JP7443986B2 - automatic warehouse system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an automated warehouse system including racks and stacker cranes.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an automated warehouse system that includes a stacker crane and a rack that has a large number of article mounting shelves in the upper, lower, left, and right directions. In this automatic warehouse system, the article placement shelf of the rack has a pair of left and right article placement rails and a guide rail for a self-propelled vehicle below the article placement rails. The self-propelled vehicle can move from the elevator platform of the stacker crane to the guide rail of the article shelf and run along the guide rail. The self-propelled vehicle has an elevating table, and by raising and lowering the elevating table, it is possible to place articles on the pair of left and right article placement rails and to receive the articles.

Utility Model Publication No. 1-176606

In the above-mentioned conventional automated warehouse system, by providing a self-propelled vehicle that transports articles within the rack, it is possible to efficiently store and take out articles in a short time, for example. Such a self-propelled vehicle (shuttle) is equipped with a battery for traveling, driving an elevating table, and the like. Therefore, for example, when the operation of the automated warehouse system is stopped for a relatively long period of time, such as during a long vacation, all of the power supplied from the battery (full power supply) is required to prevent the depletion of the stored power or the deterioration of the battery. It is preferable to shut down the shuttle by turning off. However, turning off all power typically requires manual operation of the shuttle's main power switch. Therefore, if the shuttle is placed on the upper shelf of the rack, the worker must use a ladder to climb up to the upper shelf. Similarly, when the automated warehouse system resumes operation, a worker must use a ladder to climb up to the upper shelf in order to operate the main power switch of the shuttle. In addition, by leaving the shuttle unattended for a long period of time without shutting down, the amount of electricity stored will drop to the limit, and if the shuttle is shut down, when the automated warehouse system resumes operation, the shuttle will first be placed in a position where it can be charged. need to be moved to. As described above, in an automated warehouse system including a shuttle that runs within a rack, there is a problem in that time-consuming work is required when stopping or restarting the operation of the automated warehouse system.

The present invention takes into account the above-mentioned conventional problems and aims to provide an automated warehouse system that can be operated efficiently.

An automated warehouse system according to one aspect of the present invention is an automated warehouse system including a stacker crane and a rack extending in a depth direction intersecting an extending direction of a path of the stacker crane, wherein The rack includes a shuttle that is arranged in a rack and that transports and transfers cargo within the rack, and a controller that controls the stacker crane and the shuttle. The loading shelf has a plurality of loading shelves, each of which can place a plurality of items in line in the depth direction, and on which the shuttle can move in the depth direction, and the shuttle has a plurality of loading shelves. , a transfer device for transferring the cargo at a predetermined position in the depth direction in accordance with instructions from the controller on the shelf on which the shuttle is arranged among the plurality of shelf shelves. When shutting down the shuttle, the controller controls the stacker crane and the shuttle to place the shuttle on the lowest or second loading shelf of the plurality of loading shelves. Move it to the lower shelf.

According to this configuration, a plurality of packages can be placed on each of the plurality of shelves of the rack using the depth direction, so that loading and unloading processes for a large number of packages can be executed efficiently. In addition, when it is necessary to shut down the shuttle that transports and transfers cargo on the loading shelf, the shuttle is moved to the lower shelf located at a relatively low position. It is easy to turn off the power (that is, shut down). Furthermore, when starting up a shuttle that has been shut down, it is easy for an operator to turn on the power manually. In this way, the automated warehouse system according to this embodiment can be operated efficiently.

Further, in the automated warehouse system according to one aspect of the present invention, when shutting down the shuttle, the controller further controls the shuttle after the shuttle moves to the lower shelf to cause the shuttle to: The shuttle may be powered off, which is a process of shutting down the shuttle by turning off all power supplies.

According to this configuration, since the shuttle itself can be caused to shut down, there is no need for a manual operation by an operator to turn off all power to the shuttle. This will further streamline the operation of the automated warehouse system.

In the automated warehouse system according to one aspect of the present invention, when causing the shuttle to power off, the controller positions the shuttle at a predetermined position near the aisle on the lower shelf, and then It is also possible to have the system turn off the power.

According to this configuration, when shutting down the shuttle, the power of the shuttle is cut off at a position close to the path of the stacker crane into which a worker can enter. Therefore, when starting up the shuttle, the worker can manually turn on the power to the shuttle while, for example, in the aisle (without entering the inside of the loading shelf).

Further, in the automated warehouse system according to one aspect of the present invention, when the plurality of stages of loading shelves are one series of racks, the racks include a plurality of racks arranged along the extending direction of the passage. and, when shutting down the shuttle, the controller selects one of the plurality of mounting shelves that is close to the entrance through which the worker enters the passageway. may be preferentially selected and the shuttle may be moved to the lower shelf in the selected series of placement shelves.

According to this configuration, the shuttle is shut down near the entrance, so when starting up the shuttle after it has been shut down, the worker can easily turn on the power manually without having to move to the back of the aisle. It can be carried out.

Furthermore, in the automated warehouse system according to one aspect of the present invention, when transferring the cargo to the rack, the controller may prioritize a loading shelf other than the lower shelf among the multiple loading shelves. The stacker crane may be configured to transfer the load onto the selected loading shelf by selecting the stacker crane and controlling the stacker crane.

According to this configuration, the storage position (loading position) of the luggage to be stored in the rack is determined so as to avoid the lower shelf as much as possible, so when the shuttle is to be shut down, the lower shelf, which is the destination of the shuttle, is The possibility of availability increases. This contributes to increased efficiency in the operation of the automated warehouse system.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an automated warehouse system that can be operated efficiently.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an outline of the configuration of an automated warehouse system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a front view showing a part of the rack according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structural relationship between the loading shelf and the shuttle according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an outline of the configuration of the stacker crane according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the automated warehouse system according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a first diagram illustrating an example of movement processing during shutdown of the shuttle according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a second diagram illustrating an example of a movement process during shutdown of the shuttle according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a third diagram illustrating an example of movement processing at the time of shutdown of the shuttle according to the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a front view showing an example of a destination area of the shuttle according to the embodiment.

An automated warehouse system according to an embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment described below shows one specific example of the present invention. Therefore, the numerical values, shapes, materials, components, arrangement positions and connection forms of the components, content and order of information processing, etc. shown in the following embodiments are merely examples and do not limit the present invention. .

Furthermore, each figure is a schematic diagram with emphasis, omission, or ratio adjustment as appropriate to illustrate the present invention, and the actual shape, positional relationship, and ratio may differ. Furthermore, in each figure, substantially the same configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and overlapping explanations may be omitted or simplified. Furthermore, in the following description, for example, the X-axis plus direction indicates the arrow direction of the X-axis, and the X-axis minus direction indicates the opposite direction to the X-axis plus direction. The same applies to the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction. Furthermore, in the following description, expressions indicating relative directions or orientations, such as parallel and orthogonal, may be used, but these expressions also include cases where the directions or orientations are not strictly speaking. For example, two directions being parallel does not only mean that the two directions are completely parallel, but also that they are substantially parallel, that is, including a difference of, for example, a few percent. also means

(Embodiment)
[1. Configuration overview of automated warehouse system]
First, an overview of the configuration of an automated warehouse system 10 according to an embodiment will be described using FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an outline of the configuration of an automated warehouse system 10 according to an embodiment.

The automated warehouse system 10 according to this embodiment includes a stacker crane 100 and a rack 50. The rack 50 extends in a depth direction that intersects with the direction in which the passage 30 of the stacker crane 100 extends. In this embodiment, the passage 30 extends parallel to the X-axis direction, and the stacker crane 100 travels in the X-axis direction along a track 31 laid in the passage 30. The stacker crane 100 can deliver the cargo 20 to the rack 50 and can deliver the shuttle 70 to the rack 50. The stacker crane 100 has a lifting platform 120 and a transfer device 130 for performing these transfers. The shuttle 70 can transport and transfer the luggage 20 within the rack 50. The cargo 20 is, for example, a pallet loaded with a plurality of cardboard boxes.

The rack 50 has a shelf 51 on which a plurality of items 20 can be placed in the depth direction (Y-axis direction in this embodiment). The shuttle 70 is capable of moving the mounting shelf 51 in its depth direction. The loading shelf 51 has positions (loading points) where seven packages 20 can be loaded, as indicated by numbers (1) to (7) in FIG. 1, for example. Each of the plurality of placement points is actually a spatial region within the placement shelf 51 that is separated from each other in the depth direction. For example, the shuttle 70 can detect which loading point it is currently at by optically or magnetically detecting marks distributed in the longitudinal direction of the rail member 54, and the detection result is can be notified to the controller 300.

Among these multiple placement points, the two points closer to the passage 30 are the home point 52 and the standby point 53. The home point 52 is a placement position for the shuttle 70 and the cargo 20 when the stacker crane 100 transfers the shuttle 70 and the cargo 20 to and from the rack 50. The waiting point 53 is a position where the shuttle 70 waits to avoid interference between the shuttle 70 and the stacker crane 100 that places the cargo 20 on the home point 52. For example, when the stacker crane 100 picks up the shuttle 70, the shuttle 70 moves from the standby point 53 to the home point 52 and stops. The stacker crane 100 can pick up the shuttle 70 stopped at the home point 52 using the transfer device 130.

In this embodiment, a plurality of mounting shelves 51 are arranged in the rack 50 in a line in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction). In the plan view shown in FIG. 1, for example, the layout of the lowest shelf 51 is shown, and in the rack 50, one The above mounting shelves 51 are arranged side by side. When a set of the plurality of stacking shelves 51 arranged in the vertical direction is defined as one series of stacking shelves 51, as can be seen from FIG. They are arranged in the X-axis direction, which is the current direction. Further, on both sides of the passage 30, a plurality of mounting shelves 51 arranged in the X-axis direction are arranged. In the present embodiment, symbols A to T are attached to these plurality of series of mounting shelves 51, and each series of mounting shelves 51 is identified by these symbols. Hereinafter, for example, a series of placement shelves 51 marked with the symbol A will be expressed as an A series of placement shelves 51A.

In the present embodiment, such a set of a plurality of series of mounting shelves 51 is referred to as a "rack 50", but for example, one series of mounting shelves 51 may also be called a "rack". In this case, the automated warehouse system 10 according to this embodiment can be expressed as having a plurality of racks.

The stacker crane 100 and the plurality of shuttles 70 are each controlled by a controller 300 located above them in the chain of command. The controller 300, the stacker crane 100, and the shuttle 70 are connected to each other by, for example, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) defined in the wireless standard IEEE 802.11. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of access points 83 are arranged to surround the rack 50, and each of the plurality of shuttles 70 communicates wirelessly with one of the plurality of access points 83. By doing so, information can be exchanged with the controller 300. The stacker crane 100 can also exchange information with the controller 300 by performing wireless or wired communication with the controller 300.

Various types of information processing executed by the controller 300 are realized by, for example, a computer equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a storage device such as a memory, an interface for inputting and outputting information, etc. executing a predetermined program. be done.

In this embodiment, a safety fence 170 is arranged to surround the rack 50, as shown in FIG. 1, to prevent people from entering the area where the stacker crane 100 and the shuttle 70 operate. The safety fence 170 is provided with an entrance 171a so that a worker can enter inside the safety fence 170 for maintenance or the like. The entrance 171a is normally closed with a door 171, and when performing maintenance on the rack 50 or the shuttle 70, an operator unlocks the door 171 by a predetermined operation and closes the safety fence 170 from the entrance 171a. You can go inside. Note that the automated warehouse system 10 further includes an entrance/exit and an entrance/exit conveyor for loading/unloading the luggage 20, shuttle 70, etc., but illustrations and explanations of these are omitted.

