EP0658861A1 - Method for operating a franking machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for operating a franking machine, in which the franking machine is used jointly by several users, is described. Each user is assigned at least one printing block (10, 12, 14) which has at least one marking identifying the particular user. Information on the marking is fed to a control (16). The control (16) compares the information with the marking and, if they correspond, automatically assigns the printing block (K4) to the particular user. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a method for operating a franking machine, in which the franking machine is shared by several users, with at least one cliché being assigned to each user.

For smaller companies, such as office communities of freelancers, craft and service companies, there is often a desire to handle mail processing in a central location and to share postal facilities. By sharing, costs and operations can be saved.

In addition to general advertising information, the advertising cliché to be printed on the postal items, hereinafter referred to as cliché, should also contain information that specifically refers to the applicant's company. At least one cliché must therefore be provided for each user. Since the cliché is also often intended to carry advertising messages, for example greeting messages for Easter, Christmas etc. or to refer to special services of the respective user, several clichés are generally to be provided per user or to be supplied by the manufacturer over the lifetime of a franking machine.

When purchasing a franking machine that can be shared by several users, it is generally made at the factory a cliché is provided for each user, which can be activated by pressing a button. If this user wants to change his cliché, this new cliché is created in the factory and the cliché data is saved in a read-only memory, for example an EPROM. This read-only memory is sent to the user who inserts it into a free slot provided on the franking machine. However, the work processes for using this new cliché are not yet complete. Rather, the user still has to inform the control of the franking machine that a new cliché is available especially for him and that this can be activated by a specific input command. The associated procedure, in which the user has to enter commands in dialog with the control, makes the commissioning of a new cliché a complicated process, which often leads to questions from the manufacturer and requires the user to be willing to study the operating documents of the franking machine. So there is a need for a simple, user-friendly process for setting up a cliché.

Users are often required to bill postage fees separately. The respective cliché or the clichés of a user must therefore be assigned a specific cost center, on which the fee receipts and fee disposals are posted when franking. For this purpose, it has already been proposed to store the plate data on a chip card on which the cost center number belonging to this plate is also stored. The franking machine automatically reads the plate data and the associated cost center and assigns it to a specific operating code. Handling a chip card is cumbersome and requires great care on the part of the user.

From DE 37 12 100 A1 it is known to use a telephone modem between the franking machine and a control center Connect. Using this connection, the cliché can be changed in a dialog procedure between an input keyboard of the franking machine and a central computer. The technical effort involved in this solution is large and requires a good knowledge of the franking machine and the course of the dialog on the user side.

It is an object of the invention to provide a method for operating a franking machine for several users, which enables the assignment of a cliché to an applicant in a convenient manner.

This object is achieved for a method of the type mentioned above in that the cliché has at least one identification that identifies the respective user, that information about the identification is supplied to a controller, and that the control compares the information with the identification and, if there is a match, the cliché automatically assigns relevant users.

The invention is based on the consideration that it is in the interest of every user that his cliché contains an identification that uniquely identifies him, for example his name, his company keyword, his mailbox etc. If information about this identification is now supplied to the controller, For example, by manually entering the company name or at least its initial letter, the controller can use this information to determine whether it is contained in the cliché or not. If there is a match between the information and the identification identifying the user, the control can automatically assign the cliché to the respective user. The user therefore does not have to assign the clichés in a complicated dialog procedure with the franking machine, which makes the method according to the invention very user-friendly. The setting steps to be performed by the factory and the user of a new cliché are relatively simple: the user requests a cliché from the manufacturer of the franking machine; the cliché data are stored, for example, as pixel data by the manufacturer in a read-only memory, for example in an EPROM; the read-only memory is sent to the user by post; the user inserts the read-only memory at a predetermined position in the franking machine; the control of the franking machine compares the labeling of the new clichés with that of the existing clichés or with manually entered information; if the compared markings match, the control automatically assigns the new cliché to the user concerned; the controller displays the assignment to the user.

