Method of order fulfilling by preparing storage units at a picking station

Abstract

A method of fulfilling orders by making orders available in order units by picking from product units in a storage facility is provided herein. The storage facility generally includes a manual storage and picking area and an automated storage and retrieval racking area, which automated storage and retrieval racking area can be arranged downstream or upstream from the manual picking area and connected to the manual picking area by a routing conveyor, which leads to a shipping area. In addition, the manual storage and picking area can include manual picking stations supplied and arranged along the extension of the routing conveyor so as to supply the routing conveyor with order units picked at the manual picking stations.

Claims

1. A method of fulfilling orders, comprising: making orders available in order units by picking from product units in a storage facility, wherein the storage facility includes a manual storage and picking area, and an automated storage and retrieval racking area arranged downstream or upstream from the manual storage and picking area, and connected thereto by a routing conveyor, which leads to a shipping area, wherein the manual storage and picking area comprises manual picking stations supplied and arranged along the routing conveyor and supplying the routing conveyor with order units picked at the manual picking stations; wherein the automated storage and retrieval racking area comprises: a storage racking comprising a plurality of multilevel storage racks storing order and/or product units, and disposed in pairs with an aisle arranged therebetween; at least one storage-entry conveyor that feeds the order and/or product units into the storage racking; at least one storage-exit conveyor that retrieves the order and/or product units from the storage racking; at least one automatic storage and retrieval device that stores and retrieves the order and/or product units from the storage racks; at least one lifting device that transfers the order and/or product units to the at least one storage-exit conveyor; and at least one fully or semiautomatic picking station to which the order and/or product units are fed by the at least one storage-exit conveyor and from which the order and/or product units are dispatched by the at least one storage-entry conveyor for fulfilling orders; and wherein the routing conveyor is connected to the at least one inbound storage-entry conveyor and/or the at least one storage-exit conveyor of the storage racking; exchanging the order and/or product units between two adjoining storage racks from a source storage rack to an adjacent destination storage rack via cross conveyance locations; dispatching order units containing completed orders coming from the manual storage and picking area via the routing conveyor to the shipping area or into the storage racking via the at least one storage-entry conveyor for later dispatch; moving order units containing completed orders coming from the storage racking via the routing conveyor to the shipping area; directing order units containing completed orders coming from the fully or semiautomatic picking station via the routing conveyor to the shipping area or into the storage racking via the at least one storage-entry conveyor for later dispatch; introducing order units containing partial orders coming from the manual storage and picking area into the storage racking via the at least one storage-entry conveyor for further processing or directly into the fully or semiautomatic picking station for immediate processing; and directing order units containing partial orders coming from the fully or semiautomatic picking station or the storage racking into the storage racking or to the manual storage and picking area for further processing.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising displacing the order or product units in the cross conveyance locations with the automatic storage and retrieval device.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising placing the order or product units into the cross conveyance location in an adjacent destination rack with the automatic storage and retrieval device.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the automatic storage and retrieval device is fed by an inbound-buffer and feeds into an outbound-buffer, the inbound and outbound buffers are arranged within storage racks, and the cross conveyance locations are arranged directly behind or next to the inbound-buffer and/or outbound-buffer of a corresponding storage rack.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the outbound conveyor buffer feeds into the conveyor loop and the inbound conveyor-buffer is fed by the conveyor loop.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein a storage rack entry and exit is formed with a conveyor loop comprising the at least one storage-entry conveyor, at least one lift and the at least one storage-exit conveyor, wherein the at least one lift is fed by the storage-entry conveyor and feeds the storage-exit conveyor.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein a storage rack entry and exit is formed with non-loop type conveyors consisting of the at least one storage-entry conveyor, a series of lifts and the at least one storage-exit conveyor, wherein a first lift of the series of lifts is fed by the storage-entry conveyor and a second lift of the series of lifts feeds the storage-exit conveyor.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the automatic storage and retrieval device are single-level or multiple level rack-serving-machines.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: supplying the partial orders and/or the product units from the storage racking of the automated storage and retrieval racking area with either the lower or upper level routing conveyor to the fully or semiautomatic picking station; and returning the partial orders and/or product units to the storage racking with either the upper or lower level routing conveyor.

10. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: supplying empty units to the fully or semiautomatic picking station with either upper or lower level routing conveyor.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the automatic storage and retrieval device includes one or more shuttles.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the routing conveyor has one or two levels.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure, are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles of the embodiments discussed herein. No attempt is made to show structural details of this disclosure in more detail than may be necessary for a fundamental understanding of the exemplary embodiments discussed herein and the various ways in which they may be practiced.

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of a storage facility with a manual storage and picking area and an automated storage and picking area according to one embodiment;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a typical schematic plan view of exchange of transport units between racks within the racking storage in the automated storage facility of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a typical schematic plan view of a first and second picking level in a storage facility with a single level routing conveyor;

(5) FIG. 4 shows a typical schematic plan view of a picking level in a further storage facility with a two level routing conveyor;

(6) FIG. 5 shows a typical schematic plan view of a drive through type layout consisting of a picking level and other storage levels of a further storage facility;

(7) FIG. 6 shows a typical schematic plan view of a drive through type layout consisting of first and second picking levels and other storage levels in a further storage facility;

(8) FIG. 7 shows a typical schematic plan view of a single sided type layout consisting of a pair of single cycling lifts, a picking and other levels in the storage racking of a further storage facility;

(9) FIG. 8 shows a typical schematic plan view of a single sided type layout consisting of a pair of dual cycling lifts, picking level(s) with options and other levels in a further storage facility;

(10) FIG. 9 shows a typical schematic plan view of an example embodiment layout with a pair of inbound and outbound conveyor/aisles that alternates by racks;

(11) FIGS. 10-12 show alternative Versions of the respective embodiments of FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 with lifts outside of the storage racking;

(12) FIG. 13 shows a typical schematic plan view of a drive through type layout consisting of a first picking level and other storage levels in a further storage facility.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(13) In FIG. 1, a schematic plan view of a storage facility with a manual storage and picking area I and with an automated storage and retrieval racking area II is shown.

(14) The automated storage and retrieval racking area II is arranged downstream from the manual picking area I and is connected to the manual picking area I by a routing conveyor 5, which eventually leads to a shipping area IV.

(15) Other way round is also possible, the automated storage and retrieval racking area II would then be arranged upstream from the manual picking area I and connected to the manual picking area I by a routing conveyor 5, and the end of the routing conveyor would lead to a shipping area IV.

(16) The manual storage and picking area I is typically supplied by a manual batch pick process, but not limited to, combining several products from several different orders into a common container (dirty batch pick), from which the products are placed into product units and placed on the routing conveyor 5. Also, the use of discrete picking for supply of the manual picking area I is possible.

(17) The manual batch pick process takes place in a batch pick area III with manually serviced racks or shelves 2 separated by aisles 3 into which a picker 1 takes his picking cart 4 and gathers the articles/products according to orders assigned to him.

(18) The manual storage and picking area I further comprises manual picking stations 28 supplied and arranged along the extension and on one or both sides of the meandering routing conveyor 5 and supplying the routing conveyor 5 with order units U picked at the manual picking stations 28.

(19) The picking stations 28 are connected to the routing conveyor by conventional conveying technology, like roller or belt conveyors, and may also include temporary storage shelves 10 from which certain products may be picked and placed into order units.

(20) The picking stations 28 are either operated separately or by two pickers at the same time.

(21) Alternatively, pace belt pick can be used instead of zone picking station 28 with zone routing conveyors. Pace belt pick will generally have a straight routing conveyor with no zone diverting system and the order units will run on this at consistent pace. The picker picks required articles and puts them into the order units on the fly within each picking zone. Otherwise, the conveyor may stop until product is inducted.

(22) Many of the below embodiments have similar or like devices, installations etc., which are therefore indicated by same reference numerals.

(23) The automated storage and retrieval racking area II comprises a storage racking 6 comprising a plurality of multilevel storage racks R in which order and/or product units U are stored, wherein the storage racks R are disposed back-to-back in pairs and have an aisle 13 between pairs (FIG. 2).

