Transportation system and method

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a transportation system and method. The system comprises: a three-dimensional shelf for storing items; a transport vehicle for transferring target items from the three-dimensional shelf to a designated location based on a transport request; and a plurality of guide rails mounted on the three-dimensional shelf for supporting the transport vehicle so that it can move along the rails. The guide rails comprise horizontal and vertical rails. The transportation system and method disclosed herein can simplify the transportation process of conventional transportation systems, eliminate auxiliary equipment such as elevators, and improve the efficiency of the entire transportation system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of warehousing logistics and transportation, and in particular, to a transportation system and method. Background Art

[0002] Transport vehicles are commonly used in the logistics field. Traditional transport vehicles are generally used for loading and unloading items in high-bay warehouses and can only travel in one direction. The main modes are horizontal and vertical transport vehicles. Both can only travel back and forth on horizontal or vertical linear guide rails within a plane. If a horizontal transport vehicle needs to change lanes, it needs to be moved from one lane to another with the help of a hoist at the end of the lane. Vertical transport vehicles can be lowered to the ground and transferred on the ground using an automatic guided system to change lanes. When there is a large demand for orders to be shipped out and received, congestion is inevitable due to the fixed driving trajectory of the transport vehicles.

[0003] After a horizontally moving transport vehicle takes out items, it must pass through a series of item elevators and a large number of assembly lines for transmission, collection, and other functions before it can be sorted. After sorting is completed, it must also return to the transport vehicle three-dimensional warehouse through another series of assembly lines. A vertically moving transport vehicle can transport items to other locations, but a vertically moving transport vehicle can only travel in the vertical direction of the three-dimensional warehouse. In summary, existing transport vehicles are limited by their structural design and can only travel on one-way guide rails. They have poor flexibility, cannot change lanes on their own, and are clumsy to use. Transport vehicles need to use auxiliary equipment such as elevators when changing lanes. In short, there are various inconveniences in the existing technology.

[0004] Therefore, a new transportation system and method is needed.

[0005] The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the present disclosure and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In view of this, the present disclosure provides a transportation system and method, which can simplify the transportation process of the transportation system in the prior art, eliminate auxiliary equipment such as elevators, and improve the efficiency of the entire transportation system.

[0007] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned in part by practice of the present disclosure.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a transportation system is proposed, which includes: at least two three-dimensional shelves for storing items; a transport vehicle for transferring target items in the three-dimensional shelves to a designated location based on a transport request; and a plurality of guide rails, which are installed on the three-dimensional shelves and are used to carry the transport vehicle so that the transport vehicle moves on the guide rails, and the guide rails include horizontal guide rails and vertical guide rails.

[0009] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, it further includes: a steering assembly installed at the intersection of multiple horizontal and / or vertical guide rails, used to switch the transport vehicle between the multiple horizontal and / or vertical guide rails.

[0010] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, each three-dimensional shelf includes: a plurality of storage brackets arranged in sequence in a vertical direction; and a plurality of vertically arranged upright columns, all of which are connected to the edges of each layer of the storage brackets and jointly support the storage brackets.

[0011] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the horizontal guide rails are installed on the edges of the multiple layers of storage brackets of the three-dimensional shelf; and the vertical guide rails are installed on a plurality of vertical columns of the three-dimensional shelf.

[0012] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the horizontal guide rail is connected to the vertical guide rail via a cross-steering assembly, and the cross-steering assembly is used to enable the transport vehicle to switch directions in the vertical direction and / or the horizontal direction.

[0013] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the transport vehicle includes: a crawling assembly, which has multiple drive wheels and at least one guide wheel. The crawling assembly rotates through a rotating structure inside the transport vehicle, driving the steering assembly to switch the moving direction, so that the transport vehicle switches between the vertical direction and / or the horizontal direction.

[0014] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the transport vehicle also includes: an internal power device, which drives the crawling assembly to rotate synchronously along the rotation center of the crawling assembly, so that the crawling assembly drives the cross-steering assembly to switch between the vertical direction and the horizontal direction.

[0015] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the transport vehicle further includes: a fork configured to acquire the target item on the three-dimensional shelf through extending action, retracting action, lifting action and / or conveyor belt control according to the transport request.

[0016] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, it further includes: a docking platform for allowing the transport vehicle to detach from the guide rail so as to move between the plurality of three-dimensional shelves.

[0017] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a logistics transportation method is proposed, which includes: receiving a transportation request; a transport vehicle moving vertically and / or horizontally on a three-dimensional shelf through multiple guide rails according to the transportation request to reach a target item in the three-dimensional shelf; and the transport vehicle acquiring the target item and transferring it to a designated location.

[0018] According to the transportation system and method disclosed in the present invention, by interconnecting multiple vertical guide rails and multiple horizontal guide rails, the transportation vehicle can move horizontally and vertically in the stereoscopic warehouse, which can simplify the transportation process of the transportation system in the existing technology, eliminate auxiliary equipment such as elevators, and improve the efficiency of the entire transportation system.

[0019] It should be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary only and are not restrictive of the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that other drawings can be derived from these drawings without inventive effort.

[0021] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the operation mode of the transportation system in the prior art.

[0022] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the operation mode of the transportation system in the prior art.

[0023] Figure 3 The figure is a flow chart showing a transportation method according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0024] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram showing an operation mode of a transportation system according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0025] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a transportation system according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0026] Figure 6 The figure is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional shelf in a transportation system according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0027] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a guide rail in a transportation system according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0028] Figure 8 is a disassembled schematic diagram showing a steering assembly in a transportation system according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0029] Figure 9 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a transport vehicle in a transport system according to an exemplary embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, example embodiments can be embodied in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concepts of the example embodiments to those skilled in the art. Like reference numerals in the drawings represent like or similar parts, and thus repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

[0031] In addition, the described features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, many specific details are provided to provide a full understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the technical solutions of the present disclosure can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or other methods, components, devices, steps, etc. can be adopted. In other cases, well-known methods, devices, implementations or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid blurring various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0032] The block diagrams shown in the accompanying drawings are merely functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically separate entities. That is, these functional entities may be implemented in software, in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different networks and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0033] The flowcharts shown in the accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and do not necessarily include all contents and operations / steps, nor must they be executed in the order described. For example, some operations / steps may be decomposed, while others may be combined or partially combined. Therefore, the actual execution order may vary depending on the actual situation.

[0034] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various components, these components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used to distinguish one component from another. Thus, the first component discussed below can be referred to as the second component without departing from the teachings of the present disclosure. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any one of the associated listed items and all combinations of one or more of them.

[0035] Those skilled in the art will understand that the drawings are merely schematic diagrams of example embodiments, and the modules or processes in the drawings are not necessarily necessary for implementing the present disclosure, and therefore cannot be used to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figure 1 and Figure 2 The diagram is a schematic diagram of the operation mode of the transport system in the prior art. The transport vehicles in the prior art are limited by their structural design and can only travel on one-way guide rails. They can be specifically divided into horizontal transport vehicles and vertical transport vehicles. Figure 1 As shown, it moves horizontally on the shelf and moves vertically through specific elevators at both ends of the shelf. The vertical transport vehicle can also be Figure 2 As shown, the transport vehicle moves vertically on the shelf and moves horizontally on the shelf bottom. The transport vehicle in the prior art has poor flexibility, cannot change lanes by itself, and is clumsy to use.

[0037] Existing horizontal transport vehicles require auxiliary equipment such as hoists when changing lanes, increasing storage costs and operation time, reducing logistics system efficiency. Existing horizontal transport vehicles require extensive assembly lines for both inbound and outbound transport, occupying significant space and incurring significant costs. Furthermore, relocation is difficult and reuse is costly.

[0038] In the prior art, after a horizontal transport vehicle takes out an item, it generally needs to perform operations such as transmission, collection, sorting, and storage. Multiple devices such as transport vehicles, elevators, automatic guided transport systems, and forklifts will be used to work together. As a result, abnormalities or time losses may easily occur when transferring items between various devices. In the prior art, a vertical transport vehicle can travel on a vertical rail and can be lowered to the ground to change positions. If the shelf is relatively high, the efficiency will drop significantly. If there is already a vehicle on a vertical rail, in order to take out items above this vehicle, this vehicle needs to be lowered to the ground and exit the vertical rail before another vehicle can take out the required items. If another vehicle comes up on the shelf at this time, the vehicle already on the shelf needs to wait for the vehicle that comes up later to leave the rail before it can descend to the ground.

