GB2266521A

GB2266521A - Automatic warehouse

Info

Publication number: GB2266521A
Application number: GB9308428A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Akito Tai
Original assignee: Murata Machinery Ltd
Current assignee: Murata Machinery Ltd
Priority date: 1992-04-27
Filing date: 1993-04-23
Publication date: 1993-11-03
Anticipated expiration: 2013-04-23
Also published as: KR930021515A; JPH06286813A; KR0135266B1; GB2266521B; GB9308428D0; HK158595A

Abstract

An automatic warehouse is designed for transferring articles (W) to and from comb-like article storing shelves (2) each comprising pairs of left and right article supporting arms (4, 4) by a stacker crane (10). The crane has a travelling base (11), a mast (12), an elevatable platform (13), and a laterally movable member carrying a series of article supporting members (16) which can move vertically between the arms (4) to list or deposit an article (W). Articles (Ws) which are no smaller than the width of two arms (4) and two members (6) can be transferred and stored. Articles to be stored or despatched are supplied by a conveyor (20) to an in-station (21) and from an out-station (23) by a further conveyor (22). At each station (21, 23) an article is displaceable horizontally on a series of spaced belts (25) and vertically by horizontal arms (27) which pass between the belts (29) for transfer to or from the support members (16). <IMAGE>

Description

AUTOMATIC WAREHOUSE This invention relates to automatically operated warehouses.

In the past, an automatic warehouse of the kind described below has been known. This automatic warehouse is an automatic warehouse comprising a rack having a plurality of article storage shelves on upper and lower levels and on left-hand and right-hand sides, and a stacker crane which can be moved to the left and to the right in front of the rack. The stacker crane has a laterally movable travelling base, an elevatable platform movable up and down along a mast standing upright on the travelling base, and a laterally slidable slide fork provided on the elevatable platform.

The conventional automatic warehouse has the following disadvantages. Each of the article storage shelves of the rack is formed with spaces which laterally and vertically extend through left and right central portions thereof, and the stacker crane allows the slide fork to be moved vertically as the elevatable platform moves up and down. Accordingly, it is absolutely impossible to store articles other than those which have a lateral dimension equal to or less than the lateral width of the space.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic warehouse in which even articles of quite small base area, as well as large articles, can be stored.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided an automatic warehouse comprising a rack having article storing shelves incorporating a plurality of article supporting arms arranged at a predetermined spacing in relation to each other from front to back of the shelves, and a stacker crane in front of the shelves, said stacker crane having an elevatable platform movable up and down a mast mounted on a movable base, said platform having article supporting members which can pass vertically between the article supporting arms by the movement of a sliding member which is movable forwards and backwards towards and away from the shelves.

The article storing shelves of the rack have a plurality of article supporting arms arranged in a lateral direction, and the stacker crane has a plurality of article supporting members capable of passing vertically through between the article supporting arms. With this arrangement, any articles having a size which extends over at least two article supporting arms and at least two article supporting members can be transferred therebetween.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, a preferred embodiment of warehousing system in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the layout of the entire automatic warehouse according to this invention.

Fig. 2 is a view on an enlarged scale taken along the line II-II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view on an enlarged scale taken along the line III-III of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view on an enlarged scale taken along the line IV-IV of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a perspective partial view showing another form of article supporting members.

In the specification, "front" refers to the bottom of Fig. 1, "rear" refers to the top of Fig. 1, "left" refers to the left-hand side in Fig. 1, and "right" refers to the right-hand side in Fig. 1.

As shown in Fig. 1, there are provided racks 1, 1 installed in a parallel array extending to left and right in a desired spaced relation, one at the front and one at the rear. A stacker crane 10 is provided for movement laterally over an area between an in-conveyor 20 and an out-conveyor 22 which are both arranged at the right side of the racks 1, 1. The operation of the whole system will now be briefly described. Articles W carried into an in-station 21 by the in-conveyor 20 are received by the stacker crane 10, which carries the articles W to the racks 1, 1 for storage. Articles W removed from the racks 1, 1 by the stacker crane 10 are delivered to an out-station 23 of the out-conveyor 22 and are carried to a succeeding stage by the out-conveyor 22.

Each rack 1 has a plurality of article storing shelves 2 at different levels (see Fig. 2).

