A dual-robot online pallet palletizing system

Abstract

A dual-robot online pallet palletizing system, belonging to the field of material handling and automated logistics technology, includes a bagged material pressing and conveying structure, two robot systems (System 1 and System 2) for palletizing materials, and a parking and pallet detection system. The bagged material pressing and conveying structure includes a steel platform that runs through the entire palletizing system, serving as a line support for material conveying. By adopting dual-robot online pallet palletizing, pallets are placed directly in the truck bed for palletizing, eliminating the need for forklift handling. This eliminates the repetitive and high-intensity back-and-forth operation required in traditional automatic palletizing modes, where forklifts must first "pick up" empty pallets from the truck bed, transport them, and place them at a fixed palletizing station, and then "pick up" them again from the fixed palletizing station and transport them back to the truck bed. This design completely liberates forklift drivers from high-frequency, repetitive, and simple handling labor, optimizes the process flow, and improves overall operational efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of material handling and automated logistics technology, specifically a dual-robot online pallet palletizing system. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of logistics automation, palletizing and loading bagged materials has become the mainstream method. Traditional pallet loading mainly relies on manual labor to stack materials according to a predetermined stacking pattern, which is labor-intensive, inefficient, and poses safety hazards.

[0003] Existing automated palletizing systems typically employ high-level palletizers or robotic palletizers, requiring empty pallets to be moved from the vehicle to a fixed palletizing station using a forklift. After palletizing, the fully loaded pallet is then moved back to the vehicle by the forklift. While this method improves the efficiency of the palletizing process, it necessitates frequent back-and-forth transport of empty and full pallets by the forklift, resulting in extremely high workload and becoming a bottleneck in the overall process. Furthermore, for "automatic full-pallet loading systems" that involve direct palletizing onto the vehicle, their stability and adaptability are often insufficient due to the complexity of domestic vehicle models and the varied environments within the truck beds. Based on these technological limitations, this invention designs a dual-robot online palletizing system. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This invention provides a dual-robot online pallet palletizing system, which can automatically stack pre-placed pallets directly in the vehicle compartment parked in the loading area, eliminating the need for forklifts to transport pallets. Through the serial layout and collaborative operation of the two robots, it can significantly improve palletizing efficiency and system flexibility, thus solving the problems mentioned in the background technology.

[0005] This invention provides the following technical solution: a dual-robot online pallet palletizing system, comprising a bagged material pressing and conveying structure and two robot systems, namely, robot system 1 and robot system 2, for palletizing the material, as well as a parking and pallet detection system, wherein the bagged material pressing and conveying structure includes;

[0006] A steel platform runs through the entire palletizing system, serving as a support for the material conveying line;

[0007] One of the two robot systems includes;

[0008] The robot's ground track is fixed to a steel platform, and the top is equipped with an interconnected inclined belt conveyor, a double-pack gripping roller conveyor, a photo-shooting switch, and a downhill belt to transport materials to the palletizing area.

[0009] The robot mounting base connects to the downhill conveyor belt, and the top is equipped with a palletizing robot and a double-package robot gripper for gripping materials;

[0010] Guide wheels are installed at the bottom of the robot mounting base and work with racks, robot walking shaft gears and follower wheel assemblies to enable the palletizing robot to move on the robot ground rail;

[0011] The second robot system includes:

[0012] The second inclined conveyor belt is set back-to-back on the side of the first robot system;

[0013] The end limit plate is installed at the end of the double-package gripping roller conveyor.

[0014] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the photoelectric switch is installed on the double-package gripping roller conveyor, the double-package robot gripper is installed on the palletizing robot, the robot walking shaft gear and the guide wheel are installed on the robot mounting base, and the rack is installed on the robot ground rail.

[0015] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the top of the steel platform is equipped with an inlet receiving belt conveyor, a pressing and shaping belt conveyor and a long belt conveyor from left to right. The pressing and shaping belt conveyor is connected to the inlet receiving belt conveyor, and the long belt conveyor is connected to the pressing and shaping belt conveyor.

[0016] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a long belt drive device is installed at the bottom of the steel platform, the long belt drive device is used to drive the long belt conveyor, and a long belt tensioning device for easy adjustment of the long belt conveyor is installed at the bottom of the steel platform.

[0017] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the parking and pallet detection system includes:

[0018] Scanning radar 1 is installed above the top of the palletizing system's driveway;

[0019] Scanning radar 2 is also installed on top of the palletizing system's driveway.

[0020] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the parking and pallet detection system further includes a parking distance detection device, which is installed on the side of the palletizing system lane exit.

