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:
Apr. 10, 2012
Filed:
Sep. 28, 2009
Bryan J. Turner, Redmond, WA (US);
Bryan J. Turner, Redmond, WA (US);
RAF Technology, Inc., Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for weighing an article, such as a mail piece, while the article is moving at high speed, and for checking that the correct amount of postage has been paid for delivery of the article. An article () is received from an intake transport (), and gripped in a weighing station (), in between a capstan roller and a pinch roller (), which are synchronized to minimize slipping. A first precision closed-loop servo system () alters the speed of the article, and in the process acquires torque data for storage and analysis () to determine weight. Correct postage is determined in a processor (), and the postage actually paid is checked either by image analysis () or by accessing a stored mailer manifest ().