CN209853079U - Transport system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a transportation system. The system comprises: receiving an item transportation request, wherein the item transportation request comprises a target item; determining a target location of the target item on the shelf from the target item; controlling the transport vehicle to drive into a target position on the goods shelf through the connecting platform so as to access the target goods; wherein the docking platform is used for switching the transport vehicle between a plurality of lanes of a plurality of shelves. The transportation system can reduce the complexity of the transportation vehicle in changing the roadway between the goods shelves, and improves the connection efficiency of the logistics transportation system.

Description

Transport system

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the field of warehouse logistics, in particular to a transportation system.

Background

The three-dimensional warehouse is also called an elevated warehouse or an elevated warehouse, and generally refers to a warehouse which stores unit articles by using shelves with the heights of several layers, dozens of layers or even dozens of layers and uses corresponding material handling equipment to carry out warehousing and ex-warehouse operation on the articles. The three-dimensional library is used as a relatively mature system at present, and various forms are developed, such as a stacker, a shuttle plate, a shuttle car and other systems become relatively mature application cases in the industry. In many conventional three-dimensional libraries, the scale of a horizontal array formation system is expanded on a lane-by-lane basis. After the scale-up, various problems occur, such as the increase of the input amount of equipment along with the scale-up, and the utilization rate of each storage position in each unit (layer or roadway) is different, so that the efficiency of the equipment is different to a certain extent.

The stacker is arrayed by taking a roadway as a unit, and the stacker does not support the replacement of the roadway because of being heavy equipment. The shuttle cars and the shuttle plates are vertically arrayed and then horizontally arrayed and unfolded one by one in each layer, so that the scale is enlarged, and the number of cars in one roadway is equal to the number of layers. The existing shuttle vehicle is mainly used for replacing a tunnel by a hoisting machine to lower the tunnel and then is transported to other tunnels to lift the hoisting machine. The tunnel of shuttle board is changed and needs to be put down with fork truck or other instrument and transport other tunnel positions again and put up. In the prior art, the running guide rails of stereoscopic warehouse products are solidified, and the replacement of roadways and the working area of single equipment is inflexible.

Therefore, a new transportation system is needed.

The above information disclosed in this background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the disclosure and therefore it may contain information that does not constitute prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In view of this, the present disclosure provides a transportation system, which can reduce the complexity of the transportation vehicle in changing lanes between shelves, and improve the connection efficiency of the logistics transportation system.

Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the detailed description which follows, or in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a transportation system, the system comprising: the goods shelf is used for bearing goods and has a three-dimensional structure; a guide rail disposed on the shelf for carrying a transport vehicle to move thereon; the connecting platform is used for switching the transport vehicle among a plurality of roadways of a plurality of shelves; the server is used for receiving an item transportation request, and the item transportation request comprises a target item; determining a target location of the target item on the shelf from the target item; and controlling the transport vehicle to drive into a target position on the goods shelf through the connecting platform so as to access the target goods.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, further comprising: the charging pile is arranged on the connection platform and used for charging the transport vehicle; and/or the maintenance platform is arranged on the connection platform and used for maintaining the transport vehicle; and/or the object placing platform is arranged on the connecting platform and used for temporarily storing objects.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the shelf includes: a plurality of storage brackets which are sequentially arranged in the vertical direction; and a plurality of vertical upright posts which are vertically arranged are connected to the edge of each layer of the storage bracket and support the storage bracket together.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the guide rail includes: a vertical guide rail and a horizontal guide rail; the horizontal guide rail is arranged on the edge of the plurality of layers of the storage brackets of the goods shelf; the vertical guide rails are installed on a plurality of vertical columns of the goods shelf.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a transportation method is provided, the method including: receiving an item transportation request, wherein the item transportation request comprises a target item; determining a target location of the target item on the shelf from the target item; controlling the transport vehicle to drive into a target position on the goods shelf through the connecting platform so as to access the target goods; wherein the docking platform is used for switching the transport vehicle between a plurality of lanes of a plurality of shelves.

