JPH07144720A - Sorting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the judgement that merchandise collection work is done or not by specifying goods by a means which specifies goods and comparing the date which is added on the expected date of shipment with the date of validity of goods after the term of validity of goods is input by using a term of validity input means. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of sorting zones B# are provided along a meandering merchandise conveyance route A on which goods of the same item are conveyed by a cart 1, and merchandise collection shelves 2# are provided along both sides of the conveyance route A in each zone B. When merchandise collection work at such a delivery center is done, merchandise code of goods which are brought from a predetermined storage place and the date of validity which is displayed on the goods are input by a work control table 3. The reference date data which corresponds to the merchandise code of the goods is taken in from the assortment data which is stored in a relay device to compare both data to learn which data is larger or smaller. The number of goods is displayed in a number of goods display device of a display unit provided in each merchandise collection shelf 2 based on the results of comparison. Also, a charge instruction lamp is lit to charge goods after seeing the display.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorting system used in a product distribution process, and more particularly to a system used in a product distribution process such as processed foods and fresh daily foods with a limited expiration date.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In supermarkets, chain store product distribution centers, etc., collection work is carried out by collecting the required number of various products in response to requests from each store. While transporting the containers for each destination, a picking system that collects the required products from the product storage unit provided along the transportation route by the requested number of products in the container,
There is a sorting method in which each product is transported for each item and the products are sorted and collected for each destination in the product storage section for each destination provided along the transportation route. Among them, the sorting system adopting the latter method is configured as follows, for example.

That is, this sorting system is
For example, a collection shelf with a large number of pockets is provided along the product transportation route for transporting products by item, and a number indicator is provided for each pocket on the collection shelf so that the product transportation route is currently transported. About the products of the listed items,
It is configured to display the number of pieces inserted into each pocket. Therefore, if the products of each item transported on the above-mentioned product transport route are sequentially loaded into each pocket by the number displayed on the above-mentioned number display, when the work for all items is completed, In the pocket, the required number of products for each destination are collected.

[0004]

By the way, in processed foods and fresh daily foods, for example, in general, in addition to the date of manufacture of the product, a date indicating a shelf life or a shelf life set by the manufacturer is also described. It has become so. When such products are lined up in the store, if there are products of the same item with different manufacturing dates, the product with the newer manufacturing date will be sold first, and the product with the older manufacturing date will be sold in the store. Tend to remain as. In this case, the unsold products will be unsold more and more, because the manufacturing date will become even older the next day. For example, such in-stock products will be placed at stores with lower selling prices, but if they are still unsold or returned to the manufacturer, they will eventually be disposed of as waste. As a result, not only the economic loss increases, but also the resources are wasted.

In response to such an actual situation, it is considered that the collection work is prioritized from the in-stock product in the collection work even in the distribution center or the like. For example, in the collection work using the sorting system. Causes the following inconveniences.

That is, in some cases, the shelf life is not set uniformly for all the items, and even if the products are of the same item, the seller may set a unique selling period. Therefore, if you try to manually check these periods, not only will the operator be overloaded, but you may overlook the expired product and ship it, which may damage the trust relationship with your business partner. is there.

The same problem will occur with products displaying only the expiration date.

The present invention addresses the above-mentioned problems in the case of using a sorting system to collect products such as processed foods and fresh daily foods whose sales deadlines are limited. The purpose is to prevent shipping.

[0009]

That is, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application (hereinafter, referred to as the first invention) is to store a product in a product storage unit for each destination provided along a product transportation route. In a sorting system that sorts by the number of ordered items while transporting, a planned shipping date setting means for setting the planned shipping date of the product, an effective period storage means for storing the effective period of each product, and an expiration date displayed on the product Expiration date inputting means for inputting the product, product designating means for designating the product, and shipping for which the valid period stored in the valid period storing means of the product of the item designated by the designating means is set by the setting means. The scheduled date is added, and the obtained date is compared with the expiration date of the specified product input by the expiration date input means, and the collection operation of the product is performed based on the context of these dates. Characterized in that a determination means for determining whether to perform.

In the invention according to claim 2 of the present application (hereinafter referred to as the second invention), the expiration date inputting means and the product designating means in the first invention are arranged on the starting end side of the product transportation route. Is characterized by.

The invention according to claim 3 of the present application (hereinafter,
A third invention) is characterized in that, in addition to the structure of the first invention, a transportation means for transporting a product is provided, and the transportation means is provided with an expiration date input means and a product designation means.

[0012]

According to the above construction, the following operation can be obtained.

That is, in any of the first to third inventions, with respect to the merchandise taken out from the storage location, after the merchandise designating means designates the merchandise, the expiration date input means is used to determine the expiration date (for example, the expiration date). If you enter (day),
The judging means compares the date of adding the expiration date of the designated product to the planned shipping date and the date of expiration of the product, and collects the product based on the context of the two. It is determined whether to perform. In that case,
Since the worker only has to perform the simple work such as designating the product and entering the expiration date, not only the burden is reduced as compared to the case where all the work is performed manually, but also the check failure By doing so, the shipping of expired products can be prevented with high accuracy.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the expiration date inputting means and the commodity designating means are arranged on the starting end side of the conveying route in the sorting system, the date check for each commodity is collectively performed. As a result, it is possible to avoid complication of the work of the worker when the product is loaded into the product storage unit.

