JPH0375444B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention provides a method for efficiently and quickly taking out articles from a storage facility for storing articles and storing the taken out articles in a storage box. This relates to methods and equipment for handling items that can be handled.

[Conventional technology]

A conventional technology related to an article handling device that takes out articles from a storage facility for storing articles and stores the taken out articles in a storage box is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
Publication No. 18601, Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-186803, Japanese Patent Publication No. 186803, Japanese Patent Publication No. 186803
Those described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 59-217503 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 59-217506 are known.

To explain the conventional technology described in the above publication, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-217503 divides the entire picking area into multiple zones and displays picking instructions at each storage position for each type of shipped item. and the first one that displays the quantity to be picked.
A second display is installed to indicate in which storage box the picking instruction indicated by the first display should be stored, and a plurality of storage boxes are arranged in each zone. , when the picking operation for the bins in each zone is completed, the belt conveyor automatically moves the distance of one zone and advances the bins in each zone to the next zone, and the next bin is A picking display system is described that allows next picking instructions to be made prior to arrival.

Also, JP-A-59-118601, JP-A-59-
Publication No. 186803 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 59-217506,
The entire picking area is divided into multiple zones, and a display is installed at each storage position for each type of shipping item to display the quantity to be picked, one storage box is placed in each zone, and each zone is The corresponding conveyance device (consisting of a conveyor that is constantly driven and a stopper provided corresponding to each zone, or a conveyor whose drive can be controlled for each zone) is stopped during the picking operation, and A storage unloading device is described that can release the stopped state in order to advance the storage box to the next zone when the picking operation is completed.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, the above conventional technology had the following problems.

That is, the picking display system described in JP-A No. 59-217503 can arrange a plurality of storage boxes in each zone, but it is difficult to allocate picked items to the respective storage boxes. There is no mention or suggestion whatsoever.

Also, JP-A-59-118601, JP-A-59-
The unloading device described in Publication No. 186803 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 1868-217506 can only place one storage box in each zone, so when the amount of picking work in each zone is not equal (normally, orders are There is a bias,
(It is rare for picking work to be carried out in all zones), which caused workers to have to wait. In other words, the storage boxes in the upstream zone are allowed to proceed to the next zone on the condition that there are no storage boxes on the conveyor in the downstream zone, so if the picking work in the downstream zone is not completed, the picking operation in the upstream zone is The next picking task cannot be performed. or,
If picking work in the upstream zone takes time, storage boxes will not flow to the downstream zone, making it impossible to perform picking work in the downstream zone.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to be able to smoothly allocate items taken out from storage equipment to storage boxes, and to average the amount of work as much as possible over the entire picking work area. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article handling method and apparatus that can improve the efficiency of picking operations.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides an article handling method in which a plurality of types of articles are taken out from a storage facility and the taken out articles are stored in a storage box, in which the storage facility is divided into a plurality of blocks, and the storage box is arranged in a plurality of blocks. The storage boxes are grouped in units to form a plurality of storage box groups, and at least some of the storage boxes in the storage box group store only articles taken out from any one block of the storage equipment. The above object has been achieved by providing a method for handling articles characterized by allocating articles to storage boxes.

Further, the present invention provides a device suitable for carrying out the above-mentioned article handling method, in which an article retrieval surface is formed on one side of a storage section that is divided into multiple stages and rows for storing articles, and the retrieval surface is a storage facility for articles divided into a plurality of zones, a retrieval display having a display for displaying the number of articles to be retrieved for each zone and a completion button for clearing the display, and a retrieval display for the storage equipment. An article handling device comprising: a conveying device disposed along the take-out surface for conveying a storage box for storing articles taken out from the take-out surface, the storage equipment comprising at least one of the zones; The storage boxes are divided into blocks, and at least some of the storage boxes in a plurality of storage box groups formed by grouping the storage boxes in units include storage boxes that have been taken out from any one block of the storage facility. The object of the present invention is to provide an article handling device characterized in that it is equipped with a computer for allocating articles to the storage boxes so that only the articles are stored.

〔Example〕

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, preferred embodiments of the article handling apparatus of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of an embodiment of the article handling device of the present invention.
A is a storage facility consisting of two blocks, a first block and a second block, each having an opening in multiple rows and multiple stages for storing articles stored in containers G; B is a front (front) frontage surface of the storage facility A; In other words, the conveyance device C installed along the frontage on the exit side is a storage box H for storing articles picked from the storage facility A. A transport unit forming conveyor carries out the storage box H to the transport device B, and D is a cutting conveyor that cuts out and transports the storage box H to the transport unit forming conveyor C. In addition, E is a stacker crane that is equipped with a container storage device etc. for storage facility A and runs left and right along the rear (rear side) frontage of storage facility A, that is, the frontage on the warehousing side, and F is a stacker crane. Container loading conveyor located outside the running surface of E, F-1,
F-2 and F-3 are storage lines for containers G, G, . . . to the container carry-in conveyor F. Also,
Although not shown, the article handling apparatus of this embodiment is equipped with a computer for performing various controls.

To explain in detail each part of the article handling device of the embodiment, each block of the storage facility A is as follows:
As shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, it has a frontage in multiple stages and multiple rows for storing containers (containers such as cardboard boxes and plastic containers in which articles are stored and whose tops are usually cut off). A free conveyor 11, which is mainly composed of a storage section (so-called fluid shelf) 1 and tilts forward and downward so that the stored containers G can be moved forward and moved by its own weight, roughly for each frontage.
In addition, a container receiving stand 12 is provided at the end (front end) of the free conveyor 11. The free conveyor 11 in each frontage is composed of a pair of roller conveyors,
Further, the container receiving stands 12 are horizontally continuous along the frontage surfaces of the plurality of rows, and are provided in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction corresponding to the frontage surfaces of each stage. Further, the front surfaces of the first block and the second block in the storage facility A are each formed with an article take-out surface 13, and each take-out surface 13 has a plurality of zones α, that is, four zones α in each of the embodiments. , β, γ, and δ. And zones α, β, γ, δ
In this example, 4 columns x 4 columns = 16
The container G is divided into two sections, each of which is in charge of taking out articles from the container G stored at each frontage. In addition, wheels may be used in the structure of the free conveyor 11 instead of rollers.

The first block of the storage facility A will be described in detail (the second block is configured in the same manner as the first block, so the explanation of the configuration of the second block will be omitted). A stopper 14 is provided between the free conveyor 11 and the container receiving stand 12, and the container G stopped by the stopper 14 is
A cutting device 9 is provided for taking out the container G to the container receiving table 12, and the cutting device 9 removes the container G by projecting an elevating table 92 which is raised and lowered by an air cylinder 91 upwardly from the stopper 14. It is designed to be taken out one by one. Further, 93 is a push button for a mechanical valve (not shown) for operating the air cylinder 91, and is provided near the take-out indicator 16, which will be described later.

In addition, in the first block of the storage facility A,
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a take-out indicator 16 is disposed at an easily visible position on the front side of each of the storage sections 1. For each of α, β, γ, and δ, and more specifically, for each frontage of the storage section 1, the number of articles to be taken out is calculated based on a picking command from a picking display control device (not shown), which will be described later. It is equipped with a display 161 to display and a completion button 162 to clear the display. In addition, each extraction indicator 1
6 is also equipped with a take-out indicator lamp 163, and when there is a picking command, that is, when it is necessary to take out the article in the container G from the take-out surface 13, this take-out indicator lamp 163 blinks. This is done so that the workers can be notified. In addition, the display 161 or completion button 162 indicates each zone α, β,
They may be integrated into one piece or one location for each of γ and δ.

Further, the conveyance device B is disposed along the take-out surface 13 in the storage facility A, and
A storage box H for storing the articles stored in the container G taken out from the removal surface 13 of the container G after picking is conveyed. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conveyance device B has a first
Each of the above zones α, β, γ, δ in the block
8 belt conveyors 2a that can be conveyed independently from each other so that a plurality of storage boxes H can be conveyed or stopped corresponding to each zone α, β, γ, δ in the second block. ,2b,2c,
2d, 2e, 2f, 2g, 2h (2c in Figure 2)
2d to 2h (not shown) are connected in series. That is, the eight belt conveyors 2a, 2b, 2c, . . . are respectively located in zones α,
A plurality of belt conveyors 2a, 2b, 2c, . . . are positioned correspondingly to β, γ, . storage boxes (6 in the example)
H is a transport unit (storage box group), and each transport unit is transported and stopped independently. And each belt conveyor 2a, 2b, 2c,...
A detector 21 (belt conveyor 2c, 2
d, 2e...) are attached, and each belt conveyor 2a, 2b, 2
When a picking command (command for storing articles in the storage box H) is received from the control device, a detector 21 attached thereto detects the top of the transport unit on the belt conveyor. When a part is detected, the conveyance unit is stopped, and if there is no picking command or picking is completed, the conveyance is continued or started and the conveyance unit is carried out to the downstream conveyor, and the conveyance unit is stopped. It stops after all of the units are carried out to the downstream conveyor and the detector 21 enters the light-receiving state, but at the same time, if the next conveyance unit is received from the upstream conveyor, the detector 21 detects the leading part of the unit. A picking conveyor control device (not shown), which will be described later, is configured to stop the conveyor when a picking command is detected (this refers to when a picking command is given, and if there is no picking command, after all conveyance units have been delivered). controlled. For example, to summarize the control mode for the belt conveyor 2b, the conditions for starting or continuing conveyance are that the upstream belt conveyor 2a is in the starting state, or that the picking for the belt conveyor 2b is completed and the downstream side The belt conveyor 2c is not in the process of picking, and the stopping condition is that the belt conveyor 2c is not picking.
This means that a picking command has been received at point b, or that the belt conveyor 2c on the downstream side is in the process of picking.

