JP2000233807A - Automatic high rised warehouse - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic highrised warehouse enhancing storage efficiency of cargo by increasing the number of installations of storage shelves in the vertical direction. SOLUTION: This warehouse is comprised of a warehouse having storage shelves, comprising a pair of right and left shelf supports connectively provided in the vertical and lateral directions, and a stacker crane freely moving along front faces of each storage shelves and equipped with an elevating platform 3 freely moving in a vertical direction guided by struts. Height sensors 71 and 72 detecting height of a cargo main body of a cargo W loaded on the elevating platform 3 and stop position sensors 81a, 81b, 82a, and 82b detecting that an axial part of the cargo W loaded on the elevating platform 3 has come to a position slightly higher than the shelf support of the storage shelf wherein the cargo W is stored are provided, and the elevating platform 3 is stopped at a height, wherein the axial part is slightly higher than the shelf support when storing the cargo W. Therefore, vertical spacings of the storage shelves are reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a three-dimensional automatic warehouse. More specifically, the present invention relates to a three-dimensional automatic warehouse that uses a stacker crane that travels in front of a multi-stage storage shelf that stores luggage and loads and unloads luggage to and from a predetermined storage shelf.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of a stacker crane used in a three-dimensional automatic warehouse. The stacker crane has two columns 2 erected on a trolley 1, and the upper ends of the two columns 2 are connected to each other by a beam, and an elevator 3 moves up and down along the two columns 2, A slide fork 5 moves in and out of the elevator 3 toward the storage shelf. Then, the vehicle runs on the front surface of the storage shelf guided by the traveling rail R installed on the road surface and the guide rail r arranged on the ceiling surface. When storing luggage, the slide fork 5
When the luggage is placed on the shelf, the trolley 1 and the lift 3 are moved to the front of a predetermined shelf, the slide fork 5 is moved toward the shelf, and the lift 3 is lowered slightly, the luggage is placed on the shelf. When removing the luggage, slide the slide fork 5 under the luggage on the shelf side and raise the elevator 3 to scoop up the luggage. The slide fork 5 is pulled back and the elevator 3 and the carriage 1 are moved. It should be done.

FIG. 8 shows a storage shelf storing thin rolls, which is a typical example of “luggage” in this specification. In the roll of the thin plate, a protrusion (that is, a shaft portion S) concentric with the center of the body protrudes from both ends of the luggage body, and the diameter of the luggage body is larger than the protrusion (the shaft portion S). As described above, when handling a luggage having a shape in which the luggage body protrudes below the shaft portion S, there are the following problems. a is a column of the storage shelf, and b is a shelf receiver for receiving the shaft portion S of the load W. The upper part of FIG. 8 shows a state in which a large package W1 is stored on the shelf b and a small package W2 is stored on the left side thereof. The lower part of FIG. 8 shows the position where the slide fork 5 of the stacker crane is taken in and out when the luggage W1 and W2 are stored as described above. Conventionally, both the large load W1 having a large amount of downward protrusion from the shaft portion S and the small load W2 having a small amount of downward protrusion from the shaft portion S raise the elevator 3 to almost the same height as the shelf support b. Then, the slide fork 5 is inserted between the shelf supports b, b, and then the elevating table 3 is lowered so that the shaft portion S is placed on the shelf receiver b.

[0004] When such a loading / unloading operation is performed, the distance between the shelf support b and the shaft portion S is large, a large vertical distance d1 'is generated in a large load W1, and a minimum distance d1
Since a gap 3 'must be ensured, the distance between the upper and lower shelf supports 7, 7 must be D'. In this case, the space between the small upper and lower luggage W2, W2 is large,
It is quite dead space ds.

