System for delivering an order to a collection point.

Abstract

The invention relates to an automated system for dispensing online orders near the trunk of a vehicle at a collection point comprising multiple order picking stations, each of which is associated with an access and parking lane for motor vehicles including a first parking space and a second parking space located behind said first space. The collection point includes, for each order picking station, a first and a second two-dimensional barcode visible from said first or second parking space and / or the first and second means of signaling the order request located in the immediate vicinity of said first and second parking spaces and / or means of detecting the presence of a customer near said first and second parking spaces. Figure to be published: 1

Description

Title of the invention: System for handing over an order to a collection point. Scope of the invention

[0001] The field of the invention is that of logistics in stores providing a delivery service for orders to a collection point, also called "Drive".

[0002] More specifically, the invention relates to a system for handing over an order to a collection point.

[0003] The invention finds particular application in the collection of food or consumer goods at collection points. Previous art

[0004] It is known in stores offering a drive-through service for online orders, that one or more order pickers store the collected items in bags on shelves while waiting for the customer to collect their order. Sorting the items in an order can be carried out during the collection route or when placing the order on the shelf.

[0005] This order preparation technique has many drawbacks. It requires a significant workforce. Furthermore, with this known technique, a customer picking up their order may face a waiting period of varying length while a picker retrieves the order from the shelves, or if all the pickers are busy making a collection route and are unavailable to hand over the order.

[0006] In order to limit customer waiting time, it was considered to implement automated delivery tracks for order items from an also automated buffer storage facility, which allow an order to be handed over to a customer automatically as soon as the customer signals their presence at a terminal in the collection point.

[0007] With this known technique, however, approximately 2 to 3 minutes are required to gather the order items and deliver them to the collection point. The customer's vehicle thus remains parked at the collection point for a total of approximately 5 to 6 minutes, including the time required for the customer to load the items into their vehicle. This limits the number of customers who can be served per hour at a collection point using this technique to 10-12. known.

[0008] To increase the number of customers who can be delivered per hour at a collection point, it was considered to implement additional terminals at the entrance of the store parking lots allowing each customer to signal their arrival before going to the collection point, so that the items of their order stored in the buffer storage facility can be gathered and transported from the buffer stock to the collection point as soon as the customer enters the parking lot.

[0009] This known technique, however, only slightly increases the number of customers who can be served per hour (by a maximum of about 20%), because the time required to travel the distance between the parking lot entrance and the collection point is generally quite short, and most often less than 1 minute. Objectives of the invention

[0010] The invention therefore aims in particular to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art mentioned above.

[0011] More specifically, the invention aims to provide a technique for handing over orders at a collection point which significantly increases the number of customers to whom an order can be handed per hour at a collection point.

[0012] The invention aims in particular, in specific embodiments of the invention, to provide such a technique which allows at least 20 orders per hour to be delivered per order picking station.

[0013] An objective of the invention is also to provide such an order delivery technique that is simple to implement.

[0014] Another objective of the invention is to provide such a technique which is at a reduced cost. Description of the invention

[0015] These objectives, as well as others that will appear subsequently, are achieved using an automatic delivery system for online orders placed near the trunk of a vehicle, comprising: - a collection point with multiple order collection stations, each of which is associated with an access and parking lane for motor vehicles, adjacent to it; - an automated buffer storage facility for items that have been ordered; - automated means of conveying said stored items from said buffer storage facility to said picking stations, - an order fulfillment management unit capable of ordering the collection of items of an order in said buffer storage facility and to order the activation of the means of transporting said items.

[0016] According to the invention, each access lane comprises a first and a second vehicle parking space, said second space being located behind said first space in said lane, and said collection point comprises, for each order picking station: - a first 2-dimensional barcode visible from said first parking space including identification information for said order collection station and / or the first means of signaling the request for delivery of an order located in the immediate vicinity of said first parking space and / or means of detecting the presence of a customer who has placed an order in the vicinity of said first parking space; - a second 2D barcode visible from said second parking space including identification information for said order collection point and / or second means of signaling a request for delivery of an order located in the immediate vicinity of said second parking space and / or means of detecting the presence of a customer who has placed an order near said second parking space,

[0017] and said order delivery management unit is configured such that when said first or said second two-dimensional barcode is scanned by a customer who has placed an order using a dedicated application downloadable onto a terminal of said customer capable of transmitting a signal to said management unit including an identification information of said order and said identification information of said order picking station contained in said first or said second barcode, when a request for delivery of an order is signaled by said first or said second signaling means or when the presence of a customer with an order is detected near said first or said second parking space, said management unit generates command instructions for the activation of the collection, within said buffer storage facility,items from the reported order or from the order of the customer who scanned one of said barcodes or from the order of the customer who was detected near a parking space and instructions for the delivery of said items by said delivery means to the picking station associated with said first barcode or said second barcode having been scanned by said customer or to said first or said second delivery means having indicated a request for delivery of said customer's order or to the access lane where the presence of said customer was detected, if said items are present within said buffer storage facility.

[0018] Thus, in a novel way, the invention proposes to implement, per collection point of a pickup station, two barcodes and / or two means of signaling a request for delivery of an order and / or means of detecting the presence of a customer at two different parking locations, in order to increase the number of order deliveries per hour at each collection point.

[0019] The inventors have thus observed that with the invention, it was possible to increase by more than 60% the number of orders handed over per hour at a collection point compared to the known techniques of handing over an order at a collection point, for the same number of collection stations.

[0020] In a particular embodiment of the invention, said first signaling means and / or said second signaling means comprise a terminal.

[0021] Preferably, said first signaling means and said second signaling means are spaced 5 to 10 meters apart.

[0022] Advantageously, said access and parking lanes are arranged at an angle and form an angle of 30 to 50° with a service road to said collection point.

[0023] In particular embodiments of the invention, said first signaling means and / or said second signaling means comprise at least one signaling element belonging to the group comprising at least:

[0024] - barcode reader;

[0025] - QR code reader;

[0026] - magnetic tape or chip reader;

[0027] - numeric keypad for entering a code;

[0028] - biometric identification reader, such as a fingerprint reader.

[0029] In particular embodiments of the invention, said means for detecting the presence of a customer who has placed an order near said first parking space and / or said means for detecting the presence of a customer who has placed an order near said second parking space comprise at least one detection element belonging to the group comprising at least:

[0030] - presence sensor;

[0031] - geolocation system;

[0032] - license plate recognition device.

[0033] In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, said collection point includes, for each access and parking lane, means for signaling the number of vehicles parked in said access and parking lane.

[0034] According to a particular aspect of the invention, said means for signaling the number of vehicles parked in an access and parking lane comprise a light tricolor.

[0035] In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the stored articles being handed over in bins to the picking stations, at least one of the picking stations includes means for transferring empty bins to the automated conveying means.

[0036] The invention also relates to a method for automatically delivering online orders near the trunk of a vehicle at a collection point having a plurality of order picking stations, each of which is associated with an access and parking lane for motor vehicles adjacent to it, each access lane comprising a first and a second parking space for vehicles, said second space being located behind said first space in said lane, said collection point being associated with:

[0037] - an automated buffer storage facility for items that have been ordered; - automated means of conveying said stored items from said buffer storage facility to said picking stations, - an order delivery management unit capable of ordering the collection of items from an order in said buffer storage facility and of ordering the activation of the means of transporting said items; said collection point comprising, for each order collection station: - a first 2-dimensional barcode visible from said first parking space including identification information for said order collection station and / or the first means of signaling the request for delivery of an order located in the immediate vicinity of said first parking space and / or means of detecting the presence of a customer who has placed an order in the vicinity of said first parking space; - a second 2D barcode visible from said second parking space including identification information for said order collection point and / or second means of signaling a request for delivery of an order located in the immediate vicinity of said second parking space and / or means of detecting the presence of a customer who has placed an order near said second parking space,

[0038] said process comprising the following steps:

[0039] - scan by a customer who has placed an order for said second barcode with two digits measurements thanks to a dedicated application downloadable on a terminal of said customer capable of transmitting a signal to said management unit including an identification information of said order and said identification information of said order collection station contained in said second barcode or reporting of a request to hand over an order using said second means of reporting or detection of the presence of a customer near said second parking space; - from said scan or said reporting or said detection, generation by said management unit of instructions for the activation of the collection, within said buffer storage facility, of the items of the reported order or of the order of the customer who scanned one of said barcodes or of the order of the customer who was detected near a parking space and of instructions for the transport of said items by said means of transport to the collection point associated with said second barcode having been scanned by said customer or associated with said second means of reporting having reported a request for delivery of said customer's order or associated with the access route where the presence of said customer was detected - scanning by the same customer of said first two-dimensional barcode using said dedicated application downloadable on a terminal of said customer capable of transmitting a signal to said management unit including an identification information of said order and said identification information of said order collection station contained in said first barcode or reporting of a request to hand over the order of said customer using said first means of reporting or detection of the presence of the same customer near said first parking space; - handing over the items of the order to the said picking station associated with the first barcode that was scanned by the said customer or associated with the said first means of reporting that signaled a request for handing over the order of the said customer or associated with the access route where the presence of the said customer was detected. List of figures

[0040] Other features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon reading the following description of two embodiments of the invention, given by way of simple illustrative and non-limiting examples, and the accompanying figures, among which:

[0041] [Fig-1] is a schematic top view of an example embodiment of a order submission system according to the invention;

[0042] [Fig.2] is a side view of a sampling station of another example of a mode of implementation of an order delivery system according to the invention. Detailed description of the invention

[0043] Fig. 1 illustrates an example of an embodiment of an order handover system 10 according to the invention at the level of a collection point of a large retail store.

[0044] This collection point 11 is located near a storage warehouse 12 attached to the sales area of ​​the store and, in this particular embodiment of the invention, has five parallel order picking stations 13i to 135 which are accessed by car via five access and temporary parking lanes 14i to 145, arranged diagonally, each associated with a picking station 13.

[0045] Each of the lanes 14i to 145 is dimensioned to accommodate two motor vehicles 15i, 152 one behind the other.

[0046] The various items of an order are conveyed to picking stations 13i to 135 in bins from a buffer storage facility (not shown in [Fig.1]), where these items have been temporarily stored, via a main overhead conveyor track 17i which divides into five secondary overhead tracks 172 whose end leads to an item delivery column at a picking station 13i, 132, 133, 134 or 135.

[0047] When a first customer 110 of the store, who has previously placed an order online via the Internet, parks in a lane 14b 142, 143, 144 or 145 free of any vehicle and signals to a first terminal 18 equipping a collection station, for example by entering a code on a screen or keyboard, or by scanning a barcode corresponding to his order, which has been transmitted to him on his smartphone, using a barcode reader equipping the terminal 18, the computer unit for managing the delivery of orders of the system 10 then commands robots equipping the storage installation (not shown in the [Fig.l) to retrieve the items of their order from the storage racks of the buffer facility and transport them to a transfer station where they are placed on the main conveyor track 17b. The items of the order are then transported on the main track and distributed on the secondary track 172 allocated to the picking station 13b, 132, 133, 134 or 135 where the customer has indicated that their order should be given to them. The bins containing the products of the order are successively transferred from the secondary track 172 to an elevator, which places them on an order handover table, where the customer can retrieve the items of their order to place them in the trunk of their vehicle 15b.

[0048] A second reporting terminal 19 is installed at each sampling station 13i to 135> upstream of the first terminal 18, with regard to the direction of traffic of the access road 14b 142, 143, 144 or 145 associated with this sampling station. This In this particular embodiment of the invention, the second terminal 19 is spaced from the first terminal 18 by a distance substantially equal to the length of a parking space.

[0049] When a second customer parks their vehicle 152 in the same access lane as the first customer's vehicle 15i, behind it, while waiting for the first customer to leave, they signal their presence at the second terminal 19, for example by entering a code or scanning a barcode corresponding to their order. The order management computer unit of system 10 then instructs robots in the storage facility to retrieve the items from the second customer's order from the storage racks of the buffer facility and transport them to a transfer station where they are placed on the main conveyor track 17b. The items in the order are then transported on the main track and distributed on the secondary track 172 where they are placed on standby.When the first customer has finished loading their order into their vehicle and leaves access lane 14b 142, 143, 144 or 145 to reach exit aisle 111, the second customer moves their vehicle to the first terminal 18 and signals their presence again at terminal 18. The items in their order, which are waiting on the secondary conveyor track 172, are then handed directly to them sequentially on the order handover table. They can then retrieve them and load them into the trunk of their vehicle 152. It is easy to see that the use of both terminals 18 and 19 increases the number of orders that can be handed over per hour at each picking station 13i to 135, since the transport of items from the customer waiting for the order of the customer ahead of them to be handed over begins as soon as the latter signals their presence at the second terminal 19.

[0050] It should also be noted that to facilitate the placement of vehicles in the access lanes, each vehicle 112 which arrives in the service lane 112 is directed to a free collection station by means of traffic lights 114 placed at the entrance of each access lane 14i to 145. Thus for example, a red light indicates that two motor vehicles are already parked on the access lane, an orange light that only one vehicle is parked on the access lane and a green light that the access lane is free of any vehicle.

[0051] Figure 2 shows a picking station 21 of another example of an embodiment of an order delivery system according to the invention, in side view.

[0052] This sampling station is attached to an access and parking lane 22 having a first parking space 23 and, behind it, a second parking space 24, on which two vehicles 251 and 252 are parked, in the situation shown in [Fig.2].

[0053] This picking station 21 includes an order handover table 213 on which customer order items are placed from a buffer storage area, transported via a secondary overhead conveyor track 26 whose end leads to a delivery column 27. It also includes, at the first parking space 23, a terminal 29 on which a QR code 210 containing information representative of the picking station 21 is displayed or printed, and at the front end of the second parking space 24, a high panel 211 on which a second QR code 212 containing information representative of the picking station 21 is displayed, which in this particular embodiment of the invention is identical to the first QR code 210.

[0054] Thus, when vehicle 252 parks in the second space 24 while waiting for vehicle 251 to leave the first parking space 23, one of its occupants can scan the second QR code with their smartphone without leaving their vehicle, using a dedicated application they have downloaded. This application then generates a message to the order management module of the pickup point containing order identification information and the identification information for the pickup station 21, which immediately triggers the routing of the items in their order to the pickup station 21 via the lane 26.As soon as vehicle 25i leaves the first space 23, vehicle 252 can then move to the first space and an occupant of vehicle 252 simply needs to scan the second QR code 212 on the terminal 211 with the dedicated application by opening the trunk of the vehicle, so that the items of the order, already transported to the picking station, are delivered to the order handover table 213. A very short delay therefore elapses between the moment when the second QR code 212 is scanned and the moment when an occupant of vehicle 252 can load the items of their order into the trunk of vehicle 252.

Claims

1. Demands Automatic order dispensing system for online orders placed near the trunk of a vehicle, comprising: - a collection point with multiple order collection stations, each of which is associated with an access and parking lane for motor vehicles, adjacent to it; - an automated buffer storage facility for items that have been ordered; - automated means of conveying said stored items from said buffer storage facility to said picking stations, - an order delivery management unit capable of ordering the collection of items from an order in said buffer storage facility and of ordering the activation of the means of transporting said items, characterized in that each access lane comprises a first and a second vehicle parking space, said second space being located behind said first space in said lane, and in that said collection point comprises, for each order picking station: - a first 2-dimensional barcode visible from said first parking space including identification information for said order collection station and / or the first means of signaling the request for delivery of an order located in the immediate vicinity of said first parking space and / or means of detecting the presence of a customer who has placed an order in the vicinity of said first parking space; - a second 2D barcode visible from said second parking space including identification information for said order collection point and / or second means of signaling a request for delivery of an order located in the immediate vicinity of said second parking space and / or means of detecting the presence of a customer who has placed an order near said second parking space, and in that said order delivery management unit is configured so that when said first or second two-dimensional barcode is scanned by a customer who has placed an order using a dedicated application downloadable onto a terminal of said customer capable of transmitting a signal to said management unit including an identification information of said order and said identification information of said order collection station contained in said first or second barcode, when a request for delivery of an order is signaled by said first or second signaling means or when the presence of a customer with an order is detected near said first or second parking space, said management unit generates command instructions for the activation of collection, within said buffer storage facility,items from the reported order or from the order of the customer who scanned one of said barcodes or from the order of the customer who was detected near a parking space and instructions for the delivery of said items by said delivery means to the picking station associated with said first barcode or said second barcode having been scanned by said customer or to said first or said second delivery means having indicated a request for delivery of said customer's order or to the access lane where the presence of said customer was detected, if said items are present within said buffer storage facility.