On the other hand, according to the third aspect of the invention, since the expiration date inputting means and the product designating means are provided in the product carrying means, additional replenishment becomes necessary due to, for example, a shortage of the product during transportation. Even then, it becomes easy to restart the sorting work from an arbitrary place.

[0016]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below.

First, the overall configuration of the sorting system according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. This sorting system has a meandering product transport path A for loading and transporting products of the same item on a trolley 1. A plurality of (five in the illustrated example) sorting zones B along the route A ...
B are arranged side by side, and collection shelves 2 and 2 are arranged in each of these zones B along both sides of the transport path A. In addition, a work control console 3 used for work management of the entire system is provided in the vicinity of the starting end portion A ′ of the transport path A.
Are arranged.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
4 is provided with a plurality of pockets 4 in a plurality of stages, and a container 5 for collecting ordered products for each destination.
5 are placed respectively, and above each pocket 4, a loading instruction lamp 6 for instructing loading of a product into the container 5 of the pocket 4 and a number indicator 7 for displaying the number of loaded items. A display unit 9 having a completion key 8 that is turned on when the charging is completed is provided. A display controller 10 for controlling the operation of the display unit 9 is installed on one of the collection shelves 2 and 2 in each zone B.

Next, the control system of this sorting system will be described with reference to FIG. 3. This system is a host computer 11 provided in the distribution center or the like.
A relay unit 12 that is connected to the computer 11 and manages the system according to an instruction from the computer 11.
The work control desk 3 and the display controller 10 are connected to the display control unit 3 and the display units 9 ... 9 in the respective pockets 4 ... 4 of the collection shelves 2 and 2 in the sorting zone B are connected to the display control unit 3 and the display controller 10. Are connected.

Here, the work control console 3 is provided with a key input unit 3a and a display unit 3a, and a bar code scanner 13 for reading a bar code indicating a product code attached to a product is connected, for example. Has been done. And
In this embodiment, a buzzer 14 for notifying a ringing sound is connected to the work control console 3.

Next, an operation example of this sorting system will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS.

That is, as a preparatory work for the collecting operation, the host computer 11 first sets the scheduled shipping date data a as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 (step S1). In this case, when the product after collection is scheduled to be shipped on the same day, the date of the current day is converted into data to be the planned shipping date data a. In other words, the day is 19XX, 1Y
On the 12th of the month, the expected shipping date data a is, for example, "1.
9XX1Y12 ". For example, when the next day is the planned shipping date, "19XX1" corresponding to the next day's date
“Y13” becomes the planned shipping date data a.

Next, the host computer 11 retrieves the product code based on the assortment data for this work, and applies the retrieved product code to the table of the effective period set in advance for each item, thereby assigning the code to the code. The effective period b of the corresponding product is read out, and the expected date b of the shipment is set in step S1.
To generate the reference date data c (steps S2 and S3). That is, for example, if the planned shipping date data a is “19XX1Y12” and the valid period for a certain product is 4 days, the reference date data c is “19.
XX1Y16 ”.

Then, the host computer 11 writes the reference date data a in a predetermined area of the assortment data in step S4, and then determines in step S5 whether or not all the items are finished. If all items are not finished,
Returning to step S2, similar processing is executed for the next item, and if all items are completed, the process proceeds to step S6 to transfer the final assortment data to the repeater 12. Therefore, in the assortment data, the reference date data c in which the valid period b of each product is added according to the calendar is set corresponding to the product code.

Then, in this embodiment, the collecting operation is performed as follows in accordance with the flowchart of FIG.

That is, the worker is the cart 1 in FIG.
After entering the product code of the product brought in from the predetermined storage location into the work control console 3 arranged at the starting end portion A ′ of the transport route A by, the expiration date displayed on the product is input ( Steps T1, T2). In this case, the product code is input by reading the bar code attached to the product by the bar code scanner 13. If the bar code is absent or unreadable, the key of the work control console 3 is used. It is input by operating the input unit 3a.

The expiration date is input by operating the key input section 3a. In that case, it is a principle to input the expiration date for each product, but if it can be considered that the lot numbers are the same and the manufacturing dates are the same, one product may be represented. The printed characters of the expiration date may be read optically.

In the work control console 3, the input expiration date of the product is converted into data in the same manner as the above-mentioned planned shipping date to generate the expiration date data d, and also corresponds to the product code of the product. The reference date data c is fetched from the assortment data stored in the repeater 12, and the magnitude relationship between the two is compared (step T3).

In this case, when the expiration date data d is larger than the reference date data c (d <c), for example, when the reference date data c is "19XX1Y16", the expiration date data d is "19XX1Y20". , The number display 7 ... 7 of the display units 9 ... 9 provided on each of the collection shelves 2 ... 2 in the sorting zone B ... B displays the number. That is, in accordance with the data request signal transmitted from the work control console 3, the display data corresponding to the product code is transmitted from the repeater 12 to each sorting zone B.
.. B in the display controller 10 ... 10 and the display data is individually transferred from the controller 10 to the respective display units 9 ... A numerical value indicating the number of pieces charged is displayed in 7. At the same time, the closing instruction lamps 6 ... 6 of the respective display units 9 ... 9 are also turned on.

