Abstract:
System capable of being governed entirely by a computer, which permits the complete handling of a warehouse right from the entry of merchandise from suppliers up to its delivery to the customer, in the quantities and types of merchandise that may be specified. This requires the systems of storage and cargo breaking of the invention, which are interconnected in such a way as to permit the integrated handling of goods in the warehouse.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     PCT/ES9900298 application and Spanish patent ES-2153751, being priority. 
     JP-62036202A. This patent allows that parcels or boxes can be stored in a pallet warehouse. 
     US-4262599. A type of conveyor system comprising a route network of profile rails, with branching locations, with carts travelling on the rails, having drive devices and a maintenance system. 
     US-6028532. An annular conveyance path links plural work station and a warehouse for temporary storage of products. 
     US-3889797. A main conveyor for transporting containers, each container with a plurality of staked pallets with workpieces to be processed, said main conveyor with a plurality of computer-controller subconveyers where workpieces are processed. 
     US-3884370. System for sorting articles, especially mail pieces. 
     US-3915284. System for routing assorted items to preseelected destination, each item with a readable label. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention belongs to the technical field of the devices of storage and handling of goods, including the preparation of orders for customers. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The current automatic warehouses are pallet warehouses, based on parallel systems of shelves accessed from a linear (not a closed circuit) belt using a crane; therefore, their operation is discontinuous. A variant to this kind of warehouses is the patent JP-62036202A, which allows parcels or boxes to be stored in a pallet warehouse. 
     Today, in order to prepare orders for customers, the merchandise must be released from the warehouse (whether it is automatic or not), generally in pallets, unstacked and turned into parcels, and even divide these parcels then into other smaller containers. Then, orders for customers are prepared according to various methods using a great range of devices, and the merchandise is finally driven to the delivery area in groups for customers. 
     All these merchandise-handling processes are mostly done manually. 
     This invention develops an automatic warehouse to perform in a fillyintegrated and continuous way the storing and order-preparing operations, as well as more usual operations, such as unstacking (pallet and box unstacking) and their subsequent stacking (packing and palletising). 
     Even though this invention deals basically with the ‘hardware’ needed to perform the operations mentioned, this ‘hardware’, as will be demonstrated below, is very appropriate to be computer-controlled, simply by connecting its devices to a computer, which can be easily done through connections that are mostly normalised. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The inventive idea comprises one or several closed circuit conveyor belts for carrying any merchandise along its mechanisms continuously, ever following a pre-fixed direction. On each closed circuit, there is, at least: an entrance, an exit, a positioner, and storage bins. To guide the merchandise to the exit and to storage bins, diverters or baffles are provided in front of both device types. To control the warehouse traffic are label readers at entrance and at exit of each closed circuit belt, and at the entry to each bin. 
     Each ‘storage bin’ can be used to store a specific type of merchandise or the merchandise for a specific customer. To take advantage of the space depending on the circumstances, two types of ‘storage bins’ are proposed: one of horizontal layout based on the storage on a conveyor belt, and one of vertical layout based on the storage on a multi-level elevator. Besides, in order to shorten the paths to the merchandise, especially in the case of multi-level elevators, secondary conveyor belts (branches) are attached to the main circuit equipped with a divertor. 
     Because customers can make orders in pallets, boxes and/or packets, other devices are designed, such as a depalletizer, a box emptier, and a positioner. Other devices, such as packers and palletizer, can be attached next to the system&#39;s exit. The depalletizer is placed in front of the ‘closed circuit conveyor belts’ for boxes, and the box emptier is placed in front of the ‘closed circuit conveyor belts’ for packets. Accordingly, the packer is placed behind the ‘closed circuit conveyor belts’ for packets and the palletizer is placed behind the ‘closed circuit conveyor belts’ for boxes or behind the packer. 
