JPS6247B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to an automatic multi-storey warehouse which has a large number of storage entrances and exit ports, and which stores goods loaded on pallets and stores them inside the multi-storey warehouse, and which stores empty pallets inside the warehouse. The present invention relates to a computer-managed loading and unloading method for an automated multistory warehouse that can efficiently deal with randomly generated loading and unloading requests. The following functions are required for multi-level warehouses installed between processes. In other words, it is necessary to efficiently deal with requests for warehousing and warehousing that occur randomly, and to avoid process confusion due to waiting for warehousing or warehousing. To this end, it is necessary to establish a warehousing and warehousing system that minimizes the operating time of stacker cranes to process individual warehousing or warehousing requests. A solution to this problem is to divide storage shelves into multiple zones and decide which items to handle in each zone. A method that determines the operation schedule of the stacker crane by relating the warehousing requests and warehousing requests. A method to search for empty shelves that will minimize the operating time of the stacker crane when receiving a warehouse request. etc. have been proposed. However, in multi-storey warehouses where goods are loaded onto pallets when they are loaded and unloaded, and empty pallets (pallets containing no goods) are stored inside the multi-storey warehouse,
At present, the above solution has not been proposed. An object of the present invention is to provide a storage/unloading method for an automated multi-storey warehouse that enables quick processing of shipping requests by checking the status of the shipping requests in a multi-storey warehouse having a large number of storage entrances and exit ports. It's about doing. The present invention provides a method (hereinafter referred to as a normal retrieval method) in which when a retrieval request is made in a multi-story warehouse that divides dedicated storage shelves into a plurality of management zones and processes requests for retrieval and retrieval, items that have been stored first are retrieved from the warehouse. (hereinafter referred to as the "express delivery method"), or a method of dispatching goods within the management zone according to a preset priority order of management zone selection for processing the delivery process (hereinafter referred to as the "express delivery method"). This is a method of entering and exiting an automated multi-storey warehouse. Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on examples. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.A multi-level warehouse includes shelf rows 1 and 2 in which a large number of shelves are arranged horizontally and vertically, and a stacker crane 3 for receiving and unloading pallets. is provided. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, the first stage, which is the lowest stage of the shelf row 1, has a large number of storage-only shelves (warehousing entrances) 4a, 4b, 4.
c, 4d, ……, 4t. Each shelf of this warehousing-only shelf has warehousing request setting panels 5a, 5b,
5c, 5d, . Also, on the storage entrance side of the shelf row 1, there are mechanical devices (parts manufacturing machines) 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, etc.
j is installed. On the other hand, in the first stage, which is the lowest stage of the shelf row 2, as shown in FIG.
e, 7f are installed. A retrieval reservation device 8 is installed on the retrieval exit side of the shelf row 2, and is used to set the code of the article to be retracted when issuing a retrieval request, and to select which of the retrieval shelves 7a, 7b, 7f, etc. Make a reservation for stocking the shelves. In addition, a retrieval request device 9a, 9b, . . . , 9f is installed on each retrieval exclusive shelf 7a, 7b, . On the exit side, a conveyor device 11 is installed for conveying the goods exited to the exit-only shelf to an assembly machine 10 or the like. Furthermore, the assembly machine 10 is provided with a conveyor device 12 for conveying assembled articles to the next process. FIG. 4 is an overall system diagram of the present invention. In the figure, the central computer 13 includes a warehousing management computer 14, a warehousing management computer 15, and a stacker crane control computer 1.
6 is connected. The central computer 13 manages inventory information of goods (inventory file), address information of empty shelves (empty shelf file), shelf address information for storing empty pallets (empty pallet file), and schedules the operation of stacker cranes (requests for loading and unloading). Its main function is to determine the shelf address for the stacker crane to receive and unload pallets when such occurrences occur. The warehousing management computer 14 includes warehousing request setting panels 5a, 5b,
......, 5t are connected, and its main function is to issue a warehousing request to the central computer 13. The shipping management computer 15 has the following information:
A delivery reservation device 8 and a delivery request device 9a, 9b,...
