JP7115231B2 - Sorting device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sorting device for sorting a plurality of parcels.

A sorting device for sorting a plurality of packages is known. The sorting device disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a conveying device having a plurality of trays that move along a circular conveying path, a loading device that loads one package into each of the plurality of trays, and each of the plurality of trays. and a plurality of chutes from which packages placed on the carriage are ejected. Each of the plurality of trays functions as a tray for placing a load and also as a belt conveyor for discharging the load placed on the tray to a chute.

The tray on which the load is placed moves along the conveying route toward the delivery chute assigned as the delivery destination of the load out of the plurality of chutes. At the timing when the tray approaches the dispensing chute, the tray is driven as a belt conveyor. As a result, the articles placed on the tray are transported in the delivery direction orthogonal to the transport direction along the transport route and delivered to the delivery chute.

JP 2017-71458 A

Generally, in the sorting apparatus described above, the ability of the chute to receive a plurality of consecutively delivered packages (the number of packages) is relatively low, and the limit is, for example, about 4 to 6 packages. Therefore, when a large number of packages are successively delivered to the same delivery chute, the capacity of the delivery chute may be exceeded, and the delivery chute may become jammed.

In order to avoid the loading chute from being clogged with cargo, a method of circulating the conveying route with the cargo placed on the tray without discharging the cargo from the tray onto the dispensing chute is conceivable. However, with such a method, for example, a plurality of packages conveyed together in units of SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) become scattered on the conveying route, making it difficult to sort the packages in units of SKUs. Become.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sorting apparatus capable of suppressing the occurrence of cargo clogging in the delivery chute.

In order to achieve the above object, a sorting apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is a sorting apparatus for sorting a plurality of packages, the conveying apparatus into which the plurality of packages are loaded, and transporting the packages. a conveying device that delivers the cargo to one of a plurality of chutes arranged on the side of the conveying route while conveying the cargo along the route; each of the plurality of cargoes; a storage unit for storing correspondence information indicating a correspondence relationship with a delivery chute to which the parcel is to be delivered; a determination unit that determines the destinations of the plurality of packages so that the number of the packages that are assigned the same delivery chute is less than a second predetermined number with respect to the number of placement positions; and a notification unit for notifying destinations of a plurality of packages.

According to this aspect, the determining unit selects a plurality of loading positions so that the number of loads to which the same delivery chute is assigned to the first predetermined number of consecutively arranged placement positions is less than the second predetermined number. to decide where to put the cargo. As a result, an interval can be provided between the delivery of the parcels less than the second predetermined number to the same delivery chute and the next delivery of the parcels to the delivery chute. As a result, it is possible to prevent the discharge chute from being clogged without exceeding the capacity of the discharge chute for receiving packages.

For example, in the sorting device according to an aspect of the present invention, the sorting device further includes a loading device that is disposed on the side of the transport route and loads the packages one by one into the transport device; and a charging control unit that controls the charging device based on the notification of.

According to this aspect, when the articles are automatically thrown into the placing section by the throwing device, the number of articles to be thrown to which the same dispensing chute is assigned to the first predetermined number of consecutively arranged placing positions. is less than a second predetermined number.

For example, in the sorting apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, a plurality of the input devices are provided, and the input control unit determines the input destination of the specific package to which the specific output chute that the input device is about to input is assigned. If there are other packages assigned to the same specific delivery chute before and after, the input device is caused to wait for charging of the specific package, and the determining unit selects one of the plurality of input devices to input. may be configured to preferentially determine the loading destination of the specific cargo in the loading device waiting for .

According to this aspect, in each of the plurality of loading devices, it is possible to suppress the stagnation of the cargo, and shorten the waiting time for loading the cargo.

For example, in the sorting apparatus according to the aspect of the present invention, the determination unit selects the packages to which the same delivery chute is assigned for the first predetermined number of consecutively arranged placement positions. It may be configured such that the destinations of the plurality of packages to be thrown are determined such that the plurality of packages are not continuously thrown in more than the second predetermined number, which is less than the predetermined number of one.

According to this aspect, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of cargo clogging in the dispensing chute.

For example, in the sorting apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the sorting apparatus further controls the conveying apparatus so that the second predetermined number or more of the packages are not continuously delivered to the same delivery chute. You may comprise so that a conveyance control part may be provided.

According to this aspect, even if, for example, the loading device malfunctions, it is possible to reliably suppress the occurrence of cargo clogging in the dispensing chute.

