JP2002160802A - Article takeout device and picking system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article takeout device capable of performing the takeout operation effectively irrespective of the weight of articles. SOLUTION: The objects takeout device 4 is furnished with a storing and conveying means 12 to store a plurality of pieces of articles A arranged in the conveying direction X and convey when it is driven by any driving means. Dawn stream of this means 12, a stopper plate 23 is provided, which abuts to the leading piece A1 of the stored articles A and moves between the restrictive position to restrict movement of the piece A1 and the admissive position to admit a movement of the piece A1. Downstream of the stopper plate 23, a takeout drive roller 31 is installed, which rotates the piece A1 being conveyed by the means 12 driven when the stopper plate 23 is in the admissive position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article taking-out apparatus for taking out stored articles as needed and a picking system provided with the article taking-out apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a picking system of this kind, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-61527 and
An automatic picking system described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 0-45247 is known.

[0003] The automatic picking system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-61527 and the like includes a collection / conveyance device composed of a plurality of stages of item collection conveyors and the like. An article take-out device is connected,
The articles stored from each article take-out device are taken out to a predetermined position of the collection / conveyance device on the basis of a predetermined picking signal.

[0004] The article pick-up device used in such an automatic picking system includes an inclined free roller conveyor inclined downward from the transport start end toward the transport end side. A stopper is provided for restricting the article from moving under its own weight.

When the articles stored in the article take-out device are taken out, the regulation by the stopper is released in response to a predetermined picking signal. As a result, the articles are transported by their own weight on the inclined free roller conveyor. Then, it is taken out on the collection and conveyance device.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned conventional article take-out apparatus has an inclined free roller conveyor which conveys an article by utilizing its own weight when taking out the article. For example, there is a problem that not only is it not suitable for an article having a light weight, but also there is a possibility that the efficiency of the taking out operation is not good.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing, and an object of the present invention is to provide an article pick-up apparatus and a picking system capable of efficiently taking out an article regardless of the weight of the article.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article removing apparatus for storing articles in a conveying direction.
A storage / transport unit that conveys an article by being driven by a driving force, and restricts the movement of the top article by abutting on the first article at the downstream end in the conveyance direction among the articles stored by the storage / convey means. Stopper means for moving between a restricted position to be moved and an allowable position for allowing movement of the leading article away from the leading article, and transported by the storage / transporting means which is driven when the stopper means is located at the allowable position. A take-out means for taking out the leading article therein by driving it by receiving a driving force.

With this configuration, when the stopper is located at the allowable position, the leading article being conveyed can be accurately taken out by the storage / conveying means driven by the taking-out means, which is different from the conventional one. Thus, regardless of the weight of the article, an efficient take-out operation can be performed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the article take-out device according to the first aspect, wherein the take-out means is a take-out drive roller for taking out a leading article by driving and rotating by receiving a driving force. Is set higher than the transfer speed of the storage and transfer means.

In this configuration, the leading article can be reliably taken out of the storage / transporting means by driving and rotating the take-out drive roller.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the article take-out apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the storage and transport means stores a plurality of articles along a transport direction coinciding with the horizontal direction.

[0013] In this configuration, the article on the upstream side in the transport direction during storage does not push the article on the downstream side in the transport direction by its own weight, and the article can be stored stably.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the article removing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the storage and transport means includes an endless traveling body positioned along the transport direction, and the endless traveling body. A plurality of free rollers rotatably provided around a rotation center axis in a direction intersecting with the traveling direction of the endless traveling body, wherein the free rollers of the storage and transport unit travel together with the endless traveling body. By doing so, the articles placed on the upper surface are conveyed.

In this configuration, the article placed on the upper surface can be properly conveyed by running the free roller of the storage / conveying means together with the endless traveling body, and the article is forcibly applied to the article by the slip action of the free roller. It is possible to avoid a large force from acting.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the article removing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the storing and conveying means and the removing means are arranged such that the leading article is removed while maintaining the horizontal posture. Are horizontally arranged at the same height.

In this configuration, the leading-end article can be taken out of the storage / transporting means by the taking-out means while keeping the horizontal attitude, so that adverse effects due to the inclined attitude of the article can be prevented.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a picking system, wherein the picking-up and transporting device is located side by side in the transport direction of the picking-up and transporting device, and a leading article is taken out on the collecting and transferring device based on a predetermined picking signal. A plurality of article take-out devices according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The collection conveyance device and the article take-out device have respective functions.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a picking system.
The automatic picking of a predetermined article A from a plurality of different types of articles A stored in the computer under computer control. The article A to be picked is, for example, a cardboard case that is a case product having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape, that is, a case containing six 2-liter PET bottles, a canned beer case, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 5, the picking system 1 includes an article pick-up device 4 which is a plurality of picking devices arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of stages, and an article picked up from each article pick-up device 4. A collection transport device 5 that receives A and transports it to an unillustrated inspection site, packing site, or the like is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, a plurality of sets, for example, 12 sets, of the article take-out device 4 are formed in two rows and four stages, for example, twelve sets. It is juxtaposed along.

First, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, each article take-out device 4 places articles A replenished from an article replenishing port 10 capable of replenishing articles A on an upper surface, and A plurality of articles are stored in a straight line along the transport direction X, and are driven in response to the driving force from the drive motor 11 as the first drive means, and the articles A are placed on the upper surface in the transport direction X. A storage / transport unit 12 for transport is provided.

The storage / transporting means 12 is composed of, for example, a chain conveyor with side rollers arranged substantially horizontally from the start to the end of the transport, and runs along the transport direction X. It has chains 14a and 14b as a pair of endless traveling bodies which are made possible and are disposed horizontally facing each other. Each chain 14a, 14b is wound around a sprocket 16 as a rotating body fixed to a pair of rotating shafts 15 whose axial direction coincides with a direction orthogonal to the transport direction X in plan view. The rotating shaft 15 is horizontally supported by, for example, a bearing (not shown) of the frame 17 and is driven to rotate by the drive motor 11.

Further, each of the chains 14a, 14b is formed endlessly by a plurality of link members 18 rotatably connected to each other, and from both side surfaces of the link members 18, the direction in which the axial direction intersects the running direction. Shafts 19, 19 that match the projection are provided. A free roller 20 is provided at the tip of the shaft portion 19 so as to be rotatable about a center axis of the shaft portion 19, that is, a rotation center axis in a direction intersecting the running direction of the chains 14a and 14b. Then, on the outer peripheral surface of the plurality of free rollers 20 located endlessly along the running direction of each of the chains 14a and 14b,
A transport surface 21 for driving and traveling integrally with the chains 14a and 14b to place and transport the article A is formed. This transfer surface 21
Stores and stores a plurality of articles A in a state where the articles A are in contact with each other so that no gap exists between the adjacent articles A. Note that the storage shelves 2 are configured by arranging the storage transporting means 12 in a plurality of rows and a plurality of stages. As shown in FIG. 3, the shelves 2a, 2a, 2a except for the uppermost stage of the storage shelf 2 are set to have a height corresponding to the article A having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape. That is, the shelf 2a has a substantially quadrangular cylindrical shape having a height corresponding to the article A, and is not unnecessarily large and the article take-out device 4 in which the article A is located above.
The shelf 2a protects and stores the article A so as to be surrounded by the frame 17.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the article take-out device 4 is located at the downstream end in the transport direction X of the plurality of articles A stored on the transport surface 21 of the storage transport unit 12. The first article A, that is, the restricting position in contact with the first article A1 to restrict the movement of the first article A1, and the allowable position at which the first article A1 is allowed to move away from the first article A1. A stopper plate 23 is provided as stopper means.

The stopper plate 23 is formed, for example, in a substantially rectangular plate shape as shown in FIG.
An article contact portion 24 which is disposed in a substantially vertical plane close to the transport end of the article A and which advances and retreats in the movement locus of the article A is formed at the upper end edge.

