Baggage screening facilities

Abstract

The invention relates to a facility for checking luggage, comprising a tubular frame having a plurality of pairs of lateral openings (64, 66), the tubular frame being adapted to receive a plurality of containers (24) aligned with the plurality of pairs of openings (64, 66), each of the containers having two opposite faces (30, 32) and a plurality of juxtaposed and overlapping positions (34), the positions being freely accessible through the two opposite faces, each of the positions being adapted to receive a piece of luggage (100), the piece of luggage being provided with an information recording medium containing information relating to the piece of luggage. The facility also comprises a positioning device (80), the positioning device comprising a photoelectric detection grid (80) mounted to cross the lateral openings (64, 66), respectively, and the position of the position portion (34) in the container (24) is recorded when the photoelectric detection grid (80) is crossed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a baggage inspection facility in a transfer space. Background Art

[0002] One area of ​​application considered is particularly, but not exclusively, luggage transfer checks in airports, for example between a passenger checking in a piece of luggage and picking up the same piece of luggage at another airport after the flight.

[0003] Efficiently handling baggage screening with a minimum number of personnel on the ground makes it possible to reduce unit transportation costs.

[0004] In addition, baggage inspection facilities are known that allow passengers to participate in the transportation of their baggage. These facilities include a tubular frame that includes a plurality of pairs of opposing lateral openings and is capable of accommodating a plurality of consecutive containers that are aligned with the plurality of pairs of lateral openings, respectively. The tubular frame has a closed end and an open end. The tubular frame is longitudinally extended in the airport so that the open end is exposed to the outside in a reserved area that is off-limits to the public so as to be able to receive the container.

[0005] The container is usually extended on two or three layers, and the container has two opposite opening faces and a plurality of juxtaposed and overlapping locations through which the locations can be freely entered. In addition, the upper part of the container is wider than the lower part of the container so as to be able to fit into the cargo hold of an aircraft.

[0006] When the container is continuously engaged in the tubular frame, the location portion is freely accessible through the lateral opening of the tubular frame.

[0007] Each passenger, having provided his or her piece of luggage with an information recording medium including his or her identity and flight number and after he or she has met the required checks, loads his or her piece of luggage into the location portion of one of the containers assigned to the flight. Furthermore, the positioning device enables the location of the piece of luggage in the container to be recorded, while the reading device enables the recording medium to be read simultaneously.

[0008] In this way, the location of the luggage piece in the container and the identity of the owner are known.

[0009] Thus, the container loaded with luggage is intended to be carried in the cargo hold of an aircraft and then removed from the cargo hold of the aircraft at the destination in order to be reinstalled in other tubular frames according to the same configuration if appropriate. The passengers will then be able to retrieve their luggage pieces at the destination and unload them from the container.

[0010] Reference may be made to document FR 2 975 078 which describes such a baggage inspection facility.

[0011] The subsequently implemented locating means, namely the transceiver on the frame and the RFID tag on the luggage piece, are relatively complex.

[0012] Therefore, a problem arises and which the present invention aims to solve is how to provide a baggage inspection facility that is easy to implement. Summary of the invention

[0013] To this end, a baggage inspection facility is proposed, which comprises, on the one hand, a tubular frame comprising a plurality of opposite pairs of lateral openings, the tubular frame being adapted to accommodate a plurality of consecutive containers aligned with the pairs of lateral openings, each of the containers having two opposite faces and a plurality of juxtaposed and overlapping position portions, through which the position portions are freely accessible, each position portion being adapted to receive a piece of baggage provided with an information recording medium containing information related to the piece of baggage, and, on the other hand, comprising a positioning device and a reading device, the positioning device and the reading device being connected to a recording member so as to be able to record, for each position portion of each container receiving the piece of baggage, the position of the position portion in the container and the information related to the piece of baggage. The positioning device comprises a photoelectric detection grid mounted so as to cross the lateral openings respectively, and when the photoelectric detection grid is crossed relative to the position portion and the reading device reads the recording medium, the position of the position portion in the container is recorded.

[0014] The invention is therefore characterized in that the photoelectric detection grid is implemented across the lateral opening of the tubular frame so as to be able to record the position and identification of the luggage piece in each position section. These position sections may or may not be separated. In this way, no mechanical means are required to locate the luggage piece when the passenger loads the luggage into the container. As will be explained in more detail in the description below, the recording member forms part of a more complex inspection and control system.

[0015] Preferably, the photoelectric detection grid includes a plurality of parallel first electromagnetic beams and a plurality of parallel second electromagnetic beams intersecting the first electromagnetic beams. Since the first electromagnetic beams intersect the second electromagnetic beams in the plane of each lateral opening, when the luggage piece is placed in the container, the passenger will then cut off some of the first electromagnetic beams and some of the second electromagnetic beams in the portion of the plane located opposite to the position portion accommodating the luggage piece. The recording member thus records the position of the position portion inside the container corresponding to the interruption of the specific beam.

[0016] According to a particularly advantageous variant embodiment, the first electromagnetic beam extends vertically, while the second electromagnetic beam extends horizontally. Thus, for example, a first row of transmitting units is vertically mounted in the left part of each of the lateral openings, and an opposite first row of receiving units is vertically mounted in the right part of each of the lateral openings. Furthermore, a second row of transmitting units is horizontally mounted in the top part of each of the lateral openings, and an opposite second row of receiving units is horizontally mounted in the bottom part of each of the lateral openings. For example, the units on each row are spaced apart from each other by a distance between 1 cm and 10 cm, for example a distance of 4 cm.

[0017] Furthermore, the reading device is movable so that the luggage carrier can carry the reading device opposite to the recording medium of the luggage piece to read the recording medium. Thus, the passenger or luggage carrier stores his or her luggage in a location portion and cuts off the intersecting beams positioned relative to the location portion not only with his or her luggage piece but also with his or her hands and arms. When the luggage piece is in place, he or she grabs the reading device within reach so as to carry the reading device particularly close to the recording medium there to read the information contained in the recording medium. Thus, the arm and / or hand of the luggage carrier continuously interrupts the crossed beams while he or she holds the reading device to read the information from the recording medium, and in this case the continuous interruption of the beams makes it possible to associate the position of the luggage piece and the position of the position part in the container with the reading of the information from the storage medium, or the arm and / or hand of the luggage carrier has temporarily stopped interrupting the crossed beams in order to be able to grasp the movable reading device and bring it close to the storage medium of the luggage piece, thereby again interrupting the crossed beams relative to the luggage piece and the corresponding position part, and then the time parameters must be taken into account in order to be able to associate the reading of the recording medium with the corresponding luggage piece. The above two protocols will be explained in more detail in the following description.

[0018] Furthermore, it can be observed that two or even three passengers may wish to load their luggage pieces into the same container at the same time. Therefore, in order to avoid errors in the correlation between the recording of the information from the recording medium and the corresponding position of the position portion, it is advantageous for each lateral opening to have a single available reading device. In addition, it is necessary to clearly identify the intrusion position of the reading device in order to be able to associate it with the position of the luggage piece and the position of the position portion in the container. For this purpose, and as will be explained in more detail in the description below, a specific protocol must be adopted for the interruption position and interruption time of the crossed beams.

[0019] Preferably, the reading device is an optical reader. In addition, the recording medium associated with the luggage piece supports coded information. For example, the information recording medium has a barcode or even a matrix code.

[0020] Furthermore, and particularly advantageously, the recording medium causes the triggering of the alarm when the recording medium records only the crossing of the photoelectric detection grid relative to the location without recording the information related to the luggage piece. In other words, the facility sounds an alarm when a luggage piece is brought into the location by a passenger without the passenger taking care to ensure the reading of the recording medium in order to transmit the information about the luggage piece to the control inspection system. Then, either the device corrects this anomaly itself, in which case the alarm stops working, or an agent intervenes to check that the device is not involved in a deliberate malicious act.

