An omnidirectional transport forklift

Abstract

The present application provides an omnidirectional transport forklift, including a body frame and a steering wheel and a universal wheel diagonally arranged at the bottom of the body frame. The present application can ensure that the power source remains stable and can provide balanced drive for the entire body of the forklift during driving through the diagonally arranged steering wheel. The steering wheel arrangement method of the present application can not only ensure the navigation accuracy and control accuracy of the forklift in each driving direction through the balanced arrangement of the power source, and avoid repeated correction of the driving direction, but also effectively solve the problem that the turning radius of traditional transport forklifts is too large, which limits omnidirectional driving, and overcome the problem that the existing omnidirectional transport forklift motion control logic is complex and the cost is high.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of intelligent warehousing equipment, and in particular to an omnidirectional transport forklift. Background Art

[0002] Most of the existing transport forklift AGVs use single steering wheel and dual-wheel differential drive, neither of which can achieve omnidirectional driving. Although the latter can achieve on-the-spot turning, due to power output and load requirements, the differential wheel is generally installed at the front of the vehicle body near the fork tip, rather than the center of the vehicle body, so its turning radius is generally large, and both are not suitable for extremely narrow aisle handling scenarios.

[0003] For this kind of extremely narrow aisle transportation scenario, the industry usually uses omnidirectional forklift AGV. Currently, omnidirectional forklift AGVs on the market usually use a three-wheel or four-wheel chassis structure. Although they can achieve omnidirectional movement, the control logic is relatively complex and the cost is high, so they are not widely used in the market. Utility Model Content

[0004] In order to solve the deficiencies in the prior art, the purpose of the present application is to provide an omnidirectional transport forklift. The present application configures diagonal steering wheels and diagonal universal wheels at the bottom of the forklift body frame to solve the problem that the turning radius of the conventional transport forklift is too large, which limits the omnidirectional travel, and solves the problem that the motion control logic of the conventional omnidirectional transport forklift is complex and the cost is high.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the omnidirectional transport forklift provided in the present application includes: a body frame, a lifting fork is arranged on the front side of which, and an electric box is arranged on the rear side of which; a steering wheel, which is diagonally arranged at the bottom of the body frame, and is respectively installed on the opposite sides of the lifting fork and the bottom of the electric box; a universal wheel, which is arranged at the bottom of the body frame in another diagonal direction, and is respectively installed on the other two opposite sides of the lifting fork and the bottom of the electric box.

[0006] Optionally, an omnidirectional transport forklift as described above, wherein the lifting fork tines are respectively arranged on the left and right sides of the vehicle body frame, and the bottoms of the two lifting forks are respectively provided with supporting fork legs and power fork legs; the bottom front ends of the supporting fork legs are provided with universal wheels; and the bottom front ends of the power fork legs are provided with steering wheels.

[0007] Optionally, in any of the above-described omnidirectional transport forklifts, a steering wheel is installed below the electrical box on a side close to the supporting fork leg, and a universal wheel is installed on a side close to the power fork leg.

[0008] Optionally, an omnidirectional transport forklift as described above is characterized in that it also includes: a drive axle, which is arranged at the bottom of the vehicle frame and below the electrical box, a rotating shaft is arranged in the middle of the drive axle, a step structure is arranged on the rotating shaft, a seat bearing and a support seat connected to the vehicle frame are arranged on the step structure, the seat bearing and the support seat support the rotating shaft, so that the drive axle rotates up and down around the rotating shaft in a plane perpendicular to the lifting fork teeth according to the ground conditions.

[0009] Optionally, in any of the above-described omnidirectional transport forklifts, a steering wheel is provided at the bottom of the driving axle at one end close to the supporting fork leg, and a universal wheel is provided at the bottom of the driving axle at one end close to the power fork leg.

[0010] Optionally, in any of the above-described omnidirectional transport forklifts, a three-step structure is coaxially arranged on the rotating shaft, wherein the innermost step structure is arranged between two front and rear seat bearings, and the support seat is arranged on the outermost step structure.

[0011] Optionally, in any of the above-described omnidirectional transport forklifts, the seat bearing is arranged on a middle step structure, and the inner side of the seat bearing is arranged close to the outer side of the innermost step structure.

[0012] Optionally, in any of the above-described omnidirectional transport forklifts, the support seat is disposed on an outermost step structure, and the inner side of the support seat is disposed close to an outer side edge of a middle step structure.

