Patent Abstract:
A system that enables recipients of letters, flats and/or packages (hereinafter “mail”) that are addressed to a recipient to determine the identity of the person or group that placed a indicia and other information on mail, i.e., the person or group who was issued unique stamps and/or labels by the post. This invention accomplishes the foregoing by storing unique information that is affixed to mail and the identify of the mailer; having a scanner at a receptacle read the unique information before mail is permitted to enter the interior of the receptacle, and communicating to the recipient information regarding the delivered mail.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Reference is made to commonly assigned co-pending patent applications: Ser. No. 10/015,309 filed Dec. 12, 2001, entitled “System For Accepting Non-Harming Mail At A Receptacle” in the name of Ronald P. Sansone; Ser. No.: 10/015,464 filed Dec. 12, 2001, entitled “Method and System For Accepting Non-Harming Mail At A Home Or Office” in the name of Ronald P. Sansone; Ser. No.: 10/015,376 filed Dec. 12, 2001, entitled “System For Accepting Non-Life-Harming Mail From People Who Are Authorized To Deposit Mail In A Receptacle” in the name of Ronald P. Sansone; and Ser. No.: 10/015,423 filed Dec. 12, 2001, entitled “Method And System For Accepting Non-Toxic Mail That Has An Indication Of The Mailer On The Mail” 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 methods that detect the presence of life harming materials. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   People have used the United States Postal Service (USPS) and other courier services, e.g., Federal Express®, Airborne®, United Parcel Service,® DHL®, etc., hereinafter called “carriers”, to deliver materials to recipients to whom the sender does not want to deliver personally. Unfortunately, sometimes the delivered materials may be illegal and/or hazardous to the health of the recipient and to the party who is delivering the goods, e.g., life-harming. Examples of life-harming materials are explosives; gun powder; blasting material; bomb; detonators; smokeless powder; radioactive materials; ammunition; atomic weapons; chemical compounds or any mechanical mixture containing any oxidizing and combustible units, or other ingredients in such proportions, quantities, or packing that ignite by fire, friction, concussion, percussion or detonation of any part thereof which may and is intended to cause an explosion; poisons; carcinogenic materials; caustic chemicals; hallucinogenic substances; illegal materials; drugs that are illegal to sell and/or dispense; and substances which, because of their toxicity, magnification or concentration within biological chains, present a threat to biological life when exposed to the environment, etc. 
   Soon after the Sep. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the United States, someone and/or a group of people, has been adding harmful biological agents to the mail. The addition of harmful biological agents to the mail submitted to the USPS has caused the death of some people and necessitated the closure of some post offices and other government office buildings. Thus, there is an urgent need to exclude life harming materials that are included in the mail. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a system that enables recipients of letters, flats and/or packages (hereinafter “mail”) that are addressed to a recipient to determine the identity of the person or group that placed an indicia and other information on mail, i.e., the person or group who was issued unique stamps and/or labels by the post. The identity of the mailing would also be uniquely identified. Since the identity of the mailer, the time the mail was placed in a receptacle and the item being mailed in a receptacle would be known, people would not likely place life-harming material in the mail if they would likely be apprehended. Thus, this invention is able to access the likelihood that the mail contains life harming materials before the mail enters the interior of a receptacle, i.e., mailbox. Hence, the carrier may be able to remove mail from the mail stream at its entry point to the mail stream before it causes human harm and/or causes extensive property damage. 
   This invention accomplishes the foregoing by storing unique information that is affixed to mail and the identify of the mailer; having a scanner at a receptacle read the unique information before mail is permitted to enter the interior of the receptacle; and, communicating to the recipient information regarding the delivered mail. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of this invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a drawing of receptacle  500  of  FIG. 1  in greater detail. 
       FIG. 3A  is a drawing of scanner and data processors  15  and  45  of  FIG. 1  in greater detail. 
       FIG. 3B  is a drawing of mail box controller  513  of  FIG. 2  in greater detail. 
       FIG. 4  is a drawing of a mail piece containing a postal indicia that was affixed by an electronic meter. 
       FIG. 5  is a drawing of a mail piece containing an Information-Based Indicia. 
       FIG. 6  is a drawing of a flow chart of the scan/upload process. 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram of a PSD based PC mailing system 
       FIG. 8  is a drawing of a reply message from the data center to recipient&#39;s meter. 
       FIG. 9  is a drawing showing the validation of mail by meters  41  or  341  and by telephone  557  and personal computer  558 . 
       FIG. 10A  is a drawing of a special postage stamp. 
       FIG. 10B  is a drawing of a label that identifies an individual or a business entity. 
       FIG. 11A  is a drawing of a identification card issued to an individual. 
       FIG. 11B  is a drawing of an identification card issued to an entity. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring now to the drawings in detail, and m or e particularly to  FIG. 1 , the reference character  11  represents an electronic postage meter. Postage meter  11  includes a funds vault  12  that represents the value of the postage that may be used by meter  11 ; an accounting and encryption module  13  that contains information that is used to print indicia  18 ; a printer  14 ; a scanner and processor  15 ; a controller  16 ; a clock and calendar  6 ; a user I/O  17 , and an I/O  56 . Accounting and encryption module  13  obtains a security code that may be obtained from address field  9  of mail piece  10  and information contained in postage meter  11 . The manner in which the aforementioned security code is obtained is disclosed in the Sansone, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,555 entitled “Unsecured Postage Applying System” herein incorporated by reference. User I/O  17  comprises a keyboard in which an operator may enter information into meter  11  and a display in which a operator of meter  11  may read information about meter  11 . Funds vault  12 , accounting and encryption module  13 ; indicia printer  14 ; scanner and processor  15 ; clock and calendar  6 ; and user I/O  17  are coupled to controller  16 . Clock and calendar  6  provides an internal source of time and date for controller  16 . Thus, clock and calendar  6  will supply the instant date and time that meter  11  affixed the indicia to mail piece  10 . Scanner and processor  15  will store the above information in processed mail data buffer  54  (described in the description of  FIG. 3A ). 
   Actions performed by meter  11  are communicated to controller  16 . Controller  16  controls the actions of postage meter  11 . Clock and calendar  6  also permits controller  16  to store the date and time that postal indicia  18  was affixed to mail piece  10 . Controller  16  uses the weighing of the mail piece to determine the correct postage, and causes meter  11  to affix the correct postage to the mail piece. Controller  16  is described in Wu&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,640 entitled “Automatic Mail-Processing Device With Full Functions” herein incorporated by reference. 
   The user of meter  11  places the mail piece to be mailed on a scale (not shown) and enters the classification of the material to be mailed, i.e., first class mail, standard mail, parcel post, etc., into the keyboard of user I/O  17 , and relevant information regarding the object to be mailed is displayed on the display of user I/O  17 . 
   Printer  14  will print postal indicia  18  on mail piece  10 . Scanner and processor  15  scans address field  9  and sender return address field  8  of mail piece  10 . Then scanner and processor  15  segments the information contained in fields  8  and  9  and stores the segmented information, i.e., tracking code  7 . Tracking code  7  may be similar to or the same as the security code determined by accounting encryption module  13 . For instance, a unique tracking number may be composed by assembling a number that includes the meter number, the date of mailing of the mail piece, the time of day, the postage placed on the mail piece, the zip code of the licensee of the meter, the name, address, city, state and zip code of the sender of the mail piece, and the name address, city, state and zip code of the recipient of the mail piece. It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that any combination of the aforementioned variables may be used if the meter number is included. In the United States, meter manufactures identify their meters by one or two alpha characters before the meter number. It will also be obvious to one skilled in the art that many other variables may be used to produce unique tracking numbers. 
   I/O  56  is coupled to modem  20  and scanner and processor  15 . Modem  23  is coupled to modem  20  via communications path  24 , and modem  21  is coupled to modem  23  via communications path  25 . Modem  23  is coupled to postage meter manufacturer data center computer  26 . Modem  23  is coupled to postal data center  516  via communications path  521 . Computer  26  manages the day-to-day operation of its postage meters metering, i.e., installing new postage meters, withdrawing postage meters, and refilling postage meters with customer funds. 
