JP3015749B2 - Stored goods transfer device in automatic warehouse - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in an apparatus for delivering and receiving articles in an automatic warehouse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an object delivery device in an automatic warehouse, an object delivery device using both a three-dimensional pallet stocker and a stacker crane robot is known. The three-dimensional pallet stocker has a large number of small and horizontal rooms for storing items stacked in the horizontal and vertical directions.Each of the small rooms is assigned an address, and the control device of the stacker crane robot refers to the file and stores it. The stacker crane robot accesses the small room specified by the address by checking the correspondence between the object and the address, and takes out the required storage items or removes the brought-in storage items from the empty address. It is designed to be stored in a small room.

There is a distinction between a pallet containing goods and an empty pallet, etc., and the pallets containing goods are sequentially stored in small rooms at vacant addresses. The pallet containing the goods can be newly stored in the small room, and consequently, the pallets containing the goods or the empty pallets are densely stored in the adjacent small rooms. There is no guarantee that Therefore, the stacker crane robot must move vertically and horizontally along the three-dimensional pallet stocker when removing an empty pallet or storing a pallet containing articles, which wastes access time. Connect.

[0004] Of course, if the addresses of the small rooms for storing articles are managed in detail, it is possible to block small rooms containing pallets containing goods or small rooms containing empty pallets. In the case of alternately storing pallets containing goods and taking out empty pallets, it is necessary to move the stacker crane robot vertically and horizontally across the blocks. The problem that the access time is prolonged remains unchanged.

Further, when it is necessary to sort the storage locations of the pallets containing the articles according to the types of the articles, it means that the number of the aforementioned blocks increases, and the processing operation becomes more complicated. Problem. Of course, it is also possible to arrange a three-dimensional pallet stocker in accordance with the number of types of articles (in this case, each of the three-dimensional pallet stockers corresponds to the above-described block). Must be equipped with a stacker crane robot, which increases the cost required to build the system, and even so, the stacker crane robot must operate vertically and horizontally. However, the access time itself is not so reduced.

[0006] Further, the stacker crane robot merely transfers the stored items to and from the three-dimensional pallet stocker serving as a storage space, and transfers the stored items to another transport means, for example, an unmanned transport vehicle. In order to do this, separate robots for entry and exit are required to do this, and the equipment becomes large-scale, which requires a large expense for attaching the equipment required for unmanned operation. There is.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art, to reduce the time required for delivery of stored items, to be inexpensive, and to facilitate sorting work according to the type of article. Storage device delivery device in a simple automatic warehouse.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a storage space formed by a plurality of conveyors arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction is superposed and arranged in two layers at an interval above and below the conveyor so as to match the direction of the conveyor. A handling robot including one end side of all upper conveyors in the operation range is arranged at one end of the storage space, and a pallet containing articles is stored in the lower conveyor, and an empty pallet is stored in the upper conveyor. The above object has been attained by a configuration characterized in that:

[0009] Since a handling robot is provided at one end of a plurality of conveyors arranged in parallel to transfer the stored items, the handling robot needs to move in the moving direction of the conveyor, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the storage space. In addition, the time required for delivery of stored items is reduced. In addition, since the handling robot is arranged such that the operating range of the handling robot reaches one end of all the conveyors for the storage space of the lower layer and the upper layer formed by a plurality of conveyors arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction, The handling robot can be integrated, and the integrated handling robot can also be used to transfer items to and from other transport means, for example, an unmanned transport vehicle.Therefore, separate robots for entry and exit are provided. There is no need to do so, and the cost required for building the system can be reduced. In addition, the lower storage space for storing pallets containing articles is made up of a plurality of conveyors arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction, making it easier to manage the stored items by using different conveyors according to the type of articles. It can be carried out.

[0010] Furthermore, the conveyor in the upper storage space is a driven conveyor that feeds the robot toward the handling robot, while the conveyor in the lower storage space is an inclined coasting conveyor that descends as it moves away from the handling robot. By doing so, the cost required for building the system was further reduced. The drive of the conveyor in the upper storage space is to ensure proper operation and to prevent danger of falling or falling of the stored items.In addition, the conveyor in the lower storage space is inclined coasting type. The conveyor is used because the arrangement position is low and there is no danger of falling or falling of the stored items.

In addition, lock pins for fixing and releasing the movement of the pallets are independently provided at one end of the lower and upper conveyors near the handling robot, so that when the stored goods are delivered, Stored items stored on the side of the space are prevented from falling or falling.

[0012]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the outline of the construction of a factory and a robot warehouse facility including the storage-object transfer device of the present embodiment. In this example, an injection molding factory and a robot for stocking molded products produced therefrom. An example of a warehouse facility is shown.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, this equipment generally comprises a plurality of molding cells Ai provided in an injection molding factory, a centralized management device B for managing these cells, and a warehouse cell constituting a robot warehouse. C and a transport cell D for exchanging molded products and pallets between a plurality of molding cells Ai and a warehouse cell C in the injection molding factory.

Each of the molding cells Ai is composed of one injection molding machine ai and its control device, and the injection molding machine ai
And a control device for the handling robot bi. The control device for the injection molding machine ai and the control device for the handling robot bi are connected so that data can be transmitted by an RS232C cable. The control device of each injection molding machine ai is connected to the central control device B via the Ethernet line 100.

