CN113071846A

CN113071846A - Material conveying method and equipment

Info

Publication number: CN113071846A
Application number: CN202110352702.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 高玉蓉
Original assignee: Shenzhen Hairou Innovation Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hai Robotics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-03-31
Filing date: 2021-03-31
Publication date: 2021-07-06
Anticipated expiration: 2041-03-31
Also published as: CN113071846B; WO2022206263A1; TW202239687A

Abstract

The application provides a material conveying method and equipment, and relates to the technical field of material handling. The method comprises the following steps: when an idle unloading layer and an unloading layer to be unloaded exist in at least two second unloading layers, controlling a first unloading layer in the first unloading layer to take materials from the unloading layer to be unloaded, and simultaneously controlling a second unloading layer in the first unloading layer to put materials into the idle unloading layer; the first layer is controlled to place the material into the put-in transport layer. This application embodiment can make the first layer in the first unloading layer from waiting to get and unload the bed of material and get the material, simultaneously, the second floor in the first unloading layer puts into the material to idle unloading layer. So, get the material and put the material and go on simultaneously, can effectively improve material conveying efficiency.

Description

Material conveying method and equipment

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of material handling, in particular to a material conveying method and equipment.

Background

Intelligent warehousing is an important link in the logistics process. The robot can replace manual handling materials and plays an important role in intelligent storage. In order to avoid long waiting time of the robot, a plurality of materials on the conveyor can be stored on the unloading machine in advance, so that the robot takes the materials from the unloading machine. In addition, there may be material placed by the robot on the unloader, so that the unloader also needs to place material on the conveyor.

How to improve the material conveying efficiency of the unloader becomes the problem to be solved urgently.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a material conveying method and equipment, so that the conveying efficiency of a discharging machine is improved.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a material conveying method, which is applied to unloading equipment, where the unloading equipment includes a conveyor and an unloader, the conveyor includes a goods placing transmission layer and a goods taking transmission layer that are arranged in parallel up and down, the unloader includes a first support frame and a second support frame that are arranged adjacently, two first unloading layers that are arranged at intervals along a first direction of the first support frame, and at least two second unloading layers that are arranged at intervals along a first direction of the second support frame, the first unloading layers can move along the first direction, and the first direction is perpendicular to the goods placing transmission layer and the goods taking transmission layer;

the method comprises the following steps:

when an idle unloading layer and an unloading layer to be unloaded exist in the at least two second unloading layers, controlling a first unloading layer of the first unloading layer to take materials from the unloading layer to be unloaded, and simultaneously controlling a second unloading layer of the first unloading layer to put materials into the idle unloading layer;

and controlling the first layer to place the materials into the goods placing and conveying layer.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and updating the idle unloading layers and the unloading layers to be taken according to the second direction, and when the idle unloading layers and the unloading layers to be taken exist in the at least two second unloading layers, controlling a first unloading layer of the first unloading layers to take materials from the unloading layers to be taken, and simultaneously controlling a second unloading layer of the first unloading layers to put materials into the idle unloading layers, wherein the second direction is the direction of the goods taking transmission layer towards the goods placing transmission layer.

Optionally, the controlling the first layer to place the material into the put-delivery layer includes:

and controlling the first layer to place the materials into the goods placing transmission layer, and simultaneously controlling the second layer to take the materials from the goods taking transmission layer.

Optionally, the to-be-discharged material layer is a first second material-discharged material layer with a to-be-discharged material determined from the second material-discharged layers according to the second direction, the idle material-discharged layer is a first second material-discharged material layer without a material determined from the second material-discharged layers according to the second direction, and a direction of the idle material-discharged layer facing the to-be-discharged material layer is the same as the second direction.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

when materials to be taken exist in each second unloading layer, controlling the two first unloading layers to respectively take the materials from the two second unloading layers simultaneously;

controlling one of the first discharging layers to place the materials into the goods placing and conveying layer;

and controlling the first unloading layer of the other layer to place the materials into the goods placing transmission layer, and simultaneously controlling the idle first unloading layer to take the materials from the goods taking and placing layer.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

when the materials to be taken exist in each second unloading layer, controlling one first unloading layer to take the materials from one second unloading layer;

and controlling the first unloading layer of one layer to place the materials into the goods placing transmission layer, and simultaneously taking the materials from the goods taking transmission layer by the first unloading layer of the other layer.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

when two idle unloading layers exist and the material layer to be taken does not exist, the two first unloading layers are controlled to sequentially take materials from the goods taking transmission layer and simultaneously put into the two idle second unloading layers.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a discharging apparatus, including: a conveyor and unloader and a first controller;

the conveyer comprises a goods placing transmission layer and a goods taking transmission layer which are arranged in parallel up and down, the unloader comprises a first support frame and a second support frame which are arranged adjacently, two first unloading layers which are arranged at intervals along a first direction of the first support frame and at least two second unloading layers which are arranged at intervals along a first direction of the second support frame, the first unloading layers can move along the first direction, and the first direction is vertical to the goods placing transmission layer and the goods taking transmission layer;

the first controller is to:

and controlling the first unloading layer which takes the materials to place the materials into the put-goods conveying layer.

Optionally, the first controller is further configured to:

Optionally, the two idle unloading layers and the unloading layer to be taken are adjacent or not adjacent.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, where computer-executable instructions are stored, and when a processor executes the computer-executable instructions, a computing device is caused to implement the method according to the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, a computer program for implementing the method according to the first aspect is provided.

The material conveying method and the material conveying equipment provided by the embodiment can control the first layer in the first unloading layer to take the materials from the material layers to be taken out and control the second layer in the first unloading layer to put the materials into the idle unloading layer when the idle unloading layers and the material layers to be taken out exist in at least two second unloading layers; and controlling the first layer to place the materials into the goods placing and conveying layer. This application embodiment can make the first layer in the first unloading layer from waiting to get and unload the bed of material and get the material, simultaneously, the second floor in the first unloading layer puts into the material to idle unloading layer. So, get the material and put the material and go on simultaneously, can effectively improve material conveying efficiency.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present application, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without inventive exercise.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a side view of a discharging apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 schematically illustrates a top view of a discharger in a discharging apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 schematically illustrates a top view of a conveyor in a discharge apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 schematically illustrates a top view of a connecting device in a conveyor according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5, 6 show schematically a side view of the connection device in fig. 4 in two states;

fig. 7 schematically illustrates a top view of another connecting device in a conveyor provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8, 9 show schematically a side view of the coupling device of fig. 7 in two states;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of a method of material handling provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 and 12 are schematic diagrams illustrating the relationship between the two second directions and the unloader and the conveyor provided by the embodiment of the application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

The application can be applied to material handling scenes. Materials may include, but are not limited to: goods and transfer cases. The material is typically stored on several shelves in the warehouse. When the goods need to be delivered from the warehouse, the goods can be taken from the shelves of the warehouse by the robot and put into the conveyor. The conveyer can transmit the material to the workstation to make the workstation select the material, the material of sorting out is the material of shipment, and remaining material can continue to be transmitted for the robot by the conveyer, so that the robot puts it back on the goods shelves in warehouse.

