EP4083349B1

EP4083349B1 - Mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system

Info

Publication number: EP4083349B1
Application number: EP22167166.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Meysam TAGHAVI
Original assignee: Wienerberger AG
Current assignee: Wienerberger AG
Priority date: 2021-04-29
Filing date: 2022-04-07
Publication date: 2024-07-24
Anticipated expiration: 2042-04-07
Also published as: AT525022A1; EP4083349A1; AT525022B1

Description

The present invention relates to a mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system.
Hitherto, walls for houses are built onsite by human construction workers. The disadvantages of human construction workers are a slow building speed and costs due to a high number of working hours. Further, human labour on construction sites involves different dangers, risks, and health issues (e.g. chronic back pain) for the construction workers and, in addition to this, needs performance improvements. The automation level of different industries, like the car industry, has been increased notably in the last decades. Although the construction sector has been demanding the use of automation and robotics in recent times, and this sector is still growing, but the presence of semiautomatic systems or even automatic systems is rare or not existent. It suffers from the lack of construction dedicated automatic systems.
A known approach utilizes a semiautomatic method with a wall building system. Said system is located in a factory and assembles single bricks together to manufacture a wall. Afterwards, the manufactured wall is transported to the building site. The disadvantages of this approach are, that the premanufactured walls need to be transported to the building site with large transportation devices like trucks, particularly low-bed trucks over long distances and further, that adjustments cannot be easily made onsite. Said walls need to be prepared for transport and often even holes need to be drilled in said walls to transport them and particularly to mount them with straps or other fasteners on a trailer or to a crane or to any other suitable transportation systems. Said walls might be damaged during transport and delays in delivery might happen. If a wall doesn't fit on its final destination, another wall with corrected sizes or other adjustments needs to be manufactured at the factory and transported to the building site again. Thus, time is lost and costs are increased. Further, this approach needs human labour for different duties. The transportation of prefabricated walls and therefore also the transportation of prefabricated walls with corrected sizes from a factory to the building site further produces a huge amount of CO₂, which is harmful for the environment and needs to be avoided.
The WO 2018/009981 A1 discloses a a truck which supports a complex brick laying machine which is mounted on a frame on the chassis of the truck. In contrast to the present invention, a boom and stick assembly lays single bricks on site via a gripper.
The CN 205 990 775 U discloses an automatic wall building machine whereby bricks are transported along an arm, whereby an infrared sensor detects bricks at a certain point and a wall-laying linkage manipulator grabs single bricks and lays them on site. In contrast to the present invention, the single bricks are laid on site and the prefabricated wall segments are not assembled on the platform.
The CN 108 222 527 A discloses a fully automatic bricklaying robot comprising a big arm comprising compartments and a small arm. The big arm comprises a transport system with clamps to transport the bricks alongside it. The end arm moves, thereby moving a second mechanical arm to the position where the wall needs to be built. In contrast to the present invention, the single bricks are laid on site and the prefabricated wall segments are not assembled on the platform.
The US 3834973 A discloses an apparatus and method for automatically fabricating modular sections of masonry type walls. Said apparatus comprises at least one platform, means for feeding concrete blocks in selected sequence onto a lineally movable course shuttle, means for applying head and bed mortar to blocks of a course and to the course and further a wall building unit to build wall segments. In contrast to the present invention, a depalletizing unit is not used.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks of the state of the art by providing a mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system with which manual labour and effort to build a building as well as dangers and risks for construction workers and labour costs can be reduced.
According to the invention, the aforementioned object is solved by the features of claim 1.
As a result, the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system fulfils the object and has the advantages, that wall segments can be manufactured onsite in an easy, precise and fast way and effort, manual labour and thus, labour costs are reduced. Due to the automatization, dangers and risks for human beings are reduced and a healthier environment for human workers is provided. Adjustments can be easily made onsite because new adjusted wall segments can be manufactured directly at the building site. Herethrough unnecessary CO₂ production due to transport of walls with corrected sizes can be avoided. Coordination of several human construction workers can be omitted and repetitive tasks are handled by the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system. The mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system can further build walls segments with different shape, geometry and details like different sizes, different window locations and different window sizes and it can further use different block types, materials, and sizes.
