CN114476461A

CN114476461A - Transfer robot and warehousing system

Info

Publication number: CN114476461A
Application number: CN202210110669.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 邢志伟; 张鹭阳; 张东东; 李雅南; 张斐; 任立强
Original assignee: Beijing Jizhijia Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Jizhijia Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-01-29
Filing date: 2022-01-29
Publication date: 2022-05-13

Abstract

The invention discloses a transfer robot and a warehousing system. The warehousing system comprises a movable chassis, a telescopic assembly and a cargo taking and placing assembly, wherein the cargo taking and placing assembly is used for taking and placing cargos, the telescopic assembly is arranged on the movable chassis, the upper end of the telescopic assembly is connected with the cargo taking and placing assembly to support the cargo taking and placing assembly, and the telescopic assembly is telescopic to adjust the height of the cargo taking and placing assembly. The transfer robot is beneficial to miniaturization design and has good flexibility.

Description

Transfer robot and warehousing system

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of warehousing, in particular to a transfer robot and a warehousing system.

Background

The intelligent storage is a link in the logistics process, the application of the intelligent storage ensures the speed and the accuracy of each link of the goods warehouse management, and the goods handling is usually completed manually or by using simple mechanical equipment. The goods shelves among the correlation technique structural design is unreasonable, is unfavorable for transfer robot to get on the goods shelves and puts, and the flexibility when causing transfer robot to remove is relatively poor, and the sorting efficiency of goods is lower. In addition, the transfer robot in the related art has a large size and weight, is not flexible enough to move and transfer, and has a narrow application range.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to solving, at least to some extent, one of the technical problems in the related art.

Therefore, the embodiment of the invention provides a transfer robot which is beneficial to miniaturization design and has good flexibility.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a storage system.

The transfer robot of the embodiment of the invention comprises: the movable chassis, the telescopic assembly and the goods taking and placing assembly used for taking and placing goods are arranged on the movable chassis, the telescopic assembly is arranged on the movable chassis, the upper end of the telescopic assembly is connected with the goods taking and placing assembly to support the goods taking and placing assembly, and the telescopic assembly is telescopic to adjust the height of the goods taking and placing assembly.

According to the transfer robot provided by the embodiment of the invention, the telescopic component is arranged on the moving chassis, and the goods taking and placing component is arranged at the upper end of the telescopic component, so that the transfer robot can change the goods taking height of the goods taking and placing component by adjusting the height of the telescopic component, the structure of the transfer robot is more compact, the movement is more flexible, and the miniaturization design of the transfer robot is facilitated.

In some embodiments, the goods taking and placing assembly comprises a tray, a first moving part and a second moving part, the tray is arranged at the upper end of the telescopic assembly, the second moving part is arranged on the tray, the first moving part is arranged on the second moving part, the first moving part is capable of extending and retracting relative to the second moving part along the longitudinal direction of the tray so as to take and place goods, and the second moving part is capable of moving relative to the tray along the transverse direction of the tray.

In some embodiments, the transfer robot further includes a first driving member and a second driving member, the second moving member includes two side guards which are spaced apart from each other and oppositely disposed on the tray in the transverse direction of the tray, the second driving member is connected to at least one of the two side guards for driving the at least one of the two side guards to move relative to the tray in the transverse direction of the tray to change the distance between the two side guards, the first moving member includes two arms which are respectively correspondingly disposed on the two side guards, and the first driving member is connected to the two arms to drive the two arms to respectively move relative to the corresponding side guards in the longitudinal direction of the tray.

In some embodiments, one of the side guards and the arm is provided with a slide rail, and the other is provided with a slide groove, the slide rail extends along the longitudinal direction of the tray and is in sliding fit with the slide groove.

In some embodiments, the arms are disposed inside the side guards so that the two arms oppose each other.

In some embodiments, at least one end of the arm in the longitudinal direction of the pallet is provided with a hook body which is extendable and retractable in the transverse direction to hook and release the cargo.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first drive and the second drive is one of a linear motor, a lead screw drive, a rack and pinion drive, a belt drive, a chain drive, a pneumatic cylinder, or a hydraulic cylinder.

