JP2005029366A - Steady structure of flexible cable - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a steady structure of a flexible cable capable of being installed without applying labor required by mast itself to regulate bending and swing of the cable at very low cost. <P>SOLUTION: This steady structure of the flexible cable is constituted in such a way that a section from one end 3 to a halfway part 7 of the flexible cable 6 is positioned along a mast 2, the halfway part 7 of the flexible cable 6 is folded back downward to loosen a section 74 from the halfway part 7 to the other end 4 of the flexible cable 6, and a plurality of magnets 8 are arranged in a part where the section 37 from one end 3 to the halfway part 7 of the flexible cable 6 and the section 74 from the halfway part 7 to the other end 4 of the flexible cable 6 are mutually folded and overlapped. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a steadying of a flexible cable that connects a mast of a stacker crane and an elevating carriage that moves up and down along the mast and transmits electric power or signals between them.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a stacker crane that moves a lifting carriage up and down along an upright mast, it is well known that a terminal plate of the mast and the lifting carriage are connected via a bendable cable. When the stacker crane travels, if the cable is bent or shakes carelessly, a problem occurs such that the cable is caught on a rack shelf arranged in the vicinity of the stacker crane.

Therefore, the cable is bent and shaken by inserting the cable through the cable bear. Further, as disclosed in the following patent document, a cable is provided on the mast together with the cable bear by providing a magnet on the cable bear and arranging another magnet that can attract the magnet of the cable bear at an appropriate position of the mast. Attempts are always made to attract.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-215412

  However, the height of the mast often reaches 20 m or more, and the work of pulling out a long cable from the inside of the cable track is extremely large when repairing or performing maintenance work on the stacker crane or disassembling accompanying cleaning. Further, the cost increases unnecessarily as the overall length of the cable bear becomes longer.

  Further, in the example described in the above patent document, since a magnet cannot be directly provided on the outer surface of the mast that plays a role of guiding the carriage, a plurality of stays or the like extending to the side of the mast are provided, A magnet must be attached to each stay. Accordingly, the manufacturing cost of the entire stacker crane is greatly increased, and if a magnet is to be attached to the mast of an existing stacker crane, a large number of parts must be added to the mast with a lot of labor.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a flexible cable bracing structure that can be installed without any changes to the mast itself and that can reliably regulate the bending and deflection of the cable at an extremely low cost.

  The present invention provides a flexible cable in which one end is extended below a mast of a stacker crane and the other end is connected to an elevating carriage guided by the mast. The flexible cable is folded halfway down to loosen from the middle of the flexible cable to the other end, the section from one end to the middle of the flexible cable, and the other from the middle It is characterized in that magnets are respectively arranged in portions where the section to the end overlaps each other.

  Furthermore, the flexible cable bracing structure according to the present invention is characterized in that the magnet is a rubber magnet. Moreover, you may make it adhere | attach the said magnet to the coating | covering material of the said flexible cable.

  According to the flexible cable bracing structure of the present invention, the flexible cable is positioned from one end to the middle along the mast, the middle of the flexible cable is folded downward, and the other from the middle of the flexible cable. Since it is slackened to the end, the section from the middle of the flexible cable to the other end is always suspended in the air except when the lifting carriage is located near the upper limit of the mast. And as the lifting carriage descends, the slack of the flexible cable from the middle to the other end of the flexible cable increases, so there is a section from one end to the middle of the flexible cable and a section from the middle to the other end. The number of parts that overlap each other also increases.

  Thereby, the section from the middle to the other end of the flexible cable is drawn to the section from one end to the middle of the flexible cable positioned along the mast by the mutual attractive force of the magnets arranged in each section. Therefore, even if the inertia force generated by repeated running or stopping of the stacker crane is applied to the flexible cable, the flexible cable is not greatly bent or shaken. For example, it is possible to prevent problems such as being caught in a rack shelf or the like disposed in the vicinity.

  In addition, since the cable bearer is unnecessary in the configuration of the present invention, no increase in the manufacturing cost due to the lengthening of the cable bear accompanying the extension of the flexible cable occurs regardless of the specification or scale of the stacker crane. Also. When repairing or performing maintenance work for the stacker crane or disassembly for cleaning, it is possible to avoid conventional work such as extracting a long flexible cable from the cable carrier. Further, since it is not necessary to add a magnet or the like to the mast that plays a role of guiding the carriage, the manufacturing cost can be further reduced as compared with the conventional structure using the cable bear.

  Furthermore, according to the bracing structure of the flexible cable according to the present invention, since the magnet is made of a rubber magnet that can be freely deformed, such as bent, twisted, or curved along with the flexible cable, the shape of the rubber magnet, Regardless of the dimensions or the arrangement to attach to the flexible cable, free deformation of the flexible cable is not prevented.

  Further, since the rubber magnet is lighter than a magnet made of a metal lump, the weight of the entire flexible cable hardly increases even if the rubber magnet is attached. For this reason, the elevating carriage repeats elevating operation for many years, but there is an advantage that it does not require a great energy loss.

  Furthermore, according to the bracing structure of the flexible cable according to the present invention, since the magnet is configured to adhere to the covering material of the flexible cable, when applying the bracing structure to an existing stacker crane, If the existing stacker crane is positioned along the mast from one end of the flexible cable to the middle, and the flexible cable is routed (wired) so that the middle of the flexible cable is folded downward, A magnet or a rubber magnet is simply bonded to each of the sections where the section from one end to the middle of the flexible cable and the section from the middle to the other end of the flexible cable overlap each other using, for example, an adhesive tape. Only by this, the remarkable effects of the present invention described above can be achieved.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a flexible cable 6 in which one end 3 extends below a mast 2 of a stacker crane 1 and the other end 4 is connected to a lifting carriage 5 guided by the mast 2. This relates to the anti-sway structure.

  The bracing structure is positioned along the mast 2 from one end 3 to the middle 7 of the flexible cable 6, and the middle portion 7 of the flexible cable 6 is folded downward and the other end from the middle 7 to the other end of the flexible cable 6. 4 are loosened, and a plurality of magnets 8 are respectively attached to portions where the section 37 from one end 3 to the middle 7 of the flexible cable 6 and the section 74 from the middle 7 to the other end 4 are folded together. It is arranged.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the stacker crane 1 raises a pair of masts 2 from a chassis 12 that slidably engages one rail 11 laid between two rows of rack shelves 10. The lift carriage 5 is supported by 2 so as to be lifted and lowered. Since the technology related to the chassis 12 is well known, detailed description and illustration are omitted, but the chassis 12 presses the tread surface of the wheel 13 against the rail 11 and drives the wheel 13 with an electric motor or the like on the rail 11. Can be self-propelled. A control device 15 having a control panel 14 disposed on the front surface is mounted on one end side of the chassis 12.

  The control device 15 transmits electric power or signals to the elevating carriage 5 via the flexible cable 6 in addition to electrical signals that command running, stopping, acceleration / deceleration, etc. of the chassis 12 according to a program or the like. The elevating carriage 5 projects a plurality of rollers not shown in the figure from both ends of the main frame 50 and sandwiches each mast 2 by the plurality of rollers. The frame 50 is suspended from a checker such as a chain not shown in the figure. By driving or stopping this checker in the vertical direction with an electric motor or the like mounted on the chassis 12, the entire lifting carriage 5 is raised or lowered along the mast 2 or arbitrarily stopped in the middle of the mast 2 in the vertical direction. It is done. Although not shown, the elevating carriage 5 is provided with a cargo handling fork capable of moving forward and backward in and out of the rack shelf 10.

  The flexible cable 6 is formed by bundling a plurality of electric wires that transmit power or signals and molding them with a synthetic resin such as vinyl chloride. As a shape of the popular type flexible cable 6, there is a belt-like one having a rectangular or oval cross section. One end 3 of the flexible cable 6 is detachably connected to the control device 15 via a plug / socket or the like, or is screwed to a terminal plate of the control device 15. The section 37 of the flexible cable 6 does not necessarily need to be closely and firmly coupled to the mast 2, and the entire flexible cable 6 can easily be subjected to inertial force caused by repeated running or stopping of the chassis 12. It is only necessary to fix the appropriate position of the flexible cable 6 to such an extent that it does not move.

