Title of Invention

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING PROOF OF DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS

Abstract A record of a document (20) is transmitted to a receiver so as to provide proof of transmission of the document by delivery of the to be transmitted document to a secure delivery box (10) which provides a copy of all documents being transmitted to the sender and/or the recipient and/or the service provider of the delivery box by a hard copy or electronic copy of the documents inserted into the delivery box (10) with the sender's address being visible through a transparent window (32) of the to be delivered document or entered by an external keyboard (46) of the delivery box so that copies and confirmation of delivery of transmitted documents is achieved.
Full Text SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING PROOF OF DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS
Field of the Invention
According to the system and method of the present
invention, evidence is provided of an attempt to deliver
important documents sent by mail, courier or electronic
mailing by providing proof of the date, subject matter and
complete copies of the documents being forwarded to an
intended recipient.
Background of the Invention
Important documents, such as tax returns, notices
and checks are usually sent with a return receipt requested,
which is confirmation that a letter was received. However,
acknowledgment that something was received, such as a sealed
letter, is not proof as to the contents of the letter.
There is therefore a substantial need for proof of
delivery for the contents of a mailing. This would require
that a copy be reproduced or provided of a handwritten,
typed, printed or electronic material forwarded to another
party.
Summary of the Invention
The following describes the method and procedures
for establishing proof of delivery to a mail delivery
service, such as the post office or a courier service, for
example.
For this part of the description it is assumed that
just one check is to be sent with a cover page, to which the
check is attached. The cover page provides the pertinent
information regarding the purpose of the check, e.g., the
name of the sender, invoice number, amount being transmitted,
a
reference to any document, such as a tax return or real estate
tax, etc. More than one type of form for this information may
be offered to the sender, e.g., a form which is customized for
such matters as an income tax return, or an invoice for a payment
of a bill, or a bill that is a payment which is required
periodically, e.g., a mortgage payment.
The cover page would include a transparent pouch. The
pouch would be so designed that the user could insert the check
and identifying indicia being sent into the pouch. The pouch
permits a copy to be made of the check and cover page, that is,
while the cover page is moving past a copy device. The check or
the pouch would not interfere with the operation of the copy
device.
The cover page would have a designated space for the
name and address of the sender and also for the recipient. There
would be a separate space on the pouch to write and attach
additional information.
The cover page would then be taken to a secure, sealed
delivery box. The cover page would be fed into a slot in the box
by the sender. This slot provides access to a copy device
contained in the box. Once the sender places the cover page into
the slot, the cover page cannot be retrieved by the sender. This
provides additional certainty that the original documents sent
are the same as that which are received.
After being placed into the slot, a conveyor device
would cause the cover sheet to move past the copy device. The
slot, the conveyor mechanism that causes the cover page to move
and the copy device are similar to that found on a typical copy
machine, a fax machine or automatic document fed scanner.
A copy of the cover page would be made by the copy
machine and delivered from an exit port to the sender of the
cover page. This would be one part of the proof for the sender
that the document was sent. In addition to receiving this copy
the sender may request that an electronic copy (an "e-mail") be
sent to at least one of the intended recipient, which would
inform the recipient that the check and cover page have been
sent, to the sender as confirmation of sending and to the
custodian of the delivery box to ensure against tampering or
fraud. The sender may also request that the recipient notify the
sender and the carrier if the cover page is not received.
The carrier of the document which controls the delivery
box would also keep a record of all transactions by recording
them on tape and/or storing them digitally and/or sending an e-
mail confirmation of the transaction to an electronic storage
device of the carrier. This would help protect the carrier
against charges of mishandling the transaction.
After the electronic copy is made, a conveyor mechanism
causes the cover page (if not suitable to be mailed in its
present form) to move into an envelope or to be enclosed by a top
sheet and a bottom sheet so that an envelope is formed around the
cover page. An opening or a transparent section is provided in
the envelope or on the top sheet so that the name and address of
the sender and of the recipient are visible. The addresses could
have been written or typed on the cover page by an external
keyboard and monitor forming part of an exterior of the delivery
box.
Alternatively, the copy machine would select a delivery
box/package based upon the total number of pages being
transmitted. The stacked pages of the original document would
be conveyed into the selected box with delivery and return
address information printed on the top of the box as entered from
the external keyboard.
Alternatively, the pouch or envelope may be transparent
on one side and the address and name of the sender and recipient
may be written or typed on the other side. After the electronic
copy is made of both sides, the pouch or envelope can be caused
to fold and sealed closed in the folded position as it passes
over the conveyor so that the information on the transparent side
is kept private.
The user can press a series of buttons or the keyboard
on the exterior of the delivery box into which the cover page was
placed to key in different types of information. This gives the
sender the opportunity to type the name and address of the sender
and the recipient and indicate the type of delivery desired,
e.g., standard overnight, priority overnight, Saturday, Sunday,
holiday, with or without a return receipt.
A method of payment would be included in the delivery
box, such as a credit card reader. The user would insert their
credit card, and then, based upon the type of delivery selected
and the area code of the recipient, which the user could enter
by pressing a numeric key pad of the keyboard on the delivery box
