CN112811354A

CN112811354A - Transfer robot, warehouse logistics system and cage car transfer method

Info

Publication number: CN112811354A
Application number: CN202110081606.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 熊影辉
Original assignee: Beijing Jizhijia Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Jizhijia Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-01-21
Filing date: 2021-01-21
Publication date: 2021-05-18

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of warehouse logistics, and particularly discloses a transfer robot, a warehouse logistics system and a cage car transfer method. Transfer robot is used for carrying cage car, and the lateral part of cage car has the horizontal pole, and transfer robot includes: moving the body; the docking mechanism is arranged on the moving body and comprises a docking piece, the docking piece is used for docking the cross rod and can move up and down relative to the moving body, and therefore the docking side of the cage car can be lifted to be separated from the ground. The warehouse logistics system comprises a cage car and the carrying robot. The cage car carrying method adopts the carrying robot to carry the cage car and comprises the following steps: the carrying robot moves to the right front of the cross bar; the butt joint piece is in butt joint with the cross rod; the butt joint piece drives the butt joint side of the cage trolley to lift until the butt joint side of the cage trolley is separated from the ground; the transfer robot transfers the cage car to the target position. The transfer robot, the warehouse logistics system and the cage car transfer method provided by the invention can improve the cage car transfer efficiency and reduce the cage car transfer cost.

Description

Transfer robot, warehouse logistics system and cage car transfer method

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of warehouse logistics, in particular to a transfer robot, a warehouse logistics system and a cage car transfer method.

Background

With the explosion of electronic commerce, the traditional warehouse logistics system mainly based on manual work is gradually converted into an intelligent logistics system mainly based on robot work, so that the logistics efficiency is improved, the logistics cost is reduced, and the logistics management and distribution precision are improved.

Cage cars are containers used to carry and transport materials in storage streams and are widely used in a variety of settings. The existing cage vehicle is mainly carried in three modes of manual pushing, forklift carrying and robot lifting carrying. The cage trolley is manually pushed without changing the structure of the cage trolley, but the carrying efficiency is low, and the labor cost is high; fork arms of a forklift need to extend into the bottoms of cage cars to lift the cage cars, the cage cars are borne on the fork arms in the transfer process, but the bottom space of the cage cars is not matched with the fork arms, so that the problems of poor transfer stability, high cage car center height and easiness in dumping of the cage cars exist; the robot lifts transport and indicates that the robot moves cage car bottom and cage car and docks the back, lifts the transport to the cage car, and this kind of transport form needs to improve cage car bottom structure to realize the butt joint with the robot, and improvement cost is higher, and the commonality is poor, and cage car is located the robot top in handling, and the center is higher, and transport stability is poor.

Therefore, a new cage car carrying device is needed to improve the stability of cage car carrying, reduce the cage car carrying cost and improve the carrying universality of cage cars of different types.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a transfer robot, a warehouse logistics system and a cage car transfer method, which are used for improving the stability and the applicability of cage car transfer and reducing the cage car transfer cost

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:

a transfer robot for transferring a cage car, a side portion of the cage car having a cross bar, the transfer robot comprising:

a mobile body having an autonomous movement function;

the docking mechanism is arranged on the moving body and comprises a docking piece, the docking piece is used for docking the cross rod, and the docking piece can lift relative to the moving body so that the docking side of the cage car can be lifted to be separated from the ground.

As a preferable mode of the transfer robot, the docking mechanism is connected to one side of the moving body.

As a preferred technical scheme of a transfer robot, the docking mechanism further includes a docking seat, the docking seat is detachably connected to the movable body, and the docking member is detachably connected to one side of the docking seat away from the movable body.

As an optimal technical scheme of a transfer robot, the docking mechanism further comprises a lifting assembly, the lifting assembly is in transmission connection with the docking piece, and the lifting assembly is used for driving the docking piece to lift relative to the docking seat.

As an optimal technical scheme of transfer robot, the butt joint seat has the holding chamber, lifting unit set up in the holding chamber, the butt joint seat is kept away from a lateral wall of removal body link up and has seted up and dodge the mouth, the first end of butt joint spare is located in the holding chamber, the second end of butt joint spare passes through dodge the mouth and stretch out the holding chamber is outside.

As a preferred technical scheme of a transfer robot, the butt joint piece is provided with at least two along the horizontal direction interval, lift subassembly includes drive transmission unit and connecting piece, the drive end of drive transmission unit with the connecting piece transmission is connected, the connecting piece extends along the horizontal direction, and every the first end of butt joint piece all with the connecting piece is connected.

As an optimal technical scheme of a transfer robot, the holding chamber is provided with guide rods, the guide rods are vertically arranged and are arranged at least two at intervals along the horizontal direction, guide holes are formed in the butt joint piece, the guide holes correspond to the guide rods one to one, and the guide rods penetrate through the guide holes in a sliding mode.

