Postal printing device with facilitated reading

• US 6,895,395 B1
• Filed: 10/27/1999
• Issued: 05/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Neopost Industrie
• Original Assignee: Neopost Industrie
• Inventors: Blanluet, Patrick, Charroppin, Pascal
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Greene, Daniel L.
• Application Number:
  US09/428,058
• Time in Patent Office: 2,029 Days
• Field of Search: 705/401, 705/408, 705/410, 347/14, 347/37, 347/40, 347/41, 400/61, 400/103, 400/104, 400/106, 400/279, 364/518, 364/1.1
• US Class Current: 705/408
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 17/00508 Printing or attaching on mailpieces printing mechanisms B41J; security printing B41M3/14; marking methods B41M5/00; inks C09D11/00; record carriers with at least a part designed to carry digital markings G06K19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00532 Inkjet
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/0058 Printing of code
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00637 Special printing techniques, e.g. interlacing

Abstract

This invention relates to an inkjet printing device of a franking machine intended to print postal indicia on a mail piece to be franked, displaced with respect to this device in a direction of displacement, the postal indicia comprising at least an amount of franking, a date of deposit and an authentication code and the printing device comprising, on the one hand, a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink droplets, disposed in two rows extending transversely to the direction of displacement, these two rows of nozzles being spaced apart from each other by a distance in this direction and, on the other hand, a control means for selectively controlling the ejection of these ink droplets as a function of the postal indicia to be printed, said control means being arranged so that, during printing, each of the critical postal data such as the amount of franking, the date of deposit or the authentication code, is printed from one row of nozzles.

Claims

1. Process for printing postal indicia on a mail piece to be franked, the mail piece being displaced with respect to an inkjet printing device of a franking machine in a direction of displacement, the postal indicia comprising at:

least an amount of franking, a date of deposit, and an authentication code, the printing device comprising a plurality of nozzles for ejecting droplets of ink disposed in two rows extending transversely to the direction of displacement and spaced from each other along the direction of displacement, and a control means for controlling the ejection of these ink droplets, the process comprising;

controlling the ejection of the ink droplets from the two rows of nozzles as a function of the indicia to be printed; and

printing each of the amount of franking, the date of deposit, and the authentication code from only one of the two rows of nozzles.

2. The process of printing of claim 1, wherein at least the end nozzles of the two rows of ejection nozzles, disposed at the level of a median part of the indicia, are selectively de-activated in order to avoid a possible overlap during printing.

3. The process of printing of claim 1, wherein certain determined ejection nozzles are selectively de-activated in order to allow printing at a lower resolution of data other than that relative to said amount of franking, the date of deposit and the authentication code.

7. The process of printing of claim 1, wherein the amount of franking, the date of deposit, and the authentication code are each printed by the same row of nozzles.

4. Inkjet printing device of a franking machine for printing postal indicia on a mail piece to be franked, disposed with respect to this device in a direction of displacement, the postal indicia comprising at least a franking amount, a date of deposit, and an authentication code, the printing device comprising:

a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink droplets, disposed in two rows extending transversely to the direction of displacement, these two rows of nozzles being spaced apart from each other by a distance in the direction of displacement, and a control means for selectively controlling the ejection of these ink droplets as a function of the postal indicia to be printed,

wherein said control means operates so that, during printing, each of the amount of franking, the date of deposit and the authentication code, is printed from only one of the two rows of nozzles.

5. The printing device of claim 4, wherein at least the end nozzles of the two rows of ejection nozzles disposed at the level of a median part of the postal indicia are deactivated in order to avoid an overlapping during printing.

6. The printing device of claim 4, wherein certain determined ejection nozzles are de-activated to allow printing at a lower resolution of data other than that relative to said amount of franking, the date of deposit and the authentication code.

8. The printing device of claim 4, wherein the amount of franking, the date of deposit, and the authentication code are each printed by the same row of nozzles.

9. In a franking device having separate first and second rows of plural ink nozzles, said first and second rows of ink nozzles extending transversely to a direction of displacement of a mail piece relative to the franking device and being displaced from each other along said direction of displacement, a process for printing postal indicia on the mail piece comprising:

printing complete critical postal indicia using only one of said first and second rows of ink nozzles; and

printing non-critical postal indicia using both of said first and second rows of ink nozzles in combination.

10. The process according to claim 9, wherein printing non-critical postal indicia using both of said first and second rows of ink nozzles in combination comprises deactivating some of the ink nozzles at respective medial ends, relative to the non-critical postal indicia, of the first and second rows of ink nozzles.

11. The process according to claim 9, further comprising printing the critical postal indicia at a resolution higher than that of the non-critical postal indicia.

12. The process according to claim 9, wherein the critical postal indicia comprise one or more of an amount of franking, a date of deposit, an authentication code.

13. The process according to claim 9, where the non-critical postal indicia comprise advertising.

14. The process according to claim 12, wherein printing the one or more complete critical postal indicia comprises using the same one of said first and second rows of ink nozzles.

15. A printing device for a franking machine, comprising:

first and second rows of plural ink nozzles; and

control means for selectively operating only one of the first and second rows of plural ink nozzles to print complete critical postal indicia.

16. The device according to claim 15, wherein critical postal indicia include one or more of an amount of franking, a date of deposit, and an authentication code.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein selectively operating only one of the first and second rows of plural ink nozzles to print complete critical postal indicia comprises selectively using the same one of the first and second rows of nozzles to print complete critical postal indicia.

18. The device according to claim 15, wherein said control means is additionally for selectively operating both of the first and second rows of nozzles in combination to print non-critical postal indicia.

19. The device according to claim 15, wherein said control means comprises a microprocessor.