CN211618930U - Goods shelf, automatic goods picking system and goods distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a shelf, an automatic picking system and an article delivery system that are low in cost and convenient to maintain. The shelf includes: the goods shelf comprises a shelf body and a plurality of goods shelves, wherein the shelf body comprises at least one goods shelf, each goods shelf comprises a plurality of goods channels which are arranged in rows in the Y direction, each goods channel extends along the front-back direction, and each goods channel is provided with a goods picking mechanism, the goods picking mechanism comprises a conveying device used for conveying the carried goods from back to front and a driven transmission piece connected with the conveying device to input power to the conveying device; and the goods picking driving mechanism is movably arranged at the rear side of the goods shelf body and can move to reach each goods channel and be in transmission connection with the driven transmission part in the goods channel so as to drive the conveying device in the goods channel to operate.

Description

Goods shelf, automatic goods picking system and goods distribution system

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of article sorting, in particular to a goods shelf, an automatic goods sorting system and an article distribution system.

Background

In existing warehouses, multiple rows of racks are typically provided to store the items.

In order to realize the automation of sorting the articles, the same type of articles are stored in the same goods channel in each row of goods shelves, and the goods shelves are provided with own transmission tracks and driving devices. Thus, when goods need to be picked from a certain goods channel, the goods on the goods channel can be conveyed to the next stage by driving the transmission crawler belt through the driving device of the goods channel.

However, this way of providing each lane with a drive will undoubtedly increase the cost of the pallet. Meanwhile, once a problem occurs in the driving device, the difficulty of maintenance is relatively high. Moreover, such a warehouse or warehouse capable of realizing automatic sorting is usually provided with a plurality of shelves, and each shelf is provided with a plurality of lanes. In this case, the failure rate is relatively high, and the cost of repairing and maintaining a large number of drives is also quite high.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The purpose of this disclosure is to provide a goods shelf, this goods shelf can reduce cost, easy to maintain.

In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure provides a shelf comprising: the goods shelf comprises a shelf body and a plurality of goods shelves, wherein the shelf body comprises at least one goods shelf, each goods shelf comprises a plurality of goods channels which are arranged in rows in the Y direction, each goods channel extends along the front-back direction, and each goods channel is provided with a goods picking mechanism, the goods picking mechanism comprises a conveying device used for conveying the carried goods from back to front and a driven transmission piece connected with the conveying device to input power to the conveying device; and the goods picking driving mechanism is movably arranged at the rear side of the goods shelf body and can move to reach each goods channel and be in transmission connection with the driven transmission part in the goods channel so as to drive the conveying device in the goods channel to operate.

Optionally, the pick drive mechanism comprises an actuating device and a driving drive driven by the actuating device, the driving drive being movable between an operative position in which it establishes a driving connection with the driven drive and a rest position; in the idle position, the driving transmission member is disengaged from the driven transmission member to break the transmission connection.

Optionally, the picking mechanism comprises a picking track, a front roller and a rear roller, the picking track is wound around the front roller and the rear roller, and the driven transmission member is connected with the rear roller to input power capable of rotating the rear roller.

Alternatively, the actuating device is configured as a motor, the driving transmission member is configured as a driving gear which is driven by the motor to rotate around a central axis of the driving gear, the driven transmission member is configured as a driven gear which is coaxially fixed to the rear roller, and the driving gear can be directly meshed with the driven gear, or the driving gear can be indirectly in transmission fit with the driven gear through an intermediate transmission gear.

Alternatively, the driving gear can directly mesh with the driven gear, both the driving gear and the driven gear having a thickness along their own axes, the thickness of the driving gear being greater than the thickness of the driven gear.

Optionally, the shelf includes a rear support assembly and a rear drive mechanism, the rear support assembly includes a rear horizontal bracket and a rear vertical bracket, wherein the rear horizontal bracket is fixedly disposed with respect to the shelf body, and the rear vertical bracket is movably connected to the rear horizontal bracket and is capable of moving in the Y direction with respect to the rear horizontal bracket, or the rear vertical bracket is fixedly disposed with respect to the shelf body, and the rear horizontal bracket is movably connected to the rear vertical bracket and is capable of moving in the Z direction with respect to the rear vertical bracket; the picking driving mechanism is movably connected to the movable rear vertical support or the rear horizontal support, and the rear driving mechanism is connected to the picking driving mechanism through a rear transmission mechanism so as to drive the picking driving mechanism to move in the Z direction relative to the rear vertical support or move in the Y direction relative to the rear horizontal support.

Optionally, the shelf includes a rear cradle connected to the rear drive mechanism on which the pick drive mechanism is mounted, and the actuating device is movable in the X direction relative to the rear cradle to move the driving drive member closer to and into driving connection with the driven drive member or to move the driving drive member away from and out of driving connection with the driven drive member.

Optionally, the rear drive mechanism is configured as a belt drive mechanism including a drive belt to which the pick drive mechanism is secured.