[0013] Optionally, in an omnidirectional transport forklift as described above, the bottom of the body frame is provided with support limit grooves on the front and rear sides above the rotating shaft, respectively, and the top of the support seat is embedded in the support limit grooves and is connected and fixed to the body frame by bolts.

[0014] Optionally, in an omnidirectional transport forklift as described above, a bearing positioning groove is further provided at the bottom of the body frame between the front and rear support limit grooves, and the outer spacing of the seat bearing is limited by the bearing positioning groove, and the inner spacing of the seat bearing is limited by the innermost step structure.

[0015] Optionally, in an omnidirectional transport forklift as described above, a QR code camera is provided at the bottom of the body frame and in front of the drive axle, and its shooting direction is set downward; a depth camera is provided at the front side of the electric box, and a navigation radar is provided on the top of the electric box.

[0016] Optionally, in an omnidirectional transport forklift as described above, an obstacle avoidance radar is also provided at the bottom of the electrical box; a fork tip obstacle avoidance radar is also provided at the bottom front end of the supporting fork leg, and the fork tip obstacle avoidance radar is arranged in front of the universal wheel.

[0017] Compared with the existing solutions, this application has the following technical effects:

[0018] The present application provides an omnidirectional transport forklift, including a body frame and a steering wheel and a universal wheel diagonally arranged at the bottom of the body frame. The present application can ensure that the power source remains stable and can provide balanced drive for the entire body of the forklift during driving through the diagonally arranged steering wheel. The steering wheel arrangement method of the present application can not only ensure the navigation accuracy and control accuracy of the forklift in each driving direction through the balanced arrangement of the power source, and avoid repeated correction of the driving direction, but also effectively solve the problem that the turning radius of traditional transport forklifts is too large, which limits omnidirectional driving, and overcome the problem that the existing omnidirectional transport forklift motion control logic is complex and the cost is high.

[0019] In addition, the omnidirectional transport forklift of the present application has a driving axle arranged at the bottom of the body frame, and a seat bearing and a support seat connected to the body frame are arranged on the rotating shaft. The present application utilizes a step structure on the rotating shaft to limit the axial movement of the seat bearing and the support seat, so that the driving axle can flexibly rotate up and down around the rotating shaft in a plane perpendicular to the lifting fork teeth according to the ground conditions. The present application utilizes a step structure to effectively ensure that the seat bearing only bears radial loads most of the time, and only bears smaller axial loads in extreme cases, thereby improving the life of the entire rotating shaft structure. This ensures that the forklift of the present application can always install the driving axle with a rotating shaft through the seat bearing and the support seat, and steering wheels can be respectively provided on the driving axle and the fork teeth to improve the driving performance of the entire vehicle.

[0020] Other features and advantages of the present application will be set forth in the following description, and in part will become apparent from the description, or may be understood by practicing the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present application, they are used to explain the present application and do not constitute a limitation of the present application. In the accompanying drawings:

[0022] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the omnidirectional transport forklift of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 2 This is a front view of the overall structure of the omnidirectional transport forklift of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 3A bottom view of the omnidirectional transport forklift of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 4 It is a right side view of the omnidirectional transport forklift of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 5 is a top view of the omnidirectional transport forklift of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 6 It is a left side view of the omnidirectional transport forklift of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 7 The present invention Figure 3 Middle AA partial section view;

[0029] Figure 8 yes Figure 7 A magnified view of the bottom of the power axle system.

[0030] 100-lifting fork teeth; 101-depth camera; 102-emergency stop switch; 103-power switch; 104-navigation radar; 105-steering wheel; 106-fork tip obstacle avoidance radar; 107-universal wheel; 108-QR code camera; 109-support seat; 110-seat bearing; 111-rotating shaft; 112-safety touch edge; 113-obstacle avoidance radar; 114-support fork leg; 115-power fork leg; 116-body frame; 117-electric box; 118-drive axle; DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The preferred embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the preferred embodiments described herein are only used to illustrate and explain the present application and are not used to limit the present application.

[0032] The meaning of "and / or" described in this application means that the situations where each exists alone or both exist at the same time are included.

[0033] The meaning of "inside" and "outside" in this application refers to the direction pointing to the center of the internal rotating axis of the power bridge system relative to the omnidirectional transport forklift itself, and the opposite direction is outside; it is not a specific limitation on the device mechanism of this application.

[0034] The meaning of "left and right" mentioned in this application refers to the forward direction when the user is facing the lifting fork to extract goods, the user's left is left, and the user's right is right, rather than a specific limitation on the device mechanism of this application.

