JP2003182809A - Article carrier facility - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article carrier facility capable of improving carrier efficiency. <P>SOLUTION: This article carrier device is furnished with a plurality of carrier carriages 3 to carry an article R between stations 6 arranged along a carrier route 4 by self-travelling by being guided by a pair of travelling rails 1 forming the carrier route 4, and a by-pass route 5 to by-pass at least the station 6A high in transfer-place frequency of the article out of the stations 6 is provided in the carrier route 4. In this constitution, it is possible to eliminate jamming of the carrier carriages 3 and to improve the carrier efficiency by providing the by-pass route 5 to by-pass the station 6A high in the transfer-place frequency of the article, that is, where there are many stopping chances of the carrier carriages 3 to perform transferring and placing of the article and the jamming of the carrier carriages 3 easily occurs in the carrier route 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plurality of carrier vehicles that are self-propelled and guided by a traveling route to convey articles, and transfer articles to and from the conveyor vehicles arranged along the traveling route. The present invention relates to an article transport facility having a plurality of article transfer positions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the above-mentioned conventional article transport facility, a pair of traveling rails are laid in a loop (annular) as a traveling route of a transportation vehicle, and a station is arranged as an article transfer position along the traveling rails. The carrier truck moves between stations in a fixed direction to convey articles.

In addition, a transfer cycle (a cycle of receiving an instruction to transfer an article, moving to a station of a transportation source, loading an article at the station of the transportation source, moving to a station of a transportation destination, and then unloading the article at a station of the transportation destination ), When it detects a carriage that is stopped on the traveling route in front of it, it outputs a drive-out command, and this carriage is in the waiting carriage (when the carriage cycle is being executed). If the vehicle is a non-transportation vehicle), the ejection operation is executed to secure the route, and the transportation vehicle that obstructs the execution of the transportation cycle is eliminated.

[0004]

However, in the article transport facility, a unloading command is output from a transport trolley that is executing a transport cycle to a transport trolley that blocks a forward path, but the transport trolley in front of When the cycle was being executed, there was no choice but to stop because it could not be ejected, and wait for the carriage to move. In this way, when the movement of the carrier truck is restricted and congestion occurs, the carrier efficiency is reduced.

Further, when the loop-shaped travel route is long, even a station that is close in terms of straight line distance must travel a long distance, and a long time is required to carry out the transport cycle, so that transport efficiency is improved. It is causing the decrease.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an article transportation facility capable of improving transportation efficiency.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is guided by a traveling path formed in an annular shape and is self-propelled in one direction. An article transporting facility comprising a plurality of transport vehicles for transporting articles, and a plurality of article transfer positions arranged along the traveling route for transferring articles with the transport vehicle, wherein the traveling route includes: Among the article transfer positions, at least a detour path that bypasses the article transfer position where the article transfer frequency is high is provided.

At the article transfer position where the articles are frequently transferred, there are many opportunities to stop the carrier truck that carries out the articles transfer.
Congestion is easy to occur. According to the above configuration,
Congestion of the transport vehicle is likely to occur, and a detour route that bypasses the article transfer position where the items are frequently transferred is provided.By doing so, the congestion of the transport vehicle can be eliminated and the transport efficiency can be improved. .

A second aspect of the present invention is the invention according to the first aspect, further comprising control means for controlling the conveyance of the article by the conveyance carriage, the control means for each conveyance carriage. It is characterized in that an instruction is given as to whether or not to bypass the bypass route according to the state of the transport vehicle in front of the lever transport vehicle.

According to the above construction, it is instructed to each transport vehicle whether or not to bypass the bypass route according to the state of the transport vehicle in front of this transport vehicle, so that the congestion of the transport vehicle is eliminated and the transport is performed. Efficiency is improved.

A third aspect of the invention is the invention according to the first aspect, further comprising a control means for controlling the conveyance of the article by the conveyance carriage, wherein the control means is the article transfer position. When a request to transfer an article is input, when this article transfer position is located downstream of the confluence point of the detour path, the article is conveyed closest to the diversion point of the detour path from among the empty carriages that do not carry the article. The dolly is selected as a carrying dolly for carrying the article from the article transfer position.

According to the above structure, when an article transfer request is input from the article transfer position, when this article transfer position is located downstream of the confluence point of the detour route, an empty transfer cart that does not transfer the article. The carriage that is closest to the diversion point of the detour route is selected from among the above as the carriage that transports the article from the article transfer position. Therefore, the moving distance of the carrier truck is shortened, the time during which the carrier cycle is executed is shortened, and the carrier efficiency is improved.

The invention as set forth in claim 4 is the invention as set forth in claim 3, wherein the diversion point of the detour route is:
The identifying means for identifying the shunting point is provided, and the carrier truck instructed to travel to the bypass route by the control means stops once it detects the identifying means, and waits for the permission signal from the control means to the bypass route. The vehicle is characterized by starting traveling to the detour route.

With the above configuration, the carrier vehicle instructed to travel to the detour route stops once it detects the identification means at the diversion point, waits for a permission signal from the control means to the detour route, and then waits for the detour route. Start running. Therefore, the risk of derailment or the like occurring at the branch point is prevented.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a travel route diagram of an article transport facility according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the essential parts of the article transport facility.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 is a pair of traveling rails installed on a floor 2, and 3 is a four-wheel carrier truck that is guided by the traveling rails 1 and is self-propelled to transport an article R. is there. It should be noted that the total number of carrier vehicles 3 is eight.

