Stereoscopic warehouse

Abstract

The embodiment of the utility model provides a stereoscopic warehouse which comprises a stereoscopic goods shelf, the stereoscopic goods shelf comprises a first goods allocation area, a second goods allocation area and a third goods allocation area, and the first goods allocation area comprises multiple first storage positions; the first goods allocation area comprises a plurality of first storage positions, the second goods allocation area comprises a plurality of second storage positions, the second storage positions are used for storing storage boxes, the third goods allocation area comprises a plurality of third storage positions, the third storage positions are used for storing trays, and the third goods allocation area is located above the first goods allocation area and the second goods allocation area; or the third goods allocation area is located below the first goods allocation area and the second goods allocation area; or one part of the third goods allocation area is located above the first goods allocation area and the second goods allocation area, and the other part of the third goods allocation area is located below the first goods allocation area and the second goods allocation area. Therefore, the materials in different areas do not need to be transferred, and the sorting efficiency is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of warehousing, in particular to a stereoscopic shelf and a stereoscopic warehouse having the same. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the continuous acceleration of industrial progress, the logistics scale is expanding. As an important link, how to reduce the transportation cost and risk of this link has become a problem to be solved.

[0003] Logistics transportation is usually equipped with modern warehouses to store and transfer materials. The shelves in the warehouse are usually multi-layered, forming a stereoscopic shelf, allowing materials to be placed in layers, and as many materials as possible can be placed in a limited floor area, improving the utilization of space. The stereoscopic warehouse may need to store various types of materials, which may have different sources, such as packaged materials from factories or scattered packages from buyer returns. The shape of the material may also be irregular, such as a long strip. Therefore, the stereoscopic warehouse can generally divide the materials into regular or irregular large materials and regular or irregular small materials. For regular materials, large materials can be supported by a lower tray and transported by devices such as a shuttle car. Small materials can be loaded into a box and transported by a box handling robot to prevent damage and loss. For irregular materials, custom transportable shelves can be used for storage and transported by, for example, a shelf handling robot.

[0004] Because the storage methods and handling tools of different materials are different, the current stereoscopic warehouse usually separates different types of materials into separate zones and stores them independently. Although this is relatively simple in classification, it is very wasteful of space in the field. In the case of assembling different materials in different zones, the zones need to be connected by a conveying line, which greatly increases the cost. SUMMARY

[0005] In order to at least partially solve the problems existing in the prior art, embodiments of the present application provide a stereoscopic warehouse, which comprises a stereoscopic shelf, and the stereoscopic shelf comprises: a first storage area comprising a plurality of first storage positions; a second storage area comprising a plurality of second storage positions, the second storage positions being used for storing storage boxes; and a third storage area comprising a plurality of third storage positions, the third storage positions being used for storing trays, wherein: the third storage area is located above the first storage area and the second storage area; or the third storage area is located below the first storage area and the second storage area; or part of the third storage area is located above the first storage area and the second storage area and another part of the third storage area is located below the first storage area and the second storage area.

[0006] Exemplarily, a part of the second storage area is located in the height range of the first storage area, and another part of the second storage area is above the first storage area.

[0007] Exemplarily, the second storage area is located above the first storage area as a whole.

[0008] Exemplarily, the third storage area further comprises a plurality of sub-tracks and a mother track, the mother track is perpendicular to the plurality of sub-tracks, the third storage positions are arranged above the plurality of sub-tracks, and the first carrying robot walks on the plurality of sub-tracks and the mother track. The first carrying robot refers to a robot that carries a pallet.

[0009] Exemplarily, the three-dimensional warehouse further comprises a lifting mechanism for carrying the pallets in the third storage area and / or the first carrying robot.

[0010] Exemplarily, the lifting mechanism is arranged at the side of the first storage area, the second storage area and the third storage area.

[0011] Exemplarily, the third storage area comprises a plurality of layers of third storage positions arranged in the vertical direction.

[0012] Exemplarily, a passageway is further arranged in the three-dimensional warehouse, the plurality of first storage positions and the plurality of second storage positions are located on both sides of the passageway, the passageway is used for the first carrying robot to walk, and the first carrying robot is used for carrying goods in the first storage area and / or the second storage area.

[0013] Exemplarily, the second storage area and the third storage area are further provided with a docking part for docking with a floor.

[0014] Exemplarily, the size of the pallet is larger than that of the storage box.

[0015] Exemplarily, the first storage position comprises one or more of a storage box buffer position, a movable shelf storage position and a pallet support storage position.

[0016] Exemplarily, the pallet is used for carrying materials, and the storage box is used for storing materials.

[0017] Exemplarily, the three-dimensional warehouse further deploys a first carrying robot, a second carrying robot and a third carrying robot; wherein: the first carrying robot is used for carrying the pallets in the third storage area; the second carrying robot is used for carrying the storage boxes in the second storage area; and the third carrying robot is used for carrying the movable shelves. The second carrying robot and the third carrying robot can walk on the ground.

[0018] Exemplarily, the three-dimensional warehouse further comprises a conveying device, and the storage box comprises at least one of a material box and a primary packaging box, wherein the three-dimensional warehouse further comprises:

[0019] The de-palletizing device is configured to de-palletize the goods in the pallets into the bins and / or to de-palletize the goods stored in the original packaging boxes in the pallets in whole. The conveying device is connected between the de-palletizing device and the second storage area and / or the storage bin buffer position, and is configured to transport the bins and the goods in the bins and / or the original packaging boxes and the goods in the original packaging boxes to the second storage area and / or the storage bin buffer position.

[0020] Exemplarily, the stereoscopic warehouse further comprises a palletizing device configured to perform a palletizing operation, the palletizing operation comprising palletizing the goods in the bins onto the pallets and / or palletizing the goods stored in the original packaging boxes in whole onto the pallets. The conveying device is connected between the palletizing device and the stereoscopic storage rack, and is configured to transport the bins and the goods in the bins and / or the original packaging boxes and the goods in the original packaging boxes from the second storage area and / or the storage bin buffer position to the palletizing device to perform the palletizing operation.

[0021] Exemplarily, the stereoscopic warehouse further comprises a work station configured to sort the goods to be placed on the pallets and the storage bins on the transportable racks. The third transport robot is configured to transport the pallet supports and the transportable racks between the stereoscopic storage rack and the work station. The fourth transport robot is configured to transport the storage bins between the stereoscopic storage rack and the work station.

[0022] Exemplarily, the first transport robot comprises a four-way shuttle.

[0023] Exemplarily, the second transport robot comprises a storage bin taking and placing robot.

[0024] Exemplarily, the third transport robot comprises a rack transport robot.

[0025] Exemplarily, the fourth transport robot comprises a storage bin transport robot.

[0026] The stereoscopic warehouse in the present disclosure comprises a first storage area, a second storage area and a third storage area arranged in a vertical direction, different storage areas are provided with different types of storage spaces to realize different types of storage, such as pallet storage, storage box storage, etc., through such design, the integration of the stereoscopic warehouse is further improved, and the floor area of the stereoscopic warehouse is reduced; Furthermore, through the combination of a plurality of different types of storage, diversified storage requirements can be met. Further, according to the planned throughput, sorting condition, material weight and material type of the stereoscopic warehouse, the corresponding layer height, number of layers and relative position relationship of the second storage area and the third storage area can be reasonably set, so that the limited space is utilized to the greatest extent, and the storage density is ensured. On the other hand, there may be a correlation between the second storage area and the third storage area, for example, the above-mentioned pallet storage material can be unpacked into the storage box storage material in this case. The above technical solution enables the pallet and the storage box to be stored in the same stereoscopic shelf, and after the pallet material is unpacked into the storage box, it can be stored in the second storage area of the stereoscopic shelf again, or the material in the storage box is packed on the pallet and stored in the third storage area of the stereoscopic shelf. Therefore, the materials in different areas do not need to be transported, and the sorting efficiency is improved.

[0027] A series of simplified forms are introduced in the utility model content, which will be further described in detail in the specific embodiment part. The utility model content part does not mean trying to limit the key features and necessary technical features of the claimed technical solution, and even less means trying to determine the protection scope of the claimed technical solution.

[0028] The advantages and features of the present application will be described in detail below in combination with the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0029] The following drawings of the present application are hereby incorporated into the present application as a part of the present application for understanding the present application. The embodiments of the present application and the description thereof shown in the drawings are used to explain the principles of the present application. In the drawings,

[0030] Figure 1 A side view of a stereoscopic warehouse according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0031] Figure 2 A side view of a stereoscopic warehouse according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0032] Figure 3 A side view of a stereoscopic warehouse according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0033] Figure 4 A side view of a stereoscopic warehouse according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0034] Figure 5A Fig. 6 shows a view of one direction of a stereoscopic warehouse according to a fifth exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 5B Fig. 7 shows a view of another direction of a stereoscopic warehouse according to a fifth exemplary embodiment of the present application; Figure 5A Fig. 8 shows a view of another direction of a stereoscopic warehouse according to a fifth exemplary embodiment of the present application, wherein a lifting mechanism is included;

[0036] Figure 6 Fig. 9 shows a side view of a stereoscopic warehouse according to a sixth exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 7A Fig. 10 shows a schematic view of a stereoscopic warehouse according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 7B Fig. 11 shows a schematic view of a stereoscopic warehouse according to another exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 7C Fig. 12 shows a schematic view of a stereoscopic warehouse according to another exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 7D Fig. 13 shows a schematic view of a stereoscopic warehouse according to another exemplary embodiment of the present application.

[0041] In the above drawings, the following reference numerals are used:

[0042] 10, tray; 20, storage box; 21, packing box; 22, material box; 30, transportable shelf; 50, tray holder; 100, stereoscopic shelf; 101, column; 102, passage; 110, third storage area; 120, second storage area; 121, layer plate; 130, first storage area; 131, storage box buffer position; 1311, space; 132, 132', transportable shelf storage position; 133, tray holder storage position; 140, track; 150, docking track; 200, second transport robot; 210, taking and placing mechanism; 220, temporary storage position; 300, fourth transport robot; 500, third transport robot; 600, lifting mechanism; 700, reference layer; 800, first transport robot. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] In the following description, a large number of details are provided in order to allow a thorough understanding of the present application. However, it can be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the following description only exemplarily shows the preferred embodiments of the present application, and the present application can be implemented without one or more such details. In addition, in order to avoid obscuring the present application, some technical features known in the art are not described in detail.

[0044] For a thorough understanding of the present application, reference will be made to the following detailed description. It is appreciated that the present application can be practiced without resort to the particular details set forth herein. The following detailed description is presented primarily by way of example to facilitate discussion of the present application.

[0045] The stereoscopic warehouse can be provided with stereoscopic shelves, which can be built by a frame structure, and specifically can include columns and layer plates. In some embodiments, the stereoscopic shelves can also include fences, ceilings, or walls for sheltering from wind and rain, etc. In general, the structures for forming the storage space regions (including the first storage space region, the second storage space region, and the third storage space region) described below can be considered as stereoscopic shelves. The stereoscopic shelves can be arranged in dependence on the floors of a building, in other words, different layers of the stereoscopic shelves can be connected to the first floor, the second floor, the third floor, etc. of the building. The stereoscopic shelves can also be arranged without dependence on the floors of the building, for example, there is no connection relationship between the floors of the building and the different layers of the stereoscopic shelves, and it is possible that the roof of at least part of the building is high enough to allow all the layers of the stereoscopic shelves to be stacked on the ground. Of course, if necessary, other parts of the building can have some floors that are not directly related to the layers of the stereoscopic shelves. For the first case, there can be multiple ground surfaces of different heights, i.e., the first floor ground surface, the second floor ground surface, the third floor ground surface, etc. For ease of description, the stereoscopic warehouse described below is assumed to include only the ground surface of the reference layer 700 unless otherwise stated, and the ground surface of the reference layer 700 is located at the lowermost part of the stereoscopic shelves. The reference layer 700 herein can refer to the first floor in the conventional sense, and the ground surface thereof is generally flush with the ground surface outside the warehouse system or only has a small height difference, rather than having a large height difference as the second floor and the third floor ground surfaces compared to the first floor ground surface. The reference layer 700 can be the bottom layer of the above-ground part; in the case where there is no basement, the ground surface of the reference layer 700 is located at the lowermost part of the stereoscopic shelves.

[0046] The advantages and disadvantages of the stereoscopic warehouse depend to some extent on the warehouse picking operation. The two core indicators of the warehouse picking operation are the density of storage and the efficiency of picking. Since the types of materials to be stored are different, the appropriate storage method and the appropriate picking method are also different. There are three routes for traditional warehouse picking automation technology: one is to take the pallet as the processing object, such as pallet stacker, four-way shuttle vehicle, etc. The second is to take the storage box as the processing object, such as storage box taking and placing robot with forks. The third is to take the movable shelf as the processing object, such as the shelving robot of the latent top-stretch type.

[0047] Different materials have different properties, some materials are large in volume and inconvenient to disassemble, such as refrigerators, washing machines, etc., so they can only be stored as a whole. The bottom surface of the material may not be flat, or the size of the bottom surface of the material is small and cannot be directly placed on the storage site; or the material needs to be supported and placed on the horizontal plane by a structure such as a wooden frame. Therefore, such materials can be placed on a pallet. The pallet is a kind of cargo carrying platform that can change static materials into dynamic materials, which can be considered as a movable platform, or a movable ground. Devices such as forklifts, shuttle cars mentioned below can be used to carry the pallet and the materials above it together, which is safe and reliable, and the risk of material damage is small.

[0048] For small materials with regular shapes, such as materials packaged in cuboid storage boxes, they can also be stacked and packaged on the pallet after the bottom surface projection range does not exceed the shape of the pallet. The pallet is usually a standard piece, and in the domestic standard, a 1000mm*1200mm or 1100mm*1100mm pallet can be used. Because there are many types of pallets circulating on the market at present, other specifications of pallets can also be used according to actual conditions or customer needs. Usually, the materials placed on the pallet cannot protrude from the pallet. In other words, the projection of the bottom surface of the material falls entirely on the pallet, thereby avoiding collision with surrounding columns, tracks, etc. during handling. For some materials that cannot be pressed, such as color TVs, they can usually be placed separately on the pallet.

[0049] The standard pallet is usually provided with a fork hole for the forklift to fork into, and when it is placed on the ground, it is difficult to use other robots other than forklifts to carry it. Therefore, the following description also relates to a pallet support. The pallet can be placed above the pallet support, and there is a space below the pallet support for the robot to enter, and the latent jacking robot can enter the above-mentioned space, and by jacking the pallet support upwards, it is separated from the ground, thereby carrying.

[0050] In the case of receiving small pieces of material, such as customer returns, small express packages, etc. These materials can be stored in storage boxes. For example, compared with pallets, the storage boxes have rims around the four sides, which can prevent the materials from falling off the plane, thereby avoiding loss or damage. A storage box can accommodate more small pieces of material, thereby saving space and facilitating sorting. It can be understood that the bottom projection of all materials in the storage box should also be included within the bottom of the storage box, and the height of the materials should not be higher than the maximum size allowed by the storage box, so as to prevent the materials from falling. In addition to using storage boxes, storage trays with very low or even no rims can also be used for storage. Storage trays can be used to store small pieces of material that have been packaged (placed on the bottom surface area of the tray, which is not greater than the area of the tray, and the height is not higher than the maximum size allowed by the tray). Such materials are not easy to fall. Among them, whether it is a storage box or a storage tray, the maximum size allowed can be the height of the rim, or it can be slightly lower than the layer height of the storage site where the storage box is placed in the vertical shelf, or it can be a safety height artificially specified, so as to prevent the materials from being unable to be placed in the vertical shelf, or from falling due to unstable center of gravity. For small-sized packaged materials, the storage box can also be the packaging box itself.

[0051] As mentioned above, whether it is a pallet or a storage box, for some materials with special shapes, especially special proportions, such as long strip-shaped materials, it is impossible to guarantee that they can be completely accommodated. For example, if a 1000mm*1200mm pallet is used to store a 1500mm long material, it is likely that part of the material will protrude from the pallet, which is very easy to cause bumps and scratches during handling. This will cause great hidden dangers to the materials themselves and the vertical warehouse. Therefore, a longer movable shelf can be customized to store one or more of the above materials on the movable shelf. Similar to the pallet support, the lower part of the movable shelf can be left with a space with the same or similar height, thereby facilitating the handling of the concealed jacking robot. In short, various ways can be used to store irregularly shaped materials in regularly shaped storage boxes, thereby adapting to standardized vertical warehouses.

[0052] Each of the above storage solutions has its own advantages and disadvantages. Specifically, for the tray handling tray stacker and four-way shuttle, they can only handle full trays. The tray solution has the advantage of high storage density, but the disadvantage is that it is too inefficient for disassembling and sorting services because it can only handle trays. For the storage box solution, the advantage is that the storage density is higher than the movable rack solution, and the sorting efficiency is also higher. The disadvantage is that the adaptability of the storage box solution is poor, and a certain proportion of oversized or special-shaped goods cannot be handled. The advantage of the movable rack is flexibility. On the one hand, the size of the movable rack can be customized according to demand, and the movable rack can be divided into compartments as needed to store different sizes. On the other hand, the movable rack has a small requirement for the shape of the site and is highly adaptable. The disadvantage is that the movable rack has a large volume, so the storage density is low, and the vertical space of the warehouse is wasted. Moreover, because the movable rack is divided into compartments of different sizes, the operator needs to select and judge during picking, so the picking efficiency is not as high as the storage box solution.

[0053] However, in actual business scenarios, multiple objects and different sizes of goods are often involved. For example, some materials stored by trays may need to be unpacked, thereby changing from a large volume of materials to a large number of small volumes of materials, which may need to be stored in storage boxes. If the automation level is to be improved, multiple automation solutions need to be used in one site. As described in the background, the traditional approach is to separate each solution into a separate zone and run independently. The biggest disadvantage of this approach is that it wastes site space and requires connecting the zones with conveyor lines and other equipment, increasing costs.

[0054] To at least partially solve the above problems, embodiments of the present application provide a stereoscopic warehouse. As described above, the stereoscopic warehouse can include a stereoscopic rack 100. Figure 1 An exemplary structure diagram of the stereoscopic rack 100 is shown. As shown in the figure, the stereoscopic rack 100 includes a first storage area 130, which can be located on the ground of the reference layer 700 or can be arranged above the ground. The ground of the reference layer 700 usually has sufficient bearing strength to support the stereoscopic rack 100 and the materials thereon, and can also support robots for taking and placing materials on the stereoscopic rack 100, such as the storage box taking and placing robot 200 mentioned below. Compared with higher floors, the ground of the reference layer 700 usually has a more spacious space, which can facilitate interaction with vehicles for delivering materials. The stereoscopic rack 100 can include a column 101, which is the main bearing component of the stereoscopic rack 100 and can be fixed vertically on the ground.

[0055] It should be noted that, for the sake of clear and concise description, the "tray", "storage box", "movable rack" and "tray holder" described below, unless explicitly stated as "empty tray", "empty storage box", are generally assumed to have stored or store corresponding materials, for example, the tray 10 stores large materials, and the storage box 20 stores small materials. In addition, for the sake of description, it is assumed that the size of the storage box 20 is smaller than the size of the tray 10. However, this does not mean that the present application does not include embodiments in which the size of the storage box 20 in at least one direction is greater than or equal to the size of the tray 10.

[0056] The first storage area 130 can include a plurality of first storage positions, which can be formed by the space between the columns 101 of the shelving 100, or attached to the columns 101. For example, the plurality of first storage positions include a plurality of storage box buffer positions 131, movable rack storage positions and tray holder storage positions. With reference to Figure 1 , the storage box buffer position 131 can be fixed on the column 101 and arranged overhead, leaving space below for the latent top-up robot to carry. Figure 6 In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the movable rack storage position 132 and the tray holder storage position 133 can be directly arranged on the ground, without being supported by the column 101. In this case, the lower part of the shelving 100 (the part connected to the ground) can be configured as a drive-in shelving, which can also be referred to as a bracket shelving. In other words, the lower part of the shelving 100 leaves overhead space to accommodate robots or movable racks 30, tray holders 50, etc. In some embodiments, the height of the tray holder 50 (as mentioned above, including the height of the tray 10 and the materials thereon) is not greater than the height of the movable rack 30, so the movable rack storage position 132 can be used to store the movable rack 30, or can be used to store the tray holder 50. Conversely, the tray holder storage position 133 can also be used to store the movable rack 30. Since the movable rack storage position 132 and the tray holder storage position 133 are arranged on the ground, any space in the lower part of the shelving 100 that can accommodate the movable rack 30 and the tray holder 50 can be configured as a first storage position that can accommodate both. There is no other material placed above the materials on the tray holder 50, and similarly, whether the movable rack 30 is provided with a top plate or not, there will be no more materials stacked above it. Since the movable rack storage position 132 can generally be used as the tray holder storage position 133, the movable rack storage position 132 will be mainly described in detail below.

[0057] The stereoscopic rack 100 can further include a second storage area 120 comprising a plurality of second storage locations for storing the storage bins 20 respectively. Since the storage bins 20 and the materials in the storage bins 20 are not usually stacked, in order to effectively improve the storage density, in the embodiment shown in the figure, the second storage area 120 can be divided into multiple layers in the vertical direction, and each layer is separated by a layer plate 121. The storage bins 20 can be placed on the layer plate 121, and multiple storage bins 20 can be placed in the horizontal direction between adjacent layer plates 121. Continue to refer to Figure 6 As described above, the first storage area 130 can be configured in the form of a bracket rack or a drive-in rack. Around the space in the lower part of the stereoscopic rack 100, not only the column 101, but also the layer plate 121 and the corresponding second storage location can be provided. That is, part of the second storage area 120 provided with the second storage location is adjacent to the portable rack storage location 132 for accommodating the portable rack 30, and another part of the second storage area 120 is provided above the portable rack storage location 132. The layer plate 121 of the second storage area 120 can be formed by one or more of a plate, a closely arranged cross beam, a grid, and can also include structures such as pulleys to form a flow rack, so that the storage bin 20 can slide in the desired direction thereon.

[0058] Compared with the cross beam type rack, the layer plate rack can provide large area support to the bottom of the storage bin 20, which can prevent the deformation of the bottom of the storage bin 20, such as the material bin 22, caused by long-term storage. For the convenience of description, the structure of the stereoscopic rack 100 corresponding to the second storage area 120 below is assumed to be a layer plate rack, but this does not mean that the application does not include embodiments in which the second storage area 120 is configured as a cross beam type rack or other type of rack.

[0059] The stereoscopic rack 100 includes a third storage area 110. The third storage area 110 includes a plurality of third storage locations for storing materials loaded by the pallet 10 respectively, and the size of the pallet 10 is larger than the size of the storage bin 20. As described above, in some stereoscopic warehouses, the large materials stored by the pallet 10 can be disassembled into small materials stored by the storage bin 20. In this case, when a large batch of goods needs to be shipped, the materials stored by the pallet 10 can be directly provided. While in the case of small shipment, it can only be necessary to provide materials stored by the storage bin 20 to meet the demand.

[0060] In Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 5A , Figure 6 , Figure 7A , Figure 7C and Figure 7DIn the embodiment shown, the third storage area 110 is located above the first storage area 130 and the second storage area 120. Such a shelving 100 is suitable for a shelving warehouse with relatively small throughput. In daily work, upstream materials are stored in the shelving 100 in the form of pallets 10, and almost all downstream materials are stored in the form of storage boxes 20, and rarely need to be supplied in the form of pallets 10. In this way, a large number of slow-turnover pallets 10 can be stored in the third storage area 110 at a relatively high position, and part of the large materials of the pallets 10 can be disassembled into small materials stored in the storage boxes 20. In this way, the storage boxes 20 at a lower position can be quickly transported by the ground robot without waiting for the lifting mechanism 600 to transport, thereby improving the logistics efficiency. When the number of materials stored in the storage boxes 20 is insufficient, a small amount of large materials of the pallets 10 can be transported to the ground of the reference layer 700 again, and the disassembled device mentioned below can be used to disassemble a large number of small materials stored in the storage boxes 20, thereby supplementing the small materials.

[0061] In Figure 3 In the embodiment shown, part of the third storage area 110 is located above the first storage area 130 and the second storage area 120, and the other part is located below the first storage area 130 and the second storage area 120. For some shelving warehouses with small throughput, a large number of pallets 10 may not be obtained from the upstream. On the contrary, the throughput of the storage boxes 20 is large. Therefore, the third storage area 110 can be arranged at a relatively high position, and the storage boxes 20 can be conveniently taken and placed in the second storage area 120 below. The height of the third storage area 110 can be not higher than the forklift lifting height, so that the pallets 10 can be forked and placed by the forklift, and the shelving warehouse configured with such a shelving 100 can not need to be provided with a lifting mechanism. Of course, although the second storage area shown in the figure is only one layer, in the unshown embodiment, it can also be multi-layered. Above the third storage area 110, a second storage area 120 can be further arranged to store the storage boxes 20. These materials can be stacked into pallets 10 and stored in the third storage area 110. The shelving 100 of this embodiment can also be used in a shelving warehouse where the pallets 10 cannot be disassembled into storage boxes 20.

[0062] The third storage area 110 can also be located below the first storage area 130 and the second storage area 120. In some unshown embodiments, the third storage area 110 can be arranged on the ground of the reference layer 700, and only a small number of third storage positions are arranged. In Figure 4In the embodiment, the stereoscopic warehouse can include multiple floors with sufficient supporting strength, such as the floor of the underground layer and the floor of the reference layer 700. At this time, the stereoscopic shelf 100 is arranged on the floor with a lower position, so that the third storage area 110 is arranged lower than the higher floor, for example, arranged underground. In this way, the robot carrying the storage box 20 can walk and work on the two floors, and the floor can bear its weight. In some cases, the weight of the tray can be relatively large, and the third storage area 110 is arranged in the lower part of the stereoscopic shelf 100, so that the center of gravity of the stereoscopic shelf 100 is lower, and the reliability is higher. Of course, the present application also does not exclude the embodiment that the stereoscopic shelf 100 is arranged on the floor of the non-reference layer (for example, the second floor, the third floor), and the robot also walks and works on the floor of the non-reference layer, as long as the floor bearing capacity of the floor can meet the demand. In this case, as shown in Figure 7C the stereoscopic shelf 100 can be constructed as a drive-in shelf on the floor of the layer to facilitate the robot of the layer to enter and exit.

[0063] The above-mentioned first storage area 130 and the second storage area 120 and the third storage area 110 of the stereoscopic shelf 100 can be integrated, for example, can share a continuous column 101, and the second storage area 120 is provided with a layer plate 121 and a pulley, and the third storage area 110 is provided with a beam for storing the tray 10. It can also be spliced by multiple stereoscopic shelves 100 or shelf parts, for example, by using segmented columns 101.

[0064] In summary, according to the planned throughput, sorting, material weight, and material type of the stereoscopic warehouse, the layer height, number of layers, and relative position relationship corresponding to the second storage area 120 and the third storage area 110 can be reasonably set, so as to maximize the use of limited space and ensure the storage density. On the other hand, there can be a correlation between the second storage area 120 and the third storage area 110, such as the above-mentioned tray 10 storing the material which can be unpacked into the material stored in the storage box 20. The above technical solution enables the tray 10 and the storage box 20 to be stored in the same stereoscopic shelf 100, and after the tray 10 is unpacked into the storage box 20, it can be stored in the second storage area 120 of the stereoscopic shelf 100 again, or the material in the storage box 20 is packed and placed on the tray 10, and stored in the third storage area 110 of the stereoscopic shelf 100. Therefore, different areas of materials do not need to be transported, and the sorting efficiency is improved.

[0065] As shown in Figure 6As shown, a part of the second storage area is located in the height range of the first storage area, and another part of the second storage area is above the first storage area. In this way, the space of the stereoscopic shelf can be effectively utilized, and the second storage area can be conveniently accessed. In an embodiment not shown, the second storage area can also be located above the first storage area as a whole.

[0066] With reference to the foregoing Figure 6 When the storage box 20 is a packaging box 21 of the small material itself, and the packaging box 21 is strong enough and has a volume close to that of the storage box 20 (for example, the material box 22), the packaging box 21 of the small material itself can be directly used as the storage box 20. Specifically, the packaging box 21 of the small material itself is directly used as the storage box 20, which requires that the size of the packaging box 21 cannot be too small so that the storage box taking and placing robot cannot take and place. When the size of the packaging box 21 meets the minimum size for taking and placing, the volume of the packaging box 21 should also not be too small compared with that of the material box 22, because in this case, the storage box 20 such as the material box 22 can store a plurality of the small material, and direct storage can cause space waste.

[0067] As shown, the second storage area 120 and the third storage area 110 also include an interface for interfacing with a floor having a height different from the reference floor 700. As shown, Figure 7C and Figure 7D As shown, the floor can be provided with, for example, manual sorting, robots for unstacking and stacking, and the like. In some embodiments, stairs or elevators are provided between the floors, and forklifts and other equipment can travel between different floors and fork the pallets 10 and the like.

[0068] As shown, the third storage area 110 can also include a track 140 for the first carrying robot 800 to walk on. The first carrying robot 800 is used to carry the pallets 10. In some embodiments, the first carrying robot 800 can be a latent lifting robot, specifically, a shuttle car capable of walking in one direction or a shuttle car capable of walking in the transverse and longitudinal directions. The first carrying robot 800 can walk on the track 140 to the lower side of the pallet 10 and lift the pallet 10 from the third storage position. When the pallet 10 is placed in the third storage position, it can be stored by an additional support structure above the track 140, or it can be directly placed on the upper surface of the track 140. In this case, as shown, Figure 1As shown, each rail piece has an L-shaped cross section, and each rail piece can include a horizontal portion horizontally extending towards each other and a vertical portion vertically extending upward from the horizontal portion. The tray 10 is placed on the upper surface of the vertical portion, and the height of the first transfer robot 800 can be less than the height from the upper surface of the horizontal portion to the upper surface of the vertical portion. Thus, the first transfer robot 800 without the material can travel on the rail 140 with the material, raise the jacking mechanism, so that the material is separated from the support surface, and the material can be transferred. Or the shuttle vehicle with the material can be on the rail 140 without the material, lower the jacking mechanism, so as to place the material on the material support surface. In the embodiment in which the stereoscopic shelf 100 is docked on the floor or provided with the lifting mechanism 600, the rail 140 can extend above the ground of the floor through the docking portion, or be connected to the docking interface of the lifting mechanism 600. In summary, by providing the rail 140, the tray 10 can be more conveniently transferred within the stereoscopic shelf 100 and transferred outside the stereoscopic shelf 100. The first transfer robot 800 is positioned more simply under the limit of the rail 140.

[0069] For example, track 140 may further include multiple sub-tracks and a parent track, with the parent track perpendicular to the multiple sub-tracks. The first handling robot can move between the parent track and the multiple sub-tracks. Specifically, for example, the ends of the multiple sub-tracks may be connected to the sides of the parent track, or each of the multiple sub-tracks may have a notch, into which the parent track is accommodated. A third storage position may be located above the sub-tracks. The first handling robot 800 may be a shuttle capable of moving in both lateral and longitudinal directions, and may switch its direction of travel between orthogonally arranged sub-tracks and parent tracks. In this case, multiple parent tracks orthogonal to the sub-tracks may be provided, with the pallet 10 stored in the third storage position above the sub-tracks, leaving the area above the parent tracks empty. After the first handling robot 800 places materials on a sub-track, other first handling robots 800 carrying materials cannot move along that section of sub-track because the materials carried by the first handling robot 800 will collide with the materials in the storage location. At this time, the first handling robot 800 may move from a sub-track where no materials are placed to the target location, or from the parent track to the target location. In this way, when the first handling robot 800 handles pallet 10, it can move on the main track without being blocked by materials on the sub-tracks. The sub-tracks and main track can be set up reasonably according to different materials, and can be set up in a U-shape, grid shape, etc. For example, if all the materials stored on pallet 10 are the same, only one main track can be set up, and pallets 10 can be taken out one by one. When pallets 10 store different materials, the same materials need to be placed in adjacent areas, and there can be a main track between different materials. The first handling robot 800 can take out materials and pallets 10 from different sub-tracks to the main track, or take materials and pallets 10 from the main track to the corresponding sub-track, according to the material pick-up and put-down scheduling information. This facilitates scheduling and improves warehousing efficiency, and almost never requires taking out the innermost material of the sub-track (or the middle material if the sub-track is bidirectional) and repeatedly moving all the outer materials. For example, the three-dimensional rack 100 in which the first storage area 130 is located can be constructed as a beam rack, and the track 140 can be erected on the beam. Beam racks have a simple structure, strong storage capacity and impact resistance, and are easy to adjust and inexpensive.

[0070] For a warehouse, it is usually the case that uniform standard pallets 10 are chosen. This is especially true for a warehouse that uses a shuttle. Because for a warehouse that uses sub-rails as third storage locations, and uses shuttles to transport pallets 10, it is necessary to ensure that the shuttles are compatible with all pallets 10 used. For example, for a pallet 10 that is too small, it can not be able to be placed on a third storage location formed by a sub-rail, resulting in the pallet 10 being unable to be unloaded from the shuttle. For a pallet 10 that is too large, it can be possible that the weight of the large item stored is too large, resulting in damage to the rails 140 and the shuttle. Therefore, the following will be described in detail using a pallet 10 of the same standard, without considering the above extreme cases. However, the present application does not exclude embodiments in which different sizes of pallets 10 are compatible.

[0071] As described above, interaction with vehicles that distribute items is usually located at the reference layer 700. For embodiments in which the third storage area 110 is located above the first storage area 130 and the second storage area 120, when storing items, it is necessary to place the pallets 10 and items at the higher third storage area 110, and when retrieving items, it is necessary to transfer the pallets 10 at the higher location to the reference layer 700. This height is usually beyond the capabilities of a forklift. Figure 4 The illustrated embodiments can require the transfer of pallets 10 and items between the reference layer 700 and the underground layer. In embodiments in which the warehouse 100 is connected to a floor, pallets 10 and stored items can be transported across floors using equipment such as elevators, and for warehouses 100 that are not connected to a floor, the warehouse 100 can also be provided with a lifting mechanism 600 that is connected between the third storage area 110 and the reference layer 700, and is used to transport pallets 10 between the third storage area 110 and the reference layer 700.

[0072] The lifting mechanism 600 can be provided with a hoist, or a crane, or the like. The lifting mechanism 600 can be a platform that moves up and down along a straight line. In Figure 5BIn the embodiment shown, the tray 10 and the first carrying robot 800 can reach the platform together, and the vertical position is adjusted by the lifting of the platform. In this case, the lifting mechanism 600 can include a docking track 150, which can dock with the track 140 of each floor when reaching the floor, so that the first carrying robot 800 can enter the lifting mechanism 600. Exemplarily, the docking track 150 in the lifting mechanism 600 can store the tray 10 as the sub-track described above, and the first carrying robot 800 can put the tray 10 into the lifting mechanism 600 and then leave alone. In another group of embodiments, the lifting mechanism 600 can also be provided with a docking mechanism, which can transfer the tray 10 into the lifting mechanism 600. The docking mechanism can be, for example, a forklift device, which can fork the tray 10 carried by the first carrying robot 800 into the lifting mechanism 600. In this way, the first carrying robot 800 does not need to enter the lifting mechanism 600. In some embodiments, the reference layer 700 can not be provided with the track 140 for the first carrying robot 800 to walk on, and therefore the docking mechanism, such as a forklift device, can be provided on the reference layer 700, which can fork and transfer the tray 10 on the first carrying robot 800 to other robots that can walk on the ground. In another group of embodiments, the lifting mechanism 600 can also be a device for carrying materials by hooks, for example, the first carrying robot 800 can carry the tray 10 to a position of the track 140, and then a hook of a crane can hook a lifting position reserved for the material, or hook at least one lifting position of the tray 10, so as to lift the material and / or the tray 10 from the first carrying robot 800 to the desired position. The lifting position can be a lifting position existing on the material, such as a lifting ring, or a lifting belt structure added to the material, the outer packaging of the material, or the tray 10. Alternatively, the lifting mechanism 600 can include a platform lifted by a crane. In summary, the lifting mechanism 600 can move the tray 10 and / or the large material stored therein in the vertical direction in the stereoscopic shelf 100, or carry the tray 10 and / or the material stored therein to the reference layer 700 or other equipment. Figure 5B A schematic diagram of an exemplary lifting mechanism 600 is shown. Of course, the present application also does not exclude embodiments of the stereoscopic shelf 100 which both dock with the floor and are provided with the lifting mechanism 600.

[0073] For example, the lifting mechanism 600 is disposed on the sides of the first storage area 130, the second storage area 120, and the third storage area 130. Since the third storage area 130 is located at the top, when the lifting mechanism can move goods between the third storage area 130 and the base layer 700, the lifting mechanism 600 must pass through the first storage area 110 and the second storage area 120 located below the third storage area 130. Compared to placing the lifting mechanism 600 inside the automated racking system 100, the above solution is more convenient for the installation and maintenance of the lifting mechanism 600.

[0074] For example, the third storage area includes multiple layers of third storage units arranged vertically. A lifting mechanism 600 can also be connected between the multiple layers of third storage units for moving the pallet 10 between them. For similar... Figure 3 The illustrated embodiment of the three-dimensional shelving unit 100, with only one third storage space, clearly does not meet the requirements for moving pallets 10 between multiple layers. Figure 5A In the illustrated embodiment, the third storage area 110 is divided into multiple layers, with each layer having multiple third storage locations arranged horizontally. This allows each pallet 10 placed on each layer to be supported by shelves, beams, or sub-rails fixed to the uprights 101, eliminating the need for stacking. Consequently, pallets 10 can be categorized and placed on different layers; for example, pallets 10 storing the same materials can be placed on the same layer, while pallets 10 storing different materials will not be placed on the same layer. This reduces scheduling complexity and improves retrieval efficiency. Alternatively, the sub-rails and main rails on each layer can be configured to transport materials from any third storage location to the lifting mechanism 600 as quickly as possible without obstruction by materials in other third storage locations, allowing materials to be placed on lower layers to shorten lifting time. Furthermore, materials due for imminent shipment can be placed on lower layers, while other materials can be placed on higher layers based on their delivery time. In summary, multiple third storage locations arranged vertically in multiple layers not only store more materials to improve space utilization but also provide a basis for efficient scheduling.

[0075] The stereoscopic warehouse can include a plurality of smaller and independent stereoscopic shelves 100, which can be arranged side by side, and a gap is left between each stereoscopic shelf 100 as a passageway through which the transfer robot can pass. The transfer robot is used to transfer the goods in the first or second storage area, and can also transfer the goods in the first storage area and the goods in the second storage area. In general, the transfer robot can transfer the goods it can get in the passageway. The transfer robot can take and place materials on each side of the stereoscopic shelf 100. For a stereoscopic shelf 100 with a large footprint, it becomes difficult to take and place materials only from the outside of the stereoscopic shelf 100, especially for the second storage area 120. When taking and placing the storage box 20 located in the center of the stereoscopic shelf 100, it can be necessary to temporarily store all the storage boxes 20 outside the target storage box 20 in other positions (for example, temporary storage positions 220) before taking the target storage box 20, and then placing these storage boxes 20 back on the stereoscopic shelf 100. This not only consumes time and energy, but also requires sufficient buffer positions to place the storage boxes 20. Therefore, as shown in Figure 5A the stereoscopic shelf 100 can also include a passageway 102 arranged on the reference surface, a plurality of first storage positions and a plurality of second storage positions are arranged on both sides of the passageway 102, and the passageway 102 is used for the transfer robot to pass through. The transfer robot here can include one or more of the first transfer robot 800, the second transfer robot 200, the third transfer robot 500, and the fourth transfer robot 300, and can also include devices such as forklifts in addition to these transfer robots. In general, the passageway 102 can be used only for part of the transfer robot to transfer goods therein, or for part of the transfer robot to transfer goods therethrough; the passageway 102 can also be used for all transfer robots to transfer goods therein, or for all transfer robots to transfer goods therethrough. Personnel can also walk through the passageway 102. In the embodiment in which the passageway 102 allows the first transfer robot 800 to pass through, the passageway 102 can also be provided with a track.

[0076] Specifically, the first storage positions can be located on one side of the aisle 102, and the second storage positions can be located on the other side of the aisle 102; or the first storage positions and the second storage positions are arranged adjacent in the vertical direction, in other words, one or more first storage positions are arranged on both sides of the aisle 102. The handling robot can take and place all the storage boxes 20 in the aisle and outside the stereoscopic shelf 100, and taking and placing any material will not be hindered by a large amount of material, for example, at most only one blocking material needs to be taken out to block the target material. Compared with the above-mentioned multiple smaller stereoscopic shelves 100 arranged side by side, in the embodiment of the aisle 102 arranged in the stereoscopic shelf 100 with a larger footprint, the third storage position area 110 on the upper layer of the stereoscopic shelf 100 has a larger area and no gap, so that each mother track and each lifting mechanism 600 can correspond to more third storage positions, thereby reducing the cost. In this way, the time required for taking and placing materials can be greatly shortened, and the warehouse efficiency can be improved.

[0077] In addition, the above-mentioned aisle 102 can not only be used for the handling robot to walk, but in some embodiments, it can also be used as a movable shelf storage position 132 and a pallet support storage position 133 during idle time or specified time. In some embodiments, when the movable shelf 30 is located in the first storage position, the movable shelf 30 is allowed to be completely accommodated in the stereoscopic shelf 100 or partially protrude from the stereoscopic shelf 100.

[0078] It should be understood that only part of the embodiment of the aisle is shown in the figure, and in more embodiments, the aisles can have different heights according to the height of the movable shelf 30, the height of the storage box taking and placing robot, etc., and the length and width of the aisles can also be different according to the length and width of various robots and equipment. The aisle can be through or not through. The aisles can be arranged longitudinally and transversely, and the transverse aisles and the longitudinal aisles can have different functions. The intersection of the transverse aisles and the longitudinal aisles can be reserved with a turning radius, so as to facilitate the turning of the loaded material or the unloaded robot. It is also possible not to reserve a turning radius, and the robot avoids turning inside the stereoscopic shelf 100 when scheduling.

[0079] The stereoscopic warehouse can also be deployed with a first carrying robot 800, a second carrying robot 200 and a third carrying robot 500. Among them, a plurality of third storage positions are provided below the track 140 for the first carrying robot 800 to walk, and the first carrying robot 800 is used to carry the pallets 10 in the third storage area 110. As described above, in the case where the track 140 only includes a sub-track, the first carrying robot 800 can be a shuttle car, and in the case where the track 140 includes a sub-track and a mother track, the first carrying robot 800 can be a four-way shuttle car. The second carrying robot 200 is used to carry the carrying storage box 20 and the materials in it in the second storage area 120. The third carrying robot 500 can be an existing or future possible shelf carrying robot, which is used to carry the movable shelf 30.

[0080] Exemplarily, the second carrying robot 200 can include an existing storage box taking and placing robot or a future possible storage box taking and placing robot. As Figure 1 As shown, the second carrying robot 200 can include a material taking and placing mechanism 210, which can include one or more of a suction cup, a clamping mechanism, a fork taking mechanism. The material taking and placing mechanism 210 can be raised to a height corresponding to the storage box 20, and after the target storage box 20 is taken, the material taking and placing mechanism 210 is raised, so that the storage box 20 can be transferred between different layers of the stereoscopic shelf 100, or docked with other robots, or placed on the temporary storage position 220 of the second carrying robot 200. The second carrying robot 200 can take out a plurality of storage boxes 20 and place them on the temporary storage position 220 for integral carrying, or can place the storage boxes 20 on the storage box buffer position 131 or take out the storage boxes 20 from the storage box buffer position 131, or can remain in place to wait for docking with other robots, or temporarily store the storage boxes 20, etc.

[0081] The second carrying robot 200 can walk on the ground of the reference layer 700. As described above, the second carrying robot 200 can include a plurality of heights of temporary storage positions 220 for temporarily storing storage boxes 20. Since the center of gravity of the second carrying robot 200 is high when taking and placing materials, or when the temporary storage position 220 has a storage box 20 placed thereon, to avoid overturning, the second carrying robot 200 usually has a large chassis and a certain counterweight. Therefore, the weight of the second carrying robot 200 can be large, and in the case of multiple floors, the second carrying robot 200 is arranged on the reference layer 700 on the first floor, without the need to set a supporting structure on the ground of other floors to support the weight of the second carrying robot 200, which can reduce the cost. Since the first storage area 130 is arranged on the ground of the reference layer 700, the third carrying robot 500 can also walk on the ground of the reference layer 700.

[0082] In an embodiment not shown, the second transfer robot can run on a vertical track, which can be erected outside the stereoscopic shelf, so as to take and place storage boxes in the second storage area at any height. Alternatively, the second transfer robot can be a structure similar to a bridge crane, extending from top to bottom of the stereoscopic shelf, or being arranged on the stereoscopic shelf and being higher than the highest layer of the second storage area, and extending from top to bottom. The present application also does not exclude the embodiment in which the second transfer robot can take and place the pallets, and the embodiment in which the robot working on the ground is lifted to a suitable height by a lifting device (such as a scissor lift platform) to take and place the materials.

[0083] In Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, the height of the highest layer of the third storage area 110 can be adapted to the highest taking and placing height of the second transfer robot 200. The height of the third storage area 110 can be higher than the highest taking and placing height of the second transfer robot 200. It can be understood that the third storage area 110 is used to store the pallets 10, which are usually not taken and placed by the second transfer robot 200, so the second transfer robot 200 does not need to perform operations on the third storage area 110. For the second storage area 120, in the case that the number of storage boxes 20 is large and one stereoscopic shelf 100 cannot completely store the storage boxes 20, the height of the highest layer of the second storage area 120 of the stereoscopic shelf 100 is adapted to the highest taking and placing height of the second transfer robot 200, which can increase the storage density of the storage boxes 20 in each stereoscopic shelf 100, thereby reducing the number of stereoscopic shelves 100. In this way, when the storage boxes 20 are placed and taken out, the number of movements of the second transfer robot 200 between different stereoscopic shelves 100 can be reduced, thereby improving the efficiency of the stereoscopic warehouse. In some cases, the number of second transfer robots 200 can also be reduced, thereby reducing the cost of the stereoscopic warehouse. In this way, the performance of the second transfer robot 200 can be maximized, and the cost performance is high.

[0084] Of course, in actual use, the third storage area 110 can also be arranged below the highest taking and placing height of the second transfer robot 200. Referring to the embodiment shown in Figure 2 In the embodiment shown, the height of the highest layer of the third storage area 110 can be adapted to the highest taking and placing height of the second transfer robot 200. The height of the third storage area 110 can be higher than the highest taking and placing height of the second transfer robot 200. It can be understood that the third storage area 110 is used to store the pallets 10, which are usually not taken and placed by the second transfer robot 200, so the second transfer robot 200 does not need to perform operations on the third storage area 110. For the second storage area 120, in the case that the number of storage boxes 20 is large and one stereoscopic shelf 100 cannot completely store the storage boxes 20, the height of the highest layer of the second storage area 120 of the stereoscopic shelf 100 is adapted to the highest taking and placing height of the second transfer robot 200, which can increase the storage density of the storage boxes 20 in each stereoscopic shelf 100, thereby reducing the number of stereoscopic shelves 100. In this way, when the storage boxes 20 are placed and taken out, the number of movements of the second transfer robot 200 between different stereoscopic shelves 100 can be reduced, thereby improving the efficiency of the stereoscopic warehouse. In some cases, the number of second transfer robots 200 can also be reduced, thereby reducing the cost of the stereoscopic warehouse. In this way, the performance of the second transfer robot 200 can be maximized, and the cost performance is high.

[0085] For a stereoscopic warehouse, in addition to the first carrying robot 800, the second carrying robot 200 and the third carrying robot 500 all walk on the ground. Therefore, in some embodiments, the reference layer 700 is not provided with the track 140, thereby avoiding the obstruction to the walking of these robots. The second carrying robot 200 carries the storage box 20 between the second storage positions of the higher layer and the second storage positions of the lower layer, which is a heavy workload and consumes more energy when walking due to the counterweight. Specifically, for example, the storage box 20 needs to be carried to the stacking device, and the work of carrying the storage box 20 between the second storage positions of different layers of the stereoscopic shelf 100 during the carrying of the second carrying robot 200 needs to wait for the return of the second carrying robot 200, which causes a waste of time. Therefore, exemplarily, the stereoscopic warehouse can be deployed with a fourth carrying robot 300, which can be an existing or future possible storage box carrying robot. The fourth carrying robot 300 can walk on the ground of the reference layer 700. The fourth carrying robot 300 is used to carry the storage box 20, and the carrying height of the fourth carrying robot 300 can be lower than that of the second carrying robot 200. In this way, the second carrying robot 200 can walk within a limited motion range without the need to carry the storage box 20 to various positions, thereby improving the work efficiency. The fourth carrying robot 300 can be light in weight due to the low center of gravity. The fourth carrying robot 300 consumes less energy when walking than the second carrying robot 200, thereby being more energy-saving and having a longer time of use after charging.

[0086] As described above, for some stereoscopic warehouses, the upstream materials are stored in the pallets 10, which need to be unpacked into small pieces of materials stored in the storage boxes 20 before being provided to the downstream. Exemplarily, the stereoscopic warehouse can be provided with an unpacking device for unpacking the materials in the pallet 10 into the storage box 22. In the case that the small pieces of materials have packaging boxes and are of appropriate size, the small pieces of materials will not be put into the storage box 22 again, but the pallet 10 will be unpacked out of the original packaging box together with the materials stored therein. As described above, the storage box includes the storage box 22 and / or the original packaging box. The unpacking device includes but is not limited to any existing or future possible unpacking robot. In some exemplary embodiments, the third carrying robot 500 is also used to carry the pallet 10 on the pallet support 50 to the unpacking device. In other embodiments, the unpacking device can be flush with the third storage area 110, for example, being provided on the ground of the floor that is in contact with the stereoscopic shelf 100. In this case, the stereoscopic warehouse can further include a track connected between the third storage area 110 and the unpacking device, and the first carrying robot 800 walks on the track to carry the pallet 10 to the unpacking device.

[0087] Optionally, the de-stacking device can include one or more six-axis robots, the execution end of the robot being used to transfer the materials from the tray to the storage box or transfer the storage box on the tray to the conveyor belt or other robots using one or more elements such as a suction cup, an electromagnet, a pneumatic gripper. Optionally, the de-stacking device can also include a plurality of four-axis robots working in coordination. In some embodiments, the de-stacking device can include a conveyor belt or the like structure, or be completed by a combination of machines and manual work.

[0088] The materials stored in the tray 10 can include a plurality of small materials arranged in a stack. These small materials can be bundled together by a sealing film, and some can be reinforced by a support structure. The de-stacking robot can at least grasp the small materials stacked together and place them in a designated position for receiving the small materials.

[0089] In one specific embodiment, the third handling robot 500 carries the tray 10 on the tray holder 50 to the de-stacking device. These materials can have been de-bundled by the sealing film and only stacked together. In such embodiments, the de-stacking device does not need to have a function of de-bundling the sealing film. In other embodiments, the de-stacking device has a de-bundling function and can automatically de-bundle the sealing film or the support structure, etc. A conveyor belt can be provided beside the de-stacking device to convey the empty boxes to a designated position, and the de-stacking device grasps the small materials stacked together and places them in the empty boxes according to a predetermined number. Each full box 22 can be carried away by the second handling robot 200. The de-stacking device can de-stack the materials on only one tray 10 into the box 22 at a time, or de-stack the materials on a plurality of trays 10 into the box 22 at a time.

[0090] In another specific embodiment, the first handling robot 800 can carry the materials stored in the tray 10 to the side of the de-stacking device through the track. The de-stacking device de-stacks the materials stored in the tray 10 and grasps the small materials stacked together with the original packaging box and places them directly on a designated position, such as a conveyor belt.

[0091] In the embodiment where the stereoscopic warehouse is deployed with the fourth carrying robot 300, the fourth carrying robot 300 can be used to carry the storage box 20 and the materials in the storage box 20 from the unstacking device to the storage box buffer position 131, because the fourth carrying robot 300 consumes less energy when carrying the storage box and has a longer endurance time. Subsequently, the second carrying robot 200 places the storage box 20 at the storage box buffer position 131 into the second storage position. Exemplarily, the second carrying robot 200 can also be directly used to carry the storage box 20 and the materials in the storage box 20 from the unstacking device to the second storage position. The second carrying robot 200 can place multiple storage boxes 20 on the temporary storage position 220, thereby carrying multiple storage boxes 20 to the second storage position at one time without passing through the storage box buffer position 131. Of course, the second carrying robot 200 and the fourth carrying robot 300 can also simultaneously or at different times take the unstacked storage boxes from the unstacking device.

[0092] Exemplarily, the stereoscopic warehouse can be provided with a stacking device configured to perform a stacking operation, which includes stacking the materials in the storage box 22 onto the pallet 10. In the embodiment where the small materials are provided with a package box with a moderate size, the stacking device is also used to stack the original package box and the stored materials into the pallet 10 as a whole. Optionally, the stacking device can include one or more six-axis robots, and the execution end of the robot is used to transfer the materials in the storage box or the storage box itself to the pallet by using one or more elements such as a suction cup, an electromagnet, and a pneumatic clamp jaw. Optionally, the stacking device can also include multiple four-axis robots working in cooperation. In some embodiments, the stacking device can include a conveyor belt or the like structure, or be completed by cooperation of machines and manual work.

[0093] In the embodiment where the stereoscopic warehouse is deployed with the fourth carrying robot 300, the fourth carrying robot 300 is used to carry the storage box 20 and the materials in the storage box 20 from the storage box buffer position 131 to the stacking device. In contrast to the unstacking device described above which unstacks the materials stored in the pallet 10 into small materials, the stereoscopic warehouse provided with the stacking device can stack a large amount of small materials into the large materials stored in the pallet 10, thereby reducing the gap when the small materials are stored and saving the storage space. The second carrying robot 200 can also be used to carry the storage box and the materials in the storage box to the stacking device. In some embodiments, the second carrying robot 200 and the fourth carrying robot 300 can simultaneously or at different times provide the storage box 20 to the stacking device for stacking.

[0094] In the embodiment where no track is provided around the stacking device, exemplarily, the third carrying robot 500 is also used to carry the pallet support 50 supporting the pallet 10 to the stacking device, and the stacking device performs the stacking operation on the pallet 10 supported by the pallet support 50. The third carrying robot 500 is also used to carry the pallet support 50 after the stacking operation is performed to a target position.

[0095] In other embodiments, the stereoscopic warehouse comprises a track connected between the third storage area 110 and the palletizing device, and the first carrying robot 800 is used to carry the pallet 10 after the palletizing operation is performed. The present application also does not exclude the embodiment that the third storage area 110 and the palletizing device are connected by a track, and the pallet 10 and the large material obtained by palletizing are carried by the third carrying robot 500 and the pallet support 50.

[0096] In some embodiments, the stereoscopic warehouse can be provided with a depalletizing device and a palletizing device. In some stereoscopic warehouses, the depalletizing device and the palletizing device can be the same, that is, the depalletizing device can both depalletize the pallet 10 and realize the palletizing function. Since the depalletizing device and the palletizing device usually have large volume and weight, they can be arranged on the ground of the reference layer 700, so as to obtain reliable support and have sufficient movement space. As described above, in the embodiment in which the stereoscopic shelf 100 is docked with the floor, the depalletizing device and the palletizing device can be arranged on the ground of the floor other than the reference layer 700, and the pallet 10 and the storage box 20 are carried between the stereoscopic shelf 100 and the floor through the docking part of the stereoscopic shelf 100.

[0097] In some embodiments, the movable shelf 30 can go to the depalletizing device through the third carrying robot 500. The depalletized material can be classified and placed in the small compartments of the movable shelf 30, so as to improve the sorting efficiency. In other words, after depalletizing, the small material is no longer placed in the storage box 20, but placed in the movable shelf 30. Conversely, the movable shelf 30 can also go to the palletizing device through the third carrying robot 500, and the palletizing device takes out the small material thereon and places it on the pallet 10 for palletizing.

[0098] Exemplarily, the stereoscopic warehouse can be provided with a conveying device. The conveying device includes but is not limited to a conveyor belt, a flow shelf, a mechanical hand, etc. In the embodiment in which the stereoscopic warehouse comprises a depalletizing device, the conveying device can be connected between the depalletizing device and the stereoscopic shelf 100. In the embodiment in which the storage box 20 comprises the material box 22, the conveying device is used to carry the material box 22 and the material therein to the second storage area 120. Alternatively, the conveying device can carry the material box 22 and the material therein to the storage box buffer position 1311. Alternatively, the conveying device carries part of the material box 22 and the material therein to the second storage area 120, and part of the material box 22 and the material therein to the storage box buffer position 1311. In the case where the storage box 20 comprises the original packaging box, the conveying device is used to carry the original packaging box and the material therein to the second storage area 120 or the storage box buffer position 1311, or to both.

[0099] Similarly, in the embodiment where the stereoscopic warehouse is provided with a palletizing device, the conveying device can also be connected between the palletizing device and the stereoscopic shelf 100, for conveying the storage box 22 and the materials and / or the primary packaging boxes and the materials in the primary packaging boxes on the stereoscopic shelf 100 to the palletizing device, and the palletizing device can palletize the storage box 22 and the materials and / or the primary packaging boxes and the materials in the primary packaging boxes conveyed by the conveying device.

[0100] For the embodiment where the conveying device is a conveyor belt, one or more conveyor belts can be provided for the depalletizing device and the palletizing device, and the two can share a conveyor belt to transport the storage box 20, or can use different conveyor belts. Further, the second carrying robot 200 can adjust the storage box 20 between different second storage positions. In another embodiment, the palletizing device is provided adjacent to the stereoscopic shelf 100, and the storage box 20 in the second storage area 120 or the storage box buffer position 131 can be carried to the palletizing device by, for example, a mechanical hand, and the small materials in these storage boxes 20 are placed on the pallet 10 by the palletizing device, and after a sufficient number is placed, they are packed as materials stored in the pallet 10. In this way, the time required for carrying can be reduced to a certain extent. The depalletizing device and the palletizing device can be placed on the first side of the stereoscopic shelf 100, and the second carrying robot 200 can walk and take and place the storage box 20 on the other side of the first side.

