JPH05162813A - Article transport supplement device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To supplement an article with appropriate timing in accordance with the shipment of an article. CONSTITUTION:A delivery device 22 to deliver a housing box onto the transport passage of a freezing chamber 16 by a delivery command, a transport conveyor 20 and a supplement conveyor 50 to transport a transport box 34 from the freezing chamber 16 to a cold storage 18, a roller to carry a housing box 34 on the supplement conveyor 50 into a designated article rack 52, and a controller 70 to calculate the number of food items that are inside the housing box 34 carried into the article rack 52, and at the time to command the supplement of food items when a calculated value comes to a certain set value, are equipped. And a RAM that is a memory means to memorize the shipment plan information of food and the transport time information of the housing box 34, and the controller 70 that calculates the delivery timing of a designated food item according to the memory information of the RAM which a memorizing means, when a supplement command is received, and outputs a delivery command to the delivery device 22 which is a designated delivery means, with calculated timing, are equipped.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for supplying and replenishing goods, for example, physical distribution for shipping various kinds of products such as frozen foods stored in a product storage warehouse such as a freezer or a refrigerator to a sales network. The present invention relates to an article transport replenishing device suitable for use in a system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Consumer cooperatives and the like employ a system in which food is shipped from a collection / delivery center in response to an order from a store or a customer. The collection and delivery center has a refrigerator,
A freezer and a picking area are provided. A plurality of product shelves are arranged at the picking place, and various foods carried out from a freezer or a refrigerator are placed on each product shelf. Then, while looking at the order slip of the store or customer, the worker selectively takes out a predetermined amount of food from the product shelf (this work is called picking), puts it in the returnable box, and then sells the returnable box. It is designed to be shipped to stores and customers.

In such a physical distribution system, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-118603, the quantity of designated foods is displayed on an indicator installed at a picking place, and an operator places an order slip. A system has been proposed in which picking is performed based on a command displayed on a display device without looking at the product and the food is stored in a returnable box on a conveyor.

[0004]

However, in the conventional system, when the remaining amount of food in the product shelf becomes low,
Although it is configured to supplement food according to the instruction from the worker, if the frozen food in the freezer is sent to the picking place by the belt conveyor according to the instruction from the worker, depending on the instruction timing of the worker, the food Replenishment may be delayed. If food supplementation is delayed, picking work will be interrupted. If food is not replenished properly, an operator may instruct the food to be replenished again, and more food than necessary may be replenished.

An object of the present invention is to provide an article conveying / replenishing device capable of replenishing an article at an appropriate timing in accordance with shipping of the article.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a payout means for paying out a storage box in which a plurality of articles are stored onto a transport path in a storage warehouse when receiving a payout command. And a transport means for configuring a transport path connecting the storage warehouse and the article sorting field to transport the storage box dispensed by the dispensing means to the article sorting field, and the storage box transported by the transport means in the sorting field. A means of carrying in to a designated shelf,
Counting means for counting the number of articles existing in the storage boxes carried into the shelves of the sorting area, replenishment designating means for instructing replenishment of articles when the count value of the counting means reaches a set value, and Storage means for storing shipping plan information and transport time information of the storage box, and timing calculation for receiving a replenishment command from the replenishment instruction means and calculating the payout timing of the specified article in accordance with the stored information in the storage means on condition of the input of the replenishment instruction Means and
The article conveying / replenishing device is configured to have a payout command unit that outputs a payout command to the payout unit at the timing calculated by the timing calculation unit.

[0007]

According to the above-mentioned means, the articles in the storage box transported to the article sorting area are shipped, and when the remaining amount of the articles reaches the set value, the replenishment of the articles is instructed. Then, when an instruction to replenish the article is given, the payout timing of the designated article is calculated based on the shipping plan information of the article and the transportation time information of the storage box. Then, a payout command is output at the calculated timing, the storage box is paid out on the transport path in accordance with the payout command, and the paid-out storage box is carried into the designated shelf of the sorting place. Therefore, the articles can be replenished in accordance with the shipping status of the articles, and the picking operation can be prevented from being interrupted due to the delay in the replenishment of the articles.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a physical distribution system to which an article conveying / replenishing device of the present invention is applied. A collection / delivery center 10 includes a shipping place 12, a sorting place (picking work place) 14, and a freezer 1.
6. The refrigerator 18 is provided, and the temperature in the freezer 16 is kept at about -30 ° C, the temperature in the refrigerator 18 is kept at about 0 ° C, and the temperature in the picking workshop 14 is kept at about 10 ° C.

In the freezer 16, a conveyer conveyor 20 as a conveying means is linearly arranged in two stages, upper and lower. A payout device 22, which is a payout means divided into upper and lower stages, is disposed in the vicinity of each of the conveyors 20 at right angles. For example, 45 dispensing devices 22 are installed above and below according to the type of food. The respective payout devices 22 are installed at regular intervals, and the transport conveyor 20 is driven by a motor 24 so as to intermittently travel by the interval units of the payout devices.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the dispensing device 22. The dispensing device 22 comprises a roller conveyor 26, a low speed belt conveyor 28 and a high speed belt conveyor 30. The roller conveyor 26 is configured such that a plurality of rollers 32 are inclined forward and downward, and a cardboard storage box 34 in which frozen foods are stored slowly moves forward (leftward in FIG. 2) on the roller conveyor 26 due to its own weight. It can slide. In front of the roller conveyor 26, a low-speed belt conveyor 28 inclined forward and upward is arranged. The low speed belt conveyor 28 is an endless belt 36,
The drive motor 38 and the side guide 40 are provided, and the surface of the endless belt 36 running by the drive motor 38 is made of a rubber material having a high friction coefficient so that the storage box 34 can be reliably transported.

A horizontally extending high-speed belt conveyor 30 is arranged in front of the low-speed belt conveyor 28, and the high-speed belt conveyor 30 comprises a drive motor 42, an endless belt 44, and a side guide 46. Like the endless belt 36, the surface of the endless belt 44 that is driven by the drive motor 42 is made of a rubber material having a high friction coefficient. And high-speed belt conveyor 3
0 conveys the storage box 34 at a speed three times as high as that of the low speed belt conveyor 28, and conveys the conveyor 28 and the conveyor 30.
In the meantime, due to the speed difference between the two conveyors 28 and 30, the storage boxes 34 that are continuous in the front and rear can be separated. In the dispensing device 22 having the above configuration, when the storage box 34 in which the designated food is stored is loaded on each roller conveyor 26, the storage boxes 3 are driven by the drive motors 38 and 42.
4 can be paid out onto the conveyor 20 in a state where they are surely separated one by one.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view for explaining the force acting on the storage box between the roller conveyor and the low-speed belt conveyor. The storage box 34 moves from the roller conveyor 26 to the low-speed belt conveyor 28. The storage box 34 is separated from the subsequent storage box 34 on the roller conveyor 26, instead of the front-down posture, to the front-up posture along the inclination of the belt conveyor 28. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the force acting on the storage box between the low-speed belt conveyor and the high-speed belt conveyor. The storage box 34 moves from the low-speed belt conveyor 28 to the high-speed belt conveyor 30. The forward posture along the low-speed belt conveyor 28 is changed to the horizontal posture along the high-speed belt conveyor 30.
It is separated from the subsequent storage box 34 on the eight. Further, when the storage box 34 is transferred to the high-speed belt conveyor 30, a force according to the speed difference between the belt conveyors 28 and 30 acts on the storage box 34 as described above, so that the storage box on the high-speed belt conveyor 30 is moved. 34 is separated from the subsequent storage box 34.

