JP2016052924A - Article storage management device and article storage management method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method by which each article stored in an article storage management area can be minutely managed, and the management of storage and delivery of each article can be properly performed.SOLUTION: An article storage management device 1 includes: a shape extraction part 2 for extracting shape characteristics of each article; a storage area range detection part 3 for detecting a storage area and an occupation range of each article for each predetermined time interval, comparing the detected occupation range with the occupation range detected immediately before it, and updating the storage area and the occupation range of each article stored in the stored article information storage part, and article information; an article information storage part 4 for associating the article information and unique information, and storing them; a stored article information storage part 5 for associating the storage area and the occupation range of each article, and the unique information stored in the article information storage part, and storing them; and a stored article information provision part 6 for associating the storage area and the occupation range of each article, the storage area and the occupation range of each article stored in an article storage management area, and the article information, and providing them.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to an article storage management apparatus and an article storage management method for managing articles stored in an article storage management area.

  In a manufacturing factory or the like, it is necessary to temporarily store articles such as materials and parts before starting a manufacturing operation or to store articles during a manufacturing process. At that time, it is necessary to store a large number of articles of different sizes and to manage them without fail.

  In general, when storing goods, a method of storing and managing the goods by individually assigning the storage address is usually adopted, but for entering and leaving information management, manual input of necessary information or movement Real-time management of information is required, which involves complicated work management such as warehousing time, description on the management board, and change of movement information. The same applies to effective use of the storage area, such as organizing when an empty space is created in the storage space.

  There is an existing method of managing storage and storage by assigning storage space by unit area and applying a marking information database such as camera image information and barcodes attached to the actual product, but only image information is stored. At present, there is no method or equipment that can perform advanced storage management that recognizes and manages the situation. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an example of an apparatus that assigns an address to a storage space and uses a camera and a database to perform storage management with the latest information. Moreover, there is also an example as shown in Patent Document 2 for an apparatus that performs inventory management of warehouses by attaching barcodes to articles and recording them on a computing device.

  In actual production sites, it is necessary to manage a large number of different types of items such as stainless steel pipes with different lengths and thicknesses and screws with different diameters, and methods for efficiently storing and managing these items have been proposed. Not.

  In addition, depending on the parts, the warehousing time and the warehousing time are different, and it is necessary to correctly manage the warehousing.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-194411 JP-A-5-704

  One aspect of the present invention provides an article storage management apparatus and an article storage management method capable of finely managing each article stored in an article storage management area and capable of correctly managing entry / exit of each article. It is.

  According to the present embodiment, the shape extraction unit that extracts the feature of the shape of each article stored in the article storage management area, and the article based on the shape feature of each article extracted by the shape extraction unit. The storage location and occupation range of each article within the storage management area are detected, and the storage location and occupation range of each detected article are detected at the predetermined time interval, and the storage location of each article detected immediately before is detected. And a storage location range detection unit that updates the storage location and occupation range of each item stored in the storage item information storage unit and the item information that characterizes the item based on the comparison result. An article information storage unit that stores article information that characterizes the article and unique information that is unique to each article, a storage location and an occupation range of each article detected by the storage location range detection unit, Article A stored article information storage unit that associates and stores the unique information stored in the information storage unit, a storage location and an occupation range of each article detected by the storage location range detection unit, the article information storage unit, and the Based on the information stored in the storage article information storage unit, the storage article information provision that provides the storage location and occupation range of each article stored in the article storage management area and the article information in association with each other An article storage management device comprising: a storage unit.

  According to the article storage management apparatus, since the storage location and the occupation range can be automatically detected without the operator inputting information regarding the storage location and the occupation range of the received article, the management of the received article is performed. In addition, even if the storage location of the article without entry / exit is changed, it can be managed correctly.

The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the article | item storage management apparatus 1 which concerns on 1st Embodiment. (A) is the imaging | photography range of a video camera, (b) is a figure which shows the detection result of a storage location range detection part. The figure which shows the example of a display of a stored article information provision part. The flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence at the time of warehousing goods in an article | item storage management area | region. The flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence at the time of issuing goods from an article storage management area | region. (A) is the imaging | photography range of the video camera at the time of putting up, (b) is a figure which shows the detection result of the storage location range detection part. The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the article | item storage management apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. The flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of the rearrangement process which updates the storage place of each article | item. (A) is a figure which shows an example of the storage condition before rearrangement of an article | item storage management area | region, (b) is a figure which shows an example of the storage condition after rearrangement. A laser light source is installed above the article storage management area, each stored article is scanned with laser light, and the scanned light is photographed with a video camera installed obliquely above the article storage management area. The perspective view which shows the shape extraction part which was made.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an article storage management device 1 according to the first embodiment. 1 includes a shape extraction unit 2, a storage location range detection unit 3, an item information storage unit 4, a stored item information storage unit 5, a stored item information provision unit 6, and an information processing unit. 7, an exit instruction unit 8, and an input / output unit 9.

  The article storage management apparatus 1 in FIG. 1 performs the entry of articles into the article storage management area, the management of articles stored in the article storage management area, and the delivery of articles from the article storage management area. The article storage management area is a storage area that is provided in a warehouse or the like that can store a plurality of articles having different shapes, and that can actually store articles.

  The shape extraction unit 2 extracts the feature of the shape of each article stored in the article storage management area. A specific example of the shape extraction unit 2 is an imaging device. The imaging apparatus includes a video camera that shoots a moving image and a still camera that shoots a still image. In this embodiment, an example in which the video camera 2a is used as the shape extraction unit 2 will be described first with reference to FIG. Thereafter, another specific example will be described.

  The storage location range detection unit 3 detects the storage location and occupation range of each article in the article storage management area based on the shape characteristics of each article extracted by the shape extraction unit 2. When the shape extraction unit 2 is the video camera 2a, the storage location range detection unit 3 analyzes the image captured by the video camera 2a and detects the storage location and occupation range of each article in the article storage management area. . The occupation range is a floor range or a floor area occupied by stored articles.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the processing operations of the video camera 2a and the storage location range detection unit 3 in an easy-to-understand manner. FIG. 2A shows the shooting range of the video camera 2a. As shown in the figure, the video camera 2 a is installed above the article storage management area 10 and photographs the entire area of the article storage management area 10. The captured image captured by the video camera 2 a is sent to the storage location range detection unit 3. The storage location range detection unit 3 analyzes the photographed image and detects the storage location and the occupation range of each article 11 in the article storage management area 10 as shown in FIG. The detected storage location and occupation range of each article 11 are stored in the stored article information storage unit 5.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the article information storage unit 4 stores article information characterizing the article and a number unique to each article (hereinafter, unique number or unique information) in association with each other. The article information is various information related to the article such as the article name and the process of using the article, and the content of the specific information is not particularly limited. Below, the example which provides the article | item information database corresponding to the article | item information storage part 4 is demonstrated.

  The stored article information storage unit 5 stores the storage location and occupation range of each article detected by the storage location range detection unit 3 and the unique number stored in the article information storage unit 4 in association with each other. Below, the example which provides the storage article information database corresponding to the storage article information storage part 5 is demonstrated. The stored article information storage unit 5 and the above-described article information storage unit 4 may be configured by one storage device or may be configured by separate storage devices.

  The stored article information providing unit 6 is based on the storage location and occupation range of each article detected by the storage location range detecting unit 3 and the information stored in the article information storage unit 4 and the stored article information storage unit 5. The storage location and occupation range of each item stored in the item storage management area 10 and the item information are provided in association with each other. Below, the example which uses a display part as a specific example of the storage article information provision part 6 is demonstrated. As will be described later, the stored article information providing unit 6 displays the shape characteristics and position information of each article stored in the article storage management area 10 in a simple image and displays the article information in association with each other. .

