IT202100008366A1 - SYSTEM FOR AUTONOMOUS RECEPTION OF PARCELS - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

Of the Italian Patent for Industrial Invention entitled:

?SYSTEM FOR AUTONOMOUS RECEPTION OF PARCELS?

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is a system for the autonomous reception of parcels. STATE OF ART

At present, online sales by marketplaces, eCommerce and Brand Shops are continuously growing.

Continuously rising economic parameters in the sector are also due to the epidemic spread caused by Covid-19.

The typical scenario of an online purchase by a user? the following: - purchase of a product online,

- sending by the seller of the name of the courier who will carry out? the delivery and the tracking code, or a shipping code, in order to track the delivery,

- indication by the courier of a delivery time period which, generally, is between 6 and 8 hours,

- obligation of the buyer to be present on site for the correct receipt of the package.

An obvious weakness of this process? clearly the obligation of the buyer to be present at home, in the company or in the physical store for a very long time, in order to be able to receive the purchase made.

Various solutions have arisen on the market to be able to remedy the physical presence at the place of delivery at certain and specific pre-set times.

A first solution? known under the trade name of Amazon Key.

In this case, the buyer must install a ?smart key? (smart lock) on the front door of the house and allow the courier to open the door independently in order to make the delivery. In this solution the limits of technological penetration of the large-scale solution and of intrinsic safety of the solution approach followed are evident.

Another known solution that could be defined as couriers 2.0 (eg Milkman) ? the following.

New couriers are trying to guarantee shorter times. tight and targeted delivery windows to reduce the mandatory waiting time at home. The guaranteed wait, albeit less, obliges the prior indication of a precise reception time which therefore obliges the recipient to plan correctly and to be present at the agreed time.

Deliveries directly in the trunk of the car (In car delivery) are also being tested.

This solution implies a technological evolution that requires the adoption of technologically advanced cars and an obligation not to use the vehicle in the agreed time slot.

Further well-known solutions are: Amazon Locker & Single-brand Locker. The American marketplace can? deliver orders placed on the platform thanks to special ?cabinet lockers? able to provide multicells for shipment collection.

These cabinets are located in shopping centres, in particular transit points or at commercial partners in the area.

The problems associated with this approach are mainly two:

- the first ? that the? use of the locker ? allowed only for purchases from the Amazon marketplace or from the online shop of the specific brand;

- the second ? that, in order to collect the shipment, it is necessary to physically move from one's home or office and go to where the locker cabinets are physically located, taking into consideration the opening hours of the partners to which they are connected, when, for example, the lockers are located in centers commercial.

Purpose of the present invention? that of solving the problem of last-mile deliveries (commonly referred to as ?last-mile delivery?) by any type of courier.

Another purpose of the present invention ? to obtain the aforementioned result in a rational and economic way.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention therefore proposes to achieve the aforementioned purposes by means of a system for the autonomous reception of parcels, where the aforementioned system comprises:

- at least one locker, wherein said locker has a door equipped with an electronically controlled lock and an external shipping code reader;

- an electronic control unit configured to manage the opening of the locker lock according to the reading of a correct shipping code;

- a communication management module of the electronic control unit with the outside, where the aforementioned communication module ? configured to remotely receive shipping codes; And

- a memory equipped with a processing program for managing said system and for memorizing said shipping codes.

Among the advantages of the aforementioned realization you can include the fact that it allows you to have a personal locker, installed for example at the entrance of the home, company or physical store, which allows the delivery of any type of package 24 hours a day and without the need for a locker. of a physical presence for correct reception.

The system ? able to ?recognise? the parcel being delivered by the operator and then to physically open the locker and allow the parcel to be deposited.

After the package has been delivered, a notification can be sent. be sent to the consignee of the shipment that could? so withdraw your purchase in absolute comfort? and at any time.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the aforementioned system for the autonomous reception of parcels can be used as part of a method which includes at least the following steps:

- generation of a Cs shipping code following the purchase of a product;

- communication of the aforementioned Cs shipping code to the buyer;

- communication of the aforementioned Cs shipping code by the purchaser to a memory associated with the electronic control unit that manages the system;

- reading by a reader of a Cl code applied to the outside of a package being delivered; And

- if the Cl code read by the reader is the same as one of the Cs shipping codes stored in the system memory, generation of a lock opening command to open the locker door.

