JPH0767962B2 - Goods collection system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention is based on article collection information and is used by a plurality of article collecting workers to simultaneously move from a common article storage rack group in parallel by using moving vehicles such as forklifts and carts. The present invention relates to an article collecting system adapted to perform a collecting operation.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, a large number of shelves are arranged to store a large number of kinds of articles in a warehouse or a parts storage area in a factory, and the articles specified in the order list are defined from the group of articles stored in these shelves. There are various article collecting systems in which a computer-aided support system is applied to a so-called picking operation in which a specified number of items are taken out.

For example, as described in JP-A-62-186699, a terminal display (a child display equipped with a lamp for indicating a place by lighting at each opening of a shelf, a digital display showing a quantity to be taken out, a take-out completion key, etc. Machine) is provided, and the article collection information is transmitted to the terminal display device by communicating between the above-mentioned terminal display device and the personal computer controller (master device) for overall control of these terminal display devices. There are things that have been done.

Further, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-66005, a terminal display device for displaying a location by lighting is provided in each opening of the shelf, and a handheld terminal device on which a product collection information is input is mounted on a carriage, In some cases, the article collection information is transmitted to the terminal display by communicating between the terminal of the trolley and the terminal display of the shelf.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, all of the conventional article collecting systems perform an article collecting operation by one person, or perform an operation based on the article collecting information of the same job (for example, for an article to be delivered to one store). There is no problem if several people do (collection work), but work based on goods collection information of multiple jobs with different contents (for example, collection work of goods delivered to multiple stores) is performed by multiple people in parallel. There is a problem if you do. That is, in the former system, one work cannot be completed until the next work is completed, and in the latter system, different jobs cannot be performed in the same shelf area, and trolleys and workers approach each other, which easily causes confusion. There is a point.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the article collecting system of the present invention comprises:
In an article collection system that collects articles based on article collection information from shelves in which many types of articles are sorted and stored, an item indicator having a plurality of identification lamps is provided at each shelf front, and each shelf block is provided. A block indicator having a plurality of identification lamps corresponding to the above-mentioned identification lamps is provided, and the item indicator and the block indicator are connected to a shelf side terminal equipped with a communication means, and the identification lamp of one item indicator The number of mobile vehicles corresponding to the number of the mobile vehicles is provided, each mobile vehicle is equipped with a communication means, and a handheld terminal in which the item collection information is input is installed, and between the mobile terminal and the shelf side terminal. Wireless communication is carried out with each item, and the collection information is transmitted to the terminal on the shelf side so that a predetermined identification lamp corresponding to each moving vehicle of the item display and the block display is turned on. Than it is.

(Operation) When a plurality of workers each perform a collecting operation in parallel from a common article storage shelf group using a mobile vehicle, an article collection command issued from the terminal of each mobile vehicle is transmitted via the shelf side terminal. It is displayed on a predetermined identification lamp corresponding to each moving vehicle of the item display provided on each opening of the shelf and the block display provided on each shelf block.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the outline of the article collecting system of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of data information in the article collecting system of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, (1) is a shelf divided so as to accommodate a large number of types of articles, and a large number of the shelves are arranged and a moving vehicle (2) such as a forklift truck or a dolly along the shelf (1).
The passage is provided. An item indicator (3) is provided at each front of the shelf (1), a block indicator (4) is provided at each shelf block, and a communication unit (5) is provided.
A terminal (6) equipped with is installed. The item display (3) and the block display (4) are connected to the terminal (6) by wire, and the terminals (6), (6) ... Are connected to the general terminal (7). . The item indicator (3) and the block indicator (4) are place indicators for collecting articles and each have a plurality of identification lamps (8), (8). In the case of FIG. 1, there are four identification lamps (8).

The moving vehicles (2) are provided in correspondence with the number of identification lamps (8) of the above-mentioned place indicator, and in the case of FIG. 1, four vehicles are provided. These four moving vehicles (2a), (2b), (2c), (2d)
Are the four identification lamps (8a), (8b) and (8
It is designed to correspond to c) and (8d). The four mobile vehicles (2) have a communication unit (9) and a control unit (1
The terminal (11) consisting of a handheld computer equipped with (0) is installed. The handheld terminal (11) is adapted to wirelessly communicate with the terminal (6) on the shelf side for each mobile vehicle (2a), (2b), (2c), (2d).

