FR2963456A1 - Information transmitting device e.g. fax machine, for use in communication system utilized for communicating e.g. old people to correspondent, has receiver recognized by transmission units using identification code - Google Patents

Abstract

The device (10) has a sender provided toward receivers (contact1, contact2). A sheet (16) carries a graphical identification code (22) comprising identification units such that each receiver is recognized by adapted transmission units. The specific graphic code comprises graphic code units such that the sender is recognized by the transmission units. A dedicated graphic code (22) comprises units such that an item other than the sender and the receiver is recognized by the transmission units. The identification units identify the receiver or an item.

Description

The present invention relates to the field of remote communications using sending forms. It relates more particularly to a form that can be used in a fax-type remote communication device, or more generally to a scanner intended for reading the form associated with a device for transmitting the resulting image, for example a modem. . The generic term fax will be used later in this document. Such a device generally requires the knowledge of an important list of recipient coordinates. In addition, when the form is used to transmit an item list to one or more recipients, it requires the recipient to manually scan the list, which can be tedious and error-prone. The object of the invention is to propose a device and a method that makes it possible to solve the disadvantages previously described. According to a first object of the invention, such a device for transmitting information from a sender to at least one recipient is characterized in that it comprises a sheet bearing at least one graphic identification code intended to be recognized. by suitable transmission means, so that the transmission means can deduce the at least one recipient. The device may advantageously comprise a specific graphic code to identify the sender. The device may also include a dedicated graphic code that identifies a recipient. The device may further include a specific graphic code for identifying an item, other than the sender and a recipient.

In particular, if the code is not a specifically dedicated code, the device can be provided so that the recipient or the item is identified by a specific combination of the graphic code dedicated to it and recognition of the identity of the user. the sender, for example by a combination of the code identifying the sender with a code assigned to the recipient or the item. lo The graphic code can consist of a predefined number of bars, preferably ten bars. These bars can have an identical thickness between them. The length of each of these bars may be multiple of a reference length by a non-zero integer, for example by an integer between 1 and 3. The code may consist of bars whose length extends in one direction introduction of the sheet in a machine, preferably of the fax or scanner type, provided for reading the information contained on the sheet. A device according to the invention advantageously comprises several preprinted graphic codes for recipients and / or items other than the sender or a recipient, and means for activating at least one of said codes. These activation means may in particular include boxes provided to be blackened and / or checked. According to a second object of the invention, a system for transmitting information from a sender to at least one recipient is characterized in that it comprises a device according to the invention and transmission means, these means of transmission comprising means for reading the device, and means for automatically processing data from the reading means, to recognize at least one code carried by said device and to redirect said information to the at least one recipient according to said code . Advantageously, the processing means comprise a database associating the code with the coordinates of a recipient and / or with an item. The transmission and processing means may together constitute shipping means, preferably the same shipping device, for example of the fax type. The processing means may also comprise centralized means, usable by several senders, remote from the sending machine. Such a system may further comprise means for masking, to the recipient, all or part of a header area of the device.

The system may also include means for recognizing the direction of introduction of the device into the reading means. Thus, it is not necessary to impose a direction of introduction, for example header up or head down a slip of which the device would be constituted. In particular, when the device comprises a sheet, the reading means advantageously comprise means for reading one and the other of the faces of said sheet, simultaneously or not, and, preferably, means for recognizing a written face of said two faces. Thus, it is not necessary for a sender to know, for example, whether the sheet must be introduced face up or face down in the reading means.

Several embodiments of the invention will be described hereinafter, by way of non-limiting examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a communication system adapted to the use of FIG. a device according to the invention; Figure 2 is a view of a first and a second complementary embodiments of a device according to the invention; and, Figure 3 is a view of a third embodiment of a device according to the invention. Figure 1 illustrates a communication system 1 in which a person 2, for example from home 3, can contact predefined corresponding 2963456 -4 4-7 in a simplified manner. For example, these correspondents may be a home delivery service 4, friends or family members 5, a medical service or a pharmacy 6, or a concierge service 7 able to respond to the most diverse requests from the home. 5 people. This communication system 1 is particularly suitable for use by elderly or dependent persons. It improves the conditions for keeping these people at home. System 1 uses a facsimile sending machine 8 to transmit data, including a message, from home 3 of the person to correspondents 4-7. The data are written on a device 10 of form 10 type and introduced into the machine that reads them. Firstly, the machine transmits the data to a remote treatment center 11, through a proximal communication network 12. The processing center 11 uses in particular a database 13 to determine, from the data of the Form 10 and automatically, the corresponding 4-7 to whom to redirect the message. The message is then transmitted automatically or manually, to the correspondents thus determined, through a distal communication network 14. With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, several embodiments will now be described for a device of the following type. form 10, adapted for use in a system 1 as described with reference to FIG. 1. In the examples illustrated, each form mainly comprises a sheet 16, in A4 format, intended to be introduced into the machine 8 in a direction D , in the direction of the length of the sheet. Figure 2 illustrates a 10A form with a header and a continuation form 10B. The form 10A has an extended preprinted header area 17 comprising from top to bottom: - a first line L1 corresponding to the identity of the sender 2 (Dupont); and, - three lines L2-L4 corresponding to the destination of the form, of which a second line L2 and a third line L3 each correspond to the identity of a respective recipient (contactl, contact2) predefined, and the corresponding fourth line L4 to a manual treatment. Manual processing may be required if the sender wishes to send his message to a correspondent who is neither contact nor contact2. The form 10A further comprises, under the header area 17, a correspondence area 18, left free and on which a message can be handwritten or printed, at the convenience of the sender.

