JPH04116001A - Storing and delivering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide space saving and possible change of working order at a working station in a storing and delivering device for containers by installing plural container waiting racks at the working station for storing and delivering containers from/to a carrier equipment, and moving the waiting racks on a fixed arrangement route. CONSTITUTION:When a delivering carrier 6 for storing out reaches a desired buffer device 35, a container W is transferred from the carrier 6 to a container waiting rack 36 by a pusher (not illustrated here). When it is transferred, the container waiting rock 36 circularly-moves as illustrated to move 3 the container waiting rock 36 not stored to a transferring port 37. An operator calls the container waiting rack 36 which stores a prescribed container W in it to the transferring port 38 to take it out, as necessary. It is, thus possible to provide change of working order by combining temporary storage and delivery in a buffer device 35 according to circumstances.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a loading/unloading device for loading/unloading containers from a plurality of warehouse facilities installed in parallel.

(Prior art) As this type of storage/unloading device, for example, a conveyance facility consisting of a roller conveyor or the like is provided along a plurality of parallel automated warehouses, and containers discharged from the automated warehouse are transported by the conveyance facility. There is a system in which the container is transported to a work station, where the container is taken out and a predetermined work is performed.

When the container is to be stored after the work is completed, the container is sent from the work station to the transport equipment.
The method was to use transport equipment to transport the products to an automated warehouse and store them there.

The work station also includes a work table and a roller conveyor disposed between the work table and the transport equipment, and the containers that are sequentially transported by the transport equipment are sequentially transferred onto the roller conveyor from one end of the roller conveyor. In this system, the material is taken out from the other end of the roller conveyor onto a work table and temporarily waits on the roller conveyor until the work is carried out.

■ (Issues to be solved) 2.However, as mentioned above, according to the method in which multiple containers wait on the roller conveyor of the work station, all containers are lined up in sequence on a horizontal plane, and the installation of the work station It was necessary to secure a large amount of space. In addition, when taking out containers onto the work table, the containers are taken out sequentially from the other end of the roller conveyor, which means that containers can only be taken out in the order in which they were transferred onto the roller conveyor, and the work order cannot be changed. Ta.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to save space in a work station, and also provides a loading and unloading device that makes it possible to change the order of unloading and loading of containers at the work station. The purpose is to

(Means for solving the problem) The technical means for achieving the above purpose is to install multiple warehouse facilities installed in parallel, along with each warehouse facility, and to enable storage and retrieval from each warehouse facility. A standby system comprising transport equipment for transporting containers and a work station provided along the route of the transport equipment, the work station comprising a plurality of container waiting shelves arranged along a predetermined arrangement route including at least a vertically arranged part. A mechanism is provided on one side of the standby mechanism, and a transfer unit is provided on one side of the standby mechanism to allow containers to be transferred between the transport equipment and the container standby shelf, and a transfer unit is provided on the other side of the standby mechanism for transferring containers from the container standby shelf. A take-out section is provided that allows the containers to be taken out freely, and each container stand-by shelf is provided along the predetermined arrangement path so that each container stand-by shelf in the vertically arranged section passes vertically relative to the transfer section and the take-out section. The point is that it can be moved and operated freely.

(Function) According to the present invention, the containers sequentially transported from the warehouse equipment side to the work station by the transport equipment are transported to the standby mechanism.
The container is transferred to the container waiting shelf using the transfer section on the side. At this time, the container waiting shelf containing containers is moved along a predetermined arrangement route and moved from the transfer section, and the unaccommodated container waiting shelf or container arrives at the transfer section and the next container is placed on the transfer equipment side. Transferred from. In the same way, place it on each container waiting shelf.
Containers are accommodated in sequence.

Then, in the take-out section on the other side of the standby mechanism, move each container stand-by shelf along a predetermined arrangement path to position the container stand-by shelf containing the desired container in the take-out section;
It is only necessary to take out the container from the container standby shelf and perform a predetermined operation, and the order in which the containers are delivered can be arbitrarily selected.

Moreover, after the work is completed, the container may be returned from the unloading section to the container waiting shelf and transferred from the transfer section to the transport equipment. Even during this transfer, the order in which the containers are received into the warehouse facility can be arbitrarily selected by moving each container standby shelf along a predetermined arrangement path.

