JP2016113290A - Sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sorting device that can reduce the number of workers performing sorting work without being enlarged and by reducing the number of chutes, in sorting work such as an EC in which the number of shipped merchandises per one order is small and the number of sorting destinations are large.SOLUTION: The sorting device comprises: a loop-like conveyance line that conveys articles; chutes into which are fed the articles being conveyed by the conveyance line; a moving mechanism for moving the articles from the conveyance line; and a control device that controls operation of the moving mechanism. The control device, when determining that all of articles per one order are aligned on the conveyance line, controls the moving mechanism so that the articles are fed from the conveyance line into the chutes.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a sorting apparatus for sorting a plurality of articles in a distribution warehouse that sorts, packs, and ships articles ordered by a purchaser, for example, in mail order sales.

In recent years, users of mail order (hereinafter simply referred to as EC) using the Internet called EC (Electronic Commerce) continue to increase.
Unlike store sales and mail order sales using catalogs, EC always deals with a huge variety of products, and the purchaser can order products at any time.

  On the other hand, the EC dealers must always manage a huge number of products as stock in order to ship products quickly to buyers. The goods are shipped directly to the purchaser from the distribution warehouse.

  In such a distribution warehouse handling EC products, after searching for and collecting the ordered products from the area where the product inventory is stored, they are sorted and packed by shipping carton by a sorting device (sorter). Shipped to buyer.

  The operation of searching for and collecting products from the inventory storage area is not generally performed for each order in EC, but batch picking is performed in which orders are collected and picked up in units of products.

  Conventionally, as a sorting device (sorter), as disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1, a loop-shaped transport line for transporting articles and a plurality of chutes for sorting articles transported by the transport lines are provided. According to the sorting destination assigned to each chute, one that sorts articles from the transport line to each chute is known.

  In the sorting apparatus configured as described above, an article to which a sorting destination is assigned is placed on the transport line, and sorting is performed by dropping the article on a chute of the assigned sorting destination.

  In general, each chute is provided with a shipping carton, and an article dropped on the chute is directly put into the shipping carton or is put into the shipping carton by an operator. Then, when all the products ordered by the purchaser are stored in the shipping carton, the shipping carton is taken out, packed and shipped. At the same time, the vacant chute is provided with a new shipping carton and a new sorting destination is assigned.

JP2013-245087A

  By the way, in the shipment from the distribution warehouse to the retail store, the number of shipments per order is large. However, in EC, the number of shipments per order is small because the direct shipment to general consumers. The number of orders (number of sorting destinations) is increasing.

  In the sorting operation using the sorting apparatus as described above, the number of chutes becomes necessary as the number of sorting destinations that perform sorting simultaneously increases. For this reason, when the number of sorting destinations is large as in EC, it is necessary to increase the number of shoots in order to make sorting work more efficient.

However, increasing the number of chutes increases the size of the sorting apparatus and increases the installation cost.
In addition, one sorting worker is attached to 10 to 20 chutes, and the shipping cartons that have been sorted are delivered to the packing workers. However, as the number of chutes increases, the number of sorting workers needs to be increased. Labor costs will also increase.

  In the present invention, in view of such a current situation, in sorting operations with a small number of shipments per order and a large number of sorting destinations such as EC, the size of the apparatus is not increased, and the number of chutes is reduced. An object of the present invention is to provide a sorting apparatus that can reduce the number of sorting workers.

  It is another object of the present invention to provide a sorting apparatus capable of increasing the number of product types to be aggregated in batch picking by efficiently performing sorting work in the sorting apparatus and improving the work efficiency of batch picking.

The present invention was invented to solve the problems in the prior art as described above, and the sorting device of the present invention is
A sorting device for sorting a plurality of articles for each sorting destination,
A loop-shaped conveyance line for conveying the article;
A chute for loading articles being conveyed by the conveyance line;
A moving mechanism for moving the article from the inside of the carrying line to the outside of the carrying line;
A control device for controlling the operation of the moving mechanism,
The controller is
When it is determined that all one-order articles are prepared on the transport line, the moving mechanism is controlled so that the corresponding articles are put into the chute from the transport line.

In such a sorting apparatus, the apparatus further includes a temporary standby unit for temporarily collecting and waiting for the articles,
The controller is
The moving mechanism is controlled so as to move a single-order article in a reach state from the transfer line to the temporary standby unit in a state where all are placed on the transfer line, if one is placed. Can be configured.

