FR2702734A1 - Automatic installation for storing objects in compartments and for distribution of these objects - Google Patents

Abstract

Automatic installation for storing objects bearing an identification mark in compartments and for distributing these objects at the request of a user, characterised in that it comprises - a set (3) of compartments each bearing an identification mark, each compartment being intended to receive only one object, the set being housed in a normally closed chamber (1), - at least one station (5, 6) for access by a user to the said installation, the said station being equipped with a dialogue interface (9, 11) and an identification-mark detector, - a movable means (R) in the closed chamber transferring objects between the access station (5, 6) and the compartments (3), - a means (30) for managing the displacement of the said transfer means (R), the identification of the objects, their storage in a specific compartment in the set of compartments, identification of the specific compartment and access to the said installation as a function of data supplied by the object- and compartment-identification marks and the dialogue interface.

Description

 The invention relates to an automatic installation for storing objects in lockers and distributing these objects, at the request of a user, particularly in the fields of postal mail, luggage, bank safes, spare parts, etc.

 It is more and more desired to make available to the public automatic deposit / conservation and restitution services of various objects, of the automatic deposit type. Such needs are particularly felt in the postal sector, for the treatment of items not delivered to their recipients during the attendants' tour. Thanks to a notice of proceeding left by the attendant, the recipient is informed of the existence of an object to be picked up at the post office.

On presentation of the notice of instance to a counter and possibly proof of the identity of the recipient, the counter will search for the object and deliver it to the recipient. If the storage of registered letters does not pose major problems, that of packages of shapes, dimensions, consistencies and extremely variable resistances poses obvious problems. It would be more rational to classify them according to these criteria but then how to find them when we only have the name of the addressee and the date of proceedings. Storage cabinets are therefore currently most often stored in an anarchic manner and locating the object sought can take a certain time. In addition, the recipient is dependent on the opening hours of the counter and sometimes cannot recover the object intended for him only after a few days.

To solve such problems, there is provided according to the invention an automatic installation for storing objects bearing an identification mark in lockers and for distributing these objects at the request of a user, comprising
- a set of lockers each carrying an identification mark, each locker being intended to receive only one object, the set of lockers being housed in a normally closed enclosure,
- At least one access station by a user to said installation, said station being provided with a dialogue interface and a detector of identification marks;
- a mobile means in the closed enclosure and ensuring the transfer of objects between the access station and the lockers,
a means of managing the movement of said transfer means, of the identification of objects; their storage in a determined locker of the set of lockers, the identification of the determined locker and the access to said installation according to the information provided by the identification marks of objects and lockers on the one hand and through the dialog interface on the other hand.

 According to a particularly preferred variant, the installation comprises a means of determining the dimensions of an object introduced into the enclosure, the set of lockers comprises lockers of different dimensions and the management means chooses a locker of appropriate dimensions from dimension information provided by said dimension determining means.

 In some applications, in particular for luggage storage, bank safes, storage of spare parts, the users in and out are the same and the access station can be used either in or out. In this case, the dialog interface allows identification at the input of the object on the basis of the identification mark of the object and its search with a view to its return to the user in response to information provided. by the user at the interface of the dialog and correlated to the identification mark of the object.

 In other applications, and in particular in postal applications, the input users are the attendants who come to store the objects that have not been distributed while the output users are the recipients of these objects. The introduction and storage of pending items requiring a certain time, it is highly desirable to provide at least one entry access station and at least one exit access station; the dialogue interface of the entry access station allowing identification at the entry of the object on the basis of the identification mark of the object and the dialogue interface of the exit access station allowing the search for the object with a view to its return to the user in response to information supplied by the user to the dialog interface and correlated to the identification mark of the object. Preferably and particularly at output, the dialog interfaces include means for checking the identity of the user, in particular for the removal of the recommended objects. They may also include means of payment for the withdrawal of objects sent against reimbursement.

The means ensuring the transfer of objects between the access station (s) and the set of lockers is advantageously a robot moving horizontally and vertically and rotating on itself between two parallel cabinets divided into lockers. To avoid that when storing items pending, the robot is not mobilized by many back and forth to deposit the objects in the free lockers of appropriate size, there is preferably provided at least one intermediate loading station of objects between the entry access station and the set of lockers. When the loading on the intermediate loading station is finished, the robot receives the order to come and transfer the objects from this intermediate station to the available lockers of the set of lockers
The use of the automatic installation according to the present invention will now be described briefly with reference to use by post.

