JPH06227610A - Automatic warehouse - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an automatic warehouse capable of storing many kinds of storage objects at the temperatures suitable for the storage objects respectively, capable of changing the storage temperatures and the storage atmosphere, and not requiring the storage positions of the storage objects for applying desired processes during the storage. CONSTITUTION:Many article storage positions provided on storage racks 2 are formed into airtight cases 3 surrounded by a heat insulating material and capable of entering or delivering articles respectively, and the cases 3 are connected to multiple external heat sources and atmospheric gas sources (heat medium feeding facility 12) respectively. Connecting means are provided with control valves 9 controlling the feed of the heat medium and the atmospheric gas, the control valves 9 are operated by the command from a control computer 15, and the cases 3 are kept at the case temperature and the atmospheric gas suitable for storing the articles with the passage of time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automated warehouse, and in particular,
It is possible to store many kinds of stored items at the temperature suitable for each stored item, and change the storage temperature and storage atmosphere, and move the storage position of the stored items to perform the desired processing during storage. It concerns automated warehouses that do not need to.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, an automatic warehouse not only stores articles, but also operates and stores operation commands for loading and unloading means such as conveyors and stacker cranes used for loading and unloading.
This is a facility that can control storage position commands, etc. from a computer, and manage the storage / receipt, sorting, and storage status of stored items. For example, in a low-temperature automatic warehouse that stores foods and the like at low temperatures, the entire warehouse is kept at a low temperature, and a storage / reception means with low-temperature countermeasures is installed in the warehouse. In this case, when performing work or inspection in the low temperature automatic warehouse, the worker entering the warehouse must wear the winter clothes every time, and the work and inspection are troublesome. Further, since the entire automatic warehouse has the same temperature, it is impossible to handle articles having different storage temperatures.

Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-81305.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication, a plurality of shelves with different storage temperatures partitioned by partition walls are provided, and the shelves are separately stored for each article with different storage temperatures, and a rotating rack is provided on each shelf. It has been developed that a storage shelf is designated by a management computer for each article having a desired storage temperature, and the loading / unloading means carries in / out the article according to the designation, and manages the loading / unloading time, the storage location, etc. for each article. .

[0004]

According to the above-mentioned prior art, the articles can be stored in the respective shelves at different temperatures, but it is impossible to change the storage temperature and the atmospheric gas of the respective shelves. Therefore, when storing processed foods and fermented foods that require management called aging, which requires storage at different temperatures over time,
Each time the temperature change time comes, the article has to be moved to another storage place where the temperature is proper, and there is a problem that it takes time to carry in and out.

Further, in the case of storing imported fruits which are to be ripened and sterilized by storing them in a desired temperature and atmosphere gas for a desired period of time, it is necessary to fill the storage place with an atmosphere of nitrogen gas or the like. However, in conventional automated warehouses,
It takes time and effort to store the above-mentioned imported fruits and the like in a limited place where nitrogen gas can be filled, or put the product in a bag and fill the bag with nitrogen gas. In addition, an automatic warehouse that could be filled with nitrogen gas had to be set up.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. It is possible to store various kinds of stored items at a temperature suitable for each stored item, storage temperature and storage atmosphere. It is also an object of the present invention to provide an automatic warehouse in which the storage position of stored items does not need to be moved to perform desired processing during storage.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the automatic warehouse according to the present invention has a structure in which a large number of article storage locations provided on a storage rack can be put in and taken out by being surrounded by a heat insulating material. Each of these boxes is connected to a plurality of external heat sources, and a valve for controlling the heat medium supply is provided in this connecting means, and the control valve is operated by a command from the management computer. Nonetheless, the temperature of each box is adjusted to a temperature suitable for storing articles over time.

In addition to the above construction, each box is connected to a plurality of external atmospheric gas sources, and this connecting means is provided with a valve for controlling the supply of each atmospheric gas, and the control valve is provided from a management computer. The operation is performed in accordance with the above command, and the atmosphere gas suitable for storing articles is set for each box with the passage of time.

[0009]

The function of the above technical means is as follows.
For each box of the automated warehouse of the present invention, the supply amount of the heat medium supplied from the control valve is controlled by the instruction of the management computer, so that the inside of the box can be brought to the instructed temperature and Items can be stored at different temperatures and the temperature can be changed. This allows the article to be aged without changing the storage location.

