JP2015157455A - enclosing and sealing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an enclosing and sealing system which can enclose and seal an enclosure, on which a content is printed, and an envelope, on which a destination is printed, in a proper combination.SOLUTION: An enclosing and sealing system 1 is equipped with: a printing part 2 for printing an envelope and an enclosure; an enclosing and sealing part 3 which encloses the enclosure in the envelope and seals them; and a control part 4 for controlling the afore-said parts. The control part creates a management code (2D code) based on a combination of destination management information (destination name or the like) and content management information (file name, creation date and so on), so controls as to print the destination and the management code on the envelope and to print the content and the same management code on the enclosure, and determines before sealing whether the management codes, which are respectively printed on the envelope and the enclosure after printing are coincident with each other or not.

Description

  The present invention relates to an encapsulated sealing system that creates letters by printing characters or the like on paper and prints a destination on an envelope, and then encapsulates and seals the inclusion in an envelope to create a sealed letter. The present invention relates to an encapsulating and sealing system capable of encapsulating a printed inclusion and an envelope on which a destination is printed in a correct combination.

  There is an apparatus called an encapsulating and sealing system that automatically prints a letter or the like on a sheet to create an enclosure, prints an address on an envelope, and encloses and seals the enclosure into the envelope to create a sealed letter. Are known. The following Patent Document 1 discloses an invention of a terminal device that controls such an encapsulating and sealing system. According to the terminal device 2 that controls the enclosing / sealing system 1, the database 25 stores first destination information corresponding to each message. The form application 22 continuously creates one or a plurality of form page data 32 every time. The destination information detection unit 15 detects second destination information corresponding to each mail from one or more form page data 32. The envelope data generation unit 11 generates envelope page data 34 including a destination based on the first destination information. The envelope print job generation 13 associates each form page data 32 with each envelope page data 34, and generates one or a plurality of print job data 35 that are continuous for each sequence. The error determination unit 16 acquires the first destination information and the second destination information, compares each destination information, and determines an error when a mismatch occurs.

  According to the present invention, before printing an envelope or an enclosure, two destination information are compared at the data stage to determine whether the combination of the enclosure and the envelope is appropriate, thereby determining the print job. It is possible to confirm whether or not the association between the inclusion and the envelope is properly made when generating.

JP 2013-174968 A

  In the sealed letter making apparatus described in the above-mentioned patent document 1, in order to determine whether the combination of the enclosed material and the envelope is appropriate, before printing the envelope and the enclosed material, the two destination information is stored at the electronic data stage. I was comparing. Therefore, even if the combination of the envelope and the envelope actually printed and conveyed to the enclosure is incorrect due to physical reasons such as a jam, this cannot be detected, and the enclosure and destination There is a possibility that a letter with an incorrect combination will be created.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and provides an encapsulating system that can encapsulate an encapsulated material printed with contents and an envelope printed with a destination in a correct combination. It is an object.

The enclosed sealing system according to claim 1 is:
A printing unit for printing the address on the envelope based on the address information, and printing the content on the inclusion based on the content information;
An encapsulated sealing unit that encapsulates and seals an inclusion whose contents are printed on an envelope printed with an address;
A control unit for controlling the printing unit and the encapsulated sealing unit to create a sealed letter;
An encapsulating and sealing system comprising:
The controller is
A management code for determining the correctness of the combination of envelope and inclusion is generated based on the combination of destination management information and content management information,
Printing the address and the management code on the envelope, and controlling the printing unit to print the content and the same management code on the inclusion;
It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not the printed management codes printed on the printed envelope and the enclosed material sent to the encapsulated sealing unit match each other.

The enclosed sealing system according to claim 2 is the enclosed sealing system according to claim 1,
The control unit is
A storage unit in which destination information including unique destination management information and content information including unique content management information are combined and stored;
Management code information for printing a management code for determining whether the combination of the printed envelope and the printed inclusion is correct or not is based on a combination of the destination management information and the content management information. A management code information generation unit to generate
Image information storage in which the printing unit stores the destination information, the content information, and the management code information in different areas in order to print an address and a management code on an envelope, and to print the content and the management code on an inclusion. And
A determination unit for determining whether or not the management codes printed on the envelopes and the inclusions that have been sent to the encapsulated sealing unit respectively match;
It is characterized by comprising.

