Scheduling method for enabling four-way shuttle vehicle to go out and go in simultaneously

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of stock or inventory management, in particular to a dispatching method for enabling a four-way shuttle vehicle to go out and go in at the same time, which comprises the following steps of: setting a connection area, and carrying out priority setting and corresponding dispatching instruction switching on the work cooperation of an elevator and the four-way shuttle vehicle on the basis of the connection area; the automation degree of the four-way vehicle dense storage warehouse is improved to the real unmanned warehouse level, invalid waiting of manpower and equipment is reduced, the comprehensive efficiency of the equipment is greatly improved, and therefore the overall warehouse entering and exiting efficiency of an intelligent warehouse is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of inventory or stock management, in particular to a dispatching method for a four-way shuttle vehicle to enter and exit at the same time. Background Art

[0002] The four-way shuttle is a kind of transportation equipment in the automated warehouse. It can travel anywhere in the warehouse and directly reach any designated cargo location. It has the advantages of improving warehouse space utilization, saving manpower and time, automatic navigation, high precision, strong wear resistance, etc. It does not require human operation, has a fast running speed and a high degree of intelligence. It is suitable for various logistics storage systems and can promote the rapid automatic flat transportation of unit materials. Therefore, combined with the intelligent scheduling system, the coordinated parallel operation of multiple layers and multiple vehicles can achieve a precise and efficient operation mode.

[0003] In a large four-way car dense storage, the number of four-way shuttles will be much greater than the elevators. On the one hand, the elevator is used to transport goods and four-way cars to each floor, and the running speed is relatively fast. On the other hand, the four-way shuttle has a long path and needs to reach each cargo position when entering the warehouse, and needs to return to the entrance and exit in time and cooperate with the elevator in time when leaving the warehouse. The elevator is directly connected to the entrance and exit conveyor line. If multiple entry and exit operation instructions are issued simultaneously in the dispatching system, when there are dispatching defects in the dispatching system, it will cause the elevator operation to be blocked.

[0004] In actual use scenarios, there are indeed situations where both warehousing and outbound operations are required. For example, a batch of purchased raw materials needs to be warehousing, and at the same time, the production workshop needs to pick up materials and outbound operations, or the finished products need to be outbound for sale. Another example is that in the case of mother-child pallets, the empty mother pallet is automatically returned to the warehouse after continuous outbound operations, or when continuous warehousing operations require empty pallets, the task of empty pallet outbound operations needs to be inserted in the middle, etc.

[0005] The scheduling system in the prior art can only allow users to set the elevator to one of the entry or exit modes at the same time, and the entry and exit modes need to be manually switched according to actual needs when problems are encountered. This results in a low degree of automation, and manual supervision is indispensable at the entry and exit ports. When the elevator is in the entry mode, although it has completed the operation and is idle, even if there is no cargo at the entry port, the exit task is not allowed without manual intervention, so the equipment utilization rate of the elevator is far from the optimal state. In addition, when the elevator is in the exit mode, even if the four-way vehicle has not delivered the goods, it needs to wait all the time. During this period, the incoming goods are not allowed to be put into the entrance, otherwise it may cause a blockage of the incoming and outgoing goods, and it is extremely troublesome to handle the abnormality after the blockage.

[0006] Based on the above reasons, the present invention designs a scheduling method for the entry and exit of four-way shuttle vehicles. By setting up a docking area and on this basis setting the priority of the working coordination between the elevator and the four-way shuttle vehicle and switching the corresponding scheduling instructions, the degree of automation of the four-way vehicle dense storage warehouse is improved to the level of a true unmanned warehouse, reducing the ineffective waiting of manpower and equipment, greatly improving the comprehensive efficiency of the equipment, and thus improving the overall efficiency of the intelligent warehouse in and out. Summary of the invention

[0007] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide a scheduling method for the entry and exit of four-way shuttle vehicles. By setting a docking area and setting priorities and switching corresponding scheduling instructions for the working coordination between the elevator and the four-way shuttle vehicle on this basis, the degree of automation of the four-way vehicle dense storage warehouse is improved to the level of a true unmanned warehouse, reducing the ineffective waiting of manpower and equipment, greatly improving the overall efficiency of the equipment, and thus improving the overall efficiency of the intelligent warehouse in and out.