By the traveling rail 1, there is formed a conveying path (an example of traveling path) 4 formed in a loop (annular shape), and a bypass path (a detour path) 5 in which the entrance and the exit of the conveying path 4 are separately connected. A plurality of stations (an example of the article transfer position) 6 are arranged along the transport path 4. In addition, the bypass path 5 includes a station 6A having the highest transfer frequency of the article R among the plurality of stations 6 (an example of the article transfer position at which the article transfer frequency is high among the article transfer positions). It is provided to bypass. The station 6 is composed of, for example, a carry-in conveyor device that carries in the article R and transfers it to a carrier vehicle, a carry-out conveyor device that carries the article R in and out of the carrier vehicle 3, a carry-in / carry-out conveyor device of an automatic warehouse, and the like. The station 6A having the highest transfer frequency of the article R is a station used to carry the article R into the facility, for example. Hereinafter, among the above-mentioned transport paths 4,
A transport route that is always bypassed by the bypass route 5 and on which the transport vehicle 3 moves is called an absolute transport route 4A, and a transport route bypassed by the bypass route 5 is called a selected transport route 4B.

Further, the inlet 5A and the outlet 5B of the bypass path 5
, That is, the branching position and the merging position of the traveling rail 1, the switching mechanism 7 of the traveling rail 1 is arranged. By switching the switching mechanism 7, the transport carriage 3 can be moved from the transport route 4 to the bypass route 5, Further, it is possible to move from the bypass route 5 to the transport route 4.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the carrier vehicle 3 has a vehicle body 11 and an article R transfer / placement device (for example, a roller conveyor or a chain conveyor) 12 installed on the vehicle body 11. And two swivel driven wheel devices 13 mounted on the lower part of the vehicle body 11 for supporting the vehicle body 11 on one traveling rail 1 and the vehicle body 11 on the other traveling rail 1 and the traveling rail Two turning / sliding type drive wheel devices 14 are provided which can follow one curved shape and are movable (sliding freely) with respect to the turning type driven wheel device 13.

As shown in FIG. 5, the vehicle body 11 includes a right frame 21 which supports two turning type driven wheel devices 13 so as to be rotatable about the longitudinal axis, and two turning / sliding type driving wheel devices 14.
A left frame 22 that supports the right frame 21 and the left frame 22 such that the left frame 22 supports the right frame 21 and the left frame 22 so that the left frame 22 is rotatable about the axis of the vertical axis and is movable in the left-right direction (the direction toward and away from the swing-type driven wheel device 13). Front and rear frames 23 and 24, and these frames 2
Box 2 fixed on the frame formed by 1, 22, 23, 24
The article transfer / placement device 12 is installed in the box body 25.

Each of the swivel driven wheel devices 13 includes a swivel body 31 which can swivel around the vertical axis with respect to the right frame 21,
A bracket 32 which is connected to the lower surface side of the revolving structure 31 and has a pair of legs corresponding to the side surfaces of the traveling rail 1, an axle 33 provided at the center of each leg of the bracket 32, and the axle 33. Idler wheels 34 rotatably supported on the rails, and four idler guide rollers (guide rollers) provided on the lower, front, rear, left and right ends of both legs of the bracket 32 and contacting both side surfaces of the traveling rail 1. Device example) 35
The four guide rollers 35 rotate the revolving structure 31 around the longitudinal axis via the bracket 32 in response to the bending of the traveling rail 1, so that the idle wheel 34 is moved to the traveling rail 1. Positioned with respect to each other, the idle wheel 34 can travel on the traveling rail 1 without wheel removal.

Each turning / sliding type drive wheel device 14
Is a revolving structure 41 which is rotatable about the vertical axis with respect to the left frame 22 and is movable in the left-right direction, and the revolving structure 41.
A bracket 42 connected to the lower surface side of 41 and having a pair of legs corresponding to the side surface of the traveling rail 1, and the bracket 42.
Axle 43 provided in the center of both legs of
The drive wheels 44 supported by the axles 43, the motor 45 having the drive shafts connected to the rotary shafts of the drive wheels 44, and the lower, front, rear, left and right ends of the two legs of the bracket 42 are respectively provided to the traveling rail 1 Freely contacting both sides of the 4
And a guide roller (an example of a guide device) 46. The four guide rollers 46 correspond to the bending of the traveling rail 1 and, via the bracket 42, revolve around the vertical axis.
The drive wheel 44 travels on the traveling rail 1 without derailing because the swinging body 41 rotates left and right through the bracket 42 in correspondence with the width between the pair of traveling rails 1. Further, the drive wheels 44 are rotated by the drive of the motor 45, so that the transport carriage 3 can be guided by the traveling rails 1 to travel.

As described above, the two drive wheels 44 are configured to be freely swivelable and slidable (movable to and away from the freewheel wheels 34), and the two freewheel wheels 34 perform positioning so that a curve can be obtained. The transport vehicle 3 travels smoothly in the section without any trouble, and the main body 11 is prevented from swinging in the left-right direction. Furthermore, the load on the motor 45 of the drive wheel 44 is reduced, and the idle wheel 34 and the drive wheel 44 can be made simpler in structure than when the positioning is performed by the drive wheel 44.

Further, a current collecting rail 51 is laid on the outer side surface of one traveling rail 1 along the traveling direction along the traveling direction, and a current collector 52 is provided outside the bracket 32 of the one swivel driven wheel device 13. ing.

Further, a feeder line 54 is laid on the outer side surface of the other traveling rail 1 along the traveling direction along the traveling direction. The feeder line 54 is provided outside the bracket 42 of the turning / sliding type drive wheel device 14 so as to approach and approach the feeder line 54. Wireless modem 55 is installed.

Further, at the bottom of the box 25 of the vehicle body 11, the frame 2
A control box 57 and a power box 58 are fixed in a vacant space of the two motors 45 in a frame formed by 1, 22, 23 and 24.

