JP2013252934A - Mail collection system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mail collection system capable of eliminating unnecessary collection.SOLUTION: A mail collection system includes a power source section 11 from which each mailbox 10 receives power using renewable energy, a mail determination section 12 determining the presence or absence of mail posted in the mailbox 10, and a communication function section 13 transmitting information on the presence or absence of mail to an information processor 20 using power from the power source section 11. The information processor 20 includes a communication function section 21 and a route determination section 22 determining a route to collect mail on the basis of the information on the presence or absence of mail, which is transmitted from each mailbox 10.

Description

The present invention relates to a mail collection system for collecting mail, and in particular, efficient mail that can save resources and reduce the amount of CO ₂ emission by minimizing the travel distance of a collection vehicle. It relates to a material collection system.

  In the past, mail items were collected by periodically visiting all postboxes. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, consider a case where there is one post office 200 that collects postal items and six postboxes 10 in the collection area. In this case, the post office 200 circulates six post boxes in the collection area at regular times using a car or a motorcycle, and collects mail items in the post box.

  In the past, since it is possible to check the presence of mail items only after collecting them at the postbox, if there is no mail, the act of collecting it does not make sense, and the collection time and the cars and motorcycles required for collection There is a possibility that the fuel for moving the fuel is wasted.

  A system for improving mail collection efficiency has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, it is possible to determine whether or not an express mail is present in a post box by using an IC tag, and to determine a recovery priority of the post box by determining a recovery priority based on the determination result. A mail collection and delivery system is described.

JP 2004-26430 A

  As described above, conventionally, when there is no mail, the collecting action does not make sense, so there is a possibility that the collecting time and the fuel for moving the vehicle or motorcycle necessary for collecting may be wasted.

  Since the invention of Patent Document 1 cannot detect the presence of a mail piece when the IC tag is not attached to the mail piece, the mail piece without the IC tag is not collected unless it is collected to the post box. The conventional problem that the presence / absence cannot be confirmed cannot be solved.

  If wasteful collection is performed, it may be a factor that hinders business efficiency. These wastes increase as the number of postboxes to which mail is not posted at the time of collection increases, and the effect is considered to be greater when such postboxes are in remote locations.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a mail collection system that can eliminate wasteful collection of conventional mail without an IC tag.

  The postal collection system of the present invention is a postal unit that is installed in each postbox and obtains a power source using renewable energy, and a postage that is installed in each postbox and determines whether or not there is a postal item posted on the postbox. Postage side communication function installed at each postbox and sending the presence / absence result of the postal matter obtained by the postage judgment portion to a predetermined destination using the power from the power supply unit Information processing device side communication function unit that centrally receives the presence / absence result of mail sent from each postbox to the predetermined destination, and the presence / absence received by the information processing device side communication function unit A route determining unit that identifies a post box for collecting postal items based on the result, and determines a collection route determined by the combination of the identified postboxes.

  In the postal collection system of the present invention, the information processing device side communication function unit transmits a request for checking the presence / absence of a postal matter to the postbox side communication function unit at any time, and the postbox side communication function When the unit receives the request for checking the presence / absence of the postal matter, the postal matter determination unit determines the presence / absence of the postal item posted on the postal box, and the postal item side communication function unit obtains the postal matter determination unit. The postal mail presence / absence result may be transmitted to the information processing apparatus-side communication function unit using power from the power supply unit.

  In the postal collection system of the present invention, the route determination unit obtains the current position information of the collection vehicle and the traffic information around each post, and in addition to the combination of the specified post, according to the traffic information around each post. A recovery route may be determined.

  In the postal collection system of the present invention, the postal matter determination unit includes a weight sensor that detects the weight of the postal matter, and determines the presence or absence of postal matter by the increase in the weight detected by the weight sensor. Also good.

  In the mail collection system of the present invention, the postal matter determination unit includes an open / close sensor for detecting opening / closing of a mailing port, and the open / close sensor detects that the mailing port has been opened. You may determine the presence or absence of.

  In the postal collection system of the present invention, the postal matter determination unit includes an image sensor that captures a postal matter posted on a postbox, and the presence or absence of postal matter is caused by a change in the image captured by the image sensor. May be determined.

  In the postal collection system of the present invention, the postal matter determination unit detects the presence or absence of postal matter by the fact that the light is reflected by the postal matter posted on the postbox or the light is blocked by the postal matter posted. May be.

