JP2002274603A - Automated storage and retrieval system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automated storage and retrieval system capable of enlarging the working space and allowing effective movement of objects in the enlarged space. SOLUTION: The automated storage and retrieval system is composed of a plurality of automatic warehouses 51, a first floor 6, second floor 74 and third floor 75 arranged at a certain spacing one over another on the retrieval station side of each warehouse 51, a retrieval conveyor 48B installed on the side floors 6, 74, 75 of each warehouse 51, and an object elevating/sinking device 78 tying the upper floors 6, 74, 75.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic warehouse system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the following types of automatic warehouse systems are known. 2. Description of the Related Art There is known an automatic warehouse having a plurality of automatic warehouses, a delivery conveyor provided on a delivery station side of the automatic warehouse, and a work space (a work space for performing a picking operation or the like) formed on the side of the delivery conveyor.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic warehouse system capable of expanding a work space more than the conventional automatic warehouse system and efficiently moving articles between the expanded work spaces. Things.

[0004]

Means for Achieving the Object The present invention employs the following means to achieve the object. The invention according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of automatic warehouses are arranged at predetermined intervals above and below the exit station side of the automatic warehouse,
It has at least two work floors, a delivery conveyor provided on a work floor on the side of the automatic warehouse, and an article elevating device connecting the upper work floor and the lower work floor. The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the at least one work floor includes:
The article delivery device according to claim 1, further comprising an article transport device that transports articles delivered from the delivery conveyor to a work space formed on the work floor. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage device, wherein an accompanying article stored in the rack device together with the received article is arranged on the receiving station side, and the accompanying article is separated from the received article on the unloading station side. One work floor is provided with a return conveyor for ancillary articles connecting the unloading station side of the automatic warehouse and the receiving station side of the automatic warehouse.

[0005]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained by the above configuration. According to the first aspect of the present invention, since at least two work floors are provided, the work space can be made wider than in the conventional automatic warehouse system. In addition, since articles taken out of the automatic warehouse can be transferred between the upper and lower working floors interconnected by the article elevating apparatus via the article elevating apparatus, that is, the articles ejected from the automatic warehouse are temporarily transferred to the automatic warehouse. It is possible to improve workability without the trouble of returning to the work floor and returning to the other work floor. According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to smoothly convey articles taken out of the automatic warehouse to a predetermined work space, thereby improving workability. According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to smoothly return the accompanying articles on the exit station side to the entrance station side via the conveyor connecting the exit station side of the automatic warehouse and the entrance station side of the automatic warehouse.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In this description, the front refers to the back side of the paper of FIG. 1, the rear refers to the front side, the left refers to the left side in FIG. 1, and the right refers to the right side in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, an entrance opening 2A is formed at the left end of a building 1 which is long in the left-right direction. A track yard 3A where the truck stops is provided on the left side of the entrance opening 2A, and the left side of the track yard 3A is a track passage 4A. On the truck, a pallet P on which articles W are stacked (hereinafter, referred to as an actual pallet P) (in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, a state without a load collapse prevention case 10 described later) is placed.

A work space 7A is provided on the left side of the first floor 6 of the building 1, and a plurality of storage devices 17A are arranged on the right side of the work space 7A in the front-rear direction as shown in FIG. Are arranged.

The working space 7A is a running space for a forklift for transporting the actual pallets P in the truck to the storage device 17A.

Hereinafter, the storage device 17A will be described with reference to FIGS. The storage device 17A stores the actual pallet P in the collapse prevention case 10 (hereinafter simply referred to as the case 10) having an open upper surface.

The case 10 will first be described with reference to FIGS. The case 10 has a bottom plate 11 having a rectangular shape in plan view, and side walls 12 erected on four side edges of the bottom plate 11. In addition, 2 of the four side walls 12
The part is a door. That is, two of the four side walls 12 can be horizontally swingably opened and closed via a hinge mechanism (not shown) on the adjacent one side wall 12, and the free end of the horizontally swinging side wall 12 is In the closed state, it is locked on the side wall 12 facing the free end by a well-known locking device (not shown). Of the case 10,
A pair of opposed side walls 12 (the left and right side walls 1 in FIG. 6)
2), a pair of slits 13 opened upward and inside and outside of the case 10 are formed. These slits 13
When the real pallet P is placed on the bottom plate 11 with the center of the real pallet P viewed from the plane and that of the case 10 aligned with each other, the real pallet P faces the opening of the fork insertion space 14 of the real pallet P. ing.

