Verification system and method in a document processing environment

• US 8,098,884 B2
• Filed: 04/05/2011
• Issued: 01/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bell & Howell LLC (Böwe Systec AG)
• Original Assignee: Bell & Howell LLC (Böwe Systec AG)
• Inventors: Spitzig, Roger, Richards, Bob, Boston, Michael, Rawlings, David
• Primary Examiner(s): PERUNGAVOOR, SATHYANARAYA V
• Application Number:
  US13/080,198
• Publication Number:
  US 20110182468A1
• Time in Patent Office: 287 Days
• Field of Search: 382/101
• US Class Current: 382/101
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/00 Methods or arrangements for effecting co-operative working between equipments covered by two or more of main groups G06K1/00 - G06K15/00, e.g. automatic card files incorporating conveying and reading operations
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 17/00459 Details relating to mailpieces in a franking system
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00491 Mail/envelope/insert handling system
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00556 Ensuring quality of print
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00709 Scanning mailpieces

Abstract

A feeder control system and method are disclosed. The system includes a feeder information detector, and a feeder information leverager to provide integrity verification, system control and/or reporting. The method includes the steps of detecting feeder information, and leveraging the feeder information to provide integrity verification, system control and/or reporting.

Claims

1. An image processing system comprising:

a legacy reader for processing address information on a mail piece;

a processor for processing an imaged address information acquired from the mail piece;

a translator receiving an output of the processor for translating the information of a first format into a second format corresponding to that of the legacy reader and outputting the information in the second format to an input source of the legacy reader in order to spoof the legacy reader; and

wherein the processor obtains the imaged address information by determining an anchor point from a fixed element in an image of the mail piece and locates a variable element within the image using the anchor point.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a print stream extractor for extracting a print stream, wherein

the processor is configured to process the extracted print stream to enhance mail piece processing management.

3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a page focuser for focusing processing at a particular page to more efficiently pinpoint the anchor point.

4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a data indexer for matching one element of the mail piece to another by indexing detected information to determine likelihood of an accurate match in accordance with established probabilities; and

a Data Driven Inserter (DDI) for driving a feeder function guided by results from the indexing of detected information.

5. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a machine control process; and

an embedded operator interface located on the same computer as the machine control process but in a separate memory area from the machine control process to avoid undesirable interaction.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the interface is a web browser.

7. The system according to claim 5, wherein the interface is given a lower priority for resources than that of the machine control process to ensure the machine control process is given highest priority access to system resources.

8. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a single centralized interface to improve operational efficiency by centralizing multiple control points in a single location; and

a closed-loop integrity checker to leverage information gathered from multiple locations throughout a feeder system at a single centralized location to maximize productivity and minimize errors.

9. A method for processing information utilizing a legacy reader comprising the steps of:

obtaining an imaged symbology information in a first format by processing an image of a mail piece;

translating the imaged symbology information in the first format into a second format corresponding to that of the legacy reader; and

outputting the information in the second format to an input source of the legacy reader in order to spoof the legacy reader; and

wherein the imaged symbology information is obtained by determining an anchor point from a fixed element in the image of the mail piece and locating a variable element within the image using the anchor point.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

extracting a print stream; and

processing the extracted print stream to enhance mail piece processing management.

11. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

indexing the imaged symbology information; and

driving a mail processing function in response to the indexing.

12. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

providing a machine control process; and

embedding an operator interface in the same computer but in a separate memory area to avoid undesirable interaction.

13. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

centralizing multiple control points at a single centralized interface; and

leveraging information gathered from the multiple control points.

14. A software product comprising:

executable instructions for causing a programmable device to perform the method of claim 9, and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium bearing the instructions.