JP6437813B2 - Sorting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sorting apparatus for sorting a plurality of articles in a distribution warehouse that sorts, packs, and ships articles ordered by a purchaser, for example, in mail order sales.

In recent years, users of mail order (hereinafter simply referred to as EC) using the Internet called EC (Electronic Commerce) continue to increase.
Unlike store sales and mail order sales using catalogs, EC always handles a huge variety of goods, and the purchaser can order goods at any time.

  On the other hand, since the EC dealers must always manage an enormous variety of goods as inventory in order to ship goods quickly to the purchaser, the goods are usually stored in a distribution warehouse and purchased. The delivered goods are shipped directly from the distribution warehouse to the purchaser.

  In a distribution warehouse handling EC goods in this way, after searching for the ordered goods from the stock storage area where the stock of goods is stored and collecting them in the sorting area, each sorting carton (sorter) is used for each shipping carton. Items are sorted, packed, and shipped to purchasers.

  Note that the work of finding and collecting products from the inventory storage area is not generally performed for each order in EC, but batch picking is performed in which orders are aggregated and picked in units of products.

Conventionally, such Batchipi' key ring is performed, the sorting device sorting area (sorter), for example as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a loop-shaped conveying line for conveying the article is conveyed by the conveying line There are known a plurality of chutes for sorting the articles being sorted, and sorting the articles from the transport line to the chutes according to the sorting destination assigned to each chute.

In such a conventional sorting apparatus, the product travels on the transport line in the order in which articles are placed on the loop-shaped transport line.
The plurality of articles must be transported on the same route while keeping the manner of arrangement on a predetermined loop-shaped transport line.
In such a case, the article does not follow the shortest course to the chute corresponding to the sorting destination.

JP2013-245087A

  By the way, in the shipment from the distribution warehouse to the retail store, the number of shipments per order is large. However, in EC, the number of shipments per order is small because the direct shipment to general consumers. The number of orders (number of sorting destinations) is increasing.

  In the sorting work using the sorting apparatus as described above, the number of openings increases as the number of sorting destinations that perform sorting simultaneously increases. For this reason, when the number of sorting destinations is large as in EC, it is necessary to increase the number of shoots in order to make sorting work more efficient.

However, increasing the number of chutes increases the size of the sorting apparatus and increases the installation cost.
In addition, one sorting worker is attached to 10 to 20 chutes, and the shipping cartons that have been sorted are delivered to the packing worker. However, as the number of openings increases, it is necessary to increase the number of sorting workers. Labor costs will also increase.

  In the present invention, in view of such a current situation, in a sorting operation with a small number of shipments per order and a large number of sorting destinations such as EC, the sorting worker can be added to the chute without increasing the size of the apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sorting apparatus that can reduce the number of sorting workers by adopting a structure that does not need to be arranged.

  It is another object of the present invention to provide a sorting apparatus capable of increasing the number of product types to be aggregated in batch picking by efficiently performing sorting work in the sorting apparatus and improving the work efficiency of batch picking.

The present invention was invented to solve the problems in the prior art as described above, and the sorting device of the present invention is
The sorting area is
It consists of an upper area that constitutes the upper floor in side view and a lower area that constitutes the lower floor in side view,
In the upper area,
A road that spreads in a plane,
An article supply unit arranged to face the travel path;
A plurality of openings for discharging articles from the travel path;
A plurality of unmanned traveling vehicles that automatically travel on the traveling path and convey the article directly to an opening corresponding to a sorting destination, and
The lower area is provided with a container supply device for supplying empty containers and discharging sorted containers .

  According to such a sorting apparatus, a sorting worker is arranged on a chute without increasing the size of the apparatus in sorting work with a small number of shipments per order and a large number of sorting destinations such as EC. By making the structure unnecessary, the number of sorting workers can be reduced.

Further, by dividing the work area into two upper and lower parts, the sorting work can be performed continuously and efficiently in a small space in a plane.

In the present invention,
Oite to the lower area, the container having a large number of articles to be turned on, as compared to a container having a small number of articles to be introduced is preferably disposed proximate to the product supply section.
If set in this way, the sorting efficiency can be improved.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the container supply device is
A transport conveyor for transporting the sorted containers or empty containers for replenishment;
An empty container supply section arranged to face the conveyor,
It is preferred that and a sorting completed container processing unit for discharging the sorting already container from the conveyor.
With such settings, it is possible to efficiently put in and out sorted containers and empty containers.

In the present invention,
In the lower area,
It is preferable that transfer means capable of transferring the sorted container or the empty container is provided.
With such a configuration, handling of the container with respect to the conveyor is easy.

Furthermore, in the present invention,
It is preferable that the outlet portions of the plurality of openings in which the upper area is arranged and the sorted containers for shipping arranged in the lower area are arranged at corresponding positions in plan view. .
With such a configuration, the planar space of the sorting area can be set as small as possible.

In the present invention,
It is preferable that the empty container is transferred by the transfer means to a position where the sorted containers for shipment are originally located.
With such a configuration, it is possible to efficiently replenish the number of shipping containers that have been sorted and gradually decreased.

Furthermore, in the present invention,
A plurality of the article supply units may be provided in the upper area.
Thus, if the article supply unit is provided at a plurality of places, the article can be transported from a plurality of places, so that the work efficiency can be improved.

In the present invention,
In a case where a plurality of the article supply units are provided in the upper area, it is preferable that the unmanned traveling vehicle in which the sorting of the articles is completed is returned to the nearest article supply unit from the position.

  If the article supply unit is provided in a plurality of places as described above, it is possible to return the unmanned traveling vehicle after the conveyance is completed to the nearby article supply unit, thereby improving work efficiency as a result. it can.

  According to the present invention, since the articles are transported directly to the opening corresponding to the sorting destination by the unmanned traveling vehicle in the sorting area spreading in a plane, it is possible to set a large number of articles to be sorted per unit time. .

Furthermore, according to the sorting apparatus of the present invention, the work area is divided into two upper and lower parts, so that the sorting work in a small space can be performed continuously and efficiently.
Further, according to the present invention, by efficiently performing the sorting operation in the sorting apparatus, it is possible to increase the number of product types to be aggregated in batch picking, and improve the work efficiency of batch picking.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an upper area of a sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a lower area of the sorting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing an upper area of a sorting apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing an upper area of a sorting apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments (examples) of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 show a sorting apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an area located at a higher position in a side view, and FIG. 2 is a lower position in a side view. It is a schematic plan view of the area located.

  In the sorting apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the sorting area 2 is composed of an upper area A (FIG. 1) and a lower area B (FIG. 2). In other words, in this embodiment, the space for sorting has a two-story structure, and one sorting area 2 is formed by two areas located above and below. In the following description, “right” and “left” mean that the article supply unit 6 is located to the right of the sorting area 2 in FIG. In addition, in FIG. 1, “up” and “down” define the position where the reference numeral 15a is formed as “up” and the position where the reference numeral 15b is formed as “down”. Top and bottom shall be used. When using up and down in the vertical direction, the upper area A is “up” with respect to the lower area B.

First, the upper area A will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, in the upper area A, the traveling road 4 spreads in a plane, the article supply unit 6 arranged to face one side of the traveling road 4, and the traveling road 4 automatically travels. A plurality of unmanned traveling vehicles 12 are provided.

  In the travel path 4, openings 8 a are formed at predetermined intervals, such as C, D, E, F, G, H, from the left in FIG. 1. In the present embodiment, only one opening 8a is provided in the leftmost end C row, but in the other rows D, E, F, G, and H, two openings 8a are formed as a set. In addition, it is preferable to connect the chute into which articles | goods are thrown in to the lower part of these openings 8a.

