US 11,851,311 B2
Autonomous payload handling apparatus
Venkat Raju Chintalapallipatta, Bangalore (IN); Venkatesh Prasad Bangalore Srinivas, Bangalore (IN); Pradeep Prabhakar Kamble, Bangalore (IN); Sri Sai Shyam Siddharth Gollu, Bangalore (IN); and Sreehari Kumar Bhogineni, Bangalore (IN)
Assigned to TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED, Mumbai (IN)
Filed by Tata Consultancy Services Limited, Mumbai (IN)
Filed on Jun. 25, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/358,058.
Claims priority of application No. 202121005908 (IN), filed on Feb. 11, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0250886 A1, Aug. 11, 2022
Int. Cl. B66F 9/06 (2006.01); B66F 9/075 (2006.01); B66F 9/14 (2006.01)
CPC B66F 9/063 (2013.01) [B66F 9/0755 (2013.01); B66F 9/07513 (2013.01); B66F 9/143 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An autonomous payload handling apparatus, comprising:
a chassis assembly comprising:
one or more friction pads, wherein each of the one or more friction pads is attached to at least one side of the chassis assembly;
two or more fork assemblies coupled to the chassis assembly, wherein each of the two or more fork assemblies comprises a first end and a second end, wherein the second end of the two or more fork assemblies is coupled to a bottom end of the chassis assembly, wherein each of the two or more fork assemblies comprises a corresponding vertical fork plate, wherein the corresponding vertical fork plate comprises a first surface and a second surface, and wherein each of the two or more fork assemblies comprises a top plate and a bottom plate;
a first long double left-hand (LH) right-hand (RH) lead screw mechanism and a second long double left-hand (LH) right-hand (RH) lead screw mechanism, wherein the first long double LH RH lead screw mechanism is accommodated within a first fork assembly of the two or more fork assemblies, and wherein the second long double LH RH lead screw mechanism is accommodated within a second fork assembly of the two or more fork assemblies;
a cross-slide assembly mounted within the chassis assembly, wherein the cross-slide assembly comprises:
a first linear shaft and a second linear shaft, wherein each of the first linear shaft and the second linear shaft comprises a first linear bearing block and a second bearing block, wherein the corresponding vertical fork plate of the two or more fork assemblies is coupled to the first linear bearing block and the second bearing block respectively via one or more screw mechanisms; and
a lead screw shaft positioned between the first linear shaft and the second linear shaft, wherein a first end and a second end of each of the first linear shaft, the second linear shaft, and the lead screw shaft are coupled to a first end and a second end of each of a first support block and a second support block, respectively, wherein the autonomous payload handling apparatus is operated to enable the first end of the two or more fork assemblies to slide through a corresponding fork assembly receiver of a pallet, wherein when the first end of the two or more fork assemblies navigates through a first end and a second end of the corresponding fork assembly receiver of the pallet, the first long double LH RH lead screw mechanism and the second long double LH RH lead screw mechanism are operated to (i) lift the top plate and (ii) enable at least one surface of the top plate to contact a bottom surface of the pallet, and wherein upon positioning the pallet on the top plate of each of the two or more fork assemblies the autonomous payload handling apparatus navigates to a desired location based on sensory information obtained from one or more sensors attached to the autonomous payload handling apparatus; and
a plurality of limit switches, wherein each of the plurality of limit switches is configured to control position of the two or more fork assemblies.