JPH0124682B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for efficiently and reliably removing mechanical parts and other items from shelves.

A conventional transportation and storage device for an automatic warehouse for buckets will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In Figure 1, 1
Figures 3 and 2 show the bucket 3 being pulled out from the shelf A, and Figures 3 and 4 show the bucket 3 being carried into the shelf A. In this method, when pulling out the bucket 3, the roller frame 2 is moved in the direction a while rotating the roller 1 at the tip in the direction b, and the roller 1 is brought into contact with the lower front corner of the bucket 3, and the ejecting force and roller rotation are With force, the tip roller 1 is pushed into the bottom of the bucket, and the bucket 3 is slightly lifted and pulled in.

On the other hand, when carrying the bucket 3 to the shelf A, the roller frame 2 comes out in the direction a, the roller 1 rotates in the direction c, and even after the bucket 3 contacts the stopper 4 attached to the shelf, the tip remains as shown in Figure 4. The roller 1 idles while rubbing against the bucket bottom.

As described above, the tip roller 1 hits the bottom corner of the bucket 3 when pulling the bucket 3 from the shelf A, and idles while rubbing against the bottom of the bucket when carrying the bucket to the shelf A. In addition, since the contact area of the tip roller 1 with the bucket 3 is small, the tip roller 1 is easily worn out, and the relative position of the tip roller 1 with respect to the bucket 3 is misaligned, and the surface of the roller 1 becomes smooth. It becomes impossible to obtain sufficient retracting force, resulting in unloading errors.

In another conventional example shown in FIG. 2, FIGS. 1 and 2 show a state in which a bucket bag 3 is pulled out from a shelf A, and FIG.
Figure 4 shows the state in which the bucket bag 3 is carried into the shelf A.

In this method, when pulling out the bucket 3 from the shelf A, the conveyor 1 is stopped at a position slightly below the bucket 3, the conveyor 1 is taken out in the direction a, and then the conveyor 1 is brought out in the direction a, and then
direction, lift the bucket 3 a little, and rotate the conveyor 1 in the c direction. Compared to the method shown in Fig. 1, the pull-out operation is
It is a two-stage motion of vertical and horizontal movement, which takes time.

On the other hand, when transporting the bucket tote 3 to the shelf A, the conveyor 1 stops at a position slightly above the shelf board 2, moves in the direction a, and then rotates in the direction d to transport the bucket tot 3.
After the bucket belt 3 contacts the stopper 4, the conveyor 1 idles while rubbing against the bucket belt 3 for a short period of time, which is the same as the method shown in FIG.
In this method, when pulling out the bucket 3 from the shelf A, the tip of the conveyor approaches and contacts the bottom of the bucket 3 from below, and the part of the conveyor that comes into contact with the bottom of the bucket is a conveyor with a large contact area. Because of this, we have not had the problem of the conveyor becoming worn out and not being able to pull out the bucket.

In this way, the method shown in Figure 1 has the drawback that the tip roller is easily worn out, causing errors in conveying the bucket, while the method shown in Figure 2 has the drawback that the conveyance of the bucket is a two-stage motion, which takes time and is inefficient. It was hot.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a bucket transport device that efficiently and reliably transports buckets from a shelf.

In the present invention, a conveyor is suspended and supported by swingable links, and one movement of the link's rotation and swing causes the conveyor to press against the lower surface of an article on a shelf, and also to press the upper surface of the article. It is characterized by

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 13.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, an outer shell frame 32 is installed on the vertical column 22 of the stacker crane so as to be movable up and down. The structure that allows vertical movement is the same as that of conventionally known stacker cranes. For example, there is a method in which the outer shell frame 32 is suspended and supported by a rope suspended from a winch.

As shown in FIG. 3, the outer shell frame 32 is composed of a lower frame 32a, a portal frame 32b erected on the lower frame 32a, and an upper frame 32c horizontally fixed to the upper end of the portal frame 32b. There is.

Four vertically parallel links 34 are rotatably connected between the upper frame 32c and the conveyor frame 31. For this reason, the conveyor frame 31 has four rings 34 to
2, it is supported so as to be able to swing freely.

On the conveyor frame 31, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, there is a belt conveyor 3 that transmits the rotational force of the motor 8 to the conveyor belt via the drive belt 17.
3 is installed.

As shown in FIG.
is transmitted to the chain wheel 19a through the chain wheel 19a and the other chain wheel 19b.
A swing drive device is installed to drive a chain 20 that is stretched between the two. This chain 20 is connected to the first chain connection point 21 of the conveyor frame 31.
They are connected as shown in Figure 0.

