JPH0781706A - Book keeping and managing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a books keeping and managing device which can increase the carrying speed of a container to further improve the efficiency of the book taking out and returning works, and realize the miniaturization of a carrying mechanism and the saving of a space for a container carry road. CONSTITUTION:A container 12 where books 14 required for taking out are accommodated or those required for returning shall be accommodated is taken out of a book shelf 11 and transfered to rack stations 17, 18. Next, a subcontainer 13 where the books 14 required for taking out are accommodated or those required for returning shall be accommodated is taken out of the container 12 held on the rack stations 17, 18 and transfered to a second floor and a first floor station 26, 28. Thus the taking out or returning of the books 14 is carried out to the sub container 13 transfered to the second floor and the first floor station 26,28.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a book storage management apparatus suitable for use in, for example, a large library that stores a large number of books, and particularly to improve the efficiency of the work required for taking out and returning a large number of books. It relates to the ones designed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, recently, in a large-scale library having a large amount of books, an automatic loading / unloading system has been introduced in order to improve the efficiency of the work required to retrieve and return books. Is coming. This automatic loading / unloading system
The user takes out the book requested for lending from the library and transports it to the user counter, and at the same time, records the loan of the book, and records that the book has been returned and returns the book to the library. By automating the work of recording the accommodation position, the work required for taking out and returning the books can be executed accurately and promptly.

That is, in the automatic loading / unloading system, a bar code is attached to each book in order to facilitate management of a large amount of books stored. Also,
Each of the books is contained in a container for each of a plurality of books in order to prevent damage during transportation, and is stored in and out of the library in container units. Then, when it is requested to take out the book, the container accommodating the book is automatically unloaded from the library and conveyed to the user counter. The librarian retrieves the desired book from the container transported to the user counter and hands it to the user, where the book is lent out.

When a book is requested to be returned,
The container that should hold the returned books is automatically delivered from the library and taken out to the user counter. The librarian puts the returned books in the container that has been taken out to the user counter, then stores the books in the original position of the library, where the books are returned.

On the other hand, in the current libraries, the fixed location rack system according to classification is adopted almost without exception as a storage management means of books. This fixed location rack system by classification is a method of storing multiple books in a library by classifying them into various fields such as "Japanese literature" and "mechanical engineering". The automatic storage system described above is combined with this fixed location rack system by category.

By the way, when the books are stored and managed by the fixed location racking system according to the classification, since the books of various sizes are mixed in one class, the maximum size of the books (for example, A4 size) It is necessary to set the height and depth of the bookshelf according to the edition. However, since about 80% of the books in the actual library are of A5 size (half of A4 size) or smaller, it is difficult to set the height and depth of the bookshelf according to the maximum size of each category. However, it causes a problem that the collection space is unnecessarily increased and a wasteful space in the library is increased to deteriorate the accommodation efficiency of the books.

Further, in the book storage management means by the fixed location rack system according to the classification, when the space of the bookshelf accommodating the books of a certain class becomes full, the excess books are accommodated in another bookshelf away from the bookshelf. In this case, the effect of classification is reduced, and in order to maintain the accommodation by classification, it is a great labor to shift the books on the bookshelf including books of other classifications as a whole. And will spend time. Therefore, in order to deal with such a situation, in the current library, the original space for storing the books belonging to each category is provided with an extra space of several 10% in advance. There is. For this reason, a problem arises that the wasted space in the library is further increased and the efficiency of storing books is deteriorated.

[0008] Further, in the case of the book storage management means by the fixed location rack system according to the classification, when the book is returned,
Since it is necessary to take out the container corresponding to the category of the book from the library to the user counter, when multiple books with different categories are returned, another container is taken out from the library to the user counter one by one. The need arises. Therefore, the number of operating times of the transport mechanism that transports the container between the library and the user counter increases,
In spite of the introduction of the automatic loading / unloading system, there is also a problem that the efficiency of the work for taking out and returning the books cannot be sufficiently improved.

Therefore, at present, a large number of books are sized (for example, A4 edition, B5 edition, A5 edition) regardless of their contents.
(B6 edition, etc., regardless of thickness), classify only the books of the same size in the same container, and store each container containing the books of each size.
A new storage management system for storing data in different shelf areas of a library has been developed (Japanese Patent Application No. 5-179126).
According to this storage management system, in each shelf area of the library,
Depending on the size of the books stored in each, height and depth can be set so that the books can be stored efficiently, and the storage efficiency of the books can be effectively improved. become.

