JPH0750162B2 - Delivery management method - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a delivery management method used for registered mail, courier service, and the like.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

As is well known, in the case of registered mail, the delivery process is managed by a unique number attached to each mail. The most basic method of handling registered mail is to manually number the mail and receipt by a numbering device when the mail is received. Manage mail received with this number. At a relay station or a delivery station, a person reads the number of the delivered mail and transcribes it in a file.

Recently, a method of using a bar code printer instead of the numbering device has been put into practical use. At the time of accepting mail, a bar code printer issues a sheet with the control number converted into a bar code, and attaches this to the mail and receipt. A bar code reader is also provided for mail items, and the bar code of delivered mail items can be read and automatically recorded to manage the delivery process.

A method in which a number is assigned by a numbering device and a person reads the number and transcribes the number is very inefficient and is likely to make a mistake. The method of processing the control number with a barcode is highly efficient and there are few mistakes. However, in the system mechanized by barcode, care must be taken to prevent the barcode surface from getting dirty so that a barcode reading error does not occur, and an extremely accurate barcode must be printed. There is a problem that the running cost of barcode printing is relatively high.

[Object of the Invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to make it possible to mechanically and accurately manage the number of delivered items and to reduce the running cost extremely by long-term operation. It is to provide a delivery management method.

[Outline of Invention]

Therefore, in the present invention, at the time of accepting a delivery item, it is operated by the electric power induced by the inquiry radio wave of a predetermined frequency applied from the outside, and the response radio wave modulated by the unique number information set in advance is radiated. The transponder configured as described above is attached to the delivery as a machine-readable number tag. The peculiar number information is read from the transponder attached to this delivery, and a receipt in which this is printed as a management number is issued. Then, this management number is given to the delivered product in a visible state.

A reader installed at a point on the delivery route such as a relay station or a delivery station tracks the transponder number and automatically records it to manage the delivery route. And when delivering the delivery,
The transponder was removed from the package and the removed transponder was reused to manage other packages.

Example of Invention

First, the configuration of the transponder used as the machine-readable number tag will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the transponder T as a number tag is a plastic square sheet-like package 1
A spiral coil 2 (loop antenna) formed by printing and a flat IC chip 3 are mounted therein.
The IC chip 3 constitutes the circuit of the transponder shown in FIG. 3 together with the coil 2.

In Fig. 3, external radio waves of a predetermined frequency (interrogation radio waves)
Acts on the coil 2, the high-frequency signal induced in the coil 2 passes through the tuning circuit 4 and is input to the power supply circuit 5 and the timing control circuit 6. The power supply circuit 5 rectifies and smoothes the high frequency signal to generate a DC voltage, and outputs the DC voltage as a power supply for each of the following circuits. That is, the transponder T does not have a built-in power supply, and operates with the electric power induced in the coil 2 by receiving the interrogating radio wave from the outside. The timing control circuit 6 gives a start signal and a clock signal for instructing the modulation circuit 9 to be described later to start the modulation operation after receiving the high frequency signal for a predetermined time or longer.

The number memory 7 is a ROM in which coded unique number information is stored in advance. The number information is encoded by a binary signal in a predetermined format.

The modulation circuit 9 sequentially reads the number code from the number memory 7 bit by bit in synchronization with the start signal and the clock signal, modulates the output of the oscillation circuit 8 according to the read signal, and amplifies the modulated high frequency signal. Supply to 10. The amplified high frequency signal is applied to the coil 2 and is radiated to the outside as a response radio wave.

For example, make the number code “0” correspond to 11 MHz and “1” to 1
A frequency-modulated signal corresponding to 2MHz is created and this is radiated to the outside. Of course, the response radio wave and the interrogation radio wave have different frequencies.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a reader 20 for reading a number from the transponder T. The reader 20 is installed in each post office which is responsible for receiving, relaying, and delivering registered mail, as described later.

The reader 20 has a transmitting antenna 12 and a receiving antenna 13, and the transmitting radio wave is radiated from the transmitting antenna 12 by the output of the oscillator 11. Upon receiving this inquiry radio wave, the transponder T operates, and a response radio wave including number information is generated.
The response radio wave is captured by the receiving antenna 13, and the tuning circuit 1
4, the amplifier circuit 15 and the demodulator circuit 16 restore the number code in a predetermined format. The control unit 17 centrally controls the timing of each circuit unit.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a delivery management method according to the present invention. This embodiment is for registered mail, and the reception office, the relay office, and the delivery office correspond to the post office, respectively.

When the registered mail 30 is received at the reception office, the transponder T of a certain number is put in the attached bag 31 and attached to the mail 30 with glue. At the same time, the number of the transponder T attached to the postal matter 30 is read by the reader 20 and input to the receipt issuing machine 21. The issuing machine 21 treats the inputted number as a management number of the registered mail matter 30, records the number in the file 22, and issues a receipt in which the number is printed. The issuing number is printed on the attachment bag 31 or the mail piece 30 by the issuing machine 21 so that the control number can be seen by human eyes. The processing at this reception station is summarized and shown in the flowchart of FIG.

As described above, the post office 30 sends the mail 30 to the delivery process with the transponder T attached thereto. The mail 30
When arrives at the relay station, first open the mail bag, check the attached delivery form, and re-categorize according to precedence. At the same time, the reader 20 of the relay station reads the number of the transponder T attached to the mail 30. The read number is input to the delivery note issuing machine 23, recorded in the file 24 as the number of the relay mail, and the delivery note in which the number is printed is issued. This delivery form is attached to a mail bag filled with mail and distributed. The processing in this relay station is summarized and shown in the flowchart of FIG.

The above-mentioned mail item 30 is delivered to the delivery station together with the transponder T. At the delivery office, the mail bag is opened, the mail and delivery note are checked, and the delivery address is divided into delivery destinations to create a delivery certificate. At the delivery station, the transponder T number is read by the reader 20.
Read with. The read number is input to the delivered processor 25 and recorded in the file 26 as the number of the delivered mail. At the delivery station, the accessory bag 31 containing the transponder T is removed from the postal item 30 and the postal item 30 is delivered to the recipient. The transponder T removed from the mail 30 is attached to another mail and used again.

Since the delivery station also serves as a reception station, the transponder attached to the mail item 30 delivered from the relay station may be used as a reception station and attached to the received mail item. Alternatively, the transponder T that arrives at the delivery station attached to the postal item 30,
The mail 30 may be returned to the reception office. In that case, at the reception office, if the number of the returned transponder T is read by the reader 20, it can be automatically confirmed that the mail item 30 received and delivered previously has reached the delivery office. The above-mentioned processing in the delivery station is summarized and shown in the flowchart of FIG.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, in the delivery management method according to the present invention, a transponder is attached to a delivery as a machine reading number tag, and the transponder number is read electromagnetically at an appropriate point on the delivery route. , Like barcodes, it is not affected by dirt during shipping,
The machine number of the control number can be read extremely accurately and is highly reliable.

In addition, since the number read from the transponder is printed (attached) to the delivery, the transponder can be used repeatedly, so there is no need for pre-printed items such as bar code labels. The cost will be extremely low.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a delivery management method according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a ton spawner used in the same method, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the same transponder, and FIG. 4 is the same method. 5A, 5B, and 5C are block diagrams of the reader used in FIG. 5, and are flowcharts showing the processing contents at the reception station, relay station, and delivery station in the method of FIG. T: Transponder 20: Reader 30: Mail (delivery) 31: Attached bag

Claims (1)

[Claims] (A) At the time of accepting a delivery item, it operates by electric power induced by an interrogation radio wave of a predetermined frequency applied from the outside, and a response radio wave modulated by unique number information preset inside is transmitted. (B) reading the unique number information from the transponder attached to the delivery (c) handling the unique number read in the reading step as a management number A step of issuing a receipt with a printed number (d) A step of handling the unique number read in the reading step as a management number and visually giving the management number to the delivery (e) When delivering the delivery, Removing the transponder from the shipment and reusing the transponder for the management of the other steps of other shipments. Delivery product management and wherein the door.