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Automated warehouse inloading/outloading storage controller

  • US 5,568,393 A
  • Filed: 01/10/1995
  • Issued: 10/22/1996
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/25/1992
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. An automated warehouse comprising:

  • a storehouse for storing pallets, said pallets storing a plurality of types of goods;

    storage means for storing pallets in said storehouse;

    recording means for recording the types and quantities of pallets stored in the storehouse, and the types, quantities and volumes of goods filling the pallets for each of the pallets as inventory data;

    outloading means for outloading pallets from said storehouse;

    picking means for picking outloaded goods from outloaded pallets, wherein said outloading means is positioned between said picking means and said storehouse;

    filling means for filling incoming goods each having a predetermined volume in said outloaded pallets, said filling means including buffer means for temporarily storing outloaded pallets until an occupancy volume of incoming goods is matched with the available storage space on an outloaded pallet;

    transporting means for transporting pallets from which outloaded goods have been picked by said picking means and pallets from said buffer means to said filling means; and

    an inloading/outloading controller for controlling each of the aforesaid means wherein said inloading/outloading controller includes computing means for computing the occupancy volume of incoming goods based on data of the incoming goods and for computing the amount of available storage space created in a pallet for each of the pallets when outloaded goods have been picked from the pallet based on data of the goods which have been picked by said picking means, space recording means for recording the amount of available storage space in a pallet for each of the pallets computed by the computing means, and selection means for selectively specifying incoming goods having an occupancy volume that is approximately equal to or smaller than the amount of available storage space created in an outloaded pallet such that said filling means fills incoming goods in the available storage space on the outloaded pallets, wherein when a pallet suitable for accommodating incoming goods is not in the buffer means, the inloading/outloading controller searches for a suitable pallet from the pallets in the storehouse and carries the pallet to the filing means for accommodating the incoming goods.

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