JP3369392B2 - Article storage facility - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article storage shelf configured by arranging a plurality of article storage sections each having a plurality of article holding sections in the depth direction, and a carry-out section for each article storage shelf and each article storage section. A transfer device for transferring articles to the
A transfer device that transfers the transfer device between the carry-out part and each of the article storage parts, and stores and manages the article storage state of each of the article storage parts in the article storage shelf, and the transfer device and transfer device. And a control means for controlling the operation of the device, wherein the transfer device is capable of individually taking out articles from a plurality of article holding sections of each article storage section, and is located in front of each article storage section. The present invention relates to an article storage facility configured so that an article can be taken out from an article holding section located in the back when there is no article in the article holding section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In such an article storage facility, conventionally, since there is only one transfer device, when an article located in the front of the article storage section is to be taken out, the first thing to do is It is necessary to take out the article in the foreground and store it in the temporary storage section, and then take out the article in the back. Always secure the article storage section as a temporary storage section exclusively for temporary storage, and not only when storing the article, but also when taking out the article, always keep the specific temporary storage section after the completion of the extraction operation. There was one configured to keep it empty.

[0003]

However, as disclosed in the above publication, in which the storage section for temporary placement is fixedly secured, it is necessary to always maintain the storage section for temporary placement in an empty state. However, there is a drawback that the amount of articles stored inevitably decreases accordingly. In particular, in an article storage unit having a plurality of article holding units in the depth direction, if the article storage unit is to be always kept in an empty state, the article storage amount naturally decreases by the number of the article holding units. There was room for improvement in points.

In order to solve such a drawback, for example, a space dedicated to temporary placement is provided on the upper surface of a transporting device for transporting the transfer device, and the front article is temporarily temporarily placed in this temporary placement space. Can be considered. However, in such a solution means, it is necessary to temporarily take out the front article by the transfer device and temporarily place it in the space for temporary placement, and then take out the back article again by the transfer device. There is a drawback that the time required for taking out work is long. In addition, regarding temporarily placed items, since they will be transferred many times, there is a possibility that misalignment will occur each time, and if such misalignment is accumulated, it will eventually exceed the allowable range. There is also a possibility that this may require a space for temporary placement and an aligning means for correcting the positional deviation in each article holding unit, which causes another problem of increasing the cost of the article storage facility.

The present invention focuses on such a conventional problem, and an object thereof is to increase the amount of articles to be stored without having to secure a storage section for temporary storage and to take out the articles. The time required for
In addition, the object is to provide an article storage facility that does not necessarily have to be provided with the aligning means as described above.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, according to the invention described in claim 1, there is provided a transfer device for transferring an article to a carry-out section for an article storage shelf or each article storage section. A plurality of control means for storing and managing the storage state of the articles and controlling the operation of the transfer device and the transfer device are provided.
When an article is present in the article holding section located in front when the article is taken out from the article holding section located in the back of the article storage section, the article in front of the article is taken out by one of a plurality of transfer devices, and Since the article in the back is taken out by another transfer device, and the article in the back is carried out to the carry-out section and transferred, the take-out control is executed. Since it is not necessary to temporarily store the articles, a storage section dedicated to the temporary placement is not required, the amount of articles to be stored can be increased, and the time required for taking out articles can be shortened as much as possible. It is not always necessary to provide such aligning means, and it is possible to reduce the cost of the entire storage facility. Moreover, the above
When the control means executes the take-out control,
When storing an item in the empty item holder, place it in the back of the item holder.
Storing priority model that preferentially stores in the empty article holding part
Since it is the one that executes the
When carrying out work, quickly store the necessary items in the front item holder.
Can be delivered and work time when prioritizing storage work
Can be shortened to improve work efficiency.

