EP-4739558-A2 - BEACON-SUPPORTED ORIENTATION DURING TURNING MANOEUVRES IN A HANGING-BAG WAREHOUSE PROVIDED WITH AT LEAST PARTIALLY AUTONOMOUSLY MOVING HANGING BAGS

EP4739558A2EP 4739558 A2EP4739558 A2EP 4739558A2EP-4739558-A2

Abstract

In order to safely and easily control driving manoeuvres of a self-driven roller adapter (61) for transporting a hanging bag (5) on a branch (707) of a rail network (49), a driving movement along the rail network (49) is carried out by means of a longitudinal dynamic control of the roller adapter (61), the method according to the invention comprising the steps of: driving into the entrance of the branch; carrying out and/or controlling the driving manoeuvre by means of a transverse dynamic control of the roller adapter (61), wherein the driving manoeuvre comprises a selection from the at least two exits of the branch and an exiting of the roller adapter (61) from the selected exit; detecting a pattern (715) on the rail network (49) by means of a sensor device (701) of the roller adapter (61) during the driving manoeuvre and/or after the driving manoeuvre; using the detected pattern (715) to determine the driving manoeuvre which was carried out; and evaluating, by means of an analysis unit (717), the driving manoeuvre which was carried out.

Inventors

Theurer, Felix
GEYER, Dominik
GRAUBERGER, Christian
JAHNKE, Michael Roland
MÜLLER, Frederic
HERZOG-LANG, VIKTOR
KRATEL, Laurin Vincent
BRADE, Rene

Assignees

EMHS GmbH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20240704

Claims (1)

