JPH11124205A - Article storage facilities - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the efficiency of stock management, operation and space by integrating article storage facilities with picking facilities. SOLUTION: The article storage facilities comprise storing shelves 23 for stocking articles 29, 29... stored in a storehouse, and picking shelves 24 for holding articles to be shipped among the articles 29, 29.... The storing shelves 23 and the picking shelves 24 are provided with storage portions 23c and 24c to and from which the articles 29, 29... can be placed through the front surfaces 23a and 24a. Further, the storing shelves 23 and the picking shelves 24 are arranged in parallel so that their front surfaces 23a and 24a may face each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article storage facility for storing articles in a warehouse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, storage facilities and picking facilities are used for storing articles in a warehouse. The storage facility is a facility for storing incoming goods, and the picking facility is used to temporarily store unpacked / sorted items to be retrieved for convenient retrieval. It is equipment to keep.

[0003] Representative examples of these storage facilities and picking facilities are shown in FIGS. 6 (a), 6 (b) and 6 (c). The storage equipment 1 shown in FIG. 1 (a) is for simply placing the articles 2, 2,... Packed in a cardboard box or the like flat on the floor 3 and storing them (flat storage). .., And a marking (not shown) for indicating a storage position formed on the floor 3. Further, the storage facility 7 shown in (b) stores the articles stored in the pallets 8, 8,.
This is for stacking and storing (pallet rack storage).

The articles stored in the storage facilities 1 and 7 are replenished to a picking facility 11 as shown in FIG. The picking equipment 11 is specifically composed of shelves 12, 12,..., And the upper stage 12a of the shelves 12 has the articles 13, 1 conveyed from the storage facilities 1, 7.
Used to temporarily store 3, ...
2b is used for unpacking and subdividing items to be shipped among the articles 13, 13,... Stored in the upper section 12a, and for temporarily storing the items until shipment.

[0005] In the specific operation of the picking equipment 11, the articles 13 are transferred from the upper section 12a to the lower section 12b as the articles 13 are shipped from the lower section 12b. On the other hand, when the amount of articles in the upper stage 12a is reduced, the articles are replenished from the storage facilities 1, 7 to the upper stage 12a.

[0006]

The storage facilities 1 and 7 and the picking facility 11 as described above are usually provided at different places in order to increase the efficiency of the storage operation and the picking operation. However, since the storage facilities 1 and 7 and the picking facility 11 are provided separately, articles 13 of the same type exist in different places, and there has been a problem that inventory management tends to be complicated.
Further, since the storage facilities 1 and 7 and the picking facility 11 are separated from each other, the work of replenishing the articles 13 from the storage facilities 1 and 7 to the picking facility 11 is troublesome. Further, by separately providing the storage facilities 1 and 7 and the picking facility 11, separate work spaces are required for each of the storage and picking operations, and the space efficiency in the warehouse is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to simplify the inventory management of goods and to improve the efficiency of work and space by integrating storage equipment and picking equipment. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article storage facility capable of performing the above-mentioned.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means. That is, the article storage facility according to claim 1 is an article storage facility for storing articles in a warehouse, and a storage shelf for storing articles received in the warehouse, Picking shelves for storing articles to be taken out, and the storage shelves and the picking shelves are provided with storage portions capable of taking in and out the articles from at least the front side of the storage shelves and the picking shelves. ,
Further, the storage shelf and the picking shelf are arranged in parallel such that the front faces thereof face each other.

[0009] With the above-described configuration, in the article storage facility, it is possible to easily perform an operation of replenishing articles from the storage shelf to the picking shelf. Also,
It is easy to grasp the inventory of the same kind of articles.

The article storage facility according to claim 2 is the article storage facility according to claim 1, wherein the article stored in the warehouse is transported to the storage shelf.
A transport crane for replenishing the storage shelf is provided, and the transport crane is provided between the storage shelf and the picking shelf.

[0011] With the above configuration, articles stored in the warehouse can be easily stored in the storage shelves, and the work of replenishing luggage from the storage shelves to the picking shelves can be carried out by the transport crane. Can be easily performed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the article storage facility according to the second aspect, wherein the picking shelf has the front surface opposed to the storage shelf with the transport crane interposed therebetween. It is characterized in that it is arranged and its back surface is formed as a picking surface from which the article to be taken out can be taken out.

