JP2002265019A - Control device of automated storage and retrieval system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automated storage and retrieval system capable of easily delivering a desired cargo to a desired station. SOLUTION: Respective stations are grouped according to a predetermined group reference, and when designating a delivering cargo and a group of the stations being a delivery destination by a main computer 21, a determination is made on whether or not a designated cargo exists in a shelf building controlled by either station included in the designated group, and when the designated cargo exists, a stacker crane 11 controlled by the station of the designated group is controlled so that the designated cargo is delivered to the station of the designated group.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plurality of shelves that are arranged in a matrix in the vertical and horizontal directions to form a shelf ridge. The present invention relates to a control device of an automatic warehouse system in which a crane fork device moves in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction to carry in and out of a shelf, and conveys a load taken out of the shelf to a predetermined station.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional automatic warehouse system is, for example, shown in FIG.
It is configured as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the automatic warehouse system 1 includes four shelves 3 each of which is provided with a predetermined address and is arranged with a plurality of shelves 3 in a height (vertical) direction and a horizontal (horizontal) direction. A plurality of such shelf buildings 5 are installed in parallel, and traveling rails are provided along the passages 7 above and below a passage 7 provided between the opposed shelf buildings 5. 9, a stacker crane 11 that travels in the passage 7 along the traveling rail 9 is installed and configured.

As shown in FIG. 4, the stacker crane 11 has a pair of mast devices 13 whose upper end and lower end are movably mounted along the traveling rail 9.
An elevator 15 that moves up and down along the mast device 13;
A fork unit 17 including a fork and a pallet, which is mounted on the lift 15 and moves vertically and horizontally and picks up the cargo with the shelf 3 is provided.

Further, a station 1 is located on one side of each shelf building 5.
9a, 19b, 19c, and 19d are installed, and "1" is assigned to each of these stations 19a to 19d.
Station numbers from “4” to “4” are assigned.
Each of the stations 19a to 19d has jurisdiction as a divided area obtained by dividing the entire shelf 3.

[0005] Next, in such a conventional automatic warehouse system, a processing procedure when a designated package is delivered to a station will be described in detail with reference to a flowchart of FIG.

[0006] As shown in FIG.
The station number designated last time by 1 (hereinafter, the station number is referred to as ST in FIG. 5) is held (S21), and "1" is added to this previously designated ST and designated as a new ST (S22). It is determined whether or not the new ST corresponding to the next station by the addition exceeds the total number of stations (here, “4”) (S23).

If the decision result in the step S23 is NO, that is, if the next ST does not exceed the total number of stations, the process shifts to a step S25, and the decision result in the step S23 is Y
ES, that is, if the next ST exceeds the total number of stations, the minimum ST is set as a station to instruct delivery.
The station 19a of "1" is instructed (S24), and the process proceeds to step S25.

In step S25, a determination is made as to whether the station is ready or not based on the presence or absence of luggage in the station corresponding to the ST specified in step S22 (S25). If it is determined that there is already other luggage at the station and it is not possible to exit, the above-mentioned step S is performed without exiting the designated station.
Returning to step S22, if it is determined in step S25 that the designated station is ready, step S22
Then, it is determined whether or not there is a schedule related to the delivery between the designated package on each shelf 3 in the area under the jurisdiction of the station corresponding to ST and the station (S26).

If it is determined in step S26 that the designated baggage can be delivered to the designated station and that there is a schedule, the main computer 21 responds to the designated station. A transfer instruction is output to the crane controller 23 to be operated, and the fork device 1 of the stacker crane 11 that carries out retrieval of each shelf 3 in the area under the jurisdiction of the station.
After the drive of the station 7 is controlled and the retrieval is performed (S27), the ST of the station instructed to perform the retrieval is held in the main computer 21 as the previously designated ST (S28), and the operation is thereafter terminated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S26 that the station corresponding to the ST specified in step S22 does not have the specified luggage and cannot leave because the specified baggage does not exist, then it is determined that there is no schedule. Since it can be determined that there is no need to leave the station, it is determined whether the ST at that time matches the previously instructed ST held in the main computer 21 (S29), and the determination result is NO. If so, it is determined that the leaving instructions for all the stations have not been completed, and the process returns to step S22 described above, and the operations after step S22 are repeated.

