JPS61197303A - Inventory machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To continuously operate during stopping of a main control system by carrying in and out an article and inventorying by the main control system according to inventory information by an auxiliary control system at the time of converting an auxiliary control system to the main control system. CONSTITUTION:A main control system comprises a main computer 60, a main inventory memory 64 and main bar code readers 52, 56. Even if the main control system gets out of order, a changeover switch 68 is operated to perform continuously entry/delivery control and inventory engines 40 as an object by an auxiliary control system comprising an auxiliary computer 62, an auxiliary inventory memory 66, auxiliary bar code readers 54, 58. After release, according to a demand of the main computer 60, inventory information stored in the auxiliary inventory memory 66 is output to modify the inventory information of the main inventory memory 64. Accordingly, the need of operation for directly investigating engines 40 in racks 42, 44 is eliminated, and even if the operation of the main control system is stopped, entry/delivery operation for an article can be continued.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an inventory management device, and particularly to an inventory management device suitable for inventory management of various articles such as products and parts.

[Conventional technology]

On the engine production line of an automobile factory, when the completed engine is stored on the -H rack shelf,
In order to reliably and automatically keep track of the number of engines coming in, out of stock, and in stock for each type of engine, a host computer has been used to manage engine inventory.

That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the barcode reader 12 reads the model number of the engine to be carried into or taken out from the rack shelf 10, and the output of the barcode reader 12 is transmitted to the host computer 14. The computer 14 determines the storage position of the engine, gives a command according to this determination to the stacker crane 16, operates the stacker crane 160, carries the engine to a predetermined position on the rack shelf 10, and moves the carried engine to the stacker crane 16. It was configured to carry out inventory management of engines as they are carried in and carried out.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the conventional system, engine inventory management was performed by a single host computer 14, so when the host computer 14 broke down, automatic engine loading became impossible, and the host computer 14 broke down. Sometimes engines were loaded manually. For this reason, if the amount of engines brought in is manually calculated, the inventory information that changed during the failure period must be input into the host computer 14 when the repair of the host computer 14 is completed.
This input work required a lot of time.

Furthermore, when checking the number of engines in stock that changed during the failure period, the worker must actually check the number of engines in stock in the rack shelf 10, which causes the following problems.

(1) In the case of high-rise rack shelves, checking the engine requires work at a height, which can be dangerous.

(2) Check and neutralize the number of engines in stock.It would have been dangerous if the stacker crane 16 had started by mistake.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to control the amount of articles brought in even if one control system for controlling the amount of articles brought in and managing the inventory of articles breaks down. Another object of the present invention is to provide an inventory management device that can continuously manage inventory of articles.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a button as shown in FIG. , a main article information input means 24 for inputting information regarding each article to be brought in and taken out; and a main article information input means 24 which receives article information outputted from the main article information input means and instructs the article carry-in pile means 24 about the specified amount of articles to be carried in; A main control means 26 that manages the inventory of goods according to the amount of goods brought in, an auxiliary goods information input means 28 that inputs information related to the busyness of each goods to be brought in and taken out, and a main control means 26 that receives goods information output from the auxiliary goods input means 28. An auxiliary control means 30 that instructs the article carrying-in pile means 22 about the amount of designated articles to be carried in and manages the inventory of articles according to the amount of articles carried in; The main control means 26 is provided with a switching means 32 that cuts off the information transmission system connecting one of the control means and the article loading and unloading means 22 and connects the information transmission system between the other control means and the article loading and unloading means 22. is the auxiliary control means 30
When the control is shifted from the control by the main control means 26 to the control by the main control means 26, the inventory management information obtained by the control of the auxiliary control means 30 is received via the information transmission system 34 connecting the main control means 26 and the auxiliary control means 30, This inventory management device is configured to manage the amount of articles brought in and the inventory of articles based on this inventory management information.

[Effect]

Normally, the main control means 26 commands the article loading means 22 to determine the amount of articles to be carried in based on the article information obtained from the output sum of the main article information input means 24. If the switching means 32 is operated when the main article information input means 24 or the main control means 26 breaks down, the information transmission system connecting the main control means 26 and the article loading means 22 is cut off, and the auxiliary control means 30 and the article loading pile means 22 are connected, and the amount of articles to be carried in by the auxiliary control means 30 is instructed to the article loading pile means 22 based on article information output from the auxiliary article information input means 28. At the same time, inventory management of articles is performed according to the amount of articles brought in.

