JPH0258163B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an article sorting method and apparatus for sorting a plurality of types of articles by destination, or by destination, type, size, etc. In particular, the present invention relates to an article sorting method and apparatus for sorting articles using a rotating shelf that rotates along a horizontal circulation path.

(Prior art) Conventional technologies for sorting articles include Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 16868/1983, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 139902/1982,
Those described in JP-A-59-217502, JP-A-61-2612, JP-A-61-55004, JP-A-61-81317, JP-A-60-114105, etc. Are known.

To briefly explain the description in the above publication, JP-A-55
Publication No. 16868 discloses that a trolley conveyor is arranged between a sorting chute and an empty box transport conveyor and a real box transport conveyor so as to be able to circulate along an oval trajectory, and that the trolley conveyor is provided with at least Installed as many as the number of sorting chutes mentioned above,
This article describes an article sorting facility that includes a trolley equipped with wheels of a caster structure and a pool bucket cart consisting of a bucket cart installed on the trolley.

Furthermore, JP-A-58-139902 discloses that a linear movement path of a rotating shelf includes an area that includes the entire length of a row of load storage sections in a direction perpendicular to the rotational direction and that includes a plurality of rows of load storage sections in the rotational direction. We have established a warehousing and unloading department consisting of
A carousel is described in which a loading/unloading work object display means is disposed at a position corresponding to each of all the cargo storage sections located in the loading/unloading section.

Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-217502 discloses that the main body of the warehouse is vertically divided into two parts, and a first storage part is provided in the lower part of the main part of the warehouse, in which a plurality of pallets on which goods are placed can be stored on shelves. In the upper part, there is described an automatic warehouse in which storage parts for storing articles are fixed to endless links at a predetermined interval and are provided with a second storage which can be rotated and searched in one place.

In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 61-2612 discloses that the cargo conveyed from the transport conveyor is transported by a primary sorting conveyor, subjected to primary sorting, and delivered to a plurality of primary storage conveyors. The conveyor unit is taken out to the primary circulation conveyor and passed to the secondary sorting conveyor installed either above or below the above primary sorting conveyor, and while being conveyed by this secondary sorting conveyor, it is secondary sorted and divided into multiple secondary sorting conveyors. A sorting method is described in which the secondary sorted cargo is transferred to a storage conveyor and taken out to a secondary circulation conveyor in units of secondary storage conveyors, and then transported to a truck loading section.

Furthermore, JP-A-61-55004 discloses a plurality of storage containers in which products are stored by type, a conveyor that conveys these storage containers, and a plurality of cargo storage devices installed on the side of this conveyor. , a sorting equipment is described that is provided with a display that is installed corresponding to each of these cargo storage devices and displays the number of the products to be taken into each cargo storage device from the storage container on the conveyor.

Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-81317 discloses that totes filled with products from each store are sent to a slot elevator in a random manner, and the totes are distributed to one of a multi-stage sorter conveyor according to the delivery store. A tote organizing system is described in which, when totes from the same store are collectively taken in by another slat elevator connected to the other end of the sorter conveyor, the totes are taken in sequentially from the store's sorter conveyor according to the order of delivery. has been done.

Further, in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 60-114105, a transfer table is provided at the takeout port and the storage port corresponding to each rotating shelf, and a station that moves up and down is installed on the side of both transfer tables. An article storage device is described in which a transfer device having the above-described method is disposed, a conveyor is disposed between both the transfer devices, and a processing table is provided in an intermediate portion thereof.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the conventional article sorting method and apparatus described above have the following problems.

In other words, in JP-A-55-16868, the equipment for storing items before sorting and the equipment for sorting the items are provided separately, so the installation space for these equipment becomes large, and it is difficult to install them in urban areas. It is difficult to apply this method to cases where the site is limited, such as a distribution center. In addition, the items to be sorted are
As the items were being thrown into the pool bucket truck one after another, there was considerable damage to the items. In addition, the items to be sorted are unwrapped in cardboard boxes and all items are sorted, and there is no description of how to handle cases where the required quantity of items is less than one box. There is no suggestion whatsoever.

Furthermore, although JP-A No. 139902/1982 indicates the storage areas where articles are to be stored and taken out, it does not describe the sorting of articles or the storage of articles before being sorted. There is no suggestion whatsoever.

Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-217502, it is possible to selectively store and take out unit articles and collective articles, and when there is a shortage of unit articles on the rotating shelf, they can be immediately replenished from the flat shelf. , it was not possible to sort goods by destination, type, etc.

Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 61-2612, although it is possible to sort articles by destination, etc., the installation space is large, and articles stored in cardboard boxes or the like can only be handled in units of cases. That is, it is not possible to pick and sort parts, products, etc. stored in cardboard boxes, plastic containers, etc. one by one.

Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 61-55004, it is possible to pick a specified number of items stored in a storage container and sort them according to their destination.
The installation space was large. Furthermore, the picking operation had to be carried out over a wide area along the conveyor. Furthermore, there is no description or suggestion of storage of items before they are sorted, methods of shipping out sorted items, etc.

In addition, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 61-81317, the installation space is large, and goods are separated by destination.
Since each tote is sequentially picked, it is necessary to rotate the rotating rack frequently when picking many types of items into one tote, making it impossible to efficiently and quickly sort the items.

In addition, in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 60-114105, it is possible to take out the articles in the container on the processing table, or put the articles in the container, and after processing, the container can be stored again in the rotating rack. There is no mention or suggestion of sorting items.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to use a rotating shelf that rotates along a horizontal circulation path, which can be applied even in a limited space, and to efficiently and quickly perform picking and sorting operations. The object of the present invention is to provide a method and device for sorting articles.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides an article sorting method for sorting a plurality of types of articles, which includes a rotatably supported article storage section, and the article storage section stores sorted articles. The article taken out from the storage article storage section of a rotating shelf that includes a sorted article storage section for storing and a storage article storage section for storing articles before being sorted,
The above object has been achieved by providing a method for sorting articles, which is characterized in that articles are taken into the sorted article storage section.

Further, the present invention provides an article sorting device for sorting a plurality of types of articles as an apparatus for carrying out the article sorting method described above, which includes an article storage section rotatably supported, and at least the above-mentioned articles. A rotating shelf in which a part of the storage unit is a sorted article storage unit for storing sorted articles, and a storage work unit for storing the sorted articles in the sorted article storage unit; and the rotating shelf. The warehouse is characterized by comprising: a warehousing device and a warehousing device disposed on the outer periphery of the rotation path of the warehousing device, and a conveyor connected between the warehousing device and the warehousing device and disposed near the storage work section. The present invention provides a sorting device for articles.

(Embodiment) First, an embodiment of the article sorting apparatus of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention. In this drawing, 1 is a rotating shelf in which a plurality of rotating shelves 11 each having a rotatably supported article storage section 12 are stacked at appropriate intervals. , 2 is an unloading device that takes out the storage container 9 from the article storage section 12 at an unloading position set at a desired location on the rotation path of the article storage section 12;
3 is a storage position determined at a desired location on the rotation path of the article storage section 12, and the storage container 9 is moved into the article storage section 12.
A warehousing device 4 is a conveyor capable of transporting the storage container 9 taken out by the warehousing device 2 to the warehousing device through the vicinity of the storage work section 13 of the carousel 1.

To explain each part in the embodiment in detail, each rotating shelf unit 11 in the above-mentioned rotating shelf 1 movably supports a large number (for example, 120) of article storage units 12 on an elliptical running rail, and also A drive chain is hung between the drive gear wheel and the idler gear wheel along the rail, the article storage sections 12 are fixed to the drive chain at equal intervals, and the drive gear wheel is driven by a motor. Single rotating shelf 11 on other tiers
The rotary shelf 1 is made by stacking a plurality of stages (9 stages) of these single rotary shelves 11. Further, in this embodiment, the article storage section 12 (partially shown in FIG. 1) is divided into a sorted article storage section 12a for storing sorted articles and a storage article storage section 12a for storing articles before being sorted. The article storage section 12 provided on the bottom rotary shelf unit 11 is the sorted article storage section 12a, and the remaining article storage sections 1 are divided into storage sections 12b.
2 is designated as the storage article storage section 12b. Further, a storage work section 13 for storing sorted articles in a sorted article storage section 12a is provided in the linear movement path of the rotary shelf unit 11 at the lowest stage. still,
All or part of the article storage section 12 supported by at least one rotating shelf unit 11 may be used as the sorted article storage section 12a.