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of the stored article information providing unit 6. In this example, on the left side d1 of the screen, the storage location and the occupation range of each item stored in the item storage management area 10 are displayed as a diagram image, and on the right side d2 of the screen, the item information of each item is displayed. Etc. are displayed. In the image of the diagram, the shape of the article is displayed with a line frame, whereby the floor range occupied by each article can be grasped. Each line frame is assigned a serial number for identifying the article, and the article information is also assigned the same serial number. Thereby, the storage location and occupation range of each article in the article storage management area 10 are associated with the article information.

  In the example of FIG. 3, the article unique number, the article name, and the next process of using the article are displayed as the article information, but this is an example and may be arbitrarily changed as necessary.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the information processing unit 7 sends and receives various types of information to the article information storage unit 4, the stored article information storage unit 5, the stored article information provision unit 6, the delivery instruction unit 8, and the entry / exit input unit 9. Do.

  The delivery instruction unit 8 is for instructing delivery of an article stored in the article storage management area 10, and is, for example, an input device such as a keyboard operated by an operator. The delivery instruction unit 8 is assumed not to be located at the site where the article storage management area 10 is located, but in a work room or the like that is physically separated from the article storage management area 10. The installation location is not particularly limited.

  The entry / exit input unit 9 inputs and displays articles to be entered / exited in the article storage management area 10, and is a communication device operated and confirmed by an operator who performs entry / exit work at the site where the article storage management area 10 is located It is. The entry / exit input unit 9 and the information processing unit 7 transmit and receive various types of information by remote communication such as wireless or infrared.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure when goods are stored in the article storage management area 10. First, an operator who performs a loading / unloading operation at a site where the article storage management area 10 is located inputs a unique number of an article to be stored in the article storage management area 10 from the loading / unloading input unit 9. The unique number of the article input from the entry / exit input unit 9 is transmitted to the information processing unit 7 (step S1). The information processing unit 7 enters the warehousing standby state by transmitting the unique number of the article (step S2). The video camera 2a takes a picture of how articles are stored in an empty space in the article storage management area 10 by a lifter such as a forklift, a carriage, a crane, or manual work (step S3).

  The storage location range detection unit 3 analyzes the captured image of the video camera 2a at predetermined time intervals. More specifically, the storage location range detection unit 3 detects the storage location and the occupation range of the newly received article by comparing the current image analysis result with the previous image analysis result (step S4). . Then, the storage location and the occupation range of the received article are automatically registered in the stored article information storage unit 5 (step S5).

  Thereafter, the information processing unit 7 cancels the warehousing standby state (step S6), associates the received item with the unique number of the item, and stores each item automatically registered in the stored item information storage unit 5. The unique number of the article is stored in association with the storage location and the occupation range (step S7).

  Thereafter, the information processing section 7 accesses the article information storage section 4 to acquire the article name of each article that has been received and information on the next process (shipping schedule), and the stored article information providing section 6 as shown in FIG. In addition, the storage location and the occupation range of each article in the article storage management area 10 at the present time are displayed as a diagram image, and article information is displayed in association therewith (step S8).

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure when an article is delivered from the article storage management area 10. When the delivery instruction unit 8 instructs the delivery of a specific article, the instruction is transmitted to the information processing unit 7 (step S11). The information processing unit 7 accesses the stored article information storage unit 5 to acquire information regarding the storage location and occupation range of the corresponding part, and instructs the entry / exit input unit 9 to issue the article together with the acquired information ( Step S12). As a result, the storage location and occupation range of the corresponding article are displayed on the display screen of the entry / exit input unit 9 separately from other articles (step S13).

  An operator who works at the site of the article storage management area 10 looks at the display screen of the entry / exit input unit 9 he / she owns, identifies the article to be delivered, and performs the delivery work of this article.

  Since the storage location range detection unit 3 analyzes the captured image of the video camera 2a at predetermined time intervals, when the article to be delivered moves out of the article storage management area 10, it can detect that the article has been delivered. Therefore, when the delivery of the article is detected, the stored article information storage unit 5 is accessed, and information indicating that the corresponding article has been delivered is additionally registered (step S14).

