JPH0954807A - Automatic conveyance route deciding system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decide the destination and route of conveyance corresponding to the custody ability of custody areas and the states of conveyance facilities. SOLUTION: When there is custody ability in a regular custody area 7a for an article 10, a central control unit 8 finds a regular conveyance route. When route is normal, instruction information is outputted to control equipment 5, and the article 10 is conveyed through the regular conveyance route to the area 7a. When this route is not normal, the instruction information is outputted to control equipment 5 and 6, and the article is conveyed through any substitutive conveyance route. When the area 7a has no custody ability, the regular route to an area 7b of a substitutive area is found. When this route is normal, the instruction information is outputted to the equipment 5, and the article is conveyed through the regular conveyance route to the area 7b. When this route is not normal, the instruction information is outputted to the equipment 5 and 6, and the article is conveyed through any substitutive conveyance route.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer route automatic determination system for automatically determining a transfer destination of an article or a transfer route to the transfer destination in loading and unloading operations in factories, warehouses and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in loading and unloading operations of factories and warehouses, articles have been transported and stored in a storage area without considering the storage capacity of the storage area for storing products and the current inventory amount. . Therefore, when an article is transported beyond the storage capacity of the storage area, the article is transported to another place where the worker can store the article. In addition, if a failure occurs in the transfer facility from the receiving area to the storage area or part of the transfer facility from the storage area to the shipping area, and the equipment stops, the transfer facility will not be able to transfer and the goods will be damaged. It will stay in front of the place.

[0003]

As described above, in the conventional loading and unloading system, the storage capacity of the storage area is not taken into consideration. Therefore, when the article is conveyed beyond the storage capacity, the article is stored. There is a problem that the worker has to transport it to another place where it can be stored by a forklift or the like, which significantly lowers the work efficiency. Also, if a failure occurs in the transfer facility, the articles will stay in front of the failure point.Therefore, either remove the article from the transfer facility and carry it to the destination by the worker, or somewhere until the failure is fixed. However, there is a problem that work efficiency is significantly reduced. The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an automatic transfer route determination system that improves the work efficiency by determining the transfer destination and the transfer route according to the storage capacity of the storage area or the state of the transfer facility. The purpose is to provide.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a transport facility for transporting an article, a plurality of storage areas including a regular storage area for storing the article and an alternative storage area for the article, and an article to be transported. If there is a storage capacity in the regular storage area of, the transport equipment outputs the transport instruction information to transport the article to the regular storage area, and if there is no storage capacity, an alternative storage area is obtained and the transport equipment is instructed to transport. A central control unit that outputs information and conveys the article to an alternative storage area. In this way, a plurality of storage areas consisting of the regular storage area and its alternative storage area are provided, and the central control unit determines whether or not the regular storage area of the object to be transported has a storage capacity, so that it becomes the transport destination. A storage area is determined, and the article is transported to this storage area.

Further, the transfer facility is composed of a plurality of transfer facilities which form a regular transfer route to the storage area and an alternative transfer route, and the central control unit determines the storage area and then moves to this area. If the normal transportation route is found, if the normal transportation route is normal, the transportation instruction information is output to the transportation equipment that composes this route and the article is transported to the storage area. The transportation instruction information is output to the transportation equipment that constitutes the route to transport the article to the storage area. In this way, by providing multiple transfer facilities that form a regular transfer route to the storage area and its alternative transfer route, and the central controller checks whether the regular transfer route is normal, the transfer route to the storage area is Once determined, the article is transported to the storage area by this transport route.

[0006] Further, a regular transport route from the storage area in which the articles are stored to the shipping destination area and a plurality of transport facilities constituting the alternative transport route, and a regular transport route from the storage area to the shipping destination area are obtained. , If the regular transport route is normal, transport instruction information is output to the transport equipment that configures this route to transport the goods from the storage area to the shipping destination area, and if it is not normal, an alternative transport route is obtained and this route is used. And a central control device that outputs the conveyance instruction information to the conveyance equipment constituting the above and conveys the article to the delivery destination area. In this way, by providing multiple transport facilities that form a regular transport route from the storage area to the delivery area and its alternative transport route, the central controller checks whether the regular transport route is normal, A transportation route to the shipping destination area is determined, and the article is transported to the shipping destination area by this transportation route.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a transport route automatic determination system showing one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a receiving / shipping area (truck berth) for storing the received goods in the warehouse or shipping the goods issued from the warehouse, 2 is a stock area for storing the goods for a long time separately from the warehouse, 3, 4 Are conveyors, 5 and 6 are conveyor control devices for controlling the conveyors 3 and 4, respectively, in accordance with instructions from a central control device described later, 7 is a warehouse, and 7a and 7b are storage areas in the warehouse 7.

