EP0675463B1 - Franking machine with additional displays - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a machine electronic franking comprising printing means, means for entering postal values, printing means and postal accounting, all of these means being enclosed in a security box, and first display means, for displaying data of postal accounting known as "regulatory", these first display means being arranged in said housing, such so that the data displayed there is visible from outside the case.

Known electronic franking machines are built so that the accounting data postal, which represent sums of money and which are there stored, be safe from all kinds of fraud; for this purpose they include a closed safety box by a lock, plumb or any other suitable device, which contains the printing means, the management circuits printing, and postal accounting circuits; such a machine has been described for example in the document FR-A-2360136.

Generally speaking, in order for these machines fulfill their role perfectly, their design must and their construction respect safety rules strict. As such, these machines are studied and implemented service under the control of various postal services country. It follows that it is relatively difficult to do evolve these machines, because all modifications of a machine existing must give rise to an approval procedure. Through elsewhere, the postal services do not like to see too much many types of franking machines in service because this complicates the task of the control services.

In addition, the need arises for a franking machine with not only functions basic postal services, but also likely to offer the user of other functions, particularly in the field of management. On another note, the need arises to more and more feel of a machine likely to be able to be adapted to the requirements of various types of customers, without as much as adapting new functions to satisfy these requirements, calls into question the PTT approval.

One of the desired functional extensions to relates to display. Indeed, postal administrations require at least the display of so-called postal data "regulatory", these consisting of the content of some sensitive machine registers in which are stored, for example, the postal balance or the cumulative postage. On the other hand, users want ability to access management functions and to this needs to see other data such as that: statistics, number of mail franked with a rate given etc ... In addition, from one type of clientele to another, or from one country to another, the data format to be displayed may vary.

It was proposed in document FR-A-2.407.536, a franking machine that does not have a display in the security box, but which has a line of transmission to deport the display in a box external. The disadvantage of such a machine is that fraudsters could "manipulate" the data to be displayed, so that, for example when reading the postal balance operated by the postal services, the accumulation of postage displayed may not match cumulative postage actually made. It is why the solution which consists in deporting the display in outside the housing is not satisfactory.

Document EP-A-0 125 526 discloses a postage in two parts of which the first is a counter counting postal data and the second serves as mechanical support and electrical supply to the meter. The second part has a display to display the data recorded in the first part.

The present invention proposes to solve all the problems mentioned here and related to the display.

To this end, it targets a postage meter electronic of the kind comprising input means for postal values, printing means and means of order and postal accounting, all of these means being enclosed in a security box, and the first display means for displaying accounting data so-called "regulatory" postal services, these first means display being arranged in the housing, so as to allow reading of said data from outside the housing, machine characterized in that it comprises a serial transmission link transmitting permanently to outside the security box, data to display including at least some of the data displayed by first means of display.

The present invention also relates to a machine for electronic postage of the kind comprising means input of postal values, printing means and means of ordering and postal accounting, all of these means being enclosed in a security box, and first display means to display data from postal accounting called "regulatory", these first display means being arranged in the housing, so as to allow reading of said data from outside the housing, said machine comprising a device external to the safety box, machine characterized in that it further includes a serial transmission link, transmitting permanently, outside the security box, data to display including at least some of the data displayed by the first display means, the device comprising second display means, and a link reception series capable of cooperating with said serial link to display all or part of the data transmitted.

Thanks to these provisions, the present invention overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks. Indeed, the second display means, or additional display means, allow you to display the desired data by the user. All data transmitted by the serial link need not be displayed, and it can be made a selection from among these.

We will observe that the first display means remain attached to the security box and protected by it last, the post can have access to operate these usual checks.

In a preferred embodiment, the machine is characterized in that the external device is agency to be adaptable to said security box, so as to hide the display of data achievable by said first means of display.

This advantageous arrangement makes it possible to prevent the user is bothered by the continuous display of data on the first display. On a practical level, at the level of the user, everything happens as if the first means had been replaced by the latter.

