JPS6331924A - Counting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To count the number of articles efficiently and speedily, by checking whether the actually conveyed article accords with outside dimensions of the article in view of conveying data corresponding to the count value or not. CONSTITUTION:Each of belt conveyors 32A and 32B of a counter 32 separates articles piece by piece and counts each article by photoswitches PH1 and PH2. Here, when these photoswitches PH1 and PH2 are shaded from light in order of (a), (b) and (c), it is so designed to count that one article is passed through. And, the counted article is conveyed to a converging storage conveyor and stored. Furthermore, when the specified numbered articles passed through on the basis of patch picking data and these photoswitches come into a light received state, these belt conveyors 32A and 32B are stopped, and the succeeding article is stored on a feed storage conveyor, And, a type checker 32C performs a type check by what both photoswitches PH5 and PH6 are moved up to the specified height.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a counting method for checking the types of articles being transported while counting them, and in particular, by substantially eliminating tracking errors of articles, it is possible to prevent merging or Sorting relates to a counting method that reduces errors and enables reliable checking of types while counting articles.

[Conventional technology]

As a prior art related to the counting method, there is
Those described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 510 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-92378 are known.

To briefly explain the description in the above gazette,
．． No. 510 discloses that a difference in external dimensions of an object to be tested is output as an electrical signal by an external shape discrimination section, and an electrical signal corresponding to the intensity of light is outputted by a color discrimination section, and these electrical signals and A counting device is described that identifies a difference in a test object by comparing it with a set reference signal.

In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 59-92378 discloses that in a conveyance device equipped with a plurality of detectors, the state of a conveyed object passing through each detector is tracked, and malfunction of the same or other detectors during the passage is conducted. A method for preventing chattering in a conveying device is described, which is characterized by preventing chattering.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, the conventional counting method as described above has the following problems.

That is, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-16510, it is possible to identify the object being transported, but not only does it require a complicated discrimination section and arithmetic control section, but also it requires a A standard signal was needed. Therefore, high counting ability could not be obtained because time was spent on arithmetic processing and the like.

Furthermore, although JP-A-59-92378 describes a method for detecting the presence or absence of conveyed objects, there is no description or suggestion of determining the external dimensions.
Therefore, even if the wrong article is being conveyed, it is counted, resulting in a counting error.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable detection of product type mismatch due to picking Z' error or counting error of articles,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a counting method for efficiently and quickly counting articles.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention is capable of counting the actually transported articles based on transport data including the transport order, transport quantity, and external dimensions of the articles, and at the same time, the actual transporting items correspond to the count value. By checking whether the external dimensions of the item match the transport data,
The above object has been achieved by providing a counting method characterized by checking the type of the article actually being transported.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing an example of a distribution system to which a method for merging articles using an embodiment of the counting method of the present invention is applied. In the figure, reference numeral 101 denotes a pinking line, in which articles are picked by type using a pinking device based on predetermined batch pinking data.

Reference numeral 102 denotes a confluence storage line, in which the articles flowing from the above-mentioned picking line are temporarily stored based on the above-mentioned batch pinking data, and a predetermined amount of articles are collected together and sent to the next line; 103 is a confluence conveyance line; Based on the bunch picking data of , the plurality of storage lines are merged one by one starting from the line in which predetermined articles are collected. Reference numeral 104 denotes a branch line, in which branch sorting data is created according to a predetermined sorting length, that is, sorting is branched according to the data based on group data. 105 is a sorting line for storing the branched articles. Reference numeral 106 denotes a discharging line, and when a loading container number (car number) is set, discharging is performed for each container on the above-mentioned assortment line. 107 is a loading conveyor line that transports the above-mentioned delivered articles to the loading port of the container. 108 is loading, and 109 is delivery. Here, everything from the picking line 101 to the loading conveyor line 107 is automatically controlled by a computer.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of this computer-based control system. This control system includes a general management CPU (central processing unit) 201, a logistics CPU 202
, a control CPU 203 and a sorting system 204.

The overall management EIC CPU 201 performs overall management of the entire logistics system, and, for example, creates a delivery order schedule for articles based on order data, etc., and sends this to the lower-level logistics CPU 202. Also, things'IJLcP U 2
02 determines the group for sorting the article according to the delivery order schedule of the article, creates branch assortment data and batch pinking data, and controls this.
Output to. Further, the control CPU 203 creates necessary control commands based on the branch assortment data and batch pinking data, and outputs them to the sorting system 204. Furthermore, the sorting system 204 uses a sequencer to perform necessary controls such as merging control, branching control, and dispensing control.

