Delivery rack and delivery vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12196008-B2
Application number	US-202117565586-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 30, 2021
Priority date	Feb 8, 2021
Publication date	Jan 14, 2025
Grant date	Jan 14, 2025

Abstract

A rack includes: a casing; M pairs of supports that are provided inside the casing so as to extend in a depth direction and arrayed at regular intervals in a predetermined direction; and a lock mechanism that locks returnable containers housed while being supported so as to be slidable along the respective M pairs of supports. The lock mechanism has M rotary lock main bodies that are respectively provided at the M pairs of supports and each unlock at a predetermined rotation angle, and a coupling member that couples the M rotary lock main bodies to one another and allows them to rotate in conjunction with one another. The predetermined rotation angle for unlocking is different for each of the M rotary lock main bodies, and the M rotary lock main bodies are driven to rotate by a single driving source.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A delivery rack comprising:
a casing;
M pairs of supports, with M being an integer not less than two, that are provided inside the casing so as to extend in a depth direction and arrayed in M tiers at regular intervals in a predetermined direction that is one of an up-down direction and a left-right direction; and
a lock mechanism configured to lock returnable containers housed while being supported so as to be slidable along the respective M pairs of supports,
the delivery rack being configured to house all the returnable containers of one or more prespecified sizes, wherein:
the lock mechanism includes:
M rotary lock main bodies that are respectively provided at the M pairs of supports and each unlock at a predetermined rotation angle; and
a coupling member that couples the M rotary lock main bodies to one another and allows the M rotary lock main bodies to rotate in conjunction with one another;

the predetermined rotation angle for unlocking is different for each of the M rotary lock main bodies, and the M rotary lock main bodies are configured to be driven to rotate by a single driving source;
a protrusion that protrudes from each returnable container toward an outer side in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction slides over the supports; and
the protrusion has a notch that is engaged with one of the M rotary lock main bodies when locking the returnable container and disengaged from the one of the M rotary lock main bodies when unlocking the returnable container.

2. The delivery rack according to claim 1 , wherein each of the M rotary lock main bodies unlocks at another predetermined rotation angle that is common to all the M rotary lock main bodies.

3. The delivery rack according to claim 1 , wherein the M pairs of supports, with M being an integer not less than four, are divided and arrayed in m rows, with m being an integer not less than two and a divisor of M, in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction of the casing, and are arrayed in M/m tiers at regular intervals in each row, so as to be arrayed in a total of M tiers.

4. The delivery rack according to claim 1 , wherein:
the delivery rack is able to house returnable containers in L rows, with L being an integer not less than one, in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction of the casing; and
the delivery rack includes, in each row, the M pairs of supports and the lock mechanism of which the M rotary lock main bodies are driven by the single driving source.

5. The delivery rack according to claim 1 , wherein the coupling member includes a belt.

6. The delivery rack according to claim 1 , wherein the coupling member includes a gear.

7. A delivery vehicle comprising:
a rack, the rack comprising:
a casing;
M pairs of supports, with M being an integer not less than two, that are provided inside the casing so as to extend in a depth direction and arrayed in M tiers at regular intervals in a predetermined direction that is one of an up-down direction and a left-right direction; and
a lock mechanism configured to lock returnable containers housed while being supported so as to be slidable along the respective M pairs of supports,

the rack being configured to house all the returnable containers of one or more prespecified sizes, wherein:
the lock mechanism includes:
M rotary lock main bodies that are respectively provided at the M pairs of supports and each unlock at a predetermined rotation angle; and
a coupling member that couples the M rotary lock main bodies to one another and allows the M rotary lock main bodies to rotate in conjunction with one another;

the predetermined rotation angle for unlocking is different for each of the M rotary lock main bodies, and the M rotary lock main bodies are configured to be driven to rotate by a single driving source;
a protrusion that protrudes from each returnable container toward an outer side in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction slides over the supports; and
the protrusion has a notch that is engaged with one of the M rotary lock main bodies when locking the returnable container and disengaged from the one of the M rotary lock main bodies when unlocking the returnable container.

8. The delivery vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein each of the M rotary lock main bodies unlocks at another predetermined rotation angle that is common to all the M rotary lock main bodies.

9. The delivery vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein the M pairs of supports, with M being an integer not less than four, are divided and arrayed in m rows, with m being an integer not less than two and a divisor of M, in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction of the casing, and are arrayed in M/m tiers at regular intervals in each row, so as to be arrayed in a total of M tiers.

10. The delivery vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein:
the rack is able to house returnable containers in L rows, with L being an integer not less than one, in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction of the casing; and
the rack includes, in each row, the M pairs of supports and the lock mechanism of which the M rotary lock main bodies are driven by the single driving source.

11. The delivery vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein the coupling member includes a belt.

12. The delivery vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein the coupling member includes a gear.

13. The delivery vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein the delivery vehicle is an autonomous vehicle.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Iwamoto Kunihiro
• Itozawa Yuta
• Komura Hirotaka
• Takagi Yutaro
• Nakamoto Yoshiaki
• Ota Junya

Classifications

• E05B47/0012

  with rotary electromotors (actuators with rotary electromotors per se H02K7/06, H02K23/68) · CPC title

• B62B3/10

  characterised by supports specially adapted to objects of definite shape · CPC title

• B62B3/04

  involving means for grappling or securing in place objects to be carried; Loading or unloading equipment · CPC title

• E05B2047/0017

  with rotary motion · CPC title

• B65G1/10

  with relatively movable racks to facilitate insertion or removal of articles {(cabinets with means for moving compartments up and down A47B51/00; cabinet system, e.g. consisting of cabinets arranged in a row with means to open or close passages between adjacent cabinets A47B53/02)} · CPC title