[0039] Furthermore, the optimal number of horizontal transport vehicles operating simultaneously is the same as the number of horizontal rails, and the optimal number of vertical transport vehicles operating simultaneously is the same as the number of vertical rails. Furthermore, the length of the horizontal and vertical rails also limits the operational efficiency of this model: the longer the rails, the longer it takes to retrieve a specific item. Therefore, the main bottlenecks limiting the efficiency of current high-bay warehouses are the number of vehicles operating simultaneously and the space occupied by the racks.

[0040] In view of the defects in the prior art, the present application proposes a transportation system that effectively solves the problem in the prior art that the number of vehicles and efficiency of transport vehicles are limited due to the rigidity of the guide rails and the inflexible lane changes.

[0041] The transportation system proposed in this application simplifies and optimizes the entire transport vehicle system, greatly improving efficiency.

[0042] The transportation system proposed in this application solves the limitation of the length and number of guide rails on the number of vehicles running on the shelves, and also solves the limitation of operating efficiency on the number of operating vehicles on the entire shelf, thereby improving operating efficiency.

[0043] The transportation system proposed in this application can basically eliminate auxiliary equipment such as elevators and a large number of assembly lines required for entering and exiting the warehouse due to the integrated design of the transportation vehicle and the automatic guided system.

[0044] Figure 3 FIG3 is a flow chart showing a logistics transportation method according to an exemplary embodiment. The logistics transportation method 30 at least includes steps S302 to S306.

[0045] like Figure 3 As shown, in S302, a transport request is received, which may include a target item.

[0046] In S304, the transport vehicle moves vertically and / or horizontally on the three-dimensional shelf using the plurality of guide rails in accordance with the transport request to reach the target item in the three-dimensional shelf. The transport vehicle can determine the location of the target item in the three-dimensional shelf based on the transport request and then move vertically and / or horizontally on the three-dimensional shelf using the plurality of guide rails.

[0047] In one embodiment, the three-dimensional shelf includes: a plurality of storage brackets arranged in sequence in a vertical direction; and a plurality of vertically arranged upright columns, all of which are connected to the edges of each layer of the storage brackets and jointly support the storage brackets.

[0048] Wherein, the horizontal guide rails are installed on the edges of the multiple layers of storage brackets of the three-dimensional shelf; and the vertical guide rails are installed on multiple vertical columns of the three-dimensional shelf.

[0049] Furthermore, the horizontal guide rail is connected to the vertical guide rail via a cross steering assembly, and the cross steering assembly is used to enable the transport vehicle to switch directions in the vertical direction and / or the horizontal direction.

[0050] In one embodiment, the transport vehicle includes: a crawling assembly, which has multiple drive wheels and at least one guide wheel; a crawling assembly, which has multiple drive wheels and at least one guide wheel; the crawling assembly rotates through a rotating structure inside the transport vehicle, driving the steering assembly to switch the moving direction, so that the transport vehicle switches between the vertical direction and / or the horizontal direction.

[0051] The transport vehicle also includes a function to drive the crawler assembly to rotate, which can be a rotating assembly, for example. The rotating assembly rotates and bears the weight of the vehicle when it is traveling horizontally. After the crawler assembly rotates, the guide wheel will drive the steering assembly to rotate synchronously to switch direction.

[0052] In one embodiment, the transport vehicle includes: an internal power device, which drives the crawling assembly to rotate synchronously along the rotation center of the crawling assembly, so that the crawling assembly drives the cross-steering assembly to switch between the vertical direction and the horizontal direction.

[0053] The rotation center of the crawling assembly is a straight line perpendicular to the side of the transport vehicle and passing through the rotation center of the driving wheel.

[0054] In S306, the transport vehicle acquires the target item and transfers it to the designated location. The transport vehicle may include a fork for acquiring the target item on the three-dimensional shelf by extending, retracting, lifting, and / or controlling the conveyor belt according to the transport request.

[0055] After acquiring the target item, the transport vehicle can detach from the guide rail through the docking platform to move between the multiple three-dimensional shelves; the transport vehicle can also transport the item to the distribution area.

[0056] Figure 4 FIG is a schematic diagram showing an operation mode of a transportation system according to an exemplary embodiment. Figure 4 As shown, the transport vehicle can operate in two directions on the rails of a specific rack, meaning it can move horizontally and vertically. This directional change is not limited to rail steering and mechanical rail replacement. The transport vehicle can also detach from the rails on docking platforms at each end of the rack and move horizontally to another aisle, automatically changing lanes.

[0057] In one embodiment, the transport vehicle may have the function of an automatic guided vehicle system and be able to descend to the ground to transport items; or it may not have the function of an automatic guided vehicle system and only run on the shelf, and then be used in conjunction with an automatic guided vehicle system running on the ground to transfer and transport items.

