Picking completion reporting system

Abstract

To report the timing when picking is completed and a collection box is sent to transport means, as a new retrofit facility that requires no modification or addition of an existing part to an existing picking system.SOLUTION: A retrofit picking completion reporting system 20 is attached to an existing picking system 10 comprising an upper and lower two-tier shelf 11 for arranging a plurality of product storage boxes 17a -17h, a table 12 for placing a collection box 18, transport means 13 for transporting the collection box 18, lamps 14a-14h incorporating self-extinguishing buttons, a barcode reader 15, and a control device (PC) 16 for turning on a lamp and displaying the picked quantity. It has a collection box illumination lamp 21 that illuminates, a sensor 22 configured to detect when all required lamps are turned on and to output a signal when all lamps are turned off, and a controller 23 that receives the output signal from the sensor 22 and outputs a turn-off signal for the collection box illumination lamp 21.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a picking completion notification system, and more particularly to a retrofit picking completion notification system. More specifically, there is a picking system already installed and in operation at a logistics center, and the present invention relates to a retrofit picking completion notification system that notifies the timing of picking completion and the delivery of a collection box to a conveying means as a new retrofit facility that does not require any changes to the existing mechanical parts, electrical circuits, or software of the existing picking system. [Background technology]

[0002] Figure 2 shows an existing picking system 10 in operation at a logistics center. Multiple product storage boxes 17a-17h, each containing a different product, are arranged at positions A and H on two shelves 11, one above the other. For a collection box 18 linked to a customer on a table 12, a barcode 18a attached to the box is read by a barcode reader 15. A control device (PC) 16 then lights up self-extinguishing button-integrated lamps 14a-14h, which are located in one place and are used to identify the product storage box 17a-17h to be picked based on the barcode data, and displays an instruction on the number of items to be picked on a display 16a of the control device (PC). In this way, picking work for one customer is carried out, and the collected collection box 18 is sent from the table 12 to the roller conveyor 3. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-341817 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] According to the existing picking system 10 shown in FIG. 2 described above, the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h are turned off one by one, and the picking work is completed when none of them are lit. However, when pickers start to get tired after working all day, there is a problem that sometimes when the picking work is just about to be completed, they mistakenly think that all of the lamps are off, even though only one of the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h is still lit, and this leads to a human error of pushing the collection box 18 onto the roller conveyor 13.

[0005] The present invention has been devised in consideration of the above points, and aims to provide a picking completion notification system that is a new retrofit facility that does not require any changes to the existing mechanical parts, electrical circuits, or software, and that can notify the picker when picking is complete and the collection box should be sent to the conveying means, as opposed to existing picking systems that indicate the identification of a product storage box for picking work by lighting up a concentrated array of lamps, indicate the number of items to be picked on a PC display, collect the items into a collection box, and transport the collection box to the shipping yard by conveying means after collection is complete, and that is effective in avoiding the error of pushing the collection box onto the conveying means before the picking work is completed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The retrofit picking completion notification system of the present invention was devised in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and in a first aspect of the invention it is applied to an existing picking system which has two shelves, one above the other, on which product storage boxes are arranged, with each box containing a different product, a table on which collection boxes are placed in a position lined up with the product storage boxes on the lower level, a transport means for transporting the collection boxes which are pushed rearward from on the table as picking is completed to a receiving and collection yard, self-extinguishing button built-in lamps which are provided in a position lined up with the product storage boxes on the upper level and which are arranged to correspond to all of the product storage boxes on the two upper and lower levels, a barcode reader for reading barcodes which are box IDs written on the collection boxes placed on the table, and a control device which has a display unit and which controls the display of the display unit and the selective lighting of the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps.

[0007] The retrofit picking completion notification system of the first aspect of the present invention is a retrofit notification system for notifying the picking worker of the timing to send the collection box to the conveying means when picking is completed, without requiring any changes or additions to existing parts of the existing picking system.

[0008] The retrofit picking completion notification system of the first aspect of the invention is a retrofit notification system for sending the collection box to the transport means when picking is completed, and is configured to include a collection box light lamp that illuminates the collection box on the table so that it can be seen by the picker, a sensor that detects the lighting of all of the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps and outputs a signal to notify the completion of picking when all of the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps have gone out, and a controller that outputs a signal to turn off the collection box light lamps when it receives the signal output by the sensor.

[0009] A retrofit picking completion notification system according to a second aspect of the present invention may be configured such that, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect of the invention, a push-out allowing means is added, and the system includes a stopper that releasably abuts against the rear surface of the collection box on the table, and the controller outputs a control signal to release the stopper when it receives a signal output by the sensor, thereby allowing the collection box to be sent from the table to the conveying means when picking of the collection box is completed. This added system is a picking completion notification / push-out allowing system. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, in contrast to existing picking systems in which the identification of a product storage box for picking work is indicated by lighting up a concentrated array of lamps, the number of items to be picked is indicated on a PC display, and the items are collected into a collection box, and after collection is complete, the collection box is transported to the shipping yard by a conveying means, a picking completion notification system can be provided as a new retrofit facility that does not require any changes or additions to existing parts, and can notify the picker when picking is complete and the collection box should be sent to the conveying means, and is effective in avoiding the error of pushing the collection box onto the conveying means before the picking work is completed. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a front view showing a picking completion notification system that is retrofitted to an existing picking system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a front view showing an existing picking system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A retrofit box identification system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0013] FIG. 1 shows an existing picking system, an existing picking system 10, and a picking completion notification system 20 that is a main part of the present invention and is applied to the existing picking system 10.

[0014] [Configuration of existing picking system] The existing picking system is configured to issue picking instructions by lighting a lamp to identify the product storage box to be picked and by displaying an instruction on the number of items to be picked on the display unit 16a of the PC.

[0015] The existing picking system 10 is configured to include two shelves 11, one above the other, on which a plurality of product storage boxes 17a-17h are arranged, a table 12 on which collection boxes 18 are placed in a position next to the product storage boxes 17a-17h on the lower shelf 11B, a transport means 13 that receives the collection boxes 18 sent out from the table 12 and transports them to the shipping yard, lamps 14a-14h with built-in self-extinguishing buttons that are concentrated in one location to correspond to the same number of product storage boxes 17a-17h arranged on the two shelves 11, a barcode reader 15 for reading barcodes 18a attached to the collection boxes 18, and a control device (PC) 16 that turns on lamps to identify the product storage boxes 17a-17h to be picked based on the barcode data and displays the number of items picked.

[0016] The upper and lower shelves 11 can accommodate a plurality of product storage boxes 17a-17h, each containing a plurality of different products, at distributed arrangement positions A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H.

[0017] The table 12 is provided at an inter-box position (table position) K aligned with the product storage boxes 17a-17h arranged on the lower shelf 11B, and can place collection boxes 18 thereon for collectively storing multiple products picked from each of the required number of product storage boxes 17a-17h. The table 12 may have a smooth, slippery loading surface that is slightly inclined downward in the sending direction, or may have a loading surface made up of an array of long rollers.

[0018] The conveying means 13 is connected to the rear side of the table 12 and is configured to receive the collection boxes 18 that are placed on the table 12 and are pushed rearward from above the table 12 when picking is completed, and transport them to the collection yard. The conveying means 13 may be a roller conveyor, a belt conveyor, a transport robot, or an autonomous vehicle.

[0019] The self-extinguishing button-integrated lamps 14a-14h are light-transmitting cases that house light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and have a self-extinguishing button that can be pushed from the front of the case. The self-extinguishing button-integrated lamps 14a-14h are turned on by the control device (PC) 16 and turn off when the self-extinguishing button is pressed. The self-extinguishing button-integrated lamps 14a-14h are concentrated in one location next to the product storage boxes 17a-17h arranged on the upper shelf 11A. In this case, since the product storage boxes 17a-17h are far from the self-extinguishing button-integrated lamps 14a-14h, the arrangement of the product storage boxes 17a-17h and the self-extinguishing button-integrated lamps 14a-14h are aligned to each other, making it easier for pickers to understand the relative positions of the product storage boxes 17a-17h and the self-extinguishing button-integrated lamps 14a-14h.

