JPS63112302A - Article collecting facilities - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the operation management of a transfer vehicle and simplify the operation management control part of facilities by installing a data transmission means consisting of writing and reading means. CONSTITUTION:A data transmission means D transmits information by utilizing an IC card 26 having a controller 26a for controlling reading and writing, ROM 26b, and a RAM 26c, as memory medium. In the IC card 26, a card writer 27B which acts as writing means for writing the work data is installed onto a working controller SC. Further, a card reader 27A which acts as the reading means for reading the data of the IC card 26 is installed onto a transfer controller IC. The transfer controller IC judges the destination information for traveling a transfer vehicle, the information for taking out an article from a shelf part, and the container for accommodating the taken-out articles, on the basis of the working data and the information of the article accommodated onto a previously memorized shelf and outputs said information.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an article collection facility used to collect multiple types of articles according to shipping destinations, and more specifically, to a mobile vehicle equipped with an article storage section. and a shelf for storing a plurality of types of articles and arranged along the longitudinal direction of the travel path of the moving vehicle, and creating work data for collecting articles from the shelf. A data creation means and a data transmission means for transmitting work data from the data to the moving vehicle are provided, and an instruction means for instructing information on collecting articles from the shelf based on information from the data transmission means. , relates to an article collection facility provided on the moving vehicle side.

[Conventional technology]

Such article collection equipment takes out the articles stored on the shelves and stores them while moving the mobile vehicle sequentially to the shelves where the articles to be collected are stored, based on work data for article collection. Items will be collected according to the procedure of storing them in the department.

By the way, in configuring the data transmission means for transmitting the work data created by the work data creation means to the moving vehicle side,
Conventionally, a ground-side signal transmission/reception unit for transmitting work data using optical signals, etc., was provided at a predetermined location on the ground side, such as an article transfer station of a moving vehicle, and communication between the ground-side signal transmission/reception unit and the ground-side signal transmission/reception unit was provided. A signal exchange unit was provided on the moving vehicle side for communication.

By the way, the work data creation means is often configured using a host controller that inputs order data and warehousing data from customers and manages the inventory of the entire facility, and also handles the signal transmission and reception on the ground side. The operation of the unit is often controlled by a work controller that is connected to the host controller so that information can be exchanged.

(For example, the patent application filed in 1816, 1986, which the present applicant proposed earlier)
See No. 0> [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] According to the conventional means, in order to properly transmit data between the signal transmitting and receiving section on the ground side and the signal transmitting and receiving section on the moving vehicle side, it is necessary to It is necessary to stop the vehicle with high accuracy, and there is a disadvantage that operation management of the moving vehicle is complicated.

Moreover, since the work controller is used to transmit data while controlling the operation of the signal exchange unit on the ground side, the load on the work controller becomes large, and the work controller has to be operated using a large-capacity computer. This will result in disadvantages that must be constructed.

In other words, since the work is generally carried out using a large number of moving vehicles, a plurality of ground side signal transmitting and receiving sections are provided. As a result, the work controller may have to transmit data to multiple mobile vehicles at the same time, and the work controller not only manages signal transmission and reception on the ground side, but also manages various equipment attached to the equipment. Since the operation management of the equipment is also performed, the above-mentioned disadvantages arise. In short, according to the conventional means, there was a risk that the operation management control section of the equipment, which would be configured using a computer, would become large and complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to facilitate operation management of moving vehicles, and to
The object of the present invention is to provide an article collection facility that can simplify the operation management control section of the facility.

[Means for solving problems]

The characteristic configuration of the article collection equipment according to the present invention is such that the data transmission means transmits the work data for collecting goods from the shelves created by the work data creation means to the mobile vehicle side, and the created work data is stored in the storage medium. It consists of an information writing means for writing information and a reading means on the moving vehicle side for reading data from the storage medium, and its functions and effects are as follows.

[For production]

In other words, the created work data for collecting goods is written in a storage medium in advance, and the data on the storage medium is read by the moving vehicle at a timely manner as needed, so that the work data for collecting goods is stored in the moving vehicle. This makes it possible to communicate.

Furthermore, setting the storage medium in the moving vehicle for data reading is not restricted by the location of the moving vehicle.

