JPH0323955B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an article conveyance processing system that conveys an article from a processing request station to a processing station by moving a conveyance carrier on a conveyance path, and in particular, relates to an article conveyance processing system that conveys an article from a processing request station to a processing station, and in particular improves conveyance efficiency. The present invention relates to an article conveyance processing system capable of handling goods.

The recent wave of development of office automation systems has been remarkable, and various systems have been introduced in various fields. One such office automation system is an article conveyance system. An article conveyance system is a system in which a conveyance path is provided in an office, a large number of stations are set on the conveyance path, and a conveyance carrier is moved between the stations along the conveyance path to convey documents, cash, etc. A linear motor car or the like is used as the transport means. In such an article transport system, where the work of each station is determined in advance, each station is classified into a processing request station and a processing station according to the work, and the transfer between the processing request station and the processing station is performed. The transport carrier is configured to move. For example, in a certain business office, each workplace is designated as an accounting processing requesting station, the workplace that performs accounting processing is designated as a processing station, and the slips to be accounted for are sent from each workplace (i.e., the accounting processing requesting station) to the processing station using a transport carrier. In financial stores and retail stores, each counter or sales floor is used as a processing request station, and the cash storage area is used as a processing station to transport cash and slips from the processing request station at the counter or sales floor. The product is sent to a processing station, the processing station processes the sales, issues a receipt, etc., and returns this to the processing requesting station using a transport carrier.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a conventional article conveyance processing system, in which a processing request station WS is installed at each sales floor.
1. This is an example in which WS2, WS3, and WS4 are installed, and a processing station PS is installed in the cash storage area.
FIG. 7A is a side view thereof, and FIG. 7B is a top view thereof.

Processing request station WS1, WS2, WS3,
A rail (transport path) PL is installed between the WS4 and the processing station PS, and stators S1, S2, S3, S4,...Sn, SP are provided at intervals on the rail RL. The transport carriers CR1 to CR4 that move on the rail RL are connected to a storage section C that stores articles.
, wheels W1 and W2 that engage with the rail RL, and 2
A secondary conductor D is provided, and transport carriers CR1 to CR
Secondary conductor D of 4 and stator S1 to SP of rail RL
Transport carrier by magnetic field, repulsion, and attraction
CR1 to CR4 take off. It consists of a linear motor car that accelerates and stops. On the other hand, each processing request station WS1 to WS4 and processing station PS, in addition to the aforementioned stators S1 to S4 and SP, have article outlet ports A1 to A4 and P, and transport carriers CR1 to CR4 are lifted from the rail RL. Release from rail RL and use article outlet A1 to A4, P
and lower the transport carriers CR1 to CR4 from the article take-out ports A1 to A4 and P to the rail RL, and then lower the transport carriers CR1 to CR4 to the rail RL.
Lift mechanisms L1 to L4, LP are provided to restore the position. Furthermore, the processing station PS has
A point-of-sales terminal (hereinafter referred to as POS terminal) POS is provided for cash processing.

For example, in order to issue a processing request from the processing request station WS4 and have the slip processed by the processing station PS, a sales floor clerk must first issue a processing request from the processing station WS4.
For example, sales slips and cash are loaded in the storage section C of the transport carrier CR4, and a transport request, which is a processing request, is instructed using a key or the like. This allows the transport carrier CR
4 is lowered to the rail RL by the lift mechanism L4 and returned, and the stator S4 is energized and departs toward the processing station PS. From then on, while being accelerated by the stator Sn of the acceleration station on the way,
reaches the processing station PS and its stator SP
is stopped by reverse excitation. and lift mechanism
The transport carrier CR4 that arrived by the LP is raised to the article outlet P, and then transported to the processing station.
The PS operator uses storage section C of transport carrier CR4.
Take out the sales slip and cash from the POS terminal POS
Operate to process sales, collect cash, and issue receipts. Then, load the receipt into the storage section C of the transport carrier CR4, press the return key,
Transfer carrier CR4 to rail RL using lift mechanism LP
, the stator SP is energized, and the transport carrier CR4 is caused to depart toward the processing request station WS4. The transport carrier CR4 is accelerated by the stator Sn of the acceleration station on the way, and reaches the processing request station WS4, is stopped by the reverse excitation of the stator S4, and is released from the rail RL by the lift mechanism L4. Returning to the home position at the bottom of the article takeout port A4, the sales clerk takes out the receipt from the storage section C of the transport carrier CR4 and hands it to the customer.These carriers CR1 to CR4 are located at the home position except when they are in transit. However, it has been evacuated so as not to obstruct the movement of other carriers on the rail RL.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in conventional article transport processing systems, the transport carriers at other processing request stations cannot operate until the transport carrier departs from a certain processing request station, arrives at the processing station, and is returned from the processing station to the processing request station. During this time, there was a problem in that the processing had to wait and the transport efficiency decreased.

