JPH0891318A - Lid-opening/closing device for container, which is used for physical distribution system in factory - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve the reliability, and reduce the cost by a method wherein the workability is improved, and workers are reduced by attaching/detaching a lid for a container without using human hand, and at the same time, the rate of occurrence for failures is reduced by simplifying the structure. CONSTITUTION: A control chamber 4 is provided at a border part 10 between a normal environmental chamber 1 and a clean room 2, and an automatic lid- opening/closing machine 9 is installed in the control chamber 4. Then, an empty container 11 is loaded on a self-running car 3 in the normal environmental chamber 1, and then, the self-running car 3 is made to enter the control chamber 4. In the control chamber 4, a lid 16 is removed by the automatic lid-opening/ closing machine 9, while the lid 16 is being held, the self-running car 3 is made to enter the clean room 2. In the clean room 2, the empty container 11 is replaced with a full container in which a product is stored, and the self-running car 3 is made to enter the control chamber 4 again. After the lid 16 is placed on the full container by the automatic lid-opening/closing machine 9 in the control chamber 4, the full container is carried out to the normal environmental chamber 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container lid opening / closing device used in a factory physical distribution system, and more particularly to a product manufactured or processed in a clean room constructed in a clean environment. The present invention relates to a container lid opening / closing device suitable for a physical distribution system in which a predetermined amount is stored in a container mounted on a self-propelled vehicle, a lid is applied to the container, and then the container is carried out to a normal environment room constructed with a natural environment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, empty containers selected from empty containers stored in an empty container collecting position are sequentially mounted on an automatic guide type self-propelled vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a self-propelled vehicle) The vehicle is allowed to self-propelled to the container transshipment position, and at this transshipment position, an empty container and an actual container, that is, an actual container that contains a predetermined amount of manufactured or processed products is transshipped by the transshipment device, and then the self-propelled vehicle is Well-known is a factory physical distribution system in which the vehicle is again self-propelled and carried out to a predetermined place (for example, an actual container collecting position). And the attachment and detachment of the lid to the container is
Generally, it is performed manually at the collecting position. That is, the operation of manually removing the lid at the empty container stacking position and, for example, applying the lid to the actual container that has been carried out to the actual container collection position is performed. Therefore, there are drawbacks that the workability of attachment and detachment is poor and labor saving is hindered.

Therefore, a transshipment device with a detachment mechanism is proposed, in which a lid detachment mechanism is provided along with the transshipment device, and the transshipment device is used to transship empty containers and actual containers and detach the lid in parallel. Has been done. However, in this type of transshipment device with attachment / detachment mechanism, the number of parts is increased, the structure is complicated, the failure rate is relatively high, the reliability is lowered, and the initial cost is increased. However, it has not been put to practical use because it has the above problem.

On the other hand, by preventing foreign matter such as dust from adhering,
In order to improve the quality of products, there is an increasing tendency for work systems to be manufactured or processed in a clean room that is constructed to maintain a clean environment. By using the above-mentioned in-plant physical distribution system using a self-propelled vehicle in combination with such a clean room work system, it is possible to expect improvement in product quality and product collection and management efficiency.
However, if the above-described manual lid attaching / detaching means is adopted, the attaching / detaching workability is inferior and the labor saving is hindered. If the lid attaching / detaching means by the transshipment device with an attaching / detaching mechanism is employed, the lid attaching / detaching is manually performed. Compared with the means, the workability of attachment and detachment is improved and labor saving can be achieved, but on the other hand, the structure is complicated, the failure rate is relatively high, the reliability is lowered, and the initial cost is high. An economically disadvantageous problem arises. In particular, since a clean room is equipped with multiple manufacturing machines, molding machines, processing machines, etc., by attaching a transshipment device with a detachable mechanism to each of these machines, the initial cost will increase significantly. It has drawbacks. Therefore, it is difficult to apply it to a physical distribution system that conveys products manufactured or processed in a clean room.

