JP2004240474A - Transfer cart system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transfer cart system capable of conveying an express item while keeping a balance between it and another item. <P>SOLUTION: In receipt of a transfer request from a manufacturing CPU 22, a physical distribution CPU 20 detects the express item according to its flag and designates a station, to which the express item is conveyed in, as a high priority waiting position. When the expression item is conveyed out from the station, the degree of priority of the station is lowered, while that of the station of the next convey-in station is raised. Consequently, a station expected to convey out the express item is set in a waiting position with high priority according to location of the express item, and a conveying efficiency of the express item can be increased. A transfer cart in waiting can be allocated to another transfer command, so that transfer for items other than the express item is not wasted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
Field of application of the invention
The present invention relates to a system for transporting articles using a transport vehicle such as an overhead traveling vehicle, an unmanned transport vehicle, and a tracked truck.
[0002]
[Prior art]
[0003]
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-110766
In the manufacture of semiconductors and the like, it is sometimes required to transport express goods. Generally, in the manufacture of semiconductors, two types of computers are provided, a production CPU for managing a processing device and the like and a physical distribution CPU for managing physical distribution. The production CPU requests the physical distribution CPU to transport goods, and the physical distribution CPU issues a transportation request. , A transfer command is assigned to a transfer vehicle such as an overhead traveling vehicle. When the transportation is completed, the transportation vehicle reports this to the distribution CPU, and the distribution CPU reports the completion of the transportation to the production CPU.
[0005]
Express products include prototypes that are being produced urgently and mass-produced products that are produced especially quickly to recover from delays in production. In addition, conveyance of an article from a processing device without a buffer that stores the processed article can be regarded as conveyance of an express product.
[0006]
Patent Literature 1 discloses that when an express product is transported, an unmanned carrier is called into the outlet at the same time as an article is unloaded from the shelf storing the express product to the outlet, and the article and the unmanned transport vehicle arrive at the outlet at the same time. Is disclosed. However, in practice, it is difficult to control the automatic guided vehicle and the article to arrive at the exit at the same time. For example, the presence or absence and the position of an automatic guided vehicle to which a transfer instruction can be assigned change every moment, and it is rare that there is an automatic guided vehicle that can arrive in accordance with an article.
[0007]
For this reason, in order to quickly transport express goods, it is more reliable to make the automatic guided vehicle wait in advance at a station where the express goods are to be carried out. However, it is difficult to accurately predict the time at which the express delivery can be carried out. Until then, it is necessary to assign an automatic guided vehicle to the delivery of the express delivery and to sacrifice other transport work.
[0008]
[Problems of the Invention]
A basic object of the present invention is to provide a transport vehicle system capable of transporting an express item and another article while maintaining a balance.
Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to detect the location of an express product with a minimum amount of information from a production management CPU.
An additional object of the third aspect of the present invention is to provide a specific configuration for changing a position where a transport vehicle is preferentially put on standby in response to a change in the location of an express product.
[0009]
Configuration of the Invention
The present invention provides a carrier system in which a carrier command is assigned while a carrier vehicle travels along a predetermined traveling route, wherein a management means for a standby position of the carrier vehicle is provided, and a station or station where an express product is scheduled to be unloaded is provided. The transport vehicle is preferentially placed on standby in the vicinity of the upstream side as a standby position, and the position of the standby position for giving priority to the transport vehicle is changed according to the location of the limited express product. (Claim 1).
[0010]
Preferably, the location of the express item is detected in accordance with a transport request from the production management system to the transport vehicle system (claim 2).
[0011]
Also preferably, a plurality of standby positions are provided along the traveling route, a priority is designated for each standby position, and when an express product is carried in, a nearby station is located at the station to be carried out or at the upstream side thereof. When the priority of the standby position is increased and an express item is carried out, the priority of the standby position having the increased priority is reduced (claim 3).
[0012]
Function and Effect of the Invention
According to the present invention, the transport vehicle is preferentially put on standby by setting the station on which the express delivery is scheduled to be carried out and the upstream side in the traveling route of the transport vehicle near the station as the standby position. Then, the position of the standby position for preferentially waiting the transport vehicle is changed according to the location of the express product.
[0013]
By providing a large number of standby positions, the priority of the standby position at the location of the express product is raised, for example, when the express product is carried out, the priority of the standby position is reduced, and the priority position is changed, so that the transport vehicle can be moved to any standby position. May be controlled. Alternatively, a limited position such as the location of the express product may be set as the standby position, the express product may be designated as the standby position when the express product is carried in, and may be removed from the standby position when the express product is carried out, for example. In this case, for example, it is assumed that the station or the vicinity near the upstream side of the station becomes a standby position due to the transportation of the express product, and the position is no longer the standby position due to the transportation of the express product.
