JP2007203855A - Traveller carriage - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a travelling carriage improved in stability when travelling. <P>SOLUTION: The travelling carriage for travelling along a travelling line is provided with a vertical guide roller 5, a holding force computing section 8, and a holding force adjusting section 9. The vertical guide roller 5 abuts on a guide rail 3 provided along the guide line from a vertical direction. The holding force computing section 8 computes the holding force for holding the vertical guide roller based on the travelling condition. The holding force adjusting section 9 adjusts the vertical guide roller 5 based on the computed holding force. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a traveling cart, and particularly relates to a traveling cart that travels on a travel line.

  In a manufacturing factory for semiconductors, liquid crystal display devices, and the like, a rail guided vehicle that travels on a traveling line (track) with wheels or the like may be used to transport members, semi-finished products, and the like. In addition to the tracked vehicle, there are a stocker crane, an automatic guided vehicle and the like as a device that travels on a travel line with wheels.

  When these tracked vehicles, stocker cranes, etc. (hereinafter simply referred to as traveling carts) travel at high speed, the wheels in the traveling direction rise during acceleration, and the wheels travel in the opposite direction during deceleration. When the wheel is lifted up, the wheel slips or slips, which causes positioning errors of the traveling carriage, load concentration on one side of the wheel, and the like. Therefore, in the conventional traveling vehicle, the acceleration / deceleration is limited to such an extent that the wheel does not lift up.

  In addition, in order to suppress the lifting of the wheels, Patent Document 1 discloses a structure in which a guide rail provided along a travel line is sandwiched between rollers.

JP 2004-182453 A

  However, if the acceleration / deceleration is limited to such an extent that the wheel is not lifted, the tact time for transporting by the traveling carriage becomes long and the production efficiency is lowered.

  In addition, as in Patent Document 1, with only a structure in which a guide rail provided along a travel line is sandwiched between rollers, if the wheels, rollers, etc. of the traveling chassis are worn out, the lifting of the wheels can be prevented appropriately. become unable.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a traveling carriage that can increase the stability during traveling.

  The solution according to the present invention is a traveling carriage that travels along a travel line, a guide roller that abuts on a guide rail provided along the travel line, and a holding that calculates the holding force of the guide roller from the travel state A force calculating unit; and a holding force adjusting unit that adjusts the guide roller based on the calculated holding force.

  Since the traveling cart described in the present invention includes a holding force calculation unit that calculates the holding force of the guide roller from the traveling state and a holding force adjustment unit that adjusts the guide roller based on the calculated holding force, It is possible to increase the stability during traveling, such as suppressing the lifting of the wheels when traveling, and to shorten the tact time of conveyance.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 shows a front view of a traveling carriage according to the present embodiment. In the traveling cart shown in FIG. 1, wheels 2 are provided in the cart casing 1 and travel on a predetermined traveling line S using the wheels 2. As shown in FIG. 1, a guide rail 3 having a T-shaped cross section is provided on the travel line S, and the travel cart travels across the guide rail 3.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the traveling carriage according to the present embodiment includes a horizontal guide roller 4 that sandwiches the guide rail 3 in the horizontal direction, and a vertical guide that holds the guide rail 3 so as to be held from below. And a roller 5. In addition, the horizontal guide roller 4 of this invention is not limited to the structure of FIG. 1, What is necessary is just the structure which the horizontal guide roller 4 contact | abuts with respect to the guide rail 3 in a horizontal direction. Further, the vertical guide roller 5 of the present invention is not limited to that shown in FIG. 1, and any configuration may be used as long as the vertical guide roller 5 abuts the guide rail 3 in the vertical direction and holds the traveling carriage from the vertical movement.

  FIG. 2 shows a side view of the traveling carriage according to the present embodiment. In the traveling carriage shown in FIG. 2, the motor controller 6 controls the traveling drive unit 7, and the traveling drive unit 7 drives the wheels 2 to travel on the traveling line S. That is, in the traveling cart shown in FIG. 2, the traveling drive unit 7 and the wheels 2 constitute a traveling mechanism for traveling on the traveling line.

  Further, in the traveling vehicle according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the motor controller 6 controls the holding force calculation unit 8, and the holding force calculation unit 8 passes through the holding force adjustment unit 9 and the vertical guide roller 5. The holding force (force for holding the guide rail 3 in the vertical direction) is adjusted. The horizontal guide roller 4 is fixed to the carriage housing 1 and does not adjust the holding force.

  In the traveling carriage shown in FIG. 2, the vertical guide roller 5 and the holding force adjusting unit 9 are respectively provided before and after the traveling direction (left and right in the drawing). Therefore, in the traveling carriage shown in FIG. 2, the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 can be adjusted, and the lifting of the wheels 2 can be suppressed.

  FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of the vicinity of the vertical guide roller 5. The vertical guide roller 5 shown in FIG. 3 holds the T-shaped guide rail 3 so as to be held from below. That is, the vertical guide roller 5 is in contact with both sides of the horizontal portion of the guide rail 3 from below. The left and right vertical guide rollers 5 are fixed to the shaft support 5a and configured to move up and down as a unit.

  The shaft support 5 a is connected to a cylinder 10 that constitutes a part of the holding force adjusting unit 9. The cylinder 10 moves the shaft support 5a up and down to adjust the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 (the force that holds the guide rail 3 in the vertical direction).

  The mechanism for adjusting the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 according to the present invention is not limited to the mechanism using the cylinder 10 shown in FIG. . In the mechanism shown in FIG. 4, the shaft support 5 a is moved up and down by rotating the egg-shaped cam 21 by the motor 20, and the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 is adjusted. In addition to the cam 21, another mechanism such as a speed reducer may be used.

  The mechanism for adjusting the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 according to the present invention may be a mechanism using a screw screw 22 and a geared motor 23 provided on the shaft support 5a as shown in FIG. In the mechanism shown in FIG. 5, the shaft support 5 a is moved up and down via the screw screw 22 by rotating the geared motor 23 to adjust the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5.

  Next, a mechanism for preventing the wheel 2 from lifting by adjusting the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 will be described. FIG. 6 shows a pattern when a general traveling vehicle travels on a travel line. Since a general traveling carriage is also provided with a vertical guide roller, the vertical guide roller can prevent the wheel from being lifted. However, the diameter of the vertical guide roller may be worn, or a gap may be generated between the vertical guide roller and the guide rail depending on the assembly accuracy and processing accuracy of the guide rail.

  When a gap is generated between the vertical guide roller and the guide rail, in a general traveling carriage, as shown in FIG. 6, the wheel in the traveling direction is lifted during acceleration, and the wheel opposite to the traveling direction is lifted during deceleration. . Specifically, when the traveling cart 100 that has stopped is accelerated, the vehicle travels like a traveling cart 101 in which the wheels in the traveling direction are lifted. When acceleration is completed and the traveling carriage 102 traveling at a constant speed decelerates, a state like a traveling carriage 103 in which the wheels in the opposite direction are lifted is obtained.

  In the traveling vehicle according to the present embodiment, the holding force adjusting unit 9 and the like are provided so that the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 can be adjusted. That is, in the present embodiment, the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 provided in the traveling direction is appropriately adjusted so that the wheel 2 in the traveling direction does not float during acceleration. In the present embodiment, the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 provided in the counter-traveling direction is appropriately adjusted so that the wheel 2 in the counter-traveling direction does not float during deceleration.

  In the traveling vehicle according to the present embodiment, a gap is not generated between the vertical guide roller 5 and the guide rail 3 by appropriately adjusting the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 by the holding force adjusting unit 9 or the like. If it demonstrates using the vertical guide roller 5 shown in FIG. 3, in order to make the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 appropriate, the vertical guide roller 5 is pulled up with the cylinder 10. FIG.

