JP2000132231A - Method for releasing brake of unmanned carrier and unmanned carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To release the braking of a brake of an unmanned carrier stopped by the brake. SOLUTION: An on-vehicle controller SK is mounted on an unmanned carrier 10. A travel motor SM, an electromagnetic brake DB and a power supply unit 27 feeding power to the motor SM and the brake DB are housed in a car body 13. Recessed parts 21 are respectively are provided at an almost central position of both left and right sides of the body 13, and a brake release button 22 is provided in the recessed parts 21. When power is fed to the brake DB by operating the button 22, the braking by the brake DB of the carrier 10 is released.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic guided vehicle, and more particularly, to a method for releasing a brake of an automatic guided vehicle and an automatic guided vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, unmanned transport vehicles have been used in factories for carrying loads. The automatic guided vehicle travels along a predetermined route along a guide line laid on the floor surface, and performs an unmanned cargo handling operation of transporting the load loaded at the loading position to the loading position. Usually, an automatic guided vehicle system in which a plurality of automatic guided vehicles move along a common guide line is configured. The operation of the plurality of automatic guided vehicles is controlled by communication by a ground controller (ground controller).

FIG. 8 shows an example of the automatic guided vehicle system. Each automatic guided vehicle 50 is centrally controlled by a ground control device 51 provided at a predetermined position in the factory, travels along a track 53 between a plurality of facilities 52 provided in the factory,
Carry out the load transfer work.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing control of the automatic guided vehicle system. The work data output from the ground controller 54 of the ground control device 51 is transmitted from the communication device 55 of the ground control device 51, received by the communication device 56 of each unmanned carrier 50, and is mounted on the vehicle controller of each unmanned carrier 50. 57. The on-board controller 57 is connected to the ground controller 54.
And control the traveling and stopping of the automatic guided vehicle 50 based on the work data from.

[0005] The on-vehicle controller 57 is an automatic guided vehicle 5.
The power supply unit 60 is connected to a power supply device 60 for supplying power to the zero travel motor 58 and the electromagnetic brake 59, and controls the power supply device 60. The traveling motor 58 is connected to the power supply device 60 via an inverter 61 and a switch 62.
Is connected. The inverter 61 and the switch 62 are connected to a vehicle controller 57. The on-vehicle controller 57 controls the power supplied to the traveling motor 58 by controlling the inverter 61. That is, the traveling speed and traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle 50 are controlled. In this case, the on-vehicle controller 57 supplies the power from the inverter 61 to the traveling motor 58 by turning on the switch 62, and turns off the switch 62 to
The supply of power from 1 is stopped.

The electromagnetic brake 59 is connected to the power supply 60 via a switch 63. The electromagnetic brake 59 is a brake that mechanically brakes the traveling motor 58. When the in-vehicle controller 57 turns on the switch 63 and the power is supplied to the electromagnetic brake 59, the electromagnetic brake 59 does not operate and the traveling motor 5
Do not brake 8 When the in-vehicle controller 57 turns off the switch 63 and power is not supplied to the electromagnetic brake 59, the electromagnetic brake 59 operates to apply a brake to the traveling motor 58.

Normally, the on-vehicle controller 57 turns off both the switches 62 and 63 to stop the supply of power from the inverter 61, and applies the braking by the electromagnetic brake 59 to move the automatic guided vehicle 50 to the normal position. To stop.

On the other hand, the automatic guided vehicle 50 has an encoder 6
4. Detection means such as a photoelectric sensor 65 and a magnetic sensor 66 are provided. When the traveling position, traveling speed, and the like of the automatic guided vehicle 50 detected by these detection means are abnormal, the in-vehicle controller 57 turns off (cuts off) both the switches 62 and 63 to supply power from the inverter 61. The operation is stopped and the electromagnetic brake 59 is applied. Then, the automatic guided vehicle 50 is automatically controlled by the in-vehicle controller 57 and is stopped at an arbitrary position.

