JPH0329693B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is a one-stage type device that allows a rack for storing articles to be moved around and automatically search for and take out articles from the rack. Regarding rotating storage shelves.

[Conventional technology]

An example of the one-stage rotary storage shelf described above is shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-26707.

As shown in Fig. 7, the rack C can be freely run between an oblong guide rail a provided above and an oblong tubular rail b with a circular cross section provided below. The racks c are connected in an endless manner by rotation of the drive pin e, which is the axis of the connection link d of each rack c, and the sprocket f, which is linked to the drive means, while meshing with each other.
It is designed to run.

A pair of left and right wheels g is provided on the bottom plate of each rack c, and grooves h of the wheels g ride on the tubular rail b, thereby restricting movement of the rack c in the inward and outward directions. There is.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the one-stage rotary storage shelf having the above-described structure, when traveling at both ends of the oblong rail, that is, at the semicircular inversion part, the rotation locus of the rack c and the running locus of the wheels g are different. A gap occurs between the two.
This deviation becomes larger as the radius of rotation becomes smaller.

Therefore, the sprocket f that drives the rack c
There is a risk that an excessive load will be applied to the meshing portion of the drive pin e of the rack c, or that the sprocket will be damaged due to concentrated force.

Furthermore, since the wheels g are forced to travel along the tubular rails b, squeaks and the like may occur.

The present invention provides a rotary storage shelf in which racks can be transferred smoothly by providing a rotary receiving plate on which the racks can be placed in the semicircular part of the travel trajectory of the oval racks. This is what I am trying to do.

[Means to solve the problem]

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned problem is solved by connecting a plurality of racks having wheels on the lower surface in series in an endless manner via connecting links, and having a driving means.
In a rotating storage shelf in which these racks run in an elliptical shape consisting of a straight part and a semicircular part along the outer periphery of the frame, there are racks that can rotate around a vertical axis at the left and right ends of the frame. A vertical cylinder is provided, and a horizontal rotating plate having fitting recesses at a constant pitch on the outer periphery is fixed to the upper and lower parts of the cylinder, and a horizontal rotating plate having a diameter larger than that of the rotating plate is also fixed to the lower end of the cylinder. A horizontal rotating receiving plate is fixed, the lower surface of the periphery of this rotating receiving plate is supported by a vertical roller attached to a base plate, and at least one of the left and right cylinders can be driven by a motor, thereby making it easy. From the upper and lower surfaces of the rollers, the adjacent racks of the rollers provided upward and downward with a certain pitch are connected to each other by connecting links with the certain pitch, and each of the rollers is The rack is guided by linear guide sections provided at the front and rear of the frame, and wheels provided on the lower surface of the rack are placed on the peripheral portion of the rotary receiving plate at a location facing the vertical rollers. It will be resolved.

[Effect]

In the semicircular running section, the wheels supporting the racks are supported by the rotating plate directly above the vertical rollers supporting the rotating receiving plate.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to a first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5.

A frame 2 having a rectangular cube shape is fixedly mounted on the substrate 1.

The frame body 2 includes floor rods 3 facing in the front-rear direction and arranged side by side at intervals in the left-right direction, columns 4 erected from the front and rear ends of each floor rod 3, and columns 4, 4 arranged in front and rear. A ceiling rod 5 supported on the upper surface and slightly protruding forward and backward of the support column 4, and left and right panels made of downward U-shaped straight channel members attached to the lower surface of the projecting front and rear ends of the ceiling rod 5. It consists of guide rails 6, 6, which are straight guide parts facing the same direction.

Opposing the guide rails 6, 6, roller guides 7, 7, which serve as a pair of front and rear linear guide sections made of upward U-shaped channel material, are installed between the front and rear lower ends of the support column 4 via a mounting plate 8. installed.

Tracks 9, 9 made of square tubes are fixed between the front and rear end surfaces of the floor rod 3, respectively.

A vertical shaft 10 is mounted across the ceiling rod 5 at the right end of the frame body 2 and the center part of the board 1.

Long and short cylindrical bodies 11 and 12, which are vertically and integrally connected, are rotatably fitted onto the vertical shaft 10 via bearings 13 and 14.

A ring-shaped rotary plate 15 is fixed to the outer periphery of the upper end of the long upper cylinder 11, and a small-diameter sprocket 16 is fixed to the outer periphery of the lower end.

