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:
Aug. 31, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 12, 1997
Wojciech M Chrosny, Orange, CT (US);
Dale A French, Clinton, CT (US);
Pitney Bowes Inc., Stamford, CT (US);
Abstract
A postage metering system includes a keyboard; a display; a device for receiving an external smart card; a print module for printing a postal indicia; an accounting module for accounting for the value of each postal indicia printed; a microprocessor including a clock chip which generates pulses on a periodic basis, at least one register having contents which are indicative of a real time, first structure for automatically updating the contents of the register based on the number of clock pulses generated, second structure for permitting resetting of the contents of the register by a user via the keyboard to indicate a new real time, third structure for detecting whether the external smart card has been inserted in the receiving means, for determining whether the inserted external smart card is a real time clock security card, and for inhibiting operation of the second structure such that a user cannot reset the contents of the register to be indicative of the new real time unless the third structure determines that a real time clock security card has been inserted into the receiving device.