JP2010132370A - Carrying vehicle system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a carrying vehicle system for allowing a manual operation of a carrying vehicle without stopping the system while securing the safety of an operator. <P>SOLUTION: The carrying vehicle system includes an operation terminal 45, a communication device 43, and the carrying vehicle 3. The operation terminal 45 can be manually operated. The communication device 43 can be operated via the operation terminal 45. The carrying vehicle 3 has a radio communication processing part separate from the communication device 43 and communicative with the operation terminal 45 via the communication device 43, and a cable communication processing part directly communicative with the operation terminal 45. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport vehicle system, and more particularly to a transport vehicle system capable of controlling a transport vehicle by manually operating a terminal.

  Conventionally, a conveyance vehicle system having a plurality of stations and a plurality of conveyance vehicles that convey articles between the plurality of stations is known. Between the station and the transport vehicle, cargo grasping (loading of articles from the station to the transport vehicle) and unloading (loading of articles from the transport vehicle to the station) is performed.

  The control system of the transport vehicle system includes, for example, a production controller, a physical distribution controller, a stocker controller, and a transport vehicle controller. The manufacturing controller receives a transfer request from the processing apparatus. The logistics controller is the same controller as the manufacturing controller, but is a higher order controller than the stocker controller and the transport vehicle controller. The distribution controller transmits various commands to the stocker controller and the transport vehicle controller. The stocker controller transmits a delivery command to the stocker. The transport vehicle controller transmits a transport command to the transport vehicle.

As an example of a terminal for manual operation, a remote controller is used. The remote controller can communicate with the carrier vehicle wirelessly. The operator can perform operations such as stopping / starting the transport vehicle and changing various settings by using a remote controller (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2000-153905 A

  In general, the remote control operation is performed in a state where the operator approaches the vicinity of the transport vehicle and specifies the transport vehicle in order to ensure safety. On the other hand, in the transport vehicle system, there are cases where the track area of the transport vehicle is prohibited from entering from the outside by using an entrance prevention fence for the safety of the operator. Therefore, in order to operate the transport vehicle, the operator needs to enter the track area from the entrance / exit of the entry prevention fence and move to the vicinity of the transport vehicle.

  However, since the guided vehicle system normally performs automatic traveling, it is necessary to stop the system when performing remote control operation. Therefore, the conveyance efficiency of the system is lowered.

  On the other hand, when trouble occurs in the transport vehicle, it is not necessary to stop the entire system, and it may be sufficient to control only the transport vehicle. For example, this is a case where the operation state is simply confirmed or a simple operation such as performing an abnormal reset.

  The subject of this invention is providing the conveyance vehicle system which enables manual operation of a conveyance vehicle, without stopping a system, ensuring an operator's safety.

The transport vehicle system according to the present invention includes an operation terminal, communication equipment, and a transport vehicle. The operation terminal can be manually operated. The communication facility can be operated by an operation terminal. The transport vehicle is separate from the communication facility, and includes a first communication unit capable of communicating with the operation terminal via the communication facility, and a second communication unit capable of directly communicating with the operation terminal.
In this system, the operator can communicate with the first communication unit of the transport vehicle by operating the communication facility using the operation terminal in order to control the transport vehicle. For this reason, since the operator does not need to approach the transport vehicle more than necessary, the transport vehicle can be controlled safely even when the system is in the automatic traveling state. Moreover, since it can communicate with the 2nd communication part of a conveyance vehicle from an operation terminal, the operator can select a safe state and can control a conveyance vehicle in the vicinity of a conveyance vehicle.
The connection method between the operation terminal, the communication facility, and the communication unit may be wired or wireless.

The conveyance vehicle system may further include an isolation area where the conveyance vehicle travels. In this case, the operating terminal cannot communicate directly with the transport vehicle outside the isolation area. The operation terminal can be connected to the communication facility only outside the isolation area.
In this system, since the operation terminal cannot communicate directly with the transport vehicle outside the isolation area, the operator always connects the operation terminal to the communication facility and manually controls the transport vehicle outside the isolation area. Further, since the operation terminal cannot be connected to the communication facility in the isolation area, the operation of connecting the operation terminal to the communication facility is always performed outside the isolation area. That is, when the operator performs a manual operation via the communication facility, the operator is surely in a safe place away from the traveling path. Therefore, it is not necessary to take safety measures for manual operation.