A central control unit 8 determines the storage area by checking the storage capacity of the storage areas 7a and 7b to which the articles to be stored are transferred, and the transfer route from the receiving / shipping area 1 to the storage area. , Or the conveyor route is determined by checking the states of the conveyors 3 and 4 that constitute the transportation route from the storage area to the area 1 or area 2 that is the destination of the goods to be delivered, and the conveyor control devices 5 and 6 are instructed to carry the transportation route. The information is output to convey the article to the destination. 10 is an article such as a product or a part produced in a factory.

Further, 3a to 3i are conveying sections which are division units of the conveyor 3, and these are driven by separate motors. 3j and 3k are reject lines for extracting articles that could not be conveyed by any of the methods described later, and 4a to 4f are conveyance sections that are division units of the conveyor 4 similar to the sections 3a to 3i. In the present embodiment, the conveyor 4 is different from the conventional transfer equipment including the conveyor 3 (3a to 3k) and the conveyor control device 5.
(4a to 4f), a new transfer facility including the conveyor control device 6 is added.

Next, the operation of such a transport route automatic determination system will be described. FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of this system at the time of storage. First, when the articles 10 accumulated in the loading / unloading area 1 are loaded on the conveying line (that is, the conveyor 3), the barcode label attached to the articles 10 is read by a reading device (not shown) (step 100). .

The central controller 8 recognizes the article number of the article 10 from the obtained bar code data, searches the article master information based on this article number, and checks the regular storage area of the article (step 101). This article master information is registered in advance in the central control unit 8, and is a regular article storage area, its alternative storage area,
The volume of the regular storage area, the volume of the alternative storage area, and the volume per article are registered in a form corresponding to the product number of each article.

In this way, when the regular storage area of the relevant article is found, it is judged whether or not the regular storage area has the storage capacity based on the article master information and the inventory management information (step 102). Inventory management information is also registered in advance in the central controller 8, and the date and time of receipt of each article (registered by article number) currently stored in the storage area, the quantity of each article of the same article number, and the total value of the quantity of these articles Similarly, the volume of each article and its total value are registered for each storage area.

That is, the central control unit 8 sums up the volume of the relevant regular storage area in the article master information and the volume per relevant article, and the total quantity of the articles stored in the relevant regular storage area in the inventory management information. Based on the value and the total volume value, the storage capacity of this storage area is checked to see if the article can be stored in this regular storage area.

If it is determined that the storage capacity is available,
The transport route master information is searched to check the proper transport route to the relevant storage area (step 103). The transport route master information is also registered in advance in the central controller 8, and the regular transport route from the receiving / shipping area 1 to the storage area and its alternative transport route are registered for each storage area.

The transport route is combination information of transport facilities (sections) up to the target storage area. For example, the regular transport route to the storage area 7a is the sections 3a to 3
d and 3f are registered, and alternative transportation routes are sections 3a and 4
e, 4a to 4d, 4f, 3d, and 3f are registered.
Similarly, the regular transportation route to the storage area 7b is the section 3
a-3e and 3g are registered, and the alternative transportation route is section 3
It is registered as a, 4e, 4a-4d, 4f, 3d, 3e, 3g.

In this way, when the regular transportation route to the relevant storage area is found, the central control unit 8 next judges whether this regular transportation route is normal and determines whether the relevant article can be transported by this transportation route. Check (step 104). Whether or not the transportation route is normal can be determined by the transportation facility information for each transportation section transmitted from the conveyor control devices 5 and 6.

According to this transport facility information, whether the transport facility is normal, whether it is currently operated by automatic control or manual control, or if it is abnormal, a short-term failure (such as a misalignment of goods from the conveyor) It is possible to judge for each transport section whether it is a long-term failure (motor failure, etc.). When it is determined that the regular transport route is normal, the transport instruction information based on the transport route is output to the conveyor control device 5 (step 105).

