CN118107937A - Workstation, conveying system and conveying method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a workstation, a carrying system and a carrying method, wherein the workstation comprises a work station, a stop position and a loading and unloading device, wherein at least two stop positions are arranged and used for stopping movable carriers, and the carriers are used for bearing targets; the handling device is configured to transfer objects between the work station and the carriers at any one of the docking stations, and to transfer objects between the carriers at least two of the docking stations. According to the workstation provided by the disclosure, the target object is transferred between the carrier and the working position through the loading and unloading device, and in the process of completing the operation at the working position, the loading and unloading device can transfer the target object between the carriers at least at two stopping positions, so that the position distribution of the target object is optimized, the faster free stopping positions are facilitated, the queuing time of the carriers is shortened, the productivity of the loading and unloading device is fully utilized, and the efficiency of the carriers from the carriers to the stopping positions and the target object from the carriers to the working position is effectively improved.

Description

Workstation, conveying system and conveying method

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of warehouse management, in particular to a workstation; the disclosure also relates to a handling system comprising the workstation and a handling method applied to the handling system.

Background

The automatic warehouse adopts a 'goods to person' picking system, in the process of picking operation according to a customer order in a logistics center, a goods shelf loaded with goods is carried to a goods picking operation area by an automatic carrying device, then goods on the goods shelf are transferred to a picking station by a loading and unloading device, and goods are picked by a goods picking operation staff on the picking station. After the picking is completed, the loading and unloading device carries the goods on the goods shelf to the picking station according to the information of the next order.

Since the customer's order arrives in real time and is difficult to predict, the system ' goods to people ' efficiency is limited. And the efficiency of manual picking operation is lower than that of the loading and unloading device, so that the phenomenon that the loading and unloading device is idle and the like is often generated, and the capacity of the loading and unloading device is not fully utilized.

Therefore, how to further increase the efficiency of the goods-to-person picking system is a technical problem that needs to be solved in the art.

Disclosure of Invention

The disclosure provides a workstation, a carrying system and a carrying method for solving the problems in the prior art.

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

a working position;

the parking positions are at least provided with two and are used for parking movable carriers, and the carriers are used for bearing objects;

and the loading and unloading device is configured to transfer the target object between the working position and the carrier at any one of the stopping positions and transfer the target object between the carriers at least two of the stopping positions.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, at least two handling devices are provided, each handling device corresponding to at least two of the docking stations.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the handling device is provided with two, wherein one handling device transfers the target between the carriers at the corresponding at least two docking positions when transferring the target between the work position and the carriers.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the docking stations corresponding to the handling device include at least a first docking station, a second docking station; the first dock carrier is configured to leave the first dock after at least a portion of the carried object is transferred to the second dock carrier by the handling device.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the parking positions corresponding to the loading and unloading device at least comprise a first parking position and a second parking position, and the distance between the first parking position and the working position is longer than the distance between the second parking position and the working position; after the carrier at the second dock leaves, the carrier at the first dock is configured to move to the second dock.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, at least two working positions are provided, and the working positions are in one-to-one correspondence with the loading and unloading devices.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the work station and the dock are disposed on opposite sides of the handling device, the handling device being configured to transfer a target between the work station and the dock along a Z-axis direction.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the docking stations are arranged in sequence in the X-axis direction, and the handling device is configured to move along the X-axis direction to a position corresponding to the docking stations.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the handling device is configured to move to different heights along the Y-axis to pick and place objects at different height positions on the carrier.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, a partition is disposed between the working position and the handling device, a window corresponding to the working position is disposed on the partition, and the handling device is configured to take and place a target object on the working position through the window.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, a buffer location for temporarily storing the target object, and a conveyor for transporting the target object, the conveyor being configured to transfer the target object between the work location and the buffer location.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the target is a container and the work station is configured as a picking station for picking items in the container.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, two handling devices are provided, namely a first handling device and a second handling device;

The two working positions are respectively a first working position corresponding to the first loading and unloading device and a second working position corresponding to the second loading and unloading device;

the four stopping positions are respectively a first stopping position and a second stopping position corresponding to the first loading and unloading device, and a third stopping position and a fourth stopping position corresponding to the second loading and unloading device.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a handling system comprising a server, a carrier, a handling device for handling the carrier, and at least one workstation as described above;

the server is configured to send a carrying instruction to the carrying device and send a loading and unloading instruction or a tally instruction to the workstation;

The carrying device is configured to carry the carrier to the parking position or to carry the carrier on the parking position away based on a carrying instruction;

The loading and unloading device of the workstation is configured to transfer targets between the work station and the carriers at the stop positions based on loading and unloading instructions or transfer targets between the carriers at the corresponding at least two stop positions based on cargo handling instructions.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a handling method applied to the handling system described above, the method including:

The server sends a carrying instruction to the carrying device and sends a loading and unloading instruction or a tally instruction to the workstation;

the carrying device carries the carrier to the parking position or carries the carrier on the parking position away based on the carrying instruction;

the loading and unloading device of the workstation transfers the target object between the working position and the carriers at the stopping positions based on loading and unloading instructions or transfers the target object between the carriers at the corresponding at least two stopping positions based on tally instructions.

