JPH01303211A - Automatic storage retrieval device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve a space efficiency by enabling transfer with a picker by providing a chain type container elevating mechanism to the end of a housing area in lined up with a shelf, and arranging a container taking-in and -out means to the lowest part of the elevating mechanism in the captioned device for a warehouse, etc. CONSTITUTION:A taking-in and -out device 8 carrying in and out a container 5 to and from a shelf is provided to one side part of a housing area 2. The device 8 is composed of a right and left pair of endless chain mechanisms 9, container support arm 17, and roller conveyers 10 and 11 provided to the lowest part. And the container 5 is received and delivered with the support arm 17 of the device 8 with the conveyers 10 and 11. And the container 5 is ascended and descended to a given shelf height and delivered to a picker 6 with the device 8. The container 5 is carried to a given shelf 4 and taken in or out with the picker 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an automatic storage and retrieval device that is capable of automatically storing, storing, searching and retrieving articles in a warehouse or the like.

(Prior Art) As this type of automatic storage and retrieval device, the applicant of the present application has previously proposed a device such as, for example, unpublished Utility Application No. 115745/1982. This device is equipped with a picker that can move horizontally in the left and right directions for each shelf, along the open shelf side of a storage area where multiple shelves are arranged, and which takes containers in and out of the shelves in the front and rear directions. , a container elevating mechanism in which support plates for placing containers are fixed at equal intervals in accordance with the vertical spacing of the shelves, to each of annular cables arranged to face each other on the left and right and rotate synchronously in the vertical direction; A container loading/unloading device provided at the lowest part and comprising a container loading/unloading mechanism that moves forward and backward in the front and back directions to load and unload containers from the support plate to the outside or from the outside onto the support plate is provided in line with the storage area. ing. A picker that operates independently for each shelf takes containers in and out and transfers them between the shelves and the loading/unloading device, and the loading/unloading device also transfers containers between the pickers of multiple shelves and with the outside. It is configured so that containers can be loaded or unloaded in parallel.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the automatic storage and retrieval device configured as described above, containers can be taken in and out and transferred between the shelves and the warehousing/retrieval device by a picker that operates independently for each shelf. The unloading device can simultaneously load and unload containers between multiple rack pickers and the outside, which greatly improves efficiency, lowers operating costs, and simplifies the structure. However, since the container loading/unloading mechanism of the loading/unloading device is configured to move forward and backward in the front and back direction to move the container in and out from the support plate to the outside, or from the outside onto the support plate, this container The loading/unloading device, such as a conveyor, for carrying containers sent out from the loading/unloading mechanism to the outside, or for carrying containers from the outside into the container loading/unloading mechanism, is operated in a direction perpendicular to the shelf arrangement direction of the storage area, that is, the width of the storage area. Therefore, in order to install the entire device, a sufficient space in the width direction of the storage area is required, resulting in a problem of poor space utilization efficiency.

This invention was made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an automatic storage and retrieval device that can be efficiently installed in a limited space.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The automatic storage and retrieval device of the present invention includes a storage area in which a plurality of shelves for storing containers are arranged, and a left and right shelf for each shelf tier along the shelf open side of the storage area. a picker that is provided horizontally movably in the direction of the shelf and that takes containers in and out in the front and back directions between the picker and the shelf; and a loading/unloading device for delivering and receiving containers, and the loading/unloading device has eight pairs of front and back annular cables arranged opposite to each other on the left and right and rotating synchronously in the vertical direction. A container elevating mechanism to which a supporting member for placing a container is fixed, and a container elevating mechanism provided at the lowest part of the container elevating III mechanism, which can freely move forward and backward between a front position close to the picker side and a rear position slightly rearward. In the front position, the container is received from the descending support member or the container is transferred to the rising support member, and in the rear position, the container is moved left and right to move from the rear position to the outside or from the outside. The container includes a container moving mechanism for moving the container to the rear position along the direction in which the shelves are arranged through between the pair of annular ropes of the apron.

(Function) In this invention, an external container is loaded onto the container loading/unloading mechanism from the direction in which the shelves in the storage area are arranged by the left and right movement of the container loading/unloading mechanism located at the rear position, and then the container loading/unloading mechanism moves to the front position. The container advances, and at its front position, the container is transferred onto the support member of the container lifting/lowering mechanism, lifted to the target shelf, and then stored on the target shelf by the picker. In addition, the container transferred from the shelf to the support member of the container elevating mechanism by the picker is lowered to the bottom and placed on the container ejection mechanism located at the front position, and then the container ejection mechanism is moved back to the rear position. Furthermore, the container is carried out to the outside along the direction in which the shelves in the storage area are arranged by moving the container loading/unloading mechanism laterally.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of an arbitrary shelf of an automatic storage and retrieval apparatus which is an embodiment of the present invention.