Wherein, the robot can include: support frame, get and put goods device, storage layer and chassis. The goods taking and placing device can slide up and down along the supporting frame so as to adjust the height of the goods taking and placing device. In the process of adjusting the height of the goods taking and placing device, the goods taking and placing device can be in butt joint with the goods shelf to perform material transmission with the goods shelf, or in butt joint with one of the goods storage layers to perform material transmission with the goods storage layer, or in butt joint with the conveyor to perform material transmission with the conveyor.

The chassis of the robot may have moving means to move the robot over the ground.

The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific structure of the robot.

In order to avoid long-time waiting of the robot, an unloading machine can be correspondingly arranged beside the conveyor, so that the unloading machine stores materials on the conveyor in advance, and the robot acquires the materials from the unloading machine. The unloader can also receive material from the rack that the robot has acquired and put it onto the conveyor. The embodiment of the application provides a material conveying method and equipment, which are used for improving the material conveying efficiency of a conveyor.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a side view of a discharging apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application, fig. 2 schematically shows a top view of a discharger 102 in the discharging apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application, and fig. 3 schematically shows a top view of a conveyor 101 in the discharging apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. For convenience of illustration in fig. 1, there is a certain distance between the conveyor 101 and the unloader 102, and in practical applications, the distance is smaller than a preset threshold value when the two are used for conveying the material 103, so as to prevent the material 103 from slipping between the two.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, the discharging apparatus includes: the automatic unloading device comprises a conveyor 101 and an unloader 102, wherein the conveyor 101 comprises a goods placing transmission layer 1011 and a goods taking transmission layer 1012 which are arranged in an up-and-down parallel manner, the unloader 102 comprises a first supporting frame 1021 and a second supporting frame 1022 which are arranged adjacently, two first unloading layers 1023 arranged at intervals along a first direction of the first supporting frame 1021 and at least two second unloading layers 1024 arranged at intervals along the first direction of the second supporting frame 1022, the first unloading layers 1023 can move along the first direction, and the first direction is perpendicular to the goods placing transmission layer and the goods taking transmission layer 1012; the two first discharging layers 1023 are used for simultaneously conveying the materials 103 with the two second discharging layers 1024 or simultaneously conveying the materials 103 with the goods placing conveying layer and the goods taking conveying layer 1012.

It can be seen that the first direction is the height direction of the unloader 102. Fig. 1 exemplarily shows four second discharge layers 1024, and in practical applications, the number of the second discharge layers 1024 can be flexibly changed, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Wherein the conveyor 101 and the discharger 102 are arranged adjacently, and the first discharge layer 1023 is located between the second discharge layer 1024 and the conveyor 101. In this way, the first discharging layer 1023 can transfer the materials 103 obtained from the second discharging layer 1024 to the placing transmission layer, and can also transfer the materials 103 obtained from the picking transmission layer 1012 to the second discharging layer 1024, so that the materials 103 can be transferred between the conveyor 101 and the discharger 102.

Also shown in fig. 1 is a support frame 1010 that holds the put and pick transport layers 1012. accordingly, as can be seen in fig. 3, the support frame 1010 is positioned about the put and pick transport layers 1012. Referring to fig. 2, the first support frames 1021 are positioned around the first discharging layer 1023, and the second support frames 1022 are positioned around the second discharging layer 1024. Therefore, the support frame 1010 can be prevented from influencing the taking and placing of the materials 103 on the goods placing transmission layer and the goods taking transmission layer 1012, the first support frame 1021 is prevented from influencing the taking and placing of the materials 103 on the first discharging layer 1023, and the second support frame 1022 is prevented from influencing the taking and placing of the materials 103 on the second discharging layer 1024. Of course, the positions and the number of the support frames 1010, the first support frames 1021, and the second support frames 1022 can be flexibly set, so as not to affect the taking and placing of the material 103.

As can also be seen in fig. 2, transfer means 10231 is arranged on the first discharge level 1023 and transfer means 10241 is arranged on the second discharge level 1024. Transfer mechanism 10231 and transfer mechanism 10241 are used to transfer material 103 by rotation. As can also be seen in fig. 3, the put-transport layer 1011 has transfer means 10111 for transporting the material 103 by rotation. It is understood that when the pickup transport layer 1012 is positioned above the put transport layer 1011, the top view shows the structure of the pickup transport layer 1012, and the structure of the pickup transport layer 1012 is the same as that of the put transport layer 1011, and will not be described herein.

With the above-described discharge apparatus, optionally, the distance between two adjacent second discharge layers 1024, the distance between the put-delivery transport layer 1011, and the pick-delivery transport layer 1012 are the same.

The distance between two adjacent second discharging layers 1024 is the same, that is, the height of each second discharging layer 1024 is fixed, and the distance between the second discharging layers is the same as the distance between the goods placing transmission layer 1011 and the goods taking transmission layer 1012. Thus, the two first discharging layers 1023 and the two second discharging layers 1024 can be conveniently butted, or the two first discharging layers 1023 and the goods placing transmission layer 1011 and the goods taking transmission layer 1012 are butted.

The distance between two first discharge levels 1023 is a multiple of the distance between two adjacent second discharge levels 1024, and the distance between two first discharge levels 1023 is variable. So that the distance between two first discharge levels 1023 is at the minimum the distance between two adjacent second discharge levels 1024, i.e. a multiple of 1. At this time, two first discharge layers 1023 are butted against two adjacent second discharge layers 1024. Of course, when the multiple is 1, the two first discharge layers 1023 may also be butted against the put transport layer 1011 and the pick transport layer 1012, respectively.

When the multiple is 2, two first discharge layers 1023 may be butted with a second discharge layer 1024 which is spaced one layer in between. For example, if the second discharge layer 1024 of the conveyor 101 is, in order: l21, L22, L23, L24 and L25, the second discharging layer 1024, which is separated by one layer in the middle, may be L21 and L23.

Optionally, the first discharge layer 1023, the second discharge layer 1024, the put transport layer 1011, and the pick transport layer 1012 transport the same speed of material 103.

