JP2016055964A - Arrival and shipment support system, automated warehouse and arrival and shipment support method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently perform a work, even when plural articles are shipped as sets.SOLUTION: After a picking worker H1 performs picking, articles 12 in an article group 13 formed of plural articles 12 and transported by a conveyor 4 are acquired, and about the acquired articles 12, the articles 12 are held until the articles in the article group 13 are arranged. When the articles 12 in each article group 13 are arranged, the articles 12 in the arranged article group 13 are sequentially shipped, in an automated warehouse 60.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology for a receipt / shipment support system, an automatic warehouse, and a receipt / shipment support method for supporting receipt / shipment of articles in a warehouse.

  In distribution centers such as mail-order stores, articles that are articles are stored in shelves. When the article is shipped, the automated guided vehicle transports the shelf in which the article to be shipped is stored to the picking area where the worker picks the entire shelf. When the shelf transported to the automatic guided vehicle arrives at the picking area, the picking worker picks the article to be shipped from the arrived shelf and places it on the conveyor. The articles placed on the conveyor are conveyed to the packing area by the conveyor. The articles that have arrived at the packing area are packed and shipped by a packing worker.

As described above, in such a distribution center, an automatic guided vehicle is used to convey a shelf in which articles are stored to a picking area.
As such an automatic guided vehicle, for example, techniques disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are disclosed.

  In Patent Document 1, for each of the cells installed in the work space, the mobile drive unit (automated guided vehicle) calculates the travel cost, and the inventory for traveling the mobile drive unit along the route with the lowest travel cost is transferred. Systems and methods are disclosed.

  In Patent Document 2, a retroreflector installed so as to be measurable from a gap formed between leg portions of a basket (shelf) is measured by a two-dimensional laser distance meter to identify its own position. An automated guided vehicle is disclosed.

  Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a method and apparatus for nonlinear unit level sorting in an order processing process. In this technology, as a sorting method in the distribution center, an identifier (transport container identifier) is given to a transport container stored when a unit (article) is transported, and when the transport container arrives at the order processing station, The transport container identifier is read by the reader, and based on the read transport container identifier, an indicator or the like of the place where the unit is stored is activated to indicate to the operator (worker) where the unit is stored.

JP 2012-197184 A JP 2013-2322078 A Special table 2010-531796 gazette

Depending on the article, a plurality of articles may be shipped in pairs. For example, when the same orderer orders a plurality of different items, the ordered items need to be packed as a set. Hereinafter, a collection of articles shipped as a set in this way is referred to as an article group.
Therefore, when goods are shipped as an article group in this way, it is desirable that articles constituting the article group are sent as a set to the packing area. However, since it is unlikely that the articles constituting the article group are stored in the same shelf, a temporary storage shelf is installed in the picking area, and the picking worker temporarily places the articles shipped as the article group. Temporarily placed on a shelf and when the articles on the temporary shelf are ready, the articles are placed in a container or the like and placed on a conveyor.

As described above, in the technique using the temporary storage shelf, the picking worker must always check whether the article to be picked constitutes an article group. For this reason, work efficiency falls and it becomes the origin of an error.
Even in the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, no consideration is given to the case where shipped articles constitute an article group.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and it is an object of the present invention to be able to work efficiently even when a plurality of articles are shipped as a set.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention allows an article in an article group composed of a plurality of articles, which has been discontinuously conveyed by a conveyor after picking, to enter an automatic warehouse, and the articles in the article group are aligned. Until the articles in the group of articles are ready, the articles are continuously delivered from the automated warehouse.
Other solutions will be described in the embodiments.

  According to the present invention, even when a number of articles are shipped in pairs, work can be performed efficiently.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the receipt / shipment support system in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the automatic guided vehicle which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the driving | running | working area | region which concerns on this embodiment. It is a system block diagram of the receipt / shipment support system according to the present embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of a control device concerning this embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of the automatic guided vehicle concerning this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the shelf conveyance process which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the collection plan information which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the automatic warehouse receipt process which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the automatic warehouse delivery process which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows another example of the receipt / shipment support system which concerns on this embodiment.

  Next, modes for carrying out the present invention (referred to as “embodiments”) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate.

(System configuration)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a receipt / shipment support system in the present embodiment.
The receipt / shipment support system Z is divided into a travel area R and a work area A.
As shown in FIG. 1, a shelf 11 storing articles 12 is placed in a predetermined area in the traveling area R. The automatic guided vehicle 2 travels in the travel region R and transports the shelf 11.
The traveling area R includes a picking stop area A2 where the automatic guided vehicle 2 stops when picking. The picking stop area A2 will be described later. The traveling region R is trackless.

The work area A includes a picking work area A3 in which the picking worker H1 performs picking work, and a packing area A4 in which the packing worker H2 packs the article 12.
The travel area R and the work area A are separated by a safety fence or a step that the automatic guided vehicle 2 cannot get over. When the travel area R and the work area A are separated by a step, the height of the step is preferably about 10 mm or more.
The picking stop area A2 and the picking work area A3 may be collectively referred to as a picking area A10.

First, the automatic guided vehicle 2 is instructed to convey the shelf 11 via the control device (control unit) 1 (FIG. 4). The instructed automatic guided vehicle 2 travels to the designated shelf 11. The automatic guided vehicle 2 arriving at the designated shelf 11 sinks under the shelf 11 as indicated by reference numeral 401 in FIG. Thereafter, the automated guided vehicle 2 lifts the shelf 11 by raising the loading device 202 (FIG. 2). Thereafter, the automatic guided vehicle 2 travels with the shelf 11 lifted, and transports the shelf 11. In FIG. 1, the automatic guided vehicle 2 which is conveying the shelf 11 is shown with the code | symbol 2a.
The floor surface of the travel region R is divided by a grid (not shown), and a marker (not shown) such as a bar code is installed on each grid.

Some articles 12 constitute an article group 13. For example, in FIG. 1, articles 12a (12) and 12b (12) constitute an article group 13a (13). Although the article 12a and the article 12b constituting the same article group 13a are conveyed discontinuously in FIG. 1, they may be conveyed continuously.
The control device 1 manages information regarding whether the item 12 to be picked is a single shipment (single item) or constitutes an item group 13.

When the shelf 11 is lifted by the automatic guided vehicle 2, the control device 1 instructs the automatic guided vehicle 2 to transport the shelf 11 to the picking stop area A2.
The control device 1 confirming that the automatic guided vehicle 2 has moved to the picking stop area A2 notifies the work terminal 3 that the automatic guided vehicle 2 has arrived at the picking stop area A2. Then, the work terminal 3 installed in the vicinity of the picking worker H1 obtains a series of information (picking information) necessary for the picking work such as the type of the article 12, the number to be picked, the storage location of the article 12 in the shelf 11, and the like. This is displayed on the display device 31 (FIG. 4).

  When picking the article 12 to be picked from the shelf 11, the picking worker H <b> 1 places the picked article 12 on the conveyor 4. At this time, a picking completion notification is transmitted from the work terminal 3 to the control device 1. For example, when the picking worker H1 holds a barcode attached to the article 12 against the barcode reader 32 (FIG. 4) connected to the work terminal 3, the work terminal 3 reads the barcode. A notification of picking completion is sent to the control device 1 together with the barcode information. For example, when the picking worker H1 presses a picked button installed in the picking stop area A2, the control device 1 may be notified that the picking is completed.

  The control device 1 that has received the notification of the completion of picking instructs the automatic guided vehicle 2 stopped in the picking stop area A2 to return the shelf 11 to the original position. The automatic guided vehicle 2 that has received this instruction travels to the position where the shelf 11 was originally located. The automatic guided vehicle 2 that has reached the original position of the shelf 11 lowers the shelf 11 by lowering the loading device 202.

In the picking work area A3, the picking worker H1 places the article 12 picked as described above on the conveyor 4. At this time, the picking worker H1 may store the picked article 12 in a box, a case, an oricon (foldable container), a tray or the like so that the picked article 12 is not dispersed on the conveyor 4. Thereafter, the article 12 is sent to the packing area A4 by the conveyor 4 and the chute 51. The conveyor 4 sorts the articles 12 into the first conveyor 41 on which the articles 12 placed by the picking worker H1 are conveyed, the second conveyor 42 that conveys the articles 12 conveyed from the first conveyor 41, and the packing area A4. It has the 3rd conveyor 43 to which the chute | shoot 51 is connected. The second conveyor 43 and the third conveyor 43 are preferably a branch conveyor, a tilt type sorting conveyor, a pusher type sorting conveyor, a diverter type sorting conveyor, or the like.
The article 12 picked by the picking worker H1 is sent to the third conveyor 43 via the first conveyor 41 and the second conveyor 42. Thereafter, the article 12 is discharged from the third conveyor 43 to the plurality of chutes 51 and reaches the packing area A4 where the packing worker H2 performs the packing operation.

In addition, an automatic warehouse 60 is installed in the vicinity of the second conveyor 42 so that the articles 12 conveyed to the second conveyor 41 can enter the automatic warehouse 60.
When the article 12 constitutes the article group 13, the automatic warehouse control unit 116 of the control device 1 controls the second conveyor 42 and guides the article 12 to the warehousing port (warehouse unit) 62 of the automatic warehouse 60. To do. If the second conveyor 42 is a branch conveyor, the branching is performed so that the article 12 is directed to the warehousing port 62, and if the second conveyor 42 is a tilt type sorting conveyor, a placement unit (not shown) is tilted to the warehousing port 62. The guidance is performed.

The goods 12 received are transported to a storage location (holding portion) 63 by a stacker crane (storage portion) 61 and temporarily placed in a predetermined storage location (holding portion) 63 in the automatic warehouse 60. At this time, the article 12 may not be transferred to the third conveyor 43 by the stopper 65 on the second conveyor 42. The storage place 63 where the article 12 is temporarily placed is managed by the automatic warehouse controller 70 (FIG. 4) or the control device 1. When all the articles 12 constituting the article group 13 are prepared, the automatic warehouse 60 unloads the articles 12 to the second conveyor 42 via the unloading port (unloading section) 64 by the stacker crane (unloading section) 61. Thereby, the articles | goods 12c and 12d which comprise the same articles | goods group 13b (13) are delivered continuously. That is, even if the articles 12 belonging to the same article group 13a (13) are discontinuously conveyed as shown in the articles 12a and 12b, when the goods are taken out from the automatic warehouse 60, they are shown in the articles 12c and 12d. In addition, articles 12 belonging to the same article group 13 are continuously delivered. At this time, the article 12 may not be transferred to the third conveyor 43 by the stopper 65 on the second conveyor 42.
Then, the article 12 reaches the packing area A4 via the third conveyor 43 and the plurality of chutes 51.

