EP1189826A1

EP1189826A1 - Conveying and/or storage device for packaged goods

Info

Publication number: EP1189826A1
Application number: EP00979532A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Rudolf Hollander
Original assignee: Dynamic Systems Engineering BV
Current assignee: Dynamic Systems Engineering BV
Priority date: 2000-04-27
Filing date: 2000-11-06
Publication date: 2002-03-27
Also published as: EP1189825B1; DE50005335D1; US6843632B1; DK1189825T3; ES2214326T3; DE10020608A1; AU1028901A; AU1698701A; EP1189825A1; WO2001083336A1; ATE259746T1; WO2001083335A1; US6719125B1

Abstract

A picking store for piece goods is disclosed, which comprises a storage area (1), with a number of storage racks (7), for the goods to be picked, arranged parallel to each other, whereby only goods of the same type are found in each rack, a placing area (2), at one end of the storage racks (7), with a means for depositing new goods in the appropriate storage rack (7) and a picking area at the other end of the storage racks (7) with a withdrawing device (4) for computer controlled transfer of individual items from the storage racks to the serial conveyor. Each storage rack comprises a roller conveyor (8), whose rollers or cylinders may be set in rotation by a common drive system (16) and each storage rack (7) has its own, independently operable withdrawing device (4). The drive system (16) for the roller conveyer is preferably a drive belt.

Description

Transport and / or storage device for piece goods

The invention relates to a transport and / or storage device for piece goods, with at least one roller conveyor for goods to be transported and / or stored.

Multi-storey rack constructions with storage aisles arranged side by side and one above the other for the general cargo are known from storage and order picking technology. The floors of the storage aisles are provided with roller conveyors made of freely rotatable rollers for the transport of the piece goods and are slightly inclined towards the removal side, so that the goods stored at one end of the storage aisles, the so-called loading or loading side, along the roller conveyors to the other end the removal area arranged towards the storage aisles. The piece goods can be stored on the loading side by hand, by removing the individual piece goods from a pallet and inserting them into the assigned storage aisle. The removal or order picking in the removal area of the shelf is often done by hand.

It is difficult to optimally design inclined roller conveyors for all types of piece goods. Heavy goods are transported under the influence of gravity more effectively and at a higher speed along the roller conveyors than light-weight goods. If the angle of inclination of the roller conveyor is too small, this can result in lightweight goods no longer being transported at all. If, on the other hand, the angle of inclination is increased, this leads to better transport of the lightweight goods, at the same time, however, the transport speed of heavy goods is increased disproportionately. These move along the roller conveyor with increasing speed until they hit a stop on the removal side under considerable mechanical stress. In the case of several packaged goods arranged one behind the other in the aisle, a considerable back pressure can also arise, which is also solely due to the effect of gravity.

The invention is therefore based on the object to provide a transport and / or storage device for piece goods with which a high degree of uniformity in the transport speed of the piece goods can be achieved, regardless of their weight and size.

To solve this problem it is proposed in a transport and / or storage device of the type mentioned that the rollers or rollers of the roller conveyor can be set in rotation by a common drive means and that the roller conveyor is inclined downwards in the transport direction.

According to the invention, two transport mechanisms are used simultaneously. The first transport mechanism is the drive of the rollers or rollers of the roller conveyor via a common drive means. The second drive mechanism is the effect of gravity due to the inclined roller conveyor. This double movement mechanism leads to excellent uniformity in the transport speed of the piece goods, regardless of their weight and size. Beverage crates with a relatively high specific weight are transported along the roller conveyor just as quickly and with an almost constant transport speed as particularly light containers, e.g. B. cardboard packaging with potato chips or containers with toilet paper. An angle of inclination of the roller conveyor of 2.5 to 6%, preferably 3 to 5.5%, has proven to be particularly suitable for achieving this leveling.

Even in conventional storage and transport technology, particularly critical general cargo such as B. filled plastic beverage crates can be processed trouble-free using the roller conveyor according to the invention. A preferred embodiment of the transport and / or storage device is characterized by a storage area with a plurality of storage lanes for goods to be stored which extend parallel to one another and consist of roller conveyors. Goods of the same type are preferably located in each alley.

An endless drive belt is preferably used as the common drive means. This can be passed between the rollers or rollers and a pressure abutment to achieve a low drive slip while at the same time making the roller conveyor inexpensive. Back pressure rollers are preferred as the pressure abutment.

