JPH069011A - Carry-out control method for automated warehouse - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate loss time in carry-out working to enhance efficiency in an automated warehouse wherein traveling devices erected in plural stages in the up and down direction are provided with elevatable load transfer carriages each covering a load storage section of plural stages of racks in the up and down direction, and a carry-out elevator device for receiving loads from respective stage traveling devices is provided at the side of home positions of respective stage traveling devices. CONSTITUTION:A carry-out elevator device 7 is arranged for receiving loads directly from carriages 12 of respective stage traveling devices. In carry-out work traveling devices 2-4, a carriage 12 which has received a load from a rack is moved to a home position thereof without elevation from a carry-out level thereof. A carry-out elevator device 7 is stopped at an elevation stop position corresponding to the carry-out level of the carriage 12 of the carry-out work traveling devices 2-4 and a load is transferred for carry-out from the carriage 12 of the carry-out work traveling devices 2-4 to the carry-out elevator device 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic warehouse, and more particularly, a traveling device capable of traveling horizontally along a rack is installed in a plurality of upper and lower stages, and each traveling device covers a plurality of upper and lower load storage compartments of the rack. A carriage having a load transfer means is provided, and a carriage elevating device for receiving a load from each stage traveling device is provided alongside a home position at one end of the traveling path of each stage traveling device. The present invention relates to a control method for issuing work of an automatic warehouse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional automatic warehouse of this type, a fixed load transfer table is arranged beside the home position in correspondence with the lowering limit of the carriage of each stage traveling device (lowermost exit level). The elevating device for unloading is set to the elevating stop position corresponding to the fixed load transfer table of each stage, and the unloading work traveling device that receives the load from the rack on the ledge moves out the ledge. It moves down from the level to the lower limit and travels to the home position, transfers the load from the carriage to the fixed load transfer table at the home position, and raises and lowers it to the elevator stop position corresponding to this fixed load transfer table. In addition, the load is transferred from the fixed load transfer table onto the elevating device for shipping.

Generally, in this kind of automatic warehouse, the raising / lowering speed of the carriage of each stage traveling device having a short raising / lowering stroke is usually much slower than the raising / lowering speed of the said raising / lowering apparatus for leaving which has a long raising / lowering stroke. is there. Therefore, in the conventional shipping control method as described above, when carrying out the shipping work from the load storage section above the zone in which the traveling device is close to the home position and the traveling device is in the home position (fixed position). Since it is not possible to lower the carriage to the lower limit by the time it arrives at the load transfer table, the carriage will move to the lower limit after it reaches the home position (fixed load transfer table). until the end,
This means that the loading and unloading of the load to the shipping lifting device will be delayed. In other words, the loss time increased, and it was not possible to efficiently perform the shipping operation.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its features are shown by the reference numerals of the embodiments described later. According to the method of controlling delivery of an automated warehouse of the present invention, in the automated warehouse as described above, the elevator device 7 for delivering goods does not require a fixed intermediate load transfer table to carry the carriages of the respective stage traveling devices 2 to 4. 1
2 so that the load can be directly received from the racks 2A and 2B, and the elevator stop positions are set corresponding to all the shipping levels L1 to L15 of the carriage 12 in each of the stage traveling devices 2 to 4, and the rack 1A, The warehousing work traveling devices 2 to 4 that have received the load from the 1B on the carriage 12 travel to the home position HP without raising or lowering the carriage 12 from the warehousing level, and the unloading elevator device 7
The loading / unloading traveling devices 2 to 4 are stopped at the raising / lowering stop position corresponding to the shipping level of the carriage 12, and the cargo is loaded / unloaded from the carriage 12 of the loading / unloading traveling devices 2 to 4 to the shipping elevator device 7. It is characterized by

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1A and 1B in FIGS.
Is a rack arranged in parallel, and each rack 1A, 1B is divided into a lower zone H1, a middle zone H2, and an upper zone H3. Between the two racks 1A, 1B, the lower zone traveling device 2, the middle zone, The traveling device 3 for the upper stage and the traveling device 4 for the upper zone are installed, and the elevating device 5 for warehousing and the conveyor 6 for warehousing are attached to one end of the rack 1A, and the rack 1B.
An elevating device 7 for delivery and a conveyor 8 for delivery are attached to one end of the.

The traveling devices 2 to 4 of the respective stages have the same structure, and as shown in FIG. 3, each of the zones H1 to H3.
Is horizontally supported by a pair of left and right guide rails 9 supported by both racks 1A and 1B at the lower end level of the rack, and can be moved up and down along an up-and-down guide rail 10 and a load transfer means 11 It has a carriage 12 having. Various types of load transfer means 11 are known, but the one shown in this embodiment is a free roller conveyor 13a, 1 that supports a load so that it can move in the load transfer direction.
3b and a pair of left and right load-carrying conveyors 14a, 14 that can move in and out in the load transfer direction and can move toward and away from each other.
b and.

Zones H1 to H3 of both racks 1A and 1B
A plurality of (five in the illustrated example) load supporting bases 15 are erected on each of the stages, and the load can be moved in the load transfer direction to each load storage compartment 16 on the load supporting base 15 of each stage. Free roller conveyors 17a and 17b that support the above are laid. or,
The loading / unloading elevating devices 5, 7 are supported so as to be able to ascend / descend over the entire height range of the racks 1A, 1B along the elevating guide rails 18 provided upright at the ends of the racks 1A, 1B, and transfer the load. Means 19 are provided. This load transfer means 19
Is a roller conveyor 20 which conveys a load in the load transfer direction between the conveyors 6 and 8 and a roller conveyor 20 which movably supports the load in the load transfer direction between the traveling devices 2 to 4 and the rollers. It is composed of free roller conveyors 21a and 21b that can move up and down with respect to the load supporting level of the conveyor 20.

As shown in FIG. 4, each stage traveling device 2 to
4 is provided with a traveling drive device 22 and its controller 23, a carriage elevating drive device 24 and its controller 25, and a load transfer means drive device 26 and its controller 27. Is provided with a lifting drive device 28 and its controller 29, and a load transfer means drive device 30 and its controller 31. Further, a main controller 32 for controlling each of the controllers 23, 25, 27, 29, 31 is provided side by side.

The loading / unloading elevating / lowering devices 5 and 7 include loading / unloading work levels L1 to L15 of the carriage 12 in the respective tier traveling devices 2 to 4 (each tier loading support base 1 of the rack shown in FIG. 1).
5) (corresponding to the level of 5) is set. The loading / unloading elevator devices 5, 7 and the traveling devices 2-4
As a method for controlling the raising and lowering of the carriage 12 in the above, based on the difference between the pulse count value preset for each raising and lowering stop position and the count value (current pulse count value) of the transmission pulse of the pulse encoder which is linked to the raising and lowering. Various methods are known, such as a pulse encoder method that controls lifting up and down, and a detection plate detection method that detects and counts detection plates provided at each lifting stop position with a detector on the lifting side. .

A delivery control program according to the present invention is set in the main controller 32. An automatic warehousing procedure based on this warehousing control program will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, which of the traveling devices 2 to 4 is selected by the warehousing setting for the main controller 32. Controller 2 for traveling drive device of selected traveling device, for example traveling device 2
3 the traveling stop position information, the carriage lifting drive device controller 25 the shipping level information, and the load transfer means drive device controller 27 the operation direction information (information on the rack 1A side or the rack 1B side). Given, the controller 23 operates the traveling drive device 22 based on the given traveling stop position information and the present traveling position information,
As a result of the controller 25 operating the lifting drive device 24 based on the given shipping level information and the current level information, the traveling device 2 automatically travels to the shipping destination in the lower zone H1 and stops, and at the same time, the traveling device. The second carriage 12 automatically moves up and down to a shipping level, for example, level L5, and stops.

Next, the controller 2 for the load transfer means driving device
7, the load transfer means drive device 26 is operated based on the given operation direction information, and as a result, the load holding / conveying conveyor 1
4a and 14b advance to the side of the load W stored in one load storage section 16 in the rack 1A or 1B, which is the delivery destination, and then move closer to each other, and move toward the front end of the load W at the delivery destination. Clamp from both sides. As a result, the load W at the unloading destination is moved onto the carriage 12 of the traveling device 2 by the load clamping transfer conveyors 14a and 14b, and onto the free roller conveyors 17a and 17b on the load storage section 16 side and the carriage 12.
It is pulled in while sliding on the free roller conveyors 13a and 13b on the side. At the same time, the load-carrying conveyors 14a and 14b move backward to the home position on the carriage 12.

When the loading and unloading transfer from the rack 1A or 1B to the traveling device 2 is completed as described above, the controller 23 operates the traveling drive device 22 again, and the traveling device 2 is moved.
Home position H adjacent to loading / unloading elevators 5, 7
Run to P and stop. At this time, the carriage 12 of the traveling device 2 does not move up and down after the completion of the transfer of goods,
It remains stopped at the shipping level L5. On the other hand, in the raising / lowering device 7 for delivery, the carriage 12 of the traveling device 2 is moved by the raising / lowering drive device 28 which is operated based on the delivery level information and the current level information given to the controller 29 for the raising / lowering drive device from the main controller 32. It rises up to the stopped delivery level L5 and stops.

