JPH032762B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to an article storage device.

An article storage device that stores articles, etc., on which a plurality of packaged products, etc. are loaded on a vat, in a storage member such as a card, includes a device main body, a loading stand for loading the articles,
and an elevator mechanism for moving the platform up and down,
Storage members having multi-tiered shelves are arranged adjacent to each other on the listing table, the listing table is stopped at a shelf position at a predetermined height, and the article is transferred from the loading table to the shelf. It becomes.

In the article storage device as described above, FIG.
As shown in Figure 10, a reflective optical sensor is mounted on the mounting table 3.
When a sensor S ₂ is provided, the shelf position is detected by the sensor S ₂ , and the elevator mechanism is stopped based on the detection signal, the following problems occur.

When the platform 3 moves up, it detects the bottom end of the shelf and stops (Fig. 10), and when it moves down, it detects the top end of the shelf and stops (Fig. 9). Even if it is adjusted to either one of the downward movements, it will shift by the thickness of the shelf 4a during other movements.

If the platform and the shelf are not at the same height, when the article is transferred from the platform to the shelf, the article may collide with the level difference between the platform and the shelf, or a shock may be applied to the article.

Particularly when the article is one in which a plurality of packaged products are mounted on a vat, there is a risk that the posture of the packaged products may be disturbed or the packaged products may fly out from the top of the vat.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an article storage device in which a loading platform and a shelf are stopped at the same height, thereby smoothly transferring articles.

In the article storage device of the present invention, a sensor for detecting the shelf position of the storage member is provided on the table in the article storage device, and the delay time from the detection of the shelf position by the sensor to the stop of the elevator mechanism is
A means is provided for stopping the elevator mechanism so that the top surface of the platform and the top surface of the shelf are at the same height by differentiating the cases in which the platform is moved up and the cases in which it is moved down. Features.

An example of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a device main body, and the device main body 1 has a frame 1b vertically disposed on a substrate 1a formed in the shape of a rectangular frame. Guide rails 1c on both sides of the front,
1c is provided, and an elevator mechanism 2 is provided, and the platform 3 is slidably fitted to the guide rails 1c, 1c, and is moved up and down by the elevator mechanism 2.

The elevator mechanism 2 has a conventionally well-known structure, in which sprockets are provided at the upper and lower parts of the chain 2a, and the front side of the chain 2a is connected to the platform 3, and the back side of the chain 2a is A balance weight 2b is provided at the top, and the platform 3 is driven up and down by a motor 2c linked to an upper sprocket.

The listing table 3 is a table on which articles are placed, and a positioning plate 10 for arranging storage members 4 having multi-tiered shelves 4a adjacent to each other is provided adjacent to the loading table 3.
A pusher 5 is provided.

The pusher 5 is formed by protruding from a belt extending in the direction of carrying out the articles, and is driven by a motor (not shown) or the like to push the articles on the platform 3 and store them on the shelf 4a. Make it.

The storage member 4 is a frame formed of multi-tiered shelves 4a, and the bottom surface thereof is provided with casters for conveyance.

The positioning plate 10 is provided with a sliding platform 10a that moves in parallel, and the storage member 4 is mounted on the platform 10a.
be included.

The loading platform 10a is loaded with two storage members 4, 4 as shown in FIG. The storage member 4 is brought close to the mounting table 3, and a full storage member 4 is replaced with an empty storage member 4.

Next, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the sensors will be described. In the figures, S ₁ , S ₂ , S ₃ , S ₄ , S ₅ , and S ₁₁ are sensors installed on the mounting table 3, and S ₆ , S ₇ . ₈ , S ₉ , and S ₁₀ are sensors provided in the main body 1 of the device.

Sensor S ₆ is a sensor for setting an upper limit provided at the top of the device main body 1 _, and sensor _{S 7} is a sensor for setting a lower limit provided at the bottom of the device main body 1. When it reaches the
After returning to the initial position described later, the elevator mechanism 2 is brought to a stopped state.

The sensor _S8 is a position detection sensor for detecting whether or not the platform 3 has returned to the initial position for receiving the article, and sensors _S9 and _S10 are provided at predetermined positions above and below the sensor _S8 , respectively.

The sensors S ₉ and S ₁₀ detect whether the platform 3 has returned to the vicinity of the initial position or whether _the platform ( ₃ ) 3 has left the vicinity of the initial position.
Slow speed between sensor S ₉ and above and sensor S ₁₀
At the following positions, the speed is changed to move the platform 3 at high speed in order to improve the processing speed and prevent sudden stops.

