JPH09278120A - Article storing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the installation space of article storing device and ensure the work space of a worker between a pair of storing shelves by arranging an elevating base in the space deviationwise to one of the paired shelves. SOLUTION: In an article storing device, containers C are stored in one of storing parts 1 of a pair of storing shelves 2A, 2B arranged at a specified distance in the foward and rearward directions and the containers C stored in the specified shelves 2A, 2B can be taken out. An elevating base elavatably guided by a guide rail 41a is arranged in a space between the paired storing shelves 2A, 2B such that it is dislocated to the side of the storing shelf 2A supporting the elevating mechanism. Accordingly it is possible to secure the work space for allowing a worker to enter the space therebetween 2A, 2B in the case of maintainance work and the like.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pair of storage shelves provided with a plurality of storage sections for storing articles in a state where they are arranged side by side in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, with the article loading / unloading sides of the respective storage sections facing each other. Arranged side by side, elevating and lowering the space between the pair of storage shelves, and provided with a long elevating table arranged so that the longitudinal direction is aligned with the lateral direction of the storage shelves, the elevating table, The present invention relates to an article storage device provided with an article transfer device movably supported in the lateral direction of the storage rack.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Such an article storage apparatus is an apparatus for storing and storing articles in a plurality of storage sections provided in each of a pair of storage shelves. The pair of storage shelves are arranged such that the article loading / unloading sides of the respective storage sections face each other, and an article transfer device and an elevating table for transporting articles are disposed in the space between the pair of storage shelves. The article transfer device transfers an article to both storage sections of a pair of storage shelves, and stores and takes out the article. The elevating table supports the article transfer device so that it can be driven and moved in the lateral direction of the storage shelf, and the elevating table itself moves up and down, so that the article transfer device is located at a position corresponding to each storage section of the pair of storage shelves. Position it. By the way, conventionally, in consideration of the arrangement balance of the pair of storage shelves, the article transfer device, and the elevating table, it is common to arrange the elevating table at a central position between the pair of storage shelves.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, since the elevating table is long in the lateral direction of the storage shelves, when a worker enters between a pair of storage shelves and works, There is an inconvenience that the work space is narrowed by the table. In order to sufficiently secure the above work space, it is sufficient to widen the space between the pair of storage shelves, but if the space between the pair of storage shelves is widened, the installation space for the article storage device becomes large and the article transfer is performed. There is an inconvenience that the device becomes large. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to avoid the inconvenience such as an increase in the installation space of an article storage device, and the work of an operator between a pair of storage shelves. The point is to secure space.

[0004]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pair of storage shelves, the long elevating platform for supporting the article transfer device so as to be movable in the lateral direction of the storage shelves. In the space between the storage shelves, the storage shelves are eccentrically disposed on one side of the pair of storage shelves when viewed in the lateral direction. Therefore, it is possible to secure the working space for the worker between the pair of storage shelves while avoiding the inconvenience that the installation space of the article storage device becomes large without necessarily increasing the distance between the pair of storage shelves. it can.

Further, by providing the structure described in claim 2, the article transfer device supported by the elevator is moved and driven in the lateral direction of the storage rack by the lateral drive unit. The lateral movement drive unit is provided with an electric brake that prevents the article transfer device from moving unnecessarily when the work of laterally driving the article transfer device is stopped. This electric brake works in the de-energized state and releases the braking in the energized state.For example, even when the power supply to the article storage device is completely cut off, the article transfer device is properly braked. It can work.

Therefore, even when the lateral movement drive of the article transfer device is stopped for the worker to perform maintenance work or the like, the electric brake will be deenergized and the braking action will be left as it is. By the way, the article transfer device occupies a considerable proportion of the space between the pair of storage shelves in order to transfer the articles to the storage shelves on both sides. Devices may interfere with the movement of workers. Therefore, in such a case, it is possible to move the article transfer device by energizing the electric brake by the manually operated braking release means to release the braking and the worker pushes the article transfer device or the like. Therefore, it is possible to facilitate the work between the pair of storage shelves while preventing unnecessary movement of the article transfer device by the electric brake.

