JP2008222350A - Picking facility - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a picking facility preventing the deterioration of working efficiency even if the number of intermittently fed article collecting containers increases. <P>SOLUTION: A group of article collecting containers 1 comprising a predetermined large number of (e.g. six) article collecting containers 1 conveyed in each picking zone Z has a clearance 5 for dividing these article collecting containers 1 into the upstream side (e.g. three) and the downstream side (e.g. three) in a conveying direction, and temporary placing bases 4 are arranged in the same predetermined number as the article collecting containers 1 along a main conveying line R with a clearance 5 in each picking zone Z. By this, when a picked-up article is put in the article collecting container 1, one article collecting container 1 into which the article is put can instantaneously be discriminated out of many article collecting containers 1 by a combination of the clearance 5 of the group of the article collecting containers 1 and the clearance 5 of the temporary placing bases 4 for improving the working efficiency. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a picking equipment, and more particularly to a picking equipment capable of performing preceding picking.

  A picking facility that efficiently sorts a large number of articles (products) into a plurality of sorting destinations (for example, stores) has a collection container (for example, a container or a cardboard box) corresponding to each sorting destination along the main transport path. A computer system instructs each of a plurality of article storage units (frontage) storing articles of different items to the article collection container that has been transported by the transport apparatus (for example, a conveyor apparatus). An order article is picked and thrown in.

  An example of such a picking facility is disclosed in Patent Document 1. In the picking facility disclosed in Patent Document 1, a plurality of picking work areas formed from the plurality of article storage units are provided along the main conveyance path, and a group is provided for each predetermined number of the article collection containers. (Group) is formed, and each of these article collection container groups is conveyed in order for each picking work area (the article collection container group is tact-fed), and the articles that have been tact-fed in each picking work area A picking operation is performed on the collection container group. When the picking work for the article collection container group is completed in all the picking work areas, the article collection container group is transported to the next picking work area.

Moreover, in the picking equipment, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, there is an equipment provided with a temporary placement table (placement table) for performing the preceding picking for each picking work area. In this facility, the number of temporary placement tables is provided in accordance with a predetermined number of article collection containers moving in the picking work area.
JP 2002-326708 A JP-A-7-172519

  However, according to the configuration of the picking facility disclosed in Patent Document 1, in order to maintain the work efficiency, even if the article collection container is being tact-fed, the article collection container to be worked on is instantaneous. However, if the predetermined number of article collection containers is increased, instantaneous determination becomes difficult and work efficiency is reduced. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, when the number of article collection containers 53 tact-fed by the conveyor device 52 is increased to 6 for each picking zone (picking work area) 51 (6 / tact). It becomes difficult for the worker P who performs the picking operation to instantaneously determine the article collection container 53 to which the article is to be put.

  In addition, in order to enable pre-picking, as shown in FIG. 12, if provisional table 54 is provided in accordance with a predetermined number of article collection containers 53, the number of article collection containers 53 to be tact-fed is similarly 6. When the number of temporary placement tables 54 increases to 6 (6 pieces / tact conveyance) and the number of temporary placement tables 54 increases to 6, the worker P who performs the preceding picking work instantaneously sets the temporary placement table 54 for the purpose of loading articles. It becomes difficult to judge.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a picking facility capable of preventing a reduction in work efficiency even when the number of article collection containers to be tact-fed increases.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the picking equipment according to claim 1 of the present invention is provided with a transport device that transports an article collection container group including a predetermined number of article collection containers, and differs along the transport device. A plurality of picking work areas formed from a plurality of article storage units in which articles of items are stored are arranged, and in each of the picking work areas, the article collection container group is sequentially transported and transported by the transport device. A picking facility for picking up articles from the article storage unit with respect to the collected article collection container group, wherein at least one gap is provided in the middle of each of the article collection container groups. A gap forming means for supplying the uppermost stream of the conveying device is provided, and the conveying device sequentially conveys the article collection container group provided with the gap to each of the picking work areas. Than is.

  According to the above configuration, at least one gap for separating these article collection container groups is provided in the article collection container group including a predetermined number of article collection containers conveyed for each picking work area by the gap forming means. . Therefore, it becomes possible to instantaneously discriminate one article collection container for the purpose of putting the article out of many article collection containers due to the gap, and work efficiency is improved.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the gap forming means is configured to place the respective article collection container groups in the uppermost stream of the transfer device with the gaps provided for each group. It is characterized by comprising the cutting-out apparatus which cuts out into a.

According to the above-described configuration, the article collection container group is cut out to the uppermost stream of the transport apparatus with a gap between the group by the cutting device.
The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the temporary placement table for storing articles picked prior to the article storage section for each of the picking work areas. Are arranged along the conveying device with a gap at the same position as the predetermined number of article collecting containers in the conveyed article collecting container group.