Further, the conveying device B is provided with a driving motor 22 for the belt conveyor that constitutes the conveying device B, as shown in FIG. Furthermore, conveyance device B
As mentioned above, eight belt conveyors 2a, 2
b, 2c, . . . but zones α, β,
Consisting of a single roller conveyor spanning γ,...
A stopper may be provided for each zone α, β, γ, . . . and the stopper may be controlled to turn on or off.

In addition, in Figures 2 and 3, 24, 2
4' is a storage display, which displays each zone α,
This display indicates which of the storage boxes H in the group of storage boxes constituting the transport unit to be stopped in response to β, γ, ..., in which the article should be stored. Along the line, six boxes are arranged near the stop position of each storage box H, corresponding to each zone α, β, γ, . . . . More specifically, in this embodiment, the six storage indicators 24 in each zone α, β, γ, . . . are configured as illuminated push buttons that also function as completion buttons. Further, the storage display 24' is an auxiliary display for making storage instructions clearer, and is composed of an illumination lamp.

Further, 26 is a temporary storage section (temporary storage table) for temporarily storing articles, and storage boxes H are arranged in each zone α, β, γ, . . .
Based on the display on the unloading display 16 before arriving at
These are for temporarily storing the articles in the container G when they are taken out in advance, and two locations are provided for each zone α, β, γ, . . . along the conveying device B.

The temporary storage portion 26 may be provided at one location for each zone α, β, γ, . . . , or may be provided at three or more locations depending on the case.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a temporary storage display, which in the case of the embodiment is provided corresponding to each temporary storage section 26. Each temporary storage display 25 indicates in advance that an article should be taken out, and also indicates which temporary storage section 26. It is equipped with a pre-emption indicator 251 that displays whether the article should be temporarily stored in the storage section 26, and a loading indicator 252 that displays that the article that has been taken out in advance and temporarily placed should be stored in the storage box H. The pre-order indicator 251 is made up of an illuminated push button that also functions as a completion button, and the input indicator 252 is made of an illuminated lamp. still,
In the zone α of the first block, there is a preemption indicator 25.
1. It is not necessary to provide the input indicator 252 and the temporary storage section 26, and if indicator lamps are used for the pre-emption indicator 251 and input indicator 252, the colors of the lamps can be differentiated or the indicators can be marked with arrows. It is preferable that erroneous operation can be prevented by combing.

Then, one of the storage indicators 24, 24' and the pre-emption indicator 251 lights up in response to the blinking of the take-out indicator lamp 163 of the take-out indicator 16 in the corresponding zone, and the take-out surface 1
3 to store or temporarily store the article taken out from the storage box H in any of the six storage boxes H or in either of the two temporary storage sections 26. At the same time, when all the items have been picked for the corresponding storage box H or the corresponding temporary storage section 26 in the corresponding zone, the lighting is cleared by pressing the corresponding storage display 24 or pre-emption display 251. The button is designed to prepare for picking the next storage box H or other temporary storage section 26 in the corresponding zone, and even if the button is pressed before all the items in the corresponding zone have been picked by mistake (if any of the items in the corresponding zone (blinking state of the takeout indicator lamp 163), the lighting state of the storage indicator 24 or the pre-emption indicator 251 continues as it is to display the storage box H in which the article should be stored or the temporary storage section 26 in which it should be temporarily stored. It is designed to continue. Note that the storage display 24 or the pre-emption display 251 may not be provided with such a completion button function, but may be provided with a separate completion button for clearing the display as in the case of the ejection display 16. In that case, the completion buttons may be integrated into one location for each zone. Further, the take-out indicator 16 does not need to include the take-out indicator lamp 163, and in that case, the display 161 may be blinked, or the pick-up indicator 161 may not be blinking and picking may be performed based on the presence or absence of the number display. You may do so.

In addition, a storage box H is provided on the transport unit forming conveyor C.
As shown in FIG.
The cutting detector 42 detects that there is a storage box H to be cut out, and the cutting stopper 41
By lowering the storage box H, the storage box H is accelerated and transported one by one to the carry-in end of the transport unit forming conveyor C.

