JP2000048232A - Automatic fee judgment device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] Conventionally, weight is measured with a scale, dimensions are measured manually with a ruler or a template, and charge judgment is performed. A scale for measuring the weight of a delivery, a table, a shift mechanism for measuring a height of the delivery by pressing the delivery from above, a shift position detecting means, and a shift mechanism attached to the shift mechanism. A camera 4 for capturing an image of the upper surface of the delivered item, moving the camera to a predetermined distance L according to the height of the item, and determining the size of the upper surface of the item from the image of the camera. Automatic determination of the weight and dimensions of the product, and determination of the fee.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for automatically determining a delivery fee for a delivery such as a mail or a home delivery.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in a standard for determining a delivery fee for a postal envelope, a parcel, or a delivery item by Takkyubin,
Although the weight and dimensions of the deliverables are available, if they are unknown, they are often brought to the post office window by post, or to a handling company or contracted convenience store by Takkyubin.

[0003] The post office counters and courier services usually use a scale for the weight, and measure the dimensions manually by using a ruler or a special template as a guide. The delivery fee of this delivery is determined in consideration of criteria such as the type of delivery.

[0004] Therefore, the person in charge of determining this fee is
We receive a certain amount of education or prepare a chart of fees, etc. and judge the fee while checking it against this, but there is a lot of manual work and there is a limit in efficiency, so please use it for the number of people in charge When the number of people is concentrated, a queue is created,
There is a problem that leads to service degradation.

For this reason, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-3558 discloses a method of measuring the weight of a delivery, using a camera for measuring the dimensions of the upper surface, and a camera for measuring the height of the delivery, and using the camera to measure the height of the delivery. An automatic determination device has been proposed.

However, in the above, the height of the delivery is estimated from the image obtained by the camera. For example, a post office determines that the size of a delivery is a fixed size if the delivery passes through a dedicated tool having a predetermined width with a gap. Even if the envelope is bulging, this bulge is pressed down and the actual thickness is heightened, but if judged from the image of the camera, the height up to the bulge of this envelope is determined and it is judged manually. However, there is a problem that it cannot be matched.

In the above-mentioned known example, the distance between the upper surface of the delivery and the camera changes depending on the height of the delivery, which causes an error in the dimensions of the upper surface of the delivery due to the image receiving angle of the camera. Is not mentioned, and furthermore,
Since the height of the delivery is also measured by a camera, the arrangement of the camera requires a certain distance from the delivery, and there is a problem that the size of the apparatus increases in the horizontal direction as well as in the height direction.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described conventional problems, and has been made in consideration of the above-described problems. And the general public will be able to do so, so it is possible to increase the number of underwriting locations without increasing the number of persons in charge, thereby improving service for users and increasing the amount of underwriting. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic fee judging device for a deliverable item, and to provide a swelling of a sealed letter, an error in dimensional judgment due to a height of the delivered item, and a reduction in the size of the device. .

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a scale for measuring the weight of various deliveries and a mark placed on the scale and having a predetermined size at a predetermined position on the upper surface are provided. A table on which the delivery is placed, a camera installed above the table, for capturing the shape of the delivery as an image from above, and the camera is fixed and moved up and down by driving means such as a motor. A shift mechanism,
Means for detecting the vertical position of the shift mechanism, obtaining the weight value of the goods placed on the table from the scale, and setting the shift mechanism to the upper surface of the goods on the table. , The height of the delivery is determined, and the distance between the camera and the upper surface of the delivery is set to a predetermined distance by moving the shift mechanism upward by a fixed amount from the position of the upper surface of the delivery. After that, the image of the upper surface of the delivery is captured by the camera, and the video data of the delivery and the video data of the marking previously captured by the camera at the same distance as the distance between the camera and the upper surface of the delivery table. By determining the size of the upper surface of the delivery from the relative size of the above, the weight value of the delivery obtained above, the height determination value, based on the size determination value of the upper surface, by determining the charge of this delivery Without human intervention are those which make it possible to determine the price for deliveries automatically.

As a scale for measuring the weight of the delivery,
For example, this can be realized by using an electronic balance that can output the result of weight measurement converted into a signal.

