JPH09235004A - Article storage facility - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten time required for article take-out work without necessity of transferring an article to another storage part even in the case when the article is stored in a temporary storage part at the time of taking-out work of the article. SOLUTION: A control means to control actuation of a transport device 1 to transport an article C between a deposit and delivery part against an article storage shelf 5 and an article storage part 8 of the article storage shelf 5 carries out storage control to secure at least one of the article storage parts 8 as a temporary storage part 8a by keeping it empty at the time of storing the article C in the article storage part 8 of the article storage shelf 5 and carries out take-out control to make the new temporary storage part 8a by storing a front article A in the temporary storage part 8a by taking it out and taking out an article B positioned deep when the article A exists in the article storage part positioned in front of the article storage part 8 at the time of taking out the article C from the article storage part 8 of the article storage shelf 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article storage rack configured by arranging a plurality of article storage sections having a plurality of article holding sections in the depth direction, and a loading / unloading section for the article storage rack and each of the articles. And a control device for storing and managing the article storage state of each article storage section in the article storage rack and controlling the operation of the transport apparatus. The carrier device can store and take out the articles from the plurality of article holding sections of each article storage section separately, and when there is no article in the article holding section located in front of each article storage section, The present invention relates to an article storage facility configured so that articles can be stored in and taken out from an article holding section located at.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In such an article storage facility, when an article located at the back of an article storage section is to be taken out, the article in front is taken out and stored in a temporary storage section. However, the article in the back must be taken out after that, and for that reason, an empty storage section for temporarily placing the article in front is indispensable. Therefore, conventionally, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 5-19210, a specific article storage section among a plurality of article storage sections is always fixedly secured as a storage section for temporary storage only, There has been a structure in which the specified temporary storage section is always kept empty after the completion of the taking-out work, not only when the article is stored but also when the article is taken out.

[0003]

However, since a specific storage section for temporary storage must be kept empty at all times, when the articles are stored in the temporary storage section during the operation of taking out the articles, After that, the articles in the temporary storage section must be transferred to the original storage section without fail, and there is a possibility that the time required for the article taking-out operation for the transfer operation becomes long. Further, since it is necessary to transfer the articles once stored in the temporary storage section to the original storage section as described above, the articles stored in the temporary storage section are as follows:
Since it is transferred many times, a positional deviation occurs with respect to the article storage unit each time, the positional deviation accumulates, and as a result, the magnitude of the positional deviation may exceed an allowable limit. is there. Therefore, as disclosed in the above publication, the aligning means for correcting the positional deviation with respect to the article storage unit is required.

The present invention focuses on such a conventional problem, and an object thereof is to transfer the article to the original article storage section thereafter even when the article is stored in the temporary storage section. Since it is not necessary and can be stored as it is, it is possible to shorten the time required for taking out the article, and in some cases to provide the article storage facility that does not require the aligning means as described above. .

