DEVICE FOR DETECTING A LOAD CARRIER CARRIED ON AN UNDERRIDE SHUTTLE

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device (20) for detecting a load carrier (30) carried on an underride shuttle (10), comprising a field (22) of sensor units (22a-22e) to be arranged on an outer side of the underride shuttle (10), each of which is configured to detect a respective detection position (40a-40e) of the load carrier (30; 30′) and to output a corresponding sensor bit depending on a presence of a predetermined property at the detection position (40a-40e), a memory unit (26) in which data are stored which produce an allocation of load carrier codes to respective load carrier types; and an evaluation unit (24), which is operatively coupled to the sensor units (22a-22e) and the memory unit (26) and is designed to receive the sensor bits output by the sensor units (22a-22e). to derive the load carrier code from at least a part of the sensor bits and to derive the load carrier type of the currently carried load carrier (30) on the basis of the load carrier code and the data stored in the memory unit (26). Furthermore, the invention relates to an underride shuttle (10) equipped with such a device (20), a system formed from such a underride shuttle (10) and a load carrier (30), and a method for detecting a load carrier (30) carried on an underride shuttle (10) by means of such a device (20) according to the invention.

Claims

1. A device for detecting a load carrier supported on an underride shuttle, comprising: a field of sensor units arranged on an outer side of the underride shuttle, each sensor unit configured to detect a respective detection position of the load carrier and to output a corresponding sensor bit depending on a presence of a predetermined property at the detection position; a memory unit storing data to allocate load carrier codes to respective load carrier types; and an evaluation unit operatively coupled to the sensor units and the memory unit and configured to receive sensor bits output by the sensor units, to determine a load carrier code from at least one portion of the sensor bits and to derive a load carrier type of a currently carried load carrier based in part on the load carrier code and the data stored in the memory unit.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor units are arranged in a row.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the field of sensor units is divided in such a manner that at least one of the sensor units is arranged at a distance from the remaining sensor units.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the field of sensor units includes at least five sensor units.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation unit is further configured to carry out a plausibility check of the determined load carrier code based in part on at least a part of the received sensor bits.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor units are formed in a substantially identical manner.

7. A underride shuttle, comprising: a vehicle body having a bearing surface which is adjustable in height on its upper surface; a field of sensor units integrated in the bearing surface of the vehicle body, each sensor unit configured to detect a respective detection position of a load carrier when supported on the underride shuttle and to output a corresponding sensor bit depending on a presence of a predetermined property at the detection position; a memory unit storing data to allocate load carrier codes to respective load carrier types; and an evaluation unit operatively coupled to the sensor units and the memory unit and configured to receive sensor bits output by the sensor units, to determine a load carrier code from at least one portion of the sensor bits and to derive a load carrier type of the load carrier when supported on the underride shuttle based in part on the load carrier code and the data stored in the memory unit.

8. The underride shuttle according to claim 7, wherein at least one centering unit is provided on the bearing surface (14), which centering unit is designed to center the load carrier when supported on the underride shuttle to a target orientation with respect to the bearing surface.

9. The underride shuttle according to claim 7, wherein the underride shuttle is further configured to adapt at least one operating parameter depending on the load carrier type derived by the evaluation unit.

10. The underride shuttle according to claim 9, wherein the at least one operating parameter a maximum speed of the underride shuttle.

11. A system comprising an underride shuttle and a load carrier, wherein the underride shuttle comprises: a vehicle body having a bearing surface which is adjustable in height on its upper surface; a field of sensor units integrated in the bearing surface of the vehicle body, each sensor unit configured to detect a respective detection position of the load carrier and to output a corresponding sensor bit depending on a presence of a predetermined property at the detection position; a memory unit storing data to allocate load carrier codes to respective load carrier types; and an evaluation unit operatively coupled to the sensor units and the memory unit and configured to receive sensor bits output by the sensor units, to determine a load carrier code from at least one portion of the sensor bits and to derive a load carrier type of the load carrier based in part on the load carrier code and the data stored in the memory unit; and wherein the load carrier is carried on the underride shuttle and is provided on at least one portion of its underside with a field of detection positions that can be detected by the sensor units while the load carrier is received in a target orientation with respect to the bearing surface.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein either a metallic surface or a bore is present at the detection positions.

13. The system according to claim 11, wherein the field of detection positions comprises one, two or four identical fields of detection positions.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein the detection positions to be used for determining the load carrier code comprise a first detection position in which the predetermined property is present and a second detection position in which the predetermined property is not present.

