JP6697736B2 - Cold storage management system and cold storage management device - Google Patents

Description

  The present disclosure relates to a cool box management system and a cool box management device.

  For example, in a physical distribution cycle in which a cool box is carried on a vehicle for transportation, there is a cool box management system having an information management center connected to a delivery source and a delivery destination via public lines.

  For example, in Patent Literature 1, for example, an information management center obtains internal temperature information from a control unit of the cold storage and analyzes the internal temperature information to calculate a usage schedule of the cold storage and a pre-cooling start time. Etc., and a system for identifying a cool box to be used the next day based on a delivery plan is disclosed.

JP, 2003-322459, A

The present disclosure provides a cool box management system and a cool box management device that can efficiently operate a cool box.

The cool box management system of the present disclosure has a plurality of cool boxes having the ability to store articles and cool the stored articles, and have a cool ability that changes with the passage of time, and each of the cool boxes has The information about the cold storage capacity is received from the cold storage, the received information about the cold storage capacity and the plan to deliver the cold storage, and at least the information about the cold storage capacity required for delivery and the number of the cold storage required for the delivery. Based on the operation plan including, based on at least any one of the cold zone suitable for the operation plan, the temperature zone corresponding to the cold box, the cold storage capacity, the cumulative number of uses, of the extracted cold box each performs weighting, with priority from the large refrigerator weighting to determine the refrigerator to use only the number required for the operation plan, possess and refrigerator management device, the, to manage the refrigerator delivery base In the above, the cool box management device weights each of the plurality of cool boxes at the delivery source site based on the number of the cool boxes at the delivery source site and a predetermined first threshold value. To do .

A cool box management device of the present disclosure is a cool box management device that manages a plurality of cool boxes having an ability to store articles and cool the stored articles, and that has a cool ability that changes with the passage of time. A receiving unit for receiving information on the cold storage capacity of each of the cold storage from the cold storage, information on the received cold storage capacity, a plan for delivering the cold storage, and a cold storage capacity required for delivery and Based on an operation plan including at least information on the number of cool boxes required for delivery, a cool box suitable for the operation plan is extracted, and at least a temperature zone corresponding to the cool box, a cold storage capacity, and a cumulative number of times of use. Based on either of the plurality of cool boxes, weighted cool boxes are used, and a cool box determination unit that determines the cool boxes to be used by the number required for the operation plan is given priority to the cool box with a large weight. Then, in the delivery site that manages the cold storage, the cold storage management device is located at the delivery site based on the number of the cold stores at the delivery site and a predetermined first threshold value. Each of the plurality of cool boxes is weighted .

According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently operate a cool box .

Block diagram showing the functions of the cool box management system according to an embodiment of the present invention Conceptual diagram for explaining the relationship of each component of the cool box management system The figure for demonstrating the concept of coolable time in this Embodiment. Flowchart of regular processing of the cool box management device Flow chart of cold storage determination process Weighting process flowchart Flowchart of weighting processing based on the number of vehicles owned by the delivery source Flowchart of weighting process based on the number of delivery destinations Flow chart of refresh target selection processing

  In a physical distribution cycle composed of a large number of delivery points, a cold storage box may be used for long-distance delivery that requires a long time, or may be used for short-distance delivery that requires a short time. .. In a conventional cool box management system that does not consider the time required for individual delivery, if a cool box with a high cold storage capacity is used for short distance delivery, the cold storage capacity will be surplus after the delivery is completed. Can occur. When such a situation occurs, for example, a cool box having a high cold storage capacity may be left at the delivery base and not used thereafter. As described above, 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 in each base tends to be biased. However, the present disclosure can reduce such inconvenience. The details will be described 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 cool box 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 cool box management system 1.

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

  A part of the cool box 100 is formed as a door that can be opened and closed. The cool box 100 can be closed by storing articles inside (the inside of the box) and closing the door, and a cool storage body (not shown) inside. It is a container that has the cold heat stored in the cold storage body and can keep the temperature inside the refrigerator at a low temperature. The cool box 100 is used, for example, to store and transport an item to be delivered at a low temperature (such as a refrigerating-required item or a refrigerating-required item) in the refrigerator. The cool box 100, after the articles are stored in the box at the delivery base, is placed on a transportation 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 the items to be delivered in the cool box management system 1 and storing the cool box 100 that is not used for delivery. Each delivery site is provided with a refrigerating warehouse, a refrigerating warehouse, or the like (cold warehouse) for storing articles to be delivered at a low temperature.

  The cool storage body installed in the housing of the cool box 100 has, for example, a film, a resin container or the like, and a cool storage material such as a mixture of sodium chloride and water or a mixture of a super absorbent polymer and water is hermetically sealed. Has been formed. The cool storage body can store cold heat by preliminarily cooling and solidifying a liquid or gel cool storage material.

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

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cool box 100 includes an identification symbol holding section 11, a cool capacity information detecting section 12, a display section 13, a cool box information transmitting section 14, and a command information receiving section 15.

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

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

  Further, 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 the amount of cold storage estimated when it is assumed that precooling is performed for an arbitrary predetermined time from the current amount of cold storage. Pre-cooling means an action of cooling and freezing the regenerator in order to store cold heat in the regenerator before using the cool box 100.

  The temperature zone means that the temperature inside the cool box 100 is classified into a plurality of stages having a predetermined width. Specifically, for example, the temperature band when the internal temperature is −15° C. or lower is “freezing”, and the temperature band when the internal temperature is −5° C. or higher and +5° C. or lower is “chilled”, When the temperature inside the refrigerator is 0° C. or higher and 10° C. or lower, the temperature zone is “refrigeration”. The threshold value for classifying these temperature zones may be set in advance by the 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 regenerator detected by a temperature sensor (not shown) attached to the regenerator in the cold storage 100. The amount of cold storage is calculated based on the calculated cold storage capacity, and the cold storage capacity (available cold storage time) corresponding to the calculated amount of cold storage is calculated.

  Hereinafter, an example of a method of detecting the available cold storage time by the cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 will be described. The cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 calculates a cold storage amount, which is the amount of cold heat stored in the cold storage body, based on the temperature inside the cold storage 100, the temperature of the surface of the cold storage body, or the like, and the coolable time based on the stored cold amount To detect. These temperatures may be measured, for example, by a temperature sensor (not shown) provided inside the cool box 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 cold storage amount is 100%, the cold storage 100 that can maintain the internal cold storage temperature of −20° C. for 8 hours (the cold storage available time is 8 hours) is illustrated. When the cool box 100 having the cold storage amount of 100% and the cold storage time of 8 hours is used for the delivery of the required cold storage time of 6 hours, the remaining cold storage amount becomes 25% as shown in FIG. Here, by precooling the cool box 100, the amount of cold storage can be recovered. In the example shown in FIG. 3, precooling is performed to recover the cold storage amount from 25% to 50%. By recovering the cool storage amount in this way, the cold storage 100 can be used for delivery after that, for example, the required cold storage time is 3 hours. After that, the remaining amount of the cool storage amount becomes about 10%.

  The method of calculating the cold storage amount and the coolable time is not particularly limited in the present invention, but an example of the method of calculating the cold storage amount will be described below.

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

  Then, for example, when the cold storage amount of the cold storage 100 is 100%, the time (maximum cold storage time) during which the internal temperature of the predetermined temperature zone can be maintained for a predetermined time is measured in advance, and at that time, The cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 calculates the current (remaining) coolable time by multiplying the current cold storage amount %. Further, when the cold storage capacity information detecting unit 12 pre-cools the cold storage 100, the cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 calculates the estimated cold storage available time based on the calculated cold storage available time and the amount of cold heat stored by the time until the departure date and time. ..

  Since it is expected that the coolable time varies depending on the temperature of the articles stored inside the cool box 100, the cold keeping capability information detection unit 12 does not detect the cool coolable time based on the cool storage amount. For example, the coolable time may be detected by referring to a predetermined table based on the temperature inside the cool box 100 and the temperature zone.

  The display unit 13 is provided on the outer surface of the cool box 100 including a position visible from the outside of the cool box 100. The display unit 13 displays various kinds of information such as the temperature inside the refrigerator, the temperature zone, the operation plan (details will be described later), information indicating that pre-cooling is required, coolable time, and a delivery use command (details described later). Then, the notification is given to the periphery of the cool box 100. The notification includes not only visual notification but also auditory notification.

  In addition, the cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 corrects the available cold storage time by using the information about the outside air temperature at the delivery site, the weather information of the region where the delivery site is located, or the like acquired from the cold storage management device 300. May be.

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

  Returning to the explanation 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 device 300.

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

  Next, the cool box management device 300 will be described. The cool box management device 300 is provided at a plurality of delivery points as shown in FIG. The cool box 100 is placed on a transportation device (not shown) and moves between a plurality of delivery points. The cool box management device 300 at each delivery site manages at least one cold box 100 at each delivery site. Note that FIG. 2 illustrates the case where there are three delivery points A, B, and C, but this is an example, and the present invention does not limit the number of delivery points. Further, in the present invention, the numbers of the cool box management devices 300 and the cool box 100 included in the cool box management system 1 are not limited.

  Returning to the explanation of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the cool box management device 300 includes an operation plan holding section 31, a possessed number holding section 32, a used cool box determining section 33, a command information transmitting section 34, and a cool box information receiving section 35.

  The operation plan holding unit 31 stores an operation plan which is a plan for delivering articles using at least one cold storage 100. The operation plan holding unit 31 is configured by a storage medium such as a hard disk (HDD), a flash memory, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk. Here, the operation plan is a plan to transport the parcel or the cool box 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 made for each device. In the operation plan, one management number is attached to one transportation device. The operation plan is planned by, for example, an article management device (not shown), and information about the operation plan to be performed by a predetermined time is stored in advance in the operation plan holding unit 31. In the following description, for simplicity, it is assumed that the delivery source facility and the delivery destination facility are both delivery bases.

  The information regarding the operation plan includes, for example, the operation plan number, the departure date and time, the estimated arrival date and time, the required cooling time, the 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 stored in the cool box 100 and depart from the delivery source site for delivery. The scheduled arrival date and time is the scheduled date and time when the cool box 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 transportation device that transports the cool box 100, and the like. Further, the required cold storage time is a cold storage time required for delivery (time required to be maintained at a predetermined temperature). The required number is the number of cool boxes 100 required for delivery.

  The number-of-holdings holding unit 32 stores the number-of-holdings information, which is information about the number of cold storage boxes 100 owned by each of the delivery bases. The owned vehicle number information is generated by, for example, the owned vehicle number holding unit 32 totaling the identification symbols of the cool box 100 received from the cool box 100. In addition, for example, with respect to the cool box 100 that is not in the delivery base, the owned unit holding unit 32, if it is known from the operation plan that the cool store 100 will arrive at any of the delivery bases within a predetermined time, The cool box 100 may generate the number-of-owned-units information as being held at the delivery destination base. Further, for example, with respect to the cool box 100 that is not in the delivery base, the owned unit holding unit 32 does not hold the cool box 100 in any of the delivery bases if it does not reach any of the delivery bases within a predetermined time. And it is sufficient.

  Further, the number-of-holding-units holding unit 32 stores information on the number of holding standard units, which is a reference value used in a weighting process based on the number of holding units at the delivery source base, which is performed by the cold storage use determining unit 33 described later. Details of the standard number of owned vehicles will be described later.

  The used cold storage determination unit 33 operates the future operation based on the future operation plan acquired from the operation plan holding unit 31 and the information on the number of delivery bases corresponding to the operation plan acquired from the number-of-holds 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 decided to use is generated.

  When determining the cool box to be used, the used cool box determination unit 33 weights all the cool boxes 100 owned by the delivery bases corresponding to the operation plan, and uses the weight boxes based on the weighting result. Determine the cool box 100. The weighting performed by the used cool box determining unit 33 has, for example, information such as the scale of the delivery base corresponding to the operation plan, the time when the operation plan is executed (busy period, quiet period, etc.), or each cool box 100. It is performed based on the characteristics (cooling capacity, etc.). The details of the cold storage use determination processing and the weighting processing by the cold storage use determination unit 33 will be described later.

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

  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 it to the used cool box determining unit 33.

<Details of Processing in Cooling Box Management Device 300>
[Periodic processing]
Next, details of the processing of the cool box management device 300 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a periodic process of the cool box management device 300. That is, the cool box management device 300 periodically executes the process shown in FIG. Specifically, the cool box management device 300 performs the periodic process shown in FIG. 4 at predetermined time intervals such as every day, every 12 hours, every 6 hours, every 3 hours, or at any time. Run. The predetermined time may be set in advance by, for example, the administrator of the cool box management system 1.

  In step S<b>11, the used cool box determination unit 33 acquires the operation plan within the predetermined period from the operation plan holding unit 31. The predetermined period is, for example, a period preset by the administrator of the cool box management system 1. Specifically, for example, a period from the current time to the predetermined time later 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 may be set. The period until the later may be the predetermined period. Alternatively, the length of the predetermined period may be a time other than the predetermined time. The operation plan within the predetermined period is, for example, an operation plan in which the departure date and time is set within the predetermined period.

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

  In step S13, the used cool box determining unit 33 calculates the ratio of the number of cool boxes 100 to which no allocation is assigned to the total number of cool boxes 100 existing in the delivery base where the cool box management device 300 is provided, and the ratio is calculated. Is determined to be equal to or higher than a predetermined ratio (for example, 30%). Here, the cool box 100 with no allocation is a cool box 100 that has not been used for delivery at the start of step S13 and has not been determined to be used in step S12.

  If the proportion of the cool box 100 with no allocation is equal to or higher than the predetermined proportion of the whole (step S13: Yes), the process proceeds to step S14, and if not (step S13: No), the regular process ends.

  In step S14, the used cool box determination 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.

[Used cool box determination process]
Next, the details of the cold storage use determination process in step S12 shown in FIG. 4 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the used cold storage determination process.

  In step S21, the cool box management device 300 loops the processes of steps S22 to S26 by the number of operation plans acquired in step S11 of FIG.

  In step S22, the used cool box determining unit 33 acquires the cool available time at the departure date for each cool box 100 existing in the delivery source site, and whether there is a cool box 100 having the cool available time equal to or longer than the required cool time. Determine whether or not. Here, the departure date and time is information regarding the date and time of departure for delivery, which is included in the operation plan acquired by the used cold storage determination unit 33 in step S11 shown in FIG. Further, the required cold storage time is the cold storage time required for delivering the goods in the operation plan.

  Specifically, the following processing is performed in step S22. The used cool box determination unit 33 first transmits a coolable time transmission instruction to the cool box 100 via the command information transmission unit 34. Then, the command information receiving unit 15 of the cool box 100 receives the instruction, and the cool capacity information detecting unit 12 calculates the current cold storage amount. Further, when the cold storage 100 is precooled, the cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 adds the cold storage amount by the time precooling performed from the current time to the departure date and time to the current cold storage amount. To do. The information regarding the departure date and time is transmitted from the cool box management device 300 to the cool box 100 by being included in, for example, an instruction to transmit the cool time. Then, the cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 detects the (estimated) cold storage available time at the departure date and time based on the calculated cold storage amount. The detected (estimated) coolable time is transmitted to the cool box management device 300 via the cool box information transmitting section 14, received by the cool box information receiving section 35, and input to the used cool box determining section 33.

  In this way, the used cold storage determination unit 33 acquires the cold storage available time at the departure date and time. Acquisition of such a coolable time is performed for all the cool boxes 100 existing in the delivery base provided with the used cool box determination unit 33. In the following, for simplicity, the coolable time and the estimated coolable time are collectively referred to as the coolable time.

  In step S22, if there is a cool box 100 whose coolable time is equal to or longer than the required 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 used cool box determination unit 33 determines whether or not there is a cool box in which the time for which the circulation fan can be driven is equal to or longer than the required cool time depending on the estimated battery amount at the departure date and time. The estimated 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 estimated battery amount may be calculated by the cool box 100 based on, for example, the current remaining battery amount and the empirically obtained battery consumption amount per time. In addition, for example, when the cool box 100 is charged until the delivery departure date and time, the charge amount may be added to the above calculation result to obtain the estimated battery amount.

  In step S23, if there is a cold storage box in which the circulation fan can be driven by the expected battery amount for the required cold storage time or more (step S23: Yes), the process proceeds to step S24; otherwise (step S23: No). ), and proceeds to step S26.

  In step S24, the used cool box determining unit 33 weights the cool box 100 satisfying the conditions in steps S22 and S23 as a candidate for the cool box 100 to be 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 processing in step S24, the used cool box determining unit 33 determines that the cool box 100 having a larger weight (higher priority) is preferentially used for the operation plan. Thereby, the cool box 100 required for the operation plan within the predetermined period can be efficiently determined. Then, in order to process the next operation plan, the process returns to step S21.

  In step S26, the used cool box determination unit 33, if there is no cool box 100 that satisfies the conditions in step S22 or step S23, does not determine the target cool box and does not determine the cool box, but performs the next operation plan process. Therefore, the process returns to step S21.

[Weighting]
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 on the cool box extracted in steps S22 and S23 of FIG.

  In step S31, the used cool box determining unit 33 performs weighting processing based on the number of cool boxes 100 (hereinafter, referred to as the number of possession of the delivery site) at the delivery site where the cool box management device 300 is provided. The details of the weighting process based on the number of vehicles owned by the delivery source site will be described later.

  In step S32, the used cool box determining unit 33 determines the number of cool boxes 100 (hereinafter, referred to as the number of owned delivery destination bases) at the delivery base (hereinafter referred to as delivery base) that is the delivery destination in the operation plan. Based weighting processing is performed. The details of the weighting process based on the number of delivery destinations owned will be described later.

  In step S33, the used cool box determining unit 33 loops the processing of steps S34 to S44 for each cool box 100 that is a target of the weighting process. In the following description, the cool box 100 subjected to the weighting process is simply referred to as the cool box 100.

  From step S34 to step S36, the used cool box determination unit 33 performs weighting based on the temperature zone to which the cool box 100 corresponds.

  A specific example will be described below. The cool box 100 has corresponding temperature zones. Specifically, for example, there is a cool box 100 corresponding to two temperature zones of "refrigeration" and "chilled", and a cool box 100 corresponding to only one temperature zone of "freezing", for example. .. There is also a cool box 100 corresponding to, for example, three temperature zones of “refrigerating”, “chilled”, and “freezing”. Which temperature zone the cool box 100 corresponds to is determined by, for example, the amount and material of the regenerator contained in the cool box 100. In step S34, the used cool box determination unit 33 performs weighting based on the number of temperature zones to which the cool box 100 corresponds.

  In step S34, the used cool box determination unit 33 determines how many of the three temperature zones the cool box 100 corresponds to, and when the cool box 100 corresponds to the three temperature zones (step S34). (S34:3 temperature zone), the process proceeds to step S37, when two temperature zones are supported (step S34:2 temperature zone), the process proceeds to step S35, and only one temperature zone is supported (step S34). (1 temperature zone), the process proceeds to step S36.

  When the cool box 100 is compatible with the two temperature zones, the used cool box determination unit 33 adds 1 (one step) to the cool box 100 in step S35. When the cool box 100 is compatible with only one temperature zone, the used cool box determination unit 33 adds 2 to the cool box 100 in step S36.

  Next, from step S37 to step S40, the used cool box determination unit 33 performs weighting based on the rated cool time of the cool box 100. The rated cool-keeping time is the maximum value of the possible cool-keeping time that is predetermined for each cool-keeping box 100. The rated cold storage time is determined, for example, by the amount and material of the regenerator.

  More specifically, in step S37, the used cold storage determination unit 33 determines that the rated cold storage time of the cold storage 100 is the third predetermined time or longer (for example, 18 hours or longer) (step S37: third predetermined time or longer), The process proceeds to step S41. In addition, the used cool box determining unit 33 determines that the rated cool time of the cool box 100 is equal to or more than the second predetermined time and less than the third predetermined time (for example, 12 hours or more and less than 18 hours) (step S37: second predetermined time to second time). 3 predetermined time), the process proceeds to step S38. Further, the used cool box determining unit 33 determines that the rated cool time of the cool box 100 is equal to or more than the first predetermined time and less than the second predetermined time (for example, 7 hours or more and less than 12 hours) (step S37: first predetermined time to first time). (2 predetermined time), the process proceeds to step S39, and when the rated cold storage 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 cold storage time is equal to or longer than the third predetermined time, that is, when the sufficient rated cold storage time is secured, the used cold storage determining unit 33 does not add weight to the cold storage 100. When the rated cold storage time is equal to or longer than the second predetermined time and shorter than the third predetermined time, the used cold storage determining unit 33 adds 1 to the cold storage 100 in step S38. When the rated cold storage time is equal to or more than the first predetermined time and less than the second predetermined time, the used cold storage determining unit 33 adds 2 to the cold storage 100 in step S39. When the rated cold storage time is less than the first predetermined time, the used cold storage compartment determination unit 33 adds 3 to the cold storage compartment 100 in step S40.

  Next, in step S41 to step S44, the used cool box determination unit 33 performs weighting based on the cumulative number of times the cool box 100 has been used. More specifically, the used cool box determination unit 33 transmits an instruction to notify the cumulative number of uses to the cool box 100, and the cumulative number of uses received from the cool box 100 is a third predetermined number (for example, 1000 times) or more. If so (step S41: third predetermined number of times or more), the process shifts to the weighting process for the next cool box. If the cumulative number of times of use is equal to or more than the second predetermined number of times (for example, 100 to 500 times) and less than the third predetermined number of times, the process proceeds to step S44. If the cumulative number of times of use is equal to or more than the first predetermined number of times (for example, 100 times) and less than the second predetermined number of times, the process proceeds to step S43. If the cumulative number of times of use is less than the first predetermined number of times, 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 it is expected that the cold storage capacity is less likely to deteriorate, the cool box use determination unit 33 uses In step S42, 3 is added to the cool box 100. When the cumulative number of uses of the cool box 100 is not less than the first predetermined number of times and less than the second predetermined number of times, the used cool box determining unit 33 adds 2 to the cool box 100 in weight. When the cumulative number of uses of the cool box 100 is not less than the second predetermined number of times and less than the third predetermined number of times, the used cool box determination unit 33 adds 1 to the cool box 100 in weight. In addition, when the cumulative number of uses of the cool box 100 is the third predetermined number of times or more, the used cool box determination 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 cool box 100 having lower versatility among the cool boxes 100 suitable for the operation plan. As shown in step S25 of FIG. 5, the used cool box determination unit 33 preferentially determines the use from the cool box 100 having a large weight, and thus the cool box 100 having lower versatility is preferentially used. As a result, waste in the operation of the cool box 100 can be reduced and the cool box 100 can be operated efficiently.

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

  In step S51, the used cool box determining unit 33 compares the total number of cool boxes 100 (hereinafter, referred to as a first total number) existing at the delivery source base with a predetermined first lower limit number, and determines a first total number. It is determined whether the number of vehicles is greater than the first lower limit number of vehicles. It should be noted that the first lower limit number is the number of cold storage boxes 100 that should be left at least at the delivery source site, which is set in advance according to the scale of the delivery source site, for example. 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 used cold storage determination unit 33 compares the first total number with the predetermined first upper limit number, and determines whether the first total number is greater than the first upper limit number. Note that the first upper limit number is an upper limit value of the number of cool boxes 100, which is preferably set in advance in accordance with the scale of the delivery source site and is preferably left at the delivery source site. In step S52, if the first total number is greater 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 S53, the used cool box determination unit 33 adds a weight of 30 to all the cool boxes 100 having exceeded the first upper limit number.

  In step S54, the used cool box determining unit 33 assigns a weight of 10 to all cool boxes 100 that are equal to or less than the first upper limit number and exceed the first lower limit number.

  In step S55, the used cool box determination unit 33 adds 1 to all the cool boxes 100 whose number is less than or equal to the first lower limit number.

  By such a process, the number of cool boxes 100 (less than the first lower limit number) required for the delivery source site is secured, and the extra cool box 100 (more than the first upper limit number) is preferentially used. You can

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

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

  In step S61, the used cool box determination unit 33 compares the number of cool boxes 100 (hereinafter, referred to as a second total number) existing at the delivery destination base with a predetermined second lower limit number to determine a second lower limit number. Is larger than the second total number. The second lower limit number is, for example, the number of cool boxes 100 that should be left at least at the delivery destination base, which is set in advance according to the scale of the delivery destination base. In step S61, if the second lower limit number is greater 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 used cool box determination unit 33 compares the second total number with the predetermined second upper limit number, and determines whether the second upper limit number is greater than the second total number. The second upper limit number is, for example, the number of cold storage boxes 100 that are preferably set in advance in accordance with the scale of the delivery base and preferably remain in 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 S63, the used cool box determining unit 33 adds a weight of 20 to all of the cool boxes 100 whose number is less than the second lower limit number.

  In step S64, the used cool box determination unit 33 assigns a weight of 5 to all of the cool boxes 100 having the second lower limit number and less than the second upper limit number.

  In step S65, the used cold storage determining unit 33 adds 3 to all the cold storages 100 at the delivery source bases with the second upper limit number or more.

  Due to such processing, it is assumed in advance that the cool box 100 at the delivery destination site will increase due to the cool box 100 delivered from the delivery source site. Can be prevented.

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

[Refresh target selection processing]
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 used cool box determining unit 33 loops the processes from step S72 to step S74 described below for each cool box 100 that is not assigned.

  In step S72, the used cool box determining unit 33 determines, for each cool box 100, whether or not the battery for the circulation fan included in the cool box 100 has been refreshed within a predetermined period (for example, one month).

  Note that the battery refresh means that the battery is prevented from being deteriorated by completely discharging the battery and then recharging the battery.

  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 S73, the used cool box determination unit 33 determines, for each cool box 100, whether or not the refreshing storage of the cool box 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 cool storage means that the cool storage is completely thawed once and then cooled again. As a result, the cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 can accurately recognize the cold storage available time.

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

  In step S74, the used cool box determining unit 33 selects the cool box 100 as a refresh processing target, returns to step S71, and performs the processes from step S72 to step S74 on the next cool box 100.

  When the processes from step S72 to step S74 are completed for all the cold insulators 100 that are not assigned, in step S75, the cold insulator use determination unit 33 uses all the cold insulators selected by the loop from step S72 to step S74. An instruction to refresh the battery and the regenerator is output to the refrigerator 100.

  As described above, the cool box management system 1 refers to the operation plan, extracts a cool box having a coolable time equal to or longer than the cool time required for the operation plan, and then extracts all the cool boxes, Weighting is performed according to at least one of the number of cold storage boxes at the delivery source site, the number of cold storage boxes at the delivery destination site, the number of applicable temperature zones, the rated cold storage time, the cumulative number of uses, etc. The cool box to be used for the operation plan is decided with priority from the large cool box.

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

  In particular, when the number of cool boxes at the delivery source site is equal to or greater than the predetermined first upper limit number, a large weight is given to the cool boxes that exceed the first upper limit number, and the cool box at the delivery source point is set to the predetermined first upper limit number. If the number of vehicles is less than the lower limit, only a small weight is given to the cool box. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the number of cold storage boxes existing in the delivery source site to a suitable range.

  Further, when the number of cool boxes at the delivery destination site is less than the predetermined second lower limit number, a large weight is given to the cool box at the delivery source site and the cool box at the delivery destination site is set to the predetermined second minimum number. If the number is equal to or more than the upper limit number, only a small weight is given to the cool box at the delivery source site. For this reason, it is possible to avoid the situation where the cool box is excessively concentrated at the delivery destination site in anticipation of the number of cool boxes to be delivered to the delivery destination site.

  Further, a large weight is given to a cool box having a small number of applicable temperature zones, and a small weight is given to a cool box having a large number of applicable temperature zones. For this reason, since the cool box with low versatility can be used with priority, the range of cool box operations can be expanded and efficient cool box operations can be performed.

  Further, 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 the cool box with low versatility can be used with priority, the range of cool box operations can be expanded and efficient cool box operations can be performed.

  Further, a small weight is given to a cool box with a large cumulative number of uses, and a large weight is given to a cool box with a small cumulative number of uses. Therefore, since the cool box with a low frequency of use can be preferentially used, the number of times of use can be leveled and the deterioration of the specific cool box can be prevented.

  Further, each functional block shown in FIG. 1 can be realized by appropriately using one or a plurality of microcomputers as needed. In that case, the microcomputer has a configuration including, for example, a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and the CPU executes the 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, although the cool box management device 300 and the cool box 100 are divided into the functional blocks shown in FIG. 1 to describe the embodiment, one of the functions of the cool box management device 300 is provided as necessary. The unit may be provided in the cool box 100 and vice versa.

  The present invention is not limited to the management method of the cool box 100, and may be a program of 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 the embodiment in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be limitedly interpreted by these. 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 cool boxes at the delivery source base (first total number), the number of cool boxes at the delivery destination base (second total number), and application to all extracted cool boxes Although the weighting is performed according to the number of possible temperature zones, the rated cold storage time, the cumulative number of times of use, etc., the present invention is not limited to this. For example, weighting may be performed based on at least one of these weighting factors, or weighting may be performed based on other weighting factors.

  In the above-described embodiment, it is determined that the cool box with a larger weight is preferentially used for the operation plan, but the present invention is not limited to this. A smaller weight may be given to a cool box to be used more preferentially, and a cool box having a smaller weight may be preferentially used.

  In the above-described embodiment, the weighting is performed based on the rated cool-keeping time in step S37 shown in FIG. 6, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead of the rated cold storage time, for example, the cold storage 100 may be weighted based on the available cold storage time at the departure date and time acquired from the cold storage 100. In this case, the used cool box determination unit 33 may obtain the weight of the cold storage possible time detected by the cold storage capacity information detection unit 12 of the cool box 100 and weight it.

  In the above-described embodiment, in step S22 illustrated in FIG. 5, it has been described that the coolable time is acquired for each cool box 100 existing at the delivery base, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, to obtain the coolable time of the cool box 100 arriving at the delivery site equipped with the cool box management device 300, which is provided by a higher-level management device that collectively manages the cool box management device 300 of the plurality of delivery sites. You can In this case, the higher-level management device or the like grasps the information regarding the cool box 100 moving between the delivery bases, for example, the delivery destination base, the arrival date and time, the remaining coolable time, etc. It is transmitted to the management device 300. Thereby, the cool box management device 300 sets not only the cool box 100 currently existing at the delivery site but also the cool box 100 arriving at the delivery site from the present time to the departure date and time of the operation plan as candidates for the cool box. Therefore, it is possible to perform a more efficient cold storage use decision process.

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

1 Cold Storage Management System 100 Cold Storage 11 Identification Symbol Holding Unit 12 Cooling Capacity Information Detection Unit 13 Display Unit 14 Cold Storage Information Transmitting Unit 15 Command Information Receiving Unit 300 Cooling Storage Management Device 31 Operation Plan Holding Unit 32 Owned Number Holding Unit 33 Used Cold storage determination unit 34 Command information transmission unit 35 Cold storage information reception unit

Claims (13)

A plurality of cold storage boxes having an ability to store articles and to keep the stored articles cold, which has a cooling ability that changes with the passage of time,
Receiving information on the cold storage capacity of each of the cold storage from the cold storage,
The operation plan is based on the received information about the cold storage capacity and an operation plan for delivering the cold storage, which includes at least information about the cold storage capacity required for delivery and the number of cold storage needed for the delivery. Extract a cool box suitable for
Temperature zone corresponding to the refrigerator, cold capacity, based on at least one of the cumulative number of uses, performs weighting to each refrigerator that the extracted, a preferentially from a large refrigerator weighted necessary to the trip plan Decide the cool box to use only the number of units ,
Cool box management device,
Have a,
In the delivery base that manages the cold storage, the cold storage management device is configured such that, based on the number of the cold stores at the delivery source base and a predetermined first threshold value, the plurality of the cold storage units at the delivery base A cool box management system that weights each cool box.   A plurality of cool boxes having the ability to store articles and to keep the stored articles cold, which has a cold storage capacity that changes with the passage of time,
    Receiving information about the cold storage capacity of each of the cold storage from the cold storage,
    The operation plan is based on the received information about the cold storage capacity and an operation plan for delivering the cold storage, which includes at least information about the cold storage capacity required for delivery and the number of cold storage needed for the delivery. Extract a cool box 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, each of the extracted cold storages is weighted, and the cold storage with a large weight is given priority in the operation plan. Decide the cool box to use only the number of units,
  Cool box management device,
  Have
The cold storage management device, when performing weighting based on the temperature zone corresponding to the cold storage, to the cold storage that can support only a narrower temperature zone, a greater weight than the cold storage that can support a wider temperature zone The cold storage management system that determines the cold storages to be used by the number required for the operation plan by prioritizing the cold storages having a larger weight.   A plurality of cool boxes having the ability to store articles and to keep the stored articles cold, which has a cold storage capacity that changes with the passage of time,
    Receiving information on the cold storage capacity of each of the cold storage from the cold storage,
    The operation plan is based on the received information about the cold storage capacity and an operation plan for delivering the cold storage box, which includes at least information about the cold storage capacity required for delivery and the number of cold storage boxes required for the delivery. Extract a cool box 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, each of the extracted cold storages is weighted, and the cold storage with a large weight is given priority in the operation plan. Decide the cool box to use only the number of units,
  Cool box management device,
  Have
  The cold storage management device, when performing weighting based on the cold storage capacity of the cold storage, gives a larger weight to a cold storage having a smaller cold storage capacity than a cold storage having a larger cold storage capacity, and a higher weight. Cool storage management system that prioritizes large cool storage boxes and determines the number of cool storage boxes to be used for the operation plan.   A plurality of cool boxes having the ability to store articles and to keep the stored articles cold, which has a cold storage capacity that changes with the passage of time,
    Receiving information on the cold storage capacity of each of the cold storage from the cold storage,
    The operation plan is based on the received information about the cold storage capacity and an operation plan for delivering the cold storage box, which includes at least information about the cold storage capacity required for delivery and the number of cold storage boxes required for the delivery. Extract a cool box 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, each of the extracted cold storages is weighted, and the cold storage with a large weight is given priority in the operation plan. Decide the cool box to use only the number of units,
  Cool box management device,
  Have
After determining the cool box to be used for the operation plan, the cool box management device determines the number of cool boxes that are not decided to be used in the operation plan with respect to all the cool boxes at one delivery source base. When the ratio of the number is more than a predetermined ratio, the cold storage that is not decided to be used in the operation plan is completely released from the cold storage that the cold storage has and that supplies the cold storage capacity. A cool box management system that executes a refresh process that cools and stores cold. The first threshold includes at least a first upper limit number,
The cold storage management device increases the weight of the cold storage that exceeds the first upper limit number of the number of vehicles owned by the delivery source site,
The cool box management system according to claim 1 . When the operation plan includes information on a delivery destination site delivered from one delivery source site in the delivery site that manages the cool box, the cool box management device determines that the delivery site is the delivery site. Information about the number of the cold storages in the one delivery destination base is acquired based on the number of the cold storages in the one delivery destination base and a predetermined second threshold value. Weight each of the multiple cool boxes,
Refrigerator system of claim 1 or 5. The second threshold value includes at least a second lower limit number,
The cool box management device increases the weight of the cool boxes that are less than the second lower limit number among the number of vehicles owned at the delivery destination base,
The cool box management system according to claim 6 . The cold storage management device, when performing weighting based on the cumulative number of uses of the cold storage, performs a smaller weighting than the cold storage of a smaller cumulative number of uses, with respect to the cold storage of a larger cumulative number of uses, more Prioritizing the cool box with a large weight, determine the cool box to use only the number required for the operation plan,
The cool box management system according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The cold storage management device corrects the cold storage capacity based on information about an outside temperature of a delivery base included in the operation plan, or based on weather information of a region where the delivery base exists,
The cool box management system according to any one of claims 1 to 8 . A cool box management device for storing a plurality of cool boxes having a cool box capacity for accommodating an article and keeping the stored article cold, which is changed according to the passage of time,
A receiving unit that receives information about the cooling capacity of each of the cold storages from the cold storage,
The operation plan is based on the received information about the cold storage capacity and an operation plan for delivering the cold storage box, which includes at least information about the cold storage capacity required for delivery and the number of cold storage boxes required for the delivery. Suitable cold storage box is extracted, each of the plurality of cold storage boxes is weighted based on at least one of the temperature zone corresponding to the cold storage box, the cold storage capacity, and the cumulative number of times of use, and the cold storage box with the larger weight is given priority. And a used cool box determination unit that determines the cool box to be used by the number required for the operation plan,
Have a,
In the delivery base that manages the cold storage, the cold storage management device is configured such that, based on the number of the cold storages at the delivery base and a predetermined first threshold value, the plurality of the cold storages at the delivery base. A cool box management device that weights each of the cool boxes. A cool box management device for storing a plurality of cool boxes having a cool box capacity for accommodating articles and keeping the stored articles cold, which is changed according to the passage of time,
A receiving unit that receives information about the cooling capacity of each of the cold storages from the cold storage,
The operation plan is based on the received information about the cold storage capacity and an operation plan for delivering the cold storage, which includes at least information about the cold storage capacity required for delivery and the number of cold storage needed for the delivery. Suitable cold storage box, and weights each of the plurality of cold storage boxes based on at least one of the temperature zone corresponding to the cold storage box, the cold storage capacity, and the cumulative number of uses, and gives priority to the cold storage box with the largest weight. And a cold storage use determining unit that determines the cold storage to use as many as the number required for the operation plan,
Have a,
The cold storage management device, when performing weighting based on the temperature zone corresponding to the cold storage, to the cold storage that can support only a narrower temperature zone, a greater weight than the cold storage that can support a wider temperature zone The cold storage management device determines the cold storage to be used by the number required for the operation plan, by prioritizing the cold storage having a larger weight. A cool box management device for storing a plurality of cool boxes having a cool box capacity for accommodating an article and for keeping the stored article cold, the cool box capacity changing with time.
A receiving unit that receives information about the cooling capacity of each of the cold storages from the cold storage,
The operation plan is based on the received information about the cold storage capacity and an operation plan for delivering the cold storage box, which includes at least information about the cold storage capacity required for delivery and the number of cold storage boxes required for the delivery. Suitable cold storage box is extracted, each of the plurality of cold storage boxes is weighted based on at least one of the temperature zone corresponding to the cold storage box, the cold storage capacity, and the cumulative number of times of use, and the cold storage box with the larger weight is given priority. And a used cool box determination unit that determines the cool box to be used by the number required for the operation plan,
Have a,
The cold storage management device, when performing weighting based on the cold storage capacity of the cold storage, gives a larger weight to a cold storage having a smaller cold storage capacity than a cold storage having a larger cold storage capacity, and a greater weight. Cool storage management device for determining the number of cool storages to be used by the number required for the operation plan, giving priority to the larger cool storages. A cool box management device for storing a plurality of cool boxes having a cool box capacity for accommodating articles and keeping the stored articles cold, which is changed according to the passage of time,
A receiving unit that receives information about the cooling capacity of each of the cold storages from the cold storage,
The operation plan is based on the received information about the cold storage capacity and an operation plan for delivering the cold storage, which includes at least information about the cold storage capacity required for delivery and the number of cold storage needed for the delivery. Suitable cold storage box, and weights each of the plurality of cold storage boxes based on at least one of the temperature zone corresponding to the cold storage box, the cold storage capacity, and the cumulative number of uses, and gives priority to the cold storage box with the largest weight. And a cold storage use determining unit that determines the cold storage to use as many as the number required for the operation plan,
Have a,
After determining the cool box to be used for the operation plan, the cool box management device determines the number of cool boxes that are not decided to be used in the operation plan with respect to all the cool boxes at one delivery source base. When the ratio of the number is more than a predetermined ratio, the cold storage that is not decided to be used in the operation plan is completely released from the cold storage that the cold storage has and that supplies the cold storage capacity. A cool box management device that executes a refresh process of storing cold after cooling.

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