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DE-102024110018-B4 - System and method for forming/dissolving a pallet layer

DE102024110018B4DE 102024110018 B4DE102024110018 B4DE 102024110018B4DE-102024110018-B4

Abstract

System (10; 20) for forming or dissolving a complete charge carrier layer (16) from a plurality of individual, in particular heterogeneous, packing units (12), which has: a large number of FTF (22); and a control (24) that is set up: to assign each of the packing units (12) to the location (16) of one of the FTFs (22); to determine a packaging unit-specific position (36) for each of the packing units (12) of the layer (16) based on a layer pattern (34) predefined for the layer (16); and to specify the packing unit-specific position (36) to each of the AGVs (22) as an end/start position of an AGV-specific travel path, so that each of the packing units (12) of the layer (16) is moved to or from the packing unit-specific position (36) by the respective AGV (22) when the layer (16) is formed or dissolved.

Inventors

  • Claus Middelhoff

Assignees

  • RO-BER INDUSTRIEROBOTER GMBH

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240410

Claims (10)

  1. System (10; 20) for forming or dissolving a complete load carrier layer (16) from a plurality of individual, in particular heterogeneous, packaging units (12), comprising: a plurality of AGVs (22); and a control system (24) configured to: assign one of the AGVs (22) to each of the packaging units (12) of the layer (16); determine a packaging unit-specific position (36) for each of the packaging units (12) of the layer (16) based on a layer pattern (34) predefined for the layer (16); and to specify to each of the AGVs (22) the packing unit-specific position (36) as an end/start position of an AGV-specific travel path, so that each of the packing units (12) of the layer (16) is moved to or from the packing unit-specific position (36) by the respective AGV (22) when the layer (16) is formed or dissolved.
  2. System (10; 20) according to Claim 1 , which furthermore includes a palletizer/depalletizer robot (26).
  3. System (10; 20) according to Claim 2 , wherein a load handling device of the palletizer/depalletizer robot (26) is set up to grasp all packing units (12) of the layer (16) simultaneously.
  4. System (10; 20) according to Claim 2 or 3 , where the palletizer/depalletizer robot (26) is a portal robot.
  5. System (20) according to one of the Claims 2 until 4 , which further comprises a discharge/feed conveyor (46) for the load carrier (13) which passes through a working space of the palletizer/depalletizer robot (26), wherein the working space further includes an area within which the plurality of AGVs can be positioned to deliver or receive the load carrier (16).
  6. System (10) according to one of the Claims 1 until 5 , which furthermore has a warehouse (28) and/or a production facility (30), from where the packing units (12) of the location are picked up by the AGV (22) or to which the packing units (12) of the location (12) are brought are preferably arranged remotely from the palletizing/depalletizing robot (26).
  7. System (10; 20) according to one of the Claims 1 until 6 , wherein the control system (24) is further configured to determine each of the AGV-specific travel routes in advance.
  8. System (10; 20) according to one of the Claims 1 until 7 , wherein the control (24) is further configured to determine the layer pattern (34) for forming the layer (16) from the packing units (12).
  9. System (10; 20) according to one of the Claims 1 until 8 , wherein a footprint of each of the packing units (12) of the layer (16) is greater than or equal to a footprint of the associated FTF(s) (22).
  10. Method (100) for forming or dissolving a complete load carrier layer (16) from a plurality of individual, in particular heterogeneous, packing units (12), wherein the method, which is carried out in particular with a system (20) according to one of the preceding claims, comprises the steps of: Providing (S102) a plurality of FTFs (22), the plurality of packing units (12) of the layer (16), and a layer pattern (34) predetermined for the layer (16), where a number of FTFs (22) is in particular greater than or equal to a number of packing units (12) of the layer (16); Assigning (S104) one of the FTFs (22) to each of the packing units (12) of the layer (16), wherein each of the packing units (12) of the layer (16) is assigned another of the FTFs (22); Determine (S106) a packaging unit-specific position (36) for each of the packaging units (12) based on the layer pattern (34); and specify (S108) the packaging unit-specific position (36) as an end/start position of an AGV-specific travel path for each of the assigned AGVs (22), wherein each of the packaging units (12) of the layer (16) is moved to or from the packaging unit-specific position (36) by the respective assigned AGV (22) while the layer (16) is formed or dissolved.

Description

The present disclosure relates to an intralogistics, robot-based system and method for forming and/or dismantling a complete layer of load carriers, wherein the layer is formed from a plurality of individual, in particular heterogeneous, packing units. The present disclosure relates in particular to robot-based layer-by-layer palletizing and/or depalletizing of the packing units. A palletizer is a robot used to automatically group packaging units onto load carriers (pallets of varying sizes). Four- or six-axis industrial robots are frequently used for this task. There are several different types of palletizers, such as articulated robots, layer palletizers, linear robots, and gantry robots. Layer palletizers pack complete layers of a pallet load onto a pallet. An example of a layer palletizer (LP) is shown in the... US 5 540 545 A shown where (homogeneous) packaging units are supplied via continuous conveyor SF (e.g. roller conveyor RF and belt conveyor BF), possibly rotated with rotary tables DT and pushed from the continuous conveyor SF onto a pallet P with pushers S and collected there in rows or rows to form a complete layer, cf. 7 Another line or layer palletizer is located in the US 4 593 517 A shown. Layer palletizers can be configured as gantry palletizers. Gantry palletizers are portal robots with three linear axes, allowing the robot, mounted on a frame, to move completely through a cubic (work) space. Full gantry systems stand on four legs, while half gantry systems stand on two. A gantry robot can define a palletizing cell. A palletizing cell is a particularly compact, modular, and standardized, and therefore cost-effective, robotic cell for the fully automated palletizing of packaging units. The cell includes the palletizing robot with its gripper (load handling device, LMD), a palletizing station, a feed conveyor system (ZF) for the products, and optionally a pallet conveyor system (PFT) for the fully automated transport of pallets (P). Other optional components include a pallet magazine (PM), an interlayer magazine (ZLM) for separating boxes, or camera technology. The gripper technology is adapted to the specific product. (Source: Wikipedia entry for "palletizer", as of March 19, 2024 ). Furthermore, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are known, which consist of automated guided vehicles (AGVs), also called autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). AGVs and AMRs are robots that can move and act independently within their environment. The Fraunhofer Institute has developed an AGV with high sorting performance under the name "LoadRunner" (registered trademark), see Press release from the Fraunhofer Institute dated September 15, 2020 Titled "Formula 1 on the factory floor," the LoadRunner is a high-speed swarm robotic vehicle that utilizes highly distributed artificial intelligence and 5G communication. It can dynamically organize itself within a swarm and even link up for transport tasks when needed. By coupling together, multiple vehicles can move large and bulky parts. WO 2007 / 011 871 A2 (hereinafter referred to as WO' 871 A2) already demonstrates the idea of coupling several AGVs together. In particular, WO' 871 A2 shows i.) how to build or create a (shop-optimized) pallet load by logically delivering individual packaging units using a (single) AGV (see there). 4 ) and ii) several vehicles for the joint transport of an oversized packaging unit (see there) 11 ) or a full pallet load (see there) 12 and 19 ) to couple together. The EP 3 909 894 A1 concerns a facility, a system and a procedure for storing and picking items. The DE 10 2018 105 614 A1 This concerns a block storage area, a driverless transport system and load carriers. The DE 10 2018 109 559 A1 concerns a general cargo handling plant and a method for handling general cargo and/or packaging aids. The objective of this disclosure is to provide an improved system and method for forming and dissolving a complete charge carrier layer from a multitude of individual, in particular (weakly) heterogeneous, packing units. In particular, the formation/dissolution of the layer should be fast, simple, and require minimal hardware. This task is solved by a system for forming or dissolving a complete load carrier layer from a multitude of individual, especially heterogeneous, packaging units, comprising: a multitude of (freely and individually movable) AGVs; and a control system configured to: assign (at least) one AGV to each of the packaging units in the layer; assign a packaging unit-specific position to each of the packaging units in the layer based on a predefined position for the layer. to determine the layer pattern laid; and to specify the packing unit-specific position to each of the AGVs as an end/start position of an AGV-specific travel path, so that each of the packing units of the layer is moved to or from the packing unit-specific position by the respective assigned AGV when the layer is formed or dissolved. Instead of conventional continuou