Hereinafter, the storage device 17A will be described.
The storage device 17A has a main conveyor 18A composed of a drive roller conveyor whose conveyance direction is directed backward. The main conveyor 18A stores a pallet carry-in conveyor 20A on the starting end 19A side, a mount table 21A following the pallet carry conveyor 20A and having a function as a mounting table, and an actual pallet P following the mounting table 21A. And a case unloading conveyor 22A on the terminal end 23A side for unloading the case 10 (hereinafter, referred to as an actual case 10).

A pair of guide rods 26A are erected on each of the left and right sides of the mounting table 21A, and an elevating member 27A is provided on the left guide rod 26A and the right guide rod 26A so as to be able to move up and down. The lifting member 2
7A is raised and lowered synchronously by a known actuator (not shown). The left and right lifting members 27A
In addition, a pallet support piece 28A that moves forward and backward with respect to the fork insertion space 14 of the actual pallet P (stopped at the set position of the mounting table 21A) is provided to be able to move left and right. The pallet bearing piece 28A is moved back and forth by a well-known sliding mechanism. The known sliding mechanism includes a lifting member 2
7A, and an intermediate sliding body movably to the left and right and a pallet supporting piece 28A slidably to the left and right. The intermediate sliding body moves relative to the base. And the pallet bearing piece 28 in conjunction with it
A is configured to move by the same amount in the same direction with respect to the intermediate sliding body. The intermediate slide is operated by a known actuator (not shown) (provided on the elevating member 27A).

An elevating drive chain conveyor 31A whose transport direction is to the left is mounted on the mounting table 21A.
Between the rollers of 1A, the transfer surface is
A is provided so as to be able to come and go with respect to the transport surface of A. The lifting drive chain conveyor 31A is provided with an operating device 33.
It has a lifting platform 32A that is raised and lowered by A, and a chain conveyor 34A provided on the lifting platform 32A. The lifting drive chain conveyor described below is also
It is the same as the lifting drive chain conveyor 31A.
A stopper 36A that is moved up and down by an actuator 37A is provided at the end side of the mounting table 21A.
A is provided so as to be able to come and go with respect to the conveying surface of A. The stopper 36A is for stopping the actual pallet P at a set position.

An empty case 10 (a case 1 in which a pallet P is not stored) is provided on the right side of the right lifting member 27A.
0) to the mounting table 21A, a case carrying conveyor 38B composed of a drive roller conveyor with the carrying direction directed to the left is provided.

The case unloading conveyor 22A is provided with an elevating and lowering drive chain conveyor 41A having a conveying direction to the right.
Between the rollers of the case unloading conveyor 22A, the transfer surface is provided so as to be freely retractable with respect to the transfer surface of the case unloading conveyor 22A.

A second case unloading conveyor 3 for sending an actual case 10 consisting of a drive roller conveyor whose transport direction is rightward to the right of the case unloading conveyor 22A.
9A are provided.

