CA2193434A1 - Pc-based open metering system and method - Google Patents

Pc-based open metering system and method

Info

Publication number
CA2193434A1
CA2193434A1 CA 2193434 CA2193434A CA2193434A1 CA 2193434 A1 CA2193434 A1 CA 2193434A1 CA 2193434 CA2193434 CA 2193434 CA 2193434 A CA2193434 A CA 2193434A CA 2193434 A1 CA2193434 A1 CA 2193434A1
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
module
indicia
transaction
digital token
metering application
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
CA 2193434
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
CA2193434C (en
Inventor
Robert A. Cordery
David K. Lee
Steven J. Pauly
Leon A. Pintsov
David W. Riley
Frederick W. Ryan, Jr.
Monroe A. Weiant, Jr.
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Pitney Bowes Inc
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US08/575,109 external-priority patent/US6151590A/en
Priority claimed from US08/575,112 external-priority patent/US6157919A/en
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Publication of CA2193434A1 publication Critical patent/CA2193434A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA2193434C publication Critical patent/CA2193434C/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00193—Constructional details of apparatus in a franking system
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00016—Relations between apparatus, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office, in a franking system
    • G07B17/0008—Communication details outside or between apparatus
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00314—Communication within apparatus, personal computer [PC] system, or server, e.g. between printhead and central unit in a franking machine
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00016—Relations between apparatus, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office, in a franking system
    • G07B17/0008—Communication details outside or between apparatus
    • G07B2017/00153—Communication details outside or between apparatus for sending information
    • G07B2017/00177—Communication details outside or between apparatus for sending information from a portable device, e.g. a card or a PCMCIA
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00193—Constructional details of apparatus in a franking system
    • G07B2017/00201—Open franking system, i.e. the printer is not dedicated to franking only, e.g. PC (Personal Computer)
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00314—Communication within apparatus, personal computer [PC] system, or server, e.g. between printhead and central unit in a franking machine
    • G07B2017/00322—Communication between components/modules/parts, e.g. printer, printhead, keyboard, conveyor or central unit
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00314—Communication within apparatus, personal computer [PC] system, or server, e.g. between printhead and central unit in a franking machine
    • G07B2017/0033—Communication with software component, e.g. dll or object
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00314—Communication within apparatus, personal computer [PC] system, or server, e.g. between printhead and central unit in a franking machine
    • G07B2017/00338—Error detection or handling
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00314—Communication within apparatus, personal computer [PC] system, or server, e.g. between printhead and central unit in a franking machine
    • G07B2017/00346—Power handling, e.g. power-down routine
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00362—Calculation or computing within apparatus, e.g. calculation of postage value
    • G07B2017/00395—Memory organization
    • G07B2017/00411—Redundant storage, e.g. back-up of registers
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00362—Calculation or computing within apparatus, e.g. calculation of postage value
    • G07B2017/00427—Special accounting procedures, e.g. storing special information

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Devices For Checking Fares Or Tickets At Control Points (AREA)
  • Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)

Abstract

A transaction evidencing system includes a personal computer (PC) comprising a processor, memory and hard drive, with a plurality of non-metering application programs that selectively run on the PC. An unsecured printer is operatively coupled to the PC for printing in accordance with the non-metering application programs. A portable vault card that is removably coupled to the PC is programmed to generate tokens generation and perform transaction accounting. An application interface module in the PC, which interfaces with the non-metering application programs, issues a request for one digital tokens in response to requests for indicia from a non-metering application program. A secure communications module in the PC, which securely communicates with the vault card when the vault card is coupled to the PC, sends the request for digital token to the vault card and receives a digital token generated by the vault card. An indicia bitmap generation module generates an indicia bitmap in the PC from the digital token and stores it in memory. The indicia bitmap is accessed by the non-metering application program when a print indicia operation is selected. A
transaction capture module in the PC stores on the hard drive a transaction record corresponding to each issued digital token and associated postal data. The application interface module, the secure communications module, the indicia bitmap generation module and the transaction capture module are part of a dynamic link library module in the PC.
CA 2193434 1995-12-19 1996-12-19 Pc-based open metering system and method Expired - Fee Related CA2193434C (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US08/575,109 US6151590A (en) 1995-12-19 1995-12-19 Network open metering system
US08/575,112 US6157919A (en) 1995-12-19 1995-12-19 PC-based open metering system and method
US08/575,109 1995-12-19
US08/575,112 1995-12-19

