Abstract:
It is sought to provide a cement distribution system, with which a packed cement distribution system is simplified to greatly reduce the labor, time and cost required for the distribution and permit quick and smooth distribution of a predetermined quantity of high quality cement.  
     A cement packing vehicle, which has a cement accommodating unit and an automatic packing means for packing a predetermined quantity of powdery cement, and a powdery cement stock base for supplying powdery cement to the cement packing vehicle are prepared.  
     According to an order from a packed cement purchaser, the vehicle personnel on the cement packing vehicle packs the required quantity of cement by using the automatic packing means in the cement packing vehicle, and directly distributes the packed cement to the packed cement purchaser.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    This invention relates to a system for distributing packed cement and, more particularly, to a cement distribution system, which permits greatly simplifying the distribution and quick and smooth distribution of high quality packed cement.  
           [0003]    2. Prior Art  
           [0004]    Heretofore, as the form of cement distribution in the market, there have been a method, in which powdery cement is transported in a state of accommodation in a cement accommodating unit mounted in a cement transport vehicle to big quantity requesters, and a method, in which packed cement is transported on a truck to pretty quantity requesters such as construction material shows and retail sales shops.  
           [0005]    In the prior art packed cement distribution system, powdery cement is transported from a cement manufacturing plant to a packing plant (or a packing department in the manufacturing plant), and packed cement obtained therein is transported by a large-scale 10-ton truck or the like to a large service center controlling an area. From this service center (and sometimes via a small-scale service center) packed cement is distributed by a small truck or the like construction material shops or like small shops and pretty quantity requesters whenever an order is received.  
           [0006]    The packed cement is formed by taking the relative humidity resistance and the handling property of powdery cement. However, even the packed cement may be deteriorated in quality by absorbing moisture in long stock time. Therefore, in construction material shops or like small shops, it is not suited to stock large quantity of cement. Besides, for stocking large quantity of cement, it is necessary prepare place and expensive warehouse. Therefore, it has been inevitable to make frequent pretty quantity orders. Furthermore, in the above prior art packed cement distribution system the management of packed cement in the service center requires great cost and man-hours inclusive of a vast place, and also pretty quantity distribution from the service center to purchasers requires great time and man-hours. Therefore, it has been difficult to cope with packed cement sales price reduction as demanded by the market.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    It is an object of the invention to provide a cement distribution system, which simplifies a packed cement distribution system for greatly reducing manual labor, time and cost required for the distribution and permitting quick and smooth distribution of desired quantities of high quality cement. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing a cement distribution system according to the invention;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 is a view for explaining an example of a cement packing vehicle used in the cement distribution system according to the invention; and  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a different example of the cement packing vehicle used in the cement distribution system according to the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 shows a cement distribution system according to the invention. In this system, it is an important point that a managing headquarter collectively manages as a center of cement distribution the reception of orders from construction material shops or like small shops and instructs the distribution of cement to new cement packing vehicles  1 . The cement packing vehicle, as shown in FIG. 2, is a trailer, in which are mounted a cement accommodating unit  2  with a capacity of about  10  tons and an automatic packing machine  3  having a hopper-like tank  4  with a capacity of about 1 ton for packing the accommodated powdery cement. The cement which is accommodated in the cement accommodating unit  2 , is not limited to 100% cement, but it may be powdery blend cement obtained by adding various additive materials to cement.  
         [0012]    In details, the automatic packing machine  3  in the cement packing vehicle  1  includes, in addition to the tank  4  noted above, an automatic bag feeding machine (not shown) for taking bags (of inner valve type) for packing powdery cement therein one by one and opening the taken-out bags and an automatic fixed quantity charging machine (not shown) for measuring powdery cement and charging the measured powdery cement into each of these bags. The inner valve type bag has a valve body functioning as an inner lid, which is provided in an upper open portion of the bag. By charging powdery cement into the bag by inserting a nozzle into the open portion of the bag and then turning down the bag, the charged powdery cement pushes the valve body to seal the opening. That is, no step of sealing the opening is needed. For space saving, bags may be manually set without provision of any automatic gas feeding machine.  
         [0013]    The place of mounting the automatic packing machine  3  in the cement packing vehicle  1  is not limited to the neighborhood of the vehicle center as shown in FIG. 2; for example, it may be a rear part of the vehicle as in a different example of the cement packing vehicle as shown in FIG. 3. In the case of the automatic packing machine  3  disposed at the vehicle center, excellent weight balance can be obtained. In the case of disposition in a rear part of the vehicle, improved operation control property concerning the packing can be improved. The tank  4  is provided with a sensor for detecting the quantity of the accommodated cement, and powdery cement is always fed out under pressure from the cement accommodating unit  2 . Although not shown, the cement packing vehicle  1  also has a compressor for feeding under pressure the powdery cement in the cement accommodating unit  2 , a dust collector machine for collecting cement particles flying up in the tank  4 , an operating board for carrying out the packing operation, a weighing unit for weighing the inner valve type bag pack laced thereon, a control circuit for automatically controlling the quantity of powdery cement discharged from the tank  4  according to the measurement of the weighing unit (i.e., weight of the cement pack), a dust withdrawing unit for withdrawing cement particles flying up to the outside of the bag and a converter for converting a DC power supply of the vehicle to AC current for driving the automatic packing machines  3 . As for the quantity of cement charged into the bag, in the case of, for instance, 25 kg packing, about 25.5 kg is made to be a center value to be preset in the control circuit lest the charged cement quantity becomes less than a rated value irrespective of slight quantity fluctuations.  
