JPH10258911A - Count controller for stacker crane in automatic warehouse - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately count the plate placed on a moving line of a stacker crane so that the crane stops at a desired point. SOLUTION: A stacker crane is provided with a controller 10, which detects the plates placed on the moving line of a stacker crane in an automatic warehouse by means of a plate detecting means 13 and which inputs these data into itself so as to conduct addition/subtraction counting in order that the crane stops at a desired point. In a count controller of the stacker crane, the count controller is provided with a distance detecting means 14 for detecting the travel distance of the stacker crane. At the same time, in the controller 10, the travel detection data are inputted from the distance detecting means 14 into the controller 10, while the plate detection data are inputted from the plate detecting means 13 into the controller 10. Based on the data inputted, the plate counting is carried out when a prescribed time during which the stacker crane should move by a prescribed distance elapses after the specified time when the plate was detected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stacker crane installed in an automatic warehouse, which counts a plate for a stop position at the time of traveling, that is, ascends or descends, and stops the movement of the stacker crane at a desired position. It relates to a control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 1, a track 1 is installed in an automatic warehouse, and a stacker crane 2 travels on the track 1, and the traveling of the stacker crane 2 along the track 1, A shelf 4 provided with a plurality of shelves 3 along the direction is provided. The stacker crane 2 includes a traveling body 6, a pair of masts 7 are erected on the traveling body 6, a carriage 8 that moves up and down along the mast 7 is provided, and the cargo 8 is transferred to the carriage 8. The fork body 9 was attached. And the stacker crane 2
In the above, the vehicle travels forward or backward on the track 1 to stop at a desired position, and the carriage 8 is moved up and down along the mast 7 to stop at the desired position, and the luggage 5 is stored in the desired shelf 3. Or take it out.

In such a stacker crane 2, a plate for a stop position is installed at a predetermined position on the track 1 in order to move forward or backward and stop at a desired position, and the plate is mounted on the stacker crane 2. The plate detection means detects ON / OFF, and the controller provided in the stacker crane 2 performs addition and subtraction counts. When the desired number is counted, the stacker crane 2 is stopped at a desired position. I was

As shown in FIG. 2, when the plate is detected by the plate detecting means of the stacker crane 2 (ON) during both forward and backward movements, the controller counts the count at the same time as the detection, as shown in FIG. (C shown in the figure).

As another method of counting, as shown in FIG. 3, when the plate is detected (ON) by the plate detecting means during forward movement, the plate is counted by the controller (Cf shown in FIG. 3) at the same time as the detection. When the vehicle is moving backward, the counting method is changed between forward and backward so that the plate is detected by the plate detecting means (ON) and the detection is completed (OFF), and at the same time, counting is performed by the controller (Cb shown in the figure). .

[0006]

According to such a conventional counting method in the controller of the stacker crane, when the stacker crane is stopped during forward movement or reverse movement, the plate detecting means mounted on the stacker crane has an end portion of each plate. When stopped near (A shown in FIGS. 2 and 3), there has been a problem that erroneous counting occurs due to chattering occurring in the plate detecting means.
This is because when the stacker crane stops, the stacker crane is as tall as several tens of meters high, and the stacker crane generates large shaking, which causes chattering in the plate detecting means to detect the plate (ON). ) Or not detected (O
FF), which causes a problem that an erroneous count is generated by adding and counting when moving forward and subtracting and counting when moving backward. An object of the present invention is to solve these problems.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a plate installed on a moving line of a stacker crane of an automatic warehouse is detected by a plate detecting means, the data is input, and addition and subtraction are counted to obtain a desired position. In a stacker crane count control device having a controller for stopping the movement of the stacker crane, a distance detecting means for detecting the moving distance of the stacker crane, and in the controller, moving distance data from the distance detecting means, Plate detection data is input from the plate detection means, and based on the input data, the plate is counted when the stacker crane moves a predetermined distance from a predetermined time when the plate is detected.

[0008]

According to the present invention, when stopping the stacker crane when the stacker crane is traveling or moving the carriage up and down, when the plate detecting means mounted on the stacker crane stops near the end of each plate, the stacker crane stops. When the plate is detected (ON) or not detected (OFF), chattering occurs in the plate detecting means due to the shaking.
As long as the stacker crane does not move a predetermined distance from the predetermined time when the plate is detected, the plate is not counted, so that the problem of erroneous counting caused by chattering, which has conventionally occurred, can be eliminated.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a count control device for a stacker crane of an automatic warehouse according to the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, a track 1 which is a movement line when the stacker crane 2 moves forward and backward is installed in the automatic warehouse, and the stacker crane 2 runs on the track 1 and along the track 1. That is, a shelf 4 provided with a plurality of shelves 3 is provided in the front and rear and up and down directions along the traveling direction of the stacker crane 2. The stacker crane 2
A movable body 6, a pair of masts 7, which are movement lines for raising and lowering the carriage 8, are erected on the movable body 6, and the carriage 8 that moves up and down along the mast 7 is provided;
A fork body 9 for transferring the luggage 5 is attached to the controller and a controller 10 for controlling these operations.
Is provided. Then, a ground controller 11 for issuing a command to the controller 10 is installed.
1 and the controller 10 of the stacker crane 2 are connected by optical communication.

