CN117566290A

CN117566290A - Warehouse systems, methods, robot control units and sorting processing systems

Info

Publication number: CN117566290A
Application number: CN202210942007.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 高鹏; 徐爽; 王朋辉; 徐圣东
Original assignee: Hai Robotics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hai Robotics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-08-08
Filing date: 2022-08-08
Publication date: 2024-02-20

Abstract

The application relates to a warehousing system, a warehousing method, a robot control unit and a sorting processing system. The warehousing system comprises a plurality of goods shelf units and warehousing robots; the storage rack units are distributed at intervals, the interval areas between the adjacent storage rack units form a roadway, each storage rack unit comprises upright post groups arranged at two ends in the width direction of the roadway, and each upright post group comprises a plurality of upright posts distributed at intervals along the length direction of the roadway; at least part of the opposite upright posts in the two upright post groups of the adjacent goods shelf units close to one end of the roadway are provided with climbing chains; the storage robot is provided with a carrying device and a climbing assembly, wherein the climbing assembly is used for lifting along a climbing chain so that the carrying device can acquire a storage object from a target storage layer or place the storage object on the target storage layer. Wherein, the height of storage robot is less than the height of the crossbeam of goods shelves unit bottommost. According to the scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the walking distance of the storage robot can be reduced, and the working efficiency is improved.

Description

Warehouse system, method, robot control unit and sorting processing system

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of warehousing, in particular to a warehousing system, a warehousing method, a robot control unit and a sorting processing system.

Background

The storage robot is used for carrying, sorting, selecting and other operations of goods in and out of the warehouse in indoor environments such as logistics storage and production warehouse, and is one of core equipment of intelligent logistics.

In the related art, some storage robots can longitudinally move along a chain on a goods shelf to carry goods stored at different heights on the goods shelf, in order to realize the longitudinal movement, guide rails matched with the storage robots are generally required to be installed on the goods shelf, the storage robots are limited on the guide rails and can move to positions of different heights of the goods shelf along the guide rails, and then the goods at different heights are carried. Such shelf climbing robots typically travel along lanes between shelves with relatively low efficiency.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve or partially solve the problems existing in the related art, the application provides a warehousing system, a method, a robot control unit and a sorting processing system, so that the warehousing robot can reduce the walking distance and improve the working efficiency.

A first aspect of the present application provides a warehousing robot, comprising:

a plurality of shelf units; the storage rack units are distributed at intervals, the interval areas between the adjacent storage rack units form a roadway, the storage rack units comprise upright post groups arranged at two ends in the width direction of the roadway, each upright post group comprises a plurality of upright posts distributed at intervals along the length direction of the roadway, a storage column is formed between the adjacent upright posts, and the storage column is provided with a plurality of storage layers; at least part of opposite upright posts in the two upright post groups of the adjacent goods shelf units, which are close to one end of the roadway, are provided with climbing chains; the method comprises the steps of,

A storage robot; the storage robot is provided with a movable base, a carrying device and a climbing assembly, wherein the movable base is used for driving the storage robot to move on a supporting surface, and the climbing assembly is used for lifting along a plurality of climbing chains so that the carrying device can acquire a storage object from a target storage layer or place the storage object on the target storage layer;

the height of the storage robot is smaller than that of the cross beam at the bottommost end of the goods shelf unit.

A second aspect of the present application provides a warehousing method applied to a warehousing robot, the warehousing robot having a movable base, a carrying device, and a climbing assembly, the height of the warehousing robot being less than the height of a beam at the bottommost end of a shelf unit; the method comprises the following steps:

loading a cargo box from a target storage level to the handling device; and

controlling the warehousing robot to move to a target sorting location via the bottom of the shelf unit such that the containers are sorted at the target sorting location;

wherein the loading of the cargo box from the target storage layer to the handling device comprises:

and controlling the climbing assembly of the storage robot to climb along a plurality of climbing chains arranged on adjacent goods shelf units so that the carrying device obtains a container from the target storage layer.

A third aspect of the present application provides a warehousing robot control unit, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory having executable code stored thereon, which when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform the method of any of the above claims.

A fourth aspect of the present application provides a sort processing system comprising a warehousing system as set forth in any one of the preceding claims; wherein the storage robot comprises a storage robot control unit as described above.

The technical scheme that this application provided can include following beneficial effect:

according to the warehousing system, the height of the warehousing robot is smaller than that of the cross beam at the bottommost end of the goods shelf unit, so that the warehousing robot can walk at the bottom of the goods shelf unit instead of walking along a roadway, the walking distance can be reduced, and the target position can be reached quickly.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the application.

Drawings

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the application will be apparent from the following more particular descriptions of exemplary embodiments of the application as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generally represent like parts throughout the exemplary embodiments of the application.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a warehousing system according to one embodiment of the application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a warehousing system according to one embodiment of the application;

FIG. 3 illustrates a shelf unit according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a warehousing system according to another embodiment of the application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of a warehousing system according to one embodiment of the application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a lowered state of the stocker robot according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a top view of the warehousing robot shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the warehousing robot of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a raised state of the warehousing robot according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 10 illustrates a movable base of the warehousing robot shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 11 illustrates a climbing module of the warehousing robot shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a storage robot in a lowered state when loaded according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of a raised state of the stocker robot with loading according to one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 illustrates a lifting mechanism of the warehousing robot shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 15 illustrates a handling device of the warehousing robot shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 16 is a side view of a warehousing robot according to an embodiment of the application;

fig. 17 is a schematic view showing a state in which the stocker robot shown in fig. 6 climbs along a climbing chain.

18A-18D illustrate climbing process views of a warehousing robot according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 19 is a schematic view of a warehouse robot for direct sorting by an operator according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 20 is a schematic view of a warehouse robot interfacing with a conveyor line according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 21 illustrates a sort processing system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 22 illustrates a sorting processing system according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram of a roadway machine operation mode of the warehouse robot according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 24 shows a walking manner of a warehouse robot in the related art;

FIG. 25 illustrates a checkerboard walk of a warehousing robot according to an embodiment of the application;

reference numerals:

100 shelf units; 102 roadway; 104 storing the columns; 106 a storage layer; 108 a material box; a climbing chain of 110 shelf units; 111 locating pieces; 112 floor stand; 114 suspending the upright post; 120. 130 column group; 122. 124, 132, 134 uprights; 142 fixing seats; 144 pallet; 145 A beam 146; 160 upper shelf; 162 a load bearing platform; 164 a first opening; 166 guide rails; 170 lower shelf; 180 transferring a mother vehicle; 182 a chain of a transfer parent vehicle; 190 shelf area;

200 warehouse robots; 210 a movable base; 211 a main body; 212 second drive means; 214 drive wheels; 216 idler; 220 support posts; 222 brake; 224 a third pulley; 226 a second timing belt; 228 spring guide rod mechanism; 230 racks; 232 234 mandrel; 240 climbing assembly; 242 climbing modules; 244 a substrate; 245 a second opening; 246 rolling elements; 248 push rod; 250 positioning plates; 252 slotting; 253 inner recess; 251 gap; 254 first drive means; 256 toothed belt/double-sided toothed synchronous belt; 258 positioning sleeve; 260 climbing wheel set; 262 sprockets; 264 guide wheels; 266 ball spline set; 270 a synchronous extending mechanism; 272 a first pulley; 273 a second pulley; 274 a first synchronization belt; 276 support frame; 278 a connector; 280 a handling device; 282 telescoping forks; 284 span beams; 286 swing arm; 288 pushing and pulling fingers;

300 sorting stations; 302 sorting the bits; 304 a first shelf; 306 a second shelf; 308 sorting stations; 310 conveyor line; 312 a delivery port; 314 access port.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present application will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While embodiments of the present application are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present application may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

It should be understood that although the terms "first," "second," "third," etc. may be used herein to describe various information, these information should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another. For example, a first message may also be referred to as a second message, and similarly, a second message may also be referred to as a first message, without departing from the scope of the present application. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more such feature. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more, unless explicitly defined otherwise.

