WO2021075346A1

WO2021075346A1 - Automated warehouse system

Info

Publication number: WO2021075346A1
Application number: PCT/JP2020/038116
Authority: WO
Inventors: 晃太朗川▲崎▼
Original assignee: 村田機械株式会社
Priority date: 2019-10-17
Filing date: 2020-10-08
Publication date: 2021-04-22

Abstract

The present invention is an automated warehouse system (100) comprising: a rack (120) that holds payloads (200); a carry-in/-out device (130) provided with a rail (131) positioned in accordance with a stage (121) of the rack (120) and a transportation platform truck (132) that moves along the rail (131), the device (130) being capable of carrying a plurality of payloads (200) in and out at once; a raising/lowering transportation device (140) that moves the payloads (200) so as to be raised and lowered; and a management device (150) that manages the position of the payloads (200) held on the rack (120), wherein the management device (150) is provided with an information acquisition unit (151) that acquires payload information, a classification unit (152) that classifies the payloads (200) into a plurality of groups based on the payload information, and a position determination unit (153) that determines the position at which the payloads (200) are held so that payloads (200) belonging to the same group can be transported simultaneously by a plurality of transportation platform trucks (132).

Description

Automated warehouse system

The present invention relates to a rack in which luggage is stored in a plurality of stages and an automated warehouse system capable of simultaneously delivering desired luggage from the plurality of stages of the rack.

Conventionally, when a stacking robot executes so-called loading in which a plurality of packages of various sizes are arranged on a distribution pallet and the packages are further stacked on the arranged packages, the arrangement pattern of the packages in each stage is set. A palletizing method determined by comparing with a stored pattern is disclosed (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 08-133482

However, the palletizing method described in Patent Document 1 is effective when the load to be loaded is known in advance, but when the load to be loaded is known only immediately before, it takes time to deliver the load to be loaded. It was found that the overall transport efficiency was reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above findings, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automated warehouse system capable of delivering and transporting cargo corresponding to loading with high efficiency.

In order to achieve the above object, the automated warehouse system, which is one of the present inventions, includes a rack provided with a plurality of stages in the vertical direction capable of storing a plurality of luggage in the horizontal direction in a vertical plane, and the above-mentioned A plurality of transport trolleys including rails arranged at heights corresponding to a plurality of stages of the rack and a plurality of transport carts that move along the rails and transport loads to be transferred between the racks. It is an automated warehouse system equipped with a loading / unloading device that can load / unload luggage all at once, a lifting / transporting device that moves the luggage up and down, and a management device that manages the position of the luggage stored in the rack. The management device includes an information acquisition unit that acquires baggage information indicating properties peculiar to the baggage, and a classification unit that classifies the baggage into a plurality of groups based on at least one property included in the acquired baggage information. It is provided with a position determining unit for determining a storage position of the luggage so that the luggage belonging to the above can be simultaneously transported by the plurality of the transport carts.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an automated warehouse system that can deliver cargo corresponding to loading with high efficiency even when the delivery schedule is not known in advance.

FIG. 1 is a diagonal view showing a loading / unloading device and an elevating / transporting device included in an automated warehouse system. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an automated warehouse system. FIG. 3 is a side view showing the rack of the automated warehouse system and the loading / unloading device. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a terminal portion of the transport device and the loading robot. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the management device.

Next, an embodiment of the automated warehouse system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that all of the embodiments described below show comprehensive or specific examples. Numerical values, shapes, materials, components, arrangement positions and connection forms of components, steps, order of steps, etc. shown in the following embodiments are examples, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Further, among the components in the following embodiments, the components not described in the independent claims indicating the highest level concept are described as arbitrary components.

In addition, the drawings are schematic drawings in which emphasis, omission, and ratio are adjusted as appropriate to show the present invention, and may differ from the actual shape, positional relationship, and ratio.

FIG. 1 is a diagonal view showing a loading / unloading device and an elevating / transporting device included in an automated warehouse system. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an automated warehouse system. FIG. 3 is a side view showing the rack of the automated warehouse system and the loading / unloading device. In some cases, the description of pillars and the like may be omitted in these figures. As shown in these figures, the automated warehouse system 100 is a system capable of storing luggage 200 for each group, and includes a rack 120, a loading / unloading device 130, an elevating / transporting device 140, a management device 150, and the like. It has. In the case of the present embodiment, the automated warehouse system 100 further includes a multi-stage conveyor 134, a transfer device 160, a loading robot 170, and a transfer traveling vehicle 180.

The rack 120 is provided with a plurality of stages 121 (see FIG. 3) in the vertical direction capable of storing a plurality of luggage 200 in the horizontal direction (X-axis direction in the drawing) in the vertical plane (XZ plane in the drawing). It is a facility. In the case of the present embodiment, the racks 120 are arranged side by side in parallel along the normal direction of the vertical plane (Y-axis direction in the drawing).

The carry-in / out device 130 is a facility capable of carrying in / out a plurality of packages 200 at the same time. In the case of the present embodiment, the loading / unloading device 130 includes a rail 131 and a transport carriage 132.

The rail 131 is a rod-shaped member arranged at a height corresponding to each of the plurality of steps 121 of the rack 120 on the side of the rack 120, and is in the horizontal direction in the vertical plane (X-axis direction in the case of the present embodiment). It extends to. The stage on which the rail 131 is arranged is not particularly limited, but in the case of the present embodiment, the transfer device included in the transport carriage 132, which will be described later, is transferred only to the luggage 200 stored in one stage. The rail 131 is arranged at a height corresponding to all the steps 121 of the rack 120 so that it can be mounted. Further, the rail 131 extends to a position corresponding to the multi-stage conveyor 134, and the transport carriage 132 moves along the rail 131 and transports the load to be transferred to and from the rack 120. The transport carriage 132 is arranged on the side of the rack 120 and can transport the luggage 200, and the transfer device 133 (which can transfer the luggage 200 to the rack 120 arranged on any side). (See FIG. 3).

The transfer device 133 is not particularly limited, and is a device for sliding and transferring the luggage 200 between the transfer device 133 and the rack 120 by pushing or pulling the side surface of the luggage 200, a fork, or the like. It is possible to exemplify a device for lifting and transferring the luggage 200.

The multi-stage conveyor 134 is a transfer device arranged on an extension of the rack 120 in the vertical plane where the rack 120 is arranged, and arranged at a height corresponding to each of the plurality of stages 121 of the rack 120. Further, the multi-stage conveyor 134 is arranged between the rack 120 and the elevating and lowering transfer device 140. With the above arrangement, the multi-stage conveyor 134 transfers the luggage 200 to and from the transport carriage 132 in the normal direction of the vertical plane (Y-axis direction in the drawing) in which the rack 120 is arranged. Further, the multi-stage conveyor 134 can transfer the luggage 200 to and from the elevating and lowering transport device 140 in the extending direction of the rack 120 (X-axis direction in the drawing).

According to the loading / unloading device 130 having the above configuration, the luggage 200 taken out from the rack 120 by the transport trolley 132 can be temporarily stored in the multi-stage conveyor 134, and the luggage 200 can be lifted and transported without making the transport trolley 132 stand by. It can be sequentially transferred to the device 140. Further, the luggage 200 transferred from the elevating and lowering transport device 140 to the multi-stage conveyor 134 can be temporarily stored, and the luggage 200 can be stored in the rack 120 by the transport trolley 132 without making the elevating and lowering transporting device 140 stand by.

The elevating and lowering transport device 140 is a device for elevating and moving the luggage 200. The elevating and lowering transport device 140 raises and lowers the load 200 received from the transport carriage 132 to a desired position corresponding to each stage 121 of the rack 120 and the transport device 160 described later. The type of the elevating and lowering transport device 140 is not particularly limited, but in the case of the present embodiment, a so-called vertical conveyor having an ability to raise and lower a plurality of luggage 200 at the same time is adopted. Further, the elevating and lowering transport device 140 includes a horizontal conveyor such as a roller conveyor that can transport the plurality of packages 200 held to the transport device 160 in the horizontal direction so that the packages 200 can be delivered and received.

The arrangement of the elevating and lowering transfer device 140 is not particularly limited, but in the case of the present embodiment, it is arranged at the end of the rack 120 on the transfer device 160 side. One of the pair of elevating and lowering transport devices 140 arranged so as to sandwich one transport carriage 132 is set as a carry-in device and the other as a carry-out device.

