Lifting control system of reach forklift and forklift

Abstract

The utility model discloses a lifting control system of a reach forklift and the forklift. The system comprises a height sensor, a control module, a display module, a man-machine interaction module and a lifting controller. The man-machine interaction module is used for inputting lifting height information, the output end of the man-machine interaction module is connected to the control module, the height sensor is used for collecting lifting height data of a forklift in real time, and the output end of the height sensor is connected to the control module; the control module is connected with the lifting controller and used for sending the set height data and the collected height data to the lifting controller, and the lifting controller is used for controlling a lifting motor of the forklift to work; the output end of the control module is connected to the display module and used for providing man-machine interaction display information. According to the scheme, automatic lifting control can be achieved, the manual participation process is reduced, and rapid and high-speed adjustable forklift lifting control can be achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the field of forklift control, in particular to a lifting control system of a reach-type forklift and the forklift. Background Art

[0002] In traditional forklift operation, the driver needs to control the lifting process of the forklift by observing the instrument and operating the gear position. This process often requires high operating skills and experience. Moreover, when the height of the forklift needs to be adjusted, the driver needs to frequently operate the instrument and buttons, which not only increases the complexity of the operation, but also may affect the efficiency and safety of the operation. Forward-reaching forklifts are often used in storage environments and have high operating heights. Relying on the driver's visual positioning of the cargo height has great safety hazards. It is impossible to determine the height reached. The driver needs to operate the instrument and buttons to control the lifting of the forklift on one hand and observe the height reached on the other hand. This method of operation is relatively cumbersome, and the driver needs to spend more time and energy to control it, which also reduces the efficiency and safety of the operation. During the lifting process, the driver needs to operate too many parameters, and it is impossible to achieve the required height of automatic lifting. There are certain safety hazards. If the driver operates improperly, it may cause the forklift to lose balance, accidents and other dangerous situations.

[0003] For example, the patent application number is 201810691976.6, which is a heavy-duty forklift gantry lifting height positioning control system. Although it can realize the forklift lifting control to a certain extent, it needs to install multiple limit switches, has a complex circuit structure, and has a fixed adjustment height. It is unable to automatically adjust the height according to the cargo shelf, and still cannot meet the automatic control requirements of the forklift lifting. Utility Model Content

[0004] The purpose of the utility model is to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art and provide a lifting control system for a reach forklift and a forklift, which can realize automatic lifting control, reduce the manual participation process, and realize fast, high-speed adjustable forklift lifting control.

[0005] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: a lifting control system of a reach forklift, including a height sensor, a control module, a display module, a human-computer interaction module, and a lifting controller; the human-computer interaction module is used to input lifting height information, and its output end is connected to the control module, the height sensor is used to collect the lifting height data of the forklift in real time, and its output end is connected to the control module; the control module is connected to the lifting controller, and is used to send the set height data and the collected height data to the lifting controller, and the lifting controller is used to control the operation of the lifting motor of the forklift; the output end of the control module is connected to the display module, and is used to provide human-computer interaction display information.

[0006] The human-computer interaction module includes a height shortcut key, a touch screen and / or a keyboard, which are used to input set height information.

[0007] The control system also includes an in-place deceleration signal acquisition module, which is used to detect the deceleration signal during the lifting process. Its output end is connected to the lifting controller, and the lifting controller controls the deceleration of the lifting motor according to the signal collected by the in-place deceleration signal acquisition module.

[0008] The in-place deceleration signal acquisition module includes a label positioning acquisition module, which is used to collect positioning labels set on the shelves; the label positioning acquisition module is set on the inner door frame of the forklift; the output end of the label positioning acquisition module is connected to the lifting controller.

[0009] The control system further comprises a reminder module, which is connected to the lifting controller or the reminder module is connected to the control module, and is used for sending a height reaching reminder signal.

[0010] The control module is integrated in the vehicle instrument.

[0011] The height sensor is a pull-wire height sensor, which is installed on the forklift door frame.

