GB2451598A

GB2451598A - Weighing machine and bag dispenser

Info

Publication number: GB2451598A
Application number: GB0820683A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gerard James Stewart; Carole Ann Stewart
Original assignee: Stewart Stewart & Sons Ltd
Current assignee: Stewart Stewart & Sons Ltd
Priority date: 2006-03-07
Filing date: 2006-03-07
Publication date: 2009-02-04
Anticipated expiration: 2026-03-07
Also published as: GB0604521D0; GB2435935B; GB0820683D0; GB2451598B; GB2435935A

Abstract

A scale and bag dispensing machine 1 is disclosed. The bag dispensing machine 3 is being located in close proximity to the scale 2. In use the device is placed in a transport terminal for use by passengers to determine whether their luggage is overweight and to inform them of what excess fees are payable. The passenger with overweight luggage may purchase a bag and transfer items thereto to reduce the level of overweight. The scale comprises a weighing platform 5 and a ramp 4 to allow wheeled luggage 7 onto the platform 5. A user interface 13 is mounted on panel 9 along with a coin slot 12 to activate scale 2. Bag dispensing machine 3 is filled with bags 16 viewable through window 22. A bag may be acquired by coin insertion into slot 11 and using buttons 18 to make the appropriate selection.

Description

METHOD OF WEIGHING LUGGAGE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a weighing machine for passengers to weigh their baggage prior to check in. The invention also relates to a bag dispenser associated with a such a weighing machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When travelling by certain modes limits are placed on the weight of luggage any one passenger may bring on board. This is particularly so in the case of air travel, where any particular class of ticket has associated with it a maximum weight of luggage that the ticket holder may bring on board the aircraft. Different classes of ticket may have different luggage weight allowances associated with them.

Typically, when arriving at an airport a passenger loads a trolley with luggage in a car park and proceeds to push the luggage to the check-in desk. Upon purchasing an airline ticket a passenger is informed of the minimum period of time prior to departure by which he must have presented himself for check in. Most passengers arrive in the check-in area the minimum time indicated on their ticket.

The check-in process involves inter a/ia the checking in of items of luggage which are then placed in the hold of the aircraft. Part of the usual apparatus at the check in counter is a set of scales. When a passenger presents himself for check-in a member of the check-in staff will invite him to place his luggage on the scale. Upon entering the ticket details for the particular passenger the luggage weight allowance associated with the ticket is displayed to the member of check-in staff. If the weight of the luggage is greater than the allowance associated with the ticket the member of check-in staff will either advise the passenger that he must pay an additional fee, or remove items from his luggage to reduce the weight thereof. For airlines, it is important that the weight of luggage checked in is known as the amount of fuel taken on board is calculated based on the overall weight of the aircraft and its payload.

Some airlines, particularly those categorised within the air industry as "low cost" airlines provide a meagre luggage allowance with each ticket, typically only 15 kgs. Furthermore, for most airlines it is extremely expensive to bring excess luggage on board.

Whilst passengers may be aware of the luggage weight allowance associated with their ticket most passengers do not have suitable facilities for weighing luggage at home and therefore it is extremely difficult for passengers to determine whether their luggage will be within weight limit or not. When luggage allowances are as meagre as 15 kgs (a suitcase may weigh 4 kgs empty), a passenger embarking on a trip of more than a couple of days will need to use up the full amount of his luggage allowance if he is to have a reasonable amount of clothing, etc. Weighing luggage to be checked in at the check in desk creates a number of problems as discussed below: I. the speed of checking passengers in is reduced as passengers with excess luggage must be asked to pay additional money and the transaction must be processed; II. passengers faced with huge additional charges will often challenge the check-in staff, again taking time and creating an unpleasant and potentially violent scene in the check-in area; Ill, the levels of stress of both passenger and members of check-in staff may be increased -the passenger is annoyed because he must either pay additional money or unpack items of his baggage, whilst the member of check-in staff who is working to a deadline grows concerned by the length of time the check-in process takes, and of course other passengers queuing to check in become more and more anxious about the time check-in is taking and the prospect of having to pay excess luggage fees themselves; IV. Whilst the charging of excess luggage fees can be extremely lucrative for airlines, passengers and airports suffer financially.

