JP2010023939A - Load detection system and load detection method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a load detection system and a load detection method, capable of detecting a load size and intrusion in a simple configuration. <P>SOLUTION: The load detection system detects the size of a load W being carried, including a load size detector 41, a first detector 43, a second detector 45, and a determination section 67. The load size detector 41 has a plurality of optical axes in a region through which the load W passes to detect the size of the load W. The first detector 43 obtains a first timing at which a carrying-direction front surface of the load W is detected by the load size detector 41. The second detector 45 obtains a second timing at which a carrying-direction rear surface of the load W is detected by the load size detector 41. For intrusion determination to detect abnormal intrusion other than the load being carried, the determination section 67 does not use detection results obtained by the load size detector 41 between the first timing and the second timing but uses the other detection results obtained by the load size detector 41. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a package detection device and a package detection method, and for example, relates to a package detection apparatus and a package detection method of an automatic warehouse.

  A conventional automatic warehouse includes, for example, a pair of racks provided at predetermined intervals in the front-rear direction, a stacker crane provided movably in the left-right direction between the front and rear racks, and a side of one rack. And a loading station arranged on the side of the other rack. The rack has a large number of luggage storage shelves arranged vertically and horizontally. The stacker crane has a traveling carriage, a lifting platform that can be raised and lowered by a mast provided therein, and a load transfer device (for example, a slide fork that is slidable in the front-rear direction). is doing.

  The loading / unloading station in the stacker crane includes, for example, a first position that is close to the rack, a second position that is separated from the first position, a rail that extends between the two positions, and a transport carriage that can travel on the rail. I have.

  The warehousing operation will be described. At the warehousing station, the load is loaded on the transport carriage at the second position, and then the transport carriage travels to the first position. Subsequently, the stacker crane loads the cargo on the transport carriage onto itself and travels to a predetermined position. Finally, the stacker crane stores the luggage in the rack.

  The delivery operation will be described. A stacker crane loads itself from the rack and travels to the exit station. Subsequently, the stacker crane loads the load on the transport carriage in the first mounting portion. Next, the transport cart travels to the second mounting portion. Finally, the package is taken out from the transport cart.

The loading / unloading station is provided with a load size detector for detecting the size of the load mounted on the transport carriage. The load size detector is composed of a gate composed of a side frame and an upper frame, and a photoelectric sensor provided on the gate. The photoelectric sensor is composed of a set of a light emitting element and a light receiving element. Each photoelectric sensor is arranged so as to form an optical axis extending in the vertical direction at positions on both sides in order to detect the size of both sides of the luggage (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-61106

  In the automatic warehouse as described above, it is necessary to prevent accidents in which an operator collides with the carriage of the loading / unloading station. For this purpose, the area around the automated warehouse is covered with a wire mesh to prevent workers from entering the automated warehouse inadvertently.

  An intrusion detection sensor is provided for detecting that the worker has entered the rail of the loading / unloading station even when the worker enters the automatic warehouse. In this case, when the presence of an intruder is detected, an abnormality process such as stopping of the carriage is performed.

  In the structure described above, since a load size detection sensor and an intrusion detection sensor are provided in the loading / unloading station, the number of parts increases and the cost increases. Further, since the detection from the intrusion detection sensor is ignored regardless of the position of the transport carriage while the transport carriage is running, the time during which the intrusion detection cannot be performed is long.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a luggage detection device and a luggage detection method capable of detecting a load size and an intrusion with a simple configuration.

  A luggage detection apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus for detecting the size of a luggage to be conveyed, and includes a luggage size detector, a first detector, a second detector, and a determination unit. ing. The load size detector has a plurality of optical axes in an area through which a load passes, and detects the size of the load. The first detector obtains a first timing at which the front surface in the conveyance direction of the load is detected by the load size detector. The second detector obtains a second timing at which the rear surface in the conveyance direction of the load is detected by the load size detector. The determination unit does not use the detection result of the load size detector between the first timing and the second timing for intrusion determination to detect an abnormal intrusion other than the package being conveyed, and otherwise detects by the load size detector. The result is used for intrusion determination.

  In this apparatus, since the load size is detected and the intrusion is detected using the load size detector, the number of sensors can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced. Note that the means for transporting the luggage includes a transport vehicle and various conveyors.