In this automatic storage and retrieval device, storage areas 2 and 3 are provided at the front and rear sides of the housing 1, and each storage area 2.
3, shelves 4 serving as article storage areas are arranged in a matrix in both directions. The front and rear storage areas 2.3 are arranged so that the open sides of the shelves 4 face each other, and in the middle area sandwiched between the front and rear storage areas 2, 3, the storage areas 2, 3 are arranged so that the open sides of the shelves 4 face each other.
A picker 6 for taking the container 5 into and out of the ll14 for each of the three shelves is provided so as to be movable in the left and right direction. That is, a pair of rails 7 are provided extending in the left-right direction at height positions corresponding to each shelf of the front and rear storage areas 2°3, and the picker 6 is mounted on these rails 7.
is mounted on a rack so that it can be moved freely. This picker 6 is provided with a separate entry/exit column having arms 6a and 6b, and containers 5 stored on shelves 4 in the front and rear storage areas 2.3.
onto the picker 6, or from the top of the picker 6 onto the shelf 4.
The container 5 can be inserted inside.

On the other hand, at the left end of the rear storage area 2, instead of the shelf 4,
A loading/unloading device 8 is provided for transporting the container 5 from the outside to each shelf and transporting the container 5 from each shelf to the outside.

As shown in the rear view in FIG. 2, this loading/unloading device 8 includes a pair of endless chain mechanisms 9 arranged oppositely on the left and right, and a first endless chain mechanism arranged at the lowest position between these endless chain mechanisms 9. A roller conveyor 10 and a second roller conveyor 11 adjacent to the left side of this roller conveyor 10
It has an in/out mechanism 12 composed of.

The left and right endless chain mechanisms 9 include a pair of front and rear coaxial upper sprockets 14a, 14t) and a lower sprocket 15a, 15b, which are pivoted to the vertical frame 13a of the frame 13 of the input/output Pi device 8, and a pair of front and rear chains 16a. 1
Each section is constructed by passing 6b.

FIG. 3 shows a horizontal sectional view of the loading/unloading device @8. Between the pair of front and rear chains 16a, 16t described above, a plurality of horizontal support arms 17 are arranged at equal intervals corresponding to a fixed interval larger than the height of the container 5 (in this case, the vertical interval of the shelf 4). As shown in Figure 3, it is installed horizontally. That is, each horizontal support arm 17 is formed by bending a vibe member into a general U-shape, as shown in FIG. 4, which is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. is connected to the connecting pins 19 of the chains 16a, 16b via a roughly shaped connecting portion 1018 shown in a front view in FIG. An elongated hole 20 and a round hole 21 are formed at the top and bottom in the vertical piece 18a of the connecting member 18, and as shown in FIG. By fitting the elongated hole 20 and the round hole 21, and then fitting the guide roller 22 from above as shown in FIG. The connecting member 18 is a chain 16a,
16b. Also, the horizontal piece 1 of the connecting member 18
Round holes 24 are formed on the left and right sides of 8b, and these round holes 24
The connecting member 8 and the horizontal support arm 17 are connected by inserting a bolt 25 into a round hole (not shown) formed in the flattened portion 17a of the horizontal support arm 17 and tightening it with a nut 26 as shown in FIG. The connection is being made.

The guide roller 22 is connected to the frame 13 of the loading/unloading device 8.
The chains 16a, 16b are rotatably inserted into the vertical frame portions 13a of the chains 16a, 16b, and are rotatably inserted into guide rails 27 having a U-shaped cross section.
b is configured to circulate and move in a stable manner.

With the above configuration, the endless chain 1jItl1
The vertical spacing of the horizontal support arm 17 of No. 9 is the chain 15a,
It is set as a value that is an integral multiple of the pitch P of 16b. A pair of coaxial upper sprockets 14a at the front and rear of the left and right endless chain mechanisms 9.