  According to the above configuration, as many temporary placement tables as the predetermined number of article collection containers are arranged along the main transport path with the gap therebetween, that is, the article collection containers and the temporary placement table face each other one-on-one. And at least one gap that divides the temporary table group. In this way, by separating the temporary table in front and back by a gap, one target product collection container from many product collection containers or one target temporary table from many temporary tables can be instantaneously moved. Thus making it possible to discriminate automatically, improving work efficiency.

  Further, the invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 3, wherein, for each of the picking work areas, a temporary placement table on the upstream side in the article collection container transport direction of the gap and a temporary table on the downstream side. The stand is color-coded.

  According to the above configuration, the temporary placement table is color-coded before and after the gap (upstream side and downstream side). In this way, by color-coding the temporary table in front and back, one target article collection container from a number of article collection containers or one target temporary table from a number of temporary tables can be instantaneously displayed. It becomes possible to discriminate, and work efficiency is improved.

  The picking equipment of the present invention is provided with at least one gap for separating these article collection container groups in the article collection container group consisting of a predetermined number of article collection containers conveyed for each picking work area, It is possible to instantaneously discriminate one article collection container for the purpose of putting an article out of many article collection containers, and the work efficiency can be improved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a picking facility according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of the picking facility.

  Briefly describing the picking equipment according to the embodiment of the present invention, an article collection container (for example, a container, a cardboard box, or a tray) transported along the main transport path is disposed along the main transport path. In addition, an operator (also referred to as a picker) directly arrives at an item of an item related to an order of a sorting destination from a plurality of article storage units (storage shelves) storing articles of different items (types) (or When the article collection container corresponding to the sorting destination arrives (or arrives), it is put into the article collection container that has arrived or is pre-picked (collected) on the temporary table. The article picked in advance is put into the article collection container.

  Further, in this picking equipment, a picking zone (picking work area) by an operator is determined, and according to the picking zone, the range of the article storage unit in the storage shelf, that is, the article storage unit handled by the operator And the number of temporary tables in charge is determined in advance. In each picking zone, an article storage unit supplies articles to an article collection container or a temporary table based on picking data (information; described later) formed based on order data from a store (an example of a sorting destination). The picking operation is executed.

  That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the picking equipment includes a transfer conveyor device (specifically, a transfer device for transferring the article collection container 1 along a predetermined main transfer path R). A roller conveyor device may be used, but a belt conveyor device may also be used) and a plurality of article storage units arranged along the conveyor device 2 for transportation, each of which contains articles to be picked with different items. 11, a storage shelf 3 composed of 11, a temporary placement table 4 group of articles disposed opposite to the storage shelf 3 and above the conveyor device 2, and a large number of articles collection containers 1 (predetermined number; In the figure, a segmenting device (six so-called one group), a cutting device that cuts out the uppermost stream of the conveying conveyor device 2 with a gap 5 in the middle of each group of article collection containers, is formed. Cutting conveyor 6 (an example of a gap forming means) location, and a control unit 7 for, a computer for controlling the sorting operation in this facility.

  The storage shelf 3 is partitioned into a plurality of picking zones Z1 to Zn (11 (n = 11) are provided in FIG. 1) with frontage of a predetermined width, and a plurality of articles are provided for each picking zone Z. A storage unit 11 is provided. Note that numbers 1 to n (11 in the figure) of the picking zone Z are assigned in order from the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the article collection container 1 (hereinafter, abbreviated as the conveyance direction).

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the article collection container 1 group is tact-fed in order to each picking zone Z with a gap 5 between three upstream sides and three downstream sides in the conveying direction. .
For each picking zone Z, the above-mentioned temporary placement table 4 group has the same number (six in the figure) that matches the predetermined number of article collection containers 1 of the article collection container 1 group, and three upstream units in the transport direction. A gap 5 having the same width is provided at the same position as the gap 5 provided in the six article collection containers 1 between the three downstream side units. That is, in each picking zone Z, the article collection container 1 and the temporary placement table 4 that are handled by one worker P are 6, respectively. Corresponding to each other. In addition, the six temporary placement tables 4 are color-coded by three upstream units and three downstream units in the conveyance direction of the gap 5, the three downstream units are green, and the three upstream units are red.

  In the following description, the six temporary placement tables 4 in the picking zone Z are numbered as first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth from the upstream side, and correspond to one tact. Also, the six article collection containers 1 are numbered 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th ... from the downstream side, and the ordinal number (order number) is used. I will handle it.

  In addition, a picking display (storage unit side display) 13 is disposed in the opening of each article storage unit 11, and each temporary placement table 4 is loaded with a preceding loading display (temporary placement side display) 14. An instruction display 15 is arranged.

