JP4437949B2 - Transport control device for transport vehicles - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport control device for a transport vehicle that loads and travels along a guide line laid on a floor surface.

  2. Description of the Related Art Currently, in factories and the like, an automatic guided vehicle is introduced in which a guide line for electromagnetic induction is laid on a floor according to a predetermined layout and travels along the guide line. The automatic guided vehicle loads a load at a predetermined station, travels along a guide line to a designated station, and performs unloading at the station.

  In buildings such as factories, fixed facilities such as walls, pillars, and control panels are provided at predetermined positions, and guide wires are laid to prevent these automated vehicles from coming into contact with these fixed facilities. . The load loaded on the automated guided vehicle is basically of a size that does not protrude from the automated guided vehicle. Even if the automated guided vehicle travels with the load loaded, the load may contact the fixed equipment. It does not collide. However, if the load loaded on the automatic guided vehicle protrudes beyond a certain width from the vehicle body width of the automatic guided vehicle, there is a problem that the load collides with the fixed equipment during traveling.

  FIG. 11 shows a case where the conventional load 15 is transported. In this example, the automatic guided vehicle 20 receives the load 15 at a station ST1 constituted by a conveyor device, travels along the straight route 2, and transports it. The cargo 15 is delivered at the previous station ST2. In the middle of the route 2, there are fixed facilities 53, 54 such as walls, pillars, and control panels, the fixed facility 53 is on the right side from the station ST1 in the traveling direction, and the fixed facility 54 is disposed on the left side. . In addition, the route 1 in the figure and the route 2 are constructed | guided with the guide line, and the automatic guided vehicle 20 drive | works along this guide line.

  When the load 15 does not protrude from the width of the vehicle body of the automatic guided vehicle 20, even if the automatic guided vehicle 20 travels on the route 2, the load 15 does not contact or collide with the fixed facilities 53 and 54. However, in the case of the load 15b that protrudes larger than the vehicle body width of the automatic guided vehicle 20, when the automatic guided vehicle 20 travels on the route 2, the load 15b protrudes on both sides of the automatic guided vehicle 20 in this example. Each of them collides with the fixed facilities 53 and 54.

  Therefore, conventionally, when the load 15b that protrudes beyond the vehicle width of the automated guided vehicle 20 is transported, the vehicle travels around the route 1 at the branch point of the traveling route before the fixed equipment 53 is disposed. The load 15b was transported through the station 1 to the transport station ST2.

  That is, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the automatic guided vehicle 20 starts traveling after the automatic guided vehicle 20 receives the load 15 at the station ST1, and the automatic guided vehicle 20 is moved to the position A where the automatic guided vehicle 20 has traveled a little from the station ST1. When it reaches (see step S1), the automatic guided vehicle 20 determines whether or not the load 15b protrudes (see step S2). If the load 15a does not protrude, it contacts or collides with the fixed facilities 53 and 54. If not, the vehicle travels along route 2 (see step S4) and transports the load 15 to station ST2.

  However, if the loaded load 15 is a load 15b that protrudes beyond the width of the vehicle body 21, it is determined that the vehicle will collide with the fixed facilities 53 and 54 if traveling on route 2, and route 1 is set as shown in step S3. Travel to station ST2. Thereby, even in the case of the load 15b protruding from the width of the vehicle body of the automatic guided vehicle 20, by traveling around the route 1 without the fixed facilities 53, 54, the fixed facilities 53, 54 of the load 15b Contact or collision is avoided, and damage to the load 15b is prevented.

  Thus, conventionally, when the load 15b that protrudes beyond the vehicle body width is transported, the transport route is detoured and transported, so the transport distance and transport time are increased, and the operation rate is poor. there were. In addition to the original travel route, a space for the detour route (route 1) is required, and there is a problem that the space cannot be effectively used.

  Meanwhile, since the load 15b is loaded on the rotatable roller of the automatic guided vehicle 20, it is conceivable to drive the roller to move the load 15b in a direction opposite to the fixed equipment 53 and 54. For example, there is Patent Document 1 shown below.

