US-12622517-B2 - Smart locker

US12622517B2US 12622517 B2US12622517 B2US 12622517B2US-12622517-B2

Abstract

Provided is a smart locker, including a cabinet, a plurality of locker doors, and a plurality of shelf boards configured to vertically divide a storage space of the cabinet into one or more locker compartments. In some examples, each of the one or more locker compartments includes a locker door of the plurality of locker doors. Moreover, when a locker door of a first locker compartment of the one or more locker compartments that is adjacent to a second locker compartment of the one or more locker compartments is closed, a position of a shelf board of the plurality of shelf boards that forms the first locker compartment is limited by the locker door of the first locker compartment.

Inventors

Chun-Lin Liu
Zheng-Lun FENG

Assignees

Shopee IP Singapore Private Limited

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240401
Priority Date: 20230424

Claims (15)

1 . A smart locker, comprising: a cabinet; a plurality of locker doors, the plurality of locker doors including at least a first locker door and a second locker door; and a plurality of shelf boards configured to vertically divide a storage space of the cabinet into one or more locker compartments, each of the one or more locker compartments includes a locker door of the plurality of locker doors, wherein: the one or more locker compartments includes a first locker compartment and a second locker compartment, the first locker compartment being adjacent to the second locker compartment, the first locker door is coupled to the first locker compartment and the second locker door is coupled to the second locker compartment, the plurality of shelf boards includes a first shelf board positioned between the first locker compartment and the second locker compartment to form the first locker compartment and the second locker compartment, the first shelf board including an upper surface, a lower surface, and a first limiting component on the upper surface of the first shelf board that extends away from the upper surface, and when the first locker door is closed, the first locker door limits movement of the first shelf board.
2 . The smart locker of claim 1 , wherein a first inner surface of the cabinet and a second inner surface opposite to the first inner surface are correspondingly provided with a plurality of dividing components, and the plurality of shelf boards are placed on the plurality of dividing components to vertically divide the storage space of the cabinet into the one or more locker compartments.
3 . The smart locker of claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of dividing components is a sliding rail.
4 . The smart locker of claim 1 , wherein the first shelf board further comprises: a second limiting component, wherein the first limiting component and the second limiting component are disposed at two ends of a first side of the upper surface of the first shelf board, and the first limiting component and the second limiting component have a first height relative to the upper surface of the first shelf board.
5 . The smart locker of claim 4 , wherein the first limiting component and the second limiting component are bulges or protrusions.
6 . The smart locker of claim 4 , wherein the first shelf board further comprises: a third limiting component and a fourth limiting component disposed at two ends of a second side opposite to a first side of the lower surface of the first shelf board, wherein the third limiting component and the fourth limiting component have a second height relative to the lower surface of the first shelf board, and wherein the first height is greater than the second height.
7 . The smart locker of claim 6 , wherein: a first inner surface of the cabinet and a second inner surface opposite to the first inner surface are correspondingly provided with a plurality of dividing components, and the plurality of shelf boards are placed on the plurality of dividing components to vertically divide the storage space of the cabinet into the one or more locker compartments; and when the first shelf board is pushed into the cabinet to be placed on a corresponding dividing component of the plurality of dividing components associated with at least one of the first locker compartment and the second locker compartment, the third limiting component and the fourth limiting component exceeds a tail end of the corresponding dividing component to fix the first shelf board to the corresponding dividing component.
8 . The smart locker of claim 3 , wherein the sliding rail of each of the plurality of dividing components comprises an upper half sliding rail and a lower half sliding rail, and a height between the upper half sliding rail and the lower half sliding rail allows a shelf board of the plurality of shelf boards to be pushed into the cabinet within a predetermined angle range to be placed on the lower half sliding rail.
9 . The smart locker of claim 3 , wherein the first shelf board further comprises: a second limiting component disposed at one end of a first side of a lower surface of the first shelf board, wherein the second limiting component comprises a tenon extending towards an inner side of the cabinet.
10 . The smart locker of claim 9 , wherein when the first shelf board is completely pushed into the sliding rail of at least one dividing component of the plurality of dividing components, a bottom of the tenon of the second limiting component presses against an upper edge of the at least one dividing component, and wherein, when the first side of the first shelf board is pressed down, the bottom of the tenon of the first second limiting component is located below the at least one dividing component to press against the at least one dividing component to fix the first shelf board.
11 . The smart locker of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of dividing components disposed in the cabinet comprise front fixed columns and rear fixed columns, a first side of each of the plurality of shelf boards and a second side of each of the plurality of shelf boards opposite to the first side comprise front grooves and rear grooves, the front grooves and the rear grooves are respectively inverted-U-shaped and inverted-L-shaped, and the front fixed columns and the rear fixed columns of the cabinet are respectively snapped into the front grooves and the rear grooves of the plurality of shelf boards, so that the plurality of shelf boards are horizontally placed in the cabinet.
