JPH028950Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention relates to an improvement of a device for driving an automatic guided vehicle.

Recently, the use of automatic guided vehicles, which are excellent in promoting labor savings, has been proposed as a type of equipment for automatically transporting cargo. Particularly in hospitals and the like, automated guided vehicles automatically transport serving carts arranged in a serving room on the first floor, for example, to each floor. That is, the transport vehicle automatically loads the serving cart, travels along a predetermined path, and arrives at the elevator landing. The elevator car is automatically summoned and the transport vehicle gets into the car. Then, the basket stops at a pre-designated floor, the transport vehicle gets off the basket, automatically lowers the serving trolley to the designated location, climbs into the basket again, returns to the galley in the opposite direction, and moves to the next serving trolley. transport.

However, if luggage or other objects are placed on the landing on the floor where the serving cart was transported, the serving cart cannot be lowered there. Therefore, object detectors are installed at the landings on each floor, and the food delivery trolley is only transported to floors where no luggage is detected. Therefore, detectors are required for each floor, which increases costs and requires time and effort to install.

This invention is intended to improve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an automatic guided vehicle operating device that allows luggage to be transported smoothly without the need to install object detectors on each floor.

An embodiment of this invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In Figures 1 and 2, 1 to 4 are respectively from the 1st floor.
4th floor elevator landing, 5 is the floor on the 1st floor, 6 is a serving room, 7 is a departure and arrival place set up in the serving room 6, 8 is a waiting area that is also set in a place different from the departure and arrival place 7, 9 is a conveyance vehicle detector buried in the floor of the waiting area 8; 10 is a conveyance vehicle detector buried in the floor 5 and located in the elevator landing 1;
11 is a branch line of the guide line that branches from the middle of the main line 10 and reaches the waiting area 8; 12 is the main line 10 of the guide line and its branch. An automatic guided vehicle that travels with its traveling direction guided by detecting the magnetic field of a wire 11, 13 and 14 are installed at the front and rear ends of the guided vehicle 12, respectively, and emit ultrasonic waves to detect objects that are on the path. A well-known non-contact detector detects an object by measuring the time it takes for the object to return after being reflected by the object; 15 is a load such as a serving vehicle that is automatically loaded onto the transport vehicle 12; 16 is an elevator car; 17 is a lift. Coupling weight 18 is basket 16 and counterweight 17
19 is the drive sheave of the hoist installed in the elevator machine room, and 20 is an object placed in the landing 3 on the third floor.

In FIG. 3, 2a to 4a each have two baskets 16.
The car position signal becomes "H" when the car is on the 4th floor.
Reference numeral 21 indicates a door full-open signal that becomes "H" when the elevator car door and landing door (hereinafter simply referred to as the door) are fully opened. Reference numeral 22 indicates a destination floor button for the second to fourth floors provided on the transport vehicle 12 (not shown). When pressed, the destination floor button signals 222 to 224 for the 2nd to 4th floors become "H" and are held there. Serving floor setting circuits, 23 to 27 are AND gates, 28 are OR gates, 29 and 30 are inputs 31 is a timer whose output becomes "H" after a certain period of time after "H" becomes "H".
S flip-flop (hereinafter referred to as memory), 31
a is the output of the memory 31, and when it becomes "H", it is a waiting place travel command signal that gives a traveling command to the conveyance vehicle 12 to the waiting place 8, 32 is a monostable element, and 33 is emitted from another circuit (not shown). The car call registration signal for the first floor of the elevator, 34 is also a transport vehicle stop command signal, 35 is also a coupling release signal for releasing the coupling between transport vehicle 12 and cargo 15, and 36 is also a departure/arrival point.
(7) A departure and arrival station travel command signal that gives a travel command to 3.
7 is an OR gate, 37a is its output, which is a car call registration signal on the first floor, 38 is an OR gate, 38a is its output, which is a conveyance vehicle stop command signal, 39 is an OR gate, and 39a is its output, which is a coupling release signal. , 40 is
The output of the OR gate 40a is a departure/arrival station travel command signal. In addition, each of the above elements 9, 14, 23
32, 37 to 40 are all installed on the transport vehicle 12.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. In addition, in order to avoid the complexity of the description, well-known parts will be explained simply.

Now, it is assumed that the baggage 15 is placed at the arrival and departure point 7 of the serving room 6, and the carrier 12 is placed in a position where it can be combined with the baggage 15 (for example, the carrier 12 enters between the wheels of the baggage 15, that is, the serving vehicle, It is assumed that when the loading platform (not shown) provided on the vehicle 12 rises, the luggage 15 is lifted from the floor 5 and the carrier vehicle 12 and the luggage 15 are combined.

