JPH09315518A - Automated warehouse - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve operating efficiency and storage efficiency by providing an elevating base of a stacker crane with at least two sliding bodies in the longitudinally movable state, providing the sliding bodies with article support pieces movable between article support bars, and making at least one sliding body vertically movable. SOLUTION: A stacker crane has an elevating base 37 that can be elevated along masts 36 provided at a traveling truck. A longitudinal pair of guide rails 39 with the longitudinal direction thereof turned laterally are provided at the right side part of the elevating base 37 so as to guide, a lateral moving base 40 movably in a lateral direction. A frame 41 with its upper face flush with the lateral moving base 40 is provided at the left part of the elevating base 37, and the lateral moving base 40 and the frame 41 are provided with sliding bodies 43 so as to be horizontally slidable in the longitudinal direction. The upper face of each sliding body 43 is provided with a plurality of article support pieces 44 vertically movable between article support bars with the longitudinal direction thereof turned longitudinally so as to be able to place an article W. The sliding body 43 is laterally moved to change a storage position according to the size of the article to be stored.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an automated warehouse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the following types of automatic warehouses are known. That is, it has a rack device having a plurality of stages of article storage shelves vertically spaced at predetermined intervals, and a stacker crane provided in front of the rack device so as to be movable left and right. Direction of the stacker crane and the stacker crane side is a free end. It is possible to move up and down between a lift table that is movable up and down on a mast provided on a carriage, one slide body that is movable back and forth provided on the lift table, and an article support rod provided on the slide body. It is known to have made article bearing pieces. In the automatic warehouse, after the sliding body is projected from the elevating table so as to position the article supporting piece between the article supporting bars and below the article supporting bar, the elevating table is lifted and the upper end surface of the article supporting piece is raised. Place the articles on the article support rods above the upper end surface of the article support rods to transfer the articles on the article support rods to the article support pieces, and then slide the slide bodies back and forth to the platform to place the articles on the platform. On the other hand, it is possible to place the article on the article support bar (article storage shelf) by the operation reverse to the above. In such an automated warehouse, there is an advantage that articles of various sizes can be stored.

[0003]

Disadvantages of the Prior Art The conventional automatic warehouse has the following drawbacks. That is, since there is only one sliding body on the lifting platform of the stacker crane, only one article is placed, and as a result, when storing articles on the article storage rack, the stacker crane is operated by one article from the article loading station. The operation of receiving an article, storing it in a predetermined article storage rack of the rack device, and moving to the article loading station to receive the next article must be repeated, and the article is taken out from the article storage shelf. Also in this case, after transferring one article taken out from the article storage shelf to the article unloading station, in order to take out the article from another article storage shelf, the article should be moved from the article loading station toward the article storage shelf again. It had the drawback that it had to be. That is, there is a drawback that the stacker crane has a substantially low operating efficiency. In addition, although various items can be stored, the storage position of the items on the item storage rack is determined based on the largest size item to be stored. There is a drawback that the storage efficiency is poor because the space between the product and the product is wide.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Disadvantages] The present invention employs the following means in order to eliminate the above disadvantages. The invention of claim 1 has a rack device and a stacker crane that is movable left and right in front of the rack device, and the article storage shelf of the rack device has a plurality of cantilevered article bearings with the stacker crane side as a free end. At least two sliding members are provided on the lifting platform of the stacker crane so as to be movable back and forth, and the sliding member is provided with an article supporting piece movable up and down between the article supporting rods, and at least one sliding member is provided. It is designed to be movable left and right.

[0005]

The first aspect of the present invention has the following functions. Since articles corresponding to the number of sliding bodies can be simultaneously placed on the lifting table of the stacker crane, it is possible to reduce the lateral movement of the stacker crane and improve the operation efficiency of the stacker crane. Further, by moving the sliding body to the left and right, the storage position can be changed according to the size of the article to be stored.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this description, the front means the lower side of FIG. 1, the rear means the upper side of the figure, the left means the left side of FIG. 1, and the right means the right side of the figure.

A pair of front and rear rack devices 1 are erected on the floor so as to open the stacker crane passage 31. The rear rack device 1 includes a large number of front columns 2 arranged at right and left at predetermined intervals, rear columns 2 arranged behind the front columns 2 with a predetermined space therebetween, and rear columns. Of the horizontal rails 3 which are provided at predetermined intervals in the height direction on the columns 2 adjacent to each other, and the horizontal rails 3 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the left-right direction, and the stacker crane passage 31 side is a free end. It has a cantilevered article support rod 5 provided. An article slip prevention projection 6 (see FIG. 5) is provided at the free end of the article support rod 5 (the end on the stacker crane passage 31 side). A rack body frame 4 is constituted by the columns 2, the horizontal rails 3, and other reinforcing materials.
Further, a large number of article support rods 5 in the same stage constitute one article storage shelf 7 with the loading / unloading port facing the stacker crane passage 31. The front rack device 1 is a state in which the rear rack device 1 is horizontally rotated 180 degrees.

On the left side of the rear rack device 1, there is provided a roller conveyer 8 with the conveying direction directed to the left and right, and the right side portion (the side of the rack device 1) of this roller conveyer 8 serves as an article loading station 9. There is.

The article carrying-in station 9 is provided with an article elevator 12 as shown in FIGS. The article lifter 12 includes a roller 8 a of the roller conveyor 8.
A well-known lifting / lowering operation device 13 provided below the vehicle, and an ascending / descending table 14 which is not vertically movable by the lifting / lowering operation device 13.
And a support bar 15 which is erected at the rear part of the lift table 14 so as to be located between the rollers 8a and equal to the mounting interval of the article support bar 5, and a front projection of these support bars 15. And a cantilevered article support rod 16 provided in a shape of a circle. The front end of the article support rod 16 is located rearward of the front end of the roller 8a. With such a configuration, by raising and lowering the elevating table 14, the article support rod 16 descends below the transport surface of the roller conveyor 8 or protrudes from the transport surface of the roller conveyor 8 and the transport surface of the roller conveyor 8. A space 18 into which an article support piece 44, a sliding body 43, etc., which will be described later, is inserted can be formed between the article support bar 16 and the group.

A roller conveyor 8 is provided on the left side of the front rack device 1 with the conveying direction oriented in the left-right direction, and the right side portion (the side of the rack device 1) of the roller conveyor 8 serves as an article unloading station 10. . The article unloading station 10 has an article elevator (not shown) in a state in which the rear article elevator 12 is horizontally rotated 180 degrees.
Is provided.

At the article loading station 9 on the left side of the rear rack device 1, a position correcting device 21 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is provided as shown below. Of the position correction device 21,
A horizontal plate 23 is provided on the upper ends of a pair of left and right columns 22 standing upright on the floor behind the roller conveyor 8 so as to be located above the article carrying-in station 9. An elevating box 25 is provided below the horizontal plate 23 by the actuating device 24 so as to be able to move up and down. A pair of right and left position correcting plates 27 are provided on the elevating box 25 so as to be close to and apart from each other by the same distance in synchronization with each other. Like this,
In addition, a pair of front and rear position correcting plates 2 are attached to the lifting box 25.
8 are synchronously provided so as to be able to approach and separate from each other by the same distance, and the center between the front and rear position correcting plates 28 coincides with the center of the length of the roller conveyor 8 in the front and rear direction. As the actuating device for the right and left position correcting plate 27 and the front and rear position correcting plate 28, any known device can be used.

A pair of upper and lower guide rails 33 are arranged in the stacker crane passage 31 so that the longitudinal direction thereof is oriented in the left-right direction, and the stacker crane 34 is guided by these guide rails 33 so as to be movable left and right. , The stacker crane 34 has a traveling carriage 35.
And a mast 36 provided on the traveling vehicle 35, and an elevating table 37 that can be moved up and down. The lift 3
A pair of front and rear guide rails 39 whose longitudinal direction is oriented in the left-right direction are provided on the right side of 7, and a left and right moving base 40 is guided along the guide rails 39 so as to be movable left and right. It is operated left and right by an actuator (not shown). On the other hand, a pedestal 41 whose upper surface is flush with the left / right moving table 40 is provided on the left side of the elevating table 37. A slide body 43 is provided on the left and right moving table 40 and the gantry 41 so as to be horizontally slidable in the front-rear direction by a well-known advancing and retracting mechanism. The known sliding mechanism includes a left / right moving table 40 or a gantry 41.
A fixed sliding guide body and an intermediate sliding body which is movable forward and backward on the fixed sliding guide body and on which a sliding body 43 is movable forward and backward. When the intermediate sliding body moves with respect to the body, the sliding body 43 is interlocked with it.
Is configured to move in the same direction and in the same amount with respect to the intermediate slide body.

On the upper surface of the sliding body 43, there are provided a plurality of article support pieces 44 which can move up and down between the article support bars 5 whose longitudinal direction is oriented in the front-back direction. The sliding body 43
The sliding body 43 is provided on the front and rear portions of the article between the article support pieces 44.
Is an article loading station 9 or an article unloading station 1
Notch 45 (see FIG. 5) for preventing collision and interference with the support rod 15 of the article elevator 12 when protruding to the 0 side.
Are formed.

[0014]

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described. First, a case where the article W is stored in the article storage shelf 3 will be described. When the article W arrives at the article carry-in station 9, the roller conveyor 8 on the rear side stops. After that, the ascending / descending box 25, which has been elevated so far, descends, and the upper part of the article W is surrounded by the left / right position correction plate 27 and the front / rear position correction plate 28 in the opened state. After that, the left-right position correction plate 27 and the front-back position correction plate 28 are brought close to each other, and the position of the article W is corrected (front-back / left-right centering) by them. After that, right and left position correction plate 27
And the front-back position correction plate 28 is opened, and the elevating box 25 is raised.

After that, the article support rod 1 which has been descending so far
6 rises and lifts the article W to form a space 18 (see FIG. 3).

In the meantime, the traveling carriage 35 travels to the left and the lifting platform 37 descends, so that the left-right center of the left sliding body 43 coincides with the left-right center of the position-corrected article W, and When the upper end surface of the support piece 44 is located below the lower surface of the article W, the traveling carriage 35 and the lifting platform 37 stop. In the above state, the article support piece 44 of the left sliding body 43 is located between the article support rods 16.

After that, the left sliding body 43 projects below the article W. At that time, the support rod 15 of the article elevator 12 fits into the notch 45 (see FIG. 5) of the sliding body 43. afterwards,
The elevating table 37 rises to position the upper end surface of the article support piece 44 above the upper end surface of the article support rod 16 and
The article W placed on the item is transferred to the article support piece 44. After that, the left sliding body 43 retreats toward the lift table 37, so that the article W is placed on the lift table 37.

After that, the traveling carriage 35 further moves to the left, and the right and left center of the sliding body 43 on the right side is supported by the article support rod 16.
Align with the horizontal center of the group. At that time, the left and right moving base 40 is stopped at the set position. After that, the article W is placed on the left sliding body 43 by the same operation as described above. The article W and the sliding body 43 on the left side
The stop position of the left and right moving table 40 is set so as not to collide with or interfere with the article W placed on the.

After that, the traveling carriage 35 travels to the right, and the article support piece 44 of the sliding body 43 on the left side is moved to the article support rod 5.
The sliding body 4 on the left side is located at or near the center in the left-right direction of the portion of the article storage shelf 7 that stores the article W on the left side while being positioned in between.
After positioning the center of 3 in the left-right direction, stop. In the meantime, the elevating table 37 ascends to a position where the lower surface of the article W is located slightly above the upper end surface of the group of article support rods 5 to be stored and stops. Further, the horizontal position of the left and right moving table 40 is adjusted so that the interval between the articles W placed on both the sliding bodies 43 becomes substantially constant regardless of the size of the articles. Specifically, when the article W placed on both the sliding bodies 43 has a small size, the interval between the both sliding bodies 43 is narrowed. afterwards,
The left-right moving base 40 stops. After that, the sliding body 43 operates in the opposite manner to lower the article W to the group of article support rods 5 to be stored. Since the front and rear positions of the articles W have been corrected, the centers of all the articles W placed on the article storage shelves 7 in the front and rear direction are located in the same virtual vertical plane.
Further, when the right-side article W is unloaded onto the article storage rack 7, after stopping the traveling carriage 35 that is heavy and difficult to adjust its position,
By adjusting the left and right position of the left and right moving table 40, it is possible to avoid the collision of the article W with the article W previously stored and store the article W successfully. When the article W is of a large size so as to straddle the two sliding bodies 43, the two sliding bodies 43
Can be handled by synchronously driving.

Then, the article W on the article storage shelf 3 can be carried out to the front roller conveyor 8 which is a carry-out conveyor by the reverse operation.

[0021]

[Modifications and the like] Modifications and the like will be described below. (1) The number of sliding bodies 43 may be three or more. Further, at least one of the sliding bodies 43 may be movable left and right. (2) The number of rack devices 1 may be one. (3) The position of the article W in the article carry-in station 9 may be corrected on the article support rod 16 of the article elevator 12.

[0022]

The present invention has the following effects due to the above-described structure. According to the invention of claim 1, articles corresponding to the number of sliding bodies can be simultaneously placed on the lifting table of the stacker crane, so that the lateral movement of the stacker crane can be reduced and the operation efficiency of the stacker crane can be improved. . In addition, when lowering an article placed on a slide body that can be moved left and right onto an article storage rack, and vice versa, after stopping the traveling carriage that is heavy and difficult to adjust the position, the left and right position of the left and right moving table is slightly adjusted. Adjustments can be made to allow items to be stored and removed successfully, avoiding collisions with other items. Further, by moving the sliding body to the left and right, the storage position can be changed according to the size of the article to be stored, and the storage efficiency can be improved. According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the article from sliding down from the free end side of the article storage rack in the event of an earthquake. According to the third aspect of the invention, since the position of the article can be corrected by the position correcting device before the article is stored in the rack device, the position of the article with respect to the article storage rack can be easily adjusted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a simplified plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, omitting intermediate parts and omitting a position correcting device and the like.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Rack Device 5 Article Support Rod 7 Article Storage Shelf 34 Stacker Crane 37 Lifting Table 43 Sliding Body 44 Article Supporting Piece

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A rack device and a stacker crane that can move left and right in front of the rack device, and the article storage rack of the rack device is a cantilevered article supporting rod having a free end on the stacker crane side. At least two sliding bodies are provided on the lifting platform of the stacker crane so as to be movable back and forth, and an article supporting piece movable up and down between the article supporting rods is provided on the sliding body, and at least one sliding body moves left and right. An automated warehouse that can be used freely. 2. The automatic warehouse according to claim 1, wherein an article slip prevention protrusion is provided on a free end of the article support rod. 3. An article loading station adjacent to the rack device.
3. The automatic warehouse according to claim 1, further comprising a seat, and the article carry-in station is provided with a position correcting device for correcting the position of the carried-in article.