   Computer  26  is coupled to postal funds data base  27 . Data base  27  stores postal funds that have been used and credited to meters  11  and  41 . Computer  26  is also coupled to outbound mail data buffer  28  that receives information about mail piece  10  from postage meter  11 , i.e., tracking number  7  and address field  9 ; inbound mail data buffer  29  that receives information about mail piece  10  from postage meter  41 , i.e., tracking number  7  and address field  9 ; mail box entry data buffer  518  that buffers the scanned data from receptacle  500  ( FIG. 2 ); and, upload data computer  30  that receives and processes information from buffers  28  and  29 . Processed mail data base  31  is coupled to upload data computer  30 . Processed mail data base  31  stores the result of the output of computer  30  and makes it available to computer  26  for transmission to meter  11 . 
   Postage meter  41  includes a funds vault  42  that represents the value of the postage that may be used by meter  41 ; an accounting and encryption module  43  that contains information that is used to print postal indicium; a printer  44 ; a scanner and processor  45 ; a controller  46 ; a clock and calendar  58  that permits controller  46  to store the date and time that scanner  45  scanned mail piece  10 ; a user I/O  47 ; and an I/O  57 . Funds vault  42 , accounting and encryption module  43 , indicia printer  44 , scanner and processor  45 , and user I/O  47  are coupled to controller  46 . I/O  57  is the interface between scanner and processor  45  and modem  21 , and is used to upload data from meter  41  to computer  26  via modems  21  and  23 . Clock and calendar  58  will supply the instant date and time that scanner  45  reads mail piece  10 . The above information will be stored in processed mail data buffer  54  of  FIG. 3A . 
   Thus, meter  41  is the same as meter  11 . In this example, meter  41  is being used as the receiving meter, and meter  11  is being used as a sending meter. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that meter  11  may be a receiving meter and meter  41  a sending meter, and that additional meters may be connected to computer  26 . 
   After indicia  18  is affixed to mail piece  10  by postage meter  11 , mail piece  10  is placed in slot  507  ( FIG. 2 ) before it enters control chamber  510  and inner chamber  514  of receptacle  500 . Mail deposited in inner chamber  514  of receptacle  500  will subsequently enter USPS mail delivery process  32  ( FIG. 1 ). The description and operation of receptacle  500  is described in the description of  FIG. 2 . The post delivers mail piece  10  to the owner of electronic postage meter  41 . Mail piece  10  will be scanned by scanner and processor  45  of meter  41 . Scanner and processor  45  segments the data and stores it for uploading to Postage meter manufacturer data center computer  26  via modems  21  and  23 . Information from meter  11  regarding mail piece  10  was previously sent to computer  26  via modems  20  and  23 . The information transmitted by meter  11  is tracking number  7 , address field  8 , and address field  9 . The information transmitted by meter  41  is tracking number  7 , return address field  8 , and address field  9 , the date and time mail piece  10  was scanned by meter  41  and the serial number of meter  41 . 
     FIG. 2  is a drawing of mail receptacle  500  of  FIG. 1 . Receptacle  500  has a front panel  501  containing a slot  508  for receptacle identification cards  600  and  610  ( FIGS. 11A and 11B , respectively) and a mail slot  507  for depositing mail; a top panel  505 ; side panels  502 ; a back panel  503  having a door  504  for access to life-harming materials; and, a door  506  for access to non-life-harming materials. Receptacle  500  has a control chamber  510  that contains a scanner  511  and a transport  512 . Card  600  or card  610  is placed in slot  508  and transported by transport  512  to scanner  511  so that scanner  511  may read the information on the card. Then, transport  512  ejects card  600  or card  610  through slot  508 . When mail and/or mail piece  10  ( FIG. 1 ) is deposited face up in slot  507 , mail piece  10  will enter control chamber  510 . The face of mail piece  10  will be scanned and read by scanner  511  while being moved by transport  512 . Mail box controller  513  will interpret the foregoing information regarding mail piece  10 . Controller  513  will communicate with postal data center  516   FIG. 1 ) via data buffer and modem  520 . Postal data center  516  communicates with computer  26  ( FIG. 1 ) which accesses buffer  29  to determine if a record of the mail currently in control chamber  510  appears in buffer  29 . 
   If the information on the face of the mail piece in control chamber  510  does not match the information in buffer  29 , the mail in control chamber  510  is of questionable origin and may be suspected of having life-harming material. The mail will remain in control chamber  510 , and a signal will be sent by controller  513  to postal data center  516  ( FIG. 1 ) to inform the proper authorities to unlock door  504 , remove the possibly tainted mail, and activate door  519  to close slot  507  to prevent any mail from entering chamber  510 . Controller  513  will also activate LED  517 , which will indicate “Out Of Service” or “May contain life-harming materials”, etc. 
