CN116786431A

CN116786431A - Goods sorting method and goods sorting equipment

Info

Publication number: CN116786431A
Application number: CN202310980144.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨振昆
Original assignee: Beijing Decheng Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Tianxia Xianzhichuang Robot Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2023-08-04
Filing date: 2023-08-04
Publication date: 2023-09-22

Abstract

The invention discloses a goods sorting method and goods sorting equipment, and relates to the technical field of automation. The method is performed in an article sorting apparatus including a plurality of order containers arranged in a plurality of rows and columns, a chute positioned above each order container, the method comprising: acquiring an article to be sorted, wherein the article to be sorted comprises one or more articles; determining a target order corresponding to the goods to be sorted and a target order container according to the quantity of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted and the quantity of the goods required by each order; conveying goods to be sorted to a distribution vehicle; determining a target path of the multicast vehicle according to the target order container; and controlling the movement of the distribution truck according to the target path to convey the goods to be sorted to a chute above the target order container so that the goods to be sorted are put into the target order container through the chute. According to the technical scheme, the goods sorting efficiency is improved.

Description

Goods sorting method and goods sorting equipment

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of automation, in particular to a goods sorting method and goods sorting equipment.

Background

With the rapid development of e-commerce retail business, automated sorting equipment is becoming increasingly important in the industry. The reason is that the shopping of the electronic commerce pursues higher timeliness, the automatic sorting equipment can be utilized to improve the commodity sorting accuracy and reduce the labor intensity of workers. The main products of the retail commodity of the electronic commerce comprise snack beverages, daily-use department products and the like, the packages of the products are complex and various, and the characteristic that a plurality of commodities are required to be distributed in one order exists generally. According to the existing sorting equipment, only single commodities can be sorted at a time, the whole commodities cannot be sorted, and therefore sorting efficiency is low.

Accordingly, there is a need to provide a method and apparatus for sorting goods to solve the above-mentioned technical problems.

Disclosure of Invention

To this end, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for sorting articles to solve or at least alleviate the above-mentioned problems.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of sorting articles performed in an article sorting apparatus including a plurality of order containers arranged in a plurality of rows and columns, a chute located above each order container, the method comprising: acquiring an article to be sorted, wherein the article to be sorted comprises one or more articles; determining a target order corresponding to the goods to be sorted and a target order container according to the quantity of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted and the quantity of the goods required by each order; conveying the goods to be sorted to a distribution vehicle; determining a target path of the seed-sorting vehicle according to the target order container; and controlling the movement of the distribution truck according to the target path so as to convey the goods to be sorted to a chute above a target order container, so that the goods to be sorted are put into the target order container through the chute.

Optionally, in the method for sorting goods according to the present invention, obtaining the goods to be sorted includes: acquiring the goods to be sorted corresponding to a current collection list so as to distribute the goods to be sorted to orders in the current collection list; the aggregate list comprises a plurality of orders with the same attribute, and each order corresponds to an order container.

Optionally, in the method for sorting the goods according to the present invention, determining the target order and the target order container corresponding to the goods to be sorted according to the number of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted and the number of the goods required for each order, including: determining the number of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted; if the number of the goods to be sorted is 1, determining the order with the least number of the goods required in the current collection list as the target order corresponding to the goods to be sorted; and if the number of the goods to be sorted is greater than 1, determining the order with the largest number of the goods required in the current collection list as the target order corresponding to the goods to be sorted.

Optionally, in the method for sorting the goods according to the present invention, determining the number of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted includes: detecting the weight and/or the appearance characteristics of the goods to be sorted; and determining the quantity of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted according to the weight and/or the appearance characteristics of the goods to be sorted.

Optionally, in the method for sorting goods according to the present invention, further comprising: determining whether the current aggregate sheet contains an order with a required item quantity greater than 1; if the current aggregate sheet does not contain an order with a required item quantity greater than 1, then: and alarming when the number of the goods to be sorted is determined to be more than 1.

Optionally, in the method for sorting goods according to the present invention, further comprising: after goods required by the target order are put into corresponding target order containers, printing the receipts of the target order, and conveying the receipts to the distribution truck, so that the distribution truck conveys the receipts to a chute above the target order containers and puts the receipts into the target order containers through the chute.

Optionally, in the method for sorting goods according to the present invention, the chute includes: a chute body arranged obliquely; and the buffer is arranged between the chute body and the order container so as to buffer the goods to be sorted in the process that the goods to be sorted slide from the chute body to the order container.