(24) The aisles 13 are connected to semi or full-automated picking stations 7 through conveyor installations 8, which encompass at least one storage-entry conveyor 14 provided for feeding order and/or product units U into the storage racking 6, R, and at least one storage-exit conveyor 15 provided for retrieval of order and/or product units U from the storage racking 6, R.

(25) So the semi/full automatic picking station 7 for picking from product units D (D for donor) into order units O (O for order) for fulfilling orders are fed by the at least one storage-exit conveyor 15 and order and/or product units are returned to the storage rack by the at least one storage-entry conveyor 14.

(26) The routing conveyor 5 is also connected to the at least one inbound storage-entry conveyor 14 and the at least one storage-exit conveyor 15.

(27) Each storage racking aisle 13 has one automatic storage and retrieval device in the form of a shuttle 11 provided in each level or each few levels for storage and retrieval of order and/or product units in the storage racks R.

(28) Order and/or product units U are exchanged directly between two adjoining storage racks R from a source storage rack to an adjacent destination storage rack via cross conveyance locations Q in the storage racks themselves (see FIG. 2), which can be one way exchange locations Q or bidirectional.

(29) The shuttle 11 may displace the order or product units U in the cross conveyance locations Q actively with its load handling means 12, which are telescopic arms on both sides of a loading platform and are equipped with unit handling levers. There is no active drive means within the racks R themselves.

(30) The shuttle 11 of a source rack places the order or product units U into the cross conveyance location Q in an adjacent destination rack, so that the shuttle operating in the according, neighboring aisle can handle the unit by normal deep operation. In other words, the sourcing shuttle operates deeper than for normal single or double deep storage, e.g., triple deep for exchange.

(31) Therefore it is possible to transfer units U through the storage racking 6 in the sense of arrow 9 without leaving the storage.

(32) The semi/full-automated picking stations 7 may have many different configurations.

(33) As illustrated in FIG. 3, the semi-automated picking station 7A (left hand side) is directly connected to an aisle 13 of the storage racking 6 via one storage-entry conveyor 14 and one storage-exit conveyor 15, which in turn are connected/pass through the routing conveyor 5 by right-angle-transfer-devices 16, 17, also called RAT in the art.

(34) The semi-automated picking station 7A incorporates one/two work places for pickers and in between a dispatch conveyor for direct dispatch of complete orders to the shipping area IV. Such a station is ideal for small orders as in e-commerce.

(35) Alternatively, or in addition, full-automated picking stations 7B may be used, which is arranged in such a way as to receive order units O and product units D in level A via one storage-entry conveyor 14 and one storage-exit conveyor 15, which in turn are connected/pass through the routing conveyor 5 by right-angle-transfer-devices 16, 17, as before, but end in servicing conveyors 19A for order units O and 20A for product or donor units D.

(36) However, the dispatch of the order units O and product or donor units D is performed by servicing conveyors 19B for order units O and 20B for product or donor units D on a higher level B (right hand side). This is achieved by a level changing conveyor device 18 which routes onto the storage-entry conveyor 14 on level A.

(37) The routing conveyor 5 has only one level in level A and can be used to supply complete orders to the shipping station IV.

(38) Alternatively, as depicted in FIG. 4, the routing conveyor 5 may have two levels 5A and 5B, i.e., one conveying level in each level A (left hand side) and B (right hand side).

(39) In level A, the picking station 7C is supplied with order units O and product units D similar as above, but the servicing conveyors 19A and 20A are generally not directly aligned with the storage-exit conveyors 15 but are located downstream on the routing conveyor 5A and reachable by using RAT 17.

(40) Level B is therefore used for dispatch of order units O and product units D from station 7C, by servicing conveyors 19B for order units O and 20B for product or donor units D on a higher level B (right hand side). Servicing conveyor 19B is not aligned with storage-entry conveyor 14 (in analogy to level A) but via RAT 16 downstream. In contrast servicing conveyor 20B is aligned with storage-entry conveyor 14. Therefore order units O from station 7C may pass through RAT 16 and be conveyed downstream on routing conveyor 5, whereas product units D can be directly routed back into storage. Also order units O may be redirected by RAT 16 into storage.

