JPS6231524A - Robot transport vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a car body traversable without altering its sense, by installing each shaft of symmetrical driving wheels of a two-wheel drive system robot transport vehicle and their rotational driving parts in a lower part of the car body via a turntable capable of rotating and positioning. CONSTITUTION:A concave part 11a is formed in the center of a lower part of a car body 11, and a turntable 13 is rotatably attached to the inside of this concave part 11a via a vertical rotary shaft 12. Each driving shaft 15 of a symmetrical part of driving wheels 14 and 14 and a driving motor 16 as well as a reduction gear 17 are symmetrically attached to the top of the turn table 13, an outer circumferential lower part of these symmetrical driving wheels fitted in each driving shaft 15 is designed so as to be projected to the lower side of the turntable via a rectangular hole 13a and to be grounded to a floor surface. Each concave part 11b is formed in cross and longitudinal parts at a lower part of the car body 11, and each shaft 18a of casters 18 is rotatably attached each to these concave parts 11b. In addition, the turntable is also designed so as to be positioned and locked to the car body by a positioning mechanism.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a two-axle, two-wheel drive automatic guided vehicle that travels in various factories, warehouses, etc. and transports cargo.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Conventionally, this type of two-axle, two-wheel drive automatic guided vehicle
As shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 8, a pair of left and right driving wheels 2.2 are attached to the middle of the lower part of the vehicle body 1 by independent drive shafts 3.3. 5.5, and casters 6.6 are attached to the lower front and rear portions of the vehicle body 1 to rotate while freely changing direction according to the movement of the vehicle body 1. It is the composition. Then, the left and right driving wheels 2.2 are driven in synchronized forward and reverse rotations to move forward and backward on the floor surface A, and the left and right driving wheels 2.2 are steered in the left and right directions due to the rotation difference (difference in their rotational speeds). It is now heading towards its destination.

By the way, in such a conventional automatic guided vehicle, since the drive shafts 3.3 of the left and right driving wheels 2, 2 are fixed to the vehicle body 1, the vehicle can only move forward, backward, and steer left and right.
Otherwise, it is not possible to drive sideways or diagonally without changing the direction of the vehicle. For this reason, it was difficult to move freely along complicated routes such as inside factories with narrow sites, and it was especially impossible to move the vehicle side by side in narrow spaces.

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and it not only allows normal forward/backward driving and left/right steering driving, but also allows for easy and reliable traversing without changing the direction of the vehicle body, and it also makes it possible to drive in narrow and crowded areas. The purpose is to provide an automated guided vehicle that can freely travel along any route.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the automatic guided vehicle of the present invention provides a two-axle, two-wheel drive automatic guided vehicle with the shafts of the left and right driving wheels and their rotational drive portions provided in the lower part of the vehicle body via a turntable that can be rotated and positioned. With this structure, the left and right driving wheels rotate in opposite directions to rotate the turntable relative to the vehicle body and position it appropriately, making it possible to change the direction of the left and right wheels and travel sideways or diagonally without changing the direction of the vehicle body. It is what it is.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. First, in Figures 1 and 2, 11 is the vehicle body,
A large recess 11a is formed in the center of the lower part of the vehicle body 11, and a turntable 13 is rotatably mounted on a horizontal plane via a vertical rotation shaft 12 within this recess 11a. A pair of left and right driving wheels 14.1 are mounted on this turntable 13.
4 drive shafts 15.15, respective drive parts, drive motors 16, 16, and reduction gears 17.17 are arranged symmetrically and installed, and the left and right driving wheels 14 are fitted on each of the drive shafts 15.15. The lower outer circumference of .14 is M'! A rectangular hole 13a formed in the turn table 13.

It protrudes downward via 13a and comes into contact with the floor surface A. Further, recesses 11b are formed in the front, rear, left, and right portions of the lower portion of the vehicle body 11, and support legs 18a of casters 18 are rotatably attached to each of the recesses 11b, and the caster wheels 18b at the lower ends thereof are in contact with the floor surface A. I'm stroking it like that.