It will be appreciated that when transfer mechanisms are provided on each of the first discharge layer 1023, the second discharge layer 1024, the put transport layer 1011 and the pick transport layer 1012, the transfer mechanisms rotate at the same speed.

First layer 1023 of unloading, the second layer 1024 of unloading, the transmission layer 1011 of putting goods, the transmission layer 1012 of getting goods are the same to the transmission speed of material 103, can be at first layer 1023 of unloading respectively with the second layer 1024 of unloading, put goods transmission layer 1011, get goods transmission layer 1012 and carry out the material 103 transmission when, avoid the rotation speed difference to lead to the material 103 upset.

The conveyor 101 in the above-mentioned discharging device is used for conveying the received material 103 to the workstation, and after the material is sorted by the workstation, the remaining material 103 is conveyed out. The material 103 received by the conveyor 101 may be placed by a robot or unloader 102, and the conveyor 101 may transfer the remaining material 103 to the robot or unloader 102.

The first end of the delivery transport layer 1011 of the conveyor 101 is used for placing the material 103, the first end of the pickup transport layer 1012 is used for picking up the material 103, the delivery transport layer 1011 is used for transporting the material 103 from the first end of the delivery transport layer 1011 to the second end of the delivery transport layer 1011, and the pickup transport layer 1012 is used for transporting the material 103 from the second end of the pickup transport layer 1012 to the first end of the pickup transport layer 1012.

In addition to the put transport layer 1011 and the pick transport layer 1012, the conveyor 101 includes a linkage 1013 for transferring material 103 from a second end of the put transport layer 1011 to a second end of the pick transport layer 1012.

Fig. 4 schematically shows a top view of a connecting device 1013 in the conveyor 101 provided in the embodiment of the present application, and fig. 5 and 6 exemplarily show side views of the connecting device 1013 in two connecting states corresponding to fig. 4. Referring to fig. 4, the connecting device 1013 includes: a first storage layer 10131, a first transfer mechanism 10132 and a rotary fixing device 10133, wherein a first end of the first storage layer 10131 is fixedly connected to the rotary fixing device 10133, and the first storage layer 10131 moves between a second end of the delivery transmission layer 1011 and a second end of the pickup transmission layer 1012; the first transfer mechanism 10132 is disposed on the first cargo storage layer 10131 for transferring the material 103.

Referring to fig. 5, a second end of the first storage layer 10131 is connected to a second end of the put-goods conveying layer 1011, and as shown in fig. 6, a second end of the first storage layer 10131 is connected to a second end of the pick-goods conveying layer 1012.

In fig. 5, the material 103 may be placed on the first transfer mechanism 10132 to transfer the material 103 by the rotation of the first transfer mechanism 10132. The direction of rotation of the first transfer mechanism 10132 can be changed.

The rotating fixture 10133 may be used to fix the first end of the first storage layer 10131 so that the first end cannot move, and the first storage layer 10131 may rotate around the rotating fixture 10133 and in a direction perpendicular to the first storage layer 10131. During the rotation of the first storage layer 10131, the second end of the first storage layer 10131 moves to switch between the second end of the pick transport layer 1012 and the second end of the put transport layer 1011. That is: the second end of the first storage layer 10131 may be docked with the second end of the pickup transport layer 1012, switched to connect with the second end of the put transport layer 1011, and switched to connect with the second end of the pickup transport layer 1012 again.

Referring to fig. 4, 5 and 6, in order to prevent the material 103 on the first storage layer 10131 from sliding off, a stopper 10134 may be further provided at a first end of the first storage layer 10131.

To accomplish the movement of the first storage layer 10131 between the second end of the put transport layer 1011 and the second end of the pick transport layer 1012, three approaches may be used.

In the first mode, the first storage layer 10131 moves between the second end of the put transport layer 1011 and the second end of the pick transport layer 1012 under its own resilience and the weight of the material 103 thereon.

Wherein, when the first storage layer 10131 has no material 103 thereon due to its own elasticity, the second end of the first storage layer 10131 is connected with the second end of the pickup transport layer 1012. After the material 103 on the pick transport layer 1012 is transferred to the first storage layer 10131, the gravity of the material 103 lowers the second end of the first storage layer 10131 into connection with the second end of the put transport layer 1011. After the material 103 on the first storage tier 10131 is transferred to the put transport tier 1011, the second end of the first storage tier 10131 returns to the second end of the pick transport tier 1012. And the process is circulated.

The second end of the first storage layer 10131 can be moved under the action of the elastic force of the first storage layer 10131 and the gravity of the material 103, and the use of other control structures or components is avoided, so that the structure of the first storage layer 10131 is simplified.

In a second mode, the connecting device 1013 includes, in addition to the first storage layer 10131, the first transporting mechanism 10132 and the rotating fixing device 10133, further: the second controller is used for controlling the second end of the first storage layer 10131 to be connected with the second end of the delivery transmission layer 1012 when the quantity of the materials 103 on the first storage layer 10131 is greater than or equal to a preset material 103 quantity threshold value, or controlling the second end of the first storage layer 10131 to be connected with the second end of the delivery transmission layer 1011 when the quantity of the materials 103 on the first storage layer 10131 is less than the preset material 103 quantity threshold value.

The amount of the material 103 may be the weight of the material 103 or the amount of the material 103, and accordingly, the material 103 amount detecting device may be a pressure sensor or an image capturing device.

A pressure sensor may be disposed at the bottom of the first storage layer 10131 to detect a pressure of the material 103 on the first storage layer 10131 against the first storage layer 10131, which is the weight of the material 103.

The image acquisition device faces the first storage layer 10131 to acquire an image of the material 103 on the first storage layer 10131 and identify the amount of the material 103 from the image of the material 103.

The above-mentioned material 103 amount detecting means is electrically connected to the second controller to transmit the amount of the material 103 to the second controller, and the second controller may control the movement of the first storage layer 10131 according to the amount of the material 103. In addition, when the material 103 amount detecting device is an image capturing device, the image capturing device may further send the image of the material 103 to the second controller, so that the second controller recognizes the amount of the material 103 therefrom and controls the movement of the first storage layer 10131.

In a third mode, the connecting device 1013 includes, in addition to the first cargo storage layer 10131, the first transporting mechanism 10132 and the rotating fixing device 10133: and a second controller for controlling the second end of the first storage layer 10131 to be alternately connected with the second end of the pickup transport layer 1012 and the second end of the put transport layer 1011, respectively, at a predetermined time period.

The preset time period may be determined according to the transmission speeds of the picking transport layer 1012 and the putting transport layer 1011. When the transmission speed is higher, the preset time period can be set to be smaller; the preset time period may be set to be larger when the transmission speed is smaller.

Further, it may also be determined in combination with the transfer speed and the length of the first storage layer 10131. When the transfer speed is fixed, the preset time period may be set to be larger if the length of the first storage layer 10131 is larger, and the preset time period may be set to be smaller if the length of the first storage layer 10131 is smaller.

In practical applications, the functional relationship between the preset time period and the transfer speed, the length of the first storage layer 10131 may be empirically constructed. For example, the functional relationship may be a linear function, which may be a linear function of a ratio of the length of the first storage layer 10131 to the transport speed.

After the predetermined time period is determined in the above manner, the second end of the first storage layer 10131 may be alternately connected to the second end of the pickup transport layer 1012 and the second end of the put transport layer 1011, respectively, according to the predetermined time period. For example, when the preset time period is 1 minute, the second end of the first storage layer 10131 may be connected to the second end of the pickup transport layer 1012 within the first minute, the second end of the first storage layer 10131 may be connected to the second end of the put transport layer 1011 within the second minute, the second end of the first storage layer 10131 may be connected to the second end of the pickup transport layer 1012 within the third minute, and so on.

In the above three modes, when the second end of the first storage layer 10131 is connected to the second end of the pickup transport layer 1012, the transport direction of the first storage layer 10131 faces away from the pickup transport layer 1012, so that the material 103 is transported from the pickup transport layer 1012 to the first storage layer 10131. When the second end of the first storage layer 10131 is connected to the second end of the put-goods conveying layer 1011, the conveying direction of the first storage layer 10131 faces the put-goods conveying layer 1011, so that the materials 103 are conveyed from the first storage layer 10131 to the put-goods conveying layer 1011. Thus, after switching the second end of the first storage layer 10131 between the second end of the pick transport layer 1012 and the second end of the put transport layer 1011, the rotational direction of the first transfer mechanism 10132 needs to be switched, and the rotational directions before and after switching are opposite.

To move the second end of the first storage layer 10131, the second controller may be electrically connected to the rotating fixture 10133, so that the rotating fixture 10133 rotates the first storage layer 10131, the rotating direction and angle being predetermined.

Fig. 7 schematically shows a top view of another connecting device 1013 in the conveyor 101 provided in the embodiment of the present application, and fig. 8 and 9 exemplarily show side views of the connecting device 1013 corresponding to fig. 7 in two states. The connecting device 1013 in fig. 7 to 9 is an elevator.

As can be seen from fig. 7, the elevator comprises: four support frames 10136, set up and be provided with transport mechanism 10137 on second storage layer 10135, the second storage layer 10135 on support frame 10136, transport mechanism 10137 can transmit material 103 through rotating.

Referring to fig. 8 or 9, the second storage layer 10135 may slide up and down along the support 10136. May interface with the second end of the put transport layer 1011 or the second end of the pick transport layer 1012 during the up and down sliding process. In fig. 8, a second end of the second storage layer 10135 interfaces with a second end of the pick transport layer 1012, and in fig. 9, a second end of the second storage layer 10135 interfaces with a second end of the put transport layer 1011. As such, when interfacing with the second end of put transport layer 1011, material 103 is retrieved from the second end of put transport layer 1011, after which the elevator slides down to interface with the second end of pick transport layer 1012 to deposit material 103 into the second end of pick transport layer 1012, after which the elevator again slides up to interface with the second end of put transport layer 1011 to again retrieve material 103 from the second end of put transport layer 1011, and so on.

It will be appreciated that when the second end of the second storage tier 10135 is docked with the second end of the put transport tier 1011, the direction of rotation of the transfer mechanism 10137 on the second storage tier 10135 faces away from the put transport tier 1011; when the second end of the second storage layer 10135 is mated with the second end of the pickup transport layer 1012, the transfer mechanism 10137 on the second storage layer 10135 rotates in a direction toward the pickup transport layer 1012.

It should be noted that the put transport layer 1011 shown in fig. 8 or fig. 9 is located above the pickup transport layer 1012, and in practical applications, the put transport layer 1011 may also be located below the pickup transport layer 1012.

The conveyor 101 may be in communication with a tripper 102 for transferring material 103. The tripper 102 may transfer material 103 on the second discharge level 1024 to the put-transfer level 1011 of the conveyor 101 through the first discharge level 1023, and the tripper 102 may transfer material 103 on the pick-transfer level 1012 to the second discharge level 1024 through the first discharge level 1023.

Optionally, the discharging apparatus further comprises a first controller, configured to: and controlling the two first discharging layers 1023 to simultaneously transfer the materials 103 with the two second discharging layers 1024 or simultaneously transfer the materials 103 with the goods placing transmission layer 1011 and the goods taking transmission layer 1012.

The two first discharging layers 1023 are used for simultaneously conveying the materials 103 with the two second discharging layers 1024, and comprise: the two first discharging layers 1023 are used for simultaneously respectively placing the materials 103 into the two second discharging layers 1024; or, the two first discharging layers 1023 are used for simultaneously taking the materials 103 from the two second discharging layers 1024 respectively; alternatively, one of the first discharge layers 1023 is used to feed material 103 into one of the second discharge layers 1024 while the other second discharge layer 1024 is used to take material 103 from the other second discharge layer 1024.

Wherein, all have the transporting mechanism on first 1023, the second layer of unloading 1024, the transmission layer 1011 of putting goods, the transmission layer 1012 of getting goods, first controller is connected with these transporting mechanism electricity to the direction of transfer of controlling these transporting mechanism carries out material 103 and transmits.

When the rotating directions of the transfer mechanisms of the first discharging layer 1023 on one layer and the first discharging layer 1023 on the other layer are controlled to be opposite, and the rotating direction of the transfer mechanism of the first discharging layer 1023 on the second discharging layer 1024 which is butted with the second discharging layer 1024 is the same, the first discharging layer 1023 on one layer can take the material 103 from the second discharging layer 1024 which is butted with the second discharging layer, and the first discharging layer 1023 on the other layer can discharge the material 103 to the second discharging layer 1024 which is butted with the first discharging layer.

When the rotating direction of the transfer mechanism controlling the two first discharging layers 1023 is the same, the second discharging layer 1024 is the same as the rotating direction of the transfer mechanism of the first discharging layer 1023 butted with the second discharging layer 1024, and the rotating direction faces the first discharging layer 1023, the two first discharging layers 1023 can be used for simultaneously taking the materials 103 from the two second discharging layers 1024.

