Quotables
"For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three."
Alice Kahn
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6032138 | Metering incoming deliverable mail A system in which originating mail processors would upload pertinent mail piece information on addressees, pointers or other identifiers automatically and periodically to a data center. The recipient addressee of the mail piece would temporarily configure... | 02/29/2000 |
| 6006211 | Metering incoming deliverable mail to identify delivery delays A system that allows a third party, such as a postage meter manufacturer or PSD manufacturer, to collate data, process the data and report localized delivery delays on a nationalized basis. The foregoing is accomplished by connecting a scanner and control... | 12/21/1999 |
| 5988807 | Fluorescent valve jet ink A fluorescent ink that makes tagger marks and is able to be used in valve jet printers at a rate of four #10 envelopes per second. The ink also penetrates paper at a rapid rate and dries at the same time it is penetrating the paper, without degrading the ... | 11/23/1999 |
| 5980443 | Envelope bypass device for folding machine A folding machine is adapted to receive customized printed sheets and envelopes from a printer and to fold the sheets preparatory to the sheets being inserted into an envelope, but to feed the envelopes through the folding machine directly to an envelope ... | 11/09/1999 |
| 5978781 | Digital printing, metering, and recording of other post services on the face of a mail piece A inexpensive and time saving method and system for reducing the use of gummed service stickers and the completion by hand of special forms for specialty mail is disclosed. This invention also reduces the amount of trips that have to be made to the post. ... | 11/02/1999 |
| 5971385 | Envelope feeder and integral flap opening device A device that opens the flap of an envelope before the envelope is separated from the envelope supply/stack hopper. A vacuum/suction device is used to pull the envelope flap below a stripping surface before the envelope is fed out of the supply/stack hopp... | 10/26/1999 |
| 5974307 | Method and system communicating with a voice response unit over a cellular telephone network This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a voice response unit that communicates rapidly and directly with a metered cellular telephone network with minimum human intervention. The rapid communication is achieved by knowing... | 10/26/1999 |
| 5970150 | System for producing verifiable kiosk receipts and records A postage meter that is contained in a kiosk may be used to produce verifiable receipts for commercial transactions. The imbedded digital metering cryptographic technology that is contained in a postage meter may be used to produce a verifiable receipt. S... | 10/19/1999 |
| 5932870 | Documents containing a magnetic strip with a bar code affixed thereto This invention relates to a document authentication system that may be read by a human and/or machine. A one or two-dimensional bar code or other printed code is printed over a magnetic strip, which may contain information linked to the encoded bar code d... | 08/03/1999 |
| 5929415 | Postage metering refill system that utilizes information contained in information based indicia to audit the franking process A system that scans and reads IBI in accordance with the USPS Specification. This invention also improves both the readability and security of the IBI. The apparatus of this invention utilizes a postage meter that prints an IBI, scans and checks the IBI a... | 07/27/1999 |
| 5867967 | Envelope flap opening device This device reduces the size of the gap between the apex of the flap opener blade and the drive roller. The above increases the probability that the flap of the envelope would be opened. The foregoing was accomplished by removing segments of the apex of t... | 02/09/1999 |
| 5861618 | System and method of improving the signal to noise ratio of bar code and indicia scanners that utilize fluorescent inks A bar code and/or indicia scanning method that is able to determine what light was emitted from an upper layer invisible bar code and/or upper layer invisible indicia and what light was reflected back to the detector from a visible lower layer bar code an... | 01/19/1999 |
| 5816147 | Loss of funds prevention for postage meters that use transfer printing and ink jet printing This invention prevents the accounting unit of a postage meter from deducting funds when a mailpiece has been removed. The foregoing is achieved by giving the postage meter the intelligence to stop printing the postal indicia and deducting the value of th... | 10/06/1998 |
| 5816570 | Apparatus for buffering the transport of documents The apparatus of this invention is a buffering device for the transport of documents that comprises four variable pitch screws that have a tapered outside diameter and a tapered root diameter at the input portion of the screw. A upstream screw and a downs... | 10/06/1998 |
| 5812664 | Key distribution system This invention is a system for producing and distributing new decryption keys to verifiers. Verifier decryption key updates are printed in a secure manner on paper or postcards and mailed to the owners of the verifiers. The paper or postcards containing t... | 09/22/1998 |
| 5701250 | Setting by phone for counter resettable postage meters This invention provides a secure environment to allow the customer to purchase postage for counter resettable postage meters. This invention allows the post office or agent to insure the accuracy and integrity of counter resettable meters by validating th... | 12/23/1997 |
| 5701249 | Service and usage data collection using a special mail piece A monitoring system that determines the amount and type of customers' usage of machines and equipment without having a representative of the manufacturer physically inspect the customers machines and equipment. The monitoring system utilizes a mailpiece t... | 12/23/1997 |
| 5693693 | Bar code printing and scanning using wax based invisible fluorescent inks Wax based invisible inks have been discovered that emit light at various wavelengths in the visible region when they are excited by UV light. This allows lower layer clear text information to be written on an object with a regular, visible ink and an uppe... | 12/02/1997 |
| 5681381 | Fluorescent red and magenta waterfast ink jet inks Aqueous fluorescent inks are disclosed that fulfill United Sites Postal Service requirements for franking and/or automation compatibility, while being able to be used in an ink jet printer. The inks of this invention may be read by current United States P... | 10/28/1997 |
| 5674314 | Waterfast ink composition for printers Liquid inks are disclosed that fulfill United States Postal Service requirements for automation compatibility, while being able to be used in an ink jet printer. The inks of this invention may be read by current United States Postal Service equipment. The... | 10/07/1997 |