The lower end of the stopper plate 23 is connected to the tip of a turning support arm 25 as a turning body.
The rotation support arm 25 is supported by an arm support portion 26 of the frame 17 and is rotatable about a base end so that the distal end side moves up and down. Further, a rod 29 of a cylinder 28 as a second driving means is connected to a tip side of the rotation support arm 25 via a crankshaft 27. The cylinder 28 is supported substantially horizontally by a cylinder support 30 formed on the frame 17.

When the rod 29 of the cylinder 28 advances, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, the rotation support arm 25 is positioned substantially in the horizontal direction, and the article contact portion 24 of the stopper plate 23 is stored and transported. It is located at a regulated position that is higher than the transport surface 21 of the means 12 and abuts on the lower front surface of the leading article A1. As a result, the leading article A1 on the transport surface 21 of the storage transport means 12 moves in the transport direction X. Is controlled, and the movement of the entire article A on the transport surface 21 in the transport direction X based on the driving of the storage transport unit 12 is restricted.

When the rod 29 of the cylinder 28 retreats from this state, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
The stopper plate 23 descends in accordance with the rotation of 25. Then, the article contact portion 24 of the stopper plate 23 is located at an allowable position which is separated from the leading article A1 and is lower than the transport surface 21. As a result, the transport of the leading article A1 on the transport surface 21 of the storage transport unit 12 is performed. The movement in the direction X is allowed, and the movement of the entire article A on the carrying surface 21 in the carrying direction X based on the driving of the storage carrying means 12 is allowed.

When the stopper plate 23 is lowered, the article contact portion 24 at the upper edge of the stopper plate 23 moves in the transport direction X while descending, as shown by the arrow in FIG. Since it moves in the direction away from the article A1,
The removal work of the leading article A1 is performed smoothly.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when the stopper plate 23 is located at the allowable position, the article take-out device 4 removes the leading article A1 being conveyed by the driven storage / conveying means 12, A take-out drive roller 31 is provided as take-out means for taking out by driving and rotating in response to a driving force.

The take-out drive roller 31 is composed of, for example, a roller with a built-in motor, and is disposed close to the stopper plate 23. The shaft portions 32, 32 protruding from both end surfaces in a matched state are rotatably supported in a horizontal state. Inside the take-out drive roller 31, a built-in motor 33 is provided as third drive means. Then, the take-out drive roller 31 is driven and rotated by receiving the driving force from the built-in motor 33, and a force in the transport direction X acts on the lower surface of the leading article A1 that has moved onto the outer peripheral surface portion 31a of the take-out drive roller 31. As a result, the leading article A1 is separated from the second article A and is ejected onto the article receiving section 35 of the first transport section 5a of the collection and transport apparatus 5.

The take-out drive roller 31 is horizontally arranged at the same height position as the storage and transport means 12 so that the leading article A1 on the transport surface 21 of the storage and transport means 12 is taken out while maintaining the horizontal posture. Has been established. That is, the upper end of the take-out drive roller 31 is located on a reference horizontal plane including the transport surface 21 of the storage transport unit 12 and the transport surface 22 of the first transport unit 5a having the same height. Note that the transport direction of the take-out drive roller 31 matches the transport direction X of the storage transport unit 12, and
The transport speed of the take-out drive roller 31 is set higher than the transport speed of the transport surface 21 of the storage transport unit 12, for example,
The value is set to approximately twice the value of the transfer surface 21. On the other hand, the transport speed of the take-out drive roller 31 is set to be substantially the same as the transport speed of the transport surface 22 of the first transport section 5a of the collection transport device 5.

