JP2021194988A - Vehicle approach notification device and picking truck mounted with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicle approach notification device and a picking truck mounted with the same capable of achieving improved safety of people nearby.SOLUTION: A vehicle approach notification device 20A comprises: an illumination section 23 which is installed on a vertically movable operation platform 14 of a picking truck 10A and emits notification light L toward a road surface F around the picking truck; an illumination direction change section 22A which changes an illumination direction θ by changing an installation angle of the illumination section 23 with respect to the operation platform 14; and a control section 21A which gives a command to the illumination direction change section 22A. The control section 21A is adapted to give the command to the illumination direction change section 22A so that the illumination direction θ is set to a predetermined direction corresponding to a travel speed V and a vertical position of the operation platform 14.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle approach notification device that notifies a person in the vicinity of the approach of a vehicle by irradiating light toward the road surface around the vehicle, and a picking truck provided with the device.

Conventionally, there is known an industrial vehicle that irradiates a notification light toward a road surface behind the vehicle in order to notify a person in the vicinity of the vehicle of the approach of the vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In addition, some industrial vehicles called picking trucks are configured to be capable of irradiating notification light.

FIG. 12 shows a picking truck 100 configured as described above. As shown in the figure, the picking truck 100 includes a vehicle body 11 having a traveling device, a mast 13 provided behind the vehicle body 11, a driver's cab 14 that can be raised and lowered along the mast 13, and a driver's cab 14. It is provided with a pair of left and right forks 17, 17 that move up and down together with the lighting unit 102, which is installed on the head guard 18 of the driver's cab 14 via an appropriate bracket 101. The lighting unit 102 irradiates the notification light L toward the road surface F behind the vehicle.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-141329

However, in the conventional picking truck 100, if the traveling speed V is relatively high, even if a person who notices the approach of the picking truck 100 by the notification light L tries to avoid the picking truck 100, the avoidance may not be in time. There was a problem with it.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the subject thereof is a vehicle approach notification device capable of further enhancing the safety of those in the vicinity, and a picking truck provided with the device. Is to provide.

In order to solve the above problems, the vehicle approach notification device according to the present invention includes a lighting unit installed in a liftable cab provided in the vehicle and irradiating the notification light toward the road surface around the vehicle, and driving. It is equipped with an irradiation direction changing unit that changes the irradiation direction by changing the installation angle of the lighting unit with respect to the table, and a control unit that gives a command to the irradiation direction changing unit. It has a configuration of controlling to give a command so as to be in a predetermined direction and controlling to give a command so that the irradiation direction is in a predetermined direction corresponding to the elevating position of the driver's cab. There is.

The vehicle approach notification device may further include an irradiation direction detecting unit that directly or indirectly detects the irradiation direction. In this case, the control unit can perform feedback control that gives a command so that the detection result of the irradiation direction detection unit matches the direction corresponding to the traveling speed and the elevating position.

It is preferable that the control unit of the vehicle approach notification device has a configuration in which a command is given so that the position of the irradiated road surface moves away from the vehicle as the traveling speed increases.

It is preferable that the control unit of the vehicle approach notification device has a configuration in which a command is given so that the position of the irradiated road surface does not change even if the elevating position changes.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, the picking truck according to the present invention includes a vehicle body having a traveling device, a mast provided behind the vehicle body, a driver's cab that can move up and down along the mast, and a driver's cab. The lighting unit that irradiates the notification light toward the road surface around the vehicle, the irradiation direction changing unit that changes the irradiation direction by changing the installation angle of the lighting unit with respect to the driver's cab, and the irradiation direction changing unit are instructed. The control unit is provided with a control unit that gives a command so that the irradiation direction is a predetermined direction corresponding to the traveling speed of the vehicle body, and the irradiation direction corresponds to the elevating position of the driver's cab in advance. It has a configuration of performing control to give a command so as to be in a predetermined direction.

The picking track may further include an irradiation direction detecting unit that directly or indirectly detects the irradiation direction. In this case, the control unit can perform feedback control that gives a command so that the detection result of the irradiation direction detection unit matches the direction corresponding to the traveling speed and the elevating position.

It is preferable that the control unit of the picking truck has a configuration in which a command is given so that the position of the road surface to be irradiated moves away from the vehicle body as the traveling speed increases.

It is preferable that the control unit of the picking truck has a configuration in which a command is given so that the position of the irradiated road surface does not change even if the elevating position changes.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle approach notification device capable of further enhancing the safety of those in the vicinity, and a picking truck provided with the device.

It is a schematic side view of the picking truck which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the vehicle approach notification device which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a graph which shows (A) the relationship between the traveling speed V and the irradiation direction θ, and (B) the relationship between the traveling speed V and the irradiation distance D in the first embodiment. It is a schematic side view of (A) a picking truck when traveling at a relatively low speed, and (B) a picking truck when traveling at a relatively high speed, according to the first embodiment. It is a graph which shows (A) the relationship between the elevating position and the irradiation direction θ, and (B) the relationship between the elevating position and the irradiation distance D in the first embodiment. It is a schematic side view of (A) the picking truck when the elevating position is relatively low, and (B) the picking truck when the elevating position is relatively high which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the specific structure of the vehicle approach notification device which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic side view of the picking truck which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the vehicle approach notification device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a graph which shows the relationship between (A) the traveling speed V and the irradiation direction θ in the 1st modification of this invention, and (B) the relationship between the traveling speed V and the irradiation direction θ in the 2nd modification. It is a graph which shows (A) the relationship between the elevating position and the irradiation direction θ, and (B) the relationship between the elevating position and the irradiation distance D in the third modification of this invention. It is a schematic side view of the conventional picking truck.

Hereinafter, examples of the vehicle approach notification device and the picking truck according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First Example]
FIG. 1 shows a picking truck 10A according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the picking truck 10A according to the present embodiment includes a vehicle body 11 having a traveling device, a pair of left and right legs 12, 12 and a mast 13 provided behind the vehicle body 11, and a mast 13. It is equipped with a driver's cab 14 that can be raised and lowered along the line. Further, the driver's cab 14 includes an operation panel 15 composed of various levers operated by the operator, a fall guard 16 for preventing the operator from falling, a pair of left and right forks 17 and 17 extending rearward, and an operator. It has a head guard 18 that covers the overhead of the head guard 18.

The picking truck 10A according to the present embodiment further includes a control unit 21A, an irradiation direction changing unit 22A, a lighting unit 23, a traveling speed detection unit 30, and an elevating position detection unit 40 that constitute the vehicle approach notification device 20A. ing.

The lighting unit 23 is composed of an LED light that irradiates the notification light L toward the road surface F around the vehicle (in this embodiment, behind the vehicle). The image of the notification light L appearing on the road surface F may have a circular shape with an ambiguous outline, or a spot shape, a line shape, or an arrow shape having a clear outline due to the action of a lens or a slit provided in the illumination unit 23. It may be said. Further, the color of the notification light L is preferably a color that stands out with respect to the road surface F in order to enhance the notification effect. For example, when the color of the road surface F is white or light gray, a highly saturated color such as blue, red, or green is preferable.

The irradiation direction changing unit 22A changes the irradiation direction (direction θ with respect to the vertical line P in this embodiment) by changing the installation angle of the lighting unit 23 with respect to the driver's cab 14 (head guard 18 in this embodiment). change.

The control unit 21A gives a command regarding the installation angle to the irradiation direction changing unit 22A so that the irradiation direction θ is the direction corresponding to the traveling speed V of the vehicle body 11 detected by the traveling speed detecting unit 30. Hereinafter, this is referred to as "first control" of the control unit 21A. At this time, the control unit 21A refers to the detection result of the irradiation direction detection unit 24 (see FIG. 2) that directly or indirectly detects the irradiation direction θ.

Further, the control unit 21A gives a command regarding the installation angle to the irradiation direction changing unit 22A so that the irradiation direction θ is the direction corresponding to the elevating position of the driver's cab 14 detected by the elevating position detecting unit 40. Hereinafter, this is referred to as "second control" of the control unit 21A. Also at this time, the control unit 21A refers to the detection result of the irradiation direction detection unit 24 (see FIG. 2).

In this embodiment, the irradiation direction changing unit 22A and the lighting unit 23 are provided on the lower surface of the head guard 18, and the control unit 21A, the traveling speed detecting unit 30, and the elevating position detecting unit 40 are provided in the vehicle body 11. However, these are just examples.