Optionally, in the method for sorting goods according to the present invention, the chute has a sensor thereon; the method further comprises the steps of: and detecting whether the goods to be sorted pass through the sliding groove or not through the sensor so as to determine whether the goods to be sorted are put into the target order container or not.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article sorting apparatus comprising: a plurality of order containers arranged in a plurality of rows and columns; a chute located above each order container; at least one distribution vehicle; the system comprises at least one package supply table, a distribution vehicle and a distribution vehicle, wherein the package supply table is suitable for acquiring goods to be sorted, the goods to be sorted comprise one or more goods, and the goods to be sorted are suitable for being conveyed to the distribution vehicle through a conveying line; a control system adapted to: determining a target order corresponding to the goods to be sorted and a target order container according to the quantity of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted and the quantity of the goods required by each order; determining a target path of the seed-sorting vehicle according to the target order container; and controlling the movement of the distribution truck according to the target path so as to convey the goods to be sorted to a chute above a target order container, so that the goods to be sorted are put into the target order container through the chute.

Optionally, in the article sorting apparatus according to the present invention, further comprising: the goods identification equipment is arranged on the package supply table and is in communication connection with the control system, and is suitable for detecting the weight of the goods to be sorted; and/or size detection equipment, which is arranged on the bag supply platform and is in communication connection with the control system, and is suitable for detecting the appearance characteristics of the goods to be sorted; wherein the control system is further adapted to: and acquiring the weight and/or the appearance characteristics of the goods to be sorted, and determining the quantity of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted according to the weight and/or the appearance characteristics.

Optionally, in the article sorting apparatus according to the present invention, the chute includes: a chute body arranged obliquely; and the buffer is arranged between the chute body and the order container so as to buffer the goods to be sorted in the process that the goods to be sorted slide from the chute body to the order container.

Optionally, in the article sorting apparatus according to the present invention, the chute has a sensor thereon, the sensor being adapted to: and detecting whether the goods to be sorted pass through the sliding groove so as to determine whether the goods to be sorted are put into the target order container.

Optionally, in the article sorting apparatus according to the present invention, further comprising: a horizontal drive assembly comprising a sprocket and a chain adapted to move horizontally under the drive of the sprocket; the lifting assembly is fixed on the chain so as to move horizontally along with the chain, and is fixedly connected with the seed sowing vehicle and suitable for driving the seed sowing vehicle to move up and down.

Optionally, in the article sorting apparatus according to the present invention, further comprising: a shelf, the plurality of order containers arranged in a plurality of rows and columns disposed on the shelf.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a computing device comprising: at least one processor; and a memory storing program instructions configured to be executed by the at least one processor, the program instructions including instructions for performing the fault information display method as described above.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a readable storage medium storing program instructions that, when read and executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform the fault information display method as described above.

According to the technical scheme of the invention, the method and the equipment for sorting the goods are provided, wherein the goods to be sorted are obtained through the package supply table, and the goods to be sorted can contain one or more goods. And determining a target order corresponding to the goods to be sorted and a target order container according to the quantity of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted and the quantity of the goods required by each order. By conveying the goods to be sorted to the sorting trolley and determining a target path of the sorting trolley according to the target order container, the movement of the sorting trolley can be controlled according to the target path so as to convey the goods to be sorted to the chute above the target order container, and the goods to be sorted can slide to the target order container through the chute. Thus, according to the technical scheme of the invention, the whole box of goods can be sorted at one time, so that the goods sorting efficiency is improved.

According to the buffer structure of the chute, the goods to be sorted can be buffered in the process of sliding the goods to be sorted to the order container. And, whether the goods to be sorted pass through the chute can be detected by a sensor on the chute so as to determine whether the goods to be sorted are put into the target order container. Therefore, the condition that the goods to be sorted stay on the sliding groove can be timely detected, whether the distribution truck finishes the delivery of the goods to be sorted or not is determined, and the quantity of the goods delivered to the target order container is convenient to count.

According to the method for placing a plurality of order containers based on the shelf, the order containers can be reasonably arranged according to the actual order quantity, and the order containers can be easily expanded. After the corresponding goods are put in the order containers on the same goods shelf, the goods shelf can be moved to easily move the order containers of the goods put in the goods shelf.

The foregoing description is only an overview of the present invention, and is intended to be implemented in accordance with the teachings of the present invention in order that the same may be more clearly understood and to make the same and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention more readily apparent.

Drawings

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings, which set forth the various ways in which the principles disclosed herein may be practiced, and all aspects and equivalents thereof are intended to fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. The above, as well as additional objects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals generally refer to like parts or elements throughout the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic configuration view of an article sorting apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of a plurality of order containers 140 (placed on a shelf 150) arranged in a plurality of rows and columns in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a lift assembly 170 according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a horizontal drive assembly 180 according to one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 shows a flow diagram of a method 500 of sorting items according to one embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an article sorting apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1, the article sorting apparatus 100 includes at least one parcel stage 110, at least one distribution truck 120, a plurality of order containers 140 arranged in a plurality of rows and columns, a chute 130 positioned above each order container 140, and a control system (not shown).

In one embodiment, the article sorting apparatus 100 further includes a shelf 150 for placing a plurality of order containers 140, on which shelf 150 a plurality of order containers 140 arranged in a plurality of rows and columns may be placed. Wherein the article sorting apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1 shows only a rack 150 for placing a plurality of order containers 140 in a plurality of rows and columns, one order container 140 being placed on the rack 150. However, it should be noted that a plurality of order containers 140 may be placed on the shelf 150 in a plurality of rows and columns, and the chute 130 may be disposed above each order container 140. Each order container 140 may correspond to an order and be used to place one or more items to which the order corresponds.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic of a configuration of a plurality of order containers 140 (placed on a shelf 150) arranged in a plurality of rows and columns in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. It should be noted that fig. 2 only shows the arrangement of a plurality of order containers 140, and does not show the chute 130 above each order container 140.

As shown in fig. 2, according to the manner of placing a plurality of order containers 140 based on the shelf 150 in the present invention, the order containers 140 can be reasonably arranged according to the actual order quantity, and the order containers 140 can be easily expanded. After the corresponding goods are placed in the order containers 140 on the same shelf 150, the plurality of placed order containers 140 on the shelf 150 can be easily moved by moving the shelf 150.

According to the article sorting apparatus 100 of the present invention, the supply station 110 can acquire articles to be sorted. For example, the device to be sorted may be placed on the bag-feeding table 110 after the scanning is completed. In one embodiment, the article sorting apparatus 100 further includes a scanning apparatus in communication with the control system, wherein the article to be sorted may include an article bar code thereon, and the article bar code may be scanned by the scanning apparatus to obtain article information of the article to be sorted prior to placing the article to be sorted on the supply station 110.

In one embodiment, the article sorting apparatus 100 may be provided with a plurality of package-feeding platforms 110, so that multiple groups of articles to be sorted in the same collection sheet or different collection sheets may be placed on the plurality of package-feeding platforms 110 at the same time, so as to improve the working efficiency, and further improve the article sorting efficiency.

It should be noted that, the articles to be sorted may specifically include one or more articles (of the same standard), and the one or more articles included in the articles to be sorted acquired each time may belong to the same collection sheet (current collection sheet). Here, the article to be sorted contains one article, that is, the article to be sorted is a single article. The plurality of items contained in the items to be sorted may be, for example, whole boxes of items.

It should also be noted that the same aggregate sheet may contain a plurality of orders having the same attribute. For the items to be sorted corresponding to the current aggregate sheet obtained, the items to be sorted (including one or more items) may be assigned to the corresponding order in the current aggregate sheet.

In one embodiment, each order may correspond to an order container 140, and each order requires the allocation of one or more items, i.e., for each order contained in the aggregate order, the one or more items to be allocated for the order need to be sorted to the order container 140 to which the order corresponds to effect sorting of the items.

Specifically, after determining the current aggregate list corresponding to the goods to be sorted, the control system may allocate a corresponding order container to each order included in the current aggregate list. For example, in one embodiment, before the package stand 110 obtains the items to be sorted, one or more items to be sorted may be transported to the package stand 110 by a carrier (e.g., a cart) having thereon an aggregate sheet barcode corresponding to the items to be sorted transported thereto, the current aggregate sheet information corresponding to the items to be sorted may be obtained by scanning the aggregate sheet barcode by a scanning device, and the control system may obtain the current aggregate sheet information from the scanning device to determine the current aggregate sheet corresponding to the items to be sorted.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the control system may sort orders by attribute prior to the item sorting apparatus 100 sorting items to be sorted, dividing one or more orders having some sort of the same attribute into the same aggregate order. For example, 40 orders with the same attributes may be divided into a collection list.

It should be noted that the attribute of the order may be an attribute related to the order, such as an express company that delivers the order, a type of order (e.g., food, clothing, daily necessities, etc.), a size of the order, a weight of the order, a user id, an order id, a number, a name, a description, a price, a status, a time of placing the order, etc. In embodiments of the present invention, the aggregated sheets may be partitioned according to one or more attributes of the order. In some embodiments, the control system may use an intelligent algorithm to optimize the path for bill collection or bill grouping to maximize the operation efficiency, where the present invention is not limited to the specific algorithm used.

It should be noted that the items in a collection have a high overlap ratio, i.e., different orders in one collection may contain the same standard of goods. The workers can pick up the goods according to the collection list entering the storage area, and the goods according to the collection list can be cooperatively carried out by a plurality of workers, and each worker is responsible for one area. The difference between the picking according to the collection list and the traditional picking mode according to the order is that a worker can acquire few goods and a plurality of goods from a small area, so that the moving and searching processes of the worker are reduced, and the error rate is reduced.

In one embodiment of the invention, the bag stand 110 includes a conveyor line. By placing the goods to be sorted on the supply package table 110, the supply package table 110 can convey the goods to be sorted to the distribution cart 120 through the conveying line after acquiring the goods to be sorted.

The distribution truck 120 is used to transport the items to be sorted so as to transport the items to be sorted to the corresponding order containers 140 by the distribution truck 120.

In one embodiment, after providing the items to be sorted to the distribution truck 120, the control system may obtain item information for the items to be sorted from the scanning device and may bind the items to be sorted (including one or more items) with the distribution truck 120 to deliver the items to be sorted to the corresponding order containers 140 via the distribution truck 120. It should be noted that, the same collection sheet may include a plurality of articles with the same standard, and the subsequent articles with the same standard may be continuously placed on the package supply table 110 without scanning the code again until the article standard changes, which is beneficial to improving the sorting efficiency of the articles.

The control system may determine a target order corresponding to the item to be sorted and a target order container 140 corresponding to the target order based on the number of items contained in the item to be sorted, the number of items required for each order (contained in the current aggregate order).

The control system may then determine a target path for the cart 120 (i.e., the path that the cart 120 moves from the current location to above the target order container 140) based on the target order container 140.

Finally, the control system may control the movement of the sorting vehicle 120 according to the target path, so that the sorting vehicle 120 conveys the goods to be sorted to the chute 130 above the target order container 140, and after the sorting vehicle 120 puts the goods to be sorted into the chute 130, the goods to be sorted may be put into the target order container 140 through the chute 130. That is, the items to be sorted may slide from the chute 130 into the target order container 140.

In this way, sorting and throwing of the goods to be sorted are achieved.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the control system may determine the target order and the target order container 140 corresponding to the to-be-sorted goods according to the number of goods contained in the to-be-sorted goods and the number of goods required for each order.

First, the number of items contained in the items to be sorted may be determined. In one embodiment, the weight and/or the shape characteristics of the goods to be sorted may be detected, and the number of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted may be determined according to the weight and/or the shape characteristics of the goods to be sorted. It will be appreciated that depending on the number of items contained in the items to be sorted, it may be determined whether the items to be separated are single-piece items (1 item) or whole-box items (multiple items).

If the number of the articles to be sorted is 1 (the articles to be sorted are single articles), the order with the least number of the articles required in the current collection list can be determined as the target order corresponding to the articles to be sorted. In this way, a priority allocation of individual items to orders of a small number of items required in the current aggregate list may be achieved.

If the number of the articles to be sorted is greater than 1 (the articles to be sorted include a plurality of articles, such as whole boxes of articles), the order with the largest number of the articles required in the current aggregate list can be determined as the target order corresponding to the articles to be sorted. In this way, orders with a large number of items required in the current aggregate list can be preferentially allocated to the whole container of items.

In one embodiment, after the to-be-sorted items are allocated to the target order and placed in the target order container 140 corresponding to the target order, the number of items required by the order may be updated according to the number of items newly placed (the number of items contained in the to-be-sorted items described above).

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the article sorting apparatus 100 further includes an article identification apparatus and/or a size detection apparatus, which may be disposed on the supply station 110, and which may be communicatively connected to the control system, respectively.

Wherein the item identification device is operable to detect the weight of the item to be sorted on the supply stand 110 and to send the weight of the item to be sorted to the control system. The size detection device may be used to detect the external characteristics of the items to be sorted and send the external characteristics of the items to be sorted to the control system.

After the control system acquires the weight and/or the external characteristics of the goods to be sorted detected by the goods identification equipment, the quantity of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted can be determined according to the weight and/or the external characteristics of the goods to be sorted.

It should be noted that the article identifying apparatus may be implemented as an apparatus for weighing, various sensors that can perform weight detection, a visual camera, or the like. The size detecting device may be implemented as various visual detecting devices for detecting the outer size of the article. The invention does not limit the equipment types of the goods identification equipment and the size detection equipment.

In addition, before the item sorting apparatus 100 sorts the items to be sorted, it may also be determined whether the current aggregate order contains an order in which the required number of items is greater than 1 (i.e., an order in which the entire box of items is to be allocated). Specifically, the control system may determine, based on the order prompt information, whether the current aggregate order contains an order for the entire container of goods to be dispensed.