  This chute is used for reliably and safely supplying articles from the opening 8a of the upper area A to the shipping container 20 arranged in the lower area B. However, this chute does not need to be provided when handling an article that does not break even if it is dropped with a flexible article, for example, when sorting commodities in the apparel field. Such an article may be dropped directly into the shipping container 20 from the opening 8a. In addition, when providing a chute | shoot, it is preferable to provide with a suitable inclination angle. Further, when the chute is provided, the chute is not shown in the field of view of FIGS. 1 and 2, and in the following description, the chute is assumed to be at the position of the opening 8a in FIGS.

  It is preferable that the unmanned traveling vehicle 12 can travel including the region (C, D, E, F, G, H) where the opening 8a (chute) is formed or across the opening 8a. For example, when the opening 8a obstructs the traveling of the unmanned traveling vehicle 12, a lid is provided on the upper portion of the opening 8a, and when the article is not put in by the lid, the opening 8a may be closed.

Such an unmanned traveling vehicle 12 is driven by various currently known driving means such as a power source or a battery, and further a train type traveling on a track.
In this embodiment, an upper side passage 15a extending in the horizontal direction in FIG. 1 and a lower side passage 15b extending in the horizontal direction in FIG. Four communication paths 15c, 15d, 15e, 15f, and 15g are formed on the center side, and the unmanned vehicle 12 travels mainly through these paths.

Further, in FIG. 1, a region 15 h on the right side of the communication passage 15 g is a standby position for the unmanned vehicle 12.
By arranging the opening 8a and the communication passages 15c, 15d, 15f, and 15g as described above, the unmanned traveling vehicle 12 travels in the vertical direction along the communication passages 15c, 15d, 15f, and 15g. The openings 8a are located on both sides of the vehicle 12.

  The article supply unit 6 arranged so as to face the right side surface of the traveling road 4 spreading in a plane allocates a sorting destination to the articles supplied to the upper area A, and assigns one to the unmanned traveling vehicle 12. It is a place where goods are thrown in one by one. The articles sorted by the article supply unit 6 are mounted on the unmanned traveling vehicle 12 from the article supply unit 6, and then, by the unmanned traveling vehicle 12, a predetermined opening 8 a (corresponding to a chute when a chute is provided) It is conveyed along a predetermined course.

  As a method for putting an article into the predetermined opening 8a from the unmanned traveling vehicle 12, for example, a tray is provided on the upper surface of the unmanned traveling vehicle 12, and the article is conveyed to the predetermined opening 8a in a state where the article is placed on the tray. Thereafter, the tray may be tilted, and the article may be put into the opening 8a from the tilted tray.

  Alternatively, a belt conveyor can be provided on the unmanned traveling vehicle 12 in advance, and articles can be fed through the belt conveyor. In such a case, the unmanned traveling vehicle 12 travels in the vicinity of the predetermined opening 8a, and subsequently, the belt conveyor of the unmanned traveling vehicle 12 is driven to rotate, and the momentum of the article transported on the belt conveyor is used. Then, the article may be dropped into the opening 8a.

  Furthermore, as another method of loading the article, a container whose bottom surface can be opened and closed is provided in the unmanned traveling vehicle 12, the article is conveyed by the container with the bottom surface closed, and when the unmanned traveling vehicle 12 reaches a predetermined position, The bottom surface of the container may be opened, and the article may be put into the opening 8a by a so-called pitfall type.

  The upper area A is configured as described above. The configuration of the lower area B will be described below. It should be noted that the lower area B and the upper area A are provided so as to correspond in a projected manner as will be described later.

In the lower area B, a container supply device for supplying empty containers and discharging sorted containers is provided.
Further, the container supply apparatus includes a transport conveyor 18 for transporting a plurality of shipping containers 20 or empty containers 30 for replenishment, an empty container supply unit 32 disposed so as to face the transport conveyor 18, and a transport and a sorting completed container processing unit 34 for discharging the sorting already sorting completed container 40 from the conveyor 18.

