BACKGROUND
Many people choose to shop online and receive parcels at home. If the delivery person tries to deliver the parcel and finds the recipient is away, the delivery person often either chooses to leave a note at the front-door asking the recipient to collect the parcel at a later time from a nearby pick-up locations of the carrier, or attempts to re-deliver at a later point of time. Both these options cause tremendous time delays and inconvenience, and defeat the original objective of shopping online in a very time-efficient manner from the comfort of one's home or office. For now, the current novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic has had a major impact on the social and we're suggested to get contactless delivery and reduce face-to-face delivery due to the risk of the infection of COVID-19. Past attempts to solve the problem of receiving deliveries while the recipient is away or inconvenient to go out to meet the delivery person even at home, have been unsatisfactory.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The disclosure will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like structural elements, and in which
FIG. 1 illustrates an elevational view of a one-way toothed round bar, a fixing base and a pawl component when they are fixed together;
FIG. 2a illustrates an elevational view of the one-way toothed round bar;
FIG. 2b illustrates an isometric view of the one-way toothed round bar;
FIG. 3a illustrates an elevational view of the fixing base;
FIG. 3b illustrates an isometric view of the fixing base;
FIG. 4a illustrates an elevational view of the pawl component;
FIG. 4b illustrates an isometric view of the pawl component;
FIG. 5a illustrates an isometric view of an apparatus for accepting parcels and deliveries with a zipper bag open;
FIG. 5b illustrates an isometric view of an apparatus for accepting parcels and deliveries with a zipper bag closed;
FIG. 6a illustrates an isometric view of an apparatus for accepting parcels and deliveries with a tie-able bag open;
FIG. 6b illustrates an isometric view of an apparatus for accepting parcels and deliveries with a tie-able bag tied;
Reference numerals in the figures: 1 is a one-way toothed round bar; 2 is a fixing base; 3 is a pawl component; 301 is a pawl on the pawl component; 302 is a spring on the pawl component; 501 is a zipper bag; 50101 is a puller of the zipper of the zipper bag; 50102 is a top stop of the zipper of the zipper bag; 502 is a lock; 503 is a door handle or a thin railing; 601 is a tie-able bag.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Examples
Examples 1
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a and 5b, the present disclosure shows an apparatus for accepting parcels and deliveries, comprising:
- a zipper bag 501;
- a one-way toothed round bar 1 mounted to the puller 50101 of the zipper of the zipper bag 501, thereby bonding the one-way toothed round bar 1 and the puller 50101 together;
- a pawl component 3 configured to make the one-way toothed round bar 1 to move one-way along its axial direction, comprising a pawl 301, and a spring 302; and
- a fixing base 2 mounted to the zipper bag 501 near the top stop 50102 of the zipper of the zipper bag 501, comprising a space for the one-way toothed round bar 1 to enter, a space for the pawl component 3 to be placed and fixed, and a locking hole for a lock 502 to pass through, wherein the pawl component 3 is configured to be fixed in the fixing base 2, and the one-way toothed round bar 1 is configured to make one-way inward movement into the fixing base 2 until it enters entirely and is stopped by the fixing base 2 when there is a lock 502 passing through the locking hole, and wherein the pawl component 3 is configured to be removable from the fixing base 2 and the one-way toothed round bar 1 is configured to be able to be pulled back when there is no lock passing through the locking hole, and wherein the position of the fixing base 2 on the zipper bag 501 satisfies: the zipper bag 501 is closed completely when the one-way toothed round bar 1 entirely enters into the fixing base 2.
The term “puller” as used herein refers to a part of the slider that is held to move the slider up or down.
The term “top stop” as used herein refers to two devices affixed to the top end of a zipper, to prevent the slider from coming off the chain.
The usage of the apparatus is as follows: the initial state of the zipper bag 501 is open, the one-way toothed round bar 1 is not inserted into the fixing base 2, and the pawl component 3 is fixed in the fixing base 2 as shown in FIG. 5a. The apparatus can be hung on a door handle or a thin railing 503 by using a lock 502 passing through the locking hole of the fixing base 2. When the courier comes to deliver a parcel, the courier puts the parcel into the zipper bag 501, inserts the one-way toothed round bar 1 into the fixing base 2 completely, and confirms that the one-way toothed round bar 1 cannot be pulled back. The zipper bag 501 is closed completely as shown in FIG. 5b. As a result, only after the user himself comes back, unlocks the lock 502, and pulls out the pawl component 3 from the fixing base 2, the one-way toothed round bar 1 can be pulled out from the fixing base 2 and open the zipper bag 501 to get the parcel. The apparatus has simple structure, low cost, and is convenient to be used for everyone to receive parcels and deliveries in an unattended manner.
In some embodiments, a guide rope 504 is provided on the head of the one-way toothed round bar 1 and passes through the fixing base 2 in advance, so that the one-way toothed round bar 1 can be pulled easier and the zipper bag 501 can be closed easier by pulling the guide rope 504.
In addition, the lock 502 herein is for the convenience of description. In fact, the lock 502 can be replaced by any other item that can pass through the locking hole of the fixing base 2 and can fix the pawl component 3.
Examples 2
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 6a and 6b, the present disclosure shows an apparatus for accepting parcels and deliveries, comprising:
- a tie-able bag 601;
- a one-way toothed round bar 1 mounted to the surface of the tie-able bag 601 near its mouth;
- a pawl component 3 configured to make the one-way toothed round bar 1 to move one-way along its axial direction, comprising a pawl 301, and a spring 302; and
- a fixing base 2 mounted to the surface of the tie-able bag 601 near its mouth, comprising a space for the one-way toothed round bar 1 to enter, a space for the pawl component 3 to be placed and fixed, and a locking hole for a lock to pass through, wherein the pawl component 3 is configured to be fixed in the fixing base 2, and the one-way toothed round bar 1 is configured to make one-way inward movement into the fixing base 2 until it enters entirely and is stopped by the fixing base 2 when there is a lock passing through the locking hole, and wherein the pawl component 3 is configured to be removable from the fixing base 2 and the one-way toothed round bar 1 is configured to be able to be pulled back when there is no lock passing through the locking hole, and wherein the position of the fixing base 2 and the one-way toothed round bar 1 on the tie-able bag satisfies: the tie-able bag 601 is tied completely when the one-way toothed round bar 1 entirely enters into the fixing base 2.
The usage of the apparatus is as follows: the initial state of the tie-able bag 601 is open, the one-way toothed round bar 1 is not inserted into the fixing base 2, and the pawl component 3 is fixed in the fixing base 2 as shown in FIG. 6a. The apparatus can be hung on a door handle or a thin railing by using a lock passing through the locking hole of the fixing base 2. When the courier comes to deliver a parcel, the courier puts the parcel into the tie-able bag 601, inserts the one-way toothed round bar 1 into the fixing base 2 completely, and confirms that the one-way toothed round bar 1 cannot be pulled back. The tie-able bag 601 is closed completely as shown in FIG. 6b. As a result, only after the user himself comes back, unlocks the lock, and pulls out the pawl component 3 from the fixing base 2, the one-way toothed round bar 1 can be pulled out from the fixing base 2 and open the tie-able bag 601 to get the parcel. The apparatus has simple structure, low cost, and is convenient to be used for everyone to receive parcels and deliveries in an unattended manner.
EQUIVALENTS
The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The foregoing embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects illustrative rather than limiting on the invention described herein. Scope of the invention is thus indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.