The continuation form 10B includes a header area 17 reduced, comprising only the line L1 relating to the identity of the sender, and a correspondence area 18, larger than that of the form 10A. One (or more) continuation form 10B is provided to be sent simultaneously to the form with extended header 10A, when the correspondence area of the latter is insufficiently large. FIG. 3 illustrates a form 1 OC, of the list type, the form comprising a reduced header area 17 and a list area 19 comprising several items. In the illustrated example, the list includes eleven items (iteml - item 11). Each item is advantageously an object or a product that the sender 2 wishes to be delivered by a recipient of the list. Thus, the form can be sent following a 10A form. Each item and each identity is associated with an alphanumeric identifier 21, and automatic identification means 22. The digital alpha identifier 21 is intended for direct reading, in particular by the sender or the recipient of the message. The automatic identification means are provided for automatic recognition, in particular by the processing center 11. In the examples illustrated, the automatic identification means have the form of a graphic code 22. In the examples illustrated, each graphic code 22 comprises ten bars 24 arranged vertically relative to the reading direction and parallel to the direction D of introduction of the forms in the machine 8. The bars are evenly spaced from each other, all of the same thickness E24. Their lengths L24 are a multiple by 1, 2 or 3, a basic length LB24. The bars of the same code all extend towards the top of the corresponding form, starting from the same horizontal, that is to say from the same cross-section to the form, perpendicular to the direction D. Thus , in the illustrated example, Mr Dupont, the sender 2 is identified by a code 22 comprising, from left to right, nine bars 24 of simple length L24 = 1 x LB24 and a tenth triple length bar io L24 = 3 x LB24 and can be illustrated numerically by the following digit 1111111113. Similarly, on the list form 10C, the code representing the item iteml l includes, from left to right, a bar of triple length, six bars of single length , a double length bar L24 = 2 x LB24, a single length bar, and finally a triple length bar, and may, for example, be illustrated by the following numbers 311111213. In front of each alphanumeric identifier the form includes means 26 for activating the cod 22. In the illustrated example, the activation means 26 are boxes 26. Thus, when a box 26 is checked or blackened by the sender 2, the corresponding code 22 is considered active by the processing center. 11, when he receives the corresponding form. In the example shown in Figure 2, only box 26 of line 2 of Form 10A is blackened. Thus, when the processing center receives the message, it determines that the corresponding message should be automatically forwarded to contact only, and that it does not require manual processing. When the code 22 is decoded by the processing center, it allows direct access to the contact coordinates 2 in the base 13, so that the message is retransmitted through the distal network 14, according to a retransmission mode chosen by contact2. In this way, the sender does not have to know the coordinates or the mode of contact retransmission2. In addition, a change of contact coordinates2 can be recorded in the base 13 and remain completely transparent to the sender 2. In the example shown in Figure 3, only the box 26 corresponding to the item iteml is blackened. Thus, when the processing center 11 receives the message, it determines that in the list (item 1 - item11), only the item item 1 is requested by the sender 2. For example, if the item iteml is a drug , the database 13 may provide that the message is retransmitted to a predetermined pharmacy 6, for example a pharmacy which has a copy of the orders in the name of the sender 2, without the sender 2 has to mention the pharmacy in as the recipient of the message. In this case, the form 10C can be sent alone without a 10A header form. Thus, a form according to the invention makes it possible to address messages in a simplified manner, through a communication system as described in FIG. 1. It is sufficient for the sender to know the only coordinates of the processing center 11. More recently, the coordinates of the processing center 11 can be prerecorded in the sending machine 8, so that, for example, pressing a dedicated send button automatically addresses the message to the center. 11. The identification codes 22 other than that of the sender 2 may be specific in themselves. Thus, the code 22 of the item itemll (311111213) can in itself represent the order of a baguette, regardless of the sender of the form 10C. On the contrary, the identification codes 22, other than that of the sender 2, may be specific only by association with that of the sender. Thus, the code 22 of the item itemll (311111213) may represent the order of a baguette for the sender 2, and the order of a wafer of butter for another sender. In this case, the truly specific code of the item itemll is the association (1111111113-311111213) of the code (1111111113) of the sender 2 with the non-specific code (311111213) of the item itemll. In the examples illustrated in the figures, the forms 10 comprise a graphic polarizer 30. In these examples, the polarizer 30 comprises a "horizontal" line extending in proximity and substantially parallel to the small edge of the leaflet 16 and a line " vertical "extending in proximity and substantially parallel to the left edge of the sheet 16. The two lines meet in the vicinity of the upper left corner of the sheet and together form a square. The processing means 11 are designed to recognize the position of the polarizer 30 and deduce the position of the sheet, so the reading direction of the form 10, regardless of the direction of introduction of the form in the reading means 8. Well Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples which have just been described. Thus, a form may not include an identification code for the sender. Indeed, if the sending machine 8 is used by only one sender, and if its calling number is visible by the processing center 11, the calling number can suffice for the identification of the sender . The same applies if the sending machine 8 uses a unique IP address when the proximal network 12 is the Internet, instead of a telephone network. It is also possible to provide a biometric identification of the sender. It is still possible to identify the sender by means of a key or a badge. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the identification codes 22 are recognized and interpreted by a remote processing center of the sender. In another embodiment, the sending machine may itself comprise processing means, and notably include the database. Rather than a check box, the means for activating a code can be realized by using a graphic code composed of bars whose only contour is drawn on the form and which is activated only when the inside outline is sufficiently blackened by the sender.

Other types of graphic codes may be used than those previously described. Thus, it can be provided more complex pictograms, including 3D codes. In order to limit the volume necessary for the storage and transmission of numerical codes associated with the graphic codes, each value 1; 2 and 3 of bar length is advantageously respectively associated with a numerical value 0, 1 and 2. Thus, the graphical code 311111213, of item itemll, can it be advantageously stored in digital memory, or transmitted by digital signal, in the form 200000102. A system according to the invention may further comprise means for hiding the header when several recipients are designated, so that each recipient knows which other recipient the corresponding message could be addressed. 15

Claims (19)

REVENDICATIONS1. Device for transmitting (10) information from a sender (2) to at least one recipient (contact1, contact2), characterized in that it comprises a leaflet (16) bearing at least one graphic identification code (22). ) comprising means for the at least one recipient (contact1, contact2) to be recognized by suitable transmission means (8, 11). io 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one specific graphic code (22) comprises means for the sender (2) can be recognized by the transmission means (8,11). 3. Device according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises at least a dedicated graphic code (22) comprising means for a recipient (contactl, contact2) can be recognized by the means of transmission (8,11). 4. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises at least one dedicated graphic code (22) comprising means for an item (item 1-item 11), other than the sender and a recipient, can be recognized by the means of transmission (8,11). 5. Device according to one of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that the means for identifying a recipient or an item comprise a specific combination of means for recognizing said recipient or said item and means for recognizing the sender (2). ). 2963456 -11- 6. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the graphic code consists of a number of bars (24) predefined, preferably ten bars. 5 7. Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the graphic code consists of bars (24) all having a thickness (E24) identical. 8. Device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the graphic code consists of bars (24) all having a length (L24) multiple of a reference length (LB24) by a non-zero integer. 9. Device according to claim 8, characterized in that the integer is between 1 and 3. 10. Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the code consists of bars (24) whose length (L24) extends in a direction of introduction of the sheet (16) in a machine ( 8), preferably of the fax or scanner type, provided for reading the information (22) contained on the sheet. 11. Device according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it comprises several graphic codes (22) pre-printed for recipients (contactl, contact2) and / or items other than the sender or a recipient and in that it comprises means for activating at least one of said codes. 12. Device according to claim 11, characterized in that said activation means comprise boxes provided to be blackened and / or ticked. 2963456 - 12 - 13. System (8, 11) for transmitting information from a sender (2) to at least one recipient (contact1, contact2), characterized in that it comprises a device (10) according to one of the preceding claims. and transmission means, said transmission means 5 comprising means (8) for reading the device (10), and means (11) for automatically processing data from the reading means (8) to recognize at least a code (22) carried by said device (10) and redirect said information to the at least one recipient (contactl, contact2) according to said code (22). 10 14. System according to claim 13, characterized in that the processing means comprise a database (13) associating the code (22) with the coordinates of a recipient (contactl, contact2) and / or with an item (iteml -itemll). 15. System according to one of claims 13 or 14, characterized in that the transmission and processing means together constitute shipping means, preferably the same shipping device, for example of the fax type. 16. System according to one of claims 13 or 14, characterized in that the processing means (11) are centralized means, used by several senders, remote from the sending machine (8). 25 17. System according to one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that it comprises means for masking, at least partially, the recipient, a header area (17) of the device (10). 15 20 2963456 - 13 - 18. System according to one of claims 13 to 17, characterized in that it comprises means for recognizing the insertion direction of the device (10) in the reading means (8). 5 19. System according to one of claims 13 to 18, characterized in that the device (10) comprises a sheet (16), and in that the reading means (8) comprise means for reading the one and the other faces of said sheet, simultaneously or not, and, preferably, means for recognizing a written face of said two faces. io