JP2000191106A - Picking system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a picking system without using lifter nor converter. SOLUTION: A picking table 18 is provided outside an end part of a traveling rail of a stacker crane 2, and a pair of chain conveyors 20 are provided on its upper surface. A pair of trucks 28 to be pulled by a chain conveyor 26 is provided on both sides of the crane 2 between the position in contact with the picking table 18 and the delivery position of articles to/from the crane 2. A chain conveyor is provided on the trucks 28 on both side walls 34 of an opening 32 for inserting a slide fork.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an automatic warehouse picking system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic warehouse picking system is a system in which a delivery station, a picking table, and a storage station are connected in a U-shape. FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventional picking system. Reference numeral 60 denotes an outgoing station, 61 denotes an incoming station, each of which is configured to be able to convey articles by a roller conveyor or the like.
Reference numeral 64 denotes a changer for changing the direction in which articles are conveyed between the stations 60 and 61 and the picking table 62. A ball conveyor or the like is used for the conversion machine 64, and a lifter 66 is used to raise articles to a position higher than the conveyor surface of the stations 60 and 61. The reason why the lifter 66 is required is that it is necessary to transfer the articles with the slide forks at a position higher than the conveyor surface of the stations 60 and 61 in order to transfer the articles using the slide forks of the crane 2 or the like. . Then, a gap when the article is lifted by the lifter 66 becomes an insertion portion of the slide fork of the crane 2. In the picking system of FIG. 5, in addition to the conveyors of the stations 60 and 61, a converter 64 is required. Also, a lifter 66 is required.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a picking system having a simple structure without a lifter or a changer (claims 1 to 3). Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily exchange articles with a slide fork of a stacker crane using a truck having a simple structure. An additional object of the third aspect of the present invention is to allow a picking table having a simple structure to reliably transfer articles to and from a cart.

[0004]

According to the picking system of the present invention, a picking table provided with a power conveyor for transporting articles at right angles to the rail is provided outside the running rail end of a stacker crane of an automatic warehouse. Are provided on both sides of the rail so as to be able to travel between a position in contact with the crane and a delivery position of the article to and from the crane, and each of the carts has an opening facing the crane, and is provided on both side walls of the opening. Each of them is provided with a power conveyor.

[0005] Preferably, the power conveyor on the both side walls is a chain conveyor. More preferably, the power conveyor of the picking table is a chain conveyor arranged at the same height position as the power conveyor of the cart.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a picking table is provided outside the end of the traveling rail of the stacker crane,
A pair of trolleys are provided on both sides of the rail, which can run between a position in contact with the picking table and a position for transferring articles between the cranes. Each truck is provided with an opening facing the crane, and power conveyors are provided on both side walls of the opening. Similarly, a power conveyor is provided on the picking table. When transferring goods between the trolley and the crane, the goods can be transferred by inserting a slide fork or the like of the crane into the opening of the trolley, and when transferring the goods between the picking trolley and the trolley, the trolley is used as the picking table. The article can be transferred by a truck or a power conveyor of a picking table by traveling to the contact position. For these reasons, a lifter and an expensive converter at the loading / unloading station are not required.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the chain conveyor is provided on both side walls of the opening provided in the truck, the area occupied by the conveyor is small, and the transfer of articles to and from the stacker crane is particularly easy. Since a conveyor is used, even heavy objects can be easily transferred to and from the picking table.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the power conveyor of the picking table is a chain conveyor arranged at the same height as the power conveyor of the cart, the transfer of articles between the cart and the picking table is facilitated. And even heavy objects can be easily transferred.

[0009]

1 to 4 show an embodiment. FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the picking system. Reference numeral 2 denotes a stacker crane, 4 denotes an elevator, and 6 denotes a transfer fork. There are a pair of racks 8 on both sides of the traveling route of the stacker crane 2, and FIG. 1 shows only one of them. Reference numeral 10 denotes a pallet, on which an article 12 is mounted, and in this embodiment, an automatic warehouse for heavy goods that conveys articles in units of the pallet 10 and a picking system used therefor. 14 is a traveling rail of the stacker crane 2, and 16 is a safety fence.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a picking table, which is provided with a pair of chain conveyors 20 on both sides of the upper surface thereof, and 22 is a motor for driving the chain conveyor. Then, as is apparent from FIG. 1, the article is transported by the pair of chain conveyors 20 in a direction perpendicular to the traveling rail 14.

Reference numerals 24, 24 denote rails of a truck, reference numeral 26 denotes a chain conveyor disposed on the upper surface of the rail 24, and reference numeral 28 denotes a truck pulled by the chain conveyor 26. Trolley 28
Is a transfer position of articles between the stacker crane 2 and
The chain conveyor 26 pulls and runs between the transfer positions between the picking table 18 and the picking table 18. A pair of carts 28 are provided on both sides of the traveling rail 14 of the stacker crane 2, and only one side is shown in FIG. The truck 28 has an opening 32 facing the crane 2 side, and a chain conveyor shown in FIG.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the configuration of the bogie 28. The bottom of the opening 32 and the side walls 34, 34 are viewed from the crane 2 side.
And a U-shaped shallow bottom, and a chain conveyor 36 is provided on each of the side walls 34, 34. 38 is the chain,
40 and 40 are sprockets, and 42 is a driving motor. Guides 44, 44 are mounted on the side walls 34, 34 to guide the pallet 10 and the articles 12 mounted thereon, and a plate 45 is provided on the opposite side of the crane 2 so that the pallet 10 Regulate the most advanced position.
The chain 38 may be used as a conveyor as it is, or a slat or the like may be attached.