In this case, the temporary standby unit is a plurality of standby cases provided on at least one of the inside and the outside of the transport line,
The control device may control the moving mechanism so as to collect the one-order articles in the reach state in one waiting case.

Further, the temporary standby unit is a standby transfer line provided on at least one of the inside and the outside of the transfer line,
The control device may control the moving mechanism so as to move the one-order article in the reach state to the standby transfer line.

Further, the control device may include a warning means for issuing an alert and notifying an operator when the loading rate of the transfer line becomes higher than a predetermined warning reference value.
Moreover, the said conveyance line may be equipped with the exclusion means for removing arbitrary articles | goods from the said conveyance line when the stocking rate of the said conveyance line becomes higher than a predetermined | prescribed exclusion reference value.

  According to the present invention, since all articles of one order on the transfer line are simultaneously dropped onto one chute, the number of chutes can be reduced and the sorting device can be downsized. In addition, the number of sorting workers can be reduced and labor costs can be eliminated.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining the configuration of a sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the sorting operation of the sorting apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining a modification of the sorting apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining the configuration of a sorting apparatus according to another embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining the configuration of a sorting apparatus according to still another embodiment. FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the sorting operation of the sorting apparatus of FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining a configuration of a modified example of the sorting apparatus of FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments (examples) of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining the configuration of the sorting apparatus in this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the sorting operation of the sorting apparatus of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sorting apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a loop-shaped transport line 12 that transports articles, and a chute 14 that feeds articles transported by the transport line 12.

  In addition, the conveyance line 12 includes a plurality of trays 16 for placing articles, and the articles placed on the tray 16 can be put into the chute 14 by tilting the tray 16 by a moving mechanism (not shown). It is configured.

  In addition, although you may comprise so that articles | goods may be directly injected | thrown-in from the tray 16 to the chute | shoot 14, it is preferable to provide the funnel-shaped collection member 20 as shown in FIG. By providing the collecting member 20 in this manner, the article can be thrown into the chute 14 just by tilting the tray 16 regardless of the position of the tray 16 in the transport line 12.

  Moreover, as the collection member 20, as shown in FIG. 3, the collection conveyance means 21, such as a belt conveyor and a roller conveyor, can be provided, for example. By providing the transport mechanism 21 in this way, articles can be smoothly transported from the tray 16 to the chute 14.

  In addition, the sorting apparatus 10 includes a control device 18 that controls the moving mechanism of the tray 16. As will be described later, the control device 18 controls the moving mechanism so that all the trays 16 on which the corresponding articles are placed are simultaneously tilted when it is determined that all the one-order articles are aligned on the transport line.

  Note that the control device 18 may have a dedicated configuration for performing the following control, but may be configured to perform the following control by software using, for example, a general-purpose computer.

The sorting apparatus 10 of the present embodiment configured as described above can sort articles as follows.
First, the sorting operator assigns sorting destinations to the articles picked from the stock storage area of the distribution warehouse, and sequentially places them on the tray 16 of the transport line 12. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the articles A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, C1, C2... To which the sorting destinations A, B, C. 12 is circulated and conveyed.

  At the same time, the control device 18 compares the information on the articles of each order with the articles to which the sorting destinations placed on the tray 16 of the transport line 12 are assigned. When, for example, all the one-order articles A1, A2, and A3 of the sorting destination A are placed on the transport line 12, and the control apparatus 18 determines that all the one-order articles are prepared, the control apparatus 18 Controls the operation mechanism, simultaneously tilts the tray 16 on which the articles A1, A2, and A3 are placed, and simultaneously loads the articles A1, A2, and A3 into the chute 14.

  The articles A1, A2, and A3 put into the chute 14 can be configured to be directly put into the shipping carton 30 provided in the chute 14, or can be put into the shipping carton 30 by a sorting operator. . The shipping carton 30 containing the articles sorted in this way is confirmed by visual inspection or the like by the sorting operator to see whether all the articles are prepared and delivered to the packing operator.