The sensor S ₁ detects whether or not an article is placed on the platform 3, and the sensor S ₂ is a position sensor that detects in which position of the storage member 4 the shelf 4a is located.

By counting the number of detections by the sensor _S2 , it is possible to detect the number of shelves that the platform 3 passes when sliding to a predetermined shelf.

In this embodiment, if the vicinity of the stop position of the mounting table 3 is set to one shelf before the predetermined shelf, the stop position is reached when the count number is one less than the total count up to the predetermined shelf. is detected.

The sensor _S3 is a reflective optical sensor that detects whether items are stored in the shelf 4a and prevents items from being stored one on top of the other. the sensor
S ₃ is provided on the platform 3 so that it can appear and retract freely, and the pusher 5
The shelf 4a of the storage member 4 is
Make it stick out to nearby areas. When the sensor _S3 protrudes near the shelf 4a, the sensor _S11 detects the pusher 5 and stops the protrusion.

The sensor _S5 detects whether the pusher 5 that has moved forward has moved backward and returned to its initial position, and when it detects that the pusher 5 has returned to its initial position, it stops the driving belt of the pusher 5.

The sensor _S4 detects whether the pusher 5 moves forward and reaches a predetermined position.When it detects that the pusher 5 reaches a predetermined position,
The driving belt of the pusher 5 is reversed to move the pusher 5 backward.

The detection signal of the sensor _S4 indicates that the pusher 5 moves forward to transfer the article, and by counting the number of detections of the sensor _S4 , it is detected how many shelves 4a the article has been transferred to. I can do it.

The electrical configuration of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. 6. In the figure, 20 is a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU).
and to the CPU 20 via the common bus 21,
ROM22, RAM23, first input/output port 24,
second input/output port 25 and motor control circuit 26,
Connect 27 and 28.

The CPU 20 is a conventionally well-known one-chip microprocessor, and includes a ROM 22 and a RAM 2.
3 and input/output ports 24, 25.

The ROM 22 is a conventionally well-known memory that stores programs for the CPU 20, and the RAM 23
is a conventionally well-known memory mainly used during program execution by the CPU 20.

An operation panel 29 and a display panel 30 are connected to the first input/output port 24, and the second input/output port 25
The sensors S ₁ , S _{2 .} . . S ₁₁ are respectively connected to the terminals.

In the figure, 2c is a motor for driving the elevator, and 5b
10b is a motor for driving the pusher, 10b is a motor for driving the platform, and each motor 2c, 5b,
10b have motor control circuits 26, 27, 28, respectively.
and the motor drive circuits 31, 32, 33 are connected so that each motor 2c, 5b, 10b operates normally.

The motor control circuits 26, 27, and 28 and the motor drive circuits 31, 32, and 33 have conventionally known configurations, and their explanations will be omitted.

The operation panel 29 consists of a group of switches, a numeric keypad, etc., and is used to input commands to start and stop work, the number of shelves of storage members to be used, the value of the delayed time to be set, etc.

The display panel 30 is composed of display lamps and a group of LEDs, and is used to display various operating states and abnormalities of the device.

Both of the panels 29 and 30 are appropriately provided on the surface of the main body of the apparatus.

To explain the operation of the article storage device with reference to FIG. 7, first, by operating the operation panel 29, the number of shelves C ₀ of the storage member 4 to be used and the day-laid time to be intervened when moving the loading table upward are determined. The value T ₁ and the value T ₂ of the delayed time to intervene when lowering the platform are set.

In this state, when the start switch is operated to put the device into operation mode, the CPU 20 reads the number of shelves C ₀ and the delayed time values T ₁ and T ₂ set on the operation panel 20, and transfers these data to the RAM 2.
3 to be stored at a predetermined address 41.

In this state, the apparatus is in a standby state and waits for the article to be carried into the loading table 3. When the article is detected by the article carrying sensor _S1 (42), it is determined whether or not this is the first operation for a new storage member 4 (43).

If it is the first operation, the platform 3 is moved down until the lower limit is detected by the sensor S ₇ , and the number of shelves below the initial position of the platform 3 is counted by the sensor S ₂ 52.

When the platform 3 reaches the lower limit sensor _S7 , the platform 3 is moved upward to the first shelf, that is, the lowest shelf 4a of the storage member 4 53, and reaches the article storage 46.

If it is not the first operation, the steps 52 and 53
Based on the number of shelves below the initial position of the platform 3 detected by , and the memory of how many shelves 4a from the bottom have already stored articles, the next shelf 4a to store the article is selected as the platform. It is determined whether the shelf 4a is above or below the initial position of No. 3, and what number of shelf 4a it is from the initial position.