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, according to the invention described in claim 1, the control means for controlling the operation of the carrying device stores the article in the article storage section of the article storage rack. At this time, since at least one article storage section is left empty and storage control is executed to secure this empty article storage section as a temporary storage section, at least one article storage operation is completed after the article storage operation is completed. The storage section is secured as a temporary storage section, and when an article is present in the article holding section located in front of the article storage section when the article is taken out from the article storage section, the article in front of the article storage section is taken out to temporarily store the article. The temporary storage is performed as in the conventional method, because the storage control is performed in such a manner that the article is stored in the storage section, the article in the article holding section located in the back is taken out, and the article storage section is used as a new temporary storage section. Stored in the department It is no longer necessary to transfer the original items to the original item storage section, and it is possible to shorten the time required for the item removal operation, and at least one temporary storage section is secured. It is possible to perform the work without any trouble, and it is also possible to eliminate the above-mentioned alignment means if necessary.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the control means divides the article storage section of the article storage shelf into a plurality of zones, and at least one temporary storage is provided for each of the plurality of article storage sections in each zone. Since it is configured to secure the storage section, even when it becomes necessary to store the article in the temporary storage section during the article unloading work, the movement distance of the transport device is within the range of each zone, Therefore, it is possible to further shorten the time required for the work of taking out the article and improve the work efficiency.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the control means is configured to change the division state of the article storage section into a plurality of zones. By appropriately changing the zone division status according to the situation, for example, when the number of stored items is small, the number of zones is increased to improve work efficiency, and when the number of stored items is large, the number of zones is reduced to store the items. Appropriate use according to the situation at that time, such as increasing the capacity, becomes possible.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the control means executes the take-out control, if an article is present in the article holding section located in front of the article storage section, the article in front of the article holding section is taken out. This is to execute the take-out priority mode in which the article holding section before the temporary storage section is stored.Therefore, when taking out the article stored in the temporary storage section, the article located in front can be taken out quickly. Therefore, the work time can be shortened and the work efficiency can be improved when the take-out work is prioritized.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the control means executes the taking-out control, if an article is present in the article holding section located in front of the article storage section, the article in front of the article holding section is taken out. Since the storage priority mode for storing the article in the article holding section at the back of the temporary storage section is executed, the necessary articles can be swiftly stored in the article holding section in the front when carrying out the storing operation. When the storage work is prioritized, the work time can be shortened and the work efficiency can be improved.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the control means executes the take-out control, if an article is present in the article holding section located in front of the article storage section, the article in front of the article storage section is taken out. Since it is configured to be switchable between the execution of the take-out priority mode of storing in the article holding section in front of the temporary storage section and the execution of the storage priority mode of storing in the article holding section in the back of the temporary storage section. If you want to prioritize the take-out work, you can improve the efficiency of the take-out work by executing the take-out priority mode. If you want to give priority to the storage work, try to improve the efficiency of the storage work by executing the storage priority mode. It is possible to use it optimally according to the situation at that time.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the article storage shelves are located on both sides of the conveyance path of the conveying device, and the storage outlets of the article storage units of both article storage shelves are the conveyance paths. Since it is arranged toward the side, it is possible to store and take out the articles from both article storage shelves located on both sides of the conveyance path with a common conveying device, and it is possible to divide the used area of the storage facility. In addition to being able to store a large number of articles, a zone is defined between the article storage sections of both article storage shelves, further shortening the moving distance of the transport device during the article taking-out work and taking out articles. It is possible to improve work efficiency.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, since the article holding section is configured to hold the pallet on which the article is placed, the article is stored or taken out through the pallet. In addition, it does not depend on the type and shape of the articles, and two article holding sections for holding the pallets are arranged in the depth direction of each article storage section.
Further, since the stacker crane is configured to include an elevating table that can travel the conveying device and can be vertically moved up and down, and an extendable fork provided on the elevating table, for example, an elevating device is provided. A self-propelled trolley is provided, and the trolley is configured to be movable between the stacker crane and each article storage unit. By the traveling and elevating device of this trolley, the article holding unit and the stacker of each article storage unit are provided. The structure is extremely simple and the operation thereof is simple as compared with the case where an article is transferred between a crane and the like, and it can be implemented at a relatively low cost.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of an article storage facility according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This article storage facility is installed in a warehouse such as a distribution center and used to store articles. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
Stacker crane 1 as a transfer device for transferring articles
However, it is configured to be movable along a pair of upper and lower rails 2 and 3, and article storage shelves 5 are installed on both sides of the transport path 4 by the stacker crane 1 in between. These article storage shelves 5 are composed of a plurality of pillar members 6 standing vertically.
And a plurality of shelf members 7 arranged in the horizontal direction, and the like, and has a structure in which a plurality of article storage units 8 are arranged in the vertical direction and in the horizontal direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, each article storage unit 8 comprises an arm member 9 fixed to the pillar member 6, a shelf member 7 fixed to this arm member 9, and the like. A pallet P for mounting is configured to be mountable. That is, the article C is placed on each pallet P, and the pallet P is placed and held between the pair of shelf members 7 to store the article C in the article storage unit 8. The member 7 constitutes the article holding section 10, and two article holding sections 10 are arranged. In other words, each article storage section 8 has two article holding sections 10 in the depth direction, and each article storage section 8 has its storage outlet side facing the transport path 4 side of the stacker crane 1. A storage shelf 5 is installed.

