WO2002074663A1

WO2002074663A1 - Container handling system

Info

Publication number: WO2002074663A1
Application number: PCT/GB2002/001371
Authority: WO
Inventors: Matthew Ford; James Hooper; Nick Avery; David Hughes
Original assignee: Coventry University
Priority date: 2001-03-19
Filing date: 2002-03-19
Publication date: 2002-09-26
Also published as: GB0206546D0; GB0106860D0; GB2376011A

Abstract

A system for handling containers having a regular shape, the system comprising a racking system having first and second ends and comprising a matrix of conveyor assemblies; each conveyor assembly having support means for supporting a plurality of said containers and conveying means for conveying said containers along said assembly between said first and second ends of said racking system; a carousel adjacent said first end of said racking system and having a plurality of carrier means (202) for receiving containers from said conveyor assemblies, each of said carrier means being adapted to support at least one said container; and drive means for moving said carrier means in a generally vertical plane to bring each said carrier means adjacent a selected conveyor assembly for enabling transfer of a container between said carrier means and said conveyor assembly, and for bringing each said container to a selected unloading point on said carousel.

Description

Container Handling System

The present invention relates to a container handling system and particularly, but not exclusively, to a delivery vehicle having a container section incorporating a novel internal racking system for the transportation of goods.

In recent months, a trend has emerged for supermarkets or other large retail stores to enable customers to order their goods without directly visiting the store, for example via the internet, and then to provide a delivery service for delivering the goods between the store and the customer's home. The vehicles conventionally used for goods delivery are non-articulated vans having a driving cab at the front and a box or container section at the rear, both mounted on a vehicle chassis. The volume within the container section is used for the storage of appropriate boxes or containers in which the goods are stored for delivery.

In use, the container section is loaded with boxes or crates of goods (hereafter "crates") at the store or the depot and these are then taken to the customers' homes where they are unloaded by the driver.

It would be advantageous to increase the loading, and particularly the unloading of the delivery vehicle to reduce the delivery times and to improve the safety of the vehicle driver who may need to stand in potentially dangerous positions, for example in the middle of a busy road, in order to unload the vehicle. It would also be advantageous to deliver all boxes from the ideal lifting height helping to reduce injuries which might occur on a delivery run, and to automate as much as possible the delivery process to improve delivery efficiency and minimise delivery errors.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved container handling system.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a system for handling containers having a regular shape, the system comprising: a racking system having first and second ends and comprising a matrix of conveyor assemblies; each conveyor assembly having support means for supporting a plurality of said containers and conveying means for conveying said containers along said assembly between said first and second ends of said racking system; a carousel adjacent said first end of said racking system and having a plurality of carrier means for receiving containers from said conveyor assemblies, each of said support means being adapted to support at least one said container; and drive means for moving said support means in a generally vertical plane to bring each said support means adjacent a selected conveyor assembly for enabling transfer of a container between said support means and said conveyor assembly, and for bringing each said container to a selected unloading point on said carousel.

A preferred form of the invention further comprises control means for monitoring the position of each container on the racking system and carousel and controlling said conveying means and said drive means to move selected ones of said containers between first and second locations in said carousel and said racking system.

Preferably the system further comprises a receptor means for attachment to each container, each said receptor means being programmable with at least a unique identifier code for the associated container.

Advantageously, each said receptor means is arranged to transmit said unique identifier code on receipt of a signal and said control means comprises radio sensing means for receiving said code to enable the location of each container to be determined by triangulation.

Conveniently, each said conveying means comprises a pair of conveyors for engaging the containers in the associated conveyor assembly therebetween and carrying said containers forwards and backwards along said conveyor assembly.

Advantageously, each said conveyor is a belt conveyor. Preferably, said drive means includes a respective conveyor drive for driving each said pair of conveyors.

In a preferred form of the invention said carousel has a guide assembly for guiding movement of said support means in a closed loop path in said generally vertical plane.

Advantageously, said drive means includes a carousel drive system for moving said support means through said path and said closed loop path is generally rectangular and said carousel drive system comprises horizontal and vertical conveyors.

