CN115394007A

CN115394007A - Article picking method, intelligent container and article picking system

Info

Publication number: CN115394007A
Application number: CN202210941906.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 邓杰; 陈东霞; 拜泽萍
Original assignee: Jingdong Technology Information Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Jingdong Technology Information Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-08-08
Filing date: 2022-08-08
Publication date: 2022-11-25

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for picking articles, an intelligent container and a system for picking articles, and relates to the technical field of storage logistics. One embodiment of the method comprises: receiving a picking order indicating one or more items to be picked and location information of the items to be picked; broadcasting near field information to one or more intelligent containers in the warehouse by using the handheld terminal according to the position information; determining whether the items to be picked are stored on the corresponding goods shelves by one or more intelligent containers according to the position information in the near field message; if yes, controlling a prompting device corresponding to a shelf where the goods to be picked are located to send out prompting information so that a user of the handheld terminal can execute a goods picking task according to the prompting information. This embodiment can make the warning to picking the goods person through the suggestion device on the packing cupboard when picking the goods person and being close to the storage target packing cupboard that remains to pick the article to make and pick the goods person and can accurately pick the goods fast, practice thrift and pick the goods time, improve and pick goods efficiency.

Description

Article sorting method, intelligent container and article sorting system

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of warehouse logistics, in particular to an article sorting method, an intelligent container and an article sorting system.

Background

At present, most of fresh food storage orders depend on manual picking, the fresh food storage area is large, and containers are numerous and complicated.

In the process of implementing the present invention, the inventors found that at least the following problems exist in the related art: when the manual work is selected, the person of picking the goods can't be in giving birth to the bright warehouse accurate positioning goods position, especially under the person of picking the goods is unfamiliar with the warehouse of giving birth to the bright warehouse, can consume a large amount of time and look for the packing cupboard serial number, and the time cost is higher.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, embodiments of the present invention provide an article picking method, an intelligent container and an article picking system, which can remind a picker through a prompting device on a container when the picker approaches a target container storing an article to be picked, so that the picker can pick the article accurately and quickly, thereby saving picking time and improving picking efficiency.

To achieve the above object, according to an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of sorting an article, including:

receiving a picking order, the picking order indicating one or more items to be picked and location information of the items to be picked;

broadcasting near field information to one or more intelligent containers in the warehouse by using the handheld terminal according to the position information;

receiving the near field information by using one or more intelligent containers, and determining whether the items to be picked are stored on a corresponding shelf according to the position information in the near field information;

if yes, controlling a prompting device corresponding to a shelf where the article to be picked is located to send out prompting information so that a user of the handheld terminal can execute the picking task according to the prompting information.

Optionally, the location information corresponding to the item to be picked includes a first container identifier and a first shelf identifier; the determining, according to the location information in the near field message, whether the item to be picked is stored on a shelf corresponding to the determining, and the controlling a prompting device corresponding to the shelf on which the item to be picked is located to send out prompting information includes:

determining whether the first container identifier is the same as a second container identifier of the first container identifier and whether the first shelf identifier belongs to a second shelf identifier included in the first container identifier;

if so, determining a target shelf corresponding to the item to be picked, and controlling a prompting device corresponding to the target shelf to send out the prompting information.

Optionally, the intelligent container includes one or more shelves and one or more prompting devices, and the shelves correspond to the prompting devices one to one.

Optionally, the intelligent container and the handheld terminal communicate through bluetooth or NFC;

and/or the presence of a gas in the atmosphere,

the prompting device comprises a prompting lamp and/or a playing device.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

receiving picking result information of the item to be picked;

and controlling a prompt lamp included in the prompt device corresponding to the target shelf to be turned off according to the picking result information, and/or controlling a playing device included in the prompt device corresponding to the target shelf to stop playing prompt voice.

To achieve the above object, according to another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an intelligent container, including: one or more shelves, a processor, and one or more prompting devices; wherein, the first and the second end of the pipe are connected with each other,

the shelf has one or more items stored thereon;

the processor is used for receiving a broadcasted near field message, and the near field message comprises position information corresponding to an item to be picked; and determining whether the article to be picked is stored on a corresponding shelf according to the position information, and if so, controlling a prompting device corresponding to the shelf where the article to be picked is located to send prompting information so as to prompt the position of the article to be picked by using the prompting information.

