US4725718A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Postage and mailing information applying system
Assignee: Pitney Bowes Inc
•
Filing: 1985-08-06
•
Granted: 1988-02-16
•
Expires: 2005-08-06
Abstract
Abstract A postage and mailing information system wherein an encrypted message based upon postage and mail address information is created. This encrypted message is used in the determination of authenticity. Another aspect of the invention resides in placing the encrypted message in the address field of a mail piece for authentication by an automatic high speed sorter.
Inventors
- 👤 Ronald P. Sansone
- 👤 Guy L. Fougere
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 06:35
CPC Classifications
G; G07; G07B; G07B17/00; G07B17/00459; G07B17/00508; B; B07; B07C; B07C3/00; B07C3/18; G07B17/00185; G07B17/00193; G07B17/00016; G07B17/0008; G07B2017/00153; G07B2017/00177; G07B2017/00201; G07B2017/00217; G07B2017/00572; G07B2017/0058; G07B2017/00588; G07B2017/00596; G07B17/00733; G07B2017/00822; G07B2017/0083; G07B2017/00959; G07B2017/00967
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 43
Claim 1
Independent Claim
92 words
A mail piece containing a plurality of substantially parallel printed lines thereon, said lines including encrypted information useful for authenticating said mail piece; said lines of said mail piece comprises: at least one said line containing postage information at least one said line containing recipient address information; and at least one said line containing said encrypted information, said encrypted information being derived from said postage information and said recipient address information such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
92 words
A mail piece containing a plurality of substantially parallel printed lines thereon, said lines including encrypted information useful for authenticating said mail piece; said lines of said mail piece comprises: at least one said line containing postage information at least one said line containing recipient address information; and at least one said line containing said encrypted information, said encrypted information being derived from said postage information and said recipient address information such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
16 words
The article of claim 1 wherein said line containing encrypted information is in bar code form.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
19 words
The article of claim 1 wherein said line containing encrypted information appears on the edge of the mail piece.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
17 words
The article of claim 1 wherein said lines appear in the address field of the mail piece.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
79 words
A mail piece containing a plurality of machine readable lines thereon, said lines including encrypted information useful for authenticating said mail piece; said lines of said mail pieces comprise: at least one of said lines containing postage information, at least one of said lines containing recipient address information and at least one of said lines containing encryption information such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
79 words
A mail piece containing a plurality of machine readable lines thereon, said lines including encrypted information useful for authenticating said mail piece; said lines of said mail pieces comprise: at least one of said lines containing postage information, at least one of said lines containing recipient address information and at least one of said lines containing encryption information such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
20 words
The article of claim 5 wherein at least said line containing encrypted information is in the form of bar code.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
16 words
The article of claim 5 wherein said lines appear in the address field of the envelope.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
113 words
In a method of applying postage and mailing information upon a mail piece such that said information may be used to authenticate said mail piece, said method comprising the steps of: applying upon said mail piece at least one line that contains postage information; applying upon said mail piece at least one line containing recipient address information in parallel with said at least one postage information line; applying upon said mail piece at least one line containing an encrypted message which is parallel to said postage information and recipient address information lines such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
113 words
In a method of applying postage and mailing information upon a mail piece such that said information may be used to authenticate said mail piece, said method comprising the steps of: applying upon said mail piece at least one line that contains postage information; applying upon said mail piece at least one line containing recipient address information in parallel with said at least one postage information line; applying upon said mail piece at least one line containing an encrypted message which is parallel to said postage information and recipient address information lines such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 8 wherein said lines are applied within the address field of said mail piece.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
56 words
The method of claim 8 including the steps of: conveying said mail piece through an automatic sorting machine containing an OCR reader module and a decryption module; reading said lines in said address field of said address field of said mail piece; and decrypting the encrypted information and authenticating the postage applied to said mail piece.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 8 including the step of printing a bar code representation of said encrypted message along one edge of said mail piece.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
76 words
In a method of placing an encryption message upon a mail piece such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece, said method comprising the steps of: communicating recipient address information to an encryptor, communicating postage information to said encryptor, deriving an encryption message based upon the communicated recipient address information and the postage information, and placing the encryption message on said mail piece.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
76 words
In a method of placing an encryption message upon a mail piece such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece, said method comprising the steps of: communicating recipient address information to an encryptor, communicating postage information to said encryptor, deriving an encryption message based upon the communicated recipient address information and the postage information, and placing the encryption message on said mail piece.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 12 including communicating the recipient address zip code to said encryptor.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 13 including communicating a mail sender identification number to said encryptor.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 12 including printing said encryption message onto a label and attaching the label to said mail piece.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