JP-A-5-134747

  In this Patent Document 1, when an automated guided vehicle is traveling in a curve, the load is moved to the in-corner side of the curve traveling immediately before the curve traveling so that the vehicle travels in a stable state. It is. However, this Patent Document 1 does not describe a technique for transporting a load that protrudes beyond the vehicle body width of the automatic guided vehicle, and is a case of loading and transporting a load that is very smaller than the vehicle body width, The load is simply moved during the curve travel, and there is no idea of avoiding the collision with the fixed equipment when the load protrudes from the vehicle body width and transporting the load.

The present invention has been provided in view of the above-described problems, and provides a transport control device for a transport vehicle having at least the following objects.
(1) Recognize that the load to be loaded protrudes in the vehicle width direction, and if the load protrudes from the vehicle width and there is a clearance on the opposite side of the fixed equipment, move the load to the clearance side. In this way, it is possible to prevent the load from sticking to the fixed equipment side, prevent the load from contacting or colliding with the fixed equipment, and travel directly to the transport destination without using a detour route.
(2) By not using a detour route, the cycle time is shortened, thereby improving the operating rate and saving energy.
(3) Eliminate the need for a detour route space and make effective use of the space.

Therefore, in the transport control device for a transport vehicle according to claim 1 of the present invention, equipment is arranged close to the travel route, and the transport vehicle loaded with the load travels along the determined travel route. In the transport control device of the transport vehicle that transports the load to the target transport destination,
When the load loaded on the transport vehicle protrudes from the width of the vehicle body, if there is a clearance on the opposite side of the equipment in front of the travel, the load is moved to the clearance side to reach the target transport destination. It is characterized by comprising a control means for traveling on the travel route.

In the conveyance control apparatus of the conveyance vehicle of Claim 2, In the conveyance control apparatus of the conveyance vehicle of Claim 1,
The carriage moves the load while traveling on the travel route.

  According to the transport control device for a transport vehicle according to claim 1 of the present invention, when transporting a load protruding from the vehicle body width by the transport vehicle to the transport destination, there is a fixed facility and the side opposite to the fixed facility. If there is a clearance that does not interfere even if the load is moved, move the load to the clearance side in front of the fixed equipment and travel, so that the load does not contact or collide with the fixed equipment, It can be run. As a result, the load transport route is shortened, the cycle time can be shortened, the operating rate can be improved, and the traveling time of the transport vehicle can be shortened, so that energy saving can be achieved. In addition, the detour route is unnecessary, and the space can be used effectively.

  According to the transport control device for a transport vehicle according to claim 2, since the transport vehicle moves the load while traveling on the travel route, the transport time to the transport destination can be shortened.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a case where a load 15 is delivered between a conveyor device 1 serving as a loading / unloading station and an automated guided vehicle 20 that has traveled. The conveyor apparatus 1 includes a support 2, a roller conveyor 3 including a frame disposed on the upper surface of the support 2, and a plurality of rollers (not shown) rotatably disposed in the frame, and the roller conveyor. And a motor 4 for rotating the three rollers.

  FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the electric system of the conveyor apparatus 1. The controller 6 is configured to perform overall control, and is a CPU 7 that is controlled by the controller 6 and drives the motor 4. The operation unit 8 is manually input by an operator of the conveyor device 1, and the automatic transmission vehicle 20 and an optical transmission unit 9 that exchanges data using optical signals.

  In a state where the load 15 is loaded on the pallet 14, it is transported by the roller conveyor 3 of the conveyor device 1 and transferred to the automatic guided vehicle 20 side together with the pallet 14. One load 15 a is smaller than the pallet 14, but a part of the other load 15 b protrudes from the vehicle body width of the automatic guided vehicle 20. Here, the shape or size of the load 15 is two patterns of the load 15a and the load 15b. That is, one load 15 a is sized to fit within the width of the automatic guided vehicle 20, and the other load 15 b is sized to protrude beyond the width of the automatic guided vehicle 20.