According to the transportation system disclosed by the invention, the transportation vehicle drives into the target position on the goods shelf through the connection platform so as to access the target object, the complexity of the transportation vehicle for changing the roadway between the goods shelves can be reduced, and the connection efficiency of the logistics transportation system is improved.

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 disclosure.

Drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings. The drawings described below are merely some embodiments of the present disclosure, and other drawings may be derived from those drawings by those of ordinary skill in the art without inventive effort.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an application scenario of a transportation system according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method of transportation according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a perspective shelf schematic diagram of a transport system according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a transportation system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of a guide rail in a transport system according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a transporter in a transport system according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a docking process in a transport system according to an exemplary embodiment.

Detailed Description

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Example embodiments may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as 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 concept of example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The same reference numerals denote the same or similar parts in the drawings, and thus, a repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to give a thorough understanding of embodiments of the disclosure. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the subject matter of the present disclosure can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, devices, steps, and so forth. In other instances, well-known methods, devices, implementations, or operations have not been shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the disclosure.

The block diagrams shown in the figures are functional entities only and do not necessarily correspond to physically separate entities. I.e. these functional entities may be implemented in the form of software, or in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different networks and/or processor means and/or microcontroller means.

The flow charts shown in the drawings are merely illustrative and do not necessarily include all of the contents and operations/steps, nor do they necessarily have to be performed in the order described. For example, some operations/steps may be decomposed, and some operations/steps may be combined or partially combined, so that the actual execution sequence may be changed according to the actual situation.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various components, these components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used to distinguish one element from another. Thus, a first component discussed below may be termed a second component without departing from the teachings of the disclosed concept. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It is to be understood by those skilled in the art that the drawings are merely schematic representations of exemplary embodiments, and that the blocks or processes shown in the drawings are not necessarily required to practice the present disclosure and are, therefore, not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an application scenario of a transportation system according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in fig. 1, the system architecture 100 of the transport system may include transport vehicles 101, 102, 103, a network 104, and a server 105. The network 104 is used to provide a medium for communication links between the vehicles 101, 102, 103 and the server 105. Network 104 may include various connection types, such as wired, wireless communication links, or fiber optic cables, to name a few.

The transport vehicles 101, 102, 103 may be AGVs (Automated Guided vehicles). The transport vehicles 101, 102, 103 may be equipped with electromagnetic or optical automatic guiding devices, which can travel along a predetermined guiding path, and have safety protection and various transfer functions, and the transport vehicles 101, 102, 103 do not need drivers in industrial application, and use rechargeable batteries as their power sources. Generally, the traveling route and behavior can be controlled by a computer, or the traveling route can be set up by using an electromagnetic guiding rail (electromagnetic path-following system), the electromagnetic guiding rail is adhered to the floor, and the transportation vehicles 101, 102, 103 move and operate according to the information brought by the electromagnetic guiding rail.

The transport vehicles 101, 102, 103 may, for example, receive an item transport request that includes a target item; the transporters 101, 102, 103 may determine a target location of the target item on the shelf, e.g., from the target item; the transport carriages 101, 102, 103 may be driven into a target location on the rack, for example, by a docking platform, to access the target item; the connecting platform can be arranged at one end, two ends and/or among the shelves of the plurality of shelves and is used for switching among a plurality of roadways of the shelves of the transport vehicle.

The vehicles 101, 102, 103 may also drive directly into a target location on a rack, for example, to access the target item.

The transport carriages 101, 102, 103 may also transport the target item to a designated location, for example, via the docking platform; and/or directly transporting the target item to a designated location.

The server 105 may be a server that provides various services, such as a background server that provides travel route support for the vehicles 101, 102, 103. The server 105 may perform processing such as analysis on the received order data, determine a travel route of the transportation vehicle from the order data, and then feed back the travel route to the terminal device.

Server 105 may, for example, receive an item shipping request that includes a target item; the server 105 may determine a target location of the target item on the shelf, for example, from the target item; the server 105 may, for example, control the transport vehicles 101, 102, 103 to drive into a target location on the rack via the docking platform to access the target item; the connecting platform can be arranged at one end, two ends and/or among the shelves of the transport vehicle and is used for switching among a plurality of roadways of the shelves of the transport vehicle.

The server 105 may also, for example, control the vehicles 101, 102, 103 to drive into target locations on the racks to access the target items.

The server 105 may also, for example, control the transport vehicles 101, 102, 103 to transport the target item to a specified location via the docking platform; the server 105 may also, for example, control the transport vehicles 101, 102, 103 to transport the target item directly to a designated location.

The server 105 may be a server of one entity, and may also be composed of a plurality of servers, for example, it should be noted that the transportation method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure may be executed by the server 105 and/or the transportation vehicles 101, 102, 103, and accordingly, the transportation device may be disposed in the server 105 and/or the transportation vehicles 101, 102, 103.

According to the transportation system disclosed by the invention, the transportation vehicle drives into the target position on the goods shelf through the connection platform so as to access the target object, the complexity of the transportation vehicle for changing the roadway between the goods shelves can be reduced, and the connection efficiency of the logistics transportation system is improved.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method of transportation according to an exemplary embodiment. The transportation method 20 includes at least steps S202 to S208.

As shown in fig. 2, in S202, an item transportation request is received, where the item transportation request includes a target item.

In S204, a target position of the target item on the shelf is determined according to the target item, where the target position includes a target layer of the shelf and a target lane of the shelf.

In S206, the transport vehicle is controlled to drive into the target position on the shelf through the docking platform to access the target item. The connecting platform is arranged at one end and/or two ends of the goods shelf and/or between the goods shelf and is used for switching among a plurality of roadways of a plurality of goods shelves of the transport vehicle.

In one embodiment, further comprising: and determining the transport vehicle and the docking platform according to the article transportation request. The platform of plugging into can erect between two goods shelves, and the transport vechicle can directly carry out the position switch between the goods shelves through this platform, arranges in the position, and it can set up the both ends at the goods shelves, if the goods shelves than longer and often change under the condition in tunnel also can set up the intermediate arbitrary position at the goods shelves and promote efficiency.

In one embodiment, further comprising: and determining the position and the number of the docking platforms. The connection platform can be arranged at intervals of a plurality of layers according to the number of vehicles and the frequency of changing the roadway.

In one embodiment, the transport vehicle is controlled to move on the guide rail of the shelf to reach the target layer after moving horizontally to the target roadway in the docking platform; and controlling the transport vehicle to move to the target layer on the guide rail of the goods shelf and then horizontally move in the connecting platform to reach the target roadway.

In one embodiment, the driving of the transporter through the docking platform into the target location on the shelf to access the target item comprises: controlling the transport vehicle to move from the current position to an intermediate position on the docking platform and/or the guide rail; and controlling the transport vehicle to move from the intermediate position to a target position on the docking platform and/or the guide rail to access the target item. In some scenarios, the transport vehicle may directly reach the target position through the docking platform, and in other scenarios, the transport vehicle may first travel to a certain intermediate position of the logistics warehouse through the docking platform or the guide rail, and the intermediate position serves as a transfer station, and then reaches the target position through one or more docking platforms or through traveling on the guide rail.

FIG. 3 is a perspective shelf schematic diagram illustrating a method of transportation according to an exemplary embodiment. The transport vehicle 410 may be operated horizontally and vertically in a roadway, and when the roadway needs to be changed, the vehicle may travel to the docking platforms 406 at both ends (or an intermediate position, not shown) of the rack 402. The transport vehicle 410 runs on the guide rail 404 of the shelf, continues to run forwards after reaching the docking station, the ground wheels of the transport vehicle 410 and the crawling assembly act simultaneously, and after the crawling assembly is separated from the shelf, the ground wheels completely fall on the docking platform, start to run through the ground wheels, and move along corresponding routes.

In one embodiment, a charging potential can be set on the docking platform, and the transport vehicle can perform various driving actions according to different navigation modes on the docking platform, and is not limited to driving in a straight line. A charging potential can be set at a specific position on the connection platform, and the transport vehicle can be charged at the charging potential. The transport vehicle or other relevant equipment can be stopped on the docking platform when the operation is stopped.

In one embodiment, the docking platform may have a service platform and a storage platform disposed thereon. Controlling the transport vehicle to temporarily store articles in the docking platform according to a storage instruction; and/or controlling the transport vehicle to drive into the docking platform for maintenance according to the maintenance instruction.

The platform of plugging into extends the transport vechicle to the cubical space of "body" from the range of movement of "face", lets the removal of transport vechicle more nimble, among the prior art, need descend to ground, change the tunnel, rise to appointed layer when the transport vechicle in the three-dimensional storehouse trades the layer. According to the transportation method, when the layer and the goods shelf of the transport vehicle are replaced, the transport vehicle only needs to horizontally run to the connection platform, move on the connection platform and enter the specified roadway. The transport vechicle form in this application has reduced the iterative process of going perpendicularly, and the perpendicular action of going again that consumes energy most, so the continuation of the journey of transport vechicle has also been promoted to the platform of plugging into when promoting efficiency.

It should be clearly understood that this disclosure describes how to make and use particular examples, but the principles of this disclosure are not limited to any details of these examples. Rather, these principles can be applied to many other embodiments based on the teachings of the present disclosure.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the steps implementing the above embodiments are implemented as computer programs executed by a CPU. When executed by the CPU, performs the functions defined by the above-described methods provided by the present disclosure. The program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, which may be a read-only memory, a magnetic or optical disk, or the like.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the above-mentioned figures are only schematic illustrations of the processes involved in the methods according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not intended to be limiting. It will be readily understood that the processes shown in the above figures are not intended to indicate or limit the chronological order of the processes. In addition, it is also readily understood that these processes may be performed synchronously or asynchronously, e.g., in multiple modules.

The following are embodiments of the disclosed apparatus that may be used to perform embodiments of the disclosed methods. For details not disclosed in the embodiments of the apparatus of the present disclosure, refer to the embodiments of the method of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a transportation system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. The transportation system 400 includes: shelves 402, rails 404, docking platform 406, and may also include transport vehicles 410 or servers 408

The shelf 402 is used for bearing goods, and the shelf is of a three-dimensional structure; wherein, goods shelves 402 include: a plurality of storage brackets which are sequentially arranged in the vertical direction; and a plurality of vertical upright posts which are vertically arranged are connected to the edge of each layer of the storage bracket and support the storage bracket together.

A guide rail 404 is disposed on the shelf for carrying a transport vehicle 410 so that the transport vehicle 410 moves thereon; wherein the guide rail includes: vertical rail 4041 and horizontal rail 4042; the horizontal rail 4042 is mounted to an edge of the plurality of storage racks of the rack 402; the vertical rails 4041 are mounted on a plurality of vertical posts of the rack 402.

Docking platforms 406 are disposed in the racks and/or between the plurality of racks 402 for switching the transporter 410 between the plurality of racks 402.

The server 408 is configured to receive an item transportation request, where the item transportation request includes a target item; determining a target location of the target item on the shelf from the target item; acquiring the current position of the transport vehicle; and when the current position of the transport vehicle and the target position meet the preset conditions, controlling the transport vehicle to drive into the target position on the goods shelf through the connecting platform so as to access the target goods.

A charging post may be disposed on the docking platform 406 for charging the transporter 410.

A service platform may be provided on the docking platform 406 for servicing the transport vehicle.

