1. A data center for providing evidence of postage payment comprising:
means for receiving a request for evidence of postage payment from a remote computer via a network;
means for generating a digital book of postage stamps for use in evidencing postage payment, the digital book of postage stamps comprising a software module that prints each digital postage stamp in the digital book of postage stamps using stamp related information contained within the software module; and
means for sending the digital book of postage stamps to the remote computer via the network.
2. The data center according to claim 1, wherein the stamp related information comprises first data which is required for each postage stamp, second data which identifies the remote computer, third data which is unique to each digital postage stamp, and a first digital signature of at least some of the first, second and third data.
3. The data center according to claim 2, wherein the first data includes origin zip code of the remote computer, denomination of the digital postage stamp and date of request, the second data includes a user identification number and remote computer signature information, and the third data includes identification of the data center generating the digital postage stamps, status information of the data center and a number corresponding to a sequential number of digital postage stamps generated by the data center.
4. The data center according to claim 1, wherein the network is the Internet.
5. The data center according to claim 1, wherein the data center conducts a payment transaction for the digital book of postage stamps.
6. A system for printing digital postage stamps comprising:
a remote computer coupled to a network, the remote computer sending a request for a selected number of digital postage stamps via the network; and
a data center coupled to the network, the data center receiving the request for the selected number of digital postage stamps, the data center comprising:
means for generating a digital book of postage stamps, the digital book of postage stamps comprising a software module that prints each digital postage stamp using stamp related information contained within the software module; and
means for sending the digital book of postage stamp to the remote computer via the network.
7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the stamp related information comprises first data which is required for each postage stamp, second data which identifies the remote computer, third data which is unique to each digital postage stamp, and a first digital signature of at least some of the first, second and third data.
8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the first data includes origin zip code of the remote computer, denomination of the digital postage stamp and date of request, the second data includes a user identification number and remote computer signature information, and the third data includes identification of the data center generating the digital postage stamps, status information of the data center and a number corresponding to a sequential number of digital postage stamps generated by the data center.
9. The system according to claim 6, wherein the network is the Internet.
10. The system according to claim 6, wherein the request for the selected number of digital postage stamps includes payment information needed to conclude payment for the selected number of digital postage stamps.
11. The system according to claim 6, wherein the software module is executable only on the remote computer that sent the request.
12. The system according to claim 6, wherein a graphical image of each digital stamp in the digital book of postage stamps is included in the software module.
13. The system according to claim 6, wherein information needed for the software module to generate a graphical image of a digital stamp in the digital book of postage stamps is stored in the remote computer.
14. The system according to claim 6, wherein the software module destroys the stamp related information contained within the software module for each respective digital postage stamp when each respective digital postage stamp is printed.
15. The system according to claim 6, further comprising:
a verification system to verify a mailpiece on which a digital postage stamp from the digital book of postage stamps is printed as evidence of postage payment.
16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the verification system verifies a digital signature of the digital postage stamp, the digital signature being generated at the data center using a cryptographic key to sign at least some of the stamp related information.
17. A method for evidencing postage on a mailpiece comprising the steps of:
establishing a communication between a remote computer and a data center server;
sending a request for a selected number of digital postage stamps from the remote computer to the data center;
receiving, at the remote computer, a digital book of postage stamps generated by the data center server, the digital book of postage stamps comprising a software module that prints each digital book of postage stamps using stamp related information contained within the software module; and
running the software module to generate and print a digital postage stamp from the digital book of postage stamps on the mailpiece to evidence postage.
18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising:
storing the software module in a memory of the remote computer.
19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising:
uninstalling the software module from the memory when all digital postage stamps in the digital book of postage stamps have been printed.
20. The method according to claim 17, wherein the step of establishing a communication further comprises:
establishing a communication via the Internet.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A coagulation apparatus using cold plasma, comprising:
a microwave oscillation unit having a signal source which generates a microwave signal for supplying a resonance energy used to generate the plasma;
an amplification unit which is provided between the microwave oscillation unit and a resonator to amplify the microwave signal into an amplified microwave signal with a predetermined amplitude;
the resonator which is driven by the resonance energy of the amplified microwave signal to generate the plasma by discharging an inert gas supplied by a gas supply unit; and
a coagulation unit which is constructed with a hollow-tube venting unit which is connected to an end of the resonator to vent the plasma generated by the resonator, so that the cold plasma discharged and generated by the microwave signal can be concentrated on a bleeding portion to coagulate blood,
wherein the resonator comprises:
a coaxial cable which is constructed with a first inner conductor and a dielectric material which surrounds the first inner conductor;
an outer conductor which surrounds the coaxial cable;
a connection conductor which has at least one gas injection tube and which is provided at one end of the coaxial cable to electrically connect the first inner conductor and the outer conductor; and
a connection member which has a second inner conductor which penetrates the outer conductor to be electrically connected to the first inner conductor.
2. The coagulation apparatus using cold plasma according to claim 1,
wherein the microwave oscillation unit and the amplification unit include chip modules, and the chip modules are provided to the resonator.
3. The coagulation apparatus using cold plasma according to claim 1, wherein the microwave signal which is generated by the microwave oscillation unit and transmitted through the second inner conductor to the coaxial cable has a frequency of 900 MHz or 2.45 GHz.
4. The coagulation apparatus using cold plasma according to claim 1, wherein a length of the coaxial cable is designed to be \xbc or \xbe of a wavelength of the microwave signal so as to form a maximum electric field intensity at the end of the resonator, so that the plasma discharge occurs with low power consumption of about 5 W or less in the atmosphere.
5. The coagulation apparatus using cold plasma according to claim 4, wherein in a case where the frequency of the microwave siganl is 900 MHz, the length of the resonator becomes about 10 cm, and in a case where the frequency of the microwave signal is 2.45 GHz, the length of the resonator becomes about 3 cm.