METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETECTING FIELDS CONTAINING MAIL ROUTING INFORMATION ON MAILED ITEMS

摘要

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for reading address fields on mail items when the address field cannot be automatically read. Herein, when an address field cannot be read, a signature of the surface of the mail piece where the address field is believed to be is made. The signature is derived from a scanning the surface and forming a grid pattern of the larger typographical fields. A database is queried to determine if a match exists between the signature and another signature. If a match is found, the information is imported into the automatic reading process, the information assisting in the reading of the address field. If no match is found, the scanned image is manually encoded and this information is used.