JPS6257521B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for automatically coupling a trailer to an unmanned towing vehicle.

An unmanned towing vehicle that tows a trailer loaded with goods such as parts and products by traveling along guidance means such as guide wires and optical tape installed on the driving route, and transports goods within factories etc. generally known.

By the way, in order to connect a trailer to this type of unmanned towing vehicle, generally, a connecting shaft such as a connecting pin provided at the front of the trailer, or a connecting rod, etc. is connected to a coupling device provided at the rear of the unmanned towed vehicle. However, in order to connect a trailer to an unmanned towing vehicle using a conventional coupler, an operator is required to operate the coupler. The situation was such that autonomous driving could not be achieved.

In recent years, it has become possible to automate the separation between the unmanned towing vehicle and the trailer by installing an automatic disconnection coupler with an automatic disconnection mechanism on the rear of the unmanned towed vehicle. Currently, automation is not progressing due to problems with positioning accuracy and stopping accuracy of unmanned towing vehicles, and for this reason, it is still difficult to realize fully automatic operation of unmanned towing vehicles, including the connection of trailers.

The present invention has been made based on the above background, and in automatically coupling a trailer to an unmanned towing vehicle that is driven by a guiding means provided along a traveling path, the invention is made on both sides of the traveling path in the traveling direction. A pair of parallel guide parts are arranged to position the trailer in the width direction, and a pair of guide parts are arranged to intersect with the traveling direction and stop the trailer guided by the guide parts to position the trailer in the traveling direction. After the trailer is positioned at a predetermined position on the traveling path by a positioning jig consisting of a stopper part, the unmanned towing vehicle is brought close to the trailer by the guiding means, and the automatic disconnection coupler is coupled to the connecting shaft of the trailer. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to automatically connect a trailer to the unmanned towing vehicle, and further to achieve complete automatic operation of the unmanned towed vehicle, including the connection of the trailer.

The present invention will be described below based on an embodiment of the apparatus shown in the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 5 show an example of an automatic coupling device used to carry out the present invention, and this device includes:
An automatic disconnection Katsupla (hereinafter referred to as Katsupla) 1 protrudingly attached to the rear of the unmanned towing vehicle A;
The main components include a connecting shaft 2 attached to the front of a trailer B so as to face in the vertical direction, and a trailer positioning jig D installed on a travel path C.

The unmanned towing vehicle A has wheels 4 and 5 attached to the vehicle body frame 3, and a steering mechanism for making the unmanned towing vehicle A run along a guiding means such as a guide line installed on a running path C. is provided.

The coupler 1 is provided with a pair of connecting plates 7 spaced apart vertically and approximately horizontally, each having an insertion hole 6 formed therein that narrows from the tip (right end in FIG. 3) to the rear end. A rotation shaft 8 provided on one side near the insertion hole 6 of 7 has a grip portion 9a and a pressure receiving portion 9b that rotate approximately parallel to the connecting plate 7 and reach the bottom 6a of the insertion hole 6. A latch 9 provided in a C-shape is rotatably attached. The pivot 10 provided on the other side near the insertion hole 6 of the connecting plates 7, 7 has the bottom 6a.
A dog 11 is rotatably attached to hook and lock the tip of the pressure receiving part 9b that has reached the end with the hook 11c of the one end 11a, and the connecting plate 7 on the other end 11b side of this dog 11 has this A rotary solenoid 12 is attached that contacts the other end 11b to rotate the dog 11 and separate the hook portion 11c that has locked the pressure receiving portion 9b from the tip of the pressure receiving portion 9b. A micro switch S is provided on one of the side plates 13, 13 which are connected to each other and which detects the approach of the other end 11b of the dog 11 rotated by the rotary solenoid 12 and de-energizes the rotary solenoid 12. is installed. Further, a protruding piece 14 is formed integrally with the latch 9 on the opposite side of the gripping part 9a and the pressure receiving part 9b, and the protruding piece 14 and one end 11a of the locking piece 11 are connected to a spring 15. The spring 15 biases the latch 9 and the dog 11 together in the counterclockwise direction in FIG.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a stopper which is attached to the connecting plates 7, 7 and restricts the range of rotation of the latch 9 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG.
This is a manual lever attached to the latch 9 for manually rotating the latch 9.

The trailer positioning jig (hereinafter referred to as jig)
D is the left and right (width direction) wheels 18 of the trailer B;
Plate-shaped guide portions 19, 19 are fixed with bolts or the like substantially parallel to predetermined positions on the travel path C at intervals slightly wider than the intervals between the wheels 18 of the trailer B, and guide the wheels 18 of the trailer B to position them in the width direction. , is fixed with bolts or the like in a direction intersecting these guide parts 19, 19, and comes into contact with the wheels 18, 18 of the trailer B that has been moving guided by the guide parts 19 to stop the trailer B, It is comprised of stopper parts 20, 20 that position the trailer B in the traveling direction. And the guide portions 19, 19
The mutually opposing sides of the tips 19a, 19a are tapered to make it easier to guide the wheels 18 of the trailer B.

Next, the case where the method of the present invention is carried out using the coupling device shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 will be described.

