JPH0617763Y2 - Rotating goods storage - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotary article storage box in which a pallet on which articles are placed can be conveyed horizontally to be loaded and unloaded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an automated warehouse using pallets,
It is well known that a stacker crane is moved along a guide rail laid on the floor surface to move a pallet in and out of a lattice-shaped shelf. In addition, there is also one in which a large number of pallets are transferred by horizontal transfer means provided in a plurality of upper and lower stages, and these are moved up and down by vertical transfer means provided at a terminal to be loaded and unloaded.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned automatic warehouse using the stacker crane, a space for traveling the stacker crane is required, so that the efficiency of storing articles in the installation area is poor. Further, since the stacker crane moves to the take-out port and takes in and takes out the pallet, a considerable waiting time is required from the instruction to carry in / out the article to the arrival of the pallet on which the article is actually placed at the take-out port. In a case where a large number of pallets are conveyed side by side by the horizontal transfer means, the frontmost pallet is always pushed by the rear one, so that there is a problem that transfer to the vertical transfer means is not performed smoothly. .

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a plurality of pallets (2) on which articles can be placed are arranged in series in the conveying direction (front-rear direction) in the horizontal direction. A plurality of sets of horizontal conveying means (3) and (4) for conveying to each other are vertically arranged side by side, and vertical conveying means (7) before and after connecting the front ends and the rear ends of the horizontal conveying means (3) and (4). ) (8) is provided in the rotary article storage, (a) the front vertical transport means (7) has a delivery opening (9) at the lower front portion, and (b) the rear vertical transport means ( 8) has a storage port (10) at the lower part of the rear surface, and (c) the horizontal transfer means (3) and (4) are front and rear end portions of a pair of left and right inner link plates (17) and (17). An inner roller (20) is provided between the inner link plate (17) and the outer surface of the front and rear ends of each inner link plate (17). Rear ends and front ends of the outer link plates (18) and (8) are brought into contact with each other one by one, and the inner roller (20) and the pin (19) inserted through the inner and outer link plates (17) and (18) Connect the inner and outer link plates (17) and (18),
The ends of the pins (19) are alternately arranged in the front-back direction,
A large-diameter outer roller (21) for supporting the pallet (2) is pivotally mounted on the protruding portion of the outer link plate (18), and further, the inner link plate (17).
A roller chain (16) provided with a protruding piece (17a) projecting vertically and an inner link plate (17) (1) (1) fixed in the front-rear direction at an intermediate portion in the front-rear direction of (17).
7) A guide rail (12) having a width narrower than the space between them and a stopper (33) that can project upward at a key point are provided, and the inner roller (20) rolls on the guide rail (12). , The protrusion (17a) is provided with a guide rail (1
The roller chain (16) is superposed on both side surfaces of (2) to prevent lateral movement of the roller chain (16), and the outer roller (21) supports the pallet (2) on its upper surface. (D) The vertical transfer means (7) and (8) are aligned with the front ends of the horizontal transfer means (3) and (4) in the transfer direction, and can move vertically between them. (6), (e) The pallet (2) has a recess (2a) in the front and rear end faces.
(F) By raising the stopper (33) in a timely manner, the recess (of the pallet (2) next to the pallet (2) which is going to enter the vertical transfer means (7) (8) ( The second pallet (2) and the subsequent pallets (2) to be fitted into the 2a) are temporarily held on the horizontal conveying means (3) and (4).

[0005]

The pallets do not interfere with each other due to interference between the pallets at the entrance to the vertical conveying means.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
It will be described in detail based on. 2A to 4A show a rotary article storage, which is a rectangular parallelepiped frame body (1) which is long and thin in the front-rear direction, in which a large number of columns (1a) are connected by a plurality of horizontal connecting rods (1b). ), The storage units (B) are arranged side by side in three rows and vertically in two stages.