In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "length," "width," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientation or positional relationships shown in the drawings, merely to facilitate description of the present application and simplify the description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a specific orientation, be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as limiting the present application.

Unless specifically stated or limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured" and the like are to be construed broadly and may be, for example, fixedly connected or detachably connected or integrally formed; can be mechanically or electrically connected; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communicated with the inside of two elements or the interaction relationship of the two elements. The specific meaning of the terms in this application will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art as the case may be.

The following describes the technical scheme of the embodiments of the present application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

An embodiment of the present application provides a warehousing system, referring to fig. 1 and 2, which includes a plurality of shelf units 100 and a warehousing robot 200.

The plurality of shelf units 100 are distributed at intervals, the interval areas between adjacent shelf units 100 form a roadway 102, the shelf units 100 comprise two upright post groups 120 and 130 arranged at two ends in the width direction of the roadway 102, the upright post groups 120 and 130 comprise a plurality of upright posts distributed at intervals along the length direction of the roadway 102, a storage column 104 is formed between the adjacent upright posts, and the storage column 104 is provided with a plurality of storage layers 106; at least part of the two upright post groups 120 and 130, which are close to one end of the roadway 102, of the adjacent goods shelf units 100 are opposite to each other, and climbing chains 110 are arranged on the upright posts; it will be appreciated that in some embodiments the shelving unit is a unitary structure, with a plurality of posts connected together by cross members 146 extending in a length direction; in other embodiments, the shelving unit may be formed from a plurality of individual small shelves arranged side-by-side.

The warehousing robot 200 has a movable base for driving the warehousing robot to move on a supporting surface, a carrying device, and a climbing assembly for lifting along a plurality of climbing chains 110 so as to transfer a storage object between the carrying device and the target storage tier 106, i.e., to cause the carrying device to acquire the storage object from the target storage tier 106 or to place the storage object on the target storage tier 106;

wherein the height of the storage robot 200 is less than the height of the bottom-most beam 146 of the shelf unit 100.

In some embodiments, the plurality of columns of each column set 120, 130 are connected together by a top beam 145 and a bottom beam 146.

In this embodiment, the height of the storage robot 200 is smaller than the height of the cross beam 146 at the bottommost end of the shelf unit 100, so that the storage robot 200 can walk at the bottom of the shelf unit instead of having to walk along a roadway, thus the walking distance can be reduced, and the target position can be reached quickly.

In the related art, the action of the warehouse robot is limited by the height of the lowest layer of the shelf units, and cannot pass through the bottom of the shelf units 100, but can only walk along the length direction of the roadway 102 or around the shelf units 100, as shown in fig. 23. Suppose that a workstation from point a, point B, and then to point C is required to take a good, and then to the workstation after traveling to the bottom of the roadway, for example, according to the illustrated route.

Referring to fig. 24, according to the embodiment of the present application, the warehousing robot can walk at the bottom of the shelf unit, so that it can have a higher degree of freedom, for example, can walk in a checkerboard walking manner. Assuming that the storage robot has the same start point, end point and pick-up point as in fig. 23, that is, the workstation that needs to pick up goods from point D to point E and then to reach point F, the storage robot may travel from point D along the lane 102 to the position aligned with point E according to the illustrated route, then traverse from the bottom of the shelf unit 100 across the shelf unit 100 and the lane 102 to pick up goods from point E, and then continue to traverse across the shelf unit 100 and the lane 102 to the workstation that reaches point F. In the present application, the checkerboard walking method means that the storage robot can walk in a virtual checkerboard walking space according to a certain walking path, and the walking path is defined by the sides of the checkerboard to be passed. It will be appreciated that the specific passing of which checkerboards and which edges may depend, for example, on the needs of the system scheduling, obstacle avoidance, etc. The location and size of the cells in the checkerboard may be, for example, but not limited to, dependent on the location of the storage columns of the shelf units, the width of the storage columns, the spacing of the shelf units between adjacent shelf units, etc.

As can be seen by comparing the walking routes of fig. 23 and fig. 24, the warehouse robot in the embodiment of the present application can implement a function of taking and placing goods across the roadway in the shelf area, and the travelling route from the workstation to the warehouse area has higher selectivity, reduces congestion, reduces the number of rotations in the whole running process, saves the walking route, and improves the bicycle efficiency of the robot. In addition, due to the fact that the robot has a larger walking space, the number of storage robots in a site can be increased while the possibility of congestion is not increased.

Referring also to fig. 3, in some embodiments, the plurality of columns of the column groups 120, 130 includes a landing column 112 and a suspending column 114, where the landing column 112 and the suspending column 114 are alternately arranged, i.e., one suspending column 114 is disposed between adjacent landing columns 112. A storage column 104 is formed between adjacent landing posts 112 and overhead posts 114. It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, two or more suspended columns 114 may be disposed between adjacent floor columns 112, and a storage column 104 may be formed between adjacent floor columns 112 and suspended columns 114, and a storage column 104 may also be formed between adjacent suspended columns 114. It will be appreciated that the spacing between adjacent posts may be the same or different. In this embodiment, the suspension columns are disposed between the landing columns 112, and a storage column is formed between the adjacent landing columns 112 and the suspension columns 114, and compared with the storage columns having only the landing columns and having the same width formed between the landing columns, the spacing between the landing columns is larger, so that the storage robot has a larger degree of freedom when walking from the roadway to the lower side of the goods shelf unit, and the walking control difficulty of the storage robot is reduced.

In some embodiments, the climbing chain 110 is mounted on the corresponding upright by a plurality of fixing bases 142, the plurality of fixing bases 142 are distributed at preset positions at vertical ends and between the two ends of the climbing chain 110, for example, in the example of fig. 3, the climbing chain 110 is mounted on the corresponding upright by two fixing bases 142 distributed at the vertical ends and two fixing bases 142 in the middle. It is understood that the spacing between adjacent holders 142 may be the same or different. In the related art, the climbing chain is fixed to the upright post only at the upper and lower ends, and the deviation of the chain length is large due to the too many chain sections, so that the height of the goods shelf unit is limited. In this embodiment, the climbing chain 110 is directly mounted to the upright by the plurality of fixing seats distributed at the vertical ends and at preset positions between the two ends of the climbing chain 110, so that the accuracy of the length of the chain between each two adjacent fixing seats can be ensured, the deviation of the whole length of the chain is reduced, and the shelf unit is allowed to have a higher height.

In some embodiments, the columns of the two column sets 120, 130 of the shelving unit 100 are aligned in pairs along the length of the lane 102, with a plurality of pallets 144 for carrying cargo disposed between the aligned columns of the two column sets 120, 130. Adjacent pairs of aligned columns 122, 132, 124, 134 of two column groups 120, 130 form a storage column 104 therebetween, with trays between columns forming a plurality of storage layers 106 of storage column 104. It will be appreciated that the pallet 144 may be sized in length to accommodate single or double rows of bins, or may be sized to accommodate multiple rows of bins.

Referring to fig. 4 and 5, a warehouse system according to another embodiment of the present application includes an upper shelf 160 and a lower shelf 170, the upper shelf 160 is located above the lower shelf 170, and the upper shelf 160 and the lower shelf 170 respectively have a plurality of shelf units 100.

A bearing platform 162 for bearing the upper layer shelf 160 is arranged between the upper layer shelf 160 and the lower layer shelf 170, the upper layer shelf 160 corresponds to at least part of roadway positions of the lower layer shelf 170, and a first opening 164 corresponding to the roadway positions of the lower layer shelf 170 is arranged at the position corresponding to the roadway positions of the bearing platform 162, so that the warehousing robot 200 can move between the lower layer shelf 170 and the upper layer shelf 160 through the first opening 164.

In some embodiments, the shelf units 100 of the upper shelf 160 are configured with rails 166 that interface with the posts at the first opening 164, the rails 166 extending along the roadway and widthwise and/or lengthwise directions; the warehouse system further comprises a transfer mother car 180, wherein the transfer mother car 180 is provided with a chain 182 and travelling wheels (not shown) matched with the guide rails 166; the chain 182 of the transfer parent vehicle 180 is used to interface with the climbing chain 110 of the underlying rack 170 at the first opening 164; the walking wheels are used for enabling the transfer mother car 180 to translate along the guide rail 166 with the storage robot 200 after the storage robot 200 climbs to the chain of the transfer mother car 180.

In some embodiments, the climbing assembly of the warehousing robot 200 is liftable relative to the movable base; the distance between the rail 166 and the load platform 162 does not exceed the maximum elevation of the climbing assembly such that the warehousing robot 200 may descend from the transfer cart 180 to the load platform 162 at the rail 166.

When the storage robot 200 moves from the lower shelf 170 to the upper shelf 160, the transfer parent vehicle 180 moves to the first opening 164, the chain 182 of the transfer parent vehicle 180 is in butt joint with the climbing chain 110 of the lower shelf 170, after the storage robot 200 climbs from the climbing chain 110 of the lower shelf 170 to be engaged with the chain 182 of the transfer parent vehicle 180, the transfer parent vehicle 180 can translate to a target position along the guide rail 166 from the first opening 164 with the storage robot 200, and the storage robot 200 can descend from the transfer parent vehicle 180 to the bearing platform 162.

When the warehousing robot 200 moves from the upper shelf 160 to the lower shelf 170, the warehousing robot 200 moves to the transfer parent vehicle at the guide rail 166 and climbs from the bearing platform 162 to be meshed with the chain 182 of the transfer parent vehicle 180, the transfer parent vehicle 180 can translate to the first opening 164 along the guide rail 166 with the warehousing robot 200, the climbing chain 110 of the transfer parent vehicle 180 is in butt joint with the climbing chain 110 of the lower shelf 170, and the warehousing robot 200 descends along the climbing chain 110 of the lower shelf 170.

It will be appreciated that in some embodiments, the chain 182 of the transfer cart 180 may also interface with the climbing chain 110 of the upper rack 160 such that the warehousing robot may move between the upper rack 160 and the lower rack 170 via the chain 182 of the transfer cart 180.

In some embodiments, a cross-layer connection chain integrally connected to the climbing chain 110 of the upper rack 160 and the corresponding climbing chain 110 of the lower rack 170 is provided at the first opening 164 such that the warehousing robot 200 may move between the lower rack 170 and the upper rack 160 through the cross-layer connection chain.

Referring to fig. 6-9, a warehousing robot 200 according to an embodiment of the present application includes a movable base 210, a handling device 280, and a plurality of climbing assemblies 240. The movable base 210 is used to drive the warehousing robot 200 to move on a support surface. The carrier device 280 is used to acquire a storage object from or place a storage object on a target cargo space of the shelf unit 100.

The climbing assembly 240 includes a plurality of climbing modules 242. The climbing module 242 includes a climbing wheel set 260, a base 244 mounted to the movable base 210, and a first drive 254 mounted to the base 244; the climbing wheel set 260 includes a guide wheel 264, a sprocket 262 driven by the first drive 254; the sprocket 262 and the guide wheel 264 are arranged at intervals to clamp the climbing chain 110 in the climbing chain 110 arranged on the upright post of the shelf unit 100 when the sprocket 262 is meshed with the climbing chain 110; the plurality of sprockets 262 of the plurality of climbing assemblies 240 raise and lower the movable base 210 and the carrying device 280 along the climbing chain 110.

In this embodiment, the climbing module 242 clamps the climbing chain 110 through the guide wheel 264 and the sprocket 262, so that the climbing chain 110 can be directly clamped to climb, and no guide rail is required to be additionally arranged on the shelf unit, so that the material and installation cost can be reduced.

Referring to fig. 10, in some embodiments, the movable base 210 includes a main body 211, and a first traveling wheel set and a second traveling wheel set disposed on the main body 211.

In one embodiment, the body 211 of the movable base 210 includes a square frame. It is to be understood that the present application is not limited thereto, and for example, the main body 211 may be rectangular, elliptical, or the like. The first running wheel set may be a driving wheel set, and the driving wheel 214 of the driving wheel set is driven by the second driving device 212, and the second driving device 212 may be a motor (e.g., a servo motor), but is not limited thereto. The second running gear set may be an idler gear set. The second running gear set is shown to include two idler gears 216 provided on both front and rear sides of the main body 211 in the running direction, and the first running gear set includes two driving wheels 214 provided on both left and right sides of the main body 211 in the running direction, respectively. It is understood that the number and type of road wheels of the first and second road wheel sets are not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the change in the travel direction of the warehousing robot 200 is accomplished by way of differential rotation of the drive wheel 214.

Referring also to FIG. 11, in some embodiments, the climbing module 242 further includes a positioning sleeve 258 telescopically mounted to the base 244, and a sprocket 262 and a guide wheel 264 rotatably mounted to the positioning sleeve 258; when the positioning sleeve 258 is extended, the sprocket 262 and the guide wheel 264 are driven to extend so that the sprocket 262 is meshed with the climbing chain 110, and when the positioning sleeve 258 is retracted, the sprocket 262 and the guide wheel 264 are driven to retract so that the sprocket 262 is separated from the climbing chain 110.

In some embodiments, the warehousing robot is provided with two climbing assemblies 240 at both ends in the first direction, each climbing assembly 240 comprising two climbing modules 242 provided at both ends in the second direction; one of the first direction and the second direction is a traveling direction of the warehousing robot 200, and the other is a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the warehousing robot 200.

In some embodiments, referring to the drawings, the first direction is a walking direction of the warehousing robot 200 (as shown by Y in the drawing), and the second direction is a direction perpendicular to the walking direction of the warehousing robot 200 (as shown by X in the drawing). Support columns are fixedly installed at four corners of the main body 211 of the movable base 210, and four climbing modules 242 are installed at the four support columns 220. The locating sleeves 258 of the two climbing modules 242 of the climbing assembly 240 are positioned facing away from the climbing wheel set 260. The bases 244 of the two climbing modules 242 of the climbing assembly 240 are integrally provided, e.g., integrally formed or integrally connected, such that the two climbing modules 242 form one climbing assembly 240.

It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the warehouse robot has a climbing assembly, four climbing modules are mounted to four support posts, and the bases of the four climbing modules are integrally provided so that the four climbing modules form a climbing assembly.

In some embodiments, the climbing assembly 240 includes two operating portions, with which the two positioning sleeves 258 of the two climbing modules 242 of the climbing assembly 240 are connected, the two operating portions being configured to drive the two positioning sleeves 258 to extend or retract in opposite directions in synchronization.

In one embodiment, the base 244 of the two climbing modules 242 of the climbing assembly 240 is integrally provided, the climbing assembly 240 includes a synchronized extending mechanism 270, and the synchronized extending mechanism 270 includes a single driving device (not shown) mounted to the base 244, a first transmission mechanism, and two operating portions, the driving device driving the two operating portions to move in opposite directions through the first transmission mechanism, so as to drive the two positioning sleeves 258 to extend or retract synchronously in opposite directions. It is to be understood that in another embodiment, two independent driving devices may be provided to drive the two running portions, respectively.

Referring to the drawings, the first transmission mechanism includes a first pulley 272 and a second pulley 273 which are arranged at intervals along the second direction, one of the first pulley 272 and the second pulley 273 is a driving wheel, the other is a driven wheel, the driving wheel is connected with the single driving device, and a first synchronous belt 274 is sleeved on the first pulley 272 and the second pulley 273. The two running parts are respectively provided at the upper and lower sections of the first synchronization belt 274 having opposite running directions. The positioning sleeve 258 of the climbing module 242 is connected with the corresponding running part through a supporting frame 276 and a connecting piece 278, the supporting frame 276 and the connecting piece 278 are movably supported on the base body 244, the positioning sleeve 258 is fixedly arranged on the supporting frame 276, the supporting frame 276 is movably supported on the base body 244, and the running part is connected with the supporting frame 276 through the connecting piece 278. One end of the connecting member 278 is fixedly connected to the running portion, and the other end is fixedly connected to the support 276. When the first timing belt 274 rotates, the two running portions move in opposite directions in the second direction, and the supporting frame 276 and the positioning sleeves 258 are pushed by the connecting pieces 278, respectively, so that the two positioning sleeves 258 of the climbing module are synchronously extended or synchronously retracted in opposite directions in the second direction.

It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the first transmission may take other forms, for example, the first transmission may comprise a gear wheel connected to a single drive means, and two racks engaging the gear wheel at both diametrically ends; the two running gears with opposite running directions are respectively arranged on the two racks. When the driving device drives the gear to rotate, the gear drives the two racks to move in opposite directions in the second direction, so that the two positioning sleeves of the climbing module are driven to synchronously extend or synchronously retract in opposite directions in the second direction.

In some embodiments, a lifting mechanism is disposed between the movable base 210 and the climbing module 242, and the lifting mechanism is used to drive the climbing module 242 and the carrying device 280 to lift relative to the movable base 210. The lifting mechanism may be, for example, but not limited to, a rack type lifting mechanism, a chain type lifting mechanism, a scissor type lifting mechanism, or the like.

In some embodiments, the base 244 of the climbing module 242 is sleeved on the support column 220, and the base 244 is in rolling contact with the support column 220 by rolling elements 246 disposed between the base 244 and the support column 220 as the base 244 is lifted along the support column 220. The rolling member 246 may be, for example, a roller or drum.

Referring to fig. 6 to 11, a base 244 of the climbing module 242 is provided with a second opening 245, the base 244 is sleeved on the support column 220 through the second opening 245, the base 244 is provided with rollers 246 at the second opening 245, and when the base 244 ascends and descends along the support column 220, the base 244 is in rolling contact with the support column 220 through the rollers 246. The roller 246 may be mounted on the push rod 248 of the support 276 extending in the second direction and is limited at the second opening 245.

A positioning plate 250 is arranged on one side of the second opening 245 of the base 244, the positioning plate 250 is provided with a groove 252 extending along the height direction of the supporting upright post, and the notch of the groove 252 faces upwards; the top of the supporting upright post is provided with a mandrel 232, the axial direction of the mandrel 232 extends along the second direction, and the diameter of the mandrel 232 is slightly smaller than the width of the slot 252; during the process of lifting the climbing module 242 relative to the support column 220, the positioning plate 250 is lifted, so that the mandrel 232 enters the slot 252 through the notch of the slot 252 until the mandrel 232 abuts against the bottom end of the slot 252, at this time, the lifting of the base 244 is limited by the mandrel 232, and the climbing module 242 reaches the highest position which can be lifted relative to the support column 220; at the same time, movement of the base 244 in the first direction is also limited because the diameter of the mandrel 232 is slightly smaller than the width of the slot 252. When the climbing module 242 reaches the highest position that can be raised relative to the support column 220 and continues to climb along the climbing chain 110, the movable base 210 can be driven to climb together.

Fig. 12 is a schematic view of the loading of the storage robot when the lifting mechanism is in a lowered state, and fig. 13 is a schematic view of the loading of the storage robot when the lifting mechanism is in a raised state. In one embodiment, when the lifting mechanism is in the lowered state, the bin 108 does not exceed the support column 220 in the height direction, and the height of the support column 220 from the support surface is less than the height of the cross beam 146 at the bottom end of the shelf unit 100 from the support surface, thereby ensuring that the storage robot 200 can walk under the shelf unit 100 with the bin 108.

In some embodiments, the lift mechanism includes a rotating member mounted to the base 244 of the climbing module 242 and a linear moving member mounted to the support column 220, the rotating member engaging the linear moving member; the rotation of the rotating member along the linear moving member causes the base 244 to rise or fall relative to the support post 220. In some embodiments, the rotating member and the linear moving member are engaged by teeth, and the rotating member may be a gear or a rack, for example, and the linear moving member may be a rack, for example. In other embodiments, the rotational member may be a sprocket and the linear motion member may be a chain, for example.

In some embodiments, the warehousing robot 200 further includes a brake 222 mounted to the support post 220, the brake 222 being in driving connection with the linear motion member. The brake 222 has a braking state and a release state; when the brake 222 is in a braking state, the linear moving object is kept in a stop state, and the linear moving object can be lifted and lowered relative to the support column 220 only when the force exceeds the braking force of the brake 222; when the brake 222 is in the released state, the linear motion member can freely lift and lower relative to the support column 220.

Referring also to fig. 14, in some embodiments, the lift mechanism includes a toothed belt 256 mounted to the base 244 of the climbing module 242, and a rack 230 mounted to the support column 220; the brake 222 is connected with a rack 230 through a second synchronous belt 226 and a spring guide rod mechanism 228; the second synchronous belt 226 is connected with the brake 222 through a third belt wheel 224, and a rack 230 is connected with the second synchronous belt 226 through a spring guide rod mechanism 228; more specifically, third pulley 224, second timing belt 226, and spring guide 228 are disposed inside support column 220, and brake 222 and rack 230 are disposed outside support column 220. The brake 222 has a braking state and a release state; when the brake 222 is in a braking state, the rack 230 is kept in a stopped state, and the toothed belt 256 can be lifted and lowered along the rack 230 kept in a stopped state during rotation; when the brake 222 is in the released state, the rack 230 can freely slide and lift relative to the support column 220, and the toothed belt 256 drives the base 244 to rise when rotating along a preset direction, so that the rack 230 slides down along the support column 220 until the rack 230 slides to the lowest position where it can descend, and the toothed belt 256 drives the base 244 to descend when rotating along a direction opposite to the preset direction, so that the rack 230 slides up along the support column 220 until the rack 230 slides to the highest position where it can ascend.

It will be appreciated that the teeth of sprocket 262 and climbing chain 110 are not initially necessarily aligned due to ground level differences and installation errors, and that spring guide 228 to which rack 230 is attached is capable of producing a certain amount of compression to thereby allow climbing sprocket 262 to engage climbing chain 110 by compensating for the level errors.

In some embodiments, the rotational member of the lift mechanism is driven by the first drive 254, i.e., both the rotational member of the lift mechanism and the sprocket 262 of the climbing module 242 are driven by the first drive 254. It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the rotating member and sprocket 262 each have independent drive means.

Referring to fig. 11, in some embodiments, the toothed belt 256 mounted to the base 244 is a double-sided toothed synchronous belt. The first driving device 254 drives the double-sided toothed timing belt 256 and the sprocket 262 through the second transmission mechanism. In one specific implementation, the second transmission mechanism includes a first gear driven by the first driving device 254, and a second gear in driving connection with the first gear, where the first gear and the second gear are disposed inside the double-sided tooth synchronous belt 256 and meshed with internal teeth of the double-sided tooth synchronous belt 256, and when the first gear and the second gear rotate, the double-sided tooth synchronous belt 256 is driven to rotate, and external teeth of the double-sided tooth synchronous belt 256 are used for meshing with the rack 230 on the upright post. The second gear is also in driving connection with the sprocket 262, and the second gear also drives the sprocket 262 to rotate when rotating.

Referring to FIG. 12, in one embodiment, the second gear is coupled to sprocket 262 via a set of ball splines 266. The spline shaft of the ball spline set 266 passes through the locating sleeve 258 to be fixedly connected with the sprocket 262, and the second gear is fixedly connected with the spline sleeve sleeved outside the spline shaft; when the second gear rotates, the spline sleeve drives the spline shaft to rotate, so that the sprocket 262 rotates; a bearing assembly is arranged between the spline shaft and the positioning sleeve 258, and the bearing assembly enables the spline shaft to rotate freely relative to the positioning sleeve 258 and drives the positioning sleeve 258 to move axially; the spline shaft is part of the support frame 276 and when the first timing belt 274 of the timing extension mechanism 270 translates the support frame 276 via the connection 278, the spline shaft pushes the positioning sleeve 258 to extend or retract, thereby extending or retracting the climbing wheel set 260. The connector 278 may be a rod-like member.

In some embodiments, the amount of protrusion of the positioning sleeve 258 may be varied when the drive of the synchronized extension mechanism 270 is not output, while the drive of the synchronized extension mechanism 270 may be stopped from outputting during ascent of the ascent module 242. Thus, the storage robot can adapt to the interval error of two chains at different heights in the roadway width direction through the change of the protruding amount of the positioning sleeve 258 in the process of climbing or descending along the climbing chain 110. In one embodiment, the variation in the protrusion of the spacer 258 may allow for a distance error of plus or minus 18mm between the two chains in the lane width direction.

In some embodiments, the handling device 280 includes a telescopic fork 282, the telescopic fork 282 being mounted between the plurality of climbing modules 242, the telescopic direction of the telescopic fork 282 being perpendicular to the direction of travel of the warehousing robot 200. The four corners of the telescoping prongs 282 are provided with push-pull fingers. The material box is taken and put in a push-pull mode, so that the double-extension-position material box can be taken and put.

In some embodiments, the handling device 280 is swingably mounted to a plurality of climbing modules 242. Referring to fig. 15, a pair of bridge beams 284 are arranged at intervals along the first direction at the bottom of the carrying device 280, the bridge beams 284 extend along the second direction, swing arms 286 are arranged at two ends of the bridge beams 284, and the carrying device 280 is mounted on the climbing modules 242 through the swing arms 286; the inside reverse mechanism that is equipped with of span 284 for the swing arm 286 at span 284 both ends has the same swing angle and opposite swing direction, in this way, can guarantee that handling device 280 is in storage robot's center all the time during climbing.

In some embodiments, two climbing modules 242 on either end of the first direction are swingably mounted to the movable base 210 to adjust the spacing of the two sprockets 262 of the two climbing modules 242 to accommodate distance errors between the two chains at different heights along the roadway length.

Referring to fig. 16, in some embodiments, a pair of mandrels 232 and 234 are disposed at the top of the support column 220 and spaced apart in the height direction, the slots 252 of the positioning plate 250 are provided with inner recesses 253 on both sides of the middle, when the climbing module 242 reaches the highest position that can be lifted relative to the column, the second opening 245 of the base 244 is higher than the top end of the support column 220, the mandrel 232 at the lower end abuts against the bottom end of the slot 252, the mandrel 234 at the upper end is located at a position where the slot 252 has the inner recess 253, and by providing the inner recesses 253, a gap 251 is left between the mandrel 234 at the upper end and the inner wall of the slot 252, so that the base 244 of the climbing module 242 is allowed to swing relative to the support column in the direction of the arrow shown in the drawing. In one embodiment, the oscillation of base 244 relative to support columns 220 may allow a distance error of plus or minus 6mm between two chains in the length direction of the roadway.

Referring now to fig. 17 and 18A-18D together, an exemplary description of the climbing process of the warehousing robot 200 according to the embodiments of the present application is provided in connection with the construction of the shelving unit 100.

When the warehousing robot 200 determines to climb to the target storage layer of the target storage column, the warehousing robot walks to the target storage column in the roadway 102, and the four climbing modules 242 of the warehousing robot 200 are opposite to the four climbing chains 110 on two sides of the roadway 102. As shown in fig. 18A, in the initial state, the brake 222 is in the braking state, and the rack 230 is in the highest position to which it can be lifted; since the brake 222 is in the braking state, the position of the rack 230 is unchanged when the toothed belt 256 is lifted. As shown in fig. 18B, the first driving device 254 drives the toothed belt 256 to ascend along the rack 230, so that after the climbing module 242 ascends to a predetermined height, the synchronous extending mechanism 270 extends the positioning sleeve 258 to a position where the positioning sleeve 258 contacts with the positioning plate 111 at the bottom end of the climbing chain 110 with the sprocket 262 and the sprocket 262, and the positioning sleeve 258 is located below the climbing chain 110; it will be appreciated that the predetermined height is determined based on the height of the bottom end of the climbing chain 110 and is below the highest position to which the climbing module 242 can be raised relative to the support column 220. Toothed belt 256 then continues to rise along rack 230, driving idler 264 and sprocket 262 upward, causing sprocket 262 to engage climbing chain 110, and idler 264 and sprocket 262 to form a grip on climbing chain 110. When toothed belt 256 and climbing module 242 are raised to the highest position that can be raised relative to support column 220 as shown in fig. 18C, brake 222 is switched to the released state. Next, as shown in fig. 18D, the sprocket 262 and the guide wheel 264 climb along the climbing chain 110, the rotation of the toothed belt 256 lowers the rack 230 due to the release state of the brake 222, and after the rack 230 is disengaged from the toothed belt 256, the climbing module 242 is disengaged from the rack 230, climbs with the movable base 210 and the carrying device 280 until the object is lifted up to the target storage level, and transfers the object to be stored between the carrying device 280 and the target storage level.

