Automated warehouse

Abstract

To provide an automated warehouse in which one station can be used as both a storage station and a delivery station while suppressing a risk that an article being carried out will come into contact with a positioning member.SOLUTION: In an automated warehouse 10 having a station 14 on which an article W to be carried to a shelf 13 of racks 11 and 12 is placed, a conveyance device 15 for conveying the article W to and from the shelf 13, and control means for controlling the operation of the conveyance device 15, positioning members 17 and 18 are provided in the station 14 to contact the article W to be carried into the shelf 13 and arrange the article W at a carry-in standby position in the station 14, control means determines a position on the station 14 that is distant from the positioning members 17 and 18 in a plan view as a target placement position, and causes the conveyance device 15 to place the article W taken out from the shelf 13 on the station 14.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automated warehouse having racks for storing articles and conveying equipment for carrying the articles in and out. [Background technology]

[0002] Specific examples of automated warehouses having racks with multiple shelves each for storing items, and conveying equipment for transporting items placed at an input station to a designated shelf and transporting the items from the shelf to an output station are described in, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2. Patent Document 1 discloses an example of a transport facility in which a single stacker crane performs loading and unloading processes.

[0003] Patent Document 2 describes an example of a transport facility that includes an entrance lifting device that lifts an article from an entrance station to a specified height position on a rack, a transport vehicle that horizontally moves the article lifted by the entrance lifting device to a specified shelf (frontage), and an outgoing lifting device that lowers the article taken out of the storage shelf and moved horizontally by the transport vehicle to the outgoing station. In the example of Patent Document 2, the transport vehicle is used for both entrance and outgoing processing.

[0004] In the automated warehouses described in the cited documents 1 and 2, as shown in Fig. 7, positioning members such as positioning stoppers 102 and 103 are provided at the receiving station 101 so that the article 100 is accurately placed at a predetermined position at the receiving station 101. When the conveying equipment 104 conveys the article 100 from the receiving station 101 to the shelf 105, positional deviations of the article 100 occur when the article 100 is retrieved from the receiving station 101 and when the article 100 is stored on the shelf 105, and these deviations accumulate to become a final positional deviation of the article 100 relative to the shelf 105. However, by positioning the article 100 at the receiving station 101, it is possible to keep the final positional deviation of the article 100 relative to the shelf 105 within a predetermined range.

[0005] The same is true when the conveying equipment 104 conveys the item 100 from the shelf 105 to the output station 106, and by keeping the positional deviation of the item 100 relative to the shelf 105 within a predetermined range, the final positional deviation of the item 100 placed on the output station 106 can also be kept within a predetermined range. Therefore, the automated warehouse can be designed to have this range as the area where the item 100 may be placed.

[0006] On the other hand, for example, when providing guide members 107, 108 at the outgoing station 106 to prevent the article 100 from falling from the outgoing station 106, the guide members 107, 108 may be installed outside the area where the article 100 may be placed (at positions not in contact with the article 100 placed within the expected area). This allows the article 100 to be placed at the outgoing station 106 without coming into contact with the guide members 107, 108. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-149529 A [Patent Document 2] Patent Publication No. 2022-172748 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] However, when one station is used as both an input station and an output station, a problem occurs in that when an article is placed on the output station, the article often comes into contact with a member for positioning the article provided at the station unless the article is accurately positioned at a reference position. Also, if a positioning member is not provided at the station, the positioning of the article brought into the shelf becomes insufficient, leading to a problem that, for example, when the article is stored on the shelf, the article comes into contact with a member provided around the shelf.

[0009] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide an automated warehouse in which one station can be used as both an input station and an output station, while reducing the possibility that an item being transported will come into contact with a positioning member. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] An automated warehouse according to the present invention that meets the above-mentioned objectives has a station on which items to be brought onto shelves of a rack are placed, transport equipment for transporting the items onto and from the shelves, and a control means for controlling the operation of the transport equipment, in which a positioning member is provided in the station for contacting the item to be brought onto the shelves and positioning the item at a waiting position for loading of the item at the station, and the control means sets a position on the station that is a distance from the positioning member in a plan view as a target loading position, and causes the transport equipment to load the item removed from the shelf onto the station. Effect of the Invention

[0011] In the automated warehouse of the present invention, a positioning member is provided at a station which contacts an item being brought into the shelf and places the item in a waiting position for loading of the station, and the control means sets a position on the station which is a distance from the positioning member in a plan view as a target loading position, and causes the conveying equipment to load an item removed from the shelf onto the station.This makes it possible to use one station as both an input station and an output station while reducing the possibility of an item being delivered coming into contact with the positioning member. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an automated warehouse according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a carry-in standby position on the station. [Diagram 3] 1A to 1C are explanatory diagrams each showing a process up to when an article on a station is supported by the conveying equipment. [Figure 4]FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a target placement position on a station. [Diagram 5] 13A and 13B are explanatory diagrams of the article carrying-in process. [Figure 6] 13A and 13B are explanatory diagrams of the article carrying-out process. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional automated warehouse. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Next, with reference to the attached drawings, an embodiment of the present invention will be described for understanding the present invention. As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, an automated warehouse 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention has a station 14 on which articles W to be brought into shelves 13 of racks 11 and 12 are placed, a conveying facility 15 for carrying the articles W into and out of the shelves 13, and a control means 16 for controlling the operation of the conveying facility 15. The following will explain the details.

[0014] As shown in Fig. 1, each of the racks 11 and 12 has a number of shelves 13 and is linear in plan view. The racks 11 and 12 are arranged parallel to each other, and the rack 11 (as well as the rack 12) has multiple rows of shelves, each row having a number of shelves 13 arranged at the same height. The station 14 is arranged near one end of the rack 12 in plan view.

[0015] In this embodiment, the conveying equipment 15 is a stacker crane. The conveying equipment 15 can move horizontally and linearly between a position near the station 14 and the other end of the racks 11 and 12 in a plan view, and has a fork 15a that supports an article W. As shown in FIG. 2, a control means 16 that can be configured by a CPU, a memory device, etc. is connected to the conveying equipment 15. The control means 16 controls various operations of the conveying equipment 15, such as the travel of the conveying equipment 15, and the lifting and horizontal movement of the fork 15a. Although not shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, etc., a rail is provided between the racks 11 and 12 to guide the travel of the conveying equipment 15.

[0016] Positioning members 17, 18 are fixed (provided) to station 14 to contact an article W being carried into shelf 13 and position the article W at a carry-in standby position P1 of station 14. The direction in which conveying equipment 15 moves horizontally (reciprocates) is defined as the X direction, and the horizontal direction perpendicular to the X direction is defined as the Y direction, with positioning member 17 being long in the X direction and positioning member 18 being long in the Y direction. Note that in this embodiment, positioning members 17, 18 do not contact each other, but they may be in contact with each other.

[0017] Station 14 has a horizontal top plate 19 on which article W is placed. In this embodiment, work W is a cubic cardboard box containing a product, and the position of work W on top plate 19 when two vertical side surfaces of work W contact positioning members 17, 18, respectively, is set as a carry-in standby position P1. Article W is placed on top plate 19 of station 14 by an external mechanism (such as a belt conveyor) (not shown) with two side surfaces of article W contacting positioning members 17, 18, respectively. In this embodiment, in plan view, a loading standby position P1 is provided between a conveying facility 15 arranged near the station 14 and a positioning member 17, and a positioning member 18 is provided between the rack 12 and the loading standby position P1.

[0018] Two openings 20, 21, each long in the Y direction, are formed in parallel on the top plate 19. A lifter 22 capable of pushing up an article W is provided below the top plate 19, as shown in Fig. 3(A). The lifter 22 is equipped with a pair of hand units 23, 24 that are long in the Y direction and can be raised and lowered. The hand units 23, 24 rise, as shown in Fig. 3(B), and their upper ends protrude upward from the top plate 19 through the openings 20, 21, thereby lifting up the article W on the top plate 19.

[0019] 3(B) and (C), the article W lifted by the hand units 23, 24 is placed on the fork 15a of the conveying equipment 15 disposed near the station 14 by the movement and elevation of the fork 15a in the Y direction, and moves from above the hand units 23, 24 onto the fork 15a. As a result, the article W moves horizontally together with the conveying equipment 15 as the conveying equipment 15 travels in the X direction.

[0020] In station 14 (top plate 19 in this embodiment), a positioning member 17 protruding upward from top plate 19 is provided on the opposite side of conveying equipment 15 arranged near station 14 in a plan view based on loading standby position P1. Therefore, conveying equipment 15 arranged near station 14 can insert fork 15a between article W pushed up by lifter 22 and top plate 19 without fork 15a coming into contact (interfering with) positioning member 17.

[0021] 4, in a plan view, a position closer to the conveying equipment 15 arranged near the station 14 in the Y direction with the positioning member 17 as a reference and farther from the rack 12 in the X direction with the positioning member 18 as a reference, and having a distance from the positioning members 17 and 18, is defined as the target position on the top plate 19 (station 14) on which the article W carried out from the shelf 13 is placed, as the target placement position P2. Therefore, the control means 16 sets the position as the target placement position P2 and causes the conveying equipment 15 to place the article W taken out from the shelf 13 on the top plate 19.

[0022] An article W accurately placed at the target placement position P2 does not come into contact with either of the positioning members 17, 18, and the positioning members 17, 18 function as members that prevent the article W, which the conveying equipment 15 has picked up from the shelf 13 and placed on the top plate 19, from falling from the top plate 19 (i.e., station 14). In this embodiment, only the positioning members 17, 18 are used as members that prevent the article W, which is picked up from the shelf 13 and placed on the top plate 19, from falling from the top plate 19, and no other members are used that prevent the article W from falling from the top plate 19.

