AUTONOMOUSLY OPERATED INSTALLATION CONVEYOR WITH A PAIR OF SCANNER UNITS

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an autonomously guided industrial truck having a vehicle body which defines a longitudinal direction and a width direction of the industrial truck and, in sections, an outline thereof in a plan view of the industrial truck.

[0002] In the technical field of industrial trucks (often referred to as AGVs - Automated Guided Vehicles), it is common practice to use scanner units for environmental monitoring, both to prevent collisions with objects or people and to detect the environment in a navigation context. Accordingly, these scanner units are used to monitor predefined safety areas and to detect loads or load-handling equipment, such as pallets.

[0003] A scanner arrangement for three-wheeled vehicles is known from the prior art, for example, DE 10 2019 213 942 A1, in which two scanner units are positioned laterally next to a drive device. This allows for complete 360° coverage of the surrounding area with overlaps between the scanning areas of the individual scanner units.

[0004] Furthermore, in vehicles with a four-wheel or five-wheel chassis with wheel arms below the load-handling device, it is known to position a scanner in the front of the vehicle, to the side of the drive axle. However, the respective scanning areas of this pair of scanners are limited by the wheel arms in the direction of the load, resulting in a blind spot or dead zone, especially when entering a pallet.

[0005] In practical use, these autonomously guided industrial trucks, which are known from the state of the art, present problems. For example, for reasons of stability and load distribution, as well as driving characteristics and tipping stability, an industrial truck with a three-wheel chassis for ground-level pallet pickup can only be designed as a counterbalance truck. However, this results in a relatively heavy and expensive overall structure for the corresponding vehicle.

[0006] In contrast, vehicles with wheel arms can be designed to be lighter and more compact. However, as already mentioned above, the wheel arms with a suitable load carriage in the direction of the load limit the view or the achievable scanning range of the scanner units used.

[0007] Even with four-wheeled vehicles, the possible track width of the drive axle is only very narrow, assuming that the scanner units are to be positioned within the vehicle contour and must monitor the surroundings of the industrial truck both past the drive unit and the necessary wheels. Consequently, in the case of four-wheeled or five-wheeled vehicles, the scanner units have generally been arranged outside the contour or outline of the corresponding vehicles, in the area of ​​their body, which inevitably led to an increase in the overall width of the vehicle.As a result, such vehicles cannot be used as intended in scenarios where the maximum width of such a vehicle must not be exceeded, for example, in logistics facilities with block storage, where pallets are placed on the driveway with minimal spacing, and consequently, a corresponding industrial truck must not exceed the external dimensions of the corresponding pallets, particularly in the width direction. For example, if Euro pallets are used in such logistics facilities with block storage, the maximum permissible width of usable industrial trucks is less than 800 mm.

[0008] Furthermore, in such logistics facilities, it should be noted that it may be desirable to set the vertical height of the scanning plane such that unloaded pallets can already be detected in order to ensure the safety and navigation capability of the corresponding industrial truck during operation. Accordingly, it may be desirable to set the scanning plane at a vertical height of approximately 100 mm, which enables such detection of unloaded pallets. However, on the other hand, the integration of the corresponding scanner units into the industrial truck is further complicated, since obstructive components of the industrial truck are often located at this vertical height, and in particular, support or drive wheels are usually partially located in this vertical area.

[0009] A further example of an autonomously guided industrial truck, comprising a vehicle body which defines a longitudinal direction and a width direction of the industrial truck and, in sections, an outline thereof in a plan view of the industrial truck, a wheel arm extending from the vehicle body with at least one load wheel, a pair of support or drive wheels standing below the vehicle body on a driving surface, which wheels are opposite one another with respect to the width direction, and a pair of scanner units arranged above the support or drive wheels, which define a scan plane with their respective scan areas and are opposite one another symmetrically in the width direction of the industrial truck within the outline of the vehicle body, is known from WO 2021 / 069 674 A1.

[0010] It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an autonomously guided industrial truck which eliminates the above-mentioned problems of known industrial trucks from the prior art and in particular enables a reduction of the overall width of the vehicle and an optimal positioning of the scanner units for use in logistics facilities with block storage.

[0011] For this purpose, the autonomously guided industrial truck according to the invention comprises a vehicle body which defines a longitudinal direction and a width direction of the industrial truck and, in sections, an outline thereof in a plan view of the industrial truck, a pair of wheel arms extending from the vehicle body, each having at least one load wheel, a pair of support or drive wheels which are located below the vehicle body on a driving surface and which are opposite one another in the width direction, and a pair of scanner units arranged vertically above the support wheels, which define a scan plane with their respective scan areas and are located symmetrically opposite one another in the width direction of the industrial truck within the outline of the vehicle body.

[0012] In addition to embodiments with four wheels, in which the support or drive wheels act as drive wheels according to the invention, embodiments are also conceivable in which the support or drive wheels act as pure support wheels and in addition the industrial truck comprises a steered drive wheel arranged centrally with respect to the width direction, which stands on the driving surface below the vehicle body.

[0013] In this way, on the one hand, a structure of an autonomously guided industrial truck with at least four wheels is made possible, which results in advantageous driving and standing characteristics, in particular with higher payloads and fast cornering, and on the other hand, an arrangement of the scanner units within the contour of the vehicle body in a position at which the support or drive wheels do not form any disturbing obstacles for the scanner unit, so that optimal coverage of the surroundings of the industrial truck in the vertical area of ​​the scanning plane can be achieved by the pair of scanner units.

[0014] It should be noted that, within the scope of the present invention, the arrangement of the scanner units above the support or drive wheels is related to the fact that the actual scanning plane lies above these support or drive wheels, while, due to the design, individual components or sections of the scanner units can also overlap with the support or drive wheels in the vertical direction, for example if holders or housing sections of the scanner units extend vertically below the spanned scanning plane, which, however, are irrelevant for the actual scanning function of the scanner units.

[0015] It should also be noted that the respective scanning areas of the individual scanner units are defined both by the specific design of the scanner units used in the industrial truck according to the invention and by possible shadowing areas that may result from components of the industrial truck or attachments located within the scanning plane. It should always be noted that, due to the relatively low vertical arrangement of the scanner units in the industrial truck according to the invention, frame elements or similar elements are inevitably required to connect components located below and above the scanning plane, for example, sections of the vehicle body.Since these cannot be placed arbitrarily close to a longitudinal center axis in the width direction due to the central arrangement of the steered drive wheel in five-wheel embodiments and the associated components, such as a drive motor and the like, as well as the necessary rotation range for this steered drive wheel, it is further desirable to arrange the scanner units as far out as possible in the width direction, but still protected within the outline of the vehicle body, which also prevents any widening of the industrial truck due to the scanner units.

[0016] Furthermore, in order to ensure optimal coverage of the surroundings of the industrial truck, it may be advantageous for the pair of scanner units to be positioned behind the support or drive wheels in the longitudinal direction of the industrial truck. Alternatively, however, embodiments are also conceivable in which the scanner units are positioned in front of or directly above the support or drive wheels in the longitudinal direction of the industrial truck.

[0017] In addition, it can be advantageous both with regard to the stability and driving safety of the industrial truck according to the invention and the coverage of the surroundings thereof by means of the respective scanning areas by the scanner units if the scanner units do not extend beyond the support or drive wheels in the width direction of the industrial truck.

[0018] Due to the aforementioned inevitable shadowing of certain areas of the scanning plane in the area of ​​the vehicle body by structural parts, such as connecting frame elements between a part of the vehicle body located below and a part above the scanning plane, scanner units can be used, each with a scanning angle of approximately 270°. This ensures that the scanner units are designed to cover the largest possible area of ​​the area surrounding the industrial truck. On the other hand, however, an even larger scanning angle can be dispensed with in order to reduce costs, since the inevitable shadowing areas would prevent such a capability of the scanner unit from being utilized anyway.Adequate all-round surveillance can already be achieved using two scanners with a scanning range of 270° each, as will be described in more detail below.

[0019] Through various measures, the vehicle body could be designed in the vertical area of ​​the scan plane such that the scanner units with the respective scan areas can jointly cover or cover the entire area surrounding the industrial truck. For example, by arranging the frame elements connecting the area above and below the scan planes as centrally as possible with respect to the width direction of the industrial truck, or by forming them so that they converge in their frontmost area relative to the longitudinal direction. This could then result in a narrow dead zone only in a central area directly in front of the industrial truck. However, from a certain distance from the vehicle body in this direction, the scan plane would also be covered over the entire angular range.

[0020] In order to achieve the flat design of the support wheels in five-wheeled embodiments with a centrally arranged steered drive wheel, which is necessary for the scanner units and thus the scan plane to be arranged as low as possible vertically, it can be advantageous if these are not mounted on a frame structure above the support wheels or by means of a coupling rocker on the side of the industrial truck, as is usually provided in the prior art, but are designed as parts of support wheel arrangements with respective housings, which can form part of the outline of the vehicle body in sections.In particular, if these support wheel arrangements are arranged in the respective front corner areas on the underside of the vehicle body, for example, integrated in corresponding recesses of a base plate on the underbody of the vehicle body, a particularly compact design can be achieved in the vertical direction, while at the same time a maximum distance between the support wheels is achieved in the width direction, which in turn can lead to the best possible stability and excellent driving characteristics of the industrial truck.

[0021] In order to achieve the largest possible coverage of the surroundings of the industrial truck using the scanner units in the scan plane, even in the rear area of ​​the industrial truck according to the invention, the wheel arms of the industrial truck can also be arranged completely below the scan plane. This allows the corresponding scan areas to extend beyond the wheel arms and, accordingly, these wheel arms can be "over-scanned."

[0022] As a further measure to ensure that the entire rear area surrounding the industrial truck is covered by the two scanner units, in the case of a load section arranged horizontally on the vehicle body with a pair of forks and a load stop connecting the forks, it can be ensured that the forks are also positioned completely below the scan plane when the load section is in its maximum lowered state. In this way, these forks can also be scanned in their maximum lowered state in the manner just described. Alternatively, the industrial truck can also be designed such that, in its ready-to-drive state, the load section is always raised so far that the forks and all other components are completely above the scan plane, in order to also avoid switching off individual areas of the scan plane.While this alternative may be structurally somewhat simpler to implement, as the very flat design of the forks and, if applicable, the wheel arms can be dispensed with and only the corresponding programming of a control unit needs to be carried out, an industrial truck according to the invention equipped in this way may exhibit somewhat reduced operating efficiency, as it must always first lower the load section separately before entering a pallet or similar object, as continuous travel with the load section lowered to its maximum is not possible for the reasons just mentioned. Furthermore, during travel of such an industrial truck in warehouses with mixed operations, in which manually steered vehicles are also in use, permanently raised load forks can pose an increased risk of injury to persons present there.

[0023] As a further measure to increase the achievable scanning angles of the individual scanner units in the embodiment just described, the load stop can have cutouts along its edges in the width direction in its vertical area, which is at the level of the scanning plane when the load section is in its maximum lowered state. These cutouts can expediently correspond to the intended vertical dimensions of the scanning plane and extend far enough into the body of the load section in the width direction to achieve the desired angle coverage without unduly weakening its structure or excessively complicating the connection of the corresponding forks.

[0024] In particular, in this and all previously described embodiments, the scanner units can be arranged such that the scanning plane is at a vertical height of approximately 100 mm above the driving surface and / or has a vertical width of + / - 25 mm. Accordingly, the value of 100 mm is to be understood as the mean value of the height of the scanning plane in its vertical extent, and it is understood that the term "scanning plane" is not to be understood in the strictly geometric sense as a two-dimensional object, since this plane always has a vertical width in practical consideration.