Optionally, the processor includes a bluetooth communication device and a first processing chip; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the near field message is a Bluetooth message, and the prompting device is a Bluetooth lamp and/or a Bluetooth playing device;

the first processing chip is used for sending a Bluetooth broadcast signal to the prompting device when the target shelf corresponding to the article to be picked is determined, so that the Bluetooth lamp is controlled to be turned on through the Bluetooth broadcast signal, and/or the Bluetooth playing equipment is controlled to play a prompting voice.

Optionally, the processor includes an NFC communication device and a second processing chip; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the near field message is an NFC message, and the prompting device is a prompting lamp and/or a playing device;

and the second processing chip is used for sending a PLC instruction to the prompting device when the target shelf corresponding to the article to be picked is determined, so that the prompting lamp is controlled to be started through the PLC instruction, and/or the playing equipment is controlled to play a prompting voice.

Optionally, the prompting device and the shelf correspond to each other one by one.

According to a further aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an item picking system comprising: the intelligent container and the handheld terminal of any one of the second aspects;

the handheld terminal is used for receiving a picking task, and the picking task indicates one or more to-be-picked items and position information of the to-be-picked items; and broadcasting a near field message according to the picking task, wherein the near field message comprises the position information corresponding to the item to be picked.

Optionally, the intelligent container is arranged in a fresh food warehouse.

One embodiment of the above invention has the following advantages or benefits: because the prompting device is installed on the goods shelf of the intelligent goods shelf, the handheld terminal of the picking personnel is communicated with the intelligent goods shelf, when the picking personnel is close to the goods shelf, the processor of the intelligent goods shelf receives the near field information sent by the handheld terminal according to the picking task, the position information of the goods to be picked according to the indication of the near field information is compared with the goods shelf identification in the position information, and under the same condition, the prompting device is controlled to send out the prompting information.

Further effects of the above-mentioned non-conventional alternatives will be described below in connection with the embodiments.

Drawings

The drawings are included to provide a better understanding of the invention and are not to be construed as unduly limiting the invention. Wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an intelligent container according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a picking system for items according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of picking routes according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a primary flow of a method of picking items according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a computer system suitable for use in implementing a handheld terminal or intelligent container of an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which various details of embodiments of the invention are included to assist understanding, and which are to be considered as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted in the following description for clarity and conciseness.

With the acceleration of life rhythm, online shopping has become the preferred consumption mode of users, and the users can obtain needed commodities without going out, thereby greatly saving the time cost of the users and improving the convenience of life. In the existing online shopping process, the off-line manual goods picking mode is usually adopted, a picker in a warehouse receives the goods picking task through a handheld device, and searches a corresponding container for goods distribution according to the goods indicated by the goods picking task.

However, since the warehouse area is huge, after the warehouse is divided according to the areas, the number of containers included in each area is huge, one picking task usually includes 30 to 50 items, the corresponding containers are distributed in different areas of the warehouse, the picking personnel need to search for a plurality of items corresponding to the picking task from the containers distributed in different areas to carry out the picking, the consumed time cost and the labor cost are extremely high when facing a large number of picking tasks, and especially when the picking personnel is not familiar with the distributed containers of the items, the great waste of time and labor is caused.

Further, when picking up goods, the personnel of selecting just need look over the packing cupboard position of next article through handheld device every time of picking up an article, to the low temperature storage environment of giving birth to bright class article, the personnel of selecting on the one hand wears gloves and frequently triggers and look over handheld device extremely inconvenient, and on the other hand overlength selects the goods time makes the personnel of selecting be in under the low temperature environment for a long time, and the body feels unsmooth.