If the current aggregate sheet does not contain an order with a required number of items greater than 1 (does not contain an order in which full items are to be dispensed), then: when it is determined that the number of the articles to be sorted is greater than 1 (for example, when the articles to be sorted are whole boxes of articles), an alarm can be given to avoid sorting the whole boxes of articles.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the article sorting apparatus 100 further includes at least one anomaly container 160. When there is no order corresponding to the items to be sorted, the items to be sorted may be put into the abnormal container 160.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1, the chute 130 includes a chute body 131, a buffer 132, which are arranged obliquely.

Specifically, the chute body 131 may include a downward inclined slope, and flanges disposed at both sides of the slope.

The buffer 132 may be provided between the chute body 131 and the order container 140 so as to buffer the items to be sorted during the sliding of the items to be sorted from the chute body 131 to the order container 140.

In one embodiment, the bumper 132 may be a resilient sheet material such as a rubber sheet. After the goods to be sorted slide from the chute body 131 to the buffer 132, the buffer 132 (e.g., rubber plate) is pressed down, and the buffer 132 has an elastic restoring force. Subsequently, after the items to be sorted slide down to the target order container 140, the buffer 132 (e.g., rubber sheet) may be restored to the original height by the elastic restoring force.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the chute 130 also has a sensor thereon. The sensor may be specifically disposed on the inclined surface of the chute body 131. The sensor may be used to detect whether the items to be sorted pass through the chute 130 in order to determine whether the items to be sorted are placed into the target order container 140. In this way, the condition that the goods to be sorted stay on the chute 130 can be detected in time, and whether the delivering truck 120 finishes delivering the goods to be sorted can be determined, so that the quantity of the goods delivered to the target order container 140 can be counted conveniently.

In one embodiment of the present invention, after the goods required by the target order are all put into the corresponding target order container, the documents of the target order may also be printed by a printing device (not shown in the figure), and the documents of the target order may be conveyed to the distribution truck, so that the distribution truck 120 conveys the documents to the chute above the target order container, and puts the documents into the target order container through the chute. Therefore, the goods and the corresponding documents required by each order can be automatically put into the corresponding order container.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the item sorting apparatus 100 further includes one or more lift assemblies 170 and a horizontal drive assembly 180 for driving movement of the cart 120.

Wherein fig. 3 illustrates a schematic structural view of a lifting assembly 170 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 illustrates a schematic structural view of a horizontal driving assembly 180 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 3, the cart 120 may be secured to a lift assembly 170, and the lift assembly 170 may drive the cart 120 to move up and down.

Horizontal drive assembly 180 is coupled to one or more lift assemblies 170 to drive horizontal movement of one or more lift assemblies 170 and multicast vehicle 120.

As shown in fig. 4, the horizontal driving assembly 180 includes a sprocket 181 and a chain 182, and the chain 182 can be horizontally moved by the sprocket 181. In addition, the horizontal driving assembly 180 further comprises a motor 185, and the motor 185 is connected with the sprocket 181 and can drive the sprocket 181 to rotate, so as to drive the chain 182 to horizontally move. Further, a control system is communicatively coupled to the motor 185, and the control system operates to drive the sprocket and chain motion by controlling the motor 185 to cause the horizontal drive assembly 180 to drive the horizontal movement of the one or more lift assemblies 170 and the seed distribution vehicle 120.

As shown in fig. 3, one or more of the lift assemblies 170 are secured to the chain 182 such that when the chain 182 is driven to move horizontally by the sprocket 181, each lift assembly 170 moves horizontally with the chain 182, thereby driving the cart 120 to move horizontally in synchronization. And, the lift assembly 170 itself may drive the cart 120 to move up and down. In this way, the lift assembly 170 and the horizontal driving assembly 180 cooperate to drive the cart 120 to move (lift motion, horizontal motion), so that the cart 120 drives the goods to be sorted to the chute 130 above the target order container 140.

It should be noted that, during the operation of the article sorting apparatus 100, the sprocket 181 may continuously move at a constant speed under the driving action of the motor, so as to drive the one or more lifting assemblies 170 fixed on the chain 182 to move horizontally at a constant speed.

In addition, in one embodiment, the control system may determine a reasonable target path (a path from the current position to the position above the target order container) of the multicast vehicle 120 according to the speed of the sprocket and the lifting movement speed of the lifting assembly, and control the lifting assembly and the horizontal driving assembly to work cooperatively, so as to drive the multicast vehicle 120 to move to the position above the target order container without stopping. That is, the control system may determine a reasonable target path for the seed-sorting vehicle 120 (the path that the seed-sorting vehicle moves from the current location to above the target order container) based on the target order container, the speed of the sprocket, and the speed of the lifting movement of the lifting assembly

In this embodiment, the control system may control the lift assembly 170 and the horizontal drive assembly 180 to cooperate according to the target path to drive the cart 120 to move according to the target path, wherein the lift assembly 170 and the cart 120 are driven to move horizontally by the horizontal drive assembly 180 and the cart 120 is driven to move up and down by the lift assembly 170 to control the cart 120 to move (according to the target path) above the target order container so that the cart 120 delivers the items to be sorted to the chute 130 above the target order container 140. After the sorting car 120 puts the goods to be sorted into the chute 130, the goods to be sorted can be put into the target order container 140 through the chute 130, so that sorting and putting of the goods to be sorted are realized.

In one embodiment, the distribution cart 120 may include a sorting conveyor, sorting drums. The sorting roller is connected with the sorting conveyor belt and can drive the sorting conveyor belt to move so that the sorting conveyor belt transfers goods to be sorted into the chute above the target order container. A barrier may be provided on the sorting conveyor of the sorting carriage 120 to prevent the items to be sorted from rolling over the sorting carriage 120. Here, the specific structure and number of the barrier ribs may be set according to actual demands and characteristics of goods, and the present invention is not particularly limited thereto.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the article sorting apparatus 100 is adapted to perform the article sorting method 500. The method 500 of sorting items of the present invention will be described in detail below.

Fig. 5 shows a flow diagram of a method 500 of sorting items according to one embodiment of the invention. The article sorting method 500 is adapted to be performed in the aforementioned article sorting apparatus 100. The article sorting apparatus 100 may distribute articles to be sorted to target orders and deliver into corresponding target order containers 140 according to the article sorting method 500 of the present invention.

As previously described, the item sorting apparatus 100 includes at least one parcel stage 110, at least one distribution truck 120, a plurality of order containers 140 arranged in a plurality of rows and columns, a chute 130 positioned above each order container 140, and a control system.

As shown in fig. 5, method 500 begins at step 510.

In step 510, items to be sorted are placed on the supply stand 110. I.e., the packing stage 110 acquires the goods to be sorted. Where the items to be sorted may contain one or more items.

In one embodiment, the article sorting apparatus 100 further includes a scanning apparatus in communication with the control system, wherein the article to be sorted may include an article bar code thereon, and the article bar code may be scanned by the scanning apparatus to obtain article information of the article to be sorted prior to placing the article to be sorted on the supply station 110.

In one embodiment, the items to be sorted corresponding to the current aggregate list may be specifically obtained, so as to distribute the items to be sorted to the corresponding orders in the current aggregate list.

In one embodiment, after determining the current aggregate order for the items to be sorted, the control system may allocate a corresponding order container for each order contained in the current aggregate order, respectively. For example, in one embodiment, before the package stand 110 obtains the items to be sorted, one or more items to be sorted may be transported to the package stand 110 by a carrier (e.g., a cart) having thereon an aggregate sheet barcode corresponding to the items to be sorted transported thereto, the current aggregate sheet information corresponding to the items to be sorted may be obtained by scanning the aggregate sheet barcode by a scanning device, and the control system may obtain the current aggregate sheet information from the scanning device to determine the current aggregate sheet corresponding to the items to be sorted.

Next, in step 520, the control system may determine a target order corresponding to the item to be sorted and a target order container 140 corresponding to the target order based on the number of items contained in the item to be sorted, the number of items required for each order (contained in the current aggregate order).

In step 530, the supply station 110 may transfer the items to be sorted to the distribution cart 120 via a transfer line.

In step 540, the control system may determine a target path for the cart 120 (i.e., a path for the cart 120 to move from the current location to above the target order container 140) based on the target order container 140.

Finally, in step 550, the control system may control the movement of the cart 120 according to the target path (i.e., control the cart 120 to move according to the target path), so that the cart 120 conveys the items to be sorted to the chute 130 above the target order container 140, and after placing the items to be sorted into the chute 130, the items to be sorted may be placed into the target order container 140 through the chute 130. That is, the items to be sorted may slide from the chute 130 into the target order container 140.

In this way, sorting and throwing of the goods to be sorted are achieved.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in step 520, the control system may determine the target order and the target order container 140 corresponding to the to-be-sorted items according to the number of the to-be-sorted items, and the number of the items required for each order.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the chute 130 also has a sensor thereon. The sensor may be specifically disposed on the inclined surface of the chute body 131.

In the method 500 of the present invention, it is also possible to detect whether the item to be sorted passes through the chute 130 by means of a sensor on the chute 130 in order to determine whether the item to be sorted is placed in the target order container 140. In this way, the condition that the goods to be sorted stay on the chute 130 can be detected in time, and whether the delivering truck 120 finishes delivering the goods to be sorted can be determined, so that the quantity of the goods delivered to the target order container 140 can be counted conveniently.

In one embodiment of the present invention, after the goods required by the target order are all put into the corresponding target order container, the documents of the target order may also be printed by the printing device, and the documents of the target order may be transported to the distribution truck, so that the distribution truck 120 transports the documents to the chute above the target order container, and puts the documents into the target order container through the chute. Therefore, the goods and the corresponding documents required by each order can be automatically put into the corresponding order container.

It should also be noted that reference may be made to the description in the foregoing embodiments for the specific construction and implementation of the article sorting apparatus 100, and no further description is given here.

According to the article sorting method 500 and the article sorting apparatus 100 of the present invention, the articles to be sorted, which may include one or more articles, are acquired through the supply station 110. The target order and target order container 140 corresponding to the items to be sorted are determined according to the number of the items contained in the items to be sorted and the number of the items required for each order. By transporting the items to be sorted to the trolley 120 and determining a target path of the trolley 120 from the target order container 140, in turn, the trolley 120 may be controlled to move according to the target path to transport the items to be sorted to the chute 130 above the target order container 140 such that the items to be sorted slide through the chute 130 to the target order container 140. Therefore, according to the technical scheme of the invention, the whole box goods can be sorted at one time, so that the sorting efficiency is improved.

According to the buffer 132 structure of the chute 130 of the present invention, the items to be sorted can be buffered in the process of sliding the items to be sorted to the order container 140. And, whether the goods to be sorted pass through the chute 130 may be detected by a sensor on the chute 130 in order to determine whether the goods to be sorted are put into the target order container 140. In this way, the condition that the goods to be sorted stay on the sliding groove 130 can be detected in time, and whether the distribution truck 120 finishes the delivery of the goods to be sorted or not can be determined, so that the quantity of the goods delivered to the target order container 140 can be counted conveniently.

According to the manner in which a plurality of order containers 140 are placed based on the shelves 150 in the present invention, the order containers 140 can be reasonably arranged according to the actual order quantity, and the order containers 140 can be easily expanded. After the corresponding goods are placed in the order containers 140 on the same shelf 150, the plurality of placed order containers 140 on the shelf 150 can be easily moved by moving the shelf 150.

B11, the apparatus of B9 or B10, wherein the chute comprises: a chute body arranged obliquely; and the buffer is arranged between the chute body and the order container so as to buffer the goods to be sorted in the process that the goods to be sorted slide from the chute body to the order container.

B12, the apparatus of any one of B9-B11, wherein the chute has a sensor thereon, the sensor being adapted to: and detecting whether the goods to be sorted pass through the sliding groove so as to determine whether the goods to be sorted are put into the target order container.

B13, the apparatus of any one of B9-B11, further comprising: a horizontal drive assembly comprising a sprocket and a chain adapted to move horizontally under the drive of the sprocket; the lifting assembly is fixed on the chain so as to move horizontally along with the chain, and is fixedly connected with the seed sowing vehicle and suitable for driving the seed sowing vehicle to move up and down.

B14, the apparatus of any one of B9-B13, further comprising: a shelf, the plurality of order containers arranged in a plurality of rows and columns disposed on the shelf.

In the description of the present specification, the terms "coupled," "fixed," and the like are to be construed broadly unless otherwise specifically indicated and defined. Furthermore, the terms "front," "rear," "upper," "lower," "inner," "outer," "top," "bottom," and the like refer to an azimuth or positional relationship based on that shown in the drawings, merely to facilitate description of the invention and to simplify the description, and do not refer to or imply that the devices or units referred to must have a particular orientation, be configured and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore, should not be construed as limiting the invention.

The various techniques described herein may be implemented in connection with hardware or software or, alternatively, with a combination of both. Thus, the methods and apparatus of the present invention, or certain aspects or portions of the methods and apparatus of the present invention, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as removable hard drives, U-drives, floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, or any other machine-readable storage medium, wherein, when the program is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention.

In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the mobile terminal will generally include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. Wherein the memory is configured to store program code; the processor is configured to perform the method of the invention in accordance with instructions in said program code stored in the memory.

By way of example, and not limitation, readable media comprise readable storage media and communication media. The readable storage medium stores information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. Combinations of any of the above are also included within the scope of readable media.

In the description provided herein, algorithms and displays are not inherently related to any particular computer, virtual system, or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may also be used with examples of the invention. The required structure for a construction of such a system is apparent from the description above. In addition, the present invention is not directed to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that the teachings of the present invention described herein may be implemented in a variety of programming languages, and the above description of specific languages is provided for disclosure of enablement and best mode of the present invention.