Further, the turntable 13 is positioned relative to the vehicle body 11 and is locked and unlocked by a positioning mechanism 19. The positioning mechanism 19 includes the vehicle body 1
A bracket 20 protrudes from the upper part of the inner surface of the recess 11a of No. 1.
A hydraulic cylinder 21 is installed vertically to the turntable 13, a spindle-shaped lock pin 22 is penetrated through the hydraulic cylinder 21 and moved up and down by hydraulic pressure, and a plurality of positioning holes are formed around the turntable 13. 23
a, 23b, 23c, and a plurality of first sensors 24a, 24b, 24 attached to the inner surface of the recess 11a of the vehicle body 11.
c and one second sensor 25 attached to the outer peripheral surface of the turntable 13. Note that the first sensors 24a to 24C are, for example, proximity switches, and a second sensor 25 made of a magnet or the like is attached to one of them.
When the two turntables 13 come close to each other due to rotation of the turntable 13, the position of the turntable 13 is detected. The hydraulic cylinder 21 moves the lock bin 22 up and down by hydraulic drive from a hydraulic drive source 30 (see control block diagram in FIG. 3) having a hydraulic pump, hydraulic switching valve, etc. mounted on the vehicle body 11. In addition, the positioning holes 23a, 23b,
23 c c As shown in FIG. 1, they are arranged at positions shifted by 90 degrees in the circumferential direction of the turntable 13, and
In order to correspond to this, the first sensors 24a to 24C are also
The recesses 11a are arranged at positions shifted by 90 degrees in the circumferential direction on the inner surface of the recess 11a.

Furthermore, a vehicle body rotation prevention mechanism 1 and a stop mechanism 26 are provided to prevent the vehicle body 11 from following and rotating when the turntable 13 rotates due to mutually reverse rotation of the left and right driving wheels 14,14. This mechanism 26 is
; It restricts the movement of the pair of front and rear casters 18 of the vehicle body 11 to stop the vehicle body 11 from rotating, and its structure consists of a disc-shaped disc 27 fixed to the support leg 18a of the caster 18.
and a disc brake 28 which is attached to the vehicle body 11 side and can apply the brake by pinching the disc 27 or release the brake by releasing the disc 27, and the disc brake 28 is also driven by the hydraulic drive source 30 described above. It looks like this.

The above-mentioned parts are controlled by a travel control section 31, a turntable operation control section 32, etc. shown in the control block diagram of FIG.

To explain the operation of the automatic guided vehicle having the above-mentioned configuration, first, as shown in FIG. 1, the lock bin 22 is lowered by the hydraulic cylinder 21 of the positioning mechanism 19 and fitted into the intermediate positioning hole 23b. The turntable 13 is positioned at a neutral position. In this state, the pair of driving wheels 14 and 14 attached to the turntable 13 are connected to the vehicle body 1.
The left and right quality of 1 is oriented in the front and rear directions, respectively. In addition, each front and rear disc brake 2 is a vehicle body rotation prevention mechanism 26.
8 is in an open state, and all the casters 18 can freely rotate. When a forward, backward, or curve traveling command is issued from the traveling command section 31 in this state, the tiltable operation control section 32 confirms the above-mentioned positioning of the turntable 13 at the neutral position and casters 1.
After confirming that the brake is released in Step 8, drive motor 1 as before.
The left and right driving wheels 14.14 rotate in the same direction and in synchronization with each other to move forward or backward. Further, due to the difference in rotation between the left and right driving wheels 14.14, the vehicle can travel around curves while steering in the left and right directions.

Here, when a traversal command is issued next from the travel command section 31, the turntable operation control section 32 instructs the turntable 13 to rotate after confirming its position, and then the disc brake is first activated by hydraulic drive from the hydraulic drive source 30. 28 works to fix the pair of front and rear casters 18 and restrict the movement of the vehicle body 11.