Based on the above judgment, the platform 3 is moved up or down, and the sensor _S2 detects and counts the number of passing shelves 4a to determine that it has reached a predetermined shelf 4a. 45 to stop 3.

Next, the pusher 5 is driven to store the articles on the platform 3 on the shelf 4a (46), and when the sensor _S4 detects the end of the article transfer/storage 46, the platform 3 is returned to the initial position 47.

Next, the number of times C of storing articles is counted by one (48), and it is checked whether this new count C matches the number of shelves of the storage member 4 stored in the RAM 23, and it is detected whether the storage member is full (49).

If they do not match, the process moves to process 42 and the above operations are repeated. If they match, a switching command (lamp, buzzer, etc.) for the storage member 4 is issued 50, and the system enters a waiting state 51 until the storage member 4 is switched. , at the same time as the switching, the number of times C of article storage is reset to zero, and the process moves to process 42.

The details of the platform moving process 45 according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. 8. First, it is determined whether the platform 3 is to be moved up or down 60, and the values T ₁ and T ₂ of the delayed time to intervene are determined. 61 and 61', the elevator mechanism 2 is started.

When a predetermined shelf is detected by moving the platform 3 up or down while counting the number of shelves 63, when the set day raid time T ₁ or T ₂ has elapsed 64,6
After 4', the elevator mechanism is stopped 65.

As for the specific process of inserting the above-mentioned delayed time, there is a method of having the CPU 20 execute the calculation of C+1 → C, and proceeding to the next process when the value of C matches the set value, and a method of having the sensor S ₂ detect the shelf. At that point, the built-in timer is activated and the device goes into standby mode.
This is done by proceeding to the next process after a predetermined period of time has elapsed.

Note that the delay time varies depending on the thickness of the shelf and the position of the sensor. For example, in the cases shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the delayed time during upward movement is set longer than that during downward movement.

In the above embodiment, the delay time values for moving the platform upward and downward are inputted to the apparatus by setting them on the operation panel.

Although such an input method is extremely versatile, it has poor operability. That is, the operator must set the delayed time by looking at the list of delayed times.

If the types of storage members to be used are limited, a list of day-laid times may be stored in the ROM 22 in advance, and the day-laid times may be input by setting the type of storage member. .

Also, if only one type of storage material is used,
The delayed time may be set as a constant in the program set in the ROM 22.

Note that the device itself can also automatically set the delayed time. For example, in the process 52 of counting the number of shelves 4a below the initial position of the platform 3, the thickness of the shelf 4a is calculated from the descending speed of the platform 3 and the detection period of the shelf 4a of the sensor _S2 , and the thickness The delayed time value may be determined accordingly.

As described above, the present invention includes a device main body that is provided with a platform on which articles are placed and an elevator mechanism that moves the platform up and down, and storage members having multi-tiered shelves are placed adjacent to each other on the platform. In the article storage device, the article storage device is arranged at a shelf position at a predetermined height and the article is transferred from the loading platform to the shelf by stopping the loading platform at a shelf position at a predetermined height. By making the delay time from detecting the shelf position of the sensor to stopping the elevator mechanism different depending on when the platform is moved up and when it is moved down, the top surface of the platform and the top surface of the shelf can be made to be different. Since the article storage device is provided with means for stopping the elevator mechanism so that the heights are the same, the heights of the top surface of the platform and the top surface of the shelf are the same, and there is no difference in level. Therefore, articles can be transferred extremely smoothly.

Also, when used for storage members with shelves of different thicknesses, it is convenient because only the delay time needs to be changed.

By doing so, we will reach our intended purpose.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an article storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the same, FIG. 3 is a side view of the same, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the arrangement of sensors, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of the article storage device, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart explaining the main parts of FIG. 7 in detail. 9 and 10 are principle diagrams of the conventional example. In the figure, 1... Device main body, 2... Elevator mechanism, 3... Platform, 4... Storage member, 4a... Shelf,
5... pusher, S ₅ ... sensor, 20... central processing unit (CPU), 23... RAM.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device main body is provided with a platform for loading articles and an elevator mechanism for moving the platform up and down, storage members having multi-tiered shelves are arranged adjacent to each other on the listing platform, and In an article storage device that stops a storage member at a shelf position of a predetermined height and transfers the article from a mounting table to a shelf, a sensor for detecting the shelf position of the storage member is provided on the mounting table, and the shelf position of the sensor is detected. The day-laid time from the time until the elevator mechanism stops,
Means is provided for stopping the elevator mechanism so that the top surface of the platform and the top surface of the shelf are at the same height by differentiating the cases in which the platform is moved up and those in which it is moved down. Goods storage device.