Method and system for tracking manually repaired mailpieces...

Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Specific application – apparatus or process – Article handling

Reexamination Certificate

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Details

C700S220000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06205373

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the preparation of large mailings and the like. More particularly it relates to systems and apparatus for the preparation of documents and the assembly of multiple mailpieces including such documents, and tracking of mailpieces which are damaged and manually repaired in this process.
The term “mailpieces” as used herein means items intended to be delivered to an addressee by a postal service or in any other convenient manner. Typically preparation of mailpieces includes, but is not limited to, printing or otherwise providing documents including variable information pertaining to addressees of the mailpieces and the assembly of such documents with other elements of the mailpiece. The term “assembly” as used herein means the execution of actions to incorporate the documents into mailpieces. Typically, such actions can include: accumulating documents with other materials such as preprinted inserts, folding and inserting the resulting accumulations into envelopes, printing addresses and other information on the outside of the envelopes, and franking the mailpiece with an appropriate postage amount.
Inserter systems for the assembly of mailpieces are well known. A typical inserter system is shown in FIG.
1
. Inserter system
10
includes burster/feeder
12
which inputs preprinted documents in fanfold form, separates the documents. Each group of documents for a particular mailpiece includes at least control document CD. At least control documents CD are marked with code BC which is read by scanner
14
. In simpler systems code BC can be a “dash code” of the type known for use in directly controlling inserter systems. In newer, more complex systems code BC can be a conventional bar code which serves as a pointer to a mailpiece record, which record contains information for controlling the inserter; as will be more fully described below. In other known inserter systems, a cut sheet document feeder can be used in place of burster/feeder
12
and documents can be in cut sheet form.
Control document CD, and any additional associated pages P are fed from burster feeder
12
to accumulator
16
where documents for each mailpiece are formed into separate accumulations A and folded.
Accumulation A is then fed to insert stations
20
A and
20
B where preprinted inserts I are added to form accumulations A
1
and A
2
. Those skilled in the art will of course recognize that the number of such insert stations used will vary from application to application.
Accumulation A
2
is then fed to insert station
22
where it is inserted into an envelope and sealed to form mailpiece MP.
Mailpiece MP is then fed to address printer
24
which prints address AD on the outside of the envelope. Depending on the size of the print field of printer
24
, printer
24
also can be used to print other information such as a variable return address (or other text message) RA, logo L, and postal barcode PBC on the envelope. (Those skilled in the art will recognize that dash codes as described above typically cannot include sufficient information to define even address AD so that systems incorporating dash codes typically use window envelopes to provide addressing information.)
System
10
also includes outstacker
30
for diverting mailpieces when an error is detected.
As noted above, inserter systems wherein said code BC is a barcode which is used as a pointer to a mailpiece record (i.e. an electronic record associated with a mailpiece to be assembled) are known. By incorporating data for controlling assembly of mailpieces in mailpiece records an essentially unlimited amount of data can be associated with each mailpiece. Thus addresses, return addresses, logos, and postal bar codes can all readily specified in addition to specification of the number of inserts to be added at each insert feeder, postage amounts, etc. Systems incorporating such mailpiece records are described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,505; to: Axelrod et al.; for: Mail Preparation System; issued Jan. 24, 1989. Embodiments of the system of U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,505 are marketed by the assignee of the present application under the name “Direct Connection”, described in
The Direct Connection,
version 1.30.
A typical MRDF record which is associated with a mailpiece to be processed is shown in Table 1 below.
TABLE I
MRDF Record
Start
Length
Description
 1-60
60
Full Name
 61-120
60
Address 1
121-180
60
Address 2
181-240
60
Address 3
241-300
60
Street (Primary)
301-328
28
City
329-344
15
State
345-349
5
Zip 5
350-353
4
Zip + 4
354-355
2
Zip + 2
356-360
10
Carrier Route
361-362
2
Presort Type
(EC/CC/P/R)
363-372
10
Sequence # (Piece ID)
373-379
7
Job ID
380
1
Break 1 Flag (Y/N)
381-382
2
Outsort (Bin #)
383
1
Sealer (Y/N)
Total Length
383
In the record shown in Table 1, bytes
1
-
60
specify the addressee's name; bytes
61
-
240
specify 3 lines of additional addressee information such as additional addressees, titles, etc.; bytes
241
-
344
specify the address; bytes
345
-
355
specify the Zip Code with either a two or four digit extension; bytes
356
-
360
specify a carrier route; bytes
361
-
362
identify the type of presorting which has been carried out for the mailing; bytes
363
-
372
specify the mailpiece ID, which increases or decreases by one, monotonically for each mailpiece; bytes
373
-
379
specify the job or mailing in process, and with the mailpiece ID uniquely identify the mailpiece; byte
380
flags a break in the mailing; bytes
381
-
382
specify he intended disposition of the finished mailpiece, i.e. the destination outsort bin; and byte
383
specifies whether or not the mailpiece is to be sealed. (Though not shown in
FIG. 1
, sealers are conventional in inserter systems.)
Other information which can be included in MRDF records can be information such as messages or return addresses or specification of the number of inserts to be added at each insert station. In general the information and format of MRDF records is limited only by the system capabilities and provides substantially unlimited flexibility in controlling mailpiece processing. In particular, incorporation of information which uniquely identifies each mailpiece permits tracking of mailpieces which are damaged and manually repaired in the manner described below. (As used herein “manual repair” includes any off-line process involving operator intervention used to restore mailpieces which have been damaged to mailable condition.)
While systems such as those described above have proven highly successful, certain problems remain. In particular modem inserter systems operate at extremely high processing rates which require that documents, inserts and envelopes all be moved and handled at high speeds with the result that a small percentage of documents will be damaged, typically causing the system to jam. Since in many applications it is critical that mailings be complete (e.g. mailing of bills or invoices by suppliers), methods must be provided to repair or replace damaged mailpieces. Heretofore such methods have relied upon difficult and time consuming reprogramming of a data processing system to regenerate the documents for a misprocessed mailpiece so that the damaged mailpiece could be regenerated by the inserter system, or manual repair of damaged mailpieces.
Another solution to the problem of regenerating mailpieces wherein systems are programmed for automatic regeneration of damaged or misprocessed mailpieces is described in commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/134,977, titled: “Method and System for Regeneration of Misprocessed Mailpieces or the Like”. filed: Aug. 17, 1998.
Since special reprogramming of systems to regenerate particular damaged mailpieces is difficult and expensive and not all systems include software for automatic regeneration as described in the above mentioned co-pending application, in many cases manual repair of damaged mailpieces remains the most effective solution to the problem of maintaining the integrity of mailings. Whi

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