  Furthermore, in order to explain in detail the holding force control according to the present embodiment, a configuration diagram of the holding force control is shown in FIG. The configuration of the holding force control shown in FIG. 7 includes two holding force adjusting units that respectively adjust the holding forces of the vertical guide rollers 5 (the front vertical guide roller 5A and the rear vertical guide roller 5B) provided before and after the traveling direction. 9 and a holding force calculation unit 8 that controls the two holding force adjustment units 9. The holding force calculating unit 8 controls the holding force adjusting unit 9 by a control signal based on the traveling state (stop, acceleration, deceleration, etc.) of the motor controller 6. The holding force calculation unit 8 calculates an appropriate holding force from the magnitude of acceleration or the like, and controls the holding force adjustment unit 9 so that the holding force of the front vertical guide roller 5A and the rear vertical guide roller 5B is optimized. To do.

  The holding force adjusting unit 9 further includes a voltage switch 11, a voltage / force converter 12, and a cylinder 10. The voltage switch 11 converts the control signal from the holding force calculator 8 into a voltage level that can be input to the voltage / force converter 12. The voltage / force converter 12 adjusts the force (for example, torque) applied to the cylinder 10 based on the control signal converted to an appropriate voltage level by the voltage switch 11. The cylinder 10 converts the force of the voltage / force converter 12 as the holding force of the front vertical guide roller 5A and the rear vertical guide roller 5B.

  Next, the holding force control of the vertical guide roller 5 according to the operation pattern (traveling situation) of the traveling carriage according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 shows a timing chart of holding force control of the vertical guide roller 5 according to the operation pattern. In the timing chart shown in FIG. 8, as shown in the travel speed graph, the traveling carriage operates in an operation pattern of stop-advance-stop-reverse-stop.

  Further, in the timing chart shown in FIG. 8, control signals for forward, backward, stop, acceleration, and deceleration supplied from the motor controller 6 to the travel drive unit 7 and the holding force calculation unit 8 are illustrated. In the timing chart shown in FIG. 8, there is a slight deviation between the traveling speed graph and the forward, backward, stop, acceleration, and deceleration control signals. This is because it is too late if the motor controller 6 transmits the control signal simultaneously with the traveling state, and thus has a function of transmitting the control signal in advance.

  In the timing chart shown in FIG. 8, when the control signal is switched from stop to forward, an acceleration control signal is supplied to the travel drive unit 7 to increase the travel speed of the travel cart. At this time, the acceleration control signal is also supplied to the holding force calculation unit 8 to increase the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 (hereinafter also referred to as the front vertical guide roller 5A) provided on the front side in the forward direction. Thereby, the wheel 2 can be prevented from floating in the forward direction during acceleration.

  Next, when the traveling vehicle moving forward at a constant speed stops at a predetermined location, first, a deceleration control signal is supplied to the traveling drive unit 7 to decrease the traveling speed of the traveling vehicle. At this time, the deceleration control signal is also supplied to the holding force calculation unit 8 to increase the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 (hereinafter also referred to as the rear vertical guide roller 5B) provided on the rear side in the forward direction. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the wheel 2 from being lifted in the anti-advance direction during deceleration.

  Next, when the stopped traveling vehicle is moved backward, when the control signal is switched from stop to backward, an acceleration control signal is supplied to the traveling drive unit 7 to increase the traveling speed of the traveling vehicle. However, the direction in which the traveling chassis advances is opposite to that in the forward direction. For this reason, in the traveling speed graph shown in FIG. The acceleration control signal is also supplied to the holding force calculation unit 8 to increase the holding force of the rear vertical guide roller 5B. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the wheels 2 from floating in the reverse direction during acceleration.

  Next, when the traveling carriage that is moving backward at a constant speed stops at a predetermined location, first, a deceleration control signal is supplied to the traveling drive unit 7 to reduce the traveling speed of the traveling carriage. At this time, the deceleration control signal is also supplied to the holding force calculation unit 8 to increase the holding force of the front vertical guide roller 5A. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the wheel 2 from being lifted in the reverse direction during deceleration.

  As described above, in the traveling cart according to the present embodiment, the holding force adjusting unit 11 that adjusts the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5, and the holding force calculating unit 8 that controls the holding force adjusting unit 11 based on the traveling state, Thus, even when the vehicle is traveling at a high speed, the wheel 2 can be stably prevented from being lifted.

