JPH07206111A - Automatic warehouse device and inventory transfer method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently transfer a stock article between lanes by installing a stacker crane for warehousing the article, an inter-lane transfer device for moving the article between shelves laid back to back at a specific position between adjacent lanes, and control device for performing each operation and connection work. CONSTITUTION:Many shelves 14, 14 and so forth are laid in a row, so as to be faced to one another at every lanes 1, 2 and so forth. Also, stacker cranes 15-1, 15-2 and so forth are installed between the rows of shelves 14, 14 and so forth. Furthermore, inter-lane transfer devices 16-1, 16-2 and so forth are installed between the shelves 14 laid back to back at a specific position between adjacent lanes. In this case, a control system using a computer system is constituted of a main control device for controlling inventory, transfer, warehousing and other processes, a stacker crane control device for controlling the stacker cranes 15-1, 15-2 and so forth, and an inter-lane transfer control device for controlling the devices 16-1, 16-2 and so forth.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic warehouse device and a method for moving inventory items.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a stacker crane is installed in each of a plurality of lanes, and an article placed at a storage entrance is carried by a stacker crane to a shelf at a corresponding position and stored, based on a storage instruction from a control device. In addition, based on the shipping command from the control device, in the automatic warehouse device that takes out the articles on the shelf at the corresponding position with the stacker crane and puts them out at the exit, it is necessary to concentrate each item on one stacker crane so as not to apply loads. The control device manages warehousing so that the lanes are distributed and stored, and the warehousing is managed by the control device so that the lanes are distributed and delivered from each lane.

However, even if such a storage / delivery management is carried out, if the stocking work progresses and the stock status changes, the lanes cause uneven distribution of the stock, and a load is concentrated on a certain stacker crane to lower the stocking efficiency. There was a problem that may occur.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, conventionally, in order to equalize the operating rate, it is possible to move the inventory articles among the lanes by utilizing the idle time and evenly distribute them to the lanes. Has been done.

The procedure for moving the stocked articles between the lanes based on the above-mentioned movement plan will be described with reference to FIG. 6. The stocked article 2 on the shelf 1-1 with the lane 1 is now stored on the shelf with the lane 2. When a movement plan to move to 2-1 is made,
In accordance with the movement command, the stacker crane 1-2 of the lane 1 first carries the article 2 to the exit of the lane 1 and transfers it to the delivery conveyor 1-3, and then the delivery conveyor 1-3.
To the exit (i → ii), then the exit conveyor 1
-3 delivers the article 2 to the traverser 3 (ii → ii
i), the article 2 is moved laterally to the storage entrance of the lane 2 by the traverser 3, and the storage conveyor 2-of the lane 2 is stored at the storage entrance.
2 (iii → iv), and then is conveyed to the entrance of the lane 2 by the storage conveyor 2-2, and from there, the stacker crane 2-3 of the lane 2 transfers the article 2 to the shelf 2 at the designated position of the lane 2. The article 2 has been moved in the procedure of carrying the article 1 and storing it (iv → v).

[0006]

However, in the conventional automatic warehouse apparatus as described above, the stacker crane, the carry-in conveyor, the transfer conveyor and the trapper in the respective lanes of the transfer source and the transfer destination are used in the above-described transfer operation of the stocked articles. It is necessary to mobilize all of them, and there is a problem that the moving work takes a long time when the number of moving articles increases.

By the way, considering the work of moving articles,
In many cases, it is often moved between adjacent lanes, and in such a case, it is much faster to move articles between lanes by directly moving articles between back-to-back shelves. . However, conventionally, a device for directly moving articles between back-to-back shelves between adjacent lanes has not been known, and therefore, a goods transfer conveyor, a goods exit conveyor, and a traverser are installed for moving goods, and as a warehouse device. There is a problem in that a large space is required for ancillary equipment other than the shelves and the equipment cost is high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is possible to efficiently move inventory articles between lanes and reduce the space for auxiliary equipment.
An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic warehouse device and an inventory article moving method that can reduce equipment costs.

[0009]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic warehouse apparatus, wherein a stacker crane for loading and unloading articles from a shelf at a predetermined position for each of a plurality of lanes and an adjacent lane are specified. It is provided with a lane moving device for moving inventory articles between back-to-back shelves at a place and a control device for controlling the operation of the stacker crane and the lane moving device.

In the inventory article moving method according to the invention of claim 2, the inventory article on the shelf at the designated position in the lane designated by the control device is conveyed to the shelf at the specific location by the stacker crane, and then the inventory is carried on the shelf at the specific location. The lane-to-lane moving device that is installed moves back to the shelves in the adjacent lanes that are back-to-back, and the items that have moved to the shelves in the specified location in the adjacent lanes are moved to the positions specified by the stacker crane in the lane. It is transported to a shelf and stored.

[0011]

In the automatic warehouse apparatus according to the present invention, when it is necessary to move the articles between the lanes, the control device controls the stacker crane and the lane movement apparatus so that the inventory at the position where the movement lane is located. Move the article to the shelf where the inter-lane transfer device is installed, and then move it to the back-to-back shelf of the adjacent lane by the inter-lane transfer device,
Next, the articles moved from the back-to-back shelves are conveyed to the shelves designated by the stacker crane in the adjacent lane and stored.

In this way, if inventory leveling is required, inventory items can be leveled between lanes by moving inventory items between adjacent lanes by the above-described series of moving procedures.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a control system of an automatic warehouse apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention. The control system configured by a computer system is a main unit that performs overall adjustment, inventory management, movement management, warehousing management, etc. The control device 11, the lane 1, the lane 2, ..., The lane N (N is an integer value determined by the size of the warehouse) Stacker crane control devices 12-1, 12-2, 12 for controlling the stacker cranes installed respectively. -3, ..., between lanes 1 and 2, between lanes 3 and 4, ...
It is composed of inter-lane movement control devices 13-1, 13-2, ... Which control respective inter-lane movement devices (described later).

The mechanical structure of the automatic warehouse is shown in FIGS.
, And a large number of shelves 14, 14, ... Are arranged in rows facing each other for each lane 1, lane 2, ..., And a stacker crane 15- 1, 15-2, ... Are provided. Further, between the lanes of the lane 1 and the lane 2, between the lanes of the lane 3 and the lane 4, and between the lanes adjacent to each other, the shelves 14, which are back to back at specific positions,
Inter-lane moving devices 16-1, 16-2, ... Are provided between the fourteen.

The lane moving devices 16-1, 16-
2, ..., as shown in detail in FIGS. 3 and 4,
The shelves 14 between the back-to-back shelves 14, 14.
a so that the inter-lane movement conveyor 17 is passed over the a and 14a, and the inter-lane movement control devices 13-1, 13-2, ... Can drive these inter-lane movement conveyors 17 in any direction between the lanes. It is a configuration. The shelves 14a, 14a are arranged on both sides of each of the shelves 14 so as to face each other by opening a space into which the forks 15a of the stacker cranes 15-1, 15-2 ,.
Each shelf 14a is supported by a pillar 18 which is a structure, and a sensor 19 for sensing the movement of the article 2 is attached to each pillar 18.

Next, the movement control operation of the stocked articles by the automatic warehouse apparatus of the above construction will be explained. Main controller 11
Executes a stacker crane operation rate simulation based on the flowchart shown in FIG. For that purpose, first, a shipping plan is created by a shipping request, and stock allocation processing for stock to be shipped is performed from inventory information of the automated warehouse (step S1). Based on the allocation processing result, each stacker crane 15-1 per unit time , 15-
Simulate the operating rate of 2, ... (Step S
2), it is verified whether the operation rates of the stacker cranes are leveled (step S3).

If it is leveled in the verification of step S3, the shipping operation is performed based on this shipping plan, but if it is not leveled, it is assigned to the stacker crane in the lane where the operation rate becomes high and the inventory is stored. It is verified whether the same stock is not stocked in the lane of the stacker crane with a low operating rate (step S4).

If the verification in step S4 enables leveling by re-allocation, re-allocation processing is performed to create a new shipping plan (step S5).
The simulation is executed again (step S2).

In the verification of step S4, when the operation rate cannot be leveled even by re-allocating, a stock movement plan is created (step S6), and a delivery plan is created assuming the post-stock movement (step S7). A simulation based on this shipping plan is executed (step S2).

If it is verified that the operation rate of the stacker crane in each lane is leveled by the shipping plan thus obtained (step S3), the inventory transfer based on the obtained inventory transfer plan is carried out.

In this inventory movement, when it is necessary to move the article 2 in the lane 1 movement source shelf 14-1 in FIG. 2 to the movement destination shelf 14-2 of the adjacent lane 2 in FIG. 11 is a conveyor 17 for moving the lanes from the stacker crane control device 12-1 of the lane 1 to the articles on the source shelf 14-1 as the lane moving device.
Is given to the shelf position, and in accordance with this instruction, the lane 1 stacker crane control device 12-1 transfers the article 2 on the transfer source shelf 14-1 to the shelf on which the inter-lane transfer conveyor 17 is installed. Then, the fork 15a is inserted into the shelf 14 and placed on the inter-lane moving conveyor 17 (movement of i → ii in FIG. 2).