First, the direction of the trailer B is adjusted so that the connecting shaft 2 is located on the leading end side of the guide portion 19, and the trailer B is driven into the jig D. Then, trailer B
The wheels 18... are positioned in the width direction by the tip 19a of the guide part 19 and the guide part 19, and then the wheels 18, 18 come into contact with the stopper part 20, stop, and are positioned in the running direction. After this, the fifth
The unmanned towing vehicle A is moved backward in the direction shown by the arrow F in the figure to approach the trailer B, and the connecting shaft 2 is inserted into the insertion hole 6 of the connecting plate 7 of the coupler 1. (However, at this time, before inserting the connecting shaft 2 into the insertion hole 6, the rotary solenoid 12 is energized, the dog 11 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 3, and the latch 9 is moved counterclockwise by the spring 15. Rotate it to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in Figure 3.At the same time, turn the other end 1
1b operates the micro switch S to de-energize the rotary solenoid 12, but the dog 11
is returned to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 3 by the spring 15. ) Then, the connecting shaft 2 is connected to the pressure receiving part 9b of the latch 9.
The latch 9 is rotated clockwise in FIG.
It gets caught on the hook part 11c. At this time, since the dog 11 is biased counterclockwise by the spring 15, it locks the latch 9. Trailer B is connected to unmanned towing vehicle A as described above. Currently, when the unmanned towing vehicle A is stopped, there seems to be some error in the width direction and the direction of movement, but in the width direction, there is a difference in the opening of the insertion hole 6 of the connecting plates 7, 7, and In the direction of movement, the depth of the insertion hole 6 can sufficiently absorb the dimensional error. In addition, by installing a large number of the jigs D on the running path C and positioning a large number of trailers B on these jigs D at the same time, it is possible to
... can be connected to multiple unmanned towing vehicles A... at the same time and towed without an operator.

Further, in order to separate the trailer B from the unmanned towing vehicle A, the unmanned towing vehicle A is stopped, the rotary solenoid 12 is energized, and the unmanned towing vehicle A is moved forward for a predetermined time using a timer or the like. Then, dog 11
Since the unmanned towing vehicle A moves forward with the hook part 11c disengaged from the pressure receiving part 9b of the latch 9, the latch 9 rotates counterclockwise, the connecting shaft 2 disengages from the insertion hole 6, and the trailer B stops. left behind in position.

The excitation of the rotary solenoid 12 as described above, stopping and moving forward when separating unmanned towing vehicle A and trailer B, the destination of unmanned towing vehicle A, etc. can all be controlled by the operation panel of unmanned towing vehicle A, etc. Therefore, the connection and disconnection between unmanned towing vehicle A and trailer B has been automated.

In addition, in the above-described example of the coupling device, the coupling shaft 2 of the trailer B is oriented in the vertical direction;
This connecting shaft 2 may be horizontal or inclined. However, the connecting plates 7, 7 are provided in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axis of the connecting shaft 2. Furthermore, the shape of the jig D is not limited to the above example, and various shapes such as a channel shape can be realized. Further, the jig D is a jig D that positions the trailer B by coming into contact with one of the wheels 18, or a jig D that positions the trailer B.
It may also be a device that determines the position by coming into contact with the vehicle body.

As explained above, the present invention is a method for automatically coupling a trailer to an unmanned towing vehicle that is driven by a guiding means provided along a running path, and which is provided on both sides of the running path in the running direction. a pair of parallel guide portions for positioning the trailer in the width direction; and a stopper portion disposed intersecting the travel direction for stopping the trailer guided by the guide portions and positioning the trailer in the travel direction. After positioning the trailer at a predetermined position on the traveling path using the positioning jig consisting of Since the trailer is connected to the trailer, the unmanned towing vehicle and the trailer can be automatically connected and disconnected without an operator.
With this, the present invention makes it possible to realize complete automatic operation, including connection and disconnection of the unmanned towing vehicle to and from the trailer.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an unmanned towing vehicle equipped with an example of an automatic coupling device implementing the present invention;
The figure is a schematic side view showing the same towing vehicle, Figure 3 is a plan view with the main part of the same example cut away and enlarged, Figure 4 is a schematic enlarged side view of the main part of the same example, and Figure 5 is the trailer positioning of the same example. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a jig. A...Unmanned towing vehicle, B...Trailer, C...Traveling path, 1...Automatic disconnection coupler, 2...Connection shaft, D...Trailer positioning jig, 19...Guide part, 20...Stopper part .

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A method for automatically coupling a trailer to an unmanned towing vehicle that is driven by a guiding means provided along a running route, the trailer being positioned on both sides of the running direction in the running direction, and positioning the trailer in the width direction. A positioning jig consisting of a pair of parallel guide parts for performing the above-mentioned movement, and a stopper part arranged to intersect with the traveling direction and for stopping the trailer guided by the guide parts and positioning the trailer in the traveling direction. After positioning the trailer at a predetermined position on the travel path, the unmanned towing vehicle is brought close to the trailer by the guiding means, and the automatic disconnection coupler is connected to the connecting shaft of the trailer, thereby attaching the trailer to the unmanned towing vehicle. A method for automatically connecting a trailer to an unmanned towing vehicle.