JP7749430B2 - Luggage lift - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a parcel elevator that is installed in a multi-story building and transports parcels by raising and lowering them.

Luggage elevators are often installed in hospitals to transport items such as medicines, specimens, gauze, etc. from one floor to another. Patent Document 1 discloses a luggage elevator having a luggage basket that moves up and down within a shaft. The shaft of this luggage elevator extends vertically across each floor of a building. Entrances leading to the shaft are formed in the walls of each floor of the building, and these entrances are equipped with entrance doors.

With the parcel elevator of Patent Document 1, after a parcel has been transported to a designated floor, an operator must remove the parcel from the elevator and remove it before the next parcel can be loaded and transported. As a result, when attempting to transport parcels frequently using the parcel elevator of Patent Document 1, the efficiency of parcel transport decreases and the workload of the operator increases.

Patent Document 2 discloses a parcel elevator installed between a kitchen and a dining room on different floors. In the parcel elevator of Patent Document 2, multiple in-car conveyors are provided in the car that moves up and down the elevator shaft, and are spaced apart vertically. Entrance and exit conveyors corresponding to each in-car conveyor are installed at entrances and exits in the elevator shaft. Food to be served from the kitchen is carried into the car by the upper conveyor and transported to the dining room, and used tableware is carried out into the car by the lower conveyor and transported to the kitchen.

In the parcel elevator of Patent Document 2, one of the upper and lower conveyors is dedicated to loading, and the other is dedicated to unloading, allowing unloading and loading to occur simultaneously on a given floor, improving parcel transport efficiency compared to Patent Document 1. Furthermore, since the conveyors can automatically load and unload parcels into and out of the car, the workload of workers is reduced.

Patent No. 6258129 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-302362

In the parcel elevator of Patent Document 2, parcels to be transported cannot be loaded onto the conveyor dedicated to carrying in, and the only conveyor actually used for transporting is the conveyor dedicated to carrying out. As a result, the parcel elevator of Patent Document 2 is not able to use a single conveyor to carry in and out parcels, and therefore its transport efficiency is not very high.

One way to improve transport efficiency is to load multiple packages to be transported onto a dedicated transport conveyor as packages waiting to be transported, and then transport them in multiple batches. In this case, additional space must be provided on the conveyor to load the packages waiting to be transported, which increases the length of the conveyor. However, in buildings with limited space, such as hospitals, space saving is traditionally required, and it is not desirable to have a long conveyor.

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems by providing a parcel elevator that can improve the efficiency of transporting parcels in multi-story buildings while saving space.

The parcel elevator of the present invention comprises an elevator shaft provided on multiple floors of a multi-story building and having multiple entrances connecting the interior of the elevator shaft with the exterior, a luggage car section configured to be able to ascend and descend within the elevator shaft between the multiple entrances and having multiple in-car storage sections each capable of storing luggage, and transports the luggage between the multiple entrances. The elevator also comprises a plurality of station sections located outside the multiple entrances of the elevator shaft and having multiple shelves each capable of storing luggage and configured to be able to communicate with the multiple in-car storage sections, and a plurality of racks provided in at least one of the luggage car section or the station section, each with a rack for carrying luggage from the in-car storage section to the shelf. The system has a transfer section that transfers the luggage and transfers the luggage from the shelf to the in-car storage section, and the in-car storage section is arranged inside the luggage basket with at least one level in the vertical direction and multiple rows in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction in which the luggage is carried in and out, and has a movement mechanism that can move the luggage stored in a specific in-car storage section to an in-car storage section adjacent to the specific in-car storage section in the horizontal direction, and the multiple shelves are arranged with at least one level in the vertical direction and multiple rows in the horizontal direction, and each of the shelves is used for both carrying in and carrying out the luggage at the multiple station sections.

With this configuration, multiple packages can be stored together in multiple car storage compartments provided inside the baggage car unit, and the multiple packages can be transported together between multiple entrances and exits provided on multiple floors of a multi-story building. Note that the entrances and exits only need to be provided on multiple floors of the multi-story building, and may or may not be provided on each floor of the multi-story building. Furthermore, packages stored in an internal storage compartment can be moved to an internal storage compartment horizontally adjacent to the car storage compartment. Therefore, at the destination station, packages stored in multiple internal storage compartments can be transported from a shelf location different from that of the source station. The multiple shelves of the station can be used for both loading and unloading packages. Furthermore, because the multiple shelves are not divided into those dedicated to loading and unloading packages, even if packages waiting for transport remain stored on some shelves at the source station, or if packages remain stored on some shelves at the destination station without being removed, packages can be loaded and unloaded at the station by using shelves other than those shelves. Therefore, by arranging stations with multiple shelves at multiple entrances and exits, there is no need to install long conveyors in the direction of luggage loading and unloading to provide space for luggage waiting to be transported, as was previously the case. Therefore, the parcel elevator of the present invention can improve the efficiency of luggage transportation in multi-story buildings while saving space.

