JP6600727B1 - Picking assortment system - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to more efficiently perform a flow of picking up a designated product by picking up a tray containing products in a distribution center and sorting and assembling the designated products. A picking and assembling system 10 includes a storage shelf 20 in which a plurality of shelves 21 for storing trays A in which products are placed are provided in a plurality of rows, and the tray A is delivered from the shelves 21 in a plurality of rows. A shuttle 30 that is movable in the horizontal direction along the storage shelf 20, a loop conveyor 40 on which the tray A is transported, and a picking type lane 50 that transports the tray A to robot picking or worker picking. And a comb blade arm continuous vertical transfer device 60 that receives the tray A and conveys it in the vertical direction, a picking station 70 for picking the goods from the tray A by a robot or an operator, and assembling the goods And a sorter 80 is provided. [Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a distribution system using a shuttle for more efficiently performing a flow of picking up a specified commodity by picking out a tray in which the product is contained in a distribution center and picking up a specified commodity.

The expanding online business is also called the long tail business, and demands difficult logistics technologies such as storage and picking, sorting and assortment of goods, and home delivery.
A single distribution center must store over 1 million items, picking up 1 or 2 or 3 orders from customers and assembling them.

  Product storage in a system that is often seen is a method in which products are stored in a product shelf, a partition plate is provided on a multi-level shelf, and stored one by one, and the location is registered.

  A method called order picking is a method in which a person walks from a shelf to a location displayed on a terminal, picks a specified quantity, and performs a scan confirmation.

  In these methods, goods must be picked by walking in a vast warehouse shelf, and the amount of goods that one person can have is naturally limited. In other words, work such as walking, searching, taking out, putting in a basket, flowing, etc. occurs, and especially walking work accounts for more than half of picking work.

Recently, a robot that lifts the shelf carries the shelf to the picker, and there is a mechanism of picking there, which has the effect of improving the picking productivity by eliminating the walking work in the picking work. However, the work of picking up goods from the shelf is a human being, and the work of searching from which location to pick is not lost, and the height of the shelf is limited to the height that can be reached by humans, and the storage efficiency is not so much improved.

  In an automatic warehouse, a shuttle for picking goods etc. by horizontally moving each shelf as an apparatus for picking goods or cases is operated. As for the shuttle, for example, a cart-shaped shuttle that automatically travels as in Patent Document 1 travels on each shelf and performs picking.

  As a similar configuration, there can be seen an automatic warehouse in which an apparatus for raising and lowering a shuttle is further provided with a load raising and lowering table for raising and lowering a product as in Patent Document 2.

JP-A-11-278607 Japanese Patent No. 5988984

  At current distribution centers for high-mix low-volume delivery, there are various improvements whether picking up the products in the tray, whether by an operator, or by automatic warehouse equipment or robots as in Patent Documents 1 and 2. However, depending on the number of products to be removed from the tray, the operator can efficiently select whether the robot picks or picks the tray, and transports the tray. In an efficient assortment system, there is much room for improvement on the system, such as a configuration that reduces the processing speed and the burden on workers.

  The present invention provides a picking and assembling system using a shuttle for more efficiently performing a flow of picking up and sorting assorted goods by taking out trays containing goods at a distribution center. With the goal.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and the invention of claim 1 includes a storage shelf provided with a plurality of rows of shelves for storing trays in which products are placed, and a plurality of rows. The trays stored in the shelves of a predetermined level are transferred by a transfer device having an elevating device that can be moved up and down to a plurality of vertical shelves, and can be moved horizontally along the storage shelves. Picking type lane for selecting a destination for robot picking or worker picking for the tray loaded on the loop conveyor, a loop conveyor on which the tray received by the shuttle is transported, and a tray. A comb blade arm continuous vertical conveyor or a vertical conveyor that receives the tray selected by the picking type lane by a comb blade arm and conveys it in the vertical direction. Lifters and a picking station for the robot or the operator of the product is picked from among the trays carried by the comb blade arm continuous vertical conveyors or the vertical lifters, the which is picked by the picking station And a sorter for assorting commodities, and a picking assortment system.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the picking and assembling system according to claim 1, wherein the shuttle lifting device can be lifted and lowered to a three-stage shelf continuous with respect to the one shuttle.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, three picking stations are installed in three layers, and the sorter corresponding to each picking station is a cross belt sorter, and a total of three devices are installed in three layers. The picking assortment system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the picking assortment system is provided.

  The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the comb blade arm continuous vertical transfer machine has a configuration in which a plurality of the comb-shaped arms are provided on a caterpillar conveyor. The picking assortment system described.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the tray delivery portion of the lane according to the picking type with the comb blade arm continuous vertical transfer machine is configured to mesh with the comb blade-shaped arm of the comb blade arm continuous vertical transfer machine. The picking assortment system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the picking assortment system is provided.

