Method and system for metering mixed weight mail pieces at an increased average rate

A postage meter responsive to a postal scale to control a printer to print a mail piece with an indicium representative of a postage amount, said postage meter comprising:

• a) a programmable controller;
• b) a secure mechanism for accounting for postage amounts expended;
• and
• c) an indicia generator;
• where
• d) said programmable controller is programmed to:
• d1) respond to a first signal from said postal scale to debit said secure mechanism for a minimum postage amount and control said indicia generator to generate an indicium representative of said minimum amount;
• d2) if said determined postage amount equals said minimum amount, respond to a second signal representative of said determined postage amount to control said printer to print said indicium representative of said minimum postage amount on said mail piece;
• and
• d3) if said determined postage amount is greater than said minimum postage amount, respond to said second signal to debit said secure mechanism for said determined postage amount less said minimum postage amount;
• delete said indicium representative of said minimum postage amount;
• control said indicia generator to generate an indicium representative of said determined postage amount;
• and to control said printer to print said indicium representative of said determined postage amount on said mail piece.

A postal scale for determining a postage amount for a mail piece as a function of a weight for said mail piece, comprising:

• a) a transport for transporting and supporting a mail piece to be weighed;
• b) a transducer mechanism for providing a weight signal representative of a weight for said mailpiece;
• c) a programmable scale controller for responding to said weight signal to determine said postage amount and for controlling transport of said mail piece, said programmable scale controller being programmed to:
• c1) respond to the presence of said mail piece on said transport to output a first signal;
• and
• c2) thereafter, respond to said weight signal to determine said postage amount and output a second signal representative of said postage amount.

A method for printing postal indicia on mail pieces, said method comprising the steps of:

• a) responding to presence of a mail piece to debit a secure accounting mechanism for a minimum postage amount and generate an indicium representative of said minimum amount;
• b) if a postage amount determined for said mail piece equals said minimum amount, responding to a second signal representative of said determined postage amount to print said indicium representative of said minimum postage amount on said mail piece;
• and
• c) if said determined postage amount is greater than said minimum postage amount, responding to said second signal to debit said secure accounting mechanism for said determined postage amount less said minimum postage amount;
• delete said indicium representative of said minimum postage amount;
• generate an indicium representative of said determined postage amount;
• and to print said indicium representative of said determined postage amount on said mail piece.