JP2009084006A - Automatic warehouse - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a cable holding body suspended from an elevating device from becoming an obstacle of the entrance/exit of a worker in an automatic warehouse with a mobile truck system where the worker enters or leaves the inside from a space between masts of a right and left elevating device. <P>SOLUTION: The right and left elevating devices 4 have a mast 11 disposed back to back and a loading platform 12 mounted thereto, and a load W is transferred to a loading and unloading conveyor 5 and a temporary shelf 3 at an optional stage through the loading platform 12. A flexible cable holding body 36 having built-in power feeding cable is connected to the loading platform 12 and the mast 11 so as to project from the loading platform 12 and the mast 11 to the front or back side. Therefore, the cable holding body 36 does not get in the way when the worker passes through the entrance and exit passage 43 between the right and left masts 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic warehouse having a self-propelled carriage and a lifting device.

  There are many automated warehouses, but from the viewpoint of loading and unloading, a system that loads and unloads with one stacker crane and each shelf (or multiple shelves) are provided. It can be broadly classified as a system that uses a horizontal traveling self-propelled carriage. In the latter self-propelled trolley type automatic traveling, the loading / unloading efficiency is much higher than the stacker crane method because the loading / unloading efficiency allows loading / unloading to / from each shelf at the same time.

  In this self-propelled cart type automatic warehouse, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 related to the application of the present applicant, a mast (column) is used as a device for delivering a load to the loading / unloading conveyor and the self-propelled cart. An elevating device (lift device) in which a loading platform is provided on the support column so as to be movable up and down is used. In this case, in the automatic warehouse, a pair of hangars are arranged opposite to each other to constitute one unit, so that the lifting device and the loading / unloading conveyor are also provided in a pair on the left and right corresponding to the hangar, Temporary storage shelves corresponding to the hangar shelves are arranged in multiple stages between the hangar and the lifting device, and the load moves linearly in plan view, so that the loading / unloading conveyor, lifting device, temporary storage shelf, Can be transferred to.

  In an automatic warehouse, a unit having a pair of hangars is usually used as a unit, and a large number of units are usually arranged side by side. Adjacent units are placed as close as possible in order to effectively use the entire space of the operation equipment. Therefore, in arranging the lifting devices, the masts of the adjacent lifting devices are arranged back to back. In other words, the mast is disposed on the inner side between the extension lines of the pair of hangars, and the loading platform is disposed on the outer side of the mast with the extension line of the transfer passage interposed therebetween.

  On the other hand, since the loading platform of the lifting device is provided with a transfer mechanism driven by a motor such as a roller-type conveyor, the motor must be fed with a cable, and a control communication cable can be connected. I have to. Although these cables can be hung down as they are exposed, they are preferably housed in a flexible cable holder known by the trade name of Cable Bear (registered trademark) in order to prevent damage.

In order to supply power to the loading platform in a stacker crane, a cable holder is commonly used, and an example thereof is disclosed in Patent Document 2. Further, as an example in which a cable holder is provided on a stacker crane, Patent Document 3 discloses that a pair of cable holders are arranged (hanged) on both the left and right sides in the traveling direction of the stacker crane.
JP 2000-118630 A JP 2007-8664 A JP-A-7-2307

  In a self-propelled cart type automatic warehouse, the cable holder provided in the lifting device has one end connected to the loading platform and the other end connected to the mid-height part of the mast. Conventionally, as shown in FIG. As described above, when one end and the other end of the cable holding body 50 are connected to the cargo bed 53 and the mast 54 by the brackets 51 and 52, the brackets 51 and 52 project inward toward the space between the left and right masts 54. Thus, the cable holder 50 is attached to the brackets 51 and 52. Accordingly, the cable holding body 50 hangs down in a U shape in a state of being directed in the load flow direction.

  In a self-propelled cart type automatic warehouse, for example, the worker M may have to enter the inside (transfer passage) for maintenance and repair of the self-propelled cart or inspection of stored cargo. In this case, since the transfer passage is vacant only on the front side (the lifting device side), the worker M enters the inside (transfer passage) from between the pair of lifting devices. That is, the space between the left and right masts is the entrance 55 into the transfer passage.

  The cable holder 50 is hung in the space between the left and right masts 54 in order to allow the movement (flexure deformation) of the cable holder 50 without obstructing the lifting and lowering of the loading platform 53. Since the cable holder 50 is disposed in the entrance / exit passage 55 between the left and right masts 54, when the worker enters and exits the automatic warehouse, the cable holder 50 is attached to the mast 54 depending on the height of the loading platform 53. In some cases, it was difficult for workers to enter and exit the automated warehouse.

  More specifically, the distance between the left and right masts 54 is determined by the width of the transfer passage. Generally, there is only a space between the left and right masts 54 so that a general adult can finally pass through, but the cable holder 54 has a certain degree. Therefore, it takes a considerable amount of force to press the suspended cable holder 50 against the mast 54, and even if the cable holder 50 is pushed toward the mast 54, the work can be performed. The state in which the cable holding body 50 is sandwiched between the worker M and the mast 54 is not changed, and the entrance / exit passage 55 is narrow, so that the passage of the worker M is very troublesome.

  To put it simply, conventionally, in a self-propelled cart type automatic warehouse, a cable holder is very obstructive when workers enter and leave the interior. The present invention aims to solve this problem.

  The automatic warehouse targeted by the present invention is a transfer passage in which a self-propelled carriage for loading and unloading travels horizontally, and is arranged on both left and right sides of the transfer passage in plan view, and storage shelves are provided in multiple stages. A pair of hangars, a pair of left and right lifting devices arranged on the extended line of the two hangars in plan view, and a pair of left and right lifting devices placed on the opposite side of the hangar across the lifting device in plan view A pair of loading / unloading conveyors is provided.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-described configuration, a pair of left and right temporary storage shelves are arranged between each hangar and each lifting device, while the left and right lifting devices are mounted on the mast. The both masts are arranged back to back with a space through which a person can pass, and further, the mast mid-height portion and the loading platform in the left and right lifting device In the configuration in which a slender cable holder that is bent and deformed is connected, the cable holder protrudes into the space between the pair of masts on the front side or the back side of the mast in the traveling direction of the self-propelled carriage. Is arranged in no state.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the cable holder has a structure in which a large number of protective bodies are connected by pins to be greatly deformed when viewed from the axial direction of the pins. Are arranged so as to hang down in a U-shape when viewed from the lateral direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the self-propelled carriage.

  In addition, the "entrance / exit conveyor" described in claim 1 means a conveyor that can enter or exit, or both, and does not mean a conveyor that always performs both entry and exit.

  According to the present invention, since the cable holder of the lifting device does not protrude toward the space between the left and right masts, the cable holder is obstructive when an operator enters the interior of the automatic warehouse for maintenance or repair. Never become. In addition, since the platform of the lifting device protrudes outside the mast and the parts on both sides of the mast are safe spaces that do not interfere with other objects, there is no hindrance to the movement (vertical movement or deformation) of the cable holder. Absent.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the burden when the worker enters and leaves the automatic warehouse without hindering the smooth lifting and lowering of the loading platform and the movement of the cable holder.

  The cable holder used in the lifting device of an automatic warehouse has a certain size in width and thickness. Therefore, in order to allow smooth movement (deformation), the distance between one end and the other end is also some. Is required. In this respect, since a large space that does not interfere with other objects is spread on both the front and rear sides of the mast, the large and long cable holder can be arranged in a state of moving smoothly.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, an overview of the entire automatic warehouse will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a partial schematic perspective view, FIG. 2 is a partial schematic plan view, and FIG. 3 is a partial plan view.

(1) .Outline The automatic warehouse includes a pair of hangars 2 arranged with the transfer passage 1 in between, a pair of left and right temporary storage shelves 3 connected to one end (front end) of the left and right hangars 2, and left and right A main conveyor 6 that delivers a load W between a pair of left and right lifting devices 4 disposed in front of the temporary storage shelf 3, a loading / unloading conveyor 5 disposed in front of the left / right lifting devices 4, and the loading / unloading conveyor 5. It has. In addition, the entering / exiting conveyor 5 can also be made into a multistage system (refer the dashed-dotted line of FIG. 1).

  As a usage mode of a pair of loading / unloading conveyor 5 and lifting / lowering device 4, a method of using one loading / unloading conveyor 5 and lifting / lowering device 4 and the other loading / unloading conveyor 5 and lifting / lowering device 4 exclusively for loading and unloading ( A load flow mode indicated by a black arrow in FIG. 2, a method of using both the left and right warehousing conveyors 5 and the lifting devices 4 for warehousing and warehousing can be set as necessary.

  The hangar 2 has multistage storage shelves 7 that open toward the transfer passage 1, and self-propelled carts 8 are arranged in the transfer passage 1 so as to be able to run horizontally corresponding to the storage shelves 7 of each stage. ing. Temporary storage shelves 3 are provided at the level of each shelf 3 of the hangar 2. Although not shown, the transfer passage 1 is provided with several steps.