The operation of the vehicle approach notification device 20A related to the first control of the control unit 21A will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

When the operator operates the operation panel 15 to change the traveling speed V of the vehicle body 11, the control unit 21A has the latest irradiation direction θ detected by the irradiation direction detecting unit 24 by the traveling speed detecting unit 30. A command is given to the irradiation direction changing unit 22A so as to be in a predetermined direction (see FIG. 3A) corresponding to the traveling speed V (that is, the traveling speed V after the change). For example, the control unit 21A issues a command to increase the irradiation direction θ until the irradiation direction θ matches θ2 corresponding to V2 when the traveling speed V changes from V1 to V2 (however, V2> V1). Continue to give to change unit 22A. On the contrary, when the traveling speed V changes from V3 to V2 (however, V2 <V3), the control unit 21A irradiates a command that the irradiation direction θ becomes smaller until the irradiation direction θ matches θ2 corresponding to V2. Continue to give to the direction changing unit 22A. That is, the control unit 21A makes the irradiation direction θ coincide with the direction corresponding to the traveling speed V by the feedback control.

The correspondence between the traveling speed V and the irradiation direction θ shown in FIG. 3A may be stored in advance in the control unit 21A.

According to the above control, the irradiation direction θ increases as the traveling speed V increases, and as shown in FIGS. 4 and 3B, the irradiation distance D (in this embodiment, the tips of the forks 17 and 17). The distance from the center of the notification light L on the road surface F) also increases. Therefore, according to the vehicle approach notification device 20A and the picking truck 10A according to the present embodiment, it is possible to notify a person in the vicinity of the approach of the vehicle earlier when the vehicle is traveling at a relatively high speed.

If the irradiation distance D is increased, the image of the notification light L appearing on the road surface F becomes thinner, and the notification effect (visibility) may decrease. Therefore, it is preferable that the irradiation distance D be increased only when necessary (that is, when traveling at a relatively high speed). In other words, it is not preferable to uniformly increase the irradiation distance D regardless of the traveling speed V.

Next, the operation of the vehicle approach notification device 20A related to the second control of the control unit 21A will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2, 5, and 6.

When the operator operates the operation panel 15 to move the driver's cab 14 up and down, the control unit 21A corresponds to the latest elevating position in which the irradiation direction θ detected by the irradiation direction detecting unit 24 is detected by the elevating position detecting unit 40. A command is given to the irradiation direction changing unit 22A so as to be in the predetermined direction (see FIG. 5A). For example, the control unit 21A changes the irradiation direction so that when the elevating position changes from H1 to H2 (however, H2> H1), the irradiation direction θ becomes smaller until the irradiation direction θ matches θ2 corresponding to H2. Continue to give to part 22A. On the contrary, when the elevating position changes from H3 to H2 (however, H2 <H3), the control unit 21A issues a command to increase the irradiation direction θ until the irradiation direction θ coincides with θ2 corresponding to H2. Continue to give to change unit 22A. That is, the control unit 21A makes the irradiation direction θ coincide with the direction corresponding to the elevating position by the feedback control.

The correspondence between the elevating position and the irradiation direction θ shown in FIG. 5A may be stored in advance in the control unit 21B.

According to the above control, the irradiation direction θ becomes smaller as the cab 14 rises, and the irradiation distance D is kept constant as shown in FIGS. 6 and 5 (B). Therefore, according to the vehicle approach notification device 20A and the picking truck 10A according to the present embodiment, the notification light L can be sufficiently delivered to the road surface F even when the vehicle is uplifted, and the notification effect can be maintained.

It is preferable that the control unit 21A stores the relationship as shown in FIG. 5A for each traveling speed V. More specifically, the control unit 21A has a correspondence relationship between the elevating position and the irradiation direction θ to be referred to when the traveling speed V is V1, and the elevating position and the irradiation direction θ to be referred to when the traveling speed V is V2. It is preferable to memorize the correspondence between. This makes it possible to prevent the first control that determines the irradiation direction θ based on the traveling speed V and the second control that determines the irradiation direction θ based on the elevating position from competing with each other.

Subsequently, the configuration of the irradiation direction changing unit 22A will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 7.

The irradiation direction changing portion 22A includes a power cylinder 25 provided on the lower surface of the head guard 18, a link mechanism composed of three link members 26, 27, and 28, and a support member 29 suspended from the lower surface of the head guard 18. It is composed of the above-mentioned irradiation direction detection unit 24.

The power cylinder 25 includes a motor that rotates in response to a command from the control unit 21A. When the motor rotates according to the command, the power cylinder 25 expands and contracts along the front-rear direction of the picking truck 10A by the amount corresponding to the rotation amount of the motor. The command includes a command regarding the rotation direction and a command regarding the rotation speed.

One end of the first link member 26 is rotatably connected to the tip of the power cylinder 25, and the other end is rotatably connected to the front connecting portion 29a of the support member 29. One end of the second link member 27 is rotatably connected to the intermediate portion of the first link member 26, and the other end is rotatably connected to the front upper end portion of the third link member 28. .. The lower end portion of the front side of the third link member 28 is rotatably connected to the rear side connecting portion 29b of the support member 29. The lighting unit 23 is fixed to the rear end portion of the third link member 28.

The irradiation direction detecting unit 24 includes a potentiometer provided on the rear connecting portion 29b of the support member 29. The irradiation direction detection unit 24 detects the position of the third link member 28 with respect to the rear connecting unit 29b, and outputs a signal regarding the detection result to the control unit 21A. It can be said that this signal corresponds to the irradiation direction θ.

As is clear from FIG. 7, when the power cylinder 25 expands and contracts according to the command from the control unit 21A, the link mechanisms 26, 27, and 28 operate to change the installation angle of the lighting unit 23 with respect to the head guard 18, and as a result, The irradiation direction θ changes.

[Second Example]
FIG. 8 shows a picking truck 10B according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the picking truck 10B according to the present embodiment includes a vehicle approach notification device 20B composed of a control unit 21B, an irradiation direction changing unit 22B, and a lighting unit 23, instead of the vehicle approach notification device 20A. Although it differs from the picking truck 10A in that it is different from the picking truck 10A in other respects.

Similar to the first embodiment, the control unit 21B moves the irradiation direction θ to the traveling speed V of the vehicle body 11 detected by the traveling speed detecting unit 30 and the elevating position of the driver's cab 14 detected by the elevating position detecting unit 40. A command regarding the installation angle is given to the irradiation direction changing unit 22B so as to be in the corresponding direction. On the other hand, unlike the first embodiment, the irradiation direction changing unit 22B that has received the command changes the installation angle of the lighting unit 23 by the servo mechanism. That is, in this embodiment, feedback control is not performed. Therefore, in this embodiment, the irradiation direction detection unit 24 (see FIGS. 2 and 9) is unnecessary.

[Modification example]
Although the first and second embodiments of the vehicle approach notification device and the picking truck according to the present invention have been described above, the configuration of the present invention is not limited thereto.

For example, the control units 21A and 21B of each embodiment may give commands to the irradiation direction changing units 22A and 22B based on the correspondence relationship shown in FIG. That is, the control units 21A and 21B maintain the irradiation direction θ constant until the traveling speed V reaches a predetermined threshold value based on the correspondence relationship shown in FIG. 10A, and the traveling speed V exceeds the threshold value. And the irradiation direction θ may be monotonically increased. Further, the control units 21A and 21B may increase the irradiation direction θ in steps when the traveling speed V exceeds a predetermined threshold value based on the correspondence relationship shown in FIG. 10B. In either case, the image of the notification light L moves away from the vehicle body 11 as the traveling speed V increases.

Further, the control units 21A and 21B of each embodiment may control the irradiation direction changing units 22A and 22B so that the irradiation distance D decreases as the cab 14 rises (see FIG. 11). According to this configuration, the notification light L can be more sufficiently delivered to the road surface F at the time of elevation.

Further, the control units 21A and 21B of each embodiment may be provided at arbitrary positions of the picking trucks 10A and 10B, and the irradiation direction changing units 22A and 22B and the lighting unit 23 of each embodiment may be provided in the driver's cab 14. It may be provided at any position.

Further, the vehicle approach notification devices 20A and 20B according to each embodiment may be provided in a vehicle other than the picking lift provided with a driver's cab that can be raised and lowered.

10A, 10B Picking truck 11 Vehicle body 12 Leg 13 Mast 14 Driver's cab 15 Operation panel 16 Fall guard 17 Fork 18 Head guard 20A, 20B Vehicle approach notification device 21A, 21B Control unit 22A, 22B Irradiation direction change unit 23 Lighting unit 24 Irradiation Direction detection unit 25 Power cylinder 26 1st link member 27 2nd link member 28 3rd link member 29 Support member 30 Traveling speed detection unit 40 Elevating position detection unit

In order to solve the above problems, the vehicle approach notification device according to the present invention includes a lighting unit installed in a liftable cab provided in the vehicle and irradiating the notification light toward the road surface around the vehicle, and driving. It is equipped with an irradiation direction changing unit that changes the irradiation direction by changing the installation angle of the lighting unit with respect to the table, and a control unit that gives a command to the irradiation direction changing unit. a first control that gives an instruction so that the predetermined direction, have row and a second control that gives an instruction so that the irradiation direction becomes a predetermined direction corresponding to the cab of the lift position, the control unit Gives a command in the first control so that the position of the road surface to be irradiated moves away from the vehicle as the traveling speed increases, and the control unit in the second control of the road surface to be irradiated even if the elevating position changes. It has a configuration in which a command is given so that the position does not change.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, the picking truck according to the present invention includes a vehicle body having a traveling device, a mast provided behind the vehicle body, a driver's cab that can move up and down along the mast, and a driver's cab. The lighting unit that irradiates the notification light toward the road surface around the vehicle, the irradiation direction changing unit that changes the irradiation direction by changing the installation angle of the lighting unit with respect to the driver's cab, and the irradiation direction changing unit are instructed. and a control unit providing a control unit includes a first control that gives an instruction so that the irradiation direction becomes a predetermined direction corresponding to the running speed of the vehicle body, corresponding to the vertical position the irradiation direction of the cab There line and a second control which gives the command so that the predetermined direction, the control unit, in the first control, commands the position of a road surface on which the running speed is irradiated with increasing moves away from the vehicle body In the second control, the control unit has a configuration in which a command is given so that the position of the irradiated road surface does not change even if the elevating position changes.

Claims (8)

A lighting unit that irradiates the road surface around the vehicle with warning light, which is installed in the cab that can be raised and lowered in the vehicle.
An irradiation direction changing unit that changes the irradiation direction by changing the installation angle of the lighting unit with respect to the driver's cab,
A control unit that gives a command to the irradiation direction changing unit,
Equipped with
The control unit is controlled to give the command so that the irradiation direction is a predetermined direction corresponding to the traveling speed of the vehicle, and the irradiation direction is predetermined corresponding to the elevating position of the driver's cab. A vehicle approach notification device characterized in that it controls to give the command so as to be in a direction. Further, an irradiation direction detecting unit for directly or indirectly detecting the irradiation direction is provided.
The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs return control for giving the command so that the detection result of the irradiation direction detection unit matches the traveling speed and the direction corresponding to the elevating position. Proximity notification device. The vehicle approach notification device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit gives the command to move the position of the road surface to be irradiated as the traveling speed increases from the vehicle. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit gives the command so that the position of the road surface to be irradiated does not change even if the elevating position changes. Proximity notification device. The vehicle body with the traveling device and
With the mast provided at the rear of the vehicle body,
A cab that can be raised and lowered along the mast,
A lighting unit installed in the driver's cab that irradiates the road surface around the vehicle with notification light.
An irradiation direction changing unit that changes the irradiation direction by changing the installation angle of the lighting unit with respect to the driver's cab,
A control unit that gives a command to the irradiation direction changing unit,
Equipped with
The control unit is controlled to give the command so that the irradiation direction is a predetermined direction corresponding to the traveling speed of the vehicle body, and the irradiation direction is predetermined corresponding to the elevating position of the driver's cab. A picking truck characterized in that it controls to give the command so as to be in the same direction. Further, an irradiation direction detecting unit for directly or indirectly detecting the irradiation direction is provided.
The picking according to claim 5, wherein the control unit performs return control for giving the command so that the detection result of the irradiation direction detection unit matches the traveling speed and the direction corresponding to the elevating position. truck. The picking truck according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the control unit gives a command to move the position of the road surface to be irradiated as the traveling speed increases from the vehicle body. The picking according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the control unit gives the command so that the position of the road surface to be irradiated does not change even if the elevating position changes. truck.

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