2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that said first signaling means and / or said second signaling means comprise a terminal.

3. System according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said first signaling means and said second signaling means are spaced 5 to 10 meters apart.

4. System according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said access and parking lanes are arranged at an angle and form an angle of 30 to 50° with a service lane of said collection point.

5. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said first signaling means and / or said second signaling means comprise at least one signaling element belonging to the group comprising at least: - barcode reader; - QR code reader; - magnetic stripe or chip reader; - numeric keypad for entering a code; - biometric identification reader, such as a fingerprint reader.

6. System according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said means for detecting the presence of a customer who has placed an order near said first parking space and / or said means for detecting the presence of a customer who has placed an order near said second parking space comprise at least one detection element belonging to the group comprising at least: - presence sensor; - geolocation system; - license plate recognition device.

7. System according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said withdrawal point comprises, for each access and parking lane, means for signaling the number of vehicles parked in said access and parking lane.

8. System according to claim 7, characterized in that said means for signaling the number of vehicles parked in an access and parking lane comprise a traffic light.

9. System according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, said stored articles being handed over in bins to said picking stations, at least one of said picking stations comprises means for transferring empty bins to said automated conveying means.

10. A method for automatically delivering online orders near the trunk of a vehicle at a collection point having multiple order picking stations, each of which is associated with an access and parking lane for motor vehicles adjacent to it, each access lane comprising a first and a second parking space for vehicles, said second space being located behind said first space in said lane, said collection point being associated with: an automated buffer storage facility for items that have been the subject of an order; - automated means of conveying said stored items from said buffer storage facility to said picking stations, - an order delivery management unit capable of ordering the collection of items from an order in said buffer storage facility and of ordering the activation of the means of transporting said items; said collection point comprising, for each order collection station: - a first 2-dimensional barcode visible from said first parking space including identification information for said order collection station and / or the first means of signaling the request for delivery of an order located in the immediate vicinity of said first parking space and / or means of detecting the presence of a customer who has placed an order in the vicinity of said first parking space; - a second 2D barcode visible from said second parking space including identification information for said order collection point and / or second means of signaling a request for delivery of an order located in the immediate vicinity of said second parking space and / or means of detecting the presence of a customer who has placed an order near said second parking space, said process includes the following steps: - scan by a customer who has placed an order of said second two-dimensional barcode using a dedicated application downloadable on a terminal of said customer capable of transmitting a signal to said management unit including an identification information of said order and said identification information of said order collection station contained in said second barcode or reporting of a request to hand over an order using said second means of reporting or detection of the presence of a customer near said second parking space; - from said scan or said report or said detection, generation by said instruction management unit of the activation of the collection, within said buffer storage facility, of the items from the reported order or from the order of the customer who scanned one of said barcodes or from the order of the customer who was detected near a parking space and instructions for the transport of said items by said means of transport to the picking station associated with said second barcode having been scanned by said customer or associated with said second means of signaling having signaled a request for delivery of said customer's order or associated with the access route where the presence of said customer was detected - scanning by the same customer of said first two-dimensional barcode using said dedicated application downloadable on a terminal of said customer capable of transmitting a signal to said management unit including an identification information of said order and said identification information of said order collection station contained in said first barcode or reporting of a request to hand over the order of said customer using said first means of reporting or detection of the presence of the same customer near said first parking space; - handing over the items of the order to the said picking station associated with the first barcode that was scanned by the said customer or associated with the said first means of reporting that signaled a request for handing over the order of the said customer or associated with the access route where the presence of the said customer was detected.