When the main article information input means 24 and the main control means 26 return to their normal states, when the switching means 32 is operated to switch the original position pressure, the inventory management information obtained by the control of the auxiliary control means 30 is transferred to the main control means 26. transmitted to the main control means 26 via the information transmission system 34 connecting with the auxiliary control means 30,
The main control means 26 manages the amount of articles brought in and the inventory of articles based on this inventory management information.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a preferred embodiment of the invention. On the 21st busy day, a stacker crane 46 is installed between the rack shelves 42.44 that house the engines 40, and on both sides of the rack shelves 42.4'40, the engines 40 are
Conveyor 4 that transports the
8, and a conveyor 50 for transporting the engine 40 from the outlet of the rack shelf 42, 44 to the shipping site.

A main barcode reader 52 and an auxiliary barcode reader 54 are installed on the entrance side of the conveyor 48 to read information related to the engine 40, such as engine type and serial number, and on the discharge side of the conveyor 50, the main barcode reader 52 and auxiliary barcode reader 54 are installed. A main barcode reader 56 and an auxiliary barcode reader 58 are provided for reading information regarding the engine 40 such as the type and serial number of the engine 40. The output signals of the main barcode readers 52, 56 and the auxiliary barcode readers 54, 58 are sent to the main computer 60, which constitutes the control means, and the auxiliary computer 62, which constitutes the auxiliary control means, respectively.
is supplied to. The main computer 60 and the auxiliary computer 62 each have a main inventory memory 64 and an auxiliary inventory memory 66, and are connected to the stacker crane 46 via a changeover switch 68.

When the information transmission system with the stacker crane 46 is connected by operating the changeover switch 68, the main computer 60 stores article information read by the main barcode readers 52, 56 in the main inventory memory 64, and Control that determines the storage location of the engine 40 based on the stored article information, or performs calculations to select a specific engine 40 stored in the rack shelf 42.446C, and instructs the amount of engine 40 to be carried into the stacker crane 46. At the same time, inventory management of the engines 40, including the loading and unloading of the engines 40, is carried out. On the other hand, the changeover switch 68
When K is switched and the auxiliary computer 62 is connected to the stacker crane 46, the main computer 6
0 to control by the auxiliary computer 62. At this time, the auxiliary computer 62 controls the amount of engines 40 carried in and performs inventory management according to the amount of engines 40 carried in based on the output signals of the auxiliary barcode readers 54 and 58.

When the engine 40 is carried in under the control of the main computer 60, when the engine 40 with product number 10 is stored in the first row of the first floor of the rack shelf 42, the main inventory memory 64 is busy as shown in FIG. The address map stores 10 data in one column on the first floor. Further, when the engine 40 is carried in due to the control of the auxiliary computer 620, data of 10 is stored in the head of the address map of the auxiliary inventory memory 66, and when the engine 40 is carried out, data of - is stored. For example, when the engine 40 with product number 15 is delivered to the 4th floor, column 5 under the control of the auxiliary computer 62, as shown in FIG. 15 data are stored.

The present embodiment has the above-mentioned configuration, and its operation will be explained next based on the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 5 to 7.

First, when the information transmission system between the main computer 60 and the stacker crane 46 is connected by operating the changeover switch 68 and the main computer 6o is started, processing of the task scheduler is executed (step 100).
Inventory correction tasks of steps 1 to 118 and step 20
Carrying-in control and inventory management tasks of steps 1 to 221;
The three tasks of step 301 to step 312, the carry-out control task and the inventory management task, are processed by time sharing.

In the inventory correction task, the main computer 60 first inputs the state of the changeover switch 68 in step 10.
1) It is determined whether the control of the auxiliary computer 62 has shifted to the control of the main convenience store Taro 0 by detecting the start-up caused by the operation of the changeover switch 68 (step 102).

When the rise due to the operation of the changeover switch 68 is not detected, the process returns to step 100, and when the rise is detected, the process moves to step 103.

In step 103, a request to transfer the inventory information stored in the auxiliary inventory memory 66 is output to the auxiliary computer 62. Next, when the inventory information stored in the auxiliary inventory memory 66 is transferred from the auxiliary computer 62, this transferred information is input (step 104). In order to change the inventory information in the main inventory memory 64 based on this transfer information, processing for correcting the inventory information is performed in steps 105 to 118.

