JPH08133416A - Load carrying-out device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enhance the efficiency by picking an article on a stacker crane used in an automatic warehouse, so that the article can be discharged onto a pallet. CONSTITUTION: On an elevatable bed in a stacker crane S, there are provided a sensor 10 for checking the topmost surface of a plurality of loads on a pallet, a picking robot 4 for picking up a load in accordance with data from the sensor 10, and two slide forks 2, 3 which are parallel with each other, the picking robot shifting loads W from a pallet on one of the forks onto a pallet on the other one of the forks. Alternatively, a conveyer is laid in parallel with a running rail for the stacker crane, and a longitudinal crane is arranged in front for rear of the stacker crane while a discharge conveyer facing the longitudinal conveyer is arranged on the elevating bed. With this arrangement, loads on the pallet is shifted onto the discharge conveyer, and accordingly, they are discharged by means of the longitudinal conveyer and the discharge conveyer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for enabling picking on a stacker crane used in an automatic warehouse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In conventional picking work, desired cargo is unloaded from an automatic warehouse and is transported to a picking work area.
The picking device placed at this picking place picked up the required number of packages, reloaded them on a pallet for each route of another retail store, transferred them to a conveyor, and transported them to another packing place. .

[0003]

When the automatic warehouse and the picking device are combined in this way, the necessary goods are conveyed from the automatic warehouse to the pick-up work site and then picked up, and the picking device is used at the same place. Since the number of types that can be picked up is limited, when the number of types increases, it is necessary to frequently repeat the transportation of pallets between the automated warehouse and the picking work place, and the transportation time, that is, the cycle time becomes long. Therefore, as the number of types to be picked up increases, the number of times the stacker crane is carried out increases, the ratio of the time taken out by the stacker crane increases, and the efficiency deteriorates.

[0004]

The present invention is configured as follows in order to solve the above problems. That is, based on the data from this sensor, a slide fork, a sensor for visually recognizing the uppermost surface of a plurality of loads stacked on the pallet, and a slide fork on the lifting platform of a stacker crane that stores or carries out the pallet to the rack shelf. Equipped with a picking robot that picks up from the top luggage. Further, two slide forks are arranged in parallel on the elevating table, and the load on the pallet placed on one slide fork is transferred to the pallet placed on the other slide fork by the picking robot. Configured to.

Alternatively, a conveyer conveyor is provided in parallel with the traveling rail of the stacker crane, a vertical conveyer conveyor is arranged in front of or behind the stacker crane, and a discharge conveyer facing the vertical conveyer is arranged on the elevating table for picking. The robot is configured so that the load on the pallet is transferred onto the discharge conveyor and discharged by the vertical transfer conveyor and the transfer conveyor.

[0006]

By using such means, according to the first and second aspects, a pallet loaded with a desired load from the rack of the automatic warehouse is placed on the lift table by the slide fork, and a desired number of pallets are loaded. Just by picking robot, transfer to another pallet on the lift. Then return the pallet to the next shelf,
Similarly, picking up is repeated, and when the picking work is completed, it returns to the station, the pallet is replaced, and the above work is repeated.

Further, according to the first and third aspects, a pallet loaded with a desired load is placed on a rack of an automatic warehouse on a lift table by a slide fork, and a desired number of picking robots are operated by a picking robot. If it is placed on the top, it can be discharged one after another by the vertical conveyor and the conveyor, and if the carry-out of that type of luggage is completed,
The pallet is returned to the shelf, the stacker crane is moved to the next shelf, and the above operation is repeated.

