JP2016175711A - Lifting transport device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve transport performance of a cargo in a lifting transport device.SOLUTION: A lifting transport device 1 is a lifting transport device for lifting up and down a cargo W for transporting the same. The lifting transport device 1 comprises: a first vertical locus 21A; a second vertical locus 21B; and plural lifting transport bogies 23. The lifting transport bogies 23 are devices which autonomously travel on the first vertical locus 21A and the second vertical locus 21B, and comprise: a conveyor 27 capable of moving the cargo W in a cross direction; a travel mechanism 29 for travelling the conveyor 27 along the first vertical locus 21A and the second vertical locus 21B; a first guide roller 31 and a second guide roller 33 guided by the first vertical locus 21A and the second vertical locus 21B; and a transport bogie controller 60 for controlling travel of the travel mechanism 29.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an elevating / conveying device, and more particularly, to an elevating / conveying device that loads a package into or out of an automatic warehouse having a plurality of stages of shelves.

There is known an automatic warehouse provided with a plurality of transport vehicles corresponding to each stage of the rack. Each transport vehicle transfers a load between the transport vehicle and the shelf of each stage while traveling in the direction of the rack at each stage. In such an automatic warehouse, an elevating / conveying device is provided for loading a package into each stage of the rack or unloading a package from each stage of the rack.
Patent Document 1 discloses a lifting device including a lifting platform that moves up and down along one mast.

JP 2012-188225 A

  In the lifting device described above, only one load can be lifted and lowered at a time. In other words, the conveying capacity of the lifting device is not sufficient. Therefore, the elevating device cannot carry in / out a large amount of luggage to / from the automatic warehouse in a short time.

  The subject of this invention is improving the conveyance capability of a load in a raising / lowering conveyance apparatus.

  Hereinafter, a plurality of modes will be described as means for solving the problems. These aspects can be arbitrarily combined as necessary.

The lifting and lowering conveying device according to an aspect of the present invention is a lifting and lowering conveying device that lifts and conveys a load. The lifting / lowering conveyance device includes a vertical track and a plurality of lifting / lowering conveyance vehicles.
The lifting transport vehicle is a device that autonomously travels on a vertical track, a conveyor that can move a load in the front-rear direction, a travel mechanism that travels the conveyor along the vertical track, a guide roller that is guided by the vertical track, And a controller for controlling the traveling of the traveling mechanism.

  In this apparatus, the lifting / lowering transport vehicle autonomously travels along the vertical track under the control of the controller and transports the load. Therefore, the conveyance capability can be improved by providing a plurality of elevating conveyance vehicles.

The vertical trajectory may have a first vertical trajectory and a second vertical trajectory arranged side by side. The elevating / conveying device further includes a first traverser mechanism and a second traverser mechanism that move the elevating / conveying vehicle between the first vertical track and the second vertical track at the upper end and the lower end of the first vertical track and the second vertical track. Yes.
In this apparatus, the lifting transport vehicle can move between the first vertical track and the second vertical track by the first traverser mechanism and the second traverser mechanism. Thereby, a raising / lowering conveyance vehicle can move around. As a result, the transport capability of the lift transport device is improved.

The lifting and lowering conveying apparatus may further include a rack as a rail having a rack gear provided along the vertical track. The traveling mechanism may include a pinion that fits into the rack and a motor that drives the pinion.
In this device, the lifting and lowering vehicle surely moves up and down the vertical track by the rack and the pinion.

  In the lifting and lowering conveying apparatus according to the present invention, the load carrying ability is improved.

The schematic front view of the raising / lowering conveyance apparatus of 1st Embodiment. The schematic plan view of a raising / lowering conveying apparatus. The elements on larger scale of FIG. The top view of a raising / lowering conveying apparatus. The schematic diagram of a traveling mechanism. The control block diagram of a raising / lowering conveying apparatus. The schematic diagram which shows operation | movement of a traverser mechanism. The schematic diagram which shows operation | movement of a traverser mechanism. The schematic diagram which shows operation | movement of a traverser mechanism. The schematic diagram which shows operation | movement of a traverser mechanism. The schematic diagram which shows operation | movement of a traverser mechanism.

1. First Embodiment (1) Outline of Lifting and Conveying Device The lifting and lowering conveying device 1 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of the elevating and conveying apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the elevating and conveying apparatus.
The elevating / conveying device 1 is a device that carries the cargo W into or out of the automatic warehouse 3 having a plurality of stages of shelves. In the following description, the left-right direction in FIG. 1 is referred to as the front-rear direction (first horizontal direction), and the direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction is referred to as the left-right direction (second horizontal direction).

As shown in FIG. 1, the elevating / conveying device 1 is arranged between the loading / unloading unit 5 of the automatic warehouse 3 and the loading / unloading station 7, and conveys the cargo W between them. The automatic warehouse 3 is an automatic warehouse of each stage shuttle type, and a transport shuttle (not shown) is arranged to be able to reciprocate for each stage of the rack. The loading / unloading unit 5 is a device for loading and unloading the luggage W into / from the automatic warehouse 3. The loading / unloading unit 5 has a plurality of stages 5A to 5K. The stages 5A to 5K respectively have conveyors 9A to 9K for transporting the luggage W in the front-rear direction. On the right side of the conveyors 9 </ b> A to 9 </ b> K, a transport vehicle (not shown) that travels through each stage of the automatic warehouse 3 is arranged. The loading / unloading station 7 has a plurality of stages 7A to 7D. The stages 7A to 7D respectively have conveyors 11A to 11D for transporting loads in the front-rear direction.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the several raising / lowering conveying apparatus 1 is arranged side by side in the left-right direction in planar view.

(2) Details of Elevating and Conveying Device The elevating and conveying device 1 includes a vertical track 21 and an elevating and conveying vehicle 23. The vertical track 21 has a first vertical track 21A and a second vertical track 21B that are spaced apart in the front-rear direction. The first vertical track 21 </ b> A is disposed adjacent to the loading / unloading unit 5. The second vertical track 21 </ b> B is disposed adjacent to the loading / unloading station 7. The first vertical track 21A and the second vertical track 21B have the same height position at the upper end and the lower end.
The lift transport vehicle 23 is a device that travels on the vertical track 21. In this embodiment, a plurality of elevating transport vehicles 23 are arranged. The lift transport vehicle 23 has a conveyor 27 that can move the load W in the front-rear direction. The lift transport vehicle 23 has a traveling mechanism 29 that travels the conveyor 27 along the vertical track 21. The lift transport vehicle 23 includes a first guide roller 31 and a second guide roller 33 that are guided by the vertical track 21. These structures will be described later.

  In this apparatus, since the lifting / lowering transport vehicle 23 autonomously travels along the vertical track 21, the load is transported. For example, by providing a plurality of lifting / lowering transport vehicles 23, the transport capability can be improved.

(2-1) Vertical Track As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the first vertical track 21 </ b> A has first rails 41 </ b> A and 41 </ b> B that are arranged apart in the front-rear direction. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the lifting and lowering conveying device. The first rails 41A and 41B are thin plate-like members that extend long in the vertical direction and have a predetermined width in the horizontal direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the first rails 41 </ b> A and 41 </ b> B have roller guide portions 43 on both sides in the left-right direction. Each roller guide portion 43 has front and rear guide surfaces. Further, the first rail 41A has a rack rail 45 (see FIG. 5) at the center in the left-right direction. The first rail 41B is provided with a pair of first power supply line 47A and second power supply line 47B at the central portion in the left-right direction. A power supply device (not shown) for supplying high-frequency power is provided at one end of the first power supply line 47A and the second power supply line 47B.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the second vertical track 21 </ b> B includes second rails 51 </ b> A and 51 </ b> B that are arranged apart in the front-rear direction. The second rails 51A and 51B are thin plate-like members that extend long in the vertical direction and have a predetermined width in the horizontal direction. The second rails 51A and 51B have roller guide portions 53 on both sides in the left-right direction. Each roller guide portion 53 has front and rear guide surfaces. Further, the second rail 51A has a rack rail 55 at the central portion in the left-right direction. The second rail 51 </ b> B is provided with a pair of first and second power supply lines 57 </ b> A and 57 </ b> B at a central portion in the left-right direction.

(2-2) Elevating conveyance vehicle The elevating conveyance vehicle 23 includes a traveling mechanism 29 and a conveyor unit 63. The traveling mechanism 29 is a mechanism that travels on the vertical track 21. The conveyor unit 63 is a mechanism for transporting the luggage W in the front-rear direction. The conveyor unit 63 is cantilevered at a position away from the traveling mechanism 29 in the left-right direction.
The traveling mechanism 29 is disposed between the first rails 41A and 41B or between the second rails 51A and 51B. The traveling mechanism 29 has a main body 65. The main body 65 is composed of a plurality of frames. As shown in FIG. 5, the traveling mechanism 29 has a traveling motor 67 and a pinion 69. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the traveling mechanism. The travel motor 67 drives the pinion 69. The travel motor 67 is fixed to the main body 65. The pinion 69 is fitted to the rack rail 45 described above. By the rack rail 45 and the pinion 69, the lift transport vehicle 23 moves up and down the vertical track 21 with certainty.

The travel mechanism 29 has a plurality of first guide rollers 31. The 1st guide roller 31 is arrange | positioned at the roller guide parts 43 and 53, and is guided in the raising / lowering direction. The rotation axis of the first guide roller 31 faces the left-right direction. The travel mechanism 29 has a plurality of second guide rollers 33. The 2nd guide roller 33 is arrange | positioned at the roller guide parts 43 and 53, and is guided in the raising / lowering direction. The rotation axis of the second guide roller 33 faces the front-rear direction.
The traveling mechanism 29 has a pickup unit 71 for obtaining high-frequency power from the first power supply line 47A and the second power supply line 47B.

(2-3) Traverser Mechanism The elevating / conveying device 1 has a first traverser mechanism 35. The first traverser mechanism 35 moves the lifting transport vehicle 23 between the first vertical track 21A and the second vertical track 21B at the upper ends of the first vertical track 21A and the second vertical track 21B. The lifting / lowering conveying apparatus 1 has a second traverser mechanism 37. The second traverser mechanism 37 moves the lifting transport vehicle 23 between the first vertical track 21A and the second vertical track at the lower ends of the first vertical track 21A and the second vertical track 21B. By the first traverser mechanism 35 and the second traverser mechanism 37, the lift transport vehicle 23 can move between the first vertical track 21 </ b> A and the second vertical track 21 </ b> B. Thereby, the raising / lowering conveyance vehicle 23 can move around. As a result, the transport capability of the lift transport device 1 is improved.
In this embodiment, in FIG. 1, the lifting / lowering transport vehicle 23 moves counterclockwise. That is, the lift transport vehicle 23 performs a lowering operation on the loading / unloading station 7 and a lifting operation on the loading / unloading unit 5.

  The first traverser mechanism 35 includes a first traverser carriage 73 and a first traverser rail 77. The first traverser cart 73 travels on the first traverser rail 77. The first traverser cart 73 has first moving rails 73A and 73B. The first moving rails 73A and 73B have the same structure as the first rails 41A and 41B, although the length is short. Therefore, the lift transport vehicle 23 is movable to the first moving rails 73A and 73B. The first moving rails 73A, 73B are movable in the front-rear direction by traveling on the first traverser rail 77, and are movable between the upper ends of the first vertical track 21A and the second vertical track 21B.

  The second traverser mechanism 37 includes a second traverser carriage 83 and a second traverser rail 87. The second traverser cart 83 travels on the second traverser rail 87. The second traverser cart 83 has second moving rails 83A and 83B. The second moving rails 83A and 83B have the same structure as the first rails 41A and 41B, although the length is short. Accordingly, the lift transport vehicle 23 is movable to the second moving rails 83A and 83B. The second moving rails 83A and 83B are movable in the front-rear direction by traveling on the second traverser rail 87, and are movable between the lower ends of the first vertical track 21A and the second vertical track 21B. .

(2-4) Control Configuration The control configuration of the lifting / lowering conveyance device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a control block diagram of the lifting / lowering conveying apparatus.
The lifting / lowering conveyance apparatus 1 has a controller 59. The controller 59 is a device that controls various configurations of the elevating and conveying apparatus 1. The controller 59 is a computer having a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM, and executes the control operation by executing software.

The controller 59 is connected to a transport vehicle controller 60 mounted on the lift transport vehicle 23. The transport vehicle controller 60 performs control for transporting the luggage W in accordance with a command from the controller 59. The controller 59 is a computer having a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM, and executes the control operation by executing software. A traveling motor 67 is connected to the transport vehicle controller 60. A conveyor motor 85 is connected to the transport vehicle controller 60. The transport vehicle controller 60 is connected to a sensor (not shown) for detecting the travel positions of the host vehicle and other vehicles.
A first traverser motor 91 and a second traverser motor 93 are connected to the controller 59.
The controller 59 communicates with a controller (not shown) of the automatic warehouse 3 and a controller (not shown) of the loading / unloading station 7 to carry the cargo W.

(3) Operation The transport vehicle controller 60 of each elevating transport vehicle 23 receives a transport command including the departure point and the destination from the controller 59, and transports the luggage W based on the transport command. While the elevating transport vehicle 23 is traveling, the transport vehicle controller 60 travels the elevating transport vehicle 23 so as not to collide while checking the position of the front elevating transport vehicle 23.

  As described above, in the lift transport device 1, the lift transport vehicle 23 autonomously transports the luggage W while traveling on the first vertical track 21A and the second vertical track 21B. By providing it, the conveyance capability can be improved.

The operation in which the lift transport vehicle 23 moves the first traverser mechanism 35 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 11 are schematic views showing the operation of the traverser mechanism.
As shown in FIG. 7, the two lift transport vehicles 23 are approaching the first traverser mechanism 35. The transport vehicle controller 60 of the leading lift transport vehicle 23 inquires of the controller 59 whether or not the first traverser mechanism 35 can be entered. In the case of FIG. 7, the first traverser carriage 73 with the empty first moving rails 73A and 73B is disposed on the first rails 41A and 41B. The vehicle enters the first traverser cart 73 and stops. In this state, the first traverser carriage 73 moves through the first traverser rail 75 to the second rails 43A and 43B side. Note that the second lift carriage 23 is stopped at the upper ends of the first rails 41 </ b> A and 41 </ b> B, and the carriage controller 60 continues to inquire about whether or not the controller 59 can enter.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the first traverser cart 73 stops on the second rails 43A and 43B.
And as shown in FIG. 10, the raising / lowering conveyance vehicle 23 descend | falls toward the 2nd rail 43A, 43B from the 1st traverser cart 73. As shown in FIG. Subsequently, the first traverser carriage 73 returns to the first rails 41A and 41B side. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11, the second lifting / lowering transport vehicle 23 enters the first moving rails 73A and 73B. The following operations are the same as described above. The operation in the second traverser mechanism 37 is also the same as described above.

2. Features of the present embodiment The lifting / lowering conveyance device 1 (an example of the lifting / lowering conveyance device) is a device that moves the cargo W up and down. The lifting / lowering conveyance device 1 includes a vertical track 21 (an example of a vertical track) and a plurality of lifting / lowering vehicles 23 (an example of a lifting / lowering vehicle).
The lift transport vehicle 23 is a device that travels on the vertical track 21, and includes a conveyor 27 (an example of a conveyor) that can move the luggage W in the front-rear direction, and a travel mechanism 29 that travels the conveyor 27 along the vertical track 21. The first guide roller 31 (an example of a guide roller) guided by the vertical track 21 and a transport vehicle controller 60 that controls the travel of the travel mechanism 29 are included.

  In the lifting / lowering conveyance device 1, the lifting / lowering conveyance vehicle 23 conveys the luggage W while traveling on the vertical track 21 autonomously under the control of the conveyance vehicle controller 60. Therefore, by providing a plurality of lifting / lowering transporting vehicles 23, the transporting capability can be improved.

3. Other Embodiments Although a plurality of embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, a plurality of embodiments and modifications described in this specification can be arbitrarily combined as necessary.
In the first embodiment, the number of lifting transport vehicles is six, but the number of lifting transport vehicles is not particularly limited.
In the first embodiment, the traverser mechanism is used to realize the orbit, but the orbit may be realized by another mechanism.
In the first embodiment, the traveling mechanism is realized by a rack and a pinion, but the traveling mechanism may be realized by another mechanism.

  The present invention can be widely applied to an elevating / conveying apparatus that loads a package into or out of an automatic warehouse having a plurality of stages of shelves.

1: Lifting / conveying device 3: Automatic warehouse 5: Entry / exit section 7: Entry / exit station 21: Vertical track 21A: First vertical track 21B: Second vertical track 23: Lift transport vehicle 27: Conveyor 29: Traveling mechanism 31: First 1 guide roller 33: 2nd guide roller 35: 1st traverser mechanism 37: 2nd traverser mechanism 41A: 1st rail 41B: 1st rail 43: Roller guide part 43A: 2nd rail 43B: 2nd rail 45: Rack rail 47A: 1st feed line 47B: 2nd feed line 51A: 2nd rail 51B: 2nd rail 53: Roller guide part 55: Rack rail 57A: 1st feed line 57B: 2nd feed line 59: Controller 60: Carrier vehicle Controller 63: Conveyor section 65: Main body 67: Traveling motor 69: Pinion 71: Pickup unit 73: First truck -Trolley 73A: first moving rail 73B: first moving rail 77: first traverser rail 83: second traverser trolley 83A: second moving rail 83B: second moving rail 85: conveyor motor 87: second traverser rail 91 : First traverser motor 93: Second traverser motor W: Luggage

Claims (3)

An elevating / conveying device for elevating and transporting luggage,
A vertical orbit,
A device that autonomously travels on the vertical track, a conveyor capable of moving the load in the front-rear direction, a travel mechanism that travels the conveyor along the vertical track, a guide roller that is guided by the vertical track, A plurality of elevating transport vehicles having a controller for controlling the traveling of the traveling mechanism;
Elevating and lowering conveying device. The vertical trajectory has a first vertical trajectory and a second vertical trajectory arranged side by side,
The lifting / lowering according to claim 1, further comprising a traverser mechanism for moving the lifting / lowering transport vehicle between the first vertical track and the second vertical track at an upper end and a lower end of the first vertical track and the second vertical track. Conveying device. A rack as a rail having a rack gear provided along the vertical track,
The elevating / conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the traveling mechanism includes a pinion that fits into the rack and a motor that drives the pinion.

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