Optionally, the rear horizontal support is located at the lower side or the upper side of the rear vertical support and is provided with a Y-rear guide rail extending along the Y direction, the rear vertical support is movably connected to the Y-rear guide rail to move along the Y-rear guide rail by being driven by a Y-rear driving device, the rear vertical support is provided with a Z-rear guide rail extending along the Z direction, and the picking driving mechanism is movably connected to the Z-rear guide rail to move along the Z-rear guide rail by being driven by a Z-rear driving device; or, the rear horizontal bracket is positioned at the front side or the rear side of the rear vertical bracket and is provided with a Y-direction rear guide rail extending along the Y direction, the rear vertical bracket is provided with a Z-direction rear guide rail extending along the Z direction, the rear horizontal bracket is movably connected with the Z-direction rear guide rail to move along the Z-direction rear guide rail through the driving of a Z-direction rear driving device, and the picking driving mechanism is movably connected with the Y-direction rear guide rail to move along the Y-direction rear guide rail through the driving of the Y-direction rear driving device.

Optionally, the shelf comprises a receiving platform disposed at the front side of the shelf body and capable of moving to reach the lane of each item to be picked to receive the item, wherein the receiving platform comprises a front movable support, and a receiving track, a left roller and a right roller disposed on the front movable support, the receiving track being wound around the left roller and the right roller for transferring the item received thereon to the delivery platform located at the left side or the right side of the shelf along the Y direction.

Optionally, the length of the pick-up tracks in the Y direction spans at least the sum of the widths of the two lanes in the Y direction.

On the basis of the technical scheme, the present disclosure further provides an automatic picking system, which includes: at least one of the above-mentioned shelves; and the control module is in communication connection with the goods picking driving mechanism, controls the goods picking driving mechanism to move from the current position to the target position according to the goods picking instruction, is in transmission connection with the driven transmission part on the goods channel corresponding to the target position, and controls the goods picking driving mechanism to drive the rotation time and the rotation speed of the rear roller on the goods channel.

In addition, the present disclosure also provides an article distribution system, which includes the shelf or the automatic picking system.

Through above-mentioned technical scheme, the goods shelves that this disclosure provided no longer need set up own independent actuating mechanism for every goods way, but all goods ways all use same actuating mechanism, the drive mechanism that chooses goods that can remove promptly. When articles in the target goods channel need to be sorted and conveyed to the next-level workbench, the goods sorting driving mechanism only needs to be moved to the target goods channel and is in transmission connection with the driven transmission part, power can be transmitted to the driven transmission part, then the power is input to the goods sorting mechanism, the goods sorting mechanism is enabled to operate, and the articles borne by the goods sorting mechanism are conveyed to the next-level workbench forwards. Therefore, through the goods shelf provided by the disclosure, the number of the driving mechanisms can be effectively reduced, the assembly difficulty, the manufacturing cost and the maintenance cost are favorably reduced, and the damage rate is reduced. Based on this, the present disclosure provides an automatic picking system and an article distribution system including such a shelf, and thus having the same advantages. To avoid repetition, it will not be described herein.

Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the detailed description which follows.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the disclosure without limiting the disclosure. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a shelf provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of portion A of FIG. 1 illustrating the drive mechanism and driven gear in an unengaged state;

fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of an automated picking system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Description of the reference numerals

100-shelves, 101-shelf body, 102-cargo layer, 103-cargo way, 104-picking track, 105-driven transmission, 106-baffle;

200-a goods picking driving mechanism, 201-an actuating device, 202-an active transmission part, 203-a rear movable support, 204-an X-direction guide rail and 205-a fixed seat;

301-rear horizontal support, 302-rear vertical support, 303-Y rear guide rail, 304-Z rear guide rail;

400-receiving platform, 401-front movable support, 402-receiving crawler belt, 403-fence;

501-front vertical support, 502-front horizontal support, 503-Z front guide rail, 504-Y front guide rail;

600-shipment platform.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description of specific embodiments of the present disclosure is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the present disclosure, are given by way of illustration and explanation only, not limitation.

