DOCUMENT PROCESSINGThis invention relates to the printing of information on pro-forma documents and in particular to printing of information on a plurality of different documents which may be required for a variety of purposes.
It is frequently required that information be printed on forms and the information is required to be printed in predetermined locations on the forms. Where large numbers of forms are handled, the blank forms may be prepared in the form of continuous fanfold stationery and fed through a computer peripheral printer to print the required information. The print data output from the computer to the printer includes format data which controls the line by line feeding of the stationery and the location of the printed information within a line so that the information is printed in the required predetermined locations on the form.This is satisfactory where a large batch of forms or sets of forms are to be printed but is not suitable for low volume use and particularly when a number of different forms may be selected at random and these forms require information to be printed at differing locations in accordance with the requirements of each individual form.
A requirement to be able to print information in predetermined locations on a number of different forms which may be selected randomly arises when it is desired to dispatch parcels to be carried by a carrier to a destination. A sender may use different parcels carriers depending for example upon distance to be carried, size of parcel, and speed of delivery. Each parcel carrier specifies the use of form documents which are specific to the carrier and in addition may specify different documents for different services offered. While documents for different services offered by a particular carrier may require printing of the same information in the same locations, documents specified by different carriers are most likely to differ substantially and require information to be printed at different locations on the documents and additionally may require printing of different information.In addition to each carrier requiring different documents, a consignment of parcels will require the preparation of a number of different documents having different information items printed thereon. Such documents usually comprise consignment notes which may be multi-part carbon sets and single part labels or stickers. For users of a parcel carrying service, the carrier may provide the documents in the form of continuous stationery for printing by computer for high volume users of the service and may provide the documents loose or in book form for low to medium volume users of the service. Usually the required information is entered on the loose documents using a typewriter or manually using a ball point pen while with the book form documents the information can be entered only manually using a ball point pen.Accordingly for low to medium volume users, the preparation of the documents is labour intensive and with the variety of documents to be used errors in the selection of the documents to be used and in their preparation are likely to occur.
According to one aspect of the invention a document processing system comprises a printing device for printing information in different predetermined positions on a set of documents, said set of documents comprising one or more documents from a plurality of documents; unique machine readable identifications located in substantially identical positions on each one of the plurality of documents respectively; reading means responsive to said unique identifications when a document fr-om".thr group, is correctly positioned in the printing device; control means operative in response to input of information'requiring a selected one of said sets of documents to,çbe.prin,ted, and to receipt of said unique identification from said reading means to determine if the required document is correctly located in the printing device and said control means in response to said determination that the required document is correctly positioned being operative to control the printing device to print the information in the required predetermined positions on said document.
According to another aspect of the invention a document for processing by a processing system as hereinbefore defined includes a code marking at a predetermined location on said document, said code marking comprising a unique identification identifying that document.
An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which:Figure 1 illustrates a typical document comprising a consignment note to be used in the document processing system,Figure 2 illustrates another typical document comprising label to be used in the document processing system,Figure 3 illustrates, in block diagram form, a document processing system, andFigure 4 is a flow chart of the operation of the document processing system.
Referring first to Figure 1, a typical consignment note document 10 has predetermined information spaces 11 in which a customer of a parcel carrier is required to enter information relating to a consignment of parcels.
Information to be entered in information spaces lia to lig comprises class of service required, name and address of sender, number of items in consignment, dispatch depot, customer contract number, destination address, destination depot respectively. Figure 2 shows another typical document comprising an address label to be attached to parcels in a consignment. As will be seen this address label has spaces 12a to 12e in which the destination address, destination depot, total number of items in consignment, item number and name of sender respectively are required to be entered by the customer.When different classes of service, for example urgent overnight delivery or slower delivery within a longer period are available, the carrier may require the use of different labels identifying the service required to assist in distinguishing between items being carried in each service.
rn addition to the information spaces 11 and 12 on the consignment note and label, each document is pre-printed with a code marking 13 which uniquely identifies the document form and also enables the orientation of the document to be determined. As shown in the drawings the code marking is in the form of bar code. As will be appreciated the complexity of the code needs to be sufficient to enable identification of the number of different documents which need to be identified.
Accordingly, in situations where the number of documents is relatively small, a less complex form of identification marking may be printed on the document. The code marking 13 is in a form which is machine readable and hence in general it is preferred to use a bar code. The code marking 13 is pre-printed in the same location and orientation relative to reference edges on all documents to be processed in the system. In the documents shown inFigures 1 and 2, the upper edge 14 and right hand edge 15 are considered to be reference edges and the code marking is pre-printed within defined limits relative to those edges. Thus the code marking is in a space extending horizontally between limits 16 and 17 located at predetermined distances xl, x2 from the right hand reference edge 15 and extending vertically between limits 18, 19 located at predetermined distances from the upper reference edge 14.