  As shown in FIG. 2, each picking indicator 13 serves as a two-digit digital indicator 13a indicating the quantity of articles to be picked, a lamp for indicating that there is a picking work, and a button switch operated at the end of the picking work. The display / completion button 13b is formed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, each preceding input indicator 14 indicates in which picking zone Z the article collection container 1 into which the article on the temporary table 4 is to be put is (moved) in the upstream picking zone. A two-digit digital display 14a that displays the number up to Z, that is, the number of tacts, a lamp that indicates the completion of article insertion on the temporary table 4, and an operation when confirming the completion of article insertion on the temporary table 4 are performed. The display / completion button 14b also functions as a button switch.

  Each input instruction indicator 15 has a lamp for instructing (displaying) to input the article on the temporary table 4 into the article collection container 1 that has arrived, and the completion of the input of the article from the temporary table 4 to the article collection container 1. It is formed from a display / completion button 15a that also functions as a button switch that is sometimes operated.

  The cutting conveyor device 6 includes a roller conveyor device. As shown in FIG. 3, the cutting conveyor device 6 includes a first conveyor block 6 that prevents movement of the article collection container 1 at the downstream end in the transport direction. A stopper 21 is provided, and a second stopper 22 is provided to prevent the movement of the article collection container 1 by separating the three article collection containers 1 in the range where the three article collection containers 1 enter upstream from the first stopper 21. A third stopper 23 for separating the article collection container 1 from the upstream side of the stopper 22 is provided, and a third stopper 23 for preventing the movement of the article collection container 1 is provided. A cut-out stopper 24 for locking the fourth article collection container 1 from the stopper 23 is provided. Further, on the upstream side of the third stopper 23 of the cutting conveyor device 6, a barcode reader 25 is provided for reading a barcode provided on the article collection container 1 moving at this position.

Next, the control device 7 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 4, the control device 7 is provided for each picking zone Z. The picking indicator 13 of the article storage unit 11 that forms the picking zone Z and six prior inputs for each temporary placement table 4. A picking controller 31 that controls the display 14 and the loading instruction display 15, a cutting controller 32 that controls the cutting conveyor device 6 to control cutting of the article collection container 1, and a picking controller for each picking zone Z 31 and an overall controller 33 that supervises the cut-out controller 32. Each of these controllers 31, 32, and 33 will be described in detail.
"General controller 33"
The overall controller 33 is connected to each picking controller 31, cutout controller 32, barcode reader 25, and conveyor device 2 for conveyance, and a list of stores (an example of sorting destinations) in which articles are sorted and shipped is set in advance. Order data consisting of items and quantities of articles is input from each store. In the overall controller 33, items of articles stored in each picking zone Z are set in advance.

As shown in FIG. 4, the overall controller 33 includes an overall control unit 41, an order list storage unit 42 for storing an order list (FIG. 5) described later, and bar code data of a store-article collection container (described later) ( 5), a store-article collection container list storage unit 43, a tact feed list storage unit 44 that stores a tact feed list (FIG. 6) to be described later, a picking control unit 45, and a cutout control unit 46. Has been. Each control part 41, 45, 46 is demonstrated.
* Overall control unit 41
The overall control unit 41 has the following three functions.

  I. When the order data consisting of the item and quantity of the article is input from each store, the item of the article 5 ordered with each store and each picking zone Z according to the input order data, as shown in FIG. An order list made up of quantities is formed and stored in the order list storage unit 42.

  B. When a new barcode of the article collection container 1 to be input to the uppermost stream of the conveyor device 2 is input from the barcode reader 25, the barcode is assigned to a store code (an example of information for specifying a store) in the order of input. As shown in FIG. 3, store allocation data of the barcode of the store code-article collection container is formed and stored in the store-article collection container list storage unit 43. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 6, the allocated six store codes are written in the cut-out schedule column of the tact feed list in order from the downstream side of the temporary table 4. As shown in FIG. 6, the tact feed list is a list of store codes to which the article collection containers 1 at the temporary placement table 4 positions in the picking zones Z1 to Z11 are allocated.

  C. In response to a tact picking end signal from the picking control unit 45 to be described later, the store code (store code to which the article collection container 1 is assigned) of each temporary placement table 4 in each picking zone Z of the tact feed list is moved one step down. Update the tact feed list. For example, the store codes m, n, o, p, q, and r of each temporary table 4 in the picking zone Z11 are moved to the picking zone Z10 as they are. Then, the store code written in the cutout schedule column is moved to the most upstream picking zone Z11.

D. As the picking operation starts, a picking start signal is output to the picking control unit 45 and the cutout control unit 46.
* Picking control unit 45
A picking controller 31 for each picking zone Z is connected to the picking control unit 45 and has the following three functions.