     In many cases, the number of ‘closed circuits’ can be reduced by using the same ‘closed circuit’ for boxes and packets, just by placing a box emptier on the ‘closed circuit’. However, it is impossible to integrate pallets and boxes on the same ‘closed circuit’ easily, because the depalletizer cannot work on a conveyor belt. Therefore, a minimum configuration would consist of a unique ‘closed circuit’, accessed through a depalletizer, merchandise is massively stored in boxes and there is a box emptier on its ‘closed circuit’. The output would be done through an packer and a palletizer placed subsequently. 
     For any operation with any merchandise, the merchandise is placed on a ‘closed circuit conveyor belt’, whether from the entrance to the warehouse, from other ‘closed circuit’ equipped with an unstacking element or any ‘storage bin’ of the ‘closed circuit’. At the exit of a ‘closed circuit’, must be a divertor or baffle that allows the merchandise to be diverted to the exit. 
     Once the merchandise is on a ‘closed circuit’, to store, the output divertor is closed, and the diverters of the bins with space for the current type of merchandise or customer order are opened. 
     To recover merchandise from a bin, the bin is actuated. For making up orders, they must be done by type of merchandise and kind of package. The merchandise to be served is discharged onto the belt system, with the exit blocked. It is then considered that they are storage operations on bins assimilated to customers. 
     The whole system permits an easy control by a computer, only connecting each device to the computer. 
    
    
     INDEX OF FIGURES 
     FIG.  1 . Basic configuration scheme of a automatic warehouse showing closed circuit conveyor belt, branch belt, storage bins, baffles, depalletizer, pallet emptier, box emptier, positioner, packer, palletizer.... 
     FIG.  2 . Storing goods into the storage system. 
     FIG.  3 . Recovering goods from the storage system. 
     FIG.  4 . Internal movements and making up client orders into the storage system. 
     FIG.  5 . Storage bin, horizontal configuration, showing a lineal conveyor belt as storage mechanism. 
     FIG. 6 Another storage bin with horizontal configuration. 
     FIG.  7 . Storage bin, vertical configuration, showing a elevator with stages as storage mechanism (transveersal view). 
     FIG.  8 . Storage bin, vertical configuration (first level view). 
     FIG.  9 . Positioner (longitudinal view). 
     FIG.  10 . Positioner (frontal view). 
     FIG.  11 . Depalletizer, general scheme. 
     FIG.  12 . Debander. 
     FIG.  13 . Debanding cutter. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is described according the figures. 
     FIG. 1. A basic configuration is diagrammatically represented. 
     In this warehouse, the palletized goods from supplier enter by the input  1  though a depalletizer  2 , exiting as boxes to a storage system, said storage system having a input conveyor belt  3 , a input label reader  4 , a closed conveyor belt circuit  5  that ever runs in a fixed direction (arrows), a positioner  7 , storage bins  8 , bin label readers  9 , bin baffles  10 , secondary conveyor belts (branch belts)  11  with more storage bins, branch baffles  12 , being the boxes mass stored on the storage bins, a exit baffle  13 , a exit label reader  14  and a exit conveyor belt  15 . On the closed conveyor belt of said storage system is placed a box emptier  6 . The merchandise leaves the storage system, departing via the exit baffle  13  for a packer  16 , controlled by the exit label reader  14  that starting up or shutting off the packer  16  according to its reading to transform packets into boxes if necessary, and a palletizer  17  to transform boxes into pallets, exiting said pallets by the outlet  18 . 
     FIG.  2 . For storing goods into the storage system, the goods enter at the input belt  3 , passing by the input label reader  4 , either from a supplier or else from another part of the warehouse. The goods are placed on the closed conveyor belt  5  (in the drawing with one branch belt  11 , although there could be as many branch belts as there is room for in the warehouse). At this stage the exit baffle  13  shuts off access to the exit, forcing the goods to continue on the conveyor belt  5 . 
     Let us suppose that the storage bins can hold various cargo units, although for reasons that will be seen in some of their designs every bin should hold only one type of merchandise. 
     All the baffles  10  of the bins  8  that have space will remain open, diverting the merchandise introduced towards the first bin with an empty space. When the cargo enters one bin, the label reader  9  that records entry is energized, it actuates the internal movement of the goods in the bin, and transmits input details to the computer: bin branch number, bin number, type of goods, type of pack. If none of the bins of the branch belt had an empty space for the goods in question, the baffle of the branch belt  12  would be closed, permitting passage to a next branch belt or the closed conveyor belt until an empty space is found. 