The stacker crane 1 conveys the articles C between the carry-in section 11 and the carry-out section 12 of the articles C to and from the article storage shelves 5 and the article storage sections 8 of the article storage shelves 5. Is provided with a lift base 13 that can be lifted up and down, and an extendable and retractable fork 14
It has. The fork 14 has a structure capable of extending to the article holding section 10 located at the back of the article storage section 8, and the article holding section 10 located at the front and the article holding section 10 located at the back are separately provided with articles. Each of the article storage units 8 of the article storage shelves 5 located on both sides of the transport path 4 so that C can be stored and taken out in the state of being placed on the pallet P.
It is configured so that it can be stored and taken out. In the present specification, for convenience, the articles stored in the article holding unit 10 located in the front are referred to as the articles A, and the articles stored in the article holding unit 10 located in the back are referred to as the articles B, and the articles A
And the article B are collectively referred to as the article C.

Each article storage section 8 in the article storage rack 5
Is stored and managed by the control unit H1 including a microcomputer, and the operation of the stacker crane 1 is controlled by the control unit H2 including a microcomputer mounted on the stacker crane 1. ing. The control unit H1 and the control unit H2 are
These control units H are configured to be able to communicate with each other.
The whole is controlled by the control unit H composed of 1 and H2, and the article storage section 8 of each article storage rack 5 is divided into a plurality of zones Z by executing storage control and take-out control described later. In this state, one empty article storage section 8 must be secured for each zone Z, and the empty article storage section 8a
The control unit H can be instructed by a control command by operating the operating device 15.

Next, the control operation of this article storage facility will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS.
First, as shown in FIG. 5, the operator operates the operation device 15 to instruct whether to enter or exit, and as shown in FIG. 5, the entering mode is executed if it is the entering command, and the exit mode is executed if it is the issuing command.

In the warehousing mode, as shown in FIG. 6, necessary information such as the type of the warehousing is input according to the goods C placed on the pallet P and carried into the carry-in section 11. Then, the storage form is set as necessary. That is, the article storage unit 8 of each article storage shelf 5 is set to a plurality of zones Z.
It is determined whether or not to partition into, or whether or not to newly set up, and if necessary, the operation device 15 is operated to perform partition format setting processing. If the partition format is not set, it is searched whether or not there is an empty article storage section 8 with each article storage rack 5 as one zone Z, and one empty article storage section 8 is secured, and further empty Whether or not there is an article storage unit 8 and whether or not the front article holding unit 10 has an empty article storage unit 8 is searched, and an empty article storage unit 8 or an article storage unit 8 that is empty only in the front is searched. If there is, one of the article holding units 10 is specified, and the article C is stored in the article holding unit 10. In this case, when the article C is stored in the empty article storage section 8, the article B is first stored in the article holding section 10 at the back, and then the article A is stored in the front article holding section 10.

In storing the article C, first,
The fork 14 of the stacker crane 1 expands and contracts to convey the article C in the carry-in section 11 together with the pallet P onto the lift table 13. Then, as the stacker crane 1 moves along the transport path 4, the elevating table 13 moves up and down to the specified storage outlet of the article storage unit 8, the fork 14 expands and contracts again, and the articles C are transferred together with the pallet P. It is placed on the shelf member 7 and the storage operation is completed. By repeating this, the storage work is sequentially performed. In this storage work, each article storage rack 5 is set as one zone Z, and one article storage section 8 is always left empty in this one zone Z. Storage control is performed to secure the empty article storage section 8 as the temporary storage section 8a. If there is no room for storage, an abnormal alarm is issued and the process returns. That is, the storage mode is not executed.

When there is a partition format setting as shown in (a) and (b) of FIG. 4, it is searched whether or not there is an empty article storage section 8 for each zone Z, and the empty article storage section 8 is searched. Whether or not there is an empty article storage unit 8 with one
Further, the front article holding unit 10 searches whether or not there is an empty article storage unit 8, and if there is an empty article storage unit 8 or an article storage unit 8 that is empty only in the front, one of the article holding units is held. Part 1
0 is specified, and the article C is stored in the article storage section 8 by the same operation as described above. Even in this case, the storage control for ensuring one temporary storage section 8a is always executed for each zone Z, and if there is no room for storage, an abnormal alarm is issued and the storage mode is not executed.

