JP2570549B2 - A device for detecting the protrusion of an article on a stacker crane in an automatic warehouse in the front-rear direction - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting a protrusion of an article on a stacker crane in an automatic warehouse in the front-rear direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional automatic warehouses The following automatic warehouses are known. That is, a pair of front and rear racks having a large number of article storage shelves vertically and horizontally provided at predetermined intervals in the front and rear direction, and a stacker crane provided to be able to move left and right between the front and rear racks, An incoming conveyor having an article transfer station arranged on the side of the one rack, and an outgoing conveyor having an article transfer station arranged on the side of the other rack, the A stacker crane is provided with a traveling vehicle, an elevating platform which can be moved up and down on a mast provided on the traveling vehicle, and an article transfer device (e.g., slidably provided in the front-rear direction) provided on the elevating platform And a slide fork) are known.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic warehouse for detecting whether an article placed on an elevator of a stacker crane from an article transfer station does not exceed an allowable range in the front-rear direction. It is intended to provide a device.

[0004]

Means for Achieving the Object The present invention employs the following means to achieve the object. Claim 1
The present invention provides a pair of front and rear racks having a large number of article storage shelves vertically and horizontally, provided at predetermined intervals in the front and rear direction, and a stacker crane provided to be able to move left and right between the front and rear racks And at least one article transfer station provided on a side of the rack, wherein the stacker crane is configured to be movable up and down on a traveling vehicle and a mast provided on the traveling vehicle. And, in an automatic warehouse having an article transfer device provided on this elevator, the lower part of the stacker crane, so as to be located slightly above the articles placed on the elevator from the article transfer station. The detectors provided on the front and rear parts other than the lift table and the article transfer device are positioned slightly closer to the rack than the front and rear surfaces of the articles placed on the lift table from the article transfer station. To, those having a major transverse signal path from the left and right length of the article on the lifting platform.

[0005]

The first aspect of the present invention has the following functions. By raising the elevator, if the articles placed on the elevator from the article transfer station pass through the horizontal signal path, if the articles protrude beyond the allowable range in the front-rear direction, Since the signal path is interrupted, it is possible to know whether or not the article protrudes beyond the allowable range in the front-rear direction (rack side). Therefore, when articles are stored in the article storage shelf at a position higher than the upper surface of the articles on the article transfer station, the articles are placed on the elevators from the article transfer station, and then the elevators are immediately raised and lowered. Since the protrusion of the article on the table can be detected, the idle time can be eliminated and the operation efficiency can be improved.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. In this specification, the front means the lower side in FIG. 1, the rear means the upper side in the figure, the left means the left side in FIG. 1, and the right means the right side in the figure.

A pair of front and rear racks 1 are erected on the floor so as to open the stacker crane passage 13. The rack 1 includes a plurality of front columns 2 arranged side by side at predetermined intervals, a rear column 2 arranged behind the front columns 2 with a predetermined interval therebetween, and a front and rear column 2. A pair of left and right article support members 4 having a plurality of article support members 4 provided and opposed without the support pillar 2 interposed therebetween.
Thus, the article storage shelf 3 is configured. A space between the pair of left and right article support members 4 is a fork passage gap 5 that allows a slide fork 20 to be described later to move in the vertical direction. The entrance 6 for the article storage shelf 3 of the front and rear racks 1
Are facing each other.

[0008] A storage roller conveyor 10 is disposed on the left side of the front rack 1 with the transport direction oriented in the left-right direction.
On the left side of the rear rack 1, a delivery roller conveyer 11 having a transport direction in the left-right direction is arranged. A well-known article lifting machine (not shown) is provided at an article transfer station at the end of the storage roller conveyor 10.
The article lifting machine includes a lifting platform that can be raised and lowered by a known lifting device below the rollers, and a pair of support frames that are erected on the lifting platform and located between the rollers of the storage roller conveyor 10. I have. This article lifting machine lifts the article W by the support frame,
A fork insertion gap is formed between the transport surface of the entrance roller conveyor 10 and the lower surface of the article W. An article unloading machine (not shown) having the same configuration as the article lifting machine is provided at an article transfer station at the end of the unloading roller conveyor 11. The article unloader receives the article W from the slide fork 20 by the support frame at the raised position, and then lowers the article W onto the delivery roller conveyor 11 by descending.

A pair of upper and lower guide rails 14 are arranged in the stacker crane passage 13 so that the longitudinal direction thereof is directed to the left and right. The stacker crane 16 is guided by these guide rails 14 so as to be movable left and right. , The stacker crane 16
And a pair of left and right masts 1 provided on the traveling carriage 17.
8 and a lift table 19 which can be moved up and down freely.
And a slide fork 20 provided to be horizontally slidable in the front-rear direction by a known advance / retreat mechanism. As is well known, the slide fork 20 performs an operation of projecting the article W downward and lifting the article W by lifting the elevating platform 19 and retreating to the elevating platform 19 side to draw the article W into the elevating platform 19. By the operation reverse to the above, the article W can be dropped on the article storage shelf 3 or the like.