In the present disclosure, unless otherwise stated, the azimuth and the direction are defined based on the shelf being in the installation and use state, and for convenience of description, an XYZ three-dimensional space is defined, in which the X direction corresponds to the depth of the shelf, the Y direction corresponds to the length of the shelf, the Z direction corresponds to the height of the shelf, and the Z direction is substantially parallel to the gravity direction when the shelf is in the installation state. Based on this, the used direction words "front and back" correspond to the X direction, the direction of conveying the articles on the shelf is taken as the reference to define "front and back", the articles are conveyed from back to front, correspondingly, the used direction words "left and right" correspond to the Y direction, when the user faces forward, the left hand corresponds to the left direction, the right hand corresponds to the right direction, the used direction words "up and down" correspond to the Z direction, the direction pointed by the gravity direction is the lower direction, otherwise, the direction is the upper direction. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above definitions of direction and orientation are for purposes of explanation and illustration of the present disclosure only and are not intended to be limiting.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a shelf 100 is provided, one example of such a shelf 100 being shown in fig. 1, and an automated picking system using such a shelf being shown in fig. 3. Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the shelf 100 includes: a rack body 101, wherein the rack body 101 comprises at least one cargo layer 102, each cargo layer 102 comprises a plurality of cargo channels 103 arranged in rows in a Y direction, each cargo channel 103 extends along a front-back direction, and each cargo channel 103 is provided with a picking mechanism, the picking mechanism comprises a conveying device for conveying the carried articles from back to front and a driven transmission piece 105 connected with the conveying device for inputting power to the conveying device; the picking driving mechanism 200 is movably arranged at the rear side of the shelf body 101, can move to reach each goods channel 103 and is in transmission connection with the driven transmission piece 105 on the goods channel 103 so as to drive the rear roller on the goods channel 103 to rotate.

Through the technical scheme, the goods shelf provided by the disclosure does not need to provide an independent driving mechanism for each goods channel, but all the goods channels use the same driving mechanism, namely the goods picking driving mechanism 200 capable of moving. When the articles in the target cargo passage 103 need to be sorted and conveyed to the next-stage workbench, the picking driving mechanism 200 only needs to be moved to the target cargo passage 103 and is in transmission connection with the driven transmission member 105 thereof, so that the power can be transmitted to the driven member 105 and then input to the picking mechanism, and the picking mechanism is operated, so that the articles carried by the picking mechanism are conveyed forward to the next-stage workbench. Therefore, through the goods shelf provided by the disclosure, the number of the driving mechanisms can be effectively reduced, the assembly difficulty, the manufacturing cost and the maintenance cost are favorably reduced, and the damage rate is reduced.

The shelves provided by the present disclosure have a wide range of applications, for example, they may be used in vending machines, automated picking systems for warehouses, etc., and the present disclosure is not limited thereto in any way. In addition, the number of the cargo layers 103 on the shelf body 101, the number of the lanes 103 in each cargo layer 103, the spacing distance between two adjacent lanes 103, the depth dimension of the lanes 103 in the front-rear direction, and the like can be selected and designed according to actual requirements, and the plurality of lanes 103 arranged in a row in each cargo layer can have the same height or different heights, and likewise, the extending direction of each lane 103 can be parallel to the X direction or inclined, for example, extending forwards and downwards. In this regard, the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments, and may be reasonably selected and designed according to actual needs.

In the specific embodiments provided by the present disclosure, the pick drive mechanism 200 may be configured in any suitable manner. Alternatively, as shown with reference to fig. 2, the pick drive mechanism 200 includes an actuator 201 and an active drive 202 driven by the actuator 201, the active drive 202 being movable between a working position and a rest position. In the operative position, the driving transmission 202 establishes a driving connection with the driven transmission 105 to transmit power to the driven transmission 105. In the idle position, the driving transmission 202 is disengaged from the driven transmission 105 to break the transmission connection therebetween, i.e. no power is transmitted to the driven transmission 105. Interference of the pickup drive mechanism 200 by the driven transmission member 105 during subsequent movements is thereby also avoided.

In the specific embodiments provided by the present disclosure, the picking mechanism may be configured in any suitable manner. For example, the configuration may be appropriately and appropriately configured according to factors such as an application scenario and a form of an article to be carried. The pick drive mechanism may be configured in a suitable manner depending on the manner in which the pick mechanism is configured.

In one embodiment, the shelf provided by the present disclosure may be used in a vending machine, such as a beverage vending machine, and then based on the special shape of beverage bottles, the picking mechanism may be configured in a spring type, i.e., each lane is provided with a spring extending in a front-rear direction and capable of rotating about its own axis to push the beverage therein forward. In such an embodiment, the picking mechanism may be configured such that the power provided via the input of the driven transmission 105 can drive the spring to rotate about its axis. In this case, the actuating device in the goods picking drive mechanism, the driving transmission and the driven transmission in the goods picking mechanism can be designed adaptively, for example, the braking device can be constructed as a motor, the driving transmission is constructed as a profiled shaft (or profiled shaft sleeve) coaxially fixed to the output shaft of the motor, and the driven transmission is constructed as a profiled shaft sleeve (or profiled shaft) coaxially fixed to the rear side of the spring.

In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 1 and 3, the shelf provided by the present disclosure can be used in a warehouse or a cargo station, and correspondingly, the cargo channel is used for carrying articles such as living goods and food. Based on the configuration of these items, the picking mechanism may be configured as a crawler type including a picking crawler 104, front rollers and rear rollers, the picking crawler 104 being wound around the front and rear rollers, and the driven transmission member 105 being connected to the rear rollers to input power that enables the rear rollers to rotate.

