JPH0143358B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a delivery post that is installed in the premises of a railway station or the like and automatically and unmannedly handles the transportation and delivery of relatively small packages.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, home delivery services have been widely used to transport and deliver parcels mainly to residences and shops.
This is done as shown in FIG. That is, when transporting the parcel, first, the sender 1 of the parcel, who is a customer of the courier service, brings the parcel to the agent 2 of the courier service (carrier), and
Ask the person in charge to accept it. The cargo 3 thus delivered to the agent 2 is then delivered to a transportation base 6 by a small truck or the like 5 of a cargo company 4. At this transport base 6, transshipment by region, etc. is performed, and the consignment is transported to another transport base 7 near the destination by a large truck or the like 8, and from this transport base 7, the consignee is transferred to a small vehicle 10 of a luggage company 9 at the destination. house 1
It was delivered on 1.

However, in the case of the above-mentioned courier service, the parcel must, in principle, be delivered to the agency mentioned above by the sender of the parcel. Although the distributor may come to pick it up,
Even in this case, we don't always have manpower, so it doesn't mean they'll come right away. Furthermore, since the above-mentioned distributors are opened based on voluntary contracts, their distribution tends to be uneven, and their existence may not be found in some areas.

The same thing happens when you travel by train to a place you don't know very well. In other words,
During the journey, or get off at the destination station,
Even if you tried to send a package by courier, you couldn't easily find a distributor, or if you did, it wasn't very close. Therefore, the above-mentioned current means of transporting parcels has a drawback in that it has many inconvenient aspects from the customer's point of view, particularly in the location of the agency that accepts the parcels.

In order to solve the problem of manpower, for example,
An automatic cargo collection and delivery device as disclosed in Publication No. 61-62197 has been proposed, but this device requires a contract between the customer and the transportation company, and
We will install a cargo drop-in box that can be unlocked with an ID card, etc.
This eliminates the need for human intervention on one side during collection and delivery, and allows operation during the day, night, and holidays.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The above-mentioned conventional drawbacks in the collection and delivery of parcels, especially the problems faced by users at railway stations, etc., cannot be solved by the automatic cargo collection and delivery device as disclosed in the above publication.

In other words, the automatic cargo collection and delivery device described in the above publication is operated based on a contract with a specific customer, and is not a device that allows unspecified users to entrust their luggage to a courier service at a station at their destination. do not have.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, to enable unattended baggage collection by setting it in places such as stations where a large number of people gather and dispersing, so that users can send parcels by their own operations. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a delivery post that can save manpower on the delivery company's side by making this possible.

(Means for Solving the Problems) That is, the present invention has an operation section on the front of the housing and a plurality of storage boxes for storing delivery luggage by opening and closing a door with a lock, and the storage boxes are installed in a station or the like. In the delivery post, which accepts delivery of parcels through the operations of unspecified users, the above-mentioned operation section includes a notice board indicating the procedure for use, a push button for the district name to specify the area to be delivered, and a weight classification of the parcel to be delivered. The housing includes at least a weight classification pushbutton for inputting a weight, a coin insertion slot, a bill insertion slot, a change exit, a deposited card exit, a charge display, and an input amount display;
The usage fee corresponding to the input of the district name push button and the weight classification push button is calculated and displayed on the above charge display, and the amount input is displayed on the above input amount display, and the deposit card is printed. The storage box is equipped with a door opening/closing button and a monitor lamp that displays the status of use, and the storage box is equipped with a door opening/closing button and a monitor lamp that displays the usage status, and the storage box can be operated to receive parcels by operating the operation unit according to the usage procedure described above. This is a unique delivery post.

(Function) The user places the pre-weighed items to be delivered (delivery baggage) next to the delivery post of the present invention, looks at the usage status display monitor lamp of the storage box, and if there is an empty box, presses the operation panel. The user stores the delivery baggage in the storage box by performing the necessary operations according to the posted instructions for use.

In other words, first select and press the delivery destination district name button, then select and press the weight category button to select the weight of the parcel to be delivered, and the charge amount calculated according to these inputs will be displayed on the charge display. Then, insert at least the required amount of money into the coin slot or bill slot.

Then, the amount of coins inserted is displayed on the input amount display, and the storage box becomes ready to be opened.The user stores the delivery baggage there and closes the door by pressing the door close button. If there is a surplus exceeding the usage fee, it is released as change from the change exit, while a deposit card with necessary information such as an acceptance number printed on it is released from the deposit card exit.

In the future, the acceptance number, etc. will be verified at the delivery destination, and the parcel will be delivered to the owner of the deposit card.

(Example) Next, a delivery post according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1a is a front view of a delivery post according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1b is a side view thereof, FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of the main parts of the delivery post, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the delivery post, FIG. 4 is a flowchart thereof, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the use of the delivery mail by the delivery post of the present invention.

In FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, reference numeral 12 denotes a delivery post according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is installed, for example, facing the flow of passengers at a railway station. 13
is a door that can be opened and closed freely, and the door is opened toward the front side by a door opening button 14. Reference numeral 15 is a storage box for home delivery baggage, and the home delivery baggage is stored here. The customer opens the door 13 of the unlocked storage box 15, puts the package desired for home delivery into the storage box 15, and closes the door 13, thereby locking the storage box 15 with a lock. 16
1 is a monitor lamp that is turned off when the storage box is in use; 17 is a door close push button; and 18 is a key switch for opening the door, which is mainly used by the person who collects and delivers parcels.

