Warehouse for order fulfillment having product storage area and at least one order fulfillment area

Abstract

The invention relates to a warehouse for order fulfillment, having at least one order fulfillment zone, in which at least two picking stations are arranged, and which are supplied with items in product transport units from a product storage zone for picking items of orders into the order transport units, the product storage area is a multi-channel, multi-layer shelf storage area, has a shuttle (S) as a shelf service machine, and comprises a plurality of storage shelves (3) and storage shelf layers for storing the product transport units (T), with channels (5) between the storage shelves (R), wherein a connecting conveyor system (4) is arranged between the product storage area and the order fulfillment area and the picking station (2) therein, said connecting conveyor system (4) being connected to at least one out-of-warehouse feed line (4b) and at least one in-warehouse feed line (4a) on the side of the product storage area; a connected conveyor system (4) that supplies each picking station (2) with donor transport units and that also supplies and returns order transport units and for unloading empty product transport units and partial or completed orders from the respective picking station; the connected conveyor system comprises: a cross-lane conveyor (4c) that crosses a lane along a width of a front of the product storage area and divides a pre-treatment area between the product storage area and the fulfillment area, and wherein the pre-treatment area is located between the product storage area and the fulfillment area, and wherein the pre-treatment area is located between the pre-treatment area and the fulfillment area. The controller (15) is operable to assign at least partially fulfillment orders to respective picking stations (2) for items that can only be picked at such picking stations.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a warehouse for order fulfillment, which has at least one order fulfillment area, at least two picking stations are arranged in the order fulfillment area, and are supplied with articles in product transport units from a product storage area for picking orders into order transport units. Background Art

[0002] In such a warehouse, picking stations are arranged, and the picking stations are supplied with articles from a product storage area for picking orders, and are also supplied with order containers. Usually, each picking station is supplied with articles from a product storage area by a connecting conveyor system, which connects the storage area and / or another operating area (such as a receiving area, a picking area, an order buffer area, and a shipping area) to the order fulfillment area and the picking stations therein. Usually, these conveyor systems are arranged in a so-called front area between the storage area and the order fulfillment area, and the front area includes: a cross-channel conveyor extending along the length of the front of the storage area, which divides the front area into a storage area and a fulfillment area. Alternatively or additionally, the connecting conveyor system can be connected to a conveyor loop and / or any conveyor system that transports goods from the storage area to the order fulfillment area, regardless of where the goods are transported from (the origin) and where they are transported to (the destination).

[0003] With the continuous progress of technology, the throughput capabilities of storage and retrieval machines (ASRS) and order fulfillment systems (which include picking stations, picking areas, and order buffer areas) are also continuously improving in performance.

[0004] The transportation of such product containers is usually realized by a connecting conveyor system, which includes: a bridging conveyor system that connects the storage area to the picking station itself, and the connecting conveyor system also includes: a cross-channel conveyor that extends along the length of the front area of the storage area, passes through all channels and usually extends to the packaging area and the product conveyor loop (if the order fulfillment area is not directly in front of the storage area channels); and / or routing conveyors that connect each warehouse area (including the order container sensing area, other picking areas, and order buffer areas).

[0005] Therefore, the cross-channel conveyor divides the preprocessing area or the front area (i.e., the area between the storage area and the order fulfillment area provided with picking stations). Therefore, the connecting conveyors must be bridged to enter the order fulfillment area. On the other hand, they also need to be connected to the cross-channel conveyor for exchange.

[0006] The cross-channel conveyor not only transports articles to the order fulfillment area and unloads orders directly opposite the corresponding channels of the storage shelves, but also distributes articles and partial orders from different areas of the storage area and the order fulfillment area and distributes them to the different areas.

[0007] It is generally known that the picking operation at a picking station follows the "goods-to-person" principle. In this case, the goods or items corresponding to an order are transported from a storage area (usually a large shelving system layout) to the corresponding picking station, and are usually transported using containers (such as bins, pallets, etc.). At this location, they are taken out from the so-called storage area or product container, and are placed into the corresponding container of the order (i.e., the so-called order container) according to the item list in the corresponding order list and the order detailedly provided to the operator. Similarly, the order containers are transported to the fulfillment area or picking station from the order container sensing area, the previous picking area, and / or the order buffer respectively.

[0008] As is well known, the operator or picker can be a human operator who manually performs the picking and placing operations at the picking station. Similarly, the picking and placing operations at the picking station can also be performed automatically by a robotic operator using means such as image recognition and grasping.

[0009] However, if such a robotic operator is used to perform order fulfillment automatically, it is necessary to handle non-automatically picked goods and automatic picking errors. For example, if an item is predefined as a non-automatically picked good, even if the product is defined as an automatically picked good, in fact, the robotic gripper of such a robotic operator cannot successfully pick and place a specific object or item as instructed.

[0010] Even if only manual operators are used, such routing is also required to handle various order fulfillment requirements.

[0011] This object is solved by the warehouse according to claim 1. Summary of the Invention

[0012] The present invention provides a warehouse for order fulfillment, which has at least one order fulfillment area, at least two picking and / or packing stations (hereinafter referred to as picking stations) are arranged therein, and items in product transport units from a product storage area are supplied to pick the items of the order into order transport units, wherein the product storage area is a multi-channel, multi-layer shelving storage area, has shuttles as shelf service machines, and includes a plurality of storage shelves and storage shelf layers for storing transport units, and there are channels between the storage shelves. Preferably, the storage shelves not arranged on the outside are arranged adjacent to each other in pairs, and a shelf storage channel is provided on one side of the shelf pair (i.e., between the shelf pairs).

[0013] The warehouse includes: at least one inbound feed line; at least one outbound feed line; at least one outbound elevator for transferring a transport unit to the outbound feed line; and at least one inbound elevator for transferring a transport unit from at least one inbound feed line. A plurality of shuttles travel along the storage rack aisles and have means for carrying a transport unit and moving it into and out of the storage rack, the means for placing the transport unit into the storage rack and removing it from the rack via a load handling device, and for unloading the transport unit to the at least one outbound elevator and at least one inbound elevator and supplying the transport unit from them.

[0014] A connecting conveyor system is arranged between the product storage area and the order fulfillment area and the picking stations therein, and the connecting conveyor system is connected to at least one outbound feed line and at least one inbound feed line on the product storage side. Each picking station is supplied with a donor transport unit or a product transport unit by the connecting conveyor system, and the connecting conveyor system is also responsible for supplying and returning order transport units, and for unloading empty product transport units, partial orders or completed orders from the respective picking stations. The connecting conveyor system includes a cross-aisle conveyor that spans the aisle along the width of the front of the product storage area and demarcates a pre-treatment area between the product storage area and the fulfillment area. The control device is operable to allocate at least partially fulfilled orders to the respective picking stations for items that can only be picked at such picking stations.

[0015] In other words, the present invention is based on the idea that, based on the possibility of picking these items only at the destination (target) picking station, it is necessary to route the items to specific picking stations in a controlled manner. The criteria for allocating items to specific picking stations based on the possibility of the items being picked at a specific picking station will be described below. This includes the item type and / or the design of the picking station. For example, items that cannot be automatically picked, certain small and / or valuable and / or fragile items can only be picked manually, while standard items such as milk cartons and pharmaceutical packages can generally be picked automatically using robots. On the other hand, due to space constraints, large and / or heavy items may not be able to be picked manually at a picking station, while other picking stations can be implemented to allow headroom for such large items, and / or can be equipped with manually operated grippers and lifting devices to support the manual picking of heavy items.

[0016] The shuttle, as an AS / RS, is a single-deep rack service unit. The use of shuttles or satellite vehicles is particularly recommended. These shuttles have a load-carrying area between two load handling devices, which are typically telescopic arms that use at least two contact elements capable of moving between an engaged and a non-engaged position with respect to an object to push the object into or out of the load-carrying area. The shuttle moves within a channel level along a track installed at the very front of the rack and is also powered and data-transmitted via the track. Alternatively, the present invention can also use a shuttle with two load handling platforms or a lifting platform arranged in a stacked manner so as to handle multiple levels via a single track.

[0017] The transport unit can be a bin, a container, a pallet, a box, etc. It should be understood that the use of terms such as "transport unit" or "storage unit" should not be construed as restrictive. In fact, other types of transportation means (such as pallets, trays, etc.) can also be used equally effectively within the scope of the present invention. Specifically, the term "transport unit" also includes bins, pallets, containers, cardboard boxes, cartons, packaging units (i.e., combined individual items, etc.) and individual items. These units can be donor transport units from which pickers retrieve items to fulfill an order, so these units act as donors (usually also called product units), or they can be order transport units for collecting the items of an order.

[0018] The rack system employs a conventional rack system that stores transport units in a single-deep, double-deep or multi-deep manner via shuttles. The load handling devices of the shuttles are implemented to achieve such deep storage and retrieval through corresponding extended lengths.

[0019] The feed line can be implemented as a conveyor, such as a roller conveyor or a belt conveyor, or an accumulation conveyor can also be used. The feed line can be connected to a lift so that transport units can be selectively loaded onto or unloaded from the lift platform, and all operations are carried out under the control of a controller.

[0020] The controller can be a central controller of the entire system or can consist of a central controller and local controllers operating in cooperation. The controller will receive inputs and data from sensors, drives and machines in the warehouse or system and will further control them based on the information received from the order fulfillment database system. The controller not only has the capabilities of a warehouse management system but also has the capabilities of a warehouse control system and will interface with an order fulfillment tracking system.

[0021] The connecting conveyor system can be implemented in any suitable way. It is typically implemented as a conveyor, such as a roller conveyor or a belt conveyor.

[0022] The cross-aisle conveyor can be implemented in any suitable manner. It will typically be implemented as a conveyor, such as a roller conveyor or a belt conveyor. It can be a double-deck or multi-deck conveyor, where one layer conveys in a first direction and the second layer conveys in a direction opposite to the first direction, or one layer conveys product containers and the other layer conveys order containers. The cross-aisle conveyor will be connected to the picking stations by at least one dedicated conveyor (preferably two); one for supply and one for unloading.

[0023] In a preferred embodiment, at least one picking station is a robotic picking station, where the controller is operable to allocate at least partially fulfilled orders to the robotic picking station for items that can be picked by the robot and to allocate at least partially fulfilled orders to manually operated picking stations for items that can only be picked manually. Another implementation is to use only multiple manual picking stations or robotic picking stations with different operations or attributes for picking. For example, items that need to be counted by weight and bagged (such as bolts and nuts) can be routed to a picking station with a weighing scale and bagging facilities, while general items are routed to simple picking stations and routed between these picking stations in sequence. Another example can be robotic picking stations with different payloads or gripper types.

