JPH0524612Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention relates to a bumper that is attached to a transport vehicle that is also used for transporting cargo with a width wider than the vehicle width.

Conventional technology In transport vehicles where the width of the load is wider than the vehicle width, such as heavy goods transport vehicles that transport large machinery, trailer tow vehicles, or forklifts, the width of the load is wider than the vehicle width. It is necessary to run the vehicle so that the cargo protruding from the vehicle does not interfere with obstacles.
In many cases, the cargo is located at the rear of the vehicle in the direction of travel, so it is often determined by visual inspection whether the location of an obstacle is likely to impede travel. Therefore, if the visual estimation is incorrect, there is a risk that the cargo will come into contact with an obstacle, causing damage to the cargo or causing the cargo to collapse.

In addition, in the case of unmanned guided vehicles such as unmanned tow vehicles and unmanned forklifts, they are guided by guidance lines such as the magnetic field of towpath wires laid within the running road surface to travel on a predetermined course.
If an obstacle is located in a position that will impede driving, it is necessary to detect the obstacle and stop driving. It is necessary to be able to detect

For example, Figures 8 and 9 are
This figure shows a conventional unmanned vehicle described in Publication No. 10588, in which the unmanned vehicle 1 has a semi-annular front detector 3 on the front of the vehicle body 2 in the direction of travel (upper side in FIG. 8), and the vehicle body 2. There are side detectors 4 on both sides of the
4 each. The side detector 4 is
Detection rod 5 retractably installed on the side of the vehicle body
and a limit switch 6 disposed on the proximal end side of the detection rod 5.

The detection rod 5 is formed to be extendable and retractable in the longitudinal direction, and its base end support point 5a is connected to the vehicle body 2.
The detection rod 5 is horizontally rotatably supported on the side surface of the vehicle, and when the vehicle is driven manually, the detection rod 5 is stored in storage portions on both sides of the vehicle body. Then, when driving unmanned by automatic driving, the detection rod 5 stored in the side of the vehicle body is taken out from the storage part, extended to a predetermined length, and extended almost horizontally from the side of the vehicle body 2 in a right angle direction. use.

When an obstacle comes into contact with the detection rod 5 of the side detector 4 during unmanned driving, the detection rod 5 swings about the support point 5a on the proximal end side, and the limit switch 6 is activated by the proximal end. When activated, it detects the presence of obstacles and stops unmanned driving.

In addition, Figures 10 and 11 show the
This shows another conventional unmanned vehicle described in Publication No. 12153, in which an unmanned vehicle 11 whose cargo surface protrudes beyond the width of the vehicle body is equipped with bumper-type detection devices 13, 13 at the front and rear of the vehicle body 12. Obstacle detection devices 14 are provided at each of the four corners of the protruding loading surface. This obstacle detection device 14 has a surface that collides with an obstacle, and a metal fitting at one end thereof is rotatably supported toward the vehicle body by a shaft 15, and is maintained in the state before operation by a coil spring 16. It consists of a biased lever 17 and a detector 18 that detects the rotation angle of this lever 17.
When the lever 17 contacts the lever 17, the lever 17 swings in the direction of the arrow in FIG.
is operated to extract an obstacle detection signal and stop the unmanned vehicle 11.

Furthermore, FIGS. 12 and 13 show an unmanned towing vehicle as another conventional example.
It is loaded so that it protrudes from the width of the vehicle.

On both sides of the vehicle body of the unmanned towing vehicle 21, beard switches 24 are arranged in two stages, upper and lower, on each side. The proximal end of the hair switch 24 that comes into contact operates a limit switch to stop the travel.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the case of the first conventional example shown in FIGS. When the vehicle is narrower or unloaded, the detection rod 5 can be stored on the side of the vehicle body, so the passage width necessary for driving can be narrowed. However, since there is only one pair of detection rods 5 on the left and right sides of the vehicle body 2, There was a problem in that contact with an obstacle on the side of the vehicle body, which often occurs when turning, may not be detected.