Advantageously, the system further comprises computer means for receiving data relevant to each said container including delivery time and address, and generating: (a) a delivery sequence for said containers; (b) a loading sequence for loading said containers onto said racking system; (c) and an unloading sequence for moving said containers to said unloading point on said carousel.

Advantageously, said computer means comprises: a hand held computer means for storing data including a unique identifier code, a delivery time and a delivery address for each container; a remote computer means for receiving said data from said hand held computer means and generating said delivery sequence, said loading sequence and said unloading sequence for said containers.

Advantageously, said control means is operable to control said conveying means and said drive means to bring each said container from said racking system to said unloading point on said carousel in accordance with said unloading sequence.

Advantageously, said control means is further operable to select a next delivery in said delivery sequence, dial the addressee of the selected delivery and in the absence of a reply select the next successive delivery in said delivery sequence and generate instructions for said delivery. Advantageously, wherein said racking system is adapted to be mountable in and demountable from a vehicle.

Advantageously, said carousel is adapted to be mountable in and demountable from a vehicle.

The present invention is further described hereinafter, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of system according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation, partly from one side, of a carousel of the system of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the carousel of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view similar to that of Figure 3 showing only one container support;

Figure 5 is a view of a portion of the carousel of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a view showing the loading of a racking system onto a vehicle;

Figure 7 is a plan view of an LCD showing the type of information available to a user of the system;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the racking system of the preferred form of the invention installed in a container section of a vehicle with part of the container section broken away for clarity;

Figure 9 is a further front view of the carousel of the system of Figure 1; Figure 10 is a rear view of a bottom corner of the carousel;

Figure 11 is an exploded perspective view of the carousel of Figure 2;

Figures 12 to 15 are further views of parts of the carousel of Figure 2;

Figure 16 is a perspective view of several boxes for use with the system of Figure 1;

Figure 17 is a circuit diagram of a circuit for controlling drive motors for the system of Figure i;

Figures 18 to 21 are flow charts showing various procedures during operation of the system of Figure 1;

Figure 22 is a plan view of the system of Figure 1;

Figure 23 is a side elevation of the system of Figure 1; and

Figure 24 is a schematic view of the system of figure showing the positioning of radio sensors.

A preferred form of vehicle delivery system according to the invention, is shown by way of example only in the accompanying drawings. The delivery system includes a delivery vehicle, generally in the form of a conventional delivery van having a cab section 10 mounted on the front of a non-articulated chassis and a rear container section 12 mounted on the rear portion of the chassis. The container section may, or may not, be detachable from the chassis but, advantageously, includes a novel and inventive racking system to improve delivery efficiency. The delivery system comprises a two-part computer controlled system that can identify each box or container, store it until needed and deliver it to one of two positions on the vehicle where it can be off-loaded at the ergonomically correct height. As shown in the drawings, the container section is provided with an internal racking assembly which is either rigidly fixed or wheeled and locked to the inside of the container section. The racking assembly is in two parts one of which comprises the racking 100 which holds the containers and can be wheeled in and out of the vehicle container section and the other which is in the form of a carousel 200. The latter provides a loading/unloading apparatus for the containers and can either be a permanent fixture in the vehicle container section or secured to the racking for movement with the racking or a separate assembly. The loading/unloading apparatus is positioned at the front end of the container section of the vehicle.

The racking assembly comprises a plurality of vertical and horizontal frame members interconnected to form a three-dimensional rack having sixteen "rows" extending lengthwise within the container section in a 4 x 4 matrix which is fixed to the inside of the container section . In the illustrated embodiment, each row holds 4 containers and the assembly is therefore capable of storing up to 64 containers.

The racking is a system of conveyors which move the containers backwards and forwards along the length of the storage compartment. The conveyor assembly consists of four belts, two on each side of a container. The belts converge on a moulded lip of each container, one beneath it to support its weight and another above it to provide grip, keeping the container in position whilst the vehicle is moving. Each conveyor assembly is driven independently by a 12 volt DC motor with inbuilt gearing. The motor is mounted centrally at the rear of the conveyor assembly and drives the conveyors on each side of the containers together so that they always remain synchronised.

