EP0338108A1

EP0338108A1 - An intellectual mail box

Info

Publication number: EP0338108A1
Application number: EP88106323A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jack Jen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-04-20
Filing date: 1988-04-20
Publication date: 1989-10-25
Also published as: ZA882848B

Abstract

This intellectual mail box is a combination of a computer system and a mail box. The computer system is comprised of software, hardware, a slot and a charge calculator. The computer system enables this mail box to automatically prepare an envelope, provide the zip code and automatically print the address and the name of the addressee, thereby simplifying the postal operation and conveniently providing envelopes of uniform size.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention aims at providing an intellectual mail box, especially one capable of preparing an envelope and a letter sheet in one operation. It is composed of a computer system and a mail box which will enhance the efficiency of the postal service by simplifying its operational procedures.
The traditional procedure for mailing a letter is: Write the letter --- Get an envelope and stamp --- Address the envelope --- Put stamp on the envelope --- Drop the letter in mail box.
By the aforesaid procedures, the following shortcomings are noted:

a. An envelope and stamp are absolutely indispensable in writing a letter and mailing a letter is often limited by the office hours of the post office.
b. The 5 digit zip code is difficult to remember, presenting a headache to some people and a hinderance to the automatic operation of the postal service. Hence, the operational costs of the postal service are high and so is the rate of misdelivery.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With a view toward eliminating the shortcomings encountered in the traditional procedure of writing a letter, the inventor succeeded in developing an intellectual mail box as a result of several years' research and study. Now, the procedure of writing a letter is simplified as follows:
Prepare the contents of a letter --- Go the mail box to mail it.
In addition, if the letter is mailed abroad, the contents or the words in the letter may be fed into the computer system through the keyboard on the mail box and in so doing, the contents may be printed on an aerogram which can be mailed immediately after it has been sealed.
Hence, this invention offers the following advantages:

a. You can get an envelope and stamp at any time from the mail box which will work all the time regardless of weather conditions. The person who wants to mail a letter is freed from worrying about the envelope and stamp.
b. The computer system possesses functions to provide the zip codes and automatically print the name and address of the addressee on the envelope, which is standardized in size and will facilitate automatic operation, thereby reducing the labor costs of the postal service.
c. It will facilitate the adoption of 5 digit zip code system and standardization of the postal service.
d. Domestic and overseas letters shall be handled separately. The contents of a letter to be mailed abroad may be fed into the computer system which will print it on an aerogram, which may be sealed automatically. The entire operation is very convenient and saves time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To enable you to fully understand the structure and performance of this invention, the following example is given to explain the operation in detail. First, please refer to the figure attached herewith.

FIG. 1 is the schematic diagram of this invention.
FIG. 2 shows the operational flow.
FIG. 3 is a concrete example of an aerogram addressed by the mail box.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in FIG. 1, the intellectual mail box is one which has been specifically treated to make it waterproof, shockproof, and blastproof. It possessses a computer system comprised of a screen, a keyboard and a printer. In addition, there are slots for coins and charge calculator which will enable a person to mail a letter without acquiring an envelope and stamp in advance. In the lower part of the mail box, there are slots for inserting the letter and slots of retrieving them.
Furthermore, the keyboard is bilingual. After the coins are dropped into the slot, the sender may input the address and the name of the addressee, as well as the contents of the letter into the computer. With this data, the mail box will use the computer system inside, prepare the letter, address it and chech the zip code.
Various zip codes are stored in the memory of the computer system and when a person who wants to mail a letter, enters the district and the name of street, e.g. Chung Hsiao East Road, Taipei into the computer, it automatically shows on the screen accordingly. The number corresponding to the address may be used for input instead of using Chinese characters to simplify the operation. Similarly, when the name of the addressee or company name is fed into the computer system, then the frequently used titles such as Mr., Ms., Manager, President etc., will appear on the screen with a code number following each of these titles. It is very convenient to just enter the right number into the computer system to properly address the addressee.
FIG. 2 shows the operation flow of the software which covers the following procedures (Steps):

1. When the address of the addressee (For example, County or city and Road) is fed into the system, then such information as Fl. --, No. --, Alley --, Lane --, Road, Section -- will automatically appear on the screen with a blank space (--) after each of the aforesaid information.
2. When the code number representing the address is entered into the system, the computer will automatically find the zip code and flash it on the screen.
3. Enter the name of the addressee.
4. Enter the name of the addresser.
5. Repeat was was stated in Step 2.
6. Decide if the contents of the letter is to be entered or not.
If positive, then proceed with step 7 and if negative, skip to step 8.
7. Enter the contents of the letter into the computer system.
8. Print.

Step 7 is omitted, then the printer will automatically have such information as the address and the name of the addressee together with the zip code printed on the envelope as shown in FIG. 3. The envelope may be sealed by tearing off the strip of paper adhering to the glue. No stamp is needed as postage has already been paid and so printed on the envelope.
If step 7 is included, then the address, the name and the zip code will be printed on the upper part of the envelope with the contents of the letter being printed on the lower part. After removal from the slot, fold the envelope along the dotted line and then seal it by tearing off the paper adhering to the glue. Finally, drop it into the mail box and you have completed mailing a letter very conveniently.
From what was stated above, we may find another advantage in this invention, that is, the contents of the letter may be collated on the screen and then printed out very neatly. Thus, the words in the letter shall be very nice to look at and the sheet is standard in form. The shortcomings such as scribbles, misspellings and irregularities that we may frequently see in a letter written by hand may be avoided. Another merit is that no envelope shall be wasted. All this evidence that it is a perfect and practical invention which will help the postal service make significant improvement and allow more convenience to the public. This is a very useful invention meeting the requirements of applying for a patent; action is now being taking toward this end.

Claims

1. As stated previously, an intellectual mail box is the combination of a computer system and a mail box. The computer system is composed of three parts, namely, software, hardware and slot & charge calculator. Aside from CPU, hardware includes screen, bilingual keyboard and printer. All three parts along with slot & charge calculator are installed on the surface of the mail box to facilitate use.

2. As stated in Claim 1, the scope of the patent being applied for is the software system in which the information of zip codes of various places are stored for verification and use.

3. Also as stated in Claim 1, the slot & charge calculator (Card type) includes the slot or magnetic card input port and an output selection device which selectively prints the contents of the letter and addresses the envelopes.

4. The patent being applied for the intellectual mail box also includes the operational flow of the software system as follows:
(1) By entering the address (Names of county, city and road) of the addressee in the system, such information as Fl. --, No. --, Alley --, Lane --, Section -- will automatically be shown on the screen with a blank (--) after each of the aforesaid information.
(2) When the number representing a certain place (County or city) is entered, the zip code of that place automatically appears on the screen.
(3) Enter the name of the addressee.
(4) Enter the name of the sender of the letter (addresser).
(5) Repeat step (2).
(6) Decide if it is necessary to enter the contents of the letter.
If the answer is yes, proceed with step 7, otherwise, skip to step 8.
(7) Enter the contents of the letter.
(8) Print.
The work of mailing a letter is completed after going from step (1) to (8).