JPH07157060A - Article sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To carry continuously articles different in delivery destinations or the like by a conveyor, and sort the articles by distributing articles whose discriminating data attached to the articles can be normally read and unread articles to different carrying passages. CONSTITUTION:An automatic code reader 4 is arranged on a carrying-in conveyor 2a, and reads necessary data recorded on an article division discriminating card being carried and data attached to articles carried before and after the article division discriminating card. A processor 11 judges that the data can be read or cannot be read by the automatic code reader 4, and carries articles read by a classifying conveyor 2b to a good quality product conveyor 2c, and carries unread articles to an off-specification product conveyor 2d. A printer 9 creates a document to be attached to a good quality product classified after the data is read on the basis of the necessary data recorded on the article division discriminating card read by the automatic code reader 4 and the data attached to the articles.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article sorting apparatus, and more particularly to an article sorting apparatus for reading data attached to articles collected for each shipping destination or the like and creating a slip such as a delivery note attached to a package. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When products are shipped at a distribution center or the like, the products are grouped by shipping destination. An invention relating to a device for assembling each product by shipping destination is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-55006. The device is a conveyor that conveys products, a plurality of product storage units consisting of fixed shelves arranged on the side of this conveyor, and products that are installed in each product storage unit and taken out from each product storage unit and conveyed by the conveyor. For displaying the number of products, a transmitter for transmitting the completion of product removal to the control unit, and driving the conveyor based on the reception from the transmitter, or for displaying the number of products to be taken out next on the display. It has a control unit.

While looking at the display on the display, the worker takes out the specified number of products from the product storage unit in charge of him and places them on the conveyor. The products placed on the conveyor are transported to the position of the product sorting facility described later.

When the products are conveyed to the product sorting facility, the product code reading means reads the product codes attached to the products sorted for each shipping destination. Create a form such as a delivery note to be shipped with the product based on the product code.
In the product code reading means, since a reading error may occur, the data is divided into products that are normally read and products that cannot be read, and a delivery note or the like is created only for the read products.

[0005]

When the products collected for each shipping destination are conveyed to the product sorting facility, the worker writes them on the delivery note before inserting the products into the product code reading means. Customer data about a shipping destination, required data such as a shipping date, and the like are input from a keyboard and stored in a storage device provided in the product sorting facility.

A delivery note is created based on the required data stored in the storage device and the product code read by the reading means. Therefore, the product cannot be loaded into the product code reading means while the required data is being input from the keyboard or the like. When the skill level of the operator is low or the number of products for each shipping destination is small, the time required to input the required data becomes relatively longer than the product code reading time. Although the original function of the product sorting facility is to read the product code, if the required data input time becomes relatively long, the processing capability of the product sorting facility decreases.

An object of the present invention is to provide an article sorting apparatus which has a high processing capacity and is capable of sorting articles by continuously transporting articles having different shipping destinations by a conveyor.

[0008]

An article sorting apparatus according to the present invention is provided on a transport path and is transported before and after the required data described on the article category identification tag to be transported and the article category identification tag. A reading unit that reads data attached to an article, a determination unit that determines whether or not the data was read by the reading unit, and an article from which data was read based on the data from the determination unit The sorting means for sorting the missing articles, and the form attached to the sorted and sorted articles based on the required data and the data attached to the articles written on the article classification identification tag read by the reading means. And a printing means for creating.

[0009] Further, it is provided with a read assisting means for rereading the data attached to the article for which the data sorted by the sorting means could not be read, and the printing means includes the data from the read assisting means. Based on the required data and the data attached to the article, the data may be read and a form attached to the sorted article may be created.

[0010]

[Operation] It is inspected whether the identification data attached to the article conveyed on the conveyance path can be read normally or not,
By sorting the articles that can be read normally and the articles that cannot be read to different transport paths, defective articles can be automatically excluded.

Further, before and after carrying a group of articles, the article classification identification tag on which the information peculiar to the article group is displayed is carried, and the information peculiar to the article group is read by the data reading means. Eliminates the need to manually enter their unique information. Therefore, the skill level of the operator is not required.

The time required to read the unique information is determined by the reading time of the data reading means, which is not much different from the reading time of the data attached to the article. Therefore, the time required for inputting unique information does not become noticeably longer than the reading time of the data attached to the articles, and the throughput of the article sorting apparatus is improved.

Further, since the identification tag and the article can be continuously conveyed as a pair, the next article group can be carried in immediately after the conveyance of one group of articles.

