Method for transporting a packaged body and method for formulating a transport plan for a packaged body

Abstract

When transporting a package 1 that includes a laminate 4 composed of a glass plate 2 and a protective sheet (slip sheet) 3, the present invention divides the process of transporting the package 1 into a first transport process 13 by automobile transport and a second transport process 14 by at least one selected from water transport, air transport, and rail transport, the transport distance in the first transport process 13 being set to α km (400 km, 350 km, or 300 km) or less, and the sum total of transport distance in the first transport process 13 and second transport process 14 being set to β km (550 km, 700 km, or 850 km) or greater.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for transporting a package containing a laminate of a glass plate and a protective sheet, and a method for formulating a transportation plan for the package.

Background Art

[0002] As is well known, in a glass plate manufacturing factory or the like, when shipping the manufactured glass plates, a package of the glass plates is produced. This package includes a laminate in which a protective sheet (for example, interleaving paper) is interposed between a plurality of glass plates, and the laminate is loaded and packaged on a pallet or the like in a flat or vertical position (see Patent Document 1, etc.). This package is transported and carried into a glass product manufacturing factory or the like.

[0003] As an example of a method for transporting this package, Patent Document 2 (

[0024] of the same document) discloses using at least one of a land transportation means, a sea transportation means, and an air transportation means.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] By the way, in the method for transporting a package as disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is not possible to appropriately deal with the vibrations generated in the package during transportation. That is, the magnitude of the vibrations generated in the package during transportation varies depending on the differences among the three transportation modes listed above. Therefore, in order to suppress the adverse effects on the glass plate caused by vibrations, it is important to determine what the appropriate transportation distance should be for each transportation mode according to its differences. Nevertheless, neither this document nor prior art has clarified the relationship between the transportation mode and the transportation distance.

[0006] Therefore, the inventor of the present invention attempted an experiment to transport the above-mentioned package from a glass plate manufacturing factory to a glass product manufacturing factory (panel manufacturing factory) by various transportation modes such as land transportation and sea transportation, in order to understand the characteristics of each transportation mode. Specifically, experiments were attempted to determine how the vibrations and defects generated in the glass plate differ according to the differences in the transportation mode and the transportation distance. In this case, the package used included a laminate composed of a plurality of glass plates for flat panel displays and interleaving paper interposed between them, and this laminate was loaded on a pallet and packaged. In addition, experiments were attempted for both the case where the glass plates were packaged in a vertical position (strictly speaking, an inclined position) and the case where they were packaged in a horizontal position.

[0007] From the experiments, the inventor has found that if the transport distance in each transport mode is not appropriate, dirt may adhere to the glass plate that has arrived at the panel manufacturing factory, leading to disconnection defects in the process of manufacturing the panel. Here, the disconnection defect means that when a wiring pattern (such as an electrode pattern) is formed on the glass plate, the wiring pattern is disconnected due to dirt. The inventor has also found that this disconnection defect can occur in the same way whether the glass plate is packed in a vertical position or a horizontal position. Furthermore, the inventor has confirmed that the dirt causing this disconnection defect is caused by the rubbing between the interleaving paper and the glass plate due to vibrations during transportation, etc., for example, foreign substances (such as resin components) contained in the interleaving paper are transferred to the glass plate to cause dirt. And as a result of the above experiments, the inventor has found out how to make the relationship between the transport mode of the package and the transport distance so that this kind of dirt does not adhere to the glass plate.

[0008] From the above viewpoints, an object of the present invention is to appropriately adjust the relationship between the transport mode and the transport distance of a package including a laminate of a glass plate and a protective sheet, and to reduce the adhesion of dirt to the glass plate during transportation.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] A first aspect of the present invention devised to solve the above problems is a method for transporting a package including a laminate of a glass plate and a protective sheet, wherein the step of transporting the package is separated into a first transport step by automobile transport and a second transport step by at least one selected from water transport, air transport, and railway transport, and the transport distance in the first transport step is 400 km or less. Here, the above water transport means sea transport, transport on a river or a canal, or transport by appropriately combining these.

[0010] According to such a configuration, the transportation forms of the package can be divided into two groups. To explain the characteristics of this grouping, land transportation includes automobile transportation and railway transportation. Among them, automobile transportation belongs to the first transportation process, while railway transportation belongs to the second transportation process. Furthermore, water transportation and air transportation belong to the second transportation process. The reason for such grouping is that as a result of the experiments conducted by the inventor as described above, for the same transportation distance, the vibration generated in the package by automobile transportation is much greater than that by water transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation, and it has been found that the former and the latter can be clearly distinguished. Therefore, in the above-mentioned experiments, even if the transportation distances by water transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation are made longer than the transportation distance by automobile transportation, in some cases, dirt adheres to the glass plate in the former, while no dirt adheres to the glass plate in the latter. As described above, this dirt is caused by, for example, foreign substances such as resin components contained in the backing paper of the protective sheet being transferred to the glass plate due to the rubbing between the protective sheet and the glass plate accompanying the vibration during transportation. Considering the above matters, among the total transportation distance of the package from the glass plate manufacturing factory, etc. as the shipping origin to the glass product manufacturing factory, etc. as the destination, especially for the transportation distance by automobile transportation, it is necessary to shorten it to such an extent that no dirt adheres to the glass plate. From this perspective, based on the above-mentioned experimental results, the inventor has found that the transportation distance in the first transportation process by automobile transportation should be set to 400 km or less. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the adhesion of dirt to the glass plate in automobile transportation, which causes the largest vibration in the package among the transportation forms.

[0011] In this transportation method, as the automobile transportation in the first transportation process, initial automobile transportation and final automobile transportation may be carried out, and the second transportation process may be carried out between the initial automobile transportation and the final automobile transportation.

[0012] By doing so, the package can be efficiently transported from the shipping origin to the destination with water, air, or railway transportation intervening.

[0013] In the above transportation method, the total transportation distance in the first transportation step and the second transportation step may be 550 km or more.

[0014] As described above, the transportation distance by automobile transportation is shortened to 400 km or less, and water transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation are suitable for long-distance transportation. Therefore, even when the total transportation distance from the shipping origin to the destination is as long as 550 km or more, the vibration generated in the package throughout the transportation can be sufficiently reduced, and the adhesion of dirt to the glass plate can be appropriately reduced.

[0015] A second aspect of the present invention devised to solve the above problems is a method for formulating a transportation plan for a package including a laminate of a glass plate and a protective sheet, wherein the transportation plan for the package is divided into a first transportation plan by automobile transportation and a second transportation plan by at least one selected from water transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation, a first distance setting step of setting the transportation distance in the first transportation plan, a second distance setting step of setting the transportation distance in the second transportation plan, and a distance adjustment step of adjusting the transportation distance set in the first distance setting step so as to be 400 km or less.

[0016] According to such a configuration, when formulating a transportation plan for a package, the transportation modes are divided into two groups. The effect of dividing the transportation modes into two groups in this way is substantially the same as in the case of the corresponding transportation method described above. In this configuration, the transportation distance by automobile transportation is set in the first distance setting step, and the transportation distance by at least one of water transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation is set in the second distance setting step. In this case, when setting the transportation distance by automobile transportation in the first distance setting step, in the distance adjustment step, the distance is adjusted so as to be 400 km or less. Thereby, the transportation distance when performing automobile transportation can be accurately set by careful processing.

[0017] In this transportation plan formulation method, as the automobile transportation in the first transportation plan, initial automobile transportation and final automobile transportation are carried out, and between the time when the initial automobile transportation is carried out and the time when the final automobile transportation is carried out, the second transportation plan is carried out. In the first distance setting step, the total distance between the transportation distance by the initial automobile transportation and the transportation distance by the final automobile transportation is calculated, and the total distance may be set as the transportation distance in the first transportation plan.

[0018] In this configuration, the effect of carrying out the second transportation plan between the time when the initial automobile transportation is carried out and the time when the final automobile transportation is carried out is substantially the same as in the case of the corresponding transportation method described above. And in this configuration, in the first distance setting step, the total distance between the transportation distance by the initial automobile transportation and the transportation distance by the final automobile transportation is calculated. Thereby, after accurately obtaining the total distance between the two transportation distances to be 400 km or less, it is set as the transportation distance in the first transportation plan.

[0019] In the above transportation plan formulation method, a total distance adjustment step of adjusting so that the sum of the distances of the first transportation plan and the second transportation plan becomes 550 km or more may be further provided.

[0020] In this way, as in the above-described case, even when the total transportation distance from the shipping source to the shipping destination is as long as 550 km or more, the vibration generated in the package throughout the transportation can be made sufficiently small, and the adhesion of dirt to the glass plate can be appropriately reduced. Moreover, in this configuration, in the total distance adjustment step, elaborate processing is performed to make the sum of the transportation distance by automobile transportation and the transportation distance by at least one of water transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation 550 km or more.

Effect of the Invention

[0021] According to the present invention, the relationship between the transportation form and the transportation distance of the package including the laminate of the glass plate and the protective sheet becomes appropriate, and the adhesion of dirt to the glass plate during transportation can be reduced.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0022]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0023] Hereinafter, a method of transporting a package and a method of formulating a transport plan for a package according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0024] FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a package which is an object to be transported according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the package 1 includes a laminate 4 in which a lining paper (protective sheet) 3 is interposed between a plurality of glass plates 2, and this laminate 4 is loaded on a pallet 5 and packaged. Here, the glass plates 2 included in the laminate 4 are those used for flat panel displays such as liquid crystal displays, organic EL displays, or plasma displays.

[0025] The pallet 5 includes a base portion 7 having an insertion port 6 for inserting a fork of a forklift or the like, a support portion 8 for supporting the lower end portion of the laminate 4, and a backrest portion 9 for supporting the laminate 4 from the back side. Each glass plate 2 of the laminate 4 is held in a vertically placed posture (strictly speaking, an inclined posture) by the support portion 8 and the backrest portion 9. Further, the laminate 4 is fixed to the pallet 5 by a plurality of (two in the illustrated example) binding bands 10. Furthermore, the laminate 4 is covered with a bag body 11, and the internal space of this bag body 11 is in a sealed state. Thereby, it is prevented that dust or the like enters the internal space of the bag body 11 and adheres to the laminate 4.

[0026] The package 1 is produced when shipping the glass plate 2 at a glass plate manufacturing factory. The produced package 1 is transported to a panel manufacturing factory that manufactures flat panel displays. At the panel manufacturing factory, the received package 1 is unpacked to take out the glass plate 2, and a wiring pattern (for example, an electrode pattern) is formed on the glass plate 2. This wiring pattern has, for example, a line width of 3 to 5 μm and a line interval of 25 to 200 μm, and preferably a line width of 3 to 5 μm and a line interval of 25 to 50 μm.

[0027] <Transport method of the package> FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method of transporting a package according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this transportation method separates a transportation process 12 for transporting the package 1 into a first transportation process 13 by automobile transportation and a second transportation process 14 by at least one selected from sea transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation. The transportation distance in the first transportation process 13 is α km or less, specifically 400 km or less. From the viewpoint of further reducing disconnection defects and preventing disconnection defects in a more precise wiring pattern, the transportation distance in the first transportation process 13 is preferably 350 km or less, more preferably 300 km or less. Also, the total of the transportation distances in the first transportation process 13 and the second transportation process 14 is β km or more, specifically 550 km or more, or 700 km or more, or 850 km or more. Here, both the first transportation process 13 and the second transportation process 14 may be performed a plurality of times, not limited to once, during the transportation of the package 1 from the glass plate manufacturing factory, which is the shipping origin, to the panel manufacturing factory, which is the shipping destination. Specifically, the first transportation process 13 and the second transportation process 14 may be performed once each, or the first transportation process 13, the second transportation process 14, and the first transportation process 13 may be performed once each in this order, or the first transportation process 13, two or three second transportation processes 14, and the first transportation process 13 may be performed in this order, or other than these may also be possible. Also, the transportation process 12 may include a process of temporarily storing the package 1 in a warehouse or the like. Note that this transportation method is managed by a manager such as a glass plate manufacturer, a panel manufacturer, or a transportation company. Also, the selection of the transportation form and the setting of the transportation distance in this transportation method are performed by the manager before transporting the package 1.

[0028] In this transportation method, the transportation forms of the package 1 are divided into two groups. To explain the characteristics of this grouping, land transportation includes automobile transportation and railway transportation. Among them, automobile transportation belongs to the first transportation process 13, while railway transportation belongs to the second transportation process 14. Furthermore, sea transportation and air transportation belong to the second transportation process 14. The reason for such grouping is that for the same transportation distance, the vibration generated in the package 1 during automobile transportation is much greater than that during sea transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation, and the former and the latter can be clearly distinguished. Therefore, in the case of automobile transportation, compared with other transportation forms, the adhesion of dirt to the glass plate 2 due to the vibration of the package 1 becomes prominent. This dirt is caused by the transfer of foreign substances such as resin components contained in the interleaving paper 3 to the glass plate 2 due to the rubbing between the interleaving paper 3 and the glass plate 2 accompanying the vibration. Considering the above matters, among the total transportation distance of the package 1 from the glass plate manufacturing factory as the shipping origin to the glass product manufacturing factory as the shipping destination, especially the transportation distance by automobile transportation needs to be shortened to such an extent that no dirt adheres to the glass plate 2. From this perspective, the transportation distance in the first transportation process 13 by automobile transportation is set to be α km or less. Thereby, the adhesion of dirt to the glass plate 2 during the transportation of the package 1 can be reduced. Also, sea transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation are more suitable for long-distance transportation because the vibration generated in the package 1 is much smaller compared to automobile transportation. From this perspective, the sum of the transportation distance by automobile transportation and the transportation distance by at least one of sea transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation is set to be β km or more. Thereby, even when the total transportation distance is long, the adhesion of dirt to the glass plate 2 during the transportation of the package 1 can be efficiently reduced. Note that all the matters described here were discovered by the inventor through the experiments described later. Also, the "dirt" mentioned here means the dirt that causes disconnection defects when the above wiring pattern is formed on the glass plate 2 (the same applies hereinafter). Furthermore, this disconnection defect means that when the above wiring pattern is formed on the surface of the glass plate 2 with the above "dirt" adhering thereto, the wiring pattern is chipped, deformed, or broken, resulting in a state where the wiring pattern is disconnected (the same applies hereinafter).

Example

[0029] The present invention was completed through experiments conducted by the inventor. Therefore, in this embodiment, the experiments conducted by the inventor and the experimental results will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 1, a package 1 was produced by packing a laminate 4 composed of a glass plate 2 and a backing paper 3 on a pallet 5. In this case, the size of the glass plate 2 is 1300 to 2200 mm in the longitudinal direction, 1500 to 2600 mm in the transverse direction, and 0.3 to 0.7 mm in thickness. Also, the number of glass plates 2 in the laminate 4 is 100 to 500. Then, this package 1 was transported by each of automobile transportation, maritime transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation. Here, automobile transportation means transportation by a truck (container truck), maritime transportation means transportation by a ship (container ship), air transportation means transportation by an aircraft (air container), and railway transportation means transportation by a railway vehicle (railway container). After transporting the package 1 over different transportation distances by each transportation mode, it was inspected whether the above-mentioned stains adhered to the glass plate 2. The inspection was performed using a surface particle measuring instrument. The inspection results are shown in Table 1 below. In Table 1, when no stain adhered at all, it was marked with ◎; when a slight stain adhered but it was not a stain that would cause a disconnection defect, it was marked with 〇; when a stain that would cause a disconnection defect adhered, it was marked with ×.

[0030]

Table 1

[0031] According to Table 1 above, in automobile transportation, for a transportation distance of 300 km or less, it was marked with ◎, for 350 km and 400 km, it was marked with 〇, and for 450 km or more, it was marked with ×. From this experimental result, as described above, for the "α km or less" regarding the transportation distance by automobile transportation, it suffices to be 400 km or less, preferably 350 km or less, and more preferably 300 km or less. Also, in maritime transportation and air transportation, even when the transportation distance is 5000 km, there is no problem of dirt adhesion to the glass plate 2. Furthermore, in railway transportation, since dirt adhesion to the glass plate 2 becomes a problem when the transportation distance exceeds 2000 km, it is preferably 1500 km or less. Also, from this experimental result, for the "α km or less" regarding the transportation distance by automobile transportation, strictly speaking, it is preferably within the range of the distance that can be transported so that dirt that causes disconnection failure does not adhere when the above wiring pattern is formed on the glass plate 2 within the range of 400 km or less. Also, when the lower limit value of this transportation distance is set as α1 km, this α1 km can be, for example, 10 km, 50 km, or 100 km. Furthermore, from this experimental result, it is clear that maritime transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation are suitable for long-distance transportation compared to automobile postal delivery. Therefore, if the total distance between the transportation distance in the first transportation step 13 and the transportation distance in the second transportation step 14 is inappropriately shortened, the advantages of the second transportation step 14 cannot be effectively utilized. Thus, as a result of repeated consideration, the inventor has found 550 km as the minimum total distance β km that can effectively utilize the advantages of the second transportation step 14. Also, when the upper limit value of this total distance is set as β1 km, considering from Table 1, it is appropriate to set it as 1500 km when railway transportation is selected in the second transportation step 14. On the other hand, when maritime transportation and air transportation are selected in the second transportation step 14, there is no upper limit for β1.

[0032] Next, a first example and a second example, which are specific examples of the method for transporting the package according to the present invention, will be described.

[0033] [Method for Transporting Package: First Example] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a first example of a method for transporting a package. In this first example, as automobile transportation in the first transportation step 13, initial automobile transportation and final automobile transportation are performed. Specifically, the package 1 carried out from the shipping source 15 (glass plate manufacturing factory) is first transported by the initial automobile transportation in step S1. Thereafter, the package 1 is transported either by sea transportation or air transportation in step S2. Then, the package 1 is transported by the final automobile transportation in step S3 and carried into the destination 16 (panel manufacturing factory).

[0034] Automobile transportation is advantageous in that it enables just-in-time transportation, has excellent convenience, and enables rapid transportation compared with sea transportation and air transportation. However, automobile transportation is not suitable for long-distance transportation because it causes large vibrations to the package 1. On the other hand, sea transportation and air transportation are inferior in terms of convenience and speed, but are suitable for long-distance transportation because they cause small vibrations to the package 1. Therefore, in this first example, when carrying out the package 1 from the shipping source 15 and when carrying the package 1 into the destination 16, initial automobile transportation and final automobile transportation are performed, and either sea transportation or air transportation is performed between these two automobile transports. Thereby, the respective advantages of automobile transportation and sea transportation or air transportation can be effectively utilized.

[0035] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the implementation of the transportation method according to this first example. The figure illustrates a case where land B1 and land B2 are separated by sea A, a shipping origin 15 is located in land B1, and a shipping destination 16 is located in land B2. In land B1, roads R1, R2, and R3 are connected from the shipping origin 15 to three ports C, D, and E, respectively. On the other hand, in land B2, roads R4, R5, and R6 are connected from the three ports F, G, and H to the shipping destination 16, respectively. In this case, the three ports C, D, and E in land B1 and the three ports F, G, and H in land B2 are connected by sea routes J1, J2, and J3, respectively. In addition to these, there are other roads and sea routes, but for the sake of convenience of explanation, their descriptions are omitted here. Under such circumstances, a pair of roads with a total distance of α1 km or more and α km or less is searched for from among the total distances of road R1 and road R4, the total distances of road R2 and road R5, and the total distances of road R3 and road R6. In the illustrated example, the total distance of road R1 and road R4 is α1 km or more and α km or less. Also, the total distances of road R2 and road R5 and the total distances of road R3 and road R6 both exceed α km. Furthermore, the distances of sea routes J1, J2, and J3 are all β km or more and β1 km or less. Therefore, in this case, road R1 for the initial automobile transportation, sea route J1 for the sea transportation, and road R4 for the final automobile transportation are used as the route for transporting the package 1. Here, the above ports C to H may be airports, in which case the above sea routes J1 to J3 become air routes. Note that among the above description items, "the distance of the road" means the distance along the road, that is, the length of the road, and "the distance of the sea route" means the distance along the sea route, that is, the length of the sea route (the same applies hereinafter). Also, the "distance of the railway" to be described later also means the distance along the railway, that is, the length of the railway.

[0036] [Transportation Method of Package: Second Example] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a second example of the method for transporting a package. The difference between this second example and the transportation method according to the above-described first example is that, between performing the initial automobile transportation in step S1 and performing either sea transportation or air transportation in step S2, railway transportation is performed in step S11, and between performing either sea transportation or air transportation in step S2 and performing the final automobile transportation in step S3, railway transportation is performed in step S12. By doing so, when the total distance by automobile transportation exceeds α km, the exceeded transportation distance can be replaced by railway transportation, thereby shortening the total distance of automobile transportation to be equal to or more than α1 km and equal to or less than α km. In the illustrated example, railway transportation is performed at two locations, but railway transportation may be performed at only one of the locations.

[0037] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the implementation of the transportation method according to this second example. This figure is an improvement of the route in which the total distance of a pair of roads exceeds α km among the routes exemplified by the transportation method according to the above-described first example. That is, on land B1, the road R2 from the shipping origin 15 is shortened, and the section from the end 17 of the road R2 to the port D is connected by a railway transportation line T1. Also, on land B2, the road R6 leading to the destination 16 is shortened, and the section from the start 18 of the road R6 to the port H is connected by a railway transportation line T2. As a result, both the total distance of the road R2 and the road R5 and the total distance of the road R3 and the road R6 become equal to or more than α1 km and equal to or less than α km. Also, both the total distance of the line T1 and the sea route J2 and the total distance of the line T2 and the sea route J3 become equal to or more than β km and equal to or less than β1 km. Therefore, in the illustrated example, in addition to the route consisting of the road R1, the sea route J1, and the road R4, the route consisting of the road R2, the line T1, the sea route J2, and the road R5, and the route consisting of the road R3, the sea route J3, the line T2, and the road R6 can all be used as the routes for transporting the package 1.

[0038] In this case, in both the first and second examples of the transportation method of the package, the measurement of the distance of each road, each sea route, each air route, and in some cases each line (including those other than those illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 6) can be carried out by tracing a map or based on electronic data as map information. Also, the measurement of the distance of each road can be carried out using a car navigation system or the like in addition to the above. Further, it is preferable that the data of the distance and position of each road, each sea route, each air route, and in some cases each line are stored in advance in the storage means. And the calculation of the total distance of a pair of roads and the calculation of the total distance of a pair of roads and at least one of a sea route, an air route, and a line may be carried out by a control means (for example, incorporating a computer program or the like) based on the above respective data stored in the storage means. Incidentally, the calculation of such total distance and total distance can also be carried out by the calculation of an operator (for example, a manager) without using the storage means and the control means.

[0039] [Method for formulating a transportation plan for a package] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method for formulating a transportation plan for a package according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this transportation plan formulation method separates a transportation plan 20 in the transportation plan of the package 1 into a first transportation plan 21 by automobile transportation and a second transportation plan 22 by at least one selected from sea transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation. And this transportation plan formulation method includes a first distance setting step 23 for setting the transportation distance in the first transportation plan 21, a second distance setting step 24 for setting the transportation distance in the second transportation plan 22, and a distance adjustment step 25 for adjusting the distance set in the first distance setting step 23 to be α1 km or more and α km or less. Also, this transportation plan formulation method includes a total distance adjustment step 26 for adjusting the total of the transportation distances in the first transportation plan 21 and the second transportation plan 22 to be β km or more and β1 km or less. Here, neither the first transportation plan 21 nor the second transportation plan 22 needs to be used only once during the transportation of the package 1 from the shipping source 15 to the shipping destination 16, and may be used a plurality of times.

[0040] Even in this method of formulating a transportation plan, the transportation forms of the package 1 are divided into two groups. The characteristics of this grouping and the reasons for the grouping are the same as those of the transportation method of the package described above. Also, the reason for being able to reduce the adhesion of dirt to the glass plate 2 is the same as the matters described in the transportation method of the package described above. According to this method of formulating a transportation plan, in the first distance setting step 23, the transportation distance by automobile transportation is set, and in the second distance setting step 24, the transportation distance by at least one of sea transportation, air transportation, and railway transportation is set. In this case, when setting the transportation distance by automobile transportation in the first distance setting step 23, in the distance adjustment step 25, the distance is adjusted so that it is α1 km or more and α km or less. Thereby, it becomes possible to accurately obtain the distance of the road for performing automobile transportation by careful processing. Moreover, according to this method of formulating a transportation plan, in the total distance adjustment step 26, the total of the transportation distances in the first transportation plan 21 and the second transportation plan 22 is adjusted so that it is β km or more and β1 km or less. Thereby, it also becomes possible to accurately obtain the total of the distance of the road and the distance of at least one of the sea route, air route, and railway line by careful processing. Therefore, it is possible to more surely reduce the adhesion of dirt to the glass plate 2.

[0041] Next, a first example and a second example, which are specific examples of the method of formulating a transportation plan for a package according to the present invention, will be described.

[0042] [Method of Formulating a Transportation Plan for a Package: First Example] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a first example of a method for formulating a transportation plan for a package. In this first example, as automobile transportation in the first transportation plan 21, initial automobile transportation and final automobile transportation are performed. In this first example, similar to the first example of the transportation method described above, the package 1 is first transported by the initial automobile transportation in step S21, then transported by either sea transportation or air transportation in step S22, and then transported by the final automobile transportation in step S23 and carried into the destination 16. And in this first example, in the first distance setting step 23, the total distance between the initial automobile transportation and the final automobile transportation is calculated and set. This total distance is adjusted to be α1 km or more and α km or less in the distance adjustment step 25. Also, in the second distance setting step 24, the distance of either sea transportation or air transportation is set. Further, in this first example, the sum of the total distance set in the first distance setting step 23 and the distance set in the second distance setting step 24 is adjusted in the total distance adjustment step 26 so as to be β km or more and β1 km or less.

[0043] Next, a transportation plan formulation method according to the implemented first example will be described. This first example formulates a transportation plan based on the map information shown in FIG. 4 that has already been described. In this first example, when setting the distance by automobile transportation in the first distance setting step 23, the total distance between the distances of each road on land B1 and the distances of each road on land B2 shown in the figure is adjusted in the distance adjustment step 25 so as to be α1 km or more and α km or less. As a result of this adjustment, roads R1 and R4 are found such that the total distance of a pair of roads satisfies the requirement of being α1 km or more and α km or less. In the second distance setting step 24, the distance of the sea route in sea A is set. In this case, in the total distance adjustment step 26, the total of the total distance of a pair of roads and the distance of the sea route is adjusted so as to be β km or more and β1 km or less. As a result of this adjustment, roads R1 and R4 and sea route J1 are found such that the total distance satisfies the requirement of being β km or more and β1 km or less. The found roads R1, R4 and sea route J1 are adopted as the transportation plan of the transportation plan. Note that roads R2 and R5 and roads R3 and R6 shown in the figure are not adopted in the transportation plan of the transportation plan regardless of the distances of sea routes J2 and J3 because their total distances do not satisfy the requirement of being α1 km or more and α km or less.

[0044] [Transportation Plan Formulation Method for Package: Second Example] FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a second example of a method for formulating a transportation plan for a package. The difference between this second example and the transportation plan formulation method according to the above-described first example is that railway transportation is performed in step S24 between the initial automobile transportation in step S21 and the performance of either sea transportation or air transportation in step S22, and railway transportation is performed in step S25 between the performance of either sea transportation or air transportation in step S22 and the final automobile transportation in step S23. Similar to the transportation plan formulation method according to the above-described first example, in this second example, in the first distance setting step 23, the total distance between the initial automobile transportation and the final automobile transportation is calculated and set, and the total distance is adjusted in the distance adjustment step 25 so as to be α1 km or more and α km or less. Then, in this second example, the total distance between the two railway transports and either sea transportation or air transportation is calculated and set in the second distance setting step 24. Further, in this second example, the total of the total distance calculated in the first distance setting step 23 and the total distance calculated in the second distance setting step 24 is adjusted in the total distance adjustment step 26 so as to be β km or more and β1 km or less. Then, after the adjustment, each transportation distance set in the first distance setting step 23 and the second distance setting step 24 is adopted as a transportation plan for the transportation plan. In the illustrated example, railway transportation is performed at two locations, but railway transportation may be performed at only one of the locations.

[0045] Next, the transportation plan formulation method according to the implemented second example will be described. This second example formulates a transportation plan based on the map information shown in FIG. 6 that has already been described. Here, the total distance between the distance of road R1 from the shipping origin 15 at land B1 to port C shown in the figure and the distance of road R4 from port F at land B2 to the destination 16 satisfies the requirement of being α1 km or more and α km or less. On the other hand, the total distance between the distance of the route from the shipping origin 15 at land B1 to port D and the distance of the route from port G at land B2 to the destination 16 exceeds α km. In this case, in the distance adjustment step 25, the total distance between road R2 for automobile transportation at land B1 and road R5 for automobile transportation at land B2 is adjusted to be α1 km or more and α km or less. As a result of this adjustment, the shortened road R2 at land B1 and road R5 at land B2 are found, and the railway line T1 for railway transportation from the end 17 of road R2 at land B1 to port D is found. Similarly, the road R3 from the shipping origin 15 at land B1 to port E and the shortened road R6 at land B2 are found, and the railway line T2 for railway transportation from port H at land B2 to the start 18 of road R6 is found. Here, the total of the total distance of road R2 and road R5 and the total distance of railway line T1 and sea route J2 satisfies the requirement of being β km or more and β1 km or less. Similarly, the total of the total distance of road R3 and road R6 and the total distance of railway line T2 and sea route J3 also satisfies the requirement of being β km or more and β1 km or less. Therefore, in the illustrated example, any of the three routes from the shipping origin 15 to the destination 16 can be adopted as the transportation plan for the transportation plan. In this case, in order to respond to the request to reduce the number of loading and unloading operations of the package 1, it is preferable to adopt, as the transportation plan for the transportation plan, the route that does not perform railway transportation, that is, the route consisting of road R1, sea route J1, and road R4.

