JP3460917B2 - Carrier - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carrier vehicle used in, for example, a warehouse or a factory, which is provided with a guided portion that moves along a guide body, and has a non-steering drive wheel and a non-steering type. And driven wheels configured to travel on the floor surface along the guide body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since a transport vehicle travels on a floor surface along a guide, it can be swiftly traveled to a desired place at a high traveling speed.
As described in Japanese Patent No. 5541, it is configured such that five wheels, a driving wheel provided at one location and driven wheels provided at four locations, are allowed to travel on the floor surface.

[0003]

Therefore, when the floor surface is uneven, any two of the five wheels are likely to float above the floor surface and the running posture tends to be unstable. Especially, if the drive wheels float above the floor surface, the running force may be insufficient and the vehicle may get stuck in the middle of running. Since the pressing means for elastically pressing the surface side is provided, there is a drawback that the mounting structure of the drive wheel becomes complicated. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances,
By devising the support structure of the vehicle body, while simplifying the drive wheel mounting structure, even if there is unevenness on the floor surface, you can run in a stable running posture without getting stuck in the middle of running The purpose is to be able to.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle having three driving wheels provided at one location and driven wheels provided at two locations. Even if the floor surface is uneven, the vehicle body is supported by the three wheels, the driving wheel and the driven wheel, and the floor of the driving wheel is provided without providing a pressing means for elastically pressing the driving wheel toward the floor surface. The contact pressure on the surface can be secured. Then, when the vehicle is driven on the floor along the guide body by the three wheels of the driving wheel and the driven wheel in this way, when the traveling speed is accelerated or decelerated such as when the traveling is started or stopped. Due to the inertial force, the vehicle body tries to swing with the driving wheel and one driven wheel as a fulcrum, and the remaining one driven wheel easily floats from the floor surface, which makes the running posture unstable. Occurs. Therefore, the present invention, in particular, allows three wheels of a driving wheel and a driven wheel to simultaneously contact the floor surface, and in a state where the driving wheel and one driven wheel are in contact with the floor surface at the same time. Since the idle wheel that suppresses the floating of the remaining driven wheel from the floor due to the swinging of the vehicle body is installed, when the vehicle travels at a constant traveling speed that does not accelerate or decelerate, the contact of the drive wheel with the floor surface It is possible to stably drive the vehicle with little change in pressure, and during acceleration or deceleration, it is possible to prevent the driven wheels from floating above the floor surface by the tensioning action of the idler wheels against the floor surface.
Therefore, even if there is unevenness on the floor surface without providing a pressing means that elastically presses the drive wheel toward the floor surface, the contact pressure of the drive wheel with respect to the floor surface can be secured, and at the time of acceleration or deceleration. Even in the case, since it is possible to suppress the floating of the driven wheels from the floor surface, while simplifying the mounting structure of the drive wheels, even if there is unevenness on the floor surface, without being stuck during the running, It is possible to drive in a stable running posture.

Further, according to the first aspect of the present invention , since the driven wheel and the idle wheel are provided in front of and behind the driving wheel in the traveling direction, the vehicle weight is well balanced between the drive wheel and the driven wheel. While being dispersed, the driven wheels are allowed to float above the floor surface both during acceleration during which the vehicle body tends to swing toward the rear side in the traveling direction and during deceleration during which the vehicle body tends to swing toward the front side in the traveling direction. It is possible to prevent and stabilize the running posture. Further, since the guided portion is provided laterally of the vehicle body on the side away from the driven wheels of the drive wheels in the lateral direction of the vehicle body, even if the traveling route along the guide body is curved, Compared with the case where the guided portion is provided on the lateral side of the vehicle on the side away from the vehicle lateral width direction, the vehicle can be easily rotated so as to be in the posture along the travel route, and the vehicle can be smoothly traveled.

In the transport vehicle according to the second aspect of the present invention, the idler wheel is provided so as to be vertically movable in a state of being elastically biased toward the floor side, so that the inertial force for swinging the vehicle body Due to the elastic displacement of the idler wheels in accordance with the size, it is easy to secure the contact pressure of the driven wheels with respect to the floor surface necessary for traveling while suppressing the floating of the driven wheels from the floor surface with a small impact.

Since the transport vehicle according to claim 3 is provided with the regulation means for regulating the upward movement range of the idler wheel,
It is possible to prevent the swinging of the vehicle body beyond the allowable range while suppressing the floating of the driven wheels from the floor surface in accordance with the magnitude of the inertial force for swinging the vehicle body.

[0008] Claim 4 guided vehicle described, since the driven wheel and the idle wheel is arranged to include a caster wheel function, the running direction of the vehicle body during acceleration or deceleration is bent along the guide member However, the postures of the driven wheel and the idler wheel change so as to rotate in the traveling direction, and the vehicle can travel smoothly.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION As shown in FIG .
Storage part 1a for storing and storing the state of being placed on the pallet P
Is equipped with a plurality of storage shelves 1 arranged in the vertical and horizontal directions,
A stacker crane 2 having a lift, a fork and the like is provided between the storage shelves 1 so as to be movable along the rails 3, and a carry-in lifter 4a, a conveyor 4b, and a transfer lifter are provided at the entrance side of some of the storage shelves 1. The carry-in device 4 having 4c is provided, and the carry-out lifter 5a and the conveyor 5 are provided at the entrance side of some of the storage shelves 1.
b, the carry-out device 5 having the transfer lifter 5c is provided.
The storage shelf 1 for the carry-out device 5 and the carry-in device 4
An article carry-in section 6 and an article carry-out section 7 are provided on the side opposite to the above, and a loop-shaped guide as a guide is provided between the article carry-in section 6 and the article carry-out section 7 and the carry-in apparatus 4 and carry-out apparatus 5. The transport vehicle T is configured to run on the floor G along the rails 8 so that an automated warehouse is configured.

That is, when storing the article A, the article A is supplied to the article carry-in section 6 by the warehousing conveyor 9 while being placed on the pallet P. Then, the article A placed on the pallet P is transferred from the article loading unit 6 to the transport vehicle T, is transported to one of the loading devices 4, and is loaded on the transfer lifter 4c together with the pallet P. . The carry-in device 4 conveys the article A together with the pallet P from the transfer lifter 4c to the carry-in lifter 4a by the conveyor 4b, and transfers from the carry-in lifter 4a to the stacker crane 2. The stacker crane 2 conveys the article A from the carry-in device 4a to a predetermined storage section 1a in which a plurality of storage sections 1a of the storage shelf 1 should store the article A and transfers the article A together with the pallet P.

When taking out the article A, the command is input to the control device. Then stacker crane 2
Moves to the storage section 1a of the storage shelf 1 in which the article A is stored based on the information from the control device, takes out the article A together with the pallet P, conveys the article A to the unloading device 5, and transfers it to the unloading lifter 5a. List. The carry-out device 5 conveys the article A together with the pallet P from the carry-out lifter 5a to the transfer lifter 5a by the conveyor 5b, and from the transfer lifter 5 to the pallet P.
It is transferred to the transport vehicle T while being mounted on. The carrier T is an article A
Is conveyed to the article unloading section 7 and is transferred together with the pallet P, and the delivery conveyor 10 conveys the article A on the pallet P from the article unloading section 7 to the delivery location.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the transport vehicle T is a non-steering type vehicle provided at two positions which are spaced apart in the front-rear direction and are substantially the same position when viewed in the traveling direction. Of the driven wheels 13 and the driven wheels 13 provided at these two positions, which are intermediate positions in the traveling direction, and which are the driven wheels 13
A guided portion 30 that moves along the guide rail 8 is provided with three wheels including a non-steering drive wheel 12 provided at a position separated from the vehicle body in the lateral direction of the vehicle body from the driven wheel 13 of the drive wheel 12. The auxiliary wheels 14 are provided on the lateral side of the vehicle body on the side separated from each other in the lateral width direction, and the auxiliary wheels 14 are provided at two positions where the driving wheel 12 is sandwiched from the front and rear in the traveling direction. It is configured to drive along the floor surface G.