  The hangar 2 and the temporary storage shelf 3 are integrally continuous, and a skeleton is constituted by a large number of columns and horizontal frames. Rails (front frames) 9 exposed in the transfer passage 1 are disposed at the storage shelves 7 and the temporary storage shelves 3 in each stage, and the self-propelled carriage 8 runs on the upper surface of the rails 9. The storage shelf 7 employs a flat shelf system having shelf plates. Since the relationship with the present application is thin, the details are omitted, but the self-propelled carriage 8 shown in FIG. 3 includes a pair of front and rear picking devices 10, and the picking device 10 moves the load W laterally (sliding). The load W is transferred between the self-propelled carriage 8, the storage shelf 7, and the temporary storage shelf 3. The temporary shelf 3 is a roller conveyor system, and the load W moves back and forth on the upper surface of the temporary shelf 3.

  The elevating device 4 includes a mast 11 and a loading platform 12 attached to the mast 11 so as to be movable up and down. The left and right masts 11 are arranged back-to-back, and therefore the loading platform 12 is located outside the mast 11. The loading platform 12 is of a roller conveyor type, and the load W can be transferred to the loading / unloading conveyor 5 and loading platform 12 by making it the same height as the loading / unloading conveyor 5. By arranging the same height as the shelf 3, the load W can be transferred to the loading platform 12 and each temporary storage shelf 3.

  Next, details of the lifting device 4 will be described. In this application, front / rear / left / right / internal / external words are used as terms indicating directions. These words are based on the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the transfer passage 1 in a plan view as shown in FIG. The front / rear / left / right words are used, and the inner and outer words are used with reference to the longitudinal center line of the transfer passage 1. For the front view, rear view, and side view, the front and back views are used based on the direction from the front to the back, and the drawing viewed from the left and right is called the side view.

(2) Details of lifting device The details of the lifting device 4 are shown in the drawings of FIG. 4 is a schematic front view showing the movement of the loading platform 12, FIG. 5 is a plan sectional view of the loading platform 12 raised to a midway height, and FIG. 6 is a diagram of the loading platform 12 lowered to the lower limit. FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view for explaining the operation.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the mast 11 uses a light metal extruded product such as aluminum. The mast 11 includes a pair of first guide grooves 14 that are open on both the front and rear sides, and a single opening that is open on the left and right sides. A second guide groove 15 and a back space 16 that is greatly opened on the left and right inner sides are formed, while the loading platform 12 includes a main frame 17 that surrounds the outer half of the mast 11 and a load receiving portion 18 that is provided below the main frame 17. The main frame 17 includes a plurality of upper and lower first guide rollers 19 that enter the first guide groove 14, and a pair of upper and lower second guide rollers that are in contact with the side surface without the second guide groove 15 from the front and rear sides. 20, and the loading platform 12 is raised and lowered by the guide action of the guide grooves 14 and 15 and the guide rollers 19 and 20.

  The platform 12 is driven up and down by a timing belt (which may be a chain) 21. As schematically shown in FIG. 4, the timing belt 21 has a loop shape, and an upper pulley 22 that is rotatably attached to the upper end portion of the mast 11, and a lower pulley 23 that is rotatably attached to the lower end portion of the mast 11, A pair of upper and lower idle pulleys 24 provided at the lower part and the inner part of the mast 11 and a drive pulley 25 provided inside the upper and lower idle pulleys 24 are wound around five pulleys. The timing belt 21 is pressed and fixed to the main frame 17 of the loading platform 12 by a pressing member at a location between the upper pulley 22 and the lower pulley 23.

  Each of the pulleys 22 to 25 is disposed in a pair of front and rear, and an auxiliary roller 26 for preventing tooth skipping is in contact with the upper pulley 22 and the drive pulley 25, respectively. The upper idle pulley 24 is held by a manual tensioner 27 so as to be adjustable in height, and the lower idle pulley 24 is always urged upward by an auto tensioner 29 having a spring 28. Is always tensioned. The drive pulley 25 is driven by an elevating motor 31 having a speed reducer 30.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a pair of inner dovetail grooves 32 that are opened inward are formed on the inner surface of the mast 11 and at both front and rear ends (that is, the opening edge of the back space 16). The drive pulley 25 is attached to a plate 32 fixed to the inner surface of the mast 11 with bolts and nuts using the inner dovetail groove 32.

  The lowermost storage shelf 7, temporary storage shelf 3, and loading / unloading conveyor 5 are arranged at substantially the same height, but the idle pulley 24, the drive pulley 25, and the lifting motor 31 are the temporary storage in the lowermost step. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a step plate 34 having substantially the same height as the loading / unloading conveyor 5 is provided between the left and right masts 11. Further, a portion between the left and right masts 11 serves as an entrance / exit where an operator enters and exits the transfer passage 1 (there is no space where the operator can enter and exit the transfer passage 1).

  As described above, the loading platform 12 has a roller conveyor type load receiving portion 18. The load receiving portion 18 has a motor (not shown) for driving the roller, and electric power is supplied to the motor from the outside by a cable. The power supply cable (and other cables for control, etc.) is built in the cable holder 36 shown in FIGS.

  The cable holding body 36 is formed by connecting a large number of protective bodies 37 with pins 38 so as to be relatively rotatable, and can be largely deformed as a whole when viewed from the axial direction of the pins 38. One end of the cable holder 36 is connected to a first bracket 39 fixed to the main frame 17 of the loading platform 12, and the other end of the cable holder 36 is fixed to the inner surface of the mast 11. 2 connected to the bracket 40. As shown in FIG. 5, the second bracket 40 is fixed to the inner surface of the mast 11 with bolts 41 and nuts 42 using an inner dovetail groove 32.

  In this case, the first bracket 39 protrudes to the front in a portion overlapping the mast 11 in front view, while the distal end portion 40a of the second bracket 40 is located in front of the first bracket 39 in plan view. The holding body 36 is connected to both brackets 39 and 40 with the axial center of the pin 38 extending in the left-right direction. Therefore, the cable holder 36 is greatly deformed in a side view as viewed from a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the transfer passage 1 to form a U shape or a J shape. The second bracket 40 is fixed to substantially the upper and lower middle portion of the mast 11, and the cable holding body 36 has a U-shape when the loading platform 12 is at the upper and lower middle height position, and the upper or lower side. The shape changes to a J-shape as you go.

  As described above, the portion between the left and right masts 11 is an entrance through which the operator enters the transfer passage 1, and the worker can enter and exit the passage 43 indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. Passes through the transfer passage 1 through. The space between the left and right masts 11 has only a width dimension that allows humans to pass through. However, since the cable holder 36 is disposed on the left and right outer sides of the entrance / exit passage 43, a cable is required when an operator passes through the entrance / exit passage 43. The holding body 36 does not get in the way.

(3). Others In the above embodiment, the cable holder is arranged on the near side of the mast. However, the cable holder can be arranged on the back side of the mast. Further, the specific structure of the cable holder is not limited to the embodiment, and for example, it is possible to configure a tube shape with a flexible resin without connecting a large number of protectors with pins. It is.

It is a partial schematic perspective view of the automatic warehouse which concerns on this embodiment. It is a partial schematic plan view of an automatic warehouse. It is a partial top view of an automatic warehouse. It is a typical front view which shows the motion of a loading platform. It is a plane sectional view in the state where the loading platform was raised to midway height. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 5 in a state where the loading platform is lowered to the lower limit. FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 5. It is a schematic plan view explaining an operation. It is a figure which shows a prior art example, (A) is a fragmentary perspective view, (B) is a rough front view.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transfer path 2 Hangar 3 Temporary storage shelf 4 Lifting device 5 Loading / unloading conveyor 7 Storage shelf 8 Self-propelled carriage 11 Mast 12 Loading platform 17 Main frame constituting loading platform 18 Load receiving section constituting loading platform (roller conveyor)
21 Timing belt 22 to 25 Pulley 31 Elevating motor 34 Step plate 36 Cable holder 37 Protective body 38 Pin 39 First bracket 40 Second bracket 43 Entrance / exit passage between left and right lifting devices

Claims (2)

A transfer passage in which a self-propelled carriage for loading and unloading travels horizontally, a pair of hangars that are arranged on both the left and right sides of the transfer passage in a plan view and are provided with multiple storage shelves, and in a plan view A pair of left and right lifting devices disposed on the outside in the front-rear direction on the extension line of the two hangars, and a pair of loading and unloading conveyors disposed on the opposite side to the hangar across the lifting device in plan view And
A pair of left and right temporary storage shelves are arranged between each hangar and each lifting device, while the left and right lifting devices have a structure in which a loading platform can be raised and lowered on the mast. Are arranged back-to-back with an interval through which the vehicle can pass, and further, an elongated cable holder that is bent and deformed as a whole is connected to the mid-height part of the mast and the loading platform in the left and right lifting device,
In the configuration
The cable holder is arranged in a state that does not protrude into the space between the pair of masts on the near side or the back side of the mast toward the traveling direction of the self-propelled carriage,
Automatic warehouse. The cable holder is structured to be greatly deformed when viewed from the axial direction of the pin by connecting a large number of protectors with pins. Arranged to hang down in a U-shaped form when viewed from the direction,
The automatic warehouse according to claim 1.

Images