JP6254888B2 - Automatic warehouse - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic warehouse, and more particularly to an automatic warehouse that can be quickly recovered from damage caused by an earthquake.

  Due to the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, many automated warehouses, mainly in the North Kanto and Tohoku regions, stopped functioning. There have been few cases where the hardware of the automatic warehouse itself has been damaged, such as rack damage, derailment of the stacker crane, etc., and there were many cases where the stacker crane could not run due to the luggage falling from the rack.

Because the automatic warehouse function stopped, the Great East Japan Earthquake,
・ Materials necessary for recovery from the earthquake disaster cannot be taken out from the automated warehouse.
・ Since the raw materials, parts, etc. cannot be taken out from the automatic warehouse, the factory operation will be suspended.
・ Because daily necessities cannot be taken out from the automatic warehouse, it was not possible to deliver them to consumers. Therefore, it is necessary to make it possible to restore the automated warehouse at an early stage against such a large-scale earthquake in the future.

  Through the restoration work from the earthquake, the inventor realized that restoring the function of the stacker crane is the key to restoration. In other words, when the function of the stacker crane is restored, it is possible not only to take out necessary items but also to organize the high-rise rack packages without relying on human hands. For this purpose, it is necessary not only to prevent damage to the stacker crane, but also to prevent the detected object detected by the stacker crane from being damaged. Some automatic warehouses are provided with dogs for running control of the stacker crane, or barcodes with various information are provided, and further, a magnet row etc. is provided for reading by the linear sensor of the stacker crane. is there. These are called detected objects, and if the detected objects are damaged, the stacker crane becomes difficult to travel.

  Here is related prior art. In Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-156634), a power supply trolley is disposed on the ceiling side of an automatic warehouse, and power is supplied by bringing a current collector at the upper end of the stacker crane into contact with the power supply trolley. In Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-36453), the power supply trolley is provided near the floor of an automatic warehouse, and a cover is provided above the power supply trolley to protect the power supply trolley from falling objects. In Patent Document 3 (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 05-37719), a protective net is attached to the back of the rack to prevent the luggage from falling.

JP 06-156634 JP 2006-36453 Real Kaihei 05-37719

  An object of the present invention is to make it possible to quickly restore an automatic warehouse after an earthquake by preventing a detected object detected by a stacker crane from being damaged by an earthquake and subsequent restoration work.

The present invention is an automatic warehouse comprising a rack provided with multi-stage multiple openings for storing luggage, a stacker crane that travels along the rack, a lower rail and an upper rail for traveling the stacker crane, The rail is provided along the uppermost part of the rack, and the detection target detected by the stacker crane is arranged along the upper rail . The detected object is a dog, bar code, magnet row, or the like for detection by a sensor provided in the stacker crane. Further, the stacker crane includes a sensor for detecting the detected object.

  In order for the stacker crane to travel, it is necessary to be able to detect the detected object. If the object to be detected is arranged near the lower rail, it may be damaged by an earthquake or a load dropped by a subsequent recovery operation. On the other hand, when the detected object is arranged along the upper rail, there is almost no possibility of being damaged by the falling luggage, and the stacker crane can be easily restored at an early stage. Therefore, it becomes easy to quickly restore the entire automatic warehouse.

  Preferably, a power supply member for supplying power to the stacker crane is provided along the upper rail. If it does in this way, the load which falls from a rack at the time of an earthquake and subsequent recovery will not collide with an electric supply member. In this way, damage to the power feeding member is prevented, and the recovery of the automatic warehouse is further facilitated. The power supply member includes a non-contact power supply line and the like in addition to the power supply trolley of the embodiment.

  In order to increase the storage capacity of the automatic warehouse, a pair of racks are provided on both sides of the upper rail and the lower rail along the horizontal direction. Then, the upper rail, the member to which the detected object is attached, and the power feeding member are attached in parallel to the horizontal beam that spans the pair of racks. If it does in this way, an electric power feeding member and a to-be-detected body can be easily attached to a predetermined position with respect to an upper rail, and also it can protect from falling objects by an earthquake etc.