  FIG. 3 is a plan view of the automatic guided vehicle 20, and a plurality of rollers 22 that are driven to rotate in the forward and reverse directions are disposed on the upper surface of the vehicle body 21 of the automatic guided vehicle 20. As will be described later, the pallet 14 is transferred to a position that is approximately the center of the automatic guided vehicle 20. FIG. 4A shows a state in which the pallet 14 loaded with the load 15a accommodated in the width of the automatic guided vehicle 20 is transferred, and FIG. 4B shows the load protruding from the width of the automatic guided vehicle 20. The state which transferred the pallet 14 which loaded 15b is shown.

  FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of the electric system of the automated guided vehicle 20. The roller 22 is controlled by a control unit 30 composed of a CPU that controls the entire system, a storage unit 31 composed of a ROM and a RAM, and a sprocket and chain (not shown). One of the vehicle bodies 21 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and a light transmission unit 36 for exchanging data of the load 15 between the roller drive unit 32 for rotational driving and the light transmission unit 9 of the conveyor device 1. The first left load detection sensor 33a and the first right load detection to stop the pallet 14 transferred by detecting the left and right positions of the pallet 14 at the center of the vehicle body 21. A sensor 33b, a second left load detection sensor 37a and a second right load detection sensor 37b that are detected and stopped when the pallet 14 is moved to the left and right ends of the vehicle body 21, and the drive shown in FIG. A lateral displacement of the vehicle body 21 is detected by detecting a magnetic flux from a drive drive unit 34 that drives the ear 23, a steering drive unit 35 that drives the steering tire 24 for steering, and a guide wire 51 laid on the floor surface. And a count detection sensor 39 for detecting the counting magnets 52 embedded in the floor surface at predetermined intervals along the guide wire 51.

  The storage unit 31 of the automatic guided vehicle 20 stores in advance position data of the fixed facilities 53 and 54 and data on the presence / absence of a clearance on the side opposite to the fixed facilities 53 and 54.

  Here, the first left load detection sensor 33a, the first right load detection sensor 33b, the second left load detection sensor 37a, and the second right load detection sensor 37b are both configured by, for example, a photoelectric sensor. Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the pallet 14 loaded with the load 15b is transferred from the left side to the right and one of the first right load detection sensors 33b detects the pallet 14, this detection signal is displayed. Thus, the control unit 30 controls the roller driving unit 32 to stop, so that the rotation of the roller 22 is stopped and the pallet 14 is stopped. At this time, the pallet 14 is stopped at the center of the automatic guided vehicle 20. When the pallet 14 has been transferred from the right side, the other first left load detection sensor 33a detects the pallet 14 and similarly stops the pallet 14 at the center of the automatic guided vehicle 20.

  As will be described later, when the load 15b protrudes from the automated guided vehicle 20 and one of the protrusions is eliminated, the pallet 14 is further moved to the right as shown in FIG. The second right presence detection sensor 37b detects this, and stops the transfer of the pallet 14 as in the previous case. At this time, the left side of the load 15b does not protrude from the automatic guided vehicle 20. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when the load 15b is moved to the left, the second left load detection sensor 37a detects the pallet 14 and stops the rotation of the roller 22, whereby the right side of the load 15b is detected. Can be made not to protrude from the automatic guided vehicle 20.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 8, when the clearance between the fixed equipment 53 such as a wall, a pillar, and a control panel and the automatic guided vehicle 20 is L1, and the load 15 does not protrude from the vehicle body width of the automatic guided vehicle 20 Therefore, the load 15 can travel without colliding with the fixed equipment 53. However, when the amount of protrusion of the load 15b from the vehicle body width is L2 and L2> L1, the load 15b collides with the fixed equipment 53.

  Next, a control operation when delivering the load 15 from the conveyor device 1 to the automatic guided vehicle 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. First, in the control unit 6 of the conveyor device 1, the operator operates the operation unit 8 to store the shape of the load 15 on the pallet 14 (whether or not the load 15 protrudes from the vehicle body width). Further, the pallet 14 has a fixed size, and the amount of protrusion (overhang amount) of the load 15 is constant. As described above, the two patterns are the load 15a and the load 15b.

