Abstract: An electromechanical drive for a franking machine comprises a module in which an electic motor controlled by an electronic circuit formed on a printed circuit board is manufactured as a modular unit by mounting the motor, mechanical drive components and a position sensor on the substrate of the printed circuit board. This module is mounted on a further module consisting solely of mechanical components and the drive components of the two modules are thereby drivingly engaged. This construction leads to economies in manufacture and ease of servicing because no electrical connections are required between the modules and hence assembly and dis-assembly of the circuit board and mechanical component module are made easier.

Abstract: A low cost compact franking machine includes a rotatable member comprising a print drum and an enclosure housing print element setting means and electronic accounting means, the rotatable member being rotatably mounted on a base. The rotatable member may be rotated by a manually operated lever coupled to the rotatable member through a one-way clutch to allow the lever to return to a rest position without rotation of the rotatable member, the return of the lever may operate a feed to eject a franked mail item.

Abstract: Improvements result from using a feed roller always rotating at a constant surface speed to feed mail items successively with gaps between them from a stack to a franking machine without undue variations in the gap lengths when there are variations in the mail item lengths in respective stacks. A cam rocks a cradle about an input roller axis to bring a feed roller against the stack at a frequency to feed the items forward one by one. Gearing between rollers drives a two speed transmission to a cam via one way clutches. For envelopes shorter than a predetermined limit, the higher speed drive operates. When a rear mail guide member engages envelopes longer than the limit, a lever allows a pawl to disengage a wrap spring clutch disabling the higher speed drive and rendering the lower speed drive effective.

Abstract: An entire electronic accounting and controlling system for a franking machine is mounted on two connected printed circuit boards, one along the top of the machine and the other along one side of the machine within the machine casing. The top board carries four rotary encoding switches and press button switches which are scanned by signals from a microcomputer on the side board passing to a binary counter controlling a binary to decimal decoder to send multiplexed signals to the switches enabling the rotary switches to send four pairs of five-bit words along ten scanning lines to the microcomputer which delivers equivalent eight-bit error immune signals to duplicate non-volatile memories. The press button switches send signals along the scanning lines to enable a display module on the top board to display decimal digits according to the information stored in the memories. A printing drum is set mechanically simultaneously with the rotary switches.

Abstract: A duplicating stencil is produced by placing an electrostatically-produced image on a substrate in contact with an ink-impervious surface layer of a stencil blank, bending the image to the surface layer by the application of heat and/or pressure and stripping the substrate from the stencil blank to remove the surface layer in the image area. The surface layer may comprise a synthetic resin composition containing a finely dispersed pigment and is attached to the porous base tissue of the stencil blank by an adhesive. Bonding of the image to the surface layer and possibly also fixing of the image to the substrate in the same operation can be effected by means of infra-red heating.

Abstract: In apparatus for electrostatographic reproduction of an original document having an electrostatographic recording member supported on a rotatable drum or belt, a developing station, a copy sheet supply station and a transfer roller at which developed toner images are transferred by an applied electric field from the recording member to the copy sheet, the transfer roller is arranged to operate in timed relationship to the operation of the copy sheet supply station and rotation of the drum or belt so that the leading edge of each copy sheet passes through the transfer zone before the electric field is applied. The copy sheets therefore separate or strip cleanly from the drum or belt. The apparatus may be a duplicator in which the recording member is imaged at a relatively slow speed in a first cycle of the drum or belt and the image is preserved for use in subsequent high speed cycles of the drum or belt.

Abstract: A duplicating stencil is produced by placing an electrostatically-produced image on a substrate in contact with an ink-impervious surface layer of a stencil blank, bonding the image to the surface layer by the application of heat and/or pressure and stripping the substrate from the stencil blank to remove the surface layer in the image area. The surface layer may comprise a synthetic resin composition containing a finely dispersed pigment and is attached to the porous base tissue of the stencil blank by an adhesive. Bonding of the image to the surface layer and possibly also fixing of the image to the substrate in the same operation can be effected by means of infra-red heating.

Abstract: .[.An electronic franking machine, for example a postal franking machine, has a digital electronic input register, for storing a selected franking value fed in for use in the next franking operation of the machine, and a digital electronic total register which accumulates an indication of the total of the respective franking values used for such operations of the machine since this register was last reset. The machine also has an electrically adjustable printing device, for printing the selected franking value in each franking operation. The printing device is housed in a relatively massive stationary unit of the machine, and the electronic registers and associated circuitry are housed in a relatively light portable unit that is readily separable from the stationary unit to facilitate resetting by a remote authority..]..Iadd.