As shown in FIG. 5, the storage unit (B) has a pair of upper and lower horizontal transfer means (4) for supporting the pallet (2) on which the article (C) is placed so that it can be transferred in the front-rear direction. ) (3) and vertical transfer means (7) and (8) provided with elevating platforms (5) and (6), which are continuously provided at the front and rear ends of the transfer means (4) and (3), respectively. 2) is
As will be described later, when viewed from the side, it can be rotated forward and backward so as to draw a flat quadrilateral locus.

An exit door (9) is provided at the lower front part of the front vertical transfer means (7), and an entrance door (10) is provided at the lower rear part of the rear vertical transfer means (8). One side is opened and closed so that the article (C) can be transferred from the carrier (11) onto the pallet (2) and vice versa.

As shown in FIG. 6, the lower horizontal conveying means (3) is provided with a pair of left and right guide rails (1) facing the front-rear direction.
2) (12), a pair of drive sprockets (14) (14), which face the front ends of the guide rails (12) (12) and are driven by a motor (13), and the guide rails (12). The driven chain comprises a driven sprocket (15) (15) facing the rear end of (12), and a roller chain (16) shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is wound between the sprocket (14) (15) arranged in front and rear. It is equipped.

The upper horizontal transfer means (4) has the same structure, but the positions of the drive sprocket (14) and the driven sprocket (15) are reversed.

The roller chain (16) comprises a pair of left and right inner and outer link plates (17), (17),
(18) Connect the front and rear ends of (18) to the pin (1
9) alternately connected endlessly, and pin (19)
And a small diameter inner roller (20) located between the inner link plates (17) (17) is pivotally attached to the end of the pin (19) alternately from the outer link plate (18) on the opposite side. A large diameter outer roller (21) is pivotally attached to the protruding end.

Protruding pieces (17a) (17a) are provided on the upper and lower sides of the intermediate portion in the front-rear direction of the inner link plate (17), and these are superposed on both side surfaces of the guide rail (12) to thereby form a roller. The chain (16) is designed so that it will not come off during traveling.

As shown in FIG. 9, the roller chain (1
The pallet (2) is supported by the upper surfaces of the outer rollers (21) (21) of the upper running part of (6) and the roller chain (1
The pallet (2) is conveyed along with the traveling of (6).

As shown in FIG. 10, the pallet (2) is
It consists of a nearly square flat plate, and in the center of its front and rear end faces,
A rectangular recess (2a) is provided so that a stopper (33) described later can be engaged therewith. Also,
At one corner of the front and rear end surfaces of the pallet (2), a step portion (2b) that can come into contact with the detection switch (34) for detecting the position is formed.

On the front and rear end faces (2c) and (2d) of the pallet (2),
A plurality of mark sheets (22) made of silver paper or the like are attached at required intervals, and an optical reading head (2
By reading these positions and numbers in 3),
The number of the pallet (2) in the storage unit (B) is discriminated.

Next, the rear vertical transfer means (8) on the storage side will be described with reference to FIG.

Sprockets (25) are fixed to the front and rear ends of four horizontal shafts (24) in the front-rear direction provided on the upper and lower sides of the left and right sides, and the sprockets (22) (22) are opposed to each other vertically. An endless chain (26) is wound around.

The four corners of the lifting platform (6) are fixed to the intermediate portions of the four endless chains (26) located at the front, rear, left and right.

A gear (28) and a sprocket (30) are fixed to an output shaft (28a) of the motor (27) as a driving means, which faces the front-rear direction.

A gear shaft (2 which is parallel to the output shaft (28a)
8) The gear shaft (29a) that is parallel to
The gear (29) that meshes with the sprocket (30) is fixed. An endless chain (32) is wound around each sprocket (30) and a sprocket (31) fixed to the lower left and right horizontal shafts (24).

Therefore, by the forward or reverse rotation of the motor (27), the lifting platform (6) is located between the upper position aligned with the horizontal transfer means (4) and the lower position aligned with the horizontal transfer means (3). Move up and down.

