JPH0764403B2 - Logistics equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a physical distribution device for storing and managing a wide variety of articles in an article distribution warehouse or the like.

(Prior Art) In an article distribution warehouse or the like, it is necessary not only to simply store articles but also to efficiently carry in and store various kinds of articles, and to quickly carry them out as necessary.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show an example of a physical distribution device in a conventional automatic physical distribution warehouse or the like, in which a plurality of product storage shelves are fixed so that their front faces are aligned on a common surface, thereby fixing the fixed product storage. A shelf 15 is formed, a guide rail 16 is laid on the floor in front of the article storage shelf 15 in parallel with the front surface of the article storage shelf 15, and an article loading / unloading device 17 is arranged so as to be movable along the guide rail 16. It was done. The article carrying-in / carrying-out device 17 can move up and down along a guide 19 that is erected on a carriage that can travel along the guide rails 16, and has a picking device 18. The article carrying-in / carrying-out device 17 travels up to the front of the specified front surface of the article storage rack 15 in accordance with the command, moves up and down along the guide 19 to a specified height position, and is held by the picking device 18. Goods 1
Is carried in and stored at a predetermined position of the article storage shelf 15, and the article 1 stored at the predetermined position is carried out.

FIG. 6 is another example of the conventional physical distribution apparatus, in which a plurality of shelves on which the articles 1 are placed are moved along a loop-shaped locus so that a movable movable shelving apparatus 21 is installed and picking is performed. The article carry-in / carry-out device 22 having the device 23 is fixed at an appropriate position. The article carry-in / carry-out device 22 can also move up and down along the guide. When the article carry-in / carry-out command signal is output, the movable shelf device 21 operates to move the shelf selected by the command to the position of the article carry-in / carry-out device 22, and the article carry-in / carry-out device 22 responds to the command signal. The article 1 is moved up and down, and the article 1 is loaded into the selected height position of the selected moving rack or is unloaded from the selected height position of the selected moving rack.

In addition to the physical distribution devices as described above, physical distribution devices using a trackless robot-type article loading / unloading device have come into use. In this system, a robot type article carrying-in / carrying-out device travels to the front of a designated shelf and carries the article into or out of the designated shelf height position.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) When using a fixed-type article storage rack and a traveling-type article loading / unloading device as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the front surface of all article storage shelves Must always be open to the article loading / unloading apparatus, and the dimension of the article storage rack in the depth direction cannot be increased so much due to the functional reason of the article loading / unloading apparatus. Therefore, in order to increase the storage capacity of the articles, it is necessary to arrange a plurality of sets of fixed article storage shelves and article loading / unloading devices in parallel, which leads to an increase in the storage space utilization efficiency with respect to the amount of articles that can be stored. Low,
There is a problem in that the number of installed article carrying-in / carrying-out devices is increased and the equipment cost is increased.

Further, in the case of using the circulating type movable rack and the fixed type article carrying-in / carrying-out device as shown in FIG. 6, the object of space saving can be achieved considerably, but the rotary type movable rack is movable. The mechanism was complicated, and a huge equipment cost was required especially for a heavy-duty physical distribution device.

Further, in the case of using the robot type article carrying-in / carrying-out apparatus, the control system and mechanism are complicated, enormous equipment cost is required, and the operation stability is lacking.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the prior art, and can store and manage a large amount of articles in a space-efficient manner, and has a relatively simple mechanism and a low equipment cost and operation. The object is to provide a stable physical distribution device.

(Means for Solving the Problem) The present invention has a plurality of article storage shelves movable in a direction parallel to the front surface, and a guide rail provided in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the article storage shelves, And an article carry-in / carry-out device that travels along the guide rail to carry the article into the article storage shelf and carry the article out of the article storage shelf.
The plurality of article storage shelves can be placed in a dense state, and only the article storage shelf designated from the plurality of article storage shelves arranged in the dense state by the article position command signal can be moved. The article carrying-in / carrying-out device can be moved by the article position command signal to carry in an article from the front surface of the designated article storage rack to a designated position in the article storage rack or at the designated position. It is characterized in that the article is carried out from the.

(Operation) Of the article storage shelves, only the designated article storage shelves in the dense state by the article position command signal move in the direction parallel to the front surface, and the article carry-in / out device receives the article position command signal by the article storage shelf. The article carrying-in / carrying-out device faces along a guide rail provided in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the article storage box so as to be close to the desired frontage position of the article storage rack.
By operating the article carry-in / carry-out device in this state,
It is possible to carry in an article from the front surface of the article storage shelf to a desired position on the article storage shelf and to carry out the article from the desired position.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the physical distribution apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 3 is an article storage rack that is movable in a direction parallel to the front surface, and a plurality of (6 units in the illustrated example) article storage racks 3 are moved into a fixed space. Are arranged in parallel in the direction. Each article storage shelf 3 is divided into an appropriate number in the left-right direction when viewed from the front side, and
It is also divided into appropriate numbers in the vertical direction. Each goods storage shelf 3
Is also a guide rail 12 laid on the floor of a distribution warehouse, etc.
Can run in the direction of the arrow y, which is the frontal direction. Each guide rail 12 is slightly longer than the length of the front surface of the article storage rack 3 in the left-right direction, which is about twice the length. As shown in FIG. 1, each article storage shelf 3 can be moved to one half side of the guide rail 12 to be in a dense state, and a desired article storage shelf 3 can be selected from this dense state. This can be moved along the guide rail 12.

An appropriate number of columns 7 are arranged side by side on a floor of a distribution warehouse or the like, and each column 7 supports a guide rail 8 for an article loading / unloading device. The guide rail 8 is horizontally supported at a position higher than each article storage rack 3 in the x direction which is a direction orthogonal to the guide rail 12 for the article storage rack 3. A traveling carriage 4 of an article loading / unloading device is mounted on the guide rail 8 so as to be able to travel along the guide rail 8. A columnar guide 11 hangs down from the traveling carriage 4. An article loading / unloading device 5 is attached to the guide 11 so as to be movable in the vertical direction (z direction) along the guide 11. A picking device 6 with a fork is attached to the article loading / unloading device 5 in a protruding manner. The article carrying-in / carrying-out device 5 can travel to the outside of the traveling range of all the article storage shelves 3 as shown in FIG. 1, and at this position, the picking device 6 receives the article 1 placed on the article carrier 14. Can also picking device 6
The articles above can be transferred to the carriage 14. The article carrying-in / carrying-out device 5 also travels to the frontage position of the article storage shelf 3 located on the front side thereof, moves vertically along the guide 11, and is picked up by the picking device 6 from the front side of the article storage shelf 3 as desired. The article 1 can be carried in the compartment in the frontage direction and the compartment in the height direction, or the article 1 can be carried out from the desired compartment.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a pallet for handling the article 1 as described above. A pallet 2 having a space 10 in the depth direction on the bottom is used, and the article 1 is placed on the pallet 2. There is. The picking device 6 of the article carrying-in / carrying-out apparatus 5 can enter the space 10 of the pallet 2 and move the article carrying-in / carrying-out apparatus 5 upward in this state to hold the article 1 together with the pallet 2. By moving the article loading / unloading device 5 downward while holding the article 1, the article 1 can be placed together with the pallet 2 on the article storage rack 3 or the article transport vehicle 14 on the spot.

The movement of each article storage shelf 3, the traveling carriage 4 of the article loading / unloading apparatus 5, and the vertical movement of the article loading / unloading apparatus 5 are
The article position command signal controls the sequencer including a computer (not shown). This control is based on the detection signal from the sensor arranged as follows,
This is done by feeding back this.

In FIG. ₁ , reference numerals a ₁ , a ₂ , a ₃ , ... Arranged in the x direction indicate sensors set at the center of the movement locus of the article loading / unloading device 5. Symbols b ₁ , b ₂ , b ₃ , ... Arranged in the y-direction are sensors set at the centers of the compartments in the frontal direction of the article storage shelf 3, and are the pallet placement centers at the bottom of the cart of the article storage shelf 3. It is arranged on the line. In FIG. ₂ , reference numerals f ₁ , f ₂ , f ₃ , f ₄ lined up in the z direction are sensors that define vertical compartments of the article storage rack 3, and are arranged on the guide rail 8 of the traveling carriage 4 side by side. Reference numerals d ₁ , d ₂ , d ₃ ... Are sensors for setting the traveling position of the traveling carriage 4 corresponding to the front surface of each article storage rack 3.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described separately for the case of carrying out articles and the case of carrying in articles.

When carrying out an article, the section of the article storage shelf 3 in which the article is stored is input as an article position command signal. Upon receipt of the article position command signal, the article storage rack 3 on which the relevant article is loaded and stored travels to a position where the section in which the relevant article is stored intersects with the traveling locus center of the article loading / unloading device 5. Specifically, of the sensors a ₁ , a ₂ , a ₃ , ... For the sensor corresponding to the article storage shelf 3 on which the relevant article is placed, the sensors b ₁ , b ₂ , b _3, ... sensor compartments corresponding article is placed is the article storage rack 3 to a position to stop traveling matching of. On the other hand, the article carry-in / carry-out device 5 selects the sensor corresponding to the intended article storage shelf 3 from the sensors d ₁ , d ₂ , d ₃ , ... The load center point c defined on the bottom of the traveling carriage 4 of the carry-in / carry-out device 5 travels to a position where the selected sensor coincides with the position, and then stops. The article carrying-out device 5 also, while moving as described above, the upper and lower vertical sensor f _1, f ₂ of the article storage rack 3, which ... is the target product of the stored by the position command signal The sensor corresponding to the section of the direction is selected, and it moves vertically along the guide 11 until the point e of the tip of the fork of the picking device 6 and the selected sensor match. Finally, the positions of the article storage rack 3 and the article loading / unloading device 5 are finely adjusted so that the reference point of the tip of the fork of the picking device 6 matches the reference point of the article storage rack 3. In this way, the tip of the fork of the picking device 6 penetrates into the space 10 of the pallet 2 on which the target article 1 is placed. Therefore, the article 1 can be held up by slightly raising the article carry-in / out apparatus 5, and the article 1 can be carried out from the article storage rack 3 by retracting the article carry-in / out apparatus 5 in this state. Article loading / unloading device 5
Moves back to the outside of the traveling range of all the article storage shelves 3, and at this position, the articles 1 are transshipped to the carrier 14 or the conveyor, and the articles 1 are carried out of the physical distribution device. The article loading / unloading device 5 that has emptied the article 1 waits at a predetermined position outside the traveling range of all the article storage shelves 3 and waits for the next command. on the other hand,
The article storage rack 3 returns to the original position at the time when the removal of the article 1 is completed, and waits for the next command.

