An automated loading and unloading forklift robot

Abstract

An automatic loading and unloading forklift robot comprises a robot body and a goods taking mechanism arranged on the robot body; the goods taking mechanism comprises a support body, a push-pull device mounted on the support body, a vacuum suction module mounted on the push-pull device and driven by the push-pull device to extend or retract, and lateral clamping modules mounted on the support body and located on both sides of the push-pull device to perform clamping operation on goods when the vacuum suction module sucks and retracts the goods. The utility model integrates three different functions of goods taking mode in one execution end, effectively solves the problem of difficult taking and placing caused by close stacking of goods, and has much higher adaptability than a single tool, which is not only suitable for goods transportation of different specifications and sizes, but also greatly improves the stability and safety of goods transportation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to a forklift robot, and more particularly to an automated loading and unloading forklift robot. Background Technology

[0002] In existing automated warehousing and logistics systems, the handling of densely stacked boxed goods (such as cardboard boxes) of varying sizes, especially the retrieval and placement operations from stacks of goods or truck compartments, generally faces the following technical bottlenecks: 1. Limited and poorly adaptable picking methods: Traditional AGVs mostly use forklift or clamp attachments. Forklift attachments need to be inserted from the bottom of the goods, requiring sufficient insertion space at the bottom of the stack; while clamp attachments rely on applying pressure from both sides, requiring sufficient operating clearance on both sides of the stack. In scenarios where goods are tightly stacked and there is insufficient clearance, neither of these methods can effectively and without damage complete the picking operation.

[0003] 2. Clumsy operation in confined spaces: In narrow warehouse aisles, truck compartments and other restricted spaces, ordinary differential drive AGVs have a large turning radius and are difficult to adjust their position. They need to move forward and backward multiple times to align with the cargo position, resulting in low efficiency.

[0004] 3. Traditional forklift push-pull devices are driven by hydraulic cylinders, which only have a pushing and pulling function and do not have the ability to adjust the pushing and pulling stroke. Furthermore, multiple push-pull devices cannot be flexibly arranged, making them unsuitable for various sizes of goods and usage scenarios. Utility Model Content

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings of the prior art and provide a loading and unloading forklift robot with stable transportation, high flexibility, and high spatial mobility.

[0006] The technical solution of this utility model is: an automated loading and unloading forklift robot, comprising a robot body and a picking mechanism disposed on the robot body; the picking mechanism includes: Supporting entity; A push-pull mechanism is installed on the support body; A vacuum adsorption module is mounted on a push-pull device, which extends or retracts the module. A lateral clamping module is installed on the support body and located on both sides of the push-pull device, and is used to perform a clamping operation on the goods when the vacuum adsorption module adsorbs and retracts.

[0007] Furthermore, the picking mechanism also includes a bottom lifting module located at the bottom of the support body, used to lift the goods from the bottom when the vacuum adsorption module adsorbs and retracts.

[0008] Furthermore, the robot body is connected to the picking mechanism via a lifting mechanism.

[0009] Furthermore, multiple sets of push-pull devices are fixedly connected to the support body, and the multiple sets of push-pull devices are arranged in an array along the vertical direction.

[0010] Furthermore, the vacuum adsorption module includes multiple suction cups, and each set of push-pullers is provided with at least two suction cups; when the multiple sets of push-pullers are arranged in an array, each suction cup also forms a corresponding suction cup array.

[0011] Furthermore, the push-pull device is a scissor-type telescopic structure, including a front panel, a rear panel, a scissor section connecting the two, and a scissor drive section for driving the extension and retraction of the scissor section. The vacuum adsorption module is mounted on the front panel.

[0012] Furthermore, the lateral clamping module includes one or more pairs of clamping plates located on both sides of the push-pull device. The clamping plates are controlled by a clamping drive unit, which is mounted on the support body.

[0013] Furthermore, a force sensor is provided on the clamping plate, and the force sensor is electrically connected to the main controller of the robot body.

[0014] Furthermore, the bottom lifting module is a fork, located directly below the vacuum adsorption module, and the fork has a fixed structure or a telescopic structure; a rolling component is provided on the bearing surface of the fork.

[0015] Furthermore, the robot body's mobile chassis adopts a four-wheel drive chassis with Mecanum wheels or omnidirectional wheels; the robot body is equipped with a navigation system, which includes a visual recognition unit for precise positioning in an enclosed space.

