TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a self-service apparatus for acceptance of post.

In particular, the present invention finds advantageous application for acceptance of registered mail (i.e., registered mail and insured mail with or without advice of receipt) .

BACKGROUND ART

Currently, the acceptance of registered mail is made manually by an operator at a window of a post office.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The aim of the present invention is to automate the window services, extending the possibility of access to the services by the customers and reducing drastically the costs associated thereto .

The automation of the window services is aimed at making available the operations of acceptance of the post all round the clock throughout the week, rendering the acceptance of the post independent of the opening hours of post offices.

The aim outlined above is achieved by the present invention in so far as it regards a self-service apparatus for acceptance of post by a user, characterized in that it comprises a supporting case provided with: input means, configured to enable the user to enter first data representing the addressee of a postal object and second data representing the sender of the postal object; first processing means, designed to generate in response to correct input of the first and second data at least one first code that identifies the postal object in a unique way in the course of its subsequent mail sorting; and first printing means, designed. ^■ to provide a module, represented in which is at least said first code; said module being affixed automatically on the postal object in a security- area not accessible to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be illustrated with reference to the annexed drawings, which represent a non- limiting preferred embodiment thereof, and in which: - Figure 1 illustrates, in perspective and see-through view, a self-service apparatus for acceptance of post made according to the teachings of the present invention;

- Figures 2a-2m illustrate a series of first functions performed by the device illustrated in Figure 1; - Figures 3a- 3e illustrate a series of second functions performed by a first variant of the device;

Figure 4 illustrates, in a schematic top plan view, the variant to the device of Figure 1;

Figures 5a- 5b illustrate third functions performed by a second variant of the device; and

- Figure 6 illustrates further functions performed by the device 1.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In Figure 1 designated as a whole by 1 is a self-service apparatus for acceptance of post .

The apparatus 1 is housed within a parallelepipedal metal container 2 (the shape of the container may obviously be different) , which can be provided with bottom extractable wheels (not illustrated) used for its movement. For example, there may be provided a container 2 having limited overall dimensions in plan view (for example, 90 cm x 120 cm) , rendering possible installation of the apparatus 1 also in premises with little free space for accommodating it. The apparatus 1 is provided with a rectangular front opening 4, which provides access to a first seat 6, in which postal objects 7 (referred to hereinafter also as "dispatches") are laid manually and individually for their acceptance by the apparatus 1 _. .

The rectangular front opening 4 can be re-closed by a transparent slidable vertical wall 10, which is able to move with reversible motion following upon a manual command between a closed position, in which the first seat 6 is separated from the outside of the container 2, and an open position, in which the seat 6 is accessible from outside the container 2.

The first seat 6 is delimited, among other things, by a bottom wall formed by a plane resting portion of a conveyor belt 12, on which the postal objects 7 are rested. The conveyor belt 12 is mobile under the thrust of actuator means of a known type (not illustrated) to displace the postal objects 7 from the first seat 6 to a weighing and franking station 15 (represented schematically) adjacent to the first seat 6 and accessible therefrom through an opening 17 made in a bottom wall of the first seat 6.

The opening 17 can be re-closed by an armoured slidable vertical wall 20, which is able to move with reversible motion under the thrust of actuator means of a known type (not illustrated) between a closed position, in which the first seat 6 is separate from the weighing and franking station 15, and an open position, in which the seat 6 communicates with the weighing and franking station 15.

The weighing and franking station 15 is a commercial object and will not be described in further detail herein.

In particular, the weighing and franking station 15 is designed to weigh (with a tolerance of 1 g on 2 kg) the postal object 7 and to print a label (said operation will be described in detail hereinafter) .

Moreover provided is a bar-code reader 16 designed to verify proper affixing of an advice of receipt on the postal object 7

(in the case where the postal object 7 is a registered letter with advice of receipt) by means of reading of the bar-code printed thereon.

Following upon their processing, . the postal objects 7 are released from the weighing and franking station 15 towards postal containers 22 (of a known type) housed within the metal container 2 and extractable following upon opening of the hatches 23 of the metal container 2. Two containers 22 for collection of the post are illustrated in Figure 1. Said containers 22 are mounted on a motor-driven slide. The system can position in an automatic way one or other of the containers underneath a chute that will be illustrated hereinafter to collect the object that has just been accepted according to the type of product of the object accepted (e.g., one container can be provided for registered mail and the other for priority mail) .