When carrying in an article, after correctly transferring the article 1 carried by the carrier 14 or the conveyor from the outside of the physical distribution device onto the picking device 6 of the article carry-in / carry-out device 5, the position command signal of the corresponding article is received, In accordance with this position command signal, the article carry-in / carry-out device 5 and the article storage rack 3 operate in the same manner as described above, and the picking device 6 of the article carry-in / carry-out device 5 is correctly positioned in a predetermined section into which the article 1 is carried in. . By slightly lowering the article carrying-in / carrying-out device 5 at this position, the article 1 can be carried in together with the pallet 2 to a predetermined position instructed. After loading the article 1 in this manner, the article storage rack 3 and the article loading / unloading device 5 are returned to their original positions, and the next command is awaited.

According to the embodiment described above, a plurality of units of article storage shelves 3 that can move in a direction parallel to the front surface and an article loading / unloading device 5 that travels in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the article storage shelves 3 are provided. Since they are combined, only one article carrying-in / carrying-out device 5 is required for a large number of article storage shelves 3, a space for managing and storing articles can be used more effectively, and the equipment cost for the article storage amount is low. Can be suppressed. Further, since the plurality of units of article storage shelves 3 are densely arranged, the front surface of the article storage shelves 3 is closed, which facilitates temperature control during article storage and can be expected to prevent theft. The article storage rack 3, the article loading / unloading apparatus 5, and the picking apparatus 6 may be simply moved linearly, and the operation of the entire physical distribution apparatus may be shared by the simple linear movements of the respective units. In addition, a simple linear position control is sufficient for the control device, and a physical distribution device that is inexpensive and stable in operation can be provided.

The physical distribution apparatus according to the above-described embodiment can be applied to physical distribution management of heavy objects, and particularly when long heavy objects such as steel bars and pipes are stored and managed, the physical distribution device 3 is viewed from the front side. Since it can be stored in a long space in the left-right direction, it has various advantages such as easy handling.

In the description of the embodiments, all the operations are automatically performed by the article position command signal, but all or some of the operations of each part may be performed by a manual instruction by human judgment. Further, whether or not the pallet 2 is used for handling the article is arbitrary, and for an article in which the pallet 2 cannot be used, a picking device having a shape suitable for the shape of the article may be used instead of the fork. Good.

In the illustrated embodiment, the article carrying-in / carrying-out device is a ceiling traveling type, but may be a ground traveling type or a type that travels along upper and lower guide rails.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, a plurality of article storage shelves movable in a direction parallel to the front surface and a guide rail provided in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the article storage shelves travel. Since the product loading / unloading device is combined, the number of article loading / unloading devices is 1 even when a large number of article storage shelves are arranged in a dense manner.
A stand is sufficient, and the space for managing and storing the articles can be used more effectively, and the facility cost for the article storage amount can be kept low. The goods storage shelves and the goods carry-in / carry-out device may be simply moved in a straight line, and the operation of the entire physical distribution device may be shared by the simple straight line movements of these respective parts, which is structurally simple and inexpensive. It is possible to provide a physical distribution device with stable operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a physical distribution apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same as above, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a pallet used in the above embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an example of the physical distribution apparatus, FIG. 5 is a side view of the same, and FIG. 6 is a plan view showing another example of the conventional physical distribution apparatus. 1 ... goods, 3 ... goods storage shelves, 5 ... goods loading / unloading device, 8 ... guide rails

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of article storage shelves movable in a direction parallel to the front surface, guide rails provided in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the article storage shelves, and traveling along the guide rails. An article carry-in / carry-out device for carrying articles in and out of the article storage shelves, wherein the plurality of article storage shelves can be in a dense state, and the article position It is possible to move only the designated article storage rack from among the plurality of article storage racks arranged in a dense state by the command signal, and the article carry-in / carry-out device is moved by the article position command signal to perform the designation. A physical distribution device for carrying in an article from the front surface of the stored article storage shelf to a specified position in the article storage shelf or for carrying out an article from the specified position.