Address verification on a postage meter vault

Claim 2

In a system for disbursing postage funds to a mail piece, including a printing means for printing a value unit on a mail piece and an accounting means for keeping an account of printed value units, the improvement wherein recipient address information is used for disbursement of said value unit to a mail piece, comprising: (a) means for inputting to said accounting means a particular address information of a particular intended recipient of a mail piece; (b) means within said accounting means for comparing the particular address information with a predetermined address information; and (c) means subsequently responsive to results of the comparison for allocating said value unit to said mail piece in accordance with said particular address information.

Claim 3

The system of claim 1 wherein said allocating means comprises means for preventing said printing means from printing said value unit when said particular address information matches said predetermined address information.

Claim 4

The system of claim 1 wherein said allocating means comprises means for enabling said printing means to print said value unit only when said particular address information matches said predetermined address information.

Claim 5

The system of claim 1 wherein said allocating means comprises means for summarizing value units disbursed to mail pieces addressed to each of a plurality of recipients in accordance with specified address information contained in addresses of the recipients.

Claim 6

The system of claim 1 wherein said means for inputting comprises reader means for reading address data associated with a mail piece, for selecting said particular address information from said address data and for providing the selected particular address information to said accounting module.

Claim 7

The system of claim 1 wherein said means for inputting comprises user operated address means for inputting said recipient address information to be printed on the mail piece, for selecting said particular address information from said recipient address information provided by the user and for providing the selected particular address information to said accounting module.

Claim 8

In a system for disbursing postage funds to a mail piece, including a printing means for printing a value unit on a mail piece and an accounting means for keeping an account of printed value units, the improvement wherein recipient address information is used for enabling and preventing disbursement of said value unit to a mail piece, comprising: (a) means for inputting to said accounting means a particular address information of a particular intended recipient of a mail piece; (b) means within said accounting means for comparing the particular address information with a predetermined address information; and (c) means subsequently responsive to results of the comparison for preventing disbursement of said value unit to said mail piece in accordance with said particular address information.

Claim 9

In a system for disbursing postage funds to a mail piece, including a printing means for printing a value unit on a mail piece and an accounting means for keeping an account of printed value units, the improvement wherein recipient address information is used for enabling and preventing disbursement of said value unit to a mail piece, comprising: (a) means for inputting to said accounting means a particular address information of a particular intended recipient of a mail piece; (b) means within said accounting means for comparing the particular address information with a predetermined address information; and (c) means subsequently responsive to results of the comparison for preventing disbursement of said value unit to said mail piece in accordance with said particular address information.

Claim 10

The system of claim 7 wherein said preventing means comprises means for preventing said printing means from printing said value unit when said particular address information matches said predetermined address information.

Claim 11

The system of claim 7 wherein said preventing means comprises means for enabling said printing means to print said value unit only when said particular address information matches said predetermined address information.

Claim 12

In a method for disbursing postage funds to a mail piece, including a step of printing a value unit on a mail piece and a step of accounting for printed value units, the improvement comprising using recipient address information for enabling and preventing disbursement of said value unit to a mail piece, comprising the steps of: (a) inputting a particular address information of a particular intended recipient of a mail piece; (b) comparing the particular address information with a predetermined address information; and (c) preventing disbursement of said value unit to said mail piece in accordance with a result of said comparing step and subsequent to said comparing step.

Claim 13

In a method for disbursing postage funds to a mail piece, including a step of printing a value unit on a mail piece and a step of accounting for printed value units, the improvement comprising using recipient address information for enabling and preventing disbursement of said value unit to a mail piece, comprising the steps of: (a) inputting a particular address information of a particular intended recipient of a mail piece; (b) comparing the particular address information with a predetermined address information; and (c) preventing disbursement of said value unit to said mail piece in accordance with a result of said comparing step and subsequent to said comparing step.

Claim 14

The method of claim 10, wherein said inputting step comprises inputting a zip code of the recipient address and said comparing step comprises comparing the inputted zip code with a stored zip code to determine whether to authorize or to prevent disbursement of said value unit to said mail piece.

Claim 15

The method of claim 10, wherein said inputting step comprises inputting a delivery point bar code of the recipient address and said comparing step comprises comparing the inputted delivery point bar code with a stored delivery point bar code to determine whether to authorize or to prevent disbursement of said value unit to said mail piece.

Claim 16

The method of claim 10, wherein said preventing step comprises preventing printing of said value unit when the result of said comparing step indicates a match between said particular address information and said predetermined address information.

Claim 17

The method of claim 10 wherein said preventing step comprises enabling printing of said value unit only when the result of said comparing step indicates a match between said particular address information and said predetermined address information.

Claim 18

The method of claim 10 comprising the further steps of: (a) prompting a supervisor to enter an address code; (b) storing the entered address code; and (c) setting a check flag to identify an address comparison mode of operation.

Claim 19

The method of claim 15, comprising the further steps of: (a) prompting a user to enter an address code; and (b) determining whether said check flag is set; and wherein, when said check flag is set, said comparing step comprises comparing the address code entered by the user with the stored address code entered by the supervisor.