Each article storing shelf 2 has article supporting members 4 which are fixed so as to be opposed to each other, extending to the right from front and rear struts 3, 3 on the left side of the storage space and extending to the left from front and rear struts 3, 3 on the right side of the storage space. There are four struts 3 standing upright around each storage space in a desired spaced relation to the front and to the rear, and to the left and to the right. These article supporting members 4 each have an elongate base portion 5, and a plurality of article supporting arms 6 arranged in a desired spaced relationship, in a comblike configuration. Each of the article supporting arms 6 is a plate-like member having a small width of about 30 to 60 mm. The plate is formed in its middle portion with a downwardly directed wave-shaped convex portion 7 which acts as a reinforcing rib.The spacing between the article supporting arms 6, 6 ... has a dimension which is relatively narrow, for example about 100 mm. The gap between the article supporting members 4, 4 (the end-to-end spacing between the article supporting arms 6, 6) is about 70 to 100 mm, which is smaller than that of the prior art arrangements.

As shown in Fig. 2, in the stacker crane 10, reference numeral 11 denotes a travelling base, 12 denotes a mast, and 13 denotes an elevatable platform.

Numeral 14 denotes a sliding member which is slidable towards the front and towards the rear using a slide fork or the like. Above the sliding member 14 is a web-like vertical wall 15 which extends fore and aft, and article supporting members 16 which project at right-angles thereto to both left and right above the vertical wall 15. As shown in Fig. 1, a plurality of these article supporting members 16 are arranged along the vertical wall 15 so that they are spaced one from another.The spacing therebetween coincides with the spacing between the article supporting arms 6, 6 The width of the upper surface of each article supporting member 16 is less than the distance between the article supporting arms 6 so that when the elevatable platform 13 is raised vertically after the sliding member 14 has been slidably advanced towards the rack device 1, the article supporting members 16 will pass vertically up between the article supporting arms 6 as shown by the chain-dotted lines in Fig. 3.

With respect to the vertical wall 15, the smaller the dimension of the wall thickness thereof, the narrower the gap between the article supporting members 4, 4 (see Fig. 1) which can be utilised.

Since both the in-station 21 of the inconveyor 20 and the out-station 23 of the out-conveyor 22 have the same construction, only the out-station 23 will now be described with reference to Figs. 1, 4 and 5. In the out-station 23, a plurality of endless carrying belts 25 extend between a plurality of pairs of pulleys 26.

The spacing between the belts is equal to the spacing between the article supporting members 16 of the stacker crane 10. Of course, at least one pulley 26 is driven. A supporting device 30 adapted to be moved vertically by a pantograph-type elevating device 29 or the like is provided below the carrying belts 25.

This supporting device 30 has side walls 30b which rise at the left and right ends of a bottom plate 30a and the side walls are formed with slots 28 to allow the carrying belts 25 to pass therethrough. On the upper end of each segment of each side wall 30b is provided a horizontal article receiving arm 27 positioned between the respective carrying belts 25.

The operation of the automatic warehouse according to the illustrated embodiment will now be described.

In Fig. 1, when an article W is placed on the in-station 21, the supporting device 30 (see Fig. 4) is first raised to move the article receiving arms 27 up between the front and rear of the carrying belts 25, and the article W is thus raised on the upper surface of these arms. The stacker crane 10 then travels to a position corresponding to the in-station 21 where the elevatable platform 13 is suitably raised and the sliding member 14 is suitably advanced. Thereby, as shown in Fig. 4, the article supporting members 16 are inserted into the space above the carrying belts 25 and below the article receiving arms 27 of the elevated supporting device 30, and at the same time the article supporting members 16 are positioned directly above the carrying belts 25 in a relationship of one to one.

Next, the supporting device 30 causes the article receiving arms 27 to be moved down to a level below the article supporting members 16 and above the sliding member 14 (conversely, the elevatable platform 13 may be moved upwards to the level equal thereto) to transfer the article W onto the article supporting members 16. Subsequently, the stacker crane 10 causes the sliding member 14 to be slid backwards horizontally so as to withdraw the article W on the elevatable platform 13. The stacker crane 10 then travels between the racks 1, 1 by operation of the travelling base 11 and the elevatable platform 13 is displaced through a desired amount so as to move the article towards the desired article storing shelf 2. During this period, in the in-station, the supporting device 30 is lowered completely down to the initial position in readiness to receive the next article W.