[0046] In this case, in both the first and second examples of the method for formulating a transportation plan for a package, the measurement of the distance of each road, each sea route, each air route, and in some cases each route (including those other than those illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 6) can be carried out by tracing a map or based on electronic data as map information. Also, the measurement of the distance of each road can be carried out using a car navigation system or the like in addition to the above. Furthermore, it is preferable that the data on the distance and position of each road, each sea route, each air route, and in some cases each route are stored in advance in the storage means. Then, the calculation and setting of the total distance of a pair of roads in the first distance setting step 23 and the calculation and setting of the distance (total distance) of a sea route or an air route and in some cases a route in the second distance setting step 24 may be carried out by the control means (for example, incorporating a computer program or the like) based on the above respective data stored in the storage means, or may be carried out by the calculation of an operator. Furthermore, the adjustment of the distance in the distance adjustment step 25 and the adjustment of the distance in the total distance adjustment step 26 may also be carried out by the control means (for example, incorporating a computer program or the like) based on the above respective data stored in the storage means, or may be carried out by the calculation of an operator.

[0047] In the above embodiments, the present invention is applied when the land B1 where the shipping origin 15 is located and the land B2 where the destination 16 is located are separated by the sea A. However, the present invention can also be applied in the same manner when the shipping origin 15 and the destination 16 are located on the same land.

[0048] In the above embodiments, sea transportation among water transportation is taken as an example for explanation. However, for other water transportation such as transportation on a river or transportation on a canal, it can be treated in the same manner as sea transportation. Therefore, instead of sea transportation, transportation on a river or transportation on a canal may be applied to the present invention as water transportation. Also, instead of sea transportation, a transportation appropriately combining sea transportation, transportation on a river, and transportation on a canal may be applied to the present invention as water transportation.

[0049] In the above embodiment, the laminate 4 of the packages 1 loaded on the pallet 5 is composed of a plurality of vertically placed glass plates 2 and the interleaving sheets 3 therebetween. However, the laminate 4 may be composed of a plurality of horizontally placed glass plates 2 and the interleaving sheets 3 therebetween. Further, as the protective sheet, a foamed resin sheet may be used instead of the interleaving sheet.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0050] 1 Package 2 Glass Plate 3 Interleaving Sheet (Protective Sheet) 4 Laminate 13 First Transportation Step 14 Second Transportation Step 21 First Transportation Route 22 Second Transportation Route 23 First Distance Setting Step 24 Second Distance Setting Step 25 Distance Adjustment Step 26 Total Distance Adjustment Step

Claims

A method for transporting a package including a laminate of a glass plate and a protective sheet used for a display, comprising: a step of transporting the package, a first transport step by automobile transport using a container truck, a second transport step by water transport using a container ship, and a method for transporting a package, characterized in that the transport distance in the first transport step is 400 km or less.

2. As the automobile transport in the first transport step, initial automobile transport and final automobile transport are performed, and the second transport step is performed between the initial automobile transport and the final automobile transport. The method for transporting a package according to claim 1.

3. The method for transporting a package according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the total transport distance in the first transport step and the second transport step is 550 km or more. A method for formulating a transport plan for a package including a laminate of a glass plate and a protective sheet used for a display, comprising: a transport plan created by obtaining a transport distance based on map information including a map for the transport plan of the package, a first transport plan by automobile transport using a container truck, a second transport plan by water transport using a container ship, and a first distance setting step of setting a transport distance in the first transport plan, a second distance setting step of setting a transport distance in the second transport plan, and a distance adjustment step of adjusting based on the map information including the map so that the transport distance set in the first distance setting step is 400 km or less. A method for formulating a transport plan for a package, characterized by comprising:

5. As the automobile transport in the first transport plan, initial automobile transport and final automobile transport are performed, and the second transport plan is performed between the initial automobile transport and the final automobile transport. In the first distance setting step, the total distance between the transport distance by the initial automobile transport and the transport distance by the final automobile transport is calculated based on the map information including the map, and the total distance is set as the transport distance in the first transport plan. The method for formulating a transport plan for a package according to claim 4.

6. The method for formulating a transport plan for a package according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising a total distance adjustment step of adjusting based on the map information including the map so that the total transport distance in the first transport plan and the second transport plan is 550 km or more.

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