  Incidentally, when the article 12 does not constitute the article group 13 (in the case of a single article), the stopper 65 of the second conveyor 42 is stored so as not to stop the conveyance on the second conveyor 42. Then, the article 12 is sent to the third conveyor 43 without being received in the automatic warehouse 60.

(Appearance of automated guided vehicle)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of the automatic guided vehicle according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic guided vehicle 2 includes a main body device 201 and a loading device 202. Drive wheels 250 (FIG. 6) are provided in the lower part of the main body device 201, and the automatic guided vehicle 2 can change the traveling direction while traveling. Further, a camera 230 b (FIG. 6) is provided on the bottom surface of the main body device 201. As described above, the floor surface of the travel region R (FIG. 1) is partitioned in a lattice shape, and a marker (not shown) storing lattice position information is installed at the center of each lattice. The automatic guided vehicle 2 acquires information on its current position by reading a marker installed on the floor surface with the camera 230b on the bottom surface of the main body device 201. In this way, the automatic guided vehicle 2 specifies its own position.
The automatic guided vehicle 2 can basically rotate at + 90 °, ± 180 °, and −90 °, but may rotate at other angles. Incidentally, here, when the automatic guided vehicle 2 is viewed from above, the clockwise direction is “+” and the counterclockwise direction is “−”.

The loading device 202 is a device for loading the shelf 11 (FIG. 1). The main body apparatus 201 can change the direction independently of the stacking apparatus 202 (reference numeral D11). By doing in this way, only the main body apparatus 201 can change the traveling direction while keeping the direction of the stacking apparatus 202 as it is.
A camera 230 a is installed in the center of the loading device 202. The camera 230a reads a marker such as a barcode attached to the bottom center of the shelf 11, for example. By determining whether or not the marker attached to the center of the bottom surface of the shelf 11 has been read by the camera 230a, it is determined whether or not the shelf 11 has arrived directly above the automatic guided vehicle 2.

  The loading device 202 can be raised and lowered. The automatic guided vehicle 2 that reaches the shelf 11 sinks under the shelf 11 as indicated by reference numeral 401 in FIG. The automatic guided vehicle 2 that has entered under the shelf 11 is lifted together with the shelf 11 by raising the loading device 202.

(Driving area)
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a travel area according to the present embodiment.
A shelf 11 is placed in a predetermined area in the traveling area R.
Further, the floor surface of the traveling region R is divided into grids (not shown) as described above, and markers (not shown) are installed on each grid.
The automatic guided vehicle 2 reads a marker installed on the floor surface by a camera 230b (FIG. 6) installed in the center of the bottom surface of the automatic guided vehicle 2, and acquires information on its current position from the read information. .
When the automatic guided vehicle 2 is instructed to move the shelf 11 from the control device 1, the automatic guided vehicle 2 travels to the instructed shelf 11. As described above, the automatic guided vehicle 2 that has reached the designated shelf 11 sinks under the shelf 11 (reference numeral 401). The automatic guided vehicle 2 that has entered under the shelf 11 lifts the shelf 11 by raising the loading device 202 (FIG. 2).

The automatic guided vehicle 2 lifting the shelf 11 moves to the picking stop area A2 (FIG. 1) while maintaining the state.
Also in FIG. 3, the automatic guided vehicle 2 that is transporting the shelf 11 is denoted by reference numeral 2a, as in FIG.

(System block diagram)
FIG. 4 is a system block diagram of the receipt / shipment support system according to the present embodiment.
The receipt / shipment support system Z includes a control device 1, a conveyor controller 8, a conveyor 4, a station controller 7, a plurality of work terminals 3, an automatic guided vehicle controller 6, a plurality of automatic guided vehicles 2, an automatic warehouse controller 70, an automatic warehouse 60, and the like. have.
The control device 1 controls the conveyor 4, the work terminal 3, the automatic guided vehicle 2, and the automatic warehouse 60 via the conveyor controller 8, the station controller 7, the automatic guided vehicle controller 6, and the automatic warehouse controller 70. Further, a client terminal 5 is connected to the control device 1, and information related to receipt / shipment of the article 12 (FIG. 1) is input to the control device 1 via the client terminal 5.

The conveyor 4 conveys the articles 12 picked in the picking stop area A2 (FIG. 1) to the packing area A4 (FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 1, the conveyor 4 includes a first conveyor 41, a second conveyor 42, and a third conveyor 43.
Each work terminal 3 is provided in the picking work area A3 (FIG. 1), and includes a display device 31, a barcode reader 32, and the like. When receiving the picking information from the control device 1 via the station controller 7, the work terminal 3 displays the received picking information on the display device 31. Further, the picking worker H1 causes the barcode reader 32 provided in the work terminal 3 to read the barcode attached to the article 12 picked from the shelf 11. Information on the article 12 read by the barcode reader 32 is transmitted to the control device 1 via the station controller 7.

  The automatic guided vehicle 2 receives route information and the like from the control device 1 via the automatic guided vehicle controller 6, and self-travels to the destination based on the received route information. The automatic guided vehicle 2 transmits information indicating whether or not the vehicle has arrived at the destination to the control device 1 via the automatic guided vehicle controller 6.