In order to restore the automatic warehouse early, it is necessary to prevent damage to the fire extinguishing equipment composed of the sprinkler head and its piping. If the sprinkler is functioning, it can cope with a fire if it occurs between the earthquake and the completion of the restoration work. On the other hand, it is difficult to replace damaged pipes at high places and manually. When the rack is housed in the automatic warehouse building, it is necessary to dispose the sprinkler head and the water supply pipe in the space between the rack and the outer wall of the automatic warehouse building. In this case, the water supply pipe or the sprinkler head may be damaged by the load falling from the back side of the rack. Therefore, in this invention, a member for protecting the water supply pipe and the sprinkler head from the luggage falling, it will install the rear side of the rack at a position above the water supply pipe. The protective member is, for example, a net such as a wire mesh, or an iron plate such as a steel plate. If it does in this way, the sprinkler head and water supply pipe between the back of a rack and the building of an automatic warehouse can be protected.

Generally, a water supply pipe and a sprinkler head are also provided inside the rack, and a horizontal barrier is provided so as to divide the rack in the height direction in order to prevent the spread of fire in the rack. The horizontal barrier is generally a refractory member such as a corrugated iron plate, which has fire resistance but low impact resistance. Therefore, in this invention, a member for protecting the water supply pipe and the sprinkler head of the rack inside the luggage falling, separately from the horizontal barrier for preventing fire, put up in the rack. The protective member is preferably a net such as a wire mesh or an iron plate. If it does in this way, the fire extinguishing equipment in a rack can be protected from an earthquake etc.

Top view of the automated warehouse in the example Side view of stacker crane and rack in the automated warehouse of the embodiment Top view of the main part of the ceiling in the automated warehouse of the example Front view of the main part of the ceiling in the automated warehouse of the example The main part perspective view of the back of the rack in the automatic warehouse of the embodiment Main part top view which shows protection of sprinkler in the automatic warehouse of an Example

  In the following, an optimum embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be shown. The scope of the present invention should be determined according to the understanding of those skilled in the art based on the description of the scope of the claims, taking into account the description of the specification and well-known techniques in this field.

  The automatic warehouse 2 of an Example is shown in FIGS. The automatic warehouse 2 includes, for example, a plurality of rows of racks 4, and front openings 6 are two-dimensionally arranged in each rack 4 along the height direction and the horizontal direction. The frontage 6 is an individual space for storing luggage. Reference numeral 8 denotes a station, which is a place for loading and unloading luggage, for example, a conveyor is provided. Reference numeral 10 denotes a stacker crane, which is provided with an elevator 28 shown in FIG. 2, for example, travels between a pair of racks 4, 4, and 12 is a lower travel rail, which is a rail on which the stacker crane 10 travels.

  For example, the track 14 of the tracked carriage 16 is provided so as to be connected to the station 8. The tracked carriage 16 conveys the cargo between the station 8 and the long distance conveyor 18, and the long distance conveyor 18 conveys the cargo between a track berth and the like (not shown). The track 14, the tracked carriage 16 and the long-distance conveyor 18 need not be provided. The automatic warehouse 2 only needs to have at least one rack 4, at least one station 8, and at least one stacker crane 10, and has a large scale like the automatic warehouse 2 of the embodiment. Need not be.

  The address of the frontage 6 is determined by a row, a ream, and a step. As shown in FIG. 1, the ream represents a position along the direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rack 4 in a frontage unit, and the row is a horizontal plane. The position in the direction perpendicular to the inside is represented by frontage units, and the row is also the number of the rack 4.

  The automatic warehouse 2 is controlled by the ground controller 20. In particular, the stacker crane 10, the station 8, the tracked carriage 16, and the long-distance conveyor 18 are controlled by the ground controller 20. A receiving unit 22 receives earthquake early warnings such as emergency earthquake early warnings via the Internet or the like. The Earthquake Early Warning is an earthquake bulletin provided by the Japan Meteorological Agency, which notifies the remaining time until the mainshock arrives. The ground controller 20 is connected to another controller such as the host controller 24, requested to load / unload the cargo, generates a transport command in response thereto, and controls the stacker crane 10 and the like. Further, when receiving the earthquake early warning, the ground controller 20 raises the stacker crane elevator to the height facing the top of the rack 4 to protect the elevator from falling luggage.

