JPH10133975A - Bidirectional conversion and connection system for electronic mail and ordinary mail - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable even a person who does not have any electronic mail address to exchange messages through electronic mail mailing by enabling mutual conversion between the contents of an electronic mail and the contents of a mail such as a letter and a postal card. SOLUTION: Mutual converting devices CV1 to CV3 are placed in respective areas A to C in charge. Each mutual converting device is equipped with a means which converts the contents of an electronic mail into a mail such as a letter and a postal card and a means which converts the contents of a mail such as a letter and a postal card into an electronic mail. The mutual converting devices CV1 to CV3 are connected to a network NT needed to send and receive electronic mails and have unique electronic mail addresses AD1 to AD3. Those mutual converting devices CV1 to CV3 convert the contents of letters and postal cards sent from requesters who have no electronic mail address to a distribution system for mail, etc., into electronic data and send them by electronic mailing to electronic mail terminals of the mutual converting devices VC1 to CV3 or arbitrary electronic mail terminals.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention makes it possible to exchange the contents of e-mails with the contents of mails of letters and postcards, so that even those who do not have an e-mail address can exchange messages via e-mail. The present invention relates to a bidirectional conversion connection system for electronic mail and mail.

[0002]

Recently, the Internet, which is a worldwide network of computers, has rapidly spread, and electronic mail via the Internet has been widely used. This has made it possible to exchange information with people far away very easily and at low cost.

However, those who can use e-mail via the Internet need to have a system for sending and receiving e-mail. For this reason, e-mail is still available to a very small number of people, and many people have not been able to share this advantage.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention enables people who do not have an e-mail address to send messages using e-mail, and if necessary, those who have an e-mail address. It expands the functionality of e-mail by allowing e-mail to send letters and postcards to people who do not have an e-mail address.

[0005] According to the present invention, mutual conversion devices having means for converting the contents of postcards and letters into e-mails and means for converting the contents of e-mails into postcards and letters are installed at a plurality of places in each place. .

The interconversion device has an e-mail terminal connected to a network through which e-mail can be exchanged, and can also exchange e-mail with general e-mail terminals other than the interconversion device. I have.

[0007] The mutual conversion device performs mutual conversion between an e-mail and a postcard or a letter as appropriate according to a user's request or a use form of this service, and converts the contents sent by the e-mail into a postcard. It asks the postman or alternative delivery company to deliver the postcard or letter, or converts the postcard or letter into an email and sends it. Also, postcards and letters are directly exchanged between the mutual conversion devices by some means.

As described above, according to the present invention, the contents of an e-mail and the contents of a mail of a letter or postcard can be mutually converted, so that even a person who does not have an e-mail address can exchange messages via an e-mail. This realizes the bidirectional conversion connection system for e-mail and mail.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a bidirectional conversion connection system for electronic mail and mail according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, an NT can handle electronic mail on a computer network such as the Internet. Each of the CV1, CV2, and CV3 is provided with means for converting the contents of the e-mail into letters and postcards and means for converting the contents of the letters and postcards into e-mail by the mutual conversion device in each region.

ML is a postal network and is a distribution system such as an ordinary postal system or a private home delivery system.
PS1, PS2 and PS3 are post offices or logistics receiving stations in the respective areas. A, B, and C indicate respective areas in charge.

The interconversion devices CV1, CV2, and CV3 are located in the respective areas A, B, and C, and the interconversion devices CV1, CV2, and CV3 are connected to a network NT necessary for transmitting and receiving electronic mail. And their own e-mail addresses AD1, AD2, AD3
have.

The device for transmitting and receiving e-mails of the mutual conversion devices CV1, CV2 and CV3 is the same as the e-mail transmitting and receiving device using a normal computer, and receives and sends e-mails sent to its own address. Is printed out and converted into a postcard or letter.

[0013] An electronic mail is transmitted / received to / from any electronic mail terminal having an electronic mail address. Means for converting the mail contents of the letters and postcards of the interconversion devices CV1, CV2 and CV3 into e-mails is the contents of the letters and postcards sent by a mail or other logistics system from a client who does not have an e-mail address Is converted into electronic data and transmitted by e-mail to an e-mail terminal of an inter-conversion device in an arbitrary region or to an arbitrary e-mail terminal.

