JP3137782B2 - Horizontal maintenance mechanism of handling equipment in transfer equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanism for maintaining a horizontal state of a handling apparatus in a transfer apparatus having a traveling body traveling along a rail and a handling apparatus suspended from the traveling body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a factory assembly line, parts and the like are transported by a transport system in which a traveling body equipped with a handling device for holding luggage moves along a monorail. In such a transport system, the monorail may be provided with a hill portion (uphill portion, downhill portion), and the monorail may be three-dimensionally arranged. When the traveling body moves on such a monorail, the traveling body is tilted at the above-mentioned slope, but at this time, the luggage holding portion of the handling apparatus is not tilted to secure stability. Requires a leveling mechanism to keep the horizontal.

Conventionally, as such a horizontal maintaining mechanism,
For example, there is one as shown in FIGS.
The transport device shown in FIG. 7A includes a traveling body 3 traveling along the monorail 1 and a handling device 10 suspended from the traveling body 3. , And is configured to be tiltable via the, and to maintain a horizontal state by gravity. That is, the center of gravity of the handling device 10 in the horizontal state is the pivot 1
By being set to be on a vertical line passing through 5,
The horizontal state is maintained as shown by the solid line in FIG. Further, when the traveling body 3 is on the horizontal straight road 1a of the monorail 1, and when the inclined straight road 1b at the slope is used.
As shown in FIG. 7 (b), in order to prevent the
5, a plurality of engaging grooves 101, 102, 103 arranged on the handling device 10 side and an engaging member 104 provided on the traveling body side constitute an engaging mechanism. 1a, the engaging member 104 is engaged with one engaging groove 101, and when the monorail 1 is on the inclined straight path 1b, the engaging member 104 is engaged with another engaging groove 102 (or 103). By engaging with each other, the horizontal state of the handling device 10 is maintained.

[0004]

In the above-described conventional leveling mechanism, even if the handling device itself is set so as to be able to maintain a horizontal state by gravity, the load W from the load is biased. In some cases, a force that causes the handling device 10 to tilt may act on the handling device 10 by being applied to the inclined position. In this case, even if the above-described locking mechanism is provided, the locking member 104 and the engagement grooves 101 to 103 are not provided on the curved path 1c existing between the horizontal linear path 1a and the inclined linear path 1b of the monorail 1. 7 is released, and the tilting of the handling device 10 becomes free. In this state, the eccentric load W causes the handling device 10 to tilt from the horizontal state as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. I will. After that, unless the eccentric load W is removed, the inclination of the handling device 10 is not eliminated even on the inclined straight road 1b or the horizontal straight road 1a, and the stability of conveyance is deteriorated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a leveling mechanism of a handling device which can surely maintain a horizontal state of the handling device even when an eccentric load is applied. I do.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a rail constituting a transport path having a slope, a traveling body traveling along the rail, and a cargo holding section. In a transport device having a handling device suspended from the traveling body, the handling device is provided below the traveling body, via a pivot, and below the traveling body.
While being connected to the traveling body so as to be tiltable about the pivot while being suspended, a drive mechanism for tilting the handling device is provided, and the drive mechanism is provided with the drive shaft interposed therebetween.
The two parts of the handling device in the front-rear direction
The ends are connected, and the flexible body is moved to one of the above two places.
From above the Axis to the other, and
An intermediate portion of the flexible body is moved by a flexible body driving means provided on the traveling body.
Tilt the handling mechanism by moving it back and forth
And configured to further include a determining means for determining the angle of inclination of the rail at the running position of the running body, the rail as cargo holder of the handling device based on the discrimination of the discriminating means is horizontal state Control means for causing the handling mechanism to tilt by the drive mechanism by an amount corresponding to the tilt angle.

[0007]

According to the above construction, when the rail shifts from the horizontal portion to the slope portion, or when the rail shifts from the slope portion to the horizontal portion, regardless of the load applied, the handling device can be adapted to the change in the rail angle. The forced operation ensures that the horizontal state is maintained.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show an entire transfer apparatus provided with a horizontal maintenance mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. In these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a rail (monorail) constituting a transport path, which is suspended from a ceiling of an assembly line in a factory via a support arm (not shown). The factory assembly line is, for example, 1
There is a height difference depending on the location such as a floor portion and a mezzanine portion, and the monorail 1 is three-dimensionally arranged over each portion. Therefore, this monorail 1 is a horizontal straight road 1
a and a sloping portion including an inclined straight road 1b having a constant inclination angle, and a curved road 1c that smoothly connects the horizontal straight road 1a and the inclined straight road 1b. (See FIG. 5).

