Patent Application
20070135961
The present invention relates to an automated warehouse system. In particular, present invention relates to an automated warehouse system in which an inventory check of articles (individual goods) in an automated warehouse can be performed easily.
Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 51-9482 discloses a technique in which a barcode is attached to a pallet, a barcode reader is provided at a hoisting frame of a stacker crane in an automated warehouse, and the barcode of the pallet is read while moving the hoisting frame along a rack. However, in the structure, inventory checks of individual articles cannot be performed.
In this specification, a container such as a pallet or a bucket may simply be referred to as the “container”, and individual articles placed on the pallet or disposed in the bucket may be referred to as the “individual goods”. Further, an ID written on an ID tag is readable. For example, the ID tag includes a barcode or an RFID tag. The RFID tag comprises an IC chip which makes it possible to read, and write the ID using electromagnetic waves, or optically in a non-contact manner. Electricity is supplied to the RFID tag by electromagnetic waves or the like from an ID reader. For example, the RFID tag has a label shape or a stick shape. Reading of the ID tag may simply be referred to as the reading of the ID.
A primary object of the present invention is to rapidly and reliably read an ID of a container and IDs of articles with simple structure.
Another object of the present invention is to read an ID of a container and IDs of individual goods using ID readers having a narrow reading range, and the number of the ID readers is reduced as much as possible.
Still another object of the present invention is to improve reliability in reading IDs of individual goods.
According to the present invention, an automated warehouse system is operated by moving a transfer apparatus along a rack in a warehouse such that a container is stored in, or retrieved from the rack. ID tags are attached to the container and individual articles in the container. The system comprises first reading means for reading an ID of the container without pulling the container out of the rack, and second reading means for reading IDs of the individual articles in the container by pulling the container out of the rack.
Preferably, the transfer apparatus is provided with the first reading means and the second reading means on a side facing the rack, and the articles in the container are scanned by the second reading means while pulling the container onto the transfer apparatus for reading the IDs of the individual articles in the container.
In particular, preferably, the automated warehouse system further comprises pulling control means for setting the speed of pulling the container at low speed at the time of reading the IDs of the individual articles in the container in comparison with the speed in the case where the IDs of the articles are not read.
Preferably, the transfer apparatus comprises a stacker crane including a truck movable in a movement direction in parallel with the rack, a mast provided at the truck, a hoisting frame vertically movable along the mast, and transfer means provided at the hoisting frame, and movable in the left-right direction perpendicular to the movement direction in the horizontal plane for transferring the container between the rack and the hoisting frame. The first reading means is provided at positions near the left and right ends of the hoisting frame on a side facing the rack for reading the ID of the container, and the second reading means is provided at upper positions near the left and right ends of the hoisting frame such that the container passes under the second reading means by the transfer means, and the articles in the container are scanned by the second reading means for reading the IDs of the individual articles in the container.
More preferably, racks are provided on the respective left and the right sides in the movement direction, the first reading means is provided on the respective left and right ends of the hoisting frame, and the second reading means is provided at upper positions near the left and right ends of the hoisting frame.
In particular, preferably, ID tags of the container are provided at both ends of the container in the left-right direction based on the state where the container is stocked in the rack.
Preferably, space for arranging at least two containers is provided in the hoisting frame, and the at least two containers can be transferred between the hoisting frame and the rack by the transfer means, and internal transfer means is provided in the hoisting frame for transferring the articles between the two containers while reading the IDs of the articles.
Further, an automated warehouse system is operated by moving a transfer apparatus along a rack in a warehouse such that a container is stored in, or retrieved from the rack, wherein ID tags are attached to the container and individual articles in the container. The system comprises first reading means for reading an ID of the container without moving into the rack, and second reading means for reading IDs of the individual articles in the container by moving into the rack.
In the present invention, in the case where only an ID of a container needs to be read at the time of storing and retrieving goods in a warehouse, the ID can be read without pulling the container out of the rack. Therefore, it is possible to rapidly read the ID. Further, at the time of reading IDs of individual articles in the container, since the container is pulled out of the rack, it is possible to reliably read the IDs of the individual articles. At the time of pulling the container out of the rack, transfer means used for normal storage and retrieval and in the warehouse can be utilized. Therefore, without requiring any complicated mechanism additionally, it is possible to pull the container out of the rack.
