CN114355844A

CN114355844A - Article near-edge separation method, device and system

Info

Publication number: CN114355844A
Application number: CN202011087571.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴登禄; 朱颖; 何睿
Original assignee: SF Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: SF Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-10-13
Filing date: 2020-10-13
Publication date: 2022-04-15
Anticipated expiration: 2040-10-13

Abstract

The application provides an article lean on limit separating method, device and system, the method is applied to lean on limit separator, lean on limit separator includes first by limit machine unit and second by limit machine unit, first by limit machine unit and second by limit machine unit set up side by side along the direction of delivery front and back, after the article that treats to separate gets into by limit separator, through the operation of leaning on limit separator, the article that treats to separate transports towards direction of delivery and along predetermined edge, when the interval between the article does not accord with the target interval, adjust the speed difference of first by limit machine unit and second by limit machine unit, make the interval between the article accord with the target interval and export. This application is through carrying out rational arrangement with leaning on the limit machine unit, only through two separation, the stretch range and the process of leaning on the limit that lean on the limit machine unit can realize the goods simultaneously, has reduced device operating space and has reduced equipment acquisition cost, simultaneously greatly reduced device operation power consumption cost.

Description

Article near-edge separation method, device and system

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of logistics, in particular to a method, a device and a system for separating an article near edge.

Background

In the existing transit cargo single-piece separation system, three steps of rough separation, side-by-side separation and distance drawing or side-by-side separation, distance drawing and side-by-side separation are generally adopted to realize cargo separation, spacing and queuing transportation. Correspondingly, in the three processes, one conveying device array is needed to realize rough separation, one conveying device array is used to realize the edge leaning of the goods, one conveying device array is used to realize the distance control of the goods, and a large number of belt conveyors are needed to realize the functions of single-piece separation and queuing conveying.

In addition, as the separation queue transportation is divided into three processes, the subsequent normal processing can not be carried out due to the exception of any one process. For example, if the upstream coarse fraction fails to separate, it may cause downstream cargo retention. For another example, during the process of abutting the edge of the midstream cargo, the collision between the cargo and the edge may damage the upstream rough cargo distance due to the relative sliding between the cargo and the belt conveyor and the edge abutting.

Therefore, how to solve the problems of complex system structure and high coupling degree of the separation process in the existing single piece separation system of the transit cargo becomes the direction of efforts of the technicians in the field.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides an article lean on limit separation method, device and system, aim at solving among the current transfer goods single piece.

According to the first aspect, the application provides an article side-by-side separation method, the method is applied to a side-by-side separation device, the side-by-side separation device comprises a first side-by-side machine unit and a second side-by-side machine unit, the first side-by-side machine unit and the second side-by-side machine unit are arranged in front and at back side by side along a conveying direction, after articles to be separated enter the side-by-side separation device, the articles to be separated are conveyed towards the conveying direction and along a preset edge through operation of the side-by-side separation device, and when the distance between the articles does not accord with a target distance, the speed difference between the first side-by-side machine unit and the second side-by-side machine unit is adjusted, so that the distance between the articles accords with the target distance and then is output.

In a second aspect, the application provides an article lean on limit separator, including first side machine unit, second side machine unit and third side machine unit, first side machine unit and second side machine unit set up side by side along the direction of delivery around by side in one side, the opposite side is located to the third side machine unit, the speed of first side machine unit, second side machine unit and third side machine unit is controllable alone, through controlling respective speed difference, make the article that gets into side separator lean on the limit transportation, and make and form and keep purpose interval output between the article.

In a third aspect, the present application provides an article near-edge separating system, which includes a controller, a position information acquiring device, a near-edge separating device, an entrance transporting device, an exit transporting device, and a bus;

the edge-abutting separation device comprises a first edge-abutting machine unit, a second edge-abutting machine unit and a third edge-abutting machine unit, a first sub-conveying channel of the first edge-abutting machine unit is connected with a second sub-conveying channel of the second edge-abutting machine unit along the conveying direction and forms a first conveying channel along the conveying direction, a third sub-conveying channel of the third edge-abutting machine unit forms a second conveying channel along the conveying direction, and the first conveying channel and the second conveying channel are adjacent side by side and form an edge-abutting separation area;

one side of the side separating area along the conveying direction is connected with the conveying channel of the inlet conveying device, and the other side of the side separating area is connected with the conveying channel of the outlet conveying device;

the position information acquisition equipment is arranged above the side separating area and is used for shooting image information of the side separating area;

the controller, the position information acquisition equipment, the first side approach unit, the second side approach unit, the third side approach unit, the inlet transport device and the outlet transport device are connected in a coupling mode through buses.

From the above, the present application has the following advantageous effects:

this application only can realize the separation of goods, the stretch-draw distance and lean on the limit process simultaneously through two edge machine units through carrying out rational arrangement, and scheme that the scheme that has relatively existed needs to adopt a large amount of belt feeders to realize that article lean on the limit and queue has reduced device operating space and has reduced equipment acquisition cost, simultaneously because device simple structure, greatly reduced device operation power consumption cost.

Meanwhile, the compensation distance of the position of the article is calculated through the pre-running speed and the control signal lag time, the influence on the control precision of the article side-by-side separation process caused by the lag of the control signal is avoided through the compensation of the position of the article, and the control precision of the article side-by-side separation process is improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments are briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a scenario of an article near-edge separation system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an arrangement of an article alongside separation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of another arrangement of an article alongside separation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of another arrangement of an article alongside separation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is another schematic flow chart of an article near-edge separation method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart illustrating the operation of the first edge-finder unit controlled according to the first position information, the second position information and the preset distance according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart for controlling the operation of the first and third edge-finder units according to the third and fourth position information provided in the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flow chart illustrating operation of the first and second edge-trimmer units according to the fifth and sixth position information and the target distance, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a flowchart for determining location information according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is another schematic flow chart of determining location information provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of an article alongside separation system according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

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 only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the 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.

In the description of the present application, it is to be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are used merely for convenience of description and for simplicity of description, and do not indicate or imply that the referenced device or element must have a particular orientation, be constructed in a particular orientation, and be operated, and thus should not be considered as limiting the present application. Furthermore, the terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, features defined as "first", "second", may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the described features. In the description of the present application, "a plurality" means two or more unless specifically limited otherwise.

In this application, the word "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the application. In the following description, details are set forth for the purpose of explanation. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present application may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and processes are not set forth in detail in order to avoid obscuring the description of the present application with unnecessary detail. Thus, the present application is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

Embodiments of the present application provide a method, an apparatus, and a system for separating an article near edge, which are described in detail below.

Referring first to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a scenario of an article side separation application system in an embodiment of the present application.

In this application, the article side-by-side separation application system may be an application system applied to separating articles that are conveyed disorderly and out of order and queuing and conveying the articles at a certain distance so as to facilitate subsequent automated processing of the articles. For example, the article side separating application system can be used in the express industry to queue and convey packages which are conveyed out of order so as to facilitate the automatic sorting of subsequent packages; for another example, the article side separating application system can also be used in the manufacturing industry to queue and convey unordered conveyed materials or processing middleware so as to facilitate subsequent automatic processing of products; for another example, the article side separating application system may be applied to the transportation industry to queue and convey the baggage of passengers for subsequent automated security inspection of the baggage. It should be noted that the application scenario of the article near-edge separation application system is only an illustrative example, and besides, the article near-edge separation application system can also be used for various industries such as economy, culture, education, medical treatment, public management and the like to perform separation and queuing transportation tasks of articles.

In some embodiments, the item edgewise separation application may include a server 110, a network 120, a storage device 130, a location information acquisition device 140, and an edger unit 150. In some embodiments, the article edge separation application system may perform speed control on the edge-proximity unit 150 through the acquired position information, so as to achieve the purpose of separating articles and queuing for transportation at a certain distance.

The server 110 may process data and/or information from at least one component of the article edge separation application system or an external data source (e.g., the storage device 130, the location information obtaining device 140, and the edge protector unit 150), for example, the server 110 may obtain location information of the article from the location information obtaining device 140 so as to calculate an operation speed of the edge protector unit 150, and for example, the server 110 may obtain a pre-operation speed from the edge protector unit 150 so as to perform parameter compensation on the location information of the article, so as to avoid a difference between the location information of the article and the location information in actual control due to the operation speed of the edge protector unit 150. In some embodiments, the server 110 may be a single server or a group of servers. The server group may be a centralized server group connected to the network 120 via an access point, or a distributed server group respectively connected to the network 120 via at least one access point. In some embodiments, server 110 may be connected locally to network 120 or remotely from network 120. For example, server 110 may access information and/or data stored in storage device 130 via network 120. In some embodiments, the server 110 may be implemented on a cloud platform. By way of example only, the cloud platform may include a private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud, a community cloud, a distributed cloud, an internal cloud, a multi-tiered cloud, and the like, or any combination thereof.