[0024] The robotic picking station not only has the functions of fully automatic feeding, discharging, and displaying of product and order units, but also is equipped with a robotic tool for fully automatic picking and placing of items. The robotic tool will be implemented as being equipped with a multi-axis arm, where the end-effector tool is used to grip the corresponding item. This operation can be performed under the control of the controller and based on the input of a vision system to identify and locate the items to be picked according to order-based instructions.

[0025] Preferably, the controller is operable to reallocate the finally fulfilled orders from the robotic picking station to a manually operated picking station via the cross-aisle conveyor connecting the conveyor system in case of picking failure. According to this embodiment of the present invention, the operation errors of the robotic picking station can be effectively handled while allowing the order fulfillment to be uninterrupted.

[0026] Picking failure means that the picking and / or packaging process cannot be successfully completed. The reasons usually include but are not limited to: errors occur when the robotic tool grasps the item to be picked.

[0027] The transport units can be conveyed through the picking station in a first row, with the items placed in and picked from the product transport units, and wherein the product transport units can also be conveyed through the picking station in a second row, the second row being arranged at an angle to the first row, and picking is performed from the flow of product and order transport units being conveyed simultaneously through the picking station, and wherein the order transport units and the product transport units share a common pick-up and unloading point after picking, and the common pick-up and unloading point is in line with the first row of the order transport units; the picking station is connected to the cross-channel conveyor of the connecting conveyor system via the first row for inbound, the second row for inbound, and the common pick-up and unloading point for outbound.

[0028] The parallel arrangement of the inbound order load-carrying conveyor sections allows for an exchange between the two conveyor sections in a manner controlled by the controller such that: in the case of a picking failure at the robotic picking station, both the product container and the order container can be reallocated together to a manually operated picking station.

[0029] The parallel arrangement of the inbound order load carrier conveyor sections allows for an exchange between the two conveyor sections in a manner controlled by the controller such that: in the case of a picking failure at the robotic picking station, the order container can be mobilized to complete further picking of the order, and then both the product container and the order container are reallocated together to a manually operated picking station for re-picking for the failed picking.

[0030] The exchange between the parallel inbound order transport unit conveyor sections can be carried out manually or automatically. For example, an operator can manually push the transport unit from one conveyor section to another. Alternatively, a right-angle transfer device (RAT) can be used to transport the transport unit between the parallel conveyor sections. These right-angle transfer devices can be driven and / or automated under the control of the controller. For example, an operator can press a button to initiate the exchange, or the exchange can be initiated by a sensor.

[0031] If the controller determines a time mismatch or that there are other product transport units that need to be retrieved back to the picking station to fulfill an order, the product transport unit can be transferred to the product storage area, preferably to a lane that directly supplies the reallocated manually operated picking station.

[0032] If the controller determines that the picking failure occurs at the last item of the picking order, both the product transport unit and the order transport unit can be routed to the inbound order transport unit conveyor of the reallocated manually operated picking station.

[0033] If the controller determines that a picking failure occurs at the last item of a picking order and the controller determines that the time matches, the product transport unit can be routed to the in-warehouse product transport unit conveyor, and the order transport unit can be routed to the in-warehouse order transport unit conveyor of the reallocated manual picking station, while optionally buffering the transport unit at the reallocated manual picking station.

[0034] The controller is operable to allow an empty product transport unit to be reused as an order transport unit at the corresponding picking station or to be routed to another picking station according to the presented timing and order fulfillment requirements.

[0035] If the controller is operable to match the arrival timing of product transport units for order fulfillment by means of order container buffering and / or order transport unit reordering and / or order transport unit cycling, then preferably the above-described features of the parallel conveyor sections are used to achieve this.

[0036] In other words, the corresponding transport unit can be held at the picking station by circulating the transport unit within the parallel conveyor section. In this way, buffering can be performed and the order can be changed at will as needed.

[0037] Normally, once all the donors / products assigned to an order have been fully integrated into or are located in the target lane directly originating from the corresponding picking station, the order is released to the picking station. With the present invention, the donor transport unit of the order can be released in advance before the complete integration of all the donors of the order is completed. Existing donors can be buffered at the picking station until all the missing donors are released later (two-stage or multi-stage release), or, if the integration speed is slow or the order volume is large, the cycle can be repeated multiple times (multi-stage release).

[0038] A similar strategy can also be adopted if a part of the storage and retrieval system fails. The products stored in the failed part of the storage area cannot be retrieved again until the failure is repaired. The remaining products required for the order will be locked until the failure is repaired and all the order products have been released. In this case, the retrievable products can be released first, and then the products within the failed part of the storage system can be released after the failure is repaired.

[0039] On the other hand, an order that has been partially picked at the picking station can be cycled back to the order transport unit conveyor, and additional donor transport units for integration will be released based on the newly created order sequence and / or order buffering / reordering. Adding these functions can be used to match the arrival timing of donor transport units with the order.

[0040] This shortens the order preparation cycle and, if the corresponding item in the donor is a flowing commodity (which is likely to be the case), prevents the donor transport unit from being blocked for too long.

