JP2980174B2 - Carrier - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carrier such as an unmanned traveling vehicle, and more particularly to a traveling unit thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Unmanned guided vehicles are used in automatic warehouses and factories, etc., which are driven by a battery, and travel by rotating wheels by a directly connected motor by a traveling unit provided at the bottom of the guided vehicle. The traveling unit is installed so as to be pivotable with respect to the bottom of the carrier so that it can perform a curve, a turn, and other movements.

[0003] By the way, in a transport vehicle, the traveling unit is required to be reduced in size, and the arrangement of brakes becomes a problem. That is, the motor and the wheels must be arranged along the rotation axis, but there is a degree of freedom in the arrangement of the brake. For example, if a brake is also arranged along the rotation axis of a motor or a wheel, the width of the traveling unit increases by the amount of the brake.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a brake without increasing the width of a traveling unit, and to reliably perform braking without being affected by dust, oil, etc. attached to wheels. It is in. An additional object of the third aspect of the present invention is to prevent an increase in the width and height of the traveling unit due to the attachment of the support to the bottom of the transport vehicle.

[0005]

According to the present invention, a traveling unit having a pair of wheels and a pair of directly-coupled motors rotating with the wheels is provided at the bottom of a carrier so as to be pivotable. It is characterized in that a braking means for braking by contact is provided.

Preferably, the braking means comprises a pair of rotating bodies having a smaller diameter than the motor that brakes by contacting the outer peripheral surface of the motor, and a brake for braking the rotating bodies.

Preferably, the braking means is attached to a support provided at the center of the traveling unit, and the motor and the wheels are disposed on both sides of the support in this order, and are disposed on the motor. Ring-shaped bearing
The support is pivotally attached to the bottom of the carrier. Note that a pair of traveling units may be provided on the carrier, or only one unit may be provided.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the braking means is arranged to brake the outer peripheral surface of the motor. For this reason, the braking means can be arranged in parallel with the rotation axis of the motor, and an increase in the width of the traveling unit due to the braking means can be prevented. Next, the braking means brakes the outer peripheral surface of the motor. Since the motor is directly connected to the wheel and rotates together, the wheel can be braked by braking the outer peripheral surface of the motor. Since the outer peripheral surface of the motor does not contact the floor surface of a factory or a warehouse, dirt such as oil or metal processing powder is unlikely to adhere. For this reason, the motor can be reliably braked without being affected by oil, dust, and the like from the floor, and abrasion of the outer peripheral surface of the motor and the braking means due to dust and the like can be prevented.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the small-diameter rotator is brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the motor at least at the time of braking, and the rotator is braked by the brake. An appropriate brake such as a clutch brake may be used for the brake.Since the rotating body has a small diameter, the braking torque applied from the rotating body to the motor is determined by the product of the braking force between the rotating body and the motor and the diameter of the motor. Large braking torque can be obtained even with power braking.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the braking means is attached to the support provided at the center of the traveling unit. This simplifies the mounting of the braking means. Then, using the empty space above the motor, the support is rotatably mounted on the bottom of the carrier by a ring-shaped bearing. Naturally, the diameter of the motor is smaller than the diameter of the wheels, and there is an empty space above the motor. For this reason, it is possible to suppress an increase in the height of the traveling unit due to the attachment to the bottom of the transport vehicle. Furthermore, the support is connected to the ring-shaped bearing on the motor from the support in the center of the traveling unit without being attached to the wheels or the motor, and is attached to the bottom of the carrier. Therefore, an increase in the width of the traveling unit due to the support can be minimized.

[0011]

1 to 3 show an embodiment. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the traveling unit 4 is separated from the carrier and viewed from above. Reference numeral 6 denotes a support provided at the center of the traveling unit 4, to which an appropriate electromagnetic brake such as a clutch brake 8 is attached.
Reference numerals 0 and 11 denote a pair of rotating bodies connected to the brake 8.
Reference numerals 2 and 13 denote braking shafts connecting the rotating bodies 10 and 11 and the brake 8. The brake shafts 12 and 13 are clutches of the brake 8,
It is connected / separable on the clutch surface and the like.

A mounting portion 14 is arranged on the upper portion of the support 6,
A pair of ring-shaped bearings 15 shown in FIG. 19 is a holding member for the bearing 15. Reference numeral 17 denotes a sensor for determining the turning angle of the traveling unit 4 with respect to the vehicle body.
The resolver arranged at the center of is used. Resolver 17
When the traveling unit 4 rotates with respect to the vehicle body, a turning speed is obtained from an induced current between a coil of a shaft connected to the unit and a surrounding magnet or the like. When the turning speed is integrated by the integrating means built in the resolver 17, the direction of the traveling unit 4 with respect to the vehicle body is determined. The traveling unit 4 may be provided in a pair at the bottom of the transport vehicle, or may be provided only in one unit.

Reference numerals 18 and 20 denote direct-coupled motors,
4, and 26 and 28 are axes of rotation thereof. FIG.
The structure of the motor 20 is described below. The rotating shaft 28 is fixed to the frame 30 and the outer peripheral surface thereof becomes a braking surface. A magnet 31 is provided on the inner periphery of the frame body 30, and is rotated by a force between a coil 36 provided on an inner fixed portion 32. Reference numerals 34 and 35 denote bearings between the fixed portion 32 and the rotating shaft 28 or the frame 30.
Further, the motors 18 and 20 are attached to the support 6 by the fixing portions 32. As shown in FIG. 1, the rotating bodies 10 and 11 have a smaller diameter than the motors 18 and 20.

FIG. 3 shows parts other than the traveling unit, including a pair of front and rear frames 2 in the carrier. The traveling unit is mounted on each of the front and rear frames 2 by bearings 15. Reference numeral 40 denotes a pair of side frames, which are arranged on both outer sides of the front and rear frames. Reference numeral 42 denotes a driven wheel, reference numeral 44 denotes a turntable for rotating the driven wheel 42 with respect to the side frame 40, and reference numeral 46 denotes a battery mounted on the side frame 40. As described above, the stability of the transport vehicle is improved by the driven wheels 42, and particularly, the lateral stability of the transport vehicle is enhanced by arranging the driven wheels 42 near the end in the width direction of the vehicle body.

The operation of the embodiment will be described. The transport vehicle travels by the rotation of the direct-coupled motors 18 and 20, and the traveling direction of the traveling unit 4 with respect to the transport vehicle is detected by the resolver 17.
Therefore, if the rotation speeds of the wheels 22 and 24 and the direction of the traveling unit 4 are monitored, the position of the carrier can be detected and the vehicle can travel independently.

The rotating bodies 10 and 11 are always motors 18 and 20
The brake shafts 12 and 13 are connected to the clutch of the brake 8 during braking, and the wheels 22 and 24 are stopped. Here, the rotating body 10,
11 has a smaller diameter than the motors 18 and 20, so that a large braking torque can be obtained even with a brake having a small force. That is, the braking force of the brake 8 is transmitted from the rotating bodies 10 and 11 to the motors 18 and 2.
0, and the product of this force and the diameter of the motors 18, 20 becomes the braking torque. The brake 8 has two braking axes 1
The brakes 2 and 13 are braked, but since the distance between the motors 18 and 20 is as small as the support 6, the brakes 8 can be integrated. The structure of the brake 8 is changed so that the rotating bodies 10 and 11 are not in contact with the motors 18 and 20 at all times, and a solenoid and an appropriate booster mechanism connected to the solenoid during braking are used.
The rotating bodies 10 and 11 may be pressed against the outer peripheral surfaces of the motors 18 and 20.

In the embodiment, the clutch plates, shoes, drums, and the like used for braking are separately provided for each of the brake shafts 12 and 13. However, the brake shafts 12 and 13 may be connected to perform the collective braking. However, when connecting the braking shafts 12 and 13, the wheels 2
It is necessary to consider turning 2 and 24 in reverse. Therefore, in this case, as described above, it is preferable that the rotating bodies 10 and 11 be advanced to the motors 18 and 20 when the brake 8 is braked, and that the rotating bodies 10 and 11 be kept out of contact with the motors 18 and 20 at all times. In this manner, the rotating bodies 10 and 11 advance to the motors 18 and 20 by the brake 8 during braking, and the wheels 22 and 24 can be stopped by the rotational friction between the two.

Since the rotating bodies 10 and 11 come into contact with the outer peripheral surfaces of the motors 18 and 20 to brake, if the surfaces of the motors 18 and 20 become dirty with oil or the like, the braking force is reduced, and the metal powder or the like is removed by the motor 1.
If it adheres to the outer peripheral surface of 8, 20, it causes abrasion. However, the motors 18 and 20 are not in contact with the floor surface of a factory or the like, and there is little possibility that the outer peripheral surfaces become dirty. Therefore, braking can be performed without being affected by dirt on the floor surface.

The support 6 uses a ring-shaped bearing 15 and is attached to the connecting portion 16 by using an empty space on the motors 18 and 20. For this reason, the height of the traveling unit 4 is determined by the wheels 22 and 24, and the height of the unit does not increase because it is attached to the bottom of the carrier. Further, since the mounting portion 14 is provided on the top of the support 6 and is connected to the ring-shaped bearing 15, the width of the traveling unit 4 does not increase due to the mounting portion 14.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a traveling unit of a carrier according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a direct connection motor used in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a main part of the carrier according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Front and rear frame 4 Running unit 6 Support 8 Clutch brake 10, 11 Rotating body 12, 13 Brake shaft 14 Mounting part 15 Bearing 19 Bearing pressing member 16 Connection part 17 Resolver 18, 20 Directly connected motor 22, 24 Wheel 26, 28 rotation Shaft 30 Frame 31 Magnet 32 Fixed part 34, 35 Bearing 36 Coil 40 Side frame 42 Driven wheel 44 Turntable 46 Battery

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-62-4630 (JP, A) JP-A-61-241218 (JP, A) JP-A-60-248528 (JP, A) JP-A-7-241 257387 (JP, A) JP-A-7-232638 (JP, A) JP-A 61-186604 (JP, U) JP-A 58-85525 (JP, U) JP-A 52-168180 (JP, U) Hira 4-46978 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B62B 1/00-5/06

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A traveling unit having a pair of wheels and a pair of directly-coupled motors rotating with the wheels is provided at the bottom of a carrier so as to be pivotable. A transporting vehicle provided with a braking means for performing the braking operation. 2. The braking device according to claim 1, wherein said braking means comprises a pair of rotating bodies having a smaller diameter than a motor that brakes by contacting an outer peripheral surface of the motor, and a brake for braking the rotating bodies. Item 4. The carrier according to Item 1. 3. A ring in which a braking means is attached to a support provided at the center of the traveling unit, and the motor and the wheels are disposed in this order on both sides of the support, and the ring is disposed on the motor. The carrier according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the support is pivotally mounted on the bottom of the carrier by means of a bearing.