JP2007029404A - Mail incoming notification system, its method and mailbox using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a user to know the posting of not only an important mail but also a regular mail into a mailbox anytime and anywhere. <P>SOLUTION: When a drop detecting part 4 detects the posting of a mail 100 into the mailbox 10, an information collecting part 15 collects information of the mail 100, for example, using a camera. A control part 11 transmits the collection information and notification information for notifying the user the posting of the mail to a pre-registered portable communication terminal 20 by an e-mail via a transmission part 12. The user carrying the portable communication terminal 20 can thus know the incoming of the main anytime and anywhere and also know the type of the mail and a sender. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mail arrival notification system and method, and a mailbox used therefor, and more particularly, to an improvement in a mail arrival notification system for notifying a user as a user that a mail has been posted on the mailbox.

  Conventionally, there are techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 as a technique for notifying a recipient of an incoming mail. In these techniques, an incoming mail is detected by a sensor installed in the mailbox, and is notified by a clock or door phone installed in the room. Further, referring to the technique of Patent Document 3, there is a technique in which a CCD camera is installed inside a mailbox and image data of a mail is projected on, for example, a monitor provided indoors.

  Further, referring to Patent Document 4, when a mail piece with a barcode or RFID tag is posted on a mailbox, the contents of the barcode or RFID tag are read and this is registered in advance as a mobile phone or the like. In addition, a technique for sending an e-mail and notifying the posting of mail is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-102049 JP-A-11-119718 JP 2004-65333 A JP 2002-325676 A

  In the techniques of Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above, since an incoming mail is notified by a clock or a door phone installed in the room, it is assumed that the user who should receive the incoming call notification is in the room. Therefore, in the absence, it is impossible to know the incoming call notification. Therefore, there is a drawback that the user himself / herself has to confirm the mailbox when returning home from home.

  In the technique of Patent Document 3, since image data of a postal matter is photographed by a camera and the captured image is displayed on a monitor at a specific location away from the image, it is assumed that the user is still at the monitor installation location. In addition, when there is no user, there is a drawback in that it is impossible to check the incoming call notification or the image data of the mail.

  In the technique of Patent Document 4, although the above-mentioned defects of Patent Documents 1 to 3 can be eliminated by notifying the user's mobile phone or the like of an incoming mail by e-mail, the identification with a barcode or RFID tag is added. Since mail notifications are only made when mails (important mails) are mailed to the mailbox, it is necessary to go to the mailbox to check whether there is normal mail. is there.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a mail arrival notification system and method, and a mail box used therefor, which can confirm not only important mail but also that a normal mail has been posted anywhere. That is.

  A mail arrival notification system according to the present invention includes a detecting means for detecting posting of a mail to a mailbox, and an information collecting means for collecting information on the mail in response to detection of mail posting by the detecting means. And a transmission means for transmitting the collected information and the notification information for notifying the postal mailing to a pre-registered mobile communication terminal.

  A mail arrival notification method according to the present invention includes a detection step of detecting posting of a mail piece to a mailbox, an information collection step of collecting information of the mail piece in response to the detection of the mail posting, and this collection A transmission step of transmitting the information and notification information for notifying the mail posting to a mobile communication terminal registered in advance.

  The mailbox according to the present invention includes a detecting means for detecting postal mail posting, an information collecting means for collecting information on the postal matter in response to detection of postal mailing by the detecting means, and the collected information and the postal mail. It includes a transmission means for transmitting notification information for notifying a material posting to a mobile communication terminal registered in advance.

  The operation of the present invention will be described. When the posting of mails to the mailbox is detected by the mailing detection unit, the information collection unit collects information on the mails using, for example, a camera. The control unit transmits the collected information and the notification information for notifying the user that the mail has been posted to the mobile communication terminal registered in advance by e-mail via the transmission unit.

  According to the present invention, by notifying the user's mobile terminal that the postal matter has been posted to the user's portable terminal by wireless communication, the postal matter can be received anytime and anywhere without going to the postbox for confirmation. There is an effect that it is possible to know, and it is also possible to easily confirm the type of mail and the information of the sender.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the present embodiment is configured to include a mail item 100, a mailbox 10, and a mobile terminal 20.

