JPH0626965B2 - Equipment for handling goods - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an article handling apparatus capable of efficiently and quickly picking articles from a container such as a plastic container or a cardboard box for storing articles. In particular, the present invention relates to a device for handling an article, which is suitable for taking out a container stored in a storage facility and picking a desired quantity of a desired article according to an order from a shipping destination (retail store or the like).

(Prior Art) As a conventional technique relating to an article handling device, Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-43873, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 52-75770, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 52-95477, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-13.
6404, JP-B-57-21842 and the like are known.

Explaining the conventional technique described in the above publication, Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-43873 discloses a manipulator capable of simultaneously gripping or releasing a plurality of articles by one drive system.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52-75770 discloses a picking device in which suction valves are attached to a plurality of suction pads, and only the suction valves designated by the picking command information are operated. Have been described.

Further, JP-A-52-95477 discloses an automatic cargo unloading apparatus provided with a cargo suction and unloading apparatus and a cargo center position detecting apparatus.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-136404 has a shelf capable of taking out and accommodating a plurality of kinds of articles and a moving device for moving to a corresponding position on the shelf, and a hand is provided according to the article type data. It describes the automated warehouse that was to be replaced.

Further, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-21842 describes a single-row supply type caser for a multi-row storage article for taking out articles stored in multiple rows in a transport box and supplying the articles to a single row.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the above conventional techniques have the following problems.

That is, the manipulator described in JP-B-55-43873 or the single-row feed type caser for multi-row storage articles described in JP-B-57-21842 holds a large number of articles at the same time, Since they are designed to be released at the same time, it is not possible to release and pick any quantity (especially small quantity) of articles.

Incidentally, Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-43873 does not describe aligning the gripping device and the container, and does not suggest anything. In addition, the caser described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-21842 cannot hold all the articles contained in the container at the same time, and therefore is provided with a partition or the like so that the remaining articles do not cause the arrangement disorder in the container. It is necessary to use a new container.

Further, the picking device described in JP-A-52-75770 or the automatic cargo unloading device described in JP-A-52-95477 is not designed to grip all articles at the same time. Therefore, a search operation for the positional relationship between the article and the gripping device is required, which complicates the gripping device and requires a long time for the search, so that high-speed picking cannot be performed. Incidentally, there is no description about aligning the gripping device and the container (pallet),
There is no suggestion.

The automatic warehouse described in JP-A-62-136404 stores articles in a storage facility in a state where the articles are taken out from the container (in a loose state). However, the articles are automatically taken out from the container, There is no description of automatically supplying and storing the ejected article in the designated storage front of the storage facility. Even if the taking out and supply of the articles are automated, a plurality of expensive equipments are required and it is not practical.
It should be noted that there is no description and no suggestion of storing a desired number of articles in the storage facility in a state where the articles are stored in a container.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to store an article in a storage facility while being stored in the container, take out the container stored in the storage facility, and store a desired article in accordance with an order from a shipping destination (retail store, etc.). An object of the present invention is to provide a device for handling articles capable of performing desired quantity picking.

(Means for Solving the Problem) The present invention provides an article handling device for picking up an article stored in the container by taking out the container from a storage facility having a plurality of storage fronts for storing the container,
An article take-out device for taking out the container from a plurality of storage fronts of the storage facility, a gripping device having a plurality of gripping heads for gripping the item housed in the container, and an article released from the gripping head. The object is achieved by providing an article handling device for transporting to an picking container and providing an article handling device characterized in that the container take-out device is moved up and down by an elevating device. Is.

In addition, it is preferable that a plurality of gripping devices are provided corresponding to each storage front of the storage facility.

Further, it is preferable that the gripping device includes a multi-hand capable of moving in the container take-out direction.

Further, each gripping head may grip each of the articles contained in the container one by one.

It is also preferable that the gripping head releases the article according to the picking command.

Further, the container unloading device may include a traveling conveyor that can move in the container unloading direction.

Further, the traveling conveyor may be configured to swing up and down.

(Example) Hereinafter, one Example of the article handling apparatus of this invention is described.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a plan view thereof. In these drawings, (1) is stored in a container (6). A gripping device equipped with a plurality of gripping heads (11) for gripping an article (5), (2) a container unloading device for removing a container (6) from a plurality of storage openings (32) of a storage facility (3), 3) is a storage facility equipped with a plurality of storage openings (32) for storing the container (6), and a container extracting device (2)
Are raised and lowered by the lifting device (25), and a plurality of gripping devices (1) are provided corresponding to each storage front (32) of the storage facility (3), and each gripping head (11). Container (6)
The articles (5) stored in are held one by one. Further, the gripping head (11) releases the article (5) according to the picking command. The article handling device of this embodiment is a container (6) stored in a storage facility (3).
After taking out, grasping all the articles (5) contained in the container (6) and taking them out of the container (6), some or all of the articles
(5) is released so that the desired article (5) can be picked, and is particularly suitable for picking (bottle-shaped) articles such as kitchen detergent, laundry detergent, shampoo, and rinse. Is.

