2. Background Art In general parcel delivery service such as an airway door-to-door express service and a motorcycle express service, a carrier calls on a consignor, receives articles or documents and then he calls on the recipient and hands over the small freight to him/her. The airway door-to-door express service delivers documents or small freight inter-countries or inter-metropolises very quickly by airplane. Meantime, the motorcycle express service delivers documents or small freight relatively fast in a metropolitan area, in which traffic is frequently jammed, by small ground vehicle such as motorcycle. In addition, this motorcycle express service is more convenient and faster than a postal delivery service, so that it is widely used in a metropolis.

In case of the motorcycle delivery system, a consignor or a sender should visit the desk of service provider and register a parcel personally, or he/she should call out a serviceman, wait him at an appointed area and give a document or small freight to him/her to deliver it.

However, because the motorcycle delivery service has few branches in a metropolitan area, it is common for a consignor to call out a serviceman, wait for him and give a document or small freight to him.

Therefore, a consignor should wait for a serviceman at an appointed area such as his or her office, and a recipient should wait for a parcel without leaving the office since the exact arrival time is unpredictable due to the frequently-caused heavy traffic in a metropolitan area.

In addition, if a recipient is absent, documents or small freight may be returned or received by other person on behalf of a recipient, which might cause a delivery trouble that a recipient does not receive the document or small freight.

As mentioned above, the door-to-door express service, in which a small ground vehicle such as a motorcycle delivers a parcel in a metropolitan area, has inconvenience that a consignor and a recipient should wait for a carrier to arrive as well as a problem that a consignment might be returned or misdelivered to other person in case of the absence of a recipient.

Moreover, a door-to-door delivery by a carrier increases the price of delivery service and is occasionally delayed or restricted owing to the distance to deliver, the size of the freight and the bad weather.

3. Disclosure of Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for delivering a parcel through an electrical railway and/or subway constructed in a metropolitan area, which attaches a delivery tag, in which the electrically-readable symbol and the text

information necessary for an exact delivery, to a parcel, notifies the arrival of a parcel to a recipient using the information written in the delivery tag, thereby moving quickly a parcel such as documents and baggage to the destination station which is closest to a recipient.

A parcel delivery method according to the present invention receives a destination station, a delivery path, and the information of the recipient from a sender, attaches a delivery tag in which delivery-related text information and electrically-readable symbolic code produced based on the received information is written, delivers a parcel to the destination station referring to the attached delivery tag by subway, extracts a telephone number of a recipient from the electrically-readable symbolic code printed in the delivery tag, connects to a communication terminal of the recipient using the extracted number, and notifies the recipient of the arrival of a parcel through the connected channel.

Another parcel delivery method according to the present invention receives a destination station and the information relating a recipient from a sender, searches a delivery route based on a present shipping station and the destination station, and issues a delivery tag containing both of text and electrically-readable symbolic code relating to the destination station, the information on a recipient and a delivery route.

A delivery-tag issuing apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that it comprises an input means for entering information about a destination station and a recipient; a searching means searching subway lines and determining a delivery route; a signal processing means converting the determined route

and the entered information relating to a destination station and a recipient into the text data and the electrically-readable symbolic code; and a tag issuing means issuing a delivery tag in which the text and symbolic code are written.

Another parcel delivery method according to the present invention detects a telephone number of a recipient from a electrically-readable symbolic code written in a delivery tag attached to a delivered parcel, connects to a terminal corresponding to the detected telephone number, and notifies the arrival of a parcel through the connected line.

Another parcel delivery method according to the present invention extracts the information regarding a recipient from a electrically-readable symbolic code written in a delivery tag attached to a delivered parcel, compares the extracted information with entered information, and determines whether to hand over the parcel or not based on the comparison result.

A delivery notifying apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that it comprise a detecting means detecting a telephone number and identification information of a recipient from a electrically-readable symbolic code written in a delivery tag attached to a delivered parcel; a connecting means connecting to a communication terminal corresponding to the detected telephone number of a recipient; a storage unit storing guide messages informing the arrival of a parcel ; a controlling means controlling the connecting means to retrieve and send a guide message to notify the arrival of a parcel, and comparing entered information with the identification information detected from the

delivery tag; and a displaying means displaying parcel identifying information and whether to hand over the parcel or not based on the comparison result.