In some embodiments, the transfer robot further includes a third driving member, the telescopic assembly is a link mechanism, and the third driving member is connected to the link mechanism to drive the link mechanism to extend and retract in the up-down direction.

In some embodiments, the link mechanism includes a plurality of link units, the link units are sequentially and pivotally connected in an up-down direction, each link unit includes a first rod and a second rod, the first rod and the second rod are arranged in a crossing manner and are pivotally connected, and the third driving member is connected to the lowermost link unit and is configured to drive the first rod and the second rod of the lowermost link unit to relatively rotate so as to extend and retract the link mechanism in the up-down direction.

In some embodiments, the third drive is provided within the mobile chassis and a portion of the third drive protrudes from within the mobile chassis to connect with the lowermost link unit.

A warehousing system according to another embodiment of the invention includes: the goods shelves are provided with driving tunnels between every two adjacent goods shelves, and multiple layers of longitudinal rails which are arranged at intervals along the vertical direction are arranged in the driving tunnels; the carrying robot is any one of the carrying robots in the embodiment of the invention, and the carrying robot can move along the longitudinal rail to take the goods from the goods shelf and place the goods on the goods shelf.

According to the warehousing system disclosed by the embodiment of the invention, the telescopic assembly is arranged on the movable chassis, and the goods taking and placing assembly is arranged at the upper end of the telescopic assembly, so that the carrying robot can change the goods taking height of the goods taking and placing assembly by adjusting the height of the telescopic assembly, further the structure of the carrying robot is more compact, the movement is more flexible, and the miniaturization design of the carrying robot is facilitated. In addition, the plurality of layers of longitudinal rails which are arranged at intervals in the up-down direction are arranged in the driving roadway, so that the conveying robot can conveniently drive along the longitudinal rails of different layers to convey goods on the goods shelf, the storage rate of the storage system is higher, the structure is simple, and the manufacturing cost is lower.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system further comprises a lifting device for transporting the transfer robot between the longitudinal rails of different levels.

In some embodiments, the driving lanes are multiple, and the warehousing system further includes a transverse rail for communicating with longitudinal rails of the same layer in the multiple driving lanes.

In some embodiments, the transverse tracks are multiple layers, multiple layers of the transverse tracks are arranged at intervals in the up-down direction, and multiple layers of the transverse tracks correspond to multiple layers of the longitudinal tracks one by one.

In some embodiments, the transverse rails are provided at one ends of the longitudinal rails, and the lifting devices are connected to the transverse rails to transport the transfer robot between the transverse rails of different levels.

In some embodiments, the lifting device includes a lifting frame extending in an up-down direction, and a lifting plate movable in the up-down direction with respect to the lifting frame to transfer the transfer robot onto the lateral rails of different levels.

In some embodiments, there are at least two of the lifting devices, wherein one of the lifting devices is disposed at one end of the transverse rail, and the other lifting device is disposed at the other end of the transverse rail.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system further includes a carrier having a conveyor for conveying goods in a longitudinal direction of the carrier, and a goods handling device for transferring goods between the transfer robot and the carrier, the goods handling device being provided at least one end of the carrier in the longitudinal direction of the carrier.

In some embodiments, the cargo handling devices are disposed at both ends of the conveyor frame and aligned with the conveyor frame, respectively.

In some embodiments, the racks are picking racks, and the warehousing system further includes a picking station disposed on a side of the racks for picking the goods by a human or robotic arm.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system further includes a portable rack and a rack-handling device for handling the portable rack.

In some embodiments, the portable rack is placed under at least a portion of the rack.

In some embodiments, the rack handling device is a rack handling robot.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a transfer robot according to an embodiment of the present invention for lifting and receiving a load.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the transfer robot according to the embodiment of the present invention when it is lowered and unloaded.

FIG. 3 is a partial schematic view of a shelf of a warehousing system according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a warehousing system according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a warehousing system according to another embodiment of the invention.

Reference numerals:

10. a transfer robot;

11. moving the chassis; 12. a telescoping assembly; 121. a link mechanism; 1211. a link unit; 12111. a first lever; 12112. a second lever; 13. a goods picking and placing component; 131. a tray; 132. a motion assembly; 1321. a first moving member; 13211. an arm; 13212. a hook body; 1322. a second moving member; 13221. a side dam;

20. a shelf;

21. driving a roadway; 22. a longitudinal rail; 23. a transverse rail;

30. a lifting device;

31. a hoisting frame; 32. a lifting plate;

40. a carriage; 50. a cargo handling device; 60. selecting a station; 70. a robotic arm.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below with reference to the drawings are illustrative and intended to be illustrative of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.

In the present invention, it should be noted that the term "cargo" is to be understood in a broad sense and means a transportable article, i.e. including the cargo itself which can be transported separately, such as cargo with outer packaging, liquid cargo contained in a container, and also including various cargo containers for containing cargo, such as pallets, containers and the like, and various cargo containers for containing cargo, such as containers for containing cargo.

A transfer robot 10 and a stocker system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 5.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, a transfer robot 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a moving chassis 11, a telescopic assembly 12 and a cargo taking and placing assembly 13, wherein the telescopic assembly 12 is disposed on the moving chassis 11, an upper end of the telescopic assembly 12 is connected to the cargo taking and placing assembly 13 to support the cargo taking and placing assembly 13, and the telescopic assembly 12 is retractable to adjust a height of the cargo taking and placing assembly 13.

It will be appreciated that the telescoping assemblies 12 are switchable between an extended state and a collapsed state, i.e., the telescoping assemblies 12 are extendable to raise the height of the cargo access assembly 133, and the telescoping assemblies 12 are collapsible to lower the height of the cargo access assembly 13, so that the telescoping assemblies 12 of the transfer robot 10 of the embodiment of the present invention can change their heights to adjust the height of the cargo access assembly 13.

According to the transfer robot 10 of the embodiment of the invention, the telescopic assembly 12 is arranged on the moving chassis 11, and the goods taking and placing assembly 13 is arranged at the upper end of the telescopic assembly 12, so that the transfer robot 10 can change the goods taking height of the goods taking and placing assembly 13 by adjusting the height of the telescopic assembly 12, further the structure of the transfer robot 10 is more compact, the movement is more flexible, and the miniaturization design of the transfer robot 10 is facilitated.

It can be understood that the conventional transfer robot controls the lifting of the goods taking and placing assembly through the stand structure, and the stand is not reduced along with the reduction of the goods taking and placing assembly, so that the transfer robot occupies a larger space, which is not beneficial to the miniaturization design of the transfer robot, while the transfer robot 10 of the embodiment of the invention can make the structure of the transfer robot 10 more compact and make the movement of the transfer robot 10 more flexible by arranging the telescopic assembly 12 between the goods taking and placing assembly 13 and the moving chassis 11.

The lower end of the moving chassis 11 is provided with a driving wheel (not shown), and the transfer robot 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention can perform translation and rotation of the moving chassis 11 by rotation of the driving wheel, so that flexibility of the moving chassis 11 during movement can be improved.

For example, two driving wheels are provided, and the two driving wheels are arranged at the lower end of the moving chassis 11 at intervals, and the two driving wheels can move in a differential speed to realize the steering and the translation of the moving chassis 11. Further, the lower end of the moving chassis 11 may be provided with a driven wheel to assist the moving chassis 11 to rotate, for example, the driven wheel is a universal wheel, so that the moving effect of the moving chassis 11 may be better.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the goods taking and placing assembly 13 includes a tray 131 and a moving assembly 132, the tray 131 is disposed at the upper end of the telescopic assembly 12, the moving assembly 132 includes a first moving component 1321 and a second moving component 1322, the second moving component 1322 is disposed on the tray 131, the first moving component 1321 is disposed on the second moving component 1322, and the first moving component 1321 is extendable and retractable with respect to the second moving component 1322 along the longitudinal direction (e.g., the front-back direction in fig. 1) of the tray 131 to take and place goods. The second moving component 1322 is movable relative to the tray 131 along a transverse direction (e.g., a left-right direction in fig. 1) of the tray 131 to adjust a width of the tray 11 for storing goods, so that the tray 11 can store goods of different models, and the application range of the goods taking and placing assembly 13 is improved.

It will be appreciated that, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, when the transfer robot 10 takes the goods, the telescopic assembly 12 controls the elevation of the tray 131 to move the tray 131 to a proper height, the second moving member 1322 moves in the lateral direction of the tray 131 to adjust the tray 11 to a proper goods placement width, then the first moving member 1321 extends in the longitudinal direction of the tray 131 to lock the goods, and then the first moving member 1321 retracts in the longitudinal direction of the tray 131 to place the goods on the tray 131.

Similarly, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, when the transfer robot 10 needs to place the goods on the shelf 20, the telescopic assembly 12 controls the elevation of the tray 131 to move the tray 131 to a proper height, the first moving member 1321 is extended in the longitudinal direction of the tray 131 to place the goods on the shelf 20, and then the second moving member 1322 releases the goods and is retracted in the longitudinal direction of the tray 131, thereby completing the placing action of the goods.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the transfer robot further includes a first driving member and a second driving member (not shown), the second moving member 1322 includes two side blocking plates 13221, the two side blocking plates 13221 are spaced apart from each other in the transverse direction of the tray 131 and are oppositely disposed on the tray 131, and the second driving member is connected to at least one of the two side blocking plates 13221 for driving the at least one to move relative to the tray 131 in the transverse direction of the tray 131 to change the distance between the two side blocking plates 13221.

It is understood that a second driving member may be connected to only one side dam 13221, and the second driving member changes the distance between the two side dams 13221 by driving the single side dam 13221 to move relative to the tray 131 in the lateral direction of the tray 131. Alternatively, a second driving member is connected to the two side guards 13221, and the second driving member changes the distance between the two side guards 13221 by simultaneously driving the two side guards 13221 to move in the lateral direction of the tray 131 with respect to the tray 131.

Optionally, the second driving member is one of a linear motor, a lead screw transmission mechanism, a rack and pinion transmission mechanism, a belt transmission mechanism, a chain transmission mechanism, an air cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder. For example, the second driving member is a screw transmission mechanism, one end of a screw is connected to one side wall 13221, the other end of the screw is connected to the other side wall 13221, and the screw can be driven by a motor to move the two side walls 13221 closer to or away from each other.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the first moving member 1321 includes two arms 13211, the two arms 13211 are respectively provided on the two side guards 13221, and the first driving member is connected to the two arms 13211 to drive the two arms 13211 to respectively move relative to the corresponding side guards 13221 along the longitudinal direction of the tray 131. That is, as shown in fig. 1, the left arm 13211 is movable with respect to the left side wall 13221, and the right arm 13211 is movable with respect to the right side wall 13221. Optionally, the first driving member is one of a linear motor, a lead screw transmission mechanism, a rack and pinion transmission mechanism, a belt transmission mechanism, a chain transmission mechanism, an air cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder.

Optionally, at least one end of the arm 13211 in the longitudinal direction of the tray 131 is provided with a hook 13212, and the hook 13212 is extendable and retractable in the transverse direction of the tray 131 to hook and release the goods. It will be appreciated that two hooks 13212 are provided on each of the two arms 13211, for example, two hooks 13212 are provided on each arm 13211, and two hooks 13212 are provided on both ends of the arm 13211 in the length direction, respectively, and the hooks 13212 can be extended and retracted in the lateral direction of the tray 131 to hook and release the goods.

It will be appreciated that when the goods taking and placing assembly 13 needs to take out the goods on the shelf 20, the first driving member drives the two arms 13211 to extend along the longitudinal direction of the tray 131 and move to the left and right sides of the goods, the hook bodies 13212 on the two arms extend to hook the goods, and the first driving member drives the two arms 13211 to retract along the longitudinal direction of the tray 131 to place the goods on the tray 131.

Similarly, when the goods taking and placing assembly 13 needs to place the goods on the pallet on the shelf 20, the first driving member drives the two arms 13211 to extend along the longitudinal direction of the pallet 131 to move the goods onto the shelf 20, and then the hook body 13212 retracts, and the first driving member drives the two arms 13211 to retract along the longitudinal direction of the pallet 131, so that the placing action of the goods is completed.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the transfer robot 10 further includes a third driving member (not shown), and the telescopic assembly 12 is a link mechanism 121, and the third driving member is connected to the link mechanism 121 to drive the link mechanism 121 to extend or retract in the up-down direction. In the transfer robot 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the telescopic assembly 12 is configured as the link structure, so that the transfer robot 10 can have a simple structure and high reliability in use.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 1, the lower end of the link mechanism 121 is connected to the moving chassis 11 through a third driving member, and the upper end of the link mechanism 121 is connected to the goods taking and placing assembly 13. The link mechanism 121 includes a plurality of link units 1211, the plurality of link units 1211 are pivotably connected in sequence in an up-down direction, each link unit 1211 includes a first rod 12111 and a second rod 12112, the first rod 12111 and the second rod 12112 are arranged to intersect and pivotably connected, and a third driving member is connected to the lowermost link unit 1211 for driving the first rod 12111 and the second rod 12112 of the lowermost link unit 1211 to relatively rotate to extend and retract the link mechanism 121 in the up-down direction. It is to be understood that there may be one or more link units 1211, and the transfer robot may select different numbers of link units 1211 according to the actual application scenario, for example, there are three link units 1211 of the transfer robot 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

For example, the third driving member is provided in the moving chassis 11 and a part of the third driving member protrudes from the moving chassis 11 to be connected to the lowermost link unit 1211, so that the transfer robot 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention can hide the part of the third driving member in the moving chassis 11, which makes the transfer robot 10 highly reliable and more reasonable in structural design.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the stocker system according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a transfer robot 10 and a plurality of shelves 20, wherein a driving tunnel 21 is formed between adjacent shelves 20, and a plurality of layers of longitudinal rails 22 are disposed in the driving tunnel 21 and spaced apart from each other in an up-down direction. The transfer robot 10 is a transfer robot 10 of an embodiment of the present invention, and the transfer robot 10 is movable along a longitudinal rail to take goods from the racks 20 and put the goods on the racks 20.

According to the warehousing system provided by the embodiment of the invention, the telescopic assembly 12 is arranged on the movable chassis 11, and the goods taking and placing assembly 13 is arranged at the upper end of the telescopic assembly 12, so that the carrying robot 10 can change the goods taking height of the goods taking and placing assembly 13 by adjusting the height of the telescopic assembly 12, further the structure of the carrying robot 10 is more compact, the movement is more flexible, and the miniaturization design of the carrying robot 10 is facilitated. In addition, because the plurality of layers of longitudinal rails 22 are arranged in the driving tunnel 21 at intervals in the up-down direction, the transfer robot 10 can conveniently drive along the longitudinal rails 22 of different layers to transfer goods on the goods shelf 20, so that the storage rate of the warehousing system is higher, the structure is simple, and the manufacturing cost is lower.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 4, the stocker system further includes a lifting device 30, and the lifting device 30 is used to transport the transfer robot 10 between the longitudinal rails 22 of different levels. For example, the lifting device 30 may be a hoist or a crane, so that the transfer robot 10 may be easily transferred, so that the transfer robot 10 may travel within the longitudinal rails 22 of different levels.

