Apparatus and method for producing fulfillment pieces on demand in a variable imaging system
First Claim
1. A method of reproducing books and fulfillment pieces in distribution order, wherein each book and fulfillment piece may include variable data, comprising the steps of:
- (a) modifying a database containing variable data for pages in the book to include reference to the fulfillment pieces;
(b) creating template page files, the page files having fixed information and a placeholder at the location on the page where the variable data will be reproduced;
(c) generating a press command file to specify the distribution order in which the pages and the fulfillment pieces should be reproduced;
(d) interpreting the pages and fulfillment pieces according to the press command file, including incorporating the variable data from the database into the pages at the location of the corresponding placeholder; and
(e) transmitting the pages and fulfillment pieces to a display device in distribution order.
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Abstract
The present invention discloses a method for assembling fulfillment pieces with custom documents in an efficient manner. The fulfillment pieces, which may have fixed and/or variable information, are produced in line on the same press as the custom documents. This "on demand" fulfillment is accomplished through the manipulation of an original database containing document recipient information. The database manipulation includes adding records (rows) or columns to the original database to represent the custom document and the fulfillment pieces. The modified databases are used to create press command files, which are combined according to the configuration of the database to produce ordered output from a press.
146 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method of reproducing books and fulfillment pieces in distribution order, wherein each book and fulfillment piece may include variable data, comprising the steps of:
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(a) modifying a database containing variable data for pages in the book to include reference to the fulfillment pieces; (b) creating template page files, the page files having fixed information and a placeholder at the location on the page where the variable data will be reproduced; (c) generating a press command file to specify the distribution order in which the pages and the fulfillment pieces should be reproduced; (d) interpreting the pages and fulfillment pieces according to the press command file, including incorporating the variable data from the database into the pages at the location of the corresponding placeholder; and (e) transmitting the pages and fulfillment pieces to a display device in distribution order. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of generating books and fulfillment pieces in distribution order, wherein each book comprises a plurality of pages having static and variable information and the variable information is stored in a database which contains a record for each person to receive a book, comprising the steps of:
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(a) creating template page files representing each page, wherein the page files include the static information and a placeholder at the location on the page where the variable information will be reproduced; (b) adding an additional number of records to the database for each person, wherein the number of additional records per person corresponds to the number of fulfillment pieces for that person; (c) for each additional record added to the database, inserting a reference to a fulfillment piece; and (d) reading each record from the database, including mapping the variable information in the database to the corresponding placeholder on the page files to generate a book and, for each reference in the database to a fulfillment piece, generating that fulfillment piece. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of generating books and fulfillment pieces in distribution order, wherein each book comprises a plurality of pages having static and variable information and the variable information is stored in a database which contains a record for each person to receive a book, comprising the steps of:
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(a) creating template page files representing each page, wherein the page files include the static information and a placeholder at the location on the page where the variable information will be reproduced; (b) adding a column to the database for each fulfillment piece and, for each column, adding a reference to the fulfillment pieces for each record; (c) creating a press command file for each book and each fulfillment piece and, for each record in the database, copying the press command file for the book and the press command file for each fulfillment piece referenced, and merging the copied press command files into a new press command file; and (d) interpreting the page files according to the new press command file, including mapping the variable data from the database to the corresponding placeholders on the page files. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method of generating books and fulfillment pieces in distribution order, wherein each book comprises a plurality of pages having static and variable information and the variable information is stored in a database, comprising the steps of:
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(a) creating template page files representing each page, wherein the page files include the static information and a placeholder at the location on the page where the variable information will be reproduced; (b) creating a controlling database containing variable data for the book, a record for each person to receive the book and a unique identification for each person; (c) creating a fulfillment database for each fulfillment piece, wherein each fulfillment database contains variable information for the fulfillment piece, a record for each person and the unique identification for each person; (d) analyzing the controlling database for identification numbers, and for each identification number, searching each fulfillment database for the records containing that unique identification, and for each record in each database containing that identification number, copying a press command file associated with the identification number and merging the copied press command files into a new press command file; and (e) interpreting the page files according to the new press command file, including mapping the variable information from the databases to the corresponding placeholders on the page files. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method of generating books and fulfillment pieces in distribution order, wherein each book comprises a plurality of pages having static and variable information and the variable information is stored in a database which contains a record for each person, comprising the steps of:
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(a) creating template page files representing each page in a book, wherein the page files include the static information and a placeholder at the location on the page where the variable information will be reproduced; (b) adding a number of blank page files to the template page files, wherein the number of blank page files corresponds to a maximum number of pages in the fulfillment pieces; (c) inserting an image box on each added blank page file; (d) modifying the database by adding a reference to fulfillment piece pages for each record; (e) interpreting the page files, including mapping the variable information from the database to the corresponding placeholders on the page files; and (f) imposing the book pages and the fulfillment piece pages for each record in the database into a single book. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification