JP4441889B2 - Goods transport equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a plurality of article transporting bodies that can travel in one direction along an annular traveling path that passes through the article receiving stop position and the article delivery stopping position, and the plurality of moving bodies based on the transport work information. The present invention relates to an article transport facility provided with control means for executing an article transport process for controlling the travel of the plurality of mobile bodies so as to travel the movable body to the article receiving stop position and the article delivery stop position.

  The article transport facility as described above is installed in a distribution center, a production factory, or the like, and is used for transporting articles between an article receiving stop position and an article delivery stopping position. In the distribution center where the above-mentioned article transportation facility is provided, for example, at the article receiving stop position, the article delivered from the autostereoscopic warehouse equipped with a stacker crane or the like is conveyed and the article is put on the automatic conveyance carriage as a moving body. A delivery conveyor for delivery is connected, and at the stop position for delivery of goods, a delivery conveyor for transporting articles delivered from the automatic carrier cart as a moving body to the shipping port is connected and shipped from the automated three-dimensional warehouse. Goods can be transported to the mouth. Similarly, at the article receiving stop position and the article delivery stopping position different from the article receiving stop position and the article delivery stopping position to which the delivery conveyor and the shipping conveyor are connected, the delivery transportation A conveyor and a transfer conveyor for warehousing are connected so that articles can be transferred from the receiving port to an automatic three-dimensional warehouse.

  In addition, in the production factory where the article transport facility is provided, for example, a plurality of processing stop positions serving as both an article receiving stop position and an article delivery stopping position are set, and processing is performed at each of these processing stop positions. A processing machine having a different content is arranged, and an article receiving stop position for receiving an article different from the processing stop position is connected to a carry-in conveyor for carrying an article to be processed from the outside, and the article is different from the processing stop position. An unloading conveyor for unloading the workpiece to the outside is connected to the article receiving stop position for unloading, and the workpiece to be loaded from the outside by the loading conveyor is used as a moving body at the article receiving stop position. In order to sequentially receive multiple types of processing by processing machines received by the goods transport cart, the workpieces are sequentially transported to multiple processing stop positions, and the conveyor for unloading after processing is completed. So that the it can be carried out to the outside Te.

  In the article transport facility installed in the above-described distribution center or production factory, when the transport work information is generated, the control means is a non-working state mobile body to which no transport work is assigned among the plurality of mobile bodies. Any one of the movable bodies is appropriately assigned to the transport work, and when the transfer work for transferring the transported article at the article delivery stop position is completed, the transport work is finished, and the next transport work is performed. It will be in a non-working state until assigned.

  As a conventional example of the article transporting facility, the control unit is configured to select a specific article receiving stop position (annular travel) that is selected in advance for reasons such as high frequency of work among the plurality of moving bodies. The non-working state movement so that the other non-working state moving body travels in the traveling direction of the moving body on the annular traveling route. There is one configured to control the running of the body (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  In addition to the description of Patent Document 1, the control means travels a non-working state moving body to which no transfer work is assigned among a plurality of moving bodies in a traveling direction of the moving body on an annular traveling route. In addition, after the other mobile body travels from the specific article receiving stop position based on the transport work information, the mobile body in the non-working state that is traveling around is moved to the specific article receiving stop position. A non-working state moving body located at the closest position is selected, and the selected non-working state moving body is caused to travel to the specific article receiving stop position.

  In other words, the control means does not generate new transport work information for transporting an article from the specific article receiving stop position after the moving body has traveled from the specific article receiving stop position based on the transport work information. Specified when new transport work information for transporting an article from the specific article receiving stop position is generated by causing the non-working state mobile body to travel to the specific article receiving stop position and waiting in advance. Since the non-working moving body waiting at the article receiving stop position can immediately receive the article, the non-working moving body is placed at the specific article receiving stop position after the conveyance work information is generated. Compared to the one to be run, the time from when the transport work information is generated until the transport of the article to be transported according to the specific transport work information is started. Make it possible to reduce only the time required to travel to a position, it is intended to improve the transfer efficiency of the article transport facility.

JP 11-53029 A

  In the above-described conventional moving body facility, the control means is configured to control a moving body that is not working among the plurality of moving bodies, and a moving body that is stopped at the specific article receiving stop position based on the transport work information. After traveling from the specific article receiving stop position, the traveling of the non-working state moving body is controlled so that the non-working state moving body immediately travels to the specific article receiving stop position. However, in the thing like patent document 1, the moving object located in the position nearest to the specific article receiving stop position is selected from the non-working moving objects that are traveling around the specified object. Since the vehicle travels to the receiving stop position, the travel path length until the specific article receiving stop position is traveled can vary depending on the travel position at the time of selecting the selected moving body. Therefore, the time required for the non-working state moving body to travel to the specific article receiving stop position may become longer depending on the traveling position of the non-working state moving body at the time of selection.

  Therefore, there is a high possibility that new transport work information about the specific article receiving stop position will be generated before the moving body in the non-working state travels to the specific article receiving stop position. If transport work information is generated before reaching the receiving stop position, the article is moved at the specific article receiving stop position until the non-working moving body arrives at the specific article receiving stop position. Since it cannot be received by the body, the waiting time until the article is received by the moving body after the new transport work information is generated becomes longer, so that the transport work information is generated after the transport work information is generated. There is a problem that it is not possible to improve the conveyance efficiency of the article conveyance facility because the time until the conveyance of the article to be conveyed starts in some cases.

  By the way, in the article transport facility, the number of installation positions for receiving articles will be reduced as much as possible, and the number of moving bodies to be equipped will be reduced as much as possible, such as by connecting a carry-in conveyor. Therefore, it is desirable that the amount of goods transported per unit time be as much as necessary while reducing the space and cost of the equipment. Since efficiency cannot be improved, space saving and cost reduction of the equipment cannot be achieved.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to shorten the time required from the generation of the transfer work information to the start of the transfer of the transfer target article related to the transfer work information. Therefore, the present invention is to provide an article conveyance facility capable of improving the conveyance efficiency.

The first characteristic configuration of the present invention is:
A plurality of article transporting bodies capable of traveling in one direction along an annular traveling path passing through a plurality of article receiving stop positions and an article delivery stopping position;
Control means for executing an article conveying process for controlling the traveling of the plurality of moving bodies so as to cause the plurality of moving bodies to travel to the article receiving stop position and the article delivery stopping position based on the conveyance work information. An article transport facility provided,
The control means is
After the execution of the article transport process for the mobile body is completed, the mobile body is set as a non-working mobile body until the other mobile body needs to be driven out. When stopping the moving body in the non-working state in order to stop at the article delivery stop position and drive the other moving body, the non-working moving body is moved to the plurality of article receiving bodies. It is configured to execute an eviction running process in which the cruising running is performed with the stop position downstream of the target stop position of the other moving body as the target stop position among the stop position and the article delivery stop position,
The control means is
If the other moving body is not stopped at the stop position downstream of the target stop position in the eviction driving process, the article receiving stop position or the article delivery stop position downstream of the target stop position. Is updated to a new target stop position, and if the stop position downstream of the target stop position is a preset specific article receiving stop position among the plurality of article receiving stop positions, the target stop position is set. Configured to not update,
The control means is
In the eviction driving process, when no other moving body is stopped at the specific article receiving stop position, the non-working moving body is driven to the specific article receiving stop position and the specific article is received. When the other moving body is stopped at the receiving stop position, the traveling of the moving body in the non-working state is controlled so as to travel to the standby stop position set in front of the specific article receiving stop position. Configured to perform a pre-run process,
The control means is
The preliminary traveling process is performed with the article receiving stop position predicted to have the highest work frequency among the plurality of article receiving stop positions as the specific article receiving stop position . It is in.

According to the first characteristic configuration of the present invention, when the other moving body is not stopped at the article receiving stop position , the control means stops the non-working state moving body among the plurality of moving bodies. Therefore, even if there is no conveyance work information related to the article receiving stop position, the non-working state mobile body will travel to the article receiving stop position, and the article receiving stop position is in a non-working state. The moving body can be kept waiting.
Moreover, when the other moving body is stopped at the article receiving stop position, the control means causes the non-working moving body to travel to the standby stop position set on the near side of the article receiving stop position. Even if there is no conveyance work information related to the article receiving stop position, the non-working moving body travels to the standby stop position set in front of the article receiving stop position, and the standby stop position is set to receive the article. By setting the position close to the stop position, the non-working state moving body can be kept waiting at a position close to the other moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position.
Therefore, when another moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position travels based on the carrying operation information, the non-working state moving body waiting at the standby stop position close to the article receiving stop position Therefore, the time required to move the non-working moving body to the article receiving stop position can be shortened.
Therefore, a moving body in a non-working state can be put on standby at the article receiving stop position as soon as possible after another moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position travels. When new transport work information related to the article receiving stop position is generated, it is avoided as much as possible that a non-working moving body is not waiting at the article receiving stop position. It is possible to prevent an increase in the time from the generation of work information to the start of the conveyance of the article to be conveyed according to the conveyance work information, thereby improving the conveyance efficiency.
By the way, as described above, since the conveyance efficiency of the article conveyance facility can be improved, when configuring the article conveyance facility so that the article conveyance amount per unit time becomes the required amount, By reducing the number of mobile units to be equipped, it will be possible to save space and reduce the cost of equipment.
As described above, according to the first characteristic configuration of the present invention, the conveyance efficiency is improved by reducing the time required from the generation of the conveyance work information to the start of conveyance of the conveyance target article related to the conveyance work information. As a result, an article conveying facility capable of achieving the above has been obtained.
Further, when the other moving body is not stopped at the article receiving stop position at which the work frequency is predicted to be the highest among the plurality of article receiving stop positions , the control means is set at the article receiving stop position. When a non-working moving body is driven and another moving body is stopped at an article receiving stop position where the work frequency is predicted to be the highest among a plurality of article receiving stop positions, Since the non-working moving body is driven to the standby stop position set on the near side of the article receiving stop position, the article that is predicted to have the highest work frequency among the plurality of article receiving stop positions. When new transport work information related to the receiving stop position is generated, the non-working state moving body is not waiting at the standby position set on the near side of the article receiving stop position. And It would a be avoided as much as possible, that the transport of the articles conveyed object transport task information relating to the transportation task information from the occurrence becomes longer to be started can be prevented.

  In other words, by placing the non-working state moving body preferentially at the article receiving stop position where the work frequency is expected to be the highest and the standby stop position set in front of the article receiving stop position, Even when conveyance work information about the article receiving stop position is generated one after another, the conveyance work of the articles will be performed as smoothly as possible, and the conveyance efficiency will be improved by avoiding the accumulation of articles to be conveyed as much as possible. Can be achieved.

  In addition, when the state of article transportation by the article transportation facility varies depending on the time of day, based on the state of occurrence of transportation work information, etc., change and set the article receiving stop position that is expected to have the highest work frequency, By performing the preliminary traveling process for the article receiving stop position that is expected to have the highest frequency of work from time to time, the articles to be transported stay even if the article transport status changes by the article transport equipment This can be avoided as much as possible, and a state in which the conveyance efficiency is high can be maintained.

As described above, according to the first characteristic configuration of the present invention, when there are a plurality of article receiving stop positions, the articles to be transported stay at the article receiving stop position where the work frequency is expected to be the highest. As a result, an article conveying facility capable of improving the conveying efficiency has been obtained.

The second characteristic configuration of the present invention is:
A plurality of article transporting bodies capable of traveling in one direction along an annular traveling path passing through a plurality of article receiving stop positions and an article delivery stopping position;
Control means for executing an article conveying process for controlling the traveling of the plurality of moving bodies so as to cause the plurality of moving bodies to travel to the article receiving stop position and the article delivery stopping position based on the conveyance work information. An article transport facility provided,
The control means is
After the execution of the article transport process for the mobile body is completed, the mobile body is set as a non-working mobile body until the other mobile body needs to be driven out. When stopping the moving body in the non-working state in order to stop at the article delivery stop position and drive the other moving body, the non-working moving body is moved to the plurality of article receiving bodies. It is configured to execute an eviction running process in which the cruising running is performed with the stop position downstream of the target stop position of the other moving body as the target stop position among the stop position and the article delivery stop position,
The control means is
If the other moving body is not stopped at the stop position downstream of the target stop position in the eviction driving process, the article receiving stop position or the article delivery stop position downstream of the target stop position. Is updated to a new target stop position, and if the stop position downstream of the target stop position is a preset specific article receiving stop position among the plurality of article receiving stop positions, the target stop position is set. Configured to not update,
The control means is
In the eviction driving process, when no other moving body is stopped at the specific article receiving stop position, the non-working moving body is driven to the specific article receiving stop position and the specific article is received. When the other moving body is stopped at the receiving stop position, the traveling of the moving body in the non-working state is controlled so as to travel to the standby stop position set in front of the specific article receiving stop position. Configured to perform a pre-run process,
In the case where there are a plurality of items that are predicted to have a high work frequency as the article receiving stop position, the control means uses the plurality of article receiving stop positions as the specific article receiving stop position . It is in the point comprised so that a preliminary | backup driving | running | working process may be performed.

According to the second characteristic configuration of the present invention, when the other moving body is not stopped at the article receiving stop position , the control means stops the non-working state moving body among the plurality of moving bodies. Therefore, even if there is no conveyance work information related to the article receiving stop position, the non-working state mobile body will travel to the article receiving stop position, and the article receiving stop position is in a non-working state. The moving body can be kept waiting.
Moreover, when the other moving body is stopped at the article receiving stop position, the control means causes the non-working moving body to travel to the standby stop position set on the near side of the article receiving stop position. Even if there is no conveyance work information related to the article receiving stop position, the non-working moving body travels to the standby stop position set in front of the article receiving stop position, and the standby stop position is set to receive the article. By setting the position close to the stop position, the non-working state moving body can be kept waiting at a position close to the other moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position.
Therefore, when another moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position travels based on the carrying operation information, the non-working state moving body waiting at the standby stop position close to the article receiving stop position Therefore, the time required to move the non-working moving body to the article receiving stop position can be shortened.
Therefore, a moving body in a non-working state can be put on standby at the article receiving stop position as soon as possible after another moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position travels. When new transport work information related to the article receiving stop position is generated, it is avoided as much as possible that a non-working moving body is not waiting at the article receiving stop position. It is possible to prevent an increase in the time from the generation of work information to the start of the conveyance of the article to be conveyed according to the conveyance work information, thereby improving the conveyance efficiency.
By the way, as described above, since the conveyance efficiency of the article conveyance facility can be improved, when configuring the article conveyance facility so that the article conveyance amount per unit time becomes the required amount, By reducing the number of mobile units to be equipped, it will be possible to save space and reduce the cost of equipment.
As described above, according to the second characteristic configuration of the present invention, the conveyance efficiency is improved by reducing the time required from the generation of the conveyance work information to the start of conveyance of the conveyance target article related to the conveyance work information. As a result, an article conveying facility capable of achieving the above has been obtained.
Further, since the control means executes the preliminary traveling process for the article receiving stop position where the work frequency is predicted to be high, each of the article receiving stop positions where the work frequency is predicted to be high is executed. When new conveyance work information related to the article receiving stop position is generated, the non-working state moving body waits at the article receiving stop position or the standby stop position set in front of the article receiving stop position. To prevent the situation from becoming long, it is possible to prevent the time from when the conveyance work information is generated until the conveyance of the article to be conveyed related to the conveyance work information starts. it can.

As described above, according to the second characteristic configuration of the present invention, for each of the article receiving stop positions where the work frequency is predicted to be high, the conveyance work information related to the conveyance work information is generated after the conveyance work information is generated. By shortening the time required to start the conveyance, an article conveyance facility capable of improving the conveyance efficiency has been obtained.

The third characteristic configuration of the present invention is:
A plurality of article transporting bodies capable of traveling in one direction along an annular traveling path passing through a plurality of article receiving stop positions and an article delivery stopping position;
Control means for executing an article conveying process for controlling the traveling of the plurality of moving bodies so as to cause the plurality of moving bodies to travel to the article receiving stop position and the article delivery stopping position based on the conveyance work information. An article transport facility provided,
The control means is
After the execution of the article transport process for the mobile body is completed, the mobile body is set as a non-working mobile body until the other mobile body needs to be driven out. When stopping the moving body in the non-working state in order to stop at the article delivery stop position and drive the other moving body, the non-working moving body is moved to the plurality of article receiving bodies. It is configured to execute an eviction running process in which the cruising running is performed with the stop position downstream of the target stop position of the other moving body as the target stop position among the stop position and the article delivery stop position,
The control means is
If the other moving body is not stopped at the stop position downstream of the target stop position in the eviction driving process, the article receiving stop position or the article delivery stop position downstream of the target stop position. Is updated to a new target stop position, and if the stop position downstream of the target stop position is a preset specific article receiving stop position among the plurality of article receiving stop positions, the target stop position is set. Configured to not update,
The control means is
In the eviction driving process, when no other moving body is stopped at the specific article receiving stop position, the non-working moving body is driven to the specific article receiving stop position and the specific article is received. When the other moving body is stopped at the receiving stop position, the traveling of the moving body in the non-working state is controlled so as to travel to the standby stop position set in front of the specific article receiving stop position. Configured to perform a pre-run process,
The control means is
When there are a plurality of the article receiving stop positions concentrated in a part of the travel route, among the article receiving stop positions, the article receiving stop located at the most upstream side in the moving body traveling direction. The preliminary travel process is executed with the stop position as the specific article receiving stop position .

According to the third characteristic configuration of the present invention, when the other moving body is not stopped at the article receiving stop position , the control means stops the non-working moving body among the plurality of moving bodies. Therefore, even if there is no conveyance work information related to the article receiving stop position, the non-working state mobile body will travel to the article receiving stop position, and the article receiving stop position is in a non-working state. The moving body can be kept waiting.
Moreover, when the other moving body is stopped at the article receiving stop position, the control means causes the non-working moving body to travel to the standby stop position set on the near side of the article receiving stop position. Even if there is no conveyance work information related to the article receiving stop position, the non-working moving body travels to the standby stop position set in front of the article receiving stop position, and the standby stop position is set to receive the article. By setting the position close to the stop position, the non-working state moving body can be kept waiting at a position close to the other moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position.
Therefore, when another moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position travels based on the carrying operation information, the non-working state moving body waiting at the standby stop position close to the article receiving stop position Therefore, the time required to move the non-working moving body to the article receiving stop position can be shortened.
Therefore, a moving body in a non-working state can be put on standby at the article receiving stop position as soon as possible after another moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position travels. When new transport work information related to the article receiving stop position is generated, it is avoided as much as possible that a non-working moving body is not waiting at the article receiving stop position. It is possible to prevent an increase in the time from the generation of work information to the start of the conveyance of the article to be conveyed according to the conveyance work information, thereby improving the conveyance efficiency.
By the way, as described above, since the conveyance efficiency of the article conveyance facility can be improved, when configuring the article conveyance facility so that the article conveyance amount per unit time becomes the required amount, By reducing the number of mobile units to be equipped, it will be possible to save space and reduce the cost of equipment.
As described above, according to the third characteristic configuration of the present invention, the conveyance efficiency is improved by reducing the time required from the generation of the conveyance work information to the start of conveyance of the conveyance target article related to the conveyance work information. As a result, an article conveying facility capable of achieving the above has been obtained.
Further, the preliminary traveling process is performed with respect to an article receiving stop position that is located on the most upstream side in the moving body traveling direction among the article receiving stop positions that exist in a form in which the control unit is concentrated in a part of the traveling path. As a result, the non-working moving body is set in a state of waiting at the stand-by stop position set on the most upstream side of the article receiving stop position or the front side of the article receiving stop position as much as possible. Can do.

  Therefore, when the conveyance work information for receiving an article and conveying the article is generated at any of the article receiving stop positions that exist in a concentrated manner on a part of the travel route, the article receiving position located on the most upstream side is generated. The non-working state moving body that is waiting at the standby stop position set on the front side of the stop position for receiving goods or the stop position for receiving the goods is made to travel to the stop position for receiving articles according to the transport work information. The moving body in the non-working state can be quickly positioned with respect to the article receiving stop position.

  Therefore, when conveyance work information for receiving an article and conveying the article is generated at any of the article receiving stop positions that exist in a concentrated manner on a part of the travel route, the article is conveyed based on the conveyance work information. Can be shortened.

As described above, according to the third characteristic configuration of the present invention, when there are a plurality of the article receiving stop positions concentrated on a part of the travel route, the conveyance work for any one of the article receiving stop positions is performed. The present invention has led to an article transport facility that can improve transport efficiency by shortening the time required from the generation of information to the start of transport of the transport target article according to the transport work information.

According to a fourth characteristic configuration of the present invention, in any one of the first to third characteristic configurations of the present invention, the control unit is configured to change the moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position as the preliminary traveling process. When traveling by the article transport process, the movable body stopped at the standby stop position adjacent to the article receiving stop position is configured to travel to the article receiving stop position. .

According to the fourth characteristic configuration of the present invention, when the moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position based on the transport work information travels by the article transport process, the mobile station stops at the standby stop position adjacent to the article receiving stop position. Since the stopped moving body travels to the article receiving stop position, the new moving work information for receiving the article at the article receiving stop position is generated before the moving body stopped at the standby stop position. It is possible to travel to the article receiving stop position and make the mobile body stand by at the article receiving stop position.

  Therefore, when the moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position travels by the article transport process, the moving body travels to the article receiving stop position that becomes empty even if there is no new transport work information. Thus, it is possible to wait for the generation of new transport work information with the article receiving stop position as the transport start position.

  In other words, when the mobile body stopped at the article receiving stop position travels by the article transport process, instead of causing the mobile body to travel to the article receiving stop position after new transport work information is generated, By causing the non-working state moving body to travel to the article receiving stop position in advance before the transport work information is generated, the state where the non-working state moving body is located at the article receiving stop position is as much as possible. Can be maintained.

  Further, when the non-working state moving body is located at the article receiving stop position, by executing the preliminary traveling process, another non-working position is set at the standby stop position set in front of the article receiving stop position. When the moving body in the non-working state stopped at the article receiving stop position travels by the article transport process based on the new transport work information, the mobile body in the state is positioned at the standby stop position. Then, another non-working state moving body that stands by travels to the article receiving stop position that becomes empty.

As described above, according to the fourth characteristic configuration of the present invention, the conveyance efficiency is improved by reducing the time required from the generation of the conveyance work information to the start of conveyance of the conveyance target article related to the conveyance work information. In addition, an article transporting facility capable of maintaining as much as possible a state in which it is possible to reduce the time required from when the transport work information is generated until the transport of the transport target article according to the transport work information is started. I came to get.

According to a fifth feature of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth feature configurations of the present invention, a plurality of the control means are set in the state of being arranged in the route direction of the travel route as the preliminary travel processing. When the vehicle travels in preference to the standby stop position that is located on the most downstream side in the moving body traveling direction among the stop positions, and the other mobile body is stopped at any of the plurality of standby stop positions The traveling of the moving body in the non-working state is controlled so as to travel to the standby stop position adjacent to the standby stop position where the mobile body is stopped.

According to the fifth characteristic configuration of the present invention, among the plurality of standby stop positions set in a line in the route direction of the travel route, the other mobile body stops at the standby stop position that is located on the most downstream side in the mobile body travel direction. If not, the non-working moving body travels to the standby traveling position, and if the other moving body stops at the standby stop position located on the most downstream side, the other moving body stops. The moving body in the non-working state travels to the standby stop position adjacent to the standby stop position.

  By repeatedly performing such preliminary traveling processing, a plurality of non-working state moving bodies are set at the respective standby stop positions starting from the standby stop position located most downstream in the moving body traveling direction among the standby stop positions. Since they can be in a lined state, a plurality of non-working state moving bodies can stand by in a state lined up in the direction of the travel route.

  Therefore, when there is an article receiving stop position with a high work frequency, a plurality of standby stop positions are arranged in the route direction of the traveling path so as to be closer to the upstream position in the traveling direction than the article receiving stop position. By setting, when the transfer work information with the article receiving stop position as the transfer start position is frequently generated, the moving object is stopped as soon as possible corresponding to each transfer work information. It is possible to travel to the position.

As described above, according to the fifth characteristic configuration of the present invention, the conveyance efficiency is improved by reducing the time required from the generation of the conveyance work information to the start of conveyance of the conveyance target article related to the conveyance work information. In addition, a plurality of non-working state moving bodies are placed in a standby state in a state of being aligned in the route direction of the traveling route, and efficient transport work is performed when there is an article receiving stop position with a high work frequency. It came to obtain the article conveyance equipment which can be made into the state which can be performed.

According to a sixth feature of the present invention, in the fifth feature of the present invention, the control unit travels the moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position by the article transport process as the preliminary travel process. When the vehicle is moved, the movable body stopped at the standby stop position adjacent to the article receiving stop position among the plurality of standby stop positions is caused to travel to the article receiving stop position, and It is configured to control the traveling of the moving body in the non-working state so that the moving body stopped at the standby stop position is sequentially traveled to the standby stop position that is in an empty state.

