CN113928808A - Article transport vehicle - Google Patents

Article transport vehicle Download PDF

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Publication number
CN113928808A
CN113928808A CN202110423422.XA CN202110423422A CN113928808A CN 113928808 A CN113928808 A CN 113928808A CN 202110423422 A CN202110423422 A CN 202110423422A CN 113928808 A CN113928808 A CN 113928808A
Authority
CN
China
Prior art keywords
article
posture
regulating
type
surface facing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
CN202110423422.XA
Other languages
Chinese (zh)
Inventor
安部健史
浅日一弥
吉山智裕
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Daifuku Co Ltd
Original Assignee
Daifuku Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Daifuku Co Ltd filed Critical Daifuku Co Ltd
Publication of CN113928808A publication Critical patent/CN113928808A/en
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67703—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations between different workstations
    • H01L21/67733—Overhead conveying
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G35/00—Mechanical conveyors not otherwise provided for
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G1/00—Storing articles, individually or in orderly arrangement, in warehouses or magazines
    • B65G1/02—Storage devices
    • B65G1/04—Storage devices mechanical
    • B65G1/0457—Storage devices mechanical with suspended load carriers
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G43/00—Control devices, e.g. for safety, warning or fault-correcting
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67242—Apparatus for monitoring, sorting or marking
    • H01L21/67259—Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67242—Apparatus for monitoring, sorting or marking
    • H01L21/67294—Apparatus for monitoring, sorting or marking using identification means, e.g. labels on substrates or labels on containers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67703—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations between different workstations
    • H01L21/67724—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations between different workstations by means of a cart or a vehicule
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67703—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations between different workstations
    • H01L21/6773—Conveying cassettes, containers or carriers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67703—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations between different workstations
    • H01L21/67736—Loading to or unloading from a conveyor
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2201/00—Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
    • B65G2201/02—Articles
    • B65G2201/0297—Wafer cassette

Abstract

The invention provides an article transport vehicle. In an article transport vehicle capable of transporting a plurality of kinds of articles, dropping during transport is appropriately restricted with respect to each of those plurality of kinds of articles. The regulating body control unit changes the regulating body posture to a 1 st regulating posture in which the lower surface facing portion is disposed at a position overlapping with the 1 st article when viewed in the up-down direction of the up-down direction and the side surface facing portion is disposed at a position along the side surface of the 1 st article when viewed in the up-down direction, when the type of the accommodated article detected by the article detection unit is the 2 nd article, and changes the regulating body posture to a 2 nd regulating posture in which the lower surface facing portion is disposed at a position overlapping with the 2 nd article when viewed in the up-down direction and the side surface facing portion is disposed at a position along the side surface of the 2 nd article when viewed in the up-down direction and the side surface facing portion is disposed at a position overlapping with the 1 st article.

Description

Article transport vehicle
Technical Field
The present invention relates to an article transport vehicle that moves along a travel path and transports a plurality of types of articles.
Background
For example, japanese patent No. 5700255 (patent document 1) discloses a plurality of types of article transport vehicles corresponding to a plurality of types of articles. In the description of the background art, the reference numerals in parentheses are those of patent document 1.
Patent document 1 discloses, as article transport vehicles, a 1 st ceiling transport vehicle (B1) dedicated to transport of wafer storage containers (W) and a 2 nd ceiling transport vehicle (B2) dedicated to transport of reticle (reticule) storage containers (R). Since the wafer storage container (W) and the reticle storage container (R) are different in size and shape from each other, the technique disclosed in patent document 1 uses article transport vehicles of different types as described above.
Disclosure of Invention
Problems to be solved by the invention
Incidentally, since the conveying frequency may vary depending on the type of the article to be conveyed, the frequency of use of the article transport vehicle for conveying the article transport vehicle varies. Therefore, in order to achieve more efficient operation, it is desirable to be able to transport a plurality of types of articles by the same article transport vehicle. If this is achieved, the frequency of use of the plurality of article transport vehicles provided in the facility can be made uniform, and efficient operation can be achieved. However, in the conveyance of articles by the article transport vehicle, a measure for restricting the falling-off of the articles from the article transport vehicle is generally taken, but when it is desired to realize an article transport vehicle capable of conveying a plurality of types of articles having different sizes and shapes as described above, a measure for restricting the falling-off corresponding to each of the plurality of types of articles is required.
In view of the above circumstances, it is desirable to realize a technique that can appropriately restrict dropping during conveyance for each of a plurality of types of articles in an article conveyance vehicle that can convey the plurality of types of articles.
Means for solving the problems
An article transport vehicle that transports a plurality of types of articles while moving along a travel path, comprising: a storage unit for storing the article; a transfer mechanism for transferring the article between the storage portion and a transfer target portion located below the storage portion; a drop-out restriction portion for restricting the article stored in the storage portion from dropping out of the storage portion; and an article detection unit that detects a type of an article stored in the storage unit as the article stored in the storage unit; the transfer mechanism includes a holding portion for holding the article and a lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the holding portion between the accommodating portion and the transfer target portion; the articles include at least a 1 st article and a 2 nd article having a smaller outer shape in plan view than the 1 st article; the drop-out regulating unit includes a regulating body whose posture is changed to a regulating posture for regulating the drop-out of the accommodated article and a separating posture for separating from the accommodated article than the regulating posture, and a regulating body control unit for controlling the posture change of the regulating body; the regulating body includes a lower surface facing portion that faces a lower surface of the accommodated article in the regulating posture and a side surface facing portion that faces a side surface of the accommodated article in the regulating posture; the regulating body control unit changes the regulating body posture to a 1 st regulating posture when the type of the accommodated article detected by the article detection unit is the 1 st article, the 1 st regulating posture being the regulating posture in which the lower surface facing section is disposed at a position overlapping with the 1 st article when viewed in the vertical direction and the side surface facing section is disposed at a position along the side surface of the 1 st article when viewed in the vertical direction; when the type of the accommodated article detected by the article detection unit is the 2 nd article, changing the posture of the regulating body to a 2 nd regulating posture, the 2 nd regulating posture being the regulating posture in which the lower surface facing portion is disposed at a position overlapping the 2 nd article when viewed in the up-down direction, and the side surface facing portion is disposed at a position along a side surface of the 2 nd article and overlapping the 1 st article when viewed in the up-down direction; when the lifting mechanism is lifted and lowered while the holding portion holds the article, the posture of the regulating body is changed to the separated posture in which the regulating body is arranged at a position not overlapping with the movement locus of the article held by the holding portion.
According to this configuration, the limiter body control unit can change the limiter body posture to the 1 st limiter posture, the 2 nd limiter posture and the separated posture. In the state where the regulating body is in the 1 st regulating posture, the lower surface facing portion is disposed at a position overlapping the 1 st article when viewed in the vertical direction, and the side surface facing portion is disposed at a position along the side surface of the 1 st article when viewed in the vertical direction, so that the dropping-off of the 1 st article can be suitably regulated by the lower surface facing portion and the side surface facing portion. Further, in the state where the regulating body is in the 2 nd regulating posture, the lower surface facing portion is disposed at a position overlapping with the 2 nd type article when viewed in the up-down direction, and the side surface facing portion is disposed at a position along the side surface of the 2 nd type article and overlapping with the 1 st type article when viewed in the up-down direction, so that the falling-off of the 2 nd type article can be suitably regulated by the lower surface facing portion and the side surface facing portion. Here, in the 2 nd regulation posture, the side surface facing portion is disposed at a position closer to the side surface of the 2 nd article to the extent of overlapping with the 1 st article, so that the falling-off of the 2 nd article having an outer shape smaller than the 1 st article in a plan view can be more appropriately regulated. Therefore, according to the present configuration, it is possible to appropriately restrict dropping of an article during conveyance regardless of the type of the article. Further, in the state where the regulating body is in the separated posture, the regulating body is disposed at a position not overlapping with the lifting/lowering movement locus of the article of the 1 st article or the article of the 2 nd article held by the holding portion, so that the regulating body does not become an obstacle when the holding portion is lifted and lowered between the accommodating portion and the transfer target portion.