Whilst the racking system stores the containers and moves them backwards and forwards along an X axis, they must still be taken off and brought down to the level of the vehicle floor to be at the correct ergonomic lifting height. In other words, they must be moved vertically (through a Z axis). In addition, each container must be moved backwards and forwards across the width of the storage compartment i.e. along a Y axis, to enable the driver to unload from each side of the vehicle. At the front end of the container section there is provided a loading/unloading apparatus in the form of a "carousel". The apparatus comprises a plurality of support modules mounted to the front face of a substantially square or rectangular vertical frame member. Each module provides a substantially horizontal supporting surface for the support of one or two containers and is slidably mounted in a channel or track defined by the vertical frame member. In the illustrated embodiment, there are 7 support modules provided on the carousel, arranged substantially in a matrix defined by the shape of the guide track in the frame member. Each support module is moveable in the track by drive means connected to the module which is arranged to cause the module to move along the track, both vertically and horizontally to cause a carousel-type rotation of the support modules within a vertical plane.

The cradles are moved around a set rectangular path in a YZ plane so that each cradle can accept a box from any of the 16 positions on the racking system. The carousel system offloads 8 containers from the racking system, firstly from the two outside rows. The cradles are moved around the path by a jogging process, moving the cradles on each of the¹ four sides of the path in sequence. In this way, the cradles can be moved one after the other to the unloading position at the side of the ramp.

A "C" section rails assembly that guides the cradles throughout their range of movement supports each cradle. Each cradle is shifted around the rail assembly via two vertical conveyor belts and two horizontal conveyor belts each of which is powered by a 12 volt DC motor with an inbuilt worm gearbox. The cradles moves around the rail assembly in a rectangular loop, one side at a time. This system allows any box on the carousel to be made available at either side of the vehicle at the correct lifting height.

The support modules are individually driven on the carousel and rotate in a sequential manner. Thus, by activating the drive means associated with the support modules, the support modules can be rotated around the carousel such that a selected one of the support modules can be brought into proximity with an aperture or door in the side of the container section. Figures 2 to 5 and 9 to 15 show the carousel in various amounts of detail.

Each support module or cradle 202 (seen from the rear in Figure 10) is supported within parallel guide rails 204 by a rectangular plate 206 locating in grooves or channels formed by the rails 204. As can be seen in Figure 9, each cradle can be moved vertically and then horizontally around the carousel to position the cradle firstly to receive a container from the racking system and secondly to position the container at an outlet in the vehicle body for unloading.

Figure 11 shows four drives or drive belts 208 which are used to carry the cradles around the closed loop path formed by the guide rails 204. Figures 12 and 13 show exploded perspective views of the framework for the carousel and Figure 13 shows again the drive belts 208.

In use, a second identical racking system is filled to the desired amount with containers of goods whilst the vehicle is on a delivery run. When the vehicle arrives back at the depot the racking with the delivered goods is wheeled off and the second locked rack is wheeled on, ready for departure. Each row of the racking system has its own drive means for moving the boxes between the racking system and the carousel and during transit to the first delivery address, the first containers to be delivered are transferred to the support modules of the carousel. In the preferred embodiment the drive means comprises an electric motor driven conveyor system but any other means, for example a hydraulic ram, could be used.

The containers are therefore transferred from one of the rows onto the carousel and, upon arrival at the first delivery address, the vehicle driver operates the carousel to cause each of the support modules to rotate around the carousel to a position adjacent to the correct door in the side of the vehicle. This enables the vehicle driver to easily remove the container from the carousel which is then rotated to bring the next container, for example supported on an adjacent support module, next to the access door. This continues until all of the containers for the first delivery address have been unloaded and the vehicle is then free to leave. En route to the next delivery address, any containers for the next delivery address are transferred from the racking system to the carousel system in the manner described above.

The entire loads of the racking system and carousel are transferred to the vehicle floor pan through multi-directional cast or wheels. The four wheels on the racking system locate in grooves which run the length of the floor pan. Two of the wheels on the carousel also locate in these grooves, with another two wider apart resting on the flat flor. This enables both the racking and the carousel to be wheeled out of the vehicle, the racking system being removed and replaced at the start of each delivery and the carousel system being a semi-permanent fixture which can be removed at intervals to service its components.

Figure 24 shows how power and computer control is linked from the vehicle to the racking inside the vehicle container. It also shows the locations for the radio sensors o the container triangulation system.

Each of the delivery containers has a permanent magnet and grooved base so that it can be held securely on the carousel system. Each container also has a semiconductor chip that allows the triangulation system to detect where the container is in the racking carousel. Each container has a set of teeth which allow the container to be pulled onto the racking system by pinions on the racking frame.

At the depot, staff can use a hand-held unit to perform all delivery related tasks. Plus all of the above information can be input including, for example, the customers details, box numbers, shopping details and delivery information. The rack onto which the shopping is to go is also input into the hand-held unit and the unit then communicates with the depot main computer which works out the order in which the containers are to be loaded onto the racking system. The computer also prints out two security labels for each individual container. These contain the container number which has to be matched up and the customer's name. The containers are stored in the depot prior to loading onto the racking system. A two- dimensional sensor array uses semiconductor chips embedded in each container to find the containers in their storage racks and displays this information on the hand-held unit. When the containers are required for loading they are brought up on the hand-held unit. This can display the full details of the container including its location in the storage rack matrix.

The containers are selected for loading and are called up in reverse order to the delivery schedule. They are loaded by hand in the order shown in the table below. The loading order is 1 to 8 and the unloading order is 8 to 1. The table is in effect a rear end view of the racking system.

When the rack is rolled onto the vehicle and into the container, the rack plugs itself into the computer control system of the van.

Data which is stored on, for example, a flash memory card in the hand-held unit is transferred to the in-cab computer in the vehicle, for example by removing the flash memory card from the hand-held unit and inserting it into the in-cab computer.

The driver can then bring up on the in-cab computer system display the first item for delivery, including the customer name and address, content and price of delivery and route planner which can be effected by GPS navigation. The in-cab computer system provides the driver with all delivery information and can also be set to telephone the customer automatically, for example 30, 15 and 5 minutes before delivery is due if the customer does not have a special reception container. If the customer is not at home then the in-cab computer system can rearrange the delivery order so that the driver does not make a wasted journey.

The computer system can also rearrange the containers on the racking in order to move the undelivered container to a desired position.

Each carousel also enables the relevant container to be brought to the correct lifting height for unloading by the driver.

The driver can also be provided with a hand-held unit which can communicate with the in- cab computer or can store the information relating to a particular delivery. It can be provided with a touch screen which allows a customer to sign for a delivery and can also print a receipt from an in-built printer.

Empty containers are loaded back onto the carousel which then moves the empty container onto a suitable portion of the racking.

Each cradle on the carousel includes an electromagnet which locks a container into position on the cradle. It is also used to push the container back into the rail pinion on the racking.

Two reed switches and a relay are used to control the operation of the electromagnets. The first reed switch turns the electromagnet on or off. The second magnetic reed switch controls the polarity of the electromagnet causing it either to push or pull the container onto or from the racking. This again is controlled through the in-cab computer system.

Figure 17 shows a circuit associated with controlling the motors that drive the conveyor belts on the racking rails. The motors use photoelectric sensors as switches. When a beam is broken its associated motor is actuated. This prevents more than one container at a time from being loaded onto the carousel and also ensures that there are no gaps between containers when the carousel is facing containers back onto the racking conveyor rails.

The photoelectric sensor is overridden by way of a computer controlled relay for a time period, typically one second, to enable the motor to begin spinning initially. The polarity of the motor is also controlled by way of a second computer controlled relay. This determines whether the rail should be loading or off-loading containers. This motor is linked in parallel with the electromagnet that controls the polarity of the main electromagnet that both pulls and locks a container to the cradle or pushes the container back onto the rails.

It can be seen that the above described invention provides an effective way of simplifying and speeding up the delivery process by ensuring that a container to be unloaded is adjacent to the access door at arrival thus reducing the need for the vehicle driver to manipulate other containers or to enter the vehicle itself. Only a single access door on each side of the vehicle is required and this can therefore be positioned at a convenient location to ensure the vehicle driver does not need to stand, for example, in the middle of a busy road in order to unload the containers.

