Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Specific application – apparatus or process – Article handling
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-29
2001-12-04
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Specific application, apparatus or process
Article handling
C700S220000, C270S052020
Reexamination Certificate
active
06327515
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the preparation of large mailings and the like. More particularly it relates to systems and apparatus for the preparation of documents and the assembly of multiple mailpieces including such documents.
The term “mailpieces” as used herein means items intended to be delivered by a postal service or private courier service. Typically preparation of mailpieces includes, but is not limited to, printing or otherwise providing documents including variable information pertaining to addressees of the mailpieces and the assembly of such documents with other elements of the mailpiece. The term “assembly” as used herein means the execution of actions to incorporate the documents into mailpieces. Typically, such actions can include: accumulating documents with other materials such as preprinted inserts, folding and inserting the resulting accumulations into envelopes, printing addresses and other information on the outside of the envelopes, and franking the mailpiece with an appropriate postage amount.
Inserter systems for the assembly of mailpieces are well known. A typical inserter system is shown in FIG.
1
. Inserter system
10
includes burster/feeder
12
which inputs preprinted documents in fanfold form, separates the documents and removes and discards sprocket feed strips FS from the edges of the document. Each group of documents for a particular mailpiece includes at least one control document CD. On control documents CD strips FS are marked with code BC which is read by scanner
14
before strips FS are removed. In simpler systems code BC can be a “dash code” of the type known for use in directly controlling inserter systems. In newer, more complex systems code BC can be a conventional bar code which serves as a pointer to a mailpiece record which record contains information for controlling the inserter; as will be more fully described below.
In other known inserterstems, the documents can be in cut shed form and a cut sheet feeder can be used in place of burster/feeder
12
. Control document CD, and any additional associated pages are fed from burster feeder
12
to accumulator
16
where documents for each mailpiece are formed into separate accumulations A and folded.
Accumulation A is then fed to insert stations
20
A and
20
B where preprinted inserts I are added to form accumulations A
1
and A
2
. Those skilled in the art will of course recognize that the number of such insert stations used will vary from application to application.
Accumulation A
2
is then fed to insert station
22
where it is inserted into an envelope and sealed to form mailpiece MP. Mailpiece MP is then fed to address printer
24
which prints address AD on the outside of the envelope. Depending on the size of the print field of printer
24
, printer
24
also can be used to print other information such as a variable return address (or other text message) RA, logo L, and postal barcode PBC on the envelope. (Those skilled in the art will recognize that dash codes as described above typically cannot include sufficient information to define even address AD so that systems incorporating dash codes typically use window envelopes to provide addressing information.) System
10
also includes out stacker
30
for diverting mailpieces when an error is detected. As noted above inserter systems wherein said code BC is a barcode which is used as a pointer to a mailpiece record (i.e. an electronic record associated with a mailpiece to be assembled) are known. By incorporating data for controlling assembly of mailpieces in mailpiece records an essentially unlimited amount of data can be associated with each mailpiece. Thus addresses, return addresses, logos, and postal bar codes can all readily be specified in addition to specification of the number of inserts to be added at each insert feeder, postage amounts, etc. Systems incorporating such mailpiece records are described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,505; to: Axelrod et al.; for: Mail Preparation System; issued Jan. 24, 1989, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Embodiments of the system of U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,505 are marketed by the assignee of the present application under the name “Direct Connection”, described in
The Direct Connection, version
1.30.
While systems such as those described above have proven highly successful certain disadvantages remain. In particular the fact that chassis cycles at fixed intervals while documents are delivered at varying intervals means that a potential exists that no documents will be available for a particular cycle. Clearly the possibility of such “dry holes” can be eliminated simply by operating the chassis slowly enough to assure that the maximum number of sheets can be accumulated in one cycle but, equally clearly, operating at that minimal speed will be highly inefficient in the general case where relatively few accumulations with a maximum number of sheets are expected. Conversely, in mailing jobs having a relatively large number of large accumulations, running too fast will cause a large number of dry holes and a higher throughput is achieved by operating the chassis at a slower speed. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that accumulation size will vary with within mailing jobs.
Heretofore efforts to improve the operating efficiency of inserter systems have not addressed this problem in a direct, simple and cost effective manner. Thus, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,987,547 and 5,083,281; to: Rabindran et al. teach a method for optimizing system speed to minimize time lost to jams and stoppages; while U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,869; to: Nyffenegger teaches a non-standard, buffered, variable speed document feeder which it is believed would substantially add to the cost and complexity of an inserter system. Thus it is an object of the subject invention to provide a simple, cost-effective method for tuning the performance of an inserter system during the run-time of a mailing job.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above object is achieved and the disadvantages of the prior art are overcome in accordance with the subject invention by means of a method and apparatus for processing mailpieces. An inserter system includes a chassis for assembling the mailpieces, the chassis operating cyclically with successive accumulations advancing at the end of each cycle, and a document feeder for feeding accumulations of documents to the chassis, the accumulations containing varying numbers of documents. The mailpieces each include a control document, the control documents each including data for determining a unique identification code. The method includes the steps of storing a mailing control file, the mailing control file comprising a plurality of mailpiece records, each of the records including a plurality of fields, the fields containing data for controlling assembly of a mailpiece, and each of the records including one of the unique identification codes, whereby each of the records defines preparation of at least one corresponding mailpiece, the records also defining the number of documents comprised in each of the mailpieces; and operating the document feeder at a fixed linear speed, whereby accumulations are available for input to the chassis at varying intervals substantially depending upon the number of documents in corresponding accumulations, so that there is a possibility that no accumulation will be available for particular cycles of the chassis. The chassis is initially operated at a selected speed and which is periodically updated by preferably first determining a measure of the average number of documents to be formed into accumulations for a predetermined number of mail pieces next to be processed and then computing a nominal chassis speed as a function of the measure. A determination between the difference of the nominal chassis speed and the current chassis speed is achieved and if the difference is positive and greater than a first positive value, increasing the chassis speed, and if the difference is negative and less than minus the first value, decreasing t
Hart, Jr. William G.
Mayer Paul
Pritchard Eugene
Shea Michael
Cummings Michael J.
Ellis Christopher P.
Melton Michael E.
Pitney Bowes Inc.
Tran Khoi H.
LandOfFree
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