In the above new storage management system, the storage positions of a plurality of containers in the library and the book codes of a plurality of books stored in each container are stored in association with each other. A free location system is adopted in which the stored contents are updated every time a book is taken out and returned. According to this free location system, books of the same size can be stored arbitrarily as long as there is space in the container for storing books of that size, so the container between the library and the user counter It is possible to reduce the number of operating times of the transport mechanism for transporting, and it is possible to effectively improve the efficiency of taking out and returning the books by automation.

By the way, as described above, in the storage management system which improves the storage efficiency of the books and the efficiency of the retrieval and return work of the books by the free location system, the next demand is as follows.
By increasing the transport speed of the container and shortening the time required for transport, it is possible to further improve the efficiency of the work required to retrieve and return the books, and also to make the transport mechanism itself smaller and save space on the container transport path. In this way, even if the distance between the library and the user counter is long, it is possible to improve the efficiency of taking out and returning a large amount of books, so that development that is suitable for practical use can be performed. It is to do.

[0012]

As described above, in the storage management system designed to improve the efficiency of the work for taking out and returning the books, the work required for taking out and returning the books is increased by increasing the transport speed of the container. There is a strong demand for further development in line with practical application, such as further efficiency improvement, downsizing of the transport mechanism itself, and space saving of the container transport path.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and further improves the efficiency of the work of picking up and returning books by increasing the transport speed of the container.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a very good book storage management device that can also downsize the transport mechanism and save space in the container transport path.

[0014]

A book storage management device according to the present invention includes a plurality of sub-containers each housed in a library and each containing a plurality of books; A first conveying means for taking out a designated container from the plurality of containers from the library and transferring it to the first station, and transferring the container held in the first station to the library and returning it. The instructed sub-container is taken out of the container transferred to the first station by the first transfer means, transferred to the second station, and the sub-container held in the second station is transferred to the first station. The second transfer means for transferring to the first station and accommodating in the container held in the first station, and the second conveying means accommodated in the library Storage means for storing the storage position of each of the plurality of containers, the identification codes of the plurality of sub-containers contained in each of the plurality of containers, and the book codes of the plurality of books contained in each of the plurality of sub-containers in association with each other. And, in a state in which the retrieval or return of the book is requested, the first transporting means accommodates the container in which the book requested to be retrieved or the book requested to be returned is stored, based on the storage content of the storage means. The container to be taken out from the library and transferred to the first station, and at the same time, by the second transport means, the sub-container containing the book requested to be taken out or the return request from the container held in the first station. Carrying-out means for taking out the sub-container in which the stored books are to be stored and transferring it to the second station; The sub-container held in the second station by the means is transferred to the first station by the second transfer means and accommodated in the container held in the first station, and by the first transfer means, Carrying-in means for transferring the container held in the first station to the library and returning it;
The container returned to the library by the carry-in means is provided with an updating means for updating the storage contents of the storage means.

[0015]

According to the above construction, a plurality of sub-containers for accommodating a plurality of books are accommodated in a plurality of containers accommodated in the library, and the desired container is taken out from the library and the first container is removed. Transfer to the first station, take out the desired sub-container from the container held in the first station and transfer it to the second station, and transfer the sub-container held in the second station to the first station Then, by accommodating it in the container held in the first station and transferring the container held in the first station to the library and returning it, the container between the first station and the second station Since only the sub-containers taken out from the container are transported, compared to transporting the container itself. It is possible to increase the conveying speed of the sub-containers, it is possible to further improve the efficiency of the books is taken out and return operations. Further, since the sub-container taken out from the container is transported, the transport mechanism can be downsized, and the transport path for the sub-container can be space-saving.

Further, the storage positions of the plurality of containers stored in the library, the identification codes of the plurality of sub-containers stored in the plurality of containers, and the plurality of books stored in the plurality of sub-containers, respectively. Since a free location method is adopted in which the book code is stored in association with each other and the storage content of the storage means is updated for the container returned to the library, the library and the first station are connected to each other. Since the transfer of the container and the transfer of the sub-container between the first station and the second station can be carried out completely independently from each other, the efficiency of the work required for taking out and returning the book is also in this point. It is possible to improve.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the book storage management system described in this embodiment. Reference numeral 11 is a bookshelf. The bookshelf 11 is installed, for example, in the library on the third floor of the library. The bookcase 11 accommodates a plurality of containers 12, 12, .... , Which will be described in detail later, accommodate a plurality of sub-containers 13, 13, .... In each of these sub-containers 13, 13, ..., a plurality of books 14, 14, ... are housed side by side in the thickness direction.

A stacker crane 16 is installed on the front of the bookcase 11 and is guided by rails 15 to travel. This stacker crane 16 is
.., the desired container 12 is taken out from the bookshelf 11 and transferred to one of the rack stations 17 and 18. In the vicinity of the rack stations 17 and 18, a transfer device 2 which is guided by a rail 19 to travel.
0 is set. The transfer device 20 takes out a desired sub-container 13 from the container 12 transferred to the rack stations 17 and 18 and transfers it to the delivery conveyor 21.

The sub-container 13 placed on the delivery conveyor 21 is transferred to the sub-container outlet 22 and then, via a vertical conveyor (not shown), the sub-container inlet 23 for the second floor or the first floor. It is transported to the sub-container carry-in port 24. The sub-container 13 transferred to the second-floor sub-container carry-in port 23 is conveyed to the second-floor station 26, which is a user counter, via the conveyor 25. The sub-container 13 transferred to the first-floor sub-container carry-in port 24 is transferred to the first-floor station 28, which is a user counter, via the transfer conveyor 27.

On the other hand, the sub-container 13 in the first-floor station 28 is transferred to the first-floor sub-container outlet 30 via the transfer conveyor 29. Second floor station 26
The sub-container 13 in the sub-container is conveyed to the second-floor sub-container outlet 32 via the conveyor 31. The sub-container 13 transferred to the sub-container carry-out port 30 for the first floor or the sub-container carry-out port for the second floor 32 is transferred to the sub-container carry-in port 33 on the third floor via a vertical carrier (not shown). The sub-container 13 transferred to the sub-container carry-in port 33 is transferred via the warehousing transfer conveyor 34, and then transferred by the transfer device 20 to the rack station 17,
It is accommodated in a container 12 held by 18. And
Container 1 held in rack stations 17 and 18
2 is stored in the bookshelf 11 by the stacker crane 16.

Bar code readers 35 and 36 for reading bar code labels (not shown) attached to the books 14, 14, ... Are installed at the second floor station 26 and the first floor station 28, respectively. ing. Also,
In the vicinity of the warehousing transport conveyor 34, the sub-container 13 transported by the warehousing transport conveyor 34, that is,
The bar code label (not shown in FIG. 1) attached to the sub-container 13 which is housed in the container 12 held by the transfer device 20 in the rack stations 17 and 18 and returned to the bookcase 11 by the stacker crane 16 is read. A bar code reader 37 is installed.

FIG. 2 shows the details of the second floor station 26. The first-floor station 28 has the same configuration as the second-floor station 26, and therefore its description is omitted. The second floor station 26 is equipped with a counter stand 38, and the sub-container 13 carried by the carrying conveyor 25 is housed on the back side of the counter stand 38 as shown in FIG.
It is reached with the spine of 4, 14, ... facing the librarian.

On the counter stand 38, an operation unit 39 for the librarian to perform various operations relating to the loading and unloading of the books 14, 14, ... And a bar code attached to the books 14, 14 ,. The bar code reader 35 for reading is provided. The operation unit 39 is provided with a display 40 for indicating the book name, book number, etc. of the book 14 to be taken out of the sub-container 13 that has reached the back side of the counter stand 38.

As shown in FIG. 3, the container 12 accommodates four sub-containers 13, 13, ... With bar code labels 13a, 13a ,. In each of the sub-containers 13, 13, ..., a plurality of books 14, 14, ... are accommodated in a line in the thickness direction. These sub-containers 13, 1
3, ... Can be optionally taken out of the container 12 as shown in FIG. 4, and can be accommodated in a free space in the container 12, if any.

That is, the containers 12, 12, ... And the sub-containers 13, 13 ,. Also,
The sub-containers 13, 13, ... And the books 14, 14 ,. In addition, each container 12, 12, ...
The storage positions of the ... Are fixed in the bookshelf 11.

