JPH10171904A - Warehousing and forwarding indication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a warehousing and forwarding indication device which grasps the arrangement of a storing part even when there is an arrangement change of the storing part and indicates a place of the storing part to an operator. SOLUTION: This warehousing and forwarding indication device is provided with indicating means 2 which indicate information of articles to be stored or taken out on/from an article shelf to an operator and an information processor 3. The processor 3 is provided with storage areas 9 which consists of sets of such basic areas 12 as to divide the article shelf into many places and a setting means 17 which sets a section that shows a storing part in the the areas 9 in a resettable way by combining the areas 12 in accordance with the arrangement of a storing part of the article shelf and also sets an address 17 of the section, and the means 2 instructs the place of a storing part for warehousing and forwarding based on the address 17 of a section.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a loading / unloading instruction device, and more particularly to a loading / unloading instruction device which can easily cope with a change of a storage section of an article shelf.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When stocks of articles (products) are managed, even if the varieties of the products are the same, there are a plurality of colors, patterns, sizes (size, length, weight, etc.). Frequently increases and decreases. Conventionally, in shelf management, a system of one location (storage unit) and one item (commodity) (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-170312) is common. However, it is necessary to secure a shelf space in consideration of not only a shelf space corresponding to the stock amount but also a maximum stock amount to satisfy this method. In addition, such a system requires more shelf space than necessary, for example, due to seasonal fluctuations and new products.

[0003] Conventionally, as a storage and retrieval instruction apparatus which can easily cope with a change of a storage section, there is one as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-84245. This entry and exit instruction device,
A terminal device arranged on a cart for loading and unloading articles;
A transponder capable of reading and writing information related to an article from the terminal device of the cart in a non-contact manner, and a central device for communicating and processing information related to the entry / exit of the article with the terminal device of the cart. It is configured.

[0004] The transponder is mounted on a shelf in which goods are stored so as to be portable in units of appropriate blocks (storage units) in accordance with the form of the product. Of the articles (codes, numbers, etc.) stored in the. At the time of entry / exit of articles, the terminal device receives and displays the article information such as "shelves address, article code, and number" from the central apparatus.

[0005] Then, based on the display, the operator moves the cart to the designated shelf and takes out the transponder placed on the designated shelf. Then, the terminal device determines whether or not the item information of the terminal device and the item information of the transponder "match", and if they match, entry / exit of the item to / from the place where the storage device was placed. I do.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned entry / exit instruction device, the change of the arrangement of the storage section is dealt with by changing the position of the transponder which is mounted so as to be portable. Problem. That is, since the transponder is made portable, not only the transponder but also the central device cannot grasp in which position in the shelf the article to be taken out is stored. For this reason, even at the time of loading and unloading, the central device cannot instruct the terminal device on the position of the storage unit in the shelf. As a result, in order to confirm that the place where entry / exit is to be carried out is correct, it is necessary to perform a matching judgment operation between the article information of the terminal device and the article information of the transponder, resulting in a decrease in work efficiency.

[0007] In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an entry / exit instruction device capable of grasping the arrangement of the storage unit and instructing the worker of the location of the storage unit even if the arrangement of the storage unit is changed. The purpose is to provide.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object,
The present invention has taken the following technical measures. That is, the feature of the present invention is that an instruction means for instructing an operator on information of articles to be put in and taken out of the article shelf, and an information processing apparatus for performing communication with the instruction means and processing for entry / exit of articles. In the entry and exit instruction device provided with the information processing device, the information processing device, according to the arrangement of the storage area of the storage unit of the article shelf, and a storage area configured by a set of basic areas divided into a number of article shelves And setting means for setting a partition representing a storage unit in the storage area so as to be resettable, and setting an address of the partition, wherein the instruction means is configured to input an address based on the address of the partition. The point is to indicate the location of the storage unit to be retrieved.

In this case, the articles are managed for each section, and the section is composed of a combination of basic areas. Therefore, when the arrangement of the storage section is changed, the combination of the basic areas is changed accordingly. May be reset, and this setting may be performed simply by combining the basic areas according to the arrangement of the storage units. Further, the information processing apparatus can grasp the arrangement of the storage unit of the article shelf based on the partition of the storage area, and can specify the location of the storage unit based on the address of the partition.

