JPH08337303A - Conveying dolly system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a conveying dolly system which can detect the load on a dolly certainly and allows easy wiring works to be made on the ground. CONSTITUTION: A dolly 40 is fitted with a load detecting part 51 including load detecting roller 50 and a signal transmission part 42 to emit a signal when loading is detected by the detecting part 51. A conveyor frame 11 is equipped with a signal reception part 33 to receive signals in the condition not touching with the transmission part 42 when the dolly 40 reaches the object handover part. The frame 11 is provided with a T-groove stretching fore and aft, and wirings are made from the arrival detecting part 31, the reception part 33, or the like to a control box through the T-groove.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carriage system having a carriage driven by driving conveyors arranged in parallel on rails.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a carrier system which is arranged between an entrance / exit of an automated warehouse and an article transfer position of a forklift, and which has a carrier that is driven by a conveyor arranged in parallel with a rail. ing. In this type of carrier system, the carriage is not equipped with a travel drive source, and the ground side is based on the detection results of limit switches (arrival detection) and photoelectric switches (load detection) provided on the ground side. To control the traveling of the dolly.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional carrier system, since the loading of the carrier is detected by the photoelectric switch provided on the ground side, there is a possibility of erroneous detection due to detection of other than the article. there were. Especially, in order to prevent interference with the dolly, when the photoelectric switch is arranged outside the traveling area of the dolly, the installation work is troublesome, an extra installation space is required, and wiring is difficult. There was a problem.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a carrier vehicle system capable of reliably detecting the load of the vehicle and easily wired on the ground side. To do.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 is a system having a carrier truck that travels by driving conveyors arranged in parallel on a rail. A receiver for receiving the signal in a non-contact state with the transmitter when the carriage reaches a predetermined position, and a transmitter for emitting a signal to that effect when the load detector detects the load. Is a carrier system installed on the ground side.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the receiving section is arranged only in the article delivering section.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a wiring groove is formed along the longitudinal direction in the frame of the conveyor.

[0008]

The present invention has the following functions.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the load is detected by the receiving unit on the ground side receiving the signal emitted from the transmitting unit when the load detecting unit detects the load in the state where the carriage is at the predetermined position. Then, based on the reception state of the reception unit, drive control of the conveyor for traveling the cart is performed on the ground side. Since the loading detection unit is provided on the trolley side, the possibility of erroneous detection is reduced, and since the signal from the transmission unit is received by the reception unit in a non-contact state, wiring can be easily performed on the ground side.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the receiving section is arranged only in the article delivering section, the number of receiving sections can be minimized.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the wiring groove is formed in the frame of the conveyor along the longitudinal direction, the control box from the receiving section is utilized by utilizing the wiring groove.
The wiring duct can be dispensed with, and the wiring can be performed easily.

[0011]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these examples without departing from the gist of the present invention. In this specification, the term "preceding" refers to FIG.
The upper side, the rear means the lower side in the figure, the right means the right side in FIG. 1, and the left means the left side in the figure.

The carriage system has a carriage 40, two rails 1 and 1 arranged in parallel, and a chain conveyor 10 arranged between the two rails 1 and 1. In this electric cart system, for example, the article transfer section A at the front end is an automatic warehouse station, and the article transfer section B at the rear end is an article transfer station of a forklift.

The two rails 1 and 1 are arranged in parallel on the left and right at a predetermined interval, and a plurality of rail connecting bars 2 are arranged at a predetermined interval in the front and back direction via a rail support member 3 between these rails. There is. The lower portion of the rail support member 3 is connected to the rail connecting rail 2, and the rail 1 having an I-shaped cross section is disposed on the upper portion. At the front end and the rear end of the rail 1, stoppers 5 having a buffer member made of resin and restricting the traveling of the carriage 40 are provided. An adjusting screw 4 for adjusting the height of the rail supporting member 3 is provided between the upper lower surface of the rail supporting member 3 and the ground. This adjustment screw 4
The height of the rail 1 and the rail connecting rail 2 can be adjusted via the rail support member 3 by screwing.

The chain conveyor 10 includes a conveyor frame 11 whose longitudinal direction is in the front-rear direction, a drive unit 13 provided at the rear end of the conveyor frame 11 and having a motor 14 and a drive sprocket 15, and a front end of the conveyor frame 11. Driven sprocket 21 provided on the
A driven unit 20 having a chain, and a chain 35 hung around a drive sprocket 15 and a driven sprocket 21.
(Endless transport zone).

The conveyor frame 11 made of an extruded molding material made of aluminum or the like is made parallel to each rail by utilizing the rail connecting bar 2 from the center between the left and right rails 1, 1 to the right side. It has a large number of T-shaped grooves 12 provided in the front-rear direction. In this specification,
The T-shaped groove 12 refers to a groove in which projecting edges facing each other are formed in the opening edge portion, and the projecting edges facing each other in the opening edge portion even if the cross-sectional shape is other than the T-shaped groove. Are formed.

An arrival detection unit 31 including a detection roller 32 movable to an ascending position and a descending position is provided on the right side surface (the outer surface with respect to the left-right center between the rails) of the conveyor frame 11 in the article transfer sections A and B. Has been. The detection roller 32 is rotatably supported on the upper end of the arm that is substantially upright in the standby state, and when the carriage 40 arrives at the article transfer parts A and B, a detection member described later provided on the carriage 40. 41, and as a result, the arm moves from the raised position to the lowered position as the arm swings.

On the left side surface (the inner side surface with respect to the left-right center between the rails) of the conveyor frame 11 in the article transfer sections A and B, a receiving section is provided at a position where it can oppose a transmitting section 42, which will be described later, provided on the transport carriage 40. 33 is provided.

The article transfer section A of the conveyor frame 11,
A control box 34, in which a control device for controlling the operation of the entire carrier vehicle system is installed, is provided on the left side surface in the middle between B. The arrival detection unit 31 (detection roller 3
2), the receiver 33 and the control box 34 are the same as the T-shaped groove 1
2 and the necessary brackets, bolts and nuts, etc. are used to mount the conveyor frame 11.

The motor 14, the arrival detection unit 31, and the reception unit 33 are connected to the control device in the control box 34 by wirings a to e. These wirings a to e are wired through a T-shaped groove 12 formed in the conveyor frame 11. At a required portion of the T-shaped groove 12 through which the wirings a to f are passed, a retaining member 30 having a fitting portion that fits from the inside to the protruding edge of the T-shaped groove 12 is fitted. still,
The retaining member 30 is formed with an opening 30a into which a fixing member such as another wiring is fitted.

The drive unit 13 has a casing 17 having a sprocket opening 16 and a forward / reverse rotatable unit having a reducer and a brake device mounted on the casing 17 so that the axis of a rotary shaft 18 is oriented in the left-right direction. Motor 14 and rotary shaft 18 with sprocket opening 16
The cover 1 covers the drive sprocket 15 and the casing 17.
9 and 9. The casing 17 and the cover 19 are
It is fixed to the conveyor frame 11 so as to be disassembled by using the T-shaped groove 12 and bolts and nuts.

The driven unit 20 has a casing 2 having a sprocket opening 22 and a long hole 23 elongated in the front-rear direction.
4 and a sprocket shaft 25 fitted in the long hole 23 of the casing 24 so as to be movable back and forth
And the sprocket opening 22 on the sprocket shaft 25.
The driven sprocket 21 is rotatably fitted so that the upper part of the casing is exposed, and the cover 26 covers a required portion of the casing 24.

The upper and lower linear portions 25 of the chain 35 hung on the drive sprocket 15 and the driven sprocket 21.
"a" is mounted on a chain guide rail 36 made of synthetic resin and having a convex cross section. The chain guide rail 36 is fitted in the T-shaped groove 12 of the conveyor frame 11 so as not to come out upward, and the front and rear ends of the chain guide rail 36 contact the casing 24 and a part of the cover 26 so that they do not move in the front and rear direction. It is done like this. That is, the chain guide rail 36 is fixed to the conveyor frame 11 without using screws or the like.

The driven unit 20 includes a chain 35.
Tension device 27 for applying a predetermined tension to the
Is provided. The tension device 27 has a sprocket support member 28 for supporting the sprocket shaft 25 and an adjusting screw 29 for moving the sprocket support member 28 back and forth with respect to the casing 24. That is,
By rotating the adjusting screw 29 to move the sprocket support member 28 back and forth, the sprocket shaft 25 (driven sprocket 21) supported by the sprocket support member 28 can also be moved back and forth, and between the drive sprocket 15 and the driven sprocket 21. The tension of the chain 35 can be adjusted by adjusting the distance.

The carriage 40, which can travel back and forth on the rails 1, 1, is mounted on the chain 35 at a mounting portion 52, and travels forward or backward by driving the chain 35 in the forward or reverse direction. The carrier vehicle 40 includes a left and right connecting bar 43 that is passed to the left and right at the front end and the rear end, and a front and rear connecting bar 44 that is passed to the front and rear left and right connecting bars 43 so as to be parallel to the rail slightly inside the rail 1. And a central connecting bar 45 passed to the left and right front and rear connecting bars 44, and four wheels 47 rotatably provided below the left and right end portions of the left and right connecting bars 43 via wheel supporting members 46. . On the inner side surface of the wheel support member 46, a wheel removal preventing member 48 having a lower portion bent outward is provided. When the lower portion of the wheel drop prevention member 48 hits the side surface of the rail 1,
It is possible to prevent the carriage 40 from shifting in the left-right direction.

On the upper side of the left and right ends of the left and right connecting bars 43, an article placing section 49 made of a plate-like member having a horizontal section and a bent section is provided so as to be located almost directly above the wheel 47. There is. An article such as a pallet placed on the article placing portion 49 has its four corners supported by the horizontal portion, and the bent portion restricts horizontal movement to prevent the article from falling. A space for allowing insertion of a fork of a stacker crane or a forklift from the left and right is formed between the article mounting surface formed by the four article mounting portions 49 and the front and rear connecting bars 44.

A load detecting section 51 including a load detecting roller 50 is provided near the upper side of the driven unit 20 via a bracket or the like required for the left and right connecting bars 43 on the front side. The load detection roller 50 is vertically movable while being urged upward by a spring or the like (not shown),
When the article is not placed on the article placement section 4
It projects above the article placement surface formed by 9, and when it is placed, it retreats below the article placement surface due to the weight of the article.

At the right end of the central connecting bar 45, there is provided a transmitter 42 connected to the load detector 51 by an electric wire f. The transmission unit 42 transmits a signal such as magnetism downward when the loading detection roller 50 is descending. When the carrier 40 is located at the article transfer section A or B, the transmission section 42
Is the receiving unit 33 attached to the conveyor frame 11.
The receiving unit 33 can receive the signal from the transmitting unit 42 because the receiving unit 33 is located at a position facing immediately above.

A detecting member 41 having front and rear ends bent upward is provided on the right side surface of the front and rear connecting bar 44. Since the detection member 41 is for lowering the detection roller 32 attached to the conveyor frame 11 as described above, the lower end height thereof is lower than the upper end of the detection roller 32 in the standby state. .

Next, the control configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. Arrival detector 3 before or after
Control B indicates that the carriage 40 is at the front or rear article transfer section A or B (arrives) via the wirings b and d.
Notify the control device in the OX34. Reception unit 3 before or after
3 is an article placement section 4 of the carriage 40 via the wirings c and e.
Notify that item 9 is placed. Then, the control device in the control box 34 controls the rotation speed of the motor 14 via the wiring a to control the conveyance speed of the chain conveyor 10 on the basis of the presence / absence state of the article transfer section and the loaded state of the conveyance carriage 40. Then, the traveling control of the carriage 40 is performed.