FIG. 5 shows a control system of the above-mentioned book storage management system. Reference numeral 41 is a central processing unit. The central processing unit 41 contains, for example, a microprocessor. An uninterruptible power supply 43 is connected to the central processing unit 41 via a bus line 42. The central processing unit 41 has a bus line 4
The floppy disk 45 is connected to the hard disk 46 and the cartridge tape 47 in which the system control program is stored through the file adapter 44. The central processing unit 41 includes a bus line 42
To a hard disk 49 in which book information is stored via a file adapter 48. The central processing unit 41 includes a bus line 42 and a file adapter 5
After 0, the hard disk 51 in which backup information is stored is connected.

On the other hand, to the central processing unit 41, an integrated control panel 53 and a stationary detector 54 are connected via a bus line 42 and a serial interface adapter 52. The integrated control panel 53 will be described in detail later, but the stacker crane 16, the transfer device 20, the vertical transfer device, the delivery transfer conveyor 21, and the transfer conveyors 25, 2
7, 29, 31 and the transfer conveyor 34 for warehousing are collectively controlled, and the control operation is performed based on the detection result of the stationary detector 54 that detects the position of the container 12 and the sub-container 13. There is.

The central processing unit 41 includes a bus line 4
2 through serial interface adapter 55,
A console 56, a display 57, a bar code reader 58 (these correspond to the operation unit 39, the bar code reader 35, the display 40, etc. shown in FIG. 2) and a serial printer 59 are connected. These consoles 5
6, the display 57, the bar code reader 58, and the serial printer 59 are installed in the second floor station 26.

The central processing unit 41 includes a bus line 4
2 through serial interface adapter 60,
A display 61, a bar code reader 62, a serial printer 63 and a bar code printer 64 are connected. These display 61 and bar code reader 62
The serial printer 63 and the bar code printer 64 (corresponding to the bar code reader 36 shown in FIG. 1) are installed in the first floor station 28.

FIG. 6 shows a detailed structure of the integrated control panel 53. The bus line 42 has an input / output circuit 65.
Is connected to the control circuit 66 via. This control circuit 66
Is a stacker crane 16, a transfer device 20, a vertical transfer machine (indicated by reference numeral 67 in FIG. 6), a delivery transfer conveyor 21, transfer conveyors 25, 27, 29, which are control objects.
31 and input / output circuits 68, 69, 70, 71 and drive circuits 72, 73, and
A control signal is generated and sent via 74 and 75.

Stacker crane 16, transfer device 20,
Vertical carrier 67, delivery conveyor 21, delivery conveyors 25, 27, 29, 31 and storage delivery conveyor 34
Are provided in each container 12 and sub-container 1
Stationary detectors 54a, 54b, 54 for detecting the position of 3
The output signals from c and 54d are supplied to the corresponding input / output circuits 68, 69, 70 and 71, respectively, and are used to generate control signals. The outputs of the bar code readers 58 and 62 are supplied to the input / output circuit 65, and the bar code reader 3
The output of 7 is supplied to the input / output circuit 65 via the control circuit 66, and is used for driving the integrated control panel 53.

Here, for each of the containers 12, 12, ... Fixed in the storage position in the bookcase 11, the sub-containers 13, 13, .. The data in which the code (set by the bar code) and the unique book code (set by the bar code) contained in the sub-container 13 are set as an inventory file. It is registered in advance in, for example, the hard disks 49 and 51.

The operation of the book storage management system having the above-mentioned stock file will be described below.
First, FIG. 7 shows a flowchart for explaining the take-out operation of the book 14. That is, the taking-out operation of the book 14 is started, for example, when the librarian at the second floor station 26 operates the console 56 to input and set the book code of the book 14 requested to be taken out (step S1).

In step S2, the central processing unit 41 receives the requested book code of the book 14, searches the stock file registered in the hard disks 49, 51, etc., and stores the requested book 14. Location data indicating a storage position of the container 12 in the bookcase 11,
In the container 12, the identification code of the sub-container 13 containing the requested book 14 is read out, and step S
At 3, the location data and the identification code are transmitted to the integrated control panel 53 together with the book code of the requested book 13.

