Patent ID: 6903359

Claim:
A method of detecting a throat of an envelope, the envelope being fed along a feed path of a mail handling apparatus, the method comprising the steps of: a) Locating a leading edge of the envelope; b) Locating a trailing edge of the envelope; c) Opening the envelope flap; d) Locating a first side edge of the envelope; e) Locating a second side edge of the envelope; f) Determining the distance between the first and second side edges of the envelope and calculating half the distance between the first and second side edges of the envelope; g) Providing first and second light sources movably mounted along the feed path of the mail handling apparatus; h) Providing a sensing device movably mounted adjacent to the first and second light sources; i) Moving the sensing device and light sources adjacent to the calculated center of the envelope; j) Casting a first light at a location on the envelope throat; k) Detecting the presence or absence of light at a location adjacent to the location on the envelope throat; l) Casting a second light at the location on the envelope throat; m) Detecting the presence or absence of light at the location adjacent to the location on the envelope throat; n) Moving the sensing device and light sources to a next location; o) Repeating steps j)-n) until the throat profile for one-half the envelope has been determined; p) Calculating the envelope throat profile using the measured one-half envelope throat profile.