Pitney Bowes Inc.

Pitney Bowes Inc.world Headquarters

Michael J Ramadei

Wesley A Kirschner

Gary S Jacobson

James L Harman

Sung S Chang

Eric L Zuidema

Frederick W Ryan, Jr

Edilberto I Salazar

Thomas M Lyga

James A Fairweather

Douglas A Clark

David J Eaton

David L Rich

G Thomas Athens

David R Welch

David G Collings

An apparatus includes a printer and a buffer coupled to the printer for temporarily storing sheets fed out from the printer. The apparatus further includes a control mechanism for monitoring the buffer to determine a number of sheets currently stored in the buffer. The apparatus also includes a data source device that is separate from the printer and is coupled to the printer for selectively providing pages of print data to the printer. The data source device is coupled to the control mechanism and is operative to provide the pages of print data to the printer in response to control signals from the control mechanism.

Mail creation system with improved control of print-data downloading

A weighing system is provided to measure the article weight by first and second weight measurement devices. The first and second weight measurement devices each include a platform adapted to accept an article traveling along an upstream processing path and a device for sensing article weight as the article traverses the platform. Furthermore, the platforms of the first and second weight measurement devices define weight acquisition paths which are substantially parallel to one another. A diverter mechanism is provided to direct articles from the upstream processing path to one of the first or second weight acquisition paths. The diverter mechanism is controlled by a system processor which directs articles to one of the weight measurement devices depending upon its status, i.e., whether the path is available to receive another article for measuring weight. By diverting mailpieces to parallel weight acquisition paths, throughput is enhanced by multiple weight measurements occurring simultaneously.

Parallel path weight measurement system for sheet handling devices

A method and system that increases the throughput of a mailing machine by continuously computing indicia prior to and during mail processing is provided. The indicia generation process is divided into two distinct parts, cryptographic calculation and funds committal/printing. Indicium data are continuously computed, asynchronously with the printing of the indicia, and stored in a buffer until needed. This enables several indicium data to be computed and stored prior to processing of a mail piece by the mailing machine. Prior to printing an indicium on a mail piece, the funds for the indicium are accounted for by updating the registers of the mailing machine. Since a number of indicium data may be pre-computed prior to the start of processing the mail through the mailing machine, the throughput of the mailing machine can be increased.

Method and system for increasing mailing machine throughput by precomputing indicia

A system and method for diagnosing one or more faults or one or more potential faults in a machine. The system and method has a communications module for communicating machine data between the machine and the system. It also has a fault recognition module for analyzing the machine data, which can determine one or more faults or potential faults in the machine. An expert system module having a fault tree is guided through only a truncated portion of the fault tree based upon output from the fault recognition module.

System and method for recognizing faults in machines

This invention utilizes several coordinating devices that together provide a more comprehensive set of diagnostics which support both on-site and remote diagnostics of the customers equipment. Sensor transitions and profile state execution information will be cross-referenced by a common time stamp. Thus, it will be possible to not only observe the response (sensor transition) to stimulus (motion profiles), but also cross-reference this data to the specific controlling profile state segment. This yields an additional 'context' for specific types of errors. The foregoing level of diagnostics will be available on-site with the customers machine for manual processing by a skilled human, when necessary.

Remote automatic diagnostic analyzer for integrated mailing machines

This invention utilizes a simple mechanical buffer that will hold material and a two stage software buffering technique that controls the mechanical buffer to act as a First In First Out mechanical mechanism that allows other system events to be triggered off of dynamic thresholds. The two stage software buffering technique consists of a simple software FIFO with rule based logic to control input into a primary queue input and a secondary reserve queue which holds information as soon as it arrives. The decision to move information from the secondary reserve queue into the primary queue is based upon specific rules that are dynamically executed. This permits the creation of a dynamic threshold and allows the reliable triggering of the systems events. The foregoing permits material that is being produced at one fixed speed to be synchronized with material that is produced at variable speeds. The foregoing also permits a first document laser printer that has a constant printing time and a second envelope printer that has a variable print time to be synchronized. Thus, the document may be printed with a laser printer and the envelope printed with an ink jet printer.

System and method for buffering materials that are produced at two

A method for maintaining mailpiece integrity in a mailing system when a mechanical module experiences an error. For one category of errors, the mailing system may automatically recover from the error without operator intervention. For the remaining category of errors, the mailing system may recover from the error with minimum operator intervention, that is, the operator may be required to only remove the error producing mailpiece. A motion control processor for an error producing mechanical module will report a fault to its corresponding mailpiece builder task and the error detector task. Movement of at least the error producing mailpiece shall stop. The fault will be reported to the mailpiece builder tasks corresponding to the mechanical modules having no error condition. The mailing system shall suspend further processing of mailpieces upstream from the error producing mailpiece. For one category of errors, the mailing system will purge the error producing mailpiece from the error producing module without operator intervention. For the remaining category of errors, the operator will be required to remove at least the error producing mailpiece. State machines are then selected to perform system wide job recovery.

Method for maintaining mailpiece integrity

A table will be generated for tracking each mailpiece in a mailing system having multiple document paths. Attribute data relating to a mailpiece will be stored in a memory while job data relating to a mailing job will also be stored in a memory. A sequence builder process will look at the attribute data and determine the motion profiles that are required to ensure the mailpiece obtains the desired attributes. The sequence builder then commands execution of the motion profiles.

Method and apparatus for generating a mailpiece

A postage accounting system comprising: structure for accounting for postage; printing structure externally of the accounting structure, the printing structure including a printing module and computer structure for controlling the printing module, the printing module including printing apparatus and structure for sequentially feeding each item of a predetermined plurality thereof to the printing apparatus for printing thereon, the computer structure including structure programmed for sequentially transmitting variable information for each item to the accounting structure, the variable information including at least a portion of a mailing address for each item; the postage accounting structure including structure for connecting the accounting module in communication with the printing structure, the accounting structure including structure for sequentially encrypting the variable information received for each item, the accounting structure including a microprocessor, the microprocessor including structure programmed for transmitting to the printing structure a bit-mapped image of fixed information for printing on each item, and the microprocessor including structure programmed for separately sequentially transmitting to the printing structure an ASCII encoded string of characters corresponding to the sequentially encrypted information for sequentially printing on the respective items.

Postage accounting system including means for transmitting ASCII encoded

A plurality of step time tables consisting of a sequence of step times defining intervals between steps and thus a velocity profile to be executed by a stepper motor are stored in a first memory. A step table defining a plurality of identical sequences of excitation pattern for driving a stepper motor is stored in a second table. Identical DMA channels output the step times to a timer and the plurality of exitation patterns to a buffer. The timer measures the duration of the step times and when each step time expires generates a trigger signal which initiates the transfer of the next step time and next excitation pattern through the respective DMA channels. The buffer includes a control register which selects one excitation pattern from the plurality of excitation patterns output from the step table to be output for control of a selected one of a plurality of motors connected to the buffer. The buffer outputs are inverted to form bipolar signals to drive current drivers in accordance with the excitation pattern. The apparatus is initialized by a data processor to select one of the plurality of excitation tables and to select one of the groups of outputs of the buffer to drive a corresponding selected motor. The DMA channel for outputting the step time table is initialized for non-repetitive operation and the DMA channel outputting the step table is initialized for cyclic operation. The direction in which the selected stepper motor is to be driven is determined by the direction in which the step table is accessed.

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Trumbull, CT, United States of America

Michael J Ramadei