[0021] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the parking and pallet detection system further includes an auxiliary parking device, which contains three sets of photoelectric sensors installed at the entrance of the palletizing lane.

[0022] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the long belt conveyor runs through the robot system one and robot system two to form a nested material conveying structure, so that the material can be continuously conveyed to the palletizing robot gripping position on both sides.

[0023] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the robot system one and robot system two are arranged back-to-back in series, and the two share the long belt conveyor to transport materials, so as to realize the collaborative parallel palletizing of the two robots.

[0024] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the palletizing robot moves, it synchronously drives the double-package gripping roller conveyor and the inclined belt conveyor to move in a linked manner, so that the position of the palletizing robot gripping point remains constant.

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

[0026] 1. This dual-robot online pallet palletizing system utilizes dual robots for online pallet palletizing. Pallets are placed directly inside the truck bed for palletizing, eliminating the need for forklifts to handle them. This eliminates the repetitive and intensive back-and-forth operation required in traditional automatic palletizing systems, where forklifts must first "pick up" empty pallets from the truck bed, transport them, and place them at a fixed palletizing station, and then "pick up" them again from the fixed palletizing station and transport them back to the truck bed. This design completely liberates forklift drivers from high-frequency, repetitive, and simple handling labor, optimizes the process flow, and improves overall operational efficiency.

[0027] 2. This dual-robot online pallet palletizing system uses two radars, scanning radar one and scanning radar two, to accurately scan the size and placement of the pallets, providing precise data support for the online palletizing system. This data is used for the robot's palletizing path planning, enabling the system to easily cope with positional deviations and angle tilts caused by the driver manually placing the pallets, as well as the real-world working conditions of different vehicle models in China with varying dimensions and complex structures.

[0028] 3. This dual-robot online pallet palletizing system uses two palletizing robots arranged in series. Bagged materials are transported from the left robot to the right robot. The system uses a robot-driven gripping roller conveyor, so the gripping point remains in the same position relative to the robot no matter where the robot moves, enabling more efficient palletizing. Attached Figure Description

[0029] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the external structure of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the bagged material compression and conveying structure of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the robot system of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the second structure of the robot system of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the parking and pallet detection system of the present invention.

[0034] In the diagram: 1. Bagged material compression and conveying structure; 11. Steel platform; 12. Inlet bag receiving belt conveyor; 13. Compressing and shaping belt conveyor; 14. Long belt conveyor; 15. Long belt drive device; 16. Long belt tensioning device; 2. Robot system one; 21. Robot ground rail; 22. Inclined belt conveyor one; 23. Double-bag gripping roller conveyor; 24. Through-beam switch; 25. Double-bag robot gripper; 26. Palletizing robot; 27. Rack and pinion; 28. Robot walking axis gear; 29. ​​Guide wheel; 210. Robot mounting base; 211. Downhill belt; 212. Follower wheel assembly; 3. Robot system two; 31. Inclined belt conveyor two; 32. End limit plate; 4. Parking and pallet detection system; 41. Scanning radar one; 42. Scanning radar two; 43. Parking distance detection device; 44. Auxiliary parking device. Detailed Implementation

[0035] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0036] Please see Figures 1-5A dual-robot online palletizing system includes a bagged material pressing and conveying structure 1, two robot systems 2 and 3 for palletizing materials, and a parking and pallet detection system 4. The bagged material pressing and conveying structure 1 includes a steel platform 11 that runs through the entire palletizing system, serving as a line support for material conveying. Robot system 2 includes a robot ground rail 21 fixed to the top of the steel platform 11. An inclined belt conveyor 22 is installed on top of the robot ground rail 21. A double-bag gripping roller conveyor 23 is also installed on top of the robot ground rail 21. A photoelectric switch 24 is installed on top of the robot ground rail 21. A downhill belt 211 is also installed on top of the robot ground rail 21. The inclined belt conveyor 22, the double-bag gripping roller conveyor 23, and the double-bag gripping roller conveyor 211 are all included. 3. The photoelectric switch 24 and the downhill belt 211 are connected to transport materials to the palletizing area. A robot mounting base 210 is installed on the top of the robot ground rail 21. The robot mounting base 210 is connected to the downhill belt 211. A palletizing robot 26 is installed above the robot mounting base 210. A double-package robot gripper 25 is connected to the end of the palletizing robot 26. A guide wheel 29 is installed at the bottom of the robot mounting base 210. A rack 27 and a robot walking shaft gear 28 are installed at the bottom of the robot mounting base 210. A follower wheel assembly 212 that matches the rack 27 and the robot walking shaft gear 28 is installed on the robot ground rail 21. The robot system 23 includes an uphill belt conveyor 21 and an end limit plate 32. The end limit plate 32 is installed at the end of the double-package gripping roller conveyor 23.