Each part in the embodiment will be described in detail.
(1) is provided for each storage front (32) of the storage facility (3) described later, and a plurality of sets are provided corresponding to the articles (5) stored in the container (6). The gripping head (11) is equipped with a multi-hand (12) consisting of the gripping head (11), a telescopic fork (14) that moves the multi-hand (12) forward and backward, and the like.
As an example, attach two claws (which are arc-shaped in plan view and have rubber inside the claws) according to the shape of the article (cap) to the air chuck manufactured by Nakamura Kikai Engineering Co., Ltd. The gripping head (11) of the lower gripping device (1) is omitted in FIG. 1).

In addition, a container unloading device (2) is provided for each of a plurality of storage fronts (32), and a lifting belt conveyor (21) extending in the container unloading direction from the storage facility (3) Stoppers for containers (6) transported by a belt conveyor (21)
(22), a free roller (23) arranged at right angles to the lifting belt conveyor (21), and a clamping device (24) not shown for centering the container (6) placed on the free roller (23). ) And the like. Further, the container take-out device (2) is an elevating table of an elevating device (25) driven by an elevating motor (26).
It is mounted on (27) and can be moved to a position facing the storage front (32) of a desired stage.

Further, the storage facility (3) is a fluidized shelf having a plurality of rows and a plurality of stages of storage fronts (32) and is provided with a plurality of inclined roller conveyors (31). A stopper (not shown) is provided at the front end of the inclined roller conveyor (31).

Further, (4) is a container transfer conveyor for transferring the picking container (7) which stores the picked article (5).

Further, (8) is an article receiving conveyor, which is constituted by a belt conveyor and is provided below the gripping device (1).

Further, (9) is an article transfer conveyor, and a plurality of buckets (91)
It is constituted by a bucket conveyor equipped with.
Incidentally, (92) is a drive motor.

Further, (10) is an empty container transfer conveyor, which is constituted by a belt conveyor.

Next, the picking mode of the article in the article handling apparatus of the embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration will be described. The picking mode is suitable for picking a desired quantity of the desired article (5) in accordance with the order from each shipping destination (retail store or the like).

Each storage front (32) of the storage facility (3) has one type of article
A plurality of containers (6) containing (5) are stored. still,
The container (6) is stored in the inclined roller conveyor (31) in a state where the article (5) can be taken out from the upper surface by opening the upper surface in advance. That is, when the article (5) is stored in a plastic container or the like having an open upper surface, it may be supplied to the inclined roller conveyor (31) as it is, but when it is stored in a cardboard box or the like, the It is preferable to feed the inclined roller conveyor (31) after cutting the upper surface.

As will be described later, when all the articles (5) held by the gripping head (11) of the gripping device (1) are released, the container unloading device (2) is moved up and down by the lifting device (25). Storage frontage (3
The container (6) stored in the inclined roller conveyor (31) of the storage facility (3) is taken out to a position opposite to (2). When the taken-out container (6) is conveyed to the stopper (22) by the lifting belt conveyor (21), the lifting belt conveyor (21) is lowered and the container (6) is placed on the free roller (23). Placed. Container mounted on free roller (23)
(6) is aligned with the article gripping position of the multi-hand (12) of the gripping device (1) by a clamp device (24) not shown.

At the same time that the container (6) is taken out, the multi-hand (12) has been moved in advance by the telescopic fork (14) to the position where the container (6) should be aligned, so that the container (6) is aligned. Then, the container take-out device (2) is raised, and the upper part of the article (5) is raised to the position of the gripping head (11). The articles (5) contained in the container (6) that has been raised to the standby position of the gripping heads are individually held by the gripping heads (1) of the multi-hand (12).
1) (Because all the articles (5) are grasped at the same time, the articles (5) are not disordered).

After all the articles (5) are gripped by the gripping head (11),
The container take-out device (2) is lowered, and the article (5) is taken out of the container (6). Multi-hand (12) holding an article (5)
Moves to a position where the grip of the article (5) is released according to the take-out command of the article (5), that is, above the article receiving conveyor (8).
In addition, the container (6) from which the article (5) is taken out is the container taking-out device (2).
Is lowered and is carried out to the empty container transfer conveyor (10).