The transfer cell D is composed of all the molding cells Ai.
Track 1 laid so as to communicate with the warehouse cell C
01, a plurality of automatic guided vehicles 102, a transport controller 103 for controlling the automatic guided vehicles 102 and the like, and a transport controller 103 disposed near the home position of the automatic guided vehicles 102 on the track 101.
Indicator 10 for data transmission by optical communication with the automatic guided vehicle 102, which is wired or wirelessly connected to
4, and each molding cell Ai provided between each molding cell Ai and the track 101 to transfer molded products and pallets between each molding cell Ai and the automatic guided vehicle 102
Each of the conveyor stations Ei. The automatic guided vehicle 102 has its own control device,
Each movement route to each molding cell Ai starting from the home position described above is programmed in advance.

Each of the conveyor stations Ei includes a conveyor station sequencer for controlling the transfer of pallets, and two pallet mounting portions Eia and Eib for mounting pallets containing molded products or empty pallets. Having a transport indicator 104 and an unmanned transport vehicle 102
In the same manner as described above, data transmission by optical communication can be performed between the sequencer for the conveyor station and the automatic guided vehicle 102.

The transport controller 103 is connected to the central control device B via the Ethernet line 100. The Ethernet line 100 has schedule storage means 105 for storing data relating to the operation schedule of each injection molding machine ai, and Logging data storage means 106 for storing the operation history and the like of each injection molding machine ai and the like, and common information storage means 107 for storing request signals and data required for information transmission between cells. Is connected. Each of these storage means is constituted by a storage medium such as a hard disk and its drive unit. Of these, at least the common information storage means 107 can write and call data from any of the central control device B, the control device of each injection molding machine ai, and the transport controller 103. The simplest is that the central management device B is a server machine, these storage means are placed under its control, and the other control devices are regarded as client machines.
This is a method of inputting / outputting information via a PC.

As shown in the plan view of FIG. 2A and the side view of FIG. 2B, the warehouse cell C has two storage spaces 108a and 108b formed by a plurality of conveyors.
A pallet stocker 108 configured by stacking vertically at intervals, a handling robot 109 provided at one end of the pallet stocker 108, and
It is composed of a robot controller 110 and a label printer 111 connected to the transport controller 103.

The lower storage space 108a and the upper storage space 10 in the pallet stocker 108
As shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), 8b is an inclined-coasting-type conveyor 112a-11 of 8 lanes each.
2h and the driven conveyors 113a to 113h. In short, the inclined coasting type conveyor here means,
This is a conveyor having a configuration for moving the stored items on the conveyor using the weight of the stored items and the gravity. In this embodiment, the pallet 114a containing the molded product carried by the handling robot 109 is used. Since the side of the handling robot 109 is set to be upstream and sent to the downstream side of the inclined coasting conveyors 112a to 112h, all the inclined coasting conveyors 112a to 112h in the lower storage space 108a are separated from the handling robot 109. Are arranged so as to gradually descend along with. The moving means required for coasting is constituted by rollers or the like spread on inclined coasting conveyors 112a to 112h.

In the upper storage space 108b, the empty pallets 114b stored in the storage space 108b are sequentially drawn to the handling robot 109 side and taken out, so that the driven conveyors 113a to 113h are driven. Empty pallet 114b by
The feeding direction is just the inclined coasting type conveyor 112a-1.
The direction is opposite to that at 12h. Although the driving means is not particularly shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, it is provided individually for each of the conveyors 113a to 113h. When a plurality of types of pallets are used, the types of pallets are placed for each lane on the conveyors 113a to 113h in the upper storage space 108b.

Lock pins 115 for fixing and releasing the movement of the pallets 114a and 114b are provided on the upstream side (the side near the handling robot 109) of the inclined coasting conveyors 112a to 112h and the driving conveyors 113a to 113h, respectively. Is fixed. Strictly speaking,
The arrangement position of the lock pins 115 is the inclined coasting conveyor 1
The pallet 1 is moved from the downstream end of each of the driven conveyers 113a to 113h to a position which is downstream from the upstream end of the pallets 114a by one pitch of the pallet 114a.
It is located on the upstream side by one pitch of the width of 14b,
The lock pin 115 is provided at one place for each conveyor.

The drive conveyor is used as the conveyor in the upper storage space 108b in order to ensure proper operation and to prevent danger of falling or falling of stored items.
The reason why the conveyor of the lower storage space 108a is an inclined coasting type conveyor is that the position of the conveyor is low and there is no danger of falling or falling of the stored items. Since the upper storage space 108b only stores the empty pallets 114b, it does not require much structural strength, and the supporting columns 116 for supporting the pallets 114b are inexpensive.

The handling robot 109 is an articulated industrial robot provided with a manipulator at its tip for holding the edge of a pallet, and its operating range is as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Type conveyor 112a-1
12h and all the upstream ends of the driven conveyors 113a to 113h. In addition, 117 is a temporary pallet for empty pallets, which is provided within the operation range of the handling robot 109. When a plurality of types of pallets are used, naturally, the number of temporary pallets 117 for empty pallets also becomes plural. Reference numeral 119 denotes a pallet loading position, that is, a home position of the automatic guided vehicle 102.

When it is necessary to store a large amount of pallets in the lower storage space 108a and the upper storage space 108b, it is only necessary to lengthen each conveyor. The conventional stacker crane robot had to move vertically and horizontally along the longitudinal direction of the three-dimensional pallet stocker, and thus had a problem in access time and the like. It is not necessary to move in the direction, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor, and it is possible to always transfer the contents at the end position of each conveyor, so that there is no waste in terms of access time.

Further, since the types of pallets can be sorted and stored for each lane of the conveyor, the necessary pallets can be easily taken out and stored simply by accessing the end of one of the conveyors. it can.

Temporary placing table 117 for pallets and automatic guided vehicle 1
Since the home position 119 of 02 is also within the operation range of the handling robot 109, the handling robot 109 can handle all of the processing related to the loading and unloading of the stored items.

In order to start the automatic molding operation, the collection of molded products and the automatic pallet exchange operation by operating all of these systems, first, a database such as a molding schedule required for the entire processing operation is prepared. Must be created.

In short, the database of the molding schedule is a file in which a set of data for specifying the contents of the injection molding operation is put together, the name of the molding cell to be used for the injection molding operation specified by this file, and the execution of the file. This is a database that summarizes the combination with the ranking. A set of data for specifying the contents of the injection molding operation includes, for example, a mold to be attached to the injection molding machine,
Resin to be used, molding conditions, operation program of handling robot as pallet changing device for injection molding machine, type of pallet to be used for collecting molded products, number of production per lot, total number of lots, etc. is there.

When a molding operation is performed by a single injection molding machine, a continuous molding operation can be performed if a set of data for specifying the contents of the injection molding operation is prepared. However, a plurality of molding cells are used. In order to perform the injection molding work in parallel and time-sequentially for each molding cell, it is necessary to determine in advance which file is to be worked in each molding cell in what order. This is the data on the combination of the name and execution order of the molding cell to be used for the injection molding work specified by the file, and this data contains a set of data for specifying the contents of the aforementioned injection molding work. A database of the molding schedule is obtained by adding all of them. Naturally, when the production number and the total lot number for each lot are simultaneously specified in the file, it means that the continuous molding operation under the same condition is divided into a plurality of times and executed.

A database such as a molding schedule is prepared in advance by an operator (superuser or the like) using the central management device B or the like, and stored in the schedule storage means 105.

In order to operate the system, first, the operator of each cell activates the control device of each injection molding machine ai, operates its MDI unit, and from the schedule storage means 105 via the central management device B. The file of the first operation schedule set for the cell Ai is read, and the information is displayed on the display unit of the injection molding machine. It should be noted that the name of the file to be executed in the injection molding machine with the cell number Ai, that is, the number of the injection molding work being performed in the schedule on the injection molding machine with the cell number Ai is always centrally managed. Recognized by device B.

The information displayed here is, as described above,
Mold to be mounted on injection molding machine, resin to be used, molding conditions, operation program of handling robot to be pallet changing device for injection molding machine, type of pallet to be used for collecting molded products, production for each lot Number, and
For example, the total number of lots.

Of these, the molding conditions and the operation program of the handling robot are automatically loaded into the memory of the control unit of the injection molding machine ai, and the production number for each lot is automatically stored in the counter of the injection molding machine as a target value. No operation is required on the part of the operator. Further, since the total lot number is monitored by the central management device B and the logging data storage means 106 after the automatic operation starts, it is irrelevant to the operation on the operator side.

The operations that the operator must actually perform include mounting the designated mold on the injection molding machine ai, switching the resin in the hopper to the designated resin, and molding the resin in preparation for automatic operation. All you have to do is get a pallet to collect the goods. The work relating to the mounting of the mold and the change of resin is the same as before, and for obtaining the pallets for collecting the molded products, the function keys for requesting the pallets provided on the MDI unit or the display unit of the injection molding machine ai are operated. By doing so, the system of the present embodiment is operated.

The central management device B executes the insertion process for information collection as shown in FIG. 3 from the time when the power is turned on to the system, and forms the molded cell numbers A1 to AMAX.
The controller of each injection molding machine (when the number of molding cells is MAX) is sequentially accessed to collect logging data (work history) of each injection molding machine and detect occurrence of a request signal and the like. . That is, the value of the scanning counter i indicating the molding cell to be accessed is limited to an integer value of 1 to MAX by the processing of steps a1, a2, and a7, and the central management apparatus B sets the molding cell numbers A1 to AM
The control unit of the AX injection molding machine is sequentially accessed, and each time the processing of steps a3 to a6 is performed for each injection molding machine.

The centralized control unit B which has accessed the control unit of the injection molding machine of the molding cell number Ai based on the value of the scanning counter i is first stored in the memory of the control unit of the injection molding machine of the molding cell number Ai. The logging data and various request signals are read (step a3). If new logging data is stored in the memory of the injection molding machine, this data is added to the file of the logging data storage means 106 and stored (step a3). a4). The logging data storage means 106 is provided with a directory for each molding cell, and the logging data is written to each directory in a time series for each molding cell. The logging data is, for example, the number of products, molding data for each shot, and the like. Since the substantial operation of the injection molding machine has not been started at the stage of the setup operation, logging data directly related to molding is not extracted. Various request signals and the like are read into the central management device B together with the logging data.

If various request signals such as a pallet request signal are stored in the control device of the injection molding machine of the molding cell number Ai by operating the function keys or the like (step a5), the central management device B The pallet request signal is made to correspond to the corresponding molding cell number Ai,
The data is written to the common information storage unit 107 as a file, and the original data on the injection molding machine control device side is deleted (step a).
6).

In this case, since the manual pallet request signal is written in the control device of the injection molding machine ai by the pallet request function key provided in the MDI unit or the display unit of the injection molding machine ai, the central control device B is to write the common cell number Ai and the manual pallet request signal in the common information storage unit 107 in association with each other.

Further, the transport controller 103 constantly monitors the common information storage means 107 and continuously executes the sticking process as shown in FIG. When the transfer controller 103 detects that a manual or automatic pallet request has been written to the common information storage unit 107 (step b1), the information is read once and stored in a memory in the transfer controller 103 (step b6).
The original information on the side of the common information storage unit 107 is deleted (step b7).

Next, the transport controller 103 reads the information stored in its own memory anew (step b8), checks the number Ai of the molding cell that has output the pallet request signal manually or automatically, and checks the number of the molding cell Ai. The robot controller 110 is instructed to load the empty pallet 114b into the automatic guided vehicle 102 (step b).
9), and enters a standby state waiting for an operation completion signal from the robot controller 110 (step b10).

On the other hand, the robot control device 110 continuously executes the embedding process as shown in FIG.
Upon receiving the empty pallet loading request and the molding cell number Ai from the transport controller 103 (step c)
2) Centralized management device B via Ethernet line 100
To check the number of the injection molding operation or the setup operation on the schedule in the injection molding machine with the cell number Ai, and refer to the schedule storage means 105 to execute the injection molding machine with the cell number Ai. Check the type of pallet stored in the file indicated as, select the temporary placement table 117 according to the type of pallet,
By driving and controlling the handling robot 109, the empty pallet 114b is moved from the target temporary placing table 117 to one.
The transport controller 103 picks up the vehicle and loads it onto the automatic guided vehicle 102 at the home position 119, and outputs an operation completion signal to the transport controller 103 (step c3).

Since empty pallets are previously stacked on each temporary placing table 117 by Max1j stages, the required pallets do not reach the bottom during the setup operation.

Removal of empty pallets and automatic guided vehicle 1
02, the robot controller 110
Decrements the value of the empty pallet remaining number storage register reg1j by one, and stores that one empty pallet has been taken out (step c4).

The initial value of reg1j is as shown in FIG.
, The number of stacks Max1j of empty pallets 114b in the upper storage space 108b of the pallet stocker 108. As described above, in this embodiment, it is possible to store different types of pallets in each lane of the driven conveyors 113a to 113h on the upper layer side of the pallet stocker 108. There are multiple columns correspondingly. That is, the empty pallet remaining number storage register reg1j is j = 1 to
8, that is, the number corresponding to the number of types of pallets and the number of lanes, and the number of stacking steps Max1j
May also be different for each lane. Which lane to access the temporary placement table 117 and which remaining number storage register reg1j should be decremented by
It depends on the pallet information of the file fetched from the schedule storage means 105 in the processing of step c3. Naturally, the relationship between each temporary placing table 117 and the driven conveyors 113a to 113h is determined in one-to-one correspondence.

Next, the robot controller 110 determines whether or not the value of the empty pallet remaining number storage register reg1j is zero, that is, whether or not the last empty pallet in the temporary placing table 117 has been removed. (Step c5). If the value of reg1j is zero, it means that the empty pallet stock of the temporary placing table 117 has run out, and the next pallet removal operation cannot be performed.

Therefore, in such a case, the robot control device 110 operates the solenoid driving means of the driving type conveyor of the lane corresponding to the temporary placing table where the empty pallet is gone, and retracts the lock pin 115 thereof ( Step c6), controlling the driving of the handling robot 109 to the upstream end of the driving conveyor of the corresponding lane (FIG. 2)
One packet is taken out of the empty pallet 114b from the left end in (b), placed on the corresponding temporary placing table 117, and the driven conveyor of the corresponding lane is operated.
The pallet is fed by the width of the pallet toward the upstream side, the empty pallet 114b for the next one packet is moved to the position of the upstream end where the take-out has been performed (step c7), and the solenoid driving means and the like are operated again. Then, the lock pin 115 is protruded to prevent the empty pallet 114b from shifting on the conveyor (step c8).

Next, the robot controller 110 stores Max1 in the corresponding empty pallet remaining number storage register reg1j.
The value of j is set, and the fact that a new empty pallet has been carried in one packet (Max1j) on the corresponding temporary placing table 117 is stored (step c9).

On the other hand, the transport controller 103, which has detected the operation completion signal output in the process of step c3 in the robot controller 110, sends a
The command for moving the automatic guided vehicle 102 to the molding cell of the cell number Ai that has output the manual pallet request signal is output (step b11), and the information stored in its own memory in the processing of step b6, that is, the manual pallet The request signal and the information of the molded cell number Ai specifying the output source are deleted (step b12).

Upon receiving the movement command output in step b11, the transport indicator 104 determines that the destination is a molded cell having the cell number Ai by data transmission through optical communication, and that the movement command is a manual pallet. The control unit of the automatic guided vehicle 102 is notified that the request is issued in response to the request signal.

