Storage management system, storage management device, and storage management method

Abstract

This storage management system has a storage management device for managing a storage box in which packages delivered by a delivery company are stored. The storage management device carries out: a process for receiving, from a terminal of a receiver of a package, hand delivery preference information indicating that hand delivery has been selected as a reception method for the package, after the storage box has been reserved by the delivery company; a process for transmitting, to a delivery management device for managing the delivery status of the package, a query about the delivery status of the package, on the basis of the reception of the hand delivery preference information; and a process for canceling the reservation for the storage box when, as a result of the query, completion information indicating that delivery of the package has been completed has been received from the delivery management device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a storage management system, a storage management device, and a storage management method.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a storage management device having a storage box for storing luggage, which reserves the storage box based on a request for reserving the storage box from a terminal used by a delivery company, and then cancels the reservation after a certain period of time has elapsed.

[0003] Also, in this system, when the storage management device receives a request from the recipient of the luggage to hand it over after reserving the storage box, and then receives a notification that the delivery from the delivery company has been completed, the storage management device cancels the reservation of the storage box.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

[0005] The storage management system according to the first aspect includes a storage management device that manages a storage box for storing luggage delivered by a delivery company. After the storage box is reserved by the delivery company, the storage management device performs a process of receiving, from the terminal of the recipient of the luggage, handover request information indicating a desire to hand over the luggage as a method of receiving the luggage, a process of transmitting an inquiry about the delivery status of the luggage to a delivery management device that manages the delivery status of the luggage based on the reception of the handover request information, and a process of canceling the reservation of the storage box when receiving, as a result of the inquiry, completion information indicating the completion of the delivery of the luggage from the delivery management device.

[0006] The storage management device according to the second aspect manages a storage box for storing packages delivered by a delivery service provider. After the storage box is reserved by the delivery service provider, the storage management device performs a process of receiving, from the terminal of the package recipient, handover request information indicating a desire for handover as a method of receiving the package, a process of transmitting an inquiry about the delivery status of the package to a delivery management device that manages the delivery status of the package based on the reception of the handover request information, and a process of canceling the reservation of the storage box when receiving, as a result of the inquiry, completion information indicating the completion of the delivery of the package from the delivery management device.

[0007] The storage management method according to the third aspect is a method of managing a storage box for storing packages delivered by a delivery service provider. The storage management method includes receiving, from the terminal of the package recipient, handover request information indicating a desire for handover as a method of receiving the package after the storage box is reserved by the delivery service provider, transmitting an inquiry about the delivery status of the package to a delivery management device that manages the delivery status of the package based on the reception of the handover request information, and canceling the reservation of the storage box when receiving, as a result of the inquiry, completion information indicating the completion of the delivery of the package from the delivery management device.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] In the system described in Patent Document 1, for example, even if the delivery is completed immediately by handover, if the storage management device cannot receive a notice from the delivery carrier that the delivery has been completed for some reason, the reservation of the storage box cannot be canceled until a certain time has elapsed since the reservation of the storage box.

[0010] In such a case, since the reservation of the storage box reserved for the delivered goods may be maintained for a long time, there is room for improvement in terms of improving the utilization efficiency of the storage box.

[0011] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to improve the utilization efficiency of storage boxes.

[0012] Embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals.

[0013] (Configuration of the Storage Management System) First, the configuration of the storage management system according to an embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a storage management system 1 according to an embodiment.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 1, the storage management system 1 includes a storage device 100, a storage management device 200, a delivery management device 300, a delivery company terminal 400, and a recipient terminal 500. The devices or terminals of the storage management system 1 can communicate with at least one other device or terminal of the storage management system 1 via a network 10.

[0015] The storage device 100 is a device having a storage box 110 (not shown in FIG. 1; see FIG. 2) for storing packages delivered by a delivery company. In FIG. 1, an example where the number of storage devices 100 is one is illustrated, but the number of storage devices 100 may be two or more. Each storage device 100 is installed in a predetermined facility. The facility where the storage device 100 is installed may be, for example, a detached house, or a collective housing such as an apartment or a condominium. Such a storage device 100 may be called a home delivery locker. Alternatively, the facility where the storage device 100 is installed may be a public place such as a station or a commercial facility. In the following, it will be described on the assumption that the storage device 100 is a home delivery locker installed in a common area of a collective housing and each storage box 110 is a home delivery box.

[0016] The storage management device 200 manages the empty status and reservation status of each storage box 110 of the storage device 100 through communication via the network 10 with the storage device 100. Further, the storage management device 200 may control the locking and unlocking of each storage box.

[0017] The storage management device 200 receives a reservation request for reserving the storage box 110 from the delivery management device 300 via the network 10. In this case, the storage management device 200 executes the reservation process for the storage box 110 and transmits a reservation completion notice to the delivery management device 300 in response to the completion of the reservation process.

[0018] The delivery management device 300 is managed by a delivery company and manages the delivery status of packages delivered by the delivery company. For example, the delivery management device 300a may be managed by delivery company A and manage the delivery status of packages delivered by delivery company A. Also, the delivery management device 300b may be managed by delivery company B and manage the delivery status of packages delivered by delivery company B. Further, the delivery management device 300c may be managed by delivery company C and manage the delivery status of packages delivered by delivery company C. Alternatively, one delivery management device 300 may be managed by multiple delivery companies and manage the delivery status of packages delivered by the multiple delivery companies. Note that in FIG. 1, an example where the number of delivery management devices 300 is three is illustrated, but the number of delivery management devices 300 may be one, two, or four or more.