  Furthermore, since the determination unit uses the detection result of the load size detector for abnormality determination except during the first timing and the second timing, the time during which intrusion detection can be determined is sufficiently long.

  It is preferable that the parcel is transported by a transport vehicle, and further includes a position detection unit that detects the position of the transport vehicle. In that case, the determination unit also uses position information obtained from the position detection unit for intrusion determination.

  In this apparatus, since the position information is also used for intrusion determination, the accuracy of intrusion determination is high. Specifically, even if the transport vehicle is not detected by the first detector, if it is located between the first detector and the second detector, the load size is determined by the position information of the transport cart. It can be determined that the detection by the height detector is performed by the transport vehicle.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a load detection method includes a load size detector for detecting the size of a load having a plurality of optical axes in a region through which the load passes, and a load direction front of the load in the load direction. A first detector for obtaining a first timing detected by the height detector, and a second detector for obtaining a second timing at which a rear surface in the conveyance direction of the load is detected by the load size detector. This is a method for detecting the size of a package to be conveyed in a package detection device. The package detection method includes the following steps.
◎ Step of obtaining the detection result of the load size detector at the first timing ◎ Step of obtaining the detection result of the load size detector at the second timing ◎ The load size detector between the first timing and the second timing The step of using the detection result of the load size detector for intrusion determination at other times without using the detection result of the load in the intrusion determination for detecting an abnormal intrusion other than the package being transported

  In this method, since the load size is detected using the load size detector and the intrusion is detected, the number of sensors can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

  Furthermore, since the detection result of the load size detector is used for abnormality determination except between the first timing and the second timing, the time during which intrusion detection can be determined is sufficiently long.

  With the luggage detection device and the luggage detection method according to the present invention, it is possible to detect the load size and the intrusion with a simple configuration.

(1) Automatic warehouse Hereinafter, the automatic warehouse 1 as one Embodiment which concerns on this invention is demonstrated. In addition, in this embodiment, the up-down direction of FIG. 1 is the front-back direction of the automatic warehouse 1, and the left-right direction of FIG.

  The automatic warehouse 1 is mainly composed of a pair of racks 2 and a stacker crane 3.

  The pair of racks 2 are arranged so as to sandwich a stacker crane passage 5 extending in the left-right direction in FIG. The rack 2 has a large number of luggage storage shelves that are constituted by columns and luggage support members.

  A pair of upper and lower guide rails (not shown) are provided along the stacker crane passage 5, and the stacker crane 3 is guided by these guide rails so as to be movable left and right. The stacker crane 3 includes a traveling carriage, a lifting platform that is movably mounted on a pair of left and right masts provided on the traveling carriage, and a slide fork that is provided on the lifting platform so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction. Have.

(2) Entry / Exit Station A first station 17 is disposed on the side of the rack 2 on the front side, and a second station 19 is disposed on the side of the rack 2 on the rear side. Since the first station 17 and the second station 19 have the same structure, only the first station 17 will be described below. In this embodiment, the first station 17 is described as the loading / unloading station. However, the second station 19 may be used as the loading / unloading station, or one of the two stations may be the loading / unloading station.

  The first station 17 includes a first position 21 that is close to the rack 2, a second position 23 that is away from the rack 2 of the first position 21, a rail 25 that extends between the two positions, And a transport carriage 27 capable of traveling on the vehicle.

  A wall 7 having a door 9 is provided between the first station 17 and the second station 19 at a position on the second position 23 side.

(3) Conveying Cart The conveying cart 27 includes a cart body 31 and a traveling unit 33 including wheels 35. A pallet P is mounted on the upper surface of the cart body 31. The pallet P is mounted on the carriage main body 31 and positioned. Accordingly, the pallet P can be moved together as the carriage main body 31 travels. The traveling unit 33 includes wheels 35, a traveling motor 37 (FIG. 4), and a rotary encoder 39 (FIG. 4). The wheel 35 is placed on the rail 25. The traveling motor 37 can drive the wheels 35. The rotary encoder 39 detects the rotation amount and rotation angle of the traveling motor 37.