In the present invention, the address of the section is set based on the position of the section in the storage area. Can be indicated as Since the storage area is constituted by a set of basic areas obtained by dividing the article shelf into a large number, the position of the section in the storage area and the position of the corresponding storage unit on the article shelf are corresponding to each other. Has become.

Therefore, if the address of a section is set based on the position of the section in the storage area, the address becomes
This indicates the position of the storage unit on the goods shelf. For this reason, if the address of the section is indicated as the location of the storage unit to be moved in and out, it is possible to find the position of the storage unit on the article shelf only by that address, and the work efficiency is good.

Further, in the present invention, each of the storage units may include a sign unit corresponding to the instruction content of the instruction unit. In this case, the correspondence between the instruction content of the instruction means and the storage unit to be entered / exited becomes clear, so that the entry / exit operation can be performed reliably.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a storage and retrieval instruction apparatus 1 according to the present invention. This entry / exit instruction device 1
Instruction means 2 for instructing a worker on information on articles to be taken in and out, such as the location of a storage unit to be taken in and out and the number of articles.
And an information processing device 3 for performing processing relating to communication with the instruction means and entry / exit of articles.

As shown in FIG. 2, the indicating means 2 comprises an article shelf 4
a, 4b, 4c. . , And each of these article shelves 4 is provided with columns 5, 5,. . Between them, a horizontal rail 6 is erected to form a multi-stage shelf. The position of each horizontal rail 6 can be changed in the vertical direction.
It is also possible to increase or decrease the number of stages by changing the number of steps. Further, each level of the article shelf 4 is 1 or 2 respectively.
The storage is divided into the storage units 7 described above.

Here, the storage section 7 refers to a space in which a group of articles is to be stored, and the group of articles generally refers to a set of one type of articles. A collection of different types of articles may be used. In FIG. 2, no partition is provided between the adjacent storage units 7, but a partition or the like may be provided. In that case, the size of the storage unit 7
It is preferable to provide a partition so that the position can be changed so that the number can be changed.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of the article shelves 4 are arranged so as to form a row of the article shelves.
Although not shown, a plurality of rows of the article shelves are arranged in parallel so as to constitute an operator passage between the rows. The information processing device 3 sets a storage area 9 for representing each of the article shelves 4 and a section indicating the arrangement of the storage unit 7 of the corresponding article shelf 4 in the storage area 9 so as to be resettable. And a communication unit 11 for transmitting and receiving data to and from the instruction means 2.

The storage area 9 is composed of a set of a plurality of basic areas 12, and is a two-dimensional data obtained by dividing one article shelf 4 into a large number in the height direction and the horizontal direction. It has been. FIG. 3 shows the state of the storage area 9 corresponding to the article shelf 4a in FIG. 2 on the output means 14 such as a CRT, and the part surrounded by a double line indicates the storage area 9. As described above, the storage area 9 is divided into “9” in the direction corresponding to the lateral direction of the article shelf 4 and “9” in the direction corresponding to the height direction of the article shelf 4, for a total of 81 pieces. It is composed of a basic area (an area indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 3).

The number of the basic areas 12 may be other than the above number. However, if the number can be displayed by one digit in the support means 2, the structure of the support means 2 becomes simple and preferable. It is desirable that the number be large enough to cope with the change. Therefore, "10" may be divided in the horizontal direction and "10" in the vertical direction, so that a total of 100 basic regions may be obtained. Further, the number of the basic regions 12 may be increased or decreased.

Each basic area 12 has a value in a direction corresponding to the lateral direction of the article shelf 4a (values 1 to 9; hereinafter, referred to as "the number of cells") with respect to the lower left corner of the storage area 9; 4
a in the direction corresponding to the height direction of a (values of 1 to 9:
"Referred to as" basic area step number "). For example,
If it is a basic area at the upper left corner of the storage area 9, the number of cells = 1,
The number of basic region steps = 9.

