Target code
With target code , address code , postal code or address code is bar code designated by the German Post AG on letters and postcards printed. The destination code is applied to the mailing in the first letter center passed through . This enables faster machine forwarding and sorting.
Manufacturing
Within the coding zone, that is the 15 mm high and 150 mm wide area at the lower right corner on the address side of each mail item, the code is sprayed on by a printer that is part of an address reading machine, for example the ILVM . Ten letters can be processed per second. This speed enables the processing of up to 36,000 consignments per hour in one machine. New machines can do almost twice as much.
Appearance and format
| value | Coding 01247 |
Coding 8421 |
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These codes , also called bar codes, consist of a sequence of 5 mm high bars that are printed on the lower right edge of the letter. They are fluorescent and their color is described as bright orange, orange, apricot, apricot, neon red, red, phosphorus or pink.
Encoding and decoding
Two different types of coding are used, 5-bit coding and 4-bit coding. The table on the right shows the coding of each digit. Each bit of the code corresponds to a numerical value. The numerical values of the set bits of the code are added, their sum is the number that was decoded, whereby there are two special rules: In 5-bit coding, the sum (7 + 4) = 11 represents the digit "zero" ; in the 4-bit coding the sum (8 + 2) = 10 stands for the number "seven".
The 5-bit coding: Each segment consists of 5 places, three have dashes and two do not. The first digit has the value 0, the second the value 1, then the values 2,4 and 7 follow. The sum of the digits in which there are no dashes gives the number. Missing z. B. in the second and third places dashes, the result is the number 1 + 2 = 3. If the lines four and five are missing, the sum of the values 4 + 7 = 11, which stands for the number 0. There is a dividing line behind each segment.
Check digit calculation
The checksum of the other 5-bit coded digits is the basis of the check digit:
Check digit = 10 - (checksum mod 10)
Check digit 10 is coded as "zero".
Some examples:
- The postcode 3550 has the checksum 13 and thus the check digit 7.
- The postcode 24118 has the checksum 16 and thus the check digit 4.
The cross sum of all 5-bit coded digits including the check digit is always a multiple of 10.
Target code systems
Matrix code
The matrix code was used from 1965 to 1991 . Eight different letter distribution systems (BVA) used it, starting on May 31, 1965, when the first electronic BVA was put into operation in Pforzheim.
The postcodes were recognized by humans, entered on the keyboard and then put together by the machine to form a matrix code and printed on. Lines were printed in eight of the 20 possible positions. The possible positions were divided into four columns and five rows. Each column represented one digit of the zip code. The above 5-bit coding (from top to bottom) was used, but the counting digits were printed, while later the counting digits are the missing ones. The zip code was coded from left to right. The single bar was 6 mm high. The gap was initially 6 mm, later 8 mm.
Depending on the machine, the bars were black and magnetizable or light yellow to almost white, phosphorescent or fluorescent, they were abrasion-resistant.
Linear code for 4 digits and 1 check digit
This coding was used from 1978 to 1995. It started on September 25, 1978 in Wiesbaden, when the first letter distribution system with linear coding and automatic address reader went into operation.
The procedure was presented to the public at the IVA 1979. It consists of 5 segments: The 4 digits of the postcode or a postcode-like internal code (IKZ) and a check digit, each separated by a dash.
-----Postleitzahl------|Prüf.| Bedeutung der Bereiche
01247-01247-01247-01247-01247- Wert der Stelle
||| || | ||| | ||| ||| ||| | Beispiel-Strichcode
47| 1 4 | 1 4 | 12 |0 7| Berechnung 1. Schritt, Segmente durch | getrennt
=11| =5| =5| =3| =7| Berechnung 2. Schritt, Segmente durch | getrennt
0 5 5 3 7 Berechnung 3. Schritt, die fertige Zahlenfolge
The example results in the digits 0, 5, 5, 3 of the postcode and the check digit 7. The postcode of the address is 3550, so it is coded in the reverse order.