• la figure 1 est un schéma fonctionnel d'une machine à affranchir,
• la figure 2 est une vue partielle simplifiée de la machine à affranchir illustrée en figure 1,
• la figure 3 est une vue correspondant à la figure 2, la machine à affranchir ayant été munie des seconds moyens d'affichage,
• la figure 4 est un schéma fonctionnel du dispositif comportant les seconds moyens d'affichage illustrés en figure 3, et
• la figure 5 est une vue correspondant à la figure 4, illustrant une variante de réalisation.

The characteristics and advantages of the present invention will moreover emerge from the description which follows with reference to the appended drawings in which:

• FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of a franking machine,
• FIG. 2 is a simplified partial view of the franking machine illustrated in FIG. 1,
• FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2, the franking machine having been provided with second display means,
• FIG. 4 is a functional diagram of the device comprising the second display means illustrated in FIG. 3, and
• Figure 5 is a view corresponding to Figure 4, illustrating an alternative embodiment.

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a franking machine according to the present invention.

In a conventional way, the franking machine comprises input means 11 of postal values, connected to a control and postal accounting circuit 12, this the latter being connected to electromechanical means printing 13. A power supply is also provided regulated 16, supplying the whole machine.

The structure of the means 11, 13, 16 is well known from one skilled in the art. The means of entry can for example consist of a keyboard or binary data entry from a control device external to the machine overcome. Control and accounting circuits include various memory and microprocessor registers, intended to control electromechanical printing means 13. Control and accounting circuits shown diagrammatically under reference 12 also include sensitive memories for storing postal data such as postal balances or cumulative postage. This and other data can be viewed on a first display 15a, 15b. All the means 11, 13, 16 as well as the display control circuit 17 15a, 15b are locked in a tamper-resistant security box, and possibly sealed, only the window for reading the display 15a, 15b being arranged so that it is visible from the outside of the case.

All of these provisions are extremely classic in the field of franking machines. We will be able to usefully refer to document FR-A-2.360.136, the content is embedded here and that describes a postage meter using such means. In addition, the machine postage used in this embodiment, is that manufactured and marketed by the applicant under the reference "MINIPOST" since 1990, except for the means described and represented in the figures and which bear on them a reference number greater than or equal to 20. The machine "MINIPOST" implements means identical to means 11 to 17, the housing 14, the circuit 12 and the power supply 16 having have been significantly modified as explained below. The characteristics already known of means 11 to 17, and not modified by the present invention, will not be therefore not described in more detail here.

Figure 2 schematically illustrates the security box 14, where the display is located 15, which will be called hereinafter description "first means of display". These means include two display lines 15a, 15b. The displays 15a, 15b are arranged on inclined support walls 18a, 18b.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, contacts 21 are arranged on the outer casing 14. In this embodiment, these contacts are arranged on the support 18a, and are in the form of oblong areas suitable for cooperate with spring contacts carried by the structure second display means.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the control and accounting means 12 are adapted to transmit data, including postal data regulatory, towards a serial link. In the mode of realization chosen and shown, the serial link is constituted by a set of two emitting diodes 22, 22 ', conventionally arranged and connected to the control circuit and accounting 12, the latter having been adapted for transmit binary signals to the diodes 22, 22 'representing postal data required by post (data "regulatory") and a set of data including the position of all counters such as up counters, descendants, fold counters, statistical information, machine status information (incidents, maintenance information). The diodes 22, 22 'are here of SIEMENS type, reference SFH 487.

Figure 3 shows an external device comprising a second display, arranged on the machine postage illustrated in Figure 2.

The external device 30 comprises a housing lower 31 and an upper housing articulated on a hinge 33, so that it is orientable. The box lower 31 has a lower part 32 of a shape suitable for conforming to the external shape of the safety box 14, at the support walls 16a, 16b of the lines display 15a, 15b.

The lower case 31 has two fasteners mobile 34, 34 ', arranged laterally and adapted to cooperate with the lateral tabs 35, 35 'arranged on the housing 14, to fix the external device there 30.