However, if the distance D between the upper and lower shelf supports 7, 7 is made as small as possible and the dead space ds is made as small as possible, more storage shelves can be provided in a warehouse having the same overall height. It goes without saying that luggage storage efficiency is improved.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a three-dimensional automatic warehouse in which the number of storage shelves installed in the vertical direction is increased as much as possible and the storage efficiency of luggage can be improved.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a three-dimensional automatic warehouse according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein projections concentric with the center of the main body protrude from both ends of the main body of the luggage, and the diameter of the main body of the luggage is equal to that of the protrusion A warehouse for storing luggage that is larger than a part, and a three-dimensional warehouse in which storage shelves composed of a pair of left and right shelf receivers are connected vertically and horizontally, and are free to travel along the front of each of the storage shelves. A stacker crane provided with an elevator that can be guided and raised and lowered, a height sensor that detects the height of the luggage body of the luggage loaded on the elevator, and a protrusion of the luggage loaded on the elevator Is provided with a stop position sensor for detecting that it has reached a position slightly higher than the shelf receiver of the storage shelf to store the package. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the three-dimensional automatic warehouse according to the first aspect, the height sensor is a plurality of photoelectric sensors, and a plurality of height sensors capable of detecting the heights of several types of luggage on a left portion and a right portion of the elevator. Are mounted at respective height positions. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the three-dimensional automatic warehouse according to the first aspect of the invention, the height sensor is a single photoelectric sensor, and the height sensor is mounted to be able to move up and down on a left portion and a right portion of the elevator. . According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the three-dimensional automatic warehouse according to the first aspect of the present invention, the stop position sensor includes the same number of detection pieces as the type of the height of the load and the same number of photoelectric sensors for detecting the detection pieces. However, it is characterized in that it is mounted on the column at intervals in the vertical direction in accordance with the heights of several types of luggage, and the photoelectric sensors are mounted on the lift platform at the same height. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the three-dimensional automatic warehouse according to the first aspect of the present invention, the stop position sensor includes a same number of detection pieces as the height of the package and the same number of photoelectric sensors for detecting the detection pieces. Sensors are attached to the column at intervals in the vertical direction according to the heights of several types of luggage, and the detection pieces are attached to the same height on the lift.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the height of the load is detected by the height sensor, and based on the height, the protrusion of the load is slightly higher than the shelf support of the storage shelf to store the load. When the stop position sensor detects that the vehicle has arrived at the position, the elevator is stopped at that position to carry out the loading and unloading.
In this way, even for high-load items, the vertical distance between the protrusion and the shelf receiver can be made small, so that the distance between the upper and lower shelf receivers is reduced, and many storage shelves are stored in the same warehouse. Since it can be provided, a large number of luggage can be accommodated. According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the photoelectric sensors disposed on the left and right of the lift platform detect the height of the package between them, the photoelectric sensors can be reliably detected without contacting the package and no failure occurs. Also, all types of luggage heights can be detected by the number of photoelectric sensors one less than the height of luggage.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, by moving one photoelectric sensor up and down, it is possible to detect the height of a large number of packages. According to the fourth and fifth aspects of the present invention, since each detection piece passes through the detection area of the corresponding photoelectric sensor, a detection signal is output from a different photoelectric sensor. The position where the platform is stopped can be determined. As a result, the spacing between the upper and lower shelves of the storage shelf can be reduced, and the efficiency of storing luggage can be improved.

[0009]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a main part of the stacker crane of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of the stacker crane,
FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part of the stacker crane, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a view taken in the direction of the arrow V in FIG. 4, FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the storage state of the storage shelves and the packages, and FIG.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 2 denotes a pair of right and left columns of a stacker crane, and reference numeral 3 denotes an elevator. The lift 3 is composed of a base frame 31 and side frames 32 rising from both ends thereof. A guide roller 33 that rolls in contact with both side surfaces of the column 2 and a guide roller 34 that rolls in contact with the inner side surface of the column 2 are rotatably mounted on the side frame 32. Further, although not shown, the lifting platform 3 is raised and lowered by a suitable lifting device including a winch, a rack fixed to the column 2, and a pinion on the lifting platform that meshes with the rack. The guide rollers 33 and 34 are supported by the support 2 of the lift 3.
To guide you up and down.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a shuttle frame, on the lower surface of which a slide guide 41 is mounted. On the other hand, elevator 3
A guide rail 42 is provided on the upper surface of the base frame 31.
Are fixed in the left-right direction, and the slide guide 41
Are slidably fitted. With this configuration, the slide frame 4 is movable on the elevating platform 3 in the left-right direction. The details of the left and right driving device for the shuttle frame 4 will be described later.

A slide fork 5 is mounted on the upper surface of the slide frame 4 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction.
The slide fork 5 may be the same as a known one, and it is only necessary that the slide fork 5 can be moved into and out of the storage shelf to send the luggage into the storage shelf or to pick up the luggage in the storage shelf by an arbitrary moving device.