[Means for solving problems]

An object of the present invention is to provide an article conveyance processing system that can improve conveyance efficiency.

For this reason, the present invention provides a transport means having a plurality of processing request stations, a plurality of processing stations, and a transport carrier for transporting articles along a transport path between the plurality of processing request stations and the plurality of processing stations. , a control unit that receives a transport request from the processing request station and controls the movement of the transport carrier from the processing request station to any one of the plurality of processing stations; The present invention is characterized in that among a plurality of processing stations, an empty processing station to which the transport carrier has not arrived is detected, and movement of the transport carrier to the empty processing station is controlled.

[Effect]

In the present invention, a plurality of processing stations are provided so that the transport carrier can move to any of the processing stations, and when the control section that controls the movement of the transport carrier receives a transport request from the processing request station, the transport carrier is moved to any one of the processing stations. This is intended to improve the transport efficiency by detecting empty processing stations that have not yet arrived and controlling the movement of the transport carrier.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to Examples.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 6 are indicated by the same symbols, and PS1 and PS2 are the first and second
processing stations, each with a stator SP1,
SP2, lift mechanisms LP1, LP2 and article take-out ports P1, P2 are provided, and POS terminals POS1,
POS2 is installed.

In the present invention, a plurality of processing stations (two in FIG. 1, PS1 and PS2) are provided, and transport carriers CR1 to CR for each processing request station WS1 to WS4 are provided.
4 can reach either processing station PS1 or PS2.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment for the configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and in the figure, the same parts as shown in FIGS.
1 is a system controller which determines the destination upon receiving transport requests from the processing request stations WS1 to WS4 and return requests from the processing stations PS1 and PS2; 10 is a processor which performs destination determination processing, etc.; 11 is an interface, and each processing request station WS1 to WS
4 and a device that receives transport requests and return requests from the processing stations PS1 and PS2, and 12 a memory that stores data and programs for destination determination processing of the processor 10, and also provides a transport carrier to each processing station PS1 and PS2. Processing request station name area (referred to as determination area) 12a and blockage status flag area 1 determined to be sent
2b is a linear motor controller, and based on the determined destination from the system controller 1, it departs to the control unit of each processing request station WS1 to WS4, acceleration station AS, and processing station PS1, PS2, which will be described later. A device that gives acceleration, stop commands, and lift up/down commands, and also detects the position and running status of the transport carrier based on status information from each control unit.
Reference numeral 20 denotes a processor, which performs processing for determining and transmitting running patterns and processing for monitoring conditions; 21, an interface, which exchanges data and commands with each control section; and 22, a memory, which performs processing of the processor 20. In addition to storing necessary data and programs, it also has a running pattern storage area 22a and a running state storage area 22b. Travel pattern storage area 22a
The travel mode of each station for transporting the transport carrier from each departure station to the destination station is stored as a pattern.
“1” is departure mode, “2” is acceleration mode, “3”
indicates the stop mode. For example, in the case of processing request station WS1 → processing station PS1 (WS1 is the departure station and PS1 is the stop station), the station WS1 column is "1" (departure), and the station WS2 to AS on the way is "2" (acceleration) is stored in the column for station PS1, "3" (stop) is stored in the column for station PS1, and "0" (no operation) is stored in the column for station PS2. In addition, the running state storage area 22b stores the state of the transport carrier at each station WS1 to PS2, and when the transport carrier is detected on the rail at each station, if "1" is not detected,
“0” is stored. T1 to T4 are transport request keys, and each processing request station WS1 to WS4
R1 and R are provided at
2 is a return request key, which is used at each processing station.
AS is an acceleration station that is provided in PS1 and PS2 and is pressed by the operator to instruct the system controller 1 to request a return.
3a to 3d are control units, and each processing request station WS1 to
A device provided in the WS 4 controls each of the lift mechanisms L1 to L4 and the stators S1 to S4 according to commands from the linear motor controller 2, and notifies the linear motor controller 2 of their status. 4 is a control unit that controls acceleration. Located at station AS,
Controls stator Sn according to commands from linear motor controller 2 and notifies linear motor controller 2 of its status, 5a, 5b
is a control unit, and each processing station PS1, PS
2, each of which controls the lift mechanisms LP1, LP2 and stators SP1, SP2 according to commands from the linear motor controller 2, etc., and notifies the linear motor controller 2 of the status thereof. In addition, these control units 3a to 3d, 4, 5a, 5
When the departure command “1” is set from the linear motor controller 2, b enters the departure mode.
Lift mechanisms L1 to L4, LP1, LP2 are lowered to return the transport carrier to the rail RL, and the stator S
1 to S4, SP1, and SP2 are accelerated and the transport carrier is started. When the acceleration command "2" is set, the mode becomes acceleration mode, and when a sensor (not shown) provided at the entrance of the stator detects the transport carrier, When the stator is accelerated and the conveyance carrier is accelerated, and the stop command "3" is set, it enters the stop mode, and a sensor (not shown) detects that the conveyance carrier has entered the stator, controls the stator to stop, and conveys the stator. After stopping the carrier, the lift mechanism is raised to raise the conveying carrier from the rail RL to the article takeout port. "2" when a sensor (not shown) of the lift mechanism detects that there is a transport carrier in the lift mechanism.
This is to notify the linear motor controller 2 of the status data.

Next, the operation of the embodiment configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be explained using the destination determination processing flowchart shown in FIG. 3.

First, processing request stations WS1 to WS4
When one of the transport request keys T1 to T4 is pressed, a transport request is input to the interface 11. In response to this transport request, the processor 10 checks the determination area 12a of the memory 12 to check whether a processing request station has already been determined for the processing stations PS1 and PS2, and if it has not been determined, it is determined that the processing station is empty.

If both processing stations PS1 and PS2 have been determined to be processing request stations, it is determined that there is no empty processing station, and the processing station is registered in the queue of the memory 12, waiting to be released from the queue (that is, the processing station from the linear motor controller 2 is released). (Transfer processing completed) returns to the beginning of the step.

On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a processing station for which the processing request station has not been determined,
It is determined that there is an empty station, and then it is checked whether both processing stations PS1 and PS2 are empty.

If both processing stations PS1 and PS2 are empty, the processing station with a predetermined higher priority is determined to be the destination processing station, and if one of the processing stations PS1 (or PS2) is empty, this is determined to be the destination processing station. .

Then, the processor 10 instructs the linear motor controller 2 to designate the processing request station where the transport request was made as the departure station, and designate the determined processing station as the destination station. Register the processing requesting station name in the processing station column.

In the linear motor controller 2, the processor 20 receives this, checks the running state storage area 22b of the memory 22, checks whether there is currently a transport carrier on the rail RL, determines that it is running if there is one, and waits until the end of the run. , it is determined that the vehicle is not running, and a travel pattern is determined. That is, the processor 20 indexes the travel pattern storage area 22a of the memory 22 based on the departure station name and destination station name, extracts the corresponding travel pattern, and sends the data to each control unit 3a to 3d, 4, 5a, 5b, the corresponding running commands (start, acceleration, and stop commands) included in the running pattern are sent. For example, the departure station is WS1 and the destination station is PS1.
If so, the first running pattern in the area 22a is selected, and a departure command "1" is sent to the control section 3a, an acceleration command "2" is sent to the control sections 3b to 3d and 4, and a stop command "3" is sent to the control section 5a. .

Each of the control units 3a to 3d, 4, 5a, and 5b is set to a start, acceleration, or stop mode in accordance with a given command, and each controls the lift mechanism and stator of its own station in accordance with this mode. For example, in the above example, the control unit 3a of the processing requesting station WS1 is set to the departure mode, first lowers the lift mechanism L1 to return the transport carrier CR1 to the rail RL, and then accelerates the stator S1 (departure). The transport carrier CR1 is controlled to start along the rail RL, and the linear motor controller 2 is notified of "1" indicating the completion of the start. Further, the control units 3b to 3d, 4 of the intermediate processing request stations WS2 to WS4 and the acceleration station AS are set to acceleration mode, and each of the stators S2 to S
When the transport carrier CR1 enters 4, Sn, the sensor detects this and stators S2 to S4,
The acceleration coil of Sn is excited to accelerate the incoming transport carrier CR1, and the linear motor controller 2 is notified of "1" indicating the end of acceleration. Furthermore, the processing station PS1 control unit 5a is set to a stop mode, and the stator SP1 is
When the conveyance carrier CR1 enters, the sensor detects this and energizes the stop coil of the stator SP1 to stop the incoming conveyance carrier CR1, which causes the linear motor controller 2 to signal "1" indicating the end of the stop. ” and then the lift mechanism LP1 lifts the transport carrier CR.
1 to the article takeout port P1, and the linear motor controller 2 receives a "2" indicating that there is a transport carrier during the lift, that is, the rail RL is released.
Notify.

