EP4273086A1

EP4273086A1 - Carrying device and cargo carrying method

Info

Publication number: EP4273086A1
Application number: EP21913412.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Han Bai
Original assignee: Hangzhou Hikrobot Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hangzhou Hikrobot Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-12-31
Filing date: 2021-10-29
Publication date: 2023-11-08
Also published as: WO2022142668A1; JP2024502507A; KR20230125295A

Abstract

A carrying device and a method for carrying an object are provided. The carrying device includes a vehicular body (20) and a carrying arm (30) disposed in the vehicular body (20). The carrying arm (30) includes an arm body (301) on which a lift mechanism (303) is disposed. The carrying arm (30) can horizontally protrude from the vehicular body (20) to lift object through the lift mechanism (303) and retract into the vehicular body (20). When the lift mechanism (303) lifts from a low level to a high level, the top part of the lift mechanism (303) horizontally moves along a direction in which the carrying arm (30) retracts into the vehicular body (20).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of automated guided transport technologies and in particular to a carrying device and a method for carrying an object.

BACKGROUND

A carrying device usually includes a vehicular body and a carrying arm disposed on the vehicular body. The carrying arm includes an arm body, a lift mechanism and a support wheel, where the lift mechanism and the support wheel are disposed on the arm body. The carrying arm can protrude from the vehicular body to lift object by way of the lift mechanism, and place the lifted object on the vehicular body which transports the object to a destination.
In such a carrying device, the carrying arm usually first protrude from the vehicular body to lift object vertically upward to a predetermined height, and then the vehicular body travels forward to be under the object lifted by the lift mechanism, and then the lift mechanism places the lifted object on the vehicular body. Therefore, it can be seen that the process of the carrying arm carrying object from outside the vehicular body onto the vehicular body involves the process of the lift mechanism lifting vertically upward and the process of the vehicular body moving forward, resulting in a low carrying efficiency.

SUMMARY

In view of the above, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a carrying device and a method for carrying an object.
According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a carrying device, which includes a vehicular body and a carrying arm provided in the vehicular body, where the carrying arm includes an arm body on which a lift mechanism is disposed, and the carrying arm is allowed to horizontally protrude from the vehicular body to lift an object through the lift mechanism, and is allowed to retract into the vehicular body.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, when the lift mechanism lifts from a low level to a high level, a top part of the lift mechanism moves horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the lift mechanism includes a lift drive mechanism and a foldable lift actuation mechanism, and the lift actuation mechanism is coupled with the lift drive mechanism; where when the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to perform a retracting operation, the lift actuation mechanism folds and retracts along a direction in which the carrying arm protrudes horizontally from the vehicular body; when the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to perform a stretching and lifting operation, a top part of the lift actuation mechanism moves horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the lift actuation mechanism includes a connecting rod mechanism and a pull rod, where a bottom end of the connecting rod mechanism is hinged to the arm body; where a first end of the pull rod is hinged to the lift drive mechanism, and a second end of the pull rod is hinged to the connecting rod mechanism, where the lift drive mechanism is configured to pull the pull rod, such that the pull rod pulls the connecting rod mechanism to perform the retracting operation; the lift drive mechanism is configured to push the pull rod, such that the pull rod pushes the connecting rod mechanism to perform a stretching and lifting operation.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the pull rod includes a first pull rod and a second pull rod, a first end of the first pull rod is hinged to the lift drive mechanism, a second end of the first pull rod is hinged to a first end of the second pull rod, and a second end of the second pull rod is hinged to the connecting rod mechanism; where a first limiting block is disposed at the second end of the first pull rod, and a second limiting block is disposed at the first end of the second pull rod; after the first pull rod and the second pull rod push the connecting rod mechanism from a maximum retracted state to a predetermined height, the first limiting block and the second limiting block are abutted against each other.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the lift drive mechanism includes a lift drive motor, a power transmission mechanism coupled to the lift drive motor and a slide block coupled to the power transmission mechanism; where the slide block is disposed on the arm body and hinged to the first end of the pull rod; the lift drive motor drives the slide block to move back and forth on the arm body along a length direction of the arm body through the power transmission mechanism.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the power transmission mechanism includes a screw rod, the slide block includes a nut, and the nut is threaded onto the screw rod to form a screw rod-nut pair.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, a suspension auxiliary mechanism for assisting the carrying arm in suspension from a ground is disposed on the vehicular body, and a support wheel is disposed on the arm body.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the suspension auxiliary mechanism includes a climb guide component disposed on the vehicular body; where the carrying arm has a climb component configured to climb along the climb guide component; where the carrying arm and/or the vehicular body comprises a power device for providing a climb power for the climb component.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the climb guide component includes a guide plate disposed at a bottom of the vehicular body and having a predetermined slope relative to the ground; where the climb component on the carrying arm is the support wheel.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the climb guide component includes a first climb guide component disposed at the first end of the vehicular body and a second climb guide component disposed at the second end of the vehicular body; where the climb component on the carrying arm includes a first climb component capable of climbing along the first climb guide component and a second climb component capable of climbing along the second climb guide component.
The power device is configured to provide a climb power for the first climb component and/or the second climb component.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the first climb guide component includes a guide plate disposed at a bottom of the vehicular body and having a predetermined slope relative to the ground; where the support wheel includes a first support wheel and a second support wheel spaced apart along a length direction of the arm body, and the power device is disposed on the carrying arm and coupled to the first support wheel; where the first climb component is the first support wheel.
The first support wheel climbs along the first climb guide component while the second climb component climbs along the second climb guide component, such that the first support wheel and the second support wheel are lifted away from the ground.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the second climb guide component includes a rolling body rollable along the length direction of the arm body; where the second climb component is a support block disposed at an outer side of the arm body, and a bottom of the support block has an inclined surface in supporting cooperation with the second climb guide component.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the suspension auxiliary mechanism includes a support portion disposed on the vehicular body; where the lift mechanism includes a lift drive mechanism and a lift actuation mechanism, and the lift actuation mechanism is coupled to the lift drive mechanism; where the lift actuation mechanism is supported on the support portion on the vehicular body, and the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to continue performing a retracting operation, such that the support wheel is lifted away from the ground.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the lift actuation mechanism includes a retractable lift mechanism and a lift top plate disposed on the top part of the retractable lift mechanism; where when the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to retract to a predetermined position, the lift top plate is supported on the support portion on the vehicular body, and the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to continue performing the retracting operation, such that the support wheel is lifted away from the ground.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the support portion includes a first support portion disposed at a first side of the vehicular body and a second support portion disposed at a second side of the vehicular body; where a first protrusion block in supporting cooperation with the first support portion and a second protrusion block in supporting cooperation with the second support portion are disposed on both sides of the lift top plate respectively; where when the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to retract to a predetermined position, the first protrusion block is supported on the first support portion and the second protrusion block is supported on the second support portion, and the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to continue performing the retracting operation, such that the support wheel is lifted away from the ground.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the vehicular body has a carrying arm accommodation groove extending horizontally, and the carrying arm is disposed in the carrying arm accommodation groove; where a slide rail is disposed between the carrying arm accommodation groove and the carrying arm; where a slide rail guide and support structure is disposed at a side portion of the carrying arm accommodation groove, and the slide rail guide and support structure matches the slide rail to provide transverse guide and vertical supporting for the slide rail; the slide rail guide and support structure is configured to support an up and down movement of the slide rail.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, a vertical guide structure is disposed at the side portion of the carrying arm accommodation groove; where the slide rail guide and support structure includes a base portion and a guide and support portion coupled with the base portion, and the base portion is in up and down slide cooperation or up and down rolling cooperation with the vertical guide structure, and the guide and support portion cooperates with the slide rail to provide transverse guide and vertical supporting for the slide rail.
According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for carrying an object, including: driving a vehicular body to travel to a predetermined position close to the object, and driving a carrying arm to protrude from the vehicular body to be under the object; performing, by a lift mechanism of the carrying arm, a lift operation to lift the object and driving the carrying arm to retract to a predetermined position in the vehicular body; and performing, by the lift mechanism, a retracting operation to place the lifted object on the vehicular body.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, when the lift mechanism lifts the object from a low level to a high level, the object is moved horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, when the lift mechanism lifts the object from a low level to a high level, horizontally moving the object along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body includes: when a lift drive mechanism drives a lift actuation mechanism to perform a stretching and lifting operation, horizontally moving the object lifted on a top part of the lift actuation mechanism along the direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the lift actuation mechanism includes a connecting rod mechanism and a pull rod; where, driving the lift actuation mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation by the lift drive mechanism includes: pushing the pull rod by the lift drive mechanism, and pushing, by the pull rod, the connecting rod mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, pushing the pull rod by the lift drive mechanism and pushing, by the pull rod, the connecting rod mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation include: driving, by a lift drive motor, a slide block to move through a power transmission mechanism, pushing, by the slide block, the pull rod, and pushing, by the pull rod, the connecting rod mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, performing a lift operation to lift the object by the lift mechanism of the carrying arm and driving the carrying arm to retract to the predetermined position in the vehicular body include: when the lift mechanism of the carrying arm performs the lift operation to lift the object, driving the carrying arm to move toward the vehicular body.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, driving a vehicular body to travel to a predetermined position close to the object, and driving a carrying arm to protrude from the vehicular body to be under the object include: after driving the vehicular body to travel to the predetermined position close to the object and driving a support wheel of the carrying arm to drop down to the ground from a suspended state, driving the carrying arm to protrude from the vehicular body to be under the object.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, driving the support wheel of the carrying arm to drop down to the ground from the suspended state includes the following process: a travel drive mechanism of the carrying arm acts such that the support wheel of the carrying arm drops down to the ground after traveling a predetermined distance along a predetermined direction on the vehicular body; or, the lift mechanism is in a retracted state and supported on the vehicular body, and the support wheel of the carrying arm is in a suspended state; the lift mechanism performs the lift operation and the support wheel of the carrying arm drops down to the ground.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, after the lift mechanism performs the retracting operation to place the lifted object on the vehicular body, the method further includes: suspending the support wheel of the carrying arm from the ground; and driving the vehicular body to travel to transfer the object to a destination.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, suspending the support wheel of the carrying arm from the ground includes the following process: the carrying arm continues traveling in the vehicular body to climb onto the vehicular body, and the support wheel of the carrying arm is suspended from the ground; or, the lift mechanism continues performing the retracting operation until supported on the vehicular body, and when the lift mechanism continues retracting operation, the support wheel is lifted away from the ground.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the process that the carrying arm continues traveling in the vehicular body to climb onto the vehicular body, and the support wheel of the carrying arm is suspended from the ground includes the following process: when the carrying arm continues traveling in the vehicular body, the support wheel at a first end of the carrying arm climbs along a first climb guide component at a first end of the vehicular body, while a climb component at a side portion of a second end of the carrying arm climbs along a second climb guide component at a side portion of a second end of the vehicular body.
According to a specific implementation of embodiments of the present disclosure, the process that the support wheel at the first end of the carrying arm climbs along the first climb guide component at the first end of the vehicular body includes the following process: the support wheel at the first end of the carrying arm climbs along a guide plate located at the bottom of the first end of the vehicular body and having a predetermined slope relative to the ground; and the climb component at the side portion of the second end of the carrying arm climbs along the second climb guide component at the side portion of the second end of the vehicular body, which includes the following process: a climb guide surface at the bottom of a support block at a side portion of the second end of the carrying arm climbs along a rolling body disposed at a side portion of the second end of the vehicular body.
In the embodiments of the carrying device and the method for carrying an object of the present disclosure, the carrying arm protrudes from the vehicular body to lift object through the lift mechanism and in the process of lifting, by the lift mechanism, the object from a low level to a high level, the top part of the lift mechanism (i.e., the lifted object) moves horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body. In other words, when the lift mechanism performs lift operation, the top part of the lift mechanism runs along a curve trajectory which includes vertical and horizontal displacement components, where the vertical displacement component is a lift process from a low level to a high level, and the horizontal displacement component is a horizontal movement along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body. In a lift process of the lift mechanism, the lift of the object and the transfer of the object toward the vehicular body can be carried out at the same time, so as to improve the carrying efficiency of the carrying arm for the object. After the carrying arm retracts the vehicular body, the carrying arm may be suspended by using the suspension auxiliary mechanism on the vehicular body, such that the support wheels of the carrying arm are lifted from the ground, i.e., are not in contact with the ground. In this case, when the carrying device travels, only the vehicular body is in contact with the ground whereas the carrying arm is suspended from the ground, thus reducing friction with the ground. Hence, the carrying device can travel more quickly with less resistance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings required for descriptions of the embodiments will be briefly described below. Apparently, the drawings described herein are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without making creative work.