(41) The storage and picking described above therefore allows: order units containing completed orders coming from the manual storage and picking area I to be dispatched via the routing conveyor 5 to the shipping area IV or introduced into the storage racking 6 of the automated storage and retrieval racking area II via the at least one storage-entry conveyor for later dispatch; order units containing completed orders coming from the storage racking 6 of the automated storage and retrieval racking area (II) to be dispatched via the routing conveyor 5 to the shipping area IV; order units containing completed orders coming from the semiautomatic picking station 7 of the automated storage and retrieval racking area (II) to be dispatched via the routing conveyor 5 to the shipping area or introduced into the storage racking 6 of the automated storage and retrieval racking area (II) via the at least one storage-entry conveyor 14 for later dispatch; order units containing partial orders coming from the manual storage and picking area (I) to be introduced into the storage racking 6 of the automated storage and retrieval racking area (II) via the at least one storage-entry conveyor 14 for further processing or introduced directly into the semi/full automatic picking station 7 for immediate processing; order units containing partial orders coming from the semi/full automatic picking station 7 of the automated storage and retrieval racking area (II) to be introduced into the storage racking of the automated storage and retrieved to semi/full automatic picking station 7 for further processing;

(42) At least one lift 21 used for changing levels of the units, in order to transfer the order and/or product units to the at least one storage-exit conveyor 15 and to receive order and/or product units from the storage-entry conveyor 14. Lift 21 may have more than one location for units, in order to carry more than one unit at the same time.

(43) How many lifts 21 are used and how these are arranged may depend on the specific implementation. With reference to FIGS. 5-7 some possible installations are described below.

(44) Referring to FIG. 5, level A of the racking may be connected to the storage-entry conveyor 14 with inbound-conveyor 22, which in turn leads into lift 21A, which is of the drive-through kind. Lift 21 in turn may allow for a level change of units. In other storage levels B, for example, lift 21 is supplied by buffer conveyor 26 and dispatches into buffer conveyor 25, so that the shuttle 11 in this level may pick up or drop off units respectively.

(45) To dispatch units from the racking to the picking station 7 etc., units are typically conveyed from lift 21A in level A onto outbound conveyor 23, from which the units either are redirected via a RAT or puller 27 onto exit-loop conveyor 24 and then on to storage-exit conveyor 15. Alternatively, the units may pass through RAT 27 onto buffer conveyor 25 in level A. Units to be dispatched from racking in level A can be dropped off onto buffer conveyor 26 by shuttle 11 in level A, which is connected to exit-loop conveyor 24.

(46) Extra conveyor loop(s) can be added if there is more than one picking station level.

(47) The arrangement according to FIG. 6 is very similar to the one of FIG. 5; however the installation in level A is mirrored in level B, so that level A is serviced by lift 21A and exit-loop conveyor 24A, which passes by lift 21B, which in turn services level B together with exit-loop conveyor 24B and passes by lift 21A. Under this scenario, units stored on level A generally will not be retrieved to level B and vise versa whilst units stored in other storage levels can be retrieved to both level A and level B and vise versa.

(48) Each level A and B may then either feed onto a single or double level routing conveyor 5 or picking stations etc. as described above.

(49) Extra conveyor loop(s) either one going clock wise or counter clock wise or both can be added to each lift if there are more than two pick station levels.

(50) In other storage levels C, as generally shown in FIG. 6, lift 21 is supplied by buffer conveyor 26 and dispatches into buffer conveyor 25 in each rack R, so that the shuttle 11 in this level may pick up or drop off units respectively.

(51) As indicated by the hashed lines in levels A and B, the buffer conveyors 25, 26, shuttles 11 and RAT's 27 as well as cross-conveyance locations Q are optional on these picking levels (FIG. 6).

(52) As shown in FIG. 7, each aisle 13 typically has a pair of lifts 21, one in each rack R, one for inbound 21A and another one for outbound 21B transportation with inbound conveyor 22 feeding it and outbound conveyors 24 receiving from it respectively supplied from/to routing conveyor(s) 5 or picking stations 7. The other levels B are generally similar to level C of FIG. 6, however they may only have one buffer conveyor 26 and one buffer conveyor 25, each in a rack R as shown.

(53) With such an arrangement, units stored in any level can be routed to any picking level and vise versa.

