JP2011162329A - Cargo carrying method of cargo carrying system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cargo carrying method of a cargo carrying system superior in cargo carrying efficiency, without arranging a dedicated relay shelf, when a plurality of cargo carrying carriages travel on the same track. <P>SOLUTION: This cargo carrying method of the cargo carrying system comprises the plurality of cargo carrying carriages for traveling on the same track, a plurality of cargo storage shelves arranged along the track and a control means for controlling carrying of a cargo by the cargo carrying carriages. When a cargo carrying request is generated to a carrying destination B from a carrying source A, whether or not to be movable to the carrying destination B of a first cargo carrying carriage is discriminated by retrieving the first cargo carrying carriage movable to the carrying source A among the plurality of cargo carrying carriages, and when the movement is impossible to the carrying destination B of the first cargo carrying carriage, the existence of a common moving section X movable in both the first cargo carrying carriage and a second cargo carrying carriage is discriminated by retrieving the second cargo carrying carriage movable to the carrying destination B, and when there exists the common moving section X, the cargo is delivered by the first cargo carrying carriage and the second cargo carrying carriage via an empty cargo storage shelf in the common moving section X. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a load carrying method of a load carrying system.

As a conventional technique related to a load transfer method of the load transfer system, for example, there is a method of operating a plurality of stacker cranes in an automatic warehouse disclosed in Patent Document 1.
In this automatic warehouse, a traveling rail is laid between the entrance and the exit, and two stacker cranes are arranged so as to travel on the same traveling rail.
A storage shelf row is arranged in parallel with the traveling rail, and the storage shelf row is configured by arranging a plurality of storage shelves adjacent to each other.
Each stacker crane has a maximum travelable range, one stacker crane has a maximum travelable range from the entrance, and the other stacker crane has a maximum travelable range from the exit. A common range in which the two stacker cranes can travel with each other is set on the traveling rail, and a relay shelf is disposed in the common range.
Assuming that the range of the relay shelf is the mutual travel range in which both stacker cranes can travel, two or more stackers are used to transport articles from one storage shelf row to the other storage shelf row via the relay shelf in this range. Since the crane is traveling, the article is conveyed while preventing the interference of the stacker crane.

JP 2004-277166 A

However, in the automatic warehouse disclosed in Patent Document 1, the storage shelves and the relay shelves have the same structure, but the storage shelves function only as shelves for storing articles, and the relay shelves are moved from one stacker crane to the other. It functions only as a shelf for passing goods to the stacker crane. That is, in the automatic warehouse disclosed in Patent Document 1, there is a problem that a dedicated relay shelf for delivery of articles is required in addition to a storage shelf for allocating inventory of articles.
In this case, it is necessary to increase the number of relay shelves each time the number of stacker cranes on the same track increases, and as the number of articles delivered to the relay rack increases, the time for conveying the articles to the destination becomes longer.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to transport a load without installing a dedicated relay shelf even when a plurality of load transport carts travel on the same track. The object is to provide a load transfer method for an efficient load transfer system.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a plurality of load transport carts traveling on the same track, a plurality of load storage shelves arranged along the track, and a load by the plurality of load transport carts. And a load transfer method for a load transfer system comprising a control means for controlling the transfer of the load when the load transfer request for transferring the load from the transfer source to the transfer destination is generated. A search is made for a first load transfer carriage that can move to the transfer source, and it is determined whether or not the first load transfer carriage can be moved to the transfer destination. When it is impossible to move to the transport destination, the second load transport cart capable of moving to the transport destination is searched, and a common movement section in which both the first load transport cart and the second load transport cart can move is searched. The presence / absence is determined, and when the common movement section exists, the empty area in the common movement section Characterized in that through the load storage shelf instructs for transferring the load by the first loading conveying carriage and the second load transport vehicle.

According to the present invention, when the first load transport cart that can move to the transport source cannot move to the transport destination, the control means searches for the second load transport cart that can move to the transport destination.
When there is a common movement section on the track that allows both the first load carriage and the second load carriage to move, the control means passes through the empty load storage shelves in the common movement section and the first load carriage and the second load carriage. An instruction is given to deliver a load by a two-load carriage. An empty load storage shelf in the common movement section has a function for storing the load and a function as a place for passing the load.
In the present invention, even when a plurality of load transport trolleys travel on the same track, it is possible to provide a load transport method of a load transport system that is excellent in load transport efficiency without installing a dedicated relay shelf. it can.

