JP7776321B2 - Stocker - Google Patents

Description

This specification discloses a stocker.

A conventional stocker of this type has been proposed that includes multiple delivery warehouses, locking devices that lock and unlock the delivery warehouse doors, a control unit that controls the locking devices, and a display and operation unit that displays a guide screen regarding the delivery and removal of items and accepts various operations related to the delivery and removal of items (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The control unit follows the operator's operations accepted via the display and operation unit, collates the necessary information, and then controls the locking and unlocking of the delivery warehouse to which items are to be transferred. The delivery warehouse doors are biased forward (in the opening direction) by a spring, and when unlocked by the locking device, the biasing force automatically opens them slightly.

International Publication No. 2019/026543

After performing the necessary operations on the display operation unit for delivery or receipt, the operator proceeds to the delivery warehouse at the delivery or receipt destination and places items in or out. If the delivery warehouse is opened when the operation unit and the delivery or receipt destination are far apart, it takes a certain amount of time for the operator to move into the open delivery warehouse, and the delivery warehouse will remain open for a certain amount of time. For example, if the delivery warehouse door remains open for a long period of time during rainy weather, rain may enter the delivery warehouse through the gap in the open door, causing contamination inside the warehouse or causing malfunctions.

The primary objective of this disclosure is to open the door of a delivery warehouse at the appropriate time, even if the input unit where the operator enters input and the warehouse where the item is delivered or received are far apart.

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

The stocker disclosed herein is a stocker that includes a storage warehouse with an openable/closable door and is capable of delivering or receiving items from the delivery warehouse. It is installed at a location away from the storage warehouse and includes an input unit that allows input by an operator, an opening unit that opens the door, a control unit that controls the opening unit so that the storage warehouse door is opened based on an instruction to deliver or receive the item given via the input unit, and a change unit that changes the waiting time between when an instruction to deliver or receive the item is given and when the delivery warehouse door is opened.

The stocker disclosed herein changes the waiting time between when an instruction to deliver or receive an item is given and when the delivery warehouse door opens. This allows the delivery warehouse door to open at the appropriate time, even if the input unit where the operator enters information is far from the delivery or receiving warehouse where the item is to be delivered or received. This prevents, for example, the delivery warehouse door from opening when the deliverer or recipient is not nearby, or the deliverer or recipient from having to wait a long time in front of the delivery warehouse at the delivery or receiving destination until the door opens.

FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one row of storage facilities. FIG. 2 is a front view of the control unit. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the input/output relationship between the control unit and other devices. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a control routine. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a guide screen. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a waiting time setting table. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a waiting time setting table according to a modified example. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing how a deliverer or receiver inputs information into an operation panel and then moves to a delivery destination or a receiving destination.

A preferred embodiment of the stocker of the present disclosure will be described using the drawings. Figure 1 is a perspective view of the stocker 10. Figure 2 is a perspective view of one row of storage compartments 20. Figure 3 is a front view of the control unit 30. Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the input/output relationship between the control unit 30 and other devices. Note that in this embodiment, the left-right, front-back, and up-down directions are as shown in each figure.

As shown in FIG. 1, the stocker 10 comprises multiple box-shaped storage units 20 capable of storing items, and a control unit 30 that accepts various operations related to the storage unit 20's insertion and removal, and performs various processes related to the locking and unlocking of each storage unit 20. The stocker 10 has multiple storage units 20 (four in FIG. 1) arranged vertically and horizontally in multiple rows (seven in FIG. 1). The control unit 30 replaces one storage unit 20 in the leftmost row. This stocker 10 is installed in various locations, such as offices, stores, stations, schools, apartment buildings, and shopping centers, and may be installed both indoors and outdoors. The stocker 10 is used for the delivery of items by a deliverer (deliverer), who delivers an item to one of the storage units 20 as the delivery destination (delivery destination), and then the recipient retrieves the item from the storage unit 20 to receive it.

As shown in Figure 2, 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 hinges 23 so that it can be opened and closed, an electronic 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 an item sensor 26 that detects the presence or absence of items inside the storage facility. The door 22 is biased in the opening direction by a spring (torsion coil spring) attached to the hinge 23, and when the electronic lock 24 is unlocked, the biasing force causes the door to automatically open to a predetermined angle. As shown in Figure 1, the predetermined angle is adjusted to an angle (e.g., 30 to 45 degrees) that allows the deliverer or recipient to recognize that the door 22 is open. The door 22 may also be designed to open and close automatically by rotating the pivot of the door 22 using power from a motor.

