Material or article handling – Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into – within,... – Unstacking apparatus
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-29
2001-06-19
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Material or article handling
Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into, within,...
Unstacking apparatus
C414S797400, C414S797600, C414S797900
Reexamination Certificate
active
06247890
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to an automatic goods picking machine, and more particularly to an automatic goods picking device capable of adjusting flexibly to the order requests for the goods items of various sizes, and a method for enhancing the efficiency of the automatic goods picking device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In light of cost control and competitive pressure, warehouses must make an effort to fill correctly and quickly the orders placed by the retail stores. The manual selection of goods ordered by the retail stores is not only time-consuming but also prone to human errors. The daily operations of the warehouses can be streamlined by the automatic goods picking machine, which is particularly suitable for use in selecting pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, compact disks, video tapes, cigarettes, etc., which are generally packaged in boxes.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,703 discloses an automatic order selection system, which is capable of responding to simultaneous order requests and composed of an A-frame having a plurality of goods placing areas. Located on each of the goods placing areas are a plurality of the boxed goods which are stacked together. Located under each of the goods placing areas is a goods discharging mechanism capable of discharging selectively the goods to a conveyer by which the goods are transported to the distribution cartons.
Such a prior art automatic order selection system as described above is defective in design in that the operation of the goods discharging mechanism is vulnerable to stoppage under the circumstance that the boxes are not stacked in an orderly manner, and that the stacked boxes are of various dimensions, and further that the boxes are not stacked uniformly in terms of height. In addition, an excessively large or tall pile of boxes in the goods placing areas is rather prone to give way to knock down the adjoining piles of boxes. In short, the efficiency of the prior art automatic order selection system can be undermined by the incidents described above.
Moreover, the prior art automatic order selection system is designed to operate under the circumstance in which a small quantity of various kinds of goods is to be processed. Such a process calls for the employment of the computer and the control device, by which a substantial amount of relevant data must be processed in order to complete the execution of the entire goods selection process. As a result, the operating efficiency of the prior art automatic order selection system is hampered by the fact that the data transmission speed is slower than the execution speed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore the primary objective of the present invention to provide an automatic goods picking device and a method for controlling the device which is provided with a goods placing area that can be flexibly adjusted to suit the goods of various sizes.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide an automatic goods picking device and a method for controlling the device which is provided with a goods placing area capable of holding the stacked goods stably to prevent the collapse of the stacked goods.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide an automatic goods picking device and a method for controlling the device such that the data transmission speed is accelerated, and that the efficiency of the device is greatly enhanced.
In keeping with the principle of the present invention, the foregoing objectives of the present invention are attained by an automatic goods picking device and a method for controlling the device, which consists of a frame provided in one side thereof with at least a placing platform and a support rod which is in turn provided with a plurality of goods-placing areas. Each of the goods placing areas is mounted on the support rod by two fastening members such that it forms a stacking space along with the placing platform. The support rod is provided thereon with a horizontal connection portion. Each of the fastening members is provided a vertical connection portion. The fastening members can be adjustably moved upwards, downwards, leftwards, and rightwards so as to enable the predetermined position of the vertical connection portion of each fastening member to be corresponding in location to the predetermined position of the horizontal connection portion of the support rod for forming the stacking spaces of various sizes along with the placing platform to facilitate the stacking of various goods different in height and width. A plurality of goods discharging mechanisms are mounted at the bottom of the placing platform such that the goods discharging mechanisms are respectively corresponding in location to the goods placing areas. The control mechanism is formed of a monitor computer and a programmable control device PLC. The monitor computer is used to retrieve the order data, which are subsequently transmitted to the PLC responsible for the control of mechanical actions.
The foregoing objectives, features and functions of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5064341 (1991-11-01), Pippin
patent: 5271703 (1993-12-01), Lindqvist et al.
patent: 5439345 (1995-08-01), Ivo
patent: 5755551 (1998-05-01), Saeki et al.
patent: 5755552 (1998-05-01), Iwasaka et al.
patent: 6061607 (2000-05-01), Bradley et al.
Chang Wei
Huang Chin-Lu
Liu Sheng-Feng
Shau Shiuan-I
Sun Hai-Chiao
Browdy & Neimark
Ellis Christopher P.
Industrial Technology Research Institute
Tran Khoi H.
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