Patent Application
20120097503
The invention relates to the domain of storage devices and transport systems, especially for the storage and transport of merchandise and everyday consumer products.
More particularly, the invention relates to storage devices via cassettes containing what is generally described as “small packages”, that is, products or merchandise of a quantity of the order of magnitude of a consumption centre, as well as transport systems of these storage devices.
The invention also relates more generally to a transport and distribution system of said cassettes for conveying merchandise contained in the storage devices to their final destination, that is, the consumption centre.
“Consumption centre” is understood as a person or a group of people (for example a family, a co unity, a crèche, a canteen . . . ) living in the same place and consuming everyday products.
Containers or mini-containers for transporting merchandise, for example everyday products (food, household, personal care and beauty . . . ) are known from the prior art. These containers are smaller in size (volume generally less than 1 m3) for storing a quantity of products of an order of magnitude of one or more areas of consumption and staying manageable.
The state of the art discloses mini-containers of plastic bin type which enclose products within the scope of transport logistics of the distribution centre (for example a shop) to the consumption centre (for example a family apartment). These mini-containers of plastic bin type are filled at the distribution centre, then closed, preferably hermetically, using a cover, and are then stored in a transport vehicle, for example a truck or van.
By way of the transport vehicle the bins are taken right to the consumption centre where the plastic bins are unloaded so that the ordered products can be utilised. Such logistics are known especially in terms of products ordered via Internet.
Documents WO 2006/040421 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,628 are also known which describe a storage device associated with a transport system of this device.
However, problems have arisen with the use of these solutions of the state of the art.
First, mini-containers are most generally handled manually (filling, storage in a vehicle and transport, and drop-off at the consumption centre . . . ), which necessarily imposes minimal handling time and limits the number of orders per person assigned to process the bins.
Second, a bin is generally intended for one area, and there is no provision for filling the bin with merchandise ordered by several areas of consumption without risk of confusing the different merchandise destinations.
Third, problems have arisen as to storage of those bins which cannot easily be stowed in a transport device, risking for example displacement of the bins within the transport means, and therefore resulting in deterioration of merchandise inside the bins or any element impacted by one of the bins.
In this field, documents U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,337, WO 2005/005289 and WO 97/15514 are also known which concern a storage device further comprising a rack element cooperating with drive means to cause the displacement of the device and a support surface designed to rest on a support element.
Yet, problems have arisen with the use of these solutions according to the state of the art.
In fact, these solutions do not guarantee the stability of the storage devices, especially in the case where the latter are of a height greater than the dimensions of their base.
An aim of the present invention is to provide a storage device which solves the abovementioned problems and offers an improved storage device relative to the prior art, especially making transport and locking of these devices easier.
Likewise, an aim of the present invention is to provide devices facilitating the temporary storage then the transport of products of variable volume destined for one or more areas of consumption, while allowing the person or the automaton handling the devices to unequivocally identify the products destined for an area without mixing them up with the products destined for another area.
Another aim of the present invention is to provide a storage device, for example in the form of a mini-container, capable of being handled by robot, especially within the scope of transport fully automated for products destined for an area such as described earlier.
Yet another aim of the present invention is to provide a storage device to be handled while ensuring the stability of the storage device, especially in the case where the latter is of a height greater than the dimensions of its base.
For this purpose, the invention proposes a storage device, such a cassette, especially for the storage of merchandise, the device comprising a storage unit, characterised in that it further comprises:
Thus, according to the circumstances, such a storage device can be positioned precisely, can be stowed or moved, either within warehouses logistics or within the actual transport vehicles
The invention concerns a container adapted for receiving at least one storage device according to the invention, characterised in that the container comprises at least one complementary rack element designed to cooperate with the rack element of the at least one storage device so that the cooperation of the two rack elements causes locking of the at least one storage device within the container.
Advantageously though optionally, the container further comprises at least one locking element of the storage device.
The invention also relates to a displacement device of a storage device according to the invention, the device comprising drive means designed to cooperate with the rack element of the storage device to cause displacement of the storage device.
Advantageously, though optionally, the invention comprises at least one of the following characteristics:
Other characteristics, aims and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the following detailed description, in reference to the attached diagrams, given by way of non-limiting examples and in which:
In reference to Figure I, the cassettes according to a possible realisation of the invention are generally of an approximately parallelepiped rectangle shape and are advantageously closed by a cover 19 comprising one or more parts of height H.