  In the lower area B, as shown in FIG. 2, two conveyor elements 18a, 18b arranged vertically and six conveyor elements 18c, 18d, 18e, 18f, 18g arranged vertically in the central part. , 18f, a conveyor 18 is provided.

The conveyor element 18a corresponds to the position of one side passage 15a in FIG. 1, and the conveyor element 18b corresponds to the position of the other side passage 15b. Further, the position of the communication passage 15c in the vertical direction corresponds to the conveyor element 18c, the position of the communication passage 15d corresponds to the position of the conveyor element 18d, the position of the communication passage 15e corresponds to the position of the conveyor element 18e, The position of 15f corresponds to the position of the conveyor element 18f, and the position of the communication passage 15g corresponds to the position of the conveyor element 18g. The right side region 15h corresponds to the position of the conveyor element 18f.

  In the lower area B in which the transport conveyor 18 having such a configuration is formed, shipping containers 20 are arranged on both sides of the conveyor elements 18c, 18d, 18e, 18f, 18g, and 18f.

  There is one shipping container 20 on the left side of the outermost conveyor element 18c, but there are shipping containers on both sides of the other central conveyor elements 18d, 18e, 18f, 18g. Two 20 are arranged.

  Here, when a plurality of shipping containers 20 are arranged, a container with a large number of articles to be loaded is at a position close to the article supply unit 6 in the upper area A shown in FIG. It is preferable to arrange. In this way, if the container 20 having a large number of articles is arranged at a position close to the article supply unit 6, the transfer distance is shortened as a whole, so that sorting efficiency can be improved.

The positions at which these shipping containers 20 are arranged correspond to the positions at which the openings 8a (corresponding to chutes) are formed, and the shipping containers 20 are arranged immediately below the openings 8a.
In addition, each conveyor element 18a-18h is comprised so that it can go back and forth between adjacent elements.

In addition, an empty container supply unit 32 for replenishing empty containers 30 onto the transfer conveyor 18 is disposed on the right side of the conveyor element 18a located on the upper side in FIG.
Further, a sorting completion container processing unit 34 is arranged on the right side of the conveyor element 18b located on the lower side in FIG.

  The sorting completion container processing unit 34 is a place where the sorting completion container 40 that has been sorted is sequentially transported, and after confirming by visual inspection or the like whether a predetermined article is stored in the container, It will be delivered to the shipping operator.

In addition, the sorting device 10 includes a control device 22 that controls the conveyor 18 and the destination of the unmanned traveling vehicle 12. The supply timing of the empty container 30 is also controlled by the control device 22.

On the other hand, in the sorting apparatus 10, the empty container 30 which is supplied onto the conveyor 18, or transferred to the container 20 are arranged position for shipment from conveyor 18, a sorting only completed container 40 which sorting is completed Transfer means for transferring on the conveyor 18 is provided. One or more transfer means are preferably arranged in the vicinity of the conveyor elements 18c to 18h. This transfer means is constituted by a roller conveyor, a belt conveyor or the like.
Hereinafter, the operation of the sorting apparatus 10 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

  First, the sorting operator assigns sorting destinations to the articles picked from the stock storage area of the distribution warehouse, and sequentially loads them from the article supply unit 6 in the upper area A to the unmanned traveling vehicle 12. The unmanned traveling vehicle 12 on which the article is mounted is directly conveyed toward the opening 8a to which a chute corresponding to each sorting destination is connected. In this case, the unmanned traveling vehicle 12 can select a route that does not interfere with traveling and can reach the target opening 8a in a short time.

  At the same time, the control device 22 compares the information on the articles in each order with the articles put into the shipping container 20. When it is determined that, for example, all articles have been put into the shipping container 20 as in section J in the lower area B in FIG. 2, the control device 22 controls the operating mechanism to control all the articles. The container 20 for shipping in which is put is transferred as the sorting completion container 40 to the conveyor element 18f. Then, the shipping container 20 transferred to the conveyor element 18 f becomes a sorting completion container 40 and is conveyed to the sorting completion container processing unit 34.