[0019] The delivery management device 300 receives a reservation request for reserving the storage box 110 from the delivery company terminal 400 via the network 10 and transmits the reservation request to the storage management device 200. Thereafter, the delivery management device 300 receives a reservation completion notification from the storage management device 200 in response to the completion of the reservation process and transmits the reservation completion notification to the recipient terminal 500.

[0020] The delivery company terminal 400 is a terminal used by a delivery company. The delivery company terminals 400 may be held and used one by one by the delivery staff of the delivery company. The delivery company terminal 400 communicates with the delivery management device 300 managed by the delivery company that uses the terminal. For example, the delivery company terminal 400 transmits a reservation request for reserving the storage box 110 to the delivery management device 300 via the network 10.

[0021] The delivery service provider terminal 400 communicates with any one of the delivery management devices 300a to 300c. In FIG. 1, an example where the number of delivery service provider terminals 400 is one is illustrated, but the number of delivery service provider terminals 400 may be two or more. When there are multiple delivery service provider terminals 400, the multiple delivery service provider terminals 400 may be used by different delivery service providers and communicate with different delivery management devices 300 respectively.

[0022] The recipient terminal 500 is a terminal used by the recipient of the package delivered by the delivery service provider. The recipient is, for example, a resident of an apartment building where the storage device 100 is installed.

[0023] The recipient terminal 500 receives a reservation completion notice from the delivery management device 300 in response to the completion of the reservation process for the storage box 110 where the package to be delivered to the recipient is to be stored. Thereafter, the recipient terminal 500 transmits information indicating the package receiving method to the storage management device 200.

[0024] In the storage management system 1 configured as described above, after the storage box 110 is reserved by the delivery service provider, the storage management device 200 executes a process of receiving, from the recipient terminal 500, handover request information indicating a desire for handover as a package receiving method. Then, based on the reception of the handover request information, the storage management device 200 transmits a query about the package delivery status to the delivery management device 300, and when receiving, as a result of the query, completion information indicating the completion of the package delivery from the delivery management device 300, the storage management device 200 executes a process of canceling the reservation of the storage box 110.

[0025] Thereby, after the storage box 110 is reserved, when the recipient of the package desires handover and the delivery is completed by handover, the storage management device 200 can surely and promptly execute the process of canceling the reservation of the storage box 110, so that the utilization efficiency of the storage box 110 can be improved.

[0026] (Configuration of the storage device) Next, the configuration of the storage device 100 according to an embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the storage device 100 according to an embodiment.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 2, the storage device 100 includes a plurality of storage boxes 110 (storage boxes 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d,...), a control unit 120, a communication unit 130, a display unit 140, an operation unit 150, and a reading unit 160.

[0028] The storage box 110 includes an opening for storing or taking out luggage, a door for sealing the opening, a locking mechanism for locking the door, and a sensor for detecting that luggage is stored. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance of the front side of the storage device 100. As shown in FIG. 3, the storage device 100 is provided with a plurality of storage boxes 110 according to size in order to store luggage of various sizes.

[0029] The control unit 120 controls the storage box 110, the communication unit 130, the display unit 140, the operation unit 150, and the reading unit 160. The control unit 120 includes at least one processor and at least one memory. The control unit 120 controls the locking and unlocking of the storage box 110 according to an instruction received by the communication unit 130 from the storage management device 200. In addition, the control unit 120 transmits to the storage management device 200 via the communication unit 130 the opening / closing status of the door of the storage box 110, the detection result of the sensor of the storage box 110, and / or the operation content for the operation unit 150 and the reading result of the reading unit 160.

[0030] The communication unit 130 includes a communication interface connected to the network 10 by wire or wirelessly. The display unit 140 displays various information under the control of the control unit 120. The operation unit 150 receives operations from the delivery person or the recipient. The display unit 140 and the operation unit 150 may be integrated as a touch panel display. The reading unit 160 reads identification information for identifying luggage and / or identification information for identifying the delivery person or the recipient.

[0031] (Configuration of the Storage Management Device) Next, the configuration of the storage management device 200 according to an embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the storage management device 200 according to an embodiment.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 4, the storage management device 200 includes a communication unit 210, a processing unit 220, and a storage unit 230.

[0033] The communication unit 210 includes a communication interface connected to the network 10 by wire or wirelessly. The communication unit 210 transmits a locking instruction or an unlocking instruction for the storage box 110 to the storage device 100. Further, the communication unit 210 receives from the storage device 100 the opening / closing status of the door of the storage box 110, the detection result of the sensor of the storage box 110, and / or the operation content for the operation unit 150 and the reading result of the reading unit 160, etc.

[0034] The communication unit 210 transmits a reservation instruction for the storage box 110 to the storage device 100. For example, when the communication unit 210 receives a reservation request for reserving the storage box 110 from the delivery management device 300, it transmits a reservation instruction to the storage device 100. The reservation instruction may be an instruction for instructing reservation of the storage box 110 and / or a locking instruction for the storage box 110. The communication unit 210 may receive a reservation completion notice from the storage device 100 in response to the completion of the reservation of the storage box 110.

[0035] Also, the communication unit 210 transmits a reservation cancellation instruction for the storage box 110 to the storage device 100. For example, when the communication unit 210 receives completion information indicating the completion of delivery of the package from the delivery management device 300 as a result of an inquiry described later, it transmits a reservation cancellation instruction to the storage device 100. The reservation cancellation instruction may be an instruction for instructing cancellation of the reservation of the storage box 110 and / or an unlocking instruction for the storage box 110. The communication unit 210 may receive a reservation cancellation notice from the storage device 100 in response to the cancellation of the reservation of the storage box 110.

[0036] The processing unit 220 executes various information processes based on the information received by the communication unit 210 and the information stored in the storage unit 230. The processing unit 220 includes at least one processor. The storage unit 230 includes at least one memory. The storage unit 230 stores the free status and reservation status of the storage device 100. The processing unit 220 manages the free status and reservation status of the storage device 100. The processing unit 220 executes processes so that the communication unit 210 executes at least the above-described operations.

[0037] (Configuration of Delivery Management Device) Next, the configuration of the delivery management device 300 according to an embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the delivery management device 300 according to an embodiment.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 5, the delivery management device 300 includes a communication unit 310, a processing unit 320, and a storage unit 330.

[0039] The communication unit 310 includes a communication interface connected to the network 10 by wire or wirelessly. The communication unit 310 receives a delivery completion notice indicating the completion of delivery of a package and / or a reservation request for reserving the storage box 110 from the delivery company terminal 400.

[0040] The processing unit 320 executes various information processes based on the information received by the communication unit 310 and the information stored in the storage unit 330. The processing unit 320 includes at least one processor. The storage unit 330 includes at least one memory. The storage unit 330 stores, for example, the delivery status of a package based on the information received by the communication unit 310 from the delivery company terminal 400. The processing unit 320 manages the delivery status of a package. The processing unit 320 executes processes so that the communication unit 310 executes at least the above-described operations.

[0041] (Configuration of Delivery Company Terminal) Next, the configuration of the delivery company terminal 400 according to an embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of the delivery company terminal 400 according to an embodiment.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 6, the delivery provider terminal 400 includes a control unit 410, a communication unit 420, a display unit 430, an operation unit 440, and a reading unit 450.

[0043] The control unit 410 controls the communication unit 420, the display unit 430, the operation unit 440, and the reading unit 450. The control unit 410 includes at least one processor and at least one memory.

[0044] The communication unit 420 includes a communication interface connected to the network 10 by wire or wirelessly. The communication unit 420 transmits a delivery completion notice indicating the completion of the delivery of the package and / or a reservation request for reserving the storage box 110 to the delivery management device 300. The display unit 430 displays various information under the control of the control unit 410. The operation unit 440 receives operations from the delivery staff of the delivery provider. The display unit 430 and the operation unit 440 may be integrated as a touch panel display. The reading unit 450 reads the identification information of the package.

[0045] (Configuration of the recipient terminal) Next, the configuration of the recipient terminal 500 according to an embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of the recipient terminal 500 according to an embodiment.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 7, the recipient terminal 500 includes a control unit 510, a communication unit 520, a display unit 530, and an operation unit 540.

[0047] The control unit 510 controls the communication unit 520, the display unit 530, and the operation unit 540. The control unit 510 includes at least one processor and at least one memory.

[0048] The communication unit 520 includes a communication interface connected to the network 10 either wired or wirelessly. The communication unit 520 transmits information indicating the method of receiving the package to the storage management device 200. The display unit 530 displays various information under the control of the control unit 510. The operation unit 540 receives operations from the recipient. The display unit 530 and the operation unit 540 may be integrated as a touch panel display.

[0049] (Operation example of the storage management system) Next, an operation example of the storage management system 1 according to an embodiment will be described.

[0050] (1) Operation example 1 FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an operation example when the storage management device 200 according to an embodiment can receive a delivery completion notice from the delivery management device 300. The delivery completion notice is a notice transmitted from the delivery management device 300 to the storage management device 200 in response to the completion of the delivery of the package by the delivery carrier even without an inquiry described later. The delivery completion notice includes completion information indicating the completion of the delivery of the package.

[0051] In this way, the delivery management device 300 capable of transmitting the delivery completion notice to the storage management device 200 is referred to as a cooperative delivery management device. Also, the delivery carrier that manages the cooperative delivery management device is referred to as a cooperative delivery carrier.

[0052] In operation example 1, the delivery management device 300 is a cooperative delivery management device capable of transmitting the delivery completion notice to the storage management device 200. In other words, the storage management device 200 can receive the delivery completion notice from the delivery management device 300.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 8, in step S101, the delivery operator terminal 400 transmits a reservation request for reserving the storage box 110 to the delivery management device 300. The storage box 110 is a storage box included in the storage device 100 installed at the residence of the recipient of the goods to be delivered by the delivery operator. For example, in response to detecting that the operation unit 440 has been operated based on the information displayed on the display unit 430, the control unit 410 of the delivery operator terminal 400 controls the communication unit 420 to transmit a reservation request to the delivery management device 300. At this time, the communication unit 420 transmits the reservation request to the delivery management device 300.

[0054] In step S102, in response to receiving the reservation request from the delivery operator terminal 400, the delivery management device 300 transmits the reservation request to the storage management device 200. Note that the delivery operator terminal 400 may directly transmit the reservation request to the storage management device 200 without going through the delivery management device 300.

[0055] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a reservation request according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the reservation request includes a source address for identifying the source of the reservation request, a bill of lading number for identifying the goods, storage box information for identifying the storage box 110 to be reserved, and a delivery time zone designated for the goods. The source address may be the IP address of the source. When the source address is the IP address of the source, the source address may be included in the header. Alternatively, the source address may be the email address used by the delivery operator terminal 400 of the source. The storage box information may be information for designating the storage box 110 to be reserved. Alternatively, the storage box information may include, for example, the delivery destination address to which the goods are to be delivered and the size of the goods, i.e., the goods size, and may be used for the storage management device 200 to select the storage box 110 to be reserved. The delivery time zones include, for example, (1) the time zone from 9:00 to 12:00, (2) the time zone from 12:00 to 14:00, (3) the time zone from 14:00 to 16:00, (4) the time zone from 16:00 to 18:00, (5) the time zone from 18:00 to 21:00, and the like.