The aforementioned apparatus and method delivering a parcel through an electric railroad or a subway according to the present invention enables small freight such as documents, baggage, and goods sample to be delivered quickly and easily in a complex subway system constructed in a metropolitan area and conducts the quick notification of the arrival of a parcel and the exact confirmation on whether a person is authorized for a delivered parcel. Therefore, a sender or a recipient may not wait for a service man to arrive to consign or receive a parcel. In addition, anyone can consign small freight to be delivered at a station which is closest to a present business area even if he or she is on a business trip, and a recipient can take out a delivered documents or goods sample at a destination station at any convenient time.

4. Brief Description of Drawings In the drawings: FIG. 1 depicts an example of railway and/or subway lines of a metropolitan area ; FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a parcel delivery apparatus involved in sending a parcel according to the present invention; FIG. 3 depicts a procedure conducted by a parcel delivery apparatus according to the present invention when a parcel is registered to be delivered ; FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate examples of a delivery tag and a receipt ticket, respectively; FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a parcel delivery system

involved in receiving a parcel according to the present invention; FIG. 6 depicts a procedure informing the arrival of a parcel conducted by a parcel delivering apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. 7 is a procedure identifying a recipient conducted by a parcel delivering apparatus according to the present invention ; and FIG. 8 shows an exemplary appearance of a parcel delivering apparatus manufactured like a vending machine.

5. Modes for Carrying out the Invention The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 1 depicts an example of railway and/or subway lines of a metropolitan area. The railway and/or subway lines are constructed like a web in a metroplis, for example Seoul'or Busan'in Korea, or between metropolises. Especially, the subway and railway network of the metropolis Seoul'is connected to the satellite cities such as Suwon', Inchon', Bundang'and Ilsan', and it has the highest utilization ratio among the mass transportation.

Since a railway and subway system has proven its ability of keeping train schedule and of stable transportation, new railways and/or subways are being constructed in spite of its huge construction cost.

Therefore, it is definitely sure that a railway and subway will be the essential transporting means to connect everywhere in the metropolitan area in the near future.

However, the number of transfer stations increases as a new lines of railway and subway are constructed, so that passengers or parcel-carrying man should know the line where he/she is, and the stations where he/she transfers to reach a destination station.

A apparatus and method for delivering a parcel according to the present invention, which is applicable to a parcel transporting service among railway and subway stations through complex railway and subway lines, is explained referring to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a parcel delivering apparatus involved in sending a parcel according to the present invention. The apparatus of FIG. 2 comprises a key entering unit 2 for entering a destination station and the information of a recipient; microcomputer 4 searching the delivery route of a parcel based on the destination and the present originating station at which this apparatus is installed; memory 5 storing the data about line map of railway and subway which is necessary to search a delivery route; a code/text processing unit 6 converting information on a discovered delivery route, the destination station and the information of a recipient into text data and electrically-readable symbolic code; a tag printing unit 7 printing the converted text and symbolic code onto a delivery tag of printed form and outputting it; a video processing unit 3 converting the entered information and the processed results into video signals suitable for display; and a display unit 1 presenting the video signal onto its screen.

The operation of the apparatus configured as above is explained referring to a flow chart of FIG. 3. At first,

the tag issuing mode is set by pressing a specific key on the key entering unit 2 (SlO), then a destination station and the information of a recipient are entered through the key entering unit 2 (Sll). The information of a recipient consists of a telephone number of a recipient, which is used to notify the arrival of a parcel automatically, and a password to identify a recipient.

This information may further contain a unique parcel number or the name of a recipient to identify a parcel, and a telephone number of a consignor which is used to notify that a delivery has done.

