JPH04317910A - Automatic storehouse picking apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate a part return process even in a sorting work or the like so as to improve the part transport efficiency by delivering stored parts in an automatic storehouse directly from a picking rack provided side by side in the storehouse, and only pushing a designated button to automatically supply parts if the parts are in short supply. CONSTITUTION:When parts are out in a certain rack of a picking rack 4, an operator pulls out an empty pallet and a request button 6 of the rack is input. An equipment controller 7 detects input and sends out a picking rack number corresponding to the input rack of the button 6 to a line computer 8. The computer 8 refers a picking rack master file stored in the computer 8 with the rack number taken as the key in response to the input of the rack number and judges a part number corresponding to the input picking rack number. Subsequently, the computer 8 refers an automatic storehouse rack file stored in the computer 8 with the judged part number taken as a key, judges a storehouse rack number corresponding to the judged part number, and sends out the number with a part delivery instruction to the controller to drive a stacker crane 2.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic warehouse picking device in which a picking shelf is coupled to an automatic warehouse equipped with a stacker crane.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art A manufacturing factory for construction machinery and the like is equipped with an automatic warehouse for supplying parts such as work-in-progress materials and fixtures to lines, and the parts are stored on individual shelves. The automated warehouse is equipped with a stacker crane, and this stacker crane transports the parts carried in through the warehousing conveyor at the entrance to a predetermined shelf, and also takes out the designated parts from the predetermined shelf and transports them to the exit exit. .

[0003] When using such an automated warehouse to transport parts used for manufacturing to the line side, the following procedure has conventionally been followed.

[0004] i. A plurality of necessary palletized parts are transported from an automated warehouse to a predetermined sorting table via an exit port and an exit conveyor.

ii. At the sorting table, a worker selects the parts necessary for assembling the small parts of, for example, one construction machine from the plurality of pallets that have been brought in, and prepares a plurality of pallets containing the plurality of necessary parts. These pallets are then flowed to the line side.

iii. When there are surplus parts on the plurality of pallets brought in from the automated warehouse, a return operation is performed to transport them to each predetermined shelf of the automated warehouse via the warehousing conveyor and the warehousing entrance. .

[0007]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-mentioned conventional device, if there are parts left over after the sorting work is completed, the pallet that has been transported to the sorting table must be returned to the automated warehouse, making it difficult to distribute the parts. There is a problem that the efficiency is poor and that transportation equipment is required to connect the automated warehouse and the sorting device, resulting in high costs.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an automatic warehouse picking device that can efficiently distribute parts.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, pallets containing various parts are stored in multiple rows and stages of shelves, and a stacker crane transports the palletized parts stored in each shelf to an arbitrary shelf. A multi-dimensional automated warehouse and a plurality of shelves are installed on some of the shelves of this multi-dimensional automated warehouse, and each part is separately allocated to each of these plural shelves, and a desired pallet is picked up from these plural shelves. a picking shelf for picking incoming parts; a parts request button provided separately on each shelf of the picking shelf; and when the parts request button is input, the stacker crane is driven and controlled, and the input parts request button control means for transporting palletized parts corresponding to the three-dimensional automatic warehouse from a predetermined shelf of the three-dimensional automatic warehouse to a shelf of the three-dimensional automatic warehouse that is attached to a shelf on the picking shelf where the parts request button is inserted. do.

0010

[Operation] In the configuration of the present invention, picking shelves are provided on several lower levels of the automated warehouse for workers to pick the required palletized parts, and the required parts are directly taken out from the picking shelves. .

[0011] Each shelf of the picking shelf has one part.
Each item is assigned a part request button, and a part request button is provided for each part, which is input when the part becomes empty. When the parts request button is input, the control means drives and controls the stacker crane to move the palletized parts corresponding to the input parts request button from a predetermined shelf of the three-dimensional automated warehouse to the part on the picking shelf. The request button is controlled to be transported to the shelf of the three-dimensional automated warehouse that is attached to the shelf where the request button was inserted. The palletized parts transported to this position are taken out by the worker to the previous picking shelf.

0012

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view conceptually showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. In these figures, a three-dimensional automated warehouse is composed of a plurality of shelves arranged in n stages and m columns. Each predetermined part is stored on a shelf on a pallet. Each shelf is assigned a separate warehouse shelf number. Parts are stored in a free location system where pallets are filled in order from empty shelves.

This multi-level automatic warehouse 1 is equipped with a stacker crane 2, which transports parts brought into the warehouse entrance 3 to predetermined shelves, and transfers parts stored on one shelf to another shelf. or transport it.

[0015] The three-dimensional automated warehouse 1 is also provided with a picking shelf 4 that serves as an outlet for workers to take out parts. In this case, the picking shelves 4 have four stages and m columns, and which parts are to be placed on each shelf (each shelf has a different picking shelf number set in advance) is set in advance.

That is, the picking shelf 4 functions as an exit of the automated warehouse and a display shelf for parts stored in the automated warehouse, and all parts stored in the automated warehouse are stored on pallets and placed on the picking shelf 4. are placed on each shelf.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a part of the picking shelf, and each shelf is provided with a number display 5, a parts request button 6, and the like. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of that part. In addition to the quantity display 5 and parts request button 6, the location number, picking unit, product name, product number,
A column is provided for entering notes, etc. The number display 5 displays the number of parts to be picked from the shelf by the worker in the work according to a command from the line computer, which will be described later. In addition, the parts request button 6
is input by the worker when the worker requests replenishment of parts on the shelf, such as when the shelf runs out of parts.

