CN217050074U

CN217050074U - Robot, workbin transfer device and workbin transfer system

Info

Publication number: CN217050074U
Application number: CN202122071078.0U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 齐洪明
Original assignee: Beijing Jizhijia Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Jizhijia Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-03-17
Filing date: 2021-08-30
Publication date: 2022-07-26
Anticipated expiration: 2031-08-30
Also published as: CN112896900A; CN113697348A

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a bin robot, bin transfer device, bin transfer system. The robot includes chassis subassembly, portal subassembly, gets and returns case subassembly, two at least temporary storage mechanisms, and temporary storage mechanism connects on the portal subassembly, and is equipped with to correspond among the feed box transfer device and shifts the mechanism and pass in order to correspond the workbin jack-up on the temporary storage mechanism, perhaps corresponds among the feed box transfer device and shifts the mechanism and pass in order to correspond the breach that the workbin on the transfer mechanism fell on corresponding temporary storage mechanism. The embodiment of the disclosure utilizes the workbin transfer device to transfer a plurality of workbins from different layers of temporary storage mechanisms of the robot at one time, or places a plurality of workbins for the robot at one time, and can improve the workbin transfer efficiency aiming at the scene that the robot accesses a plurality of workbins, so that the carrying efficiency of the robot in the workbin access flow is improved.

Description

Robot, workbin transfer device and workbin transfer system

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of warehouse logistics, in particular to a robot, which is particularly suitable for the field of warehouse logistics; the disclosure also relates to a bin transfer device and a bin transfer system.

Background

A robot can carry a plurality of work bins at a time and place the work bins on a plurality of layers of temporary storage positions of the robot respectively. When the robot arrives the destination and realizes the workbin and shift, need utilize the robot to take out the workbin from different temporary storage mechanisms one by one, put to the destination point (for example transfer chain (delivery track) or mutual goods position etc.), lead to the robot can't high-efficiently to drop into the workbin and deposit and withdraw the flow, and then cause the waste of robot's mobility, in order to realize high-efficient transport goods, need drop into more robots, but can increase the individual input cost of robot.

Therefore, how to improve the transfer efficiency of the bin becomes a problem to be solved urgently in the field.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In order to solve the problems existing in the prior art, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a robot, a bin transfer device, and a bin transfer system.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a robot comprising:

a chassis assembly;

the gantry assembly is arranged on the chassis assembly;

a pick-and-return bin assembly controlled by a lift assembly to move up and down along the gantry assembly;

the temporary storage mechanisms are connected to the gantry assembly; the temporary storage mechanism is provided with a notch which is arranged in the feeding box transfer device, penetrates through the corresponding transfer mechanism to jack up a material box on the corresponding temporary storage mechanism, or penetrates through the corresponding transfer mechanism in the feeding box transfer device to drop the material box on the corresponding transfer mechanism on the corresponding temporary storage mechanism.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the notch extends from a free end position of the escrow mechanism in a direction towards an opposite end of the escrow mechanism.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of the notches is one, and the temporary storage mechanism is a U-shaped structure; or the number of the gaps is at least two, and the temporary storage mechanism is of a comb-tooth-shaped structure.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, a guide assembly is provided on the gantry assembly above each level of the staging mechanism, the guide assembly having an open area and being configured to position a bin to be conveyed to the respective staging mechanism.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the guide assembly comprises two guide rods arranged at intervals, and the distance between the two guide rods corresponds to the size of the material box.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the free ends of the two guide rods extend outwards to form a flaring structure.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the guide assembly is mounted on the mast assembly in a height adjustable manner.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the temporary storage mechanism comprises a bottom plate and a vertical edge connected to the bottom plate and extending upwards, and the vertical edge and the bottom plate form a tray structure for temporarily storing the work bin.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the upper ends of the vertical sides are respectively inclined outwards to form a flaring structure.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a bin transfer device having a bin docking station, comprising:

at least two layers of internal conveying tracks configured to convey the bins located in the bin docking positions to respective preset regions; or conveying the material box positioned in the preset area to a material box butt joint position;

a first bin transfer mechanism corresponding to the internal transport track bin docking station, the first bin transfer mechanism controlled by a first drive unit to reciprocate between a first position and a second position of the bin docking station;

when the first position is located, the height of the first bin transfer mechanism is lower than that of the inner conveying track;

in the second position, the first bin transfer mechanism is configured to jack the bin up above the robotic staging mechanism.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first bin transfer mechanism includes a first lift fork.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first jacking forks are comb tooth mechanisms; the comb teeth of the first jacking fork are not overlapped with the projection of the roller of the inner conveying track on the horizontal plane.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of the first jacking forks corresponds to the number of the inner conveying tracks; the first bin transfer mechanism further comprises a first guide rail assembly; each first jacking fork is arranged on the first guide rail assembly;

the first guide rail assembly is configured to drive each first jacking fork to move along the vertical direction under the driving of the first driving unit so as to lift the material box on the corresponding layer material box butt joint position.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, two bin docking positions of the bin transfer device are provided, and the two bin docking positions are respectively located at two ends of the inner conveying track; the first material box transfer mechanisms are provided with two material box butt joint positions respectively corresponding to the material box transfer devices.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the bin transfer device further comprises at least one stopper; the stopper is configured to restrict the bin moving on the inner conveying rail to a preset area position.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the device further comprises a sensor corresponding to each of the limit blocks; the sensor is configured to detect whether the bin reaches the preset area;

the stopper is configured to lift to a preset height when the sensor detects that the bin reaches the preset region, so as to define the bin at a preset region on the internal conveying track corresponding to the stopper.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, at least two limiting blocks are respectively arranged at a preset area of the conveying track in each layer; at least two limiting blocks are respectively used for blocking two opposite sides of the material box; or be configured to block separately bins from different directions.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the device comprises a second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to the preset area of the internal conveying track, and a lifting mechanism corresponding to the second bin transfer mechanism;

the second bin transfer mechanism is configured to hook a bin on the internal conveying track onto the lifting mechanism; the lifting mechanism is configured to transfer the bins onto the same transfer conveyor track; or,

the lifting mechanism is configured to jack the bin up from the transfer conveyor track to a position corresponding to the inner conveyor track; the second bin transfer mechanism is configured to push bins on the elevator mechanism onto the inner conveyor track.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the second bin transfer mechanism includes a first drawbar mechanism, a first paddle, and a first drawbar drive unit;

the first shifting block is arranged at one end of the first pull rod mechanism;

the first pull rod mechanism is configured to drive the first shifting block to hook the material box on the inner conveying track onto the corresponding lifting mechanism under the driving of the first pull rod driving unit.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the second bin transferring mechanism includes a first pushing block disposed on the first pull rod mechanism, and the first pull rod mechanism is configured to drive the first pushing block to push the bin on the lifting mechanism to the corresponding inner conveying track under the driving of the first pull rod driving unit.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the lifting mechanism comprises a second driving unit, a second jacking fork which is in sliding fit on the material box transfer device;

the second driving unit is configured to drive the second jacking fork to move along the vertical direction to be lower than the transfer conveying rail, and transfer the material box on the lifting mechanism to the transfer conveying rail; or when the second jacking fork is driven to move to a position higher than the transfer conveying track along the vertical direction, the material box on the transfer conveying track is transferred to the lifting mechanism.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, at least two second bin transferring mechanisms and at least two lifting mechanisms are arranged, and correspond to the inner conveying track of each layer respectively, and the projections of each second bin transferring mechanism and each lifting mechanism on the horizontal plane do not overlap;

the second bin transferring mechanism is configured to hook bins on corresponding internal conveying rails onto the corresponding lifting mechanisms; or the material box on the lifting mechanism is pushed to the corresponding inner conveying track.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the transfer conveying track is located in the inner conveying track, and the first bin transfer mechanism corresponding to the transfer conveying track is provided;

when the first bin transferring mechanism is located at the first position, the height of the first bin transferring mechanism is lower than that of the transfer conveying track;

in the second position, the first bin transfer mechanism is configured to jack the bin above the staging mechanism.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the transfer conveyor track is located in an inner conveyor track; the transfer device also comprises a third material box transfer mechanism which is configured to transfer the material box on the temporary storage mechanism corresponding to the robot to the transfer conveying track or transfer the material box on the transfer conveying track to the temporary storage mechanism corresponding to the robot.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the third bin transfer mechanism comprises a jacking mechanism and a tie rod transfer mechanism; the jacking mechanism is provided with a first position and a second position;

when the lifting mechanism is located at the first position, the height of the lifting mechanism is lower than that of the transfer conveying track;

when the jacking mechanism is located at the second position, the jacking mechanism is configured to jack up the material box;

the pull rod transfer mechanism is configured to: transferring the feed box on the jacking mechanism to an area above the corresponding transfer conveying track along the jacking mechanism; or, the material box on the jacking mechanism above the transfer conveying track is pushed to a position corresponding to the position above the temporary storage mechanism of the robot along the jacking mechanism.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the pull rod transfer mechanism includes a second pull rod mechanism, a second shifting block, a second pull rod driving unit;

the second shifting block is arranged at one end of the second pull rod mechanism;

the second pull rod mechanism is driven by the second pull rod driving unit to drive the second shifting block to transfer the material box on the jacking mechanism from a position above the corresponding temporary storage mechanism to a position corresponding to the transfer conveying track along the jacking mechanism.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the pull rod transfer mechanism includes a second push block located on a second pull rod mechanism;

the second pull rod mechanism is driven by the second pull rod driving unit to drive the second push block to push the material loading box of the jacking mechanism to a position corresponding to the temporary robot storage mechanism from a position above the corresponding transfer conveying track along the jacking mechanism.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the transfer conveyor track is located on the bottom floor of the bin transfer device.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a bin transfer system comprising the robot described above, and the bin transfer device described above;

the first magazine transfer mechanism of the magazine transfer device is configured to transfer magazines from different temporary storage mechanisms of the robot in the magazine docking position onto corresponding inner transport rails; or, transferring the work bin on different internal conveying tracks to the temporary storage mechanism corresponding to the robot.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the robot further comprises at least one shelf, and the robot is configured to drive the selected bins from the at least one shelf one by one onto different temporary storage mechanisms by taking and returning the bins; or, alternatively, the number of the first and second,

the robot is configured to transfer the bins on different temporary storage mechanisms to respective positions of at least one rack for storage by the bin retrieving assembly.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the bin transfer device comprises a first bin transfer device and a second bin transfer device; the transfer conveying track in the first material box transfer device is butted with the input end of the external conveying line; a transfer conveying track in the second material box transfer device is in butt joint with the output end of the external conveying line;

the first bin transfer mechanism of the first bin transfer device is configured to transfer bins located on different temporary storage mechanisms of the robot in the bin docking station onto corresponding inner conveyor rails;

the first magazine transfer mechanism of the second magazine transfer device is configured to transfer magazines on different inner conveyor tracks onto corresponding buffer mechanisms of the robot.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the external conveying line is a bin picking line or a packing line.

