EP2455918A1 - Verfahren zur Frankierung und Bearbeitung einer Postsendung - Google Patents

Verfahren zur Frankierung und Bearbeitung einer Postsendung Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2455918A1
EP2455918A1 EP10191547A EP10191547A EP2455918A1 EP 2455918 A1 EP2455918 A1 EP 2455918A1 EP 10191547 A EP10191547 A EP 10191547A EP 10191547 A EP10191547 A EP 10191547A EP 2455918 A1 EP2455918 A1 EP 2455918A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
franking
code
mail piece
symbols
mail
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP10191547A
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English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
Lars Nilsson
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Post Danmark AS
Original Assignee
Post Danmark AS
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Post Danmark AS filed Critical Post Danmark AS
Priority to EP10191547A priority Critical patent/EP2455918A1/de
Publication of EP2455918A1 publication Critical patent/EP2455918A1/de
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00016—Relations between apparatus, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office, in a franking system
    • G07B17/0008—Communication details outside or between apparatus
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00016—Relations between apparatus, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office, in a franking system
    • G07B17/0008—Communication details outside or between apparatus
    • G07B2017/00112—Wireless
    • G07B2017/0012—Wireless in a mobile phone system
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00435—Details specific to central, non-customer apparatus, e.g. servers at post office or vendor
    • G07B2017/00443—Verification of mailpieces, e.g. by checking databases
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00459—Details relating to mailpieces in a franking system
    • G07B17/00661—Sensing or measuring mailpieces
    • G07B2017/00709—Scanning mailpieces
    • G07B2017/00725—Reading symbols, e.g. OCR

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method for franking and handling a mail piece.
  • the present invention also relates to a mail piece comprising a hexadecimal franking code.
  • German patent application DE10131304 describes a method for franking a mail piece where a user contacts a central computer from a mobile phone to request a franking code. The latter is stored in a database and then sent to the mobile phone. The user copies the code onto a letter and dispatches the same.
  • a sorting machine reads the code with a scanner and its authenticity is checked against the stored database information.
  • the information in the database can also include code postage value and expiration date.
  • German patent application DE10133887 relates to a method in which a user orders electronic postage by entering a customer number or SMS reception number. A postage number is then forwarded to the customer, wherein that number is also stored in a database. The customer writes the number on a mail piece, which is subsequently scanned at the postal service. Several validity checks are made such as whether the order was made in the same postal district and/or whether the used mobile phone was present in that postal district. If at least one of these checks is positive, the shipment is carried out. Subsequently, the stored information in the database is deleted.
  • European patent application EP1310917 discloses a franking method where a customer orders electronic postage, giving information such as payment method. Upon such request, an alphanumeric postal code is generated and transmitted to the customer. The client applies the code to the mail piece and effects the dispatch. At the postal service the authenticity of the code is verified by reading the code and delivery address and then cross-checking whether there exists a valid counterpart in the database.
  • British patent application GB0207594 describes a method for ordering electronic postage, where a user orders a franking code from a mail server.
  • the franking code which can consist of alphanumeric characters is sent to the mobile phone of the user with a charge debited to the same.
  • the alphanumeric code can be generated based on the postage value, weight, destination, or postage category.
  • the generated code is saved in a database and is subsequently used to validate the shipment.
  • the present invention relates to a method for franking and handling a mail piece, said method comprising:
  • the mail piece may be a letter, a parcel or the like.
  • the service provider will typically be a postal service.
  • the request from the customer for franking is advantageously sent to the service provider by means of the same communication device to which the franking code is subsequently transferred by the service provider.
  • the communication device is preferably a mobile phone or a personal computer.
  • the request for franking may, for example, take the form of an SMS message, an e-mail, or may be put forward via an online form.
  • the information relating to a required franking value may be the desired franking amount as such.
  • the information may specify details of the mail piece to be sent, such as size, weight and/or destination, which information then can be used by the service provider to determine the applicable franking amount.
  • the service provider transfers a franking code according to the present invention to a communication device of the customer, for example to a personal computer or a mobile phone, for example by e-mail or SMS message or MMS message.
  • a communication device of the customer for example to a personal computer or a mobile phone
  • the franking code is purchased from the service provider, wherein the franking amount may be billed to the same communication device.
  • the franking charge could, for example, be added to a monthly bill of the customer's communication device.
  • the customer could purchase a certain amount of credit from the service provider which could be used for subsequent purchases of franking codes.
