Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-30
2001-08-07
Barlow, John (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Fluid or fluid source handling means
C347S101000, C235S468000, C235S470000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06270213
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to the field of inks, and more particularly to luminescent inks that are used to indicate that postage has been paid or to protect certain information.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Soon small business mailers may be able to use their desktop computer (personal computer) and printer to apply postage directly onto envelopes or labels while applying an address. The United States Postal Service Engineering Center recently published a notice of proposed specification that may accomplish the foregoing. The title of the specification is Information Based Indicia Program Postal Security Device Specification, dated Jun. 13, 1996. The Information Based Indicia Program specification includes both proposed specifications for the new indicium and proposed specifications for a postal security device (PSD). The proposed Information-Based Indicia (IBI) consists of a two-dimensional bar code containing hundreds of bytes of information about the mail piece and certain human-readable information. The indicium includes a digital signature to preclude the forgery of indicia by unauthorized parties. The postal security device is a unique security device that provides a cryptographic digital signature to the indicium and performs the function of postage meter registers.
Current United States Postal Service IBI specifications require a Facing Identification Mark (FIM) to be part of the IBI indicia so that the USPS Advanced Facer Canceller may detect the presence of an IBI mail piece so as to sort the mail piece properly. In the United States, the FIM is a pattern of vertical bars printed in the upper right portion of the mail piece, to the left of the indicia. A FIM pattern is essentially a nine bit code consisting of bars and no bar place holders. The presence of a bar can be considered a binary one “1” and the absence of a bar a binary “0”. Thus, as currently specified, the United States Postal Service FIM is large, taking up about approximately 20% of the proposed IBI indicia.
Personal computer printers have difficulty in reliably printing the FIM portion of the IBI indicia. The reason for the foregoing is that the FIM is located near the top edge of the envelope and it is difficult for personal computer printers to print near the top edge of the envelopes. Furthermore, the FIM carries low information density when compared to other data elements of an IBI indicia. A disadvantage of the prior art is that a FIM wastes a large amount of envelope space.
Another disadvantage of the prior art is that it is difficult for personal computer printers to print an IBI indicia in proper registration to a pre printed FIM.
For many years the United States Postal Service and other Postal Services have been selling stamps that are printed with phosphorescent inks. The Postal Services also require and accept postal indicia that have been printed by a postage meter that uses fluorescent inks. Current fluorescent inks that are used in postage meters, approved by the United States Postal Service, contain a fluorescent ink that is excited by a 254 nm ultraviolet light source that emits a fluorescent light in the orange to red region of the visible spectrum between 580 to 650 nm.
Typically, luminescence will become visible to the naked eye when stimulated or excited by suitable radiation. Fluorescent inks and phosphorescent inks are types of luminescent inks. The emission of light from a fluorescent ink is caused by the absorption of energy (light or electromagnetic radiation) into the inks molecules, causing the ink molecules to be in an excited state and to emit or be fluorescent. The fluorescence ceases abruptly when the energy source is removed. The emission of light from a phosphorescent ink will persist after a time interval in which the energy source has been removed.
Mail sorting equipment like the Advanced Facer Canceling System manufactured by Siemens Electrocom, are being used at postal incoming mail processing stations to detect, cancel and then sort, using the phosphorescent stamps that have been affixed to mail pieces. These systems also check whether or not the postal indicia affixed to mail pieces were affixed by an authorized postal meter i.e., whether or not the indicia is fluorescent. The United States Postal Service Advanced Facer canceller System faces (arranges mail so all addresses and indicia are facing the same way), cancels the stamps bearing mail, and then sorts letter mail into three mail streams: pre bar coded letters; OCR readable (typed/machine imprinted) letters, and hand written or script letters.
Another problem encountered by the prior art is the forging of government and private documents. The prior art made it more difficult to forge documents by printing information on documents with luminescent and black inks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a ink that is printed under a printed information based indicia so that the information based indicia will not require a FIM. The ink provides the foregoing result by being both fluorescent and phosphorescent. Current desk top printers and color photocopiers are not capable of duplicating fluorescence and phosphorescence at the same time. The reason for the above is that while fluorescent inks would add to the brightness of the printing, phosphorescence would not add any enhancement to the print quality. Hence, phosphorescent materials are currently only used in specialty inks.
This invention also makes it more difficult to forge government and private documents. The invention accomplishes the forgoing by printing information on a document with a lower level luminescent ink and printing additional information in an upper level with a colored ink.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5554842 (1996-09-01), Connell et al.
patent: 5569317 (1996-10-01), Sarada et al.
patent: 5837042 (1998-11-01), Lent et al.
patent: 6039257 (2000-03-01), Berson et al.
patent: 6054505 (2000-04-01), Gundlach et al.
patent: 6108643 (2000-08-01), Sansone
Auslander Judith D
Bernard Richard A.
Sansone Ronald P.
Barlow John
Melton Michael E.
Pitney Bowes Inc.
Reichman Ronald
Shah M.
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