Patent EP0305211A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0305211A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Printing of franking and the like on mail items
Assignee: ALE International SAS
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Filing: 1988-08-26
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-08-26
Abstract
Abstract A franking machine system is disclosed in which mail items (24) such as envelopes or labels are treated with heat sensitive material and the franking machine 910,11) is provided with a thermal print head (18) to apply selectively heat to the sensitive material to produce a change in colour of the material and thereby print a franking impression (26) on the mail item (24). The thermal print head (18) may also print a destination address (23). The entire face or only predetermined areas (25) of the mail item (24) may be treated with sensitive material and if desired different areas (25a,25b) of the mail item (24) may be treated with material which is changed to different colours by the application of heat in order to produce images of different colours.
Inventors
- 👤 Raymond John Herbert
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 22:34
CPC Classifications
G; G07; G07B; G07B17/00; G07B17/00459; G07B17/00508; G07B2017/00516; G07B2017/00524; G07B2017/0054; G07B2017/00572; G07B2017/00604; G07B2017/00637
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
85 words
A franking system comprising the combination of a mail item (24) such as an envelope or label and a franking machine (10,11) characterised in that the mail item (24) has an area (25) on a face thereof treated with sensitive material and in that the franking machine (10,11 ) includes a printing device (11) selectively operable to print a franking impression (26) on said face of the mail item (24) by changing the visual state of selected portions of said area (25) of sensitive material.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
85 words
A franking system comprising the combination of a mail item (24) such as an envelope or label and a franking machine (10,11) characterised in that the mail item (24) has an area (25) on a face thereof treated with sensitive material and in that the franking machine (10,11 ) includes a printing device (11) selectively operable to print a franking impression (26) on said face of the mail item (24) by changing the visual state of selected portions of said area (25) of sensitive material.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
50 words
A franking system as claimed in claim 1 further charactersied in that said sensitive material assumes a colour after being subjected to heat contrasting to the colour of the material prior to being subjected to heat and said printing device (11) is operable to heat selected portions of the material.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
44 words
A franking machine characterised by the provision of a printing device (11) comprising selectively operable elements (18) effective upon operation to change the visual state of selected portions of an area (25) of the face of a mail item (24) treated with sensitive material.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
44 words
A franking machine characterised by the provision of a printing device (11) comprising selectively operable elements (18) effective upon operation to change the visual state of selected portions of an area (25) of the face of a mail item (24) treated with sensitive material.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
33 words
A franking machine as claimed in claim 3 further characterised in that said elements (18) are operable to apply heat selectively to the area (25) of the face of the mail item (24).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
A mail item such as an envelope or label characterised in that an area (25) on a face thereof is treated with sensitive material.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
24 words
A mail item such as an envelope or label characterised in that an area (25) on a face thereof is treated with sensitive material.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
A mail item as claimed in claim 5 further characterised in that the visual state of the sensitive material is changed by the application of heat thereto.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
42 words
A mail item as claimed in claim 5 or 6 further characterised in that one area (25a) of the face of the item is treated with a first sensitive material and a second area (22b) is treated with a second sensitive material.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
40 words
A mail item as claimed in claim 7 further characterised in that said first material assumes a first colour and said second material assumes a second colour contrasting with said first colour in response to the application of heat thereto.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
39 words
A franking machine as claimed in claim 3 or 4 further characterised by the provision of means operative subsequent to operation of the printer (11) to desensitise or lower the sensitivity of the area (25) treated with sensitive material.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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