US4286325A — System and method for computing domestic and inte…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 150 words

A method of calculating a postage value for an article to be mailed to one of a plurality of foreign countries sharing common structured rate data in the form of equation boundary conditions and instructions, said method comprising the steps of: (a) selecting postal information indicative of the carrier-type class and destination of the article to be mailed, (b) obtaining weight information for said article to be mailed, (c) processing said postal information and said weight information to determine whether common structured rate data can be accessed for calculating a postage value for said article, (d) accessing common structured rate data for said article, and (e) generating a postage value for said article to be mailed from at least one equation of an equation set in accordance with said accessed common structured rate data, comprising boundary conditions for said one equation and instructions directing the use of said one equation.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 150 words

A method of calculating a postage value for an article to be mailed to one of a plurality of foreign countries sharing common structured rate data in the form of equation boundary conditions and instructions, said method comprising the steps of: (a) selecting postal information indicative of the carrier-type class and destination of the article to be mailed, (b) obtaining weight information for said article to be mailed, (c) processing said postal information and said weight information to determine whether common structured rate data can be accessed for calculating a postage value for said article, (d) accessing common structured rate data for said article, and (e) generating a postage value for said article to be mailed from at least one equation of an equation set in accordance with said accessed common structured rate data, comprising boundary conditions for said one equation and instructions directing the use of said one equation.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 40 words

The method of claim 1 wherein said accessing of said rate data comprises the steps of (f) storing said common structured rate data in a memory, and (g) generating an address in said memory to retrieve said stored rate data.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 46 words

The method of claim 1 wherein said processing of said postal and weight information comprises the further steps of (f) obtaining a chart discriptor in a directory table, and (g) examining said chart descriptor to determine whether access can be made of common structured rate data.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 29 words

The method of claim 3 wherein said processing step further comprises the step of (f) invoking an alternate postage value generating procedure when the common structured data is inaccessible.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 79 words

The method of claim 1 wherein said processing of said postal and weight information comprises the further steps of (f) obtaining a group table address in a directory table, (g) obtaining a vector table address in a directory table, (h) addressing the group table with the group table address to obtain a group number, and (i) addressing the vector table with the vector table address and the group number to obtain a memory address of common structured rate data.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method of claim 1 wherein said processing step further comprises the step of (f) determining whether said postal information regarding said destination is valid.

Claim 8

Independent Claim 178 words

A method of calculating a postage value specific to one country of a pluarlity of countries as a function of parcel weight, country of destination and postal class of service comprising the steps of storing commonly structured postage rate data applicable to a plurality of countries including said one country at different predetermined addresses in a memory, said postage rate data in the form of equation boundary conditions and instructions including a start weight, at least one weight increment, a start postage corresponding to the start weight and at least one postage increment corresponding to each weight increment, determining in which one of a plurality of groups the country of destination belongs for the entered class of service, determining a weight limit and address for retrieving stored postage rate data in accordance with the determined group, retrieving said rate data stored at the determined address, and calculating a required postage value for the one country from at least one equation of a set of equations in accordance with retrieved rate data including the boundary conditions and said instructions.

Claim 9

Independent Claim 178 words

A method of calculating a postage value specific to one country of a pluarlity of countries as a function of parcel weight, country of destination and postal class of service comprising the steps of storing commonly structured postage rate data applicable to a plurality of countries including said one country at different predetermined addresses in a memory, said postage rate data in the form of equation boundary conditions and instructions including a start weight, at least one weight increment, a start postage corresponding to the start weight and at least one postage increment corresponding to each weight increment, determining in which one of a plurality of groups the country of destination belongs for the entered class of service, determining a weight limit and address for retrieving stored postage rate data in accordance with the determined group, retrieving said rate data stored at the determined address, and calculating a required postage value for the one country from at least one equation of a set of equations in accordance with retrieved rate data including the boundary conditions and said instructions.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 54 words

The method as defined in claim 7 wherein said calculating step further includes the steps of determining a number of weight increments by which the parcel weight exceeds a start weight for the retrieved rate data, retrieving the start postage, and incrementing the start postage by one postage increment for each determined weight increment.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 75 words

The method as defined in claim 8 wherein said calculating step further includes the steps of storing the start postage at a predetermined location, decrementing the determined number of weight increments by one, checking the decremented result to determine whether it is less than zero, adding a postage increment to the start postage if the decremented result is zero or greater, and repeating the above steps until the checking step reveals a negative decrement result.

