Method and system for in-line address quality and mail preparation on an indicia printing system

Abstract

The present application generally relates to mail processing equipment and techniques. More specifically, the present application relates to a mail processing system and related method for transporting and imaging addressed mail pieces of a mailing to qualify the mailing for postage discounts. An address analysis component of the mail processing system compares the address included on a respective mail piece to postal authority standards for compliance with requirements for discounted postage based on pre-sort rules. A postage metering component prints the discounted postage indicia and a printing component prints delivery point barcodes.

1 . A mail processing system for processing a plurality of mail pieces in mailing to qualify the mailing for postage discounts, the system comprising:
 a feeder and transport for individually feeding and transporting each of the plurality of mailpieces;   an image capturing device positioned along the transport for capturing an image of an address positioned on each of the plurality of mail pieces;   an address quality processing device for reading the address image of a respective one of the mailpieces and obtaining a postal authority qualified delivery point code for the respective mail piece;   a system processor configured to:
 receive the postal authority qualified delivery point code; 
 generate printer control data for printing discounted postage meter indicia on the respective mail piece; and 
 create printer control data for printing a postal authority approved delivery point barcode on the respective mail piece; and 
   at least one digital printer for printing the discounted postage meter indicia and the authority approved delivery point barcode on the respective mail piece.   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the image capturing device comprises:
 a line scan camera, area camera, contact image sensor, or time delay integration (TDI) line scan camera for acquiring the address image; and   an optional illuminator.   
     
     
         3 . The system according to  claim 2 , wherein the image capturing device further comprises:
 an image processing computer for receiving the address image of the respective mail piece from the line scan camera or time delay integration (TDI) line scan camera and performing address quality analysis on the address image.   
     
     
         4 . The system according to  claim 3 , wherein the image processing computer is configured to verify the address of the respective mail piece with at least one of the following postal authority requirements: Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS), Delivery Point Validation (DPV), SuiteLink or LACSLink. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the image processing computer is configured to update the address of the respective mail piece based on name and address with a postal authority approved move update process. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 5 , wherein the move update process is NCOALink. 
     
     
         7 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising a postage metering device positioned downstream of the image capturing device, the postage scale configured to receive the respective mail piece and obtain weight information for the respective mail piece, wherein the postage value of the meter indicia printed by the printer is based in part on weight and the address quality analysis results. 
     
     
         8 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the postage metering device is operably connected to a postage security device for obtaining postage for the respective mail piece. 
     
     
         9 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising a data storage device to store mail piece data associated with each processed mailing. 
     
     
         10 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the mail processing system is a table top mailing machine. 
     
     
         11 . A method of qualifying a mailing including a plurality of addressed mail pieces for postage discounts, the method comprising steps of:
 loading the plurality of mail pieces onto a feeder for individually feeding each mail piece into a mail processing system;   transporting a respective one of the mailpieces to an imaging component of the mail processing system;   imaging an address of the respective mailpiece;   reading the address image with an optical character recognition (OCR) device;   qualifying the read address of the respective mail piece to postal authority standards;   obtaining a weight for the respective mailpiece;   printing a pre-sort mail discounted meter postage indicia based on the qualified address and the obtained weight; and   printing a postal authority delivery point barcode, which corresponds to the delivery point of the qualified address in the clear zone on the mailpiece.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the qualifying step includes:
 verifying the read address against at least one of the following postal authority requirements: Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS), Delivery Point Validation (DPV), SuiteLink or LACSLink.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of updating the read address with move update information by way of a postal authority approved move update requirement. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the postal authority approved move update requirement is selected from NCOALink or Ancillary Service Endorsements. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the imaging step includes imaging the address of the respective mail piece by way of an area camera, contact image sensor, line scan camera or time delay integration (TDI) line scan camera. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the pre-sort mail discounted meter postage indicia is based on at least one of Mixed Automated Area Distribution Center (MX-AADC), Automated Area Distribution Center (AADC), 3-digit and 5-digit sort groups. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the printing of the postal authority delivery point barcode includes printing an Intelligent Mail barcode (1 Mb) in a clear zone of the respective mail piece. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the printing of the postal authority delivery point barcode includes printing of a human readable updated address, wherein the updated address is obtained from a postal authority approved address process selected from one or more of SuiteLink, LACSLink, or NCOALink. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein a 5-digit ZIP and a machine ID is printed to the left of the postal authority delivery point barcode. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the printing of the pre-sort mail discounted meter postage indicia is inhibited if the address of the respective mail piece is not able to be qualified against postal authority standards. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of creating one or more reports containing contents and make up of the mailing. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of archiving in data storage, data associated with the mailing and data associated with each individual mail piece. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of compiling an address change list identifying address updates from the qualifying to postal standards process. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the obtaining step includes weighing the respective mail piece on a postage metering device. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the obtaining step includes obtaining weight information for the respective mail piece based on weight category. 
     
     
         26 . A computer programmed to execute the method of  claim 11 . 
     
     
         27 . A program product, comprising a physical machine-readable storage medium and executable code embodied in the medium, wherein execution of the code by at least one programmable computer causes the at least one programmable computer to perform the steps of the method of  claim 11 . 
     
     
         28 . A method of processing a mailing including a plurality of addressed mail pieces, the method comprising steps of:
 loading the plurality of mail pieces onto a feeder for individually feeding a first and second mail piece into a mail processing system;   individually transporting first and second mailpieces to an imaging component of the mail processing system;   imaging an address for each of the first and second mailpieces;   reading the address images of the first and second mail pieces with an (OCR) device;   comparing the read addresses of the first and second mail pieces to a client address list to determine if the read addresses of the first and second mail piece are present on the client list;   rejecting the first mail piece upon a determination that the read address of the first mail piece is determined not to be on the client list or the first mail piece is marked to be purged; and   continue processing the second mail piece upon a determination that the read address of the second mail piece is determined to be on the client list.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the continued processing of the second mail piece further includes the steps of:
 obtaining a weight for the second mail piece;   printing a pre-sort mail discounted meter postage indicia on the second mail piece based on the qualified address and the obtained weight; and   printing a postal authority delivery point barcode on the second mail piece, which corresponds to the delivery point of the qualified address in the clear zone on the second mailpiece.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the step of rejecting the first mail piece further includes the step of:
 diverting the first mail piece from the mail processing system.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the loading step includes:
 loading the first mail piece onto a first feeder of a first mail processing system; and   loading the second mail piece onto a second feeder of a second mail processing system.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the first and second mail processing systems are in connection by way of a server. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the server is configured to store mail piece data associated with each mail piece processed on each of the first and second mail processing systems. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the server produces client and postal authority reports from the first and second mail processing systems.