JP2007008681A - Movable rack device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a movable rack device of simple structure restricted in increase of costs and capable of preventing bias feeding as well or better than a current one. <P>SOLUTION: This movable rack device is provided with a plurality of racks 2 and an electric motor 5 for moving these racks 2, and an access passage S is selectively formed between desirable racks 2 and 2 by moving the racks 2 with power of the electric motor 5. A limit switch mechanism 9 for detecting abutment of a moving rack 2 on a static rack 2 and a control panel 8 for controlling to stop the electric motor on the basis of a detecting signal from the limit switch mechanism 9 are provided. Push time τ as a delay time is set in the control panel during the time after the detecting signal S2 is input from the limit switch mechanism 9 till drive of the electric motor 5 is stopped. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile rack apparatus suitably used in a library, a warehouse, or the like.

As this type of movable rack device, a plurality of racks are supported on a rail in a guideable manner, and the rack is moved along the rails so that a path in a direction perpendicular to the rails can be formed between arbitrary racks. The composition is known. That is, in this case, a shelf or the like is provided at a position where it can be taken in and out from the end surface in the movement direction of the rack, the user moves the rack as necessary, and a space between the racks is formed through a passage formed between adjacent racks. By entering, articles can be taken in and out of a desired shelf.

By the way, as one of the support structures of the rack, there can be mentioned a structure in which a plurality of wheels are arranged at the bottom part so as to be separated from each other in the moving direction, and these wheels are guided by a rail. In this case, due to the clearance between the wheel and the rail, the deviation of the loaded weight, or the like, a so-called skewed state in which the rack moves while tilting from the original posture with respect to the rail may occur. In particular, in the case of a large specification in which the depth dimension perpendicular to the rail is much larger than the width dimension along the rail of the rack, the positional deviation in the depth direction with respect to the angle during skew is extremely large. Even if the adjacent racks are brought into contact with each other or brought close to each other, the racks are likely to come into contact with each other, and a situation where a sufficient passage cannot be ensured in a truly necessary portion is likely to occur.

Such a problem also applies to the electric type. When configuring an electric rack, a limit switch mechanism consisting of a limit and a limit receiver is provided between the racks, and the electric motor power is cut off at the moment when the limit of the moving rack comes into contact with the limit receiver of the stationary rack. Typically, the rack is stopped at that position. Since such limit switch mechanisms are arranged in pairs in the depth direction, and power supply is stopped based on the limit switch mechanism that has been activated first, the rack is not connected to the rail when the limit switch mechanism is activated. If the rack is slanted, the rack stops in a slanted state. And when driven again, especially in the case of the electric type, the driving force is large, so that the driving is continued even in an inclined state, which easily leads to damage such as scraping of the rail.

As a countermeasure against such a problem, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, an arm extending outward from the end surface in the moving direction of the rack is fixed to the rack so as not to interfere with other racks. In order to prevent the skew of the rack, an extension end of the arm is guided by a rail or the like so that the skew can be sticked.
JP 2000-37238 A

However, when such an arm is employed, the number of parts, assembly, and construction man-hours increase, and thus there is a problem that labor and cost increase.

On the other hand, in the electric type, the wheels are separated from each other in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction, and an electric motor is attached to each wheel so that it can be independently driven, while a sensor for detecting the position of the traveling rack is provided. A configuration is also conceivable in which the speed of the two motors is adjusted based on the detected value to operate while feedback is applied so as not to skew. However, since this would complicate the drive system including the electric motor and the control system including the sensors, an increase in man-hours and costs is inevitable.

The present invention has been made paying attention to such a problem, and particularly paying attention to the configuration of the electric rack device, so that it is possible to easily take a skew prevention measure by making good use of the inherent component parts. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful mobile rack apparatus.

  In order to achieve this object, the present invention takes the following measures.

  That is, the mobile rack device of the present invention includes a plurality of racks and a drive source for moving these racks, and the access path is selected between desired racks by moving the racks by the power of the drive source. In this configuration, detection means for detecting that the moving rack has come into contact with the stationary rack, and control for stopping the drive source based on the detection signal from the detection means. The control means is provided, and the control means is characterized in that a push-in time, which is a delay time from when the detection signal is input from the detection means to when the drive to the drive source is stopped, is set. Note that this pushing time is different from the dead time that inevitably occurs on the basis of a so-called delay element in terms of control.

  With this configuration, the drive source is continuously driven during the push-in time, so that the moving rack is pressed against the stationary rack, and as a result, the posture stops on the stationary rack and stops. Can be made. And since the electric rack is inherently equipped with a control means for controlling the drive motor, the present invention automatically corrects the skew while traveling by performing only a few additional corrections to a part of the conventional program. It is possible to easily give the function to do.

  In order to perform such detection accurately, the detection means detects at least two rack contact points in the vicinity of both end portions in the depth direction perpendicular to the moving direction, and the control means outputs a detection signal that is input first. It is desirable to start counting the indentation time based on this.

In order to ensure the prevention of skew, it is preferable to provide a reference abutting portion for abutting the rack with a spread in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction on at least one end side of the rack moving direction.

In order to reliably maintain the effect of the skew correction, it is effective to give a predetermined brake resistance to the drive source in addition to the inherent drive resistance.

In order to prevent the torsion of the axle from causing the skew in the rack having a pair of wheels spaced apart in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction, the rack of the drive shaft that supports each drive wheel is provided. It is desirable to divide the structure.

  Since the present invention has the configuration described above, it is possible to provide an excellent mobile rack device that has a structure that is simple and causes little cost increase, and that has an effect of preventing skewing equivalent to or higher than that of the conventional art. It becomes.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The movable rack apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is used as a library or a warehouse. A plurality of racks 2 are arranged on rails R laid on the floor, and these racks 2 can be moved along the rails R. It is what.

Each rack 2 is composed of a carriage 3 and a main body portion 4 mounted on the carriage 3. The carriage 3 is constructed by assembling a pair of inwardly U-shaped longitudinal bottom frame members 30 and short-side bottom frame members 31 into a frame shape, and appropriately reinforcing the portions with reinforcing frame members 32 at both ends in the moving direction. The paired wheels 60 and 61 are assembled. And the support | pillar insertion hole 33 which makes a planar view rectangular shape is provided in the upper surface several places of this trolley | bogie 3. As shown in FIG. On the other hand, the main body 4 includes a column 40 that is erected by inserting a lower end into the column insertion hole 33, left and right side plate units 41 provided in the short direction of the carriage 3, and upper ends of the column 40 and the side plate unit 41. And a top plate 42 provided in the section, and a shelf plate 43 is bridged at an appropriate position. In this embodiment, the racks 2 (T) located at both ends in the movement direction are fixed in this embodiment, and the shelf space is opened only on one side, while the other racks 2 are in the movement direction. Shelf space is opened on both end sides. The rack 2 located at the lower left is disposed adjacent to a wall or the like (not shown).

In order to drive such a rack 2, the present embodiment incorporates a drive system including an electric motor 5 into the carriage 3, and the operation unit 7 and the control panel on the side plate portion 41 to drive the electric motor 5. 8 is provided, and power is supplied from the control panel 8 to the required rack 2 in accordance with the operation applied to the operation unit 7, so that it can be self-propelled to form an access path S between the desired racks 2 and 2. Trying to get.

The electric motor 5 is configured such that a friction generating member such as a pad is pressed against an appropriate rotation portion in addition to the inherent driving resistance and is driven under a predetermined brake resistance. Are attached symmetrically to a pair of left and right mounting members 32b provided in parallel.

The wheels 60 and 61 are positioned in the wheel housing holes of the mounting member 32a provided in parallel to the reinforcing member 32 together with the mounting member 32b, and one of the wheels 60 serving as a driving wheel is transmitted with the power of the electric motor 5. The other wheel 61 that is directly driven and is a driven wheel is configured to follow the wheel 60. Specifically, a drive shaft 60a is rotatably supported between the reinforcing members 32a and 32a, and the wheels 60 are pivotally attached in the vicinity of both ends of the drive shaft 60a. The output of the electric motor 5 can be evenly transmitted to two locations of the drive shaft 60a via a transmission mechanism 62 including a gear train or the like. The wheels 61 are supported by the respective attachment members 32a so as to be individually rotatable via shaft portions 61a.

The operation unit 7 is provided on the side plate portion 41 of each rack 2 and includes an operation switch for moving each rack 2 forward and backward along the rail R. When an input operation is performed on the operation unit 7, an operation signal S1 (see FIG. 6) is input to the control panel 8.