In such a stacker crane 2, when the stacker crane 2 moves forward or backward, in order to stop the stacker crane 2 at a desired position, as shown in FIG. At a predetermined position, that is, at a position facing each of the shelves 3 of the shelf 4, and a plate 12 for a stop position is mounted on the lower portion of the traveling body 6 of the stacker crane 2, for example, plate detecting means 13, The controller 1 provided in the stacker crane 2 detects the ON / OFF state with the mold light sensor and detects this.
When the desired number is counted by adding and subtracting 0, the stacker crane 2 is stopped at a desired position. The detection of the plate 12 by the plate detecting means 13 is to be detected (ON) by blocking the transmitted light by the plate detecting means 13 as shown in FIG.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the stacker crane count control device includes a plate detecting means 13 and a distance detecting means for detecting a traveling distance which is a moving distance of the stacker crane 2. The distance detecting means 14 is, for example, an encoder that detects the rotation of the wheels 15 of the traveling body 6 of the stacker crane 2 and detects the traveling distance therefrom. The controller 10 inputs travel distance data, which is travel distance data, from the distance detection means 14, and
ON / OFF data, which is detection data of the plate 12, is input from the plate detection means 13, and based on the input data, a predetermined time when the plate 12 is detected is detected, that is, the plate 12 is detected (ON). When the data is input, it is determined whether or not the stacker crane 2 has traveled a predetermined distance from the time of plate detection based on the travel distance of the stacker crane 2 input from the distance detecting means 14. The count is incremented when moving forward and decremented when moving backward. The controller 10 controls the drive motor 17 via the traveling inverter 16 while counting the plates 12 as described above based on the command from the ground controller 11 to travel the stacker crane 2 to a desired position. And then stop.

The counting method in the controller 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.
First, ON / OFF data is inputted from the plate detecting means 13, and when a plate detection (ON) data which is a predetermined time when the plate 12 is detected is inputted, traveling distance data is inputted from the distance detecting means 14. It is determined whether the forward or backward travel has traveled a predetermined distance (L shown in FIG. 7) from the time point, and when the vehicle travels a predetermined distance, the controller 10 counts (C shown in FIG. 7).

With this arrangement, for example, when the stacker crane 2 is stopped at the time of moving forward or backward, when the plate detecting means 13 mounted on the stacker crane 2 stops near the end of each plate 12, Large swaying of the crane 2 occurs, and this swaying causes chattering in the plate detecting means 13 to cause the plate 1
2 is detected (ON) or not detected (OFF)
However, since the plate 12 is not counted until the stacker crane 2 does not travel a predetermined distance, the problem of erroneous counting caused by chattering can be eliminated.

Another embodiment is almost the same as the above-described embodiment, but the method of counting in the controller 10 is slightly different, so that this will be described. As shown in FIG. As in the previous embodiment,
The plate detection time is defined as a predetermined time when the plate 12 is detected. When the stacker crane 2 travels a predetermined distance from the predetermined time, the plate 12 is counted (C shown in FIG. 9).
f), the time when the detection of the plate 12 is completed is regarded as a predetermined time when the plate 12 is detected during the reverse travel, and the counting of the plate 12 is performed when the stacker crane 2 travels a predetermined distance from the predetermined time. (C shown in FIG. 9
b) is performed so that the counting method is changed between forward and reverse. Also in this case, it is possible to eliminate the problem of erroneous counting as in the above-described embodiment.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the count control device of the stacker crane is applied to the traveling of the stacker crane 2, but the same one is used for raising and lowering the carriage 8 in the stacker crane 2. You may do it. In this case, a plate 12 for a stop position is installed on the mast 7 which is a movement line, and this is detected by the plate detecting means 13 mounted on the carriage 8 of the stacker crane 2, and the stacker crane 2 is used as the distance detecting means 14. The encoder is configured to detect the rotation of the roller of the carriage 8 to detect the elevation distance, which is the moving distance.

[0016]

According to the present invention, when the stacker crane is stopped while the stacker crane is moving or the carriage is moving up and down, the plate detecting means mounted on the stacker crane stops near the end of each plate. When the plate is detected (ON) or not detected (OFF), chattering occurs in the plate detecting means due to the shaking.
Since plate counting is not performed until the stacker crane does not move a predetermined distance, the problem of erroneous counting caused by chattering, which has conventionally occurred, can be eliminated. In this way, by always counting the plates installed on the movement line correctly, the movement of the stacker crane can be reliably stopped at the desired position, and the storage and removal of luggage can be performed correctly, greatly improving safety. Can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a stacker crane in an automatic warehouse.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional counting method.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of another conventional counting method.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a stacker crane and a plate according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a plate detection unit and a plate according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a count control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a counting method according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a counting method according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of another counting method according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Track, 2. Stacker crane, 3. Shelf, 4. Shelf,
5 luggage, 6 traveling body, 7 mast, 8 carriage
9 ... fork body, 10 ... controller, 11 ... ground controller, 12 ... plate, 13 ... plate detection means,
14: distance detecting means, 15: wheels, 16: traveling inverter, 17: drive motor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plate detecting means for detecting a plate installed on a moving line in a stacker crane of an automatic warehouse.
3, the data is input, the addition and subtraction are counted, and the stacker crane count control device including the controller 10 for stopping the movement of the stacker crane 2 to a desired position. And the controller 10 includes:
The moving distance data is input from the distance detecting means 14, and the detection data of the plate 12 is input from the plate detecting means 13, and the stacker crane 2 moves a predetermined distance from a predetermined time when the plate 12 is detected based on the input data. A count control device for a stacker crane in an automatic warehouse, wherein the plate 12 is counted at a point in time.