As a result, the articles 10 loaded on the transport line are transported to the regular storage area by the conveyor 3 which constitutes the regular transport route. For example, if the regular storage area of the article 10 is 7a, the transport sections 3a to 3d, 3f
Will be transported to the storage area 7a. Then, when the warehouse 7 is an automated warehouse, the articles 10 transported to the storage area 7a are stored in a storage location such as a rack by a facility such as a crane (not shown) according to an instruction from the central controller 8, and the warehouse 7 is a flat warehouse. In the case of, it is stored in the storage place (flat shelf) by the worker.

Further, since the goods are stored in the storage area and the stock quantity increases, the central control unit 8 adds the quantity and the volume of the goods related to the storage area by the quantity of the goods 10, and the current date and time of the goods 10 is stored. The inventory management information is updated by registering it as the receipt date and time. The above description is for article 10
Although there is a storage capacity in the regular storage area and the regular transportation route is normal, there may be a judgment result that there is no storage capacity because the stock amount in the regular storage area is full.

In this case, the determination N is made in step 102.
Therefore, the central control unit 8 searches the article master information based on the article number of the article 10 to check the alternative storage area of the article (step 106). When the alternative storage area is known, it is determined whether or not this storage area has a storage capacity based on the article master information and the inventory management information as in the regular storage area (step 107).

If it is determined that the storage capacity is available,
The transport route master information is searched to check the proper transport route to the relevant storage area (step 108). When the regular transport route is found, it is determined whether the regular transport route is normal or not in the same manner as described above (step 109). When it is determined that this route is normal, the transport instruction information based on the transport route is output to the conveyor controller 5. Yes (Step 11
0).

In this way, the article 10 is transported to the alternative storage area by the conveyor 3 which constitutes a regular transportation route. For example, if the alternative storage area for the article 10 is 7b, the storage area 7b passes through the transport sections 3a to 3e and 3g.
Will be transported to. Then, as in the above, the article 1
0 is stored in the storage area 7b, and the central controller 8 updates the information by adding the amount of the article 10 to the inventory management information about the storage area 7b.

The description so far has been made on the case where the regular transportation route is normal, but there may be a case where a failure occurs on a part of the regular transportation route. For example, if the article 10 is to be transported to the regular storage area 7a by the regular transportation route and a failure occurs in the section 3c on this route, step 1
Since the determination result in 04 is No, the central controller 8
The transfer route master information is searched for an alternative transfer route to the storage area 7a (step 111).

When the alternative transportation route is found, it is judged whether this transportation route is normal or not (step 1).
12) If it is determined that this route is normal, the transport instruction information based on the transport route is output to the conveyor control devices 5 and 6 (step 113). Thus, the article 10 is conveyed to the storage area 7a through the sections 3a, 4e, 4a to 4d, 4f, 3d, 3f, and the central controller 8 adds the quantity of the article 10 to the inventory management information on the storage area 7a. Update information.

If the transportation route is not normal in step 112, the transportation route to the regular storage area cannot be used as the regular route or the alternative route. Therefore, the process proceeds to step 106, and the alternate storage is performed in the same manner as above. Examine the area. Next, the article 10 is stored in the alternative storage area 7b.
Section 3c
If a failure occurs in the
Therefore, the central control unit 8 searches the transportation route master information for the alternative transportation route to the storage area 7b (step 114).

When the alternative transportation route is found, it is judged whether this transportation route is normal (step 11).
5) If it is determined that this route is normal, the transport instruction information based on the transport route is output to the conveyor control devices 5 and 6 (step 116). Thus, the article 10 is in the section 3
A, 4e, 4a to 4d, 4f, 3d, 3e, 3g are conveyed to the storage area 7b, and the central controller 8 updates the information by adding the amount of the article 10 to the stock management information on the storage area 7b. .

If there is no storage capacity in the alternative storage area in step 107, or if there is an abnormality in the alternative transport route in step 115, the central controller 8 outputs instruction information to the conveyor controller 5. The article 10 is pulled out to the reject line 3j or 3k (step 117 or 118). The extracted article is separately transported by the worker. As described above, the central controller 8 determines the storage area and the transportation route, and transports the article to the storage area by the transportation facility that constitutes this transportation route.

