Integrated goods warehouse-in and warehouse-out system

Abstract

The utility model discloses an integrated goods warehouse-in and warehouse-out system, which comprises a first inventory area, a pick-and-place device, a goods picking area, an external handover area and a transfer system, and the external handover area is provided with a plurality of temporary storage grid openings; the transfer system can transfer goods between the goods picking area and the external cross-over area; the first inventory area at least comprises an upper inventory area located above the external handover area; relative to the boundary position between the picking area and the upper stock area, the picking area is located above, below or on the side of the boundary position; or the order picking area is located between the upper stock area and the external handover area. According to the utility model, the functions of storing, sorting, processing goods according to orders and warehousing are integrated, the layout is reasonable and compact, the occupied area is small, multiple types of goods can be stored in the small occupied area, multiple orders can be processed at the same time, the intermediate links are few, and the operation efficiency is high.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of cargo management, in particular to an integrated cargo storage-in and -out system. Background Art

[0002] In the prior art, the management of goods in and out of the warehouse requires the use of many equipments to work together to achieve the in and out of the warehouse. For example, patent CN108455157A discloses a solution that uses a transport AGV to transport the shelves to the sorting station to pick up the goods and then send the checked goods to the sowing device for sowing according to the order. There are also solutions that use a box robot to take the box out of the warehouse area and send it to the sowing area for sorting and sowing according to the order. In these solutions, the goods are stored in a distributed manner, the distance between the operation areas is far, the space occupied is large, and the operation efficiency of the AGV or box robot is low. Utility Model Content

[0003] Purpose of the utility model: In order to overcome the deficiencies in the prior art, the utility model provides an integrated cargo storage and retrieval system with a compact and reasonable layout, a small footprint and high operating efficiency.

[0004] Technical solution: To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the integrated inventory unit in-and-out system of the utility model includes a first inventory area, a pick-and-place device, a picking area, an external connection area and a transfer system. The external connection area has a plurality of temporary storage slots with a multi-layer layout; the first inventory area has a multi-layer storage space, which is used to store inventory units. The specifications of the inventory units are relatively fixed, generally in the form of a combination of containers and goods (common containers are material boxes, which store a plurality of small goods). Of course, the inventory units can also be separate goods, such as larger goods, or goods that are stored in full boxes and shipped in full boxes; the transfer system can transfer goods between the picking area and the external connection area;

[0005] The first inventory area at least includes an upper inventory area located above the abutting interface area;

[0006] With respect to the boundary between the picking area and the upper inventory area, the picking area is located above, below or to the side of the boundary; or

[0007] The picking area is located between the upper inventory area and the external interface area.

[0008] In the above system, each temporary storage slot in the external connection area can collect goods corresponding to the task (order task or classification task, etc.). After the task corresponding to the temporary storage slot is completed, the goods in the temporary storage slot are taken away by people or picking machines. In addition, the temporary storage slot in the external connection area can also receive goods sent in by external people or devices. The delivery system can send the goods received by the temporary storage slot to the picking area, and distribute them to the picking and placing device through the picking area. The picking and placing device stores the goods in the storage position to realize the storage of goods.

[0009] Furthermore, the picking area has a portion that is embedded upwardly in the upper inventory area and / or has a portion that is embedded downwardly in the external connection area. The picking area has a picking manipulator that can detect a predetermined number of goods from a container such as a material box as needed. By embedding the picking area in the upper inventory area and / or the external connection area, the space above and below the picking area can be fully utilized, thereby improving space utilization, and the picking area does not need to be suspended outside the above-mentioned main body, thereby improving the integrity of the system.

[0010] Furthermore, the first inventory area may also include a side inventory area located to the side of the external connection area. In actual operation, it is preferred to set all temporary storage compartments above the external connection area to establish an upper inventory area. If the upper height is limited, consider setting up the side inventory area. Alternatively, when the upper height is limited, it is also possible to give priority to changing the layout of the external connection area to ensure that all storage locations can be set above the external connection area to construct the upper inventory area; the above-mentioned method of changing the layout of the external connection area is to reduce the number of layers of temporary storage compartments and widen the width of the upper inventory area. In this way, more layers can be reserved for the layout of the upper inventory area and the width of the upper inventory area can be widened.

[0011] Furthermore, a conveying device for conveying inventory units to the picking area is provided between the first inventory area and the connecting area.

[0012] Furthermore, it also includes a second inventory area, which is arranged in parallel with the main body composed of the first inventory area and the connecting area, and there is a lane between the second inventory area and the main body, and the pick-and-place device is placed in the lane. The pick-and-place device includes a pick-and-place mechanism and a driving mechanism that drives the pick-and-place mechanism to move in the lane. The driving mechanism can be in the form of a rectangular coordinate driving module or a wire driving device, and the driving mechanism can enable the pick-and-place mechanism to reach the position directly in front of any storage position to take out or put in the inventory unit.

[0013] Furthermore, the first inventory area is a multi-depth shelf, that is, it has multiple layers in the thickness direction, and at each horizontal and vertical storage point, multiple storage locations are arranged front to back in the thickness direction; the thickness of the temporary storage compartment is less than the overall thickness of the first inventory area; the transfer system has a portion located on the back side of the outer connection area, and the total thickness of this portion and the outer connection area does not exceed the thickness of the first inventory area.

[0014] Correspondingly, the second inventory area is also a multi-depth shelf. The first inventory area and the second inventory area are preferably double-depth shelves, and the pick-and-place mechanism can take inventory units at two locations at the same position, the near inventory unit can be taken directly, and when the far inventory unit is blocked, the near inventory unit can be taken out by the pick-and-place mechanism first, and stored in an empty storage location at another location, and then the pick-and-place mechanism is returned to the position of the target inventory unit to take out the far inventory unit.

[0015] Furthermore, the transfer system has an elevator extending downward from the picking area, and also includes a delivery path placed on the back side of the temporary storage compartments of each layer, and each layer of the delivery path has a delivery unit that can walk along it. When the outbound operation is implemented, the goods picked out from the picking area are placed on the lifting unit of the elevator. The lifting unit reaches the height where the target delivery path is located and transfers the goods to the delivery unit. The delivery unit moves along the delivery path and delivers the goods to the target temporary storage compartment.

[0016] Furthermore, at least some of the temporary storage slots have doors that can be opened and closed. The storage access system can be provided with a user verification system to manage the door opening, so that the user can interact with the user verification system to open the door of the target temporary storage slot, and the user can take out the goods in the temporary storage slot by himself.

[0017] Beneficial effects: The integrated cargo storage and retrieval system of the utility model has the following beneficial effects:

[0018] (1) The method of upper storage and external connection at the bottom can effectively utilize vertical space. The upper inventory area does not need to be directly connected to the user or the picking machine. Therefore, it is placed at a higher position and does not need to occupy additional ground area. The external connection area is located at a low position, which is convenient for handing over goods to people or external devices. The picking area is set at the junction between the upper inventory area and the external connection area, so that the efficiency of the picking and placing device sending the inventory units to the picking area and the goods detected in the picking area to each temporary storage slot is maximized. The above system integrates storage, sorting, order processing and warehousing functions, and has a reasonable and compact layout and occupies a small area. It can store many categories of goods in a very small area and can process many orders at the same time. There are few intermediate links and high operating efficiency.

[0019] (2) The storage and retrieval system can be expanded in height and length as needed, such as expanding the storage spaces above the first inventory area, or expanding the number of storage spaces and temporary storage compartments on the side of the main body formed by the first inventory area and the connecting area. The expansion is convenient and flexible, and can meet the needs of storage spaces and temporary storage compartments at different stages of commercial operation.

[0020] (3) The pick-and-place device can place the inventory unit on the conveying device. Since the conveying device is long and has multiple cache positions, it can effectively reduce the waiting time for the pick-and-place device to deliver goods to the picking area, thereby improving the pick-and-place efficiency of the pick-and-place device.

[0021] (4) The design method of using multi-deep shelves on the upper layer, temporary storage slots on the front side of the lower layer, and delivery paths and delivery units on the rear side not only makes the storage density of the first inventory area high, but also the main body is a flat structure without external protrusions, with a regular shape, which is more conducive to layout. The second inventory area arranged in parallel with the main body can share the pick-and-place device with the first inventory area, further improving the inventory density. The entire storage and warehousing system is highly integrated and can effectively reduce the floor space. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 It is a front view structural diagram of the integrated inventory unit storage and retrieval system;

[0023] Figure 2 It is a side view structural diagram of the integrated inventory unit storage and retrieval system;

[0024] Figure 3 It is a front view structural diagram of an integrated inventory unit storage and retrieval system in another embodiment;

[0025] Figure 4 It is a flowchart of the outbound method;

[0026] Figure 5 It is a flowchart of the warehousing method;