According to the article picking method, the intelligent container and the article picking system provided by the embodiment of the invention, when a picker picks an article according to a set route, under the condition that the picking person is close to a target container storing the article to be picked, the prompting device on the container is used for prompting the picker, so that the picker can accurately and quickly pick the article, the picking time is saved, the picking efficiency is improved, the picker does not need to frequently trigger and check the handheld device, and the time cost, the labor cost and the picking discomfort degree of the picker are reduced.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an intelligent container according to an embodiment of the invention, and as shown in FIG. 1, an embodiment of the invention provides an intelligent container 100 comprising: one or more shelves 101, a processor 102, and one or more prompting devices 103; one or more items are stored on the shelf 101; processor 102 is configured to receive a broadcasted near field message, where the near field message includes location information corresponding to an item to be picked; and determining whether the to-be-picked article is stored on a shelf corresponding to the to-be-picked article according to the position information, and if so, controlling a prompting device corresponding to the shelf where the to-be-picked article is located to send out prompting information so as to prompt the location of the to-be-picked article by utilizing the prompting information.

Specifically, in one embodiment of the invention, the position information corresponding to the item to be picked may include a first container identifier and a first shelf identifier; wherein, first packing cupboard sign corresponds to intelligent packing cupboard, and first goods shelves sign corresponds to goods shelves, that is to say, first packing cupboard sign can the only sign intelligent packing cupboard, and first goods shelves sign can the only sign goods shelves in certain intelligent packing cupboard, for example, first goods shelves sign is packing cupboard H, packing cupboard A, packing cupboard Z, and first goods shelves sign is goods shelves H5, goods shelves A2, goods shelves Z4, and it marks the 5 th goods shelves in packing cupboard H respectively, the 2 nd goods shelves in packing cupboard A, the 4 th goods shelves in packing cupboard Z.

The processor 102 may determine whether the item to be picked is stored on the shelf 101 corresponding to itself according to the first container identifier and the first shelf identifier when determining whether the item to be picked is stored on the shelf 101 corresponding to itself according to the position information corresponding to the item to be picked. Specifically, the processor 102 compares the first container identifier with the second container identifier of itself and the first shelf identifier with the second shelf identifier included in itself, and determines whether the first container identifier is the same as the second container identifier of itself and whether the first shelf identifier belongs to the second shelf identifier. For example, the processor corresponds to the container a, the second container identifier is the container a, the second shelf identifier includes a shelf A1, a shelf A2, a shelf A3, a shelf A4, and a shelf A5, the processor 102 compares the container H, the container a, the container Z with the container a itself, the shelf H5, the shelf A2, and the shelf Z4 with the shelf A1, the shelf A2, the shelf A3, the shelf A4, and the shelf A5 included therein, determines that the container H is different from the container a itself, the container a is the same as the container a itself, the container Z is different from the container a itself, and determines that the shelf H5 does not belong to the container A1, the shelf A2, the shelf A3, the shelf A4, and the shelf A5, the shelf A2 belongs to the container A1, the shelf A2, the shelf A3, the shelf A4, and the shelf A5, and the shelf Z4 does not belong to the shelf A1, the shelf A2, the shelf A3, the shelf A4, and the shelf A5. Therefore, the processor corresponding to the container A can determine that the goods to be picked are stored on the goods shelf A2, and then the prompting device corresponding to the goods shelf A2 can be controlled to send out prompting information.

In another embodiment of the invention, the processor 102 compares the first container identification with its own second container identification, and if it is determined that the first container identification is the same as the second container identification, then the first shelf identification is compared with the second shelf identification. For example, the processor 102 compares the container H, the container a, and the container Z with the container a itself, determines that the container a is the same as the container a itself, and then compares the shelf H15, the shelf a12, the shelf Z14 with the shelf A1, the shelf A2, the shelf A3, the shelf A4, and the shelf A5 included in the container a, determines that the shelf H5 does not belong to the shelf A1, the shelf A2, the shelf A3, the shelf A4, and the shelf A5, determines that the shelf A2 belongs to the shelf A1, the shelf A2, the shelf A3, the shelf A4, and the shelf A5, and determines that the shelf Z4 does not belong to the shelf A1, the shelf A2, the shelf A3, the shelf a14, and the shelf A5. Therefore, the processor corresponding to the container A can also determine that the goods to be picked are stored on the goods shelf A2, and further can control the prompting device corresponding to the goods shelf A2 to send out prompting information.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the processor 102 directly compares the first shelf identifier and the second shelf identifier. For example, the processor 102 directly compares the shelves H5, A2, and a Z4 with the shelves A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5 included in itself, and determines that the shelf H5 does not belong to the shelf A1, the shelf A2, the shelf A3, the shelf A4, and the shelf A5, the shelf A2 belongs to the shelf A1, the shelf A2, the shelf A3, the shelf A4, and the shelf Z4 does not belong to the shelf A1, the shelf A2, the shelf A3, the shelf A4, and the shelf A5.

According to the above-described embodiments, processor 102 may determine a target shelf for the item to be picked. For example, the processor determines that the target shelf corresponding to the item to be picked is shelf A2, and controls the prompting device A2 corresponding to shelf A2 to send out the prompting information. Additionally, the processor 102, upon determining that an item to be picked is not stored on its respective shelf 101, does not respond to the respective prompting device 103.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the prompting device 103 is configured to send a prompting message to the picking staff, so that the picking staff picks the corresponding item on the target shelf according to the prompting message; the processor 102 of the intelligent container 100 is configured with the corresponding relationship among the container identifier, the shelf identifier of the shelf in the container, and the prompt device identifier in advance.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the prompting device 103 may be a bluetooth lamp and/or a bluetooth playing device according to bluetooth communication, or may also be a prompting lamp and/or a playing device according to NFC communication, and accordingly, the communication mode between the processor 102 and the prompting device 103 may be bluetooth communication or NFC communication.

Based on this, in one embodiment of the present invention, the processor 102 may include a bluetooth communication device 1021 and a first processing chip 1022, and accordingly, the near field message is a bluetooth message, and the prompting device 103 is a bluetooth lamp and/or a bluetooth playing device; when determining the target shelf corresponding to the item to be picked, the first processing chip 1022 sends a bluetooth broadcast signal to the bluetooth lamp and/or the bluetooth playing device, so as to control the bluetooth lamp to be turned on through the bluetooth broadcast signal, and/or control the bluetooth playing device to play the prompt voice.

Furthermore, the quantity information of the articles to be picked can be determined according to different lighting modes of the Bluetooth lamp or different prompt voices played by the Bluetooth playing device. For example, if the intelligent container comprises a plurality of articles to be sorted, the lighting mode of the Bluetooth lamp is to alternately flash green lamps; if the intelligent container only comprises one article to be selected, the lighting mode of the Bluetooth lamp is to continuously light a green lamp for a long time; if the picker picks the mistake, the Bluetooth lamp alternately flashes the red lamp. For another example, if the intelligent container comprises a plurality of articles to be picked, the prompt voice is a wind bell; if the intelligent container only comprises one article to be picked, the voice is prompted to sound for a long time; if the picking personnel select the wrong picking sound, the prompt voice is an alarm sound.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the processor 102 may include an NFC communication device 1023 and a second processing chip 1024, and accordingly, the near field message is an NFC message, and the prompting device 103 is a prompting lamp and/or a playing device; when determining the target shelf corresponding to the item to be picked, the second processing chip 1024 sends a PLC instruction to the indicator light and/or the playing device, so as to control the indicator light to be turned on through the PLC instruction and/or control the playing device to play a prompt voice.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the prompting device 103 sends the prompting information to the picking personnel, the picking personnel picks the corresponding article on the target shelf, after the picking personnel finishes picking, the picking result information is sent to the processor 102, the processor 102 receives the picking result information of the article to be picked, and controls the light included in the prompting device corresponding to the target shelf to be turned off and/or controls the playing equipment included in the prompting device corresponding to the target shelf to stop playing the prompting voice according to the picking result information; wherein, the picking result information may be that the picking is finished. Specifically, the method comprises the following steps:

when the communication mode between the processor 102 and the prompting device 103 is bluetooth communication, the processor 102 controls a bluetooth lamp included in the prompting device corresponding to the target shelf to be turned off, and/or controls a bluetooth playing device included in the prompting device corresponding to the target shelf to stop playing the prompting voice.

Or, in a case that the communication mode between the processor 102 and the prompting device 103 is NFC communication, the processor 102 controls a prompting lamp included in the prompting device corresponding to the target shelf to turn off, and/or controls a playing device included in the prompting device corresponding to the target shelf to stop playing the prompting voice.