[0037] Please see Figures 1-3 The photoelectric switch 24 is fixedly installed on the double-package gripping roller conveyor 23 to detect the arrival status of bagged materials in real time and trigger the gripping signal, thereby improving the gripping response speed and accuracy. The double-package robot gripper 25 is fixedly installed on the execution end of the palletizing robot 26 to realize the gripping of double packages of materials at one time, thereby improving the single-cycle palletizing efficiency. The robot walking shaft gear 28 and guide wheel 29 are both fixedly installed on the bottom of the robot mounting base 210. The rack 27 is fixedly arranged along the length of the robot ground rail 21. The meshing transmission of the rack 27 and the robot walking shaft gear 28 makes the robot walk more smoothly and the positioning more accurate, effectively reducing the shaking error.

[0038] Please see Figures 1-4Along the material flow direction, the top of the steel platform 11 is equipped with an inlet receiving conveyor belt 12, a pressing and shaping conveyor belt 13, and a long conveyor belt 14. The inlet receiving conveyor belt 12 receives and smoothly conveys the incoming material. The pressing and shaping conveyor belt 13 compacts and flattens the bagged material, making the bag shape regular and the thickness uniform, which helps to improve the stability and aesthetics of stacking. The long conveyor belt 14 connects with the pressing and shaping conveyor belt 13 to realize the continuous long-distance material conveying and ensure uninterrupted material supply from the dual robots. A long belt drive device 15 is installed at the bottom of the steel platform 11, which provides stable power to the long conveyor belt 14 to ensure uniform and controllable conveying speed. A long belt tensioning device 16 is also installed at the bottom of the steel platform 11, which can adjust the tension of the long conveyor belt 14 in real time to prevent belt slippage and deviation, thereby improving the reliability of conveying and the service life of the equipment. A long conveyor belt 14 is installed between robot system 1 (2) and robot system 2 (3), forming a compact nested material conveying structure. This allows materials to be continuously and smoothly transported to the gripping positions of the palletizing robots 26 on both sides, simplifying the conveying route, reducing the overall height of the machine, and ensuring synchronous and non-interfering material supply from both robots, thus improving system space utilization and operational stability. Robot system 1 (2) and robot system 2 (3) are arranged back-to-back in series, with both robots sharing the same long conveyor belt 14 to achieve material diversion and supply, eliminating the need for separate conveyor lines, simplifying the structure, and reducing costs. The two robots can simultaneously and independently perform gripping and palletizing actions, achieving parallel and efficient operation, significantly improving the overall palletizing speed, and meeting high-capacity requirements. When the palletizing robot 26 moves along the robot ground rail 21, it can synchronously drive the double-package gripping roller conveyor 23 and the inclined conveyor belt 1 (22) to move in linkage, ensuring that the robot gripping point remains in a fixed position relative to the palletizing robot 26, eliminating the need for frequent correction of gripping coordinates, greatly improving gripping stability and palletizing positioning accuracy, reducing wasted motion, and improving operational smoothness and efficiency.

[0039] Please see Figures 1-5 The parking and pallet detection system 4 includes scanning radar 41 and scanning radar 42. Both radars are installed above the palletizing lane and can simultaneously perform three-dimensional scanning and recognition of pallets inside the vehicle compartment, quickly obtaining information such as pallet position, size, and placement angle. This provides high-precision data support for palletizing path planning and improves adaptability to complex working conditions. The parking and pallet detection system 4 also includes an auxiliary parking device 44. The auxiliary parking device 44 has three sets of photoelectric sensors built in and is installed at the entrance of the palletizing lane. It can perform multi-directional auxiliary positioning of vehicles to ensure that the vehicle parking position is standardized and has small lateral deviation, creating stable conditions for subsequent pallet scanning and online palletizing, and improving palletizing accuracy.

