JP6552432B2 - Towed truck - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a truck driven by an automated guided vehicle, and in particular to a truck characterized by its connection and disconnection structure.

In today's factory, a transport system is used in which a guided vehicle pulls and transports a truck carrying parts, etc., to a predetermined target position, and the pulled truck is separated at the target position. It is also performed to be connected to a carriage loaded with empty goods or processed parts to be held and transported to the next predetermined position.
As a connection structure between the automatic guided vehicle and the carriage, there is an art in which the automatic guided vehicle is connected to the bottom of the carriage. For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-135905, an engagement hole is provided in the bottom wall of the carriage. A configuration is shown in which a pin is installed on the upper surface of the automatic guided vehicle entering the lower side of the bottom wall, and the automatic guided vehicle pulls the carriage by connecting the pin by engaging the pin with the engagement hole. ing.

JP-A-4-135905

  However, in the above conventional connection structure, when disconnecting the connection after pulling the carriage to the target position, it is necessary to lower the pin of the automatic guided vehicle and to remove it from the engagement hole of the carriage. Further, when connecting the automatic guided vehicle to the next new carriage, the pin has to be raised in the reverse direction, so that there is a problem that it takes time to connect and disconnect.

  Therefore, in view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a towed truck that is automatically connected to or disconnected from the automatic guided vehicle at the stand-by position of the carriage and that does not require an operation for that purpose.

To this end, the invention is a truck towed by an unmanned transport vehicle entering under a loading platform, comprising:
It has a connection plate provided at the front part in the traveling direction and a connection release member provided at the rear part in the traveling direction,
The connecting plate has a pivot shaft at the rear end, and the front end side is pivotable up and down, and engages with a pin protruding upward from the automatic guided vehicle,
The connection release member includes a slope extending rearward and downward,
The connection plate is disengaged from the pin when the connection plate rides on the slope of the connection release member of another carriage and rotates.

  According to the present invention, when the automatic guided vehicle that has pulled the cart arrives at the target position where the next new cart is waiting, the coupling plate of the cart that has been pulled is connected to the new cart when the new cart is coupled. Since it rides on the slope of the connection release member provided at the rear and is released from the engagement with the pin of the automatic guided vehicle, the connection is released without operating the pin of the automatic guided vehicle. Then, the automatic guided vehicle can directly enter under the loading platform of the new carriage ahead, and the time required for the conveyance work can be shortened.

It is a figure which shows embodiment. It is a bottom view which shows the bottom wall part of a trolley | bogie. It is explanatory drawing which shows the height relationship between a trolley | bogie and an unmanned transfer vehicle. It is an enlarged view which shows a connection apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the connection process of a trolley | bogie and an automatic guided vehicle. It is explanatory drawing which shows the isolation | separation process of a trolley | bogie and an automatic guided vehicle.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cart and an automatic guided vehicle according to an embodiment as viewed from the front, FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the cart, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a height relationship between the cart and the automatic guided vehicle. It is shown in partial cross section.
Here, the towing direction of the automatic guided vehicle is the front.
The cart 10 extends side walls 13, 13 extending downward from the bottom wall 12 of the loading platform 11 in the front-rear direction, and includes casters 16 around the lower edge of each side wall 13. A tunnel T extending to is formed.
The automatic guided vehicle 1 includes all four wheels (wheels 6), and the pins 4 are vertically raised from the flat upper wall 3 of the vehicle body 2. The pin 4 is located at the center in the width direction of the vehicle body 2.
In particular, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper wall 3 has a maximum ground height that does not interfere with the bottom wall 12 of the carriage 10 including the pin 4, and the upper end of the pin 4 further has a rod 18 of a connection release member 17 described later. The gap h1 is set lower than the tip of (see FIG. 6), and the gap h2 is also provided between the connecting device 20 described later.
Thereby, the unmanned transfer vehicle 1 can enter under the bottom wall 12 of the truck 10, that is, in the tunnel T.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 2, the bottom wall 12 of the carriage 10 is provided with a connecting device 20 at the center in the width direction at the front end of the bottom surface, and a connection release member 17 is provided at the center in the width direction at the rear end of the carriage 10. It is done.
A guide plate 15 is provided on the lower surface of the bottom wall 12 so as to narrow toward the front coupling device 20 from the rear end, and guides the pin 4 of the automated guided vehicle 1 to the coupling device 20.
In FIG. 2, the caster 16 is omitted. In FIG. 3, the guide plate 15 is omitted.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing the coupling device 20, where (a) is a plan view and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in (a).
The connecting device 20 has a bracket 21 bolted to the bottom wall 12, a connecting plate 30 supported by the bracket 21 and receiving the pin 4 of the automated guided vehicle 1, and preventing the pin 4 from coming off on the connecting plate 30. It consists of a retaining mechanism 40 and a release portion 35 provided integrally with the connecting plate 30.

The bracket 21 includes an attachment portion 22 to the bottom wall 12 and a support portion 23 extending downward from the attachment portion 22, and has a shaft hole 24 in the support portion 23.
The connecting plate 30 has a flange 31 at the side of its rear end and integrally has a shaft 32 extending outward from the flange 31. The shaft 32 is supported by the shaft hole 24 of the bracket 21 and is rotatable. It has become.
In order to hold the connection plate 30 horizontally (parallel to the bottom wall 12) in a free state, the bracket 21 is provided with a stopper 25 that abuts on the upper edge of the flange 31 of the connection plate 30.

The connection plate 30 has a predetermined gap between the lower surface thereof and the upper wall 3 of the automatic guided vehicle 1 and is set at a height capable of engaging with the pin 4 while being held horizontally.
A slit 33 which is open at the rear end and extends to the vicinity of the front end so that the pin 4 can slide is provided at the center in the width direction of the connection plate 30. The rear end opening of the slit 33 is chamfered (33a).
The guide plate 15 of the bottom wall 12 described above guides the pin 4 of the automated guided vehicle 1 to the rear end opening of the slit 33.

The retaining mechanism 40 includes lever members 41 and 41 and a spring 43 for urging the lever member 41 to rotate.
The lever members 41, 41 are opposed to each other across the slit 33 in the front half of the connection plate 30, and are disposed rotatably around the lever support shaft 42 at their rear end portions.
The spring 43 is a tension spring. One end of the spring 43 is engaged with a support leg 44 provided on the lever member 41, and the other end is engaged with a support leg 45 provided on the connecting plate 30. Positioned on the side, the lever members 41 are always urged in the direction in which the tips of the lever members 41 approach each other.
As a result, the lever members 41, 41 advance into the slit 33, contact each other at the corners of the respective front ends, and the slit 33 is closed. The lever member 41 is rectangular, and in particular, the front end edge 41a is straight, and the angle α between the front end edges 41a and 41a is 90 ° or more.
On the connecting plate 30, a restriction block 46 is provided that defines the rotation limit of each lever member 41 so that both lever members 41 abut within the width of the slit 33.

  The slit 33 extends forward from the contact portion of both lever members 41, and the front region of the slit 33 becomes a holding portion R that engages with the pin 4 of the automatic guided vehicle 1 as will be described later. The front edge 33 b of the slit 33 is a semicircular arc corresponding to the cross section of the pin 4.

As shown in FIG. 4, the release portion 35 connects the upper edges of the side walls 36 raised from the front end portion of the connecting plate 30 with a top wall 37 to form a gate, and a round bar 38 extending in the width direction is connected to the top wall. The front edge of 37 is fixed by welding or the like. The round bar 38 becomes the foremost end of the connecting plate 30 over the entire width.
In particular, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the coupling device 20 is installed such that the release portion 35 protrudes forward from the front end wall 14 of the carriage 10.

The connection release member 17 has a rod 18 which is held by the bracket 19 from the height of the bottom wall 12 at the rear end of the carriage 10 and extends rearward and downward to form a slope S. The tip of the rod 18 is set higher than the upper end of the pin 4 of the automatic guided vehicle 1 and is a position lower by a predetermined amount than the round bar 38 of the release portion 35 in the horizontal state of the connecting plate 30 at the front end of the carriage 10. It is set as follows.
Thus, when the two carriages 10 are arranged in series, the rod 18 of the front carriage 10 scoops up the round bar 38 of the release portion 35 of the rear carriage 10 as they approach each other, and the rear carriage 10 The connecting plate 30 is rotated.
The pin 4 of the automated guided vehicle 1 is released from the holding portion R of the slit 33 when the connecting plate 30 is rotated and the front end is raised.
Since the round bar 38 rides on the rod 18, the height of the top wall 37 to which the round bar 38 is fixed is set higher than the tip of the rod 18.

