US 12,441,227 B2
In-vehicle cargo handling system, stacker, and method of delivering cargo
Toshihiko Hiratani, Toyota (JP); and Naoyuki Taguri, Toyota (JP)
Assigned to TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Toyota (JP)
Filed by TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Toyota (JP)
Filed on Apr. 27, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/140,159.
Claims priority of application No. 2022-076273 (JP), filed on May 2, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2023/0348184 A1, Nov. 2, 2023
Int. Cl. B60P 3/00 (2006.01); B60P 1/54 (2006.01); B65G 67/02 (2006.01)
CPC B60P 3/007 (2013.01) [B60P 1/5433 (2013.01); B65G 67/02 (2013.01)] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An in-vehicle cargo handling system comprising:
a storage conveyor configured to convey a cargo along a looped conveyance route;
a stacker fixedly installed in a vehicle and configured to rotate the cargo at least around an axis parallel to a vehicle vertical direction, the stacker transferring the cargo between a first transfer position provided in the middle of the looped conveyance route and a second transfer position separated from the first transfer position in a horizontal direction, wherein the stacker allows the cargo to be transferred to and from the storage conveyor at the first transfer position; and
an unmanned ground vehicle configured to receive the cargo from the stacker at the second transfer position,
wherein the unmanned ground vehicle includes:
a container configured to accommodate the cargo; and
a ramp provided in the container and inclined horizontally and downward, the ramp allowing the cargo to slide into the container,
wherein the stacker includes a hand that includes a fork plate on which the cargo is placed, the fork plate moving in the horizontal direction and having one or more notches formed at a tip thereof, and
wherein, when the cargo is delivered from the stacker to the unmanned ground vehicle, the stacker is configured to cause the one or more notches of the fork plate to be positioned on the ramp in a state where the cargo is placed on the fork plate, then configured to lower the fork plate to bring a top portion of the ramp into contact with a bottom surface of the cargo, and then configured to cause the fork plate to retreat to a retreating side in the horizontal direction, thereby allowing the cargo to slide down along the ramp.