Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090084716 | Method and System for Weighing Mail Pieces - A method and system is described for determining the physical weights of flat articles being sorted without actually weighing the articles. Such a method includes the steps of; receiving volume information for individual flat articles from sensors, comparing that resultant data to classifiers stored in computer memory, and assigning a weight value associated to the physical flat article. | 04-02-2009 |
20090230031 | Method and system for sorting of extended capability mail - A method for sorting flat mail pieces includes the steps of; sorting automation letters on the first pass of a two pass operation, then sorting extended capability letters after all automation mail has been sorted on pass one of a two pass operation. A control system identifies which pieces are automation and which pieces are extended capability (EC) mail during the first pass and re-feeding the mixed letters in a second pass. | 09-17-2009 |
20110014023 | Method and apparatus for transporting mail - A method for transporting sorted mail includes steps sorting flat mail pieces from a sorting machine into a series of bins mounted on a rack; removing the series of bins from the rack toto shelves of an extraction cart; moving the loaded cart onto a delivery vehicle; removing the bins from the cart into positions for delivery; removing the mail from the bins and delivering the mail to the recipient. | 01-20-2011 |
20110060662 | METHODS FOR PACKAGING PRODUCTS FOR MAILING - Methods for packaging products for mailing A method includes receiving an order for a product by a manufacturer and from a customer, the product having an associated retail packaging that cannot be sorted using letter and flats sorting equipment. The method includes packaging the product by a manufacturer in a non-retail packaging that can be sorted using automated postal sorting equipment. The method includes, in response to the order, addressing the package to a recipient by the manufacturer using printing equipment, and delivering the packaged product to a postal system for delivery to the recipient. | 03-10-2011 |
20110150622 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING MAIL - A method for mail handling, and a mail extraction cart. The mail extraction cart has a chassis formed by a wheeled base supporting a pair of lower support members and a pair up upper support members connected to the lower support members. The cart has a column of support shelves between each of the pair of upper support members and each of the pair of lower support members, the support shelves movable between at least a first position and a second position. The cart has a lever to control the position of the support shelves. In the first position, the support shelves are configured to engage a plurality of bins of a sorting machine. In the second position, the support shelves are configured to remove the plurality of bins from the sorting machine to be carried by the mail extraction cart. | 06-23-2011 |
20130031188 | Integrated Physical and Electronic Mail Delivery - Systems, methods, and computer-readable media. A method includes receiving virtual mail piece data and receiving a mail piece, the mail piece having machine-readable indicia on an exterior surface. The method includes decoding the indicia to produce a mail piece identifier and identifying a recipient of the mail piece using the mail piece identifier. The method includes retrieving subscription preferences from a recipient database according to the identified recipient. The method includes electronically sending a virtual mail piece to the recipient, the virtual mail piece corresponding to the mail piece, the virtual mail piece data, and the subscription preferences. | 01-31-2013 |
20130035782 | Method and System for Delivery Point Multipication - System, methods, and computer-readable media. A method performed by a mail sorting machine includes receiving a plurality of mailpieces in an input of the mail sorting machine and sorting the mailpieces into a plurality of sequencing groups. The method includes storing a first subset of the mailpieces in each sequencing group. The method includes sorting a second subset of the mailpieces in each sequencing group to a plurality of outlets, where storing the first subset and sorting the second subset are performed for each sequencing group by processing each sequentially in a group order. The method includes sorting the stored first subset mailpieces to the plurality of outlets. | 02-07-2013 |
20130189070 | CONVERTIBLE MAIL CONTAINER AND METHOD - A convertible mail container and related method. The convertible mail container includes a bottom, two fixed side walls connected to the bottom, and a fixed end wall connected to the side walls and to the bottom. The convertible mail container also includes a movable wall that is movable from a first position where the movable wall forms a second end wall of the convertible mail container, opposite the fixed end wall, to a second position where the movable wall is adjacent to the two fixed side walls and the fixed end wall so that it covers a portion of a top opening of the convertible mail container. | 07-25-2013 |