Transport robot with longitudinal conveyor

Abstract

A transport robot having a loading device (16-19) and loading arms for loading and unloading items to be transported (13) on the transport robot, wherein the item to be transported (13) is stored in a high-bay storage shelving (12) at the side of the direction of travel for the transport robot, and the loading device (16-19) is driven in a displaceable manner, and can be guided over at least one of the two sides of the outer contour of the transport robot, and can be brought into contact with the item to be transported (13), wherein the loading device (16-19) is formed by at least one loading arm (7, 8; 17, 18), designed as a longitudinal conveyor (6) for gripping under the bottom surface of the item to be transported (13).

Claims

1. A transport robot, comprising: a loading device for loading and unloading goods to be transported on the transport robot, wherein the goods to be transported are stored at a side relative to a direction of travel of the transport robot in a storage shelf and the loading device is driven so as to be displaceable and able to travel over at least one of the two sides of the external contour of the transport robot and can be brought into contact with the goods to be transported, wherein the loading device comprises: a first loading arm comprising a longitudinal conveyor for gripping underneath the underside of the goods to be transported, wherein the loading arm is driven by an endless toothed belt, wherein the endless toothed belt is guided by means of a carriage which is driven so as to be displaceable in the transport robot, the displacement of which controls a direction of displacement of the first loading arm, wherein a loading head is arranged at the outer free end of the loading arm, wherein a ramp is arranged on the side of the loading head and wherein the toothed belt is guided over a deflecting belt pulley on the loading head, the endless toothed belt disposed on and guided by the deflecting belt pulley at an extent of the endless toothed belt along the direction of displacement of the first loading arm, wherein the front end of the loading head has a supporting roller spaced from the deflecting belt pulley along the direction of displacement of the first loading arm, the supporting roller sized, shaped and positioned to support the loading head in a hollow profile of the storage shelf and a supporting arm bears on a spindle of the belt pulley and the supporting roller is arranged on the supporting arm, the supporting arm spacing the supporting roller from the deflecting belt pulley and the endless toothed belt along the direction of displacement of the first loading arm.

2. The transport robot according to claim 1, wherein the loading device comprises a second loading arm opposing the first loading arm.

3. The transport robot according to claim 2, wherein the second loading arm comprises a second longitudinal conveyor driven by a second endless toothed belt.

4. The transport robot according to claim 3, wherein the endless toothed belt comprises two toothed belts arranged parallel to one another and spaced a distance from one another and are driven synchronously and wherein the two toothed belts are guided over a pair of guide rollers which are parallel to one another on the carriage arranged in the middle between the toothed belts.

5. The transport robot according to claim 3, wherein the first loading arm comprises two loading arms arranged parallel to one another on the transport robot, wherein each loading arm comprises a pair of toothed belts which are driven synchronously with one another, the endless toothed belt comprising the pair of toothed belts on each loading arm.

6. The transport robot according to claim 2, wherein the endless toothed belt comprises two toothed belts arranged parallel to one another and spaced a distance from one another and are driven synchronously and wherein the two toothed belts are guided over a pair of guide rollers which are parallel to one another on the carriage arranged in the middle between the toothed belts.

7. The transport robot according to claim 2, wherein the first loading arm comprises two loading arms arranged parallel to one another on the transport robot, wherein each loading arm comprises a pair of toothed belts which are driven synchronously with one another, the endless toothed belt comprising the pair of toothed belts on each loading arm.

8. The transport robot according to claim 1, wherein the endless toothed belt comprises two toothed belts arranged parallel to one another and spaced a distance from one another and are driven synchronously and wherein the two toothed belts are guided over a pair of guide rollers which are parallel to one another on the carriage arranged in the middle between the toothed belts.

9. The transport robot according to claim 8, wherein the first loading arm comprises two loading arms arranged parallel to one another on the transport robot, wherein each loading arm comprises a pair of toothed belts which are driven synchronously with one another, the endless toothed belt comprising the pair of toothed belts on each loading arm.

10. The transport robot according to claim 1, wherein the first loading arm comprises two loading arms arranged parallel to one another on the transport robot, wherein each loading arm comprises a pair of toothed belts which are driven synchronously with one another, the endless toothed belt comprising the pair of toothed belts on each loading arm.

11. The transport robot according to claim 1, wherein the supporting roller is supported on an axis of rotation offset from an axis of rotation of the deflecting belt pulley.

12. A method for operating a transport robot having a loading device for loading and unloading goods to be transported on the transport robot, wherein the goods to be transported is stored in a high-bay storage shelving to the side of the direction of travel for the transport robot, the method comprising: driving the loading device in a displaceable manner, guiding the loading device over at least one of the two sides of an outer contour of the transport robot; bringing a loading head of the loading device into contact with the goods to be transported; guiding the loading head to the front edge of the goods to be transported so that a ramp is disposed at a side of the loading head; and lifting the goods to be transported when the loading head is guided to the front, lower bottom surface thereof, and a toothed belt of the loading head locks onto the goods to be transported and is no longer moved thereafter, wherein the loading device comprises: a first loading arm comprising a longitudinal conveyor for gripping underneath the underside of the goods to be transported, wherein the loading arm is driven by an endless toothed belt, wherein the endless toothed belt is guided by means of a carriage which is driven so as to be displaceable in the transport robot, the displacement of which controls a direction of displacement of the first loading arm, wherein a loading head is arranged at the outer free end of the loading arm, wherein a ramp is arranged on the side of the loading head and wherein the toothed belt is guided over a deflecting belt pulley on the loading head, the endless toothed belt disposed on and guided by the deflecting belt pulley at an extent of the endless toothed belt along the direction of displacement of the first loading arm, wherein the front end of the loading head has a supporting roller spaced from the deflecting belt pulley along the direction of displacement of the first loading arm, the supporting roller sized, shaped and positioned to support the loading head in a hollow profile of the storage shelf and a supporting arm bears on a spindle of the belt pulley and the supporting roller is arranged oil the supporting arm, the supporting arm spacing the supporting roller from the deflecting belt pulley and the endless toothed belt along the direction of displacement of the first loading arm.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein in the lifted, pivotal position of the goods to be transported, a driving of the toothed belt occurs such that the loading arm is guided further under the bottom of the goods to be transported, and in that a relative movement of the upper portion of the toothed belt and the bottom surface of the goods to be transported is blocked thereby.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the endless toothed belt comprises two toothed belts arranged parallel to one another, and the carriage synchronizes the two toothed belts to one another.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the simple displacement movement of the carriage results in the displacement movement of the loading arm over twice the distance.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein the endless toothed belt comprises two toothed belts arranged parallel to one another, and the carriage synchronizes the two toothed belts to one another.

17. The method according to claim 12, wherein the simple displacement movement of the carriage results in the displacement movement of the loading arm over twice the distance.

Description

(1) Shown are:

(2) FIG. 1: a front view of a transport robot, with a loading device in the retracted state,

(3) FIG. 2: the detail H from FIG. 1, in an enlargement,

(4) FIG. 3: the transport robot according to FIG. 1, with a loading device extended toward the left,

(5) FIG. 4: the detail D from FIG. 3,

(6) FIG. 5: the same depiction as that in FIG. 3, wherein, however, the loading arm has been guided under the front edge of the item to be transported,

(7) FIG. 6: an enlargement of the detail C from FIG. 5,

(8) FIG. 7: a schematic top view of a transport robot having two parallel longitudinal conveyors, wherein each longitudinal conveyor consists of a pair of toothed belts that are driven synchronously,

(9) FIG. 8: a cutaway view of the front view of the loading device depicting the carriage that is driven in a displaceable manner, cut along the line B-B in FIG. 9,

(10) FIG. 9: the top view of the assembly according to FIG. 8,

(11) FIG. 10: the top view of an assembly similar to that in FIG. 9,

(12) FIG. 11: the cut along the line A-A in FIG. 10, through the carriage that can be driven in a displaceable manner,

(13) FIG. 12: the front view of the assembly according to FIG. 10,

(14) FIG. 13: a cutaway similar to that in FIG. 8, wherein, however, the cut is made at a different plane, in order to show the guide rollers on the carriage that is driven in a displaceable manner,

(15) FIG. 14: a schematic depiction of the toothed belt drive for a longitudinal conveyor having a carriage disposed at the middle position,

(16) FIG. 15: the same depiction as that in FIG. 14, in which the carriage is displaced in one direction in order to displace the loading arm.

(17) The fundamental construction of the loading device according to the invention can be derived from FIGS. 1-4.

(18) According to FIG. 1, a loading device, which is designed as the (at least one) longitudinal conveyor 6, is disposed on a transport robot 1.

(19) According to the depiction in FIG. 7, two parallel longitudinal conveyors 6, 16 are disposed, in an expansion of the invention, on the upper surface of the transport robot 1, wherein each of the longitudinal conveyors 6 or 16 function according to the same principle. Therefore, it is sufficient to describe the construction of a single longitudinal conveyor, because the other has the exact same design.

(20) Each of the longitudinal conveyors 6, 16 has toothed belts 21, driven at a spacing to one another, and parallel to one another, as is depicted in FIG. 7.

(21) The toothed belt for the longitudinal conveyor 16 is indicated by the numeral 21, while the toothed belt for the longitudinal conveyor 6 is indicated by the numeral 21a.

(22) Thus, for each longitudinal conveyor, there are a total of two toothed belts 21a, 21a, or 21, 21, spaced apart from one another and synchronous to one another, wherein only the drive for one of the individual toothed belts 21a or 21 shall be described in the following description, because the other toothed belts in the quadruple toothed belt assembly according to FIG. 7 have the exact same design, and are driven in exactly the same manner.

(23) It is important in the depiction according to FIG. 7 that, in each case, a carriage 33 is disposed between the two spaced apart toothed belts of the longitudinal conveyors 6 and 16, which ensures that the two toothed belts are driven synchronously to one another, and that when the carriage is displaced, the loading head 7a, 8a on the respective free ends of the loading arm 7, 8 is extended from the transport robot, either to the left or the right, selectively.

(24) It is depicted in FIG. 1 that the longitudinal conveyor 6 according to FIG. 7 has a loading arm 7 on the left side, belonging to the longitudinal conveyor 6, and forming a loading head on its free side.

(25) The same applies for the right side of the longitudinal conveyor 6 in FIG. 2, where it can be seen that the loading arm 8 there forms a loading head 8a, which can be extended or retracted in the directions of the arrows 9, 10. The same applies to the loading arm 7 on the left side.

(26) The transport robot 1 is driven in a displaceable manner on a pair of tracks 2 lying in the drawing plane for FIG. 1, and has carrying wheels 3 disposed in pairs on the left side, which are supported on the right side by guide wheels 4.

(27) The transport robot also has a base frame 5, on which the loading device 6, 16 is disposed.

(28) In order to pick up or deposit an item to be transported 13, the transport robot 1 is moved to a position where it is flush in relation to a delivery plate 11 in a high bay storage shelf 12. This is depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2. The item to be transported 13 then rests on the upper surface of the longitudinal conveyor 6.

(29) According to FIGS. 3 and 4, the item to be transported 13 is deposited, wherein the underside of the item to be transported lies on the upper portion of a continuous toothed belt 21. This upper portion is indicated with the numerals 21a or 21b in FIG. 8.

(30) The loading head 7, 8 is fed through a deflecting belt pulley 20, which is not driven, wherein a support arm 19 rests against the axle of the pulley 20, which is supported by a front support roller 15, which is supported in the hollow profile 15 in the shelf space 12.

(31) In this manner, the loading arm 7, 8 can be extended over an arbitrary loading length, without bending, because the support rollers 15 in the hollow profile 14 on the high bay storage shelf 12 provide the necessary support.

(32) According to one feature of the invention, it is furthermore preferred that the item to be transported 13 is raised in the direction of the arrow 28 when being picked up.

(33) A lifting motion 28 with respect to the front edge 24 is carried out as a result, in accordance with FIG. 6, in that the loading arm 7 is first moved in the direction of the arrow 9 to where it meets the front edge 24 of the item to be transported 13, and lifts this front edge by means of a lifting motion 28, while the toothed belt forms a ramp 29 with its upper portion, which ensures that the front edge 24 of the item to be transported 13 is pivoted upward, in the direction of the arrow 30.

(34) The toothed belt 21 remains at the position 25 when it engages with the item to be transported, and is not displaced any further. After the item to be transported 13 is raised by means of the lifting motion 28, the transport belt 21 remains fixed at the position 25. The loading arm 7 is then driven, in the direction of the arrow 9, further under the stationary undersurface of the item to be transported, without resulting in a relative movement of the upper portion 21a of the toothed belt 1 and the bottom surface of the item to be transported 13.

(35) This ensures a particularly smooth, gentle handling of the item to be transported, and prevents the occurrence an undesired relative movement in relation to the loading arm when picking up or depositing the item.

(36) In the general description it is indicated that each loading arm 6 consists of two toothed belts 21 or 21a, which are driven parallel to one another.

(37) The two toothed belts 21 or 21a are synchronized by means of a carriage 33 that is disposed such that it can be displaced in a synchronous manner in an intermediate space between the toothed belts.

(38) With respect to the displacement of the carriage 33 in the directions of the arrows 9, 10, the entire loading arm 7 or 8 on the longitudinal conveyor is thus displaced toward the left or right, as is also the case with the other loading arm 17, 18 of the longitudinal conveyor 16, disposed parallel, and at a spacing, thereto.

(39) It can be derived from FIG. 4 that the item to be transported is raised from the surface of the shelf in the shelf space 12 by the lifting motion in the direction of the arrow 28, by means of which, according to FIG. 4, the upper edge 23 of the hollow profile 14 is then located beneath the bottom 22 of the item to be transported 13, and thus, a gap 31 is formed.

(40) Thus, the item to be transported is accommodated at its bottom 22 entirely on the upper surface of the two toothed belts 21a, 21b, disposed parallel to one another, and is supported solely by these toothed belts.

(41) The displacement drive for the loading arms 7, 8 shall now be explained based on FIGS. 8 and 9.

(42) It is visible that a carriage 33 is driven in a displaceable manner in the central area of the transport robot 1, or in as module connected to the transport robot 1, which forms the loading device, and this being in the directions of the arrows 26 and 27. The displacement in the directions of the arrows 26, 27 occurs in that the carriage has a clamping device 42 for establishing a clamping connection to the upper portion 34a of a toothed belt 34, and the toothed belt 34 is guided over a drive roller 35, driven such that it rotates, and the lower portion 34b of the toothed belt is guided over a guide roller 36 that is not driven.

(43) The drive for the drive roller 35 occurs via a connection belt 54, which is frictionally connected to the drive gear 55 of a drive motor 32.

(44) The drive motor 32 forms the displacement drive for the carriage 33 in the directions of the arrows 26 and 27.

(45) In order to determine the necessary extension depth, or thrust depth, for the respective loading arm 7, 8, distance meters 37 are provided on both sides, facing outward, which are directed toward the front of the item to be transported 13, and determine the spacing to the item to be transported. This can be a laser distance meter. Instead, ultrasound distance meters or optical distance meters can also be used.

(46) If the carriage 33 is displaced to the right, in the direction of the arrow 27, according to FIG. 14, then the entire loading arm is displaced toward the right, and the right-hand loading head 8a is extended, while the left-hand loading head is displaced to the middle region of the transport robot 1.

(47) As a result, the entire loading arm is extended toward the right when the carriage 33 is displaced toward the right, in the direction of the arrow 27 according to FIGS. 14 and 15.

(48) According to FIG. 9, the carriage synchronizes the two continuous toothed belts to one another, because the carriage is disposed, according to FIG. 9, in the intermediate space between the two continuous pairs of toothed belts 21a, 21b.

(49) Only one single continuous toothed belt is shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, while in fact, according to FIG. 9, the carriage 33 is disposed between two toothed belts, driven synchronously.

(50) The carriage 33 forms the synchronizing element with its guide rollers 45a, 45b, and 46a and 46b, for a synchronous drive of the two toothed belts 21a and 21b, driven parallel to one another, and collectively.

(51) The drive motor 52, which is provided for driving the toothed belts 21 in order to obtainindependently of the displacement position of the carriage 33a longitudinal displacement of the entire toothed belt, shall be described in the following.

(52) For this purpose, FIG. 11 shows a cut through the carriage 33. Rotatable guide rollers 45a, 45b and 46a, 46b are disposed on a supporting frame 50.

(53) The supporting frame 50 is guided in a displaceable manner by means of guide rollers 58 in the loading arm 7 or 8, respectively.

(54) For this purpose, guides 49 are provided, which are disposed in the respective loading arm 7 or 8.

(55) The axles for the gear wheels 40, 41 are attached to the carriage, or on the supporting frame 50 for the carriage 33, respectively, as can be derived from FIG. 9 in comparison with FIG. 11.

(56) These gear wheels 40, 41 roll against toothed rods 38, 39, which are connected to the transport robot 1 in each case by means of a supporting frame 50. Accordingly, each gear wheel 40, 41 rolls along the associated stationary toothed rod 38, 39 in the transport robot 1.

(57) A toothed rod 43, 44 is disposed in each case in the respective loading arm 7, 8, which meshes with the respective gear wheel 40, 41.