  • the respective first and second parts of the franking code each may correspond to one or more of the symbols, e.g. one or more alphanumeric characters. Also, the respective first and second parts each may correspond to one or more binary digits (bits) when the franking code is converted to bits.
  • the first part may be constituted by six bits whereas the second part may be constituted by the remaining bits or a subset thereof.
  • the second part serves as an identifier, which is unique for the respective request and the mail piece to be sent. The unique identifier can for example be used to track and authenticate the mail piece and the applied franking code and/or for preventing misuse of the present method.
  • the customer labels the mail piece with said code.
  • This may be a hand-written label, for example a two-dimensional matrix of alphanumeric characters, or may take the form of a print-out label that is attached to the mail piece.
  • the customer subsequently dispatches the addressed and franked mail piece, after which it is received by the service provider.
  • the labelled mail piece is handled in a mail handling machine such as any customary mail sorting machine.
  • the mail handling machine carries out an automatic OCR of the franking code for a determination of the franking value from the first part of the code. This may, for example, be done by converting the franking code to a plurality of binary digits (bits), where one or more of said bits correspond to the first part of the code.
  • suitable decoding means provided in the handling machine, the first part can be decoded to directly yield the respective franking values.
  • Suitable decoding means may comprise processor means for looking up the franking value corresponding to the first part of the code in a pre-configured list stored in a memory portion of the decoding means.
  • the decoding means may thus advantageously comprise a list of each possible first part of the franking code, e.g. in binary form, and its corresponding franking value.
  • the franking value may also be calculated from the first part of the franking code by a processor according to a pre-configured formula stored in a memory portion of the decoding means.
  • the calculated franking value may be validated against a list of possible franking values.
  • the decoding means could also comprise a decryption key.
  • the correct franking value is automatically established for each mail piece without the need of consulting an external and/or central database for comparing a given unique identifier with a list of issued codes and their respective franking values.
  • the major advantage of the present method thus resides in the fact that the franking value is an inherent feature of the franking code which can be derived during mail handling in the mail handling machine, i.e. inline, directly and independently of the unique identifier. That means that the service provider is freed from the need of constantly and immediately updating a database with respect to the franking codes issued to their customers. There is therefore no need to simultaneously write into and read from a database. This simplifies the mail handling and sorting dramatically, making it quicker and cheaper. Thus, a simple and database-independent determination of the franking value can be achieved irrespective of the unique identifier, that is irrespective of any information about which and when a given franking code has been sold.
  • the decoding may thus be performed inline and at a speed that is compatible with the processing speed for mail pieces in the mail handling machine.
  • processing speeds can easily attain ten mail pieces per second for a single processing line of a mail handling machine.
  • the established franking value may be used in combination with other details of the mail piece determined in the mail handling machine for each mail piece, such as size, weight and/or destination, in order to perform an inline validation of the franking code. Additional inline validation checks may also be performed on the second part of the franking code. Examples for such inline validation checks are verification of a checksum value, date/time validation, or an expiry check.
  • the result of the inline validation may be fed in real-time as input to a subsequent decision process, such as the decision matrix of the mail handling machine for determining the further processing of the mail piece.
  • a subsequent decision process such as the decision matrix of the mail handling machine for determining the further processing of the mail piece.
  • the franking value and/or any further inline validation information may be stored for later use, e.g. for offline validation.
  • offline characterises processes as being performed independent of the production line, her independent of the mail processing in the mail handling machine.
  • the unique identifier is during a first time period selected from a first plurality of unique identifiers, wherein the unique identifier is during a second time period selected from a second plurality of unique identifiers.
  • the respective first and second time periods could, for example, be a week or a month.
  • the unique identifiers used for the franking code are selected from a first list of unique identifiers, e.g. the January list
  • the unique identifiers are selected from a second list, e.g. the February list.
  • a third plurality of unique identifiers could be used during a third time period (e.g. a month) and so on.
  • a part of the franking code encodes the number of the day in a year, i.e. a value from 1-366. This can advantageously be used to verify and check the franking code which may be valid for a period of 14 days from issuance by the service provider.
  • part of the franking code may encode the year and time of issuance by the service provider. It is also conceivable that part of the franking code is used to encode a specific country or geographic region.
  • the mail handling comprises forming a digital image of the labelled mail item.
  • said digital image is stored in a database.
  • This database of stored images may then, subsequent to mail sorting and possibly to mail delivery, be used to prevent and/or identify misuse of the method by carrying out a one or more offline checks.