FIG. 1 is a structural schematic diagram illustrating a carrying device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 2 is a structural schematic diagram illustrating a carrying arm in FIG. 1, where the lift mechanism is in a retracted state.
FIG. 3 is a structural schematic diagram illustrating the carrying arm in FIG. 2, where the lift mechanism is in a lifted state.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which a carrying arm protrudes from a vehicular body to lift an object according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which a carrying arm is in a vehicular body in a carrying device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the carrying arm is in a state prior to climb.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a carrying arm in another state prior to climb in a vehicular body in a carrying device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a carrying arm in a suspended state from the ground after climbing onto a vehicular body in a carrying device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 8 is a structural schematic diagram illustrating a carrying device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, where a carrying arm is in a vehicular body.
FIG. 9 is a structural schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the carrying arm protrudes from the vehicular body through a slide rail in the embodiment of FIG. 8.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a lift mechanism of the carrying arm in a lifted state in the embodiment of FIG. 8.
FIG. 11 is a structural schematic diagram illustrating the carrying arm retracted into the vehicular body in the embodiment of FIG. 8.
FIG. 12 is a structural schematic diagram illustrating a top plate of the lift mechanism supported on a support portion on the vehicular body in the embodiment of FIG. 8.
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a side surface of a structure when the top plate of the lift mechanism is supported on the support portion on the vehicular body in the embodiment of FIG. 8.
FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a carrying arm suspended from the ground in FIG. 13.
FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method for carrying an object according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the carrying arm protrudes from the vehicular body to be under the object after the vehicular body travels to a predetermined position close to the object.
FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which a lift mechanism lifts a pallet from a low level to a high level.
FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the carrying arm transfers the object to be exactly over the vehicular body.
FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the lift mechanism performs the retracting operation to place the lifted pallet on the vehicular body.
FIG. 20 is a structural schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the carrying arm climbs to be suspended from the ground after the lift mechanism places the lifted pallet on the vehicular body.
FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a method for carrying an object according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the present disclosure will be detailed below in combination with the drawings. It should be clearly understood that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present disclosure rather than all embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on these embodiments of the present disclosure without making creative work shall fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
With reference to FIG. 1, the carrying device 10 in an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a vehicular body 20 and a carrying arm 30, where the carrying arm 30 is disposed in the vehicular body 20. The carrying arm 30 includes an arm body 301 on which a lift mechanism 303 is disposed. The carrying arm 30 can protrude from the vehicular body 20 horizontally to lift an object through the lift mechanism 303 and retract into the vehicular body 20.
When the lift mechanism 303 lifts the object from a low level to a high level, the top part of the lift mechanism 303 moves horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm 30 retracts into the vehicular body 20.
In one embodiment, the carrying device may also be referred to as an automated guided carrying device, a carrying robot, a carrying AGV, or an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV). The AGV refers to a transport vehicle equipped with electromagnetic or optical automated guided device, which has safety protection and various transfer functions and is capable of traveling along a specified guide path. In addition to pallets, the carrying device can also carry various types of objects, or object shelves and objects as long as a space is reserved below to allow the carrying arm 30 to enter.
The vehicular body 2 are provided with an omni-directional travel unit, a sensing unit, a battery, a charge unit, a control unit, an anti-collision unit, a code reading unit and a communication unit and the like. The sensing unit may be a laser, or visual or infrared or photoelectric sensor or the like, and the omni-directional travel unit can carry out several travel modes such as a straight line travel, an oblique line travel and an arc line travel, or can be replaced with another travel unit to realize a different travel mode.
A guide structure, for example, a guide groove or a guide rail or the like, provided for the carrying arm 30 to enter and leave, is disposed on the vehicular body 20. As shown in FIG. 1, in an example, a carrying arm accommodation groove 201 may be disposed in the vehicular body 20 and the carrying arm 30 may be disposed in the carrying arm accommodation groove 201.
Two carrying arm accommodation grooves 201 may be disposed in parallel in the vehicular body 20, where one carrying arm 30 is disposed in each of the two carrying arm accommodation grooves 201. The two carrying arms 30 can cooperatively work.
In some embodiments, a support wheel is disposed on the arm body 301. The support wheel may be disposed at the bottom of the arm body 301 to support the carrying arm 30. The support wheel may be a drive wheel with drive power or a caster wheel without drive power. One end of the arm body 301 may be provided with the support wheel and the other end of the arm body 301 may be supported on the vehicular body 20. With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, support wheels 302a and 302b may be disposed respectively at both ends of the arm body 301. When an object is carried, both ends of the arm body 301 may be supported on the ground through the support wheels, where the support wheel 302a may be a drive wheel and the support wheel 302b may be a caster wheel.
The lift mechanism 303 is used to lift an object or to lift a pallet holding the object. As shown in FIG. 4, in an example, when the lift mechanism 303 lifts a pallet 100 from a low level to a high level, the top part of the lift mechanism 303 moves horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm 30 retracts into the vehicular body 20. In FIG. 4, the direction indicated by the arc arrow refers to a direction in which the lift mechanism 303 lifts the pallet 100 from a low level to a high level, and the direction indicated by the horizontal arrow is a direction in which the carrying arm 30 retracts into the vehicular body 20.
In this embodiment, when the carrying arm 30 protrudes from the vehicular body 20 horizontally to lift the object through the lift mechanism 303, and in the process of lifting, by the lift mechanism 303, the object from a low level to a high level, the top (i.e., the lifted object) of the lift mechanism 303 moves horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm 30 retracts into the vehicular body 20. In other words, when the lift mechanism 303 performs a lift operation, the top part of the lift mechanism 303 runs along a curve trajectory which includes vertical and horizontal displacement components, where the vertical displacement component is a lift process from a low level to a high level, and the horizontal displacement component is a horizontal movement along a direction in which the carrying arm 30 retracts into the vehicular body 20. In a lift process of the lift mechanism 303, the lift of the object and the transfer of the object toward the vehicular body 20 can be carried out at the same time, so as to improve the carrying efficiency of the carrying arm for the object.
The lift mechanism 303 may lift along a predetermined curve trajectory, in which the lift mechanism 303 can be driven vertically and horizontally respectively. While the lift mechanism 303 is lifted vertically, the lift mechanism 303 is driven by a horizontal drive force to move horizontally. The lift mechanism 303 may be a screw rod type nut lift mechanism or a multi-connecting rod lift mechanism or a shear type lift mechanism or the like.
In order to enable the lift mechanism 303 to have a compact structure in a non-lifted state to facilitate folding in the vehicular body 20, the lift mechanism 303 may be a foldable lift mechanism. Specifically, in some embodiments, the lift mechanism 303 may include a lift drive mechanism and a foldable lift actuation mechanism, where the lift actuation mechanism and the lift drive mechanism are coupled.
When the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to perform a retracting operation, the lift actuation mechanism folds and retracts on the arm body 301 of the carrying arm 30 along a direction in which the carrying arm 30 protrudes from the vehicular body 20 horizontally. In this way, when the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to perform a stretching and lifting operation, the top part of the lift actuation mechanism can move horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm 30 retracts into the vehicular body 20.
In some embodiments, the lift actuation mechanism may include a connecting rod mechanism and a pull rod. The bottom end of the connecting rod mechanism is hinged on the arm body 301. A first end of the pull rod is hinged to the lift drive mechanism and a second end of the pull rod is hinged to the connecting rod mechanism. The lift drive mechanism pulls the pull rod and the pull rod pulls the connecting rod mechanism to perform the retracting operation. The lift drive mechanism pushes the pull rod and the pull rod pushes the connecting rod mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation.
As shown in FIG. 3, in an example, the connecting rod mechanism includes a lift top plate 3031, a first connecting rod 3032 and a second connecting rod 3033. The bottom end of the first connecting rod 3032 is hinged to the arm body 301, and the top end of the first connecting rod 3032 is hinged to the lift top plate 3031; the bottom end of the second connecting rod 3033 is hinged to the arm body 301 and the top end of the second connecting rod 3033 is hinged to the lift top plate 3031. The lift top plate 3031, the first connecting rod 3032, the second connecting rod 3033 and the arm body 301 all form a parallel four-connecting rod mechanism. The lift top plate 3031 is used to lift the object.
In order to ensure the lift top plate 3031 can support the object more smoothly with a stronger support force, as shown in FIG. 3, two first connecting rods 3032 disposed in parallel and two second connecting rods 3033 disposed in parallel may be provided and the lift top plate 3031 are supported at four corners by the four connecting rods respectively.
There may be one pull rod. One end of the pull rod is hinged to the lift drive mechanism and the other end of the pull rod is hinged to the first connecting rod 3032.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in some embodiments, there may be two pull rods, including a first pull rod 3034 and a second pull rod 3035. A first end of the first pull rod 3034 is hinged to the lift drive mechanism, a second end of the first pull rod 3034 is hinged to a first end of the second pull rod 3035, and a second end of the second pull rod 3035 is hinged to the first connecting rod 3032. When there are two first connecting rods 3032, each first connecting rod 3032 corresponds to two pull rods.
With reference to FIG. 5, when the connecting rod mechanism is in a maximum retracted state, the first pull rod 3034 is horizontally supported on the arm body 301, and there is an included angle between the second pull rod 3035 and the first pull rod 3034, which may be greater than or equal to 150 degrees or less than or equal to 180 degrees. In this case, it is helpful for the lift drive mechanism to apply a lift push force to the connecting rod mechanism and thus, the connecting rod mechanism can be pushed with a smaller push force from the retracted state to the stretching and lifted state.
A first limiting block (not shown) may be disposed at the second end of the first pull rod 3034 and a second limiting block (not shown) may be disposed at the first end of the second pull rod 3035. After the first pull rod 3034 and the second pull rod 3035 push the connecting rod mechanism from the maximum retracted state to a predetermined height, the first limiting block and the second limiting block are abutted against each other such that a fixed included angle between the first pull rod 3034 and the second pull rod 3035 is kept unchanged so as to push the connecting rod mechanism to perform stable stretching and lifting along the curve trajectory.
As shown in FIG. 3, in some embodiments, the lift drive mechanism may include a lift drive motor 304, a power transmission mechanism 305 coupled with the lift drive motor 304 and a slide block 360 coupled with the power transmission mechanism 305. The slide block 360 is disposed on the arm body 301 and hinged to the first end of the first pull rod 3034. The lift drive motor 304 can drive the slide block 360 through the power transmission mechanism 305 to move back and forth on the arm body 301 along a length direction of the arm body 301. In this way, the first pull rod 3034 is driven to move, and then the first pull rod 3034 drives the second pull rod 3035 to move, and then the second pull rod 3035 drives the first connecting rod 3032 to rotate around a hinging point with the arm body 301.
The power transmission mechanism 305 shown in FIG. 3 includes a screw rod and the slide block 360 includes a nut, and the nut is coupled to threads of the screw rod to form a screw rod-nut pair. In other embodiments, the power transmission mechanism 305 may also be a chain transmission mechanism or a pinion-rack transmission mechanism.
When the slide block 360 pushes the first pull rod 3034, a hinging point between the slide block 360 and the first pull rod 3034 can always move horizontally. As shown in FIG. 3, an elongated slide groove 370 extending horizontally may be disposed at a side portion of the arm body 301 of the carrying arm 30. An end of a hinging shaft 308 between the slide block 360 and the first pull rod 3034 is disposed in the slide groove 370 and thus the hinging point between the slide block 360 and the first pull rod 3034 can be limited through the slide groove 370 so as to enable the hinging point to always move horizontally.
When the hinging point between the slide block 360 and the first pull rod 3034 moves horizontally, the hinging point between the slide block 360 and the first pull rod 3034 can be supported on the arm body 301 of the carrying arm, so as to provide stable supporting for the lift mechanism 303.
In order to facilitate hinging between the slide block 360 and the first pull rod 3034, a support block 309 may be disposed at a side portion of the slide block 360 and hinged to the first end of the first pull rod 3034. When two first pull rods 3034 are disposed at both sides of the arm body 301, the support blocks 309 may be disposed at both sides of the slide block 360.
In some embodiments, a suspension auxiliary mechanism assisting the carrying arm 30 suspended from the ground is disposed on the vehicular body 20.
When an object is carried, the carrying arm 30 protrudes horizontally from the vehicular body 20 to under the object, and lifts the object through the lift mechanism 303 and retracts into the vehicular body 20. After the lift mechanism 303 places the lifted object on the vehicular body 20, the suspension auxiliary mechanism on the vehicular body 20 suspends the carrying arm 30 from the ground. In some other embodiments, when the carrying arm 30 retracts into the vehicular body 20 but the lift mechanism 303 still holds the lifted object, the carrying arm 30 may be suspended from the ground by the suspension auxiliary mechanism.
After the carrying arm 30 retracts the vehicular body 20, the carrying arm 30 may be suspended from the ground by using the suspension auxiliary mechanism on the vehicular body 20, such that the support wheels 302a and 302b of the carrying arm 30 are lifted from the ground, i.e., are not in contact with the ground. In this case, when the carrying device 10 travels, only the vehicular body 20 is in contact with the ground whereas the carrying arm 30 is suspended from the ground, thus reducing friction with the ground. Hence, the carrying device 10 can travel more quickly with less resistance.
In some embodiments, the suspension auxiliary mechanism may be a carrying arm climb auxiliary mechanism. Specifically, the suspension auxiliary mechanism may include a climb guide component disposed on the vehicular body 20. Correspondingly, the carrying arm 30 has a climb component capable of climbing along the climb guide component.
The climb guide component may be a guide plate, a guide block, a guide rail, a guide wheel or a guide rope or the like. The climb component may be a rollable rolling body or a non-rollable block body or plate body capable of sliding along the climb guide component or the like.
In order to push or pull the carrying arm 30 to climb along the climb guide component, a power device for driving the climb component may be disposed on the carrying device 10. The power device may include a drive motor, a speed reduction mechanism coupled to the drive motor and a power transmission mechanism coupled to the speed reduction mechanism, where the power transmission mechanism is coupled to the carrying arm. The power transmission mechanism may be a traction rope, a transmission belt, a chain, a pinion and/or rack or the like.
The power device may be disposed on the carrying arm 30 or on the vehicular body 20 or respectively on the carrying arm 30 and the vehicular body 20.
In some embodiments, the climb guide component may include a guide plate disposed at the bottom of the vehicular body 20 and having a predetermined slope relative to the ground. The support wheels on the carrying arm 30 can serve as climb components as well as travel and support components of the carrying arm 30.
