JPH0958823A - Article sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article sorting installation without decreasing processing speed while suppressing any cost necessary for indicator control regardless of any increase in commodities to be sorted. SOLUTION: An indication state is controlled while being connected to an indicating means provided on a placing shelf in response to every kind of commodity, the first indication control means 31 provided for each of prescribed number of indication means, the second indication control part 32 making a set with the first indication control means 31, in response to the input/output for the information and indication from a concentrated control part having information of the articles taken out from an article placing shelf, and a memory part 33 for storing each information while being connected individually to the first indication control part 31 and the second indication control part 32 are provided so that the operation of the first indication control part and that of the second indication control part may be made not to interfere with each other.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article sorting facility for picking required articles out of each loading rack that stores articles of each type.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional article sorting facility, a box accommodating articles of each type is placed at each divided position of an inclined shelf board, and an article to be taken out by a display device provided at each divided position. There is known a so-called order picking system in which the number of the items is displayed and the worker arranges the articles according to this display.

In a general article sorting facility, a plurality of shelves as described above are provided in an article storage location such as a warehouse, an order list is input by a centralized management system by a computer, and a display corresponding to this list is displayed on the shelves. Automatically to the department and the worker just follows this display,
You can arrange the type and number of required items. That is, as an example of this centralized management system, for example,
There is a device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-78124.
According to this, first, a central control unit for processing work information from the host computer is provided, and further, in a shelf for loading articles, one set of a predetermined number of article types is regarded as one bay and the shelf is divided into a plurality of bays. One bay control unit is arranged in each bay, and work data of each article is exchanged between the bay control unit and the centralized control unit to display an order list and manage the completion of the work.

[0004]

By the way, in recent years, it has been required to handle more kinds of articles in this kind of article sorting equipment. That is, the number of display units is increased and a large amount of information is processed by the centralized control unit through the bay control unit. As described above, when the number of display units connected to the bay control unit increases, the instruction from the central control unit and the information from the display unit exceed the processing capability of the bay control unit, which causes delay in picking work. There is a problem of connection.

In addition, in order to deal with a wider variety of articles, the number of bay control units is increased, information is reciprocated frequently, waiting time occurs in the centralized control unit, and bay control units. The centralized control unit will be burdened with the work to be processed. On the other hand,
There is a problem in that the use of a CPU having a high processing capacity or the measure of increasing the number of display units connected to the bay control unit and increasing the number of bay control units themselves is correspondingly expensive.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and to provide an article sorting facility which can deal with more kinds of articles and which does not reduce the processing speed.

[0007]

The above object of the present invention corresponds to each type of article including a loading shelf for accommodating a plurality of types of articles for each category, a number display section for the articles, and a set of lamps. Means provided on the loading shelf, first display control means connected to the displaying means for controlling a display state for each predetermined number of the displaying means, and at least an article taken out from the loading shelf Centralized control unit having information on the type and quantity of each, and grouping, and second display control provided corresponding to the number of first display control units for inputting and outputting information and instructions from the centralized control unit. And a storage unit that is connected to each of the first display control unit and the second display control unit to store each information, and that is provided corresponding to the number of the first display control units. This is achieved by an article sorting device having a configuration provided with. Further, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which an input means having a bar code reading section is connected to the centralized control section.

[0008]

