JPH11268822A - Automated conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the manufacturing cost of a stopper means for preventing a workpiece on a free roller of a station from being dropped. SOLUTION: A stopper 2 to be energized upward through a spring is provided in a guide cylinder 1, a pin 7 inserted through an elongated hole vertically formed on the guide cylinder 1 is fixed to the stopper, a cam groove 12 is formed on a rotor 9 rotatably provided on the guide cylinder 1, the pin 7 is fitted to the cam groove 12, a lever 13 having a roller 14 is attached to the rotor 9, and the stopper 2 is lowered by turning the lever 13 by a push-pull unit of an automated guided vehicle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an unmanned conveyance device, in which stopper means is provided at an end of a roller group in a station.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automatic guided vehicle, an automatic guided vehicle travels between stations on the ground to transport a work, and transfers the work between each station and the automatic guided vehicle.

Conventionally, a pair of conveyors using a plurality of free rollers are provided at each station to transfer a work between each station and the automatic guided vehicle, while the work is placed on a fork in the automatic guided vehicle. An expansion / contraction transfer means is provided to carry the work onto and out of the free roller, and when the work is not transferred between each station and the automatic guided vehicle, the stopper is projected upward from the upper surface of the free roller to transfer the work. A stopper means is provided between the pair of conveyors to prevent falling and to draw the stopper below the upper surface of the free roller when exchanging.

[0004]

However, the stopper means requires a driving means and a control means, and the stopper means must be provided in all of the many stations, which increases the cost.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an unmanned transport device that solves the above problem.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an unmanned transfer device configured to arrange a plurality of free rollers along a horizontal direction at a station where an unmanned transfer vehicle transfers a work. And a stopper means is provided at an end of the roller group. The stopper means is a vertically extending guide cylinder having a fixed lower portion, and is housed inside the guide cylinder so as to be vertically movable and biased. A stopper that is urged upward through the means, a long hole that extends vertically from the inside of the guide cylinder to the outside, and a pin that is inserted into the long hole and whose inner end is fixed to the stopper. A rotating cylinder provided with a cam groove which is rotatable about a guide cylinder and whose movement in the axial direction is restricted and has a cam groove penetrating from the inside to the outside, and the outer end of a pin is inserted into the cam groove And the tip is half When the base end portion in a state of protruding toward the outer side is constituted by a lever which is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the rotary cylinder, for exchanging workpieces between the AGV and station,
A push-pull unit for lowering the stopper against the urging force of the urging means by rotating the lever is provided in the automatic guided vehicle so as to be able to move forward and backward. A rotatable horizontal shaft is provided in place of the rotary cylinder and the lever in the stopper means, the base end of the lever with which the bottom surface of the push-pull unit contacts is fixed to the horizontal shaft, and one end of the first lever is connected to the horizontal shaft. On the other hand, a second lever having one end rotatably supported and an outer end portion of the pin inserted into an elongated hole formed in the intermediate portion is provided, and the other end of the first lever and the second lever are connected to each other. It is characterized by interlocking connection.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of an unmanned transfer device according to the present invention will be described.

(A) First Embodiment A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, a small diameter portion 1a and a large diameter portion 1b
A rod-shaped stopper 2 is housed in a guide cylinder 1 composed of The stopper 2 also includes a large-diameter portion 2a and a small-diameter portion 2b, and a spring receiver 4 attached to the lower surface of the guide cylinder 1 via a bolt 3 and a large-diameter portion 2a.
A spring 5 as an urging means surrounding the small-diameter portion 2b is provided between them.

A long hole 6 long in the vertical direction is formed in the small diameter portion 1 a of the guide cylinder 1, and the tip of a pin 7 inserted into the long hole 6 is screwed into the large diameter portion 2 a of the stopper 2.

A rotary cylinder 9 is rotatably provided on the small diameter portion 1a of the guide cylinder 1 via a pair of bushes 8. A presser 10 is fixed to an upper end of the guide cylinder 1 via a screw 11 to fix the bush 8. As shown in FIG. 2, a cam groove 12 penetrating from the inside to the outside is formed in the rotary cylinder 9 at a range of about 180 degrees along the circumference.
The outer end of the pin 7 is inserted therein.

A base end of a lever 13 protruding in the radial direction is fixed to an outer peripheral surface of the rotary cylinder 9, and a roller 14 is rotatably provided at a front end of the lever 13 via a vertical shaft 15. . The stopper means 16 configured as described above,
It is attached at the position shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a station. As shown in the figure, a pair of rollers 18 in which the free rollers 17 are arranged in the horizontal direction are provided on the left and right. Each roller group 18
The stopper means 16 is mounted near the end of the stopper. That is, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the stopper 2 protrudes, it protrudes above the upper surface of the free roller 17, and when it enters the guide cylinder 1, the upper surface of the stopper 2 is higher than the upper surface of the free roller 17. Is attached to the base 19 as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the automatic guided vehicle 20 is provided with a push-pull unit 21 which can move in the direction of the arrow.

Next, the operation of the automatic transfer apparatus will be described.

After the automatic guided vehicle 20 stops at the position shown in FIG. 3A, the push-pull unit 21 is advanced in the direction of the arrow to
Are pressed on the respective rollers 14. Here, the cam grooves 12 in the left and right stopper means 16 are symmetric. Then, the rotary cylinder 9 rotates in the direction indicated by the solid arrow in FIG. 2, and the stopper 2 moves downward together with the pin 7 sliding with respect to the cam groove 12 against the urging force of the spring 5. Therefore, the upper end of the stopper 2 is lower than the upper surface of the free roller 17.

In this state, the pair of forks 23 of the conventional telescopic transfer means is protruded from the unmanned transport vehicle below the work 22 between the pair of rollers 18 to form the fork 2.
After the engaging portion (not shown) at the tip of No. 3 is projected upward, the pair of forks 23 is pulled in. Then, the work 22 is moved on the free roller 17 and is placed on the automatic guided vehicle 20. Alternatively, the work on the automatic guided vehicle is transferred onto the free roller 17.

Thereafter, when the push-pull member 21 is retracted, the stopper 2 is raised by the release of the spring 5, and at the same time, the rotating cylinder 9 is rotated to return the roller 14 to the original position. That is, as shown in FIG.
7, the work 22 on the free roller 17
Is prevented from falling.

(B) Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, the stopper is retracted downward by rotating the roller about the vertical axis by the push-pull unit. Therefore, when the stop position of the automatic guided vehicle is not appropriate, as shown by a virtual line in FIG. In addition, the contact state between the side surface of the push-pull unit 21 and the roller 14 may be excessive or insufficient, and the pair of stopper means 16 may not operate with good balance. In the second embodiment, in order to improve this point, the roller is rotated on the bottom surface of the push-pull unit.

As shown in FIG. 5, a guide cylinder 25 as a guide member is fixed to a member (not shown) so that the axis thereof extends along the vertical direction, and a stopper 26 having a large diameter portion and a small diameter portion.
Are housed inside the guide cylinder 25 via a spring 27 as an urging means. A long hole 28 is formed in the guide cylinder 25, and one end of a pin 29 inserted into the long hole 28 is fixed to a stopper 26. An arm 31 having one end rotatably supported by a member (not shown) via a pin 42 and an elongated hole 30 formed in an intermediate portion is provided, and the other end of the pin 29 is fitted into the elongated hole 30. ing.

On the other hand, a horizontal shaft 34 is rotatably supported by a base 32 provided along the horizontal direction via a pair of bearings 33, and a lever 35 is provided at an intermediate position of the horizontal shaft 34.
An intermediate portion of a connecting shaft 36 parallel to the horizontal shaft 34 is fixed via the shaft. A pair of rollers 37 is attached to both ends of the connecting shaft 36.
Is rotatably mounted. One end of an arm 38 is fixed near the end of the horizontal shaft 34.
Of the arm 31 and the other end of the arm 31,
They are linked and connected via a rod 41 rotatably connected by 40.