When the support wheels are in contact with the guide plate, the power device provides a climb power (for example, pushing or pulling the arm body 301 of the carrying arm 30 to move forward), and the support wheels climb to the vehicular body 20 along the guide plate, thus the support wheels are suspended from the ground.
As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, in order to increase the climb efficiency of the carrying arm 30, in some embodiments, the climb guide component may include: a first climb guide component 401a disposed at the first end of the vehicular body 20 and a second climb guide component disposed at the second end of the vehicular body 20. Accordingly, the climb component of the carrying arm 30 includes a first climb component 304a capable of climbing along the first climb guide component 401a and a second climb component 304b capable of climbing along the second climb guide component 401b.
The power device is used to provide a climb power for the first climb component 304a and/or the second climb component 304b.
The first climb guide component 401a and the second climb guide component 401b may be guide plates, guide blocks, guide rails, guide wheels or guide ropes or the like. The first climb component 304a and the second climb component 304b may be rollable rolling bodies or non-rollable block bodies or plate bodies capable of sliding along the first climb guide component and the second climb guide component or the like.
In this embodiment, the first climb component 304a and the second climb component 304b on the carrying arm 30 respectively cooperate with the first climb guide component 401a and the second climb guide component 401b on the vehicular body 20, such that the carrying arm 30 can be lifted at the same time at two different positions of the carrying arm 30, thereby the climb efficiency of the carrying arm 30 is improved and the carrying arm 30 is suspended from the ground in a shorter time.
With reference to FIG. 5, in some embodiments, the first climb guide component 401a may include a guide plate 402 disposed at the bottom of the first end of the vehicular body 20 and having a predetermined angle relative to the ground.
As shown in FIG. 6, the first support wheel 302a can serve as the first climb component 304a to climb along the guide plate 402.
The power device is disposed on the carrying arm 30 and coupled to the first support wheel 302a. In this embodiment, the power device is coupled to the first support wheel 302a to provide a climb power to the first support wheel 302a. In addition to providing a climb power to the first support wheel 302a, the power device can also provide a drive power to the travel of the first support wheel 302a on the ground. Therefore, the power device may also serve as a power drive device of the first support wheel 302a, namely, the power device can provide a climb power to the first support wheel 302a and a drive power to the travel of the first support wheel 302a on the ground. The embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to thereto, the power device for providing a climb power to the first support wheel 302a and the power device for providing a drive power to the travel of the first support wheel 302a on the ground may be two independent power devices.
As shown in FIG. 5, when the support wheel does not perform the climb operation, the bottom of the guide plate 402 may have a height from the ground to avoid affecting normal travel of the vehicular body 20. A rotary shaft 202 coupled with the guide plate 402 may be disposed on the vehicular body 20, and a torsion spring is mounted onto the rotary shaft 202. When the support wheel 302a does not perform the climb operation, the guide plate 402 is inclined downward with a height from the ground. When the support wheel 302a contacts with the guide plate 402 and continues traveling, the support wheel 302a can push the guide plate 402 to rotate to enable the bottom of the guide plate 402 to be in contact with the ground, so as to provide strong supporting for the climb of the support wheel 302a. After the support wheel 302a climbs onto the vehicular body, the guide plate 402 is restored to an initial position under the action of a restoring force of the torsion spring and the bottom of the guide plate 402 has a height from the ground.
As shown in FIG. 7, after the support wheel 302a climbs onto the vehicular body 20, the rotary shaft 202 may be located behind the support wheel 302a to prevent the support wheel 302a from backing up to some degree. In this way, when the vehicular body 20 travels, the support wheel 302a of the carrying arm 30 can be prevented from slipping off the vehicular body 20 to the ground due to uneven road surface or acceleration or deceleration of the vehicular body 20 or the like.
The second climb guide component 401b may include a rolling body rollable along a length direction of the arm body 301, for example, a roller, a rolling ball or rolling drum or the like.
As shown in FIG. 6, the second climb component 304b is a support block 350 disposed at an outer side of the arm body 301, where the bottom end of the support block 350 has an inclined surface in supporting cooperation with the second climb guide component 104b.
In some other embodiments, the second climb component 304b may be a rolling body such as a roller, a rolling ball or a rolling drum or the like disposed at the outer side of the arm body 301.
In some other embodiments, the first climb guide component 401a may include a first group of guide plates disposed at both sides of the first end of the carrying arm accommodation groove 201. The second climb guide component 401b may include a second group of guide plates disposed at both sides of the second end of the carrying arm accommodation groove 201. The first group of guide plates and the second group of guide plates both have a guide inclined surface. The first climb component 304a on the carrying arm 30 is a first group of support blocks disposed at both sides of the first end of the arm body 301 of the carrying arm 30. The second climb component 304b on the carrying arm 30 is a second group of support blocks disposed at both sides of the second end of the arm body 301 of the carrying arm 30. The bottoms of the first group of support blocks and the second group of support blocks have inclined surfaces matching the guide inclined surfaces of the first group of guide plates and the second group of guide plates.
When the first group of support blocks approaches the first group of guide plates and the second group of support blocks approaches the second group of guide plates, the power device provides a climb power to the carrying arm 30, the first group of support blocks climbs along the first group of guide plates while the second group of support blocks climbs along the second group of guide plates, such that the support wheels 302a and 302b of the carrying arm 30 can be suspended from the ground.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, in some embodiments, in order to lengthen the protruding travel of the carrying arm 30, a slide rail 50 is disposed between the carrying arm accommodation groove 201 and the carrying arm 30.
As shown in FIG. 6, a slide rail guide and support structure 203 is disposed at a side portion of the carrying arm accommodation groove 201 to cooperate with the slide rail 50 to provide transverse guide and vertical supporting for the slide rail 50. The slide rail guide and support structure 203 can support an up and down movement of the slide rail 50.
The slide rail 50 can perform transverse (horizontal) retractable movement relative to the carrying arm accommodation groove 201, and the carrying arm 30 may move horizontally along the slide rail 50. The slide rail 50 may also be referred to as a secondary rail of the carrying arm 30.
When the carrying arm 30 is suspended from the ground by climbing, the carrying arm 30 can be entirely moved upward. In one embodiment, the slide rail 50 may be fixed relative to the vehicular body 20 and the carrying arm 30 may move up and down relative to the slide rail 50. In another example, the slide rail 50 may move up and down relative to the vehicular body 20, and the carrying arm 30 is fixed relative to the slide rail 50, and thus the carrying arm 30 can move up and down together with the slide rail 50 relative to the vehicular body 20.
As shown in FIG. 6, in some embodiments, a vertical guide structure 204 is disposed at a side portion of the carrying arm accommodation groove 201. The slide rail guide and support structure 203 may include a base portion and a guide and support portion coupled to the base portion. The base portion is in up and down slide cooperation or up and down rolling cooperation with the vertical guide structure 204. The guide and support portion cooperates with the slide rail 50 to provide transverse guide and vertical supporting for the slide rail 50.
In an example, the vertical guide structure 204 is a vertical guide groove in which the base portion may move up and down. In another example, the vertical guide structure is a vertical rail and the base portion has a slide groove in slide cooperation with the vertical rail.
In some embodiments, the suspension auxiliary mechanism may also be an elevated suspension auxiliary mechanism. Specifically, the suspension auxiliary mechanism may include a support portion disposed on the vehicular body 20; where the lift mechanism includes a lift drive mechanism and a lift actuation mechanism; the lift actuation mechanism is coupled with the lift drive mechanism; the lift actuation mechanism may be supported on the support portion on the vehicular body 20. After the lift actuation mechanism is supported on the support portion on the vehicular body 20, the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to continue performing the retracting operation and thus the support wheels are lifted away from the ground.