  When the automatic guided vehicle 20 stops at a fixed position for receiving the load 15, the control unit 30 (see FIG. 5) of the automatic guided vehicle 20 transmits a command for receiving the cargo from the optical transmission unit 36 to the optical transmission unit 9 of the conveyor device 1. This signal is sent from the optical transmission unit 9 to the control unit 6. At the same time as the control unit 6 of the conveyor apparatus 1 transmits a signal for smoothly transferring the shape and delivery of the first load 15b from the optical transmission unit 9 to the control unit 30 via the optical transmission unit 36 of the automatic guided vehicle 20. The control unit 6 of the conveyor apparatus 1 sends a signal in the delivery direction to the driving unit 7 to rotate the roller conveyor 3.

  When the control unit 30 of the automatic guided vehicle 20 receives the signal from the optical transmission unit 36, it gives a rotation command for the roller 22 to the roller driving unit 32 at the upper part of the vehicle body 21, and receives the conveyed product (pallet 14 and load 15b). At the same time, the storage unit 31 stores the shape of the load 15b received above (the amount of protrusion from the vehicle body width). At this time, the pallet 14 that has been conveyed is detected by the first right load detection sensor 33b, and the roller driving unit 32 is stopped at the time of detection, so that the pallet 14, that is, the load 15b is removed from the vehicle body 21. It will be located in the center. FIG. 4B shows this state, and the load 15b loaded in the center of the pallet 14 is located at the center of the pallet 14, that is, the vehicle body 21 of the automatic guided vehicle 20, and the amount of protrusion of the load 15b is substantially left and right. It is the same amount.

  Next, the control operation of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, when the load 15 is transported by the automatic guided vehicle 20 from the station ST <b> 1 configured by the conveyor device 1 to the station ST <b> 2, the shortest travel distance is set as a route 2. The route 2 includes a fixed facility 53 and a fixed facility 54, and a route 1 serving as a detour for avoiding the fixed facilities 53 and 54 is provided. The detouring route 1 can be made unnecessary in the present invention as will be described later.

  As described above, after the automatic guided vehicle 20 receives the load 15 at the station ST1, the automatic guided vehicle 20 starts to travel, and when the automatic guided vehicle 20 reaches the position A where it has traveled a little from the station ST1 (see step S11). ), The controller 30 makes a judgment by reading the data of the amount of the loaded load 15 from the storage unit 31 (see step S2). If the load 15a has no protruding, the fixed facilities 53, 54 Does not contact or collide and does not move the load 15a left and right, travels along the route 2 in the state shown in FIG. 4A, passes through the fixed equipment 53, and proceeds to step S15.

  However, if the loaded load 15 is a load 15b that protrudes beyond the width of the vehicle body 21, it is determined that the vehicle will collide with the fixed facilities 53 and 54 if traveling on the route 2, and the process proceeds to step S13. If there is no clearance on the opposite side, the process proceeds to step S16, travels along route 1, and transports the load 15b to the transport destination station ST2. If there is a clearance on the opposite side of the fixed equipment 53 in step S13, the control unit 30 controls the roller driving unit 32 to rotate the roller 22 and move the load 15b to the clearance side as shown in FIG. . Whether or not the load 15b is moved may be determined at the station ST1 that receives the load 15b.

  In FIG. 9, the automatic guided vehicle 20 travels along the route 2 by moving the load 15b to the clearance side opposite to the fixed equipment 53 at the station ST1 or A position (see step S15). Even if the vehicle travels through the fixed facility 53, the load 15 b does not contact or collide with the fixed facility 53.

  Next, as shown in step S17, when the automated guided vehicle 20 comes to a position B that has passed through the fixed facility 53, the load 15b collides with the fixed facility 54 when there is no distance to the fixed facility 54 in step S18. In order to prevent this, the travel is temporarily stopped (see step S19), and the process proceeds to step S20. If there is a distance to the fixed equipment 54 at the B position, the process proceeds to step S20. If there is a clearance on the opposite side of the fixed equipment 54, the load 15b is placed in the opposite direction as shown in FIG. Move. Accordingly, by moving the load 15b to the opposite side of the fixed facility 54 before the fixed facility 54, the automatic guided vehicle 20 can travel without the load 15b coming into contact with or colliding with the fixed facility 54. You can arrive at ST2.

