JPH042532A - Unmanned container carrier equipped with automatic cover opening and closing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To achieve labor saving and automatization throughout all steps by providing an unmanned container carrier with an automatic cover opening and closing device to allow opening and closing of at least one cover of the carried container in accordance with information indicating the position of the container and on referring work to do. CONSTITUTION:For an automatic cover opening and closing device carried out for an unmanned carrier with a side folk 3 and a mast 2 arranged at the center, a fixed arm 5 is horizontally fixed to a column 4 standingly provided on the unmanned carrier 1, a sleeve 6' integral with a supporting member 60 is fitted to the column 4 and a rotationally moving arm 6 is horizontally protruded from the supporting member 60. Also, a driving arm 7 is pivotally supported to the end of a fixed frame 5, the shaft end of a linear servo motor installed on the lower face of the driving arm 7 is connected to the supporting member 60 via a connection rod 8 and a clamp device 9 is arranged on the end of the rotationally moving frame 6.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an automatic container guided vehicle equipped with a device that automatically opens and closes the lid of a container to be transported, and the present invention relates to an automatic container guided vehicle that is equipped with a device that automatically opens and closes the lid of a container to be transported. It is effectively used in the field of transportation between containers using a moving container with a lid, particularly in the industrial fields of food, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, synthetic resins, etc.

[Conventional technology]

Automated guided vehicles themselves have been known for a long time, and when moving materials from a supply position to a processing position using a moving container with a lid, the moving container with a lid is placed on the automated guided vehicle, transported, and the lid is manually removed. The lid opening installed at each processing position was opened and closed by a machine.

For manual opening/closing, for example, as shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, there is a pair of support pieces 40, 40 around the opening O of the top plate F of the container, and the ears 30 and 30 are placed on both sides. The protruding lid has a hole h for inserting a pin, and to open and close the lid, insert the pins p and p of the tool shown in Figure 7C into the hole in the lid.
After inserting it into the h, I turned the handle by hand.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Even if a conventional automated guided vehicle automatically transports a moving container, it only saves labor when moving the container, but it does not save labor if the lid of the container is manually opened and closed after transporting the container. It has little effect and automation of the entire process cannot be achieved. In addition, if a lid opening/closing machine is installed at each processing position where it is necessary to open and close the lids of mobile containers, this will increase equipment costs and space, and the maintenance and management of the entire automation process will become complicated, resulting in high costs. was inviting.

[Means and effects for solving the problem] An automatic lid opening/closing device is mounted on an automatic guided vehicle, and information regarding the work that the lid opening/closing device is to perform from now on, such as clamping the lid, rotating the lid, etc. , upon receiving the location information indicating that the container is placed in the position where the work should be performed, the lid of the moving container is opened unattended.
The lid can be closed or moved.

Therefore, the moving container is transported to a predetermined position by an automated guided vehicle, and the guided vehicle itself performs the unmanned lid opening/closing operation as set at the predetermined position. Opening eliminates the need for a machine, resulting in rationalization of space usage, labor savings, and automation throughout the entire process.

〔Example〕

Configuration: As shown in Fig. 1, the automatic lid opening/closing device is equipped with a Mecanum wheel (trade name) W as a means for running in all directions.
It was applied to an automatic guided vehicle with side forks 3 and mast 2 arranged in the center.

Fig. 2A is a perspective view of only the automatic lid opening/closing device;
Figure B is a side view of the automatic lid opening/closing device, and as shown in these figures, the automatic lid opening/closing device is mounted on a pillar 4 that is vertically erected and fixed to the automatic guided vehicle 1.
The fixed arm 5 is fixedly protruding from the support member 6 in the horizontal direction, and a sleeve 6' integrated with the support member 60 is fitted onto the column 4 to allow rotation. The downwardly extending portion 6 of the support member 60 is arranged to protrude horizontally from the support member 60 .
The rotating frame 6 is vertically slid along the rail 61 by the action of a hydraulic cylinder 63 fixed to the rotating frame 6.

