Sorting method, computer storage medium and sorting workstation

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of material sorting, in particular to a sorting method, a computer storage medium and a sorting workstation. The method comprises the steps that A, a material moving device moves a material box to a conveying line; b, the conveying line transfers the material box to the direction of a discharging port and sends a discharging completion signal at the same time; c, the material box is sensed to be in place, code scanning operation is conducted on the material box, if operation succeeds, the step D is executed, and if not, alarm processing is conducted; d, the identity codes of the material boxes are uploaded, and then the goods in the material boxes are sorted; e, after goods sorting is completed, the material box is detected, and if the material box is normal, the material box is conveyed to a material taking opening and taken away by a material moving device; and if the material box is abnormal, the material box is directly moved out of the conveying line. According to the invention, through a mode of sending a signal through a discharging port, the next material box is transmitted only after sorting is completed, so that the flexibility is improved; and after the goods in the material box are taken out, the material box is detected, the abnormal material box is found in time and taken away, and the abnormal material box is prevented from being circulated again.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of material sorting, and in particular to a sorting method, a computer storage medium and a sorting workstation. Background Art

[0002] At present, materials are usually stored in bins. When in use, the bins and materials are transported to a specific location. The required materials are taken out of the bins manually or by a robot. The bins with the materials taken out are then moved to another location for collection (i.e., sorting). In this way, the prior art usually uses intermittent working to transport bins. That is, after the bins are placed in the conveyor line, the conveyor line itself will move periodically, so that each bin can stay at the discharge position for a certain period of time to facilitate material collection; and after the bins are moved to the collection position, they can also stay for a certain period of time to be collected.

[0003] However, this method obviously has very low flexibility, and when a material box has a problem and can no longer be used, it cannot be discovered and removed in time, resulting in the abnormal material box continuing to be used, bringing production risks. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention aims at providing a sorting method, a computer storage medium and a sorting workstation to solve the problems of the prior art, which can transfer material boxes when needed and can be promptly removed and no longer circulated when the material boxes are abnormal.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] The present invention provides a sorting method, comprising the following steps:

[0007] A. Send the material discharge signal, and the material transfer device transfers the material box to the conveyor line;

[0008] B. The conveyor line moves the material box toward the discharge port and sends a discharge completion signal at the same time;

[0009] C. Sense the material box in place and scan the code on the material box. If the operation is successful, execute step D, otherwise, issue an alarm.

[0010] D. Upload the identity code of the material box, and then sort the goods in the material box;

[0011] E. After the goods are sorted, the material box is inspected. If the material box is normal, it will be transferred to the material taking port and taken away by the material transfer device; if the material box is abnormal, the material box will be directly moved out of the conveyor line.

[0012] Further, step A specifically includes:

[0013] A1. Sense whether there is material at the discharge port. If yes, go to step A2; otherwise, go to step A3;

[0014] A2. Wait until the material box at the discharge port leaves the discharge port, and then execute step A3;

[0015] A3. Send a no-material signal to WMS, which will then send a material transfer device with a material box to the conveyor line.

[0016] Furthermore, step A1 is performed by at least one of the following two methods:

[0017] Sensing is performed via a sensor disposed at the discharge port;

[0018] A signal sent by the target to sort the items in the bin.

[0019] Further, step C specifically includes:

[0020] C1. Sense the material box in place and scan the code of the material box. If the code is scanned successfully, go to step C2, otherwise go to step C3;

[0021] C2. Upload the scanned information to WMS, store and match the information through WMS, and then execute step D;

[0022] C3. Alarm the unsuccessful scanning action, reset the alarm action after confirming the alarm information, and then scan the material box for the second time. If the scanning is successful, execute step C2, otherwise execute step C4;

[0023] C4. Take away the material box, then send a signal value WMS, and execute step A under the control of WMS.

[0024] Furthermore, the second scanning of the material box specifically includes:

[0025] Inspect the outer wall of the material box to determine whether the identity code exists;

[0026] The identity code is photographed, and then the identity code is extracted from the image obtained by the selfie and scanned.

