Loading and unloading for automatic guided vehicle

1 . An automatic guided vehicle, comprising:

drive equipment operable to drive the automatic guided vehicle to travel and stop along a guiding line;

a first sensor configured to facilitate a first positioning of the automatic guided vehicle relative to a receiving station by detecting a stop command point along the guiding line;

one or more second sensors configured to facilitate a secondary positioning of the automatic guided vehicle along the guiding line and relative to the receiving station after stopping at the stop command point along the guiding line;

at least one retractable engagement member operable to be in a retracted status when the automatic guided vehicle stops near the receiving station and in an extended status to engage with a pallet when the pallet is carried on the automatic guided vehicle;

a set of guiding rotational elements;

a set of passive rotational elements, and

wherein the set of guiding rotational elements are arranged at the automatic guided vehicle so as to be disposed at a first side of at least one guiding plate of the pallet and the set of passive rotational elements are arranged at the automatic guided vehicle so as to be disposed at a second side of the at least one guiding plate of the pallet opposite the first side,

wherein in the retracted status of the at least one retractable engagement member,

the pallet is configured to be moved away from the automatic guided vehicle in a first direction to be loaded onto the receiving station, or

the pallet is configured to be moved towards the automatic guided vehicle in a second direction to be unloaded onto the automatic guided vehicle, the second direction being opposite to the first direction.

2 . The automatic guided vehicle of claim 1 ,

wherein the set of guiding rotational elements are disposed at the first side of the at least one guiding plate to guide movement of the pallet in the first direction or the second direction.

3 . The automatic guided vehicle of claim 1 ,

wherein the set of passive rotational elements are disposed at the second side of the at least one guiding plate to support the pallet.

4 . The automatic guided vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the drive equipment is operable to:

drive the automatic guided vehicle to travel at a reduced velocity when the automatic guided vehicle is approaching the receiving station, and

drive the automatic guided vehicle to stop at a stop position near the receiving station.

5 . The automatic guided vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the drive equipment is operable to:

drive the automatic guided vehicle to adjust a positioning of the automatic guided vehicle relative to the receiving station when the automatic guided vehicle stops near the receiving station; and

wherein the at least one retractable engagement member is operable to be in the retracted status after the positioning has been adjusted.

6 . The automatic guided vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to an extending direction of the guiding line.

7 . A conveying system, comprising:

a receiving station comprising:

a frame;

a linear drive equipment comprising:

a shaft comprising a first end and a second end, and

a motor drive unit disposed at the first end of the shaft, wherein the motor drive unit is a linear actuator configured to create motion in a straight line to move a carriage along the shaft; and

the carriage movably disposed on the shaft, the carriage adapted to hook the pallet at the second end of the shaft;

wherein the linear drive equipment is configured to be operable to move the carriage in a first direction along a length of the shaft from the second end of the shaft to the first end of the shaft or move the carriage in a second direction along the length of the shaft opposite to the first direction from the first end of the shaft to the second end of the shaft;

an automatic guided vehicle comprising:

a drive equipment operable to drive the automatic guided vehicle to travel and stop along a guiding line,

a first sensor configured to detect a stop command point along the guiding line to facilitate a first positioning of the automatic guided vehicle along the guiding line, and

a second sensor configured to facilitate a second positioning of the automatic guided vehicle along the guiding line and relative to the receiving station after stopping at the stop command point along the guiding line,

wherein the automatic guided vehicle is configured to travel and stop along the guiding line and next to the receiving station; and

a pallet,

wherein the automatic guided vehicle is configured to travel and stop along the guiding line and next to the receiving station with the pallet and deliver the pallet to the receiving station,

wherein the automatic guided vehicle is configured to receive the pallet from the receiving station and travel and stop at one or more other locations along the guiding line with the pallet;

wherein, when the automatic guided vehicle travels along the guiding line with the pallet, at least one retractable engagement member of the automatic guided vehicle is configured to be placed in an extended status to retain the pallet on the automatic guided vehicle;

wherein, when the automatic guided vehicle is stopped near the receiving station with the pallet, the at least one retractable engagement member of the automatic guided vehicle is configured to be placed in a retracted status, and the receiving station is configured to hook the pallet to move the pallet in a first direction to load the pallet from the automatic guided vehicle and onto the receiving station, or to move the pallet in a second direction to unload the pallet from the receiving station and onto the automatic guided vehicle.

8 . The conveying system of claim 7 , wherein the pallet comprises:

a hooking mechanism adapted to hook a carriage of the receiving station,

wherein a width of the hooking mechanism is less than a width of the pallet.

9 . The conveying system of claim 8 , wherein the hooking mechanism is configured to engage the carriage of the receiving station, and wherein the hooking mechanism is arranged on the pallet so as to avoid blocking a movement of the pallet being carried onto the receiving station by the carriage.

10 . The conveying system of claim 8 , wherein the pallet further comprises:

at least one guiding plate,

wherein the at least one guiding plate is configured to facilitate guiding the loading or the unloading of the pallet between the receiving station and the automatic guided vehicle by engaging a set of rotational guiding elements of the automatic guided vehicle.

11 . A method for conveyance control comprising:

causing drive equipment of an automatic guided vehicle to, based on inputs from a first sensor of the automatic guided vehicle, travel along a guiding line and stop at a stop command point near a receiving station;

after stopping at the stop command point, refining, based on inputs from a second sensor of the automatic guided vehicle, a positioning of the automatic guided vehicle relative to the receiving station:

causing at least one retractable engagement member of the automatic guided vehicle to be in a retracted status when the automatic guided vehicle stops near the receiving station; and

causing linear drive equipment of the receiving station to move a carriage that hooks a pallet in a first direction along a shaft away from the automatic guided vehicle to load the pallet from the automatic guided vehicle onto the receiving station, or move the carriage in a second direction along a length of the shaft opposite to the first direction towards the automatic guided vehicle to unload the pallet from the receiving station and onto the automatic guided vehicle.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

causing at least two retractable engagement members of the receiving station to be in an extended status to engage with the pallet when the pallet is carried on the receiving station and the carriage is stationary and causing the at least two retractable engagement members to be in the retracted status to disengage from the pallet before the carriage is moved.