When the rotating direction of the transfer mechanism controlling the two first discharging layers 1023 is the same, the rotating direction of the transfer mechanism controlling the second discharging layer 1024 to be butted with the first discharging layer 1023 is the same, and the rotating direction is towards the second discharging layer 1024, the two first discharging layers 1023 can discharge materials 103 to the two second discharging layers 1024 at the same time.

When the rotation directions of the transfer mechanisms of the first discharging layer 1023 on one layer and the first discharging layer 1023 on the other layer are controlled to be opposite, the first discharging layer 1023 on one layer can take the material 103 from the butted delivery layer 1012, and the first discharging layer 1023 on the other layer can put the material 103 on the butted delivery layer 1011.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises: a detector electrically connected to the first controller for detecting the interfacing relationship between the first discharge layer 1023, the put-goods transport layer 1011 and the pick-goods transport layer 1012; the first controller is also used for controlling the transmission direction of the first discharging layer 1023 butted with the goods placing transmission layer 1011 to face the goods placing transmission layer 1011, and controlling the transmission direction of the first discharging layer 1023 butted with the goods taking transmission layer 1012 to face away from the goods taking transmission layer 1012.

The abutting relationship may be whether the first discharging layer 1023 is at the same level as the goods-placing transmission layer 1011 and the goods-taking transmission layer 1012. When the first discharge layer 1023 is at the same level as the put-transport layer 1011, the first discharge layer 1023 interfaces with the put-transport layer 1011. When the first discharge layer 1023 is at the same level as the pickup transport layer 1012, the first discharge layer 1023 interfaces with the pickup transport layer 1012. The detector may thus be a device that detects the height of the first discharge layer 1023, which when brought into proximity with the preset height of the put-transport layer 1011 determines that the first discharge layer 1023 is in abutment with the put-transport layer 1011; when the height is close to the preset height of the pickup transport layer 1012, it is determined that the first discharge layer 1023 is in abutment with the pickup transport layer 1012.

When the detector detects that the first discharging layer 1023 is in butt joint with the put-goods conveying layer 1011, a first signal is sent to the first controller, and the first controller controls the conveying direction of the transfer mechanism on the first discharging layer 1023 to face the put-goods conveying layer 1011 when receiving the first signal, so that the first discharging layer 1023 conveys the materials 103 to the put-goods conveying layer 1011.

When the detector detects that the first discharge layer 1023 is docked with the pickup transport layer 1012, a second signal is sent to the first controller, which upon receiving the second signal controls the transport direction of the transfer mechanism on the first discharge layer 1023 away from the pickup transport layer 1012 to receive the material 103 on the pickup transport layer 1012.

Optionally, the first controller is further configured to control the put transport layer 1011 and/or the pick transport layer 1012 to transport the item 103 to the workstations according to the sequence of work efficiencies associated with the at least one workstation.

Wherein the work efficiency may be the amount of material 103 picked per unit time by the workstation.

Specifically, for each material 103, the material 103 may be preferentially transported to the most efficient work station. Of course, when the amount of the material 103 to be processed at the station with the highest working efficiency is greater than the preset value, the material 103 is transmitted to the station with the next highest working efficiency.

In practice, work stations may be assigned to the material 103 in combination with work efficiency and the amount of material 103 to be processed. First, for each material 103, a composite score of each workstation may be calculated according to the work efficiency of the workstation and the amount of the material 103 to be processed, for example, the composite score may be a ratio of the work efficiency and the amount of the material 103 to be processed; then, the material 103 is transmitted to a workstation with the maximum comprehensive score; finally, after the material 103 is transmitted to the workstation with the maximum composite score, the amount of the material 103 to be processed of the workstation with the maximum composite score is updated, so that the composite score of the workstation is calculated by the updated amount of the material 103 to be processed for the next material 103.

The embodiment of the invention can distribute the workstations according to the working efficiency so as to ensure that the materials 103 are sorted as soon as possible.

Optionally, the first controller is further configured to control the put transport layer 1011 and/or the pick transport layer 1012 to transport different materials 103 corresponding to the same order to different workstations.

It will be appreciated that different items 103 of the same order may be transferred to different workstations in an effort to ensure that different items 103 of the order are picked in synchrony. Ideally, different materials 103 of the same order are picked by different workstations during the same time period. Since different materials 103 of the same order need to be put into a slot for temporary storage after being picked, so that all the materials 103 of the order are delivered and packaged after all the materials 103 of the order are picked, the different materials 103 of the same order are picked in the same time period, which can shorten the time taken by the order for the slot, and is helpful for avoiding no slot available for subsequent orders.

The following describes in detail the material conveying method and apparatus according to the embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating steps of a material conveying method according to an embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 10, the method includes:

s201: when an idle unloading layer and an unloading layer to be unloaded exist in at least two second unloading layers, a first layer in the first unloading layer is controlled to take materials from the unloading layer to be unloaded, and meanwhile, a second layer in the first unloading layer is controlled to put materials into the idle unloading layer.

Wherein, the idle unloading layer and the unloading layer to be taken are adjacent or not adjacent. For example, in one case, of the second discharge layers L21 to L25 in fig. 11 or 12, L21 is a free discharge layer, L24 is a to-be-removed discharge layer, and the free discharge layer and the to-be-removed discharge layer are not adjacent. For another example, in the second material discharge layers L21 to L25 in fig. 11 or fig. 12, L22 is a vacant material discharge layer, L23 is a material discharge layer to be taken, and the vacant material discharge layer and the material discharge layer to be taken are adjacent.

The idle unloading layer is a second unloading layer without materials, and the idle unloading layer can be a second unloading layer without materials or a second unloading layer on which the materials are placed on the goods placing transmission layer.

The material unloading layer to be taken is a second material unloading layer with the material to be taken. It should be noted that the material to be taken is the material that needs to be put into the goods-placing conveying layer, and the material to be taken needs to be distinguished from the material that is taken from the goods-taking conveying layer and put into the second unloading layer.

It should be noted that the material in the second layer is the material taken from the pickup transport layer.

S202: the first layer is controlled to place the material into the put-in transport layer.

Optionally, if no material is available at the first end of the delivery transport layer, the first layer is controlled to place the material into the put transport layer. If the first end of the goods taking transmission layer is provided with the materials to be taken, the second layer can be controlled to take the materials from the goods taking transmission layer when the first layer is controlled to put the materials into the goods taking transmission layer. So, can shorten the material transmission between first unloading layer and the conveyer and be long, further improve the material conveying efficiency between conveyer and the unloader.

In this application embodiment, after controlling the first layer to put the material into the delivery conveying layer and simultaneously taking the material from the delivery conveying layer, the material can be conveyed between the first unloading layer and the second unloading layer again. And circulating the steps until the materials in the second discharging layer are completely put into the goods placing and conveying layer.

