Forklift

• US 10,414,640 B2
• Filed: 04/08/2016
• Issued: 09/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Tanaka, Minoru, Fujii, Akinobu, Koide, Mitsuo, Tsusaka, Yuuji, Ichinose, Makoto, Hayakawa, Makoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Mustafa, Imran K
• Application Number:
  US15/566,463
• Publication Number:
  US 20180134531A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 9/063 Automatically guided
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 9/0755 Position control; Position detectors
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 9/16 inclinable relative to mast
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 9/24 Electrical devices or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/00 Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of optical techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/002 for measuring two or more coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/02 for measuring length, width or thickness G01B11/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/26 for measuring angles or tapers; for testing the alignment of axes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/08 for measuring distance only indirect measurement G01S17/46; active triangulation systems G01S17/48
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0225 involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay parking aids B62D15/027
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0231 using optical position detecting means position-fixing by using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. optical position detecting means G01S5/16
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/024 in combination with a laser lasers per se H01S

Abstract

A forklift includes a vehicle body 30, a fork 22 mounted on the vehicle body, a controller configured to adjust a position and an orientation of the vehicle body, a laser sensor 20 configured to measure distance data from the laser sensor to an object existing in a space set forward of the fork, and a control commander configured to, when the distance data measured by the laser sensor includes a load or a pallet 100 to be lifted, generate track data for moving the vehicle body to a loading position of the load or the pallet based on the distance data, and provide a command to the controller using the generated track data.

Claims

1. A forklift comprising:

a vehicle body;

a fork mounted on the vehicle body;

a controller configured to adjust a position and an orientation of the vehicle body;

a laser sensor configured to measure distance data from the laser sensor to an object existing in a space set forward of the fork;

a control commander configured to, when the distance data measured by the laser sensor includes a pallet to be lifted, generate track data for moving the vehicle body to a loading position of the pallet based on the distance data, and provide a command to the controller using the generated track data; and

a lift mechanism configured to move the fork up and down with respect to the vehicle body,

wherein

the laser sensor is configured to measure a distance from the laser sensor to an object in a scanning plane by scanning laser light in a first direction,

the laser sensor is mounted on the fork and is configured to measure three-dimensional distance data from the laser sensor to the object existing in the space set forward of the fork by using an up and down motion of the fork by the lift mechanism in a direction which is different from the first direction, and

the control commander is configured to execute following processes;

(a) acquiring an observation point group from the distance data acquired from the laser sensor;

(b) determining whether or not a point group constituting a straight line can be extracted from the observation point group;

(c) determining whether or not a length of the point group constituting the straight line is substantially equal to a width of the pallet; and

(d) determining whether or not the straight line is constituted of three line segments, such that the control commander identifies a position and an orientation of the pallet based on the distance data, and generates the track data based on the identified position and orientation of the pallet.

2. The forklift according to claim 1, further comprising:

a tilting mechanism configured to tilt the fork with respect to the vehicle body,

wherein

the laser sensor is configured to measure the three-dimensional distance data from the laser sensor to the object existing in the space set forward of the fork by using a tilting motion of the fork.

3. The forklift according to claim 1, wherein

the laser sensor is disposed above a lower surface of the fork.

4. The forklift according to claim 3, wherein

the laser sensor is mounted on the fork with a depression angle with respect to a horizontal direction so that the laser light emitted from the laser sensor is emitted obliquely downward.

5. The forklift according to claim 1, wherein

when the three-dimensional distance data measured by the laser sensor includes the load or the pallet to be lifted, the control commander is configured to control a motion of the fork so that the laser light emitted from the laser sensor is emitted to a heightwise center of a front surface of the load or the pallet while the vehicle body is moved to the loading position of the load or the pallet based on the three-dimensional distance data.