If the result of the determination in step S29 is YES
If so, it is determined that the delivery instruction up to the station of the previously specified ST has been completed from the station corresponding to the ST next to the previously specified ST, that is, it has been determined that the delivery instruction has been completed for all the stations. The operation is completed.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the method of sequentially searching each station and automatically releasing the designated package, ST is arbitrarily designated, and the ST corresponding to the designated ST is Conventionally, a method of sequentially checking whether or not a designated package exists on a shelf under its jurisdiction and releasing the package when it exists is also conventionally performed.

[0013]

However, in the former method, when the luggage is specified, the luggage is automatically released, so that there is no need to input the ST and it is not troublesome, but it is not clear to which station the luggage is to be released. Therefore, there is a problem that the delivery is not always performed at a desired station.
In particular, in a case where each of the shelf buildings 5 spans a plurality of floors and a station for each of the shelf buildings 5 is provided for each floor, for example, 2
In some cases, a user may want to retrieve specified luggage to one of the stations on the floor, but may be returned to the station on the first floor.

On the other hand, in the latter method, a desired package can be delivered to a desired station or a station as close as possible to the desired station. However, creation and registration of a schedule, that is, ST (station number) and input designation of the package must be repeatedly performed. However, there was a problem that it took a lot of trouble and time.

Further, in an automatic warehousing system for handling perishables, a "first-in first-out system" is generally used, in which even the same type of luggage, which arrives first in time, exits first. When the "method" is put into practice, it is not always the case that there is an old package at the designated station, and a complicated operation of registering a schedule while checking the passage of stock time is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic warehouse system in which desired luggage can be easily delivered to a desired station.

[0017]

According to the present invention, a plurality of shelves are provided in a matrix in the vertical and horizontal directions to form a shelf ridge. An automatic warehouse system in which a fork device of a stacker crane moves vertically and horizontally between the adjacent shelf buildings and moves in and out of the shelves, and for each of the shelf buildings, In the control device of the automatic warehouse system for transporting the luggage taken out of the designated shelf to at least one station, the stations are grouped according to a predetermined grouping criterion and should be taken out. A designation unit for designating the group of the station that is the luggage and the delivery destination; and the luggage designated by the designation unit is included in a designated group. A determination unit that determines whether present in said shelf building that has jurisdiction over any of said stations,
A control unit that controls the stacker crane so that the designated package is delivered to the station in a designated group when it is determined that the package is present.

[0018] According to such a configuration, the designation unit allows
When the luggage to be delivered and the destination group are specified,
The determining unit determines whether the designated package is present in the shelf wing of any of the stations included in the designated group, and if so, the designated package is assigned to the station in the designated group. Issued.

Therefore, it is not necessary to perform complicated schedule registration work as in the prior art, and the desired luggage can be easily delivered to the desired station.

Here, if the element indicating whether the item is newer or older in time is also specified at the same time when specifying the package, it is possible to easily realize the leaving by the "first in first out method".

When each of the shelf buildings is installed on a plurality of floors and each of the stations is arranged on each floor, it is determined whether each of the stations is on the same floor as a grouping criterion. It is preferable that a numerical value representing the floor is designated as the group number of each station on the same floor by the designation unit, so that it is not necessary to pick up luggage at a station on a different floor.

Further, the respective stations are grouped on the basis of the grouping criterion as to whether or not they are in the same retrieval direction, and a numerical value representing the group number of each of the stations having the same retrieval direction is designated by the designation unit. Alternatively, it is possible to leave the vehicle at a desired station according to the retrieval direction.

