JPH08108903A - Automatic warehouse equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] An object of the present invention is to divide a loading area and a storage area into layers, and make a loading / unloading line vertical to effectively use the space to increase the amount of stored luggage. It is to provide a new automatic warehouse facility that can be used. According to the present invention, a storage area 2 for storing a load A and a handling area 1 for loading and unloading the load A into and from the storage area 2 are provided.
In the automatic warehouse equipment that has formed
The storage area 2 is formed above the storage area, and the loading area 1 and the storage area 2 are connected by a vertical loop-shaped loading / unloading line 3 that circulates the load A.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic warehouse facility capable of individually loading and unloading cargo, and more particularly to an automatic warehouse facility having a storage area provided above a cargo handling area.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional automatic warehouse facility. As shown in the figure, this automatic warehouse comprises a storage area a in which racks h for storing loads A in a stacked state are arranged in parallel, and a loading area b for loading and unloading the loads A. In the storage area a, a plurality of stacker cranes c that travel between the racks h to move in and out the luggage A, and in the loading and unloading area b, a plane on which a luggage carrier i for loading and unloading the luggage A travels. Loop-shaped loading / unloading lines d are provided respectively, and an arbitrary stored item A can be loaded / unloaded individually via the loading / unloading line d between the storage area a and the loading / unloading area b. Further, a plurality of loading / unloading conveyors e, a picking conveyor g, and a station conveyor f connected to each rack h are faced to this plane loop-shaped loading / unloading line d, and the loading / unloading area b and the loading / unloading line d. The loading / unloading line d and the stacker crane c are designed to automatically transfer the parcel A and picking work by computer control. For example, luggage A transported from a truck, etc.
A predetermined station facing the storage area a side after being transferred by the worker to the trolley i traveling on the loading / unloading line d through the warehousing conveyor e ₁ on the loading / unloading area b side and transported to the storage area a side. After passing through the conveyor f and being transferred to the stacker crane c, the stacker crane c
Is automatically transported into the storage area a and automatically stored in the designated rack h, and conversely, the stored luggage A designates the address in the stored rack h. As a result, it is extracted by the stacker crane c and automatically taken out to the side of the loading area b via the station conveyor f, the loading / unloading line d, and the shipping conveyor e ₂ of the loading area b.

[0003]

By the way, as shown in FIG. 6, in most conventional automatic warehouse facilities, the storage area a and the handling area b are provided on the same floor. There is a drawback that the upper space is wasted, the occupied area of the storage area a is narrowed, and the storage amount of the luggage A in the storage area a is limited. For this reason, an automatic warehouse facility has been proposed in which a cargo handling area b is provided on the first floor and a storage area a is provided on the second floor and above. However, as described above, the loading / unloading line d on which the cart i travels
Since it has a plane loop shape, a fairly large space is still occupied even on the second floor, and the handling area b on the first floor and the loading / unloading line d on the second floor are occupied. It was not easy to hand over luggage A with him.

Therefore, the present invention has been devised in order to effectively solve the above problems, and its purpose is to increase the storage capacity of luggage by making the exclusive space of the loading / unloading line as small as possible. It is to provide a new automatic warehouse facility that can

[0005]

The present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems provides an automatic warehouse facility having a storage area for storing loads and a handling area for loading and unloading loads in the storage area. A storage area is formed above the loading / unloading area, and the loading / unloading area and the storage area are connected by a vertical loop-shaped loading / unloading line that circulates a load, and the loading / unloading line is on the loading / unloading area side. Connect the lower transfer line that is provided to transfer cargo for loading and unloading, the upper transfer line that is provided on the storage area side and that exchanges load with the storage area, and the ends of the upper and lower lines. It is composed of a lifting device to be handed over.

