RECEIVING ARRANGEMENT FOR RECEIVING SHIPMENTS, FOR USE IN OPENINGS IN BUILDINGS

A receiving assembly for receiving a shipment. The receiving assembly is used in a building opening to provide access to a room of the building. The receiving assembly includes a housing assembly which has a guide assembly, a door member which is movably mounted in the guide assembly, a drive device which drives the door member, a control device which controls the drive device, and a sensor. The housing assembly defines, together with a part of the room, a housing chamber. The sensor cooperates with the control device and exchanges electronic authorization information so that, in a first position of the door member, the building opening is closed, and in a second position of the door member, the building opening is open and the access to the room of the building is closed.

FIELD

The present invention relates to a receiving assembly for receiving shipments to be used in openings in buildings which allow access to a room of a building, such as window openings, cellar openings, garage openings etc.

BACKGROUND

Numerous openings in buildings allow access to a room of a building, for example, roof openings which are closed by a roof hatch for providing a chimney sweep with access to the roof or for providing light and ventilation to a not yet fully upgraded attic. There also exist cellar openings which are closed by hatches which previously offered access to a coal cellar. There are also garage openings which offer access to a garage as a whole or which are formed in an existing garage door to offer access to the garage without operating the entire garage door. There also exist a plurality of openings in buildings which are closed in any form by windows, hatches, traps or doors and which are rarely used or which are not used at all.

The number of shipments in the form of packages and parcels is continuously increasing due to ever-expanding online mail order selling. A reliable delivery poses serious problems, in particular in medium-sized and small towns and in the countryside. Large parcel pick-up stations where the delivered shipments can be picked up are too expensive due to the small number of users. Residential density is furthermore frequently too low so that it is often not possible to hand over shipments to neighbors. Shipments must therefore frequently be taken back by the deliverer who must then again attempt delivery of the shipment. This problem may increase in the future in that unmanned delivery vehicles, such as drones, merely possess an authorization function for delivery to a specific user or to a specific building.

The provision of external receiving assemblies or receiving assemblies integrated in a building for shipments has previously been described. Reference is thereby made, for example, to DE 10 2015 104 052 A1 and to DE 10 2015 209 127 A1. An external receiving assembly is here disadvantageous in that it frequently does not fit into the surroundings and can be destroyed by vandalism. Such an external receiving assembly is also expensive to acquire. The integrated receiving assembly described in DE 10 2015 209 127 A1 has a very complex configuration and is therefore expensive. It also fails to offer sufficient protection against undesired access to the room of the building while the hatch is open, so that burglars, but also animals, can enter the building.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present invention is to eliminate the aforementioned problems in a simple and inexpensive manner using existing openings in buildings and rooms in buildings.

In an embodiment, the present invention provides a receiving assembly for receiving a shipment. The receiving assembly is configured to be used in an opening of a building so as to provide access to a room of the building. The receiving assembly includes a housing assembly which comprises at least one guide assembly, at least one door member which is movably mounted in the at least one guide assembly, a drive device which is configured to drive the at least one door member, a control device which is configured to control the drive device, and at least one first sensor. The housing assembly is configured to define, together with a part of the room of the building, a housing chamber. The at least one first sensor is configured to cooperate with the control device and to exchange electronic authorization information so that, in a first position of the at least one door member, the opening of the building is closed, and in a second position of the at least one door member, the opening of the building is open and the access to the room of the building is closed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention provides a receiving assembly. A housing assembly is here provided which defines a housing chamber together with at least part of the room of the building and comprises at least one guide assembly. This housing assembly comprises a guide assembly in which at least one door member is movably mounted. The receiving assembly also has a drive device for the door member and a control device for controlling the drive device. At least one first sensor member is also provided which cooperates with the control device and is suitable for exchanging electronic authorization information. It can thereby be provided that in a first position of the door member the opening in the building is closed and in a second position of the door member the opening in the building is open and the access to the room of the building is closed. A retrofit solution for openings in buildings is thereby provided in a simple and inexpensive manner which allows receiving assemblies to be configured which enable receipt of shipments independent of any person present and which prevent access to the interior of the building. Since existing openings in the building can be used, wherein the guide assembly can be directly screwed to a vertical border strip of the wall penetration, the outer appearance of the building is not affected.