[0021] Furthermore, the movable reading device advantageously causes the triggering of an alarm when the recording medium records the information related to the piece of luggage before recording the crossing of the photoelectric detection grid. In this way, it can be ensured that the passenger has indeed loaded his or her piece of luggage into the container.

[0022] Furthermore, according to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the recording means comprises a pre-recorded list of information relating to all pieces of luggage and compares the information relating to each piece of luggage received in each location with the information relating to the pieces of luggage in the pre-recorded list. The pre-recorded list of information relating to the pieces of luggage, which includes the flight number and the identity of the baggage carrier, is automatically created upstream of the facility during the first phase of recording and checking the pieces of luggage and is automatically transmitted to the facility. In other words, the recording means associates the information relating to the pieces of luggage with the pre-recorded data in the database. When the information relating to the piece of luggage does not appear in the pre-recorded list in the database, the checking and control system of the facility triggers an alarm. In this way, it is possible to ensure that all pieces of luggage stored in the locations of the container are indeed pre-recorded objects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge on reading the description of particular embodiments of the invention, given for informational purposes and in a non-limiting manner with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0024] [ Figure 1 ] is a perspective schematic diagram of a portion of an airport capable of accommodating the subject matter of the present invention;

[0025] [ Figure 2 ] is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a luggage loading element;

[0026] [ Figure 3 ] shows the installation in [ Figure 1 ] is a perspective schematic diagram of the subject matter of the invention in a portion of an airport shown in FIG.

[0027] [ Figure 4 ] is the same as [ Figure 3 ];

[0028] [ Figure 5 ] is like[ Figure 3 ] a front view schematic diagram of the elements of the present invention shown in ; and,

[0029] [ Figure 6 ] is a block diagram illustrating the operation of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Figure 1 Schematically, a portion 10 of an airport is shown with two longitudinal storage spaces 12, 14 around which passengers can move. Here, the two longitudinal storage spaces 12, 14 extend longitudinally and parallel to each other to a routing wall 16, which is penetrated by two openings 18, 20 in the extension of the storage spaces 12, 14, respectively. In addition, the longitudinal storage spaces 12, 14 are each equipped with rollers 22 that are transversely mounted in a manner that is substantially equidistant and parallel to each other. In addition, some of the rollers 22 are motor rollers. Preferably, the rollers 22 that are mounted aligned with the openings 18, 20 are motor rollers, the reasons for which will be explained below.

[0031] Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings [ Figure 2 ] A container 24 is described which is specifically intended to be driven above the longitudinal storage spaces 12, 14. The container has two superposed loading platforms: a lower platform 26 and a wider upper platform 28. The container 24 is generally tubular in form and has two T-shaped faces facing each other: a first face 30 is shown in the figure [ Figure 2 ] in front, and the second surface 32 is presented at the back.

[0032] The lower platform 26 has a first width L1, while the upper platform 28 has a second width L2 greater than the first width, and the container 24 has a depth P. The first width L1 is preferably between 1200 mm and 1700 mm, for example 1600 mm, and the second width L2 is preferably between 2300 mm and 2700 mm, for example 2438 mm. The depth P of the container 24 is preferably between 1000 mm and 1700 mm, for example 1534 mm. In addition, for a total container height of 1168 mm, the upper platform 28 parallel to the lower platform 26 is separated from the lower platform 26 by a distance h between 400 mm and 600 mm, and the distance h is, for example, 584 mm.

[0033] In addition, position portions 34 are formed in the container 24 in a divided or undivided manner and appear in the first surface 30 and the second surface 32, respectively. Figure 2 ] In the example shown in FIG. 1 , the container 24 has 2×5 lower position portions and 2×8 upper position portions appearing in the first face 30 and the second face 32, respectively.

[0034] As will be described below, each location 34 is thus adapted to receive a piece of luggage, and thus, the container 24 can accommodate 26 pieces of luggage.

[0035] There are also larger sized containers with a flat style for jumbo jets. These containers have three levels. The width of the container is 1534mm, while the height of the container is 1626mm and the length of the container is 2007mm. However, other containers with these same dimensions except for the length have a length of 2337mm.

[0036] Now refer to the accompanying drawings [ Figure 3 ], which shows a portion 10 of an airport and in which the longitudinal storage spaces 12, 14 are respectively covered by two tubular frames 36, 38 shaped as channels.

[0037] The two tubular frames 36, 38 each consist of four consecutive segments 40, 42, 44, 46. Obviously, different tubular frames having a smaller or larger number of different segments are conceivable.

[0038] exist Figure 3 In the figure, these four consecutive sections are respectively adopted in the figure [ Figure 2 ] are containers 48, 50, 52, 54 and containers 56, 58, 60, 62 of the type of container 24 shown in FIG. ] For this purpose, the containers are connected in a row from the outside through the openings 18, 20 and supported on a first motor drum so that the containers can be driven translationally therein. Thus, the last container to be entered drives the container in front of it.

[0039] Furthermore, each of the sections 40, 42, 44, 46 has two opposite lateral openings 64, 66, each divided into a wide upper opening 68 and a narrow lower opening 70. The wide upper opening 68 opens freely towards the narrow lower opening 70.

[0040] The width of the narrow lower opening 70 substantially corresponds to the first width L1 of the lower platform 26 of the container 24 , while the width of the wide upper opening 68 substantially corresponds to the second width L2 of the upper platform 28 .

[0041] Furthermore, the wide upper opening 68 extends the same extent on each side of the narrow lower opening 70. Furthermore, the heights of the wide upper opening 68 and the narrow lower opening 70 are substantially equal to the distance h separating the two platforms 26, 28 in the vertical direction.

[0042] It can be seen that each of the containers 48, 50, 52, 54 and containers 56, 58, 60, 62 is accommodated in the section and that, for each of the containers, the upper platform 28 coincides with the wide upper opening 68 of the lateral openings 64, 66, while the lower platform 26 coincides with the narrow lower opening 70. And more generally, for each of the containers 48, 50, 52, 54 and containers 56, 58, 60, 62, the five position portions 34 defined by the lower platform 26 appear relative to the narrow lower opening 70, while the eight position portions 34 defined by the upper platform 28 appear relative to the wide upper opening 68.

[0043] Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings [ Figure 5 ], which shows in detail in a front view a lateral opening 64 of one of the tubular frames 38 and more specifically one of the segments, for example the segment 44. Behind this lateral opening 64 the container 24 and its first face 30 can be seen. There are also positioning portions 34, which all appear relative to the lateral opening 64. The second face of the container 24, opposite to the first face 30, for its part, extends opposite to the opposite lateral opening of the tubular frame 38.

[0044] Each section 40, 42, 44, 46 has two parallel uprights around each of its lateral openings 64: a left upright 72 and a right upright 74, which are connected together by a top cross member 76 opposite a bottom cross member 78. The uprights 72, 74 and the cross members 76, 78 form a frame in the opening of which a photoelectric detection grid 80 is mounted.

[0045] Thus, the top cross member 76 includes a top row 82 of E n emitters, and the bottom cross member 78 includes a bottom row 84 of R n Each transmitter E in the top row 82 i Towards a single corresponding receiver R in the bottom row 84 i Oriented so that the transmitter E i and receiver R i Thus, in this particular case, thirty-two parallel and vertical beams 86 are obtained, as shown in FIG. Figure 5] are indicated by dashed lines. The vertical parallel beams 86 extend substantially regularly from one column 72 to another column 74. For example, these beams are spaced apart from each other by a distance of approximately 80 mm.

[0046] In addition, one of the columns 72 is equipped with a side row 88 of E m The other column 74 is equipped with a side row 90 R m Each transmitter E in the side row 88 of transmitters i Receiver R towards side row 90 i A single receiver R i Oriented so that the transmitter E i With receiver R i In this way, and in this particular case, six horizontal upper parallel beams 92 are obtained, which extend relative to the wide upper opening 68 and are shown in FIG. Figure 5 ] are indicated by dashed lines, and six horizontal lower parallel beams 94 are obtained, which extend relative to the narrow lower opening 70. The horizontal beams 92, 94 extend substantially regularly from the top cross member 76 to the bottom cross member 78.

[0047] Thus, statistically, four different vertical beams and six different horizontal beams intersect opposite each location section 34 and aligned with the lateral opening 64. Thus, and as will be explained below, when a passenger carrying a piece of luggage operates at a location section 34, he or she necessarily obstructs portions of the 4×6 corresponding intersecting beams.

[0048] Furthermore, the top cross member 76 is provided with a transmission housing, to which an optical reader 96 is connected by means of an extendable connecting rod 98 .

[0049] Therefore, in addition to the attached drawings [ Figure 5 ] In addition, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings [ Figure 6 ], which schematically shows a piece of luggage 100 to which is attached a label 102 forming an information medium. The label 102 is printed with a QR code 104, which includes information related to the piece of luggage, that is, information inherent to the carrier of the piece of luggage and his or her destination. The figure also shows a check and control system 106. The check and control system 106 includes a recording member 108, a database 110 and a control member 112. In addition, the check and control system 106 is connected on the one hand to the transmitters of the top row 82 and the receivers of the bottom row 84 via a first line 114, and on the other hand to the transmitters of the side row 88 and the receivers of the side row 90 via a second line 116, as shown in the figure [ Figure 5] In addition, the optical reader 96 is also connected to the inspection and control system 106 via the above-mentioned transmission housing.

[0050] Thus, the passenger whose baggage piece has been recorded and meets the requirements of the inspection area proceeds along the route to one of the tubular frames 36, 38 and stands in the figure [ Figure 5 ] in front of the lateral opening 64 of the section 44 shown in detail in . For example, he or she carries his or her piece of luggage 100 into the third position section 34 starting from the left column 72 on the upper platform 28. To this end, he or she carries his or her luggage through the photoelectric detection grid 80 and blocks the vertical beam 86 and the horizontal beam 94 corresponding specifically to this third position section. The information on the position of this position section is then transmitted to the recording member 108 via the first line 114 and the second line 116. In parallel, the passenger grabs the optical reader 96 and crosses the photoelectric detection grid 80 again relative to the position section to read the QR code 104. Therefore, accompanying the reception of the position information, the recording member 108 receives the information related to the luggage piece and associates it with the position information. In this way, the position of the luggage piece in the container 24 and the carrier identification information are recorded in the recording member 108. It is thus possible to check that the stored luggage piece actually corresponds to the flight for which the luggage piece was recorded. The luggage piece will then be able to be conveyed to the destination airport so that the passenger can identify and collect his or her luggage piece, as will be explained below.

[0051] However, if the above sequence is not observed, i.e. the sequence of crossing the photoelectric detection grid 80 and then reading the QR code, the control member 112 will trigger an alarm. This situation may, for example, result from the QR code being read before any crossing of the photoelectric detection grid 80. Or even from the reading of the QR code and its correlation with the previously recorded position part. In these cases, the agent on site can intervene to check whether the baggage piece is suspicious.

[0052] In addition, the system enables the following situations to be managed: a passenger crosses the photoelectric detection grid 80 with the aid of the optical reader 96 to read his or her code without first eliminating the photoelectric detection grid 80; and he or she eliminates the photoelectric detection grid 80 when the optical reader 96 is too far away from the photoelectric detection grid. In the latter case, a timer is triggered, for example, between the moment when the photoelectric detection grid 80 stops being crossed and the moment when the photoelectric detection grid 80 is crossed again at the same point to read the code. Thus, when the timer times out and the code is not recorded, an alarm is triggered.

[0053] Furthermore, it is particularly advantageous that the database 110 is loaded with information about all possible luggage pieces to be stored. Thus, each time a QR code is read by means of the optical reader 96, a check is performed using the information in the database 110. If the reading result does not correspond to any of the recorded passengers, the control member 112 will also activate an alarm. In the event of an error involving the storage location of a luggage piece, the system can advantageously guide the passenger to the correct storage location.

