JP3509505B2 - Horizontal circulation sorter and picking device using the same - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product sorting method for sorting products by rearranging the products in a predetermined shipping order, a horizontal circulation sorter using the method, and a predetermined shipping product using the horizontal circulation sorter. The present invention relates to a picking device that picks in order, and particularly to improvement of shipping efficiency.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a distribution center or the like, products in a case, which are stacked and sent from a factory or the like on a pallet, are shown in FIG.
It is stored according to the procedure shown in. Products in a case that are stacked and sent from a factory on a pallet are first stored and stored in a pallet-loaded product storage shelf (steps S21, S).
22). Pallet-loaded products The products in the cases stored in the storage shelves are taken out in pallet units using a stacker crane. The products in the cases taken out in pallet units are conveyed to the face cutting device by a conveyor or the like. The face cutting device takes out the products in the case in face units, and returns the rest to the pallet-loaded product storage shelves again. The products in the case taken out in face units are rearranged in a row by a conveyor and temporarily stored in a predetermined place of a case flow rack or a case automatic warehouse. Similarly, in the case of piece unit picking called so-called bulk picking and case unit picking called case picking, after picking various products and loading them in a container, the container is placed in a case flow rack or case automatic warehouse. It is temporarily stored (steps S23 and S24). Here, in the physical distribution center, in general, both picking by case and picking by piece are often performed.

[0003] When taking out and delivering the products in the case stored in the case flow rack or the case automatic warehouse as described above, it is convenient to deliver the products collectively for each delivery destination. In addition, loading products in a case that will be unloaded later allows for more efficient loading and unloading. Further, recently, from the viewpoint of efficient sorting and delivery, there is a movement to collect products of each company handled in stores such as supermarkets and convenience stores in one distribution center.

For these reasons, for example, in a distribution center or the like, in order to improve delivery efficiency, case picking is performed in which items in a case are delivered by designating the delivery order so that they are sorted by delivery store order (step S25). ~ S2
8). Up to now, the case picking has been performed in the following procedure, for example.

When a shipping request is made, a cased product stored in a case flow rack or a case automatic warehouse is cut out in accordance with the order and number of shipping requests, for example, by using a cutting device and a merging conveyor, and conveyed to a shipping port. (Step S2
9).

[0006] At the shipping port, the products in the cases conveyed in the order of shipping are loaded on a pallet, for example, by an automatic loading machine, and the products in the cases loaded on the pallet are placed on a truck using, for example, a forklift and delivered. .

[0007]

However, in order to cut out the products in the case in the order of shipping as described above, the order of cutting out the products in the case from the case flow rack must be controlled. Here, since the product outlets of the case flow rack are lined up in parallel, no matter how advanced the control of cutting out the product in the case and the control of merging the product in the case are, the delivery speed is limited. is there. For example, when cutting out a product from a case flow rack, if you want to store the product stored in the product storage section at the rear in the transport direction before the product stored in the product storage section at the front in the transport direction, you can store the product at the rear in the transport direction. It is necessary to wait until the product cut out from the product storage unit at the front in the transport direction passes through the product cutout of the product storage unit at the front in the transport direction. In addition, in order to improve shipping efficiency, the product cut out from the product storage section at the rear in the transport direction is cut out from the product storage section at the front in the transport direction immediately after passing through the front of the product cutout port in the product storage section at the front in the transport direction. You have to join. This merging control becomes more complicated when the product cutouts of the case flow rack have multiple stages.

Further, in order to control the order of cutting out the products in the case from the case flow rack and to control the merging of the products in the case, complicated control is necessary, and therefore the cutting of the products from the case flow rack is performed. The capacity of the output device must be increased, leading to higher costs.

The same applies when the products in the cases cut out from the case automatic warehouse are rearranged in the order of shipping requests using the confluent conveyor.

The present invention has been made in order to eliminate such disadvantages, and the products are sorted at high speed in the order of the number of products and the number of the products, which are determined in advance for each store, each store's sales floor, and each store's display shelf. , It aims at improving the efficiency of shipping and delivering products and reducing the time and effort required for display work at each store.

[0011]

A horizontal circulating sorter according to the present invention comprises a conveyor, a plurality of horizontal circulating racks, and a plurality of horizontal circulating racks.
Has a buffer shooter, a shipping conveyor, and a control unit,
The conveyor conveys the products supplied by the upstream device in the order of supply
Each horizontal circulating rack is transported to
The horizontal conveyor circulates between the shooters for
Transport the products transferred from A to each buffer shooter
Then, the products conveyed to each buffer shooter are
Transferred to each buffer shooter under the control of
The chuffer shooter is a gate that holds products at the product outlet.
Located on the outer periphery of the horizontal circulation rack, equipped with a shipping conveyor
Is located downstream of the shooter for each buffer and
The items transferred from the shooter are stored in the shooters for each buffer.
The products are transported to the shipping port in the order in which they were assigned, and the control unit
Equipped with separate sensor, product identification unit, product sorting unit and product delivery unit
The product identification sensor is the product of the product conveyed by the conveyor.
The product identification section outputs a signal indicating the identification of the species.
The goods that the conveyor conveys based on the signal from the sensor.
Species are identified, and the product sorting unit identifies the product identified by the product identifying unit.
Product type, number of products shipped in advance, shipping order, and each
Based on the delivery order assigned to the buffer shooter,
Identify the shooter for the buffer that stores the products that the bear carried.
Separately, each product transported using a horizontal circulation rack is
Sorting one by one to the chuffer shooter and delivering the product
Each time a certain number of products have been sorted,
Open the gates of the shooters for each buffer at the same time
The feature is that the products held by the computer are transferred to the shipping conveyor.
And

[0012]

[0013]

[0014]

[0015]

Further, the transfer conveyor, the product identification sensor, the plurality of horizontal circulating racks, the plurality of buffer shooters, and the shipping conveyor are provided in multiple stages, and the control unit controls each stage individually to provide a large number of products in a small space. Rearrange the order of.