[0035] The term “connection” as used in this application may mean a direct connection between components or an indirect connection between components via other components.

[0036] The meaning of "up" and "down" mentioned in this application refers to that when the user is facing the forward direction of the omnidirectional transport forklift, the direction from the supporting fork legs to the top of the electrical box and power source assembly is up, and the opposite direction is down, rather than a specific limitation on the device mechanism of this application.

[0037] The omnidirectional forklift provided in the present application comprises Figures 1 to 3 Shown:

[0038] A vehicle body frame 116, a lifting fork tine 100 is arranged at the front side thereof, and an electric box 117 is arranged at the rear side thereof;

[0039] The driving axle 118 is arranged at the bottom of the vehicle body frame 116 and below the electric box 117. A rotating shaft 111 is arranged in the middle of the driving axle 118. A step structure is arranged on the rotating shaft 111. A seat bearing 110 and a support seat 109 connected to the vehicle body frame 116 are arranged on the step structure. The seat bearing 110 and the support seat 109 support the rotating shaft 111, so that the driving axle 118 rotates up and down around the rotating shaft 111 in a plane perpendicular to the lifting fork teeth 100 according to the ground conditions.

[0040] Among them, refer to Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown, the lifting forks 100 are respectively arranged on the left and right sides of the vehicle body frame 116, and the bottoms of the two lifting forks 100 are respectively provided with supporting fork legs 114 and power fork legs 115 to form a running chassis, so that the goods can be taken and placed by controlling the lifting and lowering of the lifting forks 100 relative to the running chassis.

[0041] In order to adapt to the uneven ground environment, the present application utilizes a support seat 109 , a seat bearing 110 , a rotating shaft 111 and a driving bridge 118 to form a power bridge system in the cavity at the bottom of the electrical box 117 .

[0042] In order to reduce the turning radius of the forklift system, the present application preferably sets a universal wheel 107 at the bottom front end of the supporting fork leg 114; sets a steering wheel 105 at the bottom front end of the power fork leg 115, and sets another steering wheel 105 at the bottom of the driving axle 118, specifically at one end close to the supporting fork leg 114, and sets another universal wheel 107 at one end close to the power fork leg 115 at the bottom of the driving axle 118.

[0043] Thus, the power wheel installed at one end of the power bridge is arranged diagonally with the steering wheel installed below the power fork leg 115, and the universal wheel installed at the other end of the power bridge is arranged diagonally with the universal wheel 107 installed below the support fork leg 114. This layout enables the two power steering wheels 105 to guarantee the positive pressure on the ground to the maximum extent through the action of the power bridge on uneven ground. At the same time, because the power steering wheels are arranged diagonally, the power source is more balanced when the forklift is moving relative to the layout of the power steering wheels arranged on one side. Thus, the forklift can provide stable power when moving in all directions, which can improve the driving speed and stability of the forklift in narrow lanes. At the same time, the diagonal arrangement of the steering wheels can realize the in-situ rotation of the AGV. The principle is that the two steering wheels rotate clockwise at a certain angle, and when the vehicle rotates, it will rotate with the center of the four support points as the origin. The rotation trajectory of the power wheel is the circumscribed circle of the rectangle composed of the four support wheels. This layout method enables the AGV to operate more flexibly and improve the utilization rate of the warehouse.

[0044] In order to prevent the rotating shaft 111 from axial movement during the rotational balancing process, the present application preferably coaxially arranges a three-step structure from the inside to the outside on it, wherein the innermost step structure is arranged between the front and rear two seat bearings 110, and the support seat 109 is arranged on the outermost step structure.

[0045] Specific reference Figure 7 as well as Figure 8 In the present application, the seat bearing 110 is arranged on the middle step structure, and the inner side of the seat bearing 110 is arranged close to the outer side of the innermost step structure to limit the inner step structure from deflecting outward.

[0046] At the same time, the support seat 109 is arranged on the outermost step structure, and the inner side of the support seat 109 is arranged close to the outer side of the middle step structure. Such a design can further reduce the amplitude of the axial deflection of the shaft through the limitation of the support seat 109.

[0047] Specifically, the present application sets two support limit grooves at the bottom of the vehicle body frame 116, specifically on the front and rear sides above the rotating shaft 111, so that the top of the support seat 109 is embedded in the support limit groove, and the top of the support seat 109 is connected and fixed to the vehicle body frame 116 by bolts to limit the lateral deflection of the rotating shaft.