P a t e n t a n s r ü c h e 1. A method for detecting an autonomously performed driving maneuver of a self-propelled rolling adapter (61) at a junction of a rail network (49), wherein the rolling adapter (61) serves to transport a hanging bag (5), wherein the junction has an entrance and at least two exits connected to the entrance, comprising the steps: Carrying out a travel movement along the rail network (49) by means of a longitudinal dynamic control of the rolling adapter (61), Entering the entrance to the junction, Carrying out the driving maneuver by means of a transverse dynamics control of the rolling adapter (61), wherein the driving maneuver comprises a selection from the at least two exits of the junction and an extension of the rolling adapter (61) from the selected exit, characterized by the further steps: Recognising a pattern (715) on the rail network (49) by means of a sensor device (701) of the rolling adapter (61) during the driving manoeuvre and/or after the driving manoeuvre, Using the recognized pattern (715) to determine the driving maneuver performed, and Evaluation of the performed driving maneuver by means of an evaluation unit (717). 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the evaluation of the driving maneuver carried out comprises the following steps: Specifying a fixed pattern which is assigned to a planned driving maneuver, Comparison of the recognized pattern (715) with the specified pattern, verification of the driving maneuver performed if the recognized pattern (715) matches the specified pattern, and Falsification of the performed driving maneuver if the recognized pattern (715) deviates from the defined pattern and triggering an action (A). 3. Method according to claim 2, characterized by Predetermining a route along the rail network (49) for the rolling adapter (61) by a control device (25), wherein the rail network (49) has further branches and wherein further driving maneuvers on the further branches are specified according to the route, Specifying a corrected route for the rolling adapter (61) as action (A) by the control device (25). 4. Method according to claim 3, characterized by Specifying the corrected route by transmitting control commands to a signal processing unit (720) of the rolling adapter (61) for carrying out the driving maneuvers on the further branches by the control device (25), wherein the control commands are preferably transmitted in the region of the branch of the relevant driving maneuver. 5. Method according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized by Outputting a preferably optical and/or acoustic message on an output unit (56) as action (A). 6. Rolling adapter (61) for transporting a hanging bag (5) on a rail network (49), in particular for carrying out a method according to one of claims 1 to 5, comprising a longitudinal dynamics control for carrying out a travel movement of the rolling adapter (61) along the rail network (49), a transverse dynamics control for carrying out a driving maneuver of the rolling adapter (61) at a junction of the rail network (49) after entering an entrance to the junction, wherein the driving maneuver comprises a selection from at least two exits of the junction and an exit from the selected exit, characterized in that the rolling adapter (61) further comprises: a sensor device (701) which is designed to recognize a pattern (715) on the rail network (49) during the driving maneuver and/or after the driving maneuver, an evaluation unit (717) which is designed to process the recognized pattern (715) in order to determine the driving maneuver performed and is further designed to evaluate the driving maneuver performed. 7. Roll adapter according to claim 6, characterized in that the evaluation unit (717) is designed to evaluate the driving maneuver carried out by comparing the recognized pattern (715) with a predetermined pattern, if the recognized pattern (715) matches the predetermined pattern, the driving maneuver is verified, and if the recognized pattern (715) deviates from the predetermined pattern, the driving maneuver is falsified, and if falsification has taken place, an action (A) is carried out. 8. Roll adapter according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the sensor device (701) is designed to detect magnetic patterns (715) on the rail network (49). 9. Roll adapter according to one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the sensor device (701) is designed to detect optical patterns (715) on the rail network (49). 10. Overhead conveyor device (10), in particular for carrying out a method according to one of claims 1 to 5, comprising a rail network (49), Hanging pockets (5) for holding stored goods (3), and Rolling adapter (61) for transporting the hanging bags (5) along the rail network (49), characterized in that the rolling adapter (61) is designed according to one of claims 6 to 9. 11. Overhead conveyor device (10) according to claim 10, characterized in that the rail network (49) comprises further branches, and in that the overhead conveyor device (10) comprises a control device (25) which is designed to assign a route with further driving maneuvers to the rolling adapter (61) on the to specify further branches along the rail network (49) and to specify a corrected route to the rolling adapter (61) as action (A). 12. Overhead conveyor device (10) according to claim 11, characterized in that the control device (25) is designed to specify the corrected route for carrying out the driving maneuvers in accordance with the corrected route by transmitting control commands to the lateral dynamics control to a signal processing unit (720) of the rolling adapter (61), preferably in each case in the region of the branch of the relevant driving maneuver. 13. Overhead conveyor device (10) according to one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that the overhead conveyor device (10) comprises an output unit (56) which is connected to the evaluation unit (717) and is designed to output a preferably optical and/or acoustic message as an action (A). 14. Storage system (1) for picking stored goods (3), comprising a loading station (53) for loading hanging bags (5) with stored goods (3), a storage area (9, 13) for storing hanging bags (5) with stored goods (3), a packing station (55) for unloading the hanging bags (5) and packing the load (5) into shipping packages, and a hanging conveyor device according to one of claims 10 to 13, which connects the loading station (53), the storage area (9, 13) and the packing station (55), and/or a hanging conveyor device according to one of claims 10 to 13, which is arranged in the storage area (9, 13). 15. Roll adapter (61) for autonomous or at least partially autonomous driving of hanging bags (5), by means of which stored goods (3) can be transported in a network (49) of a hanging bag warehouse (1), characterized by: a longitudinal dynamics control for setting a driving state of the roll adapter, a transverse dynamics control (709), by means of which a travel path (711) of the network (49) of the hanging bag warehouse (1) branched at at least one intersection (707) can be driven along at will, a sensor device (701) which interacts with a beacon arrangement (713) of the branched travel path (711), by means of which a pattern (715) of the beacon arrangement can be recognized by simply driving past beacons (V) of the beacon arrangement (713), by means of which a driving maneuver of the rolling adapter (61) carried out in the at least one intersection (707) can be detected. 16. Roll adapter according to claim 15, characterized in that the sensor device (701) is followed by an evaluation unit (717), by means of which one or more individual sensors (703,705) of the sensor device (701) can be read out in parallel and/or serially in order to recognize a pattern (715) of the beacons (V). 17. Intersection (707) for a hanging bag warehouse (1) for storing, sorting and/or picking hanging bags (5) for receiving stored goods (3) that can be suspended from rolling adapters (61) according to claim 15 or 16 and can be moved autonomously or at least partially autonomously on a network (49) having the intersection (707), characterized by: a beacon arrangement (713) that interacts with the rolling adapters (61) when driving past and has beacons (V), the beacons (V) of the beacon arrangement (713) having a pattern (715) by means of which a driving maneuver of the rolling adapter (61) carried out in the intersection (707) can be detected. 18. Intersection according to claim 17, characterized in that the intersection (707) has curved intersection travel paths (719) for a change of direction and intersecting straight-ahead travel paths (721) for straight-ahead travel, wherein the intersection travel paths each have a first partial arrangement pattern (723) of the beacons (V) and the straight-ahead travel paths each have a second partial arrangement pattern (725). 19. Crossing according to claim 18, characterized in that the crossing (707) is designed with respect to a mounting possibility in the network (49) and/or with respect to a detectability the first partial arrangement pattern (723) and the second partial arrangement pattern (725) are essentially rotationally symmetrical. 20. Crossing according to one of claims 17 to 19, characterized in that the beacons (V) have magnets by means of which the sensor device of the rolling adapter can be switched/triggered. 21. Hanging bag storage with a net (49) which cooperates with a rolling adapter (61) according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the rolling adapter (61) with the hanging bag (5) suspended thereon can be moved autonomously or at least partially autonomously on the net (49), and with at least one crossing (707) according to one of claims 17 to 20, characterized in that a first partial arrangement pattern (723) of the beacons (V) or two of the beacons (V) are arranged at connection points (727) of the crossing (707) at which the crossing (707) can be connected to the net (49), and a second partial arrangement pattern (725) of the beacons (V) or one of the beacons (V) are arranged in the curved crossing travel paths (719). 22. Method for autonomously or at least partially autonomously driving a rolling adapter (61) by means of a traveling longitudinal and transverse dynamics control, for hanging bags (5), by means of which stored goods (3) can be transported, which interacts with a further hanging bag warehouse (1) having at least partially autonomously or autonomously movable hanging bags (5) or interacts with a hanging bag warehouse (1) according to claim 21, characterized by: Optionally driving along a track (711) having intersections (707) in a network (49) of the hanging pocket storage (1) by means of the longitudinal and transverse dynamics control of the rolling adapter (61), Detecting a pattern (715) of a beacon arrangement (713) while driving along the track (711), and Determining information characterizing a driving maneuver of the rolling adapter (61) of the current travel along the travel path (711) depending on the pattern (715). 23. Method according to claim 22, characterized by: serial reading of the beacons (V), or parallel reading of several of the beacons (V), or parallel and serial reading of several of the beacons (V). 24. Method according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that the rolling adapter (61) recognizes the following patterns and assigns them to the driving manoeuvre: Delayed double detection of two of the beacons V for driving straight ahead, delayed double detection of two of the beacons V, single detection of one of the beacons V at a first position and repeated double detection of two of the beacons V for turning in a first direction, and delayed double detection of two of the beacons V, single detection of one of the beacons V at a second position deviating from the first position and repeated double detection of two of the beacons V for turning in a second direction.

