Workstation, docking device thereof and warehousing system

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of intelligent warehousing systems, and discloses a workstation, a docking device of the workstation, a warehousing system and a material box unloading and loading method. The workstation docking device comprises a first support, a connection unit, a suspension unit, a second support and a temporary storage device. The connection unit is used for transferring the material box between the carrying robot and the temporary storage device. The top end of the suspension unit is fixed to the first support, and the bottom end is fixed to the connection unit. The second support, the first support and the suspension unit jointly support the connection unit. A vertical arm of the transfer robot can penetrate through the gap between the first support and the suspension unit, and when the transfer robot is located at the low position, the transfer robot passes through the bottom of the connection unit and turns. The box loading and unloading efficiency of the workstation is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of intelligent warehousing systems, and in particular to a workstation docking device, a workstation, a warehousing system, a method for unloading a bin at a workstation by a carrying robot, a method for loading a bin at a workstation by a carrying robot, an electronic device, and a computer-readable storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0002] In an intelligent warehousing system, a climbing robot in a carrying robot can carry a bin between a workstation and a shelf, and can also move vertically along a shelf track to realize access to bins on different layers of the shelf. This not only improves the work efficiency of a single robot, but also improves work flexibility due to the small size of the robot.

[0003] After the climbing robot completes bin loading and unloading work at the workstation, even if the climbing robot is in a low position, its total height exceeds the height of the workstation platform. The climbing robot cannot leave the workstation through the space below the workstation platform, and needs to retreat to a turning position to withdraw. The next climbing robot must maintain a safe distance and wait for the previous one to completely exit. The above process makes the time for the climbing robot to enter and exit the workstation relatively long, thereby reducing the efficiency of bin loading and unloading at the workstation. CONTENT OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In view of the above problems, embodiments of the present application provide a workstation docking device, a workstation, a warehousing system, a method for unloading a bin at a workstation by a carrying robot, an electronic device, and a computer-readable storage medium, which solve the problems of low picking efficiency and complex picking work.

[0005] According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present application, a workstation docking device is provided for use in a warehouse system, the warehouse system comprising a handling robot, the handling robot comprising a vertical arm, a lifting device and a mobile chassis, the lifting device being arranged on the mobile chassis, the vertical arm being connected to the lifting device, the lifting device being capable of lifting the vertical arm; the workstation docking device comprising a docking device and a buffer device; wherein the docking device is configured to transfer a bin between the handling robot and the buffer device, the docking device comprising: a first support; a docking unit configured to receive a bin on the handling robot or transfer a bin to the handling robot; a suspension unit, a top end of the suspension unit being fixed to an upper portion of the first support, a bottom end of the suspension unit being fixed to one end of the docking unit; and a second support, a top end of the second support being fixed to another end of the docking unit, thereby supporting the docking unit together with the first support and the suspension unit; wherein a gap is provided between the first support and the suspension unit, the gap being configured to allow the vertical arm of the handling robot to pass through, a bottom portion of the docking unit having a first space, the first space being configured to allow the handling robot to pass through and turn around when the handling robot is in a low position; the buffer device being adjacent to the docking unit, configured to temporarily store bins and transfer bins between the docking unit and a conveying device of a workstation.

[0006] In some embodiments, the suspension unit comprises a first suspension plate and a second suspension plate, a distance between an inner side of the first suspension plate and an inner side of the second suspension plate being greater than a width of a bin.

[0007] In some embodiments, the suspension unit comprises a first suspension plate and a second suspension plate, a distance between an inner side of the first suspension plate and an inner side of the second suspension plate being greater than a width of a bin.

[0008] In some embodiments, a top end of the second support is higher than a bottom end of the suspension unit, such that an end-to-end distance of the docking unit is in an inclined shape.

[0009] In some embodiments, a bottom surface of an end of the docking unit having a higher height is higher than a top portion of the vertical arm of the handling robot when the vertical arm is lowered to a low position.

[0010] In some embodiments, the buffer device comprises: a buffer unit adjacent to the docking unit, configured to temporarily store bins and transfer bins between the docking unit and the conveying device; and a third support configured to support the buffer unit.

[0011] In some embodiments, the second support is located adjacent to the docking unit and the buffer unit, and the third supports are located at two ends of the buffer unit respectively, and the second support is used to support the buffer unit together with the third supports. According to a second aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a workstation is provided, which comprises: at least one workstation docking device as described above; and a conveying device used to receive the to-be-processed containers conveyed by the at least one workstation docking device for workers to process, and / or convey the processed containers to the at least one workstation docking device.

[0012] In some embodiments, the at least one workstation docking device comprises a first workstation docking device and a second workstation docking device, and the conveying device comprises an inlet and an outlet; the first workstation docking device is used to receive the to-be-processed containers carried by the carrying robot and convey the to-be-processed containers to the inlet of the conveying device; and the second workstation docking device is used to receive the processed containers conveyed by the outlet of the conveying device and convey the processed containers to the carrying robot.

[0013] According to a third aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a warehouse system is provided, which comprises a shelf, a carrying robot and a workstation as described above; the shelf is used to store to-be-processed containers; and the carrying robot is used to carry the to-be-processed containers from the shelf to the workstation and carry the processed containers out of the workstation.

[0014] According to a fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a container unloading method of a carrying robot in a workstation is provided, which is applied to a carrying robot, and the workstation is as described above, further comprising a robot standby position, a robot unloading position and a robot turning position arranged in sequence along the conveying direction of the docking unit, the robot standby position and the robot unloading position are located upstream of the docking unit in the conveying direction of the docking unit, the robot turning position is located at the bottom of the docking unit, and the workstation further comprises a robot exit position located on one side of the robot turning position; the method comprises: controlling the carrying robot loaded with containers to walk from the robot standby position to the robot unloading position; controlling the carrying robot to unload the containers to the docking unit; controlling the container table surface and the vertical arm of the carrying robot to descend and controlling the carrying robot to walk from the robot unloading position to the robot turning position, in the process of the carrying robot walking from the robot unloading position to the robot turning position, the vertical arm of the carrying robot passes through the gap between the first support and the suspension unit, and the carrying robot passes through the bottom of the docking unit; controlling the carrying robot to turn; and controlling the carrying robot to walk to the robot exit position.

[0015] In some embodiments, the top end of the second support of the transfer robot is higher than the bottom end of the suspension unit, so that the two ends of the docking unit are in an inclined shape; the control of the descending of the tote deck and the vertical arm of the transfer robot and the walking of the transfer robot from the robot unloading position to the robot turning position further comprises: controlling the descending of the tote deck of the transfer robot to a first height, the first height being lower than the height of the bottom surface of the lower end of the docking unit; controlling the walking of the transfer robot from the robot unloading position to the robot turning position, and controlling the descending of the vertical arm of the transfer robot to a low position during the walking, the height of the bottom surface of the higher end of the docking unit being greater than the height of the top of the vertical arm when the vertical arm is lowered to the low position.

