Stacking method for flat sorting rack of panel furniture processing production line

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of data processing, and relates to a stacking method for a flat sorting rack of a panel furniture processing production line. The method of the present invention includes: obtaining the size of the current panel and the remaining space of the idle layers in the current flat sorting rack, where the idle layers include occupied layers and empty layers; sorting the remaining spaces of the idle layers from small to large; comparing the size of the panel with the remaining spaces of the sorted idle layers in sequence until the size of the panel is smaller than the remaining space of the current idle layer, and then placing the panel in the current idle layer; if the size of the panel is larger than the remaining spaces of all idle layers, then placing the panel in the next flat sorting rack or in a temporary storage space; updating the remaining spaces of the idle layers of the current flat sorting rack. The method of the present invention improves the storage space utilization rate of the flat sorting rack.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention generally relates to the technical field of data processing. More specifically, the present invention relates to a stacking method for a flat sorting rack of a panel furniture processing production line. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of the customized furniture industry, panel furniture has been favored by more and more consumers. The production scale of enterprises has been continuously expanding, and the production orders received by production lines have also been gradually increasing. Sorting out all the panels of each customer according to the panel's own attributes and performing fast and accurate packaging is a process that enterprises need to go through. Before packaging, it is necessary to sort and store according to the characteristics of the panels, and then take them out for packaging when shipping is required. Therefore, sorting and storage play a very important role in the entire process of enterprise production. Among them, the Chinese patent application document with the publication number CN109174658A discloses a panel sorting system and its sorting method, and the sorted panels are all placed in a storage basket. However, since all the panels are placed in the storage basket, it is impossible to clearly know the size of each panel. Therefore, there are certain difficulties in taking out the panels of the required size for packaging or intuitively knowing whether the sizes of the panels in the storage basket are correct.

[0003] In view of the above problems, the prior art adopts a vertical sorting rack. First, panels of different sizes are transported on a conveyor belt, and a robot takes out the panels from the conveyor belt and then puts them into the storage compartments of the same size in the vertical sorting rack. After filling this vertical sorting rack, it is then put into the next vertical sorting rack. However, since only one panel can be stored in the storage compartment of this vertical sorting rack, if the panel is of a small size, it will cause waste of the space in the storage compartment, and then the space utilization rate of the vertical sorting rack is low, so more vertical sorting racks are needed to store the panels, which increases the storage cost of the panels. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To solve the above technical problem of low utilization rate of the sorting rack, the present invention provides the following solutions.

[0005] The present invention provides a stacking method for a flat sorting rack of a panel furniture processing production line, including: obtaining the size of the current panel and the remaining space of the idle layer in the current flat sorting rack, where the idle layer includes an occupied layer and an empty layer; sorting the remaining space of the idle layer from small to large; comparing the size of the panel with the remaining space of the sorted idle layer in turn until the size of the panel is smaller than the remaining space of the current idle layer, and then putting the panel into the current idle layer; if the size of the panel is larger than the remaining space of all idle layers, then putting the panel into the next flat sorting rack or into a temporary storage space; updating the remaining space of the idle layer of the current flat sorting rack.

[0006] Beneficial effects: By reasonably placing the board on the flat sorting rack, the space utilization rate of the flat sorting rack is improved, and it is also convenient to take the board from the flat sorting rack for packaging.

[0007] Further, when the flat sorting rack is an empty rack, place the board starting from the lowest layer.

[0008] Further, sort the remaining spaces of the idle layers from small to large, including: when the remaining space of the idle layer is smaller than the size of the smallest board among all the boards, the remaining space of the idle layer no longer participates in the sorting.

[0009] Beneficial effects: By excluding the remaining spaces of the idle layers that cannot hold the smallest board during the sorting of the remaining spaces of the idle layers, the number of comparisons between the subsequent board sizes and the remaining spaces of the idle layers is reduced, thereby reducing the time cost and improving the efficiency of storing the boards.

[0010] Further, it also includes: if the remaining spaces of multiple idle layers are the same, sort the remaining spaces of the idle layers with the same remaining space from the lower layer to the upper layer.

