JP2001341805A - Work guide for load transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simple-structure work guide facilitating the taking in and out of load. SOLUTION: Forks 17a and 17b are provided with rollers 31 and 32 in their fronts. The roller 31 is fitted to a support member 33 for supporting a prop 24 and the support member 33 is rotatably fitted to a shaft 35 fixed to a frame 37 of a stacker crane 11. When the fork 17a advances to take in/out the load, the roller 31 is urged and the support member 33 counterclockwise rotates about the shaft 35 so that a work guide 22 is inclined outward.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work guide for preventing a load transfer device used in an automatic warehouse system or the like from losing a load.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is an automatic warehouse system in which goods conveyed from a production line or the outside are moved by a conveyor or the like, and are automatically stored in shelves of a warehouse, and the goods stored in the shelves are automatically taken out. Has been put to practical use. In such an automatic warehouse system, a load is transferred to and from a predetermined shelf by a load transfer device that automatically travels on a rail installed in parallel with the shelf.

When a load is transferred by a load transfer device, a work guide is provided to regulate the inclination of the load so that the load does not collapse during traveling. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a work guide for preventing a load from being displaced, a fixed work guide and a work guide having an opening / closing structure for holding a load between work guides are known.

[0004]

However, the fixed work guide has a certain gap between the load and the work guide so that the load does not come into contact with the work guide when loading and unloading the load. There is a need. For this reason, problems such as inclination of the load during traveling of the load transfer device occur.

[0005] On the other hand, the structure in which the load is sandwiched between the work guides can securely hold the load with the work guide, so that no problem such as slippage occurs, but the mechanical structure for opening and closing the work guide. In addition, since a drive source such as a motor for opening and closing and a control device for controlling the motor are required, there is a problem that the cost is increased.

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide a work guide which allows easy loading and unloading of a load and prevents the load from being lost.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a moving part for moving a load in the direction of a storage part or a load stored in the storage part to the apparatus side, and moving outwardly in conjunction with the movement of the moving part. It consists of an inclined work guide.

According to the present invention, the luggage is held by the work guide so that the luggage does not fall down during traveling, and when the moving unit moves to store the luggage in the storage unit, or when the luggage stored in the storage unit is stored in the storage unit. When moving to the side, the work guide tilts outward in conjunction with the movement of the moving unit, so that the work guide does not hinder the loading and unloading of the load. Also, when traveling, the work guide returns to its original upright state,
Load collapse can be reliably prevented. As a result, acceleration and deceleration during traveling can be made faster than before, and the time required for loading and unloading luggage can be reduced.

Further, a support member rotatably supported by a shaft and to which a work guide is fixed, and a roller rotatably mounted on the support member and pressed by a moving unit are provided to move when loading and unloading a load. The roller may be pressed by the part, whereby the support member rotates about the axis, and the work guide may be inclined outward.

With this configuration, the work guide can be tilted in conjunction with the movement of the moving section with a simple structure.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The case where the present invention is applied to a stacker crane of an automatic warehouse system will be described below.
The automatic warehouse system is configured such that shelves having a plurality of storage sections for storing loads are arranged to face each other, and a stacker crane moves along a traveling path between the shelves to load and unload the loads.

FIG. 1 shows a stacker crane 1 according to an embodiment.
1 is an external view of FIG. The stacker crane 11 has masts 12 on both sides that support a carriage 13 that moves up and down while carrying a load. A lifting belt (not shown) for moving the carriage 13 up and down is housed on the side of the mast 12, and a weight 14 serving as a weight for raising the carriage 13 is housed inside the mast 12. ing. An elevating motor 15 for elevating the carriage 13 is installed on the left side of the mast 12 on the left side (as viewed from the front in FIG. 1), and the traveling motor 1 is mounted on the right side of the mast 12 on the right side.
6 are installed. On the upper surface of the carriage 13, a fork 1 which moves forward and backward to take out the load from the storage section of the shelf or store the transported load into the storage section.
7a and 17b are provided.