On the outer circumferential surface of the rotary plate 15, at intervals of 60°,
A fitting recess 15a is cut out.

A rotary plate 1 is provided on the outer periphery of the upper end of the lower short cylinder 12.
7, there is also a rotating receiving plate 1 with a slightly larger diameter on the outer periphery of the lower end.
8 is fixed horizontally.

A fitting recess 17a is cut in the outer peripheral surface of the rotary plate 17, similarly to the rotary plate 15.

The lower surface of the peripheral portion of the rotary receiving plate 18 is connected to a plurality of vertical rollers 1 provided on the substrate 1 in the semicircular portion of the frame 2.
It is supported by 9.

An endless chain 22 is wound between the sprocket 16 and a sprocket 21 of a motor 20 provided on the frame 2 as a driving means.

At the left end of the frame 2, a vertical shaft 10 and upper and lower cylinders 11 and 12 similar to those described above are provided, spanning the ceiling rod 5 and the center of the board 1.
A rotary plate 15 is fixed to the upper end of the cylinder 12 in the same manner as described above, and a rotary plate 17 and a rotary receiving plate 18 similar to those described above are fixed to the upper and lower ends of the lower cylindrical body 12, respectively.

23 is a rack, and as shown in Fig. 3, it has a top plate 24 with hanging pieces 24a connected to it from the edges on three sides excluding the front side, and a bottom plate 25 connected with rising walls 25a on three sides except the front side. , a vertically long rectangular box-shaped shelf unit 26 inserted between the rear ends of a top plate 24 and a bottom plate 25.

On the rear upper surface of the top plate 24, a pair of shafts 27, which also serve as drive pins, are erected with a constant pitch p, and on the lower surface of the rear end of the bottom plate 25, a pair of shafts 27 are provided.
8 are suspended with a constant pitch p.

As shown in FIG.
The adjacent upper shafts 27, 27 and lower shafts 28, 28 in No. 3 are connected to each other at a predetermined pitch p by connecting links 29 having through holes at both ends.
These racks 23 and connecting links 2
9 forms an endless rotating shelf 30.

A cylindrical roller 31 that overlaps the upper surface of the connecting link 29 is rotatably fitted into the upper shaft 27, and a horizontal roller 32 as a guide is also attached to the upper end. The roller 31 can be releasably engaged with the fitting recesses 15a and 17a.

A roller 33 serving as a guide portion is rotatably fitted directly below the connecting link 29 on the lower shaft 28 .

A downward U-shaped bracket 34a is fixed to the lower surface of the bottom plate 25 slightly forward of the shaft 28, and a wheel 34 is pivotally supported on the bracket 34a with a wheel 34b.

In the front and rear straight parts of the frame 2, the rack 23
The wheels 34 are placed on the track 9, the lower rollers 33 are rotatably fitted into the roller guide 7, and the upper horizontal rollers 32 are inserted into the guide rail 6. The rack 23 is thereby supported vertically.

At the left and right ends of the frame 2, the wheels 34 are
As shown in FIG. 5, it is supported on the peripheral portion of the rotary receiving plate 18 directly above the vertical roller 34.

The lower roller 33 engages with the fitting recess 17a of the lower rotating plate 17, and the upper roller 31 engages with the fitting recess 15a of the upper rotating plate 15.

In this way, when viewed from above, the endless rotating shelf 30 has an elliptical shape consisting of front and rear straight portions and left and right semicircular portions, and is wound around the frame body 2, as shown in FIG. equipped.

Next, the picking position, that is, the rack positioning position where the desired rack 23 is stopped on the right side of the frame 2 will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 4, the peripheral portion of the rotary receiving plate 18 has a required opening angle (120° in the embodiment).
Three protrusions 35 having an L-shaped cross section are arranged.

so as to sandwich the inside and outside of the rotation locus of the protruding piece 35,
A pair of light-transmitting photoelectric elements 3 forming a downward U-shape
6 and 36 are attached with mounting rods 41 extending from the floor rod 3.

When the light from these photoelectric elements 36, 36 is blocked by the protrusion 35, the rack 23 corresponding to the protrusion 35 is positioned at a required picking position.

Next, the operation of the rotary storage shelf configured as above will be explained.

Enter the rack row number into the control panel (not shown),
Next, the desired rack is called out so that it is on the right side of the frame 2.

When the motor 20 rotates, the endless rotating shelf 30 that meshes with the rotating plates 15 and 17 is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise in FIG. 1.

