System for sorting commercial articles and method therefor

• US 20020117429A1
• Filed: 02/26/2001
• Published: 08/29/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Chiyuki Takizawa
• Original Assignee: Chiyuki Takizawa
• Inventors: Takizawa, Chiyuki
• Granted Patent: US 6,610,954 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 209/583
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 7/005 Computer assisted manual sorting, e.g. for mail
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/137 with arrangements or automatic control means for selecting which articles are to be removed
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/1375 the orders being assembled on a commissioning stacker-crane or truck
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/1378 the orders being assembled on fixed commissioning areas remote from the storage areas
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2209/04 Indication location means
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/5104 for articles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 209/933 Accumulation receiving separated items

Abstract

A direction indicator placed on one site of a sorting block indicates, for a given good, the direction towards a nominated slot through which the good is to be placed in the block. This arrangement makes it possible for the hauler to immediately put a good into a nominated slot without looking around at sorting blocks at large, which will lead to the improvement of work efficiency. Moreover, because this will moderate the burden imposed on the hauler, the number of wrongly hauled goods would be greatly reduced.

If a good is passed through a wrong slot, it is recognized by a sensor and then an alarming means is activated to generate a buzzing sound or a blinking light to alarm. This arrangement will make it possible to greatly reduce the number of wrongly hauled goods.

In association with the entry of every good, the name of the provider, as well as the name of the manufacturer of the good, the property of the good and the number of its scheduled input, is given because the provider can feed his name through an input feeding means.

This arrangement will make it possible to efficiently manage inflow goods according to the name of providers, simply dependent on identification codes generally attached to goods such as a JAN code or ITF code.

Claims

1. A commercial article sorting system comprising:

a sorting block having a plurality of slots to receive commercial articles according to sorting criteria;

a reading means to read the data of sorting criteria attached to single commercial articles or groups of commercial articles; and

a controller which notifies a slot for a given commercial good based on the data regarding the sorting criteria transmitted by the reading means,

wherein a direction indicator is provided to the sorting block so that the nominated slot may receive said commercial article under the control of the controller.

2. A commercial article sorting system as described in claim 1 wherein the reading means is a scanner which reads the data of sorting criteria on the label stuck on a commercial article and feed them to the controller.

3. A commercial article sorting system as described in claim 1 or 2 wherein the direction indicator is located at the entry of a sorting block, the block containing the nominated slot;

the block being assigned to a hauler; and

the hauler receiving inflow commercial articles at the entry.

4. A commercial article sorting system as described in claim 1 wherein, in addition to a direction indicator, an entry indicator is provided to each slot to indicate the location of a nominated slot whenever a relevant article enters the block, the lamp of the entry indicator gives a continuous or blinking light depending on a control signal transmitted by the controller.

5. A commercial article sorting system as described in claim 1 comprising:

an article entry sensor to detect the entry of an article into a slot; and

an alarming means which gives an alarm if, for a given article, the slot nominated by the controller and the slot of which the article entry sensor detects the entry of the article are different.

6. A commercial article sorting system as described in claim 5 wherein the alarming means is a buzzer to give an alarming sound.

7. A commercial article sorting system as described in claim 5 wherein the alarming means is an indication lamp to give a continuous or blinking light as an alarm.

8. A commercial article sorting system as described in claim 7 wherein the indication lamp also serves as an entry indicator to indicate the nominated slot for a given article, and indicates the nominated slot by giving a continuous or blinking light of a color predetermined for the indication of nominated slot, in response to a control signal from the controller.

9. A commercial article sorting system as described in claim 7 or 8 wherein if, for a given article, the slot nominated by the controller and the slot of which the article entry sensor detects the entry of the article are in agreement, the controller delivers a control signal so that the indication lamp may give a continuous or blinking light of a color predetermined as indicating that the entry of the article into the nominated slot has been properly made.

10. An inflow article management system for managing the inflow of commercial articles comprising:

an input feeding means through which a vendor can feed his identification information when he puts his article into an inflow line;

an article identification information reading means to read the information which is attached to an article and is related with its attributes;

an article information storing means to store an article information table connecting the vendor identification information with the identification information of articles and the number of the articles to be received; and

an inflow article information control means which, when the identification information is fed through the input feeding means by the vendor and the article information is read, compares those inputs with the article information table, compares the number of articles currently provided by the vendor with the number of the same articles to be received, and writes the number of currently provided articles into the article information storing means.

11. An inflow article management system as described in claim 10 wherein the input feeding means comprises a combination of a display device and a touch-sensitive panel type input device, and the vendor feeds his identification information by touching his name on a list of expected vendors presented on the display device.

