Civil aviation luggage early arrival system and control method thereof

Abstract

The invention relates to a civil aviation luggage early arrival system and a control method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of airport luggage management. The system comprises conveyors, elevators, shuttle vehicles, shuttle vehicle elevators and multiple layers of storage positions, cooperative management is carried out through a high-layer control system, a bottom layer and an early arrival control system, the state of trays is monitored in real time through an RFID reader and a sensor, redundant empty tray storage and a nearby storage position distribution strategy are adopted, the shuttle vehicles are dynamically dispatched to store and take luggage, the storage space utilization rate is optimized, and the storage efficiency is improved. The luggage sorting efficiency and the airport operation reliability are improved, and the problems of space waste and insufficient flexibility of a traditional system are solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of airport baggage management, and in particular to a civil aviation baggage early arrival system and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] As people's living standards continue to improve, air travel has become a widely preferred mode of transportation, and the amount of checked baggage at airports is also increasing. Faced with potential travel peaks, more passengers are choosing to travel during off-peak hours, checking in and checking in their luggage in advance to avoid delays. Because flights haven't yet opened, passenger luggage needs to be temporarily stored until flights open and then retrieved. The early baggage system provides significant convenience for both passengers and airport operations, resolving the luggage storage issue while effectively improving airport operational efficiency and service levels. After passengers complete their baggage check-in procedures in advance, they enter the independent transport system. The early baggage system, as a subsystem of this system, automatically stores and retrieves early baggage, as well as empty trays.

[0003] Early arrival systems are relatively backward in related technologies, often requiring large floor space and lacking storage and access flexibility, resulting in low efficiency. For example, Chinese patent publication number CN210253180U proposes a method of installing multiple racks and categorizing each rack by luggage storage time, creating storage areas for checked luggage at different time periods. However, this storage method results in a significant amount of unused storage space, wasting space.

[0004] Therefore, based on the above problems, it is urgent to develop a civil aviation baggage early arrival system and a control method thereof. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In response to the shortcomings of the above-mentioned existing production technologies, the applicant provides a civil aviation baggage early arrival system and control method thereof, which can not only realize the storage and retrieval of early-arrival baggage, but also fully utilize idle space to store empty pallets. It applies the proximity principle to query the available storage location strategy and updates the storage location data in real time, so that the baggage system can achieve more efficient storage and sorting functions.

[0006] The technical solution adopted in this application is as follows: A civil aviation baggage early arrival system, comprising:

[0007] Early arrival entrance conveyor and early arrival exit conveyor, used for pallet inbound and outbound transport respectively;

[0008] An entrance RFID reader and an exit RFID reader are respectively installed on the early entrance conveyor and the early exit conveyor, and are used to read the identification information of the pallet;

[0009] An entrance elevator and an exit elevator are connected to the early entrance conveyor and the early exit conveyor respectively, and are used for vertical transportation of pallets;

[0010] Multi-layer storage space, each layer has a docking station for caching incoming or outgoing pallets;

[0011] The shuttle is configured to move horizontally in the storage aisle and switch between different levels through the shuttle elevator;

[0012] Control system, including high-level control system, low-level control system and early arrival system;

[0013] The high-level control system is connected to the low-level control system and the early arrival system via industrial Ethernet to achieve information interaction;

[0014] The early arrival system includes a warehouse management system and a warehouse control system, which are used to manage storage space allocation in real time, control the movements of shuttle vehicles and elevators, and adopt a redundant empty pallet storage solution.

[0015] In one embodiment, the redundant empty pallet storage solution includes: allocating a dedicated area in the storage location to store empty pallets, and dynamically allocating empty pallet storage locations through a warehouse management system to ensure that empty pallets are stored and accessed nearby.

[0016] In one embodiment, the early entrance conveyor and the early exit conveyor are respectively provided with an entrance pallet detection sensor and an exit pallet detection sensor for detecting the position of the pallet and triggering the start and stop logic of the conveyor; the end of the early entrance conveyor is also provided with an over-edge detection sensor for detecting whether the pallet exceeds the edge of the conveyor and triggering an alarm signal.