Further, each of the plurality of buffer shooters is provided with a plurality of gates, and the products transferred from the respective horizontal circulation racks are held by the respective gates, and the product dispensing section individually supplies the respective gates of the respective buffer shooters. The products held by the buffer shooters may be transferred to the shipping conveyor under control.

Further, each of the plurality of horizontal circulating racks has a carriage and a movable stopper, and circulates horizontally between the transfer conveyor and each buffer shooter to transfer the products transferred from the transfer conveyor to each buffer shooter. The movable stopper circulates in the horizontal direction together with the carriage, receives the product when the conveyor conveys the product to the carriage, and the carriage controls the product conveyed to each buffer shooter from the control unit. It may be transferred to each buffer shooter according to the above.

Further, each of the plurality of horizontal circulating racks has a tilting carriage, and circulates horizontally between the transfer conveyor and each buffer shooter to transfer the products transferred from the transfer conveyor to the carriage. The carriage conveys to the buffer shooter, the carriage keeps the horizontal state when transferring products from the transfer conveyor and when transferring products, and each buffer moves when transferring the transferred products under the control of the control unit. Tilt towards the shooter.

Further, each of the plurality of horizontal circulation racks has a carriage that tilts, a return cam that brings the carriage from an inclined state to a horizontal state, a hook that fixes the carriage in a horizontal state, and a carriage that is unlocked by the hook. And a dog that is inclined.

Further, the tilting carriage tilts about a rotation shaft provided inside a portion for holding the product.

Further, the picking device is provided with a flow rack and a horizontal circulation sorter, and the flow rack stores products.
The goods to be delivered are supplied to a horizontal circulation sorter, which has a conveyor, a plurality of horizontal circulation racks, a plurality of buffer shooters, a shipping conveyor, and a control unit, and the conveyor conveys the goods supplied by the flow rack. Each horizontal circulation rack circulates horizontally between the conveyor and each buffer shooter to convey the products transferred from the conveyor to each buffer shooter and then to each buffer shooter. The transferred products are transferred to each buffer shooter under the control of the control unit, each buffer shooter is equipped with a gate for holding the product at the product discharge port, is located on the outer periphery of the horizontal circulation rack, and the shipping conveyor is Located downstream of the buffer shooters, the products transferred from each buffer shooter are delivered in the order in which they were previously assigned to each buffer shooter. The control unit is equipped with a product identification sensor, a product identification unit, a product sorting unit, and a product delivery unit, and the product identification sensor outputs a signal indicating the identification of the type of the product conveyed by the conveyor, and the product identification unit. Identifies the product type of the product conveyed by the conveyor based on the signal from the product identification sensor, and the product sorting unit identifies the product type identified by the product identification unit,
Based on the predetermined number of goods output and the order of goods output and the order of goods output assigned to each buffer shooter, the buffer shooter that stores the goods conveyed by the conveyor is determined and each goods conveyed using the horizontal circulation rack One is sorted for each buffer shooter, and the product dispensing unit opens the gates of the buffer shooters at the same time each time a predetermined number of products are sorted, and ships the products held by each buffer shooter. The products are transferred to a conveyor, and products are quickly picked in a predetermined shipping order.

Another picking device is provided with a case automatic warehouse and a horizontal circulation sorter. The case automatic warehouse stores goods and supplies the goods to be discharged to the horizontal circulation sorter, and the horizontal circulation sorter has a conveyor and a plurality of conveyors. It has a horizontal circulation rack, a plurality of buffer shooters, a shipping conveyor, and a control unit, and the transport conveyor transports the products supplied by the flow rack in the order of supply, and each horizontal circulation rack is between the transport conveyor and each buffer shooter. The products transferred from the conveyor to the horizontal shooter are transferred to the buffer shooters, and the products transferred to the buffer shooters are transferred to the buffer shooters under the control of the control unit.
Each buffer shooter has a gate for holding the product at the product outlet, is located on the outer periphery of the horizontal circulation rack, the shipping conveyor is located downstream of each buffer shooter, and the products transferred from each buffer shooter are The product is conveyed to the shipping port in the order in which it is assigned to the buffer shooter in advance, the control unit is equipped with a product identification sensor, a product identification unit, a product sorting unit, and a product delivery unit. The product identification unit identifies the product type of the product conveyed by the conveyor based on the signal from the product identification sensor, and the product sorting unit determines the product type identified by the product identification unit, or a predetermined product. Based on the number and the order of delivery of the products and the order of delivery assigned to each buffer shooter, the buffer shooter that stores the products conveyed by the conveyor is determined, and the horizontal circulation is performed. Each product conveyed using the rack is sorted one by one for each buffer shooter, and the product dispensing unit opens the gates of each buffer shooter at the same time each time a predetermined number of products are sorted. The product held by the shooter is transferred to the shipping conveyor, and the product is quickly picked in a predetermined shipping order.