 The agents carrying out the distribution of the items (single letters, registered letters, single or registered packages, cash on delivery packages, etc.) are provided with double labels, preferably self-adhesive, with a random number in digital form and in the form of a bar code. Some of the objects they distribute can only be delivered to their recipient if he is personally present (registered delivery) or, when they cannot be left simply in the mailbox (large packages, COD items).

 In the absence of the recipient, the attendant files a notice of proceeding on which he has previously stuck half of a label with the random number in digital form, and possibly in the form of barcode, and sticks the other half bearing the number in the form of a bar code on the object to be pending.

Back at the post office, the attendant proceeds to process items as follows
thanks to the dialogue interface, which can be constituted here by a simple optical pencil, the identification of the object is transmitted to the management means by reading the bar code affixed to the object.

The object is then inserted into the intermediate loading station, in a box corresponding to its size. This box is equipped with an identification mark, also consisting of a bar code whose contact details are transmitted to the management means using the dialog interface.

 The officer proceeds in this manner Until the items he has to be pending have been exhausted. The placement in the boxes of the intermediate loading station is done automatically or manually. At the end of loading, the attendant, using the optical pencil, reads a bar code affixed to the access station which indicates to the management means that loading is finished; the management means will then give the robot the order to start loading the lockers from the intermediate loading station.

 When the objects are placed in the final storage racks, the identification of the rack in which a given item has been deposited and the instructions are transmitted to the management means, by reading the bar code affixed to the racks. programming the robot to reach this locker for later removal of the object.

 When the recipient finds his notice of proceeding in his mailbox, he goes to the exit access station which is equipped with a screen, for example a touch screen, on which the instructions for removing the object appear. The dialog interface allows him to enter the code affixed on the notice of proceeding, either in digital form via a keyboard, or by reading the bar code using an optical pencil integrated in the dialog interface. The management means then identifies the object to be delivered and gives the robot the instructions necessary to search for it and bring it to the outlet opening of the installation, which generally takes the form of an airlock.

 If the pending object is a recommended object, the management means authorizes the opening of the airlock only when the identity of the recipient has been verified, for example by entering a confidential code in the dialog interface.

 If the object is sent cash on delivery, the management means authorizes the opening of the airlock only when the customer has paid the required amount by using a payment card.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the following detailed description, made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
FIG. 1. is a schematic top view of an installation according to the present invention,
Figure 2 is a loading side view of a particular embodiment of the automatic installation
and Figure 3 is a block diagram of the installation.

 11 will now be described a particular embodiment of the invention particularly suitable for the staging of postal objects.

 An enclosure 1 comprises one or two access doors 2 for the maintenance of the devices which it contains. It is contained therein; for example, two 3F cabinets constituting the set of lockers, arranged in parallel along a longitudinal axis 4. The cabinets are constituted by a set of uprights carrying slides on which are placed trays (not shown) making it possible to modulate the number and size of lockers. At one end of all the lockers, there is an access station that can act as an input or output, but in the example shown in FIG. 1, there is an access station between 5 and a station 6. The access station at entrance 5 is only accessible for authorized persons, agents, tellers, any post office staff, etc. However, the access station at exit is accessible to the public either inside the post office or outside.

 As an example, we will describe the case where the flow of object loading is large and requires the use of an intermediate loading station so as not to mobilize the robot and the person performing the loading for long periods of time. .

There is provided at least one intermediate loading station and preferably two loading stations, one intended for small objects and therefore comprising small compartments and the other intended for large objects and comprising large compartments. . When the attendant returns from his round with a number of objects pending, he presents himself at the access station 5 and has a shelf or table 7 arranged in front of one or two windows 8 (FIG. 2) on which it places the objects to be introduced into the enclosure 1. Using a dialogue interface 9, for example consisting of an optical pencil, it communicates to a management means the identification mark of the object to to put in waiting and introduced the object by a window 8 in one of the loading stations 10, according to the size of the object and the size of the window.

 These loading stations are for example of the type with removable trays, mounted on a rotary axis and movable in height making it possible to locate an empty location corresponding to the dimensions of the object to be introduced.

