JPH1087020A - Carry-in/out facility for storing shelf - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To charge a secondary battery by utilizing a time for guiding a carrying truck by a moving truck to a prescribed running road by loading a charging means for charging the secondary battery of the carrying truck loaded on the moving truck to the moving truck. SOLUTION: A charging unit 9 is provided with a swing arm 9e for reciprocatingly slide-moving a movable member 9c and a drive motor 9f along slide shafts 9d for supporting the movable member 9c installing electricity supply terminals 9a in its tip side slide-movably in the running orthoganally crossing direction of a carrying truck 3. The electricity supply terminals 9a are energized so as to project toward the, tip side of the movable member 9c. The swing arm 9e is swung to a carrying truck 3 side under such state that the carrying truck 3 is loaded on an elevating stand and the electricity supply terminals 9a are press-connected to the movable member 9c as well as the electricity reciving terminals 10a of the carrying truck 3. The swing arm 9e is swung to a side separated from the carrying truck 3 and the connection of the electricity supply terminals 9a with the electricity receiving terminals 10a is released and the electricity supply terminals 9a are moved to a position retreated from the running road of the carrying truck 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage shelf provided with a plurality of storage sections vertically and horizontally, which travels along a traveling path provided in the storage section and carries articles into and out of the storage section. A transport trolley, and a transport trolley on which the transport trolley is mounted, moves along the front side of the storage shelf, and moves up and down to guide the transport trolley to a predetermined storage path. The present invention relates to a carry-in / out facility for a storage shelf provided with an electric motor for driving and driving the carrier and a secondary battery for supplying power to the electric motor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a carry-in / out facility for storage shelves, articles are carried in and out of a storage section by a transport vehicle traveling on a traveling path provided in the storage section, and then to a predetermined storage section of the transport vehicle. Is carried out by a moving carriage. However, when power is supplied to a traveling electric motor for driving and moving the carrier, as described in JP-B-48-31229, for example, If the trolley is connected to the power supply cable and power is supplied to the traveling electric motor by the power supply cable, the draw-out structure of the power supply cable and the storage structure associated with the travel of the carrier trolley become complicated. In order to solve this disadvantage, for example, as described in JP-B-51-38991,
A secondary vehicle for supplying power to an electric motor for traveling is provided on a transport trolley. And, in the loading / unloading facility for storage shelves provided with such a transport vehicle equipped with a secondary battery, conventionally, a secondary battery exchange facility or a charging facility is installed at a specific location on the storage shelf side or on the ground side. When the secondary battery is exhausted,
The transport trolley is moved to a replacement facility or a charging facility to replace or recharge a secondary battery that has been charged in advance.

[0003]

For this reason, if the consumption state of the secondary battery is not always managed, the transport trolley cannot be operated efficiently, and the replacement of the exhausted secondary battery provided at a specific location is not possible. There is a drawback that the transport trolley cannot be operated for loading / unloading of articles while the equipment is being replaced by equipment or charged by charging equipment provided at a specific location. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to improve the operating rate of a transport vehicle by devising the charging time of a secondary battery.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a loading / unloading facility for storage shelves, wherein a charging means capable of charging a secondary battery of a transport trolley mounted on the mobile trolley is provided on the movable trolley. Therefore, the secondary battery is charged in a state where it is unlikely to hinder the operation of the transport trolley for carrying in and out of articles by using the time for guiding the transport trolley to the traveling path of the predetermined storage unit with the movable trolley. be able to. Therefore, the operating rate of the transport vehicle can be improved in a state where the charging time is easily secured by using the time for guiding the transport vehicle to the traveling path of the predetermined storage unit. In particular, if the charging means is provided so as to be able to charge the secondary battery provided on the transporting vehicle even while the transporting vehicle mounted on the moving vehicle is moving up and down, the required charging time can be more easily secured.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a loading / unloading facility for a storage shelf,
On both sides of the traveling path, an article support portion is provided along the traveling path longitudinal direction, and on the carrier, the article is placed and supported, and
A mounting table whose mounting surface can be moved up and down above and below the article support portion,
An electric actuator for raising and lowering the mounting table is provided, and the electric actuator is configured to be driven by electric power supplied from the secondary battery. The carriage is lowered into the lower side of the article supported by the article support section, and then the mounting table is raised by driving the electric actuator, the article is placed on the mounting table, and the storage section is When the articles are carried in, the articles are placed on the mounting table raised by the drive of the electric actuator, and the carriage is moved to a predetermined position of the article support portion, and then the mounting table is lowered. It is supported by the article support. Therefore, with the power supply from the common secondary battery, it is possible to not only run the transport trolley, but also to raise and lower the mounting table to load and unload the articles, thereby simplifying the drive structure of the transport trolley for loading and unloading articles. Can be