The loading and unloading device of the workstation has the advantages that the loading and unloading device of the workstation transfers the target objects between the carriers and the working positions, and in the process of completing operation at the working positions, the loading and unloading device can transfer the target objects between the carriers at least two stopping positions, so that the position distribution of the target objects is optimized, the stopping positions can be emptied faster, the queuing time of the carriers is shortened, the productivity of the loading and unloading device is fully utilized, and the efficiency of the carriers from the carriers to the stopping positions and the target objects from the carriers to the working positions is effectively improved.

Other features of the present disclosure and its advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a top view of a workstation provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the control principle of a working system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a workstation provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a workstation provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a working system provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The one-to-one correspondence between the component names and the reference numerals in fig. 1 to 5 is as follows:

10. a working position; 101. A first working position; 102. A second working position;

11. caching bits; 111. A first cache bit; 112. A second cache bit;

12. A conveying device;

20. A rest position; 201. a first rest position; 202. a second rest position; 203. a third rest position; 204. a fourth rest position;

21. a carrier; 211. a first carrier; 212. a second carrier; 213. a third carrier; 214. a fourth carrier;

22. A target;

30. A loading and unloading device; 301. a first handling device; 302. a second loading and unloading device; 31. a track; 32. a column;

4. a partition plate; 41. a window;

5. a storage warehouse;

6. a server;

7. And a carrying device.

Detailed Description

Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that: the relative arrangement of the components and steps, numerical expressions and numerical values set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present disclosure unless it is specifically stated otherwise.

The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses.

Techniques, methods, and apparatus known to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail, but are intended to be part of the specification where appropriate.

In all examples shown and discussed herein, any specific values should be construed as merely illustrative, and not a limitation. Thus, other examples of exemplary embodiments may have different values.

It should be noted that: like reference numerals and letters denote like items in the following figures, and thus once an item is defined in one figure, no further discussion thereof is necessary in subsequent figures.

In this document, "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", and the like are used merely to indicate relative positional relationships between the relevant portions, and do not limit the absolute positions of the relevant portions.

Herein, "first", "second", etc. are used only for distinguishing one another, and do not denote any order or importance, but rather denote a prerequisite of presence.

Herein, "equal," "same," etc. are not strictly mathematical and/or geometric limitations, but also include deviations that may be appreciated by those skilled in the art and allowed by fabrication or use, etc.

Unless otherwise indicated, numerical ranges herein include not only the entire range within both of its endpoints, but also the several sub-ranges contained therein.

In the present disclosure, a workstation is provided, and a handling system and a handling method are provided, which are described in detail in the following embodiments.

In one embodiment as shown in fig. 1, the present disclosure provides a workstation comprising a workstation 10, a dock 20, and a handler 30. Wherein, the parking positions 20 are at least two, and are used for parking the movable carrier 21, and the carrier 21 is used for bearing the target 22. The handling device 30 is arranged to transfer the object 22 between the work station 10 and the carrier 21 at any one of the rest positions 20, and to transfer the object 22 between the carriers 21 at least two rest positions 20.

The target 22 may be a container for holding goods, materials, etc., including plastic boxes, cartons, plastic baskets, etc.; the container may be an original container, for example, a commodity having an original packaging box or a packaging box; but also the goods, etc. themselves.

The carrier 21 may be a pallet, a transport vehicle, such as an AGV (automatic guided vehicle) or an AMR (autonomous mobile robot), and the carrier 21 has a plurality of carrying positions in which the target 22 can be placed. Multiple objects 22 on the same carrier 21 may store the same item or different items. A traveling mechanism can be arranged on the carrier 21, and the self-movement is realized through the traveling mechanism; or the carrier 21 may be moved by a carrying device, and the carrier 21 is carried to a designated position by carrying equipment.

The technical scheme related to the disclosure can be applied to warehouse logistics, industrial manufacturing or any other scene with the need of carrying articles. The items vary from scene to scene. For example, in the context of warehouse logistics, the items may be merchandise, goods, containers, etc.; in the context of industrial manufacturing, an item may be a manufacturing-related material, semi-finished product, or tool, etc. In various scenarios, the work station 10 may perform operations such as picking, processing, assembling, and packaging on the objects in the object 22 by manual operations or automated equipment operations. Of course, the types of the articles, the operation modes, and the like are merely examples, and are not limited thereto.

In the technical solution of the present disclosure, the handling device 30 may perform a handling operation, transferring the target 22 between the work station 10 and the carrier 21 at the docking station 20; the handling device 30 can also execute a cargo handling operation, when the carrier 21 has idle carrying positions, the target object 22 is transferred between the carriers 21 of at least two parking positions 20, and the capacity of the handling device 30 is fully utilized to improve the efficiency of transferring the target object 22.

The workstation performs the job in accordance with order information, which includes information of the target object 22. As shown in fig. 2, the carriers 21 are collectively parked in the storage warehouse 5, the carriers 21 carrying the objects 22 are moved from the storage warehouse 5 to the work station based on the order information, parked on the parking place 20 of the work station, and the loading and unloading device 30 transfers the objects 22 on the carriers 21 to the work station 10. The work station 10 completes, for example, a picking operation according to the order information, the objects in the objects 22 are consumed, the handling device 30 can transfer the objects 22 on the work station 10 to the carriers 21 of the docking station 20 again, and the carriers 21 can leave the work station and return to the storage warehouse 5 for restocking.

The order information received by the workstation arrives in real time and is difficult to predict, and a large amount of order information may be received in a short period of time, each including at least one target object 22. Due to the limited number of docking stations 20, when there are more carriers 21 carrying objects 22, the carriers 21 at the docking stations 20 need to leave in time, yielding the docking stations 20 for the carriers 21 queued later.

In waiting for the work station 10 to complete the work, the handling device 30 can perform the cargo handling between the carriers 21 of the different parking stations 20, and transfer the objects 22 on the different carriers 21 to the same carrier 21. Carriers 21 with objects 22 removed may leave the docking station 20 to facilitate movement of queued carriers 21 onto the vacated docking station 20. The loading and unloading device 30 performs the tally operation, optimizes the position distribution of the target object 22, shortens the queuing time of the carrier 21, and effectively improves the efficiency of the carrier 21 to the parking position 20 and the target object 22 from the carrier 21 to the working position 10.

To improve the efficiency of transferring the target object 22, a certain intelligent algorithm may be combined, and an appropriate operation strategy may be selected according to the time sequence, the type of the article, and other conditions, including the sequence in which the carrier 21 moves to the parking position 20, the sequence in which the loading and unloading device 30 selects the carrier 21 to execute the carrying operation or the handling operation, and the like. The operation strategy can be flexibly adjusted in real time.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, in the workstation of the present disclosure, the object 22 is a container, the workstation 10 is configured as a picking station for picking the articles in the container, and the picking personnel performs a picking operation on the container at the workstation 10 to remove part or all of the articles in the container.

According to the current order information, the carrier 21 carrying the target container is moved to the parking place 20, the loading and unloading device 30 executes the carrying operation, the target container on the carrier 21 is transferred to the working place 10, and the picking personnel at the working place 10 picks the articles in the target container. After picking is completed, the handling device 30 can return the target container at the work station 10 to the carrier 21 at the docking station 20. In the process of waiting for the picking personnel to finish the picking operation, the loading and unloading device 30 can execute the tally operation according to the current order information or the order information to be processed, and transfer the target container to be picked from the carriers 21 at different stop positions 20 to the same carrier 21, so as to improve the transfer efficiency of the container to be picked.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1, at least two handling devices 30 are provided, and each handling device 30 corresponds to at least two docking stations 20, and the handling device 30 handles the target 22 on the carrier 21 corresponding to the docking station 20. At least two handling devices 30 can execute carrying operation and tallying operation, and the handling devices are mutually independent and do not interfere with each other, thereby being beneficial to improving the working efficiency of transferring the target object 22 by the working station. For example, at least two handling devices 30 may perform the handling operation simultaneously; or one of the handling devices 30 performs a handling work and the other handling device 30 performs a tally work.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1, two handling devices 30 are provided, and one handling device 30 may perform a cargo handling operation while the other handling device 30 performs a handling operation. That is, when one of the handling devices 30 transfers the target 22 between the work station 10 and the carrier 21, the other handling device 30 transfers the target 22 between the carriers 21 at the corresponding at least two docking stations 20. The handling device 30 fully utilizes the time waiting for the workstation 10 to complete the picking operation, thereby effectively improving the overall efficiency of the workstation.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 1, each handler 30 corresponds to at least two docking stations 20. Due to the increased number of docking stations 20, when the workstation needs to process more order information, the queuing time required by the carrier 21 is effectively reduced, which is beneficial to improving the transfer efficiency of the whole carrier 21.