[0008]

The problems and solutions to be solved by the present invention are as described above, and the structure of the embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of a stacker crane equipped with the unloading device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a stacker crane and a rack, and FIG. 3 is a side view of a stacker crane equipped with the unloading device of another embodiment. FIG. 4 is a front view of a stacker crane and a rack, FIG. 5 is a side view of a stacker crane including a load unloading device of another embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of the same.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the load carrying-out device of the present invention has two slide forks 2 and 3 and a picking robot 4 arranged on an elevator platform 1 of a stacker crane S. A traveling rail 14 is laid on the floor in parallel between the racks R, and an upper guide rail is arranged in parallel with the traveling rail 14 on the ceiling, and a stacker crane is provided between the traveling rail 14 and the upper guide rail. The S is arranged so that it can travel back and forth. A storage station 5 and a storage station 6 are arranged on both sides of the traveling rail 14 in front of the rack R so that luggage can be stored and stored.
Note that the right side of FIG. 1 is the front and the left side is the rear.

The stacker crane S mounts a traveling body 9 on a traveling rail 14 and mounts a mast 12 before and after the traveling body 9.
12 are erected, the upper frame 13 is fixed to the upper ends of the masts 12 and 12 to form a frame, and the lift 1 is arranged between the masts 12 and 12 so as to be able to move up and down. A drive box 10 is provided at the rear of the traveling body 9, and a motor is housed in the driving box 10 so that the traveling body 9 can be driven to drive and the lifting platform 1 can be moved up and down by the motor. .

The slide forks 2 and 3 are arranged in parallel in the front-rear direction on the elevating table 1 which is the main part of the present invention so that the slide forks 2 can move in and out on both left and right sides.
The luggage can be stored in, taken out of, or delivered at the entry station 5 or the exit station 6. The slide fork 3 allows the parcels transferred on the lift 1 to be delivered at the receiving station 5 and the ejecting station 6. That is, the load on the pallet P1 is taken out from the rack R by the slide fork 2, the load picked up by the picking robot 4 is transferred to the pallet P2 on the slide fork 3, and when the desired load is all loaded, the stacker crane S is moved. Move to the station,
The slide fork 3 carries the pallet at the delivery station 6, and the storage station 5 receives the empty pallet. However, put the luggage on the slide forks 2 and 3 at the same time,
It can also be stored in the rack R or taken out.

The picking robot 4 has an arm 15
The device itself is configured to be able to move up and down along the supporting rod 16, and a suction pad 17 is provided at the tip of the articulated arm 15 to suck the load W on the pallet P1 and load it onto the pallet P2. In order to recognize the load on the pallet P1, a sensor 19 such as a CCD is provided on the lift frame above the pallet P1 to recognize the placement of the uppermost load of the pallet taken out from the rack R. The data from the sensor 19 is input to the control circuit so that the uppermost packages are picked up in order. However,
The same kind of luggage is stored in one shelf of the rack R,
It is assumed that the shelf position, the type and quantity of the luggage, etc. are stored in the memory of the main controller of the automatic warehouse, and the control circuit of the picking robot 4 is also connected to the main controller.

With this configuration, when the type and number of packages to be picked up are input to the controller, the empty pallet P2 is placed on the slide fork 3 at the storage station 5, and the rack position of the packages to be taken out by the stacker crane S is set. The pallet P1 is taken out by the slide fork 2, the desired number is picked up by the picking robot 4 and placed on the pallet P2, the pallet P1 is returned to the shelf, and then the pallet P1 is returned to the shelf. Move to the shelf to take out your luggage,
When the above operations are repeated and all desired types of packages have been taken out, the packages are unloaded from the shipping station 6.

As another embodiment of the load carrying device which can take out various kinds of loads from the rack R, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a pair of traveling rails 14 and 14 are laid in parallel on the left and right sides. , So that the stacker crane S can travel,
The traveling wheels 21, 21 ... Are arranged on the lower portions of both sides. On the other hand, a transfer conveyor 20 is disposed in the front-rear direction between the traveling rails 14 and 14 so that the luggage W can be transferred from the lower portion of the rack R to the station side.