After identification of the object to be inserted because of the identification mark it contains, the dialog interface records the passage of the object in the intermediate loading station and transmits to the management means the identification of the tray in which it was laid. The attendant does this until the items he brought back from his tour are exhausted. It then reads a specific bar code affixed to the access station to indicate that the loading on the intermediate loading stations is finished and that the loading robot R in the set 3 of compartments can intervene when 'he has no objects to distribute to the exit access station.

 When the robot is available, it picks up the objects from the intermediate loading station or stations by reading the coordinates of the tray of the intermediate loading station which it transmits to the management means and according to the information provided by the management station. , will arrange the objects one by one in the available compartments of the set 3 of compartments. It then indicates to the management means the location of the final locker and the identification of the object it has deposited there.

 The management means then knows the location of a given object, thanks to the identification mark of the object (for example bar code> and the location of the locker in which it is located (identification of the locker) and information necessary to communicate to the robot so that it finds the locker and picks up the object.

 In the case of minor load flows, it is expected that the attendant directly introduces the objects into the lockers of the cabinets near the entry access station.

 The exit access station includes a dialogue interface lf and an opening in the enclosure, preferably in the form of an airlock 12 produced between a sliding door 13 inside the enclosure and a sliding door 14 to outside the enclosure.

When the addressee of an object presents himself at the access station 6 provided with his notice of proceeding bearing an identification mark correlated with the identification mark carried by the object in progress, he introduces into the interface of dialogue, which can take various forms, the code carried by its notice of instance. He can for example enter on a numeric keyboard the digital code carried by his notice of proceeding or enter, using an optical pencil, the bar code which can also carry this notice of proceeding. The management means then knows which object must be removed and communicates the information necessary for the robot so that it goes to find the object in the set of lockers and brings it back to the sliding door 13. The management means then controls the opening of the sliding door 13 then that of the sliding door 14.

 In the particular case of a recommended item, it is necessary to personally identify the recipient and not only by reading the notice of instance which could be held by anyone who has access to the recipient's mailbox. Therefore, the recipient can have a special card, issued for example against subscription, which introduces it into an appropriate reader of the dialogue interface and then introduces a confidential code in the dialogue interface. If the code is correct, the robot then controls the opening of the sliding door 14. An additional step can be provided when the recommended object is also with acknowledgment of receipt, the recipient being unable to recover his confidential card, for example only after signature and delivery of the corresponding printout.

 In the case of an object to be withdrawn against reimbursement, the dialog interface includes a payment card reader that the recipient must introduce in order to authorize the debit of the corresponding deposit.

 Of course, various variants can be envisaged, and a brief description will be given of the case where the removal of the objects is not carried out directly by the recipient, but by the intermediary of a teller who has an access station similar to that the attendant to retrieve the object from the set of lockers, by reading the code of the notice of instance given to him by the recipient. In this case, the teller's access station does not necessarily have an airlock and the recipient identification operations, possible signature of an acknowledgment of receipt, payment of a fixed sum ,. . are carried out in a conventional manner through the counter. This is particularly interesting for recipients who have not deemed it useful to take out a subscription or obtain an identification card.

 FIG. 2 represents a schematic view of the loading side in the particular case of a postal installation. It is particularly recommended to have two intermediate loading stations, one intended for small objects, letters and folds, possibly catalogs, for example by mail order, and the other particularly intended for large objects. A loading station 20 for small objects has compartments of width normalized to the size of objects normally accepted by the postal service and of a height, for example 20 mm, allowing them to be handled easily. A window 21 placed above the table of the shelf 7 allows the objects to be introduced by the attendant into the loading station 20.

 Likewise, a window 22 allows the attendant to introduce large objects into a loading station 23, the compartments of which have larger dimensions. The dimensions of the lockers can also be modulated by removing intermediate plates so as to constitute lockers of various sizes.

 For security reasons, each window 21, 22 is equipped with an object passage detector which, after identification of the object by the dialogue interface 9 ensures the introduction of the object into the intermediate loading station and reports it to the management system. Once all the objects have been introduced into the intermediate loading stations, the attendant transmits, for example via the dialogue interface 9, here an optical pencil, information at the end of the procedure, for example by reading a barcode 24 affixed to the entrance access station. The management means can then send the robot unloading orders from the intermediate loading stations and from introducing objects into the set of lockers 3.

