Pallet transfer mechanism and pallet transfer system

A pallet transfer system for different transportation devices to hand over a pallet, the transportation device comprising an automated guided vehicle and a stacker crane, the pallet transfer system comprising:

• a pallet transfer mechanism disposed at an inbound position or an outbound position, the pallet transfer mechanism comprising:
• a placement device having a plurality of brackets arranged in a circular manner at intervals to form a handover space, the brackets being used to place the pallet thereon, each of the brackets having a support member and a placement member, the placement member disposed on a top end of the support member and configured to place the pallet thereon;
• an obstacle sensor disposed on one of the brackets, the obstacle sensor emitting an obstacle sensing beam in a diagonal direction across the handover space toward another one of the diagonally disposed brackets, the obstacle sensing beam being used to determine whether there is an object within the handover space, and the obstacle sensor accordingly sending an obstacle-existing signal or a no-obstacle signal;
• and
• a pallet sensor disposed on one of the brackets, the pallet sensor emitting a pallet sensing beam in a horizontal direction toward another one of the adjacent brackets, the pallet sensing beam being used to determine whether the pallet is placed on the placement member, and the pallet sensor accordingly sending a pallet-existing signal or a no-pallet signal;
• a control module coupled with the obstacle sensor and the pallet sensor;
• when the control module is used to control the pallet transfer mechanism at the inbound position, if the control module receives the no-obstacle signal and the no-pallet signal, the control module outputs an automated guided vehicle inbound pallet placement signal;
• if the control module receives the no-obstacle signal and the pallet-existing signal, the control module outputs a stacker crane inbound pallet pickup signal;
• when the control module is used to control the pallet transfer mechanism at the outbound position, if the control module receives the no-obstacle signal and the no-pallet signal, the control module outputs a stacker crane outbound pallet placement signal;
• if the control module receives the no-obstacle signal and the pallet-existing signal, the control module outputs an automated guided vehicle outbound pallet pickup signal;
• and
• an execution module coupled with the obstacle sensor, the pallet sensor, and the control module, the execution module configured to receive the automated guided vehicle inbound pallet placement signal, the automated guided vehicle outbound pallet pickup signal, the stacker crane inbound pallet pickup signal, and the stacker crane outbound pallet placement signal, and accordingly control operation of the automated guided vehicle and the stacker crane.