In addition, a drive arm 7 is rotatably supported at the tip of the fixed frame 5 by a joint J7, and a linear servo motor M7 is fixed to the lower surface of the drive arm 7, so that a shaft S7 that moves in and out as the motor M7 rotates. The distal end and the distal end of the connecting rod 8 were pivotally supported by a joint (joint) Ja, and the proximal end of the rod 8 was fixed to a support member 60.

A gripping device 9 is disposed at the tip of the rotating frame 6. 3 is a bottom view of the gripping device 9, and FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the gripping device 9 taken out from the frame 6.

As shown in the figure, the gripping device 9 is rotatably supported on the frame 6 by a sleeve 10, and is integrally attached to the substrate 1 with the sleeve 10.
1 and side plates 12 were fixed, and two guide rails 13.13 were fixed in parallel between both side plates 12.12.

15', two sliding pieces 14 and 14' are fixed to both ends of each mounting plate 15 and 15', and each sliding piece 14 and 14' is fitted to the guide rail 13, respectively. In addition, each mounting plate 15, 15' has a rack 1 protruding from the opposite side.
6.16' was fixed, a pinion 19 was clamped between each rack 16.16', and the pinion 19 was fixed to a motor shaft S9 of a servo motor M for reciprocating the clamping piece.

Further, 20 and 20' are support rolls that engage the rack 1646' with the pinion 19, respectively.

In addition, the gear G fixed to the sleeve 10 is attached to the frame 6.
It meshed with the gear G6 of the turning servo motor M6 fixed above.

Effect: As shown in Figures 6A and 6B, compared to the conventional container body, which has an opening ○ for inputting raw materials on the top plate of the container, and lid support pieces 40 at two symmetrical locations around the opening. , using a portable container equipped with a lid that is equipped with conventional ears 30 on both sides of the lid, but has two symmetrical gripping margins 31 that protrude outward in a V-shape on both sides of the lid, The automatic guided vehicle of the present invention was used for transportation from a raw material input position to a powder processing position in a powder processing process.

First, an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) carrying an empty container travels to the raw material supply position, and when the position sensor detects that the AGV has reached the raw material input position, the work control means (computer) supplies the empty container to the raw material supply position. When the raw materials to be prepared are put in, instructions are given to open the lid of the container, and the lid opening/closing device is shown in Figure 5 (a).
In response to a pulse command to the linear servo motor M, M7 rotates and moves the shirt S7 in the direction of arrow A, giving the frame 6 the rotation of arrow R6 about the pillar 4, and 1/-Muro is brought to the state shown in FIG. 5(b), that is, the gripping device 9 on the lower surface of the frame 6 is directly above the closed lid. Next, the hydraulic cylinder 6 is activated by a command.
3 acts on the frame 6 to support the rail 6 on the support member 60.
1 and press the limit switch (
(not shown) operates to stop the lowering of the frame 6, the servo motor M9 rotates in response to the lid clamping command following the stop signal, and the pinion I9 rotates to pull both racks 16 and 16' inward ( By arrow A9), attach the mounting plates 15 on both sides.
．． 15' is pulled inward through sliding on the guide rail of the sliding piece 14.14', and the V-shaped valley-shaped clamping surface 18.18' of the clamping piece 17.17' grips the lid. Firmly hold the V-shaped peak on the outer surface of No.31. Then, the servo motor M6 is rotated by the next lid rotation command, and the entire gripping device 9 is rotated in the direction of arrow R8 by the meshing rotation of the gears G6 and G9, and the lug 30 of the lid is removed from the support piece 40 of the container body. Next, after the hydraulic cylinder 63 lifts up the gripping device holding the lid, that is, the frame 6, the linear servo motor M is moved.

The shaft S of the motor M7 is pulled in the direction of the arrow A7 by the lid movement command, and the frame 6 is moved from FIG.
Rotate to position C) and stop.