Further, when a third party presses an emergency button 67 provided on the body of the automatic guided vehicle 50 in an emergency such as a breakdown or accident occurrence, the onboard controller 57 turns off both the switches 62 and 63 (cuts off). ) Inverter 61
Supply of electric power from the electromagnetic brake 59
It is supposed to apply braking. Then, the automatic guided vehicle 50 is emergency stopped at an arbitrary position.

As shown in FIG. 8, one automatic guided vehicle 50
When the emergency stop is performed at the position P1 which is the merging / branching portion of the automatic guided vehicle system, there is a problem that the merging / branching or passing of another automatic guided vehicle 50 is obstructed.

Further, when the automatic guided vehicle 50 is emergency stopped at the position P2 near the facility 52, as shown in FIG.
Inconvenience of being trapped between 0 occurs.

In these cases, if the automatic guided vehicle 50 is slightly shifted from the positions P1 and P2 where the emergency stop is performed,
The above disadvantages are eliminated.

[0013]

However, the conventional automatic guided vehicle 50 is braked by the electromagnetic brake 59 until the abnormality is canceled or reset by the ground controller 54, and the movement in the braked state is extremely high. Have difficulty. Therefore, there is a problem that the above-mentioned inconvenience cannot be solved.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic guided vehicle brake release method and an automatic guided vehicle capable of releasing the brake braking of the automatic guided vehicle stopped by a brake.

[0015]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for releasing a brake of an automatic guided vehicle traveling along a traveling route between facilities.
When the AGV stops in front of the facility and the worker is trapped in the space formed between the AGV and the facility,
The gist is that the brake of the automatic guided vehicle is released by operating a brake release operation member provided in the automatic guided vehicle or the facility so that the automatic guided vehicle can be moved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in an automatic guided vehicle traveling along a traveling route between facilities, when a driving power supply is cut off and a brake is applied and stopped, a brake release operation member is operated. The main point is to supply the driving power to release the brake.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the automatic guided vehicle according to the second aspect, the brake release operation member includes:
The gist is that it is provided on the vehicle body. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the automatic guided vehicle according to the third aspect, the brake release operation member is provided on both side surfaces of the vehicle body orthogonal to the traveling direction.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the automatic guided vehicle according to the second aspect, the brake release operating member includes:
When the AGV stops in front of the facility and the worker is trapped in the space formed between the AGV and the facility,
The gist is that it is provided in the equipment that forms the space.

(Operation) According to the first aspect of the present invention,
When the AGV stops in front of the facility and the worker is trapped in the space formed between the AGV and the facility,
The brake of the automatic guided vehicle can be released by operating the brake release operation member provided on the automatic guided vehicle or the facility, and the automatic guided vehicle can be moved. As a result, it is possible to prevent inconvenience caused by the stop position of the stopped automatic guided vehicle.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the automatic guided vehicle traveling between the equipments along the traveling route, when the driving power supply is cut off and the brake is applied and stopped,
The brake can be released by operating the brake release operating member to supply the driving power. As a result, it is possible to prevent inconvenience caused by the stop position of the stopped automatic guided vehicle.

According to the invention described in claim 3, according to claim 2,
In addition to the effects of the invention described in (1), the stopped AGV can be shifted from the stop position and moved by simply pushing the AGV while pressing the brake release operation member. As a result, it is possible to prevent inconvenience caused by the stop position of the stopped automatic guided vehicle.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the worker trapped in the space formed between the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle body, which is orthogonal to the running direction of the stopped automatic guided vehicle, and the equipment, is provided with a brake. The AGV can be shifted from the stop position and moved by simply pushing the AGV while pressing the release operation member. As a result, it is possible to prevent inconvenience caused by the stop position of the stopped automatic guided vehicle.

According to the invention described in claim 5, according to claim 2,
In addition to the operation of the invention described in the above, when the automatic guided vehicle stops in front of the equipment and the worker is trapped in the space formed between the automatic guided vehicle and the equipment, the equipment forming the space The automatic guided vehicle can be shifted from the stop position and moved by simply pressing the automatic guided vehicle by pressing the brake release operation member provided therein. As a result, it is possible to prevent inconvenience caused by the stop position of the stopped automatic guided vehicle.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the automatic guided vehicle 10 of the present embodiment travels along a traveling rail 11 formed on a floor surface. Various facilities 12 are installed in the factory, and traveling rails 11 that form guide lines are formed so that the automatic guided vehicle 10 can patrol each facility 12. The automatic guided vehicle 10 is controlled by the ground control device GS, travels on the travel rail 11 in, for example, one direction, and performs a transport operation of moving between the facilities 12 and transporting the load to the next process.