   If the information on the face of the mail piece in control chamber  510  matches the information in buffer  29 , the mail in control chamber  510  is not of questionable origin and is not suspected of having life harming material. The information will be stored in buffer  518  ( FIG. 1 ), and computer  26  will authorize controller  513  to open door  515  and enable transport  512  to move the mail in control chamber  510  to inner chamber  514 . Mail piece  10  and the other mail in inner chamber  514  may be removed by opening locked door  506 . 
     FIG. 3A  is a drawing of scanner and data processors  15  and  45  of  FIG. 1  in greater detail. The operator of meter  41  may use user I/O  47  to select the meter mode to place a postal indicia on mail piece  10  or the scan mode to read the postal indicia on mail piece  10 . When the operator of meter  41  selects the scan mode, controller  46  turns control of meter  41  over to scan process controller  51 . Mail piece  10  will be moved under scanner  55  and transported through meter  41  (not shown). Scanner  55  will store the image of mail piece  10  in image processing buffer memory  52 , convert the image by using the process mentioned in OCR processes block  53 , and store the processed image in processed mail data buffer  54 . Then the optical character recognition process  53  will begin. Process  53  will segment the image into its various components, i.e., amount of postage, meter number, date mail piece  10  mailed, place mail piece  10  mailed, security code  89  ( FIG. 4 ), tracking number  7 , recipient address  9 , and return address  8 , etc. At this point, a recognition process will take the segmented components of the aforementioned image and convert them into an ASCII text field. In the identification process, it will be determined whether or not the ASCII information is in the correct format. Now the extracted information will be placed in processed mail data buffer  54 . Clock and calendar  58  will be used to determine when mail piece  10  was scanned, and data I/O  57  will be used to convey the information stored in buffer  54  to modem  21  at predetermined times. 
   The operator of meter  11  may use user I/O  17  to select the meter mode to place a postal indicia on mail piece  10 , or the scan mode to read the postal indicia on mail piece  10 . When the operator of meter  11  selects the meter mode, controller  16  turns control of meter  11  over to meter process controller  51 . While mail piece  10  is being printed, it is scanned by scanner  55 . 
   Scanner  55  will store the image of mail piece  10  in buffer  52 , while mail piece  10  is being printed by meter  11 . Scanner  55  will also convert the image by using the process shown in block  53  and store the processed image in mail data buffer  54 . Then, the optical character recognition process  53  will begin. Process  53  will segment the image into its various components, i.e., amount of postage, meter number, date mail piece  10  mailed, place mail piece  10  mailed, security code  89 , tracking number  7 , recipient address  9 , and return address  8 , etc. At this point, the recognition process will take the segmented components of the aforementioned image and convert them into an ASCII text field. In the identification process, it will be determined whether or not the ASCII information is in the correct format. Now the extracted information will be placed in processed mail data buffer  54 . Clock and calendar  6  will be used to note when an indicia was affixed to mail piece  10  and when mail piece  10  was scanned. Data I/O  56  will be used to convey the information stored in buffer  54  to modem  20  at a predetermined time. 
     FIG. 3B  is a drawing of mail box controller  513  of  FIG. 2  in greater detail. Controller  513  may be activated when a piece of mail is properly inserted into slot  507 . Controller  513  turns control over to process  536 . Process  536  begins at scan process controller  535 . Mail piece  10  will be moved under scanner  511  and transported control chamber  510  ( FIG. 2 ). Scanner  511  will store the image of mail piece  10  in image processing buffer memory  530 , convert the image by using the process mentioned in OCR processes  531  and store the processed image in image processing buffer memory  530 . Then, the optical character recognition process  531  will begin. Process  531  will segment the image into its various components, i.e., amount of postage, meter number, date mail piece  10  mailed, place mail piece  10  mailed, security code  89  ( FIG. 4 ), tracking number  7 , recipient address  9 , and return address  8 , etc. At this point, a recognition process will take the segmented components of the aforementioned image and convert them into an ASCII text field. In the identification process, it will be determined whether or not the ASCII information is in the correct format. Now the extracted information will be placed in current mail piece data buffer  532 . Clock and calendar  533  will be used to determine when mail piece  10  was scanned, and data buffer and modem  520  will be used to convey the information stored in current mail piece data buffer  532  to postal data center  516  ( FIG. 1 ) at predetermined times. 