Based on the operation signal S1 from the operation unit 7, the control panel 8 is configured to be able to feed the corresponding electric motor 5 for normal rotation or reverse rotation. In particular, in this embodiment, a pair of limit switch mechanisms 9 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 are provided as detection means at a position for detecting that the moving rack 2 is in contact with the stationary rack 2, The control panel 8 is controlled to stop the electric motor 5 based on the detection signal S2 from the limit switch mechanism 9.

The limit switch mechanism 9 includes a stepped pin-shaped limit 91 provided on the outer surface of the bottom frame member 30 located on one end side in the movement direction of the rack 2 and the bottom frame member 30 located on the other end side in the movement direction of the rack 2. And a limit receiver 92 configured to be able to immerse the pressure receiver 92a in the case 92b against the elastic force when receiving an external force. The switch is turned on when it is received in the case 92b to a predetermined depth, and the detection signal S2 (see FIG. 6) is input to the control panel 8. The limit 91 and the limit receiver 92 are slightly protruded from the end surface of the rack 2 in the moving direction, and the limit 91 and the limit receiver 92 are placed between the bottom frame members 30 and 30 with the racks 2 and 2 in contact with each other. A predetermined gap is maintained through the.

On the other hand, the control panel 8 controls the start of the electric motor 5 as described above, and also functions as the control means of the present invention to control the stop thereof. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the CPU 81a, the memory 81b, and the input / output An ordinary microcomputer unit 81 having interfaces 81c and 81d is mainly used, and at least a program for turning on / off driving of the electric motor 5 is stored in the memory 81b. Then, the CPU 81a reads and executes the program as appropriate, and accepts an operation signal S1 from the operation unit 7 and a detection signal S2 from the limit switch mechanism 9 as shown in FIG. 7 in cooperation with peripheral hardware resources. 82a, a timer unit 82b that starts counting when the detection signal S2 is input and returns a value indicating that when the predetermined count is completed, and receives the input of the operation signal S1 to supply power to the electric motor 5 The timer unit 82b starts and plays a role of a power supply control unit 82c that stops power supply when a count end value is returned. The time counted by the timer unit 82b is the pushing time τ which is the delay time of the present invention, and the pushing time τ in this embodiment is set to 0.2 seconds.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an outline of the program.

First, when the operation section 7 is operated to open the access passage S, and the reception section 82a receives the operation signal S1 (ST1), the power supply control section 82c activates both the electric motors 5 by power supply to correspond to the rack 2. Move in the direction (ST2). Then, it waits for the input of the detection signal S2 from the limit switch mechanism 9 provided at two positions in the depth direction of the rack 2 (ST3). When the detection signal S2 is first input from any one of the limit switch mechanisms 9, the timer unit 82b is activated to start counting the pushing time τ (ST4). The power supply controller 82c waits for the timer 82b to finish counting (ST5), and during this time, the rack 2 continues to be driven. And when the timer part 82b complete | finishes a count, the electric power feeding control part 82c interrupts | blocks electric power feeding and stops both the electric motors 5 (ST6).

Since the movable rack apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above continues to drive the electric motor 5 during the push-in time τ, the moving rack 2 (D) as shown in FIG. ) Approaches the rack 2 (S) that is stationary in the skew state, and the limit switch mechanism 9 operates even after one of the limit switch mechanisms 9 operates as shown in FIG. The wheels 60 and 61 located in the vicinity of the non-side end portion continue to move during the push-in time τ by driving the electric motor 5, and the end portion is pressed against the corresponding end portion of the rack 2 that is stationary. As a result, the limits 91 and limit receivers 92 of the limit switch mechanism 9 provided at two positions in the depth direction come into contact with each other, so that the racks 2 and 2 come into contact with each other as shown in FIG. The drive to the motor 5 is stopped. In this way, since the entire rack 2 (D) that has moved is positioned in parallel with the rack 2 (S) that is stationary, the access path S can be appropriately secured, By forcibly driving 2, it is possible to prevent the rail R from being scraped and to effectively improve the durability.

In addition, if this type of mobile rack device is an electric type, the control panel 8 for controlling the electric motor 5 as described above should be originally provided, and the limit switch mechanism 9 is also provided between the racks 2 and 2. In view of the fact that this is a necessary component for immediately shutting off the power supply to the electric motor 5 when the contact is made, this embodiment controls the control panel 8 of the conventional electric mobile rack device. The control function of the present invention can be configured simply by incorporating a new program into a part of the program or modifying a part of an existing program, and bringing in new members such as an arm or a complicated control system. This makes it unnecessary to easily realize the function of the control means of the present invention with little cost.

Further, the two limit switch mechanisms 9 serving as detection means detect the contact of the racks 2 and 2 at two points in the vicinity of both ends in the depth direction orthogonal to the moving direction, and the timer unit 82b of the control panel 8 inputs first. Since the push-in time τ starts to be counted based on the detected signal, the skew 2 is accurately detected even if the rack 2 is skewed in any direction, and the skew correction is reliably performed. It becomes possible.

In particular, in this embodiment, the rack 2 (T) located at the end in the moving direction is fixed, and this rack 2 (T) can function as the reference contact portion of the present invention. While repeating the operation, the rack 2 (T) positioned at the end naturally follows the posture, and when stopped, all the racks 2 can take a proper posture in which the depth direction is orthogonal to the rail R.

And since the electric motor 5 of the present embodiment is provided with a predetermined brake resistance in addition to the inherent drive resistance, the self-lock function works when stopped, and the effect of skew correction is reliably maintained. Become. In this embodiment, a pair of electric motors 5 are provided, but the control system is not complicated because only simple control is performed to stop both electric motors after the pushing time τ has elapsed. .

The specific configuration of each unit is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, it may be desirable to change the push-in time τ depending on the size of the rack and the weight of the load, but if it is still in the range of 0.2 second to 0.4 second, it will have an appropriate effect on most mobile rack equipment. The inventor has confirmed that is obtained.

In addition, even if the rack 2 (T) at the end is movable, the rack 2 (T) is stopped at a predetermined position in the vicinity of the end of the rail R in order to achieve the effects of the present invention. For example, a vehicle abutment or other reference contact portion may be provided, and the reference contact portion may be configured to act as a contact surface orthogonal to the rail R.

Furthermore, when the rack has a pair of drive wheels that are spaced apart in the direction perpendicular to the moving direction, the axle is twisted when stopped, which may cause skew again, but this is prevented. In order to achieve this, it is desirable to divide the space between the drive shafts 60a that support the drive wheels 60, 60. In this way, twists are not accumulated, and it is possible to eliminate the need to use a thick axle to prevent twists.

Further, in the above embodiment, the rack 2 is provided on the rail R provided on the floor so as to be movable by the wheels 6, but the ceiling rail provided on the ceiling is provided with wheels capable of traveling in the ceiling rail and suspended downward. The rack may be movable by a suspension body provided as described above.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the operation unit 7 is provided on the side plate portion 41 of each rack 2, but it is concentrated on the side plate portion 41 of one rack 2 or the wall surface of the room where the movable rack apparatus 1 is installed. It does not prevent it.

In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, such as providing one electric motor.

The perspective view which shows one Embodiment of this invention. The top view which shows the trolley | bogie of the embodiment. AA sectional view taken on the line in FIG. The perspective view of the cart. The schematic diagram which shows the structure of the limit switch mechanism of the embodiment. The figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the control means of the embodiment. The figure which shows the function structure of the control means of the embodiment. The flowchart which shows the outline | summary of the motor control program in the embodiment. Action | operation explanatory drawing of the same embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

2 ... Rack 2 (D) ... Moving rack 2 (S) ... Stationary rack 2 (T) ... Fixed rack (reference contact portion)
5 ... Drive source (electric motor)
8. Control means (control panel)
9 ... Detection means (limit switch mechanism)
60 ... wheel S ... access path S2 ... detection signal τ ... push-in time

Claims (5)

A movable rack comprising a plurality of racks and a drive source for moving these racks, and the power of the drive source allows the racks to be moved to selectively form an access path between desired racks In the device
Detection means for detecting that the moving rack has come into contact with the stationary rack, and control means for performing control to stop the drive source based on a detection signal from the detection means are provided. A moving rack apparatus characterized in that a push-in time, which is a delay time, is set after the detection signal is input from the detection means until the drive to the drive source is stopped. The detection means detects the rack contact at two points at least in the vicinity of both ends in the depth direction orthogonal to the moving direction, and the control means starts counting the push-in time based on the detection signal input first. The mobile rack device according to claim 1. The movable rack apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a reference abutting portion is provided on at least one end side of the rack moving direction so as to contact the rack with a spread in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction. The movable rack apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined brake resistance is given to the drive source in addition to the inherent drive resistance. The movable rack apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rack includes a pair of drive wheels that are spaced apart from each other in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction, and the drive shafts that support the drive wheels are separated from each other. .

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