Further, as a sensor, the articles transferred to the box 25
A transfer section detector 61 including a photoelectric switch for detecting the presence or absence of the article R on the placement device 12 and a fixed position of the article R, and a bumper switch 62 for detecting a rear impact are provided, and one motor 45 is provided.
An encoder 63 for detecting the number of rotations of the motor 45 is provided on the drive shaft of the.

Further, along the traveling rail 1 on the conveying path 4, an origin 64 made of a reflector (mirror or the like) indicating the starting point of the traveling position is installed, and this origin is provided on the bracket 32 of one of the swing type driven wheel devices 13. An origin detector 65 including a reflective photoelectric switch for detecting 64 is provided.

In front of the entrance (diversion position) 5A, which is the branch point of the bypass path 5, along the travel rail 1 on the transport path 4, from the reflector (mirror or the like) indicating the branch position of the travel rail 1. A branch point 66 is installed, and in front of the exit (merging position) 5B, which is the converging point of the bypass route 5,
Merging points 67 made of a reflector (such as a mirror) indicating the merging position of the traveling rail 1 are installed along the traveling rail 1 on the transport route 4 and the bypass route 5, respectively, and the bracket of one of the swivel driven wheel devices 13 is installed. A branching / merging detector 68 composed of a reflection type photoelectric switch for detecting the branching point 66 and the merging point 67 is provided at 32.

Further, an optical sensor transmitter 69 and a receiver 70 are provided as data transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving data between the front and rear transport carriages 3. For these optical sensor transmitters 69 and receivers 70, flat plates 59 that also serve as blocking members for blocking the downward leakage of light are provided below the box body 25 of the vehicle body 11 and at the front and rear central positions, respectively. The optical sensor transmitter 69 and the receiver 70 are flat and faced backward and forward, respectively.
It is mounted on 59. Further, the mounting positions of the optical sensor transmitter 69 and the receiver 70 are between the upper surface level and the lower surface level of the traveling rail 1.

FIG. 6 shows a control block of the equipment and the carriage 3. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 71 denotes a ground controller which is a ground control means for controlling the plurality of transport carriages 3 as a whole, and is scattered along the traveling rails 1 on which the transport carriages 3 travel, and the articles R are provided. Station 6 for transferring and the host computer (hereinafter,
Transfer information of the article R from the host computer (abbreviated as 74) (station 6 from which the article R is requested to be transported)
Number and the destination station 6 that conveys the article R
Data consisting of the number) and the terrestrial modem described later
A feedback signal for each transport vehicle 3 from 72, for example, transport receipt data of transport data (to be described later) and a signal of address data of the current position are input to make a determination, and the destination or transfer to which each transport vehicle 3 travels. It controls whether or not to perform (details will be described later).

Further, the ground controller 71 transmits the signal to and from the carrier vehicle 3 as a ground modem 72 corresponding to a transmitter / receiver and an antenna on the traveling rail 1 which is a route.
The feeder line 54 laid along the entire running direction of the
Have gone through. Further, the main body controller 73 of each carrier vehicle 3 transmits a signal to the ground controller 71 via the wireless modem 55 installed close to and facing the feeder line 54.

In the control box 57, the main body controller
73 is housed in the power box 58, which will be described later.
76, a changeover switch 77, and a power supply device (not shown) which is connected to the current collector 52 and supplies electric power to the device in the transport carriage 3. [Main Body Controller 73 of Transport Carriage 3] The main body controller 73 of the transport carriage 3 includes the above-mentioned sensors, that is, a transfer portion detector 61, a bumper switch 62, an encoder 63, an origin detector 65, a branch / merge detector 68. Optical sensor transmitter 69 and receiver
70 is connected, and based on the signal from each sensor and the transport data from the ground controller 71 input from the wireless modem 55, the inverter 76, the changeover switch
The traveling motor 45 or the changeover switch 77 is used to control the transfer motor 78 of the article transfer / placement device 12 via 77 to move the carrier vehicle 3 by itself and transfer the article R from the carrier vehicle 3. Is controlled (detailed procedure will be described later).

Further, the main controller 73 is preliminarily set with a number (carriage number) peculiar to the carrier truck, and further, the address A of each traveling section corresponding to the traveling distance from the origin 64 of the traveling rail 1 and each address A in advance. Of the traveling rail 1, that is, whether or not the traveling rail 1 is near a straight line portion or a curved portion and its entrance and exit, and whether the address A is an address of the bypass route 5 is set.

Further, the main body controller 73 has the following functions. "Recognition of traveling position" Main unit controller 73 is the origin detector
Encoder reset by detection of origin 64 by 65
The current traveling distance M (distance from the origin 64 of the traveling rail 1) is measured by counting the pulses output from 63, and the address A of the traveling section corresponding to this traveling distance M is measured.
Is recognized, and data (position data consisting of "truck number + address A of traveling section") with a unique bogie number attached to the address A of the traveling section of the recognized current position is formed, and this "current position data" is formed. Is transmitted to the ground controller 71 via the wireless modem 55, the feeder line 54 and the ground modem 72 to inform the address A of the current traveling section.
Also, the optical sensor transmitter 69 transmits the traveling distance M to the carriage 3 following the traveling distance M. The traveling distance M may be differentiated to obtain the traveling speed, and the traveling speed may be transmitted.

"Running Control" The running control is executed with the address A of the station 6 as the carrying source or the address A of the station 6 as the carrying destination of the carrying data described later as the target running position.

That is, the distance (target value) Z from the origin 64 obtained from the address A of the station 6 at the target position.
And start running. During traveling, the characteristic of the traveling rail currently traveling is determined by the address A of the current traveling section, that is, the straight portion of the traveling rail 1 or the curved portion and the vicinity of its entrance and exit are determined, and the straight portion of the traveling rail 1 is determined. When it is determined that the vehicle is traveling, the upper limit of traveling speed is set to a high speed, for example, 100 m / min, and the traveling rail 1
When it is determined that the vehicle is traveling around the curved portion of the vehicle and around the entrance and the exit thereof, the upper limit of the traveling speed is set to low speed 1, for example, 40
Set to m / min and run at the set running speed.

Then, the difference between the distance Z to the station 6, which is the target position, and the current traveling distance M is calculated, and when the difference becomes shorter than a certain distance g, that is, when the target stop position is approached, the traveling speed is reduced. When the upper limit value of is set to a low speed 2 which is slower than the low speed 1 before stop, for example, 20 m / min and the vehicle travels at a running speed of the low speed 2, and when the distance difference becomes shorter than a constant distance k (<g), The traveling is stopped immediately before the target stop position.

Further, the inter-vehicle distance J is calculated based on the current traveling distance P of the front carriage 3 received by the optical sensor receiver 70 and the current traveling distance M of the vehicle itself, and then the inter-vehicle distance J is predetermined. Is determined to be shorter than the minimum distance Jmin, and when the inter-vehicle distance J is shorter than a predetermined minimum distance Jmin, it is determined that the carriages 3 have approached each other, the traveling is temporarily stopped, and the ground controller 71 is given its own unique number. Send "exit data" including. When the front carriage 3 moves forward and the inter-vehicle distance J becomes longer than a predetermined minimum distance Jmin, the traveling is restarted.

"Interlock in Bypass Route 5" When it is determined that the bypass data passes through the bypass route 5 according to the transport data described later, the next interlock is performed.

That is, when the branching point 66 installed in front of the entrance (diversion position) 5A of the bypass path 5 is detected by the branching / merging detector 68, it temporarily stops (stops once), and the ground controller 71 sends its own signal. "Branch point arrival data" including a unique number is transmitted. When it receives “branch movement permission data” (described later) including its own unique number from the ground controller 71, it resumes traveling and enters the bypass route 5.

When the vehicle is traveling on the bypass route 5 and the junction / confluence detector 68 detects the junction point 67 installed in front of the exit (merging position) 5B of the bypass route 5, it temporarily stops (stops once). , "Confluence arrival data" including its own unique number is transmitted to the ground controller 71. And
When the "merging movement permission data" (to be described later) including its own unique number is received from the ground controller 71, the traveling is restarted and the vehicle travels to the address A of the transport route 4 at the target position. [Ground Controller 71] The ground controller 71 manages each carrier vehicle 3 by the carrier management list (memory) shown in FIG.

The "transport management" transport management list L contains data indicating whether or not "transport cycle is being executed" for each transport vehicle 3.
In order to change the position without loading the article R, data indicating whether or not it is "moving", current position address, and conveyance data (data regarding whether or not the bypass route 5 passes, the number of the station 6 of the conveyance source, and conveyance) Start time, the number of the transfer destination station 6 and the transfer end time), total transfer cycle execution time, movement data (formed from the transfer destination address, movement start time and movement end time), total It consists of travel time. The current position address is
The "current position data" transmitted from the main body controller 73 of each carrier 3 is sequentially updated by the address A of the traveling section.

The transportation of the article R and the movement of the transport vehicle 3 by the operations of the ground controller 71 and the main body controller 73 of the transport vehicle 3 will be described together with the operation of updating the transport management list L of the ground controller 71. The ground controller 71
It is assumed that the data transmission / reception between the main body controller 73 of each carriage 3 and each of the carriages 3 is performed via the ground modem 72, the feeder line 54 and the wireless modem 55. "Formation of Transport Data" First, the formation of the transport data by the ground controller 71 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The ground controller 71 is a host computer
When the transfer information (transfer data including the transfer source station 6 and the transfer destination station 6) of the article R is input from 74 (step -1), the transfer management list L is searched based on this transfer information. , A carrier vehicle 3 (an empty carrier vehicle 3) not in execution of the carrier cycle is selected (step-
2). Then, the transport management list L is searched to obtain the current position addresses of these selected transport vehicles 3 (step-3).

Subsequently, the transport management list L is searched to obtain the number of transport vehicles 3 on the selected transport path 4B (step-4), and it is determined whether this number is less than or equal to a predetermined number (step). -5). [Bypassing Passage of Bypass Route 5] When the number of transport vehicles 3 on the selected transport route 4B is equal to or smaller than a predetermined number, the bypass route 5 is set to not be used (passage is not permitted) (step-6). That is, when the number of transport carriages 3 existing on the selected transport path 4B is small, each transport carriage 3 is allowed to travel on the selected transport path 4B in consideration of the switching drive time of the switching mechanism 7. It is an example of setting whether or not to bypass the bypass route 5 for the transport vehicle 3 according to the state of the transport vehicle 3 in front of the transport vehicle 3. The predetermined number is set in consideration of the switching drive time and the like so that the transfer efficiency is improved.

At this time, the transport vehicle 3 whose current position address of the selected transport vehicle 3 is closest to the address A of the station 6 of the transport source is obtained (step-7), and the unique number of the obtained transport vehicle 3A and the bypass route are obtained. 5 no pass data,
Transport data including the address A of the transfer source station 6 of the transfer information and the address A of the transfer destination station 6 is formed (step-8). [Passing permission of bypass route 5] In the above-mentioned step-5, when the number of transport vehicles 3 on the selected transport route 4B is larger than a predetermined number, it is possible to bypass the bypass route 5 (pass permission). (Step-9).
At this time, the carrier 3 is selected based on the position (address position) of the station 6 that is the carrier of the movement information.