Furthermore, in the parcel elevator of the present invention, it is preferable that the in-car storage sections are provided in multiple stages in the vertical direction inside the luggage car, and that the moving mechanism is capable of moving the parcel stored in a predetermined in-car storage section to an in-car storage section adjacent to the predetermined in-car storage section in the vertical direction.

This configuration allows luggage stored in an internal car storage section to be moved to an adjacent internal car storage section in the vertical direction. Therefore, the vertical positions of the shelf housing the luggage awaiting transport and the empty internal car storage section, or the vertical positions of the empty shelf and the internal car storage section housing the luggage, can be aligned by vertically moving the luggage inside the luggage car section. This alignment is more accurate and efficient than vertical alignment performed by raising and lowering the luggage car section in the hoistway. Furthermore, when vertical alignment is performed by raising and lowering the luggage car section in the hoistway, additional space must be secured near the top and bottom of the hoistway for the luggage car to be raised and lowered. In contrast, the configuration of the present invention aligns the luggage vertically by moving the luggage in the luggage car section, eliminating the need for additional space in the hoistway. Therefore, the parcel elevator of the present invention can further improve the efficiency of luggage transport in multi-story buildings while achieving space savings.

Furthermore, in the parcel elevator of the present invention, it is preferable that the movement mechanism be capable of rotating and moving the parcel stored in a predetermined car storage section so that the parcel passes through each of the multiple car storage sections, which are provided in multiple rows and multiple stages, and returns to the predetermined car storage section.

This configuration allows the horizontal and vertical position of luggage in the luggage car to be adjusted easily and efficiently. As a result, the luggage elevator of the present invention saves space while enabling more efficient luggage transportation in multi-story buildings.

Furthermore, in the parcel elevator of the present invention, it is preferable that the station section has a detection means for detecting whether the parcel is stored on each of the plurality of shelves, and the moving mechanism moves the parcel based on the detection results of the detection means of the station section at the source of the parcel and the station section at the destination of the parcel, so that the car storage section corresponding to the shelf where the parcel is stored at the station section at the source of the parcel is empty, and the car storage section corresponding to the shelf where the parcel is not stored at the station section at the destination of the parcel is stored with the parcel to be transported.

If a shelf containing luggage does not correspond to an empty car storage compartment at the source station, or if a shelf not containing luggage does not correspond to an empty car storage compartment containing the luggage to be transported at the destination station, luggage cannot be transferred between the shelf and the car storage compartment. According to the present invention, it is possible to detect whether luggage is stored on each shelf at the station, and move luggage in the luggage car compartment based on the detection results. This prevents situations in which luggage cannot be transferred between a shelf and a car storage compartment. As a result, the parcel elevator of the present invention can further improve the efficiency of luggage transport in multi-story buildings while achieving space savings.

1 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of a parcel elevator according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a side view showing the configuration of a parcel elevator according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a luggage basket according to the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a luggage basket according to a first modified example. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a luggage basket according to a second modified example. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a luggage basket according to a third modified example. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a specific configuration of a moving mechanism according to a second modified example.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 3. Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of a parcel elevator 1 according to this embodiment. Figure 2 is a side view of the parcel elevator 1 as viewed from the horizontal direction. Figure 3 is a perspective view showing a parcel car section 3 (described below) according to this embodiment. The following description will be based on the vertical direction, horizontal direction, and loading/unloading direction indicated by arrows in Figure 1.

The parcel elevator 1 of this embodiment is used to transport parcels between multiple floors and is installed, for example, in a multi-story hospital. The parcel elevator 1 includes a hoistway 2, a parcel car unit 3, a station unit 4, and a control unit (not shown).

The elevator shaft 2 extends vertically across multiple floors of the building. In this embodiment, the cargo refers to trays L containing, for example, medicines, specimens, and supplies such as gauze and syringes. As shown in FIG. 2, the elevator shaft 2 has multiple entrances 30 connecting its interior to the exterior. The multiple entrances 30 are provided at locations corresponding to each floor of a multi-story building. Note that the entrances 30 may be provided on multiple floors of the multi-story building, and may be provided at locations corresponding to all floors of the building, or may be provided at locations corresponding to at least two floors of the building but not all floors of the building. As shown in FIG. 2, the elevator shaft 2 also has doors 50 at locations corresponding to the multiple entrances 30 on each floor of the building. The doors 50 are made of a single plate-shaped member and move vertically upward to open the entrances 30 and vertically downward to close the entrances 30. The control unit automatically controls the movement of the doors to open and close the multiple entrances 30. The entrance/exit 30 is open when a tray L is transferred from the in-car storage section 10 to the shelf 20 by the transfer section 40 (described below), and when a tray L is transferred from the shelf 20 to the in-car storage section 10.

