A forklift roadway driving control system, a narrow roadway forklift and a control method thereof

Abstract

The application provides a forklift roadway driving control system, a narrow roadway forklift and a control method thereof, comprising a guide rail, a first card, a second card, a third card, a fourth card, a card reader, a range finder, a controller and a guide wheel. The application identifies the position of the forklift by reading the cards arranged at different positions on the ground by using the card reader, realizes the functions such as automatic switching of the forklift roadway mode, deceleration parking at the end of the roadway and the like, detects the distance between the forklift and the guide rail by using the range finder, determines the posture of the forklift body in real time and adjusts the driving direction of the forklift, ensures the straight driving of the forklift, is simple to operate, does not need manual intervention, is highly applicable, and enables the forklift to reliably and quickly drive in the roadway.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of forklift driving control, in particular to a forklift roadway driving control system, a narrow roadway forklift and a control method thereof. BACKGROUND

[0002] The roadway mode of the forklift refers to that after the narrow roadway forklift enters the roadway, the driving wheel returns to the middle position and is kept, at this time, the steering wheel is locked, and the vehicle can only advance or retreat straightly. At present, the navigation modes of the narrow roadway forklift driven by the human in the market mainly include two modes: one is the mechanical guide rail mode, that is, the guide rail is laid in the roadway, and the guide wheel is arranged on the vehicle to constrain the vehicle so as to prevent the vehicle from colliding with the shelf, but in order to avoid excessive extrusion between the guide wheel and the guide rail to cause the vehicle to be stuck, the driver needs to fine-tune the steering wheel; the other is the magnetic navigation mode, that is, the magnetic strip is laid in the roadway, and the magnetic navigation sensor is arranged on the vehicle, and the vehicle is controlled to travel straightly by the sensor sensing the magnetic strip signal. The magnetic navigation mode has the advantages that the driver does not need to concentrate on controlling the direction, and the operation is simple, but has the disadvantages that the driver needs to manually switch the operation mode when entering or leaving the roadway, and in order to avoid the collision between the sensor or the magnetic strip and the shelf due to the failure of the sensor or the magnetic strip, the vehicle travels at a low speed in the magnetic navigation mode, and in addition, the magnetic navigation mode cannot be used in the environment where the magnetic signal is disturbed.

[0003] In the existing technology, when the mechanical guide rail mode is used for operation, the vehicle driver needs to concentrate on controlling the driving direction of the vehicle, and the working strength is large. Meanwhile, the manual control of the direction will inevitably cause the frequent friction or collision between the guide wheel and the guide rail, which has a certain influence on the service life of the guide rail and the guide wheel. When the magnetic navigation mode is used for operation, the driver needs to manually switch the roadway mode when entering or leaving the roadway, which is quite tedious for the working condition of frequently entering or leaving the roadway. In order to avoid the collision between the sensor or the magnetic strip and the shelf due to the failure of the sensor or the magnetic strip, the vehicle travels at a low speed in the magnetic navigation mode, otherwise, once the failure occurs, the vehicle cannot be effectively braked. The magnetic navigation mode needs to be used in the environment where the magnetic signal is not disturbed, and has certain limitations. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new type of system for controlling the forklift in the roadway. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application aims to provide a forklift roadway driving control system, a narrow roadway forklift and a control method thereof to solve the problems in the background art.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application provides the following technical scheme:

[0006] A forklift roadway driving control system, comprising:

[0007] A guide rail, two guide rails are arranged in parallel and laid on the ground on both sides of the roadway.