If the destination of a letter or postcard sent to the interconversion device is addressed to a person having an e-mail address, the interconversion device sends the contents of the converted electronic data directly to the address of the e-mail of the request destination. To the terminal. If the address of a letter or postcard sent to the interconversion device is addressed to a person who does not have an e-mail address, the interconversion device converts the contents of the converted electronic data into e-mail and The e-mail is sent to the nearest regional converter, which prints out the contents of the e-mail, converts it to a letter or postcard, and sends it by mail.

An example of a service that can be provided by the above connection form is shown below. Upon receiving the e-mail, the mutual conversion device prints out the contents of the e-mail, converts it into a postcard or letter, and sends it to the post office using the postal network from the post office in charge. By doing so, the letter or postcard is delivered to the final destination.

An example of a service which can be provided by the electronic mail and postal bidirectional conversion connection system of the present invention thus configured will be described below. 1. Method of transmitting a message from the owner of an e-mail terminal to a person who does not have an e-mail terminal In order to carry out this method, it is necessary to convert the contents of the e-mail into a postcard or a letter.

The user of the e-mail terminal writes a destination (address, name) and a message in the e-mail according to a predetermined format, and has a service provider having an interconversion device in the responsible area to which the message is sent. Send an email to the email address of

Upon receiving the e-mail, the service provider prints out the contents of the e-mail and actually converts it into a postcard or letter, and sends the e-mail to the postman (delivery company) for the destination (address, name). By requesting delivery, a message is transmitted from the owner of the e-mail terminal to a person who does not have the e-mail terminal.

Thus, the user of the electronic mail terminal can save the trouble of actually making a postcard or a letter. Especially,
In the case of air mail for overseas, etc., if a service provider having a mutual conversion device is located at a local site (overseas), delivery may be faster than sending a direct letter, and the cost of the user may be reduced.

2. Method of transmitting a message from a person who does not have an e-mail terminal to the owner of the e-mail terminal In order to perform this method, it is necessary to convert the contents of a postcard or a letter into e-mail.

A person who does not have an e-mail terminal sends a postcard or a letter on which a message and a destination are described to a service provider having an interconversion device by some physical distribution means (postal mail or the like). The correspondence between the destination address and the e-mail address is registered by the user in advance with the service provider.

The service provider converts the contents of the postcard or letter into an electronic mail and sends the electronic mail address of the electronic mail terminal to which the message is sent. If requested by the recipient, a separate postcard or letter can be mailed again to the destination of the message. In particular, this method is effective as a service for heavy users utilizing electronic mail.

3. Method of transmitting a message from a person who does not have an e-mail terminal to a person who does not have an e-mail terminal via e-mail In order to carry out this method, the contents of a postcard or a letter are converted into e-mail and an interconversion device It is necessary to transmit the e-mail during this period, and to convert the content of the transmitted e-mail again into a postcard or a letter.

This method may be able to provide low cost and fast delivery to those who do not have an e-mail transmission / reception system when the people transmitting the messages are far away.

4. A method of converting a message from an e-mail to an e-mail via a postcard or letter and transmitting the message. This method is effective when used in a place where there is a local network that handles e-mail but is not connected to a global network such as the Internet.

In the above embodiment, the case where the message transmitted or mailed (delivered) by e-mail is written data such as a postcard or a letter has been described, but the object of the message is not necessarily limited to this. . For example,
A data recording / reproducing medium such as an IC card or a floppy disk with a built-in memory may be used. Also, the contents of the e-mail need not necessarily be limited to sentences. Any data can be used as long as the data can be transmitted through an e-mail network.

For example, when an IC card with a built-in memory is used, the above-mentioned 4. A method of converting a message from an e-mail to an e-mail via a postcard or letter and transmitting the message. With regard to the services listed above, means for maintaining security when using the Internet, or
It can be used as a means for transmitting large amounts of data.

