Appeal No. 1997-0012
Application No. 08/174,901
through 10. In a Amendment After Final (paper number 6),
claims 1 through 10 were amended. According to the examiner
(paper number 7), the amendment had the effect of overcoming
the indefiniteness rejection of claims 1 through 10.
The disclosed invention relates to an apparatus for
determining the location and content of data blocks on an
outer surface of mailpieces. The apparatus includes a
computer electrically connected to an imaging structure for
obtaining a digital bit map image of the outer surface of the
mailpieces. The computer has a structure programmed for
finding individual runs of a plurality of black bits of each
scan line and determining whether any bit of each run
neighbors at least one black bit of another scan line,
combining the found run with each neighboring bit to form a
character, assigning a descriptive value to a block having at
least one character, and comparing the descriptive value to a
list of values to identify a particular data block.
Claim 1 is illustrative of the claimed invention, and it
reads as follows:
1. Apparatus for processing mailpieces comprising:
a. means for sequentially feeding a plurality of
2
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