According to the sixth characteristic configuration of the present invention, when a plurality of non-working state moving bodies are standing by at a plurality of standby stop positions arranged in the direction of the travel route, they stop at the article receiving stop position. When the moving body that is moving travels by the article transport process, each moving body that is in a non-working state waiting at the standby stop position travels to the stop position adjacent to the stop position that is currently stopped downstream. Therefore, at a standby stop position set in plural in a state of being lined up in the route direction of the travel path on the front side of the article receiving stop position and the article receiving stop position, the non-working state moving body It becomes a stopped state in a state where the use stop positions are arranged at the head, and the moving body in the non-working state can be put on standby in a state as close as possible to the article receiving stop position.

  Therefore, even when transport work information for receiving and transporting an article at the article receiving stop position is generated in succession, a non-working state moving body waiting in advance at the article receiving stop position, or A non-working state moving body waiting at a standby stop position set on the near side of the article receiving stop position can process the transfer work based on the transfer work information as quickly as possible.

According to the sixth characteristic configuration of the present invention, it is possible to improve the conveyance efficiency by shortening the time required from the generation of the conveyance work information to the start of conveyance of the conveyance target article related to the conveyance work information. In addition, an article transport facility capable of processing a transport work based on the transport work information as quickly as possible even when the transport work information for receiving and transporting the articles at the article receiving stop position occurs in succession is obtained. It came to.

  An embodiment of an article transport facility of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking as an example one applied to a distribution system equipped with an automatic warehouse.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the present article transporting facility includes a first receiving station ST1, a second receiving station ST2, a first shipping station ST3, a second shipping station ST4, which serve as article receiving stop positions, and , A third exit station ST5 (hereinafter sometimes collectively referred to as receiving stations ST1 to ST5), a first entry station ST6, a second entry station ST7, and a third entry station as article delivery stop positions. A warehousing station ST8, a first shipping station ST9, a second shipping station ST10, a third shipping station ST11, and a fourth shipping station ST12 (hereinafter sometimes collectively referred to as delivery stations ST6 to ST12). The vehicle travels in one direction clockwise in plan view along the annular traveling route L provided. Transporting carriage V is provided four as the mobile body for a product transport.

  Each transport carriage V travels along the travel route L while being guided by the guide rails 5 laid on the ground, and the articles are transferred at the receiving stations ST1 to ST5 and the delivery stations ST6 to ST12. Perform loading work. Although illustration is omitted, a power supply rail for supplying operating power to the transport carriage V is provided along the guide rail 5, and the transport carriage V has a power supply brush when stopped and during travel operation. The power for operation can be supplied from the power supply rail.

  An article transporting conveyor is provided at a position adjacent to each of the stations ST1 to ST12 in a state where the transport end portion is located. In other words, the receiving stations ST1 and ST2 are provided with receiving conveyors 1 for transporting articles carried in from the outside to the positions corresponding to the receiving stations ST1 and ST2 at the receiving ports. The storage conveyor 2 that transports the goods to be stored, which are transported by the transport cart V, to the automatic warehouse has the storage stations ST3 to ST5 that store the goods to be stored from the automatic warehouse to the shipping stations ST3 to ST5. The delivery conveyor 3 that transports the product to the position corresponding to 1 is shipped, and the shipping station ST9 to ST12 has a shipping conveyor 4 that transports the articles that are transported to the outside from the position corresponding to the shipping stations ST9 to ST12 at the shipping port. is set up.

  In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, in the state stopped to either of the said stations as an article receiving stop position and an article delivery stop position, each conveyance cart V has a conveyor end portion as a transfer target location. Is provided with a transfer device such as a roller conveyor or a chain conveyor that transfers articles between itself and itself, and is transferred from a central controller H (described later) while stopped at each station ST1 to ST12. When the command is instructed, the transfer operation is performed to deliver the article to the transfer target location or to receive the article from the transfer target location.

  Further, in the present article transport facility, as a control means for executing an article transport process for controlling the travel of the plurality of transport carts V so that the plurality of transport carts V travel between the stations based on the transport work information. Central controller H is provided. The central controller H can exchange various control information with each transport carriage V through two-way wireless communication.

  The transport work information is given as information on the transport work unit from the upper management computer in the physical distribution system to the central controller H, and includes transport target article information, transport source station information about the transport target article, and Contains destination station information and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the central controller H controls the travel operation of each transport cart V based on the transport work information, such as travel start / acceleration / constant speed / deceleration / stop for the transport cart V. By instructing the controller C with a travel command including command information such as the target station, the travel control controller C mounted on each transport vehicle V travels to the target station based on the travel position information described below. In order to achieve this, the operation is performed by controlling the operation of the traveling motor M as the traveling drive means provided in each transport carriage V.

  In addition, in the travel command, in addition to any one of the station for receiving the article and the stop position for delivering the article as a target station, a plurality of standby stations STw1, STw2, One of the stations is commanded.

  A reference position mark M is provided at the reference position N set between the first receiving station ST1 and the fourth shipping station ST12 on the transfer path L. As shown in FIG. V is provided with a mark detection sensor DM for detecting the reference position mark M, and a rotary encoder DP as a travel distance detecting means for detecting the travel distance of the transport carriage V. Based on the detection information of the mark detection sensor DM and the rotary encoder DP, the travel distance of the transport carriage V in the travel route L can be detected by calculating the travel distance of the transport carriage V from the reference position N. Yes.

  When the controller C for travel control of the transport vehicle V arrives at the target station, it transmits arrival completion information to the central controller H, and then, when a transfer command is instructed from the central controller H. Is configured to perform transfer work (delivery and receipt work of articles) and transmit transfer completion information to the central controller H when the transfer work is completed.

  Thereby, the central controller H is traveling based on the travel command for each transport carriage V, is stopped after traveling based on the travel command, and if it is stopped, Recognizing whether the transfer operation based on the transfer command for delivering the article is completed and in a resting state, and whether the transfer operation based on the transfer command for receiving the article is completed and waiting for the travel command It is also possible to recognize from which station to which station the vehicle is traveling and which station is stopped.

  Further, when the travel control controller C of the transport carriage V is traveling the moving body based on the travel command, the travel control controller C reaches a deceleration point set corresponding to the target station for the travel command. The deceleration point arrival information is transmitted to the central controller H. As will be described in detail later, when the central controller H receives the deceleration point arrival information from the transport carriage V that is running, the central controller H stops the transport carriage V as it is to the target station, or until the downstream side from the current target station. It is configured to determine whether to run and to process whether to maintain the current state of the target station or update the target station to a station downstream of the current target station according to the determination result. Yes.

  The central controller H can update the target station for the transport carriage V by transmitting the target station update information to the travel control controller C of the transport carriage V.

In this way, each traveling control controller C controls the traveling operation of each transport vehicle V based on the control command of the central controller H, for example, from the automatic warehouse to the vicinity of the first unloading station ST3. articles transported by unloading conveyor 3 receives the transport carriage V in a state of stopping the first unloading station ST3 is conveyed to the first shipment for station ST9, the conveyance carriage V is first shipment for station In the state stopped at ST9, it is delivered to the shipping conveyor 4.

  When the central controller H executes the article conveyance process and commands a traveling command to each traveling control controller C, each traveling control controller C controls the traveling operation of the transportation carriage V. In the description, the description of the linkage between the central controller H and each travel control controller C will be omitted, and the description will be made assuming that the central controller H executes the article transport process and controls the travel operation of each transport carriage V.

  The central controller H has the highest frequency of work based on the latest transfer record among the receiving stations ST1 to ST5 as the receiving position for receiving the non-working transfer carriage V among the plurality of transfer carriages V. When the other transport carriage V is not stopped at the station (hereinafter referred to as the reception busy station STb), it is caused to travel to the reception busy station STb and another transport carriage V is received at the reception busy station STb. When the vehicle is stopped, a preliminary traveling process for controlling the traveling of the transport carriage V in the non-working state is executed so as to travel to the standby station STw1 as the standby stop position set on the front side of the receiving busy station STb. It is configured.

  That is, in the present embodiment, there are a plurality of receiving stations ST1 to ST5 as the article receiving stop position, and the central controller H has the highest work frequency among the receiving stations ST1 to ST5. Preliminary travel processing is executed for a receiving station where the expected value is predicted.