The shuttle 70 includes a lift table 71, and can lift the load 20 by moving to a space below the load 20 and raising the lift table 71. The shuttle 70 travels with the luggage 20 lifted and lowers the elevating table 71 at a position instructed by the controller 300. Thereby, the luggage 20 is placed on the loading shelf 51. Through such operations, the shuttle 70 transports and transfers the cargo 20 within the rack 50. The lifting table 71 is an example of a transfer device included in the shuttle 70.

The shuttle 70 has a built-in battery that supplies power for transporting and transferring the cargo 20. When the amount of electricity stored in the battery falls below a predetermined value, the shuttle 70 requests charging from the controller 300, and then, under the control of the controller 300, the shuttle 70 charges the battery at the charging point 200 provided at the entrance 171a of the rack 50. Move up to. A charging device (not shown) is connected to the shuttle 70 that has moved to the charging point 200, thereby charging the battery.

Next, the respective configurations of the rack 50, shuttle 70, and stacker crane 100 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

[2. Rack and shuttle configuration]
FIG. 2 is a front view showing a part of the rack 50 according to the embodiment. In FIG. 2, the A series of racks 51A and the B series of racks 51B of the rack 50 are shown when viewed from the passage 30 side, and the third and fourth stages from the bottom are shown. The illustration of the mounting shelf 51 is omitted. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structural relationship between the mounting shelf 51 and the shuttle 70 according to the embodiment. In FIG. 3, only one loading shelf 51 is illustrated, and illustrations of the rack pillar 55 that supports the loading shelf 51, other loading shelves 51, etc. are omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the rack 50, the mounting shelf 51 has a pair of left and right rail members 54. In this embodiment, a structure is provided in which the left and right ends (left and right when viewed from the traveling direction (Y-axis direction), the same applies hereinafter) of the luggage 20 and the shuttle 70 are supported from below by a pair of rail members 54. It has been adopted. Each of the pair of rail members 54 is fixed to a rack column 55 corresponding to the rail member 54 by a fixing member 56.

The rail member 54 has a mounting surface portion 54b that forms a mounting surface on which the luggage 20 is placed, and a running surface portion 54a that forms a running surface for the shuttle 70. The mounting surface portion 54b and the running surface portion 54a extend along the longitudinal direction of the rail member 54, and the mounting surface portion 54b is located above and outside the running surface portion 54a (on the side of the rack column 55 to which the rail member 54 is fixed). It is located in

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the shuttle 70 includes a flat shuttle main body 70a, an elevating table 71 provided at the center of the shuttle main body 70a, and a plurality of rollers rolling on a running surface 54a. 72. In this embodiment, a total of four rollers 72 are provided on the left and right sides of the shuttle main body 70a, and these four rollers 72 are rotationally driven by a running motor (not shown). Thereby, the shuttle 70 travels along the pair of rail members 54.

When the shuttle body 70a is supported by the pair of rail members 54, the position of the top surface of the shuttle body 70a in the height direction (Z-axis direction) is lower than the mounting surface 54b of the pair of rail members 54. Located in Therefore, the shuttle 70 can crawl under the baggage 20 placed on the loading surface 54b, and lift the luggage 20 from the loading surface 54b by raising the elevating table 71 directly below the loading surface 54b. can. Furthermore, the luggage 20 lifted by the lift table 71 can be placed on the placement surface portion 54b by lowering the lift table 71. That is, the shuttle 70 lifts and lowers the elevating table 71 on the loading shelf 51 (a pair of rail members 54) to receive the luggage 20 from the loading shelf 51 and to deliver the luggage 20 to the loading shelf 51. In other words, the luggage 20 can be transferred to and from the loading shelf 51.

Inside the shuttle body section 70a, various devices such as a shuttle control section 75 including a CPU, a battery 76, a communication device 81, etc. are housed. Various electric devices, such as a travel motor, a lifting motor (not shown) that drives the lifting table 71 up and down, the shuttle control unit 75, and the communication device 81, are operated by power supplied from the battery 76. A main power switch 73 for turning on and off the power supply from the battery 76 is provided on the side surface of the shuttle body 70a in the moving direction (Y-axis direction). When main power switch 73 is turned off, all power to shuttle 70 is turned off, ie, shuttle 70 is shut down. Although not shown in FIG. 3, a main power switch 73 is also arranged on the side surface of the shuttle 70 in the positive direction of the Y-axis.

The communication device 81 is a device that performs wireless communication with any of the plurality of access points 83 (see FIG. 1). The communication device 81 can communicate with the controller 300 and the stacker crane 100 via the access point 83. For example, the communication device 81 of the shuttle 70 transmits an instruction (transport instruction) from the controller 300 to the access point 83 to place the luggage 20 placed at the home point 52 on the loading point (4) (see FIG. 1). Receive via. The shuttle control unit 75 controls the rotation of the four rollers 72 and controls the elevation of the elevating table 71 in accordance with the transport instruction. Thereby, the shuttle 70 can transport the luggage 20 placed at the home point 52 to the loading point (4) and transfer it to the loading point (4). When the shuttle 70 completes a series of operations according to the transport instruction, it notifies the controller 300 via the access point 83 of the completion of the transport instruction.

Furthermore, the communication device 81 of the shuttle 70 can communicate with the stacker crane 100 via the access point 83. Thereby, the shuttle 70 can execute control for preventing interference (interlock control) at the home point 52. For example, when the transfer device 130 of the stacker crane 100 advances a slide fork (described later with reference to FIG. 4) to the home point 52 to exchange the cargo 20, the shuttle 70 moves to the waiting point 53 or further back. Must be located. For this purpose, the shuttle 70 and the stacker crane 100 communicate through the access point 83 to cooperatively perform the above interlock control.

