1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates exclusively to the field of processing mail, and it relates more particularly to a new method of printing mail items, with said method making it possible to produce postage meters or “franking machines” that are more compact.
2. Brief Description of Related Developments
At present, numerous constraints exist in designing higher-performance franking machines that are capable, in particular, of achieving printing rates greater than 10,000 envelopes per hour, and that have dimensions that are reasonable, or indeed compact. Amongst said constraints is the possibility of implementing more and more value-added services associated with any particular mail item, thereby making it necessary to take into account and process additional data for printing. The time factor is thus very important, and all the more so since the mail item is weighed “on the fly”. It is necessary to process all the data more quickly, and in particular to calculate the enciphered or signed postal imprint more rapidly.