12. An inflow article management system as described in claim 10 or 11 wherein the inflow article information control means gives an identification No. correspondent with the identification information provide by the vendor to each management unit of the same articles, thereby making it possible to manage inflow articles based on the identification information of the vendor and the identification No.

13. An inflow article management system as described in claim 10 comprising a label printing means to print a purchaser information label related with the purchaser of an inflow article, the article information table containing the information regarding the purchaser of the inflow article, wherein the inflow article information control means determines a destination for the article based on the article identification information transmitted by the article identification reading means, and instructs the label printing means to print a purchaser information label.

14. An inflow article management system as described in claim 13 wherein the inflow article information control means instructs the label printing means to print a certificate certifying the inflow of articles to a vendor as soon as the vendor has completed to provide a series of inflow articles.

15. An inflow article management system as described in claim 13 comprising:

an inflow conveyor on which a vendor puts an inflow article;

a routing conveyor to which the inflow article is then introduced and from which the inflow article is sent to a next step;

a label reading means to read the label stuck on the article on the routing conveyor;

a sorter to sort articles carried by the routing conveyor according to their purchasers; and

a sorter control means to control the sorter according to the purchaser information transmitted by the label reading means.

16. An inflow article management system as described in claim 15 wherein an inflow label sticking line in which an inflow label can be stuck on an inflow article, is connected to the sorter so that:

the sorter control means, when it finds that the label reading means can not read the purchaser information of an inflow good, may control the sorter so as to cause the inflow good to be guided to the inflow label sticking line.

17. An inflow article management system as described in claim 16 wherein the inflow label sticking line has a plurality of label sticking sections along its length so that sticking of inflow labels may be performed in parallel at the plurality of inflow label sticking sections.

20. A movable loader in an article shipping system as described in claim 19 wherein a rotational body is mounted on the upper surface of the carrier platform in such a way as to protrude its upper portion from the upper surface.

21. A movable loader in an article shipping system as described in claim 19 or 20 wherein the carrier platform has a display device of a computer terminal.

22. A movable loader in an article shipping system as described in claim 21 wherein the carrier platform is provided with a detector to detect the presence of an article.

23. A movable loader in an article shipping system as described in claim 19 wherein the carrier platform has a wheeled support to run on a rail.

24. A movable loader in an article shipping system as described in claim 23 wherein the support allows its vertical length to be extended or contracted.

25. A movable loader in an article shipping system as described in claim 24 wherein an extendable or contractible ladder is provided to the carrier platform or the support.

26. A movable loader in an article shipping system as described in claim 23 wherein a fall prevention mechanism is attached to the carrier platform or to the support to engage with a horizontal guide rail provided to the storage rack so that the mechanism may freely move along the rail.

28. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 27 wherein the buffer storage line is a loop storage line to store unit cargoes after allowing cargoes to circulate through a loop.

29. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 27 wherein the buffer storage line is constituted of a plurality of straight storage lines arranged in parallel.

30. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 28 wherein a loop storage line or a plurality of straight storage lines are arranged in a plane, and such planes are overlaid two or more times.

31. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 27 wherein the buffer storage line is a plurality of loop storage lines being combined such that they are partially overlapped with each other, each of the loop storage line storing unit cargoes after allowing them to circulate through a loop.

32. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 31 wherein, of the plurality of loop storage lines, the outermost one is a shipment sorting loop line

33. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 27 wherein the buffer storage line is constituted of a main loop line, a sub-loop line connected to the main loop line with parts of the lines overlapped, and straight storage lines arranged in parallel within the loop of the sub-loop line.

34. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 27 wherein the buffer storage line is constituted of a main line, sub-loop lines connected to the main line with parts of the lines overlapped and overlaid two or more times vertically, and straight storage lines arranged in parallel within the loops of the sub-loop lines.

35. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 27 wherein the buffer storage line is constituted of a plurality of parallel running straight storage lines connected in series in such a way as to allow a unit cargo thereon to be continuously conveyed, and to allow a unit cargo coming to the junction between a line and a downstream line, to return to an upstream line or to go further along the downstream line.

36. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 31 wherein a plurality of shoot lines at a shipment sorting station are arranged into an array of multi-layered shoot lines, and unit cargoes are distributed to the rows of shoot lines according to their sorting requirements to be shot there.

37. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 36 wherein a sensor to detect the presence of a unit cargo and a display device to indicate the requirement of a unit cargo, and the work required for handling the cargo are provided to an end of each shoot line.

40. A sorting method as described in claim 38 or 39 wherein the cargoes made to circulate through a line are allowed to further circulate or to be discharged based on the combined judgements that a cargo must circulate as long as it does not meet the requirement, and that a cargo may be discharged into a downstream line provided that it meets the requirement.