In the linear motor controller 2, the interface 21 receives the notified status information, the processor 20 stores it in the running status storage area 22b of the memory 22, confirms the position of the transport carrier, and transfers the status information from the processing station PS1 to the rail. When receiving the RL release "2", it is determined that the transport has been completed, the contents of the running state storage area 22b are reset to "0", preparations are made for the next run, and the system controller 1 is notified of the completion of transport.

Next, the return process will be explained with reference to FIG. 3B.

(a) First, when either the return request key R1 or R2 of the processing station PS1 or PS2 is pressed, a return request is input to the interface 11. The processor 10 examines the contents of the determination area 12a of the memory 12, refers to the processing requesting station name columns of the processing stations PS1 and PS2 for which the return request was made, and obtains the name of the processing requesting station to which the transport carrier should be returned.

(b) Next, the processor 10 instructs the linear motor controller 2 to designate the processing station for which the return request was made as the departure station and to designate the processing request station obtained from the contents of the determination area 12a as the destination station.

(c) Furthermore, the processor 10
The processing requesting station name of the processing station in question a is deleted.

(d) On the other hand, the linear motor controller 2 receives the destination station and the departure station, and controls the return of the transport carrier from the processing station to the processing requesting station in the same manner as in the steps described above.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are indicated by the same symbols, and C1 and C2 are closed instruction keys. and each processing station PS
1. This is provided in the PS2 and is pressed by the operator of the processing station when the operator of the processing station closes (blocks) his/her own station to take a short break, tally sales, etc.

In this embodiment, a processing station is selected depending on whether the processing station is blocked or not, and will be explained using the destination determination processing flowchart of FIG. 5.

(A) When a transport request is issued in the same manner as in step (A), first, the blockage flag 12b of the memory 12 is checked. This blockage flag 12b is set at each processing station PS1,
PS2 compatible “1” when blocked or “0” when not blocked
It shows that. If the blockage flags of all the processing stations PS1 and PS2 are "1" and the processor 10 is blocked, the processor 10 concludes that the destination cannot be determined.

(B) Conversely, if it is determined that all the processing stations PS1 and PS2 are not blocked, the decision area 12a of the memory 12 is checked and the processing stations PS1 and PS2 are checked.
It is checked whether a processing request station has been determined for PS2, and if it has not been determined, it is determined that it is an empty processing station.

If a processing request station has been determined for both processing stations PS1 and PS2, it is determined that there is no empty processing station, and it is registered in the queue of the memory 12, waiting to be released from the waiting queue (i.e., the transfer from the linear motor controller 2). (processing completed) returns to the beginning of step (B).

(C) On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a processing station for which the processing request station has not been determined,
It is determined that there is an empty station, and then it is checked whether both processing stations PS1 and PS2 are empty.

If both processing stations PS1 and PS2 are empty, the blockage flag 12b is checked again to see if there is a blocked station, and if there is a blocked station, a non-blocked processing station is selected as the destination station.

(D) Conversely, if there is no blocking station, a predetermined processing station with a high priority is determined as the destination station.

(E) Meanwhile, in step (C), both processing stations
When it is determined that PS1 and PS2 are not all empty and one is empty, the blockage flag 12b is checked again to check whether the empty processing station is blocked, and if it is blocked, it is registered in the queue of the memory 12 as described above. and has a wait release. On the other hand, if it is not blocked,
The empty processing station is determined as the destination station.

(F) Then, the processor 10 instructs the linear motor controller 2 to set the processing request station where the transport request was made as the departure station and the processing station decided above as the destination station, and also writes the destination in the determination area 12a of the memory 12. Register the processing requesting station name in the processing station column.

(G) The subsequent operations of the linear motor controller 2 are the same as the steps described above, and the explanation will be omitted.

Further, the return process is the same as that shown in FIG. 3B, and its explanation will be omitted.

Next, the closing process using the closing instruction key will be explained with reference to a sixth process flow diagram.

First, the blocking process shown in FIG. 6A will be explained.

() First, when the closing instruction keys C1 and C2 of the processing stations PS1 and PS2 are pressed, a closing request is accepted by the interface 11.