[0056] The storage management device 200 may store some or all of the above-described information included in the reservation request received from the delivery management device 300. Further, the storage management device 200 may control the storage unit 230 so that the processing unit 220 of the storage management device 200 stores the information.

[0057] Thus, when the storage management device 200 according to an embodiment receives a reservation request for reserving the storage box 110 from the delivery management device 300, the storage management device 200 reserves the storage box 110 and executes a process of storing the transmission source address of the reservation request.

[0058] Thereby, since the storage management device 200 can manage the transmission source information of the reservation request, for example, it is possible to manage the reservation status of the storage box 110 for each delivery carrier.

[0059] Next, in step S103, when receiving the reservation request, the storage management device 200 executes a reservation process. Based on the reservation request, the storage management device 200 transmits a reservation instruction for the storage box 110 to the storage device 100 having the storage box 110 to be reserved.

[0060] The storage device 100 reserves the storage box 110 to be reserved based on the reservation instruction. The storage device 100 may lock the storage box 110 based on the reservation instruction. In response to the completion of the reservation based on the reservation instruction, the storage device 100 transmits a reservation completion notification indicating the completion of the reservation of the storage box 110 to the storage management device 200. The storage management device 200 may determine that the reservation process has been completed in response to receiving the reservation completion notification from the storage device 100.

[0061] In step S104, in response to the completion of the reservation process, the storage management device 200 transmits a reservation completion notification to the delivery management device 300. The delivery management device 300 may transmit the reservation completion notification to the delivery carrier terminal 400. Note that the storage management device 200 may directly transmit the reservation completion notification to the delivery carrier terminal 400 without passing through the delivery management device 300.

[0062] In step S105, in response to receiving the reservation completion notification from the storage management device 200, the delivery management device 300 transmits the reservation completion notification to the recipient terminal 500. The control unit 510 of the recipient terminal 500 may control the display unit 530 to display a selection screen for the method of receiving the package together with the reservation completion notification in response to receiving the reservation completion notification. At this time, the display unit 530 displays a selection screen for the method of receiving the package to be delivered together with the reservation completion notification.

[0063] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the display on the display unit 530 of the recipient terminal 500 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, the display unit 530 may display a button B1 for "handover" and a button B2 for "delivery box" as the method of receiving the package together with the reservation completion notification of the storage box 110 (for example, a home delivery box).

[0064] For example, when handover is selected as the method of receiving the package to be delivered, the control unit 510 detects a touch on the button B1 for "handover" at the operation unit 540. At this time, the control unit 510 controls the communication unit 520 to transmit the handover request information indicating the desire to receive the package by handover to the storage management device 200, and the communication unit 520 transmits the handover request information to the storage management device 200. Also, for example, when a delivery box is selected as the method of receiving the package to be delivered, the control unit 510 detects a touch on the button B2 for "delivery box" at the operation unit 540. At this time, the control unit 510 controls the communication unit 520 to transmit the delivery box request information indicating the desire to receive the package by delivery box to the storage management device 200, and the communication unit 520 transmits the delivery box request information to the storage management device 200.

[0065] In step S106, the recipient terminal 500 selects the method of receiving the package to be delivered. Here, it is assumed that the recipient terminal 500 selects handover as the method of receiving the package. In this case, the recipient terminal 500 transmits the handover request information to the storage management device 200 (step S107).

[0066] In step S107, the storage management device 200 receives the handover request information from the recipient terminal 500. The storage management device 200 may send a notification of the handover request information to the storage device 100. In step S108, the storage management device 200 may send a notification of the handover request information to the delivery management device 300. In step S109, the delivery management device 300 may send a notification of the handover request information to the carrier terminal 400. Note that the storage management device 200 may directly send a notification of the handover request information to the carrier terminal 400 without going through the delivery management device 300.

[0067] In step S110, when the delivery by handover is completed, the carrier terminal 400 sends a delivery completion notification indicating delivery completion to the delivery management device 300. For example, when the control unit 410 of the carrier terminal 400 acquires the waybill number of the delivered package by the reading unit 450, the control unit 410 may control the communication unit 420 to send a delivery completion notification to the delivery management device 300 based on the acquired information. At this time, the communication unit 420 sends a delivery completion notification to the delivery management device 300.

[0068] In this operation example, the delivery management device 300 is a cooperative delivery management device capable of sending a delivery completion notification to the storage management device 200. Therefore, in step S111, in response to receiving a delivery completion notification from the carrier terminal 400, the delivery management device 300 sends a delivery completion notification to the storage management device 200.

[0069] In step S112, in response to receiving a delivery completion notification from the delivery management device 300, the storage management device 200 executes a reservation cancellation process for the storage box 110 reserved in step S103. The storage management device 200 sends a reservation cancellation instruction for the storage box 110 to the storage device 100 having the storage box 110 to be cancelled.

[0070] The storage device 100 cancels the reservation of the storage box 110 based on a reservation cancellation instruction. The storage device 100 may unlock the storage box 110 based on the reservation cancellation instruction. The storage device 100 may transmit a reservation cancellation completion notice indicating the completion of the reservation cancellation of the storage box 110 to the storage management device 200 in response to the completion of the reservation cancellation based on the reservation cancellation instruction. The storage management device 200 may determine that the reservation cancellation process has been completed in response to receiving the reservation cancellation completion notice from the storage device 100.

[0071] (2) Operation Example 2 In operation example 2, an operation example in the case where the delivery management device 300 is a non-linked delivery management device, that is, a delivery management device that cannot transmit a delivery completion notice to the storage management device 200, will be described.

[0072] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an operation example in the case where the storage management device 200 according to an embodiment cannot receive a delivery completion notice from the delivery management device 300. In FIG. 11, the delivery management device 300 is a non-linked delivery management device. Therefore, the storage management device 200 cannot receive the above-described delivery completion notice from the delivery management device 300.

[0073] In such a case, after the reservation of the storage box 110, when the delivery is completed by handover, the storage management device 200 cannot receive a delivery completion notice from the delivery management device 300, so there is a problem that the reservation of the storage box 110 cannot be cancelled. It is also conceivable that the storage management device 200 cancels the reservation after a certain period of time has elapsed since the completion of the reservation process. However, for example, even when the delivery is completed by handover immediately after the reservation of the storage box 110, the storage management device 200 cannot cancel the reservation until a certain period of time has elapsed. Therefore, there is a possibility that the reservation of the storage box 110 will continue to be maintained for a long time for the goods that have been delivered by handover.

[0074] Therefore, in the storage management system 1 according to an embodiment, after the storage box 110 is reserved by a delivery service provider, the storage management device 200 executes a process of receiving, from the recipient terminal 500, handover request information indicating a desire for handover as a method of receiving the luggage. Then, based on the reception of the handover request information, the storage management device 200 transmits a query about the delivery status of the luggage to the delivery management device 300, and when receiving, as a result of the query, completion information indicating the completion of the delivery of the luggage from the delivery management device 300, executes a process of canceling the reservation of the storage box 110.

[0075] Thereby, even when the storage management device 200 cannot receive a delivery completion notice from the delivery management device 300, it can surely and promptly execute the process of canceling the reservation of the storage box 110 when the delivery of the luggage is completed by handover.

[0076] An operation example 2 will be described below with reference to FIG. 11. However, since the processes from step S201 to step S209 in FIG. 11 are the same as the processes from step S101 to step S109 in FIG. 8, the description thereof will be omitted, and the processes after step S210 will be mainly described. In addition, hereinafter, descriptions of processes that are the same as or similar to operation example 1 will also be omitted.

[0077] In FIG. 11, when the storage management device 200 receives handover request information from the recipient terminal 500 in step S207, after a time T has elapsed, in step S210, it transmits a query about the delivery status of the luggage to the delivery management device 300. The query includes at least information that can identify the luggage. The query may include, for example, the invoice number. At this time, in response to receiving the handover request information from the recipient terminal 500, the storage management device 200 may start a timer that expires when the time T has elapsed, and transmit the query to the delivery management device 300 in response to the expiration of the timer.

[0078] After receiving the handover request information from the recipient terminal 500, the storage management device 200 may periodically transmit an inquiry to the delivery management device 300 at a cycle of approximately time T. In this case, it is considered that the transmission of the inquiry (for example, step S210) and the reception of the inquiry result (for example, step S211) in the storage management device 200 are performed in a short time.

[0079] As described above, the storage management device 200 according to an embodiment executes a process of periodically transmitting an inquiry to the delivery management device 300 after receiving the handover request information. Thereby, when the delivery of the package is completed by handover, the storage management device 200 can quickly execute the reservation cancellation process for the storage box 110.

[0080] The storage management device 200 may change the transmission cycle of the inquiry about the delivery status of the package based on the delivery time zone included in the reservation request. For example, the storage management device 200 transmits the inquiry at a first cycle during the delivery time zone and transmits the inquiry at a second cycle longer than the first cycle outside the delivery time zone. In other words, the storage management device 200 transmits the inquiry at a second cycle outside the delivery time zone and transmits the inquiry at a first cycle shorter than the second cycle during the delivery time zone. In this case, the time T in the first cycle is shorter than the time T in the second cycle.

[0081] As described above, the storage management device 200 according to an embodiment executes a process of transmitting an inquiry at a first cycle during the delivery time zone specified for the package and a process of transmitting an inquiry at a second cycle longer than the first cycle during a time zone other than the delivery time zone.

[0082] As a result, the storage management device 200 can reduce unnecessary signaling by lowering the transmission frequency of the inquiry outside the delivery time band when the possibility of delivering the package is relatively low. Also, by increasing the transmission frequency of the inquiry in the delivery time band when the possibility of delivering the package is relatively high, the storage management device 200 can quickly execute the reservation cancellation process for the storage box 110 when the delivery by handover is completed.

[0083] When making an inquiry about the delivery status of a package, the storage management device 200 may identify the delivery carrier of the sender of the reservation request based on the sender address of the reservation request stored in step S202, and send the inquiry to the delivery management device 300 of the identified delivery carrier.

[0084] In this way, the storage management device 200 according to one embodiment executes a process of sending an inquiry to the delivery management device 300 of the delivery carrier identified based on the stored sender address.

[0085] When the delivery management device 300 to which the inquiry should be sent is unknown, the storage management device 200 needs to send the inquiry to a plurality of delivery management devices 300. However, in the above case, the storage management device 200 can identify the delivery management device 300 to which the inquiry should be sent. Therefore, the storage management device 200 can reduce unnecessary signaling and efficiently send the inquiry.

[0086] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an inquiry system according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, the inquiry system has, for example, an input unit for inputting a waybill number of a package. The inquiry system is provided for each delivery management device 300, and the storage management device 200 may access the inquiry system provided in the specified delivery management device 300. The storage management device 200 executes a process of inputting a waybill number to the input unit of the inquiry system provided in the specified delivery management device 300, and executes a process of pressing an "Inquiry Start" button. Thereby, the storage management device 200 may transmit an inquiry about the delivery status of the package, and acquire delivery status information indicating the delivery status of the package from the delivery management device 300 as an inquiry result.

[0087] In step S211, in response to an inquiry from the storage management device 200, the delivery management device 300 transmits incomplete information indicating that the delivery is incomplete to the storage management device 200 as delivery status information. The incomplete information may be information indicating that the package is in transit. The delivery management device 300 may transmit incomplete information to the storage management device 200 as an inquiry result in response to not receiving a delivery completion notice from the delivery carrier terminal 400 before receiving the inquiry from the storage management device 200.

[0088] At this time, the storage management device 200 receives the incomplete information from the delivery management device 300 as an inquiry result. In the inquiry system of FIG. 12, the storage management device 200 may acquire the incomplete information from the delivery management device 300 as an inquiry result.

[0089] When the storage management device 200 receives the incomplete information as an inquiry result in step S211, it waits until the time T elapses. If the delivery of the package by handover is completed during this waiting period, in step S212, the delivery carrier terminal 400 transmits a delivery completion notice to the delivery management device 300.

[0090] In this operation example, the delivery management device 300 is a non-linked delivery management device that cannot send a delivery completion notice to the storage management device 200. Therefore, even if the delivery management device 300 receives a delivery completion notice from the delivery operator terminal 400 in step S212, it cannot send the delivery completion notice to the storage management device 200.

[0091] After the time T has elapsed since the storage management device 200 received the incomplete information as an inquiry result in step S211, in step S213, the storage management device 200 sends an inquiry about the delivery status of the package to the delivery management device 300.

[0092] In step S214, in response to the inquiry from the storage management device 200, the delivery management device 300 sends, as delivery status information, completion information indicating that the delivery has been completed to the storage management device 200. The delivery management device 300 may send the completion information as an inquiry result to the storage management device 200 in response to receiving a delivery completion notice from the delivery operator terminal 400 before receiving the inquiry from the storage management device 200.

[0093] At this time, the storage management device 200 receives the completion information as an inquiry result. The storage management device 200 may obtain the completion information from the delivery management device 300 as an inquiry result in the inquiry system of FIG. 12.

[0094] In step S215, in response to receiving the completion information from the delivery management device 300 as an inquiry result, the storage management device 200 stops periodically sending inquiries about the delivery status of the package and executes a reservation cancellation process for the storage box 110. The reservation cancellation process is the same as the reservation cancellation process in step S112 of FIG. 8.

[0095] As described above, after the storage box 110 is reserved, the storage management device 200 according to an embodiment executes an inquiry process for the delivery status of the package to the delivery management device 300 based on receiving the handover request information from the recipient terminal 500. Thereby, when the delivery of the package is completed by handover, the storage management device 200 can surely and promptly execute the reservation cancellation process of the storage box 110.

[0096] Also, as shown in steps S207 to S214, when the storage management device 200 according to an embodiment receives, as an inquiry result, information indicating that the delivery of the package is not completed from the delivery management device 300, the storage management device 200 executes a process of continuing the periodic transmission of the inquiry. Then, when the storage management device 200 receives, as an inquiry result, completion information from the delivery management device 300, the storage management device 200 executes a process of stopping the periodic transmission of the inquiry.

[0097] Thereby, the storage management device 200 can determine whether to continue the periodic transmission of the inquiry according to the inquiry result. For this reason, when the storage management device 200 receives completion information from the delivery management device 300 as an inquiry result and the transmission of the inquiry becomes unnecessary, the storage management device 200 can reduce unnecessary signaling for stopping the periodic transmission.

[0098] (3) Determination process of delivery company In operation example 1 and operation example 2, the operation examples of the storage management system 1 when the delivery management device 300 is a cooperative delivery management device and when it is a non - cooperative delivery management device are respectively described. As shown in operation example 1 and operation example 2, the processing is different when the delivery management device 300 is a cooperative delivery management device and when it is a non - cooperative delivery management device.

[0099] Therefore, for example, when there are both a cooperative delivery management device and a non - cooperative delivery management device mixed among a plurality of delivery management devices 300 (300a to 300c), the storage management device 200 needs to determine whether the delivery carrier that is the source of the reservation request is a cooperative delivery carrier, and based on this determination, identify whether the delivery management device 300 is a cooperative delivery management device.

[0100] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the determination process of the delivery carrier in the storage management device 200 according to an embodiment. In the following, descriptions of processes that are the same as or similar to the above - described operation examples will be omitted.

[0101] As shown in FIG. 13, in step S301, the processing unit 220 of the storage management device 200 preliminarily holds a cooperation list indicating whether each delivery carrier is a cooperative delivery carrier. For example, the processing unit 220 may control the storage unit 230 to store the cooperation list.

[0102] In step S302, the processing unit 220 identifies the delivery carrier based on the source address of the reservation request stored in the storage unit 230.

[0103] In step S303, the processing unit 220 determines whether the identified delivery carrier is a cooperative delivery carrier based on the cooperation list stored in the storage unit 230.

[0104] In step S304, the processing unit 220 identifies whether the delivery management device 300 managed by the identified delivery carrier is a cooperative delivery management device based on the determination result in step S303. When the processing unit 220 determines that the identified delivery carrier is a cooperative delivery carrier, it identifies that the delivery management device 300 managed by the identified delivery carrier is a cooperative delivery management device. On the other hand, when the processing unit 220 determines that the identified delivery carrier is not a cooperative delivery carrier (i.e., a non - cooperative delivery carrier), it identifies that the delivery management device 300 managed by the identified delivery carrier is not a cooperative delivery management device (i.e., a non - cooperative delivery management device).

