JP7214939B2 - Destination designated tray transfer system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an article (baggage) sorting and luggage conveying system, and more particularly to a luggage conveying and sorting system for tray-conveying a large number of articles with various destinations designated to their destinations.

In general, at an airport, baggage of a boarding customer is entrusted with transportation by the customer before boarding, is given a baggage identifier ID, and is automatically transported to a designated aircraft according to the departure time. After that, the baggage that has been airlifted to the destination by the aircraft is automatically transported to the customer at the baggage claim area at the specified time.

These are carried out by a destination-designated transportation system in which the transportation mechanism transports each item one by one according to information such as the customer name, flight number, destination, time, etc. included in the identifier ID given to all baggage. . Baggage identifier ID information (hereinafter referred to as "baggage identifier") is read by an identifier ID reader installed at a necessary location in the transport mechanism, automatically transported to the boarding aircraft within the specified time, and after air transportation , the conveyor transport route in the transport system is branched and transported so that the transport arrives at the specified location at the arrival airport at the specified time.

The baggage of boarding customers varies in size, weight, shape, etc., and there are a large number of flights by destination and time, and the departure lobby is also different. In order to transport each piece of baggage to its designated destination within these complicated airports, it is necessary to have an advanced sorting and transportation system that accurately reads baggage identifiers and accurately and reliably conveys baggage according to that information. It goes without saying that

If the size and shape of the baggage, the location of the baggage identifier ID, etc. are not suitable for the transportation system, the destination of the baggage may become unknown due to misinterpretation of the baggage identifier ID. In addition, when baggage passes each other, is overtaken, or is overtaken in the conveying mechanism, a phenomenon such as exchange of identifiers ID occurs between baggage, and completely different baggage may be conveyed to the customer.

In addition, the departure time of an aircraft fluctuates greatly, and there are frequent situations where a large amount of baggage must be temporarily stored (standby) in the transportation system due to flight cancellations, delays, and the like.

On the other hand, in order to ensure the safety of air transportation and to comply with the laws of each country in importing and exporting, all baggage is subject to inspection. Measurement inspections such as weight and size inspections are essential, but among the inspections, various special inspections such as X-ray inspections are performed. Depending on the purpose of the inspection, there are also inspections in which the baggage must be put into an inspection device shielded by a special electromagnetic wave shielding curtain or the like and allowed to pass through.

Accurate interpretation of the baggage identifier given to the baggage is essential to respond to various events such as those mentioned above, and to ensure that the baggage is loaded on the flight on time and delivered to the customer at the destination accurately. Therefore, in general, each piece of baggage is often placed in one returnable transport box (hereinafter referred to as a "tray"). Baggage is placed on the tray and moves inside the transport mechanism together with the tray.

An identifier (type: bar code, electronic identifier, IC tag, etc.) is attached to this tray at a fixed position, and this tray identifier (hereinafter, the identifier attached to the tray is referred to as a "tray identifier"). It is associated with the identifier ID of the placed baggage. Here, "tying" means that the ID information of the baggage identifier and the tray identifier information are associated in a one-to-one correspondence. Tray identifiers are assigned to fixed positions such as the bottom, top, and side walls of trays, making it easier for tray identifier readers to automatically read them in the transport system. to

In this way, various proposals have been made by the following selected literatures as reliable baggage conveying systems that are economical and secure for the purpose of accurately conveying baggage.

In conventional baggage conveying systems, for example, a system such as Document 1 is disclosed as a prior art. This document technically discloses a general transportation system in which baggage is placed on a tray, and the baggage is moved in a conveyor by reading the identification bar code of the tray and conveyed to a destination position.

In Document 1, as described above, the entire system starts with the receipt of baggage from the customer, is conveyed by trays or rails in the airport based on the read data, and is automatically conveyed to the aircraft. It is disclosed as a technical idea. However, this document does not disclose the details of the corresponding functions of each automatic transport machine, such as receiving, weight inspection, departure inspection, transport, branch transport, aircraft arrival, and time allocation.

Document 2 discloses technical details about the technical specifications of the tray used by Document 1. However, this document does not mention operational details such as how to place a wide variety of baggage on trays, how to inspect them, and how to control the time until the departure flight.

In addition, in spite of the wide variety of baggage to be conveyed, it is placed in the approximate center of the conveyance tray based only on information determined only from the shape of the baggage. Accidents such as collisions with walls and breakage are likely to occur.

Japanese Patent No. 3538226 JP 2015-93726 A

The present invention intends to solve the problems of the prior art, and places a wide variety of articles (baggage) one by one in a returnable box (tray) for transportation in the safest manner. It is an object of the present invention to provide a destination-designated returnable container conveying system that accurately and safely conveys a container to a destination at a designated time.

The present invention not only improves the safety and workability of baggage transportation, but also improves the transportation speed (high-speed transportation). An object of the present invention is to provide a destination-designated returnable container transport system capable of remarkably improving efficiency.

In order to solve such a problem, the destination-designated returnable container transport system (Destination Coded Tray (DCT) destination-designated returnable container) according to the present invention includes:
a returnable box (tray) on which articles are placed; a conveying mechanism for the returnable box; a branching and sorting mechanism having an inclined rotating body in the conveying mechanism for the returnable box; a temporary storage mechanism for the returnable box; It is equipped with.

Further, in the destination-designated returnable container transport system according to the present invention, specifically, the article is baggage of a customer, and the returnable container transport mechanism is a baggage transport system in an airport, The temporary storage mechanism for returnable boxes is a multi-storey warehouse, stockyard, or buffer line in the baggage transportation system, and the inspection mechanism for the goods includes collation inspection between the goods and goods information, weight and size measurement, and X-ray inspection. , wherein the destination is a departure flight baggage depot or an airport customer baggage claim area.

In the destination-designated returnable container conveying system according to the present invention, the branching and sorting mechanism having the inclined rotating body has a shaft substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction in which the objects to be conveyed are placed on the conveying road surface and conveyed by the rotary drive mechanism. a fixed portion having an inclined disk having a predetermined angle with the shaft fixed to the shaft; and an outer periphery of the fixed portion which is rotatably arranged around the inclined disk at the same angle and is in sliding contact with the bottom of the conveyed object. an annular rotating body having a surface and pivoted around the shaft so as to be freely rotatable; a driving rotating body contacting a side surface near the outer circumference of the annular rotating body at a predetermined angle; means for arbitrarily selecting the sorting direction by arbitrarily rotating the shaft; It is characterized by having a structure in which the ring-shaped rotating body and the driving rotating body, which are pivotably mounted, are concentrically on the shaft and always maintain a smooth rotating state in a constant press-contact state.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the branching and sorting mechanism having the inclined rotating body of the destination-specified returnable container transport system according to the present invention has a structure in which the rotating portion of the annular rotating body has a substantially homogeneous structure all around. In addition, by adopting a structure that is thicker in the axial direction than a sliding contact mechanism such as a bearing, it is possible to obtain a large and stable moment of inertia. rotation can be continued.

In particular, at high speed rotation, the moment of inertia is greater than in the initial rotational drive, so even if the axial pressure contact force for obtaining the rotational drive force is reduced, sufficiently stable rotation can be obtained. It becomes.

In the branching and sorting mechanism having the tilted rotating body of the destination-designated returnable container transportation system according to the present invention, even when the rotating part rotates at high speed during high-speed transportation, the rotation is reliably propagated through the elastic body, which can be expected to be compressed and deformed. Moreover, by securing the moment of inertia, stable and smooth rotation can be obtained even when the pressing force of the sliding contact portion is small, so that application of unnecessary force to the structure can be avoided.

In the destination-designated returnable container transport system according to the present invention, the transport mechanism is a conveyor and/or a rail-type transport mechanism, the identifier displayed on the returnable container is read, and the identifier of the article linked to the identifier is read. It is characterized in that the articles placed in the tote box are transported to the destination at the desired time based on the ID information.

An identifier ID such as a bar code in which supplementary information such as owner information, weight, size, boarding flight, departure time, destination, etc., is entered in advance is attached to the article, and this information is introduced into the transport mechanism. It is linked one-to-one with the identifier of the tote box that is placed when it is placed. Since the identifier is displayed on the front end, the bottom surface, the side surface of the returnable container, or at a plurality of these locations so that the returnable container identifier can be easily read by the conveying mechanism, troubles due to reading defects in the system can be prevented. Remote reading is also possible. The present invention includes all well-known techniques including image recognition for reading these identifiers.

In the destination-designated returnable container transport system according to the present invention, the identifier displayed on the returnable container and the linked identifier ID information of the article can be corrected in the information management system of the entire transport mechanism. , it is characterized in that it is temporarily stored by the temporary storage mechanism when there is a grace period until the target time to the destination.

For example, at airports, etc., departure times and other information frequently change, so this necessary information is transmitted to the transportation mechanism of the present invention, which is linked to the entire operation system in the airport, and is used as returnable container identifier information for transporting individual items. Added. Therefore, based on information such as departure time delays, returnable boxes and articles that have time to spare will not stay in the transport mechanism and will be guided to the stockyard, buffer line, or multi-story warehouse prepared as temporary storage and waited temporarily. can do.

In the destination-designated returnable container transport system according to the present invention, in discharging the articles in the transport mechanism of the returnable container, the returnable container is moved in the traveling direction in consideration of the position information of the articles placed on the returnable container. It is characterized by a mechanism for moving or ejecting (sliding down) the placed article by tilting it to the left or right.

In the conveying mechanism, the returnable box containing the articles is branched and conveyed to each destination. When the articles and trays arrive at the destination, which is the departure flight baggage collection point, the articles are transferred from the returnable box to a flight box or the like. At this time, the articles are ejected by tilting the tote box moving at high speed to the left or right side (for example, they slide down obliquely). substantially coincide with each other, it becomes easy to adjust the timing of tilting operation of the returnable container and tilting ejection of the article. In other words, since the articles can be delivered without time lag, it is possible to prevent articles from colliding with the conveying rail, the side portion of the belt conveyor, the guide rail, or the like.

In the destination-designated returnable container transport system according to the present invention, the inspection mechanism includes non-destructive contents inspection such as X-ray inspection of articles, and X-rays for inspection and / or other radiation for shielding It is also possible to have a tote front shape that allows the shielding curtain to be swept away at the front of the tote.

In a non-destructive inspection of the contents of an article using radiation such as X-rays, the article placed in the returnable box is introduced into an inspection box surrounded by a shield plate. At this time, the entrance and exit of the inspection box are covered with a heavy radiation shielding curtain. It is necessary to have a structure that is easy to separate, such as (a hesa shape). The returnable box according to the present invention can also have a prow having such a structure.

However, although the destination-designated returnable container transport system according to the present invention claims the existence of the prow for pushing through the heavy shielding curtain as described above, it does not limit its specific shape. It is needless to say that various shapes can be created for the tray shape for achieving the above object, and all shapes including those technical ideas are within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

According to the present invention, it is possible to safely and accurately deliver an article, which is a customer's baggage, to an airline flight designated by the customer or its arrival place. Thus, a destination-designated returnable container transport system can be realized that can significantly improve the safety and workability in transporting articles, and can also significantly improve the economic efficiency.

1 is a perspective conceptual diagram showing an overall image of a destination-designated returnable container transport system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a branching and sorting mechanism having an inclined rotating body of a destination-designated returnable container transport system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a cross section of a branching and sorting mechanism having an inclined rotating body of a destination-designated returnable container transport system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a collation inspection machine for goods and goods information and a weight and size measuring machine of the destination-designated returnable container transport system according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a returnable container (tray) of a destination-designated returnable container transport system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated with reference to drawings. In the following, the range necessary for the description to achieve the object of the present invention is schematically shown, and the range necessary for the description of the relevant part of the present invention is mainly described. It shall be based on a well-known technique.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an overall image of a destination-specifying tray transport system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the destination-specifying tray transport system according to one embodiment of the present invention is a transport mechanism 10 in an airport for transporting baggage to a destination. A three-dimensional warehouse or stock yard, buffer line 12, which is a temporary storage mechanism for returnable containers, and a three-dimensional warehouse, stock yard, buffer line 13, which is a temporary storage only for returnable boxes (hereinafter referred to as "trays"). , a collation inspection machine for goods and goods information as an inspection mechanism for goods and a weight and size measuring machine 14, a radiation inspection device 15 including an X-ray inspection, a conveying line 16 consisting of a conveyor or a rail for conveying trays, and a branching mechanism 17. , a reversing discharge mechanism 18, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, an article 20, which is baggage received from a customer, has an article identifier ID information 21 added with information such as destination, boarding flight, departure time, etc. in addition to customer privacy information, which is customer information. Attached in technical form such as code, electronic tag. Then, the article 20 is specified by the collation inspection machine for the article and the article information and the weight and size measuring machine 14 and placed at the specified position of the tray 11 .

Each tray 11 is provided with tray identification information, and the tray identifier information and the article identifier ID information of the articles 20 are linked one-to-one, so the system of the transport mechanism 10 only reads the tray identifier information. can recognize all of the article information. Of course, the control system of the transport mechanism 10 is linked with the entire airport information system.

Therefore, the destination-designated tray transport system according to one embodiment of the present invention reads the tray identification information attached to the designated location of the tray on which the article is placed, and determines the boarding flight number and boarding gate of the article. , baggage collection location, transportation destination, departure time, etc., select a transportation route according to the purpose, or wait temporarily according to the departure time, and transport the goods as planned.

Articles 20 and trays 11 are transported on a transport line according to purpose. The transport line may be various types of conveyor transport, or may be rail transport in which, for example, wheels laid on trays 11 are placed and transported. That is, it may be a general transport system. The article 20 is subjected to a contents inspection such as a dangerous goods inspection while passing through the radiation inspection apparatus 15 together with the tray 11 . Shielding curtains 22 shielded from radiation, etc., by a lead component or the like are installed at the entrance and exit of the dangerous goods inspection device 15, and articles and trays pass through this shielding curtain and the dangerous goods inspection device.

If there is time to spare before the departure time of the flight, the goods 20 wait together with the tray 11 in the three-dimensional warehouse 12 for time adjustment. Time changes of departing flights at airports occur frequently. This serves as an important buffer to avoid a large number of articles with plenty of time remaining in the transport line 16 and becoming confused.

The articles 20 are conveyed at high speed while being placed on the tray 11, branched by the branching mechanism 17 before the boarding flight which is the destination, and only the articles 20 are discharged by the reversing discharge mechanism 18 and put on the airplane. The trays 11 that have delivered the articles 20 are kept in a storage state by the multi-storey warehouse 13 only for trays without remaining in the transfer line. Then, when a new article 20 is conveyed, it is discharged again. The multi-storey warehouses 12 and 13 may of course be stockyards or buffer lines. Any technical concept may be employed as long as it functions as a buffer to prevent stagnation in the transfer line.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a branching and sorting mechanism having an inclined rotating body of the destination-designated returnable container transport system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, there is a branching mechanism 17 in the conveying line 16, and the article conveyed by the branching mechanism having an inclined rotating body is diverted in the direction of A, B, or C in FIG. be transported.

A branching and sorting mechanism having an inclined rotating body of the destination-designated returnable container transport system according to the present invention comprises a rotating body unit 43 composed of an annular rotating body 41, a shaft 42 and the like. The shaft unit 44 can change the conveying direction of the conveyed article by rotating the annular rotating body 41 in a certain direction as the shaft 42 rotates. The shaft unit 44 can fix the direction of the annular rotating body 41 in a certain direction by setting the rotation angle, and can rotate the rotating body 41 by power.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a cross section of a branching and sorting mechanism having an inclined rotating body of the destination-designated returnable container transport system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a detailed cross-sectional view of one annular rotor 41 of the shaft unit 44 shown in FIG.

Since the shaft 42 is fixed at a constant rotation angle, the inclination angle of the annular rotating body 41 held by the fixing portion 46 is fixed at a constant angle. The rotating body 45 is rotated by external power, and rotates the outer circumference of the annular rotating body 41 with which the surface of the elastic body 47 is in contact. The bottom surface of the tray on which the articles to be conveyed are placed contacts with the rotation of the annular rotating body 41 to change the traveling direction. The forces that the rotary driver 45, the annular rotor 41, and the shaft 42 receive are indicated by arrows in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a collation inspection machine for goods and goods information and a weight and size measuring machine of a destination-designated returnable container transport system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a collation inspection machine for goods and goods information and a weight and size measuring machine 30 measure the weight, size, and shape of the goods (baggage) to be transported, and an image camera 32 or the like measures the goods. and article information, estimation of the position of the center of gravity, detection of dangerous objects, and the like.

In FIG. 1, the collation inspection machine for the article and the article information and the weight and size measuring machine 30 shown in FIG. , this may be after placing the tray 11, or each measuring machine may be a separate measuring machine. These pieces of measurement information are aggregated and added to the article identifier ID information 21 .

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing a returnable container (tray) of the destination-designated returnable container transport system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the returnable container (tray) of the destination-designated returnable container transport system according to the embodiment of the present invention may be boat-shaped, for example. The prow 33 has a tip shape to push through the heavy shielding curtain 22 of the radiation measuring device or the like and safely carry the placed article into the device.

As shown in FIG. 5, articles are placed on the tray 11, for example, in the central portion (shaded portion) of the upper surface so that the center of gravity of the article is placed. Although the center-of-gravity position placing section 35 may be set at any position on the upper surface of the tray, the articles are placed in the most stable state on the tray by setting the center-of-gravity position of the articles at a fixed position. Because you can. By this placing method, it is possible to largely avoid damage accidents such as misalignment, overturning, and dropping of articles.

Wheels for rail travel may be installed on the back side of the bottom of the tray 11 . Further, the trays 11 may be formed with overlapping and fitting ribs on the upper surface and the lower surface so that the trays 11 can be stacked and stored stably when they are in an empty box state. It is preferable that the right and left side surfaces of the tray 11 have a shape in which the height of the side surrounding frame 36 is low so that the article 20 can be easily discharged when the article 20 is carried out at an angle.

When the tray 11 reaches the article collection place where the articles are to be discharged after completing the conveyance in the conveying line, the tray itself is reversed in the side direction without particularly reducing the conveying speed, thereby removing the placed articles. It can be discharged by sliding down in the side direction. At this time, the tray may be reversed by tilting the conveyor that conveys the tray 11, or a mechanism may be provided to reverse the tray itself.

The articles discharged from the tray 11 to the article collection place are loaded on the scheduled aircraft and transported to the destination. will return to the A series of these article transport systems constitutes an embodiment of the destination-designated returnable container transport system of the present invention.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. All of these are within the scope of this technical idea.

As described above, according to the invention of the present application, it is possible to safely and accurately deliver an article, which is a customer's baggage, to an airline flight designated by the customer or its arrival place. Thus, a destination-specified returnable container conveying system is realized that can significantly improve safety and workability, as well as significantly improve economic efficiency.

Furthermore, according to the invention of the present application, it is possible to safely and reliably carry out destination-designated transportation in returnable container transportation of all kinds of articles regardless of baggage items.

Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the automatic transportation of baggage at airports, and can be used and applied to transportation of all kinds of articles and parts. Therefore, the present application is of great benefit to article transport mechanisms in all industries such as the airport logistics industry, article transport industry, manufacturing industry, and construction industry.

10 transport mechanism 11 returnable box (tray)
12 Three-dimensional warehouse (stockyard or buffer line)
13 Three-dimensional warehouse with returnable boxes only (stockyard or buffer line)
14 Goods collation inspection and weight, size measuring machine 15 Radiation inspection equipment 16 Conveyor line 17 Branching mechanism 18 Reversing discharge mechanism 19 Airplane departure flight 20 Goods (baggage)
21 article identifier ID
22 Shielding curtain 30 Collation inspection machine for article and article information and weight and size measuring machine 31 3-point contact weight measurement 32 Image camera 33 Bow
35 Center of gravity position 36 Side surrounding frame 40 Conveyor 41 Annular rotating body 42 Shaft 43 Rotating body unit 44 Axis unit 45 Rotational driving body 46 Fixed part 47 Elastic body 48 Fixed shaft 49 fixed to the shaft Inclined disk 50 having a predetermined inclination Bearing Reaction force 52 applied to rotary drive body 45 by forces of structures 51 and 52 Force pressing fixed part 46 Force 53 Force pressing rotary drive body 45

Claims (6)

A returnable box on which an article is placed and which has a curved convex bow on the front surface and a side frame lower in height than the bow on the side surface;
a conveying mechanism having a branch sorting mechanism and conveying the returnable box with the articles placed thereon;
a temporary storage mechanism for the returnable container;
a discharge mechanism for discharging only the article placed in the returnable box from the returnable box;
an inspection mechanism for inspecting the contents of the article ;
with
The inspection mechanism includes an X-ray inspection device for articles, and shielding curtains for shielding X-rays and/or other radiation for inspection at an entrance and an exit, and the returnable box includes the shielding curtains. A destination-designated returnable container conveying system characterized in that it can be separated by the bow . The branch sorting mechanism is
a shaft substantially orthogonal to the transport direction of the transport mechanism;
a fixing part having an inclined disk fixed to the shaft with a predetermined inclination;
an annular rotating body that is rotatably arranged around the inclined disk of the fixed part, has an outer peripheral surface that is in sliding contact with the bottom of the conveyed object, and is freely rotatably pivoted around the shaft;
a rotational driving body that is pivotally mounted around the shaft in contact with a side surface near the outer periphery of the annular rotating body;
means for arbitrarily selecting a sorting direction by arbitrarily rotating a shaft integrated with the fixed part;
2. The destination-specifying returnable container transport system according to claim 1, further comprising a structure for receiving a force in a direction in which said rotary driving body and said fixed portion are pressed against each other. The conveying mechanism is a conveyor and/or rail type conveying mechanism, the articles are provided with article identifiers for identifying the articles, and the returnable boxes are provided with returnable box identifiers for identifying the returnable boxes. attached,
means for reading the tote identifier;
means for linking the returnable container identifier and the article identifier;
means for transporting the article placed in the returnable box to a destination at a desired time based on the article identifier;
The destination-designated returnable container transport system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: The returnable container identifier and the article identifier can be corrected in the information management system of the transport mechanism as a whole, and are temporarily stored by the temporary storage mechanism when there is time to reach the destination. 4. The destination-designated returnable container transport system according to claim 3, characterized by: 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the ejection mechanism moves or ejects the placed articles by tilting the returnable box to the left or right with respect to the traveling direction. Destination-specified returnable container transport system. said goods are the customer's baggage,
The returnable container transport mechanism is an airport baggage transport system,
The temporary storage mechanism for the returnable container is a multi-storey warehouse, stockyard or buffer line in the baggage transportation system,
The inspection mechanism is a mechanism for further performing a comparison inspection between the article and article information, weight and size measurement ,
5. The destination-designated returnable container transport system according to claim 3, wherein said destination is a baggage collection area for departing flights or an airport customer baggage claim area.

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