JP2003267521A - Non-rail type moving shelf - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a non-rail type moving shelf allowing a moving shelf unit to travel along an ideal travel line while suppressing the skew thereof by stopping the drive of one of left and right travelling wheels even when one power shaft exists. <P>SOLUTION: Independent rotating shafts 13, 14, 15 are provided on the front, rear, left and right travelling wheels 3, 4, 5, 6 of the moving shelf unit 1. The rotation of the power shaft 11 to be rotated by a driving handle 17 is transmitted to the rotating shafts via sprockets 31, 32, 33, 34 and chains. The transmission of the rotation of the power shaft 11 to the front right and front left side travelling wheel rotating shafts 13, 14 is performed via clutches 20, 21 or randomly cancelled. When the moving shelf unit 1 skews and one of both left and right travelling wheels precedes, the drive of the preceding wheel is stopped by operating the clutch. The ideal travel line is reset by driving the rotation of the other travelling wheel only, and then the rotation of both left and right travelling wheels is driven. <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 railless movable rack, and more particularly to a railless movable rack in which traveling wheels of the movable rack alone travel directly on the floor without using rails.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, in a large-scale warehouse or the like, a plurality of moving shelves alone are arranged in parallel, and the traveling wheels of each moving shelves directly travel on the floor without traveling on rails. The trackless mobile shelves made are used.

In such a railless type moving rack, since it is premised that a load of several hundred kg to several thousand kg is placed on one moving rack alone, an electric motor having a large output for traveling drive. Is used.

Further, such a trackless type moving rack does not run on the intended traveling line depending on the condition of the floor surface or the arrangement balance of the items loaded on the moving rack alone. In addition, since it may skew,
Various proposals have been made to control the skew (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2000-142922 and 2000-142923).

The above-mentioned skew control means that one of the left and right traveling wheels is in a position ahead of the other.
The purpose of this is to make the two wheels run straight along the running direction so that they do not lead each other.

Therefore, the basis of these control methods is the preceding traveling wheel (provisionally left side) of the left and right traveling wheels that are rotated by separate drive motors.
By stopping the drive motor of the vehicle so that the traveling wheel (on the right side) that is behind is slightly ahead of the preceding traveling wheel, this time the traveling wheel on the right side is stopped while the traveling wheel on the left side is traveling. We are trying to position both the left and right running wheels on the desired running line. For this reason, such a moving rack unit alone requires at least two electric motors.

However, the total loading weight of the movable rack itself is 100 to 2 at most, for example, when it is used as a bookshelf.
If it is 00kg, one electric motor is enough,
Since it is also possible to travel manually using a crank without using an electric motor, using a plurality of electric motors for traveling is a little excessive equipment, resulting in an increase in cost.

Even with such a relatively lightweight and small-sized moving rack, as long as it is a trackless type moving rack, skewing of the moving rack itself occurs. In order to achieve the desired alignment, it is necessary to control the skew, but as long as one electric motor is the only drive source or it is manual, either one of the left and right traveling wheels is used. The drive rotation of cannot be stopped.

The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems, and even if there is only one power shaft, by stopping the driving of either one of the left and right traveling wheels, the movable rack alone. The present invention aims to provide a railless movable rack that can be driven along an ideal line while suppressing the skew of the rail.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a railless movable rack according to the present invention is provided with front, rear, left and right traveling wheels having mutually different rotation axes, and one power shaft is used for at least one of front and rear. A plurality of movable shelves, whose left and right traveling wheels are driven and rotated, are arranged side by side along the front-rear direction, and each movable shelf alone travels in the front-rear direction via the traveling wheels. In the trackless mobile shelf, the rotation of the drive shaft is transmitted to the rotary shafts of the left and right traveling wheels via a clutch, while the clutch
The configuration is characterized in that the transmission to any one of the rotating shafts is released.

According to the present invention, when the movable rack itself deviates from the predetermined traveling direction and starts to skew, the clutch can be operated arbitrarily or automatically to operate the clutch on one side in the traveling direction. It is possible to stop the drive of the traveling wheels, and by driving the traveling wheels on the other side in the stopped state, it is possible to easily return to the desired traveling direction, that is, it is ideal to suppress skewing of the moving shelf alone. It is possible to provide a railless movable rack that can be traveled on the traveling line.