     This would be the system default operating system. 
     FIG.  3 . For recovering goods from the storage system the computer will not enable this mode until it has completed any intake operation in progress, which it will detect because the sum of inputs counted by the input label reader  3  is higher than the input at the bins measured by the bin label readers cell  9 , so input a should be shut off until withdrawal is completed. 
     In this withdrawal stage the exit baffle  13  permits the goods circulating on the closed belt to pass to the exit belt  15 . When the bin with the right goods  8  is given the order to discharge a unit, this is emptied onto its branch belt or the closed belt  5 , finally leaving by the exit belt  15  after first passing in front of the label reader  14 , which lets the computer know that the operation has been completed. 
     FIG.  4 . For internal movements and making up client orders into the storage system always will assume that the system is governed by a computer, to consider the capacity of the bins, we will suppose that it has three series of variables: one in which the real total capacity is stored, another in which a total virtual capacity is stored, and lastly the contents of each bin, only taking into account for the operations the virtual capacity, which for instance for the intake stage will be zero for bins occupied by goods different from those that are to be stored, and the difference between the real total capacity and the occupancy for the goods to be stored. 
     The internal movements consist of the passage of goods from one given bin to another given bin. 
     For this purpose the withdrawal operation is performed and, as soon as the goods are out of the bin, an intake operation, zeroing all the virtual capacities of all the bins except that of the one to which we want to direct them. 
     It is possible to made internal movements from bins with its merchandise in boxes to bins with its merchandise in packets, by starting the box emptier  6 . 
     For preparation of orders for customers, they will be considered to be made up on the actual storage system (which would mean that the warehouse space is utilized to full advantage). 
     The client&#39;s orders would be made up in boxes and/or packets. To obtain packets from boxes, the boxes are previously placed from bins on the closed conveyor belt circuit, being started the box emptier, then the packets are provisionally stored as boxes. 
     The computer would first determine the number of bins that every client needs (rounding up) and reserve them, matching up with each order (one order=one client) the number of bins he needs, preferably at the last branch belts. 
     Afterwards, the computer proceeds to serve the orders by type of goods, i.e. the process that will be described below will be repeated as many times as there are types of goods to be served. 
     The computer orders the emptying of the merchandise from the bin with the desired merchandise, with the exit baffle  13  preventing issuance from the closed belt, until the capacity of closed conveyor belt  5  is saturated or the bin is emptied, or else all the merchandise of the type in question are used up. 
     Immediately afterwards, it would give the intake order, with the virtual capacities of all the bins at zero, except those of the clients who have ordered this type of merchandise. 
     The operation that is started in the second preceding paragraph is repeated as often as necessary for a whole type of merchandise to be served. 
     Here we see the advisability (rather than the necessity) that only one type of merchandise should be stored at the pure intake stage as, if this were not the case and the type of merchandise needed were in a bin in the middle, it would be necessary to carry out internal movements to reposition the merchandise in place before they are needed. In addition, this would complicate the computer program. 
     FIG.  5 . This figure shows the storage bins with a horizontal configuration. 
     Goods entry: 
     The goods enter from the closed conveyor belt or one branch belt  5 ,  11 , actuating the label reader  9  (FIG.  1 ), and a first photoelectric cell  19 , which starts up a inner bin conveyor belt  20  in a inward direction. When the goods reach a second photoelectric cell  21 , this stops the belt. At the end of the storage bint a switch stop  22  advises the computer that the bin is full, although the computer must already have its capacity stored in its memory, which is determined by the length of the inner bin conveyor belt divided by the distance between the first and second photoelectric cells. 
     Goods departure: 
     The computer starts up the inner bin conveyor belt in an outward direction, pushing the goods to the the closed conveyor belt or one branch belt. The actual bin halts the movement of the inner bin belt when the first photoelectric cell ceases to detect the goods, after they pass in front (actuating it) of the bin label reader  9  (FIG.  1 ). 
