JP2022100807A - Storage system and controller - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a storage system that can store articles highly densely and has a high degree of freedom of layout.SOLUTION: A storage system that comprises: a storage part which has two or more rows by two or more columns of storage regions, any of which is set as a carry-in/out region; a plurality of holding members which holds articles and is carried in and out of the storage regions through the carry-in/out region; and an unmanned carrier which is provided movably under the storage members carried in the storage part, and carries the holding member carried into the storage part to any of the storage regions. The holding members are stored in the storage part so that at least one of the storage regions is empty, and the unmanned carrier, when carrying one of the holding members out of the storage part, conveys any of the holding members to the empty storage region repeatedly without conveying a holding member which is not an object to be carried out of the storage part so as to move the holding member which is the object to be carried, to the carry-in/out region.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an article storage system using an automatic guided vehicle and a control device for an automatic guided vehicle.

In recent years, automated warehouses have been used in various facilities to efficiently manage goods. For example, the automated warehouse disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a storage space for storing luggage and a traveling passage on which a transport robot for transporting luggage travels.

In the automated warehouse of Patent Document 1, the traveling passage is arranged along the edge of the storage space. The storage space is divided in a grid pattern, and one container is stored in each compartment. The transfer robot is configured to be able to lift and transport the container.

When a container stored in the center of a storage space is discharged in the automated warehouse of Patent Document 1, one or a plurality of transfer robots first move from the traveling passage into the storage space, and the traveling passage and the shipping target are subject to delivery. Pick up one or more containers (hereinafter referred to as non-target containers) between the containers (hereinafter referred to as target containers). The transfer robot that picks up the non-target container returns to the traveling passage and stands by.

Next, a transfer robot different from the transfer robot that picks up the non-target container moves from the traveling passage into the storage space and picks up the target container. The transfer robot that picks up the target container moves along the traveling passage and leaves the target container.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-017141

By the way, in the automated warehouse of Patent Document 1, as described above, it is necessary to provide a traveling passage for moving and waiting the transfer robot outside the storage space. However, depending on the facility that uses the automated warehouse, it may not be possible to secure a space for the traveling passage outside the storage space, or it may not be possible to secure a sufficient storage space by providing the traveling passage.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage system capable of storing articles at high density and having a high degree of freedom in layout, and a control device for controlling an automatic guided vehicle of the storage system.

The gist of the present invention is the following storage system and control device.

(1) A storage unit having a plurality of storage areas of 2 rows and 2 columns or more in a plan view, and one of the plurality of storage areas is set as a carry-in / carry-out area.
A plurality of holding members that hold articles and are carried in and out of the storage unit via the carry-in / carry-out area.
An automatic guided vehicle provided so as to be movable below the holding member carried into the storage unit and to transport the holding member carried into the storage unit to any of the storage areas.
A smaller number of the holding members than the number of the plurality of storage areas are stored in the storage unit so that at least one of the plurality of storage areas is vacant.
When the holding member is carried out from the storage unit, if another holding member is located between the holding member to be carried out and the carry-in / carry-out area, the automatic guided vehicle is not a carry-out target. By repeating the transfer of any of the holding members to the vacant storage area without carrying out the holding member from the storage unit, the holding member to be carried out is moved to the carry-in / carry-out area for storage. system.

(2) The holding member is a pallet.
The storage unit has a plurality of support members provided so as to partition the plurality of storage areas and to support the pallet from below.
The storage system according to (1) above, wherein the automatic guided vehicle transports the holding member while passing between the plurality of support members.

(3) The automatic guided vehicle includes a main body portion configured to be movable in the horizontal direction, and an elevating support portion that is supported by the main body portion so as to be able to move up and down and supports the holding member from below (1). ) Or the storage system according to (2).

(4) A control device for controlling the automatic guided vehicle of the storage system according to any one of (1) to (3) above.
A control device that acquires position information in the storage unit of each of the plurality of holding members and controls the automatic guided vehicle based on the acquired position information.

According to the present invention, a storage system capable of storing articles at high density and having a high degree of freedom in layout can be obtained.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the automatic guided vehicle. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a method of transporting the holding member to the storage area (carry-in / carry-out area). FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an installation example of a storage system. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another installation example of the storage system. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of the holding member. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a control system of the storage system. FIG. 8 is a flow chart for explaining the control operation of the drive control unit.