  When the worker who has performed the delivery operation completes the delivery, the unique number of the delivered item is input to the entry / exit input unit 9 to notify that the delivery has been completed. This input information is transmitted to the information processing unit 7 (step S15). The information processing unit 7 determines whether or not the article corresponding to the unique number of the article input by the entry / exit input unit 9 has been delivered in the stored article information storage unit 5 (step S16). If it has been completed, a message indicating that the delivery has been completed is displayed on the display screen of the entry / exit input unit 9 (step S17).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S <b> 16 that the stored information is not registered in the stored article information storage unit 5, the information processing unit 7 has an article different from the article instructed by the delivery instruction unit 8. The fact that it has been delivered is displayed on the display screen of the entry / exit input unit 9 (step S18). Thereby, work mistakes can be prevented.

  When the delivery is completed, the information processing unit 7 is stored in the article storage management area 10 based on the latest detection result in the storage location range detection unit 3 and the latest stored information in the stored article information storage unit 5. The current storage location and occupied area of each article and the article information are displayed on the stored article information providing unit 6 (step S19).

  As described above, in the first embodiment, in order to display the storage location and occupation range of each article on the stored article information providing unit 6 together with the article information, regardless of where the article is placed in the article storage management area 10. There is no restriction on the storage location of the articles, and the warehousing work is facilitated. Further, the storage location and occupation range can be automatically obtained by the shape extraction unit 2 and the storage location range detection unit 3 such as the video camera 2a without the operator inputting information regarding the storage location and occupation range of the received goods. Can be detected, and management of the received goods becomes easy.

  Conventionally, it has been a general rule to divide the article storage management area 10 into sections and store articles in units of sections, but when storing articles that are larger or smaller than sections in units, , Inevitably, an article that is stored out of the compartment is generated, and this is a factor causing an erroneous shipment. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, articles can be stored freely in the empty space in the article storage management area 10, and it is impossible to store articles out of the section. Can't happen either.

  The storage location range detection unit 3 according to the present embodiment analyzes the captured image of the video camera 2a at predetermined time intervals, and updates the storage information of the storage item information storage unit 5 based on the analysis result. If the time interval at which the storage location range detection unit 3 analyzes the captured image is set to a sufficiently short time (for example, 1 second), the storage status of each article in the article storage management area 10 can always be kept up-to-date. As a result, conventionally, the storage management for the articles that do not involve entering / exiting cannot be performed correctly. However, according to the present embodiment, even if the storage location of the articles that do not involve entering / exiting is changed, it can be managed correctly.

(Second Embodiment)
The second embodiment described below is characterized in maintenance management when another article is placed on top of an already stored article.

  Since the second embodiment has the same block configuration as that of FIG. 1, detailed description thereof is omitted. Also in the second embodiment, loading and unloading is performed by the same processing procedure as in FIGS. 4 and 5.

  When the article being stored is overlaid on the stored article as shown in the hatched portion of FIG. 6A, the storage location range detection unit 3 analyzes the captured image of the video camera 2a. You can grasp that it was placed. More specifically, by comparing the image in a state in which the movement of the article during warehousing is stopped with the immediately preceding image, as shown in the hatched portion of FIG. 6B, the stored article 11b. It is possible to detect that the article 11a being stored has been placed on the top. The storage location range detection unit 3 detects the storage location and the occupation range of the article 11 a determined to be stacked from the image analysis result, and registers the detected storage location and occupation range in the storage item information storage unit 5.

  If the superposed article 11a is displayed as a diagram image on the stored article information providing unit 6 as it is, there is a possibility that the superposed article 11a and the article 11b below it cannot be distinguished from each other. Is displayed on the stored article information providing unit 6 in a display form so that it can be seen that the articles are stacked, and the stacking order of the stacked articles is also displayed.