  I. From the order list stored in the order list storage unit 42, for each picking zone Z, picking data composed of the items and quantities of each store and ordered items is formed, and when a picking start signal is input from the overall control unit 51, The corresponding picking data is output to the picking controller 31 in each picking zone Z.

  B. When a zone picking end signal to be described later is input from the picking controller 31 of all picking zones Z, it is determined that the picking work of all picking zones Z in this tact has ended, and tact picking is performed to the overall control unit 41 and the cutout control unit 46. Output an end signal.

C. When a tact feed request signal (described later) is input from the cutout control unit 46, an updated tact feed list (data) stored in the tact feed list storage unit 44 is output to the picking controller 31 for each picking zone Z. To do.
* Cutout control unit 46
The cutout controller 46 is connected to the conveyor device 2 for transfer and the cutout controller 32, and has the following functions.

When a tact picking end signal is input from the picking control unit 45, a tact feed request signal is output to the cut-out controller 32 and the picking control unit 45, and at the same time, the conveying conveyor device 2 is driven to adjoin the article collection containers 1 group respectively. To the downstream picking zone Z. That is, tact feed.
"Picking controller 31"
Connected to each picking controller 31 are a picking indicator 13 of the article storage unit 11 that forms the picking zone Z to which the picking controller Z belongs, six preceding insertion indicators 14 for each temporary placement table 4, and six insertion instruction indicators 15. It has the following functions. In addition, the item of the articles | goods accommodated in each article | item storage part 11 shall be preset.

  I. When the picking data (data consisting of the item and quantity of the article 5 ordered for each store) is input from the general controller 33 (picking control unit 45), the picking list shown in FIG. 7 is formed, and the input picking data is displayed. The article storage unit 11 in which the article is stored is obtained and stored as a picking list according to the item of the article in the picking data. The picking list manages whether or not a picking operation has been executed based on the picking data of each store (described later).

  B. The usage status of the six temporary placement tables 4 in the own picking zone Z is managed by the temporary placement table usage status list shown in FIG. In this temporary table usage status list, when the temporary table 4 is used and a picking operation is executed, it is set to “in use”, the store code of the used picking data is stored, and the upstream picking data is indicated. The tact number is stored (described later). Further, in the temporary table usage status list, when an article on the temporary table 4 is put into the article collection container 1, it is set to “unused”.

  C. Whether the normal picking operation of loading articles is performed directly on the article collection container 1 that has reached its own picking zone Z, or the articles stored in the temporary placement table 4 are transferred to the arrived article collection container 1 The picking operation is executed by determining whether the input operation is to be performed or whether the preceding picking operation is to be performed in which the articles are temporarily input to the temporary table 4 and stored.

This execution procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
First, when the tact feed list (FIG. 6) is input, the store codes of the six article collection containers 1 that have reached their picking zone Z are read (step -1), and the picking list (FIG. 6) is read based on these store codes. 7) is searched to determine whether or not the execution status of the picking work for each store code is “executed” (step-2). For example, when the picking zone Z is the picking zone Z9, as shown in FIG. 6, if the article collection container 1 to which the store codes a, b, c, d, e, and f are allocated has arrived, The picking list is searched with the store code to confirm whether the execution status of the picking work has been executed, that is, whether the preceding picking work has already been executed. In FIG. 7, the picking work of the store codes c and d has been executed.

  In step-2, if there is picking data for which the preceding picking work has not been completed, the picking data is taken out and normal picking is executed for each store (step-3).

[Normal picking]
That is, the lamp of the display / completion button 15a of the loading instruction display 15 where the article collection container 1 of this store is located blinks, and the display / display of the picking display 13 of the article storage unit 11 that has been searched in advance by picking data. The lamp of the completion button 13b is turned on (it is also possible to make it blink), and the quantity of articles to be picked is displayed on the digital display 13a.

  Based on the operation signal of the display / completion button 13b, it is determined that the picking operation in the article storage unit 11 provided with the display / completion button 13b is completed (confirmation of execution of the picking operation), and the quantity display on the digital display 13a is displayed. The display / completion button 13b lamp is turned off.

  When it is confirmed that all picking operations in the store have been completed (when it is confirmed that all the operation signals of the display / completion button 13b of the article storage unit 11 to be picked are input), the display / completion of the insertion instruction display 15 is displayed. The lamp of the button 15a is turned on.

  When the operation signal of the display / completion button 15a of the input instruction indicator 15 is input, it is determined that the end of the normal picking operation is confirmed, the lamp of the display / completion button 15a of the input instruction indicator 15 is turned off, and picking is performed. The execution status of this store stored in the list is updated to “executed” and the process ends.

