System and method for accounting for postage for mail

Abstract

A permit mail metering system that preprints the non-variable portion of an indicia. The pre-printed portions may be printed with a fluorescent and phosphorescent ink, while other pre-printed portions may be printed using standard colored or black inks. Some variable printed portions may be printed with a fluorescent and phosphorescent ink, while other variable portions may be printed using standard colored or black non-luminescent inks.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]Reference is made to commonly assigned co-pending patent application Ser. No. 09 / 083,605 filed herewith entitled “A System For Metering Permit Mail That Has An Encrypted Message Affixed To A Mail Piece” in the name of Ronald Sansone.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The invention relates generally to the field of mailing systems and more particularly to automated mailing systems.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Governments have created postal services for collecting, sorting and distributing the mail. The postal service typically charges mailers for delivering the mail. Mailers may pay the post office for its service by purchasing a stamp, i.e., a printed adhesive label, issued by the post office at specified prices, that is affixed to all letters, parcels or other mail matter to show prepayment of postage. The placing of one or more stamps on a mail piece is a labor intensive endeavor. Thus, stamps typically are used by individuals, small or h...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by utilizing a system that reduces the amount of labor required to produce permit mail. The foregoing is advantageous to the mailer because it reduces the amount of time the mailer spends in the preparation of postal forms and the performance of postal procedures. The variable data indicia printer is able to run at a more rapid rate than normal indicia printers because the amount of information to be reprinted is much less. This is important because it saves the mailer labor and time and it enables the mail to reach the post office sooner. The foregoing is advantageous to the post office by reducing the acceptance processing time. This reduces the post office's labor and enables the mail to enter the delivery system sooner.

[0011]An advantage of this invention is that it provides more accurate reporting and checking of the number of permit mail pieces. Thus, the mailer pays for the number of mail permit pieces actually mailed and the post office receives the correct revenue for the number of permit mail pieces that it processes.

[0012]Another advantage of this invention is that it provides additional security for permit mail. The foregoing is accomplished by placing variable information within the permit indicia or in the vicinity of the permit indicia. The variable information may be printed with a fluorescent and phosphorescent ink to further increase the security of the permit indicia. The variable information may also be printed with a black or colored ink.

[0013]A further advantage of this invention is that it also allows permit mail to be placed in letter boxes or delivered to the postal clerk in the lobby of the post office.

Problems solved by technology

The placing of one or more stamps on a mail piece is a labor intensive endeavor.

A disadvantage of the current manifest and permit mailing systems is that the systems are very labor intensive.

Another disadvantage of the prior art is that permit mail is only able to enter the post office during certain postal working hours.

Images