[0011] Further, place the board in the next flat sorting rack, including: obtaining the remaining space of the idle layer in the next flat sorting rack; sorting the remaining spaces of the idle layer from small to large; comparing the size of the board with the sorted remaining spaces of the idle layer in turn until the size of the board is smaller than the current remaining space of the idle layer, and then the robot places the board in the current idle layer; if the size of the board is larger than the remaining spaces of all idle layers, place the board in the next flat sorting rack.

[0012] Beneficial effects: Maximize the use of the storage space of the flat sorting rack, thereby improving the space utilization rate of the flat sorting rack.

[0013] Further, a first information code is set on the board, and the robot scans the first information code to obtain the information of the board, and the information includes the size of the board.

[0014] Beneficial effects: By setting a first information code for each board, the robot can quickly obtain the board size information by scanning the first information code, and then place the board in the corresponding position on the flat sorting rack according to the board size information, improving the efficiency of storing the board and reducing the time cost of storing the board.

[0015] Further, a second information code is set on the flat sorting rack, and the robot scans the second information code to obtain the information of the flat sorting rack, and the information includes the remaining space of the idle layer.

[0016] Advantageous effects: By setting the second information code, information about each flat sorting rack can be quickly obtained through this second information code, improving the efficiency of matching the flat sorting rack with the size of the panel, and thus improving the efficiency of panel storage.

[0017] Furthermore, the panel is rectangular.

[0018] The advantageous effects of the present invention are as follows: The method of the present invention makes the most of the remaining space in the idle layers of the flat sorting rack according to the size information of the panel, improving the space utilization rate of the flat sorting rack, thereby reducing production costs. Description of the Drawings

[0019] By reading the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the above and other objects, features, and advantages of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention will become readily understood. In the drawings, several embodiments of the present invention are shown by way of illustration and not limitation, and the same or corresponding reference numerals represent the same or corresponding parts, wherein:

[0020] Figure 1 is a top view schematically showing an application scenario of using a flat sorting rack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 is a front view schematically showing a flat sorting rack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 3 is a side view schematically showing a flat sorting rack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 4 is a top view schematically showing a flat sorting rack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 5 is a flowchart schematically showing a stacking method for a flat sorting rack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 6 is a top view schematically showing the storage of panels on a certain layer of a flat sorting rack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 7 is a front view schematically showing the storage of panels in a flat sorting rack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 8 is another flowchart schematically showing a stacking method for a flat sorting rack according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Embodiments

[0028] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0029] The following will specifically describe the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0030] Figure 1 It is a top view schematically showing an application scenario of using a flat sorting rack according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] As Figure 1 shown, in the production line of panel furniture, a large board will form board pieces of different sizes after cutting, and then be conveyed to the working area of the robot through a conveyor belt. The robot will store these board pieces in a flat sorting rack for storage, and take them out from the flat sorting rack for packaging when it is necessary to ship out.

[0032] In this embodiment, the robot is a manipulator. Specifically, the manipulator can perform operations such as stretching and rotating. Further, the manipulator can pick up the board pieces by means of a suction cup. As Figure 1 shown, the manipulator can store the board pieces in the corresponding flat sorting rack in the working area ( Figure 1 the corresponding circular area in).

[0033] Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 are respectively a front view, a side view and a top view schematically showing a flat sorting rack according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] From Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 it can be seen that the flat sorting rack has many layers, and the storage space of each layer is the same, and the length, width and height of each layer are the same. In addition, the flat sorting racks have different specifications, so the flat sorting racks for placing board pieces of different batches may be different.

[0035] Figure 5 It is a flowchart schematically showing a stacking method for a flat sorting rack according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] Specifically, as Figure 5 shown, the stacking method for the flat sorting rack used in the panel furniture processing production line of the present invention includes:

[0037] S101. Obtain the size of the current board piece and the remaining space of the idle layer in the current flat sorting rack.

[0038] In this embodiment, the idle layer includes an occupied layer and an empty layer. Further, a first information code may be set on each board, and a second information code may be set on each flat sorting rack, so as to obtain the size of the board and the remaining space of the idle layer by scanning the first information code and the second information code. Specifically, the robot can obtain the information of the corresponding board by scanning the first information code, and the information may include the size of the board, the batch it belongs to, etc.; at the same time, the robot can obtain the information of the corresponding flat sorting rack by scanning the second information code, and the information may include the number of full layers, the number of idle layers and the remaining space of each idle layer of the flat sorting rack. The above-mentioned first information code and second information code may be barcodes or QR codes.