In this embodiment, the mounting shelves 51 constituted by a pair of rail members 54 are arranged in multiple stages (5 stages in this embodiment) in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction), as shown in FIG. In order to identify each, a code including a symbol for identifying the series and the number of stages is given. For example, the lowest (first) loading shelf 51 in the A series of loading shelves 51A is the loading shelf 51A1, and the second loading shelf 51 in the A series of loading shelves 51A is the loading shelf 51A1. This is a shelf 51A2. Similarly, the topmost (fifth stage) loading shelf 51 in the A series of loading shelves 51A is a loading shelf 51A5. As for the B series of mounting shelves 51B, as shown in FIG. has been granted.

[3. Configuration of stacker crane]
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a general configuration of the stacker crane 100 according to the embodiment. Note that in FIG. 4, the basic configuration of the stacker crane 100 is simply illustrated, and wires and motors for raising and lowering the lifting platform 120, a control device for controlling the operation of the lifting platform 120, etc. are illustrated. is omitted.

The stacker crane 100 according to the present embodiment includes an upper truck 101, a pair of masts 110 extending downward from the upper truck 101, a lower truck 107 connected to the lower ends of the pair of masts 110, and a pair of masts 110. A lifting platform 120 that moves up and down along the line 110 is provided.

The lower truck 107 is a truck that drives the movement of the stacker crane 100. Specifically, the lower truck 107 has one or more rollers (not shown) that come into contact with the track 31 laid on the floor, and when the one or more rollers are rotationally driven, the track 31 is moved. move (run) along. The upper truck 101 is connected to the lower truck 107 via a pair of masts 110, and moves as the lower truck 107 moves. Specifically, the upper truck 101 moves while being guided by the upper rail 35 arranged above the track 31. The lifting platform 120 is suspended from the upper truck 101 by, for example, a plurality of wires (not shown), and as these wires are wound up and sent out, the lifting platform 120 is moved up and down along the pair of masts 110.

The lifting platform 120 has a transfer device 130 that transfers the luggage 20 and the shuttle 70. In the present embodiment, the transfer device 130 has a slide fork 131 that moves in and out both left and right directions when the moving direction of the stacker crane 100 is set to the front. In response to instructions from the controller 300, the transfer device 130 extends the slide fork 131 at a position facing the loading shelf 51, and in this state, the lifting platform 120 rises, thereby transferring the cargo placed at the home point 52. You can scoop up 20. Furthermore, the transfer device 130 can pull the scooped-up cargo 20 into the lifting platform 120 by retracting the slide fork 131. Further, the transfer device 130 extends the slide fork 131 at a position facing the loading shelf 51, and in this state, the elevator platform 120 descends, thereby transferring the cargo 20 held on the slide fork 131. It can be placed on the home point 52 of the placement shelf 51.

[4. Operation example of automated warehouse system]
Next, an example of the operation of the automated warehouse system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the automated warehouse system 10 according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 shows the operation of the automated warehouse system 10 when the stacker crane 100 places the cargo 20 transported to the rack 50 on the placement point (4) of the placement shelf 51B1. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5A, the stacker crane 100 moves to the front of the loading shelf 51B1 with the load 20 placed on the slide fork 131. At this time, the shuttle 70 is stopped at the standby point 53 of the loading shelf 51B1. The stacker crane 100 stops in front of the loading shelf 51B1 and transfers the cargo 20 on the slide fork 131 to the home point 52 of the loading shelf 51B1. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5B, the shuttle 70 moves below the baggage 20 placed at the home point 52, raises the elevating table 71, and lifts the baggage 20 from the home point 52. Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, the shuttle 70 moves toward the loading point (4) with the luggage 20 lifted and stops at the loading point (4). Furthermore, the shuttle 70 moves the cargo 20 on the lifting table 71 to the loading point (4) by lowering the lifting table 71. When the transfer of the luggage 20 to the loading point (4) is completed in this way, the shuttle 70 returns to the waiting point 53 and stops, as shown in FIG. 5(d).

The above-described series of operations of the shuttle 70 are executed in response to transport instructions from the controller 300. Specifically, the controller 300 updates the status and current position of each of the shuttles 70 by periodically communicating with the shuttles 70 and by communicating for some instructions or responses. can be detected. As described above, when transferring the luggage 20 to the loading point (4) of the loading shelf 51B1, the controller 300 identifies the shuttle 70 placed on the loading shelf 51B1. Alternatively, if there is no shuttle 70 placed on the loading shelf 51B1, the controller 300 identifies the shuttle 70 to which no work is assigned at that time, and controls the stacker crane 100 to select the identified shuttle 70. , placed on the mounting shelf 51B1. The controller 300 transmits an instruction (transport instruction) to the shuttle 70 placed on the placement shelf 51B1 to place the luggage 20 placed at the home point 52 on the placement point (4). This transport instruction includes an instruction to return to the standby point 53 after placing the cargo 20 on the placement point (4). The shuttle 70 stopped at the standby point 53 of the loading shelf 51B1 receives the transport instruction via the access point 83 and executes it. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the shuttle 70 transports the luggage 20 placed at the home point 52 of the loading shelf 51B1 to the loading point (4) and places it there. Note that the transport instruction sent by the controller 300 to the shuttle 70 does not need to include an instruction to return to the standby point 53. For example, the shuttle 70 may be set in advance so that it always returns to the waiting point 53 after completing the transportation and transfer of the luggage 20 according to the transportation instructions.