Claim 12

Independent Claim 176 words

A method of calculating a postage value for a specific country of destination included in a plurality of countries as a function of parcel weight, country of destination and postal class of service, comprising the steps of: (a) storing commonly structured postage rate chart data applicable to said plurality of countries at different predetermined addresses in a memory, said postage rate data including a start weight and at least one postage increment corresponding to each weight increment, (b) assigning country code destinations to each of a plurality of possible destination countries, (c) storing addresses of the rate chart data as a function of class of service and country designation, (d) accessing the stored addresses and retrieving the rate chart data at the accessed address, said rate chart data being in the form of equation boundary conditions and equation use instructions, and (e) calculating a postage value for said specific country from at least one equation of a set equations in accordance with the retrieved rate chart data including said boundary conditions and said equation use instructions

Claim 13

Independent Claim 176 words

A method of calculating a postage value for a specific country of destination included in a plurality of countries as a function of parcel weight, country of destination and postal class of service, comprising the steps of: (a) storing commonly structured postage rate chart data applicable to said plurality of countries at different predetermined addresses in a memory, said postage rate data including a start weight and at least one postage increment corresponding to each weight increment, (b) assigning country code destinations to each of a plurality of possible destination countries, (c) storing addresses of the rate chart data as a function of class of service and country designation, (d) accessing the stored addresses and retrieving the rate chart data at the accessed address, said rate chart data being in the form of equation boundary conditions and equation use instructions, and (e) calculating a postage value for said specific country from at least one equation of a set equations in accordance with the retrieved rate chart data including said boundary conditions and said equation use instructions

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 54 words

The method as defined in claim 10 wherein said calculating step further includes the steps of determining a number of weight increments by which the parcel weight exceeds a start weight for the retrieved rate data, retrieving the start postage, and incrementing the start postage by one postage increment for each determined weight increment.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 75 words

The method as defined in claim 11 wherein said incrementing step further includes the steps of storing the start postage at a predetermined location, decrementing the determined number of weight increments by one, checking the decremented result to determine whether it is less than zero, adding a postage increment to the start postage if the decremented result is zero or greater, and repeating the above steps until the checking step reveals a negative decremented result.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 99 words

A postage value calculator comprising means for introducing postal information, a memory means for storing common structured rate data applicable to a plurality of countries said rate data being in the form of equation boundary conditions and equation use instructions, means for retrieving said postage rate data from said memory means for any one specific country of said plurality of countries in accordance with said introduced postal information, and means for generating a postage value for said one specific country from said retrieved equation boundary conditions and equation use intructions utilizing at least one equation of an equation set.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 99 words

A postage value calculator comprising means for introducing postal information, a memory means for storing common structured rate data applicable to a plurality of countries said rate data being in the form of equation boundary conditions and equation use instructions, means for retrieving said postage rate data from said memory means for any one specific country of said plurality of countries in accordance with said introduced postal information, and means for generating a postage value for said one specific country from said retrieved equation boundary conditions and equation use intructions utilizing at least one equation of an equation set.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 14 words

The postage value calculator of claim 13 wherein said introducing means comprises a keyboard.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 15 words

The postage value calculator of claim 13 wherein said introducing means comprises a weighing scale.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 22 words

The postage value calculator of claim 13 wherein said retrieving means and said generating means are comprised within a system processor unit.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 22 words

The postage value calculator of claim 13 further comprising a display linked to said generating means for displaying said generated postage value.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 30 words

The postage value calculator of claim 13 further comprising a meter setting device linked to said postage value generating means for setting said generated postage value in a postage meter.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1984-08-24	1985-02-23	1985-08-25	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1988-08-24	1989-02-23	1989-08-25	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1992-08-24	1993-02-23	1993-08-25	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

System and method for computing domestic and international postage

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