The fact that the movement command is issued in response to the manual pallet request signal to the control device of the automatic guided vehicle 102 is explicitly determined by the distinction between the manual pallet request signal and the automatic pallet request signal. , Sequence started on the control device side of the automatic guided vehicle 102 (operation program)
Is different. In other words, in the case of the automatic pallet request signal, the sequence includes the operation of collecting the actual pallet containing the molded article on the molding cell side and the operation of supplying a new empty pallet. , And the operation of collecting the actual pallets is not included in the sequence.

The automatic guided vehicle 102, which has received the movement command from the transfer indicator 104, moves to the target position of the molding cell Ai on the track 101 in accordance with the operation program stored in its own control device. When data communication is performed by optical communication with the conveyor station Ei of Ai, an empty pallet is placed on the pallet mounting portion Eia, the pallet starts moving again to the home position, and finally reaches the home position. , Stop the movement, perform data transmission by optical communication with the conveyance indicator 104, and notify the conveyance controller 103 that the home position has returned and that the movement was based on the manual pallet request signal. , Delete their own internal information.

After the operator replaces the empty pallet placed on the pallet placing portion Eia with the pallet placing portion Eib, the operator again operates the pallet request function keys provided on the MDI unit or the display unit, etc. The same operation as described above is performed to place the second empty pallet on the pallet placing portion Eia.

By the above processing, the pallet placing portion Eia and the pallet placing portion Eib of the molding cell having the cell number Ai are obtained.
Is supplied with an unused empty pallet, and the continuous molding operation in this cell can be started. In the case of other molding cells, the processing operations required for the setup work are exactly the same as described above. It is also possible to start the continuous molding work at once after completing the setup work for all the molding cells, or to start the continuous molding work individually from the setup cells that have been set up, in other words, It is also possible to start a continuous molding operation in a molding cell and then perform a setup operation for another molding cell.

The home position return signal from the automatic guided vehicle 102 is detected by the discriminating process of step b2 in the sticking process on the side of the transport controller 103 shown in FIG. 4, but when an empty pallet is ordered in the setup operation, Since the movement is based on the manual pallet request signal (step b3), the processing of steps b4 and b5 on the transfer controller 103 is not performed (the automatic guided vehicle 102 does not bring back the actual pallet containing the molded product).

Next, each injection molding machine ai, centralized management device B, logging data storage means 106, common information storage means 107, transfer controller 103, Processing operations of the robot control device 110, the label printer 111, the automatic guided vehicle 102, and the like will be described generally.

As described above, the injection molding machine ai of each molding cell starts a continuous molding operation in accordance with the molding conditions set from the file of the schedule storage means 105, and every time one molding cycle is completed, the value of the shot number counter is incremented. Will be updated. In addition, sampling processing of the injection pressure and the holding pressure in the injection holding pressure step is performed by the control device of the injection molding machine in the same manner as in the related art. The data is sequentially recorded in the corresponding directory of the logging data storage means 106 by the processing on the management device B side.

The handling robot bi performs a product take-out operation in accordance with an operation program set from a file in the schedule storage means 105, and sequentially puts the products formed by the injection molding machine into empty pallets of the pallet mounting portion Eia. go. However, the product formed by the injection molding machine is not always thrown into the empty pallet on the pallet placing portion Eia side, and the counter of the injection molding machine ai counts the production number of the lot and the production of one lot is performed. Each time the process is completed, the input pallet is switched from the pallet placing portion Eia to the pallet placing portion Eib and from the pallet placing portion Eib to the pallet placing portion Eia.

When the counter of the injection molding machine ai counts the production number of the lot and the production of one lot is completed while the injection molding machine ai and the handling robot bi repeatedly execute such processing, the injection molding machine a The control device is
Data indicating an automatic pallet request for loading an empty pallet is generated in the memory. Upon receiving the one lot production completion signal from the control device of the injection molding machine, the control device of the handling robot bi sets the destination of the molded product from the pallet placing portion Eia to the pallet placing portion Eib or the pallet placing portion Eib. To the pallet placing portion Eia, in other words, to the other pallet placing portion side, and the pallet placing portion to which the molded article is to be put into the control device of the conveyor station Ei at present, that is, the loading destination A notification is made as to whether the pallet placing unit after switching is Eia or Eib.

The automatic pallet request signal stored in the memory of the injection molding machine ai is detected by the sticking process of the central control device B shown in FIG.
3) The central management apparatus B associates the automatic pallet request signal with the corresponding molding cell number Ai, writes it as a file in the common information storage unit 107, and deletes the original data on the injection molding machine control device side. (Step a4 to Step a6).

The transport controller 103 detects that an automatic pallet request has been written to the common information storage means 107 in the same manner as described above by the sticking process shown in FIG. 4 (step b1) and outputs a pallet request signal. After confirming the formed molding cell number Ai, the robot controller 110 on the warehouse cell C side is instructed to load the empty pallet 114b into the automatic guided vehicle 102 (step b6).
Step b9), and enters a standby state waiting for an operation completion signal from the robot controller 110 (step b10).

The robot controller 110 also receives the empty pallet loading request and the molding cell number Ai from the transport controller 103 by the sticking process shown in FIG. 5 in the same manner as described above (step c2), and the cell number Ai.
The type of pallet stored in the file to be executed by the injection molding machine is checked, the temporary placing table 117 corresponding to the type of pallet is selected, and the handling robot 1
09 is driven and controlled, one empty pallet 114b is picked up from the temporary placing table 117, loaded on the automatic guided vehicle 102, and an operation completion signal is output to the transfer controller 103 (step c3).