As shown in FIG. 3, a guide 7 having rollers 7a and 7b arranged above and below is installed on the upper frame 32c. A horizontal column 26 is supported by rollers 7a and 7b within this guide 7 so as to be horizontally movable.
At both ends of this horizontal column 26, vertical columns 3
6 is fixed. Further, at both ends of the horizontal column 26, an arm 28 is attached to a rotating shaft 28a that can freely rotate up and down.
The arm 28 has a guide roller 5 at its tip end. The arm 28 and the lower end of the column 36 are connected by a coil spring 6. Also,
One column 36 is provided with a vertical elongated hole 24, and a pin 25 that moves within this elongated hole 24 is fixed to a bracket 23 fixed to the conveyor frame 31.

The conveyor frame 31 and the lower frame 32a, as shown in FIG. The posture is controlled so that it is not tilted when viewed from above.

The link mechanism 14 has a structure in which link members 51 and 52 are connected freely to rotate, that is, freely to bend, by a connecting shaft 14a. One link member 52
is fixed to the horizontal connecting shaft 14c as shown in FIG. 11, and the other link member 51 is fixed to the horizontal connecting shaft 14c.
It is fixed to 4b. Such a link mechanism 1
4 is provided in pairs on the left and right as shown in FIG. Connecting shaft 1
Both ends of the connecting shaft 14b are rotatably supported by bearings 53 and 54 attached to the conveyor frame 31, and both ends of the connecting shaft 14b are rotatably supported by bearings 55 and 56 attached to the lower frame 32a.

As shown in Figure 3, a bucket 16 with cargo stored in it
is stored in the shelf with a slight protrusion from the shelf board 15 as before.

A horizontal guide plate 13 is fixedly installed on a bracket 23 on a conveyor frame 31 so that the bucket cart 16 does not lose its posture when being moved by a belt conveyor 33.

In order to detect the position of the movable parts in such a structure, especially the conveyor frame 31, two separately arranged strikers 12a, 12b and striker 12a,
The limit switches 11a and 11b are supported from a portal frame 32b via a bracket 41 in a position to detect either one of the limit switches 12b. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, both ends of the conveyor frame 31 are equipped with reflective photo sensors 39 to detect the state of entry and exit of the bucket 16 into and out of the conveyor 33.

The operation of this embodiment will be explained below.

It is determined on which shelf board 15 of the three-dimensionally arranged shelf boards 15 the bucket 16 is to be carried out. Once the bucket 16 to be taken out has been determined,
By moving the column 22 horizontally in a vertical position and moving the outer shell frame 32 up and down, the belt conveyor 33 is positioned in front of the bucket 16 to be taken out and at a lower position than the bucket 16, as shown in FIG. Position it accordingly. The case where the bucket 16 to be taken out is the right bucket 16 in FIG. 3 will be described below.

After the positioning described above is completed, the motor 8 is driven to drive the conveyor belt of the belt conveyor 33 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 3. next,
The motor 9 is driven to drive the chain 20 between each chain sprocket 19a, 19b shown in FIG. In this way, the conveyor frame 31 is pulled by the chain 20 and moved to the right side in FIG. Since this movement is carried out while being suspended and supported by the four links 34, it is accompanied by a rotational swing whose radius is the length of the links 34, as indicated by arrow D shown in FIG. Therefore, the right upper surface of the belt conveyor 33 contacts and presses against the lower surface of the bucket 16 from below. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 9, the front part of the bucket bag 16 is scooped up by the right upper surface of the belt conveyor.

When the conveyor frame 31 moves,
The link mechanism 14 bends and extends from the G arrow state to the H arrow state shown in FIG. 12, allowing the conveyor frame 31 to move in the D arrow direction.
When the conveyor frame 31 moves in the opposite direction, it bends and stretches from the G arrow state to the K arrow state shown in FIG. 12, allowing the conveyor frame 31 to move. Therefore, the link mechanism 14 does not become an obstacle to the swinging of the conveyor frame 31 with the link 34 as its rotation radius.

When the conveyor frame 31 moves integrally with the belt conveyor 33 as indicated by arrow D, the pin 25 moves upward through the elongated hole 24 in FIG. Column 3 hooked on this pin 25 while sliding
6 is pushed out in the horizontal direction of arrow F (shown in FIG. 8). The vertical movement factor is caused by the pin 25 sliding upward within the elongated hole 24, causing the column 36 to move upward.
I can't get it across. Therefore, the column 26 is guided 7 to the bucket 16 side at the same time as the belt conveyor 33.
With the support of Therefore, when the belt conveyor 33 comes into contact with the lower surface of the bucket 16, the guide roller 5 has advanced to the upper part of the bucket 16. In order to horizontally support the arm 28 so that the roller 5 does not hit the front surface of the bucket cart 16, it is possible to rely on the coil spring 6 for its supporting force, but as shown in FIG. Arm 28
It is more reliable to employ a stopper 45 that horizontally positions the lower rotation limit position of the rotor.

When the belt conveyor 33 scoops up the front part of the bucket 16 as shown in FIG. 9, the roller 5 is lifted upward according to the amount scooped up, and the arm 28 rotates upward around the shaft 28a. do. For this purpose, the coil spring 6 between the arm 28 and the column 36 is stretched, and as a reaction force, the coil spring 6 strongly pulls the arm 28 downward.
Therefore, the roller 5 acts to push the bucket 16 downward. When this happens, roller 5
Bucket 1 sandwiched between and belt conveyor 33
6 is strongly pressed against the belt conveyor 33 and generates a large frictional force between the conveyor belt surface of the belt conveyor 33 and the lower surface of the bucket 16. Therefore, for example, as shown in Figure 7, bucket 1
Even if the load 46 is stored on the back side (rear part) of the bucket 6, sufficient frictional force is obtained between the belt conveyor 33 and the bucket 16 to pull out the bucket 16.

When the belt conveyor 33 comes into contact with the bottom surface of the bucket 16, the belt conveyor 33 is already in operation, so the bucket 16 is moved to the center of the belt conveyor 33 via the state shown in FIG. He is sent there.

When this feeding starts, the photo sensor 39 on the side closer to the bucket 16 first receives the reflected light from the bottom surface of the bucket 16 of the self-emitted light.
ON operates. As this drawing of the bucket 16 toward the belt conveyor 33 progresses, the bucket 16
When it comes to the other photo sensor 39, this other photo sensor 39 also turns ON. The motor 8 is stopped after confirming the point at which both of the photo sensors 39 are turned ON using a lighting device that is linked to the photo sensors 39. Alternatively, the motor 8 may be stopped by determining the ON/OFF state of each photo sensor 39 using a computer or the like. When both photo sensors 39 are in the ON state, the bucket 16 is positioned above both photo sensors 39, which means that the bucket 16 has been drawn into the center of the belt conveyor 33.

If both photo sensors 39 are activated,
Reverse the motor 9 to return the belt conveyor 33 in the direction of arrow D until the link 34 is vertical. At this time, the conveyor frame 31 also moves in the direction opposite to arrow D, so the column 26 also begins to return, and the vertical distance between the rollers 5 and the belt conveyor 33 tends to widen, until the rollers 5 separate from the top of the bucket 16.

With this operation, the belt conveyor 3 in the direction of arrow D
The movement of No. 3 is carried out in a state in which the conveyor frame 31 is substantially suspended by the links 34, and since the links 34 are parallel to each other, there is a drawback that the belt conveyor 33 is tilted vertically during the movement. does not occur. Furthermore, during the movement of the belt conveyor 33 in the direction of the arrow D, the link mechanism 14 does not rotate or bend to obstruct the movement; rather, the link 14 supports both sides of the conveyor frame 31. Since twisting of the conveyor frame 31 can be prevented, tilting of the belt conveyor 33 in a horizontal plane can also be prevented.

Such an inclination of the belt conveyor 33 is caused by the conveyor frame 31 being rotated by a dimension C from the position indicated by the dotted line to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in a horizontal plane under the influence of a turning force as shown in FIG. Such rotation of the conveyor frame 31 is caused by the chain 2
This occurs when only one side of the conveyor frame 31 is pulled due to zero movement, or when the entire stacker crane is subjected to shock when accelerating or decelerating while traveling along the shelf. When the conveyor frame 31 supported by the links 34 turns, one of the pair of link mechanisms 14 needs to have a different amount of bending and stretching than the other.
Since the ends of the shafts 14b and 14c are fixed to the connecting shafts 14b and 14c, the rotation of each shaft 14b and 14c due to the bending and stretching action of one linkage mechanism 14 is caused by the rotation of the other linkage mechanism 1.
4, and the amount of bending and stretching of the pair of left and right link mechanisms 14 is the same. Therefore, the attitude of the conveyor frame 31 is controlled so that it does not rotate horizontally, and the belt conveyor 3 on the conveyor frame 31 is
3 normally contacts the bucket 16, and reliable work is accomplished. Both shafts 14b and 14c do not need to be a common shaft for the pair of link mechanisms 14, and if the connecting shaft 14b supported on the lower frame 32a side is a common shaft for the pair of link mechanisms 14, this connecting shaft 14b can be Through this, the amount of bending and stretching of the pair of link mechanisms 14 can be synchronized to the same extent, and turning can be prevented.