  In other words, when the article transport process for a certain transport carriage V is completed, the central controller H should perform the transport work if the next transport work for the transport truck V is assigned at that time. When a new article transfer process is executed, but the next transfer operation is not assigned, that is, when the transfer carriage V is in a non-working state, the article transfer process for the transfer carriage V is executed. Is stopped at the delivery station where the article is delivered until it is necessary to drive the other transport carriage V to run.

  Then, the upstream station in the travel direction from the station where the non-working transport carriage V is stopped is used as the transport source, and the station downstream in the travel direction from the station where the non-working transport carriage V is stopped. For example, when transport work information as a transport destination is generated, another transport cart V positioned upstream in the traveling direction from the station where the transport cart V in the non-working state is stopped is transferred to the transport cart V in the non-working state. When traveling to a station downstream in the traveling direction from the stopped station, the central controller H adjoins the non-working transport carriage V one downstream from the target station of the other transport carriage V. The evacuation traveling process for causing the station to be evacuated to travel as a target station for the transport carriage V in the non-working state is configured to be executed. There.

  In the eviction driving process, the central controller H is one downstream side from the target station if the other transport carriage V is not stopped at a station one downstream side from the target station for the traveling carriage V to be traveled. Using the station as a new target station, the transport carriage V in the non-working state is caused to travel. In this way, the target station in the eviction driving process of the transport carriage V in the non-working state is repeatedly updated, and if the station downstream of the target station is the receiving busy station STb, the target station is updated. By not performing this, the preliminary traveling process can be executed, and the transport carriage V in the non-working state can be driven out to the receiving busy station STb.

  In addition, when the central controller H causes the transport carriage V in the non-working state to travel to the receiving busy station STb or the standby station STw1 by the preliminary travel processing, the central controller H stops the other transport carriage V in the working state on the travel route L. When the article is being transferred, the processing of updating the target station is not performed, and the non-working transport carriage V is stopped at the upstream position in the travel route L of the working transport carriage V. When the traveling of the transport carriage V in the working state is started, the traveling of the transport carriage V in the non-working state is also resumed.

  If the other transport carriage V stopped at a station one downstream from the target station is in a non-working state, the other transport truck in the non-working state is also subjected to the eviction processing and Update the target station.

  In this way, by repeatedly updating the target station of the eviction travel process, the preliminary travel process is executed, and the transport carriage V is traveled to the receiving busy station STb. In the preparatory travel processing, when another transport carriage V has already stopped at the receiving busy station STb, the transport in the non-working state is placed on the standby station STw1 set as close as possible on the upstream side of the receiving busy station STb. The cart V is run.

  In this manner, the state where the non-working state transport carriage V is waiting at the busy station STb and the state where the non-working state transport carriage V is waiting at both the busy station STb and the standby station STw1 are displayed. it can.

  In the present embodiment, the central controller H performs the pull-in travel process as the preliminary travel process, and when the transport carriage V stopped at the receive busy station STb is traveled by the article transport process, the receive busy process is performed. The transport carriage V stopped at the standby station STw1 adjacent to the station STb is caused to travel to the receiving busy station STb.

  When the explanation is added, when the transport carriage V is stopped in the non-working state at the receiving busy station STb and the standby station STw1, respectively, the receiving busy station STb stops at the receiving busy station STb as shown in FIG. When the transport cart V that has started to travel by the article transport processing, the transport cart V stopped by the standby station STw1 is traveled by the pull-in travel processing, and as shown in FIG. To stop. In the present embodiment, the central controller H is configured to start the traveling of the transport carriage V stopped at the receiving busy station STb and the standby station STw1 substantially simultaneously.

  In this way, even after the transport carriage V stopped at the busy station STb travels, the state where the non-working transport carriage V stands by at the busy station STb can appear as early as possible.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the central controller H is the most preliminarily traveling process in the traveling direction of the transport carriage V among the plurality of standby stations STw1, STw2,. When the vehicle is driven in preference to the standby station STw1 as the standby stop position located on the downstream side, and the other transport carriage V is stopped at any of the plurality of standby stations STw1, STw2,. The transport cart V is configured to control the travel of the transport cart V in a non-working state so as to travel to a standby station adjacent to the standby station where the transport cart V is stopped.

  In other words, as shown in FIG. 4A, a plurality of standby stations STw2, STw3... Are arranged in the route direction of the travel route L upstream of the standby station STw1 adjacent to the receiving busy station STb. As shown in FIG. 4B, when another transport carriage V1 is stopped at the receiving busy station STb, the non-working transport carriage V2 is transferred to the standby station STw1 adjacent to the receiving busy station STb. Drive the vehicle to the state shown in FIG. When the other transport carriage V2 is stopped at the standby station STw1, the transport carriage V3 in the non-working state is caused to travel to the standby station STw3 adjacent to the standby station STw1 where the transport carriage V2 is stopped.

  When the article conveyance process for the conveyance carriage V1 stopped at the reception busy station STb does not occur for a while, the preliminary traveling process is repeated, and as shown in FIG. With the transport carriage V1 stopped at the busy station STb at the head, the transport carriage V2, the transport carriage V3, the transport carriage V4 are arranged in a row along the travel route L, and a plurality of standby stations STw1, STw2,. Will be lined up.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, when the central controller H causes the transporting carriage V1 stopped at the receiving busy station STb to travel by the article transporting process as the preliminary traveling process, a plurality of standby stations STw1, STw2, Among the standby stations adjacent to the receiving busy station STb, that is, the pull-in traveling process is performed on the transport carriage V2 stopped at the standby station STw1, the transport carriage V2 is traveled to the busy station STb, and the standby station Each of the transport carts V2, V3, and V4 in the non-working state so that the transport cart V stopped at STw2 and the standby stations STw3, STw4,. Also perform the pull-in travel process, It is configured to control the travel of the carriage.

In other words, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the receiving busy station STb and the standby stations STw1, STw2,... Have four non-working transport carts V adjacent to each other along the travel path L. When waiting in a lined state, when the article transport process is executed for the transport cart V1 waiting at the receiving busy station STb, the transport cart V1 starts traveling. At the substantially the same time, pull the running process for each of the transport vehicle V2, V3, V4 of the subsequent non-working state is performed, each of these conveyance carriage of V2, V3, each of the V4 is, wait itself that stopped As shown in FIG. 5B, the transport carriage V2 is at the receiving busy station STb, the transport carriage V3 is at the stop station STw1, and the transport carriage V4 is at the stop station STw2. Stopped.

  After that, when the article transport process is executed for the transport carriage V2 waiting at the receiving busy station STb, the transport carriage V2 starts to travel. At substantially the same time, the pull-in travel processing is executed for each of the transport carts V3 and V4, and each of the transport carts V3 and V4 travels to the standby station one downstream from the standby station where the transport cart V3 is stopped. The carriage V3 is stopped at the receiving busy station STb, and the transport carriage V4 is stopped at the stop station STw1.

  As described above, in the present article transport facility, for example, when an article is delivered in a concentrated manner at the first arrival station ST1 at the time of arrival, the first arrival station ST1 is busy to receive the corresponding quantity. By setting the station STb to a state where the non-working transport carriage V stands by as much as possible at the first receiving station ST1, the transport capability is improved.

  Hereinafter, the control operation of the central controller H will be described based on the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The flow charts of FIGS. 6 and 7 are not limited to the transport carriage V in which the target station is set by any of the article transport process, the eviction travel process, and the pull-in travel process. In this case, it is also included in a state where it is stopped due to a transfer operation for receiving an article to be transported based on the above. In some cases, there is a case where there is no processing target carriage), and processing is performed by sequentially applying the processing period (for example, 1 ms) of the central controller H. When attention is paid to V, the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7 is repeatedly executed every processing cycle. In the following description, as necessary, the description is made with attention paid to the transport cart V that is the target of the transport cart processing at a certain point in time.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in step # 1, whether another transport cart V in a non-working state is stopped between the current position of the processing vehicle and the station set as the target station of the processing vehicle. If yes, the process proceeds to step # 20, and for the other transport carriage V, an eviction running process is executed with the station one downstream side of the target station of the processing target carriage as the target station. As a result, the other transport carriage V is added as a processing target carriage of the transport carriage process, and the central controller H sets the other transport carriage V as the target of the transport carriage process in the next processing cycle as shown in FIG. The process of FIG. 7 is executed.

  The case where Yes is determined in step # 1 is a case where the transport cart process is executed for the transport cart V in which the target station is set by the article transport process or the eviction travel process among the processing target carts. And it is a case where the other conveyance trolley | bogie V of the non-working state has stopped on the driving | running route to the target station. In the pull-in travel process, a station that is in an empty state on the downstream side of the station where the transport carriage V that is the target of the pull-in travel process is currently stopped is set as a target station for the pull-in travel process. The situation that the other transport carriage V is stopped before reaching the target station cannot occur.

  Incidentally, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, the articles stored in the automatic warehouse are separated under the condition that the non-working transport carriage V is stopped at each of the receiving busy station STb and the standby stations STw1 and STw2. In order to transfer to the automatic warehouse, the target vehicle (in the above example, for the first warehousing, as in the case where the transport carriage V is moved from the third delivery station ST5 to the first warehousing station ST6 by the article transportation process). When a plurality of other non-working transport carts V are stopped on the travel route to the station ST6), the station that is located on the most upstream side in the travel direction (the standby in the above example) The processing of step # 20 is executed for the non-working transport carriage V stopped at the station STw2).

  Then, the transport carriage V that has been subject to the eviction travel process in step # 20 of the transport carriage process for the transport carriage V that is the object transport process target (in the above example, the transport carriage that was stopped at the standby station STw2). In the transport cart processing for V), the transport cart in the non-working state stopped at the station one downstream side of the transport cart V (in the above example, the standby station STw1) by Step # 1 and Step # 20. The non-work that has been stopped at the station (in the above example, the receiving busy station STb) one downstream side by the step # 20 of the conveyance carriage process for the conveyance carriage V is executed. The eviction driving process is executed for the transport carriage V in the state.

  In this way, when a plurality of other transport carts V in the non-working state are stopped on the travel route to the target station, each of the plurality of other transport carts V in the non-working state is By being subject to eviction travel processing in a chained manner, all of the non-working transport carts V on the travel route are expelled. Each of the ejected transport carts V in the non-working state is a target of the transport cart process, and performs a travel operation based on the purge travel process with processing such as updating of the target station.

  In addition, when the said process about the conveyance trolley V used as the object of an article conveyance process, an eviction travel process, or a drawing-in travel process is completed, the conveyance trolley V will be excluded from a process target trolley, and in the processing cycle after completion. In the conveyance cart process, the conveyance cart V is not an execution target. A flag or the like may be used for management as to whether or not the cart is a processing target.

In step # 1, if there is no other non-working transport cart V between the position of the transport cart V and the target station, the processing target cart is transported by the processing of steps # 2 and # 3. The process executed differs depending on whether the target station is set by the process, whether the target station is set by the pull-in travel process, or whether the target station is set by the eviction travel process. That is, if the processing target bogie of the article transport processed, the processing in step # 11 to step # 17 is executed, if the processing target trolley is retracted traveling processed, step # 4 and step # 5 and If the process of step # 6 to step # 10 is executed and if it is the subject of the eviction driving process, the process of step # 6 to step # 10 is executed.

  When the transport cart process is executed for the transport cart V that is the target of the pull-in travel process, in step # 4, the station (from which the transport cart V that started the travel operation based on the pull-in travel process was originally stopped ( For example, it is checked whether or not the non-working transport carriage V is stopped at a station upstream of the standby station STw1) (for example, the standby station STw2), and if it is stopped, the process of step # 5 is executed. To do.

  In Step # 5, the transport carriage V that has started the travel operation based on the pull-in travel processing is stopped at a station (for example, the standby station STw2) adjacent to the upstream side of the station (for example, the standby station STw1) that was originally stopped. The non-working transport carriage V is stopped at a station (for example, the standby station STw2) on the upstream side of the station that is in an empty state so as to be pulled into a station (for example, the standby station STw1) that is in an empty state. A command for setting the target station as an empty station (for example, standby station STw1) to the transport carriage V is instructed, and a station upstream of the station that is in an empty state (for example, standby station STw2). Pull-in traveling for the transport cart V stopped at To start the execution of the management.

  In this way, the central controller H commands a travel command based on the pull-in travel processing to the transport vehicle V that is stopped in a non-working state (for example, the standby station STw1) (see Step # 15 and Step # 17). ) In the transport cart process in the processing cycle immediately after, a travel command is issued to the transport cart V in a non-working state stopped at a station upstream of the station that is in an empty state (for example, the standby station STw2). Therefore, when the transport carriage V in a non-working state stopped at the station (for example, the standby station STw1) starts the travel operation by the travel command based on the pull-in travel processing, it is abbreviated as the travel start of the transport carriage V. At the same time, a non-working state stopped at a station that is in an empty state (for example, standby station STw2) It is possible to start the traveling operation of the delivery truck V.

  For example, when a plurality of non-working transport carts V are on standby in the state shown in FIG. 5 (a), the transport cart V2 stopped at the standby station STw1 is caused by a travel command based on the pull-in travel processing. When starting the travel operation, the travel operation of the transport carriage V3 stopped at the standby station STw2 can be started substantially simultaneously with the start of travel of the transport carriage V2. The target station of the transport carriage V, which is the target of the pull-in travel process, is updated and set by the processes of Step # 6 to Step # 10 described later.

When the transport cart process is executed for the transport cart V that is the target of the eviction travel process, and when it is executed for the transport cart V that is the target of the pull-in travel process, Step # 6 to Step The update setting of the target station is performed by the process of # 10. That is, in step # 6, it is checked whether or not the deceleration point for the current target station (which is set in advance corresponding to each station) has been reached. If not, the next processing cycle is performed. It will be checked whether or not the deceleration point has been reached. That is, the processing target carriage continues the traveling operation as it is. If the deceleration point has been reached, in step # 7, it is checked whether the non-working transport carriage V or the working transport carriage V is stopped at a station downstream of the current target station. If so, in step # 9, the processing target carriage is stopped at the current target station. In addition, although the process of step # 9 is a process performed by the controller C for running control of the processing target carriage, it is described in accordance with the process flow of the central controller H for convenience of explanation.

  If the non-working transport carriage V or the working transport carriage V is not stopped at a station downstream of the current target station, the current target station is the receiving busy station STb (specifically, in step # 8). Specifically, it is checked whether or not it is the first receiving station ST1), and if applicable, in step # 9, the current target station, that is, the receiving busy station STb is stopped. If not, in step # 10, the current target station is updated and set to a station downstream from that station.

Then, by repeating the update setting of the target station, the processing target carriage that is running by the pull-in running process and the eviction running process is empty in the receiving busy station STb or the standby stations STw1, STw2,. among the stations, stations lowermost stream side, or, among the stations of empty one upstream of the station or stations upstream of the station of the station transport vehicle V working status is stopped , it can travel up to the station located at the bottom downstream.

  In this way, the target station is updated and set at the processing cycle that reaches the deceleration point with respect to the target station, so that the traveling speed of the processing target carriage that is running by the pull-in traveling process and the purge traveling process is not reduced as much as possible. Thus, the vehicle can travel to the receiving busy station STb or the downstream standby stations STw1, STw2,... In as short a time as possible after starting the traveling operation by the pull-in traveling process and the eviction traveling process.

  When the transport cart process is executed for the transport cart V that is the object of the article transport process, it is determined as Yes in Step # 2, and the process proceeds to Step # 11. In step # 11, if the reception completion information has not been received for the article to be transferred in the transfer instruction in the article transfer process related to the transfer carriage V, the process of step # 12 and the subsequent steps are not executed. The conveyance cart processing in the processing cycle is finished. Until the central controller H receives transfer completion information from the transport carriage V, in the transport carriage process, the process of step # 1 → step # 2 → step # 11 → return is repeated for the transport carriage V. When the central controller H executes the transfer carriage process for the transfer carriage V in the processing cycle after receiving the transfer completion information from the transfer carriage V, the process proceeds from step # 11 to step # 12.

  Note that when there is transfer completion information about the delivery work, the article transport process for the transport carriage V ends. Therefore, for such a transport carriage V, a new article transport process and an expulsion travel process are performed. Or, until the target station is set as the target of the pull-in traveling process, it is excluded from the target of the transport cart process, and the transport cart process is not executed for the transport cart V.

