JP2518655B2 - How to sort goods - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for sorting articles suitable for sorting articles such as various articles using a sorting conveyor.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a large number of articles are conveyed by a sorting conveyor, and the articles are sorted by a chute or a belt conveyor, which are sorting transport means arranged in a large number along the sorting conveyor. . In the conventional sorting method, the sorting destination corresponding to the sorting purpose is set in advance for each chute or each branched conveyor,
According to the sorting data of the articles put into the sorting conveyor, control is performed so as to sort into a predetermined chute or a belt conveyor. The setting of the sorting destination is not changed during the work and is performed regardless of the sorting amount of the articles.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when there is a difference in the number of articles to be sorted, or when the number of sorting destinations of articles greatly exceeds the number of installed chutes, the following problems occur.

That is, when there is a difference in the number of articles, the waiting time of a chute with a small sorting throughput increases, and the sorting ability of the entire sorting system, that is, the sorting throughput per unit time decreases.

Also, if the number of installed chutes is smaller than the number of articles sorted, it is difficult to perform sorting at the same time, and post-processing is performed with an increase in unsortable articles (overflows), and further sorting is performed after pre-sorting. However, extra work such as performing the above process is required, and in any case, it is one of the causes of lowering the work efficiency of the sorting process.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of sorting articles which enables efficient sorting of articles.

[Means and Actions for Solving Problems] The object of the present invention is to detect the presence / absence of a sorting destination setting for each sorting / conveying means for sorting articles, and to sort the items corresponding to sorting data of the articles. Is set in any of the sorting transport means, the sorting destination is set in any of the sorting transport means for which the sorting destination is not set, and if there is no empty sorting transport means, sorting is already performed. To achieve by a sorting method of articles, characterized in that a preset sorting transportation means which has been set beforehand is specified and treated as an empty sorting transportation means, and the sorting transportation means can be set as a new article sorting destination. You can According to the above sorting method, the sorting operation can be efficiently performed by detecting the empty sorting transport means, sorting the articles, and reusing the sorting transport means.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

Note that this embodiment shows an example of application to a distribution center that delivers various packages, and FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram for executing the article sorting method.

Various information such as merchandise information, customer information, ordering / ordering information, and inventory information is input to the host computer 1, and the above information is comprehensively managed.

Among the above information, the microcomputer 2 stores information about sorting of goods (commodities), such as product name, quantity,
Sorting data such as the shipping destination is input, and the setting of sorting chutes and the like are managed based on these sorting data. For data transmission from the host computer 1 to the microcomputer 2, for example, a floppy disk (not shown) is used.

The control device 3 controls a sorting conveyor, which will be described later, so as to sort the articles into predetermined chutes according to the instruction of the microcomputer 2.

The barcode scanner 4 reads the barcode attached to the article and inputs the sorting data of the article to the microcomputer 2.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of the sorting conveyor line. The sorting conveyor 11 is, for example, a tiltable tray for loading and transporting articles to a predetermined chute position for sorting.
12 are connected endlessly. Further, around the outer periphery of the sorting conveyor 11, for example, a chute 13 which is a sorting conveying means for sorting articles is continuously provided. However, among the above shoots 13, 13a and 13b are a no-lead shoot and an overflow shoot, respectively.
It is provided for a different purpose than other shoots.

The workbench 14 shown in FIG. 2 is used by a worker to place an article on the tray 12 or the like, and the bar code scanner 4 is provided near the start position of the article.
Is provided.

Hereinafter, the method of sorting articles will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4 to 6 according to the drawings. The fourth
In the figure, the gate specifically means a sorting chute.

At the start of the sorting work, sorting schedule data (hereinafter referred to as schedule data) including order numbers, shipping destinations, quantities, etc. regarding the articles to be sorted is input from the host computer 1 to the microcomputer 2 via a floppy disk or the like.

The articles to be sorted are conveyed to a work table 14 by a conveyor (not shown) or the like, and are sequentially placed on the tray 12 automatically or by an operator. The tray 12 of the sorting conveyor 11 moves counterclockwise in FIG. A barcode is attached to a predetermined position of each article, but since the article moves counterclockwise, the barcode is read by the barcode scanner 4 immediately after the article is placed, and assortment data is input. . The above operation corresponds to blocks 21 to 23 of the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, if the barcode is not read, an instruction is given to sort the articles into the no-lead chute 13a as shown in blocks 24 and 25. The sorting data is transmitted to the microcomputer 2 and collated with the scheduled data as shown in block 26. If the item is unsorted after the above matching, the item is blocked.
As shown by 27 and 28, an instruction is given to sort into the overflow chute 13b. Next, if it is confirmed by the above collation that the product is a product to be sorted, and if the sorting destination of the product is already set to either chute, a chute is instructed as shown in blocks 29 and 30. Further, if the sorting destination of the article is not set to any sorting chute, an empty chute is searched as shown in blocks 31 and 32, and the sorting destination is set to any of the empty chutes. .. At the start of work, all the chutes 13 are empty chutes, and when the sorted articles are confirmed, for example, chutes closer to the workbench are sequentially set as shipping destination chutes.

