JP2534653B2 - Transfer positioning device for automated guided vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of use) The present invention relates to a transfer positioning device for accurately positioning the article transfer position with the ground side in an automatic guided vehicle used for various purposes.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, since it is difficult to perform accurate positioning by merely stopping the automatic guided vehicle at a predetermined article delivery position, it has been necessary to perform further auxiliary positioning after the automatic guided vehicle is stopped. .

As this auxiliary positioning device, for example, Japanese Patent Publication Sho 59
There is one described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 24023. This device is configured such that, after the predetermined article is stopped at the delivery position, the carriage is slightly lifted and slightly moved so that the positioning portions between the carriage and the floor are aligned with each other for accurate positioning.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, since the positioning is performed at the ground level between the truck and the floor, the distance between the positioning portion and the article placed on the article transfer device on the truck However, the slight positional deviation at the ground level level appears as a large positional deviation at the positional level of the article, and accurate positioning cannot be performed. Moreover, even if the carriage is accurately positioned, the article transfer device moves up and down, so that the positioning of the equipment is not always accurate, and there is a possibility that the positional deviation of the article at the position level may be affected. It was

Therefore, the present invention is to provide a positioning unit directly on the article transfer device so that the article can be positioned as close to the article as possible to reduce the positional deviation of the article at the position level.

Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving Problems) That is, while supporting an article transfer device so as to be able to move up and down on a carriage of an automated guided vehicle, and providing an elevating device for raising and lowering the article transfer device on the carriage, A column is provided corresponding to the article transfer position, and a positioning portion that can be aligned with the lower part of the article transfer device and the upper part of the column is provided as the article transfer device descends.

(Operation) Then, when the article is transferred between the ground side and the automatic guided vehicle, the automatic guided vehicle is first guided to the pillar by the elevated state of the article transfer device and stopped. Next, when the transfer device descends due to the action of the elevating device, the positioning portion provided on the lower portion of the article transfer device is aligned with the positioning portion provided on the column, and the article transfer device of the automated guided vehicle is accurately moved. Positioned.

As a result, it is possible to perform highly accurate positioning with a very simple structure in which the support columns are provided and the positioning portions are provided on the lower part of the article transfer device and the upper part of the support column, and the height at which the article transfer device is positioned is high. Since the position is determined by the height position of the positioning portion provided on the upper part of the support, the article transfer device can be positioned at a desired height by merely setting the height of the support appropriately. Further, since it is only necessary to provide a positioning portion on the lower portion of the article transfer device for positioning the article transfer device, it is not necessary to reduce the space on the top surface of the article transfer device, and the top surface of the article transfer device is not reduced. It becomes possible to effectively use the space.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A lifter device 2 as an elevating device is installed on a carriage 1 of an automated guided vehicle, and an article transfer device 3 is mounted on the elevating rod 2a.
Is supported. Roller conveyors 4 are provided on both front and rear sides of the article transfer device 3, and a mounting arm 5 is reciprocally movable in the left-right direction (direction of arrow in FIG. 2) by a traveling part 5a at the center thereof. The transfer device 3 is provided so that it can project to the left and right sides of the transfer device 3. Stoppers 6 capable of projecting and retracting from the upper surface of the mounting arm 5 are provided at the left and right ends of the mounting arm 5 so as to be movable up and down.

In particular, bushes 7 as positioning portions are provided at the four corners of the lower surface of the transfer device 3. On the other hand, four pillars 8 are erected on the floor B, which is a place for delivering goods to the ground side, and a cone 9 having a spherical upper surface 9a at the upper end thereof.
(Positioning unit) is provided. The column 8 is high so as to be as close to the article transfer height as possible.

Now, when transferring articles from the ground side to the automatic guided vehicle, first, the automatic guided vehicle is moved to the lifter device 2 as shown in FIG.
In the ascending state, it is guided to a predetermined position between the columns 8 and stops. Next, when the transfer device 3 is lowered together with the lifting rod 2a of the lifter device 2, the bush 7 of the transfer device 3 is fitted to the cone 9 of the support column 8 as shown in FIGS. Be positioned at. Then, the placing arm 5 is projected onto a table (not shown) on the ground side, the stopper 6 is lowered, and the articles on the table are transferred onto the arm 5. After that, the stopper 6 rises and the article is positioned on the placing arm 5 between the both stoppers 6. Next, when the placing arm 5 is drawn into the transfer device 3, the article is pushed by the stopper 6 and is transferred onto the transfer device 3 while being placed on the roller conveyor 4. It should be noted that in the case of delivering an article from the automatic guided vehicle to the ground side, the operation reverse to that described above may be performed.

In particular, in the present embodiment, since the post 8 on the ground side is used to position the article as close as possible to the article on the transfer device 3, a slight misalignment that occurs in this positioning portion is caused on the transfer device 3. There is no significant misalignment at the article level. Further, since the article transfer device 3 is directly provided with the positioning portion, by accurately positioning the device 3, the article on the device 3 can also be positioned accurately. Further, in an automated guided vehicle, a plurality of article transfer positions are generally provided in many cases, but in this embodiment, the transfer device 3 is moved up and down by the lifter device 2 provided in the automated guided vehicle, and the cone of the support column 8 is moved. 9 and the bush 7 of the transfer device 3 are fitted together. Therefore, even if the article transfer positions are set at a plurality of positions, it is only necessary to provide the columns 8 at the respective article transfer positions, and the lifter device 2 for raising and lowering the transfer device 3 has the same number as the article transfer positions. Regardless of this, since only the one provided on the automatic guided vehicle is required, accurate positioning can be performed at low cost, and the change of the article transfer position can be handled very easily.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION In short, according to the present invention, since a positioning portion can be provided between the article transfer device and the support on the ground side to perform positioning as close as possible to the article on the transfer device, a minute position on this positioning portion Even if there is a deviation, this deviation does not affect the position of the article on the transfer device as a large deviation, and accurate positioning can be performed. Further, by accurately positioning the article transfer device, the articles on the same device can be naturally positioned accurately.

Also, since the lifting device for raising and lowering the article transfer device need only be the one provided on the automatic guided vehicle regardless of the number of article delivery positions, accurate positioning can be performed at low cost and the article delivery can be performed. It is very easy to deal with changing the position.

Furthermore, highly accurate positioning can be performed with an extremely simple configuration in which the support is provided and the positioning portions are provided at the lower part of the article transfer device and the upper part of the support column, and the height position at which the article transfer device is positioned is high. Is determined by the height position of the positioning portion provided on the upper part of the support, so that the article transfer device can be positioned at a desired height by merely setting the height of the support appropriately. As a result, the cost can be reduced and the work for setting or resetting the positioning height of the article transfer device becomes easy.

Furthermore, since only the positioning part needs to be provided on the lower part of the article transfer device for positioning the article transfer device, the space on the upper surface of the article transfer device is not reduced, and the article transfer device is not required. The space on the upper surface can be effectively used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a positioning state of an automatic guided vehicle equipped with a transfer positioning device according to this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same, FIG. 3 is a side view of the same, and FIG. It is a front view which shows the state before positioning of a vehicle. 1 is a dolly, 2 is a lifter device as an elevating device, 3 is an article transfer device, 7 is a bush (positioning portion), 8 is a column, 9
Is a cone (positioning unit).

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] Claims: 1. An article transfer device is supported on a carriage of an automated guided vehicle so as to be able to move up and down, and an elevating device for moving the article transfer device up and down is provided on the carriage, while supporting columns are provided corresponding to the article transfer positions. A transfer positioning device for an automated guided vehicle, comprising: a positioning portion that is provided on the lower part of the article transfer device and the upper part of the support column so as to be able to coincide with each other as the product transfer device descends.