| US 7,439,467 B2 | ||
| Method and apparatus for processing outgoing bulk mail | ||
| Robert R. DeWitt, Moorsetown, N.J. (US); and George L. Hayduchok, Mount Holly, N.J. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Opex Corporation, Moorestown, N.J. (US) | ||
| Filed on Sep. 28, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/236,956. | ||
| Application 10/101642 is a division of application No. 09/816687, filed on Mar. 23, 2001, granted, now 6,613,998, filed on Sep. 02, 2003. | ||
| Application 11/236956 is a continuation of application No. 10/101642, filed on Mar. 20, 2002, granted, now 7,041,927. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0036347 A1, Feb. 16, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. B07C 5/00 (2006.01); G06F 7/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 209—584 [209/900; 209/3.3; 209/3.2; 700/227; 700/224; 382/101] | 17 Claims |
| 1. An apparatus for processing mail, comprising:
a feeder for serially feeding pieces of mail from a stack of mail;
an imaging device operable to scan the mail to obtain image data for the pieces of mail;
an image data processor operable to process the image data for a piece of mail to determine address information for the piece
of mail and to determine whether a selected area is substantially free from markings, wherein the processor selectively electronically
tags the piece of mail such that pieces of mail are tagged as not needing a label if the selected area is substantially free
from marking and pieces of mail are tagged as needing a label if the selected area is not substantially free from markings
a labeler operable to selectively apply labels to pieces of mail on which the selected area is not substantially free from
markings;
a printer for printing markings on the pieces of mail, wherein the printer is operable to print markings in the selected area.
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