Further advantages of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system are that the system is suitable for universal and flexible use and can be transported in an easy way. Due to the fact, that the depalletizing unit and the wall building unit are arranged on at least one platform, the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system can be transported directly to the building site and no further plants or machines need to be assembled at the building site by human workers. Further the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system doesn't need a big storage area and it is mobile and flexible to use.
It is a further object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks of the state of the art by providing a method with which manual labour and effort to build a building as well as dangers and risks for construction workers and labour costs can be reduced and a healthier environment for construction workers can be created.
According to the invention, said object is solved by the features of claim 10.
The advantages of the method comply with the advantages of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system.
The dependent claims describe further preferred embodiments of the invention.
The invention is described with reference to the drawings. The drawings show only exemplary embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 1 illustrates a first preferred embodiment of a mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system in an axonometric projection;
Fig. 2 illustrates the first preferred embodiment of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system in a rear view;
Fig. 3 illustrates the first preferred embodiment of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system in another axonometric projection;
Fig. 4 illustrates the first preferred embodiment of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system in a side view;
Fig. 5 an enlarged Detail A of fig. 7 in an axonometric projection;
Fig. 6 an enlarged Detail B of fig. 7 in an axonometric projection;
Fig. 7 illustrates the first preferred embodiment of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system in another axonometric projection;
Fig. 8 illustrates the first preferred embodiment of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system in a top view;
Fig. 9 illustrates the first preferred embodiment of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system with a closed container and an invisible sidewall in a side view;
Fig. 10 illustrates the first preferred embodiment of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system with a closed container in an axonometric projection;
Fig. 11 illustrates a second preferred embodiment of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system with an external conveyor in an axonometric projection;
Fig. 12 illustrates a gripper of a third preferred embodiment of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system in an axonometric projection, which can handle one or a few blocks, and
Fig. 13 illustrates a gripper of a fourth preferred embodiment of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system in an axonometric projection, which can handle a complete row of blocks.

Fig. 1 to 13 illustrate at least parts of preferred embodiments of a mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 comprising at least one platform, whereby a depalletizing unit 3 for unpacking blocks from pallets 4 and a wall building unit 5 to build wall segments 10 with said blocks provided by the depalletizing unit 3 are arranged on the at least one platform.
Further, an automatic method for manufacturing walls is provided, whereby a depalletizing unit 3 unpacks blocks from pallets 4 and provides said blocks to a wall building unit 5, whereby the depalletizing unit 3 and the wall building unit 5 are arranged on at least one platform, whereby the wall building unit 5 assembles blocks to manufacture wall segments 10.
As a result, the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 fulfils the object and has the advantages, that wall segments 10 can be manufactured onsite in an easy, precise and fast way and effort, manual labour and thus, labour costs are reduced. Due to the automatization, dangers and risks for human beings are reduced. Adjustments can be easily made onsite because new adjusted wall segments 10 can be manufactured directly at the building site. Coordination of several human construction workers can be omitted and repetitive tasks are handled by the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1. The mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 can further build wall segments 10 with different geometry and details like different sizes, different window locations and different window sizes and it can further use different block types, materials and sizes.
Further advantages of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 are that the system 1 is suitable for universal and flexible use and can be transported in an easy way. Due to the fact, that the depalletizing unit 3 and the wall building unit 5 are arranged on at least one platform, the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 can be transported directly to the building site and no further plants or machines need to be assembled at the building site by human workers. Further the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 doesn't need a big storage area and it is mobile and flexible to use.
The mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 is automatic and comprises at least one platform, arranged on said at least one platform a depalletizing unit 3 for unpacking blocks from pallets 4 and a wall building unit 5 to build wall segments 10 with said blocks provided by the depalletizing unit 3. The wall building unit 5 is preferably mounted on the at least one platform.
It is intended, that the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 is transported to the building site to build wall segments 10 directly on site. It can be provided that the at least one platform is static during the construction of the wall segments 10. The finished wall segments 10 are preferably lifted to their final position after being manufactured by the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1. The building is built by connecting the different the wall segments 10 together.
The wall segments 10 could also be called wall sections and comprise a section of the building to be build. Said wall segments can 10 comprise a plurality of blocks.
It is intended, that the number of blocks for each wall segment 10 is predefined and thus the length and height of said wall segments 10 is predefined.
Alternatively, if the number of blocks is not predefined, the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 can perform measurements on site and build a wall segment 10 or a complete wall with correct measurements on site.
Preferably, the length of the wall segment 10 is at least 2 meters.
Preferably, the height of the wall segment 10 is at least 1 meter.
The blocks can preferably be wall bricks, particularly clay bricks that are commonly used to build walls for houses and carry its load. Wall bricks are usually bigger than facade bricks and can weight more than 15 kg.
Wall bricks can preferably weight up to 22 kg.
Alternatively, the blocks can be facade bricks or blocks from a different material like calcium cilicate (CaSi), autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC), or concrete masonry units (CMU).
It can be preferred, that the blocks have a width of at least 10 cm, a length of at least 20 cm and a height of at least 5 cm.
It may be preferred, that the blocks have a width of at least 20 cm, a length of at least 35 cm and a height of at least 20 cm.
The blocks are preferably rectangular blocks and the wall segments 10 are preferably rectangular and comprise right angles.
It is intended, that the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 is compatible with usual blocks as well as special blocks, e.g. blocks with no rectangular angles. The blocks preferably comprise at least one groove on one end and at least one tongue on the opposite end.
It can be preferred, that some wall segments 10 comprise openings for windows and/or doors.
The wall building unit 5 and the depalletizing unit 3 are arranged on the same platform. Therefore, the wall building unit 5 and the depalletizing unit 3 can be transported together.
Alternatively, and not according to the invention, the wall building unit 5 and the depalletizing unit 3 can be arranged on different platforms. Hereby, the wall building unit 5 and the depalletizing unit 3 can be transported separately to the construction site. For building the wall segments 10, the platforms can be located next to each other.
It can be preferred, that the at least one platform is a baseplate of at least one container 2, whereby the at least one container 2 comprises at least one opening 6 for at least the wall building robot 5 to reach out of said container 2.
It can be preferred, that the at least one opening is closable. In case of bad weather conditions, the at least one container 2 can be closed in an easy and fast way and the access to the wall building robot 5 and the depalletizing unit 3 is denied for people without permission.
It can be preferred, that the at least one container 2 is a transportable container 2 which is intended to be attached or integrated to a vehicle and transported to the building site.
It may be preferred, that the the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 comprises the vehicle. In this embodiment, the vehicle is part of the the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 and constantly attached to the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1.
The at least one container 2 can preferably be, but is not limited to, an ISO-container, particularly a 20 ft or 40 ft standard container.
Preferably, the at least one container 2 is embodied as a trailer 18. The at least one container 2 can therefore be easily coupled to a transportation device like a truck and transported to different building sites.
Preferably, the depalletizing unit 3 comprises a loading area 9, where pallets 4 can be unloaded and stored.
The at least one container 2 particularly comprises a closable opening which is located at the loading area 9 in order to load the pallets 4 in the loading area 9. Once the pallets 4 are loaded in said loading area 9, the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 can manufacture wall segments 10 fully automatic.
Therefore, the input of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 is one or more than one pallet 4 and the output is at least one wall segment 10. Even the loading of the pallets 4 in the loading area 9 may be automatized and a loading robot may be used. The pallets 4 therefore comprise a plurality of blocks.
The depalletizing unit 3 unpacks said blocks automatically and preferably puts them on the at least one conveyor 7, 11, 12, 17. The blocks can be different blocks with a different size and composition. For example, two or more pallets 4 with different blocks can be stored next to each other at the loading area 9. A loading area 9 is exemplarily shown in Figs. 1 to 4, 7 to 9, 11 and particularly in Fig. 6. The wall segment 10 could also be called prefabricated wall. The wall segments 10 are preferably based on a 3D CAD of the building. It can be preferred, that the wall segments 10 or walls are straight, or alternatively, that the wall segments 10 or walls have different geometric forms, e.g. curved walls. It can also be preferred, that the wall segments 10 consist of blocks which have been arranged shifted from each other.
The loading area 9 can be loaded with pallets 4 by means of a forklift 14 or any other loading device that is suitable to lift pallets 4 into the loading area 9.
The depalletizing unit 3 is arranged at a first end of the at least one platform and that the wall building unit 5 is arranged at a second end of the at least one platform which second end is located opposite to the first end, which is exemplarily shown in Fig. 7. It can be especially be provided that the space between the depalletizing unit 3 and the building unit 5 is used as a buffer space for the blocks.
According to another preferred embodiment, the wall building unit 5 is movably arranged on the at least one platform. The wall building unit 5 could be mounted on an additional linear track to increase the working area in the length direction, or it can be mounted on a lifting platform to increase the height of the working space.
It may also be preferred, that the depalletizing unit 3 provides the blocks directly to the wall building unit 5.
It can also be preferred, that the depalletizing unit 3 and the wall building unit 5 are one combined, specifically, one integrated unified system. In addition, it could also be preferred, that the depalletizing unit 3 and the wall building unit 5 could be two robots/systems working collaboratively and together as a unified system and share the task of depalletizing and building.
Preferably, at least one conveyor 7, 11, 12, 17 is arranged between the depalletizing unit 3 and the wall building unit 5 in order to transport blocks from the depalletizing unit 3 to the wall building unit 5.
It can be preferred, that the length of the at least one conveyor 7 covers at least 50% of the length of the at least one platform.
It can be preferred, that a first conveyor 7,11 is arranged parallel to a sidewall of the at least one container 2, whereby a part of the first conveyor 7,11 is arranged between the sidewall and the wall building unit 5. Therefore, blocks can be directly transported to the wall building unit 5 and the first conveyor 7, 11 can be built straight and in an easy way.
It can further be preferred, that a second conveyor 7,12 is arranged parallel to the first conveyor 7,11.
The second conveyor 7, 12 might be used to store blocks and to transport blocks from the depalletizing unit 3 to the wall building unit 5. The second conveyor 7, 12 can preferably be straight or it can comprise one or more than one curves.
It can also be preferred, that the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 comprises a third conveyor 7, 15. The third conveyor 7, 15 can preferably be straight or it can comprise one or more than one curves. The third conveyor 7, 15 might preferably be used to store blocks.
It can also be preferred, that the conveyors 7, 11, 12,17 cover at least 50%, particularly at least 60%, preferably at least 70%, of the platform, particularly the surface area of the container 2. Therefore, the space on the platform and specifically inside the container 2 can be used in an efficient way. Therefore, various blocks can be stored on the at least one conveyor 7, 11, 12, 17 until they arrive at the wall building unit 5.
Preferably, the wall building unit 5 comprises at least one wall building robot. The at least one wall building robot can comprise at least one robotic arm and/or a cartesian system or any other dedicated system. The robotic arm or the cartesian system might simultaneously pick up one or more than one blocks. The robotic arm may comprise a vacuum lifting device or a gripper 19. The embodiments in the Fig. 1 to 13 have robotic arms with grippers 19, which are not displayed in the Fig. 1 to 11.
It can also be preferred, that the wall building unit 5 comprises more than one wall building robot, whereby the robots work together, also collaboratively. E.g. one robot could apply mortar, another robot could put the bricks on their desired position.
It can be preferred, that the depalletizing unit 3 comprises at least one depalletizing robot. The at least one depalletizing robot can comprise at least one robotic arm and/or a cartesian system or it can be a delta robot or any other dedicated system. A cartesian system is exemplarily illustrated in Fig. 6.
Alternatively, the depalletizing unit 3 may be embodied as a gantry system.
According to another preferred embodiment, at least one cutting unit 8 for cutting blocks is arranged between the first end and second end of the at least one platform.
The cutting unit 8 can preferably be a cutting robot, for example, with a circular saw.
Preferably, the third conveyor 7, 15 extends from the depalletizing unit 3 to the cutting unit 8.
It can also be preferred, that a supply unit 16 is provided to move single blocks or parts of blocks on the at least one conveyor 7, 11, 12, 17 and/or between different conveyors 7, 11, 12, 17. The supply unit 16 can particularly be a supply robot with at least one robotic arm, which is exemplarily shown in Fig.1 and 5.
It can also be preferred, that the supply unit 16 is arranged besides the cutting unit 8 in order to provide blocks to the cutting unit 8 from the third conveyor 7, 15.
Alternatively, the supply unit 16 may be embodied as a cartesian system, which is not shown in the Figs.
It can also be preferred, that the supply unit 16 and the cutting unit 8 are one unified system.
It can further be preferred, that the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 comprises an additional cutting unit which cuts the prefabricated wall segments 10 or the wall in a specific form or shape. It could further cut out the windows or other wall details and perform diagonal cuts. The cuts might be performed with a wire. The additional cutting unit might also be designed to cut the channels for electricity or piping, or other detailing.
It can be preferred, that the supply unit 16 is located between the third conveyor 7, 15 and the cutting unit 8. In this case the supply unit 16 can pick up blocks from the third conveyor 7, 15 and provide them to the cutting unit 8.
Preferably, a fourth conveyor 7, 17 is arranged at least partially at the cutting unit 8 to store cut blocks and to transport cut blocks to the wall building unit 5.
With this arrangement, the supply unit 16 can pick up blocks from the third conveyor 7, 15 and put them on the fourth conveyor 7, 17, whereby the fourth conveyor 7, 17 transports the blocks to the cutting unit 8 and after cutting, the fourth conveyor 7, 17 transports the cut blocks to the wall building unit 5.
Alternatively, the blocks could be pre-cut in a factory.
The mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 preferably comprises a control unit. The control unit measures the blocks and calculates dimensions of the cut blocks and their orientation and position. Preferably the control unit further has at least control over the depalletizing unit 3 and/or the at least one conveyor 7, 11, 12,17 and/or the wall building unit 5 in order to ensure a proper working flow. The control unit preferably has all the information necessary regarding all wall segments 10, like dimensions of the blocks, the block type and the dimensions of the wall segments 10 that need to be manufactured for a finished building. With the term finished building finished walls made of blocks without electrical lines and wallpapers of said walls are meant. The control unit is not shown in the Figs.
It is intended, that the control unit is in knowledge of the CAD of the building and the CAD of the wall segments 10 and that the control unit is connected to the different units, especially the depalletizing unit 3, the supply unit 16 and the wall building unit 5.
It can further be preferred, that the wall building unit 5 comprises an adhesive application device to apply an adhesive onto the blocks. Therefore, the wall building unit 5 can comprise a spray nozzle, particularly a robotic arm with a spray nozzle. The adhesive might be a glue, a mortar, or particularly a thin bed mortar, that is commonly used to attach wall blocks together.
As can be seen, for example in Fig 7 and 8, the wall building unit 5 has enough reach to pick up blocks from first conveyor 7, 11, the second conveyor 7, 12 or the fourth conveyor 7, 17. Therefore, the building unit 5 can pick up different blocks, like whole blocks, cut blocks or blocks from different material and sizes which are stored on different conveyors 7, 11, 12, 17.
The mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 can directly work on site or very close to the construction site.
It can be preferred, that the whole system 1 fits inside one container 2, which is exemplarily illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10.
Alternatively it can be preferred, that the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 could be arranged in different containers 2 and be set up on-site based on requirements, for example the basic components like the depalletizing unit 3 and the wall building unit 5 could be arranged in a main container 2. Additional parts could be arranged in smaller containers and could be set up next to said main container 2 to increase the features of the the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1.
In a different embodiment, not according to the invention, the depalletizing unit 3 and the wall building unit 5 could be arranged in different containers 2. Therefore, the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 is flexible and can be arranged on one or more platforms or in on ore more containers, based on necessity.
Alternatively and not according to the invention, it can also be preferred, that the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 could be arranged on different platforms. For example, the wall building unit 5 and the depalletizing unit 3 could be arranged on different platforms. It could also be preferred, that the depalletizing unit 3 and the wall building unit 5 are arranged on a main platform and that other units are arranged on separate platforms.
Preferably, the closable opening 6 of the container 2 extends over at least a side wall of the container 2.
It may also be preferred, that the closable opening 6 of the container 2 extends over at least a side wall of the container 2 and at least over a top wall of the container 2, which is exemplarily illustrated in Fig. 3. With this approach, the wall building unit 5 has a lot of open space and can easily reach out of the container 2. Further a controller can visually check the method and adjust parameters and thus the method if needed.
It may be preferred, that the at least one side wall and/or the top wall of the container 2 can be hinged for improved access.
It may also be preferred, that all side walls of the container 2 might be opened to enable a huge closable opening 6 and to enable the wall building unit 5 to reach out of the container 2 on at least two sides.
It may also be preferred, that at least one side wall and/or the top wall can be taken off or at least partially folded together.
It can be preferred, that the wall segments 10 are assembled together from single blocks to create load bearing walls. Load bearing walls are particularly walls made of wall bricks, preferably clay bricks. It can also be preferred, that non-load bearing walls are created.
It can be preferred, which is however not forming part of the invention, that the wall segments 10 are assembled besides the platform, especially besides the container 2 in an external assembling area, where blocks are stacked together to manufacture the wall segments 10. Hereby, the wall building unit 5 assembles blocks provided by the depalletizing unit 3 in the external assembling area next to the platform. The wall segments 10 at the external assembling can than be lifted to their final position in the building.
It can further be preferred, which is however not forming part of the invention, that the wall segments 10 are assembled on an external surface, particularly on an external conveyor 13, which is located beside the platform. The external surface can be a bed or any other dedicated surface, which is located beside the platform. The finished wall segments 10 or the wall segments 10 that need to be dried, specifically cured, can be stored on said external conveyor 13 or they can be carried away from the platform in order to have space for further wall segments 10. This enables the wall building unit 5 to build the wall segments 10 at the same assembling area, since the finished wall segments 10 can be moved out of the assembling area by the external conveyor 13 when finished.
The wall segments 10 are assembled together on the at least one platform. Therefore, the platform might comprise an assembling area. The finished wall segments 10 can be lifted from the platform and in case of a container 2, outside of the container 2 to a storage place, e.g. another surface, or directly to their final destination.
The wall segments 10 can be embodied as single rows of blocks that are stacked together or they can comprise many rows that have been stacked together, which is exemplarily illustrated in Fig. 11.
Therefore, rows are manufactured on the platform and subsequently lifted off the platform, preferably outside the container 2 on the assembling area to be stored or to manufacture wall segments 10 with a plurality of rows, which is exemplarily illustrated in Fig. 11.
The external conveyor 13 can preferably be a passive omnidirectional conveyor.
Preferably, the wall segments 10 are lifted from a position next to the platform on their final destination.
Preferably, the wall segments 10 are placed on their final destination by a crane. Preferably, the crane is a construction crane, which is usually provided on a construction site.
Alternatively, the crane might be part of the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 and could be arranged on the platform, preferably inside the container 2, or the crane could be part of the trailer. This crane can preferably be used to move the prefabricated wall segments 10 to the side of the conveyor.
It can be provided that the blocks are placed one by one by the wall building unit 5 to assemble the wall segment 10. Hereby, it can be preferred that the wall building unit 5 is formed for handling a single block.
Since the building unit 5 usually have the more complex movement paths compare to the depalletizing unit 3, and/or a carefully placement of the blocks on the wall segment 10 is needed, the building unit 5 might pose a bottle neck if moving the block one by one.
Preferably, it can be provided that the wall building unit 5 is formed to move several blocks at once. Therefore, the wall building unit 5 is not slowing down the assembly process, since several blocks can be moved at once.
It can further be provided that the depalletizing unit 3 is formed to move several blocks at once. Herby, the blocks can already be arranged as groups on the pallets, and the depalletizing unit 3 can move an entire group of the blocks on the at least one conveyer 7, 11, 12, 17.
Preferably, the at least one conveyer 7, 11, 12, 17 comprises at least two segments being controlled individually. Hereby, the at least two segments can be used to push several blocks into each other to form a plurality of abutting blocks and/or separate abutting blocks on the at least one conveyer 7, 11, 12, 17. Therefore, groups of abutting blocks can be formed and separated by the at least one conveyer 7, 11, 12, 17.
It can be preferred, that the building unit 5 is formed to move up to three blocks at once. Hereby, small groups of blocks can be moved in one step by the building unit 5 to assemble the wall segment 10, thus speeding up the assembly process. In Fig. 12 a preferred embodiment is shown with the building unit 5 having a gripper 19 formed to move one or two blocks at once.
Alternatively, the building unit 5 is formed to move more than three, especially more than six, blocks at once. Herby, a group of abutting blocks having in particular the same length as the wall segment 10 can be formed on the at least one conveyer 7, 11, 12, 17 and being placed on the wall segment 10 to be build in one step by the building unit 5.
Preferably, it can be provided that the gripper 5 comprises a longitudinal support with a plurality of gripping means movably mounted on said support. At least two of the gripping means could be actuated separately, to allow the gripper 5 to move less than the maximum number of blocks, even single blocks, if necessary.