  Thereby, not only when articles are placed flat in the article storage management area 10, but also when the articles are stacked in multiple stages, storage management can be performed correctly.

  At the time of delivery when articles are stacked in a plurality of stages, the processing procedure differs between when the top article 11a is delivered and when the second and subsequent articles 11b are delivered from the top.

  When the top article 11a is delivered, the delivery is performed according to the same processing procedure as in FIG. More specifically, when the movement of the uppermost article 11a is started, the storage location range detection unit 3 detects the movement status of the article that has started moving at a predetermined time interval, based on an image captured by the video camera 2a. Therefore, it can be grasped that the movement has started from the place where the articles are stacked in a plurality of stages. Since the other articles have not moved, it is determined that the top article 11a has been moved.

  On the other hand, when the article 11b in the second and subsequent stages from the top is delivered, the article 11a stacked on the article to be delivered is moved to another place in order from the top, and the article to be delivered becomes the top. The product starts moving in the state where By photographing this process with the video camera 2a and detecting the photographed image with the storage location range detection unit 3, it is possible to grasp how many articles have been delivered from the top.

  With the above processing procedure, the storage location range detection unit 3 grasps what level of the items out of the plurality of items stacked, and updates the storage information in the storage item information storage unit 5. .

  When arranging the articles stored in the article storage management area 10 while allowing the articles to be stacked, for the stacked articles, the article whose storage location is to be changed is placed in the second and subsequent stages from the top. Even if it is, it is considered that the movement is surely started from the top article 11a. Therefore, the storage location range detection unit 3 sequentially detects the movement status of each article in the same manner as the processing procedure at the time of delivery described above. Thus, it is possible to grasp which part is moved to where. The storage location range detection unit 3 stores the grasped movement information of each article in the storage article information storage unit 5.

  Thus, in the second embodiment, even when a plurality of articles are stacked one above the other, the process of stacking at the time of warehousing and the movement status of the stacked articles at the time of warehousing are stored. By sequentially detecting the location range detection unit 3, it is possible to easily and accurately grasp how and in what order the articles are stacked and in what order the stacked articles are moved.

(Third embodiment)
Since each article stored in the article storage management area 10 has a different delivery time for each article, there may be an article stored for a long period of time. Such goods are often moved to the back so that they do not get in the way when other goods are delivered, and when they are about to leave, they are surrounded by other goods and take time to leave. Can cause problems.

  Therefore, in the third embodiment described below, the storage location of each article is updated according to the scheduled shipping time of each article that is stored.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the article storage management device 1 according to the third embodiment. The article storage management device 1 of FIG. 7 is obtained by adding a rearrangement unit 12 to the configuration of FIG.

  Based on the article information of each article stored in the article storage management area 10 shown in FIG. 2, the rearrangement unit 12 issues the goods from the article storage management area 10 and the goods storage management area 10. Each article stored in the article storage management area 10 is rearranged so that it is easy to perform the process. When the rearrangement unit 12 rearranges each article, it stores the article information stored in the article information storage unit 4 and the storage location and occupation range information of each article stored in the storage item information storage unit 5. The information processing unit 7 is notified by referring to the information on the storage location of each article after the rearrangement.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of the rearrangement process for updating the storage location of each article. First, the worker who performs the loading / unloading work in the article storage management area 10 instructs the rearrangement by the loading / unloading input unit 9. This rearrangement instruction is transmitted to the information processing unit 7 (step S31).

  The information processing unit 7 accesses the stored product information storage unit 5 and the product information storage unit 4 to check the scheduled shipping time of each stored product, and for example, orders each product in the late shipping schedule time. Then, a rearrangement plan to be arranged at the back of the article storage management area 10 and a moving procedure for each article for that purpose are created in order of late shipment schedule (step S32). At this time, the information processing unit 7 acquires the occupancy range (shape) of each article registered in the stored article information storage unit 5 and stores each article so that the empty space behind the article storage management area 10 is reduced. Develop a relocation plan.