[0011] The weight of the table placed on the scale for measuring the weight of the delivery is measured in advance with no items placed on the table, and the measured value at this time is calculated. The electronic balance is adjusted to zero so that it becomes 0 g, or the weight signal output from the electronic balance is obtained when the delivery is loaded and when the delivery is not loaded, and the delivery is obtained by subtracting the weight signal. So that only weight is obtained.

The shift mechanism to which the camera is attached has a structure that does not affect the weight measurement with the scale, and can be arbitrarily moved up and down by using a driving source such as a motor above the table of the scale. To do. When a stepping motor is used as the drive source, the amount of movement of the shift mechanism in the up-down direction is controlled by the number of phases of the stepping motor, the rotation angle of the motor per one phase, and the motor. It can be obtained from the transmission ratio of gears and belts that change the rotational movement of the shaft of the shaft into the vertical movement of the shift mechanism,
When a servo motor is used as the drive source, the rotation amount of the motor and the movement amount of the shift mechanism are managed by counting the encoder signals output according to the rotation of the motor. can do.

Next, regarding the vertical position of the shift mechanism, a sensor that responds when the shift mechanism passes through is attached to an arbitrary position in the vertical direction, and the shift mechanism is moved while monitoring the output of the sensor, thereby shifting the shift mechanism. It can be seen that has passed the position of the sensor, and by managing the amount of movement from that position by the method of managing the amount of movement, the position of the shift mechanism with respect to the sensor position can be managed. By arranging the distance from the upper surface of the stand on the balance so that it is fixed in advance,
The distance from the upper surface of the table to the shift mechanism can be detected.

In the above description, the method of detecting the position of the shift mechanism using the sensor has been described. However, even if the sensor is not used, the shift mechanism is moved downward in a state where the delivery is not placed on the platform on the scale. Since the scale detects the weight when the shift mechanism hits the table, there is a method in which the position of the shift mechanism is detected as the position of the upper surface of the table at this point.

Since the shift position of the shift mechanism can be detected as described above, the shift mechanism is moved from the upper side to the lower side in a state where the delivery is placed on the platform on the scale, and the shift mechanism comes into contact with the upper surface of the delivery. By detecting the position, the height dimension of the delivery can be obtained. At this time, as a method of detecting the contact between the upper surface of the delivery and the shift mechanism,
A method of detecting the change in the weight measurement value of the weigher by contact, and a method of monitoring when the encoder output of the servo motor stops or fluctuates due to the contact when using a servomotor as a drive source for moving the shift mechanism. Conceivable.

For measuring the size of the upper surface of the delivery, an image of the upper surface of the delivery is captured by a camera equipped with a shift mechanism, and the edge around the delivery viewed from the upper surface of the delivery is taken from the image data. By detecting, it is possible to obtain the size of the vertical and horizontal view from the upper surface of the delivery.

At this time, the distance between the camera and the upper surface of the delivery is fixed, and the shift mechanism with the camera is moved according to the height of the delivery so that the height of the delivery depends on the height of the delivery. Make sure that there is no dimensional error in the vertical or horizontal view from the top. Also, in order to determine the dimensions of the delivery from the video captured from the camera, a mark of an arbitrary size is attached to the upper surface of the table, and the camera and the upper surface of the table are placed in the state where the delivery is not mounted. After setting the interval of the fixed interval as described above, the image of the marking on the table top is captured by a camera, and the size of the image data of the marking is used as a reference to determine the size of the delivery. it can.

As described above, it is possible to automatically obtain the weight, height, and the size of the vertical / horizontal view of the delivery from the top surface.
Based on this result, it is possible to determine the delivery fee according to a predetermined standard. In addition, when there are criteria other than weight and dimensions for the delivery fee, the element serving as the criteria can be dealt with by separately providing input means such as a selection switch.
If the type of delivery other than the dimensions is required as a criterion for the fee, there is a method of selecting with the input means such as a selection switch as described above, but the type of the delivery is determined from the image of the delivery captured by the camera. It is also possible to automatically determine the type of the delivery by determining the feature indicating

Further, based on the video data of the upper surface of the delivery taken by the camera, the characters and images described on the proof of payment of the fee, such as stamps, attached to the upper surface of the delivery can be used to determine the proper The above configuration can also be used to determine whether the delivery is a delivery.If, for example, a slip describing a destination or the like is added to the upper surface of the delivery, information such as the destination is captured as an image by a camera. It is also possible to confirm whether there is any mistake, omission, or the like.