   Postal data center  516  sends the above mail data to computer  26  and, in turn, upload data computer  30  validates the above data in buffer  28 . Computer  30  informs computer  26 , which in turn informs postal data center  516  whether or not the above data was stored in buffer  28 . If the data was stored in buffer  28 , the mail is not suspect and is allowed to enter inner chamber  514  ( FIG. 2 ) of receptacle  510 . If the data was not stored in buffer  28 , the mail is suspect and is not allowed to enter inner chamber  514  of receptacle  510 . Postal data center  516  communicates the above to controller  513  via modem  520 . If the mail is suspect, mail box controller  513  will activate display  517  and activate door  519  ( FIG. 2 ) to close slot  507 . 
     FIG. 4  is a drawing of a mail piece containing a postal indicia that was affixed by an electronic meter. Mail piece  10  has a recipient address field  9  and a sender address field  8 . A postal indicia  36  is affixed to mail piece  10 . Indicia  36  contains a dollar amount  85 ; the date  86  that postal indicia  36  was affixed to mail piece  10 ; the place  87  that mail piece  10  was mailed; the postal meter serial number  88 ; an eagle  83 ; a security code  89 ; and, a tracking number  7 . Security code  89  and tracking number  7  are unique numbers that are derived from address field  9  and information contained in the postage meter that affixed indicia  36 . The manner in which security code  89  and tracking number  7  are obtained is disclosed in the Sansone, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,555 entitled “Unsecured Postage Applying System” herein incorporated by reference. 
     FIG. 5  is a drawing of a mail piece  10  containing an indicia  37 . Mail piece  10  has a recipient address field  9  and a sender address field  8 . Mail piece  10  contains USPS Information-Based Indicia (IBI)  37 . The United States Postal Service Engineering Center recently published a notice of proposed specification that describes a Information Based Indicia. The postal indicia  37  contains a dollar amount  93 ; the date  94  that the postal indicia was affixed to mail piece  10 ; the place  95  that mail piece  10  was mailed; the postal security device serial number  96 ; a FIM code  97 ; a 2D encrypted bar code  98 ; and, a tracking number  7 . Serial number  96  may be derived from bar code  98  or be equal to bar code  98 . Bar code  98  is a unique number that is derived from address field  9  and information contained in the postal security device that affixed IBI  37 . The manner in which information contained in bar code  98  is obtained is disclosed in the Sansone, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,555 entitled “UNSECURED POSTAGE APPLYING SYSTEM,” herein incorporated by reference. Mail piece  10  also contains an indication  38  of the class of mail piece  10 . 
     FIG. 6  is a drawing of a flow chart of the scan/upload process for the meter and the PSD. The user selects the scan process and inserts a mail piece for the meter. For the receiving PSD  342  ( FIG. 7 ) the user selects the scan process and inserts a mail piece into scanner and processor  345 . Block  899  processes the mail piece and sends a start process signal to the scan controller. This process is used by meter controller  46  of  FIG. 1 . Then the program goes to block  901 . Block  901  determines whether or not the scan mode has been selected. If the scan mode has not been selected then the program goes back to block  901 . If the scan mode has been selected the program goes to block  903  and sets N=0. Then the program goes to decision block  902 . Block  902  determines whether or not the edge of mail piece  10  has been sensed. If the edge of mail piece  10  has not been sensed, then the program goes back to block  902 . If the edge of mail piece  10  has been sensed, then the program goes to block  904  to set N=N+1, where N is a piece count of the image of a mail piece. 
