JPH0623939U - Ceiling carrier lift - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Lifting for a ceiling guided vehicle configured to facilitate efficient loading and unloading of articles in accordance with the shape and size of the articles. Provide a stand. [Structure] A plurality of conveyors 3 and 4 are provided on a base portion 2 on which an article X is loaded, and when the size and shape of the article X are detected and it is determined that one article is loaded, the plurality of conveyors 3 and 4,
4 are simultaneously driven to load the articles X on the elevator 1, and when it is determined that a plurality of articles X can be loaded, the conveyors 3 and 4 are individually driven to load the individual articles X on the elevator 1. As configured.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an elevator for a ceiling guided vehicle that is vertically movable in a ceiling guided vehicle that travels along a transportation path such as a rail laid on the ceiling, and is particularly adapted to the shape and number of articles to be transported. The present invention relates to a lift for a ceiling guided vehicle that can carry out efficiently.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, conveyors such as conveyors installed on the floor and conveyors that travel on the floor have been mainly used in factory production lines and other fields of logistics.For example, conveyors installed on the floor. If this is not possible, then a ceiling carrier that uses the ceiling will be used. The ceiling guided vehicle is used to lift and convey articles in the air. One example thereof is, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Nos. 4-49106, 4-49107, and 4-49107, traveling a carrier vehicle along a traveling path such as a rail laid on the ceiling. It is configured to lift and lower a carrier (elevating table) at a predetermined position to load and unload articles. The above-mentioned ceiling transfer vehicle uses the so-called space part such as the ceiling of the factory where various facilities are installed and the ceiling of other passages to transfer the goods, so that the effective use of the site can be achieved.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 Each ceiling carrier has one lift, and the area on which the goods are loaded is constant, but the shape and size of the goods to be transferred are not always the same. Absent. Then, in the conventional ceiling guided vehicle, after loading one article on the lift table, the moving operation is performed regardless of whether there is a space or not. For this reason, for example, even for small articles with a large vacancy in the loading area, a series of operations such as one-time loading on the lifting platform, lifting to the ceiling, transportation to the unloading position, hanging, and unloading are performed. The efficiency was decreasing. That is, the conventional lifting platform cannot efficiently carry the article according to its shape and size.

Further, when the loading position of the lifting platform is configured as a flat plate, the bottom surface of the article is rubbed, so that the workability at the time of loading is poor, and this also causes damage to the article. In order to solve this problem, if a roller or the like is provided, the article will move when the platform is tilted and will drop if it is extremely heavy.Therefore, a stopper or a locking mechanism for the roller must be provided, and its transport function is improved. The structure becomes more complicated than that. Although the above-mentioned publication discloses a mode in which a plurality of articles are loaded on a single carrier, this presupposes that products of the same standard are loaded and unloaded simultaneously. Since complicated operations such as tilting the carrier are required, the structure of the carrier is also complicated. An object of the present invention is to provide an elevator platform for a ceiling guided vehicle, which is capable of efficiently carrying articles in accordance with the shape and size of the articles, and which can be easily loaded and unloaded. To do.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The above object of the present invention is to provide an elevator for a ceiling guided vehicle that is vertically movable in a ceiling guided vehicle that travels along a traveling path laid on the ceiling. A conveyor is installed side by side, and by selectively driving the plurality of belt conveyors according to the shape and size of the article, the article is selectively loaded and unloaded. It is achieved by the lift for a ceiling guided vehicle.

[0006]

[Action]

 According to the above-configured ceiling carrier elevator, since the elevator is provided with a plurality of conveyors that are side by side, the article to be transported is large and the elevator is full of one article. In such a case, a plurality of conveyors can be driven at the same time so that large articles can be loaded by being drawn into the ascending / descending table. If the conveyed article is small, one of the conveying means is driven to first pull in one article and load it on the elevating table, and then the other conveying means is driven to move the plurality of articles. It can be loaded on top and can be loaded and unloaded simultaneously or separately. Also, the number of conveyors can be freely changed according to the size of the lifting table and the size of the articles to be conveyed.

[0007]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part showing the structure of an elevator, FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing a transportation route of articles by a ceiling transport vehicle, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing loading of articles to an elevator, and FIG. 4 is loading. A flow chart for explaining the operation, and FIG. 5 is a circuit configuration diagram of the control device. The feature of the lift table 1 for a ceiling guided vehicle in this embodiment is that a plurality of, for example, two belt conveyors 3 and 4 are provided on the table portion 2 on which the article X is placed, and the shape and the like of the article X to be carried is matched. It is configured so that it can be stacked into one or two.

That is, the lifting platform 1 includes a frame-shaped platform 2, a plurality of belt conveyors 3 and 4 provided on the frame 2, suspension belts 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d for lifting the platform 2 and the like. It is composed of The upper ends of the hanging belts 5a to 5b are connected to a ceiling carrier (not shown) so that they can be rolled up and down, and the take-up roller installed in the ceiling carrier is controlled to rotate forward and backward. As a result, the entire lifting platform 2 can be raised and lowered in a horizontal state.

The belt conveyors 3 and 4 are given different reference numerals in consideration of convenience in the later-described operation description, and actually have the same configuration. The structure of the belt conveyor 3 will be described below. A drive roller 7a that is driven to rotate in the forward and reverse directions by a motor Ma provided in the frame 6a and a rotating roller 9a provided between the frame 6a and the support plate 8. The conveyor belt is endlessly laid between the two. Therefore, if the motors Ma and Mb are simultaneously driven to rotate in the same direction, the belt conveyors 3 and 4 travel in the same direction, and if one of the motors Ma and Mb is driven, the belt conveyors 3 and 4 are driven. Only one will drive. Although illustration of the power supply line to the motors Ma and Mb is omitted, a power supply method known to those skilled in the art may be appropriately applied.

Next, a system for loading, transporting, and unloading articles on the lift 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The transport paths 11 and 12 are composed of belt conveyors, roller conveyors, etc., and the lifting platform 1 is positioned at the end of each of them. A rail 13, which is a traveling path, is laid on the ceiling between the end portions of the transport paths 11 and 12, and a ceiling transport vehicle (not shown) is configured to reciprocate along the rail 13. The lifting platform 1 is attached to the lower side of the ceiling transport vehicle so that it can be raised and lowered. The configuration of the rails and the ceiling transport vehicle, and the lifting operation of the lifting platform can be as disclosed in the above-mentioned publication. Then, when the articles conveyed by the conveyance path 11 are loaded on the lift table 1, in other words, transferred, the lift table 1 is positioned at the end of the conveyance path 11, and the height of the lift table 1 and the conveyance path 11 is increased. Items are loaded in a state in which they are aligned.

Next, the elevating table 1 is hung on the ceiling, and the ceiling carrier is moved along the rail 13 to the end of the carrier path 12. Since the article is placed on the lift 1, the article is transported to the end of the transport path 12 by the movement of the ceiling transport vehicle. Next, the elevating table 1 is lowered to the height of the transport path 12, and the placed article is carried out onto the transport path 12, in other words, transferred. The transferred article is transported to a predetermined position by the transport path 12.

As described above, when the articles are loaded from the transport path 11 onto the lifting platform 1, the following operations are performed in this embodiment. In other words, the size of the article X conveyed by the conveying path 11 is not uniform, and in some cases it has an elongated size as shown by the solid line in FIG. Sometimes it is about twice as large as the thing). In the past, one article X was always placed on the elevator 1 regardless of the size of the article X. However, the elevator 1 of the present embodiment matches the size and shape of the article X. It can be stacked into one and two.

On both sides of the transport path 11, in order to optically detect the size of the article X, for example, two sets of a light emitting element 21a and a light receiving element 21b and a light emitting element 22a and a light receiving element 22b are provided. Detection means are provided. Each detecting means is installed along the flow of the article X at a predetermined interval between the upstream side (right hand in FIG. 3) and the downstream side. According to this configuration, the article X being conveyed in the direction of the arrow A first blocks the incident light of the light receiving element 22b and then blocks the incident light of the light receiving element 21b.