The hatch 23 is set on the front side of the metal container underneath the front opening 4.

The apparatus 1 is provided with a liquid-crystal video terminal 24 of the touchscreen type (of a known kind) and a POS terminal 26 (of a known type) for making payments/user identification by means of a personal card 27 (bancomat, credit card, electronic identity card, etc.) of a magnetic, microprocessor, or RFID type. The POS terminal is provided with numeric keyboard 28 and LCD 29. For instance, the POS terminal 26 can be of the EMV approved type (standard of inter-operability for chip cards) and PCI PED approved type (standard of security for insertion of the PIN) provided with high protection against dust and atmospheric agents (degree of protection IP34/IP65, according to whether its use is envisaged in interior or exterior environments) .

The apparatus 1 moreover comprises : a first printer 31 (of a known type) , designed to dispense printed modules 33 towards the outside of the container 2 through a delivery slot 33; a second printer 31b (of a known type) , designed to dispense, towards the outside of the container 2 through a respective slot 33b for delivery of receipts, receipts of acceptance of registered mail and receipts acknowledging that payment has been made; and a third printer 31c (of a known type, typically a thermal printer) , designed to dispense towards the outside of the container 2 slips of the postal objects deposited at the apparatus 1.

An electronic unit 45 (for example, constituted by a personal computer) controls all the operations performed by the apparatus 1, interfacing, amongst other things, with the video terminal 24, the POS terminal 26, the weighing and franking station 15, the printers 31, 31b, 31c, and the various actuator means listed above.

The first seat 6 is provided with an automatic control device

(of a known type, not indicated in the figures) for controlling positioning of the postal object 7 on the belt 12, which uses a plurality of photoelectric sensors (not indicated in the figures) . Said device works according to known techniques and will consequently not be described in further detail herein. The device is designed to execute also an operation of automatic checking of the overall dimensions of the postal object 7 to detect any possible objects that may not be in compliance with the mailing requirements. — o —

The electronic unit 45 is connected with local networks and/or with the Internet via various communication ports available (RS232/USB/Ethernet/GPRS) . The connection can also be of a wireless type.

The unit 1 is able to accept different types of post.

There will be initially illustrated the operations performed by the apparatus 1 as regards operations of acceptance of registered mail with advice of receipt (AR) .

Initially, represented on the video terminal 24 is a first screenful (Figure 2a) in which there are illustrated by means of selectable icons the postal services that can be carried out by the apparatus 1, for example: i) send registered mail; ii) send insured mail; iii) send priority mail.

Following upon selection of the option "send registered mail" by using of the touchscreen a second screenful is represented

(Figure 2b) , which illustrates the characteristics of the service selected and highlights the limit values of acceptance of the postal objects 7 (dimensions and weight) .

Following upon a command for continuing the procedures imparted by touchscreen means (pressure on ^w forward" key) the apparatus 1 goes into a wait state for introduction of data that identify a user authorized to send registered mail. Said operation of identification is performed by introducing the card 27 into the POS terminal 26 and/or by typing in a PIN (Personal Identification Number) that must be recognized as correct.-

Following upon identification, the system displays a third information screenful regarding the treatment of the personal data (Figure 2c) .

Following upon a command for the procedures to continue imparted by means of the touchscreen (pressure on "forward" key on the third screenful) a fourth screenful is displayed (Figure 2d) , and the video terminal 24 is prearranged for entry of the data that identify the addressee of the registered mail.

Preferably, displayed on the video 24 are the following fields (all compulsory) :

1. Addressee surname ;

2. Addressee first name;

3. . Street/Square; 4. Civic number;

5. Town;

6. Province ; and

7. Postcode.

On the ^• video terminal 24 there is represented and rendered active (by means of techniques of a known type) a virtual keyboard for filling in by means of alphanumeric values the fields 1-7 mentioned above.