[0101] To utilize the space of the shelf 100 as much as possible and reduce the gap, the storage boxes 20 are placed adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction. This can cause some storage boxes 20 to be located close to the edge of the shelf 100, which can include the side of the entire shelf 100 or the inner side of the aisle. In general, the storage boxes 20 close to the edge of the shelf 100 can be directly accessed by the second transfer robot 200. Conversely, the storage boxes 20 far from the edge of the shelf 100 are not only blocked by the storage boxes 20 close to the edge of the shelf 100, but when the second transfer robot 200 accesses the storage boxes 20, it can need to reach further into the shelf 100 or even cannot take them out. Exemplarily, the shelf 100 can include a transfer mechanism. The plurality of second storage positions include second inner storage positions located inside the shelf 100 and second outer storage positions located at the edge of the shelf 100, and the transfer mechanism is connected between the second inner storage positions and the second outer storage positions and used to move the storage boxes of the second inner storage positions to the second outer storage positions. In one specific embodiment, the part of the shelf 100 provided with the transfer mechanism can be configured as a push-in shelf. It is a shelf with a certain inclination angle and provided with rollers. The push-in shelf is inclined downward from the second inner storage position to the second outer storage position. In this way, after the storage boxes 20 of the second outer storage position are taken out, the adjacent storage boxes 20 of the second inner storage position can slide to the second outer storage position under the action of gravity, thereby facilitating the taking out. The second outer storage position can have a blocking piece to prevent the storage boxes 20 from falling out of the shelf 100. When the storage boxes 20 are put in, the storage boxes 20 of the second outer storage position can be pushed to the second inner storage position. It needs to be clear that all the positions inside the shelf 100 can be considered as the second inner storage positions, i.e., the second inner storage positions can place a plurality of storage boxes 20. Whether the materials stored in the second inner storage positions and the second outer storage positions are the same or not, the transfer mechanism can improve the transfer efficiency of the second transfer robot 200 to a certain extent. It is particularly obvious when the materials stored in the second inner storage positions and the second outer storage positions are the same. In an embodiment not shown, the transfer mechanism can also include a mechanical hand or any suitable mechanism.

[0102] As described above, the buffer position includes a storage box buffer position 131 for storing the storage boxes 20 transferred from the second storage position area 120, and a space 1311 for the transfer robot to enter is provided below the storage box buffer position 131. The fourth transfer robot 300 is configured to transfer the storage boxes 20 of the storage box buffer position 131 by driving into the space 1311. Thus, the second transfer robot 200 usually only needs to take out the storage boxes 20 of the higher layer in the vertical direction and place them on the storage box buffer position 131. Thereafter, the second transfer robot 200 can reach other columns of the shelf 100 to continue transferring the storage boxes 20, and the storage boxes 20 of the storage box buffer position 131 are transferred by the fourth transfer robot 300.

[0103] Exemplarily, the fourth transfer robot 300 can be an existing or future possible robot. Taking a jacking robot as an example, the fourth transfer robot 300 can jack up the storage box 20 at the bottom of the storage box 20, so as to separate the storage box 20 from the support surface. Taking the storage box buffer position 131 provided by the beam shelf as an example, the support of the storage box 20 can be a plurality of beams spaced apart, and the jacking mechanism of the jacking robot can jack up the storage box 20 from the gap between the beams and drive along the extension direction of the gap between the beams until the storage box 20 leaves the stereoscopic shelf 100. The storage box buffer position 131 can also be provided by a cantilever shelf, and the storage box 20 can be supported on a plurality of cantilevers. The jacking mechanism of the fourth transfer robot 300 can jack up the storage box 20 from the gap between the cantilevers and move out of the range of the cantilevers. It is easy to understand that in the embodiment in which the jacking robot is used as the fourth transfer robot 300, there cannot be any obstacles on the path when jacking and transferring the storage box 20. For example, for a layer plate shelf, the jacking robot cannot take down the storage box 20 because the jacking mechanism will be blocked by the layer plate. Therefore, the fourth transfer robot 300 can only transfer the storage box 20 on the storage box buffer position 131. As shown in Figure 5A The space below the storage box buffer position 131 can be high enough. The fourth transfer robot 300 can enter the space below in an empty state, move a certain distance after jacking up the material, so that the storage box 20 is separated from the storage box buffer position 131, and then lower the jacking height, so that the total height of the fourth transfer robot 300 and the storage box 20 is less than the height of the storage box buffer position 131, so that the fourth transfer robot 300 can walk in the lower load path. The space below the storage box buffer position 131 can also be low, and can only allow the fourth transfer robot 300 to enter in an empty state. After jacking up the storage box 20, it can only walk in the adjacent channel with a high enough height, as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 3 The fourth transfer robot 300 can walk in the higher channel in the middle of the storage box buffer position 131, as shown in Figure 2 In the embodiment without the higher channel in the middle, the fourth transfer robot 300 can walk in the channel of the storage box taking and placing robot (not shown from this angle). The fourth transfer robot 300 can go back and forth between the storage box buffer position 131 and the work station. In the work station, the material of the storage box 20 can be processed by a robot or manually, such as sorting, loading or unloading, etc.

[0104] In some embodiments not shown, the storage box buffer position can be provided with a conveying mechanism, such as a conveyor belt or the like. The fourth transfer robot 300 can not need to travel under the storage box buffer position, but only need to be docked with the storage box buffer position, so as to convey the storage box onto the fourth transfer robot 300 through the conveying mechanism. The fourth transfer robot 300 itself can be provided with a conveyor belt, and through cooperation of the conveyor belt of the fourth transfer robot 300 and the conveying mechanism of the storage box buffer position, the storage box can be more quickly and reliably conveyed onto the fourth transfer robot 300.

[0105] Exemplarily, the stereoscopic warehouse is provided with a work station configured for sorting materials to be placed on the trays 10 and the storage boxes 20 on the transportable shelves 30 and the tray supports 50. The third transfer robot 500 is used for transferring the transportable shelves 30 and / or the tray supports 50 and the trays 10 stored thereon between the stereoscopic shelves 100 and the work station, and the fourth transfer robot 300 is used for transferring the storage boxes 20 between the stereoscopic shelves 100 and the work station. It should be understood that the transportable shelves 30, the trays 10 and the storage boxes 20 are only used for storing or storing materials, and except for the trays 10, they can not be transported out of the stereoscopic warehouse. In some embodiments, the trays 10 transported to the stereoscopic warehouse can also not be adapted to the third storage positions. The work station can provide a site for work including manual sorting, automated sorting, etc., and the above-mentioned unstacking device and stacking device can also be provided in the work station. In summary, the work station can correspondingly place the materials on the trays 10, the storage boxes 20 and the transportable shelves 30, so as to be stored in a standardized manner. In the embodiment in which the ground of the reference layer 700 is not provided with a track, the trays 10 cannot be transferred by the first transfer robot 800 at the reference layer 700. In addition to transferring the transportable shelves 30, the third transfer robot 500 can also transfer the tray supports 50 and the trays 10 placed thereon. In the embodiment in which the work station is provided with the unstacking device and the stacking device, the storage boxes 20 unstacked by the unstacking device can be transferred by the fourth transfer robot 300 to the storage box buffer position 131, or the storage boxes 20 of the storage box buffer position 131 can be transferred to the stacking device, so as to be stacked into the trays 10.

[0106] Exemplarily, the work station is also configured for sorting materials to be placed on the trays 10, wherein: the work station and the third storage position region 110 are provided with a track, the work station is configured for placing the trays 10 storing the materials on the track, and the first transfer robot 800 is also used for transferring the trays 10 storing the materials along the track to the third storage position. In some embodiments, the work station is also configured for sorting materials to be placed on the trays 10 and placing the trays 10 storing the materials on the tray supports 50.

[0107] The third transport robot 500 can transport the transportable shelves 30 to a work station where each compartment of the transportable shelves 30 can be filled with goods by a human or a robot. In some embodiments, the work station can also customize the transportable shelves 30, such as disassembling and assembling the transportable shelves 30 to change the size, shape, and storage space of the transportable shelves 30. Because the shape of the transportable shelves 30 can vary greatly, the transportable shelves 30 can be stored on the third storage level on the ground. Compared to the pallets 10 and the bins 22, the number of the transportable shelves 30 can be small.

[0108] In some embodiments, the transportable shelves 30 can be transported on the pallets 10 in addition to being transported by the third transport robot 500. The transportable shelves 30 can be customized and thus can not have a standard size. As an example, a transportable shelf 30 can have a length equal to the length of two pallets 10 and a width equal to half the width of a pallet 10. The transportable shelf 30 described above can be placed on two pallets 10 and transported by two first transport robots 800 simultaneously. The area of the portion of the lifting mechanism 600 can be large enough to accommodate at least two pallets 10 and two first transport robots 800 at the same time. The two first transport robots 800 can operate synchronously to feed the transportable shelf 30 and the pallets 10 into the first storage area 130 in a straight line without turning during the transport. As an example, an auxiliary mechanism can be provided in the vertical storage 100 or the lifting mechanism 600. The transportable shelf 30 can be transported by the third transport robot 500 to the location of the auxiliary mechanism. The auxiliary mechanism can temporarily store the transportable shelf 30. Then, the two first transport robots 800 carrying the pallets 10 can place the pallets 10 under the transportable shelf 30 and then transport the transportable shelf 30 by the pallets 10.

[0109] The size of the transportable shelves 30 can limit their turning in narrow passages. For example, when two passages perpendicular to each other have a width close to the length and width of a pallet 10, such as in a four-way shuttle, the first transport robot 800 can change the direction of travel vertically, and thus the pallet 10 can change direction at the intersection of the passages with little hindrance. However, the transportable shelves described above or larger can have difficulty passing through. Even if the transportable shelves are smaller than the above size, they can still have difficulty turning due to their shape. Therefore, even if the transportable shelves 30 can reach the third storage area through the lifting mechanism 600, they are usually not placed in the third storage level.

[0110] In some embodiments, the third handling robot 500 can not only walk on the ground, but also on the tracks 140. In other words, the third handling robot 500 can handle the transportable racks 30 into the tracks 140 and place the transportable racks 30 on the third storage positions of the sub-tracks. In these embodiments, the bottom surface of the transportable racks 30 can be compatible in size with the storage positions of the sub-tracks, and will not be too large to be handled on the tracks 140, or too small to be lifted by the spaced material supporting surfaces.

[0111] Illustratively but not limitatively, the width of the third handling robot 500 can be smaller than the width of the tracks 140. In the embodiments of the third storage area 110 with the floor panels, the third handling robot 500 can walk on the floor panels under the set of tracks 140. In one embodiment, the third handling robot 500 can carry the pallet carrier 50, which can be at least in width smaller than the width of the set of tracks 140, and the lowest height of the pallet carrier 50 and the third handling robot 500 can be no higher than the height from the top surface of the tracks 140 to the floor panels. The third handling robot 500 carries the pallet 10 by the pallet carrier 50, walks in the track gap of the sub-track, and after lowering to a certain height, the pallet 10 is supported by the storage position of the sub-track, and the third handling robot 500 can carry the pallet carrier 50 away from the storage position.

[0112] Referring back to Figure 4 In Figure 4 In the illustrated embodiments, the cubic warehouse can be deployed with a forklift for picking up the pallets 10 from the third storage area 110. The cubic warehouse can also be deployed with the first handling robot 800, which can handle the pallets 10 to the edge of the cubic rack 100, thereby facilitating the picking up by the forklift. For the embodiments in which the cubic rack 100 is interfaced with the floor, the forklift can travel on the floor interfaced with the third storage area 110, pick up the pallets 10, and place the pallets 10 into a device such as an elevator. On the ground of the reference floor 700, the forklift can also pick up and transfer the pallets 10 from the pallet carriers 50, or place the pallets 10 onto empty pallet carriers 50. In some embodiments, the empty pallets can be placed in stacks by the forklift, thereby reducing the footprint. In the embodiments in which the first handling robot 800 is deployed and the pallets 10 are picked up from the third storage area 110 by the forklift, preferably, the first handling robot 800 can place the pallets 10 at the location and away after handling the pallets 10 to the edge of the cubic rack 100, thereby avoiding interference and collision during the process of picking up by the forklift.

[0113] Exemplarily, the second transfer robot 200 is provided with a lifting assembly and a picking and placing mechanism. As described above, the picking and placing mechanism is used to take out the storage box 20 at the second storage location or place the storage box 20 on the picking and placing mechanism into the second storage location of the second storage location area 120. In the embodiment in which the stereoscopic warehouse is provided with the fourth transfer robot 300, the picking and placing mechanism is also used to place the storage box 20 on the fourth transfer robot 300, so that the efficiency of picking and placing the storage box 20 is higher without the need of transferring through the storage box buffer location 131. Of course, the second transfer robot 200 can also directly take the storage box 20 from the fourth transfer robot 300.

[0114] The stereoscopic warehouse further comprises a movable rack storage location 132' placed on a floor. Figure 7B In the embodiment, the floor of the non-reference layer is docked with the stereoscopic rack 100 and extends into the interior of the stereoscopic rack 100. In this case, the ground of the floor extending into the stereoscopic rack 100 can be used as the movable rack storage location 132'. Thus, the movable rack 30 does not necessarily have to be placed on the reference layer 700. In the embodiment, the movable rack storage location 132' can be placed on the floor of the non-reference layer 700. Figure 7C-Figure 7D In the embodiment shown, the movable rack storage location 132 can be not only provided in the stereoscopic rack 100 but also outside the stereoscopic rack 100. Figure 7C In the embodiment, the movable rack storage location 132' can be provided on the reference layer 700 adjacent to the stereoscopic rack 100. In the embodiment, the movable rack storage location 132' can be provided on the floor of the non-reference layer 700 adjacent to the stereoscopic rack 100. Figure 7D In the embodiment, the movable rack storage location 132' is shown to be provided on the ground of the floor outside the stereoscopic rack 100. In summary, in addition to the movable rack storage location 132 provided in the lower part of the stereoscopic rack 100, the movable rack storage location 132' can also be provided on the floor docked with the stereoscopic rack 100.

[0115] Exemplarily, the stereoscopic warehouse can further be provided with a detection device which can accurately or roughly detect the size of the movable rack 30. As described above, the size of the movable rack 30 can vary due to customization. Before scheduling, the movable rack 30 can be carried to the detection device by the rack transfer robot to determine the size. The detection device can comprise a machine vision, a laser range finder and the like. After determining the size, the storage location of the movable rack 30 can be conveniently planned.

[0116] It should be understood that the stereoscopic warehouse can be freely combined according to the storage needs, that is, the stereoscopic warehouse can include at least two of the first storage area 130, the second storage area 120, and the third storage area 110 described above. In this case, the stereoscopic warehouse can not include some robots. Specifically, for example, when the stereoscopic warehouse only stores storage boxes 20 and movable shelves 30, and does not store trays 10, the first transfer robot 800 is not needed. When the stereoscopic warehouse only stores trays 10 and movable shelves 30, and does not store storage boxes 20, both the second transfer robot 200 and the fourth transfer robot 300 are not needed. In some embodiments not shown, there can be no space between the bottom of the stereoscopic shelf and the ground, that is, the lower part of the stereoscopic shelf can not include storage box buffer positions, and all are configured as shelf boards for storing storage boxes. After the second transfer robot takes out the storage box, the storage box is directly placed on the conveyor belt or the fourth transfer robot. For the stereoscopic shelf storing storage boxes 20, part of it can also be configured as a shelf board, and the other part can be provided with a storage box buffer position. In summary, reasonable planning can be made according to actual conditions, both to ensure a certain redundancy of the stereoscopic warehouse and to consider the cost.

[0117] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the orientation words such as "front", "back", "up", "down", "left", "right", "transverse", "vertical", "vertical", "horizontal", and "top", "bottom" and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, which are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate and imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation or be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the scope of protection of the present application; the orientation words "inner" and "outer" refer to the inner and outer of the contour of each component itself.

[0118] For the convenience of description, regional relative terms such as "over", "above", "upper surface", "upper" and the like can be used here to describe the regional positional relationship of one or more components or features shown in the figure with other components or features. It should be understood that the regional relative terms not only include the orientation of the components described in the figure, but also include different orientations in use or operation. For example, if the components in the figure are inverted as a whole, the components "above" or "over" other components or features will include the case of "below" or "under" other components or structures. Therefore, the exemplary term "above" can include both "above" and "below". In addition, these components or features can also be positioned at other different angles (for example, rotated by 90 degrees or other angles), and all these cases are intended to be included herein.

[0119] It is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting, as the scope of the exemplary embodiments of this application is limited only by the appended claims. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, components, elements, and / or groups thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, components, elements, and / or groups thereof.

[0120] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", and the like, herein do not necessarily have an either chronological or spatial relation to each other, but are used to distinguish a certain element from another, unless specifically stated otherwise. It should be understood that the use of the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It should be understood that the use of the terms "includes", "including", "comprising", "comprises" or "comprising" does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed.

[0121] The above-described embodiments of the application have been shown and described, but it should be understood that various excursions from the specific embodiments described above are possible, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. For example, it should be understood that while the application has been described with respect to a single user, the application can be used by multiple users. Furthermore, it should be understood that the application is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but rather, the application is limited only by the appended claims, and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A three-dimensional warehouse characterized by comprising: The stereoscopic warehouse comprises a stereoscopic shelf, wherein the stereoscopic shelf comprises: a first storage area comprising a plurality of first storage positions; a second storage area comprising a plurality of second storage positions for storing storage boxes; and a third storage area comprising a plurality of third storage positions for storing pallets, wherein the third storage area is located above or below the first storage area and the second storage area, or a part of the third storage area is located above the first storage area and the second storage area and another part of the third storage area is located below the first storage area and the second storage area.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein A part of the second storage area is located within the height range of the first storage area, and another part of the second storage area is located above the first storage area; or The entire second storage area is located above the first storage area.

3. The system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The third storage area further comprises a plurality of sub-tracks and a mother track, wherein the mother track is perpendicular to the plurality of sub-tracks, and the third storage positions are arranged above the plurality of sub-tracks, a first carrying robot walking on the plurality of sub-tracks and the mother track, wherein the first carrying robot is a robot for carrying the pallets.

4. The system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The stereoscopic warehouse further comprises a lifting mechanism for carrying the pallets of the third storage area and / or the first carrying robot.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein The lifting mechanism is arranged at the side of the first storage area, the second storage area and the third storage area.

6. The system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The third storage area comprises a plurality of third storage positions arranged in a vertical direction.

7. The system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The stereoscopic warehouse further comprises a passageway, wherein the plurality of first storage positions and the plurality of second storage positions are located on both sides of the passageway, and the passageway is used for the walking of a carrying robot for carrying goods in the first storage area and / or the second storage area.

8. The stereoscopic warehouse of claim 1 or 2, wherein: the second storage area and the third storage area are further provided with an interface for interfacing with a floor; and / or the size of the pallets is greater than that of the storage boxes; and / or the first storage positions comprise one or more of storage box buffer positions, movable shelf storage positions and pallet support storage positions; and / or the pallets are used for carrying materials, and the storage boxes are used for storing materials.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the storage shelves are arranged in a plurality of rows, and the storage shelves in each row are arranged in a plurality of columns. The stereoscopic warehouse further comprises a conveying device, and the storage boxes comprise at least one of material boxes and original packaging boxes; the conveying device is connected between a de-palletizing device and the second storage area and / or the storage box buffer positions, and is used for carrying the material boxes and materials therein and / or the original packaging boxes and materials therein de-palletized from the pallets by the de-palletizing device to the second storage area and / or the storage box buffer positions; and / or The conveying device is connected between the palletizing device and the stereoscopic shelf, and is used for conveying the material boxes in the second storage area and / or the storage box buffer position and the materials in the material boxes and / or the materials in the original packaging boxes to the palletizing device to perform a palletizing operation.

10. The system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The stereoscopic warehouse further comprises a first carrying robot, a second carrying robot and a third carrying robot; The first carrying robot is used for carrying the pallets in the third storage area; The second carrying robot is used for carrying the storage boxes in the second storage area; The third carrying robot is used for carrying the movable shelves; The second carrying robot and the third carrying robot can walk on the ground.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the storage shelves are arranged in a plurality of rows, and the storage shelves in each row are arranged in a plurality of columns. The stereoscopic warehouse further comprises a work station configured to sort the materials to be placed on the pallets and the storage boxes on the movable shelves and the pallet supports, and the third carrying robot is used for carrying the pallet supports and the movable shelves between the stereoscopic shelves and the work station; The stereoscopic warehouse further comprises a fourth carrying robot used for carrying the storage boxes between the stereoscopic shelves and the work station.

12. The stereoscopic warehouse of claim 11, wherein The first carrying robot comprises a four-way shuttle vehicle; and / or The second carrying robot comprises a storage box taking and placing robot; and / or The third carrying robot comprises a shelf carrying robot; and / or The fourth carrying robot comprises a storage box carrying robot.

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