As shown in Figure 1, the control unit 30 comprises a rectangular parallelepiped main body 31 that is the same size as each storage unit 20, a front panel 32 that covers the front of the main body 31 and to which various devices are attached, and a control device 33 that is located in the space within the main body 31. As shown in Figure 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 located in the center of the front panel 32. The operation panel 34 displays operational guidance related to the delivery and receipt of goods and accepts input operations related to the delivery and receipt of goods. As an example, FIG. 3 displays a guide image Ga that prompts the operator to select whether to deliver or receive the package, and an operation image Gb that has a delivery button for prompting the operator to process the delivery and a receipt button for prompting the operator to receive the package. The reader 35 is a QR code reader that reads QR codes (registered trademark) used for authentication by the recipient to receive the goods. The camera 36 is positioned so that it can capture an image of a specified range in front of the stocker 10, and captures images including subjects such as the deliverer and recipient. The speaker 37 outputs operational guidance related to the delivery and retrieval of goods via multiple audio output holes.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control device 33 comprises a control unit 33a, a memory unit 33b, and a communication unit 33c. The control unit 33a is responsible for overall control of the stocker 10. This control unit 33a is composed of a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. The memory unit 33b stores processing programs and also stores management information for managing each storage unit 20 (for example, information on the presence or absence of items stored in each storage unit 20 and information on the recipients of the items). The communication unit 33c is connected to a network 2 such as the Internet, and transmits various information to mobile devices carried by recipients and obtains weather information for the area where the stocker 10 is installed from a weather server 1 that provides weather information.

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

Next, the operation of the stocker 10 configured as described above will be described. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a control routine. The control routine is stored in the memory unit 33b and is constantly executed by the CPU of the control unit 33a.

When the control routine is executed, the control unit 33a first inputs an image of the area around the stocker 10 captured by the camera 36 and stores it in the memory unit 33b (S100). Next, the control unit 33a determines whether a moving object has been detected around the stocker 10 based on the image captured by the camera 36 (S110). For example, the control unit 33a determines whether a moving object has been detected by determining whether an object has changed position over time based on multiple images input from the camera 36 from the current time up to a predetermined time back, thereby determining whether a moving object has been detected. If the control unit 33a determines in S110 that a moving object has not been detected around the stocker 10, the process returns to S100. On the other hand, if the control unit 33a determines in S110 that a moving object has been detected around the stocker 10, the control unit 33a displays an instruction reception screen on the operation panel 34 to receive instructions from the deliverer or recipient (S120). In this embodiment, the operation panel 34 is configured to display the guide image Ga and operation image Gb shown in FIG. 3 and to accept input operations to the operation panel 34. The operation image Gb displays a delivery button and a receipt button in a state that allows touch operation.

Next, the control unit 33a determines whether the delivery button or the receipt button was selected (S130).

If the control unit 33a determines in S130 that the delivery button has been selected, it prompts the deliverer to enter an authentication number, for example by displaying an input guide image on the operation panel 34 (S140). The authentication number can be entered by code reading using the reader 35, or by displaying a guide image on the operation panel 34 prompting the deliverer to enter the authentication number and a software keyboard for input, allowing the deliverer to enter the number using the keyboard. When the authentication number is entered, the control unit 33a verifies whether the entered authentication number matches the regular authentication number registered in advance in the memory unit 33b (S150). If the authentication number does not match, the control unit 33a notifies the deliverer of the error, for example by displaying an error image on the operation panel 34 (S160), and returns to S120.

On the other hand, when the authentication number is verified, the control unit 33a selects an available storage unit 20 among the storage units 20 in the stocker 10 as the destination storage unit 20 and displays a guidance screen on the operation panel 34, as shown in FIG. 6, indicating the location of the destination storage unit 20 (S170). Next, the control unit 33a acquires current weather information from the weather server 1 via the network 2 using the communication unit 33c (S180). Next, the control unit 33a sets an opening wait time based on the acquired weather information (S190) and controls the electric lock 24 so that the destination storage unit 20 is unlocked after the set opening wait time has elapsed (S200, S210). As described above, the door 22 is biased in the open direction, so it automatically opens when the electric lock 24 is unlocked. This allows the deliverer to deliver the item to the storage unit 20. The opening waiting time is the waiting time from when the stocker 10 receives an instruction to deliver goods until when it opens the storage facility 20 at the delivery destination. It is set longer on rainy days than on sunny or cloudy days. This is because it takes some time for the deliverer to move to the storage facility 20 after inputting a delivery instruction via the operation panel 34. Therefore, if the storage facility 20 is opened immediately after receiving the delivery instruction on rainy days, rainwater may seep into the storage facility, causing contamination or malfunction. In this embodiment, the opening waiting time is set by calculating the relationship between weather information and the opening waiting time in advance and storing it in the storage unit 33b as an opening waiting time setting table. When weather information is given, the corresponding opening waiting time is derived from the table. An example of the opening waiting time setting table is shown in FIG. 7. In the opening waiting time setting table shown in FIG. 7, the opening waiting time is set to 1 second on sunny or cloudy days and 7 seconds on rainy days. After unlocking the storage facility 20, the control unit 33a determines whether the delivery is complete (S220). This determination is made by determining whether the door 22 is closed and whether there are any items inside, based on detection signals from the opening/closing sensor 25 and the item sensor 26. When the control unit 33a determines that the delivery is complete, it controls the electric lock 24 to lock the storage facility 20 (S230). The control unit 33a then generates a receipt number required for the recipient to receive the item, associates the receipt number with the delivery facility number of the storage facility 20 to which the item was delivered, stores the receipt number in the memory unit 33b, and transmits the receipt number and a receipt code, which is an encoded version of the receipt number, to the recipient's mobile device (not shown) via the network 2 (S240), and ends the control routine.

If the control unit 33a determines in S130 that the receipt button has been selected, it prompts the recipient to enter a receipt number, for example by displaying an input guide image on the operation panel 34 (S250). As with S140, the receipt number can be entered by code reading or keyboard entry. When the receipt number is entered, the control unit 33a verifies whether the entered receipt number matches the receipt number generated by the control unit 33a and registered in the memory unit 33b (S260). If the receipt number does not match, the control unit 33a notifies the deliverer of an error, for example by displaying an error image on the operation panel 34 (S270), and the process returns to S120.

On the other hand, when the receiving number is verified, the control unit 33a determines that the storage unit 20 corresponding to the receiving number is the receiving storage unit 20, and similarly to S170, displays a guidance screen on the operation panel 34 indicating the location of the receiving storage unit 20 (S280). Next, similarly to S180-S210, the control unit 33a acquires current weather information, sets an opening wait time based on the acquired weather information, and controls the electric lock 24 so that the receiving storage unit 20 is unlocked after the set opening wait time has elapsed (S290-S320). This allows the recipient to receive the item from the storage unit 20. After unlocking the storage unit 20, the control unit 33a determines whether the receipt is complete (S330). This determination is made by determining whether the door 22 is closed and there are no items inside, based on detection signals from the opening/closing sensor 25 and the item sensor 26. When the control unit 33a determines that the receipt is complete, it controls the electric lock 24 to lock the storage facility 20 (S340) and ends the control routine.

The stocker 10 of this embodiment described above allows for the waiting time (opening waiting time) between when an instruction to deliver or receive an item is given and when the door 22 of the storage warehouse 20 is opened. Therefore, even if the operation panel 34 where the operator inputs information is far from the storage warehouse 20 where the item is to be delivered or received, the door 22 of the storage warehouse 20 can be opened at the appropriate time. This prevents, for example, the door 22 of the storage warehouse 20 from opening when the deliverer or recipient is not nearby, or the deliverer or recipient from having to wait a long time in front of the storage warehouse 20 where the door 22 is to be opened.

In addition, the waiting time for opening is made longer on rainy days compared to sunny or cloudy days. This shortens the time that the door 22 of the storage facility 20 is open on rainy days, thereby preventing rainwater from entering the facility and causing contamination or malfunctions inside the facility.

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 the present disclosure, the operation panel 34 corresponds to the input unit, the electric lock 24 corresponds to the opening unit, the control unit 33a that executes the processes of S200, S210, S310, and S320 of the control routine corresponds to the control unit, and the control unit 33a that executes the processes of S190 and S300 of the control routine corresponds to the change unit. Furthermore, the control unit 33a that executes the processes of S180 and S290 of the control routine corresponds to the acquisition unit. Furthermore, the control unit 33a that executes the processes of S170 and S280 of the control routine and the operation panel 34 correspond to the guidance unit.

