Device for moving articles into or out of a warehouse and for cleaning the warehouse, and method for operating such a device

Abstract

A device for storing and retrieving goods (6), in particular pharmaceutical packages, has at least one staging area where the goods (6) are provided, at least one rack (2) with storage places for storing the goods (6) and a storage and retrieval machine (8) for accessing the staging area and the storage places, wherein the storage and retrieval machine (8) includes at least one receiving device for receiving one or more of the goods, and a cleaning device with cleaning agents (10) automated by a control system for cleaning the device and / or the goods.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a device for storing and retrieving goods, in particular pharmaceutical packaging, and a method for operating such a device.

[0002] A device for the automated, unsorted storage of small, cuboid packages, such as pharmaceutical packaging, is disclosed in DE 10 2004 013 353. This device has a feeding station in the form of a continuous conveyor, which runs outside the storage area and conveys the items to be stored from this feeding station to the working area of ​​at least one storage and retrieval machine via a transfer unit, where they are placed on trays that form a buffer. Before being placed on the buffer tray, the items to be stored are identified by means of a barcode scanner or other sensors, such as cameras, and their dimensions are measured so that a suitable storage location can be found by a computer control system of the storage device. Both the identification and the measurement of the items can be carried out entirely automatically in a manner known per se.To reduce system costs, it is common practice to have an operator perform the identification process as part of a handling operation. The operator scans the item's barcode with a reader and then places the item on the continuous conveyor. While the goods are being placed on the conveyor one after the other, with space between them, the conveyor feeds them to the transfer unit, which places the items on trays for later retrieval by the storage and retrieval machine (SRM). The SRM picks up the items from these trays and places them in the computer-defined storage location on one of the shelves that form the rack. The computer control system knows the positions of the items on the trays, allowing the SRM to access them directly.

[0003] Such devices for the automated storage and retrieval of goods, which are also called order picking devices, have proven particularly effective due to the speed with which they enable the storage and retrieval of goods and also due to the good ratio of storage space to storable goods volume.

[0004] However, it has proven problematic that the storage facilities become contaminated over time by dust that is in the ambient air or on the goods being stored, as well as by micro-abrasion on the goods.

[0005] Cleaning of the known order picking systems is currently done manually. For safety reasons, the systems must be at least partially shut down to prevent any risk to cleaning personnel from the automated equipment. Since many of these systems are also equipped with high-bay racking, cleaning personnel often need ladders or platforms to reach the upper shelves. Above a certain height, they must wear fall protection equipment. Cleaning such order picking systems is therefore currently very time-consuming and labor-intensive.Besides the fact that the machine must remain switched off for the entire duration of the cleaning process, and that partial operation of a section of the warehouse is not possible for safety reasons, and that it cannot be guaranteed that the cleaning personnel have sufficient knowledge of how to restart the system, there is also a risk, particularly with light goods such as pharmaceutical packaging, that the cleaning personnel will move the goods and the storage and retrieval machine will no longer be able to locate the goods whose target positions are stored in the device's control system, or that—due to the movement—safe gripping of the goods with the intended gripper device will no longer be possible. Furthermore, it sometimes happens that climbing aids brought into the warehouse, such as stepladders or small ladders, are forgotten and cause enormous damage to the machine after it is restarted.

[0006] A device according to the preamble of claim 1 is known, for example, from JP 2007 168 968 A, WO 2008 / 0619 51 or JPA 06 618 14 U.

[0007] JP 2007 168 968 A discloses a high-bay warehouse with a storage and retrieval machine (SRM) that can place large storage boxes into individual storage locations within the warehouse. One of the storage racks is equipped with a cleaning device for cleaning the storage surfaces where the storage boxes are placed. The cleaning device, lowered onto a storage surface by the SRM, performs the cleaning automatically.

[0008] WO 2008 / 061951 A discloses a picking system with several rows of shelves and several picking robots, each movable between two rows of shelves, designed to store and retrieve goods in boxes from the shelves. The picking robots are equipped with a cleaning device consisting of a nozzle assembly and two rotating brushes. The cleaning device allows the storage locations in the rows of shelves to be cleaned, provided no boxes are stored there. The picking robot is rigidly connected to the cleaning device and does not move during cleaning.

[0009] JP H06 61814 U discloses a device for storing and retrieving goods, with at least one staging area where the goods can be placed. A rack with storage locations for the goods and a storage and retrieval machine for accessing the staging area and the storage locations are provided. A cleaning agent can be picked up and fed to empty storage locations for cleaning. The cleaning movements are carried out by the storage and retrieval machine that picks up the cleaning agent.

[0010] Based on this state of the art, the invention is therefore based on the objective of further developing a generic device in such a way that it can be operated more economically.

[0011] This problem is solved by the subject matter of the independent patent claims. Advantageous embodiments are the subject matter of the respective dependent patent claims.

[0012] In the device provided according to the invention, the goods in the warehouse and, if applicable, the storage device itself can be cleaned without requiring at least a partial shutdown of the device. Furthermore, since manual cleaning of the device is no longer necessary, such a device according to the invention can be operated more economically.

[0013] According to the invention, a "staging area" is understood to be a storage location where goods are placed for pickup by the storage and retrieval machine. This can be a storage location where the goods are placed manually by an operator. However, it can also be, for example, a transfer position where the goods are transferred from an automated transport device to the storage and retrieval machine.

[0014] According to the invention, not only high-bay racking systems with multiple shelves arranged one above the other, but also storage systems with only one storage level or drawer systems are covered.

[0015] The receiving device of the device according to the invention is designed as a gripping device for clamping the goods. Such a design of the receiving device can be particularly flexible with regard to different geometries of the goods to be stored and retrieved. In the receiving device designed as a gripping device, it is provided that the cleaning agent is fixed by means of this device and that the cleaning movements are carried out by means of it.

[0016] The cleaning agent can be given a barcode that identifies it as a special item. It can be scanned like other goods and placed on the conveyor belt or in the storage rack. The gripper then retrieves it and stores it in an available space. When cleaning is required, the machine retrieves the cleaning agent and places it in an available space.

[0017] Preferably, the cleaning agent is designed as an electrostatic duster. Such dusters are well known in the art. These are dry cloths or cloths moistened with a cleaning fluid which, when rubbed over the surface to be cleaned, become electrostatically charged, thereby attracting dust.

[0018] Preferably, the control system of the device assigns a lower priority to the cleaning process than to the storage and retrieval of goods.

[0019] This can be achieved particularly advantageously by carrying out cleaning primarily or only when no goods are being stored or retrieved. This prevents the operation of the device from being negatively affected by the cleaning process.

[0020] Furthermore, it can be provided that cleaning is interrupted during necessary loading or unloading. In this case, the cleaning agent, held by the receiving device, can be placed at any desired or defined position, and this position can be stored in the control system. Once the loading or unloading process is complete, the cleaning process can be resumed, with the cleaning agent being picked up again by the receiving device at the storage location stored in the control system.

[0021] Preferably, it can be provided that an area of ​​the shelf intended for cleaning is cleared before cleaning using the storage and retrieval machine.

[0022] This can be achieved, for example, by having the control system empty a section of the rack due to a blockage preventing the storage of goods and / or due to a preferred retrieval procedure for subsequent cleaning. In this way, the designated section of the rack is emptied passively by the storage and retrieval machine, without requiring the machine to operate exclusively for the cleaning process. Such a control system can be particularly advantageous when the facility has a high throughput of storage and retrieval, resulting in no or only minimal downtime for the storage and retrieval machine.

[0023] Clearing a section of the rack of goods can still be achieved by actively relocating the goods using the storage and retrieval machine. Such relocation of goods for a subsequent cleaning process is particularly useful when the system has extended downtimes for loading and unloading goods, or when cleaning of the designated section must be carried out at short notice, so that there is insufficient time available for passive emptying according to the previously described alternative.

[0024] Advantageously, the goods can be re-sorted at the same time during the relocation, so that, for example, the storage capacity of the shelf can be increased by grouping goods with the same or similar packaging sizes.

[0025] After cleaning and a waiting period that may be required, for example to allow the cleaned surfaces to dry, the cleared section of the shelf can be released again by the control system, so that goods can be stored in this section again.

[0026] Advantageously, the entire shelf of the device can be cleaned successively by clearing, cleaning, and clearing all sections of the shelf one after the other.

[0027] Moving or rearranging items can also be used for inventory purposes. When removing items from the shelf, they can be recorded, for example, by reading their identification (e.g., RFID) or by performing a plausibility check based on their size. The length can be measured, for example, when the item is pulled up, using a light barrier, ultrasonic sensor, etc., and compared with the item dimensions. Comparison with camera images is also possible.

[0028] In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cleaning agent of the cleaning device can be placed at the staging area for maintenance or replacement by means of the gripping device at defined intervals, which can be determined by counting and recording the cleaning processes, or replaced by other cleaning agents already stored, in order to avoid any interruptions. The cleaning agent can then be replaced, for example, by an operator.

[0029] An inventive method is characterized by the fact that Cleaning of a device of this type is carried out when no goods are being stored or retrieved.

[0030] The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings.

[0031] The drawings show: Fig. 1a picking device with a storage and retrieval machine and a cleaning agent; Fig. 2 A detailed view of the storage and retrieval machine with cleaning agent.

[0032] A picking system 1 has several shelves 2 with storage locations 4. Goods 6 (such as packages of medicine) are located in these storage locations. These goods 6 are stored and retrieved from the storage locations by a storage and retrieval machine 8. A cleaning agent 10 is located within reach of the storage and retrieval machine, just like the goods 6, at a storage location 4.

[0033] To clean storage locations 4, the cleaning agent 10 is picked up by the storage and retrieval machine 8 and transferred to empty storage locations 12 for cleaning. Alternatively, an entire shelf is cleaned by first clearing it of the goods 6 by transferring them to an empty, possibly already cleaned, shelf using the storage and retrieval machine 8, so that the cleared shelf can then be cleaned with the cleaning agent 10.

[0034] The cleaning agent 10, which can be designed as a sponge or cleaning block, is stored in the picking device 1 like the goods 6 with regard to its positioning together with the special information that it is a cleaning agent.

Claims

1. Apparatus (1) for storage and removal of items (6), in particular medicament packages, with at least one preparation place on which the items (6) are prepared, with at least one shelf (2) with storage places (4) for storing the items (6), with a cleaning means (10) for cleaning the items (6) and / or the apparatus (1), in particular the shelf (2), with at least one shelf operating device (8) for moving to the preparation place and the storage places (4), wherein the shelf operating device (8) comprises at least one receiving device for receiving one or more of the items (6), and with a control, characterised in that the receiving device is designed as a gripping device for taking hold of the items (6) and that the control is adjusted for the automated cleaning of the items (6) or the device (1), wherein the cleaning means (10) is held tight by the gripping device, the shelf operating device (8) is guided to a region of the apparatus (1) or to the item (6), so as to clean the region of the apparatus (1) or the item (6), and the cleaning movements are executed by the gripping device.

2. Apparatus according to clam 1, characterised in that the cleaning means (10) is formed as an electrostatic dust cloth.

3. Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the control is adjusted so that a lower priority is allocated to the cleaning than to the storage and removal of the items (6).

4. Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the control is adjusted so that the cleaning means (10) is deposited at an arbitrary or defined position, this position being stored in the control.

5. Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the control is adjusted so that the cleaning means (10) is during storage scanned and stored like the items (6) and thereby is stored with the information that it is the cleaning means (10).

6. Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the control is adjusted so that a section of the shelf (2) intended for cleaning is kept free before the cleaning by a blocking for storage of items (6) in this section of the shelf (2) for this subsequent cleaning.

7. Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the control is adjusted so that a section of the shelf (2) intended for the cleaning is vacated by means of the shelf operating device (8) before the cleaning.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, characterised in that the control is adjusted so that the section of the shelf (2) is emptied on the basis of a preferred removal of items (6) in this section for subsequent cleaning.

9. Apparatus according to claim 7, characterised in that the control is adjusted so that the items (6) stored in this section are rearranged.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, characterised in that the control is adjusted so that a new sorting and / or inventory of the items (6) is performed in the rearrangement.

11. Apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, characterised in that the control is adjusted so that successive different sections of the shelf (2) are cleaned.

12. Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the control is adjusted so that the cleaning means (10) is removed at defined intervals for maintenance or an exchange by means of the gripping device at the preparation place, or is replaced by further stored cleaning means.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12, characterised in that the control is adjusted so that the cleaning procedures are counted and that the intervals are determined according to the number of cleaning procedures.

14. Method for operating an apparatus (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the cleaning is carried out when a storage or removal of items takes place.