  The automatic warehouse 60 stores the articles 12 being conveyed on the conveyor 4 into the automatic warehouse 60 itself. Further, in the automatic warehouse 60, when the articles 12 constituting the article group 13 are arranged in the automatic warehouse 60, the articles 12 are delivered to the conveyor 4 according to an instruction from the control device 1. The article 12 is delivered by being transported from the storage location 63 to the delivery port 64 by the stacker crane 61.

The automatic guided vehicle controller 6 and the automatic guided vehicle 2 perform wireless communication. Moreover, between the control apparatus 1 and the conveyor controller 8, between the conveyor controller 8 and the conveyor 4, between the control apparatus 1 and the station controller 7, between the station controller 7 and the work terminal 3, and between the control apparatus 1 and automatic Communication between the warehouse controller 70 and between the automatic warehouse controller 70 and the automatic warehouse 60 may be wired communication or wireless communication.
It should be noted that at least one of the conveyor controller 8, the station controller 7, the automatic guided vehicle controller 6, and the automatic warehouse controller 70 can be omitted. In this case, the control device 1, the conveyor 4, the automatic guided vehicle 2, the work terminal 3, and the automatic warehouse 60 perform direct communication.

(Function block diagram of control device)
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the control device according to the present embodiment. Reference is made to FIG. 4 as appropriate.
The control device 1 is, for example, a PC (Personal Computer) or the like, and includes a memory 110 such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 120, a storage device 130 such as an HD (Hard Disk), and a transmission / reception device 140. doing.
The transmission / reception device 140 transmits / receives information to / from the automatic guided vehicle 2 via the automatic guided vehicle controller 6. The transmission / reception device 140 transmits / receives information to / from the conveyor 4 via the conveyor controller 8. Further, the transmission / reception device 140 transmits / receives information to / from the work terminal 3 via the station controller 7. Then, the transmission / reception device 140 transmits information to the automatic warehouse 60 via the automatic warehouse controller 70. In addition, the transmission / reception device 140 receives information input from the client terminal 5.

Then, the program stored in the storage device 130 is expanded in the memory 110 and executed by the CPU 120, whereby the processing unit 111, the transport planning unit 112, the movement control unit 113, and the article management unit that configure the processing unit 111 are performed. 114, the work terminal control unit 115, and the automatic warehouse control unit 116 are embodied.
Further, the storage device 130 stores collection plan information 131 in which information related to shipment of the article 12 (FIG. 1) to be transported is stored. The collection plan information 131 will be described later.

The conveyance planning unit 112 generates collection plan information 131.
The movement control unit 113 generates route information that is information on a route along which the automatic guided vehicle 2 moves, and transmits the route information to the automatic guided vehicle 2 via the automatic guided vehicle controller 6.
The article management unit 114 determines whether or not the articles 12 constituting the article group 13 have been prepared. In addition, the article management unit 114 performs processing such as assigning an article ID (Identification) to the article 12.
The work terminal control unit 115 causes the work terminal 3 to display work information.
The automatic warehouse control unit 116 controls the loading and unloading of the articles 12 in the automatic warehouse 60. In some cases, the automatic warehouse control unit 116 controls the second conveyor 42 to control the receipt of the article 12.

(Function block diagram of automated guided vehicle)
FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the automatic guided vehicle according to the present embodiment.
The automated guided vehicle 2 includes a memory 210 such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a CPU 220, a transmission / reception device 260, and the like.

The automatic guided vehicle 2 includes cameras 230a and 230b, a free wheel 240, a drive wheel 250, and a loading device 202.
As shown in FIG. 2, the camera 230 a is installed at the center of the stacking apparatus 102 and reads, for example, a marker attached to the center of the bottom surface of the shelf 11.

As described above, the camera 230b is provided at the center of the bottom surface of the main body device 201 (FIG. 2) of the automatic guided vehicle 2, and reads a marker installed on the floor surface of the traveling region R (FIG. 1).
The universal wheel 240 is a wheel for assisting the traveling of the automatic guided vehicle 2 and the turning of the direction, and is not controlled by the processing unit 211. For example, when the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle 2 is set to the front, the universal wheel 240 is provided with a total of four pairs, one pair at the front and one pair at the rear, or four in total at the front and rear. To do.

The drive wheel 250 is a wheel for causing the automatic guided vehicle 2 to move forward, reverse, or turn around. For example, a pair of drive wheels 250 are provided on the left and right of the automatic guided vehicle 2. The direction turning of the automatic guided vehicle 2 is performed by rotating one driving wheel 250 of the left and right driving wheels 250 in the opposite direction with respect to the other driving wheel 250.
Since the loading device 202 has already been described with reference to FIG. 2, description thereof is omitted here.

The transmission / reception device 260 transmits / receives information to / from the control device 1 via the automatic guided vehicle controller 6.
The program stored in the memory 210 is executed by the CPU 220, thereby realizing the processing unit 211. The processing unit 211 causes the automatic guided vehicle 2 to self-travel to the destination while exchanging information with the control device 1.

Further, when the processing unit 211 reads a marker installed on the floor surface of the traveling region R with the camera 230b installed on the bottom surface of the automatic guided vehicle 2, the processing unit 211 acquires information on the current position of the marker from the read marker. . Then, the processing unit 211 creates an instruction to travel to the destination based on the acquired information on the current position and the route information transmitted from the control device 1, and transmits the instruction to the driving wheel 250. Further, the processing unit 211 determines whether or not the automatic guided vehicle 2 has arrived directly below the shelf 11 by determining whether or not the camera 230a has read the marker attached to the bottom center of the shelf 11. .
Further, the processing unit 211 raises and lowers the loading device 202.