[5. Example of operation during shuttle shutdown]
In the automated warehouse system 10 configured as described above, the shuttle 70 running within the rack 50 performs various operations using electric power from the built-in battery 76. Therefore, when the operation of the automated warehouse system 10 is to be stopped for a long period of time, such as during a long vacation, the shuttle 70 is shut down by completely turning off the power supply from the battery 76 (all power sources are turned off). As a result, consumption of the amount of electricity stored in the battery 76 is suppressed, and the shuttle 70 can be operated promptly when the automated warehouse system 10 is restarted. Further, the problem of deterioration or damage to the battery 76 due to over-discharge does not occur. Therefore, when the automated warehouse system 10 is restarted, the possibility of an inefficient situation in which the shuttle 70 that cannot run on its own is moved to the charging point 200 to charge the battery 76 is reduced.

However, in order to shut down the shuttle 70, it is necessary to manually operate the main power switch 73 (see FIG. 3) of the shuttle 70, for example. Therefore, when the shuttle 70 is placed on the shelf 51 in the upper part of the rack 50 (for example, the fourth and fifth stages), a ladder or the like is required to manually operate the main power switch 73 of the shuttle 70. It becomes necessary for the worker to climb up to the loading shelf 51 in the upper part. Further, by providing the shuttle 70 with a circuit that remotely turns off all power supplies of the shuttle 70, it is possible to have the shuttle 70 itself turn off all power supplies in response to instructions from the controller 300. However, even in this case, it is not possible to turn on all the power to the shuttle 70 by remote control. Therefore, when the automated warehouse system 10 is restarted, a worker must climb up to the upper shelf 51 in order to manually operate the main power switch 73 of the shuttle 70.

Therefore, in the automated warehouse system 10 according to the present embodiment, when shutting down the shuttle 70, a process of moving the shuttle 70 to the lower shelves (for example, the first and second loading shelves 51) is executed. The movement process of the shuttle 70 at the time of shutdown will be explained using FIGS. 6 to 8.

6 to 8 are first to third diagrams illustrating an example of the movement process when the shuttle 70 is shut down. In addition, in FIGS. 6 to 8, in order to clearly represent the movements of the stacker crane 100 and the shuttle 70, only the loading shelves 51A of the A series and the loading shelves 51E of the E series of the rack 50 are shown, and the others are not shown. The illustration of the mounting shelf 51 is omitted. Furthermore, illustration of the upper end portions of the A-series mounting shelf 51A, the E-series mounting shelf 51E, and the stacker crane 100 is also omitted.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when the shuttle 70 is placed on the fourth loading shelf 51E4 of the E series loading shelves 51E, the controller 300 is given an instruction to shut down the shuttle 70 ( Assume that a shutdown instruction) is input. In this case, the controller 300 instructs the shuttle 70 placed on the shelf 51E4 to move to the home point 52 of the shelf 51E4. Thereby, the shuttle 70 moves to the home point 52 of the loading shelf 51E4 and stops. The controller 300 further instructs the stacker crane 100 to pick up the shuttle 70 located at the home point 52 of the loading shelf 51E4 and transfer it to the lower section of the rack 50. For example, the controller 300 specifies the home point 52 of the lowest loading shelf 51A1 of the A series of loading shelves 51A as the lower part of the rack 50 that is the destination. Upon receiving this instruction, the stacker crane 100 first travels toward the E series loading shelf 51E, and stops at a position facing the E series loading shelf 51E. Furthermore, after stopping or while the stacker crane 100 is running, the position of the lifting platform 120 is changed so that the height position of the lifting platform 120 corresponds to the placement shelf 51E4. Thereby, the elevating table 120 is moved to a position facing the mounting shelf 51E4. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7, the shuttle 70, which had been stopped at the home point 52 of the mounting shelf 51E4, is pulled to above the lifting table 120 by the movement of the slide fork 131 moving in and out and the lifting table 120 moving up and down.

The stacker crane 100, which has taken up the shuttle 70 in this way, moves toward the A series loading shelf 51A and lowers the lifting platform 120, thereby moving the lifting platform 120 to a position opposite the loading shelf 51A1. move it. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8, the shuttle 70 placed on the slide fork 131 is placed on the home point 52 of the mounting shelf 51A1 by an operation that involves moving the slide fork 131 in and out and raising and lowering the lifting platform 120.

Through the series of operations described above, the shuttle 70 placed on the upper shelf of the rack 50 is moved to the lower shelf of the rack 50. Thereby, for example, a worker can easily manually operate the main power switch 73 of the shuttle 70. That is, the shuttle 70 can be easily shut down and the shuttle 70 that has been shut down can be started up easily.

As described above, the automated warehouse system 10 according to the present embodiment includes the stacker crane 100 and the rack 50 extending in the depth direction intersecting the extending direction of the passage 30 of the stacker crane 100. The automated warehouse system 10 further includes a shuttle 70 that is placed in the rack 50 by the stacker crane 100 and that transports and transfers the cargo 20 within the rack 50, and a controller 300 that controls the stacker crane 100 and the shuttle 70. . The rack 50 is a plurality of storage shelves 51 arranged in the vertical direction, each of which can place a plurality of packages 20 side by side in the depth direction, and the shuttle 70 can be moved in the depth direction. It has a plurality of shelves 51. The shuttle 70 is an elevating table that transfers the luggage 20 at a predetermined position in the depth direction on the loading shelf 51 on which the shuttle 70 is placed among the multiple loading shelves 51 according to instructions from the controller 300. 71. When shutting down the shuttle 70, the controller 300 controls the stacker crane 100 and the shuttle 70 to shut down the shuttle 70 on the lowest or second stage of the loading shelves 51 of the multiple stages. Move it to a lower shelf.

As described above, in the present embodiment, a plurality of packages 20 can be placed on each of the multiple shelves 51 of the rack 50 using the depth direction. can be executed efficiently. Furthermore, when it is necessary to shut down the shuttle 70 that transports and transfers the luggage 20 on the loading shelf 51, the shuttle 70 is moved to the lower shelf located at a relatively low position. It is easy to turn off all power (that is, shut down) by manual operation. Furthermore, when starting up the shuttle 70 that has been shut down, it is easy for an operator to turn on the power manually. Therefore, the automated warehouse system 10 according to this embodiment can be operated efficiently.

In this embodiment, the lower shelves to which the shuttle 70 moves when shutting down are the first (lowermost) and second loading shelves 51. However, for example, when the shuttle 70 is placed on the second shelf 51 and the height position of the main power switch 73 of the shuttle 70 from the floor exceeds a predetermined height (for example, 2 m), Only the lowest shelf 51 may be designated as the lower shelf to which the shuttle 70 moves when shutting down. For example, if it is difficult to manually operate the main power switch 73 of the shuttle 70 placed on the bottom shelf 51 because the position of the lowest shelf 51 is too low, Only the storage shelf 51 may be designated as the lower shelf to which the shuttle 70 moves when shutting down.

Note that when shutting down the shuttle 70, the controller 300 may further control the shuttle 70 so that the shuttle 70 shuts down by itself after the shuttle 70 moves to the lower shelf. That is, by controlling the shuttle 70, the controller 300 may cause the shuttle 70 itself to execute a power-off process, which is a process of shutting down the shuttle 70 by turning off all power.

Specifically, if the shuttle 70 has a circuit that remotely turns off all power to the shuttle 70, the controller 300 instructs the shuttle 70 to shut down, thereby causing the shuttle 70 itself to turn off all power. In other words, it is also possible to shut down. The timing at which the controller 300 issues a shutdown instruction to the shuttle 70 may be after the shuttle 70 moves to the lower shelf, or may be before the shuttle 70 moves to the lower shelf. For example, after confirming that the shuttle 70 has moved to the lower shelf, the controller 300 instructs the shuttle 70 to shut down, thereby turning off all power to the shuttle 70. Alternatively, when instructing the shuttle 70 to move to the lower shelf, the controller 300 instructs the shuttle 70 to reserve a shutdown. As a result, the shuttle 70 turns off all power after confirming completion of the movement to the lower shelf. In either case, no manual operation by the operator is required to turn off all power to the shuttle 70. This makes the operation of the automated warehouse system 10 even more efficient.

Further, in the automated warehouse system 10 according to the present embodiment, when shutting down the shuttle 70, the controller 300 positions the shuttle 70 at a predetermined position near the passage 30 on the lower shelf.

For example, as described using FIG. 8, the controller 300 controls the stacker crane 100 to place the shuttle 70 on the home point 52 of the lower shelf. Alternatively, when shutting down the shuttle 70 placed on the lower shelf, the controller 300 controls the shuttle 70 to move the shuttle 70 to the home point 52 on the lower shelf. The shuttle 70 located at the home point 52 is shut down by manual operation by a worker or according to a shutdown instruction from the controller 300.

According to this configuration, when shutting down the shuttle 70, the shuttle 70 is shut down at a position close to the passage 30 of the stacker crane 100 and into which a worker can enter. Therefore, when starting up the shuttle 70 that has been shut down, the worker can easily manually power on the shuttle 70 while being in the aisle 30 (without entering the loading shelf 51), for example.

Note that the predetermined position near the passage 30 on the loading shelf 51 to which the shuttle 70 moves at the time of shutdown is not limited to the home point 52. For example, if a worker standing in the aisle 30 is able to manually operate the main power switch 73 of the shuttle 70 stopped at the standby point 53, the standby point 53 is selected as the destination when the shuttle 70 is shut down. Good too.

Further, there may be a plurality of shuttles 70 to be moved to the lower shelf at the time of shutdown. Therefore, in the automated warehouse system 10, from the viewpoint of making it easy to turn on or off all the power of the shuttle 70 by manual operation, the lower shelf of the stacking shelf 51 in the series near the entrance 171a (see FIG. 1) to the passageway 30 is is selected as the destination of the shuttle 70.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing an example of a destination of the shuttle 70 according to the embodiment. The controller 300 stores, for example, priority information indicating the priority given to the plurality of storage shelves 51 in the order of their proximity to the entrance 171a. Specifically, the priority of the A-series mounting shelf 51A is the highest, and the priority decreases in the order of the B-series mounting shelf 51B and the C-series mounting shelf 51C. Furthermore, the priority information may also include a priority based on the height position of each mounting shelf 51, for example. For example, the placement shelf 51A1 has the highest priority, and the priority decreases in the order of the placement shelf 51A2, the placement shelf 51B1, the placement shelf 51B2, the placement shelf 51C1, and the placement shelf 51C2. In this manner, in the present embodiment, the lower region (destination region 58) that is a candidate for the destination of the shuttle 70 is determined in advance.

The controller 300 determines the destination of the shuttle 70 to be shut down from within the destination area 58 by referring to this priority information. For example, if the home point 52 (see FIG. 1) of the loading shelf 51A1 is vacant, the loading shelf 51A1 is determined as the destination of the shuttle 70. If the home point 52 of the loading shelf 51A1 is not vacant, the controller 300 checks whether the home point 52 of each loading shelf 51 is vacant in order of priority, and selects the loading shelf that is confirmed to be vacant first. The home point 52 of the shelf 51 is determined as the destination. That is, when there are multiple shuttles 70 to be shut down, the placement shelves 51 as the destinations are determined in order of priority indicated in the priority information.

That is, in the automated warehouse system 10 according to the present embodiment, the racks 50 are arranged in the aisle 30 as shown in FIGS. It has a plurality of mounting shelves 51 arranged along the extending direction. When shutting down the shuttle 70, the controller 300 preferentially selects one series of mounting shelves 51 close to the entry port 171a through which the worker enters the passage 30 from among the plurality of series of mounting shelves 51. The shuttle 70 is moved to the lower shelf in the series of loading shelves 51.