[0017] In one embodiment, the docking position is divided into an inbound docking position and an outbound docking position, and each docking position is connected to the storage position by a shuttle vehicle;

[0018] When entering the warehouse, the entry docking position is used to buffer the pallets to be entered until they are taken away by the shuttle vehicle;

[0019] When leaving the warehouse, the leaving warehouse docking position is used to buffer the pallets to be left the warehouse until they are taken away by the exit elevator.

[0020] In one embodiment, the high-level control system includes a sorting and material management system and a data acquisition and monitoring system, which are used to obtain the storage location filling level in real time, generate inbound and outbound requests, and exchange inbound and outbound instructions with the low-level control system; the low-level control system is connected to the sensor, elevator and shuttle car through a programmable controller PLC to execute inbound and outbound actions.

[0021] On the other hand, the present application also provides a method for controlling a civil aviation baggage early arrival system, comprising the following steps:

[0022] When entering the warehouse, the entrance RFID reader reads the pallet information and sends it to the high-level control system;

[0023] The high-level control system queries available storage locations based on the proximity principle, generates storage instructions, and sends them to the early arrival system;

[0024] The early arrival system controls the entrance elevator to transport the pallet to the docking station and dispatches the shuttle car to store the pallet in the designated storage location;

[0025] When shipping out, the high-level control system receives the shipping request, and the early arrival system dispatches the shuttle vehicle to take the pallet from the storage location and transport it to the shipping docking location;

[0026] The export elevator transports the pallet from the outbound docking station to the early arrival export conveyor to complete the sorting task.

[0027] In one embodiment, the warehousing step also includes: when the entrance elevator is not ready, the entrance pallet detection sensor triggers the early entrance conveyor to pause until the entrance elevator is ready; if the over-edge detection sensor detects that the pallet rushes out of the edge of the conveyor, it triggers an alarm and stops the system operation.

[0028] In one embodiment, the outbound step further includes: after the export pallet detection sensor is triggered, the bottom control system applies for the destination from the high-level control system according to the pallet information read by the export RFID reader, and completes the sorting path planning based on the destination information.

[0029] In one embodiment, the control of the shuttle includes: if the target storage location is inconsistent with the current level of the shuttle, the shuttle is transported to the target level by the shuttle elevator, and then the pallet picking and placing operation is performed.

[0030] In one embodiment, the warehouse management system updates the storage location occupancy status in real time, and dynamically allocates storage locations based on the proximity principle, giving priority to selecting the vacant storage locations closest to the docking location for storage.

[0031] The beneficial effects of this application are as follows:

[0032] This application utilizes space efficiently, combining multi-layer storage with redundant empty pallet storage, dynamically allocating nearby storage locations, reducing idle cargo space, and maximizing storage density. Furthermore, through the coordinated control of shuttles and elevators, coupled with real-time monitoring using RFID readers and sensors, precise pallet storage and retrieval is achieved, improving sorting efficiency.

[0033] This application also has the following advantages:

[0034] (1) The system reliability of this application is enhanced, and the redundant empty pallet storage strategy and multi-layer control system are interconnected through industrial Ethernet to ensure fault tolerance and real-time data synchronization, reducing the risk of downtime;

[0035] (2) This application has a safety fault-tolerant mechanism, an over-edge detection sensor and an alarm system to prevent pallet interference, and the start and stop logic of the entrance and exit elevators to avoid equipment conflicts and ensure safe operation;

[0036] (3) The modular design of the docking station and programmable controller PLC of this application supports multi-level expansion to meet the needs of different airport sizes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the overall system layout in one embodiment of the present application.

[0038] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the system architecture in one embodiment of the present application.

[0039] Among them: 101, early arrival entrance conveyor; 102, entrance RFID reader; 103, entrance pallet detection sensor; 104, over-edge detection sensor; 105, early arrival exit conveyor; 106, exit pallet detection sensor; 107, exit RFID reader; 108, entrance elevator; 109, exit elevator; 110, docking position; 111, storage position; 112, shuttle car; 113, shuttle car elevator. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] In order to make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the specific embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as limiting the present application.