The transport unit forming conveyor C, which transports the storage boxes H to the transport device B as a transport unit as described above, is mainly constituted by a roller conveyor, as shown in FIG. A direction changer 31, a storage box detector 32, and a storage box passage detector 33 are provided in between, and a conveyance unit that detects the tip of the formed conveyance unit is provided at the output end. A detector 34 and a cut-out stopper 35 for cutting out conveyance units into the conveyance device B are provided, and the cut-out stopper 35 is controlled as follows, and also controls the cut-out conveyor D.
That is, the storage box H cut out from the cutting conveyor D is transferred to the direction changer 31, and when the storage box detector 32 detects this, the direction changer 31 descends, and by this descent. The storage box H is conveyed to the unloading side by rollers, and when the storage box H passes the storage box passage detector 33, the direction changer 31 is raised to prepare for cutting out the next storage box H. The storage box passage detector 33 stops the cutting conveyor D from cutting out when six storage boxes H have passed. The six storage boxes H that have passed through the storage box passage detector 33 form a transportation unit (storage box group) with the leading storage box H in contact with the cut-out stopper 35, and when there is a picking command and When the belt conveyor 2a corresponding to the first zone α of the conveying device B starts,
This conveyance unit is conveyed to the belt conveyor 2a. The cut-out stopper 35 is raised when the transport unit passes the transport unit detector 34, and prepares for forming the next transport unit.

In addition, in the case of the embodiment, the above-mentioned transport unit is composed of six storage boxes H as described above, but the size of the zone, the size of the storage boxes H, and the size of the articles to be stored in the storage boxes H Various selections can be made within the range of the number of storage boxes H that can fit into the zone, taking into consideration the size, number, etc.

Further, the container carry-in conveyor F provided at the rear of the storage facility A is located outside the running surface of the stacker crane E, and is arranged approximately horizontally at a height near the frontage of the center stage of the storage facility A. It has been set up. and,
The container carrying-in conveyor F is configured to be able to rotate forward and reverse as appropriate, and the storage line F
Containers G, G, . . . supplied from -1, F-2, F-3 through appropriate gates (not shown) can be carried into appropriate positions.

Furthermore, as schematically shown in FIG. 4, the article handling device of this embodiment includes an order processing computer that processes order data, and an input of picking data from the computer that operates each control device. It is equipped with a control computer.

In the above order processing computer,
Based on the input order data, the capacity of the ordered item, the number of storage boxes required to store the item, the allocation of items to be stored in each storage box, and the transport order of the storage boxes to which the item is allocated. Processes such as decisions. The control computer also controls the belt conveyor 2a,
A picking conveyor control device that controls operations such as starting and stopping 2b, 2c, .
4 and 24'(24' is not shown), the picking display control device and the like are controlled, and the entire operation of the storage facility A is controlled.
Although not shown in FIG. 4, the same picking display 16 and storage display 24 controlled by the picking display control device of the α zone are also connected to the picking display control device of the δ zone located at the right end. Further, although only the above-mentioned display devices 16 and 24 are connected to the above-mentioned picking display control device, all the display devices necessary for picking including the temporary display device 25 etc. are connected.

Next, before explaining one embodiment of the article handling method of the present invention which is carried out using the article handling apparatus of the embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration, FIGS. This will be explained based on Figure 3. For convenience, picking for the first block will be mainly explained, but it goes without saying that the picking mode described below can be implemented in the same way for the second block as well.

On the free conveyor 11 of the storage facility A, the plurality of containers G that have been stored are placed in a state where the frontmost container G is in contact with the stopper 14 because the free conveyor 11 is disposed downward at the front. It is front packed.

Therefore, when a picking command is issued for zone α, the belt conveyor 2a corresponding to zone α of the first block is activated, and at the same time the conveyance unit (storage box group) consisting of six storage boxes H is transferred to the conveyance unit forming conveyor. C is cut out as described above, and the detector 21 detects the leading part of the transport unit.
The belt conveyor 2a stops and the conveyance unit stops corresponding to zone α. At this point of stop, as described above, the display 161 of the takeout display 16 provided on each frontage of the first block in the storage facility A indicates that the pick is taken out from the corresponding frontage based on a command from the picking display control device. The number of items to be removed is displayed, and the extraction indicator lamp 163 on the corresponding frontage side in zone α is blinking based on the command from the picking display control device, and the six storage indicators 24 in zone α are blinking. One of them (preferably sequentially from the storage box H on the leading side of the transport unit) lights up based on a command from the picking display control device. Therefore, the worker places the articles corresponding to the take-out indicator lamps 163 that are blinking sequentially on the display 16.
The number of items displayed in 1 is taken out from the storage equipment A on the extraction surface 13.
, press the removal completion button 162, store it in the storage box H corresponding to the lit storage indicator 24,
When all the picking for the storage box H is completed, a storage indicator (in the case of the embodiment, an illuminated push button) 24
By pressing , the other storage indicators 24 in zone α light up and the take-out indicator 16 lights up, so the take-out indicator 16 and the storage indicator 24
The worker may continue the picking work as described above in accordance with the instructions.