[0039] By scanning the first information code of the board and the second information code of the flat sorting rack, the size of the board and the usage of each layer of the flat sorting rack are quickly obtained, thereby improving the efficiency of board storage.

[0040] In an alternative embodiment, generally, the robot (i.e., the manipulator, the working area is a circular area) preferentially stores the board in the flat sorting rack close to the conveyor belt. Therefore, it will scan the second information code of the flat sorting rack closest to the conveyor belt. When the robot obtains that the number of idle layers of this flat sorting rack is 0, the robot will mark this flat sorting rack. The next time it stores a board, the robot will skip this flat sorting rack and scan the second information code of the next flat sorting rack, that is, it will no longer store the board in the flat sorting rack without storage space. In other alternative embodiments, if the robot is a humanoid robot (the working area is not a circular area, that is, the distance between the robot's position of picking up the board and each flat sorting rack is different), the board will be preferentially stored in the flat sorting rack closest to it.

[0041] S102. Sort the remaining spaces of the idle layers from small to large.

[0042] After the robot obtains the remaining space of each idle layer, it compares it with the size of the smallest board among all the boards in this batch. If there is an idle layer with a remaining space smaller than the size of the smallest board, the remaining spaces of these idle layers will no longer participate in the sorting of the above remaining spaces.

[0043] By excluding the remaining spaces of the idle layers that cannot hold the smallest board when sorting the remaining spaces of the idle layers, the number of comparisons between the subsequent board sizes and the remaining spaces of the idle layers is reduced, thereby reducing the time cost and improving the efficiency of board storage.

[0044] Specifically, the process of comparing the remaining space of the idle layer with the size of the smallest board piece is as follows: First, compare the length of the remaining space of the idle layer with the length of the smallest board piece. If the length of the remaining space of the idle layer is less than the length of the smallest board piece, it indicates that the remaining space of this idle layer is smaller than the size of the smallest board piece, that is, the remaining space of this idle layer cannot hold the smallest board piece, which means this idle layer is actually a full layer, so there is no need to participate in the sorting of the remaining space of the idle layer.

[0045] In addition, if the remaining spaces of multiple idle layers are the same, when sorting the remaining spaces of these idle layers from smallest to largest, sort the remaining spaces of these idle layers with the same remaining space from the lower layer to the upper layer, so as to obtain the final sorting of the remaining spaces of the idle layers of this flat sorting rack.

[0046] In an alternative other embodiment, for the remaining spaces of multiple idle layers with the same remaining space, they can also be randomly sorted, or sorted from the upper layer to the lower layer.

[0047] Figure 6 is a schematic top view showing the storage of board pieces on a certain layer of a flat sorting rack according to an embodiment of the present invention; among them, board piece A represents the board piece placed vertically, and board piece B represents the board piece placed horizontally.

[0048] Figure 7 is a schematic front view showing the storage of board pieces of a flat sorting rack according to an embodiment of the present invention; among them, board pieces 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively represent the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth board pieces placed in this flat sorting rack, and the shaded area of each layer represents the remaining space.

[0049] S103. Compare the size of the board piece with the remaining spaces of the sorted idle layers in sequence until the size of the board piece is less than the remaining space of the current idle layer, and then place the board piece in the current idle layer; if the size of the board piece is greater than the remaining spaces of all idle layers, place the board piece in the next flat sorting rack or in the temporary storage space.

[0050] In this embodiment, the board piece is rectangular, so the remaining space of the idle layer is also rectangular. In addition, the width of the board piece is less than or equal to the width of this flat sorting rack.

[0051] Specifically, Figure 8 is a flowchart schematically shown according to S103. It can be Figure 8 seen that when this flat sorting rack is an empty rack, the robot places the board piece at the leftmost position of the lowest layer. In an alternative other embodiment, it can be placed on any layer, such as the highest layer, or at the rightmost position. Each subsequent board piece should be placed adjacent to the previous board piece.