Further, at a position near the side of the take-out driving roller 31, a support shaft 41 whose axial direction coincides with the vertical direction is disposed, and a guide roller 42 is rotatably provided on the support shaft 41. I have.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, an article presence / absence sensor 51 as a first detecting means is provided in the vicinity of the transport end of the storage and transport means 12, and this article presence / absence sensor is provided. The sensor 51 detects the article A on the transport end portion of the transport surface 21. For example, a reflection-type optical sensor that emits detection light and receives reflected light reflected by the article A is used. It is configured. At a position near the take-out drive roller 31, a confirmation sensor 52 as a second detecting means is provided. The confirmation sensor 52 detects the article A on the take-out drive roller 31. It is configured by a reflection type optical sensor or the like that emits light and receives reflected light reflected by the article A.

The article presence / absence sensor 51 and the confirmation sensor 52 are connected to a control means 55.
Controls the drive motor 11, the built-in motor 33, the cylinder 28, and the like based on a signal from the article presence sensor 51 and the like.

The collection / conveyance device 5 includes a first conveyance unit 5a located opposite to the storage shelf unit 2. The first conveyance unit 5a is substantially entirely from the conveyance start end to the conveyance end. It is composed of a plurality of horizontal, for example, four-stage roller conveyors or belt conveyors, and the transport direction Y of the first transport unit 5a is the transport direction of the storage transport unit 12 in plan view. It is orthogonal to X. A transfer start end of a second transfer unit (not shown) constituted by a roller conveyor or a belt conveyor is connected to a transfer end of the first transfer unit 5a, and a transfer end of the second transfer unit is provided. The side extends to an unillustrated inspection area, packing area, or the like.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

At the time of standby, as shown in FIG. 6, the stopper plate 23 is located at the regulating position because the rod 29 of the cylinder 28 is in the advanced state, and the stopper plate 23 is placed on the leading article A1 on the transport surface 21 of the storage transport unit 12. In this state, the movement of the article A stored on the transport surface 21 in the transport direction X is restricted.

When a predetermined picking signal is input from a control unit (not shown) for controlling the entire picking system 1 to the control means 55 of the corresponding article take-out device 4,
After recognizing that the leading article A1 is present on the transport end of the transport surface 21 based on the detection of the article presence / absence sensor 51, the control means 55, as shown in FIG. And the cylinder 28 is operated.

When the drive motor 11 is operated, the chains 14a and 14b of the storage and transport means 12 are driven and run, and when the built-in motor 33 is operated, the take-out drive roller 31 is driven and rotated. On the other hand, the rod 29 is retracted by the operation of the cylinder 28, and the stopper plate 23 is moved in accordance with the rotation of the rotation support arm 25.
As a result, the movement of the article A stored on the transport surface 21 in the transport direction X with the stopper plate 23 located at an allowable position that is lower than the transport surface 21 away from the leading article A1 is restricted. It will be released.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the entire article A on the transport surface 21 is transported by the transport surface 21 as one lump in the transport direction X. Then, the front end surface of the leading article A1 passes through the position above the stopper plate 23, and the take-out drive roller 31
When the outer peripheral surface portion 31a of the take-out drive roller 31 contacts the lower surface of the front end surface portion of the leading article A1,
As shown in FIG. 9, the leading article A1 is separated from the second article A at a short interval.

The separated leading article A1 is pushed out by the outer peripheral surface portion 31a of the take-out drive roller 31, and as shown in FIG.
It is taken out in a horizontal posture on the article receiving section 35 of 5a, and is conveyed on the first conveying section 5a while being guided by the guide rollers 42. Thereafter, the article A is transported to an inspection place, a packing place, and the like via a second transport unit (not shown).

When the control means 55 recognizes that the leading article A1 does not exist on the take-out drive roller 31 based on the non-detection of the confirmation sensor 52 and the leading article A1 has passed over the take-out drive roller 31, the drive motor 55 11 and the built-in motor 33 are stopped, the rod 29 of the cylinder 28 is advanced, and the stopper plate 23 is positioned at the regulation position.

In this way, one article A is reliably taken out by the article take-out device 4 onto the article receiving section 35 of the collection / transportation device 5.