[0027] Furthermore, step E specifically includes:

[0028] E1. Inspect the appearance of the material box and upload the inspection results to WMS;

[0029] E2. The WMS determines whether the material box is abnormal by combining the judgment factors, and sends a judgment value according to the judgment result; wherein the judgment value is 1 or 2;

[0030] E3. The conveyor line receives the judgment value. If the judgment value is 1, the material box is conveyed to the material taking port. If the judgment value is 2, the material box is not conveyed and a prompt action is given;

[0031] E4. The material box is transported to the material extraction port, picked up by the transfer device and transferred to the warehouse for storage.

[0032] Furthermore, in step E2, the judgment factors include one or more of the appearance of the material box, the internal structure of the material box, the number of times the material box is used, and the length of time the material box is used.

[0033] Furthermore, in step E4, after the transfer device picks up the material box, the transfer device sends a signal to the WMS, and the WMS generates a signal indicating that the material picking is completed and binds it to the identity code of the material box.

[0034] The present invention also provides a computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium stores a program for executing the above-mentioned sorting method.

[0035] The present invention also provides a sorting workstation, comprising the above-mentioned computer storage medium.

[0036] Beneficial effects of the present invention: The present invention transmits the next material box only after sorting is completed by sending signals through the discharge port, thereby improving flexibility; and after the goods in the material box are taken out, the material box is inspected, abnormal material boxes are discovered and removed in time, and the abnormal material boxes are avoided from being circulated again. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Figure 1 It is a general flow chart of the present invention.

[0038] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the specific steps of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] In order to facilitate the understanding of those skilled in the art, the present invention is further described below in conjunction with the embodiments and drawings, and the contents mentioned in the embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings.

[0040] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, a sorting method provided by the present invention comprises the following steps:

[0041] A. Send the material discharge signal, and the material transfer device transfers the material box to the conveyor line;

[0042] B. The conveyor line moves the material box toward the discharge port and sends a discharge completion signal at the same time;

[0043] C. Sense the material box in place and scan the code on the material box. If the operation is successful, execute step D, otherwise, issue an alarm.

[0044] D. Upload the identity code of the material box, and then sort the goods in the material box;

[0045] E. After the goods are sorted, the material box is inspected. If the material box is normal, it will be transferred to the material taking port and taken away by the material transfer device; if the material box is abnormal, the material box will be directly moved out of the conveyor line.

[0046] The present invention can be applied to a large-scale sorting system, which includes a WMS and multiple sorting workstations. The WMS coordinates all sorting workstations. Each sorting workstation is equipped with a computer storage medium, which stores the method for executing the present invention.

[0047] Take a sorting workstation as an example. There are multiple kinds of goods placed in the material box, but this sorting workstation only needs one of them. At this time, the present invention needs to check whether there is a material box at the discharge port when starting up. When it is detected that there is no material box, it will generate and send a signal that the material is needed. At this time, the sorting system is equipped with a material transfer device (preferably an AGV trolley) to transfer the material box to the conveyor line of the sorting workstation, and then transfer the material box to the material collection port via the conveyor line; then at the material collection port, the material box is scanned to identify the identity of the material box and uploaded, and then the goods in the material box are sorted manually or by robots; after the sorting is completed, the conveyor line transfers the material box to the material collection port, and it is taken away by the transfer device.

[0048] In the above process, due to various conditions, there are situations where the code scanning fails. At this time, an alarm is issued, and the specific actions will be described later. The present invention binds the material box to each action, thereby ensuring traceability. After the goods in the material box are sorted, they may be taken away in full or in part. However, for this sorting workstation, both of the above situations mean that the goods have been taken away. The sorting workstation can generate corresponding signals and transmit them to the WMS. The WMS matches the corresponding transfer device to take the material box and transfer it to the location where the next action is to be performed.

[0049] In addition, every time the goods in the material box are taken out, the material box needs to be inspected to determine whether the material box is in an abnormal state; for the material box that enters the abnormal state, the present invention tends to take it away directly instead of having it taken away by a transfer device: taking manual material acquisition as an example, the abnormal material box is directly taken away from the material box discharge port by manual labor and transferred to a specific location. At the same time, the information about the abnormal material box is uploaded to the WMS and bound to the material box identity code through the WMS, so as to avoid the abnormal material box from continuing to circulate and posing a hidden danger to production.