Network 120 connects components of an article alongside a separate application system so that communications can occur between the components to facilitate the exchange of information and/or data. In some embodiments, at least one component of the item deckle application (e.g., server 110, storage device 130, location information acquisition device 140, and edger unit 150) may send information and/or data (e.g., location information of the item) to other components of the item deckle application via network 120. In some embodiments, the network between the parts in the article edge separation application system may be any one or more of a wired network or a wireless network. For example, Network 120 may include a cable Network, a wired Network, a fiber optic Network, a telecommunications Network, an intranet, the internet, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a Bluetooth Network (Bluetooth), a ZigBee (ZigBee), Near Field Communication (NFC), an intra-device bus, an intra-device line, a cable connection, and the like, or any combination thereof. The network connection between each two parts may be in one of the above-mentioned ways, or in a plurality of ways.

Storage device 130 may store data and/or instructions. In some embodiments, the storage device 130 may store data obtained from the location information acquisition device 140, for example, location information of an item. As another example, storage device 130 may be located near the operational data of edge unit 150. In some embodiments, storage device 130 may store data and/or instructions that server 110 may execute. In some embodiments, storage 130 may include mass storage, removable storage, volatile Read-and-write Memory, Read Only Memory (ROM), and the like, or any combination thereof. Exemplary mass storage devices may include magnetic disks, optical disks, solid state disks, and the like. Exemplary removable memory may include flash drives, floppy disks, optical disks, memory cards, compact disks, magnetic tape, and the like. Exemplary volatile read-write Memory can include Random Access Memory (RAM). Exemplary RAMs may include Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Double-Data-Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (DDRSDRAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Thyristor Random Access Memory (T-RAM), Zero Capacitance Random Access Memory (Z-RAM), and the like. Exemplary Read-Only memories may include mask Read-Only Memory (MROM), Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (pemrom), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disk Read-Only Memory (dvd-ROM), and the like. In some embodiments, storage device 130 may be implemented on a cloud platform. By way of example only, the cloud platform may include a private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud, a community cloud, a distributed cloud, an internal cloud, a multi-tiered cloud, and the like, or any combination thereof.

The position information acquisition device 140 may acquire data related to the position information of the article. In some embodiments, the location information acquisition device 140 may be a device having an information transmission function to facilitate transmission to the server 110 for processing. In some embodiments, the location information acquiring device 140 may include a plurality of, for example, the location information acquiring devices 141, 142, 143, etc., so as to comprehensively determine the location information of the article by the plurality of location information acquiring devices. In some embodiments, the position information acquisition device 140 is a device that acquires an image class, such as a digital camera, an analog camera. In some embodiments, the location information acquisition device 140 is a sensor, such as a location detector, capable of detecting an item.

The edge-runner units 150 may be oriented at an angle to the conveying direction to facilitate gradual approach to the designated conveying edge and eventually form a queue along the conveying direction during conveyance. In some embodiments, the edger unit 150 may be an apparatus having an endless conveying structure, where the endless conveying structure may be a drum, a conveyor belt, a conveyor chain web, or the like. In some embodiments, the edger unit 150 may also have a driving device, such as a servo motor, so that the server 110 controls the rotation speed of the servo motor through a servo controller, thereby controlling the operation speed of the edger unit. In some embodiments, the edger unit 150 may be a roller edger.

It should be noted that the above description of the article side separation application is for illustration and description only and is not intended to limit the scope of the application. For those skilled in the art, under the guidance of the present application, various modifications and changes may be made to the article near-edge separation application system, for example, the article near-edge separation application system may further include a lower computer connected to the server 110, so as to receive an instruction sent by the server 110 to control the near-edge unit 150.

Before introducing the edge-approaching separation method provided by the present application, an edge-approaching separation device applied to the edge-approaching separation method is introduced.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic layout view of an article near-edge separation device in the embodiment of the present application. The left side and the right side of the edge-leaning separation device are respectively an inlet area of the edge-leaning separation device and an outlet area behind the edge-leaning separation device, in the process of edge-leaning separation of the articles, the articles enter the edge-leaning separation device from the inlet area, then the separation of the articles and the queuing and conveying process are realized through the edge-leaning separation device, and finally the articles enter the outlet area to be output, so that a proper distance is achieved between the articles, and the edge-leaning separation device is suitable for further operations such as subsequent scanning and sorting. Wherein the direction from the inlet area to the outlet area forms the conveying direction of the conveyed articles.

In some embodiments of the present application, for example, for the embodiment where the processed articles to be separated enter the edge-approaching separation device in tandem, the edge-approaching separation device may only include a first edge-approaching machine unit and a second edge-approaching machine unit, the first edge-approaching machine unit and the second edge-approaching machine unit are arranged side by side in the front-back direction along the conveying direction, and after the articles to be separated enter the edge-approaching separation device, because the first edge-leaning machine unit and the second edge-leaning machine unit can carry out article transportation at a certain angle with the conveying direction, the articles to be separated are conveyed towards the conveying direction and along a preset edge, when the distance between the articles does not accord with the target distance, the articles move on the first edge-alongside machine unit and the second edge-alongside machine unit respectively by adjusting the speed difference of the first edge-alongside machine unit and the second edge-alongside machine unit, and outputting after the distance meets the target distance, namely finishing the process of separating the side by side of the articles in tandem.

In some other embodiments of the present application, for example, for an embodiment where the processed articles to be separated include side-by-side adjacent articles, referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is another schematic layout diagram of an article edge-approaching separation device in the embodiment of the present application, the edge-approaching separation device may further include a third edge-approaching machine unit, the third edge-approaching machine unit is located at another side with respect to the first edge-approaching machine unit and the second edge-approaching machine unit, when an article enters the third edge-approaching machine unit, the speed difference between the first edge-approaching machine unit, the second edge-approaching machine unit, and the third edge-approaching machine unit is adjusted, so that the articles to be separated entering the edge-approaching separation device are all transported toward the conveying direction and along a predetermined edge, and the intervals between the articles all meet the target interval and are output. The first sub-conveying channel of the first edge-approaching machine unit is connected with the second sub-conveying channel of the second edge-approaching machine unit along the conveying direction to form a first conveying channel along the conveying direction, the third sub-conveying channel of the third edge-approaching machine unit forms a second conveying channel along the conveying direction, the first conveying channel and the second conveying channel are adjacent side by side and form an edge-approaching separation area, and the edge-approaching separation area is an area where articles move on the edge-approaching separation device. Illustratively, the width of the first transport path may be 1 to 1.5 times the width of the articles, and the length of the first transport path in the conveying direction may be equal to the length of the second transport path.

In some embodiments of the present application, the first transport path and the second transport path may directly connect the inlet area and the outlet area, so that the articles may directly enter the outlet area after entering the edge separation area from the inlet area, and of course the edge separation device may also be connected to the outlet area and the inlet area by a transport belt. In other embodiments of the present application, for example, referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic view of another arrangement of the article edge separation device in the embodiment of the present application, the first edge supporter unit and the second edge supporter unit are transited by the conveyor belt, that is, the first conveying passage and the second conveying passage can also be connected by the intermediate conveyor belt. Specifically, the conveying belt may be a belt conveyor, a chain mesh conveyor, or the like.

Specifically, the first side-by-side machine unit, the second side-by-side machine unit and the third side-by-side machine unit have running directions which form a certain included angle (for example, 30 degrees, 45 degrees and the like) with the conveying direction, so that the first side-by-side machine unit and the second side-by-side machine unit have conveying components along the conveying direction and simultaneously have conveying components pointing to the edge of the side-by-side separation device, and therefore articles gradually abut against the edge of one side of the side-by-side separation device (for example, the edge of the first side-by-side machine unit conveying channel parallel to the conveying direction) to form a queue to be conveyed along the conveying direction in the conveying process, and the articles can be conveyed along one side which needs to be subsequently operated, and the operation is convenient.

In some embodiments of the present application, in order to facilitate the articles to gradually abut against the edge of one side of the edge separation device, as shown in fig. 3, a baffle along the conveying direction may be further provided at the edge of one side of the edge separation device, for example, a baffle provided on the first edge detector unit, after the articles abut against the baffle, at which time the articles move only along the conveying direction, and finally the articles can form a queue along the conveying direction.

Further, in order to facilitate the articles to enter the side separating region and output the side separating region, an inlet transporting device may be disposed in the inlet region, and an outlet transporting device may be disposed in the outlet region, wherein the side separating region is connected to a transporting passage of the inlet transporting device along one side of the conveying direction, and the other side of the side separating region is connected to a transporting passage of the outlet transporting device, so that the articles entering the side separating region and output the side separating region are transported by the inlet transporting device and the outlet transporting device. In particular, the exit conveyor as well as the entrance conveyor may be a belt conveyor, a chain mesh conveyor, or the like.

It should be noted that the above description of the article edge separation device is only for illustration and description, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made to the article edge separation device under the guidance of the present application, for example, the first edge detector unit, the second edge detector unit, and the third edge detector unit may operate in the same direction, and for example, each of the first edge detector unit, the second edge detector unit, and the third edge detector unit may operate in the same direction, and for example, the first edge detector unit, the second edge detector unit, and the third edge detector unit may operate in different directions, and for example, the first edge detector unit, the second edge detector unit, and the third edge detector unit may operate in the same directions, and the directions may be respectively, and may be respectively, 45 °, 60 °, and 30 °, with respect to the conveying direction.

Next, the method for separating the near edges of the article provided by the present application will be described.

In some embodiments of the present application, for processed articles to be separated in tandem, the article side-by-side separation method may include performing side-by-side separation and queue conveyance on the articles by using a side-by-side separation device including a first side-by-side unit and a second side-by-side unit, where the first side-by-side unit and the second side-by-side unit are arranged side by side in a front-back direction along a conveyance direction, after the articles to be separated enter the side-by-side separation device, the articles to be separated are conveyed toward the conveyance direction and along a predetermined edge by operating the side-by-side separation device, and when a distance between the articles does not conform to a target distance, a speed difference between the first side-by-side unit and the second side-by-side unit is adjusted, so that the distance between the articles conforms to the target distance and then is output.

In other embodiments of the present application, for the processed articles to be separated, which are adjacent side by side, the article side-by-side separation method may include side-by-side separating the articles by a side-by-side separation device including a first side-by-side unit, a second side-by-side unit, and a third side-by-side unit, where the first side-by-side unit and the second side-by-side unit are disposed at one side in the front-back direction of the conveying direction, the third side-by-side unit is disposed at the opposite side, the speeds of the first side-by-side unit, the second side-by-side unit, and the third side-by-side unit are individually controllable, and by controlling respective speed differences, the articles entering the side-by-side separation device are transported along a predetermined edge, and a target distance output is formed and maintained between the articles. For example, first position information of a first article in the side separating area and second position information of a second article in the side separating area may be determined, and when the first article and the second article are respectively in the first transportation channel and the second transportation channel, the first side unit, the second side unit and the third side unit are controlled to operate, so that the second article enters the first transportation channel from the second transportation channel, and the first article and the second article are output on the first transportation channel in a queue moving in the transportation direction and after a target distance is kept.

Regarding the process of performing the edge-approaching separation on the articles to be separated in tandem, reference may be made to other parts of the specification, for example, refer to fig. 5, and steps S550 to S560. The edge-approaching separation process of the articles is described in detail by specifically using the edge-approaching separation device comprising a first edge-approaching machine unit, a second edge-approaching machine unit and a third edge-approaching machine unit, wherein the articles to be separated are side-by-side adjacent articles.

First, referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of an article near-edge separation method in an embodiment of the present application, where the article near-edge separation method is applied to a near-edge separation device, the near-edge separation device includes a first near-edge unit, a second near-edge unit, and a third near-edge unit, where a first sub-transport path of the first near-edge unit is connected to a second sub-transport path of the second near-edge unit along a transport direction and forms a first transport path along the transport direction, a third sub-transport path of the third near-edge unit forms a second transport path along the transport direction, the first transport path and the second transport path are adjacent side by side and form a near-edge separation area, and the near-edge separation area is an area where an article moves on the near-edge separation device, and the article near-edge separation method includes:

step S510, determining first position information of a first article in the side separating area and second position information of a second article in the side separating area;

the articles may be objects that are to be separated and queued. Specifically, the article may be an express package, a trunk, a processing raw material, a processing middleware, or the like. The first article and the second article refer to any two articles which are relatively close (for example, the distance between the articles in a straight line or the distance along the conveying direction is less than 5cm) in a large number of articles to be separated and queued, such as adjacent packages, luggage, processing raw materials or processing intermediate parts in the conveying process.

The location information may refer to distance or coordinate information of the item relative to some reference object or reference coordinate system. For example, the location information may be distance information of the article from the exit area; for another example, the position information may be coordinate information in a plane coordinate system of the edge separation region. In some embodiments of the present application, the reference point of the position information may be a certain point on the article, such as a center point of the article, such as an edge point of the article near the exit direction, such as an edge point of the article away from the exit direction. In other embodiments of the present application, the location information reference point may be a point other than the item, such as a location a certain length from the item (e.g., 5 centimeters from the item center point).

In some embodiments of the application, the image information of the edge separation area may be obtained, where the image information of the edge separation area includes image information of a first article and image information of a second article, then the image information of the edge separation area is input into the identification model to identify the position information, and finally coordinate information of the first article and coordinate information of the second article output by the identification model are obtained, and finally the coordinate information of the first article is used as first position information of the first article, and the coordinate information of the second article is used as second position information of the second article. Specifically, the recognition model may be a final model obtained by training an original model through training data and adjusting parameters of the original model, where the training data may be a large number of images containing articles. In some specific embodiments, the original model may be a Region-based Convolutional Neural network model (fast Region-conditional Neural Networks, fast R-CNN), a Region-based full Convolutional network model (RFCN), a target detection model (young on Look one, YOLO), a Single-Shot multi box Detector model (SSD), and so on. In other embodiments of the present application, determining the location information of the first item and the location information of the second item may also be determined by detecting with a location detector, for example, by receiving a light source with a fixed location to determine whether the item passes through and finally determining the location information of the item.

Step S520, when the first article and the second article are respectively positioned in the first sub-conveying passage and the third sub-conveying passage, controlling the first edge-approaching machine unit to operate according to the first position information, the second position information and the preset distance, so that the first article moves in the first sub-conveying passage and is separated from the second article on the third sub-conveying passage by the preset distance;

the preset distance is the length (for example, 50cm) along the conveying direction, so that whether the current distance between the first article and the second article meets the preset distance requirement or not is judged, the first article and the second article are further separated in advance, and the situation that the first article and the second article are overlapped and cannot be distributed front and back to move to the edge of the side-approaching separating device is avoided.

When adjacent articles enter the side separating area of the side separating device, the two articles are respectively positioned in the first sub-conveying passage and the third sub-conveying passage in the initial state, so that when the first article and the second article are respectively positioned in the first sub-conveying passage and the third sub-conveying passage, the operating speed of the first side unit and/or the third side unit can be controlled according to the first position information, the second position information and the preset distance, the first article moves on the first sub-conveying passage at the preset speed, the first article and the second article on the third sub-conveying passage are separated by the preset distance, the first article and the second article are separated in advance, and the situation that the first article and the second article are overlapped and cannot move to the edge of the side separating device in a front-back distribution manner is avoided. In some embodiments, the second article may directly rest on the third sub-conveying path to facilitate rapid separation of the first article from the second article, and in addition, the second article may move in the same direction or in the opposite direction to the first article on the third sub-conveying path to achieve separation. In other embodiments of the present application, the initial state may be that two articles are located on the first conveying path, and at this time, only the first edge-abutting unit and the second edge-abutting unit need to be controlled to operate, so that the first article and the second article are separated from each other in the first conveying path.

Taking an example that two articles are respectively in the first sub-conveying passage and the third sub-conveying passage in an initial state, specifically, the purpose that the first article moves in the first sub-conveying passage and is separated from the second article by the preset distance can be achieved by controlling the operation speed and the operation time of the first edge-proximity unit according to the first position information, the second position information and the preset distance, wherein the operation speed may refer to a relevant parameter of the speed at which the edge-proximity unit conveys the articles, for example, the operation speed may be the rotation speed of a servo motor in the edge-proximity unit; for another example, the running speed may also be the rotational speed of the rollers on the edger unit; for another example, the speed of travel may also be the speed of movement of the article on the edger unit.