[0012] The control system further comprises a collision detection module, which is used to detect an obstacle blocking signal appearing during the lifting process, and an output end of the collision detection module is connected to the lifting controller.

[0013] A forklift comprises the lifting control system of a reach forklift.

[0014] The advantages of the utility model are: the height of the forklift can be set and then the high-speed lifting control can be automatically performed, which reduces the operation of the operator, simplifies the lifting control process, and improves the degree of automation of the control; the height can be set by one button, and fast height setting and control can be achieved; the lifting control is performed in the form of a lifting controller driving the motor, the structure is simple and reliable, and the speed reduction control can be performed according to the height label, avoiding the lifting safety hazard caused by the excessive speed and inability to directly decelerate after reaching the position; the control structure is simple and reliable, the on-board instrument can be reused, and the implementation cost is low. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The following is a brief description of the contents expressed in each of the drawings of the utility model specification and the marks in the drawings:

[0016] Figure 1 The utility model is a structural principle diagram of the forklift lifting control system.

[0017] The marks in the above figures are: 1. Lifting controller; 2. Human-computer interaction module; 3. Instrument; 4. Height sensor; 5. Positioning tag; 6. Tag positioning acquisition module; 7. Collision detection module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The specific implementation methods of the present utility model will be further explained in detail below by describing the optimal embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0019] In the prior art, the lifting control of a forklift is generally performed by the driver manipulating the gear position, operating lever, etc. to raise the forklift mast or using some limit switches to achieve automatic positioning limit stop during the operation of the lifting process. These two methods of forklift lifting control still have defects such as more driver operations, time-consuming and labor-intensive, easy to cause errors during the lifting process, and low degree of automation. They cannot meet the requirements of forklift lifting control in terms of reliability, automation, and reduction of manual participation. For this reason, this embodiment provides a new forklift lifting control solution, and the specific solution is as follows:

[0020] like Figure 1 As shown, a lifting control system of a reach forklift includes a height sensor, a control module, a display module, a human-computer interaction module, and a lifting controller; the human-computer interaction module is used to input lifting height information, and its output end is connected to the control module; the human-computer interaction module can be implemented by a touch screen, a single or multiple buttons, a keypad, etc., mainly to meet the needs of the driver to manually input lifting height information or quickly input lifting height information by pressing buttons;

[0021] The height sensor is used to collect the lifting height data of the forklift in real time, and its output end is connected to the control module; the height sensor is a pull-wire height sensor, which is installed on the forklift mast and rises with the rise of the forklift mast to collect height information;

[0022] The control module serves as the core processor of this application, and it has data forwarding and control capabilities; for example, it sends the set height data and the collected height data to the lifting controller and controls the display screen to display some human-machine interaction information.

[0023] The control module is connected to the lifting controller and is used to send the set height data and the collected height data to the lifting controller. The lifting controller is used to control the operation of the lifting motor of the forklift. The lifting control drives the lifting motor to rotate, thereby driving and controlling the rise of the mast inside the forklift, thereby achieving height drive control.

[0024] The output end of the control module is connected to the display module, which is used to provide human-computer interaction display information. The human-computer interaction information is displayed through the display module to facilitate the driver's operation. The display module is implemented using LED, LCD and other display screens. In order to save costs, the display screen of the vehicle-mounted instrument can be reused. At the same time, the control module can also reuse the controller of the vehicle-mounted instrument, that is, the control module is implemented using the vehicle-mounted instrument controller, and the display module is implemented using the display screen of the vehicle-mounted instrument. In this way, when the driver inputs height information through the human-computer interaction module, the input information can be displayed, interacted and forwarded through the vehicle-mounted instrument.

[0025] The human-computer interaction module includes a height shortcut key, a touch screen and / or a keyboard, which are used to input the set height information. When the inner mast of the forklift needs to be lifted, the required height information is input into the instrument through the shortcut key, touch screen or keyboard light of the human-computer interaction module; the height shortcut key can be a pre-calibrated shortcut key, and there are multiple shortcut keys, each shortcut key is defined to correspond to a height value, and the height information can be quickly entered through the shortcut key; or personalized or specific height information is input through a keyboard, touch screen, etc., and the height information input by the driver is sent to the instrument controller, which drives the display screen to display it and forwards it to the lifting controller at the same time.