[0050] In this embodiment, step A specifically includes:

[0051] A1. Sense whether there is material at the discharge port. If yes, go to step A2; otherwise, go to step A3;

[0052] A2. Wait until the material box at the discharge port leaves the discharge port, and then execute step A3;

[0053] A3. Send a no-material signal to WMS, which will then send a material transfer device with a material box to the conveyor line.

[0054] In actual operation, step A1 is performed in at least one of the following two ways:

[0055] Sensing is performed via a sensor disposed at the discharge port;

[0056] A signal sent by the target to sort the items in the bin.

[0057] That is, the present invention determines whether there is material at the discharge port by sensing the discharge port or by sending a signal by a person / manipulator sorting the goods. When and only when there is no material, the material moving device will be controlled to send the material box to the conveyor line. During the period when the material box is transmitted from the conveyor line to the discharge port, the person / manipulator can sort or use the goods, so that the work rhythm can correspond.

[0058] Specifically, when selecting the material transfer device for the conveyor box, the WMS has a judgment priority, and the priority is determined according to the following conditions:

[0059] 1. Transfer devices that are not selected by other sorting workstations;

[0060] 2. Whether the transfer device is currently loaded with a material box;

[0061] 3. The path from the transfer device to the conveyor line is the shortest, or the total path from the transfer device receiving the material box to the conveyor line is the shortest;

[0062] 4. There are no other transfer devices in use or about to be used on the path where the transfer device reaches the conveyor line.

[0063] That is, priority is given to the unselected transfer devices, and then priority is given to the transfer devices that are currently loaded with material boxes and have goods in the material boxes, and then the transfer devices are selected according to the path length, and finally the transfer devices are selected according to whether there are other transfer devices in the path. The three conditions have a priority order, which can ensure that the selected transfer device is the target that can transfer the material box to the conveyor line the fastest, thereby ensuring efficiency.

[0064] In this embodiment, step C specifically includes:

[0065] C1. Sense the material box in place and scan the code of the material box. If the code is scanned successfully, go to step C2, otherwise go to step C3;

[0066] C2. Upload the scanned information to WMS, store and match the information through WMS, and then execute step D;

[0067] C3. Alarm the unsuccessful scanning action, reset the alarm action after confirming the alarm information, and then scan the material box for the second time. If the scanning is successful, execute step C2, otherwise execute step C4;

[0068] C4. Take away the material box, then send a signal value WMS, and execute step A under the control of WMS.

[0069] That is, the identity code of the material box is bound to the position / current status of the material box. When the material box is transferred to the material transfer device, it will also be scanned once and bound to the material transfer device; when the material box is transferred from the conveyor line to the discharge port, the discharge port needs to first scan the material box for identification, so as to obtain the identity information and other information of the material box, and update the status of the material box to the sorted goods. However, during the use of the material box, due to various factors, its identity code may be damaged or cannot be scanned. At this time, the present invention will alarm the material box that cannot be scanned smoothly, such as through actions such as buzzer warnings, so that the staff can reach the discharge port to adjust the position of the material box, and then scan the code again; if the second scan still fails, the identity code of the material box is determined to be damaged or the information stored in the identity code is abnormal. At this time, the staff will directly take the material box away and record the scrapping of the material box in the WMS, so as to avoid data confusion.

[0070] Specifically, the second scanning of the material box includes:

[0071] Inspect the outer wall of the material box to determine whether the identity code exists;

[0072] The identity code is photographed, and then the identity code is extracted from the image obtained by the selfie and scanned.

[0073] That is, after the alarm is processed, the present invention can also make adjustments by itself: that is, take a photo of the outer wall of the material box, analyze based on the photo whether the position of the identity code has been swapped and the code cannot be successfully scanned, and scan and read the code after the identity code is found. If the code scan still fails, it indicates that the material box does not belong to the content recorded by the WMS, and the staff needs to take the material box away.

[0074] In this embodiment, step E specifically includes:

[0075] E1. Inspect the appearance of the material box and upload the inspection results to WMS;

[0076] E2. The WMS determines whether the material box is abnormal by combining the judgment factors, and sends a judgment value according to the judgment result; wherein the judgment value is 1 or 2;

[0077] E3. The conveyor line receives the judgment value. If the judgment value is 1, the material box is conveyed to the material taking port. If the judgment value is 2, the material box is not conveyed and a prompt action is given;

[0078] E4. The material box is transported to the material extraction port, picked up by the transfer device and transferred to the warehouse for storage.