Vertical transport means (7) on the front side, which is the exit side
Also, since it has the same structure as the rear vertical transport means (8), its description is omitted.

At the central portion in the width direction of the horizontal conveying means (3) and (4), stoppers (33) which can be independently raised and lowered individually are provided at regular intervals in an appropriate manner. The stopper (33) is adapted to engage with the recess (2a) of the pallet (2) by rising and to prevent the traveling thereof. A detection switch for detecting the position of the pallet (2) is provided on the side surface of the horizontal conveying means (3) (4).

An operation panel (35) is provided on each of the shipping side and the receiving side, so that the desired pallet number can be called.

Although not shown, a control device using a computer is provided at another location to operate the roller chains (16) in the horizontal conveying means (3) and (4).
And lifting platform (5) in the vertical transport means (7) (8)
The operation of (6) is controlled.

When the number of the pallet (2) on which the desired article (C) is placed is called by the operation panel (35) on the delivery side, the motors (13) (27) rotate and each pallet (2) For example, it is sequentially transferred from the lower horizontal transfer means (3) onto the loading / unloading platform (5) on the unloading side, then raised, and then transferred to the upper horizontal transfer means (4) (see FIG. 5). ).

When the number of the pallet (2) placed on the lifting platform (5) is read by the optical reading head (23) as desired, the transfer operation of the pallet (2) is stopped. Then, the article (C) can be unloaded by opening the shipping door (9).

As described above, the warehousing operation is performed by calling the pallet (2) having a required number or designating an empty pallet on the operation panel (35) on the warehousing side.
Lifting platform (6) that descends and faces the storage door (10)
Articles (C) can be stored on the upper pallet (2).

Whether to move each pallet (2) forward or backward is determined by the pallet having the designated number.
The computer detects the position of the warehousing entrance and exit, and the designated pallet is determined in such a direction as to arrive at the warehousing and exiting soon.

As shown in FIG. 5, for example, a space corresponding to one pallet (2) is provided at a position adjacent to the lifting platform (5) at the front end of the lower horizontal transport means (3), As a result, the transfer of the pallet (2) to the lifting platform (5), the lifting and lowering of the pallet (2) by the vertical transfer means (7), and the unloading of the pallet (2) from the vertical transfer means (7) are facilitated. Is to be done. The same applies to the front end of the upper horizontal transport means (4) in the transfer direction.

The operation of forming the above-mentioned void is based on the position detection of the pallet (2) by the detection switch (34).
It goes without saying that this is done by projecting the stopper (33).

FIG. 12 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the horizontal transfer means (37), (38) and (39) are vertically arranged in three stages, and the front and rear vertical transfer means (40). The pallet (41) on the lowest horizontal transfer means (37) can be transferred onto any of the other horizontal transfer means (38) (39). In this case, the pallet (4
The locus of 1) is rectangular as shown by (D) and (E).

FIG. 13 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, which is a combination of a locus (F) around a horizontal axis and a locus (G) around a vertical axis on a pallet (42). This is advantageous when it takes time to load and unload the article (H).

Although a flat plate is used as the pallet in each of the above-described embodiments, a box pallet, a basket pallet, or a pallet with casters may be used.

[0035]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION (a) Since the pallet is transferred so as to form a closed circuit that rotates about a horizontal axis, and the articles are taken out from or put in the entrance / exit portion adjacent to the closed circuit, an instruction to carry out the articles is given. Waiting time from
It can be greatly shortened.

(B) A passage for moving a stacker crane or the like is not required, and the installation area can be small.

(C) Since the inner roller having a small diameter of the roller chain in the horizontal conveying means is placed on the guide rail and rolls, the load resistance is large.

(D) Since the protrusions of the inside of the roller chain, which project downward in the link plate, are overlapped on both sides of the guide rail, the roller chain can travel stably without moving laterally. .

(E) Since the pallet is supported by the upper surfaces of a large number of rollers, the pallet can be operated lightly and smoothly.

(F) By providing recesses on the front and rear surfaces of the pallet, and the stoppers of these horizontal conveying means being raised and engaged, the pallet may enter the vertical conveying means at an improper time, or the pallet of the preceding position. I do not press
Smooth operation is performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a storage unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the same.

4 is a cross-sectional plan view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing an outline of a storage unit.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing only the lower horizontal transport means in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view showing the roller chain of FIG. 1 with a part thereof cut away.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the same.

9 is a vertical sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the pallet shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 12 is a schematic side view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

(A) Revolving article storage, (B) Storage unit (C) Article (1) Frame, (1a) Post (1b) Connecting rod, (2) Pallet (3) (4) Horizontal transport means, (5) ) (6) Lifting platform (7) (8) Vertical transport means, (9) Exit door (10) Entry door, (11) Transport vehicle (12) Guide rail, (13) Motor (14) Drive sprocket, (15) ) Driven sprocket (16) Roller chain, (17) Inner link plate (17a) Projection piece, (18) Outer link plate (19) Pin, (20) Inner roller (21) Outer roller, (22) Mark sheet (23) Optical read head, (24) horizontal axis (25) sprocket, (26) endless chain (27) motor, (28) (29) gear (39) (31) sprocket, (32) endless chain (33) stopper, (3 ) Detection switch (35) control panel, (37) (38) (39) horizontal conveying means (40) vertical transfer means

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A plurality of pallets (2) on which articles can be placed.
A plurality of horizontal conveying means (3) and (4) for arranging in series in the conveying direction (front-back direction) and conveying in the horizontal direction are arranged side by side, and the front ends of the horizontal conveying means (3) and (4) are adjacent to each other. In addition, in the rotary article storage provided with the front and rear vertical transfer means (7) and (8) for connecting the rear ends to each other, (a) the front vertical transfer means (7) has a delivery opening (9 (B) The vertical transfer means (8) at the rear part has an entrance (10) at the lower part of the rear surface, (c) The horizontal transfer means (3) and (4) are a pair of right and left pairs. An inner roller (20) is provided between the front and rear ends of the inner link plates (17) (17) of the inner link plates (17), and outer link plates (18) are respectively provided on the outer surfaces of the front and rear ends of the inner link plates (17). (8) The rear end and the front end of the inner roller (20) and the inner and outer links are brought into contact with each other sequentially. With rate (17) transmural interpolated pins (18) (19), connects the inner and outer side link plates (17) (18),
The ends of the pins (19) are alternately arranged in the front-back direction,
A large-diameter outer roller (21) for supporting the pallet (2) is pivotally mounted on the protruding portion of the outer link plate (18), and further, the inner link plate (17).
A roller chain (16) provided with a protruding piece (17a) projecting vertically and an inner link plate (17) (1) fixed in the front-rear direction at an intermediate portion in the front-rear direction of (17).
7) A guide rail (12) having a width narrower than the space between them and a stopper (33) that can project upward at a key point are provided, and the inner roller (20) rolls on the guide rail (12). , The protrusion (17a) is provided with a guide rail (1
The roller chain (16) is superposed on both side surfaces of (2) to prevent lateral movement of the roller chain (16), and the outer roller (21) supports the pallet (2) on its upper surface. (D) The vertical transfer means (7) and (8) are aligned with the front ends of the horizontal transfer means (3) and (4) in the transfer direction, and can move vertically between them. (6), (e) The pallet (2) has a recess (2a) in the front and rear end faces.
(F) By raising the stopper (33) in a timely manner, the recess (of the pallet (2) next to the pallet (2) which is going to enter the vertical transfer means (7) (8) ( This next-stage pallet (2) to be fitted into 2a) and the subsequent pallet (2) are temporarily held on the horizontal transfer means (3) and (4). Warehouse.