In the article sorting apparatus according to the present invention, the second display control unit exchanges information regarding the display means with the centralized control unit, records this information in the storage unit, and the first display control unit stores the storage unit. The display means is controlled on the basis of the information. Therefore, in the centralized control unit, only the result indicating whether or not the display means is fully operated is input, so that data processing and display means management can be decentralized, and the number of display means connected to the second display control section can be increased. . Further, by connecting the input means having the bar code reading section to the centralized control section, it is possible to eliminate mistakes caused by the key input by the operator's hand, and to easily and quickly perform accurate data input.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an article sorting apparatus which is an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, one frame 1 of a shelf for sorting is shown, and an actual sorting device is configured by further providing a plurality of such frames 1. The stacking shelves 10, 10, ... Are stacked in three stages in this one frame 1, and five areas each having the three stages are provided. On a single shelf in one area, article placement positions are divided into three. Further, indicators 20, 20, ... Are provided on the front end faces of the respective article placement positions. Each shelf 1
0, 10, ... are inclined toward the front, so that a box containing items is placed, the box at the front end becomes empty, and when this is removed, the box behind it slides out. Has become. Further, the replenishment of the articles is performed from the back surface of the frame 1.
An indicator control unit (item unit controller) 30 (hereinafter referred to as IUC) is arranged at the top of the frame 1, and the indicators 20, 20, ...
・ Control everything as described below.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the display device. Each indicator 2
0, 20, ... Have the same structure. To explain one of them, a numerical value display section 21 for displaying the number of taken out pieces is arranged in the central portion, and a display showing the current state of the taken out pieces is provided on that side. A reset button 22 with a display function, which is pushed when the removal is completed, is arranged while also holding a lamp. Inside this, an arithmetic processing unit (CPU) 25 as shown in FIG. 3 is provided. And this CPU
25 is driven and controlled by the IUC 30 as described later. The CPU 25 includes a signal transmission / reception unit 26 that exchanges data with the IUC 14, and the clock oscillator 2
7, a power supply unit 28, a buzzer 29 and the like are connected, and further, a numerical value display unit 21 and a reset button 22 are connected.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an outline of the article sorting apparatus. The above-mentioned indicator (illustrated as IU) 20, 2
0, ... are grouped by a predetermined number for each IUC 30, 30, ..
Is managed by a computer (illustrated as a PC) 40 as a centralized control unit. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, this system has an indicator (IU) 2
Each IUC corresponding to a plurality of frames 1, 1, ...
.. are connected to the computer 40 so that control is performed.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the display controller (IUC) 30. The IUC 30 includes a first display control unit 31, a second display control unit 32, and a storage unit 33. The first display control unit 31 includes a calculation unit (CP
U) 31a as the center, indicator (IU) 20, 20, ...
.. signal transmission / reception section 31b and status display section 31 that are connected to each other
c, an indicator lamp 32d, a clock oscillator 31e,
The arithmetic unit (CPU) 31a is connected to the storage unit 33.
The second display control unit 32 includes a signal transmitting / receiving unit 32, which is connected to the computer 40, centered on the arithmetic unit (CPU) 32a.
b, a status display unit 32c, an address setting unit 31d, and a clock oscillating unit 32e are provided, and an arithmetic unit (CPU) 32a is connected to the storage unit 33.

Next, an embodiment of the picking work flow of the apparatus of the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of picking work. First,
When the start instruction is given in step S1, in step S2, the picking data previously input to the computer 40 is transferred to the signal transmitting / receiving unit 32 of the IUC 30, 30 ,.
Send to b. The picking data is usually based on the type of the requested article and the number of the picked-up articles, and also includes the data on the position of the article sorting apparatus corresponding to these, and the address of each IUC 30, 30, ... By including the information, it is possible to output one order quantity at a time. Then, the input data is recorded in the storage unit 33.

Next, in step S3, the IUCs 30, 30, ...
U) 31a extracts from the storage unit 33 only the data of the display devices 20, 20, ... Collected for each order in the data from the computer 40. Then, the arithmetic unit (CPU) 31a is used for the display device 2 corresponding to the data.
Display lamps of reset buttons 22, 22, ... In order to display that a predetermined quantity value is displayed on the numerical display units 21, 21 ,. Blink.

In step S4, the worker lights the reset buttons 22, 22, ... And the numerical display portions 21, 2.
According to the display of 1, ..., Items corresponding to them are taken out in a required amount. Thereafter, in step S5, the worker operates each reset button 22 at the time when the picking work is completed.

In step S6, the reset button 2
CPU of the display 20, 20, ...
25, 25 ... Turn off the indicator light of the reset button 22, and at the same time, turn off the numbers of the numerical value display sections 21, 21 ,. Further, this data is stored in the CPUs 25, 25, ...
Is transmitted to the state display unit 31c of the first display control unit 31 and recorded in the storage unit 33.

In step S7, the calculation unit (CPU) 31a of the first display control unit 31 determines whether or not the picking work for the respective display units 20, 20, ... In the frames 1, 1 ,. I always check it, and when I confirm the completion, I proceed to the next step.

In step S8, the operation unit (CPU) 31a receives the picking work completion state in step S7.
Indicates that the order indicator (not shown) indicating the picking completion / progress state of the frames 1, 1, ... Is set to the completion display state.
In order to display the picking completion state for 1, ..., For example, an indicator lamp (not shown) provided on the order indicator is turned on in green.

On the other hand, in step S9, if the picking work of the frames 1, 1, ... Is not completed in step S7, the arithmetic unit (CPU) 31a is set not to bring the order indicator to the completion display state. As for the state, in order to display the picking incomplete state regarding the frames 1, 1, ... Of the order indicator, for example, an indicator lamp (not shown) provided on the order indicator is turned on in red. To do so. As a result, the work returns to step S4, searches for an indicator that has not been picked yet,
The goal is to complete the picking work for 1, ...