First, the transfer information transfer station 6
, It is determined whether the station 6 is along the absolute transport route 4A (step-10). When the transport source station 6 is on the absolute transport route 4A, whether the transport vehicle 3 exists on the absolute transport route 4A among these transport vehicles 3 according to the current position address of the transport vehicle 3 that is subsequently selected. Check (Step-11).

When there is a carrier 3 on the absolute carrier path 4A that is not in the carrying cycle, the address A of the station 6 whose current position address is the most from the carrier carriages 3 on the absolute carrier path 4A. The carrier vehicle 3 close to is calculated (step-12). Then, the obtained transportation vehicle 3 is regarded as the transportation vehicle 3 permitted to pass through the bypass path 5, and while the transportation vehicle 3 moves from the determined current position address of the transportation vehicle 3A to the address A of the station 6 of the transportation source. Whether to pass the address A of the bypass route 5 or whether to pass the address A of the bypass route 5 while moving from the address A of the source station 6 to the address A of the destination station 6, It is determined whether the truck 3 passes the bypass route 5 (step -13).

When it is determined that the bypass path 5 is passed,
The unique number of the carrier 3A obtained and the bypass route 5
Conveyance data consisting of data with passage, address A of the transfer source station 6 of transfer information, and address A of the transfer destination station 6 are formed (step -14).

When it is determined in step -13 that the carrier vehicle 3 does not pass through the bypass route 5, the process jumps to step -8, and the unique number of the transport vehicle 3A obtained, the bypass route 5 non-passage data, and the transfer information are transported. Original station 6
Address A and address A of the destination station 6
Form transport data.

When the station 6 of the transport source is not on the absolute transport route 4A in step -10, or when the transport vehicle 3 which is not executing the transport cycle is not on the absolute transport route 4A in step -11, step- 7 and finds the carriage 3 whose current position address is closest to the address A of the station 6 of the carriage origin, and determines the unique number of the carriage 3A thus obtained, the bypass passage 5 non-passage data, and the carrier of the transfer information. Address A of station 6
Then, transport data including the address A of the transport destination station 6 is formed.

By forming the above-mentioned transport data, first, according to the number of transport vehicles 3 existing on the selected transport path 4B, that is, according to the state of the transport vehicles 3 in front of each transport vehicle 3, the transport vehicles 3 are located. It is determined whether or not the bypass route 5 is bypassed, the number of transport vehicles 3 existing on the selected transport route 4B is large, and it is determined that passing the bypass route 5 is useful for improving transport efficiency (passing permission is determined. Then, the station 6 of the transfer source continues to the absolute transfer path 4
Transport cart 3 that is on A or is not in the transport cycle
Is present on the absolute transport route 4A, and when these conditions are satisfied, the transport vehicle 3 passing through the bypass route 5 is found, and whether the transport vehicle 3 passes through the bypass route 5 based on the actual movement information. It is determined, and when determined, the transport data with the passage through the bypass route 5 is formed. At other times, the transport carriage 3 whose current position address is closest to the address A of the transport source station 6 is obtained, and transport data without passing through the bypass route 5 is formed.

By the formation of the transport data, it is determined that the passage is permitted, and when the transport source station 6 is located in the downstream region (absolute transport route 4A) from the exit (merging position) 5B of the bypass route 5, the transport cycle is performed. Carrier that does not execute (empty carrier that does not carry the article R)
5A of the inlet (diversion position) of the bypass route 5 out of 3
Is selected as the transport vehicle 3 for transporting the article R from the transport source station 6. "Normal Operation" (Conveyance of Article R by Conveyance Data without Passing Bypass Path 5) First, a normal operation of conveying the article R without passing through the bypass path 5 will be described with reference to the explanatory diagram of FIG.

The ground controller 71 transmits the transport data formed by the above procedure, that is, the unique number of the transport carriage 3A, the data without passing through the bypass route 5, the address A of the transport source station 6, and the address of the transport destination station 6. The transport data consisting of A is transmitted to the transport carriage 3.

When the main body controller 73 of each carrier 3 receives the carrier data from the ground controller 71, the main controller 73 of the carrier 3 uses the unique number of the carrier 3 included in the carrier data.
Determine if it is the transport data for its own transport vehicle 3,
The transport vehicle 3A, which has determined that it is the transport data of itself, transmits the transport receipt data including its own unique number to the ground controller 71 and cannot bypass the bypass route 5 by the bypass route 5 non-passage data included in the transport data. If not, the traveling control is started toward the station 6 of the transportation source included in the transportation data.

When the ground controller 71 receives the transport receipt data from the transport vehicle 3 thus obtained, it switches the transport vehicle 3 to "being transported" in the transport management list L and stores the transport data at that time. The time is stored as the transport start time.

Then, the main body controller 73 of the carriage 3
When arriving at the carrier station 6, the carrier source arrival data including its own unique number and the address A of the carrier station 6 is transmitted to the ground controller 71.

Upon receiving the arrival data of the transport source, the ground controller 71 sends a carry-out permission signal of the article R to the station 6 of the transport source to carry out the article R from the station 6 of the transport source.

Subsequently, the main body controller 73 of the carrier vehicle 3
Drives the transfer motor 78 to drive the transfer / placement device 12 to start transfer of the article R, and the transfer section detector 61 causes the article R to move.
Is detected, the transfer motor 78 is stopped to end the transfer,
Then, the traveling control is performed toward the destination station 6. And when it arrives at the destination station 6,
Own unique number and address A of destination station 6
The delivery destination arrival data including is transmitted to the ground controller 71.

When the ground controller 71 inputs the arrival data of the delivery destination, it sends a signal of loading the article R to the station 6 of the delivery destination, and the loading means (conveyor or the like) is driven in the station 6 of the delivery destination. When receiving the carry-in permission signal of the article R to the main body controller 73 of the carrier 3, the carry-out permission signal including its own unique number is output.