An arm 24 protruding forward and backward is provided on the outer surface of each of the left and right masts 18, respectively.
(Article transfer station) so as to be located slightly above the article W placed on the elevating platform 19,
At the free ends of these left and right arms 24, a rack 1
A first detector 25 having a lateral signal path 26 located slightly inside (on the side of the stacker crane passage 13) is provided. With the above-described configuration, the horizontal signal path 26 is located slightly closer to the rack 1 than the front and rear surfaces of the article W on the elevator 19 and longer than the left and right length of the article W on the elevator 19. I have. The first detector 25 includes a light, radio wave,
A signal such as a sound wave is caused to run in the horizontal signal path 26. When the signal is blocked by the article W, the article W protrudes from the horizontal signal path 26 to the rack 1 side beyond an allowable range. The first detector 2
A transmission type / reflection type photoelectric switch is generally and widely used as 5, but is not limited thereto. With such a configuration, after the articles W are placed on the elevating platform 19 from the storage roller conveyor 10, the articles W are placed on the article storage shelf 3 (the article W on the article transfer station) above the second stage.
When the elevating platform 19 rises to be stored in the article storage shelf 3) at a position higher than the upper surface of the first sensor 25, the article W rises beyond the height position of the horizontal signal path 26 of the first detector 25. In the meantime, when the article W crosses the horizontal signal path 26, it can be known that the article W protrudes beyond the allowable range to the rack 1 side. In order to prevent the lifting platform 19 and the slide fork 20 from crossing the horizontal signal path 26, they have a front and rear length that fits between the front and rear horizontal signal paths 26.

A portion corresponding to the upper part of the article storage space of the first-stage article storage shelf 3 of each of the columns 2 on the side of the stacker crane passage 13 and the lower end of the column 2 project slightly toward the stacker crane passage 13. In addition, a second detector 28 having a vertical signal path 29 that extends vertically from and above the article W placed on the elevator 19 from the entry roller conveyor 10 (article transfer station) is provided. It goes without saying that the second detector 28 does not collide with or interfere with the stacker crane 16 or the first detector 25. The second detector 28 is similar to the first detector 25. With such a configuration, the vertical signal path 29 is located at a position slightly closer to the rack 1 than the front and rear surfaces of the articles W placed on the elevator 19 from the storage roller conveyor 10 (article transfer station), and at least on the elevator 19. Is longer than the height of the article W. With the above configuration, the elevator 1
After placing the article W on the stock roller conveyor 10 at 9,
In order to store the articles W in the first-level article storage shelves 3 (the article storage shelves 3 at the same or substantially the same horizontal level as the article transfer station), the stacker crane 13 moves the stocking rollers without raising the elevator 19. If the article W moves rightward in the direction away from the conveyor 10, the article W moves over the vertical signal path 29 of the second detector 28, and when the article W crosses the vertical signal path 29 in the meantime, the article W
Can protrude beyond the allowable range on the rack 1 side. In addition, the second detector 28
Is provided so that the stacker crane 16 that receives the articles W from the storage roller conveyor 10 can always detect whether or not the articles W protrude during the rightward movement without raising the elevator 19. Consideration.

The second detector 28 having a vertical signal path 29 extending over the entire length of the rack 1 may be provided at the upper and lower ends of each of the columns 2. Also provided on the leftmost column 2
The detected second detector 28 is located in the front and rear racks 1 at the most
Roller conveyor 10 (article transfer station) side
And at the bottom of the column 2 on the stacker crane 16 side
Detector.

[0013]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained by the above-described configuration. According to the first aspect of the present invention, by raising the elevator, when the article placed on the elevator from the article transfer station passes through the horizontal signal path, the article protrudes beyond the allowable range in the front-rear direction. If so, the protruding article blocks the lateral signal path, so that it is possible to know whether or not the article protrudes beyond the allowable range in the front-rear direction (rack side). Therefore, when articles are stored in the article storage shelf at a position higher than the upper surface of the articles on the article transfer station, the articles are placed on the elevators from the article transfer station, and then the elevators are immediately raised and lowered. Since the protrusion of the article on the table can be detected, the idle time can be eliminated and the operation efficiency can be improved. According to the invention of claim 2, when the goods on the lift platform placed on the lift platform from the article transfer station pass through the vertical signal path with the left and right movement of the stacker crane, the articles pass through the vertical signal path. Whether or not the article crosses beyond the allowable range in the front-rear direction (rack side) can be determined based on whether the article crosses or does not cross. That is, when articles are stored in the article storage shelves at the same or almost the same horizontal level as the article transfer station, are the articles protruding beyond the allowable range in the front-rear direction (rack side) without the raising and lowering table being raised You can know whether or not.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention with an intermediate omission.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 rack 10 Entry roller conveyor 16 Stacker crane 25 First detector 26 Horizontal signal path 28 Second detector 29 Vertical signal path

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pair of front and rear racks having a large number of article storage shelves vertically and horizontally provided at predetermined intervals in the front and rear direction, and a stacker provided to be movable left and right between the front and rear racks. A crane, and at least one article transfer station provided on a side of the rack, wherein the stacker crane is capable of moving up and down on a traveling vehicle and a mast provided on the traveling vehicle. In an automatic warehouse having a table and an article transfer device provided on the lift, the lower part of the stacker crane is located slightly above the articles placed on the lift from the article transfer station. Therefore, the detectors provided on the front and rear parts other than the lifting platform and the article transfer device move slightly closer to the rack than the front and rear surfaces of the articles placed on the lifting table from the article transfer station. An apparatus for detecting the protrusion of an article on a stacker crane in an automatic warehouse having a lateral signal path longer than the left and right lengths of the article on a lift platform. 2. The most article transfer of each of the front and rear racks.
Station side and stacker crane side support
Detectors are provided at the lower part of the pillar, and these detectors are located on the rack from the front and rear surfaces of the articles placed on the elevator from the article transfer station and are longer than the height of the articles on the elevator. The device for detecting the protrusion of an article on a stacker crane of an automatic warehouse according to claim 1, further comprising: