Locker system

• US 20040199284A1
• Filed: 07/25/2003
• Published: 10/07/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Fulltime System
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Fulltime System
• Inventors: Hara, Shuhei
• Application Number:
  US10/626,572
• Publication Number:
  US 20040199284A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/215
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/27 with central registration
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/13 the containers being a postal pick-up locker

Abstract

A locker system of the present invention is capable of securing an available locker surely upon following necessary procedures for concluding a contract of utilization reservations of a home delivery locker as an address-for-delivery of a parcel or merchandize or so forth. The locker system comprises a plurality of lockers provided with predetermined operating means, a control center for consolidating the plurality of lockers, a delivery trader for delivering parcels to predetermined places according to predetermined measures of transportation, and a user terminal possessed by the user, in which the plurality of lockers, the control center, and the user terminal are connected via a communication line, wherein a parcel stored in an arbitrary locker from among the plurality lockers is made to deliver for an address-for-delivery specified by the user, and wherein the user selects any one of the plurality of lockers as an address-for-delivery of the parcel which the user himself desires to deliver and the user can specify to reserve the selected locker.

Claims

1. A locker system comprising:

a plurality of lockers provided with predetermined operating means, and a control center for controlling the plurality of lockers, both of which are connected via a communication line network,

wherein a utilization applicant of a locker accesses, when a locker that the utilization applicant desires to utilize is in busy condition among said plurality of lockers, said control center from said predetermined operating means or from an available terminal apparatus for said utilization applicant via said communication line network, and transmits a utilization reservations signal of a locker and a contact address of said utilization applicant as reservations information,

said control center performs, when the locker that said utilization applicant desires to utilize becomes available among said plurality of lockers, utilization reservations operation of the locker, while transmitting locking instruction of the available locker, then notifies that the locker is available to the contact address of said utilization applicant, and

said utilization applicant confirms that the locker is available based on the notification from said control center, then proceeds to an installation location of the corresponding locker, followed by unlocking the locked locker by using said predetermined operating means in order to leave a parcel on check at the locker.

2. The locker system according to claim 1, wherein said control center transmits, when the checked parcel exists in prescribed locker left unattended more than predetermined time, message persuading the contact address of the user of the locker to take out the parcel.

3. A locker system comprising:

a plurality of lockers provided with predetermined operating means, and a terminal apparatus available for a utilization applicant of a locker, both of which are connected via a communication line network,

wherein the utilization applicant of the locker transmits, when the locker that the utilization applicant desires to utilize is in busy condition among said plurality of lockers, a utilization reservations signal of the locker and a contact address of the utilization applicant to any one of said plurality of lockers from said predetermined operating means or said terminal apparatus via said communication line network,

each of said plurality of lockers has observing means for observing utilization circumstances of the lockers, and communicating means for communication with said terminal apparatus, in which when said communicating means receives said utilization reservations signal and said contact address via said communication line network, and then, said observing means finds that the locker that the utilization applicant desires to utilize becomes available, followed by reserving the locker while locking the locker, and said communicating means transmits a communication to the effect that the locker is available to said contact address,

said utilization applicant confirms that the locker is available depending on said communicating means, then proceeds to an installation location of the corresponding locker, followed by unlocking the locked locker using said predetermined operating means in order to leave a parcel on check at the locker.

4. The locker system according to claim 3, wherein each of said plurality of lockers transmits, when the checked parcel exists in prescribed locker left unattended more than predetermined time, message persuading the contact address of the user of the locker to take out the parcel, from said communicating means.

5. A locker system comprising:

a plurality of lockers provided with predetermined operating means, a control center for consolidating said plurality of lockers, a delivery trader for delivering parcels to predetermined places depending on prescribed means of transportation, and a user terminal possessed by the user, in which said plurality of lockers, said control center, and said user terminal are connected via a communication line, and a parcel stored in an arbitrary locker among said plurality lockers is made to deliver for an address-for-delivery specified by the user,

wherein said user obtains information of the address-for-delivery of the parcel from said control center beforehand, and then specifies an address-for-delivery of the parcel based on the obtained information using said predetermined operating means or said user terminal in order to transmit a communication about the specified address-for-delivery of the parcel to said control center,

said control center instructs said delivery trader on delivery of said parcel for said address-for-delivery from said locker based on the information about an additional location of said address-for-delivery of the parcel specified by said operating means or said user terminal, and

said delivery trader executes collection of cargo of said parcel from the locker, in which the parcel is stored once, by using the transportation means based on the instruction for causing the parcel to be delivered for said additional address-for-delivery of the parcel.

6. The locker system according to claim 5, wherein the information of said address-for-delivery is of address information of said address-for-delivery or map information of said address-for-delivery.

7. The locker system according to claim 5, wherein the information of said address-for-delivery includes, when said address-for-delivery is of an additional locker specified by said user, vacancy information of said additional locker.

8. The locker system according to claim 5, wherein said control center executes, when said address-for-delivery is an additional locker specified by said user, utilization reservations operation of said additional locker.

9. A locker system comprising:

a plurality of lockers provided with predetermined operating means, a control center for consolidating said plurality of lockers, and a user terminal possessed by the user, all of which are connected via communication line, in which the user can select previously any one of said plurality of lockers as an address-for-delivery of the parcel which the user himself desires to deliver, and the user can specify to reserve the selected locker,

wherein said user requires to obtain information concerning the locker as the address-for-delivery of the parcel by using said predetermined operating means or said user terminal from said control center, and

said control center transmits, in accordance with the requirement of the user, positional information and utilization circumstances of the locker as the address-for-delivery to said locker or said user terminal so that said user selects to specify the required address-for-delivery of the parcel based on said positional information and utilization circumstances of the locker, thus the user is capable of performing reservations specification of the required home delivery locker of an address-for-delivery of the parcel.

10. The locker system according to claim 9, wherein said control center is connected to a cooperation company apparatus of a cooperation company which is involved in business cooperation with said control center via said communication line, in which said user selects any one of said plurality of lockers as an address-for-delivery of merchandize purchased via said cooperation company apparatus using said user terminal and the user can specify to reserve the selected locker.

11. The locker system according to claim 9, wherein said control center transmits a position of a locker of said address-for-delivery as map information or dwelling place information and transmits utilization circumstances of said locker.

12. A locker system comprising:

a plurality of lockers provided with predetermined operating means, a control center for consolidating said plurality of lockers, and a user terminal possessed by the user, all of which are connected via communication line,

wherein said user accesses said control center from said predetermined operating means or said user terminal, and concludes utilization contract of a locker as an address-for-delivery of parcels, with a parcel recipient at absent, based on utilization reservations information,

said control center notifies the delivery company which is involved in business cooperation with the control center of positional information of the locker as the address-for-delivery of the parcel with the parcel recipient at absent,

said delivery company completes, when the parcel recipient of the address-for-delivery is absent at the time of delivery of the parcel, the delivery of said parcel based on the notified positional information of the locker as said address-for-delivery of the parcel, and

said locker notifies, when said parcel is stored, said user terminal that said parcel is stored based on said utilization contract information from said control center.

13. A locker system comprising:

a plurality of lockers provided with predetermined operating means, a control center for consolidating said plurality of lockers, and a user terminal possessed by the user, all of which are connected via communication line,

wherein said user accesses said control center from said predetermined operating means or said user terminal, and concludes utilization contract of a locker as an address-for-delivery of parcels, with the parcel recipient at absent, based on utilization reservations information,

said control center notifies the delivery company which is involved in business cooperation with the control center of positional information of the locker as the address-for-delivery of the parcel with the parcel recipient at absent,

said delivery company completes, when the parcel recipient of the address-for-delivery is absent at the time of delivery of the parcel, the delivery of said parcel based on the notified positional information of the locker as said address-for-delivery of the parcel, and

said control center notifies, when confirming that said parcel is stored in said locker, said user terminal that said parcel is stored based on said utilization contract information.