JP2018147310A - Automatic guided vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic guided vehicle capable of realizing an emergency stop of the automatic guided vehicle at a position away from the automatic guided vehicle without touching the automatic guided vehicle.SOLUTION: In automatic guided vehicle 10 for a container comprising: a vehicle body 11; an electric motor 20 provided in the vehicle body 11; a controller 22 mounted on the vehicle body 11 for controlling the electric motor 20; and an emergency stop device enabling an emergency stop while traveling without going through the controller 22, the emergency stop device is provided with: an optical axis sensor 31 which is provided on a side surface of the vehicle body 11 and detects light shielding due to interference with a laser beam L; and a switch which interrupts power supply to the electric motor 20 on the basis of the detection of shielding by the optical axis sensor 31, and the vehicle body 11 is provided with a display section 34 on which the position of the laser beam L extending by the optical axis sensor 31 is displayed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic guided vehicle.

  In recent years, it has been proposed to transport containers using an automated guided vehicle for container transportation at a container terminal as a port facility. The automatic guided vehicle that can mount the container is a large automatic guided vehicle (for example, the total length is 15.0 m, the width is 3.0 m, and the height is 2.0 m or more). In this type of automatic guided vehicle, container transportation by high-speed traveling is required to improve the efficiency of container transportation, so the maximum speed may be improved to about 25 km / h.

  On the other hand, an emergency stop button as an emergency stop means is provided in front of and behind the vehicle body side of the automatic guided vehicle. When one of these emergency stop buttons is pressed by an operator, the power source of the drive unit can be directly shut off without using a control unit that controls the drive unit of the automatic guided vehicle. This type of emergency stop means is a condition required for automatic guided vehicles according to related laws and regulations, JIS standards, and the like.

  As a prior art related to the emergency stop of the automatic guided vehicle, for example, an emergency stop device for a submersible automatic guided vehicle disclosed in Patent Document 1 can be cited. Patent Document 1 discloses a submersible automatic guided vehicle that is submerged under a wagon and conveys the wagon in that state. An emergency stop button and a bumper are provided at the front and rear ends of the wagon. For example, when an emergency stop button is pressed, stop control means provided in the automatic guided vehicle causes the automatic guided vehicle to emergency stop.

JP-A-10-291798

  However, the automatic guided vehicle that transports the container is significantly larger than the automatic guided vehicle disclosed in Patent Document 1, and an operator approaches the traveling vehicle body for an emergency stop of the automatic guided vehicle. It is difficult to touch the emergency stop button directly. Moreover, the greater the speed of the large automated guided vehicle, the greater the difficulty of directly touching the emergency stop button.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is an unmanned conveyance that enables an emergency stop of the automatic guided vehicle at a position away from the automatic guided vehicle without touching the automatic guided vehicle. The car is on offer.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a vehicle body, a travel drive unit provided in the vehicle body, a control unit that is mounted on the vehicle body and controls the travel drive unit, and the control unit. In an automatic guided vehicle having an emergency stop device that enables an emergency stop during traveling without being interposed, the emergency stop device is provided on a side surface of the vehicle body, and includes a light projecting element and a light receiving element. And a switch that cuts off the power supply to the driving unit based on detection of light shielding by the light shielding detector, and the vehicle body has a position of an optical axis extending by the light shielding detector. A display unit for displaying is provided.

  In the present invention, when an operator, for example, interferes with a long bar serving as an interfering object on the optical axis and blocks light at a position away from the traveling automatic guided vehicle, the light blocking detector detects the light blocking. . When the light-shielding detector detects light-shielding, the switch interrupts the power supply to the driving unit for travel, so that the automatic guided vehicle stops without going through the control unit. Therefore, when the automatic guided vehicle is to be stopped urgently, the automatic guided vehicle can be stopped at a remote position without touching the automatic guided vehicle by interfering with the interference with the optical axis and blocking the light. Further, since the position of the optical axis is displayed on the display unit, the operator can intuitively recognize the position where light can be shielded in the vehicle body.

In the automatic guided vehicle described above, the optical axis may extend in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body.
In this case, since the optical axis extends in the front-rear direction, dust does not accumulate on the light-emitting part and the light-receiving part in the light-shielding detector. Therefore, the accumulated dust is not shielded, and an emergency stop due to malfunction caused by the accumulated dust does not occur.

The light-shielding detector may be a multi-optical axis area sensor arranged such that a plurality of the optical axes extend in parallel.
In this case, by using the multi-optical axis area sensor, it is possible to make the side surface of the vehicle body a wide area where light can be shielded, and light shielding by an interference object becomes easier.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an automatic guided vehicle that enables an emergency stop of the automatic guided vehicle at a position away from the automatic guided vehicle without touching the automatic guided vehicle.

It is a side view of the automatic guided vehicle for containers concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a bottom view of the automatic guided vehicle for containers concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view of the automatic guided vehicle for containers concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a control block diagram of the automatic guided vehicle for containers. It is the expanded side view to which the principal part of the automatic guided vehicle for containers was expanded. It is a circuit diagram which shows the principal part of the electric power circuit of the automatic guided vehicle for containers. It is a perspective view of the locking tool as an interference object. (A) is a top view of the automatic guided vehicle for containers which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, (b) is the same side view. It is a side view of the automatic guided vehicle for containers which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, an automatic guided vehicle for containers as an automatic guided vehicle according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The automatic guided vehicle for containers of this embodiment receives a container cargo handling between a ship and a container yard at a container terminal as a port facility and transports the container.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle body 11 of the container guided vehicle 10 includes a loading platform 12 that supports a container C as a load. A pair of left and right front wheels 13 are provided on the lower front side of the vehicle body 11, and a pair of left and right rear wheels 14 are provided on the lower rear side of the vehicle body 11.

  The loading platform 12 can support a container having a standard of 40 ft (feet) (hereinafter referred to as “40 ft container”) C. In the case of a container having a standard of 20 ft (feet) (not shown, hereinafter referred to as “20 ft container”), the loading platform 12 can support two 20 ft containers in the front and rear. The overall length of the vehicle body 11 is a length that matches the overall length of the 40 ft container.

  Near the edge in the width direction of the vehicle body 11, there are provided a plurality of stoppers 15 for restricting the displacement in the width direction of the container C with respect to the loading platform 12. Further, stoppers 16 are provided at the front portion and the rear portion of the vehicle body 11 to regulate the positional displacement of the container C mounted on the loading platform 12 in the length direction. The stoppers 16 respectively provided at the front part and the rear part of the vehicle body 11 can correspond to the 40 ft container C.

  The front wheel 13 and the rear wheel 14 will be described. A turning support portion 17 that can turn in the horizontal direction with respect to the vehicle body 11 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a shaft case 18 that houses an axle (not shown) and a differential mechanism (not shown) is connected to the lower end of the turning support portion 17. Tires 19 are respectively attached to both ends of the axle, and the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 14 have a double tire structure including two tires 19. The shaft case 18 is provided with an electric motor 20 for traveling. The electric motor 20 corresponds to a traveling drive unit. The electric motor 20 is fixed to the shaft case 18 so that the longitudinal direction of the electric motor 20 is substantially horizontal between the two tires 19. The rotational force of the electric motor 20 is transmitted to the axle via the differential mechanism. Accordingly, the driving force for traveling is transmitted from the corresponding electric motor 20 to all the wheels (front wheel 13 and rear wheel 14). In the present embodiment, a servo motor is used as the electric motor 20.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a steering mechanism 21 is connected to the upper part of each turning support portion 17. Although not shown, the steering mechanism 21 includes a steering electric motor and a reduction gear for turning the turning support portion 17. Therefore, the front wheel 13 and the rear wheel 14 can be steered independently of each other by the operation of the steering mechanism 21. In the present embodiment, the maximum steering angle of the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 14 is set to 90 degrees or more in the right direction and 90 degrees or more in the left direction when the steering angle during straight traveling is 0 degree. Accordingly, the steering angle at which the front wheel 13 and the rear wheel 14 can be steered is 0 to 90 degrees or more in the right direction and 0 to 90 degrees or more in the left direction. That is, the steering angle at which the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 14 can be steered is set to 90 degrees or more in the left-right direction with respect to the steering angle 0 degrees during straight traveling.