Next, the operation of such a system at the time of shipping will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the same transport facility is used for warehousing and unloading, and the transport direction is the opposite direction when warehousing, but a transport facility different from the transport facility for warehousing may be provided. Needless to say.

First, when the operator inputs the shipping instruction information (step 200), the central control unit 8 searches the above-mentioned inventory management information and shipping destination master information to determine the storage area of the shipping origin, Allocate inventory that meets the required quantity specified by the shipping instruction information (step 20).
1). The delivery instruction information is made up of the item number of the article, the delivery quantity, the delivery destination, and the like. The delivery destination master information is registered in advance in the central control unit 8, and whether the delivery destination or the stock area is set for each delivery destination. Is registered.

That is, when the area 1 is designated as the shipping destination by the shipping instruction information, the central control unit 8 searches the shipping destination master information and determines the area 1 as the receiving / shipping area, and determines the storage area of the shipping source. decide. If the delivery destination is the receipt / shipment area, the allocation method is FIFO.
(First In First Out) method. As a result, among the articles of the relevant product number designated by the delivery instruction information, the article having the oldest receiving date and time is checked from the inventory management information as the article to be delivered, and the storage area of the delivery source is thus determined.

If the delivery destination is the stock area, the allocation method is LIFO (Last In First Out:
It's a last-in first-out method. Therefore, among the articles of the designated corresponding product number, the article having a new arrival date and time is checked as the article to be delivered from the inventory management information, and the storage area of the delivery source is determined. When the stock allocation is completed in this way, the transportation route master information is searched to check the regular transportation route to the delivery destination (step 202).

In the above-mentioned transport route master information, the regular transport route to the shipping destination and its alternative transport route are registered for each shipping source and shipping destination. For example, storage area 7
Regular transport routes from a to Area 1 are sections 3f and 3d
~ 3a is registered, and alternative transportation routes are sections 3f, 3
d, 4f, 4d to 4a, 4e, and 3a are registered.

Similarly, the regular transportation route from the storage area 7a to the area 2 is the sections 3f, 3d to 3a, 3h, 3i.
And the alternative transportation routes are sections 3f, 3d, 4
f, 4d to 4a, 4e, 3a, 3h, and 3i are registered. Also, from storage area 7b to area 1 or area 2
The regular transportation route to and the alternate transportation route are similarly registered.

When the regular transportation route is determined, it is determined whether this transportation route is normal or not (step 203), and if it is determined that the transportation route is normal, the conveyor control device 5 is instructed to carry the transportation instruction information. Is output (step 204). For example, if the shipping source is the storage area 7a and the shipping destination is the receiving / shipping area 1, the corresponding number of articles designated by the shipping instruction information is transported to the area 1 through the sections 3f, 3d to 3a. Stock area 2 is the delivery destination.
If so, the corresponding articles are sections 3f, 3d to 3a, 3h, 3
It is transported to area 2 through i.

Then, since the designated quantity of goods has been shipped from the storage area 7a and the stock amount has decreased, the central control unit 8 subtracts the quantity and volume of the relevant goods relating to the storage area 7a by the quantity of the shipped goods. Accordingly, the inventory management information is updated.

When the warehouse 7 is an automatic warehouse, the articles issued by the central controller 8 are automatically taken out from the storage area and placed in the transportation facility. Also, warehouse 7
In the case of a flat warehouse, the worker takes out the goods to be delivered from the storage location and puts them in the transportation facility. Then, the bar code label of the article is read by a reading device (not shown) at the time of loading, so that the central control device 8 recognizes the article number of the article and performs the subsequent conveyance control.

Next, when a failure occurs in the section 3b on the regular transportation route, a judgment No is given in step 203, so the central control unit 8 searches the transportation route master information and substitutes the transportation route to the delivery destination. Is checked (step 205). When the alternative transport route is found, it is determined whether this transport route is normal (step 20).
6) If it is determined that this route is normal, the conveyance instruction information is output to the conveyor control devices 5 and 8 (step 20).
7).