(flowchart)
(Shelf transport processing)
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the shelf transport process according to the present embodiment. 1 and 4 to 6 will be referred to as appropriate.
First, the transport planning unit 112 of the control device 1 generates the collection plan information 131 (S101).

(Collection plan information)
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the collection plan information according to the present embodiment.
The collection plan information 131 stores information such as “article ID”, “article group ID”, “shelf ID”, “automated guided vehicle ID”, “picking”, “entry”, “exit”, and the like.
The “article ID” is an ID assigned to the article 12 to be transported. The article ID is an ID assigned to the article group 13 as necessary by the article management unit 114 of the control device 1 when information about the article 12 is input via the client terminal 5.

  The “article group ID” is an ID indicating whether the target article 12 constitutes the article group 13 or, if so, which article group 13 belongs to. The article 12 to which the same article ID is allocated is, for example, the article 12 ordered from the same orderer and the article 12 that needs to be packed in the same manner. For example, the articles 12 having the article IDs “C1005”, “C1015”, and “C1016” have the same article group ID “G03”. That is, the articles 12 having the article IDs “C1005”, “C1015”, and “C1016” are the articles 12 ordered by the same orderer, and the articles 12 that need to be shipped in the same packaging.

Similarly, the articles 12 with the article IDs “C1023” and “C2005” are the articles 12 constituting the article group 13 with the article group ID “G01”.
Further, the “article group ID” is not allocated to the article 12 having the article ID “C0024”. This indicates that the orderer has not placed an order other than the item ID “C0024”. The same applies to the article 12 with the article IDs “C3001”, “C2032”, and “C3051”.

  The “article group ID” is generated and allocated by the article management unit 114 of the control device 1 based on the order information input from the client terminal 5.

The “shelf ID” is an ID assigned to the shelf 11 in which the target article 12 is stored. The “shelf ID” is linked to the position information of the shelf 11 stored in the shelf management information (not shown).
The ID of the automatic guided vehicle 2 that conveys the article 12 is stored in the “automatic guided vehicle ID”.
“Picking” is a flag indicating whether or not the picking is completed, and is blank when the picking is not completed, and the flag is set when the picking is completed.
“Receiving” is a flag indicating whether or not the goods 12 have been received into the automatic warehouse 60, and is blank when the goods have not been received, and the flag is set when the goods have been received.
“Shipping” is a flag indicating whether or not the delivery of the article 12 from the automatic warehouse 60 has been completed, and is blank when the delivery has not been completed, and is flagged when the delivery has been completed.

For example, the articles 12 (article IDs “C1005”, “C1015”, and “C1016”) constituting the article group ID “G03” have all been picked and received into the automatic warehouse 60. Of the articles 12 constituting the article group ID “G03”, the article 12 with the article ID “C1005” is delivered from the automatic warehouse 60.
In contrast, for example, the article 12 (article IDs “C1023” and “C2005”) constituting the article group ID “G01” has been completely picked, but the article 12 with the article ID “C2005” is automatically selected. It has not been received in the warehouse 60. Therefore, none of the articles 12 constituting the article group ID “G01” has been issued from the automatic warehouse 60.
The transport planning unit 112 of the control device 1 generates the collection plan information 131 by evaluating congestion avoidance of the automatic guided vehicle 2, minimization of the moving distance of the automatic guided vehicle 2, and the like.

Returning to the description of FIG.
Next, the movement control unit 113 of the control device 1 issues a shelf movement instruction to instruct each automatic guided vehicle 2 to move the shelf 11 to the picking stop area A2 based on the collection plan information 131 (S102). Specifically, the movement control unit 113 generates route information for moving the shelf 11 to the picking stop area A2, and transmits the route information to the automatic guided vehicle 2 via the automatic guided vehicle controller 6.
The processing unit 211 of the automatic guided vehicle 2 that has received the movement instruction moves the shelf to move the shelf 11 to the picking stop area A2 (S112). Specifically, when the automated guided vehicle 2 arrives at the shelf 11, the processing unit 211 enters under the shelf 11. Thereafter, the processing unit 211 raises the loading device 202 to lift the shelf 11. The processing unit 211 of the automated guided vehicle 2 that lifts the shelf 11 moves to the picking stop area A2 according to the route information.

The movement control unit 113 of the control device 1 determines whether or not the automatic guided vehicle 2 instructed in Step S112 has arrived at the picking stop area A2 (S113).
As a result of step S113, when it has not arrived (S113 → No), the processing unit 111 of the control device 1 returns the process to step S113.
If the result of step S113 is that it has arrived (S113 → Yes), the work terminal control unit 116 of the control device 1 instructs the work terminal 3 so that the work terminal 3 can pick the picking worker H1 via the display device 31. Is instructed to pick (S114). Specifically, the work terminal 3 displays picking information (such as the type of the article 12, the number to be picked, the storage location of the article 12 in the shelf 11) on the display device 31. The picking information is acquired from article information (not shown) or the like held in the storage device 130 of the control device 1. The work terminal 3 acquires picking information from the control device 1 via the station controller 7 and displays the acquired picking information on the display device 31. The article information is a format that is associated with the article ID in the collection plan information 131, and stores information such as the type of the article 12, the number of items to be picked, the storage location of the article 12 in the shelf 11, and the like. is there.

