JP7392223B2 - Automatic shipping method and equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic shipping method and device that fully automatically performs the operations of depalletizing, storage transfer, and palletizing a box-like case in which a plurality of products such as plastic beverage bottles are housed in a cardboard box or the like. It is.

Generally, at a distribution center, products are sorted according to the characteristics of each product before being stored, such as picking and assorting, and then the products are picked and sorted from storage in accordance with the shipping schedule for the day. However, a lot of work is required, such as shipping the products to the required shipping locations and sorting them. In particular, shipping work for heavy items such as beverage cases is often done manually by workers.

As a conventional technology, for example, in a large computer-controlled automated warehouse, a large number of products of various types that are temporarily stocked are appropriately selected at the required time and in the required number according to the shipping destination, which is the customer, and then placed in designated shipping containers. A large-scale automatic warehouse system has been disclosed that is capable of accurately loading (picking or assorting) items into products and shipping them at high speed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP2019-85208A

When configuring equipment to automatically ship heavy goods at a distribution center, large-scale equipment such as conveyors, storage, and robots is required for everything from picking products to loading them onto basket trucks, six-wheeled carts, pallets, and other trolleys. It is said that However, in the conventional approach to equipment configuration, when carrying out the process of picking heavy objects from a conveyance line and stacking them onto basket trucks, etc., in order to increase the throughput, it is necessary to use stacker cranes, traveling carts, lifters, etc. If the automation equipment is mechanically complex and expensive, such as a method that mainly uses automated warehouses that combine They will be forced to invest. On the other hand, if the heavy goods are seasonal products, there will be periods when the demand increases and periods when it decreases, so if you take into consideration the period when the demand will decrease, you may be hesitant to purchase these devices easily for economic reasons. .

Additionally, beverage cases weigh over 10 kilograms, and it is extremely hard work for workers to manually handle large quantities of such products.Therefore, it is desirable to automate and save labor at these distribution centers. However, automatic shipping equipment has not been realized due to the reasons mentioned above.

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art and is capable of depalletizing and palletizing a product case containing a heavy object such as a cardboard box containing multiple large PET bottles without easily deforming it and with high throughput. We have modularized the device and the storage mechanism, which can store large quantities of product cases during busy periods and without using power equipment as much as possible, to fully automate tasks from picking to stacking. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an automatic shipping method and device that makes it possible to do this.

The automatic shipping method of the present invention is an automatic shipping method in which cases stored on pallets are loaded one by one onto a transporting basket car, and the cases on the pallets are removed one by one by a depalletizing mechanism. A step of separating and supplying the cases to a storage mechanism, a step of temporarily storing the cases supplied from the depalletizing mechanism in the storage mechanism, and a step of transferring the cases discharged from the storage mechanism to a cage car for transportation by the palletizing mechanism. It is characterized by comprising a step of stacking.

Further, the automatic shipping device of the present invention is an automatic shipping device that loads cases stored on pallets one by one onto a transportation cage car, and includes a depalletizing mechanism, a storage mechanism, and a palletizing mechanism. , the depalletizing mechanism is configured to separate cases on the pallet one by one and supply them to the storage mechanism, and the storage mechanism includes a plurality of storages each including a conveyor for moving the supplied cases. The palletizing mechanism is configured to stack the cases discharged from the storage mechanism onto the cage car one by one.

The depalletizing mechanism includes a pallet conveyor for transporting the pallet loaded with cases, a depalletizing robot for depalletizing the palletized cases one layer at a time, and a depalletizing robot for depalletizing the cases layer by layer. It is preferable to include a singulation conveyor that separates the case into two and transports the case downstream with the direction of the case aligned with the longitudinal direction.

The palletizing mechanism includes a case transport conveyor that transports cases discharged from the storage mechanism, a cage car feeder that is disposed on a side of the case transport conveyor and that moves a cage car for transport, and the case transport conveyor. It is preferable to include a palletizing robot that receives cases conveyed by the car and loads them on the cage car.

Preferably, the storage mechanism has a three-dimensional structure in which a plurality of storage lines each consisting of a roller conveyor are layered. More preferably, it is a gravity conveyor that has a high loading side and a low unloading side so that cases can move toward the unloading side by their own weight.

According to the present invention, there is provided a robot device that can depalletize and palletize product cases containing heavy objects such as cardboard boxes without easily deforming and with high throughput, and a robot device that can store large quantities of product cases during busy seasons. , and a storage mechanism that can be stored without using a power unit as much as possible, making it possible to perform tasks from picking to stacking fully automatically.