While the removed container is being worked on, other containers are stored on container waiting shelves and temporarily stand by.Also, since the container waiting shelves are arranged or vertically arranged, all the containers are The installation space at the work station can be reduced compared to a method in which the system waits on a horizontal surface.

(Example) Hereinafter, the first example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.
In FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a warehousing/unloading device, a transport facility 2, an automatic warehouse 3 as a plurality of warehouse facilities arranged in parallel along one of the routes of the transport facility 2, and a transport facility. 2
and a work station 4 arranged along the other side of the road.

The transport membrane (ii2) is composed of an upper transport path 7 for retrieval on which the carrier for retrieval 6 is mounted in a freely movable manner, and a transport path 9 for retrieval in the lower stage on which the carrier for warehousing 8 is mounted in a freely travelable manner.

The automated warehouse 3 has a pair of left and right storage areas 11.12 arranged perpendicularly to the delivery path 7 and the storage path 9 below it.
Each of these stores is constructed by arranging shelves 13, which serve as storage locations for articles, in a matrix shape vertically and horizontally. The left and right storage areas 11.12 are arranged so as to face each other on the open side of the shelf 13, and a rail 14 is provided in the middle area between these left and right storage areas 11.12.
A column 15 is vertically installed along the line 4 so as to be freely movable. Further, a picker 16 is provided on the column 15 so as to be able to move up and down along the column 15. This picker 16 is located on the shelf 13 of the storage area 11.12.
It has the function of loading and unloading the container W into and out of the container.

One storage area 11 of each automated warehouse 3 and delivery path 7
Discharge roller conveyors 18 serving as discharge paths for discharging the containers W taken out from the automated warehouse 3 to just before the unloading conveyance path 7 are provided between them.

Similarly, between the other storage area 12 of each automated warehouse 3 and the warehousing conveyance path 9, there is a roller conveyor for taking in, which serves as a taking path for taking the containers W transferred to the warehousing carrier 8 into the automated warehouse. There are 19 locations each.

An optical communication unit 21a is disposed at one end of each of the exiting conveyance path 7 and the warehousing conveyance path 9, and the above-mentioned optical communication unit 21a is also arranged on the outgoing carrier 6 and the warehousing carrier 8 on the conveyance path 7.9. An optical communication unit 21b facing the optical communication unit 21a at the end of the transport path 7.9 is provided.

Each optical communication unit 21a at the end of the transport path 7.9 is connected to a main computer (not shown) that controls the entire loading/unloading device 1, and optical communication units 21a of the carriers 6.8 on the transport path 7.9 It is configured to control the operation of the carrier 6.8 by exchanging optical signals with the unit 21b.

4 and 5 show a plan view and a side view of the delivery carrier 6, and in FIGS. 4 and 5, 22 is a frame forming the bottom of the main body of the delivery carrier 6;
Wheels 23 are provided on both sides of the frame 22 to support the delivery carrier 6 so that it can run freely along the delivery path 7. A traveling motor 24 is installed on a pedestal fixed to one side of the frame 22, and is configured to transmit the rotational output of the traveling motor 24 to the wheels 23 on one side via a chain 25. There is. The optical communication unit 21b is also installed on the pedestal.

On the other hand, on the other side of the frame 22, there is a roller conveyor 26 for taking in the container W from the discharge roller conveyor 18 of each automated warehouse 3 and for transferring the taken-in container W to the work station 4. frame direction 2
This roller conveyor 2 is provided toward the width direction of the roller conveyor 2.
Guide members 27 for guiding the container W to a proper position are provided on both sides of the container W. This roller conveyor 26 is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown), and the motor is also installed on the pedestal.

