JPS6331937A - Converging method for articles and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To converge articles efficiently and speedily, by changing a speed at the time of delivering the articles stored in a converging storage line according to size of each article, and keeping an interval of delivery time of the article after convergence almost constant. CONSTITUTION:Articles so far fed to plural feed conveyor lines 31 from a picking line are fed to a counter part 32 which is constituted of belt conveyors 32A, 32B and photosensors PH1 and PH2. And, conveyor speed is made larger as much as at the downstream in order of lines 31, 32A and 32B, these articles are separated piece by piece and accurately counted. Next, they are fed to a converging storage conveyor 1, and after storage completion, average length of each article is found out of length (usually 30m or so) of the conveyor 1 and the number of pieces stored. Afterward, it is set as the larger in length, the speedier in the conveyor 1, whereby these articles are fed to a converging delivery conveyor 2 at the downstream. With this constitution, an interval of delivery time is made uniform, thus these articles efficiently and speedily feedable.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an article merging method and apparatus for merging articles stored in a plurality of merging storage lines, and in particular to a method and apparatus for merging articles stored in a plurality of merging storage lines. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for merging articles, in which the merging capacity (number of articles/time) is made substantially constant regardless of the size of the articles by making it possible to do so at a constant rate.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional techniques related to the method and device for merging articles include Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-23294 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 51-20.
Those described in JP-A No. 358, JP-A-51-T51954, and JP-A-59-69314 are known.

To briefly explain the description in the above gazette,
Publication No. 3294 states that in order to improve the feeding mix balance of articles from each tributary conveyor to the main conveyor, after sequentially discharging the articles starting from the tributary conveyor on the downstream side of the main conveyor to the tributary conveyor on the upstream side, It is described that articles are sequentially delivered from an upstream tributary conveyor to a downstream tributary conveyor.

Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 51-20358 discloses that a delivery priority is assigned based on an instruction from an article delivery port, and a 11π order for transporting articles is determined from this delivery priority and the loading status of a conveyor. It is described that articles are loaded onto the conveyor from each article input port based on the following.

Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 51-151954 discloses that it is detected that all of the conveyed objects that have joined the main conveyance line have passed through the most downstream convergence point where the conveyed objects are waiting among a plurality of standby conveyance lines. It is described that the following merging is performed.

Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-69314 discloses that when a supply line number is set in the data input/output direction and a supply line stopper opening/closing sequence is incorporated into a storage device that takes a tact in the address direction, the area of the storage device is are allocated diagonally to form a diagonal takt, and each diagonal takt always includes only one supply line's stopper open information "1", and all other supply line stoppers have open information "0". , the opening/closing memory contents of the supply line are arranged in a storage device composed of a shift register, etc., and the stopper provided at the outlet of each supply line is opened/closed according to the thus arranged stopper opening/closing information of the supply line, and the main It is described that objects are transferred onto the line.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, the conventional article merging method and apparatus described above have the following problems.

That is, in none of the above publications, there is no description or suggestion regarding the speed at which articles are discharged from the combined storage line. When the delivery speed of articles is constant and articles of various sizes are conveyed, the conveyance interval of the articles after merging is large (varies), for example, if the articles are conveyed at a certain interval or more in the subsequent process. When it is necessary to supply goods, it is necessary to decide the delivery speed of goods according to the smallest goods.
As a result, there was an unnecessarily long gap for large items, and a high merging ability could not be obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an article merging method and apparatus for efficiently and quickly merging articles by making it possible to maintain a substantially constant transport interval between the articles after merging.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides an article merging method for merging articles stored in a plurality of merging storage lines, including changing the speed at which the article is dispensed from the merging storage line depending on the size of the article. The above object has been achieved by providing a method for merging articles.

Further, the present invention provides an article merging device for merging articles stored on a plurality of merging storage conveyors, as an apparatus for implementing a method of merging rejected articles. The present invention provides an article combining device characterized in that it is equipped with a transmission device that changes the speed at which an article is dispensed depending on the size of the article.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a logistics system to which the article merging method of the present invention is applied.