Further, by providing the structure according to claim 3, the lateral movement control means for controlling the movement amount of the article transfer device detects the movement information of the movement amount detection means for detecting the movement amount of the article transfer device. The control is executed based on the above, and the article transfer device is stopped at the position corresponding to each storage section. Also, the control operation is stopped in the maintenance mode. Therefore, when the article storage device is put into the maintenance mode for performing maintenance work, the control operation of the lateral movement control means is stopped and the lateral movement drive of the article transfer apparatus is also stopped. Continue to detect the movement amount of. As a result, even when the worker releases the braking on the article transfer device by the above-mentioned braking release means and moves the article transfer device by pushing or the like in the maintenance work, the movement amount is detected by the movement amount detection means. When detected and returned to the normal operation from the maintenance mode, the lateral movement control means restarts the control operation according to the detection information of the movement amount detection means.

That is, in the maintenance mode, the movement amount detecting means as well as the lateral movement controlling means are deactivated,
When the article transfer device is moved in the maintenance mode as described above, the movement amount of the article transfer device grasped by the lateral movement control means before and after the maintenance mode becomes discontinuous,
When returning from the maintenance mode to normal operation, it is necessary to perform processing such as returning to the origin position of the article transfer device, whereas the movement amount detection means must continue to detect the movement amount even in the maintenance mode. So, when you return from maintenance mode to normal operation, you can continue operation as it is,
When returning to the normal operation, it is possible to quickly restart the transfer and transfer work of the articles.

Further, by providing the structure according to claim 4, the elevating mechanism for elevating the elevating table for supporting the article transfer device is supported by one of the pair of storage shelves. As a general rule, the storage shelves are provided in a pair with the storage part's loading and unloading sides facing each other.However, by supporting the lifting mechanism on one of the storage shelves as described above, storage that supports the lifting mechanism is stored. The shelves can be used alone, and the use mode can be varied to make the article storage device more convenient.

Further, with the structure according to the above-mentioned claim 5, the elevator is suspended and supported by the rope, and the elevator is moved up and down by winding and driving the rope by the driving means. To do. The drive means for winding and driving the cord-like body is arranged at the lowest stage of the storage shelf on the side supporting the lifting mechanism for lifting the lifting table. The lowermost stage of the storage rack often becomes a so-called dead space due to the arrangement with the article transfer device and the lifting table. By arranging the drive means using such dead space, the entire article storage device can be obtained. As a result, space saving can be achieved.

Further, by providing the structure according to the sixth aspect, in consideration of the weight reduction and the strength improvement, the elevating table is formed such that the cross-sectional shape of the storage rack in a lateral direction is a substantially work-like shape. . By forming the lifting platform in such a shape, a concave space exists on the side of the lifting platform, but a drive mechanism for moving and driving the article transfer device or the article transfer using the concave space. By arranging the electric wiring for supplying electric power to the device, it is possible to make the configuration of the lifting table compact.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an article storage device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a container C as an example of an article can be stored in any one of the storage units 1 of the storage shelves 2A and 2B provided as a pair at predetermined intervals in front and rear, and There is shown an article storage device according to the present invention in which containers C stored in predetermined storage shelves 2A and 2B can be taken out. In the container C, for example, small parts and the like are loaded by type.

The storage section 1 is arranged in each of a pair of storage shelves 2A and 2B so as to be vertically and horizontally aligned.
A plurality of storage shelves 2A and 2B are provided, and the storage shelves 1A and 2B are arranged so that the article storage / removal sides of the storage sections 1 face each other. A storage unit 1 is provided at the lateral end of the storage shelf 2A.
Instead of, the storage conveyor 4a for storing the container C in the storage shelves 2A, 2B and the storage shelf 2A,
The delivery conveyor 4b for leaving from 2B goes up and down,
Moreover, they are arranged so that the carrying direction is the lateral direction of the storage shelves 2A, 2B. The storage shelves 2 are provided at the outer ends of the storage shelves 2A and 2B of the storage conveyor 4a and the storage conveyor 4b.
A belt conveyor 3 that conveys the container C is continuously provided in the front-rear direction of A and 2B.

