Facsimile publishing system
First Claim
1. A process for publishing custom facsimile publications for a plurality of subscribers, comprising the steps of:
- receiving page signals, each said page signal comprising a facsimile signal portion and an identifying code portion,storing the page signals such that the facsimile signal is associated with the identifying code,storing for each subscriber page selections as a portion of the identifying code,reading the page selections for one subscriber and matching the portion of the identifying codes thereof with the identifying codes of the stored page signals to identify the associated facsimile signals,reading the identified facsimile signals for transfer to a facsimile printing assembly to print a custon publication for said one subscriber, andrepeating the reading of the page selections for other subscribers and the subsequent steps so that custom publications are printed for the other subscribers.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a facsimile publishing system, a plurality of editorial entities prepare page information for transformation to page signals which are transmitted to a communications satellite for broadcast. The broadcast page signals are received by a plurality of publishing facilities to print custom publications according to individual subscriber interest for daily delivery. The page signals comprise a facsimile signal portion which represents graphic and synchronizing information to control a facsimile printer and an identifying code portion which represents identifying attributes of page content to control selection of pages. The page signal is received by a publishing facility, the facsimile signal portion is stored at an assigned address in a primary memory, and the identifying code portion is stored in association with the assigned address in a page memory. Pages selected by subscribers are stored in a subscriber file as title and editorial entity portions of the identifying code. The page selections are read and transferred to the page address memory for matching with the identifying codes stored therein and the associated addresses are transferred to the primary memory. The primary memory transfers the facsimile signal contents of the addresses to a secondary memory which is read at printing speed to control a facsimile printer. Operations on the subscriber selected pages control selection of complementary pages and other materials for advertisers. The process is repeated until all subscriber entries in the subscriber file are read to control printing of custom publications.
78 Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A process for publishing custom facsimile publications for a plurality of subscribers, comprising the steps of:
-
receiving page signals, each said page signal comprising a facsimile signal portion and an identifying code portion, storing the page signals such that the facsimile signal is associated with the identifying code, storing for each subscriber page selections as a portion of the identifying code, reading the page selections for one subscriber and matching the portion of the identifying codes thereof with the identifying codes of the stored page signals to identify the associated facsimile signals, reading the identified facsimile signals for transfer to a facsimile printing assembly to print a custon publication for said one subscriber, and repeating the reading of the page selections for other subscribers and the subsequent steps so that custom publications are printed for the other subscribers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A process for custom facsimile publication, comprising the steps of:
-
collecting page information from a plurality of editorial entities, transforming the page information into page signals for control of facsimile printers, and transmitting the page signals to a plurality of facsimile publishing facilities, storing the page signals in each of the publishing facilities so that any of the page signals can be read from a memory in which said page signals are stored, selectively reading, according to each of a plurality of subscribers'"'"' interests, page signals from the memory, and controlling facsimile printing by the selectively read page signals whereby a custom publication is printed for each of the plurality of subscribers. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A system for facsimile publishing, comprising:
-
means for receiving page information from a plurality of editorial entities, means for transforming the page information to page signals, said page signals comprising graphic and synchronizing information to control a facsimile printer and comprising page identifying codes, means for transmitting the page signals to a plurality of publishing facilities having receivers therein for the page signals, a primary memory for storing the received page signals, a subscriber file having recorded therein subscriber entries for a plurality of subscribers, each said subscriber entry having recorded page selections corresponding to the page signals in the primary memory, means for reading from the primary memory the page signals corresponding to the page selections in a subscriber entry and means for transmitting the read page signals to a secondary memory for storage therein, means for reading the page signals in the secondary memory for transfer to a facsimile printer for control thereof and means for erasing the secondary memory when the page signals therein have been transferred to the facsimile printer, and means for advancing the subscriber file to another subscriber entry to repeat the reading of the page signals in the primary memory corresponding to the selected pages in the subscriber file entry for transfer to the secondary memory and the facsimile printer, erasing the secondary memory, and advancing the subscriber file to another subscriber entry thereby printing for each subscriber entry in each publishing facility a custom publication consisting of pages selected from the page information of the editorial entities. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A facsimile publishing facility, comprising:
-
a receiver for page signals which comprise graphic and synchronizing information to enable a facsimile printer to print a page under control of said page signals and which further comprise a page identifying code, a primary memory comprising a medium for storing the page signals, a subscriber file having recorded therein subscriber entries for a plurality of subscribers, each said subscriber entry having recorded page selections corresponding to page signals in the primary memory, and means for advancing the subscriber file to select a subscriber entry, for reading the page selections therein, and for reading the corresponding page signals from the primary memory, a secondary memory for storing the page signals read from the primary memory, and means for transferring the page signals stored in the secondary memory to the facsimile printer and means for erasing the secondary memory thereafter so that the subscriber file can be advanced to another subscriber entry to repeat the transfer of page signals from the primary memory, to the secondary memory, and to the facsimile printer whereby custom publications are printed for a plurality of subscribers.
-
-
18. A facsimile publishing facility, comprising:
-
a receiver for page signals, said page signals comprising a facsimile signal portion representing graphic and synchronizing information for controlling a facsimile printer and comprising an identifying code portion representing identifying attributes of page content including title and editorial entity to control selection of pages, means for separating the page signal into the facsimile signal and the identifying code, a page address memory for assigning an address for each facsimile signal and for storing the identifying code corresponding to the facsimile signal in association with said address whereby the facsimile signal portion and the identifying code portion of a page signal are associated through the address, a primary memory having means for storing the facsimile signals at the assigned addresses, a subscriber file having recorded therein subscriber entries for a plurality of subscribers, each said subscriber entry having stored signals for subscriber selected pages, said signals comprising portions of the identifying codes, means for transferring said portions of the identifying codes to the page address memory for matching to the identifying codes stored therein, means for transferring the address associated with the matched identifying codes to the primary memory, and means for reading the facsimile signal contents of said addresses, a secondary memory for storing the read facsimile signal contents of said addresses, and means for transferring the stored facsimile signals from the secondary memory to a facsimile printing assembly to control printing of custom publications. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
Specification