The application also provides a sorting processing system, comprising the warehousing system; wherein the warehousing robot of the warehousing system is configured to move to the target sorting position after loading the containers to be sorted from the target storage tier to the handling device so that the containers to be sorted are sorted. Furthermore, the storage robot can unload the sorted containers from the carrying device to the target storage layer.

In some embodiments, sorting mode information may be obtained, a target height of the handling device may be determined according to the sorting mode information, and the lifting or lowering of the handling device may be controlled according to the target height of the handling device, so that the height of the handling device may be adapted to the sorting mode. The lifting mechanism of the storage robot can be controlled to control the lifting or lowering of the carrying device. The sorting mode may be, for example, direct manual sorting, i.e. sorting personnel sort bins directly on the storage robot, and when the bins 108 are placed on the handling device 280, the lifting height of the lifting mechanism may be adjusted so that the height of the bins on the handling device is suitable for sorting personnel to sort directly on the storage robot, as shown in fig. 19; or the sorting mode can be sorting by a sorting table, namely, the storage robot carries the material box to the sorting table, and the sorting personnel sorts the material box on the sorting table; the lifting height of the lifting mechanism may be adjusted such that the height of the handling device 280 interfaces with the conveyor line 310, for example as shown in fig. 20, to transport the bins to be sorted to the target sorting station. The conveyor line may be, for example, a belt conveyor, a roller conveyor, a fluent strip, or the like.

In some embodiments, the carrier 280 is transferred from the side. Referring to fig. 20, the stocker robot walks in a direction perpendicular to the direction shown by X, pushes the bin out of the side face to the conveyor line 310 in the direction shown by X during unloading, and pulls the bin out of the conveyor line 310 onto the carrier 280 from the side face in a direction opposite to the direction shown by X during loading.

Referring to fig. 21, in some embodiments, a sorting processing system includes a sorting workstation 300; sorting station 300 is provided with a sorting station 302; a first shelf 304 and a second shelf 306 may also be provided; the first shelf 304 may, for example, house empty boxes and the second shelf 306 may, for example, house sorting completion boxes (i.e., order boxes). The warehousing robot 200 is configured to control the handling device 280 to a preset height by the lifting mechanism after loading the bins 108 from the shelving units to the handling device 280, such that the warehousing robot is able to traverse the bottom of the shelving units with the bins 108, and to raise the handling device 280 by the lifting mechanism after leaving the shelf area 190 to a target location (e.g., at the sort station 302 or within a preset range of the sort station 302) such that the height of the bins 108 on the handling device 280 is suitable for direct manual sorting, i.e., the sorters at the sort station 302 can sort the bins 108 on the warehousing robot 200 directly. After a sorting completion instruction indicating that a sorting person sorts the bin on the lifted carrying device directly is detected, the storage robot can be controlled to carry the bin to walk to a target storage place. The sorting completion instruction may be input by a sorting person through a button provided on the warehousing robot 200, or through a button provided at the sorting workstation 300 and transmitted to the warehousing robot 200, for example. It will be appreciated that the shelf area 190 is shown as a checkerboard walk-in space for the warehousing robot 200.

In some embodiments, the warehousing robot 200 is configured to adjust the handling device 280 to simultaneously reduce the travel speed after leaving the shelf area 190 to reach the target location to ensure stability of the bin 108.

Referring to fig. 22, in some embodiments, the sorting system includes a sorting station 300, where the sorting station 300 is provided with a sorting station 308, and the sorting station 302 is formed at the sorting station 308, where the sorting station may be provided with a conveyor line 310 (as shown in fig. 20) having a moving bin function, or be a station having no moving bin function, for example. With the sorting station 308 located on the conveyor line, the stocker robot unloads the bins 108 to the conveyor line 310, and the conveyor line 310 conveys the bins to the sorting station 302 for sorting. The warehousing robot 200 is configured to control the handling device 280 to a preset height by the lift mechanism after loading the bins 108 from the shelving units to the handling device 280, to enable the warehousing robot to traverse the bottom of the shelving units with the bins 108, and to raise the handling device 280 by the lift mechanism after leaving the shelf area 190 to a target location (e.g., where the sorting stations 308 interface or within a preset range of the sorting stations 308), to adapt the height of the bins 108 on the handling device 280 to interface with the sorting stations 308, and to control the handling device to unload the bins 108 to the sorting stations 308 where the handling device 280 interfaces with the sorting stations 308.

In some embodiments, the warehousing robot 200 is configured to perform a dual cycle task by unloading bins 108 from the discharge port 312 onto the transfer line 310 and then traveling to the pick port 314 to pick and load the sorted bins 108 onto the handling device 280. The warehouse robot 200 is disposed after the bin 108 is taken out, and lowers the height of the carrying device 280 by the lifting mechanism so as to lower the center of gravity and ensure the stability in the walking process.

It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the sorting processing system includes a conveyor line having a plurality of sorting stations 302. The stocker robot controls the carrier 280 to a second height such that the height of the bins 108 on the carrier 280 is suitable for docking with the conveyor lines, where the carrier 280 docks with the conveyor lines 308, the carrier 280 is controlled to unload the bins 108 to the conveyor lines such that the conveyor lines transport the bins 108 to the target sort station 302 for sorting.

In some embodiments, the warehousing robot 200 is further configured to:

and obtaining working mode information, and determining the walking path of the storage robot according to the working mode information.

In some embodiments, determining the travel path of the warehousing robot based on the operating mode information includes:

If the working mode information indicates that the working mode of the storage robot is a first working mode, determining a walking path of the storage robot according to a checkerboard walking mode;

if the working mode information indicates that the working mode of the storage robot is the second working mode, determining a walking path of the storage robot according to an annular walking mode.

In one embodiment, the first mode of operation of the warehousing robot is a discrete mode of operation and the second mode of operation is a roadway mode of operation.

In the discrete working mode, the storage robot can be configured to walk at the bottom of the shelf unit according to a checkerboard walking mode, and the walking path can be reasonably planned in the checkerboard walking space as required. In a discrete mode of operation, the arrangement of shelf units may, for example, eliminate the need for a main roadway, and each row of shelf units may, for example, be arranged in an uninterrupted seamless manner.

Corresponding to the working mode of the roadway machine, a plurality of shelf units are arranged in parallel at intervals, a roadway is arranged between two adjacent shelf units, two adjacent shelf units form a shelf unit group, and two shelf units of the shelf unit group are a first shelf unit and a second shelf unit respectively. In the roadway work mode, the warehousing robot is configured to operate corresponding to a single group of shelf units and a single target sorting station. For example, as shown in fig. 23, the target sorting station 300 is disposed at one end of the shelf unit group 192, and may be disposed between, for example and without limitation, a first shelf unit and a second shelf unit, wherein a lower horizontal line L1 in fig. 23 represents a travel path of the bottom of the first shelf unit, an upper horizontal line L2 represents a travel path of the bottom of the second shelf unit, a middle horizontal line L3 represents a roadway between the first shelf unit and the second shelf unit, the first shelf unit and the second shelf unit each have a plurality of storage columns, and each longitudinal line between horizontal lines L1 and L2 in the drawing represents a pick position of the storage robot at different storage columns; the warehousing robot is configured to cyclically take different containers from either the first or second shelving unit to the target sorting station 300 for sorting, with the travel paths of the warehousing robot for three delivery processes being shown in fig. 23, illustratively at P1, P2, P3, respectively. The roadway machine working mode enables the walking path of the storage robot to the target sorting position to be a ring-shaped walking path every time, and only works in a single roadway in the goods shelf area, so that the efficiency of a bicycle is higher, and the high-flow scene requirement can be met.

According to one embodiment, a one-time delivery control process of the warehousing robot is described as follows.

Obtaining target cargo space information, wherein the target cargo space information comprises target storage column information and target storage layer information; it will be appreciated that the target storage column may be the storage column of the first shelf unit or the storage column of the second shelf unit.

And controlling the warehousing robot to move from the target sorting position to the bottom of the first goods shelf unit according to the target goods shelf position information, and moving to the position corresponding to the target storage column at the bottom of the first goods shelf unit.

Controlling a storage robot to move from the bottom of the first goods shelf unit to the tunnel at the position corresponding to the target storage column so that the carrying device obtains a container from the target storage layer;

and controlling the storage robot to walk from the roadway to the bottom of the second goods shelf unit with the cargo box, and moving at the bottom of the second goods shelf unit until the storage robot leaves the second goods shelf unit and returns to the target sorting position.

For ease of understanding, the above process will be described in connection with the corresponding delivery process at P2 in FIG. 23. The target goods space is a certain storage layer of a storage column corresponding to the first goods shelf unit or the second goods shelf unit at the position P2, the storage robot can be controlled to move from the target sorting position 300 to the bottom of the left end of the first goods shelf unit, and move to the goods taking position at the position P2 along the direction indicated by an arrow N1 at the bottom of the first goods shelf unit, then the storage robot turns, moves to the goods taking position in a roadway from the bottom of the first goods shelf unit according to the direction indicated by the arrow N2, climbs to the target storage layer of the first goods shelf unit or the second goods shelf unit, and enables the carrying device to acquire a container from the target storage layer and then descends to the ground; thereafter, the pallet is moved up to the bottom of the second rack unit with the container and moved in the direction of arrow N3 at the bottom of the second rack unit, until leaving the bottom of the left end of the second rack unit and returning to the target sorting station 300, thereby completing one delivery.

The application also provides a storage method, which is applied to a storage robot, wherein the storage robot is provided with a movable base, a carrying device and a climbing assembly, and the height of the storage robot is smaller than the height of a cross beam at the bottommost end of a goods shelf unit. The warehousing method according to one embodiment comprises the following steps:

loading a cargo box from a target storage level to the handling device; and

wherein loading the cargo box from the target storage layer to the handling device comprises:

the climbing assembly of the storage robot is controlled to climb along a plurality of climbing chains arranged on adjacent goods shelf units so that the carrying device obtains the container from the target storage layer.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

acquiring sorting mode information;

determining a target height of the carrying device according to the sorting mode information;

and controlling the lifting or lowering of the conveying device according to the target height of the conveying device.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

after loading the container to the carrying device, controlling the carrying device to be at a preset height so that the storage robot carries the container to walk at the bottom of the goods shelf unit; the method comprises the steps of,

After traveling to the target position of the non-shelf area, the carrying device is controlled to be lifted.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

and after moving to the target position, controlling the warehousing robot to move in a decelerating way.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

after detecting a sorting completion instruction for indicating a sorting person to sort the containers on the lifted carrying device directly, controlling the storage robot to move to a target storage place with the containers; or,

and controlling the lifted carrying device to unload the container to the sorting table or the conveying line at the joint of the carrying device and the sorting table or the conveying line.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

obtaining working mode information;

and determining the walking path of the warehousing robot according to the working mode information.

In some embodiments, determining the travel path of the warehousing robot according to the working mode information includes:

if the working mode information indicates that the working mode of the storage robot is a first working mode, determining a walking path of the storage robot according to a chessboard type walking mode;

And if the working mode information indicates that the working mode of the storage robot is a second working mode, determining a walking path of the storage robot according to an annular walking mode.

In some embodiments, a plurality of shelf units are arranged in parallel at intervals, a roadway is arranged between two adjacent shelf units, the two adjacent shelf units form a shelf unit group, and two shelf units of the shelf unit group are respectively a first shelf unit and a second shelf unit;

the warehousing robot is configured to operate corresponding to a single one of the groups of shelf units and a single one of the target sorting stations;

the loading of containers from the target storage tier to the handling device includes:

obtaining target cargo space information, wherein the target cargo space information comprises target storage column information and target storage layer information, and the target storage column is a storage column of the first goods shelf unit or the second goods shelf unit;

controlling the warehousing robot to move from the target sorting position to the bottom of a first goods shelf unit in the goods shelf unit group according to the target goods shelf position information, and moving to a position corresponding to the target storage column at the bottom of the first goods shelf unit;

Controlling the warehousing robot to move from the bottom of the first shelf unit into the roadway at a position corresponding to the target storage column so that the carrying device obtains a container from the target storage layer;

the controlling the warehouse robot to move to a target sorting position via the bottom of the shelf unit comprises:

and controlling the storage robot to walk from the roadway to the bottom of the second goods shelf unit with the container, and moving at the bottom of the second goods shelf unit until leaving the second goods shelf unit and returning to the target sorting position.

The present application provides a warehousing robot control unit including a processor and a memory having executable code stored thereon which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform some or all of the methods described above.

The processor may be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), but may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), application specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The memory may include various types of storage units, such as system memory, read Only Memory (ROM), and persistent storage. Wherein the ROM may store static data or instructions that are required by the processor or other modules of the computer. The persistent storage may be a readable and writable storage. The persistent storage may be a non-volatile memory device that does not lose stored instructions and data even after the computer is powered down. In some embodiments, the persistent storage device employs a mass storage device (e.g., magnetic or optical disk, flash memory) as the persistent storage device. In other embodiments, the persistent storage may be a removable storage device (e.g., diskette, optical drive). The system memory may be a read-write memory device or a volatile read-write memory device, such as dynamic random access memory. The system memory may store instructions and data that are required by some or all of the processors at runtime. Furthermore, the memory may comprise any combination of computer-readable storage media including various types of semiconductor memory chips (DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, flash memory, programmable read-only memory), magnetic disks, and/or optical disks may also be employed. In some embodiments, the memory may include a removable storage device that is readable and/or writable, such as a Compact Disc (CD), a read-only digital versatile disc (e.g., DVD-ROM, dual layer DVD-ROM), a read-only blu-ray disc, an ultra-dense disc, a flash memory card (e.g., SD card, min SD card, micro-SD card, etc.), a magnetic floppy disk, and the like. The computer readable storage medium does not contain a carrier wave or an instantaneous electronic signal transmitted by wireless or wired transmission.