Next, if there is an excess or deficiency in the movement stroke in the direction of arrow D, the bucket 16 may be pinched too much and be damaged, or the bucket 16 scooped up directly above may hit the bucket 16, or the bucket 16 may be caused by the bucket 16 on the roller 5. The pressing force may be insufficient.
Therefore, in order to keep the movement stroke of the belt conveyor 33 constant in the direction of arrow D, the motor 9 is stopped when the striker 12a hits the limit switch 11a during movement, and the belt conveyor 33 is controlled to maintain an appropriate movement stroke in the direction of arrow D. Give to 33. Furthermore, when returning in the direction of arrow D, the reverse rotation of the motor 9 is stopped when the striker 12b hits the limit switch 11b, and the conveyor frame 31 is housed within the outer shell frame 32 to support the bucket 16 in a normal state. .

When storing the bucket 16 on the shelf board 15 on the right side, the belt conveyor 33 is moved to a position slightly higher than the shelf board 15 by arrow D, and then the belt conveyor 33 is driven in the opposite direction of arrow A. will be accomplished. In this case as well, by sandwiching the bucket 16 between the belt conveyor 33 and the roller 5, the lack of frictional force between the belt conveyor 33 and the bucket 16 after a part of the bucket 16 is deposited on the shelf board 15 can be solved. are doing. Therefore, the bucket 16 can be reliably stored on the shelf board 15.

When carrying in and out the bucket 16, the conveyor frame 31 suspended and supported by the links 34 is pulled laterally by the chain 20 and swung. During this swing, the conveyor frame 31 rises by H from the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 10 to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line. If this happens, strain will be applied to the chain 20, so make sure to slacken the chain 20 in advance.
The tension wheel 49 is applied to the
The cylinder 47 attached to the outer shell frame 32
The inner spring 48 is tensioned, and when the conveyor frame 31 rises by H, the wheel 49 rises to eliminate the unreasonable force applied to the chain 20 and allow the conveyor frame 31 to swing. If the amount of increase H is small, generally chain 20
The conveyor frame 31 can be allowed to swing due to the slack generated in the conveyor frame 31.

The operation of putting in and taking out the bucket on the left shelf board shown in FIG. 6 is similar, and is symmetrical to the action on the right shelf board.

As described above, according to the present invention, the conveyor suspended by the links can be positioned in a state where articles on the shelf can be drawn in by one action of the swing motion with the radius of the ring length, and the conveyor can be moved downward. Since the conveyor is brought into contact with the article and presses the top surface of the article, wear on the conveyor is reduced, the article can be handled efficiently, and errors in carrying out the article are reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a status diagram showing the working status of the conventional bucket loading/unloading device divided into (1), (2), (3), and (4).
The figure shows the working status of other conventional bucket loading/unloading equipment.
(1), (2), (3), and (4), FIG. 3 is a side view of a bucket loading/unloading device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a front view of the bucket loading/unloading device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a top view of the bucket loading/unloading device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7 is a diagram showing the loading/unloading situation in the bucket according to an embodiment of the present invention when the cargo position in the bucket is uneven, and Figure 8 is a diagram showing the situation immediately before carrying out the bucket in an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 9 is a diagram showing how bucket carts are carried in and out from the right side shelf board in an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 10 is a chain tensioning route diagram in an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 11 is shown in Figure 3. FIG. 12 is an elevation view of the link mechanism shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 13 is a top view of the conveyor frame shown in FIG. 3 when it is turned. 5...Guide roller, 6...Coil spring, 7
... Guide, 8, 9 ... Motor, 14 ... Link mechanism, 14a, 14b, 14c ... Connection shaft, 1
5...Shelf board, 16...Bucket, 19a, 19b
...Chain sprocket, 20...Chain, 2
6, 36...Column, 28...Arm, 31...
Conveyor frame, 32... Outer shell frame, 33
...Belt conveyor, 34...Link, 51,5
2...Link member, 53, 54, 55, 56
……bearing.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A lower frame that moves up and down relative to the column,
an upper frame installed on the upper surface of the lower frame; a conveyor frame disposed below the upper frame and having a conveyor that conveys a load in a horizontal direction; and a conveyor frame installed on the upper surface of the upper frame. a pair of links that are suspended so as to be swingable in a direction and have the conveyor frame installed at their lower ends; a motor installed on the conveyor frame to drive the conveyor; and a motor installed in the conveyor frame in the transport direction of the conveyor. two chain foils installed at both ends of the conveyor frame, a motor for driving one of the two chain foils, a chain spanning the two chain foils, and a chain fixed to the conveyor frame between the two chain foils; , a horizontal column installed horizontally on the upper frame so as to be movable in the direction of conveyance by the conveyor; a horizontal pin that connects an arm that is biased by a force, a guide roller installed at the tip of each arm, a bracket provided on the horizontal column, and a bracket provided on the conveyor frame; provided on one of the two brackets,
An article handling device comprising: a long hole provided vertically so that the pin can move vertically;