  The guide rail 3 and the vertical guide roller 5 according to the present embodiment have the shape of the vertical guide roller 5 that holds the T-shaped guide rail 3 from below as shown in FIG. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the guide rail 3 and the vertical guide roller 5 may have other shapes as long as the vertical guide roller 5 can hold the guide rail 3 in the vertical direction.

  Further, in the traveling carriage according to the present embodiment, the position of the transported object placed on the carriage casing 1 is not specified, but in a general traveling carriage, the center of gravity seems to have a low center of gravity and the center. Place the transported item on However, since the traveling cart according to the present embodiment includes the holding force calculation unit 8 and the holding force adjustment unit 9 and can prevent the wheels 2 from being lifted, the position of the conveyed object is not limited as in a general traveling cart. In the traveling cart according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the conveyed product 13 can be transported by being placed at a high position away from the cart casing 1 (high-centroid traveling cart). Further, in the traveling cart according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the transported article 13 can be transported by being placed at a position shifted from the center of the cart housing 1 (eccentric gravity traveling cart).

  Further, the holding force calculation unit 8 according to the present embodiment determines a traveling state based on a control signal supplied from the motor controller 6 to the traveling drive unit 7, and controls the holding force adjustment unit 9 based on the traveling state. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the carriage housing 1 may be provided with a function for determining a traveling state such as an acceleration sensor, and the holding force calculating unit 8 may control the holding force adjusting unit 9 based on the traveling state obtained from the function.

(Embodiment 2)
The horizontal guide roller 4 provided on the traveling carriage shown in FIG. 1 has been described as being fixed in the first embodiment. However, in the traveling vehicle according to the present embodiment, the horizontal guide roller 4 is provided with a mechanism that can control the holding force.

  FIG. 11 shows a side view of the traveling carriage according to the present embodiment. Also in the traveling carriage shown in FIG. 11, the motor controller 6 controls the traveling drive unit 7, and the traveling drive unit 7 drives the wheels 2 to travel on the traveling line. That is, also in the traveling cart shown in FIG. 11, the traveling drive unit 7 and the wheels 2 constitute a traveling mechanism for traveling on the traveling line.

  Further, in the traveling vehicle according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the motor controller 6 controls the holding force control 14, and the holding force control 14 holds the horizontal guide roller 4 via the holding force adjusting unit 15. The force (force for holding the guide rail 3 in the horizontal direction) is adjusted.

  In the traveling cart shown in FIG. 11, the horizontal guide roller 4 and the holding force adjusting unit 15 are respectively provided before and after the traveling direction (left and right in the drawing). Therefore, in the traveling carriage shown in FIG. 11, the holding force of the horizontal guide roller 4 can be adjusted, and it is possible to suppress the shake (positioning variation) in the horizontal direction when stopped.

  Next, the holding force control of the horizontal guide roller 4 according to the operation pattern (traveling situation) of the traveling carriage according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 12 shows a timing chart of holding force control of the horizontal guide roller 4 according to the operation pattern. In the timing chart shown in FIG. 12, as shown in the travel speed graph, the traveling carriage operates in an operation pattern of stop-advance-stop-reverse-stop.

  Further, in the timing chart shown in FIG. 12, forward, backward and stop control signals supplied from the motor controller 6 to the travel drive unit 7 and the holding force control 14 are shown. In the timing chart shown in FIG. 12, when the stop control signal is supplied to the travel drive unit 7, the travel cart is braked. At this time, the stop control signal is also supplied to the front and rear holding force controls 14, and the holding force control 14 controls the holding force adjusting unit 15 to adjust the holding force of the horizontal guide roller 4 to increase. As a result, the traveling carriage shown in FIG. 12 can suppress the shake (positioning variation) in the horizontal direction when stopped.

  As described above, in the traveling cart according to the present embodiment, the holding force adjusting unit 15 that adjusts the holding force of the horizontal guide roller 4, and the holding force calculating unit 14 that controls the holding force adjusting unit 15 based on the traveling state, Therefore, it is possible to suppress the shake (positioning variation) in the horizontal direction when stopped.

  In addition, the guide rail 3 and the horizontal guide roller 4 which concern on this Embodiment were the shape of the horizontal guide roller 4 which pinches | interposes the T-shaped guide rail 3 to a horizontal direction, as shown in FIG. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any configuration may be used as long as the horizontal guide roller 4 is in contact with the guide rail 3 in the horizontal direction to hold the traveling carriage from the movement in the horizontal direction.

  The present invention also includes the holding force calculation unit 14 and the holding force adjustment unit 15 that adjust the holding force of the horizontal guide roller 4 described in the present embodiment, and the holding force of the vertical guide roller 5 described in the first embodiment. A traveling vehicle that combines the holding force calculation unit 8 and the holding force adjustment unit 9 that adjust the angle may be used. In this case, even when the traveling carriage is traveling at a high speed, it is possible to stably prevent the wheels 2 from being lifted up, and to suppress horizontal deflection (positioning variation) when stopped. Become.

It is a front view of the traveling vehicle which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a side view of the traveling vehicle which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an enlarged view of the vertical guide roller vicinity which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an enlarged view of another vertical guide roller vicinity which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an enlarged view of another vertical guide roller vicinity which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the behavior at the time of driving | running | working of a general driving | running | working cart. It is a block diagram of holding force control of the vertical guide roller which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a timing chart of the traveling vehicle which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the position which mounts the conveyed product of the traveling trolley which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the position which mounts the conveyed product of the traveling trolley which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a side view of the traveling vehicle which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a timing chart of the traveling vehicle which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 bogie housing, 2 wheels, 3 guide rails, 4 horizontal guide rollers, 5 vertical guide rollers, 6 motor controller, 7 travel drive unit, 8, 14 holding force calculation unit, 9 cylinder, 10, 15 holding force adjustment unit, 11 Voltage switcher, 12 Voltage / force converter, 13 Carrying object 20 Motor, 21 Cam, 22 Screw screw, 23 Motor with gear.

Claims (9)

A traveling carriage that travels along a traveling line,
A guide roller that contacts a guide rail provided along the travel line;
A holding force calculation unit for calculating the holding force of the guide roller from the running state;
A traveling carriage comprising: a holding force adjusting unit that adjusts the guide roller based on the calculated holding force. The traveling vehicle according to claim 1,
The holding force adjusting unit is a traveling cart including a cylinder connected to a shaft support of the guide roller. The traveling vehicle according to claim 1,
The holding force adjusting unit includes a cam that contacts the shaft support of the guide roller;
A traveling carriage comprising a motor for rotating the cam. The traveling vehicle according to claim 1,
The holding force adjusting unit includes a screw screw connected to the shaft support of the guide roller,
A traveling cart including a geared motor that contacts the screw screw. It is a traveling trolley | bogie as described in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 4, Comprising:
The traveling cart according to claim 1, wherein the guide roller is a vertical guide roller that comes into contact with the guide rail from a vertical direction. It is a traveling trolley | bogie as described in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 4, Comprising:
The traveling cart according to claim 1, wherein the guide roller is a horizontal guide roller that comes into contact with the guide rail from a horizontal direction. It is a traveling trolley | bogie as described in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 4, Comprising:
The guide roller has a vertical guide roller that comes into contact with the guide rail from a vertical direction, and a horizontal guide roller that comes into contact with the guide rail from a horizontal direction. The traveling carriage according to claim 5 or claim 7,
The vertical guide roller is provided at least one before and after in the traveling direction of the traveling carriage,
The holding force adjusting unit and the holding force calculating unit are provided in each of the plurality of vertical guide rollers, and independently adjust the holding force of the vertical guide roller. The traveling vehicle according to claim 8, wherein
The traveling state is determined by a control signal for controlling the traveling mechanism, and the holding force calculation unit uses the holding force of the vertical guide roller on the traveling direction side during acceleration and the holding force of the vertical guide roller on the counter traveling direction side. Each holding force adjusting section is adjusted such that the holding force of the vertical guide roller on the side opposite to the traveling direction is larger than the holding force of the vertical guide roller on the traveling direction side during deceleration. A traveling trolley.

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