JP2000168949A - Picking device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate a vertical driving conveyor by rocking a rocking free conveyor so that an end part on a driving conveyor side goes up and an end part on a picking loading platform side goes down. SOLUTION: When a case is conveyed by a driving conveyor 3 and stopped by bumping into a stopper 4, a stopper 5, which had been lowered until then, rises and temporarily stops the following cases. A case, finished of picking by a picking worker M, is sent off to a driving conveyor 27 from a picking loading platform 20. Then the picking worker M operates a foot switch and a rocking free conveyor 9 is rocked so that an end part on the driving conveyer 3 side goes up and an end part on the picking loading platform 20 side goes down. Thus, a case is scooped up by the rocking free conveyor 9, slides down the rocking free conveyor 9 to the picking loading platform 20 side, and is stopped by bumping into a stopper 24.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a picking device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, the following types of picking devices have been known. Picking carrier, lifting drive conveyor that is arranged on the side of the picking carrier, and that can be moved up and down while maintaining a horizontal state by a lifting and lowering device, and the opposite side of the picking carrier of the lifting drive conveyor It is known to have a drive conveyor having a space in which the end of the vehicle can sink.

[0003]

The operation of the prior art will be described below. With the transport surface of the lifting drive conveyor being lower than the transport surface of the drive conveyor, a case (hereinafter simply referred to as a case) with an open upper surface in which the articles are placed is placed under the drive conveyor. When located above,
The case waits in that state. Then, when the picking bed is empty, the lifting / lowering operating device is operated to raise the lifting / lowering drive conveyor and place the case on the lifting / lowering drive conveyor. Thereafter, the lifting drive conveyor is driven to transfer the case to the picking bed. Thereafter, the elevator drive conveyor is stopped, and the elevator drive conveyor is lowered. Thereafter, the picking operator picks a required number of articles from the case transferred to the picking bed, and sends the picked case from the picking bed to a carry-out conveyor or the like.

[0004]

Disadvantages of the prior art The conventional picking device has the following disadvantages. There was a drawback that the cost was high because an up-and-down drive conveyor had to be used, that is, a drive conveyor having a motor and the like had to be able to move up and down.

[0005]

The present invention employs the following means to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks. The invention according to claim 1 is a picking carrier, a swinging free conveyor arranged beside the picking carrier and swingable up and down, and a side opposite to the picking carrier of the swinging free conveyor. And a drive conveyer having a space in which the end portion can sink. The invention according to claim 2 is such that the swinging free conveyor swings up and down about the middle of the transport direction, and the end of the swinging free conveyor on the drive conveyor side is turned upward and the end of the swinging free conveyor on the picking bed side is raised. When the swinging free conveyor swings downward, the picking carrier side edge of the transport surface of the swinging free conveyor is positioned below the article receiving surface of the picking carrier. Item 1 is described. Claim 3
The invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a stopper made of a cushioning material is provided on a side portion of the picking carrier opposite to an end of the swinging free conveyor.

[0006]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained by the above configuration. According to the invention of claim 1, by swinging the swinging free conveyor so as to scoop up the conveyed object on the driving conveyor, that is, for picking up the end of the swinging free conveyor on the drive conveyor side. By swinging the swinging free conveyor so that the end on the loading side is down, the conveyed objects waiting on the drive conveyor can be slid on the swinging free conveyor and easily moved to the picking bed side. Can be moved. As a result, unlike the conventional case, the lifting drive conveyor is not required, and the cost can be reduced accordingly. According to the invention of claim 2, when the swinging free conveyor swings so that the end on the driving conveyor side of the swinging free conveyor is turned up and the end on the picking bed side is turned down, the swinging free conveyor is rotated. The edge of the transport surface of the picking platform is located below the pick-up platform's article receiving surface. The transferred object can be automatically stopped once, and the transferred object can be prevented from suddenly entering the article receiving surface of the picking carrier with care. As a result, the safety of the picking worker can be secured without performing complicated control or the like. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the transported object that slides on the swinging free conveyor and moves to the side of the picking carrier hits the stopper made of the cushioning material, so that the transported object can be prevented from being damaged. .

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In this description, “front” means the lower side of FIG. 1, “rear” means the upper side, “left” means the left side of FIG. 1, and “right” means the right side of FIG.

The picking device 1 includes a drive conveyor 3 comprising a roller drive conveyor or the like for transporting a case C, which is an article to be transported, from a rear portion to a front portion, with the transport direction oriented in the front-rear direction.
have. Although not shown, an unloading drive conveyor of an automatic warehouse is connected to the rear of the drive conveyor 3. A stopper 4 is provided at the front end of the drive conveyor 3. When the transported case C is stopped at the front end of the drive conveyor 3 by hitting the stopper 4, the subsequent case C is temporarily stopped on the drive conveyor 3 so that the subsequent case C does not collide with the case C. A stopper 5 is provided in the middle of the drive conveyor 3 so as to be able to move up and down. That is, when the case C is sent forward, the stopper 5 is lowered from the conveying surface of the driving conveyor 3, while when the case C is stopped temporarily, the stopper 5 is moved from the conveying surface of the driving conveyor 3. It will be in an elevated state.

A pair of front and rear spaces 7 extending in the left-right direction are formed at the front of the drive conveyor 3. These spaces 7 are open at least upward and leftward. These spaces 7
The swinging free conveyor 9 with the transport direction in the left-right direction is positioned so that the right end portion fits into the right side.
The swinging free conveyor 9 has two slender free conveyors 10 that almost fit into the space 7 and a wide free conveyor 11. Free conveyor 1
0 is a large number of narrow rollers 12 with the axis centered in the front-rear direction.
The free conveyor 11 has a number of rollers 13 having a long length with the axis centered in the front-rear direction. Envelopes at the upper ends of the rollers 12 of the free conveyor 10 and the rollers 13 of the free conveyor 11 serve as transport surfaces of the swinging free conveyor 9.

A pivot 15 whose axis is directed in the front-rear direction is rotatably provided at the middle of the swinging free conveyor 9, specifically, the free conveyor 11 in the left-right direction.
5 is fitted on a bearing 16, which is mounted on the upper end of a column 17 as shown in FIG. With such a configuration, the swing free conveyor 9 can swing up and down. When the transport surface is horizontal, the swinging free conveyor 9 is configured so that the transport surface is equal to or lower than the transport surface of the drive conveyor 3, and the end on the free conveyor 10 side is turned upward and the free conveyor 11 is positioned on the free conveyor 11 side. In a state where the end portion is turned down, the transfer surface of the portion of the free conveyor 10 fitted in the space 7 is moved to the drive conveyor 3.
Is positioned above the transfer surface of the. The swinging movement of the swinging free conveyor 9 is performed by an operating device (not shown) such as a fluid pressure cylinder.

The swinging free conveyor 9, specifically,
The picking platform 20 is installed so as to be located on the left side of the free conveyor 11. A large number of free balls 22 serving as article receiving rolling members are rotatably fitted in the top plate 21 of the picking bed 20 so that the upper part is exposed, in an arbitrary direction. These free balls 22
The upper end envelope surface is used as an article receiving surface for receiving the case C, and the article receiving surface is a swinging free conveyor 9 in a horizontal state.
And the height is the same or almost the same as that of the transfer surface. With the configuration as described above, the swinging free conveyor 9
With the end on the side of the drive conveyor 3 facing upwards,
When the swinging free conveyor 9 swings so that the side end thereof faces down, the edge of the transport surface of the swinging free conveyor 9 on the side of the picking bed 20 is lower than the article receiving surface of the picking bed 20. Become.

A stopper 24 made of a cushioning material is provided on a side of the picking bed 20 facing the end of the swinging free conveyor 9. With such a configuration,
The oscillating free conveyor 9 is oscillated such that the end of the oscillating free conveyor 9 on the side of the drive conveyor 3 faces upward, and the end of the oscillating free conveyor 9 faces downward. When the upper case C is scooped, the case C slides the swinging free conveyor 9 toward the picking platform 20 and hits the stopper 24 and stops. A stopper 25 is provided at the left end of the upper surface of the picking platform 20.

Behind the picking bed 20, there is provided a drive conveyor 27 such as a roller drive conveyor for transporting the case C from the front to the rear, with the transport direction directed in the front-rear direction. Although not shown, a carry-in drive conveyor of an automatic warehouse is connected to the rear.

[0014]

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described. In a state where the transport surface of the swinging free conveyor 9 is lower than the transport surface of the drive conveyor 3, the case C is transported by the drive conveyor 3 and the stopper 4
, The stopper 5 that has been lowered so far rises and temporarily stops the subsequent case C. When the picking worker M (located in front of the picking bed 20) picks a required number of articles from the case C previously transferred to the picking bed 20, the picking completed case C is driven from the picking bed 20. It is sent to the conveyor 27. Thereafter, when the picking operator M operates the foot switch (not shown), the swinging free conveyor 9 swings so that the end on the drive conveyor 3 side is up and the end on the picking bed 20 side is down. I do. As a result, the case C is scooped up by the swinging free conveyor 9,
In the case C, the swinging free conveyor 9 slides toward the picking platform 20 and hits the stopper 24 to stop. In this state, it goes without saying that the members constituting the drive conveyor 3 do not protrude above the conveying surface of the swinging free conveyor 9. Thereafter, the swinging free conveyor 9 returns to the horizontal state. When the swinging free conveyor 9 returns to the horizontal position, the stopper 5 descends, and a new case C
Hits the stopper 4 and stops. At the same time, the picking worker M pulls the case C into the picking bed 20, picks up required articles from the case C, and moves the picking-completed case C to the picking bed 20.
To the drive conveyor 27.

[0015]

[Modifications and the like] Modifications and the like will be described below. (1) Instead of the free ball 22, a caster that is horizontally rotatable with the roller facing upward on the upper surface of the top plate 21 may be used as the article receiving rolling member. Further, the top plate 2 is not located on the entire surface of the top plate 21.
An article receiving rolling member may be provided in a part of one. When a horizontal force in an arbitrary direction is applied to the case C on the picking bed 20, the article receiving rolling member rolls so as to direct the case C in the direction of the force. (2) The swing free conveyor 9 may be a free (no drive device) belt conveyor or the like. (3) The drive conveyors 3 and 27 may be any drive conveyors. In addition, drive conveyors 3, 2
The transport direction of 7 may be directed not in the front-back direction but in the left-right direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention, in which rollers of a swinging free conveyor are partially removed.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Picking device 3 Drive conveyor 7 Space 9 Swing free conveyor 20 Picking bed 21 Top plate 22 Free roller

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A picking carrier, a swinging free conveyor arranged beside the picking carrier and swingable up and down, and an end of the swinging free conveyor opposite to the picking carrier. A pick-up device having a drive conveyor having a space in which the part can sink. 2. The swinging free conveyor is configured to swing up and down about the middle of the conveying direction, with the end of the swinging free conveyor on the drive conveyor side up and the end on the picking carrier side down. When the swinging free conveyor swings, the edge of the transporting surface of the swinging free conveyor on the picking bed side is located below the article receiving surface of the picking bed. The picking device as described. 3. The picking device according to claim 1, wherein a stopper made of a cushioning material is provided on a side of the picking carrier opposite to an end of the swinging free conveyor.