The above-mentioned picking of the articles stored inside the container G is performed by taking out the container G at the forefront onto the container receiving stand 12. The container G is taken out to the container receiving stand 12 by a cutting device 9.

After all the picking in zone α is completed as described above, the belt conveyor 2a is activated by pressing the storage display 24, and at the same time, the belt conveyor 2b is also activated to carry out the conveyance unit consisting of six storage boxes H. is carried out to zone β. Further, by pressing the storage display 24, a display for the next picking is displayed on the takeout display 16 in the zone α.

When a picking command is also issued in zone β, a preemptive picking display for one of the temporary storage units 26 is displayed in zone β simultaneously with a picking display for storage box H in zone α.

That is, the display 161 in the takeout display 16 provided on each frontage surface of zone β displays the number of articles to be taken out from the corresponding frontage surface based on the command from the picking display control device, and The pick-up display lamp 163 on the corresponding frontage side is flashing based on the command from the picking display control device, and one of the two pick-up indicators 251 in zone β (temporary storage stand on the front side of the transport unit) is blinking based on the command from the picking display control device. 26) are turned on based on a command from the picking display control device. Therefore, the worker takes out the number of articles corresponding to the taking-out display lamps 163 that are blinking in sequence from the taking-out surface 13 of the first block in the storage facility A in the number indicated on the display 161, and presses the completion button 162. , temporarily place the retrieved articles in the temporary storage section 26 corresponding to the lighted pre-pick indicator 251, and when all the picking for the temporary storage section 26 is completed, the pre-pick indicator (in the case of the embodiment, the illuminated push button ) 251, the other pre-emption display 251 in zone β lights up and the take-out display 16 lights up, so that the worker can follow the instructions from the take-out display 16 and the pre-emption display 251 as described above. All you have to do is continue the picking work.

In the case of the embodiment, since two temporary storage units 26 are provided for each zone α, β, γ, . . . , articles can be taken in advance for up to two storage boxes H. However, if the storage box H has arrived at the corresponding zone, the control device controls the storage box H so that the item is directly stored in the storage box H without being temporarily placed.

For example, if a transport unit including a storage box H in which the item is to be stored arrives at zone β while an item is being preemptively picked from the temporary storage section 26 at the front side of the transport unit, then By performing advance picking on the temporary storage section 26 on the side and pressing the advance picking indicator 251 when the advance picking is completed, the temporary storage section 2 on the leading side of the transport unit is
The input indicator 252 corresponding to No. 6 lights up, and the storage indicator 24 corresponding to the storage box H in which the pre-picked item is to be stored lights up, so the pre-picked item is placed in the corresponding storage box H. All you have to do is store it, and if you press the storage display 24 after storage, the other storage display 24 in zone β lights up and the takeout display 16 lights up, so you can pick the next storage box H. The stored items may be directly stored in the corresponding storage box H according to the instructions on the storage display 24 without temporarily storing them.

In addition, if the arrival of the storage box H is delayed and the pre-picking of the two temporary storage sections 26 is completed before the arrival of the storage box H, all temporarily stored items will be removed after the storage box H arrives. After the item is stored in each desired storage box H and the corresponding storage indicator 24 is pressed, the take-out indicator 16 lights up to indicate picking of the next storage box H.

The above items are stored in zones γ and δ.
The same process is carried out when a picking command is issued for a zone δ, and after the picking operation in the zone δ is completed, the picking command is carried out in the second block located downstream of the first block.
The storage box H constituting the transport unit is transported to the zone α of the block, and the same picking operation as in the first block described above is performed on the articles stored in the storage section of the second block.
It goes without saying that articles of the same type may be stored in different storage boxes H in different zones of the first block and the second block.

Further, if there is no picking command for zone α of the first block, picking in zone α is not performed as described above, and the transport unit is transported past zone α to zone β.
This transport unit is sequentially transported to zone γ when there is no picking command in zone β, and to zone δ when there is no picking command in zone γ; is carried out to the next second block.

Furthermore, a storage box H is assigned as a carry-out unit to each zone α, β, γ, . . . in the first block and second block, and each zone α, β,
When picking is performed at γ, ..., even if the storage box H of the transport unit in the downstream zone has not been completely discharged, if the transport unit in the downstream zone starts moving, the upstream The transport unit that has finished picking in the side zone is transported to the downstream zone. Note that if the picking work in the downstream zone is not completed, the overall efficiency of the picking work will be reduced, so it is preferable that the workers in the upstream zone go to help with the picking work in the downstream zone. Furthermore, if the efficiency of picking in the downstream zone is good, the conveyance unit that has completed picking is carried out and there is no conveyance unit to be picked in the downstream zone, and in this case as well, the efficiency of the entire picking operation is poor. Because it will be,
Preferably, workers in the downstream zone assist in picking operations in the upstream zone.