Further, the unloading device 2 includes an elevating table 21 that is disposed opposite to one of the reversing paths of the rotating shelf 1 and moves the storage container 9 taken out by the unloading pusher in the vertical direction. Further, the storage device 3 includes a lifting table 31 that is disposed opposite to the other reversing path section of the rotating shelf 1 and moves the storage containers 9 in the vertical direction, and the storage containers 9 that have been raised to a desired position are The articles are stored in the article storage section 12 by means of a warehousing pusher. Note that the unloading device 2 and the warehousing device 3 may be a tray conveyor or the like that circulates and rotates in the vertical direction.
Moreover, the unloading device 2 and the warehousing device 3 may be arranged to face the linear movement path of the carousel 1.

Further, the conveyor 4 is arranged in a C-shape so as to connect between the unloading device 2 and the warehousing device 3. It is disposed along the side at a predetermined distance from the storage section 13 of the rotating shelf 1.

Further, a control device 8 (not shown) including an inventory management CPU, a drive control device, etc. is provided to control the carousel 1, the unloading device 2, the warehousing device 3, the conveyor 4, and the like.

In this embodiment, a work table 14 is provided near the storage work section 13.

Further, 71 is an empty container transport conveyor for transporting empty storage containers 9, 72 is a warehousing conveyor for warehousing articles from the outside, and 73 is a warehousing conveyor for taking articles out of the warehouse.

Next, the article sorting method of the present invention will be explained based on an embodiment using the article sorting apparatus described above.

The above-mentioned carousel 1 is made up of nine stacked carousel units 11 each having 120 article storage units 12, and the 120 item storage units 12 supported by the lowermost unit carousel unit 11 are sorted. Each sorted article storage section 12a stores an empty storage container 9 (for example, a plastic container, a cardboard box, etc.). Assume that a plurality of types of articles are sorted into 40 destinations, for example, and three sorted article storage units 12a are allocated to each destination. In addition, it was supported by the rotating shelves 11 from the second to the ninth tier from the bottom.
A plurality of types of articles are stored in the storage article storage section 12b, which has 120 pieces x 8 stages = 960 pieces.

The article sorting device of this embodiment performs data processing necessary for inventory management of the carousel 1, stores storage positions of articles, and sorts the items between the carousel 1 and the delivery device 2 based on the given data and instructions. , warehousing device 3,
An inventory management CPU that sends and receives signals to operate the transport conveyor 4, etc., and in accordance with the signals, determines the rotation direction, stop position, etc. for each rotating shelf 11, and the stop positions of the unloading device 2 and the warehousing device 3. This is an embodiment of an article sorting method in which the article sorting requests are input in batches (for 40 directions) because the article is connected to a drive control device that performs drive control such as the above through an interface circuit. In detail, the inventory management CPU handles the input sorting requests, that is, sorting items by destination,
Based on information such as the sorting quantity, first, the storage container 9A containing the A type of article is rotated by the rotary shelf unit 11 supporting the stored article storage section 12b storing the storage container 9A, and the storage container 9A is transferred to the unloading device 2 and the conveyor. The products are delivered to the picking section 41 via the conveyor 4. At the same time, the bottom rotary shelf 11 rotates, and the sorted article storage section 12a to which the area requiring the A type of article is assigned stops in order at the storage work section 13, so that the inventory management CPU terminal While looking at the work list outputted in advance from the device, pull out the storage container 9 in which the necessary goods of type A are stored in the goods storage section 12a onto the work table 14, for example, a.
Put 5 pieces in direction C, 7 pieces in direction C, 12 pieces in direction E, and sort them into all the necessary directions out of 40 directions. If the total number of articles of type A required by the 40 areas is large, a plurality of storage containers 9A are taken out from a plurality of stored article storage sections 12b.
Furthermore, if the A type of article remains in the storage container 9A after being sorted into 40 directions, it is transferred to the storage article storage section 12b via the transport conveyor 4 and the warehousing device 3.
will be restocked in

Next, the B type articles are taken out from the stored article storage section 12b, sorted in the same way as the A type articles, and stored in the sorted article storage section 12a.
Articles of each type are sorted in sequence D, E, . . . . It should be noted that if the sorting order is from large-type articles to small-type articles, the articles can be stored in the storage container 9 better.

In addition, there are 3 sorted article storage units 1 for each area.
2a, but if the three storage containers 9 allocated to a certain direction become full, the full storage containers 9 are placed on the transport conveyor 4, and the transport conveyor 4. Temporarily store in the storage article storage section 12b via the warehousing device 3, store the empty storage container 9 that has been transported to the picking section 41 by the empty container transport conveyor 71 instead, and continue the sorting work. can do.

In addition, when storing sorted items in three storage containers 9 allocated for a certain area,
Although it is preferable to first store items in one storage container 9 and move on to the next storage container 9 when this storage container 9 is full, items may be stored randomly in the three storage containers 9. You may do so.

After the sorting work for all the requested types is completed as described above, the storage containers 9 stored in the sorted article storage section 12a supported by the lowermost rotary shelf unit 11 and the stored article storage section The storage container 9 storing the sorted articles temporarily stored in the storage container 12b is sequentially taken out by the delivery device 2, the transport conveyor 4, and the delivery conveyor 73.

In this embodiment, three sorted article storage sections 12a are allocated to a certain direction, but one or more sorted article storage sections are assigned to each direction depending on the amount of articles to be sorted. 12a may be allocated by the inventory management CPU.

Further, the articles to be sorted into the sorted article storage sections 12a may be directly stored in the sorted article storage sections 12a without using the storage containers 9.

Furthermore, if the storage container 9 stored in the sorted article storage section 12a becomes full, the lowermost rotary shelf unit 11 may be rotated to take out the product through the outgoing device 2.

Next, another embodiment of the article sorting device of the present invention and another embodiment of the article sorting method of the present invention using the device of this embodiment will be described.

2 and 3 are a plan view and a sectional view, respectively, showing another embodiment of the article sorting device of the present invention, and this embodiment differs from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in the following points. However, in other respects they are structured similarly.

That is, the rotary shelf unit 1 at the bottom stage and the second stage from the bottom
The article storage section 12 provided in the first article storage section 1 is designated as a sorted article storage section 12a, and the remaining article storage sections 12 are designated as storage article storage sections 12b.

In addition, the storage work section 13 of the rotating shelf 1 is divided into a plurality of zones (for example, two zones), and the items to be taken out from the storage container 9 are divided at each stop position of the storage container 9 corresponding to each zone α, β. It is provided with a number display 5 for displaying the number of articles, and a storage section display 6 for displaying the sorted article storage section 12a in which the removed articles are to be stored.

To explain each part in the above example in detail,
The number display 5 includes a number display lamp 51 that digitally displays the number of articles to be taken out based on the sorting command from the control device 8, and a take-out display lamp 52 that informs the worker that the articles need to be taken out. When there is a sorting command, the number is displayed on the number display lamp 51 and the take-out display lamp 52 blinks to inform the operator. Incidentally, the number display lamp 51 may be integrated into one piece or one place for each zone α and β.

Further, six storage unit indicators 6 are provided corresponding to each zone α and β, and are used to display in which sorted item storage unit 12a the taken out article should be stored. It is configured as an illuminated push button switch that also functions as a completion button for inputting this information when the loading of articles is completed, and it is configured as an illuminated push button switch to input the information when the loading of articles is completed, and to take out the number indicator 5 and turn on the indicator lamp 52 in the corresponding zone. One of them lights up in response to the blinking. Note that the storage section display 6 may be provided with a separate completion button without being provided with such a completion button function, and in that case, the completion buttons may be integrated into one location for each zone.

Further, the conveyor 4 is configured to carry out each of the above zones α and β.
Two belt conveyors 42 that can be conveyed independently of each other are arranged in series in the picking section 41 so that a plurality of storage containers 9 can be conveyed or stopped correspondingly. That is, two belt conveyors 42
The storage containers 9 are located correspondingly to the zones α and β, respectively, and accommodate a plurality of (for example, three) storage containers 9 within the length of these belt conveyors 42 provided correspondingly to each zone α and β. Transport unit (group)
The transport unit is configured to be transported and stopped independently for each transport unit. And each belt conveyor 4
2. A detector 43 for detecting the leading end of the conveyance unit is attached to each delivery side, and each belt conveyor 42 is equipped with a detector 43 attached thereto when a sorting command is received from the control device 8. When the head of the conveyance unit on the belt conveyor is detected by the detected detector 43, the conveyance unit is stopped, and when there is no picking command or when the picking is completed, the conveyance is continued or started. transport unit to the conveyor on the downstream side.

Note that the transport unit can be selected from various types within the range of the number of storage containers 9 that can fit into the zone, taking into consideration the size of the zone, the size of the storage container 9, etc.

Next, we will discuss another embodiment of the article sorting method of the present invention, which is carried out using the article sorting apparatus of the embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration, and is different from the embodiment using the apparatus shown in FIG. I will explain about it.

The article sorting device of this embodiment has a number display 5.
and storage section indicator 6, so in another embodiment of the article sorting method of the present invention using this device, articles can be sorted without a work list.