If the room of the building does not provide a defined delimitation or if such a defined delimitation is difficult to realize, it is advantageous that the housing assembly comprises at least two side portions which can at least partially join the corresponding side parts of opening surfaces of the openings in the building.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first sensor member can, for example, be operable via a Bluetooth, GSM, NFC, RFID signal and/or an electronic radio signal. The same radio signals or radio signals changing in agreement with the respective sensor offer a particularly simple form of exchange of authorization information. It is thereby conceivable that a suitable radio signal for opening the receiving assembly is transmitted to the respective deliverer.

It is particularly advantageous if the control device has an internet connection. This internet connection can be a LAN and/or a WLAN connection. This enables an exchange of codes, for example QR codes, whereby a simple and reliable exchange of authorization information can take place.

In the case of receiving assemblies which are to be integrated into an opening in a building where, with respect to the room of the building, the opening in the building is provided at a very high position relative to the floor of the interior of the building, it is advantageous when the housing assembly comprises a bottom portion connecting the side portions to each other.

For preventing any danger, for example, to a child at play, or destruction of the receiving assembly by an object in the opening area, at least one closing edge protector in the form of a contact strip or a light barrier can advantageously be provided.

The guide assembly is advantageously configured as a frame assembly, wherein the frame assembly can comprise a hinge assembly, whereby a first frame portion is pivotable relative to a stationary second frame portion. It is thereby possible in a simple manner to use the original function of the opening in the building without even operating the door member. It is thus, for example, conceivable to replace a cellar hatch with the receiving assembly of the present invention, but that the first frame portion can simply be lifted together with the door member for offering access to the cellar room in a “typical manner”.

A second sensor can advantageously be provided as a monitoring sensor for the room of the building, which sensor is configured as an infrared sensor, ultrasonic sensor, ToF sensor etc. It is thereby possible in a simple manner to detect life forms, both human and animal, in the room of the building and to leave the door member in the second position until the life form has left the room of the building.

For preventing malfunctions and possibly carry out a remote inquiry as to whether the door member is in the desired position, a third sensor for detecting the first door position and a fourth sensor for detecting the second door position can be provided.

The door member is advantageously configured as a sectional door. A roller door can of course alternatively also be provided. It is further conceivable that two folding doors be used which are mechanically connected so that one respective folding door is open when the other one is closed, and vice versa.

A catch member, for example, a net, can be provided to ensure that packs and parcels can be placed or even dropped into the opening in the building in a simple manner. It is here advantageous in the case of several shipments when the catch member is fastened to the housing assembly via at least one pretensioning member to increase the available space for the shipments depending on the weight of the shipments.

The present invention will be explained in greater detail below under reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1shows a perspective view of a portion of a residential building wall2of a residential building (which is not shown in detail) having an opening4in the residential building which is configured as a cellar opening and which is closed by a typical cellar door hatch6. The opening4offers access to a large room5in the residential building, which is here configured as a cellar room. It is, for example, conceivable that, since no parcel pick-up stations exist and residents are absent, a parcel delivery person places the parcel in the room5by opening the cellar hatches. This would allow the parcel delivery person and other uninvited persons free access to the large room5of the residential building.

For enabling parcel delivery persons to carry out a manned or unmanned delivery in a simple manner without allowing further access to the large room5in the building and to the residential building, for example, by drones or autonomously driving delivery vehicles, a receiving assembly8is provided, a first embodiment of which is shown as a side view inFIG. 2. This receiving assembly8can replace the cellar door hatch6shown inFIG. 1as a retrofit solution. The receiving assembly8here comprises a housing assembly10having two side portions12,14which are connected to each other by a bottom portion16. The two side portions12,14and the bottom portion16here enclose a housing chamber18in which the shipments can be placed. The housing assembly10further has a guide assembly20which is configured as a frame assembly in the present exemplary embodiment and which comprises a first frame portion22and a second frame portion24in the present exemplary embodiment. Both frame portions22,24are connected to each other via a hinge assembly26, whereby it is possible to pivot the first frame portion22relative to the second frame portion24so that a typical access to the opening4in the housing chamber18is provided. This pivoting operation is indicated by a dashed line28. Pivoting to the side is of course also conceivable.