As a preferable technical solution of the transfer robot, the first end of the docking member is slidably sleeved on the guide rod.

As a preferable mode of the transfer robot, a connection position of the docking station to the moving body is adjustable in a height direction.

As a transfer robot's preferred technical scheme, transfer robot still includes the adapter, the adapter is including extending the seat, extend the seat along keeping away from the direction level of removing the body extends, the bottom of extending the seat is provided with supplementary truckle, it can stretch into to extend the seat the bottom of cage car.

As an optimal technical scheme of the transfer robot, the adapter further comprises a fixed seat, the fixed seat is vertically arranged, the lower end of the fixed seat is connected with the extension seat, the fixed seat is connected to one side of the movable body, and the butt joint mechanism is arranged on one side, far away from the movable body, of the fixed seat.

As a preferable embodiment of the transfer robot, a connection position of the docking mechanism to the fixed base is adjustable in a height direction.

As an optimal technical scheme of the carrying robot, the fixing seat is provided with an adjusting hole, the adjusting hole extends along the vertical direction, the butt joint mechanism is provided with a threaded hole, and the fixing seat and the butt joint mechanism are connected through a threaded connecting piece penetrating through the adjusting hole and the threaded hole.

As a preferred technical scheme of a transfer robot, the fixing base has an operation space with an opening at the upper end, and the adjusting hole is formed through a side wall of the operation space far away from the moving body.

As a preferred technical scheme of the transfer robot, the moving body comprises a body and a driving wheel mechanism arranged at the bottom of the body, the driving wheel mechanism comprises two steering wheels, and the two steering wheels are arranged at intervals along a direction perpendicular to the butt joint piece; or

The movable body comprises a machine body and a driving wheel mechanism arranged at the bottom of the machine body, the driving wheel mechanism comprises a steering wheel, the steering wheel is arranged at the center of the machine body in the length direction, two universal wheels are further arranged at the bottom of the machine body and are respectively positioned at two sides of the steering wheel, and the auxiliary caster is a directional wheel or at least one auxiliary caster can rotate in a self-driven manner; or

The movable body comprises a body and a driving wheel mechanism arranged at the bottom of the body, the driving wheel mechanism is a double-differential driving wheel set, and at least one auxiliary caster wheel is a universal wheel.

As a preferred technical scheme of the transfer robot, the butt joint piece is provided with a hook groove, the upper end of the hook groove is opened, and the cross rod can be clamped into the hook groove.

As a preferable technical scheme of the transfer robot, the hook groove is a trapezoidal groove with a narrow bottom and a wide opening.

The warehouse logistics system comprises a cage vehicle and the carrying robot, wherein the carrying robot is used for carrying the cage vehicle.

A cage car carrying method adopts a carrying robot to carry a cage car, a cross rod is arranged on the side portion of the cage car, and the carrying robot comprises: a mobile body having an autonomous movement function; the docking mechanism is arranged on the moving body and comprises a docking piece, the docking piece is used for docking the cross rod, and the docking piece can be lifted relative to the moving body so that the docking side of the cage car is lifted to be separated from the ground;

the cage trolley carrying method comprises the following steps:

the carrying robot moves to the right front of the cross bar;

the butt joint piece is in butt joint with the cross rod;

the butt joint piece drives the butt joint side of the cage trolley to lift until the butt joint side of the cage trolley is separated from the ground, and the side, opposite to the butt joint side, of the cage trolley is always in contact with the ground;

and the carrying robot carries the cage car to a target position.

The invention has the beneficial effects that:

according to the transfer robot provided by the invention, the butt joint piece in butt joint with the cross rod of the cage car is arranged, so that when the transfer robot moves to the position of the cage car, the butt joint of the transfer robot and the cage car is realized through the butt joint of the butt joint piece and the cross rod; the butt joint piece is lifted relative to the moving body to drive the butt joint side of the cage car to lift, so that part of load of the cage car can be shared to the transfer robot, the transfer robot can be prevented from carrying out balance weight according to the maximum load of the cage car, the problems of overlarge driving force change, electric power waste and the like caused by light load or no load of the cage car are avoided, and the self-adaptive matching of the driving capability of the transfer robot and the load of the cage car is realized; meanwhile, because the cage trolley is only lifted at the butt joint side, the other opposite side is in contact with the ground, the problems of unstable gravity center, poor conveying stability and the like caused by overhigh lifting of the cage trolley are avoided, and the conveying stability and the conveying efficiency of the cage trolley by the conveying robot are improved.

According to the warehouse logistics system, the cage car is conveyed by the conveying robot, so that the cage car conveying efficiency and the cage car conveying stability are improved, and the cage car conveying cost is reduced.