[0016] In some embodiments, the control of the walking of the transfer robot loaded with a tote from the robot standby position to the robot unloading position further comprises: in response to the walking of a previous transfer robot on the advancing path of the transfer robot from the robot unloading position to the robot turning position, controlling the walking of the transfer robot loaded with a tote from the robot standby position to the robot unloading position; the control of the descending of the tote deck and the vertical arm of the transfer robot and the walking of the transfer robot from the robot unloading position to the robot turning position further comprises: in response to the walking of the previous transfer robot from the robot turning position to the robot exit position, controlling the descending of the tote deck and the vertical arm of the transfer robot and the walking of the transfer robot from the robot unloading position to the robot turning position; the control of the walking of the transfer robot to the robot exit position further comprises: in response to the walking of the previous transfer robot from the robot exit position, controlling the walking of the transfer robot to the robot exit position.

[0017] In some embodiments, the control of the turning of the transfer robot further comprises: controlling the turning of the transfer robot by 90 degrees or -90 degrees.

[0018] According to a fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a method for loading a tote by a transfer robot at a work station is provided, which is applied to the transfer robot, the work station is the work station described above, the work station further comprises a robot turning position, a robot loading position and a robot exit position arranged in sequence along the conveying direction of the docking unit, the robot loading position and the robot exit position are located downstream of the docking unit in the conveying direction of the docking unit, the robot turning position is located at the bottom of the docking unit, and the work station further comprises a robot standby position located at one side of the robot turning position; the method comprises the following steps: controlling the transfer robot in an empty state and at a low position to move from the robot standby position to the robot turning position; controlling the transfer robot to turn; controlling the transfer robot to move from the robot turning position to the robot loading position, in the process of moving from the robot turning position to the robot loading position, the vertical arm of the transfer robot passes through the gap between the first support and the suspension unit, and the transfer robot passes through the bottom of the docking unit; controlling the tote table of the transfer robot to rise; controlling the transfer robot to load the tote on the docking unit to the tote table; and controlling the transfer robot to move from the robot loading position to the robot exit position.

[0019] In some embodiments, before the step of controlling the transfer robot in an empty state and at a low position to move from the robot standby position to the robot turning position, the method further comprises the following step: controlling the vertical arm of the transfer robot to descend to a low position, the bottom surface height of the end of the docking unit with a higher height is greater than the top height of the vertical arm when the vertical arm descends to the low position.

[0020] In some embodiments, the step of controlling the transfer robot in an empty state and at a low position to move from the robot standby position to the robot turning position further comprises: in response to a previous transfer robot located on the advancing path of the transfer robot moving from the robot turning position to the robot loading position, controlling the transfer robot in an empty state and at a low position to move from the robot standby position to the robot turning position; the step of controlling the transfer robot to move from the robot turning position to the robot loading position further comprises: in response to the previous transfer robot moving from the robot loading position to the robot exit position, controlling the transfer robot to move from the robot turning position to the robot loading position; and the step of controlling the transfer robot to move from the robot loading position to the robot exit position further comprises: in response to the previous transfer robot moving from the robot exit position, controlling the transfer robot to move from the robot loading position to the robot exit position.

[0021] In some embodiments, the controlling the transfer robot to turn further includes: controlling the transfer robot to turn 90 degrees or -90 degrees.

[0022] According to a sixth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, an electronic device is provided, including: a processor and a memory, the memory having stored executable instructions, the processor being capable of executing the executable instructions to implement the above-mentioned method for the transfer robot to unload the bins at the workstation, or the above-mentioned method for the transfer robot to load the bins at the workstation.

[0023] According to a seventh aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a computer readable storage medium is provided, the storage medium having stored executable instructions, the executable instructions, when running on an electronic device, causing the electronic device to execute the above-mentioned method for the transfer robot to unload the bins at the workstation, or the above-mentioned method for the transfer robot to load the bins at the workstation.

[0024] In the workstation docking device, the adjacent docking unit and the buffer device, and the first support and the second support are arranged, the first support is hung with a suspension unit, the suspension unit and the second support are fixed with the docking unit, and the docking unit is used for receiving the bins on the transfer robot and transmitting the bins to the buffer device, or transferring the bins transmitted by the buffer device to the transfer robot, and the buffer device is used for temporarily storing the bins and transferring the bins between the docking unit and the conveying device of the workstation. In the foregoing manner, when the transfer robot loads or unloads the bins at the workstation, the transfer robot lowers the bin table and the vertical arm, the vertical arm of the transfer robot can pass through the gap between the first support and the suspension unit, and the transfer robot can move forward to below the docking unit, the transfer robot can pass through the bottom of the docking unit and turn to exit the workstation when the transfer robot is in the low position, the next transfer robot can be moved synchronously when the previous transfer robot starts to move, without additional waiting time, the running time of the transfer robot at the workstation is shortened, and the bin loading and unloading efficiency of the workstation is improved.

[0025] The above description is only a summary of the technical solutions of the present application. In order to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to better understand the technical means of the present application and implement it according to the content of the description, and in order to enable the above and other purposes, characteristics and advantages of the present application to be more apparent and easy to understand, the following specific embodiments of the present application are described. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0026] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. The accompanying drawings are intended to only illustrate preferred embodiments and are not considered limiting of the present application. Moreover, like reference numerals denote like parts throughout the several views in the drawings. In the drawings:

[0027] Figure 1 A structural schematic diagram of a carrying robot is shown;

[0028] Figure 2 A structural schematic diagram of a bottom view of a bin is shown;

[0029] Figure 3 A structural schematic diagram of a carrying robot loaded with a bin is shown;

[0030] Figure 4A A perspective view of the carrying robot in a high position is shown;

[0031] Figure 4B A perspective view of the carrying robot in a low position is shown;

[0032] Figure 4C A side view of the carrying robot in a high position is shown;

[0033] Figure 4D A side view of the carrying robot in a low position is shown;

[0034] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a carrying robot in a related art unloading or loading a bin at a work station is shown

[0035] Figure 6A A structural schematic diagram of a work station docking device is shown;

[0036] Figure 6B A side view schematic diagram of a work station docking device is shown;

[0037] Figure 7A A side view schematic diagram of a work station docking device is shown;

[0038] Figure 7B A side view schematic diagram of a carrying robot loaded with a bin is shown;

[0039] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of an application scenario of a work station docking device is shown;

[0040] Figure 9A A perspective view schematic diagram of a carrying robot in a bin unloading scenario at a work station is shown;

[0041] Figure 9B A side view schematic diagram of a carrying robot in a bin unloading scenario at a work station is shown;

[0042] Figure 9C A top view perspective schematic diagram of a scenario of unloading a bin at a workstation by a carrying robot is shown;

[0043] Figure 10 A control flowchart of loading a bin at a workstation by a carrying robot is shown;

[0044] Figure 11 A top view perspective schematic diagram of a scenario of loading a bin at a workstation by a carrying robot is shown;

[0045] Figure 12 A control flowchart of loading a bin at a workstation by a carrying robot is shown;

[0046] Figure 13 A schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device is shown;

[0047] Figure 14 A schematic diagram of the structure of a warehouse system is shown.

[0048] The reference signs in the detailed description are as follows:

[0049] 100, warehouse system;

[0050] 10(W), workstation;

[0051] 1, workstation docking device; 1a, first workstation docking device; 1b, second workstation docking device; 11, docking device; 111, first support; 1111, first vertical column; 1112, second vertical column; 112, docking unit; 112a, first end of the docking unit; 112b, second end of the docking unit; 1121, belt conveyor; 113, suspension unit; 1131, first suspension plate; 1132, second suspension plate; 114, second support; 12, buffer device; 121, buffer unit; 1211, roller conveyor; 122, third support;

[0052] 2, conveyor; 21, inlet; 22, outlet;

[0053] 20, shelf;

[0054] 30, carrying robot; 30a, first carrying robot; 30b, second carrying robot; 31, mobile chassis; 32, table lifting mechanism; 33, bin table; 34, vertical arm; 35, bin stop edge; 36, bin hooking mechanism;

[0055] 40, bin; 41, groove; 40a, first end of the bin; 40b, second end of the bin;

[0056] S0, picking position; P1 (S1, L1), robot candidate position; P2, robot loading and unloading box position; P3 (S3, L2), robot turning position; P4 (S4, L4), robot exit position; S2, robot unloading box position; L3, robot loading box position;

[0057] 300, electronic device; 302, processor; 304, memory; 306, computer program. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0058] The embodiments of the technical solutions of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are only used to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, and therefore only serve as examples, and cannot limit the protection scope of the present application.

[0059] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs; the terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present application; the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof in the specification and claims of the present application and the above description of drawings are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion.

[0060] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the technical terms "first", "second", etc. are only used to distinguish different objects, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number, specific order or primary and secondary relationship of the indicated technical features. In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the meaning of "multiple" is more than two, unless otherwise explicitly and specifically limited.

[0061] In this paper, the phrase "embodiment" means that the specific features, structures or properties described in conjunction with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of this phrase in the specification does not necessarily mean the same embodiment, nor is it an independent or alternative embodiment to other embodiments. The skilled person in the art explicitly and implicitly understands that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0062] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "and / or" is only a description of the association relationship between the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent the existence of A, the existence of A and B, and the existence of B. In addition, the character " / " in this paper generally represents a "or" relationship between the front and rear associated objects.

[0063] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "multiple" refers to more than two (including two), and similarly, "multiple groups" refers to more than two groups (including two groups), and "multiple pieces" refers to more than two pieces (including two pieces).

[0064] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the orientations or positional relationships indicated by the technical terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", and the like are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the embodiments of the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the embodiments of the present application.

[0065] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the technical terms "mounting", "connection", "connection", "fixing", and the like should be understood broadly, for example, can be fixed connection, can also be detachable connection, or integral; can be mechanical connection, can also be electrical connection; can be direct connection, can also be indirect connection through an intermediate medium, can be internal communication of two elements or interaction relationship between two elements. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the embodiments of the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0066] The intelligent warehousing system is a system that uses advanced information technology and automated equipment to realize efficient storage and handling of goods, and can realize automatic identification, picking, handling and storage of goods. The handling robot plays a crucial role in the warehouse operation, especially in the process of handling goods. Specifically, the handling robot is responsible for taking the bin containing goods from the shelf and transporting it to the workstation for the worker to pick the goods. After the picking work is completed, the handling robot also needs to take the picked bin from the workstation and transport it back to the shelf for storage.

[0067] The handling robot that handles goods between the shelf and the workstation has various forms, such as the lifting type robot, the climbing robot, etc. Among them, the climbing robot (also known as the shelf climbing robot or the climbing robot) has higher space utilization and access efficiency, and better flexibility compared with the lifting type robot. In the warehouse system using the climbing robot, a track is provided on the shelf, and the climbing robot can vertically ascend and descend along the track to handle the bins at different heights on the shelf.

[0068] Figure 1A structure schematic diagram of a carrying robot is shown. For ease of description, three coordinate axes are established. The three directions are a first direction X, a second direction Z and a third direction Y. The first direction X, the second direction Z and the third direction Y are perpendicular to each other. The first direction X is a walking direction of the carrying robot 30 on a support surface (for example, the ground), and the second direction Z is a vertical lifting direction of the carrying robot 30.

[0069] As shown in Figure 1 , the carrying robot 30 is a climbing robot, which includes a mobile chassis 31, a lifting device and a vertical arm 34. The lifting device includes a table lifting mechanism 32 and a bin table 33. The mobile chassis 31 is used to drive the carrying robot 30 to move on the support surface (for example, the ground). The table lifting mechanism 32 is arranged on the mobile chassis 31. The table lifting mechanism 32 shown in the figure is a scissor fork mechanism. The table lifting mechanism 32 can also be a lifting rod (hydraulic, electric or pneumatic), a screw lifting mechanism, a chain lifting mechanism, a gear lifting mechanism, a crank lifting mechanism, etc., as long as the lifting of the bin table 33 can be realized. The present application does not limit this. The bin table 33 is arranged at the top end of the table lifting mechanism 32 and is driven by the table lifting mechanism 32 to lift the bin table 33. The bin table 33 is used to place a bin. For example, after the carrying robot 30 takes out the bin from the shelf 20, the bin is loaded on the bin table 33. After the carrying robot 30 moves to the work station, the bin is unloaded from the bin table 33 to the work station.

[0070] The vertical arm 34 is fixedly connected with the bin table 33. The table lifting mechanism 32 drives the bin table 33 to lift at the same time, and synchronously drives the vertical arm 34 to lift.

[0071] Bin stopping edges 35 are arranged on both sides of the bin table 33, which are used to block the bin and prevent the bin from sliding off from both sides of the bin table 33.

[0072] A bin hooking mechanism 36 is arranged on the bin table 33, which can be lifted relative to the bin table 33 along the second direction Z. Figure 2 A bottom view structure schematic diagram of a bin is shown. As shown in Figure 2 , and Figure 1A groove 41 is formed on the bottom surface of the bin 40. Before the bin 40 is loaded onto the bin table 33, the bin hooking mechanism 36 does not protrude from the bin table 33 (is flush with or lower than the bin table 33) so that the bin 40 has no obstacles during the process of being loaded onto the bin table 33; after the bin 40 is loaded onto the bin table 33, the bin hooking mechanism 36 is raised in the second direction Z to be deep into the groove 41 on the bottom surface of the bin 40 to limit the bin 40 from moving out of the bin table 33; when the bin 40 needs to be unloaded, the bin hooking mechanism 36 is lowered in the second direction Z to be flush with or lower than the bin table 33 to be separated from the groove 41 on the bottom surface of the bin 40, so that the limitation on the bin 40 is released and the bin 40 can be unloaded from the bin table 33.

[0073] After the bin 40 is loaded onto the bin table 33, the position of the groove 41 on the bottom surface of the bin 40 may not be completely aligned with the bin hooking mechanism 36, for example, there is a deviation in the first direction X or the groove 41 is inclined in the XOY plane relative to the third direction Y and is not parallel to the third direction Y. In the embodiments of the present application, the bin hooking mechanism 36 can also move relative to the bin table 33 in the first direction X (i.e., front and back extension) and rotate in the XOY plane to achieve the alignment of the bin hooking mechanism 36 and the groove 41 on the bottom surface of the bin 40 in the above-mentioned cases, so that the bin hooking mechanism 36 can smoothly deep into the groove 41 on the bottom surface of the bin 40.

[0074] As shown in Figure 2 , when the bin is loaded onto the bin table 33, the first end 40a of the bin may correspond to the position of the bin hooking mechanism 36, or the second end 40b of the bin may correspond to the position of the bin hooking mechanism 36. In the embodiments of the present application, grooves 41 are formed on both ends of the bin (the first end 40a of the bin and the second end 40b of the bin), and in the case that any one end of the bin 40 corresponds to the position of the bin hooking mechanism 36 when the bin 40 is loaded onto the bin table 33, the bin hooking mechanism 36 can cooperate with the groove 41 to limit the bin 40.

[0075] The vertical arm 34 is used to be connected with the track of the shelf and vertically ascend and descend along the track. Figure 3 A structure schematic diagram of the carrying robot 30 provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown, as shown in Figure 3 , there is a gap D1 between the vertical arm 34 and the bin 40 on both sides of the carrying robot 30, so the bin 40 can be moved into and out of the carrying robot 30 from between the two vertical arms 34.

[0076] Figure 4A to Figure 4D Structure schematic diagrams of the carrying robot in high and low positions are shown, in which, Figure 4A , and Figure 4Care a perspective view and a side view of the handling robot in a high position, respectively, Figure 4B and Figure 4D are a perspective view and a side view of the handling robot in a low position, respectively, wherein the high position refers to the attitude of the handling robot 30 when the table lifting mechanism 32 of the handling robot 30 is raised to the height of the loading and unloading box, and the low position refers to the attitude of the handling robot 30 when the table lifting mechanism 32 of the handling robot 30 is lowered to the lowest height (the vertical arm 34 is fixedly connected to the box table 33, so the vertical arm 34 is also at the lowest height). When the handling robot 30 is in the high position, the box table 33 is generally flush with the table of the work station.

[0077] As shown in Figure 4C , when the handling robot 30 is in the high position, the height of the box table 33 is H1, as shown in Figure 4D , when the handling robot 30 is in the low position, the total height of the handling robot 30 is H2, H2 is greater than H1, and H1 is generally equal to the height of the table of the work station, so H2 is also greater than the height of the table of the work station, which will result in that after the handling robot 30 unloads the box 40 to the work station, the box table 33 cannot pass through the bottom of the work station by being lowered.

[0078] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of the handling robot in the related art unloading or loading a box at the work station, in which the solid arrow represents the route of the handling robot 30 entering the work station W, the dashed arrow represents the route of the handling robot 30 exiting the work station W, and the dash-dot line represents some positions of the handling robot 30 during the travel.

[0079] As shown in Figure 5 , the first handling robot 30 travels to the robot loading and unloading box position P2 in front of the work station W, sends the box into the work station W or loads the box into the box table 33 of the handling robot 30, then retreats to the robot turning position P3, moves to the robot exit position P4 after turning, and then leaves the work station W, after which the second handling robot 30 travels to the robot loading and unloading box position P2 in front of the work station W and repeats the above process. In this process, the first handling robot 30 and the second handling robot 30 cannot enter and exit the work station W synchronously, and the second handling robot 30 can only enter the work station W after the first handling robot 30 leaves the work station W. In addition, when the second handling robot 30 is on standby at the robot standby position P1, in order not to interfere with the exit route of the first handling robot 30, the second handling robot 30 must be kept at a sufficient distance from the first handling robot 30, the space required for the robot turning position P3 must be reserved between the robot standby position P1 and the robot loading and unloading box position P2, and a distance must also be maintained between the robot standby position P1 and the robot turning position P3. The above situations result in that the handling robot 30 takes a relatively long time to enter and exit the work station W, which affects the efficiency of loading and unloading boxes at the work station W.

[0080] Therefore, how to improve the efficiency of loading and unloading the box at the workstation is a problem to be solved.

[0081] The embodiment of the present application provides a workstation docking device, which aims to improve the efficiency of loading and unloading the box at the workstation. Figure 6A The structure diagram of the workstation docking device provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown, Figure 6B The side view diagram of the workstation docking device provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown. As Figure 6A And Figure 6B The workstation docking device 1 includes a docking device 11 and a buffer device 12. The docking device 11 is used to transfer the box between the transfer robot and the buffer device 12. The buffer device 12 is adjacent to the docking unit 112 and is used to temporarily store the box and transfer the box between the docking unit 112 and the conveying device of the workstation. Wherein, the structure of the transfer robot docking with the workstation docking device 1 is the same as or similar to the transfer robot 30 shown in Figure 1 The structure of the transfer robot 30 is the same as or similar to the transfer robot 30 shown in

[0082] The docking device 11 includes a first support 111, a docking unit 112, a suspension unit 113 and a second support 114. Wherein, the first support 111 and the second support 114 are arranged at intervals; the top end of the suspension unit 113 is fixed to the upper part of the first support 111, and the bottom end of the suspension unit 113 is fixed to one end (the first end 112a of the docking unit shown in the figure) of the docking unit 112; the top end of the second support 114 is fixed to the other end (the second end 112b of the docking unit shown in the figure) of the docking unit 112, thereby supporting the docking unit 112 together with the first support 111 and the suspension unit 113.

[0083] In the specific embodiment shown in the figure, the top end of the second support 114 is higher than the bottom end of the suspension unit 113, so that the two ends of the docking unit 112 are inclined, specifically, the height of the end of the docking unit 112 close to the first support 111 (i.e. the first end 112a of the docking unit) is lower than the height of the end of the docking unit 112 close to the second support 114 (i.e. the second end 112b of the docking unit). In other embodiments, the top end of the second support 114 can also be at the same height as the bottom end of the suspension unit 113, and the docking unit 112 as a whole is in a substantially horizontal state.

[0084] The connection unit 112 is used to receive the box on the carrying robot or transfer the box to the carrying robot. When the carrying robot unloads the box at the work station, the connection unit 112 receives the box on the carrying robot and transports the box from the first end 112a of the connection unit to the second end 112b of the connection unit; when the carrying robot loads the box at the work station, the connection unit 112 transports the box from the second end 112b of the connection unit to the first end 112a of the connection unit and transfers the box to the carrying robot. In the embodiment of the present application, the connection unit 112 is provided with a power transport device to realize the above-mentioned box transportation. In particular, since the height of the second end 112b of the connection unit is higher than the height of the first end 112a of the connection unit, when the carrying robot unloads the box at the work station, the connection unit 112 needs to transport the box from the lower first end 112a of the connection unit to the higher second end 112b of the connection unit, so it is more necessary to realize the box transportation by the power transport device. In the specific embodiment shown in the figure, the power transport device is a belt transport device 1121. Those skilled in the art should understand that in other embodiments, the power transport device can also be a roller transport device, a hooking transport device or other power transport devices.

[0085] The first support 111 is a door type structure, and the box can pass under the first support 111 when the carrying robot loads or unloads the box in front of the first support 111 of the work station docking device 1. Correspondingly, the suspension unit 113 is also arranged to be able to pass the box without interference.

[0086] Figure 7A A side view schematic diagram of the work station docking device provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown, Figure 7B A side view schematic diagram of the carrying robot loaded with the box is shown. As Figure 7A and 7B shown, and Figure 6A to Figure 6B As shown in the figure, the suspension unit 113 includes a first suspension plate 1131 and a second suspension plate 1132, and the distance D2 between the inner side of the first suspension plate 1131 and the inner side of the second suspension plate 1132 is greater than the width D3 of the box, so that the box can pass between the first suspension plate 1131 and the second suspension plate 1132. In other embodiments, the suspension unit 113 can also be a door type structure with the opening downward, the top beam of the door type structure is fixed to the first support 111, the vertical beams on both sides of the door type structure are fixed to the connection unit 112, and the distance between the vertical beams on both sides of the door type structure is greater than the width of the box, so that the box can pass between the first suspension plate 1131 and the second suspension plate 1132.

