Manifest delivery system and method

Abstract

There is provided a method and system of determining efficient routing of a mail piece in a delivery system for delivering mail pieces. The system determines whether or not the mail piece requires urgent delivery. The system determines a weight of the mail piece. Also, the system determines, based on the urgency determination and the weight determination, a most cost-effective place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system.

1 - 34 . (canceled) 
     
     
         35 . A system for determining efficient routing of a mail piece in a delivery system for delivering mail pieces comprising:
 a imaging unit for generating an image of the mail piece;   a weight scale for determining a weight of the mail piece; and   computer unit connected to the imaging unit and the weight scale for determining a most cost-effective place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system and generating a manifest.   
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the computer unit comprises a central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), video card, sound card, magnetic storage devices, optical storage devices, input/output (I/O) terminals, and a network interface card (NIC). 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 35 , further comprising a sorting unit connected to the computer unit for sorting the mail pieces based on a delivery service type. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 35 , further comprising a identification indicia affixing unit connected to the computer unit for affixing an indicia on the mail piece based on a unique number contained in the manifest. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 38 , wherein the identification indicia affixing unit is a device selected from a group consisting of manual placement device, automatic pressure placement device, and blow-on placement device. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the imaging unit is a device selected from a group consisting of a digital scanner and digital optical character recognition (OCR) camera. 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 35 , further comprising a printer connected to the computer unit for printing out the manifest. 
     
     
         42 . A method of determining economically efficient routing of a mail piece in a delivery system for delivering mail pieces comprising:
 determining a weight of the mail piece;   sorting the mail piece based on delivery service; and   determining, based on the weight determination and sorting, a most cost-effective place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system.   
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 42  wherein determining the most cost-effective place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system is further based on comparing a cost of introducing a mail piece at a first point into the delivery system versus a cost of introducing the mail piece at a second point into the delivery system. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 42 , further comprising generating a manifest including the weight of the mail piece, an identification number of the mail piece, the most cost effective place, and a delivery charge for the mail piece. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 44 , further comprising affixing an indicia on the mail piece based on the identification number contained on the manifest. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein affixing the indicia on the mail piece comprises one or more manual placement, automatic pressure placement, and blow-on placement. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 42 , further comprising generating an image of the mail piece. 
     
     
         48 . A system for determining routing of a mail piece in a delivery system for delivering mail pieces comprising:
 a weight scale for determining the weight of a mail piece;   a sorting unit for sorting the mail piece based on delivery service;   a processor; and   a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions for causing the processor to determine, based on the weight determination and sorting, a cost-effective place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system.   
     
     
         49 . The system of  claim 48 , further comprising instructions for causing the processor to determine the cost-effective place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system based on comparing a cost of introducing a mail piece at a first point into the delivery system versus a cost of introducing the mail piece at a second point into the delivery system. 
     
     
         50 . The system of  claim 48 , further comprising instructions for causing the processor to generate a manifest including the weight of the mail piece, an identification number of the mail piece, the cost effective place, and a delivery charge for the mail piece. 
     
     
         51 . The system of  claim 50 , further comprising an identification indicia affixing unit for affixing an indicia on the mail piece based on the identification number contained on the manifest. 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein the identification indicia affixing unit is a manual placement device, automatic pressure placement device, or blow-on placement device. 
     
     
         53 . The system of  claim 48 , further comprising an imaging unit for generating an image of the mail piece. 
     
     
         54 . The system of  claim 48 , further comprising a printer for printing the manifest.