Here, among the shelves of the above-mentioned multi-level automatic warehouse 1, the shelves (shown by hatching in FIG. 1) immediately after each of the four stages and n columns of the picking shelves 4 are used as shelves for storing parts. Rather, it acts as a buffer shelf for each shelf of the picking shelf 4. That is, parts are supplied to the picking shelf 4 in pallets from each shelf of the automated warehouse 1 by the stack crane 2, but since the movable range of the stack crane 2 is up to each shelf of the multi-level warehouse 1, parts are not supplied to the picking shelf 4. The stack crane 2 transports the parts to a buffer shelf behind the picking shelf 4. Therefore, if there is no pallet containing parts on the relevant shelf of the picking shelf 4, the worker will take out the parts along with the pallet from the buffer shelf to the picking shelf 4 in front. Note that it is also possible to always prepare pallets containing parts on both the picking shelf 4 and the rear buffer shelf.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the control system of these facilities, and each device installed in the facilities such as the automatic warehouse 1, stacker crane 2, and picking shelf 4 is directly controlled by the facility controller 7, and The equipment controller 7 is controlled by a higher level line controller 8 that controls the entire line.

[0020] Hereinafter, the operation when a part request is made by an operator for the picking shelf 4 will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

Assume that a certain shelf of the picking shelf 4 has run out of parts. It is assumed that the worker pulls out an empty pallet from the shelf and presses the parts request button 6 on the shelf. The equipment controller 7 detects this input and sends to the line computer 8 the picking shelf number corresponding to the shelf to which the parts request button 6 is input.

When the picking shelf number is input to the line computer 8 (step 100), the line computer 8 refers to the picking shelf master file set and stored in the computer 8 using this picking shelf number as a key. This picking shelf master file stores the correspondence between picking shelf numbers and product numbers, and the line computer 8
determines the product number corresponding to the input picking shelf number by referring to this picking shelf master file (
Step 110).

Next, the line controller 8 refers to the automatic warehouse shelf file set and stored in the computer 8 using the determined product number as a key. This automatic warehouse shelf file stores the correspondence between product numbers and warehouse shelf numbers, and the line computer 8 refers to this automatic warehouse shelf file to determine the warehouse shelf number corresponding to the determined product number. A determination is made (step 120). As mentioned above, the free location system is used to store and receive parts, and the condition of each shelf is constantly changing. The line controller 8 completely knows which shelves are empty, etc., and the contents of the automatic warehouse shelf file are updated as the shelf status changes.

Then, the line computer 8 sends the determined warehouse shelf number to the equipment controller 7 along with a parts delivery instruction (step 130). Equipment controller 7
controls the stack crane 2 according to this instruction to take out the required parts from a predetermined shelf in the automated warehouse 1, and then transfers the parts to the buffer behind the shelf on the picking shelf 4 where the parts request button is pressed. Transfer to the shelf. Thereby, the operator can take out the parts from the buffer shelf to the picking shelf.

When determining the warehouse shelf number, if the product number is not registered in the automatic warehouse shelf file, an error message is output with reference to the out-of-stock management file (step 150).

[0026] Furthermore, when a certain parts request button is pressed,
Until the replenishment of the parts corresponding to the input parts request button is completed, even if the same parts request button is input again, this will be ignored.

By the way, in the above embodiment, the picking shelves are provided in several lower stages of the automated warehouse, but other methods may be used. For example, picking shelves may be provided in the middle several stages of an automated warehouse, and the floor surface on which the worker stands may be raised to match the position of the picking shelves.

[0028]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention,
Parts stored in the automated warehouse can be taken out directly from the picking shelves attached to the automated warehouse, and when parts run out, they can be automatically replenished by simply pressing a button, making it easy to use for sorting tasks. It is possible to improve the efficiency of parts transportation by eliminating the parts return process that is required in conventional devices, and it is also possible to reduce costs by eliminating the need for transportation equipment between the automated warehouse and the sorting device, which is required in conventional devices.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partial front view of the picking shelf.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a scanning display section attached to a picking shelf.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control system according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1...Three-dimensional automatic warehouse 2...Stacker crane 4...Picking shelf 6…Parts request button 8...Line controller

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A three-dimensional automatic warehouse in which pallets containing various parts are stored in multiple rows and stages of shelves, and a stacker crane transports the palletized parts stored in each shelf to an arbitrary shelf; A plurality of shelves are installed in a part of the warehouse, each part is individually assigned to each of these plurality of shelves, and a picking shelf is used to pick a desired palletized part from these plurality of shelves. , a parts request button provided separately on each shelf of the picking shelf; and when the parts request button is input, the stacker crane is driven and controlled to pick up the parts on the pallet corresponding to the input part request button. An automated warehouse picking device comprising: a control means for causing the picking device to be transported from a predetermined shelf of the multi-dimensional automated warehouse to a shelf of the multi-dimensional automated warehouse that is attached to a shelf where the parts request button of the picking shelf is inserted.