[0013] Because of the above-mentioned configuration, in the article storage facility, it is easy to pick up the articles, and at the same time, the articles are firstly stored in the picking shelf.
You can keep the first move.

An article storage facility according to a fourth aspect is the article storage facility according to the second or third aspect, wherein the transfer crane automatically controls movement of the article from the storage shelf to the picking shelf. It is characterized by comprising a control device.

[0015] With the above configuration, in the article storage facility, inventory management can be easily performed when replenishing articles from the storage shelf to the picking shelf.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the article storage facility, the storage shelf is configured such that the article can be taken in and out of the storage section from both the front side and the back side thereof, and is arranged to face the picking shelf. On the back side of the storage shelf,
At least one or more other storage shelves are arranged adjacent to each other.

With the above-described configuration, in the article storage facility, the ratio of the number of storage shelves to the number of picking shelves can be increased.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the article storage facility according to the fifth aspect, wherein the article storage facility includes a moving unit that enables the article to be moved between the storage shelves arranged adjacent to each other. It is characterized by comprising.

With the above configuration, in the article storage facility, it is possible to easily store and remove articles from the storage shelf even when many storage shelves are arranged adjacent to each other. is there.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, examples of first and second embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. [First Embodiment] FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and reference numeral 21 denotes an article storage facility. The article storage facility 21 includes storage shelves 23, 23,
..., picking shelves 24, 24, ..., transport crane 25,
, And conveyors 26, 26,. As shown in the figure, these are arranged in parallel so as to extend in the same direction.

, And picking shelves 24, 24,... Are arranged such that their front surfaces 23a, 23a,. Picking shelves 24, 2
4,... Have their front faces 24a, 24a,.
The conveyors 26, 26,... are arranged on the back surfaces 24b, 24b,. Each transport crane 25 is provided with a transport device 28 capable of transporting articles. The transport device 28 is movable along the storage shelves 23 and the picking shelves 24.
And it is comprised so that articles can be conveyed to various places of the picking shelf 24.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a cross section taken along the line AA in FIG. , And the picking shelf 2
, 24c,... And 24c, 24c,..., Which store a plurality of articles 29, 29,. Are also provided in the vertical direction. On the other hand, the transport cranes 25 are not stacked in the up-down direction, but are stored in the storage units 23c, 23c,... And 24c, 24c,
...

FIG. 3 shows the transfer device 28 of the transfer crane 25.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing details of the configuration of FIG. As shown in the drawing, the transfer device 28 has a configuration including a moving unit 28a and an elevating unit 28b. The moving unit 28a is configured to be movable on a rail 31 provided along the storage shelf 23 and the picking shelf 24, and is provided with column members 32,32. In addition, the lifting / lowering portion 28b includes the column members 32, 32.
, And can be moved up and down along the pillars 32 with the article 29 placed thereon.
Accordingly, the transport device 28 can move and transport the article 29 in both the extending direction of the rail 31 and the vertical direction.

The transfer device 28 includes a transfer crane 25.
, And 24c, 24c,... Of the storage shelf 23 and the picking shelf 24 adjacent to the storage shelf 23. Therefore, by operating the transport device 28, the storage units 23c and 23
, c to the storage units 24c, 24c,.
9 can be transferred. The operation of the transfer device 28 is performed by a control device 34 (see FIG. 1) under automatic control.

The main configuration of the article storage facility 21 has been described above. Next, a method of operating the article storage facility 21 will be described. The articles 29 entered into the warehouse are transported to the storage shelves 23 by the transport crane 25 and stored in the storage shelves 23. The articles 29 stored in the storage shelves 23 are transferred to the picking shelves 24 by the transport crane 25 as necessary. In the shipping stage of the article 29, the article 29
After being transferred to the picking shelf 24, it is packed in a form suitable for shipping, such as unpacking and subdivision, and is picked by an operator from the back surface 24b side of the picking shelf 24.