According to the cage car carrying method provided by the invention, the cage car is carried by adopting the carrying robot, so that the cage car carrying efficiency and the cage car carrying stability are improved, and the cage car carrying cost is reduced.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a transfer robot and cage car docking provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a cage car provided by an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of a transfer robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a partial structural schematic view of a transfer robot provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic view of an internal structure of a docking cradle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The figures are labeled as follows:

1. a transfer robot; 11. moving the body; 111. a body; 112. a drive wheel; 12. a docking mechanism; 121. a docking member; 1211. a hook groove; 122. a docking station; 1221. avoiding the mouth; 1222. an accommodating cavity; 1223. a light-transmitting hole; 123. a drive transmission unit; 124. a guide bar; 125. a connecting member; 1251. a connecting plate portion; 1252. a seat portion; 12521. connecting the ear parts; 12522. connecting holes; 126. a knuckle bearing; 13. a transfer seat; 131. a fixed seat; 1311. an adjustment hole; 1312. an operating space; 132. an extension base; 133. an auxiliary caster; 14. a visual inspection device;

2. cage vehicle; 21. a side frame portion; 211. a side frame rail; 212. side frame vertical bars; 213. a handle; 22. a bottom frame portion; 221. a bottom frame rail; 222. a support leg; 223. an auxiliary cross bar; 23. moving the caster; 24. a storage container; 25. the support frame portion.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not limiting of the invention. It should be further noted that, for the convenience of description, only some of the structures related to the present invention are shown in the drawings, not all of the structures.

In the description of the present invention, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the terms "connected," "connected," and "fixed" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning permanently connected, removably connected, or integral to one another; can be mechanically or electrically connected; either directly or indirectly through intervening media, either internally or in any other relationship. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood in specific cases to those skilled in the art.

In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly stated or limited, "above" or "below" a first feature means that the first and second features are in direct contact, or that the first and second features are not in direct contact but are in contact with each other via another feature therebetween. Also, the first feature being "on," "above" and "over" the second feature includes the first feature being directly on and obliquely above the second feature, or merely indicating that the first feature is at a higher level than the second feature. A first feature being "under," "below," and "beneath" a second feature includes the first feature being directly under and obliquely below the second feature, or simply meaning that the first feature is at a lesser elevation than the second feature.

In the description of the present embodiment, the terms "upper", "lower", "right", etc. are used in an orientation or positional relationship based on that shown in the drawings only for convenience of description and simplicity of operation, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used only for descriptive purposes and are not intended to have a special meaning.

As shown in fig. 1, the present embodiment provides a transfer robot 1, which can be applied to the field of warehouse logistics, and is used for transferring cage cars 2 containing materials, so as to improve the transfer efficiency and the transfer convenience of the cage cars 2, and at the same time, reduce the cost of transferring the cage cars 2 by the transfer robot 1.

As shown in fig. 2, the cage car 2 includes a frame body and caster wheels 23 disposed at the bottom of the frame body, and the caster wheels 23 are generally disposed in four and are distributed in a rectangular shape to improve the convenience of movement of the cage car 2. The four casters 23 may all be casters or directional wheels, or one pair of the four casters 23 may be casters and the other pair may be directional wheels.

The frame body at least comprises two side frame parts 21 which are arranged oppositely and at intervals and a bottom frame part 22 connected with the bottoms of the two side frame parts 21. The bottom frame portion 22 includes a rectangular bottom frame, and the bottom frame includes four bottom frame cross bars 221 enclosing to form a rectangle. In this embodiment, the bottom frame 22 further comprises four supporting legs 222 connected to four corners of the bottom frame, and the lower ends of the supporting legs 222 are connected to the casters 23. Further, an auxiliary cross bar 223 is provided between at least two adjacent support legs 222.

The side frame portion 21 includes side frame vertical rods 212 arranged opposite to each other at intervals, and a side frame cross rod 211 connected between the two side frame vertical rods 212, and the side frame cross rod 211 is preferably arranged in plurality at intervals in the vertical direction. Preferably, the upper ends of the two side frame vertical rods 212 are connected with handles 213, so that the cage trolley 2 can be pushed manually.

In the present embodiment, the cage 2 further includes a support frame portion 25 connected between the two side frame portions 21, and the support frame portion 25 is horizontally disposed and spaced above the bottom frame portion 22. The support frame portion 25 is formed of a multi-pin structure that is vertically and horizontally staggered, and both sides of the support frame portion 25 are preferably connected to the side frame rails 211 of the two side frame portions 21, respectively. Support frame portion 25 can be used to directly hold the material, or be used for placing the thing container 24 that puts of holding the material to the layering of realizing the material is placed. In other embodiments, the support frame 25 may also be directly replaced by a plate-like structure. Only one support frame portion 25 may be provided, or a plurality of support frame portions may be provided at intervals in the vertical direction.