For example, in the sorting apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention, the conveying route is a circulating route, and the corresponding information is not delivered from the conveying device to the delivery chute, and the corresponding information is sent around the conveying route by the conveying device. It may be configured to include information about the package.

According to this aspect, the parcels that have not been discharged from the conveying device to the discharge chute circulate along the conveying route by the conveying device. At this time, since the correspondence information holds information about the circulating parcel, the determining unit can re-determine the destination of the circulating parcel based on the correspondence information.

According to the sorting apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of cargo clogging in the delivery chute.

1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a sorting apparatus according to Embodiment 1; FIG. It is a top view which expands and shows a part of sorting apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 (and its modification). 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a controller according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a management table according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing by the controller according to the first embodiment; 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the sorting device according to Embodiment 1; FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating operation|movement of the sorting apparatus which concerns on the modification of Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a top view which shows the whole structure of the sorting apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a controller according to Embodiment 2; FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing of a determining unit of a controller according to Embodiment 2; It is a figure for demonstrating operation|movement of the sorting apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating operation|movement of the sorting apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments described below are all comprehensive or specific examples. Numerical values, shapes, materials, components, arrangement positions and connection forms of components, steps, order of steps, and the like shown in the following embodiments are examples and are not intended to limit the present invention. In addition, among the constituent elements in the following embodiments, constituent elements not described in independent claims will be described as optional constituent elements.

(Embodiment 1)
[1-1. Overall configuration of sorting device]
First, the overall configuration of the sorting apparatus 2 according to Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a sorting device 2 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an enlarged part of the sorting apparatus 2 according to Embodiment 1. FIG.

The sorting device 2 shown in FIG. 1 sends a plurality of parcels 6 stored in a warehouse 4 such as an automated warehouse and to which destinations are respectively assigned, for example, in the field of physical distribution such as mail-order business, wholesale business, and home delivery business. It is a device for sorting by destination. Each of the plurality of parcels 6 is, for example, a packed product or the like. It should be noted that each of the plurality of packages 6 may be a combination of a storage tray for transportation and a product or the like stored in the storage tray.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the sorting device 2 includes a conveying device 8 , a plurality of input devices 10 , a plurality of chutes 12 and a controller 14 .

The conveying device 8 conveys the cargo 6 along the annular conveying path 16, and in a state in which the cargo 6 is conveyed along the conveying path 16, delivers the goods 6 perpendicularly to the conveying direction along the conveying path 16. It is a device for unloading packages 6 in a direction, and is a so-called cross belt sorter. The transport device 8 has a plurality of trays 18 (an example of a plurality of placement positions) and a drive unit 20 .

A plurality of trays 18 are annularly connected to each other along the transport path 16 . As shown in FIG. 2, each of the plurality of trays 18 functions as a tray for placing the cargo 6 and also as a belt conveyor for conveying the cargo 6 placed on the tray 18 in the dispensing direction. It is a so-called belt tray that also functions. Any two adjacent trays 18 among the plurality of trays 18 are connected to each other via connecting portions 22 . The drive unit 20 moves the plurality of trays 18 along the transport path 16 in a predetermined direction (for example, clockwise in FIG. 1).

Each of the plurality of loading devices 10 is a device for automatically loading the packages 6 supplied from the warehouse 4 into the plurality of trays 18 one by one. One end of each of the plurality of input devices 10 is connected to the warehouse 4 , and the other end of each of the plurality of input devices 10 is connected to the transport path 16 . A plurality of input devices 10 are arranged side by side along the transport path 16 on the side of the transport path 16 .

A plurality of chutes 12 are for carrying out the cargo 6 discharged from the tray 18 in the discharge direction. A plurality of chutes 12 are arranged side by side along the transport path 16 . The capacity of each of the chutes 12 to receive a plurality of packages 6 continuously delivered at one time is, for example, six.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of IR (Infrared) sensors 24 are arranged corresponding to the plurality of chutes 12, respectively. Each of the plurality of IR sensors 24 outputs a drive signal by wireless communication to the tray 18 approaching the chute 12 corresponding to the IR sensor 24 . This drive signal instructs the tray 18 to dispense the cargo 6 placed on the tray 18 to the chute 12 (hereinafter also referred to as the "dispensing chute 12") to which the cargo 6 is to be dispensed. It is a signal for

The controller 14 controls the conveying device 8 and the loading device 10 based on the payout destination information from the host controller 26 . The delivery destination information is information indicating the delivery chute 12 assigned as the delivery destination of the parcel 6 . A functional configuration of the controller 14 will be described later.