In order to achieve sufficient constructive freedom in the design of the drive and deflection devices for the drive means of the roller conveyor, it is further proposed that the deflection of the drive belt is carried out via at least two deflection rollers, one of which is arranged under the removal area of the storage lane deflection roller.

According to a preferred embodiment, it is provided in the rollers or rollers that the drive belt drives a power transmission element, preferably designed as a bushing, which is rotatably mounted on the roller or roller. In this way, a targeted, if only slight, friction is achieved between the freely rotatable bush and the roller or roller. This leads to a very "gentle" drive of the roller with only a small drive torque, whereas when this drive torque rises, the friction surfaces between the bushing and the roller or roller spin, so that no significant drive torque is transmitted from the bushing to the roller. This is advantageous if the coefficient of friction and thus the transmissible torque between the roller or roller and the force transmission element is lower than the coefficient of friction between the force transmission element and the common drive means. The "smooth" drive of the rollers thus achieved leads to a reduction in the delivery pressure of the roller conveyor , so that, above all, only a small dynamic pressure is exerted on the piece goods arranged at the removal end of the storage aisle. It is also advantageous that the removal devices can also be operated with lower drive power because of the lower back pressure of the goods. A preferred embodiment of the device is characterized in that each storage aisle is provided with a removal device and that components of the removal devices are an actuatable retaining element projecting into the conveying path of the roller conveyor and a horizontal conveyor arranged behind the retaining element in the direction of transport, the conveying speed of which is greater than the conveying speed the roller conveyor is. The conveying speed of the horizontal conveyor is preferably at least 25% greater than the conveying speed of the roller conveyor. In this way, a safe and trouble-free separation of the foremost goods to be removed from the goods arranged behind them and conveyed via the roller conveyor is achieved.

With the aim of a compact design of the device, it is proposed that the horizontal conveyor be composed of a driven first pulley, at least one further rotating pulley and an endless belt guided over the pulleys, the driven pulley the front end and the rotating pulley that defined the rear end of the horizontal conveyor.

Devices according to the invention are explained below using exemplary embodiments and with reference to the drawings. The figures 1 to 8 show a first exemplary embodiment of a picking warehouse, the FIGS. 9 to 17 a second exemplary embodiment of a picking warehouse. The drawings show in detail:

1 shows a perspective view of part of a picking warehouse composed of an assembly area, a storage area and a picking area;

2 shows a plan view of a part of the order-picking warehouse in an enlarged representation, the storage area being shown in a greatly shortened form for reasons of clarity;

3 shows an individual representation of a storage aisle corresponding to FIG. 2 with the associated loading area and the associated removal device; Fig. 4 is a section along the line IV - IV of Fig. 3;

5 shows the detail V in FIG. 4 on an enlarged scale:

Fig. 6 is a partial section along the line VI - VI of Fig. 3;

7 shows, in six procedural stages, details of the removal of the goods on the picking side of the picking warehouse;

8 shows details of the loading of the storage aisle in the loading area of the picking store in six process stages;

9 shows a perspective view of part of a picking warehouse composed of an assembly area, a storage area and a picking area;

10 shows a plan view of a part of the order-picking warehouse in an enlarged representation, the storage area being shown in a greatly shortened form for reasons of clarity;

11 shows a side view of a storage aisle of the picking warehouse;

FIG. 12 shows the side view of the storage lane according to FIG. 11 in an enlarged, partial illustration;

13 shows a plan view of a side region of the storage aisle according to FIG. 12;

14 shows a partial section along the line XIV-XIV of FIG. 13;

15 shows the removal of the goods on the picking side of the picking warehouse in six procedural stages;

16a shows an enlarged detail of the first partial figure of FIG. 15;

16b shows an enlarged detail of the second partial figure of FIGS. 15 and 17 shows a side view of details of a cross conveyor arranged in the loading area of the picking warehouse.

The picking warehouse for piece goods including filled beverage crates and for food in cardboard containers, which have a very high turnover rate in the wholesale trade, consists primarily of a storage area 1, an assembly area 2 upstream of storage area 1 and a picking area 3 downstream of storage area 1. In assembly area 2, new items to be stored are stored in the correct storage location within storage area 1. In order-picking area 3, the individual items are removed from storage area 1 in a computer-controlled manner according to the commission and conveyed to a location where the compilation and where appropriate, the commissions are packaged into larger packaging containers. To remove the individual goods from the storage area 1, removal devices 4 are provided, which place the goods individually removed from the storage area 1 on a downstream transport path 5, along which the goods are then transported.

