JP4541784B2 - Storage device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a storage device including a storage shelf for storing articles such as mail items that are returned to a post office due to absence of a recipient.

  One of the mail items is a record mail. This recorded mail is returned to the post office for storage when no recipient is present. At this time, the mail is stored and stored in the storage shelf while being stored in a predetermined container. On the other hand, an absent delivery slip is left instead of mail for the recipient who was absent. The recipient then goes to the post office later and gives the absent delivery slip to the clerk. The clerk manually searches for a container containing the corresponding mail item from the storage shelf using the identification number (notification number) on the absent delivery slip as a key, and when the container is found, I picked up mail from inside and handed it to the recipient.

Conventionally, there has been an individual search management device that can instantaneously search only necessary articles from articles such as medical charts stored side by side on the shelf of the storage shelf (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).
JP-A-9-175609

  However, since the conventional storage shelf in this type of apparatus is a method of storing articles in the horizontal direction directly on the shelf plate, it is necessary to store articles of the same shape with a small thickness like containers for storing postal items handled for recording. When stored in a row, there is a problem in that it is not easy to take out an adjacent article because it gets in the way when the retrieved article is taken out.

  The present invention has been made based on such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a storage device that can easily take out a desired article from a plurality of articles stored side by side on a shelf. It is something to be offered.

The present invention includes a storage shelf having a plurality of storage units in which left and right storage units are individually arranged in the left-right direction, and a storage shelf in which the front surface of the shelf unit is an entry / exit port for each storage unit . Provided on the front surface of the shelf portion in correspondence with the plurality of storage portions in the left-right direction, and corresponding to the plurality of storage portions, and stored in the shelf portion by selection operation of each operation portion. It is a extruding article pushing means on the side of the loading and unloading opening an article stored in the storage unit corresponding to the operation unit operated from among each article has a respective operating unit, in addition to the operation portion adjacent each In contrast, they are arranged so as to be shifted in the vertical direction.

  According to the present invention in which such means is taken, it is possible to provide a storage device that can easily take out a desired article from among a plurality of articles stored side by side on a shelf.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described.
In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a storage device of a mail retrieval system that stores and retrieves mail that has been returned to the post office due to the absence of a recipient.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration relating to a storage device of a mail retrieval system according to the present embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a storage shelf for storing mail items. The storage shelf 10 stores mail items that have been returned to the post office due to the absence of the recipient. A host computer 11 is connected to the storage shelf 10.

  The storage shelf 10 has a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped shelf portion that is open on one side, and the opening is directed to the front side to serve as an article entry / exit to the shelf portion. A plurality of partition plates 12 are provided on the upper surface of the shelf plate 10a in the storage shelf 10 from the entrance / exit to the back plate 10b. The pitch of the adjacent partition plates 12 is set to be substantially the same as the thickness of the radio tag-equipped container 13 described later, and the height of the partition plate 12 is high enough to make the radio tag-equipped container 13 self-supporting. Is set to Thus, when the number of the partition plates 12 is n, the shelf is divided into (n + 1) storage units 14.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the inner surface of the back plate 10 b that forms the back surface of each storage unit 14 is attached to the container 13 with the wireless tag stored in the storage unit 14 in a one-to-one correspondence with the storage unit 14. A wireless tag antenna 21 capable of communicating with the wireless tag 22 is provided.

  An operation lever 15 that is movable in the front-rear direction of the shelf portion is provided in the vicinity of the entrance / exit above each storage portion 14 in a one-to-one correspondence with the storage portion 14. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, the push lever 16 that can rotate around a shaft 17 provided between the side plates 10c and 10d of the storage shelf 10 in a one-to-one correspondence with each operation lever 15; And a lamp 18 are provided.

  Each operation lever 15 has one end side with an end face protruding outward from the front plate 10e on the same plane as the loading / unloading port as an operation portion 15a, and the other end side with which the end surface is in contact with the push lever 16 is a contact portion. 15b has a crank shape in which the central axis in the longitudinal direction of the operation portion 15a and the central axis in the longitudinal direction of the contact portion 15b are shifted and connected. Then, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), the operation portion 15a in the longitudinal direction of the operation portion 15a is arranged with respect to the central axis in the longitudinal direction of the contact portion 15b so that the operation portions 15a of the adjacent operation levers 15 are displaced in the vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the first operating lever 151 with the central axis positioned above and the central axis in the longitudinal direction of the operating portion 15a with respect to the central axis in the longitudinal direction of the contact portion 15b Two operation levers 152 are alternately arranged in parallel.

  The lamp 18 is, for example, a light emitting diode, and is mounted on the central axis in the longitudinal direction of the operation portion 15a of the corresponding operation lever 15 with the light emitting surface facing the operation portion 15a. The operation portion 15a of each operation lever 15 is made of a transparent member as a transmission means, and light from the corresponding lamp 18 is transmitted to the end face side.

  Each extrusion lever 16 is in contact with the contact portion 15b of the corresponding operation lever 15 on the surface facing the inlet / outlet side above the shaft 17, and as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), When the operating lever 15 is pushed from the substantially upright state in the direction of the arrow in the drawing, that is, in the direction from the loading / unloading port toward the back plate 10d by the amount protruding from the front plate 10e, the shaft 17 is centered to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in the drawing. Rotate to. On the surface of each push-out lever 16 facing the inlet / outlet side below the shaft 17, when the wireless tag-equipped container 13 is stored in the corresponding storage section 14, the locking projection 13 a formed on the container 13. When the front side of the container 13 is inserted into the storage part 14 to the position where it faces the inlet / outlet, the push lever 16 is substantially upright, and the operating part of the operating lever 15 is accordingly 15a protrudes forward from the front plate 11e. Therefore, when the operation lever 15 is pushed in by the amount protruding from the front plate 11e, the push lever 16 corresponding to the operation lever 15 rotates, and accordingly, the operation lever 15 is stored in the storage portion 14 corresponding to the operation lever 15. The wireless tag-equipped container 13 is pushed forward from the inlet / outlet. Here, the abutting portion 15 b of the operation lever 15, the pushing lever 16 and the shaft 17 constitute an article pushing means.

  Next, the configuration of the wireless tag-equipped container 13 will be described with reference to FIG. The wireless tag-equipped container 13 is a thin plate-like container that can accommodate postal items such as postcards and envelopes, and a wireless tag 22 is attached to the lower part of one side surface. The locking projection 13a is formed on the side surface opposite to the side surface to which the wireless tag 22 is attached. As indicated by an arrow A in the figure, the wireless tag-equipped container 13 is inserted into the storage portion 14 of the storage shelf 10 from the side surface to which the wireless tag 22 is attached.

  FIG. 5 shows wireless tag antennas 21 (211, 212,..., 21 n) provided in the storage units 14, and wireless data that reads and processes data stored in the wireless tag 22 via the wireless tag antenna 21. 3 is a block diagram showing a main part configuration of a tag reader 31. FIG.

  The wireless tag reader 31 includes an interface unit 32 that interfaces with a host terminal, that is, a host computer 11, a control unit 33 that includes a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like, a modulation unit 34 that modulates transmission data to the wireless tag 22, and a modulated radio wave Are transmitted from the antennas 211 to 21n, a reception amplifier 36 that amplifies the radio waves received by the antennas 211 to 21n, a demodulation unit 37 that demodulates the amplified reception radio waves, and the like.

  The antennas 211 to 21n are connected to the transmission amplifier 35 and the reception amplifier 36 via changeover switches 381 to 38n, respectively. The changeover switches 381 to 38n are changed over according to a changeover signal from the control unit 33.

  In addition, 391-39n has shown the lamp | ramp 18 mentioned above provided corresponding to each accommodating part 14. FIG. Lighting control of these lamps 391 to 39n is performed by the control unit 33.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the wireless tag 22. The wireless tag 22 is an independent component in which a tag antenna 41 and an LSI chip 42 that can be transmitted and received are integrally formed with a substrate. The tag antenna 41 is formed of a loop coil formed in a rectangular shape. The LSI chip 42 rectifies and stabilizes the modulated radio wave received by the tag antenna 41, demodulates the modulated radio wave and transmits it to the control unit 46. Modulation unit 45 that modulates data transmitted from demodulation unit 44 and control unit 46 and transmits the data to tag antenna 41, writes data demodulated by demodulation unit 44 to memory 47, and reads transmission data from memory 47 The control unit 46 and the memory 47 that are sent to the modulation unit 45 are configured. The memory 47 is formed with a wireless ID area for storing a unique ID (RFID) assigned and set by the manufacturer at the manufacturing stage of the wireless tag 22 and a user area where arbitrary data can be written by the user. ing.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the host computer 11. This host computer 11 is configured around a CPU 51. A ROM 52, a RAM 53, an input unit 54, a display unit 55, a barcode reader 56, an interface 57, and a wireless tag reader 58 are connected to the system bus of the CPU 51. The interface 57 is connected to the interface 32 of the wireless tag reader 31 described above.

  Now, in the post office where the postal matter search system of the present embodiment configured as described above is introduced, the postal matter brought back to the post office due to the absence of the recipient is the container 13 with the wireless tag shown in FIG. Are stored in the storage shelf 10 and stored. At this time, the clerk stores the mail items in the storage shelf 10 according to the following procedure.

  First, an operation of registering in the host computer 11 which radio tag-equipped container 13 stores the returned mail is carried out. If the recipient is absent, the post office staff places an absent delivery slip at the recipient. The absence delivery slip includes a notice number for identifying the postal matter. In addition, the post office staff puts a paper with the notice number on the postal items and takes it back to the post office. Then, the bar code reader 56 provided in the host computer 11 reads the notice number written on the paper with the bar code reader, and the radio tag 22 attached to the radio tag-equipped container 13 containing the mail. RFID is read by the wireless tag reader 58 and the RFID and the notification number are associated with each other and stored in the RAM 53 as shown in FIG.

  Thereafter, the post office worker inserts the wireless tag-equipped container 13 storing the mail items into the empty storage portion 14 of the storage shelf 10 with the locking convex portion 13a facing forward. Thus, when the wireless tag-equipped container 13 is stored in the storage unit 14, the wireless tag 22 is positioned so as to face the wireless tag antenna 21, as shown in FIG. Further, the locking projection 13 a pushes the push lever 16 provided corresponding to the storage portion 14, and accordingly, the operation portion 15 a of the operation lever 15 provided corresponding to the storage portion 14. Protrudes forward from the front plate 11e.

  In the same manner, the postal items brought back by the post office staff are stored in the storage shelf 10 through the same processing.

  Next, the processing when the recipient comes to the post office to receive the mail with the absent delivery slip will be described.

  First, the post office staff inputs the notice number described in the absent delivery slip from the input unit 54. Then, the host computer 11 stores the RFID of the wireless tag 22 attached to the wireless tag-equipped container 13 in which the mail corresponding to the notification number input from the input unit 54 is stored in the RAM 53 in the table of FIG. Find by searching.

  When the RFID of the wireless tag 22 attached to the wireless tag-equipped container 13 that stores the postal matter to be retrieved is found in this way, a process of retrieving the corresponding wireless tagged container 13 using the RFID as a search ID is performed.

  That is, the control unit 33 of the wireless tag reader 31 performs a process of turning on the changeover switches 381 to 38n one by one in order. As a result, radio waves are radiated sequentially from the radio tag antenna 21 provided on the back surface of each storage unit 14. Since the radio wave radiated from the radio tag antenna 21 has a strong directivity, it is radiated into the storage unit 14.

  At this time, if the wireless tag-equipped container 13 is stored in the storage unit 14, the wireless tag 22 attached to the container 13 responds to the inquiry about the radio wave radiated from the wireless tag antenna 21. It returns its own RFID to the wireless tag reader 31. Then, the control unit 33 searches whether the RFID returned from the wireless tag 22 matches the search ID (search means). When it is determined that they match, the storage unit 14 provided with the RFID tag antenna 21 that has received the RFID is connected to the container 13 with the RFID tag storing the search ID. The storage position is specified (position specifying means). And the process which makes the lamp | ramp 18 corresponding to this accommodating part 14 light or blinks is performed (driving means).

  Thus, since the post office staff can be notified by turning on or blinking the lamp 18 of the storage section 14 storing the container 13 with the wireless tag searched using the wireless tag function, the post office staff can easily It is possible to search for the wireless tag-equipped container 13 in which a desired mail item is accommodated.

  Therefore, the post office staff takes out the wireless tag-equipped container 13 stored in the storage section 14 where the lamp 18 is lit or blinking, and then takes out the mail from the container 13 and delivers it to the recipient.

  In this case, in this embodiment, since the operation portion 15a of each operation lever 15 is formed of a transparent member, the operation portion 15a of the operation lever 15 provided corresponding to the lamp 18 that is lit or blinking. Shines. Therefore, the post office staff pushes down the shining operation portion 15a. Then, the push lever 16 corresponding to the operation portion 15a rotates and the container 13 with the wireless tag in which the locking convex portion 13a is engaged with the push lever 16, that is, the wireless tag function is used for searching. Since the wireless tag-equipped container 13 is pushed forward from the entrance / exit, it can be easily taken out from the storage shelf 10.

  Moreover, in the present embodiment, the operation portions 15a of the respective operation levers 15 are arranged so as to be displaced in the vertical direction with respect to the other adjacent operation portions 15a. Accordingly, the interval between the operation portions 15a adjacent to each other at the same height in the horizontal direction is approximately twice the length of the storage portion 14 plus the thickness of the partition plate 12, so that the post office staff can shine Only the portion 15a can be easily selected and pushed in, and the operability is good.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the article pushing means is constituted by the pushing lever 16 or the like, but is not limited to this. As another embodiment, the push button integrated with the lamp 18 is arranged so as to be shifted up and down so as to face the entrance / exit, and an urging means such as a spring is provided on the back side of each storage portion 14. When the push button with the lamp 18 lit or blinking is operated, the urging means of the storage section 14 corresponding to the lamp 18 is operated, and the wireless tag-equipped container stored in the storage section 14 is operated. 13 may be pushed forward from the inlet / outlet.

  In the above embodiment, the changeover switches 381 to 38n of the wireless tag reader 31 are turned on one by one in order, but the changeover switches 381 to 38n corresponding to the storage unit 14 in which the wireless tag-equipped container 13 is stored are provided. You may select and variably turn on one by one. The determination as to whether or not the wireless tag-equipped container 13 is stored in the storage unit 14 is performed by, for example, periodically transmitting wireless tag inquiry radio waves from each wireless tag antenna 21 and storing response presence / absence information from the wireless tag 22 as needed. This is possible. That is, at the time of the search, the selector switches 381 to 38n corresponding to the storage unit 14 in which the response presence information from the wireless tag 22 is stored are selected and variably turned on one by one. By doing so, there is an effect that the wireless tag-equipped container 13 to be searched can be quickly searched.

  Further, when there are many mail items to be stored, as shown in FIG. 10, the system configuration may be such that a plurality of storage shelves 101 to 10 n are connected to the host computer 11. In this case, when the mail is stored in the storage shelves 101 to 10n, the storage shelf identification information indicating which storage shelf is stored may be stored in the table of FIG. For example, when mail is divided into areas and distributed and stored in the storage shelves 101 to 10n, the area code or the like is stored as storage shelf identification information. Alternatively, when mails are classified by date and distributed and stored in the storage shelves 101 to 10n, date information is stored as storage shelf identification information. By doing so, it is possible to quickly search for mail items even when a plurality of storage shelves are connected to the host computer 11.

  In the above-described embodiment, each operation unit 15a is shifted in two steps up and down. However, for example, the operation unit 15a may be shifted in three steps, upper, middle, and lower to widen the interval between the operation units 15a adjacent to the left and right. Moreover, you may shift 4 steps or more. In this way, the present invention can be applied to a storage device that stores thinner articles.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to the storage shelf 10 that stores the containers 13 with the wireless tags, but can be applied to all storage devices that store containers such as containers or files that do not have wireless tags in the horizontal direction. It is.

  In the present invention, the lamp 18 may be provided so as to face the entrance / exit, and the operation portion 15a of the operation lever 15 may be formed of a non-transparent member.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a shielding plate may be provided inside the adjacent partition plate 12. By doing in this way, it can prevent reliably that the electromagnetic wave radiated | emitted from the antenna 21 for RFID tags leaks to the other accommodating part 14. FIG. Furthermore, it is possible to reliably prevent radio waves radiated from the wireless tag 22 from leaking to the other storage unit 14.

  In the above embodiment, the RFID is used as the search ID. However, the ID is not limited to the RFID, and another ID may be used as the search ID by writing another ID in the wireless tag 22.

  In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, the constituent elements over different embodiments may be combined.

The schematic diagram which shows the system configuration | structure of the mail search system which is one embodiment of this invention. The schematic diagram which shows the principal part structure of the storage shelf concerning the embodiment. The schematic diagram which shows the principal part structure of the storage shelf concerning the embodiment. The schematic diagram used for operation | movement description with the operation lever and extrusion lever concerning the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the wireless tag reader according to the embodiment. The perspective view which shows the structure of the container with a radio | wireless tag concerning the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the wireless tag according to the embodiment. The block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the host computer concerning the embodiment. The schematic diagram which shows the table which shows the relationship between RFID and notification number concerning the embodiment. The figure which shows the system configuration | structure of the mail search system which is other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Storage shelf, 11 ... Host computer, 12 ... Partition plate, 13 ... Radio tag container, 14 ... Storage part, 15 (151,152) ... Operation lever, 16 ... Extrusion lever, 17 ... Shaft, 18 ... Lamp, 21, 211 to 21n... RFID tag antenna, 22... Wireless tag, 381 to 38n.

Claims (3)

A storage shelf having a plurality of storage units in which left and right storage units for storing articles are arranged in the left-right direction, and the front of the shelf unit serving as an entry / exit port for each storage unit;
A plurality of operation units arranged in the left-right direction corresponding to the plurality of storage units on the front surface of the shelf unit in the storage shelf,
Articles stored in the storage unit corresponding to the operated operation unit among the items stored in the shelf by the selection operation of the operation units provided corresponding to the plurality of storage units. An article extruding means for extruding to the side of the inlet / outlet;
Each of the operation units is arranged so as to be displaced in the vertical direction with respect to other adjacent operation units. A plurality of light emitting means provided corresponding to each of the operation units;
Drive means for selectively emitting each light emitting means,
The storage device according to claim 1, wherein each of the operation units includes transmission means that transmits light from the corresponding light emission means. An antenna for a wireless tag capable of communicating with a wireless tag attached to each article stored in each storage unit;
Search means for searching for a wireless tag in which a search ID is stored from the wireless tags communicated via the wireless tag antenna;
The said drive means makes the said light emission means corresponding to the said operation part of the said storage part in which the articles | goods with the radio | wireless tag searched by the said search means are accommodated light-emitted. Storage device.

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