Pitney Bowes Inc.

Pitney Bowas Inc.

Kenneth G Miller

Thomas J Foth

Richard W Heiden

Brian M Romansky

John H Winkelman

Kwan Cheung Wong

Leon A Pintsov

Edward R Bass

Kevin W Bodie

Ronald Reichman

Cornelius S McNab

James P Maher

Suzanne Konstance

A method for enabling a mailer to infer the amount of business reply that he/she is going to receive on a given day and determine the amount of postage that is due. The foregoing is accomplished by placing a planet code that references the mailer's permit number on the business reply so that when a scanner at the USPS reads the planet code, the postage for the business reply will be calculated, and the mailer will be notified of the calculation so that the mailer may deposit sufficient funds in a deposit account to pay for the postage. The mailer may deposit funds in the account by issuing a check, having funds automatically transferred from some account, or automatically having a check issued so that someone may take the check to the USPS and receive the business reply. Thus, the mailer will be able to determine the amount of postage that is going to be charged to his/her account.

Automatic business reply mail funding

This invention creates a hierarchy of radio frequency identification tags that are related to the mail pieces in mail trays and the pallet on which the mail trays sit. This hierarchical method provides a layered approach that is designed to minimize the probability that a mailer or the post office will misassemble or misroute a mailing or elements of a mailing.

Method for maintaining the integrity of a mailing using radio frequency identification tags

A method for matching a manifest or statement of a mailing with the mail pieces contained in a tray. The method is accomplished by: printing a pattern on the edge of mail pieces; placing the mail pieces in a tray; and printing the pattern on the manifest or statement of mailing and on the edges of the mail pieces contained in the tray.

Method for printing a manifest or statement of mailing having a pattern that matches a pattern printed on the edges of mail pieces contained in a tray

A method for tagging the mail pieces in a mail tray and validating the integrity of the mail pieces in the tray. The method is accomplished by: determining the measurement of an edge of each mail piece that will be placed in a tray; determining the thickness of each mail piece that will be placed in the tray; determining the number of mail pieces that will be placed in the tray; calculating an incremental pattern dab that is going to be placed on the edge of each mail piece; placing a portion of the pattern on the edge of each mail piece that is going to form the mail pieces of the tray; and placing the mail pieces in the tray in an ordered manner so that the edges having dabs will be visible, and the dabs will form a pattern that indicates only the determined number of mail pieces are in the tray.

Method for tagging mail

An electronic scale uses an analog signal from a load cell which is converted directly to a pulse width modulated output signal. This pulse width modulated output signal represents the weight of an object on the scale and is sufficient to be directly read by a typical microcontroller. Therefore, no amplifier or analog to digital converter is required. The microcontroller then converts a signal representing the weight of the object on the scale to a weight value. A method of using the counter/timers on the microcontroller with synchronized overflow, is disclosed to enable a high resolution value of the pulse width modulated signal, which is then converted into a weight value for object's weight given that the pulse width modulated output signal is proportional to the weight of an object placed on the load cell.

Pulse width modulated weighing platform

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Bethel, CT, United States of America

Kenneth G Miller