The articles for which the sorting chute is instructed are conveyed to the position of the chute, and the sorting device is operated at that position to drop the articles into the set chute, and the articles are controlled to be accumulated for each shipping destination.

On the other hand, in the microcomputer 2, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, while monitoring the processing status of sorting planned goods by collating with the above schedule data, each shoot
Measurement of the elapsed time since the shipping destination was set for 13.
And the sorting rate is calculated.

To measure the elapsed time and calculate the sorting rate, as shown in blocks 31 to 34 in FIG. 4, a new shipping destination is set for the chute of the shipping destination whose sorting has been completed. When there is no such a shot, the shots whose majority of the sorting schedule has ended, that is, as shown by blocks 31, 33, and 34 in FIG. It is possible to increase the operating rate of the chute and deal with a large number of sorting destinations by using the new chute as a new shipping destination chute.

When the items to be processed for the shipping destination set for each chute 13 have been sorted, for example, the blue lamp 16 (end lamp) of the lamp display device 15 shown in FIG. 3 is displayed in the block 35 of FIG. Lights as shown.

On the other hand, when a certain time has passed from the setting of the shipping destination or when a predetermined amount of processing is completed or more, the red lamp 17 is turned on as shown in blocks 36 and 37 in FIGS. Instructing processing of sorted articles and preparation for receiving new sorted articles.

When the preparation for acceptance is completed, the worker operates the switch 18 provided on the lamp display device 15 to notify the microcomputer 2 that the chute can set a new shipping destination and the lamp 16 Or turn off 17. As a result, the chute with the lamp 16 or 17 turned off is handled as an empty chute, and the operating rate of the chute is increased. If there is no chute that can be forcibly terminated, the overflow chute or the no-lead chute can be instructed, or the sorting conveyor 11 can be instructed to go around and the bar code can be read again. After that, when the sorting of all the articles scheduled for sorting to the chute of the relevant shipping destination is completed, the chute is closed as shown in block 38 of FIG. 5, and the sorting result list is output. Then, as shown in block 39 of FIG. 5, preparation for receiving the next sorted article is performed, and the information is stored in the microcomputer 2. When the shipping destination is forcibly terminated, the out-of-stock list, which is block 40 in FIG. 5, is output and the information is stored.

Then, for each chute 13, the data regarding all the shipping destinations are checked, and after all the planned sorting of the goods is completed, the sorting results are written in the floppy disk or the like as shown in block 43 of FIG. The work is finished.

An example of the method of sorting articles has been described above.
It is also possible to change the sorting method as follows.

That is, when there is no empty chute, other shipping destinations may be redundantly set for the already set chute.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, according to the present invention, when sorting a large number of articles by purpose, the sorting destination of the articles is set by detecting the presence or absence of an empty chute, and the sorting is completed or a predetermined time is set after sorting is set. Since the chutes that have passed and the chutes that have been sorted by a predetermined amount have been displayed and reused, a large number of articles can be sorted efficiently using a small number of chutes.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a sorting system, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a sorting conveyor line, and FIG. 3 is a lamp display device. FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining sorting work, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are flow charts showing reuse of gates. Reference numeral 1 in the figure: 1 host computer, 2 microcomputer, 3 control device, 4 bar code scanner, 11
…… Belt conveyor, 12 …… Tray, 13 …… Chute,
15 …… Lamp display device, 16,17 …… Display lamp, 21 to 43
... It is a flow chart block.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hisaaki Hori 8-19-20 Higashisuna, Koto-ku, Tokyo To To Yokanets Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masafumi Torii 8-19-20 Higashisuna, Koto-ku, Tokyo To Yokanets Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Midoru Iwase 8-19-20 Higashisuna, Koto-ku, Tokyo To To-Yokanets Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Norio Yanagishita 8-19-20 Higashisuna, Koto-ku, Tokyo To To-Yokanets Co., Ltd. (56) References Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-45089 (JP, B2)

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for detecting whether or not a sorting destination is set for each sorting and conveying means to which articles are sorted, and whether or not a sorting destination corresponding to the sorting data for the articles is set in any of the sorting and conveying means. Detected, set the sorting destination to any of the sorting transport means for which the sorting destination is not set, and if there is no empty sorting transport means, specify the set sorting transport means that has already been set as the sorting destination. An article sorting method, characterized in that it is handled as an empty sorting transporting means, and the sorting transporting means can be set as a new sorting destination. 2. The sorting of articles according to claim 1, wherein the set sorting transport means is handled as an empty sorting transport means when the scheduled sorting processing of the set sorting transport means is completed. Method. 3. The claim 1 according to claim 1, wherein the set sorting transport means is forcibly terminated and treated as an empty sorting transport means when most of the scheduled sorting processing of the set sorting transport means is completed. A method for sorting the described articles. 4. In the vicinity of each sort conveying means, an operation means for displaying the end of the planned sorting processing and the forced temporary end, outputting a signal for the preparation for the acceptance preparation of a new sorted article, and stopping the display is provided. The sorting method for articles according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sorting and conveying means can be set as a new article sorting destination by using the sorting means.