  In addition, the shipping carton 30 provided in the chute 14 can be automatically supplied and discharged. Specifically, a supply / discharge mechanism for the shipping carton 30 is provided in the sorting device 10 to discharge the shipping carton 30 in which all items of one order are prepared, and to an empty shipping carton 30 where the shipping carton 30 is discharged. Should be supplied.

  In addition, when all articles of a plurality of orders are continuously arranged on the conveyance line 12, the operation mechanism is controlled by the control device 18 so as to sequentially put into the chute 14 after a predetermined time. It is configured.

  In the present embodiment, the shipping carton 30 is not particularly limited, and may be a carton (corrugated cardboard or the like) actually used at the time of shipping, or a container, a folding container, a plastic box, or the like may be used.

  In this embodiment, “sorting worker” and “packing worker” are expressions on the role, and different workers may be in charge of each other, or the same worker may serve as both. The “sorter” and the “packer” can also be a plurality of workers, for example, a sorter for placing articles on the tray 16 of the transport line 12 and the sorted articles. The sorting worker who confirms whether all the articles are in the shipping carton 30 may be another worker.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining the configuration of a sorting apparatus according to another embodiment.
The sorting apparatus 10 of this embodiment has basically the same configuration as the sorting apparatus 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted. To do.

Although the sorting apparatus 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is configured to have only one chute 14, the sorting efficiency may be reduced when the number of orders is large.
For this reason, in the sorting apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, a plurality of collecting members 20 and 21 are provided for collecting the articles dropped from the tray 16 on the respective chutes 14 and 15.

  In the sorting apparatus 10 configured as described above, when the control device 18 determines that all one-order articles are prepared on the transport line 12, the one-order articles are simultaneously placed on any of the plurality of chutes 14 and 15 or It is configured to sequentially input.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the tray 16 on which the articles A1, A2 are placed by the operation mechanism at the timing when it is determined that the articles A1, A2, A3 to which the sorting destination A is assigned are aligned on the transport line 12. The articles A1 and A2 are put into the chute 14.

  However, if the tray 16 on which the article A3 is placed is tilted in this state, the article A3 is thrown into the chute 15. Therefore, the tray 16 on which the article A3 is placed by the transport line 12 is chute. 14, the tray 16 on which the article A <b> 3 is placed is tilted, and the article A <b> 3 is put into the chute 14.

  In addition, when it is determined that the two orders of articles are all on the transfer line 12, the articles A1, A2, and A3 to which the sorting destination A is assigned are sorted into one chute 14 and are sorted. The articles B1 and B2 to which B is assigned are sorted so as to be put into the other chute 15.

  Thus, sorting can be performed efficiently by adjusting the number of chutes according to the number of orders. In addition, the unit of work in batch picking can be increased, and picking efficiency can be improved.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining the configuration of the sorting apparatus according to another embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the sorting operation of the sorting apparatus of FIG.
The sorting apparatus 10 of this embodiment has basically the same configuration as the sorting apparatus 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted. To do.

  In the sorting apparatus 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, not all the articles of one order are arranged on the transport line 12, and the stocking rate of the trays 16 becomes high. In the worst case, the articles are loaded on all the trays 16. Even if it is placed (the stocking rate is 100%), it is possible that not all articles of one order are aligned on the transport line 12.

  In order to prevent such a situation, the sorting apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment stores one-order articles in a state in which all are placed on the transfer line 12 (hereinafter referred to as “reach state”). A temporary standby unit 22 for temporarily collecting and waiting is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, since one-order articles in a reach state are collected in the temporary standby unit 22, new articles can be sequentially placed on the conveyance line 12. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the stocking rate from becoming 100% because all items of one order are not prepared.

  In addition, the control device 18 compares the information on the articles of each order with the articles assigned to the sorting destination placed on the tray 16 of the transport line 12 and the articles collected in the temporary standby unit 22. When it is determined that all articles of one order are aligned on the temporary standby unit 22 and the conveyance line 12, the tray 16 of the temporary standby unit 22 and the conveyance line 12 is moved to the chute 14 as shown in FIG. By placing all the articles of one order at the same time, one order can be sorted.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the temporary standby unit 22 may be a plurality of standby cases 23 provided inside or outside the loop-shaped conveyance line 12. In this case, it is possible to efficiently sort one-order articles in a reach state in one standby case 23 for each order.

