JPH08337389A - Position sensing mechanism for moving element - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a position sensing mechanism which can well work with the automation of the device by sensing the position of a moving element on the basis of the sensing value of the rotating quantity of a horizontal moving element. CONSTITUTION: A vertical moving element 8 and horizontal moving element 9 keep the same level regardless of dislocation of a traveling crane up and down or to the left and right and travel while they put profiling rollers 9a, 9b always in butting to a horizontal and a vertical guide surface 5a, 5b. Even though the frame 2c of the crane moves while involving swings in various modes, counting by a pulse generator 11 is conducted according to the rotation based upon meshing of a rack 5c on a guide 5 held at a constant level with a pinion 9c in direct coupling with the pulse generator 11. Accordingly the moving distance of the crane can be known accurately on the conditions that the horizontal guide surface 5a is held at approx. the same level over the whole length within one horizontal plane and that guide 5 is arranged so that its vertical guide surface 5b takes a vertical attitude.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a position detecting mechanism capable of highly accurately detecting a position required for positioning a crane when loading and unloading loads automatically in equipment equipped with an existing overhead traveling crane. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Automated warehouses, which are automated loading and unloading, have come to be used in various fields. This automatic warehouse generally has, for example, an overhead traveling crane and equipment having a trolley movably mounted on the crane, and a trolley equipped with a dedicated handling device for handling loads.

When an automatic warehouse is newly installed, a mechanism for knowing the positional relationship between the position of the traveling crane and the load positioned on the storage surface is constructed at the same time as the construction of the warehouse.

As such a mechanism, for example, in order to know the traveling position of the traveling crane, a rack is provided in the traveling guide of the crane, a pinion that meshes with the rack is provided on the axle of the crane, and the rotation of the pinion is generated by a pulse generator. What is calculated by can be applied. Further, the position of the crane can be similarly detected by a commonly known combination of a measuring roll and a pulse generator.

[0005]

With regard to the equipment for traveling cranes, whether it is a new construction or an existing construction, for example, a slight rail height difference or twisting may occur due to a construction error or the like. Some of the equipment that has been used for many years has some bends.

On the other hand, when automating an existing warehouse,
As mentioned above, it is necessary to newly add a mechanism for detecting the position of the traveling crane. If there is such a height difference, a twist, a bend, etc. of the rail, the traveling crane will move while pitching vertically or accompanied by rolling.

Therefore, even if a conventional pinion or rack-based equipment for detecting the position is attached to an existing crane, it is possible to detect a moving crane including vertical and horizontal swings as it is. become.
That is, even if the horizontal level of the guide provided with the rack is set to an appropriate level, if the traveling crane pitches up and down, the meshing with the rack will be defective, and the rotation speed of the pulse generator will be reduced. This will result in measurement errors.

As described above, when automating the equipment of an existing traveling crane, the detection of the position of the traveling crane, which is the most important, is easily accompanied by an error, and the positional relationship between the load and the crane cannot be set appropriately, This is a major obstacle to automation. In addition to the automatic warehouse, there is a similar problem in detecting the position of the moving mechanism not only in the automatic warehouse but also in equipment that performs various handling by the moving mechanism.

The problem to be solved in the present invention is, for example, a position that can detect a reliable position of a traveling crane or the like installed in a warehouse without being affected by swaying motions and swinging, thereby enabling automation of existing equipment. It is to provide a detection mechanism.

[0010]

According to the present invention, a moving body moving along a specific track by a rolling mechanism or a sliding mechanism is set at the same level over the entire length of the moving body arranged along the track. A guide, an up-and-down moving element that is vertically connected to the moving body in a freely movable manner, a horizontal moving element that is freely connected to the up-and-down moving element in a horizontal direction, and is interposed between these moving elements. Elastic means for urging the horizontal moving element toward the guide side, the horizontal moving element,
A copying roller that abuts on the guide and is constrained in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction to roll, and means for converting a relative movement amount between the guide roller and the guide roller into a rotational movement in cooperation with the guide; And a means for detecting the amount of rotation of the rotary motion, which is a system capable of detecting the position of the moving body based on the detected value of the amount of rotation.

Further, a rocking frame whose base end is connected to the moving body and which faces the guide side is rotatable in the vertical direction and is elastically biased downward, and the rocking frame is directed toward the guide side. It is also possible to have a configuration in which a movable element that is movably connected and elastic means that is interposed between the swing frame and the movable element and that urges the movable element toward the guide side are provided.

In such a structure, the means for converting into a rotary motion comprises a rack provided on the guide side and a pinion provided on the horizontal moving element side and meshing with the rack,
The engagement between the sprocket and the chain can be used. Further, the means for detecting the rotation amount may be a pulse generator, and the rotation shaft of the pinion may be connected to the pulse generator.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Since a horizontal moving element is constrained in the vertical and horizontal directions by a copying roller that abuts on a guide, when the moving body moves, the horizontal moving element moves following the guide, and the elastic means causes the horizontal moving element to move. Always remains biased toward the guide. On the other hand, since the horizontal mover can move freely in the horizontal direction with respect to the vertical mover, even if the moving body sways in the horizontal direction, the horizontal mover maintains the positional relationship with the guide side regardless of this swaying motion. To do. Also,
Since the vertical mover can move freely with respect to the moving body, if the vertical level is fixed so that the vertical mover matches the guide via the horizontal mover, the vertical mover is maintained at the same level. Only the moving body repeats vertical movement.

As described above, the level of the horizontal moving element does not change and the positional relationship with the guide is always maintained even if the moving body swings vertically or horizontally. Therefore, the means for converting the movement amount into the rotational movement in cooperation with the horizontal moving element and the guide can surely change the movement amount in the movement direction regardless of the displacement of the moving body.

Further, in the case where the moving element is connected to the swing frame, the swing frame can move up and down following the guide with respect to relative displacement in the vertical direction relative to the guide. Then, by elastically urging the swing frame downward, the copying roller can be always held in the posture in which it is abutted against the guide side, and the rotational movement converting means is also maintained in the posture necessary for detecting the movement of the moving body. Thus, the relative vertical displacements on the guide side and the moving body side can be absorbed and written to be converted into motions. In particular, even if the displacement in the vertical direction is steep and the speed of the moving body is high,
Position detection can be performed with high accuracy by restraining the swing frame by the elastic means.

[0016]

1 is a schematic plan view showing an entire warehouse for drum storage equipped with a position detecting mechanism of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1 seen in the traveling direction of a traveling crane.

In the figure, a large number of drums 50 are arrayed on the storage surface in the warehouse 1 at regular intervals in the same posture in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, and by appropriate stoppers (not shown) provided on the storage surface. Each position is restrained.

A pair of rails 1a are provided on the upper end side of the warehouse 1 and an overhead traveling type traveling crane 2 which moves on these rails 1a is provided. The traveling direction of the traveling crane 2 is a direction orthogonal to the axis of the arranged drums 50,
A drive motor 2a for driving the vehicle is provided in the central portion, and a wheel 2b rolling on the rail 1a can be driven as shown in FIG. The traveling crane 2 is provided with a trolley 3,
The trolley 3 is provided with a handling device 4 for automatically lifting and transporting the drum 50.

The trolley 3 is provided with a wheel 3b which is rotationally driven by a drive motor 3a, and is movable on the traveling crane 3. The handling device 4 is connected to a hoisting device 3c provided on the trolley 3 so as to be able to move up and down. By making the two suspension arms 4a movable in the width direction of the drum 50, the lower end portion thereof can be detachably hung on a working hole formed in the center portion of the drum 50, as shown in FIG. Pull up to the state and drum 50
Is transported.