[0041] If iAT is used, congestion in the iAT slots can also be reduced by minimizing the waiting time of the donor. iAT refers to inter-aisle transfer, which means transferring a transport unit from one storage rack to an adjacent storage rack, where these racks are arranged back-to-back (with no space in between), and pushing the corresponding transport unit deeper (deeper than the storage area) through the source rack into the target rack within the cross-docking position (lateral conveying position) by using the load handling equipment of the ASRS or the shuttle. The detailed definition is given below.

[0042] This can be triggered by many criteria, such as system failures; the expected arrival time of each product container; the demand for "reserved" products in future orders (if there are any and how many future orders require the same product); representing the order size in terms of the number of product containers; the number of product containers buffered in each aisle; the occupancy of the buffered products in the iAT slots; when there are no more fully integrated orders to execute within the corresponding aisle or on a certain number of shuttles.

[0043] If the product is partially released or "yes" at the time of release, then each of the applied criteria can be weighted in the overall decision-making process.

[0044] This process works significantly well in conjunction with the approximate order consolidation strategy. For example, if the actual arrival time of a donor transport unit lags behind the scheduled arrival time, then the donor transport unit can be transported to the destination (fully integrated) within a given shorter time interval (if possible), or the consolidation will be used for acceleration, and it will be retrieved to the destination via the cross-aisle conveyor.

[0045] Preferably, the controller is capable of operating to route the product transport unit directly to the designated picking station via the cross-aisle conveyor to fulfill the order, regardless of the storage aisle.

[0046] The controller is capable of operating to route the product transport unit in the product storage area to the destination aisle in order to consolidate the product transport units in that aisle to fulfill the order at the directly connected and designated picking station. In the present invention, this will also consider the above-mentioned determination criteria of the picking station.

[0047] This routing within the storage area (i.e., without having to leave the storage area) can be carried out as described in EP 2 741 977 A1, by directly exchanging a transport unit from one storage rack aisle to an adjacent storage rack aisle via the lateral conveying positions in the storage racks (i.e., the so-called iAT or inter-aisle transfer), which can eliminate the distribution and / or complex sorting processes in the pre-treatment area, since the transport units have already been sorted upon leaving the storage, even if they were not initially arranged in the same rack aisle, as they are currently in the outbound aisle, even if they were initially stored elsewhere. Thus, by eliminating the off-aisle distribution and sorting, a direct transfer of the transport units can be achieved without the conveyors crossing each other, which can reduce and simplify technical costs, lower space requirements and increase reliability. Therefore, the transport units can be easily removed from the respective aisle in the required order. According to the invention, the infeed and outfeed device is used to move the transport units at the lateral conveying positions, i.e., in the rack without the need for additional drive means, but the infeed and outfeed device itself is the only active mechanism involved in the lateral displacement. Specifically, the infeed and outfeed device places the transport units directly from the source aisle into the lateral conveying position of the target aisle (by means of multi-depth infeed), which means that the infeed and outfeed devices of adjacent target aisles can easily reach this position. This particularly relates to fully automated warehousing facilities.

[0048] In other words, the rack storage positions of adjacent racks are used to transfer the transport units from one side of the rack to the other side, such that the transport units can be transferred from one rack to the next like in the case of hatches.

[0049] Thus, the lateral conveyance or sorting can be carried out within the rack itself, so that the "lateral conveyance" in the pre-treatment area can be eliminated.

[0050] In a convenient manner, the lateral conveying positions are provided on each or selected layers of the storage rack.

[0051] If the lateral conveying positions are arranged at a central position or closer to the outbound elevator or the inbound elevator in the longitudinal direction of the rack, a particularly effective optimization of the displacement time can be achieved. Similarly, multiple lateral conveying positions can be provided on the respective layer and optionally at different positions.

[0052] The lateral conveying positions can also be used as a temporary storage area, i.e., the transport units can be stored here until they are actually needed or removed from the storage. This is particularly convenient if the lateral conveying positions are associated with the final target aisle of the transport units.

[0053] The exchange can be carried out actively or passively, depending on the loading or unloading device, i.e., on the one hand, the lateral conveying position can simply be used as a passive storage position, where the loading and unloading devices of one aisle store the transport units (equivalent to loading them), while the rack service units of the adjacent aisle receive the transport units from it (equivalent to unloading them). For each rack storage position or lateral conveying position, this process can always be carried out in one direction or both directions.

[0054] On the other hand, the lateral conveying position can equally be equipped with corresponding material handling technologies, such as driven rollers, optionally inclined loose roller conveyors, conveyor belts with or without drive devices, etc. In this way, the loading and unloading devices can store the transport units, while the material handling technology at the lateral conveying position performs the transportation. Therefore, the lateral conveying position can be configured as a conventional storage position, an inclined or non-inclined dynamic storage rack, a roller conveyor with or without active or passive drive devices, a belt conveyor, etc. The lateral conveying position can also include a pushing mechanism for the transport units.

[0055] The simplicity of the lateral conveying position also allows for subsequent modification and conversion of the lateral conveying position and flexible adaptation to the capacity required by the storage system.

[0056] Therefore, optionally, the lateral conveying position can be configured for two-way or one-way exchange and / or for active or passive exchange.