Following upon completion of the operations of entry of the addressee data, the user presses on a "forward" key on the virtual screen, and the apparatus 1 checks the completeness/correctness of the data entered. Typically, the checking operation is performed by means of a network connection with external data bases.

In the case where the data entered are not complete/correct, a fifth screenful is displayed (Figure 2e) , in which the missing/incorrect data are highlighted. The operations of data entry are then repeated by the user. — Q _

In the case where the data entered are instead complete/correct, a sixth screenful is displayed (Figure 2f) , and the video terminal 24 is prearranged for entry of the data that identify the sender of the registered letter.

Preferably, displayed on the video 24 are the following fields (all compulsory) :

1. Sender surname;

2. Sender first name;

3. Street/Square ;

4. Civic number;

5. Town;

6. Province ; and

7. Postcode.

Also in this case, on the video terminal 24 there is represented and rendered active (by means of techniques of a known type) a virtual keyboard for filling in by means of alphanumeric values the fields 1-7 mentioned above.

If all the data on the sender have been entered properly by the user, following upon a command to proceed, a seventh screenful is displayed (Figure 2g) of a summary type in which the addressee and sender data are represented in a complete way .

If the sender data have not all been entered properly, a procedure altogether similar to the one described previously for the addressee data is run for enabling correction/completion of the sender data by the user.

Following upon a command to proceed from the seventh screenful, the user is asked in an eighth screenful (Figure 2h) whether he wishes to proceed with the creation of a registered letter with advice of receipt (AR) . If the user does wish to send a registered letter with advice of receipt, the electronic unit 45 generates a first bar-code (T&T code, for example T&T = 13594909706-1) , which identifies uniquely the registered letter in the course of its subsequent mail sorting, and a second bar-code associated to the advice of receipt. : Said first unique code (T&T code) is also sent to the sorting centres of the postal administration by means of the Internet or else a dedicated network.

The first printer 31 is activated in such a way that this will print an advice of receipt comprising the data of the addressee, the data of the sender, and the second bar-code

(the second bar-code is different from the first bar-code and is not sent to the postal centres) .

The advice of receipt typically comprises the following data:

• Sender data

• Addressee data

• Acceptance office • Date and time of acceptance

• First code (code of the registered letter in the form of a number)

• Second code (bar-code of the advice of receipt)

The advice of receipt (typically consisting of a self-adhesive slip) is manually glued by the user on the back of the postal object 7 that is to be registered.

The apparatus 1 can also display a screenful (for reasons of simplicity not shown) , which illustrates the modalities of application of the advice of receipt. For example, there may be displayed the following indications "FJLL IN THE ADVICE OF

RECEIPT AND AFFIX IT ON THE BACK OF THE ENVELOPE WITHOUT

FOLDING THE ADHESIVE TABS AS INDICATED IN THE PICTURE ON THE SCREEN. INSERT THE ENVELOPE IN THE COMPARTMENT FOR ACCEPTANCE,

ALIGNING IT AS INDICATED IN THE PICTURE ON THE SCREEN AND SETTING THE SIDE OF THE ENVELOPE WITH THE ADVICE OF RECEIPT DOWNWARDS. PRESS THE «FORWARD» KEY WHEN YOU ARE READY".

Subsequently and/or simultaneously with the operations of printing of the advice of receipt, release 'of the vertical wall 10 is enabled, which can then be displaced manually, thus rendering accessible the first seat 6 from outside the apparatus 1. The user can then deposit the (registered) postal object 7, on which the advice of receipt has been manually affixed, on the conveyor belt 12. Next, the vertical wall 10 is manually actuated to close the opening 4.

Following upon pressure on a "forward" key, the system checks that the opening 4 is closed and that the postal object 7 has been positioned correctly on the conveyor belt 12 by means of automatic control of position.

In the case where positioning is correct, opening of the wall 20 is enabled, thus making available the opening 17; the conveyor belt 12 then causes the postal object 7 to advance from the first seat 6 to the weighing and franking station 15.

In the passage to the weighing and franking station 15, reading of the second bar-code affixed on the postal object is carried out (by the reader 16, by means of known techniques) by means of the advice of receipt to check whether this corresponds to the second code previously generated by the electronic unit 45.