Next, a preferred embodiment of the article handling method of the present invention using the article handling apparatus described above will be described.

The article handling method of the present invention relates to a picking operation that mainly involves taking out a plurality of types of articles from a storage facility A and storing the retrieved articles in a storage box H. In this embodiment, the above-mentioned The storage facility A is divided into a plurality of blocks consisting of the first block and the second block as described above, and at least some of the storage boxes H contain either the first block or the second block of the storage facility A. Articles are allocated in advance to the storage box H so that only the articles taken out from one of the blocks are stored. Then, as much as possible, articles taken out from one block are stored in one storage box H.

By doing this, it is possible to prepare a storage box H- that stores items taken out only from the first block and a storage box H- that stores items taken out only from the second block, and also to prepare a storage box H- that stores items taken out only from the second block. Since it is possible to allocate the storage boxes H- and storage boxes H- to the storage box groups (conveyance units) on an average basis, the efficiency of the picking operation can be greatly improved.

In addition, in this embodiment, the storage boxes H form a storage box group (transportation unit) in which the storage boxes H are grouped in units of six as described above to improve the transport efficiency and improve the picking operation. Efficiency is further improved. Then, as many storage box groups as possible store storage boxes H that store only items taken out from a single block, for all blocks.
In other words, it is important to include the storage box H- and the storage box H- mentioned above from the viewpoint of improving work efficiency, and it is important to include the same number of both types of storage boxes to reduce the work in each block. This is preferable for averaging.

FIG. 5 schematically shows the overall flow of this embodiment.

In addition, in FIGS. 5 to 8, storage box H-
, H- and H-, are respectively indicated as a storage box, and, or simply, and. Additionally, / in the figure indicates a storage box.

That is, in the storage box capacity calculation step, the products (articles) ordered by business partners (stores) are totaled, and the number of storage boxes H required for each store is determined.
A storage box H- that is allocated to store only the products (articles) stored in the block, a storage box H- that is allocated and stored only the products (articles) stored in the second block, and a storage box H- that is allocated and stores only the products (articles) stored in the second block; A storage box H-, in which products (articles) are allocated and stored.
A storage box allocation calculation process in which the allocated storage boxes H-, H-, and H- are grouped into storage box groups, and the transport order of the storage boxes is determined. After going through the decision process sequentially, the first and second blocks are actually selected.
In order to perform picking work with the block, the process moves to a control process in which picking is controlled based on the data from each of the above steps, and according to the control, the picking work described in the picking mode by the above-mentioned article handling device is performed, The article handling method of this embodiment is carried out.

Next, each step shown in FIG. 5 will be explained in more detail based on a specific example.

The storage box capacity calculation process calculates the total capacity occupied by multiple products (goods) ordered from one store, and divides the total capacity by the effective volume of the storage box H to be used. This is to find the number of storage boxes H. That is, if the total product volume is divided by the effective volume and it is divisible, the quotient is the quotient; if it is not divisible, the quotient plus 1 is the number of storage boxes H required for the store. When calculating the number of storage boxes H, the total capacity of the product is determined by calculating the occupied volume of each product based on the maximum length, width, and height of the packaging container, and then determining the total capacity of each product. The effective volume of the storage box H is 40 since the total volume of the storage box H used in this embodiment is 50 and the effective rate is 80%. Therefore, the total capacity of the product is 40
1 piece if below, 2 pieces if over 40 and below 80... 4 pieces when over 120 and below 160...
The number of storage boxes H is determined as follows.

The storage box allocation calculation process is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In this step, for the storage boxes H whose required number has been determined for each store in the storage box capacity calculation step, the first
Types of products (articles) stored in the block
A storage box H- that allocates and stores only the types of products stored in the second block, a storage box H- that allocates and stores only the types of products stored in the second block, and a storage box H- that allocates and stores only the products stored in the first and second blocks. This is a process of determining which storage boxes H-, to be mixed and allocated for storage, and how many storage boxes H are required for each store.In other words, the storage equipment A is divided into the first block and the It is divided into a plurality of blocks each consisting of two blocks, and at least some of the storage boxes H are equipped with the storage equipment A.
This is a step in which articles are allocated in advance to the storage box H so that only the products (articles) taken out from either the first block or the second block are stored. At that time, articles taken out from one block are stored in one storage box H as much as possible. Note that, for example, the expression "storage box H-allocation" used in the following explanation means determining the storage box to which the product stored in the first block should be allocated, and "allocating the item to the storage box" is synonymous with

To explain the above process in more detail based on FIG. 6, first, the storage box H assigned to one store
It is confirmed whether or not there is one, and if it is one, the storage box H- is determined.