The operation of the storage device 17A will be described below. When the actual pallet P is placed on the set position of the pallet carry-in conveyor 20A by the forklift, the main conveyor 18A is driven and the actual pallet P is transported to the mounting table 21A. Then, the actual pallet P hits the stopper 36A which has risen as the main conveyor 18A is driven, and stops at the set position. The actual pallet P is the stopper 36
Upon contact with A, the main conveyor 18A stops. Thereafter, the pallet support piece 28A which is in a retracted state and stands by at a position where it fits into the fork insertion space 14 (see FIG. 6).
Project and fit into the fork insertion space 14. Thereafter, the elevating member 27A is raised, and the actual pallet P is placed on the mounting table 2.
It is lifted to a position where it does not collide with the empty case 10 carried into 1A. Thereafter, the stopper 36A descends.
Thereafter, the elevating drive chain conveyor 31A that has been lowered
Is set to be equal to the transfer surface of the case carrying conveyor 38A (above the transfer surface of the mounting table 21A).
The lifting drive chain conveyor 31A moves up. afterwards,
When the case carry-in conveyor 38A and the elevating drive chain conveyor 31A are driven, the empty case 10 waiting on the case carry-in conveyor 38A is carried in a predetermined position above the mounting table 21A. Then, the case loading conveyor 38A
And since the elevating drive chain conveyor 31A stops and the elevating drive chain conveyor 31A descends,
The empty case 10 is mounted on the mounting table 21A. afterwards,
The elevating member 27A is lowered, and the actual pallet P is
Is stored in. In addition, as is apparent from this description, the pallet bearing piece 28A passes through the slit 13 so that
The empty case 10 is supplied to the case carry-in conveyor 38A with its orientation adjusted. Thereafter, the pallet bearing piece 28A retracts. Thereafter, the main conveyor 18A is driven and the real case 10 is sent to the case unloading conveyor 22A. When the real case 10 is completely placed on the case unloading conveyor 22A, the main conveyor 18A stops. Thereafter, the transport surface of the lowering drive chain conveyor 41A which has been lowered is moved to the second position.
In order to make it equal to the transport surface of the case unloading conveyor 39A (above the transport surface of the case unloading conveyor 22A),
The lifting drive chain conveyor 41A moves up. afterwards,
The lifting drive chain conveyor 41A and the second case unloading conveyor 39A are driven, and the actual case 10 is sent to the right side of the second case unloading conveyor 39A. When the actual case 10 is located at a predetermined position of the second case unloading conveyor 39A, the lifting drive chain conveyor 41A and the second case unloading conveyor 39A stop, and the lifting drive chain conveyor 41A descends.

As shown in FIG. 2, an endless rail 44A is laid on the right side of the storage device 17A. The endless rail 44A has a straight portion having a longitudinal direction oriented in the front-rear direction and having a predetermined interval in the left-right direction, and a connecting portion connecting the front end and the rear end of the straight portion. A plurality of traveling vehicles 45A (only one traveling vehicle 45A is shown in the drawing) is free to travel along the endless rail 44A. The traveling vehicle 45A has a loading platform composed of a drive conveyor 46A that can be driven forward and backward so that the transport direction is left and right while traveling on the linear portion of the endless rail 44A. The traveling cart 45A supplies the empty case 10 to the case carry-in conveyor 38A,
From the second case carry-out conveyor 39A.

On the right side of the endless rail 44A,
Storage conveyors 48A, each of which is a drive roller conveyor with the transport direction facing right, are arranged at predetermined intervals in the front-rear direction. The traveling cart 45A supplies the actual case 10 to the storage conveyor 48A.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of known automatic warehouses 51 are provided on the right side of the storage conveyor 48A so as to be arranged in the front-rear direction. The known automatic warehouse 51 includes a stacker crane passage 53 in the front-rear direction.
And a pair of front and rear rack devices 55 having a large number of article storage shelves 54 in the vertical and horizontal directions, and a stacker crane 57 provided to be movable left and right in the stacker crane passage 53. I have. The stacker crane 57 includes a traveling bogie 5 that travels along upper and lower guide rails 63 whose longitudinal direction is in the left-right direction.
8, a lifting platform 60 that can be raised and lowered on a mast 59 provided on the traveling vehicle 58, and a slide fork 61 that is provided on the lifting platform 60 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction. The article storage shelf 54 includes a slide fork 6
1 has a fork passage gap that allows vertical movement. The slide fork 61 is, as is known,
The actual case 10 is pulled into the lift 60 by performing the operation of lifting the real case 10 and retreating to the lift 60 by raising and lowering the lift 60 of the actual case 10.
The actual case 1 is stored in the article storage shelf 54 or the like by the reverse operation.
Zero can be dropped.

The storage conveyor 48A has a rack 55
It is arranged to line up.

The actual pallets P supplied to the storage conveyor 48A are stored in the article storage rack 54 via the stacker crane 57 by a known operation.

As shown in FIG. 3, on the right side of the rack device 55 of the automatic warehouse 51, a delivery conveyor 48B composed of a drive roller conveyor with the transport direction facing right and a drive roller conveyor with the transport direction facing left. Are arranged at predetermined intervals in the front-rear direction.