Hereinafter, the storage system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Configuration of storage system)
1A and 1B are views showing a storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention, where FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a side view. Hereinafter, a case where the storage system 100 according to the present embodiment is used in a warehouse for storing articles will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the storage system 100 is provided, for example, on the floor 200 of the warehouse. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the storage system 100 includes a storage unit 10, a plurality of holding members 12a to 12h, an automatic guided vehicle 14, and a plurality of support members 16.

As shown in FIG. 1A, in the present embodiment, a predetermined space on the floor 200 is set in the storage unit 10. A plurality of storage areas having 2 rows and 2 columns or more are set in the storage unit 10 in a plan view. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 10 is composed of storage areas 10a to 10i arranged in 3 rows and 3 columns.

The plurality of support members 16 are arranged in the storage unit 10 so as to partition the plurality of storage areas 10a to 10i and to support the plurality of holding members 12a to 12h from below. As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the holding members 12a to 12h each hold the article 300 to be stored. In this embodiment, a pallet is used as the holding members 12a to 12h, and the article 300 is placed on the pallet. In FIG. 1A, the illustration of the article 300 is omitted in order to make it easier to understand the configuration of the storage system 100. Further, in other drawings described later, although the illustration of the article held by the holding member is omitted, it is assumed that the article is held by each holding member.

The storage unit 10 stores a smaller number of holding members 12a to 12h than the number of the plurality of storage areas 10a to 10i so that at least one storage area of the plurality of storage areas 10a to 10i is vacant. In other words, a plurality of articles 300 are stored in the storage unit 10 so that at least one storage area among the plurality of storage areas 10a to 10i is vacant. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the holding members 12a to 12h holding the article 300 are stored in the storage areas 10a to 10h so that the storage area 10i is vacant.

In the storage system 100, any one of the plurality of storage areas 10a to 10i is set as a carry-in / carry-out area for carrying the holding member into the storage unit 10 and carrying out the holding member from the storage unit 10. In the present embodiment, the storage area 10i is set as the carry-in / carry-out area. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the holding member holding the article 300 is carried into the storage area 10i from the outside of the storage unit 10. Further, the holding member holding the article 300 stored in the storage unit 10 is carried out from the storage area 10i to the outside of the storage unit 10. The loading and unloading of the holding member will be described later.

The automatic guided vehicle 14 is provided so as to be movable below the holding members 12a to 12h carried into the storage unit 10. Further, the automatic guided vehicle 14 conveys the holding members 12a to 12h carried into the storage unit 10 to any of the storage areas 10a to 10i, and supports each of the conveyed holding members by the four supporting members 16. .. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the automatic guided vehicle 14 will be briefly described.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the automatic guided vehicle 14. Note that FIG. 2 shows a case where the holding member 12a is moved from an arbitrary storage area to another storage area adjacent to the storage area.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the automatic guided vehicle 14 includes a main body 40, an elevating support 42 supported by the main body 40, and a plurality of wheels 44 supporting the main body 40. The main body 40 is provided with a drive mechanism (motor, power supply, control unit, etc.) for driving the elevating support portion 42 and the plurality of wheels 44.

In the present embodiment, the main body 40 is supported by a plurality of wheels 44 so as to be able to move in the horizontal direction (front-back direction and left-right direction) and to be able to make a super-credit turn. In this embodiment, omnidirectional moving wheels (for example, Mecanum wheels) are used as the plurality of wheels 44, respectively. The elevating support portion 42 is supported by the main body portion 40 so as to be elevated.

As shown in FIG. 2A, when the holding member 12a is moved from an arbitrary storage area to another storage area, the automatic guided vehicle 14 first moves below the holding member 12a. Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the elevating support portion 42 is raised, and the holding member 12a is lifted from the support member 16 by the elevating support portion 42.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2C, the automatic guided vehicle 14 passes between the support member 16 and the support member 16 in a state where the holding member 12a is supported by the elevating support portion 42, and is stored next to the automatic guided vehicle 14. Move to the area. After that, the automatic guided vehicle 14 lowers the elevating support portion 42 and puts the holding member 12a on the support member 16. This completes the movement of the holding member 12a.

Although the case where the holding member 12a is moved from an arbitrary storage area to the adjacent storage area has been described in FIG. 2, the automatic guided vehicle 14 may also move the holding member 12a to a storage area at a further distant position. Works in the same way. Specifically, the automatic guided vehicle 14 lifts the holding member 12a in an arbitrary storage area, passes between the plurality of support members 16, and moves to a target storage area. After that, the automatic guided vehicle 14 lowers the elevating support portion 42 in the target storage area, and puts the holding member 12a on the support member 16.