The transfer apparatus is provided with the first reading means and the second reading means on a side facing the rack for reading the ID of the container. Thus, the ID of the container can be read reliably in a short distance. The IDs of the individual articles are read by scanning the IDs by the second reading means along the pulling direction of the container at the time of pulling the container onto the hoisting frame. Therefore, it is possible to read the IDs of the individual goods in a short distance reliably.
At the time of reading the IDs of the individual articles in the container, by setting the pulling speed of the articles is at a speed lower than the pulling speed in the case of normal storage and retrieval in the warehouse, even if the reading speed of the ID readers is low, it is possible to read the IDs reliably.
The stacker crane is provided with the first and second reading means. The first reading means may be provided at positions near the left and right ends of the hoisting frame on a side facing the rack to read the ID of the container, and the second reading means may be provided at upper positions near the left and right ends of the hoisting frame such that the container passes under the second reading means by the transfer means. In the structure, it is possible to read the ID of the container while the stacker crane is moving, and the hoisting frame is moving vertically. Further, it is possible to read the IDs of the individual articles in the container by moving the container using the transfer means to pass under the second reading means to scan the articles in the container.
Racks may be provided on the respective left and the right sides in the movement direction, the first reading means may be provided at the respective left and right ends of the hoisting frame, and second reading means may be provided at upper positions near the left and right ends of the hoisting frame. By providing the racks on both left and right sides in the movement direction of the stacker crane, it is possible to read the ID of the container and the IDs of the articles in each of the racks.
ID tags of the container may be provided at both ends of the container in the left-right direction based on the state where the container is stocked in the rack. In this case, regardless of whether the container is stocked in the rack on the left side or the rack on the right side, it is possible to read the ID of the container stocked in the rack.
In the case where space for arranging at least two containers is provided in the hoisting frame, the at least two containers can be transferred between the hoisting frame and the rack by the transfer means, and internal transfer means is provided in the hoisting frame for transferring the articles between the two containers while reading the IDs of the articles, it is possible to pack the articles by moving the articles between the containers while reading the IDs of the articles. Thus, the container packed with the articles for shipment can be prepared on the hoisting frame.
Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, in the case where only the ID of the container needs to be read at the time of storing and retrieving goods in a warehouse, the first reading means can read the ID without moving into the rack. Therefore, the ID can be read rapidly. Further, at the time of reading the IDs of the individual articles in the container, the second reading means moves into the rack, and reads the IDs of the articles in the container. Therefore, the IDs of the respective articles can be read reliably. The second reading means can be attached to transfer means used for normal storage and retrieval and in the warehouse. Therefore, the second reading means can move into the rack without requiring any complicated mechanism additionally. Preferably, the second reading means move into the rack at low speed in comparison with the case of the normal storage or retrieval in the warehouse. Further, at the time of moving the second means into the rack, or returning the second means after the entry into the rack, the articles in the container are scanned for reading the IDs of the individual articles in the container.
Hereinafter, embodiments in the most preferred form for carrying out the present invention will be described.
Embodiments and modified embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. In the embodiments and the modified embodiments, the same constituent elements are labeled with the same reference numeral. Unless specifically mentioned, description about the embodiments is directly applicable to the modified embodiments. In the drawings, a reference numeral 2 denotes a stacker crane, and a reference numeral 4 denotes a rack. As shown in
Data of the ID tag 44 of the container includes a container number, records of operations such as storage operation, retrieval operation, and inventory check operation, and the current rack address (storage position). Data of the ID tag 48 of the individual good 46 includes an ID of the individual good 46, an article name, the number of articles, reference dates such as the date of storage and the date of manufacture, and remark data. The remark data represents special instructions such as “reserved for retrieval”, or “allocated for special purpose”. Further, in the case of a parts warehouse or the like, and individual goods are retrieved, and stored for retrieval of parts, the remark data may include data of the date and the time of the previous storage operation or retrieval operation. The individual good 46 is not limited to a single article. For example, the individual good 46 may be a cardboard. The ID tag may be a barcode label. It is preferable that the ID tag is an RFID tag. Further, it is preferable that the ID tag is readable/writable.