  A controller 22 that controls each part of the automatic guided vehicle 10 for containers is mounted on the vehicle body 11. As shown in FIG. 4, the controller 22 includes an arithmetic processing unit 23, a storage unit 24, and a communication unit 25. The arithmetic processing unit 23 executes various programs and performs various data processing. The storage unit 24 executes various programs and stores various data. The communication unit 25 communicates with an upper computer (not shown) installed on the ground side. In this embodiment, the automatic guided vehicle 10 for a container travels at a container terminal or stops at a predetermined position based on a command from a host computer. The host computer grasps the operation status of the automatic guided vehicle 10 for containers at the container terminal and grasps the cargo handling status of the container terminal.

  In the present embodiment, the controller 22 is connected to a motor driver 26 that controls the driving of each electric motor 20, and has a function of instructing the motor driver 26. The motor driver 26 supplies the electric motor 20 with electric power according to the command from the controller 22. Therefore, the controller 22 can perform vehicle speed control by drive control of the electric motor 20 by instructing the motor driver 26. For example, the controller 22 sends a command for acceleration or deceleration to the motor driver 26 in addition to a command to the motor driver 26 for high speed travel (25 km / h) and a command for low speed travel (0.5 km / h). Can be communicated to. The controller 22 corresponds to a control unit.

  In the present embodiment, the controller 22 is connected to each steering mechanism 21, and each steering mechanism 21 steers the corresponding wheel based on a command from the controller 22. Each wheel is steered independently from each other by a corresponding steering mechanism 21. When traveling straight ahead, the controller 22 controls each steering mechanism 21 so that the steering angles of the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 14 are 0 degrees. Further, when passing through a curved route, the controller 22 controls each steering mechanism 21 so as to have a steering angle necessary to correspond to the curved route of the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 14. Further, in this embodiment, each steering mechanism 21 is controlled so that the vehicle travels obliquely without changing the direction of the vehicle body 11 or travels in the width direction of the vehicle body 11 without changing the direction of the vehicle body 11. .

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a position detection sensor 27 that reads a marker M embedded in the road surface is provided at the front and rear of the bottom of the vehicle body 11. The position detection sensor 27 detects the position by reading the marker M. The marker M of this embodiment is a magnetic marker, and ID information (position information of X and Y coordinates) for each marker is held in these markers M. By burying the plurality of markers M on the road surface, for example, a traveling route of the containerless guided vehicle 10 is formed at the container terminal. The position detection sensor 27 is connected to the controller 22. The controller 22 recognizes the position of the automatic guided vehicle 10 for a container based on the detection signal of the position detection sensor 27.

  By the way, the automatic guided vehicle 10 for containers of this embodiment is equipped with the emergency stop apparatus for carrying out an emergency stop of the automatic guided vehicle 10 for containers in driving | running | working. The emergency stop device includes an optical axis sensor 31 as a light shielding type detector provided on the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle body 11, and an electromagnetic switch 35 that shuts off power supply to the electric motor 20 based on detection of light shielding by the optical axis sensor 31. And. By the operation of the emergency stop device, the automatic guided vehicle 10 for containers is emergency stopped without going through the controller 22.

  The optical axis sensor 31 of the present embodiment is a transmissive optical axis sensor, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a light projecting unit 32 having a light projecting element 32A that projects laser light L, and a light projecting unit. And a light receiving portion 33 having a light receiving element 33A for receiving the laser light L from 32. The light projecting unit 32 is provided near the rear end of the side surface of the vehicle body 11. The light receiving unit 33 is provided near the front end of the side surface of the vehicle body 11. Therefore, the laser beam L as the optical axis extends in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 11. When the laser beam L is blocked between the light projecting unit 32 and the light receiving unit 33, the optical axis sensor 31 detects light blocking. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the optical axis sensor 31 is provided on each of the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle body 11.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the vehicle body 11 includes a display unit 34 on which the position of the laser beam L extending by the optical axis sensor 31 is displayed. As shown in FIG. 5, the display unit 34 includes a red arrow 34A, a yellow region 34B, and a red line 34C. Further, “EMAERGENCY STOP” meaning “emergency stop” is written in the vicinity of the center of the display unit 34. The display unit 34 has a highly conspicuous color scheme combined with red and yellow in order to make an operator who makes an emergency stop intuitively recognize a position where light can be blocked by the optical axis sensor 31. The display unit 34 may be configured by painting or a cutting sheet material that can be attached to the vehicle body 11. In FIG. 5, the illustration of the laser beam L is omitted.

