Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
  • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
  • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
  • G07B17/00435—Details specific to central, non-customer apparatus, e.g. servers at post office or vendor
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B07—SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS; SORTING
  • B07C—POSTAL SORTING; SORTING INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES, OR BULK MATERIAL FIT TO BE SORTED PIECE-MEAL, e.g. BY PICKING
  • B07C3/00—Sorting according to destination
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
  • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
  • G07B17/00459—Details relating to mailpieces in a franking system
  • G07B17/00467—Transporting mailpieces
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
  • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
  • G07B17/00459—Details relating to mailpieces in a franking system
  • G07B17/00661—Sensing or measuring mailpieces
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
  • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
  • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
  • G07B17/00435—Details specific to central, non-customer apparatus, e.g. servers at post office or vendor
  • G07B2017/00443—Verification of mailpieces, e.g. by checking databases

Definitions

• the invention relates to a method and a device for controlling the transport of an article, in particular a mailpiece.
• a method and apparatus for transporting an item e.g. As a postal package to pay.
• a sender himself measures pay-relevant parameters for the item, e.g. B. the weight and dimensions of the package.
• An Internet application calculates an actual charge based on these parameter values from the user and generates a label ("mailing label 600") for the item.
• This label 600 contains a franking mark based on the actual remuneration and sender details.
• An operator of the transporter again measures the fee-relevant parameters as a check and thus checks the measurements and information provided by the sender. This happens z. Eg at a "point of service" (POS 140). This calculates a target fee.
• POS 140 point of service
• the transport of the item is continued. Otherwise, a payment transaction is triggered for the difference between the target fee and the actual fee.
• a "postage provider 260" with a “postage broker 270” and a “payment engine 250" as well as with the POS 140 is connected.
• the postage broker 270 calculates the actual charge on the basis of the user's information and generates the label 600 with the franking mark.
• the parameter values measured at POS 140 are transmitted to the "postage provider 260". This determines the target fee.
• a method and apparatus for transporting an item e.g. As a mailing described.
• the destination to which the item is to be transported is determined.
• a physical parameter of the object z. B. its weight or a dimension measured.
• information about the sender of the mailing is preferably conveyed.
• the value of this parameter, which is measured, determines the fare to be paid to transport the item.
• all promotion-relevant parameters are measured.
• a record for the item is generated. This dataset contains the destination information, the sender information and the measured parameter values. The data record is blocked against manipulation.
• US 2005/0065898 A1 For example, a method and apparatus for sorting international mail is described.
• An international mailing goes through an outgoing mail center 100 of a postal service provider and an incoming international mail center of another postal service provider.
• the international mail item has a postage-paid indicium 30, a service-type request 34, and a sender address 36.
• the sender is identified by means of an identifier of a franking machine ("unique meter number"). If the paid actual remuneration on the mail item is insufficient, then a booking process is triggered. If this is not possible, the mail item is sent back to the specified sender address 36.
• an image 22 'of a mail item 20 is generated by scanning.
• the mail item 20 is printed with a unique identifier 60 and weighed and measured. With the help of the weight and dimensions, it is determined whether the mailpiece is sufficiently franked.
• a mail item is automatically weighed by means of a dynamic balance.
• the volume of the mailpiece is determined. It is checked whether the mailpiece is sufficiently franked. For this test, the measured weight and the measured volume of the mailing are used. A postal item that is not sufficiently franked is rejected. The weight of a discharged mail item is measured manually, using a static balance.
• EP 1438145 B1 and EP 1438148 B1 A method is also described by which it is checked whether a mailpiece has a sufficient franking or not. This check is carried out automatically by means of a sorting system comprising a reading device and a video coding machine. A verified mail item is provided with a payment assurance code. A not sufficiently prepaid mail item is ejected.
• EP 1619630 A2 A method is described for refunding the prepaid postage for a franking imprint when the franking imprint is unusable.
• EP 1400790 B1 and EP 0881956 B1 For example, a method and a device for weighing mailpieces are described, wherein the mailpieces are transported through a weighing module without stopping.
• the invention has for its object to provide a method having the features of the preamble of claim 1 and an apparatus having the features of the preamble of claim 11, in which a sender of the item is informed with little effort about an insufficient charge for transport.
• the transport of an object is controlled.