In the figure, lot is a picking line, and articles are picked by product type using a picking device based on predetermined batch picking data. 1
Reference numeral 02 denotes a confluence storage line, which temporarily stores the articles flowing from the above-mentioned picking line based on the above-mentioned batch picking data, collects a predetermined amount of articles, and sends them to the next line. Reference numeral 103 denotes a merging conveyance line, which sequentially joins one line at a time starting from the line in which predetermined articles have been collected among the plurality of storage lines, based on the above-mentioned hatch picking data. 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 the group data. 105 is a sorting line for storing the branched articles. Reference numeral 106 is a delivery line, and when a loading container number (car number) is set, delivery is performed for each of the above-mentioned assortment lines when the container is installed. 107 is a loading conveyor line that transports the above-mentioned delivered articles to the loading port of the container. 10'8 is loading, 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 CPU 201 performs overall management of the entire logistics system, and for example, creates a delivery order schedule for items based on order data, etc.
The data is sent to the CPU 202. In addition, the logistics CPU 202 determines the group for sorting the corresponding article according to the delivery order schedule of the article, creates branch assortment data and hatch picking data, and outputs it to the ICPU 203.Furthermore, the control CPU 203 , based on this branch assortment data and hatch picking data, create necessary control commands and output them to the sorting system 204.Furthermore, the sorting system 204 uses a no-kensa,
Performs 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 a schematic plan view showing the main parts of the sorting device used together with the article merging device of the present invention to constitute the distribution system of FIG. 1, and FIG. In these drawings, 301 is a container for loading goods, 302 is a container loader, 1303 is a sorting line, and 304 is a branch line.
3 and the branch line 304 are provided in two stages. or,
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. (
(loading/unloading port), it is divided into six sections in the long 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. 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 strained on approximately one assortment line. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4 tal and (1) l, the articles stored in the assortment line 303 of
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 section S of the container 301 (the article is divided into five 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.

Table 1 In Table 1, 3-g represents the type of product, and as shown in Figure 4 fa+ and (bl), the products are arranged in descending order of length, as shown in Table 1. Order details vary greatly depending on the product type and are not uniform.

In creating the branch sorting data, first, the delivery destinations are rearranged in the order of loading as described above, and the text items are rearranged in the order of length as described above.

Next, based on this Table 1, for each item from the first wide item, calculate the multiplication value by multiplying the quantity by the length dimension, and calculate the length by adding this multiplication value sequentially to the right for each item. Find the added value. 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 set for each article. is determined and branch data is created so that it is branched and stored on the assortment line of ■. In Table 1 above, the total quantity of 145 items destined for 15 stores is divided into 5 parts by taking into account the length of the assortment line, container capacity, delivery efficiency, etc. In other words, ■ divided into 5 parts is sent to store 1 and sent to store 2.
1 item, 6 items to store 2, and 2 items to store 3, for a total of 29 items. Similarly, ■ was divided into 5 items, 1 item to store 3, 21 items to store 4, and 5 items to store 5. A total of 27 items, divided into 5 ■, are 6 items for store 5, 5 items for store 6, 13 items for store 7, and 7 items for store 8.
31 items in total, 5 items divided into 5 items, 5 items addressed to store 8, 5 items addressed to store 9, 12 items addressed to store 10, and 8 items addressed to store 11, for a total of 30 items, and ■ divided into 5 items is the store 2 items for store 11, 7 items for store 12, 9 items for store 13, 7 items for store 14, and 3 items for store 15, totaling 28 items, each with a predetermined number of approximately 30 items.

In addition, the orders shown in Table 1 above are handled by the general management CPO 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 S4)... Creation of batch picking data.

As mentioned above, multiple containers are grouped together one container at a time,
The allocation is completed for almost all of the goods sorting lines 303 by dividing the goods into containers, and the total of all the goods is taken as the total picking amount. In other words, the number of items loaded minus 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, pinking 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 general 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 above calculation process is performed by the object 1cPU 202 to create batch picking data. However, since batch and soaking is performed based on this batch picking data, multiple containers can be picked at once, which is more efficient than picking in units of one container.