The following alternatives are possible: a) The bar-code read does not correspond to the second code previously generated - the belt 12 moves to bring the postal object 7 from the weighing and franking station 15 back into the seat 6. In this case, there appears a warning message, for example: " WARNING: CHECK THAT THE ADVICE OF RECEIPT HAS BEEN APPLIED PROPERLY!" ; b) The bar-code read corresponds to the second code previously generated - the process of acceptance of the postal object 7 proceeds.

In the case (b) where the process continues, the weighing and franking station 15 proceeds to weighing the postal object 7.

Checks on of length and height of the postal object are made when the object 7 is positioned in the compartment for acceptance 6; check on the thickness of the object is made during the passage of the object from the compartment for acceptance to the weighing station 15.

We now have the following alternative cases: a. reading of the weight and/or dimensions has not been performed correctly - the postal object 7 is brought by the belt 12 back into the seat 6 and an error message appears, for example. "WARNING: ACCEPTANCE OF THE LETTER CANNOT BE CARRIED THROUGH ON ACCOUNT OF TECHNICAL PROBLEMS. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE AND REMEMBER TO WITHDRAW THE LETTER FROM THE COMPARTMENT. THANK YOU"; b. reading of the weight and/or of the dimensions has been performed correctly - the process of acceptance of the postal object 7 proceeds.

In case (b) , a check is made to see whether the weight just read and the dimensions detected fall within the envisaged ranges previously stored.

We have the following alternative cases: a) if the weight and/or the dimensions do not fall within the envisaged ranges, the postal object 7 is brought by the belt 12 back into the seat 6, and an error message appears, for example: "WARNING: ACCEPTANCE OF THE REGISTERED LETTER CANNOT BE CARRIED THROUGH SINCE: the envelope exceeds the maximum weight allowed of 2 000 g (value detected xx g) . The dimensions of the envelope are outside the standards allowed - Height:' from 120 to 250 mm (value found: xx mm) . REMEMBER TO WITHDRAW THE REGISTERED LETTER FROM THE COMPARTMENT AND PLEASE GO ALONG TO A POST OFFICE. THANK YOU" b) If the weight and/or the dimensions fall within the envisaged ranges, the basic tariff for dispatch of the postal object 7 is calculated (by using stored tables) according to the weight .

In case b) , a ninth screenful can be displayed (Figure 2i) of a summary type indicating the addressee data, the sender data, and the tariff applied to the dispatch.

Following upon display of the ninth screenful, the customer can choose not to proceed with the dispatch (NO key) ; in this case, the postal object 7 is brought by the belt 12 back into the seat 6 and a message appears, for example: "ACCEPTANCE OF THE REGISTERED LETTER HAS BEEN CANCELLED AS REQUESTED. REMEMBER TO WITHDRAW THE LETTER FROM THE COMPARTMENT. THANK YOU" .

If the user chooses, instead, to proceed with the dispatch

(YES key) , the belt 12 brings the postal object 7 back into the position suitable for printing and activates the printer of the weighing and franking station 15 for printing a label, which is affixed on the postal object 7 and contains, among other things, the first bar-code mentioned above used for sorting the postal object.

The label contains the following information: name of service; office of acceptance; tariff applied; time of acceptance; indication of acceptance beyond time limit; data identifying sender and addressee; bar-code (first code) of the registered letter (the bar-code is provided in two copies, one of which can be detached so that it can be glued on the notice of non-delivery in the case where the postman is unable to find the addressee) ; DPM (Digital Postal Mark) postal code; and FIM code (vertical bar-code at the centre of the label identifying the service ) .

In the case of proper printing and affixing of the label, the postal object is sent by the belt onto an inclined surface P, where it hits against a vertical contrast element and then slides by gravity towards the underlying container 22.

A tenth screenful of a summary type appears, which communicates to the user that "ACCEPTANCE HAS GONE THROUGH SUCCESSFULLY" (Figure 21) .

By means of said tenth screenful the user can make the selection for activating new mailing operations or can pass on to payment of the dispatch just made.

