JP3388148B2 - Goods transport equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention provides a guide rail provided on a road surface on which a self-propelled article transport vehicle travels, along a guide path along which the article transport vehicle travels. While the roller contacts the guide rail,
The present invention relates to an article transport facility configured such that the article transport vehicle is guided along a guide rail and an article can be transferred to an article transfer section provided on the side of the traveling path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art This type of article transport facility is used in automated warehouses and various factories. Depending on the installation conditions of the automated warehouse and factories, the guide rail is provided with a curved portion to reciprocate the article transport vehicle. It is used by running it, or by making the guide rail looped and running the article transport vehicle in one direction along the looped guide rail. There are various types of such goods transport vehicles such as a magnetic guide type guided by a magnetic tape in addition to the type guided by a guide rail. Compared to other types, the type that is used is more stable in running,
Various items can be transported safely and at high speed. Therefore, although it has been used more frequently than before, in the conventional equipment, the article transport vehicle is configured to run inside the curved portion of the guide rail.

[0003]

Therefore, in the conventional equipment, when the traveling path of the article transport vehicle is curved, the guide rail is located outside the curved traveling path, and the article transport vehicle is The length of the guide rail is longer than the length of the traveling path, the cost required for the guide rail is high, and the number of fixtures for mounting the guide rail is also large, resulting in high cost as a whole. There was a problem. The article transfer section for transferring articles to and from the article transport vehicle is usually provided outside the traveling path side of the article transport vehicle, but in that case, the guide rail is used as the article transfer section. There is also a problem in that the work of laying the guide rails is complicated because it is close to the.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to safely and safely handle various articles.
In a guide-type transfer facility that uses guide rails that can be transferred at high speed to improve work efficiency, the guide rail length can be shortened to reduce costs and guide rail installation work can be performed easily. It is in the provision of facilities.

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, according to the invention of claim 1, a guide rail is provided along a traveling path of an article transport vehicle traveling on a road surface, and the article transport is provided. While the guide roller provided on the car is in contact with the guide rail, the article transport vehicle is guided along the guide rail, and the article is transferred to the article transfer section provided on the side of the traveling path. It is configured so that it can be transferred, and the article carrier is a floor surface as the road surface.
The guide rail provided on the road surface on which the article transport vehicle travels is provided with a curved portion, and the article transport vehicle is configured to travel outside the curved portion of the guide rail. Are provided in a loop,
The goods transport vehicle runs outside the loop-shaped guide rails.
Guide rail configured to run and looped
The article transfer section is provided outside the. Therefore, since the article transport vehicle travels on the road surface outside the curved portion of the guide rail, the length of the guide rail becomes shorter than the length of the traveling path of the article transport vehicle, and the cost required for the guide rail and the accompanying It is possible to reduce the cost required for a mounting tool and the like. Further, when the article transfer section is provided outside the traveling path of the article transport vehicle, since the guide rail and the article transfer section are separated from each other, the article transfer section does not interfere when laying the guide rail, It is possible to easily perform the work of laying the guide rail. It is also possible to run a plurality of article transport vehicles in one direction along the loop-shaped guide rails, which can further improve the work efficiency. Shi
Even if the guide rail is provided in a loop shape,
The article transport vehicle runs outside the loop-shaped guide rail.
The loop-shaped guide rail
To run multiple article carriers in one direction
It is also possible to further improve work efficiency. This
Even though the work efficiency can be improved in this way,
The goods transport vehicle runs outside the loop-shaped guide rails.
By doing so, for example, when the goods transport vehicle fails or is inspected,
Simply remove the article carrier from the guide rails
Moving to another location without straddling the idrail
It can be similarly attached to the article transport vehicle in moth Idoreru
Even if you do not need to cross the guide rail,
Inspection work can be performed easily and the loop shape
By providing the article transfer part on the outside of the guide rail of
As described above, the guide rail laying work can be performed easily.
I can.