  In the postal collection system of the present invention, the postal matter determination unit determines whether or not there is a postal matter by the fact that the ultrasonic wave is reflected by the postal matter posted on the postbox or the ultrasonic wave is blocked by the postal matter posted. It may be detected.

  According to the present invention, even if an IC tag is not attached to a postal item, the presence or absence of the postal item in the postbox is remotely and centrally grasped in advance, and the postal item is removed from the postbox where the postal item is posted. Since a recovery route suitable for recovery can be determined, it is possible to provide a mail collection system that can eliminate wasteful recovery.

An example of the mail collection system concerning Embodiment 1 is shown. 2 is an example of a configuration of a post box in the first embodiment. 2 is an example of a configuration of an information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. The flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement of each postbox 10 and the information processing apparatus 20 is shown. This is an example of using the position information of the collected vehicle and the traffic jam information as the traffic information. An example of the mail collection system which concerns on Embodiment 2 is shown. An example of the power supply part which concerns on Embodiment 4 is shown. An example of the conventional mail collection system is shown.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below are examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. In the present specification and drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same components.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 shows a conceptual diagram of the present invention. The postal collection system according to the present embodiment includes an information processing device 20 and a plurality of postboxes 10. The postal collection system according to the present embodiment is characterized in that each postbox 10 has a communication function, and information from each postbox 10 scattered in the collection area is integrated in the post office that collects postal items. It has the information processing apparatus 20 which collects and analyzes automatically. In FIG. 1, based on the information collected from each post 10 to the information processing device 20, only the post 1 of # 1 and # 2 of the 6 post posts 10 of # 1 to # 6 have postal items. It is an example of the collection | recovery path | route in case.

  Details of the operation principle will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is an example of the configuration of the post box in the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the post box has a post storage unit 14 for storing postal items posted by people, which is the same as the conventional system. The mail function determination unit 12 for determining the presence / absence of mail, the mail function determination unit 12 for transmitting the result of mail presence / absence obtained by the mail determination unit 12 to the information processing device 20 in the post office, and the communication function unit 13 are operated. The point which comprises the power supply part 11 for this is different. The power supply unit 11 obtains a power supply using renewable energy such as solar power generation.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment. The information processing apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment includes a communication function unit 21 and a route determination unit 22. The communication function unit 21 receives a mail presence / absence result from the communication function unit 13. The route determination unit 22 identifies the postbox 10 that collects the postal matter based on the mail presence / absence result received by the communication function unit 21, and determines the recovery route determined by the combination of the identified postbox 10.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of each postbox 10 and the information processing apparatus 20. From the information processing device 20 in the post office, for example, a request for confirmation of the presence / absence of a postal matter is issued to every post box 10 at a fixed time every day (S101). Each postbox 10 that has received the request immediately determines the presence / absence information of the postal matter in the postal storage unit 14 by the postal matter determination unit 12 provided therein, and returns the result to the information processing apparatus 20 (S102). .

  For example, the communication function unit 13 provided in all the post boxes # 1 to # 6 transmits postal matter presence / absence information. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, only the # 1 and # 2 postboxes 10 transmit that they have postal items, and the # 3 to # 6 postboxes 10 have no postal items. To do.

  Here, the postal matter presence / absence information may be transmitted only to the postal post 10 with or without the postal matter. By transmitting that the postal item 10 has only the postal matter, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the postal post 10 that does not have the postal matter. By transmitting the fact that only the mail post 10 having no postal matter has no postal matter, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the postbox 10 having the postal matter.

  The communication function unit 21 of the information processing apparatus 20 receives postal matter presence / absence information from all postboxes 10 (S103). The route determination unit 22 determines the shortest route that passes only through the postbox 10 having a postal matter based on the mail presence / absence information received by the communication function unit 21 (S104). The shortest path can be determined based on the position of the post 10 if the post 10 to be collected is determined.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, only the # 1 and # 2 postboxes 10 have postal items. In this case, the route determination unit 22 determines the shortest route that passes only through the post boxes 10 of # 1 and # 2.

  Note that the request from the information processing apparatus 20 may be irregular, such as when a mail item is posted, even if it is not scheduled, or, for example, if each post box 10 has a clock function, a request time is not sent. Alternatively, the procedure may be such that the presence / absence of the mail in the mail storage unit 14 is autonomously transmitted from the post box 10 to the information processing system.

  Regarding the communication function unit 13, since the frequency of transmitting and receiving information is intermittent and the communication time is considered to be extremely short, it is considered that a wireless system is suitable. However, an optical fiber cable or an electric cable is used. The wired system used is also possible. Further, the information processing apparatus 20 is not necessarily located in the post office 200, and of course, may be installed in a remote place such as a data center to determine a route and transmit the result to the post office 200 or a collection vehicle. Good.

  As described above, the present invention can provide a postal collection system that optimizes the traffic route of a collection vehicle when collecting postal items by applying information communication technology. As a result, by reducing the amount of fuel (energy) used for cars and motorcycles, it is possible to save resources and reduce the amount of CO2 emissions, and to improve the efficiency of postal collection work by reducing the collection time. be able to.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of each postbox 10 and information processing apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the information processing apparatus 20 acquires traffic information around each post, and determines a collection route based on the traffic information around each post in addition to the specified combination of post posts 10.

  FIG. 5 shows an example in which the position information of the collected vehicle and the traffic jam information are used as the traffic information. The route determination unit 22 acquires, as traffic information, position information of a collection vehicle that circulates for mail collection and traffic congestion information, in addition to position information of the post 10 having mail. Then, the route determination unit 22 determines a recovery route determined by a combination of these pieces of information (S105).

  For example, when collecting only the postal items from the # 1 and # 2 postboxes 10, the post office 200 that collects the postal items goes to the # 1 postbox 10 via the # 2 postbox 10, and the post office The clockwise route back to 200 and the counterclockwise route from the post office 200 via the # 1 post box 10 to the # 2 post box 10 and back to the post office 200 are required for recovery. Although the physical distance is exactly the same, when the road from the post office 200 to the postbox 10 of # 2 is congested, a counterclockwise route is selected as shown in FIG. Thereby, the optimal route selection according to the traffic situation is possible.

  The route determination unit 22 notifies the collection vehicle of the determined route. For example, by linking with the car navigation system installed in the collection vehicle, it is possible to automatically inform the driver of the collection vehicle about the optimal traffic route in real time, enabling more efficient mail collection. .

(Embodiment 3)
The power supply unit 11 of the postbox 10 may basically have any configuration as long as it can operate the communication function unit 13 of the postbox 10. Portable solar panels that are commercialized for charging mobile phones, etc., because the communication frequency is several times a day, the amount of communication is considered to be extremely low, and the required power is expected to be very low. Such an application is considered to be extremely effective from the viewpoint of CO ₂ reduction. The power supply unit 11 may be equipped with a rechargeable battery as necessary. Of course, not only photovoltaic power generation but also a renewable energy generation method that can be realized in a small size and at low cost may be applied.

(Embodiment 4)
As an application of the third embodiment, the power supply unit 11 of each post 10 can be regarded as one large charger. FIG. 7 shows an example of a power supply unit according to this embodiment. The power supply unit 11 according to the present embodiment includes a solar power generation panel 111, a rechargeable battery 112, a surplus power determination unit 113, and a surplus power transmission unit 114. The photovoltaic power generation panel 111 converts light into electricity. The rechargeable battery 112 charges the electricity from the solar power generation panel 111. The surplus power determination unit 113 monitors the power stored in the rechargeable battery 112 and determines whether or not it has surplus power. When the surplus power determination unit 113 determines that the surplus power is present, the surplus power transmission unit 114 outputs the surplus power stored in the rechargeable battery 112 to the power provider 31.

  Since the required power at each post 10 is extremely small, it is possible to store electricity in the rechargeable battery 112 to be mounted by designing the charge capacity at each post 10 to be large. The surplus power stored and stored in the scattered postboxes 10 can be aggregated to the electric power company 31 on demand and supplied to the electric power consumer 32 who needs electric power. The power consumer 32 may be anyone, such as an individual or a business operator, without any particular limitation. Each post 10 may be directly supplied to the power consumer 32 without going through the power provider 31. It is considered to play an important role as social infrastructure, such as avoiding power shortage during peak power and supplying emergency power during disasters.

(Embodiment 5)
In the present embodiment, a specific example of the postal matter determination unit 12 provided in the postbox 10 will be described. The postal matter determination unit 12 preferably has a low power consumption as follows.

  The postal matter determination unit 12 includes, for example, a weight sensor that detects the weight of the postal matter, and determines the presence or absence of the postal matter when the weight detected by the weight sensor increases. The weight sensor preferably does not use electric power for detecting the weight of the mail, and for example, a mat sensor or a piezoelectric sensor using only a spring or a mechanical switch can be used.

  The postal matter determination unit 12 includes, for example, an open / close sensor that detects the opening / closing of the postal mailing port 15 and determines the presence / absence of postal matter when the open / close sensor detects that the mailing port is opened. The open / close sensor can be detected, for example, by the rotation of the rotary shaft of the lid of the mail box 15 or by turning on / off a mechanical switch associated with opening / closing the mail box 15.

  The postal matter determination unit 12 includes, for example, an image sensor that captures a postal matter posted on the postbox 10, and determines whether or not there is a postal matter when a change occurs in an image captured by the image sensor. The imaging may be a moving image or a still image. In the case of a still image, an area sensor or a line sensor may be used. In order to reduce the power consumption of the image sensor, the image sensor can be used only when the lid of the mail box 15 is opened, when there is a request from the information processing apparatus 20, or only at a predetermined time. It is preferred that the image sensor operates.

  The postal matter determination unit 12 may detect the presence or absence of the postal matter by irradiating the postal matter in the postal storage unit 14 with electromagnetic waves or ultrasonic waves. The electromagnetic waves are, for example, light such as infrared rays and lasers. The presence / absence of a mail piece is detected, for example, when electromagnetic waves or ultrasonic waves are blocked by the mail piece. Further, it may be detected by reflection of electromagnetic waves or ultrasonic waves by mail.

  There are no particular restrictions on the direction of light irradiation or the position of the sensor, and it may be from above or from the side in the mail storage unit. Alternatively, a conventional mail storage unit may be modified to make the bottom surface transparent, and light may be irradiated from below to detect the presence or absence of mail in the mail storage unit. Further, an area sensor such as infrared rays may be installed horizontally on the bottom in the mail storage unit, and the presence / absence of a mail piece may be detected based on whether the mail piece has passed through the area.

  There is no particular limitation on the direction of ultrasonic irradiation and the position of the sensor, and any configuration can be used as long as it can detect the presence / absence of a postal item from above or from the side in the mail storage unit.

  The present invention can be applied to a postal service.

10: Postal post 11: Power supply unit 12: Postal matter determination unit 13: Communication function unit 14: Postal storage unit 15: Postal box 20: Information processing device 21: Communication function unit 22: Route determination unit 111: Solar power generation panel 112: Rechargeable battery 113: Surplus power determination unit 114: Surplus power transmission unit 31: Power company 32: Power consumer 200: Post office

Claims (8)

A power supply unit installed at each postbox and using renewable energy to obtain power,
A postal matter judgment unit that is installed in each postbox and judges the presence or absence of postal items posted on the postbox;
A postal-post-side communication function unit that is installed in each postbox and transmits the presence / absence result of the postal matter obtained by the postal matter determination unit to a predetermined destination using the power from the power supply unit;
An information processing apparatus-side communication function unit that centrally receives the presence / absence result of the postal matter transmitted from each postbox to the predetermined destination;
A route determination unit that identifies a postbox that collects postal items based on the presence / absence result received by the information processing apparatus side communication function unit, and determines a route determined by a combination of the identified postboxes;
Mail collection system with. The information processing apparatus side communication function unit transmits a request for checking the presence / absence of a postal item to the post box side communication function unit at an arbitrary time,
When the mail post side communication function unit receives the request for checking the presence or absence of the postal matter, the postal matter determination unit determines the presence or absence of the postal matter posted on the postbox,
The postal-post-side communication function unit transmits the postal matter presence / absence result obtained by the postal matter determination unit to the information processing apparatus-side communication functional unit using power from the power supply unit. The mail collection system according to claim 1.   The route determination unit acquires current position information of the collection vehicle and traffic information around each post, and determines a collection route based on the traffic information around each post in addition to the combination of the specified post. The mail collection system according to claim 1 or 2. The mail determination unit
It has a weight sensor that detects the weight of mail,
The mail collection system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the presence or absence of postal matter is determined based on an increase in weight detected by the weight sensor. The mail determination unit includes an open / close sensor that detects opening / closing of a mailing port.
The mail collection system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the presence / absence of a postal matter is determined by the opening / closing sensor detecting that the mailing slot has been opened. The mail determination unit
Equipped with an image sensor that picks up images of postal items posted on the postbox,
The mail collection system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the presence / absence of a postal matter is determined based on a change in an image captured by the image sensor. The mail determination unit
7. The presence / absence of a postal item is detected when light is reflected by a postal item posted on a post box or blocked by a postal item posted. Mail collection system. The mail determination unit
8. The presence or absence of a postal item is detected by detecting whether the ultrasonic wave is reflected by the postal matter placed on the postbox or the ultrasonic wave is blocked by the postal matter placed. The mail collection system described in

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