JP3281291B2 - Pallet outlet detection 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 laser marker used for detecting a pallet fork insertion port.
The present invention relates to a pallet insertion port detection device intended to be used so as not to be harmful to an operator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the prior art, a laser marker provided on a lift bracket works in conjunction with a key switch on a vehicle body to constantly irradiate the front of the vehicle body. Alternatively, a driver operates an operation switch of a laser marker on the vehicle body so as to irradiate the front of the vehicle body only when detecting a fork insertion port of a pallet, that is, only when operating the laser marker. Was.

[0003]

When the light beam of the laser marker exceeds a certain value, it is harmful to human eyes. In the above-described conventional technology, when detecting a pallet insertion port using a laser marker, or when the fork is raised, lowered, tilted forward, tilted backward, or otherwise loaded with a laser marker. When working, when moving the car body, the driver is casual,
There is a risk of irradiating other workers with laser markers when operating any mast device or vehicle body. Further, even when the vehicle is stopped, a similar danger occurs when the worker passes in front of the vehicle body.

In order to supply power to the laser marker 9, a wiring 15 from the battery 14 built in the vehicle body 2 to the lift bracket 5 on which the laser marker 9 is installed is required as shown in FIG. Lift bracket 5
The device was complicated in order to attach it.

The present invention has been developed to solve these problems simultaneously.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a movable vehicle body and a mast device for placing a load, wherein a lift bracket which moves up and down is arranged on the mast device. A pair of left and right forks, a pallet insertion port detection device including a laser marker for irradiating the front of the vehicle body, the mast device includes a height detection device for detecting the height of the fork, and the height detection device Provided is a pallet insertion detecting device having a structure in which the laser marker is dimmed in order to prevent the light of the laser marker from being harmful to an operator when the height of the laser marker is detected below a predetermined height.

[0007] A micro switch provided on the lift bracket can be used as the lift detecting device, and a dog for operating the micro switch can be provided on the mast material.

Further, the power supply for the laser marker may be a dry battery, and wiring from the vehicle body to the lift bracket may be unnecessary.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A counterbalance type forklift (hereinafter referred to as a forklift) 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
The forklift 1 shown in FIG.
Comprises a movable vehicle body 2 and a mast device 3 for loading a load. The mast device 3 includes a lift bracket 5 that moves up and down by expansion and contraction of a lift cylinder 4. The lift bracket 5 includes a pair of left and right forks 6. Is locked.

A hydraulic motor 7 is built in the vehicle body 2,
When the operator operates the cargo handling lever 8, the hydraulic motor 7 rotates, the lift cylinder 4 expands and contracts, and the fork 6 moves up and down via the lift bracket 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, the laser marker 9 which is a feature of the present invention is mounted on the lift bracket 5 between the left and right forks 6 at the same height as the horizontal plane of the forks 6.
The irradiation direction is to irradiate horizontally in front of the vehicle body 2.
When the pallet is unloaded, the irradiation point of the laser marker 9 on the pallet when the fork 6 is in the insertion port is set in advance, and the operator confirms the irradiation point and advances the fork 6 to load the pallet. Do the picking work.

A pallet insertion port detecting device which is a feature of the present invention has a mast device 3 provided with a lifting height detector.
For example, a micro switch 10 is installed as a height detector on the lift bracket 5, and a dog 12 for operating the micro switch 10 is installed on a fixed mast material 11. The micro switch 10 is turned on by the dog 12 when the lift bracket 5 falls below a predetermined height.
Is done. Then, the laser marker 9 is turned off, and the laser marker 9 is not irradiated. Conversely, when the micro switch 10 is turned off, the laser marker 9 is irradiated.

The above-mentioned predetermined constant height is arbitrary, but from the viewpoint of protection of the worker, setting the height higher than the height of the worker is the meaning of the present invention.

Further, as described above, in addition to turning off the laser marker 9 at a certain height or lower, a similar effect can be obtained even if the light beam of the laser marker 9 is dimmed to a certain value or less which affects the human body. .

The next feature of the present invention is that the power source for the laser marker 9 is a dry battery 13 installed on the lift bracket 5. Conventionally, a large amount of power supply is required.
Although the wiring from the internal battery 14 to the lift bracket 5 was necessary, the power supply from the battery 14 was reduced together with the laser marker 9 because the power supply amount was reduced by using the above-described invention using the height detector. It can be from the dry battery 13 arranged on the lift bracket 5.

With these configurations, the laser marker 9 has no effect on the human body and can be easily mounted.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the laser marker 9, the micro switch 10, and the dry battery 13 can be made into one unit, and all of them are made into one unit, so that the mounting is further simplified, and only the newly manufactured vehicle body is manufactured. Rather, it can be easily attached to a car body that has already been manufactured.

Hereinafter, a method for loading a forklift 1 embodying the present invention will be specifically described. When unloading a pallet stored in a high-rise rack shelf or the like, the forklift 1 is moved in front of the rack shelf and the fork 6 is raised to the pallet height. During the ascent, the fork 6 exceeds a certain height, and when the fork 6 rises to the height of the pallet, a beam of the laser marker 9 irradiates, and a part of the pallet indicating that the preset fork 6 is at the fork insertion port of the pallet. Is irradiated. Then, the forklift 1 is advanced to complete the pallet unloading operation.

In the method of dimming the irradiation of the laser marker 9 when the height is below a certain height, it is possible to detect the pallet insertion port even when the height is below a certain height.

Finally, the lift detecting device utilizes various technologies existing in the art, such as those using magnetic contacts or potentiometers in addition to those using the dog 12 and the microswitch 10 as described above. be able to.

[0021]

According to the laser marker of the present invention, when the fork is at the lower position, the laser marker is dimmed, so that the light of the laser marker does not become harmful to the operator, and Will not be adversely affected. Another advantage is that power consumption can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a counterbalanced forklift embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a front view of a lift bracket embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a laser marker unit embodying the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a side view of a conventional counterbalanced forklift.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Counter balance type forklift 2 Body 3 Mast device 4 Lift cylinder 5 Lift bracket 6 Fork 7 Hydraulic motor 8 Cargo handling lever 9 Laser marker 10 Micro switch 11 Mast material 12 Dog 13 Dry battery 14 Battery 15 Wiring

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A mast device, comprising a movable vehicle body and a mast device for placing a load, a lift bracket which moves up and down is arranged on the mast device, and the lift bracket is provided with a pair of left and right forks and a laser marker for irradiating the front of the vehicle body. In the pallet insertion port detection device provided, the mast device includes a height detection device for detecting the height of a fork, and when the height detection device detects a height equal to or less than a preset height, the laser marker The pallet insertion detecting device has a structure in which the laser marker is dimmed in order to prevent the light from being harmful to an operator.