[0008] The present invention provides a dispatching method for a four-way shuttle vehicle entering and exiting at the same time, comprising the following steps: S1, the area before and after the elevator and only one four-way vehicle or cargo is allowed to enter is set as the docking area; S2, the area in front of the elevator is set as the entrance and exit, and the area behind the elevator is set as the safety area; S3, install detection and code scanning devices at the entrances and exits, and configure monitoring display screens; S4, the scheduling system decomposes each outbound task or inbound task into elevator operation and four-way vehicle operation, and each outbound task or inbound task is associated with a pallet; S5, all outbound tasks are executed in parallel, and the elevator gives priority to the four-way vehicle that arrives at the docking area first, and the four-way vehicle that arrives first is set as C1; S6, when the cargo of the first four-way vehicle arriving in S5 is transported out from the entrance and exit by the forklift driver, and the four-way vehicles in other outbound tasks have not yet arrived at the docking area, the four-way vehicle that has not yet arrived is set to C2, and the dispatching system sets the docking area status at this time to allow entry and allow exit; S7, based on S6, when the forklift driver has arrived at the docking port, the dispatching system automatically switches the docking area status to the warehousing mode; S8, based on S7, the dispatching system places the four-way vehicle C2 in S6 that has arrived at this time on standby in the safe area of ​​the docking area; S9, based on S8, sets the cargo of the forklift driver arriving in S7 as the warehousing task D1, which specifically includes the following steps: S9-1, put the goods into the entrance and exit; S9-2, the dispatching system detects that there is cargo at the entrance and exit, automatically scans the code to identify the pallet, queries the database to find the incoming task D1, automatically switches the docking area to the incoming mode and reserves it for the incoming task D1, and sets the entrance and exit to allow entry but not exit; S9-3, the dispatching system finds the four-way vehicle closest to the docking area, decomposes the warehousing task D1 into equipment operations and distributes them to the elevator and the four-way vehicle respectively. The predecessor operation of the four-way vehicle operation is the elevator operation, in which the elevator operation and the nearest four-way vehicle driving to the docking port are executed simultaneously; S9-4, the dispatching system allows the four-way vehicle to enter the safe area of ​​the docking area to wait, and determines whether to allow the four-way vehicle to enter the front elevator to receive the goods based on the condition that the front elevator operation has been completed; S9-5, the forklift driver places the incoming goods on the pallet using the forklift, and the four-way vehicle obtains the pallet of the incoming goods and returns to the safe area to complete the connection; S9-6, based on S9-5, since the docking area is vacant at this time, the dispatching system switches the docking area back to the outbound mode and provides it to the four-way vehicle C2 in S8 according to the arrival priority; S9-7, the four-way vehicle performs the storage task D1; S10, based on S9-6, the dispatching system starts to execute the outbound task D2 of the four-way vehicle C2, and the specific steps are as follows: S10-1, the scheduling system decomposes the outbound task D2 into two equipment operations in advance, finds and assigns the operations to the four-way vehicle closest to the outbound pallet; S10-2, the dispatching system switches the docking area back to the outbound mode and sets the entrance and exit status to allow out but not in; S10-3, the dispatching system determines that the four-way vehicle carrying cargo for the outbound task D2 has arrived at the docking area, and dispatches the elevator to the floor where the docking area is located; S10-4, after the elevator arrives at the docking area on the floor where it is located, the dispatching system releases the four-way vehicle carrying cargo of the outbound task D2 to enter the docking area to unload the cargo, and the docking is completed after returning to the safe position; S10-5, the dispatching system continues to execute the outbound operation of other elevators, and the four-way vehicles exit the docking area at the same time; S10-6, the forklift driver completes the outbound task D2 after transporting the outbound goods. At this time, the docking area continues to be available, and the scheduling system continues to allocate outbound tasks or inbound tasks.

