Method of operating insertion machine and printer with control signals stored on searchable medium

Claim 1

An insertion machine system of a type wherein a plurality of insert stations are positioned proximate a conveyor traveling therealong for feeding inserts onto said conveyor, said conveyor having an upstream end and a downstream end, at least one of said insert stations being responsive to insertion machine control signals which control the feeding of inserts therefrom, said system comprising: a printer; article supply means for supplying articles to said printer, said articles having at least a first side and a second side, said article supply means being adapted to supply articles to said printer in an orientation whereby said printer can print characters on a first side of said articles; a storage medium containing information indicative of customer data for a plurality of customers, said storage medium being formatted to have a record of character information for each customer, each of said records including a field of information wherein characters indicative of insertion machine control signals are stored and at least one field of information wherein characters indicative of customer identification is stored; article turnover means for turning over articles and for introducing said turned-over articles onto said conveyor proximate said upstream end of said conveyor, said article turnover means being positioned downstream from said printer and adapted to turn over said articles in a manner whereby said second side of each article assumes the orientation previously had by said first side; means for accessing said storage medium and for retrieving therefrom for a customer both said characters indicative of insertion machine control signals and said characters indicative of customer identification; means for communicating at least said characters indicative of customer identification to said printer and for enabling said printer to print at least said characters indicative of customer identification on said first side of said article; print completion detection means for detecting the completion of character printing by said printer on said article and for generating a print completion signal in accordance with said detection; a data bus whereupon said insertion machine control signals are communicated to said at least one insert station subsequent to generation of said print completion signal; article turnover ready detection means for detecting when said article turnover means is loaded with an article which is to be turned over and introduced onto the conveyor; a memory into which character data can be entered; data entry means for entering character data into said memory including a string of input characters comprising a plurality of sequentially arranged characters for at least temporary storage in said memory; and, means for searching said storage medium in order to find a match between a string of stored characters and a string of input characters entered into said memory through said data entry means and in order to determine on the basis of said match which record of information on said storage medium is to be accessed, said string of stored characters comprising a plurality of sequentially stored characters in a record on said storage medium.

Claim 3

A method of operating an insertion machine system including an insertion machine of a type wherein a plurality of insert stations are positioned proximate conveyor means traveling therealong for feeding inserts onto said conveyor means, said method comprising the steps of: (1) providing a storage medium containing information indicative of customer data for a plurality of customers, said storage medium being formatted to have a record of character information for each customer, each of said records including a field of information wherein characters indicative of insertion machine control signals are stored and at least one field of information wherein characters indicative of customer identification is stored; (2) providing a printer; (3) providing a memory into which character data can be entered; (4) providing a data entry means for entering character data into said memory; (5) supplying an article to said printer, said article having at least a first side and a second side, said article being supplied in an orientation whereby said printer can print characters on a first side of said article; (6) acquiring through said data entry means a string of input characters representative of information to be sought on said storage medium, said string of input characters comprising a plurality of sequentially arranged characters and being at least temporarily stored in said memory; (7) searching said storage medium for a match between a string of stored characters stored on said storage medium and said string of input characters entered into said memory, said string of stored characters comprising a plurality of sequentially stored characters in a record on said storage medium; (8) using said match to determine which record of information on said storage medium is to be accessed; (9) accessing said storage medium and retrieving therefrom for a customer both said characters indicative of insertion machine control signals and said characters indicative of customer identification; (10) communicating at least said characters indicative of customer identification to said printer; (11) enabling said printer to print at least said characters indicative of customer identification on said first side of said article; (12) detecting the completion of character printing for said customer by said printer on said article and thereafter doing the following in coordinated relation: (a) communicating said insertion machine control signals relative to said customer to at least one insert station; and, (b) introducing said article onto said conveyor; (13) using said insertion machine control signals to control the selective feeding of an insert from said at least one insert station; (14) acquiring through said data entry means an indication whether said storage medium is to be searched for a further string of stored characters resembling said string of previously-input characters; (15) searching said storage medium for a further string of stored characters resembling said string of previously-input characters, said further string of stored characters being stored in a record for a further customer; (16) using said search as a basis to determine which record of information on said storage medium is to be accesssed; (17) supplying a further article to said printer, said further article being supplied from said further customer; and, (18) repeating steps (9) through (13) with respect to said further customer and said further article supplied for said further customer.

Claim 4

A method of operating an insertion machine system including an insertion machine of a type wherein a plurality of insert stations are positioned proximate conveyor means traveling therealong for feeding inserts onto said conveyor means, said method comprising the steps of: (1) providing a storage medium containing information indicative of customer data for a plurality of customers, said storage medium being formatted to have a record of character information for each customer, each of said records including a field of information wherein characters indicative of insertion machine control signals are stored and at least one field of information wherein characters indicative of customer identification is stored; (2) providing a printer; (3) providing a memory into which character data can be entered; (4) providing a data entry means for entering character data into said memory; (5) supplying an article to said printer, said article having at least a first side and a second side, said article being supplied in an orientation whereby said printer can print characters on a first side of said article; (6) acquiring through said data entry means a string of input characters representative of information to be sought on said storage medium, said string of input characters comprising a plurality of sequentially arranged characters and being at least temporarily stored in said memory; (7) searching said storage medium for a match between a string of stored characters stored on said storage medium and said string of input characters entered into said memory, said string of stored characters comprising a plurality of sequentially stored characters in a record on said storage medium; (8) using said match to determine which record of information on said storage medium is to be accessed; (9) accessing said storage medium and retrieving therefrom for a customer both said characters indicative of insertion machine control signals and said characters indicative of customer identification; (10) communicating at least said characters indicative of customer identification to said printer; (11) enabling said printer to print at least said characters indicative of customer identification on said first side of said article; (12) detecting the completion of character printing for said customer by said printer on said article and thereafter doing the following in coordinated relation: (a) communicating said insertion machine control signals relative to said customer to at least one insert station; and, (b) introducing said article onto said conveyor; (13) using said insertion machine control signals to control the selective feeding of an insert from said at least one insert station; (14) acquiring through said data entry means an indication whether said storage medium is to be searched for a further string of stored characters resembling said string of previously-input characters; (15) searching said storage medium for a further string of stored characters resembling said string of previously-input characters, said further string of stored characters being stored in a record for a further customer; (16) using said search as a basis to determine which record of information on said storage medium is to be accesssed; (17) supplying a further article to said printer, said further article being supplied from said further customer; and, (18) repeating steps (9) through (13) with respect to said further customer and said further article supplied for said further customer.