JPH01209205A - Sorting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the workability of a complemental work by indicating the starting position of the complemental work and an unprocessed number when commodities are sold out on the way of sorting and complemented, in the case of the system in the title in a commodity distribution process. CONSTITUTION:For example, when commodities on a truck 1 in a zone B are sold out on the way of sorting due to the mistake of loaded number of commodity on the truck 1 and the like, a worker puts on the operation interruption key of a system controller 3 in the zone B so as to indicate the operating interruption. Thus, the controller 3 transmits a already processed data regarding the kind of commodity sold out to a relay machine, which arranges the processed data of the commodity. In the case of starting the complemental work, when the restart key of a controller 4 for retrieval is put on, the untreated data is indicated so that the commodities can be sent to the zone B. Then the normal processing is carried out. Therefore, the workability of the complemental work can be improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to improving a sorting system used in the distribution process of products, and in particular improves the workability of supplementary work when a product is out of stock during the sorting process. The aim is to improve

(Conventional technology) At product distribution centers for supermarkets and chain stores, collection work is performed to stock the required number of various products in response to requests from each store.
This picking method involves transporting containers for each destination, picking out the requested number of requested products from product shelves set up along the transport route, and collecting them in the container. There is a sorting method in which each product is transported by item and then placed into a collection shelf that has a large number of pockets for each destination along the transport route. Of these, a sorting system that adopts the latter method is specifically configured as follows.

That is, this sorting system is installed in a product transport means for transporting products by item and a sorting zone provided along the product transport route by the transport means, and collects products for each destination. the product collection shelf provided with a large number of pockets, and a number indicator provided on the product collection shelf to display the number of products currently being transported by the transport means loaded into each pocket. , Work on all items is carried out by sequentially putting the number of items displayed on the number display above into each pocket of the collection shelf from the transport means that transports each item. When the process is completed, each pocket of the product collection shelf is configured to collect the requested number of products for each destination. According to this, the work of collecting products of this type can be performed efficiently and accurately without requiring special skill.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, in the collection work using the sorting system as described above, there are cases where the goods on the conveyance means run out during the work, and in this case, as a supplementary work for the unprocessed goods. , the insufficient number of products will be reloaded onto the above-mentioned transport means, and then the sorting operation will be carried out again starting from the place where the out-of-stock item occurred. However, if a large number of sorting zones are provided, the above-mentioned complementary operation will be carried out. It was often the case that it took time to start the work because the user forgot in which zone the start position of the work was.

This problem becomes particularly serious when a long time elapses between the interruption of work and the start of the supplementary work, as the company must wait for the out-of-stock product to arrive before it can start the supplementary work. . Also, in order to avoid this problem, you can wait until all the items to be processed this time have arrived before starting the sorting process.
In this case, the speed of collection or delivery will be hindered, and the benefits of adopting this type of sorting system will be lost. In other words, in order to speed up the collection process, it may be better to process each item as it arrives, even if not all items are available.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional situation, and is useful not only when a product is out of stock during the sorting process, but also when the supplementary process is performed immediately, and when the product is sold out at the beginning of the process. To improve the workability and efficiency of supplementary work when a product is out of stock by enabling the work to be started easily and quickly once the product arrives even when the product has to wait for the product to arrive. With the goal.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, a sorting system according to the present invention is characterized by being configured as follows.

In other words, there is a product transport means for transporting products by item, and a large number of pockets arranged in a sorting zone provided along the product transport route by the transport means to collect products for each destination. It has a collection box provided therein, and a number display provided on the collection shelf to display the number of items to be put into each box 1-'\ of the products currently being transported by the transport means. By sequentially inserting each item from the transport means into each pocket in the number displayed on the number display, the system collects the requested number of products requested by the destination in each pocket. In a sorting system configured as above, when a product on the conveyance device runs out midway through the sorting zone and a supplementary work for the unprocessed product is to be performed again, the start position of the work and the unprocessed product are Complementary work display means for displaying the number of processed pieces is provided.

Here, the number indicator may be provided for each pocket of the product collection shelf, but the product collection shelf may be provided with a device that collectively displays the number of items for each pocket of the product collection shelf. Furthermore, as the start position of the work displayed by the supplementary work display means, the number of the pocket in the collection shelf into which the product should be placed next may be displayed, but if a large number of sorting zones are provided, may be configured to display the number of the sorting zone where the work was interrupted.In this case, the distinction between pockets in which the insertion of products in that zone has been completed and pockets in which the insertion of products has not been completed is made by checking the number of products inserted in the number display. This can be done depending on whether or not it is displayed.

(Function) According to the above configuration, each product is transported item by item along the sorting zone by the product transport means and sequentially placed into each pocket of the collection shelf according to the display on the number display. When the work for all products is completed, each pocket of the above-mentioned collection shelf will contain the requested number of products for each destination. Collection work will be carried out more efficiently. In particular, according to the present proposal, when the products on the transport means run out during the sorting work as described above, and after the work is temporarily interrupted, the complementary work for the unprocessed products is performed again. The work display means displays the number of unprocessed pieces and the starting position of the complementary work.