In the embodiment of the invention, the intelligent container 100 can be arranged in a fresh warehouse. Alternatively, the intelligent container 100 may be provided in any type of warehouse such as a general warehouse, a water warehouse, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an item picking system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in FIG. 2, an item picking system 200 of the present invention includes:

one or more intelligent containers 100, and one or more handheld terminals 201.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the handheld terminal 201 is configured to receive a picking order indicating one or more items to be picked and location information of the items to be picked. For example, the picking task is a container H-shelf H5-Sanxian dumpling-2 parts, correspondingly, the object to be picked is the Sanxian dumpling, the number of the object to be picked is 2 parts, and the position information of the object to be picked is the container H-shelf H5.

When a picker approaches an intelligent container, the handheld terminal 201 held by the picker broadcasts a near field message to each intelligent container 100 in the warehouse according to the picking task, wherein the near field message includes position information corresponding to an item to be picked. For example, the near field message is the container H-shelf H5.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the processor 102 of each intelligent container 100 receives the near field message, and determines whether the item to be picked is stored on its corresponding shelf according to the position information of the item to be picked; if so, controlling a prompting device of a target shelf corresponding to the article to be picked to send out prompting information so as to prompt the position of the article to be picked by utilizing the prompting information. For example, the processor of the intelligent container A determines that the items to be picked are not stored on the corresponding shelf of the intelligent container A according to the container H-shelf H5; the processor of the intelligent container H determines that the three-delicacy dumplings are stored on the corresponding shelf H5 according to the container H-shelf H5, and controls the prompting device H5 of the shelf H5 corresponding to the three-delicacy dumplings to send out prompting information so as to prompt a picker to locate the three-delicacy dumplings.

In the embodiment of the present invention, when a plurality of items to be picked are stored in different intelligent containers or different intelligent shelves in the same intelligent container, the processor 102 of each intelligent container 100 may control the prompting devices corresponding to the intelligent shelves storing the items to be picked to send the prompting information at the same time, as shown in fig. 3, at this time, a plurality of prompting devices send the prompting information (the prompting devices corresponding to H2, H5, I2, I4, and I5 in fig. 3 all send the prompting information), and then the picking staff plans the picking path according to the prompting information, for example, plans the picking path according to the black arrow in fig. 3, and arrives at the items to be picked on the target shelves of the container, so as to shorten the picking path as much as possible, thereby further improving the picking efficiency. For example, according to the planned picking path, the picker first reaches the shelf H5 of the container H to pick dumplings made of three delicacies, and then reaches the next shelf I2 to continue picking other articles. The intelligent containers are arranged according to the alphabetical sequence A, B, C, \ 8230and Z, and due to the fact that articles to be picked included in a picking task are usually distributed in a plurality of areas, picking personnel need to reach a plurality of intelligent containers to pick the articles, picking paths are planned, when the picking personnel enter from an entrance, the first encountered intelligent container is the intelligent container A, and so on, the picking personnel advance according to the serial number sequence of the intelligent containers, and the intelligent containers which do not display prompt information directly skip the articles.

Further, the processor 102 of the intelligent container 100 may control the prompting devices corresponding to the picking tasks to send out the prompting information in sequence, for example, the picking tasks correspond to a plurality of target shelves, according to the planned picking path, the processor controls the prompting device of the target shelf corresponding to the first target container to send out the prompting information, and when the picker picks the first target container, the processor controls the prompting device of the target shelf corresponding to the second target container to send out the prompting information. Wherein, a plurality of intelligent packing cupboard can correspond same treater, also can correspond different treater respectively.

Or the processor 102 of the intelligent container 100 controls the prompting device corresponding to the picking task to send out the prompting information at the same time, and the picking personnel freely select the picking route to pick the corresponding item to be picked.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a barcode may be attached to the container or an NFC chip may be disposed on the container, and accordingly, the handheld terminal 201 includes a scanner or an NFC chip. Under the condition that the communication mode of treater and suggestion device is bluetooth communication, select personnel and select the back that finishes, through the bar code of the scanner scanning packing cupboard of handheld terminal 201, send to the treater and select result information for the bluetooth lamp that treater control suggestion device includes is closed, and/or, bluetooth playback devices stops to broadcast suggestion pronunciation. Or, under the condition that the communication mode of the processor and the prompting device is NFC communication, after the picking personnel finish picking, the NFC chip of the handheld terminal is close to the NFC chip of the container, and picking result information is sent to the processor, so that the processor controls the prompting lamp included by the prompting device to be turned off, and/or the playing device stops playing prompting voice.