Further features and advantages of the technology according to the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following description of exemplary and non-limiting embodiments, which is described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a side view of an article transport apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a top view of the article transport apparatus.
Fig. 3 is a side view of the article transport vehicle.
Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of detecting the type of an article.
Fig. 5 is a table showing the relationship between the detection result obtained by the article detection unit and the type of article.
Fig. 6 is a control block diagram of the article transport apparatus.
Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the 1 st and 2 nd restricting postures of the restricting body.
Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of the restricting body.
Fig. 9 is a table showing a relationship between a detection result obtained by the article detection unit and the type of an article in another embodiment.
Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of the regulating member in another embodiment.
Detailed Description
Embodiments of an article transport vehicle will be described with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, an article transport vehicle according to the present embodiment will be described by exemplifying a case where the article transport vehicle is applied to an article transport facility that transports an article.
As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the article transport facility includes: an article transport vehicle V that transports an article 8; a rail Ra which is provided near the ceiling of the facility and constitutes a movement path R of the article transport vehicle V; and a transfer target portion 9 for transferring the article 8 to and from the article transport vehicle V.
The transfer target site 9 is provided with: a processing device 91 that performs processing on the article 8; and a support base 92 disposed adjacent to the processing device 91 and supporting the article 8. In the present embodiment, the article transport vehicle V transports the article 8 before being subjected to the processing by the processing device 91 from the transport source to the support base 92, and transports the article 8 after being subjected to the processing by the processing device 91 from the support base 92 to the transport destination. In the present embodiment, the article 8 is a container for storing a processing target object to be processed by the processing device 91, and the above-mentioned "processing of the article 8" refers to processing of the processing target object stored in the article 8. For example, the article 8 may be a wafer container (so-called FOUP: Front Opening Unified Pod) for storing wafers, or a reticle container (so-called reticle box) for storing reticles. When the article 8 is a FOUP, the object to be processed is a wafer. When the article 8 is a reticle cassette, the object to be processed is a reticle.
The structure of the article transport vehicle V will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 1 to 3. Hereinafter, the direction in which the article transport vehicle V transports the article 8 along the travel path R is referred to as "transport direction X". Further, a direction intersecting with the transport direction X when viewed in the vertical direction of the vertical direction is referred to as an "intersecting direction Y". In this example, the intersecting direction Y is a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction X when viewed in the vertical direction. The transport direction X may be referred to as the 1 st direction, and the cross direction Y may be referred to as the 2 nd direction. The 1 st direction and the 2 nd direction are directions intersecting each other when viewed in the up-down direction.
The article transport vehicle V transports a plurality of types of articles 8 while moving along the travel path R. The article transport vehicle V includes: a storage section 2 for storing an article 8; and a transfer mechanism 4 for transferring the article 8 between the storage portion 2 and a transfer target portion 9 located below the storage portion 2. In the present embodiment, the article transport vehicle V further includes a travel mechanism 1 and a cover 3 that covers the storage unit 2.
The travel mechanism 1 includes travel wheels 10 that roll on the rails Ra, and a travel motor M1 (see fig. 6) that drives the travel wheels 10. In the illustrated example, the article transport vehicle V includes a plurality of traveling wheels 10. The travel motor M1 drives at least 1 of the plurality of travel wheels 10 to provide a propulsive force for the article transport vehicle V to travel in the transport direction X.
The cover 3 is suspended and supported by the travel mechanism 1. The travel mechanism 1 is disposed on the upper side with respect to the rail Ra, and the cover 3 is disposed on the lower side with respect to the rail Ra. In the present embodiment, the cover 3 covers the upper side of the housing portion 2 and both sides in the conveying direction X. In this example, the cover 3 includes an upper cover portion 30 that covers the upper side of the housing portion 2, a 1 st cover portion 31 that covers one side of the housing portion 2 in the conveying direction X, and a 2 nd cover portion 32 that covers the other side of the housing portion 2 in the conveying direction X. The 1 st cover portion 31 and the 2 nd cover portion 32 are disposed so as to face a surface of the article 8 accommodated in the accommodating portion 2 in the conveying direction X. The cover 3 is not disposed on both sides of the housing portion 2 in the cross direction Y and is open.
The transfer mechanism 4 includes a holding unit 41 for holding the article 8 and a lifting mechanism 42 for lifting and lowering the holding unit 41 between the storage unit 2 and the transfer target portion 9. In the present embodiment, the transfer mechanism 4 further includes a slide mechanism 43 for moving the holding unit 41 in the intersecting direction Y, and a turning mechanism 44 for turning the holding unit 41 around the vertical axis.
The holding unit 41 includes a pair of gripping claws 411 and a gripping motor M41 (see fig. 6) for moving the pair of gripping claws 411 closer to and away from each other. The holding unit 41 is configured to switch between a gripping state in which the pair of gripping claws 411 grip the article 8 and a grip release state in which the gripping state is released by moving the pair of gripping claws 411 toward and away from each other by driving the gripping motor M41. In the present embodiment, the article 8 includes an article body portion 8b and a held portion 8g provided above the article body portion 8 b. The holding portion 41 is configured to hold the article 8 by holding the held portion 8g of the article 8, more specifically, by gripping the held portion 8g with the pair of gripping claws 411.
The slide mechanism 43 includes a slide body 431 that moves in the cross direction Y with respect to the housing portion 2, and a slide motor M43 (see fig. 6) that moves the slide body 431 in the cross direction Y. The slide mechanism 43 is configured to move the slide body 431 in the intersecting direction Y by driving of the slide motor M43, thereby moving the elevator mechanism 42, the holding portion 41, and the article 8 held by the holding portion 41 in the intersecting direction Y. For example, when the support base 92 of the transfer target site 9 is arranged at a position shifted in the intersecting direction Y with respect to the movement path R, the article 8 held by the holding portion 41 can be arranged at a position overlapping with the support base 92 when viewed in the vertical direction by moving the article 8 in the intersecting direction Y. This enables the article 8 to be appropriately transferred to the support base 92 by the lifting mechanism 42.
The turning mechanism 44 includes: a rotator 441 supported to be rotatable about the vertical axis with respect to the slider 431; and a rotation motor M44 (see fig. 6) for rotating the rotation body 441 around the vertical axis. The turning mechanism 44 is configured to turn the turning body 441 by driving of the turning motor M44, thereby turning the holding portion 41 and the article 8 held by the holding portion 41 in a direction around the vertical axis. By rotating the article 8 held by the holding portion 41, the article 8 can be oriented in an appropriate direction with respect to the transfer target site 9. For example, when the article 8 is a FOUP, an opening for taking in and out the object to be processed is provided on the front surface. In this case, the orientation of the article 8 is changed by the rotating mechanism 44 so that the opening faces the processing device 91. This enables the article 8 to be placed on the support base 92 in an appropriate orientation with respect to the processing device 91.
The lifting mechanism 42 includes: a pulley 421 supported by the rotation body 441; a belt 422 wound around the pulley 421 and having a distal end portion connected to the holding portion 41; and a lifting motor M42 (see fig. 6) for driving the belt 422 by rotating the pulley 421. The elevation mechanism 42 rotates the pulley 421 in the normal rotation direction by the driving of the elevation motor M42 to wind the belt 422, thereby raising the holding portion 41 and the article 8 held by the holding portion 41. The elevation mechanism 42 rotates the pulley 421 in the reverse direction by driving of the elevation motor M42 to pull out the belt 422, thereby lowering the holding portion 41 and the article 8 held by the holding portion 41. The article 8 held by the holding portion 41 is lifted by the lifting mechanism 42, and the article 8 can be transferred between the support base 92 (transfer target site 9) disposed below the storage portion 2.