Further, since a desired atmosphere gas can be supplied to each box to control the atmosphere in the box, it is possible to perform processing such as aging and sterilization performed during storage without changing the storage location.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS.
Will be described with reference to. FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an overall configuration of an automated warehouse according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a box and a stacker crane arranged in a shelf on the storage rack of the automated warehouse shown in FIG. Partial perspective view shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing a state where the door of the box body of the automatic warehouse shown in FIG. 1 is closed and an open state, and FIG. 4 is a command between respective facilities in the automatic warehouse shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a system diagram showing a transmission system, and FIG.
It is a side view of the goods receiving part along the arrow line.

First, the overall construction of the automated warehouse 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the storage rack 2 includes a rack unit 2a facing each other,
Two boxes 2b are provided, each of which has 15 boxes 3 arranged in 5 rows and 3 columns arranged in a shelf shape. A stacker crane 6 is arranged between the rack units 2a and 2b. A front surface 4 of the box 3 facing the stacker crane 6 is provided with a door 7 having a heat insulating structure that can be opened and closed, and a back surface 5 of the box 3 has a supply pipe 8 (8a, 8b,
8c) and a control valve 9 are provided, and a supply pipe main pipe 10 (10a, 10b, 10c) and a control valve main valve 11 are provided on the floor.

A heat medium is supplied to the supply pipe 8 from a heat medium supply facility 12 through a main pipe 10 of the supply pipe. Control valve 9,
The control valve main valve 11, the heat medium supply facility 12, the warehousing / discharging management terminal 13, and the box terminal 14 are respectively managed computers 15.
It is configured to be connected to and to be managed to store and receive goods, to manage the inside of the box, and to manage the supply of heat medium.

The stacker crane 6 is of a known type and includes a traveling body 17 having a column 16, an elevating body 18 which is guided by the column 16 to ascend and descend, and a support 19 at the upper end of the column 16 and is installed on the floor. The traveling rail 20 and the supporting rail 21 arranged on the ceiling guide the traveling rail 20 and travel between the storage rack units 2a and 2b. Stacker crane 6
Operates in response to a command from the management computer 15 and loads and unloads the handled product 23.

Details of the box 3 will be described with reference to FIG.
The door 7 is provided with a hinge 7a at the right end, an opening / closing cylinder 7b at the upper end, and a viewing window 7c at the center. This peep window 7c has a heat resistant tempered glass inside and a tempered glass outside, and is a double glass containing dry air between the two glasses and is commercially available. A seal 7d is provided around the door 7 at a portion contacting the box 3 when the door is closed, and the box 3 can be kept in a sealed state by the seal 7d and the seal 3a of the box 3.

The box 3 is provided with a pallet guide 3b and a temperature sensor 3c for guiding the inside of the handling object 23, a door detector 3d is provided on the upper portion in contact with the door 7, and the management computer 15 is provided with a door. 7 closed state information is given. The height h provided on the pallet guide 3b is such that a fork 18a provided on the lifting body 18 of the stacker crane 6 can be inserted into the box body 3 when the handled item 23 is loaded and unloaded, and there is no problem in storage. It has become. The fork 18a for receiving and delivering the handling material 23 when loading and unloading is, for example, a known one described in JP-A-59-48310.
The temperature inside the box 3 is detected by the temperature sensor 3c and fed back to the management computer 15.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a system for transmitting a command between equipments provided in the automatic warehouse 1 of the present invention, and the reference numerals of the equipments and equipments are the same as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. It is matched. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 15a is a management computer 1.
5 is a printer that outputs the management data stored in FIG.

Next, the operation of the automatic warehouse of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. When the truck 24 carries the handling object 23, it lowers it to the support table 25a of the load receiving section 25 at the tip of the loading / unloading conveyor 22. As shown in FIG. 5, the support table 25a is guided by a guide 25c by an electric jack 25b and is supported so as to be able to move up and down. After the load is received, it is lowered to a position that matches the height Z of the loading / unloading conveyor 22. W shown in FIG. 5 corresponds to the ascending / descending distance of the electric jack 25b.