In the case where a pair of racks 4, 4 are provided on the left and right sides in the movement direction of the stacker crane 2, the ID readers 22, 24 are provided on the left and right sides of the hoisting frame 8. The ID reader 22 can read/write the ID of the ID tag 44 provided inside a flange 42 of the container 40. In the case where the rack 4 is provided only on one of the left and right sides in the movement direction of the stacker crane 2, the ID readers 22, 24 should be provided on the side where the rack 4 is present. For example, a pair of gates 20 are provided on the front and back sides of the hoisting frame 8. As shown in
The data which is read, or written by the ID readers 22, 24 may be processed on the truck of the stacker crane 2, or may be processed on the ground. However, in the embodiment, in order to prevent the delay of the inventory check due to the communication time, an ID processing device 26 is provided on the hoisting frame 8 to process the data from the ID readers 22, 24. A reference numeral 28 denotes a temporary memory for temporarily storing data read by the ID readers 22, 24, and temporarily storing inventory data received from the ground side for the corresponding container 40. A verificator 30 verifies the data read by the ID readers 22, 24 with the inventory data received from the ground side. At a transfer interface (fork interface) 32, when the ID tags 48 of the individual goods 46 in the container 40 are read/written, the pulling speed is reduced to about ½ of the normal speed at the time of storage/retrieval operation with the slide fork 10, so that the ID tags 48 can be read/written reliably. A communication device 34 handles communication, e.g., between the ID processing device 26 and the truck. The pulling speed may be determined based on the specification of ID tag or the processing speed of the processing device for the read/written data.
Reference numerals 36 denote pillars of the rack 4, and reference numerals 38 denote support bars. The container 40 is supported above the support bars 38. For example, the ID tag 44 is attached to the inside of the flange 42 of the container 40. The ID tags 48 are attached on the respective individual goods 46. For example, the antenna surfaces of the pair of ID readers 22 provided on the left and right sides of the hoisting frame 8 are inclined obliquely downwardly. While protecting the ID tags 44 by the flanges 42, the ID tags 44 are read/written by the ID readers 22 in a short distance. In the embodiment, since the ID tags 48 are attached on the individual goods 46, the ID readers 24 are provided at upper positions of the hoisting frame 8. Alternatively, in the case where the ID tags 48 are attached on the bottom surfaces of the individual goods 46, a plurality of ID readers 24 may be attached to the hoisting frame 8 such that the container 40 passes above the positions of the ID readers 24 for reading/writing data of the ID tags 48.
As shown in
In this manner, it is possible to perform the inventory check on the hoisting frame 8′ by reading the IDs of the individual goods. Further, in the case where one of the containers is used as the container for shipment, it is possible to transfer the required individual goods between the containers based on the IDs read by the ID readers 24. By moving the stacker crane in the automated warehouse, it is possible to pack the individual goods needed for shipment in one of the containers. If it is not sufficient to identify the positions of the individual goods only by reading by the ID readers 24, a camera or the like should be provided additionally. Further, by utilizing the intensity or orientation of the receiving wave from the ID tags, it is possible to estimate the positions of the individual goods more correctly.
A communication terminal 82 is provided on an automated warehouse controller 80 on the ground side, and the communication terminal 82 is connected to the communication device 62. A reference numeral 84 denotes a monitor, a reference numeral 86 denotes a keyboard, and a reference numeral 88 denotes an inventory file. A reference numeral 90 denotes a CPU, and a reference numeral 92 denotes a memory. In the automated warehouse system in
Verification of the inventory data may not be carried out on the hoisting frame, and may be carried out on the ground side. However, in this case, the cycle of the inventory check becomes long for the time required for transmission of the inventory data. Further, reading of the IDs of the individual goods may be carried out at the time of the inventory check. It is not necessary to read the IDs of the individual goods each time a container is stored or retrieved. In the embodiment, the inventory check has been described in connection with an example in which the inventory data and the articles in stock are compared with each other for verifying the inventory data. However, even if the inventory data is lost for some reasons, the inventory data can be reproduced by the similar process.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-256954 | Sep 2004 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP05/15332 | 8/24/2005 | WO | 5/8/2006 |