In Fig. 13 a preferred embodiment is shown with the building unit 5 having a gripper 19 formed to move a complete row of ten blocks at once.
It can further be provided that at least two of the conveyors 7, 11, 12, 17 are used to form groups of abutting blocks. Herby, a first group of blocks can be formed on of the conveyors 7, 11, 12, 17 and the formation of a second group of blocks is started on another conveyor 7, 11, 12, 17 after finishing the first group of blocks. With the mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system 1 wall segments 10 can be manufactured in mass production and the risks for construction workers as well as labour costs can be reduced.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. The exemplary embodiments should be considered as descriptive only and not for purposes of limitation. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is not defined by the detailed description but by the appended claims.
Hereinafter are principles for understanding and interpreting the actual disclosure.
Features are usually introduced with an indefinite article "one, a, an". Unless otherwise stated in the context, therefore, "one, a, an" is not to be understood as a numeral.
The conjunction "or" has to be interpreted as inclusive and not as exclusive, unless the context dictates otherwise. "A or B" also includes "A and B", where "A" and "B" represent random features.
By means of an ordering number word, for example "first", "second" or "third", in particular a feature X or an object Y is distinguished in several embodiments, unless otherwise defined by the disclosure of the invention. In particular, a feature X or object Y with an ordering number word in a claim does not mean that an embodiment of the invention covered by this claim must have a further feature X or another object Y.

Claims

Mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system (1) comprising at least one platform, whereby a depalletizing unit (3) for unpacking blocks from pallets (4) and a wall building unit (5) to build prefabricated wall segments (10) with said blocks provided by the depalletizing unit (3) are arranged on the at least one platform, whereby the depalletizing unit (3) is arranged at a first end of the at least one platform and that the wall building unit (5) is arranged at a second end of the at least one platform which second end is located opposite to the first end, whereby the prefabricated wall segments (10) are embodied as single rows of blocks that are stacked together or they are embodied of many rows that have been stacked together, whereby the wall building unit (5) is embodied to assemble together the prefabricated wall segments (10) on the at least one platform.
Mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system (1) according to claim 1, characterised in, that the at least one platform is a baseplate of at least one container (2), whereby the at least one container (2) comprises at least one opening (6) for at least the wall building robot (5) to reach out of said container (2).
Mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system (1) according to claim 2, characterised in, that the at least one container (2) is embodied as a trailer (18).
Mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system (1) according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterised in, that the wall building unit (5) is movably arranged on the at least one platform.
Mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system (1) according to one of the claims 1 to 4, characterised in, that at least one conveyor (7, 11, 12, 17) is arranged between the depalletizing unit (3) and the wall building unit (5) in order to transport blocks from the depalletizing unit (3) to the wall building unit (5).
Mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system (1) according to claim 5, characterised in, that the length of the at least one conveyor (7, 11, 12, 17) covers at least 50% of the length of the platform.
Mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system (1) according to one of the claims 1 to 6, characterised in, that the wall building unit (5) comprises at least one wall building robot.
Mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system (1) according to one of the claims 1 to 7, characterised in, that the depalletizing unit (3) comprises at least one depalletizing robot.
Mobile robotic wall segment fabrication system (1) according to one of the claims 1 to 8, characterised in, that at least one cutting unit (8) for cutting blocks is arranged between the first end and second end of the at least one platform.
Automatic method for manufacturing walls, whereby a depalletizing unit (3) unpacks blocks from pallets (4) and provides said blocks to a wall building unit (5), whereby the depalletizing unit (3) and the wall building unit (5) are arranged on at least one platform, whereby the depalletizing unit (3) is arranged at a first end of the at least one platform and that the wall building unit (5) is arranged at a second end of the at least one platform which second end is located opposite to the first end, whereby the wall building unit (5) assembles blocks to manufacture prefabricated wall segments (10), whereby the prefabricated wall segments (10) are embodied as single rows of blocks that are stacked together or they are embodied of many rows that have been stacked together, whereby the prefabricated wall segments (10) are assembled together on the at least one platform.
Method according to claim 10, characterised in, that the prefabricated wall segments (10) are assembled together to create load bearing walls.
Method according to one of the claims 10 to 11, characterised in, that the prefabricated wall segments (10) are lifted from a position next to the platform on their final destination.