An outline of the operation of the sorting apparatus 2 described above will be described below. A plurality of packages 6 stored in the warehouse 4 are supplied to the loading device 10 in units of SKUs, for example. The host controller 26 outputs, for example, a command to the warehouse 4 to issue the cargo 6 to be shipped, and assigns the delivery chute 12 as the delivery destination (sorting destination) of the cargo 6, thereby obtaining the delivery destination information of the cargo 6. Generate. The host controller 26 outputs the generated payout destination information to the controller 14 . The plurality of chutes 12 correspond to, for example, a plurality of shipping destinations of the package 6, and the delivery chute 12 corresponding to the shipping destination is assigned as the delivery destination of the package 6. FIG.

For example, a bar code (not shown) is attached to the package 6 supplied from the warehouse 4 to the input device 10 . The barcode of the package 6 is associated with package information for identifying the package 6 . For example, the barcode of the package 6 is read by a barcode reader (not shown) installed in the loading device 10, and the package 6 is placed on the tray 18, thereby identifying the identification number of the tray 18 and the package of the package 6. Information is linked. As a result, it is determined to which delivery chute 12 the tray 18 sorts the packages 6. - 特許庁

As shown in FIG. 1, the tray 18 on which the package 6 is placed moves along the transport path 16 toward the dispensing chute 12 assigned as the dispensing destination among the plurality of chutes 12 . In the example shown in FIG. 2, the delivery chute 12a is assigned as the delivery destination of the package 6a, and the delivery chute 12b is assigned as the delivery destination of the package 6b. The trays 18a and 18b on which the articles 6a and 6b are placed are not driven as belt conveyors until the articles 6a and 6b approach the dispensing chutes 12a and 12b, respectively.

The tray 18a on which the articles 6a are placed is driven as a belt conveyor based on the drive signal from the IR sensor 24a corresponding to the chute 12a when it approaches the delivery chute 12a. As a result, the cargo 6a is conveyed in the dispensing direction by the tray 18a, and is dispensed from the tray 18a to the chute 12a.

Similarly, the tray 18b on which the load 6b is placed is driven as a belt conveyor based on the drive signal from the IR sensor 24b corresponding to the chute 12b when approaching the chute 12b. As a result, the cargo 6b is conveyed in the dispensing direction by the tray 18b, and is dispensed from the tray 18b to the chute 12b.

[1-2. Functional Configuration of Controller]
Next, the functional configuration of the controller 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the controller 14 according to Embodiment 1. As shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the management table 40 according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the controller 14 has an acquisition unit 28, a storage unit 30, a determination unit 32, a notification unit 34, a transport control unit 36, and an input control unit 38 as functional configurations. there is

The acquisition unit 28 acquires payout destination information from the higher controller 26 . The acquisition unit 28 causes the storage unit 30 to store the acquired payout destination information.

The storage unit 30 is a memory for storing the management table 40. FIG. The management table 40 is, for example, a data table as shown in FIG. In the management table 40 shown in FIG. 4, delivery destination information is stored as information about the packages 6 to be sorted. That is, the management table 40 is an example of correspondence information indicating the correspondence between each of the plurality of packages 6 to be sorted and the delivery chute 12 to which the package 6 is to be delivered among the plurality of chutes 12 .

In the example shown in FIG. 4, in the first row of the management table 40, as information on the package A (for example, the package 6a shown in FIG. 2), delivery destination information for the package A "Chute A (for example, the chute 12a shown in FIG. 2)" is displayed. ” is stored. In addition, in the second row of the management table 40, as information on the package B (for example, the package 6b shown in FIG. 2), delivery destination information "chute B (for example, the chute 12b shown in FIG. 2)" of the package B is stored. there is

Note that the management table 40 may store package information of the packages 6 placed on the tray 18 and delivery destination information of the packages 6 as information related to the tray 18 . Further, in the present embodiment, the management table 40 does not store the package information of the package 6, but the management table 40 may store the package information of the package 6. FIG.