The document processing system is illustrated in Figure 3 and comprises a digital printer 20 which is controlled by a controller 21. The printer may be a relatively simple inexpensive dot matrix printer in which the document 10 is supported on a flat bed 22. The flat bed 22 is provided with a document guide 23 extending along the right hand edge of the bed. A dot matrix print head 24 is supported on a carriage for movement transversely of the flat bed 22 and carriage drive means 25 is provided to cause the print head to move along a track traversing the bed 22 in the direction of arrow 26 so as to traverse a document supported on the bed during a printing operation.
A code reader 27 is mounted above the bed 22 such as to be capable of reading code marking in a space bounded by limits spaced at distances x1 and x2 from the document guide 23. The code reader is constructed to read the code marking of a document as the marking on the document moves parallel to the guide 23.
Document feed means are provided to feed the document 10, in the direction of arrow 28, line by line past the track of the print head 24. The feed means may comprise one or more pairs of feed rollers indicated by reference 29. One roller of each pair is mounted below the feed bed and projects through an aperture in the feed bed and the other roller of the pair is mounted above the feed bed and rotates in engagement with the roller projecting from below the feed bed to form a nip in which a document to be fed past the print head is engaged. One roller of each pair is driven by drive means 30 while the other roller of each pair is a freely rotatable pressure roller.
When it is desired to print information on a document, the document is fed manually on the flat bed 22 in the direction of arrow 28 with the right hand edge of the document aligned with and engaging the document guide 23 so that the code marking on the document moves parallel to the guide 23 past the code reader and is read by the reader. Manual feeding of the document is continued until the upper reference edge 14 enters the nip between the pairs of feed rollers. At this stage the feed rollers are not driven by the drive means 30 and hence the rollers act as a stop for the upper reference edge of the document and thereby locate the document at a predetermined initial position for the start of a printing cycle. Preferably a sensor 31 is provided to provide a signal when a document has been manually fed into this initial position.If required, instead of the document being located by entering the nip between the feed rollers, a retractable stop may be provided against which the upper edge of a document engages. Prior to feeding of the document by the feed rollers the stop is retracted to permit movement of the document.
The controller 21 outputs print data signals to the print head to control operation of the print head 24 and outputs format signals to control operation of the print head carriage drive 25 and the drive means 30. The controller is provided with a keyboard 35 to enable data and control signals to be input to the controller by a user and is provided with a display to echo input from the keyboard and to provide information to assist the user in processing of the required documents. The controller is also provided with a memory 33 for storing data relating to the various carrier services which may be used at any time. This carrier service data comprises data identifying the documents to be used in connection with each carrier and service provided by the carriers and data relating to the formatting of information to be printed on those documents.
When a consignment of items is to be despatched the user inputs data to the controller and the controller is operated under a program routine as shown in the flow chart of Figure 4. First, the user enters by means of the keyboard information relating to each item including identification of the carrier, class of service and destination address. The controller operates under the control of one or more software program routines and preferably displays prompts on the display device to assist the user in entering the information required.
These program routines may be stored in a read only memory (ROM) 34. When the information for the consignment has been entered into the controller 21, the user inserts a consignment note document into the printer and manually feeds the document as described hereinbefore. During this manual feeding the reader 27 reads the code marking on the inserted document and sends a code marking signal corresponding to the code marking to the controller. The controller reads data relating to the selected carrier and service from the memory 33 and compares the code marking signal from the reader with data identifying a document required to be printed for that carrier and service. If the comparison indicates that the correct document has been inserted in the printer, the controller proceeds with a document printing routine and causes the required information to be printed on the document.It will be appreciated that information which does not vary, namely information relating to the sender, does not need to be entered by the user for each consignment but can be stored in the memory 33 and read out when processing documents for each consignment. When a number of different documents are required to be printed for a consignment, the user may be prompted by information displayed on the display device to insert each appropriate document in turn. In a default condition, the program routine of the controller may effect printing of a single address label for a single item.However when the user enters a number of items greater than one, the controller may be controlled to require the user to insert the corresponding number of address labels and to operate the printer to print the item identifying numbers on the labels before exiting the routine or processing the documents for another consignment.
In the event that an incorrect document is inserted into the printing device, the output from the reader will provide a code marking signal and comparison of this signal with the identification data for a correct document by the controller will indicate an error so that the controller will not proceed to operate the printer and will display an error message to request the user to insert the correct document. When the incorrect document has been replaced by a correct document, this will be sensed by the reading means and printing will be initiated by the controller. Similarly if the document is inserted with an incorrect orientation or incorrectly positioned in the printing device, the code marking will not be read so that the controller will not proceed with the printing routine and instead will cause display of an error message.
If required the controller can be controlled by program routines to carry out accounting functions to maintain a record of the carriage charges incurred in dispatching consignments. The accounting functions may include those in respect of where pre-payment for carriage services has been made or where post payment is made. Such accounting functions would provide the basis for charging the customer and for payment by the customer of carriage service. Therefore these accounting functions would require security protection in order to prevent fraudulent use of the system. The secure accounting elements may be contained within a detachable meter module as disclosed in our European patent application 90303757.0.If the system is constructed to provide security of accounting and printing, the printer may be controlled to print a service paid indication on any of the documents or may print a separate label with this indication. This service paid indication would indicate to the carrier service that the charge for carriage of an item has been paid or at least credited to the carrier service. The printing device may be controlled to print a logo representing the customer on any document where this is acceptable to the carrier service.