Passengers tend to embark on trips such as holidays with a spending budget. If an unexpected expense has been incurred the passenger is likely to spend mush less in shops and restaurants located in departure areas. The passenger may have planned to buy items in the departure areas, and his trip may be spoiled by not making such planned purchases. For the airports spending by passengers in the departure areas is vital to their financial success. If passengers are not in the departure area for a sufficiently long period, or they are discouraged from spending money due to unexpected expenses, the airport's revenue will fall. Similarly, airlines may suffer financial disadvantage in the form of reduced in flight duty free sales as a passenger who feels cheated by an airline by having to pay excess luggage fees is unlikely to spend further money with the same company.

Some attempts have been made to address some of the above-mentioned problems. For example, US 5,150,760 describes an automated kerb-side check-in counter which includes a scale and a computer which reads the details of the passengers' ticket and calculates any excess baggage payment due by reference to information accessed by the computer giving details of the weight allowed for the particular passenger's ticket.

However, this type of kerb-side check-in counter simply spreads out the problems mentioned above.

In connection with hand luggage, which is not to be checked in, frames for checking the size of items of hand luggage to ensure they meet the requirements of a particular airline are widely used in airports. CA 02337584 describes a system and method for simultaneously verifying conformity of a carry-on luggage to maximum permissible size and weight values. A frame in which luggage is placed for checking size conformity is mounted on a weighing device. If the weight of the carry-on luggage placed in the sizing frame exceeds the maximum allowable weight for such luggage a warning is generated.

None of the prior art documents address satisfactorily the problems set out above. It would therefore be desirable to provide an improved system and method for dealing with the problem of overweight baggage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided method for notifying a passenger of overweight luggage as specified in Claim 1.

Preferred features of the method for notifying a passenger of overweight luggage are set out in the claims dependent on Claim 1.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a scale and bag dispensing machine, wherein the bag dispensing machine is located in close proximity to the scale.

Preferred features of the scale and bag dispensing machine are set out below.

Preferably the scale and bag dispensing machine further comprises a processor.

Preferably the scale and bag dispensing machine share a common processor.

Preferably the scale and bag dispensing machine further includes a user interface.

Preferably the user interface includes data entry means.

Preferably at least one of the scale and/or the bag dispensing machine is payment operated.

Preferably bags dispensed by the bag dispensing machine are of a size and shape corresponding to the size and shape of luggage permitted to be carried as hand luggage.

Preferably the processor monitors and records information selected from the group comprising: information relating to use of the scale and/or bags dispensed from the said bag dispensing machine; information relating to payments received by the bag dispenser; information relating to the scale; information relating to the status of the scale and/or the bag dispenser; information relating to faults; information relating to journey details of passengers using the scale and bag dispensing machine.

Preferably the processor is linked to a database of information relating to luggage weight allowances for defined journeys, and in use a user enters ticket information relating to a particular journey to the processor via the user interface and places luggage on the scale, and the processor extracts from the database the luggage weight allowance for the particular journey compares said weight allowance with the weight of luggage placed on the scale, the processor generating an output indicating the luggage is within or outwith the said allowance.

Preferably the database of information includes information relating to the cost per unit weight for luggage and wherein upon calculating the amount of overweight the processor multiplies the overweight by the cost per unit weight and indicates to the user the cost of checking in the luggage as weighed.

Preferably a ticket is issued indicating the amount of overweight and/or the cost of checking in such weight of luggage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, and are by way of example only: Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a weighing machine and bag dispenser according to the invention; and Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating the control elements of the weighing machine and bag dispenser illustrated in Figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown a scale and bag dispensing machine 1 which comprises a scale 2 and a bag dispensing machine 3.

The scale 2 comprises a weighing platform 5 and a ramp 4 which permits items of luggage 7 to be wheeled easily onto the platform 5. A guard rail 6 is located to one side of the platform 5 and serves to prevent to item of luggage 7 from falling off the said platform 5. A panel 9 extends substantially vertically to the front of the weighing platform 5. A user interface 13 is mounted in the panel 9 and in the example is in the form of a touch screen. Also mounted in the panel 9 is a coin slot 12 to allow coins to be inserted, thereby activating the scale 2. Other forms of payment means may be mounted in the panel 9, for example a note slot or card slot and associated mechanisms (which in themselves do not form part of this invention). A printer may also be mounted in the panel 9, and may form part of the user interface 13.

Turning now to the bag dispensing machine 3, this is filled with bags 16 which can be viewed by prospective purchasers through window 22. A bag 16 may be acquired by paying an appropriate fee via the coin slot 11 and making an appropriate selection using a selecting means which is in the form of a button 18. The bag 16 is dispensed to the purchaser via flap 14.