The logistics CPU 202 in the control system creates the required data as described below according to the flowchart in FIG.

The details will be explained with reference to the case where articles are divided into five parts and loaded into a container as shown in FIG. In addition, FIG. 4 (al is the total of articles using one embodiment of the counting method of the present invention)
A schematic plan view showing the main parts of the sorting device used together with the V device to configure the logistics system shown in FIG. 1, No. 41E]
(bl is a schematic sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 4[al], and in these drawings, 301 is a container for loading goods;
302 is a container loader, 1303 is a sorting line, 3
04 is a branch line, and the assortment line 303 and the branch line 304 are provided in two stages. Further, 303-1 is a sorting line during loading, and 303-2 is a sorting line during sorting. Further, in these drawings, articles are shown as small squares corresponding to their respective sizes.

(Step 31)...Divide the container volume into multiple parts.

In the example of FIG. 4 fal and (bl), the volume of the container (delivery vehicle loading platform) 301 is divided into six parts as shown in ■, ■, ■, ■, ■, and ■.In other words, the container 301 in this case has a rear door (
(loading/unloading port), it is divided into 6 parts in the longitudinal direction. This number of divisions is determined by dividing the container length by the length of a relatively large item (an integer), since it is more stable during delivery if items with larger planar dimensions (length or width) are stacked at the bottom. This is the one taken. Note that, although the traveling direction of the container 301 and the longitudinal direction of the articles are made to coincide with each other, this is not the case.

(Step 32)...Determination of assortment length.

The length of assortment is determined so that the number of articles that can be accommodated in one divided section can be stored on approximately one assortment line. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
The container 301 is loaded into the divided section (■). Similarly, the goods stored in the assortment lines 303 of ■, ■, ■, and ■ are stored in the containers 301 in order, respectively.
It will be loaded into the divided sections ①, ② and ②. still,
Since there is no article to be loaded in the divided portion (■) of the container 30 (the article is divided into 5 parts), no article is loaded at all.

(Step S3)... Creation of branch assortment data.

It is now assumed that orders for delivery of goods are given to 15 stores as shown in Table 1. In addition, in Table 1,
a to g represent product category classifications, and are shown in Figure 4 (al and To
As shown in 1, the articles are arranged in descending order of length. As you can see from Table 1, the order details vary greatly depending on the product type, and there are no more than 4 orders.

Table 1 In creating the branch assortment data, first, the delivery destinations are rearranged in the order of loading as described above, and the articles are rearranged in the order of length dimension as described above.

Next, based on this Table 1, find the multiplication value of the quantity and length for each item from the historical notes, and calculate the length by adding this multiplication value sequentially to the right for each item. Find the added value. Then, when the added value of this length approximately reaches the length of one sorting line, the data is separated, and the articles up to this point are classified as a group, and the number of the branching destination sorting line is assigned for each article. (2) is determined, and branch data is created so that it is branched and stored on the assortment line (2). In Table 1 above, the total amount of 145 items destined for 15 stores is divided into five parts, taking into consideration the length of the assortment line, container capacity, delivery efficiency, etc. In other words, the number of ■ divided into 5 parts is 21 for store 1, 6 for store 2, and 2 for store 3, for a total of 29.
In the same way, ■ is divided into 5 pieces, one for store 3 and one for store 4.
Divided into 5 parts, 21 addressed to store 5 and 5 addressed to store 5, total of 27.■
is 6 pieces for store 5, 5 pieces for store 6, 13 pieces for store 7, and 7 pieces for store 8, for a total of 31 pieces.
5 pieces to store 10, 12 pieces to store 11, 8 pieces to store 11, a total of 30 pieces,
and 5 divided ■ are 2 pieces for store 11, 7 pieces for store 12,
9 for store 13, 7 for store 14, and 3 for store 15, making a total of 28, each with a predetermined number of approximately 30.

Note that the orders shown in Table 1 above are processed by the general management CPU 201.
The number of delivery destinations that can be loaded for each container (one vehicle) is determined by this, and the order of delivery routes is also determined.

(Step 34)... Creation of batch peering data.