  In step S32 described above, not only a rearrangement plan is made according to the scheduled shipping time, but also a rearrangement plan may be made so that the dead space in the article storage management area 10 is reduced. This is because if there is a dead space, the number of articles that can be stored in the article storage management area 10 is reduced, which hinders the movement of articles that are newly entered and exited.

  When the information processing unit 7 finishes creating the rearrangement plan and the moving procedure for each article, the information processing unit 7 transmits the rearrangement plan and the moving procedure for each article to the loading / unloading input unit 9 and displays them on the display screen of the loading / unloading input unit 9. The rearrangement plan and the movement procedure of each article are displayed (step S33).

  After confirming the rearrangement plan and the moving procedure of each article on the display screen of the entry / exit input unit 9, the worker inputs information indicating that the rearrangement is to be started. This information is transmitted to the information processing unit 7 (step S34). The information processing unit 7 is in a rearranged state (step S35). The information processing unit 7 displays on the display screen of the delivery instruction unit 8 or the stored article information providing unit 6 that the rearrangement is being performed, and instructs the rearrangement unit 12 to rearrange each article (step S36).

  The rearrangement unit 12 may automatically rearrange each article, or an operator may perform part or all of the rearrangement work manually. For example, when rearrangement is performed manually, the worker moves each article according to the rearrangement plan and the movement procedure displayed on the storage / input unit 9. When an operator moves each article, it is performed according to the procedure described in the first or second embodiment.

  The storage location range detection unit 3 detects the movement status of each article by analyzing the captured image by the video camera 2a, and updates the storage information in the storage article information storage unit 5 and the display information in the storage article information provision unit 6 ( Step S37).

  The information processing section 7 has stopped updating the stored article information storage section 5 for one article, and the storage location stored in the stored article information storage section 5 for this article matches the information of the rearrangement plan. In this case, it is determined that the rearrangement process for this article has been completed, and an instruction is given to the rearrangement of the next article on the display screen of the warehouse input / output unit 9 (step S38).

  FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating an example of a storage status before rearrangement of the article storage management area 10, and FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating an example of a storage status after rearrangement. The lower side of these figures is the entrance / exit. In the present embodiment, an article having a later scheduled shipping time is moved to the far side away from the entrance / exit, and a dead space is generated between the articles so as not to obstruct the movement of the article to be received. For example, in FIG. 9A, since the article 3 with a later scheduled delivery time is stored in a place near the entry / exit port, it is moved to the back side as shown in FIG. 9B after the rearrangement. 9A, there is a dead space on the left side of the article 1 or between the articles 2 and 3, but after the rearrangement, the dead space is arranged so as to disappear as shown in FIG. 9B. The

  In this way, according to the procedure displayed on the entry / exit input unit 9, the worker rearranges each article in turn, so that the worker can move each article in consideration of the rearrangement procedure on the site. It is possible to rearrange each article efficiently.

  If the information processing unit 7 determines that all the procedures of the storage rearrangement plan have been completed, the information processing unit 7 displays a confirmation screen for the completion of the rearrangement work on the display screen of the storage / input unit 9 (step S39). In response to this, when the worker inputs completion according to the confirmation screen, the input information is transmitted to the information processing section 7 (step S40). The information processing section 7 instructs the exit instruction section 8 to stop the display during rearrangement that has been displayed on the display screen of the exit instruction section 8 (step S41).

  If it becomes necessary to store or unload articles while rearranging stored parts, the rearrangement operation needs to be stopped once.

  In the case of warehousing goods during rearrangement, after placing the middle article being rearranged in an appropriate empty space, the worker enters and exits the warehousing / entry input unit as in the first and second embodiments. 9, when the unique number of the article to be received is input, the information processing unit 7 that has received this input information stops the rearrangement operation and enters a storage standby state. Thereafter, the warehousing operation can be performed according to the procedure described in the first and second embodiments.

