JP2004034913A - Conveyance vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a vehicle body and having a conveyance vehicle advance and back securely. <P>SOLUTION: This conveyance vehicle is constituted in such a way that a driving wheel mechanism 2 is provided at one side fringe of the vehicle body 1, a caster 4 is provided at the other end fringe of the vehicle body 1, and the vehicle body 1 advances and backs a, b along a rail 7 by driving the driving wheel mechanism 2. The driving wheel mechanism 2 has an upper face wheel 8 supported pivotally on a support frame 6 attached to the vehicle body 1 so as to turn horizontally and abutting on an upper face of the rail 7 and a side face wheel 15 abutting on a side face of the rail 7. The side face wheel 15 is rotated and driven by a geared motor 10. The geared motor 10 rides on a drive shaft 17 connected with the side face wheel 15 in the interlocking relationship through a gear mechanism so as to turn horizontally. A turn angle regulation mechanism 18 for regulating turn angles α, β of the geared motor 10 is provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a carrier such as an unmanned carrier that moves forward and backward along a loop-shaped rail laid in a three-dimensional automatic warehouse.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 shows an example of a conventional automatic guided vehicle. The drive wheel mechanism 2 and the driven wheel mechanism 3 are provided on one side edge of the vehicle body 1 and a pair of front and rear casters 4 are provided on the other side edge of the vehicle body 1. The driving wheel mechanism 3 includes an upper surface wheel 8 pivotally supported by a support frame 6 attached to the vehicle body 1 via a main shaft 5 so as to be capable of horizontal rotation and abutting on an upper surface of a rail 7, and a guide roller 9 abutting on both side surfaces of the rail 7. And a geared motor (driving machine) 10 for rotating and driving the upper wheel 8 of the driving wheel mechanism 2 is fixed to the support frame 6. Each of the casters 4 has a caster wheel 13 pivotally supported by a support frame 12 attached to the vehicle body 1 via a caster shaft 11 so as to be capable of turning horizontally, and abutting against a floor surface (or a rail).
[0003]
In the above configuration, by driving the geared motor 10 forward and reverse, the vehicle body 1 is moved forward and backward a and b linearly along the linear portion of the rail 7 as shown in FIG. ) And (C), the vehicle body 1 is turned rightward R or leftward L along the circular arc portion 7a of the rail 7.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above-described conventional configuration, the upper surface wheel 8 of the drive wheel mechanism 2 is pressed against the upper surface of the rail 7 with a predetermined wheel pressure to generate a frictional force, and the upper surface wheel 8 is driven to rotate so that the vehicle body 1 moves along the rail 7. As shown in FIG. 8 (A), when the load W is applied to the caster 4 side of the vehicle body 1 in an unbalanced manner, the upper surface wheel 8 is lifted up to a predetermined position as shown in FIG. In some cases, wheel pressure does not occur and thrust for moving the vehicle body 1 forward and backward a and b cannot be sufficiently obtained.
[0005]
Also, when the geared motor 10 is fixed to the support frame 6 and the vehicle body 1 is turned rightward R or leftward L along the circular arc portion 7a of the rail 7 (see FIGS. 8B and 8C). Since the geared motor 10 swings by a predetermined angle α, β to the left and right around the main shaft 5, it is necessary to set the front-rear width H of the vehicle body 1 large so that the geared motor 10 does not protrude outside the vehicle body 1. The size of the vehicle body 1 is increased and the production cost is high. Also, space is not saved.
[0006]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described conventional drawbacks, and has as its object to provide a transport vehicle that is capable of reliably moving forward and backward by reducing the size of a vehicle body.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a drive wheel mechanism is provided on one side edge of a vehicle body, and a caster is provided on another side edge of the vehicle body, and the drive wheel mechanism is driven. In the transport vehicle, the vehicle body is made to move forward and backward along the rails, and the drive wheel mechanism is pivotally supported by a support frame that is mounted on the vehicle body so as to be able to turn horizontally. It is characterized by having a side wheel abutting on the side surface of the rail, and rotating the side wheel by a driving machine.
[0008]
According to the above configuration, the side wheels that are in contact with the side surfaces of the rails are rotationally driven by the driving device so that the vehicle body moves forward and backward along the rails. Even when the vehicle is lifted, the side wheel is pressed against the side surface of the rail by a predetermined wheel pressure due to the biased load to generate a frictional force, so that a sufficient thrust for moving the vehicle body back and forth can be obtained. .
[0009]
A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the present invention, two side wheels are provided at a predetermined interval in the forward / rearward direction.
[0010]
According to the above configuration, two side wheels are provided, and the wheel pressure applied to each side wheel is reduced by half as compared with the case where only one side wheel is provided, so that the diameter of each side wheel is reduced. At the same time, the rigidity of the rail can be reduced, and the production cost can be reduced.