In some embodiments of the present application, for example, for the embodiment where the second article may directly stop on the third sub-conveying path, the operation speed of the first edge-finder unit may be maintained, then the first moving distance of the first article moving along the conveying direction is determined according to the first position information, the second position information and the preset distance, and finally the operation time is calculated by using a relation between the first moving distance and the speed of the operation speed of the first edge-finder unit and the time, for example, the operation speed of the first edge-finder unit is V, the first article moving along the conveying direction such that the first article is separated from the second article by the preset distance, and the first moving distance is S, the operation time T may be calculated: and T is S/V. In other embodiments of the present application, the operation speed of the first edge-finder unit may be calculated according to the output time of the first article passing through the edge separation region and the first position information, and then the operation time is determined to perform operation control on the first edge-finder unit.

In step S530, after the first article and the second article are separated to the preset distance, the third position information of the first article and the fourth position information of the second article are determined.

After the first article and the second article are separated to the preset distance, the third position information of the first article and the fourth position information of the second article in the current state can be determined again, so that the control parameter of the next stage can be calculated according to the third position information and the fourth position information. In some embodiments of the present application, the image information of the edge separation region may be input into the recognition model, and then the third position information and the fourth position information may be obtained, as in the first position information and the second position information. In some other embodiments of the present application, the third position information may be further determined according to the first position information and the first moving distance of the first article, for example, the first position information of the first article is a coordinate (100, 0), which indicates that the distance from the outlet area is 100cm, the distance from the edge of the edge separation device is 0cm, the first article moving distance is 10cm in order to separate the first article from the second article by a preset distance, and thus the third position information may be obtained as the coordinate (90, 0). Similarly, the fourth location information of the second object may also be determined as such, and will not be described herein.

Step S540, controlling the first edge-approaching machine unit and the third edge-approaching machine unit to operate according to the third position information and the fourth position information, so that the second article enters the first sub-conveying channel from the third sub-conveying channel, and the first article enters the second sub-conveying channel from the first sub-conveying channel, thereby realizing that the first article and the second article are in a queue moving along the conveying direction on the first conveying channel;

after the third position information and the fourth position information are determined, the first edge-alongside machine unit and the third edge-alongside machine unit can be controlled to operate, so that the second article enters the first sub-transport passage from the third sub-transport passage, and the first article enters the second sub-transport passage from the first sub-transport passage, and therefore the first article and the second article are in a queue moving along the transport direction on the first transport passage, and meanwhile, the target distance between the first article and the second article can be controlled by controlling the first edge-alongside machine and the second edge-alongside machine to operate when the target distance between the first article and the second article is controlled in the next stage, wherein the target distance is a distance meeting the queuing requirement along the transport direction. In addition, the second article can enter the second sub-transportation passage from the third sub-transportation passage, namely, the front of the first article is inserted to carry out side-by-side separation.

Specifically, for example, when the second article enters the first sub-conveyance path from the third sub-conveyance path and the first article enters the second sub-conveyance path from the first sub-conveyance path, the second article may enter the first sub-conveyance path from the third sub-conveyance path and the first article may enter the second sub-conveyance path from the first sub-conveyance path by controlling the operation speed and the operation time of the first edge-finder unit and the third edge-finder unit according to the third position information and the fourth position information. In some embodiments of the present application, the operation speeds of the first and third side proximity units may be predetermined, for example, the operation speed of the first side proximity unit is maintained, and the operation speed of the third side proximity unit is made to coincide with that of the first side proximity unit, then the operation time of the first side proximity unit is calculated according to the third position information and the operation speed of the first side proximity unit, the operation time of the third side proximity unit is calculated according to the fourth position information and the operation speed of the third side proximity unit, and finally the second article is made to enter the first sub-transportation lane from the third sub-transportation lane, and the first article is made to enter the second sub-transportation lane from the first sub-transportation lane. For example, if the running speed of the first edger unit is v and the distance of the third position information from the second sub conveying path is s, the running time t may be calculated as: and t is s/v.

In other embodiments of the present application, the operation speed of the first edge-finder unit may be calculated according to the output time of the first article passing through the edge separation region and the third position information, and then the operation time is determined to perform operation control on the first edge-finder unit. This is also true for the second article, and is not described here.

Step S550, determining fifth position information of the first article and sixth position information of the second article after the second article enters the first transportation lane from the second transportation lane and the first article enters the second sub-transportation lane from the first sub-transportation lane;

after the first article and the second article enter the second sub-conveying path and the first sub-conveying path, respectively, the fifth position information of the first article and the sixth position information of the second article in the current state may be determined again, so as to calculate the control parameter of the next stage according to the fifth position information and the fifth position information. In some embodiments of the present application, the same as the first position information and the second position information, the image information of the edge separation region may be input into the recognition model, and then the fifth position information and the sixth position information may be obtained. In some other embodiments of the present application, the fifth position information may be further determined according to the third position information and the moving distance of the first article moving into the second sub-near-edge region, for example, the third position information of the first article is coordinates (90, 0), which indicates that the distance from the outlet region is 90cm, the distance from the edge of the near-edge separation device is 0cm, and the moving distance of the first article moving into the second sub-near-edge region is 30cm, so that the fifth position information can be obtained as coordinates (60, 0). Similarly, the sixth location information of the second object may also be determined as such, and will not be described herein again.

Step S560, controlling the first edge-approaching machine unit and the second edge-approaching machine unit to operate according to the fifth position information, the sixth position information and the target distance, so that the first article and the second article are separated to the target distance on the first sub-conveying path and the second sub-conveying path.

After the fifth position information and the sixth position information are determined, the first edge-approaching machine unit and the second edge-approaching machine unit can be controlled to operate, so that the first article and the second article are separated to the target distance on the first sub-conveying passage and the second sub-conveying passage, and the first article and the second article are in a queue which is separated by the target distance on the first conveying passage and moves along the conveying direction.

Specifically, the first article and the second article may be separated to the target distance on the first sub conveying path and the second sub conveying path by controlling the operating speed and the operating time of the first edge-proximity unit and the second edge-proximity unit according to the fifth position information, the sixth position information, and the target distance. In some embodiments of the present application, the operation speeds of the first and second edge-trimmer units may be predetermined, for example, the operation speed of the first edge-trimmer unit is maintained, the operation speed of the second edge-trimmer unit is made different from that of the first edge-trimmer unit, the moving distance of the first article and the second article to be separated along the conveying direction is determined according to the fifth position information, the sixth position information and the target distance, the operation times of the first and second edge-trimmer units are calculated according to the moving distance to be separated and the speed difference between the first and second edge-trimmer units, and the first article and the second article are separated to the target distance on the first sub-conveying passage and the second sub-conveying passage under the control of the operation speeds and the operation times of the first and second edge-trimmer units. For example, if the first edger unit has an operating speed of V1 ', the second edger unit has an operating speed of V2', and the first article and the second article need to be separated by the moving distance S 'in the conveying direction, the operating time T' can be calculated: t '/(V1 ' -V2 ').

In other embodiments of the present application, the operation speed of the second edge-approaching machine unit may be obtained by calculating according to the output time of the first article passing through the edge-approaching separation region and the fifth position information, and then the operation time is determined to perform operation control on the second edge-approaching machine unit, which may be the case for the second article, and details are not described here again.

It should be noted that the above description of the method for separating the near edges of the articles is only for illustration and explanation, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes can be made in the method for separating the near edges of the articles under the guidance of the present application, for example, the fifth position information and the sixth position information can also be determined by calculation based on the first position information, the second position information, and the distance traveled by the first article and the second article in the foregoing process.

With reference to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart illustrating the operation of the first edge guiding unit according to the first position information, the second position information and the preset distance in the embodiment of the present application. The control process may include:

step S610, determining first output time of the first article passing through the side separating area, wherein the first output time corresponds to the first position information;

the first output time is a time required for the first article to pass through the edge-approaching separation region when the first article is at the first position, wherein the first position corresponds to the first position information, specifically, the output time of a third article and a preset article passing time interval can be obtained, and then the first output time is obtained by calculation according to the output time of the third article and the preset article passing time interval, wherein the third article is the article which has passed through the edge-approaching separation region, so that the first article and the article which has passed through the edge-approaching separation region at the preset time interval can be output to keep an adjusted target distance. Illustratively, the output time of the third article passing through the edge separation region is-1 second, which means that the third article has passed through the edge separation region for 1 second, and the preset article passing time interval is 5 seconds, and the first output time of the first article passing through the edge separation region is 4 seconds.

In step S620, a first operating speed of the first side-proximity unit is determined according to the first position information and the first output time.

In order to ensure that the first article can be output to the side approaching separation region after the first output time is over, the first operating speed of the first side approaching machine unit can be determined according to the first position information and the first output time, and the difference between the output time of the first article and the output time of the output article can be ensured to meet the preset article passing time interval. Specifically, the first operating speed of the first edger unit may be calculated by using a speed calculation formula, for example, the first position information is a coordinate (S1, 0), which indicates that the distance between the first article and the exit area is S1, the first output time of the first article passing through the edge separation area is T1, and the first operating speed V1 of the first edger unit is: v1 ═ S1/T1.

Step S630, determining a first operation time required for separating the first article from the second article by the preset distance according to the first position information, the second position information, the first operation speed and the preset distance.

The first running time refers to the time required for the first edge-trimmer unit to run at the first running speed so as to separate the first article from the second article by the preset distance. Specifically, the first operation time may be determined according to the first position information, the second position information, the first operation speed, and the preset interval. In some specific embodiments of the present application, determining the first operation time may include determining a first moving distance for the first article to move along the conveying direction according to the first position information, the second position information, and the preset distance, and then determining the first operation time according to the first moving distance and the first operating speed, wherein the first moving distance is a distance for the first article to move when the first article is separated from the second article by the preset distance. Illustratively, the first position information is coordinates (100, 0) indicating that the first article is 100cm from the exit area, 0cm from the edge near the edge of the edge separation device, the second position information is coordinates (105, 30) indicating that the second article is 105cm from the exit area, 30cm from the edge near the edge of the edge separation device, the preset pitch is 30cm, the velocity component of the first operating velocity directed in the conveying direction is 0.25m/s, and the first moving distance is 25cm, so the first operating time t1 is calculated to be 1 second from the velocity-time relationship.

In step S640, the first edge-next machine unit is controlled to operate at the first operating speed for a first operating time.

After determining the first operating speed and the first operating time of the first edge-proximity unit, the first edge-proximity unit may be controlled to operate such that the first article is separated from the second article by a predetermined distance. Specifically, controlling the operation of the first edge-proximity unit may refer to the server 110 sending a control instruction to a servo motor corresponding to the first edge-proximity unit, and controlling the rotation speed and the operation time of the servo motor to realize the operation control of the first edge-proximity unit.

It should be noted that the above description of controlling the operation of the first edge-finder unit according to the first position information, the second position information and the preset distance is only for illustration and description, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes can be made to the control process under the guidance of the present application, for example, the output time of the first article can be determined according to the output time of the third article and the article passing time interval, and for example, the output time of the third article is-2 seconds, which means that the third article has passed through the edge separation area for 2 seconds, and the article passing time interval is 2 seconds, and the first output time of the first article is 2 seconds.

With reference to fig. 7, fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart illustrating the operation of the first and third edge-trimmer units controlled according to the third and fourth position information in the embodiment of the present application. The control process may include:

step S710, determining a second output time when the first article passes through the side-approaching separation area, and determining a third output time when the second article passes through the side-approaching separation area, wherein the second output time corresponds to third position information, and the third output time corresponds to fourth position information;

the second output time is the time required for the first article to pass through the side-by-side separation region when in a third position, and the third output time is the time required for the second article to pass through the side-by-side separation region when in a fourth position, wherein the third position corresponds to the third position information and the fourth position corresponds to the fourth position information. Specifically, the remaining second output time of the first article passing through the edge-approaching separation region after the first output time and the first operation time may be determined, and the third output time of the second article passing through the edge-approaching separation region may be determined according to the second output time and the article passing time interval. Illustratively, the first output time of the first article at the first location is 2 seconds, the first operating time is 0.25 seconds to reach the third location, thus the second output time of the first article is 1.75 seconds, and the third output time of the second article is 2.75 seconds since the time interval for the articles to pass through the edgewise separation zone is 1 second.

Step S720, determining a second operating speed of the first side-proximity unit according to the third position information and the second output time, and determining a third operating speed of the third side-proximity unit according to the fourth position information and the third output time;

in order to ensure that the first article can be output to the side separating region after the second output time is over, and the second article can be output to the side separating region after the third output time is over, the second operating speed of the first side unit can be calculated according to the third position information and the second output time, so that the first article and the output article have the same time interval. Specifically, the second operating speed of the first edger unit may be calculated by using a speed calculation formula, for example, the third position information is coordinates (S3, 0), which indicate that the distance between the first article and the exit area is S3, the second output time of the first article passing through the edge separation area is T2, and the second operating speed V2 of the first edger unit is: similarly, the third operating speed of the third edge-proximity unit may be calculated by using a speed calculation formula as in S3/T2, and details thereof are not repeated here.

Step S730, determining a second running time required for the second article to enter the first sub-conveying passage and the first article to enter the second sub-conveying passage according to the third position information, the fourth position information, the second running speed and the third running speed;

the second operation time refers to the time required for the first article and the second article to enter the second sub-conveying passage and the first sub-conveying passage respectively when the first edge-alongside unit operates at the second operation speed and the third edge-alongside unit operates at the third operation speed. Specifically, a second moving distance of the first article entering the second sub-transportation path can be determined according to the third position information, and a first sub-operation time required for the first article entering the second sub-transportation path is determined according to the second moving distance and the second operation speed; and meanwhile, according to the fourth position information, determining a first side-approaching distance of the second article entering the first sub-transportation channel, determining a second sub-operation time required by the second article entering the first sub-transportation channel according to the first side-approaching distance and the third operation speed, and finally selecting one of the first sub-operation time and the second sub-operation time with longer time as the second operation time so as to ensure that the second operation time can simultaneously enable the first article and the second article to respectively enter the second sub-transportation channel and the first sub-transportation channel.

For example, if the third position information is coordinates (S3, 0), which indicate that the first article is located at S3 from the exit area, the edge located at the side of the edge approaching separation device is 0, the fourth position information is coordinates (105, S4), which indicate that the second article is located at 105cm from the exit area, the edge located at the side of the edge approaching separation device is S4, the velocity component of the first edge proximity machine in the conveying direction is V2, and the velocity component of the third edge proximity machine in the edge approaching separation device in the third operating speed is V3, the first sub-operation time T2' and the second sub-operation time T2 ″ can be calculated as:

T2’＝(S3-L)/V2；

T2”＝S4/V3；

where L is the length of the second sub-conveyer path in the conveying direction, S3-L represents the second moving distance of the first article into the second sub-conveyer path, and S4 represents the first side-by-side distance of the second article into the first sub-conveyer path.

The first sub-operation time T2' and the second sub-operation time T2 ″ can be selected as the second operation time, so as to ensure that the first article and the second article can simultaneously enter the second sub-conveying passage and the first sub-conveying passage respectively after the second operation time is operated.

And step S740, controlling the first edge-finder unit and the third edge-finder unit to operate at the second operating speed and the third operating speed, respectively, for a second operating time.

After the second operation speed of the first edge-approaching machine unit, the third operation speed of the third edge-approaching machine and the second operation time are determined, the first edge-approaching machine unit and the third edge-approaching machine unit can be controlled to operate, so that the second article enters the first sub-conveying passage from the third sub-conveying passage, and the first article enters the second sub-conveying passage from the first sub-conveying passage, and the first article and the second article move in a queue in front of each other on the first conveying passage. Specifically, controlling the operation of the first and third edge-proximity units may refer to the server 110 sending a control instruction to the servo motors corresponding to the first and third edge-proximity units, and controlling the rotation speed and the operation time of the servo motors, so as to control the operation of the first and third edge-proximity units.

It is noted that the above description of controlling the operation of the first and third side-by-side units according to the third and fourth position information is only for illustration and explanation, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made to the control process under the guidance of the present application, for example, the output time of the third article may be obtained again and the second output time may be calculated according to the preset article passing time interval.

With reference to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart illustrating the operation of the first and second edge-trimmer units according to the fifth and sixth position information and the target distance in the embodiment of the present application. The control process may include:

step S810, determining fourth output time when the first article passes through the side approaching separation area, and determining fifth output time when the second article passes through the side approaching separation area, wherein the fourth output time corresponds to fifth position information, and the fifth output time corresponds to sixth position information;

the fourth output time is the time required for the first article to pass through the side approaching separation region at a fifth position, and the fifth output time is the time required for the second article to pass through the side approaching separation region at a sixth position, wherein the fifth position corresponds to the fifth position information, and the sixth position corresponds to the sixth position information. Specifically, a fourth output time of the first article passing through the edge-approaching separation region after the first output time and the second output time are determined according to the first output time, the first operation time and the second operation time, and a fifth output time of the second article passing through the edge-approaching separation region may be determined according to a time interval between the fourth output time and the article passing time. Illustratively, the first output time of the first article at the first location is 2 seconds, the third location is reached after the first operation time of 0.25 seconds, and the fifth location is reached after the second operation time of 0.5 seconds, so the fourth output time of the first article can be determined to be 1.25 seconds, and the fifth output time of the second article can be determined to be 2.25 seconds since the article passing time interval is 1 second.

In step S820, a fourth operating speed of the second edger unit is determined according to the fifth position information and the fourth output time, and a fifth operating speed of the first edger unit is determined according to the sixth position information and the fifth output time.

In order to ensure that the first article can be output to the edge separation area after the third output time is finished, and the second article can be output to the edge separation area after the fourth output time is finished, the fourth operating speed of the second edge detector unit can be calculated according to the fifth position information and the fourth output time, so that the first article and the output article have the same time interval. Specifically, the fourth operating speed of the second edge-runner unit may be calculated by using a speed calculation formula, for example, the fifth position information is coordinates (S5, 0), which indicate that the distance between the first article and the exit area is S5, the fourth output time of the first article passing through the edge separation area is T4, and the fourth operating speed V4 of the first edge-runner unit is: similarly, the fifth operating speed of the first edge-runner unit may be calculated by using a speed calculation formula, which is not described herein again.

In step S830, a third operation time required for separating the first article from the second article by the target distance is determined according to the fifth position information, the sixth position information, the fourth operation speed, the fifth operation speed, and the target distance.

The third operation time is a time required for separating the first article from the second article in the second sub conveyance path and the first sub conveyance path to the target distance. Specifically, a third moving distance, which is required to separate the first article from the second article along the conveying direction, may be determined according to the fifth position information, the sixth position information, and the target distance, then the operating speed difference between the first edge-next unit and the second edge-next unit may be determined according to the fourth operating speed and the fifth operating speed, and finally the third operating time may be determined according to the third moving distance and the operating speed difference. For example, the third operation time T3 may be calculated as follows:

T3＝(S-(S5-S6))/(V4-V5)

where S is the target pitch, S5 is fifth position information, S6 is sixth position information, S- (S5-S6) indicates a third moving distance of the first article and the second article in the conveying direction, V4 is a fourth operating speed, V5 is a fifth operating speed, and (V4-V5) indicates an operating speed difference between the first edge-proximity unit and the second edge-proximity unit.

And step 840, controlling the second edge-finder unit to operate for a third operation time at a fourth operation speed, and controlling the first edge-finder unit to operate for a third operation time at a fifth operation speed.

After determining the fifth operating speed of the first edge-approaching machine unit, the fourth operating speed of the second edge-approaching machine unit and the third operating time, the first edge-approaching machine unit and the third edge-approaching machine unit can be controlled to operate, so that the first article and the second article are separated to a target distance on the first sub-conveying passage and the second sub-conveying passage, and the processes of edge-approaching, queuing and conveying of the first article and the second article are completed. Specifically, controlling the operation of the first and second edge-proximity units may refer to the server 110 sending a control instruction to the servo motors corresponding to the first and second edge-proximity units, and controlling the rotation speed and the operation time of the servo motors, so as to control the operation of the first and third edge-proximity units.

It should be noted that the above description of controlling the operation of the first and second side arm units according to the fifth and sixth position information is only for illustration and explanation, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made to the control process under the guidance of the present application, for example, the output time of the third article may be obtained again and the third output time may be calculated according to the preset article passing time interval.

With continued reference to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart illustrating the determination of the item location information according to the embodiment of the present application. Specifically, determining the item location information may include:

step S910, acquiring image information of an edge separation area, wherein the image information of the edge separation area comprises image information of a first article and image information of a second article;

for example, the image information of the edge separation area may be obtained from the image captured by the position information obtaining device 140, and as another example, the image information of the edge separation area may be obtained from the video stream captured by the position information obtaining device 140, for example, the image information of the first article and the second article is obtained from each frame of image in the video stream.

Step S920, inputting the image information of the edge separation area into the recognition model to recognize the position information, and obtaining the coordinate information of the first article and the coordinate information of the second article output by the recognition model.

The recognition model may be a final model obtained by training an original model with training data and adjusting parameters of the original model, where the training data may be a large number of images labeled with position information of an article. In some specific embodiments, the original model may be fast R-CNN, RFCN, YOLO, SSD, or the like.

In some embodiments, after the image information of the edge separation region is input into the recognition model, the recognition model may output the coordinate information of the first article and the coordinate information of the second article. For example, the recognition model may pass the image through a network (e.g., a multi-layer convolutional neural network), and output one or more prediction window coordinates containing the object, and finally obtain coordinate information of the first object and coordinate information of the second object as the position information of the first object and the position information of the second object.

It is noted that the above method for determining the position information of the article is only an exemplary description, and those skilled in the art can modify the above method, for example, the original model can also be any other machine learning model.

After the coordinate information of the first article and the coordinate information of the second article are determined by the identification model, in the actual control process, the position information of the article is changed due to the hysteresis effect of the control signal, so that the error effect is generated on the whole control process by directly using the article position information determined by the identification model.

With continued reference to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a schematic view of another process for determining item location information in an embodiment of the present application. In some embodiments of the present application, determining the item location information further comprises:

step S1010, acquiring a first pre-operation speed of a first edge-approaching machine unit, a second pre-operation speed of a second edge-approaching machine unit and a preset control signal lag time;

the first pre-operation speed refers to the speed of the first edge-next machine unit before the operation speed is adjusted, the second pre-operation speed refers to the speed of the second edge-next machine unit before the operation speed is adjusted, and the preset control signal lag time refers to the lag time after the server 110 or the upper computer sends the control command to the controlled equipment until the controlled equipment starts to operate. For example, the first pre-run speed may be a motor speed of the first edger unit, and may also be a moving speed of the article on the first edger unit. In particular, obtaining a first pre-determined operating speed of the first edger unit may be determined by obtaining a motor speed, for example, by a speed sensor.

Step S1020, calculating a first compensation distance of the first article according to the first pre-operation speed and the control signal lag time, and calculating a second compensation distance of the second article according to the second pre-operation speed and the control signal lag time;

the first compensation distance is the distance that the first article has actually moved due to control signal lag, and the second compensation distance is the distance that the second article has actually moved due to control signal lag. For example, the first compensation distance and the second compensation distance may be calculated by using a displacement calculation formula, for example, for the first preliminary control speed V1 ', the second preliminary control speed V2', the control signal lag time is t0, and the first compensation distance S1 ', and S2' are:

S1’＝V1’*t0

S2’＝V2’*t0

and finally, calculating to obtain a first compensation distance and a second compensation distance.

Step S1030, determining first position information of the first article according to the first compensation distance and the coordinate information of the first article, and determining second position information of the second article according to the second compensation distance and the coordinate information of the second article.

After the first compensation distance is determined, the first compensation distance may be added to the coordinate information of the first article, and finally, the position information of the first article is obtained. Illustratively, the coordinate information of the first article (S1, S2), the first compensation distance is the conveying direction displacement S, and the position information of the first article is (S1+ S, S2). Similarly, the second position information of the second object can be calculated as such, and is not described herein again.

It should be noted that the above method for determining the article position information is only an exemplary description, and those skilled in the art may also modify the above method, for example, the recognition model predicts the position of the control signal after the lag time t directly according to the acquired first article image information. For example, the above-described method of specifying position information may be used to specify the third position information and the fifth position information of the first article, and the fourth position information and the sixth position information of the second article.

In order to better implement the article near-edge separation method in the embodiment of the present application, on the basis of the article near-edge separation method, an article near-edge separation system is further provided in the embodiment of the present application, and the system includes a controller, a position information obtaining device, a near-edge separation device, an entrance transport device, an exit transport device, and a bus;

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of an article side separation method system according to an embodiment of the present application, specifically:

the article edge separation method system may include one or more controllers 1101 of the processing core. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the configuration shown in fig. 11 does not constitute a limitation of the article side-by-side separation method system, and may include more or fewer components than shown, or some components in combination, or a different arrangement of components. Wherein:

the controller 1101 is a control center of the system, connects various parts of the entire system with various interfaces and lines, and performs various functions of the system and processes data by running or executing software programs and/or modules stored in the memory 1103 and calling data stored in the memory 1103, thereby monitoring the entire system. Optionally, the controller 1101 may include one or more processing cores; the controller 1101 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), other general purpose Processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other Programmable logic device, discrete Gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, etc. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like, and preferably the controller 1101 may integrate an application processor, which handles primarily the operating system, user interfaces, application programs, etc., and a modem processor, which handles primarily wireless communications. It will be appreciated that the modem processor described above may not be integrated into the controller 1101.