. The stacker crane 3 is connected to the stacker crane control computer 16, whose main function is to control the running of the stacker crane 3 based on the stacker crane operation schedule transferred from the central computer 13. There is. In the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, storage shelves other than the storage shelves 4a, 4b, 4t and the output shelves 7a, 7b, 7f are used. Multiple management zones Z1, Z2, Z
It is divided into 3, Z4, and Z5. This zone division (which shelf address belongs to which management zone) is determined by taking into account the operating time of the stacker crane 3 required to process the retrieval request for each management zone. For example, the management zones Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4, and Z5 are arranged in the order of the processing time of the delivery request. When a warehousing request occurs, the higher the emergency level of the item, the more priority is given to storing the article in the management zone Z1 or Z2, which is closer to the warehousing exclusive shelf. The delivery urgency level indicates the time interval at which pallets containing items to be used in the assembly machine 10 must be delivered before the assembly machine 10 will stop waiting for the items. This is determined by the number of items received per item and the consumption rate of the items in the assembly machine 10. Also, in practical terms,
It is appropriate to classify the emergency level of delivery into three levels: A, B, and C. This emergency level of retrieval is registered in advance in the storage device (RAM) of the central computer 13 as a master table for all articles to be reloaded and retracted in the format shown in Table 1.

[Table] Also, at the start of this system, one or more empty shelves are placed in each management zone Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4, and Z5, and even while the system is in operation,
At least one empty shelf is secured in each zone. Furthermore, in the present invention, the shelf addresses used for the inventory files, empty shelf files, and empty palette files stored in the storage device (RAM) of the central computer 13 are the "column/row/column" which is generally used as a display method for shelf addresses. ” Instead, use the following method. That is, all the shelves in the storage-only shelves are assigned consecutive numbers starting from 1 (hereinafter referred to as shelf numbers), and a correspondence table between shelf addresses and shelf numbers is registered in advance in the storage device (ROM) of the central computer 13. put. The shelf numbers are assigned in the order of management zone numbers, that is, management zone Z1 → Z.
By assigning shelf numbers in the order of 2 → Z3 → Z4 → Z5, and in descending order of the time required for the stacker crane to process a retrieval request, operations to search for empty pallets and empty shelves and express retrieval are performed in each management zone. This makes it easier to search for items. An example of this shelf address-shelf number correspondence table is shown in Table 2.

[Table] Next, a method for processing a warehousing request according to the present invention will be explained based on FIG. 2. Articles 17 manufactured by the parts manufacturing machine 6c are loaded onto pallets 18 and 19 on storage shelves 4e and 4f. Storage shelf 4f
When the pallet 19 at (address 1061) is full of articles 17, the operator presses the push button on the warehousing request setting panel 5f installed on this shelf to transfer the warehousing request signal to the warehousing management computer 14. Then, the warehousing management computer 14 selects the article code set on the warehousing request setting panel 5f,
It reads the data of the warehousing request such as the number of warehousing items, and interrupts the central computer 13 with the warehousing request. This interrupt is sent to the central computer 13
This is done at regular intervals until the application is accepted. FIG. 5 shows the processing procedure of the central computer 13 when the warehousing management computer 14 interrupts the central computer 13 with a warehousing request. In FIG. 5, when the central computer 13 receives an interrupt for a warehousing request, it determines whether the stacker crane is in operation (the stacker crane has completed the processing of the warehousing or warehousing request received before this interrupt request). ).
This check checks the contents of the stacker crane operation flag (0 or 1) set at a specific address in the storage device.
This is possible by checking ``Remember''. Next, the number of empty pallets is determined from the empty pallet file. If the number of empty pallets is not 0, this warehousing request is accepted. When the central computer 13 accepts the warehousing request, it first receives the warehousing request data (article code, number of warehousing items, shelf address for which the request was made) from the warehousing management computer 14 . Subsequently, the emergency level of delivery of the article for which the storage request has been made is determined from the master table shown in Table 1. Next, it is determined in which management zone the item for which the storage request has been made is to be stored. The following method can be adopted as this determination method. That is, the management zone selection priority table for processing the warehousing request shown in Table 3 is registered in advance in the storage device (ROM) of the central computer 13. Then, an empty pallet in the management zone of the first priority is searched based on the urgent level of delivery of the article for which the storage request has been made.

