JP7108889B2 - Electric lock for delivery box and delivery box - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to an electric lock for locking and unlocking the door of a delivery box.

For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a locker system that manages keys for lockable cabinets in cyberspace. In this locker system, a lock management communication means is provided between the locked cabinet and the lock management device, and the lock management device locks and unlocks the lock of the locked cabinet through this lock management communication means. there is Further, FIG. 14 of Patent Document 1 shows an example in which a numeric keypad is provided as means for a person who unlocks a locked cupboard to input confirmation information.

JP-A-2003-27797

In the locker system as described in Patent Document 1, in order to accurately manage the usage status of each locked cabinet, the open/closed state of the door that opens and closes the opening of each locked cabinet, and each locked cabinet It is important to reliably grasp the locked state of the lock.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an electric lock for a home delivery box that can be easily locked and unlocked using a communication terminal and that can reliably grasp the open/closed and locked states of the door that opens and closes the opening of the home delivery box. to provide.

An electric lock for a delivery box, which is one aspect of the present disclosure, is an electric lock that locks and unlocks the door of the delivery box. A latch whose one end goes in and out of a notch provided on the inner surface of the box opening that is opened and closed by the door in conjunction with the operation, and a locked state that restricts the opening operation of the door by the handle, or an unlock that permits the opening operation. A lock mechanism driven by a locking motor, an open/close sensor for detecting whether the door is open or closed, a lock sensor for detecting that the lock mechanism is in the locked state, and a communication terminal for the deliverer and the consignee. A communication unit that receives an unlocking signal by short-range wireless, a numeric keypad input unit that accepts input of an unlocking number that has arrived at the communication terminal of the consignee, and an unlocking signal or unlocking signal that is accepted by the communication unit or numeric keypad input unit. A control unit that drives a lock motor to unlock the lock mechanism when the lock number is authenticated, and a control unit that is attached to the other end of the latch so that one end of the latch is notched even when the handle is in the locked state. One end of the latch escapes from the notch even when the handle is in the locked state by inserting and rotating the emergency escape lever that can be moved to the position where it escapes from the part and the key possessed by the administrator. a control cylinder lock that can be moved into position. The control unit transmits the detection results of the open/close sensor and the lock sensor to the outside via the communication terminal of the deliverer or the consignee.

A delivery box, which is another aspect of the present disclosure, includes the electric lock configured as described above.

According to the electric lock for a delivery box and the delivery box equipped with the same according to the present disclosure, locking and unlocking can be easily performed using a communication terminal, and the open/closed state and locked state of the door that opens and closes the opening of the delivery box. can be grasped with certainty.

1 is a diagram schematically showing a usage pattern of a delivery box system including delivery boxes that is an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. It is a front-side perspective view of the electric lock with which the delivery box is equipped. Fig. 3 is a rear perspective view of the electric lock shown in Fig. 2; FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a notch provided on the inner surface of the box opening with which the latch of the electric lock engages; It is a figure which shows the state which removed the cover of the cylinder lock for management in the electric lock shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the locking mechanism of an electric lock. It is a top view which shows that the locking mechanism of an electric lock exists in a locked state. It is a top view which shows that the lock mechanism of the electric lock was in the unlocked state. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a state in which the handle of the unlocked electric lock is operated and the latch is pulled in; It is a functional block diagram of the electric lock of the delivery box. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an operation flow when a delivery person delivers a package to a delivery box; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an operation flow when a consignee with a smartphone receives a parcel at a home delivery box; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an operational flow when a consignee who has a mobile phone that is not a smart phone receives a parcel at a home delivery box.

Embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this description, specific shapes, materials, numerical values, directions, etc. are examples for facilitating understanding of the present disclosure, and can be changed as appropriate according to usage, purpose, specifications, and the like. In addition, when a plurality of embodiments and modifications are included below, it is assumed from the beginning that the characteristic parts thereof will be used in combination as appropriate.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a usage pattern of a home delivery box system 1 including a home delivery box 10 that is an embodiment of the present disclosure. A home delivery box system 1 integrally includes a plurality of home delivery boxes 10. - 特許庁In the delivery box system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, delivery boxes 10 are arranged in three rows and five stages. The delivery box system 1 is installed, for example, at a station, a convenience store, or the like.

Each home delivery box 10 includes a door 12 for opening and closing an opening provided on the front surface, and an electric lock 14 installed on the door 12. - 特許庁A deliverer D and a consignee R who use the home delivery box 10 can deliver and receive the parcel N using smartphones DP and RP, which are communication terminals carried by them, respectively. The smartphones DP and RP perform short-range wireless communication with the electric lock 14 of the delivery box 10, and communicate with the cloud C via a public line or a dedicated line. The cloud C is preferably configured by the server of the administrator of the delivery box system 1 . Details of the delivery operation and the reception operation of the package N will be described later.

FIG. 2 is a front side perspective view of the electric lock 14 provided in the delivery box. 3 is a rear perspective view of the electric lock 14 shown in FIG. 2. FIG. In FIGS. 2 and 3 (also in FIGS. 4, 5, etc.), the front-rear direction, the left-right direction, and the up-down direction, which are orthogonal to each other, are indicated by arrows. The left and right directions here are referred to as "right" and "left" when the electric lock 14 is viewed from the front.

The electric lock 14 has a function of locking and unlocking the door 12 of the delivery box 10 . As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, electric lock 14 includes handle 18 and latch 20 . The handle 18 and the latch 20 are attached to the lock main body 16, which has a horizontally long rectangular shape when viewed from the front. The lock main body 16 is preferably made of, for example, a resin molded product.

The handle 18 is a member operated when opening the door 12 . The handle 18 is housed within the recess 17 of the lock body 16 . The handle 18 has a substantially T-shape when viewed from the front, and has an operation portion 18a extending in the vertical direction and an arm portion 18b projecting from the operation portion 18a in the left-right direction. An end portion of the arm portion 18b is fixed to a shaft member (not shown) rotatably provided inside the lock body portion 16. As shown in FIG. As a result, the handle 18 can swing around the shaft member to which the arm portion 18b is fixed.

The latch 20 is arranged movably in the left-right direction within a cylindrical guide portion 22 integrally formed on the rear surface of the lock body portion 16 . The latch 20 is constantly biased leftward by a biasing member (not shown), and one end of the latch 20 protrudes laterally from the left end surface of the lock body 16 of the electric lock 14 . One end portion of the latch 20 is formed with an inclined surface 21 that is located on the right side as it goes rearward.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a notch provided on the inner surface of the box opening with which the latch 20 of the electric lock 14 engages. As shown in FIG. 4, a plate 24 made of, for example, a flat metal plate is fixed to the inner surface of the opening 11 of the delivery box 10 that is opened and closed by the door 12 by screwing or the like. A rectangular notch 26 is formed in the plate 24, for example. When the door 12 is closed, the one end 20a of the latch 20 once retracts due to the contact of the plate 24 with the inclined surface 21, and then reaches the position of the notch 26 so that the one end 20a enters the notch 26. move to Thereby, the state in which the door 12 closes the box opening 11 is maintained. On the other hand, the latch 20 is slid rightward by operating the handle 18 when the electric lock 14 is in the unlocked state. As a result, the one end 20a of the latch 20 can escape from the notch 26 and the door 12 can be opened.

In this manner, one end of the latch 20 moves in and out of the notch 26 provided on the inner surface of the box opening 11 opened and closed by the door 12 in conjunction with the operation of the handle 18 when the electric lock 14 is in the unlocked state. By doing so, the opening/closing state of the door 12 is regulated.

As shown in FIG. 4 , a magnet 28 is attached to the plate 24 near the notch 26 . The magnet 28 is fixed to the plate 24 by screwing or the like, for example. In this embodiment, the magnet 28 is arranged above and behind the notch 26 through which the one end 20a of the latch 20 enters and exits. The magnet 28 is for detecting the open/closed state of the door 12 depending on whether or not it is detected by an open/close sensor provided in the electric lock 14 .

In the present embodiment, an example in which the notches 26 and the magnets 28 are arranged on the plate 24 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. may be provided directly without intervening.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the cover of the management cylinder lock is removed in the electric lock 14 shown in FIG. 2, 3 and 5, the electric lock 14 further comprises a control cylinder lock 30. As shown in FIG. By inserting the key owned by the manager of the home delivery box system 1 and rotating the management cylinder lock 30, the latch 20 can be locked even when the handle 18 is in the locked state. ) can be moved to the escaped position.

The management cylinder lock 30 is fixed to the lock main body 16 so that the front end face having the keyhole is recessed from the front surface of the lock main body 16 . As shown in FIG. 2, the front end surface of the management cylinder lock 30 is normally covered with a disk-shaped front cover 32 made of, for example, resin molding. The front cover 32 is fixed to the front surface of the lock body 16 by, for example, press fitting or screwing. A groove 34 is formed in the front cover 32 . The administrator removes the front cover 32 from the lock body 16 to expose the cylinder lock 30 for management by inserting a coin or the like into the groove 34 and rotating it, as shown in FIG. It becomes possible to insert the key at 30 . Since the front end surface of the management cylinder lock 30 having the keyhole is normally covered with the front cover 32 in this way, it is possible to prevent tampering such as inserting a foreign object into the keyhole.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rear portion of the management cylinder lock 30 is covered with a rear cover 36 made of resin molding, for example. The rear cover 36 is fixed to the lock body 16 by, for example, screwing.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the locking mechanism 40 of the electric lock 14. As shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the rear cover 36 of the management cylinder lock 30 has been removed. As shown in FIG. 6, a rear end surface 37 of the management cylinder lock 30 is provided with a protrusion 38. As shown in FIG. The protrusion 38 has a substantially fan shape when viewed from the rear. The protrusion 38 is also positioned adjacent to a connecting member 25 whose upper end is connected to the latch 20 . As a result, when a key owned by an administrator is inserted into the keyhole of the management cylinder lock 30 and rotated, the projection 38 provided on the rear end surface 37 of the management cylinder lock 30 rotates, and the connecting member 25 moves as indicated by the arrow A. Press in the direction (i.e. rightward). As a result, even when the handle 18 is locked by the lock mechanism 40, which will be described later, the latch 20 can be moved to a position where the one end 20a is out of the notch 26 (see FIG. 4).

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, an emergency escape lever 27 is attached to the other end of the latch 20 . The emergency escape lever 27 can move the latch 20 to a position where the one end 20a escapes from the notch 26 even when the handle 18 is locked by a locking mechanism 40, which will be described later. As a result, even if a child or the like is trapped in the home delivery box 10, the door 12 can be opened by operating the emergency escape lever 27 to move the latch 20 in the direction of the arrow A. safety is ensured.

Next, the lock mechanism 40 of the electric lock 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 6, and the like. The electric lock 14 further comprises a locking mechanism 40. As shown in FIG. The lock mechanism 40 has a function of setting a locked state that restricts the opening operation of the door 12 by the handle 18 or an unlocked state that permits the opening operation. Here, the locking mechanism 40 is driven by a locking motor 44 .

As shown in FIG. 3, the lock mechanism 40 is provided on the rear side of the lock main body 16 of the electric lock 14 while being housed in a case 42 made of resin molding, for example. The case 42 is mounted on a plate-like base portion 23 formed integrally with a guide portion 22 that slidably accommodates the latch 20 in the lock body portion 16 by, for example, screwing.

FIG. 6 shows the locking mechanism 40 with the case 42 removed. As shown in FIG. 6 , the lock mechanism 40 includes a lock motor 44 , a gear member 46 , a motion converting member 48 and a lock lever 50 .

A lock motor 44 is fixed to the bottom surface of the case 42 . The operation of the locking motor 44 is controlled by a control section which will be described later. A gear 45 is fixed to the rotating shaft of the locking motor 44 . The gear member 46 is rotatably supported on the bottom surface of the case 42 . The gear member 46 has a gear portion 46a arranged in a state of meshing with the gear 45 of the locking motor 44, and a cylindrical portion 46b integrally formed with the gear portion 46a. One protrusion 46c is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 46b.

The motion converting member 48 is a member for converting the rotating motion of the gear member 46 into the rocking motion of the lock lever 50 . In this embodiment, the motion conversion member 48 is configured by a coil-shaped spring member wound around the cylindrical portion 46 b of the gear member 46 . Two ends extending from the coil-shaped spring member are inserted into a rectangular through-hole formed in a vertical wall portion at one end of the lock lever 50 .

The lock lever 50 is swingable around a pin 52 erected on the bottom surface of the case 42 . One side of the rocking range of the lock lever 50 is regulated by a cylindrical stopper 54 erected on the bottom surface of the case 42 .

The other end of the lock lever 50 is formed with an upright wall portion 56 that is bent in the vertical direction. A lock sensor 58 is installed adjacent to the other end of the lock lever 50 . The lock sensor 58 is arranged fixed to the bottom surface of the case 42 . The lock sensor 58 is preferably constructed by, for example, a microswitch. When the lock mechanism 40 is in the locked state, the standing wall portion 56 of the lock lever 50 pushes the contact piece 59 of the lock sensor 58 to turn on. On the other hand, when the lock mechanism 40 is unlocked by the lock motor 44 as will be described later, the lock lever 50 rotates about the pin 52 so that the upright wall portion 56 moves toward the lock sensor 58 . When the contact piece 59 is released from being pushed in, it is turned off. A result of detection by the lock sensor 58 is transmitted to a control section, which will be described later.

An open/close sensor 60 is provided in the case 42 that houses the lock mechanism 40 . In this embodiment, the opening/closing sensor 60 is configured by a magnetic sensor. The open/close sensor 60 can detect the open/close state of the door 12 of the delivery box 10 . Specifically, when the door 12 closes the front opening 11 of the delivery box 10, the open/close sensor 60 faces the magnet 28 described with reference to FIG. Become. As a result, the open/close sensor 60 is turned on, and it can be detected that the door 12 is closed. On the other hand, when the door 12 is opened, the open/close sensor 60 is moved away from the magnet 28 to be turned off, thereby detecting that the door 12 is opened. A result of detection by the open/close sensor 60 is transmitted to a control section, which will be described later.

Next, operation of the lock mechanism 40 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 7A to 7C. FIG. 7A is a plan view showing that the lock mechanism 40 of the electric lock 14 is in the locked state. FIG. 7B is a plan view showing the unlocked state of the lock mechanism 40 of the electric lock 14. FIG. FIG. 7C is a plan view showing a state in which the handle 18 is operated and the latch 20 is pulled in with the electric lock 14 in the unlocked state. 7A to 7C show the locking mechanism 40 viewed from above with the case 42 removed.

As shown in FIG. 7A, when the lock mechanism 40 is in the locked state, the upright wall portion 56 of the lock lever 50 pushes the contact piece 59, so the lock sensor 58 is in the ON state. At this time, the vertical wall portion 56 of the lock lever 50 is at a position where it can be engaged with the projecting portion 63 (see FIG. 7B) of the lock member 62 . The lock member 62 is a member fixed to the upper end of the shaft member to which the arm portion 18b of the handle 18 is fixed, and rotates integrally with the shaft member. Therefore, the rotation of the lock member 62 is restricted in a state where the protruding portion 63 of the lock member 62 can be engaged with the standing wall portion 56 of the lock lever 50 . That is, the operation of the handle 18 for opening the door 12 is regulated, and the door 12 is locked by the lock mechanism 40 in a locked state.

As shown in FIG. 7B, when the locking motor 44 is driven by a command from the control section, which will be described later, the gear member 46 meshing with the gear 45 of the locking motor 44 rotates. Then, the coil spring-shaped motion conversion member 48 wound around the columnar portion 46b of the gear member 46 is pushed toward one end on the columnar portion 46b by the projection 46c. As a result, the two ends of the motion conversion member 48 press one end of the lock lever 50 to one side (that is, the front side of the electric lock 14). As a result, the lock lever 50 rotates clockwise around the pin 52 . When the lock lever 50 rotates in this manner, the standing wall portion 56 at the other end of the lock lever 50 is separated from the contact piece 59, and the lock sensor 58 is turned off. Further, the locking mechanism 40 is in the unlocked state by the vertical wall portion 56 of the other end portion of the lock lever 50 being in a position where it does not engage with the projecting portion 63 of the lock member 62 . Therefore, when the lock member 62 is rotatable, when the operation portion 18a of the handle 18 is pulled, as shown in FIG. It is possible to escape and thereby open the door 12. - 特許庁

Referring to FIG. 2 again, the electric lock 14 further includes a numeric keypad input section 64 . In the electric lock 14 of this embodiment, the ten-key input portion 64 is arranged on the right side of the front surface of the lock body portion 16 . The numeric keypad input unit 64 has a function of receiving an input of an unlocking number such as a password that has arrived at the consignee's smartphone RP.

The ten-key input section 64 includes ten numeric keys “1” to “9” and “0”, as well as a cancel key 65 and an enter key 66 . Moreover, it is preferable that a lighting section 67 is provided above the ten-key input section 64 . An LED (Light Emitting Diode) is preferably used as the light source of the lighting portion 67 . The lighting unit 67 lights up when the electric lock 14 is unlocked, and has a function of informing users including the deliverer and the consignee that the electric lock 14 is in the unlocked state.

Referring to FIG. 3 again, a control unit housing portion 15 is provided on the rear surface of the lock main body portion 16 of the electric lock 14 . A rear opening of the control section storage section 15 is closed by a lid member 19 . As a result, water is prevented from entering the control section storage section 15 from the inside of the door 12 . A packing member is preferably provided on the inner surface of the lid member 19 in order to enhance the waterproof effect.

The control unit storage unit 15 is provided in the lock main body 16 of the electric lock 14 at a position aligned in the front-rear direction with the ten-key input unit 64 on the front side. This facilitates wiring between the control unit and the power supply unit arranged in the control unit storage unit 15 and the numeric keypad input unit 64 . A locking motor 44 included in the locking mechanism 40 is also arranged on the end side of the locking mechanism 40 near the control unit housing 15 (see FIG. 6). This facilitates wiring between the control unit and the power supply unit arranged in the control unit storage unit 15 and the locking motor 44 .

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of the electric lock 14 of the delivery box 10. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the electric lock 14 includes the locking motor 44, the lock sensor 58, the open/close sensor 60, and the ten-key input section 64 as described above, and also includes a power supply section 70, a communication section 72, a control section 74 and a storage unit 76 are further provided. The communication section 72 , the control section 74 and the storage section 76 may be housed in the control section housing section 15 while being mounted on the control board 78 .

In the electric lock 14 of this embodiment, the power supply section 70 is housed inside the control section housing section 15 . The power supply unit 70 supplies operating power to the above-described units 44, 58, 60, 64, 72, 74, and the like. The power supply unit 70 is preferably configured with, for example, one or more batteries. By configuring the power supply unit 70 with a battery in this way, the delivery box system 1 can be installed without electrical wiring work, so that the workability is improved and the installation cost can be reduced.

The communication unit 72 has a function of receiving unlocking signals transmitted from the smartphones DP and RP of the deliverer and the consignee by short-range wireless communication. The communication unit 72 performs short-range wireless communication such as BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy) communication with the smartphones DP and RP. More specifically, it is preferable that the communication unit 72 performs short-range wireless communication only with the smartphones DP and RP, and does not communicate with the outside. As a result, the power consumption necessary for communication can be suppressed, and the life of the power supply unit 70 made of a battery can be extended.

The control unit 74 has a function of driving the locking motor 44 to unlock the lock mechanism 40 when the unlocking signal or unlocking number received by the communication unit 72 or the ten-key input unit 64 is authenticated. The control unit 74 is preferably configured by, for example, a microprocessor or the like.

The control unit 74 also functions to transmit the detection results of the opening/closing sensor 60 and the lock sensor 58 to the outside via the smartphones DP and RP of the deliverer D or the consignee R. This communication is also performed by short-range wireless communication such as BLE communication. The detection results of the open/close sensor 60 and the lock sensor 58 transmitted to the smartphones DP and RP are transmitted from the smartphones DP and RP to the cloud C (eg, administrator's server or the like) via a public line or the like.

The storage unit 76 has a function of storing programs and data necessary for security authentication performed when a package is delivered to the delivery box 10 or received from the delivery box 10 . The storage unit 76 may store, for example, the usage history of the delivery box 10 (for example, the date and time when the door 12 was opened and closed, the date and time when the electric lock 14 was unlocked, etc.).

Next, how the delivery box system 1 is used will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11. FIG. First, with reference to FIG. 9, the operation flow when the delivery person delivers the package N to the home delivery box 10 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 9, the delivery person uses the smart phone DP to read the barcode of the slip of the package N, thereby reading the package number. The smartphone DP that has read the parcel number determines the home delivery box 10 to which the parcel N should be delivered in the home delivery box system 1 by communicating with the cloud C, for example, by the box number. Then, the smartphone DP transmits a connection signal to the electric lock 14 of the home delivery box 10 determined as the delivery location, and receives a beacon transmitted from the electric lock 14 to execute advertising. As a result, short-range wireless communication is established between the smartphone DP and the electric lock 14, and security authentication is performed between them.

After the security authentication is completed, an unlocking signal is transmitted from the smart phone DP to the electric lock 14 . The control unit 74 of the electric lock 14 that has received this unlocking signal at the communication unit 72 drives the locking motor 44 to shift from the locked state to the unlocked state, thereby unlocking. At this time, the lock sensor 58 is turned off. The unlocked state continues for a predetermined time (for example, 10 to 20 seconds). let me know.

A deliverer opens the door 12, delivers the cargo N into the box, and closes the door 12 within a predetermined time when the electric lock 14 is unlocked. At this time, the opening/closing state of the door 12 is detected by the opening/closing sensor 60, and is transmitted from the electric lock 14 to the delivery person's smartphone DP. After a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the electric lock 14 drives the locking motor 44 to shift the lock mechanism 40 from the unlocked state to the locked state, thereby locking the door 12 of the delivery box 10 . At this time, the locked state is detected by the lock sensor 58 and transmitted from the electric lock 14 to the smartphone DP. Note that this lock signal is transmitted to the cloud C from the smartphone DP.

Next, with reference to FIG. 10, an operation flow when a consignee having a smartphone RP receives a parcel N at the home delivery box 10 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the parcel N is delivered to the home delivery box 10, a notification is sent to the consignee's smartphone RP. The content of the notification may include the delivery location of package N (installation location of delivery box system 1, number of delivery box 10), package number, sender information, and the like.

The consignee knows that the package N has been delivered by the notification. Then, the consignee confirms the delivery location of the parcel N using the smartphone RP, and heads for the installation location of the home delivery box system 1 .

When the consignee arrives at the installation location of the home delivery box system 1, the consignee's smartphone RP performs short-range wireless communication with the electric lock 14 of the home delivery box 10 to unlock the electric lock 14 in the same manner as when delivering the package. conduct. That is, Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication is established between the consignee's smartphone RP and the electric lock 14, security authentication is performed between them, and an unlocking signal is sent from the smartphone RP to the electric lock 14 after the security authentication is completed. is sent.

The control unit 74 of the electric lock 14 that has received this unlocking signal at the communication unit 72 drives the locking motor 44 to shift from the locked state to the unlocked state, thereby unlocking. At this time, the lock sensor 58 is turned off. The unlocked state continues for a predetermined time (for example, 10 to 20 seconds). let me know.

The consignee opens the door 12, takes out the package N from the box, and closes the door 12 within a predetermined time when the electric lock 14 is unlocked. At this time, the opening/closing state of the door 12 is detected by the opening/closing sensor 60, and is transmitted from the electric lock 14 to the consignee's smartphone RP. After a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the electric lock 14 drives the locking motor 44 to shift the lock mechanism 40 from the unlocked state to the locked state, thereby locking the door 12 of the delivery box 10 . At this time, the locked state is detected by the lock sensor 58 and transmitted from the electric lock 14 to the smartphone RP. Note that the detection result by the lock sensor 58 is transmitted to the cloud C from the smart phone RP.

Next, with reference to FIG. 11, an operation flow when a consignee who has a mobile phone RP that is not a smart phone receives a parcel N at the home delivery box 10 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 11, when the parcel N is delivered to the home delivery box 10, a notification is sent to the mobile phone RP of the consignee. The content of the notification may include the delivery location of package N (installation location of delivery box system 1, number of delivery box 10), package number, password, sender information, and the like.

The consignee knows that the package N has been delivered by the notification. Then, the consignee confirms the delivery location of the parcel N with the cellular phone RP, and heads for the installation location of the home delivery box system 1. - 特許庁

When the consignee arrives at the installation location of the delivery box system 1, the automatic communication connection function between the mobile phone RP and the electric lock 14 cannot be performed, so the receiver uses the password, which is the unlocking number, to open the delivery box 10. to unlock the door. Specifically, the consignee inputs the password in the ten-key input section 64 and presses the enter key 66 .

The control unit 74 of the electric lock 14 performs security authentication based on the password entered in the ten-key input unit 64. When the authentication is completed, the lock motor 44 is driven to shift from the locked state to the unlocked state and unlock. I do. At this time, the lock sensor 58 is turned off. The unlocked state continues for a predetermined time (for example, 10 to 20 seconds). let me know.

The consignee opens the door 12, takes out the package N from the box, and closes the door 12 within a predetermined time when the electric lock 14 is unlocked. At this time, the opening/closing state of the door 12 is detected by the opening/closing sensor 60, and the detection result is stored in the storage section 76 of the electric lock 14. FIG. After a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the electric lock 14 drives the locking motor 44 to shift the lock mechanism 40 from the unlocked state to the locked state, thereby locking the door 12 of the delivery box 10 . At this time, the locked state is detected by the lock sensor 58 , and the detection result is stored in the storage section 76 of the electric lock 14 .

After that, when the delivery person delivers the package N to the delivery box 10, the detection results of the open/close sensor 60 and the lock sensor 58 stored in the storage unit 76 of the electric lock 14 are transmitted from the communication unit 72 to the delivery person's smartphone. It is sent to DP and sent from smartphone DP to cloud C.

As described above, the electric lock 14 for locking and unlocking the door 12 of the delivery box 10 according to the present embodiment has a handle 18 that is operated when the door 12 is opened, and a handle 18 that is operated when the door 12 is unlocked. A latch 20 in which one end 20a enters and exits a notch 26 provided on the inner surface of the box opening 11 that is opened and closed by the door 12 in conjunction with the operation, and a locked state that restricts the opening operation of the door 12 by the handle 18. A lock mechanism 40 driven by a lock motor 44 to an unlocked state that permits an opening operation, an open/close sensor 60 that detects the open/closed state of the door 12, and a lock sensor 58 that detects that the lock mechanism 40 is in the locked state. , a communication unit 72 that receives unlocking signals transmitted from the smartphones DP and RP of the deliverer and the consignee by short-range radio, and a ten-key input unit 64 that receives the input of the password received by the mobile phone RP of the consignee. and a control unit 74 that drives the locking motor 44 to unlock the lock mechanism 40 when the unlocking signal or password received by the communication unit 72 or the ten-key input unit 64 is authenticated. Furthermore, the electric lock 14 is attached to the other end of the latch 20, and is an emergency escape lever capable of moving the latch 20 to a position where the one end 20a escapes from the notch 26 even when the handle 18 is in the locked state. 27 and a management cylinder that can move the latch 20 to a position where one end 20a escapes from the notch 26 even when the handle 18 is in the locked state by inserting and turning a key owned by the manager. a lock 30; The control unit 74 transmits the detection results of the opening/closing sensor 60 and the lock sensor 58 to the cloud C via the smartphones DP and RP of the deliverer or the consignee.

According to this configuration, it is possible to easily unlock and lock the electric lock 14 of the delivery box 10 using the smartphones DP and RP. In addition, by transmitting the detection results of the opening/closing sensor 60 and the lock sensor 58 to the cloud C via the smartphones DP and RP, the opening/closing state and the locked state of the door 12 that opens/closes the opening 11 of the delivery box 10 are transmitted to the cloud. It can be reliably grasped on C. In addition, even a consignee with a mobile phone RP that is not a smart phone can unlock by entering a password in the ten-key input section 64, so even a consignee with a mobile phone that is not a smart phone can easily use it. . In addition, since an emergency escape lever is provided, even if a child or the like is trapped in the delivery box 10, they can escape, and the safety of the delivery box 10 is ensured. Furthermore, since the management cylinder lock 30 is provided, even if the electric lock 14 becomes electrically inoperable, the administrator can use the key to perform the unlocking operation.

The electric lock 14 of the delivery box of the present embodiment further includes a power supply unit 70 made of a battery, and the communication unit 72 performs short-range wireless communication with the smartphones DP and RP using power supplied from the power supply unit 70. . As a result, the power consumption necessary for communication can be suppressed, and the life of the power supply unit 70 made of a battery can be extended.

Also, in the electric lock 14 of the delivery box of the present embodiment, the end face of the management cylinder lock having the keyhole is covered with a removable cover. As a result, it is possible to prevent tampering such as inserting a foreign object into the keyhole.

It should be noted that the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications thereof, and it goes without saying that various modifications and improvements are possible within the scope of the matters described in the claims of the present application. .

1 delivery box system, 10 delivery box, 11 box opening or front opening, 12 door, 14 electric lock, 15 control section storage section, 16 lock main body, 17 recess, 18 handle, 19 lid member, 20 latch, 21 Inclined surface 22 Guide part 24 Plate 25 Connecting member 26 Notch 27 Emergency escape lever 28 Magnet 30 Cylinder lock for management 32 Front cover 34 Concave strip 36 Rear cover 38 Protrusion 40 Lock mechanism, 42 case, 44 lock motor, 45 gear, 46 gear member, 48 motion conversion member, 50 lock lever, 52 pin, 54 stopper, 56 standing wall portion, 58 lock sensor, 59 contact piece, 60 open/close sensor, 62 lock member, 63 protrusion, 64 numeric key input unit, 65 cancel key, 66 enter key, 67 lighting unit, 70 power supply unit, 72 communication unit, 74 control unit, 76 storage unit, 78 control board, C cloud, D delivery person, DP smart phone (communication terminal), N parcel, R consignee, RP smart phone or mobile phone.

Claims (4)

An electric lock for locking and unlocking the door of a delivery box,
a handle operated when opening the door;
a latch whose one end moves in and out of a notch provided on the inner surface of the box opening that is opened and closed by the door in conjunction with the operation of the handle when in the unlocked state;
a locking mechanism driven by a locking motor to a locked state for restricting the opening operation of the door by the handle or an unlocked state for permitting the opening operation;
an open/close sensor for detecting an open/closed state of the door;
a lock sensor that detects that the lock mechanism is in a locked state;
a communication unit that receives an unlocking signal transmitted from communication terminals of the deliverer and the consignee by short-range wireless;
a numeric keypad input unit for accepting input of the unlocking number received at the consignee's communication terminal;
a control unit that drives the locking motor to bring the lock mechanism into an unlocked state when the unlocking signal or the unlocking number received by the communication unit or the ten-key input unit is authenticated;
an emergency escape lever attached to the other end of the latch and capable of moving the latch to a position where the one end escapes from the notch even when the handle is in a locked state;
a management cylinder lock capable of moving the latch to a position where the one end escapes from the notch even when the handle is in the locked state by inserting and turning a key owned by a manager; with
The control unit transmits detection results of the opening/closing sensor and the lock sensor to the outside via a communication terminal of the delivery person or the consignee.
Electric lock for delivery box. 2. The electric lock for a delivery box according to claim 1, further comprising a power supply unit comprising a battery, wherein said communication unit performs short-range wireless communication with said communication terminal using power supplied from said power supply unit. 3. The electric lock for a home delivery box according to claim 1, wherein an end surface of said management cylinder lock having a keyhole is covered with a removable cover. A home delivery box provided with the electric lock according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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