[0020] The self-extinguishing button-integrated lamps 14a-14h are not limited to being provided in one location, but may be provided dispersedly so as to be located above, below, or near the sides of each product storage bin 17a-17h. However, providing the self-extinguishing button-integrated lamps 14a-14h in a concentrated manner near the sides of the control device (PC) 16 is preferable because it makes it easier to grasp the number and arrangement of the product storage bins 17a-17h required to pick products for one customer.

[0021] The barcode reader 15 is provided to read the barcode 18a, which is the box ID, attached to the collection box 18 placed on the table 12, and may be configured to be able to transmit data to the control device (PC) 16 wirelessly.

[0022] The control device (PC) 16 has a CPU, memory, a communication unit, a display unit 16a, etc., and performs display control on the display unit 16a and control of selecting and lighting the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h. When the barcode 18a attached to the collection box 18 is read by the barcode reader 15, the control device (PC) 16 selects multiple product storage boxes containing products to be picked from all of the upper and lower product storage boxes 17a-17h in the two tiers above and below, controls to light up the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h corresponding to the lit product storage boxes 17a-17h, and displays the number of products to be picked from the multiple product storage boxes corresponding to the selected product storage boxes 17a-17h in the corresponding arrangement of the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h on the display unit 16a.

[0023] More specifically, when the barcode reader 15 reads the barcode 18a attached to the collection box 18, the control device (PC) 16 compares it with table data previously stored in its internal memory, extracts data on the lamp IDs of the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h corresponding to the multiple product storage boxes 17a-17h to be picked corresponding to the barcode 18a, and the number of items to be picked for each product storage box 17a-17h, and based on the extracted data, selects and lights up the multiple self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h that should be turned on, and displays on the display unit 16a an arrangement of the numbers of items to be picked from the multiple lit product storage boxes corresponding to the lit lamps.

[0024] The table data stored in advance in the internal memory is data that has been compiled into a ledger, including the box ID, product ID, shelf position ID, and number of items stored, attached to each product storage box 17a-17h, and each product storage box 17a-17h is arranged so that there is no discrepancy between the arrangement of each product storage box 17a-17h at shelf position AH and the shelf position ID in the table data.

[0025] The number of items picked displayed on display unit 16a is displayed in an arrangement corresponding to the arrangement AH of self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h, which is an embodiment that makes it easy for pickers to input the positional relationship between product storage boxes 17a-17h and self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h.In addition, the number of items picked displayed on display unit 16a may also be displayed in a format of eight vertically arranged squares, such as A-2, B-3, C-2, ...H-5, which is easy for pickers to input and is also included in the embodiment.

[0026] [Effects of the existing picking system] When the control device (PC) 16 reads the barcode 18a attached to the collection box 18 using the barcode reader 15, it inputs this barcode data and, based on the barcode data, selects and lights up multiple self-extinguishing button-integrated lamps 14a-14h corresponding to multiple product storage boxes 17a-17h that contain the products to be collected, and displays on the display unit 16a the number of products to be picked (number of products to be picked) from the multiple lit product storage boxes in a manner that corresponds to the lamp arrangement.

[0027] Therefore, after placing the collection box 18 on the table 12, the picker reads the barcode 18a attached to the collection box 18.

[0028] Next, the picker repeats the following [selection confirmation work] and [picking work]. [Selection confirmation work]: The operator looks closely at the display unit 16a of the control device (PC) 16, memorizes the number of items to be picked for each product storage box selected in any order, and simultaneously memorizes the positions of the selected product storage box and the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h. [Picking work]: The picking worker picks the number of products to be picked from the product storage box and stores them in the collection box 18, and turns on the self-extinguishing buttons of the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h. This causes the control device (PC) 16 to turn off the lamps.

[0029] The picker repeats the above-mentioned [selection confirmation work] and [picking work] to turn off the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h one by one, and the picking work is completed when none of them are lit.

[0030] When the picking work is completed, the picking worker can push the front of the collection box 18 to send it from the table 12 to the conveying means 13, and the collection box 18 can be conveyed to the shipping yard by the conveying means 13.

[0031] [Retrofit picking completion notification system] As described above, in order to avoid human error in which the picker mistakenly believes that the picking work is complete before any of the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h are lit and pushes the collection box 18 to send it from the table 12 to the conveying means 13, a retrofitted picking completion notification system 20, which is a means of notifying the picker of the push timing, is attached to the above-mentioned existing picking system 10 as new retrofit equipment that does not require any changes to the existing mechanical parts, electrical circuits, or software.

