JP2002145412A - Out-of-storage system for automated storage and retrieval warehouse installation - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an out-of-storage system for an automated storage and retrieval warehouse installation suitable for executing an out-of-storage schedule with a plurality of out-of-storage units combined in putting, for example, a plurality of cargoes of the same type out of storage as one group. SOLUTION: In accordance with the out-of-storage schedule with the plurality of out-of-storage units combined in putting a number of cargoes adaptable to be put out of storage, as one group, from shelves at the same time with a plurality of cargo transfer means 6a-6d provided on an elevatable carriage 5 of an in-storage/out-of- storage travel crane 3, and on the prior condition of the minimum number of out-of- storage cycles with the total number of out-of-storage cargoes divided by the maximum number of same-time out-of-storage cargoes equal to the parallel number of the cargo transfer means 6a-6d, a computer program is used for assigning the cargoes to be put out of storage to the out-of-storage cycles to execute the out-of-storage cycles determined by the program with the in-storage/out-of-storage travel crane 3 so that a total value for the frequency of the shelf-to-shelf movement of the in-storage/out-of- storage travel crane 3 for increasing the number of out-of-storage cargoes in the out-of-storage cycles can be minimized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a delivery system for an automatic warehouse facility suitable for executing a delivery schedule in which a plurality of delivery units for delivering a plurality of loads of the same type as one group are collected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plurality of loading and unloading traveling cranes for an automatic warehouse facility comprising a combination of a shelf and a traveling crane for loading and unloading, each transporting a load to and from a shelf on a lifting carriage. It is known that the means are arranged side by side in the crane traveling direction. In such an automatic warehouse facility equipped with such a traveling crane for loading and unloading, a plurality of loads, generally a plurality of loads of the same type, are stored in parallel by a shelf by the load transfer means. Is done. Therefore, at the time of unloading work, a plurality of loads arranged on the shelf can be simultaneously unloaded by the load transfer means. At this time, all the parallel load transfer means, for example, four load transfer means If it is instructed that a group of four can be dispatched at the same time,
All the cargo transfer means will be used, but one
In the case where an instruction is issued to unload one to one group of three to be unloaded by three load transfer means, three to one load transfer means play, which is inefficient. Therefore, all or part of the next delivery unit is taken out from the shelf by the idle cargo transfer means,
It is conceivable to perform the work by combining the movement of the load transfer means between shelves during one storage cycle so that the loading / unloading traveling crane returns to the discharge position with all the load transfer means in operation.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic warehouse facility exit system which can be used in the above-mentioned case. In addition, it is composed of a combination of a shelf 2 and a traveling crane 3 for loading and unloading, and the traveling crane 3 for loading and unloading includes a plurality of load transfer means 6 on a lifting carriage 5.
In an automatic warehouse facility in which a to 6d are juxtaposed in the traveling direction of the crane, a plurality of delivery units a to e for unloading a number of loads that can be simultaneously unloaded from shelves by the load transfer means 6a to 6d as a group are provided. On the basis of the unified delivery schedule, the minimum delivery cycle number when the total delivery quantity is divided by the maximum simultaneous delivery quantity equal to the parallel number of the load transfer means 6a to 6d is a precondition, and each delivery cycle to during Use a computer program that assigns the load to be delivered to each outgoing cycle so that the total value of the number of times of movement between the shelves of the traveling crane 3 for loading and unloading to minimize the number of outgoing loads in the warehouse is minimized. Then, each of the leaving cycles determined by this program is executed by the traveling crane 3 for loading and unloading.