On the other hand, the picking container (7) is conveyed by the container conveying conveyor (4) to the lower side part of the article receiving conveyor (8) having a plurality of stacked layers (three layers) and stopped by a stopper (not shown). If you do not pick the articles (5) in a row, the picking container (7) is
After being transported to the position of (5), it stops).

When the multi-hand (12) is in the article release position and the picking container (7) has arrived at the predetermined position, the multi-hand (12) is in accordance with the take-out command of the article (5) from the control device (not shown). The gripping head (11) releases the grip of the article (5) according to the desired number of. At the same time, the article (5) gripped by another multi-hand (12) that is similarly laminated in a plurality of stages
Is also released. The released plural types of articles (5) are stored in the picking container (7) through the article receiving conveyor (8) and the article conveying conveyor (9), and the picking of the desired type and the desired number of articles (5) can be performed. Done. Picked goods
The picking container (7) accommodating (5) is transferred to the lower side part of the article receiving conveyor (8) in which the articles (5) to be picked next are released. It is conveyed by a conveyor (4). In the same manner, the next plurality of types of articles (5) are picked, and in the same manner, the desired articles (5) are sequentially picked in the same manner, and the goods are sorted by shipping destination.

Further, the gripping device (1) sequentially releases the gripping of the desired number of articles (5) to the picking containers (7) that are sequentially supplied according to the take-out command. In addition, multi-hand (1
When the gripping of all the articles (5) gripped by 2) is released, as described above, the lifting device (25) lifts the container unloading device.
The container (6) stored in the storage facility (3) is taken out by moving the container (2) to the storage front (32) of the relevant stage. When picking the article (5) to a certain picking container (7), if the number of articles (5) held by the multi-hand (12) is less than a desired number, first hold the article (5). After releasing all the existing articles (5), the next container (6) stored in the storage facility (3) is taken out, and all the articles (5) stored in the container (6) are processed as described above. After gripping, the desired number of articles (5) is picked again by releasing the grip of the missing articles (5).

4 to 7 show another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a side view,
FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of the container unloading device, FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of the gripping device, and FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an insertion state of articles into the article transfer conveyor (spiral chute). The embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is substantially the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIGS.

That is, in the article take-out apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, (100) is a storage facility having a plurality of storage openings (105) for storing a container (103), and (110) is a storage facility. A container take-out device for taking out a container (103) from a plurality of storage openings (105) of (100), and (115) an article (104) contained in the container (103).
A gripping device having a plurality of gripping heads (116) for gripping the container, the container removing device (110) is moved up and down by an elevating device (125), and the gripping device (115) is a storage facility ( A plurality of gripping heads (116) are provided corresponding to the respective storage fronts (105) of the container (100), and the gripping heads (116) grip the articles (104) stored in the container (103) one by one.
Further, the gripping head (116) moves the article (10) according to the picking command.
4) is designed to be released.

Each unit in the embodiment will be described in detail. (101) is a shelf which is an inclined roller conveyor arranged in one vertical column constituting the storage facility (100), and (102) is a front end portion of the inclined roller conveyor (101). A stopper provided, (103) a container with an open top, (104) an article stored in a container (103), (105) a storage front of a storage facility (100), and (106) an inclined roller conveyor. Is an empty container transfer conveyor.

Further, (107) is a hoistway fixed to the floor, and (108) is a lifting device.
(125) Elevating platform, (109) Traveling saddle traveling on the lifting platform (108) in the container removal direction, (110) Traveling saddle
In the container take-out device provided with the traveling conveyor (110a) placed on (109), the traveling conveyor (110a) is formed to be capable of being folded in the middle. In addition, the container take-out side of the traveling conveyor (110a) (11
1) swings up and down with the center bent portion (110b) as a fulcrum.

Further, (112) is a lifting motor of the lifting device (125), (113) is a traveling motor of the traveling saddle (109), and (114) is a traveling conveyor (110).
It is a drive motor of a).

Further, (115) is a gripping device provided with an actuator (117) for moving the multi-hand (116a) composed of a plurality of gripping heads (116) in the article taking-out direction.

Further, (118) is an article receiving conveyor comprising a belt conveyor, (119) is a drive motor for the article receiving conveyor (118), (1)
20) is an empty container from which the article (104) has been taken out, (121) is the article (104)
(122) is a conveyer conveyer conveyor composed of a spiral chute that flows downward from above.