1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of an automatic shipping device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic perspective view of a depalletizing mechanism. It is a schematic perspective view of a palletizing mechanism. It is a flowchart showing the steps of the automatic shipping method of the present invention. It is a flowchart showing the steps of the automatic shipping method of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The automatic shipping method and apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail below using embodiments shown in the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can be implemented with various changes without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic system configuration diagram of an automatic shipping device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a depalletizing mechanism, 2 is a storage mechanism, and 3 is a palletizing mechanism. The configuration of each mechanism will be specifically explained below.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the depalletizing mechanism 1. The depalletizing mechanism 2 is a mechanism that unpacks a plurality of cases 11 stacked on the pallet 10 from the pallet 10. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, there are two singulation conveyors 5, and pallet conveyors 6 are arranged on both sides of the singulation conveyors 5. The singulation conveyor 8 and pallet conveyor 6 can be added as desired.

A depalletizing robot 7 is installed between the pallet conveyors 6. The depalletizing robot 7 performs the task of unloading the palletized cases 11 layer by layer (depalletizing). The two singulation conveyors 5 are connected to a case conveyor 8, and the case conveyor 8 is connected to the storage mechanism 2.

The storage mechanism 2 is a mechanism that temporarily stores a large number of cases and dispenses them one by one.As shown in FIGS. The storage line 2L has a three-dimensional structure with multiple layers. Cases are supplied to all of these storage lines 2L from the transport conveyor 8. The storage line 2L can also be optionally expanded.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the palletizing mechanism 3. The palletizing mechanism 3 is a mechanism that automatically stacks the cases 11 discharged from the storage line 2L onto the cage car 20.

Two case transport conveyors 13 are branched off from a case discharge conveyor 12 connected to the storage line 2L. A palletizing robot 14 is installed at the end of the case transport conveyor 13, and cage car feeders 22 for transferring the cage cars 20 are provided on both sides. The cage car 20 has a structure in which a vertically long cage 20b is mounted on a cart 20a that runs on a cage feeder 22. The case conveyor 13 and cage car feeder 22 mentioned above can also be optionally added.

The automatic shipping method of the present invention will be specifically explained below based on the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for starting storage. In step S1, a pallet 10 stored in a warehouse or the like, on which a case 11 is placed, is set at a predetermined position on a pallet conveyor 6 using a forklift (not shown). Figure 2A).

In step S2, the barcode of the case 11 on the pallet 10 is read by a scanner (not shown), the storage line 2L to be supplied is selected, and then conveyance by the pallet conveyor 6 is started.

In step S3, the pallet 10 is transported by the pallet conveyor 6 to the vicinity of the depalletizing robot 7 (FIG. 2B).

In step S4, the depalletizing robot 7 depalletizes each layer 12 of the pallet to be depalletized, and transfers it to the singulation conveyor 5 (FIG. 2C).

In step S5, the singulation conveyor 5 separates the cases assembled into layers 12 one by one and conveys them in series (FIG. 2D).

In step S6, the rotating portion of the singulation conveyor is rotated 90 degrees in the direction of the arrow to align the advancing direction 13 of the case 11 with the longitudinal direction (FIG. 2E).

In step S7, the barcode of the case 11 is automatically read by the scanner 16, and the case 11 is transported toward the corresponding storage line 2L (FIG. 2F).

In step S8, it is determined whether there is any remaining (usable) storage line 2L. If there is any remaining, the process proceeds to step S9, and if there is no remaining, the process returns to step S1.

In step S9, necessary cases are delivered from the storage line 2L in accordance with the stowage order according to the calculation result of the stowage simulation.

Next, the operation of discharging from the storage mechanism and stacking by the palletizing mechanism 3 will be explained with reference to FIG. 5 (see FIG. 3).

In step S10, the cases 11 are transported to the corresponding palletizing robot 14 in the stacking order.

In step S11, the barcode of the case 11 is automatically read by a scanner, and it is checked whether the case 11 has been transported in the correct order (FIG. 3K).

In step S12, the direction of the case is compared with the calculation result of the loading simulation based on the barcode reading result, and if it is different, the case is rotated (FIG. 3L).

In step S13, it is compared with the calculation result of the loading simulation to check whether it is correct (FIG. 3M).

In step S13, if YES, the process proceeds to step S16, and if NO, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, an alarm is issued, a worker is called, and in step S15, the case is corrected in the correct orientation.

In step S16, the case is transported to the lift section 21 and lifted up as shown by the arrow (FIG. 4N).

