GB2197263A

GB2197263A - Methods and apparatus for printing indicia

Info

Publication number: GB2197263A
Application number: GB08720821A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ronald P Sansone
Original assignee: Pitney Bowes Inc
Current assignee: Pitney Bowes Inc
Priority date: 1986-09-05
Filing date: 1987-09-04
Publication date: 1988-05-18
Anticipated expiration: 2007-09-04
Also published as: CH675314A5; JPS6394389A; GB2197263B; FR2603721A1; DE3729719A1; GB8720821D0; FR2603721B1

Description

1 GB2197263A 1

SPECIFICATION

Methods and apparatus for printing indicia The present invention relates to methods and 70 apparatus for providing a visual indication of authorised postage.

Since the issuance of US Patent No.

710,997 to Arthur H. Pitney, October 14, 1902, the postable meter has had a steady evolution. Throughout the years, two general types of postage meters have been used: one that uses a rotary type printer, known as a rotary postage meter, and the other than uses a stationary print head and a reciprocating pla ten, known as a flat bed postage meter. Most recently, there has been a change from com pletely mechanical devices to meters that in corporate extensive use of electronic compo nents. Although there have been a number of changes, there are certain elements that re main constant.

One of the constants has been that each meter had a printer included therein on a one to-one basis, i.e. one metering device and one 90 printing device incorporated into a unit. In postage meters, the need for security is abso lute. Such security is applied in prior postage meters both to the printing portion of the meter and to the accounting portion. The re quirement for absolute security arises because a postage meter is printing the equivalent of monetary value, and unless security measures are taken, one would be able to print unautho rized postage, i.e. postage for which no pay- 100 ment is made, thereby defrauding the US Pos tal Service. Most security measures taken are of a physical nature, but recently there have been suggestions for the use of encryption to assure that a postage indicia is valid. Never- 105 theless, such proposed encryption has been for the purposes of supplementing the physi cal security systems that have been used and suggested by the prior art.

Recently dot matrix printers have become more popular because they provide greater flexibility and serviceability than did prior mechanical printers with fixed fonts. Dot matrix printers are available in various forms such as ink jet printers, laser printers, light emitting diode printers and pin printers. It would be of great benefit to be able to substitute the heretofore utilized mechanical printer, whether it be of the rotating drum type or the flat bed printer type, with a dot matrix printer. This has been proposed previously, for example, see US Patent Nos. 3,869,986 and 4,168,533, each of which shows a dot matrix printer incorporated in a postage meter. Ad- ditionally, there have recently been proposals for separating the accounting unit portion of the postage meter from the printing unit so than an inexpensive off the shelf dot matrix printer can be used in combination with a secure accounting device. The difficulty with such substitution is that unless security measures are taken one would be able to print unauthorized postage with an off the shelf dot matrix printer. This has been addressed previously by proposing encryption be employed to provide a scheme in which the authenticity of the postage may be verified. The drawback to the use of encryption is that it is cumbersome, relatively expensive to implement and time consuming.

Even where encryption is employed, a particular fraudulent scheme that is worrisom is where a dot matrix printer is an electrical communication with a secure accounting de- vice. A wrongdoer could connect-a plurality of dot matrix printers to the output of the accounting device to use the one signal for which postage is paid to obtain additional unauthorized postage. 85 According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of providing a visual indication of authorized postage, comprising: providing a printer with a non-standard print characteristic and printing a postage indicia upon a mail piece with such printer. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided apparatus for providing a visual indication of authorized postage, comprising: a printer with a non-standard print quality; and means for enabling the printer for printing a postage indicia. For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which like numbers are used to describe like parts, and in which: Figure I is a block diagram of a postage metering device; Figure 2A shows an unauthorized indicia printed in accordance with the instant invention; Figure 2B shows an authorized postage indicia printed in accordance with the instant invention; Figure 2C shows another unauthorized pos- tage indicia printed in accordance with the instant invention; Figures 3A and 3C show a portion of -an envelope upon which an unauthorized indicia is printed; Figure 3B shows a portion of an envelope on which an authorized indicia is printed; and Figures 4A-4C show a postage indicia printed on a medium with a background hav- _125 ing variable density.

Referring initially to Fig. 1, a metering device is shown generally at 10 and includes a secure housing 12. By secure housing is meant a housing which is accessible only by an authorized postal representative or other 2 GB2197263A 2 authorized individual. Contained within the housing 12 is an ascending register 14 and a descending register 16 which are connected to a central processing unit (CPU) 18. Connected to the CPU 18 is a ROM 20 that is programmed with operating instructions and a modem 22 that is used for purposes of external communication. Such external communication would include procedures for recharging the descending register, testing components and other like activities. The housing 12 and components contained therein represent the essential components of a postage meter without a printer and will hereafter be referred to as a ''server".

