JP2525686B2 - Equipment for handling goods - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an article handling method and apparatus for transferring an article stored in a storage apparatus to an article unloading apparatus.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as a device for handling articles, there are JP-A-2-33005 (Prior art 1) and JP-A-61-232139 (Prior art 2).

The conventional example 1 is provided with a plurality of article storage masses in a grid pattern, and is provided with a cutting device that drops and cuts out a required number of articles stored in each article storage mass, and the same number of article storage masses as the cutting device. And a reserve tank for moving all the articles stored in each article storage mass to the article storage mass of the cutting apparatus, and the article storage mass of the cutting apparatus is When all of them are empty, the lower shutter of the reserve tank is opened to transfer all the stored items to the cutting device, and subsequently, it is disclosed that the articles can be supplied to the article storage mass of the reserve tank. ing.

Conventional example 2 discloses moving a storage container in which articles are stored to an article extraction position.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, Conventional Example 1 has the following problems.

Although a plurality of sets of the cutting device and the reserve tank are provided, since the sets of the cutting device and the reserve tank are arranged at a large distance in the vertical direction, the entire equipment becomes large.

Since each cutting device is largely separated from each other along the conveying direction of the spiral chute, a long conveying distance is required to collect the articles falling from each cutting device.

Since the reserve tanks are largely separated from each other in the vertical direction, the supply positions of the articles to the reserve tanks are largely separated from each other in the vertical direction, which makes it difficult to supply the articles to the reserve tanks.

Further, in Conventional Example 2, since the set of the cutting device and the reserve tank is not used, there is no provision of technical problems or the like in the article handling device using the cutting device and the reserve tank.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to improve the compactness of equipment, the ability to collect cargo from each cutting device, and the workability of supplying goods to each reserve tank in a device for handling goods using a set of a cutting device and a reserve tank.

[Means for Solving the Problem] The present invention is provided with a plurality of article storage masses in a grid pattern, and a cutting device that drops and cuts out a required number of articles stored in each article storage mass, and the same number of article storage devices as the cutting device. And a reserve tank for placing all the articles stored in each article storage mass on the article storage cell of the cutting device and arranging the article storage cell corresponding to directly above the article storage mass of the cutting apparatus. Then, when all the article storage masses of the cutting device are empty, the lower shutter of the reserve tank is opened to transfer all the stored items to the cutting device, and then the article storage mass of this reserve tank is In an article handling device capable of supplying articles from the front side of a reserve tank, (a) a pair of corresponding cutting devices and reserve tanks is provided from the front side to the back side of the article supply side. A pair of cutting devices for the rear side is arranged so as to be adjacent to the back surface of the reserve tank for the pair on the front side. (B) Below the cutting device for the front group and the cutting device for the rear group. A means provided with a chute, the chute is installed at an angle such that the distances from which the articles are dropped from each cutting device are substantially equal, and (c) the reserve tank of the back side group is horizontally moved to above the cutting device of the front side group. In addition, the reserve tank of the back side set and the cutting device of the back side set are provided with engaging means for accurately matching the article storage masses of the both sides.

[Operation] According to the present invention described in claim 1, the following effects are obtained.

Multiple sets are compact because each set is arranged in a staircase so that the cutting device on the back side and the cutting device on the reserve tank set are arranged on the back of the reserve tank on the labor side cutting device and reserve tank set. (Configuration (a)).

Since each cutting device is separated along the conveyance direction of the chute, and the article dropping distance from each cutting device to the chute is substantially equal, the collection distance of the articles falling from each cutting device can be made short (configuration (B)).

Since the reserve tanks on the back side can be moved horizontally above the cutting device on the front side, the supply position of goods to each reserve tank can be set to the front side, and the workability of supplying goods to each reserve tank can be improved. Can be improved (configuration (c)).

Since the backside reserve tank that can be moved horizontally can be positioned so as to be accurately aligned with the backside cutting device, it is possible to reliably transfer the article from the reserve tank to the cutting device (configuration (c)).

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 (A) is a plan view showing a picking system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 (B) is a main portion plan view showing a container transfer line, and FIG. 2 is a case supply device. Fig. 3 is a plan view showing Fig. 3, Fig. 3 is a front view of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is IV- of Fig. 3.
Fig. 5 is a plan view showing a main part of Fig. 1, Fig. 6 is a side view of Fig. 5, Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing a picking device, and Fig. 8 is picking. 10 is a perspective view showing a reserve tank and a cutting device of the apparatus, FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a reserve tank and a cutting device of the picking device, FIG.
9A is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 9, FIG. 10B is an enlarged view of part A of FIG. 10A, and FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a front reserve tank, FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the front side cutting device, FIG. 13 (A) is a perspective view showing the back side reserve tank, FIG. 13 (B) is a free roller arrangement diagram of FIG. 13 (A), and FIG. The figure is a perspective view showing the rear side cutting device, 15th
FIG. 15A is a perspective view showing an integrated shutter using a reserve tank, FIG. 15B is an enlarged sectional view of a portion B in FIG. 15A, and FIG. 16A is a modified example of the integrated shutter. FIG. 16B is a perspective view, FIG. 16B is an enlarged view of part C of FIG. 16A, FIGS. 17A and 17B are perspective views showing a shutter driving device used for the cutting device, and FIG. 18A. ) Is a perspective view showing a modified example of the shutter driving device, FIG. 18 (B) is a plan view showing a main part of a cutting device using the shutter driving device of FIG. 18 (A), and FIG. 19 is a shutter driving device. FIG. 20 (A) and FIG. 20 (B) are schematic views showing a cutting device using the shutter driving device of FIG. 19, and FIG. 21 is still another modification of the shutter driving device. Fig. 22 is a perspective view showing an example, Fig. 22 is a perspective view showing a cutting device using the shutter drive device of Fig. 21, and Fig. 23 is a reserve. Fig. 24 (A) and (B) are schematic views showing a drawer reserve tank, Fig. 25 is an enlarged view of part D of Fig. 24 (B), and Fig. 26 is a drawer reserve. FIG. 27 (A) is a schematic view showing a modified example of the tank, FIG. 27 (A) is a perspective view showing a modified example for explaining the frame structure of the picking device, and FIG. 27 (B) is an arrow E view of FIG. 27 (A). FIG. 28 is a perspective view showing a three-stage picking device, FIGS. 29 (A) and 29 (B) are schematic views showing the drawer reserve tank withdrawn state of FIG. 28, and FIG. 29 (A) is a plan view thereof. FIG. 29 (B) is a sectional view taken along the line YY of FIG. 29 (A), and FIGS. 30 (A) and 30 (B) are enlarged views of the essential parts of FIGS. 29 (A) and (B). FIG. 31, FIG. 31 is a plan view showing a picking system according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 32 is a flow chart showing the flow of articles in the picking system to which the present invention is applied,
FIG. 33 is a flow chart showing the control procedure in the picking system to which the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, the picking system 10 includes a case supply line 11, a case supply device 12, a fluidized shelf 13 (storage device), a picking device 14, and a container transfer line 15.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the picking device 14 includes a reserve tank 16 (article take-out device), a cutting device 17 (article cutting device), a collecting conveyor 18 (first carrying device), and a carry-in conveyor 19. (Second transport device).

