of addressee information at several databases within a company. Therefore, a system and method that allow for easy addressing and sorting of internal/business to employee mailings is needed. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by enabling a mail sorting apparatus to address sort internal or interoffice mailings (business to employee mail). The Pitney Bowes B2E Inline Addressing™ System provides an inline solution where the capability of addressing and sorting internal/.business to employee mailings is built into a mailpiece sorting apparatus. The foregoing is accomplished by providing a mail sorting apparatus which generally comprises a feeder, a line scan camera, an in-line printer, a control system which may be the microprocessor based personal computer system, at least one addressee database and sort plan, a mailpiece transporter, a bin module with compartments or sort bins for receiving mailpieces. By the present invention, the mailpiece sorting apparatus is used to create business to employee mailings. 
   The present invention is also direct to in a general aspect a method of creating and sorting an employee mailing using the mailpiece sorting apparatus and at least one database containing addressee information and sort plan information. The in-line printer prints employee information on the mailpiece. The sorting apparatus delivers the mailpieces to sort bins designated by the sort plan. 
   The present invention provides a simple method for preparing an internal mailing. Mailpieces can be addressed and sorted in one process. Thus, the method of the present invention provides a less costly, simplified way to prepare internal mailings. Other advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification. The aforementioned advantages are illustrative of the advantages of the various embodiments of the present invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system with which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented; 
       FIG. 2   a  illustrates the connection of the computer system to a sorting apparatus; 
       FIG. 2   b  is a block diagram illustrating an eight bin module which may be part of the mailpiece sorting apparatus which is used to perform an embodiment of the of the present invention; 
       FIGS. 3   a–b  are front and back view of an exemplary mailpiece from internal mailing addressed and sorted by the system and method of the present invention. 
       FIG. 3   c  illustrates a letter that is put inside of the mailpiece. 
       FIGS. 4   a–b  are front and back view of an exemplary mailpiece from internal mailing addressed and sorted by the system and method of the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart of an embodiment of the method of the present invention illustrating steps of creating and sorting an employee mailing. 
       FIG. 6  is a flowchart of alternate embodiment of the method of the present invention illustrating steps of creating and sorting an employee mailing. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
   In describing the present invention, reference will be made herein to  FIGS. 1–6  of the drawings in which like numerals refer to like features of the invention. Features of the invention are not necessarily shown to scale in the drawings. 
   Control and Mail Sorting Apparatus Overview 
     FIG. 1  is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system  100 , the use of which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented. Computer system  100  may be a personal computer which is used generically and refers to present and future microprocessing systems with at least one processor operatively coupled to user interface means, such as a monitor  102  and keyboard  104 , and/or a cursor control, such as a mouse or a trackball  106 , and storage media  108 . The personal computer  100  may be a workstation that is accessible by more than one user. The personal computer also includes a conventional processor  110 , such as a Pentium® microprocessor manufactured by Intel, and conventional memory devices such as hard drive  108 , floppy or CDRW drive(s)  112 , and memory  114 . 
   The computer system  100  can be connected to a sorting apparatus  8  as illustrated in  FIG. 2   a . The system  200  of the present invention generally comprises a mailpiece sorting apparatus  8  configured to work with internal mailing data. The mailpiece sorting apparatus  8  may generally comprise a feeder  10 , a line scan camera  14  (and optical character recognition (OCR) software, not shown), a mailpiece transporter  16 , a bin module  20  (shown in  FIG. 2   b ) with compartments or bins  18  (sort bin) and  18   a  (OCR reject bin), for receiving sorted mailpieces  30  (other bins may be designated as needed, such as, for example outgoing mail bin) and a control system  100  which may be the microprocessor based personal computer system described above. The computer system  100  includes appropriate memory devices  108 ,  114  for storage of information such as an address database and sort plan  22  and an internal distribution database (or alternately a single database with addressee information and sort plan or other suitable configuration). One of ordinary skill in the art would be familiar with the general components of the sorting apparatus with which the system and method of the present invention may be implemented. 
   The mailpiece sorting apparatus  8  and the OCR software may be used to determine the addressee of incoming mailpieces or other information such as return to sender graphics (not shown) printed on the face of mailpieces. The reading of various information may be performed with the assistance of intelligent character recognition (ICR) or imaging and optical character recognition (OCR/IC) which may be part of the above mentioned OCR software and can read the various fields on the mailpiece  30 . In the present invention the mailpiece sorting apparatus  8  is used to create business to employee mailings. 
   The system  200  of the present invention can also be configured to track and report internal mailings information. It could also be configured to create personalization of internal communications i.e. the printer could print an icon, message or clip art along with the employee name and/or address. The tracking and reporting of internal mailings information can be used for charge back and accounting for the mail sorting/internal mailings preparation. 
   Internal Addressee/Interoffice Mailpieces 
     FIGS. 3   a–b  illustrate an exemplary interoffice mailpiece  33 , which is an envelope.  FIG. 3   a  illustrates the front side of the exemplary mailpiece with employee address printed thereon. The employee address  29  is printed using the system and method of the present invention.  FIG. 3   b  illustrates the back side  33   b  of the exemplary mailpiece  33 .  FIG. 3   c  illustrates a letter  34  which is inserted inside the envelope prior to putting the envelope in the system  200 . The mailpiece  33  of  FIGS. 3   a–b  can be prepared, for example, by using an inserting system (not shown) to insert the letter  34  into an envelope. The system  200  of the present invention can then be used to address and sort the interoffice or internal mailing. 
     FIGS. 4   a–b  illustrate an exemplary interoffice mailpiece  33 , which is a standard unfolded letter sized sheet of paper.  FIG. 3   a  illustrates the front side  33   a  of the exemplary sheet mailpiece with employee address printed thereon. The employee address  29  is printed onto the mailpiece using the system and method of the present invention.  FIG. 3   b  illustrates the information on the backside  33   b  of the mailpiece  33 . 
   The feeder  10  of mailpiece sorting apparatus is designed to feed mailpieces of varying sizes, thicknesses and finishes and therefore, can singulate and feed variously configured internal mailings including, for example, single sheets and folded/tabbed sheets. The feeder&#39;s capability to handle such various mailpieces make it well suited for a purpose of the present invention, to singulate, address and sort internal mail distributions which are often of various sizes, thicknesses and finishes and are difficult to feed with a typical feeding apparatus. Exemplary aspects of the feeder  10  of the mailpiece sorting apparatus of the present invention are disclosed in the following: U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,391, issued Oct. 26, 1999 to Salomon et al. titled Nudger For A Mail Handling System; U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,857, issued Dec. 21, 1999 to Salomon et al. titled Singulating Apparatus For A Mail Handling System, U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,441 issued Oct. 24, 2000 to Belec et al. Titled Two Stage Document Singulating Apparatus For A Mail Handling System; U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,020 issued Apr. 17, 2001 to Supron et al. titled Method And Apparatus For Detecting Proper Mailpiece Position For Feeding; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,300 issued Dec. 11, 2001 to Stefan et al. titled Aligner Mechanism For A Mail Handling System and assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference herein. 
   Method of Preparing and Sorting an Internal Distribution 
     FIG. 5  is a flowchart of an embodiment of the method of the present invention illustrating steps of creating and sorting an employee mailing. At step S 201  the method begins. At step S 204  internal distribution (also called interoffice mail) mailpieces are put onto feeder  10  of mailpiece sorting apparatus  8 . At step S 206  a sort plan and distribution list are chosen. The sort plan is stored in database  22  and designates a delivery bin for each addressee in the sort plan. The internal distribution list is stored in database  23  and is used for obtaining internal addressee  29  information for printing on the mailpiece  33  (shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 ). 
   At step S 208  the feeder  10  is set to auto feed. At step S 210  the internal distribution mailpiece  33  is removed from the stack and moved along feedpath F. At step S 212  the internal addressee information is obtained from database  23 . At step S 214 , the internal addressee information is printed on mailpiece  33  using printer  13  of mailpiece sorting apparatus  8  (part of system  200 ). Next at step S 216 , the internal distribution addressee is compared with the sort plan to obtain a delivery bin designation. Next at step S 218  a query is made as to whether the addressee is in the sort plan. If the answer to the query of step S 218  is no, then at step S 220   b  the mailpiece  33  is delivered to a reject bin  18   a . If the answer to the query of step S 218  is yes, then at step S 220   a  the mailpiece is delivered to an appropriate sort bin  18  as designated by the sort plan. Following steps S 220   a  and S 220   v  a query is made at step S 222  as to whether there are more mailpieces to be processed. If the answer to the query of step S 222  is no, then at step S 224 , the method ends. If the answer to the query of step S 222  is yes, then the method repeats steps S 212  through S 222  until there are no mailpieces left to be processed. 
     FIG. 6  is a flowchart of alternate embodiment of the method of the present invention illustrating steps of creating and sorting an employee mailing. The main difference between the embodiment of  FIG. 5  and that of  FIG. 6  is that the internal distribution is integrated into the sort plan so that no comparison of data (such as in step S 216 ) is required. At step S 301  the method begins. Next at step S 304  the internal distribution mailpieces are placed on feeder  10  of mailpiece sorting apparatus  8 . Next at step S 306  a sort plan is chosen, the sort plan including the internal distribution list. At step S 308  the feeder is set to auto feed. At step S 310  the internal distribution mailpiece  33  is removed from the stack and moved along feedpath F. At step S 312  the internal distribution addressee is obtained from the sort plan and at step S 314  the addressee is printed on the mailpiece. The mailpiece  33  is then delivered to the appropriate sort bin  18  in accordance with the sort plan. Next at step S 318  a query is made as to whether there are more mailpieces to be processed. If the answer to the query of step S 318  is yes, then steps S 312  through S 318  are repeated until there are no mailpieces to be processed. If the answer to the query of step S 318  is no, then the method ends at step S 320 . 
   The addressee database and sort plan of  FIG. 6 , used for preparing an internal mailing using an incoming mail sorting apparatus, is configured with a mailstop code or physical delivery point and a sort plan delivery point (designated bin). Each addressee in the sort plan has a physical mailstop (This field is configurable to correspond to the types of address information that a business might use for addressing interoffice mail i.e. floor or department, the use of mailstop in this example is for illustration purposes) and an assigned sort bin delivery point. 
   The present invention provides a simple method for preparing an internal mailing. Mailpieces can be addressed and sorted in one process. Thus, the method of the present invention provides a less costly, simplified way to prepare internal mailings. The system of the present invention permits personalization of communications, provides a process for creating internal mailings without applying labels, speeds distribution by using automated sorting and consolidates work on interoffice mailings. The system of the present invention also creates accurate internal mailings. Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative devices, shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims.