Goods shelf robot and warehousing system

Abstract

The utility model discloses a goods shelf robot which comprises an executing mechanism, the executing mechanism comprises a first goods taking assembly, a second goods taking assembly and a sorting position, the first goods taking assembly and the second goods taking assembly are both used for taking out material boxes from a goods shelf and storing the material boxes into the goods shelf, and the sorting position is used for placing and sorting the material boxes; the goods shelf robot further comprises a sorting mechanism, the sorting mechanism is fixedly connected to the executing mechanism, and the sorting mechanism is used for sorting the target materials in the material box on the first goods taking assembly into a sorting material box and sorting the target materials in the material box on the second goods taking assembly into the sorting material box. In addition, the utility model further discloses a warehousing system. The sorting mechanism and the sorting position are arranged on the goods shelf robot, so that the goods shelf robot can complete material sorting operation on a goods shelf, the number of transportation steps of material boxes is reduced, and working efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of warehouse robots, and in particular to a shelf robot and a warehouse system. Background Art

[0002] In related technologies, the material outbound process in a warehousing system includes: a shelf robot takes out a material box containing target materials from a shelf, and then places the material box containing target materials in a cache at the bottom of the shelf; a ground robot then takes out the material box from the cache and transports it to a picking station; a picking robot or staff member picks the target materials from the material box into a picking material box (order box), and then the ground robot transports the picked material box back to the cache at the bottom of the shelf and the shelf robot puts the material box back into the storage position of the shelf; after the picking material box is full or an order task is completed, the ground robot will take the picked material box out of the warehouse. The shortcomings of the above technical solution are that it requires the establishment of an independent picking station and the need for a ground robot to transport the material box back and forth between the shelf and the picking station. The outbound process has many steps, is time-consuming, and has low efficiency. Utility Model Content

[0003] 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 shelf robot and a warehousing system that can pick target materials from shelves and ship them out of the warehouse, thereby improving work efficiency.

[0004] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application adopts the following technical solution: a shelf robot, including an actuator, the actuator including a first picking component, a second picking component and a picking position, the first picking component and the second picking component are both used to take out material boxes from the shelf and store material boxes into the shelf, and the picking position is used to place the picking box; the shelf robot also includes a picking mechanism, the picking mechanism is fixedly connected to the actuator, the picking mechanism is used to pick the target material in the material box on the first picking component into the picking box and pick the target material in the material box on the second picking component into the picking box.

[0005] In this technical solution, by setting a picking mechanism and a picking position fixedly connected to the actuator of the shelf robot, the shelf robot can complete the material picking operation, reduce the transportation steps of the material box, and improve work efficiency.

[0006] Preferably, the picking mechanism is configured to alternately pick a plurality of target materials from the material bin on the first pickup assembly into the picking bin, and a plurality of target materials from the material bin on the second pickup assembly into the picking bin. The picking mechanism alternately picks material bins in the first pickup assembly and the second pickup assembly, thereby reducing waiting time and further improving picking efficiency.

[0007] Preferably, when the picking mechanism picks the target material from the material box on one of the first picking component and the second picking component to the picking material box, the other of the first picking component and the second picking component deposits the picked material box into the shelf or retrieves the material box to be picked from the shelf. While one of the first picking component and the second picking component is performing the picking operation, the other is performing the transport operation of picking and placing the material box, so that the picking operation and the picking and placing operation can be carried out simultaneously, further improving work efficiency.

[0008] Preferably, the first and second picking components are located on either side of the picking position, respectively, and the picking mechanism is located above the picking position. The first and second picking components are located on either side of the picking position, respectively, to facilitate the picking mechanism to pick target materials from the material boxes on the first and second picking components into the picking material box located on the picking position.

[0009] Preferably, the first picking component (111) and the second picking component (112) both include a pallet (116) and a picking mechanism, wherein the pallet (116) is used to carry the material box (310), and the picking mechanism is used to move the material box (310) into or out of the pallet (116). The picking mechanism moves the material box from the shelf to the pallet or moves the material box from the pallet to a material box storage location on the shelf.

[0010] Preferably, the picking position is further provided with a handover assembly, which is used to place a picking material box into the picking position and to remove the picking material box from the picking position. The handover assembly is used to move the picking material box from the ground robot to the picking position or to move the picking material box on the picking position to the ground robot.

[0011] Preferably, the picking position can accommodate multiple picking bins simultaneously, the first picking component and the second picking component are further used to place a bin on the picking position, and the handover component is further used to remove a bin from the picking position. The picking position can accommodate multiple picking bins, and the first picking component and the second picking component are capable of placing a bin on the picking position. If all materials in a bin are target materials, the bin can be placed in the picking position as a picking bin.

[0012] Preferably, the shelf robot further comprises a column and a guide rail, wherein the actuator is slidably connected to the column and can move vertically along the column, and the column is slidably connected to the guide rail and can move horizontally along the guide rail. The sliding connection between the actuator and the column, and between the column and the guide rail, enables the actuator to move on the shelf.

[0013] Preferably, the picking mechanism includes a picking robot arm and a vision module, 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 and place it into the picking material box located at the picking position.

[0014] In addition, this application also provides a warehousing system including a shelving robot and a shelving, wherein the shelving robot is configured as any of the above technical solutions, and the shelving includes a plurality of storage locations for storing the material boxes. The reasoning process for the beneficial effects of the warehousing system and the shelving robot provided in this application is similar and will not be repeated here.

[0015] 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

[0016] The present application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings:

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the shelf robot according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the storage system structure of an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 3 This is the workflow of the shelf robot according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0020] Description of reference numerals:

[0021] Among them, 110, actuator; 111, first picking component; 112, second picking component; 113, picking position; 114, column; 115, guide rail; 116, pallet; 117, handover component; 200, picking mechanism; 310, material box; 320, picking material box; 400, ground robot. 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] like Figure 1-2 As shown, a shelf robot includes an actuator 110, and the actuator 110 includes a first picking component 111, a second picking component 112 and a picking position 113. The first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 are both used to take out a material box 310 from the shelf and store the material box 310 on the shelf. The picking position 113 is used to place the picking box. The shelf robot also includes a picking mechanism 200, and the picking mechanism 200 is fixedly connected to the actuator 110. The picking mechanism 200 is used to pick the target material stored in the material box 310 on the first picking component 111 and the target material stored in the material box 310 on the second picking component 112 into the picking box 320.

[0025] The shelf robot of this embodiment is set on the shelf or at a vertical distance from the storage position of the material box 310 of the shelf. It is only necessary to ensure that the actuator 110 of the shelf robot can move within the shelf range and pick up and place the material box 310 from the storage position of the shelf through the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112. The first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 take out the material box 310 with the target material from the storage position of the shelf, and the picking mechanism 200 then picks the target material in the material box 310 to the picking box on the picking position 113. The material picking operation is completed on the shelf robot, reducing the transportation steps of the material box 310 and improving work efficiency.

[0026] Specifically, the picking mechanism 200 is used to alternately complete picking a number of target materials from the material box 310 on the first picking component 111 into the picking box 320 and picking a number of target materials from the material box 310 on the second picking component 112 into the picking box. The picking mechanism 200 picks the material boxes 310 in the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 alternately. After the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 take out the material box 310 containing the target material from the shelf, the picking mechanism 200 picks the material box 310 on one of the picking components (one of the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112). After completing the picking operation of all target materials in the material box 310 on one of the picking components, it picks all target materials in the material box 310 on the other picking component. The picking mechanism 200 picks the material boxes 310 taken out from the shelf by the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 alternately, which can effectively reduce the waiting time of the picking mechanism 200 and further improve work efficiency.

[0027] Specifically, when the picking mechanism 200 picks the target material from the material box 310 on one of the first picking component 111 or the second picking component 112 into the picking material box, the other of the first picking component 111 or the second picking component 112 deposits the picked material box 310 into the shelf or removes the material box 310 to be picked from the shelf. While one of the first picking component 111 or the second picking component 112 is performing the picking operation, the other is performing the picking and placing operation of the material box 310, allowing the picking operation and the picking and placing operation to be performed simultaneously, further improving work efficiency.

[0028] When in use, after the shelf robot starts working, it first obtains the outbound task list and controls the shelf robot's actuator 110 to move to the storage position of the target material box on the shelf (the material box 310 storing the target material of the task) according to the task list, controls the first picking component 111 to take out the first material box 310 corresponding to the task list from the shelf, and then controls the picking mechanism 200 to pick the material box 310 on the first picking component 111, takes out the target materials in the material box 310 one by one and places them in the picking material box. While the picking mechanism 200 is picking the material box 310 on the first picking component 111, the shelf robot The library task list controls the execution mechanism 110 to move to the storage position of the next target material box, controls the second picking component 112 to take out the second material box 310 corresponding to the task list from the shelf, and the picking mechanism 200 completes the picking operation of the material box 310 on the first picking component and then performs the picking operation on the target material in the material box 310 on the second picking component 112. At the same time, the first picking component 111 puts the material box 310 on which the picking operation has been completed back to the original storage position of the shelf, and controls the execution mechanism 110 to move to the storage position of the next target material box according to the task list and controls the first picking component 111 to take out the target material box from the storage position of the shelf. The shelf robot of this embodiment controls the actuator 110 to move in the shelf according to the outbound task list and controls the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 to alternately perform picking operations on the material box 310. At the same time, it controls the picking mechanism 200 to alternately perform picking operations on the material boxes 310 on the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112, so that the picking and placing operations and the picking operations can be carried out synchronously, thereby improving the working efficiency of the shelf robot.

[0029] In this embodiment, the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 are respectively located on either side of the picking position 113, and the picking mechanism 200 is located above the picking position 113. In some embodiments, the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 are symmetrically arranged on either side of the picking position 113, and the picking mechanism 200 is located above the picking position 113, so that the picking mechanism 200 can perform picking operations on the material boxes 310 on the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112.

[0030] In this embodiment, both the first and second picking assemblies 111, 112 include a pallet 116 and a picking mechanism. The picking mechanism is capable of applying force to a material box and causing it to move, thereby transferring a material box 310 from a storage location to the pallet 116. The pallet 116 is used to support the material box 310, and the picking mechanism is further configured to move the material box 310 on the pallet 116 into a storage location on a shelf. In some embodiments, the picking mechanism applies force to the sides or bottom of the material box 310 to lift the material box 310. The picking mechanism then controls the telescopic or horizontal movement of the picking mechanism to remove or place the material box 310 from or onto the shelf. The provision of the pallet 116 on the first and second picking assemblies 111, 112 allows for more stable support of the material box 310. Furthermore, the first and second picking assemblies 111, 112 can hold or support the material box 310 between or above their robotic arms.

[0031] In this embodiment, a handover assembly 117 is further provided on the picking position 113, and the handover assembly 117 is used to place a picking material box into the picking position 113 and to remove the picking material box from the picking position 113. The handover assembly 117 is used to hand over the picking material box with the ground robot 400. The picking material box is used to store target materials picked from the material box 310 on the shelf. The handover assembly 117 is used to transport an empty picking material box from the ground robot 400 to the picking position 113 of the actuator 110, or to transport a picking material box that has completed a picking task or is full at the picking position 113 to the ground robot 400. The ground robot 400 can be configured as an automated guided vehicle (AGV).

[0032] Specifically, the picking position 113 can accommodate several picking bins at the same time, and the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 are further used to place the material box 310 into the picking position 113, and the handover component 117 is further used to move the material box 310 out of the picking position 113. According to the volume and usage requirements of the target material, the picking position 113 can accommodate one or more picking bins, and for the task of full-box delivery, the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 can directly place the material box 310 taken out from the shelf directly on the picking position 113, and then the handover component 117 hands over the material box 310 to the ground robot 400. In other embodiments, the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 can directly dock with the ground robot 400, that is, the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 can hand over the material box 310 to the ground robot 400.

[0033] In this embodiment, the shelf robot further includes a column 114 and a guide rail 115. The actuator 110 is slidably connected to the column 114 and can move vertically along the column 114. The column 114 is slidably connected to the guide rail 115 and can move horizontally along the guide rail 115. The actuator 110 of the shelf robot is able to move in the vertical direction of the shelf through the sliding connection with the column 114, and the actuator 110 is able to move in the horizontal direction of the shelf through the sliding connection between the column 114 and the guide rail 115. Therefore, the actuator 110 of the shelf robot can move within the vertical plane of the shelf, and can then perform the picking and placing operation of the material box 310 in the shelf through the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112.

[0034] Specifically, the picking mechanism 200 includes a picking robot arm and a vision module. The vision module is used to identify target materials in the material box 310. The picking robot arm is used to grab the target materials from the material box 310 and place them in the picking material box located at the picking position 113. In some embodiments, the picking robot arm is configured as a multi-joint robot arm, including a mechanical claw for grabbing the target materials. The vision module is disposed on the mechanical claw and is located on the side of the mechanical claw facing the target materials. The vision module includes a camera. In other embodiments, the picking robot arm is configured as a suspended mechanical claw, that is, the picking robot arm suspension includes a mechanical claw suspended above the material box 310 and the picking material box 320, and the mechanical claw can move horizontally above the material box 310 and the picking material box 320 by setting a track. The vision module can be set on the picking robot arm and move with the picking robot arm, or it can be fixed above the material box 310. After the vision module identifies the target material in the material box 310, it controls the mechanical claw of the picking robot arm to move downward to grab the target material, and then controls the mechanical claw to move upward with the target material, and controls the mechanical claw to move horizontally above the picking material box 320, and then controls the mechanical claw to move downward and put the target material into the picking material box 320 to complete the picking of the target material.

[0035] like Figure 2 As shown, this embodiment proposes a warehousing system, including a shelf robot and a shelf, wherein the shelf robot is configured as a shelf robot as described in any one of the above embodiments, and the shelf includes a plurality of storage locations for storing the material boxes (310).

[0036] like Figure 3 As shown, this embodiment further proposes a material picking method for a controller, which is used to control the shelf robot described in the above embodiment, including:

[0037] Get the outbound task list;

[0038] According to the outbound task list, the storage locations of the target materials to be shipped on the shelf are obtained one by one, including the storage locations of all N material boxes of the target materials to be shipped. The pointer i is set. Initially, i=1. After the first and second picking components of the shelf robot have completed the picking work of the material boxes in sequence, the pointer i is incremented by 1 and the next material box is picked and placed;

[0039] Control the actuator 110 of the shelf robot to move to the storage location of the i-th target material, and control the first picking component 111 to take the material box 310 out of the shelf;

[0040] Set pointer i = i + 1, and determine whether i is equal to N, that is, whether all the material boxes of the target material to be shipped have been taken out. If so, control the picking mechanism 200 to pick the material box on the first picking component 111. After the picking is completed, control the first picking component to put the material box 310 back to the original storage location. If not, proceed to the next step;

[0041] Control the shelf robot's actuator 110 to move to the storage location of the next target material, control the second picking component 112 to take the material box 310 from the shelf, and simultaneously control the picking mechanism 200 to pick the material in the material box 310 on the first picking component 111, and pick the target material in the outbound task list to the picking material box on the picking position 113;

[0042] Control the actuator 110 of the shelf robot to move to the storage location of the previous target material, control the first picking component 111 to put the material box 310 back into the shelf, control the actuator 110 of the shelf robot to continue moving to the storage location of the next target material, control the first picking component 111 to take the material box 310 out of the shelf, and at the same time control the picking mechanism 200 to pick the material in the material box 310 on the second picking component 112, and pick the target material in the outbound task list into the picking material box on the picking position 113;

[0043] The actuator 110 of the shelf robot is controlled to move to the storage location of each target material in sequence according to the outbound task list, and alternately controls the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 to take out or put back the materials from the shelf, and at the same time controls the picking mechanism 200 to alternately pick the material boxes 310 on the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112;

[0044] When all target materials in the outbound task list are picked, that is, i=N, sorting is terminated and the handover component 117 is controlled to move the picked material box from the picking position 113 and place it on the ground robot 400. In some embodiments, after the first picking component 111 and the second picking component 112 complete the picking operation on the material boxes 310 on them, they return the material boxes to their original storage locations on the shelf.

[0045] In summary, the shelf robot of the above embodiment is provided with a picking mechanism 200 and a picking position 113 on the actuator 110 of the shelf robot, enabling the shelf robot to complete material picking operations on the shelf, reducing the number of steps required to transport the material bins 310 and improving work efficiency. By controlling the first pickup component 111 and the second pickup component 112 to alternately pick and place the material bins 310, and simultaneously controlling the picking mechanism 200 to alternately pick the material bins 310 on the first pickup component 111 and the second pickup component 112, the picking and placing operations and the picking operations in the material picking operation can be performed simultaneously, thereby shortening the waiting time in the material picking operation 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 shelf robot, comprising an actuator (110), characterized in that: The actuator (110) comprises a first picking component (111), a second picking component (112) and a picking position (113), wherein the first picking component (111) and the second picking component (112) are both used to take out a material box (310) from a shelf and store the material box (310) in the shelf, and the picking position (113) is used to place the picking material box; The shelf robot further comprises a picking mechanism (200), wherein the picking mechanism (200) is fixedly connected to the actuator (110), and the picking mechanism (200) is used to pick target materials in a material box (310) on a first picking component (111) and target materials in a material box (310) on a second picking component (112) into a picking material box (320).

2. The shelf robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The picking mechanism (200) is used to alternately complete the picking of a plurality of target materials from the material box (310) on the first picking component (111) into the picking box (320) and the picking of a plurality of target materials from the material box (310) on the second picking component (112) into the picking box (320).

3. The shelf robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: When the picking mechanism (200) picks the target material from the material box (310) on one of the first picking component (111) and the second picking component (112) to the picking material box (320), the other of the first picking component (111) and the second picking component (112) stores the picked material box (310) in a shelf or takes out the material box (310) to be picked from the shelf.

4. The shelf robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first picking component (111) and the second picking component (112) are respectively located on both sides of the picking position (113), and the picking mechanism (200) is located above the picking position (113).

5. The shelf robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first picking component (111) and the second picking component (112) both include a pallet (116) and a picking mechanism, wherein the pallet (116) is used to carry a material box (310), and the picking mechanism is used to move the material box (310) into or out of the pallet (116).

6. The shelf robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The picking position (113) is also provided with a handover component (117), and the handover component (117) is used to place the picking material box into the picking position (113) and to move the picking material box out of the picking position (113).

7. The shelf robot according to claim 6, characterized in that: The picking position (113) can accommodate several picking boxes (320) at the same time, the first picking component (111) and the second picking component (112) are also used to place the material box (310) into the picking position (113), and the handover component is also used to move the material box (310) out of the picking position (113).

8. The shelf robot according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The shelf robot further comprises a column (114) and a guide rail (115); the actuator (110) is slidably connected to the column (114) and can move in a vertical direction along the column (114); and the column (114) is slidably connected to the guide rail (115) and can move in a horizontal direction along the guide rail (115).

9. The shelf robot according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The picking mechanism (200) comprises a picking robot arm and a vision module, wherein the vision module is used to identify target materials in a material box (310), and the picking robot arm is used to grab the target materials from the material box (310) and place the target materials into a picking material box located at a picking position (113).

10. A warehousing system comprising a shelf robot and a shelf, characterized in that: The shelf robot is configured as a shelf robot as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, and the shelf includes a plurality of storage locations for storing the material boxes (310).

Images