Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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C-672
POSTAGB METER ACCOUNTING SYSTEM WIl'H RATE CONl~OL
Related ApPlication
This application is related to Canadian Patent
Application Serial No. 2057627-8, filed December 13, 1991
entitled "User Interface For A Mail Processing System".
Backaround of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microcomputer base
mail processing system having internal departmental
accounting.
It is known to provide a postage metering mailing
machine with a limited degree of departmental accounting
capability employing a postage accounting system. The
primary purpose of such accounting is to enable allocation
of postage expenses between individual departments of an
organization. As an example, a univPrsity may find it
beneficial to allocate mail posting cost to the respective
departments in order to charge back to that department its
posting cost. It is raadily appreciated that security is
also a relevant consideration for the university mail
processing operation. That is, operating procedures and
pxocessing equipment provide sufficient protection to
reasonably assure that department mailings are prop2rly
authori~ed. Further, in order to control ao~t, certain
departments may de~ire more expensive mailing rakes or
carrier services excluded from usage or charged ko a special
department ~ccounts. ;~
-~ It can be apprecia~e.d that from the mail processing
operation prospective it would be advantageous if the
postage mailing machine could readily acGommodate the
desired department postage rate restrir~tion and provide
maximum operation ~lexibility in accommodation ~f such
~ restrictions.
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SummarY of the Invention
It is an object of the present invention to present a
postage meter accounting system having the capability of
accommodating a large number of accounts whereby each
account may be assigned a specific set of permissible mail
carrier classes, carrier services and carrier fePs.
It is a further objective of the present invention to
present a postage meter accounting system which provides
increased system flexibility by automatically selecting the
appropriate meter print element in accordance with the mail
class and or carrier selected.
A suitable postage meter mailing machine may include
a feeder assembly for automatically feeding envelopes to the
mailing machine in a serial manner for individually posting
each envelope. The mailing machine preferably includes a
display and keypad data entry system for providing a user
interface with the mailing machine. The mailing machinP
operates under the control of multi-processor microcomputer
system. The microcomputer is programmed to selectiv~ly
enable mailing machine function and account for postage
dispensed by the postage meter mailing machine.
In the most preferred embodiment of the invention,
the microcomputer includes a read-only memory (ROM) which
has stored therein the respective carrier class and rate
structure information. During machine set~up by authorized
personnel, such as, the mail room supervisor or
manufacturer's personnel, ~ach account established has
assigned a specific carrier set and for each carrier, a
specific class and rate set. The class and rate set is
comprised of the permissible mail class and fee range ~or
the respective carrier mail classes.
During operation, the machine is presented with a
menu option ~et which includes the option to enter a
charging account number and set a carrier, otherwise the
accounting system will default to the last acce~sed account
and carrier information. The operator may optionally vie~
the permissible fees for the selected carrier class for that
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account. Once the operator has chosen the desired account,
the microcomputer verifies that the chosen carrier and class
is with the chosen account carrier set and identi~ies the
permissible fee range as specified in the account set. The
operation may then initiate mail posting by the mailing
machine.
Brief Description o~ the Drawin~s
Fig. 1 is a schematic of microcomputer system for a
mail processing system having a user interface system and
accounting system in accordance with the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a schematic of a microcomputer system for a
mail processing system suitable for controllin~ the user
interface system and accounting system of the mail
processing system in accordance with the present invention.
Fiy. 3 is a schematic of a display for the mail
processing system in accordance with the present invention.
Figs. 4A and 4B is a partial schematic of the user
interface display logic in accordance with the present
invention.
Fig. 5 is a schematic of the departmental account
criteria in accordance with the present invention.
Figs. 6A and 6B is a schematic of the logic flow for
the department account function of the mail processing
system in accordance with the present invention.