[0030]

[Effects of the Embodiment] Since the carrier system of the present embodiment is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained. (1) Drive unit 12 at the rear end of the conveyor frame 11
However, since the driven unit 15 is provided at the front end, it is sufficient to prepare both units one by one and the configuration is simple. (2) Since the chain conveyor 10 is located on the right side of the center between the rails, maintenance such as wiring along the conveyor frame 11 can be easily performed from the outside of the rails. (3) Control box 34, arrival detector 31 and receiver 33
All are attached to the conveyor frame 11, and the T-shaped groove 12 is formed in the conveyor frame 11. Therefore, by using the T-shaped groove 12 along the conveyor frame 11, clean wiring can be achieved. (4) Since the driven unit 20 is provided with the tension device 27, the chain 35 can be used during system installation or during use.
By continuously applying a predetermined tension to the carriage 40
It is possible to realize stable running. (5) Since the wheels 47 are located substantially directly below the load points (the article mounting portions 49 located at the four corners of the transport carriage 40) due to the loaded articles, almost all of the load is directly applied to the wheels and the transport carriage 40
Since the frame that composes is almost free of weight, the weight of the frame can be reduced. By reducing the weight of the frame, the height of the rail supporting member 3 can be easily adjusted.

[0031]

[Modifications, etc.]

(1) The driven unit 20 having the driven sprockets 21 at the front and rear ends of the conveyor frame 11 is attached, the chain 35 is hung between the both driven sprockets, and the drive unit 13 having the drive sprockets 15 is attached at the middle of the front and rear to form the chain. The straight portion 35 a of the shaft 35 may be engaged with the drive sprocket 15. (2) The tension device 27 may be a tension sprocket or the like, which is provided on the casing 24 so that its position can be freely changed, and which hits the chain 35. (3) A plurality of chain conveyors 10 that operate synchronously between the rails 1 and 1 may be provided.

[0032]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above,
The following effects are obtained. According to the first aspect of the invention, since the load detector is provided on the truck side, the possibility of erroneous detection is reduced. In the invention according to claim 1, since the loading information detected by the loading detection unit on the trolley side is detected by the receiving unit on the ground side via the transmitting unit, wiring from the ground side to the trolley side is unnecessary and the ground side is eliminated. The wiring process can be performed easily. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the receiving unit receives the signal from the transmitting unit in the non-contact state, so that the load detection accuracy does not deteriorate due to friction or the like caused by traveling of the carriage. According to the second aspect of the invention, since the receiving section is arranged only in the article delivering section, the number of receiving sections can be minimized. In the invention of claim 3, since the wiring groove is formed in the frame of the conveyor along the longitudinal direction,
By performing the wiring process from the receiving unit to the control BOX by using the wiring groove, the wiring duct can be eliminated and the wiring can be easily performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an entire system excluding a carrier truck according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the front article transfer section as viewed from the right side.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a front article transfer section.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the article transfer unit on the front side as viewed from the front side.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a chain conveyor.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control configuration.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view showing the periphery of the conveyor frame of FIG.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a wiring process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 rail 4 adjusting screw 10 chain conveyor 11 conveyor frame 12 T-shaped groove 13 drive unit 14 motor 15 drive sprocket 20 driven unit 21 driven sprocket 27 tension device 29 adjusting screw 31 arrival detection unit 33 receiving unit 34 control box 35 chain 40 carrier truck 42 Transmitter

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A system having a carriage that travels by driving conveyors arranged side by side on a rail, comprising: a load detection unit; and a transmission unit that emits a signal to that effect when the load detection unit detects a load. Is provided on the dolly side, and a receiving dolly system is provided on the ground side, the receiving part being provided on the ground side to receive the signal in a non-contact state with the transmitting part when the dolly reaches a predetermined position. 2. The carrier system according to claim 1, wherein the receiving unit is arranged only in the article passing unit. 3. The carrier system according to claim 1, wherein a wiring groove is formed in a longitudinal direction of the frame of the conveyor.