[0006]

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the power supply rail for supplying drive power to the article transport vehicle is provided along the lateral side surface of the guide rail. Therefore, it is not necessary to mount a power source such as a battery on the article transport vehicle, the vehicle can travel for a long time, and the guide rails can be short, so that the power supply rails can be shortened and cost can be reduced. Also, the work of disposing the power supply rail can be easily performed without being disturbed by the article transfer unit.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the guided portion having the plurality of guide rollers along both lateral sides of the guide rail is provided in the article transporting vehicle, and the guided portion is configured to transport the article. The guide roller is supported so as to be vertically swingable around an axial center in the vehicle front-rear direction, and the guide roller is detachably attached to the guide rail by vertically swinging the guided portion. Therefore, by simply swinging the guided portion up and down, the article transport vehicle can be easily and quickly attached to or removed from the guide rail. In particular, in a structure in which a plurality of article transport vehicles run in one direction along a loop-shaped guide rail, the cooperation with claim 2 facilitates quick and easy operation when the article transport vehicle fails or is inspected. The article carrier can be removed from the guide rail and moved to another location.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the article carrier is used in an automatic warehouse, and the article transfer section carries out an article for carrying in and out of a storage shelf of the automatic warehouse. Since it is an input conveyor, efficient article loading and unloading can be performed by the article transporting vehicle guided along the guide rails, which greatly improves the usability of the automated warehouse and can be conveniently used.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the article transfer section is a picking area transfer section for loading and unloading articles to and from the picking area. Can be picked,
When the picking area transfer section is provided on the outside of the guide rail, the picking area transfer section is separated from the guide rail. For example, as compared with a case where the article carrier travels inside the guide rail. As a result, the picking work can be performed without the guide rails and the like interfering, and the worker can safely work by separating from the power feeding rail provided along the guide rail.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of an article conveying facility according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This article transport facility is used in an automated warehouse or the like shown in FIG. 1, and this automated warehouse is provided with a storage shelf 1 for storing and storing various articles A on a pallet P. There is. The storage shelf 1 has a structure in which a plurality of storage units for mounting and holding the pallets P are arranged in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, and a plurality of pairs are arranged as one pair facing each other. Has been done. A stacker crane 2 equipped with a lifting platform and a fork that can be moved up and down is provided movably along the rails 3 between the storage shelves 1 facing each other. The article A on the carry-in lifter 4 provided on the entrance side of the shelf 1 is carried into the storage section of the storage shelf 1 while being placed on the pallet P, or the article A in the storage section.
Is carried out together with the pallet P onto the carry-out lifter 5.

In front of the carry-in lifter 4, there is a carry-in transfer lifter 6 as an article transfer section, and in front of the carry-out lifter 5, there is also an article transfer section as an article transfer section. A loading lifter 7 is provided, and between the loading transfer lifter 6 and the loading lifter 4, the article A on the loading lifter 6 is loaded on the pallet P and conveyed to the loading lifter 4. The carry-in conveyor 8 also places the article A on the carry-out lifter 5 on the pallet P and conveys it to the transfer lifter 7 between the carry-out transfer lifter 7 and the carry-out lifter 5. A carry-out conveyor 9 is provided. More specifically, the carry-in lifter 4 and the carry-in transfer lifter 6 are arranged inside a chain-conveying carry-in conveyor 8 to form a part of the carry-in conveyor 8, and carry-out. The lifter 5 and the transfer transfer lifter 7 for unloading are also arranged inside the chain-conveying-type unloading conveyor 9 and constitute a part of the unloading conveyor 9.

A self-propelled article carrier 10 is arranged in front of the transfer lifter 6 for carrying in and the transfer lifter 7 for carrying out.
The article transport vehicle 10 is configured to be capable of traveling on a floor surface as a traveling road surface, and the article transport vehicle 10 is configured to follow the traveling path.
There is only one guide rail 11 for guiding the. This one guide rail 11 has two curved portions 11
It is arranged in a loop shape including a, and a plurality of article transport vehicles 10 can travel simultaneously while being guided by the guide rail 11 on the outside of the loop guide rail 11.

On the outside of the traveling path of the article transporting vehicle 10, a transfer lifter 6 for carrying in as the above-mentioned article transferring section is provided.
In addition to the transfer lifter 7 for loading and unloading, the article loading section 12, the article unloading section 13, and the picking area 1 as the article transfer section.
4 are provided, and each article transport vehicle 10 has an article loading section 12
Transfer lifter 6 for loading the above-mentioned article A together with the pallet P
It is configured to be conveyed to the upper side, or conversely, to convey the articles A on the transfer lifter 7 for carrying out together with the pallet P to the article carrying-out section 13 or the picking area 14.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the article transport vehicle 10 is provided with load receiving tray devices 40 at the front and rear in the traveling direction, and each load receiving tray device 40 has an electric motor M2 on the conveyor case 41.
It comprises a chain conveyor 42 which is an endless chain configured to be able to rotate forward and backward, and a transport guide 43 supported by the conveyor case 41. And
Each of the cargo receiving tray devices 40 carries the article A for carrying out by carrying one end side of the pallet P above the conveyor case 41 along the conveyance guide 43 by the endless chain 42 that rotates in the forward rotation direction. A lifter 7 and an article loading section 12,
Alternatively, the endless chain 42 that loads the article transfer vehicle 10 from the picking in / out conveyor 15 provided in the picking area 14 and, conversely, rotates one end of the pallet P located above the conveyor case 41 in the reverse rotation direction. The article A is unloaded to the lateral outside of the article transporting vehicle 10 along the transport guide 43, and the article A is unloaded onto the loading transfer lifter 6 for loading, the article unloading section 13, or the loading / unloading conveyor 15 for picking.

On the lower surface side of the article transporting vehicle 10, one drive wheel 16 for traveling which is rotationally driven by an electric motor M1.
And a pair of front and rear driven wheels 17 that are freely rotatable,
Moreover, a pair of front and rear auxiliary wheels 18 are also attached. The article transport vehicle 10 has two front and rear directions.
A guided portion 19 extending from the location to the guide rail 11 side is extended, and a pair of left and right guide rollers 20 is rotatably supported by each of the guided portions 19 such that two pairs thereof are rotatably supported. It is configured to rotate while being in contact with the lateral side surface of 11.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5, each guided portion 19 has a guide arm 22 extending laterally outside of the article transporting vehicle 10 from a guide bracket 21 fixed to the lower surface side of the article transporting vehicle 10. The roller support 24 is rotatably attached to the extended end side of the guide arm 22 by a rotary support shaft 23 that rotatably penetrates through the guide arm 22 around an axis P1 in the vertical direction of the vehicle body. The guide roller 20 is rotatably attached to each of four roller support shafts 25 extending downward from the roller support shaft 25.

An arm connecting pin 26 is provided on the base end side of the guide arm 22 in a state of being attached to the guide bracket 21 so as to pass through the elongated hole 22a. The arm connecting pin 26 and the elongated hole 22a are provided. The guide arm 22 and the guide bracket 21 are connected to each other, and the guide arm 22
A plurality of lock bolts 27 for tightening and fixing the guide bracket 21 on the guide bracket 21 and for releasing the fixation are provided. That is, the lock bolt 27 is for fixing the guided portion 19 to the article transport vehicle 10 so as not to swing up and down by fastening and fixing the guide arm 22 to the guide bracket 21, and for releasing this fixation. is there. Then, the guided portion 1 by the lock bolt 27
9 is released and the guide arm 22 is swung up and down with the arm connecting pin 26 as a fulcrum so that the guided portion 19 causes the arm connecting pin 26 to move in the longitudinal direction 26 of the vehicle body.
It is possible to swing up and down with respect to the article transport vehicle 10 around a.

More specifically, when the guided portion 19 swings upward, the guide rail 1 is moved along with the upward swing.
1 from the operating force acting on the guide roller 20 and the interchange of the guide arm 22 and the guide bracket 21 by the elongated hole 22a, the guide roller 20
While moving laterally inward of the vehicle with respect to the article transport vehicle 10, rises along the side surface of the guide rail 11 and comes off from the guide rail 11. In addition, when the guided portion 19 swings downward, the guide rail 1
1 from the operating force acting on the guide roller 20 and the interchange of the guide arm 22 and the guide bracket 21 by the elongated hole 22a, the guide roller 20
Moves downward along the side surface of the guide rail 11 while being laterally offset with respect to the article transport vehicle 10, and is attached to a predetermined position of the guide rail 11. In this way, when the article transport vehicle 10 is out of order, the article transport vehicle 1 can be easily and quickly provided.
0 can be removed from the guide rail 11.

A power supply rail 28 is provided on the lateral side surface of the guide rail 11 along the guide rail 11, and a current collector 29 is provided so as to contact the power supply rail 28.
It is provided on the 0 side. Then, drive power is supplied to the article transport vehicle 10 side via the power supply rail 28 and the current collector 29.

The operation of this automatic warehouse is entirely controlled by the control device H, and as shown in FIG. 6, the control device H controls the operation of the main control device H1 and each stacker crane 2 provided on the ground side. Control device H2 for stacker crane,
Carrier vehicle control device H for controlling the operation of each article carrier vehicle 10
3 and the like, the main control unit H1 and each control unit H2, H
3 is configured to be able to communicate with each other by optical communication and the like, and various necessary information can be input to the main control device H1 by operating the operation device 30.

