JP2021116163A - Automatic shipping method and equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic shipping device in which the depalletizing, storage, and palletizing mechanisms of product cases are modularized, and operations from picking to stacking can be performed fully automatically. [Solution] An automatic shipping device that loads cases stored on pallets one by one onto a transportation trolley 20, which includes a depalletizing mechanism 1, a storage mechanism 2, and a palletizing mechanism 3, and includes a depalletizing mechanism 1, a storage mechanism 2, and a palletizing mechanism 3. The mechanism 1 is configured to separate cases on a pallet one by one and supply them to the storage mechanism 2, and the storage mechanism 2 includes a plurality of storage lines 2L each consisting of a conveyor for moving the supplied cases. The palletizing mechanism 3 is an automatic shipping device configured to stack cases delivered from the storage mechanism 2 onto a cart 20 one by one. [Selection diagram] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic shipping method and an apparatus for fully automatically performing depalletizing, storage transfer, and palletizing operations of a box-shaped case in which a plurality of products such as PET bottles for beverages are collectively housed in a cardboard box or the like. Is.

Generally, in a distribution center, starting with sorting work before product storage such as picking and assorting work according to the characteristics of individual products, the quantity of products required by picking and assorting work from the storage according to the shipping schedule of the day. However, a lot of work is required, such as the work of shipping and sorting to the required shipping location. In particular, the shipping work of heavy items such as beverage cases is often done manually by workers.

As a conventional technology, for example, in a large automated warehouse managed by a computer, a large number of products of various kinds temporarily stored are appropriately selected for each shipping destination, which is a customer, in the required number at the required time, and a designated shipping container is specified. A large-scale automated warehouse system that can be accurately loaded (picked or assorted) and shipped at high speed is disclosed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-2019-85208

When configuring a device that automatically ships heavy items at a distribution center, large-scale devices such as conveyors, storage, and robots are required, from picking products to loading on car carts, 6-wheel carts, pallets, and other trolleys. It is said that. However, in the conventional concept of equipment configuration, when a process of picking a heavy object from a transport line and loading it on a warehouse or the like is performed, in order to increase the processing amount, a stacker crane, a traveling trolley, a lifter, etc. If the equipment for automation has to be mechanically complicated and expensive, such as a method that mainly uses an automated warehouse that combines the above, and if various changes to the distribution center such as expansion are required, it will be even more expensive. You will be forced to invest. On the other hand, when the heavy goods are seasonal products, it is hesitant to purchase these devices easily for economic reasons, considering the time when the demand increases and the time when the demand decreases. ..

In addition, beverage cases weigh more than 10 kilograms, and it is extremely hard work for workers to manually handle a large amount of such products, and automation and labor saving of work in such distribution centers are desired. However, the automatic shipping device has not been realized due to the above reasons.

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art, and a robot capable of depalletizing and palletizing with high throughput without easily deforming a product case containing a heavy object such as a corrugated cardboard box containing a plurality of large PET bottles. The equipment and the storage mechanism, which can store a large amount of product cases during the busy season and can be stored without using a power device for storage as much as possible, are modularized, and the work from picking to loading is fully automated. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic shipping method and an apparatus capable of performing.

The automatic shipping method of the present invention is an automatic shipping method in which cases stacked and stored on a pallet are stacked one by one on a transport car, and the cases on the pallet are stacked one by one by a deparating mechanism. The process of separating and supplying to the storage mechanism, the process of temporarily storing the case supplied from the depalletizing mechanism in the storage mechanism, and the process of temporarily storing the case discharged from the storage mechanism into a car for transportation by the palletizing mechanism. It is characterized by including a loading process.

Further, the automatic shipping device of the present invention is an automatic shipping device in which cases stacked and stored on a pallet are stacked one by one on a conveyor car, and includes a depalletizing mechanism, a storage mechanism, and a palletizing mechanism. The depalletizing mechanism is configured to separate the cases on the pallet one by one and supply the storage mechanism, and the storage mechanism is a plurality of storages composed of a conveyor for moving the supplied cases. It is composed of lines, and the palletizing mechanism is characterized in that cases discharged from the storage mechanism are stacked one by one in the car.

The depalletizing mechanism includes a pallet conveyor that conveys the pallets on which the cases are stacked, a depalletizing robot that depalletizes the palletized cases one layer at a time, and a case that is depalletized for each layer in a row. It is preferable to provide a singing conveyor that separates the pallets into pallets and conveys the case downstream in the longitudinal direction.

The palletizing mechanism includes a case transport conveyor that transports a case discharged from the storage mechanism, a car feeder that is arranged on the side of the case transport conveyor and moves a car for transportation, and the case transport conveyor. It is preferable to provide a palletizing robot that receives the case transported by the above-mentioned car and loads it on the car.