That is, in the picking system 10, the article 1 is flown as shown in FIG.
As described above, the articles 1 are picked and loaded.

In response to the replenishment request to the fluidized shelf 13, the case 20 (container) in which the replenishment requested article 1 is stored is supplied to the case supply line 11.

The case supply device 12 supplies the case 20 supplied to the case supply line 11 to a predetermined position of the fluidized shelf 13.

In response to a request to transfer the picking device 14 to the reserve tank 16, the product 1 is taken out from the case 20 in the fluidized shelf 13 in which the product 1 requested to be transferred is stored, and all the products in the case 20 are taken out. 1 is transferred to the reserve tank 16.

The number of instructed articles 1 corresponding to the currently loaded container 21 on the container transport line 15 is supplied from the slicing device 17 to the collection conveyor 18 and received.

The articles received by the pickup conveyor 18 are collected by the input conveyor 19.

When the currently loaded container 21 on the container transport line 15 arrives at the payout exit (loading section) of the loading conveyor 19, the articles 1 collected on the loading conveyor 19 are loaded into the container 21.

In the picking system 10, the picking device 14 is a unit including a single collecting conveyor 18, a loading conveyor 19, and 20 sets of reserve tanks 16 corresponding to, for example, 20 kinds of articles 1 and a cutting device 17. It is built as a unit. In the picking system 10, for example, the first to fifth all five units of the picking devices 14 are arranged in series in the transport direction of the container transport line 15. Therefore, each time the container 21 conveyed by the container conveying line 15 reaches each of the first to fifth picking devices 14, the article 1 selected from 20 types is extracted from each cutting device 17 in the picking device 14. When it is supplied through the collecting conveyor 18 and the loading conveyor 19 and passes through all the first to fifth picking devices 14, the articles 1 selected from 100 types are loaded and the picking is completed. And
The fluidized shelf 13 includes all the first to fifth picking devices 14
In order to be able to replenish all 100 kinds of articles 1 to 100 reserve tanks 16, all 100 frontages will be replaced in parallel.

Hereinafter, each element of the picking system 10 will be described in detail.

(A) Case Supply Line (See FIG. 1) The case supply line 11 is composed of a case supply conveyor 31.

The case supply conveyor 31 has this picking system
For example, a storage facility such as an automated warehouse that stores 100 types of cases 20 that store all 100 types of articles 1 handled by 10 from a storage facility such as an automated warehouse is issued in response to a replenishment request to a fluidized shelf 13. Then, depalletizing with a depalletizer or the like, for example, one surface (one layer of articles 1 stacked on a pallet)
The case 20 accommodating the desired article 1 is loaded in units.

(B) Case Supply Device (See FIGS. 1 to 4) The case supply device 12 is composed of a stacker crane 41.

The stacker crane 41 is mainly composed of a crane main body 43 that is supported by upper and lower rails 42 and travels left and right along the front side of the storage side of the fluidized shelf 13, and a trolley 45 that follows the crane main body 43 via a case transfer conveyor 44. , The case 20 on the case supply conveyor 31, the case transfer conveyor 44 and the crane body 43
The case storage device 47 provided in the elevating unit 46 can supply the fluid to the frontage of the fluidized shelf 13.

Further detailed description of the stacker crane 41,
In addition to the case storage device 47, the three roller conveyors 49 for transferring the case 20 from the case transfer conveyor 44 to the case storage device 47 are mounted on the lift part 46 that can be moved up and down by the lift drive device 48 in the crane body 43. Are arranged in series. As the case storage device 47, a supply device including a roller conveyor with a centering guide 50 is used. The rollers of the case storage device 47 are arranged diagonally, and
The case where the centering guide 50 is supplied to the fluidized shelf 13.
The 20 is centered on the central portion of the roller conveyor of the case storage device 47 by a power cylinder (not shown) which is computer-controlled according to its size. Further, three roller conveyors 49 for transferring the case 20 from the case transfer conveyor 44 to the case storage device 47 are provided so as to be orthogonal to the case storage device 47, and the roller conveyor 49 at the center thereof has , Case transfer conveyor 44
Conveyor 51 for guiding the case 20 supplied from
Is attached. In addition to this, the crane main body 43 is provided with a traveling drive device 52 for self-propelling the crane main body 43, a crane control device 54 for controlling the traveling drive device 52 and the elevating part drive device 48, and the like.

In addition, a curved conveyor for transferring the case 20 from the case supply conveyor 31 to the case transfer conveyor 44 on the mounting portion 55 of the carriage 45 of the stacker crane 41.
56 and the conveyor 57 are located at the same height as the height of the case supply conveyor 31, and are sequentially provided. And the conveyor 56
The leading end of the case feed conveyor 31 is located close to the side edge of the upper surface of the case feed conveyor 31, and a guide conveyor 58 for smoothly introducing the case 20 into the conveyor 56 is provided on one side of the leading end of the case feed line. It is provided so as to project above 31.

Furthermore, the case transfer conveyor 44 in the stacker crane 41 is the roller conveyor 49 of the crane body 43.
One end of the crane body 43 is rotatably supported at the fulcrum 46A of the elevating part 46 of the crane body 43, and the other end is positioned at the same height as the case supply conveyor 31 so as to connect the conveyor 57 with the conveyor 57 of the carriage 45. And is rotatably supported on a fulcrum 55A of a mounting portion 55 of the cart 45.

(C) Fluid shelf (see FIGS. 1, 5, and 6) The fluid shelf 13 includes a case (a container such as a cardboard box or a plastic container in which the article 1 is stored and whose top surface is normally cut off) 20. Multiple rows and multiple columns to store
In general, each free space is provided with a free conveyor 61 that is inclined forward and downward so that the stored case 20 can be moved forward by its own weight.
At the end (front end) of this free conveyor 61, a case support 62
Are arranged to configure. The free conveyor 61 at each frontage is composed of a pair of roller conveyors, and the case receiving base 62 is laterally continuous along the frontage surface of a plurality of rows, and the frontage surface of each stage is A plurality of stages (for example, two stages) are provided in the vertical direction corresponding to the above. Also, the fluidized shelf 13
A take-out surface 63 of the case 20 is formed on the front surface of the pick-up surface 63. The take-out surface 63 corresponds to each unit of the picking device 14 of the first to fifth all five units described above. It is divided into zones. In the case of this example, each zone is set so as to take out each case 20 containing 20 kinds of articles 1 stored in the frontage of 10 rows × 2 stages = 20 pieces.

The articles 1 in the case 20 stored in the front sides of the fluidized shelves 13 correspond to the picking device 14 in the left-right and up-down directions.
It is supposed to be transferred to each scissor tank 16 of. That is, the frontages of the fluidized shelves 13 and the reserve tanks 16 of the picking device 14 that correspond in the left-right and up-down directions,
It is set to handle the same article 1.