According to the robot, the work bin transfer device, the work bin transfer system and the work bin transfer method, the temporary storage mechanism of the robot is provided with the notch, and work bins on different temporary storage mechanisms of the robot can be transferred through the corresponding work bin transfer device at the same time. Compared with the prior art that the work bin transfer device utilizes the robot to transfer work bins on different layers of temporary storage mechanisms one by one, the work bin transfer device can improve work bin transfer efficiency, and further improves the carrying efficiency of the robot in the work bin storing and taking process.

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure more comprehensible, preferred embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings required for use in the embodiments will be briefly described below, and the drawings herein incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the technical solutions of the present disclosure. It is appreciated that the following drawings depict only certain embodiments of the disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for those skilled in the art will be able to derive additional related drawings therefrom without the benefit of the inventive faculty.

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a bin transfer system provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a robot and a bin transfer device when the robot and the bin transfer device are docked according to the embodiment of the disclosure;

fig. 3 shows a schematic structural diagram of a robot provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic structural view of a first bin transfer mechanism provided by embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a transfer of a bin from a staging mechanism of a robot to a first lift fork provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic structural diagram of a bin conveying mechanism provided by an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a second bin transfer mechanism provided by embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 shows a schematic structural diagram of a lifting mechanism provided by an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a third bin transfer mechanism provided by embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 is a schematic view illustrating an overall structure of a robot provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 11 shows a schematic structural diagram of a lifting assembly of a robot provided by an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a pick and place box assembly of a robot provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating a staging mechanism of a robot provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating a guide bar of a robot provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 15 shows a schematic structural diagram of a bin provided by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure more clear, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, not all of the embodiments. The components of the embodiments of the present disclosure, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, presented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed disclosure, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of the disclosure. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments of the disclosure without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the disclosure.

Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and in the claims, and in the drawings described above, in the embodiments of the present disclosure are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It will be appreciated that the data so used may be interchanged under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments described herein may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated or described herein.

Reference herein to "a plurality or a number" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

Research shows that the robot can carry a plurality of work bins at one time and respectively place the work bins on the multilayer temporary storage positions of the robot. When the robot arrives the destination and realizes the workbin and shift, need utilize the robot to take out the workbin from different temporary storage mechanisms one by one, put to the destination point (for example transfer chain (delivery track) or mutual goods position etc.), lead to the robot can't high-efficiently to drop into the workbin and deposit and withdraw the flow, and then cause the waste of robot's mobility, in order to realize high-efficient transport goods, need drop into more robots, but can increase the individual input cost of robot.

Based on the research, the present disclosure provides a robot, a bin transfer device, a bin transfer system, and a bin transfer method, which may transfer a plurality of bins from different layers of temporary storage mechanisms of the robot at a time by using the bin transfer device, or place a plurality of bins for the robot at a time, and may improve bin transfer efficiency in a scenario where the robot accesses a plurality of bins, thereby improving handling efficiency of the robot in a bin access flow.

It should be noted that: like reference numbers and letters refer to like items in the following figures, and thus, once an item is defined in one figure, it need not be further defined or explained in subsequent figures.

To facilitate understanding of the present embodiment, an application scenario of the bin transfer system disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure is first described, and the bin transfer system provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to a docking process of the robot 11 and the bin transfer device 12. As shown in FIG. 1, for example, the robot 12 may be a robot capable of handling multiple bins at once.

In a warehouse logistics scenario, in one possible implementation, the cloud server 13 may issue a movement control instruction for the robot 11, where the movement control instruction may be an instruction for controlling the robot 11 to put goods; alternatively, the instruction may be an instruction to control the robot 11 to pick up the goods. For example, in a cargo picking scenario, the cloud server 13 may control the robot to move to a bin docking station of the bin transferring device 12, where the multiple temporary storage stations on the robot store the cargo to be picked, and the bin transferring device may transfer the multiple cargo out to wait for picking, where the robot may leave the bin docking station to wait for a next instruction sent by the cloud server. For another example, in a cargo warehousing scenario, the cloud server may control the robot to move to the cargo docking station to pick up the cargo when the bin has been transferred by the bin transfer device to the position waiting for the robot to receive the cargo.

Here, the cloud server 13 stores an order pool of warehouse goods, and a robot is called to select goods according to information to be selected of the goods in the order pool; or calling the robot to realize warehousing of the goods according to the information to be warehoused of the goods in the order pond.

In another possible implementation mode, the internal controller of the robot body can be used for completing the docking process of the robot 11 and the bin transferring device 12, so as to realize efficient transportation in the goods storing and taking process.

The following describes a bin transfer system provided by embodiments of the present disclosure, which includes at least one robot and at least one bin transfer device. Reference is made to fig. 2, which is a schematic diagram of a robot and a bin transfer device when the robot is docked with the bin transfer device, including a robot 11, a bin transfer device 12 and a bin 23; the bin transfer device 12 may include at least one first bin transfer mechanism 221, a multi-tier bin transport mechanism 222, a second bin transfer mechanism 223 corresponding to each tier of bin transport mechanism, a lift mechanism 224 corresponding to each second bin transfer mechanism, a transfer conveyor track 225, a third bin transfer mechanism (the third bin transfer mechanism includes a lift mechanism 2261 and a tie bar transfer mechanism 2262, and a controller).

Here, the magazine transfer device 12 can be docked with a plurality of robots 11 simultaneously. For example, the bin transferring device 12 may be docked with two robots 11 simultaneously, and different first bin transferring mechanisms 221 are controlled to transfer bins from different robots 11. For example, the plurality of bins on the robot a may be transferred by the first bin transfer mechanism a 'and the plurality of bins on the robot B may be transferred by the first bin transfer mechanism B', and in this case, the first bin transfer mechanism a 'and the first bin transfer mechanism B' may be respectively disposed at two ends of the bin transfer device 12 in the direction in which the multi-level bin conveying mechanism 222 conveys the bins, so that the robot a and the robot B may dock to different bin docking positions of the bin transfer device 12.

In some embodiments, a plurality of first bin transferring mechanisms 221 may be disposed at two ends of the bin conveying direction of the bin conveying mechanism 222. The specific setting manner may be arranged according to an application scenario, and is not specifically limited herein. In addition, the number of layers of the bin conveying mechanism 222 in the bin transferring device 12 may also be arranged according to a specific application scenario, and is not specifically limited herein, and may be two layers, or may be four layers as illustrated in fig. 2.

Based on the concept of the system, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a robot capable of performing the task, which can be seen from fig. 3, which is a schematic structural diagram of the robot. The robot 11 comprises a chassis assembly 111, a gantry assembly 112 and at least two layers of temporary storage mechanisms 114; the gantry assembly 112 is mounted on the chassis assembly 111; at least two layers of a buffer mechanism 114 are mounted to one side of the gantry assembly 112, and the buffer mechanism 114 may be used to buffer bins.

Fig. 10 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the robot 11, wherein the robot 11 includes a chassis assembly 111 for walking, a gantry assembly 112 disposed on the chassis assembly, a lifting assembly 113 and a buffer mechanism 114 disposed on the gantry assembly 112, and a retrieval and retrieval box assembly 115 mounted on the lifting assembly 113.

The lift assembly 113 is a sliding fit on the gantry assembly 112 and the retrieval and retrieval bin assembly 115 may be coupled to the lift assembly 113 such that the retrieval bin assembly 115 may be moved up and down to an appropriate position along the gantry assembly 112 under the drive of the lift assembly 113.

The buffer mechanism 114 is provided with at least two layers, and fig. 10 illustrates a six-layer buffer mechanism. The distance between two adjacent layers of the temporary storage mechanism 114 is larger than the height of the material box. The pick-and-return bin assembly 115 and the staging mechanism 114 may be located on different sides of the gantry assembly 112, such as on opposite sides of the gantry assembly 112.

The retrieval and retrieval bin assembly 115 is rotatable relative to the lift assembly 113 and has a telescoping fork mechanism. In operation, the bin retrieving assembly 115 can remove bins from the bin stack and drive them to the different levels of the staging mechanism 114 for staging. Alternatively, the box taking and returning assembly 115 takes out the boxes in different layers of the temporary storage mechanism 114 one by one and places the boxes in corresponding material racks for storage.

Fig. 11 illustrates a specific structure of the elevating assembly 113. The elevation assembly 113 has an elevation driving unit, and moves the retrieval and retrieval box assembly 115 in a vertical direction along the gantry assembly by the elevation driving unit. The pick-up and return tank assembly 115 may be coupled to the lift assembly 113 via a slewing bearing coupling 1131 such that the pick-up and return tank assembly 115 may be rotated on the lift assembly 113 to adjust the angular position of the pick-up and return tank assembly 115.

Fig. 12 illustrates a specific structure of the retrieval and return tank assembly 115. The retrieval box assembly 115 has a base 1151, and a rotation driving unit 1152 for driving the base 1151 on the elevating assembly 113. A telescopic drive unit 1153 and left and right telescopic forks 1154 are also included. Left and right telescopic forks 1154 are provided at opposite sides of the base 1151, and the left and right telescopic forks 1154 are driven to extend to a predetermined distance with respect to the base 1151 by a telescopic driving unit 1153. The left and right telescopic forks 1154 may be one stage telescopic units, or may be combined together in two or more stages.

The front ends of the left and right telescopic forks 1154 are respectively provided with front shift fingers 1155, and the rear ends thereof are provided with rear shift fingers 1156. The front shift fingers 1155 can extend or retract toward the open ends of the left and right telescopic forks 1154, and when the left and right telescopic forks 1154 extend to both sides of the material tank, the front shift fingers 1155 can swing to the open positions of the left and right telescopic forks 1154 under the control of a driving unit for cooperation with the rear side of the material tank. As the left and right telescopic forks 1154 retract, the front fingers 1155 can catch the rear end of the bin and move onto the base 1151 with the left and right telescopic forks 1154. At this point, the rear fingers 1156 engage the front side of the bin.

Under the action of the lifting assembly 113, the box taking-back assembly 115 is driven to a height corresponding to the corresponding temporary storage mechanism 114. The rotary drive unit 1152 drives the retrieval and return box assembly 115 to rotate so that the opening of the left and right telescopic forks 1154 faces the temporary storage mechanism 114. After the front shifting finger 1155 is reset, the telescopic driving unit 1153 drives the left and right telescopic forks 1154 to extend out, and drives the rear shifting finger 1156 to push a material box on the base 1151 to the temporary storage mechanism 114 for temporary storage.

Based on the same principle, the box taking and returning drive assembly 115 can also take out the box in the temporary storage mechanism 114 and place the box in the corresponding position of the material rack through the mutual cooperation of the rotation, the expansion and the like, and the detailed description is omitted here.

The temporary storage mechanism 114 is provided with a positioning groove structure for accommodating the work bin, which is beneficial to the stability of the work bin storage and avoids the work bin from shaking when the robot walks. Wherein, a notch corresponding to the passing of the transfer mechanism in the feed box transfer device is further provided on the temporary storage mechanism 114. In operation, the corresponding transfer mechanism of the magazine transfer device can pass through the gap and lift the magazine located on the buffer storage mechanism 114. Alternatively, the bins located on the transfer mechanism may be dropped onto the staging mechanism 114 as the transfer mechanism drops out of the gap.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the notch may extend from a free end position of the staging mechanism 114 toward an opposite end of the staging mechanism. Referring to the orientation of the view of fig. 13, the left end of the staging mechanism 114 is adapted to be attached to the mast assembly 112 with a gap extending from the right end of the staging mechanism 114 toward the left end thereof. Of course, it is also possible to provide the recesses on the sides of the buffer device 114, for example extending from one side of the buffer device 114 to the other. The recess may also extend from the connecting end position of the buffer means 114 in the direction of its free end or may extend through the free end thereof, as long as the transfer means in the magazine transfer device can pass through the recess.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is one notch, so that the temporary storage mechanism is in a U-shaped structure, refer to fig. 13. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, at least two notches may be provided, so that the temporary storage mechanism has a comb-shaped structure, see fig. 3. The transfer mechanism in the magazine transfer device corresponds to the structure of the buffer storage mechanism, so that the corresponding part of the transfer mechanism can pass through the gap of the buffer storage mechanism.

Referring to fig. 13, the temporary storage mechanism 11 includes a bottom plate and upright edges 1141 connected to two opposite sides of the bottom plate and extending upward, the upright edges 1141 may also extend from two sides of the bottom plate to the free end position of the bottom plate, so that the upright edges 1141 and the bottom plate may form a tray structure for temporarily storing the work bin. The vertical edge 1141 can limit the material boxes placed on the temporary storage mechanism 114, so that the material boxes are stably and temporarily stored in the temporary storage mechanism 114.

The vertical edges 1141 are vertically connected to the bottom plate, wherein the upper portions of the vertical edges 1141 may be respectively inclined outward to form folded portions 1142, and the folded portions 1142 form the flaring structure of the temporary storage mechanism 114. When the work bin is placed into the temporary storage mechanism 114 from the top to the bottom, the folded part 1142 of the vertical edge 1141 can guide the work bin, so that the work bin can fall into the edge of the temporary storage mechanism 114 completely under the guidance of the flaring structure even if the work bin has a certain error with the temporary storage mechanism 114.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a guide assembly 116 is also provided on the gantry assembly 112 at a position above each level of the staging mechanism, the guide assembly having an open area and being configured to position a bin to be transported to the respective staging mechanism.

Referring to fig. 10 and 14, the guide assemblies 116 may be provided in multiple sets and respectively disposed above each of the layer escrow mechanisms 114.

Specifically, guide assembly 116 may include two spaced apart guide bars 1161, with the distance between two guide bars 1161 being slightly greater than the width of the magazine. The guide rods 1161 are connected to the gantry assemblies 112 at one end and extend in the same direction as the temporary storage mechanism 114 at the other end. When the robot moves towards the magazine, the magazine can be aligned for positioning by guiding the two guide bars 1161.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, referring to fig. 10 and 14, the two guide bars 1161 extend away from the gantry assembly 112 to form two inclined portions 1162 (extending toward the respective outer sides with reference to the view direction of fig. 10), and the two inclined portions 1162 form the flaring structure of the guide assembly 116. The flaring structure facilitates smooth entry of the bin between the two guide bars 1161.

Two guide rods 1161 are bent near one end of the gantry assembly 112 to form a connecting end, and the connecting end can be fixedly connected to the gantry assembly 112. A reinforcing rib 1163 is further disposed at the corner of the guide bar 1161 to reinforce the structural strength of the guide bar 1161, and the reinforcing rib 1163 may be configured to be a triangular structure or other structures adapted to the shape of the corner, which is not described in detail herein.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the guide assemblies 116 are removably attached to the mast assembly 112, whereby the height between the guide assemblies 116 and the corresponding staging mechanism 114 may be adjusted to accommodate different bins. The detachable connection means includes, but is not limited to, bolt or screw fixing connection, insertion, etc. which are conventional means that can be conceived by those skilled in the art. The connection position of the two guide bars 1161 of each set of guide assemblies 116 can also be adjusted up and down. In one embodiment, the gantry assembly 112 is provided with a plurality of vertically aligned mounting holes or vertically extending long holes, and the guide bar 1161 is mounted in the long holes or any one of the mounting holes by bolts, so as to adjust the height of the guide bar to fit bins with different sizes.

Referring to fig. 15, the edge of the upper opening of the bin 23 has a peripheral opening 231, the peripheral opening 231 is located on the peripheral outer wall of the bin, the peripheral opening 231 is a reinforcing structure on the side wall of the bin 23 to reinforce the structural strength of the bin opening, and the reinforcing structure can be a plurality of convex structures perpendicular to the side wall of the bin, and the like.

The guide assembly 116 is coupled to the mast assembly 112 in a height adjustable manner such that the distance between the guide assembly 116 and the staging mechanism 114 may be adjusted. The height of the guide assembly 116 above the mast assembly 112 is adjusted so that the guide assembly 116 can be engaged with the box girth location to swing and position the box.

For example, in one application scenario of the present disclosure, the bin is located on a transfer mechanism of a bin transfer device, and due to motion or other factors, there may be some offset of the bin on the transfer mechanism, such as an angular offset or a horizontal offset. The robot 11 needs to move so that its buffer means is located below the transfer means. During movement of the robot 11, the guide assembly 116 on the mast assembly cooperates with the bin on the transfer mechanism to correct the offset bin position and angle. When the robot 11 moves in place, the transfer mechanism of the bin transfer device descends and passes through the notch of the temporary storage mechanism, and the bin descends along with the transfer mechanism until falling into the temporary storage mechanism. Even if the workbin still has a certain offset error, the workbin can be smoothly guided into the temporary storage mechanism for temporary storage under the action of the flaring structure of the temporary storage mechanism, so that the smooth transfer of the workbin is ensured, the problems of falling and the like caused by the incorrect position of the workbin are avoided, and the smoothness of the system work is ensured. In addition, because the temporary storage mechanism on each layer is provided with the notch, the material box on each layer of temporary storage mechanism can be transferred simultaneously by the transfer mechanism of the material box transfer device, and the efficiency of material box circulation is improved.

The robot 11 is configured to move to a bin docking station. Here, the bin docking station includes a projection position of the temporary storage mechanism on the ground when the docking of the robot 11 and the bin transferring device 12 is completed; alternatively, the position of each layer of the temporary storage mechanism in the space.

The bin transfer device 12 is configured to transfer a plurality of bins on the different-layer temporary storage mechanisms of the robot, which are moved to the bin butt joint position, onto the internal conveying rails of the corresponding layer; or, the work bin on different internal conveying tracks is transferred to the corresponding temporary storage mechanism.

Therefore, the utility model provides a workbin transfer device, including two-layer at least inside delivery track, these inside delivery track are range upon range of in the direction of height setting, and every layer of inside delivery track can correspond with the temporary storage mechanism of robot respectively. The internal conveying tracks are configured to convey the bins located in the bin docking positions to respective preset areas; or conveying the bin positioned in the preset area to the bin butt joint position.

The bin transfer device further includes a first bin transfer mechanism corresponding to the internal conveyor track bin docking station, the first bin transfer mechanism controlled by the first drive unit to reciprocate between the first and second positions of the bin docking station.

When the first bin transferring mechanism is located at the first position, the height of the first bin transferring mechanism is lower than that of the inner conveying track; in the second position, the first bin transfer mechanism is configured to jack the bin up.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the bin transfer device 12 may also be configured to transfer a plurality of bins on different internal conveying tracks onto a transfer conveying track; alternatively, a plurality of bins on the transfer conveyor track are transferred to different internal conveyor tracks.

The following detailed description is made on the butt joint of the robot and the bin transfer device in the cargo picking scene to realize bin transfer:

the bin transferring device 12 is configured to transfer a plurality of bins on the temporary storage mechanisms of different layers of the robot to preset areas corresponding to the conveying tracks in the corresponding layers; the magazine transfer device 12 is configured to transfer the magazines at predetermined areas corresponding to the transport tracks inside the different levels to the transfer transport track. Here, the magazine transfer device comprises a multi-layer inner conveyor track. Here, the size of the predetermined area may be the size of the bottom surface of the bin, or slightly larger than the size of the bottom surface of the bin.

The controller may be configured to control the first bin transfer mechanism to lift the plurality of bins from the robot and transfer onto the different tier bin conveyor mechanisms (including the internal conveyor rails) in response to a first bin transfer instruction; controlling each layer of material box conveying mechanism to drive the material box to a preset area corresponding to the layer of material box conveying mechanism; respectively controlling a second material box transfer mechanism corresponding to each layer of material box conveying mechanism, and hooking the material box from the material box conveying mechanism to a lifting mechanism corresponding to the second material box transfer mechanism; respectively controlling the lifting mechanism to transfer the material box to the transfer conveying track.

Here, the first bin transfer instruction may be a bin transfer instruction sent to the controller when the robot reaches the bin docking station; alternatively, the first sensor assembly may detect that the robot is in the bin docking position and send a bin transfer instruction to the controller; or the work bin transfer instruction can be issued by the cloud server. The first bin transfer instruction may select an appropriate sending subject according to a specific application scenario, which is not limited in this disclosure. Various substitutions and modifications may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure, and these substitutions and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the disclosure.

Based on the control flow of the controller, the detailed implementation process of each mechanism is described in detail below.

In one embodiment, referring to FIG. 2, first bin transfer mechanism 221 may be configured to lift a plurality of bins from robot 11 and transfer to bin transport mechanism 222, which includes an internal transport track. Reference may be made to fig. 4, which is a schematic diagram of the first bin transfer mechanism. The first bin transfer mechanism 221 includes a plurality of first lift forks 2211, a first drive unit 2212 and a first guide rail assembly 2213; the first drive unit 2212 is connected to the first rail assembly 2213; a plurality of first jacking prongs 2211 are slidably mounted on the first rail assembly 2213 by support brackets. Alternatively, the first rail assembly 2213 may be slidably mounted to the stack, and the plurality of first lifting forks 2211 may be secured to the first rail assembly 2213. The connection between the above structures can be in various manners as long as the first driving unit 2212 can drive the first lifting fork 2211 to move in the vertical direction.