         [0014]    The cement packing vehicle  1  does not only feed out powdery cement in the cement accommodating unit  2  into the tank  4 , but it also has a switching means  7  for feeding out powdery cement via a hose  6  to the outside. In other words, the cement packing vehicle  1  according to the invention is not only used for packing powdery cement, but it is also utilized for delivering powdery cement without packing. Furthermore, it is made possible to cleanly discharge powdery cement residual in the cement accommodating unit  2  after the end of operation and load new powdery cement before the next delivery.  
         [0015]    The operator in the cement packing vehicle  1  who does driving thereof and the packing operation, has a portable terminal for communication with the managing headquarter for managing the distribution of cement. This portable terminal has a portable telephone set for the purposes of data communication with the managing headquarter and packet communication in electronic mails, and it also has a ten-key set for settlement data inputting, a card reader, a printer function for issuing receipts and so forth. As shown in FIG. 1, The personnel in the cement packing vehicle  1  accommodates powdery cement in the cement accommodating unit  2  in a cement plant or a service center according to instructions from the managing headquarter for managing the cement distribution, and also drives the vehicle by receiving instructions from the managing headquarter for distributing packed cement to construction material shops or like small shops as packed cement purchasers.  
         [0016]    At the site of an instructed packed cement purchaser the personnel in the vehicle packs the necessary quantity of cement by operating the automatic packing machine  3  of the cement packing vehicle  1 , and delivers the packed cement to the purchaser. In the case of a cement packing vehicle having an area for accommodating packed cement, packing of powdery cement using the automatic packing machine may be made before arrival at the distribution destination. The settlement process concerning the delivery is done without use of paper slip but by using the portable terminal. For example, a written delivery is issued from the portable terminal, a user card of the purchaser is scanned with a card leader of the portable terminal. As a result, sales data is transmitted by packet communication to the managing headquarter and presented to a managing server in the managing headquarter. The settlement by the purchaser may be made by (1) usual monthly blocking, debit note issuance and transfer (or bill issuance), (2) cash payment or (3) the use of a credit card or a debit card. In either case, the method of settlement is transmitted from the portable terminal to the managing headquarter. In the case when the purchaser utilizes a credit card or the like, scanning with the portable terminal card reader is made, preliminary transmission/inquiry of credit data is made by packet communication for processing in a credit or like settlement server in the managing headquarter, and the receipt is issued by the portable terminal.  
         [0017]    When packed cement delivery and settlement process have been done in one place, the managing headquarter instructs the distribution to the next purchaser to the portable terminal of the vehicle personnel in the cement packing vehicle  1 . Alternatively, distribution center per day may be instructed. The managing headquarter provides instructions to the vehicle personnel in consideration of the distribution places of purchasers in such a way that the cement packing vehicle  1  can make distribution along a shortest route and in a shortest time. The managing headquarter also calculates the quantity of cement loaded in the cement accommodating unit and the delivery quantity, and at this time it makes an instruction to the vehicle personnel as to whether powdery cement in the cement plant or in the service center is to be loaded. Furthermore, data of loading of powdery cement in the cement plant or the like is transmitted from he portable terminal to the managing headquarter.  
         [0018]    While the above embodiment has been described in connection with the case delivering powdery cement as packed cement, but not only packed cement but also non-packed powdery cement, if necessary, may be delivered by weighing.  
         [0019]    As has been described in the foregoing, with the cement distribution system according to the invention, the packed cement distribution system is simplified to permit reduction man-hours of packing in the plant, elimination of wasteful packed cement stock in the distribution stage, great reduction of the labor, time and cost required for the distribution and efficient, quick and smooth distribution of desired quantities of high quality cement.  
         [0020]    Also, the cement packing vehicle is provided with a portable terminal, which is wirelessly coupled to a personal computer in a managing headquarter for receiving orders from packed cement purchasers, and the managing headquarter instructs the distribution management to the cement packing vehicle via the portable terminal. The managing headquarter thus can instruct efficient cement distribution to the cement packing vehicle, and can realize suitable collective one-place management of the packed cement distribution.  
         [0021]    Furthermore, the portable terminal provided in the cement packing vehicle, when packed cement delivery data is inputted thereto, transmits price settlement data to the managing headquarter. Thus, on-line instant settlement between the purchaser and the managing headquarter is possible in lieu of the conventional settlement slip with paper slip, which requires labor and time, and suitable sales management can be realized.  
         [0022]    Yet further, the cement packing vehicle, in addition to feeding powdery cement from the cement accommodating unit to the automatic packing means, has a switching means for feeding out cement to the outside of the vehicle. Thus, it is possible not only to pack powdery cement with the automatic packing means but also to deliver non-packed powdery cement. Still further, it is possible to cleanly discharge powdery cement remaining in the cement accommodating unit after the end of operation and load new powdery cement before the next delivery.