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AssigneePitney Bowes Inc.
InventorsFrank T. Check, Jr., Alton B. Eckert, Jr., Bruce E. Hinman, Howell A. Jones, Jr., Raymond R. Lupkas, Robert B. McFiggans
Estimating the term…
A high volume mailing installation is disclosed in which the output of a programmable high speed electronic digital computer provides destination and postage amount information, a high speed chain printer driven by the computer prints the destination information on address labels, and an authorized postage printing meter is mounted piggy-back fashion on the chain printer and responds to the same computer for automatic printing of authorized postage impressions of the calculated amount on the same mailing labels. The meter includes a fast, rugged solenoid-actuated segmented flat bed postage printer unit and fixed-program electronic digital postal accounting circuitry, with appropriate security features to prevent or detect postal fraud.
In the combination of a computer and metering means arranged to print a numerical amount, said metering means including means for receiving from said computer a signal designating said amount, printing means responsive to said signal receiving means, an addressable memory for storing a balance, an arithmetic unit responsive to said memory and said signal receiving means to alter said balance by said computer-designated amount each time said printing means is actuated, memory addressing means for fetching a present balance from a predetermined memory address and conveying it to said arithmetic unit for said balance altering operation and loading the new balance resulting from such operation back into said same memory address, said memory addressing means comprising:
An electronic postage meter comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.