Order-picking system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11542104-B2
Application number	US-201616302937-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 17, 2016
Priority date	May 17, 2016
Publication date	Jan 3, 2023
Grant date	Jan 3, 2023

Abstract

The present invention relates to a picking system for a job-related picking of goods in output bins, said picking system comprising a plurality of automated picking cells; comprising a first conveying system for the supply and/or discharge of the supply bins to and/or from the picking cells; and a second conveying system for the supply and/or discharge of the output bins to and/or from the picking cells, and a job management control for working through a plurality of picking jobs by controlling the first and second conveying systems and the plurality of picking cells, wherein at least one first picking cell has different goods handling properties than a second picking cell; and/or in that the job management control uses at least one first picking cell for working through different jobs and/or partial jobs than a second picking cell.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A picking system for a job-related picking of goods in output bins, said picking system comprising:
a plurality of automated picking cells in which goods are removed from supply bins and are transferred into an output bin, wherein the picking cells each have an object detection device for detecting the goods in a supply bin and a first picking cell has different goods handling properties than goods handling properties of a second picking cell;
a gripper for removing the goods from a supply bin;
a cell control for evaluating the data of the object detection device and for path planning and control of the gripper;
a first conveying system for the supply and/or discharge of the supply bins to and/or from the picking cells;
a second conveying system for the supply and/or discharge of the output bins to and/or from the picking cells; and
a job management control for: working through a plurality of picking jobs by controlling the first and second conveying systems and the plurality of picking cells; allocating first goods to be picked to the first picking cell based on a comparison of the goods handling properties of the first picking cell and goods properties of the first goods; and allocating second goods to be picked to the second picking cell based on a comparison of the goods handling properties of the second picking cell and goods properties of the second goods, wherein the goods properties of the second goods are different from the goods properties of the first goods.

2. The picking system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the first picking cell has a different gripper and/or a different maximum handling weight than the second picking cell; and/or wherein the first and second picking cells permit the picking of goods and/or the filling of output bins of different sizes.

3. The picking system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the job management control assigns the first picking cell for the picking of a first sub-group based on predefined goods properties and assigns the second picking cell for the picking of a second sub-group of goods based on predefined goods properties, with the first and second sub-groups differing with respect to predefined goods properties of at least one of weight, the size, the shape, the packaging properties and the kind of goods.

4. The picking system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the job management control uses the first picking cell for the picking of a first sub-group of jobs or partial jobs and the second picking cell for the picking of a second sub-group of jobs or partial jobs, with the first and the second subgroups differing with respect to predefined job properties of at least one of the number, the weight, the size, the shape, the packaging properties, and the kind of goods to be picked per job or partial job and/or a priority of the job or partial job.

5. The picking system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the first and second conveying systems are configured such that the first and second picking cells can be used in parallel for working through different jobs and/or partial jobs and for the consecutive working through of a first and second partial job of a job; and/or wherein the job management control selectively uses the first and second picking cells in parallel for working through different jobs and/or partial jobs or for the consecutive working through of a first and second partial job of a job in dependence on one or more jobs and/or partial jobs to be worked through.

6. The picking system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein output bins can be conveyed via a direct conveyor connection to osr from the first picking cell to the second picking cell, and/or wherein output bins can be conveyed via the second conveying line to or from the first picking cell to the second picking cell.

7. The picking system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the job management control fetches and/or receives predefined goods properties of goods to be picked by a job for the working through of the job and compares them with predefined goods handling properties of the at least first and second picking cells; wherein the job management control allocates the job to one of the picking cells in dependence on the comparison or splits it into a plurality of partial jobs that are each allocated to different picking cells; wherein an output bin is transferred as part of the working through of the partial jobs of a job from a first picking cell in which a first partial job is worked through to a second picking cell in which a second partial job is worked through; and wherein the job management control additionally takes account of a workload of the picking cells due to other jobs.

8. The picking system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the job management control fetches and/or receives predefined goods properties of the goods to be picked by a job for working through a job and fixes a picking order for the goods of the job in dependence on the goods properties; wherein heavy goods are picked before lighter goods of a job; and/or wherein the picking order is taken into account in the splitting of a job into partial jobs and/or in the allocation to different picking cells.

9. The picking system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the picking cells each comprise one or more of a robot arm or area gantry.

10. The picking system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the cell control controls the gripper such that the goods are placed in an output bin at a predetermined position and/or with a predetermined orientation; and/or wherein the job management control and/or the cell control determines the position and/or orientation of all the goods of a job or partial job that are to be picked together in one job bin before the start of and/or during the picking.

11. The picking system in accordance with claim 1 , comprising more than 3 automated picking cells, wherein a plurality of first picking cells and/or a plurality of second picking cells are provided; and/or comprising a picking cell for a manual picking of goods; and/or
a picking system comprising a first section having one or more picking cells; and a second section having one or more picking cells, wherein the first and or second sections are used for picking different goods categories or are supplied with goods to be picked from separate storage systems; and wherein at least the first section is used for picking refrigerated products and/or deep frozen products and further jobs are split into partial jobs such that the partial job to be worked through by the first section forms the last partial job.

12. The picking system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the first conveying system conveys the supply bin from a store to the picking cells and/or back; and/or wherein the second conveying system conveys the job bins from the picking cells to a shipment line.

13. The picking system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the picking cells include a set of picking cells.

14. A picking system for a job-related picking of goods in output bins, said picking system comprising:
a plurality of automated picking cells in which goods are removed from supply bins and are transferred into an output bin, wherein a first picking cell has different goods handling properties than goods handling properties of a second picking cell;
an object detection device of each picking cell for detecting the goods in a supply bin;
a gripper for removing the goods from a supply bin;
a cell control for evaluating the data of the object detection device and for path planning and control of the gripper;
a first conveying system for the supply and discharge of the su

Assignees

• Liebherr Verzahntech Gmbh

Inventors

• Mattern Thomas
• Hänschke David
• Kluge Michael
• Krause Regina

Classifications

• B65G1/1376

  the orders being assembled on a commissioning conveyor · CPC title

• B65G1/1378 Primary

  the orders being assembled on fixed commissioning areas remote from the storage areas · CPC title

• B65G47/52

  Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices (loading or unloading by means not incorporated in, or not operatively associated with, conveyors B65G65/00; transfer of workpieces during metal rolling B21B41/00) · CPC title

• B65G2209/02

  Batch order forming, e.g. several batches simultaneously · CPC title

• B65G47/905 Primary

  Control arrangements · CPC title