Mechanical postage meter resetting device and method
US5340965A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 25, 1992 |
| Grant date | Aug 23, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 25, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG07B2017/00177
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A postage meter resetting apparatus includes a stepper motor as a first motive arrangement for turning the resetting shaft of a mechanical postage meter, another stepper motor as a second motive mechanism to enable or disable resetting by the first stepper motor. A lead screw, lead nut and linkage, driven by the second stepper motor, when resetting is authorized, moves an axially movable part of a coupling between the second stepper motor and the meter's axially movable resetting shaft, to bring the resetting gear on the shaft into engagement with a gear of the meter's descending register. An input to the first stepper motor, representing a variable amount of postage, effects turning of the resetting shaft and the engaged gears by amounts corresponding to the desired variable amount of postage to be added to the meter's descending register. An encoder coupled to the shaft of the first stepper motor provides an output indication of the amount that the shaft has turned. A CPU routine assures that the gear on the meter's resetting shaft has cleared a blocking pin and engaged the descending register gear prior to resetting by the first stepper motor. Another CPU routine clears jams whe…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.