JP3319549B2 - Crane allocation device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a crane allocating apparatus for allocating work to a plurality of cranes included in a system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Automatic warehouses are used in factories and warehouses for temporarily storing products and processed products. The automatic warehouse is composed of a shelf series having a plurality of shelves, and a crane that travels and moves up and down the front of the shelf frontage of the shelf series to convey articles,
A plurality of automatic warehouses may be combined to form one system. Unless there are a plurality of automatic warehouses, a plurality of cranes, and a special role is not given to each of the cranes, work is normally assigned to each of the cranes by a higher-level computer that controls the entire system.

[0003]

Conventionally, rules for allocating work to each crane of a host computer are as follows.
It was based on the number of empty shelves on each shelf. For example, when a storage instruction is created to store an article of a certain size, the article is stored in an automatic warehouse having the largest number of empty shelves that can store an article of that size. Although it seems that work is allocated equally to each crane in this way, in reality, frequent loading and unloading occurs depending on the type of load, and the crane stops due to abnormality or inspection, so each The operating rate of the crane varies. If the operating rate varies, the crane management service becomes troublesome. For each crane, the average failure life (MTT) of the components that make up each crane
F) Based on the mean time between failures (MTBF), management services such as periodic inspection, parts replacement, adjustment, oil injection, etc. are performed simultaneously for each crane. However, if the operating rate fluctuates and the operating time differs for each crane, unexpected failures may occur or inconvenience of replacing parts without having to replace them may make management services complicated. Was.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a crane allocating apparatus capable of facilitating a management service by averaging the operation time of each crane included in the system.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a system having a plurality of cranes, an operating rate immediately before each of the cranes is monitored, and the operation of each of the cranes is monitored. In crane allocating equipment, which assigns loading and unloading work with priority on cranes with low operating rates so that the rates are equal,
Monitor the number of incoming and outgoing queues for more than one crane.
If the last occupancy difference is within a certain range,
Queue for loading and unloading for two or more applicable cranes
Priority for crane with less load
Cormorants to constitute a crane allocation device so.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the crane
Monitor the storage time for each load and check for
The difference between the number of queues for incoming and outgoing
In some cases, the same applies to two or more cranes.
Outgoing operations for seed loads should be split on a first-in first-out basis.
The crane assigning device according to claim 1 is configured to perform attachment .

[0007]

[0008]

The present invention has the above-described structure, and has the following effects.

In the crane allocating apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, when allocating a loading / unloading operation to each of a plurality of cranes provided in the system, an operating rate immediately before each of the cranes is monitored, and the operating rate is low. Give priority to cranes. Thereby, the operation rates of the cranes can be equalized. In addition, just before two or more cranes
If the difference between the occupancy rates is within a certain range,
As far as the above cranes are concerned,
The crane that does not prioritize and has fewer queues for entry and exit
Priority is assigned to the entry / exit work.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a crane allocating apparatus comprising :
If the difference is within a certain range,
As far as cranes are concerned, unloading for similar loads
Assignment of outgoing work so that first-in first-out is performed.

[0011]

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiment shown in the drawings will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a system including a plurality of cranes to which an embodiment of the crane allocating apparatus according to the present invention can be applied.

The system shown in FIG. 1 includes an automatic warehouse 1a, 1
b, 1c, and 4d are included. Each of the automatic warehouses 1a to 1d has a shelf chain including a plurality of shelves, and a crane (not shown) that travels and moves up and down the front of the shelf frontage of the shelf chain to transport the article W. Each automatic warehouse 1a-d
Has a storage sub-conveyor 2a-d and a storage sub-conveyor 3a-d, respectively. Each of the storage sub-conveyors 2a to 2d is connected to a storage main conveyor 4, and each of the storage sub-conveyors 3a to 3d is connected to a storage main conveyor 5.

The articles W to be stored are conveyed on the main conveyer 4 and moved to one of the sub-conveyors 2a to 2d and conveyed to the tip. This storage sub-conveyor 2a
To d have a function as a buffer. The article W is stored on one shelf by a crane. Outgoing goods W
Is delivered from a shelf by a crane, placed on the delivery sub-conveyors 3a to 3d, and further transferred to the delivery main conveyor 5 and transported. Outgoing sub-conveyors 3a to 3d are also
Functions as a buffer.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the crane allocating apparatus according to the present invention.

The cranes in the automatic warehouses 1a to 1d are controlled by crane control devices 6a to 6d, respectively. The receiving sub-conveyors 2a to 2d and the receiving main conveyor 4 are moved out of the receiving sub-conveyors 3a to 3d by the receiving side conveyor control device 7.
The delivery main conveyor 5 is controlled by the delivery side conveyor control device 8.

