| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080279660 | POSTAL WEIGHING PLATFORM WITH INTEGRATED FEEDING AND DESKEWING FUNCTIONS - The present invention includes apparatus and methods for handling mailpieces. A mailpiece handling device includes a substantially horizontal deck for receiving a mailpiece. The device also includes a substantially vertical registration wall that extends upwardly from an edge of the deck. The device further includes a disk mounted for rotation in a circular opening in the deck adjacent the registration wall. The disk has a substantially horizontal surface. In addition, the device includes an arm mounted above the disk so as to be pivotable in a horizontal direction. Also, the device includes a steering member mounted at a free end of the arm. The steering member is for applying downward pressure to a mailpiece that is in contact with the disk. | 11-13-2008 |
| 20080301184 | System and Method for Updating Mailing Lists - According to some embodiments, a system and method are provided to receive an indication from a postal recipient that an unsolicited mail piece is not desired, the indication comprising a digital image of at least a portion of the unsolicited mail piece, store data associated with the postal recipient based on one or more identifiers, and provide the data associated with the postal recipient to one or more mailers to indicate that the postal recipient requests to opt-out from future mailings. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20090005901 | Payment system for delivery services - According to some embodiments a system and a method are provided to assign a variable receptacle identifier to a mailbox, determine the variable receptacle identifier assigned to a mailbox at the time of delivery, receive delivery data regarding delivery of a mail piece to the mailbox at the time of the delivery, the delivery data including receptacle identification data, and compare the receptacle identification data with the variable receptacle identifier determined as of the particular time. This technique may allow for automatic confirmation that the mail piece was delivered to, or, at least present at, the destination mailbox at the time of delivery claimed by the mail carrier this may provide enhanced capabilities for auditing performance by mail carriers. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090084713 | Systems and Methods for Segregating Undesired Mail - Systems and methods for optimizing the process of segregating undesired mail using an incoming mail sorter are described and in certain examples, systems including those for using information feed-forward and/or feedback systems for making selective physical delivery decisions in the process of sorting and delivering incoming physical mail are described. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090097703 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CAPTURING IMAGES MOVING AT HIGH SPEED - An image of a moving object, such as a postage indicium barcode on a mail piece, is captured with the object in motion (e.g., while being transported through a mailing machine). An array of CMOS picture elements is held in a reset condition. A signal asserted on control pin ends the reset condition and places the picture elements in an image capture condition. With the picture elements in a picture capture condition, a strobe light is actuated at a time when the barcode is predicted to be present at the picture element array. After the strobe light has been actuated, the signal on the control pin is de-asserted to initiate a read-out of the image data from the picture elements. | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090154766 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING MALFUNCTIONING PRINT ELEMENTS IN POSTAGE METER INDICIA PRINTER - In a mailing machine, an image element included in a postage meter indicium printed on a mail piece is transported past a linear image capture device. The image capture device is operated to produce a smeared image of the image element. The smeared image is then automatically analyzed to detect failures in the print elements of a postage meter that is part of the mailing machine. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20100157376 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INCREASING EDGE SHARPNESS IN COLOR PRINTED IMAGES - A device and method for enhancing edge sharpness and clarity of solid graphic shapes included in printed color images printed on low dot-per-inch color printers is presented. The improved printing is achieved by creating an additional image file, called a white file, which defines the solid graphic areas to be included in the printed image. This white file is combined with the data points in separate color image files to “cookie-cut” the alphanumeric characters and other solid shapes from the separate color image files created by the ripping process, leaving crisp sharp edges on alphanumeric characters and other solid graphic areas being superimposed on the printed color image. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100165066 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING EVIDENCE OF PRINTING IN EVENT OF PRINT HEAD FAILURE - Systems and methods for providing evidence of printing in metering systems even in the event of a print head failure are provided. Along with generating a primary image for an indicium that evidences payment, a secondary image for the indicium, identical to a corresponding portion of the primary image but at a lower density, with physical boundaries that are within the boundaries of the primary image, is also generated. The primary image is printed by a first nozzle array, and the secondary image is printed by a second nozzle array. Because the primary image completely overlaps the secondary image, the secondary image is undetectable if the primary image is properly printed. The secondary image provides evidence of printing of the indicium that can be used to obtain a refund for the indicium in the event that the primary image was not printed due to failure of the first nozzle array. | 07-01-2010 |
