CA1106501A

CA1106501A - Operator prompting system

Info

Publication number: CA1106501A
Application number: CA304,694A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Daniel F. Dlugos
Original assignee: Pitney Bowes Inc
Current assignee: Pitney Bowes Inc
Priority date: 1977-06-15
Filing date: 1978-06-02
Publication date: 1981-08-04
Also published as: GB1602079A; DE2826079C2; US4135662A; DE2826079A1; FR2394851B1; FR2394851A1

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
In a data processing system wherein operator entry of data is provided an array of alpha numeric display units is utilized not only for indicating operand entries and operating results, but also as an operator message prompting medium for steering the operator to correct operand entry or system errors.
Upon processor recognition of a particular entry or other errors an assigned error signal is generated which blocks the operand or operation result signal from the display units. In one embodi-ment the error signal is received at a programable logic array associated with each display unit to provide a signal for access-ing a memory which in turn provides the appropriate letter pat-tern signal for the display unit to spell out an error prompt message. An alternate embodiment provides for serial generation of the letter pattern signals for each display unit and rapid sequential actuation of the display units to spell the prompt message.

Description

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BACKGROUND OF T~E

1 Field of the Invention The invention relates generally to processing systems and moee particularly to a system for indicatiny both numerical data and error prompting information at the same display array.

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2 Brief Descri~on of th~ Prior Art __,_ _ _ ___ __ In data processing systems hereto~ore, input dev:ices suchas keyboards have bcen utilized in conjunction with associated alpha numeric seven segment display units for observation of operand entry and operation results. Entry errors or errors as-sociated with system conditions were called to the operator7s attention through an array of accessory warning light~ or other signals, each individually actuated to indicate a particular error or malfunction.
It should be appre~iated that with such prior error indicat-ing arrangements the operator's attention extended beyond the display unit array associated with his keyboard to the various system warning indicators. Such indicators therefore provided a source of operator distraction thereby increasing the probabil- ~ -ity of operator induced errors. Operator distraction has been a significant problem in automated mailing systems wherein an ar-ticle to be mailed is placed upon a processor associated scale and the operator entered operands necessary for postage determina-tion such as transportation class and destination zone.
S _ RY OP T~E INVENTION
In compendium, the invention relates to an operator prompt-ing system in conjunction with a keyboard station of a processor which utilizes an alpha numeric display array for both indicating numeric data and di,ecting the operator's attention ta entry andJ
or other system errors by specifically spelling a key message indicative of the type of error present thereby leading the operator to complete the operation.

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Upon thc occurrence of a system or ke~board en~ry error, the processor generates an associated error signal. The error sig-nal triggers appropriate gates to block numl~ric data from the display unit array and provides an access signal or location and generation of an appropriate letter pattern signal for each display unit to spell out an error prompting message.
In one embodiment a programable logic array receives the error signal and provides an associated access signal for a memory which produces the letter pattern signal for each display unit to spell out the message. Each display unit of the array is arranged for parallel actuation from its memory; each memory is arranged in parallel with its programable logic array. In an alternate embodiment a single programable logic array is con-ttolled by sequencing signals for successive actuation of each display unit.
From the above compendium, it will be appseciated that it is an object of the present invention to provide an operator prompting system which is not subject to the disadvantages of the prior art as aforementioned.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an operator prompting system of the general character described which is so constructed as to minimize operator distraction and maintain efficiencyO
A still further object of the present invention is to pro-vide an operator prompting system of the general character de-scribed wherein an alpha numeric display unit a~ray is utilized to indicate both numeric data and error prompting messages.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a meth-~d of operator promptlng In a data processing system Including a , .