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 placed on the sorting line along its length within the limit of the capacity of the container. Storage is space efficient.

In the order example shown in Table 1 above, Fig. 4 fal and (b
As shown in l, in descending order of length dimension, a, b
, , C2d, , e, 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 swallowed from among 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, an embodiment of the article merging device of the present invention applied to the above-mentioned M system and an example of sorting "AM" applied to a distribution system together with the article merging device of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 6 is a plan view schematically showing an embodiment of the article merging device 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. Articles are placed one after another, and a predetermined number of placed articles form a combined unit that is continuously dispensed. 2 is installed at the discharging end of each combined storage conveyor 1 to store the above-mentioned articles in loft units (
(for each unit of merging), separate and dispense one piece at a time 3&l
1 merging and discharging conveyor, also 3A.

Reference numeral 3B denotes a merging conveyor that is arranged substantially perpendicular to the merging and discharging conveyor 2 and conveys the delivered articles, and is connected to the merging and discharging conveyor 2 and the merging conveyor 3A.
, 3B constitute a merging conveyance line 103 in FIG. 1 that collects a predetermined amount of articles on the merging storage conveyor 1 and sends them to the next line. As shown in FIG. 6, the joint conveyor 3B is arranged at an angle passing through the floor focus FP provided on the floor, and the switching conveyor 4 (see FIG. 11) provided below the floor. ).

To explain in more detail each part of an embodiment of the article merging device of the present invention, the merging storage conveyor 1 includes:
It is constructed as an accumulation lane conveyor having an accumulation function and a simultaneous dispensing function, and has a length (for example, 30 m) necessary to store articles forming a confluence unit that is continuously dispensed.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b), the merging storage conveyor 1 includes a carrier roller IA and a sensor IB provided for each required number of trees of the carrier roller IA.
, a pad chain IC that contacts the carrier roller IA and rotates the carrier roller IA, a lifting mechanism consisting of a mechanical valve ID and an air actuator IE, etc. for pressing and separating the pad chain IC from the carrier roller IA, and the pad chain IC. and a drive device (not shown) with a transmission that drives the. 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 IF (length: about 5 m) of the confluence storage conveyor 1 is not equipped with a sensor or a lifting mechanism, and the pad 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. 58-27167 may be used. Also, in No. 7 [5(bl), the article is shown as a square on the carrier roller IA.

Further, as shown in FIG.
This is a skewed delivery conveyor, and is constructed by arranging belt feeders 2A, 2B and a skewed merging conveyor 2C in series.

The skewed merging conveyor 2C includes a driven skewed wheel 2D and a free roller 2E. Also, heald 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 conveyor 3A in the merging device is constituted by a roller conveyor, and the merging 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 transport storage conveyor for transporting and temporarily storing pinked articles, and is composed of an accumulation conveyor similar to the merging storage conveyor 1. Note that this transport storage conveyor 31 does not need to have a simultaneous payout function.

In addition, in FIG. 6, 32 is an article counting device, and as shown in FIG.
2, the belt conveyor 32A has a higher speed than the transport storage conveyor 31, and the belt conveyor 32B
Since the belt conveyor 32A is set at a higher speed than the belt conveyor 32A, the conveyed articles can be separated one by one and can be counted by the photoswitches PHI and PH2. And belt conveyor 32A,
32B are each driven by a motor with a brake (not shown).

As the counting device 32, the one shown in FIG. 10 can also be used. The counting device 32 in FIG. 10 is similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, except that a type checking device 32C is provided for checking the type of the item being counted at approximately the same time as counting the items. It is configured. The product type check device 32C consists of a concave frame equipped with photoswitches PH5 and PH6 at the lower end, and a power cylinder for raising and lowering the portal frame.
The power cylinder is equipped with an encoder. Further, on one side wall of the gate-shaped frame, a dog 32C'' is provided for two rim switches (not shown) that detect the limit position of the vertical movement of the gate-shaped frame. , instead of PH6, we can use 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, weight inspection equipment using load cells, etc. May be used.