() Next, the processor 10 checks whether the transport carrier is traveling to the processing station where the blockage request was made. To do this, the processor 10 first checks the determination area 12a of the memory 12, checks whether a processing request station has been determined for the processing station and is processing the processing station, and if processing is in progress,
Next, the memory 22 of the linear motor controller 2
The running state storage area 22b is checked to see if the transport carrier is running to the processing station.

() If it is determined that the vehicle is running, the block lamp of the block key requested via the interface 11 blinks for a predetermined period of time, waits for the arrival of the transport carrier, and after completing the process, the operator performs the block operation (leaving, exiting, etc.). or aggregation).

() If it is determined in step () that the vehicle is not being processed or running, or after the blockage lamp blinks for a predetermined period of time in step (), the blockage flag "1" is registered in the blockage flag area 12b of the memory 12, and the blockage lamp is is also lit.

Next, another blockage process shown in FIG. 6B will be explained.

() If it is determined that the vehicle is running in steps () and () above, the blockage request made by the blockage key is invalidated. That is, the blockage lamp is not turned on via the interface 11.

On the other hand, if the vehicle is not being processed or is not running, the blockage is registered as in step () and the blockage lamp is also lit.

Furthermore, another blockage process shown in FIG. 6C will be explained.

() When a block request is received in step () mentioned above, block registration is performed in step (). Next, if it is determined in step () that the carrier is running, the processor 10 waits for the completion of the conveyance process from the linear motor controller 2, that is, for the conveyance carrier to arrive at the processing station where the blockage request was made.

() When the conveyance process is completed, in order to move this conveyance carrier to another processing station for processing, the processor 10 checks the blockage flag 12b in the memory 12 to see if there is a process station that is not blocked. If so, then the decision area 12a is checked to see if it is an empty processing station. If the currently blocked processing station is not empty, it waits until it becomes empty, and instructs the linear motor controller 2 to make the processing station for which the blocking request has been made and registered the starting station and the empty processing station as the destination station.

() By this, linear motor controller 2
Similar to step , , controls the movement of the transport carrier from the departure station to the destination station.

() After step (), the processor 10
The name of the processing station requested by the traveling transport carrier is moved from the column of the processing station for which the blockage request has been made and blockage has been registered to the column of the empty processing station in the determination area 12a.

In the above embodiment, if both processing stations are empty in a step, etc., the processing station with a higher priority is determined as the destination station. good. To this end, the system controller 1 stores the history of transport processing in the memory 12,
All you have to do is look into this and decide.

Further, in the blockage process shown in FIG. 6A, the blockage may be registered after the blockage lamp has blinked and the running process has ended. Further, the conveying means is not limited to a linear motor, and various known conveying means may be used.The system controller and the linear motor controller may be integrated and realized by one memory, processor, and interface.

Although the present invention has been described above using examples, the present invention can be modified in various ways according to the gist of the invention, and these are not excluded from the present invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, there are a plurality of processing request stations, a plurality of processing stations, and a transport carrier that transports articles along a transport path between the plurality of processing request stations and the plurality of processing stations. and a control unit that receives a transport request from the processing request station and controls the movement of the transport carrier from the processing request station to any one of the plurality of processing stations, and the control unit In response to a request, an empty processing station among the plurality of processing stations to which the transport carrier has not arrived is detected, and the movement of the transport carrier to the empty processing station is controlled, so that the transport efficiency of the transport carrier can be improved. This has the effect of eliminating the state in which each processing request station is waiting for transport processing, and greatly contributes to improving the efficiency of an article transport processing system using such transport means. Furthermore, since an empty processing station is selected, the load on each processing station is averaged, making it possible to realize a more efficient system.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of destination determination processing in the configuration of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of the destination determination process in the configuration shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of the blocking process in the configuration shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a conventional configuration diagram. In the figure, WS1 to WS4...Processing request station, PS1, PS2...Processing station, CR1
~CR4...Transportation carrier, RL...Rail (transportation path), 1...System controller (control unit), 2
...Linear motor controller (control unit), T1
~T4... Transport request key, R1, R2... Return request key.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of processing request stations, a plurality of processing stations, a transport means having a transport carrier that transports an article along a transport path between the plurality of processing request stations and the plurality of processing stations, and a transport means from the processing request station. a control unit that receives a transport request and controls the movement of the transport carrier from the processing request station to any one of the plurality of processing stations; An article transport processing system characterized by detecting an empty processing station to which the transport carrier has not arrived, and controlling the movement of the transport carrier to the empty processing station.