[0009] The detection device at the entrance and exit is photoelectric detection, and the display screen is used to display the current entry permission signal and work task queue.

[0010] A mechanical device is installed at the entrance and exit to remind forklifts whether they are allowed to enter the warehouse.

[0011] The docking area for the fork lift in S9-5 is set outside the high-bay warehouse.

[0012] When the outbound task has been occupying the docking area, the scheduling system automatically switches the outbound mode or inbound mode of the elevator in the docking area by increasing the priority of the inbound task.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the present invention automatically determines the arrival times of the four-way vehicles for the outbound task through the scheduling system, arranges the warehousing task using the interval time while controlling the safe waiting of the subsequent outbound tasks, and continues the outbound as soon as possible after completing the warehousing task, maximizing the role of the elevator in the stereoscopic warehouse, avoiding the shortcoming that the outbound and warehousing tasks can only be selected manually, and also avoiding the problem of the elevator operation being blocked due to the outbound and warehousing in task caused by a single scheduling mode. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the docking area of ​​the present invention.

[0015] Figure 2 This is a logical schematic diagram of the scheduling method of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 3 The figure is a schematic diagram of the paths of the three-dimensional warehouse elevator and the four-way vehicle of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The present invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0018] join Figures 1 to 3 The present invention provides a scheduling method for a four-way shuttle vehicle to enter and exit at the same time: like Figure 3 The figure shows a schematic diagram of a layer of a three-dimensional warehouse with dense storage of four-way shuttles (hereinafter referred to as four-way shuttles). The red coordinates on the X-axis are rows, the green coordinates on the Y-axis are columns, and the white grids are storage locations. Each location has a unique Cartesian coordinate (row X, column Y, layer Z). The yellow grids form a tic-tac-toe main channel path. When the four-way shuttle is loaded with goods, it can only walk on the path (for example, car No. 1). When it is empty, it can freely travel in the X direction (for example, car No. 6), but can only walk on the yellow path in the Y direction. The blue circles ABCD on the left are elevators, and the other circles are four-way shuttles. The elevator is used to transport goods and four-way shuttles to each floor. Multiple four-way shuttles are configured on the first floor to cooperate with the elevator to complete the cargo in and out of the warehouse.

[0019] The following steps are involved: like Figure 1 As shown, S1, the area before and after the elevator and only one four-way vehicle or cargo is allowed to enter is set as the docking area; S2, the area in front of the elevator is set as the entrance and exit, and the area behind the elevator is set as the safety area; S3, install detection and code scanning devices at the entrances and exits, and configure monitoring display screens; S4, the scheduling system decomposes each outbound task or inbound task into elevator operation and four-way vehicle operation, and each outbound task or inbound task is associated with a pallet; S5, all outbound tasks are executed in parallel, and the elevator gives priority to the four-way vehicle that arrives at the docking area first, and the four-way vehicle that arrives first is set as C1; S6, when the cargo of the first four-way vehicle arriving in S5 is transported out from the entrance and exit by the forklift driver, and the four-way vehicles in other outbound tasks have not yet arrived at the docking area, the four-way vehicle that has not yet arrived is set to C2, and the dispatching system sets the docking area status at this time to allow entry and allow exit; S7, based on S6, when the forklift driver has arrived at the docking port, the dispatching system automatically switches the docking area status to the warehousing mode; S8, based on S7, the dispatching system places the four-way vehicle C2 in S6 that has arrived at this time on standby in the safe area of ​​the docking area; S9, based on S8, sets the cargo of the forklift driver arriving in S7 as the warehousing task D1, which specifically includes the following steps: S9-1, put the goods into the entrance and exit; S9-2, the dispatching system detects that there is cargo at the entrance and exit, automatically scans the code to identify the pallet, queries the database to find the incoming task D1, automatically switches the docking area to the incoming mode and reserves it for the incoming task D1, and sets the entrance and exit to allow entry but not exit; S9-3, the dispatching system finds the four-way vehicle closest to the docking area, decomposes the warehousing task D1 into equipment operations and distributes them to the elevator and the four-way vehicle respectively. The predecessor operation of the four-way vehicle operation is the elevator operation, in which the elevator operation and the nearest four-way vehicle driving to the docking port are executed simultaneously; S9-4, the dispatching system allows the four-way vehicle to enter the safe area of ​​the docking area to wait, and determines whether to allow the four-way vehicle to enter the front elevator to receive the goods based on the condition that the front elevator operation has been completed; S9-5, the forklift driver places the incoming goods on the pallet using the forklift, and the four-way vehicle obtains the pallet of the incoming goods and returns to the safe area to complete the connection; S9-6, based on S9-5, since the docking area is vacant at this time, the dispatching system switches the docking area back to the outbound mode and provides it to the four-way vehicle C2 in S8 according to the arrival priority; S9-7, the four-way vehicle performs the storage task D1; S10, based on S9-6, the dispatching system starts to execute the outbound task D2 of the four-way vehicle C2, and the specific steps are as follows: S10-1, the scheduling system decomposes the outbound task D2 into two equipment operations in advance, finds and assigns the operations to the four-way vehicle closest to the outbound pallet; S10-2, the dispatching system switches the docking area back to the outbound mode and sets the entrance and exit status to allow out but not in; S10-3, the dispatching system determines that the four-way vehicle carrying cargo for the outbound task D2 has arrived at the docking area, and dispatches the elevator to the floor where the docking area is located; S10-4, after the elevator arrives at the docking area on the floor where it is located, the dispatching system releases the four-way vehicle carrying cargo of the outbound task D2 to enter the docking area to unload the cargo, and the docking is completed after returning to the safe position; S10-5, the dispatching system continues to execute the outbound operation of other elevators, and the four-way vehicles exit the docking area at the same time; S10-6, the forklift driver completes the outbound task D2 after transporting the outbound goods. At this time, the docking area continues to be available, and the scheduling system continues to allocate outbound tasks or inbound tasks.

[0020] The detection device at the entrance and exit is photoelectric detection, and the display screen is used to display the current entry permission signal and work task queue.

[0021] A mechanical device is installed at the entrance and exit to remind forklifts whether they are allowed to enter the warehouse.

[0022] The docking area for the fork lift in S9-5 is set outside the high-bay warehouse.

[0023] When the outbound task has been occupying the docking area, the scheduling system automatically switches the outbound mode or inbound mode of the elevator in the docking area by increasing the priority of the inbound task. Specific embodiments

[0024] Assuming that all docking areas are empty at the beginning (i.e., both entry and exit are allowed), we issue a batch of entry and exit tasks to the scheduling system at the same time, such as Figure 2 The figure shows tasks 1 to 5. A task is associated with a cargo container (pallet / box), which is further decomposed into a hoist operation and a four-way car operation by the scheduling system. The two operations have a front-to-back dependency relationship.

[0025] Assuming there are enough vehicles, outbound tasks 1, 2, 4, and 5 are executed in parallel. The one that arrives at the docking area first will be served by the elevator first. Assuming 1 arrives first, then 2, and 4 and 5 have not arrived yet because they are far away, after the outbound forklift driver forks the goods of outbound task 2, the docking area is empty and the status changes to allowing both entry and exit.

[0026] At this time, the driver of the incoming forklift arrives at the docking port before tasks 4 and 5. Since entry is allowed, the goods of the incoming task 3 can be placed at the entrance and exit, and the dispatching system automatically switches the docking area to the incoming mode. At this time, even if the four-way vehicle of the outgoing task 4 or 5 arrives, the dispatching system will not let it go, but order them to stand by around the docking area.

[0027] At this time, the scheduling system starts to execute the warehousing task 3: The forklift is placed in the entrance and exit; the dispatching system detects that there is cargo at the entrance and exit, automatically scans the code to identify the pallet, and queries the database to find Task 3. Task 3 is a storage type, and the docking area is automatically switched to storage mode and reserved for Task 3. The entrance and exit are set to allow entry but not exit.