The enclosed sealing system according to claim 3 is the enclosed sealing system according to claim 2,
A detecting means for detecting a printed management code printed on each of the envelope and the sealed material sent to the sealed sealing part,
Based on the image information acquired by the detection means, the determination unit determines whether or not the management codes printed on the printed envelope and the enclosed matter respectively match.

The enclosed sealing system according to claim 4 is the enclosed sealing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The destination management information includes a name, and the content management information includes at least one of a file name and a creation date.

  According to the sealed sealing system described in claim 1, the envelope is based on the destination management information for managing the destination information to be printed and the content management information for managing the content information to be printed. A management code for checking the inclusions is generated. Therefore, if there is a change in the substantial relationship or correspondence between the content and the destination, such as by changing the content information or editing the destination information, it is generated from the management information of the destination information and the content information. The management code that is printed is also changed, so there is no room for error in the management data that is added to the destination information and content information, and the combination of the envelope and the inclusion is definitely confirmed by checking the printed management code can do.

  According to the encapsulating and sealing system described in claim 2, the destination information and content information converted into print information and the management code information converted into print information are stored in different areas of the image information storage unit. Therefore, there are no particular restrictions on the types of applications that can be used to generate destination information and content information. Even if the application that inputs content information to this system changes due to changes in external circumstances, etc. There is no particular problem in relation to printing. Even if the print data stored in the image information storage unit is actually upgraded, for example, the printing software for printing on envelopes or inclusions is upgraded, the management code information is stored in the image information storage unit. There is no change in the software to be stored, no change is necessary in the main part of the system, and the independence of the system is ensured.

  According to the encapsulating / sealing system described in claim 3, in the pre-process of the enclosing / sealing operation, whether the management code of the printed envelope and the encapsulated matter is detected by a detecting means such as a camera, and the detection results match. Whether or not can be determined by the determination unit based on the image data.

  According to the encapsulating and sealing system described in claim 4, the destination management information includes a name that is unique information, and the content management information includes at least one of a file name that is unique information and a creation date. Therefore, since the management code generated from the management information of the destination information and the content information is unique, it is effective as a code for checking the correspondence between the destination information and the content information. Therefore, this management code is added to the destination information and contents information, printed on the envelope and the enclosed material, respectively, and these two management codes are checked before sealing, so that the combination of the envelope and the enclosed material is wrong. It can be confirmed without.

Part (a) is an overall configuration diagram of the sealing and enclosing system of the embodiment, and part (b) is a process conceptual diagram showing each processing procedure of the envelope and the enclosure. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the enclosure sealing system of embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the structure of the database in the enclosure sealing system of embodiment, the printing information produced | generated from the said database, and a management code. It is a conceptual diagram explaining the content of the data processing which expand | deploys the content information converted into printing information, and management code information in the image memory part in the control part of the enclosure sealing system of embodiment.

1. Outline of Embodiment (FIGS. 1 and 2)
With reference to FIGS. 1-4, the enclosure sealing system which concerns on embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.
First, the outline | summary of the enclosure sealing system of embodiment is demonstrated with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1A, which is an overall configuration diagram of this embodiment, the encapsulating and sealing system 1 according to the embodiment creates an inclusion L by printing characters or the like on a paper P, and the envelope or envelope paper E is printed. A printing unit 2 for printing a destination is provided. The enclosing sealing system 1 also includes an encapsulating sealing unit 3 connected to the downstream side of the printing unit 2, and the encapsulating sealing unit 3 encapsulates the printed inclusion L in the printed envelope E. Alternatively, a sealed letter F can be created by enclosing and sealing a printed envelope L in a printed envelope paper E. Furthermore, although not shown in FIG. 1, the encapsulating and sealing system 1 also includes a control unit 4 that controls the printing unit 2 and the encapsulating and sealing unit 3 described above, as shown in FIG. 2. An external PC is connected to the control unit 4 as shown in FIG. 1, and user data to be printed on the envelope E and the enclosure L can be input from this PC as shown in FIG. Yes.