  In addition, when moving the load 15b loaded on the automatic guided vehicle 20 to the left and right, the load 15b may be moved in a state where the automatic guided vehicle 20 is stopped. You may make it move. When the load 15b is moved while the automatic guided vehicle 20 is traveling, the transfer time to the transfer destination can be shortened.

  Next, supplementary description will be given of the selection control of the travel route of the automatic guided vehicle 20 and the like. As shown in FIG. 5, the storage unit 31 of the automatic guided vehicle 20 stores the current position data of the automatic guided vehicle 20 in advance according to the layout. As shown in FIG. 8, the current position is digitized and recognized as an address (address) every time the count detection sensor 39 detects the counting magnet 52. In addition, for each address (address), position data of the fixed equipment 53 and clearance (L1 in FIG. 8) data with respect to the position of the fixed equipment 53 are also stored in the storage unit 31.

  Then, the automatic guided vehicle 20 determines the current position data and the destination station of the load, and gives the drive drive unit 34 a forward or reverse, and a speed instruction signal, so that the drive tire 23 is driven and travels. . On the other hand, the guide wire 51 embedded in the floor is judged to be laterally displaced by the guide detection sensor 38, and a signal for instructing the vehicle body movement in the left-right direction is given to the steering drive unit 35 according to the degree of the lateral displacement. Drive the route.

  Further, at the branch position of the route 1 and the route 2 such as the position of the counting magnet 52 of the central address (address) shown in FIG. 8, the direction of the destination (target station ST2) or the conveyance object of the automatic guided vehicle 20 The travel route is changed from route 2 to route 1 by giving a movement instruction of the vehicle body 21 to the steering drive unit 35 so that the guide detection sensor 38 traces in the branch direction according to the amount of protrusion (L2> L1 in the figure). This case is the case of step S16 shown in FIG.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, when the load 15b protruding from the vehicle body width is transported from the station ST1 to the station ST2 by the automatic guided vehicle 20, there are a plurality of fixing facilities 53... If there is a clearance that does not interfere even if the load 15b is moved to the opposite side of the load 15b, the load 15b is moved by moving the load 15b to the clearance side before the fixed equipment 53 ... It is possible to travel on the shortest route 1 without contacting or colliding with the fixed equipment 53. Thereby, the conveyance route of the load 15b is shortened, the cycle time can be shortened, the operation rate can be improved, and the traveling time of the automatic guided vehicle 20 can be shortened, so that energy saving can be achieved. Further, the route 1 as a detour is unnecessary, and the space can be effectively used.

It is explanatory drawing in the case of delivering a load from the conveyor apparatus in embodiment of this invention to an automatic guided vehicle. It is a block diagram of the electric system of the conveyor apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the automatic guided vehicle in embodiment of this invention. (A) is a plan view of the automatic guided vehicle in a state where a load that falls within the width of the vehicle body in the embodiment of the present invention is loaded, and (b) is loaded with a load that protrudes from the vehicle width in the embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of the automatic guided vehicle of the state which was made. It is a block diagram of the electric system of the automatic guided vehicle in embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the automatic guided vehicle at the time of moving the load in the embodiment of this invention to the right. It is a top view of the automatic guided vehicle at the time of moving the load in the embodiment of this invention to the left. It is explanatory drawing in the case of performing selection control of the driving route of the automatic guided vehicle in the embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing in the case of performing the conveyance control of the load in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart in the case of performing conveyance control of the load in the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the control operation in the case of conveying the load of a prior art example. It is a flowchart in the case of performing the conveyance control of the load of a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveyor apparatus 15 Load 15b Load 20 Automated guided vehicle 30 Control part 53, 54 Fixed equipment

Claims (2)

In the transport control device of the transport vehicle, in which equipment is arranged close to the travel route, the transport vehicle loaded with the load travels along the travel route and transports the load to a target transport destination.
When the load loaded on the transport vehicle protrudes from the width of the vehicle body, if there is a clearance on the opposite side of the equipment in front of the travel, the load is moved to the clearance side to reach the target transport destination. A transport control device for a transport vehicle, comprising control means for traveling the vehicle on the travel route. The transport control device for a transport vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the transport vehicle moves the load while traveling on the travel route.

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