[0028] The dispatching system finds the four-way vehicle closest to the docking port, decomposes task 3 into equipment operations and assigns them to the elevator and the four-way vehicle respectively. The predecessor operation of the four-way vehicle operation is the elevator operation, and the relationship is FS (Finish to Start). The elevator storage operation and the four-way vehicle driving to the docking port are carried out simultaneously; The dispatching system allows the four-way vehicle to enter the safe position of the docking area to wait, and determines whether the four-way vehicle is allowed to enter the elevator to receive the goods, provided that the elevator operation has been completed. The situation of the forklift is slightly different, but the principle is similar, except that the docking position is outside the elevator. After the four-way vehicle obtains the pallet, it returns to the safe position to complete the docking. At this time, the docking port is vacant. Although it is still in the warehousing mode, both entry and exit are allowed. The dispatching system knows that the four-way vehicles of tasks 4 and 5 have arrived at the docking area and are on standby, so it automatically switches the docking area back to the outbound mode and reserves it for task 4 according to priority; The incoming four-way vehicle performs the incoming operation of task 3, and the scheduling system starts to execute the outgoing task 4 at the same time.

[0029] At this time, the scheduling system starts to execute the warehousing task 4: The dispatching system has previously decomposed the outbound task 4 into two equipment operations, and found the four-way vehicle closest to the outbound pallet and assigned the operation to it for execution. The four-way vehicle may have arrived near the docking area and is on standby; The dispatch system switches the docking area back to outbound mode, reserves it for Task 4, and sets the entrance and exit status to allow out but not in; The dispatching system determines that the cargo-carrying four-way vehicle of Task 4 has arrived at the docking port, and dispatches the elevator to the level where the docking port is located; After the elevator arrives at the docking port, the dispatching system releases the cargo-carrying four-way vehicle of Task 4 to enter the docking port to unload the cargo, and the docking is completed after returning to the safe position; The dispatching system continues to execute the elevator outbound operation, and the four-way vehicles exit the docking area at the same time; After the driver forks the goods out of the warehouse and completes task 4, the docking port is available and the dispatching system continues to assign tasks.

[0030] Assume that the outbound task has been occupying the docking area, which makes it impossible to insert the inbound task and the waiting time is too long. The priority of the inbound task can be increased through the mobile APP, so that the scheduling system can automatically switch the inbound and outbound mode of the docking area elevator according to the priority order of operations.

[0031] Since the inbound task requires the forklift driver to carry the pallets one by one to the conveyor line entrance, there is time in the gap for the scheduling system to optimize the insertion of the outbound task. Even if the waiting time is too long, it can be solved by adjusting the job priority.

[0032] The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, which are only used to help understand the method and core ideas of the present application. The protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. All technical solutions under the concept of the present invention belong to the protection scope of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, some improvements and modifications without departing from the principle of the present invention should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

[0033] The present invention solves the shortcomings of the prior art that the scheduling system can only allow the user to set the elevator to one of the entry or exit modes at the same time, and manual switching is required, and the elevator utilization rate is low. By setting a docking area and setting the priority of the work coordination between the elevator and the four-way shuttle car on this basis and switching the corresponding scheduling instructions, the automation level of the four-way car dense storage warehouse is improved to the level of a true unmanned warehouse, reducing the ineffective waiting of manpower and equipment, greatly improving the overall efficiency of the equipment, and thus improving the overall entry and exit efficiency of the intelligent warehouse.

