CN119059146A - Cargo conveying equipment and warehousing logistics system - Google Patents

Abstract

A cargo conveying device and a storage logistics system, the cargo conveying device being used for a shelf (SH), comprising: a storage and retrieval mechanism (10), configured to store cargo (GO) into a shelf storage location (SL) on the shelf (SH) or to retrieve cargo (GO) from the shelf storage location (SL); a driving mechanism (20), connected to the storage and retrieval mechanism (10), configured to drive the storage and retrieval mechanism (10) to move relative to the shelf (SH); and a first laser radar (30), arranged on the storage and retrieval mechanism (10), configured to scan the shelf storage location (SL) so that the storage and retrieval mechanism (10) can store and retrieve cargo (GO).

Description

Goods conveying device and warehouse logistics system

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the field of warehouse logistics, in particular to a cargo conveying device and a warehouse logistics system.

Background

In the storage logistics field, the material box storage and taking system can realize efficient transportation of material boxes in and out of storage, so that the efficiency is improved, and the cost is reduced. The bin access system includes a liftable and horizontally movable cargo bed for effecting bin transfer between the bin and a storage location on the pallet.

In some related art, to ensure accurate and safe bin access, a bin access system cooperates with various sensing devices, such as cameras, photosensors, etc., to obtain bin information, etc., during the process of accessing the bin. In other related art, bin access systems employ single point lasers for distance measurement or tilt measurement.

Disclosure of Invention

It is found that the related technology of matching with various sensing devices needs to install and set various sensing devices, the sensing devices need to load a cargo platform to perform various actions to achieve information acquisition, control is complex and cost is high, and the related technology of using single-point laser to perform distance measurement or inclination measurement also needs to load a cargo platform to perform actions to match, and the acquired information is limited and has high requirements on installation positions, so that factors affecting the reliability of cargo access exist in the prior art.

In view of this, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a cargo conveying device and a warehouse logistics system, which can improve the reliability of cargo access.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a cargo transferring device for a pallet, comprising:

A storage and retrieval mechanism configured to store goods in or retrieve goods from a shelf storage location on the shelf;

a drive mechanism coupled to the access mechanism and configured to drive the access mechanism to move relative to the shelf, and

The first laser radar is arranged on the access mechanism and is configured to scan the storage position of the goods shelf so that the access mechanism can access goods.

In some embodiments, the access mechanism has a carrier for carrying cargo, the first lidar is located on at least one side of the carrier along a first direction that intersects a cargo access direction of the access mechanism.

In some embodiments, the drive mechanism is configured to drive the access mechanism to move relative to the shelf in at least one direction parallel to a reference plane, the reference plane being parallel to both the first direction and the vertical direction.

In some embodiments, the first direction is perpendicular to a cargo access direction of the access mechanism and parallel to a horizontal plane.

In some embodiments, the cargo transferring device comprises two sets of first lidars, each set of first lidar comprising one or more first lidars, the two sets of first lidars being located on both sides of the carrier portion along the first direction, respectively.

In some embodiments, the two sets of first lidars have the same pitch with the bearing part in the first direction and the same mounting height in the vertical direction.

In some embodiments, the first lidar forms a rotational scan plane parallel to a horizontal plane.

In some embodiments, the first lidar is configured to perform at least one of:

the method comprises the steps of obtaining point cloud data on the surface of goods by scanning the goods in a goods shelf storage position to be picked on the goods shelf so as to determine the distance between the goods and the access mechanism in the goods access direction of the access mechanism;

Scanning the storage positions of the goods shelves to be stocked on the goods shelves to determine whether the storage positions of the goods shelves are occupied;

And scanning at least one side of the goods shelf adjacent to the goods shelf storage position to be stocked on the goods shelf to acquire point cloud data of the goods surface in the adjacent at least one side of the goods shelf storage position so as to determine whether the space separated by the goods in the adjacent at least one side of the goods shelf storage position has enough space for storing the goods.

In some embodiments, the cargo transferring device further comprises:

And the second laser radar is arranged on the access mechanism and is configured to scan the lower side of the access mechanism so as to determine whether foreign matters exist on the lower side of the access mechanism.

In some embodiments, the access mechanism has a carrier for carrying cargo, and the second lidar is located on an underside of the carrier.

In some embodiments, the second lidar forms a rotational scan plane perpendicular to the horizontal plane.

In some embodiments, the drive mechanism is configured to drive the access mechanism to move relative to the shelf in at least one direction parallel to a reference plane, the second lidar forming a rotational scan plane parallel to the reference plane.

In some embodiments, the cargo transferring device further comprises:

and the third laser radar is arranged on the access mechanism and is configured to scan the storage position of the multi-layer shelf in the vertical direction.

In some embodiments, the third lidar-formed rotational scan plane or rotational scan arc is configured to cover a range of heights of all levels of the shelf storage locations of the shelf.

In some embodiments, the third lidar is located on at least one side of the access mechanism along a first direction, the drive mechanism is configured to drive the access mechanism to move relative to the rack along at least one direction parallel to a reference plane, the first direction intersects a cargo access direction of the access mechanism, the reference plane is configured to pass through a beam of the rack storage of the multi-tier racks in a vertical direction;

the rotating scanning plane formed by the third laser radar is perpendicular to the reference plane, or the rotating scanning plane or the rotating scanning arc-shaped surface formed by the third laser radar is obliquely intersected with the reference plane, and the intersecting position is positioned at the outer side of the access mechanism.

In some embodiments, the cargo transferring device comprises two sets of third lidars, each set of third lidar comprising one or more third lidars, the two sets of third lidars being located on either side of the access mechanism along the first direction, respectively.

In some embodiments, the third lidar is configured to perform at least one of:

The inspection is realized by scanning the storage positions of the multi-layer goods shelves in the vertical direction of the goods shelves so as to determine whether the storage positions of the goods shelves in each layer have abnormal states;

And the height information of the cross beams of the storage positions of the multi-layer goods shelves is obtained by scanning the storage positions of the multi-layer goods shelves in the vertical direction, so that the driving mechanism can position the height of the access mechanism.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a warehouse logistics system comprising:

Goods shelf and

The cargo transferring device.

According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the first laser radar is arranged on the access mechanism to scan the storage position of the goods shelf, so that the access mechanism can store or take out goods according to the scanning condition of the storage position of the goods, and the reliability of goods access is improved.

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.

The disclosure may be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a scenario according to some embodiments of the warehouse logistics system of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a scanning area of a first lidar in an embodiment of a cargo conveying device according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the mounting structure of an access mechanism, a first lidar and a second lidar in an embodiment of a cargo conveying device according to the present disclosure;

fig. 4-6 are schematic diagrams of three operations implemented by a first lidar, respectively, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosed cargo conveyance apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a scanning area of a second lidar in an embodiment of the cargo conveying device according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a second lidar scanning for foreign matter under an access mechanism in an embodiment of a cargo conveyance according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the mounting structure of the access mechanism, the first lidar and the third lidar in an embodiment of the cargo transferring device according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the mounting structure of the embodiment of FIG. 9 from another perspective;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a scanning area of a third lidar in an embodiment of the cargo conveying device according to the present disclosure;

fig. 12 is a schematic view of another scanning area of a third lidar in an embodiment of the cargo conveyance apparatus according to the present disclosure.

It should be understood that the dimensions of the various elements shown in the figures are not drawn to actual scale. Further, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar members.

Reference numerals illustrate:

10-accessing mechanism, 11-bearing part, 12-operating part, 13-shell;

20-driving mechanism, 21-vertical rail, 22-travelling wheel and 23-lifter;

30-a first lidar;

40-a second lidar;

50-a third lidar;

x-first direction, y-second direction, z-third direction, rp-reference plane;

SH-goods shelf, GO-goods, GV-site transport trolley, SL-goods shelf storage, HB-beam, GT-goods conveying device and FM-foreign matter.

Detailed Description

Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The description of the exemplary embodiments is merely illustrative, and is in no way intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. The present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. 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. It should be noted that the relative arrangement of parts and steps, the composition of materials, numerical expressions and numerical values set forth in these embodiments should be construed as exemplary only and not limiting unless otherwise specifically stated.

The terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof in the description and claims of the present disclosure and in the description of the figures above are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the technical terms "first," "second," and the like are used merely to distinguish between different objects and are not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated, a particular order or a primary or secondary relationship.

In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "and/or" is merely an association relationship describing an association object, and indicates that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B, and may indicate that a exists alone, while a and B exist together, and B exists alone. In addition, in the present disclosure, if the character "/", it generally indicates that the front-rear association object is an or relationship.

In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "plurality" refers to two or more (including two), and similarly, "plural sets" refers to two or more (including two), and "plural sheets" refers to two or more (including two).

In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "at least one" refers to one or more than two (including two), and similarly, "at least one group" refers to one group or more than two (including two), and "at least one sheet" refers to one or more than two (including two). In describing embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "at least partially" refers to a portion or all.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, in the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the technical terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc. are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are merely for convenience of description of the embodiments of the present disclosure and for simplicity of description, rather than to indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a specific orientation, be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of the present disclosure.

In describing embodiments of the present disclosure, unless explicitly stated or limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured" and the like should be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed, mechanically connected, electrically connected, directly connected, indirectly connected via an intervening medium, or interconnected between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art according to specific circumstances.

All terms (including technical or scientific terms) used in this disclosure have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs, unless specifically defined otherwise. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

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 some related art, to ensure accurate and safe bin access, a bin access system cooperates with various sensing devices, such as cameras, photosensors, etc., to obtain bin information, etc., during the process of accessing the bin. In other related art, bin access systems employ single point lasers for distance measurement or tilt measurement.

It is found that the related technology of matching with various sensing devices needs to install and set various sensing devices, the sensing devices need to load a cargo platform to perform various actions to achieve information acquisition, control is complex and cost is high, and the related technology of using single-point laser to perform distance measurement or inclination measurement also needs to load a cargo platform to perform actions to match, and the acquired information is limited and has high requirements on installation positions, so that factors affecting the reliability of cargo access exist in the prior art.

In view of this, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a cargo conveying device and a warehouse logistics system, which can improve the reliability of cargo access.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a cargo transferring device for a pallet, comprising:

A storage and retrieval mechanism configured to store goods in or retrieve goods from a shelf storage location on the shelf;

a drive mechanism coupled to the access mechanism and configured to drive the access mechanism to move relative to the shelf, and

The first laser radar is arranged on the access mechanism and is configured to scan the storage position of the goods shelf so that the access mechanism can access goods.

According to the embodiment, the first laser radar is arranged on the access mechanism to scan the storage position of the goods shelf, so that the access mechanism can store or take out goods according to the scanning condition of the storage position of the goods, and the reliability of goods access is improved.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a scenario according to some embodiments of the warehouse logistics system of the present disclosure. Referring to fig. 1, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a warehouse logistics system including a rack SH and a cargo conveyor GT. The shelf SH may have at least one storage layer, such as a single layer or more than two storage layers. Each tier of storage may have at least one shelf storage SL, such as a single shelf storage SL or more than two shelf storage SL.

The shelf storage SL may be enclosed by a frame on the shelf SH, for example by a plurality of vertical beams or risers spaced apart in the lateral direction to isolate at least one shelf storage in the lateral direction. The shelf storage SL can also be obtained in other ways, for example, by spacing the goods on the left and right sides as the shelf storage SL for the goods to be stored, which uses a storage way with a non-fixed position, and the shelf storage SL for the shell is determined according to the placement of the existing goods on the shelf SH before storing.

The goods GO of the shelf SH can be taken out and transported by the goods transporting device GT, or can be obtained from other sources by the goods transporting device GT and transported to the corresponding shelf storage place SL for storage. The start position and the target position (or the target position and the start position of the conveyance) of the conveyance may be different storage locations SL of the same storage rack SH, storage locations SL of different storage racks SH, storage locations SL of storage racks and the ground transportation cart GV, or storage locations SL of storage racks and another cargo conveyance device GT, respectively.

The goods GO may comprise actual articles, such as finished products, semi-finished products or raw materials, etc., as well as containers for carrying the articles, such as pallets, bins, packing boxes or bags, etc., as well as empty containers.

For the warehouse logistics system, the warehouse logistics system can comprise a single shelf SH, and also can comprise a plurality of shelves SH which are arranged at intervals along the horizontal direction. A tunnel in which the goods conveying means GT run can be formed between adjacent shelves SH, so that the goods conveying means GT convey goods GO in the tunnel in at least one direction parallel to the shelf elevation. The site transport trolley GV can be operated by the site on the lower side of the shelf SH, the roadway and the surrounding sites of the shelf SH, so that the transport of the cargoes GO is realized by the site transport trolley GV.

Fig. 1 shows a scenario in which the cargo transferring device GT is located at two adjacent shelves SH, and shows three directions, a first direction x, a second direction y and a third direction z, respectively. The third direction z may be parallel to the vertical direction and the second direction y may be parallel to the goods access direction of the access mechanism 10 in the goods conveying device GT. The goods storing and taking direction can be the storing direction of the goods or the taking direction of the goods.

The first direction x may intersect the second direction y, for example perpendicular to the second direction y, or at an acute or obtuse angle to the second direction y, and the first direction x may also intersect the third direction z, for example perpendicular to the third direction z, or at an acute or obtuse angle to the third direction z. The second direction y may intersect the third direction z, for example perpendicular to the third direction z, or at an acute or obtuse angle to the third direction.

Referring to fig. 1, the disclosed embodiment also provides a cargo transferring device GT for a shelf SH, comprising an access mechanism 10, a driving mechanism 20 and a first lidar 30. The depositing and dispensing mechanism 10 is configured to deposit the goods GO into or remove the goods GO from the shelf storage SL on the shelf SH. A drive mechanism 20 is coupled to the access mechanism 10 and is configured to drive the access mechanism 10 to move relative to the shelf SH. The first lidar 30 is disposed on the access mechanism 10 and is configured to scan the shelf storage SL for the access mechanism 10 to access the cargo GO.

The storing and taking mechanism 10 can carry and convey the goods GO, and can also store or take out the goods GO with respect to the shelf storage SL. Here, the storing and taking mechanism 10 can only realize the storage of the goods GO or the taking out of the goods GO, and can also realize the storage of the goods GO and the taking out of the goods GO.

The drive mechanism 20 is capable of moving the access mechanism 10 relative to the shelf SH, where the movement may include movement in a vertical direction, movement in a horizontal direction, or movement in a diagonal or diagonal downward direction. The manner in which the drive mechanism 20 drives the access mechanism 10 includes, but is not limited to, a rail guide manner, a suspension manner, a robot arm drive manner, or the like.

A lidar is a target detection technique for acquiring information of the azimuth, the speed, etc. of a target object by emitting laser light to the target object to collect a reflected signal of the target object using the laser light as a signal light source. The lidar may emit a fan-shaped or 360 ° laser beam as required in order to cover the target range to be detected.

The first laser radar 30 may adopt available laser radars with different principles according to needs, for example, the first laser radar 30 may adopt a mechanical laser radar, and the laser source is driven to rotate by the motor, so as to form a scanning plane with a preset angle range or 360 degrees. For another example, the first lidar 30 may employ a rotary mirror lidar, in which a predetermined angular range or a 360 ° scan plane is achieved by refraction of light by a rotary mirror.

According to the embodiment, the first laser radar is arranged on the access mechanism to scan the storage position of the goods shelf, so that the access mechanism can store or take out goods according to the scanning condition of the storage position of the goods, and the reliability of goods access is improved. Compared with the related technology of matching by adopting various sensing devices, the embodiment does not need to install and arrange various sensing devices, thereby reducing the cost, eliminating the matching control requirement between the sensing devices and the access mechanism by reducing the sensing devices, reducing the control difficulty and being beneficial to improving the reliability of goods access.

Compared with the related art adopting single-point laser to perform distance measurement or inclination measurement, the first laser radar of the embodiment has a larger scanning range, can obtain more information, and reduces the installation requirement, thereby being beneficial to improving the goods access reliability.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a scanning area of a first lidar in an embodiment of a cargo conveyance apparatus according to the present disclosure. Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a mounting structure of an access mechanism, a first lidar and a second lidar in an embodiment of a cargo transferring device according to the present disclosure. Referring to fig. 3, in some embodiments, the access mechanism 10 has a carrying portion 11 for carrying the cargo GO, and the first lidar 30 is located on at least one side of the carrying portion 11 along a first direction x, and the first direction x intersects with the cargo access direction of the access mechanism 10.

The carrying portion 11 is capable of carrying the cargo GO thereon, the first lidar 30 is located on at least one side of the carrying portion 11 along the first direction x, and the first direction x intersects with the cargo access direction of the access mechanism 10. This leaves the first lidar 30 out of the direction of entry or exit of the cargo GO with respect to the carrier 11, thereby reducing the risk of interference with the cargo GO or the components of the access mechanism 10 for cargo access.

The first lidar 30 may be located at the front side or the rear side of the carrying portion 11 along the first direction x, or the first lidar 30 may be disposed at both the front side and the rear side of the carrying portion 11 along the first direction x.

Referring to fig. 3, in some embodiments, the cargo transferring device may include two sets of first lidars 30, each set of first lidars 30 including one or more first lidars 30, and the two sets of first lidars 30 are located on two sides of the carrier 11 along the first direction x, respectively. Therefore, the distance and the size of goods or foreign matters in the storage position of the goods shelf can be accurately judged by referring to the point cloud data obtained by the two groups of first laser radars 30, the detection range is enlarged by the two groups of first laser radars 30, more comprehensive detection can be realized, and the risk of missing scanning caused by shielding by other parts or goods and the like is reduced.

In some embodiments, the two sets of first lidars 30 have the same pitch with the bearing part 11 in the first direction x and the same installation height in the vertical direction. In this way, the scan data obtained by the two sets of first lidars 30 can be consistent, which is beneficial to simplifying subsequent data processing.

Referring to fig. 2, in some embodiments, the drive mechanism 20 is configured to drive the access mechanism 10 relative to the shelf SH in at least one direction parallel to a reference plane rp that is parallel to both the first direction x and the vertical direction. The reference plane rp may be disposed on the front side of the shelf SH adjacent to the side of the access mechanism 10, or may be another plane parallel to the front side.

The first direction x and the vertical direction are both parallel to the reference plane rp, and can be used as the direction in which the driving mechanism 20 drives the access mechanism 10 to move, respectively. This facilitates that the two sets of first lidars 30 arranged in the first direction x form the same spacing with the reference plane rp. In fig. 2, each group of first lidars 30 includes one first lidar 30, and two first lidars 30 respectively form a circular scanning area by thick dotted lines, and the two circular scanning areas overlap, so that both the storage racks SL on both sides of the storage rack SL on the front side of the access mechanism 10 and the same partial area of the goods GO on the front side of the access mechanism 10 can be scanned simultaneously.

In some embodiments, the first direction x is perpendicular to the cargo access direction of the access mechanism 10 and parallel to a horizontal plane. The first direction x is parallel to the horizontal plane, and it is advantageous that the two sets of first lidars 30 arranged along the first direction x are arranged at the same height. By setting the first direction x perpendicular to the cargo access direction of the access mechanism 10, the risk of interference between the first lidar 30 and the cargo GO or the components of the access mechanism 10 can be reduced to a greater extent.

In fig. 3, the access mechanism 10 may further include an operation unit 12 capable of applying a pushing force or a pulling force to the cargo. The carrier 11 of the accessor 10 may comprise a conveyor belt assembly that may cooperate with the operating member 12 to effect entry and exit of the cargo GO relative to the accessor 10. The conveying direction of the conveyor belt assembly and the pushing and pulling direction of the operating portion 12 may be parallel to the goods storing and taking direction of the storing and taking mechanism 10.

Referring to fig. 2, in some embodiments, the first lidar 30 forms a rotational scan plane that is parallel to a horizontal plane. The first laser radar 30 drives the laser source or the rotating mirror matched with the laser source to rotate through a motor, so that a circular rotating scanning plane which is shown by a thick dotted line in fig. 2 and takes the first laser radar 30 as a circle center is realized, the rotating scanning plane is parallel to a horizontal plane, and a large-range scanning can be realized on the shelf storage position SL of the shelf layer corresponding to the access mechanism 10.

Fig. 4-6 are schematic diagrams of three operations implemented by a first lidar, respectively, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosed cargo conveyance apparatus. A plurality of broken lines respectively drawn from the two first lidars 30 in fig. 4 to 6 are used to illustrate laser beams emitted from the first lidars 30 toward the rack.

Referring to FIG. 4, in some embodiments, the first lidar 30 is configured to acquire point cloud data of a surface of the cargo GO by scanning the cargo GO within a shelf storage SL to be picked on the shelf SH to determine a distance of the cargo GO from the access mechanism 10 in a cargo access direction of the access mechanism 10.

In fig. 4, when the access mechanism 10 needs to take out the goods GO in the storage location SL, the first laser radar 30 may first scan the goods GO in the storage location SL to be taken out on the shelf SH so as to obtain the point cloud data on the surface of the goods GO, so that the distance between the goods GO and the access mechanism 10 in the goods access direction of the access mechanism 10 can be determined. When the access mechanism 10 is used for taking out, the operating part of the access mechanism can extend out to act on the goods GO by an accurate distance, so that the risk of taking out failure caused by insufficient extending distance or crashing the goods GO or damaging the operating part caused by excessive extending distance is reduced, and the success rate of taking out the goods is improved.

Referring to FIG. 5, in some embodiments, the first lidar 30 is configured to determine whether the pallet storage SL is occupied by scanning the pallet storage SL to be stocked on the pallet SH.

In fig. 5, when the storage mechanism 10 needs to store the load GO in the storage rack SL to be stocked, the storage rack SL to be stocked on the storage rack SH may be scanned by the first laser radar 30, so as to find out whether other loads or foreign matters occupy the storage rack SL in time, so as to continue to be conveyed to other available storage racks SL, or send out a notification for cleaning the storage rack SL.

Referring to FIG. 6, in some embodiments, the first lidar 30 is configured to acquire point cloud data of the surface of the cargo GO within the adjacent at least one side shelf storage SL by scanning at least one side shelf storage SL of the shelf SH adjacent to the shelf storage SL to determine whether the space separated by the cargo GO within the adjacent at least one side shelf storage SL has sufficient space to store the cargo GO.

In fig. 6, for a pallet on which the load GO can be freely placed, when the depositing and taking mechanism 10 needs to store the load GO carried by it in the pallet storage SL, it is necessary to determine the available pallet storage SL with sufficient space by scanning. Accordingly, the first lidar 30 may scan at least one side shelf storage SL adjacent to the shelf storage SL to be stocked on the shelf SH to acquire point cloud data of the surface of the cargo GO within the adjacent at least one side shelf storage SL.

Both sides of the shelf storage SL may be formed by the goods GO, or one side may be formed by the goods GO and the other side may be formed by the side plates of the shelf. The minimum distance between the cargos GO on two sides or between the cargos GO and the side plates can be calculated through the obtained point cloud data, if the minimum distance is larger than the width of the cargos GO, the space separated by the cargos GO in the adjacent at least one side shelf storage position SL is provided with enough space for storing cargos GO, and the operation of storing cargos can be carried out, otherwise, the space separated by the cargos GO in the adjacent at least one side shelf storage position SL is not provided with enough space for storing cargos GO, and other available shelf storage positions SL need to be searched.

In this embodiment, the first lidar 30 may perform any one of the operations described above, or may perform both or all of the operations. The first lidar 30 may communicate with a processor or controller, scan according to instructions from the processor or controller, and send scanned point cloud data to the processor or controller for the processor or controller to perform the above logical decisions and corresponding processes.

Fig. 7 is a schematic view of a scanning area of a second lidar in an embodiment of a cargo conveyance according to the present disclosure. Fig. 8 is a schematic view of a second lidar scanning for foreign matter under an access mechanism in an embodiment of a cargo conveyance according to the present disclosure.

While the foregoing description of the drive mechanism 20 may take on a variety of forms, fig. 7 illustrates an example of a configuration of the drive mechanism 20, the drive mechanism 20 may include a vertical rail 21, a road wheel 22, and an elevator 23. The vertical rail 21 can be movably arranged on at least two cross beams SL of the shelf SH through travelling wheels 22, and the travelling wheels 22 travel on the cross beams SL to drive the vertical rail 21 to transversely move. The access mechanism 10 is movably provided on the vertical rail 21 by a lifter 23, and is vertically movable by the lifter 23.

Referring to fig. 3, 7 and 8, in some embodiments, the cargo transferring device further includes a second lidar 40. A second lidar 40 is provided on the access mechanism 10 and is configured to scan the underside of the access mechanism 10 to determine if a foreign object FM is present on the underside of the access mechanism 10.