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display, which method minimizes operator distraction by routing error prompting messacJe.s to the display.
A urther objec-t of the present invention i9 to provide an operator promptin~ system of the general character described which minimizes the number of processor accessory indica-tors.
A still further object of -the present invention is to provide an operator prompting system of the general character .
described which directly advises the operator as to the source of possible system error and the manner of correcting same while not presenting any distraction from the operator's data entry routine.
A urther object of -the present invention is to provide an automated mailing system of the general character described wherein a keyboard is apprised of entry or malfunction errors without presenting any distrac ions from normal routine.
Other objects of the invention i~.part will be apparent and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.
Broadly, in a processing system comprising a data processor, operator input means operatively connected to the processor for transmitting data to the processor and display means operatively connected to the processor for visually indicating numeric data, the processor receiving data from the operator input means and processing the received data to provide numeric display signals, the display means receiving the numeric display signals and in response thereto visually indicating corresponding numeric data and with a plurali~y of possible error conditions existing in conjunction with the csm ~, - : .
. ~ ~. '' processor, the improvement according to the present invention co~prises an operator p:~mpting system, the processor including neans for de-tecting an error cond.ition and providing an error signal indica-tive of the presence oE such condit:ion~ the prompting system including genera-ti.ng means or receiving the e.rror signal and in response thereto generating a message signal, the display means includlng means receiving the message si~nal and in response thereto visually indicatiny the nature of the error condition as an alphabetically spelled phonetic operator prompt message, the prompting system further including means for receiving the error signal and in response thereto preventing the numeric display data signals from being received by the display means, whereby -the operator is apprised-of the nature and existence of the particular error condition without distraction of attention from the normal data entry routine.
According to a second aspect of the presen-t invention there is provided a method of advising an operator of the presence of one of a plurality of possible error conditions in an automated mailing system including input means for entering mailing data signals, processing means receiving the mailing data signals and a display for providing a visual indication of numeric data, the method comprising the steps of st~.ring a plurality of error identification data, detecting the presence of a particular error condition, preventing numeric data from being indicated at the display upon detection of such error condition, retrieving error identification dat~ corresponding to the error condition detected from the stored identifica-tion 4a -csm ~.

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data, and utilizing the retrieved error condition iden-tifica-tion data, actuatin~ the d:;spla~ to alphabetically spell a phonetic operator inEormative message for correction oE the detected error condition. Whereby the operator is directed to rectify -the error condition without any dis-trac-tion o~
a-ttention Erom the display.
Wi-th these ends in view, the invention inds embodiment in certain combinations of elements, arrangemen-ts of.parts, and series of steps by which the objects aforementioned and cer-tain other objects are her~ina~ter attained, all as fully described wi-th reference to the accompanying drawings and the scope of which is more particularly pointed out and indicated in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the accompanying drawings in which are shown some of the various possible exemplary embodiments in the invention:
FIG. 1 is a schematized diagram o a typical automated mailing system utilizing a processor and including an error condition prompting system of the present invention;

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FIG. 2 shows a table setting forth typi.cal conditions re-quiring operator attention in the mailing system, error signals associated with each such condition and corresponding error prompt-ing messages as indicated on a Eour disp:Lay unit alpha numeeic display Eor apprising the operator of such error conditions;
FIG. 3 shows a table indicating respective input codes, binary codes, display segment codes, and associated alpha numeric displays for various numbers and letter symbols as utilized in conjunction with the operator prompting system of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematized diagram illustrating a typical circuit for indicating prompting words in a display unit array in accordance with the invention; and FIG. 5 is a schematized illustration of a further embodi-ment of the invention wherein a serial generated error code signal generates an associated error prompting word through sequential actuation of output display units.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reerence numeral 10 denotes an automated mailing system adapted to cal-culate the postage or ot.her transportàtion charges required to mail or transport an article. In most instances, transportation charges are based upon the article weight, class of transporta-tion and, with respect to certain classes, distance to destina-~ion (zone). The system 10 includes a scale 12 and an optical interface 14 interconnecting the scale with a microprocessor 16.
The microprocessor 16 is adapted to compute the requisite postage or other transportation charges for an article placed upon the , :
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weighlng tray oE the scale with the optical intereace 1~ con-verting physical weighing tray deflection into processible signals as disclosed, ~or example, in the mailing system of United States Letters Patent No. 3,861,4B0.
The data necessary for the determination of article postage, e.q. destination operands, class of transportation operands, etc.
are entered at a keyboard 18 and corresponding signals are trans-mitted to the microprocessor 16 through an input/output inter-face 20. Keyboard and calculated information is indicated at a proximate display array 22 interconnectecl to the microprocessor 16 through an error prompt interface 24 constructed in accordance with the instant invention.
With the weight, class of transportation and destination zone operands entered, the microprocessor 16 determines the requisite postage by reference to a rate PROM 26 and provides an appropriate postage amount signal to a meter setting device ~8 which controls a meter 30 for the application o~ postage to the article.
In many instances, ~he keyboard operator is not aware of the transportation zone for the article but merely has the destination postal zip code. Upon such occurrence, the zip code is entered at the keyboard 18 and the microprocessor 16 deter-mines the appropriate destination zonç by reference to a zip to zone PROM 32.
It should be appreciated that as used herein the term ~postage" is not to be limited to mail but iS intended to in-clude weight and/or destination distance transportation charges by non-governmental carriers as well.
In the e~emplary automated mailing system 10, numerous operator entry errors cdn be encountered as well as varioos .

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system errors or malfunctions and, in accordance with the present invention, such errors are immediately called to the keyboard operator's attention by visual indication at the very display array tc which the operator's attention is normally directed for indication of keyboard entries.
As mentioned heretofore, during the normal routine of processing mail in the automated mailing system 10 various errors may be encountered. In an exemplary manner ~IG. 2 il-lustrates a chart wherein typical entry and/or system errors have been assigned ERROR SIGNAL destinations and a~ appropriate operator prompting message associated with the error condition is shown.
It should be appreciated that the operator prompting mes-sage may appear as a word in the display 22 comprising, by way of example, four or less alphabetical letters each of which is formed by illumination of various segments of a seven segment display unit in accordance with the display segment code as set forth in the table of FIG. 3.
If, for example, the weight of the article placed upon the scale 12 exceeds the scale or system capacity, the microprocessor 16 provides an overweight signal designated ERROR SIGNhl, A. Ihe generation of such error signal immediately blocks numerical data from the display 22 and provides ~n operator prompting message or word, for example the message LbE which would be cognizable to the operator as indicating pounds error-that is, a condition exists wherein the article to be weighed is either beyond the scale capacity or beyond the mailing rate structure capacity.
The operator therefore removes the article and clears the system for a subsequent article.
further error condition requiring operator attention '' :

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is indica~ed when either keyboard entry or operation res~lLts ex-ceed the four digit capacity which is provicled in the disp;ay 2~ for all possible entries and calculations. Upon a digit overflow the signal ER~OR SIGNAL B is generated and the display indicates the prompting message OFLO. Upon observation of this message, the operator clears the system and prepares to recal-culate postage.
Another possible error condition in the automated mailing system 1~ is the failure of the operator to enter a destination zone for postage calculation. Under the present postal rate structures, a zone entered through the keyboard is a single digit including zero in the least significant digit location.
Any other group of digits is detected by the mirroprocessor 16 as an error when an algorithm button is depressed which requires zone entry. A zone prompt signal designated as ERROR SIGNAL C
is produced upon such occurrence and the display 22 indicates the operator prompting message ZONE. A Aurther condition in-dicative of a zone error would be when zone entry is required and none has been chosen. Upon the depression of the algorithm button requiring zone entry, the lack of such operand may be indicated by the same zone message.
In instances wherein a zip code entry is required and the operator has not made any entry, ERROR SIGNAL D is generated for displaying the message ZIP thereby prompting tbe operator to make the necessary zip entry.
In instances where a zip to zone conversion is requested, various errors can be encountered. Zip codes which are entered through the keyboard presently comprise three digits including leading zones. If the operator enters any other combination upon request for zip to zone conversion, a 2ip entry error o~

signal, ERROR SIGNAL E will be generated to indicate the message ZIPE at the display 22. A further condition wherein the ~ip entry message may be provided is when a zip code is entered to which a destination zone has not been assigned.
~ typical system error which may be called to the operator's attenti~n through the present invention occurs in instances when the scale 12 is not providing a true zero no load weight indica-tion, e.g. dust accumulation causes the tare to rest below true zero. In such instances, the microprocessor 16 generates ERROR
SIGNAL F and an appropriate operator prompting message such as the word ZERO is provided at the display 22.
In a situation where a code number is required by an algo-rithm and the operator has not entered such operand, ERROR SIGNAL
G is generated and the prompting message word COdE is provided at the display 22.
It should be understood that the error conditions presented are by way of example only and are merely indicative of the type of errors which the prompting system of the present invention is adapted to detect in the data processing environment of the auto-mated mailing system 10.
The error prompting system of the present invention finds useful application in other environments as well wherein it is desirable to utilize alpha numeric display units for both numeric data indications and as an error prompting medium.
In FIG. 4 a typical error prompting interface 24 is il-lustrated. The interface 24 interconnects the system processor 16 and the display 22 which includes ~our seven segment display units, 34, 36, 38 and 40. When an error condition is not present the interface received binary coded decimal DIGIT SIGNAr.S a, b, c and d from the microprocessor and provides appropriate segment ?