The luggage car unit 3 is installed inside the elevator shaft 2. The luggage car unit 3 is configured to be able to move up and down vertically inside the elevator shaft 2 between multiple entrances and exits 30 by a drive device (not shown) (see the solid arrows in Figures 1 and 2 for the direction of movement). The drive device includes, for example, a traction rope and a hoist; the luggage car unit 3 rises when the traction rope attached to the luggage car unit 3 is wound up by the hoist installed at the top of the elevator shaft 2, and the luggage car unit 3 descends when the traction rope is let out by the hoist.

As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the luggage car section 3 has six in-car storage sections 10, each capable of storing a tray L. The six in-car storage sections 10 are arranged inside the luggage car section 3 in three vertical rows and two horizontal rows. Of the six in-car storage sections 10, the top left row is designated 10a, the right row is designated 10b, the middle left row is designated 10c, the right row is designated 10d, and the bottom left row is designated 10e, the right row is designated 10f. Note that the number of in-car storage sections may be two or more vertical rows and two or more horizontal rows. However, if there are three or more horizontal rows, the number of trays L that can be transported at one time increases, but the horizontal length of the elevator shaft 2 must be increased. Therefore, if the luggage elevator 1 is to be installed in a smaller space, two horizontal rows are preferable.

In this embodiment, the size of the trays L to be transported is slightly smaller than the size of each of the in-basket storage sections 10. Because the luggage basket section 3 has in-basket storage sections 10 arranged in multiple vertical rows and multiple horizontal rows, multiple trays L of approximately the same size as the in-basket storage sections 10 can be transported together. Note that the size of the trays L may be any size as long as it is smaller than the in-basket storage sections 10. Also, for example, it is possible to store multiple items such as medications in the in-basket storage sections 10 without storing them in trays L. However, it is generally preferable to transport items such as medications for each patient together, and it is preferable to store multiple items such as medications for each patient in one tray L and then store the tray L in the in-basket storage section 10.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the luggage car unit 3 has a moving mechanism 11 capable of moving a tray L stored in a specific car storage section 10 to another car storage section 10 horizontally adjacent to the specific car storage section 10. The moving mechanism 11, for example, moves a tray L stored in a specific car storage section 10a to an empty car storage section 10b horizontally adjacent to the specific car storage section 10a. The moving mechanism 11 may, for example, include a conveyor extending from the underside of the specific car storage section 10 (e.g., 10a) to the underside of the specific car storage section 10 (e.g., 10b) horizontally adjacent to the specific car storage section 10, and a drive unit for driving the conveyor. By driving the conveyor with the drive unit, the tray L stored in the specific car storage section 10 (e.g., 10a) is moved to the specific car storage section 10 (e.g., 10b) horizontally adjacent to the specific car storage section 10. The movement mechanism 11 is not shown in Figures 1 and 2. Also, the movement mechanism 11 may be a roller or the like instead of a conveyor.

As shown in Figure 1, station units 4 are located outside the elevator shaft 2. Station units 4 are located on at least two floors of a multi-story building. More specifically, station units 4 are located on floors of the multi-story building that correspond to the locations of entrances/exits 30 and doors 50. Figure 2 shows three station units 4a, 4b, and 4c located on floor surfaces 90 of three floors. Note that the floor surfaces 90 are not shown in Figure 1.

The station section 4 has multiple shelves 20, each capable of accommodating trays L, configured to communicate with multiple entrances and exits 30. Each shelf 20 is used for both loading and unloading trays L at the station section 4. The multiple shelves 20 are arranged in multiple vertical rows and multiple horizontal rows. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, station section 4a has six shelves 20 capable of accommodating trays L. The six shelves 20 are arranged in three vertical rows and two horizontal rows in station section 4a. Of the six car storage sections 10, the top left row is designated 10a, the right row is designated 10c, the middle left row is designated 10c, the right row is designated 10d, and the bottom left row is designated 10e, the right row is designated 10f. As shown in FIG. 2, station section 4b has a configuration similar to station section 4a. As shown in FIG. 3, station section 4c has a configuration in which four shelves 20 are arranged in two vertical rows and two horizontal rows. The multiple shelves 20 need only have at least one vertical row and two or more horizontal rows, and are not limited to the configuration of stations 4a, 4b, and 4c. Furthermore, the multiple entrances and exits 30 described above are provided at positions corresponding to the positions of the multiple shelves provided in station 4 on each floor.

Each shelf 20 is also provided with a detection sensor 60 (detection means) for detecting whether a tray L is stored therein. The detection sensor 60 is electrically connected to the control unit, which will be described later. However, the detection sensor does not necessarily have to be installed. Each shelf 20 is also provided with a display unit (not shown) that can display a reception state, which indicates that the stored tray L has been transported by the luggage basket unit 3, and a transport standby state, which indicates that the stored tray L is waiting to be transported to another station unit 4 by the luggage basket unit 3. The display unit is, for example, an LED lamp that is configured to light up in different colors depending on whether it is in the reception state or the transport standby state. The display unit may also be capable of displaying a temporary storage state, which indicates that the tray L stored on the shelf 20 is not in the reception state or the transport standby state, but is temporarily stored therein.

As shown in FIG. 2, the parcel elevator 1 also has a transfer unit 40 that transfers trays L from multiple car storage units 10 to multiple shelves 20, and from multiple shelves 20 to multiple car storage units 10. The transfer unit 40 includes, for example, a conveyor and a motor that drives it. Note that the transfer unit 40 may include rollers, timing belts, etc. instead of a conveyor. In this embodiment, the transfer unit 40 is provided in the station unit 4. However, the transfer unit 40 may also be provided in the luggage car unit 3, or in both the luggage car unit 3 and the station unit 4.

The control unit (not shown) controls the raising and lowering of the luggage basket unit 3, the movement of trays L between adjacent basket storage units 10 by the movement mechanism 11, the opening and closing of the entrance/exit 30 by the movement of the door 50, and the transfer of trays L by the transfer unit 40.

In this embodiment, the station unit 4 has an operator 21. The operator 21 is, for example, a touch panel. After placing a tray L on a specified shelf 20, the worker can operate the operator 21 to input destination information (e.g., the third floor) for the tray L placed on the specified shelf 20 into the control unit (not shown). The destination information may be information linked to patient information in the control unit. The patient information is, for example, information for identifying the patient, such as the patient number assigned to the patient, the patient's name, and the patient's room number. The patient information is entered into the control unit by the worker in, for example, the pharmacy department of a hospital. The operator also issues a command to start transport using the operator 21. The operator 21 may be, instead of a touch panel, a plurality of operation buttons and a monitor.

The following describes the tray L transport operation by the parcel elevator 1 of this embodiment. In this embodiment, one tray L contains items such as medications, specimens, gauze, and syringes related to one patient. This is to prevent medications and other items from being mixed up between multiple patients. Shared equipment and other items may be placed together in one tray L. Each tray L is also affixed with a label that contains patient information about the patient who will be using the items in the tray L. The label is, for example, a two-dimensional barcode. The label is affixed by a worker in the hospital's pharmacy department.

First, a worker on a specified floor places a tray L containing medications and other items based on the patient's prescription information on a specified shelf 20 in the station unit 4. At this time, multiple trays L may be placed on multiple shelves 20. The worker then operates the control unit 21 to input destination information regarding the destination floor for each tray L, and then inputs a command to start transport. At this time, different destination information may be entered for each of the multiple trays L. When the command to start transport is input, the control unit automatically moves the door 50 corresponding to the shelf 20 containing the tray L, opening the entrance/exit 30. The control unit then controls the operation of the transfer unit 40 to transfer the tray L from the shelf 20 to the car storage unit 10. Note that the destination information may be previously associated with the tray and entered into the control unit. In this case, once the multiple trays L have been placed on the multiple shelves 20, the control unit may automatically start transport based on the destination information.

When the tray L is transferred to the car storage section 10, the control unit starts raising and lowering the luggage car section 3. Then, the control unit moves the tray L between adjacent car storage sections 10 using the movement mechanism 11 as necessary so that the tray L is stored in the car storage section 10 corresponding to the vacant shelf 20 in the station section 4 at the destination floor detected by the detection sensor. The raising and lowering of the luggage car section 3 and the movement of the tray L by the movement mechanism 11 may be performed simultaneously or sequentially. The movement of the tray L by the movement mechanism 11 may also be performed simultaneously with the opening and closing of the entrance/exit 30 by the movement of the door 50.