A clutch is a first meshing member fixed to a sprocket that is loosely inserted in the power shaft and transmits rotation to the front wheel drive shaft, a sleeve having a clutch rotating plate at the other end and loosely inserted in the power shaft, A second meshing member that is fixed to one end of the sleeve and meshes with the first meshing member, a member that urges the sleeve toward the first meshing member, and a clutch rotating plate that is in pressure contact with each other to mesh the meshing members. When provided with a pressure member to be released, a railless movable rack is provided which has a relatively simple structure and has few failures so that the movable rack can be prevented from skewing and traveled on an ideal traveling line. be able to.

When power transmission and release by the clutch is performed by operating the clutch handle, it is possible to provide a rail type movable rack which can reduce running cost to a minimum without requiring electric power.

A male member for alignment guide is projectingly provided on one side of the underframe of each movable rack in the traveling direction, while a female member for alignment guide relatively fitted to the male member for alignment guide on the other side. In the case where the above is provided, it is possible to provide a railless movable rack in which adjacent movable racks can be reasonably aligned with each other by using the female and male members for both alignment guides.

In the case where the underframe of the fixed shelf is provided with the female member for alignment guide or the male member for alignment guide corresponding to the male member for alignment guide or the female member for alignment guide of the adjacent movable rack alone, the fixed frame is fixed. (EN) It is possible to provide a railless mobile shelf that can reasonably align mobile racks adjacent to a rack.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a railless movable rack according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show the essential parts of the movable rack alone (1), in which the rotating shafts (13) (14) (15) are attached to the underframe (2).
(16) different front, rear, left and right running wheels (3) (4)
(5) and (6) are attached. The front, rear, left, and right used below are, in principle, the direction in which the movable shelf (1) travels closer to the fixed shelf (K) provided on one side in the traveling direction, and the direction in which it travels away is rear. The fixed shelf (K)
To the left and right. In FIG. 1, diagonally downward left is shown, and in FIG. 2, downward is forward.

Sprockets (33) and (34) are fixed to the rotary shafts (13) and (14) of the front and rear right traveling wheels (3) and (4), respectively, and both sprockets (33) and (34) are connected to the chain (C). )
Are connected via. Similarly, the sprockets (33) and (34) are fixed to the rotary shafts (15) and (16) of the front and rear left traveling wheels (5) and (6), respectively, and both sprockets (33) and (34) are connected to the chain. They are connected via (C).

Further, both left and right traveling wheels (3) (5) of the front wheels
Further, sprockets (32, 32) for connecting to the power shaft (11) are fixed to the rotary shafts (13) (15) of the engine, while the sprocket (32) ( Sprocket (31) (31) corresponding to 32) is attached, and both sprockets (32) (32) and (31) (31) are connected via a chain (C).

The sprocket (31) (31) mounted on the power shaft (11) is rotatably mounted on the outer periphery of the power shaft (11), and by a special retaining ring (not shown), It does not move in the axial direction from the predetermined position. The predetermined position means the front wheel rotation shaft (13) (15)
The position where the chain (C) can move smoothly between the sprocket (32) and (32). The sprocket (31) is fixed with a first meshing portion (24b) that constitutes the clutch (20) (21) and rotates together with the sprocket (31).

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the power shaft (11) is provided with sleeves (22) (22) which move in the axial direction of the power shaft (11) but cannot rotate in the circumferential direction. It is attached so as to face the first engagement member (24b). The sleeve (22) is provided with a long hole (26) along the axial direction of the power shaft (11), and a rotation stop bolt (27) fixed to the power shaft (11) projects from the long hole (26). By doing so, the sleeve (22) stays in the power shaft (11) within the length range of the long hole (26).
It moves in the axial direction of and the rotation stop bolt (27) has a long hole (26).
By contacting the inner edge, rotation in the circumferential direction is disabled.

A second meshing member (24a) meshing with the first meshing member (24b) is fixed to one end of the sleeve (22), and an inclination inclined toward the second meshing member (24a) at the other end. A frustoconical clutch rotary plate (23) having a surface (23b) is fixed. At the tip of the clutch rotating plate (23), a step portion (23a) having an angle different from that of the inclined surface (23b) is formed.
Is provided.