As mentioned above, collect multiple containers for each l container,
The allocation is completed for almost all of the goods sorting lines 303 by dividing the goods into containers, and the sum of all the goods is taken as the total pinking amount. In other words, the number of goods sorted and loaded = the number of items picked. In Table 1 above, there are a total of 3000 pieces. The total number of containers for each type is totaled, and in this case, picking data is created so that the items are picked in descending order of length.

As described above, articles are loaded in the container 301 in a predetermined loading state, as an example of which is shown in principle in FIG. In addition, in FIG. 5, 301' is the door of the container.

By performing the control as described above, the following advantages can be obtained.

That is, the overall management CPU 201 calculates multiple (in rare cases, a single) delivery destination for each container (one vehicle), and after determining the order of delivery destinations, the logistics CPU 202 performs the above calculation process to create batch picking data. However, since batch pinking is performed based on this batch pinking data, how is it compared to picking by one container? It is efficient because several containers can be picked at once.

Also, instead of sorting items separately for each store, the capacity of the container is divided into multiple parts, the number of items is separated, and the items are stored along the alignment line along its length within the capacity of the container. Therefore, it is space efficient.

In the order example shown in Table 1 above, Fig. 4 fa+ and mountain)
As shown in , in descending order of length dimension, a %
b SCSd % can be branched and aligned with fl, f and g.

In addition, goods are sorted by assortment line 303 (■)
By discharging the goods from the container 301 and stacking them in the divided sections marked with ■ in the container 301, one part destined for store 3 is mixed up with the part destined for store 1 and store 2 in Table 1 above.
When the delivery person (driver) delivers to these delivery destinations in the order of store 3, store 2, and store 1, when the delivery person arrives at the delivery destination and opens the door of the container, there will be a large portion of the container that is almost facing the dividing part. This means that the corresponding item exists. In other words, the items to be delivered later will not come to the front and the items to be delivered first will not go to the back, and the applicable items can be selected and unloaded from the facing divisions. The same effect can be obtained as branching out and loading each store. As a result, the shipper is not only able to more efficiently carry out unloading work, but also allows other workers to load the containers in advance, instead of the shipper loading the containers themselves. By doing this, you can effectively secure delivery time.

Next, we will discuss an example of an article merging device using an embodiment of the counting method of the present invention applied to the above-mentioned distribution system, and an example of a sorting device applied to the distribution system together with such an article merging device. explain.

FIG. 6 is a plan view schematically showing an example of an article merging device using an embodiment of the counting method of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes three sets of merging storage conveyors constituting the merging storage line 102 of FIG. A predetermined number of articles that are placed one after another form a combined unit that is continuously dispensed. Further, 2 is installed at the delivery end of each merging storage conveyor 1, and 3 sets of merging delivery conveyors are installed to separate and deliver the above-mentioned articles in loft units (for each merging level) one by one, and 3A.
, 3B is a merging conveyor that is arranged substantially perpendicular to the merging and discharging conveyor 2 and conveys the discharged articles;
These merging and discharging conhairs 2 and merging conveyance conhairs 3
A.

3B constitutes the merging conveyance line 103 in FIG. 1, which sends out the articles on the merging storage container 1 to the next line at a predetermined interval of N'cl. As shown in FIG. 6, the merging conveyance conhair 3B is arranged in an inclined manner passing through a floor pit FP provided on the floor, and the goods are transferred to the switching conveyance conhair 4 (see FIG. 10) provided downstairs. It is now possible to send

To explain in more detail each part of the above-mentioned example of the article merging device, the merging storage conveyor 1 is configured as an accumulation conveyor 7 having an accumulation function and a simultaneous dispensing function, and is continuously dispensed. It has a length (for example, 30 m) necessary for storing the articles forming the confluence unit. That is, the confluence storage container 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in , there is a carrier roller IA, a sensor IB provided for each required number of carrier rollers IA, a bad chain IC that contacts the carrier roller IA and rotates the carrier roller A, and a bad chain IC that rotates the carrier roller IA. It is provided with a lifting mechanism consisting of a mechanical valve ID and an air actuator IE for pressing and releasing the pad chain IC, and a drive device (not shown) with a transmission that drives the pad chain IC. Although not shown, an air circuit that bypasses the mechanical valve ID is also provided so that articles can be dispensed all at once.

The rear end 1F (about 5 m in length) of the confluence storage conveyor 1 is not equipped with a sensor or a lifting mechanism, and the bad chain IC is always pressed against the carrier roller IA.

Incidentally, instead of the above-mentioned accumulation conveyor, a conveyor as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5B-27167 may be used. Also, in FIG. 7(b),
The articles are shown as squares on carrier roller IA.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8 [al], the above-mentioned merging and discharging container hair 2 in the merging device separates the articles one by one,
This is a skewed delivery conveyor, and is configured by arranging heald feeders 2A, 2B and a skewed merging conveyor 2C in series.

The skewed confluence conhair 2C includes a driven skewed wheel 2D and a free roller 2E. Also, belt feeder 2B and skewed merging conveyor 2C
is set at a higher speed than the heald feeder 2A.

Note that a curved conveyor may be used instead of the skewed merging conveyor 2C. Also, in Figure 8 (bl), PH3
, PH4 is a photoswitch for detecting completion of dispensing of articles.

Further, the merging conveyance conveyor 3A in the merging device is constituted by a roller conveyor, and the merging conveyor conveyor 3B is constituted by a belt conveyor. These merging conveyors 3A and 3B are set at the same speed as the skewed merging conveyor 2C.

Further, in FIG. 6, numeral 31 is a conveyance storage conhair for conveying and temporarily storing picked articles, and is constituted by an accumulation conhair similar to the confluence storage conhair 1. In addition, this transport storage container 31 has a simultaneous payout function.
You don't have to do it.

In addition, in FIG. 6, 32 is an article counting device to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, and as shown in FIG.
and photoswitches PHI and PH2, the belt conveyor 32A has a higher speed than the conveyance straightening hair 31, and the belt conveyor 32B has a higher speed than the conveying straightening hair 31.
Since the speed is set at a higher speed, the transported articles can be separated one by one, and the photoswitch PH
It can be counted by I and PH2.

The healdconhairs 32A and 32B are each driven by a motor with a brake (not shown).

Further, the counting device 32 is equipped with a product type checking device 32C for checking the product type of the product being counted at approximately the same time as counting the products. The product type checking device 32C, as shown in FIG. The cylinder is equipped with an encoder.

Also, on one side wall of the gate frame, there are two switches (
A dog 32C° (not shown) is provided. In addition, instead of photoswitches PH5 and PH6, external shape inspection equipment using pattern recognition etc., height inspection equipment using ultrasonic waves etc., length inspection equipment using photoswitch light-blocking time, type inspection equipment using barcodes, load cells, etc. A weight inspection device may also be used.

Fig. 10 fa) is a plan view schematically showing an example of an article sorting device that constitutes the distribution system together with the above-mentioned article merging device;
vA sectional view, Figure 10 FC+ is B-B in Figure 10+al
In a line side view, the article sorting device in this example is located below the article combining device described above.

In these drawings, 4 is the aforementioned switching conveyor;
As shown in Figure 1 (O), the right end of the figure moves up and down to transfer articles to either conveyor 5 or 15, which is installed in two layers, upper and lower. In addition, like the conveyors 5 and 15 installed in the upper and lower layers in this way, the 10th
In Figure ta+, many of the devices in the lower layer overlap with those in the upper layer and are not shown, so in Figure 10 (al), the symbols representing the devices in the lower layer are placed near the symbols representing the related devices in the upper layer. Shown in parentheses.

Also, in Figure 1O+al~(C1, 6 and 16 are index feeders that open a corner for a certain period of time in the articles sent by the transfer conveyors 5 and I5 via the switching conveyor 4. Also, 7 and 17 are A branching conveyor that is equipped with a branching device and constitutes the branching line 104 in FIG. In addition, 9 and 19 are inclined roller conveyors constituting the sorting line 105 in FIG. It is designed to be self-propelled by force, and to arrange and store goods.

Furthermore, 10 and 20 are dispensing devices constituting the dispensing line 106 in FIG. 1, and when the loading container number (car number) is set, the stopper means is released for each container line and discharging is performed. It has become(
12 (see al and (bl)). Reference numerals 11 and 21 are conveyors that together with the above-mentioned dispensing devices 1o and 20 constitute the dispensing line 106 in FIG.
The goods discharged from the container and the container 20 are sent to the loading port of the container. Further, 12 and 22 are transfers, and 13 and 23 are stoppers, by which the articles sent to the loading port of the container are transferred to the loading conveyor 14 (container loader in FIG. 4) constituting the loading conveyor line 107 in FIG. 302). A switching chute 14A is provided between the upper layer conveyor 11 and the loading conveyor 14, as shown in FIG. When the article is delivered, the container moves down to the connected position r, and when the article is delivered from the conveyor container 21 in the lower layer, it springs up to the unconnected position (indicated by a broken line).