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the modules or units or components of the devices in the examples disclosed herein may be arranged in a device as described in this embodiment, or alternatively may be located in one or more devices different from the devices in this example. The modules in the foregoing examples may be combined into one module or may be further divided into a plurality of sub-modules.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the modules in the apparatus of the embodiments may be adaptively changed and disposed in one or more apparatuses different from the embodiments. The modules or units or components of the embodiments may be combined into one module or unit or component and, furthermore, they may be divided into a plurality of sub-modules or sub-units or sub-components.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that while some embodiments described herein include some features but not others included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention and form different embodiments.

Furthermore, some of the embodiments are described herein as methods or combinations of method elements that may be implemented by a processor of a computer system or by other means of performing the functions. Thus, a processor with the necessary instructions for implementing the described method or method element forms a means for implementing the method or method element. Furthermore, the elements of the apparatus embodiments described herein are examples of the following apparatus: the apparatus is for carrying out the functions performed by the elements for carrying out the objects of the invention.

As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinal terms "first," "second," "third," etc., to describe a general object merely denote different instances of like objects, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must have a given order, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of the above description, will appreciate that other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the invention as described herein. Furthermore, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.

Claims

1. An article sorting method performed in an article sorting apparatus including a plurality of order containers arranged in a plurality of rows and columns, a chute located above each order container, the method comprising:

acquiring an article to be sorted, wherein the article to be sorted comprises one or more articles;

determining a target order corresponding to the goods to be sorted and a target order container according to the quantity of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted and the quantity of the goods required by each order;

conveying the goods to be sorted to a distribution vehicle;

determining a target path of the seed-sorting vehicle according to the target order container;

and controlling the movement of the distribution truck according to the target path so as to convey the goods to be sorted to a chute above a target order container, so that the goods to be sorted are put into the target order container through the chute.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein acquiring items to be sorted comprises:

acquiring the goods to be sorted corresponding to a current collection list so as to distribute the goods to be sorted to orders in the current collection list;

the aggregate list comprises a plurality of orders with the same attribute, and each order corresponds to an order container.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein determining the target order and the target order container corresponding to the to-be-sorted goods according to the number of the goods contained in the to-be-sorted goods and the number of the goods required for each order, comprises:

determining the number of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted;

if the number of the goods to be sorted is 1, determining the order with the least number of the goods required in the current collection list as the target order corresponding to the goods to be sorted;

and if the number of the goods to be sorted is greater than 1, determining the order with the largest number of the goods required in the current collection list as the target order corresponding to the goods to be sorted.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein determining the number of items contained in the item to be sorted comprises:

detecting the weight and/or the appearance characteristics of the goods to be sorted;

And determining the quantity of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted according to the weight and/or the appearance characteristics of the goods to be sorted.

5. The method of claim 3 or 4, further comprising:

determining whether the current aggregate sheet contains an order with a required item quantity greater than 1;

if the current aggregate sheet does not contain an order with a required item quantity greater than 1, then: and alarming when the number of the goods to be sorted is determined to be more than 1.

6. The method of any one of claims 1-5, further comprising:

after goods required by the target order are put into corresponding target order containers, printing the receipts of the target order, and conveying the receipts to the distribution truck, so that the distribution truck conveys the receipts to a chute above the target order containers and puts the receipts into the target order containers through the chute.

7. The method of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the chute comprises:

a chute body arranged obliquely; and the buffer is arranged between the chute body and the order container so as to buffer the goods to be sorted in the process that the goods to be sorted slide from the chute body to the order container.

8. The method of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the chute has a sensor thereon; the method further comprises the steps of:

and detecting whether the goods to be sorted pass through the sliding groove or not through the sensor so as to determine whether the goods to be sorted are put into the target order container or not.

9. An article sorting apparatus comprising:

a plurality of order containers arranged in a plurality of rows and columns;

a chute located above each order container;

at least one distribution vehicle;

the system comprises at least one package supply table, a distribution vehicle and a distribution vehicle, wherein the package supply table is suitable for acquiring goods to be sorted, the goods to be sorted comprise one or more goods, and the goods to be sorted are suitable for being conveyed to the distribution vehicle through a conveying line;

a control system adapted to: determining a target order corresponding to the goods to be sorted and a target order container according to the quantity of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted and the quantity of the goods required by each order;

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

the goods identification equipment is arranged on the package supply table and is in communication connection with the control system, and is suitable for detecting the weight of the goods to be sorted; and/or

The size detection equipment is arranged on the package supply table and is in communication connection with the control system, and is suitable for detecting the appearance characteristics of the goods to be sorted;

wherein the control system is further adapted to: and acquiring the weight and/or the appearance characteristics of the goods to be sorted, and determining the quantity of the goods contained in the goods to be sorted according to the weight and/or the appearance characteristics.