[0041] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of the technical features being referred to. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of such features. Throughout the description of this application, "plurality" means at least two, for example, two, three, etc., unless otherwise specifically defined.

[0042] In this application, unless otherwise specified or limited, the terms "installed," "connected," "connect," "fixed," etc. should be understood in a broad sense. For example, they can refer to fixed connection, detachable connection, or integration; mechanical connection or electrical connection; direct connection or indirect connection through an intermediate medium; internal communication between two elements or interaction between two elements, unless otherwise specified. Those skilled in the art will understand the specific meanings of the above terms in this application based on specific circumstances.

[0043] In this application, unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, when a first feature is "above" or "below" a second feature, it may mean that the first and second features are in direct contact, or the first and second features are in indirect contact through an intermediate medium. Furthermore, when a first feature is "above," "above," or "above" a second feature, it may mean that the first feature is directly above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is at a higher level than the second feature. When a first feature is "below," "below," or "below" a second feature, it may mean that the first feature is directly below or diagonally below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is at a lower level than the second feature.

[0044] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "disposed on" another element, it may be directly on the other element or there may be an intermediate element. When an element is considered to be "connected to" another element, it may be directly connected to the other element or there may be an intermediate element. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and similar expressions used herein are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the only implementation methods.

[0045] like Figure 1 As shown, the present application provides a civil aviation baggage early arrival system, comprising:

[0046] The early arrival entrance conveyor 101 is connected to the airport baggage system loop upstream and is connected to the early arrival system through the entrance elevator 108 downstream. In this embodiment, an entrance RFID reader 102 is installed at the front end of the early arrival entrance conveyor 101 for reading the unique identification information of the pallet; an entrance pallet detection sensor 103 and an over-edge detection sensor 104 are provided at the end. Among them, the entrance pallet detection sensor 103 is used to detect whether the pallet has reached the end of the conveyor and trigger the conveyor start and stop logic; the over-edge detection sensor 104 is located at the edge of the conveyor and is used to detect whether the pallet has rushed out of the conveyor. If triggered, an alarm signal is sent to the control system.

[0047] The entrance elevator 108 vertically connects the early entrance conveyor 101 and the docking position 110; in this embodiment, when a pallet needs to be put into storage, the entrance elevator 108 receives instructions from the control system and lifts the pallet from the early entrance conveyor 101 to the docking position 110 on the designated layer.

[0048] The docking station 110 and each storage location 111 on each floor correspond to an inbound docking station and an outbound docking station. In this embodiment, the inbound docking station is used to temporarily buffer pallets to be inbound, waiting for the shuttle 112 to take them away; the outbound docking station is used to buffer pallets to be outbound, waiting for the exit elevator 109 to take them away.

[0049] Storage location 111 utilizes a multi-layered, three-dimensional layout, with each floor housing multiple independent storage locations, each uniquely coded. In this embodiment, storage location 111 is divided into a luggage storage area and an empty pallet storage area. The latter is dynamically allocated via a warehouse management system (WMS), enabling nearby access to redundant empty pallets.

[0050] The shuttle 112 moves horizontally in the storage lanes and is responsible for transporting the pallet from the docking location 110 to the designated storage location 111, or vice versa. In this embodiment, if the target storage location is on a different level, the shuttle 112 is switched to the target level via the shuttle elevator 113.

[0051] The early exit conveyor 105 is connected upstream to the outbound docking station 110 via an exit elevator 109 and downstream to the airport sorting loop. In this embodiment, an exit RFID reader 107 is installed at the front end of the early exit conveyor 105 to read outbound pallet information; an exit pallet detection sensor 106 is installed at the end to detect the pallet position and trigger sorting instructions.

[0052] The exit elevator 109 vertically connects the outbound docking position 110 and the early exit conveyor 105, and transports the outbound pallet from the docking position 110 to the early exit conveyor 105 according to the control instructions.

[0053] like Figure 2 As shown, the control system of this application is divided into three parts:

[0054] The high-level control system (HLCS) includes the sorting and material management system (SMCS) and the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. The SMCS is responsible for generating inbound and outbound instructions and allocating pallets to storage locations based on proximity. The SCADA system monitors storage location fill levels and equipment status in real time.

[0055] The lower-level control system (LLCS) is connected to the sensors, elevators, and shuttle 112 via a programmable logic controller (PLC). When entering the warehouse, the PLC receives the pallet information from the entrance RFID reader 102 and uploads it to the higher-level control system (HLCS). When leaving the warehouse, the PLC requests a sorting path from the higher-level control system (HLCS) based on the information from the exit RFID reader 107.

[0056] The early arrival system (EBS) includes a warehouse management system (WMS) and a warehouse control system (WCS). The WMS dynamically manages the occupancy status of storage locations and prioritizes the allocation of vacant storage locations closest to the docking location 110. The WCS controls the shuttle 112 and the elevator to perform storage and retrieval operations.

[0057] The present application also provides a control method for a civil aviation baggage early arrival system, comprising:

[0058] Warehousing process:

[0059] The pallet enters the early arrival entrance conveyor 101, and the entrance RFID reader 102 reads its identification information and uploads it to the HLCS;

[0060] HLCS searches for available storage locations based on the proximity principle, generates warehousing instructions, and sends them to EBS;

[0061] When the entrance pallet detection sensor 103 detects that the pallet has arrived at the end of the conveyor:

[0062] If the entrance elevator 108 is not ready, the conveyor is paused until the elevator is ready;

[0063] If the over-edge detection sensor 104 is triggered, the system alarms and shuts down;

[0064] The entrance elevator 108 transports the pallet vertically to the storage docking station 110 on the target floor. The WCS dispatches the shuttle 112 to store the pallet in the designated storage location 111. If the target storage location is on a different floor, the shuttle 112 switches floors via the shuttle elevator 113 and then performs the operation.

[0065] Outbound process:

[0066] After the HLCS receives the outbound request, the EBS dispatches the shuttle 112 to retrieve the pallet from the storage location 111 and transport it to the outbound docking location 110;

[0067] The exit elevator 109 transports the pallet from the docking station 110 to the early exit conveyor 105;

[0068] After the exit pallet detection sensor 106 is triggered, the PLC applies to the HLCS for the sorting destination based on the information from the exit RFID reader 107 and plans the optimal path to complete the sorting;

[0069] In this embodiment, the security and redundancy mechanism of the present application includes:

[0070] Over-edge detection and alarm: The over-edge detection sensor 104 monitors the position of the pallet in real time to prevent interference with the entrance elevator 108 or the exit elevator 109;

[0071] Redundant empty pallet storage: Dynamic allocation of empty pallet storage areas ensures fast access and avoids idle storage spaces;

[0072] System fault tolerance: HLCS and LLCS synchronize data in real time via industrial Ethernet, and can switch to backup logic when any subsystem fails.

[0073] This application makes efficient use of space. The multi-layer storage location 111 is combined with a redundant empty pallet storage solution, which is dynamically allocated nearby to reduce idle cargo spaces and maximize storage density. At the same time, through the coordinated control of the shuttle car 112, the entrance elevator 108 and the exit elevator 109, and in conjunction with real-time monitoring by RFID readers and pallet detection sensors, accurate pallet storage and retrieval can be achieved, thereby improving sorting efficiency.

[0074] The technical features of the above-mentioned embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. In order to make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-mentioned embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0075] The above-described embodiments merely represent implementation methods of the present application. While the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the patent application. It should be noted that a person skilled in the art may make various modifications and improvements without departing from the spirit of the present application, all of which fall within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present patent application shall be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A civil aviation baggage early arrival system, characterized in that: include: An early arrival entrance conveyor (101) and an early arrival exit conveyor (105) are used for transporting pallets into and out of the warehouse respectively; An entrance RFID reader (102) and an exit RFID reader (107), respectively installed on the early entrance conveyor (101) and the early exit conveyor (105), are used to read the identification information of the pallet; An entrance elevator (108) and an exit elevator (109), connected to the early entrance conveyor (101) and the early exit conveyor (105), respectively, for vertical transportation of pallets; Multi-layer storage locations (111), each layer is provided with a docking location (110) for caching incoming or outgoing pallets; A shuttle car (112) is configured to move horizontally in the storage lane and switch between different levels via a shuttle car elevator (113); Control system, including high-level control system, low-level control system and early arrival system; The high-level control system is connected to the low-level control system and the early arrival system via industrial Ethernet to achieve information interaction; The early arrival system includes a warehouse management system and a warehouse control system, which are used to manage storage space allocation in real time, control the movements of shuttle vehicles and elevators, and adopt a redundant empty pallet storage solution.