A pair of left and right plate-shaped load-carrying tools 4c, which can be moved up and down above and below the conveying surfaces of the storage conveyor 4a and the storage conveyor 4b, are provided at the inner sides of the storage shelves 2A of the storage conveyor 4a and the storage conveyor 4b. The container C is delivered between the fork mechanism 52 provided in the article transfer device 6 described later and the warehousing conveyor 4a and the unloading conveyor 4b when the loading device 4c is raised. or,
In order to transfer the container C between the warehousing conveyor 4a, the unloading conveyor 4b, and the belt conveyor 3, the conveyor belts 3a of the belt conveyor 3 are formed by arranging a plurality of narrow belts spaced apart from each other. A vertically movable transport roller 3b is arranged between the narrow belts so that the transport directions of the transport rollers 3b are the same as those of the warehousing conveyor 4a and the unloading conveyor 4b. In this way, the storage conveyor 4a
The delivery conveyor 4b has basically the same configuration, and the upper side is used for receiving and the lower side is used for delivering, but the reverse is also possible, and further, each is also used for receiving and delivering. It is also possible to do so.

Further, at a front and rear intermediate portion of the pair of storage shelves 2A and 2B, a transfer device TR for transferring the container C between each storage part 1 and the storage conveyor 4a and the output conveyor 4b.
The main part of is equipped. The main part of the transfer device TR provided in the front-rear intermediate part of the pair of storage shelves 2A and 2B includes an article transfer device 6 for transferring and transporting the container C to and from each storage part 1 and the like, and an article transfer device 6. It comprises a long elevating table 5 which guides and supports the mounting device 6 over the entire lateral widths of the storage shelves 2A and 2B so as to be movable, and the elevating table 5 constitutes a part of the transfer device TR. In the UD, the up / down operation can be freely performed over almost the entire vertical height of the storage shelves 2A, 2B.

The pair of storage shelves 2A, 2B support the columns 8, a plurality of horizontal frames 9 which are vertically connected to each other at predetermined intervals over the columns 8, and the bottom portions of the left and right ends of the container C. It is composed of a large number of locking members 10 which are erected and connected along the front-rear direction at predetermined intervals, and a horizontal rod 11 which connects the upper ends of the columns 8. The locking member 10 has a substantially L-shaped cross section so as to prevent the lateral movement of the container C.

Next, a lifting mechanism U for driving the lifting table 5 up and down.
D will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the elevator 5
Connecting wires 30a, each of which is a cord-like body,
It is suspended and supported by 30b. One of the connecting wires 30a is a guide pulley 29 that is rotatable about a horizontal axis.
After being wound around a and 29b, it is connected to a winding drum 29c installed at the lower end of the storage rack 2A, and the other connecting wire 30b is a guide pulley 29d that is rotatable about a horizontal axis, A guide pulley 29e rotatable about the axis,
Further, after being wound around the guide pulley 29b, the connecting wire 30
Similar to a, it is connected to the winding drum 29c. The winding drum 29c is rotationally driven by the electric motor M1, and the elevating table 5 is moved up and down by driving the electric motor M1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lifting table 5 has guided grooves 4 of guided portions 40 attached to the left and right ends of the lifting table 5, respectively.
0a is engaged and guided by an elevating guide rail 41a attached to the rail support frame 41 shown in FIG. 1 so as to protrude toward the elevating table 5, and its posture is regulated. In addition, the rail support frame 41 and the guide rail 4 for ascending and descending guides
1a is integrally formed of an aluminum material, and the surface of the guide rail 41a for ascending / descending guide is subjected to a surface treatment such as electrolytic plating or alumite treatment. As shown in FIG. 4, the rail support frame 41 is attached to the frame 13 supported by one storage shelf 2A of the pair of storage shelves 2A, 2B. Although not shown, the guide pulleys 29a, 29b, 2
9d and 29e are also attached to the frame 13 so that the entire lifting mechanism UD is supported by the storage shelf 2A. Further, the electric motor M1 which is a driving means for winding and driving the connecting wires 30a and 30b is arranged at the lowest stage of the storage rack 2A which supports the lifting mechanism UD.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the lift table 5 which is guided up and down by the guide rails 41a for lifting guides has a pair of storage shelves 2 in the space between the pair of storage shelves 2A and 2B.
It is arranged so as to be deviated to one of the storage shelves 2A of A and 2B, that is, the storage shelves 2A side supporting the lifting mechanism UD. As shown in FIG. A work space is secured even when entering the space between the pair of storage shelves 2A and 2B.