Hereinafter, the process of connecting and disconnecting the AGV 1 and the truck having the above-described configuration will be described.
When connecting first, the unmanned transfer vehicle 1 is made to enter the tunnel T from the rear of the truck 10 a in the traveling direction. Since the pin 4 of the automated guided vehicle 1 is set lower than the tip of the rod 18 of the connection release member 17, it enters without any obstacle.
In the tunnel T, the pin is guided to the slit 33 of the connecting plate 30 in the connecting device 20 by the guide plate 15 of the bottom wall 12 as the automatic guided vehicle 1 advances.

In the connecting device 20, as shown in (a) of FIG. 5, the pin moves forward in the slit 33 and reaches the installation position of the lever member 41, as shown in (b), against the spring 43. Both lever members 41 are pushed open to pass, and then reach the holding portion R as shown in (c). Once the pin 4 has entered the holding portion R, the force that pushes the front end edge 41a of the lever member 41 acts in the direction of closing the slit 33, so that it cannot come out.
In this way, the cart 10 a is connected to the automatic guided vehicle 1 and pulled by the advance of the automatic guided vehicle 1.

When the next new carriage 10b arrives at the standby target position, the separation is performed.
Here, as shown in FIG. 6A, the unmanned transfer vehicle 1 enters the tunnel of a new truck 10b from the rear while the truck 10a being pulled is connected.
Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), the round bar 38 of the release portion 35 of the carriage 10a is scooped up to the rod 18 at the rear end of the front carriage 10b as the traveling proceeds, and the connecting plate 30 of the carriage 10a is moved forward. Rotate upwards.

Thereby, since the pin 4 of the automatic guided vehicle 1 is released from the holding portion R of the slit 33, the carriage 10a is cut off and stops at the current position.
Here, since the release portion 35 (the top wall 37) that rides on the slope S of the rod 18 and is scooped is offset to a high position from the slit 33 formation surface of the connecting plate 30, the holding portion R is near the front end of the connecting plate 30. The pin 4 can be easily released from the holding portion R of the slit 33 at a relatively small rotation angle of the connection plate 30.
After that, the unmanned transfer vehicle 1 repeats the process of FIG. 5 by continuing to move forward as it is automatically connected to the new carriage 10b, so that it can shift to new traction.

  Even when the next carriage is not waiting at the target position and the round bar 38 of the release portion 35 is not scooped up by the rod 18, the release portion 35 projects forward from the front end wall 14, so the release portion The connecting plate 30 can be rotated by placing the hand on the 35 (the top wall 37) and lifting it so as to be released from the engagement with the pin and separated.

In the present embodiment, the shaft 32 corresponds to the turning shaft in the invention, and the round bar 38 corresponds to the slope contact portion.
The retaining mechanism 40 corresponds to retaining means.

The embodiment is configured as described above, and the carriage 10 to be pulled by the automatic guided vehicle 1 entering under the loading platform 11 is provided at the connection plate 30 provided at the front part in the traveling direction and at the rear part in the traveling direction. The connection plate 30 has a shaft 32 at its rear end, the front end side is vertically rotatable, and engages with a pin 4 protruding upward from the upper wall 3 of the automatic guided vehicle. Since the rod 18 extending rearward and downward forms the slope S, the connection release member 17 is released from the engagement with the pin 4 when the connection plate 30 rides on the slope S and rotates. When the automatic guided vehicle 1 that has pulled the cart (10a) arrives at the target position where the next new cart (10b) is waiting, the coupling plate 30 of the cart that has been towed will be renewed when connecting to the new cart. On the slope S of the dolly connection release member 17 Ri is released from engagement with the pin 4 of the automatic guided vehicle 1 is raised, the carriage (10a) without operating the pin 4 connected to the automatic guided vehicle 1 is released. Then, the unmanned transfer vehicle 1 can go directly under the platform of the new carriage (10b) ahead, and the time required for the transfer operation can be shortened.
(Effect corresponding to claim 1)

Since the release portion 35 at the front end of the connection plate 30 projects forward from the front end wall 14 of the loading platform 11, the operator can easily release the engagement even when there is no other carriage at the target position. it can.
(Effects corresponding to claim 2)

The release portion 35 of the connection plate 30 is provided with the round bar 38 abutting on the slope S of the connection release member 17 at the front edge of the ceiling wall 37 set at a position higher than the upper end of the pin 4. The contact area is small, and the connection plate 30 is smoothly scooped up and rotated by the connection release member 17. And since it is offset to a high position, the holding | maintenance part R engaged with pin 4 can be closely approached to the front end vicinity of the connection plate 30, and the pin 4 can be easily hold | maintained by the comparatively small rotation angle of the connection plate 30. Be released from Part R.
Further, since the connection release member 17 only needs to have a height capable of coming into contact with the high position round bar 38, there is no possibility of interference with the pin 4 when the unmanned transfer vehicle 1 enters under the loading platform 11.
(Effect corresponding to claim 4)

The connecting plate 30 receives and engages the pin 4 with the holding portion R set at the closed end of the slit 33 which is open at the rear end and closed on the front side, and the pin 4 passes to the holding portion R Is provided with a retaining mechanism 40 that permits passage from the holding portion R to the rear, so that the automatic guided vehicle 1 enters under the loading platform 11 and slides the pin 4 from the rear end opening to the slit 33. In the case where the cart 10 is connected only by itself, and the automatic guided vehicle 1 is suddenly decelerated during towing, the pin 4 is not detached from the slit 33 by the retaining mechanism 40 and the connection is released and only the cart is moved forward. It is prevented from jumping out.
(Effect corresponding to claim 3)

In the embodiment, the connection plate 30 is held in the horizontal state by its own weight only by restricting the rear end of the connection plate 30 with the stopper 25, but in order to further secure the connection state during towing. For example, a spring may be provided around the shaft 32 so that the front end side of the connecting plate 30 is biased downward so as not to be danced by vibration.
Further, although the retaining mechanism 40 has two lever members 41, 41, it is possible to allow passage in one direction but prohibit passage in the opposite direction, even with only one lever member. Good.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic guided vehicle 2 Car body 3 Upper wall 4 Pin 6 Wheel 10, 10a, 10b Carriage 11 Loading platform 12 Bottom wall 13 Side wall 14 Front end wall 15 Guide plate 16 Caster 17 Connection release member 18 Rod 19 Bracket 20 Connecting device 21 Bracket 22 Mounting part DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 23 Support part 24 Shaft hole 25 Stopper 30 Connection plate 31 Flange 32 Shaft 33 Slit 33a Chamfer 33b Front end edge 35 Release part 36 Side wall 37 Top wall 38 Round bar 40 Retaining mechanism 41 Lever member 41a Front end edge 42 Lever support shaft 43 Spring 44 45 Support leg 46 Restriction block R Holding part S Slope T Tunnel

Claims (4)

A truck towed by an automated guided vehicle entering under a loading platform,
It has a connection plate provided at the front part in the traveling direction and a connection release member provided at the rear part in the traveling direction,
The connecting plate has a pivot shaft at the rear end, and the front end side is pivotable up and down, and engages with a pin protruding upward from the automatic guided vehicle,
The connection release member includes a slope extending rearward and downward,
The tow-truck is characterized in that the connection plate is released from the engagement with the pin by rotating on the slope of the uncoupling member of another carriage.   The towed cart according to claim 1, wherein the connecting plate projects forward from the front end wall of the loading platform.   The connecting plate receives and engages the pin in the holding portion set at the closed side end of the slit that is open at the rear end and closed on the front side, and allows the pin to pass to the holding portion. The towed carriage according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a retaining means for prohibiting passage from the holding portion to the rear. 4. The connecting plate according to claim 1, further comprising a slope contact portion that is set at a position higher than an upper end of the pin at a front end and abuts against a slope of the connection release member of the other carriage . The towed truck according to any one of the above.

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