WO2008107123A1

WO2008107123A1 - Logistics vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2008107123A1
Application number: PCT/EP2008/001610
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael Lohmeier; Martin Wegner
Original assignee: Deutsche Post Ag
Priority date: 2007-03-02
Filing date: 2008-02-29
Publication date: 2008-09-12
Also published as: DE102007010658B3

Abstract

A logistics vehicle is proposed, comprising a cargo area for cargo and a detection device by means of which delivery addresses for individual pieces of cargo may be detected. The logistics vehicle is equipped with a telematics system for route calculation and positioning. Furthermore, display means are disposed in the cargo area, the means indicating the position of a piece of cargo when the logistics vehicle has reached the delivery location of said piece of cargo. The display means signal to the driver of the logistics vehicle which package is intended for the next delivery. The driver no longer must search for a particular package in the cargo area, thus saving time. This advantage particularly comes to bear if the original route is changed en route.

Description

logistics vehicle

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a logistics vehicle with a cargo space for cargo and with a telematics system for driving route calculation and position determination. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for displaying a specific piece of cargo in a logistics vehicle.

Known logistics vehicles are usually equipped in their hold with two or more shelves in which the load is located. The load is placed in the shelves in such an order as the logistics vehicle approaches the delivery locations according to the planned route. To facilitate the work of the driver, the shelves may have support rollers, which are provided with a freewheel. The carrying rollers are set up so that the packets resting thereon can slide forward when the logistics vehicle is decelerating, but not to the rear. In this way, it is achieved that the driver has the next package for delivery in the immediate vicinity of the driver's seat at hand. Advantageously, the driver then does not need to travel longer distances in the logistics vehicle and thus saves time. This concept works well as long as no change in the planned route occurs.

On this basis, it is an object of the present invention to provide a logistics vehicle and a method in which efficient work processes are guaranteed in the delivery service even after the occurrence of a route change.

This object is achieved by a logistics vehicle according to claim 1. According to the invention, a logistics vehicle with a loading space for load and with a detection device, with the delivery addresses of individual pieces of the load can be detected, proposed. The logistics vehicle is equipped with a telematics system for route calculation and position determination. Furthermore, display means are arranged in the load compartment, which indicate the position of a piece of the load, when the logistics vehicle has reached the delivery point for this piece of cargo. The display means signal to the driver of the logistics vehicle, which package is intended for the next delivery. The driver no longer needs to search for a particular package in the hold, saving time. This advantage is particularly useful if the originally planned route is changed while traveling.

It has proved to be useful if at least one shelf is arranged in the loading space of the logistics vehicle.

In one embodiment of the logistics vehicle according to the invention a plurality of display means may be arranged on the shelf. Accordingly, in further developments of the invention, the shelf on several shelves, which are each provided with a plurality of display means.

Advantageously, the display means to a signal lamp indicative of a particular package. Conveniently, the display means are provided with an acknowledgment button, by means of which the driver can acknowledge the removal of a parcel.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method is proposed for displaying a particular piece of cargo in a logistics vehicle. The inventive method comprises the following steps:

- Detecting the delivery address of each piece of cargo;

- calculating a route for the logistics vehicle;

- recognizing the position of the individual pieces of the load; - driving an indicating means to indicate a particular piece of load when the logistics vehicle has reached the delivery location for that piece of load.

In a further development of the invention, the delivery addresses of the load are automatically detected. Conveniently, the delivery addresses can be detected without contact.

It has proven to be advantageous if the removal is acknowledged after the removal of a piece of load. In a further development of the invention, a message is transmitted to a logistics center when the removal of a piece of load has been acknowledged.

Short description of the drawing

In the drawing, an embodiment of the present invention is shown, wherein the same or similar elements are provided in the figures with the same reference numerals. Show it:

Fig. 1: schematically a logistics vehicle of the present invention;

Fig. 2: a shelf which is arranged in the cargo compartment of the logistics vehicle according to Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3: schematically a sorting center. Detailed description of an embodiment:

1 shows the exemplary embodiment of a logistics vehicle 1 according to the invention. The logistics vehicle 1 has a hybrid drive 2 whose essential components are known from the prior art. With another