In the determination of the height of a delivery, the shift mechanism is moved until the delivery hits the upper surface of the delivery in the case of the type or operation of the delivery that does not need to be concerned about the swelling of the delivery. Instead of judging the height of the delivered item, the device includes a distance measuring unit that emits ultrasonic waves or light and measures the distance to the target object by detecting a time lag until the reflected object returns. The distance measuring means is installed above the table and the delivery, and the distance between the upper surface of the table and the distance measuring means when the delivery is not placed,
The height of the delivery can be determined by measuring the distance between the upper surface of the delivery and the distance measuring means and calculating the difference.

[0021]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
This will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a scale for measuring the weight of a delivery, and in this embodiment, an electronic balance is used. The scale 1 is connected to the control unit 6 via a serial interface (RS-232C), and can output weight values when necessary. Further, the scale 1 has a zero point adjusting function for adjusting the current weight to zero at any time.

On the scale 1, a table 2 on which a delivery is placed is placed. The balance 1 performs the zero point adjustment with the table 2 placed. The marking 8 of FIG. 2 is printed on the upper surface of the table 2.

Reference numeral 3 in FIG. 1 denotes a shift mechanism that moves arbitrarily in the vertical direction. The control unit 6 controls a driving step motor in the shift mechanism 3 so that the rotational motion of the step motor is changed to a gear. The transmission is performed by a belt, and the shift mechanism 3 is configured to move up and down. The amount of the up and down movement is arbitrarily controlled and managed by a control unit based on the rotation angle of the step motor / 1 step and the transmission ratio of the gear and the belt. I do. A rubber cushion having a predetermined elasticity is attached to the shift mechanism 3 on a surface of the table 2 or the upper surface of the delivery 7 when the shift mechanism 3 moves downward.

Reference numeral 4 in FIG. 1 denotes a camera, and a shift mechanism 3
And move up and down together with the shift mechanism. The camera 4 converts the color image on the upper surface of the delivery 7 or the table 2 into an NTSC signal, and outputs the NTSC signal to the controller 6.

Reference numeral 5 in FIG. 1 is for detecting the position of the shift mechanism. In this embodiment, a U-shaped optical sensor is used. This optical sensor is mounted at a position where the shielding plate attached to the shift mechanism shields the optical sensor when the shift mechanism 3 comes to the upper evacuation position.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 6 denotes a control unit which controls the balance 1, the moving motor of the shift mechanism 3, the camera 4, and the optical sensor 5 serving as shift position detecting means. Acquisition from the balance 1, determination of the height of the delivery based on the amount of movement of the shift mechanism 3, and determination of the size of the delivery from the video data obtained from the camera 4 are performed.

Next, the flow of measuring the weight and size of a delivery in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 and the image diagram of FIG.

First, the shift mechanism 3 is moved downward in a state where a delivery is not loaded. -21 Continue moving the shift mechanism until the weight of the balance 1 becomes M0. −22 The above M0 is a reference value for detecting that the shift mechanism 3 has hit the table, and if it is set to a range of elasticity such as rubber or cushion having a predetermined elasticity attached to the shift mechanism 3, Overload on the balance 1 can be prevented. When the weight of the weighing machine 1 is equal to or more than the above M0, the movement of the shifting mechanism 3 is stopped. -23 Next, the shift mechanism 3 is moved upward by the moving amount L. -24 At the position of L, an image of the marking on the upper surface of the table is taken in by the camera. -25 (11 in FIG. 2) The size of the above-described image marking is detected, and the actual marking is determined.
The ratio C to the size of the king is calculated. -26 (15, 17 in FIG. 2) The above ratio C is obtained by detecting the vertical and horizontal sizes of the image marking by the number of pixels. Is the ratio of Y0: Y1 and X0: X1 when the dimension is vertical Y0 and horizontal X0.

