JP2017172913A - Cold storage management system and cold storage management device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cold storage management system and a cold storage management device capable of reducing occurence of deviation in the holding number of cold storages at each foothold.SOLUTION: A cold storage management system 1 extracts cold storages having cold insulation capacity suitable for an operation plan by referring to the operation plan, and then, with respect to all the extracted cold storages, performs weighting according to at least one of the number of cold storages existing in a delivery origin foothold, the number of cold storages existing in a delivery destination, an applicable temperature zone, rated cold insulation time and accumulated number of usage times, and determines the cold storage to be used in the operation plan by prioritizing the cold storage which has large weight.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present disclosure relates to a cold storage management system and a cold storage management device.

  For example, there is a cold storage management system having an information management center that is connected to a delivery source and a delivery destination via a public line in a physical distribution cycle in which the cold storage is carried on a vehicle.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, the information management center obtains the internal temperature information from the control unit of the cold storage, for example, and analyzes the internal temperature information, thereby calculating the use schedule of the cold storage and the precooling start time. Etc., and a system for specifying a cold storage to be used the next day based on a delivery plan is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-322459

  By the way, if a cool box is used in a distribution cycle composed of a large number of delivery bases, the number of cool cool boxes owned at each base tends to be biased.

  The present disclosure provides a cold storage management system and a cold storage management device that reduce the occurrence of bias in the number of cold storage units held at each site.

  The cold storage management system according to the present disclosure has a plurality of cold storage units each having a cold storage capability of storing articles and holding the stored articles and changing as time passes, and each of the cold storage units. The information on the cold storage capacity is received from the cold storage box, the received information on the cold storage capacity, and the plan to deliver the cold storage box, the cold storage capacity required for delivery and the information on the number of cold storage boxes required for the delivery are at least A cold storage suitable for the operation plan is extracted based on the operation plan, and the extracted cold storage is selected based on at least one of a temperature zone, a cold storage capacity, and a cumulative use count corresponding to the cold storage. A cold storage management device that weights each of them and determines a cold storage to be used for the operation plan based on a result of the weighting.

  The cold storage management device of the present disclosure is a cold storage management device that manages a plurality of cold storages that have an ability to store an article and keep the stored article cool and change as time passes. A receiver that receives information about the cold storage capacity of each of the cold storages from the cold storage, the information about the received cold storage capacity, the plan to deliver the cold storage, and the cold storage capacity required for delivery and Based on the operation plan including at least information on the number of cold storage units required for the delivery, a cold storage suitable for the operation plan is extracted, and at least a temperature zone corresponding to the cold storage, a cold storage capacity, and the cumulative number of uses Using each of the plurality of cold storages based on any one, use cold storage determination unit to determine the cold storage used for the operation plan based on the weighting result, A.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it can reduce that a bias arises in the number of the cold storage warehouses in each base.

The block diagram which shows the function of the cold storage management system which concerns on embodiment of this invention Conceptual diagram for explaining the relationship between each component of the cold storage management system The figure for demonstrating the concept of the coolable time in this Embodiment Flow chart of periodic processing of cold storage management device Flow chart of use cold storage determination process Flow chart of weighting process Flow chart of the weighting process based on the number of units owned by the delivery source base Flow chart of weighting process based on the number of delivery destinations Flow chart of refresh target selection processing

  In a distribution cycle composed of a large number of delivery bases, a refrigerator is used, for example, for a long-distance delivery requiring a long time, or for a short-distance delivery requiring a short time. . In a conventional cold storage management system that does not take into account the time required for individual delivery, if a cold storage with a high cold storage capacity is used for short-distance delivery, the cold storage capacity will remain after delivery is over Can occur. When such a situation occurs, for example, a cold storage having a high cold storage capacity may be left at a delivery base and not used thereafter. In this way, conventionally, the cold storage capacity of the cold storage has been wasted, and the operation efficiency of the cold storage has been reduced, or the number of cold storages held at each base has been easily biased. However, according to the present disclosure, such inconvenience can be reduced. This will be described in more detail below.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing functions of a cold storage management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the relationship between the components of the cold storage management system 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cold storage management system 1 includes a plurality of cold storages 100 and a cold storage management device 300. As shown in FIG. 2, the cold storage management device 300 is arranged for each delivery base (hereinafter referred to as a delivery base). And each cold storage management apparatus 300 communicates with the multiple cold storage 100, and manages the multiple cold storage 100.

  The cool box 100 is formed so that a part of the cool box 100 can be opened and closed, and can be sealed by storing articles in the inside (inside the box) and closing the door, and a cool storage body (not shown) is provided inside. It is a container which can keep the temperature in a store | warehouse | chamber temperature low with the cold heat which it has and the cold storage body stored. The cool box 100 is used, for example, for accommodating and transporting articles to be delivered at a low temperature (refrigerated items, frozen items, etc.) in the cabinet. The cool box 100 stores articles in a warehouse at a delivery base, and then, for example, is placed on a transport device such as a truck and transported to a delivery destination such as another delivery base. The delivery base means a facility for temporarily storing and sorting articles to be delivered in the cold storage management system 1 and for storing the cold storage 100 that is not used for delivery. Each delivery base is provided with a refrigerated warehouse, a freezer warehouse, etc. (cold storage warehouse) for storing articles to be delivered at a low temperature.

  The cool storage body installed in the housing of the cool box 100 is, for example, a film or a resin container or the like in which a cool storage material such as a mixture of sodium chloride and water, or a mixture of superabsorbent polymer and water is sealed. Is formed. The cold storage body can store cold heat by cooling and solidifying a liquid or gel cold storage material in advance.

  Thus, the cold energy stored in the cold storage body is circulated in the cool box 100 by a circulation fan (not shown), whereby the inside of the cold box is cooled to a substantially uniform temperature, and the cooled temperature can be maintained. The circulation fan is driven by battery power (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cold storage 100 includes an identification symbol holding unit 11, a cold storage capacity information detection unit 12, a display unit 13, a cold storage information transmission unit 14, and a command information reception unit 15.

  The identification symbol holding unit 11 stores unique identification information that is different for each at least one cold storage 100. The identification symbol holding unit 11 is configured by a storage medium such as a hard disk (HDD), flash memory, flexible disk, or magneto-optical disk.

  The cold insulation capacity information detection unit 12 detects the cold insulation capacity of the cold box 100 and outputs the result as cold insulation capacity information. Here, the cold insulation capacity is calculated based on the amount of cold heat (cold storage quantity) stored in the cold storage body, and is an ability to keep the cool box 100 in a predetermined temperature range. As a specific example of the cold insulation capacity, for example, there is a time during which the inside of the warehouse can be maintained in a predetermined temperature range (coolable time). Hereinafter, the cold insulation capability detected by the cold insulation capability information detection unit 12 will be described as an example of the coolable time.

  The cold insulation capacity information detection unit 12 may detect the estimated cold insulation capacity together with the cold insulation capacity or instead of the cold insulation capacity. The estimated cold storage capacity is a cold storage amount estimated when precooling is performed for an arbitrary predetermined time from the current cold storage amount. In addition, pre-cooling means the action which cools and cools a cool storage body in order to store cold heat in a cool storage body before use of the cool storage box 100.

  A temperature zone means what classify | categorized the temperature in the cool box 100 into the temperature of the multistep which has a predetermined width | variety. Specifically, for example, the temperature range when the internal temperature is −15 ° C. or lower is “freezing”, and the temperature range when the internal temperature is −5 ° C. or higher and + 5 ° C. or lower is “chilled”, The temperature range when the internal temperature is 0 ° C. or higher and 10 ° C. or lower is “refrigerated”. The threshold value for classifying these temperature zones may be set in advance by a user or the like.

  When the cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 acquires the cold storage capacity transmission instruction sent from the cold storage management device 300, the temperature of the cold storage body detected by a temperature sensor (not shown) attached to the cold storage body in the cold storage room 100 The cold storage amount is calculated based on the above, and the cold storage capacity (cold storage time) corresponding to the calculated cold storage amount is calculated.

  Below, an example of the detection method of the coolable time by the cold storage capacity information detection part 12 is demonstrated. The cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 calculates a cold storage amount that is a cold heat amount stored in the cold storage body based on the temperature in the cold storage 100 or the temperature of the cold storage body surface, and the coolable time based on the cold storage amount Is detected. These temperatures may be measured by, for example, a temperature sensor (not shown) provided in the cold storage 100 or on the surface of the regenerator.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the concept of the coolable time in the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, when the amount of cold storage is 100%, the cold storage 100 which can maintain the internal temperature −20 ° C. for 8 hours (the coolable time is 8 hours) is illustrated. When the cold storage 100 with the cold storage amount of 100% and the cold storage time of 8 hours is used for the delivery with the required cold storage time of 6 hours, as shown in FIG. 3, the remaining cold storage amount is 25%. Here, the amount of cold storage can be recovered by pre-cooling the cool box 100. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the amount of cold storage is recovered from 25% to 50% by performing pre-cooling. Thus, by recovering the amount of cold storage, the cold storage 100 can be used for delivery with a required cold storage time of, for example, 3 hours. The remaining amount of cold storage after that is about 10%.

  In addition, although it does not specifically limit about the calculation method of cold storage amount and coolable time in this invention, Below, an example of the calculation method of cold storage amount is illustrated.

  The amount of cold storage corresponds to, for example, the ratio of the capacity of the cold storage body that is a temperature equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold to the entire capacity of the cold storage body. Therefore, the cold insulation capacity information detection unit 12 detects the temperature of a predetermined number of locations on the surface of the regenerator, for example, by a temperature sensor (not shown), counts the number of locations exceeding the threshold, and calculates the ratio. By doing this, the amount of cold storage (cold storage amount%) can be calculated. Specifically, for example, when detecting 10 temperatures on the surface of the cold storage body, if there are four locations exceeding the threshold value, the cold storage amount is 60%. Note that the predetermined threshold value may be determined in advance based on, for example, the melting point of the cold storage material constituting the cold storage body.

  Then, for example, when the cold storage amount of the cool box 100 is 100%, a time (maximum cool time) during which the internal temperature in the predetermined temperature range can be maintained for a predetermined time is measured in advance. By multiplying the current cold storage amount%, the cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 calculates the current (remaining) coolable time. Furthermore, when pre-cooling the cool box 100, the cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 calculates the estimated cool storage time based on the calculated cool storage time and the amount of heat stored by the time until the departure date and time. .

  In addition, since it is anticipated that the coolable time varies depending on the temperature of the articles accommodated in the cold storage 100, the cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 does not detect the coolable time based on the cold storage amount. For example, the coolable time may be detected with reference to a predetermined table based on the internal temperature and temperature zone of the cold storage 100.

  The display part 13 is provided in the outer surface part of the cool box 100 including the position which can be visually recognized from the outside of the cool box 100. The display unit 13 displays various information such as internal temperature, temperature zone, operation plan (details will be described later), information indicating that pre-cooling is required, coolable time, and delivery use instruction (details will be described later). And it alert | reports toward the circumference | surroundings of the cool box 100. FIG. Note that the notification includes not only visual notification but also audio notification.

  In addition, the cold insulation capacity information detection unit 12 corrects the coolable time by using the information on the outside temperature at the delivery base, the weather information of the region where the delivery base is located, etc. acquired from the cold storage management device 300. May be.

  Note that the above-described coolable time or amount of cold storage corresponds to the cold insulation capacity of the present invention.

  Returning to the description of FIG. The cool box information transmitting unit 14 transmits information such as an identification symbol of the cool box 100 and a coolable time to the cool box management apparatus 300.

  The command information receiving unit 15 receives a coolable time transmission instruction and a use command from the cold storage management device 300.

  Next, the cool box management apparatus 300 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the cold storage management device 300 is provided in a plurality of delivery bases. The cool box 100 is placed on a transport device (not shown) and travels between a plurality of delivery bases. The cool storage management device 300 at each delivery base manages at least one cool storage 100 that exists at each delivery base. Note that FIG. 2 illustrates the case where there are three delivery bases A, B, and C, but this is an example, and the number of delivery bases is not limited in the present invention. Moreover, in this invention, it does not limit also about the number of the cool storage management apparatus 300 and the cool storage 100 contained in the cool storage management system 1. FIG.

  Returning to the description of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the cold storage management device 300 includes an operation plan holding unit 31, a owned number holding unit 32, a used cold storage determination unit 33, a command information transmission unit 34, and a cold storage information reception unit 35.

  The operation plan holding unit 31 stores an operation plan that is a plan for delivering articles using at least one cold storage 100. The operation plan holding unit 31 includes a storage medium such as a hard disk (HDD), a flash memory, a flexible disk, or a magneto-optical disk. Here, the operation plan is a plan to carry the luggage and the cold storage 100 from a delivery source facility (for example, a certain delivery base) to a delivery destination facility (for example, another delivery base or a delivery destination of goods), and transportation of a truck or the like. It is a plan created for each device. In the operation plan, one management number is assigned to one transport device. The operation plan is planned by, for example, an article management device (not shown), and information related to the operation plan to be performed before a predetermined time is stored in the operation plan holding unit 31 in advance. In the following description, for the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that the delivery source facility and the delivery destination facility are both delivery bases.

  The information related to the operation plan includes, for example, an operation plan number, departure date and time, estimated arrival date and time, required cold insulation time, required number of vehicles, and the like. Here, the operation plan number is a management number unique to each operation plan in the operation plan of at least one day. The departure date and time is the scheduled date and time when the article should be accommodated in the cold storage 100 and leave the delivery source base for delivery. The scheduled arrival date and time is the scheduled date and time when the cold storage 100 containing the articles arrives at the delivery destination. The estimated arrival date and time may be calculated in advance based on, for example, the distance from the delivery source facility to the delivery destination facility, the average speed of the transport equipment that transports the cool box 100, and the like. The necessary cool time is the cool time required for delivery (the time required to be maintained at a predetermined temperature). The required number is the number of cold storages 100 necessary for delivery.

  The owned number holding unit 32 stores owned number information, which is information related to the number of cold storages 100 held by each delivery base. The number-of-owned-unit information is generated, for example, when the number-of-owned-unit holding unit 32 totals the identification symbols of the cold box 100 received from the cold box 100. In addition, for example, for the cold storage 100 that is not in the delivery base, the possessed number holding unit 32, when it is known from the operation plan that the cold storage 100 arrives at one of the delivery bases within a predetermined time, The cold storage 100 may generate the number-of-owned-unit information as being held at the delivery destination base. In addition, for example, for the cold storage 100 that is not located in the delivery base, the possession number holding unit 32 is not held in any of the delivery bases when the delivery base does not reach any delivery base within a predetermined time. And it is sufficient.

  The number-of-holds-holding unit 32 stores information regarding the number of held reference units, which is a reference value used in the weighting process based on the number of units held at the delivery source base, which is performed by the use cold storage determining unit 33 described later. The details of the possession standard number will be described later.

  The use cold storage determining unit 33 determines the future operation based on the future operation plan acquired from the operation plan holding unit 31 and the owned number information of the delivery base corresponding to the operation plan acquired from the owned number holding unit 32. The cold storage 100 to be used in the plan is determined, and a delivery use instruction for notifying the cold storage 100 that has been determined to use is generated.

  In addition, the use cold storage determination part 33 weights all the cold storages 100 which the delivery base corresponding to an operation plan holds, when determining the cold storage to use, and uses based on the result of weighting. The cold storage 100 is determined. The weighting performed by the use cold storage determining unit 33 includes, for example, information on the size of the delivery base corresponding to the operation plan, the time when the operation plan is executed (the busy period, the quiet period, etc.), or the like. It is performed based on characteristics (cooling capacity, etc.). Details of the use cold storage determination process and the weighting process by the use cold storage determination unit 33 will be described later.

  The command information transmission unit 34 transmits the coolable time transmission instruction and the use command output from the use cold storage determining unit 33 to the cold storage 100.

  The cool box information receiving unit 35 receives information such as the identification symbol of the cool box 100 and the coolable time from the cool box 100 and outputs the information to the use cool box determining unit 33.

<Details of Processing in Cold Storage Management Device 300>
[Periodic processing]
Next, details of the processing of the cold storage management device 300 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the regular processing of the cold storage management device 300. That is, the cold storage management apparatus 300 performs the process shown in FIG. 4 periodically. Specifically, the cold storage management apparatus 300 performs the periodic process shown in FIG. 4 every predetermined time, such as every day, every 12 hours, every 6 hours, every 3 hours, or any other time. Run. The predetermined time may be set in advance by an administrator of the cold storage management system 1, for example.

  In step S <b> 11, the use cold storage determining unit 33 acquires an operation plan within a predetermined period from the operation plan holding unit 31. The predetermined period is, for example, a period set in advance by the administrator of the cold storage management system 1. Specifically, for example, a period from the current time to the predetermined time may be set as the predetermined period, or a time after an arbitrary time from the current time may be set as the start time of the predetermined period, and then the predetermined time. The period until later may be a predetermined period. Alternatively, the length of the predetermined period may be a time other than the predetermined time. The operation plan within a predetermined period is an operation plan in which the departure date and time is set within a predetermined period, for example.

  In step S12, the use cool box determination unit 33 performs a use cool box determination process for determining the cool box 100 to be used for each operation plan acquired in step S11. Details of the use cold storage determination process will be described later.

  In step S <b> 13, the used cold storage determining unit 33 calculates the ratio of the number of the cold storages 100 that are not allocated to the total number of the cold storages 100 existing in the delivery base provided with the cold storage management device 300, and the ratio Is determined to be greater than or equal to a predetermined ratio (for example, 30%). Here, the cold storage 100 with no allocation is the cold storage 100 that is not used for delivery at the start of step S13 and is not determined to be used in step S12.

  When the ratio of the cold storage 100 having no allocation is equal to or greater than the predetermined ratio of the whole (step S13: Yes), the process proceeds to step S14, and when not (step S13: No), the periodic process ends.

  In step S <b> 14, the use cool box determining unit 33 performs a refresh target selection process for selecting the cool box 100 to be refreshed. Details of the refresh target selection process will be described later.

[Use cold storage decision process]
Next, details of the use cold storage determination process in step S12 shown in FIG. 4 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the use cold storage determining process.

  In step S21, the cold storage management apparatus 300 loops the processing from step S22 to step S26 by the number of operation plans acquired in step S11 of FIG.

  In step S <b> 22, the use cold storage determining unit 33 acquires the coolable time at the departure date and time for each coolbox 100 existing at the delivery source base, and whether there is a coolbox 100 whose coolable time is equal to or greater than the necessary cooldown time. Determine whether or not. Here, the departure date and time is information regarding the date and time of departure included in the operation plan acquired by the use cold storage determining unit 33 in step S11 shown in FIG. The necessary cold insulation time is the cold insulation time necessary for delivery of the article in the operation plan.

  Specifically, the following processing is performed in step S22. The use cold storage determining unit 33 first transmits a cold storage available time transmission instruction to the cold storage 100 via the command information transmission unit 34. Then, the command information receiving unit 15 of the cold storage 100 receives the instruction, and the cold storage capacity information detecting unit 12 calculates the current cold storage amount. Moreover, when pre-cooling is performed with respect to the cool box 100, the cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 adds the amount of cold stored by performing time pre-cooling from the current time to the departure date and time to the current amount of stored cold. To do. The information regarding the departure date and time is transmitted from the cold storage management device 300 to the cold storage 100, for example, included in the cold storage time transmission instruction. And the cold insulation capacity information detection part 12 detects the (estimated) cold insulation possible time in a departure date based on the calculated cold storage amount. The detected (estimated) coolable time is transmitted to the coolbox management apparatus 300 via the coolbox information transmitting unit 14, received by the coolbox information receiving unit 35, and input to the use cooler determining unit 33.

  In this way, the use cold storage determining unit 33 acquires the coolable time at the departure date and time. Such acquisition of the coolable time is performed for all the coolers 100 existing in the delivery base provided with the use cooler determining unit 33. In the following, for simplicity, the coolable time and the estimated coolable time are collectively referred to as coolable time.

  In step S22, when there exists the cool box 100 having the coolable time equal to or longer than the necessary cool time (step S22: Yes), the process proceeds to step S23, and if not (step S22: No), the process proceeds to step S26.

  In step S23, the use cool box determining unit 33 determines whether or not there is a cool box whose duration for which the circulation fan can be driven is equal to or longer than the necessary cool time based on the expected battery amount at the departure date and time. The expected battery amount is the remaining amount of the battery that stores the power for driving the circulation fan in the cold storage 100 described above at the departure date and time. The expected battery amount may be calculated by the cool box 100 based on, for example, the current remaining battery level and the battery consumption per hour determined empirically. For example, when the cool box 100 is charged until the departure date of delivery, the amount of charge may be added to the calculation result to obtain the expected battery amount.

  In step S23, if there is a cool box whose time for which the circulation fan can be driven by the expected battery amount is equal to or longer than the necessary cool time (step S23: Yes), the process proceeds to step S24, and if not (step S23: No) ), And proceeds to step S26.

  In step S24, the use cold storage determining unit 33 weights the cold storage 100 that satisfies the conditions in step S22 and step S23 as candidates for the cold storage 100 used for the operation plan. I do. Details of the weighting process will be described later.

  In step S25, as a result of the weighting process in step S24, the use cold storage determining unit 33 determines to use the necessary number of cars in the operation plan with priority from the cold storage 100 having a large weight (high priority). Thereby, the cold storage 100 required for the operation plan within a predetermined period can be determined efficiently. And in order to perform the process of the next operation plan, it returns to step S21.

  In step S <b> 26, when the cold storage 100 satisfying the condition in step S <b> 22 or step S <b> 23 does not exist, the use cold storage determining unit 33 determines that there is no target, does not determine the cold storage, and performs the next operation plan process. Therefore, the process returns to step S21.

[Weighting process]
Next, details of the weighting process in step S24 shown in FIG. 5 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the weighting process. This weighting process is performed for the cool box extracted in steps S22 and S23 of FIG.

  In step S <b> 31, the use cold storage determining unit 33 performs weighting processing based on the number of the cold storages 100 in the delivery source base provided with the cold storage management device 300 (hereinafter referred to as the number of possession of the delivery source base). Details of the weighting process based on the number of units held at the delivery source base will be described later.

  In step S <b> 32, the used cool box determination unit 33 determines the number of cool boxes 100 in the delivery base (hereinafter referred to as the delivery destination base) serving as the delivery destination in the operation plan (hereinafter referred to as the number of delivery destination bases owned). Based on the weighting process. Details of the weighting process based on the number of delivery destination bases will be described later.

  In step S <b> 33, the use cold storage determining unit 33 loops the processing from step S <b> 34 to step S <b> 44 for each cold storage 100 to be subjected to weighting processing. In the following description, the cool box 100 to be subjected to the weighting process is simply referred to as the cool box 100.

  In step S <b> 34 to step S <b> 36, the use cold storage determining unit 33 performs weighting based on the temperature zone supported by the cold storage 100.

  A specific example will be described below. The cool box 100 has a corresponding temperature zone. Specifically, for example, there are cold storages 100 corresponding to two temperature zones of “refrigeration” and “chilled”, and there are cold storages 100 corresponding to only one temperature zone of “freezing”, for example. . In addition, there is also a cool box 100 corresponding to three temperature zones, for example, “refrigeration”, “chilled”, and “freezing”. Which temperature zone the cool box 100 corresponds to depends on, for example, the amount and material of the cool storage body that the cool box 100 has. In step S34, the use cool box determining unit 33 performs weighting based on the number of temperature zones supported by the cool box 100.

  In step S <b> 34, the use cold storage determining unit 33 determines how many temperature zones of the three temperature zones the cold storage 100 corresponds to and corresponds to the three temperature zones (step S <b> 34). (S34: 3 temperature zones), proceed to step S37, if two temperature zones are supported (step S34: 2 temperature zones), proceed to step S35, if only one temperature zone is supported (step S34) : 1 temperature zone), the process proceeds to step S36.

  When the cool box 100 corresponds to the two temperature zones, the used cool box determining unit 33 adds a weight (1 step) to the cool box 100 in step S35. Further, when the cool box 100 corresponds to only one temperature zone, the use cool box determining unit 33 adds two weights to the cool box 100 in step S36.

  Next, in step S <b> 37 to step S <b> 40, the use cool box determining unit 33 performs weighting based on the rated cool time of the cool box 100. The rated cool time is the maximum value of the coolable time that is predetermined for each cool box 100. The rated cool time is determined, for example, by the amount and material of the regenerator.

  More specifically, in step S37, the use cool box determining unit 33 determines that the rated cool time of the cool box 100 is a third predetermined time or longer (for example, 18 hours or longer) (step S37: a third predetermined time or longer). The process proceeds to step S41. Moreover, the use cold storage determination part 33 is a case where the rated cool time of the cold storage 100 is 2nd predetermined time or more and less than 3rd predetermined time (for example, 12 hours or more and less than 18 hours) (step S37: 2nd predetermined time-2nd time) 3 predetermined time), the process proceeds to step S38. Moreover, the use cold storage determination part 33 is a case where the rated cold storage time of the cold storage 100 is 1st predetermined time or more and less than 2nd predetermined time (for example, 7 hours or more and less than 12 hours) (step S37: 1st predetermined time-1st) 2), the process proceeds to step S39, and if the rated cool time is less than the first predetermined time (for example, less than 7 hours) (step S37: less than the first predetermined time), the process proceeds to step S40.

  When the rated cool time is equal to or longer than the third predetermined time, that is, when a sufficient rated cool time is secured, the use cool storage determining unit 33 does not add weight to the cool cool storage 100. When the rated cool time is equal to or longer than the second predetermined time and shorter than the third predetermined time, the used cool storage determining unit 33 adds one weight to the cool cool storage 100 in step S38. When the rated cold insulation time is equal to or longer than the first predetermined time and shorter than the second predetermined time, the use cold storage determining unit 33 adds two weights to the cold storage 100 in step S39. If the rated cool time is less than the first predetermined time, the use cool box determining unit 33 adds a weight to the cool box 100 in step S40.

  Next, in step S <b> 41 to step S <b> 44, the use cold storage determining unit 33 performs weighting based on the cumulative number of times the cold storage 100 is used. More specifically, the use cold storage determining unit 33 transmits an instruction for notifying the cold storage 100 of the cumulative use count, and the cumulative use count received from the cold storage 100 is equal to or greater than a third predetermined number (for example, 1000 times). (Step S41: Third predetermined number of times or more), the process proceeds to the weighting process for the next cool box. Further, when the cumulative number of times of use is a second predetermined number of times (for example, 100 to 500 times) or more and less than a third predetermined number of times, the process proceeds to step S44. If the cumulative use count is greater than or equal to the first predetermined count (for example, 100) and less than the second predetermined count, the process proceeds to step S43. If the cumulative use count is less than the first predetermined count, the process proceeds to step S42.

  When the cumulative number of times of use of the cool box 100 is less than the first predetermined number of times, that is, when the cool box 100 is not used so much and deterioration of the cool capacity is expected to be small, the use cool box determining unit 33 In step S42, three weights are added to the cool box 100. When the cumulative number of times the cool box 100 is used is greater than or equal to the first predetermined number of times and less than the second predetermined number of times, the use cool box determining unit 33 adds two weights to the cool box 100 in step S43. If the cumulative number of times the cool box 100 is used is greater than or equal to the second predetermined number of times and less than the third predetermined number of times, the use cool box determining unit 33 adds one weight to the cool box 100 in step S44. Further, when the cumulative number of uses of the cool box 100 is equal to or greater than the third predetermined number of times, the use cool box determining unit 33 does not add weight to the cool box 100.

  As described above, in the weighting process shown in FIG. 6, a larger weight is given to the cooler cabinet 100 having lower versatility in the cooler cabinet 100 suitable for the operation plan. As shown in step S25 of FIG. 5, the use cold storage determining unit 33 determines the use in preference to the cold storage 100 having a large weight, and therefore, the cold storage 100 having lower versatility is used preferentially. Thereby, waste in operation of the cool box 100 can be reduced, and efficient operation of the cool box 100 can be performed.

[Weighting processing based on the number of units in the delivery base]
Next, the details of the weighting process based on the number of owned delivery bases in step S31 shown in FIG. 6 will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the weighting process based on the number owned by the delivery source base.

  In step S51, the use cold storage determining unit 33 compares the total number of cold storages 100 (hereinafter referred to as the first total number) of the cold storages 100 present at the delivery source base with a predetermined first lower limit number, It is determined whether the number is larger than the first lower limit number. The first lower limit number is, for example, the number of the cold storage units 100 that should be left at the minimum at the delivery source base, which is set in advance according to the scale of the delivery source base. If it is determined in step S51 that the first total number is greater than the first lower limit number (step S51: Yes), the process proceeds to step S52, and if not (step S51: No), the process is step S55. Proceed to

  In step S52, the use cold storage determining unit 33 compares the first total number and the predetermined first upper limit number, and determines whether or not the first total number is larger than the first upper limit number. Note that the first upper limit number is an upper limit value of the number of the cold storage units 100 that are desirably set in advance according to the scale of the delivery source site, for example, and preferably remain in the delivery source site. In step S52, if the first total number is larger than the first upper limit number (step S52: Yes), the process proceeds to step S53, and if not (step S52: No), the process proceeds to step S54.

  In step S <b> 53, the use cold storage determining unit 33 adds a weight of 30 to all the cold storages 100 exceeding the first upper limit number.

  In step S54, the use cold storage determining unit 33 adds 10 weights to all the cold storages 100 that are equal to or less than the first upper limit number and exceed the first lower limit number.

  In step S55, the use cold storage determining unit 33 adds one weight to all the cold storages 100 having the number equal to or less than the first lower limit number.

  By such a process, an extra (more than the first upper limit number) of cool storage boxes 100 are preferentially used while securing the number of cool storage rooms 100 (less than the first lower limit number) necessary for the delivery source base. Can be.

  The first lower limit number and the first upper limit number correspond to the first threshold value of the present invention.

[Weighting based on the number of delivery destinations]
Next, the details of the weighting process based on the number of owned delivery destination bases in step S32 shown in FIG. 6 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the weighting process based on the number owned by the delivery destination base.

  In step S61, the use cold storage determining unit 33 compares the number of the cold storages 100 existing in the delivery destination base (hereinafter referred to as the second total number) with the predetermined second lower limit number, and the second lower limit number. It is determined whether or not there are more than the second total number. The second lower limit number is, for example, the number of the cold storage units 100 that should be set in advance according to the scale of the delivery destination base and should remain at the delivery destination base. In step S61, if the second lower limit number is larger than the second total number (step S61: Yes), the process proceeds to step S63, and if not (step S61: No), the process proceeds to step S62.

  In step S62, the use cold storage determining unit 33 compares the second total number with a predetermined second upper limit number, and determines whether the second upper limit number is larger than the second total number. The second upper limit number is, for example, the number of cold storages 100 that are desirably set in advance according to the size of the delivery base and are desirably left at the delivery base. In step S62, if the second lower limit number is greater than the second total number (step S62: Yes), the process proceeds to step S64, and if not (step S62: No), the process proceeds to step S65.

  In step S <b> 63, the use cold storage determining unit 33 adds a weight of 20 to all the cold storages 100 less than the second lower limit number.

  In step S64, the use cold storage determining unit 33 adds 5 to all the cold storages 100 that are greater than or equal to the second lower limit number and less than the second upper limit number.

  In step S65, the use cold storage determining unit 33 adds three weights to all the cold storages 100 of the delivery source bases that are equal to or greater than the second upper limit number.

  As a result of such processing, it is assumed in advance that the number of the cold storage 100 at the delivery destination base will increase for the cold storage 100 delivered from the delivery source base. Can be prevented.

  The second lower limit number and the second upper limit number described above correspond to the second threshold value of the present invention.

[Refresh target selection process]
Next, details of the refresh target selection process in step S14 of FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the refresh target selection process.

  In step S71, the use cold storage determining unit 33 loops the following processing from step S72 to step S74 for each cold storage 100 having no allocation.

  In step S <b> 72, the use cold storage determining unit 33 determines, for each cold storage 100, whether or not the battery for the circulation fan included in the cold storage 100 has been refreshed within a predetermined period (for example, one month).

  The battery refresh means that the battery is prevented from deteriorating by completely discharging the battery once and then charging it again.

  In step S72, if the battery is not refreshed within the predetermined period (step S72: Yes), the process proceeds to step S74, and if not (step S72: No), the process proceeds to step S73.

  In step S <b> 73, the use cold storage determining unit 33 determines, for each cold storage 100, whether or not the cold storage body included in the cold storage 100 has been refreshed within a predetermined period (for example, one month). The predetermined period in step S73 may be the same as or different from the predetermined period in step S72.

  The refreshing of the regenerator means that the regenerator is completely thawed once and then cooled again. Thereby, the cold insulation capability information detection part 12 comes to be able to recognize correctly the coolable time.

  In step S73, when the regenerator is not refreshed within the predetermined period (step S73: Yes), the process proceeds to step S74. Otherwise (step S73: No), the process returns to step S71, and the next cold insulation is performed. The processing from step S72 to step S74 is performed on the storage 100.

  In step S74, the use cold storage determining unit 33 selects the cold storage 100 as a refresh process target, returns to step S71, and performs the processes from step S72 to step S74 on the next cold storage 100.

  When the processing from step S72 to step S74 is completed for all the unassigned cool storages 100, in step S75, the use cool storage determination unit 33 selects all the cool storages selected by the loop from step S72 to step S74. An instruction to refresh the battery and the regenerator is output to the storage 100.

  As described above, the cold storage management system 1 refers to the operation plan, and after extracting the cold storage having the cold storage time longer than the cold storage time necessary for the operation plan, for all the extracted cold storages, Weight is assigned according to at least one of the number of cold storage units at the delivery source base, the number of cold storage units at the delivery destination base, the number of applicable temperature zones, the rated cold storage time, or the cumulative number of uses. Decide which cooler to use for the operation plan in preference to the larger cooler.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to operate the cold storage efficiently while satisfying the conditions necessary for the operation plan.

  In particular, when the number of cold storage units at the delivery source base is equal to or greater than a predetermined first upper limit number, a large weight is given to the cold storage units that exceed the first upper limit number, and the cold storage unit at the distribution source base has a predetermined first number. When the number is less than one lower limit, only a small weight is given to the cool box. For this reason, the number of the cold storages in the delivery source base can be adjusted to a suitable range.

  In addition, when the number of cold storages at the delivery destination base is less than the predetermined second lower limit number, a large weight is given to the cold storage at the delivery source base, and the cold storage at the delivery destination base is the predetermined second When the number is equal to or greater than the upper limit, only a small weight is given to the cool box at the delivery source base. For this reason, in anticipation of the number of cold storage units delivered to the delivery destination base, it is possible to avoid a situation where the cold storages are excessively concentrated in the delivery destination base.

  Further, a large weight is given to the cool box having a small number of adaptable temperature zones, and only a small weight is given to the cool box having a large number of adaptable temperature zones. For this reason, since it can be used preferentially from a cold storage with low versatility, the range of cold storage operation can be expanded, and efficient cold storage operation can be performed.

  In addition, a large weight is given to a cool box having a short rated cool time, and a small weight is given to a cool box having a long rated cool time. For this reason, since it can be used preferentially from a cold storage with low versatility, the range of cold storage operation can be expanded, and efficient cold storage operation can be performed.

  In addition, a small weight is given to the cool box having a large cumulative number of uses, and a large weight is given to a cool box having a small cumulative use number. For this reason, since it can be used preferentially from a cool box with low use frequency, the number of times of use can be leveled, and deterioration of a specific cool box can be prevented.

  Each functional block shown in FIG. 1 can be realized using one or a plurality of microcomputers as needed. In that case, the microcomputer includes a configuration including, for example, a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and the CPU executes a computer program stored in the ROM while using the RAM as a work area to execute the processing described above. Therefore, for convenience of explanation, the embodiment has been described by dividing the cold storage management device 300 and the cold storage 100 into the functional blocks shown in FIG. 1, but one of the functions of the cold storage management device 300 is provided as necessary. The cold storage 100 may be provided with a part, and vice versa.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the management method for the cool box 100, but may be a program for the cool box 100 that can execute the processing of each step in the management method using hardware such as a computer.

  In addition, each of the above-described embodiments is merely an example of a specific example for carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited thereto. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist or the main features thereof.

  In the above-described embodiment, the number of cold storage units at the delivery source base (first total number), the number of cold storage units at the delivery destination base (second total number), and application to all the extracted cold storage units Although weighting is performed according to the number of possible temperature zones, the rated cooling time, or the cumulative number of times of use, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, weighting may be performed based on at least one of these weighting elements, or weighting may be performed based on other weighting elements.

  In the above-described embodiment, it has been decided to use the operation plan preferentially from the cold storage having a large weight, but the present invention is not limited to this. You may make it give a smaller weight with respect to the cooler which should be used more preferentially, and give priority to using the cooler which has a smaller weight.

  In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that weighting is performed based on the rated cooling time in step S37 shown in FIG. 6, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead of the rated cool time, for example, the cool cooler 100 may be weighted based on the coolable time at the departure date and time acquired from the cool cooler 100. In this case, the use cold storage determining unit 33 may perform weighting by acquiring the coolable time detected by the cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 of the cold storage 100, for example.

  In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that, in step S22 illustrated in FIG. 5, the coolable time is acquired for each coolbox 100 present in the delivery base, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the coolable time of the cool box 100 arriving at the delivery base provided with the cool box management apparatus 300, which is provided by a higher-level management apparatus or the like that collectively manages the cool box management apparatus 300 at a plurality of delivery bases, is acquired. It may be. In this case, the upper management device or the like grasps information related to the cold storage 100 being moved between the delivery bases, for example, the delivery destination base, the arrival date and time, the remaining coolable time, and the like, and stores the information in the cold storage of each delivery base. The data is transmitted to the management apparatus 300. Accordingly, the cold storage management apparatus 300 is set as a candidate for a cold storage that uses not only the cold storage 100 currently existing at the delivery base but also the cold storage 100 that arrives at the delivery base from the present time to the departure date and time of the operation plan. Therefore, a more efficient cold storage use determination process can be performed.

  The present disclosure is suitably used for a cold storage management system and a cold storage management device that are required to increase the operation efficiency of the cold storage.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cold storage management system 100 Cold storage 11 Identification symbol holding part 12 Cold storage capability information detection part 13 Display part 14 Cold storage information transmission part 15 Command information reception part 300 Cold storage management apparatus 31 Operation plan holding part 32 Owned number holding part 33 Use Cold storage determination unit 34 Command information transmission unit 35 Cold storage information reception unit

Claims (11)

A plurality of cold storage chambers that contain articles and have the ability to keep the contained articles cool and change over time;
Receiving information about the cold storage capacity of each of the cold storage from the cold storage,
The operation plan based on the received information on the cold insulation capacity and the operation plan including at least information on the cold insulation capacity required for delivery and the number of the cold storage rooms required for delivery. Extract a cold storage suitable for
Based on at least one of the temperature zone corresponding to the cold storage, the cold storage capacity, and the cumulative number of times of use, the extracted cold storage is weighted, and the cold storage used for the operation plan is based on the weighting result. decide,
A cold storage management device,
Having a cold storage management system. In the delivery base that manages the cold storage, the cold storage management device is configured to use the plurality of the cold storage management devices in the delivery base based on the number of the cold storages in the delivery base and a predetermined first threshold value. Weight each of the refrigerators,
The cold storage management system according to claim 1. The first threshold value includes at least a first upper limit number and a first lower limit number,
The cold storage management device increases the weight of the cold storage above the first upper limit number and below the first lower limit number among the number of possessions of the delivery source base,
The cold storage management system according to claim 2. In the delivery base that manages the cold storage, when the operation plan includes information on a delivery destination base that is delivered from one delivery source base, the cold storage management device To obtain information on the number of the cold storage units at the one delivery destination site, and based on the number of the cold storage units at the one delivery destination site and a predetermined second threshold, the one at the one delivery destination site. Weight each of the multiple coolers,
The cold storage management system according to claim 2 or 3. The second threshold includes at least a second upper limit number and a second lower limit number,
The cold storage management device increases the weight of the cold storage above the second upper limit number and below the second lower limit number among the number of possessions of the delivery destination base,
The cold storage management system according to claim 4. In the case where the cold storage management device performs weighting based on the temperature zone corresponding to the cold storage, the cold storage that can support only a narrower temperature zone is weighted more than the cold storage that can support a wider temperature zone. And prioritize the cooler with higher weight, and determine the cooler to use only the number required for the operation plan,
The cold storage management system as described in any one of Claims 1-5. When the cold storage management device performs weighting based on the cold storage capacity of the cold storage, the cold storage having a smaller cold storage capacity is weighted more than the cold storage having a larger cold storage capacity, and the weight is more weighted. Priority is given to a large refrigerator, and a refrigerator that uses only the number required for the operation plan is determined.
The cold storage management system as described in any one of Claim 1 to 6. In the case where the cold storage management device performs weighting based on the cumulative number of times of use of the cold storage, the cold storage of a larger cumulative number of times of use is weighted more than the cold storage of a smaller cumulative number of uses, and more Priority is given to the cold storage with a large weight, and the cold storage to use only the number required for the operation plan is determined.
The cold storage management system as described in any one of Claim 1 to 7. After the cold storage management device determines the cold storage to be used for the operation plan, the cold storage that is not determined to be used for the operation plan with respect to the number of all the cold storages at the one delivery source base. If the ratio of the number of the above is equal to or higher than a predetermined ratio, the cold storage that the cold storage has not been decided to use for the operation plan has a cold storage body that has the cold storage and supplies the cold storage capacity. Execute a refresh process that cools after cooling.
The cold storage management system as described in any one of Claims 1-8. The cold storage management device corrects the cold insulation capacity based on information on the outside temperature of the delivery base included in the operation plan, or on the weather information of the region where the delivery base exists.
The cold storage management system as described in any one of Claims 1-9. A cold storage management device for managing a plurality of cold storage units that store articles and have the ability to cool the stored articles and have a cold storage capacity that changes over time,
A receiving unit that receives information about the cold insulation capacity of each of the cold storage units from the cold storage unit;
The operation plan based on the received information on the cold insulation capacity and the operation plan including at least information on the cold insulation capacity required for delivery and the number of the cold storage rooms required for delivery. A cold storage suitable for the cold storage, and weighting each of the multiple cold storage based on at least one of the temperature zone, the cold storage capacity, and the cumulative number of times of use corresponding to the cold storage, and based on the weighting result, Use cold storage determination unit to determine the cold storage used for the operation plan,
A cold storage management device.

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