The leaving work traveling device 2 is at the home position H.
Returning to P, and if the leaving elevator 7 is stopped and waiting at the level L5 corresponding to the carriage 12 of the traveling device 2, the load W on the carriage 12 is transferred onto the leaving elevator 7. First, the controllers 27 and 31 operate the load transfer means drive devices 26 and 30. As a result, after the free roller conveyors 21a and 21b on the raising / lowering device 7 for raising the goods have risen to the load receiving level, the load W on the carriage 12 is increased.
Conveyors 14a, 14b for clamping and transferring the load
Transports the load W to the exit lifting device 7 side, and simultaneously advances in the same direction, so that the load W moves on the free roller conveyors 13a and 13b on the carriage 12 side and the free lifting device 7 side free roller conveyor. It is transferred on the raising / lowering apparatus 7 for leaving while sliding on 21a, 21b. After this,
Cargo 12 holds the load-carrying conveyors 14a and 14b.
Move backward to the home position above.

Although the work of leaving the load W on the lifting / lowering device 7 for shipping is completed as described above, the lifting / lowering device 7 for shipping which receives the load W is completed.
As a result of the controller 29 operating the elevating and lowering drive device 28, the controller 29 descends to the lower limit and connects with the delivery conveyor 8. Then, the controller 31 causes the load transfer means driving device 3
As a result of operating 0, the free roller conveyors 21a and 21b supporting the load W descend, the load W is transferred onto the roller conveyor 20, and then the roller conveyor 20.
The load W is sent out onto the delivery conveyor 8 by driving.

Even when the unloading work is performed from the load storage compartment 16 belonging to the middle tier zone H2 or the upper tier zone H3 of the racks 1A and 1B (when the unloading level is L6 to L15), the traveling equipment 3 for the middle tier and the upper tier are used. The same operation can be performed using the traveling device 4 as described above. Further, the loading operation for loading the load W conveyed by the loading conveyor 6 into the empty load storage compartment 16 in the rack 1A or 1B is performed by using the loading elevator 5 and the traveling devices 2-4. The procedure can be performed in the reverse order of the above-mentioned warehousing work by using the traveling device at the level, but the description thereof will be omitted.

In the above embodiment, the elevating and lowering device 5 for warehousing and the elevating and lowering device 7 for unloading are separately provided, but one elevating device can be used for both warehousing and unloading. Further, the load transfer means 11 provided on the carriage 12 of the traveling devices 2 to 4 and the load transfer means 19 provided on the loading / unloading elevating devices 5 and 7 are not limited to those of the above embodiments. Is.

[0017]

As described above, according to the shipping control method of the present invention, the shipping work traveling device that has received a load from the rack on the carriage moves to the shipping elevator without raising and lowering the carriage from the shipping level. The vehicle is moved to the adjacent home position, the elevating apparatus for exiting is stopped at an elevating stop position corresponding to the egress level of the carriage of the egress working traveling apparatus, and the carriage from the carriage for the egress working traveling apparatus is moved to the elevating apparatus for exiting the article. Since the load is transferred to and from the garage, even if the unloading destination is near the home position and above the zone in charge, the unloading work traveling device that has received the load from the rack side on the carriage is in the home position. Before returning to, the elevating device for exiting should be on standby at the same level as the exiting level of the exiting work traveling device. As long as the delivery work traveling device reaches the home position, it is possible to transfer the load from the carriage to the delivery elevating device at the same time as the delivery work traveling device arrives at the home position. It can be done efficiently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view in which a front rack and a storage peripheral device are omitted in an automated warehouse.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the entire automated warehouse.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view showing details of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a drive device and a controller for controlling the drive device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure when the traveling device is leaving the warehouse.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure of the raising / lowering apparatus for exiting a warehouse.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1A rack 1B rack 2 lower zone traveling device 3 middle zone traveling device 4 upper zone traveling device 5 warehousing lifting device 6 warehousing conveyor 7 unloading lifting device 8 unloading conveyor 11 load transfer means 12 elevating carriage 13a free Roller Conveyor 13b Free Roller Conveyor 14a Load Conveying Conveyor 14b Load Holding Transfer Conveyor 16 Load Storage Section 17a Free Roller Conveyor 17b Free Roller Conveyor 19 Load Transfer Means 20 Roller Conveyor 21a Liftable Free Roller Conveyor 21b Liftable Free Roller conveyors L1 to L15 Storage and retrieval work level

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A traveling device capable of traveling horizontally along a rack is installed in a plurality of upper and lower stages, and each traveling device is provided with a load transfer means for covering a plurality of upper and lower load storage compartments of the rack. In the automatic warehouse, which is provided with a possible carriage, and an elevating / lowering device for receiving a load from each stage traveling device is provided next to the home position at one end of the traveling route of each stage traveling device, The device is arranged so that it can directly receive the load from the carriage of each stage traveling device without going through a fixed intermediate load transfer table, and it corresponds to all the delivery levels of the carriage in each stage traveling device. After setting the elevator stop position and receiving the load from the rack on the carriage, the shipping work traveling device moves the carriage to the home position without moving it up and down from the shipping level. The raising / lowering device for exiting is stopped at an elevating / lowering stop position corresponding to the exiting level of the carriage of the leaving work traveling device, and transferring a load from the carriage of the leaving work traveling device to the raising / lowering device for exiting. A feature of the automatic warehouse control method.