The customer's card is in fact withheld within the POS terminal 26 up to the end of the transaction and the debit is made at the moment when the marking procedures have gone through successfully.

An eleventh screenful (Figure 2m) contains an invitation to withdraw the personal card 27 and the mailing receipt of the registered letter.

In particular, by means of the printer 31b there are printed:

• the receipt of acceptance of the registered letter

• the payment receipt.

Following upon execution of one of the operations highlighted above, the process returns to the operations described with the aid of Figure 2a. In the case where the second option envisaged by the screenful of Figure 2h has instead been activated (send registered mail without advice of receipt) the following operations are implemented: a) representation of a screenful (similar to the one shown in Figure 2b) , which illustrates the characteristics of the service, selected and highlights the limit values of acceptance of the postal objects 7 (dimensions and weight) ; b) entry of data that identify a user authorized for sending registered mail; c) entry by means of touchscreen of the data that identify the addressee of the registered letter (screenful similar to that of Figure 2d) ; d) entry by means of touchscreen of the data that identify the sender of the registered letter (screenful similar to that of Figure 2f) ; e) representation summarizing the addressee and sender data (screenful similar to that of Figure 2g) ; f) creation by the electronic unit 45 of a first code associated to the registered letter; g) laying of the postal object 7 (registered letter) on the conveyor belt 12 and subsequent manual closing of the wall 10; h) opening of the wall 20 in order to make available the opening. 17 and cause, by means of the conveyor belt 12, the postal object 7 to advance from the compartment for acceptance 6 to the weighing and franking station 15; e) checking of the weight by means of the station 15 - dimensional checking of the registered letter,- j ) activation of the printer of the weighing and franking station 15 for printing a label that is affixed on the postal object 7 and that contains, among other things, the first barcode provided in step f) and used for the mailing process. The label is thus applied automatically on the postal object in a security area (i.e., by the station 15 set within the container 2 and not accessible from outside the container 2 ) not accessible to the user.

The label contains the following information: name of service ; office of acceptance; tariff applied; time of acceptance; indication of acceptance beyond time limit; data identifying the sender and addressee; bar-code (first code) of the registered letter (the bar-code is provided in two copies, one of which can be detached so that it can be glued on the notice of non-delivery in the case where the postman is unable to find the addressee) ;

DPM (Digital Postal Mark) postal code; and FIM code (vertical bar-code at the centre of the label that identifies the service) . h) dropping of the registered letter by gravity into the container 22.

According to a first variant embodiment, the apparatus 1 is designed also to provide the delivery of postal objects 7 (in particular registered letters) that are undelivered (i.e., not withdrawn by the addressee) to a user and not simply to enable sending of registered letters with or without advice of receipt.

In this case, the apparatus 1 comprises, in addition to what has been described above, a storage device 46 (of a known type and consequently not described in detail herein, see Figure 4) provided with a plurality of pigeon-holes 47, within each of which an undelivered postal object 7 is deposited.

The pigeon-holes 47 are rendered accessible from outside the storage, device 46 individually by means of a mechanism of selection and opening of a known type (not illustrated) to enable single extraction of the postal objects 7 from the pigeon-holes 47.

According to the first variant, initially represented on the touchscreen 24 is a screenful (Figure 3a) in which the user is required to choose between functions of acceptance

{"ACCEPTANCE" key on the touchscreen 24) (function described previously) and of delivery ("DELIVERY" key on the touchscreen

24) of the undelivered registered letter.

Following upon pressure of the "DELIVERY" key on the touchscreen, a screenful is displayed (Figure 3b) , which represents the characteristics of the service selected and highlights the timetable of availability.

Following upon a command to continue the procedures, imparted by means of the touchscreen (pressure on "forward" key) the apparatus 1 goes into a wait state for input of data that identify in a secure way a user authorized to withdraw the undelivered registered letters .

Said operation of user identification is performed by means of two alternative operations, namely: introduction of a personal identification card 27 (for example, an electronic identity card) into the POS terminal 26, by reading which the name and surname of a user can be extracted; detection of biometric data of the user.

In the case where the biometric data detected correspond to the ones stored for the user that has been recognized (for example, a local DB can be used) , the process goes ahead; otherwise, an error message is displayed.

Typically, the biometric data can be detected by means of a sensor 54 of a known type (Figure 1) for acquisition of fingerprints. Following upon secure identification of the user, a screenful is displayed (Figure 3c) , which illustrates the operations necessary for acquisition of the bar-code present on the module for notice of non-delivery of the registered letter that has been received by the user who has not received the registered letter.

In this connection, the apparatus 1 is provided with a scanner 56 (of a known- type and consequently not described further) accessible from outside the container 2. Reading of the barcode can be made simply by inserting the module for notice of non-delivery into the scanner 56, which acquires the image and decodes the bar-code present on the notice of non-delivery.

The bar-code is then read by the scanner 56 and processed; the following alternative cases are possible: a.) the bar-code affixed on the module for notice of nondelivery has not been recognized; i.e., it does not correspond to any of the ones stored for the postal objects 7 contained in the storage device 46: in this case, a message of invitation to repeat the operation appears on the touchscreen 24; b.) the bar-code affixed on the module for notice of non- delivery has been recognized; i.e., it corresponds to one of those stored for the postal objects 7 contained in the storage device 46: the delivery process continues.

In case b) , a screenful is displayed (Figure 3d) , which illustrates the operations necessary for acquisition of the digital signature by the user.

Advantageously, the touchscreen 24 is prearranged for receiving the signature of the user, which is entered by writing, with a purposely provided pen on the screen. Said physical capture of the signature could be optional in so far as the user is in any case identified in a secure way.

Following upon correct entry of the signature, this is stored in a permanent way locally and then transmitted outside the apparatus 1 to a central control system (not illustrated) . Entry of the signature can thus have legal value.

In the case where the acquisition is not successful, the operations of entry of the signature are repeated.

After registration of the signature, a screenful is displayed (not illustrated) with the summary of the dispatch data and display of the amount due for nondelivery to be paid in order to withdraw the registered letter.

The apparatus 1 identifies the postal object 7 via the barcode associated thereto and traces location of the object 7 within the storage device 46.

The amount due for nondelivery is paid using the POS terminal 26.

Following upon payment thereof, the storage device 46 makes available the pigeon-hole 47 within which the postal object (i.e., the letter registered) to be delivered is contained; the user can thus withdraw the postal object 7 manually.

To withdraw the registered letter, the latter is detected automatically via a photoelectric sensor (not illustrated) set in the pigeon-hole 47.

Following upon withdrawal, the apparatus 1 asks for confirmation that the registered letter has been withdrawn. It is in fact up to the user to accept or refuse the registered letter. Acceptance of the registered letter can be made by pressing an "Accept" key on the touchscreen 24.

In the case where the user does not wish to accept the registered letter, he is invited to deposit the rejected registered letter in the first seat 6, following the indications presented in a screenful (Figure 3e) .

In particular, the registered letter is deposited on the horizontal conveyor belt 12 with the bar-code facing downwards so as to enable reading thereof by the reader 16.

The apparatus 1 checks that the registered letter has been positioned properly on the conveyor belt 12 and enables manual closing of the vertical wall 10.

The apparatus 1 makes accessible the opening 17 between the first seat 6 and the weighing and franking station 15. The postal object 7 is made to advance towards the weighing and franking station 15 until it reaches the suitable position for enabling reading the bar-code affixed on the registered letter itself.

In the case where the bar-code read coincides with that of the refused registered letter, the registered letter is deposited in the container 22, which also contains the accepted registered letters, and a screenful comes up (not illustrated) that shows how the operation of refusal has gone through successfully.

In the case where, instead, the bar-code of the registered letter has not been read correctly or does not coincide with that of the rejected registered letter, the registered letter is brought back into the acceptance compartment 6, and a warning message appears on the screen, which invites the user to withdraw the postal object previously inserted and to insert the correct postal object.

The apparatus 1 implements also functions of maintenance accessible to the postal staff. In particular, the postal operator can gain access to a plurality of functions of postal management (Figure 5a) , namely:

1. deposit of undelivered registered letters,-

2. withdrawal of undelivered letters that are due to expire; and

3. reports .

Said functions are made available following upon identification of the postal operator made with techniques similar to the ones described above.

In the case where the first option is activated (deposit of undelivered registered letters) by acting on the touchscreen

24, the following operations are activated: - the postal operator is recognized as being authorized by means of entry of personal card; a. screenful is displayed for guided acquisition of the bar-code of the postal object that constitutes the undelivered registered letter,- - the bar-code is detected by using the bar-code reader

(reader of a hand-held type, usable only by the postal operator - not represented in the figure) according to manual scanning operations similar to the ones described above,- after scanning of the bar-code, the apparatus 2 seeks a free pigeon-hole 47 (i.e., one not containing any letter) within the storage device 46; the free pigeon-hole 47 is made available from outside to enable manual introduction of the postal object 7 therein; the apparatus 1 detects in an automatic way insertion of the postal object 7 in the pigeon-hole 47, the position of which is presented on the screen 24; the free pigeon-hole 47 is closed to enable housing in security of the postal object in the storage device 46; and indication is provided (Figure 5b) of the pigeon-hole 47 in which the postal object has been housed.

Subsequently, the operations can be repeated for allowing insertion of another undelivered registered letter, or else the operator can return to a main menu from which he can access to the operations of dispatch/withdrawal of the registered letters described in detail previously.

In the case where the second option is activated (withdrawal of undelivered letters that are due to expire) the following steps are performed by a postal operator: - the postal operator is recognized as being authorized for the service after he has entered his own personal card 27 and this has been read or after detection of fingerprints;

- after a purposely provided key on the touchscreen 24 has been pressed (withdrawal of undelivered letters that are due to expire) a screenful is displayed on the touchscreen 24 (Figure 6) describing the list of the postal objects contained in the storage device 46;

- the list comprises a plurality of rows each of which is associated to a postal object - in the row the codes and the characteristic data of the postal object and the number of days in which the object has remained undelivered are indicated.

At this point, the user can select individually the objects to be unloaded by pressing the corresponding row on the touchscreen 24, or else he can select all the objects simultaneously by means of a command that selects all the rows present.

After the user has pressed a confirmation key on the touchscreen (Unload) , the storage device 46 makes available the pigeon-holes 47 to enable extraction therefrom of the postal objects to be withdrawn. Upon extraction, the apparatus 1 updates the list presented on the screen. At the end, the list of the unloaded objects is printed.

Said function is used by the postal authorities to unload the storage device 46 of the registered letters that have exceeded the limit date of nondelivery and for send them to be pulped.

In the case where the third option (reports) on the touchscreen 24 is activated, a screenful is displayed from which it is possible to select a plurality of corresponding options . The reports regarding the operations performed by the system and illustrated above can be activated, namely: • Report of the postal objects accepted

• Report of the postal objects delivered to the user

• Report of the postal objects contained in the storage device

• Report of the postal objects extracted owing to expiry of the limit date of nondelivery.

The apparatus 1 can be provided with external webcam 70

(illustrated schematically) for control of the operations performed by the user and for acquisition of the image of the user and a webcam 71 (illustrated schematically) for control of the internal operations (handling of the postal object 7, franking by the weighing and franking station 15, unloading of postal objects into the container 22, etc.) .

The webcam 70 (and associated microphone 72) can be used for providing an audio-video connection with a Contact Centre (not illustrated), designed to provide on-line support to the user, moreover carrying out remote control of the operations . The staff of the Contact Centre can gain access, at any instant, to the data acquired by the apparatus 1 (images of the webcams 70, 71, card reader, measuring devices, etc.) . The data accessible to the Contact Centre could be:

• data identifying the personal card 27;

• data on the identity of the user detected on the payment card 27 or on the electronic identity card, biometric data

(fingerprint) , signature (entered through the touchscreen 24) ;

• image of the user, with possibility of acquiring brief films of the scene;

• physical characteristics of the postal object deposited/withdrawn: weight, dimensions, thickness;

• transaction data: type of service, sender and addressee data, date/time of acceptance, date/time of withdrawal, additional services, tariff;

• image of the notice of non-delivery; • data on execution of printing of the receipts and of franking;

• state of the devices .