As shown in FIG. 2, the picking system 200 of items of the present invention also includes a network 202 to provide a medium of communication link between the handheld terminal 201 and the intelligent container 100. The network 202 may be a bluetooth communication, NFC communication, or the like.

A user can interact with the intelligent container 100 through the network 202 using the handheld terminal 201 to receive or send near field messages, picking result information, etc. The handheld terminal 201 may be installed with various communication client applications, such as a sorting application, an instant messaging tool, social platform software, and the like.

The handheld terminal 201 may be various electronic devices having a display screen and supporting web browsing, including but not limited to smart phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, and the like.

The intelligent container 100 analyzes and processes the received data such as the near field message through the processor 102, and controls the prompting device to send out prompting information, such as controlling the bluetooth lamp to turn on, and/or controlling the bluetooth playing device to play prompting voice. Alternatively, the intelligent container 100 may analyze and otherwise process the received data such as the picking result information, and control the prompting device to stop prompting, for example, control the bluetooth light to turn off, and/or control the bluetooth playing device to stop playing the prompting voice.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of a main flow of a method for picking an item according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 4, the method for picking an item of the present invention includes the steps of:

step S401, receiving a picking order, wherein the picking order indicates one or more items to be picked and position information of the items to be picked.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the picking personnel receives the picking tasks through the handheld terminal, for example, the picking tasks are 2 parts of boiled dumplings with three delicacies on the shelf H2 of the picking container H (or, the picking task may also be 2 parts of boiled dumplings with three delicacies on the container H-H2), 3 parts of white shrimps on the shelf H5 of the picking container H, 1 part of prawn on the shelf I2 of the picking container I, 4 parts of prawn on the shelf I4 of the picking container I, and 2 parts of prawn on the shelf I5 of the picking container I, accordingly, the picking tasks indicate 2 parts of boiled dumplings with three delicacies, 3 parts of white shrimps, and 7 parts of prawn, the position information of the boiled dumplings with three delicacies is the container H-H2, the position information of the white prawn is the H-H shelf H5, and the position information of the prawn includes the container I-I2, the container I-H4, and the container I-H shelf I5.

And S402, broadcasting the near field information to one or more containers in the warehouse by using the handheld terminal according to the position information.

In the embodiment of the invention, the intelligent container and the handheld terminal communicate through Bluetooth or NFC. The picking personnel broadcast a near field message to an intelligent container in the warehouse through the handheld terminal, wherein the near field message indicates the position information of an item to be picked corresponding to a picking task; the position information corresponding to the to-be-picked article comprises a first container identifier and a first shelf identifier. For example, the near field message is a container H-shelf H2, a container H-shelf H5, a container I-shelf I2, a container I-shelf I4, and a container I-shelf I5.

Step S403, receiving the near field message by one or more intelligent containers, and determining whether the items to be picked are stored on the corresponding shelves according to the position information in the near field message; if so, step S404 is performed.

In an embodiment of the invention, the intelligent container comprises one or more shelves. Each intelligent container receives the near field information sent by the handheld terminal, and the processor of the intelligent container determines whether the to-be-picked item is stored on a corresponding shelf according to the position information of the to-be-picked item indicated by the near field information. The processor of the intelligent container compares the first container identifier with the second container identifier of the intelligent container and the first shelf identifier with the second shelf identifier included in the intelligent container, and determines whether the first container identifier is the same as the second container identifier of the intelligent container and whether the first shelf identifier belongs to the second shelf identifier. For example, the processor of each intelligent container compares the container H, the container I and the second container identification container A-K of the intelligent container, and the shelf H2, the shelf H5, the shelf I2, the shelf I4 and the shelf I5 with the shelves A1-K5 of the intelligent container, to determine whether the first container identification is the same as the second container identification of the intelligent container and whether the first shelf identification belongs to the second shelf identification.

The processors of the intelligent containers A-G and J-K determine that the containers H and I are different from the containers A-G and J-K and the goods shelves H2, H5, I2, I4 and I5 do not belong to the goods shelves A1-K5; the processor of the intelligent container H-I respectively determines that the container H and the container I are the same as the container H-I, and the goods shelves H2, H5, I2, I4 and I5 belong to the goods shelves H1-I5.