A wheel that replaces a roller may be used as the configuration of the free conveyor 61.

Thus, a stopper 64 is provided between the free conveyor 61 and the case receiving base 62 at each opening of the fluidized shelves 13, and the case 20 stopped by the stopper 64 is attached to the case receiving base 62. Case take-out device 65 for taking out to the side
The case take-out device 65 is provided with an air cylinder 66.
The cases 20 are taken out one by one by projecting the elevating table 67 which is elevated by the above from the stopper 64. Further, reference numeral 68 denotes a case take-out operation button for operating the air cylinder 66, which is provided on the surface of each opening so as to be lined up with a transfer article display 69 which will be described later.

Further, a transfer article display 69 is provided at a position in front of each front of the fluidized shelf 13 which is easy to see. That is, in the picking system 10, when it becomes necessary to transfer the articles 1 in the case 20 in the fluidized shelf 13 to one of the reserve tanks 16 of the picking device 14, the picking system 10 is provided in front of the reserve tank 16. The transfer request indicator 70, which will be described later, is blinking, and the fluidized shelves facing the reserve tank 16 are provided.
The transfer article indicator 69 provided at the frontage of the fluidized shelf 13 that stores the case 20 in which the article 1 to be transferred to the reserve tank 16 is stored is made to blink, and this is displayed by the worker. Let us know.

In addition, when a transfer request to the reserve tank 16 is simultaneously generated in a plurality of reserve tanks 16, if one unit width of the picking device 14 is small, the transfer article display device
69, the transfer request indicator 70 is made to blink one by one,
If one unit width of the picking device 14 is large and two or more workers are arranged for each unit, a plurality of sets of the transfer article display 69 and the transfer request display 70 can be blinked simultaneously. Transfer item display 69, transfer request display
The 70 can also be configured by an illuminated push button that can be turned off by the operator after the transfer of the operator is completed.

(D) Picking device (see FIGS. 1 and 5 to 27) As described above, the picking device 14 has a plurality of types (for example, 20 types) for the single pickup conveyor 18 and the loading conveyor 19. A unit equipped with a plurality of sets (for example, 20 sets) of reserve tanks 16 and a cutting device 17 corresponding to the article 1 is constructed as one unit to facilitate the handling of the devices (see FIGS. 5 to 8).

Therefore, the picking device 14 sets the article take-out position 160 for taking out the articles 1 stored in each reserve tank 16 to the fluidized rack 1
The reserve tank 16 is set in two steps at a position opposite to 3, and the reserve tank 16 is arranged on each of the article take-out positions 260 (the cutting device on the back side is adjacent to the back surface of the reserve tank 16 on the front side).
17 is arranged), and the reserve tank 16 on the back side is configured to be movable above the article take-out position 260 to the front, that is, to the side of the fluidized shelf 13. That is, in the picking system 10, when the worker transfers the article 1 to the reserve tank 16 of the facing picking device 14 in the case 20 stored in each frontage of the fluidized shelf 13, it becomes empty. Move the reserve tank 16 from the article unloading position 260 to the fluidized shelf 1
Reserve tank 1 pulled out to side 3 and positioned on the side of fluidized shelf 13
After transferring the article 1 to 6, the reserve tank 16 in which the article 1 has been transferred is pushed back onto the article removing device 260.

The picking device 14 is equipped with the transfer request indicator 70 on the front of each reserve tank 16 as described above, and when the reserve tank 16 becomes empty, the transfer request indicator 70 blinks to indicate Inform the workers. At this time, as described above, the transfer article indicator 69 provided in the corresponding frontage of the fluidized shelf 13 also blinks. Since the reserve tank 16 on the front side does not move, each indicator 70 is attached to the indicator attaching member 70A which is a through member common to all the reserve tanks 16 adjacent to the left and right. On the other hand, the indicator 70 of the reserve tank 16 on the far side is attached to an independent indicator attachment member 70B for each reserve tank 16.

The picking device 14 has the cutting device 17 arranged below the article taking-out position 260 in which the reserve tank 16 is set. That is, in the picking system 10,
The picking device 14 includes a reserve tank 16 and a cutting device 17.
Are stacked one above the other, and all the articles 1 transferred to the reserve tank 16 are transferred to the lower cutting device 17 by opening the integral shutter device 71 of the reserve tank 16 and then the cutting device 17 The shutter device 72 of the above is opened to collect an arbitrary number of the above-mentioned articles 1 from the cutting device 17,
It can be cut to the side of 18.

At this time, in the picking device 14, each of the reserve tank 16 and the cutting device 17 is provided with a plurality of accommodating masses 73 and 74 (article accommodating portions) in a grid shape of 2 columns and n rows, and a fluidized shelf. The articles 1 stored in each case 20 stored in each frontage 13 at random or in a predetermined arrangement are transferred to each storage mass 73 of the reserve tank 16 by a worker's manual work, and then stored in the reserve tank 16. A device for cutting out the transferred article 1 by controlling the opening of the integrated shutter device 71 described above.
Transfer to each of the 17 storage mass 74, and by extension, this cutting device
The articles 1 transferred to 17 are cut out in units of the storage mass 74 by controlling the opening of each of the shutter devices 72 described above. The integrated shutter device 71 and the shutter device 72 are controlled by a picking control device (not shown) included in the picking device 14.

Then, the picking device 14 loads the articles 1 cut out as described above from a plurality of (for example, 20) cutting devices 17 forming one unit and supplies them to the container 21 on the container transport line 15. , And has the following load arranging device.

That is, the load arranging device is arranged below the slicing device 17 along all the slicing devices 17 of the picking device 14 constituting one unit, and at an angle such that the article dropping distances from the respective slicing devices 17 are substantially equal. The chute 80 to be installed, the above-mentioned collection conveyor 18 arranged along the cutting device 17 downstream of the chute 80, and the collection conveyor 18 arranged downstream of the collection conveyor 18 from each cutting device 17. It comprises the above-mentioned input conveyor 19 for collecting the articles 1 cut out into 18. Then, in the load arranging device, the delivery transportation speed of the collection conveyor 18 and the delivery transportation speed of the loading conveyor 19 are substantially proportional to the long delivery transportation distance of the loading conveyor 18 and the short delivery transportation distance of the loading conveyor 19. It is configured as follows. As a result, the articles 1 cut out from the cutting devices 17 along the longitudinal direction of the collecting conveyor 18 so as to be scattered on the collecting conveyor 18 are long and high-speed side due to the difference in conveyance speed between the collecting conveyor 18 and the loading conveyor 19. Collection conveyor 18
From the above to the loading conveyor 19 on the short and low speed side, and as a result, the articles 1 are densely collected on the loading conveyor 19 without being damaged.