It can be understood that the process of material transfer between the first discharging layer and the second discharging layer may be different each time, and needs to be determined according to whether the to-be-discharged material layer and the idle discharging layer exist in the second discharging layer. When there are idle material unloading layers and material unloading layers to be taken out in the second material unloading layer, the steps from S201 to S202 may be executed in a loop until there is no material unloading layer to be taken out or no idle material unloading layer in the second material unloading layer.

Specifically, the idle unloading layer and the unloading layer to be taken can be updated according to the second direction, and the step of controlling the first layer in the first unloading layer to take the material from the unloading layer to be taken and controlling the second layer in the first unloading layer to put the material into the idle unloading layer when the idle unloading layer and the unloading layer to be taken exist in at least two second unloading layers is performed, wherein the second direction is the direction of the goods taking transmission layer towards the goods putting transmission layer.

In the embodiment of the application, the updating directions of the idle unloading layer and the unloading layer to be taken are consistent with the direction of the goods taking transmission layer towards the goods placing transmission layer.

When the goods taking transmission layer is positioned above the goods placing transmission layer, the second direction is downward, and materials can be taken and placed from the highest idle material unloading layer and the highest material waiting material unloading layer of the second material unloading layer. After the materials taken from the material unloading layer to be taken are put into the goods placing transmission layer, the idle material unloading layer and the material unloading layer to be taken can be updated downwards, the materials are transmitted again between the idle material unloading layer and the second material unloading layer, and the process is repeated.

For example, as shown in fig. 11, the second discharge layer comprises five layers: l21 to L25, the first discharge layer comprises two layers: l11 and L12, the conveyor comprises a pick-and-place transport layer TL and a put-transport layer DL.

As can be seen in fig. 12, the second direction is downward. Therefore, when material is conveyed with the second discharging layer for the first time, if the L25 is an idle discharging layer and the L24 is a to-be-discharged layer, the material can be put into the L25 and taken out from the L24.

After the first material transfer with the second discharge level, the empty and to-be-removed discharge levels can be updated downwards, so that L24 below L25 is a new empty discharge level and L23 below L24 is a new to-be-removed discharge level. In this way, material from TL is placed in L24 and material is taken from L23 at the same time as material is taken from L3578 during the second material transfer with the second discharge level.

After the second material transfer with the second discharge level, the empty and pending discharge levels can be updated downwards, so that L23 below L24 is the new empty discharge level and L22 below L23 is the new pending discharge level. In this way, in the third material transfer with the second discharge layer, the material taken from TL is taken into L23, while the material is taken from L22.

After the third material transfer with the second discharge level, the empty discharge level and the to-be-discharged material level may be updated downward, so that L22 located below L23 is a new empty discharge level and L21 located below L22 is a new to-be-discharged material level. In this way, in the fourth material transfer with the second discharge layer, the material taken from TL is taken into L22, while the material is taken from L21.

After the fourth time of material transmission with the second discharging layer, only the idle discharging layer L21 exists in the second discharging layer, and it is impossible to simultaneously take and place materials with the second discharging layer.

When the goods taking transmission layer is positioned below the goods placing transmission layer, the second direction is upward, and materials can be taken and placed from the lowest idle material unloading layer and the lowest material waiting-to-be-taken material unloading layer of the second material unloading layer. After the materials taken from the material unloading layer to be taken are put into the goods placing transmission layer, the idle material unloading layer and the material unloading layer to be taken can be updated upwards, the materials are transmitted again between the idle material unloading layer and the second material unloading layer, and the process is repeated.

For example, as shown in fig. 12, the second discharge layer includes five layers: l21 to L25, the first discharge layer comprises two layers: l11 and L12, the conveyor comprises a pick-and-place transport layer TL and a put-transport layer DL.

As can be seen from fig. 12, the second direction is upward, so that when the material is transferred with the second discharging layer for the first time, if L21 is a free discharging layer and L22 is a to-be-discharged layer, the material can be put into L21 and simultaneously be taken out from L22.

After the first material transfer with the second discharge level, the empty discharge level and the to-be-discharged material level may be updated upward, so that L22 above L21 is a new empty discharge level and L23 above L22 is a new to-be-discharged material level. In this way, material from TL is placed in L22 and material is taken from L23 at the same time as material is taken from L3578 during the second material transfer with the second discharge level.

After the second material transfer with the second discharge level, the empty discharge level and the to-be-removed discharge level may be updated upward, so that L23 above L22 is a new empty discharge level and L24 above L23 is a new to-be-removed discharge level. In this way, in the third material transfer with the second discharge layer, the material taken from TL is taken into L23, while the material is taken from L24.

After the third material transfer with the second discharging layer, the empty discharging layer and the discharging layer to be taken may be updated upwards, so that the L24 above L23 is a new empty discharging layer, and the L25 above L24 is a new discharging layer to be taken. In this way, in the fourth material transfer with the second discharge layer, the material taken from TL is taken into L24, while the material is taken from L25.

After the fourth time of material transmission with the second discharging layer, only the idle discharging layer L25 exists in the second discharging layer, and it is impossible to simultaneously take and place materials with the second discharging layer.

It will be appreciated that the simultaneous pick and place of material between the first and second discharge layers of figures 11 and 12 described above is dependent upon the put and pick transport layers. The material that the second layer in the first unloading layer put into the idle unloading layer is the material that was taken from the delivery conveying layer, and the first layer in the first unloading layer needs to be empty in order to take the material from the to-be-taken unloading layer, so that the first layer needs to put the material that was taken from the to-be-taken unloading layer last time into the delivery conveying layer. So, at every turn with the second unload between the layer go on get put the material simultaneously after, the first layer of unloading need with put goods transmission layer, get and put the material simultaneously between the goods transmission layer. For example, with respect to fig. 11, after the first material transfer with the second discharge level, the material from L24 is placed in DL, while the material is removed from TL.

As can be seen from fig. 11 or 12 above, in the initial state, the to-be-discharged material layer is a first second material-discharged layer in which the to-be-discharged material exists and is determined from the second material-discharged layers according to the second direction, the idle material-discharged layer is a first second material-discharged layer in which the to-be-discharged material does not exist and is determined from the second material-discharged layers according to the second direction, and the direction of the idle material-discharged layer facing the to-be-discharged material layer is the same as the second direction.