In some implementations, as shown in fig. 3 and 4, the driving lanes 21 are multiple, and the warehousing system further includes a transverse rail 23, where the transverse rail 23 is used to communicate with the longitudinal rails 22 on the same floor in the multiple driving lanes 21. The transfer robot 10 can shuttle in the longitudinal rails 22 of the same floor in the plurality of lanes 21 through the transverse rails 23. For example, the transverse rails 23 and the longitudinal rails 22 can be overlapped by low-cost partitions, so that the structure of the storage system is simpler and the manufacturing cost is lower.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 4, the transverse rails 23 are multi-layered, the multi-layered transverse rails 23 are arranged at intervals from each other in the up-down direction, and the multi-layered transverse rails 23 correspond to the multi-layered longitudinal rails 22 one by one, so that the flexibility of the transfer robot 10 in moving can be further improved, so that the transfer robot 10 can quickly move to a target position in the rack 20.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 4, a transverse rail 23 is provided at one end of the longitudinal rail 22, and a lifting device 30 is connected to the transverse rail 23 to transfer the transfer robot 10 between the transverse rails 23 of different levels. It can be understood that the transverse rail 23 is arranged on the outer periphery of the storage rack 20 and is located at one end of the longitudinal rail 22, so that the storage system provided by the embodiment of the invention can be used for building the transverse rail 23 on the outer side of the storage rack 20 without dismantling the original storage rack 20 structure, and the storage system is convenient to install and has a good use effect.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4, the lifting device 30 includes a lifting frame 31 and a lifting plate 32, the lifting frame 31 extends in the up-down direction, and the lifting plate 32 is movable in the up-down direction with respect to the lifting frame 31 to transfer the transfer robot 10 onto the transverse rails 23 of different layers. For example, the lifting plate 32 is plural, and the plural lifting plates 32 lift different transfer robots 10, thereby improving the transfer efficiency of the stocker system.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 4, the lifting device 30 is plural. For example, there are two lifting devices 30, one lifting device 30 is disposed at one end of the transverse rail 23, and the other lifting device 30 is disposed at the other end of the transverse rail 23, so that the two lifting devices 30 can operate simultaneously to improve the carrying efficiency of the warehouse system. In addition, the two lifting devices 30 may be used as backup for each other, and when one of the lifting devices 30 is damaged, the other lifting device 30 may be used to transfer the transfer robot 10, thereby improving the reliability of the warehousing system in use.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5, the warehousing system further comprises a conveyor rack 40 and a cargo handling device 50, wherein the conveyor rack 40 is provided with a conveyor for conveying the cargo along the longitudinal direction of the conveyor rack 40, such as a roller conveyor, a conveyor belt or a conveyor chain, but the conveyor can be other types of conveying devices.

The cargo handling device 50 is used to transfer cargo between the transfer robot 10 and the carrier 40, and the cargo handling device 50 is provided at least one end of the carrier 40 in the longitudinal direction of the carrier 40 (the front-rear direction as shown in fig. 5).

As shown in fig. 5, the transfer robot 10 delivers the load to the load handling device 50, and the load handling device 50 transfers the load from the transfer robot 10 to the carrier 40. The cargo-handling devices 50 are provided at the left end of the conveyor frame 40, or the cargo-handling devices 50 are provided at the right end of the conveyor frame 40, or there are two cargo-handling devices 50, and the two cargo-handling devices 50 are provided at the left and right ends of the conveyor frame 40, respectively.

When the warehousing system provided by the embodiment of the invention works, goods can be transferred from the transfer robot 10 to the conveying frame 40 by using the goods conveying equipment, and a plurality of goods can be transferred at the same time, so that the efficiency of carrying the goods is improved, and the labor cost for carrying the goods is further reduced. Therefore, the warehousing system provided by the embodiment of the invention has the advantages of high conveying efficiency, low conveying cost and the like.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 5, the cargo-handling devices 50 are respectively provided at both ends of the conveyance rack 40 and are aligned with the conveyance rack 40. It will be appreciated that the cargo handlers 50 are respectively disposed at the left and right ends of the conveyor 40, and that the two cargo handlers 50 are aligned with the conveyor 40 to save more storage space.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 5, the carriers 40 are picking racks, and the warehousing system further includes a picking station disposed on one side of the carriers 40 for picking the goods by a human or robotic arm 70. When the goods move to the picking station, the staff can pick the needed goods. Alternatively, a robotic arm 70 is provided at the picking station, and the robotic arm 70 is capable of picking the designated goods at the picking station, thereby making the sorting efficiency of the warehousing system of embodiments of the present invention higher.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system also includes a portable rack and a rack-handling device (not shown) for handling the portable rack. It will be appreciated that the rack-handling apparatus may move the portable racks to target locations to increase the flexibility of the warehousing system in storing goods.

Optionally, a portable carrier is placed under at least a portion of the racks 20. In other words, the lower part of the shelf is provided with an accommodating space for placing the transportable shelf. For example, the portable shelf may be placed entirely under the shelf 20, or a part of the portable shelf may be placed under the shelf 20. According to the warehousing system disclosed by the embodiment of the invention, the space utilization rate of the warehousing system can be improved through the arrangement, the goods shelf carrying device and the carrying robot can work cooperatively, and the carrying efficiency of the warehousing system is favorably improved.

For example, the rack carrying device is a rack carrying robot. It can be understood that the carrying robot and the goods shelf carrying device are self-driven robots, so that the intelligent degree of the warehousing system and the carrying efficiency of the warehousing system can be improved.

In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that the terms "central," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "axial," "radial," "circumferential," and the like are used in the orientations and positional relationships indicated in the drawings for convenience in describing the invention and to simplify the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the referenced devices or elements must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and are therefore not to be considered limiting of the invention.

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 to implicitly indicate the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means at least two, e.g., two, three, etc., unless specifically limited otherwise.

In the present invention, unless otherwise explicitly stated or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," "fixed," and the like are to be construed broadly, e.g., as being permanently connected, detachably connected, or integral; may be mechanically coupled, may be electrically coupled or may be in communication with each other; they may be directly connected or indirectly connected through intervening media, or they may be connected internally or in any other suitable relationship, unless expressly stated otherwise. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.

In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly stated or limited, the first feature "on" or "under" the second feature may be directly contacting the first and second features or indirectly contacting the first and second features through an intermediate. Also, a first feature "on," "over," and "above" a second feature may be directly or diagonally above the second feature, or may simply indicate that the first feature is at a higher level than the second feature. A first feature being "under," "below," and "beneath" a second feature may be directly under or obliquely under the first feature, or may simply mean that the first feature is at a lesser elevation than the second feature.

In the present disclosure, the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "example," "specific example," or "some examples" and the like mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above are not necessarily intended to refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, various embodiments or examples and features of different embodiments or examples described in this specification can be combined and combined by one skilled in the art without contradiction.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it is understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present invention, and that variations, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to the above embodiments by those of ordinary skill in the art within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A transfer robot, characterized by comprising: the movable chassis, the telescopic assembly and the goods taking and placing assembly used for taking and placing goods are arranged on the movable chassis, the telescopic assembly is arranged on the movable chassis, the upper end of the telescopic assembly is connected with the goods taking and placing assembly to support the goods taking and placing assembly, and the telescopic assembly is telescopic to adjust the height of the goods taking and placing assembly.

2. The transfer robot of claim 2, wherein the goods taking and placing assembly includes a tray provided at an upper end of the telescopic assembly, a first moving part provided on the tray, and a second moving part provided on the tray, the first moving part being provided on the second moving part, the first moving part being extendable and retractable relative to the second moving part in a longitudinal direction of the tray to take and place the goods, the second moving part being movable relative to the tray in a transverse direction of the tray.

3. The transfer robot as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a first driving member and a second driving member, the second moving member comprising two side fences disposed on the tray in a lateral direction of the tray in a spaced relationship from each other and opposed to each other, the second driving member being connected to at least one of the two side fences for driving the at least one to move relative to the tray in the lateral direction of the tray to change a distance between the two side fences,

the first moving part comprises two arms which are correspondingly arranged on the two side baffles respectively, and the first driving part is connected with the two arms so as to drive the two arms to move relative to the corresponding side baffles respectively along the longitudinal direction of the tray.

4. A transfer robot according to claim 3, wherein one of the side guards and the arm is provided with a slide rail, and the other is provided with a slide groove, the slide rail extending in the longitudinal direction of the tray and slidably engaging with the slide groove.

5. A transfer robot as claimed in claim 3, wherein the arms are provided inside the side guards so that the two arms are opposed to each other.

6. A transfer robot as claimed in claim 3, wherein at least one end of the arm in the longitudinal direction of the pallet is provided with a hook body which is extendable and retractable in the lateral direction to hook and release the cargo.

7. The transfer robot of claim 3, wherein at least one of the first drive member and the second drive member is one of a linear motor, a lead screw drive, a rack and pinion drive, a belt drive, a chain drive, an air cylinder, or a hydraulic cylinder.

8. The transfer robot of any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising a third driving member, wherein the telescoping assembly is a link mechanism, and wherein the third driving member is connected to the link mechanism to drive the link mechanism to telescope in the up-down direction.

9. The transfer robot of claim 8, wherein the link mechanism includes a plurality of link units which are pivotally connected in sequence in an up-down direction, each of the link units includes a first rod and a second rod which are arranged to intersect and are pivotally connected, and the third driving member is connected to the lowermost link unit for driving the first rod and the second rod of the lowermost link unit to rotate relatively to cause the link mechanism to extend and retract in the up-down direction.

10. The transfer robot of claim 9, wherein the third drive member is provided in the mobile chassis and a portion of the third drive member protrudes from the mobile chassis to connect with the lowermost link unit.

11. A warehousing system, comprising:

the goods shelves are provided with driving tunnels between every two adjacent goods shelves, and multiple layers of longitudinal rails which are arranged at intervals along the vertical direction are arranged in the driving tunnels;

transfer robot according to any of claims 1-10, the transfer robot being movable along the longitudinal rail for taking and placing goods from and onto the pallet.

12. The warehousing system of claim 11, further comprising a lifting device for transporting the transfer robot between longitudinal rails of different levels.

13. The warehousing system of claim 12, wherein the driving lanes are a plurality of, the warehousing system further comprising a transverse track for communicating with a longitudinal track of a same level in the plurality of driving lanes.

14. The warehousing system of claim 13, wherein the transverse rails are multi-layered, a plurality of layers of the transverse rails are arranged at intervals along an up-down direction, and the plurality of layers of the transverse rails correspond to the plurality of layers of the longitudinal rails one to one.

15. The stocker system according to claim 14, wherein the transverse rails are provided at one ends of the longitudinal rails, and the lifting device is connected to the transverse rails to transport the transfer robot between the transverse rails at different levels.

16. The stocker system according to claim 14, wherein the lifting device includes a lifting frame extending in an up-down direction, and a lifting plate movable in the up-down direction with respect to the lifting frame to transfer the transfer robot to the lateral rails of the different levels.

17. The warehousing system of claim 14, wherein there are at least two of said lifting devices, one of said lifting devices being disposed at one end of said transverse track and the other of said lifting devices being disposed at the other end of said transverse track.

18. The warehousing system of claim 11, further comprising a carrier having a conveyor for transporting goods in a longitudinal direction of the carrier and a cargo handling device for transferring goods between the transfer robot and the carrier, the cargo handling device being disposed at least one end of the carrier in the longitudinal direction of the carrier.

19. The warehousing system of claim 18 wherein said cargo handling devices are disposed at each end of said conveyor rack and aligned with said conveyor rack.

20. The warehousing system of claim 18, wherein the racks are picking racks, the warehousing system further comprising a picking station disposed on one side of the racks for picking the goods by hand or by a robotic arm.

21. The warehousing system of any of claims 11-18, further comprising a portable rack and a rack handling device for handling the portable rack.

22. The warehousing system of claim 21, wherein said portable racks are positioned beneath at least a portion of said racks.

23. The warehousing system of claim 21, wherein the rack handling device is a rack handling robot.