In step S4, the integrated control panel 53 moves the stacker crane 16 to the storage position of the container 12 containing the requested book 14 in the bookcase 11 based on the location data, and moves the container 12 from the bookcase 11. It is taken out and transferred to, for example, the rack station 17 (the rack station 18 is generally empty). After that, in step S5, the integrated control panel 53 moves the transfer device 20 to the rack station 17 based on the identification code, and from the inside of the container 12 held in the rack station 17, the sub-unit containing the requested book 14 is stored. The container 13 is taken out, and the delivery conveyor 21
Move to the top.

At this time, the integrated control panel 53 displays the step S
At 6, the bar code reader (not shown) provided in the transfer device 20 causes the bar code label 13a attached to the sub-container 13 taken out of the container 12 to be read, and the read identification code is transmitted to the central processing unit 41. To do. Then, the central processing unit 41 performs step S7.
Then, the contents of the inventory file are updated for the container 12 from which the sub-container 13 has been taken out. Then, in step S8, the integrated control panel 53 conveys the sub-container 13 taken out of the container 12 to the second floor station 26 via the delivery conveyor 21, the vertical conveyor 67, and the conveyor 25.

Thereafter, at the station 26 on the second floor,
The requested book 13 is taken out from the sub-container 13, and then the taken-out sub-container 13 of the book 14 is transferred from the second floor station 26 to the receiving transfer conveyor 34 via the transfer conveyor 31 and the vertical transfer machine 67. It is transferred and conveyed to a position (transfer position) where it is gripped by the transfer device 20. However, details of a series of operations on the second floor station 26 will be described later.

Next, the integrated control panel 53, step S9
Then, it is determined whether or not the sub-container 13 for returning to the bookshelf 11 is at the transfer position. And sub-container 1
If it is determined that No. 3 is in the transfer position (YES), the integrated control panel 53 determines in step S10 that the barcode reader 3
The barcode label 13a attached to the sub-container 13 is read by 7 and the rack station 1
It is confirmed that the container 12 held in 7 or 18 has an empty space for accommodating the sub-container 13.

After that, the integrated control panel 53 makes the step S1.
1, the sub-container 13 at the transfer position is transferred to the transfer device 2
0 is moved to the empty space of the container 12 held in the rack station 17 or 18. And
The integrated control panel 53, in step S12, in the container 12 taken out to the rack station 17 or 18,
Sub-container presence information indicating that the sub-container 13 having the identification code read in step S10 is accommodated is transmitted to the central processing unit 41.

Then, the central processing unit 41 determines in step S
At 13, the contents of the inventory file are updated for the container 12 containing the sub-container 13. Then, after step S13 or in step S9, when it is determined that the sub-container 13 is not in the transfer position (NO), the integrated control panel 53 is held in the rack station 17 or 18 in step S14 and stored in the sub station. The container 12 accommodating the container 13 is returned to the original position of the bookshelf 11 by the stacker crane 16, and the taking-out operation of the books 13 is completed here (step S15).

Next, the operation of taking out the book 14 on the second floor station 26 will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. First, the sub-container 13 taken out of the container 12 is the delivery conveyor 2
1, when it reaches the second floor station 26 via the vertical conveyor 67 and the conveyor 25 (step S16),
In step S17, the central processing unit 41 displays the book number or the book name of the requested book 14 on the display 40 of the second floor station 26 based on the book code.

Then, the librarian, in step S18,
Book 1 with the book number or book name displayed on the display 40
4 is retrieved and taken out, and the bar code label attached to the taken out book 14 is read by the bar code reader 58.
Then, in step S19, the central processing unit 41 updates the contents of the inventory file for the sub-container 13 from which the book 14 has been taken out.

Here, the central processing unit 41 executes step S
At 20, it is determined whether or not there is a book 14 to be returned with respect to the sub-container 13 taken out to the second floor station 26. Then, when it is determined that there is the book 14 to be returned in the sub-container 13 (YES), the librarian switches to the return mode described later in step S21 and is attached to the return book 14 by the barcode reader 58. After reading the barcode label, return the return book 14 to 2.
Sub-container 1 taken out to the floor station 26
Store in 3.