The picking worker H1 picks the article 12 according to the picking information displayed on the display device 31 of the work terminal 3 (S115). When picking is completed, the processing unit 211 of the automatic guided vehicle 2 returns the shelf 11 to the place where it was before the transport.
The conveyor 4 transfers the picked article 12 (S117).

  The receipt / shipment support system Z performs the same processing as steps S112 to S117 on each article group 13 (S132 to S137, S152 to S157).

(Automatic warehouse receipt processing)
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing details of the automatic warehouse warehousing process according to the present embodiment. Reference is made to FIGS. 1 and 5 as appropriate. FIG. 9 shows a process focusing on one article group 13, but the process of FIG. 9 is performed in parallel for each article group 13.
The article management unit 114 of the control device 1 determines whether or not the article 12 that has been carried to the warehousing port 62 of the automatic warehouse 60 by the second conveyor 42 is the article 12 that constitutes the article group 13 (S201). .
If the result of step S201 is not the article 12 constituting the article group 13 (S201 → No), the automatic warehouse control unit 116 of the control device 1 stores the stopper 65 in the second conveyor 42 (S202), and proceeds to step S201. Return processing. As a result, the article 12 is sent to the third conveyor 43 without entering the automatic warehouse 60.

As a result of step S201, when the article 12 constitutes the article group 13 (S201 → Yes), the automatic warehouse control unit 116 of the control device 1 stores the article 12 in the automatic warehouse 60 via the automatic warehouse controller 70. An instruction is given (S203).
Then, the article management unit 114 of the control device 1 sets a flag (entry flag) in the “entry” column of the article 12 to be processed in the collection plan information 131 (S204), and again from the control device 1. Wait for the warehousing instruction.

  The automatic warehouse 60 that has received the warehousing instruction uses the stacker crane 61 to store the article 12 in the automatic warehouse 60 itself (S301), and returns the process to step S301. The method of warehousing is performed as described above.

(Automatic warehouse issue processing)
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing details of the automatic warehouse delivery process according to the present embodiment. FIG. 10 shows a process focusing on one article group 13, but the process shown in FIG. 10 is performed in parallel for each article group 13.
The article management unit 114 of the control device 1 refers to the “article group ID” of the collection plan information 131 and “entry” and determines whether or not the articles 12 constituting the article group 13 are arranged in the automatic warehouse 60. (S211).
If the result of step S211 is not complete (S211 → No), the article management unit 114 of the control device 1 returns the process to step S211.

If the result of step S211 is that they are ready (S211 → Yes), the automatic warehouse control unit 116 of the control device 1 instructs the automatic warehouse 60 to issue the article 12 via the automatic warehouse controller 70 (S212).
Then, the article management unit 114 of the control device 1 sets a flag (shipping flag) in the “shipping” column of the goods 12 to be shipped in the collection plan information 131 (S213), and the processing unit 111 proceeds to step S211. return.

The delivery instruction includes the product ID of the product 12 to be delivered. The automatic warehouse controller 70 stores the article ID of the article 12 stored in the automatic warehouse 60 and the information related to the storage location 63 in the automatic warehouse 60 in association with each other. Therefore, when the automatic warehouse controller 70 transmits a shipping instruction to the automatic warehouse 60, the automatic warehouse controller 70 transmits information regarding the storage location 63 of the article 12 to be delivered together with the article ID.
Information regarding the storage location 63 of the article 12 is held by the control device 1, and the automatic warehouse control unit 116 stores the storage location 63 of the article 12 together with the article ID of the article 12 to be delivered via the automatic warehouse controller 70. Information about the information may be sent to the automatic warehouse 60.

The automatic warehouse 60 instructed to issue the article 12 uses the stacker crane 61 to deliver the article 12 to be delivered to the second conveyor 42 (S311), and again waits for a delivery instruction from the control device 1. As a result, even if the articles 12 constituting the same group of articles 13 are discontinuously transported to the warehousing port 62 and are warehousing, they are continually delivered at the time of delivery. At the time of delivery, the automatic warehouse controller 70 may stop the flow of the article 12 from the upstream side by the stopper 65 in the second conveyor 42. Here, the upstream is the picking area A10 side, and the downstream is the packing area A4 side.
Then, the article management unit 114 of the control device 1 refers to the “article group ID”, “entry”, and “exit” columns of the collection plan information 131, and has all the articles 12 constituting the article group 13 been delivered. It is determined whether or not (S214).
As a result of step S214, when all items are not delivered (S214 → No), the article management unit 114 of the control device 1 returns the process to step S212.
As a result of step S214, when all items have been shipped (S214 → Yes), the processing unit 111 of the control device 1 returns the process to step S201.

  In addition, the goods 12 which comprise the one goods group 13 are continuously performed from the automatic warehouse 60.

  According to the receipt / shipment support system Z according to the present embodiment, when the picking worker H1 picks the article 12 from the shelf 11 that has arrived, whether the article 12 to be picked constitutes the article group 13 or not, If the article group 13 is configured, the arrived article 12 can be picked without considering which article group 13 is configured. This not only improves picking efficiency, but also prevents errors during picking.

  Furthermore, since the arrived article 12 can be picked without considering which article group 13 is configured, the picking worker H1 does not have to be proficient. Therefore, the picking worker H1 can pick a part with a low level of proficiency, a part-time job, or the like. In addition, since training for the picking worker H1 is not required, the company can reduce costs.