[0058] In one embodiment, transport vehicles can travel horizontally or vertically on the shelves by switching between horizontal and vertical guide rails through a mechanism on the transport vehicle. Therefore, the number of vehicles operating on the shelves is not limited by the number of horizontal and vertical guide rails. Furthermore, the longer the guide rails, the more transport vehicles can be accommodated simultaneously. Compared to traditional transport vehicles, this invention is equivalent to expanding the original linear motion into a planar motion in the form of a horizontally and vertically interwoven mesh traffic flow. The docking platform connects the mesh traffic of each lane into a three-dimensional transportation network.

[0059] In one embodiment, the function of changing lanes through the docking platform is not limited to the transport vehicle itself changing lanes, and the transport vehicle can also be replaced with a specific mobile device.

[0060] According to the logistics transportation method disclosed in the present invention, compared with the traditional transport vehicle system, this model does not have heavy item lifts and vehicle body lifts, the investment cost is lower, the movement and transportation of complete sets of equipment is simpler, and all item body climbing is performed by the transport vehicle.

[0061] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of a transport system according to an exemplary embodiment. Transport system 500 includes: a transport vehicle 501, a three-dimensional shelf 502, a horizontal guide rail 503, a vertical guide rail 504, a steering assembly 505, and a docking platform 506.

[0062] The three-dimensional shelf 502 is used to store items.

[0063] The transport vehicle 501 is used to transfer the target items in the three-dimensional shelf 502 to a designated location according to a transport request.

[0064] The plurality of guide rails include a horizontal guide rail 503 and a vertical guide rail 504 . The horizontal guide rail 503 and the vertical guide rail 504 are installed on the three-dimensional shelf and are used to carry the transport vehicle so that the transport vehicle moves on the guide rails.

[0065] The steering assembly 505 is installed between the horizontal guide rail 503 and the vertical guide rail 504 to enable the transport vehicle to switch between multiple guide rails.

[0066] Connecting platform 506 is arranged on the two ends of shelf, and perhaps shelf is longer and also can be arranged on the position in the middle of shelf according to certain rule. Connecting platform 506 makes transporter 501 break away from shelf and can switch between the shelves that are arranged side by side on connecting platform 506 again.

[0067] like Figure 5 As shown, if it is a system of traditional horizontal transport vehicles, the maximum number of vehicles that can be driven in the system is the maximum number of horizontal guide rails, that is, 4 vehicles. If it is a system of vertical transport vehicles, since each vehicle requires two vertical guide rails to climb, four guide rails are required for two vehicles to operate simultaneously, that is, the row of cargo spaces between the vertical cargo spaces where the two vehicles are located cannot be used for vehicle climbing, and the maximum number of vehicles that can be driven in the system is 5. According to the transportation system of the present application, since the transport vehicle 501 can switch between horizontal and vertical operation in the three-dimensional shelf 502, the number of vehicles is 9 as shown in the figure, and it can continue to increase.

[0068] Figure 6This is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional shelf in a transportation system according to an exemplary embodiment. The three-dimensional shelf 502 comprises: multiple layers of horizontally arranged storage brackets 50221, arranged vertically in sequence; and multiple vertically arranged upright posts 50222, connected to the edges of each layer of the storage brackets and collectively supporting the storage brackets.

[0069] Reference Figure 6 , the storage bracket 50221 is used to place items. The storage bracket 50221 is constructed as a planar frame structure and is arranged horizontally. The storage bracket 50221 can be a roughly rectangular frame structure. The multiple layers of storage brackets 50221 are arranged in sequence in the vertical direction and are separated from each other. The vertical columns 50222 are arranged vertically. Multiple vertical columns 50222 are arranged in two rows and distributed on both sides of the storage bracket 5021. Each vertical column 50222 is fixedly connected to all the storage brackets 50221 so that multiple vertical columns 50222 support the multiple layers of storage brackets 50221. Each vertical column 50222 is connected to the edge of each layer of storage bracket 50221.

[0070] The storage rack 50221 includes multiple crossbeams 502211 and multiple longitudinal beams 502212. The vertical columns 50222, crossbeams 502211, and longitudinal beams 502212 can be made of profiled materials. The crossbeams 502211 and longitudinal beams 502212 are all arranged horizontally. There are at least two crossbeams 502211, and the two crossbeams 502211 are parallel to each other. The ends of the crossbeams 502211 are respectively connected to two adjacent vertical columns 50222. The longitudinal beams 502212 are arranged between the two crossbeams 502211. The longitudinal beams 502212 are perpendicular to the crossbeams 502211, and the ends of the longitudinal beams 502212 are respectively connected to the two crossbeams 502211. In this way, the crossbeam 502211 and the longitudinal beam 502212 are combined into a planar frame structure that can hold items. The crossbeam 502211 is connected to the vertical columns 50222 so that the columns support the storage bracket 50221.

[0071] Figure 7 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a guide rail in a transportation system according to an exemplary embodiment. Figure 7 As shown, the horizontal guide rails 503 are installed on the edges of the multiple layers of the storage brackets of the three-dimensional shelf 502 ; and the vertical guide rails 504 are installed on multiple vertical columns of the three-dimensional shelf 502 .

[0072] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the horizontal guide rail 503 and the vertical guide rail 504 can be connected by a cross-steering assembly 5011, and the cross-steering assembly 5011 is used to enable the transport vehicle to switch directions in the vertical direction and / or the horizontal direction. It is worth mentioning that the guide rail groove can be cross-shaped or cross-shaped.

[0073] Figure 8 FIG. 1 is a disassembled schematic diagram of a steering assembly in a transportation system according to an exemplary embodiment. Figure 8 As shown, the steering assembly 5011 includes a mounting base 50111 and a rotating guide rail 50112. The mounting base 50111 is mounted on the vertical column 5022. The rotating guide rail 50112 is mounted on the mounting base 50111 and is located on the side of the mounting base 50111 facing away from the shelf. The rotating guide rail 50112 is rotatably connected to the mounting base 50111, and the rotating guide rail 50112 can rotate relative to the mounting base 50111. The rotating guide rail 50112 includes a guide rail groove 50113. The guide rail groove 50113 is located on the side of the rotating guide rail 50112 facing away from the shelf. The guide rail groove 50113 includes two straight grooves. The two straight grooves are of equal length. The two straight grooves intersect perpendicularly, and the intersection is the midpoint of each of them, which is the center of the guide rail groove 50113. The two straight grooves are both perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotating guide rail 50112, and the rotation axis passes through the center of the guide rail groove 50113. The guide rail groove 50113 can be cross-shaped or cross-shaped.

[0074] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of a transport vehicle in a transport system according to an exemplary embodiment. The transport vehicle 501 may be, for example, an automated guided vehicle (AGV). In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the transport vehicle 501 includes: a crawling component 5020, the crawling component 5020 having a plurality of drive wheels and at least one guide wheel, the crawling component 5020 having a plurality of drive wheels and at least one guide wheel, the crawling component 5020 rotates through a rotating structure inside the transport vehicle, driving the steering component to switch the moving direction, so that the transport vehicle 501 switches between the vertical direction and / or the horizontal direction.

[0075] Two crawling assemblies 5020 are respectively arranged on opposite sides of the first end of the vehicle body, and the other two crawling assemblies 5020 are respectively arranged on opposite sides of the second end of the vehicle body. The four crawling assemblies 5020 support the vehicle body from positions near the four corners of the vehicle body, making it more stable and reliable.

[0076] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the transport vehicle further includes: a fork configured to pull target items on the three-dimensional shelf by extending and retracting according to the transport request.

[0077] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, it further includes: a docking platform for allowing the transport vehicle to detach from the guide rail so as to move between the plurality of three-dimensional shelves.

[0078] The transportation system and method disclosed in this invention are compared to the traditional horizontal or vertical transport vehicle system. Due to the single operation of the transport vehicle, the number of vehicles in operation is limited by the number of guide rails, which often limits efficiency. Moreover, the longer the guide rails, the lower the efficiency. However, this patent realizes multi-directional travel of the transport vehicle by adding a method for switching between horizontal and vertical travel, thereby removing the limit on the number of vehicles running at the same time and improving efficiency.

[0079] The transportation system and method disclosed herein are significantly different from conventional transport vehicle systems, where the elevator is the bottleneck of the entire system. Cargo containers must be unloaded using the elevator, and each lane can only accommodate one or a few elevators. However, the transportation system and method disclosed herein eliminates the need for elevators by enabling each vehicle to climb vertically and horizontally within the lane, effectively saving costs. Furthermore, when other vehicles are on a climbing longitudinal rail, they can climb from other longitudinal rails and then move laterally to adjust their route. This provides enhanced flexibility and adaptability, avoiding congestion and improving warehousing efficiency.

[0080] According to the transportation system and method disclosed in the present invention, compared with the traditional transport vehicle system, since the patent solution is provided with a docking platform, the transport vehicle can change the lane by itself through the docking platform, which is much simpler than the traditional mode of unloading the transport vehicle by a hoist and then manually moving it to other lanes and loading it onto the hoist.

[0081] It should be clearly understood that the present disclosure describes how to form and use specific examples, but the principles of the present disclosure are not limited to any details of these examples. On the contrary, based on the teachings of the contents disclosed in this disclosure, these principles can be applied to many other embodiments.

[0082] While the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been specifically illustrated and described above, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the detailed structures, configurations, or implementations described herein; rather, the present disclosure is intended to encompass various modifications and equivalent configurations within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

[0083] In addition, the structures, proportions, sizes, etc. shown in the drawings of this specification are only used to match the contents disclosed in the specification for those skilled in the art to understand and read, and are not used to limit the limiting conditions for the implementation of the present disclosure. Therefore, they have no substantial technical significance. Any modification of the structure, change in the proportional relationship or adjustment of the size should still fall within the scope of the technical content disclosed in the present disclosure without affecting the technical effects and objectives that can be achieved by the present disclosure. At the same time, the terms such as "on", "first", "second" and "one" quoted in this specification are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the implementation of the present disclosure. Changes or adjustments in their relative relationships should also be regarded as the scope of the implementation of the present disclosure without substantially changing the technical content.

Claims

1. A transportation system, characterized in that: include: At least two three-dimensional shelves for storing items; A transport vehicle, used to transfer target items in the three-dimensional shelf to a designated location according to a transport request; as well as A plurality of guide rails, the plurality of guide rails being installed on the three-dimensional shelf and being used to carry the transport vehicle so that the transport vehicle moves on the guide rails, the guide rails comprising horizontal guide rails and vertical guide rails; A steering assembly is installed at the intersection of multiple horizontal and vertical guide rails, and is used to enable the transport vehicle to switch between the multiple horizontal and / or vertical guide rails, wherein the steering assembly includes a mounting seat and a rotating guide rail, the mounting seat is installed on the vertical column of the three-dimensional shelf, and the rotating guide rail is rotatably installed on the mounting seat on the side away from the three-dimensional shelf, and the rotating guide rail includes a guide rail groove located on the side of the rotating guide rail away from the three-dimensional shelf, and the guide rail groove includes two vertically intersecting straight grooves; Wherein, the transport vehicle further comprises a crawling assembly having a plurality of driving wheels and at least one guide wheel; The transport vehicle further includes a rotating assembly that drives the crawling assembly to rotate. The rotating assembly rotates and bears the weight of the vehicle when traveling horizontally. After the crawling assembly rotates, the guide wheel drives the steering assembly to rotate synchronously to switch direction. The transport vehicle further includes an internal power device, which drives the crawling assembly to rotate synchronously along the rotation center of the crawling assembly, so that the crawling assembly drives the steering assembly to switch between a vertical direction and a horizontal direction.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein Each three-dimensional shelf includes: A plurality of storage brackets arranged in sequence in a vertical direction; and A plurality of vertically arranged upright columns are connected to the edge of each layer of the storage bracket and jointly support the storage bracket.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein: The horizontal guide rails are mounted on the edges of the multi-layer storage brackets of the three-dimensional shelf; The vertical guide rails are installed on a plurality of vertical columns of the three-dimensional shelf.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The horizontal guide rail is connected to the vertical guide rail via the steering assembly, and the steering assembly is used to enable the transport vehicle to switch directions in the vertical direction and / or the horizontal direction.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The transport vehicle further comprises: The fork is used to obtain the target item on the three-dimensional shelf through extending action, retracting action, lifting action and / or conveyor belt control according to the conveying request.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein: Also includes: The docking platform is used to enable the transport vehicle to separate from the guide rail so as to move between the plurality of three-dimensional shelves.

7. A transportation method, characterized in that: The transportation system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 comprises: receiving a delivery request; The transport vehicle moves vertically and / or horizontally between the three-dimensional shelves via a plurality of guide rails according to the transport request to reach the target item in the three-dimensional shelves; and The transport vehicle obtains the target object and transfers it to a designated location.

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