[0027] In the figure: 1-first inventory area; 1a-upper inventory area; 1b-side inventory area; 11-storage space; 2-pick-and-place device; 21-pick-and-place mechanism; 22-driving mechanism; 3-picking area; 4-interconnection area; 41-temporary storage compartment; 5-transmission system; 51-elevator; 52-delivery unit; 6-conveyor device; 7-second inventory area; A-aisle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The utility model is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0029] like Figure 1-2The integrated inventory unit in-and-out system shown in the figure comprises a first inventory area 1, a pick-and-place device 2, a picking area 3, an external connection area 4 and a transfer system 5, wherein the external connection area 4 has a plurality of temporary storage slots 41 with a multi-layer layout; the first inventory area 1 has a storage location a with a multi-layer layout, and the storage location a is used to store inventory units. The specifications of the inventory units are relatively fixed, and are generally a combination of containers and goods (common containers are material boxes, and a plurality of small goods are stored in the material boxes). Of course, the inventory units can also be separate goods, such as goods with larger specifications, or goods that are stored in full boxes and shipped in full boxes; the transfer system 5 can transfer goods between the picking area 3 and the external connection area 4;

[0030] The first storage area 1 at least includes an upper storage area 1a located above the abutting connection area 4. The first storage area 1 may also include a side storage area 1b located to the side of the abutting connection area 4. Figure 3 As shown. In actual operation, it is preferred to set all temporary storage compartments 41 above the external connection area 4 to establish an upper inventory area 1a. If the upper height is limited, consider setting up the side inventory area 1b. Alternatively, when the upper height is limited, it is also possible to give priority to changing the layout of the external connection area 4 to ensure that all storage locations a can be set above the external connection area 4 to construct the upper inventory area 1a; the above-mentioned method of changing the layout of the external connection area 4 is to reduce the number of layers of the temporary storage compartments 41 and widen the width of the upper inventory area 1a. In this way, more layers can be reserved for the layout of the upper inventory area 1a, and the width of the upper inventory area 1a can be widened.

[0031] In one embodiment, relative to the boundary position between the picking area 3 and the upper inventory area 1a, the picking area 3 is located above, below or to the side of the boundary position. The picking area 3 has a portion that is embedded upwardly in the upper inventory area 1a and / or has a portion that is embedded downwardly in the corresponding interface area 4. Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, the picking area 3 has a portion that is embedded upwardly in the upper inventory area 1a. The picking area 3 has a picking manipulator that can detect a predetermined number of goods from containers such as bins as needed. By embedding the picking area 3 in the upper inventory area 1a and / or the abutting interface area 4, the space above and below the picking area 3 can be fully utilized, thereby improving space utilization, and the picking area 3 does not need to be suspended outside the above-mentioned main body, thereby improving the integrity of the system. In this embodiment, there is also a conveying device 6 between the first inventory area 1 and the abutting interface area 4 for conveying inventory units to the picking area 3. In actual use, the pick-up and placement device 2 can place inventory units on the conveying device 6. Since the conveying device 6 is relatively long and has multiple cache positions, it can effectively reduce the waiting time for the pick-up and placement device 2 to deliver goods to the picking area 3, thereby improving the pick-up and placement efficiency of the pick-up and placement device 2.

[0032] In another embodiment, the picking area 3 is located between the upper inventory area 1a and the connecting area 4. This embodiment is applicable to the solution in which the picking area 3 is a flat structure.

[0033] In the above system, each temporary storage slot 41 of the external connection area 4 can collect goods corresponding to the task (order task or classification task, etc.), and after the task corresponding to the temporary storage slot 41 is completed, the goods in the temporary storage slot 41 are taken away by a person or a picking machine. In addition, the temporary storage slot 41 of the external connection area 4 can also receive goods sent in by external people or devices, and the transfer system 5 can send the goods received by the temporary storage slot 41 to the picking area 3, and distribute them to the picking and placing device 2 via the picking area 3, and the picking and placing device 2 stores the goods in the storage position a to realize the storage of the goods.

[0034] In the above layout, the upper storage and the external connection at the lower part are adopted, which can effectively utilize the vertical space. The upper inventory area 1a does not need to be directly connected with the user or the picking machine. Therefore, it is placed at a higher position and does not need to occupy additional ground area. The external connection area 4 is located at a low position, which is convenient for handing over goods to people or external devices. The picking area 3 is set at the junction between the upper inventory area 1a and the external connection area 4, so that the efficiency of the pick-up and place device 2 sending the inventory unit to the picking area 3 and the goods detected by the picking area 3 to each temporary storage grid 41 is maximized. The above system integrates the functions of storage, sorting, processing goods according to orders and warehousing, and has a reasonable and compact layout and occupies a small area. It can store many categories of goods in a very small area and can process many orders at the same time, with few intermediate links and high operating efficiency.