Although the details of the warehousing carrier 8 are not shown, the warehousing carrier 8 has the same configuration as the warehousing carrier 6. However, the roller conveyor 26 (see Figure 3) of the carrier 8 for warehousing is the carrier 6 for warehousing.
The roller conveyor 26 is rotated in the opposite direction.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the structure of the exit conveyance path 7 and the warehousing conveyance path 9, which are arranged in two upper and lower stages, as viewed from the end side. Rails 29 are provided along both sides of the transport path 9, and the wheels 23 of the delivery carrier 6 and the delivery carrier 8 are respectively mounted on the two rails. Also,
A trolley duct 30 is installed along one of the two rails of each conveyance path 7.9, and is configured to obtain a power source for motive power for the outgoing carrier 6 and the incoming carrier 8 through the trolley duct 30. There is. Furthermore, each carrier 6 is provided on the lower surface side of the other rail 29 of each conveyance path 7.9.
．． Mark par 3 with a scale that serves as a guide to the running position of 8
Each carrier 6.8 is provided with a detector 32 that reads the scale of this mark par 31, and the traveling position is confirmed by integrating the number of scales read by the detector 32. is configured to do so.

In the work station 4, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a plurality of buffer devices 35 serving as standby mechanisms are arranged in parallel.

The buffer device 35 has a plurality of container waiting shelves 36 arranged along a predetermined array path including vertically arranged portions, and also has a forward and reverse circulation movement operation along the predetermined array route by a so-called vertical circulation mechanism (not shown). It is freely configured. This type of vertical circulation mechanism for the container standby shelf 36 includes the structure disclosed in U.S. Pat.
The structure disclosed in No. 36577, No. 3298536, etc. may be appropriately adopted. On one side of the buffer device 35, that is, on the side of the transport membrane @2, transfer ports 37 and 38 are formed as transfer portions at positions corresponding to the heights of the carriers 6 for exiting and the carriers 8 for warehousing, respectively. At the upper transfer port 37, the container W on the delivery carrier 6 or the container waiting shelf 36 in the buffer device 35 is moved by a pusher composed of the roller conveyor 26 of the delivery carrier 6, an air cylinder (not shown), etc. Translated above. In addition, at the lower transfer port 38, the container W on the container waiting shelf 36 is pushed out by a pusher 40 composed of an air cylinder, etc.
Translated above. On the other side of the buffer device 35, a work table 41 is provided at an appropriate height and protrudes outward, and also serves as a take-out section for freely taking out the container W onto the work table 41 from the container standby shelf 36. A take-out port 42 is formed, and the container W on the container standby shelf 36 can be pushed onto the work table 41 by a pusher 43 made of an air cylinder or the like.

Then, by moving each container waiting shelf 36 by the vertical circulation mechanism, the vertically arranged portion of each container waiting shelf 36 can freely pass vertically with respect to each transfer port 37, 38 and take-out port 42, and eventually Container waiting shelf 36
For example, when the container is stopped at a position corresponding to the transfer port 37 for unloading, another container waiting shelf 36 is configured to be located at a position corresponding to the transfer port 38 for warehousing and the retrieval port 42, respectively. .

45 is a display for displaying the number of the container W to be taken out, etc. 46 is a printer for processing slips for recording data such as taking out.

Note that the container waiting shelf 36 may be structured to include a transfer mechanism such as a roller conveyor for loading and unloading the containers W, and the shape and structure of the container waiting shelf 36 may be determined as appropriate.

Next, an outline of the loading/unloading operation of this loading/unloading device 1 will be explained.

When a request is made to unload a container W stored in one of the plurality of automated warehouses 3 through input to the main computer (not shown) described above, the automated warehouse 3 storing the container W performs an unloading operation. The requested container W is taken out onto the discharge roller conveyor 18 of the automated warehouse 3. That is, the picker 16 moves the requested container W out of the shelves 13 of the storage area 11.12 by moving the column 15 back and forth along the rail 14 and moving up and down the picker 16 along the column 15. The container W is stopped in front of the shelf 13 where the container W is stored, and the container W is taken out from the shelf 13, and then moved to a position corresponding to the discharge roller conveyor 18 by the lifting and lowering movement of the picker 16 and the moving movement of the column 15. The picker 16 stops, and the container W is transferred from the picker 16 to the discharge roller conveyor 18. The transferred container W is carried by the drive of the discharge roller conveyor 18 to a point where the discharge roller conveyor 18 joins the unloading conveyance path 7 at right angles.