or be read automatically from the deposited documents by a
scanner. An appropriate charge would be made to the credit card.
Upon request, a receipt would automatically be issued.
A cash receiving machine could also be attached to the
delivery box for payment by cash. Similarly, a receipt would be
issued.
A plurality of pages may be included in the document
sent to the recipient. This would be done by sending the pages
electronically ("e-mail") or by sending the originals of a series
of pages after they are copied on the copy machine. An envelope
may be fed to the copy machine inside the delivery box so that
the series of original pages and the series of copied pages are
placed in separate envelopes. A shipping label may be typed on
the keyboard outside of the delivery box. Also, a check may be
sent through the mail with proof given to the sender by a copy
of the check inserted in the delivery box or proof of mailing of
a check may be sent electronically by the sender to an intended
recipient.
The sender may satisfy the carrier that funds are in
his account in advance of the transaction or during the
transaction. The sender could then direct the carrier to move
those funds from the sender's account to the recipient's account
or the sender may (by the input of an I.D. card and "pin"
numbers) cause a payment to move from the sender's bank account
to the recipient's bank account. It is intended that this
sophisticated method of making a payment in a secure electronic
manner would be made available to people at a public place, such
as a post office or a commercial carrier's facility.
In the above description the "carrier" referred to
above is the party providing the secure delivery box described
above, the facility where it is made available to the sender, and
is also making the delivery of the document to the recipient, a
copy to the sender and to the carrier's own electronic storage
device as proof of receipt of certain documents. Of course,
there may be more than one party involved in the duties described
for the "carrier".
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention
to provide a record of a document being transmitted to a receiver
so as to provide proof to the sender of transmission of the
document.
It is another object of the present invention to
provide a record of a document being transmitted to a receiver
so as to provide proof of transmission of the document by
delivery of the to be transmitted document to a secure delivery
box which provides a copy of all documents being transmitted to
the sender and/or the recipient and/or the service provider of
the delivery box.
It is yet another object of the present invention to
provide a record of a document being transmitted to a receiver
so as to provide proof of transmission of the document by
delivery of the to be transmitted document to a secure delivery
box which provides a copy of all documents being transmitted to
the sender and/or the recipient and/or the service provider of
the delivery box by a hard paper copy or soft electronic copy of
the documents inserted into the delivery box.
It is still yet another object of the present invention
to provide a record of a document being transmitted to a receiver
so as to provide proof of transmission of the document by
delivery of the to be transmitted document to a secure delivery
box which provides a copy of all documents being transmitted to
the sender and/or the recipient and/or the service provider of
the delivery box by a hard copy or electronic copy of the
documents inserted into the delivery box with the sender's
address being visible through a transparent window of the to be
delivered document or entered by an external keyboard of the
delivery box.
It is still yet another object of the present invention
to provide a record of a document being transmitted to a receiver
so as to provide proof of transmission of the document by
delivery of the to be transmitted document to a secure delivery
box which provides a copy of all documents being transmitted to
the sender and/or the recipient and/or the service provider of
the delivery box by a hard copy or electronic copy of the
documents inserted into the delivery box with the sender's
address being visible through a transparent window of the to be
delivered document or entered by an external keyboard of the
delivery box so that copies and confirmation of delivery of
transmitted documents is achieved.
These and other objects of the invention, as well as
many of the intended advantages thereof, will become more readily
apparent when reference is made to the following description
taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Brief Description of the Accompanying Drawings
Figure 1 is an end view of the secure delivery box of
the present invention.
Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of
Figure 1 showing the internal copier/scanner, conveyor mechanism,
lock door and computer control center of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a plan view of an envelope which may be
used to transmit payment information, for example, including a
check which is copied to provide proof of delivery to the
delivery box of a document.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
In describing a preferred embodiment of the invention
illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be
resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, the invention is
not intended to be limited to the specific terms so selected, and
it is to be understood that each specific term includes all
technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to
accomplish a similar purpose.
With reference to the drawings, in general, and to
Figures 1 and 2 in particular, a system and method of providing
proof of delivery embodying the teachings of the subject
invention includes a secure delivery box 10. The delivery box
10 is made of steel or other similar material construction so as
to provide a secure environment for its contents. The box 10 may
be anchored to the ground by bolts 12 to ensure against movement
of the box.
As shown in Figure 2, access to the interior of the box
10 may be gained through pivotal doorway 14 for retrieval of
documents to be delivered by a courier service. Additional
openings may be provided for servicing of the interior of the
box. A document to be fed into the interior of the box is
fed into slot 16 located at end 18 of the box. Alternatively,
a plurality of documents 20 as shown in Figure 2 may be fed into
the slot 16 in a direction of arrow 22.
In the embodiment where a single document is fed into
the delivery box 10, reference is made to Figure 3. In Figure
3 exterior envelope 24 surrounds an interior cover page 2 6 having
transparent portion 2 8 for viewing of indicia 3 0 representative
of account information, amount of payment and viewing of check
32 for payment of an invoice, for example.
After entry into slot 16, cover sheet 2 6 may be