Detailed DescriDtion o~ the Preferred Embodiment
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Referring to Fig. 1, the present invention is
particularly suited for postage meter mailing machine
application. For example, a postage meter mailing machins,
generally indicated as 1, is comprised of a feeder ~ection
and a postage meter mailing machine section 3. In
~, operation, envelopes are placed in a hopper 4 o~ the feeder
section 2, whereupon the envelopes are serially ~ed through
the feeder section to the mailing machine section 3 for
imprinti~g of a postage indicia on ~eed envelopes by a
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postage meter print arrangement (not shown) detachably
mounted within the mailing machine section 3. In the
preferred embodiment, the mailing machine 1 includes a scale
5 for weighing the envelope and communicatiny with a
microcomputer system which control~ the operation of the
postage meter mailing machine such that proper postage is
printed by the printing mechanism of the postage meter on
the envelope according to the weight of the envelope.
The mailing machine l includes a user interface,
generally indicated as 6. The user interface 6 includes a
visual display 7 and a plura}i~y of soft keys 8 aligned to a
respective portion of the screen 7 and a plurality of hard
keys 9, which form a keyboard or keypad, at least one of the
keys 9 are designated as an enter key 11 and another
designated as a return key 13. Also one of the hard keys is
designated as a start 16. The interface 6 also includes
first and second mimic displays 10 and 12, respectively.
The mimic display also has associated function hard keys,
generally indicated as 14 which are associated with the
mimic display 10 and hard keys 15 which are associated with
mimic display 12.
Referring to Fig. 2, for the purpose o~ simplifying
understanding the invention, the mail processing system 1 is
illustrated here under the control of a microcomputer 20.
The microcomputer 20 i5 comprised of a plurality of
programmable micro-processor based controller, memory units
and suitable system interfaces (not here shown). A more
detailed description of the microcomputer system of the mail
processing system is set forth in Canadian Pa~ent
Application Serial No. 2057627-8, herein incorporated by
reference. The microcomputer 20 is in communication with a
meter unit, generally indicated as 22. The meter unit 22
includes a printing mechanism 24 under the control o~ a
setting mechanism 26. The setting mechanism 26 is in
communication with the microcomputer 20. The microcomput~r
20 is also in communication with a display driver 28 which
in turn controls the display 7. A inpu~-output controller
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30 is in communication with the display keypad 12 and the
microcomputer 20.
Referring to Fig. 3, the display 7 is mapped such
that each screen defines data window area DW, a soft key
menu field MF, a screen title field TF, a prompt/error field
PF. The soft keys, individually referred as 8a through 8f,
are aligned to respective portion o~ the screen menu field
MF. Aligning the soft keys to the screen field MF in this
manner allows a machine operator to easily associate the
options presented in the menu field MF with the depression
of the correspondingly aligned soft key. Operator
instructions, request for operator variable data input and
operator error messages are presented in the prompt field
PF~ Within the data window DW, user system information
pertinent to the current state of the mailing machine 1 or
selected soft function can be presented to the operator. It
is noted that the soft functions references to data
processing functions, such as funds accounting, and hard
; functions references to machine control functions.
Illustrated in Fig. 5 is a schematic of the carrier
fee table structure which preferably stored in the
non-volatile memory of the microcomputer 20. Represanted
within the enclosed area is the fee associated with the
respective carrier ~ABC through XYZ). Each carrier has a
plurality of classes (e.g., Cla~s A through AA). Each class
has an associated range of fee (e.g., Cl through C10)
associated with eaoh class. As an example, Class Bb may be
assigned to a private carrier for two day service. The
specific fee may be ~etermined by weight of the item to be
posted. In the more preferred embodiment of the invention,
the item weight is obtained from the scale 5O As
illustrated, a department ~e.g., Physic Department) may be
assigned, during account set up, a carrier set.
Referring to Figs. 4A and 4BI and briefly here
described, upon initialization of power to the system
operator at 100, the microcomputer 20 causes the display 7
within the prompt field PF to prompt the operator to enter
t~e operator identification number at 102. If the operator
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enters erroneous information, the operator is then prompted
at 104 to re-enter the proper information. The re-entered
information is verified at 106, subsequent to which the
operator is prompted to press start to run mail at 108. The
operator is also presented with a menu in the menu field MF
consisting of: change class at 110, change accounts at 112,
site set-up at 114, service diagnostics at 116, access to
additional menu options at 118 or quit at 120.
For the purposes of the present invention, the
lo operator may choose to change accounts at 112, hereafter the
operator is prompted to enter the new account number at 122.