Further features of the invention can be deduced from the dependent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become more evident in the light of the detailed description that follows with the aid of the attached drawings in which:

figure 1 shows, in schematic view, the system for the autonomous reception of parcels, according to an embodiment of the invention; And

- figure 2 shows a block diagram of the main operating phases of the system of figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS

OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The invention will come now described with initial reference to figure 1 in which ? schematically represented the system for autonomous reception of parcels, according to an embodiment of the invention, globally indicated with the reference numeral 10.

The system 10 for the independent reception of parcels comprises at least one locker 20, which has a door 30 equipped with an electronically controlled lock 40.

Cabinet 20 also includes an external shipping code reader 50.

In particular, the external reader can? be able to read barcodes and/or QR codes for the recognition of a barcode or QR code stamped on the parcel being delivered.

? It is also possible to provide passive readers operating according to the RFID (Radio-frequency Identification) system.

The locker 20 ? furthermore managed by means of an electronic control unit 450, configured to manage the opening of the cabinet 20 according to the reading of a shipping code.

In particular, the electronic unit 450 pu? be configured to send an opening command to the lock 40 following the reading of a correct shipping code.

The system 10 further comprises a module 470 for managing the communication of the electronic control unit 450 with the outside, where the communication module 470 ? configured to remotely receive shipping codes. The 470 communication module can? can also be configured to send information to an application 250 that can be used in combination with a tablet 200, or a cell phone or other portable electronic device, according to modalities? better illustrated below.

System 10 also comprises a memory 460 equipped with a processing program for managing said system 10.

Preferably, the cabinet 20 has a numeric keypad 60 for manually entering shipping codes.

The locker 20 can? be made of metal and ? available in various sizes, for example:

- base 50 cm, height 50 cm, depth? 50cm

- base 50 cm, height 100 cm, depth? 50cm.

The measures indicated approximately cover 95% of the shipments that couriers handle on a daily basis.

In any case, these measures are indicated by way of example and not as a limitation of the possibilities? of the invention.

The locker 20 ? equipped with a lock 40 controlled by the electronic section and externally with a code reader 50 for recognizing the bar code or the QR code stamped on the package being delivered.

The 450 electronic control unit has a microprocessor, a 460 memory, an I/O section (input/output) and can? operate an IoT (Internet of Things) module.

? It is also possible to foresee the use of a given SIM and a Wi-Fi module, as well as? of a buffer battery 120 to guarantee energy autonomy to the system 10 in the event of a blackout.

The locker 20 can? also be equipped with a video camera 70, whose use will come? illustrated below in this description.

Finally, in some embodiments of the invention, the cabinet can be provided with a refrigeration module 80, which can be activated by means of an electronic control unit 450 for the correct management of products which need suitable refrigeration. The locker 20 ? usable also in combination with a tablet 200, or a mobile phone or other portable electronic device, equipped with suitable applications 250.

The 250 applications are updatable and allow you to manage the 10 system remotely, there? it means that the user always has the system updated to the latest version.

The user can? use the application 250 to communicate with the system 10 making use, for example, of the communication module 470 configured to remotely receive shipping codes.

Does the system 10 operate according to the following methods? (figure 2).

In the first phase, a user purchases a product on any marketplace, eCommerce or online shop (block 100).

Following the purchase, a Cs shipping code is generated and this Cs shipping code is communicated to the purchaser by the courier (block 110).

The purchaser, through the application 250, communicates the shipping code Cs to the system 10 (block 120) and the shipping code Cs is stored in memory 460.

When the courier delivers the parcel, the courier approaches the parcel to the reader 50 on the locker 20 to make the reader 50 read the code printed on the parcel (block 130).

In the event that the reader 50 reads a code Cl equal to one of the shipping codes Cs stored in the memory 460 and entered by the purchaser (block 140), the electronic control unit 450 commands the opening of the lock 40 to open the door 30 of the ?locker 20 (block 150).

If the code is not read, the courier can? type it directly on the keypad 60.

Once the delivery has been made and after the courier has closed the door 30 of the cabinet 20, the electronic control unit 450 sends an application 250 a notification of the successful delivery (block 160).

Optionally the camera 70 pu? be activated for delivery posting.

Such a recording, in the form of a short video or a ?story?, can be sent automatically to the 250 application.