[0014]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 shows a product (article) sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention. On the upper part of the carrier 1, a carrier conveyor 2 including a carry-in conveyor 2a, a sorting conveyor 2b, a non-defective product conveyor 2c and a defective product conveyor 2d is provided. The non-defective product conveyor 2c conveys products whose normal product code can be read by the automatic code reading device 4 described later, and the defective product conveyor 2d conveys products whose normal product code cannot be read. Is the conveyor.

The carry-in conveyor 2a is a belt conveyor, and its end on the product carry-out side is connected to the sorting conveyor 2b. The sorting conveyor 2b is a swing type belt conveyor, and communicates with the non-defective product conveyor 2c or the defective product conveyor 2d arranged at the product unloading side end with the product carrying-in side end connected to the carry-in conveyor 2a as a fulcrum. You can move up and down as you like. Non-defective conveyor 2c
The defective product conveyor 2d is a roll conveyor.

Further, on the upper part of the carrier table 1, there are installed an indicator 3 showing the operating status of the apparatus and a reading section 4a of the automatic code reading apparatus 4 so as to straddle the carry-in conveyor 2a. A monitor 6 for displaying the data read by the reading unit 4a is placed on the work desk 5 arranged near the carry-in conveyor 2a. A keyboard 6a is connected to the monitor 6.

A monitor 8 for displaying data read by the automatic code reading device 4 is provided on the work desk 7 arranged near the non-defective product conveyor 2c and the defective product conveyor 2d.
A printer 9 is also provided for creating forms such as a delivery note. A keyboard 8a is connected to the monitor 8. The keyboards 6a and 8a can be used for inputting destination data and inputting device control commands as in the conventional case.

Further, a handy code reading device 10 and a processing device 11 are placed on the work desk 7. The handy code reading device 10 can be used for further reading the code when the code cannot be normally read by the code automatic reading device 4.

A drive unit for driving each of the conveyors 2 is housed below the conveyors 2. The operation of the product sorting device of FIG. 1 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 is a functional block diagram of the product sorting device,
3 (A) is a package (article) classification identification tag, FIG. 3 (B) is a delivery note, and FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the operation of the product sorting apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 2, the carry-in conveyor 2a and the sorting conveyor 2b are driven by motors 12a and 12b. Merchandise (articles) and luggage classification identification tags to be sorted are carried into the conveyor 2a from the right side of FIG. 2 and conveyed toward the left side of the figure. The swing of the sorting conveyor 2b is performed by the lifting device 13. Motors 12a, 12b,
The elevating device 13 is connected to the processing device 11 via the driver 15 and the controller 14, and operates according to an instruction from the processing device 11.

Motors 12a, 12b and lifting device 13
An encoder (not shown) is installed in the device, and the operating state of position data and the like is fed back to the controller 14.

Non-defective product conveyor 2c and defective product conveyor 2
There is no drive for d. The goods are given an initial speed by the sorting conveyor 2b, and move on the both conveyors 2c, 2d by inertia to appropriate positions.

The processing device 11 performs processing in accordance with the programs stored in the ROM 11a in which a program related to the operation is stored, the RAM 11b in which the data read by the reading section 4a, processed for recognition, and sent from the automatic code reading device 4 and the like are stored. A CPU 11c that executes and calculates data and the like input from the automatic code reading device 4, and a plurality of input / output units (I / O) 1 that transmit and receive data to and from each unit.
It is composed of 1d.

Bar codes are attached to products sold at stores, ISBN (Japanese book) codes are attached to books, and common magazine codes are attached to magazines. These codes are read by the reading section 4a as described above. The recognition process is performed, and the obtained information is stored in the RAM 11b.

FIG. 3A shows an example of a package (article) classification identification tag 40 for conveying a plurality of products together with the products on the conveyor 2 and classifying a plurality of products into the same product group. It is possible to arbitrarily set which article is read out of the articles written on the luggage classification identification tag 40 created in advance, but in order to issue the delivery note later, for example, the request number p
1, the customer code p2, the work code p3, and the delivery date p4 are read by the reading unit 4a and sent from the code automatic reading device 4 to the processing device 11.

FIG. 3B shows an example of a delivery note 50 which is a kind of form printed by the printer 9. The delivery note 50 does not specify the bar code, ISBN code, or the like, but describes the product name, the number of products, or the like. The data on the product read by the reading unit 4a and sent from the automatic code reading device 4 to the processing device 11 is a bar code or an ISBN code, not a product name.

Therefore, the correspondence between the product names of the products, books and magazines displayed on the delivery note and the codes is stored in advance in the RAM1.
It is stored in 1b. Further, data such as the type of each product, the manufacturer, and the unit price is also stored in the RAM 11b in advance.

It is also possible to provide a printer on the monitor 6 and use the monitor 6 for preparing the luggage classification identification tag 40. The printer 9 of the monitor 8 may be used. Keyboard 6a for command input of exception processing such as error processing
Is used. The monitor 8 displays the delivery note 50 after the sorting process.
Used to issue. The handy code reading device 10 is used when the reading unit 4a cannot read the code on the product.

The contents of the request number p1, the customer code p2, the work code p3, and the delivery date p4 of the package classification identification tag 40 shown in FIG. 3 (A) and the request number q1, your company code q2 in FIG. 3 (B). Although the work code q3 and the delivery date q4 have different expressions, they are substantially the same.

The sorting process will be described below with reference to FIG. First, the luggage classification identification tag 40 is placed on the carry-in conveyor 2a. When the luggage classification identification tag 40 is conveyed on the carry-in conveyor 2a and passes under the reading unit 4a, the request number p1, the customer code p2, the work code p3, and the delivery date p4 are read and stored in the RAM 11b. (Step s1).

Two primary and secondary luggage classification identification tags 40 are successively conveyed, and the identities of the two are confirmed (step s2).
Then, the sorting conveyor 2b supplies one sheet to the non-defective product side and one to the defective product side, and each is used for identifying the classification of the product. If the identity is not confirmed, the operator is notified by an alarm or the like (step s13).

Next, the commodities to be shipped to the customer corresponding to the customer code p2 of the package classification identification tag 40 conveyed in step s1 are sequentially carried into the carry-in conveyor 2a (step s).
3). At this time, the bar code or the like is placed on the carry-in conveyor 2a so that the surface on which the bar code or the like is applied is the upper surface. When a product passes under the reading unit 4a, a barcode or ISBN
The code or the common magazine code is read, and the read information is stored in the RAM 11b (step s4).

The normality of reading is judged (step s
5) If it is normal, it is confirmed whether it matches the product code stored in the RAM 11b in advance (step s).
6). If they match, a non-defective product is displayed on the display device 3 (step s7). When the product reaches the sorting conveyor 2b, an elevating device 13 is instructed by an instruction from the processing device 11.
Is lowered and the product is conveyed to the non-defective product conveyor 2c (step s8).

If the judgment result in step s5 is abnormal,
As the handling of defective products, the lifting device 13 is raised and the corresponding products are sent to the defective product conveyor 2c (step s14). When the code can be read by the automatic code reading device 4 but no match is confirmed in step s6, the product is conveyed to the defective product conveyor 2c as a defective product (step s14).

When it is determined that the product is defective, the operator reads the bar code or the like attached to the product with the handy code reading device 10 (step s15) and confirms whether or not it is unreadable. It is readable, and the data read by the handy code reading device 10 and the RAM 1 in advance.
If the product code stored in 1b matches, the fact is input from the keyboard 8a. As a result, the product is registered as a non-defective product in the control device 11 (step s17).

After the work is completed, the operator confirms the identity between the non-defective item package classification identification tag conveyed prior to the product group and the defective item package identification item identification tag after the work is completed. , The product conveyed to the defective product side is put together with the product on the non-defective product side. If the handy code reading device 10 cannot read or does not match, it is transported to the defective product processing site (step s18).

When a plurality of the same products are conveyed, the number of each product is counted in the processing device 11 (step s9). Whether the luggage classification identification tag is carried in to the next customer and the customer code p2 of the luggage classification identification tag is read to finish reading all the products to be shipped to the customer that were processed in advance. Judge (step s1
0), after scanning, RA for each product code in advance
The unit price data is stored based on the unit price data stored in M11b, and the data to be written in the list price q5 of the delivery note 50 is created (step s11).

Next, the request number p of the luggage classification identification tag 40
1, the customer code p2, the work code p3, and the delivery date p4, the request number q1 of the delivery note 50 and the company code q
2, the work code q3, and the data to be written on the delivery date q4 are created and printed on the delivery note 50 by the printer 9 (step s12). In this case, the item related to the product on the delivery note 50 is also specified.

If all the commodities are not finished in step s10, the process returns to step s3, and the next conveyor carries the next commodity.
Carry it into a. In addition, normally, a series of processes from step 3 to step s10 is executed in parallel for each product. That is, the process for one product is step s1.
Even if it is not executed up to 0, the next product is carried in the conveyor 2a.
Can be brought in. Also, the product code is read by the handy code reading device 10 (step s15).
Is also executed between the processes of steps s3 to s10.

The product code read and recognized by the reading unit 4a is confirmed in the processing device 11 in correspondence with the product name in no particular order. Therefore, the products are ordered in the order described in the delivery note of FIG. 3 (B). The conveyor 2 may not be transported.

The printed delivery note 50 is replaced with the positive baggage classification identification tag 40 and sent together with a non-defective item.
In step s10, the following means can be applied to determine whether or not all the products to be shipped to the final customer have been read.

After the last product, the baggage classification identification tag shown in FIG. 3 is thrown. At that time, for example, a number of 999 is written in the customer code p2 of the luggage classification identification tag 40. When the customer code p2 of 999 is transmitted, the processing device 11 determines that there is no subsequent one.

When the next product is not conveyed within a certain time after the code of the product is read, it is automatically judged that the code of the last product is read and the reading of all the products to be shipped to the final customer is completed. .

When the next product is not conveyed within a certain time after the code of the product is read, a warning or alarm is issued by the display device 3 in FIG. 1 or an alarm device (not shown), and further by the monitor 6 or 8. Display and prompt the operator for the next action. When the operator presses a key indicating completion of reading all products from the keyboard 6a or 8a of the monitor 6 or 8, the processing device 11 determines that reading of all products to be shipped to the final customer is completed.

According to this embodiment, the delivery note is created based on the data read from the actual product, so that the inconsistency between the article and the delivery note can be prevented. In addition, the destination, the delivery date, etc. are entered without the need for manual input.

The automatic code reading device 4 and the processing device 1 are also provided.
Since the processing of No. 1 is executed in a short time compared to the time when the product passes under the reading unit 4a, the luggage classification identification tag 40
It is possible to collectively transport the products and their associated products for each shipping destination. Therefore, the baggage classification identification tag can be regarded as a classification mark of products for each shipping destination. In this way, by inserting the luggage classification identification tag 40 between the product groups of different shipping destinations and carrying it on the carry-in conveyor 2a, the driving of the conveyor 2 is interrupted even when carrying the product groups of different shipping destinations. do not have to.

In the above embodiment, the case where the product code and the luggage classification identification tag are read by the automatic code reading device 4 has been described, but the one for reading the product code and the one for reading the luggage classification identification tag may be installed separately. . In this case, the luggage classification identification tag may be a magnetic card, an IC card or the like that stores data electronically.

The apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be used not only for shipping products to a shipping destination, but also for preparing a receipt for a product returned from a store or bookstore. Further, the object to be sorted is not limited to the product, but may be any product having an identification code.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which, for each shipping destination, two pieces of luggage classification identification tags, which are carried together with the products, are conveyed for distinguishing the shipping destinations, but it is not necessary that the number is two. For example, in the case of a return receipt process, the return origin or the like may be confirmed with a single identification tag, and the return may be identified and received as much as possible. In addition, if only one of the non-defective product and the defective product needs to be processed, only one sheet may be processed.

The present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments.
The present invention is not limited to these. For example, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, improvements, combinations, and the like can be made.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention, articles can be sorted quickly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a product sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a product sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a package classification identification tag and a delivery note used in the product sorting device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a process of sorting products by the product sorting device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Conveyor 2 Conveyor 2a Carry-in Conveyor 2b Sorting Conveyor 2c Good Conveyor 2d Defective Conveyor 3 Display 4 Code Automatic Reading Device 4a Reading Unit 5, 7 Working Desk 6, 8 Monitor 6a, 8a Keyboard 9 Printer 10 Handy Code Reading Device 11 processing device 11a ROM 11b RAM 11c CPU 11d input / output unit 12a, 12b motor 13 lifting device 14 controller 15 driver 40 baggage classification identification tag 50 delivery note (form)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location B65G 47/49 G09F 3/00 G 7429-5G // B65G 47/68 Z 7716-3F

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A reading unit which is provided on a conveying path and which reads required data written on an article classification identification tag to be conveyed and data attached to an article conveyed before and after the article classification identification tag, Determination means for determining whether or not the reading means has read the data; sorting means for sorting the data-readable article and the unreadable article based on the data from the determination means; and the reading means. And a printing means for creating a form to be attached to the sorted articles by reading the data based on the required data written on the article classification identification tag and the data attached to the articles. Article sorting device. 2. The article further comprises a reading assisting means for rereading the data attached to the article for which the data sorted by the sorting means could not be read, and the printing means reads the data from the reading assisting means. 2. The article sorting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: creating a form to be attached to the sorted articles by reading the data based on the required data and the data attached to the articles.