Next, the left and right driving device 60 will be described with reference to FIGS. A motor 61 is mounted on a base frame 31 of the lift 3, and a pinion 6 is mounted on a main shaft thereof.
2 is fixed. On the other hand, a rack 63 is fixed to the lower surface of the shuttle frame 4, and the rack 63 is engaged with the pinion 62. Therefore, by rotating the motor 61 forward and backward, the shuttle frame 4
Can be moved to the right or to the left.

In FIG. 1, reference numerals 71 and 72 denote height sensors, 71 denotes a high load, and 72 denotes a low load. Each of them is constituted by a photoelectric sensor composed of light emitters 71a and 72a and light receivers 71b and 72b, and is attached to the lift 3 at the upper end of the right side frame 32 and the left side frame 32. The height sensors 71 and 72 can be used to distinguish between the two types of height of the luggage. In addition, if the height of the luggage is of two types, the height can be identified by one height sensor. If there are three or more types of luggage, the height of all types of luggage can be detected by the number of height sensors one less than the number of types.

Next, the stop position sensors 81 and 82 are shown in FIG.
This will be described based on FIGS. The heavy load stop position sensor 81
The detection piece 81a includes a detection piece 81a and a photoelectric sensor 81b.
Reference numeral 81b is attached to a mounting plate 87 fixed to the side frame 32 of the lift 3. Low load stop position sensor 82
Consists of a detection piece 82a and a photoelectric sensor 82b.
a is attached to the mounting plate 86 on the column 2 side, and the photoelectric sensor 82
b is mounted on the mounting plate 87 on the lifting platform 3 side.

The detection piece 81a and the detection piece 82a are vertically separated from each other, and the detection piece 81a is at the bottom and the detection piece 82a is at the top. That is, when the photoelectric sensor 81b detects the detection piece 81a, the detection piece 81a is attached to a position where the shaft 3 of the high load W1 is slightly higher than the shelf receiver b and the lift platform 3 stops. Also, when the photoelectric sensor 82b detects this, the detection piece 82a detects that the low-
The second shaft portion S2 is mounted at a position where the elevator 3 stops at a position slightly higher than the shelf receiver b.

Reference numeral 85 denotes a height sensor for positioning the height of the elevating platform 3 when picking up the packages W1 and W2. The height sensor 85 includes a detection piece 85a and a photoelectric sensor 85b. The detection piece 85a is mounted on a mounting plate 86 on the column 2 side, and the photoelectric sensor 85b is mounted on a mounting plate 87 on the lifting platform 3 side. .

When the luggage stored in the storage shelf is taken out, the slide fork 5 must be inserted further below the luggage W placed on the shelf receiver b. Must be lower than when storing luggage. For this reason, the detection piece 85a is
Installed in lower position.

The photoelectric sensors constituting the height sensors 81, 82, 83 may be of any type as long as they can detect the corresponding detecting piece, and various types of photoelectric sensors can be used.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a baggage detection sensor, which is attached to the upper four corners of the slide fork 5. The luggage detection sensor 9 may be any type of sensor as long as it can detect placement of luggage.

Next, the loading / unloading work of the stacker crane will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6A shows the storage shelf of the present invention, and FIG. 6B shows a part of the conventional storage shelf of FIG. When the load to be carried in is placed on the slide fork 5 of the lift 3 and the high load height sensor 71 is turned on, it is detected that the load is high, and the storage shelf to be stored is stored. The elevator 3 stops the elevator 3 when the high-load stop sensor 81 is turned on. In this case, as shown on the right side of FIG. 6A, the axis S of the load stops at a position slightly higher than the shelf receiver 7. Therefore, if the slide fork 5 is moved into the shelf and the lift 3 is slightly lowered, the luggage W can be stored in the shelf receiver b.

If the luggage to be stored is low, the height sensor 72 detects this, and the low load stop sensor 82
The stop position is determined on the lifting platform 3 with. In this case, the stop position of the lift 3 is also a position where the shaft portion S of the load W2 is slightly higher than the shelf support b as shown on the left side of FIG.

As described above, in the three-dimensional automatic warehouse according to the present embodiment, the clearance d1 between the shaft portions S of the packages W1 and W2 and the shelf receiver b at the time of loading is minimized regardless of the size of the packages. Even if the gap d3 between the luggage W1 and W2 is the same as the conventional example, the dimension D between the upper and lower
It can be made smaller than the vertical dimension D 'of the conventional example shown in FIG. Therefore, a large number of storage shelves can be provided in the vertical direction.