     FIG.  6 . Another alternative configuration to the above is that the goods should leave from the back, dropping onto one branch belt  11 . In this case, the bin is opened at its end, therefore not having switch stop but having to be provided with an end label reader  23  and a third photoelectric cell  24  that performs the same function as the first photoelectric cell when the exit of merchandise. 
     FIGS. 7-8. The figures show the storage bin with a vertical configuration. The storage bin has four slip rails  25  along which the platforms  26  slide. When these are not occupied, they remain at rest in the pit  27 . These platforms are joined together by way of extending unions  28 . 
     Goods entry: 
     The cargo enters from the closed conveyor belt or branch belt  5 ,  11  being detected by the bin label reader  9 , which sets the entry stop  29  in place that holds back the load momentarily. At the same as the establishment of this entry stop  29  the motor  30  starts up that raises the platform by means of cable  31 , until any of the latch type anchorages  32  is reached, shutting off the motor (they also act as switches). At the same time as the motor stops, the entry stop  29  rises, permitting the entry of the goods, pushed by an input piston  33  , to the bin. When the cargo reaches the enter switch  34 , the operation is terminated, placing the system on stand-by. When the bin is full, the top of the highest platform should actuate the stop switch  22 , transmitting this information to the computer, although this should already know it through the number of platforms present in each pit. 
     Goods departure: 
     A piston  35 , situated on the same side as the enter switch  34 , pushes the cargo outwards, until that the cargo touches the closed belt or one branch belt, these being what will carry the cargo along thereafter. 
     After a pre-set time , the anchorages  32  are released at the same time as brake  36  is applied to the braking wheel  37 , enabling the cable to lower slowly. After a pre-set time, sufficient for the platforms to overrun the anchorages that were securing them, the anchorages are actuated again, halting the platforms at the lower stage. 
     FIGS. 9-10. The figures show the positioner. The cargo moves along the closed conveyor belt  5 . On passing by the photoelectric cell  38 , a bar  39  with a switch  40  lowers. When the cargo passes by a label reader  41 , if reading is correct, the bar with switch rises, the device is placed on stand-by and the cargo moves on, as the fact of the reading indicates that the merchandise is in the correct position. 
     Otherwise, when the merchandise comes up against the bar with switch, it is momentarily held back, two clamp shovels  42  that hold the merchandise are actuated and raise it, turning it through 90 degrees (in either direction providing that it is the same), and they deposit it again in front of the photoelectric cell  38 , setting the system on stand-by again. 
     Positioning is only considered in the belt plane dimension, as it is not deemed necessary to do so in other dimensions because the starting merchandise, assumed to be on pallets, is presumed to be positioned properly on the same plane and all the handling operations mentioned in this text take place on the plane of a belt. 
     FIG.  11 . This figure shows the depalletizer. It is assumed that the pallet is banded with plastic and that a label is attached to the pallet proper with the bar code that identifies the goods, the number of boxes and their arrangement on the pallet (dimensions, number of rows, height of each row, etc.). 
     The pallet is assumed to be placed on a roller conveyor  43 , fitted at the end with a label reader  44 . Once the pallet is placed on the roller conveyor, it is carried towards the debander  45 . The reading taken by the label reader  44  is transmitted to the computer, which undertakes control of the operation. The debander consists of a roller platform, capable of transmitting via these rollers to the next stage. It will be described in greater detail later on. 
     Once debanded, the pallet is pushed towards the adjustable lifting platform  46 . On this the pallet is raised row by row by the computer on the basis of the data that it possesses on it stored in its memory, so that each row is placed in front of the emptier  47 , which pushes each row onto the input conveyor belt  3  (FIG. 1) to the storage system. The emptier and the input conveyor belt belt are situated on a plane transverse to the afore-mentioned items. 
     Not shown in the figure for the sake of clarity and not claimed, the lifting platform should have an empty pallet ejector, perpendicular to the plane, and a conveyor belt that takes them to where they are needed (to the loading area, if they have to be returned to the supplier, or to the unloading area for reuse). 
