Pitney Bowes Inc.

Xerox Corporation

James A Salomon

Anthony E Yap

Eric A Belec

Steven E Cohen

Steven A Supron

James A Fairweather

Norman R Lilly

Arnold T Eventoff

Leo L Wologodzew

John J Mercede, Jr

Shae Lynn Wilson

Christopher Julius Stefan

Thomas M Lyga

Anthony Chiappetta

Robert P Rebres

Michael S Doery

Donald Surprise

Dennis C Inglesias

Joseph K Patterson

David W Beckstrom

Steven H Joyce

Donald E Barker

John P Miller

Richard A Sloan, Jr

Easwaran C Nambudiri

Peter T Collings

Jerome E Jackson

Donald G Mackay

Dean H Foster

Denis J Stemmle, Sr

David J Eaton

Christopher D Clark

Donald J Weikel, Jr

David B Wilk

Lun Chan

Fran E Blackman

Michael M Farrell

John L Campo

Aaron D Smith

Mark F Muenchinger

Daniel B Young

Henry Lee

Eric D Kolb

Cyndee Jonas

Christopher M Giles

Jason Gerard

Anthony W Chiappetta

Systems and methods for providing evidence of printing in metering systems even in the event of a print head failure are provided. Along with generating a primary image for an indicium that evidences payment, a secondary image for the indicium, identical to a corresponding portion of the primary image but at a lower density, with physical boundaries that are within the boundaries of the primary image, is also generated. The primary image is printed by a first nozzle array, and the secondary image is printed by a second nozzle array. Because the primary image completely overlaps the secondary image, the secondary image is undetectable if the primary image is properly printed. The secondary image provides evidence of printing of the indicium that can be used to obtain a refund for the indicium in the event that the primary image was not printed due to failure of the first nozzle array.

Method and system for providing evidence of printing in event of print head failure

A mailing machine for the creation of mailpieces includes a print station and a transport system for passing a length of the label material through the print station to receive information on a face surface of the label material. A processor is adapted to store rating information based upon the weight and dimensions of the mailpiece and is operatively coupled to, and controls, the print station and transport system. In a first operating mode, the processor prints rating information on a length of label material, and in a second operating mode, the processor prints postage indicia on the face surface of the label material based upon the rating information for subsequent application to a mailpiece. In the second operating mode, the postage indicia may optionally be printed on the label material or directly on the face surface of the mailpiece envelope.

System and method for dimensional rating of a mailpiece

An inserter system includes a pre-fold accumulator subsystem in which plural sheets are collected before folding and insertion into an envelope. A divert gate is at the upstream side of the pre-fold accumulator to selectively downwardly divert sheets fed in a reverse direction from the pre-fold accumulator. Positioning of the divert gate is controlled by a mechanism that couples the divert gate and a drive shaft that drives a sheet drive belt component of the pre-fold accumulator.

Inserter system divert gate actuated by pre-fold accumulator drive shaft

The sheet capacity of a pivoting feed head is combined with a complimentary pivoting design for the paper tray lift, such that a large total capacity of sheets is attained within a compact space, while allowing the lifting mechanisms to be located outside of the perimeter of the paper tray.

Method to accommodate a large capacity of sheets in a feeder mechanism

A method and mechanism are provided for controlling the movement of a belt. The arrangement may have a moveable member is coupled to an adjustable member. The members are coupled such that when the moveable member is moved in a first direction the adjustable member is move in a first direction and when the moveable member is moved in a second direction the adjustable member is moved in a second direction. A belt is coupled to the movable member. Movement of the belt in a first direction moves the moveable member in the first direction and movement of said belt in a second direction moves the moveable member in the second direction. A belt tensioner mechanism is connected to the belt so that when the belt moves in the first direction a biasing force is created that drives said belt to move a controlled amount in the second direction when movement of the belt in the first direction is stopped. The arrangement may be employed with a materials feed tray. Side guides for the tray are automatically set correctly for proper feeding from the tray without jamming, skew or off set of the materials.

Detachable feed tray with self adjusting side guides

A system and method for accumulation of media invention includes a series of upper and lower transport belts for feeding media seriatim along a path of travel. An accumulator pocket is positioned between the upper and lower drive belts along the path of travel. An upper and a lower accumulator ramp is positioned adjacent the accumulator pocket are moveable between a first position and a second position. The first accumulator ramp position is such that the lower ramp is positioned to engage media moved seriatim along the path of travel to guide the media to form a forward accumulation of media in the accumulator pocket. The upper accumulator ramp second position is such that the upper accumulator ramp is positioned to engage media moved seriatim along the path of travel to guide the media to form a reverse accumulation of media in the accumulator pocket. One or more rollers can be mounted to cooperate with the lower accumulator ramp and one or more rollers can be mounted to cooperate with the upper accumulator ramp to reduce forces which would tend to cause previously assembled media collations to shear apart during transport into the accumulator pocket. The upper and lower accumulator ramps may also be positioned to enable transport of media through the system without the accumulation of media in the accumulation pocket.