Embodiment of the invention, the drive 2 is a conventional drive with a diesel or gasoline engine. In addition, the logistics vehicle 1 is provided with a detection device 3 having a number of RFID reading devices to read the delivery addresses of parcels and parcels 0 located in the hold of the logistics vehicle 1. The individual consignments located in the cargo compartment of the vehicle are provided with RFI D labels for this purpose, which, among other information, also contain the delivery address of the respective consignment. The delivery addresses are read out contactlessly and automatically. RFI D labels and the associated reading devices are known in the art and are not the subject of the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows schematically a shelf 4, which is located in the cargo compartment of the logistics vehicle 1. In Fig. 2, for simplicity, only a single o shelf 4 is shown, although the logistics vehicle 1 is usually equipped with two or more such shelves. The shelf 4 has a plurality of shelves 6. On the shelves 6 are packages or packages 7 different size and shape. Furthermore, 6 RFID readers are integrated in the shelves, which are not visible in Fig. 2 and belonging to the detection device 35. Along the visible longitudinal edge of the shelves 6 display elements 8 are arranged at regular intervals, which include a signal lamp 9 and a key switch 11, which forms an acknowledgment button. The meaning and function of the display elements 8 will be discussed below. 0 RFI D labels and RFID readers are cited in the context of the present invention only as an example of a system that allows the delivery addresses of the packets and packets 7 to be detected contactlessly and automatically. Basically, any other technology is suitable for carrying out the invention, which allows the contactless reading of delivery addresses. For example, it is also possible that the delivery addresses on board the logistics vehicle 1 are automatically scanned. The delivery addresses are transmitted by the detection device 3 to a telematics system 12 in the logistics vehicle 1, which calculates the shortest possible route from the detected delivery addresses. The telematics system 12 communicates with navigation satellites, which is illustrated in FIG. 1 by a double arrow 13. The navigation satellites may be satellites of the GPS (Global Positioning System) or Galileo navigation system. The telematics system 12 also receives the regional traffic radio and regional traffic control systems to dynamically adapt the routes to the urban traffic situation. In addition, the telematics system 12 calculates after the delivery of a shipment, the optimal next route for the onward journey to the next delivery depending on the traffic situation. Thus, route changes are possible at any time if a traffic jam has been reported in the meantime. Such route changes are transmitted simultaneously to an operations center of the logistics service provider, which forwards this information to customers, if delays the delivery of one or more shipments by the route change. In a development of the logistics vehicle according to the invention, the messages are transmitted, for example as an SMS message in addition to the recipient of shipments. In a simpler embodiment of the invention, it is quite possible that the driver of the logistics vehicle 1 manually enters the intended delivery locations in a navigation system of the logistics vehicle. The navigation system is part of the telematics system 12. The method according to the invention is independent of the way in which the delivery addresses are entered, be it manually or automatically. The possibility of manual input is also provided if the technical prerequisites for an automatic reading of the delivery addresses are available. The advantage of this is that even with technical breakdowns on the detection device 3, the delivery of the load remains feasible, albeit with a higher workload. Overall, a higher operational reliability is achieved in the delivery.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the delivery addresses of the items can also be determined in a logistics center where the logistics vehicle 1 is loaded. The delivery addresses are transmitted here as a complete data set in the telematics system 12 of the logistics vehicle 1. This can be done, for example, by means of a memory card or by a wireless or wired communication link between a computer in the logistics center and the telematics system 12 of the

Logistics vehicle 1 done. In a concrete example, the items in the logistics center can be transported along a transport route or within a transport device past a bar code reader or an RFID reader, which register the respective delivery addresses and merge them in a data memory. Based on the collected

Delivery addresses are then grouped such consignments for each logistics vehicle, which allow an optimized routing for the entirety of the logistics vehicles used. Fig. 3 illustrates a sorting plant in a logistics center. In the sorting system, mail items or general physical objects 15-19 are assigned to delivery addresses by the read-in and allocate means 21 after they have been received in the logistics center. Here, first, the objects along a transport route or optionally within a

Carrier aligned in such a way that the located on the objects 2-D barcodes can be read directly from a bar code reader and then decoded.

In addition, a validity check of the decoded contents of the read 2-D barcodes takes place on a logical plausibility basis. The validation allows, among other things, to declare forged 2-D barcodes as such and to initiate appropriate measures for the further handling of the objects with forged barcodes. The validation also includes methods for processing objects from address defects. For this purpose, at least the delivery addresses determined from the 2-D barcodes and the determined mailing data are compared with already stored addresses and mailing data, which offers increased security in the determination of the contents of the 2-D barcodes. If the content of a 2-D barcode can not be detected by the barcode reader, optionally a generation of a graphic image of a surface of the object takes place, wherein the surface comprises at least one address field. Subsequent to the generation, an automated verification of information of the graphical image takes place, by means of which the delivery address can be determined. It has proven to be advantageous, this redundancy in the determination of the delivery addresses by optional verification of the graphical

Introduce information, since the determination of the delivery addresses in the case of delivery of the objects is a prerequisite for the assignment of the read delivery addresses to the objects. The assignment takes place after the validity check, wherein for each object, the linkage of the delivery address with the contents of the decoded, read guide code takes place.

After the validity check has been successfully completed, the checked delivery address is additionally affixed in the form of an RFID tag on the relevant package. The delivery addresses of objects which are picked up at transport locations are also included in the determination of the sequence and are supplied to the read-in and allocation means 21 by a further data memory 22. On the basis of the transport addresses and the geographical data of a data storage system 23 and of a data storage system 24, the transport order of the delivery addresses is determined by the data processing unit 26.

The ascertained transport order is transmitted to a sorting means 27, so that from the plurality of objects those objects for a joint transport are put together whose delivery address is part of the ascertained transport order. In FIG. 3, this process of compilation is illustrated purely by way of example with reference to the representation of three selected objects 15-17 from the quantity of objects 15-19 entering the logistics center. Basically, the number of assembled objects can be less than or equal to the number of incoming objects.

Following the compilation, a loading device 29 loads the logistics vehicle 1 with the assembled objects 15-17. Furthermore, the ascertained transport sequence is transmitted from the processing unit 26 to an input means 31 and input from there into the telematics system 12 of the logistics vehicle 1. The transmission from the processing unit 26 to the input means 31 takes place in the present case by means of a USB connection. Since the input means 31 of the described exemplary embodiment is a Bluetooth interface, a wireless is found

Data transfer between the interface and the telematics system 12 instead.

In accordance with the entered transport sequence, the delivery addresses are successively transmitted to the navigation or telematics system 12 using a wired or wireless connection, so that from any location of the logistics vehicle 1, which is ideally a previous delivery location, a route optimized route to the delivery point for the subsequent transport can be determined. From the loading device 29, the objects are placed in the predetermined order in the shelf 4. At this moment, both the delivery location and the storage location of the packages 7 in the logistics vehicle 1 are known. The packages 7 are in the order in the shelf 4, in which the delivery locations are approached by the vehicle. In addition, the RFID readers detect where a particular package 7 is in the rack 4 when a delivery location has been reached by the logistics vehicle 1. The detection device 3 then controls the relevant display element 8, so that the signal lamp 9, which has the shortest distance to the package, lights up. The display element with the smallest distance can be determined, for example, from the exact position of the relevant package 7 and the known positions of all display elements 8. The driver of the logistics vehicle recognizes because of the glowing signal lamp 9 at first glance, where the package to be delivered 7 is when he enters the hold of the logistics vehicle 1. This support of the driver is always special

Meaning, if the route is changed due to incoming traffic reports from the telematics system 12. As a rule, such changes result in the order of the delivery locations no longer matching the sorting order of the packages in the shelf 4. The glowing signal lamp 9 makes it easier for the driver to get the right package out of the car very quickly

To pick out Regal 4. When the driver has removed the correct package from the shelf 4, he acknowledges this by pressing the Acknowledge key 11, whereupon the signal lamp 9 goes out. He can now approach the next delivery location, where this process repeats itself.

The described system is based on the Pick by Light storage system known from distribution centers. In this known system, the picking of goods is supported by the display of the storage space and the number of goods to be removed. At the same time, the removal or storage of goods is automatically controlled by RFID antennas. In the logistics vehicle 1 according to the invention, the communication between the telematics system 12 and the detection device 3 is added as an essential element. Received messages that require a change in the route - be it incoming traffic jam messages or pickup requests - cause the telematics system 12 to calculate a new route. In conventional vehicles, the driver would then always pick out the right package for the current delivery manually from the shelf 4. For changes that would significantly confound the original delivery order, this would result in a significant additional cost of delivery. The invention provides a remedy, even if the location of the correct package 7 in the shelf can not be displayed accurately. The note to the driver, in which shelf 4 is the right package, on which shelf 6 and whether the package is further forward or further back on the shelf, already provides a significant help for him.

In a modified embodiment of the invention, the shelf 4 is provided with vertical partitions which are arranged along the shelves 6, to provide a closer association between the signal lamps 9 and lying in the shelf 4 packages 7.

In a modification of the present invention, pressing the acknowledgment key 11 triggers the transmission of a message to the logistics center, with which the delivery of a specific parcel is reported.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 logistics vehicle

2 hybrid drive

3 detection device

4 shelf

6 shelves

7 packages or packages

8 indicator

9 signal lamp

11 pushbutton

12 telematics system

13 double arrow

15-19 shipments or general physical objects

15-17 selected objects

21 allocation means

22 data storage

23 data management system

24 data storage system

26 Data processing unit

27 sorting means

29 loading device

31 input means

Claims

claims:

1. logistics vehicle with a loading space for goods and with a detection device (3), with which delivery addresses of individual pieces (7) of the load can be detected, the logistics vehicle (1) is equipped with a telematics system (12) for route calculation and for determining position, dadu rc hgekennzeichnet that in the hold indicating means (8) are arranged, which indicate the position of a piece of the load, when the logistics vehicle the

Delivery location for this piece of cargo has reached.

2. Logistics vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one shelf (4) is arranged in the cargo space.

3. Logistics vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that the display means (8) have a signal lamp (9).

4. Logistics vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that the display means comprise an acknowledgment key (11).

5. Logistics vehicle according to claim 2, characterized in that a plurality of display means (8) are arranged on the shelf (4).

6. logistics vehicle according to claim 5, dadu rc hgekennzeichnet that the shelf (4) has a plurality of shelves (6) which are each provided with a plurality of display means (8).

7. A method for displaying a particular piece of cargo in a logistics vehicle, the method being characterized by the steps of:

- Detecting the delivery address of each piece of cargo; - calculating a route for the logistics vehicle;

- recognizing the position of the individual pieces of the load;

- Driving an indicating means (8) to indicate a specific piece (7) load when the logistics vehicle has reached the delivery point for this piece of cargo.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the delivery addresses of the load are automatically detected.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the delivery addresses are detected without contact.

10. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the removal is acknowledged after the removal of a piece of load.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein a message is transmitted to a logistics center when the removal of a piece of load has been acknowledged.