Abstract:
The arrangement and method determine if an article requested in a retrieval request is destined for storage and retrieve the article prior to storage when it is determined that the article requested in a retrieval request is destined for storage.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    This U.S. non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Patent Application No. 2003-40170 filed Jun. 20, 2003, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an article storage and retrieval arrangement and method.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0005]    Article storage and retrieval systems have been developed for permitting storage and retrieval of articles. Such systems may employ a computer for more efficient performance, as the quantity and frequency of articles increases.  
           [0006]    A conventional article storage and retrieval system puts articles in the storage area, and retrieves the stored articles from the storage area when the articles are requested. Once articles are in storage, the articles can be retrieved from storage. When a request is generated for articles before they are in storage, prompt retrieval is not possible. Thus, the conventional article storage and retrieval system has inefficiency problems affecting access time and/or storage space.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to an article storage and retrieval arrangement.  
           [0008]    In at least one exemplary embodiment of the article storage and retrieval arrangement, the arrangement determines if an article requested in a retrieval request is destined for storage. If so, then the arrangement retrieves the article prior to storage.  
           [0009]    In at least one exemplary embodiment of the article storage and retrieval arrangement a storage conveyor is configured to convey articles to a storage area and an article identification unit is configured to identify articles on the storage conveyor. A management server may also be present to manage retrieval and storage of the articles based on the article identification and received retrieval requests. For example, in one exemplary embodiment, the management server may compare article information of an identified article to retrieval request article information before the identified articles are stored to determine if an article destined for storage should be retrieved. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be readily understood with reference to the following detailed description thereof provided in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like structural elements, and in which:  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an article storage and retrieval arrangement in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an article storage and retrieval arrangement in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0013]    Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an article storage and retrieval arrangement according to the present invention. FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of the method for article retrieval and storage according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, articles  100  are carried into a storage rack  210  in step S 30 . A storage conveyor  243  then conveys the articles from the storage rack  210  to a stocker  230  in step S 31 . At this time, the articles  100  are identified by an article identification unit  270  in step S 32 . In one exemplary embodiment, the identification unit  270  is a bar code scanner. However, other article identification technology may be employed and the scope of this exemplary embodiment should not be limited to a bar code scanner. A control unit  250  receives the identification information from the control unit  250  and sends the article identification information to a management server  260  in step S 33 .  
         [0015]    In one exemplary embodiment, the management server  260  stores article information for each article being placed into storage. The article information includes article identification information such as the bar code of the article, and article attribute information. For example, the article attribute information for the articles being placed into storage are stored as a look-up table indexed by the respective article identification information. The attribute information includes, for example, the specifications of the article. For instance, if the article is a computer, the attribute information may include make and model number. The attribute information may also include more detailed information such as processor type and speed, drives and ports of the computer, etc. A computer has been identified as one possible article for storage, but it will be understood that the articles being stored are not limited to computers.  
         [0016]    The management server  260  may receive the article information by user input directly, or via electronic transfer such as over an intranet or internet connection. The management server  260  also receives retrieval requests that request retrieval of an article. A retrieval request may provide article identification information only, article attribute information only, or both.  
         [0017]    When the management server  260  receives the article identification information from the control unit  250 , the management server  260  accesses the attribute information associated with the identified article from, for example, the look-up table. This article information is then compared to the article information in the queue of retrieval requests in step S 34 . For example, if a retrieval request provides article identification information, the retrieval request article identification information is compared with the article identification information received from the control unit  250 . Alternatively, if the retrieval request includes only article attribute information, the management server  260  compares the retrieval request attribute information with the article attribute information associated with the article identification information received from the control unit  250 . If a match is not found during these comparisons, then the management server  260  determines in step S 35  to store the identified article.  
         [0018]    Accordingly, the management server  260  sends storage signals to the control unit  250  instructing storage of the identified article in step S 39 . In response, the control unit  250  controls a stacker crane  244  in step S 40  to transfer the article from the storage conveyor  243  and store the article in the stocker  230  in step S 41 .  
         [0019]    If a match is found during the comparisons of step S 34 , then the management server  260  determines in step S 35  to retrieve the article from the storage conveyor  243  in step S 35 . Accordingly, in step S 36 , the management server  260  sends retrieval signals to the control unit  250  instructing retrieval of the identified article. In response, the control unit  250  controls the stacker crane  244  in step S 37  to transfer the article from the storage conveyor  243  and to a retrieval conveyor  242 . Then the retrieval conveyor  242  conveys the articles to a retrieval rack  220  in step S 38 .  
         [0020]    The storage conveyor  243  and the retrieval conveyor  242  may be of various types. As non-limiting examples, a belt type, a chain type or a roller type may be provided. In one exemplary embodiment, a storage conveyor  243  is a roller type conveyor mechanically connected to the retrieval conveyor  242 . However, a belt type or a chain type may be used under various conditions.  
         [0021]    A series of overall operations may also be performed by system operating software, for example, an auto dispatching system (ADS), a carrier buffer system (CBS) and an equipment control system (ECS). An article transfer unit, such as the conveyors  242 ,  243  and the stacker crane  244 , as non-limiting examples, may be varied in their type and configuration according to the structure of a system. For example, a forklift or other stacking device may be used. Likewise, other conveying devices may be similarly used.  
         [0022]    An arrangement for article storage and retrieval in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention compares at least one of article identification information and article attribute information with retrieval request information before storage. These exemplary embodiments may lead to a prompt retrieval when articles  100  are carried in on the storage conveyor  243 . Thereby storage time and space usage may be reduced, the mechanism of the article transfer unit may be simplified and thus operation efficiency may be improved.  
         [0023]    Although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail hereinabove, it should be understood that many variations and/or modifications of the basic inventive concepts herein taught, which may appear to those skilled in the art, will still fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention.