JPS6115008B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides sorting/dispensing control that automatically sorts various conveyance items that are brought in at random, and continuously carries out conveyance items that are an integer multiple of a predetermined number corresponding to the type of conveyance items. Regarding the method.

In general, in a sorting and unloading control device that continuously unloads items that are an integral multiple of a predetermined number corresponding to the type of items to be transported, the assignment of strip lines is fixed in advance for each type of item to be transported. If the storage line assigned to a type of item is full, the item cannot be sorted even if the storage line assigned to another type of item is empty.

The present invention has been made in order to minimize the above-mentioned inconveniences, and instead of fixing the assignment between the type of conveyed object and the storage line, the present invention performs the assignment according to the storage status of each storage line. The aim is to increase the stripping rate of the strip line as a whole.

The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to Examples.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a sorting/conveyor device controlled by a sorting/dispensing control device according to the present invention, and arrows indicate the flow of conveyed items. The objects to be transported are transported on the carry-in line 5 in a random order. The article identification device 4 identifies the type of article on the carry-in line 5 and transmits the identification result to the sorting/dispensing control device 1 . The same holds true when a person identifies the object instead of using the object identification device 4 and inputs the result of the transport using an input device such as a digital switch. The sorting/dispensing control device 1 is
Based on the transmitted identification results, the strip line on which the object to be transported should be sorted is determined from among the plurality of strip lines 7-i, and the determined strip line number is transmitted to the sorting device 2. The sorting device 2 transports the article to the strip line of the strip line number to which it is transmitted. The unloading instruction device 8 transmits to the sorting/dispensing control device 1 whether or not the conveyed items can be unloaded. Sorting/dispensing control device 1
selects only one type of conveyance item that can be delivered when unloading is possible, determines the order of delivery and number of items to be delivered in order to continuously carry out a predetermined number of items of that type, and delivers them to the delivery device 3. Transmits the strip line number to be paid and the number of pieces to be paid out. The dispensing device 3 dispenses the transmitted number of conveyed objects from the strip line No. to be transmitted to the discharging line 6. The carry-out line 6 is for supplying the discharged articles to the downstream.

FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of the sorting/dispensing control device according to the present invention.

Each of the storage devices 21-i, 22-i, and 23-i corresponds to the type i of the transported object, and the storage device 2
1-i stores the strip line occupancy length per transport object of the type i, the storage device 22-i stores the number of transport objects of the type i to be continuously delivered, and the storage device 23 -i stores the presence or absence of a strip line that should preferentially sort articles of the type i that will arrive at the sorting conveyor device 2 next, and the identification information of the strip line. Storage device 31-
j and 32-j correspond to each of the strip lines j, and the storage device 31-j indicates whether or not there is an object currently being sorted on the strip line j, and how many more objects of the same type are to be sorted. The storage device 32-j stores the free length of the strip line j. Storage devices 41-j-k, 42-j
-k, 43-j-k, 44-j-k correspond to each of the same type of conveyed objects k to be continuously carried out in the strip of each strip line j, and are stored in the storage device 41- The storage device 42-j-k stores the type of the transported object group, the storage device 42-j-k stores the number of transported objects constituting the transported object group, and the storage device 43-j-
k stores the identification information of the group of conveyed objects and the identification information of another storage line where the group of conveyed objects of the type to be carried out is stored consecutively, and is stored in the storage device 4.
4-j-k stores information indicating whether the group of conveyed objects can be delivered or not.

First, the sorting instruction process will be explained.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure, and the meaning of each signal is as follows.

i: type of conveyed object, k: final conveyed object group on the strip line, 21-i: length of strip line occupied by one conveyed object i, 22-i: number of conveyed objects i to be continuously delivered. 23-i: Stretch line on which the transported object i should be sorted preferentially, 31-j: Remaining number of items to be sorted on strip line j, 32-j: Free length of strip line j, 41-j-k: Straight line Type of final conveyed object group in storage line j, 42-j-k: Sorted number of said final conveyed object group, 43-j-k: Other storage line to which said final conveyed object group should be sorted, 44-j -k: Flag indicating that the final conveyed object group can be delivered. In the following explanation, for example, the device that stores 21-i will be referred to as the "storage device 21-i," especially in FIG. Therefore, it is described as "memory 21-i".

Hereinafter, the storage device 31-j will be referred to as a first storage device, the storage device 23-i will be referred to as a second storage device, and the storage device 31
An embodiment will be described in which the storage device 31-j is also used as the third storage means and the storage device 31-j serves as both the first and third storage means.