In addition, each movable part described above is equipped with a sensor and a limit switch (12
Each movement is controlled using 3), and the desired number of articles (104) is released from the gripping device (115) to the article receiving conveyor (118) according to the picking command.
When (115) has released all the articles (104), the container unloading device (110) is moved up and down to the position of the corresponding storage front (105), and the traveling conveyor (110a) is moved in the direction of the storage front (105). The traveling conveyor (110a) is a container (103) accommodating the corresponding article (104) by traveling upward and lifting the container extraction side (111) of the traveling conveyor (110a) upward with the center folding part (110b) as a fulcrum. Is taken into. Next, the multi-hand (116a) of the gripping device (115) is moved to the container take-out device (110) side and the container (10
3) Grasping the articles (104) in the inside individually. Similarly, every time all the articles (104) gripped by the other gripping device (115) are released, the container unloading device (110) moves up and down to move the desired article (10).
The container (103) accommodating 4) is taken out, and the article (104) is gripped by the gripping device (115).

The article (104) released from the gripping device (115) is supplied from the article receiving conveyor (118) to the article transporting conveyor (121) and collected in the picking container (124). This pickup is an article
(104) input positions are different, so multiple types of articles
(104) can be done at the same time.

Although the embodiment of the article handling apparatus of the present invention and the picking mode performed by using the apparatus have been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, one gripping head (11), (116) may grip a plurality of articles (5), (104). Further, vacuum suction heads may be used as the gripping heads (11) and (116) (suitable when the picked articles (5) and (104) are cartons, etc.). In addition, multi-hand (1
2), a lifting device for lifting (116a) may be provided. Further, the container take-out devices (2) and (110) may be movable in the column direction of the storage facilities (3) and (100) storage fronts (32) and (105). Needless to say, the container conveyors (4) and (122) are not essential. The release unit of the article (5) is not limited to one. Also, before the picking containers (7) and (124) arrive at the predetermined positions, the grip of the desired number of articles (5) and (104) is released, and the released articles are released.
(5), (104) on the article receiving conveyor (8), (118) on standby, after the picking containers (7), (124) arrive,
Items waiting to be rotated by rotating the item receiving conveyors (8) and (118)
The (5) and (104) may be stored in the picking containers (7) and (124).

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the device for handling articles of the present invention is provided with the container unloading device for taking out containers from a plurality of stages of storage openings, so that a single container unloading device can take out multiple types of articles. Therefore, it is possible to quickly and automatically perform order picking work for a wide variety of products in small quantities.

The gripping device is provided corresponding to each storage front of the storage facility, so that a plurality of types of articles can be picked at the same time.

Further, since the gripping device is provided with the multi-hand capable of moving in the container take-out direction, the article can be gripped without the container take-out device moving to the article receiving conveyor side.

Further, each gripping head grips the articles contained in the container one by one, so that an arbitrary number of articles can be picked.

Further, since the gripping head is designed to release the article in accordance with the picking command, the article can be automatically picked.

Further, since the container take-out device is provided with the traveling conveyor that can move in the container taking-out direction, the traveling position of the traveling conveyor can be variously changed according to the size of the taken-out container, and the desired container can be taken out surely. .

Further, since the traveling conveyor is configured to swing up and down, only one desired container can be reliably taken out.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, FIG. 3 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 4 is a side view showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of the container unloading device, FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of the gripping device, and FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a state of loading an article into the article transporting conveyor (spiral chute). (1), (115): Grasping device (2), (110): Container take-out device (3), (100): Storage facility (5), (104): Goods (6), (103): Container ( 11), (116): Gripping head (12), (116a): Multi-hand (25), (125): Lifting device (32), (105): Storage front (110a): Traveling conveyor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP 62-244807 (JP, A) JP 60-188204 (JP, A) JP 64-17706 (JP, A) JP 48- 76270 (JP, A) JP 52-95477 (JP, A) JP 62-136404 (JP, A) Actually opened 52-76080 (JP, U) Actually flat 1-164208 (JP, U)

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An article handling device for picking up an article stored in a container from a storage facility having a plurality of storage openings for storing the container, wherein the article is stored in the storage facility in a plurality of stages. A container take-out device for taking out the container from the frontage, a gripping device having a plurality of gripping heads for gripping an item stored in the container, and an article transfer conveyor for transferring the item released from the gripping head to a picking container And an apparatus for handling articles, wherein the container take-out device is moved up and down by an elevating device. 2. The article handling device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of gripping devices are provided corresponding to each storage front of the storage facility. 3. An apparatus for handling an article according to claim 1, wherein the gripping device includes a multi-hand capable of moving in a container take-out direction. 4. The gripping heads are adapted to grip the articles contained in the container one by one.
An apparatus for handling an article according to any one of 3 to 3. 5. An article handling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gripping head is adapted to release the article in accordance with a picking command. 6. The article handling device according to claim 1, wherein the container unloading device includes a traveling conveyor that is movable in the container unloading direction. 7. The article handling apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the traveling conveyor is configured to swing up and down.