When a user sends an e-mail or a large amount of data specifying a destination (e-mail and location) to a service provider, the vendor causes the data to be stored in a recording medium, and the data is stored in a storage medium. It is also possible to send this medium by any means (mailing) to the handling place, convert it again to e-mail or mass data at the site, and send it to the destination.

By using such a method, the number of intermediate e-mails is extremely small, security can be maintained, or a large number of takes can be sent at a low cost. Furthermore, various methods can be used for converting an e-mail into a postcard or a letter. Depending on this conversion method, the content and quality of the service to be provided will vary greatly.

For example, in the above 1. A method of transmitting a message from an e-mail terminal owner to a person who does not have an e-mail terminal. With respect to a. A method of electronically printing only the contents of an e-mail. This method is effective when you want to convey only the requirements quickly. b. How to select a preset e-mail content format (sample). This method is convenient when you want to quickly complete a greeting, summer greeting, new year's card, congratulatory letter, etc. c. A method of sending the contents of the e-mail in a state written by hand. This method requires an image reader, but is effective for users who are particular about handwriting.

The same applies to a method of converting a postcard or a letter into an electronic mail. Depending on the method, the content and quality of the service to be provided can vary greatly. a. A method of converting and sending only the text of postcards and letters using a character recognition device. This method can send data quickly and inexpensively. b. A method of converting postcards and letters into video data and text and sending them. This method is effective for sending postcards and letters containing drawings and photos. c. A method of converting all postcards and letters into video data and sending it. This method can accurately send images of postcards and letters.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the contents of an e-mail and the contents of a mail of a letter or a postcard can be mutually converted, so that even those who do not have an e-mail address can use the electronic mail. This realizes a bidirectional conversion connection system between e-mail and mail, which enables exchange of messages via e-mail.

[0033] This allows people who do not have an e-mail address to send messages using e-mail, and if necessary, those who do have e-mail addresses do not have e-mail addresses. To the people,
The ability to send letters and postcards using e-mail can greatly enhance the functionality of e-mail.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a bidirectional conversion connection system for electronic mail and mail according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

NT ... Computer network, A ...
Area in charge B: Area in charge C: Area in charge CV1 ...
-Mutual conversion device CV2-Mutual conversion device CV3-Mutual conversion device AD1-E-mail address AD2-E-mail address AD3-E-mail address ML-Postal network PS1-Postal Office PS2 Post office PS3
···post office

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An inter-conversion device having means for converting the contents of an e-mail into a mail of a letter or a postcard and means for converting the contents of a mail of a letter or a postcard into an e-mail is provided at a plurality of places in each place. A two-way e-mail and mail conversion connection system that enables the exchange of messages with people who do not have an e-mail address by connecting the interconversion device to the network required to send and receive e-mail 2. An interactive system comprising: means for recording the contents of an e-mail on a data recording / reproducing medium such as a floppy disk; and means for converting the contents of data recorded on a data recording / reproducing medium such as a floppy disk into e-mail. By providing a plurality of conversion devices at each location, connecting the mutual conversion devices at each location to a network necessary for transmitting and receiving e-mail, and transmitting and receiving data recording and reproducing media such as a floppy disk by a distribution system such as a postal network, E-mail and postal bidirectional conversion connection system that enables message exchange with people who do not have an e-mail address 3. A means for converting the contents of an e-mail such as a greeting card, a New Year's card, etc. into a mail of a letter or a postcard by selecting this form in advance, and a form of the contents of the e-mail by the letter or a postcard A plurality of inter-conversion devices provided with means for converting to an e-mail by selecting an e-mail address by connecting the inter-conversion devices at each site to a network necessary for transmitting and receiving e-mails E-mail and postal bidirectional conversion connection system that enables exchange of messages with people without mail 4. An inter-conversion device having means for converting the contents of an e-mail into mail of a letter or a postcard as image data and means for converting the contents of a mail of a letter or postcard into an e-mail as image data at various places. A two-way e-mail and mail conversion connection system that enables messages to be exchanged with people who do not have an e-mail address by connecting multiple mutual conversion devices to the network necessary for sending and receiving e-mail at multiple locations