The operation of the automatic warehouse by the control device H will be described. In order to store the article A in the storage shelf 1, the operating device 30 is operated to provide necessary information regarding the article A conveyed by the article carry-in section 12. Enter. Then, based on the information, the main control device H1 searches the storage rack 1 to be stored, instructs the search result to the stacker crane control device H2, and selects any one empty article transport vehicle 10. A search is designated, and an instruction is given to the vehicle control device H3. Then, the designated empty article carrier 1
0 travels to the article loading unit 12 and receives the article A together with the pallet P. In this way, when the article A is received, the article transport vehicle 10 travels to the transfer lifter 6 for carrying in the storage shelf 1 to be stored, and transfers the article A together with the pallet P to the transfer lifter 6 for carrying in. Then, it is conveyed to the carry-in lifter 4 by the carry-in conveyor 8 and delivered to the storage rack 1 to be stored, which is searched by the stacker crane 2.

When the article A is to be unloaded, the necessary information about the article A to be unloaded is input to the operating device 30, and the main controller H1 searches for the article A to be unloaded and one of the search results is retrieved. Stacker crane control device H
In addition to instructing No. 2, one of the empty article transport vehicles 10 is searched, and an instruction is given to the transport vehicle control device H3. Then, the designated stacker crane 2 transfers the article A from the designated storage rack 1 to the carry-out lifter 5, and is conveyed by the carry-out conveyor 9 from the carry-out lifter 5 to the carry-out transfer lifter 7. . Then, the instructed article transporting vehicle 10 transfers the article A together with the pallet P from the unloading transfer lifter 7 to the article unloading section 13.

At the time of picking, when necessary information about the article A to be picked is input to the operation device 30, the stacker crane 2 transfers and carries out the article A to the carry-out lifter 5 by the same operation as the above-mentioned unloading. After that, the article transport vehicle 10 transfers the articles A together with the pallet P onto the picking-in / out conveyor 15 for picking. After the picking is completed, when necessary information is input, the pallet P on which the picked article A is placed is conveyed to the picking-in / carrying-out conveyor 15, and at the same time, the article carrier 10 receives the article A according to an instruction from the main controller H1. The article A is received, and travels to the transfer lifter 6 for loading, and transfers the article A. Then, the article A is returned to the designated storage shelf 1 by the same operation as the storage.

[0025]

[Other Embodiments] ( 1 ) In the above embodiment, the picking area 14 is provided, but the picking area 14 may not be provided.

( 2 ) In the above embodiment, the guide rail 1
Although only one guide rail 11 is provided, two or more guide rails 11 may be provided and the article transporting vehicle 10 may travel outside thereof.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1] Plan view of the entire automated warehouse

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the article transport vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the article transport vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a guided portion.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a guided portion mounting structure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 storage shelf 6,7,12,13,15 Article transfer section 8,9 Conveyor for loading and unloading 10 article carrier 11 Guide rail 11a curved part 14 Picking area 19 Guided part 20 Guide roller 28 power supply rails A article

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 47/52 101 B65G 1/00 501

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A guide rail is provided on a road surface on which a self-propelled article transport vehicle travels, along a traveling path of the article transport vehicle, and guide rollers provided on the article transport vehicle are provided on the guide rail. An article conveyor configured such that the article conveyor vehicle is guided along the guide rail while being in contact with the article, and the article can be transferred to the article transfer section provided on the side of the traveling path. It is equipment, and the article transport vehicle travels on a floor surface as the road surface.
The guide rail is provided with a curved portion, the article transport vehicle is configured to travel outside the curved portion of the guide rail , and the guide rail is provided in a loop shape, and the loop is provided.
The article transport vehicle travels outside the guide rail.
On the outside of the looped guide rail.
An article transport facility provided with the article transfer section . 2. A drive power is supplied to the article transport vehicle.
Power supply rails along the side of the guide rail.
The article transport facility according to claim 1, which is provided . 3. A plurality of guide rails extending along both lateral sides of the guide rail.
The guided portion having the guide roller is the article transport vehicle.
And the guided portion is provided around the axis in the longitudinal direction of the article transport vehicle.
It is supported so that it can swing up and down, and that the guided part swings up and down.
Movement causes the guide roller to be attached to and detached from the guide rail.
The article transport facility according to claim 1 or 2, which is configured freely . 4. The article carrier is used in an automatic warehouse.
The article transfer section is installed on the storage shelves of the automated warehouse.
The article transport facility according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is a loading / unloading conveyor for loading and unloading articles. 5. The article transfer section faces the picking area.
Transfer area for picking area for loading and unloading goods
Article transport facility according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is.