US-20260125212-A1 - VEHICLE EMPLOYABLE IN A WAREHOUSE SYSTEM

US20260125212A1US 20260125212 A1US20260125212 A1US 20260125212A1US-20260125212-A1

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle ( 210 ) for retrieving a storage bin ( 202 ) from a warehouse system. The vehicle ( 210 ) is configured to be movable at atop level of the warehouse system to retrieve storage bins ( 202 ) from a plurality of stacks, wherein retrieving a storage bin ( 202 ) from a respective stack includes raising the storage bin ( 202 ) from the stack to the top level so that the storage bin ( 202 ) is shiftable by the vehicle along the top level. The vehicle comprises a gripper ( 804; 904 ) configured to grip a storage bin ( 202 ) to raise the storage bin ( 202 ) from a respective stack and to shift the storage bin along the top level. The gripper ( 804; 904 ) comprises a group of clasps ( 820 ) arranged adjacent to one another, wherein each of the clasps has a gripping configuration associated with a respective type of storage bin ( 202 ).

Inventors

Mikhail Voloskov
Martin Preusser

Assignees

VOLUME LAGERSYSTEME GMBH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20231005
Priority Date: 20221005

Claims (13)

1 - 15 . (canceled)
16 . A vehicle for retrieving a storage bin from a warehouse system, the warehouse system comprising a storage area and a top level arranged above the storage area, the storage area being adapted to accommodate a plurality of stacks of storage bins, wherein the vehicle is configured to be movable at the top level to retrieve storage bins from the plurality of stacks, wherein retrieving a storage bin from a respective stack includes raising the storage bin from the stack to the top level so that the storage bin is shiftable by the vehicle along the top level, the vehicle comprising: a gripper configured to grip a storage bin to raise the storage bin from a respective stack and to shift the storage bin along the top level, wherein the gripper comprises a group of clasps arranged adjacent to one another, wherein the group of clasps comprises one or more pairs of clasps configured to grip the storage bin on a same side of the storage bin, wherein the clasps of each pair of clasps have the same gripping configuration and are spaced apart from one another, and each clasp of each pair of clasps is configured to engage with a grip or handle on an outer side of the storage bin at a specific vertical distance from a top edge of the storage bin.
17 . The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein each clasp of the pair of clasps has a same height (H 3 ) with respect to the gripper.
18 . The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein each clasp of the pair of clasps has a gripping configuration compatible with multiple types of storage bins.
19 . The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein each of the clasps is pivotally mounted to the gripper and biased towards a gripping position.
20 . The vehicle of claim 19 , wherein the gripper comprises one or more biasing elements biasing each of the clasps towards the gripping position.
21 . The vehicle of claim 20 , wherein each of the clasps is biased by a separate biasing element towards the gripping position.
22 . The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the gripper comprises a clasp actuator configured to move the group of clasps at least from a gripping position to an open position.
23 . The vehicle of claim 22 , wherein the group of clasps corresponds to a first group of clasps arranged to grip the storage bin from one side of the storage bin, wherein the gripper comprises a second group of clasps arranged to grip the storage bin from a second side of the storage bin, wherein the clasp actuator is configured to move the first group of clasps and the second group of clasps together from a gripping position to an open position.
24 . The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the clasps of each pair of clasps are movable separately from each other between their respective gripping and open positions.
25 . The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the clasps of each pair of clasps are coupled to be together movable between their respective gripping and open positions.
26 . The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the gripper is arranged to extend beyond a main body of the vehicle so that, when the storage bin is raised to the top level, the storage bin is arranged alongside the main body on a first vertical side of the main body.
27 . The vehicle of claim 26 , wherein the vehicle further comprises an alternating mechanism configured to change a position of the gripper with respect to the main body so that, when a storage bin is gripped and raised to the top level, the storage bin is arranged alongside the main body on a second vertical side of the main body.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure generally relates to the field of warehouse systems. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a vehicle for placing and retrieving storage bins in a warehouse system. An exemplary warehouse system to exemplify the use of such vehicle in a warehouse system is disclosed as well. BACKGROUND In the industry, warehouses are used to store large amounts of goods in an organized manner. Warehouse systems typically employed nowadays encompass a variety of types of storage systems ranging from simple pallet racks, allowing the storage of palletized goods in horizontal rows with multiple levels where stacker cranes are employed to retrieve goods from the racks, to compact warehouse systems that rather focus on the efficient use of available space in a warehouse. Automated warehouse systems, such as the one disclosed in WO 2014/075937 A1, are one example of compact warehouse systems. As shown in FIG. 1, such warehouse systems may comprise a grid structure 100 of storage cells, wherein each storage cell is arranged to accommodate a vertical stack of storage bins 102. At a top level of the grid structure, one or more robots 104 (or, more generally, “vehicles”) may move horizontally to receive and place storage bins 102 from and to the stacks of the storage cells, i.e., by raising storage bins 102 from the stacks to the top level or lowering storage bins 102 from the top level down onto the stacks, respectively. A bin lift 106 integrated into the grid structure 100 may receive a storage bin 102 from a robot 104 at the top level and convey the storage bin 102 in a vertical direction down to a handover station 108. Such warehouse systems are offered by AutoStore (http://www.autostoresystem.com), for example. While such systems may efficiently use the available space of a warehouse, they may suffer from the problem that, when a storage bin is to be retrieved that is currently stored at a low position in a stack of a storage cell (e.g., at the bottom of a stack), all storage bins placed above the bin in the same stack temporarily need to be relocated, e.g., to other stacks of the grid structure. This may require an iterative relocation process until all storage bins above the bin to be retrieved are relocated so that the bin can finally be accessed/retrieved and conveyed via the top level to the handover station. It will be understood that such relocation process may be time-consuming and quick retrieval times for all bins of the warehouse system therefore cannot be guaranteed. Promises desired to be made by warehouse system providers, especially for the quick commerce industry, such as promises for retrieval of bins within few seconds in order to guarantee instant delivery upon a completed purchase transaction, can hardly be made. SUMMARY It is thus an object of the present disclosure to provide warehouse system techniques that enable quicker retrieval of the storage bins of a warehouse system, or that improve other aspects of the above-described warehouse system. According to a first aspect helping to understand the present disclosure, a warehouse system providing space for a three-dimensional arrangement of storage bins is provided. The warehouse system comprises a plurality of interconnected storage modules, wherein each storage module comprises a storage area and a top level arranged above the storage area, wherein the storage area is adapted to accommodate a plurality of stacks of storage bins arranged in a horizontal two-dimensional grid at a bottom of the storage module, wherein, at the top level, at least one vehicle is movable in alignment with the two-dimensional grid to retrieve and place storage bins from and to the plurality of stacks. The plurality of interconnected storage modules comprises at least two levels of storage modules placed one above the other in an individual room. For each of the plurality of storage modules, a height of the storage module may be dimensioned to allow a maximum number of 6, preferably 5, 4 or 3, storage bins per stack of the plurality of stacks of the storage module. The plurality of storage modules may comprise at least 3, preferably at least 4 or at least 5, levels of storage modules placed one above the other in the individual room. The plurality of interconnected storage modules may further comprise at least two storage modules placed one next to the other in a horizontal direction in the individual room. Each of the plurality of storage modules may be a prefabricated interconnectable storage module, wherein the warehouse system may be assembled from the plurality of storage modules in the manner of a modular construction system. Among the plurality of interconnected storage modules, two storage modules placed one above the other may be interconnected using a mechanical form fit established between a bottom of the upper storage module and a top of the lower storage module of the two storage modules. Each of the plurality of st