• This item is provided with an identification of a destination to which the item is to be transported.
• the article may also be provided with a label of a sender who has dispatched the item.
• the destination to which the item is to be transported is determined.
• the target point marking, with which the object is provided, is detected.
• At least one physical parameter is specified. It is measured which value this at least one physical parameter assumes for the object. It is possible to measure several physical parameters of the object to be transported.
• a target charge for transporting the item to the destination is calculated.
• This nominal charge is automatically calculated as a function of the at least one measured parameter value.
• This item image is generated to include an image of the sender's identifier.
• the sender of the item is determined.
• the image is evaluated with the image of the sender identification.
• the generated charge message is transmitted to the determined sender.
• a transporter which transports the object to the predetermined destination point, arrives at the nominal charge for the transport of the object.
• the addressee receives the item as soon as the sender - or a third party - has paid the target fee in full.
• the invention saves the need for someone to pick up the item to identify the sender. This would interrupt the scheduled flow of processing.
• the item need not be used to measure the at least one physical parameter, nor to determine the actual price or sender to be taken out of normal processing.
• the solution according to the method and the device according to the solution can be rather seamlessly integrated into the usual process for transporting.
• standard transport processing it is easy to integrate the steps of measuring the at least one physical parameter, calculating the target fee and comparing the determined actual remuneration with the calculated target remuneration.
• a physical parameter whose value is measured for example, a dimension of the object or its weight is used.
• the charge message is transmitted in the form of a mailing to the sender.
• This embodiment saves the need to find out an e-mail address of the sender and then electronically u. U. to send large fee message to the sender.
• Such an e-mail message could be filtered out by a spam filter and not forwarded.
• the charge message preferably contains information about the fee still to be paid, that is, the difference between the target charge and the actual charge.
• the object is in any case transported to the destination and thus to the recipient, so even if the actual fee is too low, and not waiting for the payment of the remaining fee.
• the transport of the article is interrupted until a release signal is present. This release signal is generated as soon as a message is received that the target fee has been paid in full.
• the sender is determined by displaying an image of the subject on a video display device and inputting data to a data entry device. These editor inputs are evaluated to determine the sender. Often, such a data input device and video display device are present anyway, and agents are ready to manually capture a destination point identifier if it can not be automatically read by OCR. This arrangement can also be used to determine the sender.
• the processor manually provides information about the sender, z. By correcting and / or supplementing those sender details that have been automatically deciphered. In a preferred embodiment, however, the processor initially marks only where in the representation of the object image on the screen, the details of the sender are displayed. The editor sets z. B. on the screen in the image shown a rectangle around the appearance of the sender. Or the screen is divided into grid squares, and the editor selects the one or those grid squares in which the sender details are located. For this he uses a suitable input device.
• an attempt is made to automatically determine the sender by evaluating this marked area of the image. Only then, if this fails, the processor manually enters the address of the sender.
• This preferred embodiment saves time because it takes less time to position the rectangle than to manually correct and / or input the sender information.
• the steps of determining the destination address of the item and the sender address of the item are then performed together when an inadequate actual fee has been determined. For example, an image of the item is displayed on a video display device, and an editor at least partially inputs the destination address and marks the area in the image that shows the sender's address.
• This embodiment can also be used if the object is provided neither with a unique machine-readable identifier ("unique identifier") for the object itself nor with such for the sender, or if such an identifier can not be read or evaluated.
• unique identifier a unique machine-readable identifier
• a mail item is generated, which comprises the charge message.
• the mailpiece receives as the destination address an identification of the determined sender address and is transported to this destination address, ie to the sender address.
• this charge message includes a printed image of the item, e.g. For example, the image based on which the sender address was determined.
• the target fee depends on the value of a physical parameter, which can be measured only with a certain effort, eg. B. by weight. Therefore, it is preferable to first measure another parameter that is easier to measure, e.g. B. the length of the object to be transported. The length is often correlated with the weight. Depending on the measured further parameter value, z. As the length, a minimum charge for the transport of the object is calculated. Preferably, only if the article is not even provided with a franking mark for this minimum fee, that parameter, for. As the weight measured, which can be measured only with greater effort than the other parameters. Otherwise, the item is transported further without measuring the first fee-relevant parameter.