  The control of the enclosing / sealing system 1 can be performed by an input operation from the operation panel 5 or the like of the control unit 4 shown in FIG. 2, but may also be performed by an input operation from the PC shown in FIG. Good. In FIGS. 1A and 2, reference numeral 6 denotes a scanner, which can read an arbitrary document image into the control unit 4 and use it for printing.

  In FIG. 1B, which is a processing step diagram of the embodiment, the envelope or envelope paper E shown in the partial diagram (1) and the printing paper P that becomes the inclusion L are formed on the printing unit 2 shown in the partial diagram (2). Printing is performed in the process of “data printing and management code printing”. That is, a destination and a management code which will be described later are printed on the envelope or envelope paper E, and contents such as characters and figures and a management code which will be described later are printed on the printing paper P which becomes the inclusion L. Although details will be described later, this management code is a mark for determining the suitability of the combination of the envelope E and the enclosure L, and the same management code is printed on the envelope E and the enclosure L. Thereafter, in the step of “folding” the sealed encapsulating portion 3 shown in FIG. 1B, the encapsulated sealed portion 3 is folded in order, and the encapsulated material L is enclosed in the printed envelope E. Sealing is performed, or the encapsulated material L is wrapped and encapsulated with envelope paper E, and the management code printed on the envelope E and the encapsulated material L is detected by the camera 7 serving as a detecting means before the enclosing and sealing. Is determined by the control unit 4. As a result of the determination, if both match, the sealing is performed as described above, the sealed letter is completed and discharged, and the process is completed as shown in the partial diagram (4) of FIG. Become. If they do not match as a result of the determination, the sealing process is stopped and an alarm is output to prompt the user to end the process.

2. System configuration of the embodiment (FIGS. 2 and 3)
Next, the configuration and the like of the control unit 4 in the system of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 4 includes a main control unit 8 constituted by a CPU. The main control unit 8 is connected to each unit of the control unit 4 described below and the printing unit 2 and the encapsulating sealing unit 3 described above via a bus 9, and controls the entire system 1 as a whole. can do.

  The data storage unit 10 functions as a database in which destination information and content information are stored in combination. The left side of FIG. 3 schematically shows the structure of the data storage unit 10 (also referred to as database 10). The destination information stored in the database 10 is data used as an address book when printing an address on an envelope or envelope paper E. The personal name data and the personal address data are combined. A collection of data files. Further, the data included in each file of destination information includes destination management information obtained by adding a file number to the name of each individual in addition to the name and address information.

  The content information stored in the database 10 in FIG. 3 is manuscript data used when printing the contents as a letter on the inclusion L, and is data composed of document data, image data, etc. to be printed on the contents. A collection of files. Further, the data included in each file of content information includes content management information such as a file name and file number, a creation date of the file, and a destination name, in addition to document data to be printed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the data storage unit 10 is connected to the external PC described above with reference to FIG. 1 via an I / F input processing unit 11. User data 12 input from the outside by a PC or the like is input to the data storage unit 10 via the I / F input processing unit 11 and stored in each file of content information in the database 10. Similarly to this, all or part of the destination information (that is, address book) in the database 10 described above can be updated by inputting new destination information from outside.

  The content information and the destination information stored in the data storage unit 10 are read out in a timely manner through the I / F input processing unit 11, input into a RIP (Raster Image Processor) 13, developed into bitmap data, and image information. It is stored in the image memory unit 14 as a frame memory which is a storage unit. Although the details will be described later, the management code information described above is also bitmap-developed by the RIP 13 and stored in the image memory unit 14 to be added to the content information and destination information that are bitmap-expanded. As described above, the image memory unit 14 has the destination information and the content information for the printing unit 2 to print the address and the management code on the envelope E and to print the contents and the management code on the enclosure L as shown in FIG. Are provided with a function as an image information storage unit for storing the management code information added thereto.