Articles are loaded from the loading container 14 into the container 301 by a worker.

In addition, in FIG. 10 tal, overflow lines 17 and 27 shown on the left are for storing articles that cannot be branched because there is no branching data.

Next, a case will be described in which one embodiment of the article merging method using an embodiment of the counting method of the present invention is implemented using the article merging apparatus shown in FIGS. 6 to 9.

Articles that have been pinked based on the aforementioned hatch picking data by a pinking facility (not shown) provided upstream of the transport storage conveyor 31 are transported to the counting device 32 by the transport storage conveyor 31. If an article is placed on the merging storage conveyor 1 (delivery of the article on the merging storage conveyor 1 is not completed), the heald conveyors 32A and 32B with a count of 5 and E32 stop. Therefore, when the first article reaches the counting device 32, this article is sequentially stored on the transport storage container 31 without leaving any gaps between the articles. When the delivery of the articles on the merging storage conveyor 1 is completed, the belt conveyors 32A and 32B are operated, and the articles on the transport storage conveyor 31 are transferred to the photoswitch P H
1, PH2, and are stored on the combined storage conveyor 1. Furthermore, when an article reaches the counting station 32 when no article is placed on the confluence storage container 1, the article is not counted because the heald conveyors 32A and 32B are in operation. The data are stored on the confluence storage container 1.

Heald conveyors 32A and 32B of the counting device 32 are
Since the speeds are set as shown in Table 2 below, the articles are separated one by one and the photoswitches PHI and PH2 are
can be counted by. That is, Fig. 9fd
As shown in Figure 1, when the photoswitches PH1 and PH2 are blocked in the order of A, OP, and C, it is counted as one article passing. The counted articles 1 are then conveyed to the confluence storage container 1 and stored therein. Based on the hatch picking data, a predetermined number of items are counted successfully)
, when the photoswitches PHI and PH2 enter the light-receiving state, the belt conveyors 32A and 32B stop, and the subsequent articles are stored on the transport storage conveyor 31.

Table 2 Furthermore, in one embodiment of the counting method of the present invention, the type of article is determined at approximately the same time as the above-mentioned counting.

A ceremony will also be held. In other words, 1. When carrying out the operation using a counting machine 32 equipped with a product type checking device 32C as shown in FIG. Based on this, the photoswitches PH5 and PH6 are set at a predetermined height. For example, as shown in FIG. 15mm above position)
By making the sheep hyperactive by the power cylinder until
Almost at the same time as the items are counted, the type of the item is also checked. To explain this type check in more detail, the amount of vertical movement of the power cylinder is detected by measuring encoder pulses, and the detection result is the external dimensions of the article based on batch picking data, that is, in the case of this embodiment. Control is such that such elevating and lowering is stopped when a command signal indicating the height of the article matches. Under such control, when the article reaches the position of the photoswitch PH1 and the photoswitch PH1 is blocked, the photoswitch PH5 is blocked and the photoswitch P
If H6 is receiving light, it is normal, so the articles are counted by the photoswitches PHI and PH2 and conveyed to the combined storage conveyor 1. If a product type abnormality is detected by the photoswitches PH5 and PH6, that is, almost at the same time as counting the articles actually being conveyed, the article being actually conveyed corresponds to the count value. As a result of checking whether or not they match the external dimensions of the article in the data, if it is detected that these are not defective, the Held Conhair 32A, 3
2B stops. When counting for a certain type is completed, the power cylinder moves the photoswitches PH5 and PH6 up and down to the height of the next type. If the next article arrives before the lifting is completed and the photoswitch PH1 is blocked, the belt conveyors 32A and 32B will immediately stop, and after the lifting is completed, the belt conveyors 732A and 32B will be driven again to the belt conveyor. In the above explanation, the product type check is performed for all products, but it is also possible to check only the first product and last product for each product type that flows continuously.
Since substantially the same effect as a 100% check can be obtained, it is not necessarily necessary to perform a 100% check if a type check device with low processing power that requires calculations etc. is used in place of the photoswitches PH5 and PH6.