According to this configuration, the shuttle 70 is shut down at a position close to the entrance 171a. Therefore, for example, when starting up the shuttle 70 that has been shut down, the worker can easily manually turn on the power (turn on the main power switch 73) without moving to the back of the passage 30.

In addition, in FIG. 9, the first and second stages of the A series of mounting shelves 51A to C series of the mounting shelves 51C are shown as the mounting shelves 51 included in the movement destination area 58 that is a candidate for the movement destination of the shuttle 70. Although the eye placement shelf 51 is illustrated, the placement shelves 51 included in the destination area 58 are not limited thereto. For example, at least one of the first and second stage mounting shelves 51 of the K series mounting shelf 51K (see FIG. 1), which is closest to the entrance 171a in the X-axis direction, as well as the A series mounting shelf 51A. may be included in the destination area 58.

Furthermore, in the automated warehouse system 10 according to the present embodiment, when transferring the cargo 20 to the rack 50, the controller 300 gives priority to the loading shelves 51 other than the lower shelf among the multiple loading shelves 51. Alternatively, the stacker crane 100 may transfer the cargo 20 to the selected loading shelf 51.

According to this configuration, the storage position (placing position) of the luggage 20 to be stored in the rack 50 is determined so as to avoid the lower shelf as much as possible. Therefore, when the shuttle 70 should be shut down, there is a high possibility that the lower shelf, which is the destination of the shuttle 70, will be vacant. This contributes to increased efficiency in the operation of the automated warehouse system 10. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, for example, when the destination area 58 of the rack 50 is determined, the controller 300 moves the storage shelf 51 that is not included in the destination area 58 of the rack 50 to the destination area 58 of the rack 50. The transfer destination can be determined. Specifically, the controller 300 selects an empty loading shelf 51 other than the lower shelf in the rack 50, that is, a vacant loading shelf 51 of the third or higher stage, as the transfer destination (loading position) of the luggage 20. The point is determined as the placement position. The controller 300 further controls the stacker crane 100 and the shuttle 70 to transfer the cargo 20 to the determined transfer position. Thereby, when shutting down a plurality of shuttles 70, there is a high possibility that the home point 52 of the mounting shelf 51 included in the destination area 58 is vacant. As a result, the plurality of shuttles 70 can be quickly moved to a position suitable for a shutdown position.

Note that since the controller 300 has acquired the current position of each of the plurality of shuttles 70, when shutting down the plurality of shuttles 70, a loading shelf among the plurality of shuttles 70 that is not included in the destination area 58 is The shuttle 70 located at 51 can be identified. The controller 300 can further move the identified shuttle 70 to the mounting shelf 51 included in the destination area 58 by controlling the identified shuttle 70 and the stacker crane 100. Further, it is assumed that at the time when the controller 300 executes a process for moving a plurality of shuttles 70, there are shuttles 70 placed on the shelf 51 included in the destination area 58. In this case, the shuttle 70 moves to the home point 52 of the shelf 51 and stops under the control of the controller 300.

(Other embodiments)
The automatic warehouse system 10 according to the present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Without departing from the spirit of the present invention, various modifications that can be thought of by those skilled in the art to this embodiment, or a configuration constructed by combining a plurality of the above-described components are within the scope of the present invention. include.

For example, when the shuttle 70 is not shut down, in addition to a normal mode in which all power is on, the shuttle 70 is in a power saving mode in which power is supplied only to some functions, such as communication functions and battery control functions. It may work. As a result, the number of times one shuttle 70 is charged per unit period can be reduced, which contributes to increased efficiency in the operation of the automated warehouse system 10. Furthermore, while the shuttle 70 is operating in the power saving mode, it may be programmed so that an event that would be determined to be abnormal in the normal mode is not determined to be abnormal. For example, even if the shuttle control unit 75 does not receive the output signal from the servo amplifier, which is a signal that should be received in the normal mode, if the shuttle control unit 75 is operating in the power saving mode at that time, it will issue an error message. do not. Thereby, for example, it is possible to prevent the shuttle 70 from executing a process for notifying the controller 300 of an abnormality that does not originally need to be executed. Further, the controller 300 does not perform processing for ignoring or discarding the abnormality notification from the shuttle 70, which is essentially unnecessary.

Further, when the shuttle 70 returns from the power saving mode to the normal mode, it takes a certain amount of time (for example, about 1 minute) to complete processing such as starting up various electrical components included in the shuttle 70. Therefore, for example, when the shuttle 70 returns to the normal mode by receiving a transport instruction transmitted from the controller 300, operations such as movement cannot be started immediately. Therefore, for example, before transmitting the transport instruction to the shuttle 70, the controller 300 may transmit to the shuttle 70 in advance a dedicated instruction (return start instruction) for starting the process of returning to the normal mode. For example, assume that the shuttle 70 receives, via the stacker crane 100, the cargo 20 that is transported near the rack 50 by a belt conveyor (not shown). In this case, the controller 300 transmits a return start instruction to the shuttle 70, for example, when the baggage 20 is on the conveyor. As a result, the shuttle 70 can start processing such as starting up various electrical components in order to return to the normal mode, and immediately picks up the cargo 20 carried by the stacker crane 100 in accordance with the transfer instructions received thereafter. can be received and transported to a predetermined loading point. In this way, even when the shuttle 70 can operate in the power saving mode, the automated warehouse system 10 is efficiently operated.

Further, for example, the cargo 20 to be stored and transported in the automated warehouse system 10 does not have to be a pallet loaded with a plurality of cardboard boxes. The luggage 20 may be, for example, a single box (a wooden box, a cardboard box, a folding container, etc.) containing a plurality of products. In other words, if the object can be transported by each of the stacker crane 100 and the shuttle 70 and has a size, size, and packaging style that can be stored in the rack 50, the object can be stored and transported in the automated warehouse system 10. It can be treated as 20.