When the above-mentioned marking image has only a component parallel or perpendicular to the pixel array of the image, the number of pixels indicating the size of the marking image can be easily obtained. Even if it is oblique, it can be obtained by trigonometry.

After obtaining the ratio C, the shift mechanism 1 is moved upward. -27 The movement is continued until the sensor at the retracted position of the shift mechanism 3 is shielded by the shield plate of the shift mechanism. -28 Stop moving when the sensor is shielded. −29 When the amount of movement from 27 to 29 is L, the retracted position Lh of the shift mechanism is Lh = L + L. -30 Next, a procedure for placing the delivery on the table and determining the weight and size of the delivery will be described below.

The balance 1 is placed on the table 2 with the delivery
The weight value (M) is obtained from -31 The weight value (M) at this time is a value when the weight is stabilized. After obtaining the weight value (M), the shift mechanism 3 starts moving downward from the retracted position. -32 The retracted position of the shift mechanism 3 is the position of the flow 30 and the position of the distance Lt from the upper surface of the table 2.

The movement of the shift mechanism 3 is continued until the weight of the balance 1 becomes M + M0. -33 M is the weight of the delivery, and M0 is the shift mechanism 3
Is a reference value for detecting that the object has hit the upper surface of the delivery, and considering the elasticity of rubber or cushion having a predetermined elasticity attached to the shift mechanism 3 and the rigidity of the delivery, In the case where there is a pressure or the like, the pressure is determined in consideration of the pressure required to suppress the bulge of the envelope, and further, it is determined in consideration of not overloading the balance 1.

When the weight of the balance 1 becomes M + M0 or more when the shift mechanism 3 hits the table 2, the movement of the shift mechanism 3 is stopped. -34 Assuming that the distance from the retreat position of the shift mechanism 3 to the stop position is Lh, the height (H) of the delivery is obtained by H = Lt-Lh. -35 Next, the shift mechanism is moved upward by the moving amount L. -36 At the position of the above L, the image of the delivery 7 on the table is taken in by the camera. -37 (12 in FIG. 2) The size of the outline of the delivery of the video is detected, and the actual size of the delivery is calculated from the ratio C of the flow 26. −
38 (16, 18 in FIG. 2) Extracting the outline of the delivery from the video of the delivery is performed by giving the color or pattern of the upper surface of the placing table 2 a characteristic.

With the above flow, the weight and size (planar size and height) of the delivery can be automatically measured.

Further, a means for inputting the delivery destination and the type of the delivery with a selection switch or the like is added to the configuration of FIG. Based on the weight, the size, and the information input by the selection switch, the fee for the delivery can be determined.

Further, when the postal code or address indicating the delivery destination is described on the upper surface of the delivery, the postal code or address is extracted from the image 14 of the upper surface of the delivery obtained by the camera 4 and the characters are extracted. By providing the control unit 6 with a function of recognizing, information on the delivery destination can also be automatically obtained.
In the case where features such as colors and marks are determined in advance, it is also possible to extract and identify a feature representing the type of the delivery from the video of the delivery obtained from the camera 4 in the same manner as described above. Configuration can be realized, thus,
By being able to automatically obtain delivery destinations and types of deliverables,
It is possible to realize a device that automatically determines all the charges for a delivery.

In the above, the automatic charge judgment of the delivery has been described. Using the configuration of the present embodiment, the delivery destination pasted on the delivery is obtained from the image of the upper surface of the delivery obtained by the camera 4. The control section 6 has a function to extract slips, postage stamps and postal codes in postal matters, and to identify whether they are legitimate. Can also. Specifically, for the contents of the slip where the delivery destination and the like are entered and the identification of the postal code, the work of judging from the video whether or not the necessary items have been completely entered can be automatically performed. Alternatively, it is also possible to determine only the presence or absence of a stamp, or to extract the printing of the amount of the stamp, and to automatically perform the amount determination.

The specific effect of this embodiment is that the camera 4
Can be arbitrarily moved in the vertical direction,
In addition, since the distance between the image and the object can be arbitrarily moved, the functions such as the zoom function, focal length, and resolution of the camera 4 do not need to be particularly high-performance, so that they can be relatively inexpensive.

Further, the distance of the camera when capturing the image of the marking of which dimensions are known in advance attached to the upper surface of the table and the distance of the camera when capturing the image of the upper surface of the delivery can be made the same. There is an advantage that the actual dimensions of the delivery can be easily and accurately detected simply by checking the ratio of the size of the delivery in the image to the size of the marking on the upper surface of the placing table.

Further, if the markings on the upper surface of the placing table are formed in a grid pattern of a predetermined size, for example, optical distortion of the camera can be extracted in advance, and the camera is extracted from the camera based on the extraction result. There is also an advantage that the video data of the delivery can be corrected by the control unit.

[0042]

According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically measure the weight and dimensions of a delivery such as a mail or home delivery, and to automatically determine the charge of the delivery together with information such as a type and a delivery destination. Therefore, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the undertaking of the delivery by the post office window or the courier service.

Further, the limitation of the person who performs the underwriting work is eliminated by the automation, and the size of the apparatus can be reduced, thereby increasing the number of underwriting places, improving the service and increasing the amount of underwriting. Become.

Also, especially for envelopes, the swelling of envelopes can be measured in the same manner as manual operation, so that consistency with manual operations can be achieved, and the position of the camera is changed according to the height of the delivery. There is no need to consider errors in dimension measurement due to the height of the delivery, and the present invention can be applied to deliveries of various heights.

Further, the same device can be used to determine whether a slip or the like added to a delivery by the camera is legitimate, so that a more efficient underwriting system can be constructed and service can be improved. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an image diagram of a method for calculating a size of a delivery from an image of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for determining the weight and size of a delivery according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1. 1. Scale Stand 3. Shift mechanism 4. Camera 5. Shift position detecting means 6. Control unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A scale for measuring the weight of various deliveries such as mails and home deliveries, and a place for placing the deliveries placed on the scale and having a predetermined size marking at a predetermined position on the upper surface. A camera for capturing the shape of the delivery as an image from above, and a shift mechanism that moves up and down by driving means such as a motor; With means for detecting the vertical position of the shift mechanism, while obtaining from the scale the weight value of the delivery placed on the table,
By moving the shift mechanism to a position corresponding to the upper surface of the delivery on the table, the height of the delivery is determined, and further, by moving the shift mechanism upward by a fixed amount from the position of the upper surface of the delivery. After setting the distance between the camera and the upper surface of the delivery to a predetermined distance, the camera captures an image of the upper surface of the delivery with the camera, and the video data of the delivery and the marking on the upper surface of the table in advance are used for the camera and the upper surface of the delivery. Determine the size of the upper surface of the delivery from the relative size with the video data of the marking captured by the camera at the same distance as the distance, using the weight value of the delivery obtained above, the height determination value, the size determination value of the upper surface An automatic fee judging device based on a balance, which judges the fee of the delivery. 2. The automatic fee judging device according to claim 1, wherein:
It has means to identify characters and images added to the upper surface of the delivery, and features such as the postal code and address indicating the destination written on the upper surface of the delivery, and the shape, color, and mark indicating the type of the delivery. An automatic fee judging device characterized in that the fee is automatically judged by using the identification result. 3. The automatic toll device according to claim 1, wherein
It is equipped with a means to identify the characters and images added to the top of the delivery from the image of the top of the delivery captured by the camera. An automatic fee judging device characterized by also having a function of judging whether or not the contents of a slip or the like describing a destination or the like are legitimate. 4. The automatic toll device according to claim 1, wherein
Instead of determining the height of the delivery by moving the shift mechanism until it hits the upper surface of the delivery, the object is emitted by emitting ultrasonic waves or light and detecting the time lag until it returns after reflection. Distance measuring means for measuring the distance between the table and the delivery table, and the distance measuring means is installed above the table and the delivery, and the distance between the upper surface of the table and the distance measurement means when the delivery is not placed. And a distance between the upper surface of the delivered item and the distance measuring means, and calculating the difference to determine the height of the delivered item.