CN116969052A - Article dispensing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

The application provides an article distribution device and method, and relates to the technical field of production and manufacturing. The article dispensing device includes: a movable chassis and a cargo box body; the movable chassis is configured to be detachably connected to the cargo box body through a top thereof; the container body comprises a plurality of article storage positions which are used for storing articles to be distributed; the container main body is provided with a control device which is used for controlling the movable chassis to move according to the distribution path; one side of the container main body is provided with an openable structure, and a locking piece is arranged on the openable structure; the locking piece is used for locking or unlocking the openable structure; under the condition that the openable structure is locked by the locking piece, the distance between the openable structure and the article storage position is fixed. The movable device is used for automatically distributing the articles, so that the efficiency and accuracy in distribution are effectively improved, the locking piece is arranged to lock the openable structure, and adverse loss conditions such as dropping or damage of the articles in the article storage position can be reduced.

Description

Article dispensing apparatus and method

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of production and manufacturing, in particular to an article distribution device and method.

Background

In the manufacturing field, not only is equipment required to be developed toward numerical control with an increasingly higher degree of automation, but also a pipeline is required to be developed toward automation.

In the case of dispensing various materials and articles in the manufacturing field, it is common to perform the dispensing by manual handling. However, the time cost and the energy cost of manual distribution are high, and the adverse conditions such as distribution errors, distribution overtime, article damage and the like easily occur in the distribution process, so that the manufacturing efficiency and the yield of the product are adversely affected, and the market requirement of the current material/article distribution automation cannot be met.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, an objective of the present application is to provide an article dispensing device and method for solving the problem of poor article dispensing effect in the prior art.

In order to solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present application provides an article dispensing device including: a movable chassis and a cargo box body; the movable chassis is configured to be detachably connected to the cargo box body through a top thereof;

the container body comprises a plurality of article storage positions, wherein the article storage positions are used for storing articles to be distributed;

the container main body is provided with a control device which is used for controlling the movable chassis to move according to a distribution path;

one side of the container main body is provided with an openable structure, and a locking piece is arranged on the openable structure; the locking piece is used for locking or unlocking the openable structure; wherein, under the condition that the openable structure is locked by the locking piece, the distance between the openable structure and the article storage position is fixed.

In the realization process, the container main body for placing articles can be detachably connected with the movable chassis, so that the movable chassis can drive the container main body to move, automatic distribution can be carried out according to requirements, and the efficiency and accuracy during distribution are effectively improved. And the locking piece is arranged on the openable structure of the container main body to lock the openable structure, so that the relative position of the articles in the article storage position inside the container main body can be limited in the moving process, adverse loss conditions such as dropping or damage of the articles in the article storage position are reduced, and rapid, accurate and safe automatic distribution processing is realized so as to meet the current distribution requirements.

Optionally, the control device comprises a positioning unit, a processor and an interaction unit;

the interaction unit is arranged on the surface of the container main body, the positioning unit is arranged on the surface or inside the container main body, and the processor is arranged inside the container main body;

the processor is in communication connection with an external server;

the processor is connected with the positioning unit and the interaction unit;

the interaction unit is used for acquiring one or more distribution tasks and sending the distribution tasks to the processor; each distribution task comprises a distribution starting point, a distribution ending point and article information;

the positioning unit is used for acquiring the position information of the article distribution device and sending the position information to the processor;

the processor is used for sending the distribution task and the position information to the server so as to acquire the distribution path fed back by the server based on the distribution task and the position information;

the processor is further configured to send the delivery path to the movable chassis for movement of the movable chassis based on the delivery path.

In the above implementation process, in order to implement the control function of automatic movement, the control device may include an interaction unit disposed on the surface of the cargo box body. The interaction unit interacts with the user to obtain corresponding delivery tasks, so that the processor or an external server can conduct path planning by combining the delivery tasks and current position information to obtain corresponding delivery paths, and the movable chassis is controlled to move based on the delivery paths, so that controllable and accurate automatic delivery is realized.

Optionally, one or more sensors are arranged at the bottoms of two side surfaces connected with the openable structure on the container main body;

the sensor is used for detecting obstacle information during the movement of the movable chassis on the distribution path and sending the obstacle information to the processor;

the processor is used for controlling the movable chassis to carry out lower-layer obstacle avoidance based on the obstacle information.

