Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – For cost/price – Postage meter system
Utility Patent
1998-03-27
2001-01-02
Cosimano, Edward R. (Department: 2761)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
For cost/price
Postage meter system
C702S155000, C702S158000, C702S159000, C705S401000
Utility Patent
active
06169978
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a unit with which items of mail or the like can be automatically accepted.
More specifically, the present invention relates to units which are capable of simultaneously determining the postal fee for the item of mail and providing the item of mail with the markings to be applied in the case of manual acceptance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In EP-A-0 264 502 there is described a unit which accepts, weighs and franks letters, and also charges postage. However wherein this unit is only capable of accepting and handling flat letters which fit through a slot.
EP-A-0 643 374 discloses an electronic franking system for items of mail having a housing and an acceptance compartment for items of mail to be handled wherein the acceptance compartment is arranged in the housing and can be closed by a closure plate. The system also has a control means, a handling plate for the items of mail, at least one measuring means for physical properties of the items of mail wherein an amount for prepayment is calculated from the weight and the dimensions in the control means, and a printing means connected to the control means for applying a prepayment to the item of mail.
The measuring means includes both a balance and a number of light barriers for the maximum permissible length and width of the item of mail. For measuring the length and width, the item of mail is aligned with respect to two edges of the handling plate which are perpendicular to each other and the dimensions are determined from the coincidence of individual light barriers. The alignment also brings the item of mail into a geometrical relationship which determines the place where the prepayment is applied.
EP-A-0 647 749 discloses a parcel sorting system which scans the surface of parcels transported on a conveyor belt by a video camera and measures the height of the parcels by an ultrasonic sensor. The address area is captured by a plurality of additional cameras.
The charges for items sent by mail depend not only on weight but also on their dimensions. Consequently, in a system for the automatic acceptance of items of mail, it must also be possible for their dimensions to be satisfactorily ascertained. In the case of items of mail which are not entirely flat, such as for example relatively thick letters and parcels, under certain circumstances this presents considerable difficulties since, in the attempt to measure the maximum geometrical extent of a relatively large item by means of a camera, there is a measuring uncertainty caused by parallax.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present is to specify a unit, and an operating process for such a unit, with which virtually all items of mail allowed to be posted can be accepted, measured and handled.
The present achieves this object by the customer who is posting the item of mail and depositing it on a handling surface. A line of light barriers measures the thickness of the item of mail and images of the item of mail are created by an electronic camera. With the aid of the images, both the length and width of the item of mail can be ascertained. In addition the position of a marking, in particular of a postage stamp or adhesive label, can be determined and verified and a record of posting can be created without the item necessarily having to be handed over in a particular position.
An exact measurement of the length and width of the item of mail is made possible by a Fresnel lens being arranged between the handling surface and the camera in such way that its focal point lies at the focal point of the camera optics; the dimensions of the Fresnel lens being greater than the vertical projection of the largest item of mail to be measured onto the handling surface.
Even relatively large Fresnel lenses can be produced inexpensively. They take up only little space in the direction of the optical axis, with the result that low-cost space-saving measuring systems with which even relatively large items can be accurately measured can be set up.
The handling surface is preferably light-diffusing surface, with the result that the item of mail to be measured lies on a diffusely illuminated surface. The handling surface may in this case be a translucent diffuser, that is to say a ground-glass screen; the light source preferably being arranged beneath the handling surface and the camera preferably being arranged above it. In the case of a translucent handling surface, the light source, which may also comprise a plurality of lamps, is preferably arranged laterally above the handling surface.
The imaging of the item of mail, or its outline, onto the CCD element of the electronic camera then makes it possible for the exact dimensions of the items of mail to be ascertained. In addition to a space-saving, technically simple and inexpensive solution for measuring the contour of items of mail, the solution according to the present invention also has a further advantage: if the Fresnel lens is arranged in such a way that it can be operationally moved out of the path of rays of the camera, a photo of the surface of the item of mail can also be taken by the same camera, or another camera alongside, in order, for example, to create a receipt for the acceptance and handling of the item of mail or to evaluate address codes and the like. All that is needed for this purpose, if required, is to provide an additional light source to illuminate the item of mail from above.
According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, it is proposed to design the device mentioned at the beginning in such a way that a Fresnel lens is arranged between the light source and the item of mail and a translucent diffuser is arranged between the item of mail and the camera. In this case, either the side facing the camera of the Fresnel lens itself can be used as the bearing surface, or the bearing surface is a transparent plate arranged between the Fresnel lens and the diffuser.
Further advantageous refinements and variants of the present invention are represented in the following description and drawing of exemplary embodiments as well as in the patent claims.
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Wurz: “Bad coding basics”; Plant Engineering, v49, n6, May 8, 1995, p. 94.
Fl{umlaut over (u)}ckiger Hans Walter
Kremer Holger
Lutz Bernhard
Sieber Stefan
Tewes Udo
Cosimano Edward R.
Hill & Simpson
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
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