Upon operator entry of the new account number, the operator
may choose to change class of posting. Should the operator
choose to change mail class at 110, the operator is prompted
to pick a mail class or enter a speed code at 124. A speed
code is a short cut data entry method to identify an account
number. An example is speed code 5 identifies a particular
account number. The operator is also presented with the
option to pick a fee at 126.
The operator is then presented with the available
posting class available? for that account at 128. If the
operator has chosen to pick a fee, the operator is presented
with the option to view fees at 130. The operator is then
presented with the fees selected at 132 and prompted to hit
the resume key to continue at 134. Should the operator
select the resume key, the operator is again pre~ented with
the options of picking a class at 124 or piaking a fee at
126. It should now be appreciated that an operator may
choose a subset of the carrier class set from which to
process the present mail run.
Referring to ~gs. 4A and 4B, after an operator has
selected a new account or the de~ault account a~ described
above, the microcomputer is programmed to enter a routina at
logic block 400. The operator inputs an account number,
block 402, the routine then clears the class/carrier choice
t at~block 404. The routine retrieves from the carrier
table, the first class/carrier defined in the carrier table
at block 406. The class/carrier is then tested at block 408
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to verify if it is permitted for the selected account. If
the class is permitted for the selected account, the class
is added to the class/carrier choice list at block 410. The
routine then proceeds to test whether additional
class/carriers remain to be processed at decision block 412.
If additional classes remain, the next class/carrier of mail
defined for the chosen account is obtained from the carrier
table at logic block 414. The routine the returns to
decision block 408 to verify if the class is permitted for
the account.
If at decision block 408 it is determined that the
class/carrier is not permitted for the selected account, the
routine proceeds to decision block 416 to verify whether
"All Others~ class/carrier is permitted for the selected
account. The "All Others" selection designates an account
defined to include all class/carrier or all class/carriers
with an exception. If an "All Others" category is permitted
for the account, the routine proceeds to logic block 410 to
contain in a loop until all the appropriate class/carriers
have been enabled. If an l'All Others" category is not
~ permitted for the account, the routine proceeds again to
; decision block 412.
` If at decision block 412, no additional
class/carriers remain to be enabled, the operator is
presented with a class/carrier of choice list at block 418.
The operator then selects a class/carrier through the soft
; keys at-block 420. The routine then clears the fee choice
list and fees chosen list at block 422. The first fee
defined in the acGount set for the ~lass/carrier selected
that is in the fees chosen list is obtained from the carrier
table at block 424, and tested $o verify i~ the fee is
; permitted for the account selected at decision block 426.
If the fee is permitted, the routine proceeds to test the
fee to determine if the fee is consistent with prev-ou~ fees
selected by the operator at decision block 428, using
pre-defined postal rules, e.g., in the United State~ a~ ~e~
forth in the United States Postal Service Domestic Mail
~anual. If the fee is consistent with previous fee
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selections, the fee is added a fee choice list at logic
block 430. The routine proceeds to decision block 432. If,
at decision block 432, it is determined that there are fees
remaining to be processed, the next fee selected is
retrieved from the carrier table at block 434, wherefrom the
routine returns to decision block 426. IP at decision block
426 it is determined that a fee is not permitted for the
selected account, the routine tests whether an "~11 Others"
category is permitted for the account at decision block 436.
If an "All Others" category is permitted for the account,
the routine proceeds to decision block 428 and proceeds as
described above. If an "All Others" category is not
permitted for the account, processing continues at decision
block 432.
If at decision block 432, it is determined that no
further fees remain to be processed, the fee choice list is
presented to the operator at block 438. The operator
selects the desired fee, block 440. The routine adds the
selected fee to the fees chosen list at block 442. The
system then determines if any fees remain unselective by the
operator at decision block 444, and if so, queries the
operator, at decision block 446, whether additional fees are
to be added to the fees chosen list. If the operator
requires additional fees, the routine returns back to block
424 to begin the process of obtaining the additional fees.
If at the decision block 444 no fees remain to be chosen or
at decision block 446, the operator does not wish to add
more fees, the process is completed at block 448.