First, set the first address F000 of the address map of the register j<1 main stock memory 64 (step 105).
It is determined whether the head of the data stored at address j is + (step 106).

If YES is determined in this step, step 1
The process moves to step 07 to write data J, which is the data stored at address j, excluding the head portion, to the youngest address i in the address map of the main inventory memory 64.

On the other hand, if the determination in step 106 is No, and the head of the data stored at address j is not marked with a 10, the process moves to step 108, where it is determined whether the head of data stored at address j is -.

If YES is determined in this step, step 1
The process moves to step 09 and processes from step 109 to step 116 are performed. In steps 109 to 116&C, among the inventory information stored in the main inventory memory 64, the information on the engine 40 that was taken out under the control of the auxiliary computer 62 is deleted, and the contents of the address map in the main inventory memory 64 are changed to Perform the process of transitioning young acclimatization sequentially. The processing from step 109 to step 116 will be explained below.

In step 109, the first address 0000 of the address map of the register iK main stock memory 64 is set, and the process moves to step 110. In step 110, it is determined whether the content (i) of address i and the content (j) of the portion of address j excluding the head are equal. That is, based on the contents of the data stored in the auxiliary inventory memo IJ 66K, it is determined whether the contents have been controlled by the auxiliary computer 62 to carry out or not.

If the determination is No in this step, step 115
If the determination is YE8, the process jumps to step 111. In step 111, the value of busy register i is set in the register, and in step 112
Proceed to processing. In snap 112, the contents of address +1 are moved to address , and then register k is incremented (step 113), and the value in the register is transferred to main stock memory 64.
The processing of steps 112 and 113 is continued until the final address 0100 of the address map is reached (step 114).
. Furthermore, the processing from step 110 to step 114 is performed to increase i by one (step 115), and steps 110 to 114 are performed until the final address 0100 of the address map is reached.
Repeat the process up to step 115 (step 116
). By performing this process, the process of erasing the same data from the main inventory memory 64 for one carry-out information (those with a - head) in the main inventory memory, and sequentially moving the contents to lower addresses is completed. .

Also, increment register j (step 117).
, the process from step 106 to step 116 is repeated until the value of register j becomes the final address FxooVC of the address map of auxiliary inventory memory 66 (step 118).
As a result, the main inventory memory 64 includes the auxiliary inventory memory 66.
Of these, the carry-in information (with a + sign on the head) is added, the carry-out information (with a - sign on the head) is deleted, and the process of sequentially storing these contents at lower addresses is completed. . That is, the process of correcting the inventory information in the main inventory memory 64 is completed.

Next, the carry-in control and inventory management tasks performed in steps 201 to 211 will be explained.

First, when the engine 40 is conveyed to the entrance by the conveyor 48, the engine 40 is
Article information regarding the engine 40 such as 00 type and serial number is read, and this article information is output to the main computer 60. The main computer 60 is the main barcode reader 5
When the article information from 2 is input (step 201), a process is performed to determine the storage position of the engine 40 on the rack shelf 42° 441C based on this article information (step 202). Based on this determination, a carry-in command is output to the stacker crane 46 (step 203). When the engine 40 is stored in a predetermined position by the operation of the stacker crane 46, a carry-in completion signal is outputted from the stacker crane 46 to the main computer 60. When the main computer 60 inputs the carry-in completion signal from the stacker crane 46 (step 204), the storage position of the rack shelf 42, 44, that is, the floor and engine type, is stored in the main inventory memory 60 through the processing of steps 205 to 211. Among the storage areas, inventory information is sequentially written to the smallest address in the area where no inventory information is stored.

That is, in step 205, register i is set to the first address 0000 of the address map of the main inventory memory 64, and the process moves to step 206. In step 206, it is determined whether the content of address i is O, that is, whether or not the item is in stock.

When it is determined that the engine is not in stock, the process moves to step 207, and a process is performed in which the storage position and engine type of the engine 40 read by the main barcode reader 52 are written in the i address.

On the other hand, if the determination in step 206 is NO and the content of address i is determined to be in stock, register i is incremented (step 208), and the value of register i exceeds the final address 0100 of the address map of the main inventory memory 64. A determination is made as to whether or not there is one (step 209). When it is determined as No in this step, K repeats the processing of steps 206 to 209, and when it is determined as YE8, the processing is busy in step 210, and the main stock inventory 64
It outputs an error message indicating that it is in an overflow state, and stops the operation (step 211).

Next, a description will be given of the carry-out control and inventory management tasks performed in steps 301 to 312.

In order to take out the engine 40, when the main barcode reader 56 reads article information related to the engine 40, such as the type and serial number of the engine 400 to be taken out, the main barcode reader 56 sends a signal related to the article information to the main computer 60. Output to. When the main computer 60 receives a signal from the main barcode reader 56 (step 301), it determines the position of the rack shelf 42 (44) corresponding to 400 types of engines (step 302), and outputs an unloading command to the stacker crane 46. (Step 3
03). When the designated engine 40 is carried out onto the conveyor 50 by the operation of the stacker crane 46, a carry-out completion signal is output from the stacker crane 46 to the main computer 60. When the unloading completion signal is output from the stacker crane 46, the main computer 60 inputs this signal (step 304), and the rack shelf 42 or rack shelf 4 from which the engine 40 has been unloaded through the processes of steps 305 to 312).
4, that is, the floor, row, and type of engine 40, are deleted from the address map of the main inventory memory, and the contents of the address map are sequentially moved to lower addresses.

That is, in step 305, processing is performed to set the starting address oooo of the register iK address map, and then
It is determined whether the content (i) of the address is the same as the storage position of the rack shelf and the type of engine 40 for carrying out (step 306). If it is determined to be YES in this step, the busy state sets the value of register i to register k.Step 307
), move the contents of address +1 to address k (step 308)
) and increment register k (step 309
) The value in the register is the final address 010 of the main stock memory 64.
The processes of step 310, step 308, and step 309 are repeated until the value becomes 0.

On the other hand, the content (i) of address i is rack shelf 4 according to the carry-out report.
2. If the engine storage position in 44 is not the same as the 400 types of engines, increment register i, and repeat steps 312 and 306 to step 31 until the value of register i reaches the final address 0100 of the main inventory memory 64.
Repeat the process up to 1.

Next, the contents of the processing performed by the auxiliary computer 62 when the main computer 60 or the like fails will be explained based on the flowchart ()K in FIG.

First, the auxiliary computer 62 monitors the state of the changeover switch 68 and inputs the state of the changeover switch 68 (
Step 401). The operation starts when it is detected that the information transmission system between the auxiliary computer 62 and the stacker crane 46 has been connected by operating the changeover switch 68 (step 402). This operation is performed according to the task scheduler 403 with the inventory memory/transfer task according to steps 411 and 412.

Three tasks are performed by time sharing: carry-in control and inventory management tasks performed in steps 421-425, and carry-out control and inventory management tasks performed in steps 431-435.

First, in the inventory memory/transfer task, the auxiliary computer 62 first determines whether there is an inventory memory transfer request from the main computer 60 (step 411).
When there is a transfer request, processing is performed to output the contents of the inventory management information stored in the inventory memory, ie, the auxiliary inventory memory 66, to the main computer 60 (step 412).

Next, the delivery control and inventory management tasks performed in steps 421 to 425 will be explained.

First, when the engine 40 is transported to the loading port by the conveyor 48, the auxiliary barcode reader 54 reads article information regarding the engine 40, such as the engine 400 type and serial number, and outputs the article information to the auxiliary computer 62. Then, when the auxiliary computer 62 inputs the output signal from the auxiliary barcode reader 54 (step 421), the auxiliary computer 62 uses the article information to determine the shelf position for storing the basic engine 40.Step 4
22), output a carry-in command to the stacker crane 46 (
step 424). When the stacker crane 46 carries in the engine 40 at the designated shelf position according to the command from the auxiliary computer 62, a carry-in completion signal is output from the stacker crane 46 to the auxiliary computer 62 (step 42).
5).

When the auxiliary computer 62 receives the carry-in report from the stacker crane 46, it adds a + head indicating carry-in to the youngest address j in the storage area of the auxiliary inventory memory 66 in which no data is stored, and then adds a + head to the stacker crane 46 to indicate carry-in. Based on the carry-in report output from the crane 46, the engine 4
Processing is performed to write the loading shelf position of o, 400 types of engines, etc.

Next, the unloading control and inventory management tasks during processing in steps 431 to 435 will be explained.

When the 400 types of engines required for shipping are read into the auxiliary barcode reader 58 in response to a shipping request, article information regarding the engine 40 to be shipped is output from the auxiliary barcode reader 58 to the auxiliary computer 62 . When the auxiliary computer 62 inputs the article information from the auxiliary barcode reader 58 (step 431), it determines the shelf position corresponding to the engine 40 to be shipped based on this article information (step 432), and issues an unloading command to the stacker crane 46. is output (step 433). When the stacker crane 46 completes the work of transporting the specified engine 40 onto the conveyor 50 according to a command from the auxiliary computer 62, a transport report is output from the stacker crane 46 to the auxiliary computer 62. When the auxiliary computer 62 inputs the unloading report from the stacker crane 46 (step 434), based on this unloading report, the auxiliary computer 62 selects the youngest storage area in the auxiliary inventory memory 66 where no data is stored. A - head representing unloading is attached to address j, and the shelf position of the unloaded engine 40, the type of engine 40, etc. are written (
step 435).

In this way, in this embodiment, the main computer 60
Even if the main control system consisting of the main inventory memory 64 and main barcode reader 52.56 fails, the changeover switch 68 can be operated to switch on the auxiliary control system consisting of the auxiliary computer 62, auxiliary inventory memory 66, and auxiliary barcode reader 54.58. Accordingly, the engine output control and inventory management of the engine 40 can be continuously performed. Therefore, it is possible to repair a failure in the main control system while the auxiliary control system is in operation.

In addition, in this embodiment, the inventory information before the failure can be corrected based on the inventory information performed by the auxiliary control system after the failure of the main control system is completed, so inventory information can be changed manually as in the past. Rack shelf 42.
There is no need to directly check the engine 40 inside the engine 44,
There is no need to input the results of checking the number, type, etc. of the 400 engines stored in the rack shelves 42 and 44 using a keyboard or the like.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, when the main control system stops operating, the auxiliary control system manages the amount of goods carried in and the inventory, and when the control shifts from the auxiliary control system to the main control system, Since the inventory information obtained by the control of the auxiliary control system is used to manage the amount of goods brought in by the main control system and the amount of goods brought in by the main control system, even when the operation of the main control system is stopped, the amount of goods brought in can be controlled. The excellent effect of being able to continuously manage inventory of goods and articles can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an address map of the main inventory memory 64, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the auxiliary inventory memory. FIGS. 5 and 6 are flow charts for explaining the operation of the main computer 60, FIG. 7 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the auxiliary computer 62, and FIG. 8 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the auxiliary computer 62, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an inventory management device. 20... Goods storage, 22... Goods loading means, 2
4... Main article information input means, 26... Main control means,
28... Auxiliary article information input means, 30... Auxiliary control means, 3゛2... Switching means, 40... Engine, 42゜44... Rack shelf, 46... Stacker crane, 52゜56...Main barcode reader, 54.5
8... Auxiliary code reader, 60... Main computer, 62... Auxiliary computer, 64... Main inventory memory, 66... Auxiliary inventory memory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Article loading/unloading means for carrying specified articles into the article storage and carrying out specified articles from the article storage; main article information input means for inputting information regarding each article to be carried in and carried out; A main control means that receives article information output from the article information input means and instructs the article loading/unloading means to carry in and take out specified articles, and also manages the inventory of articles accompanying the loading and unloading of articles; An auxiliary article information input means for inputting information about articles; and an auxiliary article information input means that receives article information outputted from the auxiliary article information input means and instructs the article loading/unloading means to carry in and take out designated articles, and also instructs the article loading/unloading means to carry in and take out specified articles. An auxiliary control means for inventory management, and an information transmission system connecting one of the main control means and the auxiliary control means and the article loading/unloading means depending on the operation, and an information transmission system connecting the other control means and the article loading/unloading means. switching means for connecting the information transmission system with the main control means, when the control by the auxiliary control means shifts to the control by the main control means, the main control means transfers the inventory management information obtained by the control of the auxiliary control means, 1. An inventory management device that receives inventory management information through an information transmission system connecting a main control means and an auxiliary control means, and performs import/unloading of articles and inventory management of articles based on this inventory management information.