As shown in fig. 3, the article transport vehicle V includes: a drop-out restriction section 5 for restricting an article 8 stored in the storage section 2 from dropping out of the storage section 2; and an article detection unit S that detects the type of the article 8 stored in the storage unit 2 as the article 8.
Here, as shown in fig. 4, the articles 8 include at least two types of articles 81 and 2 nd articles 82, and the 2 nd article 82 has a smaller outer shape in plan view than the 1 st article 81. As described above, the article 8 includes the article main body portion 8b and the held portion 8 g. In the present embodiment, the horizontal dimension of the article body portion 8b is the article width, the 1 st article 81 has the 1 st width W1, and the 2 nd article 82 has the 2 nd width W2 smaller than the 1 st width W1. In the present specification, the "article width" is defined by a dimension along the conveyance direction X of the article main body portion 8b in a state where the article 8 is accommodated in the accommodating portion 2 and is set to a conveyance posture at the time of conveyance by the travel mechanism 1. That is, the distance between the side surface 8s of the article body portion 8b facing one side in the conveying direction X and the side surface 8s facing the other side in the conveying direction X is defined as the article width. The "side surface 8s of the article body 8 b" corresponds to the side surface 8s of the article 8, and hereinafter, the side surface 8s of the article body 8b and the side surface 8s of the article 8 are synonymous and will be described. In the present embodiment, both the article main body portion 8b of the 1 st article 81 and the article main body portion 8b of the 2 nd article 82 are formed in a rectangular shape in plan view, more specifically, in a square shape. Therefore, in this example, the article 8 has a pair of side surfaces 8s facing opposite sides in the conveying direction X and a pair of side surfaces 8s facing opposite sides in the intersecting direction Y (see also fig. 8). The distance between the pair of side surfaces 8s facing the opposite side in the transport direction X is the same as the distance between the pair of side surfaces 8s facing the opposite side in the intersecting direction Y. Here, the orientation of the article 8 in the conveyance posture is changed according to the orientation of the processing device 91 of the conveyance source or the conveyance destination. Hereinafter, when it is necessary to distinguish the two pairs of side surfaces 8s from each other, the pair of side surfaces 8s facing the opposite side in the conveying direction X is referred to as a side surface 8s alone, and the pair of side surfaces 8s facing the opposite side in the intersecting direction Y is referred to as a front surface 8f and a back surface 8r, with reference to the orientation of the article 8 in the conveying posture. The shape of the article body 8b in plan view may be various shapes such as a polygonal shape, a circular shape, or an elliptical shape.
In the present embodiment, the dimension from the lower surface 8d of the article main body portion 8b to the held portion 8g is the article height, and the 1 st article 81 has the 1 st height H1, and the 2 nd article 82 has the 2 nd height H2 smaller than the 1 st height H1. In the present embodiment, the held portion 8g is a flange portion formed in a flange shape protruding upward from the upper surface of the article body portion 8 b. In the present specification, the "article height" is defined by the dimension in the vertical direction from the lower surface 8d of the article main body portion 8b to the upper end of the held portion 8 g. The "lower surface 8d of the article body 8 b" corresponds to the lower surface 8d of the article 8, and the description will be given below with the lower surface 8d of the article body 8b and the lower surface 8d of the article 8 being synonymous.
In the present embodiment, the article detection unit S includes: a side position detection sensor Sw for detecting the position of the side 8s of the accommodated article 8; and a lower surface position detection sensor Sh that detects the position of the lower surface 8d of the accommodated article 8; the type of the article 8 is detected based on the detection results obtained by both the side surface position detection sensor Sw and the lower surface position detection sensor Sh.
In the present embodiment, the side position detection sensor Sw detects the position of the side 8s of the accommodated article 8, thereby detecting the article width of the accommodated article 8. Specifically, the side position detection sensor Sw is attached to the cover 3 and disposed in the housing portion 2. In this example, the side position detection sensor Sw is attached to the 1 st cover part 31 or the 2 nd cover part 32 of the cover 3. The side position detection sensor Sw is configured as a distance sensor that detects the distance of the side 8s of the stored article 8 disposed in the storage unit 2. Here, the holding portion 41 is disposed in the storage portion 2, and the horizontal center position of the stored article 8 held by the holding portion 41 (the position indicated by the one-dot chain line passing through the held portion 8g in fig. 4) is known because it corresponds to the position of the holding portion 41. The side position detection sensor Sw detects the article width of the article 8 based on the distance from the side position detection sensor Sw to the side surface 8s of the article 8 and the center position of the article 8 in the horizontal direction. Then, based on the article width of the accommodated article 8 detected by the side position detection sensor Sw, it can be detected whether the accommodated article 8 is the 1 st article 81 having an article width of the 1 st width W1 or the 2 nd article 82 having an article width of the 2 nd width W2. The side position detection sensor Sw can also detect the article width of the accommodated article 8 other than the 1 st article 81 and the 2 nd article 82. For example, in this example, as shown in fig. 5, the side position detection sensor Sw can also detect the article width Wn of the nth article. As the distance sensor constituting the side position detection sensor Sw, for example, a known sensor such as a laser sensor, an optical sensor, or an ultrasonic sensor can be used.
In the present embodiment, the lower surface position detection sensor Sh detects the lower surface position of the accommodated article 8, thereby detecting the article height of the accommodated article 8. Specifically, the lower surface position detection sensor Sh is attached to the cover 3 and disposed in the housing portion 2. In this example, the lower surface position detection sensor Sh is attached to the 1 st cover part 31 or the 2 nd cover part 32 of the cover 3. The lower surface position detection sensor Sh is configured as an on-off (on-off) sensor that detects the presence or absence of a light-shielding object at a detection position based on the presence or absence of blocking of the optical axis. The lower surface position detection sensor Sh takes a position corresponding to a position in the vertical direction of the lower surface 8d of each of the stored articles 8 disposed in the storage unit 2 as a detection position, and detects the presence or absence of the stored article 8 at the detection position. The lower surface position detection sensor Sh projects the detection light in the horizontal direction so as to cross the entire horizontal direction of the accommodating unit 2 at each detection position in the vertical direction. Since the position in the vertical direction of the held portion 8g of the stored article 8 held by the holding portion 41 is known, the position in the vertical direction of the lower surface 8d of each of the stored articles 8 is also known. Therefore, the lower surface position detection sensor Sh can detect whether the accommodated article 8 is the 1 st article 81 having the article height of the 1 st height H1 or the 2 nd article 82 having the article height of the 2 nd height H2, based on the detection result of the presence or absence of the accommodated article 8 at the plurality of detection positions set in accordance with the position in the vertical direction of the lower surface 8d of each of the accommodated articles 8.
In the present embodiment, the lower surface position detection sensor Sh includes a plurality of sensors arranged in a direction along the height of the article (vertical direction). In the illustrated example, the lower surface position detection sensor Sh includes the 1 st sensor Sh1 and the 2 nd sensor Sh2 disposed below the 1 st sensor Sh 1. As described above, since the types of articles 8 that can be conveyed by the article transport vehicle V are set in advance, the 1 st sensor Sh1 and the 2 nd sensor Sh2 are disposed at positions where the article height corresponding to the type of article 8 can be detected in advance. More specifically, the 1 st sensor Sh1 is configured such that a position shielded from light by either the 1 st article 81 or the 2 nd article 82 is both the detection position, and the 2 nd sensor Sh2 is configured such that a position shielded from light by the 1 st article 81 but not the 2 nd article 82 is the detection position.
The lower surface position detection sensor Sh detects the article height of the accommodated article 8 based on the detection results of the 1 st sensor Sh1 and the 2 nd sensor Sh 2. For example, in this example, as shown in fig. 4 and 5, when the detection light projected from the 1 st sensor Sh1 is interrupted (detection result: on) and the detection light projected from the 2 nd sensor Sh2 is interrupted (detection result: on), the lower surface position detection sensor Sh detects that the article height of the housed article 8 is the 1 st height H1. In addition, when the detection light projected from the 1 st sensor Sh1 is interrupted (detection result: on) and the detection light projected from the 2 nd sensor Sh2 is not interrupted (detection result: off), the lower surface position detection sensor Sh detects that the article height of the accommodated article 8 is the 2 nd height H2. Thus, the lower surface position detection sensor Sh can detect the 1 st height H1, which is the article height of the 1 st article 81, and the 2 nd height H2, which is the article height of the 2 nd article 82. In the example shown in fig. 5, when both of the detection light projected from the 1 st sensor Sh1 and the detection light projected from the 2 nd sensor Sh2 are not blocked (detection result: off, lower surface position detection sensor Sh detects that the article height of accommodated article 8 is a height other than the 1 st height H1 and the 2 nd height H2 and smaller than the 2 nd height H2. in the example shown in the figure, when the detection results of the 1 st sensor Sh1 and the 2 nd sensor Sh2 are "off", it is detected that accommodated article 8 is the nth article which is article 8 other than the 1 st article 81 and the 2 nd article 82.
As shown in fig. 6 to 8, the fall-off restriction unit 5 includes: a regulating body 51 whose posture is changed to a regulating posture Ar for regulating the falling-off of the accommodated article 8 and a separating posture Ad for separating from the accommodated article 8 than the regulating posture Ar; and a regulating body control unit 52 for controlling the posture change of the regulating body 51. In the present embodiment, the fall-off stopper 5 further includes a stopper driving mechanism 53 (see fig. 8) for driving the stopper 51. The limiter body control unit 52 controls the limiter body drive mechanism 53 to control the posture change of the limiter body 51. In the present embodiment, the drop-off regulating portion 5 includes a pair of regulating bodies 51. The position of the pair of regulating bodies 51 is changed by the regulating body control unit 52 by moving the pair of regulating bodies closer to and away from each other.
As shown in fig. 3, the pair of stoppers 51 are provided on the cover 3 and are disposed apart from each other across the housing section 2. In this example, one of the pair of stoppers 51 is attached to the 1 st cover part 31 of the cover 3, and the other of the pair of stoppers 51 is attached to the 2 nd cover part 32 of the cover 3. In the present embodiment, the pair of stoppers 51 have the same structure. In the following description of the structure of the stoppers 51, it is assumed that the structure of each of the pair of stoppers 51 is described unless otherwise specified.
As shown in fig. 7 and 8, the stopper 51 includes: a lower surface facing portion 511 that faces the lower surface 8d of the housed article 8 in the restricting posture Ar; and a side surface facing portion 512 that faces the side surface 8s of the housed article 8 in the restricting posture Ar. In the present embodiment, the lower surface facing portion 511 is formed in a plate shape along the horizontal direction. The side surface facing portion 512 is formed integrally with the lower surface facing portion 511, and is formed to protrude upward from the upper surface of the lower surface facing portion 511. In this example, the side surface facing portion 512 is formed in a plate shape. The side surface facing portion 512 is disposed such that the plate surface thereof faces the side surface 8s of the accommodated article 8 in the restricting posture Ar of the restricting body 51. In the present embodiment, a plurality of side surface facing portions 512 are provided in the lower surface facing portion 511. The plurality of side surface facing portions 512 are arranged at the same position in the conveying direction X so as to be spaced apart from each other and arranged in the intersecting direction Y. Thus, even if the width of the article 8 in the intersecting direction Y differs depending on the type, at least 1 of the plurality of side surface facing portions 512 arranged in the intersecting direction Y can be disposed so as to face the side surface 8s in which the article 8 is accommodated.
As described above, the pair of side surfaces 8s facing the opposite sides in the intersecting direction Y are referred to as the front surface 8f and the back surface 8 r. As shown in fig. 8, in the present embodiment, the stopper 51 further includes: a front surface facing section 513 facing the front surface 8f of the accommodated article 8 in the restricting posture Ar; and a back surface facing section 514 that faces the back surface 8r of the housed article 8 in the restricted posture Ar. The front surface facing portion 513 and the back surface facing portion 514 are formed integrally with the lower surface facing portion 511, and are formed to protrude upward from the upper surface of the lower surface facing portion 511. In this example, the front surface facing portion 513 and the back surface facing portion 514 are formed in a plate shape. The front surface facing section 513 is disposed such that the plate surface thereof faces the front surface 8f of the accommodated article 8 in the restricting posture Ar of the restricting body 51. The rear surface facing portion 514 is disposed such that the plate surface thereof faces the rear surface 8r of the housed article 8 in the restricted posture Ar of the restricting body 51. In the present embodiment, a front-surface facing portion 513 is formed on one of the pair of stoppers 51, and a rear-surface facing portion 514 is formed on the other of the pair of stoppers 51. However, both the front-surface facing portion 513 and the back-surface facing portion 514 may be formed on each of the pair of stoppers 51. In fig. 7, the front surface facing portion 513 and the back surface facing portion 514 are omitted for convenience of explanation.
In the present embodiment, the drop-off regulator 5 includes a regulator drive mechanism 53 for driving the regulator 51. The stopper drive mechanism 53 drives the stopper 51 to change the posture of the stopper 51. In this example, the limiter body drive mechanism 53 is configured as a link mechanism including a plurality of links. Each of the plurality of links is configured to rotate about a rotation axis 53Ax along the upper and lower axial centers. In the present embodiment, the stopper drive mechanism 53 includes a pair of links 531 disposed apart from each other. Each of the pair of links 531 is provided with a rotation shaft coupled to the rotation shaft 53Ax and a coupling portion coupled to the limiter 51. At least 1 of the pair of links 531 is used as a drive link connected to the drive motor M53, and is driven and rotated by the drive motor M53. By the rotation of the link 531 as a drive link, a drive force is transmitted to the stopper 51 coupled thereto and the other link 531 coupled to the stopper 51. Thereby, the restricting body 51 swings along the horizontal plane. More specifically, the restricting body 51 swings in the direction of the arrow shown in fig. 8 so as to rotate around the rotation shaft 53 Ax. Thereby, the stopper 51 can move in both the conveying direction X and the intersecting direction Y.
In this way, in the present embodiment, the stopper 51 is configured to swing along a horizontal plane and move in both the transport direction X and the intersecting direction Y. In the present embodiment, the regulating body 51 moves in both the conveying direction X (1 st direction) and the intersecting direction Y (2 nd direction) by a movement amount that differs depending on the type of the article 8, and the posture is changed to the regulating posture Ar and the spaced posture Ad. By moving the regulating body 51 by the movement amount different depending on the type of the accommodated article 8 in the conveying direction X, the lower surface facing portion 511 can be disposed at an appropriate position with respect to the lower surface 8d of the accommodated article 8 and the side surface facing portion 512 can be disposed at an appropriate position with respect to the side surface 8s of the accommodated article 8 regardless of the type of the accommodated article 8. Further, by moving the regulating body 51 in the intersecting direction Y by a movement amount different depending on the type of article 8 to be stored, the front surface facing portion 513 can be disposed at an appropriate position with respect to the front surface 8f of the article 8 to be stored, and the back surface facing portion 514 can be disposed at an appropriate position with respect to the back surface 8r of the article 8 to be stored, regardless of the type of article 8 to be stored.
Next, a control structure of the article transport vehicle V will be described with reference to fig. 6.
In the present embodiment, the article transport facility includes an upper control device Ct for managing the entire facility, and the article transport vehicle V includes a lower control device Cv for controlling each part of the article transport vehicle V. The upper control device Ct and the lower control device Cv are configured to be able to communicate with each other. The upper control device Ct and the lower control device Cv include, for example, a processor such as a microcomputer, a peripheral circuit such as a memory, and the like. Each function is realized by cooperation of the hardware and a program executed on a processor such as a computer.
The upper control device Ct transmits a conveyance command for the article 8 to the lower control device Cv. In the present embodiment, the article transport vehicle V includes the instruction acquisition unit 6 that acquires a transport instruction of the article 8 from the upper control device Ct. The command acquisition unit 6 that has acquired the conveyance command from the upper control device Ct transmits the acquired conveyance command to the lower control device Cv, and the lower control device Cv controls the article transport vehicle V in accordance with the conveyance command to transport the article 8. The conveyance command acquired by the command acquiring unit 6 includes conveyance source information indicating a conveyance source and conveyance destination information indicating a conveyance destination of the article 8 related to the conveyance command. Further, in the present embodiment, the conveyance command includes article type information indicating the type of the article 8 to which the conveyance command relates. That is, in this example, the upper control device Ct designates a conveyance source and a conveyance destination, and transmits a conveyance command for conveying the 1 st article 81, the 2 nd article 82, or an article 8 other than these (for example, the nth article) to the lower control device Cv via the command acquisition unit 6.
The lower-level controller Cv that has received the conveyance command controls the traveling mechanism 1 and the transfer mechanism 4 to convey and transfer the article 8 corresponding to the conveyance command. In the present embodiment, the lower controller Cv controls a part or all of the travel motor M1, the gripping motor M41, the lifting motor M42, the sliding motor M43, and the turning motor M44 to transport and transfer the article 8 corresponding to the transport command.
The stopper control unit 52 is configured to acquire the detection result of the type of the article 8 obtained by the article detection unit S. In the present embodiment, the stopper control unit 52 is configured to acquire the detection result of the type of the article 8 by the article detection unit S via the lower level control device Cv. Specifically, as shown in fig. 6, the lower level controller Cv acquires the detection result of the type of the article 8 obtained by the article detection unit S. Then, the lower-level controller Cv transmits the detection result from the article detection unit S to the stopper control unit 52. Thus, the regulating body control unit 52 obtains the detection result of the type of the article 8 obtained by the article detection unit S.
The stopper control unit 52 controls the stopper drive mechanism 53 (drive motor M53) based on the detection result of the type of the article 8 obtained by the article detection unit S. Then, the limiter body control unit 52 controls the limiter body drive mechanism 53 to change the posture of the limiter body 51 to the 1 st limiting posture Ar1, the 2 nd limiting posture Ar2, or the separated posture Ad (see fig. 7 and 8).
As shown in the upper view of fig. 7, when the type of the accommodated article 8 detected by the article detection unit S is the 1 st article 81, the regulating body control unit 52 changes the posture of the regulating body 51 to the 1 st regulating posture Ar1, where the 1 st regulating posture Ar1 is the regulating posture Ar in which the lower surface facing portion 511 is disposed at a position overlapping the 1 st article 81 when viewed in the vertical direction and the side surface facing portion 512 is disposed at a position along the side surface 8S of the 1 st article 81 when viewed in the vertical direction. This allows the 1 st article 81 to be appropriately prevented from falling off by the lower surface facing portion 511 and the side surface facing portion 512. In the present embodiment, in the 1 st regulation posture Ar1, the front surface facing portion 513 is disposed at a position along the front surface 8f of the 1 st article 81 when viewed in the vertical direction, and the back surface facing portion 514 is disposed at a position along the back surface 8r of the 1 st article 81 when viewed in the vertical direction (see fig. 8). Accordingly, when the accommodated article 8 is the 1 st article 81, each part of the regulating body 51 can be disposed so as to face each surface of the 1 st article 81, and the detachment of the 1 st article 81 from the accommodating portion 2 can be more appropriately regulated.
As shown in the lower diagram of fig. 7, when the type of the accommodated article 8 detected by the article detection unit S is the 2 nd article 82, the regulating body control unit 52 changes the posture of the regulating body 51 to the 2 nd regulating posture Ar2, in which the 2 nd regulating posture Ar2 is the regulating posture Ar in which the lower surface facing portion 511 is disposed at a position overlapping the 2 nd article 82 when viewed in the vertical direction, and the side surface facing portion 512 is disposed at a position along the side surface 8S of the 2 nd article 82 when viewed in the vertical direction and overlapping the 1 st article 81. This allows the lower surface facing portion 511 and the side surface facing portion 512 to appropriately restrict the type 2 article 82 from falling off. In the 2 nd regulation posture Ar2, the side surface facing portion 512 is disposed at a position not overlapping with the 2 nd type article 82 but overlapping with the 1 st type article 81 when viewed in the vertical direction. Thus, the facing distance between the side surface facing portion 512 in the 2 nd regulation posture Ar2 and the side surface 8s of the 2 nd type article 82 can be made shorter than in the case where the side surface facing portion 512 is disposed at a position not overlapping with both of the 1 st type article 81 and the 2 nd type article 82 when viewed in the vertical direction. Therefore, the falling-off of the type 2 article 82 can be appropriately restricted by the side surface facing portion 512. In the present embodiment, in the 2 nd regulation posture Ar2, as in the case of the 1 st regulation posture Ar1 described above, the front surface facing section 513 is disposed at a position along the front surface 8f of the 2 nd type article 82 when viewed in the vertical direction, and the back surface facing section 514 is disposed at a position along the back surface 8r of the 2 nd type article 82 when viewed in the vertical direction (see fig. 8). Accordingly, when the accommodated article 8 is the 2 nd article 82, each part of the regulating body 51 can be disposed so as to face each surface of the 2 nd article 82, and the detachment of the 2 nd article 82 from the accommodating portion 2 can be more appropriately regulated.
As shown in fig. 1 and 8, when the lifting mechanism 42 lifts and lowers the regulating body control unit 52 while the holding unit 41 holds the article 8, the regulating body 51 is changed in posture to the separated posture Ad in which the regulating body 51 is disposed at a position not overlapping with the movement trajectory of the article 8 held by the holding unit 41. Thus, in the state where the regulating body 51 is in the spaced-apart posture Ad, the regulating body 51 is disposed at a position not overlapping with the lifting/lowering movement locus regardless of whether the article 8 held by the holding portion 41 is the 1 st article 81 or the 2 nd article 82, so that the regulating body 51 can be prevented from being obstructed when the holding portion 41 is lifted and lowered between the accommodating portion 2 and the transfer target site 9.
In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 6, the regulating body control unit 52 changes the posture of the regulating body 51 based on the article type information included in the conveyance command acquired by the command acquiring unit 6 and the detection result of the type of the article 8 obtained by the article detecting unit S. Thus, the stopper 51 can be operated based on two pieces of information acquired from different information sources with respect to the type of the article 8, and the stopper can be operated with high reliability according to the type of the article 8. In this example, the regulating body control unit 52 acquires the article type information included in the conveyance command from the command acquiring unit 6 via the lower level control device Cv.
Then, when the type of the article 8 indicated by the article type information matches the type of the article 8 detected by the article detection unit S, the regulating body control unit 52 changes the posture of the regulating body 51 so as to be the regulating posture Ar corresponding to the type. For example, when the type of the article 8 indicated by the article type information is the article 81 of the 1 st type and the type of the article 8 detected by the article detection unit S is also the article 81 of the 1 st type, the regulating body control unit 52 changes the posture of the regulating body 51 to the 1 st regulating posture Ar1 (see fig. 7 upper view). When the type of the article 8 indicated by the article type information is the 2 nd article 82 and the type of the article 8 detected by the article detection unit S is also the 2 nd article 82, the regulating body control unit 52 changes the posture of the regulating body 51 to the 2 nd regulating posture Ar2 (see fig. 7 lower panel).