After that, the microcomputer 4 searches the map data of railway and subway lines stored in the memory 5 and determines the delivery route to transport a consigned parcel between the present sending station to the destination one (S12) which is designated through the key entering unit 2. To determine the delivery route, the microcomputer 4 reads and analyzes each line and connection data between all stations, and produces delivering route data, which contains the numbers of lines to transport a parcel through, the moving direction in each line, and transfer stations. For example, supposed that the destination station is Shillim'and the present sending station is Tapshimni', the microcomputer 4 examines the line and connection data in the memory 5 to search for all the possible delivery routes leading from Tapshimni'to Shillim'station, and chooses a shortcut delivery route which has the smallest number of passing and/or transfer stations among the possible routes. Then, the microcomputer 4 produces the delivering route data which is composed of one or more numbers of lines belonging to the chosen delivery route

and transporting directions at each line or transfer station.

Producing the delivering route data, the microcomputer 4 sends it, along with the entered information of a recipient, to the code/text processing unit 6 which converts the line numbers, transporting directions or transfer stations, the present sending station, the destination station, the information of a recipient, and so on into text data and electrically-readable symbolic code such as a bar code (S14), and transmits the converted text and code to the tag printing unit 7.

Then, the tag printing unit 8 issues a delivery tag, which has a sticky back side so that it might be attached to a parcel easily, and a receipt ticket (S15) whose examples are shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B by printing the received data in the respective printed form.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show printed examples of the delivery tag and the receipt ticket, respectively. The delivery tag, shown in FIG. 4A, has the text information of the sending station, the transporting directions and the destination station, thereby enabling a deliveryman to determine easily whether he transfers loaded parcels, which the delivery tags are attached to, at each transfer station. For the above delivery assumption from Tapshimni'to Shillim', the text of Tapshimni'is written for the item sending station', the text of line 7-Direction to Konkuk Univ.'and line 2-Direction to Seoul Univ.'for the item transporting direction', and the text of Shillim'for the item destination station'.

Therefore, a deliveryman reads the text information written in the attached tag while transporting by train and transfers a parcel from line 5 to line 7 toward

Konkuk Univ. ', and then transfers it from line 7 to line 2 toward Seoul Univ.'. At last, the parcel is carried to the final destination Shillim'by line 2.

As another example of expressing the delivery route in text, the name of passing station or the unique number assigned to each station can be written in the delivery tag instead of transporting direction. That is, the text of Kunja'and Konkuk Univ.'is written instead of the text line 7-direction to Konkuk Univ.'for the item transporting direction'. Therefore, a deliveryman transfers the parcel to a train toward Konkuk Univ.' station at Kunja'transfer station. In this way, the parcel destined for Shillim'station is delivered to that station through line transfer by a deliveryman referring to the text information written in the delivery tag.

The delivery tag containing such text information makes it possible for a deliveryman to transfer and transport a parcel to the destination station quickly and easily even though he does not exactly know the route and line- crossing stations of the complex subway and railway constructed in a metropolitan area.

In addition, a telephone number of a recipient to be used to notify the arrival of a parcel, a password for confirming a recipient for deciding whether to hand over an arrived parcel, and the name of a recipient are also written in a delivery tag in electrically-readable symbolic code such as a bar code as shown in FIG. 4A.

A receipt ticket shown in FIG. 4B, which is provided to a sender as a receipt for a consignment, has text information such as a telephone number of a recipient and a password which are written in electrically-readable

symbolic code in a delivery tag. Therefore, a sender may inform a recipient of the necessary information, for example a password by telephone in advance so that a recipient can be authorized in the confirming procedure.

Now, it is explained about notifying and confirming operation for a parcel arrived at a destination station through the determined delivery route of railway and subway as described above.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a parcel delivery apparatus involved in receiving a parcel according to the present invention. The apparatus of FIG. 5 comprises a code interpreter 23 detecting written symbolic code of a delivery tag and converting it into digital data; a memory 26 storing the converted data of recipient information; a call processor 27 for connecting to a telephone of a recipient whose number comes from the information stored in the memory 26; a hard disk 28 storing voice data advising the arrival of a parcel, etc.; an audio processor 29 converting the voice data stored in the hard disk 28 into real audio; a key entering unit 22 for entering a password, etc. to identify an authorized recipient; a microcomputer 25 comparing a password stored in the memory 26 with that entered through the key entering unit 22, determining whether to hand over a delivered parcel to a recipient and controlling all elements; a video processing unit converting information on whether to hand over a parcel and the entered information into video signals suitable for display; a display unit 21 presenting the video signal onto its screen; an exchange ticket printer 30 issuing an exchange ticket for taking out a parcel when a recipient is authorized.