[0008] a first card and a second card, which are arranged on the ground at the entrance of the lane along the direction of the lane, the first card being close to the entrance of the lane;

[0009] a third card and a fourth card, which are arranged on the ground at the end of the lane along the direction of the lane, the fourth card being close to the end of the lane;

[0010] a card reader, which is arranged on the forklift and is used for identifying and reading the information of the first card, the second card, the third card and the fourth card;

[0011] a range finder, which is fixed on the two sides of the bottom of the forklift and is used for measuring the distance between the two sides of the forklift and the guide rails;

[0012] a controller, which is electrically connected with the card reader, judges whether the forklift is entering or leaving the lane according to the sequence of the first card and the second card read by the card reader, and sends a command to the forklift control system to switch to the lane mode when entering the lane and to cancel the lane mode when leaving the lane;

[0013] the controller sends a deceleration command to the forklift control system to control the forklift to start decelerating when the third card is read by the card reader, and sends a stop command to the forklift control system to control the vehicle brake of the forklift to lock up when the fourth card is read by the card reader;

[0014] the controller is electrically connected with the range finder, is used for judging the distance between the forklift and the guide rails according to the data measured by the range finder, and sends a command to the forklift control system to control the forklift to drive between the two guide rails.

[0015] Preferably, the first card, the second card, the third card and the fourth card are all electromagnetic cards, and the information stored in each card is address information, and the address information of each card is different.

[0016] Preferably, a plurality of groups of cards are uniformly arranged on the bottom surface of the center of the lane along the direction of the lane, and the address information of each group of cards is different.

[0017] Preferably, the range finder is provided with four groups, two range finders are arranged on the two sides of the front of the forklift, and two range finders are arranged on the two sides of the tail of the forklift.

[0018] Preferably, a guide wheel is further arranged on the two sides of the forklift, and the height of the guide wheel is lower than the height of the guide rail.

[0019] The narrow aisle forklift further comprises a forklift body and an aisle driving control system, the forklift body is provided with a forklift control system, and the forklift control system is electrically connected with the controller.

[0020] The application further provides a control method of the forklift aisle driving control system, and the use method is suitable for the forklift aisle driving control system, and the use steps comprise the following steps:

[0021] S1: when the forklift enters the aisle, the card reader first reads the information of the first card, then reads the information of the second card along with the driving of the forklift, the controller judges that the forklift enters the aisle according to the card data information read by the card reader, and sends an instruction to the forklift control system to switch to the aisle mode;

[0022] S2: after the forklift drives into the aisle, the distance measuring instrument measures the distance between the forklift and the guide rails on both sides, and sends the distance data to the controller, the controller judges the distance between the forklift and the guide rails on both sides according to the data measured by the distance measuring instrument, and sends an instruction to the forklift control system to control the forklift to drive between the two guide rails;

[0023] S3: when the forklift enters the end of the aisle, the card reader first reads the information of the third card, at this time, the controller sends a deceleration instruction to the forklift control system to control the forklift to start deceleration, then the card reader reads the information of the fourth card along with the driving of the forklift, and the controller sends a stop instruction to the forklift control system to control the vehicle brake of the forklift to be locked;

[0024] S4: when the forklift drives away from the aisle, the card reader first reads the information of the second card, then reads the information of the first card along with the driving of the forklift, the controller judges that the forklift drives away from the aisle according to the card data information read by the card reader, and sends an instruction to the forklift control system to cancel the aisle mode.

[0025] Compared with the prior art, the application has the following beneficial effects:

[0026] The application identifies the position of the forklift by using the card reader to read the cards arranged at different positions on the ground, realizes the functions of automatically switching the forklift to the aisle mode, decelerating and stopping at the end of the aisle, detects the distance between the forklift and the guide rails by the distance measuring instrument, adjusts the driving direction of the forklift in real time, ensures the straight driving of the forklift, is simple to operate, does not need manual intervention, has strong applicability, and enables the forklift to reliably and quickly drive in the aisle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0027] Fig. 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the whole system of the application.

[0028] Fig. 2 The figure is the position structure diagram of the guide rail and the guide wheel of the application;

[0029] Fig. 3 The figure is the flow chart of the control method in the application.

[0030] In the figure: 1 forklift, 2 guide rail, 21 tunnel, 22 tunnel entrance, 23 tunnel end, 3 first card, 4 second card, 5 third card, 6 fourth card, 7 card reader, 8 range finder, 9 controller, 10 guide wheel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the application will be apparently and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative work fall within the protection scope of the application.