In other words, by determining whether or not a particular strip line is not assigned to a specific conveyance item based on whether the remaining number of sorted items 31-j to be sorted to a strip line is 0 or not, this method can be performed. Can be used for both purposes.

It goes without saying that it is also possible to avoid such dual use.

In FIG. 3, when a certain transported object reaches the entrance of the sorting conveyor device, the information processing device 11 provided in the sorting/dispensing control device 1 receives information about the transported object type inputted from the identification device 4 or previously stored. The type of conveyance item i is determined from the information
The process starts from step 302. In step 302, the storage device 2 corresponding to the type i is
The information stored in 3-i is set to j, and it is determined in step 303 whether the value of j is valid as a strip line number to determine the strip line to which the conveyed object should be sorted preferentially. Determine the presence or absence of. If there is a strip line j for which the conveyed items should be sorted preferentially, step 304
The storage device 21 corresponding to the strip line j
- determine whether or not the strip line has a free length sufficient to sort the conveyed objects by comparing it with the occupied length _l2 stored in i;
If so, in step 305, the sorting device is instructed to sort the objects to be transported to strip line j, and if not, in step 312, the storage device 4 corresponding to the final transported object group k of strip line j is stored.
The information stored in 3-j-k is set in register j', and in step 313 it is determined whether the value of j' is valid as a strip line number. Whether or not there is another strip line on which the group of conveyed objects to be included in the group of conveyed objects to be carried out is strung, and the said strip line
j' is known, and if so, it is determined in step 314 whether the types of the final conveyance group of strip line j' are equal to i, so that the conveyance group is determined to be the final conveyance group of strip line j'. Determine whether it exists or not.
If it is the final group of objects to be transported, it is determined in step 315 whether or not there is a free length on the strip line j' to which the objects can be stored. Device 23
-i stores identification information indicating the strip line j' so that the type of conveyed object is preferentially sorted to the strip line j', and the sorted article is sorted to the strip line j'. Instruct the sorting device 2. If it is determined in step 314 that it is not the final strip conveyance group, and if it is determined in step 315 that there is not enough free space on the strip line j' to sort the conveyance objects, the process jumps to step 327. Temporarily suspend sorting instructions. This means that when the same group of conveyed objects is sorted into multiple strip lines, it becomes impossible to unload all the strip lines that sorted the group of conveyed objects unless that group of conveyed objects can be unloaded. This is because there is a risk that

If it is determined in step 313 that there is no other stripping line on which the same group of conveyed objects as the conveyed object is stored, step 3
In step 16, the strip line j' with no objects currently being sorted and with the maximum free length is determined, and in steps 317 and 318 it is determined whether or not it is possible to sort the objects to strip line j'. If it is not possible, branch to step 31 to temporarily suspend the sorting, and if possible, in step 319, the final conveyed article on the strip line indicated by the information in the storage device 23-i corresponding to the conveyed article type i is determined. Stretch line found in storage device 43-j-k corresponding to group k
The identification information of j' is stored, and in step 320, the remaining number of sorted pieces of the previous strip line j is set as the remaining number of sorted pieces of strip line j', and the remaining number of sorted pieces of j is cleared to 0, so that the sorting of j is performed. In step 326, identification information indicating a new strip line is stored in the storage device 23-i corresponding to the type i, and the transported object is transferred to the storage device 23-i corresponding to the type i. street line j
Instructs the sorting device 2 to sort the items.

Furthermore, if it is determined in step 303 that there is no strip line that should be sorted preferentially for the type of conveyance item that has arrived at the entrance of the sorting conveyor device, then in step 321 it is determined that there is no conveyance item being sorted at that time and The strip line j with the maximum free length is determined, and if it is determined in steps 322 and 323 that it is impossible to sort the object to the line, the process branches to step 327 and the sorting is temporarily interrupted. If possible, in step 324, information indicating the strip line j is stored in the storage device 23-i corresponding to the type of transported object, and information indicating the strip line j is stored in the storage device 31-j corresponding to the strip line j. Storage device 2 corresponding to transported object type i
In step 325, the number of objects to be continuously dispensed stored in 2-i is stored in the memory 41-j-k corresponding to the next group of objects after the last group of objects on the strip line. It stores information indicating the type and instructs the sorting device 2 to sort the conveyed items to the storage line.

On the other hand, each time the information processing device 11 issues a sorting instruction in step 305, in step 306 it determines the free length corresponding to the instruction from the free length stored in the storage device 32-j corresponding to the strip line corresponding to the instruction. Storage device 2 corresponding to the type of conveyed object
At the same time, in step 307, subtract 1 from the contents stored in the storage device 31-j, and in step 308, the storage device corresponding to the final group of transported objects on the strip line is subtracted. Add 1 to the contents stored in 42-i-k.
If the contents of the storage device 31-j become 0, it means that the number of objects in the group of objects that can be delivered has been stored. storing information indicating that the delivery is now possible in the storage device 44-j-k, and erasing from the storage device 23-i information indicating the strip line j to which the type of conveyance should be sorted preferentially; The state of the strip line in which the conveyed objects are being sorted is canceled.

Next, the payout instruction process will be explained.

If there is a group of objects that can be delivered, the unloading instruction is given at the time when the previous group of objects has been unloaded, and if there is no group of objects that can be delivered, the unloading instruction is given after the previous group of objects has been unloaded. Do it as soon as possible. Here, the order of dispensing can be determined by giving priority to items closest to the dispensing port, prioritizing the types of conveyed items that handle a large number of items, prioritizing items that became available for dispensing earlier, or giving priority to items with a small empty length. Possible methods include giving priority to those stored in the string line, and any of these methods is possible.

When the same group of conveyed objects is divided into a plurality of strip lines and sorted, the information processing device 11 uses the information in the storage devices 43-j-k provided for each strip line and each group of conveyed objects. It is possible to know which conveyed object groups and which conveyed object groups must be continuously delivered. That is,
When the sorting/dispensing control device 1 attempts to dispense a certain group of objects from a certain strip line, the information processing device 11 extracts the information stored in the storage device 43-j-k corresponding to the group of objects. , determines whether there is a group of conveyed objects that are sorted to other strip lines that must be continuously delivered, and if there is, the group of conveyed objects is at the head of the strip line and can be discharged. Determine whether there is
If this is not possible, then another group of objects to be transported is delivered, and if possible, a delivery instruction is given to the delivery device 3 to perform delivery from both strip lines in succession.

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a sorting/dispensing control device having the following effects.

(1) Since the stripping rate of the stripping line is high, the stripping capacity is higher than before even with the same number of lines and line length, and the number of interruptions in sorting is reduced.

(2) Since the stripping ratio of striped lines is high, the striped line length required to obtain the same stripping capacity with the same number of lines is smaller than that of the conventional method.

(3) Since it is possible to simultaneously store multiple types of conveyed objects on the same line, it is possible to obtain groups of conveyed objects in various orders.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an example of a sorting conveyor device to which the operation method of the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is an embodiment of a sorting/dispensing control device according to the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing a sorting instruction processing procedure. be. 1: Sorting/dispensing control device, 2: Sorting device, 3: Dispensing device, 4: Conveyed object identification device, 5:
Carrying-in line, 6: Carrying-out line, 7: Stretch line, 8: Carrying-out instruction device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A carry-in line where various conveyance items are brought in at random, a specified strip line, a sorting device that sorts the conveyed items, a plurality of storage lines that store the sorted conveyed items, and a specified storage line. In a sorting/dispensing control device that is equipped with a conveyor device for dispensing a designated number of conveyance items and a discharge line for discharging the conveyed articles in sequence, and controls the sorting device and conveyor device, a strip line is specified. a first storage means for storing information regarding whether each strip line is assigned to each type of conveyed article; a second storage means for storing information and, when assigned, the strip line position for each type of conveyed object; and a second storage means for storing the strip line position for each type of conveyed object; and a third storage means for storing the remaining number of items to be sorted until the number of items reaches an integral multiple of the number of items, and based on the information in the second and third storage means, the delivery line is Determine whether or not a stripping line to be sorted is assigned to the type of conveyed article carried into the storage area, and if it is assigned, whether there is room for the stripping line to sort the conveyed article carried into the storage area. a step of determining whether or not the goods are to be sorted, based on the information in the first storage means, when the storage line to be sorted is not allocated and when there is no room to store the conveyed items on the allocated storage line; Then, a stripping line that is not assigned to a specific type of transported material and that has room for storing the transported transported material is assigned to the transported material of that type, and the previously assigned stripping line is A sorting/dispensing control method comprising the step of updating the storage contents of the first and second storage means so as to release the assignment of the conveyance items to the line.