If the product requires suitable refrigeration, if the cabinet 20 is equipped with a refrigeration module 80, the electronic control unit 450 pu? simultaneously with placing the product in the cabinet, activate the refrigeration module 80 until the product is withdrawn.

The information relating to the fact that the product requires refrigeration can? be contained in the shipment code or in a separate code.

In the case instead in which the reader 50 reads a shipping code Cl? different from all the shipping codes Cs stored in memory 460 and entered by the purchaser (block 140), the electronic control unit 450 does not send any command signal for opening the lock 40 and the door 30 of the cabinet 20 remains closed.

The 250 application ? also equipped with a back-end software that manages the following features:

- communicate the correct shipping codes to the cabinet electronics via internet and data network

- receive and display the data sent by the system 10 on the user interface of the application 250 itself.

Thanks to this invention, the buyer can? buy from any marketplace, eCommerce or online store and receive the purchased goods at home, in your company headquarters or in your physical store without problems, delays, address mistakes and above all without the physical presence for the reception.

Reception takes place at home at any time of the day or night and without any need. collection at other locations or specific collection points.

A single locker 20 ? personal, therefore associated with a person, an institution or a company name and installed at the home, headquarters or physical store.

The company lockers allow the delivery of materials of any kind to the company, including products that need suitable refrigeration. The personal lockers 20 perform a task which does not imply the obligation to be present and without setting delivery time limitations.

Personal lockers eliminate all delivery errors: if the door of locker 20 does not open the delivery address ? wrong.

The 20 personal lockers are customizable in terms of size and capacity.

Finally, the 20 personal lockers are modular: in condominium situations ? Is it possible to provide the service in a targeted way and not necessarily in modality? massive.

In the case of a modular system, both condominium and applied in any other situation, ? presents a plurality of individual and personal lockers, each equipped with its own door and its own lock, as well as? of its own code reader, but the management of the lockers pu? be delegated to a single common electronic control unit, cos? as a communication module with the common outside.

Obviously all? invention cos? as described, modifications or improvements may be made for contingent or particular reasons, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention as claimed below.

Claims (9)

1. System (10) for autonomous reception of parcels, where the aforementioned system includes: - at least one locker (20), wherein said locker (20) has a door (30) equipped with an electronically controlled lock (40) and an external reader (50) of shipping codes; - an electronic control unit (450) configured to manage the opening of the lock (40) of the cabinet (20) according to the reading of a correct shipping code; - a management module (470) of the communication of the electronic control unit (450) with the outside, where the aforementioned communication module (470) ? configured to remotely receive shipping codes; And - a memory (460) equipped with a processing program for managing the aforementioned system (10) and for memorizing the aforementioned shipping codes. 2. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein said locker (20) has a numeric keypad (60) for manually entering shipping codes into said memory (460). 3. System as in claim 1, wherein said cabinet (20) is equipped with a video camera (70), which can be activated by means of an electronic control unit (450), for recording the delivery. 4. System as in claim 1, wherein said cabinet (20) is equipped with a refrigeration module (80), which can be activated by means of an electronic control unit (450), for the correct management of products that need suitable refrigeration. 5. System as in claim 1, wherein the aforementioned electronic control unit (450) ? associated with a backup battery (120) to guarantee energy autonomy to the system (10) in the event of a blackout. 6. Method for self-receipt of parcels, where the above method ? which can be implemented by means of a system (10) for autonomously receiving parcels as claimed in the preceding claims, the above method comprising at least the following steps: - generation of a shipping code Cs following the purchase of a product; - communication of the aforementioned Cs shipping code to the buyer; - communication of the above shipping code Cs by the purchaser to a memory (460) associated with the electronic control unit (450) which manages the system (10); - reading by the reader (50) of a code Cl applied to the outside of a package being delivered; And - if the Cl code read by the reader (50) is equal to one of the Cs shipping codes stored in the memory (460) of the system (10), generation of a lock opening command (40) to open the door (30) of the cabinet (20). 7. Method as in claim 6, wherein ? a phase of sending a notification of successful delivery is foreseen. 8. Method as in claim 6, wherein ? a phase for activating a video camera (70) is provided for recording the delivery. 9. Method as in claim 6, wherein ? a phase for activating a refrigeration module (80) is provided for the correct management of products that need suitable refrigeration.