Patent ID: 8359120

Claim:
A method for preparing mail pieces comprising: providing an apparatus for preparing items to be mailed comprising: at least one feeding station for feeding postal items of a mail set one by one; a gathering station; a printer for printing on postal items fed from the feeding station or on envelopes; an inserting station for inserting postal items into envelopes; the method comprising, for each mail set: feeding one or more postal items from the at least one feeding station; if more than one postal item is fed to the gathering station, gathering the postal items in the gathering station; if all postal items of the mail set have been gathered or if a predetermined maximum of postal items has been gathered, transporting the gathered postal items to the inserting station; at the inserting station, inserting the gathered postal items into an envelope; determining whether the mail set includes or is to include more postal items than the predetermined maximum of postal items of a mail piece; and if the mail set includes or is to include more postal items than the predetermined maximum of postal items of a mail piece, inserting at least one remaining postal item of the mail set into a next envelope of a next mail piece, and printing an association marking on at least a postal item or the envelope of the mail piece or on a postal item or the envelope of the next mail piece, the association marking indicating that the mail piece or next mail piece carrying the association marking is associated to said next mail piece or, respectively, said mail piece.