In implementing the above-described system of the present invention,
When the loading / unloading cycle for taking out the load of the different delivery units c and d from the shelf 2 by the plurality of load transfer means 6a to 6d due to the movement of the loading / unloading traveling crane 3 between shelves is set, the loading / unloading traveling crane 3 It is possible to allocate the load of the delivery unit c whose rank is earlier from the load transfer means 6d which is good in the flow direction of the load when it is unloaded and unloaded.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Is an automatic warehouse facility, which comprises a combination of a shelf 2 and a traveling crane 3 for loading and unloading, and a traveling crane 3 for loading and unloading.
A plurality of (four in the illustrated example) load transfer means 6a on one lifting carriage 5 which moves up and down along the lifting guide post 4
6d are arranged side by side in the traveling direction of the crane, and shown in the figure are guided by a supporting guide rail 7 laid on the floor side and a steadying guide rail 8 erected on the ceiling side, and 2 can be run along. Each of the illustrated load transfer means 6a to 6d is, as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, a load transfer conveyor composed of a belt conveyor, a roller conveyor, or the like that supports and conveys the load in the left-right width direction of the lifting carriage 5. And a pair of left and right load-carrying pull-in / delivery tools 10 disposed on the left and right sides of the load transfer conveyor 9 so as to be able to move close to and away from each other, and to be movable in and out in the transport direction of the load transfer conveyor 9. It consists of a combination of

[0006] The shelf 2 is provided with a three-dimensionally provided load storage section 11 erected on the left and right sides of the traveling path of the traveling crane 3 for loading and unloading, and each load storage section 11 covers the entire bottom surface of the load. With a flat load supporting surface to support (If necessary, means for smoothing the sliding of the load at the time of load transfer (sliding promoting surface material, free roller conveyor, etc.) may be added) Thus, it has a length capable of supporting a plurality of loads under the same conditions as the number and spacing of the load transfer means 6a to 6d on the lifting carriage 5 in the crane traveling direction.

[0007] The traveling crane 3 for loading and unloading is set at one end of the traveling path of the traveling crane 3 for loading and unloading outside the space between the shelves 2.
Conveyors 12 and 13 are arranged side by side on the left and right sides of the loading / unloading position (home position), and the loads W sequentially loaded from the loading line 14 are stopped at each of the conveyors 12 at the loading / unloading position. Stopper 15a and stopper 15 which can be moved in and out of position at predetermined positions corresponding to the loading / unloading means 6a to 6d of the traveling crane 3 for loading and unloading.
b to 15d are provided, and the delivery conveyor 13 is provided with a loading / unloading means 6a of the traveling traveling crane 3 which stops at the loading / unloading position.
After receiving a plurality of loads W simultaneously transferred from か ら 6d to ｄ6d, they are simultaneously sent out to the exit line 16.

[0008] When the load W on the storage conveyor 12 is pulled into the lifting carriage 5 side by the load transfer means 6a to 6d during the loading operation, or when the load W on the load storage section 11 of the shelf 2 is lifted or lowered during the unloading operation. As shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, when the pull-in and transfer to the carriage 5 is performed, the pair of left and right load-carrying-in and out-feeding tools 10 are moved toward and out of the receiving conveyor 12 or the shelf 2 by a certain distance to move toward each other. As a result, the ends of the load W are clamped from both left and right sides by the tip portions of the pair of right and left load-carrying-in / feed-out tools 10, and then the pair of right and left load-holding / pulling-in / out tools 10
Is moved to the home position on the lifting carriage 5 so that the end of the load W is transferred onto the load transfer conveyor 9. At this time, if the load transfer conveyor 9 is driven in the load pull-in direction at the same speed as the pull-in movement speed of the load-carrying pull-in / feed-out tool 10, the pair of left and right load-holding pull-in / feed-out tools 1 returning to the home position is obtained.
When the load W is released by moving the zeros away from each other, the load W whose end is transferred on the load transfer conveyor 9 is carried by the conveyor 9 to a predetermined position where the load W is completely transferred onto the lifting carriage 5.

When the load W on the raising / lowering carriage 5 is sent out onto the load storage section 11 of the shelf 4 during the loading operation, or the load W on the raising / lowering carriage 5 is transferred onto the discharge conveyor 13 during the discharging operation, and transferred. In this case, the load transfer conveyor 9 and the pair of left and right load holding / retracting / feeding tools 10 may be operated in the reverse order to the above. Note that the configurations of the shelf 2 and the traveling crane 5 for entering and exiting are merely examples, and it is a matter of course that the configurations are not limited thereto.

[0010] Information on the type and storage position of the load stored on the shelf 2 by the warehousing operation is stored in the inventory management computer at the time of the warehousing operation. However, in the loading operation, a plurality of loads W of the same type are in principle continuously fed from the receiving line 14 to the receiving conveyor 12, so that the maximum load that can be simultaneously transferred by the four load transferring means 6a to 6d. Four identical types of loads W are transferred and stored in the load storage section 11 of the shelf 2 by the loading / unloading traveling crane 3. The storage position on the shelf 2 is also determined so that empty sections that are continuous in the horizontal direction are searched so that all loads W on the lifting carriage 5 can be simultaneously transferred to and stored on the shelf 2 as much as possible. In
In principle, a plurality of loads W of the same type are stored in a state of being arranged in a horizontal direction.

Now, as shown in FIG. 3A, it is assumed that a delivery unit a for delivering three loads of type A, a delivery unit b for delivering four loads of type B, and a delivery unit for delivering two loads of type C. c and a delivery schedule consisting of two delivery units d for delivering two types of cargo of type D, and the shelf 2 is provided with two to four loads for each of the delivery units a to d in the load transfer means 6a to 6d. It is assumed that there is a place that is stored horizontally in parallel in a state where it can be transferred and unloaded at the same time by using. Needless to say, the unloading operation must be performed so that the loads of each type are finally unloaded on the unloading line 16 in the order of the unloading units a to d. In other words, it is assumed that the order of the delivery units a to d cannot be changed.

Under the above-mentioned conditions, when the loading / unloading traveling crane 3 is operated so that the load is simply transferred to the loading conveyor 13 for each of the loading units a to d, the loading operation is performed. Since d is one delivery cycle, four delivery cycles from to are required until the delivery schedule is completed. However, in this unloading operation method, one of the load transfer means 6a to 6d plays during the unloading cycle,
Load transfer means 6 in each of the outgoing cycle and
Two of a to 6d will play.

Therefore, based on the delivery schedule, as shown in FIG. 3B, in the delivery cycle, one load of the B type of the delivery unit a and the next delivery unit b is added to make one delivery cycle. The remaining of the delivery unit b and one load of the C type of the next delivery unit c are added to form one delivery cycle. In the delivery cycle, the remaining of the delivery unit c and two loads of the D type of the next delivery unit d are taken out. In addition, when the retrieval operation is executed in three retrieval cycles, which is one retrieval cycle, the number of retrieval cycles is reduced from four to three.
However, in the unloading cycle, one of the unloading transfer means 6a to 6d, which has taken in three loads of the unloading unit a, takes in one load of the unloading unit b by one idle load transferring means. The traveling crane 3 for loading and unloading (load transfer means 6a to 6)
In the transfer between shelves d) and d) in the outgoing cycle, of the load transferring means 6a to 6d which have taken in the remaining load of the outgoing unit b,
The inter-shelf movement unit for taking in one load of the delivery unit c by one idle load transfer means and the load transfer means 6a to 6d taking in the remaining load of the release unit c. It is necessary to use the inter-shelf movement c for taking in two loads of the delivery unit d with two of the three load transfer means. In other words, it takes only three outgoing cycles to finish unloading all of the loads in the outgoing units a to d, but a total of three inter-shelf movements are required during the outgoing cycle.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
And b are taken as the delivery cycle, and the delivery allocation is performed so that the delivery cycle is made by adding two loads of the C type of the delivery unit c and two loads of the D type of the delivery unit d to obtain the delivery cycle. Is the same three times, the movement between the shelves of the loading / unloading traveling crane 3 (load transfer means 6a to 6d) is performed by the load transfer means 6a to 6 which take in two loads of the unit of delivery c.
Only one transfer between shelves is required to take in two loads in the unit of unloading d with two idle load transfer means out of 6d. In this retrieval method, one of the load transfer means 6a to 6d plays in the retrieval cycle, but the number of retrieval cycles is the total number of retrieved cargoes (3 + 4 + 2 + 2 =
11) divided by the maximum simultaneous outgoing shipment number 4 equal to the parallel number of the load transfer means 6a to 6d, the minimum number of outgoing cycles (1)
The total value of the number of times of movement between the shelves of the traveling crane 3 for loading and unloading for increasing the number of outgoing loads in each outgoing cycle becomes one, while 1 ÷ 4 = two remainders 3), which is three times, FIG.
As compared with the delivery assignment shown in B, the total delivery cycle time is reduced.