[Table] To search for empty pallets, sort the empty pallet files in order of shelf number, and search based on the minimum and maximum shelf numbers in each preset management zone. You can search for empty palettes. If there are no empty pallets in the first priority management zone,
Search for an empty palette in the next priority management zone. When the shelf number holding the empty pallet is retrieved in this way, the shelf address of the empty pallet is determined from the shelf address-shelf number correspondence table shown in Table 2. If there are two or more empty pallets in the same management zone, the empty pallet searched first is selected. When an empty pallet is found in this way, an empty shelf in the same management zone as the empty pallet is searched for by the same procedure as above. As described above, since one or more empty shelves are always secured in each management zone, empty shelves within the same zone are always searched. In this way, as shown in FIG. 2, the empty shelf K1 (address 1102) and the empty pallet P1 (address 1093) in the same management zone Z1 for processing the warehousing request from the warehousing dedicated shelf 4f are searched. Then, the central computer 13 creates an operation schedule for the stacker crane 3 in the format shown in Table 4.

[Table] Next, the central computer 13 transfers the stacker crane operation schedule data to the stacker crane control computer 16, and updates the inventory file, empty shelf file, and empty pallet file. On the other hand, the static crane control computer 1
6 receives the data of the stacker crane operation schedule from the central computer 13, converts this data into distance data from the travel origin, and issues an operation command to the stacker crane 3.
Then, the stacker crane 3 moves to the warehousing shelf 4f.
comes to receive a pallet 19 containing goods 17. Then, the stacker crane 3 unloads this pallet 19 onto the empty shelf K1. Subsequently, the stacker crane 3 goes to the shelf P1 where empty pallets are stored, receives the empty pallets, and unloads them onto the original warehousing dedicated shelf 4f, completing the processing of this warehousing request. The stacker crane control computer 16 then transfers a signal indicating the completion of the operation to the central computer 13. Then, the central computer 13 sets the stacker crane operation flag to 0 and accepts the next warehousing or warehousing request. As described above, in the present invention, not only can the search for empty pallets and empty shelves necessary for processing a warehousing request be performed in the same management zone, but also one or more empty shelves can be searched in each management zone at the start. If this is done, one or more empty shelves will be secured in each management zone even after the warehousing request is processed. Therefore, if there is one or more empty pallets in the dedicated storage shelf, it is possible to respond to the warehousing request. When the number of empty pallets in the storage shelf reaches 0 (meaning that the multi-level warehouse is full), a signal indicating that "warehousing request cannot be accepted" is transmitted to the warehousing management computer 14, as shown in Fig. 5. do. And warehouse management computer 1
4, the putter light 21 shown in FIG. 4 is turned on to notify the operator. Furthermore, each time an interrupt is received from the warehousing and warehousing management computers 14 and 15 to the central computer 13, the central computer 13 transfers the total number of empty pallets to the warehousing management computer 14, and the warehousing management computer 14 displays this number. By displaying the information on the device 22, it is possible to know in advance whether the multi-storey warehouse is full. Next, a method of processing a delivery request will be explained based on FIGS. 3 to 4 and FIG. 7. When requesting the delivery of items necessary for the assembly machine 10 (there may be two or more types), the numeric keypad device 8a and CRT shown in FIG.
The delivery reservation device 8, which is comprised of a device 8b, etc., inquires of the central computer 13 about the inventory of articles to be delivered, and displays the inventory information on the CRT device 8b. Then, a human determines in an interactive manner which article is to be delivered to which delivery shelf using the numeric keypad device 8a and the CRT device 8b. Next, the user selects the desired exit method by operating the select switch 8c which specifies the exit method (normal exit or express exit). Subsequently, when the user presses the push button on the exit requesting device installed on the exit-only shelf for which the exit reservation has been made, a exit request signal is sent to the exit management computer 15. Then, the shipping management computer 15
interrupts the central computer 13 with a request for retrieval (normal retrieval or express retrieval). This interrupt is performed at regular time intervals (several seconds) until the central computer 13 accepts it. FIG. 6 shows the processing procedure of the central computer 13 when the delivery management computer 15 interrupts the central computer 13 with a delivery request. In Figure 6, the central computer 1
3, upon accepting the interruption of the delivery request, checks whether the stacker crane is in operation, and if it is not in operation, the delivery management computer 15
Receives restocking request data (product code, shelf address for which the request was made, etc.) from. Subsequently, the central computer 13 searches the inventory file stored in the central computer 13 to determine whether or not there is stock in accordance with a preset procedure for the designated delivery method for the item for which the delivery request has been made.