The goods are also conveyed in the loading area 2 by means of a continuously driven transport track 6, which, like the transport track 5 of the picking area 3, can be composed of a large number of driven transport rolls 6a, on which the transported piece goods roll along.

The storage area 1 is composed of a plurality of storage lanes 7 aligned parallel to one another. The storage aisles 7 are inclined slightly towards the removal devices 4 and consist of roller conveyors 8 made of rollers or rollers which are mounted on their two sides in profiles. The individual storage aisles 7 are separated from one another by limits 9, so that goods cannot accidentally get into adjacent storage aisles during transport along the storage aisles. In the context of the configurations explained in more detail below, the function of the limits 9, ie the lateral guidance of the goods, can also be achieved by wheel flanges on the rollers or rollers. In each storage aisle 7 there are preferably goods or piece goods of the same type. In the storage area 1 shown in FIG. 1 and consisting of a total of four storage aisles, storage of four different types of goods is therefore possible. The goods of the same type of goods are arranged one behind the other in the respective storage alley 7, whereby they move as a result of a drive of the roller conveyor described in more detail below to the end of the storage alley 7 facing the picking area 3, and the foremost goods are held there by a retaining element. The transport of the goods along the roller conveyors 8 is further supported by the effect of gravity due to the downward inclination of the roller conveyors at the angle α shown in FIG. 1.

The total of four aisles 7 shown in FIG. 1 together form a module 10. Several such modules can be arranged next to one another, so that, depending on the spatial conditions, up to 100 aisles can be arranged side by side and with common equipment for the loading area 2 and the picking area 3 order. In addition, the order picking warehouse shown can also be arranged several times one above the other in order to achieve a multiplication of the space utilization.

The transport track 6 is common to all storage lanes 7, which is why goods of different types are also brought in via the transport track 6. In order to classify these goods in the correct storage aisle 7, a separate cross conveyor 11 with a conveying direction 12 in the direction of the storage aisle is arranged in front of each storage aisle. The control of the respective cross conveyor 11 is carried out fully automatically depending on the group of goods fed via the transport path 6. Their identification can e.g. B. using a barcode located on the piece goods.

1 does not show, as a purely schematic representation, that a second order-picking area can be located on the other side of the transport track 6 facing away from the storage alleys 7, so that order-picking areas can be loaded on both sides via the transport track 6. In this case, of course, the cross conveyor 11 should also be able to transport in both directions. In the picking area 3, the goods are removed individually from the storage aisles 7 by means of the removal device 4 and transferred to the common transport path 5, which extends transversely to the storage aisles. Each individual storage aisle 7 is assigned its own removal device 4, which is why goods can be removed from several storage aisles 7 at the same time and transferred to the sufficiently wide transport path 5.

Details and functioning of the roller conveyors 8 of the storage area are described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6 explained.

The rollers 15 of each roller conveyor can be set in rotation by means of a drive means which is preferably common to all rollers of the roller conveyor. This common drive means is an endless drive belt 16 which is guided over deflection rollers 17, 18. The deflecting roller 17 is located under the picking area 3, and the deflecting roller 18 under the loading area 2 of the picking warehouse. In addition, suitable tensioning rollers 19 are provided, which generate the tension pressure on the drive belt that is necessary for the proper transport of the drive belt 16. However, this tension can also be generated directly via the deflection rollers 17 or 18.

The figures 5 and 6 show how the drive belt 16 drives the individual rollers 15 of the roller conveyor. The drive belt 16 consists of a continuous base body 20 which is of constant thickness over its entire length, and of drive sections 21 in the form of toothed bands which are fastened in sections on the base body 20. The drive sections 21, however, cover only part of the length of the drive belt 16, so that between the drive sections 21 there are further sections which have no toothing. Both groups, i.e. H. the sections of the drive belt 16 provided with the drive sections 21, and the sections of the drive belt 16 consisting only of the base body 20, alternate, the distances between successive drive sections 21 preferably being the same.

The rollers 15 are provided at their ends with counter teeth 22 which mesh with the teeth of the drive sections 21. This way only those rollers 15 driven, on the underside of which just one of the drive sections 21 passes. Those rollers 15, on the other hand, under which only the base body 20 of the drive belt 16 is located are not driven.