According to the invention described in claim 2, article storage
Transferring goods to the carry-out section for shelves and each article storage section
It is equipped with a plurality of transfer devices that
Control to control the operation of the transfer device and transfer device
Means for moving the article from the article holding section located at the back of the article storage section
There is an article in the article holder that is located in front when you take it out.
Then, the item in front of it is transferred to one of the multiple
And remove the items in the back by another transfer device.
Picked up, transported the items in the back to the unloading section and transferred
Since this is to execute the take-out control,
Temporarily place the front items taken out by the loading device
No need to store, therefore no storage for temporary storage
Can increase the storage capacity of the goods, and
The time required for work can be shortened as much as possible, and
It is not necessary to install the aligning means as described above
It is also possible to reduce the cost of the entire equipment. Only
Also when the control means executes the take-out control.
When storing the front item in the empty
Preferentially store in an empty article holding section located in front of the storage section
The take-out priority mode, and
In the storage priority mode, which stores the items in the empty article storage area with priority
Since it is configured so that it can be switched to execution, take out
If you want to prioritize the work, set the extraction priority mode.
By improving the efficiency of take-out work
If you want to give priority to work, execute the storage priority mode.
The efficiency of storage work can be improved, and at that time
Optimal use according to the situation becomes possible.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the control means executes the taking-out control, the front article taken out by one transfer device is taken out together with the article at the back by the carrying device. Even if the article to be taken out is in the back of the article storage section, the article in the front is stored in the empty article holding section after the article in the back is transported to Goods can be taken out quickly.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, when the control means executes the take-out control, the front article taken out by one transfer device is emptied by the one transfer device. Since it is stored in the holding unit and then the article in the back is conveyed to the unloading unit and transferred,
Although it takes some time until the article is taken out, it is not necessary to return to the original position and store the article in front of the article after taking out the article, and the moving distance of the transport device can be shortened to reduce the running cost.

[0010]

[0011]

[0012]

[0013]

[0014]

[0015]

[0016]

[0017]

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of an article storage facility according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This article storage facility is installed in a warehouse such as a distribution center and used for article storage. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a stacker crane 1 as a transfer device is provided with a pair of upper and lower rails. It is configured to be movable along a few lines, and on both sides of the transport path 4 by this stacker crane 1 on both sides,
An article storage shelf 5 is installed. These goods storage shelves 5
Is composed of a plurality of pillar members 6 standing vertically and a plurality of shelf members 7 arranged horizontally, and the like.
It has a structure in which a plurality of are arranged in the vertical direction and in the horizontal direction.

As shown in FIG. 4, each article storage unit 8 is composed of an arm member 9 fixed to the pillar member 6, a shelf member 7 fixed to this arm member 9, and the like. A pallet P for mounting is configured to be mountable. That is, the article C is placed on each pallet P, and the pallet P is placed and held between the pair of shelf members 7 to store the article C in the article storage unit 8. The member 7 constitutes the article holding section 10, and two article holding sections 10 are arranged. In other words, each article storage section 8 has two article holding sections 10 in the depth direction, and each article storage section 8 has its storage outlet side facing the transport path 4 side of the stacker crane 1. A storage shelf 5 is installed.

The stacker crane 1 conveys the article C by reciprocating between the carry-in section 11 and the carry-out section 12 of the article C with respect to the article storage rack 5 and the article storage section 8 of each article storage rack 5. Therefore, an elevator table 13 that can be moved up and down is provided, and the elevator table 13 is provided with the loading / unloading unit 1.
1, 12 and two extendable forks 14 as a transfer device for transferring the article C to each article storage unit 8 are provided, and
The forks 14 are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction.
Each of these two forks 14 has a structure capable of extending to the article holding section 10 located at the back of the article storage section 8.
The articles C can be stored or taken out separately from the article holder 10 located on the front side and the article holder 10 located on the backside while being placed on the pallet P, and the conveyance path 4 of the conveyance path 4 can be removed. It is configured so that it can be stored in and taken out from each of the article storage sections 8 of the article storage shelves 5 located on both sides.

