System for transferring articles
The automated system, consisting of an item picker, conveyor rails, and pallet receiving unit, solves the problem of inefficient backfilling caused by irregular arrangement of items in industrial production, and achieves an efficient and damage-free item transfer and palletizing process.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202522225347.2
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-10-21
- Publication Date
- 2026-08-25
- Estimated Expiration
- 2035-10-21
AI Technical Summary
In industrial production, the irregular arrangement of sorted items results in empty spaces. Existing technologies rely on manual backfilling, which is inefficient and can easily damage the products.
It employs an item picker, conveyor, and item receiving tray to automate the transfer of items. It utilizes multiple conveyor tracks and a matrix arrangement of item placement positions, combined with a robotic arm for efficient item transfer.
It enables a fully automated process for acquiring and palletizing items, reducing manual intervention and improving transfer efficiency, especially for the protection of fragile items.
Smart Images
Figure CN224677278U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of industrial equipment technology, and in particular to a system for transferring articles. Background Technology
[0002] In industrial production, after sorting, some items may be removed from their target category, leaving empty storage spaces and resulting in an irregular, disordered arrangement of the remaining items. Products arranged in this way are often unusable for subsequent industrial production and require backfilling.
[0003] In related technologies, empty spaces are often backfilled manually, which is inefficient. Furthermore, manual relocation carries the risk of damaging the product. Utility Model Content
[0004] In view of this, the purpose of this disclosure is to provide an article transfer system, apparatus, electronic device and storage medium that can specifically solve existing problems.
[0005] Based on the above objectives, this disclosure proposes an item transfer system comprising multiple item pickers, a conveying device, and an item receiving tray; the conveying device comprises multiple parallel conveying tracks, each conveying track having a continuously arranged first item placement position; the item receiving tray has a matrix arrangement of second item placement positions, wherein the number of second item placement positions in the same row of the matrix arrangement is less than or equal to a preset number, the preset number being the sum of the number of first item placement positions in a row of each of the conveying tracks in a first direction, the first direction being on the same horizontal plane as the conveying tracks and perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveying tracks; each item picker is arranged side by side along the first direction.
[0006] In summary, this disclosure offers at least the following advantages: It enables automated transfer of items, thereby achieving a fully automated acquisition and palletizing process, reducing manual intervention. Especially when items are fragile, the item picker prevents items from falling during typical sorting and consolidation processes. The multi-row configuration of the conveyor track and pallet holders, along with multiple item pickers, improves the efficiency of item transfer. Attached Figure Description
[0007] In the accompanying drawings, unless otherwise specified, the same reference numerals throughout the various drawings denote the same or similar parts or elements. These drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. It should be understood that these drawings depict only some embodiments disclosed in this disclosure and should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure.
[0008] Figure 1A schematic diagram of an article transfer system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown; Figure 2 Another schematic diagram of an article transfer system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Detailed Implementation
[0009] The present disclosure will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Furthermore, it should be noted that, for ease of description, only the parts relevant to the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings.
[0010] It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described in this disclosure can be combined with each other. This disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.
[0011] Figure 1 A system for transferring items according to this disclosure is shown. In embodiments of this disclosure, the system includes an item collector 1, a conveying device 2, and an item receiving tray 3. The conveying device 2 includes multiple parallel conveying tracks 21, each track 21 having consecutively arranged first item placement positions 22. The item receiving tray 3 has second item placement positions 31 arranged in a matrix, wherein the number of second item placement positions 31 in the same row of the matrix arrangement is less than or equal to a preset number, the preset number being the sum of the number of first item placement positions 22 in a row along a first direction for each of the conveying tracks 21. The first direction is on the same horizontal plane as the conveying tracks 21 and perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveying tracks 21. The item collector 1 includes multiple item collectors 1 arranged side-by-side along the first direction.
[0012] The first item placement position 22 can be fixed to the conveyor track 21, or otherwise connected to the conveyor track 21. The conveyor track 21 can be a belt system.
[0013] This disclosure enables the transfer of items through automation, thereby achieving a fully automated acquisition and palletizing process, reducing human intervention. Especially when the items are fragile, the item acquirer 1 can prevent items from falling during the general sorting and consolidation process.
[0014] In some optional implementations of any embodiment of this disclosure, each of the conveying tracks 21 is driven by an independent motor, each of the conveying tracks 21 corresponds to a row of item collectors 1 in the conveying direction, and each row of item collectors 1 includes a plurality of item collectors 1.
