The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 15, 1999
Filed:
May. 17, 1993
Emanuel N Gavrilos, Melrose Park, IL (US);
Bell & Howell Mail Processing Systems Co., Durham, NC (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for document surveillance along a transport path in a mail sorting machine includes using a plurality of sequentially positioned photocells affixed along the transport path to detect document separation and jamming events through the application of assigned document identification and message transfer schemes whereby one sensor detects an edge of the document and transfers the document identifier and a shaft encoder count to the next sensor along the transport path in the form of a message. A message queue for each sensor is maintained to detect improper document leading edge and trailing edge conditions. A series of surveillance modules operates on a multi-tasking basis through a primary master processor.