  The middle portion 7 of the flexible cable 6 is fixed to the mast 2 by a clamp 16 in the vicinity thereof. The height of the clamp 16 substantially coincides with the midpoint of the stroke in which the lifting carriage 5 moves up and down from the lower limit to the upper limit of the mast 2. On the other hand, since the height of the other end 4 of the flexible cable 6 changes up and down as the elevator carriage 5 moves up and down, the section 74 of the flexible cable 6 is set longer than the changing distance. As shown in FIG. 3, the clamp 16 allows the flexible cable 6 to pass through the mast 2 by inserting the flexible cable 6 into the inside of the gate-shaped bracket and fixing both legs to the outer surface of the mast 2 with bolts 17. It is fixed along the line.

  When the lifting carriage 5 is positioned near the upper limit of the mast 2, the section 74 of the flexible cable 6 is pulled upward halfway 7 by the lifting carriage 5, but the section 74 of the flexible cable 6 is lowered as the lifting carriage 5 is lowered. As shown in FIG. 1, the section 37 and the section 74 of the flexible cable 6 are folded and overlapped with each other. Such slack in the section 74 is further increased when the elevating carriage 5 is lowered below the middle 7 of the flexible cable 6.

  In this state, the section 37 of the flexible cable 6 is attracted to the section positioned on the mast 2 by the mutual attractive force of the magnets 8 arranged in the sections 37 and 74, so that the inertial force is applied to the flexible cable. Even if the section 74 of 6 is applied violently, the flexible cable 6 is not greatly bent or shaken, and problems such as the flexible cable 6 being caught on the rack shelf 10 can be prevented. .

  The shape, size, number, etc. of the magnet 8 are not limited at all, but when a material that cannot be easily deformed, such as a thin metal plate, is applied, as shown in FIG. It is desirable to divide the cable in many directions so as not to hinder the bending of the flexible cable 6. Alternatively, when a sheet-like magnet such as a rubber magnet is applied as the magnet 8, the above-described division is not necessary. For example, a long belt-like rubber magnet may be bonded along the longitudinal direction of the flexible cable 6.

  It should be noted that the present invention can be implemented in a mode in which various improvements, modifications, and variations are added based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the means for adhering the magnet 8 to the covering material 60 of the flexible cable 6 is not limited to adhesion using an adhesive, but an adhesive tape is used, the magnet 8 is thermally welded to the covering material 60, or the magnet The covering material 60 may be molded by using 8 as an insert.

  Further, in the usage example of the clamp 16 shown in FIG. 3, the belt-like flexible cable 6 extending upward of the clamp 16 is turned downward while twisting 90 degrees, and these are bundled by the clamp 16. As shown, the belt-like flexible cable 6 may be simply curved in the thickness direction.

The side view which shows the side view of the stacker crane which applied the bracing structure of the flexible cable which concerns on embodiment of this invention, and the principal part. 1 is a front view of a stacker crane to which a flexible cable bracing structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The front view of the folding | returning part (midway) of the flexible cable employ | adopted for the bracing structure of the flexible cable which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The side view which shows the modification of the folding | turning part (middle) of the flexible cable employ | adopted as the bracing structure of the flexible cable which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: Stacker crane 2: Mast 3: One end 4: The other end 5: Lifting carriage 6: Flexible cable 7: On the way 8: Magnet 16: Flexible cable 17: Bolt 37: Section 60: Covering material 74: Section

Claims (3)

In a flexible cable that extends one end below the mast of the stacker crane and connects the other end to a lifting carriage guided by the mast,
Position the flexible cable from one end to the middle along the mast, fold the middle of the flexible cable downward, loosen from the middle of the flexible cable to the other end, and A flexible cable bracing structure, wherein magnets are arranged in portions where a section from one end to the middle of the flexible cable and a section from the middle to the other end of the flexible cable overlap each other.   2. The flexible cable bracing structure according to claim 1, wherein the magnet is a rubber magnet.   3. The flexible cable bracing structure according to claim 1, wherein the magnet is adhered to a covering material of the flexible cable.

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