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code sigllals Eor Arabic numeral display corresponding to the BCD code for each of the display units 34, 36, 38 and 40, respec-tively. The DIGIT SIGNAI,S for each display unit are parallel loadecl through a plurality oE input lines; for example input lines 42, 44, 46 and 48 associated wLth the display unit 3~ trans-mit DIGIT SIGNAL a.
The ERROR SIGNALS A through G appear at separate ERROR SIG-NAL lines and are OR gated to provide an ERROR CONDITION signal which is high whenever any of the ERROR SIGNALS is high. As il-lustrated, error signal OR gating may be achieved through a com-bination of Inverters 50 and a NAND gate 52. The ERROR CONDITION
signal which is produced at the NAND 52 gate is used to block .-incoming digit signals at OR gates 54 provided for each of the incoming DIGIT SIGNALS. Further, the ERROR CONDITION signal is utilized in conjunction with an oscillator to blink the display 22 upon an error condition so as to emphasi~e the presence of an error.
The high incoming ERROR SIGNAL (A-G) is fed to a program-able logic array 56, 58, 60 and 62, each associated with a re-spective display unit 34, 36, 38 and 40. The logic arrays, 56, 58, 60 and 62 accept a 8CD coded input on either the DIGIT SIGNAL
or the ERROR SIGNAL lines and provides a conversion from the error input code to an access signal for a memory (ROM~ 64, 66, 68 and 70 associated with each of the display units 34, 36, 38 and 40, respectively. With respect to DIGIT SIGNALS (a-d) the logic arrays 56, 58, 60 and 62 merely pass the incoming BCD signals ~hrough to ~he associated ROM.
By way of example, assuming that the ERROR SIGNAL A is high, as a result of an overweight condition, such error signal will be converted at the programable logic array 56 into a .

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binary momory access signal associated with the input code no.
20 of the table o~ ~IG. 3 which binary code accesses the memory 64 to provicle the seven segment display code for illumination of the segmellts of the display unit 34 required to indicate the letter "L". Similarly, with E~ROR SIGNAI, A high the logic array 58 will access the memory 66 to provide the se~ment code to in-dicate the letter "b" at the display unit 36 and the logic array 60 will access the memory 68 to provide the segment code to in-dicate the letter E at the display unit 38, all in accordance with the exemplary binary and segment codes shown in the table of FIG. 3.
~ As mentioned heretofore, a further feature of this inven-tion is the provision for blinking the display 22 upon the pres-ence of an error condition. For this purpose a low frequency oscillator 72 is provided. The oscillator output is fed to an AND gate 74 along with the ERROR CONDITION signal. With an error condition present and the ERROR CONDITION signal high, the output of the gate 74 will be intermittently high and is fed to a chip enable terminal of each memory 64, 66, 68 and 70 whereby the memory output, i.e. the segment codes, is ~lashed on and off at a low operator observable oscillator rate.
In FIG. 5 an alternate embodiment of the error prompting interface is shown. In this embodiment an interface 24a is dis-posed between the microprocessor 16 and a display 22a substantial-ly identical to the display 22 heretofore described and comprising four seven-segment display units 34a, 36a, 38a and 40a, respec-tively. This embodiment provides for a single programable logic array 56a which receives the ERROR SIGNAL ~A-G) at appropriate input terminals. The incoming DIGIT SIGNALS (a-d) corresponding to the BC~ codes for the display units 34a, 36a, 38a and 40a, ' ,'~, ' respectively, are each seLially generated from the microprocessor 16 along individual input lines to appropriate terminals of a register file 76 comprising two individual two line to four line decoders for storage.
The programable logic areay 56a receives either the BCD
DIGIT SIGNALS ~a-d) or the ERROR SIGNALS (A-G) and converts such signals directly into letter or numeral segment codes which are sequentially pulled to place either numerical data or p~ompting messages into the display 22a.
To provide for the sequential placement of appropriate seg-ment code signals in the display 22a, a four bit cycle sequencing circuit 78a is provided. The sequencing circuit 78a initially provides two sequencing signals Dl and D2 which are generated at a pair of dual J-K master slave flip-flops 80a and 82a. The first fiip-flop 80a is driven by a CLOCK signal and provides as its output the first sequencing signal Dl which drives the second flip-flop 82a to produce the second seguencing signal D2.
The sequencing signals Dland D2 are transmitted to the register file 76a to sequence the output of BCD digit signals in a four bit cycle pattern. Further, the sequencing signals Dl and D~ are transmitted to the programable logic array 56a to control the sequencing of the seven segment code signals trans~itted from the programable logic arrayO
In order to coordinate the transmission of segment code signals from the logic array 56a to the display 22a, the sequenc-ing circuit 78a includes a decoder 84a which receives the se-quencing signals Dl and D2 and provides coordinated four bit ~ycle display sequencing strobe signals along a plurality of output lines L1, L~, L3, and L4, each controlling a respective display unit 40a, 38a, 36a, and 34aO The sequencing strobe sig~