[0057] The loading and unloading devices can equally store the transport units at the lateral conveying position with double or multiple depths for exchange. Therefore, the loading and unloading devices of one aisle can store the transport units at the lateral conveying position with a suitable depth so that all transport units are ready for distribution to the adjacent racks and can reach "normally" through the corresponding loading and unloading devices.

[0058] For this purpose, the load picking devices (such as telescopic rail arms) of the loading and unloading devices can have an extended reach.

[0059] Equally, the transport units can also be stored in a stacked manner.

[0060] Since the lateral conveying position bears a large load, it would be very advantageous if the lateral conveying position has a friction-reducing surface and / or is structurally reinforced. Therefore, the damage to the transport units will also be reduced or even completely avoided.

[0061] The controller is also able to operate to assign orders to specific picking stations and use the connected conveyor system to route all necessary product transport units to that picking station in any manner, regardless of the storage aisles in the product storage area.

[0062] The controller is also operable to perform order approximate consolidation by allocating product transport units from a target aisle directly connected to a respective picking station to the picking station and also allocating product transport units from an adjacent destination aisle indirectly connected via a cross-aisle conveyor of a connected conveyor system to the picking station.

[0063] Approximate consolidation does not require full consolidation or an order. For example, when a donor arrives at an adjacent aisle, the system indicates that the distance is close enough, then retrieves the order from the target aisle and the adjacent aisle and sends it to the picking station connected to the target aisle. The product transport units retrieved from the adjacent aisle must travel through the cross-aisle conveyor, but due to the short distance, it does not fully increase the conveyor flow. In this way, the number of iATs is significantly reduced because many product transport units may originate from adjacent aisles, and the order consolidation time is reduced by one aisle because the order is considered consolidated when the product transport units reach the adjacent aisle (right or left of the destination aisle, depending on where they come from). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0064] Further features and details of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the drawings, in which: Figure 1 A schematic top view of a warehouse having a product storage area and an order fulfillment area with robotic picking stations and manual picking stations is shown; Figure 2 Shows Figure 1 in a schematic perspective view; Figures 3 to 5 A schematic top view of a transport unit routed between a robotic picking station and a manual picking station for error handling of picking failures in Figure 1 is shown; Figure 6 A schematic perspective view of a variant of Figure 1 having a two-tier cross-aisle and connected conveyor system for routing transport units to robotic picking stations and manual picking stations is shown; Figure 7 A schematic top view of a transport unit routed to a picking station for order fulfillment in Figure 1 is shown, and Figure 8 Shows Figure 1 in a schematic top view during order transport unit buffering, order transport unit reordering, and order transport unit cycling of the picking station. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0065] In Figure 1 and Figure 2In [the figure], warehouse 1 is shown. Warehouse 1 has a product storage area A and an order fulfillment area B. The order fulfillment area B has a robotic picking station 2R and a manual picking station 2M, which are connected to a rack system 3 via a conveyor 4. Abstractly speaking, this can also be understood as two different versions of picking stations, with different attributes or characteristics (only the manual picking station or only the robotic picking station has different picking attributes), which define the range of products that can be optimally picked at the corresponding station.

[0066] Each picking station 2 corresponds to a lane 5 of the rack system 3. The rack system 3 has racks 6 adjacent to the lanes 5 between the racks, and each picking station 2 is connected at the front end of the rack to a vertical conveyor 7 (such as a lift or elevator) arranged within the coverage area of each rack 6 via a conveyor 4. The racks are served by an ASRS machine (such as a shuttle S), and the ASRS machine drops loads onto the vertical conveyor 7 and / or the conveyor 4.

[0067] Conveyor 4a is the inbound feeding line, while conveyor 4b is the outbound feeding line. They are respectively connected to the racks 6 of the lane 5 and are joined to the vertical conveyor 7.

[0068] The vertical conveyor 7 includes: at least one outbound lift 7b for transferring the transport unit T to the outbound feeding line 4b; and at least one inbound lift 7a for transferring the transport unit T from at least one inbound feeding line 4a.

[0069] Multiple shuttles S travel along the storage rack lanes 5 and have means for carrying the transport units T and for moving these units into and out of the storage racks 6, for placing and removing the transport unit T into and out of the storage rack via a load handling device, and, according to the level, for unloading and supplying goods through at least one outbound lift 7b and at least one inbound lift 7a, or being directly connected to the conveyors 4a, 4b.

[0070] Conveyor 4c is a connecting conveyor system in the form of an across-lane conveyor that extends along the length of the front of the rack system 3, spans all lanes 5, and may extend to a packaging area not shown. Conveyor 4c is arranged between the product storage area A and the order fulfillment area B and the picking stations 2 therein, and is connected on the product storage area side to at least one outbound feeding line 4b and at least one inbound feeding line 4a.

[0071] Each picking station 2 is supplied with product transport units T by the connecting conveyor system 4, and the connecting conveyor system 4 also supplies and returns order transport units O and is used for unloading empty product transport units T and partial orders or completed orders from the corresponding picking station.

[0072] The controller 15 is operable to assign at least partially fulfilled orders to respective picking stations 2 for items that can only be picked at such picking stations.

[0073] The controller 15 is operable to assign at least partially fulfilled orders to a robotic picking station 2R for items that can be picked by a robot and to a manually operated picking station 2M for items that can only be picked manually.