[0026] During the lifting process of the forklift, the set height information entered by the driver is first transmitted to the lifting controller. At this time, the lifting controller starts to work and drives the lifting motor to rotate, thereby realizing the lifting of the inner mast. During the rising process of the inner mast, the height sensor collects the height value of the inner mast in real time, and its height data value is transmitted to the instrument controller. The instrument controller can control the display screen to display the real-time height value on the one hand, and also feed back the real-time height value to the lifting controller. The lifting controller can control the motor to stop moving according to the height value transmitted by the height sensor. When the detected real-time height value is the same as the set height value, the lifting motor stops working, thereby completing the lifting control of the inner mast of the forklift; similarly, when the inner mast needs to return to the initial position, the height value of the initial position can be set, etc., so as to realize the reverse lifting control.

[0027] In this embodiment, since the rise of the inner mast is automatically controlled, the driver only needs to input the required lifting height information. Therefore, in order to facilitate the driver to time whether the lifting height is completed, a reminder module is provided. The reminder module is connected to the lifting controller or the reminder module is connected to the control module. The reminder module is used to send a height arrival reminder signal. After the lifting controller controls the lifting height of the inner mast to be consistent with the set height, the lifting controller outputs a control signal to the reminder module to drive the reminder module to send a corresponding reminder signal of completed lifting. The reminder module can use an audible and visual alarm, a voice reminder, a horn or the reminder module is integrated in the on-board instrument, and the alarm in the on-board instrument is reused to complete the reminder to the driver.

[0028] In a preferred solution of this embodiment, a deceleration signal acquisition module is provided on the forklift, which is used to detect the deceleration signal during the lifting process, and its output end is connected to the lifting controller, and the lifting controller controls the lifting motor to decelerate according to the signal collected by the deceleration signal acquisition module. The deceleration signal acquisition module includes a label positioning acquisition module, which is used to collect the positioning label set on the shelf; the label positioning acquisition module is set on the inner door frame of the forklift; the output end of the label positioning acquisition module is connected to the lifting controller. Since the lifting of the inner door frame is driven by a motor, if the motor is not decelerated in advance, it cannot be stopped when the set height is reached, resulting in the defect that the position cannot be accurately reached, so a deceleration operation is required after reaching the set position; the deceleration control is performed by means of a positioning label, wherein the positioning label can be a QR code, a bar code, an RFID code, etc., which is attached to the shelf, and different positioning labels are attached to the shelves on each layer; the label positioning acquisition module uses an image sensor, a card reader, a code scanning grab, etc. to collect data in the positioning label, and determines whether the number of layers corresponding to the deceleration is reached based on the positioning label, and then the lifting controller controls the lifting motor to decelerate. When it is determined that the positioning tag content belongs to the last positioning tag before reaching the set height, the deceleration operation should be performed at this time. Therefore, the deceleration operation can be performed in time through the comparison relationship between the collected positioning tag information and the set height to avoid position deviation when reaching the set height.

[0029] In another scheme of the present embodiment, since there may be safety hazards such as collisions during the lifting process, since it is an automatic lifting, an alarm control is required for this; a collision detection module is set, and the collision detection module is used to detect obstacle blocking signals that appear during the lifting process, and its output end is connected to the lifting controller. After detecting the obstacle blocking signal, an alarm signal is issued in time, which can be achieved by sending an alarm signal through the on-board instrument or adding a collision alarm indicator light or an alarm. The collision detection module can be implemented in a variety of ways, including laser and radar ranging and obstacle detection schemes: a radar sensor or a laser sensor is set on the inner door frame, and its measurement direction is toward the lifting direction, that is, the radar sends a radar signal upward, and the goods on the inner door frame cannot block the radar signal, so that the obstacles in the lifting direction can be measured by the radar sensor, and obstacles can be found in time and an alarm is issued; at the same time, when the obstacle distance is found to be less than the set distance, the lifting controller controls the motor to stop working and sends an alarm signal. The collision detection module can also be implemented with a current sensor, which is used to collect the working current of the motor. Because after the collision, the inner door frame cannot rise due to the obstruction, and the motor cannot rotate, that is, it is blocked. At this time, the current of the motor changes, and it can be judged that a collision or obstruction has occurred. In this way, it can be stopped in time after the collision or obstruction occurs to avoid further deterioration of the collision or obstruction. Either method can detect or predict the occurrence of a collision, thereby achieving better alarms or reminders.

[0030] This embodiment also provides a forklift, which includes the lifting control system of the reach forklift in the above embodiment. The forklift with the lifting control system in the above embodiment can control the rise of the inner mast more quickly and reliably, reduce the manual participation process, improve the degree of automation, and be safe and reliable.

[0031] like Figure 1 As shown, the lifting controller is a lifting action control unit in a reach forklift. When receiving a lifting permission command, it can control the lifting motor to raise and lower the fork. The rising and lowering processes can be intuitively displayed to the driver in the form of animation in the instrument, and abnormal matters can be notified in the form of pop-up windows.

[0032] The driver is the actual operator of the reach forklift. After setting the height of the instrument through the human-computer interaction module, he executes the lifting command. When an abnormal item occurs, the emergency power-off switch is used to terminate the lifting action of the forklift.

[0033] As a display unit, the instrument can display the current height transmitted by the height sensor in real time on the screen, and pass the current height value to the lifting controller. In the instrument, you can set any height by touching the button. After entering the height through the numeric keys, the instrument will pop up an interface to prompt the driver whether to execute the lifting command. When the driver confirms the execution, the lifting motor starts working and the height sensor starts to transmit data. When the height reaches the set value, the instrument will flash brightly to remind that the execution has been completed, and the lifting controller controls the lifting motor to stop working. The instrument also provides a quick lifting operation. Since the height of each shelf is fixed in the actual scene, when entering the fixed layer setting in the instrument, enter the standard layer height of each layer. The instrument will provide 1-9 layer height buttons for the driver to choose. After the driver presses the button, when the height sensor detects that the preset layer height has been reached, the information will be passed to the instrument and the bright flashing reminder has been completed. The lifting controller controls the lifting motor to stop working.

[0034] The innovative technology of this utility model lies in the pre-deceleration function of the motor. The triggering judgment of deceleration can be realized by identifying the positioning tag. The identification of the positioning tag can be realized by using a barcode scanner or an image sensor. The image collected by the image sensor is sent to the image processing host to obtain the positioning information of the corresponding positioning tag. The lifting motor is executed according to the acceleration and deceleration rate preset in the lifting controller. This has the advantage of ensuring work efficiency. When the positioning tag information is collected by a barcode scanner, image sensor, etc. and compared with the set height to determine that it belongs to the deceleration position, the lifting controller reduces the motor speed as a pre-buffer for the rise to the position, so as to avoid the response delay problem in the prior art solution that when the received height reaches the preset height value, the motor actually exceeds or fails to reach the height when it stops from high speed, thereby repeatedly adjusting.

[0035] As a height measurement component, the height sensor can be selected from electronic height sensors, mechanical height sensors, ultrasonic height sensors, optical height sensors, and magnetic height sensors according to the different measurement accuracy and methods combined with the characteristics of the engineering machinery industry. In this embodiment, the wire-pull height sensor is preferred among the mechanical height sensors. The characteristics of this sensor are that it has a compact overall structure and is light in weight; it has strong anti-fouling performance, good durability for continuous use, and high repeatability accuracy. It mostly uses stainless steel metal ropes with small elastic deformation; unlike optical sensors, the height measurement will be abnormal when blocked or covered. The height sensor 4 is installed on the forklift door frame. As it is lifted, the built-in encoder can measure and convert the signal into any form such as CAN or RS232, analog signal, etc. for transmission.