Here, in the state of the 2 nd regulation posture Ar2, when the accommodated article 8 is the 1 st article 81, the regulation body 51 is disposed at a position overlapping the 1 st article 81. Therefore, if the regulating body 51 is erroneously set to the 2 nd regulating posture Ar2 when the type of the accommodated article 8 is the 1 st article 81, the regulating body 51 interferes with the accommodated article 8 (the 1 st article 81). However, the 1 st regulating posture Ar1 of the regulating body 51 corresponds to the 1 st article 81 having a larger outer shape than the 2 nd article 82. Therefore, in the state where the regulating body 51 is in the 1 st regulating posture Ar1, the regulating body 51 does not interfere with the accommodated article 8 regardless of which of the 1 st article 81 and the 2 nd article 82 the accommodated article 8 is.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the type of the article 8 indicated by the article type information does not match the type of the article 8 detected by the article detection unit S, the regulating body control unit 52 changes the posture of the regulating body 51 so as to be the 1 st regulating posture Ar 1. That is, in the present embodiment, the regulating body control unit 52 changes the posture of the regulating body 51 to the 1 st regulating posture Ar1 (see fig. 7) when the type of the article 8 indicated by the article type information is the 1 st article 81 but the type of the article 8 detected by the article detection unit S is the 2 nd article 82 and when the type of the article 8 detected by the article detection unit S is the 1 st article 81 although the type of the article 8 indicated by the article type information is the 2 nd article 82. Thus, regardless of which of the 1 st article 81 and the 2 nd article 82 the actual accommodated article 8 is, the interference of the regulating body 51 with the accommodated article 8 can be reliably prevented.
In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, the regulating body controller 52 arranges the regulating body 51 such that the distance in the vertical direction from the held portion 8g of the accommodated article 8 to the upper surface of the lower surface facing portion 511 (hereinafter referred to as the lower end distance Dd) is greater than the 1 st height H1 and the distance from the held portion 8g of the accommodated article 8 to the upper end of the side surface facing portion 512 (hereinafter referred to as the upper end distance Du) is smaller than the 2 nd height H2, regardless of the state of the 1 st regulating posture Ar1 and the 2 nd regulating posture Ar 2. That is, the lower end distance Dd is greater than the 1 st height H1 and the upper end distance Du is smaller than the 2 nd height H2 in any state of the 1 st and 2 nd restricting postures Ar1 and Ar2 of the restricting body 51. In other words, regardless of the state of the regulating body 51 in the 1 st regulating posture Ar1 or the 2 nd regulating posture Ar2, the upper surface of the lower surface facing portion 511 is disposed below the lower surface 8d of the accommodated article 8 (the 1 st article 81 and the 2 nd article 82), and the upper end of the side surface facing portion 512 is disposed above the lower surface 8d of the accommodated article 8 (the 1 st article 81 and the 2 nd article 82).
As described above, in the present embodiment, the stopper 51 is configured to move along the horizontal plane and not to move in the vertical direction. Therefore, the position of the upper surface of the lower surface facing portion 511 is set so as to be positioned below the lower surface 8d of the article 8 in the restricted posture Ar, in accordance with the article 8 (in the present example, the 1 st article 81) having the largest article height among the plurality of types of articles 8 conveyed by the article conveyor vehicle V. The position of the upper end of the side surface facing portion 512 is set so as to match the article 8 (in the present example, the article 82 of the 2 nd type) having the smallest article height among the plurality of types of articles 8 conveyed by the article conveyance vehicle V, and is disposed above the lower surface 8d of the article 8 in the restricted posture Ar. According to the above configuration, since it is not necessary to change the vertical position of the regulating body 51 in accordance with each of the 1 st article 81 and the 2 nd article 82 having different article heights, the configuration of the regulating body control unit 52 can be simplified. Further, the lower surface facing portion 511 and the side surface facing portion 512 can be disposed at appropriate positions for restricting the detachment of the 1 st article 81 or the 2 nd article 82 regardless of the state of the restricting body 51 in the 1 st restricting posture Ar1 or the 2 nd restricting posture Ar2 without changing the vertical position of the restricting body 51.
[ other embodiments ]
Next, another embodiment of the article transport vehicle will be described.
(1) In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the articles 8 include at least two types of the article 81 of the 1 st type and the article 82 of the 2 nd type is described. Therefore, the number of the articles 8 may be 3 or more. For example, as shown in fig. 9, 3 or more types of articles 8 having different article widths or article heights, which can be detected from a combination of the detection result obtained by the side surface position detection sensor Sw and the detection result obtained by the lower surface position detection sensor Sh, may be included. The columns in fig. 9 show, for example, 10 th article, 11 th article, and 12 th article … … having the same article width and different article heights. The horizontal row in fig. 9 shows, for example, 10 th articles and 20 th articles … … having the same article height and different article widths.
(2) In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the regulating body 51 is configured to swing along a horizontal plane and move in both the conveying direction X (1 st direction) and the intersecting direction Y (2 nd direction) has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the restricting body 51 may be configured to move only in the conveying direction X. Alternatively, the regulating body 51 may be configured to move in the vertical direction in addition to the transport direction X and the intersecting direction Y, as shown in fig. 10, for example. The direction in which the regulating body 51 is movable is determined by the configuration of the regulating body driving mechanism 53 that drives the regulating body 51.
(3) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the article detection unit S detects the type of the article 8 by the side surface position detection sensor Sw that detects the position of the side surface 8S of the accommodated article 8 and the lower surface position detection sensor Sh that detects the position of the lower surface 8d of the accommodated article 8. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the article detection unit S may include a weight detection sensor that detects the weight of the accommodated article 8, and may detect the type of the article 8 based on the weight of the accommodated article 8 detected by the weight detection sensor. In this case, the article transport vehicle V may include a storage unit that stores, as weight information, the weight of each of a plurality of types of articles 8 that can be transported, and the type of the stored article 8 may be determined based on the weight information stored in the storage unit and the weight of the stored article 8 detected by the weight detection sensor.
(4) In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the side position detection sensor Sw is configured as a distance sensor has been described. However, the side position detection sensor Sw is not limited to this example, and may be configured as an on/off sensor that detects the presence or absence of a light-shielding object at a detection position according to the presence or absence of blocking of the optical axis. In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the side position detection sensor Sw is attached to the 1 st cover part 31 or the 2 nd cover part 32 of the cover 3 has been described, but in the case where the side position detection sensor Sw is configured to include a plurality of on/off sensors as described above, the side position detection sensor Sw may be attached to the upper cover part 30 of the cover 3, for example. In this case, the plurality of on/off sensors may be arranged in a direction along the article width (conveying direction X) of the accommodated article 8, and may be configured to detect the position of the side surface 8s of the accommodated article 8.
(5) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the lower surface position detection sensor Sh is configured as an on/off sensor that detects the presence or absence of a light-shielding object at a detection position based on the presence or absence of blocking of the optical axis. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the lower surface position detection sensor Sh may be configured as a distance sensor. In this case, the lower surface position detection sensor Sh may be configured to project the detection light in a direction intersecting the lower surface 8d of the accommodated article 8. The lower surface position detection sensor Sh detects the distance from the lower surface position detection sensor Sh to the lower surface 8d of the stored article 8, and detects the article height of the stored article 8 based on the distance and the position in the vertical direction of the held portion 8g, which is known from the position of the holding portion 41.
(6) In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the side facing portion 512 and the lower surface facing portion 511 are integrally formed is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the side surface facing portion 512 and the lower surface facing portion 511 may be formed separately. In this case, the side surface facing portion 512 and the lower surface facing portion 511 may be driven by separate driving mechanisms.
(7) In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the side facing portion 512 is formed in a plate shape is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the side surface facing portion 512 may be formed in a polygonal columnar shape, a cylindrical shape, or a block shape.