It goes without saying that the present invention is in no way limited to the above-described embodiments, 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 changes the waiting time for opening a storage facility 20 based on current weather information. However, different waiting times for opening may be set for each storage facility 20 without being based on current weather information. In this case, the control unit 33a may set the waiting time for opening so that the waiting time for opening is longer for storage facilities 20 farther from the control unit 30. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the waiting times for opening the storage facilities 20 in the first and second rows from the left, the third row, the fourth row, the fifth row, the sixth row, and the seventh row, where the control unit 30 (operation panel 34) is installed, can be set to 1 second, 3 seconds, 5 seconds, 7 seconds, 9 seconds, and 11 seconds, respectively. This allows the timing for opening the delivery facility 20 to be appropriately adjusted according to the travel distance of a person M, such as a deliverer or recipient, as shown in FIG. 9. The control unit 33a may also set the waiting time for opening based on a combination of current weather information and the distance from the control unit 30 (operation panel 34) to the delivery facility 20.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit 33a displays a guidance screen on the operation panel 34 to guide the user to the location of the delivery warehouse 20 at the delivery or receiving destination. However, instead of or in addition to displaying the guidance screen, audio guidance may be output from the speaker 37.

The stocker of the present disclosure may be configured as follows:

The stocker disclosed herein may include an acquisition unit that acquires weather information for the area in which the stocker is installed, and the change unit may lengthen the waiting time when the acquired weather information indicates rainy weather compared to when the weather is sunny. This shortens the time the storage facility is open on rainy days, thereby minimizing the intrusion of rainwater into the storage facility and preventing contamination and malfunctions inside the storage facility.

Furthermore, the stocker disclosed herein may include multiple storage units, and the change unit may increase the waiting time for a storage unit that is farther from the input unit. This takes into account the time it takes for the deliverer or recipient to enter the necessary information into the input unit and move to the storage unit, making it possible to open the storage unit in accordance with the timing of the deliverer's delivery and the recipient's receipt.

Furthermore, the stocker disclosed herein may be equipped with multiple storage compartments and a guide unit that provides guidance to the location of the storage compartment whose door will open before the door is opened based on an instruction to deliver or receive the item. This allows the deliverer or receiver to know in advance which storage compartment will be opened.

Furthermore, in the stocker disclosed herein, the opening portion may open the door to an angle smaller than fully open, so that the operator can recognize that the door is open. This can reduce the intrusion of rainwater into the storage interior during rainy weather.

This invention can be used in the manufacturing industry for storage warehouses and stockers, etc.

1 Weather server, 2 Network, 10 Stocker, 20 Storage facility, 21 Main body, 22 Door, 23 Hinge, 24 Electric lock, 25 Open/close sensor, 26 Item 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, Ga Guide image, Gb Operation image.

Claims (4)

A stocker in which a plurality of storage units each having an openable/closable door are arranged in a row on the left and right , and which is capable of delivering or receiving goods to or from the storage units,
an input unit that is installed in place of the storage unit 1 and that allows an operator to input;
an opening portion for opening the door;
a control unit that controls the opening unit to open the door of the storage facility based on an instruction to deliver or receive the item via the input unit;
a change unit that changes the waiting time from when an instruction to deliver or receive the item is given until the door of the storage facility is opened;
an acquisition unit that acquires weather information for a region where the stocker is installed;
a storage unit that stores the relationship between the weather information and the waiting time as a waiting time setting table for opening;
Equipped with
The change unit derives the corresponding waiting time for opening from the table, and thereby lengthens the waiting time when the acquired weather information indicates rainy weather compared to when the weather information indicates fine weather . 2. The stocker according to claim 1 ,
Equipped with multiple storage facilities,
The change unit increases the waiting time for a storage facility farther from the input unit among the plurality of storage facilities.
Stocker. 3. The stocker according to claim 1,
Multiple storage facilities and
a guidance unit that provides guidance on the location of the storage facility where the door will open before the door is opened based on an instruction to deliver or receive the item;
A stocker comprising: 4. The stocker according to claim 1, wherein:
The opening unit opens the door at an opening angle smaller than a full opening angle so that an operator can recognize that the door is open.
Stocker.