The monorail 1 is provided with a trolley wire 2 for current supply and communication.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a traveling body that travels along the monorail 1, and in the illustrated example, a main body 4 and an auxiliary traveling member 5
And a frame member 6 arranged below the main body 4 and the auxiliary traveling member 5 and connected thereto. The main body 4 has a built-in traveling motor (not shown) and a driving wheel 7 mounted on the monorail 1.
And an appropriate number of auxiliary wheels 8 contacting the monorail 1 from below and from the side. The driving wheels 7 are driven by the motor to travel along the monorail 1, and the hill portion of the monorail 1 is driven by itself. You can run. Further, the main body 4 is provided with a control unit (not shown) for controlling the traveling motor.

The auxiliary traveling member 5 is engaged with the monorail 1 by a driven wheel (not shown) or the like, and moves as the main body 4 travels.

The frame member 6 is formed in a flat frame shape, and two places at a predetermined interval on the upper surface side are connected to the main body 4 and the auxiliary traveling member 5, respectively, so that the frame member 6 is parallel to the monorail 1. It is kept in. The handling device 10 is suspended from the frame member 6.

The handling device 10 has a load holding portion below a housing 11 having a rectangular pipe frame structure. In the illustrated embodiment, a transfer mechanism 12 such as a belt conveyor is provided as the load holding portion. Transfer mechanism 12
Has a structure capable of transferring a load to / from the outside and holding the load. A bracket 13 is provided at the center in the longitudinal direction of the upper end of the housing 11, and the bracket 13 and the bracket 14 provided on the lower surface side of the frame member 6 form a pivot 15 in a direction orthogonal to the monorail 1. The handling device 10 is suspended so as to be tiltable about the pivot 15 with respect to the frame member 6 in a state of being suspended below the traveling body 3 .

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the details of the parts constituting the horizontal maintenance mechanism. As shown in these drawings, the frame member 6 is provided with a drive mechanism 20 for tilting the handling device 10. This drive mechanism 20
A tilting motor 21 as a flexible body driving means, a driving pulley 22 driven by the motor 21,
Tension pulleys 23 and 24 located on both sides of the drive pulley 22, pulleys 25 and 26 located at both ends of the frame member 6, and a timing belt 27 (flexible body) stretched over these pulleys 22 to 26 And
The timing belt 27 has ends, and both ends of the timing belt 27 hang down from the pulleys 25 and 26.
The handling device 10 is connected to both ends of the housing 11 and is connected to the traveling body 3 above the pivot 15.
Through the drive pulley 22 by the provided motor 21
So that the intermediate portion of the belt 27 can be moved back and forth.
ing. When the amount of belt lead-out from the pulleys 25 and 26 on both sides is equal, the handling device 10 is in a basic state in which it is not inclined with respect to the frame member 6. When the motor 21 is driven from this state, the driving pulley 22
Of the pulleys 25, 2 by the movement of the belt 27 accompanying the rotation of
The amount of the belt derived from the belt member 6 changes, and the handling device 10 is forcibly tilted with respect to the frame member 6.

In the vicinity of both ends of the frame member 6, first and second stoppers 28 and 29 for regulating the tilt angle of the handling device 10 are provided, and the handling device 10 is moved forward from the reference state (see FIGS. 1 and 2). 3, the upper end of the housing 11 comes into contact with the first stopper 28, and the handling device 1
0 is the negative direction from the reference state (clockwise in FIGS. 1 and 3)
The upper end of the housing 11 is in contact with the second stopper 29 when the housing 11 is tilted by the predetermined angle α. The predetermined angle α determined by the stoppers 28 and 29 is set in advance so as to correspond to the angle of the inclined straight path 1b of the monorail 1, and is approximately 15 ° in the illustrated embodiment.
It has become. The stoppers 28 and 29 are made of a material having an appropriate elasticity such as rubber so as to have a buffering action.

The driving mechanism 2 is mounted on the frame member 6.
A control unit 31 is provided as control means for zero. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the monorail 1 has an angle change of the monorail 1 on both front and rear sides of a curved road 1c between the horizontal straight road 1a and the inclined straight road 1b. An ID plate 32 (32A, 32B, 32C, 32D) for transmitting information is installed so as to face the monorail 1. When the traveling body 3 passes through a position corresponding to the ID plate 32, a receiving unit (not shown) provided on the traveling body 3
Information from the D plate 32 is received. A discriminating means for discriminating the inclination angle of the monorail 1 is constituted by the ID plate 32 and the receiving unit. Based on the discrimination, the control unit 31 controls the motor of the drive mechanism 20 so that the handling device 10 is in a horizontal state. 21 is controlled.