In the implementation process, considering that in the distribution scene of production and manufacture, some stacked cargos or other objects may exist on the road surface, the device may collide with the objects existing on the road surface in the automatic distribution process, so that the container main body shakes, topples over and other adverse conditions are caused, and the articles in the article storage position are displaced, collided or otherwise damaged. In order to improve the safety of articles in the distribution process, one or more sensors are arranged at the bottoms of two side surfaces connected with the openable structure on the container main body, so that the objects on the road surface are subjected to obstacle detection in the moving process of the distribution path to obtain corresponding obstacle information, and the processor controls the movable chassis to perform lower obstacle avoidance processing according to the obstacle information, so that adverse conditions caused by collision with the obstacles on the road surface are effectively reduced.

Optionally, a recorder is arranged on the top of the container body;

the recorder is used for collecting image information in the moving process of the movable chassis on the distribution path and sending the image information to the processor;

the processor is used for controlling the movable chassis to perform upper obstacle avoidance based on the image information;

the recorder is also used for recording each moving process of the article distribution device.

In the implementation process, considering that in the distribution scene of production and manufacture, some higher barriers may exist above the road surface, the device may collide with an object existing above in the automatic distribution process, so that the container body shakes, topples over and other adverse conditions are caused, and the articles in the article storage position are caused to displace, collide or otherwise be damaged. In order to improve the safety of articles in the delivery process, a recorder is arranged at the top of the container main body so as to collect corresponding image information in the moving process of the delivery path, and the processor controls the movable chassis to perform upper barrier avoiding treatment based on the image information, so that adverse conditions caused by collision with higher barriers are effectively reduced. The recorder can also record each moving process so as to facilitate subsequent tracing, archiving and other processes.

Optionally, a reading device is arranged on the movable chassis;

the reading device is used for reading the surrounding identification information in the distribution path and sending the identification information to the processor;

the processor is used for verifying based on the current identification information and the end point identification of the distribution end point;

the processor is further configured to verify based on the current location information and an end location of the dispensing end;

if the current identification information and the destination identification, and the current position information and the destination position are verified successfully, determining that the article delivery device reaches the delivery destination, and controlling the locking piece to unlock the openable structure by the processor.

In the above implementation, when the device reaches the dispensing end, the locking member needs to be unlocked to open the openable structure to take out the articles in the container body for subsequent processing. The double verification mode can be set to unlock the locking piece: reading the identification information on the delivery path by a reading device arranged on the movable chassis so as to verify by the processor based on the identification information and the end point identification of the delivery end point; the processor can also verify according to the current position information and the end position of the delivery end point, so that double verification is performed through the information of the mark and the position, whether the device reaches the delivery end point or not is determined, and the locking piece is controlled to automatically unlock the openable structure when the device reaches the delivery end point, so that the accuracy of the end point verification and the unlocking effectiveness and safety are improved.

Optionally, the interaction unit is further configured to obtain a placement result of the to-be-dispensed object in the object storage location, which is determined based on the object information;

and if the placement result is that the placement is completed, the processor is used for controlling the locking piece to lock the openable structure after the openable structure is closed.

In the implementation process, in order to reduce adverse conditions such as dropping of the articles caused by opening of the openable structure in the moving process, the interaction unit can interact with a user to obtain a placement result of whether the articles to be distributed are placed in the article storage position or not, which is determined by the user according to the article information, and the openable structure can be locked through the locking piece after the placement is completed, so that the openable structure is locked in the moving process, and the articles to be distributed can be safely located in the article storage position in the distribution process.

Optionally, the surface of the cargo box body is provided with an emergency unit;

the emergency unit is connected with the processor and the interaction unit;

the emergency unit is used for acquiring braking information in the moving process of the article distribution device and sending the braking information to the processor;

the processor is used for controlling the movable chassis to stop based on the braking information;

the interaction unit is used for generating an emergency instruction by combining the braking information and the input information of the user, and sending the emergency instruction to the processor;

the processor is also configured to control the locking member to unlock the openable structure based on the emergency command.

In the implementation process, in consideration of some emergency situations of the device in the delivery process, a corresponding emergency unit is further arranged on the surface of the container main body so as to acquire braking information and control the movable chassis to stop moving in the emergency situations in the moving process, and the interaction unit can also generate an emergency instruction to control the locking piece to unlock by combining the braking information and input information of a user so as to stop the device in the emergency situations and open the container main body to take out articles to be delivered for corresponding treatment, so that the device is suitable for various emergency situations.

Optionally, the openable structure comprises a single-leaf openable structure or a multi-leaf openable structure;

a transparent area is arranged on each openable structure; wherein the transparent region is configured to enable viewing of the item storage.

In the implementation process, the openable structure can be set into a single-leaf or multi-leaf openable structure according to actual conditions or demands, and a corresponding transparent area can be arranged on each openable structure, so that objects to be distributed stored in the object storage position can be observed, and timely treatment is performed when the objects to be distributed are observed to be abnormal.

Optionally, the bottom of each side of the cargo box body is provided with one or more marker lights;

the marker lamp is used for carrying out warning prompt in the working process of the article distribution device.

In the above implementation process, in view of the fact that a large number of personnel or other mobile devices may exist in the manufacturing scene, in order to reduce collisions between the personnel or other devices and the article delivery device, a plurality of outline marker lamps may be disposed on the side of the cargo box main body, and warning is performed by light.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides an article delivery method, where the method is applied to an article delivery device as set forth in any one of the foregoing aspects, and the method includes:

storing the articles to be distributed through a plurality of article storage positions in the container main body;

controlling the movable chassis to move according to the distribution path by a control device;

the openable structure arranged on one side of the container main body is locked or unlocked through the locking piece, wherein the distance between the openable structure and the article storage position is fixed under the condition that the openable structure is locked by the locking piece.

In the implementation process, the goods to be distributed are stored through the container main body, the movable chassis is controlled by the control device to drive the container main body to move according to the distribution path, and the openable structure is locked through the locking piece which is arranged on the openable structure on the container main body, so that an automatic and safe distribution mode is realized.

In summary, the embodiments of the present application provide an apparatus and a method for automatically delivering articles by using a movable apparatus, which effectively improves efficiency and accuracy during delivery, and provides a locking member to lock an openable structure, so that adverse loss conditions such as dropping or damage of articles in an article storage position can be reduced.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings that are needed in the embodiments of the present application will be briefly described below, it should be understood that the following drawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present application and should not be considered as limiting the scope, and other related drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a first article dispensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a plurality of different sized storage locations in a cargo box body according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a part of an openable structure according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a second article dispensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of an article distribution method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Icon: 100-a movable chassis; 200-a container body; 210-article storage; 220-an openable structure; 300-control means; 400-locking member; 310-positioning unit; 320-an interaction unit; 410-a sensor; 420-recorder; 430-an emergency unit; 431-alarm lamp; 221-transparent area; 440-marker light.

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. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present application. All other embodiments, which can be made by one of ordinary skill in the art based on embodiments of the present application without making any inventive effort, are intended to fall within the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

In the case of dispensing various materials and articles in the manufacturing field, it is common to perform the dispensing by manual handling. For example: in the production of display panel industry, various materials/articles are required when the panels are assembled and produced, at present, the panels are manually carried, the operation is frequent, not only is manpower wasted, but also the materials A are easily delivered to the wrong B place or the materials are dropped or knocked in the delivery process, which causes the adverse conditions such as material damage and the like under the condition of easy delivery error or overtime delivery in the transportation process. Therefore, the time cost and the energy cost of manual distribution are high, and the adverse conditions of distribution errors, distribution overtime, article damage and the like easily occur in the distribution process, so that the manufacturing efficiency and the yield of products are adversely affected, and the market requirement of the current material/article distribution automation cannot be met.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an embodiment of the present application provides an article dispensing device, referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a first article dispensing device according to an embodiment of the present application, where the article dispensing device may include: a movable chassis 100 and a cargo box body 200; the mobile chassis 100 is configured to be removably attached to the cargo box body 200 via its top.

Alternatively, the movable chassis 100 may be physically and electrically connected to the cargo box main body 200 through a connection member such as a latch, and the movable chassis 100 may be provided as an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle, auto guided vehicle) chassis having a motion scheduling system; the cargo box main body 200 may be configured into various shapes of structures and materials according to actual situations and demands, for example, a cuboid made of acrylic material, etc., in the embodiment of the present application, only one structure of the cargo box main body 200 is shown as a cuboid, and other structures will not be described again.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic view of a plurality of storage locations of different sizes in a container body according to an embodiment of the present application, where the container body 200 includes a plurality of storage locations 210, and the storage locations 210 are used for storing articles to be dispensed. The articles to be dispensed can be various types of articles, such as various auxiliary materials or components and the like. It should be noted that, the article storage location 210 may be set and adjusted according to actual situations and requirements, for example, a plurality of baffles may be set to separate a plurality of article storage locations 210 with the same or different space sizes, so as to store a plurality of articles to be dispensed with different sizes, thereby meeting a plurality of different dispensing requirements. In addition, when the container body 200 is used, a proper container body 200 may be selected according to parameters such as the size or type of the article to be dispensed, and may be assembled on the movable chassis 100 for processing.

Optionally, the container main body 200 is provided with the control device 300, and the control device 300 may be disposed on the surface of the container main body 200 or may be disposed inside the container main body 200, where the control device 300 is configured to control the movable chassis 100 to move according to the delivery path, so that the movable chassis 100 can drive the container main body 200 to move, and can automatically deliver according to the requirement, thereby effectively improving the efficiency and accuracy during delivery.

It should be noted that, in order to store and fetch the objects to be dispensed, one side of the container body 200 is provided with an openable structure 220, the openable structure 220 may be provided with a door structure such as a pull door, a sliding door, an automatic door, etc., and considering that the openable structure 220 may be opened during the movement of the object dispensing device to cause the objects to be dispensed stored in the object storage 210 to fall off, etc., as shown in fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a partial structure of the openable structure according to an embodiment of the present application, the openable structure 220 may be provided with a corresponding locking member 400, the locking member 400 may be provided at an edge of the openable structure 220, and the locking member 400 may be provided as a locking member 400 such as a manual latch, or may be provided as a plurality of types of locking devices such as an automatic magnetic locking device or a password locking device. The locking piece 400 is used for locking or unlocking the openable structure 220, and in the case that the openable structure 220 is locked by the locking piece 400, the distance between the openable structure 220 and the article storage position 210 is fixed, so that the relative position of the article in the article storage position 210 inside the container main body 200 is limited in the moving process, the adverse conditions that the article drops and the like caused by the opening of the openable structure 220 in the moving process of the article distribution device are reduced, and the quick, accurate and safe automatic distribution processing is realized, so as to meet the current distribution requirements.

Optionally, referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a second article dispensing device according to an embodiment of the present application, where the control device 300 may include a positioning unit 310, a processor, and an interaction unit 320.

The interaction unit 320 may be disposed on a surface of the cargo box body 200, for example, may be disposed on a side or a top of the cargo box body 200, so as to facilitate interaction with a user, and fig. 4 only shows an embodiment of the interaction unit 320 on a side of the cargo box body 200, which is not described in detail in other positions. The interaction unit 320 may be configured as a touch screen, a voice module, a keypad, or the like, to interact with a user by means of touch, voice, or key, and to acquire related information input by the user. The positioning unit 310 is disposed on the surface or inside the cargo box body 200, and only one position structure of the positioning unit 310 disposed on the top of the cargo box body 200 is shown in fig. 3, and the other positions will not be described again. The positioning unit 310 may be a positioning antenna, a positioning chip, or other various devices having a positioning function. The processor is disposed inside the cargo box body 200, and is electrically connected to the positioning unit 310 and the interaction unit 320, and has a communication function, and can be connected to an external server through various modes such as a network or bluetooth to realize data transmission.

Optionally, the interaction unit 320 can obtain task information input by the user through man-machine interaction to obtain one or more delivery tasks, for example, the user may select corresponding information on the interaction page to generate a corresponding delivery task, and send the delivery task to the processor. Each delivery task comprises a delivery starting point, a delivery ending point and article information, wherein the article information can comprise various types of information such as types, parameters, quantity, delivery time and the like of articles to be delivered. The positioning unit 310 is capable of acquiring the position information of the article dispensing device in real time and transmitting the position information to the processor. The processor can send the delivery task and the position information to the server so that the server can plan a path based on the delivery task and the position information to determine a proper delivery path, the delivery path can be a path with a shorter travel or a path with a clear road condition and other paths with different requirements, and the processor receives the delivery path fed back by the server and sends the delivery path to the movable chassis 100 so that a motion scheduling system in the movable chassis 100 can move based on the delivery path to realize controllable and accurate automatic delivery.

Optionally, a corresponding processing chip may be further disposed in the processor, and the processor performs path planning according to the distribution task and the position information, determines a distribution path, and sends the determined distribution path to the movable chassis 100.