When the main body controller 73 of the carrier 3 transmits this carry-out permission signal from the ground controller 71,
When the transfer motor 78 is reversely driven to start the unloading of the article R by the transfer / placement apparatus 12, and when the transfer section detector 61 cannot detect the article R, the transfer motor 78 is stopped and the unloading of the article R is performed. When completed, the transport end data including its own unique number is transmitted to the ground controller 71.

When the ground controller 71 receives the transport end data, it switches the transport carriage 3 to "not transporting" (empty) in the transport management list L,
The time at that time is stored as the transport end time, the time required for the transport cycle is obtained from the stored transport start time and transport end time, and the total transport cycle execution time is updated by adding it to the total transport cycle execution time.

By the above normal operation, the host computer 74
The article R is moved from the transport source station 6 to the transport destination station 6 on the basis of the transfer information of the article R from, and the transport management list L is updated based on the transport of the transport vehicle 3. Further, at this time, the article R can be efficiently conveyed in the shortest time by selecting the conveyance carriage 3 near the station 6 as the conveyance source and conveying the article R. “Expulsion Operation” (Movement of Transport Vehicle by Expulsion Data) FIG. 10 shows the ejection operation when the above-mentioned “expulsion data” is received from the transportation vehicle 3 in the ground controller 71.
This will be described with reference to the explanatory diagram of FIG.

When the ground controller 71 inputs the eviction data from the main body controller 73 of the trolley 3A during the carrying cycle, it identifies the trolley 3A that has transmitted the eviction information by the unique number of the trolley 3A included in the eviction data. , The transportation management list L is searched to obtain the current position address of this transportation vehicle 3A. Next, the transport vehicle 3B having the closest current position address in front of the current location address is obtained (that is, the transport vehicle 3B that is the ejection target is obtained).

The ground controller 71 searches the transport management list L to check whether the obtained front transport vehicle 3B is "in the transport cycle", and when it is "in the transport cycle", the process ends. "The transfer cycle is not running"
At this time, the address A of the transfer destination station 6 of the transfer vehicle 3A that has sent the eviction data is obtained by searching the transfer management list L, and then the address of this transfer destination station 6 is set as the transfer destination of the front transfer vehicle 3B. A position address A ahead of A is set, movement data composed of the unique number of the front carriage 3B and the position address A of the movement destination is formed, and this movement data is transmitted.

Upon receiving the movement data from the ground controller 71, the main body controller 73 of each of the carriages 3 uses the unique number of the carriage 3 included in the movement data to
The transport vehicle 3B, which determines whether or not the transport data is for the transport vehicle 3 of its own, determines that the transport data is its own, and transmits transport receipt data including its own unique number to the ground controller 71, and the transport receipt data is included in the transport data. The traveling control is started toward the destination position address A.

When the ground controller 71 receives the movement receipt data from the front carriage 3, the ground carriage 71 switches the carriage 3B to "moving" in the carriage management list L and stores the movement data at the time. Is stored as the movement start time.

Then, the main body controller 73 of the carriage 3B
When arriving at the destination location address A, transmits the arrival data including its own unique number to the ground controller 71. When the arrival data is input, the ground controller 71 switches the transport vehicle 3B to "not moving" in the transport management list L, stores the time at that time as the travel end time, and stores the stored travel start time and travel time. The time required for movement is calculated from the end time, and added to the total movement time to update the total movement time.

The carrier 3 that has sent the eviction information
When the carriage 3B moves forward and the inter-vehicle distance J becomes longer than a predetermined minimum distance Jmin, A restarts traveling. By the eviction operation, when the ground controller 71 receives the eviction data from the carrier vehicle 3, that is, when there is a request to evict the carrier vehicle 3 ahead of the carrier vehicle 3A that is executing the carrier cycle, On the condition that the transport vehicle 3B is not executing the transport cycle, the transport vehicle 3A is moved to a location beyond the transport destination station 6 of the transport vehicle 3A, and the transport management list L is updated on the basis of the displacement. In this way, it is possible to eliminate the transport carriage 3 that becomes an obstacle when the transport cycle is executed. "Bypass running operation" Article R passing through bypass route 5
The bypass traveling operation for carrying the above-mentioned conveyance will be described with reference to the explanatory view of FIG.

The ground controller 71 transmits the transport data formed by the above procedure with the passage through the bypass route 5, that is, the unique number of the transport vehicle 3A, the data with the passage through the bypass route 5, the address A of the station 6 as the transport source, and the transport data. The carrier data including the address A of the preceding station 6 is transmitted to the carrier truck 3. “Entering the bypass route” When the main body controller 73 of each carrier vehicle 3 receives the carrier data from the ground controller 71, the carrier data for its own carrier vehicle 3 is obtained by the unique number of the carrier vehicle 3 included in this carrier data. 3A, which determines that it is the transport data of itself, transmits the transport receipt data including its own unique number to the ground controller 71, and then confirms that it passes the bypass route 5 by the transport data. Then, the traveling control is started toward the position address A of the conveyance destination included in the conveyance data.

When the ground controller 71 receives the transport receipt data from the transport vehicle 3, it switches the transport vehicle 3A to "during the transport cycle" in the transport management list L and stores the transport data at the time. Is stored as the transport start time.

The main body controller 73 of the carrier vehicle 3
When the branch / merge detector 68 detects a branch point 66 installed in front of the entrance (diversion position) 5A of the bypass path 5, the stop point is temporarily stopped, and the branch point arrival data including its own unique number is sent to the ground controller 71. To send.