In such an embodiment, the actuation means 201 may also be configured in any suitable manner. For example, it may be configured as a hydraulic or pneumatic actuator, or an electromagnetic actuator, or the like. Alternatively, the actuating device 201 is configured as a motor, and the driving transmission member 202 is configured as a driving gear that is driven by the motor to rotate around its central axis, for example, the driving gear may be fixed on the output shaft of the motor to rotate synchronously with the output shaft of the motor, or may be connected with the output shaft of the motor through a coupling so as to rotate by the output shaft. Correspondingly, the driven transmission member 105 is configured as a driven gear coaxially fixed to the rear roller, the driving gear being able to directly mesh with the driven gear, for example, in the embodiment shown in fig. 2, the driving gear (reference numeral 202) is adapted to directly mesh with the driven gear (reference numeral 105). In yet other embodiments of the present disclosure, the drive gear can be indirectly in driving engagement with the driven gear through an intermediate drive gear.

When the driving gear is capable of directly engaging the driven gear, in order to ensure that the teeth on the driving gear align with the teeth of the driven gear when the driving gear is moved to the operating position, the driving gear and the driven gear each have a thickness along their own axis, the thickness of the driving gear being greater than the thickness of the driven gear, for example, the thickness of the driving gear may be set to five times the thickness of the driven gear. This can relax the requirement for the positional accuracy of the drive gear when the drive gear is in the operating position.

In addition, in order to facilitate the automatic control of the movement of the picking driving mechanism, each driven gear may be located on the same side of the corresponding goods passage 103, i.e. may be located on the left side or may be located on the right side. In the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and 2, each driven gear is located on the left side of the corresponding lane 103.

Furthermore, to facilitate automatic control of the movement of the picking drive mechanism, the height differences between any two adjacent levels of the product may be arranged to be equal and the number of lanes per level may be equal, even with the lanes aligned in rows in the Z-direction and in rows in the Y-direction. In addition, in order to prevent the articles on the two adjacent lanes 103 from crossing, baffles 106 are provided on both left and right sides of each lane 103, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, to demarcate the boundary, so as to prevent the articles from mixing and simultaneously prevent the articles from falling. In some embodiments, the baffle 106 is removable to facilitate replacement of a differently shaped baffle 106. In other embodiments, the position of the flap 106 is adjustable to allow for flexible adjustment of the width of the lane 103 in the Y-direction to allow for storage of different sizes, volumes, and configurations of items. These designs of the baffles 106 can facilitate the use of the pallet 100.

In the embodiments provided by the present disclosure, the manner of movement of the pick drive mechanism may be configured in any suitable manner. Optionally, the pallet 100 includes a rear support assembly and a rear drive mechanism. Referring to fig. 1, the rear bracket assembly includes a rear horizontal bracket 301 and a rear vertical bracket 302.

In the first embodiment, the rear horizontal bracket 301 is fixedly disposed with respect to the shelf body 101, and the rear vertical bracket 302 is movably connected to the rear horizontal bracket 301 and is movable in the Y direction with respect to the rear horizontal bracket 301. The picking driving mechanism 200 is movably connected to the rear vertical support 302, and the rear driving mechanism is connected to the picking driving mechanism 200 through a rear transmission mechanism so as to drive the picking driving mechanism 200 to move in the Z direction relative to the rear vertical support 302. In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the rear horizontal bracket 301 is fixed to the rack body 101, and when the rack body 101 is placed on the ground, the rear horizontal bracket 301 can also be supported on the ground. Of course, in other embodiments, the rear horizontal shelf 301 may be located on an upper side, such as an upper side of a cargo layer secured to the uppermost layer, in which case the rear vertical shelf 302 may be suspended below the rear horizontal shelf 301. In this case, in order to ensure the operational stability of the rear vertical support 302, a plurality of suspension points may be provided.

In order to enable the rear vertical support 302 to move smoothly and reciprocally along a uniform track, the rear horizontal support 301 may be provided with a Y-rear guide rail 303 extending in the Y-direction, and the rear vertical support 302 may be movably connected to the Y-rear guide rail 303 to move along the Y-rear guide rail 303 by driving of a Y-rear driving device. Here, the rear vertical support 302 may be provided with a Z-rear guide rail 304 extending in the Z-direction, and the pick drive mechanism 200 is movably connected to the Z-rear guide rail 304 to move along the Z-rear guide rail 304 by the driving of the Z-rear drive device. Therefore, the picking drive mechanism 200 can be smoothly moved both horizontally to the left and right and vertically to the up and down by the Y-rear guide rail 303 and the Z-rear guide rail 304.

Here, the Y-back rail 303 may be configured in any suitable manner. For example, it may be configured as a sliding groove, and the rear vertical support 302 is provided with a pulley thereon, which is fitted in the sliding groove and is movable along the sliding groove, so that the friction between the Y-direction rear rail 303 and the rear vertical support 302 is sliding friction, which can reduce the frictional resistance in the movement on the one hand and the noise generated thereby on the other hand.

Here, the Z-rear guide rail 304 may also be configured in any suitable manner, for example, as a sliding groove (or protrusion), and the pick-up driving mechanism (specifically, the rear movable bracket 203 described below) is configured with a protrusion (or sliding groove) capable of cooperating with the sliding groove (or protrusion). Here, in order to enable the two to be tightly fitted together, it is possible that the slide groove is configured as a dovetail groove (as shown in fig. 2), and the projection is configured as a trapezoidal projection.

Alternatively, in the second embodiment, the rear vertical support 302 may be fixedly disposed with respect to the rack body 101, and the rear horizontal support 301 may be movably connected to the rear vertical support 302 and may be capable of moving in the Z direction with respect to the rear vertical support 302. The picking driving mechanism 200 is movably connected to the movable rear horizontal bracket 301, and the rear driving mechanism is connected to the picking driving mechanism 200 through a rear transmission mechanism to drive the picking driving mechanism 200 to move in the Y direction relative to the rear horizontal bracket 301. In one embodiment, the rear vertical support 302 is fixed to the shelf body 101. At this time, in order to ensure the stability of the rear horizontal bracket 301, two or more rear vertical brackets 302 may be provided, for example, the rear vertical brackets 302 may be provided at both ends of the rear horizontal bracket 301, respectively.

Wherein, in order to make the rear horizontal bracket 301 move smoothly and reciprocally with a uniform track, the rear horizontal bracket 301 is provided with a Y-rear guide rail 303 extending along the Y-direction, the rear vertical bracket 302 is provided with a Z-rear guide rail 304 extending along the Z-direction, the rear horizontal bracket 301 is movably connected to the Z-rear guide rail 304 to move along the Z-rear guide rail 304 by being driven by a Z-rear driving device, and the picking drive mechanism 200 is movably connected to the Y-rear guide rail 303 to move along the Y-rear guide rail 303 by being driven by the Y-rear driving device.

Here, the Z-back rail 304 may be configured in any suitable manner. For example, the rear vertical support 302 may be configured as a sliding groove (or a protrusion), and the sliding groove is provided with a protrusion (or a sliding groove), and the sliding groove is matched with the protrusion, so as to play a guiding role. Here, in order to enable the two to be tightly fitted together, it is possible that the slide groove is configured as a dovetail groove, and the projection is configured as a trapezoidal projection.

Here, the Y-back rail 303 may be configured in any suitable manner. Considering that the pickup driving mechanism 200 may be suspended to the Y-back guide 303, the Y-back guide 303 may be configured as a chute, for example, and the pickup driving mechanism (specifically, the rear movable frame 203 described below) may be configured with a pulley that is fitted in the chute and can move along the chute. Therefore, the friction between the Y-direction rear guide rail 303 and the picking drive mechanism is sliding friction, so that the friction resistance in the movement can be reduced, and the noise generated by the friction can be reduced.

In the embodiment provided in the present disclosure, in order to facilitate the installation of the picking driving mechanism 200, referring to fig. 2, the shelf 100 may include a rear cradle 203, the rear cradle 203 being connected to the rear transmission mechanism, and the picking driving mechanism 200 being installed on the cradle 203. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the moving direction of the picking driving mechanism 200 between the working position and the idle position may be an X direction, and therefore, the actuating device 201 is configured to be able to move in the X direction relative to the rear movable support 203, wherein the actuating device 201 moves forward to reach the working position, and the driving transmission member 202 may be close to and in transmission connection with the driven transmission member 105. The actuator 201 can be moved back from the operating position to the rest position, and the driving element 202 can be moved away from and disconnected from the driven element 105. Alternatively, the rear drive mechanism may be configured as a belt drive mechanism to provide smooth movement. The belt drive mechanism may include a drive belt to which the pick drive mechanism 200 is secured and which has moved in response to the drive of the drive belt. Of course, the rear transmission mechanism can also be configured as other transmission type mechanisms, such as a rack and pinion type, a lead screw nut type, and the like. The present disclosure is not particularly limited, and may be selected according to actual needs. Of course, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the moving direction of the picking driving mechanism 200 between the working position and the idle position may be other directions, and for this, the setting may be performed according to actual requirements, and the present disclosure is not particularly limited.

Wherein, in order to guide the forward and backward movement of the picking driving mechanism 200, the rear movable support 203 is provided with an X-guide rail 204 extending along the X-direction, and the actuating device 201 is movably connected to the X-guide rail 204, so that the picking driving mechanism 200 moves along the X-guide rail 204 by the driving of the X-drive device. In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, the actuator 201 is mounted on a holder 205, and the holder 205 is slidably engaged with the X-guide 204.