The IKZ were necessary because, for example, the entire city of Hamburg had a postcode. After the name Hamburg, a more precise identification of the area of Hamburg was given in numbers. An IKZ was then generated from this information, which was then printed and sorted by.
Linear code for 5 digits and 1 check digit
The destination code for five-digit postcodes is printed on letters and postcards whenever the computer could not see anything and a photo of the letter was shown to an employee to type in the postcode on the screen. It is structured like the above. An example:
-----Postleitzahl------------|Prüf.| Bedeutung der Bereiche
01247-01247-01247-01247-01247-01247- Wert der Stelle
| || | |||| |||| || || | ||| || || Beispiel-Strichcode
1 7|01 |01 |0 4 |0 2 |0 4 | Berechnung 1. Schritt, Segmente durch | getrennt
=8| =1| =1| =4| =2| =4| Berechnung 2. Schritt, Segmente durch | getrennt
8 1 1 4 2 4 Berechnung 3. Schritt, die fertige Zahlenfolge
Here, the postcode 24118 is encoded in reverse order, followed by the check digit 4.
Linear code for 11 digits and 1 check digit
The code has been modified and expanded several times. Codes for the house number and street number have also been added. The new components are coded with a 4-bit binary number per decimal digit. Several digits that form a unit are encoded in reverse order. The postal code is still coded as described above and is contained in the right part of the code. The code is completed by two additional digits on the right-hand side. The last one is always a line.
Example:
|----Hausnr----|----Straße----|-------Postleitzahl----------|Prüfz| Bedeutung |8421.8421.8421|8421.8421.8421|01247.01247.01247.01247.01247|01247| Stellenwert ||||| || | || || || | | | || ||| || | ||| | | | | ||| ||| | Beispielstrichcode 0 2 3 4 5 6 1 4 0 5 3 7 Entschlüsselung
Result: Postcode 35041, check digit of postcode 7, street 654, house number 320
Linear code for 13 digits and 1 check digit
-|Entgelts.|----Hausnr----|----Straße----|-------Postleitzahl----------|Prüfz|-- Bedeutung -|8421.8421|8421.8421.8421|8421.8421.8421|01247.01247.01247.01247.01247|01247|-- Stellenwert | | | | | ||||||||| ||||| | | | || |||| | || | ||| |||| || || | ||| || |||| Beispielcode || 4 1| 4 1| | 1| | 4 1| 4 | | 1 7|01 |01 |0 4 |0 2 |0 4 ||| Berechnung 1. Schritt, Segmente durch | getrennt || =5| =5| =0| =1| =0| =5| =4| =0| =8| =1| =1| =4| =2| =4||| Berechnung 2. Schritt, Segmente durch | getrennt || 5 5| 0 1 0| 5 4 0| 8 1 1 4 2| 4||| Berechnung 3. Schritt, Bedeutungsabschnitt durch | getrennt
The above example results in: post code 24118, street 045, house number 010, remuneration protection code 55
A patent application was filed in 2003 for the combination of coded address and remuneration protection code. The payment assurance code contains information about the postage and any irregularities in this.
particularities
The separators between the coded digits can be dashes or spaces. Current destination codes from Deutsche Post use spaces and separators as check bits or redundancy bits.
Decoding template
Web links
- The address as a pink barcode dated December 8, 2010 (The link is only available to registered users of the newspaper)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Deutsche Post AG facts and figures ( Memento from February 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Special rule for 4-digit coding: 8 + 2 = 10 is the coding of the 7th
- ↑ Special rule for 5-digit coding: 4 + 7 = 11 is the coding of the 0.
- ^ Mint never hinged - Das Philatelie-Journal, Issue 3/2010, May / June 2010, p. 32
- ↑ a b c Milestones in letter coding (PDF; 5.6 MB)
- ↑ Demonstration mail (example of coding a four-digit postcode)
- ↑ WIPO patent WO / 2003/035282 : Method and device for processing mail