JPH04147302A - Unmanned conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To level each conveyor load by dynamically changing information of a load transfer station belonging to a conveying area in accordance with an operating condition of a conveyor while controlling said conveyor or conveying means between conveying areas. CONSTITUTION:The present unmanned conveyor consists of a conveying vehicle 2, a high speed overhead ceiling conveyor 6, a load transfer station 5, and a controller. When work 1 occurs, it is checked whether or not the gate of load transfer station 5 is open. If the gate is open, the conveyor vehicle 2 starts working, and work complete information is used to calculate the operation rate of the conveyor vehicle 2 to prepare a conveyor vehicle vs load transfer station correspondence table and the latest correspondence table is used to prepare a conveying route. For example, when the necessity of conveying a load occurs from load transfer station 5-1 to load transfer station 5-5, if the operation rate of conveyor vehicle 2-2 is high, the correspondence table is updated a conveyor vehicle 2-1 can serve for a load transfer station 5-5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an unmanned transport device that efficiently transports objects (workpieces) between a plurality of transfer stations.

[Conventional technology]

Figures 2 and 8 show an unmanned conveyance device,
2N is a perspective view showing the transport vehicle, and FIG. 8 is a T perspective view showing the high-speed ceiling transport device. In Fig. 2, 1 is an object to be transported (hereinafter referred to as a "work"), 2 is a transport vehicle, which is composed of a transfer device 2a and a trolley 2b, and 3 is an object recognized and guided by the transport vehicle 2. 4 is a transport path along which the transport vehicle 2 travels, and 5 is a transfer station where the transport vehicle 2 loads and unloads the work 1. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 6 denotes a high-speed ceiling conveyance device, which is composed of an IJ near conveyor 60 and a plurality of relay stations 61. In addition, the linear conveyance machine 60 includes a carrier 60 that carries the conveyed object 1 and runs.
A and this cow are you 60a'? i: Driving route 6
Consists of 0b. On the other hand, the relay station 61 includes a transfer table 61a that loads and unloads the workpiece 1 of the transport vehicle 2, a hand unit 61b that loads and unloads the workpiece 1 onto the linear transporter 6o, and a rotating mechanism! 6to and an elevating section 61d.

FIG. 4 is an overall view showing an unmanned conveyance system using four of the above-mentioned conveyance vehicles 2, and FIG. 4a shows a plan view, and FIG. 4A shows a side view. The front panel is a carrier transfer station correspondence table showing which carrier 2 the transfer station 5 receives services from. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a transportation control program of a controller of a conventional unmanned transportation device. Note that the controller of the unmanned transport device has fixed data in the transport vehicle transfer station correspondence table (Table 1).

Table 1 Correspondence Table of Transport Vehicle Transfer Stations Next, the operations will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. 5.

First, a controller (not shown) that controls the transport vehicle 2, the Takatsuji ceiling transport device @ 6, and the transfer station 5 waits for the work 1 to arrive at the transfer station 5, which is the transport source (
Step 8 in FIG. 5, when work 1 is generated, it is checked whether the transfer station 5 to which this work 1 is to be transported is vacant (step 9). If the check shows that there are no vacancies, wait until one becomes available. If the station is vacant, a transport route is created using the transport vehicle transfer station correspondence table shown in Table 1 (step 10).

For example, in the case of transport from transfer station 5-1 to transfer station 5-4 in FIG. 4, only transport vehicle 21 is selected as the route. In addition, in the case of transportation from the transfer station 5-1 to the transfer station 5-16, the first conveyance vehicle 2-1, the high-speed ceiling conveyance device 6, and the second conveyance vehicle 2
-4 is selected as the root.

Next, move on to the transport work execution stage. First, the controller (not shown) checks the transport execution pattern to determine whether the transport work can be completed with one transport vehicle 2 (step 11). As a result, if the transport between the transfer stations is completed with one transport vehicle, the transport work is performed using the transport vehicle 2 determined in the transport route creation (step 10). Execute and complete (Step] 2). That is, in the case of a transport operation from the transfer station 5-1 to the transfer station 5-4, the transport vehicle 2-1 is used to perform the operation.

On the other hand, as a result of the transport execution pattern check (step 11), if the work cannot be completed with one transport vehicle, the work is performed using the first transport vehicle determined in the transport route creation (step 10) (step 13). ).

Next, the work is performed using the high-speed ceiling transport device 6 (step 14), and the work is performed using the second transport vehicle (step 15), thereby completing the transport work. For example, work 1?
Transfer station 5-1 to transfer station 5-16
(see Fig. 4), first transfer from the transfer station 5-1 to the relay station 6 using the transport vehicle 2-1.
Workpiece 1 is transported to 1-1, and then transferred to high-speed ceiling transport device 6.
transport from relay station 61-1 to relay station 61-4. Finally, the transport vehicle 2-4 is used to transport the transfer station 61-4 to the target transfer station 5-16.

With the above steps, a series of tasks are completed.Step 16)
Return to the beginning.

[The problem that the invention attempts to solve]

Since conventional unmanned transport devices are configured as described above, the transport area of each transport vehicle is fixed, and even if the load balance is uneven between transport vehicles, there is no way to equalize it. There was an interim point.

This invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an unmanned transport system capable of leveling the load of each transport vehicle.1. ] The unmanned conveyance device related to stiffness e[J is
In the control program, for example, there is a subprogram that grasps the operating status of each transport vehicle based on the work start and work completion reports sent from each W transport vehicle, or by the work in progress of transport work, and a subprogram that grasps the operating status of each transport vehicle based on the above information. It has a subprogram that determines the transport area.

[Effect]

In the unmanned guided vehicle of this invention, the operating status of the guided vehicle is grasped within the controller, and the transport area of the guided vehicle is dynamically determined based on the results, so that there is no imbalance in the load balance between the guided vehicles. [Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a transport control program of a controller related to an unmanned transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Note that the unmanned conveyance device itself is similar to that shown in FIGS. 2 to 4.

Next, the operation in this embodiment will be explained.

First, a controller (not shown) that controls the transport vehicle 2, the high-speed ceiling transport device 6, and the transfer station 5 waits for the workpiece 1 to arrive at the transfer station 5, which is the transfer source (steps in FIG. 1). 8)n When the work 1 is generated, it is checked whether the entrance of the transfer station 5 to which the work 1 is to be transported is vacant (step 9). As a result of the check, if there is no vacancy, wait until it becomes available. If it is vacant, the operation rate of the transport vehicle is calculated based on the work start and work completion information reported by the transport vehicle 2, and the transport vehicle transfer station correspondence table shown in Table 1 is created (step 17). Next, the controller creates a transport route using the latest transport vehicle transfer station correspondence table created in step 17. Since the subsequent operations are the same as those of the conventional method (FIG. 5), the explanation thereof will be omitted.

That is, in the example of the transport system shown in FIG. 4, when transport occurs from transfer station 5-1 to transfer station 55, the transport vehicle transfer station correspondence table before updating is shown in Table 1. Suppose that Then, as a result of calculating the operation rate of the conveyance vehicle, if the operation rate of the conveyance vehicle 2-2 is high, the conveyance vehicle transfer station is set so that the conveyance vehicle 2-1 can service the transfer station 5-5. The correspondence table is updated (step 17). Next, based on this table, transport vehicle 2-1 is selected to create a transport route (step 1).
0), the process moves to the stage of carrying out the transport work by the transport vehicle 2-1 (step 12).

In the above embodiment, the creation of the transport vehicle transfer station correspondence table (step 17) is included in the transport control program, but it may also be incorporated into the controller as a program independent of the transport control program. In this case, the flowchart of the conveyance control program may be the same as the conventional one shown in FIG. E7j, in the above example, when creating the transport vehicle transfer station correspondence 8, it was calculated using the work start and work completion reports of the transport vehicle 2, but it was calculated based on the above correspondence table from the previous time (before update). Alternatively, the above correspondence table can be changed by looking at the progress of the transport work to each transport vehicle 2.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the controller in the unmanned conveyance device dynamically updates data indicating the transfer stations that each guided vehicle can service according to the operating status of the guided vehicle. This makes it possible to equalize the operating rate of each conveyance vehicle, which has the effect of increasing the efficiency of conveyance work.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1N is a flowchart showing a transport control program for an unmanned transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a transport vehicle of the unmanned transport system, and FIG. 8 is a high-speed ceiling transport device of the unmanned transport system. Strabismus (2), 4th □□□a, b
G: A plan view and a side view of the Z unmanned transportation system. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the transportation control program of the conventional unmanned transportation device. In the figure, 1 is an object to be transported, 2 is a transport vehicle, 4 is a transport path, 5 is a transfer station, 6 is a high-speed ceiling transport device, 6o is a linear transport machine, and 61 is a relay station. Note that the same reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Each of the transport vehicles includes an object to be transported, a plurality of transport vehicles that transport the transport object, and a transfer station where the transport vehicle loads and unloads the transport object. each has a transport area consisting of a plurality of transfer stations that carry out the work of transporting the objects to be transported, and between each of the transport areas is provided an inter-transfer area transport means that enables the transport of the objects to be transported; In an unmanned conveyance device having a controller for controlling the plurality of guided vehicles and the inter-transfer area conveyance means, the controller may:
An unmanned transport system characterized by controlling the transport vehicle or the inter-transport area transport means while dynamically changing information on transfer stations belonging to the transport area.