Pitney Bowes Inc.

Graphic Sciences, Inc.

Goldmark Communications Corporation

Donald T Dolan

Morton Silverberg

David W Hubbard

Norman J Bergman

Roger J Ratzenberger, Jr

Yakup J Igval

Pushpavadan S Nagarsheth

Charles F Murphy, Iii

Danilo P Buan

Robert T Durst, Jr

Dale A French

Kevin J O'Dea

Jovito N Abellana

Henry Stalzer

David W Beckstrom

Gerald C Freeman

Gary S Jacobson

Wesley A Kirschner

Richard P Schoonmaker

Sungwon R Moh

Albert C Chiang

Peter C DiGiulio

Norman R Lilly

Joseph L Gargiulo

Matthew J Costello

Kathryn V Lawton

Joan T Doutney

Edward G Keplinger

James R West

James L Vanderpool

Antoon M Hurkmans

Kenneth R Jasinski

Christina S Park

Ronald P Sansone

Flavio M Manduley

Edilberto I Salazar

Claude Zeller

William A Ross

Wallace Kirschner

Seymour Feinland

Hugh St Dannatt

Robert J Tolmie, Jr

Richard A Connell

Vladimir Valentine Pirc

Patrick M Brand

Robert T Durst

Peter C Goldmark

Salvatore J Calvi

Kenneth A Terry

George G Gelfer

Beth A Jennings

Patricia Corsetti

Peter C DiLiulio

David D Kelly

Andre T Debaudringhien

Andre T Dehaudringhien

Arvind C Desai

John M Hollywood

A postage metering system includes a base and a user interface mounted to the base. The user interface includes a micro controller, an internal socket for receiving an integrated circuit chip and a smart card reader interface connector for interfacing with an external smart card. The micro controller is configurable to address either the internal socket or the smart card reader interface connector to access postage metering functionality.

Postage metering system having multiple postage meter configuration capability

A method and device for improving the efficiency of a postage meter by using a sensing to detect the edges of an incoming envelope in order to initiate a multi-speed profile for transporting the envelope with different speeds through the postage meter. With the multi-speed profile, the postage meter is allowed to have sufficient time to process mail related data and provide mail related data to a print head before the envelope reaches a print zone where the print head starts printing an indicia on the envelope.

Method and device for improving the efficiency of a postage meter

The present invention is directed to an envelope processing system system in which a supply of envelopes is placed for moistening and sealing. The moistening and sealing apparatus is designed to receive all types of intermixed mail envelopes with various shaped flaps. The envelopes may be loaded into the supply station in different configurations including intermixed with closed sealed flaps, unsealed open flaps, or closed unsealed flaps. The system is designed.to receive such envelopes, process them so that the flaps are automatically closed prior to moistening if they are not closed. The flaps of the envelopes are then moistened indirectly using capillary action of a sealing agent, and sealed with a sealing apparatus.

Method and apparatus for sealing closed envelopes

This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing an accurate moistening system which provides for less fluid waste and better wetting. This in turn causes better sealing of the envelope flap. The present invention is directed to, in a general aspect, a non-contact envelope flap moistening system which can be installed in a mailing machine apparatus. The flap moistening system comprises an array of inkjet print heads and a document scanner for sensing the envelope flap. Envelope flaps can be moistened by the flap moistening system by performing a method comprising the following steps: sensing the envelope flap; profile and/or the glue area of an envelope flap; building a firing sequence for the print head nozzles; and actuating the nozzles to precisely fire discreet fluid droplets onto the glue area of the envelope flap. The system provides precise fluid amounts for envelope sealing. This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing an accurate moistening system which provides for less fluid waste and better wetting.

Method and apparatus for moistening envelope flaps

An apparatus and method for printing images. An ink jet printhead forms an image on a transfer roller for transfer to a substrate. The substrate can be an envelope and the image can be a postal indicia. Portions of the image can be interleaved during successive revolutions of the transfer roller to increase the horizontal and/or vertical resolution of the image. A mechanism is provided to deflect the substrate away from the transfer roller after the image is printed so that formation of a new image can begin before the substrate has cleared the print station.

Apparatus and method for printing images

A method for maintaining a transfer roller in an ink jet printer. In an ink jet printer having a transfer roller on which an image is formed by an ink jet printhead, the printhead is periodically purged to prevent clogging. During purging the ink discharged by the printhead is used to wet the entire surface of the roller to dissolve residual dried ink and the transfer roller is then cleaned with a wipping pad or roller.