[0023] Next, the operation when carrying the article W into and out of the shelf 13 will be described. As shown in Figure 1, when an item W is placed on the top plate 19 (station 14 as a warehousing station) after being positioned by positioning members 17, 18 by an external mechanism, the item W is pushed up by the lifter 22, a command signal is sent from the control means 16, and the conveying equipment 15 moves to a position near the station 14 as shown in Figure 5 (A), inserts the fork 15a under the item W and raises it, and places the item W on the fork 15a.

[0024] Thereafter, in accordance with the command signal sent from the control means 16, the conveying equipment 15 moves together with the item W to the vicinity of the shelf 13 where the item W is to be stored, as shown in Fig. 5(B), raises the forks 15a to the height position of the shelf 13, and moves horizontally toward the shelf 13 to store the item W on the shelf 13. In the process up to this point, at least when the conveying equipment 15 retrieves the item W from the station 14 and when the conveying equipment 15 stores the item W on the shelf 13, there is a possibility that the item W may be misaligned with respect to the reference position.

[0025] In addition, when an item W stored on the shelf 13 is to be removed, a command signal is sent from the control means 16, and the conveying equipment 15 moves to the vicinity of the shelf 13 on which the item W is stored, as shown in Figure 6 (A), and then inserts the fork 15a under the item W and raises it to place the item W on the fork 15a.

[0026] Then, the conveying equipment 15 lowers the forks 15a, moves together with the item W to the vicinity of the station 14 as shown in Fig. 6(B), and places the item W on the station 14 using the forks 15a. In the process up to this point, at least when the conveying equipment 15 retrieves the item W from the shelf 13 and when the conveying equipment 15 places the item W on the station 14, there is a possibility that the item W may be misaligned with respect to the reference position.

[0027] Here, in this embodiment, when the conveying equipment 15 places the item W on the station 14, the control means 16 does not detect in what direction and to what extent the item W placed on the fork 15a is displaced from the reference position (the control means 16 does not detect the positional displacement of the item W placed on the fork 15a even when the conveying equipment 15 transfers the item W from the station 14 to the shelf 13). Therefore, the control means 16 controls the conveying equipment 15 to place the item W at the target placement position P2, assuming that the item W is placed on the reference position of the fork 15a (i.e., assuming that the item W supported by the conveying equipment 15 is placed at a predetermined reference position of the conveying equipment 15).

[0028] Since the target placement position P2 is a position having a distance from the positioning members 17 and 18 in a plan view, it is possible to stably prevent the item W from contacting either of the positioning members 17 and 18 when placing the item W on the station 14 as a delivery station by controlling the conveying equipment 15 described above. From the viewpoint of preventing the item W from contacting either of the positioning members 17 and 18, it is preferable to set the target placement position P2 to a position where the distance from the positioning member 17 to the target placement position P2 and the distance from the positioning member 18 to the target placement position P2 are 10 mm or more (more preferably, 6 mm or more). However, if the distance exceeds 20 mm, it becomes necessary to prepare a station that is larger than necessary, so that the distance is preferably 20 mm or less (more preferably, 15 mm or less).

[0029] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and all changes in conditions that do not depart from the gist of the present invention are within the scope of application of the present invention. For example, the transport equipment does not have to be a stacker crane, and may be a self-propelled vehicle or the like. Also, the positioning member does not have to be fixed to the station, and may be attached so as to be movable up and down relative to the station, or may be fixed to a member disposed near the station (i.e., an object other than the station). Furthermore, in addition to the positioning member, a member other than the positioning member (this member is not used for positioning an article brought into the shelf) may also be used as a member for preventing an article taken out of the shelf and placed on the station from falling from the station. Furthermore, the station does not need to be a platform or the like in which all parts, including the part on which the article is placed (the top plate in the above embodiment), do not move, and may be a belt conveyor, roller conveyor, or the like. [Explanation of symbols]

[0030] 10: automated warehouse, 11, 12: rack, 13: shelf, 14: station, 15: transport equipment, 15a: fork, 16: control means, 17, 18: positioning member, 19: top plate, 20, 21: opening, 22: lifter, 23, 24: hand unit, P1: loading standby position, P2: target placement position, W: article

Claims

1. In an automated warehouse having a station on which an article to be brought into a shelf of a rack is placed, a conveying device for conveying the article into and out of the shelf, and a control means for controlling the operation of the conveying device, a positioning member that contacts the article to be carried onto the shelf and places the article at a carry-in standby position of the station is provided at the station; The control means sets a position on the station that is a distance from the positioning member in a plan view as a target loading position, and causes the conveying equipment to load the item removed from the shelf onto the station.

2. 2. The automated warehouse according to claim 1, wherein the positioning member is fixed to the station.

3. 3. The automated warehouse according to claim 1, wherein only the positioning member is utilized as a member for preventing the article taken out from the shelf and placed on the station from falling from the station.

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