Further, the transfer conveyor of the horizontal circulation sorter, the plurality of horizontal circulation racks, the plurality of buffer shooters, and the shipping conveyor are provided in multiple stages, and the control unit controls each stage individually.

Further, each of the plurality of buffer shooters is provided with a plurality of gates, and the products transferred from the respective horizontal circulation racks are held by the respective gates, and the product dispensing section individually operates the respective gates of the buffer shooters. The products held by the buffer shooters are controlled and transferred onto the shipping conveyor.

[0026]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The horizontal circulation sorter of the present invention is, as a sorting device having an order rearranging function, for rearranging products cut out from an upstream side device such as a case flow rack in a required delivery order. As a result, the product can be efficiently shipped without performing high-level cutting control and merging control in an upstream device such as a case flow rack. This allows merchandise to be received and stored at, for example, a distribution center or a delivery center, and the stored merchandise can be picked in case units or picked in piece units according to an order from each retail store and mixed in a case such as a container. However, after the picked products are packed in a case flow rack or an automated warehouse, they can be quickly sorted by store, by sales floor, and by display shelves, which not only improves sorting efficiency in the distribution center, but also It is possible to reduce the labor of display work in each store.

The horizontal circulation sorter has, for example, a conveyor, a product identification sensor, a product identification unit, a plurality of buffer shooters, a plurality of horizontal circulation racks, a product sorting unit, a product delivery unit, and a shipping conveyor. The transport conveyor sequentially transports products supplied by an upstream device such as a case flow rack to the horizontal circulation sorter one by one. The product identification sensor is composed of, for example, a bar code reader, and reads the bar code attached to the case of the product conveyed by the conveyor.
A signal indicating the bar code is output. The product identification part is
For example, the product type conveyed by the conveyor is identified based on the signal from the barcode reader. Here, the barcode attached to the product case is changed, for example, on a product type basis.

Each of the buffer shooters is located in the order of pre-assigned delivery downstream of the transport conveyor with the product discharge port having a gate for holding the product facing the shipping conveyor, and one case of the product transferred from the horizontal circulation rack is placed. Hold each. Here, since each buffer shooter is located in the predetermined shipping order toward the shipping conveyor with respect to the product discharge port, by sorting the buffer shooters located in the front in the product transport direction in order from the product to be shipped first, Products can be arranged in the order of delivery request.

Each horizontal circulation rack circulates horizontally on an orbit provided between the conveyor and each buffer shooter. Each horizontal circulation rack has, for example, a carriage and a movable stopper for transferring products. The carriage conveys the products from the conveyor to the buffer shooters. Each movable stopper circulates horizontally with the carriage, receives the product when the conveyor conveys the product to the carriage, and pushes the product conveyed by the carriage to each buffer shooter according to the instruction from the product assortment unit and transfers it. To do.

When a tilting carriage is provided in each horizontal circulation rack, the carriage receives the product from the transfer conveyor, maintains the parallel state when transferring the product to each buffer shooter, and transfers the transferred product to the buffer. When it is transferred to the shooter, it is tilted toward the buffer shooter. Here, the tilting carriage is returned from the tilted state to the horizontal state by a return cam provided in the horizontal circulation rack body, for example. The carriage which has returned to the horizontal state is kept in the horizontal state by the hook provided on the horizontal circulation rack body. The change from the horizontal state to the inclined state is performed by releasing the hook with a dog provided in the horizontal circulation rack body. As a result, it is not necessary to supply power to the carriage or the like, and the device can be made inexpensive. Further, in order to facilitate the movement of the products, the carriage may be tilted around a rotation shaft provided inside the place where the products are loaded, or may be formed of a sliding member such as stainless steel or engineering plastic.

The product sorting unit is a buffer for storing the products carried by the carrying conveyor based on the product type identified by the product identifying unit, the number of products shipped and the shipping order determined in advance, and the shipping order assigned to each buffer shooter. The shooter for use is discriminated, the horizontal circulating rack is controlled, and each product conveyed by the conveyor is sorted by one case for each buffer shooter.

Each time the product dispensing unit finishes sorting the products of a predetermined number of cases, the gates of the buffer shooter units are simultaneously opened, and the products held by the buffer shooters are previously stored in the buffer shooters. Transfer to the shipping conveyor in the order of allocation. Here, the "predetermined number of cases of products" means, for example, when the number of cases of products to be shipped is equal to or greater than the number of buffer shooter units, the same number of products as the number of buffer shooter units are shipped. When the number of cases of the product is less than the number of shooter parts for buffer, it means the number of cases. Since the buffer shooter units are arranged side by side in the product transport direction, the products can be transferred to the shipping conveyor unit in the order of delivery request by simultaneously opening the gates as described above. The shipping conveyor is located downstream of each buffer shooter, and conveys the case-containing products transferred from each buffer shooter to the shipping port in the order of shipping previously assigned to each buffer shooter.

Further, the transport conveyor, the product identification sensor, the plurality of buffer shooters, the horizontal circulation rack, and the shipping conveyor may be configured in multiple stages, and the control unit may control each stage to operate independently. As a result, the order of many products can be rearranged in a small space.

Further, the picking device comprises a flow rack or a case automatic warehouse and the above-mentioned horizontal circulation rack. For example, a predetermined shipping order of cased products cut out based on the total number of shipments of each product from the flow rack or case automatic warehouse. Sort out and leave.

[0035]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of a picking device. The picking device includes a case flow rack 1 and a horizontal circulation sorter 2. The case flow rack 1 is provided with a plurality of product storage units 1a to 1n arranged in parallel, and stores, for example, the products in a case that are received and stored in a distribution center by storing them in each product type. Products of the number of cases corresponding to the number of cases determined in advance according to the configuration of No. 2 are supplied to the horizontal circulation sorter 2.

The horizontal circulation sorter 2 has, for example, a conveyor 3, a plurality of horizontal circulation racks 4a to 4n, a plurality of buffer shooters 51a to 51n and 52a to 52n, a shipping conveyor 6 and a controller 7. Here, the conveyor 3, the horizontal circulation racks 4a to 4n, and the buffer shooter 51a.
.About.51n, 52a to 52n and the shipping conveyor 6 are each configured in, for example, three stages. Transfer conveyor 3 in each stage, horizontal circulation racks 4a to 4n, and buffer shooter 5
Since 1a to 51n, 52a to 52n and the shipping conveyor 6 have the same operation and configuration, only one of them will be described in the following description.

The conveyor 3 conveys the case-containing products for shipping supplied from the case flow rack 1 to the horizontal circulation racks 4a to 4n in the order in which they are supplied.

As shown in FIG. 2, each of the horizontal circulation racks 4a to 4n has a carriage 42 and a movable stopper 43, and the conveyor 3 and the buffer shooters 51a to 51n,
It circulates horizontally on a track 8 provided in advance between 52a to 52n. Each of the carriages 42 is loaded with the products from the transport conveyor 3, and each of the buffer shooters 51a to 51a.
n, 52a to 52n. Each movable stopper 43
Is circulated in the horizontal direction together with the carriage 42, receives the product when the transfer conveyor 3 transfers the product to the carriage 42, and the carriage 42 stores the product in the buffer shooter 5.
When conveyed to the front of 1a to 51n and 52a to 52n, the buffer shooter 51a to along the groove 421 shown in FIG.
By moving in the directions of 51n and 52a to 52n, the products carried by the carriage 42 are transferred to the shooter 5 for each buffer.
1a to 51n or shooters 52a to 52n for each buffer
The items are sorted and transferred in the order of delivery that is previously assigned to.

The buffer shooters 51a to 51n and the buffer shooters 52a to 52n are located in parallel on the outer periphery of the horizontal circulating racks 4a to 4n downstream of the transport conveyor 3 in the order of pre-assigned shipping, and each of them is driven by the drive roller 51.
1, 521 are provided. Also, the buffer shooter 52a
52n are provided with a product holding gate 522 toward the buffer shooters 51a to 51n, and the buffer shooters 51a to 51n are provided with a product holding gate 512 toward the shipping conveyor 6. Buffer shooters 51a-5
If there are no products in 1n, buffer shooters 52a-5
2n gate 522 is open, horizontal circulation rack 4a
The products transferred from 4n to 4n are held by the product holding gates 512 of the buffer shooters 51a to 51n by the driving force of the driving roller 521. When the product is held by the product holding gate 512 of the buffer shooters 51a to 51n, the product holding gate 522 is closed, and the next product is held by the product holding gate 522. Under control of the control unit 7, the product holding gate 512 is opened, the product is sent to the shipping conveyor 6 by the driving force of the driving roller 511, and when the product is sent to the shipping conveyor 6, the product holding gate 512 is closed. Next, under the control of the control unit 7, the next product held by the product holding gate 522 of the buffer shooters 51a to 51n is opened by opening the product holding gate 522 and the buffer roller shooter 51a is driven by the driving force of the driving roller 521. Send to ~ 51n.

The shipping conveyor 6 is a buffer shooter 51.
The products, which are provided along the product holding gates 512 of a to 51n, are transferred from the buffer shooters 51a to 51n to the shipping port (not shown) in the order of the buffer shooters 51a to 51n.