The scale 2, the user interface 13, the payment means 11 and 12 each communicate with a processor. This arrangement is described in greater detail with reference to Figure 2.

Referring now to Figure 2, the processor 30 communicates with the scale 2, the bag dispenser 3, the bag dispenser payment means 11, the scale payment means 12, the user interface 13, a data transfer means 15 and a database 31.

In the example, the processor 30 is a Siemens TC65 which uses mobile phone technology. The database 31 holds information relating to flights including the luggage allowance for any particular class of ticket on any particular flight, and the cost per unit weight of overweight luggage. When a passenger arrives at the airport he inserts a coin into the coin slot 12 which purchases the opportunity to weigh one or more items of luggage.

The passenger enters to details of the flight which he has a ticket to board via the use of interface 13. The processor 30 identifies the information relating to the luggage allowances for the flight entered in the database.

The weight measured by the scale 2 is communicated to the processor 30 and is compared with the said information identified in the database. The weight of the luggage is displayed on the user interface 13 together with an indication of whether the luggage weight is less than or greater than the identified luggage allowance. If the luggage weight is less than that allowed for the passenger on the flight an indication that the luggage allowance is not exceeded is given. If the luggage weight allowance is exceeded the processor multiplies the amount of overweight by the price per unit weight of overweight and displays to the passenger the cost of boarding the flight with weighed luggage.

The passenger may elect to purchase a bag 16 from the bag dispenser 3, which is of a size and shape to conform with the requirement for hand luggage, i.e. luggage which is not checked in. The passenger may then transfer items from the previously weighed luggage to the bag 16 in order to reduce the weight of the luggage to be checked in. The passenger may then re-weigh his luggage following the above described procedure.

The ability of the processor to communicate using internet protocol means that much information may be accessed and updated remotely. For example information regarding the amount of money taken by the scale and bag dispensing machine, the status of the machine, the stock of bags remaining in the bag dispensing machine, the individual weights of luggage place on the scale, etc. In use the scale and bag dispensing machine 1 is located in an airport terminal (or other transport terminal where the weight of luggage a passenger is permitted to take on board is restricted) before the check-in counters. Passengers are therefore presented with an opportunity to weigh their luggage and establish the extent to which that luggage might be overweight. Further, the passenger has the opportunity to obtain a bag into which items taken from overweight luggage may be place thereby reducing or eliminating the overweight. Alternatively the scale and bag dispensing machine 1 might be located in a car park. With such a location it is likely that excess luggage would at least in part be returned to the vehicles in which the passengers have arrived at the airport.

Not only does the scale and bag dispensing machine of the invention provide benefits to passengers, particularly in the form of choice, but also to airports and airlines. For airports, the amount of time available for passengers to spend shopping, eating or drinking in the airport will be increased. Further more, the airport may take a proportion or all of the take of payments made to the scale and bag dispensing machine.

For airlines, there will be an increase in efficiency of checking in passengers leading to better punctuality of departure. Further, by providing passengers with a choice as to whether they pay the additional charges for excess baggage, or reduce the weight of their luggage by transferring items to hand luggage, or depositing items safely in their cars or a left luggage locker, etc, stressful scenes at the check-in desk will be removed. Whilst airlines' revenues from excess luggage may fall, they may win sales of in-flight duty free items.

Claims

1. A method for notifying a passenger of overweight luggage comprising the steps of: I. Entering information relating to a journey for which a passenger has a ticket into a processor; II. Weighing the luggage; Ill. Comparing the weight of the luggage with the maximum weight of luggage allowed for the particular ticket; and IV. Indicating the level of overweight to the passenger.

2. A method for notifying a passenger of overweight as claimed in Claim 1, comprising the further step of retrieving information from the database relating to the price per unit of overweight and multiplying the determined overweight by the said unit cost, and displaying the cost of overweight to the passenger.

3. A method of providing a passenger with a means to reduce luggage overweight comprising the steps of Claim 1 or 2 and the further step of offering to the passenger a bag into which items of excess luggage may be placed.

4. A method according to Claim 3, wherein the bag is suitable for carrying onto an aeroplane as hand luggage.

5. A method according to Claim 3 or 4, wherein the step of offering to the passenger a bag into which items of excess luggage may be placed involves requiring the passenger to make a payment.

6. A method substantially as shown in, or as described with reference to, the drawings.