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a loading / unloading facility for storage shelves,
The charging means is configured to connect the power supply terminal to a power receiving terminal provided on the transport trolley for charging, and the power supply terminal is moved by a movement from a direction substantially orthogonal to a traveling direction of the transport trolley to the movable trolley. Since it is provided so that it can enter and exit the travel route of the transport vehicle and connect to the power receiving terminal and retreat from the travel route so that the transport vehicle can move to the movable vehicle side, Compared to the case where the power supply terminal is provided so as to contact the power receiving terminal from the traveling direction,
There are few restrictions on the arrangement of the power receiving terminal and the power supply terminal, and even if the power supply terminal is strongly pressed against the power receiving terminal, there is little possibility that the transport vehicle will move in the traveling direction. Therefore, the power receiving terminal and the power supply terminal can be easily arranged at predetermined positions, and the power supply terminal can be reliably connected to the power receiving terminal to efficiently charge the battery.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a carry-in / out facility for a storage shelf,
The retracting member that moves in and out together with the power supply terminal is also used as a stopper that regulates the movement by engaging with the side of the transport vehicle mounted on the movable vehicle, so there is no need to separately provide a retracting mechanism that moves the stopper in and out. With a simple structure, it is possible to restrict the shift movement of the transport trolley due to the traveling of the movable trolley, thereby preventing disconnection between the power supply terminal and the power receiving terminal.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a loading and unloading facility for a storage shelf,
An article placement section for placing articles for loading and unloading is provided beside the movement path of the mobile trolley, and the article is placed on the mobile trolley while the secondary battery is being charged by the charging means. The transfer means is provided so that the transfer can be performed between the transfer cart and the transport trolley, so that the secondary battery can be charged even while the articles are placed and unloaded between the transport trolley and the article mounting portion. Yes, it is easy to secure charging time.

[0009]

1 and 2 show a plurality of storage sections 1a.
Of the storage shelves 1 provided vertically and horizontally and the traveling path 1b provided inside the storage portions 1a, and the articles 2 on the pallet 2a are moved to the storage portions 1a by the pallet 2
a transporting trolley 3 carrying in and out a, and carrying the transporting trolley 3 on the elevating platform 4 and moving along the front side of the storage shelf 1;
The loading / unloading equipment for a storage shelf provided with a stacker crane 5 as a movable carriage for guiding the transport carriage 3 to a traveling path 1b of a predetermined storage section 1a by driving the lifting platform 4 up and down is shown.

[0010] A plurality of the storage shelves 1 store the articles 2 in the storage shelves 1.
Crane 5 on which a transport trolley 3 for loading and unloading is loaded
The storage shelves 1 are arranged in the crane traveling direction for each of the shelf supports 1c provided at intervals along the crane traveling direction. It is configured such that two storage sections 1a, 1a are provided in upper and lower stages.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each of the storage portions 1a is provided on both sides of the storage shelf 1 so that a plurality of articles 2 placed on the pallet 2a can be placed and stored in a line with the pallet 2a. Two traveling frames 6, which are provided in a state of forming an elongated article storage space communicating with the crane traveling passage 5a and in which a traveling surface 6a of the carriage 3 is formed, are provided along the longitudinal direction of the storage section 1a. A traveling path 1b of the transport vehicle 3 is formed, and the articles 2 are palletized by the transport vehicle 3 mounted on the stacker crane 5 traveling on the crane traveling path 5a from any crane traveling path 5a side.
On both sides of the traveling path 1b, an article supporting portion for placing and supporting the stored articles 2 together with the pallet 2a on a loading surface 6b formed integrally with the traveling frame 6 is provided. It is provided along the running path longitudinal direction.