When the ground controller 71 receives the branch arrival data, it sends the data to the branch position switching mechanism 7 to the traveling rail 1
Is transmitted to the bypass route 5 side to drive the traveling rail 1 to the bypass route 5 side, the branch movement permission data including the unique number of the transport vehicle itself is transmitted to the transport vehicle 3A, and this transport vehicle is further transmitted. The carrier cart 3C located behind 3A is confirmed by the carrier management list L, and stop command data at the branch point including the unique number of this carrier 3 is transmitted to this carrier 3C.

When the main body controller 73 of the carrier vehicle 3A receives the branch movement permission data from the ground controller 71, it resumes traveling and enters the bypass route 5, and runs on the bypass route 5.

When the ground controller 71 confirms the current position address of the carriage 5 and confirms that the carriage 5 has entered the bypass path 5, the ground controller 71 causes the switching mechanism 7 of the shunting position to switch the traveling rail 1 to the transfer path 4 side. Is transmitted to drive the traveling rail 1 to the side of the transport route 5, and further, the movement permission data including the unique number of the transport vehicle 3C is transmitted to the transport vehicle 3C that has transmitted the stop command data at the branch point.

When the main controller 73 of the rear carrier 3C confirms the stop command data at the branch point, the main controller 73 once stops the detection of the branch point 66 by the branch / merge detector 68 and confirms the movement permission data. Resume running. "Exit from bypass route" and the main body controller 73 of the carrier 3A is at the exit of the bypass route 5 (merging position)
When the junction / confluence detector 67 installed in front of is detected by the branch / confluence detector 68, it temporarily stops and transmits the junction arrival data including its own unique number to the ground controller 71.

When the ground controller 71 receives this merge arrival data, it searches the transport management list L and confirms the transport carriage 3D located on the transport route 4 closest to the merge position before the merge position. Then, the stop instruction data (a) at the confluence including the unique number of the transport vehicle 3D is transmitted to the transport vehicle 3D. Then, switching data (b) for driving the traveling rail 1 to the bypass route 5 side is transmitted to the merging position switching mechanism 7 to drive the traveling rail 1 to the bypass route 5 side, and the transport vehicle 3A is given its own uniqueness. The merge transfer permission data (c) including the number is transmitted.

When the main body controller 73 of the carrier vehicle 3A on the bypass route 5 receives the merging / moving permission data (c) from the ground controller 71, it resumes traveling and enters the absolute transport route 4A from the bypass route 5.

The ground controller 71 uses the carrier 5A.
When the current position address is confirmed and the entry to the transportation route 4A is confirmed, the switching data (d) for driving the traveling rail 1 to the transportation route 4 side is transmitted to the merging position switching mechanism 7 and the traveling rail 1 is transported. The transfer permission data (e) including the unique number of the transport vehicle 3D is transmitted to the transport vehicle 3D that has been driven to the side of the route 5 and that has transmitted the stop command data (a) at the confluence point.

The transport carriage 3 located on the transport path 4B
When the main body controller 73 of D confirms the stop command data (a) at the merging point, the merging point by the branch / merging detector 68 is confirmed.
The vehicle stops once upon detection of 67, and the traveling is restarted when the movement permission data (e) is confirmed.

The following operation is the same as the normal operation when the article R is conveyed, and its explanation is omitted. When the vehicle enters the bypass path 5 and exits the bypass path 5 by the bypass traveling operation, the transport vehicle 3 is temporarily stopped and starts moving with permission of the ground controller 71 so that the transport vehicle 3 travels in the switching mechanism 7. It is possible to prevent derailment from the rail 1. Also enter the bypass route 5,
When there is a transport vehicle 3 that exits from the bypass route 5, a stop command is output to the transport vehicle 3 that enters the diverting position and the merging position of the bypass route 5, derailment in the switching mechanism 7 is prevented, and the transport vehicle 3 Collisions are avoided.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the station 6A having a high frequency of article transfer, that is, the carrier truck 3 for carrying the article is frequently stopped on the transport path 4 in the carrier truck 3. By providing the bypass route 5 that bypasses the station 6A where congestion is likely to occur,
It is possible to eliminate the traffic jam of the transport carriage 3 and improve the transport efficiency.

For each transport vehicle 3, the transport vehicle 3
By instructing whether or not to bypass the bypass path 5 according to the state of the transport vehicle 3 in front of, the congestion of the transport vehicle 3 can be eliminated and the transport efficiency can be improved.

When a transfer request for the article R is input from the station 6, when the station 6 is located downstream of the converging position of the bypass path 5, the article R is not transferred and "the transfer cycle is not in execution" The carrier truck 3 closest to the diversion position of the bypass route 5 among the carrier trucks 3
Is selected as the transport carriage 3 for transporting the article R from the station 6, the moving distance of the transport carriage 3 can be shortened, the time for executing the transport cycle can be shortened, and the transport efficiency can be improved.

The carrier vehicle 3 instructed to travel to the bypass route 5 stops once it detects the branch point 66 at the branch position, waits for a permission signal from the ground controller 72 to the bypass route 5, and then bypasses. By starting traveling to the route 5, it is possible to prevent the risk of derailment or the like occurring at the branch position.

In this embodiment, the bypass path 5
It is determined whether or not the vehicle passes through on the basis of the number of the carrier vehicles 3 existing on the selected carrier route 4B. Whether there is a carrier vehicle 3 traveling on the bypass route 5, that is, the bypass route 5 is used. It can also be judged by whether or not it has been done. At this time, when the bypass route 5 is not used, the carrier vehicle 3 can pass through the bypass route 5.