In this embodiment, when the carrying arm 30 is in the vehicular body 20, the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to perform the retracting operation and the lift actuation mechanism can be supported on the support portion on the vehicular body 20; the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to continue performing the retracting operation and thus the support wheels are lifted away from the ground. In this embodiment, the carrying arm 30 can be suspended in situ from the ground, making the structure of the vehicular body 20 more compact.
The support portion on the vehicular body 20 may be a support groove in the vehicular body 20. In addition to rendering supporting effect on the lift actuation mechanism, the support groove may also have restrictive effect on the lift mechanism (i.e., the carrying arm 30). In this case, it is avoided that the carrying arm 30 is swung back and forth on the vehicular body 20 due to uneven road surface or acceleration or deceleration of the vehicular body 20.
The lift actuation mechanism includes a retractable lift mechanism and a lift top plate disposed on the top part of the retractable lift mechanism. When the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to retract to a predetermined position, the lift top plate is supported on the support portion on the vehicular body 20. When the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to continue performing the retracting operation, the support wheels 302a and 302b are lifted away from the ground.
When the lift top plate is supported on the support portion on the vehicular body 20, the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to continue performing the retracting operation and thus the support wheels are lifted away from the ground. In this case, the lift actuation mechanism will be in a possibly maximum retracted state, such that the entire height of the lift mechanism is relatively small and hence the height of the vehicular body 20 is also relatively small, lowering the center of gravity and making the running smoother.
In this embodiment, when the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to retract to a predetermined position, the lift top plate is supported on the support portion on the vehicular body 20. In some other embodiments, the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to retract to a predetermined position, which also means the lift actuation mechanism is supported on the support portion on the vehicular body 20, for example, the lift actuation mechanism may be supported on the support portion on the vehicular body 20 through a structure, for example, through a protrusion disposed at a side portion of the lift actuation mechanism.
As shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, in some embodiments, the support portion on the vehicular body 20 may include a first support portion 206 disposed at a first side of the vehicular body 20 and a second support portion 207 disposed at a second side of the vehicular body 20. A first protrusion block 306 in supporting cooperation with the first support portion 206 and a second protrusion block 307 in supporting cooperation with the second support portion 207 are disposed respectively at both sides of the lift top plate 308. With reference to FIGS. 12 and 13, when the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to retract to a predetermined position, the first protrusion block 306 is supported on the first support portion 206 and the second protrusion block 307 is supported on the second support portion 207. With reference to FIG. 14, the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to continue performing the retracting operation, and hence the support wheels 302a and 302b are lifted away from the ground.
In order to render a smoother support for the carrying arm, there may be two or more first support portions 206 and second support portions 207 on the vehicular body 20, and accordingly, there may be two or more first protrusion blocks 306 and second protrusion blocks 307.
The first support portion 206 and the second support portion 207 may be support blocks or support grooves. In addition to rendering supporting effect on the lift mechanism 30, the support grooves may also have restrictive effect on the lift mechanism 303 (i.e., carrying arm 30), and thus it is avoided that the carrying arm 30 is swung back and forth on the vehicular body 30 due to uneven road surface or acceleration or deceleration of the vehicular body 20.
In some embodiments, a magnetic attraction component (e.g., magnet) may be disposed on the first support portion 206 and/or the second support portion 207, and a corresponding magnetic attraction component is disposed on the first protrusion block 306 and/or the second protrusion block 307 (for example, at the bottom of the first protrusion block 306 and the second protrusion block 307). The magnetic attraction component disposed on the first support portion 206 and/or the second support portion 207 may be magnetically attracted to the magnetic attraction component disposed on the first protrusion block 306 and/or the second protrusion block 307. In this case, when the first protrusion block 306 and the second protrusion block 307 are about to be supported on the first support portion 206 and the second support portion 207, automatic alignment between the protrusion blocks and the support portions can be achieved. Furthermore, after the protrusion blocks and the support portions are magnetically attracted together through the magnetic attraction components, the protrusion blocks (i.e., the carrying arm) can be further limited.
As shown in FIG. 15, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a method for carrying an object, which includes the following steps S100 to S104.
At step S100, a vehicular body travels to a predetermined position close to the object and a carrying arm protrudes from the vehicular body to be under the object.
As shown in FIG. 16, the vehicular body 20 travels a predetermined position close to a pallet 100, and the carrying arm 30 protrudes from the vehicular body 20 to be under the pallet 100.
At step S102, a lift mechanism of the carrying arm performs the lift operation to lift the object and retracts into a predetermined position in the vehicular body.
In some embodiments, in the step S102, when the lift mechanism lifts the object from a low level to a high level, the object is moved horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body.
FIG. 17 shows a state in which the lift mechanism lifts the pallet from a low level to a high level, and FIG. 18 shows a state in which the carrying arm moves the object to be exactly over the vehicular body.
At step S 104, the lift mechanism performs the retracting operation to place the lifted object on the vehicular body.
FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the lift mechanism performs the retracting operation to place the pallet on the vehicular body.
In this embodiment, the carrying arm protrudes from the vehicular body to be under the object and lifts the object through the lift mechanism, and in the process of lifting, by the lift mechanism, the object from a low level to a high level, the top part of the lift mechanism (i.e., the lifted object) moves horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body. In other words, when the lift mechanism performs the lift operation, the top (for example, the top plate) of the lift mechanism runs along a curve trajectory which includes vertical and horizontal displacement components, where the vertical displacement component is a lift process from a low level to a high level, and the horizontal displacement component is a horizontal movement along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body. In a lift process of the lift mechanism, the lift of the object and the transfer of the object toward the vehicular body can be carried out at the same time, so as to improve the carrying efficiency of transferring the object to the vehicular body by the carrying arm.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 17, when the lift mechanism lifts the object from a low level to a high level, the object is moved horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body, which includes the following process: when the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation, the object lifted on the top part of the lift actuation mechanism moves horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body.
In some embodiments, the lift actuation mechanism includes a connecting rod mechanism and a pull rod and the bottom of the connecting rod mechanism is hinged onto the arm body; a first end of the pull rod is hinged to the lift drive mechanism, and a second end of the pull rod is hinged to the connecting rod mechanism. The lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation, which includes the following process: the lift drive mechanism pushes the pull rod and the pull rod pushes the connecting rod mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation.
