Picking station and method for picking with a light grid
AssigneeSSI Schaefer Peem GmbH
InventorGerhard Schaefer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a commissioning area comprising a buffers for order containers in which items can be commissioned, the buffer comprising a plurality of adjacent buffer regions for receiving order containers. A beam field is provided above the buffer in order to monitor the commissioning of items.
Claims21
An order-picking station for manually picking articles from storage containers into order containers by a picking person, comprising:
- an order container buffer for buffering said order containers into which said articles are to be picked, said order container buffer including several buffer spaces, arranged side-by-side, for respectively receiving one order container;
- a field of beams directly above openings of said order containers in said order container buffer for monitoring the picking of said articles and whether the order picker still has at least one of his hands in the order container into which the articles are to be picked, in order to avoid automated retrieval of the order container from said order container buffer via an order-container conveyor system;
- and
- a controlling device for controlling said automated conveyance of said order containers according to whether
- the order picker has at least one of his hands in the order container as indicated by interruption of the field of beams, and
- the order has been picked completely as indicated by an end of interruption of the field of beams and by a first enabling signal that indicates that the order has been processed;
- wherein, the control of said automated conveyance of said order containers from the order container buffer increases the picking efficiency of the order-picking station.
A method for manually picking articles from storage containers into order containers by a picking person at an order picking station, said order picking station comprising an order container buffer for buffering said order containers into which articles are to be picked, said order container buffer including several buffer spaces arranged side-by-side for respectively receiving one order container, wherein a field of beams is provided directly above openings of said order containers in said order container buffer for monitoring the picking of said articles, the method comprising:
- generating, by at least one beam transmitter, said field of beams directly above openings of order containers in said order container buffer;
- detecting, by at least one beam receiver, an interruption signal which is generated by an interruption of said field of beams by a hand of the picking person;
- halting, by an order-container conveyer system, the retrieval of said order container when said interruption signal is detected;
- and
- outputting, from a processor, a first enabling signal for allowing retrieval of said order container from said order container buffer via an order-container conveyor system when said interruption signal is not detected and when the order has been completely picked;
- and
- retrieving, by the order-container conveyer system, the order container from the order container buffer via an order-container conveyor system in response to the first enabling signal.
An order-picking system for manually picking articles from storage containers into order containers by a picking person at an order picking station, said order picking station comprising:
- an order-container conveyor to transport order containers,
- an order container buffer for buffering said order containers into which articles are to be picked, said order container buffer including several buffer spaces arranged side-by-side for respectively receiving one order container;
- a field of beams directly above openings of order-containers in said order container buffer for monitoring the picking of said articles and whether the order picker still has at least one of his hands within the order container into which the articles are to be picked, in order to avoid automated retrieval of said order container from said order container buffer via an order-container conveyor system;
- and
- a controlling device for controlling said automated conveyance of said order containers according to whether
- the order picker has at least one of his hands in the order container as indicated by interruption of the field of beams, and
- the order has been completely picked as indicated by an end of interruption of the field of beams and by a first enabling signal that indicates that the order has been processed;
- wherein, the control of the automated retrieval of the order container from the order container buffer increases the picking efficiency of the order-picking system.
An order-picking station comprising a buffer for order containers into which articles can be picked, said buffer including several buffer spaces, particularly arranged side-by-side, for respectively receiving one order container, a conveyor system for automatically transporting order containers, and a controlling device for controlling the automatized transport, wherein above said buffer a field of beams is provided for monitoring manual picking process of articles, characterized in that the field of beams is arranged directly above the openings of the order containers, a signal is generated if the beam of the field of beams is interrupted, and the controlling device is adapted to cause a transport of an order container from the buffer in dependence on the signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.