In addition, in the case of the second conventional example shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the obstacle detection devices 14 are provided at each of the four corners of the loading surface protruding from the vehicle body 12, but the width of the load is If it is wider than the width of the surface, there are problems in that it is not possible to predict or detect contact of an obstacle with the part protruding from the surface of the loading platform, and it is not possible to detect contact of an obstacle with the side of the vehicle body. .

Furthermore, in the case of the third conventional example shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. The width of the frontmost part is the widest, resulting in a large turning radius and the need for a wide passageway for running.

This idea was created in view of the above problems.
When the width of the load is wider than the vehicle width, it expands to prevent the load from coming into contact with obstacles, and when the load is empty, it can be stored on the side of the vehicle body to narrow the necessary aisle width and reduce the turning radius. Another object of the present invention is to provide a bumper for a guided vehicle that can prevent obstacles from coming into contact with the side surface of the vehicle during turning.

Means for Solving the Problems As a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, this invention provides a bumper for transport vehicles that prevents obstacles from coming into contact with the vehicle body and cargo. A fixed bumper provided with the same width, one end of which is swingably supported by both wings of the fixed bumper, the other end of which is disposed along the side of the vehicle body, and the load width is fixed as above. If the width is wider than the width of the fixed bumper, an arm-shaped movable side is attached so that it can be extended from the side of the vehicle body by swinging around the support part for the fixed bumper to expand the rear side in the direction of travel. It is characterized by having a bumper.

Function With the above configuration, when the load width is wider than the vehicle width, the arm-shaped movable side bumper is swung around the support point to the fixed bumper to expand the rear side in the direction of travel. By opening and protruding from both sides of the vehicle, it prevents obstacles from coming into contact with the cargo.
In addition, when the vehicle is empty, the movable side bumper is stored on the side of the vehicle body, thereby narrowing the passage width necessary for traveling. In addition, the turning radius when turning with the movable side bumpers expanded is smaller than when a fixed bumper is installed with the same width as the movable side bumpers when the movable side bumpers are expanded. contact with obstacles is prevented.

Embodiment An embodiment in which this invention is applied to a bumper of an unmanned forklift, in which the width of the cargo to be handled is often larger than the width of the vehicle body, will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

The unmanned forklift 31 is equipped with a fork 33 at the front of a vehicle body 32, and a bumper 34 is provided at the rear of the vehicle body, which is mainly at the front in the traveling direction when transporting the cargo G.

The bumper 34 is attached to the unmanned forklift 3.
A fixed bumper 34a is provided on the rear surface of the vehicle body (the upper surface in FIG. 2), which is mainly the front surface in the traveling direction when the vehicle is loaded, at a lower position close to the traveling road surface, and has a width approximately the same as the vehicle body width. The base ends (upper ends in FIG. 2) of both wings of the fixed bumper 34a are rotatably supported around a shaft 35, and the tip sides (lower ends in FIG. 2) are supported by the vehicle body 32.
It consists of a pair of arm-shaped movable side bumpers 34b, 34b that are attached to extend rearward in the traveling direction (downward in FIG. 2) along the side surfaces of the vehicle.

Each of the movable side bumpers 34b has its base end supported by a hydraulic cylinder 36 which has one end rotatably engaged with the movable side bumper 34b and the other end with the lower side surface of the vehicle body 32. It is driven to open and close using the shaft 35 as a fulcrum.

When the load G placed on a pallet or the like is supported on the fork 33 and transported, the hydraulic cylinder 36 moves the movable side bumpers 34
b, 34b are respectively expanded to match the width of the cargo G, and the rear end side of each movable side bumper 34b is separated from the side surface of the vehicle body and overhangs to the side, so that the rear end of both movable side bumpers 34b, 34b The distance between them should be the same as the width of the cargo G.