     We describe below in greater detail the following items: debander  45 , cutter for removing the banding plastic, the function of which will be described in the debander, and the pallet emptier  47 . 
     FIG.  12 . This figure shows the debander. It is a roller platform  48 , provided with anchorages  49  for securing the pallet. This platform can revolve under the action of a rotor  50 , on some bearings  51 . On one side is a vertical guide  52  along which a suitable cutter  53  for tearing the banding plastic, which will be described later, can slide. 
     There is an aspirator  54  on the platform. 
     Its operation would be as follows: 
     The pallet is secured to the roller platform by the anchorages. 
     The cutter sinks into the base of the banding, i.e. at the bottom of the guide, while the platform begins to turn, so that the banding is broken at the base. When this is completed, the platform stops turning and resumes its initial position. The cutter slides up to the top of the guide, still sunk in the plastic, so that it breaks one side of it. Afterwards, it is lowered and retracts to be in position for the next pallet. 
     Finally, the aspirator sucks up the plastic, now loose. 
     FIG.  13 . The figure shows the debanding cutter. It consists of a handle-spring  55  fixing it to the guide  54  (FIG.  12 ), a heater coil  56 , a tetrahedral shaped cutter  57  proper made of a soft metal (e.g. copper), a inner tube  58 , which passes through the cutter. 
     The cutter penetrates and cuts the plastic more by the heat to which it is subjected by the heater coil than with its tip and edge. The temperature of the cutter should be midway between the melting point of the plastic and the combustion point of the packing of the boxes inside the pallet, otherwise this cutter could not be used. 
     The mechanism for the penetration of the cutter in the plastic would consist in the relaxation of the handle-spring with only force enough to pierce the plastic but not the box pack. 
     Coinciding with penetration, air or nitrogen (if there is risk of combustion) would be injected through the hole in order to assist the separation of the plastic from the goods. 
     FIG.  10 . The figure shows a pallet emptier. A cog wheel moved by a motor  59  acts on the internally threaded worm screw  60 , to which a shaft  61  is fitted that pushes a shovel  62  against the top row of the pallet. The shaft ends in a spring  63 , so that when there is a blockage that holds back the shovel, the shaft continues moving forward until it actuates the switch  64  that moves just as the shaft of the worm screw, which would stop the motor of the cog wheel until the spring relaxes again. 
     The shovel pushes the last row of the pallet onto a vibrator belt  65  until it comes up against a second switch stop  66 , which would invert the direct of travel of the motor of the cog whell, withdrawing the shovel to its starting position, which enables the lift to raise the pallet one more row in order to begin a fresh cycle. 
     The function of the vibrator belt  65  is to prevent blockages. 
     When a box passes by a photoelectric cell  67 , it closes the gate  68  for a pre-set time, sufficient to achieve a certain spacing between two consecutive boxes. 
     FIGS. 12-13. Said figures show the box emptier. All the mechanisms have to be situated on the closed conveyor belt  5  (FIG.  1 ). 
     When the computer orders the energizing of the box emptier, the first thing this does is to lower the stop  69 , provided with a switch  70  that advises the system of the impact of a box against it and stops it. When this happens, the two clamp shovels  71  lower that raise the box just enough to permit the attachment of two suckers  72 ,  73  under it, which pull the bottom of the box, allowing a cutter  74  to pass in between, which slits the bottom without damaging the goods it contains. The box is then slowly raised, allowing the packets inside to drop onto the closed conveyor belt  5  by gravity. The vibrating bars  75  prevent jams, while the narrowing bars  76  (also vibrating) channel the goods. 
     When a photoelectric cell  77  detects the passing of a packet, it closes a gate  78 , so that the packets may leave the device evenly spaced, in a similar way to the end section of the depalletizer. 
     When the photoelectric cell counts the number of packets that the box contains (which the computer knows by its bar code), the clamp shovels withdraw the empty box from the circuit and set the device on stand-by. 
