Storage locker in particular for sports facilities, set of lockers, row of lockers and changing-room equipped with such lockers

The invention relates to a storage locker for changing-rooms in sports facilities, for example. The locker comprises a semi-cylindrical chamber (1) in which is mounted a semi-cylindrical compartment (2) having a circular floor (4) and ceiling (5). The compartment (2) is mounted for rotation coaxially within the chamber (1) between a closed position in which the compartment (2) is outside the chamber (1) and an open position in which it is disposed therein. The compartment is biased towards the open position and away from the closed position. The lockers are drained and the compartment (2) stacked vertically in double rows with a common carcase providing the walls of the chambers (1). The lockers have electromagnetic locks and a computer providing a central supervisory and surveillance system providing warnings in response to alarm signals generated in response to abuse of the locks. The invention is especially applicable to swimming-pool changing-rooms.

This invention relates to a storage locker, particularly for use in sports 
facilities comprising a chamber of substantially semi-cylindrical shape 
and within which is disposed for coaxial rotation a compartment also of 
substantially semi-cylindrical shape and including a floor and ceiling of 
substantially circular shape. 
Such a locker is described in particular in U.S. Pat. No. 2,965,429 and in 
French patent number 944 823. 
When one tries to find a locker of this kind which is unoccupied, there are 
some difficulties, since the moveable compartment may happen to be in the 
closed position, but unlocked, so that one thinks that the locker is not 
available, although it is. 
Moreover, it is advantageous to provide a device which enables the user to 
be warned that he has not properly closed his locker. 
The present invention has an object a storage locker of the kind referred 
to above which enables the disadvantages described above to be avoided. It 
is particularly notable in that the said compartment is provided with a 
return device towards the open position and in that it comprises a locking 
device for the compartment comprising an elastic element, such as a 
spring, tending to urge the compartment away when it is in the closed 
position. 
Because of the return device towards the open position, when the locker is 
not in use, the moveable compartment is automatically disposed in the open 
position, which enables the user to spot very quickly the available 
lockers. Moreover, the automatic placing of the compartments in the open 
position also facilitates the operation of cleaning. 
Because the locking device includes an elastic element which urges the 
compartment away from the closed position, it is automatically sent to the 
open position; furthermore, this also enables the user to be warned that 
he has not properly closed his locker, since it will be opened fully and 
automatically. Advantageously, in this case, the set of chambers of a 
double row form a single carcase. 
Another object of the invention is a changing-room comprising a plurality 
of rows of lockers, wherein said locking means of said locker is 
electrically actuable, and alarm means for generating an alarm signal in 
response to abuse of said locker, and surveillance means electrically 
connected to said locking means of said locker and comprising data 
processing means responsive to said alarm signals. This arrangement 
enables the whole changing-room to be surveilled from a central station, 
in which is located the data processing means that comprises a central 
computer and addressing means for addressing respective locking means, 
said locking means including respective micro-controllers for supervising 
the operation of said locking means.

FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5 show a set of lockers in accordance with an embodiment 
of the present invention. 
Each locker comprises a fixed chamber 1 whose shape is generally 
semi-cylinder and a compartment 2 which is also generally semi-cylindrical 
in shape and which is mounted for rotation coaxially within the chamber 1, 
that is to say the vertical axis 3 of the semi-cylinder forming the 
chamber is identical with the axis of the semi-cylinder of the compartment 
and forms the axis of rotation of the compartment. The diameter of the 
semi-cylinder forming the compartment is slightly less than the diameter 
of the chamber and the compartment also comprises a floor 4 and a ceiling 
5 which are substantially inscribed on a circle centered on the axis 3. 
The compartment 2 is moveable between two positions, an open position in 
which the compartment 2 is accommodated within the chamber 1 and a closed 
position which is obtained by rotation through half a turn from the open 
position and in which the semi-cylindrical wall 6 of the compartment 2 is 
disposed outside the chamber 1 and facing towards the chamber so as to 
produce a substantially cylindrical volume. FIG. 1 shows an open locker 
below at the left and a closed locker below at the right, the upper locker 
being shown without its compartment. 
To maintain the locker in its open position when it is not locked shut, a 
return member is provided to return the compartment in the direction of 
rotation indicated by the arrow 7 in FIG. 1; in the embodiment 
illustrated, the return member comprises a thrust bearing 8, shown in FIG. 
1, and a spiral spring (not shown). Advantageously, the locking mechanism 
of each locker also comprises an elastic member such as a spring which 
tends to push the compartment away from the closed position. In the lock 9 
shown in FIG. 4, the elastic member comprises a finger 11 pivoting about 
an axis 12 and subjected to the thrust of a spring 13. In this way, the 
user will immediately notice if he has failed to lock his locker, since it 
will immediately revert to the open position, and this is a first 
precaution against theft. 