It will be appreciated that this system could be improved in a number of ways. For example, the system can be computer controlled to automatically select the correct containers for unloading at a particular delivery address and for loading them on to the carousel for presenting at the access door. Thus, the need for the driver to select the correct container for unloading is eliminated since the correct container is always presented to the driver automatically.

Prior to departure from the store or depot, therefore, the data for a particular delivery round, for example delivery addresses and the number of containers to each address, can be programmed into a computer on the vehicle or onto, for example, a data card or other portable data transfer device for insertion into the computer on the vehicle, such that during transit to the first delivery address, the computer can control the racking system and the carousel to ensure that the containers to be unloaded at the first delivery address are transferred onto the carousel ready for presentation at the access door of the vehicle.

Figure 18 shows a flow chart for the loading procedure for a vehicle. When a customer sends in an order, by telephone or over the internet, the items are stored in a container and the item list and container unique identity number are stored on a handheld computer together with other information including the customer's name, address and delivery time. Details of the items can be scanned into the handheld computer as they are collected. This information is then transferred to the depot main frame computer. At the start of the procedure a time slot for delivery is selected which accords with a customer's requested time. The main computer system then selects the delivery and determines in which geographical delivery zone the customer's address is located. The system then logs the number of containers to be delivered for delivery zone 1 and whether or not these will fit on the racks in the racking system.

Once all the rack spaces are accounted for the computer then works out the distance of each delivery from the depot and compiles the delivery sequence or order. It then compiles the loading order in accordance with this delivery order such that the first item to be delivered is loaded last and the last item to be delivered is loaded first.

This information can then be transmitted or otherwise passed to the operator's hand held computer unit or direct to the vehicle's in-cab computer by any suitable means.

During the delivery run the in-cab computer system follows the procedure set out in Figure 19. Firstly, if the customer has a secure reception box which does not require the customer to be present the computer system confirms the delivery and switches to the normal delivery programme. If the customer does not have a secure reception box then the computer system automatically dials the customer telephone 30 minutes before the delivery time. If the telephone call is answered by an answering machine or is not answered at all then the system again calls the customer 15 minutes before the delivery time and again 5 minutes before the expected time. If the telephone call still remains unanswered or is answered by an answering machine then the delivery is cancelled and the computer system re-schedules the delivery.

If the telephone is answered by the customer then the system automatically plays a standard delivery message which confirms the delivery at the estimated delivery time. The computer system then confirms delivery and switches to the normal delivery programme.

The normal delivery programme is illustrated in Figure 20. The computer system first selects the next delivery from its data and determines its position using the triangulation system as mentioned earlier. If the container is already on the carousel and is to be delivered then the computer system selects the side of the vehicle for unloading. If the container is not next to the correct door then the carousel is activated until the container is positioned at the correct door.

If the located container is not on the carousel then the container, if it is adjacent the carousel, is moved onto the carousel. If the container is not adjacent the carousel and there is an intervening container then the intervening container is moved onto the carousel, the carousel is moved to bring an empty cradle adjacent to the relevant rack and the required container is then moved onto the carousel.

Once the container is positioned correctly at the vehicle door the magnets on the cradle release the container. The door is opened by the driver and the container or containers removed. Empty containers are then replaced and the driver cancels off the empty containers on the computer system. If there are any more boxes for this particular delivery then the procedure is repeated and these are brought to the unloading position. If there are no more boxes then the door is closed.

If there are any containers remaining for delivery then the procedure is repeated. If there are no containers remaining on the carousel for delivery then the empty boxes are returned to the racking.

Figure 21 shows the flow chart for the missed deliveries procedure. The first portion of this flow chart is the same as the normal wing flow chart. However, if the container on the carousel is not to be delivered (because of a lack of response to the telephone calls) the computer system then determines whether or not there are other undelivered containers on the carousel. If there are then the procedure is repeated for these other containers. If there are not any undelivered containers remaining on the carousel then any empty containers are moved onto their original locations on the racking. It will also be appreciated that empty containers can be put back on the vehicle by placing them on an empty support module on the carousel via the access door. The carousel can then be rotated to allow all empty containers to be placed thereon and these empty containers can be transferred back onto the racking system by whatever drive system is employed.