Next, the lateral movement operation structure of the article transfer device 6 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the article transfer device 6 mainly includes a frame 48 in a state of covering both front and rear side portions and an upper side of the lift table 5, and four traveling wheels 49 attached to the upper portion of the frame 48. , A total of six guide wheels 50, three on one side, which are rotatably attached to the side portions of the frame 48 about the vertical axis, and attached to the side portions of the frame 48, rotatably about the horizontal axis. It is composed of two guide wheels 51 that come into contact with the lifting table 5 from the lower side, and a fork mechanism 52 mounted on the frame 48.

To the frame 48, both ends of a drive belt 54 wound around pulleys 53, 53 rotatably supported around the longitudinal axis are connected to both ends of the lifting table 5, respectively. When the pulley 53 is rotationally driven by the electric motor M2, the drive belt 54 is moved and operated in the longitudinal direction, and the article transfer device 6 is laterally moved and operated. A lateral movement drive unit TD that drives the article transfer device 6 in the lateral direction of the storage shelves 2A and 2B by the drive belt 53 and the drive belt 54.
The electric motor M2 is provided with an electric brake 14 on the side opposite to the side where the pulley 53 is attached, the electric brake 14 braking the rotating shaft of the electric motor M2.

As shown in FIG. 7, the electric brake 14 performs a braking action by sandwiching a braking member 16a fixed to a rotary shaft 15 of an electric motor M2 by a fixed plate 16b and a movable iron core 16c. The movable iron core 16c is slidably attached to the left and right in FIG.
It is biased to the left side, that is, to the braking side by the spring 16d. When the coil 16f wound around the fixed iron core 16e is energized, the movable iron core 16c is attracted and moved to the right side in FIG. 7, that is, the braking release side, by its electromagnetic action. Therefore, when the power supply to the coil 16f of the electric brake 14 is stopped, the article transfer device 6 is braked,
When energized, the braking is released.

Since the cross-sectional shape of the elevating table 5 in the lateral direction of the storage shelves 2A and 2B is formed in a substantially U-shape, there is a concave space on the left and right in the lateral view of the storage shelves 2A and 2B.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the drive belt 54 is accommodated in one of the concave spaces, and in the other, electric wiring for supplying electric power to the article transfer device 6 as shown in FIG. The cable bear 12 in which the cables and the like are bundled is accommodated to save space.

A rotary encoder 55 is provided so as to interlock with the rotary shaft of the electric motor M2 for moving the drive belt 54 in order to specify the carrying position of the article transfer device 6 on the lift table 5. The article transfer device 6 is provided with a transmission type photoelectric sensor 58 which is partitioned by a light shielding plate 56 provided at an appropriate position of the elevating table 5. Further, in order to specify the lifting position of the lifting table 5 by the lifting mechanism UD, a rotary encoder 60 is provided in a state of being interlockingly connected to the rotation shaft of the winding drum 29c, and a rotary encoder 60 at the longitudinal end of the lifting table 5 is provided. A photoelectric sensor 62 partitioned by a light shielding plate 61 provided at an appropriate position along the elevating guide rail 41a is provided near the guide portion 40. Rotary encoders 55 and 60 and photoelectric sensor 5
The detection signals of 8 and 62 are input to the controller CO as shown in FIG. The controller CO is the photoelectric sensor 5
Based on the detection information of 8, 62, the lift position as the reference of the lift table 5 and the transfer position as the reference of the article transfer device 6 are recognized,
The relative position with respect to the reference position is recognized based on the detection information of the rotary encoders 55 and 60, and the lift position of the lift table 5 and the transport position of the article transfer device 6 are specified. Therefore, the rotary encoder 55 and the controller CO function as a moving amount detecting means MA for detecting the moving amount of the article transfer device 6, and the controller CO further controls the electric motor M2. It functions as lateral movement control means TC for controlling the movement amount of the article transfer device 6 based on the detection information.

