Robotic materials handling system

Claim 2

A robotic materials handling system for rapid storing and handling of box-like articles, comprising: at least one article pickup or delivery area having means for supporting an article and having an opening facing a manipulator area; a storage area containing a plurality of stationary columns of storage bins, arranged in a cylindrical configuration around the manipulator area, each storage bin for holding one article and having an opening facing the manipulator area; a stationary vertical support shaft located in the manipulator area within the storage area; a manipulator assembly slidably coupled to the shaft and movable along the shaft, said manipulator assembly including a plurality of arm assemblies symmetrically configured radially about the shaft, each arm assembly extending outward from the shaft and having a gripper mechanism movable toward and away from an axis of the shaft, the gripper mechanism having first and second spaced fingers for grasping opposite sides of a box-like article, wherein each gripper mechanism is operable to deposit articles to storage bins and to withdraw articles from storage bins by pushing them into and pulling them out of the opening of a bin; and means for positioning the arm assemblies adjacent each opening of the columns and adjacent each opening of the article pickup or delivery area location.

Claim 3

A robotic materials handling system for storing and rapid handling of box-like articles, comprising: at least one article pickup or delivery area having means for supporting an article and having an opening facing a manipulator area; a storage area containing a plurality of columns of storage bins, each storage bin for holding one article and having an opening facing the manipulator area; a stationary vertical support shaft located in the manipulator area adjacent the storage area; a manipulator assembly slidably coupled to the shaft and movable along the shaft, said manipulator assembly including at least two assemblies extending outward from the shaft and having a gripper mechanism movable toward and away from an axis of the shaft, the gripper mechanism having first and second spaced fingers which are movable toward each other to grasp opposite sides of a box-like article, wherein each gripper mechanism is operable to deposit articles to storage bins and to withdraw articles from storage bins by pushing them into and pulling them out of the opening of a bin; and means for positioning the arm assemblies adjacent each opening of the columns and adjacent each opening of the article pickup or delivery area location, wherein the means for positioning includes means for rotating the manipulator assembly about the shaft to position the arm assemblies at different radial positions with respect to the shaft, such that at each radial position all the arm assemblies are aligned with an article pick up or delivery area location.

Claim 4

A robotic materials handling system for storing and rapid handling of box-like articles, comprising: at least one article pickup or delivery area having means for supporting an article and having an opening facing a manipulator area; a storage area containing a plurality of columns of storage bins, each storage bin for holding one article and having an opening facing the manipulator area; a stationary vertical support shaft located in the manipulator area adjacent the storage area; a manipulator assembly slidably coupled to the shaft and movable along the shaft, said manipulator assembly including at least two assemblies extending outward from the shaft and having a gripper mechanism movable toward and away from an axis of the shaft, the gripper mechanism having first and second spaced fingers which are movable toward each other to grasp opposite sides of a box-like article, wherein each gripper mechanism is operable to deposit articles to storage bins and to withdraw articles from storage bins by pushing them into and pulling them out of the opening of a bin; and means for positioning the arm assemblies adjacent each opening of the columns and adjacent each opening of the article pickup or delivery area location, wherein the means for positioning includes means for rotating the manipulator assembly about the shaft to position the arm assemblies at different radial positions with respect to the shaft, such that at each radial position all the arm assemblies are aligned with an article pick up or delivery area location.

Claim 5

The system of claim 2 wherein the columns of storage bins and the article pickup and delivery locations are arranged in a circular configuration about the support shaft.

Claim 6

The system of claim 3 wherein the manipulator assembly include a bearing assembly coaxial with and slidably movable along the support shaft and a hub assembly which is rotatable about the bearing assembly, wherein the bearing assembly and hub assembly travel vertically by sliding along the vertical support shaft and the arm assemblies are attached to the hub assembly to rotate therewith, and wherein the means for rotating includes a first motor for driving the hub assembly with respect to the bearing assembly.

Claim 7

The system of claim 4 wherein each arm assembly includes a rail upon which the gripper mechanism is movably mounted, a second motor for driving the gripper mechanism toward and away from the axis of the support shaft and electrically controlled actuator means for actuating the gripper mechanism.

Claim 8

The system of claim 5 including means for providing control signals for the second motor and actuator means of each arm assembly to the bearing assembly and coupling means for coupling the control signals to the hub assembly.

Claim 9

The system of claim 2 wherein the shaft has a square cross section and the manipulator assembly includes a bearing assembly including a first group of four rollers, each roller having a V-groove and contacting a different corner of the shaft, and a second group of four rollers spaced from the first group, each roller having a V-groove and contacting a different corner of the shaft.

Claim 10

The system of claim 7 including means for driving the manipulator assembly along the shaft, said means including a belt connected to the manipulator assembly and extending along a length of the shaft and a motor for driving the belt.

Claim 11

The system of claim 8 wherein the shaft is hollow and the belt is looped through the shaft.

Claim 12

The system of claim 8 including closed loop drive means for driving the motor to position the manipulator assembly at a desired vertical location on the shatf, said closed loop drive means including feedback means for detecting the position of the manipulator assembly with respect to the shaft and control means for driving the motor in response to the feedback means.

Claim 13

The system of claim 10 including first feedback means for providing a coarse indication of the position of the manipulator assembly.

Claim 14

The system of claim 11 including second feedback means for providing a fine indication of the position of the manipulator assembly, said second feedback means including position markings on the shaft and an optical sensor on the manipulator assembly for reading the position markings to provide feedback.

Claim 15

The system of claim 7 wherein the rollers include spring means for biasing the rollers toward the shaft.

Claim 16

The sytem of claim 8 further including a counterweight coupled to the manipulator assembly to move in a direction opposite that of the manipulator assembly.

Claim 17

The system of claim 2 wherein the first finger of the gripper mechanism is stationary and the second finger is a flat spring element and further including a motor driven cam for moving the spring element from an open to a closed position.

Claim 18

The system of claim 15 including a two-position motor for driving the cam.

Claim 19

The system of claim 2 wherein the manipulator assembly includes a rail extending from the shaft and the gripper mechanism includes a plurality of V-groove rollers for coupling the gripper mechanism to the rail.

Claim 20

The system of claim 2 wherein each arm assembly includes a rail along which the gripper mechanism is movable and including a motor for driving the gripper mechanism along the rail and closed loop drive means for controlling the motor, said closed loop drive means including feedback means for sensing the position of the gripper mechanism with respect to the rail and control means for driving the motor in response to the feedback means.

Claim 21

The system of claim 18 wherein the control means includes velocity profile generator means for controlling a velocity of the motor as a function of the position of the gripper mechanism.

Claim 22

The system of claim 19 wherein the velocity profile generator means includes means for selecting from among different velocity profiles as a function of the operational status of the gripper mechanism.

Claim 23

A robotic material handling system for storing and handling box-like articles, comprising: a storage area containing a plurality of columns of storage bins, each storage bin for holding one article; a vertical support shaft located adjacent the storage area; a manipulator assembly coupled to the support shaft including a bearing assembly movable along the support shaft; a hub assembly which is rotatable about the bearing assembly; and at least one arm assembly extending outward from the support shaft and attached to the hub assembly to rotate therewith, the arm assembly having a gripper mechanism movable toward and away from the axis of the support shaft, the gripper mechanism having a first and second spaced fingers for grasping opposite sides of an article; means for positioning the arm assembly adjacent each storage bin including means for rotating the hub assembly with respect to the bearing assembly to position the arm assembly at different radial positions with respect to the support shaft; means for driving the gripper mechanism toward and away from the axis of the support shaft; actuating means for causing relative movement between the fingers of the gripper mechanism so as to grasp the article; means for providing control signals for the gripper mechanism driving means and the gripper finger actuating means to the bearing assembly; and coupling means for coupling the control signals from the bearing assembly to the hub assembly, wherein the coupling means includes a first coupling element on the bearing assembly and a second coupling element on the hub assembly, the first and second coupling elements having facing surfaces with complementary circular channels therein to form a coupling cavity; light transmitter means on the first coupling element for converting electrical signals to light signals and transmitting them into the cavity; and light receiver means on the second coupling element for receiving light signals in the cavity and converting them into electrical signal for delivery to the gripper mechanism driving means and gripper finger actuating means.

Claim 24

A robotic material handling system for storing and handling box-like articles, comprising: a storage area containing a plurality of columns of storage bins, each storage bin for holding one article; a vertical support shaft located adjacent the storage area; a manipulator assembly coupled to the support shaft including a bearing assembly movable along the support shaft; a hub assembly which is rotatable about the bearing assembly; and at least one arm assembly extending outward from the support shaft and attached to the hub assembly to rotate therewith, the arm assembly having a gripper mechanism movable toward and away from the axis of the support shaft, the gripper mechanism having a first and second spaced fingers for grasping opposite sides of an article; means for positioning the arm assembly adjacent each storage bin including means for rotating the hub assembly with respect to the bearing assembly to position the arm assembly at different radial positions with respect to the support shaft; means for driving the gripper mechanism toward and away from the axis of the support shaft; actuating means for causing relative movement between the fingers of the gripper mechanism so as to grasp the article; means for providing control signals for the gripper mechanism driving means and the gripper finger actuating means to the bearing assembly; and coupling means for coupling the control signals from the bearing assembly to the hub assembly, wherein the coupling means includes a first coupling element on the bearing assembly and a second coupling element on the hub assembly, the first and second coupling elements having facing surfaces with complementary circular channels therein to form a coupling cavity; light transmitter means on the first coupling element for converting electrical signals to light signals and transmitting them into the cavity; and light receiver means on the second coupling element for receiving light signals in the cavity and converting them into electrical signal for delivery to the gripper mechanism driving means and gripper finger actuating means.

Claim 25

The system of claim 21 including light transmitter means on the second coupling element and light receiving means on the first coupling element, thereby facilitating transmission of signals from the manipulator assembly.

Claim 26

The system of claim 21 wherein the channels of the first and second coupling elements have reflective surfaces whereby signals transmitted into the channel will reflect off of the surface of the channel until received by the light receiving means.

Claim 27

The system of claim 2 further including slip ring means of coupling power signals from the bearing assembly to the hub assembly.

Claim 28

A robotic materials handling system for storing and handling box-like articles comprising: a storage area including a plurality of columns of storage bins and at least one loading location, said storage bins and loading location being arranged about a circular space, each storage bin and loading location having an opening facing the circular space; a stationary vertical support shaft located at the center of the circular space; a manipulator assembly, slidably movable along the shaft, for moving articles between storage bins and the loading location, the manipulator assembly including a plurality of radially extendable gripper assemblies positioned symmetrically about said support shaft, each gripper assembly having a pair of fingers for grasping opposite sides of box-like articles and pushing them into and pulling them out of the storage bins, the manipulator assembly further including means for rotating the gripper assemblies about the shaft to position them adjacent desired columns of storage bins; and control means for controlling the sliding movement of the manipulator assembly along the shaft; the rotation of the gripper assemblies and the grasping of the gripper assemblies.

Claim 29

A robotic materials handling system for storing and handling box-like articles comprising: a storage area including a plurality of columns of storage bins and at least one loading location, said storage bins and loading location being arranged about a circular space, each storage bin and loading location having an opening facing the circular space; a stationary vertical support shaft located at the center of the circular space; a manipulator assembly, slidably movable along the shaft, for moving articles between storage bins and the loading location, the manipulator assembly including a plurality of radially extendable gripper assemblies positioned symmetrically about said support shaft, each gripper assembly having a pair of fingers for grasping opposite sides of box-like articles and pushing them into and pulling them out of the storage bins, the manipulator assembly further including means for rotating the gripper assemblies about the shaft to position them adjacent desired columns of storage bins; and control means for controlling the sliding movement of the manipulator assembly along the shaft; the rotation of the gripper assemblies and the grasping of the gripper assemblies.

Claim 30

The system of claim 25 including means for monitoring a rotational and vertical position of the manipulator assembly, wherein the control means causes the gripper assemblies to operate only after the manipulator has reached the desired position.