The host computer that manages the entire system includes an inventory management unit 10, a stock setting unit 11, and a stock setting unit 1.
2. It consists of an inventory management database 13. Receiving setting part 1
1 sends the article data such as the product number, lot, quantity, etc. of the articles W to be stored to the inventory management section 10, and the exit setting section 12 sends the article data of the articles W to be released to the inventory management section 10. The inventory management unit 10 creates an operation command based on the received article data, and transmits it to each of the control devices 6 to 8. Each of the control devices 6 to 8 returns the operation result to the inventory management unit 10, and the inventory management unit 10 processes the operation result and stores the inventory management data in the inventory management database 13. The inventory management data is used as an operation rate and other data when an operation command is created by allocating a loading / unloading operation to one of the cranes.

FIG. 3 is a view visually showing a part of the inventory management data stored in the inventory management database 13.

The inventory management data shown in FIG.
Number of empty shelves for large, medium, and small items, crane abnormalities,
Conveyor abnormalities, crane prohibition flags, entry and exit queues, and crane operating rates. The operating rate of the crane is
This is a ratio indicating the time during which the crane has been operating in the past hour. When the crane starts work, the inventory management unit 10
Can be calculated based on the time from when the report is made to when the report is completed. The entry / exit queue is the number of articles on the entry sub-conveyors 2a to 2d and the number of articles in the exit queue of articles reserved for exit.

According to the conventional allocation method, the number of empty shelves is the basis. Therefore, for example, when an operation command for allocating an operation for storing a large article is created, first, except for the case b where the crane has an abnormality, Assignment is performed with priority in the order of large empty shelves, that is, in the order of a, c, and d.

However, in this embodiment, the assignment control is performed based on the operation rate of each crane. Since the operating rates of each crane are 90% for a, 45% for c, and 50% for d,
Priority is assigned in the order of c, d, and a.

This eliminates variations in the operation rates of the cranes and averages the operation time of each of the cranes, thereby making the parts life and maintenance intervals of each of the cranes the same, and performing periodic inspections, parts replacement, adjustment, and the like. Management services can be performed all at once.

In addition, in the present embodiment, allocation control is performed in consideration of the queues for entering and leaving the warehouse. First, looking at the operating rate of the crane, the difference between c and d is only 5%. If the difference in the operation rates is 5% or less, the inventory management unit 10 expects a change in the operation rate depending on the size of the queue for entry / exit because the difference in the operation rate is small. Make the assignment. The range of the difference in the operation rates is appropriately set. In the example of FIG. 3, since c and d have the number of queues of 5 and 2, respectively, in this case, d is given priority and d, c, and a are assigned in that order. Become.

As a result, the variability of the operation rates of the cranes is further reduced, and the queues are reduced as a whole, so that the time from the transmission of the operation command to the start of the operation is shortened, and the operation efficiency is improved. be able to.

Further, in this embodiment, first-in first-out is considered. If there is no difference in the operation rate and the difference in the queue is small (for example, 2), the same type of article W
If the ship can be taken out by two or more applicable cranes, first-in first-out is performed. That is, the article that has been stored first is to be put out first. This data is also stored in the inventory management database 13.

By performing the allocation control on a first-in first-out basis, it is possible to ship the goods received earlier as soon as possible, especially at a goods distribution center or the like, and the old goods are not stored.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above.
It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately modified and implemented within the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the present invention is applied to a system including four automatic warehouses.
Any two are applicable. Further, the operation rate is set to the past hour, and the range of the operation rate is set to 5%. However, the operation rate can be set appropriately together with the range of the number of queues.

[0030]

As described above, according to the crane allocating device according to the first aspect, the operating rates of the cranes are made uniform, and the operating hours of the cranes are averaged, so that the service life of the cranes is reduced. the or maintenance intervals in the same, it is possible to allow the simultaneous management services, such as periodic inspection or part replacement and adjustment, the Kure
Operating variability is reduced,
Since the total number of queues is small,
The time from transmission to the start of operation is shortened, resulting in higher operating efficiency
Can be improved.

According to the crane allocating device of the second aspect, the allocating control is performed on a first-in first-out basis.
Products, especially at product distribution centers.
Old goods can be shipped as soon as possible
Will not remain stowed.

[0032]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a system including a plurality of cranes to which an embodiment of a crane allocating apparatus according to the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a crane allocating apparatus applied to the system of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a part of inventory management data stored in an inventory management database in the embodiment of FIG. 2;

[Description of Signs] 1a-d Automatic Warehouse 2a-d Receiving Sub-Conveyor 3a-d Discharging Sub-Conveyor 4 Receiving Main Conveyor 5 Discharging Main Conveyor W Article

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] In a system equipped with a plurality of cranes, an operation rate immediately before each of the cranes is monitored, and a crane with a low operation rate is given priority so that the operation rates of the cranes are equalized. Crane allocation
In Ri attached device monitors the number of each crane respective entry and leaving the queue,
The difference between the operating rates immediately before two or more cranes is within a certain range
If it is a value, for two or more applicable cranes
Prefers cranes with fewer queues for entry and exit
A crane allocating device for allocating work . 2. Receiving of each load received by each crane
Monitor storage time and queue for loading and unloading of two or more cranes
If the difference between the numbers is within a certain range,
For two or more cranes, the delivery of the same type of cargo
The business is allocated in a first-in first-out manner.
Crane allocation device.