   Now the program goes to block  905  to scan mail piece  10 . At this point, the program goes to decision block  906 . Block  906  determines whether or not the trailing edge of mail piece  10  has been sensed. If the trailing edge of mail piece  10  has not been sensed, then the program goes back to block  906 . If the trailing edge of mail piece  10  has been sensed, then the program goes to block  907 . Block  907  transfers the Nth image from the scan buffer block  52  to the transient image buffer block  908 . Then, in block  909 , the program adds the N, piece count of the image of the mail piece meter number, date and time to the header for the record. Then the program goes to block  915  to segment the image. Then the program goes to block  916  to recognize segmented images. In block  917 , the program identifies the segmented characters. Now the program goes to block  918  to extract ASCII data fields. At this point, the program goes to block  919  to transfer the data to processed image buffer block  920  and clear transient buffer. Now the program goes to decision block  902 . Then the program goes to decision block  925 . Block  925  determines whether or not the data is correct. If the data is incorrect, the program goes to block  940  to request a rescan. If the data is correct, the program goes to block  926  to transfer the data to the final buffer. Then the program goes to final data records buffer block  927 . At this point, the program goes to decision block  930 . Decision block  930  determines whether or not data center computer  26  is requesting data. If block  930  determines that computer  26  is not requesting data, the program goes to decision block  931 . Decision block  931  determines whether or not it is time to send data. If block  931  determines that it is time to send data, the program goes to block  935 . If block  931  determines that it is not time to send data, the program goes back to the input of block  930 . If block  930  determines that computer  26  is requesting data, then the program proceeds to block  935 . Block  935  reads all final data records in block  927  and transfers them to I/O  56 ,  57  ( FIG. 1 ) or  347  ( FIG. 7 ). 
   Now the program goes to decision block  937 . Decision block  937  determines whether or not data centers  26  ( FIG. 1 ) or  326  ( FIG. 7 ) have received a validation message. If block  937  determines that a validation message has not been received, the program goes back to the input of block  937 . If block  937  determines that a validation message has been received, the program goes to block  938  to display the message on I/O  56 ,  57  or  347 . Then the program goes to block  936  to clear final data records buffer block  927 . At this point, the program goes back to decision block  902 . 
     FIG. 7  is a block diagram of a PSD based PC mailing system. Personal computer (PC)  311  includes a PC controller  316 ; a user I/O  317 ; and a PC I/O  356 . PSD  312  obtains a security code that may be obtained from address field  309  of mail piece  310  and information contained in PC  311 . User I/O  317  comprises a keyboard in which an operator may enter information into PC  311 , and a display in which an operator of PC  311  may read information about PC  311 . A clock and calendar inside PSD  312  will supply the instant date and time that printer  314  affixed the indicia to mail piece  310 . Scanner and processor  315  will store the above information in PC  311 . 
   Actions performed by PC  311  are communicated to controller  316 . Controller  316  controls the actions of PC  311 . Controller  316  uses the weighing of the mail piece to determine the correct postage, and enables printer  314  to affix the correct postage to mail piece  310 . 
   The user of PC  311  places the mail piece to be mailed on a scale (not shown) and enters the classification of the material to be mailed, i.e., first class mail, second class mail, parcel post, etc., into the keyboard of I/O  317 , and relevant information regarding the object to be mailed is displayed on the display of I/O  317 . 
   Printer  314  will print postal indicia  318  on mail piece  310 . Scanner and processor  315  scans address field  309  and sender return address field  308  of mail piece  310 . Then scanner and processor  315  segments the information contained in fields  308  and  309  and stores the segmented information i.e., tracking code  307 . Tracking code  307  may be similar to or the same as the security code determined by PSD  312 . It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that there are many different methods to produce unique tracking numbers. 
   PC I/O  356  is coupled to modem  320  and scanner and processor  315 . Modem  323  is coupled to modem  320  via communications path  324 , and modem  321  is coupled to modem  323  via communications path  325 . Modem  323  is coupled to PSD meter manufacturer data center computer  326 . Modem  323  is coupled to postal data center  516  via communications path  527 . Computer  326  manages the day-to-day operation of its PSD&#39;s metering, i.e., installing new PSD&#39;s, withdrawing PSD&#39;s, and refilling PSD&#39;s with customer funds. 
   Computer  326  is coupled to postal funds data base  327 . Data base  327  stores postal funds that have been used and credited to PC  311  and  341 . Computer  326  is also coupled to outbound mail data buffer  328  that receives information about mail piece  310  from PC  311  i.e., tracking number  307  and address field  309 ; inbound mail data buffer  329  that receives information about mail piece  310  from PC  341  i.e., tracking number  307  and address field  309 ; mail box entry data buffer  525  that buffers scanned data from receptacle  500 ; and upload data computer  330  that receives and processes information from buffers  328  and  329 . Processed mail data base  331  is coupled to upload data computer  330 . Processed mail data base  331  stores the result of the output of computer  330  and makes it available to computer  326  for transmission to PSD  311 . 
