EP0725371B1 - Auto dating system for franking machine - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a franking machine comprising a mechanism for printing on articles of mail a postal imprint including a date postage.

The invention relates more particularly to a machine franking machine with adjustment system automatic postage date in the imprint postal so that you can automatically affix mail items imprint including date current postage or a date after that current date in order to perform post-dating. This last functionality is particularly interesting for the user who wishes to free articles from mail in advance.

Such a franking machine is already known of document EP-540022 and of document US 4,060,720. The object of the invention is to perfect this machine even more.

To this end, the invention relates to a machine postage comprising a printing mechanism a postal imprint including a postage date on a mail item to be franked and a system of setting the postage date printed by the printing mechanism including a processor connected to a calendar clock to receive a current date and controlling the printing mechanism to cause printing a postal imprint with a date current postage based on date common. The processor is further programmed to prevent printing the postal imprint when the date of current postage to print corresponds to a date of closure of the Postal Administration.

The postage date affixed to an article of mail may cause a delay for the recipient of this mail item. By the way, the date postage affixed to each mail item urges the Postal Administration to forward the article to its recipient within a certain period. We therefore understand that the invention helps to avoid situations where the use of a franking machine can cause harm both for the recipients of franked mail items only for Administration PO.

Detection as the current postage date corresponds to a day when the Administration is closed postal is carried out simply by program by calculating a day number corresponding to the postage date current from a reference date previously saved, which requires little memory space.

La figure 1 montre schématiquement l'architecture du système de réglage automatique de la date d'affranchissement dans l'empreinte postale selon l'invention.

La figure 2 illustre le fonctionnement du système montré à la figure 1.

La figure 3 montre des tables qui servent au fonctionnement du système montré à la figure 1.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention is described below in detail.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the architecture of the system for automatically adjusting the postage date in the postal imprint according to the invention.

Figure 2 illustrates the operation of the system shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows tables that are used to operate the system shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1, the franking machine includes a mechanism 1 for printing a postal imprint 2 on a mail item 3.

Conventionally, the postal imprint 2 includes a stamp 2A, a postage date 2B and a flame 2C advertising where applicable.

The printing mechanism may consist of a rotary drum with print wheels that serve to print each symbol constituting the amount postage, for example 2.80, and the date postage, for example 09/01/95 or January 9 1995.

There is a date setting system postage to be printed by the printing means. This adjustment system includes a processor 4 connected to a clock calendar 5 to receive information representative of a current date. Processor 4 is in additionally connected to the printing mechanism 1 through a member 6 which is used to configure the printing mechanism 1 to print a postal imprint including as date a date supplied by the processor, by example the current date it gets from the clock calendar. This organ 6 can be made up of micromotors acting on the print wheels indicated above.

As a variant, the processor 4 is connected to one or more information entry keys, such as the 7 key. 7 is used to offset the postage date to be printed on mail items compared to the current date provided by the calendar clock so as to do operate the franking machine in mode postdating. In particular, processor 4, in response to n press button 7, advance date postage of n days after the current date. If the current date is 09/01/95 and if the operator presses two times key 7 (n equals 2), the processor controls the printing mechanism 1 to print as date postage on 01/11/95.

According to the invention, the processor 4 is also programmed to control the postage date (that provided by the calendar clock or that imposed by operator in post-date mode) to be printed on each mail item and if applicable prevent printing of the postal imprint when the postage date corresponds to a day when the Administration is closed postal, for example a Saturday or a Sunday.

Figure 2 illustrates how the program works controlling processor 4 to detect that a date after a reference date, here 01/01/93, corresponds to a Saturday or a Sunday. The date of reference is maintained in a memory 8 connected to the processor 4. 01/01/93 is a Friday.

In Figure 2, at the start of a cycle postage at 20, processor 4 first establishes at 21 a first postage date expressed under the form "day number of the month / number of the month / year" either DD / MM / YY. This first date can be the current date provided by calendar clock 5 or later set by the operator after pressing button 7. For example, if the postage date is 1/8/95, DD is 8, MM is 1 and AA is 95. This is here of a Sunday.

It calculates at 22 a first value Z by the relation Z = AA-93 (for 1/8/95, Z is 2), one second value C by the relation C = Z / 4 (in the case of example, C is equal to 0), a third value R which is the rest of the integer division of Z by 4 (in the case of example, R is equal to 2), a fourth value J1 by the relation J1 = 1461xC (in the example, J1 is equal to 0), a fifth value J2 by the relation J2 = 365xR (in the case for example, J2 is equal to 730).

At 23, processor 4 compares the value R with 3.

If the value R is equal to 3, the processor recovers at 24 in memory 8 a sixth value J3 by the relation J3 = TAB1 (MM-1).