  In step # 12, the central controller H checks whether it is the processing timing immediately after instructing a travel command to the transport vehicle V based on the article transport processing for the transport vehicle V, and has not yet instructed the travel command. For example, in the transport cart process until the travel command is issued until the next processing cycle is checked, the transport cart V is processed in steps # 1 → step # 2 → step # 11 → step # 12 → return. Is repeated. And the process of step # 13 is performed in the first process cycle after instruct | indicating a driving | running | working command and the driving | running | working operation | movement of the conveyance trolley V is started.

  In step # 13, it is checked from which station the transport carriage V that has started the travel operation according to the travel command instructed in the article transport process has started the travel operation, and the station that has started the travel operation is the receiving busy station STb. If there is, the process of step # 14 is executed, and if it is another station, the process of step # 16 is executed.

  In step # 14, the transport carriage V in the non-working state is located in the station one upstream side of the receiving busy station STb where the transport carriage V that has started the travel operation based on the article transport processing is originally stopped, that is, in the standby station STw1. Whether it is stopped is checked. If it is stopped, the process of step # 15 is executed.

Even after instructing the travel command, after starting the pull-in travel processing of step # 15 in the transport cart processing at the first processing timing, the transport cart V in a new non-working state is a standby station. Even if the vehicle is located at STw1, the pull-in travel process for the transport carriage V newly stopped at the standby station STw1 is not executed depending on the transport carriage process for the same processing target carriage. In short, the pull-in travel process associated with the start of the travel operation based on the article transport process for the transport carriage V stopped at the receiving busy station STb is one upstream side when the travel operation based on the article transport process is started. This is executed for the non-working transport carriage V that is stopped at the station, that is, the standby station STw1, and is subsequently executed for the non-working transport carriage V that is stopped at the standby station STw1. It is not a thing.

  In step # 15, the transport carriage V stopped at the standby station STw1 adjacent to the upstream side of the reception busy station STb where the transport carriage V that has started the travel operation based on the article transport processing was originally stopped is changed to the reception busy station. In order to pull in to STb, a command for running the target station as the receiving busy station STb is instructed to the transport carriage V stopped at the standby station STw1, and the transport carriage V stopped at the standby station STw1 is pulled in. The execution of the running process is started.

  In this way, in the transport carriage processing in the processing cycle immediately after the central controller H commands the travel command for the transport carriage V of the receiving busy station STb, the travel command for the transport carriage V stopped at the standby station STw1. Therefore, both transport carriages V start to run substantially simultaneously.

  In step # 16, the transport carriage V that has started the traveling operation based on the article transport process is the station that was originally stopped, and one station upstream of the station other than the receiving busy station STb (for example, the third shipping station ST5). It is checked whether or not the non-working transport carriage V is stopped at this station (for example, the third storage station ST8), and if it is stopped, the process of step # 17 is executed. In addition, as for the case where the non-working transport carriage V is stopped at the third warehousing station ST8, in addition to the case where it is stopped at the process of Step # 9, the transfer of the article at the third warehousing station ST8 is performed. In some cases, the transport cart that has been loaded is stopped.

  In step # 17, a standby station (for example, for the third warehousing) adjacent to the upstream side of the station (for example, the third exit station ST5) where the transport carriage V that has started the traveling operation based on the article transport process was originally stopped. In order to draw the non-working transport carriage V stopped at the station ST8) into the empty station (for example, the third shipping station ST5), the station (for example, one upstream side of the empty station) (for example, In addition, a command for running the target station as a station that becomes an empty state (for example, the third exit station ST5) is instructed to the transport carriage V that is stopped at the third entry station ST8). Is stopped at one upstream station (for example, the third storage station ST8). It begins execution of the drawing driving process for conveying cart V.

  Even after the travel command is issued, after the pull-in travel process in step # 17 is started in the transport cart process at the initial processing timing, the new transport cart V in the non-working state is set in the start station. Even if it is located at one upstream station, the pull-in traveling process for the transport carriage V that has newly stopped at the station is not executed depending on the transport carriage process for the same processing target carriage. . In short, the pull-in travel process associated with the start of the travel operation based on the article transport process for the transport carriage V stopped at the receiving station that is not the reception busy station STb is the travel operation based on the article transport process for the transport cart V. It is executed for a non-working transport carriage V that is stopped at a station upstream from the start station at the time of start, and then stopped at a station upstream from the start station. This is not executed up to the non-working transport carriage V.

  Subsequent to step # 15 or step # 17, in step # 18, it is checked whether or not the deceleration point set corresponding to the target station for the article transport process has been reached. The processing target cart is stopped at the current target station. In addition, although the process of step # 19 is a process performed by the driving control controller C of the processing target carriage as in the process of step # 9, it is described in accordance with the processing contents of the central controller H for convenience of explanation. did.

  In this way, the central controller H issues a travel command for the transport cart V of the station (for example, the third shipping station ST5) that becomes empty when the transport cart V starts to travel based on the travel command based on the article transport processing. In the transport cart processing in the processing cycle immediately after the command, for the transport cart V in a non-working state stopped at one upstream station (for example, the third storage station ST8) of the empty station. Since the travel command is issued, the travel operation of the transport carriage V that is the target of the eviction travel processing is stopped when the transport carriage V is stopped at a station (for example, the third delivery station ST5) in the working state. Even if it stops at one upstream station (for example, the third storage station ST8), Substantially simultaneously feeding carriage V is as starts running operating at articles transported, it is possible to restart the running operation of the conveyance carriage V of the non-working state.

  In this way, in the transport cart process, the execution of the pull-in travel process is started for the non-working transport cart V that is stopped at the adjacent station on the upstream side. Can be set as a target of the transport cart process, and the transport cart V newly targeted for the transport cart process is step # 4 and step # 5 and steps # 6 to # 10 in the subsequent transport cart process. Are repeatedly executed, the downstream station where the other transport carriage V is not stopped among the receiving busy station STb and the plurality of standby stations STw1, STw2,. It is possible to travel to a station on the upstream side of the station where the transport cart V is stopped.

[Another embodiment]
Hereinafter, other embodiments are listed.

(1) In the above-described embodiment, as the receiving busy station STb that is the target of the preliminary traveling process, the station that is predicted to have the highest work frequency based on the latest transfer results is automatically selected from the receiving stations ST1 to ST5. However, a station that is predicted to have the highest work frequency among the receiving stations ST1 to ST5 may be set in advance as the receiving busy station STb.

(2) In the above embodiment, as the receiving busy station STb that is the target of the preliminary traveling process, the station that is predicted to have the highest work frequency based on the latest transfer results is automatically selected from the receiving stations ST1 to ST5. However, if there are a large number of receiving stations and it is predicted that the work frequency is high for a plurality of receiving stations, the receiving busy station STb The preliminary traveling process may be executed for a plurality of warehousing stations.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, as the receiving busy station STb that is the target of the preliminary traveling process, the station that is predicted to have the highest work frequency based on the latest transfer results is automatically selected from the receiving stations ST1 to ST5. In the case where there are multiple receiving stations concentrated in a part of the travel route, such as those set in a state where a large number of receiving stations are adjacent to each other, Of the large number of warehousing stations, the warehousing station located on the most upstream side in the traveling direction of the transport carriage V may be set as the receiving busy station STb.

(4) In the above embodiment, when the receiving busy station STb that is the target of the preliminary traveling process is the first arrival station ST1, the standby stations STw1, STw2,... Are the first arrival station ST1 and the fourth shipment. Although the example set up during the station ST12 is illustrated, when the receiving busy station STb is another station, the standby stations STw1, STw2,... Are set at positions corresponding to the positions of the receiving busy station STb. Is done.

(5) The standby stations STw1, STw2,... Set corresponding to the reception busy station STb are the intervals between the reception busy station STb and the reception station or delivery station adjacent to the reception busy station STb on the upstream side. Is shorter, the standby station STw1 may be set at a position overlapping with other stations, for example, so as to overlap with the adjacent station.

(6) In the above-described embodiment, when the central controller H travels the transport carriage V stopped at the first receiving station ST1 by the article transporting process in the preliminary traveling process, the central controller H is adjacent to the first receiving station ST1. The transport cart V stopped at the standby stop position STw1 is configured to start traveling at the same time as the transport cart V stopped at the first receiving station ST1 and to travel to the first receiving station ST1. However, instead of this, in the preliminary traveling process, when the central controller H travels the transport carriage V stopped at the first arrival station ST1 by the article transport process, the central controller H The transport cart V stopped at the standby stop position STw1 adjacent to the first receiving station ST1 is moved to the first receiving station ST1. The travel of the transport carriage V stopped at the standby stop position STw1 is started after a predetermined time has elapsed since the travel of the transport carriage V stopped at the stop ST1 is started. May be.