The input conveyor 19 is a transfer speed transmission (not shown).
It has. The transfer speed transmission device is controlled by the picking control device, and the delivery transfer speed of the input conveyor 19 (the speed of delivering the article 1 to the container 21 on the container transfer line 15) is set to the collection transfer speed of the input conveyor 19 (collection conveyor 18). The speed is changed so as to be faster than the speed at which the article 1 to be paid out is received. As a result, the article 1 is transferred to the loading conveyor.
Immediately after receiving the goods into the container 19, they are immediately densely collected to complete the cargo arrangement, and in the next stage, the article group for which the cargo arrangement is completed is put into the container 21.

The reserve tank 16 and the cutting device 17 will be described in more detail below.

In the reserve tank 16, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the storage mass assembly 92 can be attached to and detached from the reserve tank main body 91, and the peripheral flange portion 92A of the storage mass assembly 92 is attached to the opening supporting edge portion of the reserve tank main body 91. It is designed to be loaded on 91A. The storage mass assembly 92 forms a plurality of storage masses 73 in two columns and n rows by the vertical and horizontal partitions 90 as described above.
A predetermined one or a plurality of articles 1 can be stored in each storage mass 73.

Further, the reserve tank 16 is provided with the above-mentioned integrated shutter device 71 at the bottom of the reserve tank main body 91. The integrated shutter device 71 is shown in FIGS. 9, 10 (A), (B),
As shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, the reserve tank body 91
The chain 94 is wound around the four wheels 93 arranged on the inner walls on both sides of, and the attachment 95 is attached to a part of the left and right chains 94 in the longitudinal direction corresponding to the bottom of the reserve tank body 91. The slats 96 are bridged between the left and right attachments 95, and an integral shutter 97 made of a continuous thin and slippery sheet is attached to the upper surfaces of all the slats 96. And integrated shutter device
The motor 71 controls the wheel 93 and the chain 94 in the forward and reverse directions by a motor 98 controlled by a picking control device, and opens and closes the bottom opening of the reserve tank main body 91 with an integrated shutter 97.
As a result, in the reserve tank 16, as described above, the integrated shutter device 71 is closed to store and hold the article 1 in each of the storage masses 73 described above, and the integrated shutter device 71 is opened to move all the articles 1 downward at the same time. The cutting device 17 can be transferred to each storage mass 74.

The integrated shutter device 71 is shown in FIGS. 16 (A) and 16 (B).
As shown in FIG. 7, a spindle 95A that is bridged between the left and right chains 94 is provided in the range corresponding to the bottom of the reserve tank body 91, which is a part of the longitudinal direction of the chain 94, and the upper surface of all the spindles 95A. An integral shutter 97 made of a thin, slippery sheet that is continuous with the above may be attached.

Further, as shown in FIG. 23, the storage mass assembly 92 of the reserve tank 16 includes a partition frame 90A, a central partition wall 90B fixed to the inner center of the partition frame 90A, a partition frame 90A, and a central partition wall 90B. It may be composed of a partition plate 90D that is detachably inserted into the provided slit 90C. At this time, partition plate 90D
Can be inserted into all or part of the slits 90C to form the required storage columns 73 in two columns and n rows in the storage mass assembly 92. Therefore, even if the type (size, number of required storage mass 73) of the articles 1 to be stored in a certain reserve tank 16 is changed, it can be easily dealt with by simply replacing the partition plate 90D with another slit 90C. . In addition, the number and size of the storage masses 73 are determined so as to correspond to all the articles 1 handled by the above-mentioned picking system 10 and slits.
Slits 90C are provided at the number of 90C and the respective intervals.

As shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the cutting device 17 is provided with vertical and horizontal partitions 102 in the storage mass assembly 101 and, as described above, has two columns and n rows corresponding to the storage mass 73 of the upper reserve tank 16. A plurality of storage masses 74 are formed, and each storage mass 74 is supplied from the storage mass 73 of the reserve tank 16 described above.
It is possible to store one or a plurality of articles 1. The storage mass assembly 101 of the cutting device 17 may be configured such that the partition 102 is detachable like the storage mass assembly 92 of the reserve tank 16 described with reference to FIG.

Further, the cutting device 17 is provided with the above-mentioned shutter device 72 for each bottom of each storage mass 74 of the storage mass assembly 101.
The shutter device 72 is shown in FIGS. 9, 10 (A), (B),
As shown in FIGS. 17A and 17B, the storage mass assembly 101
Each storage mass 74 is attached to the rotary shaft 103 provided near the lower end of both side walls of the
A shutter 104 corresponding to the above is attached, and a drive device 105 for driving the shutter 104 to open and close is provided on both outer walls of the storage mass assembly 101. At this time, the operating ranges of the drive device 105 and the shutter 104 are kept within the outer dimensions of the upper reserve tank 16 for compactness.

The drive device 105 of the shutter 104 is the storage mass assembly 101.
A guide housing 106 fixed to the guide housing 106, a cylinder 107 fixed to the guide housing 106, a roller support 108 movable up and down by the cylinder 107, and an upper end L-shaped bend of the shutter 104 supported by the roller support 108. Part 104A
The pressing roller 109 that presses down and the two guide rollers that are supported on both sides of the roller support 108 and are guided by the inner surfaces of both sides of the guide housing 106 to back up the reaction force exerted on the pressing roller 109 by the shutter 104. 11
It is configured with 0 and. As a result, in the cutting device 17, the required shutter device 72 is controlled by the picking control device.
And drives the shutter device as shown in FIG. 17 (B).
By extending the cylinder 107 of the 72, the shutter 104 is pushed and closed via the push roller 109 to store and hold the article 1 in the above-mentioned storage mass 74, and the cylinder of the shutter device 72 as shown in FIG. 17 (A). By contracting 107, the pressing roller 109 releases the pressing of the shutter 104, and the shutter 104 is opened by its own weight.
4 Article 1 can be cut out below.

In addition, in the picking device 14 shown in FIG. 10 (A), between the cutting devices 17 adjacent to each other on the left and right, the driving device 105 and the right cutting device 1 arranged on the outer wall of the left cutting device 17 are provided.
The driving device 105 arranged on the outer wall of 7 is arranged back to back. However, in carrying out the present invention,
As shown in FIGS. (A) and (B), the above-mentioned left side cutting device 17
The driving device 105 arranged on the outer wall of the right cutting device and the cutting device 105 arranged on the outer wall of the right cutting device 17 may be alternately arranged in one row. The space for 17 is further reduced, and the picking device 14
The overall size of can be made compact.

The drive device 105 of the shutter device 72 is shown in FIG.
It can also be configured by a driving device 111 as shown in FIGS. The drive device 111 includes a support plate 112 fixed to the lower end portions of the front and rear outer walls of the storage mass assembly 101, a support piece 113 attached to the storage mass assembly 101V, and a rotating shaft of the shutter 104.
103 supports the guide housing 11 on the support plate 112.
4 is fixed. At this time, the rotary shaft 103 and the guide housing 114 are provided so as to be common to the entire storage mass 74. The support piece 113 may be attached to the guide housing 114. The driving device 111 fixes the cylinder mounting bracket 115 to the outer wall of the storage mass assembly 101, fixes the cylinder 116 to the bracket 115, and pushes the roller 118 on the roller support 117 which can be moved up and down by the cylinder 116. And a single guide roller 119 is supported on the roller support 117 above the push roller 118. According to this, since the guide roller 119 is unified, the size becomes compact and the shutter 10
Since the rotary shaft 103 supporting the 44 and the guide housing 114 are used through, the structure is simplified.