The fork mechanism 52 includes a pair of storage shelves 2A,
The fork mechanism 52 is provided with two bar-shaped contact sensors 57 on each of the left and right sides of the fork mechanism 52. Container C with fork mechanism 52
When the container C is mounted on the article transfer device 6, the container C moves in the lateral direction of the container C (matches the lateral direction of the storage shelves 2A and 2B).
When the center position of the fork mechanism 52 and the center position of the fork mechanism 52 in the lateral direction substantially coincide with each other, the four contact sensors 57 do not come into contact with the standard mounting position, but either the left or right direction from the standard mounting position. This contact sensor 57
It is possible to detect that the container C is displaced more than the set value by touching. The detection information of the contact sensor 57 is input to the controller CO as shown in FIG.
It is used to correct the stop position of.

Next, the operation of loading and unloading the container C into and from the article storage device under the control of the controller CO will be described. When the container C conveyed on the upper belt conveyor 3 reaches the position of the receiving conveyor 4a, the conveyance is stopped, the conveying roller 3b is raised above the conveying surface of the conveying belt 3b, and the container C is transferred to the receiving conveyor 4a. And transport. The container C is carried into the storage shelf 2A in association with the carrying operation of the warehousing conveyor 4a. When the container C is loaded, the loading tool 4c moves up and the container C
Lift. When the container C is lifted, the fork mechanism 52 of the article transfer device 6 which has been waiting is inserted between the lower surface of the container C and the load carrying surface of the storage conveyor 4a, and then the lift 5 is raised by the electric motor M1. Then, the container C is placed on the upper surface of the fork mechanism 52. When the fork mechanism 52 on which the container C is placed is retracted toward the article transfer device 6 side, the container C is placed on the article transfer device 6.

With the container C mounted on the fork mechanism 52, the lifting table 5 and the article transfer device 6 are moved to the empty storage section 1. At this time, the height of the lift table 5 is set so that the height of the lower surface of the container C mounted on the article transfer device 6 is slightly higher than the upper surface of the locking member 10 of the storage section 1. In this state, the fork mechanism 52 is projected toward the storage portion 1 side to position the container C above the locking member 10, and further lifted up and down until the container C is placed on the locking member 10. After lowering the platform 5, the fork mechanism 5
2 is retracted to the article transfer device 6 side, and the storage of the container C in the storage portion 1 is completed. The operation of transporting the containers C stored in the storage shelves 2A and 2B to the outgoing conveyor 4b and the operation of transferring the containers C from the outgoing conveyor 4b to the lower belt conveyor 3 are substantially the reverse of the above-described loading operation.

When the worker enters the space between the pair of storage shelves 2A and 2B for maintenance work or the like while continuing the transportation work as described above, the operation shown in FIG.
As shown in, the operation console 17 installed on the side wall of the storage shelf 2A.
From instructions, switch to maintenance mode,
The lifting drive of the lifting table 5 is stopped and the lateral drive of the article transfer device 6 is stopped. In this way, when the lateral drive of the article transfer device 6 is stopped, the coil 1 of the electric brake 14 is stopped.
The energization of 6f is stopped and the article transfer device 6 is put into a braking state. Further, the instruction input from the operation console 17 can resume energization of the coil 16f to release the braking. it can. Therefore, the console 17 functions as an artificially operated braking release means BR that energizes the electric brake 14 to release the braking.