Here, when one of the many drums 50 arranged on the storage surface is selected and carried out by the handling device 4, the handling device 4 is moved by the traveling crane 2 and the trolley 3. It will be aligned right above. Therefore, the traveling crane 2
Aligning the handling device 4 with the specified drum 50 on the storage surface by detecting how far from the reference position the warehouse 1 and the trolley 3 are respectively moving relative to the traveling crane 2. You can

For such alignment, the traveling crane 2 is provided with the position detecting mechanism shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. This position detecting mechanism is, for example, interposed between the upper surface of the right end of the frame 2c of the traveling crane 2 and the rail 1a of the warehouse 1 in the vicinity of the rail 1a of the warehouse 1 in FIG. .

In FIG. 4, for example, the guide 5 is attached using the beam 1b of the steel frame material that constructs the warehouse 1.
This guide 5 can be made of L-shaped steel or the like, has a water guide surface 5a and a vertical guide surface 5b orthogonal thereto, and has a horizontal guide surface 5a.
In a horizontal posture and arranged at the same level so that there is no height difference over the entire length of the guide 5. A rack 5c is provided on the horizontal guide surface 5a over the entire length of the guide 5.

On the other hand, a base 6 having, for example, a square plane shape is fixed to the frame 2c of the traveling crane 2. The base 6 is set so that its peripheral wall surface has a vertical posture.

A measuring unit 7 for measuring the amount of movement of the frame 2c is connected to the base 6 so as to be freely movable up and down. The measuring unit 7 is provided with an up-and-down moving element 8 having a cross-sectional shape covering from the upper surface of the base 6 to the peripheral wall portion, and a horizontal moving element 9 arranged on the upper surface thereof.

A liner 8a is installed between the inner circumference of the vertical moving element 8 and the outer circumference of the base 6 so that the vertical moving element 8 can freely and quickly move with respect to the base 6. Also,
A liner 8b is also provided between the horizontal moving element 9 and the vertical moving element 8 so that the horizontal moving element 9 can be freely moved in the horizontal direction with respect to the vertical moving element 8. A compression coil spring 10 is provided at a portion where the vertical moving element 8 and the horizontal moving element 9 face each other in the horizontal direction, and the moving elements 8 and 9 push each other in opposite directions in FIG. Urge to.

The vertical moving element 8 and the horizontal moving element 9 are connected to each other by restraining the horizontal moving element 9 on the vertical moving element 8 side and at the same time restraining the horizontal moving element 9 in the right and left directions and the direction orthogonal to the drawing in FIG. The horizontal moving element 9 can be integrally moved from the vertical moving element 8 without dropping off. An example of such a configuration is shown in FIG.
As shown in a vertical sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 2), an inverted L-shaped holding portion 8c is integrally formed on the upper surface of the vertical moving element 8 and the horizontal moving element 9 is formed by these holding portions 8c. Can be restrained.

Further, two copy rollers 9a and 9b each having a horizontal guide surface 5a and a vertical guide surface 5b of the guide 5 as rolling surfaces are rotatably mounted on the horizontal moving element 9 and two pinions are engaged with the rack 5c. 9c is provided. The rotating shaft of the copying roller 9a rolling on the horizontal guide surface 5a takes a posture parallel to the horizontal guide surface 5a at the time of rolling, and the rotation axis of the copying roller 9b on the vertical guide surface 9b side is in the vertical posture. The posture is set to be parallel to the vertical guide surface 5b.

The pinion 9c is a rotary shaft 9 rotatably supported by a bearing 9d incorporated in the horizontal moving element 9.
It is attached to e. The rotation axis of the rotation shaft 9e is included in the horizontal plane, and has a relationship parallel to the rotation axis of the copying roller 9a. The horizontal mover 9 is provided with a pulse generator 11 which is coaxially coupled to the rotary shaft 9e by a coupling 11a.

Here, the measuring unit 7 is the beam 1b of the warehouse 1.
The copying rollers 9a and 9b are connected to the side.
It is the horizontal moving element 9 whose posture is held by. Since the copying roller 9a is placed on the horizontal guide surface 5a, the level of the horizontal moving element 9 in the height direction is determined by the height of the horizontal guide surface 5a. Further, since the horizontal moving element 9 is biased toward the vertical guide surface 5b by the spring 10, the horizontal moving element 9 is also free to move left and right according to the position of the vertical guide surface 5b in the left-right direction in FIG. You can

In the above structure, the required drum 5
The work of transporting 0 from the warehouse 1 corresponds to the row including the designated drum 50.
Is moved, and then the trolley 3 is moved so as to reach right above the drum 50. At this time, as the traveling crane 2 travels, the horizontal mover 9 connected to the frame 2c also moves in the direction orthogonal to the drawing in FIG. Therefore, during this traveling period, the pinion 9c meshing with the rack 5c rotates and the rotation of the rotating shaft 9e is counted by the pulse generator 11. on the other hand,
If the traveling start position of the traveling crane 2 is input to the controller as the reference position, the movement amount of the traveling crane 2 can be known from the count value, and the traveling crane 2 is stopped in the row including the target drum 50 by this. be able to.

Here, when the traveling crane 2 moves along the rail 1a, even if the rail 1a has a height difference, a bend or a twist, the vertical movement of the traveling crane 2 or the movement of the traveling crane 2 as shown in FIG.
The vertical moving element 8 and the horizontal moving element 9 keep the same level and always move the copying rollers 9a and 9b to the horizontal and vertical guide surfaces 5a and 5 regardless of the positional deviation in the horizontal direction.
Move while hitting b.

For example, with respect to the state of FIG. 4, the rail 1
Wheel 2b is where the level of a is partially lowered.
When passing through, the vertical moving element 8 is maintained at the same level and only the frame 2c moves downward. On the contrary, at a portion where the level of the rail 1a is partially raised, the base 6 only bites into the vertical moving element 8 and does not push the vertical moving element 8 upward.

If the clearance between the upper surface of the base 6 and the lower surface of the vertical moving element 8 into which the base 6 is inserted is slightly larger than the assumed level difference of the rail 1a, the entire length of the rail 1a will be considered. The above operation is possible.

Further, at the portion where the rail 1a is curved so as to bulge toward the beam 1b, the frame 2c also moves while moving to the right in FIG. In this case, frame 2
The base 6 fixed to c pushes the vertical moving element 8 to the right side in the figure, but the horizontal moving element 9 becomes unrelated to the movement of the base 6 in the right direction by sliding by the liner 8b. The horizontal moving element 9 is always maintained in the illustrated state. Further, even when the rail 1b is bent in a direction away from the beam 1b, the vertical mover 8 only moves to the left side with respect to the horizontal mover 9, and the horizontal mover 9 causes the spring 10 to move.
The urging force holds the copying roller 9b so as not to separate from the vertical guide surface 5b.

Further, since the twisting or meandering of the running surface of the rail 1a is approximated to the combination of the height difference and the bending, the displacements of the rail 1a in various forms are similarly measured in the state of FIG. The movement amount can be detected by the unit 7.

In this way, the frame 2 of the traveling crane 2
Even if c moves with various swings, the pulse generator 11 counts the rack 5c on the guide 5 and the pulse generator 1 held at a constant level.
It is performed based on the rotation caused by the engagement with the pinion 9c directly connected to 1. Therefore, as long as the guide 5 is installed so that the horizontal guide surface 5a is in the horizontal plane and is maintained at substantially the same level over the entire length and the vertical guide surface 5b is in the vertical posture, the traveling crane 2 side travels. The amount of movement can be accurately known regardless of the conditions.

Therefore, even if the warehouse 1 in the illustrated example is an existing one and the rail 1a is also an existing one, proper construction of the guide 5 and deployment of the measuring unit 7 The moving amount of the traveling crane 2 can be detected with high accuracy. Therefore, it is possible to accurately set the position of the handling device 5 on the drum 50, and automation can be achieved even with existing equipment.

7 to 9 show another example of the measuring unit. FIG. 7 is a front view of the traveling crane 2 viewed in the traveling direction,
8 is a plan view and FIG. 9 is a right side view of FIG.