[0011]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the second aspect, two idler wheels opposed to each of the side wheels with a rail interposed therebetween can swing on a support frame via a pair of swing arms. The support frame is provided with a biasing means which is supported and elastically presses each idler wheel to the side surface of the rail via each swing arm.
[0012]
According to the above configuration, each idler wheel is elastically pressed against the side surface of the rail by the urging means, so that the rail is securely sandwiched between the idler wheel and each side wheel from both sides, and the vehicle body moves forward and backward. Sufficient thrust can be obtained.
[0013]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the driving machine is saddle-mounted so as to be horizontally pivotable on a drive shaft interlocked to the side wheel via a gear mechanism. A turning angle regulating mechanism for regulating the turning angle of the driving machine is provided.
[0014]
According to the above configuration, when the vehicle body is turned rightward or leftward along the arc portion of the rail, the swing angle restricting mechanism keeps the swing angle of the driving machine small. Can be set smaller than before, thereby reducing the size of the vehicle body and reducing manufacturing costs.
[0015]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows an automatic guided vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a support frame 6 of a drive wheel mechanism 2 has an upper surface wheel 8 that abuts on an upper surface of a rail 7, and both side surfaces of the rail 7. The geared motor 10 is saddle-mounted on the drive shaft 17 so as to be capable of horizontal turning c and d, and a turning angle restricting mechanism 18 for restricting turning angles α and β of the geared motor 10 is provided. Is provided. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 19 denotes a bearing fixed to the lower surface of the vehicle body 1, which rotatably supports the main shaft 5. Since the configuration other than the above is substantially the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 8, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.
[0016]
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, two side wheels 15 are provided on the lower surface of a gear box 20 integrally formed with the support frame 6 at predetermined intervals in forward and backward a and b directions. The drive shaft 17 and the support shaft 15a are connected to each other via a gear mechanism 21 in a gear box 20. When the geared motor 10 is driven, each side wheel 15 is driven via the drive shaft 17 and the gear mechanism 21. Are rotated forward and backward to move the vehicle body 1 forward and backward a and b. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1 (A), even if the load W is applied to the caster 4 side of the vehicle body 1 and the upper surface wheel 8 is lifted up, the side wheel 15 is moved to a predetermined wheel by the uneven load W. Since the pressure is pressed against the side surface of the rail 7 to generate a frictional force, a sufficient thrust for moving the vehicle body 1 forward and backward a and b can be obtained.
[0017]
Although only one side wheel 15 may be provided, it is preferable to provide two side wheels 15 as shown. As a result, the wheel pressure (pressing force for obtaining a constant frictional force) applied to each side wheel 15 is reduced by half, so that the diameter of each side wheel 15 is reduced and the rigidity of the rail 7 is also reduced. Costs can be reduced.
[0018]
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, the idler wheel 16 is mounted on a pair of swing arms 24 pivotally attached to bearing blocks 22 fixed to both sides of the support frame 6 via a pivot shaft 23. It is rotatably mounted via a hanging shaft 25 and faces each of the side wheels 15 with the rail 7 interposed therebetween. Further, a pair of guide rods 26 protruding from the side surface of the support frame 6 are inserted through bosses 24 b provided on the distal end protrusions 24 a of the respective swing arms 24, and nuts or the like fixed to the distal ends of the respective guide rods 26. A spring (biasing means) 27 is interposed between the fixture 28 and each swing arm 24, and each idler wheel 16 is elastically pressed against the side surface of the rail 7 by the biasing force of the spring 27. The rails 7 are securely clamped from both sides by the idler wheels 16 and the side wheels 15, and sufficient thrust for moving the vehicle body 1 forward and backward a and b can be obtained.
[0019]
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the turning angle restricting mechanism 18 is attached to the upper surface of the geared motor 10 and has a torque arm 31 with an elongated cam hole 30. The torque arm 31 is attached to the vehicle body 1 and fitted into the cam hole 30. A cam follower 32 is provided.
[0020]
In the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 1A, when the vehicle body 1 is moved forward and backward a and b along the linear portion of the rail 7, the torque arm 31 is substantially along the width direction of the vehicle body 1 and the geared motor is used. 10 is slightly inclined so as to be closer to the center of the vehicle body 1.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 1B, when the vehicle body 1 is turned rightward along the circular arc portion 7a of the rail 7, the support frame 6 is turned clockwise about the main shaft 5, so that the torque arm The gear 31 is rotated counterclockwise around the cam follower 32, whereby the geared motor 10 also rotates counterclockwise c around the drive shaft 17 so as to extend substantially in the transverse direction of the vehicle body 1.
[0022]
As shown in FIG. 1 (C), when the vehicle body 1 is turned leftward along the circular arc portion 7a of the rail 7, since the support frame 6 is turned counterclockwise about the main shaft 5, the torque arm 31 is rotated. Is rotated clockwise around the cam follower 32, whereby the geared motor 10 also rotates clockwise d around the drive shaft 17 to be closer to the center of the vehicle body 1.
[0023]
According to the above-described configuration, when the vehicle body 1 is turned rightward or leftward along the arc 7 a of the rail 7, the swing angles α and β of the geared motor 10 are kept small by the turning angle regulating mechanism 18. Accordingly, the front-rear width H of the vehicle body 1 can be set smaller than that of the related art by the reduced amount, whereby the vehicle body 1 can be reduced in size and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Further, the turning angle regulating mechanism 18 is composed of the torque arm 31 with the cam hole 30 and the cam follower 32, so that the structure is simple and the production cost is low.
[0024]
FIG. 7 shows a modification of the turning angle regulating mechanism 18, in which a torque arm 31 fixed to the upper surface of the geared motor 10 and one end are rotatably connected to the vehicle body 1 via a pin 35 with a bearing. The other end is composed of a link 37 pivotally connected to the tip of the torque arm 31 via a pin 36 with a bearing, and its operation is almost the same as that of the turning angle regulating mechanism 18 shown in FIG. Omitted.
[0025]
According to the above configuration, it is possible to obtain substantially the same effect as the turning angle restricting mechanism 18 shown in FIG. 1. In particular, since the geared motor 10 is connected by the pins 35 and 36, the turning angle restricting mechanism shown in FIG. Compared with the configuration in which the torque arm 31 and the cam follower 32 as the mechanism 18 slide, play is less likely to occur, and the support can be made smaller.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the side wheels contacting the side surfaces of the rails are rotationally driven by the driving device to move the vehicle body back and forth along the rails. Even when the upper wheel rises, the biased load causes the side wheel to be pressed against the side of the rail with a predetermined wheel pressure to generate a frictional force, so that the thrust for moving the vehicle forward and backward is sufficient. Can be obtained.
[0027]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, two side wheels are provided, and the wheel pressure applied to each side wheel is reduced by half as compared with the case where only one side wheel is provided. The diameter of the wheel can be reduced, and the rigidity of the rail can be reduced, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced.
[0028]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, each idler wheel is elastically pressed against the side surface of the rail by the urging means, so that the rail is securely clamped from both sides by each idler wheel and each side wheel. Thrust for moving the vehicle forward and backward can be obtained sufficiently.
[0029]
According to the invention as set forth in claim 4, when the vehicle body is turned right or left along the arc portion of the rail, the swing angle regulating mechanism keeps the swing angle of the driving machine small, so that the swing angle of the drive unit is reduced. The front and rear width of the vehicle body can be set smaller than before by the reduced amount, thereby making it possible to reduce the size of the vehicle body and reduce manufacturing costs.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a carrier according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view of the drive wheel mechanism.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same.
FIG. 4 is a view as seen in the direction of arrows D-D in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a view as seen in the direction of arrows EE in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the drive wheel mechanism.
FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing a modification of the turning angle regulating mechanism.
FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing a conventional example.
[Explanation of symbols]
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 vehicle body 2 drive wheel mechanism 4 caster 6 support frame 7 rail 8 top wheel 10 geared motor (drive machine)
15 Side wheel 16 Idler wheel 17 Drive shaft 18 Turning angle regulating mechanism 21 Gear mechanism 24 Swing arm 27 Spring (biasing means)
30 cam hole 31 torque arm 32 cam follower a, b forward and backward

Claims (4)

A driving wheel mechanism is provided on one side edge of the vehicle body, and a caster is provided on the other side edge of the vehicle body, and the vehicle is driven forward and backward along the rail by driving the driving wheel mechanism. In the vehicle, the drive wheel mechanism has an upper surface wheel pivotally supported by a support frame attached to the vehicle body so as to be capable of horizontally turning and abutting on an upper surface of a rail, and a side wheel abutting on a side surface of the rail. A carrier driven by a driving device. 2. The carrier according to claim 1, wherein two side wheels are provided at a predetermined interval in the forward / rearward direction. 3. Two idler wheels opposing each side wheel with a rail interposed therebetween are swingably supported on a support frame via a pair of swing arms, and each idler wheel is connected to the side surface of the rail via each swing arm. The carrier according to claim 2, wherein a biasing unit that elastically presses the support frame is provided on the support frame. The drive device is mounted on a drive shaft interlockingly connected to the side wheel via a gear mechanism so as to be horizontally turnable, and a turning angle regulating mechanism for regulating a turning angle of the drive device is provided. The carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:

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