The drive device 105 of the shutter device 72 is shown in FIG.
It can also be configured by a driving device 121 as shown in FIG.
The drive device 121 supports the rotating shaft 103 of the shutter 104 on a mounting bracket 122 fixed to the outer wall of the storage mass assembly 101, and also trunnion-supports the cylinder 123 on the mounting bracket 122. Then, two links 1 that form a toggle mechanism between the mounting bracket 122 and the shutter 104.
The link 125 can be driven by the cylinder 123 by bridging 24 and 125.

Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 22, the storage mass assembly 101 of the cutting device 17 is provided with partition walls 126 in the storage mass assembly 101 at the left, right, and center, respectively, and slits provided in each partition wall 126.
The partition plate 128 may be detachably inserted into 127.
At this time, the partition plate 128 is inserted into all or a part of the slits 127, so that the required storage columns 74 of 2 columns and n rows can be freely formed in the storage column assembly 101. In FIG. 22, since the size of the shutter 104 is set to the pitch of the slits 127, two adjacent driving devices 121 are operated to open the storage mass 74 for two pitches. At this time, the size of the shutter 100 may be changed to one for two pitches so that one driving device 121 operates.

Next, the structure for pulling out and moving the reserve tank 16 on the back side of the picking device 14 to the side of the fluidized shelf 13 will be described (FIGS. 11 to 14, FIG. 24 (A), (B),
(See Figure 25).

Both side peripheral edge flange portions 92A of the reserve tank main body 91 which configure the front side reserve tank 16 and the rear side cutting device 1
At both upper ends of the storage mass assembly 101 that constitutes 7,
Front and rear guide rails 131 and 132 that are continuous with each other are extended. Then, on each of the lower end portions of both inner walls of the reserve tank main body 91 which configures the reserve tank 16 on the back side,
Two front and rear free rollers 133 (means for horizontally moving) are rotatably supported, and the free rollers 133 are mounted on the guide rails 131 and 132 described above.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 13B, the left and right front free rollers 133 are displaced from each other in the front-rear mounting positions by P, and the left and right rear free rollers 133 are displaced from each other in the front-rear mounting positions by P. ing. This P is set to be larger than the joint gap between the front and rear guide rails 131 and 132, so that the free roller 133 can smoothly transfer between the guide rails 131 and 132.

In addition, the guide rail provided on the reserve tank 16 on the front side
A rail side stopper 134 is provided at the front end of the 131, and a reserve tank side stopper 135 is provided at the front of the front free roller 133 of the reserve tank 16 on the far side. Side reserve tank 16
The withdrawal limit position of is restricted by the engagement of the stoppers 134 and 135.

In addition, the guide rail provided in the reserve tank 16 on the front side
At the front end portion of 131, there is provided a withdrawal limit position holding stopper 136 that can be overcome by the front free roller 133 of the reserve tank 16 on the far side that stays at the withdrawal limit position and that engages with the rear surface of the free roller 133. ing.

In addition, at the rear end of the guide rail 132 provided on the cutting-out device 17 on the back side, the reserve tank 16 on the back side that stops at the original position is provided.
There is provided an original position holding stopper 137 which is overcome by the rear free roller 133 and is engaged so as to sandwich the front and rear surfaces of the free roller 133.

A handle 138 is provided on the front surface of the reserve tank 16 on the back side. As a result, the reserve tank 16 on the back side is
Is to move the free roller 133 along the guide rails 131 and 132 by the operation force applied to the handle 138 by the worker, move between the above-mentioned original position and the withdrawal limit position, and either of those positions. Be stopped at.

In the picking device 14 shown in FIG. 24 (A), a certain gap is provided between the rear end face of the reserve tank 16 on the front side and the front end face of the drawing device 17 on the back side. .
However, in the practice of the present invention, the gap may be eliminated as shown in FIG.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 27 (A) and 27 (B), the picking device 14 includes a frame member 141 made of H-shaped steel and grooved steel.
Alternatively, the reserve tank 16 and the cutting device 17 may be suspended and supported. That is, the reserve tank 16 is the flanges 14 on both sides provided on the upper end surface of the reserve tank body 91.
2 is supported by the lower flange portion of the frame member 141, and the cutting device 17 has both side flange portions 143 provided on the upper end surface of the storage mass assembly 101 supported by the lower flange portion of the frame member 141.

Incidentally, in FIG. 27 (A), the reserve tank 16 on the back side is shown.
Display replacement member to which the transfer request indicator 70 can be attached
Like the indicator mounting member 70A to which the transfer request indicator 70 of the reserve tank 16 on the front side is mounted, 70C is a through member common to all reserve tanks 16 adjacent to the left and right, and the reserve on the back side is Tank 16 is the above-mentioned indicator mounting member
It is pulled out as if it goes under the 70C.

Further, in FIG. 27 (A), a step portion 144 that functions as a guide rail is provided on each of the upper surface of the both side flange portions 142 of the reserve tank 16 on the front side and the upper surface of the both side flange portions 143 of the cutting device 17 on the rear side. Is provided, and the above-mentioned free roller 133 provided in the reserve tank 16 on the back side is mounted on this step portion 144.

Further, in FIG. 27 (A), a stopper 145 is provided at the front end of the upper surface of the upper flange of the frame member 141, and a pull-out prevention pin 146 is provided at the front end of the outer wall of the reserve tank 16 on the far side. The withdrawal limit position of the reserve tank 16 on the back side moving on the step portion 144 is restricted by the engagement of the stopper 145 and the pin 146.

In addition, both side flanges 142 of the reserve tank 16 on the front side
At the front end portion of the upper surface of the above, there is provided a car stop recess 147 into which the front free roller 133 of the reserve tank 16 on the far side, which stops at the above-mentioned withdrawal limit position, falls.

Further, at the rear end of the upper surface of the both side flange portion 143 of the cutting device 17 on the back side, the reserve tank 16 on the back side that stays at the original position is provided.
A car stop recess (engagement means) (not shown) into which the rear free roller 133 falls is provided.

Further, a floating prevention pin 149 is provided at the lower end portion of the outer wall of the reserve tank 16 on the far side, and the floating prevention pin 149 engages with the lower surface of the upper flange portion of the frame member 141 to allow the moving reserve tank 16 to move. Prevent it from rising.