[0040] Working principle: When a dual-robot online pallet palletizing system is used, after the vehicle enters the loading lane, it is guided by the auxiliary parking device 44 and the parking distance detection device 43 to park in the loading area. Vehicle parking uses rear-end positioning, and the lateral distance is detected by a laser rangefinder sensor. After the vehicle stops in the loading area, the driver places the pallets in the truck bed as required and starts the loading system. Scanning radar 41 and scanning radar 42 on the loading system scan the pallet position and offset angle, transmitting the calculated pallet center point position and angle data to the loading system. Based on the pre-loaded quantity, vehicle model data, and pallet detection data, the loading system automatically plans and calculates the palletizing path and starts online pallet palletizing. After the system starts, bagged materials flow into the inlet receiving conveyor belt 12 of the online pallet palletizing system, pass through the pressing and shaping conveyor belt 13 for pressing and shaping, and then enter robot system 2. The first two bags of bagged material arrive at their destination and are conveyed via inclined conveyor belt 22 to the double-bag gripping roller conveyor 23. Detected by two sets of photoelectric switches 24, they stop at the gripping position. The palletizing robot 26 grips two bags at a time and palletizes them according to the system-calculated palletizing position and angle data. The next two bags of bagged material arrive at their destination and are conveyed via inclined conveyor belt 22 to the double-bag gripping roller conveyor 23, then via downhill conveyor 211 to the long conveyor belt 14. On the long conveyor belt 14, they are conveyed past the two palletizing robots 26 on the left and right, and then via inclined conveyor belt 31 to reach the gripping position of the right palletizing robot 26. The palletizing robot 26 grips two bags at a time and palletizes them according to the system-calculated palletizing position and angle data. This process is repeated, with the two palletizing robots 26 operating independently to perform online palletizing until the bagged material is fully palletized.

[0041] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

[0042] Although embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A dual-robot online pallet palletizing system, comprising a bagged material compression and conveying structure (1) and two robot systems (2) and (3) for palletizing the materials, and a parking and pallet detection system (4), characterized in that: The bagged material compression and conveying structure (1) includes: A steel platform (11) runs through the entire palletizing system, serving as a line support for material conveying; The two robot systems one (2) include; The robot ground rail (21) is fixed on the steel platform (11), and the top is equipped with an interconnected inclined belt conveyor (22), a double-pack gripping roller conveyor (23), a through-beam switch (24), and a downhill belt (211) to transport materials to the palletizing area. The robot mounting base (210) is connected to the downhill belt (211), and a palletizing robot (26) for gripping materials and a double-pack robot gripper (25) are mounted on the top. Guide wheels (29) are installed at the bottom of the robot mounting base (210) and work with racks (27), robot walking shaft gears (28) and follower wheel assembly (212) to enable the palletizing robot (26) to walk on the robot ground rail (21); The robot system two (3) includes; The second inclined belt conveyor (31) is set back-to-back on the side of the first robot system (2); An end limit plate (32) is installed at the end of the double-pack gripping roller conveyor (23).

2. The dual-robot online pallet palletizing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The photoelectric switch (24) is installed on the double-package gripping roller conveyor (23), the double-package robot gripper (25) is installed on the palletizing robot (26), the robot walking shaft gear (28) and the guide wheel (29) are installed on the robot mounting base (210), and the rack (27) is installed on the robot ground rail (21).

3. The dual-robot online pallet palletizing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The steel platform (11) is equipped with an inlet receiving belt conveyor (12), a pressing and shaping belt conveyor (13) and a long belt conveyor (14) from left to right on the top. The pressing and shaping belt conveyor (13) is connected to the inlet receiving belt conveyor (12), and the long belt conveyor (14) is connected to the pressing and shaping belt conveyor (13).

4. The dual-robot online pallet palletizing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom of the steel platform (11) is equipped with a long belt drive device (15), which is used to drive the long belt conveyor (14). The bottom of the steel platform (11) is equipped with a long belt tensioning device (16) for easy adjustment of the long belt conveyor (14).

5. The dual-robot online pallet palletizing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The parking and pallet detection system (4) includes; Scanning radar 1 (41) is installed on top of the driveway of the palletizing system; Scanning radar 2 (42) is also installed on top of the palletizing system's driveway.

6. The dual-robot online pallet palletizing system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The parking and pallet detection system (4) also includes a parking distance detection device (43), which is installed on the side of the palletizing system lane exit.

7. The dual-robot online pallet palletizing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The parking and pallet detection system (4) also includes an auxiliary parking device (44), which contains three sets of photoelectric sensors installed at the entrance of the palletizing lane.

8. A dual-robot online pallet palletizing system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The long belt conveyor (14) runs through the robot system one (2) and robot system two (3) to form a nested material conveying structure, so that the material can be continuously conveyed to the grab position of the palletizing robots (26) on both sides.

9. A dual-robot online pallet palletizing system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The robot system one (2) and robot system two (3) are arranged back-to-back in series, and they share the long belt conveyor (14) to transport materials, so as to realize the collaborative parallel palletizing of the two robots.

10. A dual-robot online pallet palletizing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the palletizing robot (26) moves, it synchronously drives the double-package gripping roller conveyor (23) and the inclined belt conveyor (22) to move in linkage, so that the gripping point position of the palletizing robot (26) remains constant.

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