[0025] As already mentioned above, the industrial truck can be designed in such a way that the extent of its outline in relation to the width direction is less than 800 mm, which should enable it to be used in logistics facilities with block storage.

[0026] Further features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof, when considered together with the accompanying figures. These show in detail: Fig. 1 an isometric oblique front view of an autonomously guided industrial truck according to the invention; and Fig. 2 a view of the vehicle from Fig. 1 in a view from below.

[0027] In Fig. 1 First, an autonomously guided industrial truck according to the invention is shown in an isometric oblique view from the front and is generally designated by the reference numeral 10. The industrial truck 10 comprises a vehicle body 12, which includes a base plate 14 and an upper section 16, which accommodates components necessary for the operation of the industrial truck, for example, an energy storage device, a control unit, and the like. A longitudinal direction L and a width direction B are defined by the vehicle body.

[0028] As can be seen particularly from the bottom view of Fig. 2 can be understood, the vehicle body 12 further defines sections in plan view and, of course, also in the bottom view from Fig. 2 of the industrial truck 10 an outline thereof, wherein in the concrete embodiment shown in the figures the outline of the base plate 14 substantially corresponds to that of the upper part 16, which could, however, also be solved differently in other embodiments of the present invention in that the base plate 14 or the upper part 16 protrudes beyond the other of these two components.

[0029] Furthermore, the industrial truck includes 10, as even better in Fig. 2 can be seen, a pair of wheel arms 18a and 18b extending from the vehicle body 12, each with a load wheel 20a or 20b attached thereto. Since the industrial truck 10 is designed as a five-wheeled vehicle, a steered drive wheel 22 can also be seen in the figures, which is arranged centrally with respect to the width direction B and projects through a substantially circular recess 24 in the base plate 14 in a manner rotatable about a vertical axis in order to be able to steer it.Furthermore, two support wheels 26a and 26b can be seen in the figures as parts of support wheel assemblies 28a and 28b, which are integrated in the front corner regions of the vehicle body 12 and do not extend vertically beyond the base plate 14, so that the base plate 14 and the support wheel assemblies 28a and 28b form a common vertical plane on their upper sides, or alternatively, the base plate 14 even projects beyond the support wheel assemblies 28a and 28b. The support wheels 26a and 26b are spaced apart from one another in the width direction B of the industrial truck 10 as far as possible within the specified external dimensions of the industrial truck 10, in order to enable increased stability and maximum cornering speeds of the industrial truck 10, even when loaded.

[0030] Furthermore, in the longitudinal direction L behind the support wheel assemblies 28a and 28b, likewise in the width direction B, there are two scanner units 30a and 30b opposite one another within the outline of the vehicle body 12 in plan view. These scanner units can be used both for personal safety and for navigation of the industrial truck 10 and are arranged with respect to the vertical direction such that their scanning plane E lies in the height range between the base plate 14 with the support wheel assemblies 28a and 28b embedded therein, on the one hand, and the upper part 16 of the vehicle body 12, on the other hand. Due to their design, the scanner units 30a and 30b also extend vertically in the area of ​​the base plate 14 and the upper part 16 of the vehicle body 12, respectively.of the upper part 16 of the vehicle body 12, but its scanning plane corresponds, both in terms of its vertical position and its vertical extent, exactly to an intermediate region 32 between these two components of the vehicle body 12, in which only a frame element 34 tapering forward in the longitudinal direction L is provided for the outer covering of the steered drive wheel 22 and for connecting the base plate 14 and the upper part 16.

[0031] By this structural measure of arranging the support wheel arrangements 28a, 28b completely below the scanning plane E spanned by the scanner units 30a and 30b and the provision of only the frame element 34 in this vertical section of the vehicle body 12, as in Fig. 1 As can be clearly seen, it can be achieved that in the longitudinal direction L in front of the vehicle body 12 by the scanning areas S1 and S2 of the scanner units 30a and 30b a substantially complete and partially overlapping coverage of the entire angular range of the scanning plane E can be achieved.

[0032] Similarly, in the rear area of ​​the industrial truck 10 in the longitudinal direction L, measures have also been taken to ensure that the two scanning areas S1 and S2 can achieve the largest possible coverage of the scanning plane S, in particular can cover the entire area next to and behind the industrial truck 10, partly even with an overlap between the two scanner units 30a and 30b.

[0033] In particular, both the radar arms 18a and 18b as well as those arranged vertically above them and in Fig. 1 In a maximally lowered state, the forks 36a and 36b of a load part not shown in detail are designed so flat in the vertical direction that in the Fig. 1 In the state shown, the scan plane E lies completely above these components and thus over-scanning is possible, which thus enables a total coverage of 360° of the environment around the industrial truck 10.

Claims

1. An autonomously guided industrial truck (10) comprising: - a vehicle body (12) that defines a longitudinal direction (L) and a width direction (B) of the industrial truck (10) along with an outline thereof in sections in plan view of the industrial truck (10); - a pair of support arms (18a, 18b) extending from the vehicle body, each having at least one load wheel (20a, 20b); - a pair of support wheels or drive wheels (26a, 26b) located underneath the vehicle body (12) on a driving surface and which are opposite one another relative to the width direction (B); and - a pair of scanner units (30a, 30b) arranged vertically above the support wheels or drive wheels (26a, 26b), which scanning units define a scanning plane (E) with their respective scanning regions (S1, S2) and are symmetrically opposite one another within the outline of the vehicle body (12) in the width direction (B) of the industrial truck (10).

2. The autonomously guided industrial truck (10) according to claim 1, wherein the scanner units (30a, 30b) are arranged behind the support wheels or drive wheels (26a, 26b) with respect to the longitudinal direction (L) of the industrial truck (10).

3. The autonomously guided industrial truck (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the scanner units (30a, 30b) do not extend beyond the support wheels or drive wheels (26a, 26b) in the width direction (B) of the industrial truck (10).

4. The autonomously guided industrial truck (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the scanner units (30a, 30b) each have a scanning angle of approximately 270°.

5. The autonomously guided industrial truck (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the vehicle body (12) is formed in the vertical region of the scanning plane (E) in such a way that the scanner units (30a, 30b) jointly cover the entire surroundings of the industrial truck (10) with their respective scanning regions (S1, S2).

6. The autonomously guided industrial truck (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support wheels or drive wheels (26a, 26b) are designed as support wheels (26a, 26b), and wherein the industrial truck further comprises a steered drive wheel (22) which is arranged centrally with respect to the width direction (B) and which is located on the driving base below the vehicle body (12).

7. The autonomously guided industrial truck (10) according to claim 6, wherein the support wheels (26a, 26b) are designed as parts of support wheel assemblies (28a, 28b) with respective housings, which in sections form part of the outline of the vehicle body (12).

8. The autonomously guided industrial truck (10) according to claim 7, wherein the support wheel assemblies (28a, 28b) are arranged in respective front corner regions on the underside of the vehicle body (12).

9. The autonomously guided industrial truck (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support arms (18a, 18b) are arranged completely below the scanning plane (E).

10. The autonomously guided industrial truck (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a load unit arranged to be horizontally displaceable on the vehicle body (12) with a pair of fork arms (36a, 36b) and a load stop connecting the fork arms (36a, 36b), wherein the fork arms (36a, 36b) are arranged completely below the scanning plane (E) in a fully lowered state of the load unit.

11. The autonomously guided industrial truck (10) according to claim 10, wherein the load stop in its vertical region, which is at the height of the scanning plane (E) when the load unit is in a fully lowered state, can have cutouts at its edges in the width direction (B).

12. The autonomously guided industrial truck (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the scanner units (30a, 30b) are arranged such that the scanning plane (E) lies at a vertical height of approximately 100 mm above the driving surface and / or has a vertical width of + / -25 mm.

13. The autonomously guided industrial truck (E) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the extension of the outline of the industrial truck (10) relative to the width direction (B) is less than 800 mm.