In the present embodiment, the automatic guided vehicle 14 transports the holding member carried into the storage area (carry-in / carry-out area) 10i from the outside of the storage unit 10 to other vacant storage areas 10a to 10h, and is carried on the support member 16. Put on. The automatic guided vehicle 14 transports the holding member to the other storage areas 10a to 10h each time the holding member is carried into the storage area 10i.

The holding member may be carried from the outside of the storage unit 10 to the storage area 10i and the holding member from the storage area 10i to the other storage areas 10a to 10h by a common automatic guided vehicle 14. It may be carried out by a different automatic guided vehicle 14. When both the carrying of the holding member from the outside of the storage unit 10 to the storage area 10i and the transportation of the holding member from the storage area 10i to the other storage areas 10a to 10h are performed by a common automatic guided vehicle 14, for example. The automatic guided vehicle 14 may transport the holding member carried into the storage area 10i to another storage area 10a to 10h and place it on the support member 16 without mounting it on the support member 16 in the storage area 10i.

On the other hand, when carrying in the holding member from the outside of the storage unit 10 to the storage area 10i and transporting the holding member from the storage area 10i to the other storage areas 10a to 10h by different automatic guided vehicles 14, first, the storage is performed. The automatic guided vehicle 14 that has conveyed the holding member from the outside of the unit 10 to the storage area 10i places the holding member on the support member 16 in the storage area 10i. After that, another automatic guided vehicle 14 waiting in the storage unit 10 transports the holding member from the storage area 10i to the other storage areas 10a to 10h.

Further, when the holding member is carried out from the storage unit 10, the automatic guided vehicle 14 transports the holding member to be carried out stored in any of the storage areas 10a to 10h to the storage area (carry-in / carry-out area) 10i. do. The automatic guided vehicle 14 does not carry out the holding member to be carried out to the outside of the storage unit 10 while the holding member to be carried out is carried to the storage area (carry-in / carry-out area) 10i. In other words, the automatic guided vehicle 14 transports the holding member to be carried out to the storage area (carry-in / carry-out area) 10i while passing through one or a plurality of storage areas.

Here, when another holding member is located between the holding member to be carried out and the storage area (carry-in / carry-out area) 10i, the automatic guided vehicle 14 stores the other holding member not to be carried out to the storage unit 10. By repeating the transfer of any of the holding members to the vacant storage area without carrying out from the storage area, the holding member to be carried out is moved to the storage area (carry-in / carry-out area) 10i. In the present specification, when another holding member is located between the holding member to be carried out and the storage area (carry-in / carrying-out area) 10i, the holding member to be carried out is transported to the storage area 10i. It means that another holding member is located on the path.

Hereinafter, a method of transporting the holding member to the storage area (carry-in / carry-out area) 10i will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a method of transporting the holding member to the storage area (carry-in / carry-out area) 10i. In addition, in FIG. 3, the case where the holding member 12c is conveyed to the storage area 10i in the storage unit 10 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

When transporting the holding member 12c to the storage area 10i with reference to FIG. 3A, the shortest transport route is the route for transporting the holding member 12c from the storage area 10c through the storage area 10f to the storage area 10i. .. However, since the holding member 12f is located in the storage area 10f, the holding member 12c cannot be directly transported to the storage area 10i. Therefore, the automatic guided vehicle 14 moves the holding member 12c to the storage area 10i while repeatedly transporting the holding member to the vacant storage area without carrying out the holding member other than the holding member 12c from the storage unit 10. ..

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the automatic guided vehicle 14 has the holding member 12f, the holding member 12c, the holding member 12b, the holding member 12e, the holding member 12h, the holding member 12f, and the holding member 12c adjacent to each other in this order. Move to storage area. As a result, the holding member 12c can be transported to the storage area 10i.

The holding member may be transported from the storage areas 10a to 10h to the storage area 10i and the holding member from the storage area 10i to the outside of the storage unit 10 by a common automatic guided vehicle 14. It may be carried out by the transport vehicle 14. When both the transport of the holding member from the storage areas 10a to 10h to the storage area 10i and the transport of the holding member from the storage area 10i to the outside of the storage unit 10 are performed by a common automatic guided vehicle 14, for example, unmanned. The transport vehicle 14 may carry out the holding member transported from the storage areas 10a to 10h to the storage area 10i to the outside of the storage unit 10 without mounting it on the support member 16 in the storage area 10i.