  The code processing unit 15 has a function as a management code information generation unit. That is, the code processing unit 15 is controlled by the main control unit 8 to read out necessary information from the data storage unit 10 and generates management code information. The management code information includes a management code for determining the correctness of the combination of the printed envelope or envelope paper E (hereinafter referred to as envelope E) and the printed inclusion L, the envelope E, etc. This is information used for printing on the object L. The management code information is generated based on a combination of destination management information and content management information stored in the data storage unit 10.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, a combination of name and file number (name_n) is used as destination management information for managing destination information to be printed. In addition, a combination of a file name, a file number, and a creation date (file name_n + creation date) is used as content management information for managing content information to be printed. The code processing unit 15 controlled by the main control unit 8 combines the management information of the corresponding content information and destination information based on the appropriate combination of the content information and destination information stored in the data storage unit 10. Based on this, a management code for collating the envelope E and the inclusion L is generated. In the present embodiment, the two-dimensional code 16 is generated and used as this management code.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the two-dimensional code 16 generated by the code processing unit 15 is input to the RIP 13 via the I / F input processing unit 11 as described above, and is developed as a bitmap. The two-dimensional code 16 that has become bitmap data is stored by being added to content information and destination information that have already been bitmap-developed and stored in the image memory unit 14 to form image information as a whole. In FIG. 3, as schematically expressed using arrows on the right side of the database 10, in “envelope printing”, the image information in the image memory unit 14 is output to the printing unit 2, thereby The address and address based on the information are printed on the envelope E or the like, and the two-dimensional code 16 based on the management code information generated by the code processing unit 15 is printed on the envelope E or the like. In “encapsulated material printing”, the image information in the image memory unit 14 is output to the printing unit 2 so that a document, an image, or the like based on the content information is printed on the encapsulated material L and printed on the envelope E or the like. The same two-dimensional code 16 as the one is printed on the enclosure L.

  The destination management information constituting the two-dimensional code 16 includes a name that is unique information, and the content management information includes a file name that is unique information and a creation date. For this reason, the two-dimensional code 16 is suitable as a code for collating the correspondence between the destination information and the content information. That is, if the two-dimensional code 16 is added and printed on the envelope E or the like and the inclusion L, in addition to the destination information and contents information, and the two two-dimensional codes 16 are collated before inclusion, the envelope E and the enclosure The suitability of the combination of the objects L can be definitely confirmed.

  If, for example, the content information in the database 10 is changed or the destination information is edited to change the substantial relationship or correspondence between the content and the destination, the change is appropriate. Because the management code generated from the management information of the destination information and the content information is also changed appropriately according to the change of the content etc., the management data printed in addition to the changed destination information and content information is incorrect The combination of the envelope E and the inclusion L can be definitely confirmed by checking the management code printed before the enclosure. If it is recognized that the two-dimensional code 16 printed on the envelope E or the like and the two-dimensional code 16 printed on the inclusion L after that are inconsistent before enclosure, the envelope E and the inclusion L It can be determined that the combination of is inappropriate. In addition, even when the two-dimensional code 16 printed on the envelope E or the like and the two-dimensional code 16 printed on the enclosure L match at the time of printing, if the two do not match before sealing, for example, the sealing is performed from the printing unit 2 There may be a reason such as an error in the combination of the envelope E or the like and the inclusion L due to some conveyance mistake or the like in the middle of the route sent to the sealing unit 3, and in this case also the envelope E and the inclusion L It can be determined that the combination of is inappropriate.

  Suppose that the following technique different from the configuration of the present embodiment is adopted as a technique for improving the problem of a combination error between an enclosure and an envelope in the enclosure sealing system. That is, on the assumption that the combination of the file number of the inclusion L in the database 10 and the file number of the destination information is appropriate, a management code is generated from the combination of both file numbers, and this management code is separated. In this method, the data is stored as table data in a memory and is printed and managed on an envelope E or the like or an inclusion L. In this case, even if the destination information in the file in the database 10 is edited and an inappropriate change occurs in the correspondence of the data, the management code based only on the correspondence between the files is not changed in appearance. , I can not notice the mistake of data correspondence. However, according to the present embodiment, since the management code changes corresponding to a substantial change in combination, such a problem does not occur.