In an example, the connecting rod mechanism includes a lift top plate, a first connecting rod and a second connecting rod. The bottom end of the first connecting rod is hinged to the arm body, and the top end of the first connecting rod is hinged to the lift top plate; the bottom end of the second connecting rod is hinged to the arm body and the top end of the second connecting rod is hinged to the lift top plate. The lift top plate, the first connecting rod, the second connecting rod and the arm body all form a parallel four-connecting rod mechanism.
In some embodiments, the lift drive mechanism may include a lift drive motor, a power transmission mechanism coupled with the lift drive motor and a slide block coupled with the power transmission mechanism. The lift drive mechanism pushes the pull rod and the pull rod pushes the connecting rod mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation, which includes the process: the lift drive motor drives the slide block to move through the power transmission mechanism and the slide block pushes the pull rod and then the pull rod pushes the connecting rod mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation.
The lift drive motor drives the slide block to move through the power transmission mechanism, which includes the following process: the lift drive motor brings the rotation of the screw rod and the screw rod drives the slide block (nut) on the screw rod to move by way of the screw rod-nut pair, and then the slide block pushes the pull rod, and then the pull rod pushes the connecting rod mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation.
In some embodiments, the lift mechanism of the carrying arm performs the lift operation to lift the object and retracts into a predetermined position in the vehicular body, which includes the following process: when the lift mechanism of the carrying arm performs the lift operation to lift the object, the carrying arm moves toward the vehicular body.
In this embodiment, the lift mechanism of the carrying arm perform the lift operation and in the process of lifting the object, the top part of the lift mechanism (i.e., the lifted object) moves horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body. At the same time, the carrying arm also moves toward the vehicular body. In this way, the carrying efficiency of transferring the object to the vehicular body by the carrying arm can be further improved.
As shown in FIG. 21, in some embodiments, after the carrying arm retracts into the predetermined position in the vehicular body, the lift mechanism performs the retracting operation and places the lifted object on the vehicular body, and then the following step S106 can be performed: the support wheels of the carrying arm are suspended from the ground.
In this embodiment, after the carrying arm retracts into the predetermined position in the vehicular body and then places the lifted object on the vehicular body, and the support wheels of the carrying arm are suspended from the ground, that is, not in contact with the ground. In this case, when the carrying device travels, only the vehicular body is in contact with the ground and the carrying arm is suspended from the ground. Thus, the friction with the ground is reduced and the travel resistance of the carrying device is diminished, speeding up the travel.
In some embodiments, the process that the vehicular body travels to a predetermined position close to the obj ect, and the carrying arm protrudes from the vehicular body to be under the object (S100), includes the following process: the vehicular body travels to the predetermined position close to the object, and the support wheels of the carrying arm drop down to the ground from a suspended state, and then the carrying arm protrudes from the vehicular body to be under the object.
In this embodiment, when the vehicular body runs to carry the object, the support wheels of the carrying arm are in a suspended state; when the vehicular body runs to the predetermined position close to the object, the support wheels of the carrying arm drop down to the ground from the suspended state and then the carrying arm protrudes from the vehicular body to be under the object.
In some embodiments, the support wheels of the carrying arm drop down to the ground from the suspended state, which includes the following process: the travel drive mechanism of the carrying arm acts such that the support wheels of the carrying arm drop down to the ground after traveling a predetermined distance along a predetermined direction in the vehicular body.
In this embodiment, the support wheels of the carrying arm drop down to the ground after traveling a predetermined distance along a predetermined direction in the vehicular body, which is contrary to the process in which the support wheels of the carrying arm climb onto the vehicular body in the above embodiments of the carrying device.
In some embodiments, the support wheels of the carrying arm drop down to the ground from the suspended state, which includes the following process: the lift mechanism is in a retracted state and supported on the vehicular body, and the support wheels of the carrying arm are in a suspended state; the lift mechanism performs the lift operation and the support wheels of the carrying arm drop down to the ground.
In some embodiments, the support wheels of the carrying arm are suspended from the ground, which includes the following process: the carrying arm continues traveling in the vehicular body to climb onto the vehicular body, and the support wheels of the carrying arm are suspended from the ground.
In some other embodiments, the support wheels of the carrying arm are suspended from the ground, which includes the following process: the lift mechanism continues performing the retracting operation until supported on the vehicular body, and the lift mechanism continues performing the retracting operation to lift the support wheels from the ground.
In some embodiments, the process that the carrying arm continues traveling in the vehicular body to climb onto the vehicular body, and the support wheels of the carrying arm are suspended from the ground includes the following process: when the carrying arm continues traveling in the vehicular body, the support wheel at the first end of the carrying arm climbs along the first climb guide component at the first end of the vehicular body, while the climb component at a side portion of the second end of the carrying arm climbs along the second climb guide component at a side portion of the second end of the vehicular body.
In some embodiments, the support wheel at the first end of the carrying arm climbs along the first climb guide component at the first end of the vehicular body, which includes the following process: the support wheel at the first end of the carrying arm climbs along the guide plate having a predetermined slope relative to the ground and located at the bottom of the first end of the vehicular body; the climb component at a side portion of the second end of the carrying arm climbs along the second climb guide component at a side portion of the second end of the vehicular body, which includes the following process: the climb guide surface at the bottom of the support block at a side portion of the second end of the carrying arm climbs along a rolling body at a side portion of the second end of the vehicular body.
In this embodiment, the process that the support wheel of the carrying arm drops down to the ground is contrary to the process of suspending from the ground.
As shown in FIG. 21, after the support wheel of the carrying arm drops down and then is suspended from the ground, the method further includes step S108, i.e., the vehicular body travels to transfer the object to a destination.
The method for carrying an object in this embodiment may be applied to the above embodiments of the object carrying device, and its implementations and beneficial effects are basically same as those of the object carrying device and thus will not be repeated herein.
It shall be noted that the relational terms such as "first" and "second" used herein are merely intended to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation rather than to require or imply any such actual relation or order existing between these entities or operations. Also, the term "including", "containing" or any variation thereof is intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, object or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not listed explicitly or those elements inherent to such a process, method, object or device. Without more limitations, an element defined by the statement "including a..." shall not be precluded to include additional same elements present in a process, method, object or device including the elements.
The embodiments of the present disclosure are described in a related manner and those similar or same parts between the embodiments can be referred to each other, with each embodiment focusing on descriptions of the differences from other embodiments.
Since the device embodiments are basically similar to the method embodiments, the descriptions for the device embodiments are simple, with related parts referred to the corresponding descriptions of the method embodiments.
The above descriptions are only made to the specific implementations of the present disclosure and the scope of protection of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions thought of easily by those skilled in the art within the technical scope of the present disclosure shall fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present disclosure shall be indicated by the claims.