As shown in FIG. 3, the chain conveyor 26
In the towing of the cart 28 by the chain conveyor 26, for example, a pair of entraining pieces 46, 46 are connected to the chain of the chain conveyor 26 and towed.
Run on top. Reference numeral 50 denotes a sprocket of the chain conveyor 26, and 52 denotes a projection provided on the truck 28 side.
6 for engagement.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the picking table 18 and the cart 28. The chain conveyor 20 of the picking table 18 is shown in FIG.
Is provided with a pair of sprockets 54, 54, and the motor 2
2 rotates one of them, and 56 is a column of the picking table 18. The chain conveyors 20, 20 of the picking table 18 are connected to the chain conveyors 36, 36 of the cart 28.
And the chain conveyors 20, 20
Is substantially the same as the distance between the chain conveyors 36, 36.

In the operation of the embodiment, for example, one of a pair of trucks 28, 28 is a truck for exiting from the crane 2 and the other is a truck for entrance to the crane 2. Therefore, in the embodiment, up to three pallets can be mounted on the pair of carts 28, 28 and the picking table 18. In transferring the articles from the crane 2 to the cart 28, the slide fork 6 is inserted into the opening 32 of the cart 28, the slide fork 6 is further lowered, and the pallet 10 on which the articles are mounted is lowered onto the chain conveyor 36. , I just need to retreat. Conversely, when transferring articles from the cart 28 to the crane 2, the slide fork 6 inserted into the opening 32 may be lifted to receive the pallet from the chain conveyor 36, and then retreat.

The cart 28 is pulled by the chain conveyor 26, and is moved to the picking table 1 with the transfer position between the truck 2 and the crane 2.
It travels between the positions in contact with 8. As shown in FIG.
The entrainment piece 46 engages the projection 52 to move the carriage 28,
When the bogie 28 moves to the end of the chain conveyor 26, the entraining piece 46 escapes from the projection 52 as shown by a chain line at the left end of FIG. 3, and the bogie 28 advances a little by inertia to the tip position of the conveyor 26. Moving. As described above, the carriage 28 is not fixed to the chain conveyor 26, and the starting of the chain conveyor 26 becomes easy when a heavy object is conveyed. Also, even if the load weight on the truck 28 fluctuates, the truck 2
8 can be easily pulled to both end positions of the chain conveyor 26. Further, since the carriage 28 is of a tow type, the height of the carriage can be reduced.

In the transfer of articles between the carriage 28 and the picking table 18, the chain conveyor 2 on the picking table 18 side is used.
0 and the chain conveyor 36 on the side of the cart 28 are at the same height and are arranged so as to be in contact with each other, so that transfer is easy. And picking table 18
By using the chain conveyor 20 and the chain conveyor 36 of the cart 28, even heavy objects can be easily transferred, and a conversion machine or the like becomes unnecessary.

In the embodiment, the chain conveyors 20, 26 and 36 are shown as the conveyors, but a conveyor using a toothed belt or the like may be used instead. However, chain conveyors are small and suitable for carrying heavy objects. Also, the chain conveyors 36, 3
When the slide fork 6 is provided, the opening 32 for inserting the slide fork 6 can be widened due to its small size, and the transfer of articles to and from the crane 2 can be easily performed, and a heavy pallet can be easily transported. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a picking system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a bogie used in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a trolley mechanism of the bogie in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a picking table in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional picking system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Stacker crane 4 Lifting table 6 Slide fork 8 Rack 10 Pallet 12 Article 14 Travel rail 16 Safety fence 18 Picking table 20, 26 Chain conveyor 22 Motor 24 Rail 28 Truck 30 Cable carrier 32 Opening 34 Side wall 36 Chain conveyor 38 Chain 40 Sprocket 42 Motor 44 guide 45 plate 46 entrainment piece 48 roller 50, 54 sprocket 52 projection 56 support

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A picking table having a power conveyor for transporting articles at right angles to the rail is provided outside the end of the traveling rail of the stacker crane of the automatic warehouse,
Bogies are provided on both sides of the rail so as to be able to travel between a position in contact with the picking table and a position for transferring articles to and from the crane, and each of the bogies has an opening facing the crane side. A picking system, wherein a power conveyor is provided on each wall. 2. The picking system according to claim 1, wherein the power conveyors on the both side walls are chain conveyors. 3. The picking system according to claim 2, wherein the power conveyor of the picking table is a chain conveyor arranged at the same height position as the power conveyor of the bogie.