Reference numeral 19 denotes an operation section (customer service section) on the front of the housing 20, and inside this housing 20 there are a microprocessor (CPU) 21, an external memory 22, and an input port 2.
3, a control device consisting of an output port 24, a coin device 25, a banknote device 26, and a deposited card printing/sending machine 27 is incorporated. Detailed explanations of these will be omitted here since they are generally known. In the customer service department 19, numeral 28 is a notice board showing how to use the delivery mailbox, and the following information is written here, for example. In other words, (1) Place your luggage on the scale. (2)Press the weight category push button. (3)Press the destination district name button. (4) Your usage fee is as shown in the usage fee display above. (5) Please enter the usage fee. (6)Press the door open button of the storage box you want to use. (7) Remove the bag and invoice from the storage box. (8)Place your luggage in a bag, write the specified information on the invoice, and place it in the storage box with your luggage. (9) Close the door and press the door close button. (10) Please take your deposit card (receipt).

Reference numeral 29 indicates a reception monitor lamp, and 30 indicates a reception suspension monitor lamp. If these lamps are lit, the delivery post can be used or cannot be used. 31 is a staff call button, and 32 is a cancel button. 33 is a district name push button, which is used to select the district name of the destination. Numeral 34 is a weight classification push button, and by selecting one of these SMLs, the weight rank of the parcel to be delivered is designated. 35 is
This is an LED usage fee display that lights up and displays the usage fee based on the weight of the package and the name of the destination area. 36 is a coin insertion slot, and 37 is a bill insertion slot, into which coins corresponding to the above-mentioned usage fee are inserted or inserted. 38 is an input amount display. Reference numeral 39 denotes a deposited card exit, from which the deposited card is ejected by receiving appropriate coins through the coin insertion slot and bill insertion slot. Reference numeral 40 is a change exit, where the surplus portion of the inserted coins is returned. Reference numeral 41 denotes an invoice entry table, which is to be used by pulling it forward by hand.

Next, the operating procedure of the delivery post according to the present invention will be explained in detail. FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the algorithm. First, the customer using the delivery post confirms that the reception stop lamp 29 is not lit, and then operates steps (1) and (2) in the above-mentioned procedure for using the delivery post. That is, place the luggage on a weight scale (not shown) and press the weight classification push button 34.
and presses the district name push button 33. When operated in this manner, the usage fee is calculated and the result is displayed on the usage fee display 35.

Here, the customer inserts coins through the coin slot 36 and/or the bill slot 37 according to the above-mentioned notice "(5) Please insert usage fee." As a result of the above operations, when the input amount becomes equal to or more than the usage fee displayed on the delivery post, the door 13 of the unused storage box 15 is opened using the door open button 14.

The customer takes the bag and the invoice from the storage box 15, places the items he/she wishes to transport in the bag, and writes the specified information on the invoice on the invoice writing table 41 using a writing instrument such as a ballpoint pen. Fill in the required information and attach it to the bag. Place this bag in the storage box 15 selected as described above, close the door 13, and press the door close button 1.
Press 7. All operations by the customer are now complete, and the deposited card is discharged to the deposited card exit 39.

As described above, the parcel received in the storage box of the delivery post according to the present invention is transported and delivered to the destination as follows. In other words, referring to FIG. 5, the delivery post 12 inside the station 42
The parcels stored in the delivery area are collected and delivered by a collection and delivery person who makes rounds at predetermined time intervals. This delivery person has a duplicate key for the storage box 15 in the delivery post 12, and uses this duplicate key to open the door 18.
All of the storage boxes 15 are unlocked at once. The parcels collected and delivered in this way are transported by transportation company 43.
is delivered to the transport base 44, and this transport base 4
4 to the destination transportation base 45 by a large truck, etc., and then transported from this transportation base 42 to the destination housing 47 by a small truck or the like of a transportation company 46.
This series of processes is completed when the parcel is delivered.

(Effects of the Invention) Since the delivery post of this invention has the above-mentioned configuration, it is possible to receive parcels by parcel delivery without the need for manpower. They fit in a small space, and therefore, they can be installed in large numbers at convenient locations such as railway stations, airports, large and small stations, and large stations.

From the above, customers using the delivery post of this invention can send parcels by courier from stations, airports, etc. with almost no effort, which is an extremely significant effect in terms of logistics and industry. play.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1a is a front view of a delivery post according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 1b is a side view thereof, Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of the customer service section of the delivery post, and Fig. 3 shows its configuration. 4 is a flowchart of a program in an external memory, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a courier service using the courier post of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional courier service. In the drawing, 12... Delivery post, 15...
Storage box, 19...Operation unit, 33...District name push button, 34...Weight classification push button, 35
...Usage fee display, 36...Coin slot, 37
...Banknote insertion slot, 38...Insertion amount display, 39
...Card deposit exit, 40...Change exit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 The front of the case has an operating section and multiple storage boxes that store delivery luggage by opening and closing a door with a lock, and is installed in a station premises etc. and can be operated by an unspecified user to store delivery luggage. At the delivery post that accepts shipments of
At least a district name push button to specify the district to be delivered, a weight category push button to input the weight category of the parcel to be delivered, a coin slot, a bill slot, a change exit, a deposit card exit, a charge display, and an input amount display. In preparation, the above-mentioned housing calculates the usage fee according to the input of the above-mentioned district name push button and weight classification push button and displays it on the above-mentioned charge display, and the input amount is displayed on the above-mentioned input amount display. The storage box is also equipped with a control device that prints the stored card and releases it to the stored card exit, and the storage box is equipped with a door opening/closing button and a monitor lamp that displays the usage status, and the storage box is equipped with a door opening/closing button and a monitor lamp that displays the usage status, and the storage box is equipped with a door opening/closing button and a monitor lamp that displays the usage status. A delivery post that accepts parcels by operation.