[0087] The first support 111 has a gap between the first support 111 and the suspension unit 113 for the vertical arm 34 of the transfer robot 30 to pass through. The first support 111 includes a first upright 1111 and a second upright 1112, and the distance D4 between the outer side of the first suspension plate 1131 and the outer side of the second suspension plate 1132 is less than the inner side distance D5 of the two vertical arms 34 of the transfer robot 30, and the distance D6 between the inner side of the first upright 1111 and the inner side of the second upright 1112 is greater than the outer side distance D7 of the two vertical arms 34 of the transfer robot 30. Through such a structure, when the transfer robot 30 moves forward to the bottom of the docking unit 112, the vertical arm 34 of the transfer robot 30 can pass through the gap between the first support 111 and the suspension unit 113, and the vertical arm 34 and the first support 111 and the suspension unit 113 do not interfere with each other.

[0088] The table lifting mechanism 32 of the transfer robot 30 can drive the magazine table 33 and the vertical arm 34 to be lifted synchronously, and the bottom surface height of the second end 112b of the docking unit is greater than the top height of the vertical arm 34 when the vertical arm 34 of the transfer robot 30 is lowered to a low position. The bottom of the docking unit 112 has a first space, and when the magazine table 33 of the transfer robot 30 is lowered below the bottom surface height of the first end 112a of the docking unit, the transfer robot 30 can move into the first space at the bottom of the docking unit 112 and pass through the bottom of the docking unit 112; when the transfer robot 30 is in a low position, for example, when the vertical arm 34 is lowered to a position where the top height of the vertical arm 34 is lower than the bottom surface height of the second end 112b of the docking unit, the transfer robot 30 can turn at the bottom of the docking unit 112 and then move out of the docking unit 112.

[0089] The buffer device 12 includes a buffer unit 121 and a third support 122. The buffer unit 121 is adjacent to the docking unit 112 and is used to temporarily store the magazine and transfer the magazine between the docking unit 112 and the conveying device. The third support 122 is arranged in a spaced manner with the second support 114 and is used to support the buffer unit 121.

[0090] The buffer unit 121 needs to convey the magazine from one end of the buffer unit 121 to the other end of the buffer unit 121. Figure 8 An application scenario schematic diagram of the workstation docking device provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 1. Figure 8As shown, the workstation 10 comprises the conveying device 2 and two workstation docking devices 1 (a first workstation docking device 1a and a second workstation docking device 1b) arranged at two ends of the conveying device 2 respectively. When the first carrying robot 30a unloads the to-be-worked bin at the workstation 10, the docking unit 112 in the first workstation docking device 1a receives the to-be-worked bin unloaded by the carrying robot 30 and conveys it to the buffer unit 121 in the first workstation docking device 1a, which transfers the to-be-worked bin to the conveying device 2 of the workstation 10, and then the to-be-worked bin is conveyed by the conveying device 2 to the picking position S0 for picking work by the staff. The bin after the picking work (hereinafter referred to as worked bin) is conveyed by the conveying device 2 of the workstation 10 to the buffer unit 121 in the second workstation docking device 1b, which transfers the worked bin to the docking unit 112 in the second workstation docking device 1b, and then the docking unit 112 loads the worked bin to the second carrying robot 30b. If there is a bin currently in the picking position S0 for picking work, the buffer unit 121 can control the bin to be temporarily stored on the buffer unit 121; if the picking work of the bin currently in the picking position S0 is completed, the worked bin leaves the picking position S0, and then the buffer unit 121 can transfer the worked bin to the conveying device 2, and then the conveying device 2 conveys the worked bin to the picking position S0.

[0091] In the embodiment of the present application, the buffer unit 121 is provided with a powered conveying device to realize the above-mentioned bin transfer. In the specific embodiment shown in the figure, the powered conveying device is a roller conveying device 1211. Those skilled in the art should understand that in other embodiments, the powered conveying device can also be a belt conveying device, a hooking conveying device or other powered conveying devices.

[0092] The second support 114 and the third support 122 can be a door type structure, a column type structure or a plate type structure, as long as they can realize the supporting function. When the second support 114 and the third support 122 are a door type structure or a column type structure, they have a passing space below, which also provides a passing space for the carrying robot 30, which can further facilitate the path planning of the carrying robot 30 and shorten the communication path of the carrying robot 30 in some cases, thereby improving the passing efficiency of the carrying robot 30.

[0093] In some embodiments, the second support 114 is located adjacent to the docking unit 112 and the buffer unit 121, and the third support 122 is located at two ends of the buffer unit 121 respectively, and the second support 114 and the third support 122 jointly support the buffer unit 121 to realize the stable support of the buffer unit 121.

[0094] The work station docking device 1 provided by the embodiment of the present application is provided with adjacent docking units 112 and buffer devices 12, and a first support 111 and a second support 114, the first support 111 is hung with a hanging unit 113, the hanging unit 113 and the second support 114 are fixed with the docking units 112, and the docking units 112 are supported by the first support 111, the hanging unit 113 and the second support 114 and are in an inclined shape between two ends of the docking units 112, wherein the docking units 112 are used for receiving the material box 40 unloaded by the handling robot 30 and transmitting the material box 40 to the buffer device 12, or loading the material box 40 transmitted by the buffer device 12 to the handling robot 30, and the buffer device 12 is used for temporarily storing the material box 40 and transferring the material box 40 between the docking units 112 and the conveying device 2 of the work station 10. In the above manner, when the handling robot 30 loads or unloads the material box 40 at the work station 10, the material box 40 can pass through the hanging unit 113, and then the handling robot 30 continues to move forward and lowers the box table 33 and the vertical arm 34, the vertical arm 34 of the handling robot 30 can pass through the gap between the first support 111 and the hanging unit 113, and the handling robot 30 can move forward to below the docking unit 112, when the vertical arm 34 is in a lowered state, the handling robot 30 can pass through the bottom of the docking unit 112 and turn to exit the work station 10, the next handling robot 30 can move synchronously when the previous handling robot 30 starts to move, without additional waiting time, the operation time of the handling robot 30 at the work station 10 is shortened, and the loading and unloading efficiency of the work station 10 is improved.

[0095] The work station 10 using the work station docking device 1 provided by the above embodiment is introduced below, and the work flow of the handling robot 30 at the work station 10 is introduced. First, the material box unloading flow of the handling robot 30 at the work station 10 is introduced.

[0096] Figure 9A A perspective view of the material box unloading scene of the handling robot at the work station provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown, Figure 9B A side view of the material box unloading scene of the handling robot at the work station provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown, Figure 9C A top view of the material box unloading scene of the handling robot at the work station provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown. Figure 9C The path indicated by the arrow is the walking path of the handling robot 30.

[0097] First, some positions of the handling robot 30 in the process of advancing in this scene are introduced, such as Figure 9A to Figure 9CAs shown, the carrying robot 30 sequentially passes through the following positions in the bin unloading process: a robot standby position S1, a robot bin unloading position S1, a robot turning position S1 and a robot exit position S1, wherein the robot standby position S1, the robot bin unloading position S2 and the robot turning position S3 are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the docking unit 112, the robot standby position S1 and the robot bin unloading position S2 are located upstream of the docking unit 112 in the conveying direction of the docking unit 112, the robot turning position S3 is located at the bottom of the docking unit 112, and the robot exit position S4 is located on one side of the robot turning position S3.

[0098] Figure 10 A bin unloading control flowchart of the carrying robot at the workstation provided by the embodiment of the application is shown, and the bin unloading control of the carrying robot 30 at the workstation can be performed by the controller of the carrying robot 30. As shown in Figure 10 As shown, and referring to Figure 9A to Figure 9C , the bin unloading control flowchart of the carrying robot at the workstation includes the following steps:

[0099] S1001, control the carrying robot loaded with a bin to walk from the robot standby position to the robot bin unloading position.

[0100] The bin 40 carried by the carrying robot 30 is a bin to be worked on. After receiving the bin unloading task, the carrying robot 30 can plan a path according to the task and walk according to the planned path. When the carrying robot 30 comes to the workstation to perform the bin unloading task, it usually arrives at the robot standby position S1 first. If the robot bin unloading position S2 is not occupied by other carrying robots 30, the carrying robot 30 can directly walk from the robot standby position S1 to the robot bin unloading position S2; if the robot bin unloading position S1 is occupied by other carrying robots 30, the carrying robot 30 stops at the robot standby position S1 and waits.

[0101] Then, in response to the previous carrying robot 30 located on the advancing path of the carrying robot 30 leaving the robot bin unloading position S2 and going to the robot turning position S3, the carrying robot 30 is controlled to walk from the robot standby position S1 to the robot bin unloading position S2. Figure 5 As shown in the related art, a space required by the robot turning position P3 needs to be reserved between the robot standby position P1 and the robot bin unloading position P2, and in the embodiment, the robot standby position S1 and the robot bin unloading position S2 can be directly adjacent without a spacing, thereby saving the walking time of the carrying robot 30.

[0102] The transport robot 30 can detect whether the previous transport robot 30 on its advancing path leaves the robot unloading position S2 and goes to the robot turning position S3 through sensor detection, visual detection and other technologies. The transport robot 30 can also learn the movement of the previous transport robot 30 through communication between the transport robots 30, or the server of the warehouse system can control the positions and movements of all transport robots 30 to coordinate and control the movements of the transport robots 30. When the previous transport robot 30 on the advancing path of the transport robot 30 leaves the robot unloading position S2 and goes to the robot turning position S3, the server sends a notification to the transport robot 30 to inform the state of the previous transport robot 30.

[0103] S1002, controlling the transport robot to unload the bin to the connection unit.

[0104] The transport robot 30 reaches the robot unloading position in the aforementioned high position, and then the transport robot 30 unloads the bin 40 to the connection unit 112. The unloading method can be achieved by various existing technologies, and the present embodiment does not limit this. During the unloading process, the bin 40 passes through the suspension unit 113, for example, between the first suspension plate 1131 and the second suspension plate 1132 of the suspension unit 113, and reaches the connection unit 112. The connection unit 112 transports the bin 40 to the buffer unit 121, and then the buffer unit 121 transfers the bin 40 to the conveying device, and then the conveying device transports the bin 40 to the picking position for the staff to perform the picking work.

[0105] S1003, controlling the bin table and the vertical arm of the transport robot to descend and controlling the transport robot to walk from the robot unloading position to the robot turning position.

[0106] After the transport robot 30 unloads the bin to the connection unit 112, the bin table 33 is first controlled to descend, and then continues to walk according to the planned path from the robot unloading position S2 to the robot turning position S3. This step can further include the following steps:

[0107] S1003a, controlling the bin table of the transport robot to descend to a first height, which is lower than the height of the lower end of the connection unit.

[0108] S1003b, controlling the transport robot to walk from the robot unloading position to the robot turning position, and controlling the vertical arm of the transport robot to descend to a low position during the walking process.

[0109] The lower end of the transfer unit 112 is the first end 112a of the transfer unit, and the tote deck 33 of the tote robot 30 can be lowered to a level below the floor level of the first end 112a of the transfer unit 112, so as to enter the bottom of the transfer unit 112 and move to the robot turning position S3 at the bottom of the transfer unit 112. During the movement, the tote deck 33 of the tote robot 30 continues to be lowered to the lowest level, i.e., the vertical arm 34 is lowered to the lower position, and the floor level H3 of the higher end of the transfer unit 112 is greater than the top level H4 of the vertical arm 34 when the vertical arm 34 is lowered to the lower position. At this time, the tote robot 30 is in the aforementioned lower position, and in this state, the top level H4 of the vertical arm 34 of the tote robot 30 is lower than the floor level H3 of the second end 112b of the transfer unit, so that the tote robot 30 can turn at the bottom of the transfer unit 112 without interference with the second end 112b of the transfer unit. After turning, the tote robot 30 can move out of the transfer unit 112 from the side of the transfer unit 112.

[0110] Before the tote robot 30 leaves the robot unloading position, if there is no other tote robot 30 at the robot turning position, the tote robot 30 can directly move from the robot unloading position to the robot turning position; if there is a previous tote robot 30 at the robot turning position, the tote robot 30 waits until the previous tote robot 30 leaves the robot turning position before moving to the robot turning position. Specifically, in response to the previous tote robot 30 leaving the robot turning position to move to the robot exit position, the tote robot 30 is controlled to lower the tote deck 33 and the vertical arm 34, and the tote robot 30 is controlled to move from the robot unloading position to the robot turning position.

[0111] During the movement of the tote robot 30 from the robot unloading position S2 to the robot turning position S3, the vertical arm 34 of the tote robot 30 passes through the gap between the first support 111 and the suspension unit 113, and the tote robot 30 passes through the bottom of the transfer unit 112.

[0112] S1004, control the tote robot to turn.

[0113] Before the tote robot 30 leaves the robot turning position S3, the tote robot 30 is first controlled to turn, for example, to the direction towards the robot exit position S4, so that the tote robot 30 can move forward to the robot exit position S4. In the present embodiment, the robot exit position S4 is located directly to the side of the robot turning position S3, so that the tote robot 30 can be controlled to turn by 90 degrees or -90 degrees (determined according to whether the robot exit position S4 is located to the right or left of the robot turning position S3), so that the tote robot 30 can subsequently move forward to the robot exit position S4.

[0114] S1005, control the carrying robot to walk to the robot exit position.

[0115] In response to the previous carrying robot 30 leaving from the robot exit position S4, the carrying robot 30 walks from the robot turning position S3 to the robot exit position S4, and then the carrying robot 30 leaves the work station.

[0116] S1001 to S1005 are the flow of moving a single carrying robot 30 from the robot standby position S1 to the robot exit position S4, and each carrying robot 30 can implement the bin unloading operation at the work station according to the flow.

[0117] The bin loading flow of the carrying robot 30 at the work station is introduced below. Figure 11 A top view schematic diagram of the bin loading scene of the carrying robot at the work station provided by the embodiment of the application is shown. Figure 11 The path indicated by the arrow is the walking path of the carrying robot 30.

[0118] First, some positions of the carrying robot 30 in the process of advancing in this scene are introduced, such as Figure 11 As shown, the carrying robot 30 sequentially passes through the following positions in the bin loading flow: the robot standby position L1, the robot turning position L2, the robot loading position L3, and the robot exit position L4, wherein the robot turning position L2, the robot loading position L3, and the robot exit position L4 are arranged in sequence along the conveying direction of the docking unit 112, the robot loading position L3 and the robot exit position L4 are located downstream of the docking unit 112 in the conveying direction of the docking unit 112, the robot turning position L2 is located at the bottom of the docking unit 112, and the robot standby position L1 is located on one side of the robot turning position L2.

[0119] Figure 12 A bin loading control flowchart of the carrying robot at the work station provided by the embodiment of the application is shown, and the bin loading control of the carrying robot 30 at the work station can be performed by the controller of the carrying robot 30. As shown in Figure 12 , and referring to Figure 11 , the bin loading control flowchart of the carrying robot 30 at the work station includes the following steps:

[0120] S1201, control the carrying robot which is empty and in a low position to walk from the robot standby position to the robot turning position.

[0121] The bin that the carrying robot 30 needs to load is a post-operation bin. After receiving the bin loading task, the carrying robot 30 can plan a path according to the task and walk according to the planned path. The carrying robot 30 performing the bin loading task is an empty robot, and the bin platform 33 of the carrying robot is not placed with a bin.

[0122] When the transfer robot 30 comes to the work station to perform a bin loading task, it usually first arrives at the robot standby position. If the robot turning position is not occupied by another transfer robot 30, the transfer robot 30 can directly travel from the robot standby position L1 to the robot turning position L2; if the robot turning position L2 is occupied by another transfer robot 30, the transfer robot 30 stops at the robot standby position L1 and waits.

[0123] Subsequently, in response to the previous transfer robot 30 located on the advancing path of the transfer robot 30 leaving the robot turning position L2 to go to the robot binning position L3, the control unit controls the transfer robot 30, which is empty and has the bin table 33 in the lowered state, to travel from the robot standby position L1 to the robot turning position L2.

[0124] Before the transfer robot 30 turns at the robot turning position L2, the vertical arm 34 of the transfer robot 30 needs to be lowered to a low position, for example, the transfer robot 30 is in the aforementioned low position, so that the transfer robot 30 can turn at the bottom of the docking unit 112 without interference with the vertical arm 34 of the transfer robot 30. Specifically, after the transfer robot 30 performs a bin unloading task, it can be in the low position, that is, in the aforementioned low position, so that the transfer robot 30 can turn at the bottom of the docking unit 112 without interference with the vertical arm 34 of the transfer robot 30. Figure 10 In the illustrated embodiment, the vertical arm 34 of the transfer robot 30 is controlled to be lowered to the low position before the transfer robot 30 turns at the robot turning position L2. In some cases, if the transfer robot 30 is not in the aforementioned low position, the vertical arm 34 of the transfer robot 30 can be controlled to be lowered to the low position during the transfer robot 30 traveling to the standby position L1, or after the transfer robot 30 travels to the robot standby position L1, or during the transfer robot 30 traveling from the robot standby position L1 to the robot turning position L2, as long as the top of the vertical arm 34 of the transfer robot 30 is lower than the bottom of the second end 112b of the docking unit before the transfer robot 30 turns.

[0125] S1202, control the transfer robot to turn.

[0126] Similar to the aforementioned S1004, this step can control the transfer robot 30 to turn 90 degrees or -90 degrees, so that the transfer robot 30 can subsequently advance to the robot binning position L3.

[0127] S1203, control the transfer robot to travel from the robot turning position to the robot binning position, during which the vertical arm of the transfer robot passes through the gap between the first support and the suspension unit, and the transfer robot passes through the bottom of the docking unit.

[0128] If there is no other transfer robot 30 in the robot loading position L3, the transfer robot 30 can directly walk from the robot turning position L2 to the robot loading position L3; if there is other transfer robot 30 in the robot loading position L3, the transfer robot 30 is stopped in the robot turning position L2 and waits. Then, in response to the previous transfer robot 30 leaving the robot loading position L3 to go to the robot exit position L4, the transfer robot 30 is controlled to walk from the robot turning position L2 to the robot loading position L3.

[0129] Similar to the foregoing Figure 10 During the process of the transfer robot 30 walking from the robot turning position L2 to the robot loading position L3, the vertical arm 34 of the transfer robot 30 passes through the gap between the first support 111 and the suspension unit 113, and the transfer robot 30 passes through the bottom of the docking unit 112.

[0130] S1204, control the magazine table of the transfer robot to rise.

[0131] After the transfer robot 30 reaches the robot loading position L3, the magazine table 33 can be raised, for example, to be substantially flush with the upper surface of the docking unit 112, so as to be able to receive the magazine from the docking unit 112.

[0132] S1205, control the transfer robot to load the magazine on the docking unit to the magazine table.

[0133] The magazine loading method can be implemented by various prior art, and the present embodiment does not limit it. Similar to the foregoing Figure 10 During the loading process, the magazine also passes through the suspension unit 113.

[0134] S1206, control the transfer robot to walk from the robot loading position to the robot exit position.

[0135] Before the transfer robot 30 leaves the robot loading position L3, if there is no other transfer robot 30 in the robot exit position L4, the transfer robot 30 can directly walk from the robot loading position L3 to the robot exit position L4; if there is a previous transfer robot 30 in the robot exit position L4, the transfer robot 30 waits until the previous transfer robot 30 leaves the robot exit position L4, and then walks to the robot exit position L3. Specifically, in response to the previous transfer robot 30 leaving the robot exit position L4, the transfer robot 30 is controlled to walk from the robot loading position L3 to the robot exit position L4.

[0136] S1201 to S1206 are the flow of a single transfer robot 30 moving from the robot standby position L1 to the robot exit position L4, and each transfer robot 30 can perform the magazine loading operation at the workstation according to the flow.

[0137] Figure 13 A structure schematic diagram of an electronic device provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown, and embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation of the electronic device. The electronic device can be a controller of the transfer robot 30.

[0138] As shown in Figure 13 The electronic device 300 can include a processor 302 and a memory 304.

[0139] The processor 302 is configured to execute a computer program 306, and specifically can execute the related steps in the method for the transfer robot 30 to unload the bin at the workstation 10 and / or the method for the transfer robot 30 to load the bin at the workstation 10 as described in the above embodiments.

[0140] Specifically, the computer program 306 can include computer executable instructions.

[0141] The processor 302 can be a central processing unit CPU, or an application specific integrated circuit ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement one or more embodiments of the present application. The one or more processors included in the electronic device can be the same type of processor, such as one or more CPUs; or can be different types of processors, such as one or more CPUs and one or more ASICs.

[0142] The memory 304 is configured to store the computer program 306. The memory 304 can include a high-speed RAM memory, and can also include a non-volatile memory such as at least one disk memory.

[0143] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, and the storage medium stores at least one executable instruction. When the executable instruction is run on the electronic device, the electronic device executes the operations of the method for the transfer robot 30 to unload the bin at the workstation 10 and / or the method for the transfer robot 30 to load the bin at the workstation 10 as described in the above embodiments.

[0144] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, and the computer program product includes a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the operations of the method for the transfer robot 30 to unload the bin at the workstation 10 and / or the method for the transfer robot 30 to load the bin at the workstation 10 as described in the above embodiments are implemented.

[0145] This application provides a computer program that can be called by a processor to enable an electronic device to perform the bin unloading method of the handling robot 30 at the workstation 10 and / or the bin loading method of the handling robot 30 at the workstation 10 as described in the above embodiments.

[0146] This application also provides a workstation, which can be referred to in the embodiments. Figure 8 As shown, the workstation 10 includes at least one workstation docking device 1 and a conveying device 2. The structure and working principle of the workstation docking device 1 are the same as described above. Figure 6A to Figure 12 Some embodiments are the same and will not be described again here. The conveying device 2 is used to receive the work-ready bins conveyed by at least one workstation docking device 1 for workers to work on, and / or to convey the work-finished bins to at least one workstation docking device 1.

[0147] In some embodiments, such as Figure 8 As shown, the workstation 10 includes a first workstation docking device 1a and a second workstation docking device 1b, and the conveying device 2 includes an inlet 21 and an outlet 22. The first workstation docking device 1a is used to receive the work-ready bins transported by the handling robot 30 and convey them to the inlet 21 of the conveying device 2. The second workstation docking device 1b is used to receive the finished work bins conveyed by the outlet 22 of the conveying device 2 and convey them to the handling robot 30.

[0148] This application also provides a warehousing system. Figure 14 A schematic diagram of the structure of the warehousing system provided in an embodiment of this application is shown, as follows: Figure 14 As shown, the warehousing system 100 includes shelves 20, a handling robot 30, and a workstation 10. Shelves 20 are used to store boxes awaiting processing, and the handling robot 30 is used to move boxes from shelves 20 to workstation 10 and to move boxes out of workstation 10 after processing. Workstation 10 includes at least one workstation docking device 1 and a conveying device 2. The structure and working principle of the workstation docking device 1 are as described above. Figure 6A to Figure 12 Some embodiments are the same and will not be described again here. The conveying device 2 is used to receive the work-ready bins conveyed by at least one workstation docking device 1 for workers to work on, and / or to convey the work-finished bins to at least one workstation docking device 1.

[0149] The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer, virtual system, or other apparatus. Various general purpose systems can be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it can prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will be apparent from the description above. In addition, the present embodiments are not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages can be used to implement the teachings of the present disclosure as described herein, and any references below to specific languages are provided for disclosure of enablement of the best mode of the present embodiments.

[0150] In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the application can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been described in detail in order to not obscure the understanding of this description.

[0151] Similarly, it is to be understood that the mechanical details of the application that have been set forth in the description above of exemplary embodiments of the application are intended to be illustrative only. As such, the scope of the application is not to be construed as being limited to such specific embodiments. Furthermore, while the application has been described in some embodiments with reference to specific apparatus, methods, and examples, the actual scope of the application is not limited to the embodiments. Rather, the scope of the application is limited only by the appended claims.

[0152] Those of skill in the art will understand that modifications to the embodiments of the application can be made without departing from the scope of the present application, which is defined by the appended claims. Accordingly, the word "comprising" does not exclude not excluding not excluding the presence of elements, values, components, steps or groups not specifically mentioned. The word requires the presence of at least the recited elements but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements, values, components, steps or groups. The wording should be interpreted contextually, on the basis of the description as a whole and in its claims, without affecting the scope of the present application. Also, singular articles and / or reference of the introduction should not be construed as excluding the presence of pluralities or plural components unless the context clearly indicates to the contrary. Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein including technical or scientific terms have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an overly literal or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0153] It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the application, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word 'comprising' does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim. The word 'a' or 'an' preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The application can be implemented by means of both hardware and software, and any combination thereof. In a unitary claim, several devices, apparatuses or means can be listed, comprising means for carrying out a certain task. The use of the term'means' in a claim is intended to refer to a combination of devices, apparatuses or means for carrying out a task. The word 'first','second', 'third', etc. do not imply any order. The use of these terms is to be construed as names. The steps of any of the methods recited herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step.

Claims

1. A workstation docking device, characterized by, The application is applied to a warehouse system, which comprises a carrying robot, the carrying robot comprising a vertical arm, a lifting device and a moving chassis, the lifting device being arranged on the moving chassis, and the vertical arm being connected with the lifting device, and the lifting device can drive the vertical arm to lift; The workstation docking device comprises a docking device and a buffer device; wherein, The docking device is used for transferring the bins between the carrying robot and the buffer device, The docking device comprises: a first support; a docking unit, which is used for receiving the bins on the carrying robot or transferring the bins to the carrying robot; a suspension unit, the top end of the suspension unit being fixed to the upper part of the first support, and the bottom end of the suspension unit being fixed to one end of the docking unit; and a second support, the top end of the second support being fixed to the other end of the docking unit, so as to support the docking unit together with the first support and the suspension unit; wherein, the first support and the suspension unit have a gap therebetween, the gap being used for the vertical arm of the carrying robot to pass through, and the bottom of the docking unit has a first space, the first space being used at least for the carrying robot in a low position to pass through the bottom of the docking unit and turn around; The buffer device is adjacent to the docking unit, and is used for temporarily storing the bins and transferring the bins between the docking unit and the conveying device of the workstation.

2. The workstation docking station of claim 1, wherein, The suspension unit comprises a first suspension plate and a second suspension plate, and the distance between the inner sides of the first suspension plate and the second suspension plate is greater than the width of the bin.

3. The workstation docking station of claim 1, wherein, The suspension unit comprises a first suspension plate and a second suspension plate, and the distance between the outer sides of the first suspension plate and the second suspension plate is less than the inner side distance of the two vertical arms of the carrying robot; the first support comprises a first vertical column and a second vertical column, and the distance between the inner sides of the first vertical column and the second vertical column is greater than the outer side distance of the two vertical arms of the carrying robot.

4. The workstation docking station of claim 1, wherein, The top end of the second support is higher than the bottom end of the suspension unit, so that the two ends of the docking unit are in an inclined shape.

5. The workstation docking station of claim 4, wherein, The height of the bottom surface of the end of the docking unit with a higher height is greater than the top height of the vertical arm of the carrying robot when the vertical arm is lowered to the low position.

6. The workstation docking station of claim 1, wherein, The buffer device comprises: a buffer unit, which is adjacent to the docking unit, and is used for temporarily storing the bins and transferring the bins between the docking unit and the conveying device; and a third support, which is used for supporting the buffer unit.

7. The workstation docking station of claim 6, wherein, The second support is located adjacent to the docking unit and the buffer unit, and the third support is located at the two ends of the buffer unit respectively, and the second support is used for supporting the buffer unit together with the third support.

8. A workstation, characterized by The workstation comprises: at least one workstation docking device according to any one of claims 1-7; and a conveying device, which is used for receiving the bins to be worked by the at least one workstation docking device for a worker to work, and / or conveying the worked bins to the at least one workstation docking device.

9. The workstation of claim 8, wherein, The at least one workstation docking device comprises a first workstation docking device and a second workstation docking device, and the conveying device comprises an inlet and an outlet; The first workstation docking device is configured to receive the to-be-worked-on container carried by the carrying robot and convey the to-be-worked-on container to the inlet of the conveying device; The second workstation docking device is configured to receive the worked-on container conveyed by the outlet of the conveying device and convey the worked-on container to the carrying robot.

10. A warehousing system characterized by, The system comprises a rack, a carrying robot and a workstation as claimed in claim 8 or 9; The rack is configured to store the to-be-worked-on container; The carrying robot is configured to carry the to-be-worked-on container from the rack to the workstation and carry the worked-on container out of the workstation.

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