The automatic guided vehicle 10 includes a vehicle body 13, traveling wheels 14, 15 and a load chamber 16. The automatic guided vehicle 10 is equipped with an in-vehicle controller SK. A traveling motor SM, an electromagnetic brake DB, and the like (not shown in FIGS. 1 to 3) are housed in the vehicle body 13. Two pairs of front and rear (total of 4)
), And two pairs of front and rear guide wheels (not shown). Two sets of running wheels 14,
The front wheels 14 are drive wheels driven by a traveling motor, and the rear wheels 15 are driven wheels. Running wheel 1
4, 15 run along the running rail 11,
The guide wheels are guided along guide rails 17 forming a guide line between the running rails 11, and the automatic guided vehicle 10 is steered.

In addition, above the vehicle body 13,
Are formed. A plurality (two in the present embodiment) of emergency stop buttons 19 are provided on both front and rear end faces (both end faces in the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle 10) 18 of the load storage chamber 16 respectively.
Is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, recesses 21 are provided at substantially the center positions of the left and right sides (both sides orthogonal to the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle 10) 20 of the vehicle body 13.
And a brake release button 22 as a brake release operation member is provided in the concave portion 21.

Next, an electrical configuration of the automatic guided vehicle 10 of the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the ground control device GS that controls the automatic guided vehicle 10 includes a ground controller GK, a keyboard 23, a display 24, a communication device 25, and the like. The ground control device GS is a communication device 2
5 and the in-vehicle controller SK via the in-vehicle controller-side communication device 26 provided in the automatic guided vehicle 10.

The ground controller GK includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like, and has a memory. The ground controller GK has a keyboard 23 and a display 2
4 is connected. The ground controller GK outputs, for example, work data for causing the automatic guided vehicle 10 to perform a load transfer operation or the like to the on-board controller SK.

The in-vehicle controller SK provided in the automatic guided vehicle 10 is composed of a CPU or the like and has a memory.
The in-vehicle controller SK controls the traveling and stopping of the automatic guided vehicle 10 based on the work data from the ground controller GK to perform the work of transporting the load.

The in-vehicle controller SK is an automatic guided vehicle 1
It is connected to a power supply device 27 as a drive power supply for supplying power to the 0 travel motor SM, the electromagnetic brake DB, and the like, and controls the power supply device 27. The power supply device 27 is connected to a power supply trolley line via a power supply circuit (not shown).

The traveling motor SM is connected to the power supply 27 via an inverter 28 and a switch S1. Further, the inverter 28 and the switch S1 are connected to a vehicle controller SK. The on-vehicle controller SK controls the power supplied to the traveling motor SM by controlling the inverter 28. That is, the traveling speed and traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle 10 are controlled. The on-vehicle controller SK supplies the power from the inverter 28 to the traveling motor SM by turning on the switch S1, and stops the supply of power from the inverter 28 by turning off the switch S1.

The electromagnetic brake DB is connected to the power supply 27 via a switch S2. The electromagnetic brake DB is a brake that mechanically brakes the traveling motor SM. When the on-vehicle controller SK turns on the switch S2 and power is supplied to the electromagnetic brake DB, the electromagnetic brake DB does not operate and the traveling motor S
Do not brake M. When the in-vehicle controller SK turns off the switch S2 and power is not supplied to the electromagnetic brake DB, the electromagnetic brake DB operates to apply a brake to the traveling motor SM.

Normally, the on-vehicle controller SK turns off both the switches S1 and S2, stops the supply of power from the inverter 28, and applies the braking by the electromagnetic brake DB to move the automatic guided vehicle 10 to the normal position. To stop.