A plurality of transport vehicles may be traveling in the isolation area. In this case, when the operation terminal connected to the communication facility is manually operated, the transport vehicle that is not the operation target may be allowed to automatically travel.
In this system, when the manual operation is performed using the operation terminal connected to the communication facility, the entire system is not stopped, so that the conveyance efficiency is hardly lowered.

A plurality of communication facilities may be provided along the traveling path of the transport vehicle.
In this system, the operator manually operates the transport vehicle by connecting an operation terminal to communication equipment close to the transport vehicle. For this reason, the operator can perform work at a safe position closer to the transport vehicle.

  In the transport vehicle system according to the present invention, the transport vehicle can be manually operated without stopping the system while ensuring the safety of the operator.

(1) Basic structure of transport vehicle system The transport vehicle system 1 as one embodiment of the present invention is a system for causing a plurality of transport vehicles 3 to travel on a predetermined track. The transport vehicle 3 travels in one direction on the track, loads an article from a target location according to a transport command assigned by a host controller (described later), and then travels to a transport destination location. Ship to the place. The type of the conveyance vehicle may be an overhead conveyance vehicle, an automatic guided vehicle that travels without a track, or a tracked carriage.

  FIG. 1 is a partial plan view showing a layout of a transport vehicle system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The transport vehicle system 1 includes a plurality of circuit travel paths 5 and a main travel path 7 that connects the plurality of circuit travel paths 5. The trunk road 7 forms a single circuit as a whole. A plurality of processing devices 9 are provided along the circumferential traveling path 5, and a plurality of stockers 11 are provided along the backbone traveling path 7. The stocker 11 realizes a buffer function between the processing device 9 groups in the circuit travel path 5.

  The equipment such as the processing device 9 and the stocker 11 is provided with a warehousing port 13 for carrying an article into the equipment and a delivery port 15 for picking up the article from the equipment to the transport vehicle 3. Note that the warehousing port 13 and the warehousing port 15 may be shared.

(2) Control system of transport vehicle system FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the transport vehicle system. The control system 19 includes a production controller 21, a distribution controller 23, a stocker controller 25, and a transport vehicle controller 27. An area controller 28 is provided as a lower controller of the transport vehicle controller 27. The area controller 28 relays communication between the transport vehicle controller 27 and the transport vehicle 3 existing in the jurisdiction. The logistics controller 23 is a higher-order controller of the stocker controller 25 and the transport vehicle controller 27. The transport vehicle controller 27 has a function of managing a plurality of transport vehicles 3 and assigning a transport command to them. The “conveyance command” includes a command related to traveling and a command related to the load holding position and the unloading position.

  The production controller 21 can communicate with each processing apparatus 9. The processing device 9 transmits a conveyance request (load grasping request / unloading request) of the article for which processing has been completed to the manufacturing controller 21. The manufacturing controller 21 transmits a transport request from the processing device 9 to the physical distribution controller 23, and the physical distribution controller 23 transmits a report to the manufacturing controller 21.

  When the distribution controller 23 receives a transport request from the manufacturing controller 21, when the stocker 11 is accompanied or unloaded, the logistics controller 23 transmits a store or unload command to the stocker controller 25 at a predetermined timing. Then, the stocker controller 25 transmits an incoming / outgoing command to the stocker 11 accordingly. When the distribution controller 23 further receives a conveyance request from the manufacturing controller 21, the distribution controller 23 converts it into a conveyance command and performs an operation for assigning a conveyance command to the conveyance vehicle 3.

  The transport vehicle controller 27 continuously communicates with each transport vehicle 3 to create a transport command, and obtains position information based on the position data transmitted from each transport vehicle 3. For example, an encoder is provided in the transport vehicle 3, and a travel distance after passing the point is transmitted from the transport vehicle 3 to the transport vehicle controller 27 as position data, and the transport vehicle controller 27 thereby transmits the position of the transport vehicle 3. To figure out.