Returning to FIG. 3 , the determination unit 32 determines the destination of the plurality of packages 6 to be sorted based on the management table 40 stored in the storage unit 30 . Specifically, the determination unit 32 determines that the number of the packages 6 to which the same dispensing chute 12 is assigned is the number of the packages 6 to be thrown into the first predetermined number (for example, 12) of the trays 18 that are consecutively arranged among the plurality of trays 18. The destinations of the plurality of packages 6 are determined so as to be less than the second predetermined number (for example, less than 4). The determination unit 32 outputs the determined destinations of the plurality of packages 6 to the notification unit 34 . Although the second predetermined number is less than the first predetermined number in the present embodiment, the second predetermined number may be the same as the first predetermined number.

The notification unit 34 notifies the transportation control unit 36 and the input control unit 38 of the destinations of the plurality of packages 6 from the determination unit 32 .

The transport control section 36 controls the transport device 8 based on the notification from the notification section 34 . Specifically, the transport control unit 36 controls the timing at which the transport device 8 delivers the packages 6 from the tray 18 to the delivery chute 12 based on the notification from the notification unit 34 .

The input control unit 38 controls the input device 10 based on the notification from the notification unit 34 . Specifically, the loading control unit 38 controls the timing and the like when the loading device 10 loads the packages 6 into the tray 18 based on the notification from the notification unit 34 .

[1-3. Operation of sorting device]
Next, the operation of the sorting apparatus 2 according to Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing by the controller 14 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the sorting device 2 according to the first embodiment. For convenience of explanation, illustration of the IR sensor 24 is omitted in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, first, the acquisition unit 28 of the controller 14 acquires delivery destination information for the parcels 6 to be sorted from the host controller 26 (S101), and manages the acquired delivery destination information in the storage unit 30. It is stored in the table 40 (S102).

The determining unit 32 reads the delivery destination information of the parcels 6 to be sorted from the management table 40 (S103), and determines the delivery destination of the parcels 6 based on the read delivery destination information (S104).

After that, the notification unit 34 notifies the transportation control unit 36 and the input control unit 38 of the destination of the load 6 determined by the determination unit 32 (S105). Thereby, the transport control unit 36 and the input control unit 38 respectively control the transport device 8 and the input device 10 based on the notification from the notification unit 34 (S106).

Here, the processing of step S104 described above will be specifically described with reference to FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 6 , the determination unit 32 determines that the number of packages 6 to which the same dispensing chute 12 is assigned is 3 or less for 12 consecutively arranged trays 18 out of the plurality of trays 18 . Then, the destinations for throwing in a plurality of packages 6 are determined.

Specifically, when the loading device 10 attempts to load the cargo 6 onto the tray 18 , the determination unit 32 determines the dispensing chute 12 assigned to the cargo 6 to be loaded and the trays 18 before and after the tray 18 . The difference with the delivery chute 12 assigned to the other loaded packages 6 is confirmed. As a result, when the two dispensing chutes 12 are different, the destination of the cargo 6 to be deposited by the loading device 10 is determined, and when the two dispensing chutes 12 are the same, the loading device 10 deposits the cargo. Determination of the destination of the cargo 6 is suspended. In this way, the determining unit 32 determines, one by one, the destinations of the articles 6 to be thrown in by the throwing device 10 .

By such a determination method, in the example shown in FIG. 6, the determination unit 32 determines the trays 18a, 18c, and 18e as destinations for the loads 6a, 6b, and 6c, respectively. As a result, the same delivery chute 12a is assigned to the 12 consecutively arranged trays 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d, 18e, 18f, 18g, 18h, 18i, 18j, 18k, and 18l (18a to 18l). The three packages 6a, 6b, 6c that have been placed are thrown in.

At this time, the 12 consecutively arranged trays 18 are a total of 12 consecutively arranged on the upstream side in the conveying direction, starting with the tray 18a to which the articles 6a to which the dispensing chute 12a is assigned is placed. These are trays 18a-18l.

In this embodiment, the number of trays 18 arranged in series is 12, but the number of trays 18 is not limited to this, and the number of trays 18 may be any number (for example, 5 or 10). good too. In the present embodiment, the determining unit 32 sets the number of articles 6 to be thrown to the 12 consecutively arranged trays 18 to 3 or less to which the same dispensing chute 12 is assigned. Instead, the number of loaded packages 6 may be any number less than 12 (for example, 4 or less or 5 or less).

In addition, the determining unit 32 is arranged so that the three packages 6a, 6b, and 6c are not put into three consecutive trays 18 (for example, the trays 18a, 18b, and 18c) among the twelve trays 18a to 18l. You may decide the throwing-in destination of the goods 6a, 6b, and 6c. That is, the determination unit 32 selects any three trays 18 (for example, the trays 18a, 18c) in which the three packages 6a, 6b, 6c are arranged every one to four of the twelve trays 18a to 18l. , 18e).