[0052] When the flat sorting rack is not empty, the size of the plate is first compared with the smallest remaining space after sorting; specifically, the length of the plate is compared with the length of the remaining space of the free layer. If the length of the plate is greater than the length of the remaining space of the free layer, it indicates that the size of the plate is greater than the remaining space of the current free layer, and the plate is compared with the remaining space of the next free layer; if the length of the plate is less than the length of the remaining space, the length of the plate is compared with the width of the remaining space of the current free layer. If the length of the plate is greater than the width of the remaining space of the current free layer, it indicates that the plate can only be placed horizontally, that is, the length side of the plate is placed opposite to the length side of the flat sorting rack. You can refer to Figure 6 If the length of the plate is less than the width of the remaining space, it indicates that the plate can be placed in the current free layer horizontally or vertically. In this embodiment, it should be placed in the current free layer vertically, that is, the length side of the plate should face the width side of the flat sorting rack. Figure 6 The reason for placing the plate A in the vertical position is that compared with placing the plate horizontally, placing the plate vertically can maximize the use of the remaining space of the idle layer, thereby improving the space utilization rate of the idle layer, and further improving the utilization rate of the flat sorting rack. It can be understood that when placing the plate when the flat sorting rack is empty, the plate can also be placed horizontally or vertically according to the comparison result of the length of the plate and the width of the flat sorting rack.

[0053] In an optional embodiment, if the panel of the panel furniture is of an irregular shape, such as a triangle, an arc, and a trapezoid (the upper and lower surfaces are flat as a whole), the panel can be considered as a square or rectangular panel, and the side length should be determined according to the actual situation. For example, when the panel is circular, the panel should be considered as a square panel with the diameter of the circle as the side length; when the panel is triangular, the triangular panel can be regarded as a rectangular panel, wherein the longest side of the triangle is the length of the rectangle, and the height of the triangle is the width of the rectangle. When placing a panel that is considered to be a square into a flat sorting rack, it is only necessary to compare the side length of the panel with the length of the remaining space. If the side length of the panel is greater than the length of the current remaining space, it indicates that the panel cannot be placed in the current free layer, and should be compared with the remaining space of the next free layer; if the panel is smaller than the length of the current remaining space, the panel is placed in the current free layer. At this point, the storage of the panels is completed, and you can refer to Figure 7 The result of plate placement on the flat sorting rack is shown.

[0054] If, after comparison, it is found that there is no remaining space in the idle layer that meets the size of the board, indicating that there is no space in the current flat sorting rack to store the board (but the current flat sorting rack may still be able to store other boards smaller than this board), then the board can be placed in the next flat sorting rack or in the temporary storage space.

[0055] Specifically, the process of placing the board in the next flat sorting rack is as follows:

[0056] Obtain the remaining space of the idle layer of the next sorting rack;

[0057] Sort the remaining space of the idle layer from smallest to largest;

[0058] Compare the size of the board with the sorted remaining space of the idle layer in turn until the size of the board is smaller than the current remaining space of the idle layer, and then place the board in the current idle layer; if the size of the board is larger than the remaining space of all idle layers, then place the board in the next flat sorting rack or in the temporary storage space.

[0059] The specific details are not much different from those in step S101, step S102, and step S103, so they will not be elaborated here.

[0060] By making the most of the storage space of the flat sorting rack, the space utilization rate of the flat sorting rack is improved, thereby reducing the occupied flat sorting racks and lowering the cost of board storage.

[0061] S104. Update the remaining space of the idle layer of the current flat sorting rack.

[0062] The remaining space of the idle layer can be obtained by installing sensors on the flat sorting rack. For example, a weight sensor can be installed on the flat sorting rack to monitor the weight change of the boards on the idle layer in real time, so as to update the remaining space of the idle layer of the flat sorting rack. In addition, an optoelectronic sensor can also be installed on the flat sorting rack to monitor the occlusion of the boards on the idle layer in real time, so as to update the remaining space of the idle layer of the flat sorting rack. Of course, those skilled in the art can also choose other methods to update the remaining space of the idle layer of the flat sorting rack, such as using image recognition technology.

