JP3168055B2 - Vehicle carrier with safety bumper - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle carrier for loading and transporting a vehicle on a carrier, and more particularly, to a vehicle having an inclined surface provided at one end of the carrier and a road plate inserted between the inclined surface and a road surface. The present invention relates to a vehicle carrier equipped with a safety bumper, which has a safety bumper at one end of a loading platform.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a transport vehicle used for transporting a vehicle such as an automobile includes a transported vehicle ascending on a carrier by itself.
Alternatively, a mechanism for descending from the carrier is provided.
As one of them, as shown in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 1-72427, a slope inclined downward is provided at one end of a carrier (for example, a rear end of the carrier), and a road is provided on the slope. In some vehicles, a plate is slidably mounted, and when the vehicle is loaded or unloaded, the road plate is automatically slid by a driving device so as to pass between the loading platform and the road surface.

When a bumper for ensuring safety in the event of a collision is provided on a vehicle having such a structure, it is necessary to dispose a bumper at the lower end of the inclined surface. Therefore, it was arranged below the path of the road plate.

[0004]

However, since the lower end of the inclined surface of the loading platform is originally close to the road surface, the distance between the bumper and the road surface becomes extremely small when the bumper is arranged below the road plate as described above. Therefore, if the road surface has a change in gradient, a level difference, or the like, the bumper easily comes into contact with the road surface, and the bumper is inadvertently damaged. Further, since the height of the bumper from the road surface is too low, the original function of the bumper cannot be sufficiently performed at the time of a collision, and as a result, the safety of the vehicle carrier is reduced.

That is, in the conventional vehicle carrier, there is a problem that the bumper cannot be arranged at a position where its function can be sufficiently exhibited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and by linking a bumper with the movement of the road plate, the bumper can sufficiently exhibit the function of ensuring the original safety without hindering the movement of the road plate. It is another object of the present invention to provide a vehicle carrier with a safety bumper that can prevent inadvertent breakage of the bumper during normal use.

[0007]

A vehicle carrier with a safety bumper according to the present invention is a vehicle carrier having a carrier for loading a vehicle, wherein (i) one end is rotatable about one end of the carrier. A road plate that is attached and has the other end as a free end, and is inserted between the lower end of the inclined surface and the road surface when loading and unloading the vehicle, and is substantially upright with respect to the road surface when traveling, (ii) A road plate drive unit for rotating the road plate; (i
ii) a traveling drive unit of the vehicle carrier, (iv) a safety bumper provided at a predetermined distance from the road surface on the outer surface of the road plate which is substantially upright during traveling, and (v) provided on the safety bumper. A sensor that detects an impact due to a collision of the safety bumper, and (vi) a drive control unit that stops the operation of the traveling drive unit or the road plate drive unit when the sensor detects an impact of the safety bumper. Then, it has.

[0008]

In the vehicle carrier with safety bumper according to the present invention,
In a state where the road plate is inserted between the inclined surface of the loading platform and the road surface, the safety bumper is housed between the road plate and the road surface, and does not hinder loading and unloading of the vehicle. In addition, during traveling, the safety bumper is located at an appropriate height on the outer side surface of the road plate standing upright in a direction substantially orthogonal to the road surface, so that safety in a collision can be ensured. Further, a collision during traveling is detected by a sensor provided on the safety bumper, and traveling is stopped. On the other hand, when the safety bumper hits an obstacle while the road plate is rotating, the rotation is stopped.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail based on embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing the entire vehicle carrier according to the present invention. As shown in this figure, a vehicle carrier 11 is an unmanned carrier used in an automobile production factory, and has a drive source and a control device (not shown) for traveling under a carrier 13 on which wheels 12 are mounted. ) Is provided. The vehicle carrier 11 is a completed vehicle 1 to be carried.
4 on the carrier 13 and other completed vehicles 15
Is automatically towed on a predetermined path on the road surface 17 by pulling the trolley 16 carrying the.

The vehicle carrier 11 has a carrier 13
An inclined surface 18 is provided at the end of the inclined surface 18. A road plate 19 is attached to a lower end of the inclined surface 18 so as to be rotatable with one end fixed and the other end free. A safety bumper 20 is mounted on one side of the road plate 19, here on the left side of the upright surface as shown.

As shown in FIG. 3, such a vehicle carrier travels unmanned while detecting a mark plate 21 buried on the road surface of a production line of a factory in accordance with route data set in advance. And the vehicle carrier 11
Detects the mark plate 21 at the stop position, stops immediately, and lowers the road plate 19 from the upright position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2 to the position shown by the broken line in FIG. And
Completed vehicle 1 that comes out after finishing inspection from final inspection line 23
4 travels smoothly on the road plate 19 and the vehicle carrier 1
Get on one.

FIG. 1 shows in detail a main part of the vehicle carrier shown in FIG. In this figure, a motor 31 is arranged below an inclined surface 18 provided on a part of a bed 13 of a vehicle carrier 11, and the motor 31
2. The rotation is transmitted to the sprocket 33 via the chain 34. The rotation of the sprocket 33 allows the road plate 19 to rotate between a substantially upright position shown by a solid line and a position in contact with the road surface shown by a broken line. The upright position is detected by a limit switch 35 provided at the lower end of the side of the inclined surface 18, and the most lowered position, that is, the tip of the road plate 19 contacts the road surface. The position is detected by a limit switch 36. And, by the detection signal from these limit switches,
Control for stopping the driving of the motor 31 is performed.