Instead of providing a reader which operates to read the code marking during manual feeding of the document, the reader may be constructed to scan the code marking and thereby read the code marking when the document has been fully inserted while the marking is stationary.
It will be understood that the information stored in the memory will need to be retained even if the system is powered down. Accordingly the memory will need to be nonvolatile or the information will need to be stored in a non-volatile manner, for example in a hard or floppy disc memory device, and may be read into the memory for use during processing of documents. The system may be provided with sufficient memory capacity as to enable frequently used destination addresses to be stored and accessed by an abbreviated keyboard entry thereby reducing the need for entering full destination addresses and associated data.
At least some documents required for consignments of items to be carried by a carrier are often in the form of a multi-part carbon set. Accordingly in order to print on the underlying sheet it is necessary to use an impact printer. Accordingly it is preferred to use a dot matrix print head having a row of print wires which are impelled selectively toward the document during traversal of the print head. When printing on multi-parts sets, it has been found that, depending upon the number of sheets in the set, the impact of the print wires is insufficient to produce a clear imprint on the lower sheet or sheets.
Accordingly it is proposed to use a method of enhanced printing to overcome or at least to alleviate this defect.
In this method of printing the print head is controlled so as to print twice. This may be accomplished by moving the print head to print in a first traverse of the document and then to move the print head to make a second traverse of the document while effecting printing of the same information so that the printing in the second traverse overlies the printing in the first traverse. Alternatively the print wires may be fired twice at each increment of movement of the print head. It is believed that this method of printing twice produces an improved imprint on lower sheets because the first impact of the print wire tends to break down the carbon interlayer, but without necessarily producing a clear imprint, and the second impact is able to act on the broken carbon interlayer to produce an improved imprint.Control of the printing device to print the information twice in superimposed relation may be controlled in dependence upon the controller requiring a multi-part set to be inserted in the printing device. If the system is to be used with only single sheet documents forms of printing other than impact may be used if desired.
The controller 21 as hereinbefore described is dedicated to control of the printing device 20 and is illustrated as having individual connections to each of the elements of the printing device which are controlled by the controlled or from which the controller receives signals. However if desired the controller may be connected to the printing device 20 by means of an input/output interface which carries signals both from the controller to the print head, print head carriage drive and feed roll drive and from the reader 27 and the sensor 31 to the controller.
The controller may also receive signals relating to the position of the print head and the rotational movement of the feed rolls to enable the controller to monitor and control operation of the printing device. In processing the documents for consignments of parcels, it is often required that the weight of the items be entered on one or more of the documents. Accordingly a weighscale may be connected via the interface to the controller to provide an input signal indicative of the weight of an item and the controller may then be operative to effect printing of the weigh at a required position on the documents.
some carrier services impose restrictions on the weight of items to be carried or the charges for carriage are determined by which one of a number of weight bands the weight of the item lies in. Therefore in dependence upon the weight indication from the weigh scale, the controller may indicate the most cost effective carrier service to be used for any item and if the item is acceptable for carriage. If an item would not be accepted for carriage by a carrier service, the controller would inhibit processing of documents for that carrier service in respect of that item.
Configuration data required in usage of the system may be contained in a removable memory cartridge plugged into the controller. Such configuration data may include information relating to carrier services and the documents and formatting thereof required by those services and, when accounting functions are effected by the system, the configuration data would include data relating to charges for carriage. Instead of providing a removable memory cartridge, the data may be recorded on a floppy disc which can be inserted in a disc drive of the controller or when facilities for connection to a telephone line are provided the data may be transmitted to the controller via the telephone system.
The controller may be controlled by appropriate program routines to carry out diagnostic checking of the operation of the system and in particular of the printing device 20.
Checking of operation of the printer may be effected by manual insertion of a diagnostic document form into the printing device and then causing the controller to control the printing device to print predetermined information at predetermined positions on the form. Visual inspection of the form would then indicate whether or not the printing device is being operated correctly in printing on that form. The diagnostic form may include marks which can be sensed by the reader during feeding of the form by the feed rolls to provide signals indicative of the movement of the form. Alternatively, the diagnostic form may have apertures therein which can be sensed by the sensor 31 to provide an indication of that the form has been fed to predetermined line positions. Accordingly operation of the equipment can be checked by a customer or service engineer to diagnose a fault condition. When the system is provided with facilities for connection to a telephone line, the diagnostics routine may be carried out under control from a remote service centre to enable the service centre to diagnose remotely the cause of faults in the system. Such a remotely controlled diagnostics routine may include requests to the customer, by means of instructions displayed on the display device, to carry out specified actions such as insertion of a diagnostics form document in the printing device.
Instead of using a dedicated controller 21 with keyboard, display and memory devices, the printing device 20 may be controlled via an input/output interface by a personal computer.