Postal cancellation machine
US5988057A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 3, 1997 |
| Grant date | Nov 23, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 3, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG07B2017/00532
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An apparatus for canceling postage on individual mailpieces of a stack of mixed mail includes an apparatus for separating individual mailpieces from the stack of mixed mail; structure for feeding the separated individual mailpieces along a feed path; a mechanism, positioned along the feed path, for detecting the presence of stamps on individual mailpieces; a printing mechanism having a plurality of digital printheads; a control, in communication with the detecting mechanism, for operating the printing mechanism to print a cancellation mark over stamps on individual mailpieces in response to detection by the detecting mechanism of the presence of stamps on individual mailpieces; and apparatus for determining the number of rows of stamps on individual mailpieces and for selectively energizing only the individual ones of the plurality of digital printheads needed to ensure that the cancellation mark is printed over each of the sensed number of rows of stamps on individual mailpieces. A method is associated with the apparatus.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.