  The transport carriage 27 further has a position detector 40 (FIG. 4). The position detector 40 has a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and is a sensor for detecting the position on the rail 25 of the transport carriage 27 by reflecting light to a mark provided on the ground or the like.

(4) Various sensors The first station 17 further includes a load size detector 41, a first detector 43, a second detector 45, and an alarm device 47 (FIG. 4).

  The load size detector 41 is a sensor for detecting the size of the load W having a plurality of optical axes in a region through which the transport carriage 27 and the load W pass. As shown in FIG. 1, the load size detector 41 is disposed on the rail 25 between the first position 21 and the second position 23. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the load size detector 41 includes a gate 51 and a plurality of photoelectric sensors 53 and 55. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the transport carriage 27 and the load size detector 41, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the worker A and the load size detector 41. As shown in FIG. The gate 51 is composed of a pair of side portions 51a arranged on both the front and rear sides, and an upper portion 51b that connects the upper portions of the both side portions 51a. The 1st photoelectric sensor 53 has a plurality of sets which consist of a light emitting element and a light receiving element which were provided in a pair of side parts 51a, respectively, and each set is arranged at predetermined intervals in the up-and-down direction. . In other words, a plurality of optical axes extending in the front-rear direction are formed, whereby the height of the luggage W can be measured. The first photoelectric sensors are preferably provided at a pitch of about 200 mm and are about 5 to 10 in number. Further, the second photoelectric sensor 55 has two sets of a pair of light emitting elements and light receiving elements provided on the upper part 51b and the ground at positions close to the pair of side parts 51a. That is, a pair of optical axes extending in the up-down direction is formed, so that the protrusion of the luggage W in the front-rear direction can be detected.

  The first detector 43 is a sensor for obtaining a first timing at which the front of the load W in the transfer direction is detected by the load size detector 41 by detecting the transfer carriage 27. The first detector 43 is arranged at a slight distance on the upstream side in the transport direction of the load size detector 41. The first detector 43 is a photoelectric sensor including a light emitting element and a light receiving element. The light emitting element and the light receiving element are arranged so as to form an optical axis extending in the front-rear direction. The optical axis is arranged at the same height as the pallet P mounted on the transport carriage 27.

  The second detector 45 is a sensor for obtaining a second timing at which the rear surface in the transport direction of the load W is detected by the load size detector 41 by detecting the transport carriage 27. The second detector 45 is arranged on the downstream side of the load size detector 41 in the transport direction with a distance substantially the same as the length of the transport carriage 27. The second detector 45 is a photoelectric sensor including a light emitting element and a light receiving element. The light emitting element and the light receiving element are arranged so as to form an optical axis extending in the front-rear direction. The optical axis is arranged at the same height as the pallet P mounted on the transport carriage 27.

  The alarm device 47 is a lamp, a speaker, or the like, and can issue an alarm by color or sound.

  Next, the travel control unit 61 of the transport carriage 27 will be described with reference to FIG. The travel control unit 61 is a control unit for controlling the travel / stop of the transport carriage 27, and is connected to the travel motor 37 and the rotary encoder 39. The traveling control unit 61 is mounted on the transport carriage 27 and can communicate with a main controller 63 that controls the entire automatic warehouse 1.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the first station 17 has a determination unit 67. The determination unit 67 is a determination unit for determining the load size and intrusion based on signals from various sensors. The determination unit 67 is connected to the load size detector 41, the first detector 43, the second detector 45, and the alarm device 47.

  The travel control unit 61 and the determination unit 67 are realized by computer hardware such as a CPU and a memory, but in FIG. ing.

(5) Basic operation The warehousing operation will be described. In the first station 17, the luggage W is mounted on the transport carriage 27 at the second position 23, and the transport carriage 27 then travels to the first position 21. Subsequently, the stacker crane 3 loads the cargo W on the transport carriage 27 on itself and further travels to a predetermined position. Finally, the stacker crane 3 stores the luggage W in the luggage rack of the rack 2.

  The delivery operation will be described. The stacker crane 3 loads the luggage W from the luggage rack of the rack 2 and further travels to the first station 17. Subsequently, the stacker crane 3 loads the load W on the transport carriage 27 at the first position 21. Then, the transport carriage 27 travels to the second position 23. Finally, the luggage W is taken out from the transport carriage 27.

(6) Detailed Operation With reference to the flowchart of FIG. The travel / stop operation of the transport carriage 27 is executed by the travel control unit 61, the travel motor 37, and various sensors shown in FIG. 4, but in the following description, the operation of the above configuration is not clearly shown for the sake of simplification. .

  In step S1, the determination unit 67 is set so as to determine that there is an intruder when a detection signal from the load size detector 41 is received. In step S <b> 2, the determination unit 67 waits until a detection result by the first detector 43 is obtained. When the detection result is obtained, the process proceeds to step S3, and the determination unit 67 is set to detect the size of the load when the detection signal from the load size detector 41 is received. In step S4, the determination unit 67 determines the shape and size of the front surface of the load W based on the detection signal from the load size detector 41 (position (a) in FIG. 6). ). In step S5, the determination unit 67 waits for a detection result obtained by the second detector 45 to be obtained. When the detection result is obtained, the process proceeds to step S6, and the determination unit 67 determines the shape and size of the rear surface of the load W based on the detection signal from the load size detector 41. (Position (b) in FIG. 6). In step S <b> 7, the determination unit 67 is set so as to determine that there is an intruder when a detection signal from the load size detector 41 is received.

  The operation when the detection signal from the load size detector 41 is input to the determination unit 67 when the determination unit 67 can determine that there is an intruder will be described with reference to FIG. In step S <b> 11, the traveling control unit 61 determines whether the transport carriage 27 is located between the first detector 43 and the second detector 45 based on the detection signal from the position detector 40. The case where the transport carriage 27 is not located between the first detector 43 and the second detector 45 means that the transport carriage 27 is stopped at the first position 21 or the second position 23, or during traveling. This includes the case where the first detector 43 and the second detector 45 are not positioned. If the transport carriage 27 is at the travel position, the interrupt operation is terminated because the transport carriage 27 is erroneously detected. As a result, even if the transport carriage 27 is located between the first detector 43 and the second detector 45 but not detected by the first detector 43, the load size is determined by the position information of the transport carriage 27. It can be determined that the detection by the detector 41 is due to the transport carriage 27. If the transport carriage 27 is not in the travel position, the process proceeds to step S12, and it is determined whether or not the person is a human based on a signal from the load size detector 41. If it is determined that the user is not a human, the interrupt operation is terminated as a non-human error is detected. If it is determined that the user is a human, the process proceeds to step S13 to perform abnormality processing. Specifically, the travel control unit 61 stops the travel motor 37 and the determination unit 67 activates the alarm device 47.

(7) Effect of the Present Invention The load detection device is a device for detecting the size of the load W conveyed by the transfer carriage 27, and includes a load size detector 41, a first detector 43, 2 detectors 45 and a determination unit 67. The load size detector 41 has a plurality of optical axes (53, 55) in a region through which the transport carriage 27 and the load W pass, and detects the size of the load W. The first detector 43 detects the transport carriage 27 to obtain a first timing at which the front surface in the transport direction of the load W is detected by the load size detector 41. The second detector 45 detects the transport carriage 27 to obtain a second timing at which the rear surface in the transport direction of the load W is detected by the load size detector 41. The determination unit 67 does not use the detection result of the load size detector 41 for the intrusion determination between the first timing and the second timing, and uses the detection result of the load size detector 41 for the intrusion determination otherwise.

  In this apparatus, since the load size is detected and the intrusion is detected using the load size detector 41, the number of sensors can be reduced, and thus the cost can be reduced.

  Further, since the determination unit 67 uses the detection result of the load size detector 41 for intrusion determination except during the first timing and the second timing, the time during which the intrusion detection can be determined is sufficiently long. For example, even when the carriage is running and a human being is detected by the load size detector 41 other than between the first timing and the second timing, abnormal processing (stopping the conveyance carriage 27, activation of the alarm 47, etc.) ) Can be performed.

  Since the position detector 40 for detecting the position of the transport carriage 27 is further provided, the determination unit 67 also uses position information from the position detector 40 for intrusion determination. Therefore, the accuracy of intrusion determination is high. In order to know the position of the transport carriage 27, other means may be used. For example, the travel position of the transport carriage 27 may be obtained based on a value obtained from the rotary encoder 39 or a travel command from the travel control unit 61.

  Since the first photoelectric sensors 53 of the load size detector 41 are installed at a pitch of 200 mm, for example, human intrusion can be reliably detected. As in the past, the intrusion detection sensor only uses one or two photoelectric sensors, so that it cannot be detected when a person crosses.

  Further, since the intrusion detection is turned off only between the first timing and the second timing obtained by the first detector 43 and the second detector 45, respectively, the time for ignoring the intrusion detection is minimized.

(8) Other Embodiments Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

  In the embodiment, it is determined that there is an intrusion only when both conditions are satisfied using the detection signal from the load size detector and the position information signal from the position detector. This position information signal may not be used for intrusion determination.

  In the said embodiment, although the 1st detector and the 2nd detector detected the conveyance traveling vehicle by pallet detection, you may detect a conveyance traveling vehicle by a traveling vehicle main body.

  In the above embodiment, the loading / unloading station of the automatic warehouse is taken as an example of the package detection device, but the present invention is also applicable to other devices.

  In the above-described embodiment, the transport carriage is used as the means for transporting the luggage. However, other transport means such as various conveyors may be used.

  In the said embodiment, although the traveling control part was mounted in the conveyance trolley, all or one part of the traveling control part may be contained in the external controller.

  In the above-described embodiment, various control units are expressed as functional blocks, but these may be realized as a software program for causing a computer to execute these functions.

  The present invention is widely applicable to a luggage detection device and a luggage detection method using a load size detector.

The schematic plan view of the loading / unloading station of the automatic warehouse where one Embodiment of this invention was employ | adopted. The schematic diagram which shows the relationship between a conveyance trolley | bogie and a load size detector. The schematic diagram which shows the relationship between an operator and a load size detector. The functional block diagram of the control part of a loading / unloading station. The flowchart which shows the basic operation | movement of a loading / unloading station. The schematic diagram which shows the detection timing of the front and back of a load. The flowchart which shows operation | movement when a detection signal (interrupt signal) generate | occur | produces from a load size detector.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic warehouse 2 Rack 3 Stacker crane 5 Stacker crane passage 17 1st station 19 2nd station 21 1st position 23 2nd position 25 Rail 27 Conveyance cart (conveyance vehicle)
31 Carriage body 33 Traveling part 35 Wheel 37 Traveling motor 39 Rotary encoder 40 Position detector 41 Load size detector 43 First detector 45 Second detector 47 Alarm 51 Gate 51a Side part 51b Upper part 53 First Photoelectric sensor 55 Second photoelectric sensor 61 Travel control unit 63 Main controller 67 Determination unit

Claims (3)

A luggage detection device for detecting the size of a package to be conveyed,
A load size detector for detecting the size of the load, having a plurality of optical axes in a region through which the load passes;
A first detector for obtaining a first timing at which a front surface in the conveyance direction of the load is detected by the load size detector;
A second detector for obtaining a second timing at which a rear surface in the conveyance direction of the load is detected by the load size detector;
Between the first timing and the second timing, the detection result of the load size detector is not used for intrusion determination for detecting an abnormal intrusion other than the conveyed baggage, and otherwise the detection of the load size detector A determination unit that uses the result for intrusion determination;
Luggage detection device with The luggage is to be transported by a transport vehicle,
A position detector for detecting the position of the transport vehicle;
The package detection device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit also uses position information from the position detection unit for intrusion determination. A load size detector having a plurality of optical axes in a region through which the load passes and detecting the size of the load, and a first timing at which a front surface in the transport direction of the load is detected by the load size detector A load detector comprising: a first detector for obtaining a second timing for obtaining a second timing at which a rear surface in the conveyance direction of the load is detected by the load size detector;
A package detection method for detecting the size of a package to be transported,
Obtaining a detection result of the load size detector at the first timing;
Obtaining a detection result of the load size detector at the second timing;
Between the first timing and the second timing, the detection result of the load size detector is not used for intrusion determination for detecting an abnormal intrusion other than the package being conveyed, and at other times the load size detector Using the detection results for the intrusion determination;
Luggage detection method with

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