JP6496379B1 - Article transfer method and transport cart - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an article transfer technique that reduces the loading and unloading of articles from a transport carriage. A beverage case is placed on small carts 41a to 41c having substantially the same shape, size, and height from the ground surface as a cart for a store used at a store 13 to which a plurality of beverage case articles are transferred. To load. The small carts 41 a to 41 c are connected in the first direction on the horizontal plane to form the transport cart 41 and are loaded on the truck 21. When the truck 21 arrives at the store warehouse 12 of the store 13, the transport cart 41 is separated into three small carts 41a to 41c in a state where a beverage case is loaded. The separated small carts 41a to 41c are delivered to the store 13 as carts for stores. [Selection] Figure 8

Description

The present invention relates to an article transfer method for transferring an article from one place to another, for example, a technique for transferring an article from a warehouse or the like to a store such as a convenience store, a supermarket, or a drug store .

Conventionally, when goods are transferred from a transfer source such as a warehouse to a transfer destination such as a store or another warehouse, in many cases, an article such as a beverage case stored in the warehouse or a cardboard containing sweets etc. Are loaded onto the truck by hand. Then, after the truck loaded with the goods moves to a store such as a convenience store and the truck arrives at the store, the worker manually loads and unloads the goods from the truck. At this time, a truck is previously loaded on the truck. The operator loads the goods loaded on the truck onto the carriage after the carriage is lowered from the truck. When loading and unloading articles from the truck to the carriage, it is necessary to load the articles while adjusting the position of the articles so that the articles are stably loaded on the store carriage.
Thereafter, the cart loaded with the articles is moved to the store or moved to a store warehouse or the like. After the cart has moved to the store or the store's warehouse, the article is loaded or unloaded into the warehouse, or the article is transferred to a store cart that is prepared in advance in the store.

As described above, in the movement of an article, there is an extremely large amount of work for holding the article by hand, and it is particularly burdensome for the operator to carry a heavy article such as a beverage case. When an article is loaded on a cart or a store cart, it is also necessary to adjust the position of the article so that the article is stably loaded, and such an adjustment is a burden on the operator.
In recent years, a method is known in which an article is loaded from a warehouse onto a transport cart and the transport cart loaded with the article is carried into a moving vehicle such as a truck. In this method, the work of the operator holding the article can be reduced to some extent.

  Taking the case of transferring goods from a warehouse to a convenience store as an example, an empty conveyance cart is transported to the warehouse by a truck, and the articles stored in the warehouse are loaded on the conveyance cart by an operator. The transport carriage on which the article is placed is loaded onto a transport vehicle such as a truck by an operator and transported to a transport destination. When the truck arrives in the vicinity of the convenience store to which the goods are transferred, the transport cart is lowered from the truck by the operator. After that, the worker pushes the transport cart loaded with the article and moves it to the convenience store through the sidewalk or the parking lot.

  Normally, a store trolley having a size corresponding to the width of a passage in the store is arranged at a convenience store as a transfer destination. Regardless of whether the transporter is used to load the goods from the warehouse to the truck as described above after transferring the goods to the store, the worker can transfer the goods to the store cart or Need to be transported to a warehouse. Further, when using a transport cart, the transport cart that has become empty after loading and unloading articles is pushed back to the truck, and the transport cart is loaded onto the truck and returned to the warehouse. After arriving at the warehouse, the worker again loads the articles in the warehouse on the transport cart and transfers them to the convenience store.

  As described above, in the article transfer method, it is unavoidable that an operator frequently loads, unloads, and reloads articles on the transport carriage. In addition, when an article is loaded or the like, an operator bends and works, and even if a light article is carried, the burden on the operator's body is large.

In order to reduce the burden on the worker, in Patent Document 1, it is moved between a supply shelf that sends out the object to be conveyed and a demand shelf that is temporarily placed in order to receive, use, or consume the object to be conveyed. An article transfer system in which a shelving cart that communicates in this manner is installed.
In this article transfer system, the articles received from the supply shelves are transported by the shelves and provided to the demand shelves. With this configuration, the delivery of the transported object between the supply shelf for delivering the transported object and the shelves (and between the shelves and the demand shelf), the operation of simply pressing the shelves on the supply shelf, and This can be achieved by simply pushing the shelves to the demand shelf.

  In addition, as a store cart, one having a size smaller than that of a transport cart used for transferring an article from a warehouse to a store is known. Usually, the transport cart used to load the goods on the truck is large in size and difficult to enter and change direction in the store, but by using a small store cart, it is possible to change the direction freely in the store Yes.