When unloading a load, the height sensor 8
When the lifting platform 3 is lowered to a low position where 5 is turned on, even the load W1 whose main body protrudes downward more than the shaft portion S can be skimmed on the slide fork 5. Further, when the luggage detecting sensor 9 detects that the luggage is loaded on the slide fork 5 in this manner, the lift 3 may be raised, and then the slide fork 5 may be retracted. Thereafter, the stacker crane may be run and transported to the station.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above embodiment, the height sensors 71 and 72 use photoelectric sensors. However, the height sensors 71 and 72 are not limited to this, and any sensor may be used as long as the height of the baggage can be detected. For example, various photoelectric sensors and limit switches may be used. Can be adopted. In the above-described embodiment, the detection pieces 81a, 82a, and 85a constituting the stop position sensors 81, 82, and 85 are arranged at intervals vertically, and the photoelectric sensors 81b, 82b, and 85b are arranged horizontally. Then, the detection pieces 81a, 82a, 85a may be arranged horizontally, and the photoelectric sensors 81b, 82b, 85b may be arranged at intervals above and below. In the above embodiments, the stop position sensors 81, 8
Although the photoelectric sensor is used for 2, 85, the invention is not limited to this, and any sensor may be used as long as it can detect the detection piece. For example, a limit switch or the like may be used.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the vertical distance between the projecting portion and the shelf receiver can be made small even in a high-height package, so that the distance between the upper and lower shelf receivers is reduced, and the same overall height is maintained. Since a large number of storage shelves can be provided in a warehouse, the number of storage shelves can be increased. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the load height can be reliably detected without contacting the load, and no failure occurs. Also, all types of luggage heights can be detected by the number of photoelectric sensors one less than the height of luggage. Claim 3
According to the invention of (1), by moving one photoelectric sensor up and down, it is possible to detect the height of a large number of loads. According to the fourth and fifth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the interval between the upper and lower shelves of the storage shelves by determining the position for stopping the elevator corresponding to the height of various loads, thereby storing the loads. Efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a main part of a stacker crane according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of the stacker crane.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part of the stacker crane.

FIG. 4 is a view taken in the direction of arrows IV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view taken along line V in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a storage shelf and a luggage storage state of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an example of a stacker crane to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a storage shelf of a conventional three-dimensional automatic warehouse.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Lifting Platform 9 Luggage Detection Sensor 71 Height Sensor 72 Height Sensor 81 Stop Position Sensor 82 Stop Position Sensor

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A warehouse for storing luggage, wherein projections concentric with the center of the luggage project from both ends of the luggage main body, wherein the luggage main body has a diameter larger than the protrusion, and comprises a pair of left and right shelf supports. A three-dimensional warehouse with storage shelves connected vertically and horizontally,
It is a stacker crane that can travel along the front of each of the storage shelves and has a lift that can be moved up and down by being guided by a support, and detects the height of the luggage body of luggage loaded on the lift. A height sensor, and a stop position sensor for detecting that the protrusion of the load loaded on the elevator has come to a position slightly higher than the shelf receiver of the storage shelf to store the load. 3D automatic warehouse. 2. The height sensor is a plurality of photoelectric sensors, and each of the plurality of photoelectric sensors is mounted on a left portion and a right portion of the lift platform at a plurality of height positions capable of detecting the heights of several types of luggage. The three-dimensional automatic warehouse according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The automatic three-dimensional warehouse according to claim 1, wherein the height sensor is a single photoelectric sensor, and is mounted on the left and right portions of the lift table so as to be able to move up and down. 4. The stop position sensor comprises the same number of detection pieces as the type of luggage and the same number of photoelectric sensors for detecting the detection pieces, and each detection piece has a height of several types of luggage on the support. 2. The automatic three-dimensional warehouse according to claim 1, wherein the photoelectric sensors are mounted at the same height on a lift table, and are mounted at intervals in the vertical direction in accordance with the following. 5. The stop position sensor is composed of the same number of detection pieces as the height of the load and the same number of photoelectric sensors for detecting the detection pieces. 2. The automatic three-dimensional warehouse according to claim 1, wherein the detection pieces are mounted at intervals in the vertical direction in accordance with the height, and each of the detection pieces is mounted at the same height on the lifting platform.