The docking station 20 of the workstation may correspond to only one of the handling devices 30 or may correspond to different handling devices 30 at the same time. For example, a workstation has two handling devices 30 and three docking stations 20, each handling device 30 corresponding to two docking stations 20, one docking station 20 corresponding to two handling devices 30 simultaneously. In the preferred embodiment, the docking stations 20 of the workstation are each configured to correspond to only one handler 30, avoiding interference between the different handlers 30 when in operation.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the dock 20 corresponding to the handling device 30 includes at least a first dock 201 and a second dock 202. The carrier 21 in the first docking station 201 is configured to: after transfer of at least part of the carried object 22 by the handling device 30 onto the carrier 21 at the second docking station 202, it leaves the first docking station 201.

When there are more carriers 21 queued into the docking station 20, the handling device 30 transfers the objects 22 to be picked on the carriers 21 at the first docking station 201 to the carriers 21 at the second docking station 202, and then the carriers 21 located at the first docking station 201 can leave the first docking station 201. The queued carriers 21 can move to the first docking station 201, waiting for the handler 30 to transfer the object 22.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, one of the work stations 10 and at least two of the rest stations 20 corresponding to the same handling device 30, one of the rest stations 20 is relatively closer to the work station 10 and the other rest station 20 is relatively farther from the work station 10. The loading/unloading device 30 can be used to transport the work object mainly at the parking place 20 closer to the work place 10. When the carrier 21 at the parking place 20 closer to the work place 10 is separated from the carrier 21 at the parking place 20 farther from the work place 10, the carrier 21 can be moved to the parking place 20 closer to the work place 10, and the stroke of the loading and unloading device 30 for transferring the target object 22 from the carrier 21 to the work place 10 can be shortened, thereby improving the efficiency of the conveying operation.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the docking station 20 corresponding to the handling device 30 includes at least a first docking station 201 and a second docking station 202, wherein a distance between the first docking station 201 and the corresponding working station 10 is relatively far, and a distance between the second docking station 202 and the corresponding working station 10 is relatively near. The loading/unloading device 30 is located at a position corresponding to the second docking station 202, and carries the carrier 21 at the second docking station 202. After the carrier 21 in the second docking station 202 leaves, the carrier 21 in the first docking station 201 is configured to move to the second docking station 202. The second docking station 202 is closer to the work station 10, and the handling device 30 has a shorter travel and a faster speed for transferring the target object 22 from the second docking station 202 to the work station 10, so that the efficiency of the handling operation is higher.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3, at least two work stations 10 are provided, and the number of work stations 10 and handling devices 30 is the same, and the work stations 10 and the handling devices 30 can be in one-to-one correspondence. The handling device 30 takes the object 22 off the carrier 21 corresponding to the rest position 20 and places it on the corresponding working position 10, which is advantageous for at least two handling devices 30 not to influence each other during the working process.

As will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, different handling devices 30 may be used to pick up and place the target 22 on the carrier 21 at the same docking station 20, and the same handling device 30 may be used to transfer the target 22 to different work stations 10, as desired.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3, the work station 10 and the dock 20 are disposed on opposite sides of the handling device 30 to facilitate the handling device 30 transferring the target 22 between the work station 10 and the dock 20. For clarity and brevity of description of the present disclosure, the distribution direction of the work station 10, the loading and unloading device 30, and the docking station 20 will be referred to as the Z-axis direction. The handling device 30 is configured to transfer the target 22 along the Z-axis direction between the work station 10 and the rest station 20.

The handling device 30 includes at least one actuating mechanism for picking and placing the target object 22, for example, a fork, a suction cup, a clamping jaw, a claw, etc., and the actuating mechanism may be driven by hydraulic, pneumatic, electric, etc., mechanical, etc., which is not limited in this disclosure.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3, at least two of the docking stations 20 are sequentially arranged, and the arrangement direction of the docking stations 20 is denoted as the X-axis direction, that is, at least two of the docking stations 20 are sequentially arranged in the X-axis direction. The handling device 30 is configured to move in the X-axis direction to a position corresponding to the docking station 20 to take the target 22 on the carrier 21 or to place the target 22 on the carrier 21 at that position.

In a preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, at least two handling devices 30 are provided, and each handling device 30 has at least two docking stations 20, and is movable in the X-axis direction to a position corresponding to the corresponding docking station 20, and at that position, the target 22 is taken from the carrier 21 or placed on the carrier 21.

In detail, as shown in fig. 1, the loading and unloading device 30 can move along a rail 31 extending in the X-axis direction, and the rail 31 can restrict the moving direction of the loading and unloading device 30. The rail 31 may be a ground rail fixedly provided on the ground, a ceiling rail provided above the loading and unloading device 30, or other types of rails. In some embodiments, the rails 31 may be in one-to-one correspondence with the handling devices 30, and different handling devices 30 may be movable along the respective rails 31. In other embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, at least two handling devices 30 may move along the same track 31.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3, the handling device 30 is capable of moving in a height direction, denoted as a Y-axis direction, along which the handling device 30 is configured to move to different heights. The carrier 21 is provided with a space for accommodating a plurality of objects 22 in the height direction, and the plurality of objects 22 are located on different height layers of the carrier 21. The handling device 30 is movable along the Y-axis direction to take the object 22 of any level of the carrier 21 or to place the object 22 on any level of the carrier 21.

In detail, as shown in fig. 4, the handling device 30 includes a column 32 extending in the Y-axis direction, and an actuating mechanism of the handling device 30 is provided on the column 32 and is movable to different heights along the column 32. The upright may be provided on the rail 31, movable along the rail 31 in the X-axis direction to move the actuating mechanism to correspond to the different rest positions 20.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3, a plurality of targets 22 on the carrier 21 may be distributed in an array in an X-axis direction and a Y-axis direction, and the handling device 30 may be capable of moving along the rail in the X-axis direction and along the column in the Y-axis direction, so as to pick and place the targets 22 at any position on the carrier 21.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3, a partition 4 is provided between the work station 10 and the loading and unloading device 30. The pickers can work on the side, far away from the partition board 4, of the working position 10, and the partition board 4 can separate the working area of the pickers from the area where the loading and unloading device 30 is located, so that the safety of the pickers is protected. The partition 4 is provided with a window 41 corresponding to the position of the work station 10, and the loading and unloading device 30 is configured to take and put the target object 22 on the work station 10 through the window 41.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3, the workstation further includes a buffer bit 11, where the buffer bit 11 is used to temporarily store the target object 22. When a picker performs picking operation on the target object 22 on the work station 10 according to the order information, the loading and unloading device 30 can place the next target object 22 to be picked on the buffer storage station 11, and wait for the picker to pick.

As shown in fig. 3, the workstation further comprises a conveyor 12, the conveyor 12 being configured to transfer the target object 22 between the work station 10 and the buffer station. After the object 22 on the working position 10 is picked, and removed by the loading and unloading device 30, the conveying device 12 can transfer the object 22 on the buffer storage position 11 to the working position 10 for picking, which is beneficial to improving the transfer efficiency of the object 22 and accelerating the picking speed.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the conveyor 12 may be a belt, drum, or the like type of conveyor. The working station 10 and the buffer station 11 may be areas provided on the conveyor 12, or the working station 10 and the buffer station 11 may be provided at opposite ends of the conveyor 12. The conveyor 12 may be any other mechanism, such as a robot, a pusher, a ramp, or the like, as long as the object 22 at the buffer position 11 can be transferred to the work position 10.

In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, at least one buffer bit 11 is provided and corresponds to the working bit 10 one by one. The conveyor 12 can transport the objects 22 on the buffer locations 11 to the corresponding work locations 10. At least one object 22 can be placed on the buffer location 11, and the conveying device 12 can sequentially convey the objects 22 on the buffer location 11 to the working location 10.

In detail, as shown in fig. 3, the work stations 10 and the buffer stations 11 of the work station may be all provided on the same work table, and the work stations 10 and the buffer stations 11 may be distributed along the X-axis direction on the work table. At least one picker performs a picking operation in front of the work bench. A picker may be responsible for picking operations on only one work station 10, or may be responsible for picking operations on at least two work stations 10. The work stations 10 may be located close to each other so that one picker is responsible for picking work of different work stations 10 at the same time.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, an identification system may be further disposed on the working station 10 and/or the buffer station 11, to identify the target object 22, and determine information of the target object 22. The identification system may identify the information of the target object 22 by means of radio frequency identification, camera identification, etc. Identification of the object 22 information by the identification system is a technique well known to those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail herein.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 and 3, two handling devices 30 are provided, namely, a first handling device 301 and a second handling device 302. The two work stations 10 are provided, namely, a first work station 101 corresponding to the first loading and unloading device 301 and a second work station 102 corresponding to the second loading and unloading device 302. The docking stations 20 are provided with four, namely a first docking station 201 and a second docking station 202 corresponding to the first handling device 301, and a third docking station 203 and a fourth docking station 204 corresponding to the second handling device 302. The first docking station 201, the second docking station 202, the third docking station 203, and the fourth docking station 204 are sequentially arranged in the X-axis direction.