The setting means 10 sets a section corresponding to the storage unit 7 by combining one or more basic areas 12 based on an input from an input means 15 such as a keyboard, a mouse, an optical pen or the like. It is. As shown in FIG. 3, a partition of the storage area 9 is set as follows (in FIG. 3, the partition is indicated by a solid line).

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the section setting is performed after setting the steps (step S1) for setting the steps of the storage area 9 corresponding to the steps of the article shelf 4. Is set by setting the number of cells of the basic region 12 (step S2), and the settings are registered (step S3). Step setting (step S1)
As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, first, the number of the row of the article shelf to which the article shelf 4 to be set and the number of the article shelf 4 are input (step S4). Is specified. Then, in the case where the article shelf has a four-level configuration like the article shelf 4a in FIG. 2, the first and second levels of the storage area 9 are changed by the input means 15 while viewing the display as shown in FIG. Allocated to the first stage of the shelf 4a, and 3 to 5
It is input that the tier is assigned to the second tier of the shelf 4a, the sixth tier and the seventh tier are assigned to the third tier of the shelf 4a, and the eighth and ninth tiers are also assigned to the fourth tier of the shelf 4a. Step S
5).

Then, the setting means 10 divides the height direction of the storage area 9 into four steps as shown in FIG. 3 based on the input (hereinafter, each set step is referred to as a division step). If it is desired to continue setting the steps also for other article shelves 4, the process returns to step 4, and the article shelves 4 for which another step setting is desired are performed.
If not, the step setting (step S1) ends (step S6).

In the mass setting (step S2), first, the number of partitions to be set is designated (step S2).
7). For example, if the user wants to set the cell of the section corresponding to the first row of the article shelf 4a in FIG. Then, as shown in the first row of the article shelf 4a in FIG.
When providing two storage units 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d,
The first cell and the second cell are placed one by one from the left end of the first row of the goods shelf 4a.
The third and fourth squares are assigned to the second storage unit 7b, the fifth and sixth squares are assigned to the third storage unit 7c, and the seventh to ninth squares are assigned to the third storage unit 7a. The user inputs that the information is to be allocated to the fourth storage unit 7d (step S8).

Then, based on the input, the setting means 10 sets the first partition of the storage area 9 as shown in FIG.
Divide into two. If the sizes of the storage units are the same, instead of inputting each allocation one by one, if the input unit 15 inputs 4 which is the number of storage units 7, the number of cells allocated to each storage unit is reduced. The automatic assignment may be performed so that the assignment is made as evenly as possible (for example, the above-described assignment).

If it is desired to continue mass setting for the other division stages (second stage to fourth stage), the process returns to step 7, and if there is no other division stage for which mass setting is to be performed, The mass setting (step S2) ends (step S2).
9). The input for the section setting does not have to be performed according to the above-described procedure, and may be any input as long as the number of basic areas and the number of squares of the basic area constituting the section are specified for each section.

As described above, the storage area 9 is formed by dividing one article shelf 4 into a large number in the height direction and the horizontal direction.
Since this is dimensional data, and the position of the basic area 12 in the storage area 9 corresponds to the positional relationship in the article shelf 4, when combining the basic areas 12 forming one section, , The basic area 12 corresponding to the actual position of the storage unit 4
, It is easy to input for section setting.

When the arrangement of the storage unit 7 is changed, the partition setting may be performed again. Further, the setting means 10 sets the address 17 of each section after the section is set. The address 17 only needs to be able to uniquely specify each section in one storage area 9. Such an address 17 may be automatically set by the setting unit 10, or may be set by the input unit 15. May be set by the setting means 10 based on the input from the user. However, address 17
Is displayed as it is by the instructing means 2 and indicates the location of the storage unit 7 as described later, and may be set as shown in FIG.

That is, the address 17 in FIG. 3 indicates the number of steps in the storage unit 7 corresponding to the section, and the number of cells in the lower left corner of the basic area 12 constituting the section (hereinafter referred to as the "number of frontage").
And a combination of For example, goods shelf 4
In the case of the section corresponding to the storage unit 7e on the right side of the fourth tier of “a”, the basic area at the lower left corner is the sixth square, so “4-6”
The address 17 is set as follows.

