FR2898793A1 - Postal box forming furniture for storing e.g. mail, has set of cases accessible by front and back surfaces of furniture, each being accessible by main door for loading objects, where wheels mounted to bottom wall of furniture move furniture - Google Patents

Abstract

The furniture has a set of cases accessible by front and back surfaces of the furniture. Each of the cases is accessible by a main door for loading objects or mails. The case is locked in a closed position by a main key actuating an individual locking system (31) e.g. sash bolt locking system, disposed in the center of the back surface. Four wheels are mounted to a bottom wall of the furniture for moving the furniture.

Description

The present invention relates to a secure mobile furniture for objects

  sorted, more particularly a mobile furniture for sorting objects and for secure storage and secure transport of sorted objects, 5 including mail. In the field of delivery of mail by a postal service, it is known to provide a preparation establishment to which are associated one or more independent distribution establishments 10 belonging to a given geographical area. The preparation establishment receives from a sorting center the items to be distributed to be sorted by distribution establishment and by tour for each distribution establishment. The so-called special objects, such as, for example, recommended objects, objects tracked, warrants, declared values, keys or badges, are sorted by the preparation establishment like any other object, such as simple letters, and are subsequently sent to distribution facilities. These objects must then be sorted again by tour in each distribution facility for distribution. Each special object is sorted twice per tour. Moreover, it is known in the post offices to provide postal boxes or mail boxes reserved for users to facilitate the routing of their mail. These postal boxes are generally in the form of a fixed piece of furniture, forming a wall or integrated in a wall, comprising a set of 30 boxes arranged next to each other and accessible by the two main faces of the piece of furniture, each box of the furniture constituting a post office box. The mail is loaded by the agents of the post office in the boxes by the back of the piece of furniture, not accessible to the public, and each box is closed on the front of the piece of furniture by an individual door equipped with a lock.

  The integration of such a box office furniture is delicate in small post offices and often requires a complete rearrangement of the entire post office. The object of the present invention is to propose a solution to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks, which make it possible to optimize the sorting operations of objects, in particular special objects and their secure transport between the establishments concerned, as well as an integration mailboxes at an existing post office. For this purpose, the subject of the present invention is a piece of furniture for storing and transporting sorted objects, characterized in that it comprises boxes accessible at least by the main front and rear faces of the piece of furniture, each box being accessible by a main door, common to a set of boxes, equipped with main locking means, and by an individual door equipped with individual locking means, and wheeled moving means for making the mobile furniture. The invention thus proposes a mobile furniture for the sorting of objects, the secure storage and the secure transport of sorted objects. According to a first use, the piece of furniture according to the invention constitutes a so-called accountability piece of furniture for the storage and secure transport of special objects between a preparation establishment and a distribution establishment. In this case, the special objects can be sorted in the boxes of the furniture according to the invention after opening the main door or doors, the special objects of the same tour being placed in the same box of the furniture. After locking the main doors, the furniture can be moved in a vehicle to be transported to the distribution facility, where each factor of a tour can access his dedicated box by his individual door which he holds the key. According to a second use, the furniture according to the invention can be used to form postal boxes in a post office, the mail being loaded into the boxes after opening the main door or doors, e mobile character of the furniture allowing easy implementation furniture in the post office for loading and unloading. The objects may be sorted in the boxes of the furniture in the yard space not open to the public, the post office to which the furniture is intended or an establishment different from the said post office, and once the loading of the boxes completed, the furniture is moved to a public area of the post office. According to one embodiment, provided in particular for use as an accounting unit, each box is accessible both by the main front side and by the rear main face of the cabinet, each box being accessible by an individual door. mounted on the main front of the cabinet and by a main door mounted on the main rear of the cabinet. The cabinet advantageously comprises in the main rear face a main door formed by a rolling shutter, preferably placed in the upper part of the cabinet, or two main doors pivotally mounted on the sides of the cabinet and lockable in the closed position by the main locking means .

  According to another embodiment, provided more particularly for use as a furniture of postal boxes, the furniture comprises boxes accessible only by the front main face and boxes accessible only by the rear main face, each main face being equipped with at least one main door supporting the individual doors. Advantageously, the furniture comprises on each of the main faces heavies main doors articulated on the sides of the furniture. The cabinet may also comprise, in the lower part of each main face, drawers mounted sliding and equipped with individual locking means, the latter being advantageously capable of cooperating with the main doors so that, when the main doors of a main face are in the open position, the drawers of this main face can be unlocked and re-locked without having the individual key of each drawer, the main doors can only be locked in the closed position when the drawers are locked in the closed position. Advantageously, the piece of furniture according to one of the two embodiments comprises folding main doors in open position against the side walls of the piece of furniture. According to a particularity, the piece of furniture comprises at least one labeling support surface associated with each box, visible during the opening of the main door of the box.

  The displacement means may consist of at least four wheels mounted directly on the lower wall of the cabinet or by a trolley equipped with at least four wheels on which the furniture is fixed. Advantageously, the furniture comprises braking means capable of locking at least two wheels. The invention will be better understood, and other objects, details, features and advantages will become more clearly apparent from the following detailed explanatory description of two presently preferred particular embodiments of the invention, with reference to the attached schematic drawing. , in which - Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a piece of furniture according to a first embodiment, with the main doors in the closed position, an individual door being in the open position; FIG. 2 represents a view similar to FIG. 1, the main doors in the open position at approximately 90; - Figure 3 shows a similar view to Figure 1, reduced scale, the main doors locked in the open position at 270; Figures 4 and 5 show schematic perspective views of two pieces of furniture according to variants of the first embodiment; - Figures 6 and 7 show two schematic perspective views illustrating two variants of the individual locking system of the drawers of the furniture of Figure 1; Figures 8 and 9 show two perspective views of a piece of furniture according to a second embodiment of the invention; and, - Figures 10 and 11 show views similar to those of Figures 8 and 9, illustrating an alternative embodiment of the second embodiment. Figures 1 and 2 show schematically a piece of furniture boxes 1 according to the invention. The cabinet comprises a parallelepiped frame on which are mounted an upper horizontal wall 11, a lower horizontal wall 12 and two lateral vertical walls 13, 14, and a set of vertical and horizontal intermediate walls 15 (FIG. 2) defining in the upper part boxes 2 accessible by the main face before the furniture and boxes (not visible) accessible by the rear main face lb furniture, each box constituting a lockbox. A central vertical wall ensures separation between the boxes of the front face and those of the rear face. The cabinet further comprises in the lower part of the drawers 3 mounted sliding, each drawer constituting a large capacity mail box. In this embodiment, the furniture comprises, by main face, sixteen squares 2 in four rows superimposed four squares, and six drawers in two rows superimposed three drawers. Each main face la, lb is equipped with two main doors, or mother doors 41a and 42a, 41b and 42b, for loading couriers or objects, articulated in rotation on both sides of the cabinet, and lockable in the closed position by a main key 7 actuating a locking system disposed in the center of said main face, such as a espagnolette lock system. The main doors are mounted on the frame of the cabinet by means of hinges allowing a pivoting of the doors of about 270, between the closed position illustrated in Figure 1 and an open position shown in Figure 3 in which the doors are arranged against the walls lateral 13, 14. Advantageously the furniture is equipped with locking means for: maintaining the main doors in the open position of Figure 3, in particular by blocking a door of a main face against a door of the other side principal previously brought against a side wall.

  The main doors are frames on which are arranged individual doors 5, so that an individual door is vis-à-vis each box to allow the removal of mail when the main doors are in the closed position. Each individual door is articulated in rotation by means of hinges on a main door and is equipped with an individual lock 51 operable by an associated individual key, for locking the individual door in the closed position on its main door.

  Each individual door has on its front face an outer tag holder 52 to allow users carrying individual keys to identify their box. The drawers 3 are also equipped with individual locking systems 31 actuated by individual keys. The drawers are advantageously equipped with individual locking systems cooperating with the main doors so that, when the main doors of a main face are in the open position, the drawers of this main face can be unlocked and re-locked, without having the individual key of each of the drawers. In addition, the main doors can only be locked in the closed position when the drawers are locked in the closed position. Referring to Figure 6, each drawer is for example equipped with an individual lock 31 associated with an individual key. The cams 31a of the locks of two superposed drawers cooperate with a vertical hollow tube pivotally mounted on the furniture, partially perforated to form openings 35a at the level of said cams, and thus allow the tube to be pivoted, for example 45, to release the cams as shown in Figure 6, or block them. The tubes 35 are equipped in the upper part with control lever 36. The control levers of the tubes of each main face are connected by means of pins 37 to a horizontal bar 38 in L which can be actuated to rotate said tubes. When the tubes are in their cam locking position, the main doors can be closed, the vertical wing of the horizontal bar being blocked by the lower rails of the frames forming the main doors. The bar can be operated only when the main doors are open and it prohibits the closing of the main doors when the tubes are in their position of release of the cams. In an alternative embodiment illustrated in Figure 7, the pivoting tubes are replaced by vertical flat irons 135 mounted sliding on the cabinet and equipped with stops 135a at the height of the cams 31a superimposed drawer locks. Each flat iron is able to slide vertically between a low position in which the stops block the lock cams and a high position in which the stops are arranged above the cams. In FIG. 7, the left flat iron and the central flat iron are in the low cam locking position, whereas the right flat iron is in the high position of the cams release. Each flat iron is equipped at its upper end with a U-shaped handle 139, which allows handling of the flat iron between its two positions. In the low position of the flat irons, the handles are adapted to fit on the lower rails of the main doors brought in the closed position. The handles are accessible only when the main doors are in the open position, and prohibit the closing of the main doors in the high position of the flat irons.

  The front of the drawers 3 also has an external label support 32 for the identification of the drawers by the users, and a handle 34. Each box is associated with a vertical support surface 21 for receiving a label bearing the coordinates. the user to whom the box is reserved to allow the sorting of items and mails in the boxes by the postal service agents once the main doors in the open position. For the boxes of the upper row, the support surfaces are constituted by small vertical plates 17 assembled to the frame in the upper part of the boxes. For the other boxes, the support surfaces are formed by vertical flanges 161, oriented downwards, horizontal intermediate walls. As can be seen in FIG. 1, when an individual door is open, the support surfaces of the adjacent squares are not visible. The upper horizontal edge of the front wall 33 of each drawer 3 advantageously serves as a support surface for labeling. According to the invention, the furniture is further equipped with wheels allowing easy movement of the furniture in the post office. The piece of furniture comprises four wheels 6 mounted on the bottom wall of the piece of furniture, for example two pivoting wheels and two fixed wheels. Advantageously, the separation of the boxes is effected by means of modular intermediate walls removable, so that starting from the same frame, furniture with different configurations of boxes can be formed, providing main doors equipped with corresponding individual doors. In the variant illustrated in FIG. 4, the cabinet 101 comprises twelve so-called simple boxes, identical to those of the cabinet 1 of FIGS. 1 to 3, associated with single individual doors 105a, two half-boxes associated with individual half-doors 105b and a double box associated with an individual double door 105c, as well as four single drawers 103a and a double drawer 103b. In the variant illustrated in Figure 5, each side of the cabinet 201 comprises sixteen half-doors associated with half-boxes, eight single doors 205a associated with single boxes, and six drawers 203.

  As schematically illustrated in the variants of Figures 4 and 5, the furniture 101, 201 are advantageously equipped on at least one of the side walls of a guide member 171, 271 facilitating the setting of the furniture for its movement, and centrally controlled braking means for simultaneously locking at least two of the four wheels of the furniture, for example the swivel wheels, said braking means of the furniture being for example controlled by a pedal 172, 272 in the lower part, actuable by the foot . Said pedal, disposed on the same side of the furniture as the guide member, may advantageously be locked in an active position in which the braking means block the wheels. Said braking means may advantageously also be controlled by the guiding member, the wheels being locked as soon as the operator releases the latter. The furniture can be immobilized during the sorting and loading of boxes and during unloading operations boxes. The piece of furniture is also advantageously equipped with lower bumpers 191, 291 and upper 192, 292, and vertical corner protectors 193, 293 to prevent direct contact of the furniture with its environment (doors, wall, fixed furniture. ..). Figures 8 and 9 illustrate a so-called accounting unit 301 for the secure transport of special objects. The cabinet comprises an upper wall 311, a bottom wall 312 and two lateral vertical walls 313, 314, and a set of vertical intermediate walls 315 and horizontal 316 defining boxes 302. The boxes are accessible both by the main front face 301a. and the rear main face 301b of the cabinet. In the front face, each box is equipped with an individual door 305 pivotally mounted via hinges on a wall of the cabinet, in particular a side wall or a vertical intermediate wall. Each box is provided with an individual lock 351 operable by means of an associated individual key to lock the individual door in the closed position, and a label holder 352. The piece of furniture comprises on the rear face a main door consisting of a shutter 341, mounted in an upper space of the cabinet above the boxes, which can be unrolled to the bottom of the cabinet, from its wound position illustrated in Figure 9, to cover the entire rear face 301b of the cabinet and so close all the boxes. The shutter comprises a handle 3411 to facilitate its opening and closing, and a lock 3412 operable by a master key to lock the shutter in the closed position. The furniture is mounted on a movable carriage 308. The movable carriage comprises a base 381 equipped with two pivoting wheels 306a and two fixed wheels 306b. Four uprights 382 are mounted at the four corners of the base, the amounts being for example fitted and then riveted in sleeves 383 integral with the base. The uprights are connected at the top two by two by cross members 384. Each pair of uprights is further stiffened by a lower spacer 385 mounted between the uprights, and an intermediate upright 386 mounted between the crossbar and the spacer. The furniture 301 is mounted between the pairs of uprights by means of upper brackets 387 fixed to the crosspieces and lower brackets 388 fixed substantially at the spacers. In an establishment of preparation, the special objects 7_riés by tour will be loaded in the boxes by the back face, the shutter in open position, each box corresponding to a tour. Each box 302 comprises, on the rear face, a support surface 321 to indicate to the agents of the establishment of preparation which round is dedicated each box, said support surface being constituted for example by the vertical edge of an intermediate horizontal wall 316. A Once the special objects have been loaded, the shutter is locked in the closed position and the furniture can be transferred to a distribution establishment where each factor will recover the special objects of his tour in the corresponding box, by the individual door of the latter which he holds. individual key.

  In the variant illustrated in Figures 10 and 11, the furniture 401 differs mainly furniture 301 described above in that the rear face 401b of the cabinet is equipped with two doors 441a, 441b, each door consisting of a hinged mounted flap in rotation on the side of the cabinet by means of hinges 4411. The two doors are lockable in the closed position by a master key actuating a locking system 4412 disposed in the center of the rear face. The hinges are mounted sliding on rails 4413 assembled on the side walls 413, 414 of the cabinet, to allow to fold open the main doors along said side walls, between the latter and the uprights. As before, the boxes are accessible on the front face by individual doors 405 equipped with individual lock 451, and the piece of furniture is mounted on a carriage 408 equipped with wheels 406a, 406b. The cabinet does not include in the upper part of the space reserved for the winding of a shutter, the entire available space between the upper wall 411 and lower 412 of the furniture being used for the arrangement of boxes.

  Although the invention has been described in connection with two particular embodiments, it is obvious that it is not limited thereto and that it comprises all the technical equivalents of the means described and their combinations if they are within the scope of the invention.

Claims (11)

  1. Storage and transport of sorted objects, characterized in that it comprises boxes (2, 302) accessible at least by the main front and rear faces (la, 301a, 40la; lb, 301b, 401b). furniture, each box being accessible by a main door (41a, 41, 42a, 42b; 341; 441a, 441b), common to a set of boxes, equipped with main locking means (3412, 4412), and by a door individual (5, 305, 405) equipped with individual locking means (51, 351, 451), and wheel moving means for making the furniture (1, 101, 201, 301, 401) movable.   2. Cabinet (301, 401) according to claim 1, characterized in that each box (302) is accessible both by the front main face (301a, 401a) and the rear main face (301b, 401b) of the cabinet each box being accessible by an individual door (305, 405) mounted on the main front face of the cabinet and by a main door (341; 441a, 441b) mounted on the rear main face of the cabinet.   3. Furniture (301, 401) according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises in main rear face a main door formed of a shutter (341), or two main doors (441a, 441b) pivotally mounted on the furniture sides.   4. Cabinet (1, 101, 201) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises boxes (2) accessible only by the front main face (la) and boxes accessible only by the rear main face (lb) , each main face equipped with at least one main door (41a, 41b, 42a, 42b) supporting the individual doors (5).   5. Cabinet (1, 101, 201) according to claim 4, characterized in that it comprises on each of the main faces two main doors (41a, 41b, 42a, 42b) articulated on the sides of the furniture.   6. Cabinet (1, 101, 201) according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that it comprises in the lower part of each face of the drawers (3, 103a-b, 203) mounted slidably and equipped with individual locking means (31, 35, 135).   7. Cabinet (1, 101, 201) according to claim 6, characterized in that said individual locking means (31, 35, 135) of the drawers (3) are adapted to cooperate with the main doors so that when the main doors of a main face are in the open position, the drawers of this main face can be unlocked and re-locked without having the individual key of each drawer, the main doors can only be locked in the closed position when the drawers are locked in the closed position.   8. Furniture (1, 101, 201, 301, 401) according to one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the main doors (41a, 41, 42a, 42b, 441a, 441b) are foldable in the open position against the side walls (13, 14, 413, 414) of the cabinet.   9. Cabinet (1, 101, 201, 301, 401) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises at least one labeling support surface (21, 321) associated with each box (2 , 302), visible when opening the main door of the box.   10. Furniture (1, 101, 201, 301, 401) according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the displacement means consist of at least four wheels (6, 106, 206) mounted directly on the lower wall of the cabinet (1, 101, 201) or a trolley (308, 408) equipped with at least four wheels (306a-b, 406a-b) on which the cabinet (301, 401) is fixed.   11. Furniture (1, 101, 201, 301, 401) according to claim 10, characterized in that it comprises braking means capable of locking at least two wheels.