[0014] The operation of the vehicle carrier having the above-described configuration will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The vehicle carrier 11 (hereinafter referred to as AGV) travels on a route as shown in FIG. 3 with the road plate 19 in an upright state shown by a solid line in FIG. Then, when the mark plate 21 is detected by a stop position detection sensor (not shown), the travel control device (not shown) is operated by this detection signal to stop the AGV 11. Thus, when the AGV 11 stops (step S101;
Y), a road plate driving device, also not shown, outputs a forward signal, whereby the motor rotates to the left in FIG.
The road plate 19 is lowered. At this time, as shown in FIG.
When there is an obstacle 38 below the road plate and the safety bumper 20 collides with the obstacle 38, a sensor provided inside the safety bumper 20 detects this (step S103; Y), and the road plate driving device outputs a stop signal. Output (step S108), and the motor 31 is stopped. As a result, the lowering of the road plate 19 is stopped, and an abnormality is displayed on the display unit (not shown) of the AGV (step S109). Also, when an emergency stop switch (not shown) is pressed by a worker or the like (step S104; Y), the lowering of the road plate is stopped in the same manner, and an abnormality display is performed (step S108, step S10).
9). When the start switch is pressed (step S110), the motor 31 rotates forward again under the control of the road plate driving device, and the road plate 19 is rotated. The descent resumes.

When the road plate 19 is lowered in this way and the limit switch 36 at the forward end is hit (step S105).
Y), the road plate driving device issues a stop command (step S10)
6), the rotation of the motor 31 stops. In this state, the end of the road plate 19 is in contact with the road surface 17 and the final inspection line 2
The vehicle that has exited the inspection from 3 can travel smoothly on the road plate 19 and the inclined surface 18 and move onto the carrier 13.

The safety bumper 20 does not come into contact with the road surface even when the road plate 19 is completely lowered, and is accommodated between the road surface and the road plate as shown by a broken line in FIG. ing.

After the cargo handling work of the completed vehicle 14 is completed in this way (step S107), the operator sets the AG.
When the start switch of V is pressed (step S111;
Y), the road plate driving device issues a drive command in the reverse direction (step S112), whereby the drive motor 31 starts rotating rightward in FIG. At this time, if the abnormal stop switch is pressed by an operator or the like (step S
113; Y), the motor 31 stops under the control of the road plate driving device (step S117), and an abnormality display is performed (step S118). Then, after the cause of the abnormality is eliminated, when the start switch is pressed again (step S119;
Y), the road plate driving device resumes operation, and the road plate 19 starts to rise. In this way, when the road plate 19 reaches a substantially upright state and the backward end limit switch 35 is hit (step S114; Y), the road plate driving device stops in this state (step S115). Then, the traveling drive unit of the AGV (not shown) is started, and the AGV 11 is started (step S116).

When the AGV that has started traveling in this way collides with an obstacle on the course, the sensor of the safety bumper 20 detects this, and the traveling drive unit (not shown) stops and traveling is stopped. Stop. The safety bumper is mounted on one side of the road plate 19 so that the position of the safety bumper is at a predetermined position from the road surface when the road plate is upright, and when the road plate 19 is lowered and is in contact with the leading end road surface. Is the safety bumper 2
0 is disposed between the road surface and the road plate 19 so as not to hinder the loading and unloading of the vehicle, and when the AGV is running, the bumper's original function of ensuring safety during a collision is ensured. The function can be issued.

In this embodiment, a sprocket and a chain are used as a transmission mechanism for driving the road plate 19, but a gear or the like may be used instead. Further, in the present embodiment, an unmanned carrier used in an automobile production factory has been described as an example, but it is needless to say that a similar structure can be applied to an AGV running on a general road.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The road plate is provided rotatably at one end of the inclined surface of the loading platform, and the safety bumper is arranged at an appropriate height on the outer surface of the road plate in a state of being substantially upright with respect to the road surface. In addition to its function, it is possible to ensure safety in the event of a collision, and when the road plate is inserted between the slope of the cargo bed and the road surface, the safety bumper is accommodated between the road plate and the road surface, and the vehicle is loaded. Does not hinder lowering.

In addition, the provision of the sensor in the safety bumper allows the vehicle to stop running upon detection of a collision during running, while stopping when the safety bumper hits an obstacle during the turning of the road plate. Is done. Therefore, there is an effect that the safety at the time of traveling and at the time of loading / unloading work is further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a main part of an AGV according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the entirety of the AGV.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a running operation of an AGV in an automobile production plant.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the vertical movement of the road plate of the AGV.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a safety bumper has hit an obstacle when the road board descends.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 vehicle carrier (AGV) 13 cargo bed 15 completed vehicle (transported vehicle) 17 road surface 18 inclined surface 19 road plate 20 safety bumper 31 motor 32,33 sprocket 35,36 limit switch

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Akiyoshi Kawada 2-1-1-17 Osaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Meidensha Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-62-88631 (JP, A) JP-A-59-2942 (JP) , A) Japanese Utility Model 1-52011 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 3-77733 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 64-18940 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 62-41239 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 1-72427 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60P 1/43 B60P 3/07

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle carrier having a loading platform for loading a vehicle, wherein one end is rotatably attached to one end of the loading platform and the other end is a free end, and the inclined surface is used when loading and unloading the vehicle. A road plate which is inserted between the lower end portion of the road and the road surface, and which is substantially upright with respect to the road surface during traveling, a road plate drive portion for rotating the road plate, a travel drive portion of the vehicle carrier, A safety bumper provided at a predetermined distance from a road surface on an outer surface of the road plate which is substantially upright during traveling; a sensor provided on the safety bumper for detecting an impact due to a collision of the safety bumper; A vehicle control vehicle with a safety bumper, comprising: a drive control unit that stops the operation of the traveling drive unit or the road plate drive unit when an impact of the safety bumper is detected.