In the article collecting system of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the contents of the order form issued from the customer or the like are input to the host computer (12) and stored in the floppy disk (13) from the host computer (12). The collected information of the goods is read into the PC (14), and is organized and processed by the card reader / writer (15) to the RAM card (IC card) (1
Written in 6). The RAM card (16) is handed over to the worker and mounted on the handheld terminal (11) of the mobile vehicle (2), and the article collecting work (17) is performed based on the article collecting information of the RAM card (16). In the case of FIG. 1, four types of RAM cards (16) having different information are distributed to four mobile vehicles (2a), (2b), (2c), (2d). When the article collection work (17) is completed, the RAM card (16) is removed from the handheld terminal (11), and the article collection is completed on the floppy disk (13) via the card reader / writer (15) and the personal computer (14). The data is written and fed back to the host computer (12).

Next, the equipment and function of the article collecting system of the present invention will be described.

3 to 5 are block diagrams of terminals on the shelf side. FIG. 3 is an overall block diagram, FIG. 4 is a block diagram of each terminal of the shelf block, and FIG. 5 is a general terminal. It is a block diagram.

In the shelf (1), the terminals (6), (6), ... Provided for each shelf block are connected in series by an RS422 cable as shown in FIG. 3, and these terminals (6), (6) ... are summarized. An integrated terminal (7) is connected to it.

In the terminal (6) provided for each shelf block, the communication unit (5) is connected to the CPU (18) as shown in FIG. The CPU (18) is a serial input / output interface (1
9), connected to the adjacent terminal (6) via the IC (20), while the block indicator (4) via the relay (21)
It is also connected to the item indicators (3), (3) ... Through the LED driver (22). The communication unit (5) includes an infrared LED (23) for transmission, a photodiode (24) for reception, and a filter amplifier (25). Further, the identification lamps (8a), (8b), (8c), which are provided at the frontages of the shelves of the item display (3) and have, for example, four different colors (for example, red, green, orange, yellow),
(8d), and the block display (4) also has four identification lamps (8a) ', (8b)', (8
c) ', (8d)'. Further, the same number of identification lamps (8) as the item displays (3), (3) ...
Address numbers are given to all of a), (8b), (8c), and (8d) so that all the lamps can be distinguished from each other.

The terminal (6) receives a command (infrared signal) from the handheld terminal (11) mounted on the mobile vehicle (2), the communication unit (5), the CPU (18), the input / output interface (19), and the IC. Data for turning on / off the lamp of the item display (3) and turning on / off the lamp of the block display (4) is sent to the general terminal (7) via the (20), and this general terminal is sent. The lamp is turned on and off by the support from (7).

The general terminal (7) consists of a CPU (26), a serial input / output interface (27) and an IC (28), as shown in FIG.
It is connected to the terminal (6) by an RS422 cable.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a handheld terminal mounted on a mobile vehicle.

The handheld terminal (11) is a computer including a communication unit (9) and a control unit (10).
The communication unit (9) includes an infrared LED (29) for transmission, a photodiode (30) for reception, and a filter amplifier (31). Control unit (10) is CPU (32),
It is composed of a power supply (33) and an LED display section (34). The terminal (11) consists of a computer, and the CPU (32),
It is connected to a power source (33), has a display (35), operation keys (36), and is equipped with a RAM card (16).

On the moving vehicle side, when the operation key (36) is pressed, the article collection information written in the RAM card (16) is displayed on the display (35) and the communication on the shelf side is performed via the communication unit (9). Infrared communication is performed with the unit (5) to turn on the block display device (4) and the item display device (3) at necessary places to support the work of the worker.

As shown in Fig. 1, four moving vehicles (2a), (2b), (2c),
When (2d) is provided, the mobile vehicle (2a) displays the address number of, for example, the red identification lamp (8a) on the item display (3) in response to a command from the mobile vehicle (2b).
Is the address number of the green identification lamp (8b), the moving car (2c) is the address number of the orange identification lamp (8c), and the moving car (2d) is the address of the yellow identification lamp (8d). It is designed to indicate each number. Therefore, the worker may collect the articles from the shelves having the predetermined color display. Mobile vehicles (2a), (2b) ... and RAM
It is convenient in terms of workability if the card (16) is provided with a color display corresponding to the above colors.