  Note that the above-described destination management information and content management information are examples, and various combinations of unique information can be used as combinations of these management information. In addition, destination management information and content management information are not combined and coded, but processing such as adding some character data to each management information or adding arithmetic processing is performed so that unique information does not leak easily. You may consider it.

  As described above with reference to FIG. 1, each management code printed on the envelope E and the enclosure L before the enclosure sealing is detected by the camera 7, and whether or not the two management codes match is determined by the control unit. 4 is determined. This will be described again with reference to FIG. 2. The camera 7 provided in the encapsulating and sealing unit 3 images the management codes of the envelope E and the like and the enclosure L, and the image data output by the camera 7 is the control unit 4. And is compared in the code processing unit 15 controlled by the main control unit 8. If it is determined that the image data of both management codes match in accordance with a predetermined standard, the combination of the envelope E and the like and the inclusion L is appropriate, and the enclosure sealing portion 3 is sealed as it is. If the image data of the two management codes do not match, the combination of the envelope E or the like and the inclusion L is improper, so the sealing of the enclosure is stopped and an alarm or the like is output as necessary to alert the user. .

  As described above, the code processing unit 15 has a function as a management code information generation unit in that the information of the two-dimensional code 16 that is a management code is generated, and has a two-dimensional structure such as an envelope E read by the camera 7. A function as a determination unit is also provided in that the code 16 and the two-dimensional code 16 of the inclusion L are decoded and compared to determine whether or not they match.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 4 includes an output image processing unit 17 for performing control so that the printing unit 2 given image information from the image memory unit 14 is appropriately driven. Yes. Further, the control unit 4 includes an input image processing unit 18 that processes image data read by the external scanner 6. The control unit 4 includes a NET control unit 20 that is connected to the external network 19 and performs control for acquiring information from the external network 19. Further, the control unit 4 includes a mechanism control unit 21 that performs drive control of the mechanisms of the printing unit 2 and the encapsulating sealing unit 3.

3. Generation of print data and the like in the embodiment (FIG. 4)
Next, the flow of data processing for actually printing the content information and the management code information in the sealed sealing system 1 of the present embodiment described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a part of the functions of the data processing application that the control unit 4 has. In this figure, an area A indicates an area for general-purpose applications that the control unit 4 has. In this area A, user data 12 (print data) such as content information input from an external PC or the like is developed by the RIP 13 for each color of YMCK to become image data 25a in the bitmap format, and the print data of the image memory unit 14 is printed. The frame is divided and stored in the bitmap area.

  Also, a file name and creation date, which are contents management information of user data 12 (print data), and a name, etc., which is address management information of address information not shown in FIG. When the 16 (2D code 16) is generated, the two-dimensional code 16 (2D code 16) is expanded by the RIP 13 in the area B of another application different from the area A of the general-purpose application, and the management code in the bitmap format The image data 25b is stored in a frame different from the image data 25a of the user data 12. As described above, since the additional area of the memory for storing the management code image data 25b is separated from the storage area for the image data 25a of the user data 12, the use of the general-purpose application used by the user is not limited. Management code can be easily generated and added.

  Then, the bitmap image data 25a stored in the data storage unit 10 and the bitmap management code image data 25b are printed with the print areas aligned, and the contents and the management code are printed on the inclusion L. The data processing flow for printing the address and management code on the envelope E or the like is executed in the same procedure as described above.

  If the management code is printed in K (black) and the management code and the image do not overlap at the time of printing, the bitmap 2 in the same frame as the K (black) user data 12 in the bitmap format is used. The dimension code 16 may be stored. If the management code is printed with stealth ink, the management code and the image may overlap at the time of printing, so the management code information may be stored in any frame of the user data 12.

  As described above, according to the encapsulating and sealing system 1 of the embodiment, based on the destination management information for managing the destination information to be printed and the content management information for managing the content information to be printed. The management code for collating the envelope E and the inclusion L is generated. That is, in order to generate a management code from management information unique to the destination information and content information, the content information is changed or the destination information is edited. If there is a change in the management code, the management code generated from the management information of the destination information and the content information will also be changed. Therefore, there is an error in the management code printed in addition to the destination information and the content information. There is no room for occurrence, and the combination of the envelope E and the inclusion L can be definitely confirmed by checking the printed management code. Therefore, a management table or the like that configures a management table in a separate memory with a management code that simply associates each file number of destination information and content information, and uses this to collate the combination of envelope E and inclusion L Is completely different, and it is possible to reduce mistakes in adding a management code to print data, and to reliably detect a sealing error and prevent erroneous sending.