  • the multiple occurrence of the identical franking code can be identified and related to at least the addressee of the mail piece and/or the communication device used.
  • the service provider may maintain a list of unique identifiers sold in a given period. When suspecting misuse, the franking code on the digital image may be cross-checked against that list to spot irregularities.
  • the request and/or the franking code is transmitted by short message service (SMS).
  • SMS short message service
  • the digital image further includes address information on the mail piece.
  • address information on the mail piece is particularly relevant for identifying and/or preventing misuse of the method of the present invention.
  • the symbols are alphanumeric characters. This is especially preferred if the labelling of the mail piece by the customer is done by hand. Other symbols such as geometrical shapes or the like are also conceivable, however, alphanumeric characters are most preferred since they are most familiar to people in Western societies, thus reducing the risk of labelling mistakes.
  • the alphanumeric characters are those letters and numbers which have the highest probability of being recognized correctly in OCR.
  • the relevant numbers and letters will typically depend on the geographical area in which the method is used and may depend on the OCR device implemented on the system. The relevant numbers and letters can be determined by repeated testing of the possible characters in OCR.
  • the amount of information that can be encoded in a franking code of a given length depends on the number N of different characters each of the symbols in the franking code may be selected from.
  • N is the number of different characters in the list.
  • the number of encoding characters per symbol is determined by balancing the requirement for high information density with the constraints imposed by practical use in the transmission, labelling and handling/OCR steps. For example, if only numbers between 0 and 9 are used, the franking code is made up of decimal digits, thereby forming a decimal franking code (base 10 encoding). However, for practical applications in mail handling, a decimal franking code would require rather long symbol sequences that would be at the least inconvenient for the customer. An excessively long sequence also increases the risk of "misspelling", i.e. the risk of errors that may occur during the labelling step.
  • each digit of the franking code is encoded by symbols that are selected from a list of sixteen or more different characters.
  • a large variety of characters can be used for the franking code of the present invention, including characters that do not belong to the Latin alphabet. These include symbols such as pyramids, smiley, male/female, pounds, dollars, and the like.
  • the number of symbols that can be used to represent a franking value in the inventive code are in principle infinite, which means that the code in principle may contain an infinite amount of data.
  • the following characters may be used for the franking code of the present invention: A,C,E,F,H,K,L,M,N,P,R,T,U,V,W,X,Y, a,c,d,e,f,h,k,m,n,p,r,t,u,v,w,x,y, 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.
  • This gives 17 +17 +10 44 possible characters per digit in the code if one takes the context into account, ie. it is known when a character can be uppercase or lowercase (e.g. the letter C is easy to recognize, but it is more difficult to see whether it is uppercase or lowercase).
  • the number of possible characters is further reduced, so as to avoid error readings. This can easily be done for example by only using the respective capital letters and numbers.
  • the symbols are selected from a group of alphanumeric characters, the group consisting of the numbers ⁇ 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 ⁇ and the letters ⁇ A,C,E,F,H,K,L,M,N,P,R,T,U,V,W,X,Y ⁇ , to form an alphanumeric franking code.
  • the symbols of the franking code thus each represent a digit with 27 values, which in combination form a base 27 encoded number for the franking code.
  • said symbols are applied onto the mail piece in a two-dimensional matrix. This facilitates both labelling by the customer and OCR in the mail handling machine, and reduces the likelihood of mistakes. Arranging the symbols in a matrix would also minimise the risk of mistakenly reading into the franking code one or more of the characters used in the address or recipient fields of the mail piece.
  • the two-dimensional matrix is a 3 x 4 matrix.
  • the amount symbols and the most suitable matrix may be adjusted according to a number of factors such as the geographical extent of the area of operation.
  • the franking code is converted into a plurality of binary digits (bits) in the mail handling machine.
  • the symbols of the franking code each are selected from a list of N different characters, the symbols may be combined to represent a base N encoded number. Converting that base N encoded number to a binary representation allows structuring the franking code on a binary level. On the binary level, the data represented by the franking code may be attributed in a more flexible manner than when structuring the franking code on the symbol level.
  • a more adequate intermediate number of franking value levels may be defined at the binary level using less code possibilities for the first part, thus leaving more code possibilities for the second part.
  • the symbols of the franking code may be selected from sixteen characters, preferably alphanumeric characters, to form a hexadecimal franking code (base 16 encoding).
  • a hexadecimal franking code can easily be converted into the corresponding plurality of bits (four bits per digit), which facilitates computer-operated handling.