Further, in order to determine whether or not the angle of the handling device 10 has shifted with respect to the frame member 6, a detection element 33 made of an iron piece is provided at a predetermined position of the timing belt 27 in the drive mechanism 20. On the other hand, the frame member 6 includes three proximity switches 34, 35, 36 for determining a reference state, a proximity switch 37 for determining a positive tilt state, and a proximity switch 38 for determining a negative tilt state. Are arranged. When the handling device 10 is in the reference state with respect to the frame member 6, the three proximity switches 34 to 36 for the reference state determination are such that the central switch 34 corresponds to the detected element 33 in a normal state, The arrangement is set such that when the frame member 6 is slightly tilted, one of the switches 35 and 36 on both sides corresponds to the element 33 to be detected. The proximity switch 37 for judging the forward inclination state and the proximity switch 38 for judging the negative inclination state are respectively in a state in which the handling device 10 is inclined at a predetermined angle in the positive or negative direction with respect to the frame member 6. In this case, the arrangement is set so as to correspond to the detected element 33 when the angle of the handling device 10 changes by a certain amount in the direction away from the stoppers 28 and 29.

The drive mechanism 20 by the control unit 31
Will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When this control starts, first, in step S1, initial states of various parameters are set. In this case, monorail 1
As for the position of the upper traveling body 3 and the state of the handling device 10, the state at the end of the previous operation is stored even when the operation is stopped, and is read out at the start, and the state is confirmed and set.

Next, in step S2, the handling device 1
It is checked whether the current position in the tilt direction of 0 is normal, and if this determination is NO, the handling device 1 is determined in step S3.
The zero slope is corrected. That is, when traveling on the horizontal straight road 1a of the monorail 1, the handling device 10
Is checked by the signals from the proximity switches 34 to 36 to determine whether or not the proximity switch is in the normal position in the reference state.
The drive mechanism 20 is controlled until the state becomes N. When the vehicle is traveling on the inclined straight road 1b of the monorail 1, the state in which the handling device 10 is inclined at a predetermined angle α with respect to the frame member 6 is regarded as a normal position. The driving mechanism 20 is controlled so that the handling device 10 contacts the stopper 28 or 29 when the proximity switch 37 or 38 is turned on.

If the current position of the handling device 10 is normal, the ID input (signal from the ID plate 32) is checked in step S4, and if there is an ID input, the monorail is determined by the ID input. The tilt target position of the handling device 10 and the rotation direction of the motor 21 are set in accordance with the change in the path state 1 (steps S5 and S6). That is, one of the case where the monorail 1 changes from the horizontal portion to the uphill portion, the case where the monorail 1 changes from the uphill portion to the horizontal portion, the case where the monorail 1 changes from the horizontal portion to the downhill portion, and the case where the monorail 1 changes from the downhill portion to the horizontal portion. The target position and the motor rotation direction are set such that the handling device 10 is actuated in a direction to cancel the angle change of the traveling body 3 according to the angle change of the traveling body 3 in each case based on the ID input. Is done.

Then, the motor 21 is driven until the target position is achieved (steps S7 and S8). After the target position has been achieved, the process returns to step S2 and the subsequent processing is repeated.

The operation of the apparatus of the present embodiment as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

When the traveling body 3 is traveling on a horizontal straight road 1a of the monorail 1, for example, the handling device 1
By setting 0 as the basic state, the horizontal state is maintained. From this state, when the traveling body 3 moves in the direction of the solid arrow in FIG.
ID from ID plate 32A located immediately before the uphill
Based on the input, steps S5 to S5 in the above flowchart
In the process of S8, the drive mechanism 20 is driven, and the handling device 10 is forcibly tilted in a direction to cancel the tilt accompanying the shift to the uphill portion. When the traveling body 3 moves to the inclined straight road 1b in the uphill section, the angle of the handling device 10 with respect to the traveling body 3 is reduced to the inclined straight road 1b.
The horizontal state of the handling device 10 is maintained even on the inclined straight road 1b.

The horizontal straight road 1a and the inclined straight road 1
Also on the curved road 1c between the vehicle 1 and the vehicle body b, the handling apparatus 10 is gradually tilted while the traveling body 3 passes through this portion, so that a substantially horizontal state is maintained. In particular, in order to improve the horizontal maintenance on the curved road 1c, the ID
The response time from the reception of the input to the start of driving of the motor 21 is made to correspond to the travel time of the traveling body from the position of the ID plate 32 to the start end of the curved road 1c. The moving speed of the traveling body 3, the position of the ID plate 32, the curvature of the curved road 1 c, the motor so that the time until the completion of the tilting corresponds to the time required for the traveling body 3 to pass through the curved road 1 c. The relationship such as the drive speed of 21 may be set in advance.

When the traveling body 3 moves from the uphill portion of the monorail 1 to the horizontal portion, the curved road 1 on the upper end side of the uphill portion is used.
c on the basis of the ID input from the ID plate 32C located immediately before
Is returned from the inclined state at a predetermined angle to the traveling body 3 to the basic state. Therefore, also in this case, the horizontal state of the handling device 10 is maintained. Further, although not shown in the drawing, the ID of the traveling body 3 is also determined when the traveling body 3 moves from the horizontal portion to the downhill portion of the monorail 1 or when the traveling body 3 moves from the downhill portion to the horizontal portion.
Handling device 1 by drive mechanism 20 based on input
By controlling the operation in the tilting direction of 0, the horizontal state of the handling device 10 is maintained.

As shown in FIG. 5, if the ID plates 32 are provided on both front and rear sides of the curved road 1c of the monorail 1, when the traveling body moves in the forward direction indicated by the solid arrows, The above-mentioned control is performed based on the input from 32A and 32C. However, when the traveling body 3 moves in the reverse direction shown by the broken arrow, the ID plates 32B and 32D
The control can be performed based on the input from.

The specific structure of the device of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified.

For example, the proximity switches 34 to 38 may be omitted, and instead, a servo motor may be used as the motor 21 to control the amount of drive, thereby adjusting the tilting state of the handling device 10.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the handling device 10 is changed with respect to the frame member 6 between the reference state and the inclined state at the predetermined angle α for each of the positive and negative sides.
If the monorail 1 has slope portions of various angles, the angle of the handling device 10 may be changed in multiple stages correspondingly.

The drive mechanism 20 for tilting the handling device 10 can be constructed by using a chain, a gear or the like instead of the timing belt 27.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the handling mechanism is tilted with respect to the traveling body, and the handling mechanism is controlled based on the discrimination of the inclination angle of the rail to make the handling apparatus horizontal. Since the control device is provided, the handling device can be forcibly operated to be in a horizontal state by the driving device when the vehicle shifts to the slope portion of the rail. Therefore, even when an eccentric load is applied from the load, the horizontal state of the handling device can be correctly maintained, and the stability of transportation can be enhanced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a transport device having a horizontal maintenance mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the transfer device.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional front view of a main part.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a main part.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the horizontal maintenance mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of control for maintaining a horizontal position.

FIG. 7A is an explanatory diagram of an operation of a conventional horizontal maintenance mechanism. (B) is an enlarged view of a part of the conventional horizontal maintenance mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rail 3 Traveling body 6 Frame member 10 Handling device 20 Drive mechanism 31 Control unit 32 ID plate

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (56) References Japanese Utility Model 4-49106 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 3-68165 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 4-79886 (JP, U) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B66C 13/08 B61B 13/04

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transport comprising: a rail constituting a transport path having a slope portion; a traveling body traveling along the rail; and a handling device having a load holding portion and suspended by the traveling body. In the device, the handling device is provided at a lower portion of the traveling body ,
A drive mechanism for tilting the handling device is provided, while being connected to the traveling body so as to be tiltable around the pivot axis while being suspended below the traveling body via a shaft ,
This drive mechanism is provided with a handle that is in the front-rear direction with respect to the pivot.
The two ends of the flexible body are connected to two places on the
Pass the flexible body from one of the two locations above the pivot.
To the other, and the flexible
The intermediate part of the flexible body can be moved back and forth by the body driving means.
Configured so as to tilt the handling mechanism by a further, the traveling body determining means for determining the angle of inclination of the rail in the travel position of the load holder is horizontal state of the handling device based on the discrimination of the discriminating means And a control means for causing the handling device to tilt by the drive mechanism by an amount corresponding to the inclination angle of the rail so that the horizontal inclination of the rail is maintained.