  Next, the electromagnetic switch 35 as a switch will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the electromagnetic switch 35 is a contactor including a contact 41 that can be opened and closed and an exciting coil 42 that opens and closes the contact 41. The electromagnetic switch 35 of the present embodiment is provided between the in-vehicle battery 43 and the motor driver 26 in the power circuit. When the exciting coil 42 is energized by energization, the electromagnetic switch 35 closes the contact 41 and energizes the electric motor 20 from the in-vehicle battery 43. When the excitation of the excitation coil 42 is cancelled, the electromagnetic switch 35 opens the contact 41 to cut off the energization from the in-vehicle battery 43 to the electric motor 20. In the present embodiment, two optical axis sensors 31 are provided on the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle body 11, the two light projecting units 32 are connected in series, the two light receiving units 33 are connected in series, and 2 The individual light projecting units 32 are connected in parallel. Further, the two light receiving portions 33 are connected in series with the exciting coil 42. When either one of the two optical axis sensors 31 blocks the laser light L and detects light blocking, the excitation coil 42 is de-energized.

  The power circuit shown in FIG. 6 includes switches 44 and 45 connected in parallel between the exciting coil 42 and the light receiving unit 33. An exciting coil 46 for opening and closing the switch 44 is connected in series with the light receiving unit 33. The switch 44 is closed by exciting the exciting coil 46. Therefore, the switch 44 and the exciting coil 46 constitute a relay. The switch 44 remains closed unless the excitation coil 46 is de-energized, but once the excitation coil 46 is de-energized, it remains open. That is, once the optical axis sensor 31 detects light shielding, the switch 44 is not closed even if the optical axis sensor 31 returns to a state where the light shielding is not detected. That is, the switch 44 and the exciting coil 46 constitute a self-holding circuit.

  The switch 45 is a normally open switch, and is a return switch for returning the containerless automated guided vehicle 10 from an emergency stop state to a travelable state. In the state where the excitation of the excitation coil 46 is released, the switch 44 is open. However, when the switch 45 is operated and closed, the excitation coil 46 is excited and the switch 44 is closed and is energized. Further, since the exciting coil 42 is also excited by energization, the contact 41 is closed, the electromagnetic switch 35 is energized, and the container-less automated guided vehicle 10 is returned to a travelable state. The switch 45 is a button that is provided on the vehicle body 11 and can be directly operated by an operator.

  Next, the locking tool 47 shown in FIG. 7 will be described. The locking tool 47 is a boat hook used to draw a small boat. In this embodiment, the container automatic guided vehicle 10 is used as an interfering object for making an emergency stop. The locking tool 47 includes a telescopic pole portion 48 and a hook portion 49 attached to the tip end portion of the pole portion 48. When the pole portion 48 is extended, the locking member 47 has a length of 2 m or more. The hook portion 49 is formed in a bowl shape. The end of the locking tool 47 opposite to the tip provided with the hook portion 49 is a part that is gripped by the operator.

  Next, the emergency stop of the automatic guided vehicle 10 for containers will be described. The containerless guided vehicle 10 travels on the travel route while checking the current position while reading the marker M on the travel route. When the container automated guided vehicle 10 is traveling, the exciting coil 42 is excited and the electromagnetic switch 35 is in an energized state. At this time, the exciting coil 46 is energized and the switch 44 is closed and energized. For this reason, the electric power of the vehicle-mounted battery 43 is supplied to the electric motor 20 via the electromagnetic switch 35 and the motor driver 26.

  When the containerless automatic guided vehicle 10 that normally travels is intentionally stopped for some reason by the operator, the operator causes the hook portion 49 of the extended locking tool 47 to interfere with the laser beam L. To block the laser light L. The optical axis sensor 31 detects light shielding by the interference of the locking tool 47 with the laser light L.