It is understood that the cage 2 provided by the present embodiment is only an exemplary structure, and the present invention does not specifically limit the specific structure of the cage 2, as long as the lateral portion of the cage 2 has a horizontally disposed cross bar and the bottom of the cage 2 has a movable caster 23 capable of moving the cage 2.

For example, in another embodiment, the cage trolley 2 may include a bottom frame portion 22 and four side frame portions 21 surrounding the bottom frame portion 22, where the bottom frame portion 22 and the four side frame portions 21 surround to form a space for containing materials, and at this time, two adjacent side frame portions 21 share one side frame vertical rod 212. In another embodiment, the bottom frame 22 may only include a bottom frame, and the casters 23 are connected to four corners of the bottom frame. In other embodiments, the cage 2 can also adopt other structural forms of the existing cage 2.

As shown in fig. 1 and 3, the transfer robot 1 includes a moving body 11 and a docking mechanism 12, the moving body 11 has an autonomous moving function, the docking mechanism 12 is provided on the moving body 11, the docking mechanism 12 includes a docking piece 121, the docking piece 121 can be docked with a crossbar of the cage 2, and the docking piece 121 can be lifted relative to the moving body 11, so that the docking side of the cage 2 can be lifted up to be out of contact with the ground.

According to the transfer robot 1 provided by the embodiment, the butt joint piece 121 butted with the cross bar of the cage car 2 is arranged, so that when the transfer robot 1 moves to the position of the cage car 2, the butt joint piece 121 is butted with the cross bar, and the butt joint of the transfer robot 1 and the cage car 2 is realized, and as most of the cage cars 2 are provided with the cross bar, the structure improvement on the cage car 2 can be greatly avoided, the universality of the transfer robot 1 is improved, and the transfer cost of the transfer robot 1 on the cage car 2 is reduced; the butt joint piece 121 is lifted relative to the moving body 11 to drive the butt joint side of the cage car 2 to lift, so that part of the load of the cage car 2 can be shared to the transfer robot 1, the transfer robot 1 can be prevented from carrying out balance weight according to the maximum load of the cage car 2, the problems of overlarge driving force change, power waste and the like caused by light load or no load of the cage car 2 are further avoided, and the adaptive matching of the driving capability of the transfer robot 1 and the load of the cage car 2 is realized; meanwhile, because the cage car 2 is only lifted at the butt joint side, the other opposite side is in contact with the ground, the problems of unstable gravity center, poor carrying stability and the like caused by overhigh lifting of the cage car 2 are avoided, and the carrying stability and the carrying efficiency of the carrying robot 1 to the cage car 2 are improved.

In the present embodiment, the cross bar abutting against the abutting member 121 is the auxiliary cross bar 223, but it is understood that the cross bar for abutting against the abutting member 121 may also be the side frame cross bar 211 or the bottom frame cross bar 221, and may also be a cross bar connected between the two side frame portions 21.

In this embodiment, the docking mechanism 12 is disposed on one side of the movable body 11, so that the movable body 11 can be prevented from extending into the bottom of the cage 2, the requirement for the bottom space of the cage 2 can be reduced, meanwhile, the requirement for the structure setting of the movable body 11 can be reduced, the setting cost of the movable body 11 is reduced, and the setting universality of the movable body 11 is improved. Preferably, the docking mechanism 12 is disposed on one side of the moving body 11 in the linear movement direction to reduce interference during operation and avoid the need for the transfer robot 1 to turn and then operate after docking with the cage car 2.

Because the height position of the horizontal pole of different cage cars 2 is different, for the suitability to different cage cars 2 that improves, docking mechanism 12 is adjustable to the initial installation height on removing body 11 to when can making transfer robot 1 can be applicable to the cage car 2 of the horizontal pole of co-altitude, reduce the lift stroke of butt joint piece 121, simplify transfer robot 1's structure. In other embodiments, the docking height of the docking member 121 may be adjusted to match the height of the crossbar by controlling the lifting stroke of the docking member 121.

Further, the transfer robot 1 further includes an adapter 13, the adapter 13 is detachably connected to one side of the movable body 11 and is fixed relative to the movable body 11, the docking mechanism 12 is connected to one side of the adapter 13 far away from the movable body 11, and the height position of the docking mechanism 12 on the adapter 13 is adjustable. This kind of setting can simplify the structure of removing body 11, reduces the design cost that removes body 11, is favorable to changing and adjusting docking mechanism 12.