The storage mechanism preferably has a three-dimensional structure in which a plurality of storage lines made of a roller conveyor are multi-layered. More preferably, it is a gravity conveyor (gravity conveyor) in which the warehousing side is raised and the warehousing side is lowered so that the case can move to the warehousing side by its own weight.

According to the present invention, a product case containing a heavy object such as a cardboard box is not easily deformed, and a robot device capable of depalletizing and palletizing with high throughput and a large amount of product cases can be stored during a busy season. In addition, each mechanism of storage that can be stored without using a power device for storage as much as possible is modularized, and the work from picking to loading can be performed fully automatically.

It is a top view which shows the schematic structure of the automatic shipping apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic perspective view of the deparating mechanism. It is a schematic perspective view of the palletizing mechanism. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the automatic shipping method of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the automatic shipping method of this invention.

Hereinafter, the automatic shipping method and the apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic system configuration diagram of an automatic shipping device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a depalletizing mechanism, 2 is a storage mechanism, and 3 is a palletizing mechanism. Hereinafter, the configuration of each mechanism will be specifically described.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the depalletizing mechanism 1. The depalletizing mechanism 2 is a mechanism for unpacking a plurality of cases 11 stacked on the pallet 10 from the pallet 10. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, two singing conveyors 5 are provided, and pallet conveyors 6 are arranged on both sides thereof. The singing conveyor 8 and the pallet conveyor 6 can be arbitrarily added.

A depalletizing robot 7 is installed between the pallet conveyors 6. The depalletizing robot 7 performs an operation (deparation) of unloading the cargo loaded on the pallet one layer at a time (layer) of the case 11 stacked on the pallet. The two singing conveyors 5 are connected to the case transfer conveyor 8, and the case transfer conveyor 8 is connected to the storage mechanism 2.

The storage mechanism 2 is a mechanism for temporarily storing a large number of cases and paying them out one by one. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the storage mechanism 2 includes a plurality of storage lines 2L composed of roller conveyors. The storage line 2L has a three-dimensional structure having multiple layers. Cases are supplied from the transfer conveyor 8 to all these storage lines 2L. The storage line 2L can also be expanded arbitrarily.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the palletizing mechanism 3. The palletizing mechanism 3 is a mechanism for automatically loading the case 11 paid out from the storage line 2L onto the car 20.

Two case transfer conveyors 13 are branched to the case payout conveyor 12 connected to the storage line 2L. A palletizing robot 14 is installed at the end of the case transfer conveyor 13, and a car feeder 22 for transferring the car 20 is provided on both sides. The car 20 has a structure in which a vertically long car 20b is mounted on a bogie 20a traveling on the car feeder 22. The case transfer conveyor 13 and the car feeder 22 can also be arbitrarily added.

Hereinafter, the automatic shipping method of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 shows a flow of starting storage. In step S1, the pallet 10 stored in a warehouse or the like and on which the case 11 is placed is set at a predetermined position on the pallet conveyor 6 by a forklift (not shown) (not shown). FIG. 2A).

In step S2, the barcode of the case 11 on the pallet 10 is read by a scanner (not shown), the storage line 2L to be supplied is selected, and then the transfer is started by the pallet conveyor 6.

In step S3, the pallet 10 is conveyed by the pallet conveyor 6 to the vicinity of the depalletizing robot 7 (FIG. 2B).

In step S4, the depalletizing robot 7 deparates each layer 12 of the pallet to be deparated and transfers it to the singing conveyor 5 (FIG. 2C).

In step S5, in the singing conveyor 5, the cases collected in the layer 12 state are separated one by one and conveyed in series (FIG. 2D).

In step S6, the rotating portion of the singing conveyor is rotated 90 degrees in the direction of the arrow, and the traveling direction 13 of the case 11 is aligned with the longitudinal direction (FIG. 2E).

In step S7, the barcode of the case 11 is automatically read by the scanner 16 and conveyed to the corresponding storage line 2L (FIG. 2F).

In step S8, it is determined whether or not there is a remaining (available) in the storage line 2L, and if there is a remaining, the process proceeds to step S9, and if there is no remaining, the process returns to step S1.

In step S9, the necessary cases are dispensed from the storage line 2L in the order of loading according to the calculation result of the loading simulation.

Next, the operation of paying out from the storage mechanism and loading of the palletizing mechanism 3 will be described with reference to FIG. 5 (see FIG. 3).

In step S10, the case 11 is conveyed to the corresponding palletizing robot 14 in the order of loading.

In step S11, the barcode of the case 11 is automatically read by the scanner, and it is checked whether the barcodes have been transported in the order of transport (FIG. 3K).

In step S12, the direction of the case is compared with the calculation result of the stacking simulation based on the reading result of the barcode, and if it is different, the case is rotated (FIG. 3L).