Further, the stations are grouped on the basis of whether or not the inventory properties of the shelf buildings under the jurisdiction of the stations are the same as the grouping criteria,
A numerical value indicating the group number of each of the stations having the same property of the shelf building under jurisdiction may be designated by the designation unit. Luggage of the nature can be delivered to the same group of stations.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a block diagram of a control system of the automatic warehouse system, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation. Note that the external configuration of the automatic warehouse system according to the present embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 4, and thus will be described below with reference to FIG. 4.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a control system in the automatic warehouse system shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 1, a main computer 21 and a LAN provided for each stacker crane 11 are connected to the main computer 21. Various kinds of data are exchanged between the plurality of crane controllers 23 connected by the cable 25, and information is exchanged between the crane controller 23 and the stacker crane 11 by wireless signals. Is managed and controlled.

By the way, each station 19a, 19
b, 19c, 19d are, for example, stations 19a, 1
9b and stations 19c and 19d. Each group has "G1",
A group number such as “G2” is assigned.

Then, the main computer 21
When a group number and a package to be taken out are designated, a station belonging to the designated group has a function of sequentially searching whether or not the designated package can be taken out.

Specifically, when the group number and the luggage are designated, the same procedure as that of the automatic retrieval by sequentially searching the stations described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5 is performed. Holds the station number next to the specified station number, designates the station with the held station number, determines whether the station is ready or not based on the presence or absence of the package, and prepares without the package When it is determined that the package is available, it is determined based on the stock data of each shelf 3 in the area under the jurisdiction of the designated station whether or not there is a schedule as to whether or not there is a designated package in each of these shelves 3, and it is determined that there is a schedule. If you do, the designated station number Outputs conveyance instruction to the lane controller 23, executes a goods issue drives and controls the stacker crane 11.

When the station number next to the held station number does not exceed the total number of stations in the group to which the station belongs, the main computer 21 designates the station corresponding to the station number next to the station number. Then, it is determined whether the station is ready or not, and if it exceeds, the station corresponding to the smallest station number is designated to determine whether the station is ready or not.

Further, when the main computer 21 determines that the station of the designated station number is not ready, the main computer 21 does not enter / exit the area under the jurisdiction of the station, but designates the station of the next station number. It is determined whether the station is ready or not, and when it is determined that there is no schedule, it is determined whether the station number matches the previously instructed station number held.
The station corresponding to the next station number is designated to determine whether the station is ready or not.

As described above, the processing for designating the package and the group number by the main computer 21 corresponds to the designation section.
The determination processing of the presence of the designated luggage by the main computer 21 corresponds to the determination unit, and the control processing of the stacker crane 11 at the time of unloading by the main computer 21 and the crane controller 23 corresponds to the control unit.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Now, each of the stations 19a to 19d is operated by the keyboard operation of the main computer 21.
The group number including the station to be dispatched and the package to be dispatched are specified, a schedule is created,
Once registered, as shown in FIG. 2, stations belonging to the designated group are
The station number designated last time by 1 (hereinafter, the station number is referred to as ST in FIG. 2) is held (S1), and "1" is added to the previously designated ST and designated as a new ST (S2). It is determined whether or not the new ST corresponding to the next station by the addition exceeds the total number of stations (S3).

If the decision result in the step S3 is NO, that is, if the next ST does not exceed the total number of stations, the process shifts to the step S5, and the decision result in the step S3 is YES,
In other words, if the next ST exceeds the total number of stations, the station with the smallest ST in the designated group is designated as the station to which the delivery is to be instructed (S4).
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S5.

Then, in step S5, it is determined whether the station is ready or not as a station state based on whether or not there is a baggage in the station of the ST designated in step S2 (S5). If it is determined that there is already other luggage at the station and it is not possible to leave, the process returns to step S2 without carrying out the retrieval for the designated station, and the luggage is returned to the designated station by the determination at step S5. If it is determined that there is no schedule, the schedule data created and registered in advance is read (S
6).

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not there is a schedule as to whether or not there is a designated package on each shelf 3 in the area under the control of the station of ST specified in step S2 (S7). If it is determined that the designated luggage can be delivered to the station of the designated ST and the schedule is present, it is determined whether or not the schedule corresponds to the designated group (S8), and the determination result is obtained. Is NO, and the schedule data created and registered for the next designated group is read (S9), and the process returns to step S7, and if the determination result in step S8 is YES, The transport instruction is output from the main computer 21 to the crane controller 23 corresponding to the designated ST station, and the Fork 17 of the stacker crane 11 for unloading of each shelf 3 in the jurisdiction area Shon are controlled drive, goods issue is executed (S10).

