Picking station and method for automatically picking and automatically packaging products

A storage and order-picking system (1), comprising:

• a goods-in area (4a, 4b);
• an automated article storage (7);
• an automated storage conveyor system (14) connecting the goods-in area (4a, 4b) and the automated article storage;
• an automated picking station (19) for automatic picking and automatic packaging of articles (10a . . . 10p);
• an automated retrieval conveyor system (17) connecting the automated article storage (7) and the picking station (19), and comprising an overhead conveyor system with transport loading aids (13 . . . 13c) for transporting articles (10a . . . 10p) and an automated unloading device (36) for unloading an article (10a . . . 10p) from a transport loading aid (01a . . . 11c, 13 . . . 13c);
• wherein the picking station (19) comprises:
• an automated packaging machine (25);
• a goods-out conveyor system (20) connected to the automated packaging machine (25) in order to transport packaged articles (10a . . . 10p) away from the automated packaging machine, and
• a) a first automated article discharging device (27a) and an automated feed conveyor system (26), wherein the automated feed conveyor system (26) connects the first automated article discharging device (27a) and the automated packaging machine (25) in order to transport articles (10a . . . 10p) from the first automated article discharging device (27a) to the automated packaging machine (25), the first automated article discharging device (27a) having a first bottom shelf (28a) with a first closable bottom opening (34a) and a second bottom shelf (28b) with a second closable bottom opening (34b), wherein the first bottom shelf (28a) is arranged above the second bottom shelf (28b), and the second bottom shelf (28b) is arranged above the automated feed conveyor system (26), and wherein the automated unloading device (36) is assigned to the first automated article discharging device (27a) in order to transport an article (10a . . . 10p) from a transport loading aid (11a . . . 11c, 13 . . . 13c) to the first bottom shelf (28a), and/or
• b) an automated reloading device (29), a bottom shelf (30) of the reloading device and an automated feed conveyor system (26), wherein the automated feed conveyor system (26) extends in the operating range of the automated reloading device (29) and is connected to the automated packaging machine (25), wherein the automated unloading device (36) is assigned to the bottom shelf (30) of the reloading device arranged in the operating range of the automated reloading device (29) in order to transport an article (10a . . . 10p) from a transport loading aid (11a . . . 11c, 13 . . . 13c) to the bottom shelf (30) of the reloading device, and/or
• c) a second automated article discharging device (27b) assigned to the automated packaging machine (25) and having a third bottom shelf (28c) arranged above a loading position (47) of the automated packaging machine (25) and having a closable third bottom opening (34c), wherein the automated unloading device (36) is assigned to the third bottom shelf (28c) in order to transport an article (10a . . . 10p) from a transport loading aid (11a . . . 11c, 13 . . . 13c) to the third bottom shelf (28c), and wherein a dispatch package (23) prepared for closing can be provided at the loading position (47), and/or
• d) the automated unloading device (36) is assigned to the automated packaging machine (25) and is arranged in such a manner, that a transport loading aid (11a . . . 11c, 13 . . . 13c) can be positioned above a loading position (47) of the automated packaging machine (25) in order to discharge an article (10a . . . 10p) from a transport loading aid (11a . . . 11c, 13 . . . 13c) into a dispatch package (23) provided at the loading position (47) and prepared for closing.

A method for automatically picking and automatically packaging articles (10a . . . 10p), comprising the steps:

• transporting articles (10a . . . 10p) from an automated article storage (7) to an automated unloading device (36) by means of an overhead conveyor system using transport loading aids (13 . . . 13c),
• unloading the articles from the transport loading aids (11a . . . 11c, 13 . . . 13c) by means of the automated unloading device (36),
• feeding the articles (10a . . . 10p) to an automated packaging machine (25),
• packing the articles (10a . . . 10p) into dispatch packages (23) by the automated packaging machine (25), and
• transporting the dispatch packages (23) away from the automated packaging machine (25) by means of a goods-out conveyor system (20),
• wherein the steps of feeding and packing the articles (10a . . . 10p) comprises:
• a) discharging an article (10a . . . 10p) from a transport loading aid (11a . . . 11c, 13 . . . 13c) and placing the article 10a . . . 10p) on a first bottom shelf (28a) of an automated article discharging device (27a) dropping the article (10a . . . 10p) through a first bottom opening (34a) arranged in the first bottom shelf (28a) when the first bottom opening (34a) is opened, and the article (10a . . . 10p) being dropped becomes part of an article stack (41) on a second bottom shelf (28b) of the automated article discharging device (27a) arranged below the first bottom shelf (28a), and, after an article stack (41) has been formed, dropping the article stack (41) through a second bottom opening (34b) arranged in the second bottom shelf (28b) is opened and the article stack (41) is conveyed to the automated packaging machine (25) by an automated feed conveyor system (26) arranged below the second bottom shelf (28b) and automatically packed into a dispatch package (23) by the automated packaging machine (25), and/or
• b) discharging an article (10a . . . 10p) from a transport loading aid (11a . . . 11c, 13 . . . 13c) and placing the article (10a . . . 10p) on a bottom shelf (30), and picking the article 10a . . . 10p) from the bottom shelf (30) and placing on an automated feed conveyor system (26) by an automated reloading device (29) so as to stack the articles (10a . . . 10p) on the automated feed conveyor system (26), and, after an article stack (41) has been formed, the article stack (41) is conveyed by the automated feed conveyor system (26) to the automated packaging machine (25) and is automatically packed into a dispatch package (23) by the automated packaging machine (25), and/or
• c) discharging an article (10a . . . 10p) from a transport loading aid (11a . . . 11c, 13 . . . 13c) and placing the article (10a . . . 10p) on a third bottom shelf (28c) of an automated article discharging device (27b) dropping the article (10a . . . 10p) through a third bottom opening (34c) arranged in the third bottom shelf (28c) when the third bottom opening (34c) is opened, into a dispatch package (23) provided at the automated packaging machine (25) at a loading position (47) and prepared for closing, and/or
• d) providing the transport loading aids (11a . . . 11c, 13 . . . 13c) one after another at the automated unloading device (36) and positioning a transport loading aid (11a . . . 11c, 13 . . . 13c) above a loading position (47) of the automated packaging machine (25), and discharging an article (10a . . . 10p) from the transport loading aid (11a . . . 11c, 13 . . . 13c) immediately into a dispatch package (23) provided at the loading position (47) and prepared for closing.