[0063] In alternative other embodiments, the second information code may not be provided on the flat sorting rack. Instead, the robot stores information about each flat sorting rack within its working area. This information includes the remaining space of each empty layer in the flat sorting rack and the robot can communicate with the sensors of each flat sorting rack within its working area. Further, since the robot stores information about each flat sorting rack, when placing the plate members, the robot directly matches and stores the plate members with the nearest flat sorting rack that has an empty layer. If the current flat sorting rack does not have enough space to store the plate members, it will be matched and stored with the next flat sorting rack. After storing the plate members, the robot updates the remaining space of the empty layer of the flat sorting rack where the plate members are placed based on the information feedback by the sensors on the flat sorting rack.

[0064] By using the method of palletizing plate members with a robot, the present invention reduces the floor area and improves the space utilization rate. In addition, for the problem of storing and stacking various customized rectangular furniture plate members with non-fixed order of incoming materials and inconsistent lengths and widths, compared with manual work, by using an artificial intelligence robot to stack the plate members, the storage time is reduced, thus improving the efficiency of storing plate members. Further, by obtaining the dimensions of the plate members and matching them with the remaining space of the empty layers in the flat sorting rack and placing the plate members in the flat sorting rack according to the matching result, the storage space of the flat sorting rack can be utilized to the maximum extent, thereby reducing the storage cost of the plate members.

[0065] In the description of this specification, "a plurality of" means at least two, such as two, three or more, etc., unless otherwise specifically and clearly defined.

[0066] Although this specification has shown and described multiple embodiments of the present invention, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Those skilled in the art will think of many changes, alterations and alternative ways without departing from the spirit and idea of the present invention. It should be understood that various alternative solutions to the embodiments of the present invention described herein can be adopted in the process of practicing the present invention.

Claims

1. A stacking method for a flat sorting rack of a panel furniture processing production line, characterized in that, A robot is in a circular working area, and there are multiple flat sorting racks in the circular working area, including: Obtain the size of the current panel and the remaining space of the idle layers in the current flat sorting rack. The idle layers include occupied layers and empty layers; Sort the remaining spaces of the idle layers from smallest to largest; Compare the size of the panel with the remaining spaces of the sorted idle layers in sequence until the size of the panel is smaller than the remaining space of the current idle layer; If the length of the panel is less than the length of the remaining space and greater than the width of the remaining space, place the panel horizontally; if the length of the panel is less than the length of the remaining space and less than the width of the remaining space, place the panel vertically; If the size of the panel is greater than the remaining spaces of all idle layers, place the panel in the next flat sorting rack or in the temporary storage space; Update the remaining space of the idle layers in the current flat sorting rack.

2. The stacking method of the flat sorting rack for the panel furniture processing production line according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the flat sorting rack is an empty rack, place the panel starting from the lowest layer.

3. The stacking method of the flat sorting rack for the panel furniture processing production line according to claim 1, characterized in that, Sort the remaining spaces of the idle layers from smallest to largest, including: when the remaining space of the idle layer is smaller than the size of the smallest panel among all panels, the remaining space of the idle layer no longer participates in the sorting.

4. The stacking method of the flat sorting rack for the panel furniture processing production line according to claim 3, characterized in that, It also includes: If the remaining spaces of multiple idle layers are the same, sort the remaining spaces of the idle layers with the same remaining space from the lower layer to the upper layer.

5. The stacking method of the flat sorting rack for the panel furniture processing production line according to claim 1, characterized in that Then place the panel in the next flat sorting rack, including: Obtain the remaining space of the idle layers in the next flat sorting rack; Sort the remaining spaces of the idle layers from smallest to largest; Compare the size of the panel with the remaining spaces of the sorted idle layers in sequence until the size of the panel is smaller than the remaining space of the current idle layer, and then the robot places the panel in the current idle layer; if the size of the panel is greater than the remaining spaces of all idle layers, place the panel in the next flat sorting rack.

6. The stacking method of the flat sorting rack for the panel furniture processing production line according to claim 1, characterized in that A first information code is set on the panel, and the robot scans the first information code to obtain the information of the panel. The information includes the size of the panel.

7. The stacking method of the flat sorting rack for the panel furniture processing production line according to claim 1, characterized in that, A second information code is set on the flat sorting rack, and the robot scans the second information code to obtain the information of the flat sorting rack. The information includes the remaining space of the idle layers.

8. The stacking method of the flat sorting rack for the panel furniture processing production line according to claim 1, characterized in that, The panel is rectangular.

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