[0048] For the seat bearing 110, the present application may further provide an additional pair of bearing positioning grooves at the bottom of the vehicle body frame 116, specifically between the front and rear support limit grooves, wherein the outer spacing of the seat bearing 110 is limited by the bearing positioning grooves, and the inner spacing of the seat bearing 110 is limited by the innermost step structure.

[0049] Therefore, the support seat 109 in the present invention is connected to the vehicle frame 116 by bolts, and the vehicle frame is processed with a matching position with the support seat 109, which can ensure the concentricity of the two support seats 109. The steps provided at both ends of the rotating shaft 111 to match the support seat 109 can ensure that the 111-rotating shaft will not move in the axial direction. The middle part of the rotating shaft 111 is processed with a step to install two seat bearings 110, and the bottom surface of the driving axle 118 is processed with a mounting position to match the seat bearing 110, which can further ensure the concentricity of the two seat bearings. At the same time, the mounting position on the bottom surface of the drive axle 118 can limit the outer spacing of the seat bearing 110, and cooperate with the step in the middle part of the rotating shaft 111 to limit the inner spacing of the seat bearing 110, so as to ensure that the seat bearing 110 and the rotating shaft 111 only have rotational movement around the bearing, and no axial movement exists. Combined with the cooperation between the support seat 109 and the vehicle frame 116 and the cooperation step with the rotating shaft 111, it can be ensured that the seat bearing 110 only bears radial loads most of the time, and only bears smaller axial loads in extreme cases, thereby improving the life of the entire structure.

[0050] Compared with the prior art, in which the drive bridge 118 is welded to the rotating shaft 111 and two self-aligning bearing seats are used at both ends, the power bridge shaft system provided by the present application can make the concentricity of the shafts at both ends of the rotating shaft 111 higher. At the same time, the shaft system of the present application is simpler to process and less time-consuming and labor-intensive than the traditional self-aligning bearing seat method. In the present invention, only two standard seat bearings 110 are used to replace the self-aligning bearings used at both ends of the rotating shaft in the welding fixing method. Originally, the entire power bridge rotates around the self-aligning bearings, but after the two support seats 109 are clamped and fixed instead of the self-aligning bearing seats, the drive bridge 118 is immediately transformed into rotating around the two standard seat bearings on the rotating shaft 111. At the same time, under this structure, the drive bridge 118 does not need to be welded, the rotating shaft 111 can be finely processed and formed separately, and the positioning grooves on the drive bridge 118 can be processed to achieve assembly. This method can effectively make the processing and assembly of the entire power bridge system more convenient and more conducive to the standardization of the machine;

[0051] In some implementations, the omnidirectional transport forklift provided in the present application may also refer to Figure 3 As shown, at the bottom of the vehicle frame 116, a QR code camera 108 is also arranged in front of the drive axle 118, and its shooting direction is set downward, so that the QR code camera 108 installed behind the drive axle 118 relative to the middle of the vehicle body is used to cooperate with the ground QR code label for forklift driving and positioning in the lane. The installation position of this QR code camera avoids the driving path of the forklift in the lane, effectively avoiding damage to the QR code label caused by repeated rolling of the forklift roller.

[0052] Reference Figure 4In a more preferred implementation, the omnidirectional transport forklift provided by the present application is further provided with an obstacle avoidance radar 113 at the bottom of the electric box 117; and a fork tip obstacle avoidance radar 106 is further provided at the bottom front end of the supporting fork leg 114. The fork tip obstacle avoidance radar 106 can be specifically arranged in front of the universal wheel 107. The obstacle avoidance radar has a distance detection function, which can accurately identify the distance between the cargo and the forklift body, and effectively avoid the risk of collision with the cargo when the forklift picks up the cargo.

[0053] Reference Figure 6 The present application may also provide a fork tip obstacle avoidance radar 106 at the bottom front end of the supporting fork leg 114, and further, in front of the universal wheel 107. The fork tip obstacle avoidance radar 106 and the obstacle avoidance radar 113 form an obstacle avoidance system of the whole machine, which can achieve 360° obstacle avoidance around the vehicle body. Figure 5 The safety touch edge 112 located at the rear side of the vehicle body electrical box serves as a supplement to the obstacle avoidance system and can be used as an emergency stop means in an emergency.