Note that, depending on the picking signal, a plurality of, for example, three pieces are taken out by the article taking out device 4 collectively. In this case, the drive motor 11 and the built-in motor 33 are stopped only after the third article A passes over the take-out drive roller 31, and the stopper plate 23 is located at the regulation position. At the time of this removal, the space between adjacent articles A is small, so that a plurality of articles A are continuously and efficiently taken out.

On the other hand, for example, when it is determined based on the non-detection of the article presence / absence sensor 51 that the article A does not exist on the transport surface 21, for example, From the refill port 10, the transfer surface 21 of the storage transfer means 12
The articles A are sequentially placed on the top and replenished by a predetermined number.

At the time of this replenishment work, the chains 14a and 14b of the storage / transportation means 12 are driven and driven by operating only the drive motor 11 while the stopper plate 23 is located at the regulation position.

The transport surface that travels with the chains 14a and 14b
The article A replenished on the transport direction 21 is transported in the transport direction X. However, when the leading article A1 at the downstream end in the transport direction X comes into contact with the stopper plate 23 and stops, the subsequent article A is transported downstream in the transport direction X. It comes into contact with the article A and stops sequentially. At this time, the chain
Due to the slip action of the free rollers 14a and 14b, no excessive line pressure from the article A on the upstream side in the transport direction X acts on the article A on the downstream side in the transport direction X, and the replenishment work can be performed stably and efficiently. Thus, a plurality of articles A are stored in a straight line along the horizontal transport direction X. By transporting the article A to the stopper plate 23 by running the chains 14a and 14b, an area where replenishment is possible can be optimally secured.

As described above, according to the embodiment, when the stopper plate 23 is located at the allowable position, only one take-out drive roller 31 that is driven and rotated is used to move the transport surface 21 that is driven and moved. The leading article A1 being transported can be accurately and quickly taken out on the transport surface 22 of the article receiving section 35 of the collection transport apparatus 5.

Therefore, when taking out the articles A stored in the storage / transporting means 12, unlike the related art, the taking-out operation can be performed efficiently with a simple configuration regardless of the weight of the articles A. Picking ability can be improved.

Further, since the plurality of articles A are stored in the storage direction along the conveyance direction X by the horizontally arranged storage and conveyance means 12, the articles A on the upstream side in the conveyance direction X during the storage are stored in the conveyance direction. X The article A on the downstream side is not pushed by the weight of the article A, so that the article A can be stably stored without applying excessive line pressure to the article A. For example, deformation of the article A due to long-term storage can be prevented. It is possible to avoid the damage and appropriately prevent damage to the article A.

Further, the leading-end article A1 can be taken out from the carrying surface 21 of the storage / conveying means 12 in the horizontal posture by the take-out drive roller 31, and the adverse effect based on the taking-out of the article A in the inclined posture can be prevented. It is possible to prevent the article A from falling down during unloading.

In the above embodiment, the stopper means is described as the stopper plate 23 which can be moved up and down. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the stopper means is placed on the transfer surface 21 of the storage and transfer means 12. Among the plurality of stored articles A, the first article A1 abuts on the first article A1 at the downstream end in the transport direction X.
The stopper roller 23a may be configured to move up and down between a restricting position for restricting the movement of the first article A1 and an allowable position for allowing the movement of the first article A1.
Instead of the stopper plate 23, a similar effect can be achieved by using a stopper roller 23a.

In each of the above embodiments, the take-out means has been described as a single take-out drive roller 31. However, the take-out means may be a plurality of take-out drive rollers, such as two, three, etc. May be adopted. Further, the take-out drive roller 31 is different from a motor built-in roller, etc.
It may be driven by an external motor.

Further, although not shown, the storage / transportation means 12 and the extraction means 31 may be driven by a driving force from a common driving source.

In the above-described embodiment, the article take-out device 4 has a four-tiered configuration, and the first transport unit 5a of the collection transport device 5 has a four-tiered configuration. For example, it can be set to any of 1 to 4 stages.

Further, in any of the above embodiments, the storage and transport means 12 has been described as a configuration for storing a plurality of articles A in the transport direction X which coincides with the horizontal direction. A plurality of units may be stored along a transport direction that is slightly inclined downward from the transport start end side toward the transport end side. For example, the configuration may be such that the articles are inclined so that the articles do not drop.

[0060]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the stopper is located at the allowable position, the leading article being transported can be accurately taken out by the storage / transporting means driven by the driven take-out means. Therefore, unlike the related art, the removal operation can be performed efficiently regardless of the weight of the article.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the leading article can be reliably taken out of the storage / transporting means with a simple configuration by driving and rotating the take-out drive roller.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the articles on the upstream side in the transport direction during storage can be stably stored without pushing the articles on the downstream side in the transport direction by their own weight.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the articles placed on the upper surface can be properly transported by running the free rollers of the storage and transport means together with the endless traveling body, while the free rollers slip to the articles. An excessive force can be prevented from acting, and damage to the article and the like can be prevented.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the leading-end article can be taken out of the storage / transporting means in the taking-out means while keeping the horizontal attitude, and adverse effects due to the inclined attitude of the article can be prevented.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the collection / transport device and the article take-out device can exhibit respective effects.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an article take-out device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the article take-out device.

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the article take-out device;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control system of the article take-out device;

FIG. 5 is an overall view of an automatic picking system including the article take-out device.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of the article take-out device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view subsequent to FIG. 6 for explaining the operation of the article removal device.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the article take-out apparatus, following FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view illustrating the operation of the article take-out apparatus, following FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view subsequent to FIG. 9 for explaining the operation of the article take-out apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an article take-out device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 picking system 4 article take-out device 5 collection and transfer device 12 storage and transfer means 14a, 14b chain as an endless running body 20 free roller 23 stopper plate as stopper means 23a stopper roller as stopper means 31 take-out drive roller as take-out means A article A1 Top article

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3F022 FF11 GG01 GG05 JJ16 MM11 MM38 3F033 GA06 GE04 3F081 AA20 BA01 BA02 BD08 BD11 BD15 BD16 BD17 BD24 BF23 CC01 CC12 CE13 DA02 EA09 EA10 FB01 FB06 FB08

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A storage / conveying means for storing articles along a conveying direction and conveying the articles by being driven by a driving force, and a conveying direction of the articles stored by the storing / conveying means. Stopper means for moving between a restricting position in contact with the leading article at the downstream end to regulate the movement of the leading article and an allowable position away from the leading article and permitting the movement of the leading article; and When in the position,
An ejecting means for ejecting the leading article being conveyed by the driven storage / conveying means by receiving the driving force and driving the article. 2. The take-out means is a take-out drive roller for taking out a leading article by driving and rotating in response to a driving force, and the carrying speed of the take-out drive roller is set higher than the carrying speed of the storage carrying means. The article take-out device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The article take-out device according to claim 1, wherein the storage / conveyance means stores a plurality of articles along a conveyance direction coinciding with the horizontal direction. 4. The storage / transporting means is provided with an endless traveling body positioned along the transport direction, and rotatably provided on the endless traveling body about a rotation center axis in a direction intersecting the traveling direction of the endless traveling body. And a plurality of free rollers, wherein the free rollers of the storage and transport unit transport the articles placed on the upper surface by traveling with the endless traveling body. An article take-out apparatus according to any one of the above. 5. The storage / conveying means and the taking-out means are arranged horizontally at the same height position so that the leading article is taken out while maintaining the horizontal posture. 5. The article take-out device according to any one of 4. 6. A collecting and conveying apparatus, and a plurality of pick-up devices which are positioned side by side in the conveying direction of the collecting and conveying apparatus and take out a leading article onto the collecting and conveying apparatus based on a predetermined picking signal. A picking system comprising: the article take-out device according to any one of the above.