JP 2010-163268 A

  The article transfer system disclosed in Patent Document 1 mainly relates to transshipment of objects to be conveyed between a supply shelf and a shelf cart in a warehouse, and between a shelf cart and a demand shelf. And by setting the floor of a shelf cart low with respect to a supply shelf, and using a sliding support material, the to-be-conveyed object is moved from a supply shelf to a shelf cart by gravity.

However, for example, when goods are transferred from a warehouse to a convenience store as described above, the transfer of goods is not limited to the transfer from shelf to shelf. In particular, when an article is moved from a transport cart to a store cart, the technique of Patent Document 1 cannot be applied, and an operator needs to lift the article on the transport cart and transfer it to the store cart. End up.
In addition, after a truck or the like arrives in the vicinity of the convenience store, it is necessary for the operator to manually push the transport cart loaded with the goods and move it to the convenience store store through a sidewalk or a parking lot.

  Furthermore, in many cases, store carts are required to be light in weight in order to reduce the burden on workers, and are usually made of plastic. In a store such as a convenience store, the floor is smooth, and no particular problem arises even if the plastic transport cart is moved with the articles loaded.

However, there are cases where the road surface is rough on sidewalks and parking lots, and there are cases where there are slopes and obstacles, so the strength and durability of plastic transport carts are insufficient, and the transport carts are fragile. Become.
Therefore, the transfer system premised on the operation in a warehouse with a smooth floor surface as in Patent Document 1 is applied to a transfer system that moves a transport carriage on a rough road surface, a hill, or a place where an obstacle exists. It ’s difficult.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an article transfer technique that eliminates these problems and reduces the loading and unloading of articles from a transport carriage.

The present invention provides an article transfer method and a carriage suitable for carrying out the method. The article transfer method is to transfer N vehicles (N is a natural number of 2 or more) whose shape and size are substantially the same as the conventional store cart of the store used at a store to which a plurality of items are transferred. An article loading stage for loading the plurality of articles on a cart, and a transport stage for transporting the N transport carts to the store using a transport vehicle in a state where the N transport carts are connected in a first direction on a horizontal plane; By separating the N-1 transport carts in a state where the plurality of articles are loaded in the store, the combined N transport carts are separated, and the separated transport carts are respectively separated. A delivery stage for delivering to the destination as the cart for the store, a plurality of the articles can be transported to the destination without transshipment , and after the delivery stage, the transport vehicle is Return to the source where the goods were loaded And the separated transport cart is left in the store .
In addition, the transport cart according to the present invention includes an article loading stage in which a plurality of articles are loaded on N (N is a natural number of 2 or more) transport carts, and the N transport carts are connected in a first direction on a horizontal plane. In the state, after the step of transferring to the store using the transfer vehicle, the step of delivering the plurality of articles to the store, and the step of delivering, the vehicle for transfer is A transport carriage used in an article transport method having a stage of returning to a transfer source that has been loaded, and the transport carriage being separated and remaining in the store , wherein the transport cart is used in the store The store has substantially the same shape and size as the conventional store cart, and N units (N is a natural number of 2 or more) can be connected in the first direction on the horizontal plane, and N-1 units Separation operation is possible, and this allows the store to And separating each of the N transport carts combined in a state where the plurality of articles are loaded, and allowing the separated transport carts to be delivered to the transfer destination as the store cart, respectively. The article can be transferred to the destination without transshipment.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to transfer articles while reducing the loading and unloading of articles from the transport carriage.

Explanatory drawing of the transfer method by this embodiment. The top view of a conveyance trolley. The side view of a conveyance trolley. (A), (b) is a top view of a small trolley | bogie, (c) is explanatory drawing of a handle part. Explanatory drawing of the state which piled up another small truck on the small truck. (A), (b) is explanatory drawing of a 1st connection structure. (A), (b) is explanatory drawing of a 2nd connection structure. Explanatory drawing of the goods transfer method.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiment, an example in which an article is transferred from a warehouse to a convenience store will be described. Moreover, the conveyance cart used what can be separated into three small conveyance carts as will be described later, and the articles loaded on the conveyance cart were drink cases.

In the present embodiment, in order to clarify the explanation, a small transport cart is referred to as a “small cart”, and a state in which a plurality of small carts are combined and integrated is referred to as a “transport cart”. Further, the size of the bottom surface of the beverage case to be loaded can be separated by separating the transport cart into three small carts with the beverage case loaded. In addition, the size of the bottom surface of each small truck is approximately the same as or smaller than that of the small truck so that the beverage case does not fall from the small truck after separation.
A truck was used as a transport vehicle or transport vehicle for transporting the transport cart to the transport destination. The vehicle for transfer is not limited to a truck, and may be any vehicle, ship, aircraft, or the like.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a transfer method according to the present embodiment. In the figure, a worker loads a beverage case on a transport cart 41 in a warehouse 11 and loads the transport cart 41 loaded with a beverage case on a truck 21. Thereafter, when the truck 21 loaded with the transport cart 41 arrives at the store warehouse 12 adjacent to the store 13, the transport cart 41 is unloaded from the truck 21 with the beverage case loaded.