In order for the drive belt 16 to act reliably on the rollers 15, the resulting reaction force must be absorbed. For this purpose, a pressure abutment 23 is used, which extends in the form of a continuous surface over the entire length of the roller conveyor 8. The upper run of the drive belt 16 is thus pulled between the pressure abutment 23 and the individual rollers 15. The distance is the shape that the drive sections 21 of the drive belt 16 are pulled through this gap without play, so that there is a real meshing between the teeth and counter teeth 22. The pressure abutment 23 is formed by the flat top of a profile 24, which is inserted into a roller conveyor profile 25. An outer leg 26 of the roller conveyor profile 25 serves to support the individual rollers or rollers 15. The rollers or rollers 15 are provided with short axes 27 for this purpose, which are attached to the outer legs 26 of the roller conveyor profile 25 via clip-on clips 28. Such clips 28 make it possible to quickly and easily replace individual rollers with other rollers. During the return transport, the lower run of the drive belt 16 runs within the roller conveyor profile 25, preferably, as can be seen in FIG. 6, on the smoothly designed upper side 29 of the profile 24.

Details and functioning of the removal devices 4 are explained below with reference to FIG. 7.

Each removal device 4 is composed of a horizontal conveyor 30 and a retaining element 31. The horizontal conveyor 30, the conveying level of which is the same as the conveying level of the roller conveyor 8, consists of two pulleys 32, 33, over which a wide belt 34 is guided. Each horizontal conveyor 30 consists of a total of three of these belts 34. The pulley 32, which is further away from the roller conveyor 8, is driven and for this purpose sits directly on a drive shaft 35. The drive shaft 35 is continuously driven and simultaneously drives the horizontal conveyors 30 of a plurality of storage aisles , All horizontal conveyors 30 therefore run in continuous operation. Unlike the pulley 32, the other pulley 33 of the horizontal conveyor 30 is not driven. The pulley 33 is located as close as possible to the roller conveyor 8. In the exemplary embodiment, it is still a smaller, free-running roller 36 between the pulley 33 and the nearest roller 15 of the roller conveyor.

Part of the retaining element 31 of the removal device 4 is also a lever 37, at the end of which the locking member of the retaining element is located. The lever 37 is mounted on a horizontal axis 38. The retaining element 31 can be pivoted back and forth between two positions about the axis 38. In the first position, which is shown at the top in FIG. 7, the blocking element of the retaining element 31 projects into the conveying path for the goods 39. In its other position, the retaining element 31 lowers into the conveying plane or below. This position of the retaining element 31 can be seen in the process stages shown in FIG. 7 in the second and third place.

In order to transfer the retaining element 31 from its locked position into its unlocked position, a cam 40 is provided which is mounted on an axis coaxial with the drive shaft 35. The cam 40 has a cam surface 41 which runs on a roller 42, the roller 42 being located on the lever 37. In the exemplary embodiment, the lever 37 is a two-armed lever, the locking element being located at the end of one arm, whereas the roller 42 is mounted on the length of the other arm.

If the cam 40 is pivoted by approximately 90 °, as can be seen in the change from the first process stage of FIG. 7 to the second process stage, this leads to a pivoting of the lever 37 as a result of the interaction of the cam surface 41 with the roller 42, as a result of which the retaining element 31 lowers below the conveyor level of the roller conveyor. From this point on, the first product 39 is no longer held back by the retaining element 31 and therefore rolls, driven by the roller conveyor and possibly also by gravity, onto the horizontal conveyor 30. As soon as the underside of the first product 39 comes into contact with the belt 34 of the horizontal conveyor 30, the goods 39 henceforth follow the speed of the horizontal conveyor 30. This is - depending on the weight of the goods - set at least 25% higher than the conveying speed of the roller conveyor 8. As a result of this higher speed on the horizontal conveyor 30, the first goods 39 separate from the following goods 39a. This is shown in FIG. 7 with the different speeds V ₂ and \ f, V _{2 being} greater than V ₁ .

In the third process stage according to FIG. 7, the goods 39, conveyed almost exclusively by the horizontal conveyor 30 at its speed, roll over the retaining element 31. At this point in time the cam 40 has already been lowered again as a result of a time control. Nevertheless, the retaining element 31 remains in its lowered position since its restoring force is less than the weight of the goods 39. The restoring force mentioned is generated by a counterweight 43 which hangs on the second arm of the lever 37. Only when, as is shown in the fourth process stage of FIG. 7, has the underside of the goods 39 passed over the retaining element 31 can the lever 37 of the retaining element pivot up again under the action of the counterweight 43. From now on, the web is blocked again, so that the subsequent goods 39a on the retaining element 31 are stopped. The next removal process can then be initiated, the process being repeated. The goods 39 removed by the horizontal conveyor 30 reach the transport rollers 6a of the continuously driven transport path 5.