14b, as shown in FIG. 2, two sprockets 28 and 29 coaxially and directly connected to the left and right upper sprockets 14a and 14b, and an AC drive source provided on the upper part of the frame 13 of the loading/unloading device 8. One sprocket 31 that is directly connected to the motor 30 and another sprocket 32 that is also provided on the upper part of the frame 13 are connected to receive the rotation of the AC motor 30 via an endless chain 33 so that they rotate synchronously. These left and right endless chain mechanisms 9 constitute a container lifting mechanism 34 that moves the container 5 up and down while placing it between the left and right horizontal support arms 17.

The upper sprocket 14b of one of the endless chain mechanisms 9 described above is provided with a disk 35 that is directly connected to the upper sprocket and rotates integrally with the upper sprocket 14b, and this disk 35 has chains 16a, 1
Through-holes 35a, 35b for position detection are formed in the circumferential direction in units of rotation angles corresponding to the amount of movement of one pitch of 6b.
are arranged around the outer circumferential side and the inner circumferential side at equal intervals.

Position detection sensors 36a and 36b, which are made of photocoupler or the like and detect the respective through holes 35a and 35b, are provided on the outer peripheral edge of the disk 35, and the detection outputs of these position detection sensors 36a and 36b are used to detect the respective through holes 35a and 35b. , is configured to detect the position of the container 5 placed on the container elevating mechanism 34 and being raised and lowered.

In addition, the first roller conveyor 1 of the above-described loading/unloading mechanism 12
0, a plurality of rollers 38 arranged on the support base 37 in the left-right direction with each axis facing the front-rear direction can be driven to rotate in both directions by a drive source (not shown). The support stand 37 is placed on a base 39 fixed to the bottom of the frame 13, and is configured to be movable forward and backward. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the roller conveyor 10 has a pair of left and right guide members 40 that protrude downward from the support base 37, and a pair of left and right guide members 40 that are formed on a base 39 in the front-rear direction. It is fitted into a guide groove 41 and is movable back and forth.

FIG. 7 shows a longitudinal sectional view of the first roller conveyor 10 as seen from the side, and the base 39 has an endless chain mechanism 44 in which a chain 43 is hooked around a pair of front and rear sprockets 42a, 42b. provided that the chain 4
The middle part of the base 3 is connected to the bottom of the support base 37.
The roller conveyor 10 is moved back and forth by driving the endless chain mechanism 44 back and forth with a drive source 45 provided at the roller conveyor 9 . Guide plates 46 and 47 are provided at the front end and the contact end of the upper surface of the first roller conveyor 10, respectively, as shown in FIG. The guide plate 46 at the front end includes a guide portion 46a that is inclined downwardly toward the front in order to guide the container 5 when transferring the container 5 from the picker 6 at the lowest stage directly onto the roller conveyor 10, and a guide portion 46a that is inclined downwardly toward the front. A guide plate 47 at the rear end has a stopper portion 46b having an angular cross-section to prevent the container 5 transferred thereon from shifting forward.
a guide portion 47a that is tilted upwardly toward the rear in order to guide the container 5 placed on the container elevating mechanism 34 and descending to an appropriate position on the roller conveyor 10;
A stopper portion 47 having an angular cross-section that prevents the container 5 transferred onto the roller conveyor 10 from shifting backward.
It has b.

Furthermore, regarding the second roller conveyor 11 of the above-mentioned loading/unloading mechanism 12, a plurality of rollers 49 arranged in the left-right direction on the support base 48 with each axis directed in the front-rear direction are bidirectionally moved by a drive source (not shown). It is designed to be rotatably driven, and its support stand 48 is attached to the frame 13 of the loading/unloading device 8.
is fixed at the bottom of the Also, this roller conveyor 1
1 is installed within a range that does not interfere with the horizontal support arm 17 that moves up and down of the container lifting mechanism 34, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The heights of the container 5 mounting surfaces of the first and second roller conveyors 10.11 are the same, and when the first roller conveyor 10 has completed its retreat from the front position near the billet car 6 to the rear position, , so that the positions of the second roller conveyor 11 and the front and back are aligned. On the left end side of the second roller conveyor 11, another conveyor 50 for carrying in or carrying out the container 5 from the outside is arranged as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of this automatic storage and retrieval device will be explained.

For example, when the shelf picker 6 shown in FIG. , an arm 6a attached to the picker 6,
The loading/unloading mechanism including 6b is activated, and the container 5 is taken out from t114 and loaded onto the picker 6. When the take-in operation is completed, the picker 6 moves to the loading/unloading device 8 on the left end side.
The vehicle travels horizontally up to the point where it stops in front of this loading/unloading device 8.

The above operations of the picker 6 are performed independently for each shelf.

On the other hand, in the loading/unloading device 8, the container lifting mechanism 34 stops at a position where each horizontal support arm 17 is aligned with the height of each shelf, and the container 5 is transferred from the picker 6 onto the corresponding horizontal support arm 17. Ru. This operation can be performed simultaneously for the pickers 6 on each shelf.

Prior to this operation, the first roller conveyor 10 of the loading/unloading mechanism 12 is driven by the endless chain mechanism 44 of the base 39 to advance to the front position as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. The tip of the guide plate 46 is the picker 6
It is waiting at a position reached by the side edge of the rail 7 on which it runs (the position is indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 7).

As shown by the solid line in FIG. 7, the container 5 is placed on the horizontal support arm 17 and the container elevating mechanism 34 performs a lowering operation, so that the horizontal support arm 17 is slightly lower than the mounting surface of the first roller conveyor 10. When the container lift mechanism 34 is lowered to a lower position (corresponding to the lowest shelf position), the container lift mechanism 34 stops, and the container 5 on the horizontal support arm 17 moves to the position shown in FIG.
As shown by the dotted chain line, it is transferred onto the first roller conveyor 10 that is being specially photographed. At the above-mentioned stop position of the container lifting/lowering mechanism 34, one of the horizontal support arms 17 whose movement path is the left end side of the second roller conveyor 11 stops at a position slightly lower than the mounting surface of the roller conveyor 11. Therefore, this horizontal support arm 17 and the horizontal support arm 17 located one level above this are stopped at positions where they do not interfere with the container 5 being carried out from the second roller conveyor 11.

The first roller conveyor 10 is then moved back to the rear position shown by the solid line in FIG. 7 by the drive of the endless chain mechanism 44 of the base 39, and is aligned with the second roller conveyor 11 as shown in FIG. . After this, the first. Second
The rollers 38, 49 of the roller conveyor 10.11 of the roller conveyor 10.
11 to the outside via a conveyor 50 shown in FIG.

The container 6 on the lowest shelf 4 is carried out by directly transferring the container 5 from the picker 6 to the first roller conveyor 10 without operating the container elevating mechanism 34.

On the other hand, when carrying in the container 5 from the outside, an operation opposite to the above-described carrying-out operation is performed. That is,
The first roller conveyor 10 waits at a rear position alongside the second roller conveyor 11 as shown in FIG. While the container 5 is stopped at a position where it does not interfere with the container 5 being carried in from the roller conveyor 11 of the first roller conveyor 11, the first one is stopped. Second roller conveyor 10°11
The rollers 38, 49 of are driven to rotate in the right direction, and the container 5 is transferred from the external conveyor 50 shown in FIG. 1 via the second roller conveyor 11 onto the first roller conveyor 10. After this, the first roller conveyor 10 moves to the front position and stops. Next, the container lifting mechanism 3
4 starts the upward movement, and the container 5 on the roller conveyor 10 is transferred onto the horizontal support arm 17. container 5
When the horizontal support arm 17 carrying the container reaches the target shelf, the container elevating mechanism 34 stops, and the picker 6 of the shelf takes out the container 5 from the horizontal support arm 17 and stores it on the designated shelf 4. The container 5 is transferred to the bottom shelf 4 by the bottom picker 6 directly taking in the container 5 from the second roller conveyor 10 without operating the container lifting mechanism 34.

Stop control of the container lifting mechanism 34 in the above operation is performed as follows.

For example, in carrying-in operation, when lifting the container 5 from the first roller conveyor 10 to the target shelf, the through holes 35a and 35b formed in the disc 35 that rotates as the container lifting mechanism 34 is driven correspond to the loading operation. The through holes 35a, 35b detected by the position detection sensors 36a, 35b are detected by the position detection sensors 36a, 36b, respectively.
is counted by a counter (not shown), and when the counted value reaches a value corresponding to the target shelf, the AC motor 30, which is the drive source for driving the container lifting mechanism 34, is stopped, and the container 6 is moved to the target shelf. It can be lifted up to the shelf. In the case of unloading, the container lifting mechanism 34 is stopped by a similar operation when the horizontal support arm 17 carrying the container 5 has descended to the lowest shelf position. Note that the distinction between whether the AC motor 30 that drives the container lifting mechanism 34 is clockwise rotation drive or left rotation drive, that is, the raising operation and lowering operation of the container lifting mechanism 34, is determined by the through hole 35a of the disc 35. This is performed based on the phase shift between the detection signal of the position detection sensor 36a that detects the through hole 35b and the detection signal of the position detection sensor 36b that detects the through hole 35b.

In the above operation, the container 5 at the time of carrying in is moved to the front position where it can be picked up by the picker 6 by the forward and backward movement of the first roller conveyor 10, and the container 5 at the time of carrying out is moved by the picker 6 to the container lifting mechanism 34. From the position transferred onto the horizontal support arm 17, it is transferred by the second roller conveyor 11 to a rear position where it can be transported to the outside. Therefore, in terms of space efficiency, the amount by which the container 5 is pushed onto the shelf 4 by the picker 6 (i.e., by the picker 6
Even in the case of the above configuration in which the amount of advance of the arms 6a, 6b of the picker 6 is kept to the necessary minimum, the containers can be easily moved without any complicated control in which the arms 6a, 6b of the picker 6 extend particularly far relative to the loading/unloading device 8. A pair of front and rear chains 16a, 16b of the endless chain mechanism 9 of the lifting m1flt34
The containers 5 can be carried in and out without any difficulty in the left-right direction, that is, in the direction in which the shelves 4 are arranged, via the second roller conveyor 11 located between them.

In the above embodiment, only one loading/unloading device 8 is provided at the left end of the rear storage area 2, and this loading/unloading device 8 is used to carry out storage and unloading. By providing the loading/unloading device 8 at the left end and the right end, or by providing the loading/unloading device 8 at the left end (or right end) of the front and rear storage areas 3 and 2, one loading/unloading device 8 is installed. Alternatively, the other loading/unloading device 8 may be assigned exclusively for loading/unloading. Furthermore, if necessary, it is also possible to provide a larger number of loading and unloading devices 8 and use them appropriately for loading and unloading, for loading only, or for loading and unloading.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the automatic storage and retrieval device of the present invention,
The loading/unloading device consisting of a container lifting/lowering mechanism and a container loading/unloading mechanism provided at the bottom of the storage area is arranged in line with the storage area, and containers are loaded/unloaded from the arrangement direction of the storage area. It can be installed efficiently even in a limited space where there is no room in the width direction of the area, and the container loading and unloading mechanism is designed to perform forward and backward movement and left and right transport movement, so the container push amount by the picker is reduced. Even in a minimized state, containers can be easily carried out from the container loading/unloading mechanism to the outside and carried in from the outside to the container loading/unloading mechanism without being hindered by the presence of the annular cable of the container lifting/lowering mechanism. You can get the effect that you can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view showing arbitrary shelves of an automatic storage and retrieval device which is an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a rear view of the storage/retrieval device, and Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross section of the storage/retrieval device. Figure, 4th
The figure is a partially enlarged view of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a front view showing the connecting member for the horizontal support arm, Fig. 6 is a front view showing a part of the chain of the container lifting mechanism, and Fig. 7 is the container loading/unloading mechanism. FIG. 2.3... Storage area, 4... Shelf, 5... Container, 6... Picker, 8... Input/output device, 9... Endless chain mechanism, 10... First Roller conveyor, 11... Second roller conveyor, 12... Container entry/exit mechanism, 17... Horizontal support arm, 34... Container lift gate structure

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A storage area in which a plurality of shelves for storing containers are arranged, and each shelf tier is provided along the shelf open side of the storage area so as to be horizontally movable in the left and right direction. a picker for loading and unloading containers in the direction; and a loading/unloading device provided at an end of the storage area in alignment with the shelf and for transferring the containers between the picker and the outside; The device includes a container elevating mechanism in which support members for placing containers are fixed at equal intervals greater than the height of the container to each pair of front and rear annular cables that are arranged to face each other laterally and rotate synchronously in the vertical direction; It is provided at the lowest part of the container elevating mechanism, and is movable back and forth between a front position close to the picker side and a rear position slightly behind this, and in the front position, it is possible to move forward and backward from above the descending support member. The container is moved onto the support member that receives or ascends the container, and at the rear position, the container is moved from side to side to the outside or from the outside to the rear position between the pair of front and rear annular ropes. an automatic storage and retrieval device having a container loading/unloading mechanism for moving the container along the arrangement direction of the shelves through the container.