Automated work center and method

• US 5,273,392 A
• Filed: 08/17/1992
• Issued: 12/28/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 01/02/1986
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Computer Aided Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Computer Aided Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Perry, Daniel C., Bernard, Clay II, Lukken, Stanley H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Werner, Frank E.
• Application Number:
  US07/931,648
• Time in Patent Office: 498 Days
• Field of Search: 414/786.331, 414/278, 414/285, 414/286, 414/273, 414/274, 414/287, 414/222, 414/417, 364/478, 211/1.5, 198/469.1, 198/793, 198/475.1, 198/794, 198/474.1, 198/797, 198/478.1, 198/798, 198/481.1, 198/799, 198/800, 198/339.1, 198/340, 198/345, 198/346.2 , 198/855, 198/575, 198/570, 198/571, 198/572, 198/341, 198/502.2
• US Class Current: 414/807
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/0485 Check-in, check-out devices
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/1371 with data records
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2201/02 Articles
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4189 characterised by the transport system
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

This invention relates to an automated work center for use in materials handling operations. The work center includes a randomly accessible vertically moving temporary storage queue 11 for receiving containers 25 that hold material goods. A fixed loading ramp 20 is arranged to receive containers 20 from an external system and to load the received containers onto the storage queue 11. A work area 5 having a plurality of rotatable work tables 7 provides an gives the operator access to the containers. A delivery system 14 transfers containers between the storage queue 11 and the work tables 7 and a takeaway system 16 transfers containers between the work area and the conveyor network. An automated control system 17 coordinates the delivery of containers between the temporary storage queue 11 and the work area 5. A consolidation queue 18 having a multiplicity of vertically spaced shelfs may be disposed opposite the work tables 7 to facilitate the consolidation of ordered goods.

Claims

1. A method of operating a system for consolidating various articles, the system including a work area adapted to provide a human operator stationed thereat with access to a plurality of containers that carry the articles and a rotational consolidation queue having a multiplicity of shelves each adapted to hold a plurality of means for receiving articles, the consolidation queue being disposed in close proximity to the work area to enable the operator to readily work back and forth between the work area and the consolidation queue and means for loading article receiving means onto a fixed loading shelf to provide the operator access to the article receiving means, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a multiplicity of orders for various articles and automatically designating particular article receiving means to receive specific ordered articles;

automatically delivering to the work area a plurality of containers holding ordered articles;

selecting particular articles disposed within a container in the work area for distribution and informing the operator of the selected articles involved and the location of an active container that holds selected articles;

rotating the consolidation queue until a shelf holding an article receiving means designated to receive the selected articles is disposed adjacent the fixed loading shelf;

automatically opening an article receiving means designated to receive the selected articles, informing the operator of the quantity of the selected articles that are to be placed into the open article receiving means, inserting selected articles into the open article receiving means and then closing the opened article receiving means;

repeating the opening of the article receiving means and queue rotating steps as necessary to distribute the selected articles; and

repeating the selection, queue rotating and opening of the article receiving means steps as necessary to consolidate all of the ordered articles into the article receiving means.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

discharging a container from the work area after all of the articles carried therein that are selected for distribution have been distributed; and

delivering an additional container to the work area following the discharge of a container from the work area.

3. A method as recited in claim 2 wherein said discharging of the container and said delivering of an additional container is carried out automatically.

4. A method as recited in claim 3 further comprising a step of arranging an orientation of each container in the work area to position particular compartments within the containers that hold the selected articles nearest to the operator.

5. A method as recited in claim 2 further comprising the step of automatically activating a signal light above the active container to inform the operator of a location of the active container as called for in the selecting step.

6. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising the step of automatically printing customized invoices for insertion into each article receiving means that is filled.

7. A method as recited in claim 6 wherein the consolidation queue has a printer mounted for movement back and forth adjacent the fixed loading shelf, the method further comprising the step of automatically positioning the printer adjacent an open article receiving means that is loaded onto the fixed loading shelf each time an invoice is to be placed into the open article receiving means.

8. The method as recited in claim 7 wherein instructions are displayed to the operator by a video display to inform the operator of a quantity of the selected articles to be placed into the article receiving means.

9. The method as recited in claim 1 further including delivering the ordered articles in the article receiving means to a location selected from a group consisting of a production work station, a packing or wrapping station, and a shipping queue.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 wherein when the article receiving means are delivered to said shipping queue, the step of further arranging the article receiving means in reverse delivery order.

11. A method of operating a system for the storage and retrieval of articles, the system having various component operating units including a work table area for providing a human operator stationed thereat with access to article carrying containers, a randomly accessible temporary storage queue for temporarily holding the containers, conveyor means for interconnecting the operating units, and an electrical communications network having circuitry connected to the operating units, the system further having provisions for controlling automatic functioning of the operating units responsive to signals applied from the electrical network, the method comprising the steps of:

requesting a multiplicity of containers from a storage system for delivery to the temporary storage queue;

loading requested containers onto the temporary storage queue;

delivering a container to a work table in the work table area to provide the operator with access to the container;

discharging the delivered container from the work table after the operator is finished working with each particular delivered container;

requesting the delivery of an additional designated container from the temporary storage queue to the work table area after a container is discharged from the work table, the container request being generated independent of the order in which the containers were received by the temporary storage queue and delivering the additional designated container to the work table that discharged a container; and

requesting the delivery of an additional container from the storage system to the temporary storage queue after a container is transferred from the temporary storage queue to the work table area.

12. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein a multiplicity of the containers include multiple compartments and the work table is rotatable, the method further comprising the steps of:

detecting an orientation of a container delivered to the work table; and

rotating the work table as necessary to insure that a selected container compartment is presented towards the operator.

13. The method as recited in claim 11 including identifying containers delivered to the temporary storage queue.

14. The method as recited in claim 11 wherein a container is delivered to a loading ramp associated with a particular work table before a container on the particular work table is discharged.

15. A method for receiving articles into a storage system utilizing a work center that includes a randomly accessible temporary storage queue for temporarily storing containers and a work area adapted to provide a human operator stationed thereat with access to a plurality of containers that carry the articles and the method comprising the steps of:

receiving articles into the work center;

inputting both the identity and the quantity of articles received into a control system;

calculating a container compartment size that will be required to hold the received articles, wherein after the articles are identified, the control system automatically checks a weights and measures file to determine whether measurements of the received articles have previously been recorded and uses previously recorded measurements to calculate a necessary container compartment size when such measurements are available; and

checking to determine whether a container having an appropriately sized compartment is disposed in the work area, wherein if a suitably sized container is disposed within the work area, then a controller of the control system instructs the operator to place the received articles in an appropriately sized compartment and wherein if no suitably sized container is disposed within the work area, then the controller instructs the operator to place received articles at a designated temporary storage location and an appropriately sized container is automatically ordered for delivery to the work area.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein said calculating step includes calculating a size and weight of received articles.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein a suitably sized container is automatically delivered from the temporary storage queue to the work area and the operator is informed of a location of said container and of the compartment in which the received articles are to be placed.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising automatically activating a signal light above said container to inform the operator of the location of said container.

19. The method of claim 15 further comprising discharging containers from the work area after they are filled with received articles and retaining in the work area containers having appropriately sized empty compartments.

20. A method for receiving articles into a storage system utilizing a work center that includes a randomly accessible temporary storage queue for temporarily storing containers, a work area adapted to provide a human operator stationed thereat with access to a plurality of containers that can carry the articles, and a rotational consolidation queue having a multiplicity of shelves for holding a plurality of means for receiving the articles, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving articles into the work center;

inputting both an identity and an quantity of articles received into a control system;

calculating a container compartment size that will be required to hold the received articles, wherein after articles are identified, the control system automatically checks a weights and measures file to determine whether the measurements of the received articles have previously been recorded and uses previously recorded measurements to calculate a necessary container compartment size when such measurements are available;

placing received articles into selected article receiving means and a controller of the control system remembering a location of the articles;

automatically delivering to the work area a plurality of containers having appropriately-sized compartments for received articles;

selecting a particular container disposed within the work area for receiving received articles and informing the operator of a location of the selected container;

automatically opening an article receiving means containing received articles and transferring received articles from the open article receiving means to the selected container; and

repeating the selecting and opening steps until the received articles have been entered into inventory.

21. A method of operating a system for consolidating various articles, the system including a work area adapted to provide a human operator stationed thereat with access to a plurality of containers that carry the articles and a rotational consolidation queue adapted to hold a plurality of means for receiving articles, the consolidation queue being disposed in close proximity to the work area to enable the operator to readily work back and forth between the work area and the consolidation queue, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a multiplicity of orders for various articles and designating particular article receiving means to receive specific ordered articles;

delivering to the work area a plurality of containers holding ordered articles;

selecting particular articles disposed within a container in the work area for distribution and informing the operator of the selected articles involved and the location of an active container that holds the selected articles;

rotating the consolidation queue until an article receiving means designated to receive the selected articles is disposed adjacent an area the operator has access to;

presenting to the operator an article receiving means held by the consolidation queue and designated to receive the selected articles, informing the operator of the quantity of the selected articles that are to be placed into the presented article receiving means, inserting selected articles into the presented article receiving means, and returning the presented article receiving means to the consolidation queue to permit rotation thereof;

repeating the presenting of the article receiving means and queue rotating steps as necessary to distribute the selected articles; and

repeating the selection, queue rotating and presenting of the article receiving means steps as necessary to consolidate all of the ordered articles into article receiving means.

22. A method of operating a system for consolidating various articles, the system including a work area adapted to provide a human operator stationed thereat with access to a plurality of containers that carry the articles and a rotational consolidation queue for holding a plurality of means for receiving articles, the consolidation queue being disposed in close proximity to the work area to enable the operator to readily work back and forth between the work area and the consolidation queue and means for moving article receiving means onto a loading shelf to provide the operator access to the article receiving means, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a multiplicity of orders for various articles and designating particular article receiving means to receive specific ordered articles;

delivering to the work area a plurality of containers holding ordered articles;

selecting particular articles disposes within a container in the work area for distribution and informing the operator of the selected articles involved and the location of an active container that holds the selected articles;

rotating the consolidation queue until an article receiving means designated to receive the selected articles is disposed adjacent the loading shelf;

moving an article receiving means designated to receive the selected articles onto the loading shelf, informing the operator of the quantity of the selected articles that are to be placed into the article receiving means on the loading shelf, inserting selected articles into the article receiving means on the loading shelf, and then returning the article receiving means to the consolidation queue to permit rotation thereof;

repeating the moving of the article receiving means and queue rotating steps as necessary to distribute the selected articles; and

repeating the selection, queue rotating and moving of the article receiving means steps as necessary to consolidate all of the ordered articles into the article receiving means.