Next, the operation of such an unmanned transport device will be described. As shown in FIG. 5A, the push-pull unit 21
Is advanced to the left and the roller 37 is pushed, the horizontal shaft 34 rotates counterclockwise together with the lever 35. Then, since the rod 41 is lowered and the other end of the arm 31 is lowered, the stopper 26 together with the pin 29 is lowered to a position lower than the line L of the upper surface height of the free roller 17.

In this state, the work is transferred between the automatic guided vehicle 20 and the free roller 17 as described above. When the work of giving and receiving work is completed, push-pull unit 2
Retreat one. Then, when the spring 27 is released, the stopper 26 moves upward and protrudes from the line L to prevent the work on the free roller 17 from dropping. Further, since the pin 29 integrated with the stopper 26 moves upward, the roller 37 rotates clockwise and returns.

Conventionally, detection means for detecting the arrival of the automatic guided vehicle, transfer means for transferring the work between the automatic guided vehicle and the station, drive means for driving the stopper means and the station side are provided. Although there are many, in the present invention, while the stopper means is provided in the station, the push-pull unit for driving the stopper means is provided in the automatic guided vehicle, and the driving means for driving the stopper means in the automatic guided vehicle is required. However, the cost is lower than providing the driving means in all stations, and the detecting means is not required.

[0025]

As can be seen from the above description, claim 1
According to the unmanned transfer device according to the above, since the push-pull unit for forcibly lowering the stopper is provided in the unmanned transfer vehicle, driving means and control means for driving the stopper at many stations are not required, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Can be.

Further, even when the position of the station is changed, since there is no driving means or the like, electric wiring and air piping work is not required, and the work is easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of an unmanned transport device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing Embodiment 1 of the unmanned transport device according to the present invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show the operation of the unmanned transfer device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 3A is a plan view and FIG.
AA arrow view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a problem of the first embodiment.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are left side views and FIG. 5B is a front view according to a second embodiment of the automatic transfer apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,25 ... guide cylinder 2,26 ... stopper 5,27 ... spring 6,28,30 ... long hole 7,29 ... pin 9 ... rotary cylinder 12 ... cam groove 13 ... lever 16 ... stopper means 17 ... free roller 18 ... Roller group 21 Push-pull unit 31, 38 Arm 34 Horizontal axis 35 Lever 41 Rod

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A roller group is configured by arranging a plurality of free rollers along a horizontal direction at a station where an automatic guided vehicle transfers a work, and a stopper unit is provided at an end of the roller group. A guide cylinder having a long and lower portion fixed thereto, a stopper housed inside the guide cylinder so as to be able to move up and down and urged upward through urging means,
A long hole that extends vertically from the inside to the outside of the guide cylinder, a pin that is inserted into the long hole and whose inner end is fixed to a stopper, and that is freely rotatable about the guide cylinder and axially A rotating cylinder having a cam groove penetrating from the inside to the outside and having the outer end of the pin inserted into the cam groove, and a tip protruding outward in the radial direction. The base end is composed of a lever fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the rotary cylinder. When transferring a work between the automatic guided vehicle and the station, the lever is rotated to apply the urging force of the urging means. An automatic guided vehicle, wherein a push-pull unit for lowering a stopper is provided on the automatic guided vehicle so as to be able to move forward and backward. 2. A rotatable horizontal shaft is provided in place of the rotary cylinder and lever in the stopper means, and the base end of the lever with which the bottom surface of the push-pull unit abuts is fixed to the horizontal shaft. One end of the lever is fixed, while the other end is rotatably supported, and a second lever is provided in which an outer end of the pin is inserted into an elongated hole formed in an intermediate portion. 2. The unmanned transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the other ends are linked to each other.