[0079] In actual production, that is, in step E2, the judgment factors include one or more of the appearance of the material box, the internal structure of the material box, the number of times the material box is used, and the length of time the material box is used.

[0080] There are many reasons why a material box is judged as abnormal, such as damage and deformation of the appearance, internal damage or contamination, and the number of times it has been used has reached a specified number of times. Since the identity code of the material box is recorded as it enters the circulation, the above data can be accurately recorded. If one of the conditions of the material box is not met, the material box is judged as abnormal and cannot enter the production circulation to avoid production accidents and ensure safety.

[0081] Specifically, in step E4, after the transfer device picks up the material box, the transfer device sends a signal to the WMS, and the WMS generates a signal indicating that the material picking is completed and binds it to the identity code of the material box, thereby ensuring that each state of the material box in circulation and each loading of the goods will be recorded and bound for easy traceability.

[0082] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the present invention in any form. Although the present invention is disclosed as a preferred embodiment as above, it is not used to limit the present invention. Any technician familiar with the profession can make some changes or modifications to equivalent embodiments of equivalent changes by using the technical contents disclosed above without departing from the scope of the technical solution of the present invention. However, any simple modification, equivalent changes and modifications made to the above embodiments according to the technology of the present invention are within the scope of the technical solution of the present invention without departing from the content of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A sorting method, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: A. Send the material discharge signal, and the material transfer device transfers the material box to the conveyor line; B. The conveyor line moves the material box toward the discharge port and sends a discharge completion signal at the same time; C. Sense the material box in place and scan the code on the material box. If the operation is successful, execute step D, otherwise, issue an alarm. D. Upload the identity code of the material box, and then sort the goods in the material box; E. After the goods are sorted, the material box is inspected. If the material box is normal, it will be transferred to the material taking port and taken away by the material transfer device; if the material box is abnormal, the material box will be directly moved out of the conveyor line.

2. The sorting method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Step A specifically includes: A1. Sense whether there is material at the discharge port. If yes, go to step A2; otherwise, go to step A3; A2. Wait until the material box at the discharge port leaves the discharge port, and then execute step A3; A3. Send a no-material signal to WMS, which will then send a material transfer device with a material box to the conveyor line.

3. The sorting method according to claim 2, characterized in that: Step A1 is performed in at least one of the following two ways: Sensing is performed via a sensor disposed at the discharge port; A signal sent by the target to sort the items in the bin.

4. The sorting method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Step C specifically includes: C1. Sense the material box in place and scan the code of the material box. If the code is scanned successfully, go to step C2, otherwise go to step C3; C2. Upload the scanned information to WMS, store and match the information through WMS, and then execute step D; C3. Alarm the unsuccessful scanning action, reset the alarm action after confirming the alarm information, and then scan the material box again. If the scanning is successful, execute step C2, otherwise execute step C4; C4. Take away the material box, then send a signal value WMS, and execute step A under the control of WMS.

5. The sorting method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The second scanning of the material box specifically includes: Inspect the outer wall of the material box to determine whether the identity code exists; The identity code is photographed, and then the identity code is extracted from the image obtained by the selfie and scanned.

6. The sorting method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Step E specifically includes: E1. Inspect the appearance of the material box and upload the inspection results to WMS; E2. The WMS determines whether the material box is abnormal by combining the judgment factors, and sends a judgment value according to the judgment result; wherein the judgment value is 1 or 2; E3. The conveyor line receives the judgment value. If the judgment value is 1, the material box is conveyed to the material taking port. If the judgment value is 2, the material box is not conveyed and a prompt action is given; E4. The material box is transported to the material extraction port, picked up by the transfer device and transferred to the warehouse for storage.

7. The sorting method according to claim 6, characterized in that: In step E2, the judgment factors include one or more of the appearance of the material box, the internal structure of the material box, the number of times the material box is used, and the length of time the material box is used.

8. The sorting method according to claim 6, characterized in that: In step E4, after the transfer device picks up the material box, the transfer device sends a signal to the WMS, and the WMS generates a signal indicating that the material picking is completed and binds it to the identity code of the material box.

9. A computer storage medium, characterized in that The computer storage medium stores a program for executing the sorting method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A sorting workstation, characterized in that: The computer storage medium of claim 9 is included.

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