In electrical communication with the CPU 18 of the server 10 is an unsecured printer 24. The unsecured printer 24 is an authorized printer that is supplied with the server 10, the details of which will be explained hereinafter. Also shown in Fig. 1 are two additional printers 26A and 26B which represent unauthorized printers.

In a first preferred embodiment, the autho- rized printer 24 is a dot matrix printer that has an unconventional pitch. This dot matrix printer 24 may be in the form of an ink jet printer, a thermal printer, a laser printer and the like. Standard dot matrix printers usually have a number of standard pitches which the user may select. For purposes of this description, the word pitch is defined as the number of dots per unit length. For example, an Okidata Microline 192 printer, available from Okiamerica, Inc., Mt. Laurel, N. J., is capable of printing 60 dots per inch, 120 dots per inch or 240 dots per inch, which are standard pitches. The essence of this particular embodiment is to provide an authorized printer 24, preferably a dot matrix printer, to be used with a server 10 for the purpose of printing postage indicia only. This dot matrix printer 24 would have a program controlled printhead that would print with a non- standard pitch, for example, 133 dots per inch.

The environment in which the invention is contemplated is one in which a signal output from the CPU 18 is to be received by a printer 24 which is in electrical communication therewith. Attempts to copy the image electronically through use of an unauthorized printer 26 will give rise to a pattern that can be recognized visually as being unauthorized. By way of example, if a wrongdoer were to splice additional printers 26A and 26B onto the output of the CPU 18, not only would the authorized printer 24 print a postage indicia, but the unauthorized printers 26A and 26B would print postage indicias as well. In this way, the wrongdoer would pay for only one postage indicia while receiving the benefit of a plurality if preventive measures are not taken.

An illustration of this embodiment is given in Figs. 2A, 2B and 2C. Shown are dot matrix numbers 28 printed upon a medium 30. Refer- ring initially to Fig. 2B, what is shown is the 11 one" character printed in a 5x7 matrix. This character would be of a given size, enlarged for the purposes of illustration in Figs. 2B.

The authorized printer that prints this authorized character may have a 133 dots per inch pitch. By contrast, the "one" characters on either side, Figs. 2A and 2C, are of a different size because they would be printed with unauthorized printers 26A, 26B, having standard pitches, 160 dots per inch and 120 dots per inch respectively. More specifically, when the CPU 18 generates a signal intended for an authorized printer having a nonstandard pitch the resulting indicia formed thereby will be of the standard size, 7/8" highx2i" long, without auxiliary printing such as advertising, public service message or the like. Within the contemplation of this invention, if one were to connect an unauthorized printer 26A, 26B to the server 10, either an undersized inclicia or oversized indicia would be obtained as is demonstrated in Figs. 3A-3C. Fig. 3B illustrates an inclicia 32B printed on an envelope 34 by an authorized printer whereas, Fig. 3A demonstrates an inclicia 32A printed on an envelope 34 with an unauthorized printer having a higher pitch and Fig. 3C illustrates an inclicia 32C printed by an unauthorized printer having a lower pitch. As illustrated, the inclicia 32A printed with a printer 26A having a higher pitch will be substantially smaller than the standard size; whereas, when the indicia 32C is printed with a printer 26C having a lower pitch, an overlarge indicia results. As illustrated in Fig. 3C, the overlarge inclicia 32C would appear only partially on the corner of an envelope 34.

With such a scheme, if one were to attempt to obtain unauthorized postage by using both the authorized printer 24 and also connecting the output line 20 to an unauthorized off the shelf printer, one would have a visible sign that unauthorized postage indicia printing was taking place. It will be appreciated that the printer 24 is manufactured for the purpose of printing postage inclicia only and will have associated therewith an accounting unit such as the descending register 16 so that there would be an accounting for the postage.