The drive of the cam 40 is derived from the continuous rotary movement of the drive shaft 35. For this purpose, an electrical magnetic coupling 44 sits on the drive shaft 35, the driven part of which is the cam 40. The cam 40 is therefore only actuated and the retaining element 31 is unlocked only when the magnetic coupling 44 is energized for a limited time. The driving force to be applied for this purpose is relatively low, which is why a small magnetic coupling on the drive shaft 35 is sufficient for driving the cam 40. A tension spring 45 pulls the cam 40 back into its rest position.

Details and functionality of the cross conveyor 11 in the loading area 2 of the picking warehouse are explained below with reference to FIG. 8. Before each storage aisle there is a separate cross conveyor 11 assigned to this storage aisle. The cross conveyor 11 works in the same way as for the above the picking area has been explained using endless belts 46 which are guided over pulleys 47, 48. To avoid slippage, belts 46 and pulleys 47, 48 are provided with interlocking teeth. A chain instead of the belt 46 and pinion instead of the pulleys 47, 48 can also be used.

The upper run 49 of the belt 46 is located somewhat lower than the upper side of the transport rollers 6a. Belts 46 and the pulleys 47, 48 are designed to be relatively narrow, so that they find space between two successive transport rollers 6a of the transport path 6. Driver elements 50 are arranged on the outside of each endless belt 46 and can rotate together with the belt 46. The driver elements 50, when they are on the upper run of the drive belt 46, protrude beyond the conveying surface 51 of the transport path 6.

The uppermost illustration in FIG. 8 shows that the distance between the driver elements 50 is somewhat larger than the length of the upper run 49. In this way, neither of the two projects in the process stage, as shown in FIG. 8 at the top Driver elements 50 over the conveying surface 51 and thus into the conveying path of the transport track. Only after switching on the cross conveyor 11 does the outer of the two driver elements 50 appear and take hold of the goods 52, so that these are pushed along the respective transport rollers 6a into the storage aisle 7. In the exemplary embodiment, a total of two driver elements 50 are provided, but their number can also be fewer or larger, which ultimately depends on the width of the transport path 6.

The transport belts 46 of the cross conveyor 11 are also driven using magnetic couplings 53: The magnetic couplings 53 are seated on a main drive shaft 54 common to all cross conveyors 11 and can be controlled separately for each bearing aisle. When energized, the magnetic clutches 53 establish a torque connection between the pulley 48 and the main drive shaft 54, as a result of which the respective drive belt 46 is operated as long as the magnetic clutch 53 is energized. 2 in particular shows that not only the movement of all cross conveyors 11 is derived from the main drive shaft 54, but also the drive of the roller conveyor 8. For this purpose, a further shaft 55 extends parallel to the main drive shaft 54, the drive of the further shaft 55 is derived from the main drive shaft 54 by means of a reversing gear 56. The reversing gear 56 consists of two counter-rotating gear wheels which are seated on the main drive shaft 54 or shaft 55 in a torque-proof manner. The deflection roller 18, which is the drive roller for the drive belt 16, sits on the shaft 55 via a further magnetic coupling 57. Thus, while the shaft 55, driven by the main drive shaft 54, runs continuously, torque is transmitted to the deflection roller 18 only when the magnetic coupling 57 is actuated. In this way, controlled by the magnetic coupling 57, it is possible to drive the respective roller conveyor 8 only when required , This is the case if new goods are to be stored in the storage aisle in the loading area 2, or if goods are to be removed from this storage aisle in the picking area. Otherwise, the roller conveyor of this storage lane can be at rest by not actuating the magnetic coupling 57, so that the goods there are not unnecessarily burdened by friction.

Finally, FIG. 2 also shows that each cross conveyor 11 is composed of a plurality of transport belts 46, four transport belts in each case in the exemplary embodiment. In this way, a better and smoother cross transport of the goods 52 into the respective warehouse aisle is achieved. During this transverse transport, the transport rollers 6a of the transport track 6 stand still.

FIG. 9 shows an overview of a second embodiment of the order-picking warehouse. Deviating from the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 8, a cross conveyor 11, which is common to a plurality of storage aisles 7, is provided in the loading area 2 and can be adjusted along the transport path 6 to a position in front of each of the storage aisles 7.