A slide fork 2, a picking robot 4, and a discharge conveyor 22 are disposed on the lift table 1 of the stacker crane S. The discharge conveyor 22
The belt is horizontally arranged in the front-rear direction, and the protrusion 22a is provided on the belt. When the load W is placed on the belt and the belt is rotated, the rear end of the load W is locked by the protrusion 22a and is conveyed forward. I am trying. And, a vertical conveyor 23 is disposed between the front masts 12 and 12,
The vertical conveyer 23 has guide rollers 28, 28 ...
8. The left and right belts 23L and 23R are wound around 8 ..., the opposite sides of the belts 23L and 23R are aligned, and the belts 23L and 23R are reversely rotated at the same rotation speed, and the baggage is sandwiched between the belts 23L and 23R to move downward. It can be transported to. The belt 23L is composed of a hard belt, the belt 23R is composed of a soft belt, and the belt 23R encloses a load and conveys the load while closely contacting the belt 23L.

The belt 23L and the belt 23R
A chute 24 is obliquely provided at the lower end of the space so that the luggage W does not drop at the lower end of the vertical transport conveyor 23 but slides down onto the transport conveyor 20. Further, at the front end of the discharge conveyor 22, rollers 25 are provided to form a space larger than the load so that the load W can be sent to the belt 23L and the belt 23R. The rollers 25 are horizontally arranged at four corners in the vertical and horizontal directions, and are inserted between the belts 23L and 23R so that the discharge conveyor 22 faces the space formed by the rollers 25. It is arranged. Therefore, when the lift base 1 moves up and down, the rollers 2
5 ... simultaneously move up and down while forming a constant space between the belt 23L and the belt 23R.

With this structure, a desired load is taken out from the rack R onto the lift table 1 by the slide fork 2, the uppermost load detected by the sensor 19 is picked up by the picking robot 4, and the discharge conveyor 22 is provided. Put it on top. The discharge conveyor 22 is driven, and the projection 22a conveys the load forward, is sent to the space formed between the rollers 25 and drops, and is sandwiched between the belt 23L and the belt 23R.
The parcel is transported downward. When reaching the lower end, the chute 24 is placed on the conveyor 20 and conveyed forward.
By repeating this operation, it is possible to continuously carry out the desired number.

When the unloading of the load is completed, the pallet is stored in the rack R, the stacker crane S is moved to the shelf storing the next load, and the slide fork 2 is used to move the stacker 1 up and down the platform 1. Put it on the top and pick it up. Therefore, it is possible to carry out the cargo more efficiently than the method of carrying out one type of cargo to the station by the stacker crane S and picking it up. However, the descending speed of the lifting platform 1 is slower than the carrying speed of the vertical carrying conveyor 23, and the stacker crane S
The forward speed is set to be slower than the transport speed of the transport conveyor 20 so that the cargo being transported is caught up and does not collide.

Further, as another embodiment of the discharge conveyor 22 and the vertical transfer conveyor 23, it can be constructed as shown in FIGS. That is, the discharge conveyor 22 '
Is a thin belt conveyor 22b
The b and 22b are arranged in a comb shape so that the front end is open. On the other hand, the vertical conveyor 23 'has chains 26, 26 on both left and right sides by means of sprockets 27, 27 ...
It is wound while being guided in a vertically long rectangular shape in a side view. A comb-shaped carrier 2 between the left and right chains 26, 26
9 ・ 29 ... are arranged in the same direction at regular intervals,
Transport guides (not shown) are arranged on both sides of the chains 26, 26 so that the transport stands 29, 29 ... Always face the horizontal direction.

At the lower part of the vertical conveyor 23 ', a comb-shaped chute 30 having rollers arranged on the upper surface is arranged in the front downward direction, and the roller conveyor 3 is provided in front of the extension thereof.
1 is provided so that the parcel can be transported onto the transport conveyor 20. However, the transport table 29 and the discharge conveyor 22 'and the open side of the chute 30 face each other and are configured not to overlap in the vertical direction.

