KR20220033326A - Locker management method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for managing a locker to enable a managing server to manage the locker comprises: a step (a) of receiving sensing information on whether an object exists inside the locker from an object detection sensor arranged in each room of the locker; a step (b) of identifying a room currently having baggage in the locker among each room of the locker based on the received sensing information; and a step (c) of transmitting locker information including information on the room currently having baggage therein to a user terminal or kiosk.

Description

Locker management method and system {LOCKER MANAGEMENT METHOD AND SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to a method and system for managing a locker, and to a method and system for displaying the status of a locker as an occupied state when a luggage is present in a corresponding locker even when a locker user's usage period has expired.

Recently, the demand for study in a cafe atmosphere is increasing, and according to this trend, many study rooms or study cafes are being created.

Lockers for storing users' luggage are arranged in study rooms, study cafes, reading rooms, libraries, etc. In general, users pay a locker fee for a certain period of time to store their luggage in the locker they want to use.

In addition, the information on the usage status of each locker can be collectively checked through the manager terminal, and the occupied display is displayed for the lockers for which payment for the usage fee is made, and the idle display is displayed for the lockers that do not.

A locker marked as occupied is a locker for which usage fees for a certain period have been paid, but when the period allowed for use expires, the locker is converted to an idle mark.

A user may request to use a locker displayed as idle by paying a new usage fee, but a problem occurs if the previous user does not unload the luggage.

In this situation, the manager made a phone call to the user who did not unload the luggage, requested that the user remove the luggage, and had to ask for the understanding of the user who newly paid the usage fee for the locker.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art described above.

Another object of the present invention is to detect whether luggage is present in each compartment of a locker placed in a study cafe, etc., and if there is luggage, it is determined that the locker is in an occupied state even if the period of use for the locker has expired. This is to prevent new usage fee payments.

Another object of the present invention is to automatically generate management guidelines based on the time elapsed from the expiration time and the user's past locker usage history when the period permitted for use has expired according to the payment of the usage fee for the locker. will do

Objects of the present invention are not limited to the objects mentioned above, and other objects not mentioned will be clearly understood from the description below.

According to one embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object, as a method for the management server to manage the locker, (a) the presence of an internal object from the object detection sensor disposed in each compartment of the locker receiving sensing information; (b) identifying a compartment in which luggage is currently present among compartments of a locker based on the received sensing information; and (c) transmitting locker information including information on a compartment in which luggage is currently present to a user terminal or a kiosk, a locker management method is provided.

The object detection sensor may be disposed at the lower end of the side on which the hinged door is mounted among both sides of the inside of each compartment of the locker.

In step (c), the currently idle box, the currently valid use right for payment by a random user, and the user terminal by displaying differently a box in which there is no use right because the period of use has expired but luggage is present Or it may include the step of transmitting to the kiosk.

Prior to the step (a), receiving a request for payment of a usage fee for a specific compartment included in a locker from the user terminal or kiosk; and after performing payment according to the payment request, granting the right to use the specific field.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an object detection sensor disposed inside each compartment of the locker; and a control unit that transmits a signal from the object detection sensor to a management server so that the management server can identify a compartment in which luggage is currently located among each compartment of the locker.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, by detecting whether luggage is present in each compartment of a locker placed in a study cafe, etc., when luggage is present, it is determined that the locker is in an occupied state even if the period of use for the locker has expired. It is possible to prevent the payment of new usage fees for

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the period permitted for use according to the payment of the usage fee for the locker expires, management guidelines are automatically generated based on the elapsed time from the expiration time and the user's past locker use history can be

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a locker management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a management server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 and 4 are diagrams showing the configuration of a locker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0012] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0010] Reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which show by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present invention. It should be understood that the various embodiments of the present invention are different but need not be mutually exclusive. For example, certain shapes, structures, and characteristics described herein may be implemented in other embodiments with respect to one embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In addition, it should be understood that the location or arrangement of individual components within each disclosed embodiment may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the following detailed description is not intended to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention, if properly described, is limited only by the appended claims, along with all scope equivalents to those claimed. Like reference numerals in the drawings refer to the same or similar functions throughout the various aspects.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those of ordinary skill in the art can easily practice the present invention.

1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a locker management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the locker management system according to an embodiment may include a user terminal 100 , a kiosk 200 , a management server 300 , and a locker 400 .

The user terminal 100 and the management server 300 , the kiosk 200 and the management server 300 , the communication module installed inside the locker 400 and the management server 300 are connected to a communication network, for example, a mobile communication network, a local area network. Through a communication network (LAN: Local Area Network), metropolitan area network (MAN: Metropolitan Area Network), wide area network (WAN: Wide Area Network), World Wide Web (WWW), wireless communication network (WiFi: Wireless Fidelity) can communicate with each other.

The user terminal 100 has an arithmetic function and may be implemented in any form as long as it is a device capable of communicating with the outside. For example, it may be implemented as a smart phone, a tablet PC, a desktop, a laptop notebook, a PDA, etc., but is not limited thereto.

The user terminal 100 according to an embodiment may transmit a request for payment of a usage fee for the study cafe and a request for payment of a usage fee for the locker 400 to the management server 300 . When paying the usage fee for the study cafe, an identifier, for example, a barcode or QR code, etc. that allows access to the study cafe from the management server 300 to the user terminal 100 may be transmitted.

The identifier functions as an access right to the study cafe during the period of use paid by the user.

The above operations may be implemented through an application installed in the user terminal 100, and such an application may be downloaded and installed in the user terminal 100 from the management server 300 or another app store server.

The kiosk 200 according to an embodiment may perform the same operation of the user terminal 100 described above. That is, it is possible to transmit a request for payment of a usage fee for the study cafe and a request for payment of a usage fee for the locker 400 . In addition, the identifier transmitted from the management server 300 may be transmitted to the user terminal 100 through short-range wireless communication (eg, NFC or Bluetooth communication) method.

On the other hand, the user can enter the study cafe through the identifier transmitted to the user terminal 100, the recognition of the identifier when entering can be performed through an identifier recognizer installed in the door or the kiosk (200). Information on the recognized identifier is transmitted to the management server 300 , and the management server 300 may drive the door after checking whether the identifier is valid.

On the other hand, the user can also authenticate the access authority through his/her identification information input when paying the study cafe usage fee, for example, a phone number. In this case, one's own identification information may be input through an input unit installed in the door or the kiosk 200 .

The management server 300 according to an embodiment may perform payment processing in connection with a financial institution server, etc. in response to the above-described payment request, and transmit an identifier as an access right to the user terminal 100 or the kiosk 200 . In addition, it performs a function of verifying the access authority when a user enters and exits.

On the other hand, the management server 300 transmits information on the seat information of the currently available study cafe and the available compartment of the locker 400 to the user terminal 100 or the kiosk 200 .

The user can select one or more of the available compartments of the locker 400 and pay the corresponding usage fee. 100) or transmitted to the kiosk 200 . This will be described in detail below.

2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a management server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the management server 300 according to an embodiment includes an access authority generating unit 310 , an access authority verifying unit 320 , a locker use authority generating unit 330 , and a locker occupancy status checking unit 340 . , it may be configured to include a locker management unit 350 .

The access authority generating unit 310 , the access authority verifying unit 320 , the locker use authority generating unit 330 , the locker occupancy status checking unit 340 , and the locker management unit 350 are program modules capable of communicating with an external device or It could be hardware. Such program modules or hardware may be included in the management server 300 or other devices capable of communicating therewith in the form of an operating system, application program modules, and other program modules, and may be physically stored on various known storage devices. . Meanwhile, these program modules or hardware include, but are not limited to, routines, subroutines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks to be described later or execute specific abstract data types according to the present invention.

After receiving the request for payment of the usage fee for the study cafe from the user terminal 100 or the kiosk 200, the access permission generating unit 310 according to an embodiment processes the payment process, and uses the usage corresponding to the usage fee It performs the function of setting the access authority valid for the period to the corresponding user. An identifier as an access right may be generated and transmitted to the user terminal 100 or the kiosk 200 .

The access authority verification unit 320 according to an embodiment receives information on an identifier recognized by an identifier recognizer mounted on a door or kiosk 200 or identification information (eg, a phone number) input by a user. After that, validation of the corresponding information is performed. As a result of validation, if the corresponding identifier or identification information is currently valid access authority information, the operation of the door is controlled.

The locker use right generating unit 330 according to an embodiment provides information about the currently available locker 400 to the user terminal 100 or the kiosk 200, and from the user terminal 100 or the kiosk 200 Receives selection information for a specific box, usage period information for the corresponding box, and payment request information for the corresponding box. Through this, the payment process is processed, and the right to use for the period set for the box of the locker 400 is given to the corresponding user.

The locker occupancy status check unit 340 according to an embodiment performs a function of receiving occupancy information for each compartment from the locker 400 and transmitting it to the user terminal 100 or the kiosk 200 .

3 and 4 are diagrams showing the configuration of a locker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 3 , an object detection sensor 410 may be mounted in each compartment of the locker 400 according to an exemplary embodiment.

One or more object detection sensors 410 may be provided in each compartment of the locker 400, and preferably, as shown in FIG. It is preferably arranged at the lower end of the side.

By mounting in such a position, it is also possible to detect low-height objects or deeply-located objects.

The object detection sensor 410 according to an embodiment generates a signal related to whether an object exists in each compartment of the locker 400 and transmits it to the management server 300 .

Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 4 , the locker 400 includes one or more control units 420 . One control unit 420 receives sensing signals from a plurality of object detection sensors 410 respectively disposed in a plurality of compartments. Thus, a function of transmitting them to the management server 300 is performed. For example, as shown in FIG. 4 , the first controller 420 may receive sensing signals from the object detection sensors 410 constituting the first group G1 . One group G1 may be, for example, object detection sensors 410 disposed in ten locker compartments. The object detection sensor 410 may be implemented as, for example, an ultrasonic sensor, but may be replaced with a sensor capable of sensing the presence or absence of an object, for example, an approach sensor such as an infrared sensor, In the present invention, the type of the object detection sensor 410 is not limited.

Referring back to FIG. 2 , the locker occupancy status check unit 340 may receive the sensing signal from the object detection sensor 410 described above through the control unit 420 of the locker 400 . Through the received signal, it is possible to identify a compartment in which luggage is currently present, and the occupancy status information for each compartment of the locker 400 may be transmitted to the user terminal 100 or the kiosk 200 .

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the locker occupancy status check unit 340 is a box that is currently idle (a box in which no user is authorized to use, and no luggage is present inside), the current A box for which a valid usage right has been paid by an arbitrary user, a box with no usage right due to the expiration of the usage period, but with luggage inside may be displayed differently and transmitted to the user terminal 100 or the kiosk 200 . For example, after displaying the entire locker 400 in the form of an image, each cell may be displayed in a different color according to its state. Accordingly, from the user's point of view, it is possible to grasp accurate status information for each compartment of the current locker 400, and if there is currently no compartment where payment can be made, there is no use right, but there is a compartment in which luggage is present. If it exists, you can capture this information and ask the manager to empty the box for that space.

The locker management unit 350 according to an embodiment generates management information for a compartment of the locker 400 that does not have the right to use but has luggage therein, based on the information confirmed by the locker occupancy status check unit 340 . perform the function

According to an embodiment, management information for the compartment in which the luggage is located may be generated based on the elapsed time after the expiration of the use period of the compartment in which the luggage is present. For example, after the first period elapses after the expiration of the use period, the corresponding information may be notified to the manager terminal (not shown), and after a second period of time longer than the first period elapses, the manager terminal to indicate that it is okay to force the field to be empty. Also, in this case, information that the luggage will be forcibly empty may be provided to the terminal 100 of the user who has paid the usage fee for the corresponding compartment. In this case, a message may be transmitted requesting that the luggage be emptied by itself within a certain period of time.

The first period and the second period may be collectively input by the manager terminal and transmitted to the management server 300 , or may be set by the management server 300 . However, it may be variably set with reference to the past usage history of the user who paid the usage fee for the corresponding compartment, that is, the owner of the luggage of the corresponding compartment.

For example, the first period ( T1 ) and the second period ( T2 ) may be set to be proportional to the user's past study cafe usage fee payment performance (A) and locker usage fee payment performance (B).

This can be expressed as a mathematical expression as follows.

[Equation 1]

[Equation 2]

In the above equation, α, β, γ, and δ are weights, and may be variably set according to necessity or circumstances.

For example, since the second period T2 is a threshold time for forcibly emptying the luggage, a relatively larger weight may be applied to the payment performance B related to the occupation of the locker 400 .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to accurately determine the occupancy status of each compartment of the locker 400 .

In addition, if the legal period of use for the locker 400 has expired, but there is luggage inside, it is possible to grasp such information, so that payment of the usage fee for the corresponding compartment and the occurrence of troubles due to this can be blocked in advance do.

The description of the present invention described above is for illustration, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can understand that it can be easily modified into other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention. will be. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single type may be implemented in a dispersed form, and likewise components described as distributed may be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is indicated by the following claims, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

100: user terminal
200: kiosk
300: management server
310: access permission generation unit
320: access authority verification unit
330: locker use permission generation unit
340: locker occupancy status check unit
350: locker management department

Claims (5)

As a method for the management server to manage the locker,
(a) receiving sensing information about the presence of an internal object from an object detection sensor disposed in each compartment of the locker;
(b) identifying a compartment in which luggage is currently present among compartments of a locker based on the received sensing information; and
(c) a locker management method comprising the step of transmitting locker information including information on a compartment in which luggage is currently present inside the user terminal or the kiosk. According to claim 1,
The object detection sensor is disposed at the lower end of the side on which the hinged door is mounted among both sides of the inside of each compartment of the locker, the locker management method. According to claim 1,
Step (c) is,
The step of displaying the currently idle box, the box for which the valid usage right has been paid by an arbitrary user, and the box where the usage period has expired and there is no use right but has luggage inside, are displayed differently and transmitted to the user terminal or kiosk Including, locker management method. According to claim 1,
Before step (a),
receiving a request for payment of a usage fee for a specific box included in a locker from the user terminal or the kiosk; and
After performing payment according to the payment request, the locker management method comprising the step of granting permission to use the specific box. an object detection sensor disposed inside each compartment of the locker; and
and a control unit that transmits a signal from the object detection sensor to a management server so that the management server can identify a compartment in which luggage is currently located among each compartment of the locker.

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