nals are provided at a East rate such as commonly utiliæed in multiplexing of displays.
By way of example, the sequencing signal ~our bit cycle Eor display indication may follow the Eollowing sequencing pattern:
Dl ~ D2 ~~~~~ display unit 40a actuated Dl ~ D2 ~~~~~ display unit 38a actuated Dl ~ D ~____ display unit 36a actuated D1 ~ D ~___~ display unit 34a actuated In a manner identical to that previously described with respect to the first embodiment upon the occurrence of an error condition the display indication may be caused to blink at an operator observable rate by the provision of an inverter 50a inverting each ERROR S~GNAL (A-G) before a NAND gate 52a to provide an ERROR CONDITION signal which is transmitted to an AND gate 74a along with a low frequency oscillating signal of an oscillator 72a. The signal from the AND gate is transmitted to a chip enable terminal of the logic array 56a to thereby dis-able the logic array, hence disable the display unit at the operator observable oscillator rate to emphasize the presence o the error condition. The ERROR CONDITION signal may be used to control a plurality of OR gates 54a which thereby block the BCD
digit signals Erom the logic array 56a in the event of an error condition in a manner identical to that of the previous embodi-ment.
It shoùld be understood that the present invention is directed to a system and method of prompting a keyboard opera~or to the existence of the error condition through utilization of a conventional display array which is normally utilized to indicate data entry of other ~numerical) data.
~ hile two possible exemplary circuity embodiments o~ the invention have been shown, it should be understood that manifold - ' , : `: ~ .:, . .
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variations are possible within the spirit of the invention; for example, the microprocessor 60 may very well be adapted to pro-vide the error prompting message segment code signals directly, without utiliæation of the speciEic exemplary circuits shown.
Thus, it will be seen that there is provided an error prompting system which achieves the various objects of the in-vention and which is well suited to meet the conditions of prac-tical use.
Since various possible embodiments might be made of the present invention and since various chanyes might be made in the exemplary embodiments shown, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

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Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. In a processing system comprising a data processor, operator input means operatively connected to the processor for transmitting data to the processor and display means operatively connected to the processor for visually indicating numeric data, the processor receiving data from the operator input means and processing the received data to provide numeric display signals, the display means receiving the numeric display signals and in response thereto visually indicating corresponding numeric data and with a plurality of possible error conditions existing in conjunction with the processor, the improvement comprising an operator prompting system, the processor including means for detecting an error condition and providing an error signal indicative of the presence of such condition, the prompting system including generating means for receiving the error signal and in response thereto generating a message signal, the display means including means receiving the message signal and in response thereto visually indicating the nature of the error condition as an alphabetically spelled phonetic operator prompt message, the prompting system further including means for receiving the error signal and in response thereto preventing the numeric display data signals from being received by the display means, whereby the operator is apprised of the nature and existence of the particular error condition without distraction of attention from the normal data entry routine.