Then, the central processing unit 41 proceeds to step S
At 22, the contents of the inventory file are updated for the sub-container 13 from which the book 14 has been taken out. Then, after step S22 or in step S20, the sub-container 1
When it is determined that there is no book 14 to be returned to the third party (N
O), the central processing unit 41 transfers the sub-container 13 of the second floor station 26 via the integrated control panel 53 by the transfer conveyor 31, the vertical transfer machine 67, and the transfer conveyor 34 for storage in step S23. The sheet is conveyed to the transfer position where it is gripped by, and the process returns to step S10.

Next, FIG. 9 shows a flow chart for explaining the returning operation of the book 14. That is, the return operation of the book 14 is started, for example, by the librarian at the station 26 on the second floor operating the console 56 and inputting an instruction for storing the return book 14 into the central processing unit 41 (step S24). It Central processing unit 41
In step S25, the return mode is set by receiving the warehousing instruction, the contents of the inventory file registered in the hard disks 49, 51, etc. are checked to search for a container 12 with a lot of free space, Bookcase 11
Location data indicating the accommodation position in the container, and the sub-container 13 with a lot of empty space in the container 12
Is read out, and the location data and the identification code are transmitted to the integrated control panel 53 in step S26.

In step S27, the integrated control panel 53 determines the stacker crane 16 based on the location data.
Is moved to the accommodating position of the container 12 with a lot of empty space in the bookcase 11, and the container 12 is taken out of the bookcase 11 and transferred to, for example, the rack station 17 (the rack station 18, which is often empty). Thereafter, in step S28, the integrated control panel 53 moves the transfer device 20 to the rack station 17 based on the identification code, and removes the sub-container 13 with a lot of empty space from the container 12 held in the rack station 17. It is taken out and transferred to the delivery conveyor 21.

At this time, the integrated control panel 53, step S
At 29, the bar code reader (not shown) provided in the transfer device 20 causes the bar code label 13a attached to the sub-container 13 taken out from the container 12 to be read, and the read identification code is transmitted to the central processing unit 41. To do. Then, the central processing unit 41 performs step S30.
Then, the contents of the inventory file are updated for the container 12 from which the sub-container 13 has been taken out. Then, in step S31, the integrated control panel 53 conveys the sub-container 13 taken out of the container 12 to the second floor station 26 via the delivery conveyor 21, the vertical conveyor 67, and the conveyor 25.

Thereafter, at the station 26 on the second floor,
The returned book 13 is stored in the sub-container 13, and then the sub-container 13 from which the book 14 is taken out is 2
It is transferred from the floor station 26 to the storage transfer conveyor 34 via the transfer conveyor 31 and the vertical transfer machine 67, and is transferred to the transfer position where it is gripped by the transfer device 20. However, details of a series of operations on the second floor station 26 will be described later.

Next, the integrated control panel 53, step S32
Then, it is determined whether or not the sub-container 13 for returning to the bookshelf 11 is at the transfer position. And sub-container 1
If it is determined that No. 3 is in the transfer position (YES), the overall control panel 53 determines in step S33 that the barcode reader 3
The barcode label 13a attached to the sub-container 13 is read by 7 and the rack station 1
It is confirmed that the container 12 held in 7 or 18 has an empty space for accommodating the sub-container 13.

Thereafter, the integrated control panel 53 makes a decision at step S3.
In step 4, the sub-container 13 at the transfer position is transferred to the transfer device 2
0 is moved to the empty space of the container 12 held in the rack station 17 or 18. And
The integrated control panel 53, in step S35, in the container 12 taken out to the rack station 17 or 18,
The sub-container presence information indicating that the sub-container 13 having the identification code read in step S33 is accommodated is transmitted to the central processing unit 41.

Then, the central processing unit 41 determines in step S
At 36, the contents of the inventory file are updated for the container 12 containing the sub-container 13. Then, after step S36 or in step S32, when it is determined that the sub-container 13 is not in the transfer position (NO), the integrated control panel 53 is held in the rack station 17 or 18 in step S37 and stored in the sub-station. The container 12 accommodating the container 13 is returned to the original position of the bookshelf 11 by the stacker crane 16, and the returning operation of the book 13 is completed here (step S38).

Next, the operation of returning the book 14 on the second floor station 26 will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. First, the sub-container 13 taken out of the container 12 is
Upon reaching the second floor station 26 via the vertical conveyor 67 and the conveyor 25 (step S39), the librarian reads the bar code label attached to the returned book 14 with the bar code reader 58 in step S40. After that, the returned book 14 is stored in the sub container 13. After that, the librarian determines in step S41 whether or not there are any returned books 14.

When it is determined that the return book 14 is still present (NO), the librarian repeatedly executes the process of step S40. When it is determined that there are no more return books 14 (YES), the central processing unit 41 updates the contents of the inventory file for the sub-container 13 containing the return books 14 in step S42. afterwards,
The central processing unit 41, in step S43, the integrated control panel 5
Sub-container 13 on the second floor station 26 via 3
Is transported to the transfer position gripped by the transfer device 20 by the transfer conveyor 31, the vertical transfer device 67, and the transfer conveyor 34 for warehousing, and the process returns to step S33.

In the above description, the operation of taking out and returning the book 14 in the second floor station 26 is described, but the operation of taking out and returning the book 14 in the first floor station 28 can be similarly explained.

Therefore, according to the configuration of the above embodiment, the plurality of containers 12 accommodated in the bookshelf 11,
Within 12, ..., a plurality of books 14, 14, ...
, A plurality of sub-containers 13, 13, ...
7 and 18 are carried in units of 12 containers, and rack stations 17 or 18 and 2 are used.
Since the sub-container 13 taken out from the container 12 is transferred between the floor and the first floor stations 26 and 28, the transfer speed of the sub-container 13 is higher than that of the container 12 itself. Therefore, the efficiency of the work of taking out and returning the book 14 can be further improved.

Further, since the sub-container 13 taken out from the container 12 is conveyed, the vertical conveyer 67, the delivery conveyor 21, the conveyors 25, 27, 2
It is possible to downsize various transfer mechanisms such as 9, 31 and the transfer conveyor 34 for warehousing.
Space can be saved on the transport path of the rack station 17 or 18 and the second or first floor station 2
Even if the distance between them and 6, 28 becomes long, they can be sufficiently put into practical use.

Further, the plurality of containers 12, 12, ... accommodated in the bookcase 11 and the accommodation positions and the plurality of sub-containers 13, 13, ... accommodated in the respective containers 12, 12, .... A container which is stored in association with the identification code of ... and the book code of the plurality of books 14, 14, ... accommodated in each of the plurality of sub-containers 13, 13, ... and returned to the bookshelf 11. Since the free location method of updating the stored contents is adopted for 12, the transfer of the container 12 between the bookshelf 11 and the rack station 17 or 18 and the rack station 17 or 18 and the second or first floor station. Sub-container 13 between 26 and 28
Since it can be carried out completely independently of the above, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the work required for taking out and returning the book 14 also in this respect.

Note that the container 12 is not limited to one that accommodates four sub-containers 13, 13, ... As shown in FIG. 3, but as shown in FIG. 11, nine sub-containers 13, 13 ,. ... may be accommodated, and in short, the number of sub-containers 13, 13, ... Accommodated in one container 12 is not limited at all. However, the sizes of the sub-containers 13, 13, ... Are predetermined in consideration of automatic conveyance in the vertical conveyor 67, the delivery conveyor 21, the conveyors 25, 27, 29, 31 and the warehousing conveyor 34. It is desirable to be contained within the width of.

Further, the books 14, 14, ... Stored in the library.
When the amount of ... Is extremely large, as shown in FIG. 12, a plurality of pairs of a pair of bookcases 76, 76 installed facing each other are installed, and a rail 77 is provided between each of the plurality of bookcases 76, 76. A stacker crane 78 that moves along is provided. Then, for each of the plurality of pairs of bookshelves 76, 76,
Bookcases 76, 76 and bookcase 7 by stacker crane 78
Rack station 7 installed corresponding to 6,76
Allow the container 12 to be transferred to and from 9,79. In such a state, the transfer device 80 is allowed to move along the rail 81 to the position corresponding to each rack station 79, 79, ..., And the transfer device 80 is moved at each moved position. The transfer of the sub-container 13 from the container 12 to the transfer conveyor 82 and the transfer of the sub-container 13 from the transfer conveyor 82 to the container 12 are performed.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 13, one of the rack stations 7 is moved by the stacker crane 78.
The container 12 taken out to 9 is transferred to a position corresponding to the transfer device 84 that is fixed by being transferred to the cyclic transfer conveyor 83, and at this position, by the transfer device 84,
From the container 12 of the sub-container 13 to the transfer conveyor 85
Transfer to the sub-container 13 or the transfer conveyor 85 of the sub-container 13.
May be transferred to the container 12. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0061]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention,
(EN) It is possible to provide a very good book storage management device that can increase the efficiency of container retrieval and return work by increasing the container transport speed, and also can downsize the transport mechanism and save space in the container transport path. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of a book storage management device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a detailed configuration of a second floor station in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a container and a sub-container in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a container and sub-containers according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block configuration diagram showing a control system in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block configuration diagram showing details of an integrated control panel of the control system.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the same embodiment when taking out a book.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an operation at the time of taking out a book according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining an operation when returning a book according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining an operation at the time of returning a book according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing another example of the container in the same embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a modified example of the same embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a plan view showing another modification of the embodiment.

