TGW Logistics Group GmbH

A transfer device for unloading a transport loading aid with stacked article carriers and for loading a target loading aid with the carriers includes a base frame, loading tongues independently movable by first drives between retracted initial and extended receiving positions, clamping jaws for gripping at least one carrier relatively movable by a second drive between retracted opened and abutting clamping positions, and a lifting frame movable by a third drive. The jaws are mounted on the lifting frame and are movable between lower and upper height positions such that for unloading the transport loading aid the at least one carrier is liftable by the jaws placed against the at least one carrier, and at least one tongue is at least partially slidable under the lifted at least one carrier to receive it in the receiving position. Further, an order fulfillment facility for picking carriers includes this transfer device.

In a method for storing and picking stackable article carriers in an order fulfillment facility, in which transport loading aids are transported between a loading station with an automatically operated loading device, a storage zone and a removal station with an automatically operated unloading device by autonomously moveable, driverless transport vehicles, the transport loading aids are loaded with article carrier stacks in the loading station and the article carrier stacks are discharged from the transport loading aids in the unloading station. Subsequently, the article carriers for a picking order are reloaded onto one or multiple target loading aids. Further, an order fulfillment facility stores and stackable article carriers.

A multi-part tray for transporting a load in an order-picking system includes four side walls, a lower part and an upper part movable relative to the lower part from a transport configuration into a transferring configuration. The lower part provides two first side walls and the upper part provides two second side walls. Furthermore, with an unloading device and a method for unloading the tray, the upper part is moved relative to the lower part in order to move the tray from the transport configuration into the transferring configuration. Further, a computer-implemented method controls a position changing device in order to bring a load into a loading pose for loading a tray. In addition, a loading device carries out the method. Finally, an order-picking system has trays, an unloading device and/or a loading device.

A method for removing a unit load from a stack by means of an automatic transfer device includes capturing an image of the stack by means of an image capturing unit, which image is evaluated by means of an evaluation unit in order to recognize an identification mark arranged on the unit load and identify the unit load. The unit load data assigned to the unit load are read out from a database, from which unit load data an edge position of the unit load can be computed. The transfer device can be controlled on the basis of the edge position in order to remove the unit load. The present disclosure further relates to a transfer station with a transfer device and a computer-implemented method for generating a movement specification for the automatic transfer device.

A method and a transport system transports unit loads from a source position to a target region by autonomous guided vehicles. In this process, a unit load is transported in accordance with a transport order from a source position to a waiting location by a guided vehicle, which waiting location is assigned to the target region in accordance with the order. If the target region is free from another guided vehicle, the unit load is deposited at one of the storage locations of the target region. Here, an assignment of a unit load to a vacant storage location is derived from the arrival of the autonomous guided vehicles in the target region.

A picking system for picking goods includes a goods acceptance zone, a goods transfer zone, a storage zone, a storage conveying device or devices, an order processing computer for registering a picking order and a removal conveying device or devices, wherein the storage conveying device or devices and/or the removal conveying device or devices have autonomous conveying vehicles for transporting the goods/ordered goods on a travel surface. The travel surface is subdivided into multiple travel surface segments, and driving movements are coordinated so that at least 90% of each of the driving movements in the travel surface segments is carried out by a closed group of autonomous conveying vehicles. Further, a method operates the picking system.

A picking station for picking goods has a source container conveyor for automated transporting of source containers, a target container conveyor for automated transporting of target containers and a fully automated robot system. The source container conveyor includes a first removal area, where a first source container is provisioned, and a second removal area, where a second source container is provisioned. The target container conveyor includes a first loading area, where a first target container is provisioned, and a second loading area, where a second target container is provisioned. The robot system includes a robot having a gripping unit configured to remove goods according to different orders from the first source container and/or second source container and place them into the first target container and/or second target container, and a sensor system for capturing the goods in the first and second source containers. A method automatically picks goods.

A robot system includes a robot having a movable robot head with at least two suction grippers spaced apart from one another and a sensor system for detecting a gripping surface pose and a gripping surface size of a gripping surface of a good. Using a controller, a gripping pose for the movable robot head, in which a maximum number of suction grippers is in contact with the gripping surface of the good, is calculated based on the determined gripping surface pose and gripping surface size. Then, the robot head is moved into the calculated gripping pose where the suction grippers are activated so as to grip the good. Moreover, a method operates the robot system.

A method determines a cause of fault in an intralogistics system, wherein functional cause-effect relations between components are recognized from signal sequences of components of the system during anomaly situations and mapped in a graph model. Based on this graph model, one or multiple probable causes of a current anomaly of the intralogistics system are computed. It can be provided that, for creating the graph model, already known fault patterns are additionally taken into account and/or a manual input of causes of fault for an anomaly is done via an operator terminal.

The invention relates to a storage and order-picking system as well as a method for operating the same. In this regard, provided articles are loaded into hanging bags in an article-specific manner, and subsequently, groups of hanging bags are formed in a hanging bag sorting device based on an article-grouping rule. In a further step, articles of a group are transferred from the hanging bags into an article storage loading aid. The article storage loading aid configured differently from a hanging bag is then stored in an article storage of the storage and order-picking system. Upon receiving a picking order, the article storage loading aid is transported to a picking station, at which the ordered article(s) is/are loaded into a target loading aid.