The location information acquisition device 1102 may acquire data related to item location information. Illustratively, the position information acquiring device 1102 is a device for acquiring an image class, such as a digital camera or an analog camera, and when the position information acquiring device 1102 is a device for acquiring an image class, the position information acquiring device 1102 is disposed above the edge separation region, and the position information acquiring device 1102 is configured to capture image information of the edge separation region. As another example, the position information acquisition device 1102 is a sensor, such as a position detector, capable of detecting an item.

The memory 1103 may be used to store software programs and modules, and the controller 1101 executes various functional applications and data processing by operating the software programs and modules stored in the memory 1103. The memory 1103 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, where the program storage area may store an operating system, application programs (such as a sound playing function, an image playing function, etc.) required by at least one function, and the like; the storage data area may store data created according to use of the article side separation method system, and the like. Further, the memory 1103 may include high-speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage device. Accordingly, the memory 1103 may also include a memory controller to provide the controller 1101 access to the memory 1103.

The side separating device 1104 is used for carrying out side-approaching and separating, queuing and conveying on articles, wherein the side-approaching separating device 1104 comprises a first side-approaching machine unit, a second side-approaching machine unit and a third side-approaching machine unit, a first sub conveying channel of the first side-approaching machine unit is connected with a second sub conveying channel of the second side-approaching machine unit along the conveying direction and forms a first conveying channel along the conveying direction, a third sub conveying channel of the third side-approaching machine unit forms a second conveying channel along the conveying direction, and the first conveying channel and the second conveying channel are adjacent side by side and form a side-approaching separating area. The first side-by-side machine unit, the second side-by-side machine unit and the third side-by-side machine unit can transport articles at a certain angle with the conveying direction, so that the articles are gradually close to the conveying edge in the conveying process and finally form a queue along the conveying direction. Specifically, the first edge-supporting unit, the second edge-supporting unit, and the third edge-supporting unit may be devices having an endless conveying structure, wherein the endless conveying structure may be a drum, a conveyor belt, a conveyor chain net, or the like. As an example, the edger unit may be a roller edger.

The inlet transport device 1105 and the outlet transport device 1106 transport the articles entering the side-by-side separation area and the output side-by-side separation area, so that the articles can enter the side-by-side separation area and the output side-by-side separation area, wherein one side of the side-by-side separation area along the conveying direction is connected with the conveying channel of the inlet transport device 1105, and the other side of the side-by-side separation area is connected with the conveying channel of the outlet transport device 1106, so as to pass through the side-by-side separation area. Specifically, the exit conveyor 1106 and the entrance conveyor 1105 may be belt conveyors, chain-link conveyors, or the like.

A bus 1107 connects the various portions of the system to facilitate the exchange of information and the transmission of control instructions. Illustratively, the bus 1107 may be a foundation fieldbus, a CNA fieldbus, a Lonworks fieldbus, a DeviceNet fieldbus, a PROFIBUS fieldbus, or the like.

Although not shown, the article near-edge separation method system may further include a display unit and the like, which are not described in detail herein. Specifically, in this embodiment, the controller 1101 in the article near-edge separation method system loads an executable file corresponding to one or more application programs in a process into the memory 1103 according to the following instructions, and the controller 1101 runs the application programs stored in the memory 1103, so as to implement various functions, as follows:

determining first position information of a first article in the side separating area and second position information of a second article in the side separating area;

when the first article and the second article are respectively positioned in the first sub-conveying channel and the third sub-conveying channel, controlling the first edge-approaching machine unit to operate according to the first position information, the second position information and the preset distance, so that the first article moves in the first sub-conveying channel and is separated from the second article on the third sub-conveying channel by the preset distance;

after the first article and the second article are separated to the preset distance, determining third position information of the first article and fourth position information of the second article;

controlling the first edge-approaching machine unit and the third edge-approaching machine unit to operate according to the third position information and the fourth position information, so that the second article enters the first sub-conveying channel from the third sub-conveying channel, and the first article enters the second sub-conveying channel from the first sub-conveying channel, and therefore the first article and the second article are in a queue moving along the conveying direction on the first conveying channel;

after the second article enters the first transportation channel from the second transportation channel and the first article enters the second sub-transportation channel from the first sub-transportation channel, determining fifth position information of the first article and sixth position information of the second article;

and controlling the first edge-approaching machine unit and the second edge-approaching machine unit to operate according to the fifth position information, the sixth position information and the target distance, so that the first article and the second article are separated to the target distance on the first sub-conveying passage and the second sub-conveying passage.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or part of the steps of the methods of the above embodiments may be performed by instructions or by associated hardware controlled by the instructions, which may be stored in a computer readable storage medium and loaded and executed by a processor.

To this end, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which may include: read-only memory, random access memory, magnetic or optical disk, and the like. The computer program is loaded by a processor to execute the steps of any one of the article side-by-side separation methods provided by the embodiments of the present application. For example, the computer program may be loaded by a processor to perform the steps of:

Having thus described the basic concept, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing detailed disclosure is to be considered merely illustrative and not restrictive of the broad application. Various modifications, improvements and adaptations to the present application may occur to those skilled in the art, although not explicitly described herein. Such modifications, improvements and adaptations are proposed in the present application and thus fall within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present application.

Also, this application uses specific language to describe embodiments of the application. Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," and/or "some embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with at least one embodiment of the present application is included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" or "an alternative embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, some features, structures, or characteristics of one or more embodiments of the present application may be combined as appropriate.

Accordingly, various aspects of the present application may be embodied entirely in hardware, entirely in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or in a combination of hardware and software. The above hardware or software may be referred to as "data block," module, "" engine, "" unit, "" component, "or" system. Furthermore, aspects of the present application may be represented as a computer product, including computer readable program code, embodied in one or more computer readable media.

The computer storage medium may comprise a propagated data signal with the computer program code embodied therewith, for example, on baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including electromagnetic, optical, etc., or any suitable combination. A computer storage medium may be any computer-readable medium that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code located on a computer storage medium may be propagated over any suitable medium, including radio, cable, fiber optic cable, RF, or the like, or any combination of the preceding.

It should be noted that in the foregoing description of embodiments of the present application, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one or more of the embodiments. This method of disclosure, however, is not intended to require more features than are expressly recited in the claims. Indeed, the embodiments may be characterized as having less than all of the features of a single embodiment disclosed above.

The method, the apparatus, the system and the computer storage medium for separating the near edges of the articles provided by the embodiments of the present application are described in detail above, and a specific example is applied in the present application to explain the principle and the implementation of the present application, and the description of the above embodiments is only used to help understanding the method and the core idea of the present application; meanwhile, for those skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present application, there may be variations in the specific embodiments and the application scope, and in summary, the content of the present specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present application.

Claims

1. The method is characterized in that the method is applied to an edge-approaching separating device, the edge-approaching separating device comprises a first edge-approaching machine unit and a second edge-approaching machine unit, the first edge-approaching machine unit and the second edge-approaching machine unit are arranged side by side in the front and back direction of a conveying direction, after articles to be separated enter the edge-approaching separating device, the articles to be separated are conveyed towards the conveying direction and along a preset edge through the operation of the edge-approaching separating device, and when the distance between the articles does not accord with a target distance, the speed difference between the first edge-approaching machine unit and the second edge-approaching machine unit is adjusted, so that the distance between the articles accords with the target distance and then is output.

2. An article edge separation method according to claim 1, wherein the edge separation device further comprises a third edge detector unit, the third edge detector unit is located on the other side relative to the first edge detector unit and the second edge detector unit, when an article enters the third edge detector unit, the speed difference of the first edge detector unit, the second edge detector unit and the third edge detector unit is adjusted, so that the articles to be separated entering the edge separation device are all transported towards the conveying direction and along a preset edge, and the distance between the articles is all output after meeting the target distance.

3. A method of edge separation of articles as recited in claim 2, wherein the first sub-conveyor lane of the first edge master unit is joined to the second sub-conveyor lane of the second edge master unit in the conveying direction and constitutes a first transport lane along the conveying direction, and the third sub-conveyor lane of the third edge master unit forms a second transport lane along the conveying direction, the first transport lane being adjacent to the second transport lane side by side and constituting an edge separation zone, the method comprising:

determining first position information of a first article in the side separating area and second position information of a second article in the side separating area; when the first article and the second article are respectively located in the first transportation channel and the second transportation channel, the first edge-abutting machine unit, the second edge-abutting machine unit and the third edge-abutting machine unit are controlled to operate, so that the second article enters the first transportation channel from the second transportation channel, and the first article and the second article are in a queue moving along the transportation direction on the first transportation channel and are output after the target distance is kept.