At the same time, the hydraulic cylinder 21 works to lock the lock bin 22.
is pulled upward from the intermediate positioning hole 23b to release the positioning lock of the turntable 13. In this state, the drive motor 16.16 causes the left and right driving wheels 14.14 to rotate in opposite directions as shown by the arrows in FIG. As a result, the turntable 13 rotates around the rotating shaft 12. At this time, the movement of the casters 18 is restricted by the disc brake 28, so that the vehicle body 11 does not rotate following the rotation of the turntable 13. Therefore, only the turntable 13 rotates with respect to the vehicle body 11 in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. The sensor 24a detects the position and sends a signal to the turntable operation control unit 32, which causes the drive motor 16.16 to stop rotating the left and right wheels 14.14, and at the same time, the hydraulic cylinder 21 causes the lock bin 22 to stop rotating.
is lowered and inserted into the positioning hole 23c directly below it. As a result, the turntable 13 is locked in position with respect to the vehicle body 11 after being rotated by 90 rg from the normal neutral position, and the left and right driving wheels 14 are disposed in front and behind each other and are oriented in the left and right directions, respectively. After the positioning and locking of the turntable 13 is completed, the face brake 28 is released to allow the casters 18 to move freely. In this state, the left and right driving wheels 14.14 are driven by the drive motor 16.16 and rotated in synchronization with each other in the same direction, so that the vehicle body 11 moves sideways to either the left or right as shown by the arrow in FIG. 3 without changing its direction. I come to do it.

In addition, when returning from the sideways running to forward or backward straight running, the disc brake 28 is activated in the same manner as described above to fix the front and rear casters 18 to restrict the movement of the vehicle body 11, and at the same time, the lock bin 22 is activated by the hydraulic cylinder 21. Remove it from the positioning hole 23b, and in this state, remove the left and right driving wheels 14.
．． 14 in the opposite direction from the previous time, the turntable 13 is rotated 90 degrees in the direction to return to the neutral position, and then the hydraulic cylinder 2 is
1 inserts the lock bin 22 into the intermediate positioning hole 23b to position the turntable 13, and at the same time releases the disc brake 28 to allow the caster 28 to move freely. This returns the vehicle to a state in which normal forward/reverse movement or steering operation is possible.

As described above, by rotationally positioning the turntable 13 with respect to the vehicle body 11, there is a straight running state in which forward/backward movement and steering are possible, and a traversing state in which the vehicle body 11 moves left and right without changing its direction. This allows the automatic guided vehicle to be used more efficiently, making it possible to freely travel through complicated routes, such as inside factories with narrow premises.

Next, another embodiment of the invention will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 5, a hydraulic cylinder 21 and a lock bin 22 similar to those described above are provided as a positioning mechanism 19 for the turntable 3, and positioning holes 338, 33b, 33C, 33d, into which the lock bin 22 is inserted are provided. 33
As shown by e, five sensors are formed around the periphery of the turntable 13 at intervals of 45 degrees in the circumferential direction, and correspondingly, first sensors 34a, 34b, and 34c are provided.

As shown by 34d and 34e, five of them are disposed on the inner surface of the recess 11a of the vehicle body 11 at intervals of 45 degrees in the circumferential direction, and the rest is the same as the previous embodiment.

In this case, the rotational positioning of the turntable 13 can be selectively locked at 45 degrees and 90 degrees to the left and right from the neutral position with respect to the vehicle body 11. With this, the turntable 1 as shown in FIG.
3 is rotated 45 degrees with respect to the vehicle body 11 and locked in position, the left and right driving wheels 14 and 14 are oriented at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the longitudinal center line of the vehicle body 11.
Due to the synchronized rotational drive of both driving wheels 14, 14 in the same direction, the vehicle body 11 moves diagonally forward to the right or diagonally to the rear to the left as indicated by the arrows without changing the direction of the vehicle body 11, which is what is called diagonal running. If the turntable 13 is rotated 45 degrees from the neutral position and locked in position, the vehicle will be able to travel diagonally forward to the left or diagonally to the rear to the right. If the turntable 13 is rotated 90 degrees and locked in position, it will be in the same state as shown in FIG. 4 described above, and lateral travel will be possible.