The top view in FIG. 10 reveals that rails 60 extend on both longitudinal sides of the transport track 6, on which the cross conveyor 11 can be moved, for which purpose the cross conveyor has a suitable drive. Again, as shown in FIG. 17, the cross conveyor consists of an endlessly rotating belt 46 or a corresponding endless chain. Belts 46 or chain are guided over pulleys 47, 48, so that an upper run 61 and a lower run 62 result. Attached to the belt or chain are the two driver elements 50 which, as soon as they are at the level of the lower run 62 of the drive belt 46, protrude directly over the conveying surface 51 of the transport path 6. If the cross conveyor 11 is switched on, this leads to a drive of the belt 46 or the chain, the next driver element 50, as soon as it reaches the height of the lower run 62, gripping the goods 52 located there, as a result of which it is along the respective transport rollers 6a to is pushed into the Lagergasse 7. In the exemplary embodiment, a total of two driver elements 50 are provided, but their number can also be fewer or larger, which ultimately depends on the width of the transport path 6. If only two driver elements 50 are used, these are in the positions shown in FIG. 17 during the standstill pauses, ie the driver 50 taking the next item 52 is already on the lower strand 62 and thus at the level of the item as it were a waiting position.

Fig. 10 also shows that the drivers 50 are elongated, horizontal rollers with an axis of rotation transverse to the direction of displacement.

In the order picking warehouse according to FIGS. 9 to 17, the roller conveyors 8 are driven by means of a main drive shaft 63, which is located in the picking area 3. This main drive shaft 63 is uniform for an entire module 10 of the picking warehouse. 9, the module 10 consists of a total of four storage aisles. However, a module can also be combined from six or eight storage aisles, which then have their own drive source for the main drive shaft 63. This drive source is switched on as soon as goods are to be conveyed in one of the storage aisles of the module in question, be it a conveyance along one of the roller conveyors 8 or a removal conveyance by means of one of the removal devices 4 of the module.

The main drive shaft 63 is provided for each bearing aisle 7 with a deflection roller 17, which is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the main drive shaft 63. About the Deflection roller 17, the drive belt 16 for the rollers or rollers of the roller conveyor 8 is guided. Furthermore, there is a separate clutch 64 for each bearing aisle on the main drive shaft 63, which, like the magnetic clutches already described, surrounds the main drive shaft 63 in a ring. The couplings 64 can be controlled electrically and, when energized, drive a cam 65, 40, the details of which will be explained in more detail below.

The main drive shaft 63 is connected to a parallel shaft 67 which is separate for each bearing aisle and which drives the horizontal conveyor 30 of the removal device via a strongly translating spur gear 66 made of spur gears 66a, 66b. Alternatively, it is also possible to use the shaft 67 as the main drive shaft and to derive the movement of the shaft 63 with the clutches 64 thereon via the spur gear 66.

In the second exemplary embodiment described here, both the drive of the roller conveyor and the drive of the removal device are therefore derived directly or indirectly from the main drive shaft 63.

Again, the roller conveyor drive is not the only transport mechanism for the goods being conveyed along the roller conveyor. 11, the roller conveyor 8 is also inclined at an angle α with respect to the horizontal, so that the goods lying on the roller conveyor are additionally transported under the influence of gravity along the roller conveyor. The angle of inclination α is relatively small and is preferably only 4%.

According to FIG. 11, the individual rollers or rollers 15 of the roller conveyor 8 are driven via the endless drive belt 16, which is guided once over the deflection roller 17 and on the other hand over the deflection roller 18, since only the deflection roller 17 becomes non-rotatable on the main drive shaft 63 sits, driven, whereas the deflection roller 18 runs freely and is used exclusively for deflection. The roller 19 in front of the roller 18 allows the drive belt pretension to be adjusted.

Using the figures 12 to 14 details of the drive of the rollers 15 are explained below. The drive belt 16 consists of a flat, preferably rubberized band, which between the rollers 15 and Counter pressure rollers 68 is passed. The counter pressure rollers 68 form the pressure abutment in this case. A counterpressure roller 68 comes on two to four rollers 15.

In Fig. 14 it is shown that the rollers 15 at those ends at which the drive is carried out by means of the drive belt 16 are provided with an integrally molded cylindrical pin 69, which preferably has a smaller diameter than the roller body itself A force transmission element in the form of a cylindrical bushing 70 is arranged coaxially to the roller body, on the outer lateral surface 71 of which the upper side of the drive belt 16 abuts. The bushing 70 is provided at its inner end with a circumferential collar 70a as a stop for the drive belt 16. Pin 69 and bushing 70 are preferably cylindrical. It is essential that between the outside of the pin 69 and the inner surface of the bushing 70 there is only slight friction, which, for. B. can be achieved by a suitable material pairing. Particularly suitable are smooth-running plastics for bushing 70 and pin 69. It is essential that the coefficient of friction between pin 69 and bushing 70 is lower than the coefficient of friction between bushing 70 and the top of drive belt 16. For this purpose, drive belt 16 can be rubberized, or it can be provided with a toothing which meshes with a corresponding toothing on the outside of the bushing 70.