Between the sleeve (22) and the underframe (2), the second meshing member (24a) at the tip of the sleeve (22) is always biased in the direction meshing with the first meshing member (24b). A coil spring (25) as an urging means is attached. Therefore, normally, the clutch is always in the clutch-in state as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, an arm (28) is fixed to a clutch operating shaft (12) provided in parallel with the power shaft (11), and an end of the arm (28) is brought into contact with the clutch rotating plate (23). A pressure member (29) is provided. As shown, the pressure member (29) of one clutch (20) is located diagonally below the power shaft (11), and the pressure member (29) of the other clutch (21) is diagonal to the power shaft (11). It is set to be located above.

The pressure member (29) is in slight contact with the clutch rotary plate (23) in the clutch-in state, and the clutch rotary plate (23) is pressed against the clutch rotary shaft (12) by rotating the clutch operating shaft (12). , The one that moves away from the clutch rotary plate (23).

The power shaft (11) can be rotated in any direction by operating the drive handle (17) via a known transmission mechanism connected to one end thereof.
The clutch operating shaft (12) can also be rotated in any direction by operating the clutch operating handle (18) via a known transmission mechanism connected to one end.
The clutch operation handle (18) is in the clutch-in state when it is horizontally positioned so that the clutch-in and clutch-off states can be identified by visually recognizing its position. When the vehicle is rotated upward from the position and is in the diagonally upward position, the right traveling wheels (3) and (4) are in the clutch-off state, and when it is rotated downward from the horizontal position and is in the diagonally downward position, The left traveling wheels (5) and (6) are set to be in the clutch-off state.

The operation of the moving rack single unit (1) having the above structure will be described. To move the moving rack single unit (1), the handle (17) is used in the same manner as an ordinary manual type moving rack, a so-called crank type moving rack. When the handle (17) is rotated clockwise, the power shaft (11) and its sprockets (31) (31) rotate in the same direction, and the sprockets (31) (31) rotate. Is transmitted to the sprockets (32) (32) of the front wheel rotation shafts (13) (15) through the chain (C), and the front wheel rotation shafts (13) (15)
Is rotated and the front wheels are driven. The rotation of the front wheel rotation shafts (13) (15) is performed by rotating the sprocket wheels (33) (33) that rotate at the same time through the chain (C) of the rear wheel rotation shafts (14) (16). 34),
The rotating shafts of the rear wheels are rotated in the same direction, and the moving rack simple substance (1) is run rearward. When the handle (17) is rotated counterclockwise, all the rotation shafts (13) (14)
(15) (16) is rotated in the opposite direction, moving rack alone (1)
Will be driven forward.

For some reason, the traveling is skewed, and the moving rack unit (1) approaches the fixed rack (K) or another moving rack unit as shown in FIG. Then, when it was clearly recognized that the traveling wheel (3) on the right side of the front wheel of the moving rack alone (1) was ahead of the traveling wheel (4) on the left side of the front wheel, the clutch was operated, By stopping the driving of the preceding right-side traveling wheels (3) and (4) and driving only the delayed left-side wheels (5) and (6), the left-side traveling wheels (5) and (6) are moved to the right-side traveling wheels (5) and (6). 3) Can be arranged in (4). And
When it can be recognized that it has returned to the ideal traveling line, the clutch is operated to move the right traveling wheel (3).
By driving (4) as well, the movable rack simple substance (1) can be caused to travel along an ideal traveling line.

Although the left traveling wheels (5) and (6) could be lined up with the right traveling wheels (3) and (4), when they are slightly deviated from the ideal traveling line, that is, they are allowed to travel straight. When the moving rack single unit (1) is moving toward the fixed rack (K) or the adjacent moving rack single unit (1), when it is moving to the alignment position that is obviously stepped, the following adjustments are made. Drive. First, with the drive of either one of the left and right traveling wheels stopped,
The other traveling wheel is driven so that the traveling wheel is in a position ahead of the one traveling wheel. Then, the driving of the traveling wheels at the preceding position is stopped, and the traveling wheels that are behind are driven to be aligned with the preceding traveling wheels. As a result, if the moving rack alone (1) travels on the desired ideal line after that, it is driven as it is, and if it is still slightly away from the ideal line, the adjustment travel is performed again. Try to drive on the ideal line.