4. The method for separating the articles according to the claim 3, wherein the outputting the first article and the second article after the first article and the second article are in the queue moving along the conveying direction on the first conveying channel and the target distance is kept comprises:

when the first article and the second article are respectively positioned in the first sub-conveying passage and the third sub-conveying passage, controlling the first edge-approaching machine unit to operate according to the first position information, the second position information and a preset distance, so that the first article moves in the first sub-conveying passage and is separated from the second article on the third sub-conveying passage by the preset distance;

controlling the first edge-abutting machine unit and the third edge-abutting machine unit to operate according to the third position information and the fourth position information, so that the second article enters the first sub-conveying passage from the third sub-conveying passage, and the first article enters the second sub-conveying passage from the first sub-conveying passage, and therefore the first article and the second article are in a queue moving along the conveying direction on the first conveying passage;

determining fifth position information of the first article and sixth position information of the second article after the second article enters the first transportation channel from the second transportation channel and the first article enters the second sub transportation channel from the first sub transportation channel;

and controlling the first edge-abutting machine unit and the second edge-abutting machine unit to operate according to the fifth position information, the sixth position information and the target distance, so that the first article and the second article are separated to the target distance on the first sub-conveying passage and the second sub-conveying passage.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said controlling the operation of the first edger unit based on the first position information, the second position information, and a preset spacing comprises:

determining a first output time for the first item to pass through the edge separation region, the first output time corresponding to the first location information;

determining a first operating speed of the first side approach unit according to the first position information and the first output time;

determining a first running time required by the first article and the second article to be separated by the preset distance according to the first position information, the second position information, the first running speed and the preset distance; and

and controlling the first edge-abutting machine unit to operate at the first operating speed for a first operating time.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said determining a first output time for said first item to pass through said edge separation zone comprises:

acquiring output time of a third article and a preset article passing time interval, wherein the third article is an article which passes through the side separating area;

and calculating to obtain the first output time according to the output time of the third article and a preset article passing time interval.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said determining a first operating time required for said first article to separate said second article by said preset spacing based on said first location information, said second location information, said first operating speed, and a preset spacing comprises:

determining a first moving distance of the first article moving along the conveying direction according to the first position information, the second position information and the preset distance;

and determining the first running time according to the first moving distance and the first running speed.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the controlling the first and third edge router units to operate based on the third and fourth location information comprises:

determining a second output time for the first item to pass through the edge-approaching separation region and determining a third output time for the second item to pass through the edge-approaching separation region, the second output time corresponding to the third location information and the third output time corresponding to the fourth location information;

determining a second operating speed of the first edge-proximity unit according to the third position information and the second output time, and determining a third operating speed of the third edge-proximity unit according to the fourth position information and the third output time;

determining a second operation time required for the second article to enter the first sub-conveying passage and the first article to enter the second sub-conveying passage according to the third position information, the fourth position information, the second operation speed and the third operation speed; and

and controlling the first edge-trimmer unit and the third edge-trimmer unit to respectively operate the second running time at the second running speed and the third running speed.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said determining a second output time for said first article to pass through said edge separation zone and determining a third output time for said second article to pass through said edge separation zone comprises:

determining the second output time left by the first article passing through the side approaching separation area after the first output time and the first running time;

and determining the third output time when the second article passes through the side approaching separation area according to the second output time and the article passing time interval.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein said determining a second elapsed time required for said second article to enter said first sub-conveyor lane and said first article to enter said second sub-conveyor lane based on said third location information, said fourth location information, said second operating speed, and said third operating speed comprises:

determining a second moving distance of the first article into the second sub-transportation channel according to the third position information;

determining a first sub-operation time required for the first article to enter the second sub-transportation channel according to the second moving distance and the second operation speed;

determining a first side approaching distance of the second article entering the first sub-transportation channel according to the fourth position information;

determining a second sub-operation time required for the second article to enter the first sub-transportation channel according to the first side approaching distance and the third operation speed;

and selecting the longer one of the first sub-operation time and the second sub-operation time as the second operation time.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein said controlling operation of said first and second edge-runner units based on said fifth location information, said sixth location information, and a target spacing comprises:

determining a fourth output time when the first article passes through the side approaching separation area and determining a fifth output time when the second article passes through the side approaching separation area, wherein the fourth output time corresponds to the fifth position information and the fifth output time corresponds to the sixth position information;

determining a fourth operating speed of the second edger unit according to the fifth position information and the fourth output time, and determining a fifth operating speed of the first edger unit according to the sixth position information and the fifth output time;

determining a third operating time required for separating the first article from the second article by the target distance according to the fifth position information, the sixth position information, the fourth operating speed, the fifth operating speed and the target distance; and

and controlling the second edge-trimmer unit to operate the third operation time at the fourth operation speed, and controlling the first edge-trimmer unit to operate the third operation time at the fifth operation speed.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining a fourth output time for the first article to pass through the edge separation zone and determining a fifth output time for the second article to pass through the edge separation zone comprises:

determining the fourth output time left by the first article passing through the edge separation area after the first output time and the second output time according to the first output time, the first running time and the second running time;

and determining the fifth output time when the second article passes through the side approaching separation area according to the fourth output time and the article passing time interval.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein said determining a third travel time required to separate said first article from said second article by said target spacing based on said fifth location information, said sixth location information, said fourth speed of travel, said fifth speed of travel, and said target spacing comprises:

determining a third moving distance required to separate the first article and the second article along the conveying direction according to the fifth position information, the sixth position information and the target distance;

determining the running speed difference between the first edge-alongside unit and the second edge-alongside unit according to the fourth running speed and the fifth running speed;

and determining a third operation time according to the third moving distance and the operation speed difference.

14. The method of any of claims 3 to 13, wherein determining the location information of the first item and the location information of the second item comprises:

acquiring image information of the side separating area, wherein the image information of the side separating area comprises image information of a first article and image information of a second article;

and inputting the image information of the side separating area into an identification model to identify the position information, and obtaining the coordinate information of the first article and the coordinate information of the second article output by the identification model.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the location information of the first item and the location information of the second item further comprises:

acquiring a first pre-running speed of the first edge-approaching machine unit, a second pre-running speed of the second edge-approaching machine unit and a preset control signal lag time;

calculating a first compensation distance for the first article based on the first pre-run speed and the control signal lag time, and calculating a second compensation distance for the second article based on the second pre-run speed and the control signal lag time;

and determining first position information of the first article according to the first compensation distance and the coordinate information of the first article, and determining second position information of the second article according to the second compensation distance and the coordinate information of the second article.

16. The article side-by-side separation device is characterized by comprising a first side-by-side machine unit, a second side-by-side machine unit and a third side-by-side machine unit, wherein the first side-by-side machine unit and the second side-by-side machine unit are arranged on one side in the front and back direction of a conveying direction side by side, the third side-by-side machine unit is arranged on the opposite side, the speeds of the first side-by-side machine unit, the second side-by-side machine unit and the third side-by-side machine unit are independently controllable, articles entering the side-by-side separation device are conveyed along a preset edge by controlling respective speed difference, and target interval output is formed among the articles and kept.

17. An article edgewise separation device according to claim 16, wherein the first sub-conveyor path of the first edger unit is connected to the second sub-conveyor path of the second edger unit in the conveying direction and constitutes a first conveyor path in the conveying direction, the third sub-conveyor path of the third edger unit forms a second conveyor path in the conveying direction, the first conveyor path is adjacent to the second conveyor path side by side and constitutes an edgewise separation zone, the width of the first conveyor path is 1 to 1.5 times the width of an article, and the length of the first conveyor path in the conveying direction is equal to the length of the second conveyor path.

18. An article near-edge separation system is characterized by comprising a controller, position information acquisition equipment, a near-edge separation device, an inlet transportation device, an outlet transportation device and a bus;

the edge-approaching separation device comprises a first edge-approaching machine unit, a second edge-approaching machine unit and a third edge-approaching machine unit, wherein a first sub-conveying channel of the first edge-approaching machine unit is connected with a second sub-conveying channel of the second edge-approaching machine unit along the conveying direction and forms a first conveying channel along the conveying direction, a third sub-conveying channel of the third edge-approaching machine unit forms a second conveying channel along the conveying direction, and the first conveying channel and the second conveying channel are adjacent side by side and form an edge-approaching separation area;

the controller, the position information acquisition device, the first edge-approaching machine unit, the second edge-approaching machine unit, the third edge-approaching machine unit, the inlet transport device and the outlet transport device are coupled and connected through the bus.