Step S404, controlling a prompting device corresponding to the shelf where the article to be picked is located to send out prompting information, so that the user of the handheld terminal executes the picking task according to the prompting information.

In the embodiment of the invention, the container comprises one or more prompting devices, the goods shelves correspond to the prompting devices one by one, and the prompting devices comprise prompting lamps and/or playing equipment. The processor of the intelligent container controls a prompt device corresponding to a goods shelf where the goods to be picked are located to send prompt information, so that a user of the handheld terminal can execute a goods picking task according to the prompt information. For example, the processor of the intelligent container H controls the prompting lamps corresponding to the goods shelf H2 where the dumplings with delicacies are located and the goods shelf H5 where the white shrimps are located to turn on and/or the playing device to play the prompting voice, and the processor of the intelligent container I controls the prompting lamps corresponding to the goods shelf I2 where the shrimps are located, the goods shelf I4 and the goods shelf I5 to turn on and/or the playing device to play the prompting voice, so that the picking personnel of the handheld terminal can execute the picking task according to the prompting information.

In the embodiment of the invention, the picking personnel arrive at the container to pick the items to be picked on the target shelf according to the planned picking path. For example, the order picker reaches the shelf H2 of the container H according to the planned order picking path, and picks 2 dumplings with three delicacies; 3 portions of the white shrimps are selected when the white shrimps reach a goods shelf H5 of a goods shelf H; 1 part of prawn is sorted when the prawn arrives at a goods shelf I2 of a container I; 4 portions of the prawn are sorted when the prawn arrives at a goods shelf I4 of a container I; 2 portions of the prawns are sorted when the prawns reach a goods shelf I5 of a container I.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the picking personnel finishes picking, the bar code of the container is scanned through the scanning camera of the handheld terminal or the picking result information is sent to the processor through the NFC chip of the handheld terminal close to the NFC chip of the container, so that the processor controls the prompting lamp included in the prompting device to be turned off, and/or controls the playing equipment included in the prompting device corresponding to the target shelf to stop playing the prompting voice.

According to the embodiment, the handheld terminal of the picker communicates with the intelligent container, when the picker is close to the container, the processor of the intelligent container receives the near field message sent by the handheld terminal according to the picking task, the position information of the to-be-picked object indicated by the near field message is compared with the container shelf identifier in the position information, and under the same condition, the technical means for sending the prompt message is controlled by the prompt device, so that the technical problems that the goods position cannot be accurately positioned in the warehouse by manual picking and the time cost is higher are solved, and further, when the picker picks the goods according to the set route, under the condition that the goods are close to the target container which stores the to-be-picked object, the picker is reminded by the prompt device on the container, so that the picker can accurately and quickly pick the goods, the picking time is saved, and the technical effect of picking efficiency is improved.

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a computer system suitable for implementing a processor of a handheld terminal or an intelligent container of an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in FIG. 5, the computer system 500 of a handheld terminal or an intelligent container of an embodiment of the present invention includes:

a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 501 which can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to a program stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM) 502 or a program loaded from a storage section 508 into a Random Access Memory (RAM) 503. In the RAM503, various programs and data necessary for the operation of the system 500 are also stored. The CPU501, ROM502, and RAM503 are connected to each other via a bus 504. An input/output (I/O) interface 505 is also connected to bus 504.

The following components are connected to the I/O interface 505: an input portion 506 including a keyboard, a mouse, and the like; an output portion 507 including a display such as a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), and the like, and a speaker; a storage portion 508 including a hard disk and the like; and a communication section 509 including a network interface card such as a LAN card, a modem, or the like. The communication section 509 performs communication processing via a network such as the internet. A drive 510 is also connected to the I/O interface 505 as needed. A removable medium 511 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like is mounted on the drive 510 as necessary, so that a computer program read out therefrom is mounted into the storage section 508 as necessary.

In particular, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the processes described above with reference to the flowcharts may be implemented as computer software programs. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure include a computer program product comprising a computer program embodied on a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising program code for performing the method illustrated in the flow chart. In such an embodiment, the computer program may be downloaded and installed from a network through the communication section 509, and/or installed from the removable medium 511. The computer program performs the above-described functions defined in the system of the present invention when executed by the Central Processing Unit (CPU) 501.