Claims

1. A dispatching method for a four-way shuttle vehicle entering and exiting at the same time, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: S1, the area before and after the elevator and only one four-way vehicle or cargo is allowed to enter is set as the docking area; S2, the area of ​​the docking area in front of the elevator is set as the entrance and exit, and the area of ​​the docking area behind the elevator is set as the safety area; S3, the entrance and exit are equipped with detection and code scanning devices and monitoring display screens; S4, the scheduling system decomposes each outbound task or inbound task into an elevator operation and a four-way vehicle operation, and each outbound task or inbound task is associated with a pallet; S5, all the outbound tasks are executed in parallel, and the elevator gives priority to the four-way vehicle that arrives at the docking area first, and the four-way vehicle that arrives first is set as C1; S6, when the cargo of the first four-way vehicle arriving in S5 is transported out from the entrance and exit by the forklift driver, and the four-way vehicles in other outbound tasks have not yet arrived at the docking area, the four-way vehicle that has not yet arrived is set as C2, and the dispatching system sets the docking area status at this time to allow entry and allow exit; S7, based on S6, when the forklift driver has arrived at the docking port, the dispatching system automatically switches the docking area state to the warehousing mode; S8, based on S7, the dispatching system will place the four-way vehicle C2 in S6 that has arrived at this time on standby in the safety area of ​​the docking area; S9, on the basis of S8, sets the cargo of the forklift driver arriving in S7 as the warehousing task D1, which specifically includes the following steps: S9-1, placing the goods into the entrance; S9-2, the dispatching system detects that there is cargo at the entrance and exit, automatically scans the code to identify the pallet, queries the database to find the warehousing task D1, automatically switches the docking area to warehousing mode and reserves it for use by the warehousing task D1, and sets the entrance and exit to allow entry but not exit; S9-3, the dispatching system finds the four-way vehicle closest to the docking area, decomposes the warehousing task D1 into equipment operations and distributes them to the elevator and the four-way vehicle respectively, the preceding operation of the four-way vehicle operation is the elevator operation, wherein the elevator operation and the nearest four-way vehicle driving to the docking port are performed simultaneously; S9-4, the dispatching system allows the four-way vehicle to enter the safe area of ​​the docking area to wait, and determines whether to allow the four-way vehicle to enter the front elevator to receive the goods based on the completion of the front elevator operation; S9-5, the forklift driver places the incoming goods on the pallet by means of a forklift, and the four-way vehicle obtains the pallet of the incoming goods and returns to the safe area to complete the connection; S9-6, based on S9-5, since the docking area is vacant at this time, the dispatching system switches the docking area back to the outbound mode and provides it to the four-way vehicle C2 in S8 according to the arrival priority; S9-7, the four-way vehicle performs the warehousing task D1; S10, based on S9-6, the dispatching system starts to execute the outbound task D2 of the four-way vehicle C2, and the specific steps are as follows: S10-1, the scheduling system decomposes the outbound task D2 into two equipment operations in advance, finds and assigns the operations to the four-way vehicle closest to the outbound pallet for execution; S10-2, the dispatching system switches the docking area back to the outbound mode, and sets the entrance and exit status to allow out but not in; S10-3, the dispatching system determines that the cargo-carrying four-way vehicle of the outbound task D2 arrives at the docking area, and dispatches the elevator to the floor where the docking area is located; S10-4, after the elevator arrives at the docking area of ​​the floor where it is located, the dispatching system releases the cargo-carrying four-way vehicle of the outbound task D2 to enter the docking area to unload the cargo, and the docking is completed after returning to the safe position; S10-5, the dispatching system continues to execute the outbound operation of other elevators, and the four-way vehicles exit the docking area at the same time; S10-6, the forklift driver completes the outbound task D2 after transporting the outbound goods. At this time, the docking area continues to be available, and the scheduling system continues to allocate outbound tasks or inbound tasks.

2. The dispatching method for a four-way shuttle vehicle entering and exiting at the same time according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The detection device of the entrance and exit is a photoelectric detection, and the display screen is used to display the current entry permission signal and the operation task queue.

3. The dispatching method for four-way shuttle vehicles entering and exiting at the same time according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The entrance and exit is equipped with a mechanical device for reminding the forklift whether it is allowed to enter the warehouse.

4. The dispatching method for a four-way shuttle vehicle entering and exiting at the same time according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The docking area of ​​the fork lift in S9-5 is arranged outside the stereoscopic warehouse.

5. The dispatching method for four-way shuttle vehicles entering and exiting at the same time according to claim 1 is characterized in that: When the outbound task has been occupying the docking area, the scheduling system automatically switches the outbound mode or the inbound mode of the elevator in the docking area by increasing the priority of the inbound task.

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