In that the drive belt 16 does not act directly on the rollers 15, but only indirectly via force transmission elements, which are designed as bushings 70 in the exemplary embodiment, the drive force is transmitted gently to the roller 15. As soon as the roller 15 is braked, for example as a result of the weight of the overlying goods, this leads to a relative movement between pin 69 and bushing 70, d. h the pin 69, which is firmly connected to the roller, rests, whereas the bush 70, driven by the drive belt 16, continues to rotate. As a result, the rollers are driven by means of an automatically occurring slip whenever the resistance of the rollers becomes too high. The latter is always the case when the goods transported on the roller conveyor back up on the retaining element 31 of the respective removal device 4. Therefore, this does not lead to an increased Load on the drive of the roller conveyor or an increased dynamic pressure of the piece goods, rather the driving forces and dynamic forces remain very low as a result of the slip automatically occurring on the rollers 15.

As a result of the use of the bushings 70, there is even a double effect: the rollers 15 are driven with a gentle force, in order, for. B. particularly light goods containers to allow proper transport, but there is also the effect of braking the rollers 15. This effect is achieved in connection with particularly heavy goods. Due to the inclination of the roller conveyor 8, these tend to reach excessive speeds on the roller conveyor due to their high weight. In this case, the slower-driven rollers 15 act like brake bodies, the relative speed in turn being compensated for by the slippage which occurs between the rollers 15 and the bushes 70 and works with metered friction. The combination of the slightly inclined roller conveyor 8 with the bushings 70 operating under slip means that goods which are heavier than average are braked and goods which are above average light are actively transported. All in all, there is an equalization, both light and heavy goods as well as large and small containers are transported along the aisles at essentially the same speed.

The in Figs. The structure shown in FIGS. 15, 16a and 16b and the mode of operation of the removal device 4 essentially correspond to the function and mode of operation of the embodiment according to FIG. 7. The design of the retaining element 31 is different Rolling instead of a simple sheet consists in the lower frictional resistance when pulling down the lever 37. In addition, as can be seen from the third illustration in FIG. 15, the goods 39 just released run with a lower resistance over the roller 72 than over a rigid sheet as in the embodiment according to FIG. 7.

The cam 40 is provided for transferring the retaining element 31 from its locking position shown in FIG. 16a to its end locking position shown in FIG. 16b. This has the cam surface 41, which runs on the roller 42 of the two-armed lever 37. If the cam is in accordance with FIGS. 16a and 16b pivoted by approximately 75 °, this leads to a pivoting of the lever 37 as a result of the interaction of the cam surface 41 with the roller 42 of the two-armed lever 37, as a result of which the retaining element 31 or its rollers 72, which serve as locking members, extend below the conveying plane lowers the roller conveyor. The first product 39 rolls, driven by the roller conveyor and possibly also by gravity, onto the horizontal conveyor 30. As soon as the underside of the first product 39 comes into contact with the belt 34 of the horizontal conveyor 30, the product 39 now follows the speed of the horizontal conveyor 30, which, depending on the weight of the goods, is set at least 25% higher than the conveying speed of the roller conveyor 8.

Even after the cam 40 releases the lever 37 again, the retaining element 31 remains in its lowered position since its restoring force is less than the weight of the goods 39. The restoring force is generated by a tension spring 73 which is attached to the second arm of the lever 37 is.

When a product is removed by means of the removal device, the cam 40 makes a complete revolution, i. H. a rotation of 360 °. Its drive is derived from the continuous rotary movement of the main drive shaft 63. The electrically controlled clutch 64 already mentioned serves this purpose. The clutch 64 can be a friction clutch, a dog clutch or a magnetically operating clutch.

The driven pulley 32 of the horizontal conveyor is seated on the shaft 67 which extends parallel to the main drive shaft 63. The wide belt 34 is guided over this and over the pulley 33, the outside of which is at the same time the conveying surface of the removal device. 10 shows that a total of four such belts 34 are used in each removal device in order to form a uniform support for the goods to be removed. As already described, the frictional connection between the main drive shaft 63 and the shaft 67 takes place via the high-ratio spur gear 66 with the gear wheels 66a on the main drive shaft 63 and 66b on the shaft 67. It goes without saying that the order-picking stores described in detail above work under program control. Despite the complexity, the control effort is relatively low, since the majority of the processes are controlled by switching the almost maintenance-free couplings on and off.

