Postage meter with improved handling of power failure
US5712542A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 27, 1995 |
| Grant date | Jan 27, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 27, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG07B2017/00669
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A postage meter has a print rotor rotated by a motor and the motor is capable of being started and stopped under processor control. State variables are established within a nonvolatile memory. The rotor begins in its home position. When a mail piece such as a letter is detected by a letter sensor, the processor sets a state variable. At some point (either before loss of power, or after restoration of power) the postage value to be printed is booked into the accounting register. The rotor motor is started. At some point (either before loss of power, or after restoration of power) the rotor reaches its home position again. A state variable is cleared. In this way, it is possible, even after the loss and restoration of power, to distinguish between a rotor that is in its home position because it has not yet printed postage (but needs to do so) and a rotor that is in its home position because the printing of postage has been completed. Similarly it is possible, even after the loss and restoration of power, to distinguish between accounting registers that are quiescent because they have not yet had a postage amount booked, and registers that are quiescent because the booking of postage …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.