  The mailbox 10 includes a post detection unit 14 that detects posting of the postal matter 100, an information collection unit 15 that collects information on the postal items that have been posted, a transmission unit 12 that wirelessly transmits information to the portable terminal 20, and each of these units. The control part 11 which controls is built in. The posting detection unit 14 and the information collection unit 15 constitute a detection unit 13.

  The postal item 100 refers to all postal items that are posted on the mailbox 10, and includes various postal items such as personal communications, direct mail, postcards, sealed letters, etc. Including votes.

  The post detection unit 14 includes a sensor that detects that the postal matter 100 has been posted on the mailbox 10. For example, a sensor that detects opening / closing of the lid of the mailbox 10, a weight sensor provided at the bottom of the mailbox 10, a photo interrupter that detects on / off of light by posting a mail piece, and the like are used as the sensor. Can do. When the posting of the postal matter 100 is detected by such a sensor, the posting detecting unit 14 notifies the information collecting unit 15 of that fact.

  The information collecting unit 15 collects various types of information such as the type of postal matter posted in the mailbox 10 and the sender. For example, a configuration using a CCD camera as disclosed in Patent Document 3 is conceivable. When the posting detection unit 14 is notified of the posting of the postal matter 100, the information collecting unit 15 photographs the postal matter in the postbox 10 with a CCD camera, and sends information such as the type of postal item and the sender to the control unit 11. Send.

  As described above, the control unit 11 has a function of controlling the detection unit 13 and the transmission unit 12 and a function of storing the e-mail address of the user's mobile terminal 20. The control unit 11 receives the information collected by the detection unit 13, and instructs the transmission unit 12 to transmit, to the portable terminal 20, a notification that there is an incoming mail (posting) along with the information. To do. The transmission unit 12 transmits an incoming mail notification and postal information collected by the detection unit 13 to the electronic mail address designated by the control unit 11.

  The mobile terminal 20 is a mobile communication terminal having a communication function and an electronic mail function, and generally a mobile phone is used. The portable terminal 20 has a function of receiving information transmitted from the transmission unit 12, and a man-machine interface that displays the received information to the user and appeals to the sight or sounds as sound information. With this man-machine interface, the user can know the arrival of the mail addressed to himself / herself, and can also know the type and sender.

  FIG. 2 is a sequence chart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention. The operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, the user stores and registers the e-mail address of his / her mobile terminal 20 in the control unit 11 (step A1). When the postal matter 100 is posted on the mailbox 10 (step A2), the postal detection of the postal matter 100 is detected by the postal detection unit 14, and this is notified to the information collecting unit 15 (step A3).

  The information collecting unit 15 captures and collects information about the mail items in the mailbox 10 with a CCD camera or the like, and transmits the collected information to the control unit 11 (step A4). The control unit 11 instructs the transmission unit 12 to transmit the mail information received from the information collection unit 15 to the user's e-mail address together with the mail arrival notification information (step A5). The transmission unit 12 wirelessly transmits information to the electronic mail address instructed by the control unit 11 (step A6). The portable terminal 20 receives the mail arrival notification information and the mail information transmitted from the transmission unit 12 (step A7), and notifies the user via the man-machine interface.

  By doing so, the user can know that the mail item 100 has been posted to the mailbox 10 at any time, and can also know information (type and sender) of the mail item. Become. In particular, not only special mail items with barcodes attached, but also ordinary ordinary mail items can be known to have been posted. It can be used by referring to the presence / absence and heading to the mailbox only when there is mail.

  Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above-described embodiment, as an example of the information collection unit 15, the postal matter 100 is photographed using a CCD camera and the captured image is collected. In this example, the RFID tag is collected. A system using

  That is, an RFID tag in which information such as the type of mail and the sender is recorded in advance is added to the mail 100. The information collecting unit 15 is assumed to be an RFID reader that reads the information recorded in the RFID tag by non-contact near field communication. That is, the posting detection unit 14 acquires record information from the RFID tag attached to the postal matter 100 when the posting of the postal matter 100 is detected. This acquired information is transmitted to the control unit 11.