[0032] The retrofitted picking completion notification system 20 has a collection box light lamp 21 that illuminates the collection boxes 18 on the table 12 so that they can be seen by the picker, a sensor 22 that detects the lighting of all of the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h and outputs a signal to notify the completion of picking when all of the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps 14a-14h have gone out, and a controller 23 that outputs a signal to turn off the collection box light lamp 21 when it receives the signal output by the sensor 22, and is thus configured to notify the picker of the push timing for sending the collection box 18 from the table 12 to the transport means when picking of that collection box 18 has been completed.

[0033] The collection box illumination lamp 21 may be configured to illuminate at least one of the front and inner surfaces of the collection box 18, and two illumination lamps may be provided as shown in the figure.

[0034] The power supply for the retrofit picking completion notification system 20 is sufficient if the plug 25 is connected to the outlet 24 attached to the picking system.

[0035] The add-on picking completion notification system 20 preferably further includes a stopper 26, which is a push-out prevention means that prevents the pushing of the collection box 18 and releases the prevention in accordance with the push timing notification. The stopper 26 is configured, for example, to abut against the rear surface of the collection box 18 on the table 12 so as to be able to rise and be released, and the controller 23 outputs a control signal to release the stopper 26 when it receives a signal from the sensor 22, thereby allowing the collection box 18 to be pushed out from the table 12 onto the conveying means 13 upon completion of picking for that collection box 18. Note that even in a configuration including the stopper 26, power is supplied only by connecting the plug 25 to the outlet 24, and the stopper 26 is controlled by the controller 23. Note that a system with the stopper 26 added is a picking completion notification / push-out permission system.

[0036] According to the retrofit picking completion notification system of the above embodiment, in comparison to existing picking systems which specify the product storage box for picking by lighting up concentrated lamps and indicate the number of items to be picked on a PC display to collect the items into a collection box, and after collection is complete, the collection box is transported to the shipping yard by conveyance means, this is a new retrofit facility which does not require any changes or additions to existing parts, and can notify the timing when picking is complete and the collection box should be sent to the conveyance means, and is effective in avoiding human error which would otherwise occur if the collection box were pushed onto the conveyance means before the picking work was completed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 10... Existing picking system, 11...Two shelves, one above the other, 11A...top shelf, 11B...lower shelf, 12...table, 13...Transport means (conveyor), 14a-14h... self-extinguishing button built-in lamp, 15...Barcode reader, 16...Control device (PC), 16a...display section, 17a-17h...Product storage box, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H...sequence position, 18...collection box, 18a...barcode, 20...Retrofit picking completion notification system, K...table position, 21...Collection box lighting lamp, 22...sensor, 23...controller, 24...Outlet, 25...plug, 26...Stopper.

Claims

1. An alarm system for retrofitting an existing picking system, which has a plurality of shelves on which product storage boxes, each box containing a different product, are arranged, a transport means for transporting the collection boxes from which products are picked to a collection yard when picking is complete, self-extinguishing button-integrated lamps provided near the shelves and arranged to correspond to all of the product storage boxes, a barcode reader for reading barcodes that are box IDs attached to the collection boxes, and a control device having a display unit and performing display control on the display unit and selective lighting control on the self-extinguishing button-integrated lamps, without requiring any changes or additions to existing parts, for sending the collection boxes to the transport means when picking is complete, The system is configured to include a collection box illumination lamp that illuminates the collection box so that the picking worker can see it, a sensor that detects the lighting of all of the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps and outputs a signal to notify the completion of the picking when all of the self-extinguishing button built-in lamps are turned off, and a controller that outputs a signal to turn off the collection box illumination lamp when it receives the signal output by the sensor. A retrofit notification system.

2. In addition to a means for informing the picking operator of the pushing timing, a stopper that releasably abuts against the rear surface of the collection box is provided, and when the signal output by the sensor is input, the controller outputs a control signal to release the abutment of the stopper, thereby allowing the collection box to be sent to the transport means when picking of the collection box is completed. The retrofit notification system according to claim 1 .

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