Patent ID: 6852539

Claim:
A method for testing a tray of mail for a contaminant comprising the steps of: moving the tray of mail along a transport path; projecting a stop member into the transport path; moving the tray into the stop member in the transport path, thereby stopping movement of the tray of mail along the transport path and compressing the mail in the tray, the compression causing matter contained within and on the mail in the tray to become airborne into a surrounding environment of the tray of mail; collecting a sample from the surrounding environment of the tray of mail; analyzing the sample from the surrounding environment to determine if a contaminant may be present; retracting the stop member from the transport path; sending the tray of mail to a normal processing path if it is determined a contaminant is not present; and diverting the tray of mail from the normal processing path if it is determined a contaminant is present.