When determining the destination of the load 6d to which the same delivery chute 12a is assigned after the load 6c, the determining unit 32 selects the tray 18 (for example, The tray 18m) is determined as the loading destination of the package 6d.

As a result, the loading device 10 is controlled by the loading control unit 10 so that the packages 6a, 6b, 6c assigned to the dispensing chute 12a are loaded into the trays 18a, 18c, 18e, respectively. At this time, of the 12 trays 18a to 18l, the feeding device 10 does the same for the trays 18b, 18d, 18f, 18g, 18h, 18i, 18j, 18k, and 18l other than the trays 18a, 18c, and 18e. No other cargo 6 to which the dispensing chute 12a is assigned is thrown.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the conveying device 8 delivers the packages 6a, 6b and 6c put into the trays 18a, 18c and 18e respectively to the same delivery chute 12a in this order. At this time, since only three packages 6a, 6b and 6c are delivered to the delivery chute 12a at a time, the acceptance capacity of the delivery chute 12a for the packages 6 is not exceeded, and the delivery chute 12a is jammed. can be suppressed.

In the present embodiment, for convenience of explanation, only three packages 6a, 6b, 6c assigned the same delivery chute 12a are thrown into the twelve packages 18a to 18l. It is not limited to this. Out of the 12 trays 18a to 18l, trays 18b, 18d, 18f, 18g, 18h, 18i, 18j, 18k, and 18l other than the trays 18a, 18c, and 18e have payout chutes 12 other than the payout chute 12a. A parcel 6 assigned a delivery chute 12b (for example) may be thrown.

[1-4. effect]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the determining unit 32 determines that the number of articles 6 to be thrown into the 12 consecutively arranged trays 18a to 18l to which the same dispensing chute 12a is assigned is 3 or less. Then, the destinations for throwing in a plurality of packages 6 are determined.

As a result, an interval can be provided between, for example, when the three packages 6a, 6b, and 6c are delivered to the same delivery chute 12a until the next package 6d is delivered to the delivery chute 12a. As a result, it is possible to prevent the discharge chute 12a from being clogged without exceeding the capacity of the discharge chute 12a for receiving the articles 6.例文帳に追加

[1-5. Modification]
Next, a sorting apparatus 2A (see also FIG. 2) according to a modification of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the sorting device 2A according to the modification of the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 7, in this modification, the determination unit 32A of the controller 14A (see FIG. 2) selects the same dispensing chute for the first predetermined number (for example, 12) of the trays 18 that are continuously arranged. 12 is less than a second predetermined number (for example, less than 4), and the number of packages 6 to which the same dispensing chute 12 is assigned is less than the first predetermined number. The destinations of a plurality of packages 6 are determined so that a predetermined number of 2 or more (for example, 4 or more) are not continuously placed.

Specifically, when the determination unit 32A determines that the trays 18a, 18b, and 18c, which are arranged in succession, are the destinations of the loads 6a, 6b, and 6c, for example, the same delivery chute 12 to be loaded next is selected. The trays 18d to 18l are excluded from the destinations of the assigned cargo 6d. In this case, the determining unit 32A determines, for example, the tray 18m as the destination of the load 6d. As a result, four or more parcels 6 to which the same dispensing chute 12 is assigned are not thrown in consecutively.

Thus, also in this modification, an interval can be provided between when the packages 6a, 6b, and 6c are delivered to the same delivery chute 12a and when the package 6d is next delivered to the delivery chute 12a. As a result, it is possible to prevent the discharge chute 12a from being clogged without exceeding the capacity of the discharge chute 12a for receiving the articles 6.例文帳に追加

It is assumed that a second predetermined number or more (for example, four or more) of parcels 6 assigned to the same delivery chute 12 are continuously thrown. Examples of such a case include a case where the loading device 10 (see FIG. 1) malfunctions, or a case where the automatic loading of the cargo 6 by the loading device 10 and the manual loading of the cargo 6 by the operator are used together. , a case where the data input by the operator is delayed. In such a case, the transport control unit 36 may control the transport device 8 so that a second predetermined number or more (for example, four or more) of packages 6 are not continuously delivered to the same delivery chute 12. good. As a result, even if the loading device 10 malfunctions, for example, it is possible to reliably prevent the discharge chute 12 from becoming jammed.