Of course, if the empty pallets of each temporary placing table 117 reach the bottom, one packet of the same kind of empty pallets 114b is taken out and placed on the corresponding temporary placing table 117 (step c4 to step c9).

Further, the transport controller 103, which has detected the operation completion signal output from the robot controller 110 in the processing of step b10, makes the transport indicator 10 in the same manner as described above.
Cell number A that output the automatic pallet request signal
A command for moving the automatic guided vehicle 102 to the molding cell i is output, and the automatic pallet request signal stored in its own memory and the information of the molding cell number Ai specifying the output source are deleted (steps b11 to b11). Step b12).

The transport indicator 104, which has received the movement command output in the processing of step b11, determines that the destination is a molded cell of the cell number Ai by data transmission by optical communication, and that the movement command is an automatic pallet. The control unit of the automatic guided vehicle 102 is notified that the request is issued in response to the request signal.

The fact that the movement command is issued in response to the automatic pallet request signal to the control device of the automatic guided vehicle 102 is explicitly determined by the distinction between the manual pallet request signal and the automatic pallet request signal. , Sequence started on the control device side of the automatic guided vehicle 102 (operation program)
Is different. As described above, in the case of the automatic pallet request signal, the sequence includes the operation of collecting the actual pallet in which the molded article has been placed on the molding cell side and the operation of supplying a new empty pallet.

FIG. 6 shows an outline of a sequence of the control device of the automatic guided vehicle 102 activated by the automatic pallet request signal.
Shown in

The automatic guided vehicle 102, which has received the movement command from the transfer indicator 104, first moves to the target position of the molding cell Ai on the track 101 in accordance with the operation program stored in its own control device (step). e1 to step e2), data communication is performed by optical communication with the conveyor station Ei of the molding cell Ai, and whether the pallet in which the product is currently loaded is from the mounting section Eia or Eib. The control device of the conveyor station Ei determines whether or not there is a pallet placed on the receiving portion on which the product is not loaded, that is, the pallet on which the molded product of one lot has already been loaded. Automatic guided vehicle 10
2 (step e3).

Conveyor station E receiving this command
i controls the driving of the handling robot bi, and the pallet placed on the placing portion on the side where the product is not loaded;
In other words, the pallet on which the molded product of one lot is loaded is loaded on the automatic guided vehicle 102, and when the work is completed, an operation completion signal is returned to the control device of the automatic guided vehicle 102 (step f1).

The automatic guided vehicle 102 that has received the operation completion signal
Is a conveyor station that transfers the empty pallet carried by itself to the loading section on the side where the product is not loaded, that is, the pallet loading section on the side where the actual pallet was carried out in the process of step f1. Ei (step e)
4), Conveyor station Ei receiving this command,
The handling robot bi is driven and controlled, and the empty pallet on the automatic guided vehicle 102 is loaded on the mounting portion on the side where the product is not loaded. When the work is completed, the operation completion signal is sent to the control device of the automatic guided vehicle 102. Is returned (step f2).

The automatic guided vehicle 10 receiving the operation completion signal
2 starts moving again toward the home position (step e5), stops moving when it reaches the home position (step e6), and performs data transmission by optical communication with the transport indicator 104, Transfer controller 1
03 is notified that its home position has been returned and that this movement has been based on the automatic pallet request signal, and that the number of the molding cell that has become the current movement target has been Ai (step e7).

The home position return signal from the automatic guided vehicle 102 is detected by the discriminating process of step b2 in the sticking process of the transport controller 103 shown in FIG. The transfer controller 103 determines whether the current movement of the automatic guided vehicle 102 is based on the manual pallet request signal or the automatic pallet request signal (step b3). It is movement based on.

This means that the automatic carrier 102 has brought back an actual pallet containing molded products of one lot, and attaches a label according to the type of the product to the pallet where the product has been collected, This means that the pallets must be stored in the product storage space of the pallet stocker 108, that is, the lower storage space 108a.

In order to attach a label corresponding to the type of the product to the pallet for which the product has been collected, it is necessary to know the type of the product.
Since the data relating to the dispatch of the automatic guided vehicle 102 in the memory of the transport controller 103 has been deleted by the process of 12, the type of the molded article cannot be known from the information in the memory of the transport controller 103.
Therefore, the transport controller 103 accesses the schedule storage unit 105 via the Ethernet line 100 based on the molding cell number Ai given from the automatic guided vehicle, and executes the molding from the file to be executed in the molding cell Ai. The type of molded article molded in the cell Ai,
That is, information to be attached to the currently loaded pallet is obtained, and the data is output to the label printer 111 and temporarily stored (step b4).
A command to collect pallets containing products is output to 10 (step b5).

As shown in FIG. 5, the command to collect the pallet containing the product is sent to step c on the robot controller 110 side.
1 is detected. Further, the label printer 111 temporarily storing information to be attached to the pallet prints out the information on paper.