The transport device 160 (see FIG. 2) is sequentially arranged in a row in the order of delivery to a position where the loading robot 170 can hold the load 200 delivered from the rack 120 via the loading / unloading device 130 and the elevating / lowering transport device 140. It is a facility to transport. The arrangement of the transport device 160 is not particularly limited, but in the case of the present embodiment, the load 200 is meandered instead of being transported from the elevating transport device 140 to the vicinity of the loading robot 170 at the shortest distance. It is arranged to be transported. As a result, the transport device 160 also functions as a buffer for temporarily holding a plurality of packages 200. The type of the transport device 160 is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a roller conveyor and a belt conveyor.

Although the transport device 160 for carrying out is shown in FIG. 2, the automated warehouse system 100 is also provided with a transport device 160 for carrying the luggage 200 into the rack 120. The carry-in transfer device 160 is connected to the carry-in elevating and lowering transfer device 140.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the terminal portion of the transport device 160 and the loading robot. The loading robot 170 is a device for loading the packages 200 transported by the transport device 160 in the order of delivery. Loading means arranging the luggage 200 in a limited space, and in the case of the present embodiment, the loading robot 170 arranges a plurality of luggage 200 on the pallet 210, and the arranged luggage 200 Luggage 200 is further stacked on top, and the luggage 200 is three-dimensionally arranged in the space on the pallet 210.

The type of the loading robot 170 is not particularly limited, and may be a parallel link robot or the like in addition to the 6-axis robot as shown in FIG. 4, and the chuck holding the luggage 200 is moved in each direction of XYZ. It may be a crane that can be used.

The transport vehicle 180 transports the luggage 200 loaded by the loading robot 170 to another place. The type of the automatic guided vehicle 180 is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a manned forklift, an automatic guided vehicle provided with a fork for scooping up the pallet 210, and capable of autonomously moving to a target location. .. In the case of the present embodiment, the automatic guided vehicle 180 is an automated guided vehicle that operates autonomously, and transports the luggage 200 loaded on the pallet 210 by the loading robot 170 to the truck berth 240 together with the pallet.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the management device. The management device 150 is a device that manages the position of the luggage 200 stored in the rack 120, and is realized by operating the program on a computer or the like. The management device 150 includes an information acquisition unit 151, a classification unit 152, and a position determination unit 153. In the case of the present embodiment, the management device 150 further includes a carry-in / out control unit 154.

The information acquisition unit 151 acquires baggage information indicating the properties peculiar to the baggage 200. The baggage information is not particularly limited as long as it indicates the properties of the baggage 200, but is used, for example, to determine whether the order of stacking the baggage 200 should be downward or upward. Information. Further, the luggage information is information used for shipping in the same order because the luggage 200 having the same properties is loaded at the same position. For example, the luggage information includes weight information indicating the weight, which is one of the properties of the luggage 200, height information indicating the height of the luggage 200, pressure information indicating the weight per unit bottom area, and the bottom area of the luggage 200. In addition to quantitative physical quantities such as stability information indicating the height of the luggage 200 and load capacity information indicating the weight limit of the luggage 200 placed on the luggage 200, the susceptibility of the articles contained in the luggage 200 to damage. It also includes information artificially determined in advance such as the value of the goods stored in the luggage 200. The property means the property and state of the substance.

The acquisition destination of the baggage information of the information acquisition unit 151 is not particularly limited. For example, the baggage information of the baggage 200 carried into the rack 120 from a host computer or the like that controls the flow of the baggage 200 in the automated warehouse system 100. May be obtained. In the case of the present embodiment, the information acquisition unit 151 determines the width, depth, height, and weight of the luggage 200 immediately before being carried into the automated warehouse provided with the rack 120, the loading / unloading device 130, and the elevating / conveying device 140. Luggage information is acquired from the measuring device 220 to be measured.

The classification unit 152 classifies the package 200 into a plurality of groups based on at least one property included in the package information acquired by the information acquisition unit 151. For example, when the classification unit 152 pays attention to the weight information which is one of the properties of the luggage, the classification unit 152 classifies the luggage 200 according to a predetermined weight range.

In the case of the present embodiment, the classification unit 152 sets the luggage 200 heavier than 20 kg and 25 kg or less in Group A, the luggage 200 heavier than 15 kg and 20 kg or less in Group B, and the luggage 200 heavier than 10 kg and 15 kg or less in Group C and 5 kg. Luggage 200 weighing 10 kg or less is classified into Group D, and luggage 200 weighing 5 kg or less is classified into Group E.