When the baggage car unit 3 reaches the destination floor, the control unit moves the door 50 at the destination floor and opens the entrance/exit 30 at the destination floor. The control unit then controls the drive of the transfer unit 40 to transfer the tray L from the in-car storage unit 10 to the shelf 20.

After that, if other trays L remain in the luggage car section 3, the control unit repeats the process of raising and lowering the luggage car section 3, moving the trays L with the movement mechanism 11, and transferring the trays L with the transfer unit 40. If no other trays L remain in the luggage car section 3, the control unit causes the parcel elevator 1 to wait until a command to start the next transport is input. Note that in the above transport operation, when trays L are transferred between the luggage car section 3 and the station section 4c, which has shelves 20 arranged in two vertical tiers, only the top two tiers or the bottom two tiers of the in-car storage section 100, which has three vertical tiers, are used.

As described above, the parcel elevator 1 of this embodiment has a luggage car section 3 having multiple in-car storage sections 10 each capable of storing trays L, multiple station sections 4 having multiple shelves 20 each capable of storing trays L, and a transfer section 40. The in-car storage sections 10 are arranged in multiple vertical rows and multiple horizontal rows. The luggage car section 3 has a moving mechanism 11 that can move a tray L stored in a specific in-car storage section 10 to another in-car storage section 10 horizontally adjacent to the specific in-car storage section 10.

According to the configuration of this embodiment, multiple trays L can be stored together in multiple in-cage storage sections 10 provided inside the luggage car section 3, and multiple trays L can be transported together between multiple entrances/exits 30 provided on multiple floors of a multi-story building. Furthermore, trays L stored in an in-cage storage section 10 can be moved horizontally to an adjacent in-cage storage section 10. Therefore, at the destination station section 4, trays L stored in multiple in-cage storage sections 10 can be transported from a shelf 20 position different from the shelf 20 position of the source station section 4. Furthermore, the multiple shelves 20 of the station section 4 can be used for both the import and export of trays L. Furthermore, because the multiple shelves 20 are not divided into those dedicated to loading and unloading trays L, even if trays L waiting to be transported remain stored on some shelves 20 at the source station 4, or if trays L remain stored on some shelves 20 at the destination station 4 without being removed, trays L can be loaded and unloaded at those stations 4 by using shelves 20 other than those shelves 20. Therefore, by arranging stations 4 with multiple shelves at multiple entrances and exits, it is no longer necessary to install a long conveyor in the direction of loading and unloading luggage to provide space for loading trays L waiting to be transported, as in the past. Therefore, the parcel elevator 1 of this embodiment can improve the efficiency of transporting trays L in multi-story buildings while saving space.

The above describes a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various design modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. In the following description of each variation, the same components as in the embodiment will be given the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions of these components will be omitted.

(First Modification)
In the above embodiment, the luggage car unit 3 includes a moving mechanism 11 that can move the tray L stored in a predetermined car storage unit 10 to another car storage unit 10 that is horizontally adjacent to the predetermined car storage unit 10. However, the luggage car unit may also include a moving mechanism that can move the tray L stored in a predetermined car storage unit to another car storage unit that is horizontally adjacent to the predetermined car storage unit and another car storage unit that is vertically adjacent to the predetermined car storage unit. For example, as shown in FIG. 4 , a luggage car unit 103 according to a first modified example includes a moving mechanism 101 that moves the tray L stored in a predetermined car storage unit 100 among the multiple car storage units 100 (100a to 100f) to another car storage unit 100 that is horizontally adjacent to the predetermined car storage unit 100 and another car storage unit 100 that is vertically adjacent to the predetermined car storage unit 100. For example, the moving mechanism 101 can move the tray L stored in the in-car storage section 100a to an empty in-car storage section 100b that is horizontally adjacent to the in-car storage section 100a, and to an in-car storage section 100c that is vertically adjacent to the in-car storage section 100a. The moving mechanism 101 can also move the tray L stored in the in-car storage section 100c to an in-car storage section 100d that is horizontally adjacent to the in-car storage section 100c, and to the in-car storage sections 100a and 100e that are vertically adjacent to the in-car storage section 100c. The mechanism of the moving mechanism 101 that moves the tray L in the vertical direction includes, for example, a traction rope directly or indirectly connected to the bottom surface of each in-car storage section 100 on which the tray L is placed, and a hoist. Then, by winding or letting out the traction rope with the hoist, the bottom surfaces of the in-car storage sections 100 in the same row, including the in-car storage sections 100 that store trays L and the empty in-car storage sections 100 that do not store trays L, are moved vertically together with the trays L. This makes it possible to move the trays L stored in any of the in-car storage sections 100 to the in-car storage section 100 that is vertically adjacent to that in-car storage section 100. The mechanism of the movement mechanism 101 that moves the trays L in the horizontal direction has a configuration similar to that of the above embodiment, for example.