If the different users of the same franking machine want separate entry of charges, the clichés are also assigned to register sets in which fee-relevant data is stored. The respective register set is then accessed depending on the assignment of the cliché. Since the identification in the cliché identifies the user, misuse of clichés by other users and their cost centers can be easily identified and countermeasures taken.

The information can be fed to the control via the keyboard of the franking machine. For example, the operator enters the user's name on the keyboard. The cliché is then examined for the textual content. If the entered name is present in the text, the assignment to the user concerned is made. As a check, the cliché or at least its text part can be displayed on a display and confirmed by the operator.

In an alternative development of the invention, the identification of an existing cliché that is assigned to a specific user is used as information. If the labeling of the existing cliché and the new cliché match, the assignment can be made. It is then not necessary to enter the information manually. In this development, the ease of use is further increased.

In another development, the information and the identification are compared on the basis of pixel data stored in a memory, which are preferably arranged according to the cliché to be printed. This type of data arrangement enables the information and the markings to be matched very quickly by using statistical estimation methods in a data processing system.

For example, the cross-correlation method is suitable for carrying out the comparison, in which the mathematical connection between two patterns to be compared is determined on the basis of a correlation factor. The correlation factor +1 indicates a complete agreement of the compared data. A correlation factor of 0 indicates that the compared data is completely unconnected. According to the present development, the assignment is made depending on the determined correlation factor. If the name of the user, for example the company name, is used as identification, a correlation factor of 0.8 is sufficient to ensure sufficient security for a correct assignment.

If there is no correspondence between the labeling of the cliché and the information that is available either as manual information or as labeling of existing clichés, the control system issues an error signal which indicates an impossible assignment of the cliché signaled to a user. This ensures that an assignment is only possible if there is sufficient agreement.

Figur 1

Werbeklischees dreier Unternehmen, die eine Frankiermaschine gemeinsam nutzen, jedoch getrennte Kostenstellen haben,

Figur 2

das Druckbild der Frankiermaschine mit einem weiteren Werbeklischee,

Figur 3

eine Blockdarstellung wichtiger Funktionsgruppen einer Frankiermaschine,

Figur 4

eine Ansicht der Frankiermaschine von vorne mit Tastenfeld und Anzeigefeld,

Figur 5

ein Flußdiagramm der Verfahrensschritte, bei denen ein neues Klischee einem Anwender zugeordnet wird, und

Figur 6

Verfahrensschritte der Zuordnung mit manueller Eingabe von Kennzeichnungsinformationen.

Embodiments of the invention are explained below with reference to the drawings. It shows:

Figure 1

Advertising clichés from three companies that share a franking machine but have separate cost centers,

Figure 2

the printed image of the franking machine with another advertising cliché,

Figure 3

a block diagram of important functional groups of a franking machine,

Figure 4

a view of the franking machine from the front with keypad and display panel,

Figure 5

a flowchart of the process steps in which a new cliché is assigned to a user, and

Figure 6

Assignment steps with manual entry of labeling information.

Figure 1 shows three advertising clichés 10, 12, 14, each of which is assigned to a freelance company. The companies share a franking machine, whereby the costs incurred by each company are to be recorded separately. Accordingly, the company with advertising cliché 10 is assigned a cost center A, the company with advertising cliché 12 is assigned a cost center B and the company with advertising cliché 14 is assigned a cost center C. Are technical the cost centers are configured as fee registers in the franking machine, each of which captures the sum of the postage values used and possibly further fee values, such as the current state of charge of the franking machine with postage values, the postage values used over a certain period of time, etc.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the advertising clichés 10, 12, 14 contain matching text parts, for example “mailbox”, as well as individualizing text parts, such as the name of the respective company owner or the mailbox number. If the company "Schulze" wants to use a new advertising cliché to, among other things to refer to his company, the user will generally keep the individualizing text parts that distinguish him from other companies, and only change or modernize those text parts that only indirectly refer to his company. On the basis of these individual pieces of text, hereinafter referred to as labeling, the advertising clichés can be clearly assigned to a specific company. The present invention uses this fact to make the setting process for a new advertising cliché user-friendly and to carry out the cost center assignment largely automatically.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of a relatively complex franking image of a franking machine. In the right part of the picture the postage value is printed together with an identification number for the franking machine. In the middle part of the picture a stamp print is shown, which contains the current date of the franking imprint. In the left part of the picture there is an advertising cliché that contains the company name, a company logo "FP", an advertising message "Your mail is our strength" and the postal address. As with most advertising clichés, this postal address is the last line of text in the lower section of the advertising cliché. To be noted is that the font sizes used vary widely within the advertising slogan.

FIG. 3 shows the modules arranged in a franking machine in a block diagram, insofar as they are relevant to the present invention. Of course, a franking machine contains further modules, which have been omitted for reasons of clarity. The franking machine is controlled by a microprocessor 16 to which a data bus 18 is connected. Via this data bus 18, the microprocessor 16 accesses a non-volatile memory 20, a read-only memory 22, a working memory 24, a cliché memory 26 designed as a read-only memory and an input / output interface 28. The latter establishes the connection to a keyboard 30, a display 32 and a printer 34 for the franking image.

The memory 20 contains fee register records GR1, GR2, GR3 etc., which physically form the cost centers for the different users of the franking machines. In the fee register records GR1, GR2, GR3, the used fee values, the still existing fee values and further fee-relevant data are kept up to date. The read-only memory 22 contains programs for controlling the microprocessor 16, i.a. also the program with which the method steps of the present invention are implemented. The working memory 24 is designed as a read / write memory in which, for example, intermediate results are stored. The assemblies 16, 20, 22 and 24 are arranged in a security area of the franking machine and are not accessible from the outside. This prevents manipulation of the fee register records GR, GR, GR3.

The plate memory 26 contains slots for EPROMs, on which the print data for the plates K1, K2, K3, K4 etc. used in this franking machine are stored.

The manufacturer of the franking machine inserts a new cliché into an EPROM in the form of print data, sends it to the user of the franking machine and inserts it into a free slot in the cliché memory 26. The microprocessor 16 recognizes the occupancy of the slot and informs the user of the new cliché, or the user informs the controller of his installation request by entering a command.

FIG. 4 shows the front view of a franking machine in which the invention is implemented. The keyboard 30 has an alphanumeric keypad via which alphanumeric characters can be entered and made visible on the display 32 for control purposes. The printer 34 is covered by a flap 36 which can be opened for maintenance purposes. In operation, the user selects a specific cliché using the keyboard 30, feeds a mail item to be franked in the direction of the arrow 38, which is printed by the printer 34 with the franking image and the advertising cliché. With this franking process, the cost center assigned to the selected cliché, i.e. the cost center of the respective user.

FIG. 5 shows method steps of an exemplary embodiment of the invention in the form of a flow chart. The method steps are stored as control commands of a program in the read-only memory 22 (FIG. 3). After starting the program for setting a new cliché in the franking machine in step 40, the text elements contained in the new cliché are analyzed in step 42 in the present exemplary embodiment. For this purpose, the printing data of the cliché are converted by the microprocessor 16 into pixel data which are arranged in the working memory 24 as a pixel matrix (pixel matrix) in accordance with the cliché to be printed. This pixel data consists of binary values 0 and 1, which correspond to light and dark pixels. Because the pixels when printing in the franking machine Column by column are transferred to the postal matter and accordingly the text in the pixel matrix is constructed in a column-like manner, the transitions from light to dark pixels and vice versa are found when searching for text elements in the column by column cliché. The lengths of the same pixels are also determined. Alphanumeric characters rarely have descenders (e.g. the letters A, B, C, ..., Z; a, b, ..., x, z; y have been omitted due to the presence of a descender), so that the connected Underlines of several characters form a line and define a line of text. The frequent occurrence of a dark pixel in a certain column position in successive columns with regular breaks for the spacing between the characters therefore indicates with a high degree of probability the presence of a line of text.

After a line of text has been found, the font size of the text is determined in the next method step 44. For this, the fact is used that the ascenders of a text represent an upper limit for the font height. To determine these ascenders, the distance to dark-light transitions of the pixels in one or more columns is determined on the basis of the underline of the letters which define a line line. The length determined defines the font height, as can easily be seen, for example, in the capital letters B, E, F etc. and the lower case letters b, f, h etc. The font size can be directly inferred from the font height. In addition, the spacing between characters in a word in the text line can be evaluated to determine the font size.

In the next step 46, text elements are determined in the same way in a cliché already present in the franking machine. It is assumed that the franking machine is delivered with clichés when it is delivered has been equipped for every user. The font size is also determined for the existing cliché (method step 48).

The text elements of the new cliché are then enlarged in method step 50. With this enlargement, the size scale of the alphanumeric characters is changed. Such enlargement methods are known in the field of computer technology, for example when displaying images on screens, and need not be described further here.

In the next method step 52, the enlarged text elements of the new cliché are compared with those of the existing cliché. The comparison can be made on the basis of the same font sizes, ie the enlargement factor is set so that the font size of the enlarged text elements of the new cliché matches that of the previous cliché. In an iterative comparison method, an initial value of the magnification factor is assumed and this is changed step by step within a predetermined range. For comparison, the pixels of the respective pixel matrix of the text elements are compared with one another. If the binary values of the pixels match, this is counted as a hit. If a predetermined hit rate, for example 80% of all the pixels in these sections, is exceeded in sections of the pixel matrices to be compared, the match of the compared text elements is determined and the process continues to step 62. If this hit rate is not reached, a branch is made to step 54, in which the number of comparison attempts is monitored. If the specified number n of attempts has not yet been reached, a new enlargement factor is set in step 56, with which the text elements identified in the new cliché are to be enlarged (method step 50). Then the comparison is again based on the pixel data performed in step 52. If the number of attempts is equal to n, the next step 58 checks whether all existing clichés have been examined. If this is not the case, the next cliché is selected in step 60 and the method steps 46 to 52 are carried out again.

If the hit rate determined in step 52 is sufficiently high that a correspondence of the compared text elements has been determined, in the following step 62 an operator identification is assigned to the new cliché, i.e. a key element of the keyboard 30, when actuated the new cliché can be called up. Then, in step 64, the new cliché is assigned a specific cost center, i.e. assigned the cost center of the existing cliché with a matching text element. Subsequently, the display 32 shows in step 66 that an assignment of the new cliché was possible.

If all existing clichés have been processed in method step 58 without a match of text elements having been found, an error message is generated in step 68. This error message indicates to the applicant that automatic assignment of the new cliché was not possible and the franking machine is not permitted to use this cliché. The method for automatically setting a new cliché is completed with method step 70; the associated program is exited.

In FIG. 6, method steps of a further exemplary embodiment of the invention are specified in a flowchart, in which after the start in step 72 for setting a new cliché, the user manually inputs information about the identification of the new cliché via the keyboard 30 (method step 74). The entered alphanumeric characters are decoded and used as pixel data in a pixel matrix arranged in the working memory 24 (method step 76).

In the subsequent step 78, the text elements contained in the new cliché are determined. The method steps described in FIG. 5 are used for this. In the subsequent step 80, the pixel data of the information entered are cross-correlated with the pixel data of the section with text elements of the new cliché and the correlation factor K is determined. If this exceeds a predetermined value W in step 82, for example 0.8, this is evaluated as the agreement of the entered identification with the identification of the new cliché. In step 88, a key of the keyboard 30 is assigned to the new cliché, upon activation of which the new cliché is activated.

