The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 25, 2004
Filed:
Nov. 28, 2001
Applicant:
Inventors:
John H Steinmetz, Bridgeport, CT (US);
Robert K. Gottlieb, Milford, CT (US);
Joseph D Mallozzi, Trumbull, CT (US);
Edward P. Daniels, Jr., Trumbull, CT (US);
Assignee:
Pitney Bowes Inc., Stamford, CT (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B07C 5/00 ; G06K 9/00 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
B07C 5/00 ; G06K 9/00 ;
Abstract
The an embodiment of the present invention generally comprises a mailpiece sorting apparatus including an addressee database and a state/ZIP Code list generated from the addressee database. Mailpieces for which the addressee cannot be determined are processed using ZIP Code and/or State information read from the mailpiece. The state/ZIP Code information read from the mailpiece is compared to the state/ZIP Code list to determine if there is a match. If there is not match, the mailpiece is sorted to a “return to sender” bin.