On the other hand, the unloading carrier 6 on the unloading conveyance path 7 is provided with a
The location address of the discharge roller conveyor 18 to which the requested container W is to be discharged and the location address of the buffer device 35 to which the container W is to be transferred are notified. As a result, the delivery carrier 6 travels to the meeting point of the discharge roller conveyor 18 from which the container W is discharged and stops, and the roller conveyor 2
6, the container W is taken from the discharge roller conveyor 18 onto the delivery carrier 6. When the loading of the container W is completed, the delivery carrier 6 starts traveling again. When it arrives in front of the target buffer device 35, the pusher (not shown) and the roller conveyor 26 of the shipping carrier 6 are operated again, and the container W is transferred from the shipping carrier 6 to the container waiting shelf 36 through the transfer port 37. It will be posted. When the transfer is completed, the container waiting shelf 3
6 are circulated and the unaccommodated container standby shelf 36 is moved to the transfer port 37. Then, in the same manner, the containers W that are sequentially removed from the warehouse by the reciprocating movement of the shipping carrier 6 are sequentially transferred to each container waiting shelf 36.

On the other hand, if the operator calls and operates the container waiting shelf 36 that accommodates a desired container W from among the containers W accommodated in the respective container waiting shelves 36 in the buffer device 35, each container waiting shelf 36 The predetermined container waiting shelf 36 stops at a position corresponding to the take-out port 42, and by the operation of the pusher 43, the desired container W is pushed out from the take-out port 42 onto the work table 41, where it is stored from the container W. The article is taken out and predetermined work is performed.

The container W whose scheduled work has been completed is returned to the container waiting shelf 36 through the take-out port 42, and the next container W is called out.

Thereafter, the container waiting shelf 36 to which the container W has been returned is circulated and stopped at a position corresponding to the warehousing transfer port 38.

On the other hand, the warehousing carrier 8 on the warehousing conveyance path 9 is notified through optical communication by the optical communication units 21a and 21b that the container W to be warehousing has arrived at the warehousing transfer port 38, and that the container W has been transferred. The location address of the taking-in roller conveyor 19 to be loaded is notified. As a result, the warehousing carrier 8 travels to the transfer port 38 of the buffer device 35 where the container W is waiting and stops.

Next, the container waiting shelf 3 is moved by the operation of the pusher 40.
The container W on top of 6 is transferred to the carrier 8 for storage from the transfer port 38.
The container W is pushed upward, and the roller conveyor 26 of the warehousing carrier 8 also starts rotating in the direction of taking in the container W, whereby the container W is completely transferred onto the warehousing carrier 8. When the transfer is completed, the warehousing carrier 8 starts running again, and the roller conveyor 1 for taking in the items and targets starts running again.
When it arrives at the junction point 9, it will stop. Here, the roller conveyor 26 of the warehousing carrier 8 starts rotating in the direction of transferring the container W onto the taking-in roller conveyor 19. On the other hand, the taking-in roller conveyor 19 also starts rotating in the direction of taking in the container W. As a result, the container W is completely transferred from the receiving carrier 8 onto the receiving roller conveyor 19. The transferred container W is stored on the designated shelf 13 in the storage area 11.12 of the automated warehouse 3 by the reverse operation to the above-described unloading.

The first embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above, and the containers W sequentially delivered from the automated warehouse 3 are temporarily stored and waited on each container waiting shelf 36 of the buffer device 36. . At this time, since the predetermined arrangement red path of each container waiting shelf 36 includes upper and lower arrangement parts,
In other words, since the configuration has a plurality of vertically arranged sections, the installation space can be reduced compared to a system in which the same number of container waiting shelves 36 are placed on standby in a horizontal plane. Space saving can be achieved. In addition, each of the waiting container waiting shelves 36 is moved in a circular manner, and the container waiting shelf 36 that accommodates a desired container W is moved.
Regardless of the order in which the containers W are delivered from the automated warehouse 3 side, the order in which the containers W are delivered onto the work table 41 can be arbitrarily selected. Since the shipping order of the containers W can be changed, the work order can also be easily changed, improving work efficiency. Furthermore, when warehousing the containers W, the warehousing order can be arbitrarily selected and easily changed by circulating the container waiting shelves 36, regardless of the work completion order. Further, by appropriately setting the stop position of each container standby shelf 36, the height of the loading/unloading ports 37, 38 and the height of the unloading port 42 can be arbitrarily selected.