The operator can know from this abnormal alarm that there is no room for storage, and if necessary, enter the change of the compartment. That is, for example, as shown in (b) of FIG. 4, when one article storage rack 5 is partitioned into four zones Z, the partition format setting is changed to
The zone Z is changed to two zones Z as shown in FIG. Then, the article can be stored in the article storage section 8 which has been secured as the temporary storage section 8a, and the storage operation is continued. Also in this case, the storage control for ensuring one temporary storage unit 8a is always executed for each newly set zone Z, and if the partition format is not changed, the process is returned by the end input.

In the delivery mode, as shown in FIG. 7, the type of the article to be delivered is input, and the mode at the delivery is set if necessary. This mode setting is
The take-out priority mode and the storage priority mode are selected. The details will be described later, but in any case, the article storage unit 8 in which the article C to be unloaded is stored is searched based on the input article information. Based on the search result, the stacker crane 1 moves, and the elevating table 13 moves up and down to reach the storage outlet of the product storage unit 8 in which the product C to be stored is stored, and the product to be stored. If C is in the article holding section 10 on the front side of the article storage section 8, the article A on the front side is conveyed to the lift table 13 by the expansion and contraction of the fork 14.
After that, it is conveyed to the unloading section 12 by the operation reverse to that at the time of storage.

When the article C to be unloaded is in the article holding section 10 at the back, first, the article A in the article holding section 10 in front is taken out and conveyed to the temporary storage section 8a in the zone Z thereof. Store. For example, if it is assumed that the article B located at the back of the article storage unit 8 in the third stage from the bottom is taken out as shown in FIG.
The article A in front of the article storage unit 8 in the third stage from the bottom is taken out by the expansion and contraction of the article and the elevation of the elevation table 13, and the article A
Are stored in the temporary storage unit 8a on the upper side of four stages and temporarily stored. After that, the article B is returned to the third-stage article storage section 8 from the bottom again, and the article B at the back is taken out and carried out to the carry-out section 12. In other words, the article B in the back in this take-out work
When taking out the article A in front, the temporary storage section 8
After that, the article B in the back is taken out and carried out, and the article storage section 8 emptied by taking out the article B in the back is taken out as a new temporary storage section 8a. The new temporary storage unit 8a is stored.

At the time of this take-out control, either one of the take-out priority mode and the storage priority mode described above can be selected and executed. In other words, when the take-out priority mode is selected and instructed, when the article A located in front is temporarily placed in the temporary storage section 8a, it is stored on the front side of the temporary storage section 8a, and the temporarily placed article A is stored. When the storage priority mode is selected and instructed, the temporary storage section 8a is stored in the back of the temporary storage section 8a to empty the front side, and another article C can be stored on the front side at any time. The storage priority mode is executed.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4, the article storage sections 8 of the article storage shelves 5 located on both sides of the transport path 4 are divided into a plurality of zones Z, respectively. Although an example is shown, it is also possible to set a plurality of zones Z across the article storage units 8 of both article storage shelves 5. FIG. 8 shows an example of the operating state in that case.
For example, if it is assumed that the article storage shelf 5 on the left side of the figure has a temporary storage unit 8a and the article B located at the back of the third stage from the bottom of the right article storage shelf 5 is taken out, the arrow in the figure indicates As shown in FIG. 1, first, the article A in front of the article storage section 8 in the third stage from the bottom is taken out and temporarily placed in the temporary storage section 8a of the article storage shelf 5 on the left side. After that, the article B is returned to the third-stage article storage section 8 from the bottom again, and the article B at the back is taken out and carried out to the carry-out section 12. In this case,
The third tier from the bottom of the article storage shelf 5 on the right side becomes a new temporary storage unit 8a.

Further, although each article storage section 8 has two article holding sections 10 provided in its depth direction, three or more article holding sections 10 may be provided. in this case,
If the article C to be taken out is in the back, the articles A in the front are sequentially stored in the temporary storage section 8a, and then the article B in the back is taken out and carried out. If there is the article B, the article B is also transferred to the temporary storage unit 8a. When three or more article holding sections 10 are provided in each article storage section 8 in this way, a self-propelled trolley provided with a lifting device is provided in place of the fork 14 described above.
This trolley is configured to be movable between the lifting platform 13 of the stacker crane 1 and each article storage section 8, and the article C is held in each article storage section 8 by the traveling of the trolley and the lifting operation by the lifting device. It is also possible to implement the configuration so that it can be transferred between the unit 10 and the lifting table 13. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit H1 that stores and manages the article storage state of each article storage unit 8 is provided on the ground side, and the control unit H2 that controls the operation of the stacker crane 1 is mounted on the stacker crane 1. The control units H1 and H2 are shown to be communicable with each other.
It is also possible to configure 2 in the form of one control unit H and install it on the ground side for implementation.