The operation of the apparatus configured as above is explained referring to a flow chart of FIG. 6. At first, the code interpreter 23 interprets an electrically- readable symbolic code written in a delivery tag attached to an arrived parcel (S30) when the tag contacts to the code interpreter 23 closely enough to read the symbolic code, extracts information which the symbolic code represents, and stores the extracted information in the memory 26. Then, the microcomputer 25 sets the operating mode to arrival advising mode to inform a designated recipient of the arrival of a parcel (S31), reads the telephone number of a recipient contained in the information stored in the memory 26 (S32), and sends the telephone number to the call processor 27.

Receiving the telephone number, the call processor 27 tries to connect to a telephone terminal (S33). If the connection is made, the microcomputer 25 controls the audio processor 29 to read the voice data advising the arrival of a parcel from the hard disk 28 and to convert it into real voice, thereby notifying a designated recipient of the arrival of a parcel automatically (S35).

The advising voice may be provided such as,"This is to inform you of the arrival of your parcel from subway delivery service. A parcel for Sir Hong Gil-Dong is arrived at this station".

Such automatic informing service enables a designated recipient to know the arrival of his or her parcel as soon as the parcel is arrived at a station closet to the recipient.

The trial of connection is conducted repeatedly at a certain interval if a connection to the recipient is not made. If the trial is failed several times, the

microcomputer 25 controls the call processor 27 to connect to the telephone terminal of a consignor using the telephone number written in the delivery tag and to inform the failure of connection to the recipient automatically.

To inform the connection failure as described above, the telephone number of a consignor should be written additionally in the delivery tag in electrically-readable symbolic code and the voice data advising of connection failure should be also stored in the hard disk 28.

FIG. 7 is a procedure identifying a recipient conducted by a parcel delivering apparatus according to the present invention. The recipient identifying operation of the apparatus of FIG. 5 is explained referring to the flow diagram of FIG. 7.

The microcomputer 25 turns the operating mode to the taking-out mode according to the mode selection through the key entering unit 22 (S50). After that, if the information of a recipient is entered through the key entering unit 22 (S51), the microcomputer 25 compares a password entered by the recipient with the password stored in the memory 26 for the recipient (S52). If the comparison indicates mismatch between two passwords, the microcomputer 25 displays the confirmation fail through the video processing unit 24 and the display unit 21 (S57). On the contrary, if two passwords are same, the microcomputer 25 displays a parcel-identifying information (S54) and a message that the recipient is authorized to take out a parcel (S55) through the video processing unit 24 and the display unit 21, and controls the exchange ticket printer 30 to print out an exchange ticket (S56) in which an identification information of

the parcel is printed. The name of a recipient may be used as parcel-identifying information. Instead of the name, a unique number which is assigned to each parcel when registering a parcel may be used to identify a parcel.

Referring to the displayed information or printed exchange ticket, a warehouse-keeper can search a warehouse keeping all delivered parcels for a parcel for the recipient exactly and easily, and hand over the parcel to the authorized recipient.

In addition, if the telephone number of a consignor is written in the delivery tag, the time when a recipient is authorized by entered password is stored in the memory 26 and then it is automatically reported to the consignor through a connected telephone as a receipt time when the recipient takes out the parcel.

The parcel delivering apparatus of FIGS 2 and 5 according to the present invention may be implemented as a vending machine of which front appearance may be designed as shown in the FIG. 8. The apparatus of vending-machine type comprises a menu display unit 32 displaying the operation modes, items for tag issuing and taking out mode, and so on; buttons 31 for selecting one item in the displayed list; a speaker 33 outputs voice advising the selected operating mode or item which is chosen through pressing a corresponding button; a keyboard 35 for entering the necessary information for exact delivery and recipient confirmation; a key-in display unit 34 echoing a character which a user enters; a fee inserting unit 36 receiving and processing coin and/or note to be paid for a requested delivery service; a ticket discharger 37 pushing out a printed delivery tag and/or a receipt ticket. If this parcel delivering apparatus is installed in almost subway/railway stations, the number of persons who would be involved in the parcel delivery service can be remarkably reduced.