JPH0454560A - Control system for carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stably and surely recognize the carriers from each other for a long period and to quickly and surely grasp and control the circulation of the carriers by providing a data carrier storing the identification data that identifies the carriers from each other and can electromagnetically read the data into the carrier. CONSTITUTION:A data carrier 24 which can electromagnetically read the data is provided into a carrier 25 containing a pallet 25 bearing a mark which excels the environments resistance performance and can store a large quantity of information with no read mistake. Each carrier 24 stores the identification data which can identify the carriers 25 from each other. Then each of main stations 15, 16 and 17 is provided with a reader 13 which reads the identification data for carriers 25 out of the carrier 24 of the carrier 25. The identification data read by the reader 13 is sent to a main controller 11. Thus the circulating carriers 25 are controlled by the identification data received from the reader 13. As a result, the carriers 25 can be stably and surely identified from each other for a long period. Then the circulation of the pallet can be quickly and surely grasped and controlled.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention is directed to management for managing the distribution of carriers from unloading to collection, which incorporates data carriers storing identification data for mutually identifying carriers. Regarding the system.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, transported objects have been moved by, for example, stacking the transported objects on wooden pallets. Since such wooden pallets are inexpensive, they are often incinerated due to corrosion during storage, breakage during use, etc.

However, today the waste of natural resources has become a problem and alternatives to wooden pallets are required.

Therefore, resin pallets with excellent corrosion resistance and durability have been developed.

However, since these resin pallets are more expensive than wooden pallets, it is economically difficult for users to purchase them by themselves.

Therefore, a rental system is adopted in which pallets are rented for a certain period of time and then collected.

Such a rental system will be explained with reference to FIG.

X who signed a rental contract from the rental company's A area branch 2.
1000 pallets were rented to company 4 on June 1st, and 400 of them were delivered to B user 6 on June 15th. Further, 700 pallets were rented to Company Y 8 on June 5th, of which 150 pallets were delivered to User B 6 on June 20th. User B 6 returned 300 pallets out of a total of 550 pallets transported to the B area branch 3 of the rental company on June 30th.

The rental fee received by the rental company is calculated on a daily basis for each pallet rented to the company with which the rental contract has been made, and is calculated on a daily basis until the day on which the pallets are returned one after another during the rental contract period. is being collected. Therefore,
In the above case, the rental fees collected by Company X 4 and Company Y 8 will be 6/1 to 6/3 as 4 parts for Company X.
615 to 6/30 are calculated on a daily basis, with 0 being 8 minutes for Y company.

However, if the pallets are returned separately from Company X 4 or Company Y 8, calculating the rental fee is easy; Inside,
In the case where multiple branches are returned together, it is not possible to quickly and accurately identify and sort out how many branches belong to company X and how many to 8 minutes to company Y. For this reason, each branch 2.3 of the rental company spends most of its time and expense on this identification and sorting, and the rental company 2.3 collects rental fees for the days during this period at its own expense.

In order to eliminate such problems, attempts have been made to control the distribution of pallets by marking the outer surface of the pallet, that is, marking the outer surface of the pallet with a numerical code using a branding iron, special ink, etching, or the like.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, such markings on the outer surface of the pallet have poor environmental resistance, and there is a risk that the markings may disappear due to wind and rain or when the pallet is washed, or may become unreadable due to damage during pallet transportation. There is.

Furthermore, since the marked codes are read visually, there is a risk that incorrect entries in the rental ledger may occur due to reading errors.

Furthermore, since the marking frame for marking on the outer surface of a pallet as described above is limited, it is difficult to expand the frame of numerical codes as the number of pallets in circulation increases today.

Furthermore, it has been proposed to attach a barcode label to the outside of the pallet that can store a large amount of information and prevent misreading. However, barcode labels have poor environmental resistance.
Further, when reading information on a barcode label from a distance, certain restrictions are imposed on the reading direction and distance.

Furthermore, due to the above-mentioned disadvantages, it becomes difficult to identify pallets, making it difficult to quickly and reliably calculate the rental period, and making it impossible to quickly and reliably understand and manage the distribution of pallets. A problem arises.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and its purpose is to attach a mark to a pallet that has excellent environmental resistance, can store a large amount of information, and is free from reading errors. To provide a management system that can stably and reliably identify pallets over a long period of time, quickly and reliably calculate a rental period, and quickly and reliably grasp and manage the distribution of pallets.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a method for transporting conveyed articles that are carried out from a main station, distributed between a plurality of branch stations, and collected at the main station. In a conveyance body management system for managing a plurality of conveyance bodies, data carriers from which data can be electromagnetically read are provided in the conveyance bodies, and these data carriers have information for identifying each conveyance body. Identification data is stored,
At the main station, the main station includes:
A reader is provided for reading identification data for mutually identifying the carriers from the data carriers of the carriers, and the identification data read by the reader is transmitted to a main management device, and the main management device includes the data carriers of the carriers. This is a carrier management system characterized in that identification data transmitted from a reading device is input, and the circulating carriers are managed based on these identification data.