On the other hand, the on-vehicle controller SK is connected to detection means such as an encoder 29, a photoelectric sensor 30, and a magnetic sensor 31 provided at predetermined positions of the automatic guided vehicle 10. Automatic guided vehicle 1 detected by these detecting means
When there is an abnormality in the traveling position, traveling speed, and the like of 0, the on-vehicle controller SK turns off (cuts off) both the switches S1 and S2 to stop the supply of power from the inverter 28 and to perform braking by the electromagnetic brake DB. It is supposed to be applied. In this case, the automatic guided vehicle 10 is automatically controlled by the in-vehicle controller SK, and is stopped at an arbitrary position.

The in-vehicle controller SK is connected to emergency stop buttons 19 provided on both front and rear end surfaces 18 of the automatic guided vehicle 10. When a third party presses the emergency stop button 19 in an emergency such as a failure or accident, the in-vehicle controller SK turns off (cuts off) both the switches S1 and S2 to stop the supply of power from the inverter 28 and Braking is to be applied by the electromagnetic brake DB. In this case, the automatic guided vehicle 10 is controlled by the on-board controller SK, and is stopped at an arbitrary position.

The in-vehicle controller SK is connected to brake release buttons 22 provided on both left and right sides 20 of the automatic guided vehicle 10. Brake release button 22
By pressing, the in-vehicle controller SK turns on only the switch S2, energizes the electromagnetic brake DB, and releases the braking.

In this embodiment, the control of the switch S2 by the brake release button 22 is of a non-lock type. That is, the switch S2 is operated (turned on) via the on-board controller only while the brake release button 22 is pressed, and when the operation is released, the switch S2 returns to the state before the operation (off).

Accordingly, the automatic guided vehicle 10 of the present embodiment configured as described above has the following features. (1) In this embodiment, the emergency guided vehicle 10 is stopped
Can be released by the brake release button 22. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of inconvenience due to the stop position of the unmanned guided vehicle 10 that is emergency stopped, as compared with the related art in which the braking of the unmanned guided vehicle that has been emergency stopped cannot be released.

(2) In the present embodiment, the brake release button 22 is provided on the vehicle body 13 of the automatic guided vehicle 10. Accordingly, the emergency stop of the automatic guided vehicle 10 is stopped simply by pressing the automatic guided vehicle 10 while pressing the brake release button 22.
Can be shifted from the stop position. As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of inconvenience due to the stop position of the automatic guided vehicle 10 that has been emergency stopped.

(3) In the present embodiment, the brake release button 22 is set on the vehicle body 1 orthogonal to the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle 10.
3 are provided on both left and right side surfaces 20. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the worker M trapped by the left and right side surfaces 20 of the vehicle body 13 orthogonal to the traveling direction of the unmanned guided vehicle 10 that has been stopped By simply pressing, the automatic guided vehicle 10 can be shifted and moved from the stop position.

(4) In this embodiment, the brake release button 22 is provided in the recess 21. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the brake release button 22 from being erroneously operated by accidentally touching or hitting it. As a result, the electromagnetic brake DB of the unmanned guided vehicle 10 normally stopped
It is possible to prevent erroneous release of braking due to.

The embodiment of the present invention may be modified as follows. In the above embodiment, the brake release button 22 is provided on the left and right side surfaces 20 of the vehicle body 13 orthogonal to the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle 10.
It may be provided on both front and rear end faces 18 in the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle 10. Therefore, the unmanned guided vehicle 10 that has been stopped
The worker M confined by the front and rear end faces 18 in the traveling direction can move the automatic guided vehicle 10 from the stop position only by pressing the automatic guided vehicle 10 while pressing the brake release button 22.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The brake release button 22 may be directly connected to the switch S2. In this case, opening and closing of the switch S2 can be controlled by the brake release button 22. Therefore, the same effect as the above embodiment can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, the control of the switch S2 by the brake release button 22 may be performed by a method other than the non-lock system, for example, a push-push system. That is, when the brake release button 22 is pressed once, the switch S2 is operated (ON), and when the brake release button 22 is pressed again, the switch S2 returns to the state before the operation (OFF). In this case, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, the brake release button 22 may be implemented in a push-push system and provided on each facility 12 side. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, a brake release button 22 provided on each equipment 12 side is provided.
Is connected by wire to the ground controller GK. The brake release signal when the brake release button 22 is pressed is
The position of the equipment 12 provided with the brake release button 22 is determined by the CPU of the ground controller GK by the CPU of the ground controller GK, and the unmanned guided vehicle 10 that is emergency stopped at the position closest to the equipment 12 is determined. And
The ground controller GK outputs a brake release signal to the automatic guided vehicle 10 to the in-vehicle controller SK via the communication devices 25 and 26. In-vehicle controller S
K releases the braking of the automatic guided vehicle 10 by turning on the switch S2 and energizing the electromagnetic brake DB.
In this case, substantially the same effects as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