(58) In this manner, a gear ratio for the displacement movement of the carriage 33 is obtained, resulting in doubling the length of the displacement movement for the loading arm 7, 8. Accordingly, if the carriage 33 is displaced in the indicated directions of the arrows 9, 10 over a specific distance, then the loading arm 7, 8 allocated thereto is displaced twice the distance.

(59) The gear ratio for the displacement movement of the carriage 33 by the doubled displacement length of the loading arm 7, 8 thus occurs by means of the gear ratio for the gear wheels 40, 41, which roll, on one hand, along the stationary toothed rods 38, 39, and which furthermore roll over twice the distance on the opposite side of the toothed rods 33, 34 connected to the carriage 33.

(60) Thus, a doubled gear ratio of the displacement movement is obtained.

(61) In the following, the manner in which guidance of the toothed belt 21 over the carriage 33 occurs shall be explained. This is depicted in FIG. 13.

(62) The carriage 33 is guided in a displaceable manner in a guide 49 in the transport robot 1, or in a module of the transport robot 1, respectively, by means of guide rollers 48.

(63) The carriage 33 has two guide rollers 45a, 45b, and 46a, 46b, disposed at a spacing to one another, and in pairs.

(64) All of the guide rollers 45, 46 are provided for guiding a continuous toothed belt 21, wherein the upper portion of the toothed belt, supporting the bottom of the item to be transported 13, is indicated by the numeral 21aa.

(65) The portion of the toothed belt lying below this is indicated by the numeral 21ab, while the middle, third portion is indicated by the numeral 21ac, and lowermost portion of the toothed belt is indicated by the numeral 21ad.

(66) The lower guidance for the toothed belt 21 is obtained by means drive motor 52, which drives the belt pulley 57 in a rotational manner, while the other belt pulley 56 serves solely as a guide. Accordingly, the toothed belt 21 is guided continuously via the belt pulley 20 on the respective loading arm.

(67) In FIG. 13, the aforementioned gear wheels 40, 41 are also illustrated, these being the gear wheels corresponding to the respective toothed rods 43, 44.

(68) It can be derived from FIG. 7 that in each case, there is a spacing 51 between the individual toothed belts 21, 21a.

(69) The drive principle for the continuous toothed belt 21 is depicted in FIGS. 14 and 15. When the carriage 33 is displaced in the direction illustrated by the arrow 9, the loading arm is simultaneously displaced toward the right, in the direction of the arrow 9. At the same time, the continuous circumferential toothed belt 21 is moved with it, and is driven such that it can be displaced separately from the displacement of the carriage 33.

(70) It should also be noted that, instead of a toothed belt 21, other longitudinal conveyor elements can also be used, such as, for example, rope belts, chains, flat drive belts, V-belts and suchlike.

(71) The term toothed belt should thus be regarded in the broadest sense, because it can also be replaced by rope belts, round belts, triangular belts, V-belts and suchlike.

REFERENCE SYMBOLS

(72) 1 transport robot 2 track pair 3 carrying wheel 4 guide wheel 5 base frame 6 longitudinal conveyor 7 loading arm (for 6) 7a loading head 8 loading arm (for 6) 8a loading bead 9 direction of arrow 10 direction of arrow 11 delivery plate 12 shelf space 13 item to be transported. 14 hollow profile 15 support roller 16 longitudinal conveyor 17 loading arm (for 16) 18 loading arm (for 16) 19 support arm (for 15) 20 belt pulley 21 toothed belt aa, ab, ac, ad 22 bottom (of 13) ba, bb, bc, bd 23 upper edge (of 14) 24 front edge (of 13) 25 position 26 direction of arrow 27 direction of arrow 28 lifting movement 29 ramp 30 direction of arrow 31 gap 32 drive motor (for 33), displacement drive 33 carriage 34 toothed belt (for 33) 34a upper portion 34b lower portion 35 drive roller 36 guide roller 37 distance meter 38 toothed rod 39 toothed rod 40 gear wheel (for 33) 41 gear wheel (for 33) 42 clamping device 43 toothed rod 44 toothed rod 45 guide roller a, b 46 guide roller a, b 47 frame (for 33) 48 guide roller 49 guide 50 supporting frame 51 spacing 52 drive motor (for 21) (drive for toothed belts for longitudinal displacement) 53 54 connection belt 55 drive gear 56 belt pulley 57 belt pulley 58 guide roller (for 6, 16)