transmitted by conveyor 34 to a copy device 36. The copy device
includes a photocopy drum 3 8 or other electronic, digital copying
device as well as a scanning bar 40 for electronically reading
the cover page 2 6 and transmitting a record of the cover sheet,
including indicia 3 0 and check 32 by a CPU 42 in the form of
email. The intended recipients of an email copy of the cover
letter 26 may be input to the CPU by pressing in the direction
of arrow 44 on the keys of keyboard 46. A monitor 48 displays
the information being entered by the keyboard.
As an additional mechanism of proof of delivery of the
cover sheet 2 6 to the delivery box a hard copy 55 of the cover
sheet is processed along path 50 and delivered by exit conveyor
52 to the sender who originally passed the cover sheet through
inlet 16. A copy of the cover sheet is delivered in the
direction of arrow 54 from exit port 56.
Meanwhile, the original cover sheet 26 is passed along
in the direction of path 58. The original cover sheet either
passes into holding compartment 60 to be later accessed through
door 14 by an agent of the carrier or passes into external
envelope 24 which can be printed with a delivery address 62, a
return address 64 and even postage from a postage meter (not
shown). Alternatively, depending on the number of pages of the
copied document, box 66 or 68 may be selected for containing the
original document pages.
Payment for the entire transaction may be made by cash
or credit card fed into payment slot 66. The payment transaction
can be confirmed on the monitor screen 48.. If desired, a record
of the payment of the transaction as well as the entire
transaction may be processed by CPU 42 and a copy printed and
passed along path 50 so as to be retrieved from exit port 56-.
By this system and method, confirmation of delivery to
a secure delivery box is made so that a confirmation of deposit
of at least one document is provided to at least one of the
sender, the recipients and the carrier exercising control over
the deposit box. There can therefore be no question as to what
documentation is being transmitted, as well as a specific date
and time of the deposit.
The foregoing description should be considered as
illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Since
numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those
skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to
the exact construction and operation shown and described, and,
accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be
resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
I CLAIM:
1. A system for providing proof of delivery
of documents, said system comprising
a delivery box for deposit of at least one
document being forwarded to a recipient by a sender,
an inlet of said delivery box for
irretrievably receiving the at least one document
from the sender,
a copying device located in said delivery
box for copying the at least one document received in
said delivery box and providing a copy in at least
one of a printed and electronic format to at least
one of the sender and the recipient, and
a delivery package inside of the delivery
box receiving the at least one document for
subsequent delivery of the delivery package by a
delivery service.
2. The system for providing proof of
delivery of documents as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said delivery box is secure against tampering for
storing the received at least one document until
retrieved by an agent of a delivery service.
3. The system for providing proof of
delivery of documents as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the copying device is a photocopier.
4. The system for providing proof of
delivery of documents as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the copying device is an image scanner.
5. The system for providing proof of
delivery of documents as claimed in claim 1, wherein
a keyboard is mounted on the delivery box for entry
of data comprising a delivery address and a return
address.
6. The system for providing proof of
delivery of documents as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the copying device delivers an electronic copy of the
at least one document to the sender, the recipient
and the delivery service exercising control over the
delivery box.
7. A system for providing proof of delivery
of documents, said system comprising
a delivery box for deposit of at least one
document being forwarded to a recipient by a sender,
an inlet of said delivery box for
irretrievably receiving the at least one document
from the sender,
a copying device located in said delivery
box for copying the at least one document received in
said delivery box and providing a copy in at least
one of a printed and electronic format to at least
one of the sender and the recipient, and
a conveying device located between the inlet
and the copying device and between the copying device
and an outlet of the delivery box for transferring
the at least one document to the copying device and
for transferring a copy of the at least one document
externally of the copying device.
8. The system for providing proof of
delivery of documents as claimed in claim 7, wherein
the conveying device transfers the at least one
document into an envelope.
9. A method for providing proof of
delivery of documents, said method comprising the
steps of
delivering at least one document to a secure
box by a sender,
passing the at least one document into the
delivery box,
copying the at least one document,
forwarding a copy of the at least one
document to at least one of the sender, an intended
recipient and a custodian of the delivery box, and
providing the copy of at least one document
to the sender from the secure box at the time of
delivery of the at least one document to the secure
box, and
forwarding an additional copy of the at
least one document to the intended recipient at the
time of delivery of the copy to the sender.
10. The method for providing proof of
delivery of documents as claimed in claim 9, wherein
the copying is done by a photocopier.
11. The method for providing proof of
delivery of documents as claimed in claim 10,
wherein the copying is done by an image scanner.
12. The method for providing proof of
delivery of documents as claimed in claim 11, wherein
an email of the at least one document is transmitted
from the delivery box.
13. The method for providing proof of
delivery of documents as claimed in claim 9, which
involves providing delivery information to the at
least one document in the event of the at least one
document being in the delivery box.
14. The method for providing proof of
delivery of documents as claimed in claim 13, wherein
the delivery information is provided by a keyboard
mounted on the delivery box.
15. The method for providing proof of
delivery of documents as claimed in. claim 9, wherein
a delivery service obtains the at least one document
from the delivery box.