At one side of the crane traveling path 5a at one side of the crane standby position, a storage roller conveyor 7a for conveying the goods 2 loaded on the pallet 2a, and a roller conveyor 7a mounted on the storage roller conveyor 7a. The lifted and lowered storage chain conveyor 8a as an article placement unit that lifts and places the incoming articles 2 together with the pallets 2 and conveys them to the stacker crane 5 waiting at the crane standby position.
On the other side, a retrieval roller conveyor 7b for transporting the retrieval articles 2 placed on the pallet 2a, and the retrieval articles 2 carried out from the stacker crane 5 returning to the crane standby position are loaded together with the pallets 2a. And a chain conveyor 8b that can be moved up and down as an article placement section for transferring the articles 2 to the exit roller conveyor 7b and transferring the articles 2 to the exit roller conveyor 7a. And a delivery / conveyance roller conveyer 7c for carrying out the retrieval article 2 conveyed to and from the retrieval / conveyance roller conveyer 7b is provided along one end of the storage shelf 1.

The stacker crane 5 has a traveling carriage 5c which automatically travels along a single crane traveling rail 5b laid on a crane traveling path 5a.
5d, a pair of front and rear columns 5e for guiding the lifting and lowering of the lifting platform 4, a lifting and lowering driving device 5f of the lifting and lowering platform 4, and a connecting frame for connecting the storage shelves 1 adjacent to each other across the crane traveling passage 5a. A traveling guide 5h for sandwiching the guide rail 5g fixed to 1d at the upper part of the column to prevent the stacker crane 5 from falling down, a current collector not shown for collecting electricity from the power supply trolley 5j laid in the crane traveling passage 5a, and traveling Driving device 5d, lifting / lowering driving device 5f, and carriage 5
and a control device (not shown) for controlling the operation of the control device c.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the lift 4 has a traveling frame 4a for the carrier 3 and a movable frame 4a for preventing overrun according to the traveling direction of the carrier 3. A stopper 4b of a type, a transfer chain conveyor 4c as transfer means for transferring the articles 2 placed on the pallet 2a over the transfer carriage 3 and the incoming chain conveyor 8a or outgoing chain conveyor 8b, Trolley 3
An optical transmission device 4d for inputting control data for entering and exiting the warehouse,
A charging unit 9 as a charging unit having a power supply terminal 9a connected to a power receiving terminal 10a provided on the side of the transport trolley 3 is provided, and a power cable 9b from a current collector is connected to the charging unit 9. .

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the charging unit 9 includes a movable member 9c having a power supply terminal 9a attached to a tip end thereof, and a movable member 9c extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the traveling direction of the transport trolley 3. A sliding shaft 9d for supporting the movable member 9c, and a sliding shaft 9d for pushing and pulling the movable member 9c.
A swing arm 9e for reciprocating sliding movement along; a drive motor 9f for driving and swinging the swing arm 9e;
The power supply terminal 9a is biased so as to protrude toward the distal end of the movable member 9c.

When the swing arm 9e is driven and swung toward the carrier 3 while the carrier 3 is placed on the elevator 4, the power supply terminal 9a is moved together with the movable member 9c in the travel path of the carrier 3. And the power supply terminal 9a is connected to the power receiving terminal 10a of the carrier 3 in a press-contact state, and the swing arm 9e is driven to swing away from the carrier 3 from this state. And the power supply terminal 9a is provided so as to move to a position where the power supply terminal 9a retreats from the traveling route of the transport trolley 3.

The movable member 9c, which is a retreat member that moves in and out together with the power supply terminal 9a, is connected to the power supply terminal 9a and the power receiving terminal 1a.
In the state of connection with the carrier 0a, the movable member 9c is inserted between the protective covers 3h of the photosensors 3n fixed to the front and rear on the side of the carrier 3 so that the movable member 9c engages with the carrier on the lift platform 4. In some cases, it is also used as a stopper to restrict the movement.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the carriage 3 has four running wheels 3a on each of the left and right sides, and a traveling electric motor 3 with a reducer for driving the running wheels 3a in a chain.
b and the guide rollers 3c which roll by contact between the inner surfaces 4f and 6c of the running frames 4a and 6 to regulate the running direction.
And a mounting table 3e having four mounting surfaces 3d for mounting and supporting the article 2 on each pallet 2a so as to be able to move up and down, and a lifting / lowering electric motor as a motorized actuator for driving and raising / lowering the mounting table 3e. 3f and the traveling electric motor 3b
And a power receiving connector 10 having a secondary battery 3g for supplying electric power for driving to the electric motor 3f for lifting and lowering, and a power receiving terminal 10a for receiving electric power for charging the secondary battery 3g.
And a photo sensor 3n for detecting the stop position of the transport vehicle 3 are provided.