In the claims, reference numerals are provided for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in the attached drawings.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an article storage facility.

[Figure 2] Front view of the article storage facility

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the article storage unit.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an article storage shelf

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the article storage facility.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the article storage facility.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the article storage facility.

FIG. 8 is a front view of an article storage facility showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveyor device 4 Conveyance path 5 Article storage rack 8 Article storage section 8a Temporary storage section 10 Article holding section 11 Loading section 12 Unloading section 13 Elevating table 14 Fork P Pallet A Front side article B Backside article C Article H control means Z zone

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of article holders (10) in the depth direction.
An article storage rack (5) configured by arranging a plurality of article storage sections (8) each having the vertical and horizontal directions, loading / unloading sections (11), (12) for the article storage rack (5), and each of the article storage sections ( 8) A transport device (1) for transporting the article (C) to and from
And each article storage section (8) in the article storage shelf (5)
A storage means for storing and managing the article storage state, and a control means (H) for controlling the operation of the transport device (1),
The carrying device (1) can store and take out the articles (C) separately from the plurality of article holding sections (10) of the article storage sections (8), and each of the article storage sections (8) When the article (A) is not present in the article holding section (10) located in front of the article (B), the article (B) is compared with the article holding section (10) located in the back.
When storing the article (C) in the article storage unit (8) of the article storage shelf (5), the control means (H) stores at least the article (C). The storage of one article storage unit (8) is performed, and storage control is performed to secure the empty article storage unit (8) as a temporary storage unit (8a), and the articles of the article storage rack (5) are stored. When the article (C) is taken out of the storage section (8), if the article (A) is present in the article holding section (10) located in front of the article storage section (8), the article (A) in front of the article storage section (10) is taken out. Are stored in the temporary storage section (8a) and the article (B) in the article holding section (10) located in the back is taken out, and the article storage section (8) is newly stored in the temporary storage section (8a). ) The article storage facility configured to execute the takeout control. 2. The control means (H) divides the article storage section (8) of the article storage rack (5) into a plurality of zones (Z), and a plurality of article storage sections in units of each zone (Z). The article storage facility according to claim 1, wherein at least one temporary storage unit (8a) is secured for each (8). 3. The article storage facility according to claim 2, wherein the control means (H) is configured so as to be able to change a division state of the article storage section (8) into a plurality of zones (Z). 4. When the control means (H) executes the take-out control and the article (A) is present in the article holding section (10) located in front of the article storage section (8), the article The article storage facility according to claim 1, 2 or 3, which is configured to execute a take-out priority mode in which the article (A) is taken out and stored in the article holding section (10) in front of the temporary storage section (8a). . 5. When the control means (H) executes the take-out control, if the article (A) is present in the article holding section (10) located in front of the article storage section (8), the front The article storage facility according to claim 1, 2 or 3, which is configured to execute a storage priority mode in which the article (A) is taken out and stored in the article holding section (10) at the back of the temporary storage section (8a). . 6. When the control means (H) executes the take-out control, if the article (A) is present in the article holding section (10) located in front of the article storage section (8), the front The article (A) is taken out and stored in the article holding section (10) in front of the temporary storage section (8a). The extraction priority mode is executed and the article is stored in the article holding section (10) at the back of the temporary storage section (8a). The article storage facility according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the storage priority mode is configured to be switched to the execution of the storage priority mode. 7. The article storage shelves (5) are provided on both sides of the transfer path (4) of the transfer device (1) on both sides of the article storage shelves (8) of the article storage shelves (5). The article storage facility according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, wherein a storage outlet is provided so as to face the transport path (4) side. 8. The article holder (10) is an article (C).
2 are arranged in the depth direction of each article storage unit (8) so as to hold the pallet (P) on which the article storage shelves (5) are placed, ), Which is capable of traveling along the storage outlet of the article storage unit (8) and is capable of moving up and down in the vertical direction, and an extendable and retractable fork (14) provided on the lift (13). The article storage facility according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7, which comprises a stacker crane provided.