[0074] Conveyors 4a, 4b bridge or connect the rack system 3 and the picking stations 2, thus connecting to the infeed product transport unit conveyors 8a, 8b and the infeed order transport unit conveyors 9a, 9b as well as the common pick-up and discharge conveyor 10. The transport units themselves can for example be standard containers or pallets.

[0075] The infeed product transport unit conveyor 8 has a first conveying section 8a that introduces into the station in the direction of the aisle extension and a second conveying section 8b that is oriented at a 90-degree angle to the first conveying section 8a, thus forming an actual conveying system within the station for presenting transport units with products to a manual operator 11a or a robot operator 11b to allow them to pick.

[0076] The infeed order transport unit conveyor 9 has a first infeed conveying section 9a that introduces into the station in the direction of the aisle extension and a second conveying section 9b that is arranged parallel to it, which are connected by a right-angle transfer device (RAT) 9c.

[0077] The product transport unit conveyor section 8b and the transport unit conveyor section 9b cross each other, forming an operating position 13 for the operator and an intersection area 14. The intersection area can be formed within a wide angular range, but typically within a range between 60 degrees and 120 degrees, preferably 90 degrees.

[0078] The common pick-up and discharge conveyor 10 is arranged in the direct extension of the order transport unit conveyor section 9b and starts at the intersection area 14 with the product transport unit conveyor section 8b.

[0079] In Figure 1 the typical flow direction or routing of the order transport unit O from one station to another is indicated by a block arrow, while the flow direction of the product transport unit T is indicated by a dashed arrow.

[0080] In Figure 2 the dashed line indicates an indirect routing of the order transport unit O by temporarily storing the order transport unit O in the rack system 3 and delaying its unloading to the respective picking station 2 at a later point in time (for example when the required product is available).

[0081] Each picking station 2M may include a display and a controller 12 for the information and control of the operator 11a. The operator can also be guided in other ways, such as voice picking and virtual reality, etc. The picking station may also not have any such devices and may perform picking based on a "paper" method.

[0082] The product transport unit conveyor section 8b as a whole can be tilted towards the operating position 13 to enable better access.

[0083] Another optimization option regarding this embodiment may be to tilt the picking position and / or the placement position. The tilting of the donor position is achieved by means of the tilting conveyor 8b itself, allowing the product transport unit to tilt when transferring from 8a to 8b. The tilting of the order position can be accomplished by means of an active tilting mechanism (such as a tilting RAT (right angle transfer device)), and only the corresponding placement position can be tilted (adaptive tilting), thus providing the operator with a clear indication of where the picked item will be placed.

[0084] These conveyors are controlled by the controller 15 to provide a simultaneous and continuous flow of products and order carriers on the corresponding conveyors 8, 9, and 10 through the picking station 2 according to the needs of order fulfillment, which is in turn managed by an overall warehouse management system (WMS) that interacts and interfaces with the order tracking system. Obviously, the controller is also used to control the total material flow within the rack system 3 and the aisle 5 as well as the total material flow from the rack system 3 and the aisle 5 to the picking station 2.

[0085] In Figure 2 an order fulfillment area B according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The rack system 3 is only schematically represented as the rack system 3, while the picking station 2 is operated manually or by a robot. The connecting conveyor system 4 with the cross-aisle conveyor 4c extends along the front length of the rack system 3, spans all the aisles 5, and may extend to a packaging area not shown. The conveyors 4a, 4b bridge the rack system 3 and the picking station 2 and are connected to the incoming product transport unit conveyors 8a, 8b, the incoming order transport unit conveyors 9a, 9b, and the common pick-up and unloading conveyor 10.

[0086] All these devices are basically the same as those explained with reference to Figure 1 above.

[0087] The following schematic Figures 3 to 8 describes the variations in the design and operation of a similar picking station 2 according to the present invention.

[0088] Figures 3 to 5 Shows a schematic top view of a transport unit routed between a robotic picking station 2R and a manual picking station 2M for error handling of picking failures in Figure 1 above.

[0089] If a picking failure occurs at the robotic picking station 2R, the corresponding order transport unit O will be transferred to the order transport unit conveyor 9 of the manual picking station 2M, as Figure 3 shown by the dashed-dotted arrow F in

[0090] The product transport unit T can also be directly transferred to the incoming product transport unit conveyor 8 of the manual picking station 2M, as shown by the dashed arrow T.

[0091] Then, at this station 2M, the manual operator 11 can re-perform the failed picking.

[0092] Alternatively, if there is a timing mismatch, the manual picking station 2M is busy, or the manual picking station 2M requires more product transport units, the product transport unit T can be temporarily stored in the racking system 3. This is shown in Figure 3 by the dashed-dot-dashed arrow T+.

[0093] If a robotic picking failure occurs when attempting to pick the last item from the product transport unit T, the corresponding order transport unit O and product transport unit T can alternatively be simultaneously transferred to the order transport unit conveyor 9 of the manual picking station 2M, as Figure 4 shown by the arrows F1, F2 in

[0094] Figure 5 Shown in detail, if the controller 15 determines that a picking failure occurs when picking the last item of an order, and the controller 15 determines that the timing does indeed match, the product transport unit T will be routed to the incoming product transport unit conveyor 8 (line T1), and the order transport unit O will be routed to the incoming order transport unit conveyor 9 of the reallocated manual operation picking station 2M (line F).

