DE-102024133113-A1 - Device, system and method for the semi- or fully automatic management of goods in a cable warehouse

DE102024133113A1DE 102024133113 A1DE102024133113 A1DE 102024133113A1DE-102024133113-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a system and a method for the semi- or fully automatic management of goods in a warehouse containing cables, in particular cables of different types wound on cable drums (1). A sensor device (10) serves to estimate the fill level of the cable drum (1) or the remaining length of a cable wound on the cable drum, i.e., to record the stock of this cable. The sensor device (10) has a carrier (12) and a pivotable sensing arm (14) mounted on it. The sensing arm (14) rests on an outer diameter of the cable wound on the cable drum (1). The sensor device (10) has a position sensor unit (24) for determining the tilt position, a radio unit (22) for data transmission, and an energy storage device (28) for electrical supply. This solution significantly simplifies logistics, especially inventory management, and allows for its automation with simple means.

Inventors

Peter Rheindorf
Richard Habering

Assignees

igus SE & Co. KG

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20241112

Claims (17)

Device for inventory management with regard to the quantity of a cable wound on a cable drum, comprising: - a storage device on or in which a cable drum can be received; - a sensor device for estimating the fill level of the cable drum or the remaining length of a cable wound on the cable drum; characterized in that : - the sensor device has a support and a sensing arm pivotably mounted on the support, wherein the support is attached or attachable to the storage device and the sensing arm is dimensioned and arranged to rest on an outer diameter of the cable wound on the cable drum; - the sensor device, in particular the sensing arm, comprises a position sensor unit for quantitatively determining the inclination position of the sensing arm; - the sensor device, in particular the sensing arm, has its radio unit for data transmission and is configured to wirelessly transmit, together with information serving as a fill level value about a detected inclination position, a unique identifier associated with it, which is suitable for identifying the sensor device; and that - the sensor device preferably includes an energy storage device for the electrical supply of at least the position sensor and radio unit.
Device according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the radio unit has a BLE transceiver, an ANT transceiver and/or a ZigBee transceiver; and/or that the radio unit is suitable for forming an ad-hoc network.
Device according to Claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the radio unit and the position sensor unit are integrated into an IC, wherein the position sensor unit preferably comprises at least two of the following three sensors: a gyroscope, an accelerometer and a geomagnetic field sensor; and/or the IC has non-volatile memory.
Device according to Claim 1 , 2 or 3 , characterized in that at least the position sensor unit and the battery, preferably the position sensor unit, the radio unit and the battery, are arranged on the swiveling sensing arm and are swivelable with it.
Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sensing arm has at least one support at its end which extends perpendicular to the longitudinal extent of the sensing arm in order to rest on the wound cable on the outside approximately parallel to the axis of rotation of the cable drum.
Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the support is designed for detachable fastening on a side wall of a transport box, in particular a folding box side wall made of cardboard; and/or - the longitudinal extension of the sensing arm and/or the transverse extension of the support are adjustable; and/or - at least the support and sensing arm are manufactured as injection-molded parts made of plastic.
Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the storage device is designed as a transport box suitable for parcel shipping, in particular: - as a transport box with an internal bearing receptacle for a pivot axis of an interchangeable cable drum; and/or - as a cuboid transport box with external dimensions wherein each edge length selected from length, width and height (LxWxH) is ≤ 1200 mm, in particular ≤ 600 mm; and/or - as a transport box with side walls and a removable lid made of cardboard, in particular corrugated cardboard; and/or - at least one side wall has a tool-free detachable closure of a dispensing opening for cable removal.
Device according to one of the preceding claims, in particular according to Claim 7 , characterized in that the storage device, in particular the transport case, comprises an interchangeable cable drum with two drum discs and a drum spool forming the axis of rotation, on which a cable is wound, wherein preferably - the support is attached to the storage device, in particular the transport case, such that the sensing arm runs substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation and engages between the drum discs in order to rest on the upper side of an outer diameter of the cable wound on the cable drum; and/or - the support is attached to the storage device, in particular the transport case, such that the sensing arm can assume an inclination in an angle range of at most 0° to at least -45° to the horizontal; and/or - the sensing arm has an effective length which is between approximately 60% and approximately 95% of the drum's outer diameter; - the sensing arm has an effective length which is less than any edge length of the transport case, in particular ≤ 1200mm, in particular ≤ 600mm, and preferably the transverse extent of a support on the sensing arm is at least 33% but at most 80% of the axial drum dimension between the drum discs; - the sensor device is dimensioned so that it can be accommodated and transported together with a filled cable drum in the transport box.
System comprising a cable storage system with several devices according to one of the Claims 1 - 8 and comprising a superior computing unit, wherein the computing unit is configured to receive data transmission from radio units of the sensor device and preferably determines an estimate of the fill level of the cable drum based on a comparison of received inclination positions, in particular using associated identifiers, with associated reference values, and preferably triggers an automatic reordering process as required.
System according Claim 9 or 10 , characterized in that the computer unit is connected to or includes a radio gateway, in particular a BLE beacon gateway or the like, which is set up to process radio signals from the radio unit of the sensor device and provides processed data; and/or is set up to trigger automatic orders via an Internet connection.
System according Claim 9 or 10 , characterized in that - the computer unit includes a memory in which an assignment of the identifier of a sensor device and a cable type belonging to the corresponding storage device is stored; - the sensor device has a memory in which data relating to an associated cable type is stored.
System or device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the storage device and the sensor device each have a machine-readable code, in particular a QR code, with data for identification purposes, wherein the data for identification purposes are preferably assigned to the identifier of a sensor device.
A method for the semi- or fully automatic management of a cable storage facility, which comprises several storage devices, each with a cable drum, wherein each cable drum contains a wound quantity of cable or wire from which a worker can manually remove sections of the desired length as needed, characterized in that: - at each storage device, an associated sensor device estimates the fill level of the associated cable drum with respect to a remaining length of wound cable, particularly at periodic or aperiodic intervals, by scanning an outer diameter of the cable wound on the cable drum and generating a corresponding fill level value; - each sensor device wirelessly transmits the estimated fill level value, together with a unique identifier associated with the sensor device, which is suitable for identifying the sensor device, particularly at periodic or aperiodic intervals, to a higher-level computer unit.
Methods for semi- or fully automatic management according to Claim 13 , characterized in that the computer unit receives processed data from the radio signals of the sensor devices via a radio gateway, in particular a BLE beacon gateway or the like, and, if necessary, in particular via an internet connection, automatically triggers an order for the required cable for which an insufficient remaining stock has been determined based on the estimated fill level value.
Methods for semi- or fully automatic management according to Claim 13 or 14 , characterized in that - the radio units periodically and independently of the fill level wirelessly transmit data concerning the estimated fill level, in particular with a low clock frequency ≤ 1Hz, preferably ≤ 0.5Hz; or - the radio units aperiodically, preferably depending on the fill level, wirelessly transmit data concerning the estimated fill level.
Methods for semi- or fully automatic management according to Claim 13 , 14 or 15 , characterized in that each sensor device operates autonomously, in particular at periodic or aperiodic time intervals, and estimates the fill level of the associated cable drum solely by scanning an outer diameter of cable wound on the cable drum and forming a corresponding fill level value, in particular without calculating a remaining cable length.
Methods for semi- or fully automatic management according to Claim 13 , 14 or 15 , to set up a sensor device, a machine-readable code of the sensor device and a machine-readable code of the storage device or associated cable drum are read in. and are associated, particularly in the sensor device and/or in the higher-level computer unit.

Description

The invention relates generally to a device, a system, and a method for the semi- or fully automated inventory management of a warehouse containing cables, in particular cables of different types wound on cable drums. The invention further relates to a corresponding inventory management warehouse for storing and managing cables of different types. The invention relates in particular to an inventory management system suitable for recording remaining quantities of different types of cable wound on a cable drum and, based on this, facilitating reordering. A generic system or device is derived from the EP 4365120 A1 Previously known. A storage device for holding one or more cable drums is proposed here, as well as one or more devices for determining the remaining length of a cable on the cable drum. This is achieved by determining the length of cable already unwound. When managing cable warehouses, a reliable supply is essential. This requires regularly monitoring inventory levels and reordering any cables that are withdrawn. Traditionally, inventory is checked manually, and reorders are placed manually by an employee. This is labor-intensive and inherently prone to errors. Traditionally, two common methods are used to track cable inventory. Either the quantity of cable removed is measured during the removal process, and a corresponding value is deducted from the current inventory. Alternatively, the weight is measured before and after removal. Both methods are either time-consuming or inaccurate and prone to errors. The solution from EP 4 365 120 A1 The aim is to simplify the storage system by enabling the determination of the length of already unwound cable or remaining stock without significant installation effort and without manually entering property parameters of the cable and/or cable drum. Taking into account various variables, such as the outer diameter of the wound cable, the cable diameter, and the reel diameter of the cable drum, the length of a cable section unwound from a cable drum should be calculated computationally. For this purpose, a special measuring device attached to the cable drum, equipped with at least one gyroscope sensor, records the number of rotations of the cable drum during unwinding. From this, the unwound cable length is calculated numerically using relevant mathematical relationships. However, it is not possible to reliably determine precisely where the cable was cut or whether the rotation was for removal. Therefore, the following is required: EP 4 365 120 A1 The proposed system is at least computationally complex, therefore costly, but also prone to errors or intolerant of improper use. One object of the present invention is therefore to propose a solution that significantly simplifies inventory taking, in particular allows its automation with the simplest possible means, and, if possible, makes logistics as a whole faster and more cost-effective. This is achieved by a device according to claim 1, a system according to claim 9 and further independently also by a method according to claim 13. In this context, the term "cables" generally refers to, and in particular includes, flexible electrical conductors for energy and/or data transmission, but also other unwindable supply lines, such as optical fibers or supply hoses for media like compressed air, hydraulic fluids, water, or the like. In general, the invention can be applied to rope-shaped, tape-shaped, or thread-shaped materials that can be wound and unwound on a spool or drum. A generic device for managing goods relating to a remaining quantity of cable wound on a cable drum generally comprises, firstly, a storage device, in particular for receiving and preferably rotatably storing the cable drum, and furthermore, a sensor device for estimating the fill level of the cable drum or the remaining length of wound cable on this cable drum. According to a first independent aspect of the invention, a particularly simple sensor device is proposed. According to this first aspect, the device comprises a carrier and a sensing arm pivotably mounted on this carrier. The carrier is designed to be attached to the storage device. The sensing arm is pivotably mounted on the carrier, in particular pivotably about a horizontal axis when the carrier is mounted. The sensing arm is dimensioned and arranged to rest on the outer diameter of the remaining cable on the cable drum, i.e., on the outer diameter of the cable wound onto or remaining on the cable. Thus, the pivoting position of the sensor arm can be used as an indicator of the fill level or the remaining length of cable. Computationally intensive and complex calculations, which depend on various parameters such as cable diameter, drum diameter, etc., are therefore unnecessary. Accordingly, it is further stipulated that the sensor device, particularly on the sensing arm, includes a position sensor unit designed and intended for the quantitative determination of the sensing arm's inclinat