82 words
A system for providing self authentication of a mail piece, comprising: encryption means operative to derive an encryption message based upon postage information and address information, means for communicating recipient address information to said encryption means, means for communicating postage information to said encryption means, and means for placing onto a mail piece an encryption message generated by said encryption means such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
82 words
A system for providing self authentication of a mail piece, comprising: encryption means operative to derive an encryption message based upon postage information and address information, means for communicating recipient address information to said encryption means, means for communicating postage information to said encryption means, and means for placing onto a mail piece an encryption message generated by said encryption means such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
39 words
The system of claim 16 including mail piece authentication means including: means for decrypting said encryption message, and means for comparing the decryption with said postage information and said address information to determine the authenticity of said mail piece.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 17 wherein said address information includes the zip code of said mail piece recipient.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 17 wherein said postage information includes an identification number unique to the mail sender.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 17 wherein said mailing information includes the house number of said mail piece recipient.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
74 words
A system for providing self authentication on a mail piece, comprising: encryption means operative to derive an encrypted message based upon address information, means for communicating recipient address information to said encryption means, and means for placing onto a mail piece an encrypted message derived from said address information by said encryption means such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
74 words
A system for providing self authentication on a mail piece, comprising: encryption means operative to derive an encrypted message based upon address information, means for communicating recipient address information to said encryption means, and means for placing onto a mail piece an encrypted message derived from said address information by said encryption means such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
35 words
The system of claim 21 including mail piece authentication means including: means for decrypting said encrypted message, and means for comparing the decryption with said address informatin to determine the authenticity of said mail piece.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 22 wherein said address information includes the zip code of the mail piece recipient.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 23 wherein said address information includes the street address of the mail piece recipient.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
72 words
In a method of placing an encryption message useful for authenticating a mail piece upon said mail piece, said method comprising the steps of: communicating recipient address information to an encryptor, deriving an encryption message based upon said communicated recipient address information, and placing said encrypted message on said mail piece such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
72 words
In a method of placing an encryption message useful for authenticating a mail piece upon said mail piece, said method comprising the steps of: communicating recipient address information to an encryptor, deriving an encryption message based upon said communicated recipient address information, and placing said encrypted message on said mail piece such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 25 including communicating the mail address zip code to the encryptor.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 26 including communicating a street address of said recipient to said encryptor.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 25 including printing said encryption message onto a label and attaching said label to said mail piece.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
45 words
A mail piece containing thereon postage information, recipient mailing address information and encryption information derived from said postage information and recipient mailing address information such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
45 words
A mail piece containing thereon postage information, recipient mailing address information and encryption information derived from said postage information and recipient mailing address information such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
14 words
The article of claim 29 wherein said encryption information is in bar code form.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
17 words
The article of claim 30 wherein said encryption information appears on the edge of said mail piece.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
17 words
The article of claim 29 wherein said information appears in the address field of said mail piece.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
12 words
The article of claim 29 wherein said information appears in alpha-numeric form.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
50 words
A mail piece containing information thereon useful for authenticating said mail piece said information comprises: recipient mailing address information; and encryption information derived from said recipient mailing address information such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
50 words
A mail piece containing information thereon useful for authenticating said mail piece said information comprises: recipient mailing address information; and encryption information derived from said recipient mailing address information such that a relationship between said recipient address information and said encrypted information can be used to authenticate said mail piece.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3757942A
Cited
US4024380A
Cited
US4117975A
Cited
US3938095A
Cited
US3933094A
Cited
US4168533A
Cited
US4637051A
Cited
US4641347A
Cited
US4660221A
Cited
US4641346A
Cited
US4649266A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1991-02-15 | 1991-08-17 | 1992-02-16 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1995-02-15 | 1995-08-17 | 1996-02-16 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1999-02-15 | 1999-08-17 | 2000-02-16 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |