JP7501224B2 - Locker device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a locker device, and more specifically to a locker device such as a parcel locker.

Conventionally, there are known locker devices, such as parcel lockers, in which multiple locker sections are arranged vertically and horizontally in a device body having an insulated structure. The locker sections include a box body having an insulated structure and a door body having an insulated structure. The box body has a front opening on the front side and forms a storage space inside. The door body is arranged so that it can swing to open and close the front opening of the box body, and can be locked and unlocked.

In such locker devices, the storage space of each locker is adjusted to a desired temperature by a temperature control unit such as a cooling device provided in the device body, and luggage is stored in the storage space. A user can then perform a specified unlocking operation to swing the door of any locker in the opening direction and retrieve luggage stored in the storage space (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2013-121445 A

In the above locker device, it is desirable to accommodate a variety of luggage from an operational standpoint, and the storage space of each locker section generally has a volume that can store the largest luggage (hereinafter also referred to as maximum volume luggage).

As a result, if the luggage to be stored is smaller than the maximum volume of luggage, a large amount of excess space (dead space) is generated in the storage space of the locker, and this wasted space becomes a problem.

In view of the above, the present invention aims to provide a locker device that can flexibly accommodate the size of the objects to be stored, thereby reducing the occurrence of dead space and increasing the number of objects that can be stored.

In order to achieve the above object, the locker device of the present invention is a locker device in which a plurality of locker sections are arranged in a vertical and horizontal manner on the device main body, the locker sections having a box body with a front opening on the front side and forming a storage space inside, and a first door body that is arranged so as to be lockable and unlockable in a manner that opens and closes the front opening of the box body, and the locker sections are characterized in that they are equipped with a plurality of second door bodies that are arranged so as to be lockable and unlockable in a manner that opens and closes the plurality of door body openings formed in the first door body, and a partition member that partitions the storage space into a plurality of storage areas corresponding to each of the second door bodies when the second door body can be locked and unlocked.

The present invention is also characterized in that, in the locker device, the second door can be locked and unlocked when the locking and unlocking of the first door on which the second door is provided is disabled, and the partition member partitions the storage space into the storage area when the second door can be locked and unlocked.

The present invention is also characterized in that in the locker device, the partition member is attached to the first door body.

The present invention is also characterized in that in the above locker device, the first door body and the second door body have a thermally insulated structure.

According to the present invention, a locker section has a box body having a front opening on the front side and forming a storage space inside, and a first door body that is arranged so as to be lockable and unlockable in a manner that opens and closes the front opening of the box body, and the second door body is arranged so as to be lockable and unlockable in a manner that opens and closes a plurality of door body openings formed in the first door body, and when the second door body can be locked and unlocked, the partition member that constitutes the locker section partitions the storage space into a plurality of storage areas corresponding to each of the second door bodies, so that the storage space can be changed in response to the size of the objects to be stored, and this has the effect of suppressing the occurrence of dead space and increasing the number of objects that can be stored by flexibly responding to the size of the objects to be stored.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of a locker device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of the locker device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view that illustrates a schematic configuration of the rocker portion illustrated in FIGS. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view that illustrates a schematic configuration of the rocker portion illustrated in FIGS. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view that illustrates a schematic configuration of the rocker portion illustrated in FIGS. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view that illustrates a schematic configuration of the rocker portion illustrated in FIGS. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view showing a modification of a main part of a rocker device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The following describes in detail a preferred embodiment of the locker device according to the present invention with reference to the attached drawings.

Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views showing the external configuration of a locker device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The locker device illustrated here is applicable, for example, as a parcel locker, and includes a device main body 1.

The device body 1 is a rectangular housing with a body opening 2 on the front, and multiple locker sections 10 are arranged in a line up and down and left and right. This device body 1 has an insulated structure by incorporating insulating materials such as urethane foam and vacuum insulation material in each wall. In addition, this device body 1 is equipped with a cooling unit (not shown), and the inside is cooled to a predetermined temperature or lower by operating this cooling unit.

As shown in FIG. 3, the locker section 10 comprises a box body 20, a first door body 30 and a second door body 40. The box body 20 has a sheet metal structure and comprises a bottom wall 21, left and right side walls 22, a back wall 23 and a top wall 24, and is rectangular with a front opening 25 on the front side. Such a box body 20 forms a storage space 26 inside for storing items such as luggage.

The bottom wall 21, side walls 22, back wall 23, and top wall 24 that constitute the box body 20 are appropriately formed with a plurality of passage holes (not shown), allowing the air cooled by the cooling unit to pass through the interior of the storage space 26. This makes it possible for the action of the cooling unit to cool the internal atmosphere of the storage space 26 to below a predetermined temperature.

Such a box body 20 is supported by a frame (not shown) that extends in the front-rear direction inside the device body 1, and is attached in such a manner that the front opening 25 faces the main body opening 2.

The first door body 30 is provided for each box body 20 and is a plate-like body large enough to close the front opening 25 of the corresponding box body 20. This first door body 30 has a sheet metal structure, and although not shown in the figure, it has an insulated structure by laying an insulating material such as urethane foam or vacuum insulation between the outer plate and the inner plate.

The left side of this first door 30 is journaled on the front end of the left side wall 22 of the box 20, and it can swing back and forth in a manner that moves toward and away from the box 20. That is, the first door 30 swings forward to open the front opening 25, and swings backward to close the front opening 25. Although not shown in the figure, packing or the like is attached to each edge of the rear surface of the first door 30, and when the front opening 25 is closed, the packing comes into contact with the opening edge of the front opening 25 of the box 20, ensuring airtightness.

A first locking mechanism (not shown) is provided near the front opening 25 of the box 20. This first locking mechanism is capable of switching between a locked state in which the first door 30 that closes the front opening 25 is held closed and the first door 30 is prevented from swinging forward, and an unlocked state in which the first door 30 is allowed to swing forward.

The first locking mechanism is switched between a locked state and an unlocked state by a person having authority such as a specific encryption key. This allows the first door 30 to be locked and unlocked. The first door 30 also has two rectangular door openings 31 formed vertically spaced apart.

Two second door bodies 40 are provided for each first door body 30, and are plate-shaped bodies large enough to close the door body opening 31 of the corresponding first door body 30. The second door body 40 has a sheet metal structure, and although not shown in the figure, has an insulating structure by laying insulating material such as urethane foam or vacuum insulation material between the outer plate and the inner plate.

The second door body 40 has its left side pivoted to the left opening edge of the door body opening 31 in the first door body 30, and can swing back and forth in a manner moving toward and away from the first door body 30. In other words, the second door body 40 opens the door body opening 31 by swinging forward, and closes the door body opening 31 by swinging backward.

A second locking mechanism (not shown) is provided near the door opening 31 in the first door 30. This second locking mechanism can be switched between a locked state in which the second door 40 that closes the door opening 31 is held closed and the second door 40 is prevented from swinging forward, and an unlocked state in which the second door 40 is allowed to swing forward.

Such switching between the locked state and the unlocked state of the second locking mechanism is performed by a person having authority such as a specific encryption key, thereby making the second door 40 lockable and unlockable.

In this embodiment, the second locking mechanism is enabled to switch to itself when the switching operation to the first locking mechanism corresponding to the first door body 30 on which it is provided is disabled. In other words, the second door body 40 is enabled to lock and unlock when the locking and unlocking of the first door body 30 on which it is provided is disabled. In other words, the second door body 40 is disabled to lock and unlock when the locking and unlocking of the first door body 30 is enabled to lock and unlock.

In this way, when the first door 30 is disabled and the second door 40 can be locked and unlocked, the corresponding box 20 is provided with a partition member 50 as shown in FIG. 4. The partition member 50 is formed of a partition plate processed, for example, from sheet metal. The partition member 50 divides the storage space 26 into upper and lower storage areas 27 corresponding to the second door 40 by inserting the edges of the partition member 50 into the entrance grooves 22a, 23a formed in the side wall 22 and the back wall 23 of the box 20. It is preferable that the partition plate constituting the partition member 50 has a passage hole appropriately formed therein.

In a locker device configured as described above, each locker section 10 can be adapted as follows:

In other words, when the size of the storage object S exceeds the capacity of the storage area 27, as shown in FIG. 3, the partition member 50 is not provided on the box 20, and the first door 30 is locked and unlocked, and the second door 40 is disabled. This allows a storage object S that exceeds the capacity of the storage area 27 to be stored in the storage space 26, and as shown in FIG. 5, the first door 30 that has been unlocked swings in the opening direction, allowing the storage object S to be removed.

On the other hand, when the size of the storage object S is less than the volume of the storage area 27, as shown in FIG. 4, a partition member 50 is provided on the box 20 to partition the storage space 26 into a plurality of storage areas 27, and the locking and unlocking of the first door 30 is disabled and the locking and unlocking of the second door 40 is enabled. This allows the storage object S to be stored in each storage area 27, and as shown in FIG. 6, the storage object S can be removed by swinging any of the second doors 40 that have been unlocked in the opening direction.

As described above, according to the locker device of the embodiment of the present invention, the second door body 40 constituting the locker section 10 is provided on the first door body 30, and when the partition member 50 allows the second door body 40 to be locked and unlocked, the storage space 26 formed by the box body 20 constituting the locker section 10 is partitioned into a plurality of storage areas 27 corresponding to each of the second door bodies 40, so that the storage space can be changed according to the size of the storage object S. This makes it possible to flexibly respond to the size of the storage object S, thereby suppressing the occurrence of dead space and increasing the number of storage objects S that can be stored.

In addition, with the above locker device, the second door 40 is provided on the first door 30, and the partition member 50 is provided on the box 20 as necessary, so that sufficient airtightness between the first door 30 and the box 20 can be ensured.

The above describes a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this and various modifications can be made.

In the above-described embodiment, the partition member 50 is configured as a partition plate, but in the present invention, the following configuration may also be adopted.

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional side view showing a modified example of the main part of the locker device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The same components as those in the above-mentioned embodiment are given the same reference numerals and their description will be omitted as appropriate. As shown in this Figure 7, the partition member 51 is composed of a box-shaped body having an opening 515 on the front side, which is composed of a bottom plate 511, a side plate 512, a back plate 513 and a top plate 514, and the front end of the bottom plate 511, the front end of the side plate 512 and the front end of the top plate 514, which form the edges of the opening 515, may be attached to the rear surface of the first door body 30 in a manner surrounding the door body opening 31.

In this case, the partition member 51 forms a storage area 28 inside the box-shaped body, thereby partitioning the storage space 26 into a plurality of storage areas 28 and a non-storage area 29. The non-storage area 29 is an area formed in the storage space 26 between the rear wall 23 of the box body 20 and the back plate 513 of the box-shaped body. In this case, it is also preferable that the first door body 30 and the second door body 40 can be locked and unlocked individually.

With this configuration, storage objects S1 that are smaller than the volume of the storage area 28 can be stored in the storage area 28, and storage objects S2 that are larger than the volume of the storage area 28 can be stored in the non-storage area 29. Then, when the first door 30 is unlocked and swung in the opening direction, the storage objects S2 stored in the non-storage area 29 can be removed, while when the second door 40 is unlocked and swung in the opening direction, the storage objects S1 stored in the storage area 28 can be removed.

Even with this configuration, the storage space can be changed in response to the size of the storage objects S1, S2, and by flexibly responding to the size of the storage objects S1, S2, the occurrence of dead space can be suppressed and the number of storage objects S1, S2 can be increased.

In the above-described embodiment, two second doors 40 are provided for the first door 30, but in the present invention, three or more second doors may be provided for the first door.

In the above-described embodiment, the left side of the first door body 30 is pivotally supported by the box body 20, and the left side of the second door body 40 is pivotally supported by the first door body 30, but in the present invention, the locations at which the first and second doors are pivotally supported are not particularly limited. Thus, the first door body may be pivotally supported by the box body at any location on the top end, bottom end, or right side, and the second door body may be pivotally supported by the first door body 30 at any location on the top end, bottom end, or right side.

1... device body, 10... locker section, 20... box body, 21... bottom wall, 22... side wall, 23... rear wall, 24... top wall, 25... front opening, 26... storage space, 27... storage area, 30... first door body, 31... door body opening, 40... second door body, 50... partition member, S... storage object.

Claims (2)

A box body having a front opening on a front surface and forming a storage space therein;
A locker device in which a plurality of locker sections each having a first door body that is capable of being locked and unlocked in a manner that opens and closes the front opening of the box body are arranged in a vertical and horizontal direction on a device main body,
The rocker portion is
A plurality of second doors that are provided so as to be lockable and unlockable in a manner that each of the second doors opens and closes a plurality of door openings formed in the first door,
a partition member that partitions the storage space into a plurality of storage areas corresponding to each of the second door bodies when the second door body can be locked and unlocked ;
The second door body can be locked and unlocked when the locking and unlocking of the first door body on which the second door body is provided is disabled,
The partition member partitions the storage space into the storage area when the second door body can be locked or unlocked . The locker device according to claim 1 , wherein the first door body and the second door body have a thermal insulation structure.

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