Further, the one shown in FIG. 6 uses a gear-shaped turntable 43 having a large number of teeth 43a on the outer periphery as a turntable, and the positioning mechanism 44 rotates around a fulcrum 45 provided on the vehicle body side. A locking spring 4 has a rotary claw 46 movably attached thereto, and constantly urges the rotary claw 46 in a direction to engage with the outer peripheral teeth 43a of the turntable 43.
7 and an unlocking hydraulic cylinder 48 for rotating the rotating pawl 46 in a direction away from the toothed portion 43a against the spring 47, but the rest is the same as the above embodiment.

With this, the turntable 43 can be freely rotated and positioned relative to the vehicle body, and it is possible to travel not only horizontally but also diagonally in any direction without changing the direction of the vehicle body.

Note that the positioning mechanism 44 shown in FIG. 6 may be used as it is as a vehicle body rotation prevention mechanism in place of the disc brake. That is, a gear-shaped disc is provided on the support leg of the caster, and the rotating pawl 46 is engaged with and disengaged from the disc.
The movement of the casters may be restricted when the turntable is rotating, and may be allowed to move freely when the turntable is running.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, this invention has a configuration in which the shafts of the left and right driving wheels of a two-axle, two-wheel drive automatic guided vehicle and their rotational drive parts are provided at the bottom of the vehicle body via a turntable that can be rotated and positioned. By rotating the turntable in the opposite direction to each other, the turntable can be rotated with the left and right driving wheels relative to the vehicle body and positioned appropriately, so it is possible to not only perform normal forward/backward driving and left/right steering, but also change the direction of the vehicle body. This is an extremely high-performance adult transport vehicle that can easily and reliably traverse without moving, can travel freely even on narrow and crowded routes, and has a wide range of uses.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 1 is a bottom view, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a control block diagram, Fig. 4 is a bottom view in the traversing state, and Fig. 5 is the present invention. FIG. 6 is a bottom view showing another embodiment of the present invention in an oblique running state; FIG. 6 is a plan view of a turntable positioning mechanism showing another embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
The figure is a bottom view showing a conventional example, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line ■--■ in FIG. 7. 11... Vehicle body, 12... Rotating shaft, 13.43...
Turntable, 14... Left and right driving wheels, 15... Drive shaft, 16... Drive motor, 17... Reducer, 18...
... Caster, 19.44 ... Positioning mechanism, 26.
... Vehicle body rotation prevention mechanism, 28... Disc brake. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue No. 2! I Go to Figure 3Figure 6Figure 7Figure 8

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) In a two-axle, two-wheel drive automatic guided vehicle that has a pair of left and right driving wheels and casters and steers based on the rotational difference between the left and right wheels, the shafts of the left and right wheels and their rotational drive parts are connected to the lower part of the vehicle body. An automatic guided vehicle characterized by being installed via a turntable that can be rotated and positioned. (2) The turntable is rotated with respect to the vehicle body by mutually reverse rotation of the left and right driving wheels, and is positioned and locked to the vehicle body at an arbitrary position by a positioning mechanism. Unmanned guided vehicle. (3) The vehicle body is held by a vehicle body rotation prevention mechanism so that when the turntable is rotated by mutually reverse rotation of the left and right driving wheels with the positioning lock of the turntable released, the vehicle body does not rotate following the turntable. An automatic guided vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that: (4) The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle body rotation prevention mechanism is configured using a brake that restricts movement of the casters.