In the guide assembly20, and here in the two frame portions22,24, a door member30(seeFIG. 3), which is configured as a sectional door, is displaceably mounted. A suitable drive device32is schematically indicated as the drive of the door member30/sectional door. The drive device32can have a motor and a gearbox as is known in the art.

A control device34for controlling the drive device32is also provided. The control device34cooperates at least with a first sensor36(seeFIG. 3) which is suitable for exchanging electronic authorization information. The first sensor36can be operable via a Bluetooth, GSM, NFC, RFID signal and/or an electronic radio signal. In the present exemplary embodiment, the control device34comprises a WLAN module which is connected to the internet. It is thereby possible that a QR code or a barcode is exchanged between the parcel delivery person and the control device34, which QR code or barcode can be read by the first sensor36. The QR code or the barcode can here be directly arranged on a parcel or can be displayed on a handheld38.

Before the exchange of the authorization information, the door member30is located in the first frame portion22, thus closing the opening4in the building. After the exchange of the authorization information, the drive device32displaces the door member30into the second frame portion24, whereby the opening4in the building is exposed and the parcel can be placed in the housing chamber18. The door member30blocks the way further into the building. The door member30can be returned into the first frame portion22after a preset period of time. For increasing safety, it is advantageous, however, when a second sensor40is provided as a monitoring sensor for the housing chamber18. In the present exemplary embodiment, the second sensor40is provided as a monitoring sensor and is configured as a Tof (time of flight) sensor and monitors the housing chamber18with regard to life forms. It can thereby be provided that no human or animal is in the housing chamber18when the door member30is returned into the first door position. For identifying further malfunctions in a simpler manner, a third sensor42for detecting the first door position and a fourth sensor44for detecting the second door position can be provided. As is illustrated in the top view ofFIG. 3, the door member30furthermore comprises a respective closing edge protector46,48at a front side and at a rear side thereof which are respectively configured as a contact strip known in the art. It is thereby to be prevented that life forms are injured during the closing operation in the door movement path and that the door member30is protected against objects located in the door movement path.

In the present exemplary embodiment, a flexible catch member50which is configured as a net is provided which enables the deliverer to place the shipment in the housing chamber18in a simple and reliable manner. The net50is here respectively fastened to the side portions12,14via a pretensioning member52to account for the increasing weight in the case of several shipments. On the opposite side of the net50, the net50is fastened to the housing assembly10via a fixed supporting element54. The pretensioning member52and/or the supporting element54can be unhooked for obtaining free access to the cellar room5.

FIGS. 4 and 5respectively show a schematic side view of a second embodiment of a receiving assembly8with different positions of the door member30. The same components are designated by the same reference numerals and are not explained in detail here.

This embodiment generally differs from the first embodiment in that the housing assembly10does not comprise any side portions12,14and bottom portion16. It therefore has a much simpler configuration. The cellar room5here accessible via the opening4in the building was originally divided by a residential building wall2and a door provided therein which now no longer exists. Only the wall penetration56for this door is here illustrated in connection therewith. The first frame portion22of the guide assembly20is here arranged in the opening4in the building (seeFIG. 1), while the second frame portion24is provided at the residential building wall2and the wall penetration56. This receiving assembly8also defines a closed housing chamber18which, after the exchange of authorization information, is accessible for placing shipments therein, but which protects the other parts of the building while accessible.

It should be appreciated that, depending on the opening in the building and the configuration of the available room of the building, the receiving assembly can have a different configuration, in particular with regard to size and alignment.