JPH06255722A - Device for controlling shelf selection of rotating shelf - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the loading workability of a device, in which a rotating shelf is circulated to perform the delivery at a desired delivery position, by obtaining a deviation on the basis of the shelf number of a delivery part and the desired shelf number, and moving the desired shelf to the delivery part through the shortest course. CONSTITUTION:In the case of an equipment, in which a delivery part B is provided at a specific position of a rotating shelf and a work is ejected in this delivery part B by a picking device 11 and the work is transferred to a unmanned carrying vehicle traveling on a track along the rotating shelf, ring-like connected multiple shelves forming a rotating shelf are numbered continuously (1-40 in the figure), and these numbers are displayed by bar-code or magnetism. The number of a shelf of the delivery part B is detected by a sensor 12, and input to a control circuit 13. This number input to the control circuit 13 is compared with the shelf number of the desired shelf input from an operating panel 14 to obtain the deviation on the basis of the total number of the shelves. A route for moving the desired shelf to the delivery part B at a shortest distance is decided to control the drive of the rotating shelf.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control structure for circulating a carousel having a large number of shelves so that a desired shelf can be moved to and from an in / out position in a short time so that the shelves can be taken in and out.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, ring-shaped shelves divided into a large number and a plurality of endlessly connected shelves which are configured to be rotatable so that the shelves can be rotated have been known. By providing several stages to improve the storage efficiency of the storage cabinet, a storage section is provided at an arbitrary position on this shelf, and a shelf number or the like is attached to each shelf, and the storage section calls out a shelf of a desired number. It was possible to put work in and out of the shelves.

[0003]

However, when one desired shelf is selected from a large number of rotary shelves and is taken out, conventionally, when the desired one of the shelves reaches the loading / unloading section by rotating the rotary shelf in one direction. You can stop and take out the desired shelf,
The operator determines which side (forward or reverse) of the desired shelf is faster than the current shelf number,
The rotating shelves were rotated in that direction so that the desired shelves could be taken out when the shelves were reached. Therefore, in the case of rotating only in one direction, it may be taken out faster by reversing in some cases, and when the operator makes a judgment, it takes time because the operator calculates.

[0004]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is controlled as follows.
That is, in a carousel-type warehouse in which a number of shelves are rotatably arranged in a ring and can be stopped at any position by circulating the carousel, each shelf is numbered consecutively, and a sensor is provided in the access section. The control unit is connected to the control unit to calculate a deviation from the shelf number in the loading / unloading unit, the desired shelf number and the total number of shelves, and the desired shelf is controlled to move to the loading / unloading unit in the shortest distance from the deviation.

[0005]

With such a control, referring to FIG. 3, when the total number of shelves, the current value, and the desired value are input from the operation panel, the difference between the desired value and the current value is obtained. It means that the shelf with the desired number is located in the loading / unloading section B with 0 as the value. If the desired value and the current value are not the same, it is judged whether the difference is positive or negative. Toshi (S
6) If negative, the total number of shelves is added to the value to obtain a deviation (S7). If the deviation thus obtained is smaller than half the total number of shelves, the deviation is set negative and the rotary shelf A is reversed by the value of the deviation (S10). If the deviation is greater than or equal to half the total number of shelves, or the same, the deviation is subtracted from the total number of shelves and normal rotation is performed by that value (S).
12). In this way, the desired shelf is obtained by rotating it at the shortest distance.

[0006]

The problems and solutions to be solved by the present invention are as described above, and the structure of the embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a manufacturing line having a rotary shelf, FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the rotary shelf, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart of selection control of the rotary shelf.

As a structure for picking up a desired part (workpiece W) or the like from a rotary shelf in a factory or the like having a rotary shelf type automatic warehouse, a rotary shelf A is formed in an elliptical shape as shown in FIG. , A part B which is put in and taken out at a predetermined position of the rotary shelf A.
Is provided and the work W is taken out from the loading / unloading section B, and when the work W is laterally attached to the automated guided vehicles 1, 1 ... Which run on the track 3 arranged along the rotary shelf A, the work W is provided. Is placed, travels on the track 3, stops at a predetermined position, and is transported to the supply units 2a, 2a of the manufacturing apparatus 2.2 to enable unmanned operation. The rotating shelf A has several stages of connecting shelves 10, 10 ...
, Which are arranged in a ring shape and are composed of a large number of shelves 10a, 10a.
A work W can be placed on each of the shelves 10a, 10a ... And a motor for driving rotation is provided for each of the connecting shelves 10, 10 ... so that they can be separately rotated. . Then, the loading / unloading parts B and B are arranged at arbitrary positions on the side of the rotary shelf A, and the loading / unloading parts B
A picking device 11 is provided at B, and the picking device 11 is provided with a lift table 11b on a mast 11a so as to be lifted and lowered, and a loader 11 is mounted on the lift table 11b.
The loader 1 is provided with c so that the work W can be locked.
The work W can be taken in and out on the shelf 10a or the automatic guided vehicle 1 at 1c.