Next, the procedure of the worker's article collection work will be described.

1) Insert the RAM card (16) into the handheld terminal (11), press the start operation key (36), and wirelessly communicate, for example, a red identification lamp (8a) on the block display (4) of the shelf (1). ) ′ Is lit.

2) Handheld terminal (11) display (35)
Move the moving car (2a) to the shelf block with the lamp lit in.

3) Press the collection start operation key (36) of the handheld terminal (11), and, for example, a red identification lamp (8a) on the shelf front item display (3) to be collected by wireless communication.
Light up.

4) Display (35) from the front of the shelf that is lit above
Take out the product in the quantity indicated on.

5) Press the end operation key (36) of the terminal (11) and turn off the red identification lamp (8a) of the item display (3) by wireless communication.

Repeat steps 3) to 5) above.

6) When the articles are taken out from all of the shelves in the shelf block, the red identification lamp (8a) 'of the block display (4) is turned off.

Repeat steps 2) to 6) above.

7) The work of taking out the articles from all the shelf blocks is completed.

8) Carry the goods to the designated exit location displayed on the display (35) of the terminal (11).

Repeat steps 1) to 8).

9) All batches are taken out.

In the above description, the lamps of the location indicator consisting of the item indicator (3) and the block indicator (4) are identified by different colors. It may be attached. or,
Although infrared rays are used for wireless communication, an appropriate communication means such as radio waves may be adopted.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, the article collection system of the present invention is provided with the number of moving vehicles corresponding to the number of identification lamps of the item display provided on the front of the shelf, and the article collection information is transmitted by wireless communication. Since the identification lamp corresponding to each moving car of the item display is turned on by being transmitted from the moving car side to the shelf side, each moving car carries out work work based on different item collection information. In this case, the worker of each mobile vehicle may take out the quantity displayed by the device mounted on his / her mobile vehicle from the shelf front where the corresponding identification lamp is lit, even if the mobile vehicles approach each other. Collection work can be easily performed even if the shelves are overlapped. Therefore, it is possible for a plurality of workers to carry out the article collecting work in parallel at the same time from the common article storage rack group using the mobile vehicles.

Further, since a block indicator having a plurality of identification lamps can be provided in each shelf block and the identification lamp corresponding to each moving vehicle of the block indicator is turned on by communication, it is necessary to collect articles. The shelf block is easy to understand, and the worker can easily move the moving vehicle to the shelf block where the identification lamp of the block indicator corresponding to the own vehicle is lit, and the article collecting work can be efficiently performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the outline of the article collecting system of the present invention,
2 is an explanatory view showing the flow of data information in the article collecting system of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an overall block diagram of the terminal on the shelf side, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of each terminal of the shelf block on the shelf side, FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a general terminal on the shelf side, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a terminal mounted on a mobile vehicle. 1 ... shelf, 2 ... moving car, 3 ... item display, 4 ...
... Block indicator, 5 ... Communication unit, 6 ... Terminal, 7 ... General terminal, 8,8a, 8b, 8c, 8d ... Identification lamp, 9 ... Communication unit, 10 ... Control unit, 11 ……
Handheld terminal, 16 …… RAM card.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An article collection system for collecting articles based on article collection information from shelves in which a large number of articles are sorted and stored, and an item indicator having a plurality of identification lamps is provided at each shelf front. , Each shelf block is provided with a block indicator having a plurality of identification lamps corresponding to the above identification lamps, and the item indicator and the block indicator are connected to a shelf-side terminal equipped with communication means, and one item There are as many mobile vehicles as the number of identification lamps on the display, and when each mobile vehicle is equipped with communication means, a handheld terminal with shared article collection information entered is installed, and each mobile vehicle's terminal and shelves are installed. Wireless communication with each terminal,
An article collection system in which article collection information is transmitted to a shelf side terminal so that a predetermined identification lamp corresponding to each moving vehicle of an item display and a block display is turned on.