Work guides 22 are provided on the left and right sides of the forks 17a and 17b to prevent the load from being dislodged. The work guide 22 includes two columns 23 and 24 bent in a U-shape, three horizontal guides 25, 26 and 27 extending in the horizontal direction of the right column 23, and a left column 2.
4 horizontal guides 28, 29, 3 extending in the horizontal direction
0 (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

The work guide 22 includes a fork 17
a, 17b is tilted in conjunction with the forward and backward movements, when loading and unloading luggage from the shelf of the automatic warehouse,
The work guide 22 is tilted so as not to obstruct the loading and unloading of the load, and is in a vertical state during traveling so that the load can be prevented from being dislodged.

A rail 18 serving as a traveling guide is installed along the traveling path below the stacker crane 11 and runs on the rail 18 by wheels provided below the stacker crane 11. A toothed traveling belt 21 is installed along the rail 18, and the stacker crane 11 travels by winding the traveling belt 21 by the driving pulley of the traveling motor 16. The control of the elevating motor 15, the traveling motor 16 and the like is performed by a controller 20 having a built-in CPU and the like.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the work guide 22 viewed from the moving direction of the forks 17a and 17b, and FIG. 3 is a left side view thereof. FIG. 4A is a top view of the work guide and the roller as viewed from the direction A in FIG. 3, and FIG.
It is the right view. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the work guide 22 includes two support columns 2 bent in a U-shape.
3, 24, three horizontal guides 25, 26, 27 provided in the direction orthogonal to the support 23, and three horizontal guides 28, 29, 30 provided in the direction orthogonal to the support 24.

In the moving direction of the forks 17a and 17b,
Rollers 31, 32 are provided. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4A and 4B, the roller 31 is attached to a support member 33 that supports the column 24, and the support member 33 is a shaft 35 fixed to a frame 37 of the stacker crane 11.
It is attached so that it can rotate with respect to. Similarly, the roller 32 is attached to a support member 34 that supports the column 23, and the support member 34 is attached rotatably with respect to a shaft 36.

The forks 17a and 17b are arranged in the left-right direction relative to the traveling direction and in the front-rear direction when considering the loading / unloading direction so that the luggage on the shelves provided on the left and right of the traveling direction of the stacker crane 11 can be taken in and out. Two rollers similar to the rollers 31 and 32 are provided behind the forks 17a and 17b in FIG. 2, respectively.

The roller 38 in FIG. 4A is a roller behind the fork 17a in FIG. Fork 17a
31 and 38 pressed when the roller moves forward or backward
The support member 33 before and after the is attached is a mounting plate 33a.
Are connected at the bottom of the mounting plate 33a.
A plurality of coil springs 39 are provided. By the coil spring 39, an upward force acts on the support member 33. Although not shown, the rollers 31, 32,.
A plate is attached to the upper part of the rollers 31 and 32.
.. Are pushed upward by the coil spring 39 and hit the plate, and the work guide 20 is held in a substantially vertical state.

That is, when the forks 17a and 17b move forward (to the right in FIG. 4A), the rollers 31 and 32 are pressed, and the support members 33 and 34 rotate about the shafts 35 and 36. The columns 24 and 23 attached to the support members 33 and 34 are inclined outward.

Next, the work guide 2 having the above-described structure will be described.
The operation of 0 will be described. Now, a case will be described where the forks 17a and 17b are moved toward the front of FIG. 2 and the packages are stored on shelves in a state where a plurality of packages such as cardboard are placed on the forks 17a and 17b as shown in FIG.

When the fork 17a moves toward the front side in FIG. 2 to store the luggage on the shelf, the roller 31 is pressed downward by the fork 17a, and the support member 33 is moved to the shaft 35.
Rotate counterclockwise around. Since the support post 24 is fixed to the support member 33, the support post 33 is tilted outward (to the left in FIG. 2) by the counterclockwise rotation of the support member 33.

Similarly, when the right fork 17b moves to the near side, the roller 32 is pressed downward,
The support member 34 rotates clockwise about the axis 36. Since the support 23 is fixed to the support member 34, the support 23 is rotated clockwise, so that the support 23 tilts outward (to the right in FIG. 2).