(E) Container Transport Line The container transport line 15 stops the container 21 at which the article 1 should be picked from the picking device 14 at the article loading part by the loading conveyor 19 of each picking device 14 which is unitized as described above. In order to do so, as shown in FIG. 1 (B), the bar code reader 151, the stopper 1
Equipped with 52. That is, the container 21 transported by the transport conveyor 153 of the container transport line 15 is read by the barcode reader 151 on the barcode label attached to the side surface of the container 31, and the conveyor control device 154 determines the barcode. Based on the reading result of reader 151, the relevant container 2
It is determined whether or not 1 requires the input of articles at the input section. The conveyor controller 154 projects the stopper 152 to stop the container 21 when it needs to be loaded, and loads the articles 1 collected on the loading conveyor 19 as described above into the container 21. Subsequent container 21
Is caught up and stored in the top container 21 as shown in FIG. 1 (B). Then, when there is no need to insert the container, the stopper 152 is held in the lowered position, and the container 21 is allowed to pass therethrough. Upon completion of loading, the conveyor controller 154
The stopper 152 is lowered to start the container 21. The subsequent container 21 is also started. And container
21 is accelerated by the high speed separating conveyor 155 and separated from the succeeding container 21. This separation allows the container of the future
Before the container 21 reaches the stopper 152, a gap is formed between the containers 21. If necessary, the stopper 152 can be projected to stop the container 21. container
When 21 is detached and transferred from the conveyer 153 to the transfer conveyor 153, it is decelerated and sent to the next feeding section. The container transfer line 15 has a plurality of drive conveyors (not shown) that can independently transfer one container 21 arranged in series and controls whether the container 21 on the drive conveyor can be carried into the downstream drive conveyor. Then, it may be transported.

Next, the operation of the picking system 10 will be described with respect to (1) picking operation, (2) load / load operation, (3) reserve tank transfer operation, and (4) fluidized shelf supply operation (first). (See Figure 33).

(1) Picking Operation (Step S1) When an order (picking data for each container 21) enters the picking control device, the picking control device issues a picking command to the cutting device 17 (step S1-1).

The cutting device 17 follows the picking instruction according to the picking instruction.
The shutter device 72 is opened in units to cut out (pick) the articles 1 stored in the storage mass 74 (step S1-2).

The cutting device 17 repeats the above operation, and when all the storage masses 74 have no articles 1, the picking control device confirms that the shutter device 72 of the cutting device 17 is closed, and issues a replenishment command to the reserve tank 16. (Step S1−
3) The reserve tank 16 opens the integrated shutter device 71, and replenishes the articles 1 stored in the storage mass 73 to the storage mass 74 of the cutting device 17 (step S1-4).

Replenishment completed (integrated shutter device for reserve tank 16)
When 71 is closed), the cutting device 17 continues picking the article 1 (step S1-5).

(2) Collecting / Loading Operation (Step S2) The article 1 cut out from the cutting device 17 is the collecting conveyor 12
Is received and collected by the input conveyor 19 (steps S2-1 and S2-2).

When the container 21 that needs to load the articles 1 collected by the loading conveyor 19 reaches the loading portion of the loading conveyor 19 on the container transport line 15, the conveyor control device 15
Reference numeral 4 projects the stopper 152 based on the reading result of the bar code reader 151 to stop the container 21 at the loading section and load the articles 1 into the stopped container 21 (steps S2-3 S2-4, S2). -5).

The conveyor control device 154 starts the container 2 when the loading of the article 1 is completed. Container 21 is the first
~ All the articles 1 to be loaded can be sequentially loaded by sequentially passing through the loading parts of the respective picking devices 14 forming the fifth total 5 units.

(3) Transfer operation to reserve tank (step S3) When there is no more articles 1 in the storage mass 73 of the reserve tank 16 due to the above (1), the picking control device causes the picking control device to move to the fluidized shelf 13
In order to notify the worker of a command to transfer goods from the reserve tank 16 to the reserve tank 16, the transfer request indicator 70 and the transfer article indicator 69 provided at the frontage of the reserve tank 16 and the fluidized shelf 13 are blinked (step S3-1, S3-2).

Since the reserve tank 16 and the opening of the fluidized shelf 13 are opposed to each other, it is not essential to provide the transfer request indicator 70 and the transfer article indicator 69 on both of them.

The worker took out the case 20 from the frontage of the fluidized shelf 13 in accordance with the blinking transfer article display 69 and transfer request display 70 (pushing the case take-out operation button 68, took out the case 20 to the case receiving table 62). After that, the article 1 in the case 20 is taken out) and the article 1 is transferred to the corresponding storage mass 73 of the reserve tank 16 (steps S3-3 and S3-4).

The unit for storing the article 1 in one storage mass 73 of the reserve tank 16 is the minimum picking unit (minimum transaction unit), and an integer multiple of the storage mass 73 used this time is the number of articles 1 in the case 20. Set to be equal. Therefore, the same number of articles 1 are loaded into each storage mass 73 in units of the case 20. All goods 1 for 1 case are reserve tank 16
When the storage is completed in some of the storage masses 73, the remaining storage masses 73 in the reserve tank 16 are not used. Further, the reserve tank 16 may be attached with a seal or the like indicating the number of articles to be put into the single storage mass 73.

When transferring to the reserve tank 16 on the back side, by pulling the handle 138 of the reserve tank 16,
Withdrawing the reserve tank 16 to bring it closer to the side of the fluidized shelf 13,
The transfer work from the fluidized shelves 13 should be performed without difficulty.

When the transfer to the reserve tank 16 is completed, the worker pushes the transfer request indicator (illuminated push button) 70 of the reserve tank 16 to notify the picking control device of the completion of the transfer. Transfer item display 69, transfer request display 70
Also goes out.

When the transfer to the reserve tank 16 on the back side is completed, it is automatically detected by detecting that the reserve tank 16 is pushed back to the original position above the cutting device 17 on the back side and returned. (Step S3−
5).

(4) Supplying operation to the fluidized shelf (step S4) The picking control device or a higher-level control CPU (not shown) grasps the storage amount of the case 20 for each frontage of the fluidized shelf 13 and reserves the article 1. Each time transfer to tank 16 is completed,
Subtract the amount stored in Case 20. Then, when the picking control device or the upper control CPU confirms the occurrence of an empty space capable of storing, for example, one surface of the case 20 on the free conveyor 61, the case 20 corresponding to the frontage of the fluidized shelf 13 is formed.
A request for replenishing (article 1) is sent to a case supply control device (not shown) (steps S4-1 and S4-2).

In response to a replenishment request to the fluidized shelves 13, the case supply control device takes out the corresponding case 20 from a storage facility such as an automatic warehouse that stores pallets, depalletizes it with a depalletizer, etc. 20 is supplied to the case supply line 11 (step S4-3).

The case 20 supplied to the case supply line 11 is supplied to the corresponding frontage of the fluidized shelf 13 by the stacker crane 41 of the case supply device 12 and stored (steps S4-4, S4).
-5, S4-6).

Next, the operation of the picking system 10 will be described.

The article 1 cut out from the cutting device 17
Since the articles 1 received in a dispersed manner by 18 and cut out so as to be scattered on the collecting conveyor 18 can be arranged in advance so as to be collected on the loading conveyor 19, the goods can be efficiently arranged.