  When the goods are delivered during the rearrangement, the operator instructs the delivery instructed by the delivery instructing unit 8, and the information processing unit 7 receives the entry in the same manner as in the first and second embodiments. Information on the exit instruction is displayed on the exit input unit 9. The worker who sees this display stops the rearrangement work, and inputs the start of the delivery to the entry / exit input unit 9 when starting the delivery work, as in the first and second embodiments. . This input information is transmitted to the information processing unit 7, and the information processing unit 7 stops the rearrangement process, and displays a warehousing instruction on the display screen of the warehousing / inputting unit 9 as in the first and second embodiments. Let After that, the unloading operation is performed in the same procedure as in the first and second embodiments.

  As described above, in the third embodiment, while the work of entering / exiting is not being performed, the scheduled shipment time of each article stored in the article storage management area 10 is checked, and each article is in order from the latest scheduled shipment time. In order to carry out the rearrangement work to move the article to the back of the article storage management area 10 as the article whose shipping schedule time is later, it becomes easier to take out each article, and the labor of the worker performing the delivery work can be saved, Outgoing work can be performed quickly.

(Fourth embodiment)
In the first to third embodiments described above, an example in which the entire area of the article storage management area 10 is captured by the video camera 2a and the captured image is analyzed by the storage location range detection unit 3 has been described. The shape extraction unit 2 may be any device that can recognize the shape of the article, such as an ultrasonic sensor or a two-dimensional or three-dimensional optical profile measurement device, as long as it can extract the feature of the shape of the article. . The storage location range detection unit 3 may detect the storage location and the occupation range of the article based on the feature of the shape of the article extracted by the shape extraction unit 2 by some method.

  For example, in FIG. 10, a laser light source 21 is installed above the article storage management area 10, and each article 11 stored is irradiated with a laser beam and scanned, and the scanned light is oblique to the article storage management area 10. The shape extraction unit 2 is shown to be photographed by a camera 2b installed above.

  Since the optical path of the laser beam changes at the boundary between the articles, the optical path change is photographed by the camera 2b. In addition, when an article is placed on top of each other, the optical path of the laser light changes due to the difference in height of the article, so that the optical path change is also captured by the camera 2b. In the example of FIG. 10, on the display screen 22 of the shape extraction unit 2 based on the photographed image of the camera 2b, the x-axis direction is the laser beam scanning direction, the y-axis direction is the height of the unevenness of the article, The uneven shape is illustrated. Therefore, the storage location range detection unit 3 can correctly detect the storage location and the occupation range of each article including the stacked articles.

  Moreover, the shape extraction part 2 may detect the unevenness | corrugation of articles | goods, for example, without using the camera 2b by irradiating a laser beam or infrared light to articles | goods, and the time until the reflected light returns. . In this case, the storage location range detection unit 3 detects the storage location and occupation range of each article from the unevenness information of the article detected by the shape extraction unit 2. Note that the camera 2b in FIG. 10 may be a video camera that captures a moving image or a still camera that captures a still image.

  As described above, the shape extraction unit 2 may extract the feature of the shape of the article by various methods other than photographing the entire area of the article storage management area 10, and a method according to the extraction result of the shape extraction unit 2. Thus, the storage location range detection unit 3 may detect the storage location and occupied area of each article.

  The aspect of the present invention is not limited to the individual embodiments described above, and includes various modifications that can be conceived by those skilled in the art, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to the contents described above. That is, various additions, modifications, and partial deletions can be made without departing from the concept and spirit of the present invention derived from the contents defined in the claims and equivalents thereof.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Article storage management apparatus, 2 Shape extraction part, 2a Video camera, 2b camera, 3 Storage location range detection part, 4 Article information storage part, 5 Storage article information storage part, 6 Storage article information provision part, 7 Information processing part, 8 Departure instruction unit, 9 Entry / exit input unit, 10 Goods storage management area, 11 Goods, 12 Rearrangement unit

Claims (9)