It should be noted that the computer readable medium shown in the present invention can be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium or any combination of the two. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium may include, but are not limited to: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of the present invention, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. In contrast, in the present invention, a computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated data signal may take many forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to: wireless, wire, fiber optic cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems which perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention, the prompting device is arranged on the goods shelf of the intelligent goods shelf, so that the handheld terminal of the picker is communicated with the intelligent goods shelf, when the picker approaches the goods shelf, the processor of the intelligent goods shelf receives the near field message sent by the handheld terminal according to the picking task, the processor of the intelligent goods shelf compares the goods shelf mark of the picker with the goods shelf mark in the position information according to the position information of the goods to be picked indicated by the near field message, and under the same condition, the prompting device is controlled to send the prompting message, so that the picker can conveniently and quickly know the specific position of the goods to be picked, and the picker is assisted to guide the picker to pick the goods, so that the picker can accurately and quickly pick the goods, the picking time is saved, the picking efficiency is improved, and the time cost and the labor cost are reduced.

The picking personnel can pick the fresh goods on the goods shelf sending the prompt information according to the planned picking path or move freely, the hand-held terminal is not required to be checked every time one goods is picked, even if the low-temperature storage environment of the fresh goods is adopted, the picking personnel are not required to frequently trigger and check the hand-held equipment, the operation frequency of the hand-held terminal is reduced, and the influence of environmental discomfort on the picking personnel is greatly reduced.

Furthermore, after the picking is finished, the picking personnel only need to scan through the handheld terminal or approach the goods shelf, so that the processor control prompting device of the intelligent goods shelf is closed, and the picking efficiency and the picking convenience are greatly improved.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention, the picking personnel can be assisted to quickly position the goods to be picked, so that the picking personnel can easily and quickly find the goods to be picked even if the picking personnel do not know the position of the shelf of the goods to be picked.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention, when picking is carried out according to a set route, under the condition that the goods to be picked is close to the target container stored with the goods to be picked, the goods picker is reminded through the prompting device on the container, so that the goods can be picked accurately and quickly by the goods picker, the goods picking time is saved, and the goods picking efficiency is improved.

The above-described embodiments should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and substitutions may occur depending on design requirements and other factors. Any modification, equivalent replacement, and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of sorting an item, comprising:

receiving a picking task indicating one or more items to be picked and location information for the items to be picked;

receiving the near field information by using one or more intelligent containers, and determining whether the to-be-picked item is stored on a corresponding shelf according to the position information in the near field information;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information corresponding to the item to be picked comprises a first container identifier and a first shelf identifier; the determining, according to the location information in the near field message, whether the item to be picked is stored on a shelf corresponding to the determining, and the controlling a prompting device corresponding to the shelf on which the item to be picked is located to send out prompting information includes:

3. The method of claim 1,

the intelligent container comprises one or more goods shelves and one or more prompting devices, and the goods shelves correspond to the prompting devices one to one.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3,

the intelligent container and the handheld terminal are communicated through Bluetooth or NFC;

and/or the presence of a gas in the atmosphere,

the prompting device comprises a prompting lamp and/or a playing device.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving picking result information of the item to be picked;

6. An intelligent freight container, comprising: one or more shelves, a processor, and one or more prompting devices; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the shelf has one or more items stored thereon;

7. The intelligent container of claim 6, wherein the processor comprises a Bluetooth communication device and a first processing chip; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

8. The intelligent container of claim 6, wherein the processor includes an NFC communication device and a second processing chip; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

9. The intelligent freight container of claim 6,

the prompting devices correspond to the goods shelves one to one.

10. A system for picking items, comprising: the intelligent freight container and handheld terminal of any one of claims 6-9;

the handheld terminal is used for receiving a picking task, and the picking task indicates one or more to-be-picked items and position information of the to-be-picked items; and broadcasting a near field message according to the picking task, wherein the near field message comprises position information corresponding to the item to be picked.

11. The picking system of claim 10,

the intelligent container is arranged in the fresh food warehouse.