When the robot moves to a position where each temporary storage mechanism is located in the material box butt joint corresponding to the internal conveying track, the first driving unit 2212 drives the first jacking fork 2211 to pass through the notch arranged on the corresponding temporary storage mechanism in the lifting process, so that the material box in situ on the temporary storage mechanism is jacked up to the first jacking fork 2211, or the material box in situ on the first jacking fork 2211 falls onto the temporary storage mechanism.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the temporary storage mechanism 114 illustrated in fig. 3 may be a comb mechanism; the first lifting fork 2211 can also be a comb-shaped mechanism; the magazine transport mechanism 222 may be a comb mechanism, i.e., the internal transport rails 2221 (shown in fig. 6) on the magazine transport mechanism 222 described below are a comb mechanism; the comb mechanism comprises comb teeth; the comb teeth of the temporary storage mechanism 114 and the projection of the comb teeth of the first jacking fork 2211 on the horizontal plane do not overlap; the comb teeth of the first jacking forks 2211 do not overlap with the projections of the comb teeth of the inner conveying track 2221 on the horizontal plane. Exemplarily, the broach of inside conveying track can be a plurality of cylinder (roller), and when first jacking fork was used for shifting the workbin, the broach of first jacking fork can pass the gap between a plurality of cylinder of inside conveying track, can also pass the gap between the broach of this first jacking fork corresponding layer temporary storage mechanism simultaneously. Specifically, the positional relationship among the temporary storage mechanism, the first lifting fork and the inner conveying rail may be seen in fig. 5, which is a flow chart of the work transfer of the work bin from the inner conveying rail to the first lifting fork, wherein a represents that the first lifting fork is at the first position (first initial position); b represents that the first jacking fork penetrates through a gap between the comb teeth of the inner conveying track and leaves from the gap of the inner conveying track; c denotes the first lifting fork in the second position, i.e. lifting the bin.

When the first jacking fork is located at the first position, the height of the first jacking fork is lower than that of the inner conveying track. Specifically, the surface of the first jacking forks for contacting the bin is lower than the surface of the internal conveying track for contacting the bin. When the first jacking fork is at the second position, the first jacking fork is lifted to a preset position.

In specific implementation, the first driving unit 2212 may be used to drive the first guide rail assembly 2213 to rotate in a preset direction (e.g. clockwise or counterclockwise), the first guide rail assembly 2213 may rotate in the preset direction to drive the first lifting fork 2211 to move to the position of the bin butt joint in the vertical direction, at this time, since the comb teeth of the first lifting fork may pass through the gaps between the rollers of the internal conveying track or the gaps between the comb teeth of the temporary storage mechanism corresponding to the first lifting fork, the bin may be lifted from the temporary storage mechanism to the second position, after the robot 11 exits the bin butt joint, the first driving unit 2212 is used to reversely drive the first guide rail assembly 2213 to rotate in the preset reverse direction, the first guide rail assembly 2213 may rotate in the preset reverse direction to drive the first lifting fork 2211 to move in the vertical direction to the first position, transfer of the bins to different tier bin conveyors 222 can be accomplished.

In one embodiment, the bin transport mechanism 222 may be configured to transfer bins to corresponding preset areas. Here, in order to prevent the processes of moving the bins onto the transfer conveying track from colliding with each other, the preset areas distributed in a staggered manner are set, that is, the projections of the preset areas corresponding to the bin conveying mechanisms of different layers on the horizontal plane do not overlap. Reference may be made to fig. 6, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of the bin conveying mechanism, wherein the bin conveying mechanism 222 includes an internal conveying rail 2221, and the bin transferring device 12 further includes at least one limit block 227 and a sensor 228 corresponding to each second bin transferring mechanism (one limit block 227 corresponds to the sensor 228-1, and the other limit block 227 corresponds to the sensor 228-2); at least one limiting block may be correspondingly disposed on each layer internal conveying track 2221. Specifically, the internal conveying track is a comb-shaped mechanism; the comb mechanism includes comb teeth. Illustratively, the comb teeth of the inner conveying track can be a plurality of rollers, and the limiting blocks can be arranged between the comb teeth gaps of the inner conveying track, such as the gaps of the plurality of rollers shown in fig. 6.

Here, the length of the inner conveying track is adjustable. Specifically, according to a specific application scenario, in order to set a plurality of layers of inner conveying tracks and enable projections of preset areas on the inner conveying tracks of different layers on a horizontal plane not to overlap, the length of the inner conveying tracks can be adjusted.

The limiting block 227 may be configured to limit the bin at a preset region on the internal conveying track corresponding to the limiting block; the projections of preset areas corresponding to the limiting blocks on the different layers of material box conveying mechanisms on the horizontal plane are not overlapped. Here, the initial position of stopper highly is less than the height that the inside delivery track of corresponding layer is used for placing the face of workbin, so sets up the initial position of stopper, can be when the stopper is in the initial position, does not influence the workbin and move on this stopper corresponds the inside delivery track of layer, moves up at the stopper, when leaving the initial position, can inject the workbin and be in and predetermine the region, await for follow-up transfer.

The preset areas can limit the positions of the workbins for the limiting blocks, and due to the fact that projections of the preset areas corresponding to the limiting blocks on the workbin conveying mechanisms on different layers are not overlapped on the horizontal plane, the preset areas can be distributed on the conveying tracks in different layers in a staggered mode, and the position of the workbin can be specifically shown in fig. 6.

The sensor 228 is configured to detect whether the bin has reached a preset area. Here, the sensor 228 may be fixedly mounted on the bin conveying mechanism 222 corresponding to the corresponding limit block 227. Afterwards, the limiting block 227 is configured to be lifted to a preset height after the sensor detects that the material box reaches a preset area, so that the material box is limited on the internal conveying track at the preset area corresponding to the limiting block.

When the material box conveying device is specifically implemented, the driving unit of the inner conveying track can be utilized to drive the multi-wedge belts of the rollers to drive the rollers on the inner conveying track to rotate, the material box placed on the surface of the inner conveying track is transferred along the conveying direction, at the moment, after the sensor detects that the material box reaches a preset area, the limiting block can be utilized to rise to the preset height, and the material box on the inner conveying track of the layer is limited at the preset area corresponding to the limiting block.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, two limiting blocks 227 are provided, and when the material box moves to the preset area, the two limiting blocks 227 rise to a preset height, so as to block two sides of the material box. Referring to the view direction of fig. 6, when the bin is transported from the left side to the right side to a preset area on the inner transport rail, for example, the limit block 227 at the right side of the bin may prevent the bin from moving further to the right, thereby limiting the bin at the preset area. The stop block 227 on the left side of the bin may prevent other bins from reaching the preset area.

In another embodiment disclosed, with reference to fig. 1, the bin transferring device has two bin docking stations located at opposite ends thereof, respectively, and the bins are transported from two directions to a predetermined area. Therefore, the two limit blocks 227 can respectively limit the material boxes from two directions, and the functions basically the same as those of the material boxes are realized.

In one embodiment, the second bin transfer mechanism 223 may be configured to hook bins from corresponding tier bin transport mechanisms onto corresponding lift mechanisms. Reference may be made to fig. 7, which is a schematic diagram of the second bin transfer mechanism. The second bin transfer mechanism 223 includes a first draw bar mechanism, a first pusher 2232, and a first draw bar drive unit 2233; one end of the second bin transfer mechanism 223 can be fixedly assembled on the corresponding support frame of the lifting mechanism 224 or the frame of the bin transfer device; a first toggle block 2232 is installed at one end of the first link mechanism 2231; a first drawbar drive unit 2233 is installed at the other end of the first drawbar mechanism 2231.

The first link driving unit 2233 is configured to drive the first link mechanism to extend and retract.

The first pull rod mechanism is configured to drive the first shifting block to hook the material box onto the corresponding lifting mechanism under the driving of the first pull rod driving unit.

Here, the first pull rod mechanism includes a first pull rod 2231-1 and a belt 2231-2, and in specific implementation, the first pull rod driving unit may be used to drive the belt to drive the first pull rod to retract, and the retraction of the first pull rod may drive the first shifting block to hook the bin onto the corresponding lifting mechanism, and when the bin is already on the lifting mechanism, the first pull rod driving unit may be used to drive the belt to drive the first pull rod to extend out, return to the initial position, and wait for the transfer of the next bin.

The above description only describes schematically an implementation structure of the first pull rod mechanism, and the first pull rod driving unit may also drive the first shifting block 2232 to move on the first pull rod 2231-1, so as to pick up the bin located on the inner conveying track to the corresponding lifting mechanism. The structure of the first link mechanism is not listed here.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the first pull rod mechanism may further be provided with a first push block, and the first push block may be driven by the first pull rod driving unit to push the bin on the lifting mechanism to the corresponding inner conveying rail. The first push block and the first push block 2232 may be respectively located at opposite ends of the first rod 2231-1 and driven by a first rod driving unit 2233.

In one embodiment, the elevator mechanism 224 is configured to transfer multiple bins onto the same transfer conveyor track. Reference can be made to fig. 8, which is a schematic structural diagram of the lifting mechanism. Lifting mechanism 224 includes second drive unit 2241, second guide rail assembly 2242, and second jacking fork 2243; second drive unit 2241 is connected with second guide rail group 2242; second jacking fork 2243 is slidably mounted on second guide rail assembly 2242. Second jacking-up fork 2243 may be a comb mechanism, which includes comb teeth. The projections of the comb teeth of the second jacking forks and the comb teeth of the transfer conveying track on the horizontal plane are not overlapped. For example, the comb teeth of the transfer conveying track may be a plurality of rollers, and when the second jacking fork is used for transferring the work bin, the comb teeth of the second jacking fork may penetrate through gaps between the plurality of rollers of the transfer conveying track.

Second drive unit 2241 is configured to drive the second rail assembly to rotate.

The second guide rail assembly 2242 is configured to drive the second jacking fork to move in the vertical direction under the driving of the second driving unit, so as to transfer the material box on the lifting mechanism onto the transfer conveying track.

When the feed box is transferred by the transfer conveying track, the second driving unit is reused to drive the second jacking fork to move back to the initial position of the second jacking fork along the vertical direction, and the next feed box is waited to be transferred.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the second driving unit is configured to transfer the bin on the transfer conveying rail to the lifting mechanism while driving the second jacking fork to move vertically higher than the transfer conveying rail. Specifically, the comb teeth of the second lifting fork may pass through the gaps between the rollers of the transfer conveying rail, so that the bin located on the transfer conveying rail may be lifted, thereby transferring the bin onto the lifting mechanism 224, and then the second driving unit 2241 may drive the second lifting fork to be lifted to correspond to the corresponding inner conveying rail. The first draw bar driving unit of the second bin transferring mechanism 223 drives the first pushing block to push the bin on the lifting mechanism to the corresponding inner conveying track.

The second bin transfer mechanism 223 and the lifting mechanism 224 may be provided in plural and may be independently controlled. Each group of second bin transferring mechanism 223 and lifting mechanism 224 corresponds to one layer of internal conveying track respectively, and the multiple groups of second bin transferring mechanisms 223 and lifting mechanisms 224 can simultaneously transfer bins on different internal conveying tracks to the transfer conveying track.

The transfer conveyor track of the present disclosure may have the same structure and arrangement as the inner conveyor track, and the transfer conveyor track may overlap with the inner conveyor track in the height direction, for example. For example, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, an inner conveying track of one or more layers may be used as a transfer conveying track. For example, referring to fig. 6, the lowermost internal conveying rail is used as a transfer conveying rail, and the bins on the other internal conveying rails are transferred to the lowermost internal conveying rail by the second bin transferring mechanism 223 and the lifting mechanism 224. In this embodiment, the internal conveying track used as the transfer conveying track still has a preset area and a bin butt joint position, and the transfer of the bin between the internal conveying track and the temporary storage mechanism of the robot can be realized through the corresponding first bin transfer mechanism. In a possible embodiment, the magazine transfer arrangement may further comprise a third magazine transfer mechanism. The third material box transfer mechanism transfers the material box on the temporary storage mechanism of the robot to the transfer conveying track or transfers the material box on the transfer conveying track to the temporary storage mechanism of the robot. In this embodiment, the transit conveying track may be located at any layer or any number of layers in the inner conveying track, and is selected according to the actual application scenario.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a transfer conveyor track at the bottom of the bin transfer device, and the transfer conveyor track is not overlapped with the projections of the other inner conveyor tracks on the horizontal plane, i.e. has an offset of a predetermined distance, which is suitable for some application scenarios.

In this embodiment, the transfer may be performed by at least one first bin transfer mechanism, a multi-tier bin conveyor mechanism, a second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to each tier of bin conveyor mechanism, and an elevator mechanism corresponding to each second bin transfer mechanism of the bin transfer devices for the remaining bins of the robot other than the bin on the bottom tier of the buffer storage mechanism. And aiming at the material box on the temporary storage mechanism at the bottommost layer of the robot, the material box can be transferred by utilizing a third material box transfer mechanism. Here, utilize third workbin transfer mechanism, directly transfer the workbin on the bottom temporary storage mechanism of robot to the transfer delivery track, can not need to set up the corresponding first workbin transfer mechanism of bottom layer of robot, workbin conveying mechanism, second workbin transfer mechanism and elevating system, can save certain structural material cost.

The first bin transferring mechanism is configured to transfer the rest bins of the robot except the bins on the bottom temporary storage mechanism to the corresponding bin conveying mechanism; the bin conveying mechanism is configured to convey bins to a preset area corresponding to the layer of bin conveying mechanism; the projections of the preset areas corresponding to the conveying mechanisms of the material boxes on different layers on the horizontal plane are not overlapped; the second bin transfer mechanism is configured to hook bins in corresponding preset areas on the bin conveying mechanisms of corresponding layers onto corresponding lifting mechanisms; wherein the projections of different second bin transfer mechanisms on the horizontal plane do not overlap; the lifting mechanism is configured to transfer the bins to the same transfer conveying track; the third material box transfer mechanism is configured to transfer the material box on the bottom temporary storage mechanism of the robot to the transfer conveying track.

The controller is configured to respond to the first bin transferring instruction and control the first bin transferring mechanism to transfer the rest bins of the robot except the bins on the bottom temporary storage mechanism to the corresponding layer bin conveying mechanism; controlling each layer of material box conveying mechanism to drive the material box to a preset area corresponding to the layer of material box conveying mechanism; respectively controlling a second material box transfer mechanism corresponding to each layer of material box conveying mechanism, and hooking the material box from the material box conveying mechanism to a lifting mechanism corresponding to the second material box transfer mechanism; respectively controlling the lifting mechanisms to transfer the material boxes to the same transfer conveying track; and controlling the third material box transfer mechanism to transfer the material box on the bottom temporary storage mechanism of the robot to the transfer conveying track.

In some embodiments, the third bin transfer mechanism may be configured to transfer bins from the robot bottommost staging mechanism to the transfer conveyor track. Reference is now made to fig. 9, which is a schematic diagram of a third bin transfer mechanism, which includes a jacking mechanism 2261 and a drawbar transfer mechanism 2262. The jacking mechanism 2261 has a first position and a second position; when the lifting mechanism 2261 is located at the first position, the height is lower than that of the transfer conveying track; in the second position, the jacking mechanism 2261 is configured to pass through a gap in the robotic buffer to jack up a bin on the buffer.

It should be noted that the jacking mechanism 2261 may be a comb mechanism. The projections of the comb teeth of the temporary storage mechanism 114 and those of the jacking mechanism 2261 on the horizontal plane do not overlap; the projections of the comb teeth of the jacking mechanism 2261 and the comb teeth of the transfer conveying track 225 on the horizontal plane do not overlap. Therefore, when the lift-up means 2261 is lifted up, the gap between the comb teeth of the transfer conveying rail 225 and the temporary storage means 114 can be utilized to pass through the transfer conveying rail 225 and the temporary storage means 114, so as to lift up the bin temporarily stored on the lowermost temporary storage means 114 by the robot 11. After the tie bar transferring means 2262 transfers the bin on the jacking means 2261 to the preset area (corresponding to the upper area of the transfer conveying track), the jacking means 2261 is retreated to the first position to transfer the bin in the preset area onto the transfer conveying track 225. Here, the preset region may be a position directly above the transfer conveying rail where the jack mechanism is located. For example, whether the bin is present in the preset area or not may be detected by a sensor, and in the case that the bin is present, a signal indicating that the bin is present in the preset area is sent to the controller, and the controller may control the jacking mechanism to perform the action of returning to the first starting position according to the signal. Here, the size of the preset area may be the size of the bottom surface of the bin.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the tie bar transfer mechanism is configured to push a bin on the lift mechanism above the transfer conveyor rail along the lift mechanism to a position corresponding to above the robotic staging mechanism. That is, after the work bin is transferred along the transfer conveying rail to its work bin docking station or a predetermined area, the lift-up means 2261 moves from the first position to the second position to lift up the work bin on the transfer conveying rail. Then, the draw bar transferring mechanism pushes the bin located in the preset area to a position corresponding to the upper side of the robot temporary storage mechanism along the jacking mechanism 2261. In this way, when the jacking mechanism 2261 moves from the second position to the first position, the comb teeth of the jacking mechanism 2261 penetrate through the comb teeth of the temporary storage mechanism, so as to place the bin on the temporary storage mechanism of the corresponding layer of the robot.

In some embodiments, the tie bar transfer mechanism 2262 may be configured to transfer the bin on the jacking mechanism to a predetermined area of the jacking mechanism.

As shown in fig. 9, the lever transferring mechanism 2262 includes a second lever mechanism 2262-1, a second shifting block 2262-2, and a second lever driving unit 2262-3. A second shifting block 2262-2 is arranged at one end of a second pull rod mechanism 2262-1; a second link drive unit 2262-3 is mounted at the other end of the second link mechanism 2262-1.

The second pull rod mechanism 2262-1 may be configured to drive the second shifting block to hook the material bin to a preset area of the jacking mechanism under the driving of the second pull rod driving unit. And driving the second shifting block to transfer the material box on the jacking mechanism from the position above the corresponding temporary storage mechanism to the position corresponding to the transfer conveying track along the jacking mechanism.

Based on the same principle, a second push block is further arranged on the second pull rod mechanism, and the second push block can be driven to push the workbin located in the preset area position to the position above the temporary storage mechanism of the robot through the second pull rod driving unit. And the second push block is driven to push the material loading box of the jacking mechanism from the position above the corresponding transfer conveying track to the position corresponding to the temporary storage mechanism of the robot along the jacking mechanism.

Here, the specific structure and operation principle of the pull rod transfer mechanism may refer to the above second bin transfer mechanism, and will not be described herein again.

In some embodiments, the bin transfer device may further include a fourth bin transfer mechanism, which may be configured to transfer a bin on the robot bottommost staging mechanism onto the transfer conveyor track.

The fourth bin transfer mechanism may include a third draw bar mechanism, a third paddle, a third draw bar drive unit, and a third paddle drive unit. The third shifting block is arranged at one end of the third pull rod mechanism; the third pull rod driving unit is installed at the other end of the third pull rod mechanism.

The third shifting block driving unit can be configured to drive the third shifting block to rotate from the initial horizontal position to the vertical position so as to hook the material box.

The third pull rod mechanism can be configured to drive the third shifting block to hook the material box on the bottom temporary storage mechanism onto the transfer conveying track under the driving of the third pull rod driving unit.

In a possible embodiment, at least one lifting mechanism may be provided in the magazine transfer device, which lifting mechanism may not correspond one-to-one to the second magazine transfer mechanism, i.e. the lifting mechanism is used to transfer magazines on the multi-level internal transport track to the transfer transport track. In a practical implementation, the bin transferring device can comprise a lifting mechanism, the limited positions of the bins conveyed on the conveying rails in different layers can be selected at will, and the limited position of the bin on each conveying rail in each layer is correspondingly provided with a second bin transferring mechanism. The lifting mechanism can move in a two-dimensional scene coordinate to obtain the workbins on the conveying rails in different layers and transfer the workbins to the transfer conveying rails. Specifically, the first bin transferring mechanism is configured to lift a plurality of bins from the robot and transfer the bins to different layers of the bin conveying mechanism; the bin conveying mechanism is configured to convey bins to preset areas corresponding to the layer bin conveying mechanism; the second material box transfer mechanism is configured to hook the material box at the corresponding preset area on the corresponding layer material box conveying mechanism onto the lifting mechanism; the lifting mechanism is configured to transfer the bins onto the same transfer conveyor track.

In conclusion, the workbin transfer device can transfer a plurality of workbins from different layers of temporary storage mechanisms of the robot at the last time, the workbin transfer efficiency can be improved in the scene that the robot accesses the workbins in the goods picking scene, and the carrying efficiency of the robot in the workbin storing and fetching process is improved.

The following describes in detail the realization of bin transfer by docking the robot with the bin transfer device in a cargo warehousing scene:

in one possible embodiment, the magazine transfer device 12 may be configured to lift and transfer magazines on different layers of the magazine conveyor onto the buffer of the robot.

The robot 11 may be configured to move to the bin docking station to receive the bins after the first bin transfer mechanism lifts the bins on the different tier bin conveyor mechanism.

Specifically, the controller may be configured to, in response to the second bin transfer instruction, respectively control each lifting mechanism to lift the bin to a height that is the same as the height of the preset area corresponding to the second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to the lifting mechanism, and respectively control the second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to each lifting mechanism to transfer the bin to the preset area corresponding to the second bin transfer mechanism; controlling a corresponding layer material box conveying mechanism to transfer the material box to the layer material box butt joint position; and controlling the first bin transferring mechanism to transfer the bins on the bin conveying mechanism to different layers of temporary storage mechanisms of the robot.

In specific implementation, the controller may be configured to, in response to the second bin transfer instruction, respectively control each second driving unit to drive the corresponding second guide rail assembly of the second driving unit, and drive each second jacking fork to lift the bin to a height that is the same as the height of the preset area corresponding to the second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to each lifting mechanism; then, respectively controlling a first pull rod driving unit in a second material box transfer mechanism corresponding to each lifting mechanism to drive a first pull rod mechanism to stretch, and driving a first shifting block to hook the material boxes on different second jacking forks onto inner conveying tracks in the material box conveying mechanisms corresponding to each second material box transfer mechanism; then, respectively controlling a driving unit of an internal conveying track in the material box conveying mechanism to drive a roller poly-wedge belt to drive a plurality of rollers to rotate, and transferring a plurality of material boxes on different layer internal conveying tracks to material box butt joint positions corresponding to the layer internal conveying tracks; and then, controlling a first driving unit in the first material box transfer mechanism to drive the first guide rail assembly, driving the plurality of first jacking forks to lift the material box positioned in the material box butt joint position, waiting for the robot to move to the material box butt joint position, and controlling a first driving unit in the first material box transfer mechanism to drive the first guide rail assembly, driving the plurality of first jacking forks to return to a first initial position so as to respectively place the plurality of material boxes on different layers of temporary storage mechanisms of the robot.

The controller is configured to control the third bin transfer mechanism to transfer the bin on the transfer conveying track to the robot bottommost temporary storage mechanism in response to the second bin transfer instruction.

In specific implementation, the controller is configured to, in response to the second bin transfer instruction, when the jacking mechanism 2261 is lifted, pass through the transfer conveying rail 225 and the temporary storage mechanism 114 by using a gap between comb teeth of the transfer conveying rail 225 and the temporary storage mechanism 114, so as to lift a bin in a target area on the transfer conveying rail to a preset area; when the robot reaches the bin docking station, the pull rod transferring mechanism 2262 is controlled to hook the bin in the preset area of the jacking mechanism 2261 to the temporary storage mechanism at the bottommost layer of the robot 11.

In a possible embodiment, it is also possible to provide a multi-level external conveying means, while a third magazine transfer means is provided corresponding to the multi-level external conveying means.

Here, the second bin transfer instruction may be a bin transfer instruction generated when the bin arrives at a third preset area corresponding to the transfer conveying track; or, the bin transfer instruction sent to the controller when the second sensor assembly (the second sensor assembly may be the first sensor assembly) detects that the bin exists in the third preset area; or the work bin transfer instruction can be issued by the cloud server. Here, the third preset area may be a preset area provided on the transfer conveying rail. The second bin transfer instruction may be a suitable transmission subject selected according to a specific application scenario, which is not limited in this disclosure. Various substitutions and modifications may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure, and these substitutions and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the disclosure.

Here, the first sensor assembly and the second sensor assembly may be sensor assemblies capable of measuring distance, such as a vision sensor or a depth sensor, and the like, and a specific sensor type is not particularly limited herein.

In a further possible embodiment, the magazine transfer device may comprise a third magazine transfer mechanism, with which the magazines on the transfer conveyor track can be transferred to the robot counter-layer buffer. The implementation process may refer to the implementation process of controlling the third bin transfer mechanism by the controller in the cargo warehousing scene, and is not described herein again.

In another possible embodiment, the magazine transfer device may include a first magazine transfer mechanism, a magazine transport mechanism, a second magazine transfer mechanism, and an elevator mechanism, and may be used to transfer a magazine on the transfer conveyor track to the robotic layer buffer. The implementation process may refer to the implementation process in which the controller controls the first bin transfer mechanism, the bin conveying mechanism, the second bin transfer mechanism, and the lifting mechanism in the cargo warehousing scene, and is not described herein again.

In conclusion, the workbin transfer device can transfer a plurality of workbins from the outside at one time and place the workbins on different layers of temporary storage mechanisms of the robot, and the workbin transfer efficiency can be improved in the scene that the robot accesses the workbins in the goods picking scene, so that the carrying efficiency of the robot in the workbin storing and fetching process is improved.

Based on the concept of the system, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a bin transferring device, which may be considered to include the bin transferring device 12 in the above embodiment. The structure of the bin transfer device can be seen in fig. 2 to 9, and repeated descriptions are omitted here.

When the robot 11 takes the workbin from the workbin butt joint position of the workbin transfer device, firstly, the first jacking fork of the workbin transfer device lifts the workbin on the multi-layer workbin conveying mechanism, then the robot 11 moves to the workbin butt joint position, the temporary storage mechanism 114 of the robot is located below the first jacking fork, at the moment, the workbin is located above the temporary storage mechanism 114, and the workbin can be rightly placed under the guidance of the guide assembly 116 of the robot 11; the first fork then moves downward through the slot in the buffer 114, so that the bin falls down on the buffer 114 guided by the fold 1142 on the vertical edge 1141.

Based on the concept of the system, the embodiment of the disclosure provides a bin transfer system, which comprises the robot and the bin transfer device. Through the cooperation of the robot and the transfer mechanism in the work bin transfer device, work bins in situ on different temporary storage mechanisms can be simultaneously transferred to corresponding internal conveying rails or work bins on different internal conveying rails can be transferred to temporary storage mechanisms corresponding to the robot in the process that the transfer mechanism passes through gaps of the temporary storage mechanisms of the robot.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, bins on different staging mechanisms of the robot are selected from the racks. Correspondingly, the bin transfer system of the present disclosure includes at least one rack having a plurality of bins stored thereon. The robot can select required workbins from different positions on the goods shelf according to preset operation instructions and place the workbins on different temporary storage mechanisms one by one.

Correspondingly, the robot can also place the work bins on different temporary storage mechanisms on corresponding positions of the corresponding temporary storage work bins through the taking and returning box assemblies.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the bin transfer system includes an external transport line, a first bin transfer device, a second bin transfer device, and at least one robot 11. A transfer conveying track in the first material box transfer device is butted with the input end of an external conveying line; and a transfer conveying track in the second material box transfer device is butted with the output end of the external conveying line. The first magazine transfer mechanism of the first magazine transfer device is configured to transfer magazines on different temporary storage mechanisms of the robot in the magazine docking station onto corresponding inner conveyor tracks; the first magazine transfer mechanism of the second magazine transfer device is configured to transfer magazines on different inner conveyor tracks onto corresponding buffer mechanisms of the robot.

In particular, the robot 11 is configured to move to a first bin docking station or a second bin docking station. The first bin docking station is the position where the robot 11 and the first bin transfer device transfer bins, and the second bin docking station is the position where the robot 11 and the second bin transfer device transfer bins. The bin transfer system may also include at least two robots 11, wherein at least one robot 11 is configured to move to a first bin docking station and at least one robot is configured to move to a second bin docking station. The robot 11 may be a robot in the system described above.

The first magazine transfer device is configured to transfer a plurality of magazines on different buffer means 114 of the robot 11 moved to the first magazine docking station onto their transfer conveyor track, which transports the magazines to an external transport line. The bins are operated accordingly on the external conveyor line. The external conveying line may be a sorting line of the material box in the logistics, or a packaging line, etc., and the application scenario is not described in detail here.

The workbin needs to be transported to the goods shelf for storage after corresponding treatment is carried out on the external conveying line. The magazines on the outer conveyor line can thus be transferred to the transfer conveyor track of the second magazine transfer device. The magazine on its transfer track is then transferred by a corresponding mechanism in the second magazine transfer device to a different buffer mechanism 114 of the robot 11 in the second magazine docking station. The robot 114 then places the bins in different temporary storage mechanisms at corresponding positions of corresponding shelves according to preset instructions for storage.

Based on the bin transfer device in the bin transfer system, the embodiment of the disclosure further provides a bin transfer method, and the execution main body of the bin transfer method further comprises a controller of the bin transfer device.

The bin transfer device comprises a transfer conveying track; the robot is provided with a multi-layer temporary storage mechanism, and the temporary storage mechanism is used for temporarily storing a work bin;

transferring the plurality of bins on different levels of the staging mechanism of the robot onto the same staging conveyor track in response to a first bin transfer instruction; or,

transferring a plurality of bins on the same transfer conveyor track to different level staging mechanisms of the robot in response to a second bin transfer instruction.

In an alternative embodiment, the bin transfer device comprises a multi-level internal conveying track;

the different layers of temporary storage mechanism of robot will be in a plurality of workbins transfer to same transfer orbit on, include:

transferring the workbins on the temporary storage mechanisms of different layers of the robot to preset areas corresponding to the internal conveying tracks of the corresponding layers based on the first workbin transferring instruction;

and transferring the bins at the preset areas corresponding to the internal conveying tracks on different layers to the same transfer conveying track.

In an alternative embodiment, the bin transfer device comprises at least one first bin transfer mechanism, a multi-level bin conveyor mechanism, a second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to each level of the bin conveyor mechanism, and a lifting mechanism corresponding to each second bin transfer mechanism;

the multiple workbins that will be on different layers of temporary storage mechanism of robot transfer to same transfer track on, include:

controlling the first bin transfer mechanism to lift the bins from the robot and transfer the bins to the bin conveying mechanisms on different layers based on the first bin transfer instruction;

controlling each layer of the material box conveying mechanism to drive the material box to a preset area corresponding to the layer of the material box conveying mechanism; projections of the preset areas corresponding to the conveying mechanisms of the material boxes in different layers on a horizontal plane are not overlapped;

the second material box transfer mechanism corresponding to each layer of the material box conveying mechanism is respectively controlled, and the material box is hooked to the lifting mechanism corresponding to the second material box transfer mechanism from the material box conveying mechanism; wherein the projections of different second bin transfer mechanisms on the horizontal plane do not overlap;

and respectively controlling the lifting mechanisms to transfer the workbins to the same transfer conveying track.

In an alternative embodiment, the first bin transfer mechanism comprises a plurality of first lift forks; the first jacking fork is a comb-shaped mechanism; the bin conveying mechanism is a comb-shaped mechanism; the comb mechanism comprises comb teeth; the projections of the comb teeth of the temporary storage mechanism and the comb teeth of the first jacking fork on the horizontal plane are not overlapped; the comb teeth of the first jacking fork and the comb teeth of the feed box conveying mechanism are not overlapped in projection on the horizontal plane.

In an alternative embodiment, the first bin transfer mechanism comprises a first drive unit, a first rail assembly; the first driving unit is connected with the first guide rail assembly; the plurality of first jacking forks are slidably assembled on the first guide rail assembly; each layer of the work bin conveying mechanism is correspondingly matched with one first jacking fork;

the control of the first bin transfer mechanism to lift the bins from the robot and transfer the bins to the bin conveying mechanisms on different layers comprises the following steps:

controlling the first driving unit to drive the first guide rail assembly to rotate and drive the first jacking fork to move along the vertical direction so as to lift the plurality of work bins on different layers of temporary storage mechanisms of the robot;

controlling the first driving unit to drive the first guide rail assembly to rotate and drive the first jacking fork to move to a first initial position along the vertical direction so as to transfer the plurality of work bins to the work bin conveying mechanisms on different layers; the height of the first initial position of the first jacking fork is lower than the height of the surface of the corresponding layer of the work bin conveying mechanism for placing the work bin.

In an alternative embodiment, the magazine transport mechanism comprises an internal transport rail and a transport rail drive unit; the bin transferring device comprises at least one limiting block;

every layer of control workbin conveying mechanism drives the workbin is to the preset region that this layer of workbin conveying mechanism corresponds, includes:

and controlling each layer of conveying track driving unit to drive the internal conveying track and driving the workbin to reach the corresponding layer, wherein the limiting blocks limit the preset area of the workbin.

In an alternative embodiment, the second bin transfer mechanism comprises a first tie bar drive unit, a first tie bar mechanism and a first shifting block; the second material box transfer mechanism is fixedly assembled on the corresponding lifting mechanism; the first shifting block is arranged at one end of the first pull rod mechanism; the first pull rod driving unit is arranged at the other end of the first pull rod mechanism;

each layer of control respectively workbin conveying mechanism corresponds second workbin transfer mechanism will the workbin is followed workbin conveying mechanism colludes and gets this second workbin transfer mechanism and corresponds on the elevating system, include:

and respectively controlling the first pull rod driving unit corresponding to each layer of the material box conveying mechanism to drive the first pull rod mechanism, and hooking the material box to the lifting mechanism corresponding to the second material box transfer mechanism by using a first shifting block.

In an alternative embodiment, the lifting mechanism comprises a second driving unit, a second guide rail assembly and a second jacking fork; the second driving unit is connected with the second guide rail assembly; the second jacking fork is assembled on the second guide rail assembly in a sliding mode;

the second jacking fork is a comb-shaped mechanism; the comb teeth of the second jacking fork are not overlapped with the projection on the horizontal plane of the comb teeth of the feed box conveying mechanism;

respectively control elevating system will the workbin shifts to same transfer delivery track on, include:

and respectively controlling the second driving unit to drive the second guide rail assembly to rotate and drive the second jacking fork to move along the vertical direction, so that the material box is transferred to the same transfer conveying track.

In an alternative embodiment, the bin transfer device comprises at least a first bin transfer mechanism, a multi-level bin conveyor mechanism, a second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to each level of the bin conveyor mechanism, a lift mechanism corresponding to each second bin transfer mechanism, and a third bin transfer mechanism;

controlling the first bin transfer mechanism to transfer the rest bins of the robot except the bins on the bottom temporary storage mechanism to the corresponding layer of bin conveying mechanism based on the first bin transfer instruction;

controlling each layer of the material box conveying mechanism to drive the material box to a preset area corresponding to the layer of the material box conveying mechanism;

the second material box transfer mechanism corresponding to each layer of the material box conveying mechanism is respectively controlled, and the material box is hooked to the lifting mechanism corresponding to the second material box transfer mechanism from the material box conveying mechanism;

respectively controlling the lifting mechanisms to transfer the workbins to the same transfer conveying track;

and controlling the third material box transfer mechanism to transfer the material box on the temporary storage mechanism at the bottommost layer of the robot to the transfer conveying track.

In an alternative embodiment, said third bin transfer mechanism comprises a jacking mechanism; the jacking mechanism is a comb-shaped mechanism; the transfer conveying track is a comb-shaped mechanism; the comb mechanism comprises comb teeth;

the projections of the comb teeth of the temporary storage mechanism and the comb teeth of the jacking mechanism on the horizontal plane are not overlapped;

the projections of the comb teeth of the jacking mechanism and the comb teeth of the transfer conveying track on the horizontal plane are not overlapped.

In an alternative embodiment, the transferring of multiple bins on the same transfer conveyor track to different deck buffer of the robot comprises:

based on the second bin transferring instruction, respectively controlling each lifting mechanism to lift the bin to a position with the same height of the preset area corresponding to the second bin transferring mechanism corresponding to the lifting mechanism;

respectively controlling the second material box transfer mechanism corresponding to each lifting mechanism to transfer the material boxes to the preset areas corresponding to the second material box transfer mechanisms;

controlling the material box conveying mechanisms on the corresponding layer to transfer the material boxes to the material box butt joint position of the layer;

and controlling the first bin transferring mechanism to transfer the bins on the bin conveying mechanism to different layers of temporary storage mechanisms of the robot.

based on the second bin transfer instruction, respectively controlling each lifting mechanism to lift the bin to a position with the same height of the preset area corresponding to the second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to the lifting mechanism;

respectively controlling the second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to each lifting mechanism, and transferring the bins to preset areas corresponding to the second bin transfer mechanisms;

controlling the first bin transfer mechanism to transfer bins on the bin conveying mechanism to different layers of the temporary storage mechanisms of the robot except for the temporary storage mechanism at the bottommost layer;

and controlling the third workbin transfer mechanism to transfer the workbin on the target area of the transfer conveying track to the temporary storage mechanism at the bottommost layer of the robot.

In an alternative embodiment, the bin transfer apparatus comprises at least one first bin transfer mechanism, a multi-tier bin conveyor mechanism, a second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to each tier of the bin conveyor mechanism, and at least one lift mechanism;

controlling each layer of the material box conveying mechanism to drive the material boxes to be transferred to the preset area corresponding to the layer of the material box conveying mechanism;

the second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to each layer of bin conveying mechanism is respectively controlled, and the bins are hooked to the lifting mechanism corresponding to the second bin transfer mechanism from the bin conveying mechanism;

and controlling the lifting mechanism to transfer the workbins to the same transfer conveying track.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a bin transfer method, which is applied to the robot and the first bin transfer device and comprises the following steps:

s1000, the robot moves to a material box butt joint position enabling the temporary storage mechanism to enter the first material box transfer device;

before the step S1000, a step of picking the bin from the shelf by a robot is also included. Namely, the robot can pick out the workbins in corresponding positions from different goods shelves one by one according to corresponding control instructions and place the workbins on different temporary storage mechanisms.

The robot moves into docking with the first bin transfer device and positions its different temporary storage mechanisms in the bin docking positions of the different internal transport tracks of the first bin transfer device.

Step S2000, in response to the instruction that the temporary storage mechanism of the robot reaches the butt joint position of the material boxes, in the process that the first driving unit of the first material box transfer device drives the first material box transfer mechanism to move from the first position to the second position, the first material box transfer mechanism penetrates through the notch of the temporary storage mechanism of the robot and jacks up the material boxes on the temporary storage mechanism;

in this step, the magazines on the different buffer means are simultaneously lifted by the first magazine transfer means.

Step S3000, the robot moves to a work bin butt joint position enabling the temporary storage mechanism to leave the first work bin transfer device;

after receiving the control command, the robot leaves the bin position of the first bin transfer device, so that the first bin transfer mechanism and the bin on the first bin transfer mechanism can directly fall downwards.

And step S4000, responding to the command of leaving the temporary storage mechanism of the robot, driving the first bin transfer mechanism to move from the second position to the first position by the first driving unit of the first bin transfer device, and enabling the bin on the first bin transfer mechanism to fall on the inner conveying track.

When the robot leaves the bin position of the first bin transfer device, the first driving unit drives the first bin transfer mechanism to move to the first position, and when the first bin transfer mechanism falls below the end face of the inner conveying rail, the bin falls on the inner conveying rail. Thereby, the simultaneous transfer of a plurality of bins on the robot to different internal transport tracks of the first bin transfer device is accomplished.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the first bin transfer device comprises a transfer conveying track, a second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to a preset area of the internal conveying track, and a lifting mechanism corresponding to the second bin transfer mechanism; after step S4000, the method further includes:

step S5000, driving the material box positioned on the material box butt joint position to a preset area by the internal conveying track;

the internal conveying track can be driven by a corresponding driving mechanism to convey the material box on the internal conveying track until the material box is conveyed to a preset area.

Step S6000, in response to the signal that the bin reaches the preset area, the second bin transfer mechanism hooks the bin located in the preset area of the internal conveying track onto the lifting mechanism; the material box is transferred to a transfer conveying rail by a lifting mechanism;

when the workbin is conveyed to the preset area on the inner conveying track, the second workbin transfer mechanism hooks the workbin on the inner conveying track onto the lifting mechanism, and the lifting mechanism descends to enable the workbin on the lifting mechanism to fall on the transfer conveying track.

The inner conveying rail of each layer corresponds to one group of the second bin transferring mechanisms and the lifting mechanisms, and the projections of the preset areas of the inner conveying rail of each layer on the horizontal plane are not overlapped, so that the bins on the inner conveying rail of each layer can be transferred to the transfer conveying rail at the same time or controlled independently without being influenced by each other.

And S7000, conveying the workbin to an external conveying line by the transfer conveying rail.

The transfer conveying track is connected with the external conveying line in a butt joint mode, and the work bin can be directly conveyed to the external conveying line through the driving of the corresponding driving mechanism, so that the work bin can be correspondingly operated on the external conveying line.

In one embodiment of the disclosed bin transfer method, further comprising a second bin transfer device, comprising the steps of:

step 4000', the first bin transfer mechanism jacks up the bin positioned on the internal conveying track bin butting position in the process that the first driving unit of the second bin transfer device drives the first bin transfer mechanism to move from the first position to the second position;

this step is the reverse of step S4000, where the bin is located on the inner conveyor track, and the first bin transfer mechanism lifts and moves the bin to the second position as the first bin transfer mechanism moves from the first position to the second position.

