DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to an automatic warehouse system with modular sectional structure for the dynamic storage of goods. In particular, the present invention relates to an automatic warehouse system with modular sectional structure for the warehousing of goods, usable advantageously for the dynamic storage of goods arranged inside containers, for example crates, boxes or similar, of which the description which follows will make specific mention without thereby losing in generality. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION In general, automated warehouse systems have been known for some time, for warehousing goods dynamically.

Such warehouse systems are of the type including a plurality of movable locations which are carried in motion by fixed structures, and whose position is constantly known because they are rigidly connected to a driving device . These movable locations are capable of setting the stored goods in motion until they present a sought object at a picking station from which it can be taken. In some cases, the goods are arranged inside containers or boxes which are made to circulate freely on driving/conveying devices.

In the case of storage on conveyor devices, it is desirable to use systems for dynamic identification of the moving objects, for example of the type using barcodes, magnetic code, transponders or similar, which is not however required for fixed racks, or those with fixed locations, where it is sufficient to store in a database the location where the item has been placed.

Automated warehouse systems are known in which the motorised racks are of the type with a single track and are

capable of performing a service analogous to racking systems of the gravity type, i.e. capable normally of housing only a single type of article or goods in motion.

In this case the picking sequence is a predefined sequence to define a system of warehousing usually identified by the acronym LIFO (last in, first out: the last to come in is the first to go out) if access is from a single side; or on the other hand with the acronym FIFO (first in, first out) : the item which came in first is the first to go out) if the loading of the boxed goods takes place on one side while unloading takes place on a different side.

Warehouse systems including racking systems of these types are for example described and illustrated in International Patent application PCT no. WO 02/074663 and in United States patent application no. US 2003/152446.

Automated warehouse systems are known, furthermore, in which the motorised racks are of the recirculating type and include a system of conveying in a loop in which the stored goods can move in a closed circuit or loop and therefore present themselves selectively at a pre-established station, from which it is then possible to carry out the loading of new boxed goods or the unloading outwards of goods previously warehoused in the said racks. Warehouse systems fitted with racking systems of these types are for example described and illustrated in Japanese patent application no. JP 1.122.814 and in United States Patent no. US 3,303,918.

Other types of motorised racks in warehouse systems currently known are defined by conveyor means arranged side by side, capable of moving the boxed goods in opposite directions. These racks, as for example those for automated warehouse systems described and illustrated in International Patent application no. WO 99/35061, in

Japanese patent application no. JP 1.321.205 and in United States Patent no. 3662905, have structurally simple exit/entry portions for the goods, but have extremely low productive speeds of circulating movement. All the automated warehouse systems described and illustrated in the above-mentioned patent documents also have the notable disadvantage of having an extremely cumbersome structure and also of being remarkably complex both as regards monitoring and management of their functionality.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention relates to an automatic warehouse system with modular sectional structure for the dynamic storage of goods. In particular, the present invention relates to an automatic warehouse system with modular sectional structure for the warehousing of goods, usable advantageously for the dynamic storage of goods arranged inside containers, for example crates, boxes or similar, of which the description which follows will make specific mention without thereby losing in generality.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the disadvantages of the known art documented above.

According to the present invention an automatic warehouse system is created with modular sectional structure for the dynamic warehousing of goods, of the type described with reference to at least one of the claims which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The technical characteristics of the invention can be clearly discovered from the contents of the claims made below, and its advantages will become more evident in the detailed description which follows, made with reference to the attached drawings, which represent a preferred form of embodiment, purely exemplary and not limiting, in which:

- Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a modular automatic warehouse system according to the present invention;

- Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a plurality of modular automatic warehouse systems as in figure 1, with parts removed for clarity and on a reduced scale, arranged side by side and put suitably in communication with each other;

- Fig. 3 is a schematic view, on an enlarged scale, of a first component device of the warehouse system in figure

1;

- Fig. 4 is a schematic view, on an enlarged scale, of a second component device of the warehouse system in figure

1; - Fig. 5 is a schematic view, on an enlarged scale, of a third component device of the warehouse system in figure 1;

- Fig. 6 represents a block diagram illustrating the management and monitoring system of an automatic warehouse system which is the subject of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION With reference to the attached figures, no. 1 globally indicates a warehouse system for the automated warehousing of goods (not illustrated) located inside containers or boxes S kept substantially in continuous motion.