Considering that the access mechanism 10 moving downward may collide with the ground transportation trolley GV moving on the ground or the cargo GO falling on the roadway, at this time, both the ground transportation trolley GV and the cargo GO are equivalent to the foreign matter FM in fig. 8, and the collision may cause damage to the cargo conveying device, affecting long-term stable operation of the cargo conveying device.

In this embodiment, the second laser radar 40 scans the lower side of the access mechanism 10, so as to timely find out whether the foreign matter FM exists on the lower side of the access mechanism 10, so as to send out a warning, make the driving mechanism 20 stop driving the access mechanism 10 to move downwards, or timely remove the foreign matter FM from the area through the cleaning component, thereby eliminating the collision risk as much as possible, and being beneficial to guaranteeing the long-time stable operation of the cargo conveying device.

Referring to fig. 3 and 8, in some embodiments, the access mechanism 10 has a carrying portion 11 for carrying the cargo GO, and the second lidar 40 is located on the lower side of the carrying portion 11. The second lidar 40 may employ the same device as the first lidar 30, or may employ other specifications or implementation principles of the available lidar. The second lidar 40 may be disposed on the underside of a rack or housing of the access mechanism 10 to reduce shadowing of the access mechanism 10 by the access mechanism 10 from scanning ranges on the underside of the access mechanism 10 by the second lidar 40.

In fig. 7, the scanning range of the second lidar 40 is shown by a thick dotted line, and the second lidar 40 can be scanned both right below and obliquely below on the left and right sides. In fig. 8, a plurality of broken lines drawn from the second lidar 40 are used to illustrate laser beams emitted from the second lidar 40 toward the lower side of the carrier portion 11. Fig. 3 and 8 illustrate the case where a second lidar 40 is provided on the access mechanism 10, which substantially meets the requirements for lower foreign object detection. In other embodiments, more than two second lidars 40 are provided on the access mechanism 10 to obtain more accurate detection results and a larger scanning range.

In some embodiments, the second lidar 40 forms a rotational scan plane that is perpendicular to the horizontal plane. This advantageously reduces the risk of missed detection due to the inclination of the rotational scanning plane formed by the second lidar 40 relative to the horizontal.

In some embodiments, the drive mechanism 20 is configured to drive the access mechanism 10 relative to the shelf SH in at least one direction parallel to a reference plane rp, the second lidar 40 forming a rotational scan plane parallel to the reference plane rp.

In this embodiment, the rotation scanning plane formed by the second laser radar 40 is parallel to the reference plane rp, so that the second laser radar 40 can scan a larger range along the roadway, and the possibility of missed detection is reduced. In other embodiments, the rotational scan plane formed by the second lidar 40 may be offset from the reference plane rp by a small angle, which may help to increase the scan range in a direction perpendicular to the reference plane rp.

Fig. 9 is a schematic view of a mounting structure of an access mechanism, a first lidar and a third lidar in an embodiment of a cargo transferring device according to the present disclosure. Fig. 10 is a schematic view of the mounting structure of the embodiment of fig. 9 at another viewing angle. Fig. 11 is a schematic view of a scanning area of a third lidar in an embodiment of a cargo conveyance apparatus according to the present disclosure. Fig. 12 is a schematic view of another scanning area of a third lidar in an embodiment of the cargo conveyance apparatus according to the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 9 and 11, in some embodiments, the cargo transferring device further comprises a third lidar 50, the third lidar 50 being provided on the access mechanism 10 and configured to scan the multi-level shelf storage SL of the shelf SH in a vertical direction.

In some embodiments, the access mechanism or drive mechanism in the cargo conveyance is proximate to the outside of the storage rack when moving relative to the racks, and collisions may occur if the storage rack has protruding objects. This may be due to the fact that the goods stored on the shelves may not be well placed, and thus partly protrude from the front side of the shelves, and may be other foreign bodies, which may interfere with the access mechanism 10 or the drive mechanism 20. By providing the third lidar 50 to scan the pallet SH for the pallet storage SL in the vertical direction, such anomalies can be detected and tampered with in time, reducing the risk of collisions during movement of the access mechanism 10.

In fig. 11, the scanning range of the third lidar 50 is shown by a thick dotted line, and the scanning range thereof can cover two or more shelf layers according to the laser intensity of the third lidar 50, so that detection of an upper or lower abnormality is achieved at least in the height direction.

In the above embodiments, at least one of the first, second, and third lidars 30, 40, and 50 may employ a single-line lidar to form a scan plane to obtain a point cloud straight line. In other embodiments, the scan bow may be obtained according to a scan bow angle that is not 0 °.

Referring to fig. 9, 11 and 12, in some embodiments, the third lidar 50 is located on at least one side of the access mechanism 10 along a first direction x, which intersects the cargo access direction of the access mechanism 10, the drive mechanism 20 is configured to drive the access mechanism 10 relative to the shelf SH along at least one direction parallel to a reference plane rp configured to pass through a cross beam HB of the shelf SH in a vertical direction of the multi-level shelf storage SL.

The transverse beams HB of the storage racks SL of the respective layers are located on the front side of the rack SH, so that the reference plane rp corresponds to the front side of the rack SH. The rotation scan plane formed by the third lidar 50 may be perpendicular to the reference plane rp in order to scan for anomalies in the layers of the rack column for which the access mechanism 10 is intended. The rotation scanning plane formed by the third lidar 50 may also intersect the reference plane rp obliquely, and the intersection position is located outside the access mechanism 10. This allows the third lidar 50 to also scan other columns of shelves in the lateral direction to allow for more early detection of anomalies as the access mechanism 10 moves and to preserve a braking distance for the access mechanism 10.

The third lidar 50 may further form a rotating scanning arc surface by using an angle formed between the beam direction of the laser source or the rotating mirror and the rotation axis, and the rotating scanning arc surface formed by the third lidar 50 and the reference plane rp intersect obliquely, and the intersecting position is located outside the access mechanism 10. The conical rotary scanning arc surface formed in this way can realize synchronous scanning of adjacent shelves, and efficiency and safety are improved. In addition, the access mechanism 10 can find abnormal conditions in advance when moving, and a certain braking distance is reserved for the access mechanism 10.

Referring to fig. 10, in some embodiments, the cargo transferring device includes two sets of third lidars 50, each set of third lidars 50 including one or more third lidars 50, the two sets of third lidars 50 being located on either side of the access mechanism 10 along the first direction x, respectively.

In fig. 10, two third lidars 50 may be provided on the housing 13 on the left and right sides of the access mechanism 10, respectively, so that shielding of the third lidar 50 by components on the access mechanism 10 may be reduced. Scanning by adopting the two groups of third laser radars 50 can enlarge the scanning range and timely find abnormal conditions in different directions in the roadway.

Referring to fig. 12, in some embodiments, the rotational scan plane or rotational scan arc formed by the third lidar 50 is configured to cover the height range of all levels of shelf storage SL of the shelf SH.

In order to enable the access mechanism 10 to scan a row of storage locations in the vertical direction at any height, the output intensity of the laser may be adjusted so that 1/2 of the height of the rotating scanning plane or the rotating scanning arc surface formed by the third laser radar 50 can radiate to the uppermost storage location of the shelf and the storage locations of the shelf below (which may be temporary storage locations). This helps third lidar 50 to achieve a more comprehensive inspection of shelf SH, reducing omission.

The dashed triangle drawn from the third lidar 50 on the right in fig. 12 is used to illustrate the laser beam range emitted by the third lidar 50 in the direction of the shelf. Referring to FIG. 12, in some embodiments, the third lidar 50 is configured to perform inspection by scanning the vertical level of shelf storage SL of the shelf SH to determine if an abnormal condition exists for each level of shelf storage SL.

In fig. 12, when the access mechanism 10 is in the left position, the third lidar 50 on the right side can scan all the shelf layers on the right, so that the access mechanism 10 can move from left to right or from right to left, and the multi-layer shelf storage position SL of the shelf SH in the vertical direction can be inspected from left to right or from right to left by the third lidar 50, so that an abnormal situation such as that the goods are not properly placed and protrude out of the front side of the shelf can be timely found.

The third lidar 50 can grasp the protruding degree of the front side of the cargo GO with respect to the shelf SH through inspection, and sometimes the cargo GO is protruding, possibly due to vibration or the like, but the operation of the access mechanism 10 or the driving mechanism 20 is not affected yet, but may further protrude outwards in the future, and at this time, the situation is grasped in time through inspection, so that the cargo GO is observed continuously in time, so that the cargo is ordered in time.

In addition, the third lidar 50 may also be configured to acquire the height information of the cross beam HB of each layer of the pallet storage SL by scanning the pallet SH in the vertical direction, so that the drive mechanism 20 highly positions the access mechanism 10. This allows a higher precision of positioning, which facilitates the docking of the depositing and dispensing mechanism 10 with the storage rack SL at a suitable height, ensuring the smooth deposit or withdrawal of the goods GO.

The above embodiments of the disclosed cargo transferring device may be adapted for use with a variety of warehouse logistics systems, and thus in one aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a warehouse logistics system comprising a rack and the cargo transferring device of any of the foregoing embodiments.

Thus, various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail. In order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the present disclosure, some details known in the art are not described. How to implement the solutions disclosed herein will be fully apparent to those skilled in the art from the above description.

Although some specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail by way of example, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above examples are for illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing embodiments may be modified and equivalents substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims.

Claims (18)

1. A cargo transferring device for a pallet (SH), comprising:

-an access mechanism (10) configured to store Goods (GO) in or retrieve Goods (GO) from a shelf Storage Location (SL) on the Shelf (SH);

A drive mechanism (20) coupled to the access mechanism (10) and configured to drive the access mechanism (10) to move relative to the Shelf (SH), and

A first lidar (30) arranged on the access mechanism (10) and configured to scan the shelf Storage (SL) for the access mechanism (10) to access the Goods (GO).