41. A sorting method as described in claim 38 or 39 wherein the predetermined requirement is an ordering of plural sorting requirements.

42. A sorting method as described in claim 38 or 39 wherein the circulation of cargoes takes place at a second sorting inserted between a primary sorting which occurs during the passage of cargoes from an inflow guide line to a labeling line where sticking of labels is performed, and a shipment sorting which sorts cargoes and sends them to a shipment ready area to transfer them to delivery trucks.

43. A sorting method as described in claim 42 wherein the primary sorting is performed according to the identification data attached to a cargo or a container containing the cargo which are obtained by scanning the cargo or the container.

44. A sorting method as described in claim 42 wherein cargoes, after having received the secondary sorting, go through a buffer line to store cargoes, to receive the shipment sorting.

45. A sorting method as described in claim 44 wherein cargoes coming to the buffer line are stored according to their sorting requirements.

46. A sorting method as described in claim 42 wherein the shipment sorting comprises sending cargoes to appropriate rows of shoot lines according to their sorting requirements.

47. A sorting method as described in claim 46 wherein cargoes shot in the shoot line are detected by a detection means, and the detection results are displayed by a display means.

48. A sorting method as described in claim 38 or 39 wherein automatic allocation is practiced such that cargoes are automatically allocated to appropriate sorting lines according to the relative number of the cargoes to which the same requirements are imposed, and the congested state of the lines.

49. A sorting method as described in claim 38 wherein the sorting requirement is related with the attribute of a cargo, the attribute of the package of the cargo, and the attribute of the shop of the purchaser of the cargo, etc.

50. A sorting method as described in claim 49 wherein the temperature of a cargo is given the first priority among the sorting requirements.

18. An inflow article management system comprising:

a plurality of inflow conveyors on which vendors put their articles;

a routing conveyor to which articles on the inflow conveyors are guided and from which articles are sent to a next step;

a monitoring means to monitor the number of articles on each inflow conveyor; and

a guide control means to guide articles to the routing conveyor from an inflow conveyor to another in the order of the number of articles on the conveyor, based on the output from the monitoring means.

19. A movable loader in an article shipping system whose carrier platform is movably placed between a storage rack to store articles and a delivery conveyor placed in parallel with the rack so that the carrier platform through which articles can be transferred from the rack to the conveyor may move along the delivery conveyor.

27. A shipment sorting system including:

transferring unit cargoes containing articles to be shipped from an inflow area through a conveyor to a shipment sorting area;

sorting cargoes according to different shipment requirements in the shipment sorting area; and

transferring sorted unit cargoes to delivery carts for shipment,

comprising a buffer storage line to store unit cargoes which have been transferred from the inflow area through the conveyor to the shipment sorting area.

38. A sorting method for sorting cargoes on a routing conveyor according to their specified requirements wherein cargoes that do not meet the requirements are returned to an upstream line to circulate.

39. A sorting method for sorting cargoes on a routing conveyor according to their specified requirements wherein cargoes that do not meet the requirements are transferred into a routing line to circulate through the line where a sorting requirement is predetermined, as soon as the cargoes are found not to meet their specified requirements.

51. A recording medium to record a sorting program necessary for sorting cargoes on a routing line according to their specified requirements which determines which decision is appropriate for a given cargo, returning it to an upstream line to circulate because it does not meet its specified requirement, or discharging it to a downstream line because it meets its specified requirement, during the passage of the cargo through the routing line.

52. A recording medium to record a sorting program as described in claim 51 wherein the sorting requirement is related with plural attributes such as the attribute of a cargo, the attribute of the package of the cargo, and the attribute of the shop of the purchaser of the cargo, etc. arranged in the order of priority.

53. An article sorting system comprising:

a first conveyor to convey a tray containing articles to be sorted;

a second conveyor branching off from the first conveyor, and a plurality of sorting lines containing sorting racks having a plurality of slots leading to containers into which articles are placed according to their sorting categories, and placed opposite to the second conveyor;

a sorter to guide a tray conveyed through the first conveyor to one of the sorting lines;

a reading means to read the identification information of a tray conveyed by the first conveyor;

a memory means to store an article information table connecting the identification information of a tray with the information of the articles contained in that tray, and the arrangement pattern of the slots of each sorting line; and

a sorter control means to determine an appropriate sorting line for a tray and control the sorter to guide the tray to the sorting line, after having referred to the identification information of the tray read by the reading means, and the article information table and the arrangement patterns of slots stored in the memory means.