Therefore, in the dispensing device 22 according to this embodiment, since the storage boxes 34 are separated three times before being delivered to the transport conveyor 20, the storage boxes 34 arranged consecutively in the front and rear are compared. Even in the state of being combined by freezing, the storage box 34 can be delivered to the transport conveyor 20 in a state of being reliably separated from the subsequent storage box 34. Thus, the storage box 34 dispensed on each transport conveyor 20.
Is intermittently transported to the refrigerator 18 side by the transport conveyor 20. A corrugated cardboard cutter 48 is arranged near the boundary between the freezer 16 and the refrigerator 18, and the upper lid of the storage box 34 transported by each transport conveyor 20 is cut by the corrugated cardboard cutter 48, so that each storage box 34 is in the open state. And is transported into the refrigerator 18.

In the refrigerator 18, a replenishing conveyor 50, which is a conveying means, is arranged linearly on the extension of the conveying conveyor 20 adjacent to the conveying conveyor 20. In the vicinity of the replenishment conveyor 50, the product shelf 5 divided into 15 zones
2 are arranged. 5 is a plan view of the refilling conveyor, FIG. 6 is a front view of the refilling conveyor, FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the refilling conveyor, FIG. 8 is a view taken along the line VIII-VIII of FIG. 6, and FIG.
10 is an enlarged view of the drive section of the replenishment conveyor, FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a main part (intermittent drive section) of the replenishment conveyor, and FIG. 11 is bb of FIG.
FIG. 12 is an enlarged plan view of the drive unit of the replenishing conveyor shown in FIG. The replenishment conveyor 50 is composed of a plurality of rollers 53, and each roller 53 has a built-in motor and rotates without mechanical driving from the outside. This roller 53
The rollers 53 of the adjacent replenishment conveyors 50 are linearly arranged in the transport direction. A feed rod 54, which is a loading unit, is provided between the rollers 53, that is, between the rollers 53 adjacent to each other in the sorting direction. The feed rod 54 is provided through the entire length of the plurality of replenishment conveyors 50 arranged in the transport direction. The feed rod 54 is provided between the rollers 53. Each feed rod 54 has a feed claw 5
6 are formed at a predetermined pitch. The feed claw 56 is for locking and transporting the storage box 34 which is an article.

The feed rod 54 is supported by a support wheel 58 at a plurality of points (only two points are shown in the drawing). The support wheel 58 carries the feed rods 54, is aligned in the sorting direction, and is supported by a common wheel shaft 60. There are as many wheel shafts 60 as there are support wheels 58 provided on one feed rod 54. Each wheel shaft 60 is provided through an elongated hole 74 formed in a base frame 72 of the apparatus in the vertical direction, and a bearing 76 is attached to an end portion passing through the elongated hole 74.

The bearing 76 is supported by a hypotenuse 80 of a hypotenuse body 78 having a substantially right triangle. The hypotenuse 78 is
A plurality of wheel shafts 60 are provided to support a plurality of wheel shafts 60, and are attached to a reciprocating rod 82 that is one carrying-in means to reciprocate. That is, the reciprocating rod 82 is provided in parallel with the feed rod 54 along the longitudinal direction, has its end connected to the air cylinder 104 attached to the base 86, and reciprocates according to the reciprocating movement of the air cylinder 104. , A plurality of hypotenuses 78 are simultaneously reciprocated. When the hypotenuse 78 moves and the wheel shaft 60 rises to the upper part of the long hole 74, the support wheel 58 and the feed rod 54 also rise. In this raised position, each roller 53 of the feed rod 54 is stored in the storage box 34.
Rise above the supporting surface that supports the. As a result, the feed rod 54 supports the storage box 34 in the raised position. The left side of FIG. 6 shows a state where the wheel shaft 60 is raised by the hypotenuse 78 and the feed rod 54 carried by the wheel 58 is raised. On the other hand, the right side in FIG. 6 shows a state in which the wheel shaft 60 does not rise and the feed rod 54 carried by the wheel 58 is positioned below the roller 53.

A plurality of feed rods 54 provided between the rollers 53 are connected to one slider 84. The slider 84 can slide horizontally along a slide rail 88 provided on a base 86 of the apparatus. The sliding distance is the same as the predetermined pitch at which the feed rod 54 moves in the transport direction.
A motor 90 is provided on the base 86 of the device, and the speed reducer 9
There is provided a rotating arm 94 which rotates in a horizontal plane via 2. As shown in FIG. 10, a slide roller 96 that rotates in a horizontal plane is provided at the tip of the rotary arm 94. The sliding roller 96 is fitted in a cylindrical hole 100 on the lower surface of the sliding guide 98. Sliding guide 98
Is the guide rail 1 provided on the lower surface of the slider 84.
The direction of movement of the feed rod 54 along 02 (transport direction)
It is designed to slide in a direction perpendicular to. Accordingly, when the rotating arm 94 makes one rotation, the feed rod 54 reciprocates once.

In the replenishing conveyer 50 having the above-described structure, when the air cylinder 104 operates and the reciprocating rod 82 moves leftward in the drawing (see the left side of FIG. 6), the wheel shaft 60 is pushed up by the oblique side 80 of the oblique side body 78. Feeding rod 5
4 rises above the roller 53 of the replenishment conveyor 50.
As a result, the storage box 34, which has been placed on the roller 53 of the replenishment conveyor 50 until then, is placed on the feed rod 54. When the feed rod 54 moves to the right in the figure in this state (this movement can be smoothly performed by the action of the support wheel 58), the storage box 34 is transported by the pitch of this movement. After that, when the reciprocating rod 82 moves to the right in the figure (see the right side of FIG. 6), the wheel shaft 60 descends along the hypotenuse 80 of the hypotenuse body 78, and at the same time, the support wheel 58.
And the feed rod 54 descends. As a result, the storage box 34, which has been placed on the feed rod 54 until then, is placed on the roller 53 again. In this state, the feed rod 54 moves to the left in the figure (the direction opposite to the carrying direction) and prepares to move up again. This causes the feed rod 54 to perform a box motion. By this box movement, the storage box 34 is intermittently transported in the transport direction, and is finally carried into the designated product shelf 52 by the roller 53.

FIG. 13 is a schematic sectional view of a product shelf.
4 is a perspective view of the product shelves, and the product shelves 52 are arranged in two steps, and each zone has three product shelves 52, one upper and the other lower.
Is provided. Each of the product shelves 52 is arranged in a state of being inclined downward toward the front, and a stopper 55 and a display 57 are provided in front of each of the product shelves 52. Each display 57 is provided with a display 59 for displaying the quantity for picking food and a reset button 60 forming a part of the counting means. Then, a worker 62 is arranged in each zone, and the food in the storage box 34 carried onto each product shelf 52 is picked by the worker 62.

An L-shaped picking conveyor 64 is arranged in the picking work area 14, and a returnable box 66 is sequentially loaded onto the picking conveyor 64. That is, when the picking conveyor 64 is driven by the drive of the motor 68, the returnable box 66 is sequentially transported to the work area of the worker 62. Food items picked by the worker 62 are sequentially stored in the returnable box 66. Then, the returnable box 66 is designed to be packed in the shipping place 12 after the designated food is stored, and shipped to a store or the like.

Here, in the present embodiment, the payout device 2
2, a controller 7 that functions as a payout command means, a timing calculation means, a counting means, and a replenishment designation means in order to smoothly drive the transport conveyor 20, the replenishment conveyor 50, the picking conveyor 64, etc. in accordance with the shipping situation.
0 is provided, and each motor or the like is driven by a command from the controller 70. The controller 70 includes a CPU, a RAM serving as a storage unit, and an R.
It is composed of a microcomputer provided with an OM or the like, and the controller 70 inputs the shipping plan information of food, the information about the type of food carried into each dispensing device 22 and the information about the type of food conveyed to each product shelf 52. Then, the transportation time information for transporting each food item to the designated product shelf 52 is generated, and the food item is replenished based on this time information.

FIGS. 15 and 16 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the article conveying / replenishing device, which will be described based on these flowcharts. First, the controller 70
When the data regarding the shipping plan of various foods is input from the keyboard provided in the table and the data regarding the type of food in the storage box carried into each dispensing device 22 is input (step S ₁ ), The transfer destination is determined (step S ₂ ). That is, when the type of food in the storage box 34 carried on the roller conveyor 26 of each dispensing device 22 is designated, the product shelf 52 to which each food is to be transported is determined based on the shipping plan information of the food ( step S _3). When the destination of each food is determined, the position information of each dispensing device 22, the distance information between each dispensing device 22 and the designated product shelf 52,
The transportation time information of each storage box 34 is generated based on the transportation time information of the transportation conveyor 20 which is the transportation means and the transportation time information of the replenishment conveyor 50 (step S ₄ ).

Next, when the controller 70 issues an instruction to convey the food, the motor 24 is driven to convey the conveyor 2.
0 is driven (step S ₅ ). Payout command for receiving box 34 by the specified food from delivery schedule information of the food after this is accommodated is outputted (step S _6), designated dispensing device 22 is driven. That is, a payout command is output to the dispensing device 22 having the storage box 34 in which the designated food is stored in the dispensing device 22 provided corresponding to the type of food, and the drive motor 38 of the designated dispensing device 22 is output. 42 is driven. As a result, the storage box 34 on the roller conveyor 26
Are delivered onto the conveyor 20 by the conveyance of the low speed belt conveyor 28 and the high speed belt conveyor 30 (step S ₇ ). At this time, the controller 70 calculates the position information on the transport conveyor 20 of the storage box 34 dispensed on the transport conveyor 20, based on the dispensing position of the storage box 34 (step S ₈ ). After this, the conveyor 2
When each storage box 34 is transported to the refrigerator 18 side with the transport of 0, the positional information of the storage box 34 with the transport of the transport conveyor 20 is sequentially calculated based on the transport speed of the transport conveyor 20 (step S ₉ ). The storage boxes 34 transported into the refrigerator 18 are sequentially transported by the replenishment conveyor 50, and at this time, the storage boxes 34 accompanying the transport of the replenishment conveyor 50 are also transported.
The position information of is sequentially calculated by the controller 70.

Next, when the storage boxes 34 are transported by the replenishment conveyor 50, the storage boxes 34 are transported based on the transport time information of the storage boxes 34 and the position information of the product shelves 52 for transporting the designated food. There is discriminated whether reached the specified position (step S _10). This process is continuously performed until the storage box 34 reaches the designated position.
When it is detected that No. 4 has reached the designated position, the motor of the replenishing conveyor that incorporates the roller 53 drives the roller 53, and the rotation of the roller 53 causes the specific storage box 34 to be carried into the designated product shelf 52. It is (step S _11).
Thereafter performs determination conveyance of whether the end of all the storage box 34 (step S _12), all the storage box 34 returns to the processing in step S ₆ again when not conveyed, all storage box 34 When the transportation of the
Moving to the processing of ₁₃ , the transfer conveyor 20, the replenishment conveyor 50
It is determined whether to stop the driving of the. When continuously driving each conveyor, the process proceeds to step S ₁₄ .
When stopping the driving of the conveyors the process goes to Step S _15, the motor 24 stops the rotation of the roller 53. When each transfer conveyor 20 and each replenishment conveyor 50 are driven, the picking conveyor 64 is also driven,
The returnable box 66 is conveyed to each zone of the product shelf 52. Then, when the designated storage box 34 is carried into each product shelf 52, an indicator provided in the terminal box 57 of each product shelf 52 in accordance with the transportation state of the returnable box 66 based on the food shipping plan information. 5
In 9, the picking quantity is displayed numerically. Then, the worker 62 takes out the food from the designated storage box 34 according to the display of the picked quantity, transfers it into the return box 66, and presses the reset button 61 provided in the terminal box 57. In this way, when the operator 62 operates the reset button 61 provided on the terminal box 57 of each shelf 52 in accordance with the conveyance state of the picking conveyor 64, the operation information of each reset button 61 is sequentially input to the controller 70. It is (step S _15). Thus the controller 70
Is a display unit 59 provided in the terminal box 57 of each product shelf 52.
The remaining amount of each food in the storage box 34 in the shelves 52 based on the operation signal from the volume and the reset button 61 which displays calculated to (step S _16). And it determines whether the number of food is equal to or less than the set value (step S _17), the storage box 3
When the number of food items in 4 is less than the set value, a supplement command for the designated food item is output (step S ₁₈ ). When the replenishment command generation unit of the controller 70 outputs the replenishment command, the calculation unit of the controller 70 determines whether or not there is a food shipment schedule for the food item for which the replenishment command has been received (step S ₁₉ ). When there is no shipping schedule, the processing in this routine is completed, and when there is a shipping schedule, the storage box containing the designated food based on the estimated shipping time information of the food product for which the replenishment instruction has been received and the transport time information of the storage box 34. The payout timing of 34 is calculated, and it is determined whether or not it is the payout timing (step S ₂₀ ). Then, at the payout timing, a process for driving the payout device 22 into which the designated storage box 34 has been carried in is executed (step S).
₇ ). After this, the above-mentioned processing is executed from step S ₇ .
Accordingly, the designated food can be replenished to the product shelf 52 according to the shipping situation of the food, the food can be replenished without depending on the judgment of the worker 62, and the picking work is interrupted due to the delay of the replenishment of the food. Can be prevented.

