JP2007254078A - Article loading device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article loading device capable of loading an article in an article storage body while accomplishing simplification of a constitution. <P>SOLUTION: The article loading device is provided with a conveying means 2 for conveying a plurality of kinds of articles 1 of different size or weight to an article loading position A; an article transferring means 4 for grasping the article 1 conveyed to the article loading position A by the conveying means 2 and loading it to the article storage body 3; and a loading control means 5 for controlling operation of the article transferring means 4. The device is provided with a reading means 14 for reading article information for indicating the size or the weight of the article 1 memorized in an information memory tag 13 attached to the article 1. The loading control means 5 is constituted so as to control operation of the article transferring means 4 so as to load the article 1 by a loading schedule pattern based on the article information read by the reading means 14 and the previously set loading schedule pattern. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention provides a conveying means that conveys a plurality of types of articles having different sizes or weights to an article stacking location, and grips and stacks the articles that have been conveyed to the article stacking location by the conveying means. The present invention relates to an article stacking apparatus provided with article transfer means and stacking control means for controlling the operation of the article transfer means.

  The article stacking apparatus as described above, for example, transports a plurality of types of articles transported from an automatic warehouse to an article stacking position by a transport means, and stores the transported articles by an article transfer means. It is to be stacked on the body.

In the conventional article stacking apparatus, a scheduled packing pattern that determines in what order and in what order the types of articles are set on the article storage body is set, and the conveying means is set as the scheduled packing pattern. The article transfer means for transporting the articles of the type determined in the specified order to the article stacking location, and for the stacking control means to load the articles in the planned stacking pattern based on the scheduled packing pattern. It is comprised so that the action | operation of (2) may be controlled (for example, refer patent document 1).
In this conventional article stacking apparatus, since the transport means transports the types of articles defined in the scheduled stacking pattern to the article stacking position in a predetermined order, it is transported to the article stacking position. By stacking the articles in order on the article storage body by the article transfer means, the articles can be stacked in a pattern to be stacked.

JP 2004-307111 A

  However, in the conventional article stacking apparatus, since the conveying means conveys the types of articles defined by the scheduled packing pattern to the article stacking location in the predetermined order, the types and articles of articles conveyed by the conveying means A configuration for adjusting the order is necessary, and the configuration may be complicated.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to this point, and an object thereof is to provide an article stacking apparatus capable of stacking articles on an article storage body while simplifying the configuration.

In order to achieve this object, a first characteristic configuration of an article stacking apparatus according to the present invention includes: a transport unit that transports a plurality of types of articles having different sizes or weights to an article stacking location; and In an article stacking apparatus provided with article transfer means for gripping an article conveyed to a stacking location and stacking it on an article storage body, and a stacking control means for controlling the operation of the article transfer means,
Reading means for reading article information indicating the size or weight of the article stored in the information storage tag mounted on the article is provided, and the stacking control means is the article information read by the reading means, and The configuration is such that the operation of the article transfer means is controlled based on a preset schedule pattern to load articles according to the schedule pattern.

When the reading unit reads the article information stored in the information storage tag, the article information of the article conveyed to the article stacking position by the conveying unit can be acquired. And since the stacking control means can recognize what kind of article the article is based on the article information read by the reading means, the stacking control means can stack based on the preset schedule pattern. In order to stack the articles in the planned pattern, the operation of the article transfer means is controlled, and the articles conveyed to the article stacking location can be stacked in the article storage body in the planned stacking pattern.
In this way, even if a configuration for adjusting the type and order of the articles conveyed by the conveying means is not provided, the stacking control means uses the information storage tag equipped on the articles to load the articles. The article information of the articles conveyed to the attachment location can be acquired, and the articles conveyed to the article stacking location in the scheduled packing pattern can be stacked on the article storage body.
Accordingly, it has become possible to provide an article stacking apparatus capable of stacking articles on an article storage body while simplifying the configuration.

  According to a second characteristic configuration of the article stacking apparatus according to the present invention, when an article of a type different from the type of article to be stacked next is conveyed by the stacking control unit, the article of the different type is temporarily stored. It exists in the point comprised so that it may transfer to a mounting part.

By not providing a configuration for adjusting the type and order of the articles conveyed by the conveying means, the articles conveyed to the article stacking location are scheduled to be stacked next in the scheduled packing pattern. It is not limited to the type of article, and an article of a type different from the type of article to be stacked next may be conveyed. In such a case, the stacking control means transfers an article of a type different from the type of article to be stacked next to the temporary placement unit.
Therefore, the article can be stacked on the article storage body in the scheduled stacking pattern while transferring an article of a type different from the type of article to be stacked next to the temporary storage unit.

  A third characteristic configuration of the article stacking apparatus according to the present invention is that the scheduled stacking pattern is set as a pattern for stacking articles in a state where a plurality of articles are arranged in a set pattern in each stage. .

  By stacking articles on the article storage body according to the planned stacking pattern, articles can be stacked on the article storage body in a state where a plurality of articles are arranged in a set pattern at each stage. Therefore, a plurality of articles can be efficiently stacked on the article storage body.

  A fourth characteristic configuration of the article stacking apparatus according to the present invention is such that the scheduled stacking pattern is set as a pattern for stacking articles in a state where a plurality of articles are arranged in a set pattern in each stage for each type of article. The article transfer means is configured to be capable of stacking articles in parallel with each of a plurality of juxtaposed article storage bodies, and the stacking control means is configured to send one type of article to a plurality of articles. When another type of article is transported while allocating to one of the storage bodies and stacking, the other article storage body is assigned as an article storage body on which the other type of article is stacked. In order to stack articles in a form, the operation of the article transfer means is controlled.

The stacking control unit is configured to transfer an article in order to stack an article in a form in which the one type of article is assigned to one of a plurality of article storage bodies based on the article information read by the reading unit. By controlling the operation of the loading means, the articles are stored in a pattern to be stacked that is set as a pattern for stacking articles in a state where a plurality of articles are arranged in a set pattern for each type of article. It can be stacked on the body.
When the stacking control unit assigns one type of article to one of the plurality of article storage bodies and performs stacking, when another type of article has been conveyed, Since the operation of the article transfer means is controlled so as to stack the articles in a form in which the storage body is assigned as an article storage body for stacking other types of articles, a pattern to be stacked for each of the plurality of article storage bodies is controlled. The article can be stacked on the article storage body.
In addition, since the article transfer means is configured to be able to stack articles in parallel with each of the plurality of article storage bodies juxtaposed, the stacking of articles to the plurality of article storage bodies is performed in parallel. Will be able to do. Therefore, articles can be efficiently stacked on a plurality of article storage bodies.

An embodiment of an article stacking apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the article stacking apparatus has a transport device 2 as a transport unit that transports a plurality of types of articles 1 having different sizes to an article stacking location A, and stacks the articles with the transport device 2. The article transfer robot 4 as an article transfer means for holding the article 1 conveyed to the location A and stacking it on the cart 3 as an article storage body, and the stacking control for controlling the operation of the article transfer robot 4 A stacking control device 5 as a means is provided.

The said conveying apparatus 2 is comprised combining a some conveyor so that the articles | goods 1 carried out from the automatic warehouse 6 may be conveyed to the articles | goods stacking location A. FIG. The automatic warehouse 6 includes a pair of article storage shelves 7 and a stacker crane 8 for carrying out the articles 1 stored in the pair of article storage shelves 7 and storing the articles 1 in the article storage shelves 7. Yes.
The article 1 is composed of three kinds of articles having different sizes, and the first article 1a, the second article 1b, and the third article 1c are arranged in order of size. Each article 1 is equipped with an RFID tag 13 as an information storage tag, and the RFID tag 13 has unique information about the article such as item, lot, date of manufacture, size, shape, and weight. It is remembered.
As the automatic warehouse 6, the first article 1 a can be stored in the article storage shelf 7 and the first article 1 a can be stored in the article storage shelf 7. The second article 1 b can be stored in the article storage shelf 7. The second automatic warehouse 6b for carrying out the second article 1b to the transfer device 2 and the third automatic warehouse 6c for storing the third article 1c in the article storage shelf 7 and carrying out the third article 1c to the transfer device 2 are provided. Is provided.

  The car 3 is composed of a cart 9 having casters and a frame body 10 standing upright on the left and right sides and the back of the cart 9 with the front of the cart 9 open. And arrangement | positioning to the cart arrangement | positioning plan location B of the cart 3 and the conveyance of the cart 3 with which the articles | goods 1 were loaded are performed by the operator, for example.

The article transfer robot 4 includes a swingable arm portion 4b that is mounted on a base 4a, a hand portion 4c that is mounted on a tip portion of the arm portion 4b, and a tip portion of the hand portion 4c. Is equipped with a gripping portion 4d that can grip the article 1 freely. The hand unit 4c is provided with an imaging device 11 having a CCD camera and a strobe.
Then, the article transfer robot 4 transfers the article 1 located at the article stacking location A, which is the end portion in the conveyance direction of the conveyance device 3, to the two basket cars 3 juxtaposed at each of the two basket car placement planned locations B. On the other hand, the articles 1 can be stacked in parallel. In addition, the article transfer robot 4 is configured to be able to transfer the article 1 to the temporary storage unit 12 disposed between the two basket cars 3.
As described above, the article transfer robot 4 includes the article stacking location A which is the terminal portion in the transport direction of the transport device 3, the two carts 3 juxtaposed at the cart placement planned location B, and the temporary placement unit 12. Is placed so as to fall within the transferable range.

A reader serving as a reading unit that reads article information indicating the size of the article stored in the RFID tag 13 provided in each article 1 by non-contact wireless communication at a location upstream of the end portion in the conveyance direction in the conveyance device 3. A device 14 is provided.
The stacking control device 5 is configured to load an article transfer robot in order to load the articles 1 in the scheduled loading pattern based on the article information read by the reader device 14 and a preset scheduled loading pattern. 4 is controlled. Then, the stacking control device 5 operates the article transfer robot 4 based on the imaging information of the imaging device 11 and the position information of the article 1 at the article stacking location A and the article 1 to be loaded on the car 3. Is configured to manage the position information.

  The scheduled stacking pattern is set as a pattern in which the articles 1 are stacked in a state where a plurality of articles 1 are arranged in a set pattern for each type of the articles 1 having different sizes. If it demonstrates, the 1st goods 1st planing pattern for 1st goods will be the 1st which arranges the four 1st goods 1a with respect to the planing surface of the cart 3 as shown in Drawing 4 (I). It is set as a pattern to be stacked in the article setting pattern. As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the second article 1b is scheduled to be stacked on the second article 1b. The second article 1b has six second articles 1b arranged on the planned loading surface of the car 3 as shown in FIG. It is set as a pattern to be stacked in the pattern. As shown in FIG. 4 (c), the third item 1c is scheduled to be stacked on the third item 1c. It is set as a pattern to be stacked in the pattern. Incidentally, in the setting pattern for the first article, the setting pattern for the second article, and the setting pattern for the third article, for example, after stacking in order from the left side to the right side on the upper side in the figure, the left side on the lower side in the figure The order in which the articles 1 are stacked is set so as to be stacked in order from right to left.

The stacking control device 5 assigns one type of the article 1 to one of the two basket cars 3 based on the article information read by the reader device 14 and a preset schedule pattern. In the form, the operation of the article transfer robot 4 is controlled so as to stack the articles 1 in a pattern to be stacked.
Then, the stacking control device 5 assigns one type of article 1 to one of the two basket cars 3, and when another type of article 1 has been transported, The operation of the article transfer robot 4 is controlled so that the articles 1 are stacked in such a manner that another basket car 3 is assigned as the basket car 3 on which the different types of articles 1 are stacked.
In addition, when the article 1 of a different type from the article 1 of the type to be stacked next is conveyed, the stacking control device 5 is configured to transfer the different type of article 1 to the temporary placement unit 12. The operation of the transfer robot 4 is controlled.

The operation of this article stacking apparatus will be described.
First, the reader device 18 reads the article information stored in the RFID tag 13 mounted on the article 1 conveyed to the article stacking location A. Then, the stacking control device 5 uses the first article 1a, the second article 1b, and the third article 1c as the articles 1 conveyed to the article stacking location A based on the article information read by the reader device 14. It is determined which type. Then, the stacking control device 5 allocates the basket car 3 that allocates the basket car 3 on which the article 1 of that type is stacked to one of the two basket cars 3, and plans to stack the basket car 3 on the allocated basket car 3. In order to stack the articles 1 in a pattern, a stacking process for operating the article transfer robot 4 is performed.

Next, when the article information stored in the RFID tag 13 mounted on the article 1 conveyed to the article loading location A is read by the reader device 18, the loading control device 5 is read by the reader device 14. Based on the article information, it is determined whether the article 1 conveyed to the article stacking location A is the first article 1a, the second article 1b, or the third article 1c, and is loaded first. It is determined whether or not the article 1 is the same type as the article 1. Then, if the stacking control device 5 is the same type of article 1 as the previously stacked article 1, the kind of article 1 is stacked on the already assigned car 3 in a pattern to be stacked. Therefore, a stacking process for operating the article transfer robot 4 is performed. In addition, when the stacking control device 5 is a different type of article 1 from the previously stacked article 1, the cart 3 different from the already assigned basket car 3 is assigned to the other type of article 1. The cart 3 assigned as the cart 3 to be loaded is assigned, and the article transfer robot 4 is operated to load the newly assigned basket 3 in the pattern to be loaded. Process.
In this way, each of the two car cars 3 is assigned as a car car 3 for loading one kind of the goods 1 out of the three kinds of goods 1, and the same kind for the one car car 3. Are stacked in a pattern to be stacked. Incidentally, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the car 3 located on the left side in the figure is assigned as the car 3 for loading the first article 1a, and the car 3 located on the right side in the figure is loaded with the third article 1c. Assigned as car 3.

Then, the article information stored in the RFID tag 13 mounted on the article 1 that is transported to the article loading location A next is stored in a state where the type of the article 1 to be stacked by the two basket cars 3 is assigned. When read by the reader device 18, the stacking control device 5 determines that the article 1 conveyed to the article stacking location A is the first article 1 a and the second article based on the article information read by the reader device 14. It is determined whether it is the type 1b or the third item 1c, and it is determined whether it is the item 1 of the type to be stacked next. At this time, if the type of the article 1 is one of the two types of articles 1 assigned as the type of the article 1 to be loaded on each of the two carts 3, the stacking control device 5 stacks next. If it is determined that the item 1 is a scheduled type 1 and the type of the item 1 is not one of the two types of items 1 assigned as the type of the item 1 to be loaded on each of the two basket cars 3, It is determined that the item 1 is a different type from the type 1 of the item 1 that is scheduled to be stacked.
Then, when the stacking control device 5 determines that the article 1 is the next type of article 1 to be stacked, the loading control device 5 sets the pattern to the loading schedule for the basket 3 assigned as the basket 3 for loading the article 1 of that type. In order to stack the articles 1, a stacking process for operating the article transfer robot 4 is performed. Further, when the stacking control device 5 determines that the article 1 is of a different type from the next type of article 1 to be stacked, the article 1 is transferred to the temporary placement unit 12 so that the different type of article 1 is transferred. Temporary placement processing for operating the transfer robot 4 is performed. 1 and 2, the car 3 positioned on the left side in the figure is assigned as the car 3 for loading the first article 1a, and the car 3 positioned on the right side in the figure is loaded with the third article 1c. Therefore, when the second article 1b is transported to the article stacking location A, the second article 1b is transferred to the temporary placement unit 12.

  When the stacking control device 5 completes the stacking of the articles 1 according to the planned stacking pattern on the car 3, the stacking control device 5 operates a notification device (not shown) to notify the worker, and the worker loads the articles 1. The cart 3 is transported. And when the cart 3 is newly arrange | positioned in the basket car arrangement | positioning plan location B, if there exists the goods 1 transferred to the temporary placement part 12, the loading control apparatus 5 will be transferred to the temporary placement part 12. An article transfer robot is allocated so as to allocate a newly arranged basket car 3 as a cart 3 for loading the articles 1 of the selected type, and to stack the articles 1 of the type transferred to the placing section 12 in a pattern to be loaded. 4 is controlled.

The operation of the article stacking apparatus will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
First, the article information stored in the RFID tag 13 mounted on the article 1 conveyed to the article stacking location A is read by the reader device 18 (step 1).
Based on the read article information, the stacking control device 5 determines whether or not the article 1 is the type of article 1 that is to be stacked next (step 2). At this time, when the type of the article 1 to be stacked is not assigned to one or both of the two carts 3, it is determined that the article 1 is the type of article 1 to be stacked next. Further, when the types of articles 1 to be loaded are assigned to both of the two carts 3, any of the two types of articles 1 assigned as the types of articles 1 to be loaded on each of the two carts 3 is assigned. If it is, it is determined that the item 1 is the type of the item 1 to be loaded next, and the type of the item 1 is assigned as the type of the item 1 to be loaded on each of the two carts 3. If it is not any of the articles | goods 1, it will discriminate | determine that it is the article | item 1 of a kind different from the kind of article | item 1 of the plan to be stacked next.

When the loading control device 5 determines that the item 1 is the next type of the item 1 to be loaded, the loading vehicle 3 assigned as the cart 3 to which the type 1 of the item 1 is loaded has a pattern to be loaded. Then, a stacking process for operating the article transfer robot 4 is performed to stack the articles 1 (steps 2 and 3).
Further, when the stacking control device 5 determines that the article 1 is of a different type from the next type of article 1 to be stacked, the article transfer robot is configured to transfer the article 1 to the temporary placement unit 12. Temporary placement processing for operating 4 is performed (step 4).

  By the way, for the article 1 transferred to the temporary placement unit 12, when the cage car 3 is newly placed at the car carriage planned location B, the newly placed basket car 3 is moved to the temporary placement part 12. The operation of the article transfer robot 4 is controlled so that the articles 1 of the loaded type are assigned as the carts 3 to be stacked and the articles 1 of the types transferred to the temporary storage unit 12 are stacked in a pattern to be stacked.

[Another embodiment]
(1) In the above embodiment, the stacking pattern is set as a pattern for stacking articles in a state where a plurality of articles 1 are arranged in a set pattern in each stage for each type of article 1, and the stacking control device 5 is a form in which one kind of article 1 is assigned to one of the two basket cars 3 based on the article information read by the reader device 14 and the scheduled packing pattern. The operation of the article transfer robot 4 is controlled in order to stack the articles 1, but the pattern to be stacked is set as any pattern, and the form 1 in the pattern to be stacked in any form. It is possible to appropriately change whether or not to stack.

  For example, the pattern to be stacked is set as a pattern in which articles are stacked in a state where a plurality of different types of articles 1 are arranged in a set pattern. Then, based on the article information read by the reader device 14 and the scheduled loading pattern, the loading control device 5 determines the loading position for loading that type of article 1 from the setting pattern of the scheduled loading pattern. The operation of the article transfer robot 4 can be controlled so that the articles 1 are stacked in a pattern to be stacked in the form of stacking the articles 1 at the selected stacking position.

(2) In the above embodiment, the pattern to be stacked is set as a pattern in which the articles 1 are stacked in a state where a plurality of articles 1 are arranged in a set pattern for each type of the articles 1 having different sizes. However, it is possible to appropriately change the pattern to be set as the pattern to be stacked.
For example, it is also possible to simply set a pattern to be stacked as a pattern in which the articles 1 are stacked in a state where a plurality of articles 1 are arranged in a set pattern in each stage.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, by setting a plurality of articles 1 having different sizes in each stage as a pattern in which the articles 1 are stacked in a state where the articles 1 are arranged in a set pattern, the first car cart 3 is The product 1a and the third product 1c can be stacked in a mixed state.
Furthermore, it is also possible to set a pattern to be stacked as a pattern in which the articles 1 are stacked in a state where a plurality of articles 1 are arranged in a set pattern at each stage, and the weight of the article 1 is heavier.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, two basket car arrangement planned locations B are provided, and the article transfer robot 4 is parallel to the two carts 3 arranged in parallel with the two car cart arrangement planned locations B, respectively. Although the articles 1 can be stacked, the number of basket car placement planned locations B can be changed as appropriate.
For example, it is also possible to provide one basket car arrangement planned location B, and the article transfer robot 4 can be configured to stack the article 1 on the cart 3 arranged in the car cart arrangement planned site B.
Also, three basket car placement planned locations B are provided, and the article transfer robot 4 stacks the articles 1 in parallel on the three basket cars 3 juxtaposed at each of the three basket car placement planned locations B. It can also be configured. In this case, since the three kinds of articles 1 can be stacked on each of the three basket cars 3, it can be carried out without providing the temporary placement section 12.

(4) In the above embodiment, three types of articles 1 are different in size. However, two or four or more types can be used, and the number of types of articles 1 can be changed as appropriate. Is possible.
Further, although the type of the article 1 is classified according to the size, the type of the article 1 can be classified according to the weight of the article 1.

(5) In the above-described embodiment, the transport device 2 is configured to transport the articles 1 carried out from the automatic warehouse 6 to the article stacking location A. However, the transport device 2 is stacked on the car 3. What is necessary is just to convey the article to be attached to the article stacking location A, and the article to be stacked is not limited to the article carried out from the automatic warehouse 6.
Further, in the case where the conveying device 2 conveys the article 1 carried out from the automatic warehouse 6 to the article stacking location A, in the above embodiment, three automatic warehouses 6 that can store one type are provided. What kind of articles can be stored and the number of automatic warehouses can be changed as appropriate.

(6) In the above-described embodiment, the stacking control device 5 is set to give priority to the types of articles 1 having a larger number of articles per unit time conveyed to the article stacking location A by the conveying apparatus 2. One type of article 1 can also be assigned to one of the car 3 based on the priority information.
In this case, since the article 1 is unloaded from the automatic warehouse 6 based on the shipment plan information that defines how many types of articles 1 are to be shipped, the stacking control device 5 uses the priority order information based on the shipment plan information. Can be created and managed. Further, the stacking control device 5 passes per unit time based on the read information of the information reading means for reading the item information stored in the RFID tag 13 provided in each item 1 conveyed by the conveying device 2. The number of articles for each type of article 1 to be obtained can be obtained, and priority order information can be created and managed based on the number of articles.

(7) In the above embodiment, the article transfer robot 4 is exemplified as the article transfer means. However, the article transfer robot 4 is not limited to this, and various other article transfer apparatuses can be applied. It is.

(8) In the above-described embodiment, the car 3 is illustrated as the article storage body, but is not limited to the car 3 and can be applied as long as the article 1 such as a pallet can be stacked. .

Schematic plan view of the article stacking device Perspective view of main part of article stacking device Control block diagram of article stacking device Figure showing the pattern to be stacked Flow chart showing the operation of the article stacking apparatus The figure which shows the packing plan pattern in another embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Goods 2 Conveyance means 3 Goods accommodation body 4 Goods transfer means 5 Stacking control means 13 Information storage tag 14 Reading means A Goods loading location

Claims (4)

Conveying means for conveying a plurality of types of articles having different sizes or weights to an article stacking location, and an article transfer means for gripping and stacking an article that has been transported to the article stacking location by the transporting means on an article storage body And an article stacking device provided with a stacking control means for controlling the operation of the article transfer means,
Read means for reading article information indicating the size or weight of the article stored in the information storage tag equipped on the article is provided,
Based on the article information read by the reading means and a preset scheduled loading pattern, the loading control means is configured to load the article according to the scheduled loading pattern. An article stacking device configured to control operation of the machine.   2. The stacking control unit is configured to transfer an article of a different type to a temporary storage unit when an article of a type different from the next type of article to be stacked is conveyed. The article stacking apparatus described in 1.   The article stacking apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the scheduled stacking pattern is set as a pattern for stacking articles in a state where a plurality of articles are arranged in a set pattern in each stage. The pattern to be stacked is set as a pattern for stacking articles in a state where a plurality of articles are arranged in a set pattern in each stage for each type of article,
The article transfer means is configured to be capable of stacking articles in parallel with respect to each of a plurality of article storage bodies juxtaposed,
When another type of article is transported when the stacking control unit assigns one type of article to one of the plurality of article storage bodies and performs stacking, another article storage is performed. 3. The operation of the article transfer means according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the operation of the article transfer means is controlled so as to stack the articles in a form in which the body is allocated as an article storage body on which the different types of articles are stacked. Goods stacking device.

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