On the other hand, when transporting the holding member from the storage areas 10a to 10h to the storage area 10i and carrying out the holding member from the storage area 10i to the outside of the storage unit 10 by different automatic guided vehicles 14, first, the storage area The automatic guided vehicle 14 that has conveyed the holding member from 10a to 10h to the storage area 10i places the holding member on the support member 16 in the storage area 10i. After that, another automatic guided vehicle 14 carries out the holding member from the storage area 10i to the outside of the storage unit 10.

(Effect of this embodiment)
In the storage system 100 according to the present embodiment, as described above, when the arbitrary holding member is carried out from the storage unit 10, the automatic guided vehicle 14 transports any holding member to an empty storage area. By repeating this, the holding member to be carried out can be moved to the storage area (carry-in / carry-out area) 10i.

In this case, since it is not necessary to temporarily carry out the holding member that is not the target of carrying out to the outside of the storage unit 10, a space (traveling passage, etc.) for making the automatic guided vehicle 14 that supports the holding member that is not the target of carrying out stand by. It is not necessary to secure the space outside the storage unit 10. Thereby, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, even if the space for installing the storage system 100 is limited due to the wall of the warehouse or an obstacle in the warehouse, the limited space is fully utilized. Then, the storage system 100 can be installed. As a result, a plurality of articles 300 can be stored at high density.

Further, in the storage system 100 according to the present embodiment, the storage unit 10 may have a plurality of storage areas of at least 2 rows and 2 columns or more. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, even if the area where the storage system 100 can be installed is a complicated shape due to the wall of the warehouse or an obstacle in the warehouse, the number of storage areas is increased according to the shape. And the placement can be adjusted. As described above, since the storage system 100 according to the present embodiment has a high degree of freedom in layout, it is possible to reduce the introduction cost of the storage system 100 and to secure the degree of freedom of change and expandability after the introduction.

In the storage system 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the storage area 10i is set as the carry-in / carry-out area, but a plurality of storage areas located on the outer peripheral portion of the storage unit 10 are set as the carry-in / carry-out area. May be good. Therefore, for example, in the storage system 100 shown in FIG. 5, two or more of the storage areas 10a to 10d may be set as the carry-in / carry-out area.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the pallets are used as the holding members 12a to 12h, and a plurality of supporting members 16 are provided to support the pallets, but the holding members are not limited to the pallets and are supported by the storage system. The member 16 may not be provided. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when a car trolley provided with casters is used as the holding member 12, the support member 16 may not be provided. In this case, the automatic guided vehicle 14 does not need to lift the holding member 12 from below, and may move the holding member 12 while contacting the holding member 12 from below.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where a plurality of holding members are transported by one automatic guided vehicle 14 in the storage unit 10 has been described. However, in the storage unit 10, a plurality of holding members are transported by a plurality of automatic guided vehicles. May be transported.

(Control system)
Next, the control system of the storage system 100 will be described. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a control system of the storage system 100. As shown in FIG. 7, the control system of the storage system 100 according to the present embodiment includes a detection device 50 and a control device 60.

The detection device 50 detects the holding member located in each storage area of the storage unit 10. In the present embodiment, the detection device 50 includes, for example, a plurality of receivers provided for each storage area. Each receiver can detect the holding member located in each storage area by receiving the identification information for each holding member transmitted from the transmitter (RFID tag or the like) provided on the holding member. ..

The control device 60 is, for example, a terminal device such as a personal computer, a smartphone, or a tablet. In the present embodiment, the control device 60 includes an input unit 62, a storage unit 64, and a drive control unit 66.

Various information is input to the input unit 62 by the user. In the present embodiment, the input unit 62 is input with the identification information of the holding member carried into the storage unit 10 and the identification information of the holding member carried out from the storage unit 10.

The storage unit 64 stores the latest information of the storage unit 10. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 64 stores in advance the number and arrangement of storage areas in the storage unit 10. Further, the storage unit 64 stores the latest information (position information of the holding member, etc.) detected by the detection device 50. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 64 stores the position of the holding member stored in the storage unit 10. Specifically, the storage unit 64 stores the identification information of the holding member in association with the identification information indicating the storage area in which the holding member is located.

The drive control unit 66 controls the automatic guided vehicle 14 based on the information input by the user and the information given from the detection device 50 (position information of the holding member, etc.). Hereinafter, the control operation of the drive control unit 66 will be described.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart for explaining the control operation of the drive control unit 66. In the following, when the holding member is carried into the storage unit 10, the holding member is carried inside the storage unit 10, and the holding member is carried out of the storage unit 10 by a common automatic guided vehicle 14. However, a plurality of different automatic guided vehicles are used to carry the holding member into the storage unit 10, transport the holding member inside the storage unit 10, and carry out the holding member to the outside of the storage unit 10. It is also good.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the user inputs the identification information of the holding member to the input unit 62, the drive control unit 66 may have input the identification information of the holding member to be carried into the storage unit 10. It is determined whether the identification information of the holding member to be carried out from is input (step S1).