Preferably, adapter 13 includes fixing base 131 and extension seat 132 of vertical connection, and fixing base 131 connects in the lateral part of removing body 11, and extension seat 132 connects in the bottom of fixing base 131, and extension seat 132 extends along the direction level of keeping away from removing body 11, and extension seat 132 can stretch into the bottom of cage car 2, and the bottom of extension seat 132 is provided with supplementary truckle 133. The structural arrangement of the extension seat 132 can improve the bearing capacity of the transfer robot 1 to the cage car 2 load, and is favorable for improving the transfer stability of the transfer robot 1.

The moving body 11 includes a body 111 and a driving wheel mechanism disposed at the bottom of the body 111, and the driving wheel mechanism includes a driving wheel 112 and a driving unit for driving the driving wheel 112 to rotate. Preferably, the number of the driving wheels 112 is two, and the two driving wheels 112 on the moving body 11 are matched with the auxiliary caster 133 on the adapter 13, so that the operation stability of the transfer robot 1 can be ensured while the cost and the volume of the moving body 11 are reduced.

In this embodiment, the driving wheel mechanism includes two steering wheels, and the steering wheels are provided with two, are favorable to improving the control accuracy of driving wheel mechanism, and simultaneously, realize the modularization setting of removing body 11. The auxiliary caster 133 may be provided in one piece and located on the center line of the line connecting the two driving wheels 112. Two auxiliary casters 133 may be provided, and a line connecting the two auxiliary casters 133 is parallel to a line connecting the two driving wheels 112. And it is preferable that the auxiliary casters 133 be universal wheels to enable the omnidirectional movement of the transfer robot 1.

In other embodiments, the driving wheel mechanism may also adopt a differential driving mode, such as the driving wheel mechanism is a double differential driving wheel set, at least one auxiliary caster 133 is a universal wheel, or two auxiliary casters 133 are provided, and both auxiliary casters 133 are universal wheels. The driving configuration has the advantages of low cost, small control difficulty and easy realization.

In another embodiment, the driving wheel mechanism may also be in the form of a single steering wheel, in which case the steering wheel is disposed at the center of the bottom of the housing, and two universal wheels may be disposed at the bottom of the body 111, and the auxiliary casters 133 may be disposed as directional wheels, or two auxiliary casters 133 may be disposed as two universal wheels, so as to realize the straight running and turning operation of the carrying device, and this driving form has a smaller turning radius than that of the dual differential wheel set.

In another embodiment, the driving wheel mechanism is in the form of a single steering wheel, the steering wheel is disposed at the bottom center of the body 111, and at least one of the two auxiliary casters 133 is a self-driven and rotatable following wheel, which is less expensive but has a relatively reduced traction capacity compared to the dual steering wheel arrangement.

The body 111 preferably has a hexahedral structure, the fixing seat 131 is disposed at one side of the body 111, and the body 111 has an accommodating cavity therein, in which a driving unit of the driving wheel mechanism is accommodated. This kind of structure form of organism 111 is favorable to reducing the occupation of land space of transfer robot 1, improves compact structure nature, makes transfer robot 1 can be applicable to in the narrow and small space scene better. More preferably, the length of the machine body 111 is greater than twice the width of the machine body 111, the two steering wheels are respectively disposed at two ends of the bottom of the machine body 111 along the length direction, and the adapter 13 is connected to one side of the machine body 111 along the length direction. The arrangement of the body 111 provides a sufficient space for the steering wheel, and further reduces the size of the transfer robot 1. It should be understood that the body 111 may also have other shapes as long as the connection of the adaptor 13 on the side portion thereof can be realized and the extension seat 132 does not interfere with the extending of the bottom of the cage 2 and the butt joint of the butt joint member 121 and the cross bar, and the invention is not limited thereto.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the docking mechanism 12 includes a docking member 121 and a docking seat 122, the docking seat 122 is connected to a side of the fixed seat 131 away from the moving body 11, a connection height of the docking seat 122 on the fixed seat 131 is adjustable, and the docking member 121 is detachably connected to the docking seat 122. Can dismantle butt joint seat 122 and the butt joint piece 121 of connection through the setting, can conveniently change butt joint piece 121 or change whole docking mechanism 12 to the cage car 2 of different grade type and model, improve transfer robot 1's suitability, and be favorable to carrying out modularization setting and installation to docking mechanism 12, reduce transfer robot 1's design and use cost. In other embodiments, the docking mechanism 12 may not include the docking seat 122, and the docking element 121 is directly disposed on the fixing seat 131.