 It is understood that the postal application described above is given only by way of illustration and that other applications are particularly interesting. We will briefly describe an application to bank safes.

 Although a priori it is conceivable to store in the same locker several objects belonging to the same holder as is done in conventional bank safes, the present system allows to assign several lockers to the same holder according to the size of the objects, in order to bring him only the object which he wishes to withdraw and not the totality of the objects among which he must choose the one which he specifically wishes to withdraw at a given instant. In such a case, a single access station is sufficient to allow loading by the holder himself and withdrawal by the same holder. The dialogue interface then necessarily includes a magnetic card reader or any other similar device allowing the introduction of user identification information. For the introduction of an object into enclosure 1, the user proceeds as described above for an attendant and, some time after, when he wishes to retrieve the object he has placed in storage, he uses the access station as it was previously described for the recipient a pending fold.

 Of course this also applies in the case of automatic luggage lockers.

 Although usually the storage of spare parts does not impose the existence of a locker per room, since the same locker can contain identical parts, it is not impossible to envisage the storage of spare parts more or less personalized, requiring the use of a single address per object; moreover, the fact that the set of lockers is constituted by uprights with slides and trays, makes it possible to modulate the dimension of the lockers and thus to adapt the number of large lockers and the number of small lockers to corresponding numbers of spare parts for small and large sizes. This can also be interesting in the case where it is necessary to have several spare parts for the same final destination, and to group them momentarily in the same locker.

 Although various types of robots for depositing and recovering objects in the set of lockers are conceivable, the following embodiment will be given by way of example.

 The robot consists of a lower plate mounted on ball bearings and guided by rails of variable lengths and defined according to the installation site and the size of the cabinets constituting the set of lockers. The guide rails are fixed to a chassis mounted on the ground.

 The longitudinal movement along axis 4 is effected by a motor and an incremental encoder, the transmission also being effected by a toothed belt.

 A vertical structure fixed on the lower plate allows the displacement of a second plate over a height determined as a function of the height of the cabinets constituting all of the lockers, thanks to a motorization of the type of the previous one. The upper plate of the robot can also move along an axis perpendicular to axis 4, in order to reach the corresponding plates of the set of racks. The two robot trays are fitted with articulated clamps which grip the trays of the set of lockers, according to the indications provided by the management means.

 In the case where it is necessary to have a large storage volume, one could have two or more sets of lockers in parallel with a robot between two cabinets constituting each set of lockers, or it would also be possible to provide spans transverse with movement of the robot along an axis perpendicular to axis 4.

 At the head of the robot are mounted the control connections connecting the robot to the management means as well as the power supplied by cables guided by a cable chain. The head is movable in rotation on 380 ° C. and includes means for reading the bar codes identifying the plates, which allows the robot to locate and position itself in relation to the desired locker.

 A particularly interesting element in a variant according to the invention is the existence of a device for determining the dimensions of the object to be stored, making it possible, from the intermediate loading station which may include only a reduced number of dimensions of lockers, to select from a larger number Ele of locker dimensions that which best corresponds to the object to be stored, thus ensuring a methodical and optimal filling of the set of lockers. Such a device is essentially, in the case of cabinets whose trays necessarily have a predetermined size, constituted by a device with opto-couplers mounted on two columns between which the object moves, which makes it possible to measure the its height. The information is then transmitted to the management means which directs the object to a rack of corresponding height available in the set of lockers.

 FIG. 3 is a synoptic table of the operational links between the entry and exit access stations and the transfer robot housed in the set of lockers.

 The frame on the left in Figure 3 groups together the various management functions and the operation of the access stations, while the frame on the right groups the functions of the robot.

 The management means described above is advantageously constituted by a microcomputer 30 comprising a control screen 31. To this microcomputer 30 is connected a means 32 for managing the operation of the intermediate loading stations 33 and 34 and the motors x for opening the windows. access to the intermediate loading stations and the exit airlock to the recipient. Power sources 35, as well as a safety system 36 of the inverter type, are provided to supply energy to all the components of the system. The output access station shown schematically in the upper part of the left part of the FIG. 3 comprises an alphanumeric keyboard 40 which transmits, via an encoder reader 41, the identification mark of 1 the object to be removed to the management computer 30. This keyboard 40 and the associated reader 41 can be accompanied or replaced by an optical pencil 42 and an appropriate reader 43 which transmit the identification mark to the management computer 30. A touch screen 44 provides the necessary instructions to the user.

