JPH08145770A - Automatic mailbox - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an automatic mail box having postage paying function in which a registered mail can be posted even outside the service hours of a post office, the time for preliminarily examining the charge or purchasing a stamp can be saved since the calculation and payment of the postage can be performed simultaneously with shipping, and the registered mail can be shipped without going to the post office, whereby the time can be saved, and the registered mail can be shipped any time regardless of time. CONSTITUTION: The weight and form of a posted mail are measured by a weight measuring part 101 and a form measuring part 102, and the postage is automatically calculated from the measured result. A list for postage according to weight and form is stored in a memory device 103. The calculated postage is displayed by a display device 104, and when the sender of the mail inserts an electronic purse to an electronic purse control device 105, the postage is subtracted from the electronic money in the electronic purse, a paid stamp is put on the mail, and the resulting mail is housed. The whole operation is controlled by a control part 107.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic post having a postage payment function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Usually, when sending a mail, the charge is checked according to the shape and weight of the mail, a stamp for the charge is purchased at a post office or a stamp dealer, and it is attached to the mail and posted in a post ( Or post it to the post office). Currently, there is a vending machine for stamps as a method of paying the postage.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] When checking the postage,
You may not know whether the postal item is out of the standard size, or you may not know the charge even if you know that the postal item is out of the standard size. In addition, in the case of postal mail registration, it is necessary to go to the post office without fail, and it is necessary to go to the central post office if the postal mail is sent outside the handling hours.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic post having a fee payment function. Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic post capable of mailing registered mail outside the post office handling hours.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an automatic post for automatically accepting a mail item, for inserting a mail item and for measuring the weight of the inserted mail item. Weight measuring means, shape measuring means for measuring the shape of the inserted postal matter, storage means for storing information indicating the weight and shape of the postal matter and correspondence between postage and the postage, and the weight measuring means Based on the result measured by the means and the result measured by the shape measuring means, by using the information of the postage stored in the storage means, a charge calculating means for calculating the postage of the mail, and the calculated mail. A fee payment means for paying a fee, and means for marking the postal matter as postage paid if the amount paid is equal to or greater than the postage fee; The fee Characterized by comprising a housing means for housing the mailpiece payment already marked with.

Further, the postage charge may be displayed. Further, the postage and the fee paid by the fee payment means may be compared, and if the amount paid is smaller than the postage, the postal matter may be returned.

As the fee payment means, it is convenient to use a portable storage medium in which electronic data having monetary value (hereinafter referred to as electronic money) is recorded.

Further, means for designating that the postal item is express delivery, means for adding an express delivery fee to the postage, and marking the postal item as express delivery Means may be provided. Further, it may be provided with a cancellation designating means for designating cancellation of the processing of the postal matter, and a means for returning the postal matter when the cancellation of the processing is designated by the cancellation designating means.

In order to process registered mail, means for specifying that the mail is registered mail, means for inputting the name and address of the sender of the mail, and the recipient of the mail. A means for inputting a name and an address, a means for displaying the input data, a means for recording a registration number of registered mail in the portable storage medium, and showing that the mail is registered mail Means for marking,
A means for entering a registered receipt number on the mail is provided. In this case, the registered receipt number is stored in the storage means of the automatic post.

In the case of registered mail, it is necessary to enter the sender's name and address, but at least one of the sender's name and address is stored in a portable storage medium, and it can be read by automatic post. It is better to put it out. Further, it is preferable to store information indicating the correspondence between the postal code and the address, and search for all or part of the address from the input postal code and input it.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the weight and shape of the inserted mail piece are measured, and the postage is automatically calculated from the measured result. When the mail sender pays the postage, the postal item is marked with a postage-paid mark indicating that the postage has been paid, and the postal item is stored. When the fee is paid electronically, the sender inserts a portable storage medium (electronic wallet) in which electronic data (electronic money) having a monetary value is recorded into the automatic post of the present invention, and the electronic money Deduct postage from. If the amount paid is less than the postage, the mail will be returned.

[0012] With this, even if it is not known whether the postal matter is out of the standard size, or even if the postage is out of the standard size and the charge is not known, the postage can be easily known and the mail can be delivered.

When the mail is sent by mail, the mail is designated as registered mail, and the name and address of the sender of the mail,
Enter the name and address of the recipient of the mail, and the amount. The receipt number is issued from the input data, and the registered receipt number is recorded in the portable storage medium. Similarly, the registered number is entered on the postal matter to mark it as registered. As a result, even in the case of postal mail registration, it is possible to save the trouble of going to the central post office to send the registered mail outside the handling hours without going to the post office.

[0014]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of an automatic post according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is a weight measuring unit for measuring the weight of mail, 102 is a shape measuring unit for measuring the shape of the mail, 103 is a storage device for storing at least information used for postage calculation, 104
Is a display device for displaying a charge, 105 is an electronic wallet control device, 106 is a mail control unit for controlling whether the mail is stored or returned, 107 is a means for controlling the above-mentioned means, calculating the charge, and data. A control unit for calculating
08 is an electronic wallet.

The electronic wallet 108 is a computerized version of the actual contents of the wallet. The electronic wallet 108 is composed of a portable storage medium such as an IC card, and has an area for storing digital data therein. A part of the storage area in the electronic wallet 108 is used as electronic money. Electronic money is like a prepaid card, and electronic data having a monetary value is recorded. Details of electronic money will be described later with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the automatic post of this embodiment. 201 is a mail receiving port, and 102 is a mail returning port. 2, the same numbers as in FIG. 1 indicate the same things.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the automatic post of this embodiment. Reference numeral 301 is a mail box for storing processed mail. In FIG. 3, the same numbers as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 indicate the same things.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure for payment of postage in the automatic post of this embodiment. The sender of the mail posts the mail from the mail reception port 201. When the automatic post receives a postal matter from the postal matter receiving port 201 (step 401), it measures the weight of the postal matter (step 402) and the shape of the postal matter (step 403). The order of weight measurement and shape measurement does not have to be in this order.

Next, the postage is calculated (step 4).
04). Specifically, since the automatic post storage device 103 stores a list of charges for various types of postal items, such as a fee for a fixed-size postal item by weight and a non-standard-sized postal item fee for each weight, the postal items are posted. This list is searched according to the weight and shape of the postal item, and the postage is calculated.

Next, the calculated postage is displayed on the display device 104 (step 405). Step 40
When the electronic wallet is inserted into the electronic wallet control device 105 in step 6, the balance of the electronic money is confirmed (step 407), and it is determined in step 408 whether the balance is equal to or larger than the postage. . If there is more than the postage balance, the postage is deducted from the electronic money balance (step 409), the mail is marked to indicate that the postage has been paid (step 410), and the mail is stored in the mail. It is stored in the section 301 (step 411). If the balance of electronic money is smaller than the postage in step 408, the postal matter is returned from the return port (step 4).
13).

After the above processing is completed, the electronic wallet is discharged from the control device 105 (step 412) and the processing is ended.

Although the above-mentioned example has been described by taking the ordinary first type mail as an example, it is of course possible to apply to other types of mail. It can also be applied to special handling mail. For example, in order to be able to handle express mail, an automatic post may be provided with an express button, and when the sender presses the express button, it can be accepted as express mail.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure in case of express delivery. This process may be provided between steps 405 and 406 in FIG. 4, for example. That is, if the express delivery button is pressed after the postage is displayed in step 405 (step 501), the express delivery charge is calculated (step 502), and a mark indicating that the postal item is an express delivery is displayed. It is pressed (step 503). afterwards,
The processing from step 406 is performed. A list of express delivery charges is stored in the storage device 103 in advance.

Further, the sender may be provided with a cancel button for canceling the processing, and when the sender pushes the cancel button, acceptance of the mail item may be canceled and the mailed item may be returned.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the cancellation process. This process is performed, for example, in step 405 of FIG.
And 406 may be provided. That is, step 40
After the postage is displayed in 5, the cancel button is accepted (step 601), other processing is canceled (step 602), and the mail is returned from the return port (step 603). Then, step 406
To process from. Of course, both the express delivery process and the cancellation process may be performed.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the structure of an automatic post according to another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is an automatic post having a function of sending registered mail. In FIG. 7, the same numbers as those in FIG. 1 indicate common ones.
An input device 701 is for inputting information.

FIG. 9 is an external view of the automatic post of this embodiment. In FIG. 9, the same numbers as those in FIG. 2 indicate common ones. Reference numeral 901 is an express delivery button for designating that the postal matter is express delivery, 902 is a registered mail button for designating that the postal matter is registered mail, and 903 is a cancel button for designating cancellation of the delivery of the postal matter. Further, an input device 701 for the sender to input the name and address is provided.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure for sending mail by registered mail in this embodiment. The overall procedure of the mail receiving process of this embodiment is almost the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. In addition to the processing of FIG. 4, the processing of FIG. 8 for accepting registered mail is added in this embodiment. Specifically, after the step 405 in FIG. 4, the registered mail button 90
When 2 is pressed, the processing shown in FIG. 8 may be performed.

In FIG. 8, the mail sender first designates postal mail registration (step 801). Next, the input device 7
Information such as the name and address of the sender is input using 01 (step 802).

Information such as the name and address of the sender is automatically input from the personal information such as the name and address stored in the storage unit (electronic money portion) of the electronic wallet, instead of being directly input by the sender. You can also In this case,
It is premised that an electronic wallet is inserted before the processing of.