If two or more storage boxes H are assigned to one store, the total volume (capacity) of the products to be taken out from each block is calculated.
In the specific example, the calculation result shows that the number of products extracted from the first block (indicated as block in the figure) is 90.
This shows the case where the number of products to be taken out from the second block (indicated as block in the figure) is 50.

After calculating the total volume of each block and the products to be taken out, whether it is possible to form a storage box H- that stores only the products taken out from the first block alone, that is, if the total volume of the products from the first block is 40 It is then examined whether it is greater than or equal to 40, and what the remainder (unallocated portion) is at that time. In the specific example, two storage boxes H- and 10
The remainder (unallocated portion) is calculated. In addition, if it is possible to form a plurality of storage boxes H- that store only the products taken out from one block in this way, for each of the plurality of storage boxes H-, Products to be stored (in the diagram -
1-1) are preferably distributed as much as possible over each of the four zones α (indicated as α zones in the figure), β, γ, and δ constituting the block. This is because the picking work can be averaged for each of the zones α, β, γ, and δ.

After the allocation of products (articles) from the first block is completed, the allocation of products (articles) is performed in the same way for the second block. In the case of a specific example, 1
One storage box H- and a remainder of 10.

After completing the individual allocation of the products (articles) from the first and second blocks, the two unallocated items left over from the individual allocation are mixed and allocated,
The storage box H-, to be stored is determined, and the storage box allocation calculation process ends. In the specific example, a storage box H-, which stores 20 products, is determined.

In order to further facilitate understanding of the allocation of products (articles) to the storage boxes H described above, some other specific examples are shown in FIG. FIG. 7a shows an example of one storage box per store with a total capacity of 40 or less products. Figure 7b indicates that the total capacity of the product exceeds 40 and is 80.
The following is an example of the case of 1 store and 2 storage boxes, and part 1 is an example of single allocation, and part 2 is an example including mixed allocation. Figure 7c is an example of three storage boxes per store with a total product capacity of more than 80 and less than 120, and Figure 7d is an example of five storage boxes per store with a total product capacity of more than 160 and less than 200. This is an example of a case. The allocation of products to storage boxes H in each of the above specific examples shown in FIG. 7 is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. Consideration should be given to forming -.

Next, the step of determining the order of flushing the storage boxes, which is performed after the above-mentioned storage box allocation calculation step, will be explained based on FIG. 8. FIG. 8 shows a flowchart showing the process of determining the order of flushing the storage boxes, as well as a specific example thereof.

In the storage box allocation calculation process described above, each store (a in the figure)
storage box H-, storage box H-, and storage box H-, determined for each store (displayed as store b, store b, etc.)
are totaled, classified into each storage box, and summarized for each storage box. As a specific example, a case is shown in which there are 298 storage boxes H-, 300 storage boxes H-, and 295 storage boxes H-,.

After collecting each storage box, a transport unit consisting of a group of six storage boxes is formed by combining the storage boxes H- and H-. At that time, the conveyance unit is 3
As many storage box groups as possible are formed on the condition that one storage box H- and three storage boxes H- are organized. In this way, by forming a storage box group of three boxes each as a transportation unit,
It becomes possible to equalize the picking work in both the first block and the second block. In the case of a specific example, a storage box group of 99 formations from No. 1 to No. 99 is formed by 3.3 formations.

After forming a storage box group of 3.3 formations as described above, a mixed formation is formed by combining the storage boxes H- and storage boxes H-, which are individually allocated and left over from the formation, with storage boxes H-. . In the specific example, one storage box H- and three storage boxes H- are left over, forming a storage box group consisting of two mixed formations, No. 100 and No. 101.

After forming a storage box group consisting of the above two mixed formations, the remaining storage boxes H-, are organized every six to form a storage box group consisting only of the storage boxes H-. In the case of the specific example, 48 formations from No. 102 to No. 149 correspond to a storage box group consisting only of storage boxes H-. However, the number of storage boxes group No. 149 is insufficient, so it is organized into 5 boxes.

As described above, after the storage boxes H are organized, the storage boxes H are labeled by pasting identification labels for each store, etc., in preparation for later picking work.

The calculation work in each process described above is performed by the order processing computer shown in FIG. 4. The picking data obtained by the above calculation work is input from the order processing computer to the control computer, and the next picking control process is carried out.

In the picking control process, the above-mentioned article handling device is accurately controlled by operating the control computer based on the inputted picking data, and the picking operation is actually performed in the first block and the second block. be. The specific work is carried out in accordance with the picking mode by the above-mentioned article handling device, which has already been described in detail.