[0016] The beneficial effects of this utility model are: (1) By integrating the push-pull device, vacuum adsorption module, lateral clamping module and bottom lifting module on the same support body, the arrangement structure is compact and the space occupied is greatly reduced; (2) It performs the operation of pulling back the whole stack of goods by suction force, providing bottom support by forks, and clamping the goods by side clamps. It integrates three different picking methods (suction, lifting, and side clamping) into one execution end, which can handle tightly stacked goods with insufficient operating space at the bottom and sides. Existing fork AGVs (requiring bottom space) and clamping AGVs (requiring side space) are powerless in this scenario. This breaks the application limitations of existing technologies and has an adaptability far exceeding that of a single attachment. (3) The push-pull mechanism adopts a scissor telescopic structure, which can adjust the push-pull stroke according to the specific use scenario; moreover, the entire push-pull mechanism occupies little space, and a forklift robot can use multiple push-pull mechanisms for flexible layout, thereby adapting to the size of various specifications of goods. (4) By setting a lateral clamping module and a bottom lifting module to fully constrain and position the goods, the stability and safety of the goods transportation are greatly improved. That is, the stability of the goods under high speed and slope operation is ensured, and the damage rate and accident rate are significantly reduced. Moreover, the loading and unloading of goods no longer depends on the pallet, but on the suction force of the suction cup. The transportation of goods is not limited to the ground, and has the functions of transportation and palletizing. (5) The robot’s mobile chassis structure allows the robot to directly move laterally to align with the cargo position in a narrow space, reducing the channel width requirement and improving the posture adjustment speed; (6) The auxiliary precise positioning function of the visual recognition unit effectively improves the stacking accuracy in environments with blurred features such as carriages, thereby realizing unmanned operation from warehouse to carriage and solving the problem of automated connection in this scenario. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present utility model; Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Front view of the embodiment shown; Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the push-pull device according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 yes Figure 3 Side view of the embodiment shown.

[0018] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached diagram: 1. Robot body; 2. Lifting mechanism; 3. Picking mechanism; 11. Mobile chassis; 21. Mast; 31. Support body; 32. Push-pull mechanism; 33. Suction cup; 34. Fork; 35. Clamping plate; 36. Electric cylinder; 321. Lead screw stepper motor. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0020] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown: An automated loading and unloading forklift robot includes a robot body 1, a lifting mechanism 2, and a picking mechanism 3; the front end of the robot body 1 is connected to the lifting mechanism 2, and the picking mechanism 3 is connected to the lifting mechanism 2; the picking mechanism 3 can move up and down under the drive of the lifting mechanism 2, and can also move forward, backward, left and right or turn under the drive of the robot body 1.

[0021] In this embodiment, the mobile chassis 11 of the robot body 1 adopts a four-wheel drive chassis composed of Mecanum wheels or omnidirectional wheels. The speed and direction of each wheel are precisely controlled by servo motors. The mobile chassis 11 can realize three degrees of freedom of movement in the plane (forward / backward, lateral translation, rotation in place and diagonal movement), thereby giving the robot extremely high mobility in narrow spaces. It can easily move sideways to approach the stack of goods or accurately drive into the empty space of the car, solving the problem of flexibility in large-scale movement.

[0022] In addition, the robot body 1 is equipped with a navigation system, which uses LiDAR as its core to enable the robot to autonomously locate itself and build a map within the warehouse. Simultaneously, the system integrates a visual recognition unit for precise end-point positioning. Specifically, in areas requiring precise stacking (such as inside a truck), visual recognition technology is used to identify environmental features (such as truck walls or the edges of existing stacks) via cameras for secondary positioning, compensating for the accumulated errors of the LiDAR and wheeled odometer, achieving centimeter-level placement accuracy. Furthermore, the main controller of the robot body 1 (such as an industrial computer) is responsible for processing sensor data, executing navigation algorithms, and coordinating all movements of the mobile chassis 11, lifting mechanism 2, and picking mechanism 3.

[0023] In this embodiment, the lifting mechanism is a mature technology. This embodiment can adopt a structure from existing technology, such as: the lifting mechanism 2 includes a gantry 21, a lifting platform, and a drive assembly; vertical guide rails are provided on both sides inside the gantry, and a lead screw is mounted in the middle of the gantry; the lead screw is driven by a servo motor installed on the top of the gantry and is rotatably supported on the gantry. The nut inside the lifting platform and the lead screw form a helical pair, and its two sides are connected to the guide rails via sliders. During operation, the servo motor drives the lead screw to rotate forward and backward, which in turn drives the lifting platform and its loading mechanism to rise and fall smoothly and accurately along the guide rails to position goods at different heights.

[0024] In this embodiment, the picking mechanism 3 includes a support body 31, a push-pull mechanism 32, a vacuum adsorption module, a lateral clamping module, and a bottom lifting module. The support body 31 is mounted on the lifting mechanism 2, and the push-pull mechanism 32 is mounted on the support body 31. The vacuum adsorption module is mounted on the push-pull mechanism 32 and is extended or retracted by the push-pull mechanism 32. The bottom lifting module is mounted on the support body 31 and located directly below the push-pull mechanism 32 and the vacuum adsorption module, used to lift the goods from the bottom when the vacuum adsorption module adsorbs and retracts. The lateral clamping modules are mounted on the support body 31 and located on both sides of the push-pull mechanism 32, used to clamp the goods when the vacuum adsorption module adsorbs and retracts and is lifted by the bottom lifting module.

[0025] In this embodiment, the supporting body 31 is a supporting plate, which is connected to the lifting platform of the lifting mechanism 2.

[0026] In this embodiment, the vacuum adsorption module includes multiple suction cups 33 and at least one negative pressure generating device. The negative pressure generating device is connected to the multiple suction cups 33 via pipelines and is used to provide the negative pressure required for adsorption by the suction cups. The negative pressure generating device can be an electric vacuum generator or an air pump.

[0027] like Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown: In this embodiment, the push-pull device 32 is preferably a scissor-type telescopic structure, including a front panel, a rear panel, a scissor section connecting the two, and a scissor drive section for driving the extension and retraction of the scissor section. The scissor drive section uses a precision lead screw stepper motor 321, which has advantages such as fast response speed, low power consumption, flexible layout, high control precision, and low energy consumption. During operation, the lead screw stepper motor 321 drives the extension and retraction of the scissor section, achieving precise positioning of the scissor section, and the push-pull stroke can be adjusted according to the specific usage scenario. It can be understood that multiple sets of push-pull devices 32 can be flexibly arranged on the support body 31 to adapt to various specifications of goods sizes and usage scenarios. For example, four sets of push-pull devices 32 are fixedly connected to the middle of the support body 31 along the vertical direction, and the four sets of push-pull devices 32 are arranged in an array along the vertical direction. Two suction cups 33 are installed side-by-side on the front panel of each set of push-pull devices 32, so that the suction cups 33 also form a corresponding suction cup array. When retrieving small-sized goods, suction cups on one or two sets of push-pull devices located in the middle can be selected for adsorption; when retrieving large-sized goods, suction cups on three or all sets of push-pull devices can be selected for adsorption. This arrangement in this embodiment is applicable to goods of different sizes, offering high flexibility. During operation, the suction cup array descends and adheres to the corresponding layer of cartons in the target stack. The electric vacuum generator operates, generating negative pressure. The suction force of the suction cups 33 pulls the entire stack of goods a short distance towards the robot body 1, separating it from the goods behind and creating space for the insertion of the bottom lifting module. This achieves seamless gripping, eliminating the need for manual pre-arranging of the stack or leaving gaps, simplifying the process and improving automation and efficiency.

[0028] In this embodiment, the bottom support module is a fork 34, which extends forward to the bottom of the goods, providing solid bottom support for the entire stack of goods. The fork 34 in this embodiment can be a fixed structure or a telescopic structure, for example, the extension or retraction of the fork can be controlled by a cylinder. Low-resistance balls or rollers can be embedded on the bearing surface of the fork 34 to reduce friction when the goods are pulled back.

[0029] In this embodiment, the lateral clamping module includes one or more pairs of clamping plates 35 located on both sides of multiple sets of push-pullers. The clamping plates 35 are controlled by a clamping drive unit, which is mounted on the support body 31. Specifically, the clamping plates 35 can be plates or frame structures, etc., and the clamping drive unit can be an electric push rod, a drive cylinder, etc. In this embodiment, an electric cylinder 36 is preferred. The output ends of the two electric cylinders 36 are respectively connected to the corresponding clamping plates 35. When the goods are stably positioned on the forks 34, the electric cylinders 36 drive the clamping plates 35 on both sides to move towards the center simultaneously, clamping the entire stack of goods from both sides. Force sensors are integrated on the clamping plates 35 and electrically connected to the main controller of the robot body 1. These sensors are used to detect the clamping force of the clamping plates 35 on the goods in real time and feed the signal back to the main controller to achieve adaptive constant force clamping. This prevents the goods from shaking during transportation and avoids excessive clamping force that could cause deformation and damage to the carton.

