Encrypted postage indicia printing for mailer inserting systems
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving a file containing a print image of a document to be printed and mailed from a document production application;
analyzing the print image to obtain mailing related information regarding the document;
calculating postage for a mail piece that will include the document based at least in part on the mailing related information;
obtaining a digital token representing the calculated postage from a postage meter;
merging an image of an indicium derived in response to the digital token into the print image of the document to form a modified print image of the document;
printing the document containing the indicium using the modified print image of the document; and
inserting the printed document into an envelope in such a manner that the printed indicium is visible through a window of the envelope.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A post production processing application receives and manipulates document print images, in particular to integrate postage printing and accounting into the document finishing, without the need for a specialized postage printing system. The post production processing application may run on a main frame, together with the application(s) that generate the document print images, or on some other computer platform. The post production processing application calculates postage for each document and interacts with a postage metering functionality to obtain digital tokens. Each token includes an encrypted cipher for use in validating applied postage indicia. The mail processing system uses the tokens to generate postage indicias, containing the ciphers, during the subsequent document printing and finishing processes. The meter functionality may reside in software (e.g. as part of the post production processing application), in a meter device associated with and connected to the platform that runs the post production processing application or in a remote data center in communication with that platform. The mail processing system may print the indicias on the documents or on envelopes that will carry the documents.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving a file containing a print image of a document to be printed and mailed from a document production application; analyzing the print image to obtain mailing related information regarding the document; calculating postage for a mail piece that will include the document based at least in part on the mailing related information; obtaining a digital token representing the calculated postage from a postage meter; merging an image of an indicium derived in response to the digital token into the print image of the document to form a modified print image of the document; printing the document containing the indicium using the modified print image of the document; and inserting the printed document into an envelope in such a manner that the printed indicium is visible through a window of the envelope. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method comprising:
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receiving a print file containing a batch of print images, each print image representing a document to be printed and mailed; analyzing each print image contained in the print file to obtain mailing related information regarding each document; calculating a postage value for each document based at least in part on the mailing related information regarding each document; obtaining a digital token representing the calculated postage for each document; manipulating each of the print images by merging an image of an indicium developed from a respective digital token into the print image to form a modified print image and storing each of the modified print images in a modified print file; and printing each document containing the indicium developed from the respective digital token based on the modified print image from the modified print file and inserting each printed document into an envelope in such a manner that the printed indicium is visible through a window of the envelope. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. A high-volume mail processing system comprising:
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a computer running at least one processing application for producing a print file containing print images of a plurality of documents; a post production processing application, running on a computer platform, for;
receiving the print file, analyzing the print images, calculating postage values applicable to documents derived from the analyzed print images, obtaining digital tokens representative of valid postage in the calculated values, manipulating each of the print images by merging an image of an indicium developed from a respective digital token into the print image to form a modified print image, and processing the modified print images to produce a modified print file and a control file;a printer responsive to the modified print file for printing the documents, each printed document containing the indicium developed from the respective digital token; and an inserter for inserting the printed documents into envelopes in such a manner that the indicium is visible through a window of the envelope. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A programmable computer system comprising:
- means for receiving a print image of a document to be printed and mailed;
means for analyzing the print image to obtain mailing related information regarding the document; means, responsive to the obtained mailing related information, for calculating postage for a mail piece that will include the document; means for obtaining a digital token representing the calculated postage; means for merging an image of an indicium derived in response to the digital token into the print image of the document to form a modified print image of the document; and means for supplying the modified print image to mail piece finishing equipment for printing the document containing the indicium and for inserting the printed document into an envelope in such a manner that the indicium is visible through a window of the envelope.
- means for receiving a print image of a document to be printed and mailed;
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17. A programmable computer system comprising:
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means for receiving a print file containing a batch of print images, each print image representing a document to be printed and mailed; means for analyzing each print image contained in the print file to obtain mailing related information regarding each document; means for calculating a postage value for each document based at least in part on the obtained mailing related information; means for obtaining a digital token representing the calculated postage for each document; means for merging an image of an indicium derived in response to a respective digital token into each of the print images to form a modified print image of the document; and means for supplying the modified print images to mail piece finishing equipment for printing the documents and for inserting each of the printed documents into an envelope in such a manner that the indicium is visible through a window of the envelope.
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18. A product bearing a sequence of computer executable instructions, said sequence of computer executable instructions comprising instructions for performing the steps of:
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receiving a file containing a print image of a document to be printed and mailed from a document production application; analyzing the print image to obtain mailing related information regarding the document; calculating postage for a mail piece that will include the document based at least in part of the mailing related information; obtaining a digital token representing the calculated postage from a postage meter; merging an image of an indicium derived in response to the digital token into the print image of the document to form a modified print image of the document; and supplying the modified print image to enable printing of the document containing the indicium using the modified print image and inserting of the printed document into an envelope in such a manner that the indicium is visible through a window of the envelope, wherein the product comprises either a computer readable medium storing the sequence of computer executable instructions or a carrier wave carrying the sequence of computer executable instructions in computer readable form. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification