JPH04367490A - Automatic freight delivery apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically unpack minimum necessary vacant freight boxes by a simple manipulation. CONSTITUTION:This device is provided with an attribute-setting switch 63 fitted in accordance with respective freight boxes and a magnetic card reader 41 obtaining information data from a magnetic card. After the information data for freight deliverer is read by the magnetic card reader, search of vacant freight boxes is instructed. The 'delivery key' and the setting contents of the attribute-setting switch 63 are given in a memory. When search instruction of vacant freight boxes is issued, the vacant freight boxes and the attributes thereof are searced and then vacant freight boxes having different attributes are unpacked one by one by a controller 51.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic baggage delivery system for, for example, a business operator to deliver parcels to recipients.

0002

[Background Art] Recently, in apartment complexes and other housing complexes, a large number of lockable and unlockable luggage boxes have been installed, and delivery companies and sellers such as supermarkets select one of these boxes to store packages to be delivered. A device has been developed in which the baggage recipient unlocks the corresponding baggage box and receives the baggage.

Specifically, a package delivery person and a package recipient each have a magnetic card with an identification code magnetically recorded thereon, and when the package delivery person stores the package to be delivered in a package box, the package is first read by a card reader. Read the magnetic card. Then operate the delivery key. As a result, empty luggage boxes are searched and displayed. Then, the package delivery person selects one of the empty package boxes and inputs the number designating the selected package box by key operation. This unlocks the corresponding luggage box. Then, the package delivery person places the package in the package box and enters the package recipient's identification code, such as the room number, using a key. This locks the luggage box.

[0004] Furthermore, when the recipient receives the parcel from the luggage box, he or she first reads the magnetic card using a card reader. Then, for example, a confirmation key is operated. This will search for and display luggage boxes that have the same identification code as the one read from the card. If the receiving key is further operated in this state, the corresponding luggage box will be unlocked. In this way, the baggage receiver can receive the baggage from the baggage box.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional device, when a package delivery person puts a package into a package box, he selects one of the empty package boxes and uses a number to designate the selected package box. There was a problem in that the corresponding luggage box would not be unlocked unless the key was entered.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention provides an automatic baggage transfer device that can automatically unlock the necessary minimum number of empty baggage boxes without having to input a number to designate an empty baggage box, thereby improving operability. This is what I am trying to do.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a plurality of unlockable luggage boxes, and selects and unlocks an empty luggage box in accordance with the input of luggage delivery company information from the input means. In an automatic package delivery device that unlocks a package box containing a package to be received by inputting package recipient information, the device includes an attribute setting means for setting various attributes of each package box, and a package delivery company information input from an input means. At the same time, an unlocking means is provided for selectively unlocking an empty luggage box according to the attribute of each luggage box set by the attribute setting means.

[0008]

[Operation] In the present invention having such a configuration, when the luggage delivery company information is inputted from the input means, an empty luggage box is selected and unlocked according to the attribute of each luggage box set by the attribute setting means. .

[0009]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, there are luggage boxes 11, 12, 13, and 14 that are equipped with, for example, four temperature adjustment mechanisms in the outer casing 1, and eight luggage boxes 15 to 22 and 1 that are not equipped with a temperature adjustment mechanism. Two control boxes 4 are installed. The luggage boxes 15 to 22 not provided with a temperature control mechanism include a small-sized luggage box, a medium-sized luggage box, and a large-sized luggage box. Each of the luggage boxes 11 to 22 is provided with a locking mechanism for locking the door, and box numbers "1" to "12" are written on the door surface.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control box 4 includes a magnetic card reader 41 for reading information from a magnetic card serving as an information card, a numeric keypad 42, ``delivery'', ``receipt'', ``package box designation'' and ``recipient designation''. ”, “Confirm” function keys 43, a character display 45 that displays numerical values entered with the numeric keypad 44, guidance, etc., each of the luggage boxes 11-
22, an operating section is provided with a luggage box status indicator 45 provided with an LED (light emitting diode), a printer 46 used for issuing a receipt, and the like.

A circuit unit shown in FIG. 3 is housed in the control box 4. This circuit unit is provided with a control section 51 consisting of a CPU (central processing unit), memory, I/O port, etc., and this control section 51 is connected to the magnetic card reader 4.
1, a numeric keypad 42, a function key 43, a character display 44, a luggage box status display 45, a printer 46, and a clock circuit 47 for measuring date and time are connected to the terminal. Further, the control unit 51 includes a lock driving means 52 which drives and controls the lock mechanisms 61 provided in each of the luggage boxes 11 to 22 and receives signals from the attribute setting switch 63.
A temperature adjusting means 53 is connected thereto to adjust and control the temperature of the temperature adjusting mechanism 62 provided in each of the luggage boxes 11 to 14.

The attribute setting switch 63 includes, for example, three switches SW1, SW2, SW3 as shown in FIG.
, set the attributes of "large, medium, small" with switch SW1, set the attributes of "upper, middle, lower" with switch SW2, and set the attributes of "high temperature, room temperature, low temperature," with switch SW3.
"Frozen" attribute can now be set. Therefore, for example, the attribute of the luggage box 16 with box number "6" in FIG. 1 is set to "small" by switch SW1, and
2 sets "middle stage", switch SW3 sets "normal temperature"
will be set.

Various attributes of each luggage box set by the attribute setting switch 63 are read by the control section 51 via the lock driving means 52 and set in the luggage box management information memory. In other words, the luggage box management information memory stores box numbers "1" to "12" as shown in FIG.
A memory 51a for setting attributes such as the size, position, and temperature of the box, a memory 51b for counting the number of uses, a use start memory (ST) 51c for storing the use start date and time, and a use start memory (ST) 51c for storing the use end date and time. It is composed of a usage end memory (SP) 51d for storing the usage time and a usage time memory (ΣT) 51e for storing the cumulative usage time. FIG. 6 shows delivery processing by a package delivery person, and this processing is performed by the control section 51 based on program data.

When a package delivery person inserts a magnetic card in his/her possession into the magnetic card reader 41, a package delivery person identification code (ID code) is read from the magnetic card and stored in the memory.

In this state, the system waits for the "delivery" key of the function key 43 to be input. When the "delivery" key is input, the currently vacant package boxes and their attributes are retrieved from the memory. Then, luggage boxes with different attributes are selected one by one from the searched empty luggage boxes, and the lock driving means 52
The locking mechanism 61 of the corresponding luggage box is unlocked. Then, the LED of the luggage box status display 45 corresponding to the unlocked luggage box is blinked to notify the user.

[0017] In this state, it is checked whether a baggage is put in any of the unlocked luggage boxes and the door is closed, and when the baggage is put in and the door is closed, all the unlocked luggage boxes are checked. The locking mechanism 61 is locked by the lock driving means 52. At this time, a number specifying the recipient, such as a room number, is input and registered at the same time. Then, the LED of the luggage box status indicator 45 corresponding to the luggage box containing the luggage is turned on.

Furthermore, the clock circuit 47 outputs the current date and time;
That is, the date and time in hours and minutes are read out and stored in the use start memory (ST) 51c corresponding to the box number corresponding to the luggage box in which the luggage is placed, and the memory 51b for counting the number of times of use is incremented by one. . FIG. 7 shows the receiving process by the package recipient, and this process is performed by the control unit 51 based on program data.

When a magnetic card held by a package recipient is inserted into the magnetic card reader 41, a package recipient identification code (ID code) is read from the magnetic card and stored in the memory.

In this state, the system waits for input of the "receive" key of the function keys 43. When the "receive" key is pressed, the LED of the luggage box status display 45 corresponding to the luggage box in which the room number designated by the recipient is registered is blinked. Then, the lock driving means 52 unlocks the lock mechanism 61 of the corresponding luggage box.

[0021] In this state, the system waits for the "receive" key to be pressed again, and when the "receive" key is pressed, it is checked whether the luggage has been taken from the unlocked baggage box, and if the baggage has not been taken. If so, the locking mechanism 61 of the luggage box is connected to the lock driving means 5.
Step 2 locks the door and turns off the blinking LED. Note that the presence or absence of luggage in the luggage box is detected by, for example, an optical sensor.

Further, the clock circuit 47 outputs the current date and time;
That is, the date and time in hours and minutes are read out and stored in the end-of-use memory (SP) 51d corresponding to the box number corresponding to the luggage box in which the luggage was placed.

Subsequently, the date and time data ST of the use start memory 51c is subtracted from the date and time data SP of the use end memory 51d to obtain the time T between. Then, the time T is added to the time data ΣT in the usage time memory 51e corresponding to the corresponding box number, and the new time data ΣT is stored in the usage time memory 51e.

[0024] In the embodiment with such a configuration, when a package delivery person delivers a package, he first reads a magnetic card in his possession with the magnetic card reader 41 and presses the "delivery" key. operate.

[0025] As a result, empty luggage boxes and their attributes are searched, and luggage boxes with different attributes are selected one by one from the empty luggage boxes and unlocked. Then, the corresponding LED on the luggage box display 45 flashes to notify the user of the unlocked luggage box. Therefore, the package delivery person can select the package box with the most suitable attributes for storing the package he/she has brought and put the package therein.

[0026] In this way, the package delivery person can unlock an empty package box with a simple operation of reading the magnetic card in his possession with the magnetic card reader 41 and operating the "delivery" key. In other words, the troublesome operation of specifying an empty luggage box is no longer necessary.

[0027] Furthermore, since the empty luggage box to be unlocked is one with each attribute, the package delivery person can select the most suitable luggage box to store the package.
Moreover, it will be unlocked to the minimum necessary. Therefore, it is extremely easy to operate for the package delivery person. When the package delivery person puts the package into one of the unlocked package boxes, closes the door, and registers the recipient's room number, only the corresponding LED on the package box display 45 lights up.

At this time, the date and time are read from the clock circuit 47 and stored in the use start memory (ST) 51c in the luggage box management information memory. Also, the memory 51b that counts the number of times of use is incremented.

On the other hand, when the recipient receives the parcel, he inserts his own magnetic card into the magnetic card reader 41 to read it, and operates the "receive" key. As a result, the LE of the luggage box status indicator 45 corresponding to the corresponding luggage box
D flashes and the locking mechanism 61 of the corresponding luggage box is activated.
is unlocked. In this way, the baggage receiver can receive the baggage from the baggage box. When the luggage is removed from the luggage box and the door is closed, the blinking LED is turned off.

At this time, the date and time are read from the clock circuit 47 and stored in the end-of-use memory 51d in the luggage box management information memory. Then, date and time data SP of the end-of-use memory 51d and date-time data ST of the start-of-use memory 51c.
The time data T between is calculated from and, and the time data T is further added to the time data ΣT in the usage time memory 51e. In this way, the time data ΣT in the usage time memory 51e is updated.

[0031] In this way, the number of times each luggage box has been used and the cumulative usage time ΣT can be grasped using the luggage box management information memory. Therefore, in addition to the size, temperature, and position attributes set for each luggage box, it is possible to understand which attributes of luggage boxes are used relatively frequently and which attributes are used relatively infrequently. As a result, it is possible to improve manageability by properly arranging luggage boxes according to usage conditions. In the above embodiment, a magnetic card was used as the information card, but it is needless to say that the information card is not limited to this.

[0032]

Effects of the Invention As detailed above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically unlock the minimum necessary number of empty luggage boxes without having to enter a number to designate an empty luggage box, and the operability is improved. Therefore, it is possible to provide an automatic baggage delivery device that can improve performance.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the operation section of the control box in the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main circuit configuration in the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining attributes set by an attribute setting switch in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of a luggage box management information memory in the same embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing package delivery processing in the same embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing baggage receiving processing in the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11-22...Luggage box, 4...Control box, 41...Magnetic card reader, 43...Function key, 51...Control unit, 52...
Lock driving means, 61...Lock mechanism, 63...Attribute setting switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A plurality of unlockable luggage boxes are provided, and an empty luggage box is selected and unlocked according to the input of the luggage delivery company information from the input means, and at the same time, the luggage recipient information is inputted from the input means. In the automatic baggage transfer device that unlocks a baggage box containing a baggage to be received, an attribute setting means sets various attributes of each baggage box, and when the baggage delivery company information is input from the input means, the attribute setting is performed. An automatic baggage transfer device characterized by being provided with a release means for selectively unlocking empty baggage boxes according to the attributes of each baggage box set by the means.