15. A method for detecting a load carrier supported on an underride shuttle comprising: detecting, by a field of sensor units arranged on an outer side of the underride shuttle, respective detection positions of a load carrier; outputting, by the sensor units, corresponding sensor bits depending on the respective detection result by the sensor units; determining, by an evaluation unit, a load carrier code from the sensor bits; and determining, by the evaluation unit, the load carrier type of a currently worn load carrier based on the load carrier code and data stored in a memory unit.

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising raising the load carrier prior to detecting by the sensor units the detection positions of the load carrier.

17. The method according to claim 15, further comprising outputting, by the evaluation unit, an instruction for adapting at least one operating parameter depending on the load carrier type derived by the evaluation unit.

18. The method according to claim 15, wherein a portion of the sensor bits is used for determining the load carrier code, and a plausibility check of the determined load carrier code is performed based in part on the remaining sensor bits.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the sensor bits used for the plausibility check of the determined load carrier code represent an amount of sensor bits used for determining the load carrier code in which a predetermined property is present.

20. The method according to claim 15, wherein a group of three sensor bits is used to determine the load carrier code and a group of two sensor bits is used in a plausibility check to check plausibility of the load carrier code, wherein in each of the two groups at least one zero-bit and one one-bit are present, and wherein the sensor bits represent an amount of one-bits in the sensor bits for the plausibility check.

21. The method according to claim 18, wherein a corresponding error message is output by the evaluation unit when a non-plausible load carrier code is determined by way of the plausibility check.

22. The device according to claim 24, wherein at least one operating parameter comprises a size of at least one protected field of the underride shuttle.

23. The device according to claim 24, wherein at least one more operating parameter comprises a maximum speed of the underride shuttle.

24. The device according to claim 26, wherein the maximum speed is a maximum curve speed.

25. The device according to claim 1, wherein the field of sensor units is divided in such a manner that at least one of the sensor units is arranged in a diagonally opposite region to the remaining sensor units in relation to an outline of the underride shuttle.

26. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor units comprise inductive sensors.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] Further features and advantages of the present invention will become even clearer from the following description of an embodiment, when said embodiment is considered together with the accompanying drawings. In detail, the drawings show:

[0031] FIG. 1 an isometric view of an inventive underride shuttle with a first type of load carrier supported thereon;

[0032] FIG. 2 a side view of the underride shuttle from FIG. 1 with a second type of load carrier supported thereon;

[0033] FIG. 3 a flow chart of a method according to the invention for detecting a load carrier carried on an underride shuttle; and

[0034] FIG. 4 a schematic plan view of an alternative variant of an inventive underride shuttle as well as an associated load carrier.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] In FIG. 1, initially an inventive underride shuttle is shown in an isometric view and is generally denoted by reference numeral 10. In a known manner, the underride shuttle 10 comprises a vehicle body 12 with a bearing surface 14, which is provided in a vertically displaceable manner on its upper side, a motion system (not shown) which enables, for example, an omnidirectional movement by means of a plurality of partially steerable wheels standing on a driving base, and laser scanners 16 provided at the respective corners of the underride shuttles 10, which define respective protective fields in which no external objects are allowed to be located in a regular operating state of the underride shuttle 10 in order to be able to ensure safe driving and functioning thereof.

[0036] Furthermore, the underride shuttle 10 is equipped with a device 20 for detecting a load carrier 30 supported on the underride shuttle 10, wherein the device 20 comprises a field 22 of sensor units 22a to 22e arranged on the upper side of the underride shuttle 10, which sensor units can in particular be designed as inductive sensors of the same type. With these sensor units 22a to 22e it is possible to detect the presence of a predetermined property at a respective detection position of the load carrier 30 and to output a corresponding sensor bit.

[0037] For this purpose, the device 20 further comprises an evaluation unit 24, shown merely schematically in FIG. 1, as well as a memory unit 26 assigned thereto, which are configured to initially determine a load carrier code from the sensor bits output by the sensor units 22a to 22e in a manner described below and to derive the load carrier type of the currently worn load carrier 30 on the basis of this load carrier code and data stored in the storage unit.

[0038] It should be pointed out here that the evaluation unit 24 and/or the memory unit 26 can each be integrated or operatively coupled to a central control unit of the underride shuttle 10, so that on the one hand an improved Integration of the corresponding components and functionalities and on the other hand direct further processing of the determined load carrier type are made possible.

[0039] In the view shown in FIG. 1, the load carrier 30 is designed as a so-called “backpack” and serves as an interface for receiving a pallet, in particular a Euro pallet. In this case, the load carrier 30 has a number of support portions 32, on which the corresponding Euro pallet can be carried, and a central recess 34, in which the middle board and the middle blocks of the Euro pallet can lie in the carried state. Furthermore, the load carrier 30 is equipped with a total of three light barriers 36, which are provided for ensuring correct positioning of the pallet to be supported by the load carrier 30.

[0040] Furthermore, it should be pointed out that a metallic sheet metal portion 38 is assigned to the load carrier 30 in such a manner that it lies in the region of the field 22 of sensor unit in the configuration shown, in which the load carrier 30 is fastened to the bearing surface 14 by means of a connecting unit (not shown) in which the load carrier 30 is attached by means of a connecting unit (not shown). In this case, a field 40 of detection positions 40a-40e is accordingly assigned to the metal sheet 38, wherein respective bores are provided at two of the detection positions, while the remaining metal sheet 38 is formed continuously, so that the remaining sensor units of the field 22 of sensor unit at the corresponding points are able to determine the presence of a predetermined property, that is to say a metallic surface in its detection region.

[0041] Accordingly, by means of the arrangement and number of such bores in the field 40 of detection positions, a coding of the type of the load carrier 30 can be undertaken, which can first be converted into sensor bits by means of the individual sensor units 22a to 22e of the field 22 of sensor units and can subsequently be translated by the evaluation unit 24 on the basis of the data stored in the memory unit 26 into a load carrier type.

[0042] FIG. 2 now shows in a side view the underride shuttle 10 from FIG. 1, as it carries a second type of load carrier 30′, which is designed as a table on which, for example, individual objects can be placed and consequently transported by means of the underride shuttle. In this view, it can also be seen that two centering units 14a are provided on the bearing surface 14 of the underride shuttle 10, which is movable vertically according to the arrow P shown in FIG. 2, which co-centering units interact with corresponding recesses in the load carrier 30′ in order to ensure a correct relative positioning of the load carrier 30′ with respect to the underride shuttle 10 and thus the device 20 for detecting the load carrier 30′ supported on the underride shuttle 10.

[0043] From this device 20, the five sensor units 22a to 22e are indicated only schematically in FIG. 2, which in the configuration shown again lie opposite a corresponding field 40 of detection positions 40a-40e on the load carrier 30′. Since the load carrier 30′ can itself be formed from metal in the region of the detection positions 40a-40e, individual bores can be provided at the corresponding detection positions in a manner similar to that in the metal sheet 38 from the embodiment of FIG. 1 in a field 40 of detection positions 40a-40e, which represent a first type of bit, while the remaining metal surface at the remaining detection positions can stand for the other type of bit, wherein a distinction is again made between the two possible states by an inductive measurement by the individual sensor units 22a-22e. In this case, in FIG. 2 the bores at the detection positions 40b and 40d are indicated by unfilled circles, while the continuous metal surfaces at the remaining detection positions 40a, 40c and 40e are each shown as filled circles.

[0044] With reference to FIG. 3, a method is now explained by means of which the load carrier 30 or 30′ carried on the underride shuttle can be assigned to a load carrier type in the configurations from FIGS. 1 and 2. First, in step S1, the respective load carrier 30 is mounted on the upper side of the underride shuttle 10 or the bearing surface 14 is raised in order to lift the load carrier 30′ into correct relative positioning. Subsequently, in step S2, the sensor units 22a to 22e detect their respective detection positions on the load carrier 30 or 30′ and output corresponding sensor bits in step S3 to the evaluation unit 24 depending on the respective detection result.

[0045] This evaluation unit 24 now applies a suitable algorithm in order to determine a load carrier code from the sensor bits in step S4, wherein a plausibility check of the load carrier code thus determined takes place in step S5. If, in this plausibility check, it is found in step S5 that the determined load carrier code is not plausible (“no” in step D5), then in step S6 a corresponding error message is output by the evaluation unit, which error message can trigger a shutdown of the underride shuttle 10, depending on the embodiment or variant, the request for a manual check by an operator or the like.

[0046] If, on the other hand, it is determined in step S5 that the determined load carrier code is plausible (“yes” in step S5), the evaluation unit 24 is derived in step S7 from the load carrier code and the data of the load carrier type stored in the memory unit 26, that is to say, for example, whether it is the load carrier from FIG. 1 or the load carrier 30′ from FIG. 2. Depending on the derived load carrier type, an adaptation of at least one operating parameter of the underride shuttle 10 can ultimately take place in step S8, for example an adaptation of the protection fields of the scanner units 16 or a determination of a maximum speed or curve speed of the drive system of the underride shuttle 10.