Optionally, considering that in the distribution scenario of the manufacturing process, there may be some stacked goods or other objects on the road surface, for example, the road surface may be stacked with cardboard boxes or other materials, and the object distribution device may collide with the objects on the road surface during the automatic distribution process, which may cause the container body 200 to vibrate, topple, or otherwise disadvantageously cause displacement, collision, or other damage to the objects in the object storage 210. To improve the safety of the articles during the distribution, one or more sensors 410 may be provided at the bottoms of both sides of the container body 200 connected to the openable and closable structure 220, the sensors 410 may be detection sensors capable of detecting obstacles, such as ultrasonic sensors, and the sensors 410 are used to detect obstacle information on the road surface during the movement of the movable chassis 100 on the distribution path and transmit the obstacle information to the processor. The processor can forward the received obstacle information to the movable chassis 100 for processing by the movable chassis 100 motion scheduling system, so that the movable chassis 100 is controlled to avoid the obstacle with lower height in the lower layer, and adverse conditions caused by collision with the obstacle on the road surface are effectively reduced.

Alternatively, considering that there may be some high obstacles above the road surface in the distribution scenario of the manufacturing, for example, staff or an overhead fence, etc., the article distribution device may collide with the object existing above during the automatic distribution, which may cause the container body 200 to vibrate, topple, etc., thereby causing the articles in the article storage 210 to be displaced, bumped, or otherwise damaged. In order to improve the safety of the articles during the distribution process, the top of the cargo box main body 200 may be provided with a recorder 420, the recorder 420 may be a plurality of devices having photographing functions such as a vehicle recorder, and the recorder 420 may rotate to photograph, or a plurality of recorders 420 may be provided to photograph images in different directions. A binocular camera may also be provided in the recorder 420 to enhance the effect of the captured images. In order to protect the tachograph 420, a corresponding transparent protective cover may be provided outside the tachograph 420. The recorder 420 can collect image information during movement of the movable chassis 100 on the distribution path and send the image information to the processor, the image information being information collected above the road surface. The processor can perform target recognition according to the received image information, so that the existing object information is recognized, and the object information is forwarded to the movable chassis 100 for processing by a motion scheduling system of the movable chassis 100, so that the movable chassis 100 is controlled to perform upper obstacle avoidance on the obstacle with higher height, and adverse conditions caused by collision with the obstacle with higher height are effectively reduced.

It should be noted that the recorder 420 may also be used to record each moving process of the article dispensing device, so as to facilitate subsequent tracing and archiving processes.

Optionally, when the device reaches the dispensing end, the lock 400 needs to be unlocked to open the openable structure 220 to remove the contents of the container body 200 for subsequent processing. The lock 400 may be unlocked by setting a double verification manner, and the first double verification manner may be: a reader, which may be an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification ) reader, may be provided on the movable chassis 100, and various radio frequency tags may be provided on the road surface as identification information characterizing different positions, and the reader may be capable of reading the identification information around the distribution path and transmitting the identification information to the processor. The processor can verify based on the current identification information and the end point identification of the delivery end point, and the verification mode can be to compare the current identification information with the end point identification so as to determine whether the current identification information and the end point identification are consistent. The second verification method may be: the processor can acquire the current position information acquired by the positioning unit 310, and perform verification based on the current position information and the end position of the delivery end point, where the verification mode may be to compare the current position information with the end position of the delivery end point to determine whether the current position information and the end position of the delivery end point are consistent.

It should be noted that, if the current identification information is consistent with the destination identification, and the current position information is consistent with the destination position, both the two methods are verified successfully, and it is determined that the article dispensing device reaches the dispensing destination, the processor can control the locking member 400 to unlock the openable structure 220, so that a worker at the dispensing destination can open the openable structure 220 to take out the articles to be dispensed stored in the article storage 210 for subsequent processing. The double verification is performed through the information of the mark and the position to determine whether the device reaches the delivery end point, and the locking piece 400 is controlled to automatically unlock the openable structure 220 when the device reaches the delivery end point, so that the accuracy of the end point verification is improved, the adverse condition that the unlocked article falls or is damaged due to the error of judgment on delivery in the delivery process is reduced, and the unlocking effectiveness and the unlocking safety are improved.

Optionally, to reduce the adverse situations such as dropping of the articles caused by opening the openable structure 220 during the moving process, the interaction unit 320 may interact with the user to obtain the placement result of the articles to be dispensed in the article storage 210, which is determined based on the article information. For example, after the worker places the to-be-dispensed items in the corresponding item storage locations 210, a completion key or a completion button may be clicked on the interactive unit 320 as a placement result of the placement completion. If the placement is completed, the processor may control the locking member 400 to lock the openable structure 220 after the openable structure 220 is closed, so as to lock the openable structure 220 during the movement process, so as to ensure that the objects to be dispensed can be safely located in the object storage position 210 during the dispensing process.

Optionally, in consideration of some emergency situations such as an error of the stored articles, a change of the dispensing end point, or a need to process the stored articles during the dispensing process, a corresponding emergency unit 430 may be disposed on the surface of the cargo box main body 200, where the emergency unit 430 may include a physical button or a touch button, may also be configured as a voice module, and may be capable of recognizing voice to process, and the emergency unit 430 may further include a corresponding alarm lamp 431 to alarm the emergency situation through lights with different colors. The emergency unit 430 is electrically connected to the processor and the interaction unit 320, and the emergency unit 430 can obtain braking information through interaction with a user during movement of the article dispensing device, for example, when the user presses the emergency unit 430, the corresponding braking information is obtained, and the braking information is sent to the processor. The processor can send a braking command to the movable chassis 100 based on the braking information to control the movable chassis 100 to stop moving.

Optionally, in order to take out the articles for processing in an emergency, the interaction unit 320 may further combine the braking information and the input information of the user to generate an emergency instruction, and send the emergency instruction to the processor, where the input information may be information such as a password of the related authority input by the user, and the processor may further control the locking member 400 to unlock the openable structure 220 based on the emergency instruction, so as to stop the apparatus and open the container body 200 to take out the articles to be dispensed for corresponding processing in an emergency, which is suitable for various emergency situations.

Optionally, the foldable structure 220 may be configured as a single foldable structure 220 or multiple foldable structures 220 according to actual situations or requirements, and the foldable structure 220 may be further provided with a corresponding handle or button to facilitate the operation of the user. Only one openable and closable door structure of the double leaf is shown in fig. 3, and the other number of structures will not be described again. Each openable structure 220 is provided with a transparent area 221, where the transparent area 221 is configured to enable observation of the article storage 210, and the transparent area 221 may be made of transparent glass or transparent plastic, so as to observe articles to be distributed stored in the article storage 210, and timely process the articles to be distributed when abnormality of the articles to be distributed is observed, for example, when a worker observes that ceramic articles stored in the article storage 210 are broken through the transparent structure, the openable structure 220 may be opened, and fragments are cleaned and new ceramic articles are put into the openable structure.

Optionally, in view of the fact that a large number of personnel or other moving devices may be present in the manufacturing scene, in order to reduce collisions between personnel or other devices and the article dispensing device, one or more marker lights 440 may be provided at the bottom of each side of the cargo box body 200, where the marker lights 440 are used to alert during operation of the article dispensing device, and to alert other personnel or devices away from the article dispensing device by a range of colored lights to reduce collision conditions.

The article dispensing device in this embodiment may be used to perform each step in the article dispensing method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a flowchart of an article distribution method according to an embodiment of the present application, and the method may include steps S510-S530.

Step S510, storing the to-be-dispensed objects through a plurality of object storage positions in the container main body.

In step S520, the control device controls the movable chassis to move according to the distribution path.

In step S530, the openable structure disposed at one side of the cargo box body is locked or unlocked by the locking member.

Under the condition that the openable structure is locked by the locking piece, the distance between the openable structure and the article storage position is fixed.

The goods to be distributed are stored through the container main body, the movable chassis is controlled to drive the container main body to move according to the distribution path through the control device, and the openable structure is locked through the locking piece which is arranged on the openable structure on the container main body, so that an automatic and safe distribution mode is realized.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus may be implemented in other manners. The apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, for example, block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of devices according to various embodiments of the present application. In this regard, each block in the block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

In addition, functional modules in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated together to form a single part, or each module may exist alone, or two or more modules may be integrated to form a single part.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional modules and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, comprising several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a random access Memory (RAM, random Access Memory), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

The above description is only an example of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application, and various modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application. It should be noted that: like reference numerals and letters denote like items in the following figures, and thus once an item is defined in one figure, no further definition or explanation thereof is necessary in the following figures.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the present application, and the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art will readily recognize that variations or substitutions are within the scope of the present application.