Referring to the view of fig. 1, the first work station 101, the first handler 301, the first dock 201, and the second dock 202 are located in the left region of the work station, and the second work station 102, the second handler 302, the third dock 203, and the fourth dock 204 are located in the right region of the work station. The operations of the left and right side areas of the workstation do not interfere with each other.

In the state shown in fig. 1, the carrier at the first parking position 201 is denoted as a first carrier 211, the carrier at the second parking position 202 is denoted as a second carrier 212, the carrier at the third parking position 203 is denoted as a third carrier 213, and the carrier at the fourth parking position 204 is denoted as a fourth carrier 214.

In detail, when the first loading/unloading device 301 performs the conveying operation, the objects 22 on the first and second carriers 211 and 212 are transferred to the first work station 101, or the picked objects 22 are returned to the first and second carriers 211 and 212. When the first loading and unloading device 301 performs the cargo handling operation, the target object on the first carrier 211 is transferred to the second carrier 212, or the target object 22 on the second carrier 212 is transferred to the first carrier 211.

When the second loading/unloading device 302 performs the conveying operation, the objects 22 on the third carrier 213 and the fourth carrier 214 are transferred to the second work station 102, and the picked objects 22 are returned to the third carrier 213 and the fourth carrier 214. When the second loading and unloading device 302 executes the cargo handling operation, the target 22 on the third carrier 213 is transferred to the fourth carrier 214, or the target 22 on the fourth carrier 214 is transferred to the third carrier 213.

In detail, referring to fig. 1, the first working position 101 and the second working position 102 are close to each other, the second docking position 202 is relatively close to the first working position 101, and the third docking position 203 is relatively close to the second working position 102. The left side of the first working bit 101 is provided with a first buffer bit 111, and the right side of the second working bit 102 is provided with a second buffer bit 112. The first handling device 301 may directly place the target 22 on the first work station 101, or the first handling device 301 may first place the target 22 on the first buffer location 111 and then transfer the target 22 to the first work station 101 via the conveyor 12. Similarly, the second handling device 302 may directly place the target 22 on the second work station 102, or may first place the target 22 on the second buffer location 112, and then transfer the target 22 to the second work station 102 via the conveying device 12.

In one specific scenario of the present disclosure, a workstation receives order information in real time and formulates a job policy according to certain conditions and algorithms to process the order information. The carriers 21 carrying the objects 22 are moved from the storage warehouse 5 to the docking stations 20 of the workstation and the carriers 21 are queued after the docking stations 20 are full. The loading and unloading device 30 performs a conveyance operation and a cargo handling operation.

Specifically, the first loading/unloading device 301 corresponds to the second stop position 202, and mainly carries out the transfer operation between the second stop position 202 and the first working position 101, thereby transferring the target 22.

If there are no more targets 22 on the second carrier 212 for which order information needs to be picked, the second carrier 212 may leave the second docking station 202 and return to the storage warehouse 5 for restocking. The first carrier 211 positioned at the first parking place 201 is moved to the second parking place 202 which is left free, and the first loading/unloading device 301 can carry the first carrier 211.

If the second carrier 21 still has the object 22 required for the order information and has an empty carrying position, the first loading and unloading device 301 can execute the tally operation when waiting for the first working position 101 to complete the picking operation, transfer the object 22 on the first carrier 211 to the second carrier 212, then the first carrier 211 leaves the first parking position 201 and returns to the storage warehouse 5, the queued carrier 21 moves to the first parking position 201, and the first loading and unloading device 301 continues to carry the second carrier 212.

The second loading/unloading device 302 corresponds to the third docking station 203, and mainly performs the conveying work between the third docking station 203 and the second working station 102, and transfers the target 22. The second handling device 302 may operate independently of the first handling device 301 and may cooperate with the first handling device 301 to process the same order information.

If there are no more targets 22 on the third carrier 213 for which order information needs to be picked, the third carrier 213 may leave the third docking station 203 and return to the storage warehouse 5 for restocking. The fourth carrier 214 positioned at the fourth docking station 204 is moved to the third docking station 203, and the second loading/unloading device 302 can carry the fourth carrier 214.

If any object 22 for order information is required on the third carrier 213 and there is an empty carrying position, the second loading and unloading device 302 can execute the tally operation while waiting for the second work position 102 to finish the picking operation, transfer the object 22 on the fourth carrier 214 to the third carrier 213, then the fourth carrier 214 leaves the fourth parking position 204 and returns to the storage warehouse 5, the queued carrier 21 moves to the fourth parking position 204, and the second loading and unloading device 302 continues to carry the fourth carrier 214.

The first loading and unloading device 301 and the second loading and unloading device 302 independently execute the carrying operation and the cargo handling operation, and cooperatively process the order information, thereby improving the transfer efficiency of the target object 22 from the carrier 21 to the person. In the process of waiting for the first work station 101 and the second work station 102 to finish the manual picking operation based on the current order information, the first loading and unloading device 301 and the second loading and unloading device 302 execute the tally operation based on the order information to be processed, so that the surplus capacity is fully utilized, and the efficiency is improved.

The present disclosure provides a handling system, as shown in fig. 2 and 5, including a server 6, a carrier 21, a handling device 7 for handling the carrier, and at least one workstation.

The server 6 is configured to send a transport instruction to the transport device 7 and a loading and unloading instruction or a cargo handling instruction to the workstation. In detail, the server 6 receives order information in real time, and sends instructions to the handling device 7 and the workstation according to an appropriate operation strategy in combination with a certain intelligent algorithm.

The carrying device 7 is configured to carry the carrier 21 to the docking station 20 or to carry the carrier 21 on the docking station 20 away based on the carrying instruction.

In detail, the transfer instruction includes an out-of-stock transfer instruction and a return-to-stock transfer instruction, and the transfer device 7 may transfer the carrier 21 from the storage warehouse 5 to the docking station of the workstation based on the out-of-stock transfer instruction, or transfer the carrier 21 of the docking station into the storage warehouse 5 based on the return-to-stock transfer instruction. After the target object 22 on the carrier 21 is transferred to the working position for picking, the carrier 21 can be carried back to the storage warehouse 5 by the carrying device 7 for replenishment.

The transport device 7 can transport the carrier 21 by using, for example, an AGV carriage, automatically travel along a predetermined navigation path, and place the carrier 21 at a predetermined position. The carrying device 7 can be moved between the work station and the storage warehouse 5 according to a predetermined travel route. The path from the storage warehouse 5 to the workstation and the path from the workstation to the storage warehouse 5 may be unidirectional and form a circular path so that the handling devices 7 do not have to avoid each other during movement.

The handling device 30 of the workstation is configured to: the transfer of the object 22 between the work station 10 and the carriers 21 at the rest positions 20 is based on loading and unloading instructions, or the transfer of the object 22 between the corresponding at least two rest positions 20 is based on a tally instruction.

In the process of waiting for the work station 10 to finish the picking operation on the target object 22, the handling device 30 can execute the tally operation based on the tally instruction to transfer the target object 22 to be processed on the carriers 21 at different parking positions 20 to the same carrier 21, so as to improve the transfer efficiency of the target object 22. The server 6 may send loading instructions or cargo instructions to at least two loading devices, respectively, which operate independently and are capable of cooperating.

The carrying method provided by the disclosure is applied to the carrying system, and the method comprises the following steps:

The server 6 transmits a transport instruction to the transport device 7, and transmits a loading and unloading instruction or a cargo handling instruction to the workstation. In detail, the workstation receives order information by the server 6, and the server 6 sends instructions to the handling device 7 and the workstation according to an appropriate operation strategy in combination with a certain intelligent algorithm.

The carrying device 7 carries the carrier 21 to the docking station 20 or carries the carrier 21 on the docking station 20 away based on the carrying instruction.

Specifically, the transport instruction includes an outbound transport instruction and a return transport instruction, and the transport device 7 may transport the vehicle from the storage warehouse 5 to the docking station 20 of the workstation according to a predetermined travel path based on the outbound transport instruction, or transport the vehicle 21 of the docking station 20 to the storage warehouse 5 according to a predetermined travel path based on the return transport instruction. After the object 22 on the carrier 21 is transferred to the work station 10 for picking, the carrier 21 can be carried back to the storage warehouse 5 by the carrying device 7 for replenishment.

The handling device 30 of the workstation transfers the object 22 between the work station and the carriers 21 at the docking stations 20 based on the handling instructions or transfers the object 22 between the carriers 21 at the corresponding at least two docking stations 20 based on the cargo instructions.

In the process of waiting for the work station 10 to finish the picking operation on the target object 22, the handling device 30 can execute the tally operation based on the tally instruction to transfer the target object 22 to be processed on the carriers 21 at different parking positions 20 to the same carrier 21, so as to improve the transfer efficiency of the target object 22. The server 6 may send a loading instruction or a cargo order to at least two loading and unloading apparatuses 30, respectively, and at least two loading and unloading apparatuses 30 may operate independently and may cooperate.