(54) Extra a pair(s) of inbound and outbound conveyors can also be added if there are more than one picking station levels.

(55) In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 each rack R of an aisle 13 has a lift 21, as in FIG. 7. However, this embodiment can have two inbound and two outbound conveyors 22, 24 per aisle feeding the lifts and receiving from them respectively from/to routing conveyor(s) or picking stations. The two inbound conveyors 22 are directly on level A and the two outbound conveyors 24 are in a level A-1, which is not a full level below, but beneath level A such that they may all two feed one picking level and two below takes return from the same picking level.

(56) In other storage levels B, C, an additional pair of buffer conveyors can be added to increase the lift throughput as well as better routing. With optional buffer conveyors, unit stored in any levels can be routed to any picking level and vise versa. Form level B to C (and so on) the buffer conveyors are alternated in their conveying direction in every or every few levels, i.e., in even levels a rack R has buffer conveyors in a certain direction and in odd level in opposite direction if additional pair of buffer conveyors on each level are not allocated. Such an arrangement realizes the dual cycle lift operation which improves lift performance.

(57) Extra pair(s) of inbound and outbound conveyors can be added if there are more than one picking station levels.

(58) The embodiment of FIG. 9 differs from FIG. 8 in that a pair of inbound and outbound conveyors/aisle alternate by racks R of aisles 13, as in FIG. 7, so that each level A has two inbound conveyors and two outbound conveyors. Below this level A is a second level A-A which is now a full level below level A such that two picking levels are supplied with units.

(59) FIGS. 10-12 show alternative versions of the respective embodiments of FIGS. 7-9 with lifts outside of the storage racking are depicted. To achieve this, the rails for the shuttles 11 extend outside of the racking up to the lifts 21. Otherwise, FIG. 10 complies with FIG. 7. In FIGS. 11 and 12 the optional buffer conveyors are not shown, but otherwise they also comply with FIGS. 8-9, described above.

(60) FIG. 13 is similar to a combination of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 (or 6) and 8.

(61) Non-picking levels B are the same as in FIG. 8.

(62) Picking-level A has a similar arrangement to FIG. 5 or 6 in that inbound-conveyor 22 leads into lift 21A, which is of the drive-through kind. Lift 21 in turn obviously may allow for a level change of units. To dispatch units from the racking to the picking station 7 etc., units are conveyed from lift 21A in level A onto outbound conveyor 23, from which the units either are redirected via a RAT or puller 27 onto exit-loop conveyor 24 and then on to storage-exit conveyor 15. Alternatively, they may pass through RAT 27 onto buffer conveyor 25 in level A. Units to be dispatched from racking in level A are dropped off onto buffer conveyor 26 by shuttle 11 in level A, which is connected to exit-loop conveyor 24.

(63) In contrast to FIG. 5 or 6, level A also can have a second lift 21B in the same level together with conveyors 22, 23, so that the power of two lifting carriages can be utilized with a single picking station level.

(64) In contrast to FIG. 5 or 6, level B may include a single pair of buffer conveyors to realize it's function. However, additional pairs can be added to increase the lift throughput as well as better routing. With optional buffer conveyors, units stored in any level can be routed to any lift and vice versa. The buffer conveyors are typically alternated in their conveying direction in every or every few levels, i.e., in even levels a rack R has buffer conveyors in a certain direction and in odd level in opposite direction if additional pair of buffer conveyors on each level are not allocated. Such an arrangement realizes the dual cycle lift operation which improves lift performance.

(65) As indicated by the hashed lines in level A the buffer conveyors 25, 26, shuttles 11 and RAT's 27 as well as cross-conveyance locations Q are optional on this picking level.

(66) The above embodiments may be combined with each other in many ways within the scope of the invention.

(67) The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means plus function elements in any claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or acts for performing the function in combination with other claim elements as specifically claimed. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications to the exemplary embodiments are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. In addition, it is possible to use some of the features of the embodiments disclosed without the corresponding use of the other features. Accordingly, the foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments is provided for the purpose of illustrating the principles of the invention, and not in limitation thereof, since the scope of the present invention is defined solely by the appended claims.