Then, with the tip of the article X hanging on the line connecting the light emitting element 21a and the light receiving element 21b, in other words, with the light incident on the light receiving element 21b blocked, the rear end of the article X and the light receiving element 22a receive light. If the article X is not hung on the line connecting the elements 22b, it can be determined that the articles X are small and can be simultaneously carried by being loaded on the lift table 1 at a time. Also, if the front end of the article X is in the same state as described above and the rear end blocks the light incident on the light receiving element 22b, that is, if the size is as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. To judge. Then, the following loading operation is selectively performed based on the detection signals obtained from the light receiving elements 21b and 22b.

The size (length in the flow direction) of the article X being conveyed is measured as shown in step S1 of FIG. 4, and the measured value, that is, the detection signal is transmitted from the light receiving elements 21b and 22b to the control device 31. Supplied. The control device 31 compares the detection signal with the control data stored in the storage circuit 32 to comprehensively carry out loading and transportation control on the lift 1. When the detection signals are supplied from the light receiving elements 21b and 22b, the control device 31 determines whether to stack one or two as shown in step S2, and when it is determined to stack one, proceeds to step S3. As shown in the figure, if one piece is controlled, and if it is determined that there is two pieces, then two pieces are controlled as shown in step S4.

When it is determined that the articles are stacked one by one, the article X has a size that occupies a half or more of the area of the platform portion 2 of the lifting platform 1, and therefore only one of the belt conveyors 3 and 4 is driven. Then, inconveniences occur such that the articles X are loaded diagonally, or only half of them can be loaded. Then, the control device 31 rotationally drives the motors Ma and Mb so that the belt conveyors 3 and 4 simultaneously travel in the direction of arrow B (see FIG. 3). At the same time, the pushing means 33a, 33b are driven to push the article X in the direction of the lift table 1. At this point, the belt conveyors 3 and 4 are traveling in the direction of the arrow B, so that when the end portion of the article X hangs on the belt conveyors 3 and 4, the article X is pulled in and is loaded on the ascending / descending table 1 without difficulty. .

Completion of loading may be detected by the returning movement of the pushing means 33a and 33b, or a sensor may be provided on the lifting table 1 to detect the completion. When the article X is loaded, the control unit 31 controls the motors Ma and Mb to stop driving. In this state, the belt conveyors 3 and 4 cannot run, and since the surface of the belt is formed to prevent slippage, friction with the article X becomes large, and slippage prevention can be easily performed.

In this way, when the articles X are completely loaded on the lift table 1, the control device 1 drives the ceiling carriage 34 to raise the lift table 1, that is, lift it to a predetermined height. Next, as described with reference to FIG. 2, the rails 13 are caused to travel along the rails 13 to reach the end of the transport path 12, and then the lifting platform 1 is lowered. Then, after being lowered to a predetermined height, the control device 31 rotationally drives the motors Ma and Mb in the direction opposite to the loading direction, and the article X is carried out onto the transport path 12.

Next, the stacking operation of step S4 will be described. The control device 31 rotationally drives the motor Ma in order to drive one of the belt conveyors 3 and 4, for example, the belt conveyor 3 first. When the article X is conveyed to the position in front of the pushing means 33a, the pushing means 33a is driven to push the article X toward the belt conveyor 3. As a result, the articles X are pulled up by the belt conveyor 3, and the first one is loaded on the lifting table 1. Then, the control device 31 controls the motor Ma to stop the rotation, and the pushing member 33a returns to the standby state for the second article X.

Next, the second article X is loaded, and in this case, the motor Mb is rotationally driven by the control device 31 and the belt conveyor 4 runs. Then, when the article X is conveyed to the position in front of the pushing member 33b, the pushing member 33b is driven by the control device 31 and the article X is pushed toward the belt conveyor 4. Since the belt conveyor 4 is running, the article X is drawn onto the lift table 1, and then the rotation of the motor Mb is controlled to stop to complete the loading of the two articles X. Thereafter, the lifting of the lifting platform 1, the transportation to the end of the transport path 12, the suspension, and the unloading operation are performed in the same manner as described above. As described above, the lifting table 1 according to the present embodiment can carry one article or two articles corresponding to the size of the article X and can carry the articles efficiently. it can.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that the articles can be loaded on the lift table 1 without using a pushing member. That is, the lift table 1 itself may have the same structure as that of the first embodiment, but the constitution of the transport path 41 is different from that of the first embodiment. At the end of the transport path 41, a loading conveyor 43 is provided in contact with the belt conveyor 3, and a loading conveyor 44 is provided in contact with the belt conveyor 4. On the other hand, the transport path 41 also has a configuration in which the transport conveyors 45 and 46 are provided side by side, and a stopper 47 that moves up and down is provided between the stacking conveyor 43 and the transport conveyor 45, and between the stacking conveyor 44 and the transport conveyor 46. Also, a stopper 48 that moves up and down is provided.