[0015] Even when the same type of load is unloaded within four, four corresponding loads are horizontally arranged in a state in which the four load transfer means 6a to 6d can simultaneously correspond. If there is no place, it is divided into a plurality of delivery units. That is, the delivery units in one delivery schedule are not divided according to the type of load but are divided into units that can be taken out of the shelf at the same time.

Another example will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in A, a delivery unit a for releasing two loads of type A, a delivery unit b for releasing three loads of type B, a delivery unit c for releasing two loads of type B, and a load of type C When a delivery schedule consisting of a delivery unit d for delivering two units and a delivery unit e for delivering two packages of type D is given, the cargo is simply delivered to the delivery conveyor 13 for each of the delivery units a to e. When the loading / unloading traveling crane 3 is operated so as to transfer the goods, the outgoing work is required to complete five outgoing cycles until the outgoing schedule is completed. However, in this retrieval operation method, one or two of the load transfer means 6a to 6d are idle during all retrieval cycles.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, four loads are assigned so that all of the load transfer means 6a to 6d are used in each delivery cycle based on the delivery schedule. The number of cycles is the total number of shipments (2
+ 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 11) divided by the maximum number of simultaneous outgoing shipments of 4 (11 出 4 = 2 remainder 3)
However, the movement of the traveling crane 3 for loading and unloading between shelves in order to increase the number of outgoing loads during the outgoing cycle,
A total of four times are required, as shown in a to d.

However, as shown in FIG. 4C, two shipments of the A type in the delivery unit a and two of the three shipments of the B type in the next delivery unit b are added to form a delivery cycle. b
Is added to one load of the remaining B type and two loads of the B type in the next delivery unit c to form a delivery cycle, and two loads of the C type in the delivery unit d and two loads of the D type in the delivery unit e When the outgoing allocation is performed so that the number of outgoing cycles is added to the number, the number of outgoing cycles is the same three times. Only three transfers between shelves a, b, and d are required. Of course, as shown in FIG. 4D, a single transfer between shelves between the retrieval units c and d (or between the retrieval units d and e) can be performed.
In this case, the number of outgoing cycles is four, which is more than the minimum outgoing cycle number of three when the total outgoing shipment number is divided by the maximum simultaneous outgoing shipment number, and is excluded. That is, minimizing the number of delivery cycles is an essential condition.

The present invention, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 4A,
The total number of outgoing shipments is calculated based on the outgoing schedule in which a plurality of outgoing units, each of which can be taken out of the shelves 2 at the same time by the load transfer means 6a to 6d, are collected as one group. The minimum number of outgoing cycles when dividing by the maximum number of simultaneous outgoing shipments (4 in the above embodiment) equal to As shown in FIG. 3C and FIG. 4C, the load to be delivered is assigned to each delivery cycle as shown in FIGS. 3C and 4C so that the total value of the number of times of movement between shelves is minimized. This operation is automatically performed by a computer program.

That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, by inputting the retrieval schedule shown in FIG. 3A or 4A (S1), the basic retrieval assignment that minimizes the retrieval cycle number N shown in FIG. 3B or FIG. 4B. Is created (S
2) At this time, the total value T of the number of times of movement of the traveling traveling crane 3 between shelves is calculated (S3). Subsequently, it is calculated whether or not alternative dispatch allocation that can reduce the total value T of the number of times of movement between shelves without changing the exit cycle number N as shown in FIGS. 3C, 4C, and D is possible (S4). If the alternative dispatch allocation is possible, the alternative dispatch allocation in which the total value T of the number of times of movement between shelves is the minimum, that is, FIGS. 3C and 4
A delivery cycle is created based on the alternative delivery assignment shown in D (S5). If there is no alternative delivery assignment, a delivery cycle is created based on the basic delivery assignment (S6).
The retrieval cycle automatically created in this way is transferred to the automatic control device of the traveling crane 3 for entering / exiting, and the traveling crane 3 for entering / exiting is automatically operated according to the exit cycle (S7).

A plurality of loads W sequentially discharged on the discharge conveyor 13 by the automatically driven storage and retrieval traveling crane 3 are carried out to the discharge line 16 and conveyed to a predetermined cargo handling place or the like. It is desirable that the arrangement order of the loads W flowing on the retrieval line 16 is in accordance with the retrieval schedule initially given. Therefore, for example, taking the delivery schedule shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 as an example, a given delivery schedule such as a delivery cycle in the execution delivery cycle shown in FIG. 3C or a delivery cycle in the execution delivery cycle shown in FIG. 4C. When there is an outgoing cycle for unloading (partially or entirely) loads of a plurality of outgoing units c and d having different types of loads, the load of the outgoing unit c (load of the C type) having the earlier rank is ranked. Is transferred from the load transfer means 6d corresponding to the skill of the delivery conveyor 13 so that the product is sent from the delivery conveyor 13 to the delivery line 16 prior to the subsequent delivery of the delivery unit d (load of the D type). In order to reach the means 6a, it is necessary to allocate the load of the delivery unit whose rank is earlier.

[0022]

The delivery system of the automatic warehouse equipment of the present invention can be implemented as described above. According to the delivery system of the present invention, a plurality of parallel loading / unloading traveling cranes provided in the loading / unloading traveling crane are provided. When executing a delivery schedule in which a plurality of outgoing units are delivered as a group by the number of loads that can be taken out of the shelf at the same time by the loading / unloading means, the number of loads in each outgoing unit is the same as the parallel number of the loading / unloading means. In other words, in other words, if each unit of delivery is executed as it is as one delivery cycle, even if there is a load transfer unit that will play, the total number of outgoing shipments will be reduced by the load transfer unit. While maintaining the minimum number of outgoing cycles in each outgoing cycle while maintaining the minimum outgoing cycle number divided by the maximum simultaneous outgoing outgoing number equal to the parallel number, the number of times the traveling crane for loading and unloading moves between shelves to increase the number of outgoing loads in each outgoing cycle. Since perform the unloading work in a state where the total value becomes the minimum, it is possible to improve the working efficiency by reducing the time required to complete the entire goods issue schedule.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the movement of the loading / unloading traveling crane between shelves performed during one delivery cycle causes loads to be loaded in a different order from the order of delivery units in the first delivery schedule. Will not be carried out, and the cargo can always be carried out in the order according to the delivery schedule.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a main part of an automatic warehouse facility.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of the automatic warehouse equipment,
FIGS. B and C are plan views illustrating the load transfer operation of the load transfer means.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are diagrams for explaining how to determine the number of delivery cycles in accordance with a delivery schedule and how to assign a load in each delivery cycle.

FIG. 4 is the same explanatory diagram as FIG. 3, showing a different example.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a program for executing the retrieval system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic warehouse equipment 2 Shelf 3 Traveling crane for loading / unloading 5 Elevating carriage 6a-6d Load transfer means 9 Load transfer conveyor 10 A pair of left and right load-carrying-in / feed-out tools 11 Shelf load storage section 12 Storage conveyor 13 Delivery conveyor 14 Receiving line 16 Outgoing line

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic warehouse facility comprising a combination of a shelf and a traveling crane for loading and unloading, wherein the traveling crane for loading and unloading has a plurality of load transfer means arranged in parallel in the traveling direction of the crane on a lifting carriage. In this method, the total number of outgoing shipments is equal to the parallel number of the loading / unloading means, based on an outgoing schedule in which a plurality of outgoing units for unloading the number of loads that can be simultaneously taken out of the shelf by the loading / unloading means are grouped together. Assuming the minimum number of outgoing cycles when dividing by the number of simultaneous outgoing shipments, the total value of the number of movements between shelves of the traveling crane for in / out to increase the number of outgoing shipments in each outgoing cycle is the minimum. As described above, a computer program for allocating a load to be retrieved in each retrieval cycle is used, and each retrieval cycle determined by the program is used for the traveling crane for retrieval and retrieval. Issue system of automatic warehouse equipment to be executed by. 2. A loading / unloading cycle, in which a plurality of loads in different delivery units are taken out of a shelf by a plurality of load transfer means due to movement of the loading / unloading traveling crane between shelves, is set off from the loading / unloading traveling crane and carried out. 2. The delivery system of an automatic warehouse facility according to claim 1, wherein a load of a delivery unit having a higher rank is assigned from a load transfer unit which is superior in a flow direction of the load when the load is transferred.