JPH04236610A - Automatic carrying truck - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To change the volume of a warning tone from an automatic carrying truck in accordance with the distance to an obstacle in the case that persons and automatic carrying trucks use the same passage at the time of carrying materials. CONSTITUTION:An automatic carrying truck 2 is provided with an obstacle detecting sensor 1-1 and an obstacle detecting sensor 1-2 on the front. While running on a carrying route, the automatic carrying truck 2 measures the distance to an obstacle 3 on the carrying route by the obstacle detecting sensor 1-1. Only when the obstacle 3 exists with a preliminarily set distance, the automatic carrying truck 2 emits the warning tone. The sound volume of the warning tone is reduced according as the automatic carrying truck 2 approaches the obstacle 3, but it is increased according as the automatic carrying truck 2 goes away from the obstacle 3. The automatic carrying truck is stopped by the obstacle detecting sensor 1-2 just before or at the moment of collision against the obstacle 3, and the sound volume of the warning tone is maximized then.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic transport vehicle for transporting objects during transport within a production factory, and in particular,
This relates to an automatic transport vehicle that uses the same path as humans.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional automatic transport vehicles emit a warning sound to warn people, regardless of the presence or absence of obstacles on the transport route.

0003

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In a transportation system that uses conventional automatic transportation vehicles to transport objects, a plurality of automatic transportation vehicles run on the same traveling route as the path for people to transport objects. When doing so, there was a problem in that the warning sounds emitted by each automatic transport vehicle overlapped, and it was unclear which automatic transport vehicle was giving the warning to the person. In addition, since each automated guided vehicle sounds a warning sound regardless of the presence or absence of obstacles on the travel route,
There was a problem in that the noise caused discomfort to humans.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problem] In the automatic transport vehicle of the present invention, when the obstacle detection sensor detects that the vehicle approaches the obstacle, the distance to the obstacle is proportional to the distance to the obstacle, but the distance immediately before colliding with the obstacle is proportional to the distance to the obstacle. Or, at the moment of a collision, it emits the loudest warning sound.

[0005]

Embodiments Examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.

[0007] In this embodiment, obstacle detection sensors 1-1 and 1-2 are installed on the front of the automatic transport vehicle.

While the automatic transport vehicle 2 is traveling on the transport route,
The distance to the obstacle 3 on the conveyance route is measured by the obstacle detection sensor 1-1. Then, only when an obstacle 3 is detected within a preset range, the automatic transport vehicle 2 sounds a warning sound. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the volume of the warning sound is decreased when the automatic transport vehicle 2 and the obstacle 3 approach, and the volume of the warning sound is increased when the automatic transport vehicle 2 and the obstacle 3 move away from each other. Note that the obstacle detection sensor 1 that stops the automatic transport vehicle 2
-2, the automatic transport vehicle 2 stops immediately before or at the moment when the automatic transport vehicle 2 collides with the obstacle 3, and the volume of the warning sound at that time is set to the maximum volume.

Note that an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, a visible light sensor, or the like can be used as the obstacle detection sensors 1-1 and 1-2.

0010

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention enables the automatic transport vehicle to emit a warning sound only when the automatic transport vehicle approaches an obstacle on its travel route within a certain distance. This has the effect of making it clear whether the trolley is giving a warning to humans, and the effect of not causing discomfort to humans in terms of noise. Since the warning sound becomes louder in proportion to the distance between the automatic transport vehicle and the obstacle, there is an effect that a person can easily recognize the approach of the automatic transport vehicle. In addition, when the automated guided vehicle stops, the obstacle detection sensor that stops the automated guided vehicle is used to raise the volume of the warning sound to the maximum level, which alerts humans to the presence of the automated guided vehicle and the obstacle. This has the effect that the occurrence of a collision can be easily recognized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the distance to an obstacle and the loudness of a warning sound in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

1-1 Obstacle detection sensor 1-2 Obstacle detection sensor 2 Automatic transport trolley 3. Obstacles

Claims (4)

[Claims] Claim 1: When an obstacle detection sensor detects that the obstacle is close to the obstacle, a warning sound is generated in proportion to the distance to the obstacle, but at the maximum volume immediately before or at the moment of collision with the obstacle. An automatic transport vehicle characterized by emitting. 2. The automatic transport vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle detection sensor is an ultrasonic sensor. 3. The automatic transport vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle detection sensor is an infrared sensor. 4. The automatic transport vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle detection sensor is a visible light sensor.