The normal picking operation is executed for each store.
Then, in the above step-2, if there is no picking data for which the preceding picking work has not been completed, that is, if there is no store that performs the normal picking operation, then the temporary table usage status list (FIG. 8) is used for management. Check whether the store code of the use status of the temporary table 4 and the store codes of the six article collection containers 1 that have reached their own picking zone Z match (step-4). If so, an article loading operation is performed from the matching temporary table 4 to the article collection container 1 (step-5).

"Batch operation"
In other words, the loading operation on the temporary table 4 is shown by setting the lamp of the display / completion button 15a of the loading instruction indicator 15 of the temporary table 4 corresponding to the blinking state. When an operation signal for the display / completion button 15a of the loading instruction display 15 is input, it is determined that the loading operation has been completed, the lamp of the display / completion button 15a of the loading instruction display 15 is turned off, and the temporary table is used. The usage status of the temporary table 4 managed by the status list (FIG. 8) is set to “unused”.

  Then, when the picking work for all six article collection containers 1 is completed directly or from the temporary table 4 (step-6), a zone picking end signal is output to the general controller 33 (picking control unit 45) (step 6). -7).

  Subsequently, an unused temporary table 4 is obtained from the usage status of the temporary table 4 in the managed temporary table usage status list (FIG. 8) (step -8), and each unused temporary table 4 has the same position. Picking data of the upstream temporary table 4 is taken out, and picking data closest to the upstream is set as preceding picking data (step-9). For example, in the second temporary table 4 in the picking zone Z9, in the example shown in FIG. 6, picking data of the store codes h, n, and t of the second temporary table 4 upstream from the picking list (FIG. 7) is extracted. The picking data of the nearest store code h is set as the preceding picking data, and how much data is in the upstream picking zone Z, that is, the number of tacts is stored. When there is no picking data for the nearest store, that is, picking data one tact before (when there is no article to be picked), picking data for the next nearest store, that is, picking data two tacts before is selected as the preceding picking data. To do.

A preceding picking operation is executed based on the preceding picking data (step -10).
"Pre-picking"
The tact number indicating how many previous picking data is to be executed is displayed on the digital display 14a of the preceding input indicator 14 that executes the preceding picking operation, the lamp of the display / complete button 14b blinks, and the picking data is displayed. The lamp of the display / completion button 13b of the picking display 13 of the article storage unit 11 searched in advance is turned on (it can also be blinked), and the number of articles to be picked is displayed on the digital display 13a.

  Then, it is determined by the operation signal of the display / completion button 13b that the preceding picking work in the article storage unit 11 provided with the display / completion button 13b is finished (confirmation of execution of the picking work), and the quantity display on the digital display 13a is displayed. Is turned off, and the lamp of the display / completion button 13b is turned off.

  When it is confirmed that all the preceding picking operations in the store have been completed (when it is confirmed that all the operation signals of the display / completion button 13b of the article storage unit 11 to be picked have been input), the display / The lamp of the completion button 14b is turned on.

  When the operation signal of the display / completion button 14b of the preceding input indicator 14 is input, it is determined that the completion of the preceding picking operation has been confirmed, the lamp of the display / completion button 14b of the preceding input indicator 14 is turned off, and management is performed. The execution status of this store is updated to “executed” in the picking list (FIG. 7), and the usage status of the temporary table 4 in the managed temporary table usage status list (FIG. 8) is changed to “in use”. Update, store store code and tact count, and end.

Then, when the picking work by each preceding picking data is finished (step-11), the picking is finished.
In addition, the number of tacts displayed on the digital display 14a of the advance input display 14 is decreased by one each time tact feed is executed, and the article collection container 1 to which the target store code is assigned has approached. Is displayed.
"Cutout controller 32"
The cutout controller 32 is connected to the cutout conveyor device 6 and executes cutout control of the next article collection container 1.

  This cutout control will be described with reference to FIG. Note that, as shown in FIG. 1 to 3, the movement of the three article collection containers 1 is stopped. The movement of the three article collection containers 1 of 4 to 6 is stopped, and the third stopper 23 causes No. 7, the movement of the article collection container 1 upstream from the article collection container 1 is stopped. It is assumed that ten article collection containers 1 are locked.