   PSD  341  includes a PC controller  346 ; user I/O  347 ; and PC I/O  357 . PSD  342  is coupled to PC I/O  357 . PC I/O  357  is coupled to modem  321 , and modem  321  is coupled to modem  323  via path  325 . Scanner and processor  345  is coupled to PC I/O  357 , and printer  344  is coupled to PC I/O  357 . PSD  342  will supply the instant date and time that scanner  345  reads mail piece  310 . The above information will be stored in PC  311 . 
   Thus, PC  341  is the same as PC  311 . In this example, PC  341  is being used as the receiving PC, and PC  311  is being used as a sending PC. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that PC  311  may be a receiving PC, and PC  341  a sending PC, and that additional PC&#39;s may be connected to computer  326 . 
   After indicia  318  is affixed to mail piece  310  by PC  311 , mail piece  310  is placed in slot  507  ( FIG. 2 ) before it enters inner chamber  514  of receptacle  500 . Mail deposited in inner chamber  514  of receptacle  500  will subsequently enter postal mail delivery process  332 . The description and operation of receptacle  500  is described in the description of  FIG. 2 . The post delivers mail piece  310  to the owner of PC  341 . Mail piece  310  will be scanned by scanner and processor  345  of PC  341 . Scanner and processor  345  segments the data and stores it for uploading to computer  326  via modems  321  and  323 . Information from PC  311  regarding mail piece  310  was previously sent to computer  326  via modems  320  and  323 . The information transmitted by PC  311  is tracking number  307  and address field  309 . The information transmitted by PC  341  is tracking number  307  and address field  309 , the date and time mail piece  310  was scanned by PC  341  and the serial number of PC  341 . 
     FIG. 8  is a drawing of a reply message from the data center  26  or  326  ( FIGS. 1 and 7 ) to recipient&#39;s electronic meter  41 ,  11  or personal computer meter  341 ,  311 . Information  591  from data centers  26  or  326  will be displayed on display  590 . Display  590  is user I/O  47  or user I/O  17  ( FIG. 1 ) or user I/O  347  or user I/O  31  ( FIG. 7 ). Information  591  includes the date and time the mail was franked  593 ; the name and location of the licensee of the meter  594 ; the date  595  the mail was deposited in receptacle  500  ( FIG. 2 ); the time  596  that the mail was deposited in receptacle  500 ; and, the location  597  of receptacle  500 . 
     FIG. 9  is a drawing showing the validation of mail by meters  41  or  341  and by telephone  557  and personal computer  558 . After meter  41  or meter  341 , respectively, scans mail piece  10  or  310  that was deposited in receptacle  500  and delivered by process  32  or  332 , a message is sent to data center computer  26  or  326  via modem  23  or  323  requesting data center computer  26  or  326  to check the validity of the mail pieces. At this time, validation request and reply router  550  buffers the user&#39;s request in user validation request buffer  529 . Router  550  also interprets the request to decide if the mail is electronic metered mail, PSD metered mail, stamped or labeled mail that entered receptacle  500  ( FIG. 2 ) or identification card mail that entered receptacle  500 . 
   If router  550  determines that the mail is metered mail or PSD metered mail, computer  26  or computer  326  receives a buffered message from user validation request buffer  529 . Computer  26  or  326  checks mail entry data buffer and database  518  or  525  to determine whether or not mail was processed by receptacle  500 . Computer  26  or  326  also checks processed mail data base  31  or  331  to determine whether or not mail was processed by meter  41  or meter  341 . Computer  26  or  326  displays the results of the above checks to meters  41  or  341  via router  550  and modems  23  or  323 . 
   If router  550  determines that the mail is stamped or labeled mail or identification card mail, router  550  will send the request to postal data center  516  via modems  23  or  323  and transmission path  521  or  527 . Postal data center computer  528  will check issued coded stamp/label data base and archive  540  and home guard user identification data base archive  541  to determine if the mail being validated was issued a stamp  100  or  110  ( FIGS. 10A ,  10 B) that is archived in data base  540 , or if the mail being validated was assigned to an identification card  600  or  610  ( FIGS. 11A ,  11 B) archived in data base  541 . Computer  528  will also receive information regarding mail that was deposited in receptacle  500 . 
