JP3444390B2 - Article storage 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 storage rack provided with a plurality of storage sections arranged in a row in the vertical and horizontal directions,
Supports the article transfer device so that it can be driven and moved in the lateral direction of the storage shelf,
In addition, the present invention relates to an article storage device provided with an elevating frame that is driven up and down and an elevating guide guide rail that guides and supports the elevating frame so that the frame can be moved up and down.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Such an article storage device is an apparatus for storing and storing articles in a plurality of storage sections provided on a storage shelf. The articles stored or stored in the storage rack are It is stored in the shelf or taken out of the shelf by the transfer device. This article transfer device is supported by an elevating frame and is movable in the lateral direction of the storage rack, and the elevating frame is guided by an elevating guide rail so that it can be moved up and down.
The article transfer device moves to a position where the article is transferred to each of the plurality of storage units arranged in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, and transfers and conveys the article. By the way, conventionally, when the elevating frame is guided and supported by the elevating guide guide rails, the elevating frame is provided with a plurality of idle wheels contacting the elevating guide guide rails. It was common to smooth the relative movement of the.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, it is necessary to arrange a plurality of idle wheels sufficiently apart in the vertical direction in order to prevent swinging of the elevating frame.
There is a disadvantage that the supporting structure of the elevating frame is complicated and increases in size. There is also a problem that noise is generated due to running of the idle wheels. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to simplify the supporting structure of the elevating frame and reduce noise.

[0004]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the sliding contact member provided on the elevating frame is
It is guided and supported by being in surface contact with a guide rail for lifting guides.
That is, the elevating frame is guided up and down by the sliding contact member sliding along the elevating guide rails. Since the sliding contact member of the elevating frame and the elevating guide guide rail are in surface contact with each other, it is possible to accurately prevent the elevating frame from shaking with a relatively small contact area, that is, with a relatively small sliding contact member. Further, the sliding of the sliding contact member produces a small amount of noise, so that the noise can be reduced.

By the way, in the structure in which the sliding contact member comes into surface contact with the elevating guide rails as described above, if a large lateral force acts on the elevating frame, the sliding contact member and the elevating guide guide rails. The contact pressure with and may fluctuate, and the elevating frame may not move up and down smoothly. Further, since it is necessary to consider the strength against the lateral pressure acting on the sliding contact member itself, selection of the material of the sliding contact member is limited.
Therefore, as in the structure described in claim 1, the article transfer device is supported by the elevating frame so as to be movable in the lateral direction of the storage rack, and the elevating frame is guided and supported by the elevating guide rails so as to be vertically movable. By making the article transfer device movable to a position corresponding to each of the storage units of the storage shelf, the so-called vertical movement guide rail itself for guiding the article transfer device up and down moves in the horizontal direction of the storage shelf. Compared to the stacker crane type, the horizontal force acting on the lifting frame can be reduced as much as possible, and the smooth lifting of the lifting frame and the freedom of material selection of the sliding contact member can be achieved. As described above, it is possible to simplify the supporting structure of the elevating frame and reduce noise.

Further, it is provided with the structure according to claim 1.
The three sliding contact plates that make up the sliding contact member are shaped like a plate.
Both sides and one side of the guide rail for the lift guide
By making surface contact with the three guide surfaces of
Is guided and supported by a guide rail. Therefore, the lifting frame
The position within the plane is precisely regulated, and the lifting frame is moved up and down.
In addition to being stable, the sliding contact member is composed of three sliding contact plates.
By simplifying the configuration, the shape of the sliding contact member is simplified and the configuration is simple.
If three sliding contact plates are worn unevenly,
In this case, only those items that are worn
It is also possible to reduce cost.

Further, it is provided with the configuration according to claim 1.
The three sliding contact plates that make up the sliding contact member are
With a mounting surface, and the top and bottom of three sliding contact plates
Attached and held by a pressure plate that regulates movement in
Further, from the frame body by the claw portion formed on the pressing plate
Has been prevented from jumping out. That is, the vertical movement of the sliding contact plate
Is a frame body of three sliding contact plates by using a pressing plate that regulates
In order to hold the sliding contact plate by blocking
The configuration of is simplified as much as possible.

Further , it is provided with the structure according to claim 2.
Allows the lifting frame to be attached to both ends of the storage shelf in the widthwise direction.
Each of the attached slidable contact members is on both sides of the hoistway of the hoisting frame.
It comes into surface contact with the guide rails for elevating and
Since it is guided and supported by
Then, the elevating frame is smoothly moved up and down.

Further, by providing the structure according to the third aspect , the sliding contact members are arranged side by side in the vertical direction in a state of being separated from each other, and each of them is in surface contact with the elevating guide rail. Since the sliding contact member makes surface contact with the elevating guide rails, even with a single sliding contact member, the elevating frame is stably guided up and down. However, the sliding contact members are arranged side by side as described above. Therefore, it is possible to more stably guide the elevating and lowering.

Further, by providing the structure according to the above-mentioned claim 4 , since the sliding contact member of the elevating frame is in surface contact with and guided by the surface-treated aluminum material, the equipment can be reduced in weight. Not only can the sliding contact of the sliding contact member along the guide rail for lifting guide be smoothed, but also the wear of the guide rail for lifting guide can be suppressed as much as possible.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of an article storage device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a container C as an example of an article can be stored in any one of the storage sections 1 of the storage sections 1 of the storage shelves 2A and 2B provided in front and rear at a predetermined interval. The article storage device according to the present invention is shown in which the containers C stored in predetermined storage shelves 2A and 2B can be taken out. It should be noted that, for example, small parts are loaded in the container C by product type.

The storage unit 1 is arranged in the vertical and horizontal directions in each of the pair of storage shelves 2A and 2B.
There are multiple. Using the lower storage portion 1 of the storage shelf 2A located on the front side, upper and lower two-stage article loading / unloading portions 4 are provided. Further, in the front and rear intermediate portions of the pair of storage shelves 2A and 2B, main parts of a transfer device TR that transfers the container C between each storage part 1 and the article loading / unloading part 4 are provided. Each of the upper and lower two-stage article carry-in / out sections 4 has a function as an article carry-in section IN for carrying in the container C from the outside and an article carry-out for carrying out the container C from the storage shelves 2A and 2B to the outside. Although it also has the function of the section OT, for example, the upper article loading / unloading section 4 is used as the article loading / unloading section IN and the lower article loading / unloading section 4 is used as the article loading / unloading section OT. Can be set to.

The main part of the transfer device TR provided at the front and rear intermediate parts of the pair of storage shelves 2A and 2B is an article transfer device 6 for transferring and transferring the container C to and from each storage part 1 and the like. And an elevating and lowering frame 5 for guiding and supporting the article transfer device 6 so as to be driveably movable over substantially the entire width of the storage shelves 2A and 2B. UD
In the upper and lower sides of the storage shelves 2A and 2B, the vertical operation is possible.

The pair of storage shelves 2A and 2B support a column 8, a plurality of lateral frames 9 which are vertically connected to each other at predetermined intervals over the column 8, and a bottom portion of both left and right ends of the container C. It is composed of a large number of locking members 10 which are erected and connected along the front-rear direction at predetermined intervals, and a horizontal rod 11 which connects the upper ends of the columns 8. The locking member 10 is formed to have a substantially L-shaped cross section so as to prevent the lateral movement of the container C. A roller conveyor RC for loading and unloading the container C to and from the storage shelves 2A and 2B is continuously provided in the article loading / unloading section 4, and the roller conveyor RC includes:
Although not shown, a centering device is provided for positioning the container C transported on the roller conveyor RC at the center in the lateral width direction of transportation.

Next, lifting means U for driving the lifting frame 5 up and down.
D will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the lifting frame 5
Both ends of the lateral direction are suspended and supported by connecting wires 30a and 30b. One connecting wire 30a is wound around guide drums 29a and 29b rotatable about a horizontal axis, and then connected to a take-up drum 29c installed at the lower end of the storage rack 2A, and the other connecting wire 30a. Wire 30b
Is wound around a guide drum 29d rotatable around a horizontal axis, a guide drum 29e rotatable around a vertical axis, and a guide drum 29b, and then wound around a take-up drum 29c in the same manner as the connecting wire 30a. It is connected. Winding drum 2
9c is rotationally driven by the electric motor M1, and the electric motor M
The elevating frame 5 moves up and down by the driving of 1. The lifting frame 5 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the guide groove 40a of the guided portion 40 attached to each of the left and right ends of the guide portion is attached to the guide plate support frame 41 shown in FIG. The guide rail 41a is engaged with the guide rail 41a to regulate its posture. The guide plate support frame 41 and the elevating guide rails 41a are integrally formed of an aluminum material, and the surface of the elevating guide rails 41a is subjected to surface treatment such as electroplating or alumite treatment.

The guided portion 40 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in (c), it comprises a sliding contact member SE and a support body HE for mounting and fixing the sliding contact member SE. The sliding contact member SE is a shoe 40 that is three sliding contact plates.
b, 40c, 40d, the support HE is attached to the frame 40e having a U-shaped attachment surface for attaching the shoes 40b, 40c, 40d, and the upper and lower ends of the frame 40e. 40b, 40c, 4
0d is clamped from above and below, and is constituted by pressing plates 40f and 40g that suppress the vertical movement.
The guided groove 40a is formed by b, 40c, and 40d. The upper and lower pressing plates 40f and 40g have shoe shoes 40b and 40 attached to the frame body 40e with their ends bent downward or upward, respectively.
Claws 40h and 40i are formed to prevent the c and 40d from jumping out of the frame 40e. Three shoes 40
b, 40c, and 40d are supported by the support HE as described above, and are arranged in a U-shape. The plate-shaped lifting guide guide rail 41a has both front and back surfaces and three guide surfaces on one side of the tip. They come into sliding contact with each other and make surface contact. This guided portion 40 is
At each of the left and right ends of the lifting frame 5, as shown in FIG.
The pair of upper and lower parts are attached, and the sliding contact members SE are also arranged side by side in the vertical direction in a state of being separated from each other.

Next, the lateral movement operation structure of the article transfer device 6 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the article transfer device 6 is attached to the frame 48, which mainly covers the front and rear side portions and the upper side of the elevating frame 5 having a substantially H-shaped cross section, and the frame 48. Four running wheels 49, three guide wheels 50 mounted on one side of the frame 48 rotatably around the vertical axis and a total of six guide wheels 50, and one side of the frame 48 rotates around the horizontal axis. It is composed of two guide wheels 51 that are movably attached and contact the elevating frame 5 from below, and a fork mechanism 52 attached on the frame 48.

To the frame 48, both ends of a drive belt 54 wound around pulleys 53, 53 rotatably supported around the longitudinal axis are connected to both ends of the lifting frame 5, respectively. The pulley 53 is rotationally driven by the electric motor M2, whereby the drive belt 54 is moved in the longitudinal direction, and the article transfer device 6 is laterally moved. The drive belt 54 is arranged so as to fit in a lateral space formed by the substantially H-shaped lifting frame 5,
We are trying to save space.

In order to specify the carrying position of the article transfer device 6 on the elevating frame 5, a rotary encoder 55 is provided so as to be interlocked with the rotary shaft of the electric motor M2 for moving the drive belt 54, The article transfer device 6 is provided with a transmissive photoelectric sensor 58 partitioned by a shielding plate 56 provided at an appropriate position of the elevating frame 5. Further, in order to specify the elevating position of the elevating frame 5 by the elevating means UD, the rotary encoder 60 is provided in a state of being interlockingly connected to the rotation shaft of the winding drum 29c, and the rotary encoder 60 is provided at the longitudinal end of the elevating frame 5. A photoelectric sensor 62 partitioned by a shield plate 61 provided at an appropriate position along the elevating guide rail 41a is provided near the guide portion 40. Rotary encoders 55 and 60 and photoelectric sensor 5
The detection signals of 8 and 62 are input to the controller CO as shown in FIG. The controller CO is the photoelectric sensor 5
Based on the detection information of 8, 62, the lifting position as the reference of the lifting frame 5 and the transfer position as the reference of the article transfer device 6 are recognized,
Based on the detection information of the rotary encoders 55 and 60, the relative position with respect to the reference position is recognized, and the elevating position of the elevating frame 5 and the carrying position of the article transfer device 6 are specified.

The fork mechanism 52 includes a pair of storage shelves 2A,
The fork mechanism 52 is provided with two bar-shaped contact sensors 57 on each of the left and right sides of the fork mechanism 52. Container C with fork mechanism 52
When the container C is mounted on the article transfer device 6, the container C moves in the lateral direction of the container C (matches the lateral direction of the storage shelves 2A and 2B).
When the center position of the fork mechanism 52 and the center position of the fork mechanism 52 in the lateral direction substantially coincide with each other, the four contact sensors 57 do not come into contact with the standard mounting position, but either the left or right direction from the standard mounting position. This contact sensor 57
It is possible to detect that the container C is displaced more than the set value by touching. The detection information of the contact sensor 57 is input to the controller CO as shown in FIG.
It is used to correct the stop position of.