First, a description will be given of the article search procedure using the normal retrieval method, so-called first-in, first-out method. The normal unloading method is a method in which when there are multiple pallets storing items, the item for which the storage request was made first is unloaded. As this first-in, first-out inventory search method, any of the following methods can be adopted. (1) The date of the warehousing request should also be recorded in the inventory file data. Then, when a warehouse delivery request occurs, the inventory file is searched using the product code for which the warehouse delivery request was made and the date of warehousing as keys. (2) Data on warehousing requests should be registered in the inventory file in the order in which the warehousing requests are processed. When a delivery request occurs, the item for which the delivery request has been made is searched from the beginning of the inventory file. In this search, the article searched first becomes the article stocked first. Next, the article search procedure using the express delivery method will be explained. When processing express delivery, the storage device (ROM) of the central computer 13 is
In addition, it is necessary to register the priority order table for management zone selection for the express delivery process shown in Table 5.

[Table] As shown in Table 5, by giving priority to the management zones Z1 and Z2 that are close to the warehouse dedicated shelves, it is possible to further shorten the time required to process the stacker crane's dispatch request. Furthermore, depending on the position of the shipping shelves, for example, as shown in Table 5, the priority order of the shipping shelves 7a to 7c is changed from Z1 to Z2 to Z3.
→Z4→Z5, if the priority order of the shipping shelves 7d to 7f is set to Z2→Z1→Z3→Z5→Z4,
The time required to process a shipping request can be further shortened. As shown in FIG. 3, when an express delivery request is issued from the delivery shelf 7e, the central computer 13 selects the management zone selection priority order shown in Table 5, that is, Z2→Z1→Z3→Z5→ Search for articles for which delivery requests have been made in the order of Z4. First, a search is made to see if there are any articles to be delivered to the management zone Z2, which has the first priority. As this search method, the following method may be adopted. The central computer 13 searches from the beginning of the inventory file for the item (item code) for which a delivery request has been made, and when the applicable item is found, the shelf number where the item is stored is selected from the inventory data for that item. , create a shelf number table in the storage device (RAM). Repeat this operation until the end of the inventory file. Then, the selected shelf numbers are sorted in ascending order of numbers. In the shelf address-shelf number correspondence table shown in Table 2, shelf numbers are assigned as shown in FIG. Therefore, in order to search for goods to be dispatched in management zone Z2 (shelf numbers 28-54), the above-mentioned dispatch shelf number table is searched from the beginning, and if the shelf numbers are 28-54,
The first shelf number found within will be the shelf number where the item to be shipped will be stored. In this way, when a shelf storing an item to be shipped is searched, an empty shelf in the same management zone as this item is searched using the same method as explained in the above method of processing a warehouse request. . In addition, in the above-mentioned inventory search, if there is no article to be delivered in the management zone Z1 having the first priority, the management zone Z1 having the next priority is searched in the same procedure. If the item for which the delivery request has been made is out of stock, the central computer 13 transmits a signal indicating "out of stock" to the delivery management computer 15. Then, the delivery management computer 15 flashes a red lamp or the like installed in the delivery requesting device for a certain period of time to notify the worker that the item is out of stock. In this way, for example, as shown in FIG.
When a retrieval request is received from the retrieval dedicated shelf 7e (address 2121), a shelf for storing the article to be retracted is searched. Since this item is on shelf B1 (address 2113) which is Z2 zone, empty shelf K2 which is in the same management zone
(address 2123) is searched. Subsequently, the central computer 13 creates an operation schedule for the stacker crane 3 in the format shown in Table 6.

[Table] Next, the central computer 13 transfers the stacker crane operation schedule data to the stacker crane control computer 16, turns on the stacker operation flag (sets it to 1), and sets the stacker crane operation schedule to the inventory file, empty shelf file, and empty pallet file. Update. On the other hand, the static crane control computer 1
6 receives the stacker crane operation schedule from the central computer 13, converts this data into distance data, and issues an operation command to the stacker crane 3. Then, the stacker crane 3 comes to receive the empty pallet 20 on the delivery shelf 7e. Then, the stacker crane 3 unloads this empty pallet 20 onto the empty shelf K2. Next, the stacker crane 3 goes to the shelf B1 where the goods are stored, receives the pallet containing the goods, and unloads it onto the original unloading shelf 7e, completing the processing of this unloading request. . When the processing of this delivery request is completed, the stacker crane control computer 16 transfers an operation completion signal to the central computer 13. Then, the central computer 13 turns off the stacker crane operation flag (sets it to 0) and accepts the next warehousing or warehousing request. When the pallet containing the articles on the unloading shelf 7e is unloaded, the unloading worker transfers the article to the conveyor device 11 and supplies it to the assembly machine 10. In addition, in the present invention, the specification of the delivery method at the time of a delivery request can be performed by operating the select switch 8c, but if you want to switch from the normal delivery method to the express delivery method, set the select switch from normal to express. Then, the shipping management computer 15
If there is a queue of delivery requests, these delivery request queues can interrupt the central computer for an express delivery. The same applies when switching from the normal exit method to the express exit method. The present invention described above has the following effects. (1) By checking the delivery status of goods, you can arbitrarily select either normal delivery or express delivery. In particular, before and after the setup change of the assembly machine 10, a large number of delivery requests occur in a concentrated manner.
At this time, if the express delivery method is adopted, the items in the management zone closest to the exit will be removed from the warehouse, so the stacker crane will be able to perform the delivery process in a short time, and the assembly machine 10 will stop while waiting for delivery. This can be prevented. (2) Since warehousing and warehousing requests can be processed on a management zone basis, there is no waste in the movement of stacker cranes. Therefore, it is possible to process requests for warehousing and warehousing that randomly occur in a short time, and it is possible to prevent process confusion due to waiting for warehousing or warehousing. In particular, in a multi-story warehouse having a large number of storage entrances and storage exits, if a plurality of management zones are appropriately arranged, this effect will be significantly improved. (3) Goods with a high degree of urgency can be placed in the management zone closest to the dedicated shelves for storage with priority. As a result, when a delivery request is made, the items with higher delivery urgency can be delivered in a shorter time, and it is possible to prevent the assembly machine 10 from stopping due to waiting for delivery.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
3 and 3 are explanatory diagrams showing the warehousing and unloading method of the present invention, FIG. 4 is an overall system diagram of the present invention, and FIG.
6 and 6 are flowcharts for explaining the warehousing and unloading method of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a detailed view of the retrieval reservation device, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the correspondence between shelf addresses and shelf numbers. . 3: Studka Crane, 4a, 4b, ......
…, 4t: Storage shelf, 7a, 7b, ………,
7f: Exit shelf, 17: Goods, 18, 19, 2
0: Palette.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. It has multiple storage entrances and storage exits, and can be used to store and unload goods loaded on pallets, and
When pallets loaded with goods, empty pallets, and empty shelves are mixed on a storage shelf, the loading request by the stacker crane is processed by moving the pallets loaded with goods at the storage entrance to the empty shelf on the storage shelf. After loading, the empty pallet from the storage shelf is taken out to the storage entrance, and the same processing for the delivery request is as follows: After putting the empty pallet at the exit entrance into the empty shelf of the storage shelf, the pallet containing the item requested for delivery is processed. In the loading/unloading method of an automated multi-story warehouse where items are shipped to the exit gate, one storage shelf is installed.
The management zones are divided into multiple management zones with more than 100 empty shelves, and when a warehouse request occurs, the selection of empty shelves and shelves for storing empty pallets is determined by the preset management zone selection priority for each warehouse entrance. Therefore, when a restocking request occurs, the selection of shelves and empty shelves for storing goods to be retracted is done within the same management zone. A method of retrieving goods from the warehouse,
A method for loading and unloading an automated multi-story warehouse, characterized in that a method for loading and unloading goods from within the management zone can be arbitrarily selected according to the priority order of management zone selection for shipping processing that is set in advance for each storage exit. .