In addition, the process of writing the created work data for article collection to a storage medium may be performed, for example, by using the down time when the equipment is stopped operating at night, or by writing it during the operation. By using the time when the controller is in a standby state, it is possible to perform operations at a timely manner (such as scrubbing) without placing a large load on the operation management control unit.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Therefore, it is possible to transmit the work data for collecting goods without being restricted by the location of the vehicle, making it easier to manage the operation of the moving vehicle. As a result, it is possible to avoid placing a large load on the system, and it is also possible to simplify the operation management control section, resulting in an article collection facility that is excellent both in terms of use and equipment configuration. .

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the article collection equipment includes a mobile vehicle (V) equipped with a plurality of article storage sections (S), and
A plurality of types of articles (Xa) are stored, and the moving vehicle (V
) A plurality of shelves (1) are provided which are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the travel path.

Each column (1) is divided into a plurality of sections along its longitudinal direction, and each partitioned shelf section (IA) is provided with four upper and lower loading sections. , horizontally 3
The type of article (Xa) is stored.

As shown in FIG. 4, the mobile vehicle (V) has front wheels (3) for steering which are operated to change direction around a vertical axis (P) by a steering handle rod (2), and left and right wheels. The pair of left and right rear wheels (4) is provided with a differential gear (4).
5) and a propulsion electric motor (6
).

As shown in FIG. 5, a control box (7) is provided at the tip of the control handle rod (2), and this control box (7) is equipped with a propulsion motor ( A travel control lever (8) that switches the motor (6) between normal rotation, reverse rotation, and a stop state, and a vehicle speed lever (9) that changes the rotational speed of the propulsion electric motor (6) by moving back and forth.
) is provided.

However, in FIG. 5, (10) is a key switch, (11) is a warning lamp, and (12) is a warning buzzer.

The article storage section (S) is formed by a storage frame (13) mounted on a moving vehicle (V), and is formed by a storage frame (13) mounted on a moving vehicle (V).
3) is provided with four upper and lower shelf sections, and each shelf section is formed with three article storage sections (S) in the horizontal direction. however,
In order to store articles in containers (Z) corresponding to respective shipping destinations, containers (Z) are stored in each of the article storage sections (S).

The storage frame (13) is loaded onto and unloaded from a moving vehicle (V) by a transfer device (K), which will be described later, at a transfer station (ST). A conveyance device (14) for loading and unloading is provided which also serves as a placing section for the frame (13).

Therefore, after loading the storage frame (13) at the transfer station (ST), the worker drives the mobile vehicle (V) to the desired shelf part (IA) based on the destination information, and drives the moving vehicle (V) to the desired shelf part (IA). The article is taken out from the IA) based on the article retrieval information, and the taken out article is placed in a desired container (IA) based on the article storage information.
Of course, when all the work is completed, the moving vehicle (V) will return to the transfer station (ST).

The transfer device (K) will be explained. Note that this transfer device (K) is similarly provided at each of the two transfer stations (ST).

That is, an empty container conveyor (15) that transports empty containers (Z) from the shipping work area, a stored container conveyor 16) that transports containers (Z) from the article storage section to the shipping work area, and an empty container conveyor (16) that transports empty containers (Z) from the shipping work area. Container storage device (
17), a supply conveyor (18) that conveys a storage frame (13) containing empty containers (Z) to the transfer station side;
A delivery conveyor (19) transports the storage frame (13) in which the container (Z) of the article storage section is stored; ) Container takeout device (20), movable medium! Il! Using the conveyor (21A), the storage frame (13) is sent out from the moving vehicle (V) and transferred to the conveyor (19).
), and a first relay device (21) that delivers the storage frame (13) from the supply conveyor (18) to the moving vehicle (V), and a transversely movable relay conveyor ( 22A)
A second relay device (22) is provided which transfers the empty storage frame (13) from the delivery conveyor (19) to the supply conveyor (13) using the second relay device (22). It is activated based on commands from the work controller (SC), which will be described later, to automatically load the storage frame (13) onto the moving vehicle (V) and unload the storage frame (13) from the moving vehicle (V). That's what I do.

Next, an explanation will be given while describing the control configuration.

As shown in Figure 1, order forms (2
When the contents of 3) are input to the host controller (IC), the order form (23) is sent to the host controller (IC).
A purchase order (24) is created according to the contents of the purchase order (24), goods are purchased according to the contents of the purchase order (24), and the warehousing data (25) of the purchased goods is also sent to the host controller (IC). Man-powered.