Next, the work of loading and unloading the container C into and from the article storage device under the control of the controller CO will be described. Article loading / unloading section 4 on the upper or lower side
When the container C is loaded into the container C, the electric motors M1 and M2 are controlled to drive the elevating frame 5 and the article transfer device 6 so that the upper surface of the fork mechanism 52 provided in the article transfer device 6 causes the article loading / unloading part 4 to move. The container C is moved to a position slightly lower than the lower surface of the container C. Next, the fork mechanism 52 is projected to a position below the container C of the article loading / unloading section 4, and then the elevating frame 5 is raised by the electric motor M1 to place the container C on the upper surface of the fork mechanism 52. State. When the fork mechanism 52 on which the container C is placed is retracted toward the article transfer device 6 side, the container C is placed on the article transfer device 6. The same operation as described above is performed when the container C is transferred from the storage unit 1 to the article transfer device 6.

With the container C mounted on the fork mechanism 52, the elevating frame 5 and the article transfer device 6 are moved to the empty storage section 1. At this time, the height of the elevating frame 5 is set so that the height of the lower surface of the container C mounted on the article transfer device 6 is slightly higher than the upper surface of the locking member 10 of the storage section 1. In this state, the fork mechanism 52 is projected toward the storage portion 1 side to position the container C above the locking member 10, and further lifted up and down until the container C is placed on the locking member 10. After lowering the frame 5, the fork mechanism 5
2 is retired to the article transfer device 6 side. Storage shelves 2A, 2B
When carrying out the container C stored in the article carrying-in / carrying-out section 4, an operation substantially reverse to the above-mentioned carrying-in operation is carried out.

[Other Embodiments] Other embodiments will be listed below. In the above-described embodiment, the sliding contact members SE are provided at both ends of the elevating frame 5 in the width direction of the storage shelf, and both ends of the elevating frame 5 in the width direction of the storage shelf are guided and supported by the elevating guide rails 41a. However, the sliding contact member SE is attached to the support member of the elevating frame 5 extending laterally from the middle portion of the elevating frame 5 in the lateral direction of the storage rack, and not necessarily at both ends in the lateral direction of the storage shelf. The elevating guide guide rail 41a may be provided upright at a position corresponding to SE . In the above-described embodiment, the article transfer device 6 has a configuration in which the container C, which is an article, is transferred by the fork mechanism 52, but there are various configurations for transfer, such as transfer by a manipulator. It can be changed.

It should be noted that reference numerals are given in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the structures of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an article storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of lifting means of a lifting frame according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the article transfer device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block configuration diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 storage 2A, 2B storage shelves 5 Lifting frame 6 Article transfer device 41a Guide rail for lifting guide 40b, 40c, 40d sliding contact plate 40e frame 40f, 40g pressing plate 40h, 40i claw HE support SE sliding contact member

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. Storage shelves (2A), (2B) provided with a plurality of storages (1) in a state of being aligned in the vertical and horizontal directions.
And an elevating frame (5) that supports the article transfer device (6) so as to be movable in the lateral direction of the storage rack and that is driven up and down, and an elevating guide that supports and supports the elevating frame (5). And a guide rail (41a) for use in storage, the guide rail (4) for lifting guide being provided on the lifting frame (5).
1a) is in surface contact with and is guided and supported by a sliding contact member (S
E) is provided , and the guide rail (41a) for lifting guide is provided on both front and back sides.
And a guide member formed in a plate shape having three guide surfaces on one side, and the sliding contact member (SE) faces each of the three guide surfaces.
Accordingly, three sliding contact plates (40
b), (40c), (40d), and the three sliding contact plates (40b), (40c), (40d).
A support body (HE) for attaching and fixing the three slide contact plates (40b),
The horizontal movement of (40c) and (40d) should be restricted.
A frame (40e) having a U-shaped mounting surface,
Attached to the upper and lower ends of the frame (40e) respectively
The three sliding contact plates (40b), (40c), (40d)
Pressing plates (40f), (40) for restricting vertical movement
g) and the pressing plates (40f), (40g), the three sliding
Connect the contact plates (40b), (40c), (40d) to the U-shape.
Extends vertically to press against a flat mounting surface
An article storage device having claw portions (40h) and (40i) formed therein . 2. The sliding contact member (SE) is attached to each end of the elevating frame (5) in the width direction of the storage rack, and the elevating guide guide rail (41a) is connected to the sliding contact member (SE). The article storage device according to claim 1, wherein the article storage device is erected upright on both sides of the ascending / descending path of the ascending / descending frame (5) corresponding to the mounting position of (1). 3. The sliding contact members (SE) are separated from each other.
In the state described above, the two are arranged side by side in the vertical direction.
On-board storage device. 4. A guide rail (41a) for ascending and descending guides.
Is made of a surface-treated aluminum material
Item storage device according to item 1, 2 or 3 .