[0005]

The problem to be solved is that the workability of attaching and detaching the lid is inferior, the labor saving is hindered, the number of parts of the device is increased, the structure is complicated, and the failure rate is high. It is relatively high and reduces reliability, and is economically disadvantageous.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a container is loaded from one zone to the other in an in-plant physical distribution system to run, and a container is loaded from the other zone to one zone. A self-propelled vehicle that travels by itself, an operation room in which the self-propelled vehicle can enter and exit, which is provided at the boundary between the one zone and the other zone, and the one zone and the other zone of the operation room And a door that opens and closes the entrances and exits, and removes the lid of the container mounted on the self-propelled vehicle that has entered the operation room from one of the zones and once stopped. An automatic lid opening / closing machine that holds the lid that has been removed and held in a container mounted on a self-propelled vehicle that has entered the operation room from the other zone and stopped once Be installed in In addition to improving the workability of attaching and detaching the lid, we have achieved the objectives of labor saving, simplification of the structure to reduce the failure rate, increase reliability, and ensure economic advantage. .

[0007]

According to the present invention, the lid is stored at a predetermined position in one of the zones in a state where the doors of the entrance and exit provided corresponding to each of the one zone and the other zone in the operation room are closed. Equipped with empty containers on the self-propelled vehicle in sequence,
This self-propelled vehicle is self-propelled to the front of the door on one zone side, the door on one zone side is opened, the self-propelled vehicle enters the operation room and is temporarily stopped, and the door on one zone side is opened. close. Then, after activating the automatic lid opening machine to remove and hold the lid of the container, the door on the other zone side is opened and the self-propelled vehicle is aimed at the predetermined position (eg, the transshipment position) in the other zone. To make it self-propelled. At this position, the empty container that has been transported and the actual container that contains a predetermined amount of manufactured or processed products are reloaded, the self-propelled vehicle with the actual container is inserted into the operation room, and then temporarily stopped. Close the zone door. Subsequently, the automatic lid opening and closing machine is activated to cover the container with the lid held therein, the door on one side of the zone is opened, and the self-propelled vehicle is allowed to self-propelled toward the predetermined position of the one zone. According to the procedure, the empty containers selected from the empty containers stored in the empty container stacking position are sequentially mounted on the self-propelled vehicle, the self-propelled car is self-propelled to the transshipment position, and the empty container is placed at this transshipment position. After reloading the actual container, the self-propelled vehicle can be self-propelled again and carried out to a predetermined place. Further, the lid can be attached to and detached from the container by an exclusive automatic lid opening / closing machine installed in the operation room. Moreover, the operation room has entrances and exits provided corresponding to each of the one zone and the other zone, and doors for opening and closing the entrances and exits, and is provided at the boundary between the one zone and the other zone. Therefore, it can also be applied to the above-mentioned physical distribution system for transporting products manufactured or processed in a clean room.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are overall side views, in which 1 is a normal environment room, 2 is a clean room, 3 is a self-propelled vehicle, 4 is an operation room, 5 and 6 are doorways, 7 and 8 are automatic doors, Reference numeral 9 indicates an automatic lid opening / closing machine.

The normal environment room 1 is constructed to have a natural environment in the in-plant physical distribution system, and the clean room 2
Is constructed so as to maintain a clean environment, and both 1 and 2 are partitioned by a partition wall 10.

The self-propelled vehicle 3 is equipped with an empty container 11 selected from empty containers stored in an empty container accumulating position (not shown) in the environment room 1, and a container transshipment position (not shown) in the clean room 2 is mounted. ), The empty container 11 and the actual container 12, that is, the actual container 12 in which a predetermined amount of manufactured or processed product is stored, is reloaded by a transshipment device (not shown) at this transshipment position. For carrying out to the environment room 1, for example, a guidance signal transmitted from the control means 14 of the command room 13 based on a predetermined program is received to be laid in the normal environment room 1, the operation room 4 and the clean room 2. The guide tape (guide rail) 15 is configured to automatically run.