  The transport cart 41 unloaded from the truck 21 is separated into N small carts in the store warehouse 12 with a beverage case loaded. In the present embodiment, the transport carriage 41 is separated into small carriages 41a, 41b, and 41c. The small cart after separation is smaller in size than the transport cart 41 before separation, and can move freely in the store 13. Therefore, the worker can carry the small carts 41a to 41c into the store 13 with the beverage case loaded thereon, and can replenish the beverage in the store 13. As will be described later, at least one of the small carts 41a to 41c is provided with handle portions 81 and 82 shown in FIG. 2 at one end thereof. However, in order to simplify the drawing, these are shown in FIG. The handle parts 81 and 82 are omitted.

  2 is a plan view of the transport carriage 41 in a state where the small trucks 41a to 41c and the handle portions 81 and 82 are assembled, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the transport carriage 41 shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the carriage 41 is configured by connecting small carts 41a to 41c, and a handle portion 81 is fixed on the left side of the small cart 41a in the drawing, and a handle portion 82 is fixed on the right side of the small cart 41c in the drawing. Has been. The structure for fixing these handle parts 81 and 82 to the small carts 41a and 41c will be described later. All of the small carts 41a to 41c may have the same shape, but in this embodiment, the small cart 41a and the small cart 41c have the same shape, while the small cart 41b is partially different from the small carts 41a and 41b. It has become.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the transport carts are configured by connecting the small carts 41a to 41c. There is no restriction | limiting in particular in the method itself for connecting the several small trolley | bogies 41a-41c, It is possible to connect small trolley | bogies by arbitrary methods. In FIG. 3, the right end of the small truck 41a is coupled to the left end of the small truck 41b and the right end of the small truck 41b is coupled to the left end of the small truck 41c by a first connection configuration described later, whereby the small trucks 41a to 41c are connected to each other. A transport cart 41 is configured by being connected.
The small carts 41a and 41c are provided with a free caster 71a. The small cart 41b is provided with a free caster 71a on the right side in the figure and a fixed caster 71b on the left side in the figure.

  4A is a plan view of the small cart 41a, FIG. 4B is a plan view of the small cart 41b, and FIG. 4C is an explanatory view of the handle portion 81. As shown in FIG. In addition, since the small trolley | bogie 41c is the same shape as the small trolley | bogie 41a, description is abbreviate | omitted. Similarly, the handle portion 82 has the same shape as the handle portion 81, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 4 (a), in order to insert and fix the handle portion 81, the small cart 41a has holes 32 and 33 provided on the left side in the drawing and holes provided on the right side. 34, 35. In addition, although the small trolley | bogie 41c is the same shape as the small trolley | bogie 41a, since the small trolley | bogie 41c is located in the right end in FIG. 3, the handle part 82 will be inserted in the holes 34 and 35. FIG. In the present embodiment, the length (W1) of the small cart 41a in the longitudinal direction of the transport cart 41 shown in FIG. 2 is 430 mm, the main material is aluminum, and the own weight is about 7.5 kg. Further, four free casters 71a are provided at the four corners on the back of the small cart 41a, respectively, and the diameter of each free caster 71a is 125 mm.

Further, the small cart 41a has a concave portion O at the left end portion in the drawing, and a convex portion P at the right end portion in the drawing. The concave portion O and the convex portion P are similarly provided in the other small carts 41b and 41c.
The concave portion O and the convex portion P are shaped such that when the small carts 41a to 41c are coupled, they are matched with each other. By fitting these, movement of the small carriages 41a to 41c in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the conveyance carriage 41 is restricted, and the positions of the small carriages 41a to 41c are prevented from shifting. be able to.
The transport carriage 41 may be separable into two or four or more small carts instead of the three small carts 41a to 41c.

Since the small cart 41b shown in FIG. 4B is in the center of the transport cart 41 and neither of the handle portions 81 and 82 is attached, no hole is provided in this embodiment. However, the small cart 41b may be provided with a hole so that the handle portions 81 and 82 can be attached.
Further, by using a common coupling mechanism for the small carts 41a to 41c, the small carts 41a to 41c can be coupled in any combination and order. In this case, by providing the handle portions 81 and 82 on the small cart 41b, the handle portions 81 and 82 can be attached to the small cart 41b when the small cart 41b is positioned at the right end or the left end of the connected transport cart. You can also.
In this embodiment, the length (W2) of the small carriage 41b in the longitudinal direction of the transport carriage 41 shown in FIG. 2 is 330 mm, the main material is aluminum, and the own weight is about 7.5 kg. In addition, two fixed casters 71b are provided at two corners on the left side of the rear surface of the small cart 41a, and two universal casters 71a are provided at two corners on the right side of the rear surface of the small cart 41b. The diameter of each caster was 125 mm.

  The small cart 41b may be all free casters like the small carts 41a and 41c, but in this case, since the transport cart 41 is difficult to travel straight at the time of coupling, two of the small carts 41b are fixed in this embodiment. As a caster, the straightness of the transport carriage 41 is secured. In addition, the length (L) orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the conveyance trolley | bogie 41 is common in the small trolley | bogies 41a-41c, and was 500 mm.

  The handle portion 81 shown in FIG. 4C has leg portions 51 and 52 and bars 90 to 94. The height of the handle portion 81 is 1,180 mm, the maximum width in the longitudinal direction of the transport carriage 41 is 500 mm, and the main material is aluminum. The leg portions 51 and 52 of the handle portion 81 are formed so as to be inserted in alignment with the hole portions 32 and 33 of the small cart 41a, respectively. 3A is in a state in which the leg portions 51 and 52 of the handle portion 81 are inserted into the holes 32 and 33 of the small cart 41a shown in FIG. 4A, respectively. In order to separate the transport carriage 41 and move the small carriage 41b alone, the small carriage 41b may be provided with a hole for providing a handle portion in the same manner as the small carriages 41a and 41c.

  The small carts 41a to 41c may have any shape and size that can be freely moved in the store like the conventional store cart. However, it is preferable that the small carts 41a to 41c have substantially the same shape, size, and height from the ground surface as those of store carts conventionally used in convenience stores and the like. By doing in this way, the small carts 41a to 41c used in the present embodiment can be used in place of the conventional store cart in a store using the conventional store cart. Further, the small carts 41a to 41c can be used as they are as a cart for a store without changing the size and shape of a conventional store passage or door. Furthermore, it is preferable that the height from the ground surface of the luggage placement surface of the small carts 41a to 41c is the same as the height from the ground surface of the luggage placement surface of the conventional store carriage as described above. In this case, the worker can load and unload the luggage in the same manner as a conventional store cart.

  However, if all of the small carts 41 a to 41 c are the same size as the conventional store cart, the total length of the transport cart 41 in the longitudinal direction is the total length of the transport cart used for transferring articles from the conventional warehouse to the store 13. May be exceeded. Therefore, in this embodiment, only the small carts 41a and 41c are the same size as the conventional store cart. And the width | variety of the longitudinal direction of the conveyance trolley 41 is made to correspond with the conveyance trolley currently used with the goods transfer system from the warehouse to the store 13. FIG. For this reason, W2 which is the length of the carriage 41b in the longitudinal direction of the carriage 41b shown in FIG. 2 is shorter than W1 of the carriages 41a and 41c.

  Since the small cart 41b is smaller in size than the conventional store cart, the small cart 41b can be freely moved in the store 13 like the conventional store cart, like the small carts 41a and 41c. By doing in this way, in the goods transfer system in this embodiment, the small carts 41a-41c obtained by separating the conveyance cart 41 can be used as they are in place of the conventional store cart.

  Further, in the present embodiment, bars 90, 91, 92, 93 and 94 are provided on the handle portion 81. The bar 90 has an inverted U shape, and the bars 91 to 94 have a bar shape. The operator can easily move the transport carriage 41 or the separated carriage 41a by grasping any one or more of the bars 90 to 94.

  In addition, with the handle portion 81 attached to the small truck 41a, the small truck b is stacked on the small truck a, and the small truck 41c is stacked on the small truck 41b, so that the small truck 41a is placed on a small floor area. ~ 41c can be stored. Preferably, an engaging portion for fixing the small cart 41b on the small cart 41a, for example, a hook is provided on the small cart 41b, and this engaging portion is engaged with one or more of the bars 90 to 94, The small cart 41b can be stably arranged on the small cart 41a. Similarly, the small cart 41c can be stably disposed on the small cart 41a by providing an engaging portion and engaging with any one or a plurality of bars 90 to 94.

  As long as it can be stably arranged, arbitrary M trucks (M is a natural number of 2 or more) can be stacked. For example, in this embodiment, the small cart 41b can be stacked on the small cart 41a and the small cart 41c can be stacked on the small cart 41b with the handle 81 attached to the small cart 41a. Further, another small carriage 41d can be stacked on the small carriage 41c, and further small carriages 41e ... can be stacked on the small carriage 41d.

  FIG. 5 shows an explanatory diagram of a state in which a small cart 41b, a small cart 41c, a small cart 41d, and a small cart 41e are stacked on the small cart 41a. Although not shown in the drawings, the hooks and the like of the respective small carts 41b to 41e are appropriately engaged with and fixed to any of the bars 90 to 94 of the handle portion 81 to be used for transfer or product replenishment. The rear small carts 41b to 41e can be stably stacked in the vertical direction.

  Since the transport cart 41 may need to move on rough roads such as parking lots and sidewalks and slopes, as well as in warehouses and stores, the transport cart 41 is made of a sturdy and durable material and structure. It is preferable that In particular, the conventional store trolley is mainly made of plastic in order to reduce the weight, but the transport trolley 41 has sufficient strength to enable use outdoors or on rough roads. It is preferable to have a material having, for example, a metal and a structure. Moreover, it is preferable that the handle parts 81 and 82 and the hole parts 32 to 35 to which these are attached are also made of a material and a structure sufficient to enable use outdoors or on rough road surfaces. Therefore, the main material forming the small carts 41a to 41c, the handle portions 81 and 82, and the hole portions 32 to 35 constituting the transport cart 41 is preferably a material having sufficient strength such as metal or reinforced plastic. In the present embodiment, these are made of aluminum to ensure sufficient strength and durability.

  Next, the connection structure of the small carts 41a to 41c will be described. In the following description, the small cart 41a will be described. The other small carts 41b and 41c are assumed to have the same connection configuration, and the description thereof is omitted.

  FIGS. 6A and 6B show a first connection configuration of the small cart 41a. FIG. 6A shows a connection release state of the first connection configuration, and the small cart 41a is provided with a pedal portion 60, a fixed connection portion 601, and a movable connection portion 602. The fixed connection portion 601 and the movable connection portion 602 are both vertically lower than the load placement surface of the small truck 41a and vertically higher than the pedal section 60, and they interfere when the small truck 41a is connected. It is not arranged.

The right end of the fixed connecting portion 601 in the figure is fixed and supported inside the small cart 41a. The movable connecting portion 602 is supported at the left end in the figure by the inside of the small cart 41a and is movable in the vertical direction in the figure.
Further, the pedal portion 60 is supported at the right end in the drawing so as to be pivotable inside the small cart 41a, the operator can push down the left side of the pedal portion in the drawing with the foot, and the operator can When it is released, it returns to its original position and functions as a so-called toggle switch.

  When the operator depresses the left side of the pedal portion 60 downward with a foot or the like from the state of FIG. 6A, the movable connecting portion 602 is moved from the open position shown in FIG. 6A to FIG. Move to the indicated engagement position. Further, when the pedal portion 60 is pushed down again, the movable connecting portion 602 returns from the engagement position shown in FIG. 6B to the open position shown in FIG. This mechanism can be realized by an arbitrary method, and may be realized by a mechanical configuration or a configuration by electric control.

  Even when the right end of the small truck 41a in the drawing shown in FIG. 6A is brought into contact with the left end of the other small truck 41a (or the small trucks 41b and 41c), the movable connecting portion 602 of the small truck 41a can be The other small cart 41a is separated from the fixed connection portion 601 and the two are not engaged.

On the other hand, when the pedal portion 60 is stepped on while the right end of the small cart 41a and the left end of the other small cart 41a are in contact with each other as described above, the movable connecting portion 602 of the small cart 41a is at the position shown in FIG. Since it moves, the movable connecting portion 602 of the small cart 41a is engaged with the fixed connecting portion 601 of the other small cart 41a.
As described above, the operator can freely connect or release the small cart 41a with the other small cart 41a or the like by pushing down the pedal portion 60.

  Next, a 2nd connection structure is demonstrated. FIG. 7A is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the small carts 41a to 41c are in contact with each other in the second coupling configuration (not coupled), and FIG. 7 illustrates a state in which the small carts 41a to 41c are coupled by the coupling member. Shown in (b).

  In this 2nd connection structure, as shown in Drawing 7 (a) and (b), it is the connection for connecting small carts 41a-41c with connecting members 61 and 62 in the side part of small carts 41a-41c. A plurality of holes 31 are provided. By mounting the connecting members 61 and 62 between the plurality of small carts, the small carts to which the connecting members are mounted are coupled to each other.

In FIG. 7B, among the connection holes in the small carts 41a and 41b constituting the transport carriage 41, the four connection holes on the right side of the small cart 41a are denoted by the reference numerals as connection holes 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d, respectively. ing. Further, the two connecting holes on the left side of the small cart 41b are denoted as connecting holes 31e and 31f, respectively.
Hereinafter, since the connecting members 61 and 62 have the same shape, the connecting member 61 will be described as an example. The connecting member 61 has a substantially square substrate, and on the back surface of the substrate, connecting rods that fit into the connecting holes 31 are vertically provided in the vicinity of the four corners thereof.

  In FIG. 7B, the substrate surface of the connecting member 61 is shown, and although not shown, the four connecting rods provided on the back surface of the substrate are respectively connected to the small cart 41a shown in FIG. 7B. The insertion holes 31c and 31d are inserted into the connection holes 31e and 31f of the small cart 41b, respectively. Thereby, in this embodiment, the conveyance trolley | bogie with which the connection member was mounted | worn is connected by mounting | wearing the connection member 61 over several small carts among the small carts 41a-41c. The small cart 41a and the small cart 41b are connected in the first direction on the horizontal plane. The first direction on the horizontal plane is the longitudinal direction of the transport carriage 41. Moreover, in this embodiment, the small trolley | bogies 41a-41c are connected so that the surface where the articles | goods are mounted may become the same plane.

  The connecting member 61 is held so as not to fall off the small carts 41a and 41b due to the frictional force between the connecting hole 31 and the connecting rod. The same applies to the connecting member 62. When separating the transport carriage 41, the small trucks 41a to 41c can be separated by removing the connecting members 61 and 62. As a result, it is possible to separate at least one small truck from the transport truck 41 to which three small trucks are connected, and to separate the transport truck from which two small trucks are combined into one small truck. It becomes. In this way, at least one small cart is separated from the transport cart to which N (N is a natural number of 2 or more) small carts are connected, and (N-1) transport carts are combined. Can be separated into one small cart. Further, by repeating this, it is possible to separate the transport cart combined with the N small carts into N small carts.

In the present embodiment, by removing the connecting member 61, the transport cart 41 is separated into the small cart 41 a and the small cart 41 b and the small cart 41 c connected by the connecting member 62.
The removed connecting member 61 can be fixed to the small cart 41a by inserting its connecting rod into the connecting holes 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d of the small cart 41a, for example. The connecting member 61 is not limited to the friction force as described above, but can be held or fixed to the small carts 41a to 41c by any means such as screwing or magnetic force.

  Furthermore, the small cart 41b and the small cart 41c can be separated by removing the connecting member 62. In the following description, the conveyance carriage 41 is described as being separated into three small carriages 41a to 41c.

  Note that only the lower left connecting rod of the connecting member 61 shown in FIG. 7B is used as a spring, and this spring is connected to the bottom of the connecting hole 31c, and the connecting member 61 is perpendicular to the side of the small cart 41a. It can also be stretchable in any direction.

  In this case, by pulling the connecting member 61 in the direction perpendicular to the side of the small cart 41a from the state of FIG. 7B, the three connecting rods of the connecting member 61 are connected to the connecting hole 31d of the small cart 41a and the small bogie 41a. It is possible to completely remove the connecting holes 31e and 31f of the carriage 41b. In this state, the connecting member 61 is connected to the connecting hole 31c by a spring, and the three connecting rods are completely removed from the connecting holes 31d to 31f. Therefore, the connecting member 61 can rotate around the spring connected to the bottom of the connecting hole 31c. Then, by rotating the connecting member 61 by 180 degrees clockwise around the spring, the three connecting rods of the connecting member 61 can be inserted into the connecting holes 31a, 31b, 31c of the small cart 41a.

  By doing in this way, the connecting rod inserted in the holes 31e and 31f of the small cart 41b of the connecting member 61 can be reinserted into the holes 31b and 31d of the puller small cart 41a. At this time, the connecting rod that has been inserted into the hole 31d of the small cart 41a of the connecting member 61 is inserted into the hole 31a of the small cart 41a. In this way, the small cart 41a and the small cart 41b can be separated. Further, when separating, even if the handle portions 81 and 82 are fixed to the small carts 41a and 41c, respectively, or the handle portions 81 and 82 are removed first, the transport cart 41 is small. It is possible to separate into carts 41a-41c.

  7A and 7B, only one side surface of the transport carriage 41 has been described. However, it is good also as a structure which connects and isolate | separates the small trolley | bogies 41a-41c by a connection member in the both sides | surfaces of the conveyance trolley | bogie 41 by making the other side surface of the conveyance trolley | bogie 41 into the structure similar to one side surface. Thus, by connecting on both side surfaces, it is possible to more firmly connect the small carts 41a to 41c.

Next, an article transfer method using the transport carriage 41 will be described.
FIG. 8 shows an explanatory diagram of the article transfer method. In the figure, an article is loaded on a transport cart 41 in a warehouse 11. On the other hand, a transport carriage 42 is arranged in the store 13 in advance. The transport cart 42 is the same transport cart as the transport cart 41. In the store 13, the transport carriage 42 may be used in a coupled state as necessary, or the transport carriage 42 may be separated and used as small carriages 42 a to 42 c. As described above, the small carts 41a and 41c have the same shape and size as the conventional store cart, and the small cart 41b is somewhat smaller than the conventional store cart, but in order to stably load the beverage case It is large enough. Therefore, the small carts 41a to 41c can be used in place of the conventional store carts at convenience stores and the like. In the example of FIG. 8, the transport cart 42 is separated into small carts 42 a to 42 c in the store.