When the brake release button 22 is pressed, the brake release signal is transmitted wirelessly to the ground controller GK.
Or the equipment 12 provided with the brake release button 22 directly
May be input to the in-vehicle controller SK of the automatic guided vehicle 10 that is stopped at the position closest to the emergency stop.

As shown in FIG. 7, a brake release circuit 33 may be provided. More specifically, a rechargeable battery 34 is mounted in the vehicle body 13, and the battery 34 is connected to the electromagnetic brake DB via the switch S3. The opening and closing of the switch S3 is controlled by a brake release button 22 provided on the vehicle body 13. When the brake release button 22 is pressed, the switch S3
Is turned on, and the braking is released when the electromagnetic brake DB is energized by the battery. Therefore, in addition to the effects of the above embodiment, the brake can be released for the automatic guided vehicle 10 stopped in an emergency such as a power failure.

In the above embodiment and another example, the switch S
Although the automatic guided vehicle 10 is operated so that the brake is applied when the switch 2 is turned off, the automatic guided vehicle 10 may be implemented so that the brake is applied when the switch S2 is turned on. In this case, if the switch S2 is turned off when the brake release button 22 is pressed, almost the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

[0050]

As described above in detail, according to the automatic guided vehicle of the first to fifth aspects, the brake of the stopped automatic guided vehicle can be released, and the stopped automatic guided vehicle can be stopped. Inconvenience due to the position can be prevented.

According to the automatic guided vehicle of the third to fifth aspects, the brake of the stopped automatic guided vehicle can be easily released.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an automatic guided vehicle according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the automatic guided vehicle according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the automatic guided vehicle according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration for controlling the automatic guided vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration for controlling another example of an automatic guided vehicle.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration for controlling another example of an automatic guided vehicle.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration for controlling another example of an automatic guided vehicle.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the automatic guided vehicle system.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration for controlling a conventional automatic guided vehicle.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a conventional automatic guided vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Automatic guided vehicle, 11, 17 ... Traveling rail and guide rail which comprise a traveling route, 12 ... Equipment, 13 ... Body, 2
0: side surface, 22: brake release button as brake release operation member, 27: power supply device as drive power supply.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A method for releasing a brake of an automatic guided vehicle traveling along a traveling route between facilities, wherein the automatic guided vehicle stops in front of the facility and a worker is formed between the automatic guided vehicle and the facility. When trapped in a space
Brake release of the automatic guided vehicle, wherein the brake of the automatic guided vehicle is released by operating a brake release operation member provided on the automatic guided vehicle or the facility so that the automatic guided vehicle can be moved. Method. 2. An automatic guided vehicle that travels along a traveling route between facilities and, when the driving power is cut off and the brake is applied and stopped, the driving power is supplied by operating the brake release operation member. An automatic guided vehicle characterized by releasing the brake. 3. The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the brake release operation member is provided on a vehicle body. 4. The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the brake release operation members are provided on both side surfaces of a vehicle body orthogonal to a traveling direction. 5. The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the brake release operation member is formed between the automatic guided vehicle and the facility when the automatic guided vehicle stops in front of the facility. An automatic guided vehicle, wherein the automatic guided vehicle is provided in a facility forming the space when confined in the space.