Subsequently, the main controller 11 gives a command to the inter-lane movement control device 13-1 to activate the inter-lane movement conveyor 17, and the inter-lane movement conveyor 17 drives from the lane 1 to the lane 2. Then, the article 2 is moved from the rack on the lane 1 side to the rack on the lane 2 back to back. When the article 2 is completely moved to the lane 2 side shelf, the sensor 19 senses it, and the lane movement control device 13-1 stops the operation of the lane movement conveyor 17 (ii → iii).

Next, the main control unit 11 moves the articles 2 moved to the rack on which the lane moving conveyor 17 is installed to the lane 2 stacker crane control unit 12-2 to a predetermined empty destination rack 14 -2, the lane 2 stacker crane control device 12-2 drives the lane 2 stacker crane 15-2 to load the article 2
Is conveyed from the shelf on which the conveyor 17 for moving between lanes is installed to a predetermined moving destination shelf 14-2, and the movement of the article 2 between the lanes 1 and 2 is completed by storing therein (iii → iv). ).

Thereafter, according to the inventory movement plan, the main control unit 11 executes the movement control of the inventory articles between the adjacent lanes by using the stacker crane and the inter-lane movement apparatus, distributes the inventory articles for each lane, and issues the goods. The operation rates of the stacker cranes 15-1, 15-2, ... When the plan is executed are leveled to enable efficient delivery work.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, the lane moving device passes the plates between the back-to-back shelves, and the articles are slid by the stacker crane on the adjacent side to the back side. It may have a simple structure in which it is moved to the shelves in the lane of 1., and the mechanism is not particularly limited as long as the articles can be directly moved between the shelves back to back. Further, the number of lanes and the installation position of the inter-lane moving device are not limited.

[0026]

As described above, according to the automatic warehouse apparatus of the invention of claim 1, when it is necessary to move the articles between the lanes, the controller controls the stacker crane and the lane movement apparatus to move the articles. The stock item in the position where the original lane is located is moved to the shelf where the inter-lane transfer device is installed, and then moved to the back-to-back shelf of the adjacent lane by the inter-lane transfer device, and then moved from the back-to-back shelf. Since the goods are transported to the specified shelves by the stacker crane in the relevant lane and stored, it is necessary to move the inventory goods between adjacent lanes by a series of moving procedures to level the inventory between the lanes. At the same time, it does not require separate mechanical equipment such as a carry-in conveyor, carry-out conveyor, traverser, etc. to move inventory items, and inventory leveling work can be performed efficiently. , Also it is possible to omit the installation space of accessory equipment, also reduces the equipment cost.

According to the inventory article moving method of the invention of claim 2, the inventory article on the shelf at the designated position of the lane designated by the control device is conveyed to the shelf at the specific location by the stacker crane, and the shelf at the specific location is transferred. The lane transfer device installed there moved to the back-to-back shelves of the adjacent lanes, and the items moved to the shelves at the specified location of the adjacent lanes were designated by the stacker crane of the lane. Since it is transported to the shelf at the position and stored, the inventory can be moved more efficiently than when using the stacker crane, the carry-in conveyor, the transport conveyor, and the traverser to move the inventory. If it occurs between matching lanes, the efficiency of inventory leveling will be significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control circuit of an embodiment of an automatic warehouse apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the inter-lane moving device in the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the inter-lane movement device in the above embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of control by the main controller in the above embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 articles 11 main control device 12-1, 12-2, ... stacker crane control device 13-1, 13-2, ... lane movement control device 14 shelves 14-1 moving source shelf 14-2 moving destination shelf 14a shelf board 15-1, 15-2, ... Stacker crane 15a Fork 16-1, 16-2, ... Lane-to-lane moving device 17 Lane-to-lane moving conveyor 18 Pillar 19 Sensor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Katsumi Hirano 1-1-1 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo Inside Toshiba Headquarters Office

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A stacker crane for loading and unloading articles from a shelf at a predetermined position for each of a plurality of lanes, and a lane for moving inventory articles between adjacent lanes and back-to-back shelves at specific locations. An automatic warehouse device comprising a moving device and a control device for controlling the operation of the stacker crane and the lane moving device. 2. An inventory article on a shelf at a specified position on a lane specified by a control device is conveyed to a shelf at a specific location by a stacker crane, and back-to-back by a lane moving device installed on the shelf at the specific location. It is characterized in that it moves to the shelf in the adjacent lane that is marked with, and conveys the goods that have moved to the shelf at a specific location in the adjacent lane to the shelf at the position specified by the stacker crane in the relevant lane and stores them. The method of moving inventory items.