Patent ID: 6030132
Filing Date: 2000-02-29
Classification: G07B

Abstract:
A mail production system for producing one or more mail pieces, said system further comprising:(a) printer means for printing a set of one or more documents and a set of one or more envelopes in response to a first set of signals generated by a host data processing system under control of an application program;(b) mail finishing means for forming one or more finished mail pieces from said set of one or more documents and said set of one or more envelopes;(c) control means for controlling said printer means and said mail finishing means so as to produce said one or more finished mail pieces; said control means further comprising:(i) signal receiving means for receiving a stream of signals from said host data processing system;(ii) parsing means for parsing said received signal stream into a plurality of control streams and a print stream representing text to be printed and including a control page; said plurality of control streams further comprising:(1) a stream of mail piece attributes for each individual mail piece;(2) a stream of finishing control signals for controlling said finishing unit in the production of an individual mail piece;(3) a stream of printing control signals for controlling said printer means in the printing of each individual envelope and each individual document; and(4) said control page within said print stream further comprising data signals representative of said individual document's format and including a set of control signals associated with said individual document.