In order to adjust the connection position of the docking seat 122 on the fixing seat 131, an adjusting hole 1311 is opened on one side of the fixing seat 131 facing the docking seat 122, and the adjusting hole 1311 is a long hole extending along the vertical direction. The corresponding side of the docking seat 122 is provided with a threaded hole, the docking seat 122 and the fixing seat 131 are connected with a connecting piece passing through the adjusting hole 1311 and the threaded hole, and the connecting height of the docking seat 122 is changed by adjusting the corresponding position of the threaded hole and the adjusting hole 1311. Through setting up regulation hole 1311, adjust the convenience and can realize electrodeless regulation.

However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and in other embodiments, the connection position of the docking seat 122 and the fixing seat 131 may be adjusted by using other existing structures: for example, the docking seat 122 may be provided with a long-strip-shaped adjusting hole 1311, and the fixing seat 131 may be provided with a threaded hole; or, a plurality of adjusting holes 1311 may be arranged on the fixing seat 131 at intervals along the height direction, and the adjusting holes 1311 are circular through holes adapted to the threaded holes; or the docking seat 122 and the fixed seat 131 are connected through a lifting adjusting mechanism to automatically adjust the height position of the docking seat 122. No further examples are given here.

In order to facilitate connection between the fixing base 131 and the docking base 122, the fixing base 131 has an operation space 1312 with an upper end open, the adjusting hole 1311 is communicated with the operation space 1312, and an operator can realize screwing operation of the threaded connection piece through the operation space 1312, so that connection convenience between the fixing base 131 and the docking base 122 is improved, and meanwhile, connection between the fixing base 131 and the machine body 111 is facilitated. Further, the fixing base 131 further includes a fixing cover covering the opening at the upper end of the operation space 1312 to close the operation space 1312 and prevent dust from entering the operation space 1312.

The docking mechanism 12 further includes a lifting assembly, the docking member 121 is connected to the docking seat 122 through the lifting assembly, and the docking member 121 can be driven by the lifting assembly to lift and lower relative to the docking seat 122. This kind of setting can reduce the required drive power of lifting unit to reduce cost simplifies the structure. In other embodiments, the docking mechanism 12 may be capable of being lifted vertically relative to the adapter 13.

Further, the docking seat 122 has a receiving cavity 1222, the lifting assembly is disposed in the receiving cavity 1222, a side surface of the docking seat 122 away from the moving body 11 is provided with an avoiding opening 1221, the first end of the docking element 121 is located inside the receiving cavity 1222, and the other end of the docking element 121 extends out of the receiving cavity 1222 through the avoiding opening 1221. This kind of setting can avoid in cage car 2 handling, and docking mechanism 12's setting interferes with the structure on the cage car 2 mutually.

In this embodiment, lifting unit is straight line drive formula lifting unit to realize the vertical lift of butt joint piece 121, reduce occupation of land space, it is corresponding, dodge mouthful 1221 and extend along vertical direction. In other embodiments, the lifting assembly may also be a rotary lifting assembly, such as a rotary motor cooperating with a slider-crank structure, and the like, in this case, the shape of the avoiding opening 1221 may be set according to the moving track of the docking member 121.

The lifting assembly includes a drive transmission unit 123. In this embodiment, the driving transmission unit 123 includes an electric push rod, a fixed end of the electric push rod is connected to the docking seat 122, and a driving end of the electric push rod is in transmission connection with the docking member 121. The electric push rod can adopt the existing mature products, and has low cost and convenient arrangement. However, the structure of the driving transmission unit 123 is not limited to this, and the movable transmission unit 123 may also adopt other driving structural forms, such as a structure of a rotating motor matching with a rack and pinion, a structure of a rotating motor matching with a crank block, a piston cylinder driving, and the like, and the existing driving structural form capable of realizing the lifting of the docking piece 121 may be applied to the present invention.

The butt joint part 121 is provided with at least two in the horizontal direction at intervals, and the number of the avoidance ports 1221 corresponds to the number of the butt joint part 121 one by one, so that the size and the weight of a single butt joint part 121 are reduced, and the butt joint stability and the reliability of the cage car 2 are improved. In order to realize synchronous lifting of a plurality of butt-joint pieces 121, the lifting assembly further comprises a horizontally arranged connecting piece 125, the driving end of the electric push rod is connected with the connecting piece 125, and the first end of each butt-joint piece 121 is connected with the connecting piece 125.

Further, the connector 125 includes a seat portion 1252 and a connecting plate portion 1251, the connecting plate portion 1251 extends in a horizontal direction and is perpendicular to the extending direction of the opposite member 121, and the seat portion 1252 is connected below the connecting plate portion 1251 and is located substantially at the center of the length of the connecting plate portion 1251. Preferably, the seat portion 1252 includes a pair of connecting lugs 12521 disposed oppositely and at an interval, the connecting lugs 12521 have a connecting hole 12522 therethrough, the driving end of the electric push rod extends between the two connecting lugs 12521, the driving end is provided with a joint bearing 126, a bearing hole of the joint bearing 126 is disposed opposite to the connecting hole 12522, and the driving end and the connecting piece 125 are hinged to the hinge shaft passing through the bearing hole and the two connecting holes 12522. It is to be understood that the above-described connecting structure of the connecting member 125 and the driving end is only an exemplary structure, and the embodiment is not particularly limited thereto.