(8) In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the stopper drive mechanism 53 is configured as a link mechanism including a plurality of links has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the limiter body drive mechanism 53 may be configured by a known mechanism other than the link mechanism. For example, the stopper drive mechanism 53 may be configured as a linear motion mechanism including a ball screw or the like.
(9) In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the detachment restricting portion 5 includes the pair of restricting bodies 51 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the detachment restricting portion 5 may include only 1 or 3 or more restricting bodies 51.
(10) In the above-described embodiment, the example has been described in which the distance in the vertical direction (lower end distance Dd) from the held portion 8g of the stored article 8 to the upper surface of the lower surface facing portion 511 is greater than the 1 st height H1 and the distance (upper end distance Du) from the held portion 8g of the stored article 8 to the upper end of the side surface facing portion 512 is smaller than the 2 nd height H2 regardless of the state in which the regulating body 51 is in either the 1 st regulating posture Ar1 or the 2 nd regulating posture Ar 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the stopper 51 may be configured to be movable in the vertical direction, and the lower end distance Dd and the upper end distance Du may be changed according to the type of the article 8. That is, in the case where accommodated article 8 is article 81 of type 1, upper end distance Du may be larger than height H2 as long as it is smaller than height H1 of type 1 in the state where regulating body 51 is in posture Ar1 of type 1 corresponding to article 81 of type 1. In the case where the accommodated article 8 is the 2 nd article 82, the lower end distance Dd may be smaller than the 1 st height H1 as long as it is larger than the 2 nd height H2 in the state where the regulating body 51 is in the 2 nd regulating posture Ar2 corresponding to the 2 nd article 82.
(11) In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the regulating body control unit 52 changes the posture of the regulating body 51 to the 1 st regulating posture Ar1 when the type of the article 8 indicated by the article type information does not match the type of the article 8 detected by the article detection unit S has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the stopper control unit 52 may stop the operation of the stopper 51 and report an error when the type of the article 8 indicated by the article type information does not match the type of the article 8 detected by the article detection unit S, for example.
(12) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the regulating body control unit 52 changes the posture of the regulating body 51 based on the article type information included in the conveyance command acquired by the command acquisition unit 6 and the detection result of the type of the article 8 obtained by the article detection unit S. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the regulating body control unit 52 may change the posture of the regulating body 51 based on only the detection result of the type of the article 8 by the article detection unit S, without considering the article type information included in the conveyance command acquired by the command acquisition unit 6. Alternatively, the regulating body control unit 52 may change the posture of the regulating body 51 based only on the article type information included in the conveyance command acquired by the command acquisition unit 6, without considering the detection result of the type of the article 8 by the article detection unit S.
(13) The structure disclosed in the above embodiment can be combined with the structure disclosed in another embodiment as long as no contradiction occurs. In the embodiments disclosed in the present specification, other configurations are merely illustrative in all respects. Thus, various changes can be made as appropriate within a scope not departing from the gist of the present disclosure.
[ brief summary of the embodiments ] described above
Hereinafter, the article transport vehicle described above will be described.
An article transport vehicle that transports a plurality of types of articles while moving along a travel path, comprising: a storage unit for storing the article; a transfer mechanism for transferring the article between the storage portion and a transfer target portion located below the storage portion; a drop-out restriction portion for restricting the article stored in the storage portion from dropping out of the storage portion; and an article detection unit that detects a type of an article stored in the storage unit as the article stored in the storage unit; the transfer mechanism includes a holding portion for holding the article and a lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the holding portion between the accommodating portion and the transfer target portion; the articles include at least a 1 st article and a 2 nd article having a smaller outer shape in plan view than the 1 st article; the drop-out regulating unit includes a regulating body whose posture is changed to a regulating posture for regulating the drop-out of the accommodated article and a separating posture for separating from the accommodated article than the regulating posture, and a regulating body control unit for controlling the posture change of the regulating body; the regulating body includes a lower surface facing portion that faces a lower surface of the accommodated article in the regulating posture and a side surface facing portion that faces a side surface of the accommodated article in the regulating posture; the regulating body control unit changes the regulating body posture to a 1 st regulating posture when the type of the accommodated article detected by the article detection unit is the 1 st article, the 1 st regulating posture being the regulating posture in which the lower surface facing section is disposed at a position overlapping with the 1 st article when viewed in the vertical direction and the side surface facing section is disposed at a position along the side surface of the 1 st article when viewed in the vertical direction; when the type of the accommodated article detected by the article detection unit is the 2 nd article, changing the posture of the regulating body to a 2 nd regulating posture, the 2 nd regulating posture being the regulating posture in which the lower surface facing portion is disposed at a position overlapping the 2 nd article when viewed in the up-down direction, and the side surface facing portion is disposed at a position along a side surface of the 2 nd article and overlapping the 1 st article when viewed in the up-down direction; when the lifting mechanism is lifted and lowered while the holding portion holds the article, the posture of the regulating body is changed to the separated posture in which the regulating body is arranged at a position not overlapping with the movement locus of the article held by the holding portion.
According to this configuration, the limiter body control unit can change the limiter body posture to the 1 st limiter posture, the 2 nd limiter posture and the separated posture. In the state where the regulating body is in the 1 st regulating posture, the lower surface facing portion is disposed at a position overlapping the 1 st article when viewed in the vertical direction, and the side surface facing portion is disposed at a position along the side surface of the 1 st article when viewed in the vertical direction, so that the dropping-off of the 1 st article can be suitably regulated by the lower surface facing portion and the side surface facing portion. Further, in the state where the regulating body is in the 2 nd regulating posture, the lower surface facing portion is disposed at a position overlapping with the 2 nd type article when viewed in the up-down direction, and the side surface facing portion is disposed at a position along the side surface of the 2 nd type article and overlapping with the 1 st type article when viewed in the up-down direction, so that the falling-off of the 2 nd type article can be suitably regulated by the lower surface facing portion and the side surface facing portion. Here, in the 2 nd regulation posture, the side surface facing portion is disposed at a position closer to the side surface of the 2 nd article to the extent of overlapping with the 1 st article, so that the falling-off of the 2 nd article having an outer shape smaller than the 1 st article in a plan view can be more appropriately regulated. Therefore, according to the present configuration, it is possible to appropriately restrict dropping of an article during conveyance regardless of the type of the article. Further, in the state where the regulating body is in the separated posture, the regulating body is disposed at a position not overlapping with the lifting/lowering movement locus of the article of the 1 st article or the article of the 2 nd article held by the holding portion, so that the regulating body does not become an obstacle when the holding portion is lifted and lowered between the accommodating portion and the transfer target portion.
Here, it is preferable that the fall-off restricting portion includes a pair of the restricting bodies; the stopper control section changes the posture of the pair of stoppers by moving the pair of stoppers closer to and away from each other.
According to this configuration, when the article is placed in the restricting posture, the article can be held between the pair of restricting bodies. Therefore, the falling of the article can be more appropriately restricted. Further, the moving range of each of the pair of regulating bodies can be reduced, and the time required for changing the posture of the pair of regulating bodies can be shortened.
Further, it is preferable that the article includes an article main body portion and a held portion provided above the article main body portion and held by the holding portion; setting the dimension from the lower surface of the article main body part to the held part as an article height, wherein the 1 st article has a 1 st height, and the 2 nd article has a 2 nd height smaller than the 1 st height; the regulating body control unit arranges the regulating body such that the distance in the vertical direction from the held unit to the upper surface of the lower surface facing portion is larger than the 1 st height and the distance from the held unit to the upper end of the side surface facing portion is smaller than the 2 nd height, regardless of the state of the 1 st regulating posture or the 2 nd regulating posture.
According to this configuration, since it is not necessary to change the position of the regulating body in the vertical direction in accordance with each of the 1 st article and the 2 nd article having different article heights, the configuration of the regulating body control unit can be simplified. Further, the lower surface facing portion and the side surface facing portion can be disposed at appropriate positions for restricting the dropping-off of the 1 st article or the 2 nd article, regardless of the state of the restricting body in the 1 st restricting posture or the 2 nd restricting posture, without changing the vertical position of the restricting body.