Also, the articles 1 cut out from each of the plurality of cutting devices 17 are
The articles 1 in a dispersed state are supplied to the collecting conveyor 18 in a distributed manner, and the articles 1 in a dispersed state are densely collected due to the difference between the delivery transportation speed of the collecting conveyor 18 and the collecting transportation speed of the loading conveyor 19. Therefore, the articles 1 scattered on the collection conveyor 18 can be collected on the input conveyor 19 without being damaged.

By transferring the articles 1 stored on the fluidized shelf 13 to the reserve tank 16 moved to the fluidized shelf 13 side, the transfer operation of the articles 1 can be easily performed.

That is, since the article 1 is stored in the frontage of the fluidized shelf 13 facing the reserve tank 16, the worker does not have to search for the frontage for taking out the article 1 to be refilled this time. By pulling out the reserve tank 16 on the back side to the side of the fluidized shelf 13,
The articles 1 can be transferred within a short moving distance. Since the two upper and lower reserve tanks 16 are arranged in a staircase so as to face the fluidized shelf 13 side, it is possible to transfer the articles 1 from one side on the fluidized shelf 13 side, and the working range of the worker. Can be made smaller. The worker can perform the work of transferring the article 1 according to the instructions of the transfer article display 69 and the transfer request display 70, and does not require skill. The reserve tanks 16 can be arranged in two stages in the front-rear direction to save space.

2 pieces of a plurality of articles 1 stored in a case 20 such as a cardboard box or a plastic container in a random or predetermined arrangement.
A plurality of storages 16 are stored in a reserve tank 16 having a plurality of storage masses 73 arranged in n rows and n columns, and the articles 1 are also arranged in 2 rows and n lines corresponding to the storage masses 73 of the reserve tank 16. After transferring to the cutting device 17 having the mass 74, the shutter device 72 provided along the side surface of the cutting device 17 opens and closes the shutter 104 of each storage mass 74, and is transferred to the storage mass 74. The stored articles 1 will be cut out in 74 storage mass units.

Accordingly, by storing a plurality of articles 1 stored in the case 20 in the storage tanks 73 and 74 of the reserve tank 16 and the cutting device 17, the articles 1 are stored regardless of the arrangement of the articles in the case 20. By simply storing the articles 1 in the masses 73 and 74, the desired quantity of the articles 1 can be taken out by automatic picking. Further, the drive device 105 constituting the shutter device 72 of the cutting device 17 can be compactly attached to both side walls of the storage mass assembly 101 of the cutting device 17, and the structure thereof can be simplified. Therefore, the plurality of reserve tanks 16 and the cutting device 17 can be arranged side by side in a row in a narrow space, and the space saving of the picking device 14 can be achieved. The reserve tank 16 and the storage masses 73 and 74 of the cutting device 17 may be arranged in one column and n rows.

28 to 30 show an embodiment relating to the three-stage type picking device 160, in which the reserve tank 16 and the cutting device 17 are vertically arranged on each of the article take-out devices 160 forming three stages of front, middle and back. Stacked and intermediate reserve tanks
The free roller 161 provided on the 16
Also, it is possible to move back and forth along guide rails 162 and 163 provided on both upper surfaces of the front reserve tank 16, and free rollers 164 provided on the rear reserve tank 16 are provided on both upper surfaces of the rear cutting device 17. Provided guide rail 165,
Also, it can be moved back and forth along a slide type guide rail 166 incorporated in the upper surface of the intermediate reserve tank 16.

The slide type guide rail 166 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), the sliding portion 1 of the slider frame 167
68 is rotatably supported by a support roller 169 provided at the upper end of the front inner surface of the reserve tank body 91 of the intermediate reserve tank 16, and upper and lower free rollers 171, 172 provided vertically at the rear end of the slider frame 169. Is supported by upper and lower guide rail portions 173 and 174 extending in the front-rear direction on the upper end portion of the reserve tank main body 91 in a rolling contact state. The free rollers 164 before and after the reserve tank 16 on the back side are provided with the guide rail 165 provided on the cutting device 17 on the back side and the guide rail portion 175 provided on the upper surface of the slide type guide rail 166.
The front free roller 164 of the reserve tank 16 on the far side and the front end of the slider frame 167 are provided with a reserve tank 16 side stopper 176 and a slider frame 167 side stopper 177, respectively. Cutting device 17
When further pulling out the reserve tank 16 on the back side pulled out to the slide type guide rail 166 side from above, the reserve tank 16 is integrated with the slide type guide rail 166 by the engagement of both stoppers 176 and 177, The above-mentioned upper and lower guide rail portions provided with the slide type guide rail 166 in the reserve tank body 91 of the intermediate reserve tank 16.
It can be pulled out along 173 and 174 (see FIG. 29 (A)). At this time, the slide type guide rail 166 engages the free rollers 171, 172 and the guide rail portions 173, 174,
By the engagement of the slide portion 168 and the support roller 169, the slide tank 168 is cantilevered by the reserve tank main body 91 of the intermediate reserve tank 16 and is pulled out together with the reserve tank 16 on the back side.

A slider frame 167 side stopper 178 is provided at the rear end portion of the slider frame 167, and a reserve tank 16 side is provided at the front end portion of the upper guide rail portion 173 provided at the reserve tank body 91 of the reserve tank 16 at the middle portion. A stopper 179 is provided, and when the slide type guide rail 166 is pulled out, the stopper 178 engages with the stopper 179 to regulate the pull-out limit position of the slide type guide rail 166. Further, a reserve tank 16 side stopper 180 is vertically provided at the rear end portion of the upper guide rail portion 173 provided in the reserve tank main body 91 of the intermediate reserve tank 16 and is provided on the slider frame 167 when the slide type guide rail 166 is pushed back. The upper free roller 171 provided against the stopper 180 restricts the push-back limit position of the slide guide rail 166.

In addition, the reserve tank body 91 of the intermediate reserve tank 16
The lower guide rail portion 174 provided on the
An original position holding stopper 181 at which the lower free roller 172 provided at the rear end of the 67 falls is provided. Further, the guide rail portion 175 provided on the slide type guide rail 166 has a pull-out position holding stopper 18 in which the front free roller 164 of the reserve tank 16 on the far side gets over and the pull-out position is held.
Two are provided.

In the three-stage picking device 160, if a worker cannot reach the handle 138 of the reserve tank 16 on the far side, a drive unit (not shown) such as a motor or a cylinder is used. The reserve tank 16 may be moved. At this time, in order to move the reserve tank 16 on the back side,
Indicator mounting member 70A for the reserve tank 16 on the front side
Tank withdrawal button 183 and transfer request indicator 70
The drive unit may be driven by pressing. That is, while the tank withdrawal button 183 is being pressed, the reserve tank 16 travels to the trouble and stops when the withdrawal button 183 is released. When the article 1 is transferred from the fluidized shelf 13 to the reserve tank 16 and the transfer request indicator 70 is pressed, the reserve tank 16 returns to its original position.