[0047] Furthermore, reference is made to the following Table 1, in which a specific implementation of the load carrier codes and the plausibility verification bits is explained. In this case, the first to third sensor bits, which can be delivered, for example, by the sensor units 22a to 22c in the embodiment of the device 20 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, serve to determine the load carrier code, while the fourth and fifth sensor bits, corresponding to the sensor units 22d and 22e, serve to check the plausibility.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Bit#1 Bit#2 Bit#3 Bit#4 Bit#5 Code 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 1 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 1 4 1 0 1 1 0 5 1 1 0 1 0 6 1 1 1 0 1 not allowed 1 0 1 0 1 not plausible

[0048] In this case, it is pointed out that according to this embodiment a total of six load carrier types can be distinguished, since additional safety functions are implemented in the five sensor bits, although these safety functions reduce the number of combinations available for coding the load carrier types, but ensure significantly increased safety.

[0049] In particular, the permissible combinations of sensor bits which are shown in lines 1 to 6 of the table and accordingly correspond to the six different possible codable load carrier types, always contain at least one one-bit and one zero-bit in each case in the first to third bits and in the fourth and fifth bits, such that under no circumstances will all bits in one of the two groups be present as one or as zero. Furthermore, the sensor bits 4 and 5 used for the plausibility check of the determined load carrier codes each represent the number of one bit present in the first to third sensor bits used for determining the load carrier code, since the lines 1, 2 and 4 of the table 1 each comprise a single one-bit and two zero-bits in the first to third bits, while in each case two one-bits and one zero-bit are present in the lines 3, 5 and 6.

[0050] This relationship is plausibilized by the fourth and fifth bits, which accordingly map a parity of the first to third bits. Only for comparison there are a seventh and eighth line inserted into Table 1, both of which both do not represent a permissible or plausible combination of sensor bits and would accordingly in the method from FIG. 3 lead to an error message output in S5, since in line 7 all first to third bits are respectively identical and are also not compatible with the parity bits 4 and 5, while in the eighth line an allowable combination of one- and zero-bits is present in the first to third bits, but this is not plausible with the fourth and fifth parity bits in the manner described above.

[0051] FIG. 4 finally shows a schematic plan view of an alternative variant of a underride shuttle 10′ according to the invention and of an associated load carrier 30″, wherein at this point only the differences from the variant from FIG. 1 are to be discussed, and the components described in this context are each denoted by the same reference numerals, each supplemented by an apostrophe. For a description of the other components and the basic mode of operation of the underride shuttle 10′ and the device 20′ associated with it for detecting the load carrier 30″ received on the underride shuttle 10′, reference is made to the above observations in connection with FIGS. 1 to 3.

[0052] Accordingly, it should be pointed out that the device 20′ used in the underride shuttle 10′ is constructed in contrast to that of FIG. 1 with respect to its field of sensor units 22a′-22e′ in such a manner that the field comprises two spaced-apart groups 22a′ and 22b′ and 22c′-22e′ of sensor units which are diagonally opposite one another in relation to the outline of the underride shuttle 10′.

[0053] The advantage of this distributed arrangement of the sensor units 22a′-22e′ is that only when the load carrier 30″ is correctly aligned with respect to the underride shuttle 10′, a detection of all of the corresponding detection positions 40a′-40e′ on the load carrier 30″ is carried out. To illustrate this additional safety mechanism, in FIG. 4 the load carrier 30″ is shown rotated by an angle of only 3° relative to its target orientation with respect to the underride shuttle 10′, and it is shown that, although the two detection positions 40a′ and 40b′ are still recognized by the corresponding sensor units 22a′ and 22b′, this is no longer true for the further detection positions 40c′-40e′ which now lie outside the respective sensor region of the sensor units 20c′-20e′.

[0054] Furthermore, FIG. 4 shows three additional hypothetical detection positions 40F which are not provided on the load carrier 30 and which would therefore correspond to a linear arrangement of the detection regions analogous to the variant from FIG. 1. It can be gathered from this that these non-provided detection regions would likewise be detected by additional sensor units arranged correspondingly in a linear extension of the sensor units 22a′, 22b′, since the angle of 3° between the load carrier 30″ and the underride shuttle 10′ is too small in order to achieve a significant offset in relation to the corresponding sensor units in the region covered by the detection positions 40F.

[0055] By contrast, due to the increased distance between the groups of detection positions 40a′, 401D′ and 40c′-40e, the resulting displacement relative to the correct position of the load carrier 30″ is sufficient to move the detection positions 40c′-40e′ out of the sensor region of the sensor units 22c′-22e′. Accordingly, a defective positioning of the load carrier 30″ relative to the underride shuttle 10′ can accordingly be determined, for example, according to the functional principle discussed above with the aid of the plausibility check bits and corresponding countermeasures can be taken.