[0032] Embodiment:

[0033] Please refer to Figs. 1-2 The application provides a technical solution:

[0034] A forklift tunnel driving control system comprises a guide rail 2, a first card 3, a second card 4, a third card 5, a fourth card 6, a card reader 7, a range finder 8, a controller 9 and a guide wheel 10.

[0035] The two guide rails 2 are arranged in parallel and laid on the ground on both sides of the tunnel 21. The two ends of the tunnel 21 are respectively a tunnel entrance 22 and a tunnel end 23. The tunnel entrance is used for the forklift 1 to enter and exit. The first card 3, the second card 4, the third card 5 and the fourth card 6 arranged on the bottom surface of the tunnel 21 are all electromagnetic cards. The information stored in each card is address information. The address information of each card is different. The first card 3, the second card 4, the third card 5 and the fourth card 6 are located between the two guide rails 2.

[0036] The first card 3 and the second card 4 are arranged on the ground at the tunnel entrance 22 along the direction of the tunnel 21. The first card 3 is closer to the tunnel entrance 22. The third card 5 and the fourth card 6 are arranged on the ground at the tunnel end 23 along the direction of the tunnel 21. The fourth card 6 is closer to the tunnel end 23.

[0037] The card reader 7 is arranged on the forklift 1, the controller 9 is electrically connected with the card reader 7, the power supply of the card reader 7 is provided by the forklift, and the card reader 7 can identify and read the address information in the passing card when passing the first card 3, the second card 4, the third card 5 or the fourth card 6, and send the address information to the controller 7, so as to determine which card the forklift is passing.

[0038] The distance meters 8 are fixed on the bottom of the forklift, the controller 9 is electrically connected with the distance meters 8, and the distance meters 8 are arranged in four groups, two distance meters 8 are arranged on the two sides of the front of the forklift 1, and two distance meters 8 are arranged on the two sides of the tail of the forklift, and the distance meters 8 can measure the distance between the two guide rails 2 on the two sides of the forklift 1.

[0039] The controller 9 can adopt the original vehicle-mounted controller on the forklift 1, or a separate driving controller, if the separate driving controller is adopted, the driving controller adopts an embedded controller based on an STM32 chip, the controller 9 is electrically connected with the forklift control system, the forklift control system is the original system on the forklift, and the controller 9 is a host computer relative to the forklift control system on the original forklift, can control the running state of the forklift control system, when the forklift 1 enters the lane 21, the controller 9 determines whether the forklift 1 is entering or leaving the lane 21 according to the sequence of the first card 3 and the second card 4 read by the card reader 7, and sends an instruction to the forklift control system to switch to the lane mode when entering the lane 21, and sends an instruction to the forklift control system to remove the lane mode when leaving the lane 21.

[0040] For the convenience of understanding, the addresses of the first card 3, the second card 4, the third card 5 and the fourth card 6 are respectively set as 0001, 0010, 0011 and 0100, when the forklift 1 enters the lane 21, the card reader 7 first reads the address information of the first card 3, that is, 0001, then the card reader 7 reads the address information of the second card 4, that is, 0010, according to the card data information read by the card reader 7, the controller 9 determines that the forklift 1 enters the lane 21, and sends an instruction to the forklift control system to switch to the lane mode.

[0041] When the forklift 1 drives away from the lane 21, the card reader 7 first reads the address information of the second card, that is, 0010, then the card reader 7 reads the address information of the first card again, that is, 0001, according to the card data information read by the card reader 7, the controller 9 determines that the forklift 1 drives away from the lane, and sends an instruction to the forklift control system to remove the lane mode, the position of the forklift 1 is identified by using the card reader 7 to read the cards arranged at different positions on the ground, the forklift automatically switches the lane mode, the applicability is strong, and the forklift can reliably and quickly drive in the lane.