At this time, the operation of the transfer device 28 in the transfer crane 25 is performed by the control device 34, and at the same time, the control device 34 grasps the stock status of the articles 29. In the picking shelf 24, the articles 29 are supplied from the front face 24a side and picked from the back face 24b side, so that first-in / first-out of articles is protected.

Further, the articles 29 picked from the picking shelves 24 are put on a conveyor 26 by an operator and carried out, and then are taken out of the warehouse by means such as a truck.

In the article storage facility 21, the front sides 23a and 23a of the storage shelf 23 and the picking shelf 24 are provided.
Since these are arranged so that the 4a are opposed to each other, it is possible to easily perform the work of replenishing articles from the storage shelf 23 to the picking shelf 24, thereby reducing the amount of work in the warehouse. . Further, since the storage shelves 23 and the picking shelves 24 are arranged close to each other, it is easy to grasp the stock of the articles 29, and the storage, picking, and transfer of the articles 29 from the storage shelves 23 to the picking shelves 24 are easy. The work space related to the work can be shared. As a result, it is possible to improve the efficiency of work related to inventory management and the like, and to improve the space efficiency in the warehouse.

In the article storage facility 21, a transport crane 25 is provided between the storage shelf 23 and the picking shelf 24, and is used for replenishing the articles 29 from the storage shelf 23 to the picking shelf 24. Because it is a suitable arrangement,
The transfer crane 25 can be used effectively.

Further, in the article storage facility 21,
The picking shelf 24 is arranged so that its front surface 24a faces the storage shelf 23 and its back surface 24a.
b is formed as a picking surface when the article 29 is picked. Therefore, in the picking shelf 24, first-in / first-out of the article 29 is protected,
Thereby, inventory management of the article 29 can be made easier.

In the article storage facility 21, since the transport crane 25 is controlled by the control device 34, the flow of the articles 29 can be managed by computer. In particular, by automatically controlling the movement of the articles 29 from the storage shelves 23 to the picking shelves 24 by the control device 34, inventory management of the articles 29 in the storage shelves 23 and the picking shelves 24 can be collectively performed by a computer, Compared with the related art, not only the complexity of inventory management can be reduced, but also its accuracy and speed can be dramatically improved.

[Second Embodiment] Next, FIGS.
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. .., Picking shelves 24, 24, transport cranes 25, 25, and conveyors 26, 26, similarly to the article storage facility 21 shown above. , Are arranged side by side adjacent to each other to form a storage shelf module 43.
Is different.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a BB section in FIG. In the storage shelf module 43, other storage shelves 23, 23,... Are arranged side by side adjacent to the back surface 23b of the storage shelf 23 opposed to the picking shelf 24.

The storage shelves 23, 23,... Are provided with articles 29 from both the front surface 23a and the back surface 23b.
, And a front surface 23a or a back surface 23 of storage shelves 23, 23,.
b are arranged so as to face each other.

Further, the storage shelf module 43 is provided with conveyors (moving means) 44, 44,... For moving the articles 29 from the adjacent storage shelves 23 to the storage shelves 23. By the conveyors 44, 44,..., The articles 29, 29,... In the direction indicated by the symbol x in the drawing can be exchanged between the storage sections 23c, 23c,.

Further, both end faces 4 of the storage shelf module 43
The reference numerals 3a and 43b are arranged opposite to the back surface 24b of the picking shelves 24 and 24 via the transport cranes 25 and 25, respectively.

Due to such a configuration, in the article storage facility 41, the number of storage shelves 23 for the picking shelves 24 is increased as compared with the article storage facility 21 in the first embodiment. As a result, the number of storage shelves 23 necessary for storing the articles 29 can be secured, and the storage capacity of the equipment can be increased. Further, in the article storage facility 41, the conveyor 44 is
Is provided, even when the storage shelves 23 are arranged adjacent to each other, both end faces 43a, 43
b, the article 29 can be easily stored and taken out, so that the usability of the equipment can be improved.

