JP2018070342A - Rail device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make rail attachable/detachable easily to/from a rail fitting structure.SOLUTION: A lower trajectory 33 comprises a rail body 331, a rail support 333, nuts 334, 336, and a plate member 338. The rail body 331 has rolling surfaces 331a, 331b for running wheels 771, 773 to roll thereon. The rail support 333 has a shank 333a that can be inserted into a hole 337a provided in a floor surface FL, and the shank 333a is formed with a screw part TH at least in an upper part. The nuts 334, 336 are screwed onto the screw part TH and fix the rail body 331 to the rail support 333. The plate member 338 is fixed at an intermediate part of the rail support 333 and supports load on the floor surface FL.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a rail device, and more particularly to a rail device for guiding a traveling vehicle.

  Conventionally, for example, a stacker crane used in an automatic warehouse travels along rails provided between racks of the automatic warehouse. The rail is mounted on a rail mounting structure embedded in the floor (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 10-21003 A

  Conventionally, in order to attach or remove the rail to or from the rail mounting structure, a complicated operation is required.

  An object of the present invention is to enable a rail to be easily attached to and detached from a rail mounting structure.

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

A rail device according to an aspect of the present invention is a device that is provided on a floor surface and guides a traveling vehicle. The rail device includes a rail body, a rail column, a nut, and a plate member.
The rail body has a rolling surface on which the traveling wheel rolls.
The rail column has a shaft portion that can be inserted into a hole provided on the floor surface, and a screw portion is formed at least on the shaft portion.
The nut is screwed into the threaded portion, and fixes the rail body to the rail post.
The plate member is fixed to the middle part of the rail column and supports the load on the floor surface.
In this rail device, the rail body is supported by rail struts inserted into the holes, and the plate member supports the load from the traveling vehicle.
In this rail device, the rail body and the rail column can be removed from the hole by pulling out the shaft portion of the rail column from the hole.

The rail device may further include a cylindrical member that forms a hole by being embedded in the floor surface.
In this rail device, the hole is formed by a cylindrical member. Therefore, when the shaft portion of the rail column is inserted into and removed from the hole, the shaft portion is not easily caught in the hole. As a result, the rail post can be easily removed.

The rail device may further include a plate nut. The plate nut may be screwed into the threaded portion, and the plate member may be fixed to the rail column.
In this rail device, the height of the rail body can be adjusted by turning the plate nut.

The rail body may be a C channel material.
In this rail device, the weight of the rail body is reduced, so that the rail body can be easily removed.

  In the rail device according to the present invention, the rail can be easily attached to and detached from the rail mounting structure.

1 is a schematic plan view of an automatic warehouse as one embodiment of the present invention. The schematic front view of an automatic warehouse. The perspective view of a lower track. Sectional drawing when a lower track is seen from the width direction. Sectional drawing when a lower track is seen from the length direction.

1. 1st Embodiment (1) Automatic warehouse The automatic warehouse 1 in which a rail apparatus is used is demonstrated using FIG.1 and FIG.2. The automatic warehouse 1 in the present embodiment is a system capable of picking (loading assortment) in the warehouse. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an automatic warehouse as one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the automatic warehouse.

The automatic warehouse 1 has a track 3 provided along a rack 5 (described later). The track 3 forms a traveling route of a stacker crane 7 (described later) (an example of a traveling vehicle). As shown in FIG. 1, the track 3 of the present embodiment is provided in a passage 5b between the racks 5 and forms a plurality of circulation paths.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the track 3 includes an upper track 31 and a lower track 33 (an example of a rail device). The upper track 31 is provided at a position higher than the rack 5, that is, a position higher than the plurality of shelves 5a. Thereby, the upper track 31 suspends the stacker crane 7.

  The lower track 33 is fixed to the floor surface FL so as to face the upper track 31 in the vertical direction (height direction), and guides the stacker crane 7 suspended from the upper track 31 from the floor surface FL. By guiding the stacker crane 7 from the floor surface FL by the lower track 33, the stacker crane 7 can travel on the track 3 stably.

  The automatic warehouse 1 has a plurality of racks 5. The rack 5 has a plurality of shelves 5a. In FIG. 1, the plurality of racks 5 extend in the left-right direction and are arranged in parallel to each other. As shown in FIG. 2, the shelf 5 a can store a collection shelf member 51 having a bottom that can be supported and transported by the stacker crane 7. The collection shelf member 51 is also referred to as a carrier, and can store a plurality of containers 55 that store products. In the shelf 5a, for example, a product storage box 53 containing a dozen products can be stored using the pallet P.

The automatic warehouse 1 has a depallet picking station 9. The deparet picking station 9 is provided on the ground and is arranged close to a part of the track 3 in plan view. The depallet picking station 9 is used for unloading the cargo (for example, the product storage box 53) placed on the pallet P delivered from the stacker crane 7 from the pallet P.
The automatic warehouse 1 is disposed on the ground, is disposed in the vicinity of a part of the track 3 in a plan view, and has a chute 11 for discharging the container 55 and / or goods to other equipment.

(2) Stacker crane Hereinafter, the stacker crane 7 of this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the stacker crane 7 has a first carriage 71 at the top thereof. The first carriage 71 travels along the upper track 31 by rotating a wheel in contact with the bottom surface of the upper track 31 by a linear motor or the like. Thereby, the first cart 71 can travel along the track 3 while the stacker crane 7 is suspended from the upper track 31.
Moreover, the 1st trolley | bogie 71 may have a bogie structure, for example. As a result, the stacker crane 7 can stably travel on the orbit.

  The stacker crane 7 has a transfer device 73. The transfer device 73 is, for example, a device having a slide fork structure that can expand and contract in the direction of the rack 5 (shelf 5a). The transfer device 73 is supported by a pair of masts 75 and can move in the vertical direction (the height direction of the stacker crane 7) along the mast 75. Thereby, the transfer device 73 can transfer the collection shelf member 51 or the product storage box 53 from the arbitrary shelf 5a of the rack 5 to the transfer device 73 using the slide fork structure.

  The stacker crane 7 has a second carriage 77 at its lower part. The second carriage 77 includes a first traveling wheel 771 having a rotation axis extending in the width direction of the stacker crane 7 and a rotation axis extending in the vertical direction of the stacker crane 7, and a predetermined distance from each other (for example, about the width of the rail body 331). And a pair of second traveling wheels 773 arranged (see FIGS. 4 and 5). The first traveling wheel 771 and the second traveling wheel 773 are in contact with rolling surfaces 331 a and 331 b (described later) of the rail body 331 and rotate according to the movement of the stacker crane 7.

(3) Lower track 33 The lower track 33 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the lower track. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the lower track viewed from the width direction. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the lower track viewed from the length direction. Note that the lower track 33 shown in FIG. 3 is a lower track existing in a region surrounded by a dotted line in FIG.

The lower track 33 has a rail body 331. The rail body 331 has a first rolling surface 331a on its upper surface and a second rolling surface 331b on its side surface. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the first traveling wheel 771 of the second carriage 77 not only rotates on the first rolling surface 331a by contacting the first rolling surface 331a, but also is stacked. The crane 7 is supported in the vertical direction.
The pair of second traveling wheels 773 of the second carriage 77 not only rotate on the second rolling surface 331b but also move the stacker crane 7 to the left and right by making contact with each other on the second rolling surface 331b. It supports in the direction (width direction of the rail main body 331).

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the rail body 331 is formed of, for example, a C channel material. As the rail body 331, a C-shaped square pipe or the like may be used. Thereby, the rail main body 331 can be reduced in weight. As a result, the rail body 331 can be easily removed.

The lower track 33 has a rail support 333. The rail support 333 is a rod-shaped member having a shaft portion 333a. The shaft portion 333a has a thread formed in a predetermined range in the length direction from one end thereof. A portion of the shaft portion 333a where the screw thread is provided is referred to as a screw portion TH.
As shown in FIG. 5, the 1st nut 334 which is a nut with a washer is screwed together by the end in which the thread part TH was formed. The first nut 334 may not be a nut with a washer, and the washer and the nut may be separate members. As shown in FIG. 5, the lower surface of the washer portion of the first nut 334 is in contact with the upper surface of a bent portion 331 c formed by bending the tip of the C-shaped portion of the rail body 331. In the present embodiment, the side on which the screw portion TH of the shaft portion 333a is formed is defined as the upper side of the shaft portion 333a.

Further, a second nut 336 is screwed through a rail support member 335 below the position where the first nut 334 of the shaft portion 333a is screwed. As shown in FIG. 5, the surface of the rail support member 335 on which the first nut 334 is screwed is formed on the lower surface of the bent portion 331 c formed by bending the tip of the C-shaped portion of the rail body 331. It touches.
Thereby, for example, the first nut 334 is fixed (not rotated) at a position near the upper end of the shaft portion 333a, while the second nut 336 is rotated toward the side closer to the first nut 334, thereby The rail body 331 can be fixed to the rail column 333 by sandwiching the bent portion 331 c between the washer portion of the first nut 334 and the rail support member 335.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the shaft portion 333 a of the rail column 333 can be inserted into a hole 337 a provided in the floor surface FL. A plurality of holes 337a are provided on the floor surface FL at predetermined intervals (fixed intervals to the rail main body 331 of the plurality of rail columns 333) along the arrangement position of the lower track 33 (track 3). Specifically, the hole 337a is provided in the floor surface FL so that when the rail column 333 is inserted into the hole 337a, each of the plurality of rail columns 333 is disposed at a position corresponding to the column of the rack 5. ing.
Thereby, when the stacker crane 7 transfers a load between the racks 5 a, the second carriage 77 of the stacker crane 7 can be stopped at the arrangement position of the rail column 333 as shown in FIG. 4. As a result, the stacker crane 7 can be supported by the lower track 33 without the rail body 331 being bent due to the weight of the stacker crane 7.

By inserting the rail column 333 to which the rail body 331 is fixed into the hole 337a, the lower track 33 can be easily installed. On the contrary, the lower track 33 can be easily detached from the floor surface FL by pulling out the rail column 333 to which the rail body 331 is fixed from the hole 337a.
As described above, the rail main body 331 is a C-shaped member (C channel material), and the lower track 33 (rail main body 331) is lightweight, so when the plurality of rail columns 333 are pulled out from the corresponding holes 337a. The lower track 33 can be easily lifted without requiring a large force.

When the lower track 33 is removed from the floor surface FL, the rail column 333 can be easily pulled out from the hole 337a without requiring a large force, so that the floor surface FL after the lower track 33 is removed can be easily flattened. Can be. This is because only the hole 337a and / or the plate member 338 (described later) remains on the floor surface FL after the lower track 33 is removed.
For example, when an abnormality occurs in the automatic warehouse 1 or the like, a work vehicle or the like for repairing the above abnormality passes by easily removing the lower track 33 as described above and flattening the floor surface FL. Possible routes can be easily secured.

In the present embodiment, the hole 337a is formed on the floor surface FL with the tubular member 337 formed by opening one end in the length direction of the hollow tubular member facing the floor surface FL in the opening. It is formed by embedding.
By forming the hole 337a into which the shaft part 333a is inserted by the cylindrical member 337, when the shaft part 333a of the rail support 333 is inserted into and removed from the hole 337a, the shaft part 333a can be hardly caught by the hole. As a result, the rail column 333 can be easily removed.

  The lower track 33 includes a plate member 338 provided with a hole that can penetrate the shaft portion 333a at the center thereof. A plate nut 339 is fixed to the plate member 338 so that a screw hole of the plate nut 339 corresponds to a hole provided in the plate member 338 (for example, by welding). A plate member 338 is attached to the shaft portion 333a by screwing the plate nut 339 into the screw portion TH of the shaft portion 333a.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when the shaft portion 333a is inserted into the hole 337a, the plate member 338 attached to the shaft portion 333a contacts the floor surface FL. Thereby, it can avoid that the rail support | pillar 333 (shaft part 333a) is entirely inserted in the hole 337a.
Further, the insertion depth of the shaft portion 333a into the hole 337a is adjusted by rotating the plate nut 339 and / or the plate member 338 and adjusting the mounting position of the plate member 338 on the shaft portion 333a in the vertical direction. it can. That is, the distance from the floor surface FL to the rail body 331 (the first rolling surface 331a thereof) can be adjusted.

  A fixing nut 340 is screwed onto the lower side of the shaft portion 333a where the screw portion TH is provided and above the screwing position of the plate nut 339. After adjusting the screwing position of the plate nut 339 (that is, the mounting position of the plate member 338), the fixing nut 340 is rotated and moved in a direction approaching the plate nut 339, so that the plate nut 339 and the fixing nut are moved. The plate member 338 can be fixed by a “double nut” with 340. Further, the rail support 333 (shaft portion 333a) can be fixed to the plate member 338 by the double nut.

  By fixing the rail column 333 (shaft portion 333a) to the plate member 338, when the traveling wheels 771 and 773 come into contact with the rolling surfaces 331a and 331b and the rail body 331 supports the stacker crane 7, the stacker crane 7 Can be distributed and supported over the entire installation area of the floor surface FL of the plate member 338.

  When the distance from the floor surface FL to the rail body 331 is to be adjusted after the rail column 333 is fixed to the plate member 338, the fixing nut 340 is moved to the upper side of the shaft portion 333a by rotation and the plate nut 339 is moved. After releasing the fixation, the distance between the floor surface FL and the rail body 331 can be adjusted again by rotating the plate nut 339 and adjusting the screwing position thereof to adjust the mounting position of the plate member 338.

2. Features of the embodiment The features of the above embodiment are as follows.
The lower track 33 (an example of a rail device) is provided on the floor surface FL (an example of a floor surface) and is a device for guiding a stacker crane 7 (an example of a traveling vehicle). The lower track 33 includes a rail body 331 (an example of a rail body), a rail column 333 (an example of a rail column), nuts 334 and 336 (an example of a nut), and a plate member 338 (an example of a plate member). I have.
The rail body 331 has rolling surfaces 331a and 331b (an example of rolling surfaces) on which traveling wheels 771 and 773 (an example of traveling wheels) roll. The rail column 333 has a shaft portion 333a (an example of a shaft portion) that can be inserted into a hole 337a (an example of a hole) provided in the floor surface FL, and the shaft portion 333a has a screw portion TH (screw An example of a part) is formed.
The nuts 334 and 336 are screwed into the screw portion TH, and fix the rail body 331 to the rail column 333. The plate member 338 is fixed to an intermediate portion of the rail support 333 and supports a load on the floor surface FL.
In the lower track 33, the rail body 331 is supported by a rail column 333 inserted into the hole 337 a, and the plate member 338 supports the load from the stacker crane 7. By pulling out the shaft portion 333a of the rail column 333 from the hole 337a, the rail body 331 and the rail column 333 can be removed from the hole 337a.

3. 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 particular, a plurality of embodiments and modifications described in this specification can be arbitrarily combined as necessary.
The shape, configuration and number of automatic warehouses are not limited to those in the first embodiment.
Although the traveling vehicle is the stacker crane 7 in the first embodiment, the traveling vehicle may be a traveling vehicle in which the mounting table does not move up and down.

  In the first embodiment, the mounting position of the plate member 338 is adjusted by rotating the plate nut 339 to adjust the distance between the floor surface FL and the rail body 331. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the shaft portion 333a ( The distance between the floor surface FL and the rail body 331 may be adjusted by adjusting the mounting position of the plate member 338 by adjusting the screwing position of the plate nut 339 by rotating the rail column 333).

  In the first embodiment, the screw portion TH is provided only in a predetermined range on the upper portion of the shaft portion 333a (the side on which the rail body 331 is fixed). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the screw portion TH is provided on the entire shaft portion 333a. May be formed.

  The present invention can be widely applied to rail devices, particularly rail devices for guiding traveling vehicles.

1 automatic warehouse 3 track 31 upper track 33 lower track 331 rail body 331a first rolling surface 331b second rolling surface 331c bent portion 333 rail support 333a shaft portion 334 first nut 335 rail support member 336 second nut 337 cylindrical member 337a hole 338 plate member 339 plate nut 340 fixing nut 5 rack 5a shelf 5b passage 51 collection shelf member 53 commodity storage box 55 container 7 stacker crane 71 first carriage 73 transfer device 75 mast 77 second carriage 771 first Traveling wheel 773 Second traveling wheel 9 Picking station 11 Chute FL Floor P Pallet TH Screw part

Claims (4)

A rail device for guiding a traveling vehicle provided on a floor surface,
A rail body having a rolling surface for rolling of the traveling wheel;
A rail post that has a shaft portion that can be inserted into a hole provided in the floor surface, and the shaft portion is formed with a screw portion at least at an upper portion;
A nut that is screwed into the threaded portion and that fixes the rail body to the rail post;
A plate member fixed to an intermediate portion of the rail column and supporting a load on the floor;
A rail device comprising:   The rail device according to claim 1, further comprising a cylindrical member that is embedded in the floor to form the hole.   The rail device according to claim 1, further comprising a plate nut that is screwed into the screw portion and fixes the plate member to the rail column.   The rail device according to claim 1, wherein the rail body is a C-channel material.

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