  The shape of the standby case 23 is not particularly limited, and can be, for example, a box shape or a tray shape. Moreover, in the said Example, although it collects in one waiting case 23 for every order, it is also possible to make goods wait in another waiting case 23, respectively.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a loop-shaped standby transport line 24 provided inside or outside the loop-shaped transport line 12 may be used. As described above, when the standby transport line 24 is used as the temporary standby unit 22, it is not always necessary to collect each order, and the control device 18 determines which one of the reach-ordered articles is on the standby transport line 24. It suffices if it is configured to be able to recognize whether it is placed on the tray 25 for use.

In addition, the control device 18 issues an alarm to notify the operator by issuing an alert when the inventory rate of the transfer line 12 becomes higher than a predetermined alarm reference value (for example, the inventory rate 80% to 90%). Means 26 may be provided.
The timing for issuing the alert is preferably the timing for assigning the sorting destination to the article because the sorting operator places the article on the tray 16 of the transport line 12.

  By configuring in this way, before the sorting operator puts the article on the tray 16 of the transport line 12, he notices that the order is not aligned even if the article is put into the transport line 12, and the article put into the transport line 12. Can be changed.

  In addition, the conveyance line 12 includes an excluding unit 28 for excluding an arbitrary article from the conveyance line 12 when the loading rate of the conveyance line 12 becomes higher than a predetermined exclusion reference value (for example, 90%). Can be provided.

  In addition, as the arbitrary articles to be excluded by the exclusion means 28, all articles in one order on the conveyance line 12 are obtained by making the articles in an order with a low ratio of articles in one order on the conveyance line 12. The probability of being aligned increases, and sorting can be performed efficiently.

  Further, the articles removed by the removing means 28 can be returned to the sorting operator, assigned again to the sorting destination, and placed on the tray 16 of the transport line 12 to continue sorting.

  Further, as described above, the article is newly placed on the transport line 12 in a state where the stocking rate of the transport line 12 is higher than a predetermined alarm reference value, and thus all the one-order items on the transport line 12 are placed on the transport line 12. If the articles are not aligned or reachable, the article can be excluded by the exclusion means 28.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the conveyance line is described as an example of a pan type. Various modifications can be made without departing from the object of the present invention, such as being applicable to other transfer lines such as a conveyor type.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Sorting device 12 Conveying line 14 Chute 15 Chute 16 Tray 18 Control device 20 Collecting member 21 Collecting member 22 Temporary standby unit 23 Standby case 24 Standby conveying line 25 Standby tray 26 Alarm means 28 Exclusion means A1, A2, A3 Sorting destination Articles B1 and B2 in the order of A Articles C1 and C2 in the order of the sorting destination B Articles in the order of the sorting destination C

Claims (6)

A sorting device for sorting a plurality of articles for each sorting destination,
A loop-shaped conveyance line for conveying the article;
A chute for loading articles being conveyed by the conveyance line;
A moving mechanism for moving the article from the inside of the carrying line to the outside of the carrying line;
A control device for controlling the operation of the moving mechanism,
The controller is
When it is determined that all one-order articles are prepared on the transport line, the sorting mechanism controls the moving mechanism so that the corresponding articles are put into the chute from the transport line. The sorting apparatus further includes a temporary standby unit for temporarily collecting and waiting for the articles,
The controller is
Controlling the moving mechanism so as to move a single-order article in a reach state from the transport line to the temporary standby unit in a state where all are placed on the transport line, if one is placed. The sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The temporary standby unit is a plurality of standby cases provided on at least one of the inside and the outside of the transfer line,
The sorting device according to claim 2, wherein the control device controls the moving mechanism so as to collect the one-order articles in the reach state in one waiting case. The temporary standby unit is a standby transfer line provided on at least one of the inside and the outside of the transfer line,
3. The sorting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control device controls the moving mechanism so as to move the one-order article in the reach state to the standby transfer line.   5. The control device according to claim 1, further comprising alarm means for issuing an alert and notifying an operator when an inventory rate of the transfer line becomes higher than a predetermined alarm reference value. The sorting apparatus according to any one of the above.   The said conveyance line is provided with the exclusion means for removing arbitrary articles | goods from the said conveyance line when the stocking rate of the said conveyance line becomes higher than predetermined | prescribed exclusion reference value. The sorting apparatus according to any one of 1 to 5.

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