Intelligent sorting system and method, warehouse robot, and processing terminal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12466650-B2
Application number	US-202217591117-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 2, 2022
Priority date	Jul 31, 2019
Publication date	Nov 11, 2025
Grant date	Nov 11, 2025

Abstract

This application relates to the technical field of intelligent logistics, and discloses an intelligent sorting system and method, a warehouse robot, and a processing terminal. The system includes a warehouse robot. The warehouse robot includes a box storage unit and a handling assembly. The warehouse robot may receive a box replacement instruction, where the box replacement instruction includes information of a to-be-replaced first box, and instruct, according to the box replacement instruction, the handling assembly to replace the first box with a second box stored in the box storage unit. Therefore, box replacement is realized by a robot. In this way, the efficiency of cargo sorting is enhanced.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An intelligent sorting system, comprising a warehouse robot, wherein the warehouse robot comprises a box storage unit and a handling assembly, wherein
the warehouse robot is configured to: receive a box replacement instruction comprising information of a first box, and instruct, according to the box replacement instruction, the handling assembly to replace the first box with a second box stored in the box storage unit, the information of the first box comprises a sorting port where the first box is located, the intelligent sorting system is configured to lock the sorting port where the first box is located according to the box replacement instruction, and the box storage unit further comprises a first box storage unit; and the warehouse robot is specifically configured to: travel to the sorting port where the first box is located, and instruct the handling assembly to move the first box to the first box storage unit and move the second box to the sorting port, according to the box replacement instruction, the box replacement instruction further comprises first box identification information, the warehouse robot further comprises a visual identification apparatus, the first box is equipped with identification information, and the warehouse robot is further configured to: acquire identification information on the first box by using the visual identification apparatus, and determine the first box depending on whether the identification information on the first box is same as the first box identification information comprised in the replacement instruction, the box replacement instruction further comprises information of a transport destination of the first box, and the warehouse robot is further configured to: transport the first box to the transport destination according to the box replacement instruction, the information of the transport destination comprises a preset location of a preset shelf, and the preset location is used for placing the first box, and corresponds to a delivery destination of the first box.

2 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the box replacement instruction further comprises information of a second box storage location; and
the warehouse robot is further configured to: travel to the second box storage location, and instruct the handling assembly to store the second box to the box storage unit, according to the box replacement instruction.

3 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the information of the first box comprises a plurality of different sorting ports where a plurality of different first boxes are located, each first box corresponds to each sorting port, the box storage unit comprises a plurality of second box storage units, each second box storage unit stores the second box, and the warehouse robot is configured to: travel to the sorting port where any first box is located, and instruct the handling assembly to move the first box to the first box storage unit and move one of the second boxes to the sorting port, according to the box replacement instruction, wherein the process is repeated until the second boxes stored in the plurality of second box storage units are respectively placed in the sorting ports corresponding to different first boxes.

4 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the warehouse robot is further configured to: after the second box is moved to the sorting port, transmit a sorting port release instruction and/or a box replacement completed instruction, to release the sorting port from a locked state.

5 . The system according to claim 3 , wherein
collect image information of the first box by using the visual identification apparatus, and perform alignment to a location of the first box according to the image information of the first box.

6 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the warehouse robot is further configured to:
receive a first sorting instruction, and transport to-be-sorted cargoes and/or a container storing the to-be-sorted cargoes to a cargo sorting area according to the first sorting instruction.

7 . The system according to claim 6 , further comprising:
a sorting robot, configured to receive a second sorting instruction, and transport a sorted cargo to the first box according to the second sorting instruction, wherein the sorted cargo is withdrawn from the to-be-sorted cargoes and/or the container storing the to-be-sorted cargoes, wherein the second sorting instruction comprises a sorted cargo receiving sub-instruction and/or a sorted cargo transport sub-instruction, and the sorting robot is specifically configured to: receive the sorted cargo withdrawn from the to-be-sorted cargoes and/or the container storing the to-be-sorted cargoes according to the sorted cargo receiving sub-instruction; and/or transport the sorted cargo to the first box according to the sorted cargo transport sub-instruction.

8 . The system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a processing terminal, wherein the processing terminal is configured to: transmit the box replacement instruction, wherein the box replacement instruction comprises information of a first box, and instruct, according to the box replacement instruction, the warehouse robot to replace the first box with the second box.

9 . The system according to claim 8 , wherein the processing terminal is further configured to:
transmit a first sorting instruction, to cause the warehouse robot to transport to-be-sorted cargoes and/or a container storing the to-be-sorted cargoes to a cargo sorting area.

10 . The system according to claim 9 , wherein the processing terminal is further configured to:
transmit a second sorting instruction, to cause the sorting robot to transport a sorted cargo to the first box according to the second sorting instruction, wherein the sorted cargo is withdrawn from the to-be-sorted cargoes and/or the container storing the to-be-sorted cargoes, wherein the second sorting instruction comprises a sorted cargo receiving sub-instruction and a sorted cargo transport sub-instruction, and the processing terminal is specifically configured to: receive the sorted cargo withdrawn from the to-be-sorted cargoes and/or the container storing the to-be-sorted cargoes according to the sorted cargo receiving sub-instruction, and transport the sorted cargo to the first box according to the sorted cargo transport sub-instruction.

11 . An intelligent sorting method, applicable to a warehouse robot of an intelligent sorting system, wherein the warehouse robot comprises a box storage unit and a handling assembly, the method comprising:
receiving a box replacement instruction, wherein the box replacement instruction comprises information of a first box; and instructing, according to the box replacement instruction, the handling assembly to replace the first box with a second box stored in the box storage unit, the box replacement instruction further comprises first box identification information, the warehouse robot further comprises a visual identification apparatus, the first box is equipped with identification information, and the method further comprises: acquire identification information on the first box by using the visual identification apparatus, and determine the to be replaced first box depending on whether the identification information on the first box is same as the first box identification information comprised in the replacement instruction, the information of the first box comprises a sorting port where the first box is located, the intelligent sorting system is configured to lock the sorting port where the first box is located according to the box replacement instruction, the box storage unit f

Assignees

• Hai Robotics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Chen Yuqi
• Li Xiaolong

Classifications

• B66F9/0755

  Position control; Position detectors · CPC title

• B66F9/063

  Automatically guided · CPC title

• B65G2203/041

  Camera · CPC title

• B65G2203/0216

  Codes or marks on the article · CPC title

• B65G2201/025

  Boxes · CPC title