A shape extraction unit for extracting the characteristics of the shape of each article stored in the article storage management area;
Based on the shape characteristics of each article extracted by the shape extraction unit, the storage location and the occupation range of each article in the article storage management area are detected, and each detected time is detected at predetermined time intervals. The storage location and occupation range of the article are compared with the storage location and occupation range of each article detected immediately before, and the storage location of each article stored in the storage article information storage unit based on the comparison result and A storage location range detection unit for updating the occupation range and the item information characterizing the item;
An article information storage unit for storing the article information in association with unique information unique to each article;
A stored article information storage unit that stores a storage location and an occupation range of each article detected by the storage location range detection unit in association with the unique information stored in the article information storage unit;
Based on the storage location and occupation range of each item detected by the storage location range detection unit, and the information stored in the item information storage unit and the storage item information storage unit, the item is stored in the item storage management area. An article storage management device comprising: a stored article information providing unit that associates and provides the storage location and occupation range of each article and the article information. A delivery instruction unit for instructing delivery of an article stored in the article storage management area;
Entry / exit input unit that is input and confirmed by an operator who performs an entry / exit operation in the article storage management area;
An information processing unit that transmits and receives various types of information to and from the article information storage unit, the stored article information storage unit, the stored article information provision unit, the delivery instruction unit, and the entry / exit input unit,
The warehouse input / output unit, when an entry of an article is instructed by an operator's input, notifies the information processing unit of the receipt of the article,
When the article is received in the article storage management area, the storage location range detection unit stores the storage location and occupation range of the article in the stored article information storage unit,
The information processing unit stores the unique information of the article in the stored article information storage unit in association with the storage location and the occupation range of the article, acquires the article information of the article from the article information storage unit, 2. The article storage management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage article information providing unit is instructed to provide the acquired article information in association with a storage location and an occupation range of the article.   When the delivery instruction of the article stored in the article storage management area is instructed by the delivery instruction section, the information processing section accesses the stored article information storage section to obtain the storage location of the article, and then 3. The article storage management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the storage location of the article is displayed on the display screen of the entry / exit input unit to prompt the delivery. The storage location range detection unit detects that an article is placed on the basis of the comparison result,
2. The article storage management device according to claim 1, wherein the information processing unit instructs the stored article information providing unit to clearly indicate the stacking order of the stacked articles. The article information stored in the article information storage unit includes information related to scheduled delivery times of each article,
Based on the article information of each article stored in the article storage management area, the article storage management is performed so as to facilitate the delivery from the article storage management area and the entry into the article storage management area. The article storage management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a rearrangement unit that rearranges each article stored in the area. The shape extraction unit has an imaging device capable of photographing the entire area of the article storage management area,
The storage location range detection unit detects a storage location and an occupation range of each article in the article storage management area based on a result obtained by performing image processing on an image captured by the imaging device and analyzing the captured image. The article storage management device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.   The shape extracting unit acquires two-dimensional or three-dimensional profile data of each article stored in the article storage management area, and extracts a shape characteristic of each article. The article storage management device according to claim 5.   The stored article information providing unit is a display device that displays an image representing a feature of the shape of each article stored in the article storage management area in association with the article information of each article. The article storage management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7. Extracting the characteristics of the shape of each article stored in the article storage management area;
Based on the characteristics of the shape of each extracted article, the storage location and occupation range of each article in the article storage management area are detected at predetermined time intervals, and the detected storage location of each article and The occupied area is compared with the storage location and occupation range of each article detected immediately before, and based on the comparison result, the storage location and occupation range of each article stored in the stored article information storage unit, and the article Updating the article information characterizing
Storing the article information and the unique information unique to each article in association with each other in the article information storage unit;
Storing the storage location and occupancy range of each article detected by the storage location range detection unit in association with the unique information stored in the item information storage unit and storing the associated information in the storage item information storage unit;
Based on the storage location and occupation range of each item detected by the storage location range detection unit, and the information stored in the item information storage unit and the storage item information storage unit, the item is stored in the item storage management area. A storage location and an occupation range of each article being provided and a step of providing the article information in association with each other.

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