Article transport system and article transport method

Abstract

An article transport system includes: a processing machine; a pallet on which an article processed by the processing machine is placed; a transport robot configured to transport the pallet; a transport request unit configured to make a transport request to the transport robot for transporting the pallet to the processing machine; and an intermediate buffer including a pallet accommodation section which accommodates the pallet, in which the pallet is inserted and from which the pallet is retrieved, and configured to determine whether the article is placed on the pallet, and to transmit a determination result to the transport request unit. The transport request unit is configured to designate the pallet, which is to be transported by the transport robot in the transport request, as an empty pallet determined to have no article placed thereon, among the pallet accommodated in the intermediate buffer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.