The lower case 31, which comes into contact with the safety box, has two spring contacts, arranged to bear on the contact pads 21, 21 'and thereby allowing the supply of the external device 30. In FIG. 4, the spring contacts have been shown diagrammatically under the references 43, 43 '.

According to the invention, the external device includes a serial reception link capable of cooperating with the serial transmission link. In this embodiment, the serial reception link 41 includes two photo-transistors 42, 42 '. The photo-transistors 42, 42 'are arranged on the lower case 31 to be opposite the emitting diodes 22, 22 ', when the housing 31 is fixed to the housing security 14, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The photo-transistors used in this embodiment are of the type SIEMENS, reference SFH 309.

Inside the upper case 32, is located positioned, opposite a reading window 37, a display two lines 40a, 40b of sixteen crystal characters OCULAR brand liquids (746 Lingco Drive in RICHARDSON TX 75081, this Company realizing custom displays liquid crystals), as well as an electronic card. The map electronics essentially includes a circuit 46 of control of the display 40 (here an integrated circuit sold by PHILIPS under the reference PCF 8576), as well as link circuits to display 40 and serial link reception 41, constituted in this case by photo-transistors 42, 42 '. This circuit also includes supply conductors 44 (shown in dashed lines in FIG. 4) connected to the spring contacts 43, 43 ', and supplying power to the display 40 and the integrated circuit 46.

The circuit diagram 46 of the display liquid crystal is available in the PHILIPS catalog and is classic in the state of the art. It will therefore not described in more detail here. Note that it is suitable for receive binary data such as those transmitted by the photo-transistors 42, 42 ', and to execute the entire processing to deliver to the displays liquid crystal, the appropriate control signals, so as to display said data.

As a variant, in FIG. 5, it is possible to interpose between the control circuit 46, and the serial link of reception 41, a selection circuit 50 comprising a decoder of the data received from the serial link 41, and a series of doors allowing some to pass, selected, data, to the driving circuit 46. This arrangement allows you to select the data to be pin up. It will be observed that the selection circuit 50 is arranged outside of the security box 14, and that it has not to be subject to the same strict security rules that the devices arranged inside the box 14. In this way, it is possible to plan by a selection circuit adapted to each type of clientele, without having to question the approval of the whole machine.

In both variant embodiments, the external device or the additive display means which have just been described, are designed to be fixed on the machine above the displays integrated into the machine, which is therefore protected. In this way, the user benefits from the improved performance of the additional display device, but postal services can always check postal balances on the first display means 15a, 15b which are protected.

Of course the present invention is not limited in no way to the embodiments described and shown, but encompasses all variants within the reach of man's art.

In particular, a serial link has been described. optical type. Such a serial link can be replaced by a galvanic type serial link.

Claims (4)

1. Electronic franking machine of the type comprising means (11) for entering postal values, printing means (13) and postal control and accounting means (12), all these means being enclosed within a secure box (14), and first display means (15a, 15b) to display so-called "regulation" postal accounting data, these first display means being arranged in the box in such a way that the said data can be read from outside the box, the machine being characterised in that it comprises a series transmission link (22,22') continually transmitting data for display, including at least some of the data displayed by the first display means (15a, 15b), outside the secure box (14).
2. Electronic franking machine of the type comprising means (11) for entering postal values, printing means (13) and control and postal accounting means (12), all these means being enclosed within a secure box (14), and first display means (15a, 15b) to display so-called "regulation" postal accounting data, these first display means being arranged within the box in such a way that the said data can be read from the exterior of the box, the said machine comprising a device (30) outside the secure box, the machine being characterised in that it also comprises a series transmission link (22, 22') continuously transmitting data for display, including at least some of the data displayed by the first display means (15a, 15b), outside the secure box (14), the device (30) comprising second display means (40a, 40b) and a series receiving link (42, 42') capable of acting together with the said transmission series link (22, 22') to display all or part of the data transmitted.
3. Franking machine according to claim 2, characterised in that the external device (30) is arranged so that it can be fitted to the said secure box in such a way as to mask display of the data performed by the said first display means.
4. Franking machine according to claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the said series links are provided in optical form.

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