B e z u q s z e i c h e n l i s t e

1 storage area 26 legs

2 assembly area 27 axis

3 Picking area, removal area 28 clip

4 E ntna h mevorrichtu ng 29 29 Top

5 Transport track 30 horizontal conveyors

6 transport track 31 retaining element

6a transport roller 32 pulley

7 Lagergasse 33 pulley

8 roller conveyor 34 belts

9 Limiting, flange 35 drive shaft

10 module 36 roll

11 cross conveyor 37 lever

12 conveying direction 38 axis

13 Direction of movement cross conveyor 39 Goods to be removed

15 roller 39a subsequent goods

16 drive belts 40 cams

17 deflection roller 41 cam surface

18 pulley 42 pulley

19 Idler pulley 43 Counterweight

20 base body 44 magnetic coupling

21 drive section 45 tension spring

22 Counter toothing 46 Transport belt

23 Pressure abutment 47 pulley

24 Profile 48 pulley

25 roller conveyor profile 49 Obertrum Driving element conveying surface goods magnetic coupling main drive shaft shaft reversing gear magnetic coupling rail upper run lower run main drive shaft coupling cam spur gear a gear wheel b gear shaft counter pressure roller pin force transmission element, bushing a collar lateral surface roller tension spring

tilt angle

Claims

Patent claims

1. Transport and / or storage device for piece goods, with at least one roller conveyor (8) for goods to be transported and / or stored, characterized in that the rollers or rollers of the roller conveyor (8) can be set in rotation via a common drive means (16) are, and that the roller conveyor (8) is inclined downwards in the transport direction.

2. Transport and / or storage device according to claim 1, characterized by a storage area (1) with a plurality therein extending parallel to each other and from roller conveyors (8) existing aisles (7) for goods to be stored.

3. Transport and / or storage device according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the angle of inclination (α) of the roller conveyor is 2.5% to 6%, preferably 3% to 5.5%.

4. Transport and / or storage device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the common drive means is an endless drive belt (16).

5. Transport and / or storage device according to claim 4, characterized in that the drive belt (16) between the rollers or rollers (15) and a pressure abutment (23; 68) is passed.

6. Transport and / or storage device according to claim 5, characterized by non-driven counter pressure rollers (68) as a pressure abutment.

7. Transport and / or storage device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the rollers or rollers of the roller conveyor (8) are provided with rotatably arranged on the rollers or rollers power transmission elements (70) via the common drive means (16) are rotatable, and that the transmissible torque between the power transmission element (70) and the the respective roller or roller is less than the transmissible torque between the common drive means (16) and the force transmission element (70).

8. Transport and / or storage device according to claim 7, characterized in that the force transmission element (70) is a rotatably mounted on a bearing section of the roller or roller bushing, and in that the bearing portion is formed on one end of the roller / roller pin ( 69) with a smaller diameter than the roller / roller itself.

9. Transport and / or storage device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the deflection of the drive belt serving as drive means (16) via at least two deflection rollers (17, 18), one of which is located under the removal area (3) of the storage aisle (7) arranged deflection roller (17) is driven.

10. Transport and / or storage device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the movement of the drive means of the roller conveyor (8) is derived from the rotary movement of a common main drive shaft (63) which also drives a plurality of removal devices (4).

11. Transport and / or storage device according to one of claims 2 to 10, characterized in that each storage aisle (7) is provided with a removal device (4), and that components of the removal devices (4) one in the conveyor path of the roller conveyor (8th ) projecting, actuatable retaining element (31) and a horizontal conveyor (30) arranged behind the retaining element (31) in the transport direction, the conveying speed of which is greater than the conveying speed of the roller conveyor (8).

12. Transport and / or storage device according to claim 11, characterized in that the conveying speed of the horizontal conveyor (30) is at least 25% greater than the conveying speed of the roller conveyor (8).

3. Transport and / or storage device according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the horizontal conveyor (30) consists of a driven first pulley (32), at least one further rotating pulley (33) and one over the pulleys (32, 33) guided, endless belt (34), the driven pulley (32) defining the front end and the idler pulley (33) defining the rear end of the horizontal conveyor (30).