  • the first part of the franking code corresponds to a first subset of said plurality of bits and wherein the second part of the franking code corresponds to a second subset of said plurality of bits.
  • the number of binary digits in the first subset of said plurality of bits should be chosen according to the desired amount of distinct franking values.
  • the number of binary digits in the second subset of said plurality of bits is advantageously chosen according to the desired amount of unique identifiers.
  • a part of the franking code represents the number of the day in a year.
  • the service provider would be given a simple tool to determine on what day the respective code was transferred to the user. This may be useful when identifying and/or preventing misuse of the inventive method.
  • the first part of the franking code encodes one of a predetermined plurality of discrete franking values.
  • the second part of the franking code is used to validate the authenticity of the franking code on the mail piece using the digital image stored in the database. This can be done in many different ways, for example by comparing the franking code on the digital image with a list of franking codes sold by the service provider in a given period, or by comparing two or more franking codes among the digital images stored in the database for detecting multiple occurrences.
  • the franking code further comprises one or more redundant symbols for error correction during OCR. This is particularly relevant if the franking code is applied by hand to the mail piece.
  • the error correction is a Reed-Solomon error correction.
  • the probability of correct reading may be increased by incorporating redundant symbols in the code such as Reed-Solomon error correction algorithms. Incorporating redundant symbols leaves fewer symbols to carry the actual data.
  • redundant symbols could be in the corners of the code, as in this example showing again a 3x4 matrix:
  • the probability of correct reading is increased, since the error correction algorithm such as Reed-Solomon can correct 2 errors in the code or 4 missing symbols or a misreading in combination with 2 missing symbols.
  • the error correction algorithm such as Reed-Solomon can correct 2 errors in the code or 4 missing symbols or a misreading in combination with 2 missing symbols.
  • Using a Reed-Solomon algorithm it can be calculated how many defects can be corrected according to the formula: ⁇ Number of errors ⁇ x ⁇ 2 + ⁇ missing character ⁇ ⁇ 4
  • the underlined symbols are redundant symbols (four in total), whereas the two italic symbols ⁇ A,5 ⁇ in the centre represent the franking value.
  • the remaining six symbols constitute the unique identifier.
  • the symbols ⁇ K,3,3,A,5,N,8,3 ⁇ may be combined according to a predetermined sequence to represent a base 27 encoded number, which may be converted into binary format using 39 bits, and at the binary level structured such that a given portion of the bits is reserved for the first part representing the franking value and the remaining bits or a subset thereof are reserved for the second part.
  • the present invention relates to a mail piece comprising a franking code constituted by symbols that are selected from a group of characters, said franking code having a first part and a second part, wherein said first part represents a franking value, and wherein said second part is a unique identifier.
  • the mail piece may, for example, be a letter or a parcel. Decoupling the encoded franking value from the unique identifier has a number of advantages as described above.
  • the symbols are selected from a group of alphanumeric characters.
  • said symbols are arranged on the mail piece in a two-dimensional matrix.
  • the matrix is a 3 x 4 matrix.
  • the alphanumeric characters are those letters and/or numbers which have the highest probability of being recognized correctly in OCR. These letters and/or numbers may, for example, be selected from the following characters:
  • the symbols are selected from a group of sixteen characters, thereby forming a hexadecimal franking code.
  • the franking code comprises redundant symbols for error correction, preferably by Reed-Solomon error correction.
  • the code comprises at least eight symbols, more preferably between 9 and 16 symbols, and most preferably 12 symbols.
  • the franking code is convertible into binary representation.
  • a hexadecimal franking code comprises 12 symbols wherein 4 symbols are dedicated to redundancy for error correction in the OCR step, and 8 symbols are dedicated to the data carrying portion of the franking code, wherein 6 bit are allocated to the first part, and 26 bit are allocated to the second part.
  • Fig. 1 schematically, one embodiment of the method according to the present invention.
  • a customer 52 puts forward a request 71 to a service provider 51 for franking a letter.
  • the request 71 is transmitted by a mobile phone (not shown) using SMS.
  • the request contains information on the size, weight and destination of the letter.
  • a franking code 53 is selected at 73 by the service provider 51.
  • the resulting franking code 53 is a hexadecimal code consisting of twelve alphanumeric characters which are arranged in a 4 x 3 matrix.
  • the franking charge is subtracted from a franking credit which the customer has purchased in advance from the service provider.