[Explanation of Codes] 11 ... Bookcase, 12 ... Container, 13 ... Subcontainer, 1
4 ... book, 15 ... rail, 16 ... stacker crane,
17, 18 ... Rack station, 19 ... Rail, 20
... transfer device, 21 ... delivery conveyor, 22 ... sub-container outlet, 23 ... second-floor sub-container outlet, 24
… 1st floor sub-container outlet, 25… Conveyor, 2
6 ... 2nd floor station, 27 ... Conveyor, 28 ... 1
Floor station, 29 ... Conveyor, 30 ... Sub-container inlet for first floor, 31 ... Conveyor, 32 ... Sub-container inlet for second floor, 33 ... Sub-container inlet, 34
... Carrying conveyor for warehousing 35-37 ... Bar code reader, 38 ... Counter base, 39 ... Operation unit, 40 ...
Indicator, 41 ... Central processing unit, 42 ... Bus line, 43
... uninterruptible power supply, 44 ... file adapter, 45 ... floppy disk, 46 ... hard disk, 47 ... cartridge tape, 48 ... file adapter, 49 ... hard disk, 50 ... file adapter, 51 ... hard disk, 52 ... serial interface adapter, 5
3 ... Integrated control panel, 54 ... Stationary detector, 55 ... Serial interface adapter, 56 ... Console, 57 ...
Display, 58 ... Bar code reader, 59 ... Serial printer, 60 ... Serial interface adapter, 61 ... Display, 62 ... Bar code reader, 6
3 ... Serial printer, 64 ... Bar code printer, 6
5 ... I / O circuit, 66 ... Control circuit, 67 ... Vertical carrier,
68-71 ... Input / output circuit, 72-75 ... Drive circuit, 76
… Bookcases, 77… Rails, 78… Stacker cranes, 7
9 ... Rack station, 80 ... Transfer device, 81 ... Rail, 82 ... Conveyor, 83 ... Revolving conveyer,
84 ... Transfer device, 85 ... Conveyor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of sub-containers which are housed in a library, and each of which accommodates a plurality of books, and a plurality of containers which are housed in each of the sub-containers, and a container designated from the plurality of containers. First transporting means for taking out from the container and transporting it to the first station, transporting and returning the container held in the first station to the library, and the first station by the first transporting means. The sub-container designated is taken out of the container transferred to the second station and transferred to the second station, and the sub-container held in the second station is transferred to the first station. A second carrying means for accommodating the container held in the first station, and a plurality of containers respectively accommodated in the library A storage unit that stores these storage positions, the identification codes of the plurality of sub-containers stored in each of the plurality of containers, and the book codes of the plurality of books stored in each of the plurality of sub-containers in association with each other. And, in a state where the book is requested to be taken out or returned, the container for storing the book requested to be taken out or a return request is made by the first conveying means based on the stored contents of the storage means. The container in which the book is to be stored is taken out from the library and transferred to the first station, and at the same time, by the second transport means.
From the container held in the first station, the sub-container containing the book requested to be taken out or the sub-container containing the book requested to be returned is taken out and transferred to the second station. The carrying-out means and the sub-container held in the second station by the carrying-out means are provided by the second carrying means.
While transferring to the first station and accommodating in the container held in the first station, the first carrying means transfers the container held in the first station to the library. A book storage management device comprising: a carry-in means for returning the book and an updating means for updating the contents stored in the storage means for the container returned to the library by the carry-in means.