Claims

A carrying device, comprising a vehicular body and a carrying arm provided in the vehicular body,
wherein the carrying arm comprises an arm body on which a lift mechanism is disposed, and the carrying arm is allowed to horizontally protrude from the vehicular body to lift an object through the lift mechanism, and is allowed to retract into the vehicular body.
The carrying device of claim 1, wherein when the lift mechanism lifts from a low level to a high level, a top part of the lift mechanism moves horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body.
The carrying device of claim 1, wherein the lift mechanism comprises a lift drive mechanism and a foldable lift actuation mechanism, and the lift actuation mechanism is coupled with the lift drive mechanism; wherein
when the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to perform a retracting operation, the lift actuation mechanism folds and retracts along a direction in which the carrying arm protrudes horizontally from the vehicular body;

when the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to perform a stretching and lifting operation, a top part of the lift actuation mechanism moves horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body.
The carrying device of claim 3, wherein the lift actuation mechanism comprises a connecting rod mechanism and a pull rod,
wherein a bottom end of the connecting rod mechanism is hinged to the arm body;

wherein a first end of the pull rod is hinged to the lift drive mechanism, and a second end of the pull rod is hinged to the connecting rod mechanism,

wherein the lift drive mechanism is configured to pull the pull rod, such that the pull rod pulls the connecting rod mechanism to perform the retracting operation; the lift drive mechanism is configured to push the pull rod, such that the pull rod pushes the connecting rod mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation.
The carrying device of claim 4, wherein the pull rod comprises a first pull rod and a second pull rod, a first end of the first pull rod is hinged to the lift drive mechanism, a second end of the first pull rod is hinged to a first end of the second pull rod, and a second end of the second pull rod is hinged to the connecting rod mechanism;
wherein a first limiting block is disposed at the second end of the first pull rod, and a second limiting block is disposed at the first end of the second pull rod; after the first pull rod and the second pull rod push the connecting rod mechanism from a maximum retracted state to a predetermined height, the first limiting block and the second limiting block are abutted against each other.
The carrying device of claim 4, wherein the lift drive mechanism comprises a lift drive motor, a power transmission mechanism coupled to the lift drive motor and a slide block coupled to the power transmission mechanism;
wherein the slide block is disposed on the arm body and hinged to the first end of the pull rod; and the lift drive motor is configured to drive the slide block to move back and forth on the arm body along a length direction of the arm body through the power transmission mechanism.
The carrying device of claim 6, wherein the power transmission mechanism comprises a screw rod, the slide block comprises a nut, and the nut is threaded onto the screw rod to form a screw rod-nut pair.
The carrying device of claim 1, wherein the vehicular body is provided with a suspension auxiliary mechanism for assisting the carrying arm in suspension from a ground, and the arm body is provided with a support wheel.
The carrying device of claim 8, wherein the suspension auxiliary mechanism comprises a climb guide component disposed on the vehicular body;
wherein the carrying arm has a climb component configured to climb along the climb guide component;

wherein the carrying arm and/or the vehicular body comprises a power device for providing a climb power for the climb component.
The carrying device of claim 9, wherein the climb guide component comprises a guide plate disposed at a bottom of the vehicular body and having a predetermined slope relative to the ground;
wherein the climb component on the carrying arm is the support wheel.
The carrying device of claim 9, wherein the climb guide component comprises a first climb guide component disposed at a first end of the vehicular body and a second climb guide component disposed at a second end of the vehicular body;
wherein the climb component on the carrying arm comprises a first climb component configured to climb along the first climb guide component and a second climb component configured to climb along the second climb guide component;