That is, first, when a sorting command is issued, within the range that can fit into zones α and β, for example, two storage containers 9A containing A type of goods, one storage container 9B containing B type of goods, Three storage containers 9C containing articles of type C are delivered to the picking section 41. At this time, storage containers 9A, 9A, 9
B forms a transport unit corresponding to zone α, and storage containers 9C, 9C, and 9C form a transport unit corresponding to zone β. Therefore, when the detector 43α corresponding to the zone detects the head of the conveyance unit, the belt conveyor 42α is stopped and the conveyance unit is stopped corresponding to the zone α. Similarly,
The next transport unit stops corresponding to zone β. When the belt conveyors 42α, 42β stop, one number indicator 5 and one storage unit indicator 6 of each zone are lit based on a command from the control device 8.
Therefore, the worker takes out the articles corresponding to the blinking take-out display lamp 52 from the storage container 9 in the number indicated on the number display lamp 51, and removes the articles corresponding to the lit storage section indicator 6 from the storage container 9. After storing the pieces in the section 12a, by pressing the storage section display (illuminated push button switch) 6, the number display 5 is displayed.
The display on the storage unit display 6 is cleared and the next item to be sorted is displayed, so these sorting operations are repeated one after another and the storage containers 9A, 9
Article storage unit 1 stopped in zone α from A, 9B
After sorting all the articles to be stored in 2a and all the articles to be stored in the article storage part 12a stopped in zone β from the storage containers 9C, 9C, 9C, the bottom row and the two rows from the bottom are sorted. The rotary shelf unit 11 rotates by one zone, and the number display 5 and storage section display 6 light up again, so the worker can repeat the sorting work in sequence according to the display. When the rotary shelves 11 at the bottom and second stages from the bottom rotate once, the belt conveyors 42α and 42β are started, and the storage containers 9 are stored in the stored article storage section 12b, and at the same time, the D type of goods and the E type of goods are stored. The storage containers 9D, 9E, . . . containing the articles . . . are taken out of the warehouse.

The embodiments of the article sorting device of the present invention and the embodiments of the article sorting method of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, by rotating the desired storage article storage section 12b to the vicinity of the storage work section 13, and having the worker directly take out the articles from the storage article storage section 12b and sequentially store them in the desired sorted article storage section 12a. , it is also possible to implement the article sorting method of the present invention.
In this case, the conveyor 4 connecting between the unloading device 2 and the warehousing device 3 is not essential.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the article sorting method and apparatus of the present invention store the sorted articles in the rotatably supported article storage section, so that there are limited It is possible to sort articles efficiently and quickly even in a small space, and together with its simple structure, it has high industrial utility value.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the article sorting device of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are a plan view and a sectional view showing other embodiments, respectively. 1: rotating shelf, 12: article storage section, 12a: sorted article storage section, 12b: storage article storage section, 13:
Storage work section, 2: Unloading device, 3: Incoming device, 4:
Conveyor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An article sorting method for sorting a plurality of types of articles, comprising a rotatably supported article storage section, the article storage section serving as a sorted article storage section for storing sorted articles. A method for sorting articles, characterized in that an article taken out from the storage article storage section of a rotating shelf including a storage article storage section for storing articles before being sorted is taken into the sorted article storage section. 2. The article sorting method according to claim 1, wherein the articles taken out from the stored article storage section are conveyed by a conveying means installed on the side of the rotating shelf. 3. The carousel is made up of a plurality of stacked carousel units that rotatably support article storage units, and all or part of the item storage units supported by at least one single level of the carousel units near the conveying means are stacked. Claim 1 or 2, wherein the section is a sorted article storage section.
How to sort the items listed in section. 4. An article sorting device for sorting multiple types of articles, which is equipped with a rotatably supported article storage section, and at least a part of the article storage section is used as a sorted article storage section for storing sorted articles. a rotating shelf equipped with a storage section for storing sorted articles in the sorted article storage section; a warehousing device and a warehousing device disposed on the outer periphery of a rotating path of the rotating shelf; An article sorting device comprising: a conveyor connecting the warehousing device and the warehousing device and disposed near the storage work section. 5. The article sorting device according to claim 4, comprising a control device that controls the storage of articles, the output of articles, the transportation of articles, and the rotation of a rotating shelf. 6. Claim 4 or 6, wherein the picking section provided at the intermediate portion of the conveyor is arranged along the side of the rotating shelf at a predetermined distance from the storage working section of the rotating shelf. The article sorting device according to item 5.