Further, each of the branch stations is provided with a reading device that reads identification data for mutually identifying the carriers from the data carriers of the carriers, and the identification data read by these readers The data is transmitted to the main management device, identification data transmitted from the reading device is input to the main management device, and the circulating conveyance bodies are managed based on these identification data. This is a management system for transport vehicles.

Furthermore, the main management device includes a means for storing identification data from the reading device, and a means for storing identification data from the reading device, and a means for controlling which of the main station and the branch station or between which the transport body flows based on the stored identification data. 1. A management system for a carrier, comprising: means for transmitting information on whether the vehicle is being transported or not.

Furthermore, the transport body management system is characterized in that the data carrier can store data regarding the transported articles transported by the transport body.

[Function] Equipped with a data carrier that identifies each other and stores electromagnetically readable identification data in the conveyor, improving environmental resistance, increasing the amount of information that can be stored, and reducing reading errors. Nor. Therefore, it is possible to stably and reliably identify each conveyor over a long period of time, quickly and reliably calculate the rental period of each conveyor, and when and where how many conveyors are carried out from which station. It is possible to quickly and reliably grasp and manage what time, where, and how many conveyed bodies are distributed, and when, where, and how many conveyed bodies are collected at which stations.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the transport body management system of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the entire transport body management system of this embodiment.

This management system includes a main management device 11 and a plurality of reading devices 13 connected to the main management device 11. Each reading device 13 is connected to a rental company head office 10 serving as a main station.
．． The same A branch 14, the same B branch 13, X company 15 as branch stations, Y company 16, Z company 17, s user 1
8 and P user 19, respectively.

In this embodiment, when a resin pallet is lent as a carrier from the rental company A branch 14 and is returned to the rental company B branch 2o after a certain period of time, it is determined at what time and how many pallets.
This is a management system that can check where pallets have been lent, when, how many pallets, and which rental company they have been returned to, and can quickly and appropriately charge the rental fee.

The pallet has a hollow rectangular parallelepiped shape, as shown by reference numeral 25 in FIG. A pair of opposing surfaces are opened. In order to prevent the pallet 25 from being deformed when lifted by the fork, a plurality of retaining walls 26 are formed at regular intervals perpendicular to the opened surface to reinforce the pallet 25. In order to mutually identify the pallets 25, a disc-shaped data carrier 24 storing electromagnetically readable identification data is attached to the inner surface of the center of the earthen wall of the pallet 25. has been done.

As a result, environmental resistance is improved compared to conventional identification codes, the amount of information read increases, and there are no reading errors. Therefore, mutual identification of the pallets 25 becomes possible stably and reliably over a long period of time.

Note that the data carrier 24 can also be attached to a retaining wall 26 formed inside the pallet 25 for reinforcement or to an inner surface 27 of a bottom wall. At this time, the method of attaching the data carrier 24 is as shown in FIGS. 58 to 5C.
Sequentially, the data carrier 24 is screwed onto the pallet 25 by bolts 28, and the pallet 25 is melted to form the data carrier 24 by using the fact that the pallet 25 is made of resin.
The method of embedding the
There is a method in which a concave portion is formed in the pallet 5, a screw is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the concave portion, and the data carrier 24 is directly screwed onto the pallet 25.

The individual identification data of this data carrier 24 is read by a reading device 13 disposed in a non-contact state with the data carrier 24, and the read data is input to the connected main management device 11.

Since the data carrier 24 is in a non-contact state with the reading device 13, the antenna for transmitting and receiving signals can be extended to a desired position, for example, to the fork part (not shown) of a forklift, even while the forklift is moving. Palette 25... Individual identification is possible.

The management system of this embodiment includes a second Various devices as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 are provided.

The data memory 44 built into the data carrier 24 is
It is a ROM that does not require a battery for backup, and is pre-stored with identification data for mutually identifying the pallets 25. A reading device 13 for reading this identification data.
From there, a PS-converted signal is transmitted via a transmitting antenna and delivered to a receiving antenna of the data carrier 24. The delivered signal is subjected to SP conversion, and a predetermined calculation is performed in the main control section according to the data memory 44.