The host controller (HC), while managing the inventory of various goods, creates work data for collecting goods based on the contents of the order form (23) entered in advance, and sends the work data to the work controller (S). However, the work data is formed so as to be distinguishable for each data given to the - moving vehicles (V), and is output to the - moving vehicles (V).
) is formed in such a format that it is possible to determine the type and quantity of articles stored in each of the plurality of article storage sections (S), that is, the plurality of containers (Z).

The work controller (SC) manages the operation of the transfer device (K), and also communicates with the mobile vehicle controller (IC) provided in the mobile vehicle (V) by means of data transmission (described later).
D) will be used to comprehensively manage the goods collection operations while exchanging various information.

The information transmission means (D) includes a controller (26a) for read/write control, a ROM (26b), and a RAM.
A card writer (27B) that transmits information while using the IC card (26) provided with the IC card (26c) as a storage medium and functions as a writing means for writing work data to the IC card (26) is a work controller. (SC) and an IC card (26)
A card reader (27A) that functions as a reading means for reading data is attached to the mobile vehicle controller (IC).

However, (L) in the figure is a container (Z) to be stored in the moving vehicle (V).
) is a printer for creating goods slips to be stored separately in each of the printers (27B), and is operated in synchronization with the operation of the card writer (27B). In addition, the above goods slip is
It is used for inspection after the goods collection work, and is distributed to each container (Z) in a predetermined order by the worker when setting the IC card (26) on the moving vehicle side. become.

The mobile vehicle controller (IC) provides destination information for driving the mobile vehicle (V), based on the above-mentioned work data and information on articles stored in the shelf (1) stored in advance. Information on taking out articles from the shelf section (18) where V) traveled and the container (Z) that stores the taken out articles.
The vehicle (v) is equipped with a display panel (DC) that displays destination information and article removal information, and outputs the storage information indicating the amount of input and input amount. , each container (Z) in the storage frame (13)
On each side of the upper side are an indicator lamp (28) for indicating storage information and a numerical display section (28) for displaying the amount of stored items.
9) is provided.

The destination information consists of a passage number 1 given in advance between adjacent types (1) and a zone number given in advance to each shelf part (IA). As shown in FIG. 2, a destination passage NO display section (B,) that lights up a portion corresponding to each passage number and a zone No. display section (B2) that lights up a section corresponding to a zone number are provided.

The article retrieval information consists of the shelf No. 1 shelf position assigned to each storage location of each article (Xa) and the amount of article to be taken out, and the display panel (DC) shows the shelf number as shown in FIG. There are provided a shelf position display section (B3) that displays No., a quantity display section (B4) that displays the amount of articles to be taken out, and a shelf position display section (B,) that lights up a portion corresponding to the shelf position.

In addition, the article retrieval information indicates that the mobile vehicle (V) is at the desired shelf area (
IA), and for this purpose, a mark (M) indicating the passage number and zone number is provided on the ceiling side of each passage, and a mark detection sensor (30) is housed. It is attached to the frame (13). By the way, when the mark detection sensor (30) detects that the mobile vehicle (V) has traveled to the shelf area (IA) where work is to be done, the above-mentioned warning lamp (11) and warning buzzer (12) are activated. Furthermore, the detected approach passage number will be displayed on the approach passage number display section (B6) of the display panel (DC).

Furthermore, the article retrieval information is for one information instruction to instruct one article among the plurality of kinds of articles stored in the shelf section (IA). When the work completion switch (31) provided in (:) is operated, it is checked whether there is information instruction for other types of articles, and if there is, it is subsequently instructed to take out the article information. become.

By the way, when storing items in each container (Z),
It is necessary to store a desired amount of articles of the type assigned to each container (Z), and therefore, the article storage information is displayed while also checking the position of each container (Z). become. That is, for example, while identifying the position of each container (Z) using a matrix, article data to be stored in each container (Z) is determined, and article storage information is displayed based on this. However, when determining the article data for each container (Z), it goes without saying that it should be associated with the distribution order of the article slips described above.

The storage frame (13) is equipped with a connector (32B) that connects to a connector (32^) extending from the mobile vehicle controller (IC) when the storage frame (13) is loaded onto the mobile vehicle (V). Through this connection, the indicator lamp (28), numerical display section (29), and mark detection sensor (30) are connected to the mobile vehicle controller (IC).

Therefore, using a mobile vehicle controller (IC), a destination information indicating means (100) for indicating destination information, an article retrieval information indicating means (101) for indicating article retrieval information, and an article storage for indicating article storage information. Information instruction means (10
An instructing means for instructing article collection information is composed of each of 2).

While describing the control operation of the mobile vehicle controller (IC) based on the flowchart shown in FIG.
Add an explanation about the operation.

That is, when the IC card (26) is set in the card reader (27A) on the mobile vehicle side at the transfer station (ST) etc., the mobile vehicle controller (IC) reads the work data and then displays the destination data. Processing to display the passage number is performed.

When the moving vehicle (V) enters the desired passage, the entry passage no.
The process of displaying the zone number in which the vehicle should travel and the process of displaying the zone number in which the vehicle should travel are executed.

When the work area is reached, an alarm process that activates the alarm buzzer (12) and alarm lamp (12) is executed, followed by a process to display the shelf position, a process to display the shelf number, and a process to remove the item. Each process to display the quantity is executed,
Furthermore, a process of outputting storage information by operating the instruction lamp (28) and numerical display section (29) is executed.

Next, the operating state of the work completion switch (31) is repeatedly checked and the process waits until the article removal work is completed.

When the work is completed, it is checked whether the work in that zone is to be continued or not, and if the work is to be continued, each process from the above shelf position display process is executed.

If there is no need to continue, check whether there is any remaining work in other zones, and if there is, move the approach route N.
Execute each process from the O display process.

If there is no remaining work, it is checked whether or not to continue the work, and if the work is to be performed, the above-mentioned processes are executed.

[Another example]

As the mobile vehicle (v), a mobile vehicle that automatically travels based on destination command information may be used.

In order to instruct information on taking out articles at each shelf section (IA), information on articles of the same type may be displayed separately for each container (Z). In this case, the numerical display section (29
) is no longer needed.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the articles are sorted using the containers (Z) is illustrated, but the articles may be sorted while being directly stored in the article storage section (S).

Furthermore, in carrying out the present invention, article data for each shipping destination is written in a special storage medium (26), so that a plurality of storage media (26) can be set on the moving vehicle at the same time, and, Items for each shipping destination are stored in the same item storage section (S)
By storing each storage medium (26) in the corresponding article storage section (S) after the article collection work, it is also possible to have the items inspected using the information on the storage medium (26). It is.

As the storage medium (26), various types such as an IC card, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc. can be used, and
The writing means (27B) and the reading means (27A) are
Various types can be used depending on the storage medium (26) used.

Incidentally, although reference numerals are written in the claims section for convenient comparison with the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the structure shown in the accompanying drawings.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the article collection equipment according to the present invention, and the first
The figure is a block diagram showing the control configuration, Figure 2 is a schematic plan view of the equipment for sorting goods, Figure 3 is a perspective view of a moving vehicle parked beside a shelf, Figure 4 is a schematic plan view of the moving vehicle, and Figure 4 is a schematic plan view of the moving vehicle. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the control box, FIG. 6 is a plan view of the display panel, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing control operations. (1) Shelf, (26) Storage medium, (26a) Controller for read/write control, (D) Data transmission means , (IC)...
...Work data creation means, (IC) ...Instruction means, (S) ...Goods storage section, (V) ...
...Moving vehicle.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A mobile vehicle (V) is provided with an article storage section (S), and stores a plurality of types of articles, and the mobile vehicle (
Shelves (1) arranged along the longitudinal direction of the running path of V)
are provided, a work data creation means (HC) for creating work data for collecting articles from the shelf (1), and a data transmission means (D) for transmitting the work data therefrom to the mobile vehicle side, respectively. and an instruction means (IC) for instructing article collection information from the shelf (1) based on information from the data transmission means (D) is article collection equipment provided on the moving vehicle side. a writing means (27B) for writing the work data created by the data transmission means (D) into the storage medium (26);
6) reading means (27) on the moving vehicle side for reading the data;
A) Goods collection equipment consisting of. (2) The article collection equipment according to claim 1, wherein the storage medium (26) is an IC card equipped with a controller (26C) for read/write control.