When the staff member presses the 3rd floor destination floor provided on the transport vehicle 12, the 3rd floor destination floor button signal 223 turns "H".
becomes. Next, when a start button (not shown) provided on the transport vehicle 12 is pressed, the car call for the first floor of the elevator is automatically registered, and at the same time, the transport vehicle 12 is coupled with the luggage 15. When this connection is completed, the transport vehicle 12 is guided in its traveling route by the main line 10 of the guide line, and starts traveling towards the elevator hall 1. On the other hand, in response to the registered first floor car call, the elevator car 16 arrives at the first floor and opens its door. The transport vehicle 12 automatically gets into the car 6.
Here, 3 which was previously set in the serving floor setting circuit 22
The floor car call is automatically registered. When the door closes, the car 16 is activated, and when it reaches the third floor, the car position signal 3a becomes "H", the output of the AND gate 24 becomes "H", and the output of the OR gate 28 also becomes "H". On the other hand, when the car 16 arrives at the third floor, the door opens, and if the door is fully opened, the door fully open signal 21 becomes "H". Here, the non-contact detector 14 emits ultrasonic waves in the direction of the landing area, and when the baggage 20 present in the landing area 3 is detected by this, the non-contact detector 1
The output of No. 4 is "H" for a certain period of time (for example, 4 seconds).
Now, the output of the AND gate 26 becomes "H",
Since the output of the OR gate 38, that is, the transport vehicle stop command signal 38a becomes “H”, the transport vehicle 12 does not exit from the inside of the car 16 to the hall 3. On the other hand, timer 29
The output becomes "H" after a certain period of time, and the first floor car call registration signal 37a which is the output of the OR gate 37
becomes "H" and the car call for the first floor is automatically registered. Also, the output of AND gate 27 is also “H”.
Therefore, the memory 31 is set, and its output, the waiting area travel command signal 31a, becomes "H". 1
Since the car call for the floor has been registered, the car 16 closes the door and descends, reaches the first floor, opens the door, and the transport vehicle 12 descends from the car 16 to the landing 1 on the first floor. Since the command to travel to the waiting area has already been issued, the transport vehicle 12 arrives at the waiting area 8 via the main line 10 and branch line 11 of the guide line. When the conveyance vehicle detector 9 detects the conveyance vehicle 8, its output becomes "H", and the output of the monostable element 32 remains constant for a certain period of time (for example, 0.8 seconds).
The signal becomes "H", and the transport vehicle stop command signal 38a, which is the output of the OR gate 38, becomes "H", so the transport vehicle 12 stops. Moreover, since the decoupling signal 39a which is the output of the OR gate 39 becomes "H",
The coupling between the transport vehicle 12 and the cargo 15 is released. Further, the memory 31 is reset, and the waiting area travel command signal 31a becomes "L". After the output of the detector 9 becomes "H" and a certain period of time (for example, 1 second) has elapsed, the output of the timer 30 becomes "H".
The departure/arrival station travel command signal 40a, which is the output of the OR gate 40, becomes "H". According to this command, the conveyance vehicle 12 passes through the branch line 11 in an empty state and returns to the main line 10.
, and return to Depot 7, where they will prepare for the next shipment.

Note that when the transport vehicle 12 loads the luggage 15 and goes to the third floor, if there is no object 20 at the landing 3,
The cargo 15 is unloaded at a predetermined position, but this is normal operation and detailed explanation will be omitted.

It is also possible to implement as follows.

(a) Detection of the object 20 was performed using the non-contact detector 14, but it is now performed using a contact detector (one that detects when it comes into contact with the object 20).

(a) Install the non-contact detector 14 in the car 16.

(C) The waiting area 8 can park a plurality of transport vehicles 12. Further, the location where the waiting area 8 is set is not limited to the example.

(D) Control of the transport vehicle 12 and elevator is not limited to the embodiment. For example, use a fully automatic system controlled by an electronic computer.

(E) Route guidance for the transport vehicle 12 is based on light beams;
A method using electromagnetic force, a mechanical method, etc. are used. Additionally, a vehicle that determines the traveling route by using the difference in rotation between the left and right wheels, that is, a vehicle that does not have a guide medium, is also used.

(f) Luggage 15 is not limited to serving tables.

(g) It can also be applied to detecting obstacles when the object 20 is left in the middle of the path.

As explained above, in this invention, when an automated guided vehicle is loaded with luggage, rides an elevator car, and arrives at a predetermined floor, and an object is detected in the landing area of this floor, the car is separated. Since the transport vehicle is driven to a predetermined location and the cargo is unloaded, only one object detector is required and the structure can be constructed at low cost. Further, even if the cargo cannot be transported due to the presence of an object, the cargo can be unloaded to another location, so that subsequent transportation can be continued.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a building showing an example of an automatic guided vehicle driving device according to this invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the first floor portion of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a logic circuit diagram of Fig. 1. It is. 1-4...Elevator landings from the 1st to 4th floors, 2
a to 4a...2nd to 4th floor car position signals, 5...
1st floor floor, 7...departure, 8...waiting area, 9...
Guided vehicle detector, 10, 11...Main line and branch line of guide line, 12...Automated guided vehicle, 14...Contactless detector, 15...Luggage, 16...Elevator car, 20...Object, 21...Door fully open signal, 22...
...Serving floor setting circuit, 23-27...AND gate,
28...OR gate, 30, 31...R-S flip-flop, 37-40...OR gate. Note that the same parts in the figures are indicated by the same reference numerals.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In an automatic transport vehicle that automatically loads luggage, rides into an elevator car, and automatically transports the luggage to a predetermined floor, a floor installed on the transport vehicle or the car to which the car has arrived. A detector that detects an object that exists in the path of the transport vehicle at the landing of A driving device for an automatic guided vehicle, comprising a circuit for driving the vehicle to a predetermined location and automatically unloading the load.