In the present specification, for the sake of convenience, the articles stored in the article holding section 10 located at the front are referred to as the article A, and the articles stored in the article holding section 10 located at the back are referred to as the article B. Item A and item B are collectively referred to as item C. Similarly, for convenience, a fork for taking out the article A located in the front is called a fork 14A, and a fork for taking out the article B in the back is called a fork 14B.
4A and fork 14B are collectively referred to as fork 14.

Each article storage section 8 in the article storage rack 5
Is stored and managed by a main control unit H1 including a microcomputer, and the operation of the stacker crane 1 is controlled by a crane control unit H2 including a microcomputer mounted on the stacker crane 1. It is configured. The main control unit H1 and the crane control unit H2 are configured to be communicable with each other, and are entirely controlled by the control unit H as a control means composed of the both control units H1 and H2, and the storage control and the unloading described later are performed. An operation device 15 configured to execute control and instructing a control command to the control unit H is provided.

Next, the control operation of this article storage facility will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS.
First, as shown in FIG. 5, the operator operates the operation device 15 to instruct whether to enter or exit, and as shown in FIG. 5, the entering mode is executed if it is the entering command, and the exit mode is executed if it is the issuing command.

In the warehousing mode, as shown in FIG. 6, necessary information such as the type of the article C to be stored is displayed in accordance with the article C placed on the pallet P and carried into the carry-in section 11. input. Then, it is searched whether or not there is an empty article holding unit 10 in the article storage unit 8 of each article storage shelf 5, and if there is an empty article holding unit 10, one of the article storage unit 8 and the article holding unit is selected. 10 is specified, and the article C is stored in the article holding unit 10.

In storing the article C, first,
Two forks 14A and 14B of the stacker crane 1
One of them, for example, the fork 14A expands and contracts to transfer the article C in the carry-in section 11 together with the pallet P onto the lift table 13. After that, as the stacker crane 1 moves along the transport path 4, the elevator 13 moves up and down to reach the specified storage outlet of the article storage unit 8,
The fork 14A expands and contracts again, and the article C together with the pallet P is transferred onto the shelf member 7 to complete the storage operation. By repeating this process, the storage control is executed while performing the storage work in sequence, and when there is no room for storage, an abnormal alarm is issued and the process returns to stop the storage work.

In the delivery mode, as shown in FIG. 7, the type of the article to be delivered is input, and the mode at the delivery is set as necessary. This mode setting is
It is to select whether or not the speed delivery mode is selected, and to select the take-out priority mode and the storage priority mode. Although details will be described later, in any case, the article C to be delivered is based on the input article information. The stored article storage unit 8 is searched. Based on the search result, the stacker crane 1 moves, and the elevating table 13 moves up and down to reach the storage outlet of the product storage unit 8 in which the product C to be unloaded is stored. The article C to be unloaded is the article storage unit 8
If it is in the article holding section 10 on the front side of the article holding section 10, the article A on the front side of the article holding section 10 is transferred to the elevating table 13 by the expansion and contraction of the fork 14A or the fork 14B, and thereafter, the unloading section 1 is operated by the operation reverse to that at the time of storage.
2 is transferred and transferred.

When the article C to be unloaded is in the article holding section 10 at the back, first the fork 14A expands and contracts to take out the article A in the article holding section 10 in front, and then the stacker crane 1 moves laterally. , The article B located inside the article storage section 8 is taken out by another fork 14B. After that, the article B is conveyed to the unloading section 12, but if the speed unloading mode is selected when the above-mentioned mode is set, the article A is placed on the fork 14A and the article B is placed on the fork 14B, and the stacker is placed. The crane 1 moves to the carry-out section 12, and the fork 14B expands and contracts to carry out only the article B.
After that, the stacker crane 1 returns to its original position and the fork 14A expands and contracts to store the article A in the original article storage unit 8. When the speed delivery mode is not selected, first, the fork 14A expands and contracts to store the article A in the original article storage unit 8, and then the stacker crane 1 moves to the unloading unit 12 to extend and retract the fork 14B. Then, the article B is transferred to the carry-out section 12 and the delivery operation is completed.

