JP2680474B2 - Automatic warehouse controller - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Object of the Invention (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a warehouse shelf group that stores stored articles until delivery, and conveys the articles to each shelf of the warehouse shelf group to deliver the articles. It relates to a device that controls an automatic warehouse consisting of a stacker crane for loading, and it is accurate even when carrying out messy loading / unloading other than normal inventory management such as temporary placement, temporary removal, or replacement of articles. The present invention relates to an automatic warehouse control device capable of managing shelf inventory item information.

(Prior Art) Generally, a three-dimensional warehouse for goods is configured by a warehouse rack group that stores the stored goods until the shipment and a stacker crane that conveys the goods to and from the respective shelves of the warehouse shelf group. In an automated warehouse that stores items on the shelves and picks up the items from the stored shelves at any time, each shelf in the warehouse group is given a shelf address consisting of a series of numbers, and also for items that are stored on each shelf,
Inventory control is performed by attaching an identification code that identifies the article and managing the inventory of each shelf.

On the other hand, in the case of leaving an article from the warehouse shelf group, similarly, the article at the shelf address corresponding to the identification code of the article requested to be issued is issued and the identification code of the same shelf address is deleted from the shelf inventory information storage means. I try to register that it has become an empty shelf.

In this way, for each item sent to the warehouse shelf group, the item is stored in the empty shelves one by one, and when the delivery request is made, the shelf address for storing the item with the corresponding identification code is stored. The designated item is taken out, and the article stored in that shelf address is taken out and delivered.

However, in the automatic warehouse control device as described above, when the random storage, temporary removal, or replacement of the goods, such as random storage, other than normal inventory management, is carried out in the shelf inventory information storage means. If the identification code of an article and the address of the shelf become complicated, and once the inventory information of the inventory goes wrong, it may be difficult to correct and restore the inventory information. Or there was a problem that it could not be issued.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the conventional automatic warehouse control device,
Such as temporary storage of goods, temporary removal, or replacement
There is a problem in that when inventory information other than inventory management for normal warehousing / discharging is carried out, the inventory information on the inventory of the shelf goes out of order and the inventory inventory information cannot be managed accurately.

The object of the present invention is to reliably store goods by accurately managing inventory information on shelves, even when carrying out random loading / unloading other than normal inventory management such as temporary storage, temporary removal, or replacement of goods. , It is to provide an extremely reliable automatic warehouse control device that can perform warehousing.

[Means for Solving the Problems] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a warehouse shelf group for storing stored articles until delivery, and conveying articles to each shelf of the warehouse shelf group. In an apparatus for controlling an automated warehouse comprising a stacker crane for loading and unloading articles, a storage request and storage request receiving means for receiving a storage request and a storage request for articles from the outside, and a storage request received by the storage and storage request receiving means, Based on the shipping request and the determined travel route,
The stacker crane is moved to store and output articles to and from the warehouse shelf group, and storage / receipt processing control means for outputting the shelf address at the time of execution of the storage / delivery, and the article identification code together with the shelf address. Shelf inventory information storage means for storing as shelf inventory article information, shelf inventory article information in the shelf inventory information storage means, and a receipt request received by the entry / exit request acceptance means,
A route search control means for searching a moving route based on a shipping request and outputting the searched moving route as a moving route to the storage / receipt processing control means, and a shelf on the moving route attached to the stacker crane and moving the stacker crane. Identification code reading means for reading the identification code of the article existing at the address, and the identification code of the address corresponding to the shelf address output from the storage / receipt processing control means is read from the shelf inventory information storage means, and the read identification code And the identification code read by the identification code reading means are compared. As a result, when the two do not match, the identification code of the corresponding shelf address in the shelf inventory information storage means is read by the identification code reading means. It is provided with a comparison / update means for updating the code.

(Operation) Therefore, in the automatic warehouse control device of the present invention, while the stacker crane is moving, the identification code of the article existing at the shelf address on the movement route is read by the identification code reading means, and the shelf inventory information storage means is always provided. A comparison is made with the shelf inventory item information stored in. Then, as a result of this comparison, when there is a mismatched shelf address, the shelf inventory article information of the shelf inventory information storage means corresponding to the shelf address is corrected to the article of the identification code read by the identification code reading means. The storage information in the shelf inventory information storage means is updated and stored.

In this way, by efficiently utilizing the various facilities of the automated warehouse, it becomes possible to perform accurate inventory information management of inventory items, and to reliably store and issue goods in response to a storage request or a storage request. You can

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of an automatic warehouse to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 2, the automated warehouse comprises a warehouse rack group 10 for storing the loaded articles until the delivery, and a stacker crane 11 for transporting the articles to and from the racks of the warehouse rack group 10.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an automatic warehouse control device according to the present invention. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the automatic warehouse control device of the present embodiment has a storage request receiving means 1
A delivery request receiving means 2, a delivery processing control means 3, a delivery processing control means 4, a shelf inventory information storage means 5, a route search control means 6, an identification code reading means 7, and a comparison / update means 8. It consists of and.

Here, the warehousing request receiving means 1 receives the warehousing request a and temporarily stores it. Further, the delivery request receiving means 2 is for receiving the delivery request b and temporarily storing it. Further, the warehousing process control means 3 moves the stacker crane 11 based on the warehousing request a received by the warehousing request receiving means 1 and the determined movement route c to receive the goods into the warehouse rack group 10. Is executed and the shelf address d at the time of execution of the warehousing is output. Furthermore, the leaving processing control means 4 is the leaving request receiving means 2
Delivery request b accepted in step b and the determined travel route c
Based on the above, the stacker crane 11 is moved to carry out the goods to the warehouse shelf group 10, and the shelf address d at the time of the goods issue execution is output.

On the other hand, the shelf inventory information storage means 5 is for storing the identification code of the article together with the shelf address as the shelf inventory article information 9. Further, the route search control means 6 can perform based on the shelf inventory article information 9 in the shelf inventory information storage means 5 and the storage request and the output request a, b received by the input / output request reception means 1, 2. As much as possible, a movement route that can detect a large amount of shelf inventory information is searched, and this is output as the movement route c to the warehousing process control means 3 and the warehousing process control means 4. Further, the identification code reading means 7 is
It is attached to the stacker crane 11 and reads the identification code e of the article existing at the rack address on the moving route on which the stacker crane 11 moves. Furthermore, the comparing / updating means 8 reads the identification code f of the address corresponding to the shelf address d output from the warehousing process control means 3 and the warehousing process control means 4 from the shelf inventory information storage means 5 and reads the same. The identification code f and the identification code e read by the identification code reading means 7 are compared, and when the two do not match as a result, the identification code f of the corresponding shelf address of the shelf inventory information storage means 5 is identified. The identification code e read by the code reading means 7 is updated.

Next, the operation of the automatic warehouse control device configured as described above will be described.

In FIG. 1, when goods are first stored, the storage request reception means 1 receives the storage request a, and the storage processing control means 3 receives the stored goods by the stacker crane 11 from the warehouse rack group 10 requested. Control is performed to sequentially store the goods in the shelf addresses, the identification codes of the stored goods are assigned to the stored shelf addresses, and stored in the shelf inventory information storage means 5 as the shelf inventory article information 9. In this case, when the goods are stored in the warehouse shelf group 10, the shelf address d at that time is output.

Further, when the article is to be delivered, the delivery request receiving means 2
The delivery request b is received at, and the delivery processing control means 4 controls the delivery of the articles to be delivered from the rack addresses of the warehouse rack group 10 stored by the stacker crane 11.
In the shelf inventory information storage means 5, the identification code of the delivered goods is deleted from the stored shelf address, and the shelf inventory article information 9 in the shelf inventory information storage means 5 is updated. In this case, when the goods are delivered from the warehouse shelf group 10, the shelf address d at that time is output.

Here, when the warehousing process control means 3 or the warehousing process control means 4 processes the warehousing request a or the warehousing request b, the movement route c of the stacker crane 11 is given from the route search control means 6. That is, in the route search control means 6, based on the shelf inventory article information 9 of the shelf inventory information storage means 5 and the storage request and the output request a, b received by the input / output request reception means 1, 2. Stacker crane 11
In order to grasp the storage status of goods in the entire warehouse when moving goods, processing to search for a moving route that detects a large amount of shelf inventory item information without going through the same route as much as possible is performed. This is the storage processing control means 3,
It is given as a movement route c for the warehousing process control means 4. Since the algorithm of this route search control means 6 is a well-known fact, its detailed description is omitted here.

On the other hand, when the stacker crane 11 is moved to carry out the above-mentioned loading or unloading, the identification code reading means 7 attached to the stacker crane 11 causes the stacker crane 11 to be present at a rack address along the moving route. The identification code e of the article is read. In the comparison / update means 8, the identification code f of the address corresponding to the shelf address d output from the warehousing processing control means 3 and the warehousing processing control means 4 is read from the shelf inventory information storage means 5, and the read identification is performed. The code f and the identification code e read by the identification code reading means 7 are compared and collated. As a result, if the two do not match, that is, the shelf inventory item information 9 does not match, the identification code f of the corresponding shelf address in the shelf inventory information storage means 5 is read by the identification code reading means 7. Updated to e.

As a concrete example, in FIG.
When the stacker crane 11 passes through the moving route indicated by the arrow shown in the figure, which is determined by the route search control means 6, when the article A stored in the storage rack 10 is unloaded, the article B stored in the storage rack B, The identification code of C is read by the identification code reading means 7, and it is compared whether or not the identification code of the article with the stored shelf address matches the shelf inventory article information 9 of the shelf inventory information storage means 5, If they do not match as a result, the shelf inventory information 9 in the shelf inventory information storage unit 5 is displayed.
Is rewritten to be the storage information of the read article. As a result, the storage status of the articles and the shelf inventory article information 9 of the shelf inventory information storage means 5 always match.