Then, the frame 6 is moved by the action of the hydraulic cylinder 63.
is lowered, the lid is placed on the temporary stand C2 above the container, and the frame lowering is stopped by the limit switch. Then, in response to the lid release command, the servo motor M is rotated, and the pinion 19 and the rack 16, 16' rotate the lid. After expanding the clamping pieces 17 and 17' outward (arrow A9) and leaving the lid alone, the frame 6 is raised by the primary signal, and then the linear motor M is activated and the frame 6 is moved again by rotation as indicated by the arrow R6. It retreats to the rest position shown in FIG. 5(a). Since the container with the lid opened is ready for the raw material feeder, the AGV uses a forklift to set the container at the raw material supply position. Then, the work control means (computer) detects the completion of the raw material loading work using the weight sensor, and issues a command to the lid opening/closing device to close the lid of the container. Then, after the lid opening/closing device closes the lid in the reverse order of the lid opening operation described above, the frame 6, that is, the lid opening/closing device is retracted to the rest position (FIG. 5(a)). According to the next destination command, the AGV transports the raw material container to a predetermined location.

This automatic lid opening/closing device is characterized by linear movement of the clamping piece itself (arrow A
, ), rotation of the gripping device (arrow R,), and rotation of the gripping device (arrow R6), which are comprised of three simple operating means, can be installed compactly on an automatic guided vehicle and can be moved smoothly. It is easy to perform and control.

Others: Dimensions and clamping surface 18 of the clamping piece 1747' of the lid opening/closing device.
It is sufficient that the shape of 18' corresponds to the shape and dimensions of the grip 31 of the lid of the target container.

Moreover, a linear motor may be used instead of the hydraulic cylinder 63 for vertical movement of the frame 6, that is, the gripping device 9.

Further, the vertical movement of the gripping device when the gripping device places or picks up the lid is not necessarily required depending on the shape of the lid used.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the automated guided vehicle is equipped with an automatic lid opening/closing device, it can open and close the containers being transported by itself, eliminating the need to prepare separate lid opening/closing tools or lid opening/closing devices for each location where container lids need to be opened and closed. , space and equipment costs can be reduced, and this automatic guided vehicle achieves unmanned operation of operations including moving containers and opening and closing lids.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a schematic perspective view of the lid opening/closing device, and FIG.
The figure is a side view thereof. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the gripping device, and FIG. 4 is a partially omitted side view of the gripping device. Figures 5 (a), (b), and (c) are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the lid opening/closing device, in which (a) the gripping device is in the rest position, (b) the gripping device is in the position directly above the lid, and (C) indicates the position on the temporary stand. FIG. 6A is a partial plan view of a container used in the automatic guided vehicle of the present invention, and FIG. 6B is a partial sectional view thereof. FIG. 7A is a partial plan view of a container used in a conventional automated guided vehicle, and FIG. 7B is a partial cross-sectional view of the same.
Figure C is a side view of a conventional lid opening/closing tool. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Vehicle body, 3... Side fork, 5... Fixed arm, 6'... Sleeve, 8... Connecting rod, 10... Sleeve, 12... Side plate, 14.14' ... Sliding piece, 16.16'... Rack, 18.18'... Clamping surface, 20.20'... To support row 31... Grasp, 60... Support member, 62... Downward extension part, 2... Mast, 4... Pillar, 6... Rotating frame, 7... Drive arm, 9... Gripping device, 11... Board, 13...・・Guide rail, 15.15'・・Mounting plate, 17・17′・・Holding piece, 19・・Pinion, 30・・Ear, 40・・・Support piece, 61・・・Renobe 63 ...Hydraulic cylinder Fig. 2A Fig. 2B Fig. 6A Fig. 6B

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automated container guided vehicle equipped with an automatic lid opening/closing device capable of opening and closing at least one lid of a transported container based on information indicating the location of the container and information regarding the work to be performed.