In this case, the articles 6 that have not been delivered from the tray 18 to the delivery chute 12 circulate on the conveying path 16 while being placed on the tray 18 . At this time, since the management table 40 holds information about the circulating parcels 6 , the determination unit 32 can re-determine the destination of the circulating parcels 6 based on the management table 40 .

(Embodiment 2)
[2-1. Overall configuration of sorting device]
The overall configuration of a sorting device 2B according to Embodiment 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a sorting device 2B according to Embodiment 2. As shown in FIG. In addition, in this embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the same constituent elements as in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the sorting device 2B according to the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the loading device 10 for automatically loading the packages 6 into the plurality of trays 18 one by one is provided. There are multiple.

[2-2. Functional Configuration of Controller]
Next, the functional configuration of the controller 14B will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the controller 14B according to the second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 9, the determination unit 32B of the controller 14B, for each of the plurality of input devices 10, for a first predetermined number (for example, 5) of the trays 18 that are consecutively arranged among the plurality of trays 18, Destinations of a plurality of packages 6 are determined so that the number of packages 6 to be thrown to which the same dispensing chute 12 (see FIG. 8) is assigned is less than a second predetermined number (for example, less than 4).

Also, the input control unit 38B controls each of the plurality of input devices 10 based on the notification from the notification unit 34. FIG.

[2-3. Operation of sorting device]
Next, the operation of the sorting device 2B according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12. FIG. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing of the determination unit 32B of the controller 14B according to the second embodiment. 11 and 12 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the sorting device 2B according to the second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 11, let us consider a case in which the loading device 10a among the plurality of loading devices 10 loads a parcel 6c (an example of a specific parcel) to which a delivery chute 12 (an example of a specific delivery chute) is assigned.

The process of determining the destination of the package 6c in the loading device 10a by the determination unit 32B will be described below. Note that the input control unit 38B controls the output chute 12 to be input by another input device 10 other than the input device 10a, for example, the input device 10b, before and after the tray 18b to which the cargo 6d is to be input. If there are other packages 6a and 6b assigned to the chute 12, the loading device 10b may wait for the loading of the package 6d. Here, the terms "before and after the tray 18b" refer to the trays 18 that are adjacent to the tray 18b on the upstream side and the downstream side in the transport direction, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the determining unit 32B selects tray groups A, B, C, and five trays 18 including the tray 18e that has been moved to the loading port of the loading device 10a and to which the five trays 18 arranged in succession belong. For each of D and E (A to E), it is determined whether or not the number of parcels 6 assigned the same delivery chute 12 placed in the five trays is two or less (S201). This is because there is a possibility that the packages 6 to which the same dispensing chute 12 has been assigned have been placed on the trays 18 belonging to any of the tray groups A to E by another loading device 10 other than the loading device 10a. .

Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 11, the tray group A includes five trays 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d and 18e. Tray group B includes five trays 18b, 18c, 18d, 18e and 18f. Tray group C includes five trays 18c, 18d, 18e, 18f and 18g. Tray group D includes five trays 18d, 18e, 18f, 18g and 18h. Tray group E includes five trays 18e, 18f, 18g, 18h and 18i.

As shown in FIG. 11, when the packages 6a and 6b assigned the same dispensing chute 12 are already placed in the trays 18a and 18c, the determination unit 32B selects 5 It is determined that the number of parcels 6 assigned to the same dispensing chute 12 placed in the trays 18 is two or less (YES in S201). In this case, the determining unit 32B determines that the load 6c can be placed on the tray 18e included in the tray groups A to E (S202), and determines the tray 18e included in the tray groups A to E as the destination for the load 6c. (S203).

Returning to step S201, as shown in FIG. 12, when packages 6a, 6e, and 6b assigned the same dispensing chute 12 have already been loaded onto trays 18a, 18b, and 18c, the determining unit 32B For group A, it is determined that the number of packages 6 assigned to the same delivery chute 12 placed in five trays 18 exceeds two (NO in S201). In this case, the determining unit 32B determines that the tray 18e included in the tray groups A to E cannot be loaded with the load 6c (S204), and the tray 18 other than the tray 18e (for example, the tray 18f) is loaded with the load 6c. It is determined as the first (S205).