As detailed above, according to this embodiment, by dividing the storage facility A into the first block and the second block, only the products stored in the first block are stored in the storage box H- for each store. It becomes possible to allocate only the products stored in the second block to the storage box H-, and to allocate the remaining unallocated items to the storage box H-. The three types of storage boxes mentioned above, with the products allocated to each store, are totaled for all stores, and as much as possible, a 3.3 formation consisting of three storage boxes H- and three storage boxes H- is created. A storage box group is formed, and the rest is a storage box group mainly consisting of a storage box group consisting of individual storage boxes H-, and these storage box groups are used as transport units in the above-mentioned predetermined order. By carrying out to the conveying device B in
It becomes possible to average the picking work in the first block and the picking work in the second block for the entire group of storage boxes. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent picking work from concentrating on one block and causing other blocks to be in a waiting state. At that time, if there are multiple storage boxes H- or storage boxes H- that are individually allocated to one store, each storage box is distributed in each zone α, β, γ, δ. By allocating the items so that they are stored as evenly as possible, it is possible to more effectively prevent the waiting state for the picking operation.

As described above, according to one embodiment of the article handling method of the present invention, the unbalance of picking work between each block is reduced, and wasted time waiting for work can be reduced, resulting in As a result, it becomes possible to improve the picking ability of the entire system of article handling equipment. In addition, picking workers are freed from the traditional cycle of concentrated picking work and waiting time, and are able to perform picking work at a nearly constant pace, reducing the throughput of picking work. There is also a practical effect of reducing the work burden on workers, despite the increase in the number of workers.

Although the article handling method and device of the present invention have been described above based on the embodiments and examples, it is not limited thereto, and various changes can be made within the scope of achieving the intended purpose. Needless to say.

For example, the method of the present invention is not limited to using the article handling apparatus shown in the above embodiments, but may be carried out using other apparatuses as long as they have substantially the same functions. . In addition, although we have shown an article handling device equipped with storage equipment divided into two blocks, it may be made up of three or more blocks, or the block may be made up of four zones. Needless to say, there is no limit to the number of zones, as long as it consists of at least one zone. Further, it goes without saying that other equipment can be used as the article handling equipment as long as it is capable of substantially performing the work described in the picking mode.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the storage equipment is divided into a plurality of blocks, and the items stored in one storage box are allocated to the storage boxes so that the items are taken out only from one block. It is possible to smoothly allocate items taken out from equipment to storage boxes, and it is possible to average the amount of work as much as possible over the entire picking work area, thereby improving the efficiency of picking work. obtain. Furthermore, the storage boxes are grouped in units of a predetermined number to form a storage box group (conveyance unit), and the storage box group includes storage boxes that store only items taken out from a single block. By making sure that all blocks contain the same number of blocks as possible,
Since the work in each block can be averaged, the efficiency of picking work can be further improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing an outline of an embodiment of the article handling device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view showing details of an enlarged main part of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a storage of the above device. FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the control mode of the above-mentioned device, and FIGS. 5 to 8 each illustrate an example of the article handling method of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram for explaining an embodiment. α, β, γ, δ...zone, A...storage equipment,
B...transport device, H...storage box,...first block,...second block, 1...storage section, 13
...Article removal surface, 16...Removal indicator, 161
... Display, 162 ... Completion button, 251 ... Preemption display, 252 ... Input display, 26 ... Temporary storage section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An article handling method in which a plurality of types of articles are taken out from a storage facility and the taken out articles are stored in a storage box, in which the storage facility is divided into a plurality of blocks, and the storage box is are grouped in units of a plurality and transported as a plurality of storage box groups, and at least some of the storage boxes in the storage box group store only articles taken out from any one block of the storage equipment. A method for handling articles, characterized in that the articles are allocated to the storage boxes so that the articles are placed in the storage boxes. 2. The article handling method according to claim 1, wherein the storage box group includes storage boxes for all blocks that store only articles taken out from a single block. 3 Article storage equipment in which an article retrieval surface is formed on one side of a storage section divided into multiple stages and rows for storing articles, and the retrieval surface is divided into a plurality of zones, and articles to be retrieved in each zone. an unloading indicator comprising a display for displaying the number of items and a completion button for clearing the display, and a storage box for storing the articles taken out from the unloading surface of the storage facility, along the unloading surface. An article handling device comprising a conveying device arranged therein, wherein the storage facility is divided into a plurality of blocks consisting of at least one of the zones, and the storage boxes are formed by grouping a plurality of the storage boxes. a computer for allocating articles to the storage boxes so that at least some of the storage boxes in the plurality of storage box groups stored therein store only articles taken out from any one block of the storage facility; An article handling device comprising: 4. The article handling device according to claim 3, wherein the block consists of a plurality of zones.