Passes the counting device 32 and joins the storage conveyor 1
Since the merging and discharging conveyor 2 has stopped, when the first article arrives, the articles are stored one after another on the merging storage conveyor 1 without leaving any gaps between the articles. Ru. This storage is carried out when the stored articles pass along the length of the merging storage conveyor 1, that is, when a merging unit of articles consisting of a predetermined number of articles is formed on the merging storage conveyor 1. Complete. In this case, the storage completion of the article means that after the last article passes through the photoswitch PH2 (returns to the light receiving state) based on the confluence storage length data of the article from the batch picking data,
A control device (not shown) calculates the time required for the items from the first item to the last item to be stored without any gaps between them, and when the last item passes through the photoswitch PH2 and the above time period has elapsed, that is, This means that all items are stored without any gaps between them. When the counting of the last article is completed, the heald feeders 2A and 2B are operated, and when the first article reaches the photoswitch PH3, the belt feeders 2A and 2B are operated.
B is stopped and ready to start dispensing goods.

Note that in one embodiment of the article merging method using one embodiment of the counting method of the present invention, in creating the batch picking data in step S4 described above, all containers are totaled for each product type, and the length dimension is calculated. Articles are picked in descending order of size, and the merging storage conveyor 1 is divided into sections according to the number of articles to be carried along the length of the conveyor 1 to form merging units. Therefore, although only one type of article may be stored in a certain merging unit, one merging unit is usually made up of multiple types of items, so merging switching is easier than when merging by type. The frequency is reduced, switching loss time can be reduced, and as a result, the merging capacity can be increased without increasing the conveyance speed of the articles at the time of merging.

A predetermined number of articles that have been completely stored on the combined storage conveyor 1 to form a combined unit are delivered in accordance with the order in which the storage has been completed. The combined storage conveyor 1 can be changed in speed in four stages, and the delivery speed is changed to an appropriate speed depending on the size of the article. That is, less than 330 mm, 330 m depending on the length of the article in the direction in which the article is transported.
Divided into four categories: m or more and less than 390 mm, 390 mm or more and less than 530 mm, and 530 mm or more, and the delivery speed for each category is 21.2 m/min, 25.5 m/min, and 28.4 m. /min, 33.8m/min. By varying the dispensing speed in this way, the interval at which the articles are dispensed can be kept approximately constant regardless of the size of the article, and therefore the number of articles dispensed per unit time can be kept approximately constant. . Incidentally, when the articles stored on the combined storage conveyor l are spread over a plurality of the above-mentioned divisions, the delivery speed is changed to the one according to the smaller division. However, as described in the explanation of step S4 above, since the articles are conveyed in descending order of length, they usually fit into one size category.

Before the merging delivery container 2 starts discharging the articles onto the merging transport container 3A, the merging storage container 1
is changed to the predetermined delivery speed based on the Hanochibifking data, and by starting the operation of the merging delivery container 2, the articles on the merging storage container 1 are transferred without leaving any gaps between the articles. The articles are continuously delivered onto the merging delivery conveyor 2 (using the simultaneous delivery function, all the articles are started simultaneously), separated one by one by the merging delivery conveyor 2, and accelerated to the merging conveyor 3A. paid out on top. In this case, the articles are skewed by the skewed merging conveyor 2c and delivered onto the merging conveyor 3A. By discharging the articles on the merged storage container 1 all at once as described above, it is possible to reduce variations in the pinch of articles being dispensed. When the delivery of the articles on the combined storage conveyor 1 is completed, the combined storage conveyor 1 is changed to its fastest speed of 33.8 m/min (if it was delivered at this speed, it remains unchanged), and the next item is stored. Prepare for. In addition, to complete the dispensing of goods, press the photo switch PH3.
The photoswitch P that corresponds to the merged storage conhair 1 issued when there was no human light for 2 consecutive seconds.
This is determined by the fact that H4 is receiving light.

When the dispensing of articles from one confluence storage container 1 is completed and the dispensing of articles from the next confluence storage conhair 1 starts, the dispensing start time of the articles is set so that these articles do not collide. controlled. That is, when the unloading of the articles from the merging storage conveyor 1 that merges to the downstream side of the merging transport conveyor 3A is completed and the unloading of the articles from the merging storage conveyor 1 that merges to the upstream side of the merging transport conveyor 3A starts, At the same time as the payout is completed (when the photoswitch PH3 is in the human light state for two consecutive seconds, the photoswitch PH4 is in the large light state), the next payout is started. Further, the discharging of the articles from the merging storage conhair 1 that is merged to the upstream side of the merging conveyor conveyor 3A is completed, and the discharging of the articles from the merging storage conhair 1 that is merged to the downstream side of the merging conveyor 3A is started. Sometimes, after a predetermined period of time has passed after the completion of dispensing (the time until the dispensed goods reach the photoswitch PH4 corresponding to the process for the next dispensing confluence storage container 1), the next dispensing confluence storage container 1 When the photoswitch PH4 corresponding to hair 1 enters the high light state, the next payout is started. Therefore, in one embodiment of the article merging method using one embodiment of the counting method of the present invention, the time required from the completion of dispensing an article to the start of dispensing the next article is as shown in Table 3 below.

Table 3 Next, the sorting or moving operation of articles by the sorting device described above will be explained, and details of the sorting device will also be explained.

Figure 11 fal and (bl are the branch conveyor 7 in Figure 10.
(17) is an explanatory diagram of the operation;
Figure ('b) shows a front view. Figure 11 + al and (b
1, a plurality of conhair belts 7A send articles (not shown) in the direction of arrow a. This hair belt 7A
A skewed wheel 7B is disposed at a predetermined position between them so that its rotating shaft 7C forms a predetermined angle with respect to the traveling axis of the conveyor belt 7A. This rotating shaft 7C
is supported by the bracket 7D so that the skewed wheel 7B can rotate freely, and the bracket 7D is further supported by the positive upper mounting a 7 E via the arm 7F. These branch conveyors 7 (17) are provided in sets for each of the large number of pull-in conveyors 8 (18) shown in FIG. 10 (al).

The above-mentioned sorting is performed by moving the branch conveyor 7 (17) to the necessary lead-in conveyor 8 (18) according to the command of the group data.
As shown in Fig. 11 fbl, the skewed wheel is pushed up in the direction of the arrow by the lifting device 7 and assumes the position shown by the broken line, so the article is moved in the direction of arrow C and sent to the retracting container (not shown). .

Figure 12 +a+ and (bl are the assortment lines 10 in Figure 1)
FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of the operation of the dispensing device 10 (20) shown in FIG. .

In Fig. 12 (bl), an object not shown in the figure is self-propelled on the free roller IOA as indicated by the arrow d, but normally the lever lOE is positioned in a substantially vertical direction by the dispensing cylinder IOD and pushes up the frame IOC. Therefore, the stopper IOB and each lift channel IOF are located above the upper surface of the free roller IOA, and stop an article not shown in the drawing.

When a predetermined signal is input, the cylinder IOD moves lever 10.
E is rotated in the direction of the arrow e, and the frame 10C is rotated around the axis 10G in the direction of the arrow f, so that the stopper IOB and the lift channel IOF are lowered from the upper surface of the free roller IOA. For this reason, the articles (not shown) move and are transferred to the conveyor container 11 (21) by the drive wheel IOH.

Fig. 13 shows the arrow g placed on the conveyor 11 (21).
The transfer conveyor 12 (22) shown in FIG. 10 transfers the articles (indicated by the dashed-dotted line) to the loading conveyor 14 shown in FIG. ) and the operation of the stopper 13 (23). When the article is not transferred, the transfer cylinder 12B and the stopper cylinder 1
3B is not operated, the upper ends of the many wheels 12D and the stopper plate 13A provided on the frame 12C are at a lower position than the upper surface of the drive roller 12A. Therefore, the article passing over this travels in the direction of arrow g. When a signal for performing a transfer operation is input, the transfer cylinder 12B and the parallel cylinder 13B operate in the directions of arrows j and k, respectively, and push up each wheel 12D and stopper plate 13A to the position indicated by the broken line, so that the article is Transferred in the direction of the arrow.

An embodiment of the article merging method using the above-described counting method of the present invention [41] and features of an example of the device are listed as follows.

・The merging storage line is configured to sequentially form a merging unit of articles according to the amount of articles added to the groove in its length direction, and after the storage of the articles in the merging unit is completed, these articles are merged. In addition, by providing a relatively long merging storage line, the merging unit is enlarged, and usually multiple types of articles form one merging unit, so when merging articles by type, Compared to this, the frequency of merging switching is reduced, and switching loss time can be reduced.

For example, if a total of 3,000 items (average length 0.4 m) of 500 types are to be merged alternately using three 30 m merging storage lines, the changeover loss time shown in Table 3 is required. Total time is 112 seconds (switching times 4)
0 times), the total switching loss time when switching for each waist type is 1400 seconds (500 1,11 switches)
Therefore, when merging 3000 items in 1 hour (3600 seconds), the switching loss time ratio is 3 for each.
%, 39%.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned one-state rolling and -example, the merging ability can be increased without increasing the transport speed of the articles at the time of merging.

- After counting the articles, they are stored in the converging storage line, so counting can be done relatively slowly and counting errors can be reduced.

For example, if 3000 items are merged in an hour using three merge storage lines, 1ooo
It is sufficient to count slowly at about i prisoner/hour and dispense and merge at 3,000 pieces/hour, but when installing a Callan device near the merging point, it is necessary to count at a speed of 3,000 pieces/hour. This resulted in a counting error.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned Mr. Ichikuma and the above example, it is possible to reduce counting errors, more reliably track the articles, and merge the articles at high speed without slowing down the article merging speed.

- Since the conveyance speed when discharging articles from the merging storage line is changed according to the size of the articles, the interval between the conveyance of the articles after merging can be kept approximately constant.

If the delivery speed of the articles is constant, the conveyance pitch of the articles after merging is as follows.

P = L + CP: Ifj, feeding pitch L: size and length of articles) C: gap between articles Therefore, conveyance pitch P varies depending on the size of articles (C is the size and length of articles) variable proportional to the length).

In this case, if the gap C between the articles exceeds the sorting capacity of the branching conveyor that branches the combined articles, it is necessary to provide a conveyance interval control means in front of the branching conveyor. The overall system configuration becomes complicated.

In the above embodiment and example, the articles can be joined at substantially constant intervals according to the capacity of the branching container, so that the sorting capacity of the branching container can always be utilized.

・Since the type of items being counted is checked at almost the same time as the items are counted, it is possible to detect errors in picking items by the picking device or deviations in types due to counting errors, and to prevent items from merging or sorting. The data can be repaired before being sorted, and large quantities of items can be prevented from being missorted.

Therefore, in the above embodiment and example, it is possible to substantially eliminate mistracking of articles.

Note that the article merging method and apparatus using the counting method of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment and example; for example, the number of merging storage lines 102 may not be three.

Further, although the confluence storage line 102 is provided on the upper floor and the goods sorting line 105 is provided on the lower floor, they may be provided on the same floor.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the counting method of the present invention, it is possible to detect product mismatches due to picking errors or counting errors of articles,
Effects such as being able to count articles efficiently and quickly can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a logistics system to which an article combination method using an embodiment of the counting method of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing its control system. , Fig. 3 is a flow diagram showing the procedure for creating control data for the equipment, Fig. 4 (a) is a schematic plan view showing the main parts of the equipment, and Fig. 4 fbl is a flow diagram showing the procedure for creating control data for the equipment. A-A
FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the principle of how articles are loaded into containers, and FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of an article merging device using the counting method of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the main parts of the merging storage conveyor 1; FIG. f
At is a partially omitted plan view showing the details of the confluence and dispensing conhair, FIGS. , Fig. 9 (al is a plan view showing the counting device, Fig. 9 fbl is a side view thereof, Fig. 9 fcl is a perspective view of the product type checking device, Fig. 9 Fdl
is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the counting device, FIG. 9 tel is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the type checking device of the counting device, and FIG. 10 tal
Figure 10(b) is a plan view schematically showing an example of a sorting device.
1 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in Figure 10 fal, Figure 10 (C)
is a side view taken along line B-B of Fig. 10 fal, Fig. 11 (al is a plan view of the main part for explaining the operation of the branch conhair, Fig. 11 [bl is its front view, and Fig. 12 fat is its FIG. 12 (b) is a plan view of the main parts for explaining the operation of the dispensing device.
1 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A of FIG. 12, and FIG. 13 is a perspective view of essential parts for explaining the operation of the transformer foot and stopper. 32...Counting device 32C...Type checking device Fig. 8 Fig. 8 Fig. 11 Fig. 9 (d) □ Fig. 12 (a)

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Based on the conveyance data including the conveyance order, conveyance quantity, and external dimensions of the articles, at approximately the same time as counting the articles actually being conveyed, the above-mentioned conveyance in which the said articles actually being conveyed correspond to the count value. A counting method characterized in that the type of the article actually being transported is checked by checking whether the external dimensions of the article match the data. (2) The counting method according to claim (1), wherein the external dimensions of the article are checked based on the height of the article. (3) A counting method according to claim (1) or (2), in which articles are transported by type and only the first and last articles are compared for each type.