After the loading device 10a has loaded the cargoes 6c into the tray 18e or the like, the determining unit 32B similarly determines the destinations of the plurality of cargoes 6 for the loading device 10 other than the loading device 10a (e.g., the loading device 10b). do. Note that the tray 18 determined as the destination of the load 6 by the other loading device 10 is treated in the same manner as the tray 18 already loaded with the load 6 .

Note that, after the loading device 10a has loaded the cargo 6c, the determining unit 32B determines other loading devices 10 waiting to be loaded than the loading destination of the cargo 6f to which the same dispensing chute 12 in the loading device 10a is assigned. For example, the destination of the load 6d in the loading device 10b is preferentially determined.

[2-4. effect]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the determination unit 32B determines the number of articles 6 to be thrown to which the same dispensing chute 12 is assigned to the five consecutively arranged trays 18 for each of the plurality of throwing devices 10. Destinations for throwing in a plurality of packages 6 are determined so that . As a result, in each of the plurality of loading devices 10, the discharge chute 12 can be prevented from being clogged.

(Modified example, etc.)
Although the sorting apparatus of the present invention has been described above based on Embodiments 1 and 2, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The present invention also includes a form obtained by modifying each of the above-described embodiments conceived by a person skilled in the art, and another form realized by arbitrarily combining the constituent elements of each of the above-described embodiments.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the conveying device 8 is configured by a cross belt sorter, but is not limited to this, and may be configured by, for example, a tilt tray sorter, shoe sorter, diverter, roller branching, or the like.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the loading device 10 automatically loads the cargo 6 into the tray 18, but is not limited to this. The tray 18 may be loaded manually. In this case, the notification unit 34 notifies the destination of the load 6 to, for example, a display device or the like for notifying the worker of the destination of the load 6 . Alternatively, a loading robot may be arranged on the side of the transport path 16 so that the loading robot automatically loads the articles 6 supplied from the warehouse 4 into the tray 18 .

The sorting apparatus of the present invention can be applied to, for example, a cross belt sorter.

2, 2A, 2B Sorting device 4 Warehouses 6, 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e Cargo 8 Conveying device 10 Input device 12, 12a, 12b Chute (withdrawal chute)
14, 14A, 14B Controller 16 Conveyance paths 18, 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d, 18e, 18f, 18g, 18h, 18i, 18j, 18k, 18l, 18m Tray 20 Drive unit 22 Connecting parts 24, 24a, 24b IR sensor 26 host controller 28 acquisition unit 30 storage units 32, 32A, 32B determination unit 34 notification unit 36 transport control units 38, 38B input control unit 40 management table

Claims (6)

A sorting device for sorting a plurality of packages,
A conveying device into which the plurality of articles are loaded, wherein the articles are conveyed along the conveying route and then discharged to one of a plurality of chutes arranged on the side of the conveying route. a conveying device;
a storage unit that stores correspondence information indicating a correspondence relationship between each of the plurality of parcels and a delivery chute to which the parcel is to be delivered among the plurality of chutes;
Based on the correspondence information, a second number of the articles to be thrown to which the same delivery chute is assigned to a first predetermined number of placing positions arranged continuously along the conveying direction in the conveying device. a decision unit that decides where to put the plurality of packages so that the number is less than a predetermined number;
and a notification unit that notifies the destinations of the plurality of packages that have been determined. The sorting device further comprises:
a loading device disposed on the side of the transportation path for loading the cargo into the transportation device one by one;
The sorting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an input control section that controls the input device based on the notification from the notification section. A plurality of the loading devices are provided, and the loading control unit is assigned the same specific delivery chute before and after the specific delivery destination to which the specific delivery chute to be loaded by the loading device is assigned. causing the loading device to wait for loading of the specific cargo when there are other cargo;
3. The sorting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determination unit preferentially determines the destination of the specific package in the loading device waiting to be loaded out of the plurality of loading devices. The determining unit determines the second predetermined number of the articles to which the same delivery chute is assigned for the first predetermined number of consecutively arranged placement positions, which is smaller than the first predetermined number. 4. The sorting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein destinations of the plurality of parcels are determined so that the plurality of parcels are not successively delivered. 5. The sorting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the sorting apparatus further comprises a conveyance control section that controls the conveying apparatus so that the second predetermined number or more of the packages are not consecutively dispensed onto the same dispensing chute. . the conveying route is a circular route,
6. The sorting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the correspondence information includes information about the packages that are not delivered from the transport device to the delivery chute and are circulated on the transport route by the transport device.

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