Next, the sender inputs the recipient information from the input device 701 (step 803). Further, in the case of cash registered mail, enter the registered money amount (step 80).
4). The sender information, the recipient information, and the amount of money do not have to be input in this order. In addition, in the case of registered mail other than cash or simple registered mail, step 804 is skipped.

As a method of inputting addresses of senders and recipients,
There is also a method of inputting a zip code and searching the address using information indicating the correspondence between the zip code and the address stored in the storage device 103.

Next, a receipt number of registered mail for the received mail is issued (step 805), and the receipt number is recorded in the electronic money (step 806). Instead of recording in electronic money, a sheet or the like on which a receipt number is written may be output. Next, a registered mark is attached to the mail item (step 807), and the receipt number is entered (step 808).
In order to retain the registered receipt information, the receipt number and the sender / recipient information are recorded in the storage device 103 in association with each other.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a memory structure of electronic money provided in the storage device of the electronic wallet used in each of the above embodiments. This electronic money is provided with a storage area (1001) for electronic data having a monetary value, a storage area (1002) for personal information, and a storage area (1003) for a postal registration receipt number.

Since electronic data having a monetary value can be said to be electronic money in a narrow sense, the storage area (1001) is shown as electronic money. The personal information stored in the storage area (1002) is the name (100
4), personal information such as address (1005). The registered receipt number storage area (1003) is called receipt number 1 (100
6) The storage area is divided like a reception number 2 (1007), and one reception number is stored for one registered mail.

In the above embodiment, the postage is paid using the electronic money of the electronic wallet, but the actual postage may be paid, or the payment may be made with a prepaid card or a credit card. .

[0038]

According to the present invention, since the charge can be calculated and paid at the same time as shipping, it is possible to save the trouble of checking the charge in advance and purchasing a stamp. In addition, mail items such as registered mail that could not be shipped without going to the post office can be shipped without going to the post office. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble and to send the registered mail or the like at any time regardless of time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an automatic post according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of an automatic post according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an automatic post according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for payment of postage.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in case of express delivery.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of cancellation processing.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an automatic post having a registered mail function.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for mail delivery.

FIG. 9 is an external view showing another embodiment of the automatic post according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a memory block diagram of electronic money.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 ... Weight measuring unit, 102 ... Shape measuring unit, 103 ... Storage device, 104 ... Display device, 105 ... Electronic wallet control device, 106 ... Mail control unit, 107 ... Control each means, calculate charge and data Control unit for computing,
108 ... Electronic wallet, 201 ... Mail receiving port, 102 ... Mail return port, 301 ... Mail box, 401-413 ... Postage payment processing step, 501-503 ... Express delivery processing step, 601-603 ... Shipping Cancellation processing step, 701 ... Input device, 801 to 808 ... Postal registered mail delivery processing step, 901 ... Express delivery button, 902 ... Registered mail button, 903 ... Cancellation button, 1001-1007 ... Memory configuration in storage device of electronic wallet.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An automatic post for automatically accepting mail, comprising means for inserting mail, weight measuring means for measuring the weight of the inserted mail, and Shape measuring means for measuring the shape of the mail, storage means for storing information indicating the correspondence between the weight and shape of the mail and the postage, the result measured by the weight measuring means and the shape A charge calculation means for calculating the postage of the postal matter based on the result of measurement by the measurement means and using the postage information stored in the storage means, and a charge payment means for paying the calculated postage Means for marking a postage paid on the mail item when the amount paid is equal to or greater than the postage, and the postage paid stamp is attached. Was Auto post, characterized in that it includes a storage means for storing the serial mail. 2. The automatic post according to claim 1, wherein a portable storage medium in which electronic data having a monetary value (hereinafter referred to as electronic money) is recorded is used as the fee payment means. 3. A means for specifying that the mail item is express delivery, a means for adding an express delivery fee to the postage, and a mark for indicating that the mail item is express delivery. The automatic post according to claim 1, further comprising means. 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a cancellation designation means for designating cancellation of the processing of the postal matter, and a means for returning the postal matter when cancellation of the processing is designated by the cancellation designating means. Automatic post described in. 5. A means for specifying that the mail is registered mail, a means for inputting the name and address of the sender of the mail, and a name and address of the recipient of the mail. Means for displaying the entered data, means for recording the receipt number of the registered mail in the portable storage medium, and a mark for indicating that the mail is registered mail 3. The automatic post according to claim 2, further comprising: means for writing a registered receipt number on the mail. 6. The automatic post according to claim 5, further comprising means for storing the receipt number of the registered mail. 7. The portable storage medium stores at least one of the sender's name and address, and the means for inputting the sender's name and address is the sender's name or address from the storage medium. The automatic post according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the above is input. 8. A storage means for storing information indicating a correspondence between a postal code and an address, wherein the means for inputting the sender's address is the whole or one of the addresses from the postal code using the storage means. The automatic post according to claim 5, wherein a part is searched.