  In the embodiment, since the destination information and content information converted into bitmap data and the management code information converted into bitmap data are stored in different areas of the image memory unit 14, the destination information and content There are no particular restrictions on the types of applications that can be used to generate the information. Therefore, even if the application for inputting content information or the like to the system changes due to a change on the user side or some other situation, there is no particular problem in relation to the printing of the management code. Even if the print data stored in the image memory unit 14 is actually updated on the printing software for printing on the envelope E or the inclusion L, the management code information is stored in the image memory unit 14. There is no change in the software to be stored, no change is necessary in the main part of the control unit 4, and the independence of the system is ensured.

  In the embodiment described above, the management code information and the database 10 storing destination information and content management information as elements constituting the control unit 4 are generated, and it is determined whether or not the detected management code matches. A code processing unit 15 that also has a function as a determination unit, an RIP 13, an image memory unit 14 that stores content information developed by the RIP 13 and management code information, and a main control unit 8 that controls these units. It was. However, such a block configuration by function is merely an example, and it is possible to provide each functional part that achieves each function necessary for the present invention as an independent structural unit. Alternatively, the control unit 4 can be configured as a set of structural units in which a part is appropriately combined. In short, the encapsulating and sealing system according to the present invention has a printing function and an encapsulating and sealing function that allow printing including a management code on envelopes and inclusions, and a control function is a combination of destination management information and content management information. A function for generating a management code based on the information, a function for printing a management code added to each of the destination and the contents, and a management code printed on each of the printed envelope and the inclusion are determined to match. As long as it has a function.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Encapsulation sealing system 2 ... Printing part 3 ... Encapsulation sealing part 4 ... Control part 7 ... Camera as a detection means 10 ... Data storage part as a memory | storage part 14 ... Image memory part (frame memory) as an image information storage part
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 ... Code processing part as code information generation part and determination part 16 ... Two-dimensional code (2D code) as management code
P ... paper E ... envelope, envelope paper F ... sealed letter L ... enclosed material

Claims (4)

A printing unit for printing the address on the envelope based on the address information, and printing the content on the inclusion based on the content information;
An encapsulated sealing unit that encapsulates and seals an inclusion whose contents are printed on an envelope printed with an address;
A control unit for controlling the printing unit and the encapsulated sealing unit to create a sealed letter;
An encapsulating and sealing system comprising:
The controller is
A management code for determining the correctness of the combination of envelope and inclusion is generated based on the combination of destination management information and content management information,
Printing the address and the management code on the envelope, and controlling the printing unit to print the content and the same management code on the inclusion;
It is determined whether or not the management codes printed on the printed envelope and the enclosed matter respectively sent to the enclosed sealing portion match each other. The controller is
A storage unit in which destination information including unique destination management information and content information including unique content management information are combined and stored;
Management code information for printing a management code for determining whether the combination of the printed envelope and the printed inclusion is correct or not is based on a combination of the destination management information and the content management information. A management code information generation unit to generate
Image information storage in which the printing unit stores the destination information, the content information, and the management code information in different areas in order to print an address and a management code on an envelope, and to print the content and the management code on an inclusion. And
A determination unit for determining whether or not the management codes printed on the envelopes and the inclusions that have been sent to the encapsulated sealing unit respectively match;
The enclosure sealing system according to claim 1, further comprising: A detecting means for detecting a printed management code printed on each of the envelope and the sealed material sent to the sealed sealing part,
The enclosure according to claim 2, wherein the determination unit determines whether or not the management codes printed on the printed envelope and the enclosure match each other based on the image information acquired by the detection unit. Sealing system. 4. The destination management information includes a name, and the content management information includes at least one of a file name and a creation date. Enclosed sealing system.