(3) Part of Carrier Vehicle System FIG. 3 is a partial plan view showing a part of the carrier vehicle system. A plurality of transport vehicles 3 can travel along the travel path 29. Ingress prevention fences 31 are provided on both sides of the travel path 29, and the inside thereof is an isolation area 33. The entry prevention fence 31 has a height that the operator cannot easily get over. The entry prevention fence 31 is provided with doorways 35 and doors 37 at predetermined locations. In addition, when the conveyance vehicle 3 is automatically traveling on the traveling path 29, the door 37 is automatically locked. This prevents an operator from entering the isolation area 33 by mistake during automatic traveling of the transport vehicle 3.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relationship between the wireless device, the operation terminal, and the transport vehicle, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relationship between the operation terminal and the transport vehicle.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the transport vehicle 3 includes a wireless communication processing unit 71, an antenna 73, a CPU 75, a wired communication processing unit 76, and a connection unit 77. A control signal received by the antenna 73 is input to the CPU 75 via the wireless communication processing unit 71. In addition, a control signal can be input to the CPU 75 from the connection unit 77 via the wired communication processing unit 76. The CPU 75 is connected to the area controller 28 via a signal line 79 (FIG. 1). The CPU 75 can control a driving device and a transfer device (not shown) according to a command from the area controller 28.

(4) Manual Operation Mechanism A manual operation mechanism 41 for manually operating the transport vehicle 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. The manual operation mechanism 41 includes a plurality of communication devices 43 provided along the travel path 29 and an operation terminal 45.

The communication device 43 is a wireless device. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the communication device 43 includes a wireless communication processing unit 51, an antenna 53, a communication processing unit 55, various buttons 57, and a connection unit 59. The wireless communication processing unit 51 can transmit a radio wave from the antenna 53 based on the signal input to the connection unit 59. Further, the communication processing unit 55 can transmit signals to the area controller 28 based on input signals from the various buttons 57. Further, the communication processing unit 55 can transmit a signal to the area controller 28 based on an input signal from the connection unit 59.
Further, the communication device 43 has a key switch 58 and an activation button 60. The key switch 58 can be switched between “maintenance” and “automatic travel”. When the key switch 58 is in the “maintenance” state, various buttons 57 can be operated to transmit a “remote control operation request” to the area controller 28. When the key switch 58 is in the “automatic running” state, the “automatic start request” can be transmitted to the area controller 28 by operating the start button 60.

  As is clear from the figure, the wireless communication processing unit 51, the antenna 53, and the communication processing unit 55 are arranged in the isolation area 33. However, the various buttons 57 and the connection portion 59 are arranged outside the isolation area 33. As a result, the operator can operate the various buttons 57 only outside the isolation area 33, and the tip of the connection line 63 can be attached to and detached from the connection portion 59.

The communication devices 43 are arranged at regular intervals or at intervals within a predetermined range. Note that since the effective wireless radius of the communication device 43 is about 20 m (a range in which the operator can operate visually), in this embodiment, the size of the interval S between the communication devices 43 is about 17 m. In this way, a plurality of communication line areas are set along the travel path 29, and the transport vehicle 3 can be manually operated at any location on the travel path 29.
The communication area (wireless communication effective range) can be expanded in the case of layout conditions with a good line of sight, or can be expanded according to the user's request. Further, when the trajectory is bent or there is an obstruction, the interval between the communication devices 43 can be reduced. Note that the frequencies of radio waves used in adjacent communication areas are different, and the frequency is automatically switched when the transport vehicle 3 enters a communication area having a different frequency.
As described above, the operator can manually operate the transport vehicle 3 using the communication device 43 if the target transport vehicle 3 exists in the communication line area of the communication device 43.

  Adjacent communication line areas overlap each other. Accordingly, when the operator manually moves the transport vehicle 3 between the communication line areas, the operator temporarily stops after confirming that the transport vehicle 3 has entered the next communication line area, Move to the communication device 43 and continue the manual operation.

  The operation terminal 45 has a main body 61 and a connection line 63. The tip of the connection line 63 of the communication device 43 can be attached to and detached from the connection portion 59. The main body 61 is provided with a liquid crystal screen 61a and various operation buttons 61b.

In FIG. 4, the connection line 63 of the operation terminal 45 is connected to the connection unit 59 of the communication device 43. When the operator operates the main body 61 of the operation terminal 45 in this state, a control signal is transmitted from the antenna 53 to the transport vehicle 3 via the wireless communication processing unit 51. The control signal may be transmitted from the communication processing unit 55 to the area controller 28.
If it is determined by the interlock function of the door 37 of the entry prevention fence 31 that there is an operator in the isolation area 33, the remote operation function is invalidated.

(5) Remote control remote operation function Hereinafter, the remote control remote operation function (manual operation from outside the entry prevention fence) will be described.

As a premise, the plurality of transport vehicles 3 are automatically traveling on the travel path 29 in accordance with a command from the transport vehicle controller 27.
First, the operator switches the key switch 58 of the communication device 43 from “automatic travel” to “maintenance”. Further, the operator operates various buttons 57 to transmit a “remote control operation request” to the area controller 28. The area controller 28 further transmits a “remote control operation request” to the transport vehicle controller 27, and as a result, the transport vehicle controller 27 instructs the transport vehicle 3 in the communication area of the communication device 43 to automatically stop via the area controller 28. To do. The transport vehicle 3 shifts from the “automatic operation mode” to the “remote control standby mode” and automatically stops. Thereafter, the stopped transport vehicle 3 leaves the instruction from the area controller 28 and waits for an instruction from the operation terminal 45. In addition, the conveyance vehicle 3 outside the communication area of the communication device 43 continues automatic traveling.

  The operator waits for the transportation vehicle 3 to stop, and then connects the connection line 63 of the operation terminal 45 to the connection unit 59 of the communication device 43 as shown in FIG. In this case, the remote control connection is valid when the following two conditions are satisfied. The first condition is an interlock closing condition of the door 37. Specifically, there is no person in the isolation area 33 and the safety in the target block is ensured. The second condition is that the key switch 58 has been switched to the “maintenance” side, thereby being in a state where automatic activation is not possible.

  The operator sets the number of the transport vehicle 3 on the operation terminal 45 while visually confirming the target transport vehicle 3.

  In this state, the operator operates the operation terminal 45 to control the target transport vehicle 3. Specifically, the operator confirms the operating state or performs an abnormal reset.

  After the operation is completed, the operator switches the key switch of the communication device 43 from “maintenance” to “automatic travel”. Further, the operator disconnects the connection line 63 of the operation terminal 45 from the connection unit 59 and presses the start button 60 of the communication device 43. Thereby, the communication processing unit 55 transmits an “automatic activation request” to the area controller 28, and the area controller 28 further transmits an “automatic activation request” to the transport vehicle controller 27. As a result, the transport vehicle controller 27 transmits an automatic activation instruction to the transport vehicle 3 that has been stopped via the area controller 28. As a result, the transport vehicle 3 that has been stopped shifts from the “remote control standby mode” to the “automatic operation mode”. Thereafter, the transport vehicle 3 that has been stopped automatically travels in accordance with instructions from the area controller 28.

  FIG. 5 shows a state where the operator enters the isolation area 33 and connects the connection line 63 to the connection part 77 of the transport vehicle 3. In this case, the operator can control the transport vehicle 3 by operating the operation terminal 45.

(6) Features The transport vehicle system 1 includes an operation terminal 45, a communication device 43, and a transport vehicle 3. The operation terminal 45 can be manually operated. The communication device 43 can be operated by the operation terminal 45. The transport vehicle 3 is separate from the communication device 43, and includes a wireless communication processing unit 71 that can communicate with the operation terminal 45 via the communication device 43, and a wired communication processing unit 76 that can directly communicate with the operation terminal 45. And have.
In the transport vehicle system 1, the operator operates the communication device 43 using the operation terminal 45 to control the transport vehicle 3, thereby communicating the communication device 43 with the wireless communication processing unit 71 of the transport vehicle 3. Can be made. For this reason, since the operator does not need to approach the conveyance vehicle 3 more than necessary, the conveyance vehicle 3 can be safely controlled even when the conveyance vehicle system 1 is in the automatic traveling state. In addition, since it is possible to communicate with the wired communication processing unit 76 of the transport vehicle 3 from the operation terminal 45, the operator can select the safe state and control the transport vehicle 3 in the vicinity of the transport vehicle 3.

The transport vehicle system 1 further includes an isolation area 33 where the transport vehicle 3 travels. In this case, the operation terminal 45 cannot communicate directly with the transport vehicle 3 outside the isolation area 33. The operation terminal 45 can be connected to the communication device 43 only outside the isolation area 33.
In this system, since the operation terminal 45 cannot communicate directly with the transport vehicle 3 outside the isolation area 33, the operator must connect the operation terminal 45 to the communication device 43 and manually operate the transport vehicle 3 outside the isolation area 33. To control. Further, since the operation terminal 45 cannot be connected to the communication device 43 in the isolation area 33, the operator always performs the work of connecting the operation terminal 45 to the communication device 43 outside the isolation area 33. That is, when a manual operation is performed via the communication device 43, it is certain that the operator is in a safe place away from the travel path 29. Therefore, it is not necessary to take safety measures for manual operation.

A plurality of transport vehicles 3 run in the isolation area 33. In this case, when the operation terminal 45 connected to the communication device 43 is manually operated, the non-operation target transport vehicle 3 can automatically travel.
In this transport vehicle system 1, since the entire transport vehicle system 1 is not stopped when the operation terminal 45 connected to the communication device 43 is manually operated, the transport efficiency is unlikely to decrease.

A plurality of communication devices 43 are provided along the travel path 29 of the transport vehicle 3.
In this transport vehicle system 1, the operator manually operates the transport vehicle 3 by connecting the operation terminal 45 to the communication device 43 close to the transport vehicle 3. For this reason, the operator can perform work at a safe position closer to the transport vehicle 3.

(7) 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.
The layout and control system of the transport vehicle system are not limited to the above embodiment. Further, the type of equipment to which the transport vehicle system is applied is not limited to the above embodiment. The present invention can be applied not only to a ground traveling vehicle but also to a suspended traveling vehicle system.
In the above embodiment, the plurality of transport vehicles in the predetermined area are stopped during manual operation by the operation terminal, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, only the target transport vehicle may be stopped.
In the above-described embodiment, the operation terminal can communicate with the wireless device and the carriage by wire, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the operation terminal may be a wireless device having a short effective distance. However, in general, wired is more advantageous for safety than wired and wireless. This is because the communication line can be cut off by operating the emergency stop button. In this case, the transport vehicle communicates with the operation terminal wirelessly.
In the above embodiment, when the operator presses various buttons and transmits a “remote controller operation request” to the relay controller, the transport vehicle controller instructs the transport vehicle in the communication area of the communication device to stop automatically. It is not limited to this. Instead of the transport vehicle controller, the relay controller may instruct the transport vehicle in the communication area of the communication device to automatically stop.
In the said embodiment, although the main body of the communication apparatus was arrange | positioned in the approach prevention fence, this invention is not limited to this. The main body of the communication device may be arranged outside the entry prevention fence.

  The present invention can be widely applied to a transport vehicle system capable of manually operating a transport vehicle using an operation terminal.

The partial top view which shows the layout of the carrier system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the control system of a conveyance vehicle system. The fragmentary top view which shows a part of conveyance vehicle system. The schematic diagram which shows the relationship between a radio | wireless apparatus, an operation terminal, and a conveyance vehicle. The schematic diagram which shows the relationship between an operating terminal and a conveyance vehicle.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveyance vehicle system 3 Conveyance vehicle 5 Circulation traveling path 7 Basic traveling path 9 Processing apparatus 11 Stocker 13 Incoming port 15 Outlet port 19 Control system 21 Manufacturing controller 23 Logistics controller 25 Stocker controller 27 Conveying vehicle controller 28 Area controller 29 Traveling path 31 Entry Prevention fence 33 Isolation area 35 Entrance / exit 37 Door 41 Manual operation mechanism 43 Communication device (communication equipment)
45 Operation terminal 51 Wireless communication processing unit 53 Antenna 55 Communication processing unit 57 Button 58 Key switch 59 Connection unit 60 Start button 61 Main body 61a Liquid crystal screen 61b Operation button 63 Connection line 71 Wireless communication processing unit (first communication unit)
73 Antenna 75 CPU
76 Wired communication processing unit (second communication unit)
77 Connection 79 Signal line

Claims (4)

An operation terminal that can be operated manually,
A communication facility operable by the operation terminal;
A transport vehicle that is separate from the communication facility and includes a first communication unit capable of communicating with the operation terminal via the communication facility, and a second communication unit capable of directly communicating with the operation terminal;
Car carrier system equipped with. Further comprising an isolation area where the transport vehicle travels,
Outside the isolation area, the operation terminal cannot communicate directly with the transport vehicle,
The transport vehicle system according to claim 1, wherein the operation terminal can be connected to the communication facility only outside the isolation area. A plurality of the transport vehicles are running in the isolation area,
The transport vehicle system according to claim 2, wherein when the operation terminal connected to the communication facility is manually operated, the transport vehicle that is not an operation target can automatically travel.   The transport vehicle system according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the communication facilities are provided along a travel path of the transport vehicle.

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