1) Transfer from Warehouse to Store As shown in the figure, in the warehouse 11, an operator loads articles on small carts 41 a to 41 c constituting the transport cart 41 as an article loading stage. In the present embodiment, as described above, a beverage case (not shown) containing a beverage as an article is loaded. At the time of loading, the transport cart 41 may be loaded in the connected state, or the transport cart 41 may be configured by combining the carts 41a to 41c after individually loading beverage cases.

The transport cart 41 is not limited to a beverage case, and can be loaded with an arbitrary item such as a damp pole, a box, a container, or a case. Preferably, corrugated cardboard, containers, and the like are used that have sufficient strength and can be stacked stably so that they can be stacked.
In addition, bag confectionery, cup ramen, and the like are usually provided in a boxed state from a confectionery maker or the like, and the box itself may be loaded on the transport cart 41. Furthermore, a plurality of products may be selected in a warehouse, packed in cardboard, boxes, containers, etc. and then loaded on the transport cart 41. In this case, a foldable container (so-called Oricon) may be used as the container.

  By using a foldable container, a space for storing the container itself can be saved. Moreover, the container in the folded state can be always provided in the transport carriage 41 as a spare container. When the number of articles placed on the container increases, a necessary number of the folded containers always provided on the transport cart 41 is expanded. Then, the article is placed on the developed container and loaded on the transport carriage 41. In addition, when there is a surplus of deployed containers, unnecessary containers can be folded and loaded on the transport cart 41.

  In any case, preferably, each beverage case of the small carts 41a to 41c is supported so that the beverage case is stably supported on the small carts 41a to 41c after separation without falling or tilting. It is loaded so as to be supported by either one. By carrying out like this, after isolate | separating the conveyance trolley | bogie 41, the small trolley | bogies 41a-41c can be moved separately, respectively with a drink case still mounted.

After the beverage case is loaded, as a transfer stage, the transport carriage 41 is loaded on the truck 21 and transferred to the store warehouse 12 by the truck 21.
In this embodiment, the warehouse is a high-floor type, and the floor surface of the warehouse is substantially flush with the floor surface of the loading platform of the truck 21. Thereby, loading and unloading of the transport cart 41 on the truck is performed on a horizontal plane, and the physical burden on the operator is reduced.
After arriving at the store warehouse 12, the worker unloads the transport carriage 41 from the truck 21. Accordingly, the small carts 41a to 41c function as the transport cart 41 in a coupled state during movement between the warehouse and the store.

Conventionally, the carriage used for transportation is too large to be moved to the store 13 as it is, and the carriage itself used for transportation needs to be returned to the warehouse. Therefore, it is necessary to transfer the beverage case on the cart to a store cart that is sufficiently small so that it can be moved in the store 13, or to unload it in the store warehouse 12, which takes a long time. It was.
For this reason, for a worker, the physical burden by the reloading and unloading of a heavy drink case was large.

  In the article transfer system of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, as a delivery stage, the transport carriage 41 transferred by the truck 21 remains in the store warehouse 12 or the store 13 as it is. Then, the transport cart 41 unloaded from the truck 21 is separated into small carts 41 a to 41 c while being loaded with beverage cases in the store warehouse 12 or the store 13, and put into the store 13. Therefore, after being separated from the transport carriage in the store, each of the separated small carts 41a to 41c functions as a store cart.

Further, another transport cart 42 is arranged in advance in the store warehouse 12 or the store 13, and the worker performs a recovery stage of collecting the transport cart 42 in exchange for delivery of the transport cart 41. Note that separation of the transport carriage 41 may be performed at an arbitrary timing.
Therefore, in the store, the delivered small carts 41a to 41c can be moved to a beverage shelf at a predetermined position. Thereafter, the employee of the store 13 takes out the beverage from the beverage case and replenishes the beverage.

  After the beverage is replenished, the small carts 41 a to 41 c are kept separated or stored in the store warehouse 12 or the store 13 as a transport cart 41 combining them. Preferably, as described above, in a state where the handle portion 81 is attached to the small cart 41a, the small cart b is stacked on the small cart a, and the small cart 41c is further stacked on the small cart 41b. The small carts 41a to 41c can be stored on the area.

2) Transfer of the transport cart from the store to the warehouse After the transport cart 41 is lowered, the transport cart 42 arranged in the store is loaded in the truck 21 in exchange for the transport cart 41 as described above. By doing in this way, an operator does not need to load and unload beverage cases containing beverages from the transport carriage 41 transferred by the truck 21. Accordingly, the physical burden on the worker is greatly reduced, and the time required for loading and unloading is reduced.

  The operator only has to drop the transport cart 41 from the truck 21 and then transport the transport cart 42 used in the store 13 to the store warehouse 12 and load it on the truck 21. Preferably, by placing the transport carriage 42 in the store warehouse 12 in order to load the truck 21 on the store side in advance, the work time for loading the transport carriage 42 onto the truck 21 can be further shortened.

As shown in FIG. 8, after loading the transport carriage 42 onto the truck 21, the truck 21 returns to the warehouse, and the transport carriage 42 is unloaded at the warehouse.
Thereafter, the transfer of articles such as a beverage case is repeated by repeating the steps 1) transfer from the warehouse to the store and 2) the transfer process of the transfer cart from the store to the warehouse as described in the above-described transfer carts 41 and 42. Can be repeated.

  As described above, according to the transfer method of the present invention, it is possible to transfer articles from a transfer source such as a warehouse to a transfer destination such as a store without reloading, and the physical burden on the worker is greatly reduced.

  Moreover, since the conveyance trolley | bogie used for conveyance remains in a store as it is and another conveyance trolley previously arrange | positioned in a store is returned to a transfer origin, it can return to a transfer origin rapidly after transferring goods. Therefore, the time required to transfer the article from the warehouse to the store and return to the warehouse is shortened, and the efficiency of transferring the article per hour is increased.

Claims (10)

The plurality of articles on the transport carts of N (N is a natural number of 2 or more) having substantially the same shape and size as the conventional store cart of the store used in the store to which the plurality of articles are transferred. An article loading stage for loading,
In a state where the N transport carts are connected in a first direction on a horizontal plane, a transfer step of transferring to the store using a transfer vehicle ;
By separating the N-1 transport carts in a state where the plurality of articles are loaded in the store, the combined N transport carts are separated, and the separated transport carts are respectively separated. A delivery stage for delivering to the destination as the store cart;
A plurality of the articles can be transferred to the destination without transshipment ,
After the delivery stage, there is a step of returning the vehicle for transfer to a transfer source where the article is loaded, and the separated transport cart is left in the store ,
Article transfer method. The N number of transport carriages, the during movement between the transfer source and the store in a state of being bonded, acts as a single carriage for transporting the stacked articles, separated in the store After that, each of the separated carts is used in place of the cart for the store, and in the step of returning to the transfer source, the transport cart previously left in the store uses the transport vehicle. It is returned to the transfer source,
The article transfer method according to claim 1. At least one of the transport carts is provided with a handle portion at one end thereof, and the handle portion fixes other store carts after use or one end of the transport cart and stacks in the vertical direction. Has a possible structure,
It has a collection step of collecting the store carts in which M units (M is a natural number of 2 or more) are stacked in exchange for delivery of the transport carts,
The method for transferring an article according to claim 1 or 2. In the article loading stage , after the articles are loaded on the N carriages, the carriages are connected in the first direction ,
After the transport cart is separated in the store, the transport cart is moved to a predetermined position in the store and used for replenishing the article ,
The method for transferring articles according to claim 2 . The article loading step is characterized in that the article is loaded after connecting the N transport carts in the first direction.
The article transfer method according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The transfer step involves loading and unloading the N transport carts on a transport vehicle, wherein the loading and unloading is performed on a horizontal plane,
The method for transferring an article according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The transport cart is substantially the same height as the store cart and the ground surface,
The method for transferring articles according to any one of claims 1 to 6. An article loading stage in which a plurality of articles are loaded on N (N is a natural number of 2 or more) transport carts, and a transport vehicle is used with the N transport carts connected in a first direction on a horizontal plane. a transfer step of transferring to the shop Te, the method comprising delivery of said plurality of articles in the shop,
After the delivering step, the method includes a step of returning the transfer vehicle to a transfer source where the article is loaded, and used in an article transfer method in which the transport carriage is separated and left in the store. A transport carriage,
The transport cart is substantially the same in shape and size as the conventional store cart of the store used in the store, and N vehicles (N is a natural number of 2 or more) in the first direction on the horizontal plane. It can be connected and can be separated into N-1 units.
As a result, it is possible to separate the N transport carts combined with the plurality of articles loaded in the store and deliver the separated transport carts to the transfer destination as the store carts. And a plurality of the articles can be transferred to the transfer destination without transshipment. The transport carriage is provided with a handle at one end thereof, and the handle has a structure that can be stacked in the vertical direction by fixing one end of another store carriage or the transport carriage after use. Characterized by having,
The transport cart according to claim 8. The article transfer method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the store is any one of a convenience store, a supermarket, and a drug store.