JPH04213502A - Deposit and delivery display device of automatic warehouse - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve work efficiency by displaying a message of deposit impossibility when a vacant shelf position cannot be retrieved at the time of deposit, and displaying a message of delivery impossibility when a real shelf position cannot be retrieved from a stock control data at the time of delivery. CONSTITUTION:When item number, quantity, date and others are operated to input by a key board 13 in accordance with a load to deposit which is supplied on a load receiving rack 5, a control unit 15 retrieves a vacant shelf position at a proper position from a stock data recorded in a floppy disc set in a floppy disc drive device 14 and decides a deposit work shelf position (a shelf address). When data of item number, quantity and others concerning a load to deliver are operated to input by the key board 13, a microcomputer 15 retrieves a shelf address conforming to a delivery condition and decides a work shelf position. These work shelf positions are displayed on a display 16.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a display means of a control unit of a stacker crane used in an automated warehouse, which displays whether or not the stacker crane can be started. It is related to the device.

0002

[Prior Art and its Problems] In an automated warehouse consisting of a plurality of shelves arranged in a three-dimensional configuration and a stacker crane that performs loading/unloading operations on the shelves, an operator must check the product number and information before warehousing operations. When the quantity is keyed in, an appropriate empty shelf position is searched from the inventory management data stored in the storage means of the control unit (microcomputer, etc.) that controls the stacker crane, and the empty shelf position is set as the destination shelf of the stacker crane. Set as location. Furthermore, when a worker key-inputs the product number and quantity prior to the retrieval work, the actual shelf position that stores the corresponding item to be unloaded is searched from the inventory management data, and the actual shelf position is the destination shelf of the stacker crane. Set as location.

[0003] The stacker crane is automatically operated based on the warehousing and unloading operation data set in this way, and the scheduled warehousing or unloading work is performed. If there is no shelf position,
If there is no actual shelf position to store the corresponding item to be delivered when the delivery work setting is performed, the destination shelf position of the stacker crane is not set. Therefore, even if the operator inputs a start command for the stacker crane to indicate that the settings are complete, the stacker crane will not start, but the operator will not be able to know what is causing the stacker crane to not start, so it will not be possible to start the stacker crane immediately. be unable to deal with the situation.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides a system for displaying storage entry and exit in an automated warehouse using a control unit having a display means for displaying operating data of a stacker crane, etc. A device,
At the time of warehousing, if an empty shelf position cannot be found from the inventory management data stored in the storage means of the control unit, a message stating that warehousing is not possible is sent, and at the time of warehousing, a message indicating that the actual shelf position for storing the input object to be delivered is the same as above. The present invention proposes an in/out display device for an automated warehouse, which includes display control means for displaying a message indicating that unloading is not possible when inventory management data cannot be retrieved on each of the display means.

[0005]

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be explained based on the attached illustrative drawings.
is a plurality of shelves (package storage compartments) 2, each with a shelf address.
This storage device is three-dimensionally provided with a stacker crane 3, and is erected on both sides along the travel path 4 of the stacker crane 3. Reference numeral 5 denotes a receiving platform for warehousing, and numeral 6 indicates a receiving platform for unloading, which are installed adjacent to the storage devices 1a and 1b on both sides of one end of the crane travel path 4. The stacker crane 3 includes a traveling drive device 7, an elevating carriage 9 equipped with a running fork 8 that transfers loads between the shelves 2 of the storage devices 1a and 1b, and an elevating drive device 10 for the elevating carriage 9. , a running fork drive device 11 (see FIG. 3) that drives the running fork 8 in and out, and a crane drive control device 12 that controls each of these drive devices. As shown in FIG. 2, a control unit 15 using a microcomputer is mounted, which includes a keyboard 13 as an input means, a floppy disk drive 14 as an external storage means, a display (CRT) 16 as a display means, and a printer 17. ing.

The control unit 15 is equipped with an inventory management program that creates various inventory data including shelf addresses, product numbers, quantities, storage dates, and other items. It is connected to the drive control device 12 via a suitable interface, and can supply crane operation data such as warehousing/unloading and warehousing/output work shelf positions (shelf addresses) to the crane drive control device 12.

Next, the warehousing operation using the above-mentioned stacker crane 3 will be explained based on FIG. 15, the product number, quantity, and date (this may be automatically input from the clock mechanism built into the control unit 15) based on the cargo to be warehoused that has been supplied onto the receiving platform 5 for warehousing. etc., on the keyboard 13, the control unit 15 controls the floppy disk drive 14.
An empty shelf position at an appropriate position (for example, a position close to the home position) is searched from the inventory data recorded on the floppy disk set in the floppy disk, and the warehousing work shelf position (shelf address) is determined. This control unit 1
5, the determined warehousing work shelf position (shelf address), etc. are displayed on the display 16. Of course,
If there is no empty shelf position suitable for warehousing, a message indicating that warehousing is not possible is displayed on the display 16.

When the warehousing work shelf position is determined, the control unit 15 supplies the crane drive control device 12 with a warehousing command and operational data regarding the destination shelf position (shelf address). Therefore, by operating the crane start operation on the keyboard 13 or the crane start button attached to the crane drive control device 12, the crane drive control device 12 starts the traveling drive device 7, the lifting drive device 10, and the running fork drive device 11. Operation and loading platform 5
A warehousing operation is performed in which the above cargo is transported to the shelf 2 at a predetermined warehousing work shelf position (shelf address). At this time, information regarding the ever-changing traveling position of the crane 3 and the lifting/lowering position of the elevating carriage 9 is input to the crane drive control device 12 as current position information, and this current position information and the information are input from the control unit 15. The information regarding the warehousing work shelf position (shelf address) is compared, and when the two match, the crane 3 stops traveling and the elevating carriage 9 stops moving up and down, and then the running fork 8 moves the load for warehousing. This series of control itself is performed by a conventionally known method.