• This embodiment saves the need to measure for each object to be transported a fee-relevant parameters, which often measure only with considerable effort leaves. Rather, this parameter is measured only for those items in which already the measurement of another, more quickly measurable parameter provides the result that there is a relevant difference between the target fee and the actual fee.
• a charge message when a charge message is generated, in addition, the transportation of the counterparty is interrupted until the target charge is fully paid.
• a release signal triggers the further transport of the object. The release signal is triggered, for example, when a message arrives that the target fee has been paid in full. This embodiment reduces the risk that the target fee is not paid in full. On the other hand, this design is less expensive, less time consuming and more effective than if the item were returned to the sender.
• the solution according to the method and the device according to the solution can be z. B. for transporting a postal item, a piece of luggage of a traveler or a container or other cargo apply.
• the invention is used to control the transport of flat mail items (standard letters, postcards, large letters, catalogs and the like).
• Each flat mail item extends in an object plane and
• Each mail item is provided with a respective identification of a destination address.
• the mail item is to be transported to this destination address.
• the surface of the mail item which contains the destination address identifier is referred to as the front side, the other surface as the rear side.
• a stack of mailpieces to be transported is fed to a feeder of a sorting system.
• This feeder separates the mailpieces.
• the isolated postal items pass upright on an edge standing the sorting system.
• An image recording device generates in the exemplary embodiment of each mail item in each case two computer-available images, namely an image of the front side and an image of the rear side. These two images are taken from two viewing directions, each of which is perpendicular to the object plane and opposite to each other ("antiparallel").
• One of these images contains an image of the delivery address marking with which the mailpiece is provided. This image is called a front-side image. The other image is called a backside image.
• the length and height are the two dimensions of the flat mail item in the item plane. These two parameters are preferably measured by evaluating the front-page image and the back-side image of the mailpiece. It is also possible to measure the length with the aid of a light barrier. The transport speed with which the item of mail passes through the sorting system becomes also measured. The height can be measured, for example, with a column of light barriers.
• an image of the mail item is generated in a viewing direction parallel to the transport direction. This image shows the mail from the front or from behind as a narrow line. The thickness of this narrow bar is measured and used as the thickness of the mail piece.
• the respective weight of each mail item is additionally measured, and the data record for the mailpiece is supplemented by information about the measured weight.
• the weight of the mail item is preferably measured with a dynamic weighing arrangement, ie without stopping the mailpieces. Such weighing arrangements are made EP 881956 B1 as well as out EP 1400790 B1 known.
• the need to weigh each mail item is avoided. Rather, those parameters are measured by each mail item whose values are needed anyway, so that the sorting system can process the mail item, or can be easily measured. These more easily measurable parameters include, in particular, the two dimensions in the object plane, that is to say the length in the transport direction and the height of the mailing.
• a computer-accessible table is specified, which determines at which height and length of a mail item which minimum fee for transport is generally to be expected.
• This table is z. B. determined based on measurements and a statistical evaluation of the dependence of the weight of a mail item of its length and height. It is also possible to specify a computer-accessible table with transport charges and that this table automatically searches for the minimum fee for a mail item having the previously measured dimensions.
• the minimum fee for this item of mail is calculated.
• the minimum fee does not depend on the weight of the mailpiece. If a mail item has an actual fee that is less than the minimum fee, then its weight is measured, and with the help of length, height and weight, the target fee of the mail item is calculated exactly. The mail item is thus either transported through a weighing device and weighed or transported past this weighing device and not weighed.
• An evaluation unit checks the front-side image of the mail item to see if one of the images shows a franking mark, eg. As a stamp or a postage stamp or even a bar code or a matrix code.
• the evaluation unit checks whether the franking mark is genuine or not. If the franking mark is genuine, the evaluation unit attempts to determine the actual charge for which the genuine franking mark is a receipt. For example, the evaluation unit determines which stamps the item of mail is provided with. By evaluating the franking mark, the evaluation unit thus determines the actual charge. If the mail item is not provided with a franking mark at all or not with a valid franking mark, the value 0 (zero) is used as the actual fee for this mail item.
• This evaluation unit continues to check the front-side image of the mail item as to whether the front-page image shows delivery notes, for example: B. "Registered".