[0035] The above system can be expanded in height and length as needed, such as expanding the storage space a above the first inventory area 1 as needed, or expanding the number of storage spaces a and temporary storage compartments 41 on the side of the main body formed by the first inventory area 1 and the connecting area 4. The expansion is convenient and flexible, and can meet the needs of storage spaces a and temporary storage compartments 41 in different periods of commercial operation.

[0036] Preferably, it further comprises a second inventory area 7, which is arranged in parallel with the main body composed of the first inventory area 1 and the connecting area 4, and there is a lane A between the second inventory area 7 and the main body, and the pick-and-place device 2 is placed in the lane A. The pick-and-place device 2 comprises a pick-and-place mechanism 21 and a driving mechanism 22 for driving the pick-and-place mechanism 21 to move in the lane A. The driving mechanism 22 can be in the form of a rectangular coordinate driving module or a wire-pulling driving device, and the driving mechanism 22 can enable the pick-and-place mechanism 21 to reach the position directly in front of any storage position a to take out or put in the inventory unit.

[0037] Preferably, the first inventory area 1 is a multi-depth shelf, that is, it has multiple layers in the thickness direction, and at each horizontal and vertical storage point, multiple storage locations a are arranged front to back in the thickness direction; the thickness of the temporary storage opening 41 is less than the overall thickness of the first inventory area 1; the transfer system 5 has a portion placed on the back side of the external connection area 4, and the total thickness of this portion and the external connection area 4 does not exceed the thickness of the first inventory area 1.

[0038] Correspondingly, the second inventory area 7 is also a multi-depth shelf. The first inventory area 1 and the second inventory area 7 are preferably double-depth shelves, and the pick-and-place mechanism 21 can take inventory units at two locations at the same position, the near inventory unit can be taken directly, and when the far inventory unit is blocked, the near inventory unit can be taken out by the pick-and-place mechanism 21 first, and stored in an empty storage location a at another location, and then the pick-and-place mechanism 21 is returned to the position of the target inventory unit to take out the far inventory unit.

[0039] Preferably, the transfer system 5 has an elevator 51 extending downward from the picking area 3, and also includes a delivery path placed on the back side of the temporary storage compartment 41 of each layer, and each layer of the delivery path has a delivery unit 52 that can walk along it. The elevator 51 is embedded in the external connection area 4, or is located on one side of the external connection area 4, and does not protrude from the main body, which can ensure the regularity of the overall shape of the system. When the outbound operation is implemented, the goods detected by the picking area 3 are placed on the lifting unit of the elevator 51. The lifting unit reaches the height of the target delivery path and transfers the goods to the delivery unit 52. The delivery unit 52 moves along the delivery path and delivers the goods to the target temporary storage compartment 41.

[0040] By adopting the above layout, using the upper multi-deep shelf, the front side of the lower layer (the front side is the pickup side) as the temporary storage slot 41, and the rear side as the delivery path and delivery unit 52, not only the storage density of the first inventory area 1 is high, but also the main body is a flat structure without external protrusions, with a regular shape, which is more conducive to layout. The second inventory area 7 arranged in parallel with the main body can share the pick-and-place device 2 with the first inventory area 1, further improving the inventory density, and the entire storage and warehousing system is highly integrated, which can effectively reduce the floor space.

[0041] At least some of the temporary storage slots 41 have doors that can be opened and closed. The storage access system can be provided with a user verification system to manage the door opening, so that the user can interact with the user verification system to open the door of the target temporary storage slot 41, and the user can take the goods in the temporary storage slot 41 by himself.

[0042] The utility model also provides a method for goods in and out of storage, which is applied to the above-mentioned integrated goods in and out of storage system, and the method includes a method for out of storage and a method for in storage; the above-mentioned method is implemented by a control system, and the control system can control the operation of the picking and placing device 2, the sorting robot in the picking area 3 and the transfer system 5.