 The management computer 30 and the management means 32 of the intermediate loading stations are operationally connected to a robot whose management is ensured by the elements described below.

 The robot is equipped with an infrared transmitter / receiver 50 (constituting a movement beacon along an axis) connected to a microprocessor 51 which is itself connected to a microprocessor 52 for managing an engine 53. The operation of this motor allows the robot to move along the longitudinal axis 4 located between the two cabinets constituting the set 3 of lockers and the tag allows the location of the robot's location on this axis, and its stop when it arrives at end of travel on either side of the set of lockers.

 A second microprocessor 54 connected to an infrared transmitter / receiver 55 and, via two other microprocessors 56 and 57 to motors 58 and 59 respectively. One of the motors 58, 59 ensures the vertical displacement of the upper plate of the robot while the other ensures the displacement in depth of this plate at the desired height.

 The transmitter / receiver 55 then serves to limit the movement in depth of the plate (this transmitter / receiver then serving as a beacon perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 4).

 As a function of the information received from the management computer 30, the microprocessor 54 actuates a jack 60 making it possible to raise or lower the robot, the members 61 for gripping the plates, which can be articulated clamps or magnetic suction cups.

 Note also the presence of an element 37, surrounded by a dotted frame, and operationally connected to the management means 32 of the intermediate loading stations 33 and 34. This argan 37 is particularly advantageous when the objects & BR <store have extremely variable dimensions, because it symbolizes a system of opto-couplers mounted on two columns between which the object moves to measure its height in order to place the object in a rack of corresponding size. This is particularly advantageous for rational and space-saving storage of objects.

 It is understood that the invention as described above is not limited only to the embodiments and to the only variants described and that various modifications, in particular as to the structure of the various elements, can be made while remaining within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

 1.- Automatic installation of storage of objects carrying an identification mark in lockers and distribution of these objects at the request of a user, characterized in that it camprends  - a set (3) of lockers each carrying an identification mark, each locker being intended to receive only one object, the assembly being housed in an enclosure (1) normally closed,  - at least one access station (5, 6) by a user to said installation, said station being provided with a dialogue interface (9, 11) and with an identification mark detector;  - a means (R) mobile in the closed enclosure and ensuring the transfer of objects between the access station (5, 6) and the lockers C3),  - A management means C30) of the displacement of said transfer means (R), of the identification of the objects, of their storage in a determined locker of the set of lockers; identification of the determined locker and access to said installation based on the information provided by the identification marks for objects and lockers and the dialog interface.  2. Automatic installation according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a means for determining (37) the dimensions of an object introduced into the enclosure, the set of lockers C3) comprising lockers of different dimensions and the management means choosing according to the dimension information provided by said means (37) a rack of appropriate dimensions.  3.- Installation according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a single access station (5, 6) ensuring the entry of objects into the enclosure and their exit, the dialogue interface (9 , 11) allowing the identification at the input of the object on the basis of the identification mark of the object and its search with a view to its return to the user in response to information supplied by the user to the dialogue interface and correlated to the identification mark of the object.  4.- Installation according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises  - an access station (5) ensuring the entry of objects into the enclosure (1), the dialogue interface (9) allowing identification at the entry of the object on the basis of the identification mark of the object, and  - an access station (6) ensuring the exit of the objects, the dialogue interface (11) allowing the search for the object with a view to its return to the user in response to information supplied by the user to the dialogue interface and correlated to the identification mark of the object.  5.- Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the dialogue interface or interfaces include means for checking the identity of the user.  6.- Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that each access station has at least one opening (8, i2, 14) closable in the enclosure (1).  7.- Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the means ensuring the transfer of objects between the access station (s) (5, 6) and the set of lockers (3) is a robot (R) moving horizontally and vertically and rotating on itself.  8.- Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it further comprises at least one intermediate loading station (objects between the entry access station (5) and the set of lockers (3).  9.- Installation according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises two intermediate loading stations (20, 23) for objects of different sizes associated with two closable openings (21, 22) of corresponding sizes.  10.- Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the exit access station (6) is equipped with two dialog interfaces, one (40, 41) allowing the introduction of 'one identification mark in digital form and the other (42, 43) allowing the introduction of an identification mark in the form of barcode.