Method for cleaning residual ink from a transfer roller in an ink jet

A method for ensuring for each postage transaction in a postage meter having a vault subsystem and a printing subsystem that debiting occurs prior to printing of a postal indicia includes authenticating the postage transaction as being valid, performing debiting within the vault subsytem, sending an encrypted debit certificate from the vault subsystem to the printing subsytem, independently recreating the encrypted debit certificate in the printing subsystem, comparing the encrypted debit certificate to the recreated encrypted debit certificate to ascertain if a predetermined relationship exists therebetween, and initiating printing of the postal indicia only upon determination of the existence of the predetermined relationship. An apparatus incorporates the method.

Method and apparatus for ensuring debiting in a postage meter prior to

An apparatus and method for printing postal indicia and similar images. The apparatus includes two print stations and an ink jet printhead transportable between the stations. The printhead forms images on a transfer roller located at each of the stations and the image is then transferred from the roller to a substrate. At the second station the transfer roller is incorporated in a detachable roller and is used to print remotely located substrates.

Ink jet printing apparatus with handheld applicator

A method for printing a postal indicia on a mailpiece includes moving a printing mechanism and the mailpiece relative to each other during a plurality of passes; and printing with the printing mechanism at least a corresponding portion of the postal indicia during each of the plurality of passes, each of the corresponding portions being in overlapped relationship to the other corresponding portions so that the combined effect of the corresponding overlapped portions is a postal indicia which is detectable by a facer/canceler machine as a valid postal indicia. Furthermore, during no more than one of the plurality of passes is its corresponding portion of the postal indicia detectable by the facer/canceler machine as the valid postal indicia. An apparatus incorporates the above method.

Method and apparatus for securely printing a machine detectable postal

A method for authorizing performance of a function in a distributed system having first and second subsystems in communication with each other includes the steps of separately generating a mutual session key within the first and second subsystems; utilizing the mutual session key generated in each of the first and second subsystems for authenticating the first subsystem; and authorizing performance of the function only upon completion of the authenticating of the first subsystem. An apparatus performs the inventive method.

Method and apparatus for securely authorizing performance of a function

A method for printing an enhanced postal indicia image on a mailpiece utilizing a postage meter having a printing mechanism including a plurality of nozzles that deposit an ink in a dot-matrix pattern includes moving the printing mechanism and the mailpiece relative to each other over a first swath area on the mailpiece; selectively energizing the nozzles during step A) thereby printing a dot-matrix pattern of a postal indicia within the first swath area; moving the printing mechanism and the mailpiece relative to each other over a second swath area on the mailpiece, the second swath area in overlapping relationship with the first swath area; and selectively energizing the nozzles during step C) for printing a dot-matrix pattern of selected portions of the postal indicia which is complimentary to the dot-matrix pattern of the postal indicia such that a dot-matrix pattern of the enhanced postal indicia is produced by a combination of the dot-matrix pattern of the postal indicia and the dot-matrix pattern of selected portions of the postal indicia.

Method and apparatus for securely printing an indicia image in multiple

A metering system includes means for printing postage value. First means are coupled to the printing means for accounting for value printed by the printing means. Second means are coupled to the printing means for accounting for value printed by said printing means. Means determine which of the first and the second accounting means accounts for value printed by said printing means. The system may be arranged where the first accounting means is a smart card chip mounted internal to the metering system and the second accounting means is an external smart card. When the system is operable only one accounting system is rendered operable with priority given to the external smart card.

Electronic postage meter system having internal accounting system and

An apparatus and method for feeding a mailpiece into and out of a weighing module. The apparatus comprises a device for feeding the mailpiece; and a device for positioning the feeding device in a first position for receiving the mailpiece from a first direction and feeding the mailpiece into the weighing module. Additionally, the positioning device moves the feeding device into a second position for feeding the mailpiece in a second direction out of the weighing module. The feed device includes a drive roller and an idler roller for keeping the mailpiece in operative engagement with the drive roller. The method comprises the steps of: (a) positioning a feeding device in a first position for receiving the mailpiece from a first direction; (b) feeding the mailpiece in the first direction into the weighing module; and (c) positioning the feeding device in a second position for feeding the mailpiece in a second direction out of the weighing module.

Transport apparatus for a weighing module

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Ridgefield, CT, United States of America

Donald T Dolan