When the warehousing operation is completed, an inventory data rewriting command is output from the crane drive control device 12 to the control unit 15, and the floppy disk drive device 14
The inventory data recorded on the floppy disk set in is rewritten to the state after the warehousing operation. That is,
Corresponding to the receiving work shelf position (shelf address) searched earlier,
The data entered earlier, such as the product number, quantity, and date of stocking, are written.

The unloading operation is performed as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the keyboard 13 sends data such as the product number and quantity regarding the cargo to be delivered to the control unit 15 of the crane 3 waiting at the home position.
When the input operation is performed, the microcomputer 15 searches the inventory data recorded on the floppy disk set in the floppy disk drive 14 for the shelf address storing the cargo that meets the shipping conditions, and determines the shipping work shelf position. (shelf address) is determined. The input items to the control unit 15 and the determined shipping work shelf position (shelf address) are displayed on the display 16. Of course, if there is no corresponding cargo, a message indicating that delivery is not possible will be displayed on the display 16.

[0011] Shelf 2 that stores cargo that meets the shipping conditions
When there are multiple (shelf addresses), a first-out allocation process is performed so that the shelf with the oldest storage date is dispatched according to the first-in, first-out method, and the dispatch work shelf position is determined. When the unloading work shelf position is determined, the control unit 15 supplies the crane drive control device 12 with an unloading command and operational data regarding the destination shelf position (shelf address). Therefore, by operating the crane start operation on the keyboard 13 or the crane start button attached to the crane drive control device 12, the crane drive control device 12 activates the traveling drive device 7.
, the lifting drive device 10, and the running fork drive device 11 are operated, and the running fork 8 scoops up the load stored on the shelf 2 at the predetermined shipping shelf position (shelf address) and places it on the loading platform 6 for shipping. The unloading work for unloading is carried out. This series of controls itself is performed by a conventionally known method, similar to the control during warehousing work.

When the unloading operation is completed, an inventory data rewriting command is output from the crane drive control device 12 to the control unit 15, and the floppy disk drive device 14
The inventory data recorded on the floppy disk set in is rewritten to the state after shipping.

[0013]Although it is also possible to perform setting operations for the next loading/unloading operation each time one loading/unloading operation is completed, setting operations for multiple loading/unloading operations may be performed in advance, and the crane 3 A plurality of set loading and unloading operations may be performed consecutively by activation of the . In this case, the warehousing work and the warehousing work are performed continuously, and the operating rate of the crane 3 can be increased. Also, loading platform 6 for shipping
It is also possible to perform an order picking operation in which a predetermined number of loads are manually removed from a container that has been carried out, and then the container is stored again at the original shelf position or another shelf position.

That is, when data such as the product number, quantity, etc. regarding the cargo to be shipped is inputted using the keyboard 13 as described above, the product number, quantity, warehouse location (shelf address), etc. are displayed on the display 16. Therefore, the worker who performs the order picking work mentioned above,
It is possible to confirm the cargo with the product number displayed on the display 16 from the container carried out to the shipping loading platform 6, and to take out as many items as the picked number displayed on the display 16.

The inventory data recorded on the floppy disk can be printed out by the control unit 15 and printer 17. In this case, the inventory management program provided to the control unit 15 creates and prints not only inventory data for each shelf address, but also inventory data for each product number, inventory records for each month and day, and records based on other arbitrary conditions. You can go out.

In the embodiment, an external floppy disk drive is used as a storage means for the control unit 15, but an internal storage means such as a hard disk may also be used. Of course, storage media other than floppy disks, such as magnetic bubble memory, can also be used. Further, in the above embodiment, the display control means for automatically displaying necessary items on the display (display means) 16 is set as the central processing unit (CPU) of the microcomputer constituting the control unit 15. It is clear that it is composed of programs.

[0017]

As described above, according to the warehousing/outputting display device of the present invention, warehousing is not possible when an empty shelf position cannot be retrieved from the inventory management data stored in the storage means of the control unit at the time of warehousing. When the actual shelf position for storing the input item to be shipped cannot be retrieved from the inventory management data, a message indicating that the item cannot be shipped can be displayed on each display means. For this reason, it is possible to notify the worker in real time that loading and unloading operations are not possible. Therefore, we can immediately take measures that suit the situation, such as switching to warehousing when it is impossible to receive goods, switching to warehousing when it is impossible to take them out, or setting the warehousing setting for a different product number and quantity. can be increased.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a storage device and a traveling crane for loading and unloading.

FIG. 2 is the same plan view.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a control unit mounting location of the stacker crane.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the control system.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a control method during warehousing work.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control method during shipping work.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a, 1b... Shelf 2... Shelf (load storage section) 3... Stacker crane 5... Loading platform 6... Outgoing loading platform 7... Traveling drive device 8... Running fork 9... Lifting carriage 10... Lifting drive device 11... Running Fork drive device 12... Crane drive control device 13... Keyboard (input means) 14... Floppy disk drive device (storage means) 15...
Control unit (microcomputer) 16...Display (display means) 17...Printer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A storage/output display device for an automated warehouse using a control unit having a display means for displaying operation data of a stacker crane, etc., wherein at the time of storage, inventory management data stored in a storage means of the control unit is provided. When an empty shelf position cannot be retrieved from the warehouse, a message stating that the warehouse cannot be entered is sent, and at the time of shipping, a message that the warehouse is unable to enter the warehouse is sent when the actual shelf position that stores the input item to be shipped cannot be retrieved from the inventory management data. A warehousing/output display device for an automated warehouse, comprising display control means for displaying information on each of the display means.