Therefore, when the luggage is stored on the shelf, the work guide 22 is inclined outward, so that there is no problem that the luggage comes into contact with the work guide 22 when the luggage is stored on the shelf. When the storage of the luggage is completed, the forks 17a, 17
When b moves backward and returns to the stacker crane 11, the roller 31 is no longer pressed by the fork 17a, so that the support member 33 rotates clockwise about the shaft 35.
When the support member 33 rotates clockwise, the support 24 moves to the right in conjunction with the rotation of the support member 33 to be in a vertical state. Similarly, since the roller 32 is no longer pressed downward, the support member 34 rotates counterclockwise, and
3 moves leftward and becomes vertical. This allows
Since the support 23 and the horizontal guides 25 to 27 and the support 24 and the horizontal guides 28 to 30 approach the load, it is possible to prevent the load from being lost during traveling.

According to the above-described embodiment, when the forks 17a, 17b move forward or backward to store the luggage on the shelf or take out the luggage from the shelf, the rollers 31, 32. , 17b, and the supporting columns 23, 24 are tilted outward in conjunction therewith, so that the work guide 22 does not hinder the loading and unloading of the load. When the stacker crane 11 travels, the rollers 31, 32,...
As a result, the work guide 22 is kept upright, and it is possible to prevent the load from being lost. As a result, it is possible to prevent the loaded luggage from tilting during traveling,
The time required for loading and unloading can be reduced by increasing the speed acceleration / deceleration.

Further, since the structure for inclining the work guide 22 to the outside can be realized only with mechanical parts and can be realized with a simple structure, the parts cost can be reduced. In addition,
In the above-described embodiment, the support members 33.34
The work guides 22 are rotatably mounted on the shafts 5 and 36, and the support members 33 and 34 are rotated around the shafts 35 and 36 so that the work guide 22 is inclined outward. Any structure may be used as long as the work guide 22 moves. For example,
The work guide 22 may be tilted outward in conjunction with the fork by a link mechanism without using a roller. Alternatively, the structure may be such that the work guide 22 opens and closes left and right in conjunction with the forks 17a and 17b.

In the embodiment described above, the stacker crane 11 has two forks 17a and 17b,
The description has been given of the structure in which the forks 7a and 17b press different rollers, respectively, but one fork may simultaneously press two rollers.

The present invention is not limited to the load transfer device used in the automatic warehouse system, but can be applied to any load transfer device having a moving unit for moving a load.

[0029]

According to the present invention, when moving a luggage to the storage unit or a luggage stored in the storage unit to the apparatus side, the work guide is tilted outward in conjunction with the movement of the moving unit. Therefore, the work guide can be prevented from being dislodged by returning the work guide to its original state during traveling without running out of the luggage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a stacker crane.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a work guide.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a work guide.

FIG. 4 is a top view and a side view thereof as viewed from a direction A.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Stacker crane 17a, 17b Fork 22 Work guide 23, 24 Post 31, 32 Roller 33, 34 Support member

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Ei Takeuchi 2-1-1 Toyota-cho, Kariya-shi, Aichi F-term in Toyota Industries Corporation (reference) 3F022 EE08 FF01 JJ09 KK01 MM02 MM13 MM66 3F333 AA04 AB08 AE02 BA08 BB21 DA07 FG05

Claims (3)

[Claims] A moving part for moving the luggage in the direction of the storage part or the luggage stored in the storage part to the apparatus side; and a work guide inclined outward in conjunction with the movement of the moving part. A work guide for a load transfer device. A moving unit for moving the luggage in the direction of the storage unit or moving the luggage stored in the storage unit to the apparatus side; a work guide support rotatably configured to be rotated by being pressed by the moving unit; A work guide for a load transfer device, comprising: a member; and a work guide fixed to the work guide support member and inclined outward in conjunction with rotation of the work guide support member. 3. The work guide support member is rotatably supported on a shaft and has a work guide fixed thereto.
The roller is rotatably attached to the support member, and includes a roller pressed by the moving unit. When the roller is pressed by the moving unit, the support member rotates around the axis, The work guide of the load transfer device according to claim 2, wherein the work guide is configured to be inclined outward.