Step S5000', the robot moves to enable the temporary storage mechanism to enter a material box butt joint position of the second material box transfer device;

the temporary storage mechanism of the robot enters the bin butt joint position of the second bin transfer device, namely between the inner conveying track of the corresponding layer and the first bin transfer mechanism.

Step S6000', in response to the instruction that the temporary storage mechanism of the robot reaches the butt joint of the material boxes, in the process that the first driving unit of the second material box transfer device drives the first material box transfer mechanism to move from the second position to the first position, the first material box transfer mechanism penetrates through the notch of the temporary storage mechanism of the robot, and the material boxes on the first material box transfer mechanism fall on the temporary storage mechanism of the robot;

in step S7000', the robot moves to the work bin docking station where the temporary storage mechanism is separated from the second work bin transfer device.

At the moment, a work bin is temporarily stored on the temporary storage mechanism of the robot, so that the work bin can be conveyed to a preset position to be stored.

In one embodiment of the disclosed bin transfer method, the second bin transfer device comprises a transfer conveying track, a second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to a preset area of the internal conveying track, and a lifting mechanism corresponding to the second bin transfer mechanism; before the step S4000', the method further includes:

step S1000', a transfer conveying rail of the second bin transferring device conveys bins from an external conveying line to a preset area;

the outer conveyor line interfaces with the transfer conveyor track of the second bin transfer device such that the bins, after being processed on the outer conveyor line, may be conveyed along the outer conveyor line directly onto the transfer conveyor track of the second bin transfer device.

Step S2000', in response to a signal that the bin reaches a preset area, the lifting mechanism of the second bin transfer device jacks up the bin on the transfer conveying rail to a position corresponding to the inner conveying rail; the second bin transfer mechanism of the second bin transfer device pushes the bin on the lifting mechanism to a preset area of the internal conveying track;

when the workbins are conveyed to the preset area of the transfer conveying track, the lifting mechanism moves from the first position to the second position, and in the lifting process of the lifting mechanism, the workbins on the transfer conveying track are lifted to the position of the inner conveying track of the corresponding layer. At the moment, the material box on the lifting mechanism can be pushed to the preset area of the internal conveying track through the second material box transferring mechanism.

And step S3000', the internal conveying track of the second bin transferring device conveys the bin in the preset area to the bin butt joint position.

In one embodiment of the disclosed bin transfer method, after step S7000', the method further comprises:

the robot stores the bins on different temporary storage mechanisms on corresponding positions of at least one shelf through the bin taking and returning assembly.

After receiving the work bin from the second work bin transferring device, the temporary storage mechanism of the robot can transfer work bins on different temporary storage mechanisms to the response position of the shelf according to a preset instruction. The bins of different buffer units of the same robot may need to be stored on one shelf or on different shelves, which will not be described in detail here.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and these embodiments are based on different implementations of the overall concept of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure should be covered by the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A robot, comprising:

a chassis assembly;

the gantry assembly is arranged on the chassis assembly;

a retrieval and retrieval box assembly controlled by a lift assembly to move up and down along the gantry assembly;

2. The robot of claim 1, wherein: the notch extends from the free end position of the temporary storage mechanism to the opposite end direction of the temporary storage mechanism.

3. The robot of claim 1, wherein: the temporary storage mechanism is in a U-shaped structure; or the number of the gaps is at least two, and the temporary storage mechanism is of a comb-tooth-shaped structure.

4. A robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein a guide assembly is provided on the mast assembly at a position above each tier of staging mechanisms, the guide assembly having an open area and being configured to position a bin to be conveyed to a respective staging mechanism.

5. A robot as claimed in claim 4, wherein the guide assembly comprises two spaced apart guide bars, the spacing between the two guide bars corresponding to the size of the magazine.

6. The robot of claim 5, wherein the free ends of the two guide bars each extend outwardly to form a flared structure.

7. A robot as claimed in claim 4, wherein the guide assembly is mounted on the mast assembly in a height adjustable manner.

8. A robot as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the buffer storage comprises a base plate and upwardly extending stiles connected to the base plate, the stiles and the base plate enclosing a tray structure for buffering the bins.

9. The robot of claim 8, wherein upper ends of the stiles are each angled outwardly to form a flare.

10. A bin transfer apparatus having a bin docking station, comprising:

at least two layers of internal conveying tracks, wherein the internal conveying tracks are configured to convey the bins positioned in the bin butt joint position to respective preset areas; or conveying the material box positioned in the preset area to a material box butt joint position;

a first bin transfer mechanism corresponding to the internal conveyor track bin docking station, the first bin transfer mechanism controlled by a first drive unit to reciprocate between a first position and a second position of the bin docking station;

the first bin transfer mechanism is configured to jack up a bin above the robotic staging mechanism when in the second position;

the first bin transfer mechanism is configured to jack up a bin on the staging mechanism when moving from a first position through the notch of the staging mechanism to a second position;

the first bin transfer mechanism is configured to place a bin on the staging mechanism when moved from the second position through the notch of the staging mechanism to the first position.

11. The bin transfer device according to claim 10, wherein the first bin transfer mechanism comprises a first jacking fork.

12. The bin transfer device according to claim 11, wherein said first lifting fork is a comb mechanism; the comb teeth of the first jacking fork and the roller of the inner conveying track do not overlap in projection on the horizontal plane.

13. The bin transfer device according to claim 11, wherein the number of said first jacking forks corresponds to the number of said inner conveying tracks; the first bin transfer mechanism further comprises a first guide rail assembly; each first jacking fork is arranged on the first guide rail assembly;

the first guide rail assembly is configured to drive each first jacking fork to move along the vertical direction under the driving of the first driving unit so as to lift the material box in the butt joint position of the material boxes of the corresponding layer.

14. The bin transfer device according to claim 10, wherein there are two bin docking stations of the bin transfer device, one at each end of the inner conveyor track; the first material box transfer mechanisms are provided with two material box butt-joint positions respectively corresponding to the material box transfer devices.

15. The bin transfer device according to claim 10, further comprising at least one stop block; the stopper is configured to restrict the bin moving on the inner conveying rail to a predetermined region position.

16. The bin transfer device according to claim 15, further comprising a sensor corresponding to each said stop block; the sensor is configured to detect whether the bin reaches the preset area;

the stopper is constructed to, detect at the sensor the workbin reachs preset when regional the lift is to preset the height, in order will the workbin is injectd in the inside delivery track with the regional department of presetting that the stopper corresponds.

17. The bin transfer device according to claim 16, characterised in that at least two of said limit blocks are provided at predetermined areas of the internal conveying track of each layer; at least two limiting blocks are respectively used for blocking two opposite sides of the material box; or be configured to block separately bins from different directions.

18. The bin transfer device according to claim 10, comprising a second bin transfer mechanism corresponding to a preset area of the internal conveying track, and a lifting mechanism corresponding to said second bin transfer mechanism;

the second bin transfer mechanism is configured to hook bins on the internal transport track onto the lifting mechanism; the lifting mechanism is configured to transfer the bins onto the same transfer conveyor track; or,

19. The bin transfer device according to claim 18, wherein said second bin transfer mechanism comprises a first tie bar mechanism, a first paddle, and a first tie bar drive unit;

20. The bin transfer device according to claim 19, wherein the second bin transfer mechanism comprises a first pusher arranged on a first drawbar mechanism configured to drive the first pusher to push the bin on the lifting mechanism onto the corresponding inner conveyor rail under the drive of the first drawbar drive unit.

21. The bin transfer device according to claim 18, wherein the lifting mechanism comprises a second drive unit, a second jacking fork slidably fitted on the bin transfer device;

the second driving unit is configured to drive the second jacking fork to move along the vertical direction to be lower than the transfer conveying rail, and transfer the material box on the lifting mechanism to the transfer conveying rail; or when the second jacking fork is driven to move to a position higher than the transfer conveying rail along the vertical direction, the material box on the transfer conveying rail is transferred to the lifting mechanism.

22. The bin transfer device according to claim 18, wherein at least two of said second bin transfer mechanism and said lifting mechanism are provided, corresponding to each layer of internal conveying track, respectively, and the projections of each second bin transfer mechanism and each said lifting mechanism on the horizontal plane do not overlap;

23. The bin transfer device according to claim 18 wherein the transfer conveyor track is located in an inner conveyor track and is provided with the first bin transfer mechanism corresponding to the transfer conveyor track;

when the first material box transfer mechanism is located at the first position, the height of the first material box transfer mechanism is lower than that of the transfer conveying track;

24. The bin transfer device according to claim 18 wherein the transfer conveyor track is located in an inner conveyor track; the third material box transfer mechanism is configured to transfer the material box on the temporary storage mechanism corresponding to the robot to the transfer conveying rail or transfer the material box on the transfer conveying rail to the temporary storage mechanism corresponding to the robot.

25. The bin transfer device according to claim 24, wherein said third bin transfer mechanism comprises a jacking mechanism and a tie bar transfer mechanism; the jacking mechanism is provided with a first position and a second position;

the pull rod transfer mechanism is configured to: transferring the material box on the jacking mechanism to an upper area of the corresponding transfer conveying track along the jacking mechanism; or, the material box on the jacking mechanism and above the transfer conveying track is pushed to a position corresponding to the position above the temporary storage mechanism of the robot along the jacking mechanism.

26. The bin transfer device according to claim 25 wherein the tie bar transfer mechanism comprises a second tie bar mechanism, a second paddle block, a second tie bar drive unit;

27. The bin transfer device according to claim 26 wherein the tie bar transfer mechanism comprises a second pusher on a second tie bar mechanism;

the second pull rod mechanism is driven by the second pull rod driving unit to drive the second push block to push the jacking mechanism feeding box from a position above the corresponding transfer conveying rail to a position corresponding to the robot temporary storage mechanism along the jacking mechanism.

28. A bin transfer device according to claim 24 wherein said transfer conveyor track is located on the bottom floor of the bin transfer device.

29. A bin transfer system comprising a robot according to any one of claims 1 to 9, and a bin transfer device according to any one of claims 10 to 28;

30. The bin transfer system according to claim 29 further comprising at least one rack, the robot configured to drive selected bins from the at least one rack one by one onto different staging mechanisms via a pick and return bin assembly; or, alternatively, the number of the first and second,

the robot is configured to transfer the bins of different temporary storage mechanisms to corresponding positions of at least one shelf for storage by taking and returning the bins.

31. A bin transfer system according to claim 29 or 30, wherein said bin transfer device comprises a first bin transfer device and a second bin transfer device; the transfer conveying track in the first material box transfer device is butted with the input end of the external conveying line; a transfer conveying track in the second material box transfer device is in butt joint with the output end of the external conveying line;

32. The bin transfer system according to claim 31, wherein said external conveying line is a bin picking or packing line.