Dynamic Postage Meter Partitioning for Sender Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current postage metering systems cannot identify the actual sender of mail pieces when a service bureau provides postage printing services, as the postage evidence is associated with the service bureau rather than the individual or company sending the mail, leading to anonymous mail that must be treated as high-risk and processed slower, even though most mail comes from such environments.
Innovation Solution
A dynamically partitioned postage evidencing system that allows multiple sets of registers within a single device, each with its own unique identifier and access control, enabling the service bureau to track and control postage for multiple users and customers, allowing the actual mailer to be identified and reimbursed directly by the Postal Service.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a service bureau uses a single postage meter to provide postage printing services to multiple clients, then the service bureau can consolidate hardware resources and reduce device complexity, but the actual senders cannot be identified and mail must be processed through slower anonymous pathways
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides a single postage meter into multiple virtual partitions, each with its own register set and unique identifier. This segmentation allows the service bureau to maintain one physical device while providing distinct postage evidence for multiple clients, thereby preserving sender identification information without requiring separate hardware for each client.
Solution Approach 2:
The postage meter is designed to perform multiple functions by supporting multiple virtual partitions within a single device. Each partition can serve a different client or sender, allowing the same hardware resource to fulfill multiple roles while maintaining the ability to track and identify each sender individually through their respective partition identifiers.
2Loss of information
If the Postal Service requires separate postage meters for each sender, then sender identification is preserved and mail can be processed through faster identified pathways, but device complexity and hardware costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple logical postage meters into a single physical device by implementing virtual partitioning. Each virtual partition maintains its own register set and identifier, effectively merging the functionality of multiple separate meters while using shared hardware resources, thereby reducing overall device complexity while preserving sender identification.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual partition structure acts as an intermediary layer between the single physical postage meter and multiple senders. This intermediary mechanism allows the system to maintain one-to-one correspondence between senders and partition identifiers without requiring one-to-one hardware mapping, thus resolving the contradiction between hardware consolidation and sender identification.
3Reliability
If anonymous mail is processed through slower pathways with additional checks, then security and decontamination are improved, but mail processing speed and productivity decrease for the majority of mail stream
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by printing unique partition identifiers on mail pieces that correspond to specific senders. This feedback mechanism allows the Postal Service to recognize identified mail and route it through faster pathways, while still maintaining security checks for anonymous mail, thereby improving overall processing speed without compromising security.
Data Source
AI summary
A postage evidencing system for tracking postage amounts for multiple users comprising at least two register set partitions is disclosed. Each of the partitions includes an ascending register holding a number representing a value of postage that can be evidenced by the device, a descending register holding a number representing a value of postage that has been previously evidenced by the device, and an identification representing a source of mail pieces that are evidenced with postage from the partition. A security module limits access to the partitions and registers. The identifier for a selected partition is printed on mail pieces as part of an Information Based Indicia (IBI) to identify the source of the mail pieces.