US-20260125213-A1 - VEHICLE EMPLOYABLE IN A WAREHOUSE SYSTEM

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 a top level 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 ( 210 ) along the top level. The vehicle ( 210 ) 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 ( 202 ) along the top level, and a plurality of rollers ( 910 ) configured to move the vehicle ( 210 ) at the top level ( 206 ), wherein each of the plurality of rollers ( 910 ) is configured to roll in different directions.

Inventors

• Mikhail Voloskov
• Martin Preusser

Assignees

• VOLUME LAGERSYSTEME GMBH

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20231005

Priority Date

20221005

Claims (10)

1. 1 - 15 . (canceled)
2. 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; and a plurality of rollers configured to move the vehicle at the top level, wherein each of the plurality of rollers is configured to roll in different directions, wherein the vehicle further comprises: a roller actuator configured to rotate at least one of the plurality of rollers and comprising a rotary drive whose rotary movements are translated into linear movements causing rotation of the at least one roller using a rod assembly driven by the rotary drive, wherein the rod assembly comprises at least one rod having an adjusting element enabling precision adjustment of the length of the rod.
3. 17 . The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein each of the plurality of rollers is configured to rotate around a vertical axis and change orientation with respect to a main body of the vehicle.
4. 18 . The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the roller actuator is configured to rotate the at least one roller by 90°.
5. 19 . The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the rotary drive whose rotary movements are translated into linear movements causes rotation of at least two of the plurality of rollers.
6. 20 . The vehicle of claim 19 , wherein the rotary drive is arranged in an upright manner.
7. 21 . The vehicle of claim 19 , wherein translating the rotary movements of the rotary drive into linear movements is effected via a pivotable platform driven by the rotary drive, wherein at least a portion of the rod assembly is coupled to the pivotable platform.
8. 22 . The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein a stopping element is provided to limit the rotary movement of the pivotable platform to predefined angles.
9. 23 . 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.
10. 24 . The vehicle of claim 23 , 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