WO2001095773A1

WO2001095773A1 - Delivery receptable system

Info

Publication number: WO2001095773A1
Application number: PCT/GB2001/002527
Authority: WO
Inventors: Henry Kirby
Original assignee: STANDANGLE Ltd
Current assignee: STANDANGLE Ltd
Priority date: 2000-06-10
Filing date: 2001-06-08
Publication date: 2001-12-20
Anticipated expiration: 2002-12-10
Also published as: GB0113847D0; GB2364697A; GB0014075D0; AU6254101A

Abstract

There are occasions when it is desirable to deliver Goods to an address at which there is, at the moment of delivery, no-one able to accept the Goods on behalf of the intended Recipient, and yet the Goods are far too large to fit through the conventional letter box. The present invention seeks to deal with this problem by proposing the use of a standard container (12) which can be delivered to and locked securely into a special module-receiving docking station (11) at the Recipient's address.

Description

Delivery receptacle system

This invention is concerned with a delivery receptacle system, and relates more specifically to the such a system as can be used to deliver and receive Goods in a secure and it condition at a residence or business.

There are numerous occasions when it is either desirable or necessary to deliver Goods to an address at which there is, at the moment of delivery, no-one able to accept the Goods on behalf of the intended Recipient. For example, there exist many dedicated delivery agents - for instance, the Post Office, a courier service such as DHL or FedEx, or a retail or wholesale Company delivering Goods purchased from them. And one particularly important type of modern day Goods deliverer is the Company trading over the Internet, where Goods ordered electronically - say, by E-mail or during a website access - must be physically delivered to the purchaser.

Sometimes the Goods, like letters and very small packets, are small and compact enough to be delivered through the Recipient's letter box, in the conventional way, but often this is not the case. Not infrequently, even single items, and certainly multiple small items, are delivered in containers such as the manufacturers' original packaging or cardboard boxes, crates, tubs, bottles and carrier bags (all of which tend to get thrown away after use), and these are far too large to fit through the conventional letter box. Accordingly, the Goods are often simply left on the doorstep, or the Deliverer leaves a Note to the effect that a re-delivery will be attempted when the Recipient indicates it will be more convenient. However, to ensure an adequate degree of security a designated person must normally be available at the time of delivery to receive the Goods, and by common necessity this can only be effected within a limited time frame.

The present invention seeks to deal with this problem - the requirement for someone to be on hand to receive the Goods. More specifically, it proposes the use of a purpose-designed and constructed standard carrier-like receptacle, or container module, that can securely hold the Goods, which receptacle can be delivered to and locked securely into a special module- receiving docking station at the Recipient's address. Once so delivered and docked, the Goods are protected, and safe, within the container module, until an authorised person - the Recipient, perhaps - unlocks the docking station and removes the module therefrom. In this way, the invention obviates the need for a person to receive the Goods at the time of delivery, and ensures that the Goods are in a fit condition. Furthermore, the container module can be continually re-used - and most conveniently can, simultaneously with its return, send back any recyclable vessels to the retailer.

In one aspect, therefore, the invention provides a delivery receptacle system for Goods delivered to some destination, such as a house, the system comprising: a docking station locatable at the destination to which the Goods are to be delivered; a container module for holding the Goods to be delivered and being adapted physically to dock with the docking station in a manner such that its contents cannot be accessed while it is so docked; and locking means by which the container module may releasably be secured to the docking station while docked therewith.

The invention provides a delivery receptacle system for Goods delivered to some destination, such as a house. Clearly, the Goods can be of any kind - provided that they will actually fit within the container module; a double bed is likely to be rather too large - and will typically be one or several relatively small items such as might be found in someone's a weekly shop at the local supermarket. Equally, the destination can be anywhere and of any sort - a private house, an office building, or even an industrial site - but the system is most likely to be of use to the private individual, the destination then being his or her home.

The system of the invention includes a docking station locatable at the destination to which the Goods are to be delivered. The station may take any convenient form. It might, for example, be a simple post or pillar, to which the container module may be secured. Alternatively, it may be a closable box-like object into which the container module may be placed, though a closable doorway or a lidded opening. One preferred structure of station is an open box-like object into which the container module can be positioned, the module itself, when in place, "closing" the box. Another is a shallow cabinet with doors that open outwards to reveal a surface, against which the container may be secured while projecting from the cabinet (in an especially-preferred form of this variant the surface has in it a port leading to a source of cold air, and a corresponding port in the back of the container mates with the port in the cabinet to allow the passage of chilled air therethrough and into the container) .

The station is locatable at the destination to which the Goods are to be delivered - the premises of the Recipient. By this is meant that it is at or adjacent the premises of the Recipient. It may be outside the premises, or it may be in an accessible (from outside) location within the premises.

The docking station is locatable at the destination. Such locating will normally be achieved by constructing the station as a self-supporting structure set securely into the ground. Alternatively, however, it can be securely mounted on a fixed (outside) wall surface, or even on a door of the premises. It is not envisaged, though, that the station will actually be built into the structure - a wall, say - of the premises. Moreover, it is expected that there will only be one access route into the station, and thus to a module docked therewith, both Deliverer and Recipient using it.

One preferred form of the docking station is designed to accept, independently, two (or perhaps more) separate container modules, perhaps of different forms and sizes. This might be useful where the range of Goods being delivered can extend from one small book to a fortnight's worth of supermarket shopping (which can easily fill two ordinary supermarket trolleys). It might also be useful where the destination location is, say, a block of flats or apartments, and each has its own module, separately lockable into the same docking station that holds all the others. Such a multiple module station is rather like a bank of left-luggage lockers of the type found in railway stations. It may be wide, and accept two or more modules side by side, or it may be tall, and take them one above another (particularly if they are relatively small, and so can be fairly easily carried and positioned by hand; such an embodiment is discussed hereinafter with reference to the accompanying Drawings) .

Because the Goods being delivered might be perishable, or spoil if left at ambient temperature - such as raw meat or ice-cream - the docking station, in combination with the container module, can include both thermal insulation and also some inbuilt refrigeration capability. If a refrigeration unit is included this may be positioned wherever convenient; for example, the refrigeration unit might be either at the top (as in a refrigerator) or at the bottom (as in a freezer).

Whatever form it takes, the docking station may be fabricated from any combination of wood, plastics, concrete and or metal .

The invention's delivery receptacle system for Goods includes a container module for holding the Goods to be delivered. The module is basically a box of a shape and size appropriate to fit to or inside the docking station. In general, this box can be of any construction - it may have solid panel-like sides or wire-mesh sides, and it may be open at one side, or at the top, or at both (this is useful to facilitate nesting of the modules in the way that supermarket trolleys nest for efficient storage) . The openings may be fitted with one or more doors or blinds to maintain both the security and or the temperature of the contents (suitably designed to fold or swing, these can still permit nesting) .

Very conveniently, the container module has transport-enabling means which bear the combined weight of the module and its burden en route between the Goods source and destination. For very small modules the means could simply be handles or the like, but for anything more substantial the means will most usually be conventional wheels or castors, but it could be sled runners or a separate wheeled trolley suitably attached to the module's base (the transport means could be of a fixed or demountable nature; in the case of the latter the means could also incorporate a handle the further to improve manoeuvrability) .

The invention's container module is adapted physically to dock with the docking station in a manner such that its contents cannot be accessed while it is so docked - at least, not without breaking open either the station or the module. This may be achieved in a number of ways. Thus, as can be inferred from what has been noted above, where the docking station is a simple post or pillar to which the container module may be secured, or is a shallow cabinet from which the container when in situ therein projects therefrom, the module itself must be a securely closable container from which the contents cannot be removed without first opening it. However, where the docking station is itself a closable box-like object into which the container module may be placed, though a closable doorway or a lidded opening then the module may not need to have a secure nature of its own. The preferred case where the docking station is an open box-like object into which the container module can be placed, the module itself, when in position, "closing" the box, requires that the combination of module in place in the station be secure. For example, the station might effectively be a five-sided box into which the module is placed, the module being structured that one of its sides then forms the sixth side of the station, so securing the module's contents once it's in position. In one of the embodiments shown in the accompany Drawings the module is an open-topped box which fits to and under a part of the station, this part then becoming a lid for, and so closing, the module. In another preferred case, where the docking station is a shallow cabinet from which the container projects the cabinet is so engineered and dimensioned that the cabinet's doors, which must be opened to allow the container to be placed within the cabinet, have inwardly directed flanges along their edges, and at least each top edge, which flanges, when the doors are open and the container is in place, extend around/over the top (and possibly also the rear and bottom) surface of the container so as to make it more difficult to remove the container's lid or get at its contents. This, too, is shown in the accompanying Drawings .

Where Goods of a perishable nature are to be conveyed or stored in the container module, one way to keep them cool is to provide a fixed or demountable compartment incorporated specifically for such Goods, the temperature within this compartment being, in use, maintained at a level appropriate for the contents. In such a case, materials providing good thermal insulation materials should be used to fabricate the chilled compartment, and where the likely contents are particularly vulnerable, or are to be left for a sustained period, there can also be provided positive cooling means - say, an ice pack, some dry ice, or even a powered a heat pump. An alternative possibility is to provide the docking station with cooling means, such as a heat exchanger device outputting cold air, and then to structure the station and container such that this cool air is circulated into the container when in situ. This is at present a particularly favoured solution, and is applicable to the case of the shallow cabinet docking station having a port that mates with a matching port in the container, If this port is made a double one then "warm" air within the container can be drawn out along one path and replaced by cold air blown into the container along the other from a heat exchanger mounted within the cabinet.

The module can of course include means - handles and the like - to facilitate lifting and manoeuvrability; these can be in addition to any transport-enabling means (as mentioned hereinbefore), such as wheels.

The module - the shell of the box and doors and blinds - can be made of an suitable materials. It could thus be manufactured from plastics, wood, or metals in the form of sheet, wire, castings, mouldings or fabric, and in any combination of these.

The system of the invention incorporates locking means by which the container module may releasably be secured to the docking station while docked therewith. The locking means may take any convenient form, and one possibility is a simple, lockable door or lid to the docking station, such that the module can be placed wholly inside the station and the door or lid locked to hold the module's contents safely and securely. However, a more convenient form of locking system, and one that is more appropriate for use in the "halfway house" case mentioned above, where the module is pushed into a box-like station to form the sixth and final side of the box, is a set of latches that inter-engage when the module is pushed into place, and then lock, being releasable (to allow the module to be withdrawn) only by the use of some key or key-like device. In such a case, then, both the station and the module incorporate mating elements of the lockabie latching system.

It is particularly preferred that the locking system be a two-fold system such that it can be operated quite separately by two different keys (or their equivalents). It is envisaged that one part of the system, and one key, will be used by the Deliverer (to remove an empty module from the station, and to place the Goods-carrying module therein), while the other part, and the second key, will be used by the intended Recipient (to remove a full module, and put in an empty one) .

One suitable latching mechanism can be achieved through an arrangement of spigots on one or other of the station and module engaging in locations in or on the other of the pair, in conjunction with dogteeth engaging in cutouts in corresponding plates incorporated in the station or module as appropriate. A lever, a single key, multiple keys, or an electromechanical or electronic means can be employed to affect release of the dogtooth mechanism. Alternatively, a remote telemetry and control system, a swipe card or a proximity-sensing device can initiate the latter options. In this way, access to the docking station, and removal of the module therefrom, can only be achieved by the intended Recipient and pre-designated agencies. Moreover, with the appropriate telemetry system the locking device can be arranged to inform the Recipient, or the designated agencies, when it has been activated, and of its present state. The system would naturally embody the facility to change permission of access for the various agencies.

The delivery receptacle system of the invention is, of course, utilised with some means of moving the filled (and then emptied) container modules between the source of their contents - a supermarket, say - and their destination at or near the Recipient Customers' premises. The delivery vehicle can take any appropriate form, but is most conveniently a lorry or truck (or trailer with tractor unit) the load-space of which has been provided with what is in effect a bank of docking stations, as described herein, so that the Goods while in transit can be both secure and, if necessary, refrigerated. Moreover, in the event of there being made a multiple delivery to the same destination - a block of flats, say, or an apartment building - where there is required a multiple module docking station, then one possibility for that docking station is the delivery vehicle itself - or, at least, the trailer of such a vehicle. This could be loaded up at the Goods' source, and then driven to, and parked immobilised at or near, the relevant destination for the Recipients to access to remove their Goods.

In summary, the invention provides a docking station located at the premises of the Recipient Customer, to or in which station the container module can be placed. The station may incorporate cooling means for when the delivered Goods must be kept cold. The module has transport means - handles and/or wheels, say - by which it may be manoeuvred and its weight (with its burden) may be borne for the duration of the transfer from a delivery vehicle to the premises of the Recipient or from the docking station to a point where it is emptied. Security obtains from a lockable latching system between the receptacle and the docking station, or a lockable door. Access to the docking station can only be achieved by the Recipient and pre-designated agencies (and^' includes the facility to change permission of access for the various agencies) . Various embodiments of the invention are now described, though by way of illustration only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic Drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows, a perspective view, from above and one side, of a delivery receptacle system of the invention comprising a docking station into which is being slid a container module;

Figure 2 shows, in perspective, the container module used in the Figure 1 system;

Figure 3 shows, in perspective, a different form of docking station set into the ground;

Figure 4 shows a container module in place at the docking station of Figure 3;

Figure 5 shows the container module of Figure 4, separate from the station;

Figures 6A & B show respectively, in perspective, one side of the internal latching mechanism viewed from above and from below; and Figures 7A & B show respectively, in "see-through" perspective and in vertical section, yet another form of docking station and container combination.

Figure 1 shows in perspective a delivery receptacle system of the invention. The system comprises a docking station (11), fixedly locatable in the ground (by means not shown) at the destination to which the Goods are to be delivered, together with a container module (12) for holding the Goods to be delivered. The container module 12 shown here is quite small, and its means allowing it to be transported "over the ground" are the carrying handles (13); a bigger module (as shown in Figure 4 and discussed hereinafter) might have wheels.

The module 12 is adapted physically to dock with the docking station 11; its upper outside edge (14) is grooved (15) to fit a corresponding lip (not shown) inside the top portion (16) of the station 11. Once in place, the module's contents cannot easily be accessed while it is so docked, for the only way to them is blocked off by top 16 of the station.

As can be best seen from Figure 2, this container module 12 has an internal smaller container (17) (which may be specially cooled, or whatever, as required).

Locking means (not shown) releasably secure the container module 12 to the docking station 11 while the former is docked therewith.

The base (18) of the station 11 may contain a powered refrigeration unit - or perhaps a power supply connectable (as the module slides into place) to energise a refrigeration unit (not shown) in the base of the module.

In Figures 3, 4 and 5 is shown a quite different sort of docking station and container module.

Figure 3 shows the docking station (generally 31) . It has a "tombstone"-like upright concrete casting pillar (32) provided with a pedestal (33) and means (not shown) to secure it to the ground. The pedestal carries two nib features (34) which locate in two corresponding pockets (not shown) on the bottom of the container module (generally 41). Near the upper edge (as viewed) of the pillar 32 is a bifurcated metal plate (cast into the pillar, and not separately visible here) with two exposed tabs (35) each bearing cut outs (36).

The container module 41 is a plastic rotational moulding (42) with two large apertures (53u, 53_.1) at the front leading to two corresponding spaces within the module. The upper aperture ' s space accommodates an insulated compartment for chilled items, while the lower's holds a partitioned wire basket assembly (54: for goods safe at ambient temperatures). Two slots (55) toward the top of the front face of the shell 42 are located to align with the two tabs 36 when the module 41 is docked with the docking station 31,

Moulded-in bosses (56) in the base of the shell 42 support an axle (57) upon which two wheels (48) are fixed; these enable the module 41 to be manoeuvred in a mode similar to that of a traditional sack barrow.

Located at the top rear of the shell 41, two handhold pockets (49) are provided; these permit a firm purchase of the module 41 when it is being manoeuvred, Two further pockets (401) toward the front of the sides accommodate the locking latch handles (402: see Figures 6).

The lockable latching means is shown in more detail in Figures 6.

A dogtooth latch assembly (61) rotates about the shaft (62) of the handle 402 and sits within a frame (63). A spring (64) wound concentrically with the shaft 62 and hooked thereto rests its opposite end against a flange feature (65) of the frame 63, thus driving the flange (66; part of frame 63) against the abutment (67). When the container module 41 is pushed on to the docking station 31 the two tabs 35 drive through the apertures 55, where the ramp of the dogteeth (68) causes the latch assembly 61 to rotate momentarily and then return to its normal rest state once the dogteeth 68 have located in the cut-outs 36. This locks the container 41 to the station 31.

Release of the container from the station is affected by independent rotation of either of the handles 402. Thus, when either handle is unlocked and then turned in direction of the arrow "A" the drive pin (69) inserted into the shaft 62 rotates the latch assembly 61 thus freeing the dogteeth 68 from the cut-outs 36.

The radial slot feature (610) allows either handle 402 to be operated independently. Two separate keys would be used, one only available to the Recipient and the other only available. to the delivery agency. Figures 7A & B show, in "see-through" perspective and in vertical section, yet another form of docking station and container combination.

In the embodiment shown here the docking station is in the form of a shallow cabinet (71) with a pair of doors (as 72) that open to reveal a bifurcated port (see Figure 7B) having upper and lower input and output divisions (73u,731,), and for use with such a station the container (74) is in the form of a well-insulated box (74) having in its rear face a matching double port (75u, 751_.). The bottom of the cabinet holds a standard refrigerator-type compressor/cooling radiator combination (76) supplying cold refrigerant to a heat-exchanger (77) around which flows air (as shown by the arrows) drawn (by a fan 704) from, and returned to, the inside of the container 72. A separator (701) within the container ensures that, as shown by the arrows, the cold air blown into the container is fed directly down to the bottom, while the warmer air drawn out is taken from the top; in this way the cold air circulates through the container in the most efficient fashion.

A thermostat (not shown) mounted in the space around the heat-exchanger 77 is used to switch the fan 704 and compressor 76 off or on as appropriate. In addition, a further switch (a magnetically-operated reed relay triggered by a magnet suitably located within the container), also not shown, activates the compressor and fans only when the container is actually in place and properly latched.

The cabinet's doors 72 are of a size that matches the size of the container 74, and have inwardly-directed upper and lower flanges (78u,781_.) that provide both support and security for the container 74 when the latter is in place abutting port to port against the cabinet 71. Thus, the container's weight is taken by the lower flanges 781_., while the upper flanges 78u extend over the lid (79) of the container, and prevent it being removed. And the lid is also secured to the container box using a tamper-revealing security seal (705) threaded through both lid and box.

This embodiment of cabinet docking station and small box-like container module has locking means by which the container module may releasably be secured to the docking station while docked therewith. These consist of latching spigots (702) projecting from the rear face of the container and that fit into matching sockets (703) in the cabinet's front surface. These spigots/sockets are associated with locking/unlocking mechanisms, but they are not shown here.

Claims

1. A delivery receptacle system for Goods delivered to some destination, such as a house, the system comprising: a docking station locatable at the destination to which the Goods are to be delivered; a container module for holding the Goods to be delivered and being adapted physically to dock with the docking station in a manner such that its contents cannot be accessed while it is so docked; and locking means by which the container module may releasably be secured to the docking station while docked therewith.

2. A system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the docking station is an open box-like object into which the container module can be positioned, the module itself, when in place, "closing" the box, or is a shallow cabinet with doors that open outwards to reveal a surface against which the container may be secured while projecting from the cabinet.

3. A system as claimed in either of the preceding Claims, wherein the docking station is securely mounted on a fixed (outside) wall surface.

4. A system as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, wherein the docking station is designed to accept, independently, a plurality of separate container modules .

5. A system as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, wherein the docking station, in combination with the container module, includes both thermal insulation and also some inbuilt refrigeration capability.

6. A system as claimed in Claim 5, wherein a refrigeration unit is positioned at the bottom of the docking station.

7. A system as claimed in either of Claims 5 and 6, wherein the docking station has cool-air-producing means, and the station and container are so structured that in use this cool air is circulated into the container when in situ.

8. A system as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the docking station is of the form of a shallow cabinet with doors revealing a port that mates with a matching port in the container, this port is a double one, and in use "warm" air within the container passes out along one path and is replaced by cold air passing into the container along the other.

9. A system as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, wherein the container module has transport-enabling means which bear the combined weight of the module and its burden en route between the Goods source and destination.

10. A system as claimed in Claim 9, wherein for a small container module the means is handles, while for a large module the means is wheels or castors.

11. A system as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, wherein the docking station is an open box-like object into which the container module can be placed, the module itself, when in position, "closing" the box.

12. A system as claimed in Claim 11, wherein either the container module is an open-topped box which fits to and under a part of the station, this part then becoming a lid for, and so closing, the module, or the docking station is a shallow cabinet from which the container projects, the cabinet being so engineered and dimensioned that the cabinet's doors, which must be opened to allow the container to be placed within the cabinet, have inwardly directed flanges along their top edges, which flanges, when the doors are open and the container is in place, extend around/over the top surface of the container so as to make it difficult to remove the container's lid or get at its contents.

13. A system as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, wherein the locking means by which the container module may releasably be secured to the docking station while docked therewith takes the form of a set of latches that inter-engage when the module is pushed into place, and then lock, being releasable (to allow the module to be withdrawn) only by the use of some key or key-like device.

14. A system as claimed in Claim 13, wherein the latching mechanism is achieved through an arrangement of spigots on one or other of the station and module engaging in locations in or on the other of the pair, in conjunction with dogteeth engaging in cutouts in corresponding plates incorporated in the station or module as appropriate.

15. A system as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, wherein the locking system is a two-fold system such that it can be operated quite separately by two different keys (or their equivalents).

16. A delivery receptacle system as claimed in any of the preceding Claims and substantially as described hereinbefore.