In order to improve the smoothness of the lifting movement of the docking member 121, the docking mechanism 12 further includes a guiding assembly for guiding the movement of the docking member 121 along the vertical direction. In the present embodiment, the guide assembly includes the guide rods 124 vertically disposed, and at least two guide rods 124 are disposed at intervals along the extending direction of the connecting plate portion 1251. The connecting plate portion 1251 is provided with a guide hole through which the guide rod 124 is slidably inserted. With this arrangement, the structure inside the docking cradle 122 can be simplified, and the structure compactness can be improved. In other embodiments, the guide assembly may also adopt other structural forms, such as a guide rail and slide block structure. More preferably, the first end of the docking member 121 is slidably sleeved on the guide rod 124 to further improve the smoothness of the lifting movement of the docking member 121.

In this embodiment, the docking member 121 includes a docking portion, which is opened with a hook groove 1211 facing upward, and the cross bar can be snapped into the hook groove 1211. The structure setting of this kind of butt joint portion, simple structure, the butt joint is convenient, and the cost of setting is lower, and is strong to cage car 2's suitability. Preferably, the hook groove 1211 is a trapezoid groove with a narrow bottom and a wide opening, which is beneficial to improving the guiding of the cross bar into the hook groove 1211 and preventing the cross bar from being separated from the hook groove 1211 after the butt joint side of the cage car 2 is lifted, thereby improving the butt joint reliability.

The above-mentioned structure of the docking member 121 and the docking manner with the crossbar are only exemplary arrangements, and the docking manner of the docking member 121 and the crossbar is not particularly limited in the present invention. For example, in another embodiment, the docking member 121 may be in the form of a power-driven claw, and the cross bar may be connected by the power-driven claw. In another embodiment, the docking member 121 can be docked with the cross bar in a magnetic attraction manner, for example, if the cross bar of the existing cage car 2 is usually a metal member, the docking member 121 is an electromagnet or a permanent magnet. No further example of the structure that can achieve the docking of the docking member 121 with the crossbar is given here.

In order to accurately identify the positions of the cage car 2 and the cross bar, the docking mechanism 12 is further provided with a visual detection device 14, the transfer robot 1 is provided with a controller, and the visual detection device 14 is in communication connection with the controller. The visual detection device 14 is used for detecting the position of the cage car 2 and the position of the cross rod, so that the transfer robot 1 is controlled to move to the front of the cross rod, the height of the butt joint part 121 is controlled and adjusted by identifying the height position of the cross rod, and the butt joint part 121 can be accurately butted with the cross rod. The visual inspection device 14 preferably employs a camera, and the visual inspection device 14 is preferably disposed on a surface of the docking cradle 122 away from the movable body 11, so as to improve the accuracy of position recognition and reduce the occlusion.

Preferably, in the present embodiment, the visual recognition device 14 is disposed on the connecting plate portion 1251, and the docking seat 122 has a light hole 1223 opened thereon, and the visual recognition device 14 is disposed opposite to the light hole 1223 for detection through the light hole 1223.

In order to better realize the positioning of the cage trolley 2, an electronic tag carrying position information and number information of the cage trolley 2 is usually arranged on the cage trolley 2, and the visual recognition device 14 can recognize the information of the electronic tag.

The embodiment also provides a warehouse logistics system, which comprises the cage car 2 and the transfer robot 1, and the transfer robot 1 is used for carrying the cage car 2, so that the transfer efficiency and the universality of the cage car 2 can be improved, and the transfer cost is reduced.

The embodiment also provides a cage car carrying method for carrying the cage car 2 by adopting the carrying robot 1, which comprises the following steps:

step S1, the transfer robot 1 moves to a butt joint position where the transfer robot is in butt joint with the target cage car 2;

the transfer robot 1 operates to the docking position by autonomous navigation, and the navigation setting of the transfer robot 1 may refer to the existing setting.

Step S2, the transfer robot 1 detects the position of the target cage car 2 and the position for butting the cross bar through the visual detection device 14;

the cage car 2 is pasted with an electronic tag for identifying information of the cage car 2, and the visual detection device 14 can identify the electronic tag so as to confirm the position of the target cage car 2. And the visual inspection device 14 can identify the position of the docking crossbar for docking to acquire the specific pose of the cage car 2, thereby analyzing the relative pose of the cage car 2 with respect to the transfer robot 1.

For this step, reference may be made to patent application "an improved two-dimensional code design and detection positioning method", which is not described in detail in this embodiment.

Step S3, the transfer robot 1 generates a butt joint running track of the transfer robot 1 according to the relative pose of the cage car 2 and runs to the position right in front of a butt joint cross rod of the cage car 2;

when the transfer robot 1 moves towards the cage car 2, detecting the relative pose information of the cage car 2 in real time and updating and adjusting the butt joint moving track until the butt joint piece 121 extends into the lower part of the butt joint cross rod;

step S4, butting the butting piece 121 with the butting cross rod;

in this embodiment, the lifting assembly drives the docking member 121 to move upward until the docking member 121 is hooked with the docking rail.

When the docking of the docking member 121 with the docking rail is implemented in other manners, the motion of the docking member 121 may be specifically controlled according to the docking form.

Step S5, the lifting assembly drives the butt joint piece 121 to move upwards until the butt joint side of the cage car 2 is lifted and separated from the ground;

in this step, the side of the cage car 2 opposite to the docking side is always kept in contact with the ground.

In step S6, the transfer robot 1 transfers the cage car 2 to the target position.

It is to be noted that the foregoing is only illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention and the technical principles employed. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein, but is capable of various obvious changes, rearrangements and substitutions as will now become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, although the present invention has been described in greater detail by the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may include other equivalent embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A transfer robot for transferring a cage car (2), the side of the cage car (2) having a cross bar, characterized by comprising:

a mobile body (11) having an autonomous movement function;

the docking mechanism (12) is arranged on the moving body (11), the docking mechanism (12) comprises a docking piece (121), the docking piece (121) is used for docking the cross rod, and the docking piece (121) can lift relative to the moving body (11) so that the docking side of the cage (2) can be lifted to be separated from the ground.

2. A transfer robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein said docking mechanism (12) is connected to one side of said moving body (11).

3. A transfer robot as claimed in claim 2, wherein the docking mechanism (12) further comprises a docking cradle (122), the docking cradle (122) being detachably connected to the moving body (11), the docking piece (121) being detachably connected to a side of the docking cradle (122) remote from the moving body (11).

4. A transfer robot as claimed in claim 3, wherein the docking mechanism (12) further comprises a lifting assembly, the lifting assembly is in transmission connection with the docking member (121), and the lifting assembly is used for driving the docking member (121) to lift relative to the docking seat (122).

5. A transfer robot as claimed in claim 4, wherein the docking station (122) has a receiving cavity (1222), the lifting assembly is disposed in the receiving cavity (1222), an avoidance opening (1221) is formed through a side wall of the docking station (122) away from the moving body (11), the first end of the docking element (121) is located in the receiving cavity (1222), and the second end of the docking element (121) protrudes out of the receiving cavity (1222) through the avoidance opening (1221).

6. A transfer robot as claimed in claim 5, wherein the docking members (121) are provided in at least two spaced apart horizontal directions, the lifting assembly comprises a driving transmission unit (123) and a connecting member (125), the driving end of the driving transmission unit (123) is in transmission connection with the connecting member (125), the connecting member (125) extends in the horizontal direction, and the first end of each docking member (121) is connected with the connecting member (125).

7. The transfer robot as claimed in claim 6, wherein the accommodating cavity (1222) is provided with at least two guide rods (124), the guide rods (124) are vertically arranged and horizontally arranged at intervals, the docking element (121) is provided with guide holes, the guide holes and the guide rods (124) are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence, and the guide rods (124) are slidably arranged in the guide holes.

8. A transfer robot as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first end of the docking member (121) is slidably sleeved on the guide bar (124).

9. A storage logistics system comprising a cage trolley (2), characterized by further comprising a transfer robot according to any of claims 1-8 for transferring cage trolleys (2).

10. A cage car carrying method is characterized in that a cage car (2) is carried by a carrying robot, a cross rod is arranged on the side of the cage car (2), and the carrying robot comprises: a mobile body (11) having an autonomous movement function; the docking mechanism (12) is arranged on the moving body (11), the docking mechanism (12) comprises a docking piece (121), the docking piece (121) is used for docking the cross rod, and the docking piece (121) can be lifted relative to the moving body (11) so that the docking side of the cage trolley (2) is lifted to be separated from the ground;

the cage trolley carrying method comprises the following steps:

the carrying robot moves to the right front of the cross bar;

the docking piece (121) is docked with the cross bar;

the butt joint piece (121) drives the butt joint side of the cage trolley (2) to lift until the butt joint side of the cage trolley (2) is separated from the ground, and one side of the cage trolley (2) opposite to the butt joint side is always in contact with the ground;

the carrying robot carries the cage vehicle (2) to a target position.