System for picking articles

• US 5,875,434 A
• Filed: 03/14/1996
• Issued: 02/23/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Matsuoka, Kazuo, Kawamura, Naomichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Teska, Kevin J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): FREJD, RUSSELL WARREN
• Application Number:
  US08/615,956
• Time in Patent Office: 1,076 Days
• Field of Search: 705/28, 364/478.01, 364/478.02, 364/478.03, 364/478.04, 364/478.06, 364/478.07, 364/478.08, 364/478.09, 364/478.15, 364/478.16 , 364/478.17, 364/478.18, 395/228, 209/73, 209/3.3, 235/385, 235/472, 235/492, 414/217, 414/276, 414/281
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/1376 the orders being assembled on a commissioning conveyor
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2203/0216 Codes or marks on the article
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4189 characterised by the transport system
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31034 Component identifier and location indicator corresponding to component
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31095 Read write intelligent chip on workpiece, pallet, tool for data exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32022 Ordering, remote ordering, enter article and operations needed, create jobfile
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/33192 Radio link, wireless
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A system for picking particular articles, by using a receiving box, out of many articles held on article shelves in order to handle articles at high speeds, highly efficiently and highly reliably in a physical distribution management system. The system includes a wireless response tag having a rewritable storage unit, a receiving box having a tag, a terminal equipment for writing/reading article data to and from the tag, a plurality of article shelves, an order-accepting unit, and a belt conveyer, wherein provision is made of a destination-of-picking read terminal at a position of the belt conveyer in from of the article shelves to read the data of an article to be picked from the tag, to indicate the quantity and a management number on the article shelf and to store the management number in the tag, and when the receiving box has moved close to the article shelves, the management number corresponding to the article to be picked is read out and is flashed so as to give an instruction that the article is to be taken off the shelf and put into the receiving box.

Claims

1. A system to pick articles, comprising:

a wireless response tag having a rewritable storage unit;

a receiving box to hold said wireless response tag and to store a desired article;

an antenna to communicate with said wireless response tag;

terminal equipment for writing and reading article data to and from said wireless response tag via said antenna;

a plurality of article shelves to store a plurality of articles;

a plurality of display units disposed in the vicinity of each of said plurality of article shelves; and

a belt conveyer to convey said receiving box to pick one of said plurality of articles by using said receiving box,

wherein provision is made for a destination-of-picking read terminal at a position of said belt conveyer in front of said plurality of article shelves to read article data picked from said wireless response tag, to display the corresponding article and a picking management number on said display unit and to store said picking management number in said wireless response tag, and

said terminal equipment reads the picking management number when said receiving box has moved close to said plurality of article shelves and displays the picking management number on said display unit by using said antenna disposed near said belt conveyer in the vicinity of each of said plurality of article shelves.

2. A system to pick articles according to claim 1, wherein the picking management number is set to said destination-of-picking read terminal for each of said terminal equipment or for a group of said terminal equipment.

3. A system to pick articles according to claim 1, wherein said terminal equipment writes data related to lacking articles into said wireless response tag.

4. A system to pick articles according to claim 1, further comprising:

shipment terminal equipment; and

a printer unit,

wherein said shipment terminal equipment reads out customer and picking data of said receiving box, which has passed through at least one of said plurality of said article shelves, from said wireless response tag and prints out the customer and picking data on a transport slip and a delivery slip.

5. A system to pick articles according to claim 1, wherein

a terminal number and the article data of an article to be picked off of one of said plurality of article shelves are recorded into said wireless response tag, and the article data are set by using said wireless response tag when said terminal number is in agreement with said terminal equipment near one of said plurality of article shelves.

6. A system to pick articles according to claim 1, further comprising:

a stopper included with said belt conveyer to stop said receiving box;

an instruction signal to indicate that said receiving box is absent from a preceding terminal equipment or from a plurality of preceding terminal equipment at a time corresponding to a time when said receiving box is to be returned to said belt conveyer; and

an insertion device to automatically return said receiving box to said belt conveyer when said instruction signal is sent to said insertion device.

7. A system to pick articles according to claim 1, further comprising:

a constitution having a plurality of terminals and corresponding lamps arranged along said belt conveyer,

wherein a preceding terminal indicates to a succeeding terminal a position at which said receiving box to be picked is located by turning the lamp corresponding to the succeeding terminal on.

8. A system to pick articles from article shelves, comprising:

a first communication device having a rewritable storage unit;

a second communication device to communicate with said first communication device;

terminal equipment for writing and reading article data of articles to be picked to and from said first communication device via said second communication device; and

a transporting device to transport said first communication device and said articles to be picked,

wherein provision is made for a destination-of-picking read terminal at a position of said transporting device in front of said article shelves to read article data from said first communication device, to display the corresponding article to be picked and a picking management number and to store said picking management number in said first communication device, and

said terminal equipment reads the picking management number when said first communication device has moved close to said article shelves and displays the picking management number by using said second communication device disposed near said transporting device in the vicinity of each of said article shelves.