The operation chamber 4 is airtightly provided on the clean room 2 side in a continuous manner with the partition wall 10, and has an empty container 11 and an actual container 1.
A self-propelled vehicle 3 equipped with 2 can enter and leave, and is constructed to have a size capable of installing an automatic lid opening / closing device 9 in a room. The doorway 5 opening to the side of the normal environment chamber 1 is opened and closed by an automatic door 7 that moves forward and backward in the paper surface direction and the opposite paper surface direction in the illustrated example, and the doorway 6 opening to the clean room 2 side is shown in the paper surface direction and The doors 5 and 6 are configured to be opened and closed by an automatic door 8 that moves back and forth in the direction opposite to the paper surface, and the doorways 5 and 6 are airtightly closed by the automatic doors 7 and 8.

The automatic lid opening / closing device 9 removes and holds the lid 16 of the empty container 11 mounted on the self-propelled vehicle 3 which has entered the operation room 4 from the normal environment room 1 and stopped once, and also in the clean room. 2 is installed in the operation room 4 in order to cover the removed and held lid 16 on the actual container 12 mounted on the self-propelled vehicle 3 which has entered the operation room 4 from 2 and stopped once. There is. As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic lid opening / closing device 9 has a horizontal arm 9B that moves up and down along a column 9A, and an advancing / retreating movement along the arm 9B to set the facing interval to an arbitrary value. Adjustable pair of cylinders 9
C and 9C are provided, and lid locking claws 9d are provided on each of the cylinders 9C and 9C. In the figure, 17 is an air curtain device, 18 is an air shower device, 19 is a dust suction and discharge passage, and 20 is the first sensor 2.
1 indicates a second sensor.

Next, an example of the operation of the above configuration will be described.
Automatic doors 7 and 8 at doorways 5 and 6 in the operation room 4
With the lid closed, the empty container 11 with the lid 16 stored in, for example, the empty container accumulating position of the environment chamber 1 is usually provided.
Is mounted on the self-propelled vehicle 3, the self-propelled vehicle 3 is self-propelled up to the front of the automatic door 7 for the above-mentioned reason, this state is detected by the first sensor 20, and the air curtain device 17 is operated to operate the door. 7 is opened, the self-propelled vehicle 3 is entered into the operation room 4, and is temporarily stopped. In this case, the horizontal arm 9B and the cylinders 9C, 9C in the automatic lid opening / closing machine 9 are
As shown in FIG. 1, an empty container 11 covered with a lid 16 in advance.
Raise it to a position where it does not interfere with.

At the time when the entry of the self-propelled vehicle 3 into the operation room 4 is completed, the automatic door 7 is closed, the operation of the air curtain device 17 is stopped, and the air shower device 18 is actuated to operate the self-propelled vehicle 3 and the vehicle. While cleaning the empty container 11 with the lid 16, foreign matter such as dust removed from the self-propelled vehicle 3 and the empty container 11 with the lid 16 is discharged to the outside from the dust suction / discharge passage 19.

Then, the horizontal arm 9B of the automatic lid opening / closing device 9 is lowered to operate the pair of cylinders 9C and 9C, respectively, and as shown in FIG. 3, the lid locking claws 9d of the respective cylinders 9C and 9C. After locking the lid 16 with the arm 9B
Is lifted to remove the lid 16 from the empty container 11 and hold it in the high position as shown in FIG.

Next, the door 8 is opened and the self-propelled vehicle 3 is self-propelled toward the transshipment position in the operation room 4, for example. The operation of the air shower device 18 may be stopped when the door 8 is opened. At the transshipment position, the empty container 11 transported by the self-propelled vehicle 3 and the actual container 12 containing a predetermined amount of manufactured or processed product are transshipped. The self-propelled vehicle 3 equipped with the actual container 12 is self-propelled to the front of the automatic door 8, the state is detected by the second sensor 21, the door 8 is opened, and the self-propelled vehicle 3 is operated in the operation room 4
After entering the vehicle and stopping the vehicle, the door 8 is closed.

Subsequently, the horizontal arm 9B of the automatic lid opening / closing device 9 is lowered, and the lid 16 of FIG. 1 held by the lid locking claws 9d of the pair of cylinders 9C, 9C is
After covering the real container 12 as shown in FIG. 2, the door 7 is opened, and the vehicle 3 is moved to, for example, a real empty container collection position (not shown) in the normal environment chamber 1, where the real container 12 is moved. Collect.