The X-guide 204 may here be configured in any suitable way. For example, it may be configured as a runner or a projection. Alternatively, the runners may be dovetail slots and correspondingly, the projections may be trapezoidal projections to provide a snug fit therebetween, thereby eliminating mating play that could cause the pick drive mechanism 200 to wobble.

In the specific embodiment provided by the present disclosure, referring to fig. 3, the shelf 100 may further include a receiving platform 400, wherein the receiving platform 400 is disposed at the front side of the shelf body 101 and can move to reach the lane 103 of each item to be picked to receive the item. The goods receiving platform 400 may include a front movable support 401, and a goods receiving track 402, a left roller and a right roller, which are disposed on the front movable support 401, wherein the goods receiving track 402 surrounds the left roller and the right roller, so as to transfer the goods received thereon to the goods discharging platform 600 located at the left side or the right side of the shelf 100 along the Y direction. Thus, by providing the receiving tracks 402, the limitations on the size, volume, and number of items from the shelves 100 may be reduced. That is, the use of pick-up tracks 402 allows more and larger items to be received than in conventional pick-up buckets, to meet a wider demand.

In order to prevent the articles from falling off the receiving platform 400, the receiving platform 400 may include a fence 403 fixed to the movable support, the fence 403 extending around the circumference of the receiving track 402 and opening a delivery opening toward the delivery platform 600.

Wherein the pick-up tracks 402 may have a sufficient length in the Y-direction to provide a larger pick-up space. For example, the length of the receiving tracks 402 may be at least greater than the sum of the widths of the two lanes 103 in the Y-direction. Alternatively, the length of the pick-up tracks 402 may be equal to the length of the pallet 100 in the Y-direction. In this way, the receiving platform 400 need only move up and down to reach each lane 103 to receive items. To this end, the pallet 100 may include a front frame assembly including a front vertical support 501, a Y forward drive, and a Z forward drive. The front cradle 401 is movably connected to the front vertical support 501 to move in the Z-direction relative to the front vertical support 501 by the driving of the Z-forward driving means.

Here, in order to provide a guide for the cargo receiving platform 400, the front vertical support 501 is provided with a Z-forward guide rail 503 extending in the Z-direction, and the front cradle 401 is movably connected to the Z-forward guide rail 503 to be moved in the Z-forward guide rail 503 by the driving of the Z-forward driving means.

In some cases, for example, where the length of the pallet 100 is very long, for example, over 100 meters, it may not be suitable to set the length of the pick-up tracks 402 equal to the length of the pallet 100. That is, there are cases where the length of the pick-up crawler 402 is smaller than the length of the pallet 100. At this time, in order to enable the receiving platform 400 to move to the front of each lane, the front bracket assembly may include a front horizontal bracket 502 fixedly provided with respect to the shelf body 101, and the front vertical bracket 501 is movably connected to the front horizontal bracket 502 to move in the Y direction with respect to the front horizontal bracket 502 by the driving of the Y forward driving means. Therefore, by the arrangement of the front horizontal bracket 502 and the front vertical bracket 501, the cargo receiving platform 400 can be moved to any position in the YZ plane.

Here, in order to provide a guide for the front vertical support 501, as shown in fig. 3, the front horizontal support 502 may be provided with a Y-forward guide rail 504 extending in the Y-direction, and the front vertical support 501 is movably connected to the Y-forward guide rail 504 to be moved in the Y-forward guide rail 504 by the driving of the Y-forward driving means.

Further, the Y backward drive, the Z backward drive, the Y forward drive, and the Z forward drive referred to in this disclosure, respectively, may be configured in any suitable manner. For example, it may be configured to include an electric motor, hydraulic or pneumatic device, etc. for providing power, as well as a belt or chain drive, a cable, worm gear, etc. to provide a drive connection. The present disclosure is not limited to this, and in practical applications, a suitable configuration that can meet the requirements may be selected for implementation and application.

In the embodiment provided by the present disclosure, in order to facilitate automation control, the rear side of each lane 103 may be provided with a corresponding identifier, and the shelf 100 may include a scanning module that moves synchronously with the picking driving mechanism 200 for scanning the identifier of each lane 103. Here, the scanning module may be fixed to the rear cradle 203 described above.

Thus, by means of identification, each goods way has its own corresponding coordinate position in the YZ coordinate system, so that the picking driving mechanism 200 can be moved to the next target position in the YZ plane from the current position through some programming.

Here, the indicia may be used to indicate whether the driving drive 202 in the pick drive mechanism 200 is aligned with the driven drive 105 on the target lane 103. For example, the mark may be a gap between two lanes 103 in the same cargo layer 102, or may be a through hole or the like on a label plate disposed directly behind the lanes 103, and when the scanning module scans the mark, the system may record the YZ coordinate position of the picking driving mechanism 200 at that time, so as to match the corresponding lane. When the goods channel is the target goods channel, the picking drive mechanism can be directly controlled to reach the corresponding YZ coordinate position. If the types of the articles on some goods channels are changed, the articles can be scanned and matched again, so that the accuracy of the information is ensured. Of course, the information of the type of the article corresponding to the goods channel can be directly replaced in the system without matching from a new scan.

On the basis of the technical scheme, the present disclosure further provides an automatic picking system, which includes: at least one shelf, which is the above-mentioned shelf 100; and a control module, which is in communication connection with the picking driving mechanism 200, controls the picking driving mechanism 200 to move from the current position to the target position according to the picking instruction, is in transmission connection with the driven transmission member 105 on the goods channel 103 corresponding to the target position, and controls the picking driving mechanism 200 to drive the rotation time and speed of the rear rollers on the goods channel 103.

Therefore, the control module can realize the automation of the picking action. The operation of the automated picking system provided by the present disclosure will now be described in conjunction with the shelf 100 solution described above:

first, the types of items stored on the same lane 103 of the pallet 100 are the same at the time of initial use. When the picking drive mechanism 200 moves with the scanning module to scan the entire row, the system records the coordinate position of the picking drive mechanism at the time when the scanning module scans the mark of a certain goods channel and matches the position of the goods channel.

At the rear side of the shelf, when the control module receives a picking instruction, the picking driving mechanism 200 is controlled to move to the target position corresponding to the corresponding target lane, that is, when the scanning module scans the identifier of the target lane, it can be determined that the picking driving mechanism 200 moves in place. The actuating device 201 can then be driven forward together with the drive 202, the drive 202 reaching the working position until the drive 202 engages with the drive 105 from the target lane 103. Thus, the rear roller can be driven to rotate to drive the goods picking crawler belt to drive, so that the goods are conveyed forwards.

At the front side of the shelf, the control module controls the receiving platform 400 to move to the front side of the corresponding lane 103 according to the picking instruction, thereby preparing for receiving the sorted articles. Here, the receiving platform 400 may be configured to: when multiple articles need to be received, the locations at which the multiple articles are transferred from the lane to the receiving platform 400 may be different so as not to cause mutual compression and collision between the articles.

When the receiving platform 400 senses that the desired number of target items has been received, the actuator 201 is deactivated, causing the picking tracks to stop rotating. After this, the actuating device 201 and the driving gear 202 move backwards, and the driving gear 202 returns to the idle position.

In this way, the pick drive mechanism 200 may be moved to the next target lane for picking.

When all of the items in the pick order are located on the pick platform 400, the pick tracks on the pick platform 400 drive to deliver the items to the output platform 600. Of course, in this process, the receiving platform 400 may adjust its height to a level with the shipping platform 600 so that the articles thereon can be translated to the shipping platform 600, thereby avoiding the extrusion and collision of the articles when they are transferred in a falling manner.

In this regard, the automated picking system provided by the present disclosure is also applicable to a wide range of applications, such as vending machines, factories, workshops, warehouses, and the like. The present disclosure is not particularly limited thereto.

In addition, on the basis of the technical scheme, the present disclosure also provides an article distribution system, which includes the above-mentioned shelf 100 or the above-mentioned automatic picking system.

The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, however, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific details of the above embodiments, and various simple modifications may be made to the technical solution of the present disclosure within the technical idea of the present disclosure, and these simple modifications all belong to the protection scope of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that the various features described in the above embodiments may be combined in any suitable manner without departing from the scope of the invention. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, various possible combinations will not be separately described in this disclosure.

In addition, any combination of various embodiments of the present disclosure may be made, and the same should be considered as the disclosure of the present disclosure, as long as it does not depart from the spirit of the present disclosure.

Claims (13)

1. A pallet, characterized in that the pallet (100) comprises:

a rack body (101), wherein the rack body (101) comprises at least one cargo layer (102), each cargo layer (102) comprises a plurality of cargo channels (103) arranged in rows in the Y direction, each cargo channel (103) extends along the front-back direction, and each cargo channel (103) is provided with a picking mechanism, the picking mechanism comprises a conveying device for conveying the carried articles from the back to the front and a driven transmission piece (105) connected with the conveying device for inputting power to the conveying device; and

the picking driving mechanism (200) is movably arranged at the rear side of the shelf body (101) and can move to reach each goods channel (103) and is in transmission connection with a driven transmission member (105) in the goods channel (103) so as to drive the conveying device in the goods channel (103) to operate.

2. The pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the pick drive mechanism (200) comprises an actuating device (201) and an active drive (202) driven by the actuating device (201), the active drive (202) being movable between a working position and a rest position,

in the working position, the driving transmission (202) establishes a driving connection with the driven transmission (105);

in the idle position, the driving transmission (202) is decoupled from the driven transmission (105) for disconnecting the transmission connection.

3. The rack according to claim 2, characterized in that the picking mechanism comprises a picking track (104), a front roller and a rear roller, the picking track (104) being looped around the front roller and the rear roller, the driven transmission (105) being connected to the rear roller for inputting a power capable of rotating the rear roller.