Further, the transfer device 130 included in the stacker crane 100 transfers the cargo 20 and the shuttle 70 by moving the slide fork 131 in and out. However, the method of transferring the baggage 20 and the like by the transfer device 130 is not limited to this, and for example, the baggage 20 and the like may be transferred using an arm that pushes out and pulls the baggage 20 and the like.

Furthermore, the transfer device included in the shuttle 70 is not limited to the elevating table 71. For example, by providing a fork that protrudes from the shuttle body in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the shuttle, and moving the fork up and down, the cargo 20 can be moved between the fork and a cantilevered support provided on the rack. etc. may be transferred.

Further, the layout of the automated warehouse system 10 shown in FIG. 1 is an example. For example, the number, size, shape, and layout of the mounting shelves 51 in the rack 50, the number of shuttles 70, etc. are determined based on the area and shape of the area where the automated warehouse system 10 is installed, or the area and shape of the area where the automated warehouse system 10 is installed. It may be determined as appropriate depending on processing capacity and the like. Further, for example, two tracks 31 may be arranged side by side in the Y-axis direction (see FIG. 1) in the passage 30 so that the two stacker cranes 100 can work in parallel. As a result, loading and unloading operations for the plurality of storage shelves 51 on the Y-axis positive side of the passage 30 and loading and unloading operations for the plurality of loading shelves 51 on the Y-axis negative side of the passage 30 can be performed in parallel. , and can be done asynchronously.

Further, it is not essential that the rack 50 include a plurality of mounting shelves 51. For example, assume that the rack 50 has only A series of mounting shelves 51A. Even in this case, when shutting down the shuttle 70, by moving the shuttle 70 to the lower shelf (mounting shelf 51A1 or 51A2), for example, manual operation to turn on the power of the shuttle 70 after shutdown can be performed. It can be done easily.

Further, the controller 300 does not necessarily need to be implemented by a computer located away from the rack 50. For example, the controller 300 may be implemented by a computer placed in the stacker crane 100. That is, the stacker crane 100 includes the controller 300, and the controller 300 may move as the stacker crane 100 moves.

Further, the trigger for causing the controller 300 to shut down the shuttle 70 may be other than a shutdown instruction input to the controller 300 from the outside. For example, assume that the controller 300 has a date management function. In this case, the controller 300 may grasp a period during which the operation of the automated warehouse system 10 is stopped for a long period of time, such as during a long vacation, and may execute processing for automatically shutting down the shuttle 70 according to the period. .

Further, the mounting shelf 51 to which the shuttle 70 is to be moved when shutting down the shuttle 70 does not need to be determined based on being close to the entrance 171a. For example, the placement shelf 51 below the placement shelf 51 on which the shuttle 70 to be shut down is placed may be determined as the destination. As a result, the movement of the shuttle 70 between the two loading shelves 51 does not involve the movement of the stacker crane 100 along the track 31, so the movement time of the stacker crane 100 for moving the shuttle 70 at the time of shutdown is shortened. be done.

According to the automatic warehouse system of the present invention, it can be operated efficiently. Therefore, it is useful as an automatic warehouse system for storing and transporting cargo in distribution warehouses, factories, etc.

10 Automatic warehouse system 20 Baggage 30 Passage 31 Track 35 Upper rail 50 Rack 51, 51A1, 51A2, 51A5, 51B1, 51B2, 51B5, 51C1, 51C2, 51E4 Loading shelf 51A Loading shelf for series A 51B Loading shelf for series B Shelf 51C Placement shelf for C series 51E Placement shelf for E series 51K Placement shelf for K series 52 Home point 53 Waiting point 54 Rail member 54a Running surface section 54b Placement surface section 55 Rack column 56 Fixing member 58 Destination area 70 Shuttle 70a Shuttle body 71 Lifting table 72 Roller 73 Main power switch 75 Shuttle control unit 76 Battery 81 Communication device 83 Access point 100 Stacker crane 101 Upper truck 107 Lower truck 110 Mast 120 Lifting platform 130 Transfer device 131 Slide fork 170 Safety fence 171 Door 171a Entrance 200 Charging point 300 Controller

Claims (5)

An automated warehouse system comprising a stacker crane and a rack extending in a depth direction intersecting an extending direction of a path of the stacker crane,
a shuttle that is placed on the rack by the stacker crane and that transports and transfers cargo within the rack;
a controller that controls the stacker crane and the shuttle;
The rack is a plurality of stacking shelves arranged in a vertical direction, each of which can place a plurality of items in line in the depth direction, and the shuttle is movable in the depth direction. Has multiple shelves,
When shutting down the shuttle, the controller controls the stacker crane and the shuttle to place the shuttle on the lowest or second loading shelf of the plurality of loading shelves. Move to lower shelf
Automatic warehouse system. When shutting down the shuttle, the controller further controls the shuttle after the shuttle moves to the lower shelf, and causes the shuttle to shut down by turning off all power to the shuttle. to perform a power-off,
The automatic warehouse system according to claim 1. When shutting down the shuttle, the controller positions the shuttle at a predetermined position near the aisle on the lower shelf;
The automatic warehouse system according to claim 1 or 2. The rack has a plurality of series of mounting shelves arranged along the extending direction of the passage, when the plurality of stages of mounting shelves is one series of mounting shelves,
When shutting down the shuttle, the controller preferentially selects one series of mounting shelves close to an entrance through which a worker enters the passage from among the plurality of series of mounting shelves, and shuts down the selected one. moving the shuttle to the lower shelf in a series of loading shelves;
The automatic warehouse system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. When the load is to be transferred to the rack, the controller selects a loading shelf other than the lower shelf among the plurality of loading shelves with priority, and controls the stacker crane. causing a stacker crane to transfer the cargo to the selected loading shelf;
The automatic warehouse system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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