In the first and second embodiments, the details of the structure of the article storage facility 21 or 41, the operation method thereof, and the shape of the article 29 are provided without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, another configuration may be adopted. For example, the storage shelf 23 or the picking shelf 2
4 need not be as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 or FIGS. 4 and 5, but may be a pallet rack or the like.

[0039]

As described above, in the article storage facility according to the first aspect, since the front sides of the storage shelf and the picking shelf are arranged to face each other, the article from the storage shelf to the picking shelf is arranged. Can be easily performed, and the amount of work in the warehouse can be reduced. Further, since the storage shelf and the picking shelf are arranged close to each other, it is easy to grasp the stock of the same type of articles. Further, it is possible to share a work space related to the work of storing and picking up articles and transferring the goods from the storage shelf to the picking shelf. As a result, it is possible to improve the efficiency of work related to inventory management and the like, and to improve the space efficiency in the warehouse.

In the article storage facility according to the second aspect, since the transport crane is provided between the storage shelf and the picking shelf, the transport crane is used not only for transporting the article to the storage shelf but also for picking the shelf from the storage shelf. It can also be used for the work of replenishing articles to the storage shelves, whereby the work of transferring articles from the storage shelves to the picking shelves can be easily performed by effectively using the transport crane.

In the article storage facility according to the third aspect, the front surface of the picking shelf is arranged so as to face the storage shelf, and the back surface is formed as a picking surface for picking the item. Thereby, first-in / first-out of articles on the picking shelf is protected, and inventory management of articles can be made easier.

In the article storage facility according to the fourth aspect, since the transport crane is automatically controlled by the control device, the movement of the articles from the storage shelves to the picking shelves is automatically controlled to manage the stock of the articles by the computer. Can be performed in a lump. As a result, the accuracy and speed of inventory management can be dramatically improved as compared with the related art.

In the article storage facility according to the fifth aspect, since the storage shelf is further disposed adjacent to the back of the storage shelf, the storage capacity of the equipment can be improved.

In the article storage facility according to the sixth aspect, since it is possible to transfer articles from the storage shelf adjacent to each other to the storage shelf by the moving means, the usability of the facility is improved, and Such an invention can be favorably realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an article storage facility schematically showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the article storage facility shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing details of a configuration of a transport device in the article storage facility shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an article storage facility schematically showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are views for illustrating a conventional technique of the present invention, in which FIGS. 6A and 6B are perspective views showing examples of article storage facilities, and FIG. 6C is a perspective view showing picking facilities. is there.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21, 41 Storage facilities for articles 23 Storage shelves 23a Front surface 23b Back surface 23c Storage portion 24 Picking shelves 24a Front surface 24b Back surface 24c Storage portion 25 Transport crane 34 Control device 44 Conveyor (moving means)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An article storage facility for storing articles in a warehouse, comprising: a storage shelf for storing articles received in the warehouse; and a storage shelf for storing the articles to be retrieved. A picking shelf, wherein the storage shelf and the picking shelf are provided with storage sections capable of taking in and out the articles from at least the front side of the storage shelf and the picking shelf, respectively. An article storage facility, wherein shelves are arranged side by side such that the front faces thereof face each other. 2. The article storage facility according to claim 1, wherein the article is transported to the storage shelf and the transport crane is configured to replenish the storage shelf. Wherein the transport crane is provided between the storage rack and the picking rack. 3. The article storage facility according to claim 2, wherein the picking shelf is arranged such that the front surface is opposed to the storage shelf with the transport crane interposed therebetween, and the back surface thereof is: An article storage facility formed as a picking surface from which the article to be taken out can be taken out. 4. The article storage facility according to claim 2, further comprising a control device for automatically controlling movement of the article from the storage shelf to the picking shelf by the transport crane. An article storage facility characterized by the following. 5. The article storage facility according to claim 1, wherein the article can be put in and out of the storage section from both a front side and a rear side of the storage shelf. A storage facility for articles, wherein at least one or more other storage shelves are arranged adjacent to a back side of the storage shelves arranged opposite to the picking shelves. 6. The article storage facility according to claim 5, further comprising a moving unit that enables the article to be moved between the storage shelves arranged adjacent to each other. Equipment storage facilities.