[0095] In Figure 6 the embodiment of Figure 1 a variant is shown which has a double-deck cross-channel 4C and a connecting conveyor system for routing transport units to the robotic picking station 2R and the manual picking station 2M. This is a typical layout with a staggered arrangement of picking stations 2. The robotic picking station 2R is arranged on the upper layer and is difficult for staff or operators to access, so it is considered an ideal location for robots. This is also a typical layout for routing orders between manual picking stations 2M1, 2M2, 2M3 with different attributes. For example, the controller can assign an order consisting of emptied product transport units T to the picking station 2M2 with dynamic unloading attributes because this station has a lower underlying space SP, allowing buffering of incoming products.

[0096] In Figure 7 a so-called "bus stop" strategy is depicted. According to this working strategy, the order transport unit O and the product transport unit D are conveyed in an automated storage facility by means of a lateral transport position Q, where the transport units are exchanged between adjacent shelves by means of a shuttle S. In other words, in order to perform picking in a selected aisle 5, the relevant product units D of the order are integrated here by means of the lateral transport position Q, and the order unit O "travels" to the selected picking station 2 via a plurality of aisles 5 in the same way until the order is fulfilled. The integration of the order unit O and the product unit D is based on the optimization of order utilization and allocation, as well as the optimal utilization of such mobile resources (such as shelf system service units, elevators, etc.). The controller 15 can dynamically change the routing according to the timing of the second integration. If the timing matches, the order transport unit O is directly routed to the corresponding picking station 2. If the timing does not match, the order transport unit O can be buffered to the storage area 3, similar to the above Figure 2 and Figure 3 .

[0097] In Figure 8 the parallel arrangement of the incoming order transport unit conveyor sections (9a, 9b) allows for exchange between the two sections in a manner controlled by the controller, such that in the case of a picking failure at the robotic picking station, the order transport unit can be mobilized to complete further picking of the order, and then both the product container and the order transport are reallocated together to a manually operated picking station for mis-picking, all under the control of the controller 15.

[0098] This function can also be used to implement: (A) order buffering; (B) order reordering; (C) order cycling; and / or (D) a combination of the above operations, where the first donor transport unit and the second donor transport unit are successively provided from the shelf system 3.

[0099] In Figure 8 (A), a right angle transfer device (RAT) 9c is used as a buffer, and other incoming order transport units O can be routed through the shortcut 9c and the incoming order transport unit O is directly moved from the conveyor 9a to the conveyor 9b.

[0100] In Figure 8 (B), the right angle transfer device (RAT) 9c and the conveyors 9a, 9b are used to change the order of the incoming order transport units O.

[0101] In Figure 8In (C), the incoming order transport unit O can be recycled using the right angle transfer device (RAT) 9c, and conveyors 9a, 9b, and conveyor 4C to avoid system stalls. If the donor associated with the undesirable order transport unit O* has not been integrated, the undesirable order transport unit O* is allowed to continue through station 2 so as to queue up again at the rear of the order conveyor 9. This allows only the undesirable order transport unit O* whose donor transport unit has been integrated into the corresponding lane to be "selected". This reasoning assumes that all donor transport units must be integrated before release. Another strategy is that we can release the donor transport units associated with the undesirable order transport unit O* when they enter lane 5. In this way, each time the undesirable order transport unit O* passes through the picking station 2, it will encounter a subset of the corresponding integrated donor transport units. The filling rate will increase steadily each time it passes. Recycling is still required until the order is completed.

[0102] As Figure 8 As shown in detail in (D), in combination with the release of the first and second donor transport units successively provided by the shelf system 3, once all the product transport units T assigned to the order have been integrated into the corresponding destination lane 5 directly connected to the assigned picking station 2, the order is assigned to the picking station 2. The present invention can also release the order in advance without prior complete integration. The remaining donor product transport units T can be temporarily buffered in the shelf system 3 for a period of time until: the remaining products arrive (two-stage release); or if the integration is slow or the order contains a large number of different products, the order recycling is repeated multiple times (multi-stage release). The order transport unit O partially filled at the picking station 2 can be recycled back to the order conveyor, and based on the new order sequence, the remaining integrated product transport units T are released, and / or the order buffering / reordering function can be used to match the timing. This shortens the order delivery cycle and prevents the product transport units T from being reserved / booked for too long (if the products contained therein are fast-moving goods), thereby causing order conflicts and order delays.

Claims

1. A warehouse for order fulfillment, the warehouse having at least one order fulfillment area in which at least two picking stations are arranged and are supplied with items from product transport units in a product storage area to pick the items of an order into an order transport unit. Among them, The product storage area is a multi-channel, multi-level shelf storage area having shuttles as shelf service machines and includes: a plurality of storage shelves (6) and storage shelf levels (3) for storing the product transport units (T), wherein there are aisles (5) between the storage shelves (R). At least one inbound feed line (4); At least one outbound feed line (6) is provided; At least one outbound elevator (8A) for transferring the transport unit (T) to the outbound feed line (6), and At least one inbound elevator (8B) for transferring the transport unit (T) from the at least one inbound feed line (4); A plurality of shuttles (5) that travel along the storage shelf aisles (2) and have means for carrying the transport unit (T) and moving it into and out of the storage shelves (R), for placing and removing the transport unit (T) via a load handling device into and out of the storage shelves, and for unloading items to and supplying items from the at least one outbound elevator (8A) and the at least one inbound elevator (8B); Wherein A connecting conveyor system is arranged between the product storage area and the order fulfillment area and the picking stations therein, and the connecting conveyor system is connected on the product storage area side to the at least one outbound feed line (6) and the at least one inbound feed line (4); Each picking station is supplied with product transport units by the connecting conveyor system, and the connecting conveyor system also supplies and returns order transport units and is used for unloading empty product transport units and partial or completed orders from the corresponding picking stations; The connecting conveyor system includes a cross-aisle conveyor that spans the aisle along the width of the front of the product storage area and demarcates a pre-treatment area between the product storage area and the fulfillment area; It is characterized in that The controller is operable to assign at least partially fulfilled orders to corresponding picking stations having specific attributes and route the partially fulfilled orders to the next picking station having different attributes.

2. The warehouse according to claim 1, wherein At least one picking station is a robotic picking station, wherein the controller is operable to assign at least partially fulfilled orders to the robotic picking station for items that can be picked by the robot and assign at least partially fulfilled orders to a manually operated picking station for items that can only be picked manually.

3. The warehouse according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, At least one picking station has different operating attributes, wherein the controller is operable to assign at least partially fulfilled orders to the picking station for items that can only be picked at the assigned station or for items that can only be picked at the assigned station and for which it is advantageous to assign at least partially fulfilled orders to the picking station.

4. The warehouse according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The controller is operable to, in the event of a picking failure, reassign a finally fulfilled order from the robotic picking station to the manually operated picking station via the cross-aisle conveyor of the connected conveyor system, or from the manually operated picking station to the robotic picking station, or reassign between manually operated or robotic picking stations with different attributes.

5. The warehouse according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The order transport unit is conveyed through the picking station in the form of a first row, and items are presented in and picked from the product transport unit. Also, the product transport unit is conveyed through the picking station in the form of a second row, the second row being arranged at an angle to the first row, and picking is performed from the stream of products and order transport units being conveyed through the picking station simultaneously. Also, the order transport unit and the product transport unit share a common pick-up and unloading point after picking. And the common pick-up and unloading point is in line with the first row of the order transport unit. And the picking station is connected to the cross-aisle conveyor of the connected conveyor system by the incoming first row, the incoming second row, and the outgoing common pick-up and unloading point.

6. The warehouse according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The parallel arrangement of the incoming order transport unit conveyor sections allows for switching between the two conveyor sections in a manner controlled by the controller such that, in the event of a picking failure at the robotic picking station, both the product transport unit and the order transport unit can be reassigned together to the manually operated picking station.

7. The warehouse according to claim 5, characterized in that, The parallel arrangement of the incoming order transport unit conveyor sections allows for switching between the two conveyor sections in a manner controlled by the controller such that, in the event of a picking failure at the robotic picking station, the order transport unit can be mobilized to complete further picking of the order, and then both the product container and the order transport unit are reassigned together to the manually operated picking station for the failed picking.

8. The warehouse according to any one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that, If the controller determines that there is a timing mismatch or that there are other product transport units that need to be retrieved to the picking station to fulfill an order, the product container is transferred to the product storage area, preferably into the aisle directly originating from the reassigned manually operated picking station.

9. The warehouse according to any one of claims 4 to 8, characterized in that If the controller determines that the failure occurs during picking of the last item of an order, both the product transport unit and the order transport unit are routed to the incoming order transport unit conveyor of the reassigned manually operated picking station.

10. The warehouse according to any one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that, If the controller determines that the failure occurs during picking of the last item of an order and the controller determines that the timing matches, the product transport unit is routed to the incoming product transport unit conveyor, and the order transport unit is routed to the incoming order transport unit conveyor of the reassigned manually operated picking station, optionally buffering the transport units at the reassigned manually operated picking station.

11. The warehouse according to any one of claims 5 to 10, characterized in that, The controller is operable to allow an empty product transport unit to be reused as an order transport unit at the corresponding picking station or to be routed to another picking station according to the timing.

12. The warehouse according to any one of claims 5 to 11, characterized in that, The controller is operable to match the timing of arrival of product transport units for order fulfillment at a particular picking station by means of order container buffering and / or order container reordering and / or order container cycling.

13. The warehouse according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The controller is operable to route product transport units directly via the cross-aisle conveyor to an assigned picking station for order fulfillment, regardless of the storage aisle.

14. The warehouse according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The controller is operable to route product transport units within the product storage area to a destination aisle in order to consolidate product transport units within the aisle for order fulfillment at a directly-connected and assigned picking station.

15. The warehouse according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The controller is operable to assign an order to a particular picking station and use the connecting conveyor system to route all necessary product transport units to that picking station in any manner, regardless of the storage aisles within the product storage area.

16. The warehouse according to any one of claims 5 to 15, characterized in that, The controller is operable to perform multi-stage order consolidation by assigning an order to a particular picking station before all product units are available in their respective aisles and buffering, reordering, or cycling order transport units within the picking station using parallel inbound order transport unit conveyor sections.

17. The warehouse according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The controller is operable to perform order approximate consolidation by assigning product transport units from a destination aisle directly connected to the respective picking station to the picking station and also assigning product transport units from an adjacent destination aisle indirectly connected via the cross-aisle conveyor of the connecting conveyor system to the picking station.

Images