JP2973817B2 - Automatic warehouse loading / unloading device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage and retrieval device for an automatic warehouse, which is installed in a factory, for example, and can run on a fixed path in front of a shelf.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 60-67304 discloses a loading / unloading device for loading / unloading a load to / from a shelf by pushing / pulling.
Patent Document 1, there is provided a baggage carry-in / out device. That is, in this conventional configuration, a pair of telescopic forks is provided on the elevating platform of the shelf lift, and a luggage pressing member extending in the left-right direction is disposed over both ends of the upper fork in these telescopic forks. .

According to this conventional structure, when a load is placed on the load placing portion between the two telescopic forks, the load pressing member faces the front and rear surfaces of the load. Then, when entering the shelves, adjust the level of the luggage storage section to the shelf board,
The two telescopic forks are extended so as to protrude into the row of shelves, and the luggage is pushed back by the luggage pressing member at the rear portion, whereby the luggage is slid and moved from the luggage placing portion onto the shelf. Thereafter, the telescopic forks are slightly contracted, and the luggage pressing member is positioned upward with respect to the luggage by raising the elevator, and then the telescopic forks are contracted.

In order to unload a load from the shelf row, first, with the load pressing member positioned above the load, the two telescopic forks are extended so as to protrude into the shelf row, and the front load is pressed. The member is located behind the load. Next, after the luggage pressing member is opposed to the luggage in the front-rear direction by lowering the elevator, both telescopic forks are contracted,
By pulling and moving the luggage by the luggage pressing member at the front, the luggage is slid from the shelf board to the luggage placement unit and is unloaded.

[0005]

According to the above-mentioned conventional construction, the telescopic forks always move at the full stroke so as to position the front load pressing member at the innermost part of the row of shelves irrespective of the loading and unloading operations. Must be operated, and at the time of storage, an operation of slightly contracting both telescopic forks is also included, so that the work cycle becomes long. In addition, since the load is slid on the load receiving portion, telescopic forks must be provided on both sides to overcome the frictional resistance, which complicates the overall configuration. Furthermore, since the luggage pressing member is moved up and down together with the elevating platform, a quick elevating operation cannot be expected.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage and retrieval device for an automatic warehouse, which can shorten the stroke at the time of entry into the warehouse, requires only one side of the drive mechanism, and can partially move up and down. It is in.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic storage and retrieval apparatus for an automatic warehouse having a carriage capable of moving up and down along a column forming a traveling body. The loading / unloading tool disposed in the carriage includes a driving conveyor having a traveling direction of a traveling main body in a front-rear direction and a horizontal direction of conveyance, and a push-pull device disposed opposite to the driving conveyor. The push-pull device is provided with an elevating member located on the side of the driving conveyor, a movable member supported and guided by the elevating member and movable in the left-right direction, and a continuous connection from the movable member above the driving conveyor. The push-pull action part is formed by a pair of push-pull action rods connected from the movable member and a connecting rod provided between the free ends of these push-pull action rods in plan view. Composed into a shape, double push-pull action The inner side surface of the push-pull action rod is formed as a push-in action surface which can freely contact one side of the left-right direction face, while the outer side face of both push-pull action rods is formed at the same time. I have.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the above-described automatic storage and retrieval apparatus for an automatic warehouse, wherein a plurality of sets of insertion and removal tools including a drive conveyor and a push-pull device are arranged in the front-rear direction with respect to the carriage. I have.

[0009]

According to the configuration of the first aspect of the present invention, the loading / unloading device moves the traveling main body, moves the carriage up and down, and operates the loading / unloading tool in the left-right direction to load the shelf. Can be entered and exited. Then, in order to load the cargo on the carriage into the shelf, first, the push-pull action section is raised, and the carriage is opposed to the target storage section while being positioned above the load on the drive conveyor. . Next, the load is sent into the storage section by the drive conveyor. This feeding is completed when the bottom surface of the load comes off the drive conveyor, and at this time, the load partially protrudes from the shelf.