In addition, the order of delivery is linked to the group. In the case of the present embodiment, the priority of the delivery order of the packages 200 belonging to the group A is the highest, and the priority is set in the order of the group B, the group C, the group D, and the group E.

When the sorting unit 152 classifies the luggage 200 into groups for each predetermined height range based on the height information of the luggage, the priority of the order of delivery is higher in the group with higher height and lower in height. It may be preset so that the priority decreases as the priority increases. Further, when the classification unit 152 classifies the packages 200 into groups for each predetermined pressure range based on the pressure information indicating the weight per unit bottom area, the priority of the delivery order of the high pressure group is high and the pressure is high. It may be preset so that the priority decreases as the value decreases.

The position determination unit 153 determines the storage position of the luggage 200 so that the luggage 200 belonging to the same group can be simultaneously transported by the plurality of transport carriages 132. That is, the position-determining unit 153 does not determine the storage position so that the luggage 200 belonging to the same group is centrally stored in one stage 121, but the number of luggage 200 belonging to the same group is in each stage 121. Determine the storage location so that it is stored as evenly as possible. In other words, the positioning unit 153 determines the storage position so that the packages 200 of the same group are stored in separate stages as much as possible.

In the case of the present embodiment, a plurality of racks 120 (a pair on both sides of the loading / unloading device 130 in the case of the present embodiment) are arranged as rack units for one loading / unloading device 130. The automated warehouse system 100 includes a plurality of rack units arranged side by side. The positioning unit 153 stores the number of luggage 200 belonging to the same group as evenly as possible in each stage 121 with respect to the rack unit, and stores the number of luggage 200 belonging to the same group as evenly as possible in each rack unit. Determine the storage location so that it is done. The stage 121 for storing the luggage 200 at the same height position in one rack unit is one stage 121.

The carry-in / out control unit 154 controls the carry-in / out device 130 so that the luggage 200 is stored at the storage position determined by the position-fixing unit 153, and also carries out the luggage 200 belonging to the same group so that the luggage 200 can be continuously delivered. Controls the input device 130. Specifically, for example, the carry-in / out control unit 154 sequentially starts with a plurality of packages 200 belonging to a group having a higher priority in the order of issue, based on the issue information from the host computer 230 that controls the flow of the packages 200 in the automated warehouse system 100. , The transport trolley 132 is controlled so that a plurality of transport trolleys 132 can simultaneously transport as much as possible.

According to the automated warehouse system 100 according to the above embodiment, the packages 200 that are likely to be delivered continuously are classified into the same group and stored in different stages 121, so that the delivery schedule is not known in advance. However, it is possible to continuously deliver the luggage 200 to improve the efficiency of the delivery.

In addition, by associating the delivery priority with the group, the loading robot can sequentially load the packages 200 that have been continuously delivered in the order in which they were delivered. Therefore, a stable loading state can be completed quickly. For example, when a plurality of packages 200 to be loaded on one pallet 210 determined based on an order are delivered, the packages 200 of the group having the highest priority are delivered in order, and the packages are loaded on the pallet 210 in order from the bottom.

Specifically, for example, when the state of the luggage 200 after loading is stabilized by loading in the order of weight, by setting the group based on the weight range of the luggage 200, the group can be set in order from the heaviest group quickly and continuously. Since the goods are delivered, the heavy luggage 200 can be loaded in order.

Further, if the luggage 200 to be loaded on the previously arranged luggage 200 can be stably loaded by arranging and stacking the luggage 200 having the same height range in a plane, the group can be loaded with the luggage 200. By setting based on the height range of, the groups in the same height range are quickly and continuously delivered in order from the tallest group, so that the stacking state with a well-balanced shape can be quickly delivered. It becomes possible to realize.

Further, when loading in a state where the influence on the load 200 under the load 200 stacked on the top is small, the group is set based on the pressure information indicating the weight per bottom area of the load 200, so that the pressure range is the same. Since the parcels are grouped and are continuously and quickly delivered in order from the group with the highest pressure, it is possible to quickly realize a loading state in which the load 200 arranged on the lower side is not crushed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, another embodiment realized by arbitrarily combining the components described in the present specification and excluding some of the components may be an embodiment of the present invention. The present invention also includes modifications obtained by making various modifications that can be conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the gist of the present invention, that is, the meaning indicated by the wording described in the claims, with respect to the above-described embodiment. Is done.

For example, in the case of the present embodiment, the case where the delivery priority is associated with the group has been described, but the delivery order may not be defined for the group. Even if the delivery priority is not linked to the group, the luggage 200 that is likely to be delivered at the same timing is grouped according to the characteristics unique to the luggage 200, so that a plurality of transport carts 132 can be operated at the same time. Luggage 200 can be efficiently delivered.

Further, as the carry-in / out device 130, a device in which the transport carriage 132 travels corresponding to each stage 121 of the rack 120 has been described, but the carry-in / out device 130 is not limited to this. For example, the transport carriage 132 may be provided with a lifter capable of raising and lowering the transfer device 133 to a height corresponding to a plurality of stages 121 of the rack 120. For example, if the lifter can lift the transfer device 133 by two stages, the transport carriage 132 and the rail 131 are arranged every two stages of the rack 120, and if the transfer device 133 can be lifted by three stages, the transport carriage 132 and the rail 131. The rails 131 are arranged in every three stages of the rack 120. In this case, the position-determining unit 153 determines the storage position so that the number of packages 200 belonging to the same group is stored as evenly as possible for each of the three stages 121 of the rack 120. As a result, the luggage 200 belonging to the same group can be easily transported by the plurality of transport carriages 132 at the same time.

Further, the rack 120 can adopt any storage method, such as one for storing the luggage 200 in a mounting shape, one for placing the luggage 200 on the canch, and one for suspending the luggage 200 on the lever. ..

The load 200 of the loading robot 170 may be loaded not only on the pallet but also on a car or the like surrounded by a net on three sides.

The present invention can be used in an automated warehouse system in which a large number of packages are continuously carried out.

100 Automatic warehouse system 120 Rack 121 Stage 130 Carry-in / out device 131 Rail 132 Transport trolley 133 Transfer device 134 Multi-stage conveyor 140 Lifting / transporting device 150 Management device 151 Information acquisition unit 152 Classification unit 153 Positioning unit 154 Import / export control unit 160 Transport device 170 Loading robot 180 Conveyor traveling vehicle 200 Luggage 210 Pallet 220 Measuring device 230 Upper computer 240 Track berth

Claims

A rack having a plurality of stages in the vertical direction capable of storing a plurality of luggage in the horizontal direction in a vertical plane, rails arranged at heights corresponding to the plurality of stages of the rack, and the rails. A transport trolley that moves along the rail and transports the luggage to be transferred to and from the rack, and a loading / unloading device capable of loading / unloading the plurality of luggage at the same time.
An elevating and transporting device that moves luggage up and down,
An automated warehouse system equipped with a management device for managing the position of luggage stored in the rack.
The management device is
An information acquisition unit that acquires baggage information that indicates the unique properties of the baggage,
A classification unit that classifies packages into multiple groups based on at least one property included in the acquired package information,
A position-fixing unit that determines the storage position of the luggage so that the luggage belonging to the same group can be simultaneously transported by the plurality of transport carts.
An automated warehouse system equipped with.
The automated warehouse system
A plurality of the racks and a plurality of the loading / unloading devices are provided.
The position-fixing unit
Determine the storage location of the luggage so that the luggage belonging to the same group is stored in the different racks.
The automated warehouse system according to claim 1.
The management device is
It is equipped with a carry-in / out control unit that controls the carry-in / out device so that packages belonging to the same group can be continuously delivered.
The automated warehouse system further
A transport device that sequentially transports packages delivered from the rack via the carry-in / out device and the elevating / lowering transport device in the order of delivery.
A loading robot that loads the packages transported by the transport device in the order of delivery, and
The automated warehouse system according to claim 1 or 2.
The automated warehouse system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sorting unit classifies the luggage into groups according to a predetermined weight range based on weight information which is one of the properties of the luggage.
The automated warehouse system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the classification unit classifies the packages into groups according to a predetermined height range based on the height information of the packages, which is one of the properties of the packages.
The automated according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the classification unit classifies the luggage into groups for each predetermined pressure range based on pressure information indicating the weight per unit bottom area, which is one of the properties of the luggage. Warehouse system.
The information acquisition unit
The automated warehouse system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which acquires baggage information from a measuring device that measures the weight and size of the baggage.