These cassettes 1 form a cavity 15, delimited by a base 18b and a plurality of flanks 18 (generally four). Accordingly it is possible to warehouse products 16 in the cavity 15 provided for this effect.
In reference to
For example, let “l” be the length of the largest cassette:
To ensure handling of the cassette by handling devices to be described later, it is provided that a cassette according to the invention comprises supplementary means such as described hereinbelow.
In reference to
In general, elements “on either side” of the cassette shall mean the fact that these elements are arranged symmetrically relative to the plane L passing through the median parallel to the height of a flank and the median of an opposite flank.
More precisely, these elements are placed on a level of a high part of the cassette, preferably above the mid-height H2 corresponding to the middle of the height H of the cassette 1. More preferably still, the means 10 and 11 are located. in the last quarter H4 of the height in the direction of the top of the cassette.
These means 10 and 11 comprise more precisely:
By way of advantage and as shown in
According to circumstances, these means 10 and 11 interact in combination with handling devices such as described hereinbelow to ensure, according to the case, either the precise positioning and locking of the cassettes, or their displacement.
The cassette 1 also comprises means designed to cooperate with locking elements to ensure their locking, as explained hereinbelow.
Handling devices can comprise positioning and locking devices of cassettes or displacement devices of cassettes.
One of the aims of the present invention is to precisely position the cassettes in a receptacle or vehicle designed for their transport while stowing to prevent the latter from swaying and consequently risking being damaged or damaging the products they contain, even hypothetically where a cassette does not occupy all the space serving as its storage and/or its transport.
In this respect and in reference to
The locking means preferably comprise on either side of the cassette 1:
In this embodiment, the support surfaces 21 are located on either side and support most or all of the weight of the cassettes 1 to avoid damage to the rack elements 10 and the complementary rack elements 20 which, in this embodiment, stow the cassettes to prevent them from shifting along the longitudinal axis D.
Advantageously, the device such as described hereinabove is completed by other locking elements of the device and designed to store the cassettes by cooperating with means provided on the cassette. The locking elements preferably comprise at least one of the following elements:
Preferably, the cooperation means with the locking elements are located in the lower part of the cassette 1. More preferably still, the cooperation means with the locking elements are located at the level of the base of the cassette. In fact, the rack elements and the support surface of the storage device of the invention are located at the level of a high part of the device, the latter requiring locking elements in the lower part to prevent swaying along the longitudinal axis D and therefore any damage during potential collisions with other cassettes.
These locking devices have been described with in the scope of a receptacle 2, such as a mini-container, but they can be conceived by the person skilled in the art within the scope of storage space of a transport vehicle of cassettes 1.
The handling devices can also comprise displacement devices of cassettes.
Displacement of Cassettes by Sliding
First, devices for displacement of cassettes by simple sliding under the effect of gravity or inertia are provided.
For this purpose and in reference to
Preferably, the rails are of angled shape whereof the vertical part itself is provided with rollers 72b to guide the cassettes, thus reducing friction by rotating.
Such a device displaces the cassettes 1 with a minimum of effort, by gravity if the support rails are slightly inclined or by simple inertia on horizontal rails if the cassette has previously reached a certain speed.
Second, devices for displacement of cassettes by entrainment by way of displacement devices of cassettes are provided.
The displacement of cassettes itself is ensured by several conceivable devices, non-limiting and inexhaustive examples of which are given below:
In reference to
An advantageous arrangement of this device provides the use of metallic or plastic angles 70 with low friction coefficient, the belt sliding on the upper horizontal part of this angle whereof the vertical part is provided with rollers 72b for laterally guiding the cassettes 1.
In reference to
Such entrainment by notched belts ensures entrainment of the cassettes with sufficient force, for example, to have them climb an inclined plane, even in the case of a heavy load inside the cassettes 1.
A variant consists of attaching to the drive device by notched belt other elements for drawing along cassettes 1, for example acting on the lower part. These can be especially a flexible band provided with profiles and engaging in the notches or the recesses described hereinabove.
Such a drive device with notched belt and attached flexible band can especially overcome steep slopes for the cassettes.
In reference to
These wheel couples 106 are spaced such that the cassettes are always engaged on at least one couple of toothed wheels 106.
The couple of toothed wheels 106 located opposite are suitable for turning in the same direction to ensure entrainment of cassettes 1 in the same direction. The set of wheels 106 is advantageously slaved (by chain or notched belt, for example) to turn synchronously so that their teeth are positioned conveniently relative to the hollows 102 of the rack elements 10. A set of wheels 106 slaved thus can be actuated by a single motor (not shown).
It is however possible that two adjacent couples (according to the axis D) of wheels 106 are controlled independently so as to be able to turn in opposite directions and shift the cassettes pulled along by each couple of wheels in opposite directions (according to the axis D), which individually pulls along each cassette for example for screening.
Such a variant best places the cassettes 1 in a tight space and shifts each cassette for example to position it precisely in a precise placement (for example an airlock) to make its insertion in a free placement of a receptacle or transport vehicle easy. In this variant, the couples of toothed wheels are drawn by motors 108 (for example stepped motors to obtain a high degree of control precision of the motors).
In reference to
The cylinders must be flexible enough so that they can pull along the cassettes without damaging them as such.
Made of supple material with high friction coefficient, the cylinders 112 of a couple turn in opposite directions to each other and draw the cassettes 1 along by their rotation and friction, ensuring their displacement in a direction according to the axis D.
The flexible cylinders can act on a high part of the cassettes 1 or, preferably, on their flanks 18, as illustrated in
Advantageously, it can be provided that the supports of the cylinders 112 comprise elements in the form of an angle whereof the vertical part itself is provided with rollers 72b to guide the cassettes, thus reducing any friction by their rotation. It should be noted that any combination of different displacement devices is feasible.
So, according to a possible variant, the flexible drive cylinders 112 can be attached to the smooth belts described hereinabove to speed up the cassettes, for example.
In reference to
According to another possible variant, it is provided to connect the flexible cylinders to the displacement device by toothed wheels described hereinabove.
All the displacement devices described hereinabove can ensure displacement of the cassettes in the same direction, but at the junction of two drive systems controlled separately can also shift one or more cassettes in a direction opposite to that taken by the other cassettes, constituting for example a screening system.
In reference again to
For this purpose, at least one cavity 14 is provided on either side of the cassette, of parallelepiped or cylindrical shape so as to facilitate insertion of pins of complementary shape belonging for example to a robot arm designed to handling said cassettes 1.
The insertion of at least one pin simultaneously on either side of a cassette 1 allows the robot arm to move the latter vertically to insert or extract it, for example, in or from a receptacle or vehicle designed for its transport.
Advantageously and in reference again to
Such a label 17 identifies especially the type of cassette which supports it to cooperate with the handling devices of cassettes.
The identification by such remotely searchable labels accordingly allows an automaton to identify the cassettes to be handled with precision and without risk of error.
All the characteristics described above make the cassettes particularly suitable to be handled and sorted fully automatically, especially in warehouses.
It is especially provided to fit out small urban warehouses with the equipment described hereinabove. The recipient of one or more cassettes can have the cassettes delivered automatically, due to the identification labels associated with a warehouse management system.
The invention also relates to different modes by which the cassettes can be transported.
The different handling devices of cassettes such as described earlier can be provided inside transport vehicles (for example trucks or vans) to enable cassettes reaching their destination to be unloaded automatically from the transport vehicle (such as a consumption centre, for example).
According to a possible realisation of the present invention, the cassettes can be inserted into standardised mini-containers 3 (for example corresponding to European standard ISO 3394-600×400×400 mm). These dimensions allow an operator to handle the container “with bare hands”.
The fact that the dimensions of the mini-containers are standardised allows modular storage of these mini-containers and their partially or fully automated processing.
The cassettes and the mini-containers can be combined in racks, especially in racks dimensioned to the most commonly used euro-palettes (1200×800 mm or 1200×1200 mm) because of their conformity to the basic European module.
These racks can advantageously be at heights most used by trucks or other transport vehicles to optimise their filling. For the sake of modularity, the racks can constitute homogeneous loads of cassettes or mini-containers or be mixed with ordinary palettes, in mixed loads.
In an urban setting, it is provided that the cassettes or containers may borrow a subterranean network comprising:
The majority of the transport of merchandise is done underground, so as not to further overload the surface. The transport is preferably driven by electric power, without any pollution and without any noise for the urban population.
Once their contents are unloaded, the cassettes can be used to collect:
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0952308 | Apr 2009 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2010/054643 | 4/8/2010 | WO | 00 | 12/15/2011 |