  When the explanation is added using FIG. 5, first, the traveling operation of the transport carriage V2 is started, and after the transport carriage V2 stops at the receiving busy station STb, the standby station STw2 which is in an empty state is transferred to the standby station STw2. The transport carts V3 are sequentially traveled such that the transport cart V3 stopped at step S3 is traveled.

  In the spontaneous running process, a running command is issued with the station one downstream from the receiving station (excluding the receiving busy station STb) that performed the transfer operation for delivery, and then Similar to the control of the transport carriage V that is the target of the transport carriage control by the eviction driving process of the embodiment, the processing of steps # 6 to # 10 in FIG. 6 is executed.

( 8 ) In the above embodiment, the central controller H determines whether or not to update the target station for the eviction driving process (step # 7 and step # 8 in FIG. 6). An example is given in which the decrease in the traveling speed of the transport carriage V is prevented as much as possible when the target station is renewed at the time when it is located at the deceleration point of the vehicle. It is configured to determine whether or not to update the target station after stopping the transport carriage V at the target station by the traveling process, and to update the target station for the eviction traveling process. Also good.

( 9 ) In the above embodiment, the plurality of moving bodies provided with the four moving bodies from the transport carriages V1 to V4 are exemplified. However, the plurality of moving bodies include four or less moving bodies or five or more moving bodies. It may be provided.

Schematic diagram of goods transport equipment Control block diagram of goods transport equipment Illustration of pull-in operation Explanatory drawing of pre-packing operation Diagram explaining state change due to chain of pull-in operations Flowchart explaining processing contents of conveyance cart processing Flowchart explaining processing contents of conveyance cart processing

Explanation of symbols

H Control means V Moving body L Travel path ST1 to ST5 Article receiving stop position ST6 to ST12 Article delivering stop position STb Article receiving stop position STw1 to STw3 that is predicted to have the highest work frequency Standby stop position STw1 most downstream Standby stop position located on the side

Claims (6)

A plurality of article transporting bodies capable of traveling in one direction along an annular traveling path passing through a plurality of article receiving stop positions and an article delivery stopping position;
Control means for executing an article conveying process for controlling the traveling of the plurality of moving bodies so as to cause the plurality of moving bodies to travel to the article receiving stop position and the article delivery stopping position based on the conveyance work information. An article transport facility provided,
The control means is
After the execution of the article transport process for the mobile body is completed, the mobile body is set as a non-working mobile body until the other mobile body needs to be driven out. When stopping the moving body in the non-working state in order to stop at the article delivery stop position and drive the other moving body, the non-working moving body is moved to the plurality of article receiving bodies. It is configured to execute an eviction running process in which the cruising running is performed with the stop position downstream of the target stop position of the other moving body as the target stop position among the stop position and the article delivery stop position,
The control means is
If the other moving body is not stopped at the stop position downstream of the target stop position in the eviction driving process, the article receiving stop position or the article delivery stop position downstream of the target stop position. Is updated to a new target stop position, and if the stop position downstream of the target stop position is a preset specific article receiving stop position among the plurality of article receiving stop positions, the target stop position is set. Configured to not update,
The control means is
Wherein the eviction running process, when the other mobile in the specific article receiving a stop position is not stopped, the moving body of the non-working state is run on that particular article receiving a stop position, and, the specific article When the other moving body is stopped at the receiving stop position, the traveling of the moving body in the non-working state is controlled so as to travel to the standby stop position set in front of the specific article receiving stop position. Configured to perform a pre-run process ,
The control means is
An article configured to execute the preliminary traveling process with the article receiving stop position predicted to have the highest work frequency among the plurality of article receiving stop positions as the specific article receiving stop position . Transport equipment. A plurality of article transporting bodies capable of traveling in one direction along an annular traveling path passing through a plurality of article receiving stop positions and an article delivery stopping position;
Control means for executing an article conveying process for controlling the traveling of the plurality of moving bodies so as to cause the plurality of moving bodies to travel to the article receiving stop position and the article delivery stopping position based on the conveyance work information. An article transport facility provided,
The control means is
After the execution of the article transport process for the mobile body is completed, the mobile body is set as a non-working mobile body until the other mobile body needs to be driven out. When stopping the moving body in the non-working state in order to stop at the article delivery stop position and drive the other moving body, the non-working moving body is moved to the plurality of article receiving bodies. It is configured to execute an eviction running process in which the cruising running is performed with the stop position downstream of the target stop position of the other moving body as the target stop position among the stop position and the article delivery stop position,
The control means is
If the other moving body is not stopped at the stop position downstream of the target stop position in the eviction driving process, the article receiving stop position or the article delivery stop position downstream of the target stop position. Is updated to a new target stop position, and if the stop position downstream of the target stop position is a preset specific article receiving stop position among the plurality of article receiving stop positions, the target stop position is set. Configured to not update,
The control means is
In the eviction driving process, when no other moving body is stopped at the specific article receiving stop position, the non-working moving body is driven to the specific article receiving stop position and the specific article is received. When the other moving body is stopped at the receiving stop position, the traveling of the moving body in the non-working state is controlled so as to travel to the standby stop position set in front of the specific article receiving stop position. Configured to perform a pre-run process,
The control means is
Examples article receiving a stop position, if those expected it is often the working frequency there are a plurality and the plurality of the article receiving for the stop position and the specific article receiving a stop position location, the preliminary travel object article transport facility that is configured to perform processing. A plurality of article transporting bodies capable of traveling in one direction along an annular traveling path passing through a plurality of article receiving stop positions and an article delivery stopping position;
Control means for executing an article conveying process for controlling the traveling of the plurality of moving bodies so as to cause the plurality of moving bodies to travel to the article receiving stop position and the article delivery stopping position based on the conveyance work information. An article transport facility provided,
The control means is
After the execution of the article transport process for the mobile body is completed, the mobile body is set as a non-working mobile body until the other mobile body needs to be driven out. When stopping the moving body in the non-working state in order to stop at the article delivery stop position and drive the other moving body, the non-working moving body is moved to the plurality of article receiving bodies. It is configured to execute an eviction running process in which the cruising running is performed with the stop position downstream of the target stop position of the other moving body as the target stop position among the stop position and the article delivery stop position,
The control means is
If the other moving body is not stopped at the stop position downstream of the target stop position in the eviction driving process, the article receiving stop position or the article delivery stop position downstream of the target stop position. Is updated to a new target stop position, and if the stop position downstream of the target stop position is a preset specific article receiving stop position among the plurality of article receiving stop positions, the target stop position is set. Configured to not update,
The control means is
In the eviction driving process, when no other moving body is stopped at the specific article receiving stop position, the non-working moving body is driven to the specific article receiving stop position and the specific article is received. When the other moving body is stopped at the receiving stop position, the traveling of the moving body in the non-working state is controlled so as to travel to the standby stop position set in front of the specific article receiving stop position. Configured to perform a pre-run process,
The control means is
When there are a plurality of the article receiving stop positions concentrated in a part of the travel route , among the article receiving stop positions, the article receiving stop located at the most upstream side in the moving body traveling direction. the stop position and from the specific article receiving a stop position, configured to have that object article transport facility to perform said preliminary travel process. The control means is
As the preliminary traveling process, when the moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position is caused to travel by the article conveying process, it is stopped at the standby stop position adjacent to the article receiving stop position. article transport facility according to the mobile in any one of the article receiving a stop position claims that are configured so that is run on 1-3. The control means is
As the preliminary travel processing, among the plurality of standby stop positions set in a line in the route direction of the travel route, the vehicle travels in preference to the standby stop position located on the most downstream side in the moving body travel direction, and these sometimes other mobile in any of a plurality of stand-stop position is stopped, so as to line run to the standby stop position adjacent to the standby stop position at which the moving body is stopped, the non-working state The article conveyance facility according to claim 1, wherein the article conveyance facility is configured to control traveling of the moving body . The control means is
As the preliminary traveling process, when the moving body stopped at the article receiving stop position is caused to travel by the article transporting process, the plurality of standby stop positions adjacent to the article receiving stop position are adjacent to each other. The mobile body stopped at the standby stop position is caused to travel to the article receiving stop position, and the plurality of mobile bodies stopped at the standby stop position are sequentially driven to the standby stop positions that are empty. on, the article transport facility according to claim 5, wherein being configured to control the travel of the moving body of the non-working state.

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