[0043] like Figure 4 As shown, the method for outbound delivery includes the following steps S101-S104:

[0044] Step S101, obtain the outbound task, and allocate the temporary storage slot 41 for the outbound task; the outbound task is dispatched by the external system, and the outbound task can be in the form of an order, an outbound order, etc. The content of the outbound task can contain only one item of goods, or can protect multiple items;

[0045] Step S102, determining the storage location a where the target goods are located according to the outbound task, and controlling the pick-and-place device 2 to take out the inventory unit containing the target goods from the storage location a;

[0046] Step S103, transporting the inventory unit to the picking area 3, and the sorting robot in the picking area 3 picks out the target quantity of goods from the inventory unit; when the inventory unit is a whole, the inventory unit can be picked out as a whole;

[0047] Step S104, controlling the transfer system 5 to transfer the goods picked out from the picking area 3 to the temporary storage slot 41 corresponding to the outbound task; when the temporary storage slot 41 has collected all the goods corresponding to the outbound task, the outbound task is in a completed state, and the user or a picking machine outside the system can take all the goods out of the temporary storage slot 41 to release the occupation of the temporary storage slot 41 by the outbound task;

[0048] like Figure 5 As shown, the warehousing task includes the following steps S201-S204:

[0049] Step S201, receiving information of goods to be stored in the temporary storage slot 41;

[0050] Step S202, delivering the goods to be stored to the picking area 3 through the delivery system 5;

[0051] Step S203, transferring the goods to be stored to the picking and placing device 2 by the sorting robot in the picking area 3;

[0052] Step S204, controlling the pick-and-place device 2 to store the goods to be stored in the storage location a.

[0053] The above-mentioned warehousing task and outbound task can be carried out synchronously, and the control system receives the information of outbound task and goods to be warehousing at the same time. When the pick-and-place device 2 takes out the inventory unit from the storage position a and sends it to the picking area 3 or the conveying device 6, it can obtain the container with the remaining goods or the goods to be warehousing from the picking area 3 for warehousing; after the delivery unit 52 of the transfer system 5 sends the checked goods to the temporary storage compartment 41, it can obtain the goods to be warehousing in another temporary storage compartment 41 and transfer them to the elevator 51. In this way, the goods can be replenished in time and the empty running travel of the pick-and-place device 2 and the transfer system 5 can be reduced, further improving the efficiency.

[0054] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An integrated goods storage and retrieval system, comprising a first storage area (1), a pick-and-place device (2), a picking area (3), an external interface area (4) and a transfer system (5), wherein the external interface area (4) has a plurality of temporary storage slots (41); the transfer system (5) is capable of transferring goods between the picking area (3) and the external interface area (4); and characterized in that: The first inventory area (1) at least comprises an upper inventory area (1a) located above the abutting interface area (4); With respect to the boundary position between the picking area (3) and the upper inventory area (1a), the picking area (3) is located above, below or to the side of the boundary position; or The picking area (3) is located between the upper inventory area (1a) and the connecting area (4).

2. The integrated cargo storage and retrieval system according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The picking area (3) has a portion that is embedded upwardly into the upper inventory area (1a) and / or has a portion that is embedded downwardly into the connecting area (4).

3. The integrated cargo storage and retrieval system according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The first storage area (1) may further include a side storage area (1b) located to the side of the abutting interface area (4).

4. The integrated cargo storage and retrieval system according to claim 1 is characterized in that: A conveying device (6) for conveying inventory units to the picking area (3) is provided between the first inventory area (1) and the connecting area (4).

5. The integrated cargo storage and retrieval system according to claim 1 is characterized in that: It also includes a second inventory area (7), which is arranged in parallel with the main body composed of the first inventory area (1) and the connecting area (4), and there is a lane (A) between the second inventory area (7) and the main body, and the picking and placing device (2) is placed in the lane (A).

6. The integrated cargo storage and retrieval system according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The first inventory area (1) is a multi-depth shelf; the thickness of the temporary storage opening (41) is less than the overall thickness of the first inventory area (1); the transfer system (5) has a portion disposed on the back side of the abutting interface area (4), and the total thickness of the portion and the abutting interface area (4) does not exceed the thickness of the first inventory area (1).

7. The integrated cargo storage and retrieval system according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The transfer system (5) has an elevator (51) extending downward from the picking area (3), and also includes a delivery path arranged on the back side of the temporary storage slots (41) on each layer, and each layer of the delivery path has a delivery unit (52) that can walk along it.

8. The integrated cargo storage and retrieval system according to claim 1 is characterized in that: At least part of the temporary storage opening (41) has a door that can be opened and closed.

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