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EP0745435A3 - Apparatus for producing mail pieces - Google Patents

Apparatus for producing mail pieces Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP0745435A3
EP0745435A3 EP96108561A EP96108561A EP0745435A3 EP 0745435 A3 EP0745435 A3 EP 0745435A3 EP 96108561 A EP96108561 A EP 96108561A EP 96108561 A EP96108561 A EP 96108561A EP 0745435 A3 EP0745435 A3 EP 0745435A3
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
printer
mail
data
mail piece
documents
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP96108561A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0745435A2 (en
EP0745435B1 (en
Inventor
James L. Harman
Flavio M. Manduley
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Pitney Bowes Inc
Original Assignee
Pitney Bowes Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Family has litigation
First worldwide family litigation filed litigation Critical https://patents.darts-ip.com/?family=27037064&utm_source=google_patent&utm_medium=platform_link&utm_campaign=public_patent_search&patent=EP0745435(A3) "Global patent litigation dataset” by Darts-ip is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Priority claimed from US08/453,317 external-priority patent/US5650934A/en
Priority claimed from US08/453,301 external-priority patent/US5684706A/en
Application filed by Pitney Bowes Inc filed Critical Pitney Bowes Inc
Publication of EP0745435A2 publication Critical patent/EP0745435A2/en
Publication of EP0745435A3 publication Critical patent/EP0745435A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0745435B1 publication Critical patent/EP0745435B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B07—SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS; SORTING
    • B07C—POSTAL SORTING; SORTING INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES, OR BULK MATERIAL FIT TO BE SORTED PIECE-MEAL, e.g. BY PICKING
    • B07C1/00—Measures preceding sorting according to destination
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00362—Calculation or computing within apparatus, e.g. calculation of postage value
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00459—Details relating to mailpieces in a franking system
    • G07B17/00467—Transporting mailpieces
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00459—Details relating to mailpieces in a franking system
    • G07B17/00661—Sensing or measuring mailpieces
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00016—Relations between apparatus, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office, in a franking system
    • G07B17/0008—Communication details outside or between apparatus
    • G07B2017/00137—In a LAN
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00016—Relations between apparatus, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office, in a franking system
    • G07B17/0008—Communication details outside or between apparatus
    • G07B2017/00153—Communication details outside or between apparatus for sending information
    • G07B2017/00161—Communication details outside or between apparatus for sending information from a central, non-user location, e.g. for updating rates or software, or for refilling funds
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00362—Calculation or computing within apparatus, e.g. calculation of postage value
    • G07B2017/0037—Calculation of postage value
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00459—Details relating to mailpieces in a franking system
    • G07B17/00467—Transporting mailpieces
    • G07B2017/00491—Mail/envelope/insert handling system
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00459—Details relating to mailpieces in a franking system
    • G07B17/00661—Sensing or measuring mailpieces
    • G07B2017/00669—Sensing the position of mailpieces
    • G07B2017/00677—Keeping track of mailpieces inside apparatus

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mathematical Physics (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Devices For Checking Fares Or Tickets At Control Points (AREA)
  • Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)

Abstract

A system for producing mail pieces includes a plurality of apparatus (8) each having a first printer (56) for printing documents and a second printer (66) for printing envelopes and a mail finishing unit (64) for receiving the printed documents from the first printer and the envelopes printed with corresponding addresses from the second printer and inserting the documents into the envelope to form and frank a mail piece, and a plurality of user input stations (2). The several apparatus operate under the control of a single stream of job data from a mail center controller (4), where the job data includes a job header (12) defining default mail piece attributes and mail piece records which include document data and address data, and which may include specific mail piece attribute data for each corresponding mail piece. The apparatus control mechanism partitions the data stream and controls the first printer (56) to print the documents while controlling the second printer (66) to separately print the envelopes which are moved along a separate path to an insert station where the mail piece is formed. The system also includes data stores of postal rates and of per item weights of items of materials used to form mail pieces which are used to calculate postage values for mail pieces.
EP19960108561 1995-05-31 1996-05-29 Apparatus for producing mail pieces Expired - Lifetime EP0745435B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US453301 1995-05-31
US08/453,317 US5650934A (en) 1995-05-31 1995-05-31 System for preparing and franking a mail piece
US453317 1995-05-31
US08/453,301 US5684706A (en) 1995-05-31 1995-05-31 System having multiple user input stations and multiple mail preparation apparatus for preparing and franking a mail piece