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2193434A1 true CA2193434A1 (en) 1997-06-20
CA2193434C CA2193434C (en) 2002-02-19

Family

ID=27076585

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA 2193434 Expired - Fee Related CA2193434C (en) 1995-12-19 1996-12-19 Pc-based open metering system and method

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0780809B1 (en)
JP (1) JPH1027272A (en)
CA (1) CA2193434C (en)
DE (1) DE69638152D1 (en)

Families Citing this family (17)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5963928A (en) * 1997-07-17 1999-10-05 Pitney Bowes Inc. Secure metering vault having LED output for recovery of postal funds
US6098058A (en) * 1997-12-18 2000-08-01 Pitney Bowes Inc. Postage metering system and method for automatic detection of remote postage security devices on a network
US6085181A (en) 1997-12-18 2000-07-04 Pitney Bowes Inc. Postage metering system and method for a stand-alone meter operating as a meter server on a network
US6151591A (en) * 1997-12-18 2000-11-21 Pitney Bowes Inc. Postage metering network system with virtual meter mode
US6081795A (en) 1997-12-18 2000-06-27 Pitney Bowes Inc. Postage metering system and method for a closed system network
US6175826B1 (en) * 1997-12-18 2001-01-16 Pitney Bowes Inc. Postage metering system and method for a stand-alone meter having virtual meter functionality
US6058384A (en) 1997-12-23 2000-05-02 Pitney Bowes Inc. Method for removing funds from a postal security device
US6125162A (en) * 1998-08-20 2000-09-26 Pitney Bowes Inc. Postage meter having non-Gregorian calendar capability
US6741972B1 (en) 1998-11-06 2004-05-25 Pitney Bowes Inc. Method and apparatus for dynamically determining a printing location in a document for a postage indicia
EP1183656A2 (en) * 1999-06-01 2002-03-06 Stamps.Com Online value bearing item printing
US7490065B1 (en) 1999-10-18 2009-02-10 Stamps.Com Cryptographic module for secure processing of value-bearing items
WO2001029778A1 (en) 1999-10-18 2001-04-26 Stamps.Com Method and apparatus for on-line value-bearing item system
CA2391126A1 (en) * 1999-11-10 2001-05-17 J. P. Leon Techniques for dispensing postage using a communication network
WO2001061652A2 (en) 2000-02-16 2001-08-23 Stamps.Com Secure on-line ticketing
DE20221810U1 (en) * 2001-03-21 2007-12-20 Deutsche Post Ag Graphical user interface for freeing postal items
US9779556B1 (en) 2006-12-27 2017-10-03 Stamps.Com Inc. System and method for identifying and preventing on-line fraud
CN112087300B (en) * 2020-07-30 2023-04-28 宁波三星医疗电气股份有限公司 Key distribution method for electric power field device

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4775246A (en) * 1985-04-17 1988-10-04 Pitney Bowes Inc. System for detecting unaccounted for printing in a value printing system
US4812994A (en) * 1985-08-06 1989-03-14 Pitney Bowes Inc. Postage meter locking system
US4837701A (en) * 1985-12-26 1989-06-06 Pitney Bowes Inc. Mail processing system with multiple work stations
US4941091A (en) * 1987-06-30 1990-07-10 Pitney Bowes Inc. Mail management system transaction data customizing and screening
US5778066A (en) * 1995-11-22 1998-07-07 F.M.E. Corporation Method and apparatus for authentication of postage accounting reports

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPH1027272A (en) 1998-01-27
EP0780809A3 (en) 2000-03-01
EP0780809A2 (en) 1997-06-25
DE69638152D1 (en) 2010-05-06
EP0780809B1 (en) 2010-03-24
CA2193434C (en) 2002-02-19

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
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MKLA Lapsed

Effective date: 20151221