As shown in Fig. 2, when in front of the desired article storing shelf 2, the stacker crane 10 operates to complete an arrangement so as to position the sliding member 14 at a level below the article supporting arms 6, 6, position the vertical wall 15 at a position corresponding to the gap between the article supporting arms 6, 6, and position the article supporting members 16, 16 at a level above the article supporting arms 6, 6. Then, the elevatable platform 13 is lowered until the sliding member 14 is slidably advanced towards the rack 1, and the article supporting members 16, 16 ... pass through between the article supporting arms 6, 6, ... to assume a lower level (see Fig. 3). This transfers the article W to the article storing shelf 2, and the stacker crane 10 is then actuated to cause the desired return operation, thus completing the whole procedure of storing the article.

The procedure for removing articles W from the rack to the out-station 23 is carried out by a procedure which is the reverse of the above-mentioned procedure.

So long as the articles W have a size extending over at least two article supporting arms 6 and at least two article supporting members 16, it is possible for them to be transferred therebetween and between the stacker crane 10 and the in-station 21 and the out-station 23. That is, it is not necessary for the article W to be so large as to extend between the left and right article supporting members 4, 4. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, a plurality of articles Ws of quite small base area can be stored on one article storing shelf 2. Accordingly, with the rack 1, it is possible to store a variety of articles, such as large articles W, small articles Ws, and intermediate size articles Wp, as needed.

As shown in Fig. 1, in the case where a plurality of small articles Ws are stored on one article storing shelf 2, the degree of insertion of the sliding member 14 relative to the article supporting member 4 (the number of the article supporting arms 6 and the article supporting members 16 which are traversed) is suitably adjusted, so that the number of transfers of the articles Ws may be changed as desired.

Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 6, the article supporting members 4 may be modified so that into a common base 5 formed as a channel member are fitted channel members 6 which are narrower than the base 5 on the lengthwise sides thereof and which project on each side of the base 5 at right-angles thereto so as to serve as the article supporting arms.

In addition, the article supporting arms 6 and the article supporting members 16 may be opposed to each other to provide a cantilever mode.

Moreover, in the in-station 21 of the inconveyor 20 and in the out-station 23 (see Figs. 1, 4 and 5) of the out-conveyor 22, the supporting device 30 may be fixed and the belts 25 moved up and down, or wheel-like rollers may be provided in one row in place of the endless belt 25.

With the above-described structure, even articles of quite small undersurface area, as well as large articles, can be stored.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An automatic warehouse comprising a rack having article storing shelves incorporating a plurality of article supporting arms arranged at a predetermined spacing in relation to each other from front to back of the shelves, and a stacker crane in front of the shelves, said stacker crane having an elevatable platform movable up and down a mast mounted on a movable base, said platform having article supporting members which can pass vertically between the article supporting arms by the movement of a sliding member which is movable forwards and backwards towards and away from the shelves.

2. An automatic warehouse as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plurality of said article supporting members are arranged spaced along a vertical wall, the spacing therebetween coinciding with the spacings between the article supporting arms, and the width of the upper surface of each article supporting member is no greater than the spacing between the article supporting arms so that the article supporting members can pass vertically through between the article supporting arms when the elevatable platform is moved vertically.

3. An automatic warehouse as claimed in claim 1 or 2, which further includes an in-station, an inconveyor to carry articles into the in-station to be received by the stacker crane, which carries the articles to the rack for storage, and an out-station to which articles removed from the rack by the stacker crane are delivered for removal by the out-conveyor, said in-station and/or said out-station comprising a plurality of endless carrying belts extending between pulleys and arranged in a front to rear spaced relation which corresponds to the spacings between the article supporting members of the stacker crane.

4. An automatic warehouse as claimed in claim 3, wherein a lifting device arranged to be moved vertically is provided below the carrying belts, said lifting device having side walls at both ends of a base plate with the side walls having slots for allowing the carrying belts to pass thereinto, and with the upper end of each element of each side wall being provided with a horizontal article receiving arm arranged to be located between a pair of carrying belts.

5. An automatic warehouse substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.