     If gravity is not sufficient to remove the packets due to the type of pack, the box should be opened at the top (in the same way as the bottom) and the load pushed down slowly. By this, the box emptier has at its top another pair of suckers  79 ,  80  and cutter  81  to open each box, and a ram  82  to push the packets down. 
     FIG.  13 . This figure shows a automatic warehouse with secondary stores for boxes and packets. The palletized goods from suppliers enter to a pallet storage system  83 , which will be the one that support the mass storage of merchandise. A box storage system  84  and a packet storage system  85  are secondary for making up orders in these units and will only house the left-overs from previous operations, saving emergencies (as they may also be used for storing general cargo, although in its type of unit of course). 
     When the time comes to make up customers orders for distribution, the computer determines the totals in boxes and packets, per type of merchandise. By difference with what there is stored in the storage systems of boxes and packets, it obtains the number of boxes necessary, and from these the number of pallets, rounding up in both cases. 
     The computer positions a first baffle  86  so that the merchandise moves from the pallet storage system to the box storage system, passing by the depalletizer  2 , the required number of pallets of each merchandise. 
     Once the total number of boxes and packets is stored into the box storage system, similarly, the computer positions a second baffle  87  so that the merchandise to be served in packets moves to the packet storage system by way of the box emptier  6 . 
     When all the goods are in each store, the orders are then made up in the three stores according to the order preparation routines, the same in the three cases. 
     When the orders are made up, they are withdrawn one by one. The merchandise may leave in the three units: packets (exit  88 ), boxes (exit  89 ) and pallets (exit  18 ), the baffles  90  and  91  being the ones to channel the goods to the packer  16  and the palletizer  17 , respectively. 
     Other. 
     Between basic configuration and store with two ancillary stores, different needs or economic resources available may give rise to different configurations. A slightly more complex configuration than the above would be one that had a specific order make-up store for palletized goods. 
     Non-computer-controlled warehouse. 
     In all cases systematic mention has been made to the action of a computer, restricting the description to mentioning the mechanisms and the items that may be connected up to it. 
     However, with the right control items, which will be described in this section, this system is suitable for manual and semi-automatic control, while the presence of a computer is necessary for fully automatic control due to the complex nature of the system. 
     A manual system can be achieved easily by allocating a counter to every photoelectric cell or label reader, and a switch to every bin actuating baffle. The readers and switches may be mounted on a panel that simulates the configuration of the warehouse, e.g. FIG. 1 itself could serve as a model. In addition, it should have suitable pilot lights that announce the operations as they are carried out. 
     A semi-automatic control could enable the operator to perform global operations without having to concern himself with control, e.g. the intake stage could be programmed at the outset with a logic system in which every bin had a button and there was a “feed” button. Every bin baffle would be opened by an AND logic gate if the button of that bin, the feed button, is depressed and if the difference between the capacity of a bin and the counter is positive. The baffle of a branch of belt (b) would be opened by an OR logic gate, at which the bin baffle opening/closing would be detected, as well as the result of this gate and of the feed button, as entry to another AND gate, the outcome of which would be the one that opened or closed the aforesaid baffle. 
     In fact, a good design of this system would first involve an operating design in manual and semi-automatic mode, making the connection with the computer by way of the control panel. But this is left for a possible later addition. 
     Depalletizer manual and automatic control. 
     As in the case of the storage system, the depalletizer is presumed to be controlled by a computer. Otherwise considerable automation may be achieved per type of goods, for which purpose the key item is the pallet lift. All the other components can achieve automatic movement sequences with the afore-mentioned switches and label readers, besides a system that blocks the entry of pallets until an operation is terminated. 
     The pallet lift should be capable of rising an initial height (that required to bring the top of the pallet up flush with the vibrator conveyor belt  65  (FIG. 10) and fixed steps, governed by a counter, the maximum value of which would be the number of rows on the pallet. These are precisely the data that have to appear on the control panel. 
     Remark. 
     The constitution of the conveyor belts has not been mentioned. These should naturally be suitable for the cargo. Thus, if this is on pallets, roller conveyors should be used. If in boxes or packets, more classic leather, plastic, canvas, etc. belt conveyors would be sufficient.