[0014]
The transport vehicles waiting at the standby position can be assigned to transports other than express goods. For this reason, unlike the case where a transport vehicle is pre-assigned to the transfer of an express product and a standby is performed, if another high-priority transport operation occurs, the standby transport vehicle can be allocated in preparation for the express product. There is no sacrifice of transport of non-products. In general, the traveling route is one-way, and if another transport vehicle needs to pass through the position where the transport vehicle is waiting for the transportation of the express product, it will wait at the standby position for the transport of the express product It is also possible to drive out a transporting vehicle that is running and allow other transporting vehicles to travel. For this reason, there is no need to block the traveling route for transporting the express goods. As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to convey an express product while balancing the transport of the express product with other conveyance operations and without blocking the traveling route.
[0015]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the location of the express product is detected in accordance with a transport request from the production management system to the transport vehicle system. For this reason, it is not necessary to exchange additional information for confirming the location of the express product between the production management system and the carrier system. Therefore, system changes when employing the present invention can be minimized.
[0016]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of standby positions are provided along the traveling route, and the priority of the standby position is changed according to the location of the express product. It is possible to reduce the probability that the transport vehicle stands by at the station where the transport vehicle is caused to stand by and the transport of the express product is completed, or at a standby position upstream of the station.
[0017]
【Example】
1 to 5 show a carrier system 2 according to an embodiment. In the embodiment, the overhead traveling vehicle 10 is used as the carrier, but an unmanned guided vehicle or a tracked truck that travels without a track may be used. The carrier system 2 is provided, for example, in a clean room, and the traveling route is one-way, and is divided into a relatively short traveling route 4 and a long traveling route 5. Between the traveling routes 4 and 5, there are automatic warehouses 6 and 8 as buffers for raw materials and work-in-progress, and articles conveyed by the overhead traveling vehicle 10 from the traveling route 5 are temporarily stored in the automatic warehouse 6, for example. Then, it is transported by another overhead traveling vehicle 10 along the traveling route 4, entered into the automatic warehouse 8, and carried out to the traveling route 5. Along the traveling route 5, a number of processing devices 12, stockers 14, 16 and an inspection site 17 are provided.
[0018]
Stations are provided for the processing device 12, the stockers 14, 16 and the inspection site 17, in other words, for each position where the overhead traveling vehicle 10 transfers articles. It is also a standby position. The station is in principle also a standby position, but a station that does not become a standby position may be provided. In a place where the distance between stations is large, a standby position may be provided at a position other than the station. Also, in principle, one station is provided for each of the processing devices 12 and the like. However, two stations are provided for one facility such as the stocker 14 so that the carry-in position and the carry-out position of articles can be adjusted. It may be different. In the embodiment, the express goods are conveyed. Therefore, when the goods are loaded into the facility provided with two or more stations, when the express goods are unloaded from the station, or the vicinity of the upstream standby position. Try to increase priority.
[0019]
The traveling route 4 is such that the overhead traveling vehicle 10 travels in a one-way direction. However, the traveling route 4 is provided with a blind lane section that branches off from the traveling route 4, and the number of the overhead traveling vehicles 10 is limited to one or less in the blind lane section. You may enable it to run in both directions. The traveling route 4 is not limited to a simple loop-shaped route as shown in FIG. 1, but may be a route provided with a bypass or a branch.
[0020]
The distribution CPU 20 is a management CPU (control processing unit) of the carrier system 2. The production CPU 22 is a CPU for managing facilities such as the processing device 12. The production CPU 22 manages the processing device 12, the inspection place 17, and the like, and requests the distribution CPU 20 to transport articles such as semiconductor substrates and liquid crystal substrates. The distribution CPU 20 allocates a transfer command to the overhead traveling vehicle 10 according to a transfer request from the production CPU 22, and transfers the goods from a station for loading articles (station at the From position) to a station for unloading articles (station at the To position). . The transport of express goods is performed for the purpose of transporting prototypes and recovery production for varieties that have a delay in production, especially when transporting prototypes, the transport route may be different from transporting mass-produced products . For example, in the transport of mass-produced products, the final transport location along the traveling route 4 is the automatic warehouse 8, but in the case of a prototype, the prototype is inspected at the inspection place 17 and immediately removed manually.
[0021]
FIG. 2 shows an express delivery request 26 and a change in priority of a standby position (station or the like) accompanying the request 26. Reference numeral 24 denotes a production LAN. The production CPU 22 communicates with the processing device 12 and the like via the production LAN 24, and transmits a transport request 26 to the distribution CPU 20. The production CPU 22 and the distribution CPU 20 may be physically provided in the same computer. Even in such a case, since the contents of the processes to be processed are different, these can be regarded as substantially two CPUs 20 and 22. The transfer request 26 describes a station (From data) to start the transfer, a transfer destination station (To data), an ID of the transfer request, an ID of a transfer article, and the like. The flag is described. In the embodiment, for example, 2 bits are assigned as a flag of an express product, the first bit is a bit indicating that the product is an express product, and the next 1 bit is that the station at the To position in the transfer request is the final transfer location. Is a bit that indicates 28 is a transport report from the physical distribution CPU 20 to the production CPU 22.
[0022]
The distribution CPU 20 is provided with a priority management unit 30, and an express item check unit 32 in the priority management unit 30 checks a flag in the received transport request 26 to detect whether or not the item is an express item. Check if the destination is the final destination. That is, if the next transport destination is the final transport destination, there is no need to consider further transport of express goods. Further, the standby management unit 36 stores the position of the standby position, its priority, and the presence or absence of the overhead traveling vehicle 10 in standby, for example, in the form of a map along the traveling route 4.
[0023]
Upon receiving the transport request 26, the physical distribution CPU 20 allocates a transport command to the overhead traveling vehicle 10 via the physical distribution LAN 38. In the assignment of the transfer command, the transfer command is assigned to the overhead traveling vehicle waiting at the station at the From position or the overhead traveling vehicle waiting at the upstream side thereof, using the data of the standby management unit 36. . By the way, in the case of transporting the express goods, the express goods must have already been transported to the station where the loading is to be performed (the station at the From position) in the operation other than the unloading from the automatic warehouse 6. If there are two or more stations in one processing apparatus, etc., the express goods should have been delivered to the station at the From position. Should be known.
[0024]
In the embodiment, since the priority of the standby position is increased with respect to the station to which the express product is delivered (the station to which the express position has been brought to the To position by the transfer command), the overhead transport vehicle is already provided at the station to which the express product is carried out. Is often waiting. In such a case, the transfer command can be immediately assigned to the waiting overhead traveling vehicle. Also, when an overhead traveling vehicle is waiting at a station slightly upstream of the station in question for transporting express goods, the waiting overhead traveling vehicle may be traveled similarly to the station at the From position. . In addition, the express goods may be carried out of the automatic warehouse 6 for the first time. In preparation for such a case, the station facing the automatic warehouse 6 which is the starting point of the traveling route 4 has a high priority as a standby position. In addition to the above, the processing of the express goods may be started from the processing device 12 or the inspection place 17 instead of the automatic warehouse 6. In such a case, preferably, the production CPU 22 notifies the distribution CPU 20 that there is an express product in the processing device 12 or the like at a timing before the request for transporting the express product. The priority of a standby position, such as a nearby upstream side, is increased.
[0025]
As described above, the waiting overhead traveling vehicle is assigned to the transport of the express product, and the transport of the express product is started. Accordingly, the location of the express product changes from the station to the overhead traveling vehicle, so that the priority of the station waiting for the transport of the express product and the standby position near the upstream side is reduced. When the express product is unloaded to the next station, the priority of the standby position of the station is increased, or the priority of the standby position slightly upstream of the station is increased. The priority change of the standby position is performed by the priority changing unit 34, whereby the map of the position of the standby position and the traveling route 4 with the priority stored in the standby management unit 36 is constantly updated.
[0026]
The standby management unit 36 stores the position and priority of each standby position, and the presence or absence of an overhead traveling vehicle waiting at the standby position. The determination of the standby position is performed by the logistics CPU 20 and the overhead traveling vehicle 10, and the overhead traveling vehicle 10 waits preferentially from the standby position with a higher priority. The overhead traveling vehicle 10 preferentially waits at the station or a nearby upstream location.
[0027]
FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the transfer request 26 and the change in the priority of the standby position. The limited express check unit 32 checks a flag in the transport request 26 to detect whether the transport is an express or not and checks whether the next transport destination is at the final position. In the case of the final position, the process of increasing the priority for the next transfer destination station or the like is omitted. A transfer command is assigned to the overhead traveling vehicle 10 by the distribution CPU, and when the report of the transfer is made, the priority for the station at the From position is lowered, and the priority for the station at the To position is raised. I do. The priority level is, for example, about 2 to 16, preferably about 4 to 8, and the station facing the automatic warehouse 6 or the station where the express product is located is, for example, the highest priority standby position, and the express product is The carried-out station is set to the normal priority (for example, the lowest priority in 4 to 8 levels or the second priority from the bottom).
[0028]
If the number of standby positions is sufficiently larger than the number of overhead traveling vehicles, for example, five times or more, the priority is returned to the normal level, and the standby positions with higher priority exist for the number of overhead traveling vehicles. Then, the overhead traveling vehicle hardly waits at the normal priority station. Therefore, even if the priority of the standby position where the express product is located is increased and the priority of the position is lowered when the express product is carried out, the location of the express product is designated as the standby position, and when the express product is carried out, If the position is treated as being out of the standby position, there is not much difference in the result. The difference is that it is easier to control the standby position only by managing the priority than to add / delete the standby position one by one and notify the overhead traveling vehicle of the position or the like.