Preferably, the article detection unit includes a side surface position detection sensor that detects a position of a side surface of the accommodated article and a lower surface position detection sensor that detects a position of a lower surface of the accommodated article; the type of the article is detected based on detection results obtained by both the side surface position detection sensor and the lower surface position detection sensor.
According to this configuration, the position of the side surface of the accommodated article is detected by the side surface position detection sensor, whereby the outer dimension of the accommodated article in a plan view can be indirectly detected. Further, the height of the accommodated article can be indirectly detected by detecting the position of the lower surface of the accommodated article by the lower surface position detecting sensor. Therefore, according to this configuration, the size or shape of the accommodated article can be determined, and thereby the type of article having a different size or shape can be determined.
Further, it is preferable that the article transport system further includes a command acquisition unit that acquires a transport command for the article from a higher-level control device; the transport instruction acquired by the instruction acquisition unit includes article type information indicating a type of the article to which the transport instruction relates; the regulating body control unit changes the regulating body posture to the regulating posture corresponding to the type of the article when the type of the article indicated by the article type information matches the type of the article detected by the article detection unit, and changes the regulating body posture to the 1 st regulating posture when the type of the article indicated by the article type information does not match the type of the article detected by the article detection unit.
According to this configuration, since the stopper is operated based on the two pieces of information acquired from the different information sources with respect to the type of the article, the stopper can be operated with high reliability according to the type of the article. Here, since the regulating body is disposed at a position overlapping the 1 st article in the 2 nd regulating posture, if the regulating body is erroneously set to the 2 nd regulating posture when the type of the accommodated article is the 1 st article, the regulating body interferes with the article. However, according to this configuration, when the type of the article indicated by the article type information acquired from the host control device does not match the type of the article detected by the article detection unit, the position of the regulating body is changed to the 1 st regulating position. Therefore, when the two pieces of information indicating the types of articles do not match, the restricting body can be prevented from interfering with the article regardless of which of the 1 st article and the 2 nd article the article accommodated in the accommodating portion is.
Industrial applicability
The technology according to the present disclosure can be applied to an article transport vehicle that transports a plurality of types of articles while moving along a travel path.
Description of the reference numerals
V: article transport vehicle
2: containing part
4: transfer mechanism
41: holding part
42: lifting mechanism
5: drop-out restriction part
51: limiting body
511: lower surface facing part
512: side surface facing part
52: control part of limiting body
6: command obtaining part
S: article detecting part
Sh: lower surface position detection sensor
Sw: side position detection sensor
8: article with a cover
8: accommodating articles
81: item 1
82: item No. 2
8 b: article body
8 d: lower surface
8 g: held part
8 s: side surface
9: transfer target part
Ad: out of position
Ar: posture restriction
Ar 1: no. 1 restraining posture
Ar 2: 2 nd restricted posture
Ct: host control device
And Dd: lower end distance
Du: distance of upper end
R: a path of movement.

Claims (5)

1. An article transport vehicle that transports a plurality of types of articles while moving along a travel path, comprising:
a storage unit for storing the article;
a transfer mechanism for transferring the article between the storage portion and a transfer target portion located below the storage portion;
a drop-out restriction portion for restricting the article stored in the storage portion from dropping out of the storage portion; and
an article detection unit that detects a type of an article stored in the storage unit as the article is stored in the storage unit;
it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,
the transfer mechanism includes a holding portion for holding the article and a lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the holding portion between the accommodating portion and the transfer target portion;
the articles include at least a 1 st article and a 2 nd article having a smaller outer shape in plan view than the 1 st article;
the drop-out regulating unit includes a regulating body whose posture is changed to a regulating posture for regulating the drop-out of the accommodated article and a separating posture for separating from the accommodated article than the regulating posture, and a regulating body control unit for controlling the posture change of the regulating body;
the regulating body includes a lower surface facing portion that faces a lower surface of the accommodated article in the regulating posture and a side surface facing portion that faces a side surface of the accommodated article in the regulating posture;
the control part of the limiting body
Changing the posture of the regulating body to a 1 st regulating posture when the type of the accommodated article detected by the article detecting section is the 1 st article, the 1 st regulating posture being the regulating posture in which the lower surface facing section is disposed at a position overlapping the 1 st article when viewed in the vertical direction and the side surface facing section is disposed at a position along the side surface of the 1 st article when viewed in the vertical direction;
when the type of the accommodated article detected by the article detection unit is the 2 nd article, changing the posture of the regulating body to a 2 nd regulating posture, the 2 nd regulating posture being the regulating posture in which the lower surface facing portion is disposed at a position overlapping the 2 nd article when viewed in the up-down direction, and the side surface facing portion is disposed at a position along a side surface of the 2 nd article and overlapping the 1 st article when viewed in the up-down direction;
when the lifting mechanism is lifted and lowered while the holding portion holds the article, the posture of the regulating body is changed to the separated posture in which the regulating body is arranged at a position not overlapping with the movement locus of the article held by the holding portion.
2. The article transport vehicle according to claim 1,
the drop-out restriction portion includes a pair of the restriction bodies;
the stopper control section changes the posture of the pair of stoppers by moving the pair of stoppers closer to and away from each other.
3. The article transport vehicle according to claim 1 or 2,
the article includes an article main body and a held portion provided above the article main body and held by the holding portion;
setting the dimension from the lower surface of the article main body part to the held part as an article height, wherein the 1 st article has a 1 st height, and the 2 nd article has a 2 nd height smaller than the 1 st height;
the regulating body control unit arranges the regulating body such that the distance in the vertical direction from the held unit to the upper surface of the lower surface facing portion is larger than the 1 st height and the distance from the held unit to the upper end of the side surface facing portion is smaller than the 2 nd height, regardless of the state of the 1 st regulating posture or the 2 nd regulating posture.
4. The article transport vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
the article detection unit includes a side surface position detection sensor that detects a position of a side surface of the accommodated article and a lower surface position detection sensor that detects a position of a lower surface of the accommodated article; the type of the article is detected based on detection results obtained by both the side surface position detection sensor and the lower surface position detection sensor.
5. The article transport vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
the article transport system is provided with a command acquisition unit for acquiring a transport command for the article from a higher-level control device;
the transport instruction acquired by the instruction acquisition unit includes article type information indicating a type of the article to which the transport instruction relates;
the regulating body control unit changes the regulating body posture to the regulating posture corresponding to the type of the article when the type of the article indicated by the article type information matches the type of the article detected by the article detection unit, and changes the regulating body posture to the 1 st regulating posture when the type of the article indicated by the article type information does not match the type of the article detected by the article detection unit.
CN202110423422.XA 2020-06-29 2021-04-20 Article transport vehicle Pending CN113928808A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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JP2020-112082 2020-06-29
JP2020112082A JP7318596B2 (en) 2020-06-29 2020-06-29 Goods carrier

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CN113928808A true CN113928808A (en) 2022-01-14

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JP (1) JP7318596B2 (en)
KR (1) KR20220001440A (en)
CN (1) CN113928808A (en)
TW (1) TW202200468A (en)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP4048409B2 (en) 2001-10-22 2008-02-20 株式会社ダイフク Transport equipment
JP5277828B2 (en) 2008-09-22 2013-08-28 東京エレクトロン株式会社 Wafer alignment system
JP5700255B2 (en) 2012-03-27 2015-04-15 株式会社ダイフク Goods storage equipment and goods transportation equipment
JP6171984B2 (en) 2014-03-07 2017-08-02 株式会社ダイフク Article support device
JP6287657B2 (en) 2014-07-16 2018-03-07 株式会社ダイフク Goods transport equipment

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