2. An operator prompting system constructed in accordance with claim 1 further including error emphasis means, the emphasis means receiving the error signal and in response thereto providing a display control signal oscillating at an operator observable rate whereby the operator prompt message is intermittently blinked at the display to emphasize the presence of an error condition.

3. An operator prompting system constructed in accordance with claim 1 wherein the means generating the message signal receives one of a plurality of error signals, each error signal being correlated to a particular error condition, the generating means generating one of a plurality of message signals corresponding to the one error signal, the display means alphabetically spelling a phonetic operator prompt message corresponding to each message signal received.

4. An operator prompting system constructed in accordance with claim 3 wherein the display means comprises a plurality of display units, each message signal comprising a plurality of segment signals corresponding to alphabetic letters, each of the segment signals being received at a different display unit, the display units conjunctively spelling the phonetic prompt message.

5. An operator prompting system constructed in accordance with claim 4 wherein the means generating message signals includes a plurality of means storing the message signals, each storing means generating segment signals associated with a different display unit.

6. An operator prompting system constructed in accordance with claim 5 wherein the storing means further includes a logic array, the logic array receiving a particular error signal and in response thereto providing a corresponding access signal, the memory receiving the access signal and in response thereto generating the message signal.

7. An operator prompting system constructed in accordance with claim 4 wherein the segment signals are transmitted serially, the system further including sequencing means for providing control signals, the generating means receiving the control signals and in response thereto generating the segment signals.

8. An operator prompting system constructed in accordance with claim 7 wherein the generating means includes a logic array for storing the message signals.

9. An operator prompting system constructed in accordance with claim 2 wherein the emphasis means includes oscillating means and gate means, the oscillating means providing a signal oscillating at the operator observable rate, the gate means receiving the oscillating signal and the error signal and in response thereto providing the display control signal.

10. A method of advising an operator of the presence of one of a plurality of possible error conditions in an automated mailing system including input means for entering mailing data signals, processing means receiving the mailing data signals and a display for providing a visual indication of numeric data, the method comprising the steps of (a) storing a plurality of error identification data, (b) detecting the presence of a particular error condition, (c) preventing numeric data from being indicated at the display upon detection of such error condition, (d) retrieving error identification data corresponding to the error condition detected from the stored identification data, and (e) utilizing the retrieved error condition identification data, acutating the display to alphabetically spell a phonetic operator informative message for correction of the detected error condition, whereby the operator is directed to rectify the error condition without any distraction of attention from the display.

11. A method of advising an operator of the presence of an error condition in a data processing system as set forth in claim 10 further including the step of blinking the message at an operator observable rate to thereby emphasize the presence of the error condition.

12. In an automated mailing system including input means for entering mailing data signals requisite for the calculation of postage for an article, display means providing a visual indication of numeric data and processing means receiving the mailing data signals, the processing means including memory means adapted to store postage rate data, the processing means calculating the requisite postage for the article as a function of the mailing data signals and the postage rate data, the processing means being operatively connected to the display means and transmitting numeric display data signals to the display means, the display means visually indicating numeric values in response to the numeric display data signals and with a plurality of possible error conditions existing in conjunction with the processing of inappropriate mailing data signals, the improvement comprising an operator prompting system, the processing means including means for detecting any of a plurality of possible error conditions and providing an error signal indicative of the presence of the detected error condition, the prompting system including generating means for receiving the error signal correlated to the particular error condition detected, the generating means generating a message signal corresponding to the particular error signal received, the display means receiving the message signal and in response thereto alphabetically spelling a phonetic operator prompt message corresponding to the message signal received, the prompting system further including means for receiving the error signal and in response thereto inhibiting the display of numeric values by the display means, whereby the operator is apprised of the nature and existence of a particular error condition without distraction of attention from the normal mailing system data entry routine.

13. An automated mailing system as constructed in accordance with claim 12 wherein the input means includes means for operator entry of postage rate accessing data.

14. An automated mailing system as constructed in accordance with claim 13 wherein the mailing data includes article weight data, the input means including scale means for weighing the article and generating a weight indicative signal, the mailing data signals including the weight indicative signal.