Still according to figure 1, automated warehouse system 1 is of the type including at least one module 2 which, as illustrated in figure 1, extends in a determinate direction L and includes a minimum set of operating units among which, for the moment, mention is made, for convenience of description, of at least one annular rack 4, with substantially horizontal extension, of motorised type, extending along the longitudinal direction L, and an elevator 5 for the vertical movement in steps of the boxes

S, and then in a transverse direction at the level on which the boxes S are moved on each rack 4. Each rack 4 is interfaceable with the others of the same module 2 by means of the elevator 5 which, for this purpose, is located adjacent to an end portion of module 2 itself. Furthermore, each module 2 is configured so as to be interfaceable with at least one other module 2 and with at least one operator station 7 (better visible in figure 7) by means of at least one mono/bi-directional conveyor 8 and at least one conveyor junction 9, both located downstream of the elevator 5. With reference for example, but without limiting effect, to figure 2, a plurality of modules 2 are assembled and coupled to each other until the preferred size for warehouse system 1 is achieved, depending on the specific requirements demanded, among which, it should be remembered, is defining the minimum distance, which can be determined at will, which allows an operator of average size to have access to the intermediate space delimited by each pair of modules 2. Each module 2 is connected to the others adjacent to it by a network of conveyor lines, or more simply by conveyors, indicated globally by no. 3 in figure 2, which are capable of ensuring the movement flows of boxes S with the due and necessary safety margins. Each module 2 is provided with a corresponding electronic unit for movement and activation, referred to in what follows by the generic name of control panel and indicated by the letters QE. Control panel QE is provided with a relative management program or software, and is capable of operating autonomously even in the temporary absence of communication with a central processing unit UEC for management of the warehouse system 1 (figure 6) .

As will be better seen below, it is the simultaneity of operation of the basic modules 2 and the flow rate or

capacity of conveyor line 3 which generates a large number of operations per unit of time.

As is better illustrated in figure 6, each module 2 is capable of carrying out a basic activity and is equipped with an electronic device of small size which, normally, is constituted by a programmable logical controlling device, or more briefly a PLC, provided with an electronic board 22, preferably (but without limiting effect) provided with a determinate number of inputs and outputs, and including an Radio Frequency Identification reader, or simply a RFID reader, with relative antenna 23 and an Ethernet port 24 for connection to the data network 25. The software installed is dedicated to the type of operational module to which the PLC board is applied. For convenience, in figure 6 the PLC is indicated by the number 22 assigned to the board contained in it .

As illustrated in figure 2, each module 2 includes a motorised rack 4, an elevator 5, an operator station 7, a mono/bi-directional conveyor 8 and a conveyor junction 9. Still according to what is illustrated in figure 3, each motorised rack 4 includes a head-end curve 10, and a tail-end curve with variable geometry, similarly to what is described in application IT RA2005A000024 by the same applicant with reference to curves 4a and 4, to which reference is made for convenience, and it includes a number of rectilinear conveyor lines necessary to reach the capacity required.

Head-end curve 10 has guides 12 openable similarly to a gate, with corresponding mechanism, to allow the entry and/or exit of boxes S, with control by means of photocells known and not illustrated. In the central zone of head-end curve 10, where the internal guides can open out to bring about a 180° inversion of the direction of movement of boxes S, is the principal motor (known and not illustrated)

for driving rack 4 , which incorporates the reduction motor indicated by the reference number 14 in application no. IT RA2005A000024 by the same applicant, to which reference is made for convenience. In curve 10 there is located a known and not illustrated stopping device preceded by an RFID antenna. The control panel QE dedicated to rack 4 is also located in the area of head-end curve 10, since all the electrical users, the controls and the RFID reader are concentrated in this area. In the majority of applications the rest of rack 4 has neither controls nor electrical users . Rack 4 has a capacity related to the number of boxes S contained in it and a functionality related to the number of boxes S which it can make available/add to stock per unit of time. In substance, the shelf 4 is to all intents and purposes a "small automatic warehouse system" capable of storing and picking at least fifty boxes S.

The relative hardware, and therefore the control panel QE for each individual rack 4, can be connected directly to a processor 20 positioned at the station 7 through which the operator can carry out storage and retrieval of goods from the boxes S carried by each module 2 to the station 7 itself .

The local PLC board's memory records the codes of the boxes S in the exact sequence in which they are arranged, to allow searches to be conducted accurately. This is also necessary for the correct operation of the stopping of boxes S which intervenes in advance once the code is identified which precedes the code sought, which is to be retrieved. The data serves as a check on the data contained in the database in the Central Management System. The characteristics of the motorised rack allow a physical inventory to be carried out by a simple circuit of the boxes S contained in warehouse system 1. As is illustrated

in figures 1 and 5, the elevator 5 includes a vertical carousel CV, which uses a reduction motor 17 to circulate a series of shelves 13 along an annular trajectory. These shelves 13 include sets of rollers 14 in cantilever, each of which can accommodate a box S. Between the shelves 13 and the motorised racks 14 are conveyors 15, which are equipped with stopping mechanisms and monitoring devices, and have a length which is usually about 1.5 m. In use, these conveyors 15 can accommodate the boxes S which are waiting to enter circulation on the rack 4 or to be loaded onto the elevator 5. The drive in the waiting section starts up in parallel to the movement of vertical carousel CV and is independent of the activities of search and storage of the motorised racks 4 served. Movement, when necessary, is transferred by the rollers 14 to the shelves 13 by means of a coupling which is known and for this reason not represented. Management of the carousel CV is much more complex than that of the other elements of the operational module because of the numerous monitoring and dialogue inputs, and for this reason it is provided with a PLC device of its own, of commercial type, which is equipped with an Ethernet port for connection to the network, usable principally for diagnosis and indicated for convenience by the reference number 6, which in this case also is used in figures 1 and 5 to distinguish the PLC. The presence of an RFID reader is not necessary, since the boxes are identified at entry to and exit from the elevator 5 by means of the antennae 23 located on the motorised racks or on the conveyor line on the entry side of elevator 5 itself. Normally, the operation of elevator 5 can be synchronised with the entry to/exit from an individual rack, allowing rapid emptying/refilling. In each case, it is as well to point out that the choice of the type of elevator does not have implications for the scope of the

inventive step embodied by the present warehouse system 1, and derives solely from the speed at which it is desired to operate the warehouse system 1 itself. It therefore has an effect solely on the performance of warehouse system 1 as a whole .

According to what is illustrated in figures 2 and 4, the operator bay 7 is represented in one of its respective and distinct configurations. Each station 7 includes an arrival conveyor 7A, where boxes S remain in waiting, and a departure conveyor 7B . A device consisting of a lateral transporter by belt or some other system transfers the crate from the picking zone to the return conveyor. The operator station 7 is computerised by means of processor 20 which is connected to the various modules 2 and can be used for managing picking operations, and can be seen in figure 4. The operator station 7 has similar problems of automation and monitoring to head-end curve 10, with which it can share hardware. As is better illustrated in figure 2, the junction 9 includes an "exchange" device which routes the box S onto the correct track on conveyor 8 to reach its destination which is read directly from an identifying element or tag attached to box S itself. In particular, each junction 9 itself can include a transporter element preceded and followed by an arresting element which incorporates the blocking device already described in application no. IT RA2005A000024 by the same applicant, to which reference is made for brevity, where it is described and indicated by the number 15, or the transfer can be achieved with a curve with variable geometry, of a type known and made similarly to curve 11. In the first case, the result is a slow operation, a complex assembly but a minimal occupation of space; in the second case the operation is quicker and the assembly is simpler but the corresponding occupation of space

increases . In each case the problems of automation and monitoring of the operator station 7 and the motorised rack

4 with which it shares the hardware are the same. The

' conveyor junction 9 is provided with an actuation device which drives the adjacent conveyors 3 and 8.

As mentioned above in connection with figure 6, all the modules 2 share the same hardware component which is made up of an RFID reader and the relative antenna, by a small- sized PLC board and a port for the connection to the Ethernet network.

Each module 2 is connected to a data network, to the power supply (for the motors for the conveyors and elevators) and to a low-voltage power supply network for the activation and monitoring. The low-voltage network can also not be present.

Furthermore, all the modules 2, besides sharing a single type of hardware component, are constituted by shared standard mechanical components (rollers, pulleys, belts, shafts, joints, bearings, longitudinal members, cross-members etc.), to the general advantage of industrial production of warehouse system 1 and its management by technical assistance departments.

The whole complexity of departmental management rests on the management software of the warehouse system, which will be in proportion to the size of the warehouse system 1 and the performance required.

The condition of having warehouse system 1 made up of autonomous operational modules 2 and of linking a transponder unit 27 to each box S in circulation, carrying the information relating to its mission, allows it to operate without a real-time connection, eliminating the problem of overloading the central system and the data transmission lines.

There is therefore no necessity for high-performance

central hardware; all that is required is a normal data network, with performance practically independent of the size of the automatic warehouse system 1.

The operating principle (see figure 6) is based on the movement of boxes S equipped with passive transponder units

27 and a series of control points equipped with RFID antennae and local automation capable of identifying the boxes S and carrying out the necessary actions.