With this configuration, as described above,
When a desired load is taken out of the shelf by the slide fork 2 and placed on the lifting table 1, the load W is placed on the discharge conveyor 22 'by the picking robot 4 and transported forward, the transport table 29 of the vertical transport conveyor 23' becomes Ascends, loads the cargo W and carries it upwards, translates forward from the upper end, then carries it downwards, and shoots the chute 30 at the lower end.
The load W is transferred to the upper side, the carrier 29 passes downward, and the load W moves from the chute 30 to the roller conveyor 31.
It slides down, is further placed on the conveyor 20, and is conveyed forward. Similarly, the desired number is picked up and taken out. However, the ascending speed of the lifting platform 1 is set to be slower than the carrying speed of the vertical carrying conveyor 23 ', and the forward speed of the stacker crane S is set to be slower than the carrying speed of the carrying conveyor 20. The same numbers shown in the figure have the same configuration.

Further, as another embodiment of the discharge conveyor 22 and the vertical transfer conveyor 23, it can be constructed as shown in FIG. That is, the discharge conveyor 22 is eliminated and the vertical conveyor 23 is connected to the front conveyor belt 33F.
The rear conveyor belt 33R is configured to convey the cargo W downward by sandwiching the cargo W between the front conveyor belt 33F and the rear conveyor belt 33R. Unloading port 33a / 3
3b is formed, and the carry-out port 33b in the middle part can be rotated upward.

Therefore, when carrying out a load from the rack on the upper part of the rack R, the carry-out port 33b is pivoted upward and closed, the pallet is taken out from the rack, and the carry-out port 33a on the upper side.
After adjusting the height of the lift 1 to the position of
It is placed on the carry-out port 33a directly from No. 7 so that it can be continuously carried out downward. When the rack R is to be carried out from the middle portion of the rack R, the carry-out port 33b is projected in the horizontal direction so that the height of the lifting platform 1 is adjusted to carry out the load W from the carry-out port 33b. ing. In this embodiment, the carry-out can be carried out from two places, but more carry-out ports can be provided. And, the other same numbers refer to the same members.

[0024]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects. That is, since it is configured as in claim 1, it is possible to sort and pick up the load taken out from the rack by the slide fork of the stacker crane on the lift table, and to shorten the picking cycle time.

Since two pallets can be placed on the lifting platform as claimed in claim 2, the time for transferring the load from one pallet to the other pallet is shortened, and also when picking up another type of load. , Since it moves in the automatic warehouse and is transferred on the lifting table, the more kinds of luggage to pick, the more efficient the picking can be. In addition, when storing luggage in a rack, or when reloading all the luggage on a pallet and discharging an empty pallet, articles can be sorted while traveling, and picking work can be performed efficiently.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the packages taken out from the shelves can be picked up by the lifting platform and quickly carried out, and the packages on the pallet are transported from the rack to the loading / unloading station by the stacker crane. It is not necessary to do so, the moving distance of the stacker crane is shortened, and the working time can be shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a stacker crane including a load unloading device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a stacker crane and a rack of the same.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a stacker crane including a load carrying-out device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a stacker crane and a rack of the same.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a stacker crane including a load unloading device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of the same.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a stacker crane including a load unloading device according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 S Stacker crane R Rack P Pallet 1 Lifting platform 2.3 Slide fork 4 Picking robot 14 Traveling rail 19 Sensor 20 Transport conveyor 22 Ejection conveyor 23 Vertical transport conveyor

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location B66F 9/07 7515-3F

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A slide fork, a sensor for visually recognizing an uppermost surface of a plurality of loads stacked on the pallet, and data obtained by the sensor, on a lifter of a stacker crane for storing or unloading the pallet on a rack shelf. A loading and unloading device that is equipped with a picking robot that picks up from the topmost luggage based on the above. 2. Picking up a load on a pallet placed on one slide fork on the pallet placed on the other slide fork by arranging two slide forks in parallel on the lift table according to claim 1. A cargo unloading device characterized in that a robot can load and unload cargo. 3. A transfer conveyor is provided in parallel with the traveling rails of the stacker crane according to claim 1, a vertical transfer conveyor is arranged in front of or behind the stacker crane, and a discharge conveyor facing the vertical transfer conveyor is arranged on the lifting platform. do it,
A load unloading device characterized in that a picking robot transfers a load on a pallet onto a discharge conveyor, and the vertical transfer conveyor and the transfer conveyor discharge the load.