When the container 20 for shipment to a portion of the J no longer exists is determined by the control unit 22, empty container 30 for refilling the empty containers supply unit 32 is supplied by the control unit 22. That empty containers 30 by conveyor elements 18f, after being conveyed to the side how the J, a container 20 for shipping from the conveyor element 18f is to be transferred to a position that was based in the transfer means (not shown) .

  On the other hand, the sorting completion container 40 that has been sorted is checked by the sorting operator in the sorting completion container processing unit 34 by visual inspection or the like, and delivered to the packing operator.

  In this embodiment, “sorting worker” and “packing worker” are expressions on the role, and different workers may be in charge of each other, or the same worker may serve concurrently. . In addition, each of “sorter” and “packer” can be a plurality of workers.

  As mentioned above, although one Example of the sorting apparatus of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this Example at all. In each of the embodiments described below, the basic configuration is the same as that of the sorting apparatus 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and thus the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be given. Is omitted.

For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, there is one article supply unit 6 in the upper area A. However, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of article supply units 6 may be provided.
In this way, if the article supply unit 6 is provided at a plurality of locations, the unmanned traveling vehicle 12 after the completion of the conveyance of the article is returned to the article supply unit 6 closest to the opening 8a into which the article has been loaded. An article can be received from the article supply unit 6. If it sets in this way, it can set so that an excessive article and unmanned vehicles 12 may not concentrate on one article supply part 6. In addition, the time required for sorting can be shortened.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of article supply units 6 can be provided not only on one side but also on both upper and lower sides.

As mentioned above, although the preferable Example of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said Example at all.
For example, the control device 22 may be provided with a monitor, and the monitor may be set to display the sorting status.

2 Sorting area 4 Traveling path 6 Article supply unit 8 Chute 8a Opening 10 Sorting device 12 Unmanned traveling vehicle 15a Upper passage 15b Lower passage 15c Connecting passage 15g Connecting passage 15h Area
18 Conveyor
18 a Conveyor element
18 b Conveyor element
18 c conveyor element
18 d conveyor element
18 e conveyor element
18 g conveyor element
20 Container 22 controller 30 empty container 32 empty containers supplying section 34 sorting completed container processor 40 sorting only completed container A higher area B subordinate area for shipping

Claims (8)

A sorting device for sorting a plurality of articles for each sorting destination,
The sorting area is
It consists of an upper area that constitutes the upper floor in side view and a lower area that constitutes the lower floor in side view,
In the upper area,
A road that spreads in a plane,
An article supply unit arranged to face the travel path;
A plurality of openings for discharging articles from the travel path;
A plurality of unmanned traveling vehicles that automatically travel on the traveling path and convey the article directly to an opening corresponding to a sorting destination, and
The sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a container supply device for supplying empty containers and discharging sorted containers is provided in the lower area . Oite to the lower area, the container having a large number of articles to be turned on, claim than the container a small number of articles to be introduced, characterized in that it is located near the product supply section 1 Sorting device described in 1. The container supply device
A transport conveyor for transporting the sorted containers or empty containers for replenishment;
An empty container supply section arranged to face the conveyor,
Sorting device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a and a sorting completed container processing unit for discharging the sorting already container from the conveyor. In the lower area,
Sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the sorting already container or transfer means capable of transferring the empty container is provided. 5. The sorting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the empty container is transferred by the transfer means to a position where the sorted containers for shipment are originally located. The outlets of the plurality of openings arranged in the upper area and the sorted containers for shipping arranged in the lower area are arranged at corresponding positions in plan view. The sorting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5. Wherein the product supply section is, sorting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that provided a plurality of locations in the area of the upper. The unmanned traveling vehicle that has completed sorting of the articles is returned to the nearest article supply section from the position when the article supply section is provided in a plurality of places in the upper area. Item 8. The sorting apparatus according to Item 7 .

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