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WO2024141551A1 - Système de stockage - Google Patents

Système de stockage Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2024141551A1
WO2024141551A1 PCT/EP2023/087839 EP2023087839W WO2024141551A1 WO 2024141551 A1 WO2024141551 A1 WO 2024141551A1 EP 2023087839 W EP2023087839 W EP 2023087839W WO 2024141551 A1 WO2024141551 A1 WO 2024141551A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
grid
container
storage system
rail
picking
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/EP2023/087839
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Matthew CORNELIUS
James Wigglesworth
Thomas Clancy
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Ocado Innovation Ltd
Original Assignee
Ocado Innovation Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US18/147,428 external-priority patent/US20240217745A1/en
Application filed by Ocado Innovation Ltd filed Critical Ocado Innovation Ltd
Priority to EP23838129.7A priority Critical patent/EP4642715A1/fr
Publication of WO2024141551A1 publication Critical patent/WO2024141551A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G1/00—Storing articles, individually or in orderly arrangement, in warehouses or magazines
    • B65G1/02—Storage devices
    • B65G1/04—Storage devices mechanical
    • B65G1/0464—Storage devices mechanical with access from above
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G1/00—Storing articles, individually or in orderly arrangement, in warehouses or magazines
    • B65G1/02—Storage devices
    • B65G1/04—Storage devices mechanical
    • B65G1/137—Storage devices mechanical with arrangements or automatic control means for selecting which articles are to be removed
    • B65G1/1373—Storage devices mechanical with arrangements or automatic control means for selecting which articles are to be removed for fulfilling orders in warehouses

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates generally to the field of automated storage and retrieval systems for use in warehouses and/or fulfilment centres and more specifically to an automated storage and retrieval system which comprises a robotic picking arm.
  • PCT Publication No. WO2015/185628A (Ocado) describes a further known storage and fulfilment system in which stacks of bins or containers are arranged within a framework structure. The bins or containers are accessed by load handling devices operative on tracks located on the top of the frame structure. The load handling devices lift bins or containers out from the stacks, multiple load handling devices co-operating to access bins or containers located in the lowest positions of the stack.
  • a system of this type is illustrated schematically in Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.
  • a bot 31 comprises a body 33 in or on which are mounted one or more components which enable the bot 31 to perform its intended functions. These functions may include moving across the storage structure 1 on the track structure 13 and raising or lowering containers 9 (e.g. from or to stacks 11) so that the bot 31 can retrieve or deposit containers 9 in specific locations defined by the grid pattern.
  • the illustrated bot 31 comprises first and second sets of wheels 35, 37 which are mounted on the body 33 of the bot 31 and enable the bot 31 to move in the x- and y-directions along the tracks 17 and 19, respectively.
  • two wheels 35 are provided on the shorter side of the bot 31 visible Figure 4, and a further two wheels 35 are provided on the opposite shorter side of the bot 31 (side and further two wheels 35 not visible in Figure 4).
  • the wheels 35 engage with tracks 17 and are rotatably mounted on the body 33 of the bot 31 to allow the bot 31 to move along the tracks 17.
  • two wheels 37 are provided on the longer side of the bot 31 visible in Figure 4, and a further two wheels 37 are provided on the opposite longer side of the bot 31 (side and further two wheels 37 not visible in Figure 4).
  • the wheels 37 engage with tracks 19 and are rotatably mounted on the body 33 of the bot 31 to allow the bot 31 to move along the tracks 19.
  • the container-lifting means 39 controls the tapes 41 to lower the container-gripping assembly 43 and the corresponding container 9 out of the cavity in the lower portion 47 and into the intended position.
  • the intended position may be a stack 11 of containers 9 or an egress point of the storage structure 1 (or an ingress point of the storage structure 1 if the bot 31 has moved to collect a container 9 for storage in the storage structure 1).
  • the upper and lower portions 45, 47 are separated by a physical divider, in other examples, the upper and lower portions 45, 47 may not be physically divided by a specific component or part of the body 33 of the bot 31.
  • the bot 31 includes a wheel-positioning mechanism for selectively engaging either the first set of wheels 35 with the first set of tracks 17 or the second set of wheels 37 with the second set of tracks 19.
  • the wheel-positioning mechanism is configured to raise and lower the first set of wheels 35 and/or the second set of wheels 37 relative to the body 33, thereby enabling the loadhandling device 31 to selectively move in either the first direction or the second direction across the tracks 17, 19 of the storage structure 1.
  • both sets of wheels may be raised and lowered, advantageously meaning that the body 33 of the bot 31 stays substantially at the same height and therefore the weight of the body 33 and the components mounted thereon does not need to be lifted and lowered by
  • the system described with reference to Figures 1 to 4 has many advantages and is suitable for a wide range of storage and retrieval operations. In particular, it allows very dense storage of product, and it provides a very economical way of storing a huge range of different items in the containers 9, while allowing reasonably economical access to all of the containers when required for picking.
  • the robotic arm may be configured to transfer an item from the first container to the second container without moving along the rail.
  • the storage system may comprise a plurality of robotic picking devices movably connected to the rail.
  • the storage system may comprise a plurality of rails, with each of the plurality of rails having one or more robotic picking devices movably connected to the rail.
  • Figure 10 shows a schematic depiction of an overhead view of a part of a storage system according to the present disclosure
  • the other grid cells which are not defined as the first picking location 410 or as the second picking location 420 may be regarded as being conventional grid cells and can be used for receiving containers which hold product items for picking or storage, in a conventional manner.
  • a robotic picking arm is free to move along the rail on which it is located, such that it can transfer a product item between a container located in a first picking location 410 and a container located in a second picking location (or vice versa).
  • each of the two robotic picking arms may have a respective defined region in which they operate. These regions may not have an overlap such that one of the robotic picking arms do not interfere or collide with the other robotic picking arm. Alternatively, they may be controlled dynamically so that in operation they do not interfere or collide with each other.
  • a rail may have more than two robotic picking arms located upon it, for example in accordance with the length of the rail and/or the capacity of the storage system.
  • a customer order to be picked is accessed and processed.
  • the central computer may comprise an ordering system which manages the delivery of customer orders and arranges for orders to be picked such that they may be sent out for delivery such that the order may be delivered to the customer in a pre-determined timeslot.
  • each of the products which comprise the customer order processed in S1200 are identified and the respective storage container location for each product is determined.
  • each of the storage container locations are assigned to one or more bots.
  • the retrieved storage container is moved by the bot to a grid location which is associated with the robotic picking arm to which the bot has been assigned (step S1230).
  • the identity of the grid location to be used may be determined and communicated to the bot.
  • the bot will then move to the identified grid location and lower the retrieved storage container to the picking location to be used.
  • the picking process is performed, such that one or more eaches of the product held in a storage container are moved to a delivery container.
  • a bot moves to the picking location of that storage container and retrieves the storage container from the picking location .
  • the bot moves the storage container to a further grid location and deposits the storage container within the grid.
  • the process may return to step S1250, wherein the bot moves to a further picking location such that the retrieved storage container may be deposited within that further picking location.
  • the picking process will be more efficient if a product each can be transferred from a storage container to a delivery container without the robotic picking arm needing to move along the rail.
  • a storage container may be deposited in a first picking location such that the delivery container that is to be picked into is in a second picking location that is immediately opposite the storage container. If a product each only needs to be moved from a container on a first side of the rail to an opposed container on the second side of the rail then the robotic arm can be less complex than the arm required for a 3 x 3 picking zone, for example as disclosed in PCT/EP2022/069511.
  • the robotic picking arm may further comprise a storage module.
  • the robotic picking arm may pick one or more items from a first storage container, with the picked items being stored in the storage module of the robotic picking arm.
  • the robotic picking arm may then move along the rail to a one or more further locations such that the robotic picking arm may pick one or more further items from a second storage container at the or each further location and store the further item(s) in the storage module.
  • a storage container may be returned to the grid location from which it was retrieved in step S1240 but alternatively it may be deposited at another grid location. If the product held in a storage container will be required in a relatively short period of time then the storage container may be deposited in a grid location which is relatively close to the pick station to reduce the time required to retrieve the storage container for a subsequent picking action.
  • the bot which deposits a storage container in step S1250 may wait for the end of the picking process to retrieve the storage container at step S1270.
  • the bot may be allocated to a different task, for example retrieving a further storage container for which the picking process is complete, such that there is more efficient utilisation of the bot. In such a case, a further bot will be allocated to retrieve the storage container once the picking process has been completed.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Warehouses Or Storage Devices (AREA)