As described above, if the address 17 is constituted by the number of squares of any one of the basic areas constituting the section, the relationship between the position of the basic area and the position on the article shelf 4 is increased. Only by looking at the address 17 displayed on the instructing means 2, the worker can know the approximate location of the storage section from which the article should be taken out. Further, the number of frontage of the address 17 may be a number obtained by sequentially numbering the storage units 7 in each row of the article shelf 4. That is, the address 17 of the section corresponding to the storage unit 7a is “1-1”, the address 17 of the section corresponding to the storage unit 7b is “1-2”, and the address 17 of the section corresponding to the storage unit 7c is “1-”. The address 17 of the section corresponding to “3” and the storage unit 7d may be “1-4”.

The mass setting (step S2) includes:
It is not necessary to set the whole of a certain partition stage, and it may be set while leaving an empty area as shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, a section marked with a cross (for example, “1-1”) is already set, and the other basic areas are empty areas. Then, when the number of articles stored in a certain storage unit 7 decreases, a part of the basic area constituting the section corresponding to the storage unit 7 is released (partition resetting) to make it an empty area. be able to.

When goods are stored, an empty shelf search process is performed to check the storage unit 7 (section) in which goods can be stored. This empty shelf search process is performed as shown in the flowchart of FIG. In the empty shelf search process, first, in order to specify the article shelf 7 to be searched, the number of the row of the article shelf and the number of the article shelf are instructed (step S10). Then, a search is performed for the article shelf 7 (step S1).
1). If there is no free space in the article shelf for storing the article, the process returns to step S10 and waits for the input of the number of another article shelf. If there is a free space, the storage area 9 corresponding to the article shelf is returned.
Is displayed (step S13).

Further, if it is necessary to change the section upon receipt of the article, the column setting (step S15) and the cell setting (step S16) are performed. If the section does not need to be changed, the article is stored. The address corresponding to the storage unit 7 to be executed is confirmed (step S17) (step S14). Then, the article number of the article is updated, and the quantity is input (step S18). Then, the setting and input contents are registered (step S19), and the article (product) is stored in the storage unit (step S20). Then, when there is another article being stored, the process returns to step S10, and otherwise, the process ends (step S21).

At the time of article retrieval, the address 17 and the number of articles to be taken out are indicated by the indicating means 2 via the communication section 11. The communication unit 11 transmits the address 17 and the number of articles to be taken out to the instructing means 2 and receives a signal by an operation performed in the instructing means 2 in response to an in / out request. The indicating means 2 displays the address 17 and the number of articles to be taken out, and is provided at a central position of each article shelf 4. The instruction means 2 includes a step number display section 19, a frontage display section 20, a quantity display section 21, a lighting section 22, a completion button 23, and a function button 24.

The step number display section 19 is for displaying the step number which is an element constituting the address 17, and is constituted by a 7-segment green one-digit LED. The frontage display unit 20 is for displaying the number of frontage which is an element constituting the address 17, and is a green 7-segment single-digit LED.
It is composed of The quantity display section 21 displays the quantity of articles to be taken out, and includes a red 7 segment 3
It is composed of a digit LED.

The lighting section 22 is used to inform the worker of the fact that the storage section 7 from which the article is to be taken out is provided on the article shelf 4 provided with the indicating means 2 by turning on the light. It is composed of The completion button 23 is pressed when the loading and unloading is completed, thereby notifying the information processing apparatus 3 of the completion.

The function button 24 is used when the number of articles in the storage unit 7 is smaller than the required number of articles, for example, to perform a shortage communication for notifying the information processing apparatus 3 that the retrieval cannot be performed. . In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, a marker 26 representing each storage 7 is provided above the storage 7. This marking section 26 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 10A, a paper label 26a describing the number of frontage portions of the storage section ("3" in FIG. 10A) is held in a plastic case 26b. The plastic case upper part 26c is slidable in the horizontal direction with respect to the horizontal rail 6 of the article shelf 7, and is provided detachably.