That is, a pair of left and right main frames 11a, 11b that are long in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body and both main frames 1
A front connecting frame 11c that connects the front end sides of the 1a and 11b together, and a rear connecting frame 11d that connects the rear end sides of both the main frames 11a and 11b together, the vehicle body 1
1 and the driving wheel 12 for traveling is provided below the middle portion of the left main frame 11a in the front-rear direction of the electric motor M1.
The driven wheel 13 is mounted so as to be driven by the lower side of the front end side and the rear end side of the right main frame 11b so as to be freely rotatable. Auxiliary wheels 14 are attached to the lower surface side and the lower surface side of the vehicle body rear side, and the main frame 11 on the left side is attached.
a is provided with a guided portion 30 having four guide rollers 31 and 32 on the left lateral outer side on the front end side and the left lateral outer side on the rear end side, and above and lateral sides of the pair of front and rear guided portions 30, 30. The left side main frame 11a with the guide cover 15 covering the other side.
To the lateral outside of the vehicle body 11 from both main frames 1
1a, 11b, the front side of the upper surface side of the front side of the load carrier device 40, the main frame 11a, 11b
A rear load carrier device 40 is attached over the upper surfaces of the rear end sides, respectively, to supply electric power to the electric motor M1 and the electric motor M2 of both load carrier devices 40 and to control them, and A power supply unit cover 17 that covers the upper and lower sides and side faces of the power supply unit 16 is supported by the right main frame 11b, a resin front bumper 18 is attached to the front side of the front connecting frame 11c, and a resin is attached to the rear side of the rear connecting frame 11d. A rear bumper 19 made of steel is attached.

As clearly shown in FIG. 4, the drive wheels 12 are
Is supported by an axle case 20 fixed to the lower surface side of the main frame 11a only so as to be rotatable around an axis Y in the lateral direction of the vehicle body, and is integrally rotatable with an axle 21 driven by the electric motor M1. I am supported. As a result, the drive wheels 12 are non-steered wheels that are drive-controlled to propel the vehicle body 11 but are not steering-controlled to change the traveling direction of the vehicle body 11, and
It is deviated to the side where the guided portion 30 is located with respect to the center CL in the left-right direction of the vehicle body 11 so as to come as close as possible to the guided portion 30.

As clearly shown in FIG. 5, each of the pair of front and rear driven wheels 13, 13 is a pair of idlers which are rotatably attached to an axle 23 supported by a main frame 11b via a wheel support member 22. It is constituted by the rolling wheels 13a, 13a. The wheel support member 22 is the main frame 1
The support tool 24 is supported via a bearing interposed between the support tool 24 fixed to 1b and the wheel support member 22, and is freely rotated around the axis X1 in the vehicle body vertical direction with respect to the vehicle body 11. It is configured to work. Axle 23
A pair of front and rear support pins 25, 2 provided on the wheel support member 22.
5 is rotatably supported around the axis of the support pin 25 orthogonal to the axis X1, and the axis X of the vehicle body 11
It is configured to roll around the axis in the direction orthogonal to 1.

As a result, both the front driven wheel 13 and the rear driven wheel 13 naturally engage with the vehicle body for grounding and relative rotation of the pair of idler wheels 13a, 13a when the traveling direction of the vehicle body 11 changes. 11 is provided with a caster wheel function of turning around the axis X1 so as to be mounted along the vehicle traveling direction, and even if the vehicle body 11 leans to the left and right,
On the other hand, the rolling function is provided so as to be inclined around the axis of the support pin 25 and surely contact the floor surface. The steering wheel is not steered to change the running direction of the vehicle body 11.

As clearly shown in FIG. 6, each of the pair of front and rear auxiliary wheels 14, 14 has a wheel-side support 26 that supports the auxiliary wheel 14 in a freely rotatable manner. By rotatably connecting to the vehicle-body-side support body 27 that is pivotally supported about the axis X2, by a connecting pin 28 that is parallel to the axis of the auxiliary wheel 14 and is deviated from the axis. , Attached to the vehicle body 11,
When the traveling direction of No. 1 changes, the caster wheel function is provided so as to automatically turn around the axis X2 with respect to the vehicle body 11 to become the mounting direction along the vehicle traveling direction.

Each of the pair of front and rear auxiliary wheels 14, 14 is driven by a compression coil spring S as an elastic body mounted between the vehicle body side support 27 and the wheel side support 26 to drive the drive wheel 12 required for running. Is elastically urged toward the floor surface G with an urging force that does not cause insufficient contact pressure with the floor surface G, and is supported so as to be vertically swingable around the axis of the connecting pin 28. The stopper bolt 29 is in contact with the contact portion 26a protruding toward the upper surface of the wheel-side support 26 as the support pin 27 moves up and down around the axis of the connecting pin 28. Regulation means 60 attached to the support body 27 to regulate the upward swinging movement range of the auxiliary wheel 14.
Is configured.

As a result, when traveling at a constant speed,
In addition to the three wheels of the drive wheel 12 and the driven wheel 13, the pair of front and rear auxiliary wheels 14, 14 travel in a state of contacting the floor surface G, and the vehicle body 11 is driven by the inertia force at the start of travel to drive the drive wheel 12 When the rear driven wheel 13 is used as a fulcrum to swing rearward in the traveling direction, the contact pressure of the rear auxiliary wheel 14 increases, and the auxiliary wheel 14 is attached with the compression coil spring S. The vehicle body 11 is swung up and down with respect to the vehicle body 11 around the axis of the connecting pin 28 against the force, and the vehicle body 11 is driven by the inertia force when the traveling is stopped.
2 and the driven wheel 13 on the front side are pivoted toward the front side in the traveling direction, the contact pressure of the auxiliary wheel 14 on the front side increases, and the auxiliary wheel 14 is biased by the compression coil spring S. Against the vehicle body, it swings up and down with respect to the vehicle body 11 around the axis of the connecting pin 28, and in any case, due to the tensioning action of the auxiliary wheel 14 on the floor surface G, the driven wheel 13 is prevented from floating above the floor surface G. Then, when the wheel-side support 26 swings up to the limit of contacting the stopper bolt 29, the vehicle body 11 is received and supported so as not to lean any further.

Therefore, the pair of front and rear auxiliary wheels 14, 14
Each allow the three wheels of the driving wheel 12 and the driven wheel 13 to simultaneously contact the floor surface G, and the driving wheel 12 and one driven wheel 13 simultaneously contact the floor surface G. When the vehicle body 11 swings in this state, the remaining one driven wheel 1
3 is configured as an idler wheel that suppresses levitation from the floor surface G.

As clearly shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, each of the pair of front and rear guided portions 30, 30 is extended laterally outside the vehicle body 11 from a guide bracket 33 fixed to the lower surface side of the main frame 11a. Guide arm 34 extending
And a roller support 36 mounted rotatably around an axial center P1 in the vertical direction of the vehicle body by a rotary support shaft 35 rotatably passing through this portion on the extended end side of the guide arm 34.
And a total of four guide rollers 31, 32 rotatably attached to each of the four roller support shafts 37 extending downward from the roller support 36. Long hole 34a provided on the base end side of the guide arm 34
And the arm connecting pin 38 in the vehicle front-rear direction, which is configured to pass through the elongated hole 34a and is attached to the guide bracket 33, the guide arm 34 and the guide bracket 3
3 and connects the guide arm 34 to the arm connecting pin 38.
By swinging up and down with respect to the guide bracket 33 with the fulcrum as a fulcrum, the four guided rollers 31 and 32 of the guided portion 30 project laterally outward from the vehicle body 11 as shown by the solid line in FIG. When the guide rail 8 is mounted on the guide rail 8 from above and the contact operation is performed, the four guide rollers 31 and 32 come out from the guide rail 8 upward as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. It is possible to switch to the ascended storage state, which is closer to the vehicle body.

When the guided portion 30 is applied to the guide rail 8, the guide arm 34 is attached to the base end side of the guide arm 34 from the upper surface side thereof, and the guide arm 34 is attached.
The plurality of lock bolts 39, which are configured to be fixed by tightening to 3, are applied so as to be fixed in the lowered use state. When the guided portion 30 is in the lowered use state, the shaft core P1 is located directly above the guide rail 8 and is located outside the shaft core P1 of the four guide rollers 31, 32 on the vehicle body side. The two guide rollers 31 and 31 contact the left side surface of the guide rail 8 side by side in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, and the two guide rollers 32 and 32 located inside the vehicle body with respect to the axis P1 are the guide rails 8. The side surface on the right side of the vehicle is arranged so as to be in contact with the vehicle body in the front-rear direction. As a result, a pair of front and rear guided parts 30,
When 30 is fixed in the lowered use state, both guided portions 30, 30 move along the guide rail 8 due to the propulsion action of the drive wheel 12 and the guide action of the four guide rollers 31, 32. Then, the steering control is performed so that the vehicle body 11 travels along the guide rail 8.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 9, each of the front and rear load receiving tray devices 40, 40 has a conveyor case 4 mounted over the main frames 11a and 11b.
1 and a chain conveyor 42 composed of an endless chain attached to the conveyor case 41 so as to be rotationally driven in the forward rotation direction and the reverse rotation direction by the electric motor M2.
And a transport guide 43 supported by the conveyor case 41
It is composed of and. That is, the front and rear load receiving device 40 carries the article for transportation by carrying the pallet P above the conveyor case 41 along the transportation guide 43 by the endless chain 42 that rotates in the forward rotation direction. A is loaded on the vehicle body 11 from the transfer lifter 5c and the article loading section 6. And conveyor case 4
The one end side of the pallet P located above 1 is unloaded laterally outside the vehicle body 11 along the transportation guide 43 by the endless chain 42 that rotates in the reverse rotation direction, so that the article A for transportation is removed from the vehicle body 11. The transfer lifter 4c and the article unloading section 7 are unloaded.

As shown in FIG. 8, a current collecting arm 50 extending from one of the pair of front and rear guide brackets 33, 33 supports a plurality of current collectors 51 arranged in the vertical direction of the vehicle body. At the same time, the current collectors 51 come into contact with the power supply rails 53 supported by the columns 52 of the guide rails 8 to take in driving power from the power supply rails 53 and supply them to the electric motors M1, M2 via the power supply unit 16. It is configured as follows.

That is, the transporting vehicle T is electrically controlled by the pair of front and rear guided parts 30, 30 so as to be steered along the guide rail 8 while the collector 51 collects driving power from the power feeding rail 53. While supplying the load to the motor M1 and supporting the load on one driving wheel 12 and two driven wheels 13, 13, these three wheels 12, 13,
It runs on the floor by 13. Even if the guide rail 8 is curved, the roller support 36 rotates about the axis P1 with respect to the vehicle body 11, and all the guide rollers 31,
Since 32 is surely brought into contact with the guide rail 8 and the guided portion 30 follows the guide rail 8 with high accuracy, twisting is less likely to occur between the guided portions 30, 30 and the guide rail 8 and the drive wheel 12 is provided. The vehicle runs smoothly along the curved part with less loss of propulsion force.
Further, when the vehicle body 11 tries to swing back and forth due to traveling vibration, unevenness of the floor surface G, inertial force during acceleration / deceleration, etc., the floor of the driven wheel 13 is stretched by the tensioning action of the auxiliary wheel 14 against the floor surface G. Levitation from the surface G is suppressed, and when the vehicle reaches the upper limit, it is supported by the auxiliary wheels 14 so as not to incline any more, and the vehicle runs stably.

Then, at the time of carrying in articles, the article carrying-in section 6
Stop at the side of the chain and pair of front and rear chain conveyors 42, 4
2, the articles A are loaded by loading the pallet P over the front-side load receiving device 40 and the rear-side load receiving device 40, and the transfer lift 4c of one of the loading devices 4 is loaded.
Stop at the side of the chain and pair of front and rear chain conveyors 42, 4
The article A is unloaded onto the transfer lift 4c by carrying out the pallet P from the load-receiving devices 40, 40 by means of 2.
Further, at the time of unloading the article, the pallet P is stopped at the side of the transfer lifter 5c of one of the unloading devices 5 and the pallet P is moved to the front by the pair of front and rear chain conveyors 42, 42.
The article A is loaded by carrying in over 0 and the rear side load receiving device 40, stopped at the side of the article unloading part 7, and the pallet P is unloaded from both load receiving devices 40, 40 by a pair of front and rear chain conveyors 42, 42. By doing so, the article A is unloaded to the article unloading section 7.