• a reading device of the sorting device first attempts to automatically determine the destination address of the mailpiece. For this purpose, the reading device first determines which of the two images is the front-side image and which is the back-side image. If one image shows information about one address and the other does not, the reading device uses that image which has an address near the center as a front-side image. If both images each have an address and an image shows information about an address near the center of the image, then the reader uses the image with this address as the front image. If neither of the two images shows information about an address, then the mailpiece is ejected.
• the reading device attempts to automatically determine the destination address of the mailpiece by evaluating the front-side image of the mailpiece.
• the reader uses an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) method to decipher the destination address.
• OCR Optical Character Recognition
• the video encoder displays the front page image on the display device.
• An editor evaluates the illustrated front page image and enters information about the destination address with the input device, eg. For example, the postcode and, in the case of a mailing abroad, the country into which the mailpiece is to be transported.
• the target fee depends only on some of these parameters. Then only the required parameters are measured and evaluated.
• a comparison unit compares the actual charge with which the mailpiece is provided with the target charge which the charge calculation unit has calculated for this mailpiece. If the actual fee is less than the target fee, then the method steps described below are performed.
• the further transport of the mail item is interrupted in one embodiment.
• the transport will not resume until a release signal has arrived.
• This release signal is generated after a message has been received with the content that the still missing charge for the transport has been paid.
• Both the front-side image and the back-side image are transmitted to the video coding station. Both images are displayed on the screen device, either simultaneously or sequentially. Details of the sender can be on the front or the back, or the item is not provided with details of the sender.
• sender information it is often much more difficult to identify sender information in an image of a mailing than to determine the destination information. Because the area on the surface, where the sender details are located, varies from mailing to mailing. These details can be z. B. located above the details of the destination address in a clear window or on the top left of the mail or on the back. The sender details are also of the destination and possible further information z. B. to distinguish a transporter or manufacturer of the envelope. If, on the other hand, the information is given to a reading device as to where the details of the sender are located in the image, the reading unit can automatically determine the sender. Therefore, the method described below is preferably performed.
• An editor marks the region of interest in the displayed image containing the sender's details of the mailpiece, or makes the input that none of the images contains sender information, which generates a nonexistence signal.
• Details of the sender can be displayed in the front image or in the back image. For example, the engineer creates a rectangle around the area that displays the sender details. With this the editor selects an image at the same time.
• the image with the marked area is transmitted to the reading device.
• the reading device evaluates the marked area and attempts to decipher the sender by means of "Optical Character Recognition” (OCR). If this is not successful, a corresponding signal is transmitted to the video coding station. A edited then enters details of the sender manually via the input device.
• OCR Optical Character Recognition
• the reading device is connected to an address database.
• This address database contains the postal addresses of all possible recipients of a mail item who live or reside in a given area. If the details of the sender on the mailpiece are incomplete, then the complete sender address is determined by read access to the address database. Preferably, each sender information is verified against the address database to ensure that the information on the mailing actually designates a valid sender.
• a printer of the sorting system prints this information on at least one sheet of paper.
• This at least one sheet of paper is inserted in the envelope which is provided with the address of the sender as the destination address of the information mailing.
• the information mailing contains a mobile data carrier on which the information about the not sufficiently franked mail item are stored. This embodiment saves paper and printer fluid.
• This information mail item is transported to the sender. Once it is determined that the fee still to be paid has been paid, the release signal is generated, and the originally sub-franked mail item is transported to the destination address.
• the information in the information mailing help the sender to check whether right to additional remuneration is required or whether z. B. there is a confusion or the sender details were wrongly deciphered.
• the information mail item contains no image of the mailpiece, but only the other information, that is, the textual information.
• the information mailing contains access information z. B. in the form of an "Internet link" over which the recipient of the information mailing can view the images. These images are stored on a server and are made available for inspection.
• the information mailing additionally contains the imprint of a password, which must be entered correctly in order to be able to view the two stored images on the Internet. The expression of the images requires significantly more effort than the expression of the textual information.
• the release signal is generated.
• the previously under-franked mail item is transported to the destination address applied to the mailpiece.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Devices For Checking Fares Or Tickets At Control Points (AREA)
• Sorting Of Articles (AREA)
• Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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ID=42194172

Family Applications (1)

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Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (9)

• 2008
  • 2008-12-22 DE DE102008064237A patent/DE102008064237A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2009
  • 2009-12-17 EP EP09179600A patent/EP2202693A1/fr not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (4)

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