Then, a sorting process is performed by the worker (step T5). That is, the worker conveys the product along the conveyance route A by the trolley 1, and the number displayed on the number indicator 7 in the container 5 of the pocket 4 in which the loading instruction lamp 6 is lit. The products are sequentially loaded from the trolley 1 one by one, and when the loading work in all the sorting zones B ... B is finished, the process for the products is finished.

Then, it is judged whether or not the collection work for all the items has been completed, and if not completed, the above work is executed for the next product, and if completed, the collection work is completed. (Step T6).

On the other hand, when the expiration date data d is smaller than the reference date data c (d <c), for example, the reference date data c
Is "19XX1Y16" and the expiration date data d indicates "19XX1Y14", a predetermined error process is performed and the buzzer 14 sounds, and a predetermined error is displayed on the display unit 3b of the work control console 3. A message is displayed (step T7). At the same time, the error signal is transferred from the work control console 3 to the repeater 12, and the repeater 12 receiving this signal stops outputting the display data. Therefore, the inserted number is not displayed on the number display 7 of the display unit 9 provided in each of the collection shelves 2.

Then, it is judged whether or not the item is in stock, and when the item is in stock, the collecting operation for the replenished item is performed again, and when the item is out of stock, it is treated as out of stock. Then, the process proceeds to step T6, and it is determined whether or not the collection work for all the items has been completed, and if completed, the collection work is completed.

In this way, for the products whose expiration date comes before the expiration date of the planned shipping date added to the number of days of the effective period provided for each item, the transport route A
Items are not put into the collection containers 5 ... 5 in the respective pockets 4 ... 4 of the collection shelves 2 ... 2 arranged along the line, so that expired products are prevented from falling into the delivered products. Will be done. Moreover, since it is only necessary to input the expiration date of the product at the time of the product code input operation that is performed during the collection operation, the operator is not overloaded.

In this embodiment, since the product code and the expiration date are input from the work control console 3 arranged at the start end B of the transport path A, the date check for each product can be performed. This is done in a batch, so that the complication of the work at the time of loading the products into the respective pockets 4 ... 4 of the collection shelf 2 can be avoided.

It should be noted that a data terminal device having a display unit and a key input unit may be mounted on a cart for transporting goods, and a bar code scanner or a buzzer may be connected to the data terminal device. In that case, even if additional replenishment becomes necessary due to a shortage of products during transportation, it becomes easy to restart the sorting work from an arbitrary place.

[0037]

As described above, according to the sorting system of the present invention, with respect to the merchandise taken out from the storage location, the merchandise designating means designates the merchandise, and the expiration date input means is used to determine the expiration date (for example, , Expiration date), the determination means compares the date on which the effective period of the specified product is added to the planned shipping date with the expiration date of the product, and the relationship between the two Based on the above, it is determined whether or not to collect the product.
In that case, the worker only needs to specify the product and enter the expiration date, etc.
This not only reduces the burden as compared with the case where all the work is performed manually, but also avoids defective checks and prevents the shipping of expired products with high accuracy.

Further, according to the second aspect of the invention, since the expiration date inputting means and the commodity designating means are arranged at the starting end side of the conveying route in the sorting system, the date check for each commodity is collectively performed. As a result, complication of the work at the time of loading the product into the product storage unit can be avoided.

On the other hand, according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the expiration date inputting means and the product designating means are provided in the product carrying means, additional replenishment becomes necessary due to a shortage of the product during transportation, for example. Even in such a case, it becomes easy to restart the sorting work from an arbitrary place.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic layout diagram of a sorting system.

FIG. 2 is a partial front view showing the configuration of a collection shelf in the system.

FIG. 3 is a control system diagram of the system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of a preparatory work in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of a collecting operation of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 dolly 2 collection rack 3 work control console 3a key input unit 3b display unit 7 number display unit 9 display unit 11 host computer 12 repeater 13 bar code scanner 14 buzzer A transport route A'transport route start point

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sorting system in which products are sorted according to the number of orders received while being transported to a product storage unit for each destination provided along a product transportation route.
Expected shipping date setting means for setting the expected shipping date of the product, valid period storage means for storing the valid period of each product, expiry date inputting means for entering the expiry date displayed on the product, and designating the above product The product designating means and the valid period stored in the valid period storing means of the product of the item designated by the designating means are added to the scheduled shipping date set by the setting means, and the obtained date and the expiration date are set. The determination means is provided which compares the expiration date of the designated product input by the input means and determines whether to collect the product based on the context of these dates. Sorting system characterized by 2. The expiry date input means and the product designation means are
The sorting system according to claim 1, wherein the sorting system is arranged on a starting end side of a transportation route of the product. 3. The sorting system according to claim 1, wherein a transportation means for transporting the product is provided, and the transportation means is provided with an expiration date inputting means and a product designating means.