FIG. 31 shows an embodiment in which the fluidized shelf 13 in the picking system 10 of FIG. 1 is replaced with a rotary shelf 190, and the picking device 14 and the container transport line 15 are the picking device 10 and the picking device 10.
It has the same structure as in.

In the rotary shelf 190, the case 20 supplied to the case supply line 191 is supplied by the case supply device 192. The case supply device 192 has a case turn device 193 that turns the case 20 supplied to the case supply line 191, and a case 20 that is turned by the case turn device 193 that is vertically stacked on the rotary shelf 190. Elevator 194 that moves up and down so as to match the replenishment request frontage level of carousel 190, and pushing device 1 that pushes case 20 raised and lowered by elevator 194 into tray 195 located at the replenishment request frontage of carousel 190.
It is configured with 96. The rotary shelf 190 is provided with two pushers 197 each corresponding to each unit of the picking device 14 which is made into five units as described above. As a result, the rotary shelf 190 causes the pusher 197 to operate so that the case 20 for storing the transfer-requested article is opposed to the picking device 14 that has made the transfer request.
It can be extruded into 198. The worker transfers the article 1 in the case 20 extruded to the case outlet 198 to the reserve tank 16 of the picking device 14. The articles 1 transferred from the rotary shelf 190 to the reserve tank 16 of the picking device 14 will be hereafter referred to as the picking system 10 of FIG.
Picking and container transport line as in
It is thrown into the container 21 above 15.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, there are the following effects.

Since the rear side of the reserve tank 16 of the pair of the cutting device 17 and the reserve tank 16 on the front side, the cutting device 17 of the pair of the rear side cutting device and the reserve tank 16 is arranged, so that each set is arranged in a stepwise manner. , A plurality of sets can be compactly arranged (configuration (a)).

Since each cutting device 17 is separated along the conveyance direction of the chute 80, and the article dropping distance from each cutting device 17 to the chute 80 is substantially equal, the collection distance of the articles falling from each cutting device 17 is short. Can be distance (configuration (b)).

Since the reserve tank 16 of the back side group can be moved horizontally above the cutting device 17 of the front side group, each reserve tank
It is possible to set the article supply position to 16 to the front side, and improve the workability of supplying the article to each reserve tank 16 (configuration (c)).

Since the backside reserve tank 16 that can be moved horizontally can be positioned so as to accurately match the backside cutting device 17, it is possible to reliably transfer the article from the reserve tank 16 to the cutting device 17 (configuration (c)). ).

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment,
The article 1 may be transferred to the reserve tank 16 in units of a plurality of cases 20.

Further, the cutting device 17 may be omitted by replacing the integrated shutter device 71 of the reserve tank 16 with the shutter device 72.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, in an apparatus for handling articles that uses a combination of a cutting apparatus and a reserve tank, the equipment is compact, the collection performance from each cutting apparatus, and the supply of articles to each reserve tank. Workability can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (A) is a plan view showing a picking system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 (B) is a main part plan view showing a container transfer line, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a case supply device. , FIG. 3 is a front view of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is IV-IV of FIG.
FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the main part of FIG. 1,
FIG. 6 is a side view of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a picking device, FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a reserve tank and a cutting device of the picking device, and FIG. 9 is a reserve tank and cutting of the picking device. Sectional drawing which shows an apparatus, FIG. 10 (A) is sectional drawing which follows the XX line of FIG. 9, FIG. 10 (B).
Is an enlarged view of part A of FIG. 10 (A), FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the front side reserve tank, FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the front side cutting device, and FIG. 13 (A) is a back side reserve tank. FIG. 13 (B) is a perspective view showing the free roller arrangement shown in FIG. 13 (A), FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the rear cutting device, and FIG. 15 (A) is an integrated shutter used for a reserve tank. FIG. 15 (B) is an enlarged sectional view of part B in FIG. 15 (A), FIG. 16 (A) is a perspective view showing a modified example of the integrated shutter, and FIG. 16 (B) is FIG. 16 (A) is an enlarged view of part C, FIGS. 17 (A) and (B) are perspective views showing a shutter driving device used for the cutting device, and FIG. 18 (A) is a perspective view showing a modified example of the shutter driving device. FIG. 18 (B) is a plan view showing a main part of a cutting device using the shutter drive device of FIG. 18 (A), and FIG. 19 is another view of the shutter drive device. 20A and 20B are schematic views showing a cutting device using the shutter driving device of FIG. 19, and FIG. 21 is still another modification of the shutter driving device. FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing a cutting device using the shutter driving device of FIG. 21, FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the reserve tank, and FIGS. 24 (A) and (B) are drawers. FIG. 25 is a schematic view showing a reserve tank, FIG. 25 is an enlarged view of part D in FIG. 24 (B), FIG. 26 is a schematic view showing a modified example of the drawer reserve tank, and FIG. 27 (A) is a frame structure of the picking device. FIG. 27 (B) is a perspective view showing an arrow E of FIG. 27 (A), FIG. 28 is a perspective view showing a three-stage picking device, and FIG. 29 (A). ), (B) are schematic views showing the drawer reserve tank withdrawn state in FIG. 28, FIG. 29 (A) is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 29 (B). A sectional view taken along the line YY of FIG. 29 (A), FIGS. 30 (A) and 30 (B) are enlarged views of the essential parts of FIGS. 29 (A) and (B), and FIG. FIG. 32 is a plan view showing a picking system according to another embodiment, FIG. 32 is a flow chart showing a flow of articles in the picking system to which the present invention is applied,
FIG. 33 is a flow chart showing the control procedure in the picking system to which the present invention is applied. 1 ... Goods, 14 ... Picking device (handling device for goods), 16 ... Reserve tank, 17 ... Cutting device, 71 ... Shutter device, 73, 74 ... Storage mass, 80 ... Chute, 133 ... … Free rollers (means for horizontal movement)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of article storage masses are arranged in a grid pattern, and a cutting device for dropping and cutting out a required number of articles stored in each article storage mass, and an article storage mass of the same number as the cutting out device are provided. And a reserve tank for transferring all the articles stored in each article storage mass to the article storage mass of the cutting apparatus. When all are empty, the lower shutter of the reserve tank is opened and all the stored items are transferred to the slicing device, and then the items are loaded from the front side of the reserve tank to the item storage mass of this reserve tank. In an apparatus for handling articles that can be supplied, (a) a plurality of groups corresponding to the cutting apparatus and the reserve tank are provided from the front side to the back side of the article supply side, and the reserve group of the front side is provided. The cutting device of the back side set is arranged so as to be adjacent to the back surface of the tank, and (b) a chute is provided below the cutting device of the front side set and the cutting device of the back side set, and each chute is cut out. Installed at an angle such that the distance from which the articles fall from the device are approximately the same, (c) the reserve tank of the back side group is provided with means for horizontally moving to above the cutting device of the front side group, and further, the back side group. The reserve device and the cutting-out device of the rear side set are provided with an engaging means for accurately matching the article storage masses of the two, and an article handling device.