Method and apparatus for detecting credit/debit cards in connection with the processing of bulk mail

Abstract

Envelopes with unspecified contents are inspected by a “magnetic imaging” device which operates to identify magnetic indicia associated with the contents of the envelopes in order to identify the orientation of contents within the envelopes and/or to identify magnetic indicia indicative of the magnetic stripe of a credit/debit card or its remnants, in addition to a second detection device (e.g., a thickness measuring device or a metal detecting device) which can then verify whether the indicia indicative of a magnetic stripe signify the presence of a credit/debit card or some other stimulus such as a paper clip or the like. Similar assurances can be provided by employing a thickness measuring device and a metal detecting device, in operative combination (with or without the addition of a magnetic imaging device). Alternatively, the magnetic imaging device may be deleted in favor of a thickness measuring device which, through additional processing, operates to remove subsequent analyses from the time domain in order to achieve a more reliable determination of the contents of an envelope, in less time. Such techniques are applicable to the detection of credit/debit cards contained within the envelopes which are to be processed, as well as the detection of other articles which such envelopes might contain, such as folded documents and the like.