KR20200048859A - Physical distribution tower for drone - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a distribution tower for a drone. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the distribution tower for a drone includes: a tower-shaped structure including a loading space and a transfer passage placed adjacently to the loading space; a first platform placed in the transfer passage; a plurality of second platforms placed in the loading space, and overlapped with each other in a vertical direction; a first vertical transfer part transferring the first platform in a vertical direction; a second vertical transfer part individually transferring each of the plurality of second platforms in a vertical direction; an item delivery part delivering an item between the first and second platforms; and a control part transferring the second platforms by controlling the second vertical transfer part when the item is loaded in the first platform such that the height of an individual loading space on the second platforms to receive the item loaded in the first platform is controlled in accordance with the height of the item. Therefore, the distribution tower is capable of making better the use of a loading space by controlling the height of the space in accordance with the height of an item to be loaded.

Description

Logistics tower for drones {PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION TOWER FOR DRONE}

The present invention relates to a logistic oval for drones, and more particularly, to a logistic tower for drones for storing and withdrawing goods delivered by a drone.

With the recent development of drone technology, the scope of drone use is gradually expanding, and in particular, the delivery of goods using drones has reached the stage of commercialization in famous internet shopping malls such as Amazon.

However, if the shipping location is located in a densely populated city, drones are not easy to take off and land, and there is a high possibility of collision due to buildings, trees, electric wires, etc.

In addition, privacy concerns may arise when drones fly to the depths of their residence.

Therefore, we think that this problem can be solved by installing a distribution center for drones that can store and withdraw goods delivered by drones near the residence, but considering the original purpose of unmanned delivery, the distribution center is implemented with automation It would be desirable. In addition, considering the reality that the delivery volume gradually increases due to internet shopping, such a distribution center is required to design and operate a structure capable of increasing the space utilization of the goods loading space. Prior art related to article storage includes Korean Patent Publication No. KR 10-2018-0023252 "Drone landing device having article storage function".

An embodiment may provide a logistics tower for drones with increased space utilization of the goods loading space.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a tower-type structure having a loading space and a transport passage disposed adjacent to the loading space; A first platform disposed on the transport passage; A plurality of second platforms disposed in the loading space and overlapping each other in the vertical direction; A first shanghai transport unit that transports the first platform in a vertical direction; A second shanghai transport unit which individually transports each of the plurality of second platforms in the vertical direction; An article delivery unit transferring goods between the first platform and the second platform; And when the goods are loaded on the first platform, the second shanghai transport unit is controlled to control the height of the individual loading space on the second platform to receive the goods loaded on the first platform corresponding to the goods height. A logistics tower for a drone including a control unit for transporting a second platform may be provided.

And a first sensor unit disposed at a first entrance of the tower-shaped structure to sense an article loaded on the first platform, and the control unit based on a detection value of the first sensor unit, of the article loaded on the first platform. You can calculate the height.

It is disposed on the upper surface of the tower-type structure and includes a wireless charging unit for charging a drone, and the first entrance and exit may be formed on the top surface of the tower-type structure.

And a database for storing product information of items loaded on each of the plurality of second platforms, and the control unit is configured to receive the goods loaded on the first platform based on the item information stored in the database. Can decide.

A recognition mark disposed on each of the plurality of second platforms; And a second sensor unit disposed on the first platform to sense the identification mark, and the control unit senses the identification mark of the second platform to which the second sensor unit receives the goods loaded on the first platform. After that, the goods delivery unit may be controlled to deliver the goods loaded on the first platform to the second platform.

An opening / closing door for opening and closing a second doorway formed at the bottom front of the tower structure; And an input unit disposed adjacent to the second entrance to receive product information, and the control unit to enable the product corresponding to the product information input through the input unit to be withdrawn through the second entrance. 1 By controlling the Shanghai transport unit and the goods delivery unit, the goods loaded on the second platform can be transferred to the second entrance.

It includes a horizontal transfer unit for transporting the first platform in the horizontal direction, the tower-shaped structure may be provided with a plurality of the loading space.

A pair of pillars coupled to the first platform and disposed on both sides of the delivery path of the article delivered by the article delivery unit; And a protrusion coupled to the pillar to press the article delivered by the article delivery unit to discharge the article in a state in which it is lying.

A database storing article information of articles loaded on each of the plurality of second platforms; And a projection transfer unit for inserting the projections into the pillars or withdrawing them from the pillars, and the controller calculates the height of the free space among the loading spaces based on the article information stored in the database, and the height of the free spaces. Is smaller than the height and width of the article loaded on the first platform, by controlling the projection transfer unit to pull out the projection from the pillar, the article loaded on the first platform is delivered to the second platform in a state of being divided I can do it.

A first sensor unit disposed at a first entrance of the tower-shaped structure and sensing an article loaded on the first platform; And a pair of third sensor units disposed at the first entrance and sensing distances to both sides of the article loaded on the first platform, wherein the control unit includes the first sensor unit and the pair of thirds. The width and height of the article loaded on the first platform may be calculated based on the sensed values of the sensor unit.

The protrusion may include a pressing portion made of an elastic material coupled to the pillar, and a weight weight coupled to the pressing portion.

According to an embodiment, the space utilization of the goods loading space can be increased by adjusting the height of the individual loading space of the goods according to the height of the goods to be loaded on the distribution tower.

Various and beneficial advantages and effects of the present invention are not limited to the above, and will be more easily understood in the course of describing specific embodiments of the present invention.

1 is a perspective view of a logistics tower for a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram showing a control unit of a logistics tower for a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A 'in FIG. 1.
4 is a view showing an example in which the article is arranged in the loading space in FIG. 3.
5 is a view showing another example in which the article is arranged as a loading space in FIG. 3.
6 is a modification of the first platform of FIG. 3.
7 is an operation example of FIG. 6.
8 is a view showing another example in which the article is arranged as a loading space in FIG. 3.

The present invention can be applied to a variety of transformations and can have various embodiments, and specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include all conversions, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. In the description of the present invention, when it is determined that detailed descriptions of related well-known technologies may obscure the subject matter of the present invention, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components.

The terms used in the present application are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, terms such as “include” or “have” are intended to indicate that a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification exists, one or more other features. It should be understood that the existence or addition possibilities of fields or numbers, steps, operations, components, parts or combinations thereof are not excluded in advance.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a logistics tower for a drone according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and in describing with reference to the accompanying drawings, identical or corresponding components are assigned the same reference numbers and therefor Duplicate description will be omitted.

1 is a perspective view of a logistics tower for a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control unit for a logistics tower for a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is A- of FIG. 1 It is a sectional view at A '.

1 to 3, the logistics tower for a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a tower structure 10, a first platform 100, a second platform 200, a first Shanghai transport unit 110, It may include an article delivery unit 130, a second Shanghai transport unit 210 and the control unit 400, the horizontal transport unit 120, the first sensor unit 310, the second sensor unit 320, a pair The third sensor unit 330 and / or the database 340 may be further included.

The tower-shaped structure 10 may be installed on the ground. For example, the tower-shaped structure 10 may be installed on the ground, but is not limited thereto, and may be installed on the roof of the building.

A loading space 10a and a transport passage 10b may be formed inside the tower structure 10.

A plurality of second platforms 200 may be disposed to overlap in the vertical direction in the loading space 10a. That is, the plurality of second platforms 200 may be disposed in a stacked form in the vertical direction between each other.

The transport passage 10b may be disposed adjacent to the loading space 10a, and the first platform 100 may be arranged on the transport passage 10b.

The tower-shaped structure 10 may include a first entrance 11 and a second entrance 12 that connect the transport passage 10b and the external space of the tower-like structure 10.

The first entrance 11 may be disposed on the top surface of the tower-shaped structure 10. Accordingly, the accessibility of the drone D to the first entrance 11 can be improved. In addition, the remaining area of the upper surface of the tower-type structure 10 except for the first entrance 11 may be used as a drone landing area, and a wireless charging unit 13 for charging the drone D by wireless charging is disposed in the drone landing area. It may be.

The second entrance 12 may be disposed at the bottom front of the tower-shaped structure 10. Therefore, the accessibility of the user to the second doorway 12 can be improved.

The second entrance 12 may be opened or closed by the opening / closing door 12a.

An input unit 14 that receives product information from a user may be disposed at a location adjacent to the second entrance 12. The user can input the item information, for example, a delivery number, through the input unit 14.

The input unit 14 may include a touch screen, but is not limited thereto.

The first platform 100 may be disposed on the base platform 100a, and may load the goods G delivered by the drone D.

The first Shanghai transport unit 110 may transport the base platform 100a in the vertical direction. As a result, the first platform 100 can also be transferred in the vertical direction.

The first shanghai transport unit 110 is a rack gear disposed to extend in the vertical direction on the inner surface of the tower structure 10, a motor mounted on the base platform 100a, and a pinion gear engaged with the rack gear and rotating by the motor It may include, but is not necessarily limited to, it may include a variety of known transport means such as winches.

The horizontal transfer unit 120 may transfer the first platform 100 in the horizontal direction on the base platform 100a. Accordingly, when the tower-type structure 10 has a plurality of loading spaces 10a, the first platform 100 can move from a position facing one of the plurality of loading spaces 10a to a position facing the other. have. The plurality of loading spaces 10a may be partitioned from each other by partition walls. The partition wall may be omitted, and in this case, as illustrated in the drawing, the second Shanghai transport unit 210, which will be described later, may be provided on the inner surface of the tower-shaped structure 10.

The horizontal transfer unit 120 includes a rack gear disposed to extend in a horizontal direction on the base platform 100a, a motor mounted on the first platform 100, and a pinion gear rotated by the motor while meshing with the rack gear. Although it is possible, it is not necessarily limited to this, and may include various known transport means such as a belt conveyor.

When the first platform 100 is disposed to face one of the plurality of second platforms 200, the article delivery unit 130 transfers the goods G loaded on the first platform 100 to the second platform ( 200) or the goods G loaded on the second platform 200 may be delivered to the first platform 100.

The article delivery unit 130 may include a belt conveyor disposed on the first platform 100 and the second platform 200, respectively, but is not limited thereto.

The second platform 200 may load the goods G transferred from the first platform 100 by the goods delivery unit 130.

The plurality of second platforms 200 may be disposed to overlap each other in the vertical direction within one loading space 10a, and each of the plurality of second platforms 200 may be adjacent to each other second platform 200 Individual spaces can be formed on the second platform 200 by adjusting the spacing between the two.

A recognition mark 200a may be disposed on the second platform 200, and the recognition mark 200a may include information about the second platform 200, for example, a unique number.

The recognition mark 200a may include a QR code, but is not limited thereto.

The second Shanghai transport unit 210 may individually transport each of the plurality of second platforms 200 in the vertical direction.

The second shanghai transport unit 210 is meshed with a rack gear, a motor mounted on each of the plurality of second platforms 200, and a rack gear arranged to extend in the vertical direction on the inner surface or the partition wall of the tower structure 10. And a pinion gear rotated by a motor. In the drawing, a case where the partition wall 210 is provided on the partition wall as an example is expressed as an example, but may be provided on the inner surface of the tower structure 10.

The first sensor unit 310 may be disposed at the first entrance 11 to sense the article G loaded on the first platform 100. The first sensor unit 310 may include an optical sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and the like, but is not limited thereto.

The second sensor unit 320 is disposed on the first platform 100 to detect the recognition mark 200a. The second sensor unit 320 may include a sensor that detects a QR code, but is not limited to this since various known technologies capable of detecting the recognition mark 200a may be utilized.

The pair of third sensor units 330 may be disposed at the first entrance 11 to sense the distances to both sides of the article G loaded on the first platform 100. The pair of third sensor units 330 may be disposed to face each other with the first entrance 11 interposed therebetween. The third sensor unit 330 may include an optical sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and the like, but is not limited thereto.

The database 340 may store article information of the article G loaded on each of the plurality of second platforms 200. The article information may include the delivery number, height, width of the article G, the height of the individual loading space of the second platform 200 on which the article G is loaded, and a unique number of the identification mark 200a. .

The control unit 400 includes the product information of the product G delivered by the drone D, the product information input through the input unit 14, the first sensor unit 310, the second sensor unit 320, and the third Based on the sensed value of the sensor unit 330 and the item information stored in the database 340, the opening / closing door 12a, the first shanghai transport unit 110, the horizontal transport unit 120, the product delivery unit 130, and The second Shanghai transport unit 210 may be controlled. The product information of the goods G delivered by the drone D is received from a drone D or an external server (not shown), or the first sensor unit 310 is a recognition mark placed on the goods G to It can also be obtained by detecting a QR code (not shown).

When the sensing signal of the article G loaded on the first platform 100 is received from the first sensor unit 310, the control unit 400 is when the article G is not sensed by the first sensor unit 310. The first platform 100 can be lowered by controlling the first Shanghai transport unit 110 up to, and the height (H) of the article G is based on the average descending speed of the first platform 100 and the total descending time. Can be calculated, and the height information of the calculated product G can be stored in the database 340.

The control unit 400 may calculate the width W of the article G loaded on the first platform 100 based on the sensed values of the pair of third sensor units 330. For example, by subtracting each sensed value of the pair of third sensor units 330 from a predetermined distance between the pair of third sensor units 330, the width W of the article G may be calculated. have. The width information of the article G calculated by the control unit 400 may be stored in the database 340.

The controller 400 may determine or select the second platform 200 on which the article G is not loaded as the second platform 200 on which the article G is to be delivered, based on the article information stored in the database 340. . Specifically, the control unit 400 is the article (G) loaded on the first platform 100 based on the article information stored in the database 340 when the plurality of second platforms 200 on which the article G is not loaded is multiple A second platform 200 having an individual loading space corresponding to the height of the can be selected, and a second platform 200 having an individual loading space corresponding to the height of the article G loaded on the first platform 100 If there is no article (G) is loaded on the first platform 100 by selecting one of the second platform (200) is not loaded or randomly or in a predetermined order to transfer the second platform (200) (G ) Can have an individual loading space corresponding to the height. At this time, the height of the individual loading space may be sensed through a distance sensor (not shown) disposed on each of the plurality of second platforms 200. Alternatively, the height of the individual loading space may be sensed or calculated through the transfer speed, transfer time, etc. of the second platform 200 at the position where the second platform 200 was placed.

When the second platform 200 to receive the goods G loaded on the first platform 100 is determined, the control unit 400 recognizes the mark of the second platform 200 from the second sensor unit 320 The first platform 200 may be transferred by controlling the first shanghai transport unit 110 and the horizontal transport unit 120 until the detection signal of (200a) is received. The approximate locations of each of the plurality of second platforms 200 may be calculated from the height information of the individual loading space among the article information stored in the database 340.

When the second sensor unit 320 detects the recognition mark 200a of the second platform 200 to receive the goods G loaded on the first platform 100, the controller 400, the article delivery unit ( After controlling 130) to transfer the goods G loaded on the first platform 100 to the corresponding second platform 200, the first platform is controlled by controlling the first shanghai transport unit 110 and the horizontal transport unit 120. By transferring the 200 to the first entrance 11, the next article (G) may be prepared for transportation. Preparation for transport of the next item (G) may be continued after transferring the item (G) loaded on the first platform (100) to the second platform (200), taking into account the estimated time of arrival of the item (G) to be transferred Therefore, it may proceed according to the arrival of the transported product G.

When the product information is input through the input unit 14, the control unit 400 may transfer the first platform 100 to the second platform 200 on which the product G corresponding to the product information is mounted, and the corresponding product After the (G) is loaded on the first platform 100, it can be transferred to the second doorway 12, and the second doorway 12 can be opened by controlling the opening / closing door 12a.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example in which the article is disposed as a loading space in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example in which the article is disposed as a loading space in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 4, a second platform having a separate loading space corresponding to the height of the article G loaded on the first platform 100 among the plurality of second platforms 200 on which the article G is not loaded ( If there is 200), the first platform 100 may move to the second platform 200 to load the goods G in the loading space 10a.

Referring to FIG. 5, a second platform having a separate loading space corresponding to the height of the article G loaded on the first platform 100 among the plurality of second platforms 200 on which the article G is not loaded ( If there is no 200, one of the plurality of second platforms 200 on which the article G is not loaded, for example, the article on which the second platform 200 disposed at the top is loaded on the first platform 100 (G) can be moved to have a separate loading space corresponding to the height, the first platform 100 can move to the second platform 200 to load the product (G) in the loading space (10a). . The movement of the first platform 100 and the second platform 200 may be performed simultaneously or sequentially.

FIG. 6 is a modified example of the first platform of FIG. 3, FIG. 7 is a working example of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a view showing another example in which the article is disposed as a loading space in FIG. 3.

2, 6, 7 and 8, the first platform 100 includes a pair of pillars 140 disposed on both sides of the delivery path of the article G delivered by the article delivery unit 130. ) May be combined.

The projections 150 may be coupled to the pillars 140, and the projections 150 press the article G delivered by the article delivery unit 130, preferably by pressing the top of the article G The article G may be discharged in a state in which it is lying or the article G is lying down. In particular, the protrusion 150 may be inserted into the pillar 140 by the protrusion conveying unit 160 or withdrawn from the pillar 140. The protrusion transfer unit 160 may include a pneumatic cylinder or the like, but is not limited thereto.

The protrusion 150 may include a pressing portion 151 made of an elastic material coupled to the pillar 140. Alternatively, the protrusion 150 may include a pressing portion 151 of an elastic material coupled to the pillar 140 and a weight 153 coupled to the pressing portion 151.

The pressing unit 151 may be transformed into a state in which the article G is lying or the article G is lying while bending deformed during the delivery of the article G, and the elastic force after the article G is discharged Can be restored to its original form. Meanwhile, the pressing unit 151 may perform a function of preventing the product from falling during the process of transporting the product through the product delivery unit 130. In this case, the pressing portion 151 may be in a state withdrawn from the pillar 140.

The weight 153 is coupled to the pressing portion 151 to increase the pressing strength against the article (G). In other words, the pressing force applied to the article G by the load of the weight 155 may be increased. Through this, the article G transferred to the second platform 200 by the article delivery unit 130 can obtain an effect of more effectively inclining in the opposite direction of the transfer direction.

The control unit 400 may calculate the height of the free space in the loading space 10a based on the article information stored in the database 340. For example, the control unit 400 may calculate the height of the free space by subtracting the height of each individual loading space of the second platform 200 on which the article G is loaded from the overall height of the loading space 10a. have. When the calculated height of the free space is smaller than the height (H) of the article G loaded on the first platform 100 and greater than the width (W), the control unit 400 controls the protrusion transfer unit 160 to process the projection 150 By pulling out to the pillar 140, it is possible to allow the goods G loaded on the first platform 100 to be delivered to the second platform 200 in a lying state.

As described above, preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, but those skilled in the art may add, change, delete or add components within the scope of the present invention as described in the claims. By this, the present invention will be variously modified and changed, and it will be said that it is also included within the scope of the present invention.