Description

BEACON-ASSISTED ORIENTATION DURING BENDING PROCESSES IN A HANGING BAG WAREHOUSE EQUIPPED WITH AT LEAST PARTIALLY AUTONOMOUS DRIVING HANGING BAG The present invention relates to a method for detecting an autonomously performed driving maneuver of a self-propelled rolling adapter at a junction of a rail network, wherein the rolling adapter serves to transport a hanging bag, wherein the junction has an entrance and at least two exits connected to the entrance, comprising the steps: Carrying out a travel movement along the rail network by means of a longitudinal dynamic control of the rolling adapter, Entering the entrance to the junction, Carrying out and/or controlling the driving maneuver by means of a lateral dynamics control of the rolling adapter, wherein the driving maneuver comprises a selection from the at least two exits of the junction and an extension of the rolling adapter from the selected exit. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a rolling adapter for transporting a hanging bag on a rail network, in particular for carrying out a method described herein, comprising a longitudinal dynamics control for carrying out a travel movement of the rolling adapter along the rail network, a transverse dynamics control for carrying out and/or controlling a driving maneuver of the rolling adapter at a junction of the rail network, wherein the driving maneuver comprises a selection from at least two exits of the junction and an exit from the selected exit. In addition, the present invention relates to a suspension conveyor device comprising a rail network, Hanging bags for storing goods, and Roll adapter for transporting the hanging bags along the rail network. The present invention also relates to a storage system for picking stored goods, comprising a loading station for loading hanging bags with stored goods, a storage area for storing hanging bags with stored goods, a packing station for unloading the hanging bags and packing the cargo into shipping packages, and a hanging conveyor device as described herein which connects the loading station, the storage area and the packing station, and/or a hanging conveyor device as described herein which is arranged in the storage area. The invention also relates to a rolling adapter for the autonomous or at least partially autonomous driving of hanging bags, by means of which stored goods can be transported, a hanging bag warehouse interacting with this, as well as a crossing of the hanging bag warehouse and a method according to the device. In automated warehouses, production sites and when transporting goods, such as in mail order, it is necessary to load stored goods into and unload them from containers as automatically as possible. The goods can be stored in these containers before they are delivered and are then taken to a packing station where they are packaged for further transport to the customer. Transport within the storage system is usually carried out using overhead conveyors. The containers are usually made like fabric bags and are suspended from a rail system at the top with a type of wire hanger. A container of this type is known from WO 2014/012965 Al, for example. Its side wall elements are controlled by a rod so that the side wall elements connected to one another via a connecting area can be folded open. In the area of a loading station, the containers are also transferred to a horizontal or inclined position. Comparable containers for conveying goods and associated overhead conveyor devices are known, for example, from DE 102004018 569 A1, EP 2 130 968 A1 or EP 2 196 415 A. The hanging pockets described therein consist of flexible materials in the form of a loop in which the stored goods are held. For loading, these hanging pockets are opened from above in order to be able to introduce the conveyed goods into the loop. Unloading takes place by either removing the stored goods from the side or ejecting them or, for example, according to EP 2 130 968 A1, by opening the loop downwards. Furthermore, a container for conveying goods is known from DE 103 54419 A1, which has a relatively rigid and flat plastic wall with a cutout for loading and unloading stored goods. CORRECTED SHEET (RULE 91) ISA/EP Other containers for conveying goods are made like hanging flat plastic tubs, which are covered on one side with elastic materials, which clamp the conveyed goods in place. It is known to load such containers in a mechanized manner and to unload them manually. A transport cycle is based on the slowest process, which also depends on the amount of goods being transported. In particular, a large number of individual goods can slow down loading and/or unloading. For example, unloading and/or assembling disassembled containers can determine the maximum possible transport cycle. EP 2 686 258 Bl relates to a suspended conveyor device with a suspended pocket for automatically unloading a loaded goods and with an unloading station. DE 102018 128 417 A1 descr