4. The pallet according to claim 3, characterized in that the actuating device (201) is configured as an electric motor, the drive transmission (202) is configured as a drive gear which is rotated about its own central axis by the drive of the electric motor, and the driven transmission (105) is configured as a driven gear which is coaxially fixed to the rear roller, the drive gear being able to mesh directly with the driven gear, or the drive gear being able to engage indirectly with the driven gear via an intermediate transmission gear.

5. The pallet of claim 4, wherein the drive gear is directly engageable with the driven gear, the drive gear and the driven gear each having a thickness along their own axis, the drive gear having a thickness greater than the driven gear.

6. The pallet according to any of the claims 2-5, characterized in that the pallet (100) comprises a rear shelf assembly and a rear drive mechanism,

the rear support assembly comprises a rear horizontal support (301) and a rear vertical support (302), wherein the rear horizontal support (301) is fixedly arranged relative to the shelf body (101), the rear vertical support (302) is movably connected to the rear horizontal support (301) and can move in the Y direction relative to the rear horizontal support (301), or the rear vertical support (302) is fixedly arranged relative to the shelf body (101), and the rear horizontal support (301) is movably connected to the rear vertical support (302) and can move in the Z direction relative to the rear vertical support (302);

the picking driving mechanism (200) is movably connected to the movable rear vertical support (302) or the rear horizontal support (301), and the rear driving mechanism is connected with the picking driving mechanism (200) through a rear transmission mechanism so as to drive the picking driving mechanism (200) to move in the Z direction relative to the rear vertical support (302) or move in the Y direction relative to the rear horizontal support (301).

7. The rack according to claim 6, characterized in that the rack (100) comprises a rear cradle (203), which rear cradle (203) is connected with the rear transmission mechanism, on which cradle the pick-up drive mechanism (200) is mounted, and in that the actuating device (201) is movable in the X-direction relative to the rear cradle (203) to bring the driving transmission (202) close to and in driving connection with the driven transmission (105), or to bring the driving transmission (202) away from and out of driving connection with the driven transmission (105).

8. The pallet according to claim 6, characterized in that the rear drive mechanism is configured as a belt drive mechanism comprising a drive belt, to which the pick drive mechanism (200) is fixed.

9. The pallet according to claim 6,

the rear horizontal bracket (301) is positioned at the lower side or the upper side of the rear vertical bracket (302) and is provided with a Y-direction rear guide rail (303) extending along the Y direction, the rear vertical bracket (302) is movably connected with the Y-direction rear guide rail (303) to move along the Y-direction rear guide rail (303) through the driving of a Y-direction rear driving device, the rear vertical bracket (302) is provided with a Z-direction rear guide rail (304) extending along the Z direction, and the picking driving mechanism (200) is movably connected with the Z-direction rear guide rail (304) to move along the Z-direction rear guide rail (304) through the driving of a Z-direction rear driving device;

or,

the rear horizontal bracket (301) is located at the front side or the rear side of the rear vertical bracket (302) and is provided with a Y-direction rear guide rail (303) extending along the Y direction, the rear vertical bracket (302) is provided with a Z-direction rear guide rail (304) extending along the Z direction, the rear horizontal bracket (301) is movably connected to the Z-direction rear guide rail (304) to move along the Z-direction rear guide rail (304) through the driving of a Z-direction rear driving device, and the picking driving mechanism (200) is movably connected to the Y-direction rear guide rail (303) to move along the Y-direction rear guide rail (303) through the driving of a Y-direction rear driving device.

10. The rack according to any of claims 1-5, characterized in that the rack comprises a pick-up platform (400), which pick-up platform (400) is arranged at the front side of the rack body (101) and is movable to reach the lane (103) of each item to be picked for receiving the item;

the goods receiving platform (400) comprises a front movable support (401), and a goods receiving crawler belt (402), a left rolling shaft and a right rolling shaft which are arranged on the front movable support (401), wherein the goods receiving crawler belt (402) is wound on the left rolling shaft and the right rolling shaft so as to convey goods received on the goods receiving crawler belt to a goods outlet platform (600) positioned on the left side or the right side of the goods shelf (100) along the Y direction.

11. The pallet according to claim 10, characterized in that the length of the pick-up tracks (402) in the Y-direction spans at least the sum of the widths of the two lanes in the Y-direction.

12. An automated picking system, comprising:

at least one shelf, the shelf (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 11; and

and the control module is in communication connection with the picking driving mechanism (200), controls the picking driving mechanism (200) to move from the current position to the target position according to a picking instruction, is in transmission connection with the driven transmission member (105) on the goods channel (103) corresponding to the target position, and controls the picking driving mechanism (200) to drive the rotation time and the rotation speed of the rear rollers on the goods channel (103).

13. An item distribution system, characterized in that the item distribution system comprises a shelf (100) according to claims 1-11 or an automated picking system according to claim 12.

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