In the figure, the frame 2 of the traveling crane 2 is shown.
The two brackets 12a provided on the fixed frame 12 that is integrally connected to c are connected to the tip end of the swing frame 13 facing the guide 5 side via pins 12b so as to be vertically rotatable. The swing frame 13 is biased clockwise around the pin 12b in FIG. 7 by two tension coil springs 14 provided between the lower surface of the swing frame 13 and the fixed frame 12 side.

As shown in FIG. 7, the coil spring 14 is installed in an inclined posture so that the side of the fixed frame 12 faces downward, but in short, the urging force for rotating the swing frame 13 downward. Can be provided, and it can be installed in a horizontal posture.

On the upper surface of the swing frame 13, two guide rails 13a are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the traveling crane 2, and a sliding block 15a for sliding these guide rails 13a is provided on the lower surface. Guide 5 for moving element 15
It is connected so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to. Similar to the coil spring 10 in the previous example, the moving element 15 has a coil spring 16 interposed between it and a hinge block 15b provided at one end of the moving element 15 to connect the pin 12b. In FIG. 7, it is urged toward the right direction, that is, toward the guide 5 side.

The mover 15 has a horizontal guide surface 5 of the guide 5.
2a of each of the copying roller 15c that rolls a and the copying roller 15d that abuts on the vertical guide surface 5b and rolls, and changes in the relative position in the horizontal and vertical directions with respect to the guide 5 as in the previous example. Corresponding to, the copying operation is performed by the copying rollers 15c and 15d with the guide 5 as a reference.

Further, a pulse generator 17 is provided at the left end of the moving element 15, and a rotary shaft 1 is provided by a coupling 18a.
8 are connected on the same axis. The rotating shaft 18 is supported by a bearing unit 18b fixed to the upper surface of the mover 15, and the sprocket 1 is attached to the tip protruding to the guide 5 side.
8c is attached. The horizontal guide surface of the guide 5 has a chain 5d that meshes with the sprocket 18c.
Is provided in a rack shape, and when the traveling crane 2 travels, the sprocket 18c engages with the chain 5d and rotates, and this rotation is transmitted to the pulse generator 17 by the rotating shaft 18.

Even in such a structure, the rotation of the rotary shaft 18 is counted by the pulse generator 17 as the traveling crane 2 travels, and the position of the traveling crane 2 is detected by the controller with the traveling start position of the traveling crane 2 as a reference. can do.

Further, even if the traveling crane 2 itself is displaced in the vertical or horizontal direction or the guide 5 itself is displaced in this manner, the copying rollers that roll on the horizontal and vertical guide surfaces 5a and 5b of the guide 5, respectively. It is possible to maintain a proper posture while moving the movable body 15 with respect to the guide 5 by using the copying by 15c and 15d.
The position detection by 7 is performed without any trouble.

Here, the guide 5 has a mountain shape in which the height of the guide 5 abruptly rises or the rail 1a of the traveling crane 2 is used.
When it is in a valley shape in which the height becomes partially low, the copying roller 15c rolls on the horizontal guide surface 5a, so that the swing frame 13 rotates counterclockwise around the pin 12b in FIG. . By the operation of the swing frame 13 as described above, it is possible to follow the guide 5 by the above-described copying rollers 15c and 15d.

When such a displacement in the height direction that the rail 1a side is low or the guide 5 side is high occurs, if the traveling speed of the traveling crane 2 is high, the swing frame 13 may suddenly jump up. There is. When such a bounce is generated, not only the copying by the copying roller 15c is interrupted, but also the meshing between the sprocket 18c and the chain 5d is disengaged, and the rotating shaft 18 is moved despite the traveling crane 2 moving. However, the pulse generator 17 cannot count the rotation corresponding to the moving amount of the traveling crane 2.