In this state, an operator can push and operate the article transfer device 6 to move it on the lift table 5. By the way, the controller CO continues to detect the movement amount of the article transfer device 6 based on the output signal of the rotary encoder 55 even in this maintenance mode, and the operator moves the article transfer device 6 as described above. Even in the case of, the movement amount is detected. Therefore, when the worker finishes the work and gives an instruction to return to the normal operation from the operation console 17, the position detection process of the article transfer device 6 is not needed and the detection information of the movement amount detection means MA is used as it is. Can return to normal operation.

[Another Embodiment] Another embodiment will be described below. In the above-described embodiment, the electric brake 14 operates in principle in the maintenance mode, but the coil 16f of the electric brake 14 is continuously energized in the maintenance mode to maintain the braking release state. It may be configured as follows. In the above embodiment, the movement amount detection means MA for detecting the movement amount of the article transfer device 6 is provided with the rotary encoder 55 that is interlocked with the rotation shaft of the electric motor M2. It is also possible to provide a roller that comes into contact with the lift table 5 with a rotary encoder that detects the amount of rotation of the roller when the article transfer device 6 moves. In the above-mentioned embodiment, although the elevating table 5 is suspended and supported by the connecting wires 30a and 30b, the rail supporting frame 41
A rack may be installed along the vertical axis, and pinion gears meshing with the rack may be provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the lift table 5, and the pinion gear may be rotationally driven by a motor to move the lift table 5 up and down. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an article storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a lifting mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a main part according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a main part according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of the article storage device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block configuration diagram according to the embodiment of the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Storage section C Articles 2A, 2B Storage rack 5 Lifting table 6 Article transfer device 14 Electric brake BR Braking release means M1 Driving means MA Moving amount detection means TC Lateral movement control means TD Lateral movement drive section UD Elevating mechanism

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A pair of storage shelves provided with a plurality of storage sections for storing articles in a vertical and horizontal direction side by side, and a pair of storage shelves are arranged side by side such that the article loading and unloading sides of the storage sections face each other. Is provided with a long elevating platform arranged so as to elevate and lower the space between the storage shelves and have a longitudinal direction aligned with the lateral direction of the storage shelves. In the article storage device provided with an article transfer device movably supported by, the position of the elevating table in the space between the pair of storage shelves, in a lateral view of the storage shelves, An article storage device configured to be offset to one side of the pair of storage shelves. 2. In the lift table, a lateral movement drive unit that drives the article transfer device in the lateral direction of the storage shelf,
An electric brake is provided for braking the article transfer device by stopping energization when the lateral drive is stopped, and for releasing the braking by energizing during lateral drive, and stopping the lateral drive of the lateral drive unit. The article storage device according to claim 1, further comprising an artificially operated braking releasing means for releasing the braking by energizing the electric brake at a time. 3. A movement amount detecting means for detecting a movement amount of the article transfer device on the elevator, and a movement amount of the article transfer device on the elevator based on detection information of the movement amount detecting means. And a lateral movement control unit for controlling the lateral movement control unit, and the movement amount detection unit continues to detect the movement amount of the article transfer device even in a maintenance mode in which the control operation of the lateral movement control unit is stopped. When the normal operation is returned from the maintenance mode, the lateral movement control means is configured to restart the control operation based on the detection information of the movement amount detection means in the maintenance mode. Item storage device according to item 2. 4. The article storage device according to claim 1, wherein an elevating mechanism for elevating the elevating table is supported by one of the pair of storage shelves. 5. The elevating mechanism is configured to suspend and support the elevating table with a cord-like body, and a drive unit that winds and drives the cord-like body of a storage shelf that supports the elevating mechanism. It is arranged in the lowest stage.
The article storage device described. 6. The elevating table is formed such that a cross-sectional shape of the storage rack in a lateral direction is a substantially U-shaped cross section, and drives the article transfer device to move into a concave space on a side portion of the elevating table. The article storage apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, wherein electric wiring for supplying electric power to a drive mechanism or the article transfer apparatus is arranged.