In step S10, in response to the picking completion status display in step S8 (for example, the indicator lamp lights up in green as described above), the worker pushes a switch (not shown) on the order indicator to perform the next picking. Instruct to start order transmission.

In step S11, when the arithmetic unit (CPU) 31a receives a picking order transmission start instruction in step S10, this data is recorded in the storage unit 33, and the arithmetic unit (CPU) 31a continues to operate. The picking order is extracted from the storage unit 33. If there is no next order, it ends there.

Here, in addition to the flow of the above-described series of picking work, the second display control unit 32 has a calculation unit (CP
U) 32a, since the signal transmitting / receiving unit 32b connected to the computer 40 is always in a transmittable / receivable state,
When the next picking order is sent from the computer 40, the calculation unit (CPU) of the first display control unit 31
The picking order is immediately recorded without any relation to 31a and is recorded in the storage unit 33. The picking order is extracted by the calculation unit (CPU) 31a of the first display control unit 31, and the next picking is started in the above flow.

In the computer 40, the same processing as described above is performed for each of the plurality of IUCs 30, 30, ..., Even when monitoring these flows, each IUC 30, 30 ,.・ Each display device 20, 2
Since the management result of 0, ... Is in the storage unit 33, only the result needs to be input / output. In other words, each of the display devices 20, 20, ...
.. does not involve program execution such as investigating
Therefore, the computer 40 and each IUC 30, 30, ...
-The speed of data input / output can be increased.

As described above, according to the present invention, the storage unit 33
Then, the latest state of each of the display devices 20, 20, ... Is recorded by the calculation unit (CPU) 31a of the first display control unit 31, and this information is calculated by the calculation unit (CPU) of the second display control unit 32 ( The CPU 32a is used for communication with the computer 40. On the other hand, since the latest information from the computer 40 is recorded in the storage unit 33 by the arithmetic unit (CPU) 32a of the second display control unit 32, the arithmetic unit (CPU) of the first display control unit 31 is based on this information. ) 31a is each display 20, 2
0, ... and other connected devices can be controlled. Moreover, the calculation unit (CPU) 3 of the first display control unit 31
Since 1a and the operation unit (CPU) 32a of the second display control unit 32 are independent, when viewed as a single unit of IUC 30, 30, ..., Two processes can be performed at the same time, and the processing speed is surely ensured. I can be quick. The above processing speedup is effective for any data from the computer 40.

Here, regarding the data input to the computer 40, the input data to the computer 40 beside the article placing shelf for picking includes information such as the type and quantity of the article and the correspondence of the shelf number to the type. If necessary, this input device can be provided with an input device having a barcode reading section and a handy type numeric keypad, for example, "Handy Terminal" manufactured by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. By providing such an input device, it is possible to eliminate unavoidable mistakes when inputting from the keyboard by the operator's hand, and further to shorten the input time.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the second display control unit exchanges information regarding the display means with the centralized control unit, and the information is recorded in the storage unit, and the first display control unit performs the information exchange. The display means is controlled based on the information in the storage section. Therefore, the communication with the centralized control unit is performed by the second display control unit, the latest result is left in the storage unit, and the first display control unit controls the display means by using this, and vice versa. , The operation of the first display control unit and the operation of the second display control unit do not interfere with each other, thus increasing the data processing speed, and as a result, the display unit control unit can handle more display units by one unit. You can Further, by connecting the input means having the bar code reading section to the centralized control section,
Eliminates mistakes made by key input by the operator's hand,
Enables easy, quick and accurate data entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an article sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the display.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an arithmetic processing unit (CPU) of the display device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an outline of an article sorting apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a display unit control unit (IUC).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a picking operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Frame 10 Mounting Shelf 20 Display (IU) 21 Numerical Display 22 Reset Button with Display Function 25 Calculation Processor (CPU) 30 Display Control (IUC) 31 First Display Control 32 Second Display Control 33 Storage unit 40 computer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A storage shelf (10) for accommodating a plurality of types of articles for each type, and a set of a number display section and a lamp for the articles, the storage shelf (10) according to each type of the article. ) Equipped with a display means, and a first display control means (31) connected to the display means to control a display state and provided for each predetermined number of the display means.
And a centralized control unit (40) having at least information on the type and quantity of the articles to be taken out from the shelf and the grouping.
A second display control section (32) provided corresponding to the number of the first display control section (31) in response to input and output of information and instructions from the centralized control section (40), The first display control unit (31) and the second display control unit (3
2) and each of which stores the respective information by being connected to each of them, and a storage section (33) provided corresponding to the number of the first display control section (31). Sorting device. 2. The article sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the centralized control unit is provided with an input unit having a bar code reading unit.