The mounting table 3e is, as shown in FIG.
An eccentric cam 3m attached to a cylindrical shaft 3k which is relatively rotatably fitted to the axle 3j is driven and rotated by an electric motor 3f for raising and lowering to raise and lower the mounting surface 3d. In the state where each of them and the electric motor 3f for elevating and lowering are linked with a chain, and the carrier 3 is mounted on the elevating platform 4,
The loading provided on the traveling frame 6 in a state where it can be moved up and down freely between a position higher and a position lower than the conveying surface of the transfer chain conveyor 4c, and in a state where the conveying cart 3 runs on the running path 1b of the storage section 1a. It is provided so as to be able to move up and down over a position higher and lower than the placing surface 6b.

Next, the loading / unloading operation of the article 2 will be described.
The stocking operation is performed when the stacker crane 5 moves to the crane traveling path 5.
The transporting trolley 3, which is started in a standby state at the standby position a and is stopped at a predetermined height, is mounted on the lift 4 with the mounting table 3 e lowered, and the power receiving terminal of the transporting trolley 3. Reference numeral 10a is connected to the power supply terminal 9a of the charging unit 9, and the secondary battery 3g is charged.

The goods 2 carried by the storage roller conveyor 7a are lifted together with the pallet 2a by the upward movement of the storage chain conveyor 8a, and the storage chain conveyor 8a and the transfer chain conveyor 4c are lifted.
The stacker crane 5 travels along the crane traveling path 5a while raising and lowering the lift 4 as necessary, and moves the lift 4 to the entrance side of the predetermined storage unit 1a. Stop.

Next, the carrier 3 moves the mounting table 3e upward to receive the article 2 together with the pallet 2a. When the power supply terminal 9a comes off the power receiving terminal 10a of the carrier 3 by the drive swing of the swing arm 9e. , The transport vehicle 3 is mounted on the mounting table 3e
In the state where the article 2 is lifted together with the pallet 2a by the
After traveling on the traveling path 1b and stopping at a predetermined storage position, the placing table 3e is moved down to place the articles 2 together with the pallets 2a on the loading surface 6b, and then the placing table 3e is lowered. The vehicle travels on the traveling path 1b in the reverse direction, moves onto the elevator 4 of the stacker crane 5, and stops when the photo sensor 3n detects a predetermined stop position.

When the carrier 3 that has moved onto the elevator 4 stops, the swing arm 9e is driven and swung to connect the power supply terminal 9a to the power receiving terminal 10a of the carrier 3 and the secondary battery 3g.
Is started, the stacker crane 5 travels along the crane traveling path 5a while raising and lowering the elevator 4 as necessary, returns to the standby position, stops the elevator 4 at a predetermined height, and It waits until the entry operation or the exit operation is started.

The unloading operation is started when a unloading command is input from a controller (not shown) to the stacker crane 5, and the stacker crane 5 travels along the crane travel path 5a while moving the lift 4 up and down as necessary. The elevator 4 is stopped at the entrance side of the storage section 1a, and the swing arm 9e is driven to swing so that the power supply terminal 9a is detached from the power receiving terminal 10a of the carrier 3.

Next, the transport vehicle 3 travels along the traveling path 1b of the storage section 1a with the mounting table 3e lowered, and enters the lower side of the pallet 2a on which the articles 2 to be unloaded are loaded. The table 2 is moved upward to move the article 2 to the pallet 2.
a is received by the mounting table 3e, the mounting table 3e is lifted, the vehicle travels in the reverse direction along the traveling path 1b, and is transferred to the elevator 4 of the stacker crane 5, and the photo sensor 3
When n detects a predetermined stop position, it stops.

When the carriage 3 stops, the swing arm 9e
The power supply terminal 9a is moved to the power receiving terminal 10
a, and the loading table 3e is moved downward to transfer the articles 2 together with the pallets 2a to the chain conveyor 4c.
The stacker crane 5 travels along the crane traveling path 5a while returning the lifting platform 4 as necessary, and returns to the standby position, and drives the chain conveyor 4c for transfer and the chain conveyor 8b for unloading to release the stacker. After being replaced on the chain conveyor 8b, the outgoing chain conveyor 8
b is moved downward to be placed on the exit roller conveyor 7b and waits until the next entry operation or exit operation is started.