The robot controller 110, which has detected the pallet collection command, receives the information on the type of the molded product from the transport controller 103 which temporarily stores the information on the molding cell Ai (step c10).
1 is received and attached to a pallet with products on the automatic guided vehicle 102, and the lane of the lower storage space 108a according to the type of the molded product, that is, any one of the inclined coasting type conveyors 112a to 112h. And select
By controlling the driving of the handling robot 109, the pallets are stacked at the upstream end (the left end in FIG. 2B) of the inclined coasting conveyor (step c11).

That is, the upper-side storage space 10
Similarly to the case of 8b, the relationship between the type of product to be stored and the lane is determined one-to-one in the lower storage space 108a.

The lower pallet located at the upstream end of the inclined coasting conveyor is fixed by the lock pin 115, so that no inadvertent sliding occurs on the inclined coasting conveyor. The other pallets stacked on the lower pallet are also fitted up and down via the concave and convex fittings provided on the lower and outer perimeters of the lower pallets. Absent.

The robot controller 110 having stacked the new pallets determines whether or not the value of the stacking stage number storage register reg2k corresponding to this lane has reached [MAX2k-1]. The number of stages is the maximum allowable value MAX2k
Is determined (step c12). When the value of the stacking stage number storage register reg2k is [MAX2k-
1], it means that the pallet can be loaded at least once at the same time as it is, so that the robot controller 110 increments the value of the stacking stage number storage register reg2k by 1 and adds a new pallet. Is stored (step c17), and the process for loading the pallets containing the products is terminated as it is.

The stacking stage number storage register reg2
If the value of k reaches [MAX2k-1], it means that the number of stacking stages of the pallets reaches the maximum allowable value MAX2k by the pallets loaded this time, and the loading operation of the next pallet cannot be performed as it is. .

Therefore, in such a case, the robot controller 110 activates the solenoid driving means of the inclined coasting type conveyor of the corresponding lane and the like, and locks the lock pin 11 thereof.
5 is reduced (step c13), and the driving of the handling robot 109 is controlled by driving the handling robot 109.
By pressing the pallet at the position of the upstream end of the corresponding inclined coasting conveyor toward the downstream side, the pallet is fed by the pallet width or more, and the pallet for one packet located at the upstream end is Move to the downstream side (step c1
4).

As a matter of course, since the conveyor is an inclined coasting type, it is possible to move the pallet at the upstream end to the downstream side by utilizing the own weight and gravity of the pallet and the product only by retracting the lock pin 115. However, in this embodiment, by using the forced feeding using the pressing operation by the handling robot 109 together, it is possible to prevent inadvertent catching at the time of transporting the pallet and shorten the time required for the movement. Like that. Therefore,
The inclination angle of the inclined coasting conveyor can be small, it can reduce the impact when the pallet packet stops downstream, and also prevents the pallet containing the product from accidentally falling. it can. Further, a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a pallet is provided at the upstream end of the inclined coasting-type conveyor, and when the presence of the pallet is confirmed even after a predetermined time has elapsed after the lock pin 115 has been retracted, Alternatively, only when the pallet feeding using the product's own weight and gravity is not successful, the forced feeding using the pressing operation of the handling robot 109 may be performed.

The robot controller 110, which has moved the pallet for one packet located at the upstream end using the handling robot 109 to the downstream side, operates the solenoid driving means and the like again to cause the lock pin 115 to protrude. ,
In the next receiving operation, the pallet containing the product conveyed to the upstream end of the inclined coasting type conveyor can be held at that position (step c15), and the value of the stacking stage number storage register reg2k is initialized to zero to incline. The fact that the pallet stacking stage at the upstream end of the coasting conveyor, in other words, the pallet stacking position at the receiving position of the product-containing pallet has become zero is stored (step c16).

The initial value of the stack number storage register reg2k is zero. As described above, in this embodiment, it is possible to store pallets of different types of products for each lane of the inclined coasting type conveyors 112a to 112h on the lower layer side of the pallet stocker 108. reg2k has eight k = 1-8,
In other words, there are only the numbers corresponding to the number of types of pallets (products) and the number of lanes.
The value of AX2k may be different for each lane. Which lane of the inclined coasting type conveyor to be accessed and which stack stage number storage register reg2k is to be incremented depends on the pallet information of the file fetched from the schedule storage means 105 in the process of step c11.

Thereafter, each time the counter of the injection molding machine of any of the molding cells counts the production number of the lot and the production of one lot is completed, the automatic pallet request signal and the molding cell number Ai corresponding to this signal are received. Are written in the common information storage means 107 in correspondence with the above, and the same processing operation as described above is repeatedly performed by the transport controller 103, the robot controller 110, the automatic guided vehicle 102, the label printer 111, and the conveyor station Ei of each cell. A pallet containing one lot of products is carried into one of the lanes of the lower storage space 108a of the pallet stocker 108 according to the type of the product, and the conveyor of the injection molding machine that has finished producing one lot. At station Ei,
An empty pallet corresponding to the product is newly carried one by one from the temporary placing table 117 of the pallet corresponding to the product, and when the temporary placing table 117 becomes empty, the pallet stocker 108 is opened.
An empty pallet corresponding to the molded product (the position of the temporary placing table 117) is taken out from one of the lanes of the storage space 108b on the upper layer side one packet at a time, and the temporary placing table 11
7 will be carried.