[0027]

[Other Embodiments] 1. Allows the three wheels of the driving wheel and the driven wheel to contact the floor surface at the same time, and to prevent the vehicle body from swinging when the driving wheel and the driven wheel at one specific point are simultaneously in contact with the floor surface. Accordingly, the carrier vehicle may be provided with a single idler wheel that suppresses the floating of the remaining specific one driven wheel from the floor. 2. Each of the drive wheel, the driven wheel, and the idle wheel may be configured to rotate a plurality of wheels around the same axis, or may be configured to rotate a single wheel. 3. The three wheels of the driving wheel and the driven wheel are allowed to contact the floor surface at the same time, and the vehicle body swings while the driving wheel and one driven wheel are in contact with the floor surface at the same time. The free wheel that suppresses the floatation of the remaining driven wheel from the floor touches the floor surface when the vehicle body tries to swing, and keeps the floating wheel of the remaining one point from floating from the floor. It may be configured to suppress. 4. The elastic body according to claim 3 may be, for example, elastic rubber. 5. The guided portion is provided so as to project laterally outward from the vehicle body as shown in the above-described embodiment, and the center portion in the left-right direction of the vehicle body is provided.
It may be implemented by being provided within the lateral width of the vehicle body such as a position displaced laterally from the core wire . 6. As the guide body, instead of the guide rail shown in the above embodiment, a guide groove into which the guided portion is inserted may be formed on the floor surface along the transport route of the transport vehicle. The guide rail and the guide groove are collectively referred to as a guide body. 7. Providing a guide that guides along a straight travel route,
It may be a transport vehicle provided so as to reciprocate along the guide body.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1] Schematic plan view of automated warehouse

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the entire carrier vehicle.

[Figure 3] Rear view of the entire transport vehicle

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the drive wheel mounting portion.

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the driven wheel mounting portion.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the auxiliary wheel mounting portion.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a guided portion.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a mounting portion of a guided portion.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the load receiving device.

[Explanation of symbols]

8 guide 11 car body 12 drive wheels 13 driven wheel 14 idle wheels 30 Guided part 60 Regulation means G floor S elastic body

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B61B 13/00 B61B 13/06 B65G 47/52 101

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A guided portion which moves along a guide body is provided, and a non-steering drive wheel and a non-steering driven wheel are configured to run on the floor surface along the guide body. The drive wheel is configured to run on the floor surface along the guide body by three wheels including the drive wheel provided at one location and the driven wheel provided at two locations. And the driven wheel allow the three wheels to contact the floor surface at the same time, and the vehicle body swings in a state where the driving wheel and one driven wheel at the same time contact the floor surface. Accordingly, a free wheel is provided to prevent the remaining one driven wheel from floating above the floor surface, and the driven wheel is located at a position spaced in the front-rear direction.
And at two locations that are approximately the same in the direction of travel.
The drive wheel is in the traveling direction of the driven wheels provided at the two locations.
Between the driven wheels and the lateral width of the vehicle
Is provided at one position away from the driven wheel, and the guided portion is separated from the driven wheel by the lateral width of the vehicle body.
Positioned on the side of the vehicle body on the side away from each other in the direction, the idler wheel sandwiches the drive wheel from the front and rear in the traveling direction.
Carriers installed at two locations . 2. The idle wheel is elastic toward the floor surface side.
The device is provided so as to be movable up and down while being biased.
The transport vehicle described. 3. The upward movement range of the idler wheel is regulated.
The transport vehicle according to claim 2, further comprising: 4. The driven wheel and the idler wheel are caster wheels.
Any of claims 1 to 3 provided so as to have a function.
The transport vehicle according to item 1 .