The control unit 7 is provided with, for example, a product identification sensor 71, a product identification unit 72, a product sorting unit 73, and a product delivery unit 74 as shown in FIG. The product identification sensor 71 is composed of, for example, a bar code reader, reads the bar code attached to the case of the product conveyed by the conveyor 3, and outputs a signal indicating the read bar code. The product identification unit 72 identifies the product type of the product conveyed by the conveyor 3 based on the signal from the product identification sensor 71. The product sorting unit 73 includes a product type identified by the product identifying unit 72, a predetermined number of products to be delivered and a delivery order, and each buffer shooter 51a.
To 51n and 52a to 52n are controlled based on the shipping order, the movable stoppers 43 of the horizontal circulation racks 4a to 4n are controlled, and the case-containing products conveyed by the conveyor 3 are stored in one case for each buffer shooter 51a to 51n. Sort by each. Each of the buffer shooters 51a to 51n is provided with a product holding gate 52 when the products are sorted one by one.
2 is closed, and the next product is a shooter 52a for each buffer.
Hold at 52n. Here, the delivery order or the like of the products is predetermined and input according to the delivery destination of the products or the order of unloading the products. Each time the product dispensing unit 74 finishes sorting the products in the predetermined number of cases, first, the buffer shooters 51 a to 51 a-5.
The 1n product holding gate 512 is opened, and the cased products held by the buffer shooters 51a to 51n are transferred to the shipping conveyor 6 in the order in which the buffer shooters 51a to 51n and 52a to 52n are arranged. When the delivery of the product to the shipping conveyor 6 is completed, the product holding gate 51
2 and then open the product holding gate 522,
The next cased product held by the buffer shooters 52a to 52n is sent to the buffer shooters 51a to 51n. The shipping conveyor 6 includes the buffer shooters 51a to
The product received from 51n is conveyed to a product shipping port (not shown).

The operation of the case picking device having the above structure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5 and the operation process diagram of FIG.

When a shipment request for a product in a case is input (step S1), for example, a cutting device (not shown) cuts out products from the case flow rack 1 for the total number of shipping request cases for each product type (step S2).

As shown in FIG. 6A, the conveyor 3 is supplied with products A _{1 to} A ₅ , B _{1 to} B ₃ , C ₁ and D _{1 to} D ₃ in a case cut out from the case flow rack 1. In this order, they are conveyed to the horizontal circulation racks 4a to 4n (step S
3). Here, the products A _{1 to} A ₅ are the same product, and the product B
It is assumed that _{1 to} B ₃ are the same product and D _{1 to} D ₃ are the same product. As a result, the products in the cases can be sequentially transferred to the horizontal circulation racks 4a to 4n one by one. The product identification sensor 71 reads the bar code provided on the case conveyed by the conveyor 3 and outputs a signal indicating the product type of the product in the case, and the product identification unit 72 indicates the bar code of the product from the product identification sensor 71. Input the signal,
The type of the product in the case carried by the carrying conveyor 3 is identified (step S4). This makes it possible to determine which case-containing product should be sorted into which buffer shooter 52a to 52n.

The carriage 42 of each of the horizontal circulation racks 4a to 4n conveys the case-containing product carried by the carrying conveyor 3 along the product carry-in port of each of the buffer shooters 52a to 52n. The product sorting unit 73, based on the identification result of the product identifying unit 72, a predetermined shipping order of products, and an arrangement order of the buffer shooters 51a to 51n and 52a to 52n, the carriages 42a to 42n of the horizontal circulation racks 4a to 4n.
Shooter for each buffer 5
1a to 51n or shooters 52a to 52n for each buffer
For each case. For example, the predetermined shipping order of the products A _{1 to} A ₅ , B _{1 to} B ₃ , C ₁ and D _{1 to} D ₃ in the case carried by the carriage 42 of the horizontal circulation racks 4 a to 4 n is 6, 7, 8th, 11th, 12th, 1st, 2
If it is number 3, number 3, number 9, number 4, number 5, and number 13,
As shown in FIG. 6 (b), the products A _{1 to} A ₅ , B _{1 to} B ₃ , C ₁ and D _{1 to} D ₃ in a case are sorted in order, and buffer shooters 51 f, 51 g, 51 h, 51 k, 51 are respectively provided.
l, 51a, 51b, 51c, 51i, 51d, 51
e, 51m (step S5). Here, since the buffer shooters 51a to 51n are provided in parallel with the product discharge ports facing the shipping conveyor 6, as described above, the products in the predetermined shipping order are located forward in the product transport direction. By sorting the shooters 51a to 51n for buffering, the products can be arranged in the order of delivery request. Further, since the buffer shooters 51a to 51n and the buffer shooters 52a to 52n are arranged in series and arranged in two stages, when the next product comes before the end of the product sorting, the product can be temporarily held. it can.

First, the buffer shooters 51a to 5a are provided.
There is no cased product in 1n, so it is a gate 5 for holding products.
22 is open and the product holding gate 512 is closed. Therefore, the products sorted by the horizontal circulation racks 4a to 4n are held by the buffer shooters 51a to 51n. When the products in the cases are sorted into the buffer shooters 51a to 51n, the gates 52 for holding the corresponding products are provided.
2 is closed, and the next product in the case is temporarily stored in each of the buffer shooters 52a to 52n.

When a predetermined number of cased products are sorted into the buffer shooters 51a to 51n (step S6), the product dispensing unit 74 causes the buffer shooters 51a to 51a.
The drive roller 511 of ~ 51n is rotated, the product holding gate 512 is opened at the same time, and as shown in FIG. 6C, the cased products arranged in the order of delivery request are transferred to the shipping conveyor 6 in that order (step S7). ). When the delivery of the goods to the shipping conveyor 6 is completed, the buffer shooter 51a-
51n closes the gate 512, and the buffer shooter 52
a to 52n rotate the drive roller 521 and rotate the gate 52
2 is opened, and the products temporarily stored in the buffer shooters 52a to 52n are buffer shooters 51a to 51n.
Send to. The shipping conveyor 6 is a buffer shooter 51a-
The product in the case delivered from 51n is conveyed to the shipping port in the order in which the buffer shooters 51a to 51n are arranged (step S8).

After the buffer shooters 51a to 51n have passed the cased products to the shipping conveyor 6, the same operation as described above is repeated until all the products requested for shipping are delivered (step S9). As described above, the buffer shooters 51a to 51n and the buffer shooters 52a to 52n.
Since it is configured to have two stages, it is possible to successively change the order of the products in the next case and improve the picking efficiency of the products.

As described above, since the products cut out from the upstream device such as the case flow rack are rearranged in the required shipping order and conveyed to the shipping port, the products are distributed to the distribution center as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, for example. Alternatively, the goods may be received and stored at a delivery center (steps S11 and S12), and the stored products may be picked in case units or picked in piece units according to an order from each retail store and mixed in a case such as a container (step). (S13, S14), after packing the picked products in a case flow rack or the like,
It is possible to quickly rearrange and sort the order of each store, each sales floor, and each display shelf for shipment (steps S16 to S19), and not only improve the sorting efficiency in the distribution center, but also display at each store. The labor of work can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, each product is identified by attaching a barcode for each product type to each product and reading the barcode, but the product identification sensor 71 is a case cut out from the flow rack 1. It is also possible to carry out counting based on the signal from and to check the product type in the case using the counted value. In this case, the product identification sensor 71
For this, a count sensor including a photo sensor or the like is used instead of the barcode reader.

Further, in the above description, the operation of one of the three horizontal circulation racks 4a to 4n has been described, but the horizontal circulation sorter 2 is independent in each of the three horizontal circulation racks 4a to 4n. Since processing can be performed, products can be rearranged at high speed using a small space.

Further, in the embodiment, the buffer shooter 51 is used.
Although the product holding gates 512 of a to 51n are opened at the same time, the product holding gates 512 may be opened sequentially with a time difference from the buffer shooter at the front in the transport direction to control the interval between the products in each case. .

In the above embodiment, the horizontal circulation rack 4 is used.
Although the case where the buffer shooters 51a to 51n and 52a to 52n are provided between the a to 4n and the shipping conveyor 6 has been described, the buffer shooters 51a to 51n and 52 are described.
Horizontal circulation racks 4a-4 for products without a-52n
Alternatively, the items may be sorted and transferred directly from the n to the shipping conveyor 6 to rearrange the order.

In the above embodiment, buffer shooters 51a to 51n and 52a to 52n are provided so that a plurality of products can be held at the same time. Even when the sorting capacity of No. 2 is very high, the case where the sorting speed of the horizontal circulation sorter and the order rearranging processing speed are not reduced has been described, but even if the sorting capacity of the horizontal circulation sorter 2 is small. When finished, the buffer shooter 51a-
The product may be held by using only 51n.

Further, buffer shooters 51a to 51 are provided.
When only the n is used and the product holding gate 512 holds the product, each buffer shooter 5
A large space of 1a to 51n may be taken, a plurality of products may be held at the same time, and the products may be cut out one by one by the opening / closing control of the product holding gate 512 and transferred to the shipping conveyor 6.

In the above embodiment, the horizontal circulation rack 4 is used.
a to 4n to buffer shooters 51a to 51n, 52
Although the case where the movable stopper 43 is used to transfer the products to the a to 52n has been described, the carriage 42 is tilted as shown in FIG.
The products may be transferred to 1a to 51n and 52a to 52n. The carriage 42 receives the products from the conveyor 3 and receives the buffer shooters 51a to 51n, 5 from each other.
When being conveyed to 2a to 52n or the shipping conveyor 6, the product is held in a horizontal state. When the product is transferred, the carriage 42 is tilted and the product is transferred to the buffer shooters 51a to 51n, 52a to 52n or the shipping conveyor 6 due to the gravity of the product. The carriage 42 is returned from the inclined state to the horizontal state by a return cam 44 provided at a fixed position of the device. The carriage 42 which has returned to the horizontal state is kept in the horizontal state by the hook 46 provided at the fixed position of the apparatus. The change from the horizontal state to the inclined state is performed by releasing the hook 46 with the dog 48 attached to the cylinder 47 that moves forward and backward in the product transfer direction. As a result, it is not necessary to supply power to the carriage 42, etc., and the cost of the device can be reduced. Further, the carriage 42 is provided with a rotary shaft 4 provided inside a place where the products are loaded so that the products can be easily moved.
It is preferable to make it tilt around 5 or a sliding member such as stainless steel or engineering plastic. Further, the carriage 42 may be provided with a groove extending in the product transfer direction so that the product can be easily moved.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention, with respect to a plurality of buffer shooters or shipping conveyors provided in a predetermined shipping order, the shipping products supplied from the upstream side device are identified, The products are sorted one by one based on a predetermined shipping order of products and the arrangement order of the buffer shooters, and when the predetermined number of products are sorted, the products sorted by the buffer shooters are conveyed in the order of the buffer shooters arranged. Therefore, the products can be quickly sorted in the order of delivery request.