The memory has stored thereon executable code that, when processed by the processor, can cause the processor to perform some or all of the methods described above.

Furthermore, the method according to the present application may also be implemented as a computer program or computer program product comprising computer program code instructions for performing part or all of the steps of the above-described method of the present application.

Alternatively, the present application may also be embodied as a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium (or computer-readable storage medium, or machine-readable storage medium) having stored thereon executable code (or a computer program, or computer instruction code) that, when executed by a processor of an electronic device (or electronic device, server, etc.), causes the processor to perform some or all of the steps of the above-described methods according to the present application.

An embodiment of the present application provides a sorting processing system, including the warehouse system described above; wherein the warehousing robot comprises the warehousing robot control unit.

The embodiments of the present application have been described above, the foregoing description is exemplary, not exhaustive, and not limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the various embodiments described. The terminology used herein was chosen in order to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application, or the improvement of technology in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A warehousing system, comprising:

2. The warehousing system of claim 1 wherein,

The plurality of stand columns comprise a floor stand column and a suspension stand column, and at least one suspension stand column is arranged between every two adjacent floor stand columns.

3. The warehousing system of claim 1 wherein,

the climbing chain is arranged on the upright post through a plurality of fixing seats, and the fixing seats are distributed at preset positions between the two vertical ends of the climbing chain.

4. The warehousing system of claim 1 wherein,

the upright posts of the two upright post groups are aligned in pairs in the length direction, and a supporting plate for bearing the storage objects is arranged between the aligned upright posts of the two upright post groups.

5. The warehousing system of claim 1 wherein,

the system comprises an upper layer shelf and a lower layer shelf, wherein the upper layer shelf is positioned above the lower layer shelf, and the upper layer shelf and the lower layer shelf are respectively provided with a plurality of shelf units;

the storage robot comprises an upper layer shelf and a lower layer shelf, wherein a bearing platform for bearing the upper layer shelf is arranged between the upper layer shelf and the lower layer shelf, the upper layer shelf corresponds to at least part of roadway positions of the lower layer shelf, and an opening corresponding to the roadway positions of the lower layer shelf is arranged at the position corresponding to the roadway positions of the bearing platform, so that the storage robot can move between the lower layer shelf and the upper layer shelf through the opening.

6. The warehousing system of claim 5 wherein,

the shelf units of the upper shelf are provided with guide rails connected with the upright posts at the openings, and the guide rails extend along the width direction and/or the length direction;

the storage system further comprises a transfer mother vehicle, wherein the transfer mother vehicle is provided with a chain and travelling wheels matched with the guide rail;

the chain of the transfer mother car is used for being in butt joint with the climbing chain of the lower layer goods shelf at the opening;

the walking wheels are used for enabling the transfer mother car to translate along the guide rail along with the storage robot after the storage robot climbs to the chain of the transfer mother car.

7. The warehousing system of claim 6 wherein,

the climbing assembly is liftable relative to the movable base;

the distance between the guide rail and the bearing platform does not exceed the maximum elevation of the climbing assembly, so that the storage robot can descend from the transfer parent vehicle to the bearing platform at the guide rail.

8. The warehousing system of claim 5 wherein,

the opening part is provided with a cross-layer connecting chain integrally connected with the climbing chain of the upper layer goods shelf and the climbing chain of the lower layer goods shelf, so that the storage robot can move between the lower layer goods shelf and the upper layer goods shelf through the cross-layer connecting chain.

9. The warehousing system of any one of claims 1 through 8 wherein,

the climbing assembly comprises a climbing module, wherein the climbing module comprises a climbing wheel set, a base body arranged on the movable base, and a driving device arranged on the base body; the climbing wheel set comprises a guide wheel and a chain wheel driven by a driving device; the chain wheel and the guide wheel are arranged at intervals so as to clamp the climbing chain when the chain wheel is meshed with the climbing chain; and when the plurality of sprockets of the climbing assembly ascend and descend along the climbing chain, the movable base and the carrying device are driven to ascend and descend.

10. The warehousing system of claim 9 wherein the climbing module further comprises:

the positioning sleeve is telescopically arranged on the base body, and the chain wheel and the guide wheel are rotatably arranged on the positioning sleeve; when the locating sleeve stretches out, the sprocket and the guide wheel are driven to stretch out so that the sprocket is meshed with the climbing chain, and when the locating sleeve retracts, the sprocket and the guide wheel are driven to retract so that the sprocket is separated from the climbing chain.

11. The warehousing system of claim 9 wherein,

and a lifting mechanism is arranged between the movable base and the climbing module and is used for lifting the climbing module and the carrying device relative to the movable base.

12. The warehousing system of claim 11 wherein,

the movable base is provided with a plurality of supporting columns;

the lifting mechanism comprises a rotating piece arranged on the base body and a linear moving piece arranged on the supporting upright post, and the rotating piece is meshed with the linear moving piece; and when the rotating piece rotates along the linear moving piece, the base body is driven to ascend or descend relative to the supporting upright post.

13. The warehousing system of claim 11 wherein,

the rotating piece is driven by the driving device;

the rotating piece is a double-sided tooth synchronous belt, the linear moving piece is a rack, and the external teeth of the double-sided tooth synchronous belt are used for being meshed with the rack;

the driving device drives the double-sided tooth synchronous belt and the chain wheel through a transmission mechanism;

the transmission mechanism comprises a first gear driven by the driving device and a second gear in transmission connection with the first gear, the first gear and the second gear are meshed with the inner teeth of the double-sided tooth synchronous belt, and the second gear is in transmission connection with the sprocket.

14. The warehousing system of claim 11 wherein,

The carrying device is arranged among the climbing modules;

the carrying device comprises a telescopic fork, and the telescopic direction of the telescopic fork is perpendicular to the walking direction of the storage robot.

15. The warehousing method is characterized by being applied to a warehousing robot, wherein the warehousing robot is provided with a movable base, a carrying device and a climbing assembly, and the height of the warehousing robot is smaller than the height of a cross beam at the bottommost end of a goods shelf unit; the method comprises the following steps:

loading a cargo box from a target storage level to the handling device; and

16. The warehousing method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

acquiring sorting mode information;

17. The warehousing method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

18. The warehousing method of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

19. The warehousing method of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

20. The warehousing method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining working mode information;

21. The warehousing method of claim 20 wherein determining the travel path of the warehousing robot based on the operating mode information includes:

22. The warehousing method of claim 15 wherein:

the plurality of shelf units are arranged in parallel at intervals, a roadway is arranged between two adjacent shelf units, the two adjacent shelf units form a shelf unit group, and the two shelf units of the shelf unit group are respectively a first shelf unit and a second shelf unit;

23. A storage robot control unit, comprising:

A processor; and

a memory having executable code stored thereon, which when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform the method of any of claims 15-22.

24. A sorting processing system comprising a warehousing system according to any one of claims 1 to 14; wherein the warehousing robot comprises a warehousing robot control unit of claim 23.