For example, for fig. 11, in the initial state, L25 is a free unloading layer, and there are materials to be taken in all of L21 to L24. The material unloading layer to be taken is the first second material unloading layer L24 with the material to be taken from top to bottom, and the idle material unloading layer is the first second material unloading layer L25 without the material from top to bottom. For another example, in fig. 12, in the initial state, L21 is a free unloading layer, and there are materials to be taken in all of L22 to L25. The material unloading layer to be taken is the first second material unloading layer L22 with the material to be taken from bottom to top, and the idle material unloading layer is the first second material unloading layer L21 without the material from bottom to top.

It can be seen that the condition for simultaneously taking and placing the materials between the first discharging layer and the second discharging layer is that an idle discharging layer and a material layer to be taken and discharged exist in the second discharging layer. However, there is a scenario where there is material to be taken in each second discharge layer, and at this time, the material can be taken out from the second discharge layer in two ways.

In the first mode, a first unloading layer can be controlled to take materials from a second unloading layer; and controlling the first unloading layer to place the materials into the goods placing and conveying layer, and simultaneously taking the materials from the goods taking and conveying layer by the other first unloading layer.

For example, for fig. 11, there are materials to be taken for all of L21 to L25. Thus, L11 can take material from L25 when material transfer is performed between the first and second discharge levels; at the first material transfer between the conveyor, L11 placed the material from L25 into the DL layer, while L12 removed the material from TL.

After the first material transfer with the second discharge level, there is an empty discharge level L25, from which discharge levels L21 to L24 are to be taken. At this time, the first empty unloading layer L25 from top to bottom may be used as an empty unloading layer, and the first unloading layer L24 may be used as an unloading layer to be taken, so that when the second time of material transportation is performed with the second unloading layer, L12 puts the material taken from TL into L25, and at the same time L11 takes the material from L24. During the second transfer of material to and from the conveyor, L11 placed the material from L24 into the DL layer while L12 removed the material from TL.

After the second material transfer with the second discharge level, the empty and pending discharge levels can be updated downwards, so that L24 below L25 is the new empty discharge level and L23 below L24 is the new pending discharge level. Thus, in the third material transfer with the second discharge layer, L12 puts the material from TL into L24, while L11 takes the material from L23. In the third material transfer with the conveyor, L11 put the material from L23 into the DL layer, while L12 takes the material from TL.

After the third material transfer with the second discharge level, the empty discharge level and the to-be-discharged material level may be updated downward, so that L23 located below L24 is a new empty discharge level and L22 located below L23 is a new to-be-discharged material level. Thus, in the fourth material transfer with the second discharge layer, L12 puts the material from TL into L23, while L11 takes the material from L22. In the fourth material transfer between the conveyor and the L11, the L22 removed material from the layer DL and L12 removed material from the layer TL.

After the fourth material transfer with the second discharge level, the empty discharge level and the to-be-discharged material level may be updated downward, so that L22 located below L23 is a new empty discharge level and L21 located below L22 is a new to-be-discharged material level. Thus, in the fifth material transfer with the second discharging layer, L12 puts the material taken from TL into L22, while L11 takes the material from L21. In the fourth material transfer between the conveyor and the L11, the L21 removed material from the layer DL and L12 removed material from the layer TL.

After the fifth material conveying with the second discharging layer, only the idle discharging layer L21 exists in the second discharging layer, and it is impossible to simultaneously take and place the materials with the second discharging layer. At this point, L11 or L12 may take material from the TL layer and put into L21.

For another example, for fig. 12, there are materials to be taken from L21 to L25. Thus, L12 can take material from L21 when material transfer is performed between the first and second discharge levels; at the first material transfer between the conveyor, L12 placed the material from L21 into the DL layer, while L11 removed the material from TL.

After the first material transfer with the second discharge level, there is an empty discharge level L21, with the discharge levels to be taken being L22 to L25. At this time, the first empty unloading layer L21 from bottom to top may be used as an empty unloading layer, and the first unloading layer L22 to be taken may be used as an unloading layer to be taken. Thus, in the second material transfer with the second discharge level, L11 puts material from TL into L21 while L12 takes material from L22. During the second transfer of material to and from the conveyor, L12 placed the material from L22 into the DL layer while L11 removed the material from TL.

After the second material transfer with the second discharge level, the empty discharge level and the to-be-removed discharge level may be updated upward, so that L22 above L21 is a new empty discharge level and L23 above L22 is a new to-be-removed discharge level. Thus, in the third material transfer with the second discharge layer, L11 puts the material from TL into L22, while L12 takes the material from L23. In the third material transfer with the conveyor, L12 put the material from L23 into the DL layer, while L11 takes the material from TL.

After the third material transfer with the second discharging layer, the empty discharging layer and the discharging layer to be taken may be updated upwards, so that the L23 above L22 is a new empty discharging layer, and the L24 above L23 is a new discharging layer to be taken. Thus, in the fourth material transfer with the second discharge layer, L11 puts the material from TL into L23, while L12 takes the material from L24. In the fourth material transfer between the conveyor and the L12, the L24 removed material from the layer DL and L11 removed material from the layer TL.

After the fourth material transfer with the second discharging layer, the empty discharging layer and the to-be-discharged material layer may be updated upward, so that the L24 above L23 is a new empty discharging layer, and the L25 above L24 is a new to-be-discharged material layer. Thus, in the fifth material transfer with the second discharging layer, L11 puts the material taken from TL into L24, while L12 takes the material from L25. In the fourth material transfer between the conveyor and the L12, the L25 removed material from the layer DL and L11 removed material from the layer TL.

After the fifth material conveying with the second discharging layer, only the idle discharging layer L25 exists in the second discharging layer, and it is impossible to simultaneously take and place the materials with the second discharging layer. At this point, material may be taken from the TL layer and placed into L25.

It can be seen that in the first mode, when the materials in the first unloading layer are placed in the goods placing transmission layer, the goods can be taken from the goods taking transmission layer at the same time, so that the material conveying efficiency is further improved.

In the second mode, the two first unloading layers can be controlled to respectively take materials from the two second unloading layers simultaneously; controlling one of the first unloading layers to place the materials into the goods placing and conveying layer; and controlling the first unloading layer of the other layer to place the materials into the goods placing transmission layer, and simultaneously controlling the idle first unloading layer to take the materials from the goods taking and placing layer.

For example, for fig. 11, there are materials to be taken for all of L21 to L25. Thus, when material is transferred between the first and second discharge levels, L11 takes material from L24 and L12 takes material from L25 simultaneously. Then L12 put the material on DL first, then L11 put the material on DL, at the same time L12 took the material from TL.