A part of the signal received by the data carrier 24 at this time is
Since it is used as a power source for reading data memory 44, a dedicated power source for data memory 44 is not required. Furthermore,
The data memory 44 is formed of a ROM, and the memory contents are not erased even if the power is turned off, so there is no need for a backup power source for the memory. Therefore, the data carrier 24 can be made compact.

The calculated signal is PS-converted and transmitted as an identification data signal to the reading device 13 via the transmitting antenna.
delivered to the receiving antenna. The delivered calculation signal is SP
The data is converted, subjected to predetermined calculations in the main control unit 43, interface-controlled as an identification data signal, and transmitted to and input to the main management device 11.

This reading device 13 has a built-in data buffer RAM 42 and can temporarily store the identification data signal calculated by the main controller 43.
3 can always receive new signals and perform calculations. Therefore, the identification data on the data carrier 24 can be read continuously at high speed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the main management device 11 includes a ROM 30, a MODEM 31, a CPU 32, a RAM
33, and the identification data signals sequentially transmitted from the interface 41 to the main management device 11 are
It is stored in the RAM 33 via the ODEM 31 and cpU 32. At the same time, predetermined information such as reading date and time, location, etc. is also sequentially stored. The stored information for a predetermined arrangement is calculated by the CPU 32 built in the main management device 11, and is output to the arrangement source via the MODEM 31.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG.
The identification data input into the main management device 11 from the main management device 11 and data related thereto are stored in a memory (RAM) built into the main management device 11 in step S. The main management device 11 is in a standby state in which it is constantly searched to see whether data has been received in step S5 in step S1 and whether there is an inquiry corresponding to the data in step S2.

When there is an inquiry corresponding to the data stored in step S, the corresponding data is output in step S,
In step S4, data is transmitted to the arranging source.

Next, a management system for the pallets 25 from transportation to recovery of the pallets 25 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

Of the 25 pallets distributed from the rental company head office 10 to each rental company branch, rental company A branch 1
4 is a rental contract for 1,000 pallets 25... For example, 700 pallets were rented to company X 15 on June 1st, and 400 of these were rented to user S 18 on June 15th. Transported.

On the other hand, 300 tickets were rented to Y company 16 on June 5th, and 150 of these were rented to S user 18 on June 20th.
was transported to. In other words, a total of 550 pallets 25... were transported to the S user 18. Of these 550 tickets, 300 tickets are from rental company B branch 2.
It was returned to 0 on June 30th.

The pallets 25 are each equipped with the data carriers 24 that identify each other and store electromagnetically readable identification data, so that the distribution of the pallets 25 is reduced. At this time, the identification data of each pallet 25 is read by the reading device 13, and is transmitted and inputted to the main management device 11 as an identification data signal.

At this time, pallets 25 are rented from rental company A branch 14 to X company 15 and Y company 16 respectively.
The identification data of * is input to the main management device 11. At the same time, when, where, and how many pallets 25 were rented are also entered.

Next, in the X company 15 and the Y company 16, the identification data of the pallets 25... being conveyed are read by the respective reading devices 13, 13, and transmitted and inputted to the main management device 11 as an identification data signal. .

At the same time, when, where, and how many pallets 25... were transported are also input.

Furthermore, in the S user 18, the reading device 13 operates to
Pallet 25 transported from Company 15 and Y Company 16.
The identification data is read by the reading device 13 for each returned pallet 25 among the returned pallets 25, and is transmitted and inputted to the main management device 11 as an identification data signal. At the same time, what time?
It is also input where and how many pallets 25... were returned.

In this way, by inputting the identification data of each pallet 25 to the main management device 11, the distribution route of each pallet 25 can be quickly and reliably grasped individually. For this reason, out of the returned pallets 25..., how many are from X company 1?
It is possible to accurately and reliably search for the amount rented to Y company 16 and how many pieces were rented to Y company 16, and the rental fee according to the rental contract can be charged individually to the pallet 25.

In this way, pallet 25... individual identification data is grasped and distribution is managed, so for example, Y company 16
out of the 300 pallets 25 rented from the rental company A branch, 150 pallets 25 are left over when 150 are transported to the S user 18.
... can also be temporarily lent to Z Company 17.

Z company 17, which has temporarily borrowed pallets 25... from Y company 16, is equipped with a reading device 13 that reads identification data for mutually identifying pallets 25...
- By reading the individual recognition data of the pallets 25 borrowed from time to time with the reading device 13 and transmitting them to the main management device 11 for input, it is possible to determine when, from where, and how many pallets 25 are being borrowed. It is possible to detect whether it has been attached. In addition, in Company Y 16, the reading device 13 is activated, and data regarding when, where, and how many pallets 25... were lent to the 2 companies 17 is recorded. The information is input to the main management device 11.

