Locking storage device and method of depositing and removing an object in/from said device

• US 20060152339A1
• Filed: 02/05/2004
• Published: 07/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cabinet Plasseraud, E-Box SARL
• Original Assignee: E-Box SARL
• Inventors: Hirel, Florence, Mercier, Antoine
• Granted Patent: US 7,295,110 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/5.730
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 2029/145 the receptacle comprising means for identifying a deposit; Deposits carrying identification means, e.g. a bar code
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/12 comprising lockable containers, e.g. for accepting clothes to be cleaned
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/13 the containers being a postal pick-up locker
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0054 with control of supplementary check-parameters, e.g. weight or number of articles

Abstract

The invention relates to a locking storage device in which objects are deposited for the later removal thereof. The inventive device consists of: at least one safe-deposit box (2) which is intended to house the object and which comprises a door (3) and a lock (4), a code input device (9a, 9b), and a control unit (11) which is designed to authorise an object to be deposited therein and subsequently removed therefrom following the entry of a removal code. The device also comprises a weight sensor (14a, 14b) which supports the weight of the safe-deposit box. The aforementioned control unit is designed to determine the weight of the object contained in the safe-deposit box (2) once an object has been deposited therein, to determine the variation in the weight of the safe-deposit box when an object is being removed and to emit an alarm signal when the object has been removed if said variation does not correspond to the weight of the object.

Claims

1. A lockable storage device for depositing an object and for withdrawing it, which comprises at least one safe-deposit box (2), intended to contain said object, which includes a door (3) capable of being kept in the closed position by at least one lock (4), a code entry device (9a, 9b) and a control unit (11), said control unit being designed to authorize an operation to deposit an object and an operation to withdraw said object following the entry of a withdrawal code, and to control the operation of keeping the door (3) in the closed position between said deposit operation and said withdrawal operation, characterized in that it includes at least one weight sensor (14a, 14b;

14c) subjected to the weight of said safe-deposit box and designed to transmit a signal representative of the weight of the safe-deposit box, and in that the control unit is designed;

to determine the weight (W₀) of the object contained in the safe-deposit box (2) after a deposit operation;

to determine the change in weight of the safe-deposit box during an operation to withdraw said object; and

to emit a warning signal (35) at the end of the withdrawal operation if said change does not correspond to the weight of said object.

2. The lockable storage device as claimed in claim 1, in which the lock (4) is designed to pass from a locked position, in which the door (3) is kept closed, to an unlocked position, in which said door is released following receipt of an open commend, in which device a position detector (5) is designed to send a closed signal when the door is in the closed position, and in which the control unit (11) comprises:

code recognition means (20) connected to the code entry device (9a, 9b), which are designed to recognize at least one deposit code and at least one withdrawal code and are designed to send an open command to said lock;

a readable/writeable memory (21);

memory input means (22) connected to the code recognition means, to the position detector (5) and to the weight sensor (14a, 14b;

14c), which are designed to write first and second weights (W₁, W₂) of the safe-deposit box into said memory;

weight-determining means (23) connected to the position detector and to the code recognition means, which are designed to determine the weight of an object contained in the safe-deposit box (2) from said first and second stored weights and to store in memory said weight (W₀) of the object;

comparison means (24) connected to the code recognition means and to the position detector, which are designed to compare the stored weight (W₀) of said object with the difference between the first and second stored weights (W₁, W₂);

warning means (25) designed to emit the warning signal (35) according to a result transmitted by the comparison means (24); and

in which the code recognition means (20) are designed to send a signal to the memory input means (22) following recognition of a deposit code or a withdrawal code, a signal to the weight-determining means (23) following recognition of a deposit code, and a signal to the comparison means (24) following recognition of a withdrawal code.

3. The lockable storage device as claimed in claim 2, in which the position detector (5) is designed to send an open signal when the door is open and in which the warning means (25) are designed to emit a warning signal (35) according to the reception of said open signal.

4. The lockable storage device as claimed in claim 2, in which communication means (27) are designed to receive information relating to the withdrawal and deposit codes that are sent by a remote database (28) and in which the control unit (11) includes means (29) for reprogramming the code recognition means (20), which reprogramming means are connected to said communication means.

5. The lockable storage device as claimed in claim 4, in which the information received by the communication means (27) include a deposit code and an expected weight for an object associated with said deposit code, and in which the control unit (11) includes control means (30) designed to compare said expected weight with the determined weight (W₀) of said object after a deposit operation and to send the result of the comparison to the warning means (25).

6. The lockable storage device as claimed in claim 4, in which the communication means (27) are designed to transmit to the remote database (28), the determined weight (W₀) of an object after a deposit operation.

7. The lockable storage device as claimed in claim 4, in which the communication means (27) are designed to transmit, to the remote database (28), information relating to the emission of a warning signal (35) by the warning means (25).

8. The lockable storage device as claimed in claim 4, in which the communication means (27) are designed to transmit, to the remote database (28), information relating to the signals sent by one or other of the means of the control unit (11).

9. The lockable storage device as claimed in claim 1 and comprising at least one plurality of safe-deposit boxes (2), each being provided with at least one lock (4), in which the weight sensor (14a, 14b;

14c) is subjected to the weight of the plurality of safe-deposit boxes and in which the control unit (11) is designed;

to authorize the operation to deposit an object in one particular safe-deposit box (2) among the plurality of safe-deposit boxes;

to determine the weight (W₀) of the object contained in said particular safe-deposit box after the deposit operation;

to determine the change in weight of the plurality of safe-deposit boxes during the operation to withdraw the object from said particular safe-deposit box; and

to emit a warning signal (35) at the end of the withdrawal operation if said change does not correspond to the weight (W₀) of said object.

10. The lockable storage device as claimed in claim 9, the control unit (11) of which includes:

code recognition means (20) designed to recognize at least one deposit code and at least one withdrawal code;

a memory (21);

weight-determining means (23); and

comparison means (24),

in which;

the code recognition means (20) are designed to send an open command to the lock (4) of one particular safe-deposit box (2) following recognition of a code for depositing an object;

the means (23) for determining the weight of the object are designed to store the weight of said object in memory, associating said weight with said particular safe-deposit box;

the code recognition means (20) are designed to send an open command to said at least one lock of said particular safe-deposit box following recognition of a code for withdrawing said object; and

the comparison means (24) are designed to compare the stored weight of the object, associated with said particular safe-deposit box, with the change in weight of the plurality of safe-deposit boxes.

11. The lockable storage device as claimed in claim 8, in which the plurality of safe-deposit boxes is mounted on a rack (6a, 6b;

6c) and in which the weight sensor (14a, 14b;

14c) is subjected to the weight of said plurality of safe-deposit boxes.

12. The lockable storage device as claimed in claim 11, in which the rack (6c) includes a deformable cross-member (37) which deforms under the weight of the safe-deposit boxes and in which the weight sensor (14c) comprises at least one strain gauge sensitive to the deformation of said cross-member.

13. The lockable storage device as claimed in claim 1 i in which the precision of the weight sensor (14a, 14b;

14c) is suitable for detecting any object of significant weight.

15. The method of controlling a lockable storage device as claimed in claim 2, including a deposit operation and a withdrawal operation, characterized in that the deposit operation comprises the following steps:

a deposit code is recognized by the code recognition means (20);

a signal is sent by the recognition means (20) to the memory input means (22);

a signal is sent by the recognition means (20) to the weight-determining means (23);

an open command is sent by the recognition means (20) to the lock (4);

a first weight (W₁) transmitted by the weight sensor is stored in memory; and

then, later,

a closed signal is sent by the detector (5), which detects the position of the door (3), to the memory input means;

after which

a second weight (W₂) transmitted by the weight sensor is stored in memory;

the weight (W₀) of the object is determined by taking the difference between the first stored weight (W₁) and the second stored weight (W₂);

the determined weight of the object is stored in memory;

and in that the withdrawal operation comprises the following steps;

a withdrawal code is recognized by the code recognition means (20);

a signal is sent by the recognition means (20) to the memory input means (22);

a signal is sent by the recognition means (20) to the comparison means (24);

an open command is sent by the recognition means (20) to the lock (4);

a first weight (W₁) transmitted by the weight sensor is stored in memory; and

then, later,

a closed signal is sent by the position detector (5), which detects the position of the door (3), to the memory input means (22);

after which

second weight (W₂) transmitted by the weight sensor is stored in memory;

the stored weight (W₀) of said object is compared with the difference between the first stored weight (W₁) and the second stored weight (W₂); and

a warning signal (35) is emitted if the result transmitted by the comparison means (24) indicates that the difference between the first stored weight and the second stored weight does not correspond to the stored weight of the object.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15 for controlling a lockable storage device that furthermore includes a position detector (5) for detecting the position of the door (3) and designed to send an open signal, in which the emission of a warning signal (35) is inhibited if the warning means (25) do not receive a signal to open the door during the withdrawal operation.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15 for controlling a lockable storage device, which furthermore includes control means (30) designed to compare an expected weight of an object with a determined weight (W₀) after a deposit operation, in which the deposit operation includes the following steps after the weight (W₀) of the object has been determined:

the determined weight (W₀) of said object is compared by the control means (30) with the expected weight of said object; and

a warning signal (35) is emitted if the result transmitted by the control means indicates a difference between the expected weight and the determined weight of said object.

14. A method of depositing an object in a lockable storage device and for withdrawing it therefrom, which device comprises at least one safe-deposit box (2) that is intended to contain said object and includes a door (3) that can be kept in the locked position by a lock (4), a code entry device (9a, 9b) and a control unit (11), said control unit being designed to authorize an operation to deposit an object and an operation to withdraw said object following the entry of a withdrawal code, and to control the operation of keeping the door in the closed position between said deposit operation and said withdrawal operation, characterized in that a weight sensor (14a, 14b;

14c), subjected to the weight of said safe-deposit box and designed to transmit a signal representative of the weight of the safe-deposit box, is provided and in that the method comprises the following steps;

the weight (W₀) of the object contained in the safe-deposit box after a deposit operation is determined;

the change in weight of the safe-deposit box after a withdrawal operation is determined; and

a warning signal (35) is emitted if said change does not correspond to the weight of said object.