In the above-described embodiment, the storage warehouse is a freezer and the object to be transported is a frozen food storage box. However, the present invention can be applied to the case where an article other than frozen food is transported from a storage warehouse other than the freezer. Needless to say.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The articles can be automatically replenished in accordance with the shipping status of the articles, and the picking operation can be prevented from being interrupted due to the delay in the replenishment of the articles. Further, the articles can be replenished at an appropriate timing regardless of the judgment of the worker.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a physical distribution system to which an article conveying / replenishing device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the dispensing device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view for explaining a force acting on the storage box between the roller conveyor and the low speed belt conveyor.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view for explaining a force acting on the storage box between the low speed belt conveyor and the high speed belt conveyor.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the replenishing conveyor.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a replenishing conveyor.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a replenishing conveyor.

FIG. 8 is a view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the drive unit of the replenishing conveyor.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a main part (intermittent drive part) of the replenishment conveyor.

11 is a view taken along the line bb of FIG.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged plan view of the driving unit of the replenishing conveyor.

FIG. 13 is a schematic sectional view of a product shelf.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a product shelf

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the article transport replenishing device.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the article transport replenishing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Pickup and Delivery Center 12 Shipping Site 14 Picking Workplace 16 Freezer 18 Refrigerator 20 Conveyor Conveyor as Transporting Means 22 Dispensing Device as Dispensing Means 50 Replenishing Conveyor as Conveying Means 52 Product Shelf 64 Picking Conveyor 66 Coming Box 70 Dispensing Instruction Means and Timing Controller that is calculation means, counting means, and replenishment designation means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A delivery means for delivering a storage box containing a plurality of articles onto a delivery path in a storage warehouse when receiving a delivery instruction, and a delivery path connecting the storage warehouse and an article sorting area. Conveying means for conveying the storage box delivered by the delivery means to the sorting area for articles, and carrying-in means for delivering the storage box transported by the conveying means to a designated shelf in the sorting area,
Counting means for counting the number of articles existing in the storage boxes carried into the shelves of the sorting area, replenishment designating means for instructing replenishment of articles when the count value of the counting means reaches a set value, and Storage means for storing shipping plan information and transport time information of the storage box, and timing calculation for receiving a replenishment command from the replenishment instruction means and calculating the payout timing of the specified article in accordance with the stored information in the storage means on condition of the input of the replenishment instruction Means and
An article-conveying replenishing device having a payout commanding means for outputting a payout command to the payout means at the timing calculated by the timing calculating means.