Furthermore, when the vehicle is unloaded or when the width of the load is less than the width of the vehicle body, both the hydraulic cylinders 36, 36 are driven to close the movable side bumpers 34b, 34b, and the movable side bumpers 34b, 34b are driven to close. are stored on each side of the vehicle body 32 (see FIG. 2).

Furthermore, a fixed bumper 34a of the bumper 34
Code switches 37 are arranged on the front side in the traveling direction (upper side in Fig. 2) in two stages, upper and lower, spanning the entire width of the vehicle body 32. Code switches 37 are also arranged on the front side in the traveling direction in the open state, that is, on the outer side in the retracted state, in two stages, upper and lower, over the entire length of each movable side bumper 34b (see Fig. 3). .

The code switch 37 is formed by connecting a number of code switch units 37a shown in FIG. 4 in an AND connection, and is connected to the power supply circuit of the unmanned forklift 31 which uses a battery as a driving power source. For example, Fig. 5 shows a control circuit of a code switch having six code switch units 37a from A to F, in which the output of the relay 38 is in the ON state to operate normally, and the output to the relay 38 to be in the OFF state to turn off the power circuit. Therefore, if an obstacle comes into contact with somewhere on the bumper 34 and the cord switch unit 37a disposed at the contact part breaks, the circuit is interrupted, the output of the relay 38 is interrupted.
OFF, the power circuit is cut off, and the unmanned forklift 31 is brought to an emergency stop.

Therefore, by configuring the bumper 34 with the fixed bumper 34a and the movable side bumper 34b as described above, as shown in FIG.
The turning radius r of this unmanned forklift 31 when the movable side bumper 34b is expanded to cover the range of the cargo G when the movable side bumper 34b protrudes beyond the width of the vehicle body 32, This is significantly smaller than the turning radius R when a fixed bumper H (indicated by a two-dot chain line in Fig. 6) with the same width as the cargo G is provided, narrowing the area required for turning and reducing the passage width at the corner. It can be made narrower than before.

Furthermore, by configuring the bumper 34 with the fixed bumper 34a and the movable side bumper 34b as described above, when the cargo G protrudes beyond the width of the vehicle body 32, the movable side bumper 34b is expanded. It covers the range of the cargo G to prevent obstacles from coming into contact with the cargo G, and when an obstacle comes into contact with any of the fixed bumper 34a and the movable side bumper 34b, the code switch 37
is activated and stops running. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, when the vehicle turns in the direction of the arrow with the movable side bumper 34b expanded, even if an obstacle S comes into contact with the side of the vehicle body, the movable side bumper The code switch 37 of 34b is activated to stop turning, etc., thereby preventing damage to the cargo and the vehicle body.

In addition, when the vehicle is empty or when the width of the cargo is narrower than the width of the vehicle body 32, the movable side bumper 34
Even when the vehicle is closed and stored, the code switch 37 provided on the movable side bumper 34b works effectively to stop turning, etc. when an obstacle comes into contact with the side of the vehicle during turning. It's getting old. Furthermore, when the side bumper 34b collides with the obstacle S, the hydraulic cylinders 36, 36 act as dampers, effectively absorbing the collision load and providing an excellent shock absorbing device.

In the above embodiment, since the bumper 34 of this invention is attached to the unmanned forklift 31, the entire side surface of the vehicle body 32 of the unmanned forklift 31 is covered by the movable side bumper 34b, so that it can be turned on the spot. Even at this time, contact with an obstacle from the side of the vehicle body 32 can be detected and the turning of the unmanned forklift 31 can be stopped on the spot.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the case where the vehicle is used in a bumper of a forklift whose traveling direction when loading is mainly toward the rear of the vehicle body is explained, but when it is used in a guided vehicle where the traveling direction when loading is both in the front and rear directions of the vehicle body. A similar effect can be obtained by providing bumpers 34 consisting of a fixed bumper 34a and a movable side bumper 34b at both the front and rear of the vehicle body.