Forward and reverse media accumulation system

A media item feed tray with an exit area for media items includes a sled moveable toward and away from the feed tray exit area. A biasing surface is mounted to the tray and extends away from the feed tray exit area. A spring member is mounted on the moveable sled and is connected to the biasing surface such that when the moveable sled is moved away from the feed tray exit area energy is stored in the spring member. The biasing surface may be a shaped rail with a cam surface and the moveable member may include a cam follower which engages the shaped rail cam surface. A first cam section and a second cam section can be provided with the moveable sled urged toward the feed tray exit area when the cam follower engages the shaped rail first cam surface section and urged away from the feed tray exit area when the cam follower engages the shaped rail second cam surface section. A mechanism can be provided for locking the sled from movement and with a sled front face which can be positioned to facilitate loading of media items into the feed tray and positioned for media item feeding operation.

Shingle media item feed tray with spring loaded self locking sled

A method of determining the mass of a mail piece using a load cell. A mail piece whose mass is to be determined is transported across a platform without stopping or slowing the mail piece. A load cell measures the horizontal force applied to the load cell by the transported mail piece. This horizontal force, along with the acceleration of the mail piece, allows a determination of the mass of the mail piece.

Method and apparatus for determining the mass of an article using a load cell

The present invention describes a double belt transport system for moving a mailpiece into a printing area of a digital printer. The transport system includes an upper belt and a lower belt. The upper belt has a straight section to form a nip with the lower belt to ingest the mailpiece. The straight section also defines a registration plane to register the upper surface of the mailpiece with respect to the print head of the printer. In order to make sure the registration is consistent regardless of the thickness of the mailpiece, an up-lifting mechanism is used to push the bottom of the mailpiece in an upward direction against a shield plate, which is positioned substantially on the registration plane. A velocity measurement device, such as an optical encoder, is used to measure the moving speed of the belts so that the printing speed of the digital printer matches the moving speed of the mailpiece in the print area.

Method and system for transporting mailpieces in a printing station

A method of determining the mass of an article using a load cell. An article whose mass is to be determined is transported across a platform without stopping or slowing the article. A load cell measures the horizontal force applied to the load cell by the transported article. This horizontal force, along with the acceleration of the article, allows a determination of the mass of the article.

A method and system for improving the capture of an OCR character region of a postage indicium, wherein the OCR character region may exhibit a defect associated with the production or the reading of the indicium. A plurality of error compensation marks is provided in the proximity of the OCR character region such that the error compensation marks are caused to exhibit one or more changes indicative of the defect of the OCR character region. Thus, the defect in the OCR character region can be identified by detecting the changes in the error compensation marks. Accordingly, the defect in the OCR character region can be compensated for when the OCR characters are interpreted.

Method and system for producing robust indicia for digital printing and verification

A self-adjusting side guide for a document-handling machine having a feed deck along which documents are transported is provided. The self-adjusting side guide includes a first member mounted for movement along the feed deck toward and away from the documents; a guide wall mechanism operatively connected to the first member for movement relative to the first member; and a biasing device that applies a biasing force that biases the guide wall into a first position relative to the first member. The side guide operates such that at times when an external force sufficient to move the first member along the feed deck in the direction of the documents is applied to the guide wall mechanism, the guide wall mechanism moves toward the documents against the biasing force from the first position to a second position relative to the first member without any movement of the first member toward the documents.

Self-adjusting side guide for a mail handling device

A method of producing a mailpiece including the following steps: (i) printing a postal indicium and a first inspection image on a first label segment; and (ii) printing a recipient address and a second inspection image on a second label segment; (iii) applying the first label segment and the second label segment to the mailpiece. The first inspection image and the second inspection image have a human visible relationship indicating that the first label segment and the second label segment correspond to each other.

Postage printing system having graphical relationship between postal indicium label and address label segments

Feeder systems are mechanical systems that feed individual sheets of paper to other mechanical devices. Feeder systems need to be able to handle a variety of types of paper with different weights and finishes. Glossy paper has proven difficult to feed because of anti-offset agents used in the printing process. The agents contaminate the rollers in the feeder system causing misfeeds and jams. The present invention is a cleaning apparatus that can be used in conjunction with the feeder system to keep the feeder system free from malfunctions during the processing of glossy paper. The cleaning apparatus includes a cleaning head mounted on a supporting arm. Various types of abrasive cleaning heads can be employed in the cleaning apparatus such as metal blades, meshes and brushes. The cleaning heads keep the rollers operational while minimizing deterioration of the roller.

Cleaning apparatus for rollers used in feeding systems

The present invention provides an aligner apparatus which bottom edge aligns documents and separates documents and provides adequate gap between documents for subsequent processing. The an aligner apparatus includes first and second guide walls, forming an alley along the document feed path in which the documents are relieved of interdocument forces allowing bottom edge alignment of the documents with the document feed path. A trap assembly including first and second trap levers is lever mounted along the document feed path on a side of the guide wall and when actuated, cause opposing forces on one-another in order to grab the documents as they move along the feed path in the aligner apparatus so as to control the gap between the documents. It apparatus further provides an adequate gap between documents while reducing noise. Each trap lever has a head portion, which is fitted with a resilient pad, which is attached to the trap arm in a manner that forms a gap between the head and the pad. The resilient pad and the gap operate to reduce noise created by the trap arm when actuated.

Aligner mechanism for a mail handling system

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Cheshire, CT, United States of America

James A Salomon