   Data base  540  stores the stamp special code  103  ( FIG. 10A ), label special code  110  ( FIG. 10B ) and the name of the person and/or entity who received stamp  100  or label  110 . Data base  541  stores the special codes  601  and  611  ( FIGS. 11A and 11B ) and the name of the person and/or entity to whom cards  600  and  610  were issued. Postal data center computer  528  will inform meter  41  or  341  of the results of the above search. The results of a particular search are described in the description of  FIG. 8 . 
   If the recipient of mail pieces  10  or  310  does not elect to validate mail with meters  41  or  341 , the recipient may elect to validate mail via telephone  557  or via personal computer  558 . Telephone  557  is coupled to voice response unit (VRU)  556 , and VRU  556  is coupled to postal data center computer  528 . Personal computer  558  is coupled to computer  528  via the Internet. VRU  556  or computer  528  will request that the recipient identify the delivered mail piece by, i.e., entering or stating: the recipient&#39;s and mailer&#39;s name and address; special code  103  ( FIG. 10A ) special code  111  ( FIG. 10B ); tracking number  7 , ( FIGS. 1 ,  5 ) etc. Computer  528  will check archives  540  and  541  to determine if information is available regarding the requested mail piece. Information found in archives  540  and  541  by computer  528  will be communicated to the recipient via VRU  556  and telephone  557  or via computer  558 . 
     FIG. 10A  is a drawing of a special postage stamp. Postage stamp  100  has a stamp graphics area  101  showing the graphic design and the stamp denomination  102 . Stamp  100  also has a special code  103  comprised of a string of alphanumeric characters, which is readable by conventional optical character recognition readers. Special code  103  is unique in that each stamp will have a different code. Thus, when the USPS sells a stamp, special code  103  and the person or entity that purchased the stamp will be recorded and stored in archive  540  ( FIG. 9 ). 
     FIG. 10B  is a drawing of a label that identifies an individual or a business entity. Label  110  has an adhesive area (not shown) to allow the label to be affixed to mail. Label  110  also has a special code  111  comprised of a string of alphanumeric characters, which is readable by conventional optical character recognition readers. Special code  111  is unique in that each person or entity will have a different special code  111 . Thus, when the USPS issues a label  110 , the person or entity to whom that label  110  was issued and their special code  111  will be recorded and stored in archive  540  ( FIG. 9 ). A normal postage stamp may be affixed to area  112 . Stamps and/or labels may also be called stickers. 
     FIG. 11A  is a drawing of an identification card issued to an individual. Identification card  600  has a card number  601  and a name  605  to whom card  600  was issued. Number  601  is a special code comprised of a string of numeric characters, which is readable by conventional optical character recognition readers. Special code  601  is unique in that each individual will have a different code. Thus, when the USPS issues identification card  600 , special code  601  and the person that card  600  was issued to will be recorded and stored in archive  541  ( FIG. 9 ). Also, each time card  600  is placed in slot  507  of receptacle  500  ( FIG. 2 ), that fact will be recorded in archive  541 . Number  601  and/or name  605  may be represented by a two dimensional bar code  604 . Card  600  also has a date of issue  602  and expiration date  603 . Information represented on card  600  may be read by scanner  511  ( FIG. 2 ). 
     FIG. 11B  is a drawing of an identification card issued to an entity. Identification card  610  has a card number  611 , an entity  616  to whom card  600  was issued, and the name of a person  615  in entity  616  who is allowed to use card  610 . Number  611  is a special code comprised of a string of numeric characters, which is readable by conventional optical character recognition readers. Special code  611  is unique in that each individual will have a different code. Thus, when the USPS issues identification card  610 , special code  611 , entity  612  and the person that card  610  was issued to will be recorded and stored in archive  541  ( FIG. 9 ). Also, each time card  610  is placed in slot  507  of receptacle  500  ( FIG. 2 ), that fact will be recorded in archive  541 . Number  611  and/or name  615  may be represented by a two dimensional bar code  614 . Card  610  also has a date of issue  612  and expiration date  613 . Information represented on card  600  may be read by scanner  511  ( FIG. 2 ). 
   The above specification describes a new and improved system for monitoring mail before it enters the mail stream. 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.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6