When the identification information input by the user is the identification information of the holding member to be carried into the storage unit 10, the drive control unit 66 determines whether or not the holding member can be carried into the storage unit 10 (. Step S2). Specifically, the drive control unit 66 determines whether or not at least two or more storage areas among the plurality of storage areas of the storage unit 10 are free based on the information stored in the storage unit 64. .. Then, when at least two or more storage areas are available in the storage unit 10, the drive control unit 66 determines that the holding member can be carried into the storage unit 10.

Next, the drive control unit 66 controls the automatic guided vehicle 14 to transport the holding member to a predetermined storage area in the storage unit 10 (step S3). In the present embodiment, priorities are given in advance to the plurality of storage areas in the storage unit 10, and the drive control unit 66 has the highest priority storage among the vacant storage areas. The automatic guided vehicle 14 is controlled so as to transport the holding member to the region.

In step S2, when two or more storage areas are not available, the drive control unit 66 determines that the holding member cannot be carried into the storage unit 10. In this case, the drive control unit 66 generates an alert signal (step S4). In step S4, under the control of the drive control unit 66, for example, an alert may be displayed on a display device (not shown) of the control device 60, or a warning sound may be output from a voice output device (not shown) of the control device 60. ..

In step S1, when the identification information input by the user is the identification information of the holding member to be carried out from the storage unit 10, the drive control unit 66 calculates a transport route for carrying out the holding member from the storage unit 10. (Step S5). After that, the process proceeds to step S3, and the drive control unit 66 controls the automatic guided vehicle 14 so that the holding member is carried out from the storage unit 10 according to the calculated transfer path. The method of calculating the transport route is not particularly limited. For example, information indicating a transport route for transporting the holding member to the carry-in / carry-out area (transport route information) is stored in advance in the storage unit 64 for each storage area, and the drive control unit 66 detects it by the detection device 50. The optimum transport route may be acquired from the storage unit 64 based on the position of the holding member to be carried out.

As described above, in the present embodiment, one or more storage areas can always be vacated in the storage unit 10, so that the automatic guided vehicle 14 can use the vacant storage areas to carry out the target. The holding member to be carried out can be carried out from the storage unit 10 without carrying out the missing holding member from the storage unit 10.

According to the present invention, a storage system capable of storing articles at high density and having a high degree of freedom in layout can be obtained.

10 Storage unit 10a to 10i Storage area 12, 12a to 12h Holding member 14 Automated guided vehicle 16 Support member 50 Detection device 60 Control device 62 Input unit 64 Storage unit 66 Drive control unit 100 Storage system 200 Floor

Claims (4)

A storage unit having a plurality of storage areas of 2 rows and 2 columns or more in a plan view, and one of the plurality of storage areas is set as a carry-in / carry-out area.
A plurality of holding members that hold articles and are carried in and out of the storage unit via the carry-in / carry-out area.
An automatic guided vehicle provided so as to be movable below the holding member carried into the storage unit and to transport the holding member carried into the storage unit to any of the storage areas.
A smaller number of the holding members than the number of the plurality of storage areas are stored in the storage unit so that at least one of the plurality of storage areas is vacant.
When the holding member is carried out from the storage unit, if another holding member is located between the holding member to be carried out and the carry-in / carry-out area, the automatic guided vehicle is not a carry-out target. By repeating the transfer of any of the holding members to the vacant storage area without carrying out the holding member from the storage unit, the holding member to be carried out is moved to the carry-in / carry-out area for storage. system. The holding member is a pallet.
The storage unit has a plurality of support members provided so as to partition the plurality of storage areas and to support the pallet from below.
The storage system according to claim 1, wherein the automatic guided vehicle transports the holding member while passing between the plurality of support members. According to claim 1 or 2, the automatic guided vehicle includes a main body portion configured to be movable in the horizontal direction, and an elevating support portion that is vertically supported by the main body portion and supports the holding member from below. Described storage system. A control device for controlling the automatic guided vehicle of the storage system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
A control device that acquires position information in the storage unit of each of the plurality of holding members and controls the automatic guided vehicle based on the acquired position information.

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