An endless rail 44B is laid on the right side of the delivery conveyor 48B and the return conveyor 67B. The endless rail 44B has a straight portion having a longitudinal direction facing the front-rear direction and having a predetermined interval in the left-right direction, and a connecting portion connecting the front end and the rear end of the straight portion. Along this endless rail 44B, a plurality of traveling vehicles 45B (the traveling vehicles 45
Only one B is shown. ) Is free to run. The traveling carriage 45B has a loading platform composed of a drive conveyor 46B that can be driven forward and reverse so as to be transported in the left-right direction while traveling on the linear portion of the endless rail 44B. The traveling trolley 45A carries out the actual case 10 from the delivery conveyor 48B and supplies the actual case 10 to the return conveyor 67B.

A return conveyor 69 for returning the empty case 10 with the transport direction facing left behind the automatic warehouse 51.
(See FIGS. 2 and 3). The return conveyor 69 is provided with the empty case 10 placed on the traveling cart 45B.
Is received from the traveling vehicle 45B and carried out to the traveling vehicle 45A. This return conveyor 69 is composed of a zero-pressure conveyor and is divided into a plurality of zones. If there is an empty case 10 in the previous zone, the subsequent empty case 10 is so arranged as not to collide with the previous empty case 10. Of the empty case 10 is stopped.

On the right side of the right linear portion of the endless rail 44B, there are provided a plurality of conveyors 70 such as a drive roller conveyor arranged in the front-rear direction. The in-and-out conveyor 70 is provided with the traveling vehicle 4
5B, and has an operation of returning the case 10 (the real case 10 and the empty case 10) to the traveling carriage 45B. In addition, the in-out conveyor 70
An elevation drive chain conveyor (not shown) for laterally feeding the case 10 is provided at a corner portion of the case 10.

At the station 71 of the loading / unloading conveyor 70, the case 10 is carried out / in by a forklift.

As shown in FIG.
A work space 7B is provided on the right side of. The work space 7B is used as a space for picking up the articles W in the actual case 10 that has been lowered from the station 71 by a forklift. When the work in the work space 7B is completed, the actual case 1
0 is returned to the station 71. Further, when the articles W on the pallet P are used up in the work space 7B, the empty pallet P is taken out of the case 10 and the empty case 10 is returned to the station 71. The empty pallet P is used for placing picked articles W thereon. The empty case 10 includes the traveling cart 45B and the return conveyor 6
9, via the traveling cart 45A, the case carrying conveyor 38A
Supplied to

As shown in FIG. 1, an outlet opening 2B is formed at the right end of the building 1 (to the right of the work space 7B). A track yard 3B where the truck stops is provided on the right side of the exit opening 2B, and the right side of the track yard 3B is a track passage 4B. On the truck stopped at the truck yard 3B, a pallet P on which a picked-up article W is placed is placed by a forklift.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the first floor 6
A second floor 74 is provided above the right side of. This 2
On the floor 74, the delivery conveyor 4 provided on the first floor 6 is provided.
The same devices as those from 8B to the track path 4B are provided. The truck passage 4B on the second floor 74
Needless to say, the ground and the ground are connected by a slope (not shown).

A third floor 75 is provided above the second floor 74. On the third floor 75, the same devices as those provided on the first floor 6 from the endless rail 44B to the work space 7B are provided. In addition, the floor of the third floor 75 extends above the truck passage 4B of the second floor 74, and the floor also serves as a work space 7B.

The third floor 75 has an endless rail 4
4B, the plurality of separation devices 1
7B is provided. The separating device 17B separates the actual pallet P from the case 10 having an open upper surface. That is, the actual pallet P can be separated from the case 10 by operating the storage device 17A in reverse. As a result, the separation device 17B
Has basically the same structure as the storage device 17A. The actual case 10, the actual pallet P, and the empty case 10
Flows backward from the storage device 17A, so that the stopper 36A
A stopper (not shown) corresponding to (for stopping the actual pallet P) moves the actual case 10 to the mounting table 21B.
Has been moved to a position suitable for stopping at a predetermined position. Since it is up to the above, for the separation device 17B, only the reference numerals of the main members and devices will be described. 18
B is the main conveyor, 19B is the end, 20B is the pallet carry-out conveyor, 21B is the mounting table, 22B is the case carry-in conveyor, 23B is the start end, 38B is the case carry-out conveyor, 3B
9B is a second case carry-in conveyor.