  First, as shown in FIG. 10B, based on the tact feed request signal from the overall controller 33 (cutout control unit 46), the first stopper 21 and the second stopper 22 are opened, and No. 2 is set. 1 to 3 article collection containers 1, and Three articles collection containers 1 of 4-6 are carried out to the conveyor apparatus 2 for conveyance. At this time, due to the difference in the conveying speed between the cutting conveyor device 6 and the conveying conveyor device 2, no. 1 to 3 three article collection containers 1 and No. 1 The gap 5 is formed between the three article collection containers 1 of 4-6.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 10C, at the timing when the article collection container 1 moves downstream by one, the third stopper 23 is opened and the No. 3 container is opened. 7-9, the three article collection containers 1 are cut out, and as shown in FIG. 10 (d), the cutout stopper 24 is opened at the timing when the article collection container 1 is further moved downstream by one piece. No. Cut out three article collection containers 1 of 10-12.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. The movement of the article collection container 1 is stopped by the first stopper 21, the second stopper 22, the third stopper 23, and the cutting stopper 24 at the timing when the six article collection container 1 is carried out to the conveying conveyor device 2. . As a result, like the one shown in FIG. The movement of the three article collection containers 1 of 7 to 9 is stopped, and the second stopper 22 causes the The movement of the three article collection containers 1 to 10 to 12 is stopped, and the third stopper 23 causes No. 13, the movement of the article collection container 1 upstream of the article collection container 1 is stopped. Sixteen article collection containers 1 are locked.

  In this way, a group of article collection containers 1 is formed by the six article collection containers 1, and a gap 5 is formed in the middle of the group and is sent to the picking zone 11 on the most upstream side in the conveyance direction (conveyance). As shown in FIG. 11, in the picking zone Z, each article collection container 1 is opposed to the temporary table 4 on a one-to-one basis. The gap 5 is provided.

The effect | action by the structure of the said picking installation is demonstrated.
In the cutting conveyor 6, when the article collection container 1 passes the bar code reader 25 position, the barcode of the article collection container 1 is read and input to the overall controller 33, and the sorting destination stores are sequentially selected. This is assigned to the barcode of the article collection container 1 to form store assignment data including the store code-the barcode of the article collection container 1, and the store and the article collection container 1 are stored in association with each other. The store codes assigned to the six article collection containers 1 from the downstream end of the cutting conveyor device 6 are stored in the tact list (FIG. 6).

  When the picking operation is started, a tact feed request signal from the overall controller 33 is output to the cutting conveyor device 6, and the article collection container 1 group provides a gap 5 from the cutting conveyor device 6. The sheet is cut out to the conveying conveyor device 2 and simultaneously the conveying conveyor device 2 is driven to feed the article collection container 1 group to each picking zone Z. Further, the tact feed list (FIG. 6) is updated by tact feed.

The general controller 33 forms an order list shown in FIG. 5 when order data consisting of items and quantities of articles is inputted from each store, and subsequently picks each picking zone Z based on the order list. Data is formed and output to the picking controller 31 of each zone. The tact list is output to the picking controller 31 of each zone.
Thereby, each picking controller 31 performs a picking operation based on the picking data.

Picking work in each picking zone Z will be described.
In each picking zone Z, at least the normal picking work and the loading work described above must be executed to complete the zone work that enables the tact feed in order to quickly feed the group of article collection containers and advance the picking work quickly. I must.

  First, when a normal picking operation is required for the article collection container 1 that has arrived, it is executed with the highest priority. That is, the lamp of the display / completion button 15a of the loading instruction indicator 15 is blinked, and then the lamp of the display / completion button 13b of the picking indicator 13 is turned on, and the quantity of articles to be picked is displayed on the digital indicator 13a. The worker P is notified of the picking work, and the worker P puts the picked article into the article collection container 1 at the position indicated by the loading instruction indicator 15 according to the display on the picking indicator 13. At this time, by providing the gap 5 in the group of article collection containers 1, the temporary placement table 4 further before and after the gap 5 (upstream and downstream in the conveyance direction of the article collection container 1 along the main conveyance path R). Is color-coded, it becomes possible to instantaneously discriminate one article collection container 1 for the purpose of putting in articles from among many (six in the figure) article collection containers 1, and work efficiency is improved. Be improved.

  When normal picking is completed, the lamp of the display / completion button 15a of the loading instruction display 15 is changed to a lighting state, and when the operator P operates the display / completion button 15a, the normal collection to the article collection container 1 is performed. The picking operation is finished, and the picking list is updated (assumed to be executed).

  Further, when an input operation for the arrived article collection container 1 is necessary, an input operation is subsequently performed. That is, the lamp of the display / completion button 15a of the input instruction indicator 15 at the position of the article collection container 1 that has arrived flashes, and at this time there is no display of the picking indicator 13, thereby executing the input operation. The operator P notifies the operator P of the lamp of the display / completion button 15a of the insertion instruction indicator 15 from the temporary table 4 at the position where the lamp of the display / completion button 15a of the insertion instruction indicator 15 is blinking. Articles are put into the article collection container 1 at the blinking position. When the loading is completed, the display / completion button 15a of the loading instruction display 15 is operated. By this operation, the loading operation into the article collection container 1 is completed, and the temporary table usage status list (FIG. 8) is updated to unused.