The handling items 2 carried into the loading / unloading conveyor 22
The warehousing / leaving information and the storage information of No. 3 are input by the warehousing / leaving management operator from the warehousing / leaving management terminal 13 and transmitted to the management computer 15. The management computer 15 determines the number of the box to be stored, accumulates necessary management information during the storage period such as the supply of the heat medium and the delivery time, and commands the information to each equipment in the automatic warehouse 1. .

First, the stacker crane 6 receives the handling object 23 from the loading / unloading conveyor 22 and conveys it to the box number of the designated address, for example, the box 3 in the first row of the uppermost stage of the storage rack 2a. The box 3 at the designated address is the box terminal 14
As a result, the door 7 is opened by the instruction of the management computer 15 and is on standby, so that when the stacker crane 6 arrives, the handling object 23 is immediately received in the box 3, and the door 7 is closed by the opening / closing cylinder 7b.

Next, when the management computer 15 receives the information that the door 7 is closed from the door detector 3d, the management computer 15 instructs the heat medium supply facility 12 to set the inside temperature of the box 3 to the storage temperature of the handling object 23, The necessary heat medium is supplied through the supply pipe main pipe 10 and the supply pipe 8, and the control valve 9 and the control valve main valve 11 are controlled by the information from the temperature sensor 3c to manage the inside of the box 3 at a predetermined temperature. is doing.

Next, the supply of the cooling / heating medium will be described for the case where the handling temperature of the handling material 23 is two types, that is, the handling material 23a of -5 ° C and the handling material 23b of -10 ° C. The supply pipe 8 and the supply pipe main pipe 10 for supplying the heat medium are three in number, as shown in FIG. The heat medium supply facility 12 is instructed by the management computer 15 to supply air of −5 ° C. as a heat medium of cold heat to the supply pipe 8a via the supply pipe main pipe 10a, and supply air of −10 ° C. to the supply pipe main pipe 10b. It is supplied to the supply pipe 8b and recovered from the supply pipe main pipe 10c through the supply pipe 8c. The temperature inside the box 3 is controlled by controlling the control valve 9 and the control valve main valve 11 based on the information from the temperature sensor 3c, and adjusting the amount of the low temperature air to be supplied. As a simple operation, the cold heat medium may be supplied only without being recovered.

Next, aging will be described. For example, there is a case where a food having aging information is stored such that it is kept at −5 ° C. for 1 hour after receipt, then returned to room temperature for 3 hours, and then stored again at −5 ° C. Since the handled goods 23 carried in by the loading / unloading conveyor 22 are loaded with the aging information, the loading / unloading management terminal 1
Based on the information input in 3, the control valve 9 and the control valve main valve 11 after a predetermined time elapses from the management computer 15.
Is issued to. First, when the door 7 is closed, air of −5 ° C. is supplied to the inside of the box 3, and after 1 hour elapses while being controlled by the temperature sensor 3c, the control valve 9 and the control valve main valve 11 are switched to each other and the air at room temperature is cooled. For 3 hours and then again
Switch to 5 ° C air supply and continue to store in that state until shipment.

According to the present embodiment, the storage place of the items to be handled is a box which is heat-insulated and sealed, and the heat mediums having different temperatures can be supplied to the inside of each box, so that the insides of the boxes are different from each other. It has become possible to control the temperature, and the management information stored in the management computer makes it easy to store articles with different storage temperatures and enables aging.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The number of kinds of handling items 23 has increased,
For example, when carbon dioxide gas is required as the type of heat medium, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 1, a carbon dioxide gas supply unit 12a is provided in the heat medium supply facility 12, and a supply pipe 8d for supplying and recovering carbon dioxide gas. , 8e and two main supply pipes 10d, 10e are added. As a result, carbon dioxide gas can be supplied to the box that stores the handling object that requires carbon dioxide gas, and the inside of the box can be made into a carbon dioxide gas atmosphere suitable for storing articles.

[Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which a heating element is provided in a box in an automatic warehouse according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a command between equipments provided in the automatic warehouse shown in FIG. It is a systematic diagram showing a system. In FIGS. 6 and 7, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 3 and 4 denote the same parts as those in the previous embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted. The configurations of the storage rack, stacker crane, etc. of the automated warehouse are similar to those shown in FIG.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 shows a state in which the door 7 of the box 3 is opened, and a far-infrared heater 26 is provided as a heating element on the inner side surface of the box 3 and electric power is used as a heat source. It is a thing. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the control panel 27 connected to the management computer 15 is connected to the opening / closing cylinder 7b of the door 7, the door detector 3d, the temperature sensor 3c, and the far infrared heater 26. According to the present embodiment, if the far-infrared heater 26 has a controllable wavelength, it can be stored and stored in a storage article at an appropriate wavelength.

Needless to say, the above-described first, second, and third embodiments can be implemented independently, and can be applied to one automated warehouse facility by integrating the respective embodiments. That is, a supply pipe for supplying a heat medium and a gas pipe for supplying gas are connected to the box, a heating element is provided inside, and it is possible to store and store all articles. Also,
In each of the above-described embodiments, the function of the management computer 15 is sequence control over time for each box and no logical judgment is made, so description by the soft flow chart is omitted.

The present invention can be carried out in the following modes in addition to the above-mentioned embodiments. (1) Instead of carbon dioxide gas, liquid nitrogen is used as a heat source, and a heat exchanger or a radiator is provided on the way to obtain an arbitrary cold heat temperature and supply it to the box. (2) Electric power is used as a heat source, a plurality of Peltier elements are installed as heating elements in each box, each element is selected, and an electric current is passed to secure a desired storage temperature.

[0030]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to store various kinds of stored items at a temperature suitable for each stored item, and to change the storage temperature and storage atmosphere. Thus, it is possible to provide an automatic warehouse that does not need to move the storage position of stored items to perform desired processing during storage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an overall configuration of an automated warehouse according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing a box body and a stacker crane arranged in a rack shape on the storage rack of the automated warehouse shown in FIG.

3 is an enlarged perspective view showing a state where a door of the box body of the automatic warehouse shown in FIG. 1 is closed and an opened state.

FIG. 4 is a system diagram showing a command transmission system between each facility in the automated warehouse of FIG.

5 is a side view of the load receiving section taken along the line XX of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is an automatic warehouse according to another embodiment of the present invention,
It is a perspective view showing the situation where a heating element was provided in the box.

FIG. 7 is a system diagram showing a command system between each facility provided in the automated warehouse shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Storage rack 2a, 2b Rack unit 3 Box 6 Stacker crane 7 Door 3a, 7d Seal 8, 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d, 8e Supply pipe 9 Control valve 10, 10a, 10b, 10c Supply pipe main pipe 11 Control valve main Valve 12 Heat medium supply facility 12a Carbon dioxide supply unit 13 Storage / receipt management terminal 14 Box terminal 15 Management computer 23 Handling item 26 Far infrared heater 27 Control panel

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Makoto Yonezawa 4-3, Kanda Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Hitachi Techno Engineering Co., Ltd. Business Development Headquarters (72) Inventor Hideki Fukujuku 4-13-17 Nakagawa, Adachi-ku, Tokyo Issue Hitachi Techno Engineering Co., Ltd. FA Division

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of article storage locations provided on a storage rack are each made into an airtight box which is surrounded by a heat insulating material and which allows articles to be taken in and out, and each box is connected to a plurality of external heat sources, This connecting means is provided with a valve for controlling the supply of the heat medium, and the control valve is operated according to a command from the management computer so that each box has a temperature inside the box suitable for storing articles over time. An automated warehouse characterized by the fact that 2. A plurality of article storage locations provided on a storage rack are each made into an airtight box surrounded by a heat insulating material and capable of taking in and out articles, and each box is connected to a plurality of external atmospheric gas sources. However, this connection means is provided with a valve for controlling the supply of each atmospheric gas, and the control valve is made to operate according to a command from the management computer, and the atmospheric gas suitable for storing articles for each box as time passes. An automated warehouse characterized by the fact that 3. The control valve according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of external atmosphere gas sources connected to each box, the connecting means being provided with a valve for controlling the supply of each atmosphere gas. Is an automatic warehouse characterized in that it operates according to a command from a management computer, and that each box is made to have an atmosphere gas suitable for storing articles over time.