As described above, according to the present invention, the clean room 2
By using the in-plant physical distribution system with the self-propelled vehicle 3 in combination with the internal work system, it is possible to improve product quality, collect products, and improve management efficiency.
Since the lid 16 is attached and detached by the above method, there is an advantage that the attaching and detaching workability is improved and labor saving can be achieved as compared with the conventional attaching and detaching of the lid. Moreover, since the lid 16 is attached and detached by the dedicated automatic lid opening and closing machine 9 installed in the operation room 4, as compared with the above-mentioned conventional transshipment device with attaching and detaching mechanism. The number of parts of the automatic lid opening / closing device 9 can be reduced and the structure can be simplified. Therefore, the failure rate is reduced and the reliability can be improved.
The initial cost can be suppressed and the economic efficiency can be improved.

In the above embodiment, the clean room 2
In the description, the work system in the vehicle is combined with the in-plant physical distribution system using the self-propelled vehicle 3. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and for example, an automatic lid is provided in an existing elevator. Self-propelled vehicle 3 in which switch 9 is installed and empty container 11 is mounted from one room (one zone) communicated by this elevator to the other room (other zone)
And a physical distribution system in which the self-propelled vehicle 3 is used in combination with the working system in the normal environmental room, in which the self-propelled vehicle 3 in which the actual container 12 is mounted is caused to travel from the other chamber to the other chamber. It is also applicable to.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, empty containers selected from the empty containers stored at the empty container collecting position are sequentially mounted on the self-propelled vehicle, and the self-propelled vehicle is loaded at the transshipment position. Self-propelled and reloaded empty containers and real containers at this transshipment position, then run the self-propelled vehicle again and carry it out to the specified place. Since it can be performed by a dedicated automatic lid opening / closing machine installed in the operation room, there is an advantage that attachment / detachment workability is improved and labor saving can be achieved as compared with the conventional attachment / detachment of the lid. Moreover, since the lid is attached and detached by the dedicated automatic lid opening and closing machine installed in the operation room, compared with the previously proposed transshipment device with attaching and detaching mechanism, the automatic lid opening and closing is performed. The number of parts of the machine can be reduced and the structure can be simplified. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the occurrence rate of failures, achieve an improvement in reliability, suppress initial costs, and improve economic efficiency. Moreover, the operation room has entrances and exits provided corresponding to each of the one zone and the other zone, and doors for opening and closing the entrances and exits, and is provided at the boundary between the one zone and the other zone. Therefore, it can also be applied to a work system in a clean room that conveys products manufactured or processed in the clean room.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall side view of an embodiment showing a state in which a self-propelled vehicle moves from a normal environment room to a clean room.

FIG. 2 is an overall side view of an embodiment showing a state in which a self-propelled vehicle moves from a clean room to a normal environment room.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an example of the automatic lid opening and closing device in a partially enlarged manner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Normal environment room (one zone) 2 Clean room (other zone) 3 Self-propelled vehicle 4 Operating room 5 Doorway corresponding to one zone 6 Doorway corresponding to the other zone 7 Door 8 Door 9 Automatic lid opening / closing device 10 Partition Wall (boundary) 11 Empty container 12 Real container 16 Lid

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A self-propelled vehicle that travels with a container loaded from one zone to the other zone in an in-plant physical distribution system and that carries a container from the other zone to one zone. , An operation room provided at the boundary between the one zone and the other zone for allowing entry and exit of the self-propelled vehicle, and an entrance provided for each of the one zone and the other zone of the operation room And a door that opens and closes these entrances and exits, holds and removes and holds the lid of the container mounted on the self-propelled vehicle that has entered the operation room from the one zone and stopped once, and An automatic lid opening / closing machine is provided in the operation room to enter the operation room from the zone and apply the removed and held lid to the container mounted on the self-propelled vehicle once stopped. In-plant logistics system A device for opening and closing the lid of the container used in the system.