Each of the shelves 10a, 10a, ... Has a continuous number, which is represented by a bar code, magnetism or the like, and is given to each of the shelves 10a.
As shown in FIG. 2, the one-stage rotary shelf A will be described. In the loading / unloading section B, a sensor 12 for detecting (reading) the shelf number is arranged, and a signal from the sensor 12 is input to the control circuit 13. The control circuit 13 is provided with a motor M for rotationally driving the rotary shelf A and a display unit for inputting a work name stored in each shelf in association with the shelf 10a and setting a desired shelf at the time of taking out. It is connected to the operation panel 14 included therein.

In such a configuration, the present invention provides the operation panel 14 with the total number of shelves, the value of the current shelf number located in the loading / unloading section B (current value), and the desired shelf number value (desired value).
If more input is made, the motor M is driven to position the shelf in the loading / unloading section B by the fastest route and control is performed so that a desired shelf can be obtained in the shortest time. That is, in the control, as shown in FIG. 3, first, the total number of shelves, the current value, and the desired value are read (S1), the difference between the desired value and the current value is obtained, and it is determined whether the value is 0 (S2). , 0 is the same value and the deviation is 0 (S3), and it means that the shelf with the desired number is located in the loading / unloading section B, and is stopped there (S4) and the workpiece is picked by the picking device 11. W can be taken in and out.

In step 2 (S2), if the desired value and the current value are not the same, the desired shelf is not located in the loading / unloading section B, so the rotation direction and rotation amount of the rotary shelf A are calculated. Therefore, it is determined whether the difference between the desired value and the current value is positive or negative (S5).
6) If negative, the total number of shelves is added to the value to obtain a deviation (S7). Then, it is determined whether the deviation thus obtained is greater than or equal to half the total number of shelves (S
8) If the difference is small, the deviation is set negative (S9), and the rotary rack A is reversed by the value of the deviation (S1).
0). In other words, if it is negative, it is reverse rotation, if it is positive, it is normal rotation,
The rotary shelf A has right rotation as normal rotation and left rotation as reverse rotation. Then, how many shelves have passed through the loading / unloading section B is counted every time a signal is input to the sensor 12, and the counted number is used as the number of passed shelves.
If the deviation in step 7 (S7) is greater than or equal to half the total number of shelves, the deviation is subtracted from the total number of shelves (S11) and normal rotation is performed by that value (S12). By rotating in this way, it is possible to rotate to a desired shelf in the shortest time.

[0011] Explaining such control concretely by using shelf numbers, for example, in the case of Fig. 2, the total number of shelves is four.
If 0, the shelf number currently located in the loading / unloading section B is 35, and the desired shelf number is 3, the desired value (3) and the current value (35) are different, so the process proceeds to step 5. Since the difference becomes -32, it becomes negative and the process proceeds to step 7, and when the total number of shelves 40 is added, it becomes 8 and a deviation of 8 is obtained. Since this deviation 8 is smaller than the half value 20 of the total number of shelves, a desired shelf can be obtained by reversing eight (counterclockwise) by setting negative (-8).

[0012]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects. That is, the total number of shelves is set at the time of installation, and the current shelf number can be read by the sensor, so if you enter only the target value, you can calculate the deviation with a simple method and rotate the shelf to the shortest side. The work on the shelf can be put in and taken out efficiently, and the put-in and take-out time can be shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a production line having a carousel.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of a carousel.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of selection control of a rotary shelf.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A rotating shelf B loading / unloading section 10 connecting shelf 10a shelf 12 sensor 13 control circuit 14 operation panel

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A carousel-type warehouse in which a large number of shelves are rotatably arranged in a ring shape and which can be stopped at an arbitrary position by circulating a carousel, and each shelf is consecutively numbered and put in and out. A sensor is provided and connected to the control unit, the deviation is calculated from the shelf number in the loading / unloading section, the desired shelf number and the total number of shelves, and the desired shelf is controlled to move to the loading / unloading section in the shortest distance from the deviation. Shelf selection control device for rotating shelves.