In addition, although the above embodiment describes the case where this invention is applied to the bumper of an unmanned forklift, it can also be applied to the bumper of an unmanned towing vehicle or an unmanned guided vehicle, or if a driver other than an unmanned guided vehicle is on board. It can also be suitably applied to the bumper of a general conveyance vehicle.

Effects of the invention As explained above, the bumper for a guided vehicle according to this invention includes a fixed bumper provided at the front of the vehicle body in the traveling direction with a width that is approximately the same as the width of the vehicle body, and one end of each of the fixed bumpers provided on both wings. Supported in a swingable manner,
When the other end side is arranged along the side of the vehicle body and the width of the load is wider than the width of the fixed bumper, the support part for the fixed bumper is swung as a fulcrum to move the rear side in the direction of travel. It has an arm-shaped movable side bumper attached so that it can be expanded and extended from the side of the vehicle body, so when the width of the cargo is wider than the vehicle width, the movable side bumper can be expanded to extend the width of the cargo. Contact with obstacles can be prevented, and when the vehicle is empty, the movable side bumper can be stored on the side of the vehicle body to narrow the necessary passage width. Furthermore, the turning radius when the movable side bumpers are expanded is smaller than when fixed bumpers of the same width are provided. moreover,
It is possible to prevent obstacles from coming into contact with the side of the vehicle body when turning or the like.

In addition, if an obstacle detection means linked to a travel stop switch is provided on the front side in the direction of travel of the bumper, which consists of a fixed bumper and a movable side bumper, it is possible to It has the effect of being able to detect obstacles and stop running or turning.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 7 show an embodiment of this invention, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of an unmanned forklift equipped with a bumper according to this invention, and Figure 2 is a plan view of the same unmanned forklift. Fig. 3 is a view taken from the - arrow in Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the code switch, Fig. 5 is a control circuit diagram of the code switch, and Fig. 6 is a diagram of the control circuit of the code switch.
The figure is an explanatory diagram comparing the turning radius of a movable side bumper with the same width and a conventional fixed bumper. Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which obstacles on the side of the vehicle body are detected when turning on the spot. 13 to 13 show conventional examples, FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a conventional unmanned vehicle, FIG. 9 is an enlarged view showing a side detector provided in this unmanned vehicle, and FIG. The figure is a plan view showing another conventional example of an unmanned vehicle, FIG. 11 is an enlarged view showing an obstacle detection device provided in this unmanned vehicle, and FIG. 12 is a plan view of another conventional example of an unmanned towing vehicle. The plan view, FIG. 13, is a side view of FIG. 12. 31...Unmanned forklift, 32...Vehicle body,
33...fork, 34...bumper, 34a...
Fixed bumper, 34b...movable side bumper,
36...Hydraulic cylinder, 37...Code switch, 37a...Code switch unit, 38...
...Relay, G...Load, S...Obstacle.

Claims (1)

[Scope of claim for utility model registration] (1) In a bumper for a transport vehicle that prevents obstacles from coming into contact with the vehicle body and cargo, a fixed bumper provided at the front of the vehicle body in the direction of travel with a width approximately equal to the width of the vehicle body; One end of the fixed bumper is swingably supported by both wings of the fixed bumper, the other end is arranged along the side of the vehicle body, and when the load width is wider than the width of the fixed bumper, the fixed bumper A transport vehicle characterized by having an arm-shaped movable side bumper that is attached so that it can be extended from the side of the vehicle body by swinging around a support part for the type bumper to expand the rear side in the direction of travel. Bumper for. (2) The bumper for a guided vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the movable side bumper is driven to open and close by a bumper opening/closing device provided between the movable side bumper and the vehicle body. . (3) The movable side bumper has an obstacle detection means linked to a travel stop switch on the front side in the direction of travel of the vehicle when the movable side bumper is unfolded. Bumper for transportation vehicles.