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the various embodiments described. The terminology used herein was chosen in order to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application, or the technical improvements in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims.

Claims (15)

1. A workstation, comprising:

a work station (10);

-a rest position (20), said rest position (20) being provided with at least two and being for rest of a movable carrier (21), said carrier (21) being for carrying a target object (22);

-a handling device (30), said handling device (30) being arranged to transfer a target (22) between said work station (10) and a carrier (21) at any one of said rest positions (20), and to transfer a target (22) between carriers (21) at least two of said rest positions (20).

2. Workstation as in claim 1, characterized in that said handling means (30) are provided in at least two, each of said handling means (30) being associated with at least two of said rest positions (20).

3. Workstation as in claim 2, characterized in that said handling means are provided in two, wherein one of said handling means (30) transfers the object (22) between said work station (10) and said carriers (21), the other of said handling means (30) transferring the object (22) between the carriers (21) at the corresponding at least two rest positions (20).

4. Workstation as in claim 2, characterized in that the rest positions (20) corresponding to the handling device (30) comprise at least a first rest position (201), a second rest position (202); the carrier (21) of the first docking station (201) is configured to leave the first docking station (201) after at least part of the carried object (22) has been transferred onto the carrier (21) of the second docking station (202) by the handling device (30).

5. Workstation as in claim 2, characterized in that the rest positions (20) corresponding to the handling device (30) comprise at least a first rest position (201), a second rest position (202), and in that the first rest position (201) is further from the working position (10) than the second rest position (202) is from the working position (10); after the carrier (21) in the second docking station (202) leaves, the carrier (21) in the first docking station (201) is configured to move to the second docking station (202).

6. Workstation as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that at least two work stations (10) are provided and in that the work stations (10) are in one-to-one correspondence with the handling devices (30).

7. Workstation as in claim 1, characterized in that said work station (10) and said rest position (20) are arranged on opposite sides of said handling device (30), said handling device (30) being configured to transfer objects (22) between said work station (10) and said rest position (20) along the Z-axis direction.

8. Workstation as in claim 1, characterized in that said rest positions (20) are arranged in succession in the X-axis direction, said handling device (30) being configured to move along the X-axis direction to a position corresponding to said rest positions (20).

9. Workstation as in claim 1, characterized in that the handling device (30) is configured to move to different heights along the Y-axis direction to pick and place objects (22) at different height positions on the carrier (21).

10. Workstation as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a partition (4) is provided between the working position (10) and the handling device (30), a window (41) being provided in the partition (4) in correspondence of the position of the working position (10), the handling device (30) being configured to take and place objects (22) on the working position (10) through the window (41).

11. The workstation as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a buffer location (11) for buffering objects (22), and a conveyor (12) for transporting objects (22), the conveyor (12) being configured to transfer objects (22) between the workstation (10) and the buffer location (11).

12. Workstation as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the target object (22) is a container and the workstation (10) is arranged as a picking station for picking items in the container.

13. Workstation according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein two handling devices are provided, a first handling device (301), a second handling device (302), respectively;

the two working positions (10) are respectively a first working position (101) corresponding to the first loading and unloading device (301) and a second working position (102) corresponding to the second loading and unloading device (302);

Four of the stopping positions (20) are respectively a first stopping position (201) and a second stopping position (202) corresponding to the first loading and unloading device (301), and a third stopping position (203) and a fourth stopping position (204) corresponding to the second loading and unloading device (302).

14. A handling system, characterized by comprising a server (6), a carrier (21), handling means (7) for handling said carrier (21), and at least one workstation according to any one of claims 1 to 13;

the server (6) is configured to send a carrying instruction to the carrying device (7) and send a loading and unloading instruction or a tally instruction to the workstation;

The carrying device (7) is configured to carry the carrier (21) to the parking place (20) or to carry the carrier (21) on the parking place (20) away based on a carrying instruction;

the handling device (30) of the workstation is configured to transfer the target (22) between the work station (10) and the carriers (21) at the docking station (20) based on handling instructions or to transfer the target (22) between the carriers (21) at the corresponding at least two docking stations (20) based on tallying instructions.

15. A handling method applied to the handling system of claim 14, the method comprising:

the server (6) sends a carrying instruction to the carrying device (7) and sends a loading and unloading instruction or a tally instruction to the workstation;

The carrying device (7) carries the carrier (21) to the parking position (20) based on the carrying instruction, or carries the carrier (21) on the parking position (20) away;

The handling device (30) of the workstation transfers the target (22) between the work station (10) and the carriers (21) at the rest positions (20) based on handling instructions or transfers the target (22) between the carriers (21) at the corresponding at least two rest positions (20) based on cargo handling instructions.