According to the configuration of the first modified example, a tray L stored in an in-car storage section 10 can be moved vertically to an adjacent in-car storage section 10. Therefore, the vertical position of the shelf 20 storing the tray L waiting to be transported and the empty in-car storage section 10, or the vertical position of the empty shelf 20 and the in-car storage section 10 storing the tray L, can be aligned by vertically moving the tray L inside the luggage car section 3. This alignment is more accurate and efficient than vertical alignment performed by raising and lowering the luggage car section 3 in the hoistway 2. Furthermore, when vertical alignment is performed by raising and lowering the luggage car section 3 in the hoistway 2, additional space must be secured near the top and bottom of the hoistway 2 for raising and lowering the luggage car 3. In contrast, with the configuration of the first modified example, vertical alignment is performed by moving the tray L in the luggage car section 3, so additional space is not required in the hoistway 2. Therefore, the parcel elevator 1 of the first variant can transport trays L in multi-story buildings with high precision and efficiency while achieving space savings.

(Second Modification)
As shown in FIG. 5 , the luggage car section 203 according to the second modification includes a moving mechanism 201 that rotates and moves a tray L stored in a specific car storage section 200 among the multiple car storage sections 200 (200a to 200f) to a car storage section 200 that is horizontally or vertically adjacent to the specific car storage section 200 so that the tray L rotates clockwise when viewed from the loading/unloading direction. For example, the moving mechanism 201 can move the tray L stored in the car storage section 200a to the car storage section 200b that is horizontally adjacent to the car storage section 200a so that the tray L rotates clockwise when viewed from the loading/unloading direction. The moving mechanism 201 can also move the tray L stored in the car storage section 200b to the car storage section 200d that is vertically adjacent to the car storage section 200b so that the tray L rotates clockwise when viewed from the loading/unloading direction. The moving mechanism 201 includes, for example, a roller chain 211 (described later) directly or indirectly coupled to the bottom surface of each of the in-car storage sections 200 on which the tray L is placed, and a sprocket 212 (described later) that rotates the roller chain 211. By driving the sprocket 212 to rotate the roller chain 211, the tray L is rotated clockwise when viewed from the loading/unloading direction.

The moving mechanism 201 according to the second modified example will be described in detail below with reference to Figure 7. Note that in Figure 7, the illustration of the luggage car section 203 and the illustration of the multiple car storage sections 200 other than car storage section 200a have been omitted for the sake of explanation.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the moving mechanism 201 has two frames 221 extending in the loading/unloading direction and multiple motor rollers 222 installed between the two frames 221. The horizontal distance between the two frames 221 is greater than the horizontal width of the tray L. The multiple motor rollers 222 are connected to the two frames 221, and for example, seven motor rollers 222 are provided. Tray L can be placed on the multiple motor rollers 222. For example, when the in-car storage section 200 and the shelf 20 are connected, the control unit can drive the motor rollers 222 to transfer the tray L between the in-car storage section 200 and the shelf 20. In other words, the motor rollers 222 also correspond to the transfer unit in this invention.

There are six sets of two frames 221 and seven motor rollers 222, corresponding to the six car storage compartments 200. For the sake of explanation, only one set is shown in Figure 7.

The movement mechanism 201 also has two chain units 210 (210a, 201b). One of the chain units, 210a, is provided in a position corresponding to the three car storage compartments 200a, 200c, and 200e on the left side. The other chain unit, 210b, is provided in a position corresponding to the three car storage compartments 200b, 200d, and 200f on the right side. Each chain unit 210 has a roller chain 211 and four sprockets 212.

Of the four sprockets 212 in chain unit 210b, the upper left sprocket 212 rotates via the drive chain 214 and drive roller 213. As a result, the rotation of the upper left sprocket 212 in chain unit 210b rotates the roller chain 211 (the direction of rotation is indicated by the solid arrow in Figure 7). Furthermore, the upper right sprocket 212 of the four sprockets 212 in chain unit 210a is connected to the upper left sprocket 212 of the four sprockets 212 in chain unit 210b via a connecting shaft 215. Furthermore, the lower right sprocket 212 of the four sprockets 212 in chain unit 210a is connected to the lower left sprocket 212 of the four sprockets 212 in chain unit 210b via a connecting shaft 215. Therefore, the roller chain 211 of chain unit 210a rotates in perfect synchronization with the rotation of the roller chain 211 in chain unit 210b (the direction of rotation is indicated by the solid arrow in Figure 7). That is, the roller chain 211 of chain unit 210a is a driven chain, and the roller chain 211 of chain unit 210b is a drive chain.