2. The cargo transferring device according to claim 1, wherein the access mechanism (10) has a carrier (11) for carrying cargo (GO), the first lidar (30) being located on at least one side of the carrier (11) in a first direction (x), the first direction (x) intersecting a cargo access direction of the access mechanism (10).

3. The cargo transferring device according to claim 2, wherein the drive mechanism (20) is configured to drive the access mechanism (10) to move relative to the Shelf (SH) in at least one direction parallel to a reference plane (rp), the reference plane (rp) being parallel to both the first direction (x) and a vertical direction.

4. The cargo transferring device according to claim 2, wherein the first direction (x) is perpendicular to the cargo access direction of the access mechanism (10) and parallel to a horizontal plane.

5. The cargo transferring device according to claim 2, wherein the cargo transferring device comprises two sets of first lidars (30), each set of first lidars (30) comprising one or more first lidars (30), the two sets of first lidars (30) being located on both sides of the carrier (11) in the first direction (x), respectively.

6. The cargo transferring device according to claim 5, wherein the two sets of first lidars (30) are equally spaced from the carrier (11) in the first direction (x) and are equally mounted in the vertical direction.

7. The cargo transferring device according to claim 1, wherein the first lidar (30) forms a rotational scan plane parallel to a horizontal plane.

8. The cargo transferring device according to any of claims 1-7, wherein the first lidar (30) is configured to perform at least one of the following operations:

Acquiring point cloud data of the surface of Goods (GO) by scanning the Goods (GO) in a goods shelf storage position (SL) to be picked on the goods Shelf (SH) so as to determine the distance between the Goods (GO) and the access mechanism (10) in the goods access direction of the access mechanism (10);

-determining whether a shelf Storage (SL) on said Shelf (SH) is occupied by scanning said shelf Storage (SL) to be stocked;

And scanning at least one side shelf Storage (SL) adjacent to the shelf Storage (SL) to be stocked on the Shelf (SH) to acquire point cloud data of the surface of the Goods (GO) in the adjacent at least one side shelf Storage (SL) so as to determine whether the space separated by the Goods (GO) in the adjacent at least one side shelf Storage (SL) has enough space for storing the Goods (GO).

9. The cargo conveyance apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a second lidar (40) is arranged on the access mechanism (10) and is configured to scan the underside of the access mechanism (10) to determine whether foreign objects are present on the underside of the access mechanism (10).

10. The cargo transferring device according to claim 9, wherein the access mechanism (10) has a carrier (11) for carrying cargo (GO), the second lidar (40) being located at the underside of the carrier (11).

11. The cargo transferring device according to claim 9, wherein the second lidar (40) forms a rotational scan plane perpendicular to the horizontal plane.

12. The cargo transferring device according to claim 11, wherein the drive mechanism (20) is configured to drive the access mechanism (10) to move relative to the Shelf (SH) in at least one direction parallel to a reference plane (rp), the second lidar (40) forming a rotational scanning plane parallel to the reference plane (rp).

13. The cargo transferring device according to claim 1 or 9, further comprising:

and a third laser radar (50) provided on the access mechanism (10) and configured to scan the multi-level shelf Storage (SL) of the Shelf (SH) in the vertical direction.

14. The cargo transferring device according to claim 13, wherein the third lidar (50) forms a rotational scanning plane or rotational scanning arc configured to cover a height range of all levels of shelf Storage (SL) of the Shelf (SH).

15. The cargo transferring device according to claim 13, wherein the third lidar (50) is located on at least one side of the access mechanism (10) along a first direction (x), the drive mechanism (20) being configured to drive the access mechanism (10) to move relative to the rack (SH) along at least one direction parallel to a reference plane (rp), the first direction (x) intersecting the cargo access direction of the access mechanism (10), the reference plane (rp) being configured to pass a beam (HB) of a multi-level rack Storage (SL) of the rack (SH) in a vertical direction;

The rotation scanning plane formed by the third laser radar (50) is perpendicular to the reference plane (rp), or the rotation scanning plane or the rotation scanning arc-shaped surface formed by the third laser radar (50) is obliquely intersected with the reference plane (rp), and the intersection position is located outside the access mechanism (10).

16. The cargo transferring device according to claim 15, wherein the cargo transferring device comprises two sets of third lidars (50), each set of third lidars (50) comprising one or more third lidars (50), the two sets of third lidars (50) being located on both sides of the access mechanism (10) in the first direction (x), respectively.

17. The cargo transferring device of claim 15, wherein the third lidar (50) is configured to perform at least one of:

The inspection is realized by scanning the multi-layer shelf Storage (SL) of the Shelf (SH) in the vertical direction so as to determine whether the abnormal state exists in the Storage (SL) of each layer of shelf;

The height information of the cross beams (HB) of the storage racks (SL) of each layer of the storage racks (SH) is acquired by scanning the storage racks (SL) of the multi-layer storage racks (SH) in the vertical direction, so that the driving mechanism (20) can position the height of the access mechanism (10).

18. A warehouse logistics system, comprising:

Goods Shelf (SH); and

The cargo transferring device of any one of claims 1-17.