| 5648916 | Internal mail distribution system A system for automatically (where possible) converting hard copy paper mail into electronic mail, while allowing those already using computers to communicate with those in the paper domain. The system automates the process of distributing incoming mail wi... | 07/15/1997 |
| 5640902 | Single motor meter drum and shutter bar drive of a postage meter The apparatus of this invention utilizes a cam-driven mechanism to convert a single rotary input driven by a single motor to two or more output motions each having its distinct cycle and profile of motion. This multiplicity of outputs often times requires... | 06/24/1997 |
| 5569317 | Fluorescent and phosphorescent tagged ink for indicia Inks have been discovered that may be used for providing additional security to the printed matter to which the ink has been affixed. A single ink provides the foregoing result by being fluorescent and phosphorescent.... | 10/29/1996 |
| 5554842 | Luminescent facing marks for enhanced postal indicia discrimination A postal indicia is disclosed that contains markings thereon which may be used to distinguish between availability or non availability of additional security and sorting information. The foregoing will make the handling of the mail faster and more efficie... | 09/10/1996 |
| 5553513 | Mechanical motion transfer or indexing device The apparatus of this invention consists of a housing containing 1) a "cam-motor" mechanism 2) an input shaft and 3) an output shaft that may or may not be collinear with the input shaft. The "cam motor" mechanism linking the input and output shafts is ca... | 09/10/1996 |
| 5542971 | Bar codes using luminescent invisible inks Inks have been discovered that are selectively excitable by different wavelengths of incident radiation. This allows a lower layer bar code to be written on an object with an ink and an upper layer bar code to be written over the lower layer bar code with... | 08/06/1996 |
| 5525798 | Bar code scanner for reading a lower layer luminescent invisible ink that is printed below a upper layer luminescent invisible ink Inks have been discovered that are selectively excitable by different wavelengths of incident radiation. This allows a lower layer bar code to be written on an object with an invisible ink and an upper layer bar code to be written over the lower layer bar... | 06/11/1996 |
| 5514860 | Document authentication system utilizing a transparent label This invention relates to a document authentication concept wherein a transparent tape having encoded text thereon is applied to the document. The encoded text printed on the transparent tape is printed with invisible ink so that the message thereon is no... | 05/07/1996 |
| 5513563 | Indicia security via variable dot size A system is disclosed that makes it more difficult to print fraudulent indicia. Security is achieved by varying the dot size of pixels in the printed image according to a predetermined arrangement.... | 05/07/1996 |
| 5502304 | Bar code scanner for reading a visible ink and a luminescent invisible ink A lower layer bar code is written on an object with a normal ink and an upper layer bar code is written over the lower layer bar code with an ink that is invisible to the naked eye. The apparatus of this invention is a detector that is able to read the up... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5475603 | Apparatus and method for mail qualification and traying Apparatus and method for providing dual sliding windows for the purpose of determining postage discount qualifications across invalid and unreadable mail pieces and determining the number of mail pieces to be placed in a mail tray for receiving the maximu... | 12/12/1995 |
| 5470427 | Postal automated labeling system A system is shown and described wherein a portable printer is used to produce tags for attachment to mail trays. The printer is uploaded with plans that are the same as sort plans stored in the memory of a sorting machine with which the printer is to be u... | 11/28/1995 |
| 5469362 | Dispatching method and apparatus for monitoring scheduled mail Method and apparatus for monitoring the dispatching of mail and to coordinate the production of mail with common carrier dispatch schedules. The mail is produced in a sequence that is intended to meet the dispatch schedule of common carriers. The movement... | 11/21/1995 |
| 5457782 | Digital signal processing circuit board having use for voice processing system A digital voice processing circuit board having use in a voice processing system wherein voice processing functions are run in software. This application of software allows a modular structure since the application software resides in boards that are coup... | 10/10/1995 |
| 5457636 | Postal finishing kiosk A postal finishing kiosk in which a user is provided with a mail piece, such as a postcard. The user supplies the name and address to which the mail piece is to be sent and the kiosk dispenses a finished mail piece to the user with the address printer the... | 10/10/1995 |
| 5448420 | Method and a system for storing audio An apparatus and method have been conceived for using a digital audio tape (DAT) in an audio logger for the purposes of storing and retrieving audio data. This is accomplished in a manner such that the data is received and recorded in a time related manne... | 09/05/1995 |
| 5446603 | Method of retrieving messages at selected times from a digital audio tape A scheme has been devised for retrieving audio for a selected time from a digital audio tape that has been used in a device such as a digital logger wherein audio is recorded on a intermittent basis. A record session table is created on the digital audio ... | 08/29/1995 |
| 5425586 | Apparatus and method of creating pre-formed images on a thermal ribbon used in a postage dispensing device A postage dispensing device that prints a postage indicia using a two step process. A thermal ribbon is provided which has pre-formed images on a major portion of the thermal ribbon that is applied with a hot melt ink jet printer. Inked areas are provided... | 06/20/1995 |
| 5422954 | Apparatus and method of producing a self printed inspection label Postage dispensing apparatus and method of producing a label that indicates parameters of the postage dispensing apparatus in a code, preferable in encrypted code. A processor is programmed with an encryption algorithm and the printer of the apparatus is ... | 06/06/1995 |
| 5415068 | Multi-function envelope feeder An envelope feeder in which a plurality of functions is performed. These functions are singulation, registration, flap opening, failure detection and envelope feeding of an envelope. The multi-function feeder can be operationally associated with a device ... | 05/16/1995 |