  Further, the present invention is the load transport method of the load transport system, wherein the control means is the most transport destination among the load storage shelves to which the first load transport cart can move when the common movement section does not exist. It is also possible to set a new empty load storage shelf close to 2 as a new transfer source and re-search for a new first load transfer cart that can move to the new transfer source.

In this case, when there is no common movement section, an empty load storage shelf that is closest to the transfer destination is set as a new transfer source among the load storage shelves to which the first load transfer cart can move. It is possible to search again for a new first cargo transport cart that can move to the new transport source, and to determine whether or not the new first cargo transport cart related to the re-search can move to the transport destination.
By setting a new transfer source when there is no common movement section, it is possible to find a new load transfer cart that can move to the transfer destination.

  According to the present invention, in the load transfer method of the load transfer system, the control unit selects the first load transfer cart with the smallest transfer reservation when there are a plurality of the first load transfer carts. You may make it give the instruction | indication which conveys a load to a conveyance destination.

  In this case, even when there is a first load transport cart that can move to the transport destination, the first load transport cart with a small transport reservation is selected and transports the load to the transport destination. It can suppress and the fall of the conveyance efficiency of a load can be suppressed.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, even when a several load conveyance trolley drive | works the same track | orbit, the load conveyance method of the load conveyance system excellent in load conveyance efficiency can be provided, without installing a dedicated relay shelf.

It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the automatic warehouse as a load conveyance system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the automatic warehouse which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the load conveyance instruction | indication concerning embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the example of conveyance of the load by one stacker crane. (A) And (b) is explanatory drawing explaining the conveyance example of a load in case the common movement area of the stacker crane 16 and the stacker crane 18 exists. (A) And (b) is explanatory drawing explaining the conveyance example of a load in case the common movement area of the stacker crane 16 and the stacker crane 18 does not exist.

Hereinafter, an automatic warehouse as a load transportation system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
An automatic warehouse 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a pair of storage shelf rows 11 that can accommodate a large number of loads W, three stacker cranes 16 to 18 that reciprocate along the storage shelf row 11, and a stacker crane. It is mainly composed of a ground control panel 20 that issues a load conveyance instruction to 16 to 18 and a host management computer 21 that issues a warehousing instruction or a leaving instruction to the ground control board 20.

The storage shelf row 11 will be described. The pair of storage shelf rows 11 shown in FIG. 1 are installed on the floor surface with a space therebetween. The storage shelf row 11 includes a large number of load storage shelves 12 partitioned in the row direction and the vertical direction.
The load storage shelf 12 has a configuration capable of storing the load W, and is a receiving destination of the load W in the warehousing instruction, and is a shipping source of the load W in the warehousing instruction.

A storage station 14 as a storage port is installed at one end (upper side in FIG. 1) of the storage shelf row 11 and faces the other end (lower side in FIG. 1) of the storage shelf row 11. As described above, a delivery station 15 is installed as a delivery port.
The warehousing station 14 is an entrance of the load W in the automatic warehouse 10, and is also a place where the load W to be loaded is loaded onto the stacker crane 16. The unloading station 15 is an exit of the load W, and is a place where the load W to be unloaded from the storage shelf row 11 is unloaded from the stacker crane 18. Both stations 14 and 15 in this embodiment are conveyor-type stations.

Next, the stacker cranes 16 to 18 will be described. The stacker cranes 16 to 18 receive the warehousing instruction or the warehousing instruction, store the load W with respect to the load storage shelf 12 in the storage shelf row 11, take out the load W stored in the load storage shelf 12, and transport the load W. It is a means for performing.
Rails 19 are laid along the row direction of the storage shelf row 11, and the rails 19 form the same track of the stacker cranes 16-18. Three stacker cranes 16 to 18 are disposed on the rail 19. The stacker cranes 16 to 18 are guided by the rail 19 and are self-propelled, and can reciprocate on the rail 19.

The stacker crane 16 is disposed at a position closest to the warehousing station 14, and the movable section of the stacker crane 16 is S1. The stacker crane 17 is disposed closer to the delivery station 15 than the stacker crane 16, and the movable section of the stacker crane 17 is S2. The stacker crane 18 is disposed at a position closest to the delivery station 15, and the movable section of the stacker crane 18 is S3.
Each stacker crane 16 to 18 can be opposed to the load storage shelf 12 in the corresponding movable section S1 to S3.

Each of the stacker cranes 16 to 18 includes a carriage (not shown) on which the load W can be mounted and lifts the load W. Each carriage has a fork (not shown) that allows the load W to be taken in and out of the load storage shelf 12. The fork has a configuration that allows the loading and unloading station 14 and the unloading station 15 to exchange the load W.
The stacker cranes 16 to 18 are each equipped with a machine-side controller (not shown), and each machine-side controller receives a load conveyance instruction by communicating with the ground control panel 20, and receives the load conveyance instruction. Based on this, each part of the corresponding stacker cranes 16 to 18 is controlled.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ground control panel 20 receives a shipping instruction, a warehousing instruction, and the like from the host management computer 21 based on the load transportation request, and issues a cargo transportation instruction based on the warehousing instruction, the warehousing instruction, etc. To give. In this embodiment, the ground control panel 20 is provided independently of the storage shelf row 11 and the stacker cranes 16 to 18.
In this embodiment, when the ground control panel 20 receives a leaving instruction or a receiving instruction from the upper management computer 21, a configuration is adopted in which a load conveyance instruction based on these instructions is transmitted to the stacker cranes 16 to 18.
The ground control panel 20 can also issue an operation instruction for the stacker cranes 16 to 18 in a state where there is no load, for example, separately from the load transfer instruction for transferring the load.

The host management computer 21 has a function of issuing an exit instruction, an entrance instruction, and the like based on the load transport request to the ground control panel 20.
In the upper management computer 21, in addition to the position information of each load storage shelf 12 in the storage shelf row 11, the presence / absence of the load W in each load storage shelf 12, information on the stored load W, that is, inventory management data is stored. Has been.
Examples of the inventory management data include the type and quantity of the load W, the history of loading and unloading the load W, and the like.
The host management computer 21 has a program for controlling the allocation of goods W. Further, the upper management computer 21 can determine the allocation of the cargo W in the loading / unloading and can hold the reservation for loading / unloading.

The ground control panel 20 stores a program for instructing efficient load conveyance by the stacker cranes 16 to 18 when receiving an entry instruction or an exit instruction based on the occurrence of a load conveyance request.
The flowchart shown in FIG. 3 shows the procedure of the load transport instruction of the stacker cranes 16 to 18 related to the load transport when the load transport request is generated.
The ground control panel 20 executes a load transfer instruction program when a load transfer request for transferring a load from the transfer source A to the transfer destination B occurs, and moves to the transfer source A among the plurality of stacker cranes 16 to 18. A stacker crane C1 as a possible first load carrier cart is searched (step S1).
Next, the ground control panel 20 determines whether or not the searched stacker crane C1 can be moved to the transport destination B (step S2).

When it is determined that the stacker crane C1 can move to the transport destination B, the ground control panel 20 issues an instruction to transport the load W using the stacker crane C1.
Incidentally, when there are a plurality of stacker cranes C1 searched in step S2, the ground control panel 20 issues an instruction to select the stacker crane C1 having the smallest conveyance reservation (step S3).
When the ground control panel 20 cannot move the stacker crane C1 to the transport destination B in step S2, the second load capable of moving to the transport destination B from the remaining stacker cranes other than the stacker crane C1. The stacker crane C2 as a transport cart is searched (step S4).
Of the plurality of load storage shelves 12, it is determined whether or not there is a common movement section X in which both the stacker crane C1 and the stacker crane C2 can move (step S5).
When the common movement section X exists, the load W is delivered by the stacker crane C1 and the stacker crane C2 via the empty load storage rack 12 existing in the common movement section X (step S6).