  When the normal picking operation and the input operation for all of the six article collection containers 1 are completed, one tact picking operation in the picking zone Z is completed, and a zone picking end signal is output to the overall controller 31. When picking in all the picking zones Z is completed, a group of article collection containers 1 in each picking zone Z is tact-fed, and six article collection containers 1 are fed to the most upstream picking zone Z11 by the cutting conveyor device 6. Is loaded, the tact feed list is updated, and the updated tact feed list is output to the picking controller 31 again.

  In each picking zone Z, when the normal picking work and the input work are finished and the tact feed is not executed yet, the preceding picking work is executed when there is a time margin. Now, the preceding picking operation will be described using the picking zone Z9 as an example.

  In the picking zone Z9, it is possible to perform the preceding picking work for the article collection container 1 to which the store code is assigned in the upstream side, the picking zones Z10 and Z11, and the part to be cut out, but the temporary table 4 has reached Since the one-to-one arrangement with respect to the article collection container 1 to be performed, the preceding picking to each temporary placement table 4 is limited to one store. In addition, if the picking is not for the article collection container 1 that is closest to each temporary table 4, there is no meaning of preceding picking.

  Therefore, the picking data is obtained from the store code assigned to the article collection container 1 located in the temporary storage table 4 of the same upstream number closest to the unused temporary storage table 4, and the number of tacts at this time is determined. .

  The number of tacts is displayed on the digital display 14a of the preceding input display 14 of the unused temporary table 4 and the lamp of the display / completion button 14b is blinked to notify the operator P of the preceding picking work. Based on the picking data obtained in this way, the lamp of the display / completion button 13b of the picking display 13 of each article storage unit 11 is turned on, and the number of articles to be picked is displayed on the digital display 13a. The worker P puts the picked article on the temporary table 4 indicated by the preceding insertion indicator 14 according to the display on the picking indicator 13. When the preceding picking work is completed, the lamp of the display / completion button 14b is changed to a lighting state. When the display / completion button 14b is operated by the worker P, the preceding picking work is finished, and the temporary table usage status list ( In FIG. 8), the temporary table 4 that has performed the preceding picking is updated to “in use”, and the execution status of the store that has performed the preceding picking in the picking list (FIG. 7) is updated to “executed”.

  During the preceding picking operation, a gap 5 is provided in the temporary table 4 group, and further, the temporary table 4 is disposed before and after the gap 5 (upstream and downstream in the conveyance direction of the article collection container 1 along the main conveyance path R). By being color-coded, it is possible to instantaneously determine one temporary placement table 4 for the purpose of loading articles from among many (six in the figure) temporary placement tables 4, and work efficiency is improved.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 11, since the tact number is displayed on the digital display 14a of the preceding input indicator 14, it is determined whether or not it is a preceding picking operation that needs to be performed quickly, and the tact number is determined. If it is large and it can be determined that it is not necessary to perform it quickly, it is possible to assist when picking with a small number of tacts is performed in the preceding and following picking zones Z without immediately performing this preceding picking operation. It has become.

  When the tact feed is executed, the number of tact displayed on the digital display 14a of the preceding input display 14 is updated (the number of tact is reduced by 1). When the tact number is 0, it is indicated that the article collection container 1 has arrived.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the gap 5 that separates these article collection containers 1 group into the article collection containers 1 group composed of a predetermined number of article collection containers 1 conveyed for each picking zone Z. Is provided, it is possible to instantaneously discriminate one article collection container 1 for the purpose of loading articles from among many article collection containers 1, and work efficiency can be improved.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, as many temporary placement tables 4 as the predetermined number of article collection containers 1 are arranged along the main transport path R with the gap 5 therebetween, that is, the article collection containers 1 and the provision collection containers 1. The placement table 4 is arranged in a one-to-one relationship and the temporary placement table 4 group is separated forward and backward by a gap 5, so that one article collection for the purpose of loading articles from many article collection containers 1. It is possible to instantaneously discriminate one temporary storage table 4 for the purpose of loading articles from the product container 1 or a number of temporary storage tables 4, and work efficiency can be improved.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the temporary placement table 4 is color-coded before and after the gap 5 (upstream and downstream in the conveyance direction of the article collection container 1 along the main conveyance path R). It is possible to more instantaneously determine one article collection container 1 for the purpose of loading articles from the collection container 1 or one temporary table 4 for the purpose of loading articles from a number of temporary placement tables 4. This makes it possible to improve work efficiency.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the article collection container 1 into which the article on the temporary table 4 is input when the operator P is performing a pre-picking operation to input the article into the temporary table 4 based on the picking data. Is displayed on the preceding input indicator 14 so that the worker P can determine whether or not the picking work being performed is a picking work that has sufficient time. When there is a margin, it is possible to assist when the article collection container 1 has moved nearby in the front and rear picking zones Z and picking is still being executed.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the prior input indicator 14 indicates in which picking zone the article collection container 1 into which the article on the temporary table 4 is to be placed is located in the number of tacts and in a countdown manner. By being displayed, the worker P can determine whether or not the picking work that is being performed more accurately is a picking work with a margin.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, an instruction to transfer the article picked up in advance and stored in the temporary table 4 to the article collection container 1 is instructed by the input instruction indicator 15, so that the operator P only needs to transfer the article in accordance with the instruction of the input instruction indicator 15, and it is possible to eliminate the need for the operator P to make a determination and improve work efficiency.