Documents:

00966-kolnp-2006 abstract.pdf

00966-kolnp-2006 assignment.pdf

00966-kolnp-2006 claims.pdf

00966-kolnp-2006 cover letter.pdf

00966-kolnp-2006 description (complete).pdf

00966-kolnp-2006 drawings.pdf

00966-kolnp-2006 form-1.pdf

00966-kolnp-2006 form-3.pdf

00966-kolnp-2006 form-5.pdf

00966-kolnp-2006 international publication.pdf

00966-kolnp-2006 international search authority report.pdf

00966-kolnp-2006 pct form.pdf

00966-kolnp-2006 priority document.pdf

00966-kolnp-2006-correspondence-1.1.pdf

00966-kolnp-2006-form 18.pdf

966-KOLNP-2006-(13-02-2012)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-abstract.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-claims.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-correspondence-1.3.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-correspondence.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-description (complete).pdf

966-kolnp-2006-drawings.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-examination report.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-form 1.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-form 18.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-form 2.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-form 3.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-form 5.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-gpa.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-granted-abstract.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-granted-claims.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-granted-description (complete).pdf

966-kolnp-2006-granted-drawings.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-granted-form 1.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-granted-form 2.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-granted-specification.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-others.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-reply to examination report.pdf

966-kolnp-2006-specification.pdf

abstract-00966-kolnp-2006.jpg


Patent Number 250626
Indian Patent Application Number 966/KOLNP/2006
PG Journal Number 03/2012
Publication Date 20-Jan-2012
Grant Date 13-Jan-2012
Date of Filing 18-Apr-2006
Name of Patentee BLUMBERG, MARVIN R.
Applicant Address 7105, BROXBURN DRIVE BETHESDA, MARYLAND
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 BLUMBERG, MARVIN R. 7105, BROXBURN DRIVE BETHESDA, MARYLAND 20817
PCT International Classification Number B41B 1/00
PCT International Application Number PCT/US2004/033882
PCT International Filing date 2004-10-15
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 60/511,098 2003-10-15 U.S.A.