[0054] Such a database 110 also enables a check whether all the luggage pieces stored correspond to passengers who are effectively boarding, in order to identify luggage pieces and locations and containers that do not correspond to boarding passengers. Furthermore, if necessary, the database 110 enables a check whether all passengers who have met the upstream check steps - and for whom luggage pieces have indeed been recorded and provided with information media for this luggage piece - have stored their luggage pieces in the container 24.

[0055] Each position 34 of all containers 24 is filled with luggage according to the above sequence. Or at least, most of these positions 34 are loaded with luggage. Next, the container 24 is longitudinally extracted from the tubular frame so that it can be loaded into the aircraft. The aircraft then flies to the destination with the passengers.

[0056] At the destination, the baggage container is unloaded from the aircraft and joined to the tubular frames 36', 38' at the destination airport, as shown in FIG. Figure 4 ] shown. These tubular frames 36 ', 38 ' are identical to those of the departure airport. And the container 24 is engaged therein according to the same configuration. In this way, the passengers 120 can then easily retrieve their luggage pieces, i.e. they take their luggage pieces out of the position of the container.

[0057] If a passenger forgets where his or her piece of luggage is, the passenger can retrieve it by presenting his or her QR code to be read by any mobile reader corresponding to the flight. Once he or she is in front of the correct container, the newly read QR code will release the luggage piece. Any attempt to remove the luggage piece without first releasing it by reading the QR code will trigger an alarm.

Claims

1. A baggage inspection facility, comprising: - a tubular frame (36, 38) comprising a plurality of opposite pairs of lateral openings (64, 66), the tubular frame being adapted to receive a plurality of consecutive containers (24) aligned with the pairs of lateral openings (64, 66), each of the containers having two opposite faces (30, 32) and a plurality of juxtaposed and superimposed locations (34) freely accessible through the two opposite faces, each of the locations being adapted to receive a piece of luggage (100) provided with a recording medium (102) containing information relating to the piece of luggage; - positioning means and reading means (96) linked to a recording member (108) so as to be able to record, for each of the positional portions (34) of each container (24) receiving a piece of luggage, the position of the positional portion (34) in the container (24) and the information relating to the piece of luggage; The positioning device is characterized in that the positioning device includes a photoelectric detection grid (80), which is installed to span the lateral openings (64, 66) respectively, and when the photoelectric detection grid (80) is traversed relative to the positioning portion (34) and the reading device (96) reads the recording medium (102), the position of the positioning portion (34) in the container (24) is recorded.

2. The inspection facility according to claim 1, characterized in that: The photodetection grid (80) includes a plurality of parallel first electromagnetic beams (86) and a plurality of parallel second electromagnetic beams (92, 94) intersecting the first electromagnetic beams (86).

3. The inspection facility according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first electromagnetic beam (86) extends vertically, and the second electromagnetic beam (92, 94) extends horizontally.

4. The inspection facility according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The reading device (96) is movable so that the luggage carrier can carry the reading device (96) opposite to the recording medium (102) of the luggage piece (100) to read the recording medium.

5. The inspection facility according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The reading device (96) is an optical reader.

6. The inspection facility according to claim 5, characterized in that: The recording medium supports encoding information.

7. The inspection facility according to claim 6, characterized in that: The recording medium (102) supports a matrix code.

8. The inspection facility according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: When the recording member (108) only records the traversal of the photoelectric detection grid (80) relative to the position portion (34) without recording the information related to the luggage piece, the recording member (108) causes the triggering of an alarm.

9. The inspection facility according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: When the recording member (108) records the information relating to the piece of luggage before recording the crossing of the photoelectric detection grid (80), the movable reading device (96) causes the triggering of an alarm.

10. The inspection facility according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The recording member (108) comprises a pre-recorded list (110) of information relating to all pieces of luggage and compares information relating to each piece of luggage received in each of the locations with information relating to the pieces of luggage in the pre-recorded list.

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