[0042] When the forklift 1 enters the end of the lane 23, the card reader 7 first reads the address information of the third card 5, that is, 0011, at this time, the controller 7 sends a deceleration instruction to the forklift control system, so as to control the forklift 1 to start deceleration, then, along with the travel of the forklift 1, the card reader 7 reads the address information of the fourth card 6, that is, 0100, the controller 9 sends a stop instruction to the forklift control system, so as to control the vehicle brake of the forklift 1 to be locked, so that the forklift 1 can realize deceleration and parking at the end of the lane 23, and the safety protection of the end of the lane can be realized without manual intervention.

[0043] After the forklift 1 enters the lane 21, the distance measuring instrument 8 measures the distance between the forklift 1 and the two side rails 2, and sends the distance data to the controller 9, judges the distance between the forklift 1 and the two side rails 2 according to the data measured by the distance measuring instrument 8, and sends an instruction to the forklift control system, so as to control the forklift 1 to travel between the two rails 2, the two sides of the forklift 1 are also provided with guide wheels 10, the height of the guide wheels 10 is lower than the height of the rails 2, when the distance measuring instrument 8 measures the distance between the forklift 1 and the two side rails 2 is less than a certain set value, the controller 9 sends a fine steering instruction to the vehicle control system, so as to keep the forklift straight, and the guide wheels 10 do not extrude or collide with the rails 2, the guide wheels can also constrain the forklift from derailing and colliding with the goods shelf in the case of forklift failure and other unexpected situations.

[0044] The bottom surface of the center of the lane 21 is uniformly provided with a plurality of groups of cards along the direction of the lane, and the address information of each group of cards is different, the address information of different cards read by the card reader 7 can be used to judge the position of the forklift 1, so as to realize the addressing function of the forklift 1 in the lane 21, and further simplify the picking and placing operation of the driver.

[0045] Since the distance measuring instrument 8 is provided with four groups, the distance data detected by the two side distance measuring instruments 8 can also be used to determine whether the forklift 1 enters or exits the lane 21, so as to automatically switch to the lane mode, when the data measured by the two distance measuring instruments 8 at the front of the vehicle is less than a certain set value, it is determined that the forklift 1 enters the lane 21, at this time, the lane mode is started, when the data measured by the two distance measuring instruments 8 at the front of the vehicle exceeds a certain set value, it is determined that the forklift 1 exits the lane 21, at this time, the lane mode is released.

[0046] The present application further provides a narrow lane forklift, which comprises a forklift body and a lane travel control system, the lane travel control system adopts the forklift lane travel control system described above, the forklift body is provided with a forklift control system, and the forklift control system is electrically connected with the controller.

[0047] Please refer to Fig. 3The application further provides a control method of the forklift roadway driving control system, the use method is suitable for the forklift roadway driving control system, and the use steps comprise:

[0048] S1: when the forklift 1 enters the roadway 21, the card reader 7 first reads the information of the first card 3, then reads the information of the second card 4 along with the driving of the forklift 1, the controller 9 judges that the forklift 1 enters the roadway according to the card data information read by the card reader 7, and sends an instruction to the forklift control system to switch to the roadway mode;

[0049] S2: after the forklift 1 drives into the roadway 21, the distance measuring instrument 8 measures the distance between the forklift 1 and the two guide rails 2 on the sides, and sends the distance data to the controller 9, the controller 9 judges the distance between the forklift 1 and the two guide rails 2 according to the data measured by the distance measuring instrument 8, and sends an instruction to the forklift control system to control the forklift 1 to drive the forklift 1 to be located between the two guide rails 2;

[0050] S3: when the forklift 1 enters the end 23 of the roadway, the card reader 7 first reads the information of the third card 5, at this time, the controller 9 sends a deceleration instruction to the forklift control system to control the forklift 1 to start deceleration, then the card reader 7 reads the information of the fourth card 6 along with the driving of the forklift 1, and the controller 7 sends a stop instruction to the forklift control system to control the vehicle brake of the forklift 1 to be locked;

[0051] S4: when the forklift 1 drives away from the roadway 21, the card reader 7 first reads the information of the second card 4, then reads the information of the first card 3 along with the driving of the forklift 1, the controller 9 judges that the forklift 1 drives away from the roadway according to the card data information read by the card reader 7, and sends an instruction to the forklift control system to cancel the roadway mode.