The placement platform may be disposed on the docking platform 406 for temporarily storing the articles.

As shown in fig. 4, in case of the conventional horizontal type transporter system, the system travels a maximum number of vehicles as the maximum number of horizontal guideway, i.e., 4 vehicles. In the case of a system of vertically traveling transport vehicles, since each vehicle needs two vertical tracks for climbing, 4 tracks are needed for two vehicles to travel simultaneously, that is, a single-row cargo space between the vertical cargo spaces where the two vehicles are located cannot be used for climbing, and the number of traveling vehicles of the system is 5 at most. According to the logistics transportation system of the present application, since the transportation vehicles 410 can be switched between horizontal and vertical operation in the rack 402, the number of the vehicles is 9 as shown in the figure, and the number of the vehicles can be increased continuously.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of a guide rail in a transport system according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in fig. 5, horizontal rails 4042 are mounted to the edges of the plurality of storage racks 402; the vertical rails 4041 are mounted on a plurality of vertical posts of the rack 402.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the horizontal rail 4042 and the vertical rail 4041 may be connected by a cross-steering assembly 5011, and the cross-steering assembly 5011 is used to switch the direction of the transportation vehicle in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. It should be noted that the guide rail groove may be cross-shaped or m-shaped.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a transporter in a transport system according to an exemplary embodiment. The transporter 410 may be, for example, an automated guided transporter. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the transport vehicle 410 includes: a crawling assembly 4102, wherein the crawling assembly 4102 is provided with a plurality of driving wheels and at least one guiding wheel, the crawling assembly 4102 rotates through a rotating structure inside the transport vehicle, and drives a steering assembly to switch the moving direction, so that the transport vehicle 410 can be switched between a vertical direction and a horizontal direction.

Two creeper assemblies 4102 are disposed on opposite sides of a first end of the vehicle body, respectively, and two other creeper assemblies 4102 are disposed on opposite sides of a second end of the vehicle body, respectively. The four creeper assemblies 4102 support the vehicle body from positions near the four corners of the vehicle body, and are more stable and reliable.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the transport vehicle further includes: and the fork is used for pulling the target item on the stereoscopic shelf through the extending and retracting actions according to the item transportation request.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a docking process in a transport system according to an exemplary embodiment. In the schematic of fig. 7, there are a rack 402, a rail 404, more specifically, a rail comprising a vertical rail 4041 and a horizontal rail 4042, a docking platform 406, and a transport cart 410.

As shown in fig. 7, docking platforms 406 may be provided at each end of the rack 402 for vehicle change lanes. When the transport vehicle 410 drives into the docking platform 406, the driving wheel driven by the ground of the transport vehicle 410 is docked with the docking platform 406, the guide rail 404 is used for guiding, the vehicle drives onto the docking platform 406 and then is separated from the shelf 402, and the transport vehicle 410 can directly drive to another lane to be docked with the shelf 402 by self-rotation and then the lane is replaced.

Claims (4)

1. A transportation system, comprising:

the goods shelf is used for bearing goods and has a three-dimensional structure;

a guide rail disposed on the shelf for carrying a transport vehicle to move thereon;

and the connecting platform is used for switching the transport vehicle among a plurality of roadways of a plurality of shelves.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

the charging pile is arranged on the connection platform and used for charging the transport vehicle; and/or

The overhauling platform is arranged on the connecting platform and used for overhauling the transport vehicle; and/or

And the storage platform is arranged on the connecting platform and used for temporarily storing articles.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the shelf comprises:

a plurality of storage brackets which are sequentially arranged in the vertical direction; and

and the vertical upright posts are vertically arranged and are connected to the edge of each layer of the storage bracket and support the storage bracket together.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the guide rail comprises:

a vertical guide rail and a horizontal guide rail;

the horizontal guide rail is arranged on the edge of the plurality of layers of the storage brackets of the goods shelf;

the vertical guide rails are installed on a plurality of vertical columns of the goods shelf.