In step S17, the work of starting stowage begins. In step S18, the palletizing robot 14 receives the case from the lift section 21 (FIG. 3P).

Next, in step S19, the flow for starting operation of the cage car feeder 22 is performed. In step S20, the cage car 20 is set on the cage car feeder 22.

In step S21, the cage car shape confirmation unit 23 automatically determines whether or not the cage car 20 can be used. If the cage car 20 is usable, the process proceeds to step S22, and if the car cannot be used, the process proceeds to step S23. In step S23, an alarm is issued and a worker is called, and in step S24, the corresponding cage car 20 is removed.

In step S22, the cage car 20 is automatically transported to the loading position, and the cage car 20 is fixed by means such as automatically pushing out the side walls of the cage car (FIG. 3R).

In step S25, it is confirmed whether or not the entire loading area of the cage car 20 can be loaded. If it is possible, the process proceeds to step S26. If the determination is NO (there is an obstacle), an alarm is issued in step S27. Then, in step S28, a worker is called and the corresponding cage car 20 is removed.

In step S26, it is confirmed whether there are any obstacles in the space where the cage car is scheduled to be loaded (FIG. 3R). If there is no obstacle, the process proceeds to step S29; if there is an obstacle, an alarm is issued in step S30, a worker is called, and the moved case (obstruction) is returned to its original position in step S31, or Or, the corresponding cage car 20 is discharged.

In step S29, the process proceeds to step S32 under the AND condition of both step S18 and step S26, that is, the palletizing robot 14 receives the case from the lift section and there is no obstacle in the scheduled loading space of the basket car, The case 11 is stacked at a predetermined position on the cage car 20 (FIG. 3R).

In step S33, it is determined whether or not the scheduled number of stowages has been completed. If it is determined that the stowage has not been completed, the process returns to step S18 and step S26 and the above-mentioned work is resumed. If it is determined that the loading has been completed, the process proceeds to step S34, and the discharge of the cage car 20 whose loading has been completed is completed (FIG. 3R1).

As described above, according to the automatic shipping method and device of the present embodiment, heavy cases such as beverage cases can be fully automatically depalletized, stored and palletized, and shipped using a transportation means such as a cage truck. In addition, the depalletizing mechanism, storage mechanism, and palletizing mechanism are modular, so they can be easily expanded and the shipping volume can be increased. It can be changed arbitrarily depending on the installation space.

1 Depalletizing mechanism 2 Storage mechanism 2L Storage line 3 Palletizing mechanism 5 Singulation conveyor 6 Pallet conveyor 7 Depalletizing robot 8 Case conveyor 12 Case delivery conveyor 13 Case conveyor 14 Palletizing robot 20 Basket car 22 Basket car feeder

Claims (5)

An automatic shipping method in which cases stored on pallets are loaded one by one onto a transportation trolley,
separating the cases on the pallet one by one by a depalletizing mechanism and supplying them to a storage mechanism;
temporarily storing the cases supplied from the depalletizing mechanism in the storage mechanism;
An automatic shipping method comprising the step of stacking the cases discharged from the storage mechanism onto a transportation trolley using a palletizing mechanism. An automatic shipping device that loads cases stored on pallets one by one onto a transportation trolley,
Equipped with depalletizing mechanism, storage mechanism and palletizing mechanism,
The depalletizing mechanism is configured to separate cases on the pallet one by one and supply them to the storage mechanism,
The storage mechanism is composed of a plurality of storage lines composed of conveyors that move supplied cases,
The automatic stacking device is characterized in that the palletizing mechanism is configured to stack the cases delivered from the storage mechanism onto the cart one by one. The depalletizing mechanism includes:
a pallet conveyor that transports the pallet loaded with cases; a depalletizing robot that depalletizes the palletized cases one layer at a time;
3. The automatic shipping device according to claim 2, further comprising a singulation conveyor that separates the depalletized cases layer by layer into one row and transports the cases downstream with their orientation aligned with the longitudinal direction. . The palletizing mechanism includes:
a case transport conveyor that transports cases discharged from the storage mechanism;
a trolley feeder that is disposed on a side of the case transport conveyor and moves a transport trolley;
3. The automatic shipping device according to claim 2, further comprising a palletizing robot that receives the cases transported by the case transport conveyor and stacks them on the cart. 3. The automatic shipping device according to claim 2, wherein the storage mechanism has a three-dimensional structure in which a plurality of storage lines each consisting of a roller conveyor are layered.

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