Other

Bell & Howell Document Management Products Company

Bell Bowe & Howell Postal Systems Company

Thomas R Wells

Richard Wojdyla

Kenneth L Hendrickson

Dale Plum

Duane R Patuszynski

John Overman

David Briggs

Merv LaRue

Larry Turner

Paul Friedrich

Leo DaPrato

Stuart Schwalb

Dan Solomon

Herb Hausmann

Al Rabin

An apparatus for automatically acquiring and verifying, relative to pre-established rules, address information and postage value indicia on a face of each of a plurality of mail pieces. The mail pieces can be subsequently placed in a tray and a label is applied to the tray, the label imprinted with information which relates to the mail piece content of the tray. The apparatus includes an inserter adapted to insert documents into an envelope and seal the envelope to produce a finished mail piece or a sorter which conveys finished mail pieces, with the address information and postage value indicia visible on a face of each mail piece. An in-line module is disposed adjacent the inserter, the module including a path along which each finished mail piece is transported. The module includes a scale and an image capture device, the scale adapted to measure and record the weight or mass of each finished mail piece, and the image capture device adapted to capture an image of the address information on the face of each finished mail piece. A scanning device can be provided to acquire a representation of the information on the tray label. The scale, image capture device and, optionally, scanning device are electronically linked to a control processor device for controlling acquisition, storage and verification of the address information and postage value indicia on the finished mail piece and the information on the label. An image processing device is provided in communication with the control processor device, and is adapted to synchronize acquisition, storage and verification of the address information, postage value indicia and label information.

In-line verification, reporting and tracking apparatus and method for mail pieces

A document processing system for performing multiple document processing tasks while the documents travel in a straight line document path is provided. The document processing system may include a transport system for transporting the documents in a straight line path, a sensing system for sensing the presence of the document, an optical system for projecting the image of the document, a camera module for receiving the projected image and storing it onto film, a film marking system for placing blips on the film adjacent the document image, a film numbering system for placing alphanumeric characters on the film adjacent the document image, an endorsing system for placing a printed endorsement on one side of the document, an electro-optical scanning system for scanning the image of the document processing the signal into a bit mapped image or for use with external communications devices, scanning for bar code symbology, and imprinting characters on the documents. A machine having a transport system to serially move documents in a straight line path and having one or more of the systems is provided and can be serially linked to another like machine so that the exit of a first machine is the inlet to the second machine.

Document processing system having a straight line document path

Growing community of inventors

Crystal Lake, IL, United States of America

Thomas R Wells