In the present embodiment, when the article X is large enough to hang on both the conveyors 45 and 46 as shown by the imaginary line, the stoppers 47 and 48 are simultaneously lowered to keep the article X on the conveyors 43 and 44 as it is. Transfer to. With this operation, the motors Ma and Mb of the lift 1 are simultaneously driven to rotate, and the belt conveyors 3 and 4 travel so as to pull in the article X. Therefore, the articles X are stacked on the lifting table 1 while hanging on the belt conveyors 3 and 4. The operation of the lift table 1 after loading is as described in the first embodiment.

When the article X is large enough to be placed on one of the transport conveyors 45 and 46, for example, on the transport conveyor 45 side, the stopper 47 on the article loading side is lowered to place the article X on the loading conveyor 43. Reprint. In this case, since the belt conveyor 3 is controlled in the traveling state in the lifting table 1, the article X is conveyed so as to be hung on the belt conveyor 3 via the loading conveyor 43, and then is conveyed to the lifting table 1 by the belt conveyor 3. Be drawn in.

When the article X is placed on the belt conveyor 4, the stopper 48 is lowered and the article X conveyed on the conveyor belt 46 is transferred to the stacking belt 44. In this case, the belt conveyor 3 is controlled to stop, but the belt conveyor 4 is controlled to run so as to pull in the article X, so that the article X is pulled onto the lift 1 by the belt conveyor 4. In this way, two articles X can be loaded on the lift table 1 and simultaneously transported by the ceiling transport vehicle.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above, and various modifications can be made. For example, the article X on the lift 1 may be configured to be carried out in a plurality of positions. Further, in the example of FIG. 2, since the article X is carried out to the stacking side, a plate material serving as a stopper is provided on the back side where the drive rollers 7a and 7b are provided to prevent the article X from overshooting. You may comprise. The control device 31 may be independently provided as a control console at a desired position, but may be provided in a part of the ascending / descending platform 1, for example, in the frame portion 6a. In this case, the signal transmission / reception between the transport path 11 side and the control device 31 may be performed by a signal line, but may be performed optically.

[0026]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, the lift for a ceiling guided vehicle according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of conveyors (conveying means) on the platform for loading articles, and detects the size or shape of the articles, for example, one When it is determined that the articles are loaded, the conveyors are simultaneously driven to load the articles on the elevator, and when it is determined that the articles can be loaded, the conveyors are individually driven to move the articles to the elevator. It is configured to be loaded. Therefore, loading of articles on the elevator is carried out according to the size and shape of the articles, and even if there is space on the elevator, one article can be loaded and transported once. It is possible to eliminate the waste that is done, and it becomes possible to operate the ceiling guided vehicle efficiently and to use it for multiple purposes.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a lift table showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing loading, conveyance and discharge of articles.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conveyance path showing a loading form of articles.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an article detection operation.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of a control device for explaining a loading operation.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conveyance path according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 Elevating platform 2 units 3, 4 Belt conveyors 5a to 5d Hanging belts 6a, 6b Frames 7a, 7b Driving rollers 8 Support plates 9a, 9b Rotating rollers 11, 12 Conveying paths 13 Rails (running paths) 21a, 22a Light emitting element 21b, 22b Light receiving element 33a, 33b Pressing member 41 Conveying path 43, 44 Stacking conveyor 54, 46 Conveying conveyor 47, 48 Stopper Ma, Mb Motor X Article

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An elevator pedestal for a ceiling guided vehicle that is vertically movable in a ceiling guided vehicle that travels along a traveling path laid on the ceiling, and a plurality of belt conveyors are attached to an article placement portion of the elevator. The ceiling is configured to selectively load and unload the articles by selectively driving the plurality of belt conveyors in accordance with the shape and size of the articles. Lifting platform for transport vehicles.