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0745435A2 EP0745435A2 (en) 1996-12-04
EP0745435A3 true EP0745435A3 (en) 1998-07-29
EP0745435B1 EP0745435B1 (en) 2004-02-18

Family

ID=27037064

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19960108561 Expired - Lifetime EP0745435B1 (en) 1995-05-31 1996-05-29 Apparatus for producing mail pieces

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0745435B1 (en)
CA (1) CA2177447C (en)
DE (1) DE69631563T2 (en)

Families Citing this family (15)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0762336A3 (en) * 1995-09-05 1999-11-10 Neopost Industrie Processing system for creating a virtual dispatch of mail allowing printing, document inserting, and automatic franking
US5918220A (en) * 1996-12-24 1999-06-29 Pitney Bowes Inc. Method and system for worldwide media selection, production, and delivery
US5873073A (en) * 1996-12-24 1999-02-16 Pitney Bowes Inc. Method and system for mail piece production utilizing a data center and inter-related communication networks
US6026385A (en) * 1997-07-21 2000-02-15 Pitney Bowes Inc. Encrypted postage indicia printing for mailer inserting systems
FR2768828B1 (en) 1997-09-23 2003-03-28 Neopost Ind MAIL ITEMS PREPARATION SYSTEM
FR2789202B1 (en) 1999-01-29 2001-04-27 Neopost Ind AUTONOMOUS MULTIFUNCTIONAL MAIL PREPARATION SYSTEM
US6714835B1 (en) * 1999-10-04 2004-03-30 Pitney Bowes Inc. System and apparatus for preparation of mailpieces and method for file based setup of such apparatus
AU2001290651A1 (en) * 2000-09-07 2002-03-22 United States Postal Service Mailing online operation flow
DE10054664B4 (en) * 2000-11-03 2004-09-30 Deutsche Post Ag Process for printing postal items
EP1211651A3 (en) * 2000-11-10 2004-04-14 Promatek Industries Ltd. System for generating data on the usage of a printer device
NL1017005C2 (en) 2000-12-29 2002-07-02 Neopost Ind B V System for generating printed mail items and computer program code therefor.
DE10324539A1 (en) * 2003-05-28 2004-12-23 Deutsche Post Ag Procedure and system for the commissioning and implementation of printing and postal services
WO2004109568A1 (en) * 2003-06-02 2004-12-16 Deutsche Post Ag System and method for treating addressed mails
US8040539B2 (en) * 2007-02-05 2011-10-18 Pitney Bowes Inc. Method and system for mitigating errors when processing print stream data
US20080291486A1 (en) * 2007-05-22 2008-11-27 Bowe Bell + Howell Company Intelligent document composition for mail processing

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0341040A1 (en) * 1988-05-03 1989-11-08 David Richard Spencer Altham Printer control device
EP0406976A1 (en) * 1989-07-03 1991-01-09 Hadewe B.V. Method and system for preparing items to be mailed
US5058030A (en) * 1989-10-03 1991-10-15 Pitney Bowes Inc. Optimizing mail processing by matching publisher and inserter entities
EP0578042A2 (en) * 1992-06-26 1994-01-12 Francotyp-Postalia GmbH Method for controlling the column-by-column printing of a postal stamp image in a franking machine

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0341040A1 (en) * 1988-05-03 1989-11-08 David Richard Spencer Altham Printer control device
EP0406976A1 (en) * 1989-07-03 1991-01-09 Hadewe B.V. Method and system for preparing items to be mailed
US5058030A (en) * 1989-10-03 1991-10-15 Pitney Bowes Inc. Optimizing mail processing by matching publisher and inserter entities
EP0578042A2 (en) * 1992-06-26 1994-01-12 Francotyp-Postalia GmbH Method for controlling the column-by-column printing of a postal stamp image in a franking machine

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE69631563D1 (en) 2004-03-25
CA2177447C (en) 2007-01-23
EP0745435A2 (en) 1996-12-04
CA2177447A1 (en) 1996-12-01
DE69631563T2 (en) 2004-12-23
EP0745435B1 (en) 2004-02-18

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