In this way, if the delivery source is the storage area 7a and the delivery destination is the receiving / shipping area 1, the corresponding articles of the quantity specified by the delivery instruction information are in the sections 3f, 3d, 4f, 4d-4.
After being conveyed to the area 1 through a, 4e, and 3a, the central control unit 8 updates the information by subtracting the amount of the delivered goods from the inventory management information regarding the storage area 7a. If the alternative transport route is also abnormal, the central control unit 8 outputs the instruction information to the conveyor control unit 5 and causes the article to be taken out to the reject line 3j or 3k (step 20).
8). The extracted article is separately transported by the operator.

In this way, the central control unit 8 determines the transportation route, and the transportation facility constituting this transportation route transports the article to the delivery destination area. It should be noted that, in the above embodiment, for example, transfer from the section 3a to 3h
When transferring from d to 3f, it is necessary to make a branch for transferring the article, and such a branch moves a guide for guiding the article or pushes a bottom surface on which the article is placed. It can be realized by technology. For this reason, a reading device (not shown) is provided in front of each branch point to read the bar code label of the article, whereby the central control unit 8 can discriminate the article and branch.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, all the transfer equipment is constituted by the conveyor, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it may be combined with other transfer equipment such as a vertical transfer machine, a traverser (unmanned vehicle).

[0041]

According to the present invention, a plurality of storage areas are provided, and the central control unit checks whether or not the regular storage area for the article to be transported has a storage capacity, so that the storage area to be the destination can be determined. Since the determined goods are transported to this storage area, the goods can be efficiently stored in each storage area, and when the storage area does not have the storage capacity as in the past, the worker transports it to another location. Since there is no need, work efficiency can be significantly improved.

Further, by providing a plurality of transportation facilities, and by the central controller checking whether the regular transportation route is normal, the transportation route to the storage area is determined, and the article is transported to the storage area by this transportation route. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently convey the goods to the storage area without delay, and it is not necessary for the worker to convey the goods when the trouble occurs in the conveyance equipment as in the conventional case, so that the work efficiency is remarkably improved. Can be improved.

Further, by providing a plurality of transportation facilities and checking whether the regular transportation route is normal by the central control unit, the transportation route to the shipping destination area is determined, and the article is transported to the shipping destination area by this transportation route. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently convey the goods to the shipping area without delay, and it is not necessary for the worker to carry out the goods by extracting them when a failure occurs in the conveyance equipment as in the conventional case. The efficiency can be significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a transport route automatic determination system showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the system of FIG. 1 at the time of warehousing.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart diagram for explaining an operation of the system of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... receiving / shipping area, 2 ... stock area, 3, 4 ... conveyor, 5, 6 ... conveyor control device, 7 ... warehouse, 8 ... central control device, 10 ... articles, 3a to 3i, 4a to 4f ... transport section, 3j, 3k ... Reject line, 7a, 7b ... Storage area.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A transport route automatic determination system for automatically determining a transport destination of a product or a transport route to the transport destination, wherein a transport facility for transporting the product and a regular storage for storing the product. If there are storage capacities in multiple storage areas consisting of an area and its alternative storage area and the regular storage area for the goods to be transported, transport instruction information is output to the transport facility and the goods are transported to the regular storage area. If there is no storage capacity, it has an alternative storage area, outputs transfer instruction information to a transfer facility, and has a central control device for transferring the article to the alternative storage area. 2. The automatic transport route determination system according to claim 1, wherein the transport facility comprises a regular transport route to a storage area and a plurality of transport facilities forming an alternative transport route thereof, After determining the storage area, the control device determines the regular transportation route to this storage area, and if the regular transportation route is normal, outputs the transportation instruction information to the transportation equipment that constitutes this route and stores the article. Transport it to the area,
If not normal, an alternative transport route is obtained, and transport instruction information is output to the transport equipment constituting this route to transport the article to the storage area. 3. A transport route automatic determination system for automatically determining a transport route of an article to a transport destination, comprising a regular transport route from a storage area storing articles to a delivery destination area and its alternative transport. Obtain multiple transportation facilities that make up the route and the regular transportation route from the storage area to the shipping destination area.If the regular transportation route is normal, output the transportation instruction information to the transportation facilities that configure this route and load the goods. It has a central control unit that conveys an article from the storage area to the delivery destination area, if it is not normal, obtains an alternative conveyance route, outputs the conveyance instruction information to the conveyance equipment that constitutes this route, and conveys the article to the delivery destination area. A transport route automatic determination system characterized by the above.