Next, the push-pull action section is lowered, and the outward push action face is opposed to the left-right face of the load from the left-right direction. Then, by moving the push-pull action portion to the feed side, the push action surface can abut the left-right surface from the outside,
Thus, the load can be pushed in by the moving force of the push-pull action portion. At this time, the movement of the push-pull action portion can be performed by moving the movable member in the left-right direction, and the load can be pushed to a predetermined position by stopping the movable member at a predetermined movement amount. Thereafter, the intended warehousing operation is completed by moving the push-pull action section into and out of the carriage.

[0011] In addition, when the load in the shelf is discharged to the carriage, the operation is performed in a substantially opposite manner to the above-described discharge. That is, before the retrieval operation, the push / pull action section is raised and positioned in the carriage. Then, with the carriage facing the intended storage section, the push / pull action section is moved outward by one end to be positioned above the load in the shelf. Next, the lifting / lowering member is moved down, and the push / pull action portion is fitted onto the load.

In this state, the push / pull action section is moved to the other end, and the drive conveyor is driven in the same direction. Then, in the initial stage in which the push-pull action portion is moved to the other end, the pull-out action surface of the push-pull action rod can abut against the left-right surface of the load, thereby moving the load integrally with the push-pull action portion. Can be pulled out of the storage section. The load to be withdrawn can be placed on the driving conveyor via the bottom surface thereof, and can be pulled out by receiving the conveying force of the driving conveyor. As a result, the load is completely transferred onto the driving conveyor, and after being loaded in the carriage, the push-pull device is stopped, thereby completing the unloading operation.

According to the configuration of the second aspect of the present invention, by arranging a plurality of sets of insertion / removal tools in the front-rear direction, the warehousing operation can be continuously performed at a plurality of places, a plurality of warehousing operations can be performed simultaneously, and the warehousing operation can be performed. Various work patterns are possible, such as performing work continuously at a plurality of locations, simultaneously performing a plurality of retrieval operations, and alternately performing a retrieval operation and a retrieval operation.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
Are formed with a plurality of storage portions 2 in the up-down direction and the left-right direction. Each storage portion 2 is configured to support a cardboard case 4 as an example of a load via a shelf board (arm) 3. I have. The shelves 1 are arranged side by side with a passage 8, and an access device 10 that can run on a fixed path 9 is disposed in the passage 8. The loading / unloading device 10 includes a lower frame 11
And a pair of columns 12 in the front-rear direction X (the running direction of the loading / unloading device 10) standing upright from the lower frame 11,
A traveling body 14 is constituted by an upper frame 13 connecting the upper ends of the 12, and the like.

A carriage which can be moved up and down between both columns 12.
19, two sets (a plurality of sets) of loading / unloading tools 20 are provided on the carriage 19 in the front-rear direction X so as to be able to transfer the cardboard case 4 between the storage section 2 and the like.
In the lower frame 11, a drive wheel 15 and a driven wheel 16 supported and guided by the floor-side rail 6 are arranged in front and rear, and the upper frame 13 is provided with a pair of left and right guided by the ceiling-side rail 7. The guide rollers 17 are arranged separately in front and back. Further, on the carriage 19 side, rollers guided on the guide surface on the support column 12 side are provided at a plurality of upper and lower locations.

On the carriage 19, two sets of the insertion / removal tool 20 having the same configuration are provided in the front-rear direction X. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 to 8, each of the loading / unloading tools 20 includes a driving conveyor 21 whose conveyance is in the left-right direction Y, and a push / pull device 41 disposed opposite to the driving conveyor 21. You. The drive conveyor 21 is of a drive belt type, and the conveyor frame 22 is integrated with the carriage 19 side, and the upper and lower ends of the conveyor frame 22 in the left-right direction Y are provided with position-adjustable left and right axes. Driven wheel body 23 through 23
Are provided so as to freely rotate.