If the R value is other than 3, the processor recovers in 25 in memory 8 the value of J3 by the relation J3 = TAB2 (MM-1). Note that TAB1 and TAB2 are two data tables shown in Figure 3 and stored in the memory 8. In the example case, J3 is equal to 0. On the Figure 3, the tables TAB1 and TAB2 each have 13 values each accessible by an index whose value is equal to MM-1. Index values are indicated by numbers 0 to 12.

The processor then calculates at 26 a seventh value N by the relation N = J1 + J2 + J3 + JJ. In the example, N is equal to 738.

At 27, the processor determines an eighth JS value indicative of a weekday by the relationship JS = rest integer of (N + 4) / 7. This JS value is between 0 and 6, 0 indicating a Sunday and 6 indicating a Saturday. In the example case, JS is equal to 0 which corresponds to a Sunday.

The JS value is then tested at 28. If JS is different from 0 or 6, the processor commands at 29 printing a postal imprint including the date postage which he obtained in 21 and returns to this step for a new postage cycle. Otherwise it prevents at 30 the printing of the postal imprint with this postage date because it is a Sunday or a Saturday, which is the case in the example considered.

Following step 30, the processor determines at 31 a new date DD / MM / YY 'later corresponding to the day of the following Postal Administration immediately the day detected at 27 as the closing day, for example by adding a day or two days to the date DD / MM / YY obtained in 21. In the case of example, this date posterior is 09/01/95 which is a Monday.

According to a first embodiment, the processor continues step 31 with step 32 in which is carried out an automatic control of the franking mechanism 1 configured with the main date and then returns to step 21.

According to a second embodiment, the processor switches to a step 32 ′ where it displays, on a display screen 9, a message warning "DATE NOT VALID" indicating to the operator than the chosen postage date, for example the 01/08/95, corresponds to a closing day of the Postal Administration, in this case a Sunday. Furthermore, the later date determined in 31, here the 01/09/95 is displayed on screen 9 and the processor waits a validation command entered by the operator for order the printing of a postal imprint including as the postage date this later date.

The program corresponding to steps 20 to 32 or 20 to 32 'requires little memory space. If other dates from closure of the Postal Administration must be taken in account by processor 4, like fixed holidays (day of Christmas, All Saints, etc.), a simple solution is to store these particular dates in memory 8 for the purpose control. Of course, the storage of these dates increases space required in memory 8.

A table of particular days to be avoided can be entered in memory 8 in order to prohibit printing a postal imprint with one of these dates. This table can be defined by the machine user.

Claims (8)

1. A postage meter comprising print means (1) for printing a postage imprint (2) including a posting date (2B) on an article of mail to be posted, an adjustment system for adjusting the postage date printed by the print means and including a processor (4) connected to a calendar clock (5) to receive a current date and controlling the print means (1) to cause a postage imprint to be printed with a current posting date established on the basis of the current date, the machine being characterised in that the processor is also being programmed to prevent the postage imprint being printed when the current posting date for printing corresponds to a particular date predefined by the user of the meter such as a date on which the postal authorities are closed.
2. A meter according to claim 1, in which the processor (4) is programmed to cause a postage imprint to be printed with a posting date later than the current posting date when the current posting date corresponds to said particular predefined date.
3. A meter according to claim 2, in which the processor (4) is programmed to cause said later posting date to be displayed on a display screen (9) of the meter for the purpose of obtaining authorization to print a postage imprint with the said later posting date.
4. A meter according to one of claims 1 to 3, in which the processor (4) is programmed to calculate a day number (N) on the basis of a previously recorded reference date in order to detect whether the current posting date to be printed corresponds to said particular predefined date.
5. A computer program implemented in a postage meter comprising print means (1) for printing a postage imprint (2) including a posting date (2B) on an article of mail to be posted, an adjustment system for adjusting the postage date printed by the print means and including a processor (4) connected to a calendar clock (5) to receive a current date and controlling the print means (1) to cause a postage imprint to be printed with a current posting date established on the basis of the current date, the program being designed to prevent the postage imprint being printed when the current posting date for printing corresponds to a particular date predefined by the user of the meter such as a date on which the postal authorities are closed.
6. A computer program according to claim 5, characterised in that it is further designed to cause a postage imprint to be printed with a posting date later than the current posting date when the current posting date corresponds to said particular predefined date.
7. A computer program according to claim 6, characterised in that it is further designed to cause said later posting date to be displayed on a display screen (9) of the meter for the purpose of obtaining authorization to print a postage imprint with the said later posting date.
8. A computer program according to one of claims 5 to 7, characterised in that it is further designed to calculate a day number (N) on the basis of a previously recorded reference date in order to detect whether the current posting date to be printed corresponds to said particular predefined date.

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