Transport system and transport method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12037192-B2
Application number	US-202217650540-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 10, 2022
Priority date	Feb 16, 2021
Publication date	Jul 16, 2024
Grant date	Jul 16, 2024

Abstract

A rack includes a pair of first rail portions extending in a depth direction for supporting protrusions, a pair of first gradient portions inclining downward toward a front surface of the rack, a pair of second rail portions facing the pair of the first rail portions, and a pair of second gradient portions inclining upward toward the front surface of the rack. A transport robot includes a top plate on which an object is placed, an elevating portion that raises and lowers the top plate, one or more load sensors provided on the top plate, and a control unit for controlling the elevating portion based on measurement results.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A transport system in which an object is stored in a rack by a transport robot, wherein:
the object includes protrusions protruding outward in a width direction;
the rack includes
a pair of first rail portions extending in a depth direction for supporting the protrusions,
a pair of first gradient portions extending from ends of the pair of the first rail portions and inclining downward toward a front surface of the rack,
a pair of second rail portions provided above the pair of the first rail portions so as to face the pair of the first rail portions, and
a pair of second gradient portions extending from ends of the pair of the second rail portions and inclining upward toward the front surface of the rack; and

the transport robot includes
a top plate on which the object is placed,
an elevating portion that raises and lowers the top plate,
one or more load sensors provided on the top plate, and
a controller for controlling the elevating portion based on measurement results of each of the one or more load sensors; wherein:

the transport robot further includes an arm provided on the top plate for moving the object in and out of the rack; and
the controller
pushes the object into the rack using the arm, after controlling the elevating portion by feedforward control, and
performs feedback control for the elevating portion based on the measurement results of each of the one or more load sensors, when the object failed to be stored in the rack.

2. The transport system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the transport robot includes two load sensors as the one or more load sensors;
one of the two load sensors is provided on a front side of the top plate, and the other of the two load sensors is provided on a rear side of the top plate; and
the controller controls the elevating portion based on a difference between measurement results of the two load sensors.

3. The transport system according to claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more load sensors is a load cell.

4. A transport method in which an object is stored in a rack by a transport robot, wherein:
the object includes protrusions protruding outward in a width direction;
the rack includes
a pair of first rail portions extending in a depth direction for supporting the protrusions,
a pair of first gradient portions extending from ends of the pair of the first rail portions and inclining downward toward a front surface of the rack,
a pair of second rail portions provided above the pair of the first rail portions so as to face the pair of the first rail portions, and
a pair of second gradient portions extending from ends of the pair of the second rail portions and inclining upward toward the front surface of the rack;

the transport robot includes
a top plate on which the object is placed,
an elevating portion that raises and lowers the top plate, and
one or more load sensors provided on the top plate; and

the transport method includes a controlling step for controlling the elevating portion based on measurement results of each of the one or more load sensors; wherein:
the transport robot further includes an arm provided on the top plate for moving the object in and out of the rack; and
a controller that
pushes the object into the rack using the arm, after controlling the elevating portion by feedforward control, and
performs feedback control for the elevating portion based on the measurement results of each of the one or more load sensors, when the object failed to be stored in the rack.

5. The transport method according to claim 4 , wherein:
the transport robot includes two load sensors as the one or more load sensors;
one of the two load sensors is provided on a front side of the top plate, and the other of the two load sensors is provided on a rear side of the top plate; and
the controlling step controls the elevating portion based on a difference between detection results of the two load sensors.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ota Junya
• Iwamoto Kunihiro
• Itozawa Yuta
• Komura Hirotaka
• Takagi Yutaro
• Nakamoto Yoshiaki

Classifications

• B65G1/0492 Primary

  with cars adapted to travel in storage aisles · CPC title

• B25J5/007

  mounted on wheels · CPC title

• B66F9/19

  Additional means for facilitating unloading · CPC title

• B66F9/063

  Automatically guided · CPC title

• B65G1/065 Primary

  with self propelled cars · CPC title