  When the optical axis sensor 31 detects light shielding, the excitation of the excitation coils 42 and 46 is canceled. When the excitation coil 42 is de-energized, the contact 41 of the electromagnetic switch 35 is opened and the energization is cut off, and the electric motor 20 stops. Due to the stop of the electric motor 20, the containerless guided vehicle 10 is brought to an emergency stop. When the excitation of the excitation coil 46 is canceled, the switch 44 is opened. For this reason, even if the light blocking by the locking member 47 in the optical axis sensor 31 is eliminated, the exciting coils 42 and 46 are not excited. In this way, by operating the emergency stop device using the locking tool 47, the energization to the electric motor 20 is directly cut off without going through the controller 22, and the containerless guided vehicle 10 is emergency stopped. Therefore, even if the controller 22 breaks down or a problem occurs in the program executed in the controller 22, the emergency stop can be surely and promptly performed by detecting the light shielding by the optical axis sensor 31.

  In order to switch the automatic guided vehicle 10 for containers from an emergency stop state to a state where normal traveling is possible, the switch 45 may be closed by an operator's operation. By closing the switch 45, the exciting coils 42 and 46 are excited, the contact 41 of the electromagnetic switch 35 is closed, and the switch 44 is closed. By closing the switch 44, it is possible to continue exciting the exciting coils 42 and 46 even when the switch 45 is opened. For this reason, the electric power of the vehicle-mounted battery 43 can be supplied to the electric motor 20 via the electromagnetic switch 35 and the motor driver 26.

The container automatic guided vehicle 10 according to the present embodiment has the following effects.
(1) When the operator, for example, interferes with the laser beam L of the optical axis sensor 31 and shields the locking tool 47 as an interference object at a position away from the traveling containerless guided vehicle 10 for traveling, The optical axis sensor 31 detects light shielding. When the optical axis sensor 31 detects light blocking, the electromagnetic switch 35 cuts off the power supply to the electric motor 20, so that the container automatic guided vehicle 10 comes to an emergency stop without using the controller 22. Therefore, when the containerless guided vehicle 10 is to be stopped urgently, the container can be moved away from the containerless guided vehicle 10 without touching the containerless guided vehicle 10 by interfering with the laser beam L of the optical axis sensor 31 and blocking the interference. The automatic guided vehicle 10 can be brought to an emergency stop. In addition, since the position of the laser beam L on the side surface of the vehicle body 11 is displayed conspicuously on the display unit 34, the operator can intuitively recognize a position where light can be shielded in the vehicle body 11.

(2) Since the laser light L from the optical axis sensor 31 extends in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 11, dust is generated on the light projecting element 32 </ b> A in the light projecting unit 32 and the light receiving element 33 </ b> A in the light receiving unit 33. There is no accumulation. Therefore, the dust accumulated on the optical axis sensor 31 is not shielded, and an emergency stop due to a malfunction caused by the accumulated dust does not occur.

(3) Since the self-holding circuit is included in the power circuit, even if the optical axis sensor 31 returns to the non-light-shielded state after detecting the light-shielding, the electromagnetic switch 35 is deenergized and the power is supplied to the electric motor Therefore, the emergency stop state can be maintained.

(4) The emergency stop of the containerless guided vehicle 10 may be shielded by interference with the laser beam L in the optical axis sensor 31, so that the interference beam other than the locking tool 47 is used to interfere with the laser beam L. Can do. For example, it is possible to interrupt the laser beam L by throwing an interference object that uses a ball or the like as an interference object, and to cause the container-less automated guided vehicle 10 to make an emergency stop.

(5) Since the laser light L is projected from the vicinity of the rear end to the vicinity of the front end on the side surface of the vehicle body 11, it is possible to set a range in which interference is possible in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 11. Therefore, the operator can interfere with the laser beam L over a long range in the front-rear direction on the side surface of the vehicle body 11, and can easily shield the light. In addition, two optical axis sensors 31 are required for the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle body 11, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, an automatic guided vehicle according to the second embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the configuration of the optical axis sensor is different from that of the first embodiment. About the structure which is common in 1st Embodiment, description of 1st Embodiment is used and the same code | symbol is used.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, in the container automated guided vehicle 50 according to this embodiment, two optical axis sensors 31 are arranged on the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle body 11. One optical axis sensor 31 is provided near the front end of the side surface of the vehicle body 11, and the other optical axis sensor 31 is provided near the rear end of the side surface of the vehicle body 11. The optical axis sensor 31 provided in the front and rear of the vehicle body 11 includes a light projecting unit 32 and a light receiving unit 33, and the light projecting unit 32 and the light receiving unit 33 project the laser light L forward. It is provided on the side. The optical axis sensor 31 of the present embodiment has the same configuration as the optical axis sensor 31 of the first embodiment except for the projection distance of the laser light L.

  As shown in FIG. 8B, a display unit 51 for displaying the position of the laser beam L extending by the optical axis sensor 31 is provided on each side surface of the vehicle body 11. The display unit 51 has the same configuration as the display unit 34 of the first embodiment except for the dimensional difference. Although not shown, the display unit 51 includes a red arrow, a yellow region portion, and a red line portion, similarly to the display unit 34 of the first embodiment.

  According to this embodiment, there exists an effect equivalent to the effect (1)-(4) of 1st Embodiment. Further, according to the present embodiment, even when laser light cannot be projected over the front and rear sides of the vehicle body 11, the laser light can be projected near the front end and the rear end on the side surface of the vehicle body 11.

(Third embodiment)
Next, an automatic guided vehicle according to the third embodiment will be described. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a multi-optical axis area sensor arranged so that a plurality of optical axes extend in parallel is used. About the structure which is common in 1st Embodiment, description of 1st Embodiment is used and the same code | symbol is used.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the multi-optical axis area sensor 61 is arranged on the side surface of the vehicle body 11 in the automatic guided vehicle for containers 60 of the present embodiment. The multi-optical axis area sensor 61 includes a light projecting unit 62 in which a plurality of light projecting elements 62A are disposed at equal intervals, and a plurality of light receiving elements 63A that are paired with the plurality of light projecting elements 62A. A light receiving portion 63. The light projecting element 62A has the same configuration as the light projecting element 32A of the first embodiment, and the light receiving element 63A has the same configuration as the light receiving element 33A of the first embodiment.

  The light projecting unit 62 is provided in the vicinity of the loading platform 12 on the side surface of the vehicle body 11, and the light receiving unit 63 is provided on the side surface of the vehicle body 11 so as to be positioned below the light projecting unit 62. Accordingly, the plurality of laser beams L in the multi-optical axis area sensor 61 are arranged so as to extend in parallel and travel downward in the vertical direction. The multi-optical axis area sensor 61 sets a wide area that can be shielded from front to back on the side surface of the vehicle body 11.

  In the present embodiment, the vehicle body 11 includes a display unit 64 on which the position of the laser beam L extending by the multi-optical axis area sensor 61 is displayed. As shown in FIG. 9, the display unit 64 includes a red arrow 64A, a yellow region part 64B, and a red line part 64C. Further, “EMAERGENCY STOP” is written in the vicinity of the center of the display unit 64. The color scheme of the display unit 64 is the same as that of the display unit 34 of the first embodiment.

  According to this embodiment, there exists an effect equivalent to the effect (1), (3), (4) of 1st Embodiment. Further, in the present embodiment, by using the multi-optical axis area sensor 61, the side surface of the vehicle body 11 can be set to a wide area that can be shielded from light, and light shielding by an interference object becomes easier.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the invention. For example, the following modifications may be made.

In the above embodiment, the transmission type optical axis sensor is used as the light shielding type detector, but this is not restrictive. The light-shielding detector may be, for example, a regressive reflection type optical axis sensor including a light projecting / receiving unit in which a light projecting element and a light receiving element are integrated and a reflecting plate that reflects laser light. In the case of a retroreflective optical axis sensor, light shielding is detected when the laser light coming out of the light projecting / receiving unit and returning from the reflecting plate is blocked by the interference. Alternatively, a diffuse reflection type optical axis sensor that includes a light projecting / receiving unit and no reflection plate may be used. In the case of the diffuse reflection type optical axis sensor, when the laser light is blocked by the interference object, the light reflected by the interference object is received by the light projecting / receiving unit to detect the light shielding.
In the above embodiment, the optical axis extends in the front-rear direction or the vertical direction of the vehicle body, but the direction in which the optical axis extends is not limited to the front-rear direction and the vertical direction. For example, the optical axis may extend in a direction inclined with respect to the front-rear direction.
In the above embodiment, an example in which the worker uses a boat hook as an interference is described, but the interference is not limited to a boat hook. Any interference can be used as long as it is capable of blocking the optical axis of the light-shielding detector.
In the above embodiment, the switch as a means for supplying / cutting off electric power to the electric motor in the power circuit is provided between the in-vehicle battery and the motor driver, but the position of the switch is not limited to this. For example, you may provide between the electric motor and motor driver as a drive part for driving | running | working in an electric power circuit. In this case, a switch capable of interrupting the three-phase wiring is used.
In the above embodiment, the display unit is provided on the vehicle body, but a part of the display unit may be provided on the light-shielding detector in addition to the vehicle body. Moreover, the color scheme of the display unit may be other than the combination of yellow and red. The display unit only needs to be designed to stand out compared to other parts so that it can be grasped as an area where the emergency stop can be shielded from the vehicle body.For example, not only the color scheme but also the combination of figures, characters, and patterns It may be.
In the above embodiment, an example of the electric motor as the driving unit for traveling has been described, but the driving unit for traveling is not limited to the electric motor. For example, the traveling drive unit may have a configuration in which a hydraulic motor and an electrical element for driving the hydraulic motor are combined. Examples of the electrical elements include an electric motor that drives a hydraulic pump that supplies hydraulic oil to the hydraulic motor, and a hydraulic electromagnetic valve that serves as a brake means. In this case, during traveling, the electric motor is driven by supplying electric power to the electric motor, and a hydraulic pump driven by the electric motor supplies hydraulic oil to the hydraulic motor. When the hydraulic oil is supplied, the hydraulic motor is driven and the automatic guided vehicle travels. During traveling, the hydraulic electromagnetic valve maintains a brake-released state in which hydraulic oil freely flows in the hydraulic piping by supplying electric power to the hydraulic electromagnetic valve as a brake means. On the other hand, when the automatic guided vehicle is brought to an emergency stop, the emergency stop device is operated to cut off the power supply to the electric motor that drives the hydraulic pump and cut off the power supply to the hydraulic electromagnetic valve. The supply of hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic motor is stopped by shutting off the power supply to the electric motor, and further, the hydraulic solenoid valve stops the flow of hydraulic oil to the hydraulic brake by cutting off the power supply to the hydraulic solenoid valve. The brake state is set to brake. As a result, the automatic guided vehicle stops emergency. In addition, it is good also as a drive part for driving | running | working which has a pneumatic motor using air pressure instead of oil pressure.
In the above embodiment, the example of the automatic guided vehicle for containers as the automatic guided vehicle has been described. The present invention can be applied to all automatic guided vehicles other than the automatic guided vehicle for containers, but the effect becomes larger as the automatic guided vehicle becomes larger.

10, 50, 60 Automated guided vehicle 11 Car body 13 Front wheel 14 Rear wheel 20 Electric motor (as driving unit for traveling)
22 Controller (as control unit)
31 Optical axis sensor (as a light blocking detector)
32, 62 Projection unit 32A, 62A Projection element
33, 63 Light receiving portion 33A, 63A Light receiving element 34, 51, 64 Display portion 34A, 64A Red arrow 34B, 64B Yellow region portion 34C, 64C Red line portion 35 Electromagnetic switch (as switch)
47 Locking tool 61 Multi-optical axis area sensor C 40ft container M Marker

Claims (3)

The car body,
A traveling drive unit provided in the vehicle body;
A control unit mounted on the vehicle body and controlling the driving unit for traveling;
In an automatic guided vehicle comprising an emergency stop device that enables an emergency stop while traveling without going through the control unit,
The emergency stop device
A light-shielding detector provided on a side surface of the vehicle body and having a light projecting element and a light receiving element;
A switch for cutting off power supply to the driving unit based on detection of light shielding by the light shielding detector,
The vehicle body includes a display unit on which a position of an optical axis extending by the light shielding detector is displayed.   The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the optical axis extends in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body.   3. The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the light-shielding detector is a multi-optical axis area sensor arranged such that a plurality of the optical axes extend in parallel.

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