The invention relates to an out-processing facility for individual goods, comprising:
a storage or support area with a plurality of storage or support passages for items to be out-processed extending parallel to one another therein, whereby only items of the same type are located in each passage;
a loading area at one end of the storage passages with means for in-loading new items into the storage passages provided therefor; and
an out-processing area at the other end of the storage passages with removal devices for computer-controlled transfer of individual items out of the storage passages onto downstream conveyor devices.
Warehouse order-processing technology is gaining importance in all fields of commerce and in particular in the wholesale foods industry. However, warehousing in its narrower sense (i.e., static storage of individual goods) is becoming less significant while the dynamic processes and especially turn-around handling of goods is gaining importance. The goal of modern warehousing is therefore to keep the retention time of the individual goods in the warehouse to a minimum and thus to keep to a minimum the amount of capital tied up in warehousing.
Known out-processing facilities are multi-story racks that have storage passages for the individual goods and that are arranged adjacent to and above one another. The floors of the passages are provided with roller conveyors made of freely rotatable rollers and are slightly inclined so that goods warehoused at the one end of the passage, the so-called stocking or loading side, move along the roller conveyors to the other end of the passage, the removal or order processing side. Placing the individual goods into position on the stocking side is generally done manually in that the individual goods are removed from a pallet and placed into the assigned passage. Order-processing at the removal side of the racks is also frequently performed manually.
However, also known are computer-controlled drivable removal devices in the form of conveyor devices that can be driven in a passage arranged on the order-processing side of the rack and that, corresponding to the order, take the individual goods maintained instock in the individual passages and assemble the order. The conveyor devices used for this can be driven over corresponding guides in two coordinates so that each conveyor device can access individually each of the passages arranged adjacent to and above one another.
The object of the invention is to provide an out-processing facility with which high turn-around rates can be achieved and which is also suitable for simultaneous processing of goods that are very different in terms of weight and size.
For achieving this object in an out-processing facility of the type described in the foregoing, it is proposed that every passage comprise a roller conveyor, the rollers or cylinders of which can be set in motion via a common drive means, and that each passage be provided with a discrete removal apparatus that is actuatable independent of the other removal apparatus.
Such an out-processing facility makes it possible to achieve a higher turn-around rate than is the case in conventional systems because each individual passage is provided with a discrete removal apparatus that is actuatable independent of the other removal apparatus in the out-processing facility. This means that the inventive out-processing facility makes possible a turn-around rate at which it would even be possible, at full capacity, to remove items from all of the passages and assemble an order simultaneously. The items can even also be very different individual goods in terms of their weight and size. The use of a roller conveyor for each passage, the rollers or cylinders of which can be set in motion via a common drive means, ensures that light and heavy, large and small individual goods and containers are transported and stocked in the passages with the same degree of assurance. Even individual goods that are critical in conventional warehouse engineering, such as, for instance, full plastic crates of beverages, can be processed with no problem using the driven roller conveyor.
In accordance with one preferred embodiment of the out-processing facility, the common drive means is a continuous drive belt, and the drive belt has a first and a second group of longitudinal segments, whereby the longitudinal segments of each group alternate, the longitudinal segments of the first group exert a friction and/or positive driving torque on the rollers or cylinders, and the longitudinal segments of the second group exert no driving torque or comparatively less driving torque on the rollers or cylinders. Such a drive belt with longitudinal segments that work at different strengths leads to reduced conveyor pressure on the roller conveyor so that above all only limited pressure is exerted on the individual goods arranged at the first position on the removal-side end of the passage. This is advantageous precisely in the case of goods or containers that are sensitive to shock or pressure. It is furthermore advantageous that the removal apparatus of the out-processing area can be operated with limited drive power due to the limited dynamic pressure.
The drive belt preferably comprises a continuous base body, which has the same thickness over its entire length, and drive segments that are affixed by segment to the base body and that form the longitudinal segments of the first group. For achieving a slip-free form-fit, it is furthermore advantageous when the drive segments have teeth on their exterior side and the teeth thus formed engage with corresponding opposing teeth on the circumference of the rollers or cylinders of the roller conveyor.
For achieving sufficient constructive freedom in the design of the drive and reversing devices for the drive means of the roller conveyor, it is furthermore suggested that the drive belt be reversed via reversing rollers that are situated in or below the loading area and/or the out-processing area.
For achieving limited drive slip while maintaining a cost-effective design of the roller conveyor, it is furthermore suggested that the drive belt be conducted between the rollers or cylinders and a pressure counter bearing, and that the pressure counter bearing be a longitudinally extending profile that is connected to a roller conveyor profile on which the individual rollers or cylinders are borne.
One preferred embodiment of the out-processing facility is characterized in that a transport conveyor that is preferably continuously driven extends along the removal apparatus and transverse to the passages for the items removed using the removal apparatus, and in that components of each removal apparatus are an actuatable retaining element projecting into the conveyor path of the roller conveyor and a horizontal conveyor that is arranged after the retaining element in the direction of *p+11Xconveyance and whose conveyor speed is greater than the conveyor speed of the roller conveyor. Preferably the conveyor speed of the horizontal conveyor is at least 25% greater than the conveyor speed of the roller conveyor. This achieves assured and problem-free separation of the first items to be removed from the items arranged thereafter and being conveyed by means of the drive device of the roller conveyor.
For achieving a constructively simple design of the out-processing area, it is furthermore suggested that a plurality of horizontal conveyors be driven via a common drive shaft that extends transversely to the passages. Furthermore suggested is a controlled switchable coupling for time-delimited initiation of an unblocking motion by the retaining element that releases the conveyor path from the rotational movement of the common drive shaft, whereby the coupling of each removal apparatus can be triggered separately from the other couplings. In contrast to the unblocking motion, it is not necessary to use the motor drives present for the subsequent re-blocking motion of the retaining element. Rather, it is sufficient when the retaining element is provided with restoring means that act upon the retaining element with a restoring force in the direction of its blocking motion, whereby the restoring force is less than the weight of the items/containers stored in the passage. This restoring force can be produced, for instance, by the weight or force of a suitable restoring spring.
In terms of the coupling, this is preferably a magnetic coupling annularly enclosing the common drive shaft, the output member of which is a cam that pivots against the restoring element when the magnetic coupling is triggered.
With the goal of a compact design for the out-processing area, it is suggested that the horizontal comprises a first, non-rotating belt pulley that is coaxially connected to the drive shaft, at least one additional belt pulley that runs therewith, and a continuous belt conducted via the belt pulleys, whereby the driven belt pulley defines the forward end and the belt pulley that runs therewith defines the rear end of the horizontal conveyor.
One embodiment of the loading area of the inventive out-processing facility is characterized by a transport conveyor for new items to be in-loaded that extends transversely to the passages and constitutes individual transport cylinders, whereby transverse conveyors that are separately actuatable for each said passage are arranged between the transport cylinders in the direction of that passage. The transverse conveyor preferably comprises belt pulleys over which is conducted a continuous drive belt on the exterior side of which are attached catch elements, which, when they are located on the carrying run of the drive belt, project beyond the conveyor surface of the transport cylinders. Transport means of the transverse conveyor are therefore not the belts themselves, but rather the catch elements attached thereto. Their interval on the drive belt is preferably greater than the length of the carrying run. This ensures that the catch elements do not impede the movement of the individual goods along the transport cylinders that comprise the transport conveyor.
In one additional embodiment of the out-processing facility it is suggested that the drive of a plurality of transverse conveyors occurs via a common main drive shaft and that each transverse conveyor has a discrete coupling for initiating its movement from the rotational movement of the main drive shaft, whereby the coupling of each transverse conveyor can be triggered separately from the other couplings. A magnetic coupling is preferably employed in this case, as well. For the purpose of structural simplification, it is finally suggested that the movement of the common drive means of the roller conveyor also be initiated by the rotational movement of the main drive shaft, preferably via a reverse gear and a coupling, preferably magnetic, that can be triggered individually for each roller conveyor. In this manner the number of drive components, such as electromotors, is reduced to a minimum. Compared to a separate electrical drive, current consumption by the electrical magnetic couplings is very low; they are only triggered for short periods, in contrast to the main drive shaft, which can be operated continuously.