The roller chain 211 of the chain unit 210a is connected to the left frame 221 of the two frames 221. The roller chain 211 of the chain unit 210 is connected to the right frame 221 of the two frames 221. When the drive roller 213 is driven and the two roller chains 211 rotate, the tray L placed on the motor roller 222 rotates clockwise together with the motor roller 222 when viewed from the loading/unloading direction. The same behavior is observed for the other five sets of frames 221 and motor rollers 222 not shown in Figure 7. In other words, the movement mechanism 201 can rotate and move the tray L stored in a specific car storage section 200 so that it passes through each of the multiple car storage sections 200 arranged in multiple rows and columns and returns to the specific car storage section 200.

The configuration of the second variant allows for easy and efficient adjustment of the horizontal and vertical positions of the tray L in the luggage car section 3. As a result, the parcel elevator 1 of the second variant allows for more efficient transport of trays L in multi-story buildings while also saving space.

(Third Modification)
In the above embodiment, the luggage car unit 3 has six in-car storage compartments 100 (100a-100f) arranged in three vertical rows and two horizontal rows. However, the luggage car unit is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and may have multiple in-car storage compartments arranged in multiple vertical rows and multiple horizontal rows. For example, as shown in FIG. 6 , the luggage car unit 303 according to the third modified example has nine in-car storage compartments 300 (300a-300i) arranged in three vertical rows and three horizontal rows. Of the nine in-car storage compartments 300, the left side of the top row is designated 300a, the middle row is designated 300b, and the right side is designated 300c; the left side of the middle row is designated 300d, the middle row is designated 300e, and the right side is designated 300f; and the left side of the bottom row is designated 300g, the middle row is designated 300h, and the right side is designated 300i. In the third modified example, the moving mechanism 301 can move, for example, the tray L stored in the in-cage storage section 300ba to the in-cage storage sections 300a and 300c that are horizontally adjacent to the in-cage storage section 300b. In this case, if the plurality of shelves 20 in the station section 4 are arranged in two horizontal rows, the in-cage storage sections through which the tray L is transferred between the plurality of shelves 20 are limited to the in-cage storage sections 300a, 300b, 300d, 300e, 300g, and 300h. In other words, when transferring the tray L stored in the in-cage storage sections 300c, 300f, and 300i to the shelf 20, the tray L is first moved by the moving mechanism 301 to one of the in-cage storage sections 300a, 300b, 300d, 300e, 300g, and 300h, and then transferred by the transfer section 40.

In the present invention, the parcel elevator does not need to have a movement mechanism. In this case, the parcel elevator includes a hoistway with an entrance/exit, a luggage car unit having multiple car storage compartments arranged in multiple vertical stages and multiple horizontal rows, multiple stations having multiple shelves arranged in at least one vertical stage and multiple horizontal rows, and a transfer unit (see Figure 1). With this configuration, multiple car storage compartments arranged inside the luggage car unit can store multiple parcels together, allowing multiple parcels to be transported together. Furthermore, the station unit has multiple shelves and can store multiple parcels. Therefore, each of the multiple car storage compartments and multiple shelves can be used for both loading and unloading, eliminating the need for a long conveyor as in conventional systems. Therefore, the parcel elevator of the present invention can improve the efficiency of parcel transportation in multi-story buildings while saving space.

In the present invention, the worker may use the operator to specify only the destination floor for tray L, or may also specify the destination shelf in the station section on the destination floor. When the worker specifies only the destination floor, for example, the control unit uses the movement mechanism to move tray L between adjacent car storage sections as necessary so that tray L is stored in the car storage section corresponding to an empty shelf in the station section on the destination floor detected by the detection sensor. When the worker specifies a destination shelf, for example, the worker specifies an empty shelf displayed on the operation panel as the destination shelf. Then, the control unit uses the movement mechanism to move tray L between adjacent car storage sections as necessary so that tray L is stored in the car storage section corresponding to the destination shelf.

In the present invention, the collection of empty trays L after they have been transported to a designated shelf may be performed by the parcel elevator of the present invention, or may be performed manually by an operator.

In the above embodiment, the door 50 is made of a single plate-like member and moves vertically to open and close the entrance 30. However, the door may also be a single plate-like member divided into two vertically. The upper portion of the door moves upward and the lower portion moves downward to open the entrance. Furthermore, in a two-part door configuration where the station section is provided with three vertically arranged shelves, when transferring trays L between the top two shelves and the car storage section, only the upper portion of the door may be moved to open the entrance corresponding to the top two shelves, and when transferring trays L between the bottom shelf and the car storage section, only the lower portion of the door may be moved to open the entrance corresponding to the bottom shelf.

In the first variant described above, the moving mechanism 101 is capable of moving a tray L stored in a specific in-cage storage section 100 among the multiple in-cage storage sections 100 to an in-cage storage section 100 adjacent to the specific in-cage storage section 100 in the horizontal direction and to an in-cage storage section 100 adjacent to the specific in-cage storage section 100 in the vertical direction. However, the moving mechanism may also be capable of moving a tray L stored in a specific in-cage storage section 100 among the multiple in-cage storage sections 100 only to an in-cage storage section 100 adjacent to the specific in-cage storage section 100 in the vertical direction.

In the present invention, the moving mechanism 11 may move the tray L based on the detection results of the detection sensors 60 at the source station 4 and the destination station 4 of the tray L so that the car storage section 10 corresponding to the shelf 20 housing the tray L at the source station 40 is empty, and the tray L to be transported is stored in the car storage section 10 corresponding to the shelf 20 not housing the tray L at the destination station 40. If the shelf 20 housing the tray L and the empty car storage section 10 at the source station 40 are not in corresponding positions, or if the shelf 20 not housing the tray L and the car storage section 10 housing the tray L to be transported at the destination station 4 are not in corresponding positions, the tray L cannot be transferred between the shelf 20 and the car storage section 10. According to the above configuration, it is possible to detect whether a tray L is stored in each shelf 20 at the station 4, and to move the tray L in the luggage car section 3 based on the detection results. This prevents situations in which trays L cannot be transferred between the shelf 20 and the car storage section 10. As a result, the parcel elevator 1 can further improve the efficiency of transporting trays L in multi-story buildings while saving space.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 small baggage elevator 2 elevator shaft 3 baggage basket section 4 station section 10 basket storage section 11 movement mechanism 20 shelf 30 entrance/exit 40 transfer section 60 detection sensor L tray

Claims (4)

an elevator shaft provided on a plurality of floors of a multi-story building and having a plurality of entrances that connect the interior of the elevator shaft to the exterior of the elevator shaft;
a luggage car section configured to be able to ascend and descend inside the elevator shaft between the plurality of entrances and exits, the luggage car section having a plurality of internal storage sections each capable of storing luggage, and the luggage elevator transporting the luggage between the plurality of entrances and exits,
a plurality of station units each having a plurality of shelves that are arranged outside the plurality of entrances and exits of the elevator shaft and are each capable of storing the luggage and are configured to be able to communicate with the plurality of in-car storage units;
a transfer unit provided in at least one of the luggage basket unit and the station unit, for transferring the luggage from the in-car storage unit to the shelf and from the shelf to the in-car storage unit;
The car storage section includes:
a moving mechanism provided inside the luggage car section so as to have at least one stage in the vertical direction and a plurality of rows in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction in which the luggage is carried in and out, and capable of moving the luggage stored in a predetermined storage section in the car to an storage section in the car adjacent to the predetermined storage section in the horizontal direction;
The plurality of shelves include:
the shelves are provided in at least one stage in the vertical direction and in a plurality of rows in the horizontal direction, and each of the shelves is used for both loading and unloading the luggage at the plurality of station sections ;
the station unit has a detection means for detecting whether or not the luggage is stored on each of the plurality of shelves,
The moving mechanism is characterized in that, based on the detection results of the detection means of the station section at the source of the luggage and the station section at the destination of the luggage, the moving mechanism moves the luggage so that the storage section within the car corresponding to the shelf where the luggage is stored at the station section at the source of the luggage is empty, and the storage section within the car corresponding to the shelf where the luggage is not stored at the station section at the destination of the luggage is stored with the luggage to be transported . 2. The parcel elevator according to claim 1, wherein the transfer section transfers the parcel from the plurality of in-car storage sections to the plurality of shelves, and transfers the parcel from the plurality of shelves to the plurality of in-car storage sections. The in-cage storage section is provided in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction inside the luggage cage section ,
The parcel elevator according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the moving mechanism is capable of moving the parcel stored in a specified storage section within the car to a storage section within the car adjacent to the specified storage section in the vertical direction. The parcel elevator according to claim 3, characterized in that the moving mechanism is capable of rotating and moving the parcel stored in a predetermined storage section in the car so that the parcel passes through each of the plurality of storage sections in the car, which are arranged in multiple rows and multiple stages, and returns to the predetermined storage section in the car.