10: tower structure 10a: loading space
10b: transfer passage 11: first entrance
12: Second door 12a: Opening door
13: wireless charging unit 14: input unit
100: first platform 100a: base platform
110: first Shanghai transport 120: horizontal transport
130: goods delivery unit 140: pillar
150: projection 151: pressing portion
153: weight 160: projection transfer unit
200: second platform 200a: recognition mark
210: the second Shanghai transport unit 310: the first sensor unit
320: second sensor unit 330: third sensor unit
340: database 400: control

Claims (11)

A tower-type structure having a loading space and a transport passage disposed adjacent to the loading space;
A first platform disposed on the transport passage;
A plurality of second platforms disposed in the loading space and overlapping each other in the vertical direction;
A first shanghai transport unit that transports the first platform in a vertical direction;
A second shanghai transport unit which individually transports each of the plurality of second platforms in the vertical direction;
An article delivery unit transferring goods between the first platform and the second platform; And
When the goods are loaded on the first platform, the second shanghai transport unit is controlled so that the height of the individual loading space on the second platform to receive the goods loaded on the first platform is adjusted to correspond to the goods height. 2 Logistics tower for drones including a control unit for transporting the platform. According to claim 1,
It is disposed at the first entrance of the tower-shaped structure includes a first sensor unit for sensing the article loaded on the first platform,
The control unit is a logistics tower for a drone that calculates the height of an article loaded on the first platform based on the detection value of the first sensor unit. According to claim 2,
It is disposed on the upper surface of the tower-shaped structure includes a wireless charging unit for charging the drone,
The first entrance is a logistics tower for a drone formed on the upper surface of the tower structure. According to claim 1,
And a database storing article information of articles loaded on each of the plurality of second platforms,
The control unit is a logistics tower for a drone that determines the second platform to receive the goods loaded on the first platform based on the item information stored in the database. The method of claim 4,
A recognition mark disposed on each of the plurality of second platforms; And
A second sensor unit disposed on the first platform to detect the recognition mark,
The control unit detects the identification mark of the second platform to which the second sensor unit receives the goods loaded on the first platform, and then controls the goods delivery unit to control the goods loaded on the first platform to the second platform. Logistics tower for drones. According to claim 1,
An opening / closing door for opening and closing a second doorway formed at the bottom front of the tower structure; And
It is disposed adjacent to the second entrance and includes an input unit for receiving product information,
The control unit controls the first shanghai transport unit and the product delivery unit so that the product corresponding to the product information input through the input unit can be withdrawn through the second entrance, and the product loaded on the second platform is Logistics tower for drones to be transferred to the second entrance. According to claim 1,
It includes a horizontal transfer unit for transferring the first platform in the horizontal direction,
The tower-type structure is a logistics tower for a drone having a plurality of the loading space. According to claim 1,
A pair of pillars coupled to the first platform and disposed on both sides of the delivery path of the article delivered by the article delivery unit; And
Logistics tower for a drone comprising a projection coupled to the pillar to press the article delivered by the article delivery unit to discharge the article in a state in which it is lying. The method of claim 8,
A database storing article information of articles loaded on each of the plurality of second platforms; And
It includes a projection transfer portion for inserting or withdrawing the projections from the pillars,
The control unit calculates the height of the free space among the loading spaces based on the article information stored in the database, and when the height of the free space is less than the height of the goods loaded on the first platform and is greater than the width, the protrusion transfer unit Logistics tower for drones by controlling and withdrawing the projections from the pillars, so that the goods loaded on the first platform are delivered to the second platform in a collapsed state. The method of claim 9,
A first sensor unit disposed at a first entrance of the tower-shaped structure and sensing an article loaded on the first platform; And
It is disposed in the first entrance and includes a pair of third sensor unit for sensing the distance to both sides of the article loaded on the first platform,
The control unit is a distribution tower for drones that calculates the width and height of the goods loaded on the first platform based on the sensed values of the first sensor unit and the pair of third sensor units. The method of claim 8,
The protrusion is a logistics tower for a drone comprising a pressing portion of an elastic material coupled to the pillar, and a weight coupled to the pressing portion.

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