Material processing system

Abstract

The utility model discloses a material processing system which is used for sorting and delivering target materials, the material processing system comprises a goods shelf, a first robot and a second robot, the goods shelf is provided with a storage position used for storing a material box, and the goods shelf is further provided with a plurality of temporary storage positions. The temporary storage position can be used as a temporary storage position for placing a to-be-sorted material box or a sorting position for placing an order material box, and the order material box is used for storing a to-be-delivered target material; the first robot is used for carrying the material box from the storage position of the goods shelf to the temporary storage position and carrying the material box located on the temporary storage position to the storage position of the goods shelf; and the second robot is used for sorting the material boxes located on the cache positions and putting the sorted target materials into the order material boxes. The temporary storage position is arranged on the goods shelf, and the material box on the temporary storage position is sorted into the order material box through the second robot, so that the second robot can carry out sorting operation while the first robot takes and places the material box from the goods shelf, and the working efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of material picking, and in particular to a material handling system. Background Art

[0002] The material handling system is mainly used in the process of material entry and exit, and realizes the picking, handover and transportation of materials through the cooperation of different actuators or robotic components.

[0003] The material picking and outbound process of the existing material handling system mainly includes the following steps: the shelf robot takes the target material box from the shelf and places the target material box in the cache position, the transport robot transports the target material box on the cache position to the picking station, the staff at the picking station or the picking robot picks the materials in the target material box to the order material box, and then the transport robot returns the target material box to the shelf; its shortcomings are that the transportation distance of the target material box is long, the outbound process is time-consuming, and the work efficiency is low. Utility Model Content

[0004] The present application aims to solve one of the technical problems in the related art to a certain extent. To this end, the present application provides a material handling system that can simultaneously perform material box handling operations and picking operations in a shelf, thereby improving work efficiency.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the present application proposes a material handover system for picking and shipping out target materials, including a shelf, a first robot and a second robot. The shelf is provided with a storage position for storing material boxes, and the shelf is also provided with a plurality of temporary storage positions, which can be used as a cache position for placing material boxes to be picked or a picking position for placing order material boxes, and the order material boxes are used to store target materials to be shipped out; the first robot is used to move the material boxes to be picked from the storage position of the shelf to the cache position, and to move the material boxes located on the cache position to the storage position of the shelf; the second robot is used to pick the material boxes located on the cache position and put the picked target materials into the order material boxes.

[0006] In the present technical solution, a number of temporary storage positions are set on the shelf, and the temporary storage positions can be used as cache positions for material boxes to be picked and picking positions for order material boxes. The first robot takes out the material box containing the target material to be shipped out from the shelf and places it in the cache position. While the second robot picks the target material in the material box on the cache position to the order material box located at the picking position, the first robot can take out the next material box from the shelf and put it into another cache position. When the material box on the cache position is picked, the first robot puts the material box back to the original storage position; when the second robot is performing the picking operation, the first robot can simultaneously perform the material box picking and placing operations, shortening the operation waiting time of the first robot and the second robot, and improving work efficiency; the material handover system of the present technical solution can complete the picking operation directly in the inventory area, and the first robot and the second robot located in the inventory area can complete the outbound order task, realizing "order to person", that is, directly handing over all target materials of the outbound task order to the staff, improving the space utilization rate of the inventory area while shortening the outbound task process.

[0007] Preferably, the second robot is configured as a sorting robot, which includes a mobile chassis, a picking robot arm and a vision module. The picking robot arm is arranged on the mobile chassis, and the vision module is arranged on the picking robot arm. The mobile chassis is used to carry the picking robot arm and the vision module and move them to the target position. The vision module is used to identify the target material in the material box, and the picking robot arm is used to grab the target material from the material box located at the cache position and place it into the order material box located at the picking position.

[0008] Preferably, the picking robot arm is configured as a multi-joint robot arm, including a fixed end and a free end. The fixed end of the picking robot arm is fixedly connected to the mobile chassis, and the vision module is arranged on the free end of the picking robot arm.

[0009] Preferably, the material handling system also includes a third robot, which is used to transport order boxes and material boxes, including transporting the order boxes and placing the order boxes into the picking position of the shelf, and taking out the material boxes located in the cache position and the order boxes located in the picking position.

[0010] Preferably, the third robot can be used as a picking position when carrying the order material box, and the second robot can put the target material picked from the material box on the cache position into the order material box carried by the third robot.

[0011] Preferably, the third robot is configured as an automatic guided vehicle.

[0012] Preferably, the automatic guided transport vehicle is provided with a lifting mechanism for lifting the material box and the order box.

[0013] Preferably, several of the temporary storage locations are located at the bottom layer of the shelf.

[0014] Preferably, the temporary storage location includes a support rod for supporting the material box or the order box, and the support rod is fixedly connected to the shelf.

[0015] Preferably, the first robot is configured as a shelf robot, which includes a guide rail, a column and an actuator, wherein the actuator is slidably connected to the column and moves vertically along the column, the column is slidably connected to the guide rail and moves horizontally along the guide rail, and the guide rail is fixedly connected to the shelf.

[0016] Preferably, the actuator includes a picking component for picking up and carrying the material box.

[0017] These features and advantages of this application will be disclosed in detail in the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. The best embodiments or means of this application will be fully illustrated in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but this does not limit the technical solutions of this application. Furthermore, although there may be multiple features, elements, and components in each of the following text and accompanying drawings, different symbols or numbers may be used for convenience, but all represent components with the same or similar structure or function. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The present application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings:

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of a material handling system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 2 This is a workflow diagram of the material handling system provided in this embodiment.

[0021] Among them, 100, first robot; 110, guide rail; 120, column; 130, actuator; 200, second robot; 210, mobile chassis; 220, picking robot arm; 230, vision module; 300, third robot; 400, shelf; 410, storage position; 420, temporary storage position; 421, cache position; 422, picking position; 423, support rod; 424, connecting rod; 510, material box; 520, order material box. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The embodiments of the present application are described in detail below. Examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described in the embodiments are intended to be used to explain the present application and are not to be construed as limiting the present application.

[0023] References in this specification to "one embodiment," "an example," or "an example" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment itself can be included in at least one embodiment disclosed herein. The appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

[0024] In the related technology, the technicians of this application also proposed a material handling system, including a shelf and a shelf robot. The shelf robot includes a picking component, a picking component and a carrying component that can be used to carry an order material box 520. The picking component of the shelf robot takes out the target material box from the shelf, and the picking component picks the target material in the target material box into the order material box 520. After the picking is completed, the shelf robot puts the target material box back into the warehouse and then takes the next target material box from the shelf. After the order material box 520 is full, the order material box 520 is handed over to the transport robot for delivery. The disadvantage is that the shelf robot needs to wait for the picking component to complete the picking before it can put the target material box back on the shelf, and the picking component needs to wait for the shelf robot to take out the target material box before it can perform the picking operation. The shelf robot and the picking component need to take turns working, the waiting time is long, and the work efficiency is still low.

[0025] like Figure 1 As shown, this embodiment proposes a material handling system for picking and shipping out target materials, including a shelf 400, a first robot 100 and a second robot 200, the shelf 400 is provided with a storage position 410 for storing material boxes 510, and the shelf 400 is also provided with a plurality of temporary storage positions 420, the temporary storage positions 420 can be used as a cache position 421 for placing material boxes 510 to be picked or a picking position 422 for placing order boxes 520, the order boxes 520 are used to store target materials to be shipped out; the first robot 100 is used to move the material boxes 510 to be picked from the storage position 410 of the shelf 400 to the cache position 421, and to move the material boxes 510 located on the cache position 421 to the storage position 410 of the shelf 400; the second robot 200 is used to pick the material boxes 510 located on the cache position 421, and put the picked target materials into the order boxes 520.

[0026] In this embodiment, a number of temporary storage positions 420 are set on the shelf 400, and the temporary storage positions 420 can be used as cache positions 421 for placing material boxes 510 to be picked and picking positions 422 for placing order material boxes 520. The first robot 100 takes out the material box 510 containing the target material to be shipped out from the shelf 400 and places it in the cache position 421. At the same time, the second robot 200 picks the target material in the material box 510 on the cache position 421 to the order material box 520 located at the picking position 422, the first robot 100 can take out the next material box 510 from the shelf 400 and put it into another cache position 421. After the material box 510 on the cache position 421 is picked, the first robot 100 puts the material box 510 back to the original storage position 410; when the second robot 200 performs the picking operation, the first robot 100 can simultaneously perform the picking and placing operations of the material box 510, thereby shortening the waiting time of the first robot 100 and the second robot 200 and improving work efficiency. According to usage requirements, there are usually more than three temporary storage positions 420, including at least two cache positions 421 and at least one picking position 422, so that when the second robot 200 picks the material box 510 on one of the cache positions 421, the first robot 100 can move the next material box 510 to be picked from the shelf 400 and put it into another cache position 421, and after the second robot 200 completes picking the material box 510 on one cache position 421, it can continue to pick the material box 510 to be picked on another cache position 421, that is, ensure that when the first robot 100 is performing the material box 510 transportation operation, the second robot 200 can simultaneously perform the picking operation on another material box 510 located on the cache position 421, thereby improving the working efficiency of the material handling system and reducing the waiting time of the first robot 100 and the second robot 200. In addition, it can be understood that in some embodiments, there are also at least two picking positions 422, so that after one order material box 520 is full, the second robot 200 will put the target material picked from the material box 510 on the cache position 421 into the order material box 520 on another picking position 422, so as to ensure that during the process of transporting and replacing the order material box 520, the picking operation of the second robot 200 does not need to be interrupted, thereby shortening the waiting time of the second robot 200 and further improving the working efficiency of the material handling system.

[0027] In this embodiment, the cache positions 421 and picking positions 422 in the temporary storage position 420 are arranged in staggered intervals, that is, each cache position 421 is adjacent to a picking position 422, so that when the second robot 200 performs a picking operation on the material box 510 on the cache position 421, the target material can be placed in the order material box 520 on the picking position 422 adjacent to the cache position 421, so as to shorten the transportation distance of the target material by the second robot 200 during the picking operation and improve work efficiency.

[0028] Specifically, the second robot 200 is configured as a sorting robot (such as a composite robot), which includes a mobile chassis 210, a picking robot arm 220 and a vision module 230. The picking robot arm 220 is arranged on the mobile chassis 210, and the vision module 230 is arranged on the picking robot arm 220. The mobile chassis 210 is used to carry the picking robot arm 220 and the vision module 230 and move them to the target position. The vision module 230 is used to identify the target material in the material box 510, and the picking robot arm 220 is used to grab the target material from the material box 510 located on the cache position 421 and place it into the order material box 520 located on the picking position 422. The second robot 200 realizes the picking operation through the coordinated operation between the mobile chassis 210, the visual module 230 and the picking robot arm 220. In some embodiments, the mobile chassis 210 is also provided with a position recognition device, and the shelf 400 or the ground is provided with a corresponding identification mark. The position recognition device recognizes the identification mark including the position information, so that the second robot 200 can self-position and determine the relative position relationship with the material box 510 to be picked and the order material box 520, so that the visual module 230 can recognize the material in the material box 510 and the picking robot arm 220 can grab the target material.

[0029] In some embodiments, the visual module 230 can also be separately set on the mobile chassis 210 through a support component. When the picking robot arm 220 performs picking operations, the visual module 230 can always obtain the image of the material in the material box 510 to be picked, thereby avoiding the shaking of the picking robot arm 220 and reducing the correct recognition rate of the visual module 230, thereby improving working stability.

[0030] Specifically, the picking robot arm 220 is configured as a multi-jointed robot arm, including a fixed end and a free end. The fixed end of the picking robot arm 220 is fixedly connected to the mobile chassis 210, and the vision module 230 is disposed on the free end of the picking robot arm 220. The multi-jointed picking robot arm 220 can improve the flexibility of the picking robot arm 220, make the picking action smoother, and expand the picking working range of the picking robot arm 220.

[0031] The material handling system further includes a third robot 300, which is configured to transport order boxes 520 and material boxes 510, including transporting the order boxes 520 and placing them in the picking positions 422 of the shelf 400, and removing the material boxes 510 in the buffer positions 421 and the order boxes 520 in the picking positions 422. In this embodiment, the third robot 300 can be configured to transport the order boxes 520 in the picking positions 422 to a target location for removal. If all materials in a material box 510 are target materials to be removed, the third robot 300 can also directly transport the material box 510 to the target location for removal of the entire box.

[0032] In some embodiments, the third robot 300, when carrying the order material box 520, can be used as a picking position 422, and the second robot 200 can place the target material picked from the material box 510 on the cache position 421 into the order material box 520 carried by the third robot 300. When carrying the order material box 520, the third robot 300 moves into the picking operation range of the second robot 200, or moves within the picking operation range of the second robot 200 and follows the second robot 200, so that the second robot 200 can place the target material picked from the material box 510 in the cache position 421 of the shelf into the order material box 520 carried by the third robot 300. After the order material box 520 is full or the picking task of the current shelf is completed, the third robot 300 transports the order material box 520 to a designated location for shipment.

[0033] Specifically, the third robot 300 is configured as an automated guided transport vehicle, which is provided with a lifting mechanism for lifting the material box 510 and the order box 520. When the automated guided transport vehicle places the empty order box 520 into the picking position 422, it first raises the order box 520 through the lifting mechanism so that the bottom surface of the order box 520 is higher than the bearing surface of the picking position 422, then moves to the bottom of the picking position 422 so that the bottom surface of the order box 520 is located above the bearing surface of the picking position 422, and then controls the lifting mechanism to place the order box 520 on the bearing surface of the picking position 422. The automated guided transport vehicle then places the full order box 520 onto the bearing surface of the picking position 422. During the process of taking the order box 520 out of the picking position 422, the automatic guided transport vehicle first moves to the bottom of the picking position 422, and the lifting mechanism lifts the order box 520 upward, so that the order box 520 is separated from the bearing surface of the picking position 422, and then the automatic guided transport vehicle drives out from under the picking position 422. After the order box 520 moves out of the picking position 422, the lifting mechanism descends, and the automatic guided transport vehicle transports the order box 520 to the target location for delivery.

[0034] Specifically, several temporary storage locations 420 are located on the bottom layer of the shelf 400. The temporary storage locations 420 include support rods 423 for supporting the material boxes 510 or order boxes 520. The support rods 423 are fixedly connected to the shelf 400. The temporary storage locations 420 are located on the bottom layer of the shelf 400 to facilitate the first robot 100, the second robot 200, and the third robot 300 to operate on the bottom layer of the shelf 400. The support rods 423 support the material boxes 510 and order boxes 520, allowing the third robot 300 to lift the material boxes 510 and order boxes 520 from the gaps between the support rods 423, thereby facilitating the transportation and transfer of the material boxes 510 and order boxes 520. In this embodiment, the support rods 423 are fixedly connected to the shelf 400 via connecting rods 424. In other embodiments, the support rods 423 may also be fixedly connected to the ground via connecting rods 424.

[0035] Preferably, the first robot 100 is configured as a shelf robot, comprising a guide rail 110, a column 120, and an actuator 130. The actuator 130 is slidably connected to the column 120 and moves vertically along the column 120. The column 120 is slidably connected to the guide rail 110 and moves horizontally along the guide rail 110. The guide rail 110 is fixedly connected to the shelf 400. The actuator 130 includes a picking assembly for picking up, placing, and carrying the material box 510. The actuator 130 of the shelf robot moves vertically on the shelf 400 through a sliding connection with the column 120, and moves horizontally on the shelf 400 through a sliding connection between the column 120 and the guide rail 110. Therefore, the actuator 130 of the shelf robot is capable of moving within the vertical plane of the shelf 400, and can then perform picking and placing operations of the material box 510 on the shelf 400 through the picking assembly. In some embodiments, the pickup assembly is configured as a double-deep hook-pull pickup assembly, capable of reaching into the bin storage location 410 of the shelf 400 to retrieve the material box 510. The pickup assembly also includes a pallet for carrying the material box 510, and the double-deep hook-pull pickup assembly is capable of placing the material box 510 on the pallet into the bin storage location 410 of the shelf 400. The double-deep hook-pull pickup assembly applies force to the sides or bottom of the material box 510 to lift the material box 510, and then controls the telescopic or horizontal movement of the pickup assembly to remove the material box 510 from the shelf 400 or place the material box 510 into the shelf 400. Providing a pallet on the pickup assembly allows for more stable support of the material box 510. In other embodiments, the pickup assembly can also clamp or support the material box 510 between or above its robotic arms.

[0036] like Figure 2As shown, this embodiment further proposes a material processing method for a controller, wherein the controller is used to control the operation of the material processing system as described in the above embodiment, including the following steps:

[0037] Get the outbound task list;

[0038] According to the outbound task list, the storage locations 410 of the material boxes 510 of the target materials to be outbound in the shelf 400 are obtained one by one, including obtaining the storage locations 410 of all N material boxes 510 of the target materials to be outbound, and setting a pointer i, with i=1 initially;

[0039] Control the third robot 300 to place the empty order box 520 into the picking position 422;

[0040] Control the first robot 100 to place the i-th material box 510 storing the target material into the empty cache location 421 , and mark the cache location 421 as non-empty.

[0041] Control the second robot 200 to perform a picking operation on the i-th material box 510 and place the target material into the order material box 520 , and send a picking completion instruction for the material box 510 after the picking operation of the current material box 510 is completed;

[0042] Let i=i+1, control the first robot 100 to put the i-th material box 510 storing the target material into the empty cache location 421, and mark the status of the cache location 421 as non-empty;

[0043] Obtaining a material box 510 picking completion instruction from the second robot 200 , and after receiving the material box 510 picking completion instruction from the second robot 200 , transporting the picked material box 510 back to the original storage location 410 of the shelf 400 ;

[0044] After all material boxes 510 are picked or the order box 520 is full, the third robot 300 is controlled to transport the order box 520 to the target location for shipment. It should be noted that if the target materials in the shipment task list are distributed across multiple shelves, after all the target materials to be shipped from one shelf are picked into the order box 520, the third robot 300 is controlled to transport the order box 520 to the picking position 422 of another shelf storing target materials to be picked, and the above steps are repeated until all the target materials in the shipment task list are picked into the order box 520, and then the third robot 300 is controlled to transport the order box 520 to the target location for shipment.

[0045] To sum up, the embodiments of the present application provide a cache position 421 on the shelf 400 for placing the material box 510 to be picked and a picking position 422 for placing the order material box 520, and control the coordinated work of the first robot 100, the second robot 200 and the third robot 300, so that when the second robot 200 performs the picking operation, the first robot 100 can simultaneously perform the picking and placing operation of the material box 510, thereby shortening the operation waiting time of the first robot 100 and the second robot 200 and improving work efficiency.

[0046] The above are only specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art should understand that the present application includes but is not limited to the contents described in the drawings and the above specific embodiments. Any modifications that do not deviate from the functional and structural principles of the present application are included within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A material handling system for picking and shipping target materials, characterized in that: The material handling system comprises a shelf (400), a first robot (100) and a second robot (200); the shelf (400) is provided with a storage position (410) for storing material boxes (510); the shelf (400) is further provided with a plurality of temporary storage positions (420); the temporary storage positions (420) can be used as cache positions (421) for placing material boxes (510) to be picked or as picking positions (422) for placing order material boxes; the order material boxes (520) are used to store target materials to be shipped out; The first robot (100) is used to move a material box (510) to be picked from a storage position (410) of a shelf (400) to the cache position (421), and to move a material box (510) located on the cache position (421) to the storage position (410) of the shelf (400); The second robot (200) is used to pick the material box (510) located on the cache position (421) and place the picked target material into the order material box (520).

2. The material handling system according to claim 1, wherein: The second robot (200) is configured as a sorting robot, comprising a mobile chassis (210), a picking robot arm (220) and a vision module (230), wherein the picking robot arm (220) is arranged on the mobile chassis (210), and the vision module (230) is arranged on the picking robot arm (220), and the mobile chassis (210) is used to carry the picking robot arm (220) and the vision module (230) and move to a target position, wherein the vision module (230) is used to identify a target material in a material box (510), and the picking robot arm (220) is used to grab the target material from the material box (510) located on the cache position (421) and place the target material into the order material box (520) located on the picking position (422).

3. The material handling system according to claim 2, wherein: The picking robot arm (220) is configured as a multi-joint robot arm, comprising a fixed end and a free end; the fixed end of the picking robot arm (220) is fixedly connected to the mobile chassis (210); and the vision module (230) is disposed on the free end of the picking robot arm (220).

4. The material handling system according to claim 1, wherein: The material handling system further includes a third robot (300), and the third robot (300) is used to transport the order box (520) and the material box (510), including transporting the order box (520) and placing the order box (520) into the picking position (422) of the shelf (400), and taking out the material box (510) located in the cache position (421) and the order box (520) located in the picking position (422).

5. The material handling system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The third robot (300) can be used as a picking position (422) when carrying the order material box (520), and the second robot (200) can place the target material picked from the material box (510) on the cache position (421) into the order material box (520) carried by the third robot (300).

6. The material handling system according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: The third robot (300) is configured as an automatic guided vehicle.

7. The material handling system according to claim 6, wherein: The automatic guided transport vehicle is provided with a lifting mechanism for lifting the material box (510) and the order box (520).

8. The material processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: A plurality of temporary storage locations (420) are located at the bottom layer of the shelf (400).

9. The material handling system according to claim 8, wherein: The temporary storage location (420) includes a support rod (423) for supporting the material box (510) or the order box (520), and the support rod (423) is fixedly connected to the shelf (400).

10. The material processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The first robot (100) is configured as a shelf robot, comprising a guide rail (110), a column (120) and an actuator (130), wherein the actuator (130) is slidably connected to the column (120) and moves vertically along the column (120), and the column (120) is slidably connected to the guide rail (110) and moves horizontally along the guide rail (110), and the guide rail (110) is fixedly connected to the shelf (400).

11. The material handling system according to claim 10, wherein: The actuator (130) includes a picking component for picking up and carrying the material box (510).

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