  • the franking code 53 comprises a first part relating to the required franking value 56 and a second part with a unique identifier which is selected from a list 54 of unique identifiers for the relevant time period, for example for the relevant number of week.
  • the unique identifiers on the list 54 may be in hexadecimal or binary format. In this example, the unique identifier is constituted by 26 bits.
  • the applicable franking value is determined from the size and weight of the letter. Six binary digits (bits) are used by the service provider to encode 64 discrete franking values covering the range of used franking values. The applicable franking value and its corresponding 6-bit code is selected and converted into the applicable hexadecimal code. 16 bit of the franking code 53, i.e. four of the hexadecimal characters are redundant symbols used for error correction.
  • the established franking code 53 is then transmitted to a communication device (not shown) of the customer 52.
  • the customer then carries out a labelling step 74 where the franking code 53 is copied onto the letter resulting in labelled letter 54.
  • Said labelled letter comprises the franking code 53, an address field 91 containing the name and address of the addressee and a sender field 92 containing the name and address of the sender.
  • the labelled letter is dispatched by the customer.
  • the labelled letter 54 is received by the service provider where it is handled in a mail handling machine 55.
  • OCR optical character recognition
  • the hexadecimal code is converted into binary digits (bits).
  • the bits relating to the first part are decoded 76 using a code list, thus yielding the decoded franking value 56.
  • a digital photography step 77 is carried out to yield a digital image 57 of that surface of the mail piece that contains the franking code and the address. If the established franking value matches the size, weight and destination of the letter, the same can be shipped.
  • the digital image is stored in a database 58, which can be used to identify potential misuse by matching 79 the unique identifier with one of the plurality of unique identifiers on list 54 or by identifying multiple occurrences of the same unique identifier on different mail pieces.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)
EP10191547A 2010-11-17 2010-11-17 Verfahren zur Frankierung und Bearbeitung einer Postsendung Withdrawn EP2455918A1 (de)

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EP10191547A EP2455918A1 (de) 2010-11-17 2010-11-17 Verfahren zur Frankierung und Bearbeitung einer Postsendung

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Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0862145A2 (de) * 1997-02-28 1998-09-02 Neopost Limited Sicherheitsauthentisierung von Frankierzeichen
DE19940448A1 (de) * 1999-08-25 2001-03-01 Nt Innovation Ohg I Gr Verfahren und Vorrichtung zur Ausgabe virtueller Wertmarken
DE10131304A1 (de) 2001-07-02 2003-01-23 Thomas Brandner Verfahren zum standortungebundenen Entrichten von Porto für Postdienstleistungen
DE10133887A1 (de) 2001-07-12 2003-01-30 Siemens Dematic Ag Verfahren zum Frankieren und Bearbeiten von Postsendungen
EP1310917A2 (de) 2001-09-28 2003-05-14 Siemens Dematic AG Verfahren zum Frankieren eines Poststücks
GB2387259A (en) 2002-04-02 2003-10-08 Sendo Int Ltd Method for obtaining a postage verification code
US20060122947A1 (en) * 2004-12-08 2006-06-08 Lockheed Martin Corporation Automatic revenue protection and adjustment of postal indicia products
WO2008082310A2 (en) 2006-12-29 2008-07-10 Flexistamp As Method for delivering a franking service

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0862145A2 (de) * 1997-02-28 1998-09-02 Neopost Limited Sicherheitsauthentisierung von Frankierzeichen
DE19940448A1 (de) * 1999-08-25 2001-03-01 Nt Innovation Ohg I Gr Verfahren und Vorrichtung zur Ausgabe virtueller Wertmarken
DE10131304A1 (de) 2001-07-02 2003-01-23 Thomas Brandner Verfahren zum standortungebundenen Entrichten von Porto für Postdienstleistungen
DE10133887A1 (de) 2001-07-12 2003-01-30 Siemens Dematic Ag Verfahren zum Frankieren und Bearbeiten von Postsendungen
EP1310917A2 (de) 2001-09-28 2003-05-14 Siemens Dematic AG Verfahren zum Frankieren eines Poststücks
GB2387259A (en) 2002-04-02 2003-10-08 Sendo Int Ltd Method for obtaining a postage verification code
US20060122947A1 (en) * 2004-12-08 2006-06-08 Lockheed Martin Corporation Automatic revenue protection and adjustment of postal indicia products
WO2008082310A2 (en) 2006-12-29 2008-07-10 Flexistamp As Method for delivering a franking service

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