[0105] As described above, the storage management device 200 according to one embodiment executes a process of determining whether a delivery carrier is a cooperating delivery carrier based on the stored source address.

[0106] Thereby, when the storage management device 200 includes both a cooperating delivery carrier and a non-cooperating delivery carrier among a plurality of delivery carriers, it becomes possible to execute appropriate processing. That is, even when there are both a cooperating delivery management device and a non-cooperating delivery management device mixed among the plurality of delivery management devices 300 (300a to 300c), it becomes possible to execute appropriate processing.

[0107] Further, when the processing unit 220 determines that the identified delivery carrier is a cooperating delivery carrier, that is, when it determines that the delivery management device 300 is a cooperating delivery management device, it executes the processing of Operation Example 1. In other words, the storage management device 200 according to one embodiment executes a process of determining whether the delivery carrier is a cooperating delivery carrier that manages a cooperating delivery management device that transmits completion information even without an inquiry. And when it is determined that the delivery carrier is a cooperating delivery carrier, the storage management device 200 executes a process of omitting the transmission of an inquiry to the delivery management device 300 managed by the delivery carrier.

[0108] Thereby, when the delivery management device 300 is a cooperating delivery management device, the storage management device 200 can receive information indicating delivery completion without transmitting an inquiry about the delivery status of the package, so it is possible to reduce unnecessary signaling by omitting the transmission of unnecessary inquiries.

[0109] (4) Operation example of the storage management device when the delivery carrier is a cooperating delivery carrier FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an inquiry process in the storage management device 200 when the delivery carrier according to one embodiment is a cooperating delivery carrier. Hereinafter, the description of the same or similar processing as the above-described operation example will be omitted.

[0110] As shown in FIG. 14, in step S401, the processing unit 220 of the storage management device 200 determines whether the delivery carrier that is the source of the reservation request is a collaborative delivery carrier. At this time, for example, the processing unit 220 may make the determination by executing the above-described delivery carrier determination process.

[0111] If it is determined that the delivery carrier that is the source of the reservation request is not a collaborative delivery carrier (step S401: NO), the processing unit 220 ends the process. At this time, the processing unit 220 may execute the processes of steps S207 to S215 in FIG. 11 in response to receiving the handover request information from the recipient terminal 500. On the other hand, if it is determined that the delivery carrier that is the source of the reservation request is a collaborative delivery carrier (step S401: YES), the processing unit 220 determines in step S402 whether a delivery completion notification has been received from the delivery management device 300.

[0112] If a delivery completion notification has been received from the delivery management device 300 (step S402: YES), the processing unit 220 proceeds to step S407 and executes the reservation cancellation process for the storage box 110. On the other hand, if a delivery completion notification has not been received from the delivery management device 300 (step S402: NO), the processing unit 220 determines in step S403 whether a certain period of time has elapsed since the completion of the reservation process for the storage box 110.

[0113] If a certain period of time has not elapsed since the completion of the reservation process for the storage box 110 (step S403: NO), the processing unit 220 returns to step S402. On the other hand, if a certain period of time has elapsed since the completion of the reservation process for the storage box 110 (step S403: YES), the processing unit 220 determines in step S404 whether it is within the business hours of the delivery carrier.

[0114] When it is not within the business hours of the delivery company (step S404: NO), the processing unit 220 proceeds to step S407 and executes a reservation cancellation process for the storage box 110 reserved for the package. The processing unit 220 may preferentially process the reservation process for the storage box 110 for the package in the reservation process for the next day. On the other hand, when it is within the business hours of the delivery company (step S404: YES), the processing unit 220 controls the communication unit 210 to transmit an inquiry about the delivery status to the delivery management device 300 in step S405, and the communication unit 210 transmits the inquiry to the delivery management device 300. At this time, the reservation of the storage box 110 remains maintained. Note that the inquiry process may be the same as the inquiry process in operation example 2.

[0115] In step S406, the processing unit 220 determines whether or not it has received completion information indicating delivery completion from the delivery management device 300 as an inquiry result. When the completion information is received (step S406: YES), the processing unit 220 proceeds to step S407 and executes a reservation cancellation process for the storage box 110. On the other hand, when the completion information has not been received (step S406: NO), the processing unit 220 returns to step S402. Note that when returning from step S406 to step S402, “a certain period of time has elapsed since the reservation was completed” in step S403 may be read as “a certain period of time has elapsed since the previous inquiry”.

[0116] As described above, when the delivery company is a partner delivery company, the storage management device 200 according to one embodiment executes a process of transmitting an inquiry to the delivery management device when a certain period of time has elapsed after the reservation of the storage box 110 is completed and the completion information has not been received from the delivery management device 300. Then, when the storage management device 200 receives the completion information from the delivery management device 300 as a result of the inquiry, the storage management device 200 executes a process of canceling the reservation of the storage box 110.

[0117] As a result, even when the storage management device 200 is a delivery company that is a collaborative delivery company and the delivery management device 300 is a collaborative delivery management device, rapid processing based on the delivery status of the package can be realized. When the storage management device 200 cannot receive a delivery completion notice for some reason, it can send an inquiry about the delivery status of the package to the delivery management device 300, so that rapid processing based on the delivery status of the package can be realized even if an unexpected situation occurs.

[0118] (Other Embodiments) The storage management device 200 according to one embodiment may include the storage device 100, or the storage management device 200 may be integrated with the storage device 100.

[0119] A program for causing a computer to execute each process according to the above-described embodiment may be provided. The program may be recorded on a computer-readable medium. By using a computer-readable medium, it is possible to install the program on a computer. Here, the computer-readable medium on which the program is recorded may be a non-transitory recording medium. The non-transitory recording medium is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM.

[0120] As described above, the embodiments have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, but the specific configuration is not limited to the above, and various design changes and the like can be made without departing from the gist.

[0121] This application claims the priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-006429 (filed on January 19, 2021), and all of its contents are incorporated herein by reference.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0122] 1: Storage Management System 10: Network 100: Storage Device 110: Storage Box 120: Control Unit 130: Communication Unit 140: Display Unit 150: Operation Unit 160: Reading Unit 200: Storage Management Device 210: Communication Unit 220: Processing Unit 230: Memory Unit 300: Delivery Management Device 310: Communication Unit 320: Processing Unit 330: Memory Unit 400: Carrier Terminal 410: Control Unit 420: Communication Unit 430: Display Unit 440: Operation Unit 450: Reading Unit 500: Recipient Terminal 510: Control Unit 520: Communication Unit 530: Display Unit 540: Operation Unit

Claims

1. A storage management system having a storage management device that manages storage boxes for storing packages delivered by a delivery service provider, wherein the storage management device after the storage box is reserved by the delivery service provider, performs a process of receiving, from a terminal of the recipient of the package, handover request information indicating a desire for handover as a method of receiving the package; performs a process of sending an inquiry about the delivery status of the package to a delivery management device that manages the delivery status of the package, based on the reception of the handover request information; when receiving, as a result of the inquiry, completion information indicating completion of delivery of the package from the delivery management device, performs a process of canceling the reservation of the storage box; performs a process of determining whether the delivery service provider is a partnering delivery service provider based on a partnering list indicating partnering delivery service providers that manage a partnering delivery management device that sends the completion information even without the inquiry; when it is determined that the delivery service provider is the partnering delivery service provider, omits sending an inquiry to the partnering delivery management device, and performs a process of canceling the reservation of the storage box in response to receiving the completion information from the partnering delivery management device. A storage management system.

2. The process of sending the inquiry includes a process of periodically sending the inquiry to the delivery management device after receiving the handover request information, according to the storage management system of Claim 1.

3. The process of periodically sending the inquiry includes a process of sending the inquiry in a first cycle during a delivery time zone designated for the package, and a process of sending the inquiry in a second cycle longer than the first cycle during a time zone other than the delivery time zone, according to the storage management system of Claim 2.

4. The process of periodically sending the inquiry includes a process of continuing the periodic sending of the inquiry when receiving, as a result of the inquiry, information indicating that delivery of the package is incomplete from the delivery management device, and a process of stopping the periodic sending of the inquiry when receiving, as a result of the inquiry, the completion information from the delivery management device, according to the storage management system of Claim 2 or 3.

5. When the storage management device receives a reservation request for reserving the storage box from the delivery management device, the storage management device executes a process of reserving the storage box and storing the source address of the reservation request, according to the storage management system described in claim 1.

6. The process of sending the inquiry includes a process of sending the inquiry to the delivery management device of the carrier identified based on the stored source address, according to the storage management system described in claim 5.

7. The stored source address is the address of the carrier that sent the reservation request to the delivery management device. The process of determining includes a process of identifying the carrier based on the stored source address and determining whether the carrier is the cooperative carrier by referring to the cooperation list, according to the storage management system described in claim 5.

8. When the carrier is the cooperative carrier, the storage management device executes a process of sending the inquiry to the cooperative delivery management device when the completion information has not been received from the cooperative delivery management device after a certain period has elapsed since the reservation of the storage box was completed, and executes a process of canceling the reservation of the storage box when the completion information is received from the cooperative delivery management device as a result of the inquiry, according to the storage management system described in claim 1 or 7.

9. A storage management device having a storage management device that manages a storage box for storing goods delivered by a carrier, executes a process of receiving, from the terminal of the recipient of the goods, handover request information indicating a desire for handover as a method of receiving the goods after the storage box has been reserved by the carrier, executes a process of sending an inquiry about the delivery status of the goods to the delivery management device that manages the delivery status of the goods based on the reception of the handover request information, executes a process of canceling the reservation of the storage box when completion information indicating the completion of the delivery of the goods is received from the delivery management device as a result of the inquiry, and executes a process of determining whether the carrier is the cooperative carrier based on a cooperation list indicating a cooperative carrier that manages a cooperative delivery management device that sends the completion information even without the inquiry. When it is determined that the delivery operator is the collaborative delivery operator, the storage management device executes a process of omitting to send an inquiry to the collaborative delivery management device and canceling the reservation of the storage box in response to receiving the completion information from the collaborative delivery management device.

10. A storage management method for managing a storage box for storing a package delivered by a delivery operator, wherein a storage management device for managing the storage box after the storage box is reserved by the delivery operator, receives delivery preference information indicating a preference for handover as a method of receiving the package from a terminal of the recipient of the package; sends an inquiry about the delivery status of the package to a delivery management device for managing the delivery status of the package based on the reception of the delivery preference information; when receiving completion information indicating completion of delivery of the package as a result of the inquiry from the delivery management device, cancels the reservation of the storage box; determines whether the delivery operator is the collaborative delivery operator based on a collaboration list indicating a collaborative delivery operator that manages a collaborative delivery management device that sends the completion information even without the inquiry; and when it is determined that the delivery operator is the collaborative delivery operator, omits to send an inquiry to the collaborative delivery management device and cancels the reservation of the storage box in response to receiving the completion information from the collaborative delivery management device.

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