[0015] These implementations can improve the efficiency of grabbing by setting up multiple rows and multiple item grabbers.
[0016] Optionally, the item collector 1 includes a first group of item collectors 1 and a second group of item collectors 1. Each group of item collectors 1 includes multiple rows of item collectors 1 in the first direction. The number of rows of item collectors 1, the number of collector tracks, and the number of conveying tracks 21 in each group of item collectors 1 are the same. The track of the item collectors 1 in any group of item collectors 1 is on the extension line of the track of the other group of item collectors 1.
[0017] These alternative implementations can utilize at least two sets of item grabbers 1 to grab items, thereby ensuring to some extent that no items are missed during the grabbing process.
[0018] Specifically, the number of item collectors 1 in each row of item collectors 1 is equal to the number of the second item placement slots 31 in a row.
[0019] In these specific implementations, by limiting the number of items in each row of the item grabber 1 and the item receiving tray 3, the item grabber 1 can directly put the items into the item receiving tray after grabbing them, thereby improving the efficiency of filling the tray.
[0020] Specifically, the transfer system also includes a robotic arm for transferring items from a third item placement position at the tail of the conveyor belt to a first item placement position 22 at the head of the conveyor track 21.
[0021] In these specific implementation methods, robotic arms can be used to achieve efficient short-distance transfer of items between the conveyor belt and the conveyor track 21.
[0022] In some optional implementations of any embodiment of this disclosure, the lowest end of the item collector 1 is provided with a suction cup 11, and a liftable rod 12 is connected above the suction cup 11, with the liftable rod 12 connected to the top of the item collector 1.
[0023] These methods achieve positional stability of the object after it is grasped and put down through the suction cup 11 and the liftable rod 12.
[0024] In some optional implementations of any embodiment of this disclosure, an item collector track is provided above the item collector 1, and the item collector 1 can move horizontally along the item collector track.
[0025] These implementations allow the item collector 1 to move via a sliding track.
[0026] In some optional implementations of any embodiment of this disclosure, the head of the conveyor track 21 is parallel to the tail of the conveyor belt of the item sorting device, and the distance between the head and the tail is less than a preset distance.
[0027] In these implementations, the distance between the head of the conveyor track 21 and the tail of the conveyor belt is small, which can help improve the efficiency of transferring items from the conveyor belt to the conveyor track 21.
[0028] Optionally, the first item placement position 22 of the conveyor track 21 is a first item placement position 22 of at least two categories, and the first item placement positions 22 of different categories are used to place different categories of items; the tail of the conveyor belt includes third item placement positions of different categories, and the third item placement positions of different categories are used to place different categories of items.
[0029] The items here can be various, such as fertilized eggs. If the sex of the egg after hatching is taken as its sex, eggs of the same sex can be represented as the same category of product. Specifically, the items placed in the item placement area can be products of the same or different categories (including items of the first category and items of the second category), for example, only "male eggs" and "female eggs," or both "male eggs" and "female eggs." Item placement areas can also include empty spaces.
[0030] The category of the first item placement slot 22 and the category of the third item placement slot can both be determined by the category of the items placed on them. That is, the category of each item placement slot is variable.
[0031] These implementation methods can enrich the function of the item transfer system by transferring different types of items.
[0032] In some optional implementations of any embodiment of this disclosure, the item collector 1 includes a first group of item collectors 1 and a second group of item collectors 1. Each group of item collectors 1 includes multiple rows of item collectors 1 in the first direction. Each row of item collectors 1 includes multiple item collectors 1. The number of rows of item collectors 1, the number of collector tracks, and the number of conveying tracks 21 in each group of item collectors 1 are the same. The track of the item collectors 1 in any group of item collectors 1 is on the extension line of the track of the other group of item collectors 1.
[0033] These implementations, through multiple sets of item grabbers 1, allow the conveyor track 21 to fully grab items from each item placement position in a single transfer, thereby improving the efficiency of item transfer.
[0034] In some optional implementations of any embodiment of this disclosure, the number of item grabbers 1 in the row of item grabbers 1 is equal to the number of the second item placement positions 31 in the row.
[0035] These implementation methods can reduce the number of placements required for the item collector 1 by ensuring that the number of placement slots in both the item collector 1 and the item receiving tray is the same, thereby improving placement efficiency.
