Article loading facility

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10106340-B2
Application number	US-201715696709-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 6, 2017
Priority date	Sep 7, 2016
Publication date	Oct 23, 2018
Grant date	Oct 23, 2018

Abstract

A control unit performs a first loading control and a second loading control. The first loading control is performed to control a loading operation unit to load a plurality of target articles onto a first supporting member according to arrangement information. The second loading control is performed to execute a second determination process based on at least one of: the arrangement information; detection information obtained by the detection unit; and information regarding a loading area, to determine whether or not the remaining articles are loadable onto the first supporting member, and to control the loading operation unit to load the remaining articles onto the first supporting member if the remaining articles are determined as being loadable in the second determination process. While performing the first loading control, if the control unit does not determine in the first determination process that the target articles are in a different state, the control unit continues performing the first loading control, and while performing the first loading control, if the control unit determines in the first determination process that the target articles are in the different state, the control unit performs the second loading control instead of the first loading control.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An article loading facility comprising:
a loading operation unit configured to load a plurality of target articles onto one first supporting member; and
a control unit configured to control the loading operation unit,
wherein the control unit is configured to perform a first loading control to control the loading operation unit so that the plurality of target articles are loaded onto the first supporting member according to arrangement information that indicates the orientation and the position of each of the plurality of target articles on the first supporting member,
wherein the loading operation unit is configured to take out a target article that is supported by a second supporting member, and to load the target article onto the first supporting member,
the article loading facility further comprises: a detection unit configured to detect the positions and the orientations of the target articles that are supported by the first supporting member, relative to the first supporting member; and a determination unit configured to perform a first determination process while the first loading control is performed, to determine whether or not the target articles are in a different state in which the articles are not loaded onto the first supporting member according to the arrangement indicated by the arrangement information, based on detection information obtained by the detection unit,
wherein the determination unit is configured to execute the first determination process each time a target article is loaded onto the first supporting member,
wherein if the target articles are determined as being in the different state in the first determination process, articles that are not loaded on the first supporting member, out of the target articles, are remaining articles,
wherein the control unit is configured to repeatedly perform the first loading control after the first loading control has been completed if the determination unit has not determined in the first determination process that the target articles are in the different state,
wherein the control unit is configured to perform a second loading control instead of the first loading control, if the determination unit determines in the first determination process, while performing the first loading control, that the target articles are in the different state, and
wherein the second loading control is a control configured to be performed by the control unit to execute a second determination process based on at least one of: the arrangement information; detection information obtained by the detection unit; and information regarding a loading area of the first supporting member in which articles are loadable, to determine whether or not the remaining articles are loadable onto the first supporting member, and to control the loading operation unit to load the remaining articles onto the first supporting member if the remaining articles are determined as being loadable in the second determination process.

2. The article loading facility according to claim 1 , wherein, in the second determination process, the control unit is configured to determine whether or not the remaining articles are loadable onto the first supporting member by determining whether or not the number of remaining articles is no greater than a preset number, based on the arrangement information and detection information obtained by the detection unit.

3. The article loading facility according to claim 1 , wherein, in the second determination process, the control unit is configured to determine that the remaining articles are loadable onto the first supporting member if the orientations of the target articles that are not loaded in the orientations indicated by the arrangement information can be corrected by the loading operation unit to the orientations indicated by the arrangement information based on detection information obtained by the detection unit, and
wherein if the control unit determines in the second determination process that the remaining articles are loadable, the control unit is configured to control the loading operation unit in the second loading control to load the remaining articles onto the first supporting member according to the arrangement information after correcting the orientations of the target articles that are not loaded in the orientations indicated by the arrangement information.

4. The article loading facility according to claim 1 , wherein the first supporting member is formed so as to have a box shape with an open upper face.

5. The article loading facility according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a notification unit configured to notify of an abnormality,
wherein, in the second loading control, the loading operation unit is stopped and the notification unit is activated if the remaining articles are determined as being unloadable in the second determination process.

6. The article loading facility according to claim 1 , wherein, in the second loading control, if the remaining articles have been determined as being loadable in the second determination process, the loading operation unit is configured to be controlled so that the remaining articles are loaded onto the first supporting member, with the arrangement of the target articles on the first supporting member remaining different from the arrangement indicated by the arrangement information.

7. The article loading facility according to claim 6 , wherein the control unit is configured, in the second loading control, to detect a loadable surface onto which the remaining articles are loadable, from among an upper surface of the first supporting member and upper surfaces of the target articles that are loaded onto the first supporting member, and to create a new loading pattern for loading the remaining articles onto the loadable surface, and
wherein the control unit is configured, in the second loading control, to control the loading operation unit so that the remaining articles are loaded onto the first supporting member according to the created new loading pattern.

8. The article loading facility according to claim 1 , wherein:
an external shape of each article is a rectangular parallelepiped shape,
the arrangement information indicates an arrangement in which articles are stacked in one or more tiers in a vertical direction, and
in the second determination process, the control unit is configured to determine that the remaining articles are loadable onto the first supporting member if all of the remaining articles are loadable onto the first supporting member without exceeding an uppermost height in the loading area.

9. The article loading facility according to claim 8 , wherein, in the second determination process, the control unit is configured to determine that all of the remaining articles are loadable without exceeding the uppermost height in the loading area and the remaining articles are loadable onto the first supporting member if the proportion of a total volume of the target articles to a volume of the loading area is no greater than a preset proportion, based on the arrangement information and the volume of the loading area.

10. The article loading facility according to claim 8 , wherein, in the second determination process, the control unit is configured to detect a loadable surface onto which the remaining articles are loadable, from among an upper surface of the first supporting member and upper surfaces of the target articles that are loaded onto the first supporting member, based on detection information obtained by the detection unit,
wherein if the remaining articles do not exceed the uppermost height of the first supporting member when it is assumed that the remaining arti

Assignees

• Daifuku Kk

Inventors

• Gondoh Takuya
• Sugano Shigeru
• Kurayama Atsushi
• Iwai Masami
• Minoo Atsushi

Classifications

• B65G57/16

  Stacking of articles of particular shape · CPC title

• B65G60/00

  Simultaneously or alternatively stacking and de-stacking of articles · CPC title

• B65G57/22

  in layers each of predetermined arrangement · CPC title

• B65G65/005

  Control arrangements · CPC title

• B65G61/00 Primary

  Use of pick-up or transfer devices or of manipulators for stacking or de-stacking articles not otherwise provided for · CPC title