On the other hand, since the swing frame 13 is urged clockwise by the coil spring 14 around the pin 12b, the posture of the swing frame 13 is restrained so as to pull back the swing frame 13 against such a jump. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to maintain the posture in which the copying rollers 15c and 15d are brought into contact with the guide 5, respectively, and it is possible to always maintain the meshing between the sprocket 18c and the chain 5d. Therefore, even during the period in which the traveling crane 2 travels in the portion where the vertical displacement of the rail 1a or the guide 5 is abruptly performed, the correct count is performed by the pulse generator 17, and the traveling crane 2
It is possible to perform an accurate positioning operation of. In the above example, the movement amount of the traveling crane arranged in the warehouse is detected to identify the position, but the present invention is also applied to the position detection of other various moving mechanisms instead of the traveling crane. Of course, you can do it. Further, not only the pulse generator but also another mechanism can be adopted for counting the movement amount.

[0049]

According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably detect the amount of movement between the movable body and the guide side regardless of vertical movement other than movement in the direction in which the moving body moves and swaying movement in the horizontal direction. The position of the moving body can be known with high accuracy. For this reason, even for equipment equipped with existing moving bodies, it is possible to make equipment that accurately detects the position of moving bodies by simply connecting the vertical and horizontal moving elements between them as equipment with a guide. Therefore, it is not necessary to refurbish the existing equipment.

Further, in the structure in which the movable element is connected to the swing frame and the swing frame is elastically biased downward, the vertical displacement between the movable body side and the guide side is severe or the movable side moves. Even if your body is moving fast,
Since the copying roller can be maintained in a state of being exactly abutted against the guide and the mechanism for converting to the rotational motion is surely operated, the position detection of the moving body using this rotation can always be measured with high accuracy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the inside of a warehouse to which a position detection mechanism of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the conveyance of a drum by a handling device.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main part of the position detection mechanism as viewed in the traveling direction of the traveling crane.

5 is a partially cutaway plan view of FIG. 4. FIG.

6 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a front view of another example of the measuring unit as viewed in the traveling direction of the traveling crane.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the measurement unit shown in FIG.

9 is a right side view of the measuring unit in FIG. 7. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Warehouse 1a Rail 1b Beam 2 Traveling Crane 2a Drive motor 2b Wheel 2c Frame 3 Trolley 4 Handling device 5 Guide 5a Horizontal guide surface 5b Vertical guide surface 5c Rack 5d Chain 6 Base 7 Measuring unit 8 Vertical mover 9 Horizontal mover 9a Copy Roller 9b Copying roller 9c Pinion 9e Rotating shaft 10 Coil spring 11 Pulse generator 12 Fixed frame 12b Pin 13 Swinging frame 14 Coil spring 15 Moving element 15a Sliding block 15c Copying roller 15d Copying roller 16 Coil spring 17 Pulse generator 18 Rotating shaft 18c sprocket

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A moving body which moves along a specific track by a rolling mechanism or a sliding mechanism, a guide which is arranged along the track and is set to the same level over the entire length thereof, and a movable body which moves up and down. A vertical mover connected freely in a direction, a horizontal mover horizontally connected to the vertical mover in a horizontal direction, and a horizontal mover interposed between these movers to the guide side. The horizontal moving element has elastic means for urging the guide roller toward the guide, and the horizontal moving element abuts against the guide and rolls while being restrained in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. As a system capable of detecting the position of the movable body based on the detected value of the rotation amount, and means for converting the rotation amount into the rotation motion in cooperation with the guide, and means for detecting the rotation amount of the rotation motion. Detection of moving objects mechanism. 2. A moving body moving along a specific track by a rolling mechanism or a sliding mechanism, a guide arranged along the track and set to the same level over the entire length thereof, and a guide based on the moving body. An oscillating frame whose end is articulated and faces the guide side and whose tip end side is vertically rotatable and is elastically urged downward, and movement movably articulated to the oscillating frame toward the guide side. A moving element, and elastic means interposed between the swing frame and the moving element for urging the moving element toward the guide side. Means for converting a relative movement amount between the copying roller constrained to roll and the guide roller and the guide in cooperation with the guide, and means for detecting the rotation amount of the rotation movement. And the rotation amount A position detecting mechanism for a moving body, which is a system capable of detecting the position of the moving body based on a detected value.