As shown in FIG. 10 (b), in addition to the frontage number of the storage unit 7, the number of stages of the storage unit 7, the shelf number of the article shelf with the storage unit, and the storage unit And a bar code 27 is provided.
This bar code 27 can be used when the goods are stored. The position of the marker 26 is changed or replaced when the arrangement of the storage 7 is changed. As described above, the change of the storage unit 7 can be dealt with only by the change of the sign unit 26 and the resetting of the partition of the storage area 9.

Also, the left and right ends of the row of the article shelf 4 are shown in FIG.
Is provided, and this column display unit 28 is turned on when there is a storage unit to take out an item on an item shelf in the column. Hereinafter, a procedure when the worker performs the leaving work will be described. First, the information processing device 3 executes the column display unit 28 based on a leaving request or the like.
And the instruction means 2 are displayed. This retrieval is hit from the old article by the date management of the retrieval. The operator determines the row in which the storage section 7 from which the article is to be taken out is determined by the lighting of the row display section 28, and further determines the article shelf 4 in which the storage section 7 is present by the lighting section 22.

Then, the operator associates the display on the number-of-stages display section 19 of the instruction means 2 provided on the article shelf 4 with the number of levels on the article shelf 4, and the display on the frontage display section 20 and the number of frontages on the sign section 26. And find the location of the storage unit 7. Then, after taking out the articles of the quantity displayed on the quantity display section 21 from the storage section 7 and pressing the completion button 23,
The display of the instruction unit 2 and the display of the column display unit 26 are reset, and the retrieval is completed.

When the information processing device 3 detects the completion of the retrieval, the information processing device 3 performs processing such as updating the stored quantity of the articles, and again, instructs the location of the storage section 7 from which the articles should be taken out. The instruction means 2 and the like are displayed. In the case where it is not possible to take out the goods, for example, when the number of articles in the storage unit 7 is smaller than the required number of articles, pressing the function button 24 resets the instruction means 2 and the like, and the information processing apparatus 3
In addition to performing processing to the effect that the retrieval has not been completed, the instruction means 2 and the like are displayed again to indicate the location of the storage unit 7 where the article should be taken out next. Therefore, the next retrieval can be performed even if the retrieval is not completed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, what one storage area represents may not be the whole one shelf, but may be each stage of the shelf. Further, a plurality of article shelves may be represented. Further, the structure of the storage area may not be two-dimensional data, but may be, for example, one-dimensional data (suitable when one storage area represents one step of an article shelf).

Further, instead of providing one display section on the article shelf, it can be provided on each stage of the article shelf, or one display section can be provided corresponding to a plurality of article shelf groups.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The entry / exit instruction device can grasp the arrangement of the storage unit and instruct the worker of the location of the storage unit even if the arrangement of the storage unit is changed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a storage and retrieval instruction apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an article shelf employing the entry / exit instruction device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state of a storage area on a screen.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for setting a section.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of setting a row.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of mass setting.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state of a storage area in which a partition having an empty area is set.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an empty shelf search process.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a display unit.

FIG. 10A is a plan view of a sign portion, and FIG.
FIG. 9 is a plan view showing another example of the sign section.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 entry / exit instruction device 2 instruction means 3 information processing device 4 goods shelf 7 storage unit 9 storage area 10 setting means 11 communication unit 12 basic area 17 address 26 sign unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Instruction means (2) for instructing an operator on information on articles to be taken in and out of an article shelf (4), and communication with the instruction means (2) and processing relating to article entry and exit. The information processing device (3) includes a set of basic areas (12) obtained by dividing an article shelf (4) into many parts. An area (9) and the basic area (12) are stored in a storage section (7) of an article shelf (4).
Setting means (10) for setting a partition representing the storage section (7) in the storage area (9) so as to be resettable and for setting an address (17) of the partition by combining them in accordance with the arrangement of The entry / exit instruction device, wherein the instruction means (2) instructs the location of the storage unit (7) to be entered / exited based on the address (17) of the section. 2. The address (17) of a section is set based on the position of the section in the storage area (9), and the indicating means (2) sets the address (17). 2. The entry / exit instruction device according to claim 1, wherein an instruction is given as a location of the storage section (7) to be entered / exited. 3. The entry / exit instruction according to claim 1, wherein the storage section (7) includes a sign section (26) corresponding to the instruction content of the instruction means (2). apparatus.