  In the present embodiment, if the automatic warehouse 60 is provided in advance, the conventional receipt / shipment support system can be used only by installing the control device 1 having the function of the automatic warehouse control unit 116.

(Another example)
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another example of the receipt / shipment support system according to the present embodiment.
In the receipt / shipment support system Za in FIG. 11, an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag 81 is attached to the article 12. In FIG. 12, the RFID tags 81 are shown on some of the articles 12 for the sake of simplicity. However, the RFID tags 81 are actually attached to all of the articles 12. The RFID tag 81 stores the article ID and the like of the attached article 12.

  An RFID tag reader 82 is installed on the conveyor 4 (second conveyor 42). Then, the control device 1 manages the information of the RFID tag 81 read by the RFID tag reader 82 installed on the conveyor 4, the time read by the RFID tag reader 82, and the read information of the RFID tag reader 82. By doing in this way, the control apparatus 1 can manage the position of the articles | goods 12 in the conveyor 4 correctly.

  Further, by adopting the configuration as shown in FIG. 11, even if the picking worker H1 performs wrong picking, the control is performed based on the information of the RFID tag 81 read by the RFID tag reader 82 installed on the conveyor 4. The device 1 can immediately detect that the picked article 12 is incorrect.

  In this way, for example, the control device 1 can eliminate the erroneously picked article 12 by sending the erroneously picked article 12 to an erroneous picking conveyor (not shown). Further, when detecting that the picked article 12 is wrong, the control device 1 may instruct the automatic guided vehicle 2 to transport the shelf 11 in which the correct article 12 is stored. Alternatively, if the shelf 11 in which the correct article 12 is stored is being returned to the place where the automatic guided vehicle 2 is located, the control device 1 calls the automatic guided vehicle 2 back to the picking stop area A2. Also good. In this case, the display device 31 of the work terminal 3 may be displayed to indicate re-picking. By doing in this way, even if wrong picking is performed, re-picking can be performed immediately.

  In the example of FIG. 11, one RFID tag reader 82 is provided in the second conveyor 42 at a location downstream from the junction of the first conveyor 41 and upstream from the warehousing port 62 of the automatic warehouse 60. . By doing so, the number of RFID tag readers 82 can be minimized, and the cost can be minimized.

An RFID tag reader may be installed at each storage location 63 of the automatic warehouse 60. Then, the control device 1 may manage the information of the RFID tag 81 read by the RFID tag reader installed in the storage location 63 of the automatic warehouse 60 and the read information of the RFID tag reader. In this way, the control device 1 can accurately manage the position of the article 12 in the storage location 63 of the automatic warehouse 60.
In the example of FIG. 11, one RFID tag reader 82 is provided on the second conveyor 42 at a location downstream from the junction of the first conveyor 41 and upstream from the warehousing port 62 of the automatic warehouse 60. However, it is not limited to this. For example, in the second conveyor 42, the RFID tag reader 82 may be installed on the downstream side of the delivery port 64 or the like, and the RFID tag reader 82 is provided at other locations of the first conveyor 41, the second conveyor 42, and the third conveyor 43. May be installed. Thus, the tracking reliability of the article 12 can be improved by providing a plurality of installation locations of the RFID tag reader 82.

Moreover, in this embodiment, although the shelf is conveyed by the automatic guided vehicle 2, and the picking worker H1 is picking from the conveyed shelf, the automatic guided vehicle 2 does not need to be used.
Furthermore, the function of the automatic warehouse control unit 116 of the control device 1 may be provided in the automatic warehouse 60 or the automatic warehouse controller 70. In this case, the automatic warehouse 60 and the automatic warehouse controller 70 perform the processing of steps S201 to S204 in FIG. 9 and the processing of steps S211 to S214 in FIG.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the article 12 received in the automatic warehouse 60 is carried to the storage place 63 by the stacker crane 61, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a branch conveyor is disposed in the automatic warehouse 60, and the article 12 received in the automatic warehouse 60 may be conveyed to a specific storage location 63 by the branch conveyor disposed in the automatic warehouse 60.

An RFID tag may be attached to the article 12. An RFID tag reader may be installed on the conveyor 4 at a predetermined location. By doing in this way, it becomes possible for the control apparatus 1 to manage the place of the articles | goods 12 in the conveyor 4 correctly.
Further, an RFID tag may be attached to the article 12 and an RFID tag reader may be installed in each storage location 63 of the automatic warehouse 60. By doing in this way, the control apparatus 1 can manage correctly the storage place 63 of the articles | goods 12 in the automatic warehouse 60. FIG.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, although the automatic guided vehicle 2 lifts the shelf 11, the automatic guided vehicle 2 conveys the shelf 11, but it is not restricted to this. For example, casters are provided on the legs of the shelf 11, and the automated guided vehicle 2 may carry the shelf 11 by pulling the shelf 11.
In addition, although a bar code is installed on the floor surface of the traveling region R as a marker (not shown), the present invention is not limited to this, and a QR (Quick Response) code (registered trademark) or an RFID tag is used as a marker. May be. When an RFID tag is used as a marker, an RFID tag reader is mounted on the automatic guided vehicle 2 instead of the camera 203b installed on the bottom surface of the main body device 201. By doing in this way, the control apparatus 1 can manage the position of the automatic guided vehicle 2 correctly.

  In this embodiment, a bar code (not shown) is attached to the bottom surface of the shelf 11, and the automatic guided vehicle 2 reads the bar code by the camera 203 a installed at the center of the loading device 202, so that It is determined whether or not the automatic guided vehicle 2 has arrived at this time, but is not limited thereto. For example, a QR code (registered trademark) may be used instead of the barcode. Alternatively, an RFID tag may be attached to the bottom surface of the shelf 11 instead of the barcode. In this case, an RFID tag reader is mounted instead of the camera 203a installed at the center of the stacking device 202. By doing in this way, since the control apparatus 1 can detect correctly that the automatic guided vehicle 2 came directly under the shelf 11, and can acquire the information of the shelf 11, the automatic guided vehicle 2 is The control device 1 can determine whether or not the correct shelf 11 is being conveyed.

In addition, the receipt / shipment support systems Z and Za according to the present embodiment may be used during the busy season, and a method using a temporary storage shelf as in the past may be performed during the quiet season.
Furthermore, the technique described in Patent Document 2 may be used for the automatic guided vehicle 2.
In the receipt / shipment support systems Z and Za according to the present embodiment, the same picking worker H1 may pick the articles 12 belonging to the same article group 13, or different picking workers H1 may be the same article group. The article 12 belonging to 13 may be picked.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the turning of the automatic guided vehicle 2 is such that one of the left and right drive wheels 250 in the automatic guided vehicle 2 rotates in the opposite direction with respect to the other drive wheel 250. However, this is not a limitation. For example, instead of the universal wheel 240, a direction turning wheel that can be controlled by the processing unit 211 may be provided, and the direction of the automatic guided vehicle 2 may be turned by changing the direction of the direction turning wheel.

Moreover, in this embodiment, although the automatic guided vehicle 2 is conveying the shelf 11, it is not restricted to this. For example, the automatic guided vehicle 2 may transport a box in which the article 12 is stored.
In this embodiment, the picking worker H1 performs picking. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and picking by a machine or the like may be performed.
Furthermore, the automatic warehouse 60 may not be installed in the vicinity of the second conveyor 42.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to having all the configurations described. In addition, a part of the configuration of a certain embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of a certain embodiment. In addition, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.

Each of the above-described configurations, functions, and the like may be realized by hardware by designing a part or all of them, for example, with an integrated circuit. Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the above-described configurations, functions, and the like may be realized by software by interpreting and executing programs that realize the respective functions by the processors such as the CPUs 120 and 220. . In addition to storing information such as programs, tables, and files for realizing each function in the HD, a memory, a recording device such as an SSD (Solid State Drive), an IC (Integrated Circuit) card, an SD (Secure It can be stored in a recording medium such as a Digital) card or DVD (Digital Versatile Disc).
In each embodiment, control lines and information lines are those that are considered necessary for explanation, and not all control lines and information lines are necessarily shown on the product. In practice, it can be considered that almost all configurations are connected to each other.

1 Control device (control unit)
2 automatic guided vehicle 3 work terminal 4 conveyor 5 client terminal 11 shelf 12, 12a, 12b article 13 article group 31 display device 32 bar code reader 41 first conveyor 42 second conveyor 43 third conveyor 51 chute 60 automatic warehouse 61 stacker crane (Incoming department, outgoing department)
62 Warehouse (Receiving Department)
63 Storage location (holding part)
64 Outlet (Outlet)
65 Stopper 111 Processing Unit of Control Device 112 Conveyance Planning Unit 113 Movement Control Unit 114 Article Management Unit 115 Work Terminal Control Unit 116 Automatic Warehouse Control Unit 130 Storage Device 131 Collecting Plan Information 201 Main Body Device 202 Loading Device 211 Processing Unit of Automated Transport Vehicle 230a, 230b Camera 240 Swivel wheel 250 Drive wheel A Work area A2 Picking stop area A3 Picking work area A4 Packing area A10 Picking area R Traveling area Z, Zb Receipt / shipment support system

Claims (5)

After picking, the articles in the article group composed of a plurality of articles that have been discontinuously carried by the conveyor are stored in the automatic warehouse, and are held in the automatic warehouse until the articles in the article group are aligned. A receipt / shipment support system, comprising: a control unit that continuously unloads articles from the automatic warehouse when the articles are ready. The controller is
When the article that has moved on the conveyor is one that constitutes the article group, the article is stored in the automatic warehouse,
The receipt / shipment support system according to claim 1, wherein the article is not stored in the automatic warehouse when the article group does not constitute the article group. Identifying the position of the self, and based on the identified position of the self, having an automatic guided vehicle that transports a shelf storing the article,
The said automatic guided vehicle conveys the said shelf to the picking area | region where the picking of the said article is performed. The receipt / shipment support system of Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. After picking, a warehousing unit that acquires goods in an article group composed of a plurality of articles that have been discontinuously carried by a conveyor and performs warehousing;
A holding unit for holding the articles in the group of articles until they are aligned;
When the articles in the article group are gathered, an unloading unit that unloads the articles continuously,
An automatic warehouse characterized by having. A receipt / shipment support method in a receipt / shipment support system having a control unit for controlling an automatic warehouse,
The control unit is
After picking, the goods in the goods group composed of a plurality of goods that have been discontinuously carried by the conveyor are received in the automatic warehouse,
Hold in the automatic warehouse until the goods in the goods group are ready,
When the articles in the group of articles are ready, the articles are continuously delivered from the automatic warehouse.

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