In step S5, if there is no common movement section X in which both the stacker crane C1 and the stacker crane C2 can move, the empty load storage shelf 12 that is movable and that is closest to the transport destination B can be used. Is set as a new transport source A. Then, the process returns to step S1, and the stacker crane C1 as a new first load transport carriage that can move to the new transport source A is searched again. In step S2, the stacker crane C1 related to the re-search can move to the transport destination B. And a new search is made for a stacker crane C1 capable of transporting the load W to the transport destination B.
If the stacker crane C1 related to the re-search in step S2 cannot be moved to the transport destination B, the process proceeds to step S4, and the stacker crane C2 as a new second cargo transport cart capable of moving to the transport destination B is selected. Search again. In step S5, the presence or absence of the common movement section X of the stacker cranes C1 and C2 related to the re-search is determined.

Next, the procedure of the load conveyance instruction in the automatic warehouse 10 will be described.
First, when a load transport request is generated in the upper management computer 21, the load transport request is transmitted to the ground control panel 20. The ground control panel 20 sets a load transfer instruction based on the load transfer request according to the procedure shown in FIG.

As a first transfer example, consider a case where a load W to be received is stored in a transfer destination B as shown in FIG. In the first transfer case, the transfer source A is the receiving station 14 because the load W to be received is transferred. In addition, the transport destination B as the warehousing destination is a load storage shelf 12 located near the middle of the storage shelf row 11.
In step S1, among the plurality of stacker cranes 16 to 18, a search is made for a stacker crane C1 as a first load transport cart that can move to the transport source A. In this case, only the stacker crane 16 is the stacker crane C1 that can move to the transfer source A.

Next, in step S2, it is determined whether or not the searched stacker crane C1 can be moved to the transport destination B. In this case, the transport destination B is at a position corresponding to the movable section S1 of the stacker crane 16. Since it exists, the stacker crane 16 can move to the transport destination B.
In step S2, it is determined that the stacker crane C1 can move to the transport destination B. In step S3, an instruction to transport the load W to the transport destination B using the stacker crane C1 is issued. In this case, since the stacker crane C1 is only the stacker crane 16, the ground control panel 20 issues an instruction to transport the load W by the stacker crane 16.
The ground control panel 20 transmits a load conveyance instruction to the stacker cranes 16-18. The stacker crane 16 that has received the load transport instruction transports the load W to the transport destination B, and the stacker cranes 17 and 18 that are not involved in the transport of the load W retreat to a position that does not interfere with the stacker crane 16 that transports the load W. .

Next, another conveyance example will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, this transfer example is a load storage shelf 12 where the transfer source A is the warehousing station 14 and the transfer destination B is the closest to the unloading station 15.
In step S1, among the plurality of stacker cranes 16 to 18, a search is made for a stacker crane C1 as a first load transport cart that can move to the transport source A. In this case, only the stacker crane 16 is the stacker crane C1 that can move to the transfer source A.

Next, the ground control panel 20 determines whether or not the stacker crane C1 searched in step S2 can be moved to the transport destination B. In this case, since the stacker crane C1 is the stacker crane 16, the ground control panel 20 determines that it is impossible to move the stacker crane C1 to the transport destination B together with the position information of the transport destination B.
If it is determined that the stacker crane C1 cannot be moved, the stacker crane C2 that can be transported to the transport destination B is searched in step S4. In this case, only the stacker crane 18 is searched as the stacker crane C2 that can move to the transport destination B.

Next, in step S5, it is determined whether there is a common movement section X in which both the stacker cranes C1 and C2 can move.
In this case, it is determined that an overlapping section between the movable section S1 of the stacker crane 16 as the stacker crane C1 and the movable section S3 of the stacker crane 18 as the stacker crane C2 exists as the common movement section X. In step S6, an instruction to deliver the load W from the stacker crane C1 to the stacker crane C2 via the empty load storage shelf 12 in the common movement section X is issued.
In FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, for convenience of explanation, the load storage rack 12 for passing the load W in this case is denoted by T.

The ground control panel 20 issues an instruction to transfer the load W of the transfer source A to the load storage shelf T by the stacker crane 16 and an instruction to transfer the load W of the load storage shelf T to the transfer destination B by the stacker crane 18. The stacker crane 16 that has received the load transport instruction transports the load W and places the load W on the load storage shelf T, and the stacker crane 18 transports the load W placed on the load storage shelf T to the transport destination B.
The stacker crane 17 that is not involved in the transport of the load W is retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the stacker cranes 16 and 18 that transport the load W.
In this case, the load W can be transported from the transport source A to the transport destination B by using the two stacker cranes 16 and 18 and the empty load storage rack 12 in the common movement section X.

By the way, depending on the setting of the movable sections S1 to S3 of the stacker cranes 16 to 18, there may be no common movement section X in which the stacker cranes C1 and C2 can move together in step S5.
For example, as shown to Fig.6 (a), it is a case where the movable section S1-S3 of the stacker cranes 16-18 is set, Comprising: In the conveyance example which conveys the load W from the conveyance origin A to the conveyance destination B. is there. In this case, in the flow of FIG. 3, the process passes through steps S1, S2, and S4, but there is no common movement section X in which the stacker cranes 16 and 18 can move together in step S5.
In this case, the process proceeds to step S7, the empty load storage shelf 12 that is movable to the stacker crane 16 and is closest to the transfer destination B is set as a new transfer source A, and the process returns to step S1.

As shown in FIG. 6 (b), after setting a new transport source A (load storage shelf 12), a new first load transport cart that can be moved to the transport source A newly set in step 1 is used. The stacker crane C1 is searched again, and the stacker crane 17 corresponds to the stacker crane C1 related to the search again. In step S2, since the stacker crane 17 cannot move to the transfer destination B, the process proceeds to step S4, and the stacker crane C2 as a new second load transfer carriage that can move to the transfer destination B is searched again. In step S4, the stacker crane 18 is searched as the stacker crane C2 related to the re-search.
And it progresses to step S5 and it is discriminate | determined whether the common movement area X which the stacker crane 17 and the stacker crane 18 can move together exists. In step S5, it is determined that the common movement section X exists, and an instruction to use the empty load storage shelf 12 of the common movement section X as the load storage shelf T for passing the load W is issued.

6 (a) and 6 (b), even when there is no common movement section X in which both the stacker cranes C1 and C2 can move, the stacker crane C1 can move and is closest to the transport destination B. Re-searching the stacker crane C1 as a new first load transporting carriage movable to the new transporting source A by setting the empty load storage shelf 12 as the new transporting source A and returning to step S1. Can do.
Since the stacker crane C1 related to the re-search cannot be moved to the transport destination B, the stacker crane C2 as a new second cargo transport cart that can move to the transport destination B can be re-searched. A new common movement section X by the stacker cranes C1 and C2 can be found.

In the above transport case, the transport source A is the warehousing station 14, but when the transport source A exists in the load storage shelf 12 in the common movement section X, a plurality of stacker cranes C1 are searched in step S2. If a plurality of stacker cranes C1 are searched and all of the stacker cranes C1 are movable to the transport destination B, the ground control panel 20 transports the load W using the stacker crane C1 having the smallest transport reservation in step S3. Give instructions.
By transporting the load W using the stacker crane C1 having the smallest transport reservation, the waiting time until the load W is transported is suppressed as compared with the case of using the stacker crane C1 having the large transport reservation.

The embodiment according to the present invention has the following effects.
(1) When the stacker crane C1 that can move to the load W of the transfer source A cannot move to the transfer destination B, the ground control panel 20 searches for the stacker crane C2 that can move to the transfer destination B. When there is a common movement section X in which both the stacker crane C1 and the stacker crane C2 can move, the delivery of the load W by the stacker crane C1 and the stacker crane C2 via the empty load storage rack 12 existing in the common movement section X is performed. Do. That is, the empty load storage shelf 12 existing in the common movement section X has both a function for storing the load and a function as a shelf for passing through. In this embodiment, although a plurality of stacker cranes 16 to 18 travel on the same track, it is possible to provide a load transport method for a load transport system that is excellent in transport efficiency of load W without installing a dedicated relay shelf. it can.
(2) When the common movement section X does not exist, among the load storage shelves 12 to which the stacker crane C1 can move, an empty load storage shelf 12 closest to the transfer destination B is set as a new transfer source A. Since the ground control panel 20 re-searches the stacker crane C1 as a new first load transport cart that can move to the newly set transfer source A, the stacker crane C1 related to the re-search can move to the transfer destination B. Can be determined. Accordingly, it is possible to find the stacker crane C1 related to the re-search or the stacker crane C2 related to the re-search that can move to the transport destination B.