In the front and rear straight parts of the frame 2, the wheels 34 roll on the track 9, the horizontal rollers 32 roll on the guide rail 6, and the horizontal rollers 33 roll on the roller guide 7.
Roll inside. This allows the rack 23 to travel while maintaining its vertical position.

As shown in FIG.
The rollers 31 and 32 of each rack 23 engage in sequence, and as the cylinders 11 and 12 rotate, the wheels 34
moves onto the rotating receiving plate 18 from the right end of the track 9.

The rack 23 placed on the rotating receiving plate 18 is transferred in a semicircular manner around the outer periphery of the rotating plates 15 and 17.
After the wheels 34 ride on the rear track 9, they roll and travel on this track 9.

Similarly, in the semicircular portion on the left side of the frame 2, each rack 23 placed on the rotary receiving plate 18 is transferred in a semicircular manner, and then moved onto the front track 9.
Run again.

The required rack 23 reaches the picking gate,
As shown in FIG.
36, the motor 20 stops and the rack 2
The opening at number 3 faces the correct picking gate.

FIG. 6 shows a wheel 37 having a semi-circular tread in place of the wheel 34 in the previous embodiment. When the end edge of the wheel 37 is curved in this way, the sliding resistance when riding on the rotary receiving plate 18 is reduced.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, instead of the rectangular cylindrical track 9 in the above embodiment, if an angle member 40 having an L-shaped cross section is used and is fastened to the floor rod 3 with bolts 38 and nuts 39, the fabrication process can be improved. Costs can be lowered.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the storage shelf, the racks are supported by rotating receiving plates in the semicircular reversing traveling section, so that they can travel smoothly and easily.

In addition, the wheels installed on the underside of the rack are supported by the rotary support plate directly above the vertical rollers that support the periphery of the rotary support plate, so no excessive force is applied to the wheels, extending the life of the wheels. Moreover, no squeaks or the like occur.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the rotary storage shelf shown in FIG. 1 with most of the racks removed, and FIG.
The figure is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 2.
The figure is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along the - line in Figure 1, Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing another example, and Figure 7 is a partially cutaway view of a conventional rotating storage shelf. FIG. 1... Board, 2... Frame, 3... Floor rod, 4...
Pillar, 5... Ceiling rod, 6... Guide rail, 7...
Roller guide, 8... Mounting plate, 9... Track, 10
... Vertical axis, 11, 12 ... Cylindrical body, 13, 14 ...
Bearing, 15... Rotating plate, 15a... Fitting recess, 1
6... Sprocket, 17... Rotating plate, 17a...
... Fitting recess, 18 ... Rotating receiving plate, 19 ... Vertical roller, 20 ... Motor, 21 ... Sprocket,
22... Endless chain, 23... Rack, 24...
...Top plate, 24a...Descent piece, 25...Bottom plate, 25
a...Rising wall, 26...Shelf unit, 27,2
8... Axis, 29... Connection link, 30... Endless rotating shelf, 31... Roller, 32... Horizontal roller, 3
3...Roller, 34...Wheel, 35...Protrusion, 3
6...Photoelectric element, 37...Wheel, 37c...Vertical roller, 38...Bolt, 39...Nut, 40
...Angle material, 41...Mounting rod.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of racks having wheels on the lower surface are connected in series in an endless manner via connecting links, and
In a rotary storage shelf that is equipped with a drive means to rotate these racks along the outer periphery of the frame in an elliptical shape consisting of a straight section and a semicircular section, vertical axes are attached to the left and right ends of the frame. A cylindrical body that can be rotated in the vertical direction is provided, and a horizontal rotary plate having fitting recesses of a constant pitch around the outer periphery is fixed to the upper and lower parts of the cylindrical body, respectively, and also to the lower end,
A horizontal rotary receiving plate having a larger diameter than the above rotating plate is fixed, the lower surface of the periphery of this rotating receiving plate is supported by a vertical roller attached to a substrate, and at least one of the left and right cylindrical bodies is equipped with a motor. The rollers provided upward and downward at a certain pitch from the upper and lower surfaces of the racks are connected to adjacent racks by connecting links at the above-mentioned certain pitch. Each of the rollers is guided by linear guides provided at the front and rear of the frame, and wheels provided on the lower surface of the rack are guided at the peripheral portion of the rotary receiving plate at a location facing the vertical rollers. A rotating storage shelf characterized by being placed on top.