[0036] The image sensor is responsible for collecting images of the shelves and transmitting the images to the image processing host. The recognition principle is to post a positioning label in the lower frame of the shelf. The label can be in the form of a barcode, text number, etc. When the image sensor follows the forklift gantry to rise, it captures the label and transmits the information to the image processing host. After processing by the image processing host, it decides whether to issue a lifting motor deceleration command to the lifting controller. In this embodiment, the barcode is selected as the image recognition target. The barcode has the advantages of low cost and convenient scanning by the image sensor device. Once the scanned position information meets the deceleration requirements corresponding to the preset height information, the deceleration information is issued, and the lifting controller drives the motor to start deceleration until the real-time height reaches the set height.

[0037] This solution has the following technical features or effects:

[0038] 1. Improve work efficiency: The operator can quickly and accurately lift the goods to the predetermined height, reducing adjustment time and thus improving work efficiency.

[0039] 2. Enhanced operational safety: In traditional operations, operators need to manually control the height of the forks, which is not only time-consuming but may also cause collision or overturning of goods due to misjudgment. This solution can reduce such human errors. Only the height needs to be set to automatically control the height, ensuring that the forks can accurately reach the predetermined height every time, reducing operational risks.

[0040] 3. Save operator's physical strength: The one-button height setting of the reach forklift further simplifies the operation process, so that the operator does not need to adjust the fork height through multiple buttons or complicated operations, thereby reducing the workload.

[0041] 4. Save energy and costs: By reducing unnecessary operating steps and avoiding repeated lifting and lowering adjustments, it saves power and improves battery life.

[0042] 5. Achieve more precise height control and better operating performance. Operate by clicking the instrument, and reduce driver fatigue and improve control comfort through layout optimization.

[0043] Obviously, the specific implementation of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned methods. As long as various non-substantial improvements are made using the method concept and technical solution of the present invention, they are all within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A lifting control system for a reach forklift, characterized in that: It includes a height sensor, a control module, a display module, a human-computer interaction module, and a lifting controller; the human-computer interaction module is used to input lifting height information, and its output end is connected to the control module; the height sensor is used to collect the lifting height data of the forklift in real time, and its output end is connected to the control module; the control module is connected to the lifting controller, and is used to send the set height data and the collected height data to the lifting controller, and the lifting controller is used to control the operation of the lifting motor of the forklift; the output end of the control module is connected to the display module, and is used to provide human-computer interaction display information.

2. A lifting control system for a reach forklift according to claim 1, characterized in that: The human-computer interaction module includes a height shortcut key, a touch screen and / or a keyboard, which are used to input set height information.

3. A lifting control system for a reach forklift according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control system also includes an in-place deceleration signal acquisition module, which is used to detect the deceleration signal during the lifting process. Its output end is connected to the lifting controller, and the lifting controller controls the deceleration of the lifting motor according to the signal collected by the in-place deceleration signal acquisition module.

4. A lifting control system for a reach forklift according to claim 3, characterized in that: The in-place deceleration signal acquisition module includes a label positioning acquisition module, which is used to collect positioning labels set on the shelves; the label positioning acquisition module is set on the inner door frame of the forklift; the output end of the label positioning acquisition module is connected to the lifting controller.

5. A lifting control system for a reach forklift according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The control system further comprises a reminder module, which is connected to the lifting controller or the reminder module is connected to the control module, and is used for sending a height reaching reminder signal.

6. The lifting control system of a reach forklift according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The control module is integrated in the vehicle instrument.

7. The lifting control system of a reach forklift according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The height sensor is a pull-wire height sensor, which is installed on the forklift door frame.

8. A lifting control system for a reach forklift according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The control system further comprises a collision detection module, which is used to detect an obstacle blocking signal appearing during the lifting process, and an output end of the collision detection module is connected to the lifting controller.

9. A forklift, characterized in that: The forklift comprises a lifting control system of a reach forklift as described in any one of claims 1-8.

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