The transponder unit 27 on each box carries its identification code, its next destination, its mission program, its physical contents and the historical data for traceability. Both the identification code and the destination are suitable for high-speed reading and are written to specific fields in the memory of the transponder 27.

The rest of the data is written and read with box S stationary, and its structure is characteristic of each individual application.

In use, when box S has reached its destination, an operation is carried out with box S stationary, and then a new destination is recorded on the transponder 27, and the box is despatched once more onto the conveyor line. The new destination can be assigned by the central system or taken from the mission program which can be found in the memory of transponder 27. If the boxes S are also used for despatch, the transponder 27 allows data to be imported or exported by external systems .

The problem of losing information therefore no longer exists, since the data is always physically linked to the box S itself.

The storage capacity required is achieved by using a suitable number of motorised racks 4 stacked one above the other, supported by columns, forming vertical structures.

As described above, racks 4 are equipped at the head

end with elevators capable of carrying boxes S from the entry level to the desired rack 4 and vice versa. Elevators 5 are of low-functionality or high-functionality type depending on the number of operations required. Between the high-functionality elevator, i.e. the above-mentioned vertical carousel CV, and the superimposed motorised racks 4, a short section of collecting rollers 14 needs to be provided, capable of accommodating at least two incoming and at least two outgoing boxes S. This is to increase efficiency, as it can uncouple the work cycle of the elevator 5 from that of the racks 4.

The vertical carousel CV can conveniently be used as a vertical accumulator at the distribution points of aerial conveyor lines. The composition of warehouse system 1 is absolutely free and modifiable as time goes by, owing to its modularity and the automatic operation of the racks 4.

The system of assembly is similar to that of normal static racks. The motorised rack 4 can be of free length, and can have a single motorisation point at the head end or several motorisation points.

There are no limits to the heights which can be reached, which are governed only by the strength of the lateral supporting columns. Access for maintenance is required from one side only of the bi-directional conveyor, and for this reason racks 4 can be erected side by side in pairs .

For maintenance and possible emergency manual picking, there are walkways (also called mezzanines), every 2.5 metres of height . These walkable floors are solidly anchored to the columns on both sides and make a significant contribution to the rigidity and strength of the structure.

In addition, it is as well to point out that each warehouse system 1 includes at least one module 2, provided

in its turn with means of warehousing 4 of boxes S; the warehousing means 4 include at least one annular motorised rack 4 extending in a determinate direction L, elevating means 5 capable of moving the boxes S in a transverse direction between at least two racks 4, and some means IA/IB for feeding the boxes onto/picking the boxes from the racks 4.

Each module 2, furthermore, is provided with hardware, software and electronic means of activation and management of each rack 4 which are designed in such a way as, in use, to make each module 2 activatable autonomously and/or coupled in parallel with at least one other module 2 in "simple additive mode" in such a way as to make it commonplace to install at least two modules 2, each provided with its own number of annular racks 4. The term "simple additive mode" is intended to mean that each module 2, in addition to its structural and hardware and software provisions, is also provided with control panels QE which are designed to be connected together by means of simple connectors to constitute a computer network 29, and therefore to be instantly integratable to exchange information and operate independently and/or in coordination though the central unit UEC. In conclusion to the present description, it is desired to point up the advantages of the warehouse system 1 which is the subject of the invention:

- a high number of in/out operations per unit of time, exploiting the characteristic of having so many independent hardware devices capable of operating simultaneously. This high performance is needed in the areas of picking for order preparation, and in the areas of despatch and resupply of assembly lines.

- a totally modular and sectional automatic warehouse system which allows great freedom of design, modification

and relocation; the warehouse system, not requiring tracks for mules or transloelevators, is compact and solid; in addition, the reduced size of the base units means that warehouse systems of small dimensions can be rapidly and economically constructed; a very important point is the possibility of adaptation to existing buildings, and this extends also to the full exploitation of irregular spaces.

- an automatic warehouse system which is economical, easy to design and equally easy to install and maintain; the fact that it uses only conveyor techniques allows the entire plant to be installed with a small number of components and all of them much simpler than those required for manipulation; even the problems of automation are far smaller than with known warehousing systems . - a safe warehouse system for personnel which is accessible when in full operation. The system of transmission by belts and pulleys is intrinsically safe and does not require guards or casings; the elevator and headend curve areas are protected by panels (normally of mesh to allow visibility) .

The invention illustrated above has recently been made possible by hardware components which combine a PLC controller and at least one RFID reader. An example of such devices is constituted by the Lab-ID product RWARBT.