It is preferable that the containers used are insulated and incorporate a passive temperature control system whilst in transit and an active temperature control system that enables their contents to be stored at the correct temperature whilst waiting to be loaded on the vehicle. The containers are colour coded to differentiate the temperature requirements of their contents. This approach removes the need for refrigerated rooms or compartments in the vehicle and at the packing/storage location (depot).

The flexibility of the carousel system in selecting the appropriate containers for delivery at each delivery address almost regardless of their original position in the racking system, means that the vehicle can be loaded having regard to appropriate weight distribution for the vehicle. Each container may be provided with a locator chip to enable their position within the racking system to be determined and/or their destination address determined.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above described embodiment is by way of example only and is not limited to the exact structure or configuration described or shown in the drawings.

Claims

1 A system for handling containers having a regular shape, the system comprising:

a racking system having first and second ends and comprising a matrix of conveyor assemblies;

each conveyor assembly having support means for supporting a plurality of said containers and conveying means for conveying said containers along said assembly between said first and second ends of said racking system;

a carousel adjacent said first end of said racking system and having a plurality of carrier means for receiving containers from said conveyor assemblies, each of said support means being adapted to support at least one said container;

and drive means for moving said support means in a generally vertical plane to bring each said support means adjacent a selected conveyor assembly for enabling transfer of a container between said support means and said conveyor assembly, and for bringing each said container to a selected unloading point on said carousel.

2 A system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising control means for monitoring the position of each container on the racking system and carousel and controlling said conveying means and said drive means to move selected ones of said containers between first and second locations in said carousel and said racking system.

3 A system as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a receptor means for attachment to each container, each said receptor means being programmable with at least a unique identifier code for the associated container.

4 A system as claimed in claim 3 wherein each said receptor means is arranged to transmit said unique identifier code on receipt of a signal and said control means comprises radio sensing means for receiving said code to enable the location of each container to be determined by triangulation.

5 A system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 wherein each said conveying means comprises a pair of conveyors for engaging the containers in the associated conveyor assembly therebetween and carrying said containers forwards and backwards along said conveyor assembly.

6 A system as claimed in claim 5 wherein each said conveyor is a belt conveyor.

7 A system as claimed in claim 4 or 5 wherein said drive means includes a respective conveyor drive for driving each said pair of conveyors.

8 A system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7 wherein said carousel has a guide assembly for guiding movement of said support means in a closed loop path in said generally vertical plane.

9 A system as claimed in claim 8 wherein said drive means includes a carousel drive system for moving said support means through said path.

10 A system as claimed in claim 9 wherein said closed loop path is generally rectangular and said carousel drive system comprises horizontal and vertical conveyors.

11 A system as claimed in any of the preceding claims comprising computer means for receiving data relevant to each said container including delivery time and address, and generating:

(a) a delivery sequence for said containers;

(b) a loading sequence for loading said containers onto said racking system; (c) and an unloading sequence for moving said containers to said unloading point on said carousel.

12 A system as claimed in claim 11 wherein said computer means comprises:

a hand held computer means for storing data including a unique identifier code, a delivery time and a delivery address for each container;

a remote computer means for receiving said data from said hand held computer means and generating said delivery sequence, said loading sequence and said unloading sequence for said containers.

13 A system as claimed in claims 12 and 2 wherein said control means is operable to control said conveying means and said drive means to bring each said container from said racking system to said unloading point on said carousel in accordance with said unloading sequence.

14 A system as claimed in claim 13 wherein said control means is further operable to select a next delivery in said delivery sequence, dial the addressee of the selected delivery and in the absence of a reply select the next successive delivery in said delivery sequence and generate instructions for said delivery.

15 A system as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein said racking system is adapted to be mountable in and demountable from a vehicle.

16 A system as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein said carousel is adapted to be mountable in and demountable from a vehicle.