Patent ID: 7100422

Claim:
A residue collection system for collecting residues from the mails, the system comprising: an aerosol chamber including: an outer shell defining an internal volume, said outer shell having an entrance port for allowing mail to enter said internal volume and an exit port for allowing mail to exit said internal volume, but otherwise substantially sealing said volume; a plurality of pinch roller arrays wherein a first pinch roller array and a second pinch roller array each comprises two sets of pinch rollers and where said first pinch roller array and a second pinch roller array are each capable of compressing a mail piece located within said internal volume; and an intake plenum, said intake plenum being capable of collecting air from said internal volume and being located between said first pinch roller array and a second pinch roller array which are adjacent each other; wherein said mail piece passes through said first pinch roller array, said first pinch roller array compressing said mail piece so as to force out some internal air from within said mail piece as said mail piece passes through; wherein said mail piece next passes through said second pinch roller array, said second pinch roller array also compressing said mail piece so as to force out additional air from within said mail piece as said mail piece passes through; wherein said airflow into said intake plenum is sufficient to maintain the portion of said internal volume between said first pinch roller array and said second pinch roller array at a negative pressure; wherein said additional air will include residue of a substance, when the substance is present in said mail piece; wherein said negative pressure is sufficient to maintain said residue within said internal volume; wherein said intake plenum takes in at least a portion of said additional air including said residue from said internal volume; and wherein said intake plenum can supply said additional air including said residue to a detection system capable of detecting said residue.