FIG. 11 (al) is a plan view schematically showing an example of an article sorting device that constitutes the above-mentioned distribution system together with the article merging device of the present invention, and FIG.
11 (C1 is a side view taken along the line B-B of FIG. In these drawings, 4 is the above-mentioned switching conveyor, and as shown in FIG. The conveyors 5 and 15 installed in two layers above and below, as shown in Fig. 11+8
In Figure 11, many of the devices in the lower layer overlap with those in the upper layer and are not shown, so in FIG. and showed.

In addition, in FIG. 11 fal ~ (C1, 6 and 16 are index feeders that leave a certain interval between the articles sent by the transfer conveyors 5 and 15 via the switching conveyor 4. Also, 7 and 17 are branch feeders. A branch conveyor that is equipped with a device and constitutes the branch 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 is used for sorting and storing 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(
(See Figure 13 tal and (b)). If and 21 are conveyors that together with the above-mentioned dispensing devices 10 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 transport conveyor 11 and the loading conveyor 14, as shown in FIG. When the article is delivered, it is lowered to the connected position, and when the article is delivered from the lower conveyor 21, it is raised to the unconnected position (indicated by a broken line).

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

In addition, the overflow line 17 and 27 shown on the left in FIG. 11 (al) are for storing articles that cannot be branched because there is no branching data.

Next, a case of the article of the present invention shown in FIGS. 6 to 10,
An embodiment of the article merging method of the present invention, which is carried out using A position, will be described.

Articles picked based on the aforementioned bunch 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 has not been completed), the belt conveyors 32A and 32B of the counting device 32 are stopped. Therefore, when the first article reaches the count Wi 32, the articles are sequentially stored on the transport storage conveyor 31 without leaving any gaps between the articles. Then, when the delivery of the goods on the combined storage conveyor 1 is completed,
The heald conveyors 32A and 32B are operated, and the articles on the transport storage conveyor 31 are transferred to the photoswitch PHI,
It is stored on the combined storage conveyor l while being counted by PH2. Furthermore, if an article reaches the counting device 32 when no articles are placed on the merging storage conveyor 1, the articles will be counted while being merged because the heald conveyors 32A and 32B are operating. It is stored on the storage conveyor 1.

732A and 32B to the belt controller of the counting device 32,
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. 9 [0
As shown in Fig. 1, when the photoswitches PHI and PH2 are blocked from light in the order of A, C, and C, it is counted that one article has passed. The counted articles are then conveyed to the combined storage conveyor 1 and stored. Based on the bunch picking data, a predetermined number of articles are counted as they pass), and when the photoswitches Pt (1, PH2 are in a high light state), the heald conveyors 32A and 32B stop, and the subsequent articles are transferred to the transport storage. The data is stored on the computer and the computer 31.

Table 2 The product type check device 32c as shown in FIG.
When carried out using a counting device 32 equipped with
Batch picking data (product delivery order, delivery quantity,
For example, set the photoswitches PH5 and PH6 to a predetermined height based on the transport data (including external dimensions).
As shown in the figure, the photoswitch P is set based on the height of the article.
H5 is about 51 points below that, and the photoswitch PH
6 is a position approximately 151 points above that point) by the power cylinder, the type of the article is also checked at approximately the same time as the article is counted.

That is, the amount of vertical movement of the power cylinder is detected by measuring the pulses of the encoder, and the detection result is determined based on the batch pinking data.
That is, in the case of this embodiment, control is such that such lifting and lowering is stopped when the command signal indicating the height of the article coincides with the command signal. Under such control, when the article reaches the position of the photoswitch PH1 and the photoswitch PHI is blocked, it is normal if the photoswitch PH5 is blocked and the photoswitch PH6 is illuminated, so the article is ,
Counted by photoswitch PHI, PH2,
It is 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 the external dimensions of the article match the data, if it is detected that they do not match, the belt conveyor 32
A and 32B stop. 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 shielded from light, the belt conveyors 32A, 32B are immediately stopped, and after the lifting is completed, the belt conveyors 32A, 32B are operated again. In the above explanation, the product type is checked for all products, but even if only the first product and the last product are checked for each product type that flows continuously, the result is almost the same as a 100% check. Since the effect can be obtained, if a type check device with low processing power that requires calculation etc. is used in place of the photoswitches PH5 and PH6,
It is not necessarily necessary to check all the items.

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 completed 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. do. In this case, the storage completion of the article means that the last article passes through the photoswitch PH2 (returns to the light receiving state) based on the confluence storage length data of the articles from the batch picking data. A control device (not shown) calculates the time required for the items up to and including the items to be stored without any gaps between each other, and the last item passes through the photoswitch PH2,
It means when the above-mentioned time has elapsed, that is, when all the articles 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.
The machine is set to stop in preparation for the start of dispensing goods.

In this embodiment, in creating the batch picking data in step S4 described above, all containers are totaled for each product type, the items are picked in descending order of length, and the combined storage conveyor 1 is arranged according to the length. The merging unit is formed by dividing the area by the number of articles to be added to the groove in each direction. 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 3301 mm, depending on the length of the article in the direction in which the article is conveyed, 330 mm
39Qmm or more and less than 39Qmm, 390mm or more and less than 530mm,
It is divided into four categories of 5301 and above, and the delivery speed for each category is 21.2 m/min, 2.
The speeds are 5.5m/min, 28.4m/min, and 33.8m/min. By changing the dispensing speed in this way, the interval between dispensing articles 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 1 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 conveyor 2 starts discharging articles onto the merging transport conveyor 3A, the merging storage conveyor 1
is changed to the predetermined delivery speed based on the batch picking data, and by starting the operation of the merging delivery conveyor 2, the articles on the merging storage conveyor 1 are continuously transported without leaving any gaps between the articles. (-All the articles start at the same time using the simultaneous unloading function) They are delivered onto the merging delivery conveyor 2, separated by 11 lil each by the merging delivery conveyor 2, accelerated, and delivered onto the merging transport conveyor 3A. be done. 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 combined storage conveyor 1 all at once as described above, it is possible to reduce variations in the dispensing pitch of the articles. 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. The completion of dispensing the goods is when the photo switch PH3 is in the light condition for 2 consecutive seconds.
This is determined by the fact that light is strongly entering the photo switch PH4 into the discharged merging strainer conveyor 1.

When the discharging of articles from one merging storage conveyor 1 is completed and the discharging of articles from the next merging storage conveyor 1 is started, the start time of discharging the articles is controlled so that these articles do not collide. ing. That is, the unloading of the articles from the merging storage conveyor 1 that is merged to the downstream side of the merging conveyor 3A is completed, and the
! f When dispensing is started from the merging storage conveyor 1 that joins upstream of the L conveyor 3A, dispensing is complete (when the photoswitch PH3 has been in a human light state for 2 consecutive seconds, the photoswitch PH4 is in the high light state) state), the next payout will start at the same time. Also, 2i
When the unloading of the articles from the merging storage conveyor 1 that merges to the upstream side of the ts transport conveyor 3A is completed and the unloading of the items from the merging storage conveyor 1 that merges to the downstream side of the merging transport conveyor 3A starts, the unloading process is completed. After a predetermined period of time has elapsed after completion (the time until the delivered article reaches the photo switch PH4 corresponding to the merging storage conveyor 1 to be delivered next), the photo corresponding to the merging storage conveyor 1 to be delivered next When the switch PH4 enters the light-receiving state, the next payout is started. Therefore, in this embodiment, 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 above-mentioned sorting device will be explained, and the details of the sorting device will also be explained.

Fig. 12 + al and mountain) is the branch conveyor 7 in Fig. 11 (
17), the same figure (al indicates a plan view and the same figure (bl indicates a front view). Fig. 12 + a + and ('b)
, a plurality of conveyor belts 7A transport articles (not shown) in the direction of arrow a. A skewed wheel 7B is arranged at a predetermined position between the conveyor belts 7A so that its rotating shaft 7C forms a predetermined angle with respect to the axis of movement of the conveyor hell 1-7A. This rotating shaft 7C
is supported by a bracket 7D so that the skewed wheel 7B can freely rotate, and the bracket 7D is further supported by a lifting device 7E via an arm 7F. This branching conveyor 7 (17) is provided in sets for each of the large number of pull-in conveyors 8 (1B) shown in FIG. 11 (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 the 12th equivalent), the skewed wheel is pushed up in the direction of the arrow by the lifting device 7E and takes the position shown by the broken line, so the article is moved in the direction of the arrow C and sent to a drawing conveyor (not shown). .

Figure 13 [al and Q)l is the assortment line 10 in Figure 1
11 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the dispensing device 10 (20) shown in FIG. show.

In Fig. 13 (bl), an item 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 the frame IOC is pushed up. 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 in the direction of the arrow r around the axis 10G, so that the stopper IOB and the lift channel 10F 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 11 (21) by the drive wheel IOH.

Fig. 14 shows the arrow g placed on the conveyor 11 (21).
A transfer 12 (22) and a stopper in FIG. 11 that transfer articles (indicated by a dashed-dotted line) to the loading conveyor 14 (in the case of the upper layer, via a switching chute) in FIG. 13 (23) is an explanatory diagram of the operation. When the goods do not undergo a transfer operation,
Transfer cylinder 12B and stopper cylinder 13
Since the roller B does not operate, the upper ends of the many wheels 12D and the stopper plate 13A provided on the frame 12C are located 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 stopper cylinder 13B operate in the directions of arrows j and k, respectively, and each wheel 12D and
-/Since the pub plate 13A is pushed up to the position indicated by the broken line, the article is transferred in the direction of the arrow.

The features of the embodiments of the article merging method of the present invention and the embodiments of the apparatus described above are as follows.

・The merging storage line is run along its length to form a merging unit of articles according to the amount of articles, and after the storage of the items in the merging unit is completed, these articles are merged. In addition, by providing a relatively long merging storage line, the ratio ′/RjIL is increased, and since one merging unit is usually formed by articles of multiple types, it is possible to combine articles by type. Compared to the case where the merging switching is performed, the frequency of merging switching is reduced, and switching loss time can be reduced.

For example, when a total of 3000 items (average length 0.4m) consisting of 500 types are alternately merged using three 30m merge storage lines, the total switching loss time shown in Table 3 is 112 seconds (switching number 40
However, when switching for each type, the total switching loss time is 1400 seconds (500 switching times), and when 3000 items are combined in 1 hour (3600 seconds), the switching loss time is 1400 seconds (500 switching times). The ratios are 3% and 3, respectively.
It becomes 9%.

Therefore, in the embodiments and examples described above, the merging capacity can be increased without increasing the transport speed of the articles during 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 a rate of about 3,000 pieces/hour, then dispense and merge at 3,000 pieces/hour. However, if a counting device is installed near the merging point, it must be counted at a speed of 3,000 pieces/hour. This resulted in a counting error.

Therefore, in the above-described embodiments and examples, counting errors can be reduced, the tracking of articles can be made more reliable, and the articles can be merged at high speed without slowing down the article merging speed.

- Since the conveying speed when discharging articles from the merging storage line is changed according to the size of the articles, the conveying interval 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: Conveyance pinch L: Size and length of articles) C: Gap between articles Therefore, conveyance pitch P varies depending on the size of articles (C is proportional to the size of articles) variables).

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, and the entire logistics system The configuration becomes complicated.

In the embodiments and examples described above, the articles can be merged at substantially constant intervals according to the capacity of the branching conveyor, so that the sorting capacity of the branching conveyor can always be utilized.

・Since the type of the counted items is checked almost at the same time as the items are counted, it is possible to detect errors in bifking of items by the pinking device or deviations in types due to counting errors, and it is possible to detect whether items are being merged or sorted. The data can be restored before the items are sorted, and a large number of items can be prevented from being missorted.

Therefore, in the above-described embodiments and examples, it is possible to substantially eliminate mistracking of articles.

Although the embodiments of the article merging method and the device of the present invention have been described above, the article merging method and the device of the present invention are not limited to these. For example, the merging storage line 102 has three lines. You don't have to.

Further, although the confluence storage line 102 is located on the second floor and the goods sorting line 105 is located downstairs, they may be located on the same floor.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the article merging method and apparatus of the present invention, even when merging a wide variety of articles, the conveyance interval between the merging articles can be kept approximately constant, so that the articles can be efficiently and quickly delivered. Effects such as being able to merge are produced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing an example of a distribution system to which an embodiment of the article merging method of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram showing its control system, and FIG. Flowchart showing the control data creation procedure, Part 4
Figure fal is a schematic plan view showing the main parts of the sorting device;
Fig. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of al. Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the principle of how articles are loaded into a container, and Fig. 6 is a merging device for articles of the present invention. A plan view showing an outline of one embodiment, FIG. 7 (al is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the main part of the merging storage conveyor, No. 7) shows the main part of the merging storage conveyor 1 in principle. A side view, FIG. 8 (al is a partially omitted plan view showing the details of the combined delivery conveyor, 8th issue) is a plan view schematically showing the combined delivery conveyor and the combined delivery conveyor, and FIG.
+ is a plan view showing the counting device, Fig. 9 (bl is a side view thereof, Fig. 9 FC+ is a diagram explaining its operation, Fig. 1O (
al is a plan view showing another counting device, FIG. 10Q
ll is a side view of the device, FIG. 10 (C1 is a perspective view of the product type checking device, FIG.
Figure 1 (al is a plan view schematically showing an example of the sorting device, Figure 11 (1)) is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of Figure 11 (al), Figure 1111i9 (C1 is a plan view schematically showing an example of the sorting device, Figure 11 (1) is a cross-sectional view of Figure 11 (al) B line side view, Fig. 12 (al is a plan view of the main part for explaining the operation of the branch conveyor, Fig. 12 (bl is its front view, Fig. 13)
FIG. 1al is a plan view of the main parts for explaining the operation of the dispensing device, FIG. It is a perspective view of the section.Mechanical... Merging storage conveyor 102... Merging storage line Fig. 8 + Fig. 8 (b) Fig. 9 (C) C: PH1 light incident, PH2 five light Fig. 10 Fig. 12 Figure 13 (a) Procedural amendment Relationship to the June 15, 1986 incident Patent applicant (091) Kao Co., Ltd. 4, agent 5-6-29-9 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, order for amendment (amendment made within 1 year and 3 months from the filing date) 6. Detailed description of the invention and drawings in the specification to be amended. 7. Contents of the amendment (1) Page 24, lines 12-13 Corrected “overflow line 17J to r overflow line 26”. (2) Corrected Fig. 11 as attached
Correction to be made. No other corrections. ). that's all

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) An article merging method for merging articles stored in a plurality of merging storage lines, characterized in that the speed at which the article is dispensed from the merging storage line is varied according to the size of the article. method of merging goods. (2) The article according to claim (1), wherein the speed at which the articles are dispensed is changed so that the conveyance pitch of the articles after merging can be kept substantially constant regardless of the size of the articles. merging method. (3) In an article merging device for merging articles stored on a plurality of merging storage conveyors, the speed at which the article is discharged from the merging storage conveyor is adjusted according to the size of the article. A merging device for articles, characterized in that it is equipped with a transmission device that changes speed. (4) The article merging device according to claim (3), wherein the merging storage conveyor is an accumulation conveyor having an accumulation function and a simultaneous payout function. (5) Claim No. 1, wherein a merging delivery conveyor is provided at the delivery end of the merging storage conveyor for discharging the articles stored on the merging storage conveyor.
A device for merging goods as described in item 3) or item (4).