To facilitate cleaning and avoid accumulation of dirt in the compartment, 
the floor 4 is slightly inclined so as to converge towards the middle of 
the semi-cylindrical wall 6 and an orifice is provided at this point to 
drain accumulated water, as shown by the arrow 15 in FIGS. 2 and 3. 
Similarly, the floor 16 of the chamber 1 is inclined so as to converge 
inwards, that is to say towards the middle of thee semi-cylindrical wall 
17 of the chamber so as to facilitate draining as indicated by the arrow 
18. 
The compartment 2 which forms the locker itself is provided with features 
for receiving various objects which may be placed in the locker; these 
features may include a shelf for shoes, a shelf for a helmet, 
clothes-hooks or coat-hangers, a bag for receiving odd items and a strap 
which holds the garments in place within the compartment. 
As a function of the intended use, superimposed sets of lockers may be 
provided, comprising a common chamber having a plurality of superimposed 
compartments. Thus, FIGS. 2 and 3 show on the left a stack of three 
compartments and on the right a stack of two compartments, the stacks 
being disposed in respective chambers of the same height. In this case, it 
is preferred to provide a chamber floor 16 for each compartment and the 
base 19 of the common chamber is inclined outwards so as to drain water 
evacuated by the drain holes of the chamber floors 16 as illustrated by 
the arrow 21. To obtain complete protection of the objects or clothing 
placed in the lockers, a cover 22 is provided for each chamber, or 
generally circular shape and inclined inwards, water accumulating therein 
draining through an orifice at its inner side as indicated by the arrow 
23. As shown more particularly in FIGS. 2-3, the chamber floors 16 and the 
cover 22 project behind the compartment 1 so as to avoid water which 
drains at the rear of the floors 16 and cover 23 penetrating into the 
compartments 1. 
The chamber 1 is preferably made of cast concrete to give good resistance 
to vandalism, the concrete being varnished to facilitate cleaning. The 
compartment is preferably made of metal (ribbed cast aluminum) or 
synthetic material such as polyethylene produced by roto-moulding. As 
shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, a common chamber may house two lockers whose 
usable height is 1 meter or three lockers whose usable height is 65 cm. 
The outer face of the compartments is advantageously ribbed so as to 
reduce the risk of graffiti inscriptions or bill-sticking. 
As shown more particularly in FIGS. 1 and 6, this embodiment of the 
invention enables a double row of lockers to be provided, opening on 
opposite sides of the double row, the space occupied being reduced by the 
two rows overlapping with the lockers 24 of the first row staggered 
relative to the lockers 25 of the second, the axes of the respective rows 
of lockers being disposed on opposite sides of the center-line of the 
double row 27. Thus, for example, the distance between the axes of the two 
rows of lockers 24 and 25 may be reduced to less than 40 cm, so that the 
overall width of the double row of lockers may be reduced to less than 80 
cm, whereas each locker presents a usable volume extending over a cylinder 
of 40 cm diameter. This reduction in the widths of the double rows of 
lockers is additional to the reduction in the width of the alley between 
two double rows. In fact, due to the structure of the lockers in 
accordance with this embodiment of the invention, the lockers occupy the 
same space when open as shut and this enables a substantial reduction in 
the width of the alley ways; thus, for example, in the case of a 
swimming-pool changing-room, this reduction is of the order of 25%, the 
width of the alley being reduced from more than 1 meter to less than 80 
cm. 
In the case of a double row of lockers as shown in FIG. 6, the set of 
chambers is formed by a single carcase 28 which is advantageously made of 
concrete; this simplifies the building of the changing-room substantially 
since this single carcase may be cast in a single operation. 
According to another feature of this embodiment of the invention, in 
particular for a changing-room including several rows of lockers, each 
locker has an electro-mechanical lock with an electronic control and the 
whole set of locks is connected to a data processor which treats the whole 
set of locks; in particular, each lock may include a device generating an 
alarm signal actuated if an attempt is made to force the lock of the 
locker. This alarm signal is transmitted to a central station which is 
immediately alerted and can take necessary measures. This enables more 
complete surveillance than by security rounds with reduced personnel. 
In an embodiment of the invention, the electromagnetic locks are unlocked 
by introducing a "key" bearing a code which is attributed by the data 
processor at the moment when the entrance fee is paid. This key may, for 
example, comprise a perforate card which is read by an optical reader in 
the lock. Alternatively other devices for unlocking may be provided such 
as a set of push-buttons next to each lock on which the particular code of 
the lock is composed. 
Besides the surveillance and transmission of an alarm in the ease of 
vandalism, the data processor may supervise the usage of the lockers, in 
particular, the data processor may continuously interrogate the lockers 
one after the other so as to determine which are available and attribute 
them to users paying their entrance fee. The alarm signal may be triggered 
by the introduction of the wrong key, mechanical forcing of the locker, or 
cutting off the electrical supply to a lock, for example. 
FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate an embodiment of the data processor supervising a 
changing-room having lockers, in accordance with the invention. 
The complete data processor comprises a central supervisory computer having 
a memory of 256 kilo-octets and a disc of 10 mega-octets, together with an 
interface. These may be a micro-computer and an interface commercially 
available under the code RS232C. The micro-computer is associated with an 
encoder, sensors included in each of the electromagnetic locks and a 
central distributor which distributes messages to and from all the locks, 
which are grouped by alleys or sub-groups and which dialogues with the 
micro-computer. A basic software program supervises the locks and an 
adapted program enables the application of the first program to the 
characteristics of each changing-room and enables the supervision of the 
set of lockers by the micro-computer. 
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the central distributor referred to above; it 
comprises essentially the interface 31 mentioned above which is connected 
to the micro-computer (not shown), a supply unit 32 which comprises 
protection devices and the supply transformers and which supplies the 
different locks through a line 33 to which are connected supply units 34 
each supplying two alleys 35 and 36 lockers, and a supervision apparatus 
37 which supervises the exchanges between the micro-computer and a set of 
eight alleys in groups of two; the supervision unit 37 ay comprise an 
extension 38 enabling it to supervise eight other alleys. An extension 
apparatus 39 could also be provided for connection with a second 
distributor. 
FIG. 8 shows the electrical circuit of a lock controlling the unlocking of 
a locker. The circuit comprises essentially a micro-controller 41 with a 
memory 42 and an alley interface 43. A decoder circuit for decoding the 
electronic kay controlling the lock is formed in this example by four 
photo-transistors 44, and is connected to the micro-controller 41 which 
also controls an electro-magnet 45 controlling the lock, for example 
through a Darlington transistor 46. The whole lock is supplied by a supply 
unit 47 including the protection devices. 
The micro-controller performs the surveillance of all the locks, taking the 
initiative to transmit a message of "n" octets (4 octets in the example 
illustrated) during switching on, after a response from a peripheral or 
absence of response within a given time period. In response to this 
interrogation message, the micro-controller must receive a message of the 
same format corresponding either to a normal response or to the alarm 
message referred to above which has interrupted the normal procedure of 
interrogation and response. The central distributor analyses the first 
octet coming from the micro-controller and directs this message to one of 
the alleys after suppressing this first octet, if required, in the case 
where the normal interrogation procedure is to continue. 
If a signal is detected on an alarm bus either during or just before 
reading the first octet, the micro-controller message is blocked. The 
central distributor then examines the alleys and finds those whose alarm 
bus has been actuated, the "alarm-response" bus is actuated and the lock 
concerned can send its alarm message either immediately or after scanning 
in the alley by the central distributor. The alarm message supplied by the 
lock is shaped by the central distributor and repeated to the 
micro-controller which can then interrogate the lock involved or continue 
scanning. In any case, the micro-controller defines the rythm of the 
messages and systematically receives a message in response to each message 
transmitted. 
The supervision apparatus 37 of the central distributor processes or 
produces the first octets of the messages and distributes the periodic 
messages to the alleys while processing directly the alarm interruptions; 
the supply circuits 34 also have the role of communication interface with 
the corresponding alleys 35 and 36. 
The locks are grouped by alley, the maximum number of locks per alley being 
128; each alley has a specific supply and communication cable which comes 
from one of the halves of the supply and interface circuit 34. 
As shown more particularly in FIG. 5, the locks of each locker are disposed 
in a vertical section upright forming a facing and which may be made of 
drawn aluminium for example and which is disposed on the facade of the 
modular concrete elements. The section advantageously forms a cover in 
which are accommodated the lock of each locker with its supply, if 
required, and an emergency unlocking device and which bears the reference 
numbers of the lockers. 
This structure not only enables the possible alarms to be scanned rapidly, 
but also enables complete isolation of an alley in the case of a serious 
breakdown, without affecting the other alleys. The alley cable may have a 
branching connector for four neightbouring lockers, for example. 
It will be appreciated that the embodiment of the invention illustrated in 
the drawings enables changing-rooms to be produced in a greatly reduced 
space with lockers which can readily be cleaned in good hygienic 
conditions; in particular, due to the various arrangements for draining 
accumulated water out of the lockers, and the shape of the lockers, dirt 
will not tend to accumulate; the locerks are cleaned when open, for 
example using a high pressure water jet and the inner wall of the chamber 
can be cleaned through the space left in the open position between the 
compartment and the chamber. Also the use of central computer surveillance 
enables a significant reduction in the surveillance personnel while 
improving the security of the installation.