After the first material transfer with the second discharge level, there are free discharge levels L24 and L25, from which discharge levels L21 to L23 are to be taken. At this time, the first empty unloading layer L25 from top to bottom may be used as an empty unloading layer, and the first unloading layer L23 to be taken may be used as an unloading layer to be taken. Thus, in the second material transfer with the second discharge level, L12 puts material from TL into L25 while L11 takes material from L23. During the second transfer of material to and from the conveyor, L11 placed the material from L23 into the DL layer while L12 removed the material from TL.

After the second material transfer with the second discharge level, the empty and pending discharge levels can be updated downwards, so that L24 below L25 is the new empty discharge level and L22 below L23 is the new pending discharge level. Thus, in the third material transfer with the second discharge layer, L12 puts the material from TL into L24, while L11 takes the material from L22. In the third material transfer with the conveyor, L11 put the material from L22 into the DL layer, while L12 takes the material from TL.

After the third material transfer with the second discharge level, the empty discharge level and the to-be-discharged material level may be updated downward, so that L23 located below L24 is a new empty discharge level and L21 located below L22 is a new to-be-discharged material level. Thus, in the fourth material transfer with the second discharge layer, L12 puts the material from TL into L23, while L11 takes the material from L21. In the fourth material transfer between the conveyor and the L11, the L21 removed material from the layer DL and L12 removed material from the layer TL.

After the fourth time of material transmission with the second discharging layer, idle discharging layers L21 and L22 exist in the second discharging layer, and a material layer to be taken does not exist, so that the materials can not be taken and placed between the second discharging layer and the second discharging layer.

For another example, for fig. 12, there are materials to be taken from L21 to L25. Thus, when material is transferred between the first and second discharge levels, L11 takes material from L21 and L12 takes material from L22 simultaneously. During the first material transfer between the conveyor and the L11, the material is first placed on the DL by the L11, then the material is placed on the DL by the L12, and meanwhile, the material is taken out from the TL by the L11.

After the first material transfer with the second discharge level, there are free discharge levels L21 and L22, from which discharge levels L23 to L25 are to be taken. At this time, the first empty unloading layer L21 from bottom to top may be used as an empty unloading layer, and the first unloading layer L23 to be taken may be used as an unloading layer to be taken. Thus, in the second material transfer with the second discharge level, L11 puts material from TL into L21 while L12 takes material from L23. During the second transfer of material to and from the conveyor, L12 placed the material from L23 into the DL layer while L11 removed the material from TL.

After the second material transfer with the second discharge level, the empty discharge level and the to-be-removed discharge level may be updated upward, so that L22 above L21 is a new empty discharge level and L24 above L23 is a new to-be-removed discharge level. Thus, in the third material transfer with the second discharge layer, L11 puts the material from TL into L22, while L12 takes the material from L24. In the third material transfer with the conveyor, L12 put the material from L24 into the DL layer, while L11 takes the material from TL.

After the third material transfer with the second discharging layer, the empty discharging layer and the discharging layer to be taken may be updated upwards, so that the L23 above L22 is a new empty discharging layer, and the L25 above L24 is a new discharging layer to be taken. Thus, in the fourth material transfer with the second discharge layer, L11 puts the material from TL into L23, while L12 takes the material from L25. In the fourth material transfer between the conveyor and the L12, the L25 removed material from the layer DL and L11 removed material from the layer TL.

After the fourth time of material transmission with the second discharging layer, the second discharging layer only has idle discharging layers L24 and L25, and there is no material layer to be taken, so that the material can not be taken and placed between the second discharging layer and the second discharging layer.

In order to improve the material conveying efficiency, when two idle unloading layers exist and a material layer to be taken does not exist, the two first unloading layers are controlled to sequentially take materials from the goods taking transmission layer and simultaneously put into the two idle second unloading layers.

For example, as shown in fig. 11, when empty unloading layers L21 and L22 remain, the materials can be sequentially taken from TL through L11 and L12 and put into L21 and L22 at the same time.

It can be seen that the second mode can be used for taking materials from two second discharging layers at one time in the initial state, and the material conveying efficiency is improved. In addition, when the materials in the two second unloading layers are placed in the goods placing transmission layer, the goods can be taken from the goods taking transmission layer at the same time, so that the material conveying efficiency is further improved.

The embodiment of the application also provides a discharging device, including: a conveyor and unloader and a first controller; the conveyer comprises a goods placing transmission layer and a goods taking transmission layer which are arranged in parallel up and down, the unloader comprises a first support frame and a second support frame which are arranged adjacently, two first unloading layers which are arranged at intervals along a first direction of the first support frame and at least two second unloading layers which are arranged at intervals along a first direction of the second support frame, the first unloading layers can move along the first direction, and the first direction is vertical to the goods placing transmission layer and the goods taking transmission layer; the first controller is to: when an idle unloading layer and an unloading layer to be unloaded exist in the at least two second unloading layers, controlling a first unloading layer of the first unloading layer to take materials from the unloading layer to be unloaded, and simultaneously controlling a second unloading layer of the first unloading layer to put materials into the idle unloading layer; and controlling the first unloading layer which takes the materials to place the materials into the put-goods conveying layer.

Optionally, the first controller is further configured to:

The discharging device provided by the embodiment of the application is an embodiment of an apparatus corresponding to the embodiment of the method, has the same technical effects as the embodiment of the method, and the detailed description can refer to the embodiment of the method and is not repeated herein.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein computer-executable instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when a processor executes the computer-executable instructions, the computer-readable storage medium causes a computing device to implement the material conveying method.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer program, and the computer program is used for realizing the material conveying method.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used for illustrating the technical solutions of the present application, and not for limiting the same; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some or all of the technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or the substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. The material conveying method is characterized by being applied to unloading equipment, wherein the unloading equipment comprises a conveyor and an unloader, the conveyor comprises a goods placing conveying layer and a goods taking conveying layer which are arranged in parallel up and down, the unloader comprises a first support frame and a second support frame which are arranged adjacently, two first unloading layers which are arranged at intervals along a first direction of the first support frame and at least two second unloading layers which are arranged at intervals along a first direction of the second support frame, the first unloading layers can move along the first direction, and the first direction is perpendicular to the goods placing conveying layer and the goods taking conveying layer;

the method comprises the following steps:

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein said controlling the first layer to place the material into the put-transport layer comprises:

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the unloading layer to be taken is a first second unloading layer with the material to be taken, which is determined from the second unloading layers according to the second direction, and the idle unloading layer is a first second unloading layer without the material, which is determined from the second unloading layers according to the second direction, and the direction of the idle unloading layer towards the unloading layer to be taken is the same as the second direction.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

8. A discharge apparatus, comprising: a conveyor and unloader and a first controller;

the first controller is to:

9. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, cause a computing device to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. A computer program for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.