In step S13, it is checked whether or not it is correct by comparing it with the calculation result of the loading simulation (FIG. 3M).

In step S13, if YES, the process proceeds to step S16, and if NO, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, an alarm is issued, an operator is called, and in step S15, the case is corrected in the correct orientation.

In step S16, the case is conveyed to the lift portion 21 and lifted up as shown by an arrow (FIG. 4N).

In step S17, the work of starting loading is performed. In step S18, the palletizing robot 14 receives the case from the lift unit 21 (FIG. 3P).

Next, in step S19, the operation start flow of the car feeder 22 is performed. In step S20, the car 20 is set in the car feeder 22.

In step S21, the car shape confirmation unit 23 automatically determines whether or not the car 20 can be used, and if it is OK to use, the process proceeds to step S22, and if it cannot be used, the process proceeds to step S23. In step S23, an alarm is issued, an operator is called, and in step S24, the corresponding car 20 is removed.

In step S22, the car car 20 is automatically transported to the loading position, and the car car 20 is fixed by means such as automatically expanding the side wall of the car car (FIG. 3R).

In step S25, it is confirmed whether or not the entire loading portion of the car 20 can be loaded, and if possible, the process proceeds to step S26, and if NO (with obstacles) is determined, an alarm is issued in step S27. Then, in step S28, a worker is called and the corresponding car 20 is removed.

In step S26, it is confirmed whether or not there is an obstacle in the space where the car is to be loaded (FIG. 3R). Then, if there is no obstacle, the process proceeds to step S29, and if there is an obstacle, an alarm is issued in step S30, a worker is called, and the case (obstacle) moved in step S31 is returned to the original position. Or, the corresponding car 20 is discharged.

In step S29, the process proceeds to step S32 under the AND condition of both steps S18 and S26, that is, the condition that the palletizing robot 14 receives the case from the lift unit and there is no obstacle in the space where the car is to be loaded. The case 11 is loaded at a predetermined position of the car 20 (FIG. 3R).

In step S33, it is determined whether or not the loading of the planned number has been completed, and if it is determined that the loading has not been completed, the process returns to step S18 and step S26, and the above operation is resumed. When it is determined that the completion is completed, the process proceeds to step S34, and the discharge of the loaded car 20 is completed (FIG. 3R1).

As described above, according to the automatic shipping method and device of the present embodiment, a heavy case such as a beverage case can be fully automatically depalletized, stored and palletized, and shipped by a means of transportation such as a car. It is possible to carry out heavy labor product loading and shipping work without relying on human labor, and since the depalletizing mechanism, storage mechanism and palletizing mechanism are modularized, it can be easily expanded, and the shipping volume and shipping volume can be increased. It can be changed arbitrarily according to the installation space.

1 Depalletizing mechanism 2 Storage mechanism 2L Storage line 3 Palletizing mechanism 5 Singing conveyor 6 Pallet conveyor 7 Deparating robot 8 Case transfer conveyor 12 Case payout conveyor 13 Case transfer conveyor 14 Palletizing robot 20 Car car 22 Car car feeder

Claims (5)

It is an automatic shipping method in which the cases stacked and stored on the pallet are stacked one by one on a trolley for transportation.
The process of separating the cases on the pallet one by one by the deparating mechanism and supplying them to the storage mechanism.
The process of temporarily storing the case supplied from the deparating mechanism in the storage mechanism, and
An automatic shipping method comprising a step of loading a case paid out from the storage mechanism onto a transport trolley by a palletizing mechanism. It is an automatic shipping device that loads the cases stacked and stored on the pallet one by one on the trolley for transportation.
Equipped with a depalletizing mechanism, storage mechanism and palletizing mechanism,
The deparating mechanism is configured to separate the cases on the pallet one by one and supply them to the storage mechanism.
The storage mechanism is composed of a plurality of storage lines composed of conveyors for moving the supplied cases.
The palletizing mechanism is an automatic loading device characterized in that the cases paid out from the storage mechanism are stacked one by one on the trolley. The depalletizing mechanism is
A pallet conveyor that conveys the pallets on which the cases are stacked, a depalletizing robot that depalletizes the palletized cases one layer at a time, and the like.
The automatic shipping apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a singulation conveyor that separates the depalletized cases for each layer into a row and conveys the cases downstream in the longitudinal direction. .. The palletizing mechanism is
A case transfer conveyor that conveys the case paid out from the storage mechanism, and a case transfer conveyor.
A trolley feeder that is placed on the side of the case transport conveyor and moves the trolley for transportation,
The automatic shipping device according to claim 2, further comprising a palletizing robot that receives a case conveyed by the case transfer conveyor and loads it on the carriage. The automatic shipping device according to claim 2, wherein the storage mechanism has a three-dimensional structure in which a plurality of storage lines made of a roller conveyor have multiple layers.

Images