Furthermore, the container W is transported between the automated warehouse 3 and the work station 4 by the carrier 6.8 running on the conveyance path 7.9.
Since the work station 4 is configured to be transported, the installation location of the work station 4 is not limited, and it can be installed in the middle of the transport paths 7 and 9, so that the layout of the loading/unloading device 1 can be configured in various ways.

7 and 8 show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which a container standby shelf 36 in a buffer device 35 is movable in the vertical direction, that is, in the vertical direction. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, a pair of endless chain mechanisms 51
Each endless chain mechanism 51 includes a pair of front and rear upper sprockets 52 and a lower sprocket 53, and a pair of front and rear chains 54 stretched between the upper and lower sprockets 52,53. A plurality of horizontal support plates 55 are installed between the pairs of chains 54 at equal pitches. These pairs of endless chain mechanisms 51 are driven by the same driving source (not shown) so that their horizontal support plates 55 face each other at the same height and circulate up and down.
Rotates synchronously. Horizontal support plate 55 facing here
A container standby shelf 36 is configured.

In each of the above embodiments, a case has been described in which the exit route and the warehousing route from each automated warehouse 3 are configured separately, but the exit route and the warehousing route may be shared.

That is, the discharging roller conveyor 18 of each automated warehouse 3 is also used as a loading roller conveyor (in this case, the roller conveyor 18 can be rotated in forward and reverse directions), as well as the unloading conveyance path 7 and the unloading carrier. 6 serves both as a conveyance path for warehousing and as a carrier for warehousing, so in this case, the roller conveyor 26 of the carrier 6 can be rotated in forward and reverse directions), and the upper transfer port 37.
It is sufficient to use both for shipping and receiving. Furthermore, although a structure is shown in which the carrier 6.8 is mounted on rails 29 on both sides, the carrier 6.8 is mounted on a single central rail.
It is also possible to have a structure that supports the vehicle so that it can run freely.

Further, although a structure is shown in which the container W is transported by the carrier 6.8, a structure in which the container W is transported by a roller conveyor may be used.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, a work station is provided with a standby mechanism consisting of a plurality of container standby shelves arranged along a predetermined arrangement path including at least a vertically arranged portion, and the standby mechanism A transfer unit is provided on one side to allow containers to be freely transferred between the transport equipment and the container waiting shelf, and a take-out unit is provided on the other side of the waiting mechanism to allow containers to be freely taken out from the container waiting shelf. is provided, and each container waiting shelf is operable to move along the predetermined arrangement path so that each container waiting shelf in the vertically arranged portion passes vertically relative to the transfer section and the unloading section. Therefore, the installation space for the standby mechanism can be reduced, and the space of the work station can be saved. In addition, the order in which containers are delivered from the warehouse facility can be changed arbitrarily at the work station, making it possible to change the work order and improving work efficiency. Furthermore, there is an advantage that the order of warehousing can be arbitrarily changed at the time of warehousing as well.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view, and FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view.
Fig. 4 is a plan view of the delivery carrier, Fig. 5 is a front view thereof, Fig. 6 is a side view of the conveyance equipment, Fig. 7 is a schematic side view of the second embodiment, Fig. 8 is Fig. 7 It is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the -■ line. 1... Input/output device, 2... Conveyance equipment, 3...
・Automated warehouse, 4...Work station, 35
...Buffer device, 36...Container standby shelf, 37
．． 38... Transfer port, 42... Removal port, W... Container

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Multiple warehouse facilities installed in parallel, transportation facilities installed along each warehouse facility to transport containers entering and leaving each warehouse facility, and work stations installed along the route of the transportation facilities. The work station is provided with a standby mechanism consisting of a plurality of container standby shelves arranged along a predetermined arrangement path including at least a vertically arranged part, and a conveyance equipment and a container standby shelf are provided on one side of the standby mechanism. A transfer section is provided to allow containers to be freely transferred between the containers, and a take-out section is provided on the other side of the standby mechanism to allow containers to be taken out from the container standby shelf. In contrast, each container waiting shelf in the vertically arranged portion is movable along the predetermined arrangement path so that each container waiting shelf in the vertically arranged portion passes in the vertical direction.