(3) Even when there are a plurality of stacker cranes C1 that can be moved to the transfer destination B, the stacker crane C1 with a small transfer reservation is selected and an instruction to transfer the load W is issued. It is possible to suppress the decrease in the conveyance efficiency of the load W.
(4) Since there is no need to provide relay shelves, the number of load storage shelves 12 can be increased compared with the case where relay shelves are provided, and the storage efficiency of the storage shelf rows 11 is improved.
(5) Compared to the case where a relay shelf is provided, the number of stacker cranes used for transporting the load W from the transport source A to the transport destination B can be minimized, and for relaying the load W Transfer time can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the invention. For example, the following modifications may be made.
In the above embodiment, an example of an automatic warehouse including a pair of storage shelf rows and three stacker cranes has been described as a load transport system, but the load transport system is not limited to an automatic warehouse. For example, the load transport system may include a warehousing port row having a plurality of warehousing ports, a warehousing port row having a plurality of warehousing ports, and a plurality of loads traveling on a track provided between the warehousing port row and the warehousing port row. It may be a cargo handling system or a cargo sorting system that is provided with a transporting carriage and that transports the cargo received at each warehousing port to a shipping port determined for each cargo. The load carrying cart is not limited to a stacker crane, and may be a tracked cart or an automatic guided vehicle.
In the above embodiment, three stacker cranes are used as the load transport carts. However, the number of load transport carts is not limited to three, and at least a plurality of load transport carts may be used. In the case of two load transport carts, It is necessary to set a common movement section in which the load carrying cart can move together.
In the above embodiment, the control means is the ground control panel provided in the automatic warehouse, but the control means is not limited to the ground control panel. Since the control means only needs to be able to issue a load conveyance instruction to the load conveyance carriage, for example, an upper management computer can be used as the control means.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Automatic warehouse 11 Storage shelf row 12 Load storage shelf 14 Warehousing station 15 Unloading station 16, 17, 18 Stacker crane 19 Rail 20 Ground control panel 21 Upper management computer A Transport source B Transport destination C1 Stacker crane C2 searched in step S1 Stacker cranes S1, S2, S3 searched in step S4 movable section X common moving section W

Claims (3)

Load transport provided with a plurality of load transport carts traveling on the same track, a plurality of load storage shelves arranged along the track, and a control means for controlling the transport of loads by the plurality of load transport carts A system for carrying a load,
When a load transfer request to transfer a load from the transfer source to the transfer destination occurs,
The control means includes
Search for the first load transport cart that can move to the transport source among the plurality of load transport carts,
Determining whether the first load transport cart can be moved to the transport destination;
When the movement of the first cargo transport cart to the transport destination is impossible, search for the second cargo transport cart capable of moving to the transport destination;
Determining whether or not there is a common movement section in which the first cargo transportation cart and the second cargo transportation cart can move together;
When the common movement section exists,
A load transfer method of a load transfer system, wherein an instruction to deliver the load by the first load transfer carriage and the second load transfer carriage is issued through the empty load storage shelves in the common movement section.   The control means, when the common movement section does not exist, set the empty load storage shelf closest to the transfer destination among the load storage shelves to which the first load transfer carriage can move as a new transfer source, 2. The load transfer method for a load transfer system according to claim 1, wherein a new first load transfer carriage that can move to the new transfer source is searched again.   The control means, when there are a plurality of the first load transport carts, selects the first load transport cart with the smallest transport reservation and issues an instruction to transport the load to a transport destination. 3. A load carrying method of the load carrying system according to 1 or 2.

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