公开(公告)号：US12151264B2

公开(公告)日：2024-11-26

申请号：US18033632

申请日：2021-09-06

Applicant: BEUMER GROUP A/S

Inventor： Jorgen Staun ,  Mads Dahlerup Piculell ,  Henrik Frank Skyum

IPC: B07C3/08 ,  B65G29/02

Abstract: A mobile, in particular autonomous, sorting unit, for transporting cargo to be transported in a logistics area, a production area or the like, having a cargo receiving unit which has a plurality of cargo carriers for receiving a plurality of cargo items, the cargo receiving unit being configured for autonomous discharging of the cargo items in any desired order by moving the cargo carriers to be unloaded to a discharging position. The invention further relates to a respective method for delivering cargo items to at least two different stations in a logistics area, a production area or the like with an autonomous mobile sorting unit.

公开(公告)号：US20230182313A1

公开(公告)日：2023-06-15

申请号：US17916600

申请日：2021-03-26

Applicant: BEUMER Group A/S

Inventor： Ejnar Nielsen ,  Henrik Frank Skyum

IPC: B25J9/16 ,  B25J9/02 ,  B25J15/06

CPC classification number: B25J9/1697 ,  B25J9/026 ,  B25J15/0616 ,  B25J9/1661

Abstract: The invention provides a controllable gripper for a robot. A plurality of gripping members, e.g. suction cups, are arranged to engage with a surface of an object to be gripped. The gripping members are arranged in a controllable gripping configuration. A base part is arranged to be moved by a robotic actuator, e.g. a gantry type of robotic actuator. Two or more arms connected to the base part are slidably arranged along their lengths relative to the base part. Each arm has a gripping member at or near its distal end. A controllable actuator system is arranged to control position of the arms in different directions, relative to the base part, thus allowing various gripping configurations to be formed with respect to at least size. Especially, four arms of fixed length, each with a suction cup, may be actuated by one or two electric motors, so a to allow the four suction cups to form various gripping quadrangle sizes. This allows the gripper to be capable of gripping small and large objects in random order, since the gripping configuration can be rapidly changed. Still, the gripper can be formed rather simple with few elements, and yet it is flexible and can be very compact in a compressed state of the arms to allow navigation into narrow spaces, e.g. to grip an object in a 3D bulk of objects. The gripper is preferably mounted to a robotic actuator by means of a controllable rotation and tilting arrangement.

公开(公告)号：US20230150777A1

公开(公告)日：2023-05-18

申请号：US17916592

申请日：2021-03-26

Applicant: BEUMER Group A/S

Inventor： Henrik Frank Skyum ,  Andreas Werner

IPC: B65G47/91 ,  B07C5/36 ,  B25J9/16

CPC classification number: B65G47/917 ,  B07C5/361 ,  B65G47/918 ,  B65G47/914 ,  B25J9/163 ,  B65G2203/041 ,  B65G2203/0233

Abstract: A robot system for picking randomly shaped and sized object from a continuously moving stream of objects in bulk, e.g. a 3D bulk, and placing the object singulated and aligned on an induction or directly on a sorter. A pick and place robot has a robotic actuator for moving a gripper with a controllable gripping configuration of its gripping members, e.g. four suction cups, to adapt the gripper for various objects. A control system processes a 3D image of objects upstream of a position of the pick and place robot, identifies separate objects in the 3D image, and selects which object to grip, based on parameters of the identified separate objects determined from the 3D image. Based on e.g. size and shape of the selected object to grip, the gripping configuration of the gripper is adjusted to match the surface of the object to grip for optimal gripping. The robotic actuator, e.g. a gantry type robotic actuator, is then controlled to move the gripper to a position for gripping the object, and afterwards move the gripper with the gripped object to a target position and with a target orientation to release grip of the object and thus place the object on an induction or directly on a sorter. An image after placing the object along with properties of the object determined from the 3D image can be used as input to a machine learning for online improving pick and place performance of the robot system, e.g. for online improving the algorithm for selection of which object to pick, and also for selection of the appropriate gripping configuration to match the object.