The first floor 6, the second floor 74, and the third floor 75 are located on the right side of the straight section on the right side of the endless rail 44B so as to penetrate the first floor 6, the second floor 74, and the third floor 75. Are connected to each other (only one is illustrated in the drawing).

The article elevating device 78 includes a vertical guide tube 80 having a pair of left and right openings 79 corresponding to each floor, and a guide rail 81 provided in the guide tube 80 with the longitudinal direction directed vertically. And a lifting table 82 that is configured to be movable up and down along the drive roller conveyor that can be driven forward and backward and that has a transport direction in the left-right direction. In addition, a transfer conveyor 84 capable of forward / reverse drive, in which the transport direction between the drive conveyor 46B of the traveling vehicle 45B stopped opposite thereto and the elevator 82 is directed in the left-right direction at the opening 79 on the left side of each floor. In addition, a reciprocating drive-in / out conveyor 85 is provided in the opening 79 on the right side.

In the work space 7B, a plurality of article lifting / lowering devices (the first floor 6, the second floor 74, and the third floor 75) are connected so as to penetrate the first floor 6, the second floor 74, and the third floor 75. (Not shown) (similar to the article lifting device 78) is provided. The article elevating device in the work space 7B has only one opening 79 on each floor and does not have the transfer conveyor 84.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
An article elevating device 78 that connects the first floor 6 and the second floor 74 is provided in front of the left side of the endless rail 44B so as to penetrate the first floor 6 and the second floor 74. FIG.
As shown in FIG.
In a portion corresponding to the second floor 74, an opening 79 is formed only on the right side, and a transfer conveyor 84 is provided corresponding to the opening 79. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, a portion corresponding to the first floor 6 of the guide cylinder 80 of the article elevating device 78 includes:
An opening 79 is formed only on the left side, and a return conveyor 86 similar to the return conveyor 69 is provided corresponding to the opening 79. With such a configuration, the empty case 10 on the second floor 74 can be returned to the traveling carriage 45A side by using the article elevating device 78 and the return conveyor 86.

[0038]

[Modifications and the like] Modifications and the like will be described below. (1) The shape of the side wall 12 of the case 10 is arbitrary. (2) The conveyor other than the lifting drive chain conveyor may be a conveyor other than the roller conveyor. (3) The second case carry-out conveyor 39A and the case carry-out conveyor 22A may be used as a case carry-in conveyor, and the case carry-in conveyor 38A may be a case carry-out conveyor. (4) The working floor referred to in the claims is the first floor 6 and the second floor 7
Needless to say, the floors 75 are on the fourth and third floors. (5) The article transport device according to claim 2 is a traveling vehicle 45B
However, the present invention is not limited to the traveling vehicle 45B. (6) The accessory article according to claim 3 is the case 10 in the embodiment, but is not limited to the case 10.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a simplified vertical cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, with an intermediate portion omitted.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a partially fragmented plan view showing an actual case.

FIG. 7 is a view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of part E of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a view taken along line XX of FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 1st floor 48B Outgoing conveyor 51 Automatic warehouse 74 2nd floor 75 3rd floor 78 Article lifting device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of automatic warehouses, at least two work floors arranged at predetermined intervals above and below a discharge station side of the automatic warehouse, and a warehouse provided on a work floor side of the automatic warehouse. An automatic warehouse system having a conveyor and an article elevating device connecting an upper working floor and a lower working floor. 2. The automatic warehousing system according to claim 1, wherein said at least one work floor is provided with an article transport device for transporting articles delivered from a delivery conveyor to a work space formed on said work floor. 3. An accompanying article to be stored in the rack device together with the received article is arranged on the receiving station side,
The accompanying article is configured to be separated from the incoming article on the exit station side, and on the at least one work floor,
The automatic warehouse system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a return conveyor for ancillary articles connecting the unloading station side of the automatic warehouse and the receiving station side of the automatic warehouse.