As described above, the automatic warehouse control device according to the present embodiment includes the warehousing request receiving means 1 for receiving and temporarily storing the warehousing request a, and the warehousing request receiving means for receiving and temporarily storing the warehousing request b. The stacker crane 11 is moved based on 2 and the storage request a received by the storage request receiving unit 1 and the determined movement route c to store the articles in the warehouse shelf group 10, and The stacker crane 11 is moved based on the warehousing processing control means 3 that outputs the shelf address d at the time of warehousing execution, the warehousing request b received by the warehousing request receiving means 2, and the determined movement route c. Outgoing process control means 4 that outputs goods to the warehouse shelf group 10 and outputs the shelf address d at the time of execution of the goods issue.
And a shelf inventory information storage means 5 for storing the identification code of the article together with the shelf address as the shelf inventory article information 9, the shelf inventory article information 9 of the shelf inventory information storage section 5, and the entry / exit request acceptance section 1 Based on the warehousing request and the warehousing request a, b received in 1,2, a movement route that detects as many shelf inventory article information as efficiently as possible is searched, and the warehousing processing control means 3, warehousing processing is performed. The route search control means 6 for outputting the movement route c to the control means 4 and the identification code e of the article which is attached to the stacker crane 11 and exists at the rack address on the movement route on which the stacker crane 11 moves.
The identification code reading means 7 for reading the
The identification code f of the address corresponding to the shelf address d output from the shipping processing control means 4 is read from the shelf inventory information storage means 5, and the read identification code f and the identification code read by the identification code reading means 7 are read. e and the result of the comparison is that the two do not match, the shelf inventory information storage means 5
And the comparing / updating means 8 for updating the identification code f of the corresponding shelf address to the identification code e read by the identification code reading means 7.

Therefore, even if you make a random entry / exit such as temporary storage, temporary removal, or replacement of goods, other than normal inventory management, you can effectively utilize the equipment of the automated warehouse to obtain accurate inventory information of the inventory. It becomes possible to manage. As a result, even if there is a storage request a or a storage request b, it is possible to reliably store or ship the goods.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, while the stacker crane is moving, the identification code of the article existing at the shelf address on the moving route is read by the identification code reading means to constantly store the shelf inventory information. When it is compared with the shelf inventory article information stored in the means, and as a result, there is a mismatched shelf address, the shelf inventory article information of the shelf inventory information storage means corresponding to the shelf address is identified by the identification code. Since the information of the identification code read by the reading means is corrected and the storage information in the shelf inventory information storage means is updated and stored, the stock of the normal warehousing such as temporary storage, temporary removal, or replacement of the stock An extremely reliable automatic warehouse control device that can carry out accurate inventory inventory information management and perform reliable storage and retrieval even when carrying out mess other than management Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic warehouse control device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of an automatic warehouse to which the present invention is applied. 1 ... Warehousing request receiving means, 2 ... Warehousing request receiving means, 3
…… Depositing processing control means, 4 …… Departure processing control means, 5 ...
... Shelf inventory information storage means, 6 ... Route search control means, 7
...... Identification code reading means, 8 ...... Comparison / update means, 9 ...
… Shelves inventory item information, a …… Incoming request, b …… Outgoing request,
c ... moving route, d ... shelf address, e ... identification code,
f ... Identification code.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-2-33007 (JP, A) JP-A-57-180510 (JP, A) JP-A-54-47283 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An apparatus for controlling an automatic warehouse comprising a warehouse rack group for storing the stored articles until the delivery and a stacker crane for transporting the articles into and out of each of the warehouse rack groups, the apparatus comprising: The stacker crane is moved based on a storage / reception request receiving means for receiving a storage request and a storage request regarding the article from the storage device, and a storage request / a storage request received by the storage / reception request receiving means and a determined movement route. In addition to executing the goods receipt and the goods exit to and from the warehouse shelf group, the goods receipt / delivery processing control means for outputting the shelf address at the time of the goods receipt and the goods issue execution, the identification code of the goods together with the shelf address, and the shelf inventory. Shelf inventory information storage means for storing as article information, based on the shelf inventory article information of the shelf inventory information storage means and the warehousing request and warehousing request received by the warehousing / leaving request receiving means. And a route search control unit that searches for a movement route and outputs it as a movement route to the storage / receipt processing control unit, and is attached to the stacker crane, and exists at a rack address on the movement route on which the stacker crane moves. Identification code reading means for reading the identification code of the article, and an identification code of the address corresponding to the shelf address output from the storage / receipt processing control means, read from the shelf inventory information storage means, and the read identification code The identification code read by the identification code reading means is compared, and when the two do not match as a result, the identification code of the corresponding shelf address in the shelf inventory information storage means is read by the identification code reading means. An automatic warehouse control device comprising: a comparison / update unit for updating the identification code.