[0006]

According to the present invention, as described above, the storage area is formed above the loading / unloading area, and the loading / unloading area and the storage area are connected by the vertical loop-shaped loading / unloading line for circulating the load. The area occupied by the mold loop-shaped loading / unloading line is reduced, and the storage area can be increased accordingly. Further, since this loading / unloading line is formed by connecting the end portions of the upper transfer line provided on the storage area side and the lower transfer line provided on the loading area side with the lifting device, Even if the storage area is formed on a different floor, the lifting device can easily transfer the load.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an automatic warehouse facility according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are plan views thereof. As shown in the figure, in this automatic warehouse equipment, a cargo handling area 1 is formed on the lowest floor, that is, the first floor, and a storage area 2 is formed on the upper floor, that is, the second floor, and the cargo handling area 1 and the storage area 2 are formed. The spaces are connected by a vertical loop-shaped loading / unloading line 3.

The storage area 2 is an automatic warehouse having a structure similar to the conventional one, and lattice racks 4 for individually storing the loads A in a stacked state are provided in parallel at predetermined intervals. A plurality of stacker cranes 5 for individually storing and taking out the luggage A are provided between these racks 4 so as to be freely run by computer control.

Further, the loading / unloading line 3 according to the present invention has ends of a lower transfer line 6 and an upper transfer line 7 which are linearly provided in parallel with each other at the ends of the loading area 1 and the storage area 2. The comrades are connected in a vertical loop shape by an ascending lifter 8 and a descending lifter 9, respectively. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of baggage carrying carriages 10 carrying a baggage A are connected to a lower transfer line 6 and an upper transfer line. It is designed to circulate between 7 loops. The ascending lifter 8 and the descending lifter 9 deliver the luggage carrier 10 at the ends of the lower carrier line 6 and the upper carrier line 7 in order to convey the luggage carrier 10 in a loop. For example, a lifting device configured as shown in FIG. 4 is used. As shown in the figure, the lifters 8 and 9 are vertical frames 11 like a substantially rectangular parallelepiped.
A gauge 12 is provided so as to be able to move up and down, and an elevating section 16 including an elevating motor 13, a hoisting wheel 14, a counter wheel 15 and the like is provided on the top of the gauge 12, and the gauge 12 is inserted through the elevating section 16. The delivery conveyor 18 is connected to the main ropes 17 to move the gauge 12 up and down in the frame 11. The ends of the transfer lines 6 and 7 are exposed at the entrance / exit, and the gauge 12 is provided with a sensor or the like (not shown) for detecting the luggage carrier 10. The gauge 12 serves to detect the luggage carrier 10. As it moves up and down, gauge 1
The baggage carrier 10 can be easily transferred between the end of the transfer line 6 and the end of the transfer line 6, 7.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lower transfer line 6 is arranged so that the respective end portions of the loading / unloading conveyor 18 and the picking conveyor 19 which are roller conveyors intersect each other at a right angle. The loading / unloading area 1 and the lower transfer line 6 are capable of performing delivery of the luggage A and picking work from the luggage A. On the other hand, the upper transfer line 7 is arranged so that the end portions of the station conveyors 20 made of roller conveyors extending from the racks 4 in the storage area 2 intersect at right angles, and the stacker cranes 5 and the upper transfer line 7 are connected to each other. Cargo carrier 10 described later in
Can be handed over. As the luggage carrier 10, for example, a so-called car truck as shown in FIG. 5 is used. This car truck is self-propelled on the transfer lines 6 and 7 in the same manner as that which has been conventionally used, is equipped with various sensors, and is run on a base 21 which is stopped at a predetermined position by computer control. A traverser 22 that moves in the direction orthogonal to the direction is provided, and as shown in the drawing, the cargo A can be automatically transferred between the conveyors 18, 19 and 20 via the pallet 23.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

When storing the cargo A handled in the cargo handling area 1 in the predetermined rack 4 in the storage area 2, first, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, first load the cargo A handled in the cargo handling area 1. It is delivered to the loading / unloading conveyor 18 on the loading end side. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the parcel A is loaded / unloaded together with the pallet 23 on which the parcel A is placed.
After being delivered to the side of the luggage transfer carriage 10 on the lower transfer line 6 via the, the luggage transfer carriage 10 transfers the cargo on the lower transfer line 6 to the lifting lifter 8 side as shown in FIG. The trolley 10 that has reached the lift lifter 8 side is placed on the gauge 12 of the lift lifter 8 from the lower transfer line 6, then moves up in the lift lifter 8 and moves to the storage area 2 side. The carriage 10 that has moved to the storage area 2 side transfers to the upper transfer line 7 and then travels to the lower transfer lifter 9 side along the upper transfer line 7 and stops at a position where a predetermined station conveyor 20 faces, and then, as shown in FIG. As shown, the load A placed by the traverser 22 is transferred to the station conveyor 20 together with the pallet 23. Then, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, after further moving the load A on the station conveyor 20 to the rack 4 side, the load A is transferred to the stacker crane 5 waiting there, and thereby the predetermined position is reached. Will be stored in the rack 4. It should be noted that these series of operations are automatically performed by a computer provided in a control room (not shown).
Since this operation is almost the same as the existing one, its details are omitted. Next, when the luggage A stored in the storage area 2 is unloaded to the loading / unloading area 1 side,
First, after being picked from inside the rack 4 by the stacker crane 5, it is transferred onto the carriage 10 located on the upper transfer line 7 via the station conveyor 2. Then, the trolley 10 on which the baggage A is mounted travels on the upper transfer line 7 toward the descending lifter 9 side, and when it reaches the descending lifter 9 side, it is transferred to the gauge 12 inside thereof and moves inside the descending lifter 9. After descending, it passes through the lower transfer line 6 and is transferred to the loading / unloading conveyor 18 or the picking conveyor 19 on the side of the loading / unloading area 1 for use in shipping or picking work.

As described above, according to the present invention, the storage area is formed above the loading / unloading area, and the loading / unloading area and the storage area are connected by the vertical loop-shaped loading / unloading line for circulating the load. The area occupied by the mold loop-shaped loading / unloading line is reduced, and the storage area can be increased accordingly. In addition, this loading / unloading line is constructed by connecting the ends of the upper transfer line provided on the storage area side and the lower transfer line provided on the loading area side with a lifter. Even if it is formed on a floor different from the area, the loader can easily transfer the load. In this embodiment, the loading / unloading conveyor 18 and the picking conveyor 19 are provided only on one side of the lower transfer line 6, but these conveyors 18, 19 may be provided on both sides thereof. In addition, the efficiency of the loading / unloading work and the picking work can be further improved. Further, it goes without saying that the configurations of the lifting device and the carriage are not limited to those shown in this embodiment.

[0015]

In summary, according to the present invention, by using the vertical loop-shaped loading / unloading line, the area occupied by the loading / unloading line can be reduced, so that the area of the storage area is increased and the storage amount of the luggage can be reduced. It has an excellent effect that it can be increased.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a cargo handling area according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a storage area according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a lifter used in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a luggage carrier truck used in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a bird's-eye view showing an example of a conventional automatic warehouse facility.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Handling area 2 Storage area 3 Entry / exit line 6 Lower transfer line 7 Upper transfer line 8,9 Lifter A Luggage

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic warehouse facility having a storage area for storing a load and a loading / unloading area for loading / unloading the load into / from the storage area, wherein the loading area is formed above the loading / unloading area. An automatic warehouse facility characterized in that the storage area and the storage area are connected by a vertical loop-shaped loading / unloading line for circulating loads. 2. The loading and unloading line is provided on the side of the loading and unloading area, and a lower transfer line for loading and unloading goods and an upper transfer line for loading and unloading the storage area. 2. The automatic warehouse equipment according to claim 1, further comprising an elevating device for connecting the ends of upper and lower lines to each other and transferring a load.