wherein the power device is configured to provide a climb power for the first climb component and/or the second climb component.
The carrying device of claim 11, wherein the first climb guide component comprises a guide plate disposed at a bottom of the vehicular body and having a predetermined slope relative to the ground;
wherein the support wheel comprises a first support wheel and a second support wheel spaced apart along a length direction of the arm body, and the power device is disposed on the carrying arm and coupled to the first support wheel;

wherein the first climb component is the first support wheel;

wherein the first support wheel climbs along the first climb guide component while the second climb component climbs along the second climb guide component, such that the first support wheel and the second support wheel are lifted away from the ground.
The carrying device of claim 11, wherein the second climb guide component comprises a rolling body rollable along the length direction of the arm body;
wherein the second climb component is a support block disposed at an outer side of the arm body, and a bottom of the support block has an inclined surface in supporting cooperation with the second climb guide component.
The carrying device of claim 8, wherein the suspension auxiliary mechanism comprises a support portion disposed on the vehicular body;
wherein the lift mechanism comprises a lift drive mechanism and a lift actuation mechanism, and the lift actuation mechanism is coupled to the lift drive mechanism;

wherein the lift actuation mechanism is supported on the support portion on the vehicular body, and the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to continue performing a retracting operation, such that the support wheel is lifted away from the ground.
The carrying device of claim 14, wherein the lift actuation mechanism comprises a retractable lift mechanism and a lift top plate disposed on the top part of the retractable lift mechanism;
wherein when the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to retract to a predetermined position, the lift top plate is supported on the support portion on the vehicular body, and the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to continue performing the retracting operation, such that the support wheel is lifted away from the ground.
The carrying device of claim 14, wherein the support portion comprises a first support portion disposed at a first side of the vehicular body and a second support portion disposed at a second side of the vehicular body;
wherein a first protrusion block in supporting cooperation with the first support portion and a second protrusion block in supporting cooperation with the second support portion are disposed on both sides of the lift top plate respectively;

wherein when the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to retract to a predetermined position, the first protrusion block is supported on the first support portion and the second protrusion block is supported on the second support portion, and the lift drive mechanism drives the lift actuation mechanism to continue performing the retracting operation, such that the support wheel is lifted away from the ground.
The carrying device of claim 8, wherein the vehicular body has a carrying arm accommodation groove extending horizontally, and the carrying arm is disposed in the carrying arm accommodation groove;
wherein a slide rail is disposed between the carrying arm accommodation groove and the carrying arm;

wherein a slide rail guide and support structure is disposed at a side portion of the carrying arm accommodation groove, and the slide rail guide and support structure matches the slide rail to provide transverse guide and vertical supporting for the slide rail; the slide rail guide and support structure is configured to support an up and down movement of the slide rail.
The carrying device of claim 17, wherein a vertical guide structure is disposed at the side portion of the carrying arm accommodation groove;
wherein the slide rail guide and support structure comprises a base portion and a guide and support portion coupled with the base portion, and the base portion is in up and down slide cooperation or up and down rolling cooperation with the vertical guide structure, and the guide and support portion cooperates with the slide rail to provide transverse guide and vertical supporting for the slide rail.
A method for carrying an object, comprising:
driving a vehicular body to travel to a predetermined position close to the object, and driving a carrying arm to protrude from the vehicular body to be under the object;

performing, by a lift mechanism of the carrying arm, a lift operation to lift the object and driving the carrying arm to retract to a predetermined position in the vehicular body; and

performing, by the lift mechanism, a retracting operation to place the lifted object on the vehicular body.
The method of claim 19, wherein when the lift mechanism lifts the object from a low level to a high level, the object is moved horizontally along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body.
The method of claim 20, wherein when the lift mechanism lifts the object from a low level to a high level, horizontally moving the object along a direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body comprises:
when a lift drive mechanism drives a lift actuation mechanism to perform a stretching and lifting operation, horizontally moving the object lifted on a top part of the lift actuation mechanism along the direction in which the carrying arm retracts into the vehicular body.
The method of claim 21, wherein the lift actuation mechanism comprises a connecting rod mechanism and a pull rod;
wherein, driving the lift actuation mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation by the lift drive mechanism comprises:
pushing the pull rod by the lift drive mechanism, and pushing, by the pull rod, the connecting rod mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation.
The method of claim 22, wherein pushing the pull rod by the lift drive mechanism and pushing, by the pull rod, the connecting rod mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation comprise:
driving, by a lift drive motor, a slide block to move through a power transmission mechanism, pushing, by the slide block, the pull rod, and pushing, by the pull rod, the connecting rod mechanism to perform the stretching and lifting operation.
The method of claim 19, wherein performing a lift operation to lift the object by the lift mechanism of the carrying arm and driving the carrying arm to retract to the predetermined position in the vehicular body comprise:
when the lift mechanism of the carrying arm performs the lift operation to lift the object, driving the carrying arm to move toward the vehicular body.
The method of claim 19, wherein driving a vehicular body to travel to a predetermined position close to the object, and driving a carrying arm to protrude from the vehicular body to be under the object comprise:
after driving the vehicular body to travel to the predetermined position close to the object and driving a support wheel of the carrying arm to drop down to the ground from a suspended state, driving the carrying arm to protrude from the vehicular body to be under the object.
The method of claim 25, wherein driving the support wheel of the carrying arm to drop down to the ground from the suspended state comprises the following process:
a travel drive mechanism of the carrying arm acts such that the support wheel of the carrying arm drops down to the ground after traveling a predetermined distance along a predetermined direction on the vehicular body; or,

the lift mechanism is in a retracted state and supported on the vehicular body, and the support wheel of the carrying arm is in a suspended state; the lift mechanism performs the lift operation and the support wheel of the carrying arm drops down to the ground.
The method of claim 19, wherein after the lift mechanism performs the retracting operation to place the lifted object on the vehicular body, the method further comprises:
suspending the support wheel of the carrying arm from the ground; and

driving the vehicular body to travel to transfer the object to a destination.
The method of claim 27, wherein suspending the support wheel of the carrying arm from the ground comprises the following process:
the carrying arm continues traveling in the vehicular body to climb onto the vehicular body, and the support wheel of the carrying arm is suspended from the ground; or,

the lift mechanism continues performing the retracting operation until supported on the vehicular body, and when the lift mechanism continues retracting operation, the support wheel is lifted away from the ground.
The method of claim 28, wherein the process that the carrying arm continues traveling in the vehicular body to climb onto the vehicular body, and the support wheel of the carrying arm is suspended from the ground comprises the following process:
when the carrying arm continues traveling in the vehicular body, the support wheel at a first end of the carrying arm climbs along a first climb guide component at a first end of the vehicular body, while a climb component at a side portion of a second end of the carrying arm climbs along a second climb guide component at a side portion of a second end of the vehicular body.
The method of claim 29, wherein the process that the support wheel at the first end of the carrying arm climbs along the first climb guide component at the first end of the vehicular body comprises the following process:
the support wheel at the first end of the carrying arm climbs along a guide plate located at the bottom of the first end of the vehicular body and having a predetermined slope relative to the ground; and

the climb component at the side portion of the second end of the carrying arm climbs along the second climb guide component at the side portion of the second end of the vehicular body, which comprises the following process: a climb guide surface at the bottom of a support block at a side portion of the second end of the carrying arm climbs along a rolling body disposed at a side portion of the second end of the vehicular body.