[0052] Although the embodiments of the application have been shown and described, it is to be understood that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the application, and the scope of the application is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A forklift lane travel control system, characterized in that, include: Two guide rails are arranged in parallel and laid on both sides of the ground in the tunnel. First card and second card, the first card and second card are placed on the ground at the entrance of the alley along the direction of the alley, the first card is closer to the entrance of the alley; The third card and the fourth card are placed on the ground at the end of the alley along the direction of the alley, with the fourth card near the end of the alley. A card reader, which is mounted on a forklift, is used to identify and read information from a first card, a second card, a third card, and a fourth card; A rangefinder, which is fixed on both sides of the bottom of the forklift, measures the distance between the forklift and the guide rails on both sides; The controller is electrically connected to the card reader. Based on the order of the first card and the second card read by the card reader, the controller determines whether the forklift is entering or leaving the aisle. When entering the aisle, the controller sends a command to the forklift control system to switch to aisle mode. When leaving the aisle, the controller sends a command to the forklift control system to deactivate aisle mode. When the card reader reads the third card, the controller sends a deceleration command to the forklift control system, causing it to control the forklift to start decelerating. When the card reader reads the fourth card, the controller sends a stop command to the forklift control system, causing it to control the forklift's vehicle brakes to lock. The controller and the rangefinder are electrically connected. The controller is used to determine the distance between the forklift and the guide rails on both sides based on the data measured by the rangefinder, and to send instructions to the forklift control system based on the data measured by the rangefinder, so that the control system can control the forklift to move between the two guide rails.

2. The forklift lane travel control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first card, the second card, the third card, and the fourth card are all electromagnetic cards, and each card stores address information, with each card having different address information.

3. A forklift lane travel control system according to claim 2, characterized in that: Multiple sets of cards are evenly arranged on the bottom surface of the center of the alley along the direction of the alley, and the address information of each set of cards is different.

4. The forklift lane travel control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The rangefinder is provided in four sets: two rangefinders are provided on both sides of the front of the forklift, and two rangefinders are provided on both sides of the rear of the forklift.

5. A forklift lane travel control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The forklift is also equipped with guide wheels on both sides, and the height of the guide wheels is lower than the height of the guide rail.

6. A narrow aisle forklift, characterized in that: The narrow aisle forklift includes a forklift body and an aisle travel control system. The aisle travel control system adopts the forklift aisle travel control system according to any one of claims 1-5. The forklift body is equipped with a forklift control system, and the forklift control system and the controller are electrically connected.

7. A control method for a forklift lane travel control system, characterized in that: The control method is applicable to the forklift aisle travel control system according to any one of claims 1-5, and the steps of use include: S1: When the forklift enters the aisle, the card reader first reads the information of the first card. Then, as the forklift moves, the card reader reads the information of the second card. The controller determines that the forklift has entered the aisle based on the card data information read by the card reader and sends a command to the forklift control system to switch it to aisle mode. S2: After the forklift enters the aisle, the rangefinder measures the distance between the forklift and the guide rails on both sides and sends the distance data to the controller. Based on the data measured by the rangefinder, the controller determines the distance between the forklift and the guide rails on both sides and sends a command to the forklift control system to control the forklift to travel between the two guide rails. S3: When the forklift enters the end of the aisle, the card reader first reads the information of the third card. At this time, the controller sends a deceleration command to the forklift control system, causing it to control the forklift to start decelerating. Then, as the forklift moves, the card reader reads the information of the fourth card, and the controller sends a stop command to the forklift control system, causing it to control the forklift's vehicle brakes to lock. S4: When the forklift leaves the aisle, the card reader first reads the information of the second card. Then, as the forklift moves, the card reader reads the information of the first card. The controller determines that the forklift has left the aisle based on the card data information read by the card reader and sends a command to the forklift control system to deactivate the aisle mode.

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