The pallet stocker 108 has a sensor for detecting that the lane of the lower storage space 108a is full of pallets containing products and the storage amount of the empty pallet of the lane of the upper storage space 108b. A sensor for detecting the disappearance is provided for each lane, and finally, a pallet stocker 108 is provided.
When one of the lanes of the lower storage space 108a is filled with the pallet containing the product, or when the empty pallet is no longer stored in any of the lanes of the upper storage space 108b of the pallet stocker 108, Through the robot controller 110, the transfer controller 103, and the Ethernet line 100, the information, that is, the product type data corresponding to the lane filled with the pallet containing the product or the lane having no spare pallet is centrally managed. It is sent to device B.

Of course, pallets for the same product can be stored in a plurality of lanes in both the lower storage space 108a and the upper storage space 108b. When storing pallets for the same product across multiple lanes, certain lanes were filled with pallets containing products, or empty pallets in certain lanes were bottomed out. Even in such a case, if there is another lane for storing the same type of product or another lane for storing empty pallets for the same type of product, the molding operation can be continued. Ultimately, the continuation of the molding operation for a specific product is considered to be impossible if there are no empty pallets in all lanes corresponding to the specific product, and all Only when the lane is full.

The centralized management apparatus B specifies the molding cell that is molding the product from the product type data, and outputs a command to stop production of the next lot to the molding cell. Upon receiving this instruction, the injection molding machine stops the injection molding operation when the production of the current lot is completed, and does not shift to the production of the next lot. That is, since the automatic pallet request signal is not output, the pallet containing the last production lot is left as it is on the conveyor station of the molding cell.

[0089]

According to the present invention, since the handling robot is provided at one end of a plurality of conveyors arranged in parallel to deliver the stored goods,
The handling robot does not need to move in the moving direction of the conveyor, in other words, in the longitudinal direction of the storage space, and the time required for delivering and receiving the stored items is reduced. In addition, since the handling robot is arranged such that the operating range of the handling robot reaches one end of all the conveyors for the storage space of the lower layer and the upper layer formed by a plurality of conveyors arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction, The handling robot is integrated, and
With this integrated handling robot, it is also possible to transfer goods between other transport means, for example, an unmanned transport vehicle, so there is no need to separately arrange a robot for entry and exit from the warehouse, and a system construction Costs required for the computer can be reduced.

Further, since the lower storage space for storing pallets containing articles is constituted by a plurality of conveyors arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction, the management of the stored articles can be performed by simply using the conveyors according to the type of the articles. Can be done easily.

Further, since empty pallets are stored in the upper storage space, the members constituting the upper storage space and the supporting columns for supporting the pallets do not require strength, and the lower storage space is not required. Since the conveyor is a simple inclined coasting type conveyor that descends as it moves away from the handling robot, the cost required for constructing the system is greatly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an example of a configuration of a factory and a robot warehouse facility including a stored article transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view (a) and a side view (b) showing a stored article transfer device in a robot warehouse.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of a process of a centralized management device of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of a process of a transport controller of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing of the robot control device of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing of the automatic guided vehicle control device of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

Ai molding cell ai injection molding machine bi handling robot B central control device C warehouse cell D transport cell Ei conveyor station (sequencer for conveyor station) Eia pallet placing section Eib pallet placing section 100 Ethernet line 101 track 102 unmanned transport vehicle 103 transport Controller 104 Transport indicator 105 Schedule storage unit 106 Logging data storage unit 107 Common information storage unit 108 Pallet stocker 108a Storage space 108b Storage space 109 Handling robot 110 Robot controller 111 Label printer 112a to 112h Inclined coasting conveyor 113a to 113h Drive Type Conveyor 114a Pallet with Molded Product 114b Empty Pallet 115 Lock Pin 116 Support 117 Temporary base 119 home position of the pallet

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Mitsuru Hisagida 3580 Kobaba, Oshino-za, Oshino-mura, Minamitsuru-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture FANUC CORPORATION (56) References 48-47074 (JP, A) JP-A-6-115620 (JP, A) JP-A-3-102503 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 1/00 -1/20

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for transporting both real and empty pallets.
Conveying means and storage spaces formed by the conveyors are arranged in two layers at intervals above and below the conveyor so as to match the directionality of the conveyors, and a plurality of storage spaces arranged in the two layers are horizontally arranged in parallel. Warehouses , one end of all lower and upper conveyors and the home
A handling robot that includes a pallet containing articles in a lower conveyor of the warehouse and an empty pallet in an upper conveyor is disposed at one end of the storage space. The robot moves the pallet between the transportation means and the storage space in the warehouse.
A storage and delivery device in an automatic warehouse, wherein the storage and delivery of goods is carried out . 2. The conveyor in the lower storage space is an inclined coasting type conveyor that descends as the distance from the handling robot is increased, while the conveyor in the upper storage space is a driven conveyor that feeds to the handling robot. 2. The stored goods transfer device in an automatic warehouse according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A lock pin for fixing and releasing the movement of a pallet at the end of the conveyor near one end of the conveyor near the handling robot of all lower and upper conveyors. Item 2. The storage product delivery device in the automatic warehouse according to 2. 4. A label printer, wherein the label printer is disposed within an operation area of a handling robot , and
Is stored in the pallet output by the label printer.
Label that prints information on the article
4. The storage and delivery device in an automatic warehouse according to claim 1, wherein the storage and delivery device is attached to a pallet containing the storage.