Pictorial Review

AUTOMATIC, high-speed letter mail sorting is being done by a laboratory prototype machine developed by Rabinow Engineering Co., Takoma Park, Md., sponsored by the U. S. National Bureau of Standards (NBS) for the U. S. Post Office Department (PO), Designed to sort at a 36,000 letters per hour rate into many categories, directed either by built-in electronic control, human operators, or a combination of both, the system is of modular design and, thus, adaptable to the varying sorting complexity and spatial requirements of different post offices. The machine has proved successful in laboratory tests, and the PO recently ordeied construction of a 1,000 pocket production prototype.