JPS5992082A - Address code inputting device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a destination code input device that can easily add a destination code to a mail piece, which facilitates automation of delivery classification and major classification of mail pieces.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Recently, letters and postal items are automatically sorted by destination according to the destination number (postal code) attached to the letter and postal item. This automatic sorting is to sort letters and mail for each major post office in the country indicated by the above-mentioned destination number, and is called ``request dispatch gamma sorting''. In order to deliver letters according to their destinations, it is necessary to further divide the sorted letters into delivery categories, large categories and medium categories, and assemble them door to door. However, the automation of these delivery classifications is very slow and still waiting.

This is done manually using separate shelves.

By the way, in order to automate such delivery divisions, major divisions, etc., it will be necessary to use a destination code with an even larger number of digits than the current postal code. However, in order to attach letters and mail to postal codes with more digits than now, it will impose a greater burden on users, and it will be necessary to prepare a more detailed postal code book. In addition, as a means to avoid an increase in the number of postal code digits, we have introduced a system that uses a kanji character recognition device to read the address string written on letters and postal items.
It is conceivable to recognize this. However, it is still difficult to accurately read and recognize a handwritten destination character string using the above-mentioned device, and it is also difficult to standardize the type of characters written in the destination address.

Therefore, in recent years, it has been considered that an operator could read the address written on the letter, enter a code corresponding to that address, for example, via a keyboard input device, and add this code to the letter. However, in this case, it is necessary to always remember the correspondence between the destination and the corresponding code, and if you forget this, it is necessary to search the code table. There was a problem in that it not only placed a heavy burden on the operator, but also reduced work efficiency.Also, inputting the address in a prescribed format such as Roman characters or Kana characters also caused problems such as placing a large burden on the operator. However, it lacked practicality.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a highly practical destination code input method that allows easy input of destination code information necessary for delivery classifications and major classifications. The goal is to provide equipment.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention not only displays the destination character string written on the letter mail, but also displays a plurality of destination directions into which the mail is sorted, for example, as a figure simulating a sorting shelf, and sorts the mail according to the destination character string. By selecting and instructing one of the specified destinations, the instruction information is coded and added to the letter/postal item.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Therefore, according to the present invention, by simply specifying one of the displayed destinations, the destination code corresponding to that destination can be obtained and easily added to the mail.

Therefore, it becomes possible to efficiently perform delivery classification and major classification of letters and mail according to this destination code. Moreover, when inputting the above destination code, it is sufficient to simply select and instruct one of the displayed destination directions on a figure simulating a sorted shelf, so it is easy to directly specify it using a light pen, etc. This has many practical advantages, such as greatly reducing the burden on the operator and improving work efficiency.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment device. Letters and postal items to be subjected to sorting processing are supplied to a letter and postal item supplying section 1 and conveyed, as indicated by the thick arrows in the figure, and are sequentially sent to an address character string reading section 2 and an address code adding section 3. It will be done.

The reading section 2 takes an image of a character string indicating the destination written on the letter/postal item, and the read destination character string is displayed on the destination display section 4. On the other hand, the sorting direction designation display section 5 displays a plurality of destination sorting directions using, for example, a figure simulating a sorting shelf, as will be described later. This display figure represents each compartment box of the compartment shelf by folds, as shown in FIG. 2, for example.

Then, the operator reads and recognizes the destination character string displayed on the destination display section 4, and inputs the destination direction corresponding to the destination into the display graphic of the section direction designation section 5. A selection instruction is given via section 6. This designation input section 6 can be used, for example, with a light pen, to directly instruct one of the destination categories shown in FIG. This is to specify and input the garden surface corresponding to the ground character string. The information about the destination that is input via the input unit 6 in this way is
It is encoded via the code conversion section 7 and given to the destination code annotation section 3. Then, in the destination code annotation unit 3, the input destination area category information is coded and annotated on the letter/postal item.

By the way, the information on the destination category displayed on the category/direction designation display section 5 is given, for example, as shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b).

This destination code entry and the postal items to be marked with it are as follows:
Items are sorted and processed according to the postal code assigned to them, and are grouped by post office. First, the display section 5 displays a simulated graphic of a sorting shelf with a designated sorting direction for delivery sorting, as shown in FIG. 3(,). This delivery area specifies the area by town name and street address, and a number is assigned to each area. Then, according to the destination name (character string) displayed on the display section 4, an area of the corresponding destination category is selected and instructed. The selection instruction for this destination classification area is given by the input F!
This may be done by directly indicating the position on the display screen with a B6 light pen, or by inputting the number assigned to the segmented area using a numeric keypad (keyboard) etc. good. In response to this designation instruction, destination classification information for the delivery classification is input.

However, since it is not possible to include/perform major divisions in Tonomama i, a classification table of the destination classification specified by the above-mentioned delivery classification is then displayed as shown in FIG. 3(b). The specified destination classification is a general one with town names as the unit of classification, and this classification table further divides the designated classification area into address units. Shiga
- Then, for this classification table, specify the classification area corresponding to the destination character string in the same manner as in the case of the delivery classification clothing described above. As a result, destination category information for the dog category will be input.

If information on medium and small divisions is also required, information on destination divisions is input in the same way using a classification table in which the units of classification are made even smaller.

The destination category information entered as above is coded and added to the letter/postal item.

In this way, with this device, the destination code required for automated processing of delivery categories and major categories can be input by the simple operation of selecting and instructing the displayed destination category, and the input information is encoded and sent to the mail. can be added to. One
The required destination code can be inputted very easily without placing any burden on the operator, thereby making it possible to automate the sorting work of letters and mail. Therefore, its practical advantages are enormous. In addition, the direction of the division is specified by a figure that simulates the division shelf, so
It is very easy to enter the code, and it is possible to sufficiently ensure correspondence with manual sorting shelves.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, it is also possible to input the above-mentioned code to enter the classification direction using the town name as the unit of classification, and since street address information is generally indicated by numbers, this may be input multiple times by operating the numeric keys. Further, the code added to the postal item is not limited to numbers, but may be added using invisible ink or the like in a form that can only be read by a machine. In short, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure shows the display format for the sorting direction, and FIG. 3(b) is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the delivery sorting clothes and the large sorting clothes as graphic examples of the sorting direction. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Letter/mail supply section, 2... Destination character string reading section, 3... Destination code notation section, 4... Destination display section,
5... Division direction designation display section, 6... Division direction designation input section, 7... Code conversion section. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 31/J

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) means for capturing and displaying an image of a character string indicating an address written on a postal item; means for displaying a plurality of destination directions into which the postal item is sorted; A means for selecting and instructing one of the plurality of destinations displayed, and a means for encoding information on the selected destination according to the specified information and adding it to the mail. A destination code input device characterized by: (2) The destination code input device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of destinations into which the mail is sorted is displayed as an image corresponding to the configuration of the sorting shelves. (3) The destination code according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of destination directions are displayed by sequentially setting the destination directions in detail from the upper category level to the lower category level over a plurality of classification levels. Input device.