  FIG. 2 shows a side view of the rack 4 and the stacker crane 10. The stacker crane 10 includes a lower carriage 26 and travels along the lower travel rail 12. For example, the stacker crane 10 is supported by a pair of masts 30 and 30, and the lifting platform 28 moves up and down. Reference numeral 33 denotes a travel motor that causes the lower carriage 26 to travel, and reference numeral 34 denotes a lift motor that lifts the lift base 28. Further, an upper carriage 32 is provided at the upper ends of the masts 30, 30 and travels along an upper rail 36 provided along the uppermost portion of the rack 4. W is a luggage. The feeder line to the stacker crane 10 is preferably arranged along the upper rail 36 to prevent damage from falling luggage. A shelf holder 42 is fixed to the column 40 of the rack 4, and the luggage W is supported by a pair of left and right shelf holders 42, 42. In addition, the step indicates the position of the frontage 6 in the height direction in frontage units, and the uppermost frontage is indicated by reference numeral 7.

  3 and 4 show the protection of the detected object and the power feeding member. The upper rail 36 is disposed, for example, between a pair of left and right racks 4 and 4, and the front surface of the racks 4 and 4 is indicated by a chain line in FIG. The left and right pair of racks 4, 4 are the same as the lower traveling rail 12, and the space between the racks 4, 4 is the traveling space 48 of the stacker crane 10. In the ceiling portion of the automatic warehouse 2, a plurality of horizontal beams 50 are provided so as to span a pair of left and right racks 4, 4, and are coupled to the column 40 of the rack 4. A beam 56 to which the upper rail 36, the feeding trolley 54, and the detection object 57 are attached is attached to the horizontal beam 50 in parallel with each other with the upper rail 36 at the center. When the rack 4 is provided only on one of the left and right sides of the rails 12 and 36, for example, the horizontal beam 50 is projected from the rack 4 side, and the upper rail 36, the power supply trolley 54, and the beam 56 are attached.

  The upper rail 36 is made of, for example, L-shaped steel and may be H-shaped steel or the like, and guides the guide rollers 58 and 58 of the upper carriage 32 of the stacker crane 10. The upper carriage 32 may be provided with a traveling motor and traveling wheels, and the tread of the traveling wheels may be provided on the upper rail 36. The power supply trolley 54 includes a plurality of power supply lines (not shown), and the collector 64 of the upper carriage slides while contacting the power supply lines. Further, a non-contact power supply line may be provided instead of the power supply trolley 54 to supply power to the upper carriage 32 in a non-contact manner. The detected object 57 is a travel control dog, bar code, or magnet array for detecting the position of the stacker crane 10. For example, when the detected object 57 is a dog, the light emitting unit 60 and the detection unit 62 detect the dog.

  Since the power supply trolley 54, the beam 56, and the detected object 57 are provided in the vicinity of the ceiling of the automatic warehouse at the top of the rack, there is little possibility that they will be damaged by the falling luggage. Further, since the power supply trolley 54 and the beam 56 are supported by the horizontal beam 50 and are arranged in parallel with the upper rail 36, it is easy to receive power by the stacker crane 10 and to detect the detected object 57.

  5 and 6 show the protection of the sprinkler. In the case of the automatic warehouse 2 as shown in FIG. 1, the building of the automatic warehouse 2 is provided separately from the rack 4 to accommodate the rack 4. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, a sprinkler facility is required in the space between the back surface of the rack 4 and the outer wall 68 of the building. Therefore, a horizontal branch pipe 70 is fixed to a support 40 on the back side of the rack by an attachment member 71, connected to a sprinkler head 72, and water is supplied from a vertical pipe (not shown). Although the vertical pipe is unlikely to be damaged by the falling luggage, the branch pipe 70 and the sprinkler head 72 may be damaged by the falling luggage. The branch pipe 70 may be supported by being suspended from the attachment member 71.