At the time of this take-out control, it is possible to select and execute either one of the take-out priority mode and the storage priority mode described above. That is, when the take-out priority mode is selected, regardless of whether or not the speed delivery mode is selected, when the article A that was in front is stored in the original article storage unit 8, the article holding unit on the front side of the article storage unit 8 is held. When the storage priority mode is selected, it is stored in the article holding section 10 in the back of the article storage section 8 and stored in the section 10 and the front side is selected. Is emptied and the storage priority mode in which another article can be stored on the front side at any time is executed.

[Other Embodiments] In the above-described embodiments, the two forks 14A and 14B are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction on the lifting platform 13 of the stacker crane 1, but FIG. So that the two forks 14A,
It is also possible to dispose 14B vertically. In this case, two lifts 13 are required, and a fork 14A and a fork 14B are arranged on each lift 13, so that both lifts 13 can be integrally lifted up and down. In addition, both the lifts 13 can be configured to be vertically movable up and down separately. Similarly, even when the two forks 14A and 14B are arranged in the horizontal direction, two lifts 13 are provided, the forks 14A and the forks 14B are arranged on each lift 13, and both lifts are lifted. The bases 13 may be separately movable in the lateral direction.

Further, although each of the article storage sections 8 has two article holding sections 10 provided in the depth direction thereof, three or more article holding sections 10 may be provided. In this case, if the number of forks 14 is increased and the article B to be taken out is at the back, the articles A in front are taken out sequentially by the fork 14, and then the article B is taken out and carried out. When the number of the forks 14 is increased, the forks 14 may be arranged in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction, and a plurality of the forks 14 may be arranged in each of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, for example, two in the horizontal direction. Various modes are possible, such as arranging one for each of the above two forks 14 and providing a total of four forks 14.

Also, the transfer device is not necessarily limited to the fork 14, and for example, a self-propelled trolley provided with a lifting device is provided, and this trolley is used to lift the pedestal 13 of the stacker crane 1 and each article storage. The article C can be moved between the article holding section 10 and the lifting table 13 of each article storage section 8 by traveling with the cart and lifting operation with the lifting device. It can also be configured and implemented. Further, by using a chain or the like having an engaging portion that engages with the article C, the article C is moved between the article holding section 10 and the elevating table 13 of each article storage section 8 by forward and reverse rotation driving of the chain or the like. It is also possible to transfer and configure with
In this case, the article C may be configured to slide in each article storage section 8, or an idle roller may be provided in each article storage section 8 to move on the rollers. it can.

In the above embodiment, the fixed type article storage rack 5 is used. However, a plurality of article storage racks are made movable, and the article storage racks are appropriately moved as necessary, The present invention can also be applied to a so-called moving rack-type article storage shelf in which a transfer device such as the stacker crane 1 is moved between the moved article storage shelves, and further stores the article storage state of each article storage unit 8. The main control unit H1 that is managed by the above and the crane control unit H2 that controls the operation of the stacker crane 1 are configured from one control unit H, and the control unit H is installed on the ground side or mounted on the stacker crane 1. It can also be carried out.

It should be noted that reference numerals are given in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the structures of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1] Plan view of article storage facility

[Figure 2] Side view of the article storage facility

[Figure 3] Rear view of the article storage facility

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the article storage unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the article storage facility.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the article storage facility.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the article storage facility.