It is noted that relational terms such as first and second, and the like are used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article or apparatus that comprises the element.

Claims (10)

1. An article dispensing device, the article dispensing device comprising: a movable chassis and a cargo box body; the movable chassis is configured to be detachably connected to the cargo box body through a top thereof;

the container body comprises a plurality of article storage positions, wherein the article storage positions are used for storing articles to be distributed;

the container main body is provided with a control device which is used for controlling the movable chassis to move according to a distribution path;

one side of the container main body is provided with an openable structure, and a locking piece is arranged on the openable structure; the locking piece is used for locking or unlocking the openable structure; wherein, under the condition that the openable structure is locked by the locking piece, the distance between the openable structure and the article storage position is fixed.

2. The article dispensing device of claim 1, wherein the control device includes a positioning unit, a processor, and an interaction unit;

the interaction unit is arranged on the surface of the container main body, the positioning unit is arranged on the surface or inside the container main body, and the processor is arranged inside the container main body;

the processor is in communication connection with an external server;

the processor is connected with the positioning unit and the interaction unit;

the interaction unit is used for acquiring one or more distribution tasks and sending the distribution tasks to the processor; each distribution task comprises a distribution starting point, a distribution ending point and article information;

the positioning unit is used for acquiring the position information of the article distribution device and sending the position information to the processor;

the processor is used for sending the distribution task and the position information to the server so as to acquire the distribution path fed back by the server based on the distribution task and the position information;

the processor is further configured to send the delivery path to the movable chassis for movement of the movable chassis based on the delivery path.

3. The article dispensing device of claim 2, wherein the container body is provided with one or more sensors at the bottom of the two sides connected to the openable structure;

the sensor is used for detecting obstacle information during the movement of the movable chassis on the distribution path and sending the obstacle information to the processor;

the processor is used for controlling the movable chassis to carry out lower-layer obstacle avoidance based on the obstacle information.

4. The article dispensing device of claim 2, wherein a top of the container body is provided with a recorder;

the recorder is used for collecting image information in the moving process of the movable chassis on the distribution path and sending the image information to the processor;

the processor is used for controlling the movable chassis to perform upper obstacle avoidance based on the image information;

the recorder is also used for recording each moving process of the article distribution device.

5. The article dispensing device of claim 2, wherein the movable chassis has a reading device disposed thereon;

the reading device is used for reading the surrounding identification information in the distribution path and sending the identification information to the processor;

the processor is used for verifying based on the current identification information and the end point identification of the distribution end point;

the processor is further configured to verify based on the current location information and an end location of the dispensing end;

if the current identification information and the destination identification, and the current position information and the destination position are verified successfully, determining that the article delivery device reaches the delivery destination, and controlling the locking piece to unlock the openable structure by the processor.

6. The article dispensing device of claim 2, wherein the interaction unit is further configured to obtain a placement result of the article to be dispensed in the article storage location determined based on the article information;

and if the placement result is that the placement is completed, the processor is used for controlling the locking piece to lock the openable structure after the openable structure is closed.

7. The article dispensing device of claim 2, wherein a surface of the container body is provided with an emergency unit;

the emergency unit is connected with the processor and the interaction unit;

the emergency unit is used for acquiring braking information in the moving process of the article distribution device and sending the braking information to the processor;

the processor is used for controlling the movable chassis to stop based on the braking information;

the interaction unit is used for generating an emergency instruction by combining the braking information and the input information of the user, and sending the emergency instruction to the processor;

the processor is also configured to control the locking member to unlock the openable structure based on the emergency command.

8. The article dispensing device of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the collapsible structure comprises a single-leaf collapsible structure or a multi-leaf collapsible structure;

a transparent area is arranged on each openable structure; wherein the transparent region is configured to enable viewing of the item storage.

9. The article dispensing device of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the bottom of each side of the container body is provided with one or more marker lights;

the marker lamp is used for carrying out warning prompt in the working process of the article distribution device.

10. An article dispensing method, characterized in that the method is applied to an article dispensing device according to any one of claims 1-9, the method comprising:

storing the articles to be distributed through a plurality of article storage positions in the container main body;

controlling the movable chassis to move according to the distribution path by a control device;

the openable structure arranged on one side of the container main body is locked or unlocked through the locking piece, wherein the distance between the openable structure and the article storage position is fixed under the condition that the openable structure is locked by the locking piece.