  When the information is acquired by the camera as in the previous embodiment, when the address portion is posted in the reverse direction with respect to the camera, when it is posted in the reverse direction, or more than one mail It is possible that information that can distinguish mail items cannot be captured with a camera when they are posted together. However, when information is acquired from the RFID tag as in this example, the above problem can be solved.

  However, if the RFID tag is attached to all mail items, information on all posted mail items can be acquired, which greatly improves convenience for the user. Further, if the information collection unit 15 is activated upon posting of mail, and reads the information of the RFID tag attached to the mail, there is no need to always try to communicate with the RFID tag, and power consumption Can be saved.

  In this example, it is possible to reliably obtain information without problems even if the mail pieces that have been posted overlap, so it is relatively important, for example, a non-existence slip such as registered mail or courier, or a bill for public utility charges. It is possible to prevent a situation where a large document cannot be found by being mixed with other mail items.

  Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the previous embodiment shown in FIGS.

It is a system block diagram of an embodiment of the invention. It is a sequence chart which shows operation | movement of embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Mailbox 11 Control part 12 Transmission part 13 Detection part 14 Posting detection part 15 Information collection part 20 Portable terminal 100 Mail

Claims (15)

  A detecting means for detecting the posting of the mail to the mailbox; an information collecting means for collecting the information of the mail in response to the detection of the posting of the mail by the detecting means; and the collected information and the posting of the mail. A mail arrival notification system, comprising: transmission means for transmitting notification information for notification to a mobile communication terminal registered in advance.   2. A mail arrival notification system according to claim 1, wherein said information collecting means has a camera for photographing said mail, and image information obtained by this camera is used as said collected information.   2. The mail arrival notification according to claim 1, wherein the information collecting means has a reader for reading information of an RFID tag attached to the mail, and the information read by the reader is used as the collected information. system.   4. The mail arrival notification system according to claim 3, wherein the reader is activated upon detection of mail posting by the detecting means.   5. The mail arrival notification system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission means transmits the electronic mail as an e-mail to a mobile communication terminal corresponding to a pre-registered e-mail address.   Detecting means for detecting the posting of the mail piece, information collecting means for collecting the information of the mail piece in response to the detection of the mailing by the detecting means, and for notifying the collected information and the mailing of the mail piece And a transmission means for transmitting the notification information to a pre-registered mobile communication terminal.   7. The mailbox according to claim 6, wherein the information collecting means has a camera for photographing the postal matter, and image information obtained by the camera is used as the collected information.   7. The mailbox according to claim 6, wherein the information collecting means has a reader for reading information of an RFID tag attached to the mail piece, and the read information by the reader is used as the collected information.   9. The mailbox according to claim 8, wherein the reader is activated in response to detection of mail posting by the detecting means.   The mailbox according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the transmission means transmits the electronic mail as an e-mail to a mobile communication terminal corresponding to an e-mail address registered in advance.   A detection step for detecting the posting of the mail to the mailbox, an information collecting step for collecting the information of the mail in response to the detection of the mail posting, and for notifying the collection information and the mail posting And a transmission step of transmitting the notification information to a mobile communication terminal registered in advance.   12. The postal matter incoming notification method according to claim 11, wherein the information collecting step uses image information captured by a camera that photographs the postal matter as the collected information.   12. The postal item according to claim 11, wherein the information collecting step includes a step of reading information of an RFID tag added to the postal item by a reader, and the read information by the reader is used as the collected information. Incoming call notification method.   14. The mail arrival notification method according to claim 13, further comprising the step of activating the reader upon detection of the mail posting.   15. The mail arrival notification method according to claim 11, wherein the transmission step transmits the mail as an e-mail to a mobile communication terminal corresponding to a pre-registered e-mail address.

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