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the article storage facility showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Conveyor 4 Conveyance path 5 article storage shelves 8 article storage 10 Article holding unit 12 carry-out section 13 Lifting platform 14, 14A, 14B Transfer device P pallet A, B, C articles H control means

Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-57-72503 (JP, A) JP-A-7-285621 (JP, A) JP-A-56-56402 (JP, A) JP-A-4-173604 (JP , A) JP 49-134075 (JP, A) JP 2-52810 (JP, A) JP 7-277413 (JP, A) Jitsu 50-28554 (JP, Y1) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 1/04 503

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of article holders (10) in the depth direction.
An article storage shelf (5) configured by arranging a plurality of article storage sections (8) each having a vertical and horizontal directions, and an article carrying-out section (12) for the article storage shelf (5) and articles for each article storage section (8). A transfer device (14) for transferring (C), and a transfer device (1) for transferring the transfer device (14) between the unloading part (12) and each article storage part (8), Control means (H) for storing and managing the article storage state of each article storage section (8) in the article storage shelf (5) and controlling the operation of the transfer apparatus (1) and the transfer apparatus (14). The transfer device (14) is capable of separately taking out the articles (C) from the plurality of article holding sections (10) of the article storage sections (8), and each article storage section ( 8) The article holding located at the back when the article (A) is not present in the article holding part (10) located before An article storage facility configured to remove an article (B) from (10), comprising a plurality of the transfer devices (14), wherein the control means (H) includes the article storage unit. When the article (A) is present in the article holding section (10) located in front when the article (B) is taken out from the article holding section (10) located in the back of (8), the article (A) in front of the article (A) is removed. One of the plurality of transfer devices (14A) is taken out, and the article (B) at the back is taken out by another transfer device (14B), and the article (B) at the back is taken out by the carry-out section (12). ) Is carried out and transferred to and is carried out , and when the taking-out control is carried out, the article in front of
When (A) is stored in the empty article holder (10),
The empty article holding part (10) located at the back of the storing part (8)
It is configured to execute the storage priority mode that stores first.
A storage facility for goods. 2. A plurality of article holders (10) in the depth direction.
A plurality of article storage units (8) having
The stored article storage shelf (5) and this article storage shelf (5)
Items to be delivered to the carry-out section (12) or each article storage section (8)
Transfer device (14) for transferring (C), and this transfer device
(14) is the carrying-out section (12) and each article storage section (8)
A transport device (1) for transporting between items and the article storage shelf
Describe the article storage status of each article storage section (8) in (5)
In addition to managing it, the transfer device (1) and
And a control means (H) for controlling the operation of the transfer device (14)
The transfer device (14) is provided in the article storage unit (8).
Separately take out the articles (C) from the plurality of article holders (10)
Can be placed in front of each article storage unit (8)
If the article holder (10) to be placed does not have the article (A)
The article (B) from the article holder (10) located at the back.
An article storage facility configured to be able to be taken out, comprising a plurality of transfer devices (14),
Article in which the step (H) is located at the back of the article storage section (8)
Positioned in front when the article (B) is taken out from the holder (10)
When the article (A) is present in the article holding unit (10) for
Transfer device for the article (A) in front of
(14A) and remove the article (B) in the back
The transfer device (14B) of the
(B) is transferred to the carry-out section (12) and transferred.
When the take-out control is executed and the take-out control is executed , the article in front of
When (A) is stored in the empty article holder (10),
In the empty article holding section (10) located in front of the storage section (8)
Execution of the take-out priority mode, in which items are stored preferentially, and article storage
Take precedence over the empty article holder (10) located at the back of the section (8)
Switch to execution of storage priority mode
An equipment storage facility configured . 3. The one transfer device (14) when the control means (H) executes the ejection control.
The front article (A) taken out by (A) is conveyed along with the back article (B) by the carrying device (1) to the carry-out section (1).
2), the article (B) in the back is transferred to the carry-out section (12), and then the article (A) in front is conveyed to the empty article holding section (8) for storage. The article storage facility according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the article storage facility is configured as described above . 4. The one transfer device (14) when the control means (H) executes the ejection control.
The front article (A) taken out by (A) is stored in the empty article holding section (8) by this one transfer device (14A), and then the article (B) at the back is carried out by the carrying-out section (12).
Claim 1 or is arranged to to transfer conveyed to the
Or the article storage facility described in 2 .