Although the operation of the clutch is apparent from the above description, it will be described as an operation for operating the movable rack alone (1) in the state shown in FIG. Move the moving shelf single unit (1) a little closer to the fixed shelf (K), and (8) at the tip of (7) of the fixed shelf (K).
Are in a slightly fitted state. After that, when the clutch handle (18) is rotated counterclockwise, the clutch operating shaft (12) rotates counterclockwise, and the pressure member (29).
Presses the clutch rotary plate (23) from below.

By this pressure contact, the clutch rotary plate (23) compresses the coil spring (25) against the biasing force of the coil spring (25) and moves in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. The first meshing member (24b) and the second meshing member (24
The engagement with a) is released and the clutch is turned off. Then, the pressure member (29) has an inclined surface (23
Since it passes through b) and engages with the step portion (23a), the clutch rotating plate (23) receives the biasing force of the coil spring (25).
Presses the pressure member (29). The pressure member (29) cannot return to its original position unless the clutch operating shaft (12) is rotated by a force equal to or greater than the pressure contact force, so that the clutch-off state is maintained.

When the drive handle (17) is rotated in this clutch-off state, the rotation of the power shaft (11) is transmitted only to the rotation shaft of the left front wheel and the rotation shaft of the left rear wheel. Only the front and rear traveling wheels (5) and (6) are driven and rotated.

Then, when the power shaft (11) is rotated as it is, the movable rack alone (1) is fixed to the fixed rack (1) with the aligning guide male and female members (8) and (7) fitted together. K)
As a result, the movable rack alone (1) is aligned with the fixed rack (K) by rotating so as to approach.

From this aligned state, when the moving rack unit (1) is to be moved rearward, that is, in the direction away from the fixed rack (K), the position of the clutch operating handle (18) is checked. , Check whether the clutch is in the off state or in the in state, and if it is in the off state, rotate the clutch operation handle (18) so as to be in the clutch in state, and set all traveling wheels (3 ) (4)
(5) Run (6).

During the traveling, when one of the left and right traveling wheels precedes and the movable rack unit starts to skew, the driving of the traveling wheel on the preceding side is stopped by the clutch operation and the other side is stopped. It is possible to control the meandering by driving only the traveling wheels of and adjusting the traveling direction to the ideal traveling line.

Since the method of aligning the moving shelves alone is basically the same as the method of aligning the fixed shelf and one moving shelf alone, detailed description will be omitted.

In the moving rack alone of the above embodiment, the traveling wheels are rotated and the clutch in / off operation is performed by a manual operation, but the power shaft is rotated by an electric motor. Alternatively, the clutch operating shaft may be rotated by an electric motor. When the clutch operating shaft is rotated using an electric motor, the electric motor may be operated so that it can be switched on and off arbitrarily. The clutch operation may be automatically performed by the signal.

Further, in order to maintain the clutch-off state, in the above embodiment, the pressure member and the clutch rotary plate step portion are engaged with each other.
The means can be modified in various ways, and means for fixing the clutch-in position and the clutch-off position near the clutch handle, for example, a plunger and a hole with which the plunger engages may be provided.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, although the traveling wheel in the clutch-off state does not drive and rotate, the rotating shaft can rotate, but the rotating shaft in the clutch-off state is completely rotated. Disabling is optional.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the movable rack unit deviates from the predetermined traveling direction and starts to skew, the clutch can be operated arbitrarily or automatically. It is possible to stop the rotation of the traveling wheel on one side in the traveling direction, and by allowing the traveling wheel on the other side to travel in the stopped state, it is possible to easily return to the intended traveling direction, that is, the oblique movement of the moving shelf alone. It is possible to provide a railless movable rack that can be restrained to travel on an ideal travel line.

The clutch has a first meshing member fixed to a sprocket that is loosely inserted in the power shaft and transmits rotation to the front wheel drive shaft, a sleeve having a clutch rotating plate at the other end and loosely inserted in the power shaft, and A second meshing member that is fixed to one end of the sleeve and meshes with the first meshing member, a member that urges the sleeve toward the first meshing member, and a clutch rotating plate that is in pressure contact with each other to mesh the meshing members. When provided with a pressure member for releasing, it is possible to provide a railless movable rack capable of suppressing and controlling the skew by using a clutch having a relatively simple structure and few failures.

When the transmission of power by the clutch and its release are performed by operating the clutch handle, it is possible to provide a rail-type movable rack that does not require electric power and can minimize running costs.

A male member for alignment guide is projected on one side of the underframe of each movable rack in the traveling direction, while a female member for alignment guide relatively fitted to the male member for alignment guide on the other side. In the case where the above is provided, it is possible to provide a railless movable rack in which adjacent movable racks can be reasonably aligned with each other by using the female and male members for both alignment guides.

If the underframe of the fixed shelf is provided with the female member for alignment guide or the male member for alignment guide corresponding to the male member for alignment guide or the female member for alignment guide of the adjacent movable rack alone, the fixed frame is fixed. (EN) It is possible to provide a railless mobile shelf that can reasonably align mobile racks adjacent to a rack.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an essential part of an embodiment of a moving rack alone in a railless moving rack according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an essential part of the same moving rack.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of a clutch device for the movable rack alone.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the clutch device showing a state in which driving of traveling wheels on one side of the movable rack alone is released.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the clutch device showing a state in which driving of traveling wheels on the other side of the movable rack alone is released.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an alignment guide male member protruding from an underframe of the movable rack alone.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an alignment guide female member provided on an underframe of the movable rack alone.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a state in which the movable rack alone skews and approaches a fixed rack.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a state where the movable shelves alone are aligned with a fixed shelf.

[Explanation of symbols]

K ... Fixed shelf 1 ... movable shelf alone 2 ... Underframe 3 ... Front right running wheel 4 ... rear right running wheel 5 ... front left running wheel 6 ... rear right running wheel 7 ... Male member for alignment guide 8 ... Female member for alignment guide 11 ... Power shaft 12 ... Clutch operating shaft 13 ... Front right running wheel rotating shaft 14 ... Rear right running wheel rotating shaft 15… Front left running wheel rotating shaft 16 ... Rear right running wheel rotating shaft 18 ... Clutch operation handle 20, 21 ... Clutch 22 ... Sleeve 23 ... Clutch rotating plate 24a ... Second engaging member 24b ... first engaging member 25 ... Biasing member (coil spring) 29 ... Pressure member

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. Front, rear, left and right traveling wheels (3) (4) (5) (6) having different rotational axes (13) (14) (15) (16).
And a plurality of movable shelves (1) having at least one of the front and rear left and right traveling wheels (5) (6) or (3) (4) driven and rotated by one power shaft (11).
(1) ... are arranged in parallel along the front-rear direction, and each movable rack unit (1) travels in the front-rear direction via the traveling wheels (3) (4) (5) (6). In the trackless mobile rack, the rotation of the power shaft (11) is transmitted through the clutches (20) (21) to the rotation shafts (13) (1) of the left and right traveling wheels (3) (5).
While being transmitted to 5), the clutch (20) (21)
A railless movable rack characterized in that the transmission to one of the rotating shafts (13) (15) is released. 2. The clutch (20) (21) is a power shaft (11).
The first meshing member (24) fixed to the sprockets (31) (31) which are loosely inserted in the front wheel rotating shafts (13) (15) to transmit the rotation.
b) (24b), a sleeve (22) having a clutch rotary plate (23) at the other end and loosely inserted in the power shaft (11), and the first meshing member (a) fixed to one end of the sleeve (22). A second meshing member (24a) meshing with 24b) and a member (25) for urging the sleeve (22) toward the first meshing member (24b).
The trackless movable rack according to claim 1, further comprising: a pressure member (29) for pressing the clutch rotary plate (23) to release the meshing of the meshing members (24a) (24b). 3. The trackless movement according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the transmission of power by the clutch (20) (21) and its release are performed by operating a clutch handle (18). shelf. 4. An alignment guide male member (7) is provided on one side of the underframe (2) of each movable rack (1) in the traveling direction, while the alignment guide male member (7) is provided on the other side. 7. A female member (8) for alignment guide, which is fitted relatively to (7), is provided.
The trackless mobile shelf according to claim 3. 5. An alignment guide female member corresponding to the alignment guide male member (7) or the alignment guide female member (8) of the movable rack unit (1) adjacent to the underframe of the fixed shelf (K), or The trackless mobile shelf according to claim 4, further comprising a male member (7) for alignment guide.