Thereafter, the ST of the station included in the group of the group number designated to carry out the retrieval is held in the main computer 21 as the previously instructed ST (S11), and the operation is thereafter terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S7 that there is no designated baggage at the station of ST designated in step S2 and there is no schedule and that there is no schedule, then that station is Since it can be determined that there is no necessity, it is determined whether or not the current ST matches the previously instructed ST held in the main computer 21 (S12). It is determined that the leaving instruction has not been completed for all the stations belonging to the group, and the process returns to step S2, and the operation after step S2 is repeated.

As described above, when the main computer 21 specifies the luggage to be delivered and the destination group, the designated luggage of the shelf building 5 controlled by any of the stations included in the designated group. It is determined whether or not it exists on shelf 3 (see FIG. 4).
The specified package is delivered to the station of the specified group.

Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, it is not necessary to perform complicated schedule registration work as in the related art, and a desired baggage can be easily delivered to a desired station.

In the above embodiment, the case where the number of groups is "2" has been described. However, it is needless to say that the number of groups may be "3" or more. In particular, as shown in FIG.
If each shelf building 5 straddles the second floor and a station of each shelf building 5 is provided for each floor, a station 19 is provided for each floor.
For example, the station 19 on the first floor is assigned to a group “G1”, and the station 19 on the second floor is assigned to a group “G2”.

Further, as a criterion for grouping each station (grouping criterion), it is needless to say that the delivery direction of the package, the nature of the package (for example, raw materials and products) and the like may be appropriately selected.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes other than those described above can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the designated unit specifies the package to be delivered and the destination group, the determination unit includes the designated package in the designated group. It is determined whether it is in the shelf building under the jurisdiction of any of the stations, and if it is, the specified package is delivered to the specified group of stations. It is possible to provide an automatic warehouse system that can easily take out desired luggage to a desired station without having to perform the same.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control system of an automatic warehouse system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram of a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic warehouse system 3 Shelf 5 Shelf building 11 Stacker crane 17 Fork device 19, 19a-19d Station 21 Main computer (designation part, judgment part, control part) 23 Controller for crane (control part)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of shelves are formed in a matrix in the vertical and horizontal directions to form a shelf building, and a plurality of such shelves are arranged side by side. A fork device of a stacker crane is provided between the adjacent shelves. An automatic warehousing system that moves vertically and horizontally to enter and leave the shelves, wherein at least one station is provided for each of the shelf buildings, and the shelves are taken out of the designated shelves. In the control device of the automatic warehouse system that transports the luggage, the respective stations are grouped according to a predetermined grouping standard, and designation for designating the luggage to be retrieved and the group of the station to which the retrieval is to be performed. And the luggage specified by the specification unit is present in the shelf wing controlled by any of the stations included in the specified group. And a control unit that controls the stacker crane so as to take out the designated luggage to the station in a designated group when it is determined that the luggage is present by the decision unit. A control device for an automatic warehouse system. 2. Each of the shelf buildings is installed over a plurality of floors,
When the stations are arranged on each floor, the stations are grouped on the basis of whether or not they are on the same floor as the grouping reference, and the floor is represented as a group number of the stations on the same floor. The control device of the automatic warehouse system according to claim 1, wherein a numerical value is designated by the designation unit. 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein each of the stations is grouped on the basis of the grouping criterion as to whether the stations have the same retrieval direction, and a numerical value representing a group number of the stations having the same retrieval direction is designated by the designation unit. The control device for an automatic warehouse system according to claim 1, wherein 4. The stations are grouped on the basis of whether or not the inventory properties of the shelf buildings managed by the respective stations are the same, and the properties of the inventory of the controlled shelf buildings are the same. The control device of the automatic warehouse system according to claim 1, wherein a numerical value representing a group number of each of the stations is designated by the designation unit.