54. An article sorting system as described in claim 53 wherein the patterns of slots of the sorting racks are determined based on the inflow information regarding the kinds and numbers of articles scheduled to inflow provided in advance such that the sorting works at individual sorting lines will be averaged.

55. An article sorting system as described in claim 54 wherein each sorting rack comprises a plurality of blocks each assigned to a sorter;

and the arrangement patterns of the slots of respective blocks are determined based on the inflow information regarding the kinds and numbers of articles scheduled to inflow provided in advance such that the sorting works at individual sorting blocks will be averaged.

56. An article sorting system as described in claim 53 wherein a part of the plurality of sorting lines will serve as a back-up line to support the sorting work, if some of the remaining active sorting lines are filled with trays so much that trays accumulated at their entries exceed a specified number.

57. An article sorting system as described in claim 56 wherein the arrangement pattern of the slots of the racks of a back-up sorting line also includes the arrangement pattern of the slots of the racks of a sorting line supported by that back-up line.

58. An article sorting system as described in claim 56 or 57 wherein the control means monitors the number of trays entering the plurality of sorting lines, and the number of trays exiting the same sorting lines based on sorting end information, thereby checking the number of arrested trays of each sorting line, and whenever it finds the number of arrested trays exceeds a specified number at a certain sorting line, it controls the sorter to guide trays otherwise directed to said sorting line to a back-up line correspondent with the sorting line.

59. An article sorting system as described in claim 53 comprising a weight measuring means to measure the weight of a tray conveyed by the first conveyor, and an entry detection means provided to each slot to detect the entry of an article through the slot into a container, wherein:

the control means determines by calculation the weight of a unit article contained in a tray based on the weight of the tray determined by the weight measuring means;

determines by calculation the weight of articles placed in the slots of a sorting rack based on the weight of a unit article and the detection result of the entry detection means; and

when it finds the weight of articles reaches a specified value, it determines the containers are completely filled with articles thrown through the slots.

60. An article sorting system as described in claim 59 wherein the memory means stores an article master table describing the information of articles to be sorted, and the control means writes the weight of a unit article into the article master table in conjunction with the information of the same article.

61. An article sorting system as described in claim 53 wherein a display means is provided to the site of the first conveyor from which trays containing articles to be sorted are put on the conveyor;

the control means monitors the kind and number of articles for which sorting has been completed based on the sorting end information, and instructs the display means to display the kind and number of the articles for which sorting has been completed.

62. An article sorting system as described in claim 53 wherein the first and second conveyors, and a third conveyor introduced separately from the two are arranged such that empty containers are provided therethrough to the sorting rack;

a display means is provided to the site of the first or the third conveyor at which the conveyor receives empty containers; and

the control means monitors the number of empty containers placed in the rack, and instructs the display means to display the addresses to receive empty containers, and the number of empty containers to be supplied.

63. An article sorting system as described in claim 53 wherein a buffer line is inserted between the first conveyor and an area at which trays containing articles to be sorted concentrate so that the buffer line may serve as a place to temporarily store trays, and the entry of trays from the buffer line to the first conveyor is controlled so that sorting at sorting lines may proceed without interruption.

64. An article sorting system comprising:

a first conveyor to convey trays containing articles to be sorted;

a second conveyor branching off from the first conveyor, and a plurality of sorting lines containing sorting racks having a plurality of slots leading to containers into which articles are placed according to their sorting categories, and placed opposite to the second conveyor;

a sorter to guide a tray conveyed through the first conveyor to one of the sorting lines;

a reading means to read the identification information of a tray conveyed by the first conveyor;

a memory means to store an article information table connecting the identification information of a tray with the information of the articles contained in that tray, and the arrangement pattern of the slots of each sorting line;

a sorter control means to determine an appropriate sorting line for a tray and control the sorter to guide the tray to the sorting line, after having referred to the identification information of the tray read by the reading means, and the article information table and the arrangement patterns of slots stored in the memory means; and

a direction indicating means provided to each of the plural blocks introduced into a sorting rack so as to indicate by an arrow the No. of the nominated slot and its direction.

65. An article sorting system as described in claim 64 wherein the No. of the nominated slot is displayed on each angle of the screen of the direction indicating means, and the arrow located at the center of screen points to an angle.

66. An article sorting system as described in claim 64 or 65 wherein the screen of the direction indicating means also displays the kind and number of articles to be sorted.

67. An article sorting system as described in claim 64 wherein the kind is related with the shape which articles to be sorted take during conveyance, and different kinds are distinguished by the character and the color.

68. An article sorting system as described in claim 64 wherein the direction indicating means is controlled based on a control signal delivered by a computer terminal forming a local network with a host computer, being interlocked with display processing signals notifying the entry of articles to be sorted.