2. The civil aviation baggage early arrival system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The redundant empty pallet storage solution includes: dividing a dedicated area in a storage location (111) to store empty pallets, and dynamically allocating empty pallet storage locations through a warehouse management system to ensure that empty pallets are stored and accessed nearby.

3. The civil aviation baggage early arrival system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The early arrival entrance conveyor (101) and the early arrival exit conveyor (105) are respectively provided with an entrance pallet detection sensor (103) and an exit pallet detection sensor (106), which are used to detect the position of the pallet and trigger the start and stop logic of the conveyor; The end of the early arrival entrance conveyor (101) is also provided with an over-edge detection sensor (104) for detecting whether the pallet exceeds the edge of the conveyor and triggering an alarm signal.

4. The civil aviation baggage early arrival system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The docking position (110) is divided into an inbound docking position and an outbound docking position, and each docking position is connected to the storage position (111) via a shuttle vehicle (112); When entering the warehouse, the entry docking position is used to buffer the pallets to be entered until they are taken away by the shuttle vehicle; When leaving the warehouse, the said leaving the warehouse docking position is used to buffer the pallets to be left the warehouse until they are taken away by the exit elevator (109).

5. The civil aviation baggage early arrival system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The high-level control system includes a sorting and material management system and a data acquisition and monitoring system for obtaining the storage location filling level in real time, generating inbound and outbound requests, and exchanging inbound and outbound instructions with the low-level control system; The bottom control system is connected to the sensor, elevator and shuttle car through the programmable controller PLC to perform the storage and outbound operations.

6. A control method for a civil aviation baggage early arrival system, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: When entering the warehouse, the entrance RFID reader (102) reads the pallet information and sends it to the high-level control system; The high-level control system queries available storage locations based on the proximity principle, generates storage instructions, and sends them to the early arrival system; The early arrival system controls the entrance elevator (108) to transport the pallet to the docking station (110), and dispatches the shuttle vehicle (112) to store the pallet in the designated storage location (111); When the pallet is shipped out, the high-level control system receives the shipping request, and the early arrival system dispatches the shuttle vehicle (112) to take the pallet from the storage location (111) and transport it to the shipping docking location (110); The export elevator (109) transports the pallet from the outbound docking position (110) to the early export conveyor (105), completing the sorting task.

7. The control method of the civil aviation baggage early arrival system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The warehousing step also includes: when the entrance elevator (108) is not ready, the entrance pallet detection sensor (103) triggers the early entrance conveyor (101) to pause until the entrance elevator is ready; if the over-edge detection sensor (104) detects that the pallet rushes out of the conveyor edge, an alarm is triggered and the system operation is stopped.

8. The control method of the civil aviation baggage early arrival system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The outbound step also includes: after the export pallet detection sensor (106) is triggered, the bottom control system applies for a destination from the upper control system according to the pallet information read by the export RFID reader (107), and completes sorting path planning based on the destination information.

9. The control method of the civil aviation baggage early arrival system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The control of the shuttle car (112) includes: if the target storage location is inconsistent with the current level of the shuttle car, the shuttle car is transported to the target level by the shuttle car elevator (113), and then the pallet picking and placing operation is performed.

10. The control method of the civil aviation baggage early arrival system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The warehouse management system updates the storage space occupancy status in real time and dynamically allocates storage spaces based on the proximity principle, giving priority to selecting the vacant storage spaces closest to the docking location (110) for storage.

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