JP2542310Y2 - Sorting system - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) This invention relates to improvement of a sorting system used in a distribution process of goods, and particularly to speed up a delivery inspection work at a delivery destination.

(Conventional technology) In a distribution center for products for supermarkets and chain stores, etc., a collection operation is performed in which a required number of various products are collected in accordance with a request from each store. While transporting containers for different destinations, a picking method in which requested products are taken out from the product storage area provided along the transport route by the required number and collected in the container. While transporting the products to the containers provided in the multiple collection areas for each destination provided along the transport route. The adopted sorting system is specifically configured as follows.

That is, the sorting system includes a product transport unit that transports the product for each item, a plurality of collection areas for collecting ordered products for each destination provided along a transport route of the product by the transport unit, A number indicator for displaying the number of articles put into each collection area for each item, and the operator takes out the articles of each item from the transporting means that conveys these articles, and removes the articles. Each of the number displayed on the number indicator is supplied to the delivery container stored in each collection area.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) The products collected in the delivery containers in the respective collection areas in the sorting system in this way are taken out of the collection area after the collection work is completed, and the packing and other shipping are performed. After work, they are loaded on delivery vehicles and shipped to stores. In such a case, it is customary for each delivery destination to perform a delivery inspection operation in which the delivery slip and the like are collated one by one under the on-site supervisor.

By the way, in this type of sorting system, a plurality of delivery containers may be used for the same store during collection work. Conventionally, even in such cases, delivery slips and the like are issued independently of the contents of individual shipping containers, so if the contents of the shipping containers are not checked, they will be written on the delivery slip. It is not known in which shipping container the product has been placed, and there is a problem that the inspection work on site takes too much time and deteriorates the delivery efficiency.

Therefore, this invention establishes a system that enables quick inspection work at the time of delivery, even when multiple shipping containers are used for the same destination at the time of collection work in the sorting system. The purpose is to do.

(Means for Solving the Problems) That is, in the sorting system according to the present invention, a plurality of collection areas accommodating a delivery container for collecting ordered products by sorting destination along a transport route for transporting the products. In a sorting system which is provided and provided with a number display means for displaying the number of input ordered products in these collection areas, the product data such as the items collected in each of the collection areas, the number of the products, etc. Means for storing merchandise data to be stored, and a container operated by an operator when collection of the goods in the collection area has been completed in the delivery container where the goods have been collected and replaced with a next new delivery container When the exchange instruction means and the container exchange signal from the exchange instruction means are input, the data on the contents collected in the delivery container before the exchange by the time of the input are described above. And a control means for reading the data from the storage means and outputting the contents of the data from the printing means for each delivery container.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, when the collection in the collection area of the product in the collection area is completed and the operator replaces the product with the next new delivery container, the worker is required to perform the corresponding operation. When input operation is performed on the container replacement instructing means in the area, the control means reads out data on the contents collected in the delivery container before replacement from the storage means by that time, and reads out the contents of the data from the printing means. Output. As a result, a delivery slip or the like that matches the contents of the delivery container is issued, and the delivery inspection work can be performed quickly.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention is described based on a drawing.

The overall configuration of the sorting system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. As shown in FIG. 1, this sorting system has a conveyor 1 for conveying goods and the like, and both sides thereof. Are provided with collection shelves 2 along the transport path of the conveyor 1, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of pockets 3... 3 are provided in a plurality of stages on each collection shelf 2, and delivery containers 4. It is to be accommodated. Above each pocket 3, a number indicator 5 for displaying the number of items collected in the pocket 3, a location lamp 6 for lighting and displaying the collection location, and an input which is turned ON when the input of the item is completed. ON when replacing the completion key 7 and the shipping container 4
A display unit 9 having an exchange key 8 to be operated is provided. Note that each of the display units 9... 9 is provided with an independent location code.

On the other hand, in the conveyor upstream area 10 near the start end of the conveyor 1, a console 11 for performing work management and a label issuing machine 12 for issuing a delivery label to be attached to the delivery container 4 are provided. .

Next, the control system of this sorting system will be described with reference to FIG. 3. This control system has a repeater 14 connected to a host computer 13 provided in the distribution center or the like. The repeater 14 is provided with a memory, and receives a master file such as an order-received product and the number of orders for each store transmitted from the host computer 13 and a collection result for each destination store created based on the master file. Files and the like are stored.
The repeater 14, the console 11, the label issuing machine,
12 and the respective display units 9... 9 are bus lines 15
Are connected to each other via a PC to transmit and receive signals. On the other hand, the host computer 13 is connected to a slip issuing machine 16 for issuing a delivery slip or the like for each store.

Next, a collection operation using the sorting system having such a configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

That is, first, in the initialization stage before the start of the work, a master file including the ordered goods, the ordered quantity, and the like for each store is transferred from the host computer 13 to the repeater 14 (step S ₁ ). The repeater 14 creates a collection result file for each destination store based on the transferred master file.

When the initialization stage is completed, a collection operation is started. That is, in the conveyor upstream area 10, the worker places the product container 17 containing the first product at the start end of the conveyor 1.
After placing the product on 1b, the corresponding product code is input from the console 11. In this case, the console 11 may be provided with a barcode scanner, and the barcode attached to the product may be scanned by scanning the barcode.
The product code input from the console 11 is transmitted as an electric signal to the repeater 14 via the bus line 15, and the repeater 14 receiving the code stores the code in the master file as a search item. From the received order data, the store in which the product was ordered is searched, and the number of orders received for each store is displayed on the number indicators 5... 5 of the number display units 9. (Steps S ₂ and S ₃ ). That is, the number of orders received from the store A is digitally displayed on the number indicator 5 of the pocket 3 for the store A, for example. The location lamp 6 is also turned on at the same time.

Next, the worker takes out the product from the product container 17 conveyed by the conveyor 1 and, for example, displays the number displayed on the number display 5 of the display unit 9 in the pocket 3 for the store A where the location lamp 6 is lit. And put the product into the delivery container 4 of the pocket 3 and turn on the loading completion key 7 of the unit 9
Operation (step S _4). This ON signal is transmitted to the repeater 14 via the bus line 15. In this case, the location lamp 6 is also turned off.

On the other hand, the repeater 14 waits for input of the ON signal of the end key 7, when determining the input of the ON signal, and updates the current product record file corresponding to the pocket 3 (step S _5, S _6).

Here, when the delivery containers 4... 4 accommodated in the respective pockets 3... 3 become full, empty delivery containers 4 are replenished thereon as shown in FIG. At this time, the operator turns on the exchange key 8 provided on the display unit 9. This ON signal is also transmitted to the repeater 14 via the bus line 15.

On the other hand, the repeater 14 constantly monitors the operation state of each of the exchange keys 8... 8, and when the ON signal of the exchange key 8 is input, the input is performed based on the collection result file of the destination corresponding to the pocket 3. item label that describes the contents of and details of the destination, etc. to the point to be printed out from the label issuing device 12 (step S _7, S _8). The detailed label is attached to the container 4 by an operator.

Subsequently, the repeater 14 forwards the record file to the host computer 13 (Step S _9). The host computer 13 stores the collection result file in a memory. In addition, the repeater 14, as well as to create a current product performance file to a new, delete the old file (step S _10). Thereby, the added shipping container 4
The data relating to the contents of the goods collected in the above is stored in the newly created collection result file.

Then, the repeater 14 determines whether or not current products working of the material has been completed (step S _11). That is, for example, pockets 3 for all stores where the product a was ordered.
Then, it is determined whether or not 3 has been collected. In this case, if the collection operation of the item is not completed, the number display of the number indicator 5 is continued on the display unit 9 of the corresponding pocket 3. By maintaining the lighting state of... 6, the worker is notified of the presence of the pocket 3 that has not been inserted. Therefore, the worker looks at the lit location lamp 6, puts the product into the delivery container 4 according to the display of the number indicator 5 in the pocket 3, and then turns on the loading completion key 7. This series of operations is repeatedly executed until it is determined that the number display is not performed on all the display units 9. As a result, the ordered goods for each store are collected in the corresponding pockets 3... For one item.

When all collection work for each store of one item is completed,
Repeater 14 then determines whether the current article work all materials are completed (step S _12). When it is determined not to be the end, to return waits for the input of the following product code step S _2, the display unit 9 ... 9 in store for pocket 3 ... 3 that the appropriate item after entering the product code to collect goods, the The number data of the item read from the master file is output and displayed on each of the number indicators 5. As a result, the worker performs a sorting operation for the next product.

In this way, when the collection work of the products of the total ordered items from each store is completed, the transponder 14 puts the detail label describing the details of the contents and the delivery destination for each existing collection result file as described above. is printed out collectively from the label issuing device 12 (step S _13). That is, with the exception of issued items labeled in step S _8, so that the item label only the number of the remaining delivery container 4 ... 4 min is issued. These detailed labels are also attached to the corresponding delivery containers 4... 4 by the operator.

Further, the repeater 14 transfers each of the result files to the host computer 13. Therefore, the collection results file for each delivery container is individually stored in the host computer 13, and the computer 13 operates based on the data stored in these collection results files. And print out the delivery slips for the number of items 4 from the slip issuing machine 16 (step
S _14). Therefore, the contents of each delivery slip match the contents of the corresponding delivery container 4... 4, and the delivery slip can be easily compared with the actual article at the time of delivery. The time required for inspection will be greatly reduced.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, when the collection in the collection area of the product in the collection area is completed and the product is replaced with the next new delivery container, When the operator performs an input operation on the container replacement instructing means in the corresponding area, the control means causes the printing means to output the contents of data relating to the contents collected in the delivery container before replacement by that time. In addition, a delivery slip or the like that matches the contents of the delivery container is issued, so that the delivery inspection work can be performed quickly, and the effect of improving delivery efficiency can be obtained.

In addition, the delivery slip for each delivery container is not issued in advance before collection work, but is performed when a predetermined amount of products are collected in the delivery container and exchanged for the next delivery container. Since it is issued, it is not necessary to calculate the volume of the product to be collected in advance, and it is possible to avoid the trouble of recalculating the volume because the product does not fit in the delivery container during the sorting operation and does not run out. Problems such as an unnecessarily large space in the delivery container and an unnecessarily large number of delivery containers are avoided, and the sorting operation on the delivery side can be performed efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic layout diagram of a sorting system, FIG. 2 is a front view of a part showing the structure of a collection shelf in the system, and FIG. 3 is a control in the system. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the overall work flow. 3 ... collection area (pocket), 4 ... delivery container (delivery container), 5 ... number display (number display means),
8: exchange key (container exchange instruction means); 13: host computer (control means); 14: repeater (product data storage means); 16: slip issuing machine (printing means).

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] A plurality of collection areas accommodating delivery containers for collecting ordered products by sorting destination are provided along a transport route for transporting the products, and the ordered products are provided in these collection areas. In a sorting system provided with a number display means for displaying the number of pieces to be input, product data storage means for storing product data such as items collected in each of the collection areas, the number of products, and the like in each of the collection areas. Container replacement instructing means operated by an operator at the time of completion of collection into the delivery container where the goods have been collected and replacement with the next new shipping container, and a container replacement signal from the replacement instruction means When the data is input, the data regarding the contents collected in the shipping container before the exchange by the time of the input is read out from the storage means, and the contents of the data are read out from the printing means for the delivery. Sorting system characterized by a control means for outputting for each vessel.