It is possible to search each pallet 25 to see if the number of pallets 25 that have been moved matches the date and location, and the distribution of each pallet 25 can be quickly and reliably carried out. can be grasped.

Similarly, the S user 18 may also be able to temporarily lend the pallets 25 . . . to the P user 19.

Each branch of the rental company 14.20, each company 15.16 that rented the pallet 25... based on a rental contract, and the user 1 to whom the pallet 25... was transported from these companies.
The reading device 13 owned by 8 and the main management device 11 managed by the rental company are connected online, and the pallet 2
By transmitting data about 5..., the reading device 13 can transfer data to the main buried Wll.
The distribution position and distribution route of the pallets 25 can always be accurately searched.

Therefore, if you want to check the current distribution status of the pallets 25 or where they have been returned, you can receive accurate information by directly contacting the main management device 11. In addition, the main management device 1 can connect a public line as shown in Fig. 7.
1, it may be possible to provide a wide range of information regarding the arrangements for the pallet 25. Additionally, rental companies no longer need to manage their own inventory of huge amounts of pallets, and can maintain highly efficient distribution and operations in each region.

Note that this example is not limited to the above,
For example, a non-volatile RAM may be used as the data memory 44 built into the data carrier 24. This non-volatile RAM retains the data stored in the RAM even when the power is turned off, so there is no need for a backup battery.This allows the data carrier to be made more compact, and the corresponding The reading device 13 can also be used to store or erase desired data.

As a result, the articles loaded on the pallet 25 are transferred to the pallet 25.
It may also be possible to understand each time. Additionally, confidential data can be temporarily written and deleted when the pallet 25 is returned, which can meet a wide range of user needs.

[Effects of the invention] By installing a data carrier in which electromagnetically readable identification data for identifying each carrier is stored in the carrier, it has excellent environmental resistance, improves the amount of stored information, and improves readability. No mistakes. Therefore, it is possible to stably and reliably identify each other over a long period of time, quickly and reliably calculate the rental period of each transporter, and quickly and reliably understand and manage the distribution of transporters. can do.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the entire management system for carriers of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main management device constituting the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the main management system of FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the process up to the transmission of corresponding information from the device; FIG.
The figures each show a case in which the data carrier constituting the present invention is attached to a pallet with bolts, and Fig. 5B shows another modification of Fig. 5A in which the pallet is melted and the data carrier is embedded. FIG. 5C is a diagram showing a case in which the data carrier is mounted as another modification of FIG. 5A, in which a screw is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the data carrier, a recessed portion having the same diameter as the data carrier is formed, and the recessed portion is A diagram showing a case where a data carrier is screwed and attached to a pallet with threads formed on the inner peripheral surface,
FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of a data carrier and a reading device that reads identification data stored in this data carrier, and FIG. 7 shows a main management device connected to a public line. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional distribution of pallets. 10... Rental company head office, 11... Main management device,
13...Reading device, 14...Rental company A branch,
15...X company, 16...Y company, 17...Z company, 18...S user, 19...P user, 20.
...Rental company head office, 24...Data carrier, 2
5... Palette, 44... Data memory.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a conveyance body management system for managing a plurality of conveyance bodies for conveying articles carried out from a main station, distributed between a plurality of branch stations, and collected at the main station. , electromagnetically readable data carriers are provided in the carrier, identification data for mutually identifying the carriers are stored on these data carriers, and the main station includes: At this main station, a reader is provided for reading identification data for mutually identifying the carriers from the data carriers of the carriers, and the identification data read by the reader is transmitted to the main management device. A management system for carriers, characterized in that identification data transmitted from the reading device is input to a main management device, and the carriers in circulation are managed based on these identification data. 2. Each branch station is provided with a reading device that reads identification data for mutually identifying the carriers from the data carriers of the carriers, and the identification data read by these readers The data is transmitted to the main management device, identification data transmitted from the reading device is input to the main management device, and the circulating conveyance bodies are managed based on these identification data. The management system for a carrier according to claim 1. 3. The main management device includes a means for storing identification data from the reading device, and a means for storing identification data from the reading device, and a means for controlling which of the main station and the branch station or between which the conveyance body flows based on the stored identification data. 3. The transportation management system according to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting information on whether the transportation object is being transported or not. 4. Any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the data carrier can store data regarding the transported article transported by the transport body.
A management system for conveyance bodies described in .