12 . The smart locker of claim 11 , wherein the first side of each of the plurality of shelf boards is provided with a fixing member beside a corresponding front groove, and when each of the plurality of shelf boards are horizontally placed in the cabinet, the fixing member is snapped into a corresponding groove provided in the cabinet to fix a corresponding shelf board of the plurality of shelf boards.
13 . The smart locker of claim 1 , further comprising: a plurality of locker compartments including the one or more locker compartments, wherein the smart locker enters a shelving mode in response to an input signal and the smart locker opens at least the first locker compartment of the plurality of locker compartments based on the input signal.
14 . The smart locker of claim 13 , wherein the input signal is size information of a target object, and the one or more locker compartments are vertically adjacent available locker compartments.
15 . The smart locker of claim 14 , further comprising: an electronic device, the electronic device links order information of the target object with the one or more locker compartments based on to the target object being placed into the one or more locker compartments and the locker door of each of the one or more locker compartments being closed.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent application claims the benefit and priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No. 112115221, filed with the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office on Apr. 24, 2023, entitled “SMART LOCKER,” the content of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a storage device and, in particular, to a smart locker and a method for storing objects in the same. BACKGROUND Services such as online shopping and parcel storage and pickup have rapidly developed in recent years. Store pickup or supermarket pickup have become common ways of online shopping pickup, and various online shopping platforms and pickup and delivery service providers both are eager to improve the convenience and service efficiency of sending and pickup etc. Thus, various types of electronic storage cabinets are available on the market. Traditional electronic storage cabinets or lockers typically use fixed locker compartments for storing articles, meaning that the storage space in each locker compartment is fixed. However, due to differences in the nature and types of goods, the material and volume of the parcels required also varies, and there are many differences in the size of parcels to be picked up. The fixed locker compartments cannot fully utilize the storage efficiently with respect to parcels or goods having larger volume or special shape. In addition, if parcels to be shelved are all small parcels and locker compartments are fixed large locker compartments, there may be a waste of space. Therefore, the flexible use of locker compartments is also an important issue for electronic storage cabinets. SUMMARY Therefore, the present invention provides a smart locker and a method for storing an object in the same to solve the above problem. In some embodiments, the present invention provides a smart locker, including: a cabinet; a plurality of locker doors; and a plurality of shelf boards configured to vertically divide a storage space of the cabinet into one or more locker compartments, each locker compartment corresponding to one or more locker doors of the plurality of locker doors. When a locker door corresponding to a locker compartment adjacent to a specific locker compartment of the one or more locker compartments is closed, a position of a corresponding shelf board that forms the adjacent locker compartment in the specific locker compartment is limited by the locker door corresponding to the adjacent locker compartment. In some embodiments, a first inner surface of the cabinet and a second inner surface opposite to the first inner surface are correspondingly provided with a plurality of dividing components, and the plurality of shelf boards are placed on the plurality of dividing components to vertically divide the storage space of the cabinet into the one or more locker compartments. In addition, each dividing component is a sliding rail. In some embodiments, each shelf board includes: a first limiting component and a second limiting component respectively disposed at two ends of a first side of an upper surface of the shelf board, wherein the first limiting component and the second limiting component have a first height relative to the upper surface of the shelf board. In addition, the first limiting component and the second limiting component are bulges or protrusions. In some embodiments, each shelf board further includes: a third limiting component and a fourth limiting component disposed at two ends of a second side opposite to the first side of a lower surface of the shelf board, wherein the third limiting component and the fourth limiting component have a second height relative to the lower surface of the shelf board, wherein the first height is greater than the second height. When the shelf board is pushed into the cabinet to be placed on a corresponding dividing component of the plurality of dividing components, the third limiting component and the fourth limiting component slightly exceed tail end of the dividing component to fix the shelf board. In some embodiments, the sliding rail includes an upper half sliding rail and a lower half sliding rail, and the height between the upper half sliding rail and the lower half sliding rail allows the shelf board to be pushed into the cabinet within a predetermined angle range to be placed on the lower half sliding rail. In some embodiments, each shelf board includes a first limiting component and a second limiting component respectively disposed at two ends of a first side of a lower surface of the shelf board, wherein the first limiting component and the second limiting component each include a tenon towards an inner side of the cabinet. In some embodiments, when the shelf board is completely pushed into the sliding rail, a bottom of the tenon of each of the first limiting component and the second limiting component presses against an upper edge of the lower half sliding rails, wherein,