[0029]
FIG. 4 schematically shows how the position of a standby position (in this case, a station) having a high priority changes in the process of transporting the express goods from the automatic warehouse 6 to the automatic warehouse 8. For example, when an express product is present in the processing device 12-1, the priority of the station 1 is increased. When the express product is carried from the station 1 to, for example, the station 4, the priority of the station 1 is reduced and the priority of the station 4 is reduced. Increase the degree.
[0030]
FIG. 5 shows an operation algorithm of the embodiment. Check whether the transfer request is a transfer request for an express delivery item and check whether the transfer is to the final position. If the express item is conveyed to a position other than the final position, the priority of the station at the From position is reduced, and the priority of the station at the To position is increased. In the case of transporting the express goods to the final position, the priority of the station at the From position is reduced. The overhead traveling vehicles are deployed according to the priority of each station.
[0031]
As described above, in the embodiment, the request to quickly carry the express product and to reduce the waiting time even when transporting other than the express product is made to wait for the station where the express product is to be carried out or a nearby standby at the upstream side thereof. This is achieved by increasing the priority of the position. An overhead traveling vehicle that stands by at a standby position with an increased priority can be assigned to another transfer operation, so that another transfer operation is not sacrificed during the standby time. In addition, the traveling of the subsequent overhead traveling vehicle is not hindered by the waiting overhead traveling vehicle.
[0032]
The location of the express product is detected by using the To data in the transport request and the flag relating to the express product. Since these are data originally required for transporting the express product, the distribution CPU additionally obtains from the production CPU. No information needed. In other words, it is possible to preferentially deploy the overhead traveling vehicle at the location of the limited express product without changing the processing on the production CPU side only by changing the processing on the distribution CPU side.
[0033]
Although the automatic warehouses 6 and 8 are arranged between the traveling routes 4 and 5 in the embodiment, the traveling route in the process and the traveling route between the processes are connected by a branch or the like, and the overhead traveling vehicle 10 can travel on both of them. You may do it. FIG. 6 shows such an example, wherein 42 is a new carrier system, 13 is a new processing device, 44 and 44 ′ are in-process traveling routes, 45 is a basic traveling route between processes, 46 is a branching device, and 47 is a bypass for traveling in a direction opposite to the traveling route 45.
[0034]
In the case of the transportation vehicle system 42, the priority of the station that has brought in the express goods or the station that has carried out the goods that have been carried into this station as the standby position is increased. Then, when articles are carried out from these stations, the priority as the standby position is reduced to the value before the express goods are carried in. In other respects, similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 5, when an express item is carried into a certain station, the priority of the standby position nearer to the upstream of the station is increased, and after the articles are carried out, the priority of the standby position is increased. The priority may be lowered.
[0035]
In the embodiment, as soon as an express product is carried into the processing device, the position and the vicinity on the upstream side are set to the standby position with high priority, but the outline of the processing time in each processing device is known to the distribution CPU. In this case, a value of about 70% of the predicted processing time may be stored in a table or the like, and the priority may be increased after the lapse of this time.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a layout of a carrier system according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the transfer of express goods and a change in the priority of a standby position in the embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the change of the priority using the transfer request. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the movement of the high-priority standby position accompanying the transfer of the express goods in the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an algorithm for priority management of a standby position in the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a layout of a carrier system according to a modified example.
42,2 Car carrier system 4,5 Travel route 6,8 Automated warehouse 10 Overhead traveling vehicle 12,13 Processing device 14,16 Stocker 17 Inspection place 20 Distribution CPU
22 Production CPU
24 Production LAN
26 Transport request 28 Transport report 30 Priority management unit 32 Express goods check unit 34 Priority change unit 36 Standby management unit 38 Distribution LAN
44,44 'running route 45 running route 46 branching device 47,47' bypass route

Claims (3)

In a carrier system in which a carrier command is assigned while traveling the carrier along a predetermined traveling route,
A means for managing the standby position of the transport vehicle is provided, and the transport vehicle is preferentially placed on standby by setting the station where the express delivery is scheduled to be carried out or near the upstream thereof as a standby position, and according to the location of the express transport, Wherein the position of a standby position for giving priority to standby is changed. 2. The carrier system according to claim 1, wherein the location of the express product is detected according to a request for transporting the express product from the production management system to the carrier system. A plurality of standby positions are provided along the traveling route, priority is specified for each standby position, and when an express item is carried in, priority is given to the station to be carried out or the nearby standby position at the upstream side thereof. 3. The carrier system according to claim 1, wherein when the emergency goods are carried out, the priority of the standby position having the increased priority is reduced.

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