[0054] Further, refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the present application also has a depth camera 101 disposed on the front side of the electric box 117, and a navigation radar 104 disposed on the top of the electric box 117. An emergency stop switch 102 is installed on the left and right sides above the electric box 117 and the power source assembly, which is used as a safety measure in an emergency; the depth camera 101 can be used for pallet identification, and can be linked with the control system for accurate forking of goods; the navigation radar 104 serves as the eyes of the entire intelligent forklift, providing an accurate route for the forklift to operate, so that the forklift can perform efficient and fast operations;

[0055] The advantages of this application are:

[0056] The steering wheel with a double-wheel structure adopted in the present invention can reduce the friction of the wheels on the ground through the differential power of the two wheels, and is more friendly to the ground, compared with the traditional single-wheel structure steering wheel in the rotational single-point friction.

[0057] Furthermore, the assembly connection method of the rotating shaft 111 in the present application can also effectively limit its axial movement, and keep the drive axle 118 of the device chassis only bearing radial loads, thereby effectively extending the service life of the entire device.

[0058] Those skilled in the art can understand that the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Although the present application is described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the aforementioned embodiments or replace some of the technical features therein by equivalents. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An omnidirectional transport forklift, characterized in that: include: A vehicle body frame (116) having a lifting fork (100) disposed at the front side thereof and an electric box (117) disposed at the rear side thereof; A steering wheel (105) is diagonally arranged at the bottom of the vehicle body frame (116) and is respectively installed on opposite sides of the bottom of the lifting fork (100) and the electric box (117); The universal wheels (107) are arranged at the bottom of the vehicle body frame (116) in another diagonal direction and are respectively installed on the other two opposite sides of the bottom of the lifting fork (100) and the electric box (117).

2. The omnidirectional forklift according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lifting fork teeth (100) are respectively arranged on the left and right sides of the vehicle body frame (116), and the bottoms of the two lifting fork teeth (100) are respectively provided with a supporting fork leg (114) and a power fork leg (115); A universal wheel (107) is provided at the bottom front end of the supporting fork leg (114); A steering wheel (105) is provided at the front end of the bottom of the power fork leg (115).

3. The omnidirectional transport forklift according to claim 2, characterized in that: A steering wheel (105) is installed on one side close to the supporting fork leg (114) and a universal wheel (107) is installed on one side close to the power fork leg (115) below the electric box (117).

4. The omnidirectional forklift according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: Also includes: A drive axle (118) is arranged at the bottom of a vehicle body frame (116) and below an electric box (117); a rotating shaft (111) is arranged in the middle of the drive axle (118); a step structure is arranged on the rotating shaft (111); a seat bearing (110) and a support seat (109) connected to the vehicle body frame (116) are arranged on the step structure; the seat bearing (110) and the support seat (109) support the rotating shaft (111), so that the drive axle (118) rotates up and down in a plane perpendicular to the lifting fork (100) around the rotating shaft (111) according to the ground state.

5. The omnidirectional forklift according to claim 4, characterized in that: The bottom of the driving bridge (118) is also provided with a steering wheel (105) at one end close to the supporting fork leg (114), and the bottom of the driving bridge (118) is also provided with a universal wheel (107) at one end close to the power fork leg (115).

6. The omnidirectional forklift according to claim 4, characterized in that: The rotating shaft (111) is coaxially provided with three-level step structures, wherein the innermost step structure is provided between the front and rear two seat bearings (110), and the support seat (109) is provided on the outermost step structure.

7. The omnidirectional forklift according to claim 4, characterized in that: The seat bearing (110) is arranged on a step structure of a middle layer, and the inner side of the seat bearing (110) is arranged close to the outer side of the innermost step structure.

8. The omnidirectional forklift according to claim 4, characterized in that: The support seat (109) is arranged on the outermost step structure, and the inner side of the support seat (109) is arranged close to the outer side of the middle step structure.

9. The omnidirectional transport forklift according to claim 6, characterized in that: The bottom of the vehicle body frame (116) is provided with support limit grooves on both the front and rear sides above the rotating shaft (111), and the top of the support seat (109) is embedded in the support limit grooves and is connected and fixed to the vehicle body frame (116) by bolts.

10. The omnidirectional forklift according to claim 7, characterized in that: The bottom of the vehicle body frame (116) is also provided with a bearing positioning groove between the front and rear support limit grooves, the bearing positioning groove limits the outer spacing of the seat bearing (110), and the inner spacing of the seat bearing (110) is limited by the innermost step structure.

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