  In the present embodiment, the predetermined number of article collection containers 1 to be tact-fed is set to six, but a larger quantity can also be used. In addition, a predetermined number of article collection containers 1 group has only one gap 5, but more gaps 5 can be provided. By providing such a large number of gaps 5, articles can be input. This makes it possible to further instantaneously discriminate one object collection container 1 for the purpose, and to further improve the work efficiency. Further, at this time, the temporary table 4 is set in one-to-one so as to face the article collection container 1 having many gaps 5 by opening the same gaps at the same positions in accordance with these many gaps 5. In addition to being able to arrange, the position of the temporary table 4 (position in the transport direction of the article collection container 1 along the main transport path R) can be more easily discriminated by the large number of gaps 5, and the purpose of loading articles 1 One article collection container 1 or temporary table 4 can be more instantaneously discriminated, and work efficiency can be further improved.

In the present embodiment, the worker P inputs articles from the temporary table 4 to the article collection container 1, but may be performed automatically, for example.
Further, in the present embodiment, the gap forming means is constituted by a cutting conveyor device 6 that cuts each group of article collection containers 1 to the uppermost stream of the conveyor device 2 with a gap 5 for each group. However, the present invention is not limited to such a cutting conveyor device 6, and any device can be used as long as it can provide a gap 5 and supply a group of article collection containers 1 to the uppermost stream of the conveying conveyor device 2.

It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the picking equipment in embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the picking zone of the picking equipment. It is a top view of the conveyor device for cutting of the picking equipment. It is a control block diagram of the picking equipment. It is explanatory drawing of the order list | wrist memorize | stored in the general controller of the picking equipment, and a store-article collection container list. It is explanatory drawing of the tact feed list memorize | stored in the general controller of the picking equipment. It is explanatory drawing of the picking list | wrist memorize | stored in the picking controller of the picking equipment. It is explanatory drawing of the temporary placement stand usage status list memorize | stored in the picking controller of the picking equipment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the picking operation | work performed with the picking controller of the picking equipment. It is explanatory drawing of extraction control by the conveyor device for extraction of the picking equipment. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing at the time of the prior | preceding picking operation | work of the picking equipment. It is explanatory drawing of the subject of the conventional picking equipment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveyance container 2 Conveyor apparatus for conveyance 3 Storage shelf 4 Temporary table 5 Clearance 6 Conveyor apparatus for cutting 7 Control apparatus 11 Article storage part 13 Picking display 13a Digital display 13b Display / completion button 14 Pre-loading display 14a Digital display 14b Display / completion button 15 Insertion instruction display 15a Display / completion button 21 1st stopper 22 2nd stopper 23 3rd stopper 24 Cutting stopper 25 Bar code reader 31 Picking controller 32 Cutting controller 33 Overall controller 41 Overall control 41 Unit 42 Order list storage unit 43 Store-article collection container list storage unit 44 Tact feed list storage unit 45 Picking control unit 46 Cutout control unit P Worker R Main transport route

Claims (4)

A plurality of picking units provided with a transport device for transporting a group of product collection containers composed of a predetermined number of product collection containers, and formed from a plurality of product storage units storing products of different items along the transport device Work area is placed,
The picking facility in which the article collection container group is sequentially transported by the transport device to each picking work area, and the article picking work is performed from the article storage unit on the transported article collection container group Because
A gap forming means for supplying each article collection container group to the uppermost stream of the transfer device with at least one gap in the middle of the group is provided,
The picking equipment, wherein the transport device sequentially transports the article collection container group provided with the gap to each picking work area. 2. The picking equipment according to claim 1, wherein the gap forming unit is configured by a cutout device that cuts out each of the article collection container groups into the uppermost stream of the transfer device with the gap formed in each group. For each of the picking work areas, the temporary placement table for storing the articles picked prior to the article storage unit is the same number as the predetermined number of article collection containers in the conveyed article collection container group, The picking equipment according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a gap is provided at the same position along the transfer device. The picking equipment according to claim 3, wherein, for each of the picking work areas, the temporary placement table on the upstream side and the temporary placement table on the downstream side of the gap in the article collection container transport direction are color-coded.

Images