Further, in the present embodiment, the bypass path 5
Is provided so as to bypass the station 6A having the highest transfer frequency of the article R among the plurality of stations 6, but the transfer of the article R such as the station 6 having the second highest transfer rate of the article R is performed. It is also possible to provide so as to bypass the frequently used station 6.

Further, in the present embodiment, the characteristic of the rail 1 in the traveling section, that is, whether the traveling section is a straight line portion, a left and right curved portion and the vicinity of its entrance or exit is preset by the address A of the traveling section. However, you may make it learn and ask during a test run.

Further, in the present embodiment, data in which the number peculiar to the vehicle is simply added to the address A of the traveling section corresponding to the recognized traveling distance M (position data consisting of "vehicle number + address A of traveling section") The ground controller via wireless modem 55, feeder line 54 and ground modem 72
Although it is transmitted to 71, and only the address A of the traveling section of the current position is notified, the current position data consisting of "the truck number + the traveling section address" of each carrier vehicle 3 received by the ground controller 71 is all Ground modem for carrier 3
72, it can also be transmitted via the feeder line 54. At this time, each transport vehicle 3 can recognize the address A of the traveling section of the transport vehicle 3 traveling ahead of the vehicle number of the received current position data, and the optical sensor transmitter 69 and the receiver 70 are recognized. Outside the communication area of the ground controller 71
The traveling speed can be controlled based on the inter-vehicle distance J calculated by the address A of the traveling section of the front transporting vehicle 3 and the address A of the traveling section of the vehicle which is input further.

Further, since the inter-vehicle distance J between the front carrier truck 3 can always be grasped even outside the communication area of the optical sensor transmitter 69 and the receiver 70, it is possible to decelerate in advance even during high-speed traveling and safely. You can approach the transport vehicle 3 in front,
Therefore, it is possible to ensure an optimum distance (inter-vehicle distance) between the transport carriages 3 and safely travel, and it is possible to improve transport efficiency. Also, the data of address A in the running section is
Since the data amount is smaller than the data of the traveling distance M itself and the transmission interval can be longer than the transmission interval by optical transmission, the number of communication negative articles can be reduced and the negative articles of the main body controller 73 can be reduced.

Further, outside the communication area between the optical sensor transmitter 69 and the receiver 70, that is, when the distance between the front and the carriage 3 is sufficient, the traveling speed upper limit value of the straight portion of the traveling rail 1 is made higher. It is also possible to switch, and it is possible to catch up with the front carriage 3 and the inter-vehicle distance can be optimized.

Further, in the present embodiment, the "transportation vehicle for transporting articles" is the transportation vehicle 3 guided by the traveling rail 1 installed on the floor 2 and self-propelled, but traveling on the ceiling. It is also possible to use a suspended carrier that is guided by rails and self-propelled. Further, although the carriage 3 has four wheels, it may have three wheels.

[0094]

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing the detour route on the traveling route, which bypasses the article transfer position where the transportation of the carriage is likely to occur and the article transfer frequency is high. It is possible to eliminate the congestion of the carrier truck and improve the carrier efficiency.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a travel route diagram of an article transport facility according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a main part configuration diagram of the article transport facility.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a traveling rail and a carrier truck of the article carrier facility.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a traveling rail of the article transport facility and a front view of a main part of the transport carriage.

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of a carrier truck of the article carrier facility.

FIG. 6 is a control block diagram of the article transport facility.

FIG. 7 is a transfer management list diagram of a main body controller of the article transfer facility.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure for forming transport data of the article transport facility.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a normal operation of a carrier truck of the article carrier facility.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the eviction operation of the carrier truck of the article carrier facility.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a bypass traveling operation of the carrier truck of the article carrier facility.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 running rail 2 floors 3 carrier 4 transport routes 5 Bypass route 6 stations 7 Switching mechanism 12 Article transfer / placement device 13 Slewing driven wheel device 14 Swiveling / sliding drive wheel device 45 travel motor 54 feeder line 55 wireless modem 63 encoder 64 origin 65 origin detector 66 fork 67 Confluence 68 Branch / Merge detector 71 Ground controller 72 Terrestrial modem 73 Controller 74 Host computer R goods

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 3F022 AA15 JJ11 LL12 MM05 MM08                       NN36 NN46 NN50 QQ11                 5H301 AA01 AA09 BB05 BB08 CC03                       CC06 CC08 DD01 DD06 DD13                       EE02 EE12 EE15 FF10 GG06                       GG08 GG12 GG14 GG19 KK08                       KK19 KK20 LL04 LL06 LL08                       LL11

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of carrier vehicles that guide oneself in one direction while being guided by a circular traveling path and convey respective articles, and a plurality of conveying vehicles and articles arranged along the traveling path. An article transport facility comprising a plurality of article transfer positions for transfer, wherein, in the traveling route, at least one of the article transfer positions,
An article transport facility, which is characterized in that a detour path is provided to detour an article transfer position where articles are frequently transferred. 2. A control means for controlling the transportation of articles by the transport carriage is provided, and the control means detours the bypass route according to the state of the transport carriage in front of each transport carriage. The article transport facility according to claim 1, wherein whether or not to issue a command is issued. 3. A control means is provided for controlling the conveyance of the article by the conveyance carriage, and when the control means inputs a conveyance request for the article from the article transfer position, the article transfer position joins the detour path. When it is in the downstream area from the point, the carrier truck closest to the diversion point of the detour route is selected as the carrier truck for transporting the article from the article transfer position from the empty transport carts that do not transport the article. The article transport facility according to claim 1. 4. An identification unit for identifying a diversion point is provided at a diversion point of the detour route, and the transport carriage instructed to travel to the detour route by the control unit stops once when the identification unit is detected, 4. The article transport facility according to claim 3, wherein traveling of the detour route is started after waiting for a permission signal from the control means to the detour route.