A pair of front and rear drive wheels 26 is mounted on a drive shaft 25 in the front and rear direction X rotatably supported between the front and rear conveyor frames 22.
And a belt 27 hung on the driving wheel body 26 is wound between the driven wheel bodies 24. Conveyor frame
A pair of left and right guide wheels 28, which are located near the drive wheel 26, are provided on the 22 so as to be freely rotatable via left and right pins 29, respectively. Further, the conveyor frame 22 is provided with a guide plate 30 for guiding the side surface of the cardboard case 4. Conveyor driving device for driving the driving conveyor 21
31 is a motor 32 attached to one conveyor frame 22
And a gear transmission 34 for interlocking the output shaft 33 of the motor 32 and the drive shaft 25.

The push-pull device 41 includes an elevating member 42 located on the side of the drive conveyor 21 and a movable member supported by the elevating member 42 and movable in the left-right direction (described later).
And a push / pull action section 65 connected from the movable member to above the drive conveyor 21. That is, the holding frame 43 is erected from the carriage 19 on the side of the drive conveyor 21 closer to the column 12. This holding frame 43
Vertical guide rods 44 are provided upright at both ends in the left-right direction Y, and the elevating member 42 is arranged between the guide rods 44 via a guide cylinder 45 so as to be able to move up and down.

An elevating drive device for elevating the elevating member 42
The lifting drive device 46 is provided at an intermediate portion of the holding frame 43 in the left-right direction Y, a vertical screw shaft 48 rotatably disposed via a bearing 47, and a lower portion of the holding frame 43. A motor 49 that can be driven forward and reverse freely, a gear transmission 51 that interlocks and connects a downward output shaft 50 from the motor 49 to the screw shaft 48, a nut body 52 screwed to the screw shaft 48, and the like. It consists of. And the nut body 52 is
Is connected to the elevating member 42 via

The push-pull action section 65 is formed of a gate-shaped frame in a plan view, and is configured to be able to move up and down and to the left and right above the drive conveyor 21.
That is, a fixed arm rail 55 is fixed on the elevating member 42. The fixed arm rail 55 has a U-shaped cross section, and is disposed with its open portion facing upward and the length direction as the left-right direction Y.

A pair of lower guides 56 are provided in the upper portion of the fixed arm rail 55 in the front-rear direction X in the left-right direction Y, and are supported between the lower guides 56 via grooved lower rollers 57. A guided rack body 58 is provided. The length direction of the rack body 58 is defined as the left-right direction Y, and the lower roller 57 is freely rotatably disposed at a plurality of locations below the rack body 58 via vertical pins 59. A plurality of grooved upper rollers 60 are freely rotatably provided at a plurality of upper positions via vertical pins 61.

A movable arm rail 62, which is an example of the above-mentioned movable member, is disposed above the rack body 58. The movable arm rail 62 has a U-shaped cross section, and its opening is downward and long. The horizontal direction is set as the horizontal direction Y. A pair of upper guides 63 is disposed in the lower part of the movable arm rail 62 in the front-rear direction X in the left-right direction Y, and the upper roller 60 is disposed between the upper guides 63.

Here, the fixed arm rail 55, the rack body 58,
A cable body or the like is provided over the movable arm rail 62 via a plurality of guide wheels, and the rack body 58 is moved in conjunction with the movement of the rack body 58 with respect to the fixed arm rail 55.
Are formed on a multi-stage fork where the movable arm rail 62 is moved.

The pushing / pulling action portion 65 includes a movable arm rail 62
A pair of push-pull action rods 66 provided in the left-right direction Y continuously provided from above to the drive conveyor 21 and a reinforcing connecting rod 67 located between the free ends of the push-pull action rods 66 in plan view. It has a gate-shaped frame. The inner surfaces of both push-pull action rods 66 are formed on a pull-out action face 66a that can simultaneously face the left-right face 4a of the cardboard case 4, and the outer faces of both push-pull action rods 66 are formed on the left-right face 4a. Is formed on the push-in action surface 66b which can freely contact one side. The push-pull action section 65 is configured to be able to move up and down above the drive conveyor 21 and to be movable in the left-right direction Y.

A push / pull drive 70 for moving the push / pull action section 65 in the left-right direction Y is provided.
A vertical spline shaft 72 rotatably disposed via a bearing 71 at an intermediate portion in the left-right direction Y of the holding frame 43;
A motor 73, which can be driven forward and reverse, attached to the lower part of 43;
A gear transmission 75 for interlockingly connecting a downward output shaft 74 from the motor 73 to the spline shaft 72, a cylinder 76 externally fitted to the spline shaft 72 so that it can only move up and down, and a cylinder 76
And a pinion integrated with the rack body 58
77 and others. And the cylinder 76 is fitted inside the bracket 53 so as to allow only its rotation,
The bracket 53 is connected to the lifting member 42.

On the side of the carriage 19, a load detecting device 80 for detecting the height of the cardboard case 4 is provided, and further, a retracting detecting device 81 for detecting the moving amount of the rack 58 is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, at one end of the lower frame 11, that is, at the lower portion on the other surface side of one of the columns 12, a lifting drive unit 85 for winding and rewinding a wire is provided. A wire 86 from the lifting drive unit 85 is linked to the carriage 19. In addition, a traveling drive unit 87 that is linked to the drive wheels 15 is provided near and below the elevation drive unit 85.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
The loading / unloading device 10 is configured to move the traveling main body 14 on the fixed path 9 via the traveling driving unit 87,
By moving the carriage 20 in the left-right direction Y and moving the carriage 19 up and down via the lifting drive unit 85, the cardboard case 4 You can enter and exit.

At this time, the traveling motion of the traveling body 14 is controlled by the wheels 15,
Since the guide 16 is supported and guided by the floor-side rails 6 and the guide rollers 17 are guided by the ceiling-side rails 7, the operation is always performed stably without inviting a fall or the like. Also a college
The raising / lowering movement of 19 is performed by winding / unwinding the wire 86 by the forward / reverse operation of the lifting / lowering drive unit 85. The loading / unloading of the cardboard case 4 by the loading / unloading tool 20 is performed as follows.

That is, in order to store the cardboard case 4 on the carriage 19 into the shelf 1, before the storing operation, for example, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 4 and the solid line in FIG. It is positioned above the cardboard case 4 on the drive conveyor 21. At that time, the push-pull action portion 65 is raised by rotating the screw shaft 48 via the output shaft 50 and the gear transmission 51 by driving the motor 49, and raising the bracket 53 via the nut body 52. Lifting member 42,
Fixed arm rail 55, rack body 58, movable arm rail 62
And so on. At this time, the cylinder 76 is
Is raised along. The cardboard case 4 on the driving conveyor 21 is detected by the load height detecting device 80,
It has been confirmed that it does not hinder entry into the warehouse.

Then, by the above-described running motion and lifting / lowering motion,
The carriage 19 is opposed to the target storage section 2. This opposition is performed with the conveyor conveying surface 35 of one of the insertion / removal tools 20 slightly higher than the support surface of the shelf 3. In this state, first, the cardboard case 4 is fed into the storage section 2 by the drive conveyor 21. At this time, the driving of the driving conveyor 21 is performed by rotating the driving wheel 26 integrally with the driving shaft 25 and the like by the rotation of the motor 32 in the conveyor driving device 31, and moving the belt 27 by guiding each of the wheels 24 and 28. You can do it.

The above-mentioned feeding is completed when the bottom surface of the cardboard case 4 comes off the belt 27. At this time, as shown by the imaginary line G in FIG.
Is in a state of being partially protruded from the shelf 1. for that reason,
For example, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 4 and the phantom line H in FIG.
66b is attached to the left-right direction Y on the left-right surface 4a of the cardboard case 4.
From. Then, by moving the push-pull action portion 65 to the sending side, the push action surface 66b is moved to the left-right surface 4a.
9B, the cardboard case 4 is pushed in by the moving force of the push-pull action portion 65, as shown in the concept of FIG.

At this time, the movement of the push / pull action portion 65 is performed by rotating the spline shaft 72 via the output shaft 74 and the gear transmission 75 by driving the motor 73 in the push / pull drive device 70,
By rotating the pinion 77 through the, the rack body 58 can be moved with respect to the fixed arm rail 55, and the movable arm rail 62 can be moved with respect to the rack body 58. At this time, the cylinder 76 is freely rotated with respect to the bracket 53. The pushing movement limit, that is, the moving amount of the push-pull action portion 65 is detected by the retracting amount detecting device 81, and the operation of the push-pull driving device 70 is stopped by a predetermined detection, whereby the cardboard case 4 is moved to a predetermined position. Pushed up to. Thereafter, as shown by the imaginary line I in FIG. 9-B, the intended warehousing operation is completed by moving the push / pull action portion 65 into and out of the carriage 19.

When the corrugated cardboard case 4 in the shelf 1 is ejected from the carriage 19, the operation is performed in a substantially opposite manner to the above-described unloading operation. That is, before the unloading operation, the push-pull action portion 65 is raised and positioned in the carriage 19, for example, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 4 and the solid line in FIG.

The storage section 2 intended for the carriage 19
Is performed with the conveyor conveying surface 35 slightly lower than the support surface of the shelf 3. In this state, the push-pull drive 70
The push-pull action portion 65 is moved outwardly by one end as shown by the imaginary line J in FIG. 9C by the operation of, so that the push-pull action portion 65 is positioned above the cardboard case 4 in the shelf 1. Next, the lifting drive
The lifting member 42 is moved downward by the operation of 46, and the push-pull action portion 65 is moved to the cardboard case 4 as shown by the imaginary line K in FIG.
Externally.

After the push-pull action section 65 is fitted onto the cardboard case 4 in this way, the push-pull action section 65 is moved to the other end by the reverse operation of the push-pull drive device 70, and the drive conveyor 21 is moved to the same position. Drive in the direction. Then, at the initial stage when the push-pull action portion 65 is moved to the other end, the pull-out action surface 66a of the push-pull action rod 66 abuts on the left-right surface 4a of the cardboard case 4, and the cardboard case 4 is As shown by the solid line of -D, it is moved integrally with the push-pull action portion 65 and pulled out of the storage portion 2. And the cardboard case 4 to be pulled out
Is placed on the belt 27 via its bottom surface, and FIG.
As shown by the imaginary line L in FIG.

As a result, it is detected that the cardboard case 4 has completely moved onto the belt 27 and has been settled in the carriage 19, so that the conveyor driving device 31 and the push-pull driving device 70 are stopped, so that the discharging operation is performed. Finish.

In the above-described embodiment, the loading / unloading operation in which the loading / unloading device 10 is operated on the shelf 1 has been described. However, the loading / unloading operation is performed by, for example, a cargo handling device (not shown) disposed outside the end of the shelf 1. ) Is carried out to transfer the cardboard case 4. At this time, the delivery of the cardboard case 4 to the cargo handling device is performed in the same manner as the delivery to the storage unit 2 described above.

In the above-described embodiment, the type in which one belt 27 is provided as the drive conveyor 21 has been described, but this may be a double (multiple) belt type or a multiple chain type. In addition, the lifting drive and the push-pull drive in the push-pull device 41
Another type, such as a type using an electric cylinder, may be used.

As shown in the above embodiment, when two sets (a plurality of sets) of the insertion / removal tools 20 are disposed in the front-rear direction X,
The warehousing work is continuously performed at two places (a plurality of places) without returning to the part of the cargo handling apparatus, two (many) warehousing works are simultaneously performed, and the unloading work is returned to the part of the cargo handling apparatus. Various work patterns are possible, such as performing continuously at two places (a plurality of places) without fail, performing two (a plurality of) outgoing work at the same time, and alternately performing incoming and outgoing work. However, in the first aspect of the present invention, the type in which one insertion / removal tool 20 is disposed on the side of the carriage 19 may be employed.

FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an access device 90 using one support 12 is used. On the side of the carriage 91, one access device 20 is provided. It should be noted that a form in which a plurality of insertion / removal tools 20 are disposed on the side of the carriage 91 may be employed.

[0042]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the pushing / pulling action portion operates the short stroke by bringing the push-in action surface, which is the outer surface thereof, into contact with the left-right direction surface of the load during the warehousing operation. As a result, the work cycle can be shortened and the overall work efficiency can be improved. Further, the push-pull device can be used together with the drive conveyor so that the main body thereof is disposed on one side of the drive conveyor and the push-pull action rod can be cantilevered, thereby simplifying the entire configuration. Further, since the push-pull device can be raised and lowered independently of the carriage, the lifting and lowering operation can be performed lightly and quickly.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the amount of draw-out, that is, the movement of the movable base is performed to a predetermined amount, the elevating member is lowered in accordance with an instruction from the control device, thereby integrating the movable base. The push-pull action portion can be vertically lowered and removed from the load.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a perspective view of a carriage portion in an automatic storage and retrieval device for a warehouse.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view of the automatic storage and retrieval device.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway front view of the automatic storage and retrieval device.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view of a carriage portion of the automatic warehouse storage device.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway front view of a lifting / lowering and push / pull drive unit of the automatic warehouse loading / unloading device.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway front view of a drive conveyor portion of the automatic warehouse loading / unloading device.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway plan view of a carriage portion in the automatic warehouse loading / unloading device.

FIG. 8 is a partially cut-away side view of a push-pull drive unit in the automatic warehouse loading / unloading device.

FIG. 9 is a schematic front view illustrating a loading / unloading operation in the automatic warehouse loading / unloading device.

FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of the present invention, and is a partially cutaway side view of an access device for an automatic warehouse.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Shelf 2 Storage part 4 Corrugated cardboard case (load) 4a Left-right direction surface 9 Constant path 10 Loading / unloading device 12 Prop 14 Traveling body 19 Carry 20 Accessory 21 Drive conveyor 27 Belt 31 Conveyor drive 41 Push-pull device 42 Lifting member 46 Lifting drive Device 55 Fixed arm rail 58 Rack body 62 Movable arm rail (movable member) 65 Push / pull action part 66 Push / pull action rod 66a Pull-out action face 66b Push-in action face 67 Connecting rod 70 Push / pull drive device 90 Loading / unloading device 91 Carriage X Front and rear direction (Running direction) Y left / right direction

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65G 1/00-1/20 B66F 9/07

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A storage and retrieval device for an automatic warehouse provided with a carriage which can be moved up and down along a column forming a traveling main body, wherein a traveling direction of the traveling main body is a longitudinal direction. And a push / pull device disposed opposite to the drive conveyor. The push / pull device includes an elevating member located at a side portion of the drive conveyor, and an elevating member side. A movable member supported and guided by the movable member and movable in the left-right direction, and a push-pull action portion provided continuously from the movable member above the drive conveyor, and a pair of push-pull action portions provided continuously from the movable member. , And a connecting rod provided between the free ends of the push-pull action rods so as to form a gate shape in plan view, and the inner surfaces of both push-pull action rods are simultaneously opposed to the left-right surface of the load. Formed on a free drawer action surface An outer surface of each of the push-pull action rods is formed as a push-action face capable of abutting on one of the left-right surfaces, and a loading / unloading device for an automatic warehouse. 2. The automatic storage and retrieval apparatus for an automatic warehouse according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of sets of insertion and removal tools including a drive conveyor and a push-pull device are arranged in a longitudinal direction with respect to the carriage.