Assembly for franking postal matter, and multi-carrier shipping system

Claim 2

An assembly for franking postal matter, comprising: a control module and a printer module; memory means having predetermined memory regions connected to said control module, receiving means communicatingly connected with said memory means for receiving data transmitted via transmission means; said receiving means including means for downloading at least one table of data from the transmission means, wherein the table of data contains information linked to at least one condition; said control module having means for storing the at least one table of data received by said receiving means into one of said predetermined memory regions of said memory means when the assembly is put into operation; said control module including further means for selecting from the at least one table of data a relevant table of data and information regarding specific functions to be available in the assembly for franking postal matter as a function of the at least one condition; the table of data including an associated expiration date and said control module continuously monitoring the expiration date; said control module, on or after the expiration date, automatically downloading an updated table of data from said memory means when the updated table of data is available in said memory means; and said control module with said receiving means downloading the updated table of data from a carrier when no updated table of data is available in said memory means for allowing continuous service during a period of changing carrier rates.

Claim 3

The assembly according to claim 1, wherein the at least one table of data includes at least one postal rate table; said downloading and storing means, when the assembly is put into operation, loading the at least one postal rate table from the transmission means, via the receiving means, into one of said predetermined memory regions of said memory means; and said control module having further means for selecting an applicable postage from the postal rate table relevantly in effect, in dependence on a place of origin of the postal matter and on a current date.

Claim 4

The assembly according to claim 1, including a communication bus connecting said control module to other modules and components, and a battery-powered clock component for supplying the assembly with time and date data via said bus.

Claim 5

The assembly according to claim 1, wherein the transmission means include stored data regarding supplementary functions to be downloaded which are valid for only a limited period of time and only for a predetermined geographic location from a previously determined date onward, some of the supplementary functions being freely selectable and some being not manipulatable for security purposes.

Claim 6

The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said control module, said printer module, said memory means and said receiving means are incorporated in a portable franking device.

Claim 7

The assembly according to claim 1, including a communications bus connecting said control module to other modules and components, and a programmable clock component for supplying the assembly with an applicable local time on the basis of a specified location.

Claim 8

The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said receiving means include means for reading a chip card, and wherein the transmission means is a chip card, said chip card having a memory with predetermined memory regions, said predetermined memory regions including at least one region for storing a postal rate table and an associated date defining a date when the postal rate table comes into effect.

Claim 9

The assembly according to claim 7, wherein said at least one region is a plurality of regions, each region being provided for at least one postal rate table and an associated date.

Claim 10

The assembly according to claim 7, wherein said predetermined memory regions of said memory of said chip card include memory regions for a postal rate, supplementary function tables and supplementary information to be loaded via said receiving means, and including input means for allowing operator input of information selected from country of origin, place of origin, country and local time.

Claim 11

The assembly according to claim 1, wherein the transmission means is a cellular communications network, and including a memory in the cellular communications network having memory segments; and mobile radio means associated with said receiving means for receiving input from the memory in the cellular communications network of information associated with a geographic origin and with a local time.

Claim 12

The assembly according to claim 10, wherein said receiving means includes means for automatically transferring into said memory means the information received from the cellular communications network, when said mobile radio means is turned on.

Claim 13

The assembly according to claim 10, wherein the memory segments of the memory of the cellular communications network include memory segments for the postal rate, supplementary function tables and supplementary information to be loaded via said receiving means, and including input means for allowing input of information selected from country of origin, place of origin, country and local time, when the assembly is switched on.

Claim 14

The assembly according to claim 1, wherein the data transmitted via the transmission means include postal rate tables being divided into zones, and including input means for inputting a weight of the postal matter, a class of service and a type of mail for each zone of the postal rate tables which can be downloaded into the assembly.

Claim 15

The assembly according to claim 13, wherein said input means allow direct manual input by an operator for ascertaining a postage.

Claim 16

The assembly according to claim 13, wherein said input means allow automatic input for ascertaining a postage.

Claim 17

The assembly according to claim 13, wherein said input means include a scales for weighing the postal matter.

Claim 18

The assembly according to claim 16, wherein said scales are in the form of an integrated weighing module.

Claim 21

The method according to claim 18, wherein the receiving means include means for reading a chip card and the transmission means is a chip card, and wherein the method further comprises inserting a chip card into the chip card reading means for downloading with the receiving means, and removing the chip card prior to franking postal matter with the assembly.

Claim 22

An assembly for determining shipping costs for items to be shipped with a carrier selected from a plurality of carriers, comprising: a printer module; input means; a programmable clock module operating independently of whether the assembly is in an operating or non-operating state, said programmable clock module being programmed with an applicable local time of a specified geographic location; display means; a control module connected with said input means, said programmable clock module, said display means and said printer module; an internal memory having predetermined memory regions connected to said control module, receiving means communicatingly connected with said internal memory for receiving data tables transmitted via transmission means; said receiving means having means for downloading at least one data table from the transmission means, the at least one data table containing information linked to at least one condition; said control module being programmed to load the at least one data table from the transmission means via said receiving means into said predetermined memory region of said internal memory upon the occurrence of said at least one condition, said receiving means downloading a plurality of the data tables from said transmission means and each of the data tables being associated with a respective shipping carrier; said control module having means for storing the at least one data table received by said receiving means into one of said predetermined memory regions of said internal memory means at least when the assembly is put into operation or turned on, said control module for a least one of the carriers automatically selecting relevant data tables and automatically downloading an updated relevant data table; said control module being programmed to compute a final mailing cost for the various carriers from inputs received from the data tables; and said control module including a comparator for comparing the mailing costs derived from the plurality of data tables and means for displaying a result of the comparison.

Claim 23

An assembly for determining shipping costs for items to be shipped with a carrier selected from a plurality of carriers, comprising: a printer module; input means; a programmable clock module operating independently of whether the assembly is in an operating or non-operating state, said programmable clock module being programmed with an applicable local time of a specified geographic location; display means; a control module connected with said input means, said programmable clock module, said display means and said printer module; an internal memory having predetermined memory regions connected to said control module, receiving means communicatingly connected with said internal memory for receiving data tables transmitted via transmission means; said receiving means having means for downloading at least one data table from the transmission means, the at least one data table containing information linked to at least one condition; said control module being programmed to load the at least one data table from the transmission means via said receiving means into said predetermined memory region of said internal memory upon the occurrence of said at least one condition, said receiving means downloading a plurality of the data tables from said transmission means and each of the data tables being associated with a respective shipping carrier; said control module having means for storing the at least one data table received by said receiving means into one of said predetermined memory regions of said internal memory means at least when the assembly is put into operation or turned on, said control module for a least one of the carriers automatically selecting relevant data tables and automatically downloading an updated relevant data table; said control module being programmed to compute a final mailing cost for the various carriers from inputs received from the data tables; and said control module including a comparator for comparing the mailing costs derived from the plurality of data tables and means for displaying a result of the comparison.

Claim 24

The assembly according to claim 20, wherein each of the data tables includes an associated expiration date and said control module, on or after the expiration date, automatically downloads the updated relevant data table with said receiving means.

Claim 25

The assembly according to claim 20, wherein each of the data tables contains information linked to at least one condition, and said control module selects from said data tables a relevant data table and information regarding specific functions to be available in the assembly for franking as a function of the at least one condition.

Claim 26

The assembly according to claim 20, wherein the plurality of data tables includes at least two relevant shipping rate tables; said control module, when the assembly is put into operation, loading the two relevant shipping rate tables from the transmission means, via the receiving means, into one of said predetermined memory regions of said memory means; and said control module selecting an applicable shipping fee from the relevant shipping rate tables, in dependence on a place of origin of the item to be shipped and on a current date.

Claim 29

The method according to claim 24, wherein the assembly further comprises a display module, and the method further comprises comparing the shipping costs calculated in the calculating step, and displaying the shipping costs in ascending order.