[0036] In some optional implementations of any embodiment of this disclosure, the transfer system further includes a robotic arm for transferring items from a third item placement position at the tail of the conveyor belt to a first item placement position 22 on the conveyor track 21.
[0037] These methods can be implemented by using robotic arms to quickly transfer items on conveyor belts.
[0038] This disclosure also provides a schematic diagram of an item transfer system. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the top part of the figure is the item collector 1. The middle part of the figure is a top view of the first item placement position 22, where the circular area is the first item placement position 22 where items are located. The bottom part of the figure is a top view of the conveyor track 21 in the conveyor device 2 and the first item placement position 22 it drives.
[0039] This disclosure also provides a schematic diagram of another item transfer system. For example... Figure 2 As shown, Figure 2 The diagram shows two sets of item grabbers 1, each set comprising seven rows of item grabbers 1. Each item grabber includes a lifting lever 12. Once the suction cups 11 of each item grabber 1 in a row have retrieved an item, such as a sphere as shown in the diagram, from the first item placement position 22, that row of item grabbers 1 can move laterally above the corresponding item receiving tray 4 to fill the second item placement position 31 of the item receiving tray 3. After filling an item receiving tray 3, a complete product matrix is obtained, as shown... Figure 2 The two product matrices are located in the upper left and upper right corners.
[0040] It should be noted that: In the foregoing text, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, system, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, system, article, or apparatus that includes that element. Furthermore, it should be noted that the scope of the systems and apparatuses in the embodiments of this disclosure is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, but may also include performing functions substantially simultaneously or in the reverse order, depending on the functions involved. For example, the described system may be performed in a different order than described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Additionally, features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.
[0041] Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the systems described in the embodiments can be implemented by means of software plus necessary general-purpose hardware platforms. Of course, they can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of this disclosure, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and includes several instructions to cause a terminal (which may be a mobile phone, computer, server, air conditioner, or network device, etc.) to execute the systems described in the various embodiments of this disclosure.
[0042] The embodiments of this disclosure have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. These are merely specific implementations of this disclosure, but this disclosure is not limited to the specific implementations described above. The specific implementations described above are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art can make many other forms under the guidance of this disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims, and all of these forms are within the protection scope of this disclosure.
Claims
1. A system for transferring articles, characterized in that, The item transfer system includes multiple item pickers, conveying devices, and item receiving trays; The conveying device includes multiple parallel conveying tracks, on which first item placement positions are continuously arranged; The item receiving tray has a matrix arrangement of second item placement positions. The number of second item placement positions in the same row of the matrix arrangement is less than or equal to a preset number. The preset number is the sum of the number of first item placement positions in a row of each of the conveying tracks in a first direction. The first direction is on the same horizontal plane as the conveying track and perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveying track. Each of the item collectors is arranged side by side along the first direction.
2. The transfer system according to claim 1, characterized in that, Each of the conveyor tracks is driven by an independent motor, and each conveyor track corresponds to a row of item collectors in the conveying direction, with each row of item collectors including multiple item collectors.
3. The transfer system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The bottom of the item collector is equipped with a suction cup, and a liftable rod is connected above the suction cup. The liftable rod is connected to the top of the item collector.
4. The transfer system according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The item collector is provided with a collector track above it, and the item collector can move horizontally along the collector track.
5. The transfer system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The head of the conveyor track is parallel to the tail of the conveyor belt of the item sorting device, and the distance between the head and the tail is less than a preset distance.
6. The transfer system according to claim 5, characterized in that, The first item placement position of the conveyor track is a first item placement position of at least two categories, and the first item placement positions of different categories are used to place different categories of items; the tail of the conveyor belt includes third item placement positions of different categories, and the third item placement positions of different categories are used to place different categories of items.
7. The transfer system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The item collector includes a first group of item collectors and a second group of item collectors. Each group of item collectors includes multiple rows of item collectors in the first direction. The number of rows of item collectors, the number of collector tracks, and the number of transport tracks in each group of item collectors are the same. The track of the item collector in any group of item collectors is on the extension line of the track of the other group of item collectors.
8. The transfer system according to claim 7, characterized in that, The number of item collectors in a row is equal to the number of second item placement slots in a row.
9. The transfer system according to claim 5, characterized in that, The transfer system also includes a robotic arm for transferring items from a third item placement position at the tail of the conveyor belt to a first item placement position at the head of the conveyor track.
10. The transfer system according to claim 5, characterized in that, The transfer system also includes a category detection device for detecting the category of items conveyed by the conveyor belt.