  The invention according to claim 6 is a course in which the products sorted by the sorter are bundled together in a simple film, attached with a bar code for storage, and automatically sent by a conveyor to a manual packing line and then sent to a shipping station after packing. 6. A picking and assembling system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a shipping station that is connected to an automatic cart loading system, packed, and loaded on a transporting cart for shipment. It is.

  According to the present invention, the picking assortment system can perform high-density product storage using high-rise racks and trays and customer-specific sorting using a cross belt sorter without waste. The conveyor system is short, and it is a highly productive logistics system that can collect a large amount of ball picking and many customer orders in a short time. Furthermore, the tray can be taken out at high speed by the shuttle, and the shuttle can be moved to other shelves by the shuttle lifting device, which contributes to cost reduction by reducing the number of shuttles. Since it is possible to select whether the operator picks or not, the optimum picking operation can be performed at the picking station according to the shape and number of products. The comb blade arm continuous vertical conveyor or vertical lifter can be used in a space-saving and continuous manner. The case can be transported in the vertical direction, and the sorting operation can be performed quickly and comfortably by the sorter.

  Further, in the invention of claim 2, the shuttle lifting device is characterized in that it can be lifted up and down to a three-stage shelf that is continuous with respect to one shuttle. It can also contribute to cost.

  According to the invention of claim 3, three picking stations are installed in three layers, and the sorter corresponding to each picking station is a cross belt sorter, and a total of three devices are installed in three layers. Therefore, the height direction of the distribution center can be used efficiently, and the delivery capability of the distribution center can be greatly improved.

  In the invention of claim 4, the comb blade arm continuous vertical transfer machine is characterized in that the caterpillar conveyor is provided with a plurality of comb blade-shaped arms, so that a single unit such as a robot transfer or a stacker crane can be transferred. Compared to the equipment that performs this, the carrying capacity is greatly improved, and it can be installed in a smaller space.

  Further, the invention of claim 5 is characterized in that the tray transfer portion with the comb blade arm continuous vertical transfer machine of the picking type lane is shaped to mesh with the comb blade arm, so that complicated transfer The transfer operation can be performed smoothly without providing an apparatus.

  Further, in the invention of claim 6, the products sorted by the sorter are bundled together in a simple film, attached with a bar code for storage, sent to a conveyor line automatically or manually by a conveyor, and then sent to a shipping station after packing and sent to a different course. In addition, a series of operations from picking up to delivery in a distribution center can be installed in a compact manner because it is equipped with a shipping station that is connected to an automatic cart loading system, packed, loaded onto a transporting cart, and shipped. be able to. It is also possible to quickly pack together assorted products.

It is a front schematic diagram showing one embodiment of a picking assortment system according to the present invention. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of a picking assortment system according to the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a front partial enlarged view which shows one Embodiment of the picking assortment system which concerns on this invention, (a) is a front partial enlarged view, (b) is an enlarged view of a shuttle.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing an embodiment of a picking and assorting system, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view.

  A picking and assorting system 10 mainly applied to a distribution center includes a storage shelf 20 in which a plurality of shelves 21 for storing trays A containing products B are provided in a plurality of rows, and a shelf 21 in a predetermined step. A shuttle 30 that is transferred by a transfer device having a lifting device capable of moving up and down to a plurality of shelves arranged vertically in a vertical direction, and is movable in a horizontal direction along the storage shelf, and a shuttle A loop conveyor 40 on which the tray A received at 30 is transported, and a picking type lane 50 for transporting the tray A placed on the loop conveyor 40 to a robot picking or worker picking destination, respectively, A comb blade arm continuous vertical transport that receives the tray A selected in the picking type lane 50 by a comb blade arm 61 and conveys it in the vertical direction. Machine 60, picking station 70 for a robot or operator to pick up product B from tray A transported by comb blade arm continuous vertical transport device 60, and product B picked at picking station 70 And a sorter 80 for the purpose.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sorter 80 is arranged at the center, and the storage shelves 20 are arranged in parallel on both sides thereof. Further, the loop conveyor 40, a predetermined number of picking type lanes 50, and the comb blade arm continuous vertical transfer device 60 and the picking station 70 corresponding to the lane 50 are united, and four units are arranged in the distribution center of this embodiment. Has been. In addition, the picking station 70 and the sorter 80 have three layers, making effective use of the space of the distribution center and greatly improving the assortment capability.

  In this embodiment, since the products B and tray A are individually managed by the assigned barcodes, while sequentially managing which products are stored in which product storage boxes and in which storage shelves Instructions can be sent to the terminals on each work floor. When a single type of product B is put in the tray A, a plurality of types of products B may be put by providing a partition inside the tray A. The comb blade arm continuous vertical transfer device 60 may be a vertical lifter.

  The shuttle 30 is not only movable in the horizontal direction along the storage shelf 20, but also a lifting device (not shown) as shown in FIG. 3A or FIG. 3B in which the shuttle portion is further enlarged. By moving up and down by means of the above, it is possible to carry out tray delivery of shelves for three stages. As a result, the number of shuttles 30 can be greatly reduced.

  The loop conveyor 40 is a device for transferring the tray A received by the shuttle 30 to the loop conveyor 40 and then transporting it to the selected picking type lane 50.

  The picking type-specific lane 50 is an apparatus for selecting the destination of either robot picking or worker picking and transferring the tray A to each. Since robot picking has a product shape that is difficult to pick, such a product can be automatically sorted into an optimum station for subsequent picking and loop conveyors by mastering it as additional information in advance.

The comb blade arm continuous vertical conveyance device 60 is a device for vertically conveying the tray A selected in the picking type lane 50 to the picking station 70 of each layer by the comb blade arm continuous vertical conveyance device 60. A vertical lifter can also be used.
The comb blade arm continuous vertical transfer device 60 has a configuration in which a plurality of comb blade arms 61 are provided on a caterpillar conveyor 62 that rotates in the vertical direction, and the arms 61 can maintain a horizontal posture. Further, if the tray delivery portion of the lane 50 for each picking type has a shape that engages with the comb-shaped arm 61, if the tray A is moved to the delivery portion at a timing when the arm 61 and the delivery portion are engaged, a complicated transfer is required. The tray transfer operation can be performed smoothly and continuously without providing a loading device.

  The picking station 70 is an area for picking a designated product B displayed on the management monitor from the tray A sorted by the picking type lane 50 and transported by the comb blade arm continuous vertical transport device 60. The picking station 70 is divided into robot picking and worker picking, and there are some product shapes that are difficult to pick in robot picking. Therefore, such products are preliminarily mastered as additional information, so that the subsequent loop conveyor Can be automatically sorted into the most suitable stations.

  The sorter 80 is a device for assembling the goods picked by the picking station 70 by destination, and is a cross belt sorter in this embodiment. Thereby, the size of the sorter can be reduced, and the site of the distribution center can be used effectively. The sorter 80 may be equipped with a film bundling device for collecting the assorted products B.

  The grouped goods B are bundled in a simple film by the shipping station 90, attached with a bar code for the warehouse, sent to the automatic or manual packing line by a conveyor, and then sent to the shipping station after packing, by course, automatic cart The shipping station 90 connected to the loading system, packed, and loaded on a transporting cart for shipment can operate as a fully automatic line.

  The picking and assembling system of the present invention is a system capable of efficiently picking and assembling goods with a small number of workers in a distribution center or the like that performs high-mix low-volume picking.

A Tray B Product 10 Picking assortment system 20 Storage shelf 21 Shelf 30 Shuttle 40 Loop conveyor 50 Picking type lane 60 Comb blade arm continuous vertical transfer machine 70 Picking station 80 Sorter 90 Shipping station

Claims (6)

A storage shelf provided with a plurality of rows of shelves for storing trays containing products; and
The trays stored in the shelves of a predetermined level are transferred by a transfer device having an elevating device that can be moved up and down to a plurality of vertical shelves, and can be moved horizontally along the storage shelves. Shuttle and
A loop conveyor on which the tray received by the shuttle is transported;
Picking type lanes for selecting the destination of robot picking or worker picking the tray placed on the loop conveyor,
A comb blade arm continuous vertical transporter or a vertical lifter that receives the tray selected by the picking type lane with a comb blade arm and transports it vertically.
A picking station for the robot or the operator to pick the commodity out of the tray transported by the comb blade arm continuous vertical transporter or the vertical lifter ;
A sorter for assembling the goods picked at the picking station;
Picking assortment system characterized by being provided.   The picking and assembling system according to claim 1, wherein the lifting and lowering device of the shuttle can be lifted and lowered to three consecutive shelves. The picking station is installed in 3 layers with 3 machines,
The picking assortment system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sorter corresponding to each picking station is a cross belt sorter, and a total of three machines are installed in three layers.   The picking assortment system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the comb blade arm continuous vertical transfer machine has a configuration in which a plurality of the comb blade-shaped arms are provided on a caterpillar conveyor.   The tray delivery portion of the picking type lane with the comb blade arm continuous vertical transfer machine has a shape that meshes with the comb blade-like arm of the comb blade arm continuous vertical transfer machine. The picking assortment system of any one of -4.   The products sorted by the sorter are bundled together in a simple film, attached with a bar code for storage, sent to the automatic or manual packing line by a conveyor, and then sent to the shipping station after packing and into the automatic cart loading system by course. The picking and assembling system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a shipping station that is connected, packed, and loaded on a transporting cart for shipping.

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