In the subsequent step 90, a fee register set is assigned to the new cliché, which in turn is assigned to the user who has entered the information about the identification manually. In this procedural state, it is also possible to assign the user a fee register record for the first time under this identification. The user is then shown in step 92 that the setting of the new cliché has been carried out correctly.

If the correlation factor K determined in step 80 is too low, the number of attempts is checked in step 84. If this is below a specified number n, method steps 74 to 82 are carried out again. Otherwise, an error message about the impossibility of an assignment is output in step 86. In step 94, the process for setting the new cliché is ended and, if necessary, branched back to the main program.

In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 6, it is not absolutely necessary for the various users of the franking machine to be assigned a cliché in the factory. Rather, the setting of a first cliché can also be carried out by the user by manually entering an identification identifying him into the franking machine.

The exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 5 and 6 can be modified within the scope of the invention. For example, the comparison in the method according to FIG. 5 in step 52 can also take place on the basis of a cross correlation. In order to reduce the effort involved in searching for text elements in the cliché, the search can be restricted to predetermined sections of the cliché, for example to the lower section of the image in which the postal address of the user is specified, for example for the cliché according to FIG. 2. In addition, it is possible to use the Make a comparison not only based on text elements, but also based on image elements. The exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 5 and 6 can also be combined with one another, the comparison being carried out either on the basis of existing clichés or on the basis of manually entered information. In order to avoid manipulation, the comparison can also be made on the basis of labels of existing clichés as well as on the basis of information entered.

Claims (18)

Method for operating a franking machine, in which the franking machine is shared by several users, each user being assigned at least one cliché (10, 12, 14), characterized in that the cliché (10, 12, 14) corresponds to at least one of the respective ones The user-identifying identification has that a control (16) is supplied with information about the identification, and that the control (16) compares the information with the identification and, if it matches, automatically assigns the cliché (K4) to the user concerned. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the control (16) is supplied with the information externally, preferably via the keyboard (30) of the franking machine. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that in the case of at least one already existing cliché (10, 12, 14) which is assigned to a specific user, the identification thereof is used as information. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least part of the name, the company keyword or the company logo of the respective user is used as information. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the comparison of the information and the identification takes place on the basis of pixel data stored in a memory 24, which preferably be arranged as a pixel matrix according to the cliché to be printed. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pixel data are cross-correlated for comparison, and that the assignment takes place depending on the determined correlation factor. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, for comparison, dark and / or light pixels of the pixel data at predetermined, corresponding positions in the cliché are used. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the comparison is carried out on the basis of text elements. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the format size of the text or a picture element is determined on the basis of drawing elements defined in the cliché, and that the information or the identifications of the clichés are compared on the basis of the same format size. A method according to claim 9, characterized in that with different format sizes the pixel data of the information or the identification of a cliché are subjected to an enlargement and then the comparison of the information or the identification of the clichés is carried out, preferably several enlargements with incrementally changed enlargement factors become. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the clichés are built up row by row or column wise, and that the comparison cliché row for cliché line or cliché column for cliché columns. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a predetermined length of a row or column of successive pixels is used for the comparison. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the case of row-by-row or column-by-column comparison the proportion of agreement in the rows or columns is determined, and that if a predetermined value is exceeded, the comparison is terminated and the assignment is made. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is carried out once when a new plate is inserted into the franking machine and that this plate is permanently assigned to an operating element under which it can be activated. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is carried out by a user at the beginning of each activation of the plate. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the franking machine contains a register set (GR1, GR2, GR3) for each user, in which fee-relevant data is stored, and that access to the register set (GR1, GR2, GR3) depends on the cliché assignment is made. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each user is assigned at least one cliché at the factory. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that if the identification of the cliché and the information or the identification of at least one of the existing clichés does not match, an error signal is generated.

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