Further, since the products are sorted into the buffer shooters by using the horizontal circulation rack, the buffer shooters can be provided on the entire outside of the horizontal circulation rack.
Many products can be sorted in a small space.

[0059]

Further, since the products are rearranged by the multistage device, the products can be rearranged quickly in a small space.

Further, each horizontal circulation rack has a carriage and a movable stopper, and circulates horizontally between the transfer conveyor and each buffer shooter to transfer the products transferred from the transfer conveyor to each buffer shooter. Then
The movable stopper circulates horizontally with the carriage,
When the conveyor conveys the product to the carriage, the product is received, and the carriage transfers the product conveyed to each buffer shooter to each buffer shooter under the control of the control unit. Can be reprinted.

Further, each horizontal circulation rack has a tilting carriage, and circulates horizontally between the transfer conveyor and each buffer shooter to place the products transferred from the transfer conveyor on the carriage for each buffer. The product is transported to the shooter, and the carriage maintains a horizontal state when transferring and transferring products from the transfer conveyor and tilts toward the buffer shooters when transferring the transferred products. It is not necessary to provide a motor or the like on the carriage to transfer the device, and the device configuration can be further simplified.

Further, since the carriage is returned from the inclined state by using the return cam, the carriage is fixed in the inclined state by using the hook, and the fixing by the hook is released by using the dog to set the carriage in the inclined state. With such a configuration, the carriage can be tilted and horizontal.

Since the products are supplied by using the flow rack or the case automatic warehouse, the products can be supplied one by one with a simple structure.

Further, since the flow rack or the case automatic warehouse does not need to supply the stored products in the shipping order, the load of the device for cutting out the products from the flow rack or the case flow rack can be reduced.

Further, since the products supplied by using the flow rack or the case flow rack are rearranged in the shipping order by using the multi-stage horizontal circulation sorter, the space required for rearranging the products can be reduced, and the products can be shipped. The efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a picking device.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a horizontal circulation rack.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a horizontal circulation rack.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a control unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a case picking operation.

FIG. 6 is an operation process chart showing the operation of the horizontal circulation sorter.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the entire operation when sorting by store and by shelf.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram in the case of having a tilting carriage.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a conventional sorting operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 case flow rack 2 Horizontal circulation sorter 3 Conveyor 4 Horizontal circulation rack 42 carriage 43 Movable stopper 44 Return cam 45 rotation axis 46 hook 48 dogs 51 Buffer Shooter 511 Drive roller 512 gate 52 Buffer shooter 521 drive roller 522 gate 6 shipping conveyor 7 control unit 71 Product identification sensor 71 Product Identification Department 72 Product Sorting Department 73 Product Delivery Department

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Shinichiro Eto 1-2-1, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Nippon Kokan Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP 3-13402 (JP, A) JP 2 -233404 (JP, A) JP-A-4-298413 (JP, A) JP-A-63-295304 (JP, A) JP-A-7-157059 (JP, A) Actual development Sho-61-110630 (JP, U) ) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 1/00-1/20 B65G 47/48

Claims (11)

(57) [Claims] 1. A conveyor and a plurality of horizontal circulating racks
Has multiple buffer shooters, shipping conveyors, and controls
However, the conveyor conveys the products supplied by the upstream device.
They are transported in the order of supply, and each horizontal circulation rack is
Circulate horizontally between the shooters for the buffer and
Carry the products transferred from the Nvea to the shooters for each buffer
The control unit controls the products sent and transported to the buffer shooters.
Transferred to each buffer shooter according to the control from
The buffer shooter is a game that holds products at the product outlet.
Is located on the outer circumference of the horizontal circulation rack and is equipped with a shipping container.
Is located downstream of the shooter for each buffer and
Items transferred from the shooter for each buffer to the shooter for each buffer
The products are transported to the shipping port in the order of pre-assigned shipping, and the control unit
Equipped with an identification sensor, product identification unit, product sorting unit and product delivery unit
The product identification sensor is the product of the product conveyed by the conveyor.
The product identification section outputs a signal indicating the identification of the species.
The goods that the conveyor conveys based on the signal from the sensor.
Species are identified, and the product sorting unit identifies the product identified by the product identifying unit.
Product type, number of products shipped in advance, shipping order, and each
Based on the delivery order assigned to the buffer shooter,
Identify the shooter for the buffer that stores the products that the bear carried.
Separately, each product transported using a horizontal circulation rack is
Sorting one by one to the chuffer shooter and delivering the product
Each time a certain number of products have been sorted,
Open the gates of the shooters for each buffer at the same time
The feature is that the products held by the computer are transferred to the shipping conveyor.
Horizontal circulation sorter. 2. The combination of the conveyor and the product identification sensor.
Ships with several horizontal circulation racks and shooters for multiple buffers
The conveyor and multi-stage, the control unit controls each stage individually
The horizontal circulation sorter according to claim 1. 3. The plurality of buffer shooters comprises:
Equipped with multiple gates each, transferred from each horizontal circulation rack
Stored products are held at each gate, and the product payout unit uses each buffer.
For each buffer by controlling each gate of the shooter individually
Request to transfer goods held by shooter to shipping conveyor
The horizontal circulation sorter according to Item 1. 4. The plurality of horizontal circulation racks are respectively
It has a carriage and a movable stopper, and it has a conveyor and
Conveying con by the circulation of the horizontal direction between the Ffa shooter
Transport the goods transferred from the bear to each buffer shooter
The movable stopper, together with the carriage, circulates horizontally.
However, when the transfer conveyor transfers the products to the carriage,
Receiving goods, the carriage up to the shooter for each buffer
For each buffer according to the control from the conveyed goods
The transfer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is transferred to a shooter.
Horizontal circulation sorter. 5. The plurality of horizontal circulation racks are respectively
It has a tilting carriage, a conveyor and buffers.
Is there a horizontal circulation between shooters for transport conveyors?
Place the products transferred from the
The product from the conveyor.
Keep the product horizontal when transferring and transporting
When transferring the sent products under the control of the control unit
4. Inclining toward each buffer shooter.
Horizontal circulation sorter according to any one of. 6. The plurality of horizontal circulation racks are respectively tilted.
The moving carriage and the carriage can be
Fix the return cam and the carriage in the horizontal state.
Release the hook and the hook, and tilt the carriage.
6. The horizontal circulation saw according to claim 5, further comprising a dog that is inclined.
Data. 7. The tilting carriage holds a product.
The tilting shaft is tilted about a rotation shaft provided inside the portion.
The horizontal circulation sorter according to 5 or 6. 8. A flow rack and a horizontal circulation sorter are provided,
The flow rack stores products and horizontally circulates them
The horizontal circulation sorter is supplied to the
Horizontal circulation rack with shooters for multiple buffers and shipping
The conveyor has a flow rack.
Each product is transported in the order in which it is supplied, and each horizontal circulation rack
Is horizontal between the conveyor and the shooters for each buffer.
Products that have been circulated in the appropriate direction and transferred from the conveyor
Transfer to the shooter for the fur and to the shooter for each buffer
For each buffer according to the control from the conveyed goods
Transferred to shooter, each shooter for buffer is product outlet
Equipped with a gate to hold the product on the outer circumference of the horizontal circulation rack
Located on the downstream side of the shooter for each buffer.
The products transferred from each buffer shooter are
The shipping port is assigned in the order of goods output that was previously assigned to the buffer shooter.
Conveyed, the control unit Specification products and commodity identification sensor and product identification unit
The product identification sensor is equipped with a separation unit and a product delivery unit, and the product identification sensor
A signal is output to identify the type of product that
The product identification section is based on the signal from the product identification sensor.
The product sorter identifies the product type conveyed by
Product type identified by another department, number of products shipped in advance
And shipping order and assigned to each buffer shooter
Based on the shipping order, the bar that stores the products conveyed by the conveyor.
Identify the chuffer shooter and use the horizontal circulation rack.
One for each conveyed product for each buffer shooter
Product sorting section finishes sorting the specified number of products
Each time, the gates of the shooters for each buffer are opened simultaneously.
The shipping buffer for the products held by the shooters for each buffer.
A picking device characterized by being transferred to A. 9. A case automatic warehouse and a horizontal circulation sorter are provided.
Well, the case automatic warehouse stores the goods and stores the goods to be shipped.
Supply to flat circulation sorter, horizontal circulation sorter is a conveyor
And multiple horizontal circulation racks and multiple buffer shooters
It has a shipping conveyor and a control unit, and the transfer conveyor is a flora.
Products are supplied in the order in which they are supplied and are horizontally circulated.
The rack is placed between the conveyor and each buffer shooter.
Products that are horizontally circulated and transferred from the conveyor
Transports to each buffer shooter, and each buffer shoe
The products transported to the server are controlled by the control unit.
Transferred to FA shooters, each buffer shooter is a product
Horizontal circulation rack with a gate for holding products at the outlet
Located on the outer periphery of the
Located downstream of each buffer and transferred from each buffer shooter.
Items are output in the order in which they are assigned in advance to each buffer shooter.
The product is conveyed to the cargo port, and the control unit has a product identification sensor and a product identification unit.
Equipped with a product sorting unit and a product dispensing unit, the product identification sensor conveys
Outputs a signal that identifies the type of product conveyed by the conveyor
However, the product identification section conveys the product based on the signal from the product identification sensor.
The product sorter identifies the product type conveyed by the conveyor and
Product type identified by the product identification unit
Assigned to the number of warehouses, shipping order, and shooters for each buffer
Stores the products conveyed by the conveyor based on the order of delivery
Identify the shooter for the buffer to
Each product transported using each buffer shooter
The items are sorted one by one, and the product payout section sorts a specified number of products.
Each time, the gates of the shooters for each buffer are
To open, shipping co-products that each buffer for the shooter has been held
A picking device characterized by being transferred to an antenna. 10. A conveyor for the horizontal circulation sorter,
Multiple horizontal circulation racks and multiple buffer shooters and outputs
The loading conveyor is multi-staged, and the control unit controls each stage individually.
The picking device according to claim 8 or 9, wherein. 11. The plurality of buffer shooters are
Equipped with multiple gates each, transferred from each horizontal circulation rack
Stored products are held at each gate, and the product payout unit uses each buffer.
For each buffer by controlling each gate of the shooter individually
Request to transfer goods held by shooter to shipping conveyor
Item 11. The picking device according to any one of items 8 to 10.