[0030] In this embodiment, the push-pull device 32, vacuum adsorption module, lateral clamping module and bottom lifting module are integrated on the same support body 31, resulting in a compact layout and greatly reducing the space occupied.

[0031] The working principle of this embodiment is as follows: The robot body 1 is positioned at the target stack of goods via the navigation system. Then, the main controller controls the lifting mechanism 2 to descend to the target position. Based on the size of the goods, the corresponding push-pull device 32 is pushed out, causing the suction cup 33 to adhere to the corresponding layer of cardboard in the target stack. The electric vacuum generator operates, generating negative pressure. The suction force of the suction cup 33 pulls the entire stack of goods a short distance towards the robot body 1, separating it from the goods behind and creating space for the insertion of the forks 34 below. After the stack is pulled back by suction, the forks 34 extend, providing solid bottom support for the entire stack. Once the stack is stably positioned on the forks 34, the main controller controls the electric cylinder 36 to drive the two clamping plates 35 to move simultaneously towards the center, clamping the entire stack of goods from both sides. Force sensors on the clamping plates 35 detect the clamping force on the goods in real time and feed the signal back to the main controller to achieve adaptive constant force clamping. Finally, the stack is transported to the target location.

[0032] In summary, the robot in this embodiment sequentially performs the operations of pulling back the entire stack of goods through suction force, providing bottom support through the forks, and clamping the goods through the side clamps. It integrates three different picking methods (suction, lifting, and side clamping) into one execution end, effectively solving the problem of difficulty in picking and placing goods due to tight stacking. Its adaptability far exceeds that of a single attachment. It is not only suitable for transporting goods of different sizes, but also greatly improves the stability and safety of goods transportation.

Claims

1. An automated loading and unloading forklift robot, comprising a robot body and a picking mechanism disposed on the robot body; characterized in that, The pickup mechanism includes: Supporting entity; A push-pull mechanism is installed on the support body; A vacuum adsorption module is mounted on a push-pull device, which extends or retracts the module. A lateral clamping module is installed on the support body and located on both sides of the push-pull device, and is used to perform a clamping operation on the goods when the vacuum adsorption module adsorbs and retracts.

2. The automated loading and unloading forklift robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The picking mechanism also includes a bottom lifting module located at the bottom of the support body, used to lift the goods from the bottom when the vacuum adsorption module adsorbs and retracts.

3. The automated loading and unloading forklift robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The robot body is connected to the picking mechanism via a lifting mechanism.

4. The automated loading and unloading forklift robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, Multiple sets of push-pull devices are fixedly connected to the support body, and the multiple sets of push-pull devices are arranged in an array along the vertical direction.

5. The automated loading and unloading forklift robot according to claim 4, characterized in that, The vacuum adsorption module includes multiple suction cups, and each set of push-pullers is equipped with at least two suction cups; when the multiple sets of push-pullers are arranged in an array, the suction cups also form a corresponding suction cup array.

6. The automated loading and unloading forklift robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The push-pull device is a scissor-type telescopic structure, including a front panel, a rear panel, a scissor section connecting the two, and a scissor drive section for driving the extension and retraction of the scissor section. The vacuum adsorption module is installed on the front panel.

7. The automated loading and unloading forklift robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The lateral clamping module includes one or more pairs of clamping plates located on both sides of the push-pull mechanism. The clamping plates are controlled by a clamping drive unit, which is mounted on the support body.

8. The automated loading and unloading forklift robot according to claim 7, characterized in that, The clamp is equipped with a force sensor, which is electrically connected to the main controller of the robot body.

9. The automated loading and unloading forklift robot according to claim 2, characterized in that, The bottom lifting module is a fork, located directly below the vacuum adsorption module. The fork can be a fixed or telescopic structure. Rolling components are provided on the bearing surface of the fork.

10. The automated loading and unloading forklift robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The robot's mobile chassis is a four-wheel drive chassis with Mecanum wheels or omnidirectional wheels; the robot has its own navigation system, which includes a visual recognition unit for precise positioning in an enclosed space.

Images