In a second preferred embodiment of the instant invention, a visual examination concept is disclosed where authenticity of postage may be determined where large numbers of mail pieces are processed in a batch. This scheme applies when batches of 100 or more mail pieces, or any other arbitrary number, are to be sent. As shown, the number of mail pieces to be processed is 600. With reference to Fig. 4A, what is shown is the medium, for example, the corner of an envelope, upon which the postage inclicia is to be printed. The postage indicia includes a first line that gives the piece count of each mail piece and the number of mail pieces in a batch. That is to 3 say, Fig. 4A illustrates the first mail piece of a 600 piece run; Fig. 4B illustrates the 300th mail piece; and Fig. 4C illustrates the last mail piece of the 600 piece run. The next line shows the amount of postage, in this case being $.25. The third, line is an identification of the indicia. representing US postage. The indicia has a background of a design that has a variable density or "busyness". As number of mail pieces are processed the background becomes lighter. With the first mail piece, the background is relatively dark or "busy" as seen in Fig. 4A. As can be seen in Fig. 413, this background 32 becomes somewhat lighter, or less dense, when half the run is 80 made. By the time the last mail piece is sent as seen in Fig. 4C the background is substan tially lighter, or less dense. By requiring that all mailers of large quantities of mail have a postage indicia printer with a non-standard print head controlled in such a manner that variable backgrounds are printed in accordance with the order of the mail piece in the se quence of total number of mail pieces, the post office is able to determine whether a batch of mail is authorized.

In summary, what is. shown is a scheme whereby visual inspection of mail pieces, whether they be individual mail pieces or large batches, will yield to a postal clerk and indica tion whether the postage has been paid for such mail pieces. This scheme is achieved by importing a non-standard print characteristic to a printer that is made specifically for a pos tage meter manufacturer or the postage ac counting entity. The manufacture of printers with such non-standard print quality would be controlled by law or postal regulation. As can be appreciated, this achieves a degree of se curity in a rather simple and convenient man ner without the requirement of encryption or any sophisticated equipment.

Although only two examples are described, it will be appreciated that non-standard prin ters may be built with other non-standard fea tures, such as variable configurations -of dots, alteration of font des, ign in accordance with the number of mail pieces processed, altering the space between rows of dots and the like.

Thus a method and apparatus have been conceived whereby a postage indicia is printed with a dot matrix printer that has a non-stan dard print quality. This non-standard print quality may take one of several forms. In one embodiment the pitch of the dot matrix is a 120 non-standard pitch. In another embodiment a background is provided to the postage indicia whose density varies in proportion to the number of mail pieces printed. Many other non-standard features may be employed such as varying the configuration of dots, altering the font design in accordance with the number of mail pieces processed, altering the space between rows of dots and the like.

GB 2 197 263A 3

Claims

1. A method of providing a visual indication of authorized postage, comprising:

providing a printer with a non-standard print characteristic and printing a postage indicia upon a mail piece with such printer.

2. A method according to claim 1 including the step of programming the printer to print a background of a postage indicia on mail pieces of a batch of mail pieces wherein the background is varied in accordance with the number of postage indicias printed on the mail pieces.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2 including the step of providing. the printer with a pitch that is non-standard.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said printer is a dot matrix printer.

5. A method according to claim 4 including the steps of programming the printer to print a background of a postage indicia on a mail piece of a batch of mail pieces wherein the background of each postage indicia is varied in accordance with its order in the sequence of postage indicias printed on the mail pieces.

6. A method according to claim 5 including the step of number each mail piece of a batch on mail pieces in accordance with its order in the sequence of printing indicia.

7. Apparatus for providing a visual indication of authorized postage, comprising:

a printer with a non-standard print quality; and means for enabling the printer for printing a postage indicia.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the non-standard printer is operable to print a background of a postage indicia on a mail piece wherein the background is varied in accordance with the sequence number of each mail piece of a batch of mail pieces on which a postage indicia is printed.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said printer is arranged to print a number of each mail piece in accordance with its sequential order.

10. Apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9 wherein said printer is arranged to print with a non- standard pitch.

11. A method of providing a visual indication of authorized postage substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 313 and 3C or to Figs. 1, 4A, 413 and 4C of the accompanying drawings.

12. Apparatus for providing a visual indica tion of authorized postage substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 313 and 3C or to Figs. 1, 4A, 413 and 4C of the accompanying drawings.

13. A postage meter arranged to operate in accordance with the method of any of 4 GB2197263A 4 claims 1 to 6 and 11.

14. A postage meter comprising apparatus according to any of claims 7 to 10 and 12.

Published 1988 at The Patent Office, State House, 66/7 1 High Holborn, London WC 1 R 4TP. Further copies may be obtained from The Patent Office, Sales Branch, St Mary Cray, Orpington, Kent BR5 3RD. Printed by Burgess & Son (Abingdon) Ltd. Con. 1/87.