Abstract

La présente divulgation concerne un système de stockage et de récupération automatisé basé sur une grille dans lequel un rail est situé à l'intérieur de la grille. Un ou plusieurs bras de préhension robotiques peuvent être montés de manière mobile sur le rail de telle sorte que le bras de préhension robotique est reçu sous le niveau supérieur de la grille. Le ou les bras de préhension robotiques peuvent être conçus pour transférer des produits entre eux.
PCT/EP2023/087839 2022-12-28 2023-12-27 Système de stockage Ceased WO2024141551A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP23838129.7A EP4642715A1 (fr) 2022-12-28 2023-12-27 Système de stockage

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US18/147,428 2022-12-28
US18/147,428 US20240217745A1 (en) 2022-12-28 2022-12-28 Storage system
GB2302603.2A GB2625836B (en) 2022-12-28 2023-02-23 A storage system comprising a robotic picking device
GB2302603.2 2023-02-23

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2024141551A1 true WO2024141551A1 (fr) 2024-07-04

Family

ID=89542122

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/EP2023/087839 Ceased WO2024141551A1 (fr) 2022-12-28 2023-12-27 Système de stockage

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP4642715A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO2024141551A1 (fr)

Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1998049075A1 (fr) 1997-04-30 1998-11-05 Autostore As Procede d'organisation pour le stockage d'unites differentes
WO2015185726A2 (fr) 2014-06-05 2015-12-10 Ocado Innovation Limited Systèmes et procédés de communication
WO2015185628A2 (fr) 2014-06-03 2015-12-10 Ocado Innovation Limited Procédés, systèmes et appareil de commande de mouvement de transport de dispositifs
WO2016198565A1 (fr) 2015-06-11 2016-12-15 Jakob Hatteland Logistics As Système de stockage comprenant dispositif robotique
WO2017186825A1 (fr) 2016-04-26 2017-11-02 Ocado Innovation Limited Système de coordination de manipulateur de charge robotique, système de grille cellulaire et procédé de coordination d'un manipulateur de charge robotique
US20180319590A1 (en) * 2015-11-11 2018-11-08 Ocado Innovation Limited Storage containers, bins and devices
WO2020097502A2 (fr) * 2018-11-09 2020-05-14 Alert Innovation Inc. Système comportant un poste de travail robotisé
WO2021122218A1 (fr) * 2019-12-20 2021-06-24 Autostore Technology AS Système de prélèvement, système de stockage comprenant un système de prélèvement et procédé de prélèvement
GB2613690A (en) * 2021-10-14 2023-06-14 Ocado Innovation Ltd Systems and methods for order processing

Patent Citations (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1998049075A1 (fr) 1997-04-30 1998-11-05 Autostore As Procede d'organisation pour le stockage d'unites differentes
WO2015185628A2 (fr) 2014-06-03 2015-12-10 Ocado Innovation Limited Procédés, systèmes et appareil de commande de mouvement de transport de dispositifs
WO2015185726A2 (fr) 2014-06-05 2015-12-10 Ocado Innovation Limited Systèmes et procédés de communication
WO2016198565A1 (fr) 2015-06-11 2016-12-15 Jakob Hatteland Logistics As Système de stockage comprenant dispositif robotique
US10947042B2 (en) * 2015-06-11 2021-03-16 Autostore Technology AS Storage system with robot device
US20180319590A1 (en) * 2015-11-11 2018-11-08 Ocado Innovation Limited Storage containers, bins and devices
WO2017186825A1 (fr) 2016-04-26 2017-11-02 Ocado Innovation Limited Système de coordination de manipulateur de charge robotique, système de grille cellulaire et procédé de coordination d'un manipulateur de charge robotique
WO2020097502A2 (fr) * 2018-11-09 2020-05-14 Alert Innovation Inc. Système comportant un poste de travail robotisé
WO2021122218A1 (fr) * 2019-12-20 2021-06-24 Autostore Technology AS Système de prélèvement, système de stockage comprenant un système de prélèvement et procédé de prélèvement
GB2613690A (en) * 2021-10-14 2023-06-14 Ocado Innovation Ltd Systems and methods for order processing

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP4642715A1 (fr) 2025-11-05

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