  A protective member such as a welded wire mesh 74 is provided on and over the branch pipe 70 and the sprinkler head 72. The protective member may be a synthetic fiber net, an iron plate or the like instead of the welded wire mesh 74, and the type of the protective member is determined according to the weight of the luggage to be stored. A protective member such as a welded wire mesh 74 is fixed between the receiving member 76 and the pressing plate 77, the receiving member 76 is supported by the diagonal member 78, and fixed to the column 40 by, for example, the plate 79 and the U bolt 80. A protection member such as a welded wire mesh 74 is supported by a column on the back side of the rack, and the branch pipe 70 and the sprinkler head 72 are shielded so that they can be protected from falling luggage.

  The automatic warehouse is also equipped with a fire extinguishing equipment in the rack 4 and it is necessary to protect it from falling luggage. FIG. 6 shows the horizontal cross section of the rack 4 without the surface brace. A pair of racks 4 and 4 are arranged back-to-back with the chain line in FIG. 6 as the center, and the column 4 of the rack 4 is provided with a thinner column 82 in addition to the column 40. It is not necessary to provide two types of thick and thin pillars, and the thickness may be unified into one type. The rack 4 is provided with a horizontal barrier 84 for preventing the spread of fire every predetermined number of stages, and FIG. 6 shows the horizontal barrier 84 with a part thereof removed.

  For example, a vertical pipe 86 is disposed between the thin columns 82 and 82, and water is supplied to the sprinkler head 72 via the branch pipes 87 and 88. What needs to be protected is the branch pipes 87 and 88 and the sprinkler head 72, and these upper parts are covered with a protective member such as an iron plate 90 or 92. 94 is a horizontal construction surface brace, and 95 to 97 are horizontal connecting members. A horizontal barrier 84 and iron plates 90 and 92 are attached to and supported by screws, clips and the like. The protective member is not limited to an iron plate, and may be a wire net or a synthetic fiber net. Moreover, the attachment method of protection members, such as the iron plates 90 and 92, is arbitrary.

2 Automatic warehouse 4 Rack 6 Frontage 7 Topmost frontage 8 Station 10 Stacker crane 12 Lower traveling rail 14 Track 16 Tracked carriage 18 Long-distance conveyor 20 Ground controller 22 Receiver 24 Upper controller 26 Lower carriage 28 Lifting base 30 Mast 32 Upper part Carriage 33 Traveling motor 34 Elevating motor 36 Upper rail 40 Strut 42 Shelf support 48 Traveling space 50 Horizontal beam 54 Feeding trolley (feeding member)
56 beam (member with the object to be detected)
57 object to be detected 58 guide roller 60 light emitting part 62 detecting part 64 current collector 68 outer wall 70 branch pipe (water supply pipe)
71 Mounting member 72 Sprinkler head 74 Welded wire mesh (protecting member)
76 Receiving material 77 Holding plate 78 Diagonal material 79 Plate 80 U bolt 82 Post 84 Horizontal barrier 86 Vertical pipe 87,88 Branch pipe (water supply pipe)
90,92 Iron plate (member to protect)
94 Horizontal construction brace 95-97 Horizontal tether

Claims (3)

An automatic warehouse comprising a rack having a multistage and multi-stage frontage for storing luggage, a stacker crane that travels along the rack, a lower rail and an upper rail for traveling the stacker crane,
The upper rail is provided along the uppermost part of the rack, and the detected object detected by the stacker crane is arranged along the upper rail ,
A water supply pipe and a sprinkler head are provided on the rear side of the rack between the outer wall of the automatic warehouse and the rack, and a member for protecting the water supply pipe and the sprinkler head from the falling luggage is provided at the position above the water supply pipe. Attached to the back side of
A water supply pipe and sprinkler head are also provided inside the rack, and a member that protects the water supply pipe and sprinkler head inside the rack from falling luggage is attached to the rack separately from the horizontal barrier for preventing fire spread. automated warehouse, characterized in that is.   2. The automatic warehouse according to claim 1, wherein a power supply member for supplying power to the stacker crane is provided along the upper rail. A pair of racks are provided on both sides of the upper and lower rails along the horizontal direction.
The automatic warehouse according to claim 2, wherein an upper rail, a member to which a detection object is attached, and a power feeding member are attached in parallel to a horizontal beam that spans the pair of racks.

Images