JP7704664B2 - Stocker and stocker management device - Google Patents

Description

This specification discloses a stocker and a stocker management device.

Conventionally, a stocker of this type has been proposed that has a camera for each locker that takes pictures of the inside of the locker (see, for example, Patent Document 1). With this stocker, it is possible to store packages addressed to the same recipient in one locker. Furthermore, the delivery box detects the size of the free space for each locker based on the image of the inside of the locker taken by the camera, and if the free space is not at its maximum, it determines that a package has been left behind and outputs a message indicating that a package has been left behind to notify the recipient that a package may have been left behind.

JP 2019-142600 A

However, in the above-mentioned stocker, whether or not a package has been left behind is judged based on the amount of free space inside the locker photographed by a camera, so it can only be determined after the recipient has taken action to receive the package. As a result, even if a package has been left behind, by the time the message is output, the recipient may have already left the delivery box, and may not notice the message.

The primary objective of this disclosure is to effectively prevent recipients from forgetting to pick up an item when multiple items can be delivered to one storage facility.

This disclosure takes the following steps to achieve the above-mentioned primary objective:

The stocker disclosed herein includes a plurality of storage compartments for delivery and receipt of items, a stocker body capable of receiving a plurality of items with the same recipient in one of the storage compartments, and a notification unit that, when the plurality of items are delivered to one of the storage compartments, notifies the recipient of the plurality of items in advance with a guide to prevent the recipient from forgetting to pick up any of the items.

In the stocker disclosed herein, multiple items for the same recipient are delivered to one storage facility, making it possible to deliver more items to the stocker. When multiple items are stored in one storage facility, it is considered that a recipient who believes that there is only one item in the storage facility is likely to forget to pick up an item. For this reason, by notifying recipients of multiple items in advance of a guide to prevent items from being forgotten, it is possible to effectively prevent items from being forgotten.

The stocker management device disclosed herein is a management device that manages a stocker that includes multiple storage facilities where items can be delivered and received, and when the same multiple items are delivered to a recipient and stored in one of the storage facilities, the gist of the device is that it notifies the recipient of the multiple items in advance of a guide to prevent the recipient from forgetting to pick up any of the items.

The stocker management device disclosed herein can effectively prevent items from being left behind, similar to the stocker disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a stocker system including a stocker. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the input/output relationship between the control unit and other devices. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of management information stored in a storage unit. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a delivery process. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a delivery notification screen. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a receiving process. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a forgetting to pick up prevention guide display.

A preferred embodiment of the stocker system of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stocker system 1 including a stocker 10. FIG. 2 is a front view of a control unit 30. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the input/output relationship between the control unit 30 and other devices. In this embodiment, the left-right direction, front-rear direction, and up-down direction are as shown in each figure.

As shown in FIG. 1, the stocker system 1 includes a stocker 10 and a stocker management device 40 that manages the stocker 10.

The stocker 10 includes a stocker body including a plurality of box-shaped storage units 20 in which items can be delivered, and a control unit 30 that receives various operations related to the delivery and removal of items to each storage unit 20 and performs various processes related to locking and unlocking each storage unit 20. In the stocker 10, a plurality of storage units 20 (four in FIG. 1) are arranged in a row from left to right, with a top and bottom arrangement. The control unit 30 is arranged in the leftmost row in place of one storage unit 20. This stocker 10 is installed in various locations such as offices, stores, stations, schools, apartment buildings, and shopping centers, and may be installed not only indoors but also outdoors. The stocker 10 is used for handing over items delivered by a deliverer, by delivering an item to one of the storage units 20 as the delivery destination (delivery destination) by a deliverer (delivery person), and then the recipient picks up the item from the storage unit 20 and receives the item.

As shown in Fig. 1 or 3, the storage facility 20 comprises a rectangular parallelepiped main body 21 that is open at the front, a door 22 that is attached to the main body 21 via a hinge so that it can be opened and closed, an electric lock 24 that locks and unlocks the door 22, an opening/closing sensor 25 that detects whether the door 22 is open or closed, and a weight sensor 26 that is provided at the bottom of the storage facility. The door 22 is biased in the opening direction by a spring (not shown), and when the electric lock 24 is unlocked, the door automatically opens due to the biasing force. The weight sensor 26 detects the presence or absence of items in the storage facility by detecting weight.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 30 comprises a rectangular parallelepiped main body 31 of the same size as each storage unit 20, a front panel 32 that covers the front of the main body 31 and on which various devices are attached, and a control device 33 that is arranged in the space within the main body 31. As shown in FIG. 3, the various devices attached to the front panel 32 include an operation panel 34, a reader 35, a camera 36, and a speaker 37.

The operation panel 34 is disposed in the center of the front panel 32. The operation panel 34 displays operation guidance related to the delivery and receipt of goods, and accepts input operations related to the delivery and receipt of goods. In FIG. 2, as an example, a guide image Ga for the operator to select delivery or receipt of a package, and an operation image Gb having a delivery button for the operator to carry out the delivery process and a receipt button for the operator to receive the package are displayed. The reader 35 is a QR code reader for reading a QR code (registered trademark) used for authentication by the recipient to receive the goods. The camera 36 is disposed so as to be able to capture an image of a predetermined range in front of the stocker 10, and captures an image including subjects such as the deliverer and the recipient. The speaker 37 outputs operation guidance related to the delivery and removal of goods by voice through multiple voice output holes.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 33 includes a control unit 33a, a storage unit 33b, and a communication unit 33c. The control unit 33a controls the entire stocker 10. The control unit 33a is composed of a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The storage unit 33b stores processing programs and management information for managing each storage unit 20. As shown in FIG. 4, the management information includes, for example, a storage unit number for identifying the storage unit 20, the presence or absence of stored items, the value of a flag F indicating whether an item has been delivered to one storage unit 20 multiple times, and a user ID for identifying the recipient (user) of the item. The communication unit 33c is connected via a network 41 such as the Internet, and exchanges information with the stocker management device 40 and transmits various information to a portable device 50 carried by the recipient.

The control device 33 can input an input signal from the operation panel 34, a code reading signal from the reader 35, and an image signal from the camera 36. The control device 33 can also input a detection signal from the opening/closing sensor 25 and a detection signal from the weight sensor 26 for each storage facility 20. The control device 33 can output a control signal to the operation panel 34, a control signal to the reader 35, a control signal to the camera 36, and an audio signal to the speaker 37. The control device 33 can also output a control signal to the electric lock 24 for each storage facility 20.

The stocker management device 40 is configured as a management server that manages multiple stockers including stocker 10. The stocker management device 40 stores a user ID. The user ID is generated, for example, by user registration performed when purchasing an item, and is stored in the stocker management device 40.

Next, the operation of the stocker 10 thus configured will be described. The operation of the stocker 10 mainly includes a delivery process in which the deliverer delivers an item to the storage 20 of the stocker 10, and a receiving process in which the receiver receives an item from the storage 20. The operation panel 34 displays the guide image Ga and operation image Gb shown in FIG. 2 based on the detection of an object moving in front by the camera 36, and the delivery button and the reception button are displayed in a touchable state on the operation image Gb. The delivery process is executed by touching the delivery button. The reception process is executed by touching the reception button. First, the delivery process will be described. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of the delivery process.

In the delivery process, the control unit 33a first prompts the deliverer to input a user ID by displaying an input guide image on the operation panel 34 (S100). The recipient's number can be input by reading a code with the reader 35, or by displaying a guide image on the operation panel 34 prompting the deliverer to input the user ID (number) and a software keyboard for input, allowing the deliverer to input the number using the keyboard. When the user ID is input, the control unit 33a checks whether the input user ID matches a legitimate user ID previously registered in the stocker management device 40 (S110). If the user ID does not match, the control unit 33a notifies the deliverer of an error by displaying an error image on the operation panel 34 (S120), and returns to S100.

On the other hand, when the user ID is matched, the control unit 33a refers to the management information stored in the memory unit 33b and determines whether an item with the same user ID as the matched user ID has been delivered to the storage unit 20 (S130). When the control unit 33a determines that an item with the same user ID has not been delivered to the storage unit 20, it refers to the management information and controls the electric lock 24 so that an empty storage unit 20 among the storage units 20 of the stocker 10 is set as the storage unit 20 to which the item is to be delivered (S140). As described above, since the door 22 is biased in the opening direction, it automatically opens when the electric lock 24 is unlocked. This allows the deliverer to deliver the item to the storage unit 20. When the control unit 33a unlocks the storage unit 20, it determines whether the delivery is completed (S150). This determination is made by determining whether the door 22 is closed and whether there is an item in the storage unit based on the detection signals from the opening/closing sensor 25 and the weight sensor 26. When the control unit 33a determines that the delivery is complete, it controls the electric lock 24 so that the storage unit 20 is locked (S160). Next, the control unit 33a associates the storage unit number of the storage unit 20 to which the item was delivered with the user ID and stores them as management information in the memory unit 33b (S170). Then, the control unit 33a transmits an arrival notification that the item has arrived at the stocker 10, the receipt number required to receive the item, and a receipt code obtained by coding the receipt number to the mobile device 50 carried by the recipient via the network 41 (S180), and the delivery process is completed.

In S130, when the control unit 33a determines that an item with the same user ID has been delivered to the storage 20, it controls the electric lock 24 so that the storage 20 is unlocked, with the corresponding storage 20 as the storage 20 to which the item is delivered (S190). This allows the same item to be delivered to one storage 20, and the limited space can be effectively utilized to increase the number of available storages 20. When the control unit 33a unlocks the storage 20, it determines whether the delivery is complete (S200). This determination is made by determining whether the door 22 is closed and an item has been added to the storage, based on the detection signals from the opening/closing sensor 25 and the weight sensor 26. When the control unit 33a determines that the delivery is complete, it controls the electric lock 24 so that the storage 20 is locked (S210). Next, the control unit 33a sets the value 1 to the flag F associated with the storage number of the storage 20 to which the item was delivered as management information (S220). Then, as shown in FIG. 6(b), the control unit 33a transmits, via the network 41 to the portable device 50 carried by the recipient, in addition to the arrival notification, the receipt number, and the receipt code, a notification to prevent the recipient from forgetting to pick up the item, to remind the recipient not to forget to pick up the item (S230), and the delivery process is completed.

Next, we will explain the receiving process. Figure 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the receiving process.

In the receiving process, the control unit 33a first prompts the recipient to input a user ID by, for example, displaying an input guide image on the operation panel 34 (S300). The user ID can be input by code reading or keyboard input, as in S100. When the user ID is input, the control unit 33a checks whether the input user ID matches any of the user IDs registered in the management information of the storage unit 33b (S310). If the user ID does not match, the control unit 33a notifies the deliverer of the error by, for example, displaying an error image on the operation panel 34 (S320), and returns to S300.

On the other hand, when the user ID is verified, the control unit 33a judges whether the flag F of the storage number associated with the user ID in the management information stored in the memory unit 33b is equal to 1 (S330). That is, the control unit 33a judges whether an item has been delivered to one storage unit 20 more than once. When the control unit 33a judges that the flag F of the storage number associated with the user ID is equal to 0, not 1, the control unit 33a controls the electric lock 24 so that the storage unit 20 with the storage number corresponding to the user ID is set as the storage unit 20 of the recipient and unlocks the storage unit 20 (S350). On the other hand, when the control unit 33a judges that the flag F of the storage number associated with the user ID is equal to 1, the control unit 33a displays a guide display for preventing the receiver from forgetting to pick up the item on the operation panel 34 as shown in FIG. 8 (S340), and then controls the electric lock 24 so that the storage unit 20 with the storage number corresponding to the user ID is set as the storage unit 20 of the recipient and unlocks the storage unit 20 (S350). This allows the recipient to receive the item from the storage 20. In addition, if an item has been delivered to one storage 20 two or more times, a notification to prevent the item from being left behind is sent to the recipient's mobile device 50 when the item is delivered to the storage 20, and when the recipient operates the operation panel 34 to receive the item, a guide to prevent the item from being left behind is displayed on the operation panel 34, so that the item can be effectively prevented from being left behind. For example, in a case where an item stored at the back of the storage 20 is hidden by an item stored at the front, the receiver who believes that there is only one item in the storage 20 can be prevented from forgetting to take the item stored at the back. When the control unit 33a unlocks the storage 20, it determines whether the reception is complete (S360). This determination is made by determining whether the door 22 is closed and whether there is no item in the storage 20 based on the detection signals from the opening/closing sensor 25 and the weight sensor 26. When the control unit 33a determines that the reception is complete, it controls the electric lock 24 so that the storage 20 is locked (S370). Next, the control unit 33a clears the user ID and flag F associated with the storage number of the storage 20 to which the item was delivered in the management information registered in the memory unit 33b (S380), and ends the receiving process.

In the stocker 10 of this embodiment described above, when multiple items for the same recipient are delivered to one storage 20, the recipient is notified in advance of a guide to prevent forgetting to pick up an item. This effectively prevents a recipient who believes that there is only one item in the storage 20 from forgetting to pick up an item.

Here, the correspondence between the components of this embodiment and the components of the present invention will be clarified. The storage facility 20 of this embodiment corresponds to the storage facility of this disclosure, the stocker body including the multiple storage facilities 20 corresponds to the stocker body, and the control unit 33a and communication unit 33c that execute the process of S230 of the delivery process correspond to the notification unit. In addition, the operation panel 34 corresponds to the input unit and display unit, and the control unit 33a that executes the delivery process corresponds to the control unit.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented in various forms as long as they fall within the technical scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit 33a sends a notification to the recipient's mobile device 50 to prevent the item from being forgotten when an item is delivered to one storage facility 20 two or more times, and displays a guide to prevent the item from being forgotten on the operation panel 34 when the recipient operates the operation panel 34 to receive the item, but it may be configured to perform only one of these operations.

In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 30 is provided with an operation panel 34 (touch panel) in which the input section and the display section are integrated. However, the input section and the display section may be provided separately in positions close to each other.

In the above embodiment, the control unit 33a and communication unit 33c of the control unit 30 notify the recipient's portable device 50 of the prevention of forgetting to pick up the item, but the stocker management device 40 connected to the stocker 10 via the network 41 may also perform this function. In this case, the stocker management device 40 may receive management information from the stocker 10 and transmit a notification to the recipient's portable device 50 of the prevention of forgetting to pick up the item in accordance with the management information.

The storage device of the present disclosure may be configured as follows:

In the stocker disclosed herein, the notification unit may notify the guidance for preventing forgetting by wireless communication. In this way, for example, by sending a notification to the recipient's mobile device, the recipient can be more reliably notified of the guidance for preventing forgetting. In this case, the control unit includes an input unit that allows input by an operator and a control unit that controls the opening and closing of the multiple storage units, and when an instruction is given for the delivery of an item by a deliverer, the control unit accepts input of identification information for identifying the recipient of the item via the input unit, and if an item matching the recipient's identification information has not been delivered to any of the multiple storage units, the control unit opens an empty storage unit among the multiple storage units to accept the delivery of the item, and if an item matching the recipient's identification information has been delivered to any of the multiple storage units, the control unit opens the corresponding storage unit to accept the delivery of the item and notifies the recipient of the guidance for preventing forgetting by the notification unit.

The stocker of the present disclosure may further include an input unit that allows input by an operator, and a display unit that is provided near the input unit or integral with the input unit and displays various kinds of guidance, and the notification unit may display the guidance to prevent forgetting on the display unit when a recipient of the multiple items instructs the recipient to receive the items via the input unit. By displaying the guidance to prevent forgetting on the display unit near the input unit where the recipient inputs to receive the items or integral with the input unit, the recipient can be more reliably notified of the guidance to prevent forgetting.

Although this disclosure is in the form of a stocker, it may also be in the form of a stocker management device or a stocker system.

The present invention can be used in the manufacturing industry for storage warehouses and stockers.

1 Stocker system, 10 Stocker, 20 Storage, 21 Main body, 22 Door, 24 Electric lock, 25 Opening/closing sensor, 26 Weight sensor, 30 Control unit, 31 Main body, 32 Front panel, 33 Control device, 33a Control unit, 33b Memory unit, 33c Communication unit, 34 Operation panel, 35 Reader, 36 Camera, 37 Speaker, 40 Stocker management device, 41 Network, 50 Portable device, Ga Guide image, Gb Operation image.

Claims (5)

a stocker main body including a plurality of storage units capable of delivering and receiving items, the storage unit being capable of receiving a plurality of items having the same recipient into one of the storage units;
a notification unit that notifies a recipient of the plurality of items of a guide for preventing the recipient from forgetting to pick up the items when the plurality of items are delivered to one of the storage facilities;
A stocker comprising: 2. The stocker of claim 1,
The notification unit notifies the guidance for preventing forgetting to take the device by wireless communication.
Stocker. 3. The stocker according to claim 2,
an input unit that allows an operator to input;
A control unit that controls opening and closing of the plurality of storage compartments;
Equipped with
When an instruction is given for delivery of an item by a deliverer, the control unit accepts input of identification information for identifying a recipient of the item via the input unit, and if an item having a matching identification information of the recipient is not delivered to any of the plurality of storage warehouses, an empty storage warehouse among the plurality of storage warehouses is opened to accept the delivery of the item, and if an item having a matching identification information of the recipient is delivered to any of the plurality of storage warehouses, the corresponding storage warehouse is opened to accept the delivery of the item, and the notification unit notifies the recipient of the item of the guidance for preventing forgetting to pick up the item.
Stocker. 4. The stocker according to claim 1, further comprising:
an input unit that allows an operator to input;
a display unit provided near the input unit or integral with the input unit and displaying various kinds of guidance;
Equipped with
the notification unit displays the guidance for preventing forgetting to pick up the items on the display unit when a recipient of the plurality of items instructs the recipient to pick up the items via the input unit.
Stocker. A stocker management device that manages a stocker including a plurality of storage units capable of delivering and receiving items, comprising:
When a plurality of deliveries of the same items are stored in one storage facility, the receiver of the plurality of items is notified in advance of a guide for preventing the receiver from forgetting to pick up the items.
Stocker management device.

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