Ascom Hasler Mailing Systems Ag

Stefan Etter

Christian Moy

Christian Gillieron

Kurt Nast

Erwin Berger

Martin Muller

Philippe Chollet

Beat Stulz

Thomas Nietlispach

Stephan Schor

A postage meter has a locking cam follower so that locking arms on the print wheels of the postage meter are able to lock the wheels from unintended movement when the print rotor is out of its home position. Stiff runners are provided below guide rods of setting racks in the rotor so that the racks cannot be displaced away from the value wheels. A sensor is placed on the rotor cover with the meter software set up to keep a print cycle from starting if the cover is open. A cam on the rotor makes it impossible to open the cover when the rotor is out of the home position. A latch holds the cover shut, and the only way the latch can be released is if the meter software releases it, for example by sliding a rack to a position that triggers the latch. Cogs and cog teeth are used instead of gears and gear teeth to reduce the possibility of unintended movement of the value wheels. Rotating disks lock the racks when the rotor is not in the home position.

Tamper-resistant postage meter

A date-setting method for use in a postage meter having date wheels includes the steps of setting the date wheels, printing a date on a mail piece, requesting an input indicating whether the date printed on the mail piece is correct, receiving a response in the negative, receiving information indicative of the date printed on the mail piece, resetting the date wheels, logging a record indicative of the negative response and the resetting action, printing another date on a mail piece, requesting an input indicating whether the date printed on the mail piece is correct, receiving a response in the negative, receiving information indicative of the date printed on the mail piece, resetting the date wheels, logging another record indicative of the negative response and the resetting action; and annunciating the records indicative of negative responses. Another date-setting method for use in a postage meter having date wheels capable of printing a date on a mail piece includes the steps of setting at least one date wheel, waiting until after the first time that postage has been printed on a mail piece subsequent to the setting of a date wheel, and thereafter, requesting an input indicating whether the date printed on the mail piece is correct.

System for setting date wheels in a postage meter

A postage meter has the print rotor and platen within a single secure housing, with a letter detection lever along the paper path downstream from the rotor. The letter detection lever is in a spring-loaded coupling relationship with the trigger that triggers franking. If a letter remains in the meter due to a paper jam, the detection lever continues to be actuated and the spring-loaded coupling keeps the trigger in the triggered position. The meter further comprises a platen carrier moving the platen toward and away from the rotor; when the rotor is in its home position a radial cam on the rotor and cam follower keep the carrier away from the rotor. When franking of a letter begins and the rotor begins to rotate, the rotor cam releases the cam follower, permitting the carrier to move up in spring-loaded relation toward the rotor. A letter stopper is in the paper path downstream from the rotor and helps to align the letter so that the postage imprint is optimally oriented on the letter. The trigger includes an enclosure containing a free-moving mass; the weight is constrained from radial and axial movement relative to the trigger pivot. The trigger is balanced in two axes in the plane in which it rotates, thus it has no net moment (or minimal net moment) about its pivot. The mass and the enclosure shape are selected to damp movement of the trigger as it returns to its home position after it is triggered.

Postage meter with improved paper path

Growing community of inventors

Oberhofen, Switzerland

Stefan Etter