[Other Embodiments] The transport trolley may be configured so that the article is gripped below the vehicle body and carried into and out of a predetermined storage unit. 2. Electromagnetic induction type charging means may be provided in which the power supply coil provided on the moving trolley and the power receiving coil provided on the transport trolley are contactlessly charged without depending on the contact between the power supply terminal and the power receiving terminal. 3. Separately from the lifting platform on which the transport vehicle is placed and raised, a lifting device for raising and lowering the charging means along the lifting path of the lifting platform is provided on the movable vehicle, and the charging means is moved up and down by following the lifting and lowering of the lifting platform. Thus, a configuration may be adopted in which the charging can be performed even while the transport vehicle is moving up and down. 4. Charging means for extending the power supply cable from a fixed position on the movable trolley, connecting the power supply cable to the transport trolley mounted on the elevating platform, and charging the secondary battery of the transport trolley is provided. good. 5. A charging unit for charging the secondary battery of the transport trolley while the lift trolley on which the transport trolley is mounted is stopped at a fixed position may be provided. 6. The transport trolley may be one that transports the articles put in the case into and out of the storage section together with the case, or one that directly transports articles into and out of the storage section.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a main part of a loading / unloading facility for a storage shelf.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part of a loading / unloading facility for a storage shelf.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a main part of a storage shelf.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part of a storage shelf.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a main part of the stacker crane.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a main part of the stacker crane.

FIG. 7 is a main part plan view showing the inside of the charging unit;

FIG. 8 is a side view of a main part showing the inside of the charging unit.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a main part showing the inside of the transport vehicle.

FIG. 10 is a side view of a transport cart.

FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing a main part of a lifting structure of the mounting table.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Storage shelf 1a Storage part 1b Traveling path 2 Article 3 Transport trolley 3b Electric motor 3d Mounting surface 3e Mounting table 3f Electric actuator 3g Secondary battery 4c Transfer means 5 Mobile trolley 5a Moving path 6b Article support parts 8a, 8b Article Mounting part 9 Charging means 9a Power supply terminal 9c Ejection / retraction member 10a Power receiving terminal

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the storage rack is provided with a plurality of storage units vertically and horizontally and travels along a traveling path provided in the storage units.
A transport trolley for loading and unloading articles into and out of the storage section; and a transport trolley placed on the transport trolley, moving along the front side of the storage shelf, and raising and lowering the transport trolley to guide the transport trolley to a predetermined storage section travel path. Is provided, and the transfer vehicle is a carry-in / out facility for a storage shelf provided with an electric motor that drives and runs the transfer vehicle and a secondary battery that supplies power to the electric motor, Charging means capable of charging a secondary battery of the transport trolley mounted on the mobile trolley, wherein a loading / unloading facility for a storage shelf provided on the mobile trolley. 2. An article supporting portion is provided along both sides of the traveling path along a longitudinal direction of the traveling path, and the article is placed on and supported by the carrier, and the placing surface is supported by the article supporting section. A mounting table that can be moved up and down, and an electric actuator that moves the mounting table up and down are provided above and below the unit, and the electric actuator is configured to be driven by electric power supplied from the secondary battery. The loading / unloading equipment for the storage shelf described in 1. 3. The charging means is configured to connect a power supply terminal to a power receiving terminal provided on the transport vehicle side to perform charging, and the power supply terminal is configured to drive the transport vehicle toward the movable vehicle side. And moving in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of travel of the transport vehicle and being connected to the power receiving terminal and retreating from the travel path. 2. A loading / unloading facility for the storage shelf described in 2. 4. The storage shelves according to claim 3, wherein the retreating member that retreats together with the power supply terminal is also used as a stopper that restricts the movement by engaging with the side of the carriage mounted on the movable carriage. Loading and unloading equipment. 5. An article placing portion for placing articles for loading and unloading is provided beside a moving path of the movable trolley, and the movable trolley is charged with the secondary battery by the charging means. The loading / unloading equipment for storage shelves according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a transfer unit capable of transferring an article in the state between the article placement unit and the transport trolley. .