Automatic distribution wall

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12441545-B2
Application number	US-202117926536-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 8, 2021
Priority date	Jun 15, 2020
Publication date	Oct 14, 2025
Grant date	Oct 14, 2025

Abstract

An automatic distribution wall is provided, comprising: at least one sorting and conveying assembly which is arranged linearly, wherein the sorting and conveying assembly comprises a carrying part and a rotating part, the carrying part is used for carrying and conveying articles, and the rotating part is connected to a base of the carrying part to drive the carrying part to rotate about a vertical direction so as to adjust the direction of conveyance of articles by the carrying part to a storage position facing the articles.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic put wall, comprising:
a conveying bracket, and
a tote bracket disposed at a lateral side of the conveying bracket;
wherein the conveying bracket has a first multilayer structure, each layer of the first multilayer structure being provided with a set of sorting-conveying assemblies distributed linearly, and wherein each sorting-conveying assembly comprises a carrying portion and a rotating portion, the carrying portion is configured to carry and convey articles, and the rotating portion is configured to be connected to a base of the carrying portion to bring the carrying portion to rotate about a vertical; and
wherein the tote bracket has a second multilayer structure, and each layer of the second multilayer structure is provided with a plurality of totes serving as the storage position for the article.

2. The automatic put wall according to claim 1 , wherein the carrying portion comprises a conveyor belt and a horizontal driving mechanism, the horizontal driving mechanism is configured to drive the conveyor belt to move in a horizontal direction for conveying an article located on the conveyor belt.

3. The automatic put wall according to claim 2 , wherein the carrying portion further comprises a tray, a central region of the tray is hollowed out to expose the conveyor belt, and an upper surface of the tray is not higher than an upper surface of the conveyor belt.

4. The automatic put wall according to claim 1 , wherein the rotating portion comprises a rotating shaft having an axis in a vertical direction and a rotating driving mechanism, one end of the rotating shaft is fixedly connected to the base of the carrying portion, and the other end of the rotating shaft is connected to the rotating driving mechanism; and
wherein the rotating driving mechanism is configured to drive the rotating shaft to rotate about the vertical axis.

5. The automatic put wall according to claim 4 , wherein each sorting-conveying assembly comprises two carrying portions; and the rotating portion includes two rotating shafts, which are fixedly connected respectively to the base of each of the two carrying portions; and
the rotating portion further comprises a synchronous transmission mechanism through which the rotating driving mechanism drives the two rotating shafts to rotate synchronously about respective vertical axes, so as to bring the two carrying portions to rotate synchronously about respective vertical axes.

6. The automatic put wall according to claim 5 , wherein the synchronous transmission mechanism comprises a synchronous conveyor belt and two synchronous belt pulleys cooperating with the synchronous conveyor belt, each of the synchronous belt pulleys being connected to one of the rotating shafts; and
the rotation driving mechanism is connected to the synchronous conveyor belt, and is configured to drive the synchronous conveyor belt to move, so as to bring the two synchronous belt pulleys and the rotating shafts connected to the synchronous pulleys to rotate about respective vertical axes.

7. The automatic put wall according to claim 1 , further comprising an auxiliary roller and an auxiliary motor for driving the auxiliary roller to rotate, wherein the auxiliary roller is provided between a sorting-conveying assembly and the tote, and is driven by the auxiliary motor to move the article from the carrying portion to the storage position of the article.

8. The automatic put wall according to claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of holding portions disposed at an article input end of the automatic put wall and corresponding to layers of the first multilayer structure, wherein each holding portion is configured to temporally store the article and convey the article to the set of sorting-conveying assemblies corresponding to the each layer of the first multilayer structure.

9. An article sorting system, comprising an automatic put wall and an alternating lifter,
wherein the automatic put wall comprises at least one set of sorting-conveying assemblies distributed linearly, each sorting-conveying assembly comprises a carrying portion and a rotating portion, the carrying portion is configured to carry and convey articles, and the rotating portion is configured to be connected to a base of the carrying portion to bring the carrying portion to rotate about a vertical axis;
the alternating lifter is configured to convey a received article to the automatic put wall; and
the automatic put wall is configured to convey the article conveyed by the alternating lifter to a designated tote.

10. The system according to claim 9 , further comprising an upper packet section for conveying the received article to the alternating lifter; and
the upper packet section comprises an article transport assembly for transporting the article in a horizontal direction, and a position adjustment assembly for adjusting a horizontal position of the article transport assembly to match a direction in which the article transport assembly transports the article with the alternating lifter.

11. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a stacker for handling a tote, wherein the stacker is configured to remove and stack the tote storing articles from the automatic put wall, and to move an empty tote to a designated position on the automatic put wall.

Assignees

• Beijing Jingdong Qianshi Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Wang Jia

Classifications

• B65G47/648

  about a vertical axis · CPC title

• B65G47/643

  in a vertical plane · CPC title

• B65G1/1373 Primary

  for fulfilling orders in warehouses · CPC title

• B65G43/10

  Sequence control of conveyors operating in combination · CPC title

• B65G1/1378

  the orders being assembled on fixed commissioning areas remote from the storage areas · CPC title