Therefore, when reloading the goods onto the transport means, it is possible to load just the right amount of goods, and when the work is finished, the surplus goods can be returned to the storage area, or the work can be interrupted due to shortage of goods again. In addition, even if you have to wait for the arrival of the product before starting the supplementary work, you can start the supplementary work immediately without having to search for a place where the item is out of stock. You will be able to do this.

(Example) Examples of the present invention will be described below.

First, the overall configuration of the sorting system according to the present embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. Along A, a plurality of sorting zones B (5 in the case of rotation) are arranged in parallel, and in each zone B, there are collection shelves 2, 2 are arranged. In addition, the transport route A in each zone B...B
System controllers 3 . A search controller 4 used for work management of the entire system is arranged, and each zone B/
. . . Pay control boxes 5 . . . 5 for receiving and receiving information from the system controllers 3 .

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, each of the collection shelves 2 is provided with a large number of pockets 6 over multiple stages, and containers 7 for collecting ordered products for each destination store.・7
are placed therein, and above each pocket 6 there is a loading instruction lamp 8 for instructing the loading of the product into the container 7 of the pocket 6, a number indicator for displaying the number of loaded items, and A completion key 10 that is turned ON upon completion is provided.

Furthermore, the system controllers 3...3 and the search controller 4 have substantially the same configuration, and as shown in FIG. In particular, in the present invention, the system controller 3 has a work interruption key as one of the input keys 3b, and the search controller 4 has the input keys 4b as one of the input keys 4b. Each of them is provided with a 1-year work restart key.

Next, the control system of this sorting system will be explained with reference to FIG. 4. This system is connected to a host computer 11 provided at the distribution center, etc., and manages the system according to instructions from the computer 11. The system controllers 3...3 and the search controller 4 are connected to the relay 12, and each system controller 3 is connected to the corresponding Collection shelves 2, 2 in sorting zone B
The number display 9 (as well as the loading instruction lamp 8 and completion key 10) in each pocket 6...6 of the pocket 6...
・The same number of devices as 6 are connected.

Next, the specific procedure for collecting items using this sorting system will be explained according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5.6.

First, according to the flowchart in Figure 5, 1.
To explain the operation procedure, after the power of the sorting system is turned on, in this case, the receiving operation is selected as the operation to be executed first (step P1).

Then, if the product has already been delivered to the relevant workplace or will be delivered later, the product code of one of these products is input into the search controller 4, and the product code is entered from the repeater 12. A signal indicating the total number of products ordered is received, and the number is displayed on the search controller 4 together with the product code (steps P2 to P5). Next, the worker checks the number displayed on the search controller 4 and the number of the products actually brought in, and confirms whether there is an excess or deficiency in the number of products brought in.
If there is not enough, an additional order is instructed, and if there is too much, the amount is returned (steps P6 and P7). Then, this number of checks is sequentially performed on all the products that have been brought in, and when the checks are completed on all the products, the receiving operation is ended (step Pg).

Next, to explain the sorting work shown in the flowchart of Fig. 6, in this work, first, the product code of the product to be processed is first sorted into the first sorting zone (hereinafter referred to as the first zone) shown in Fig. 1. )B+
input to the system controller 31 (step Q1
). With this operation, the system controller 3,
Receives the order data (the number of orders from each store corresponding to the zone B1) for the product regarding the zone B1 from the repeater 12, and displays the code number and the total number of orders (steps Q2 and Q3).

Therefore, the worker loads the displayed total number of ordered products onto the trolley 1 shown in FIG. 1, and turns on the start key of the system controller 31 (steps Q4 and Q5). By turning on the start key, a display signal is sent from the system controller 3 via the bay control box 5 to each pocket 6...6 of the collection shelf 2.2 arranged in the zone B1, and this signal causes The loading instruction lamps 8...8 in the store pockets 6...6 that have received the order for the product in each pocket 6...6 light up, and the number of pieces is displayed on the number display 9...9. The number of orders received from the store is displayed (step Q6). As a result, preparations for starting work on the above-mentioned product in the first zone B1 are completed, and while transporting this product with the above-mentioned trolley 1, the worker moves to the container 7 in the pocket 6 where the loading instruction lamp 8 is lit. The products are sequentially put into the cart 1 in the number displayed on the number display 9 (step Q7).

When the fj work for the first zone B1 is completed in this way, the next step is to move to the second zone B2 and
The product code of the product is input into the system controller 32 located at (steps Q8 to Q+o). Then, in the same manner as in the case of the first zone B1, the second V-
Regarding B2, put the number of products displayed on the number indicators 9...9 into the containers 7...7 in the pockets 6...6 whose loading instruction lamps 8...8 are lit. Hereafter, this process is similarly executed up to zone B5 of Mf&, thereby completing the processing for the product.

After that, it is checked whether there are any unprocessed products left at the work site, and if there are any unprocessed products, the next product is processed again.
Execute the above work from zone B1 (step Q11
).

When the processing for all the products delivered to the work site is completed in this way, the search controller 4
Operation 1 to inquire whether there is any other work to be processed.
(Step Q1□).

With this operation, the search controller 4
2, and if there is unprocessed work, it is displayed (steps Q13 to Q+s). In this case, the worker waits for the product to be processed to be delivered and performs additional sorting work on the product in the same manner as in the above case. Furthermore, if there is no unprocessed work, all the work is finished (step QI6>).

By the way, in the sorting work mentioned above,
If the number of products loaded onto trolley 1 is incorrect, or if work is started before the required number of products have been loaded, trolley 1 may be loaded during work in one of the sorting zones B.
The above items may be out of stock. In this case, the work in the sorting zone B will not be completed,
Therefore, the worker turns on the work interruption key of the system controller 3 located in the zone B, and instructs to stop the ft work midway (step Q8-QI7
). Through this operation, the system controller 3 transmits the processed data regarding the product that is out of stock in the sorting zone B to the repeater 12, and in response, the repeater 12 organizes the processed data regarding the product. (Steps Q18-Q19) - Then, if the worker wants to perform the complementary work for the interrupted work immediately or after the product is received, the worker turns on the work resume key of the search controller 4 and starts the complementary work. It instructs execution (steps Q2o, Q21)
, Through this operation, the search controller 11 receives unprocessed data about the product from the repeater 12,
The number of sorting zone B where the work was interrupted and the number of unprocessed items are displayed (steps Q22 and Q23). Therefore, the IV vendor loads the unprocessed products displayed on the search controller 4 to the trolley 1 and moves them to the displayed sorting zone B (step Q2).
4). Then, the system controller 3 placed in the zone B is instructed to start the work, and the sorting work is thereafter performed in the same manner as during normal work (step Q24).
-Qs).

In this way, supplementary work will be performed when a product is out of stock during the sorting process, but in that case, the search controller 4 will display the sorting zone B where the work will be restarted and the number of unprocessed items. In particular, even if a long period of time elapses before the start of supplementary work such as backordering of products, this supplementary work may be delayed until its start (i.e.
This makes it possible to quickly start the work without having to search for a new location, and also allows the work to be carried out efficiently without running out of stock again.

Note that if it takes a long time to wait for the out-of-stock product to arrive, other products will be processed during that time (steps Q20, Q25→Q+).

Here, in the above embodiment, the trolley 1 is used as a means for transporting the products, but instead of this, a conveyor passing through each sorting zone B--B may be used.

Furthermore, in the above explanation, it was stated that the processing for one product is completed in all sorting zones before the next product processing is started. When moving to the second zone B2, the fj operation for the next product may be started from the first zone B1, so that the processing for each product may be sequentially performed in an overlapping manner.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the sorting system according to the present invention, when a product is out of stock during the sorting operation and the unprocessed product is then supplemented, the unprocessed work display means is displayed. The starting position of the supplementary fL work and the number of unprocessed items for the relevant product are displayed, so even if a long time elapses from the time the work is interrupted until the start of the supplementary work due to waiting for the arrival of the product, etc., this supplementary work can be continued. This allows you to start easily and quickly. In addition, as mentioned above (by making it easier to complete the supplementary work after the interruption of the upper rod, sorting work can be started each time the product is received, without having to wait for all the required quantities to arrive). In this way, the collection of products using this type of sorting system becomes even faster.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 1 is a schematic layout diagram of a sorting system, Fig. 2 is a partial front view showing the configuration of product shelves in the system, and Fig. 3 is a diagram used in the system. FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of the controller, FIG. 4 is a control system diagram of the system, and FIG. 5.6 is a flowchart showing the operation 1'Il: when goods are received and the sorting operation of this embodiment. 1...Merchandise transport means (trolley), 2...Collection shelf, 4...
・Complementary rF business display means (search controller), 6...
Pocket, 9...Piece count indicator. Applicant: Ishida Kouki Seisakusho Co., Ltd. Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A product transport means for transporting products by item, and a large number of pockets arranged in a sorting zone provided along the product transport route by the transport means to collect products for each destination. and a number display that is provided on the collection shelf and displays the number of products that are currently being transported by the transport means to each pocket. By sequentially inserting the number of items displayed on the number display from the transport means into each pocket for each item, the system collects the requested number of items from the destination into each pocket. In this sorting system, when a product on the conveyor runs out in the middle of the sorting zone and a supplementary work is performed for the unprocessed product, the start position of the work and the unprocessed product are A sorting system characterized by being provided with complementary work display means for displaying the number of pieces.