TW201906749A - Driving system - Google Patents

Abstract

In a local cart travel system (101), a first metal rail (11A) and a second metal rail (11B) are arranged parallel to each other in a second track (9). A voltage application device (81) applies an alternating-current voltage to the rails. A local cart (5) includes: a travel motor (45); a first power reception tire (63) and a second power reception tire (65); and a power reception device (91). The first power reception tire (63) and the second power reception tire (65) are each constituted by a solid tire in which an outer circumferential surface of a wheel (69) is covered by a solid elastic body layer (68). The first power reception tire (63) and the second power reception tire (65) respectively contact the rails, and thereby, the first metal rail (11A) and the first power reception tire (63) form a first capacitor, and the second metal rail (11B) and the second power reception tire (65) form a second capacitor. The power reception device (91) extracts an alternating-current power from the capacitors via the wheels (69), rectifies the extracted alternating-current power, and supplies the same to the travel motor (45).

Description

   Running body system   

The invention relates to a traveling body system, in particular to a traveling body system that extracts AC power from a capacitor between a metal guide rail and a wheel to drive a traveling motor.

As a power supply method for vehicles, so-called tire power supply is known. The so-called tire power supply is a wireless power transmission technology that uses capacitive coupling between the guide rail and the metal conductor (steel belt) in the tire. As the tire power supply, the following technique is known: two conductors for supplying AC power are provided on the road surface, and the two conductors form a capacitor with the steel belts in the two tires of the vehicle. The two electrodes extract AC power, rectify it, and store it in the battery (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

    [Prior Technical Literature]         [Patent Literature]    

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 5777139

In conventional tire power supply, since the tire is hollow, there is an air layer between the metal rail and the rim. Therefore, the capacitive coupling becomes weak, and the efficiency of power transmission is poor.

The purpose of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of power transmission in a tire-powered traveling body system.

Hereinafter, a plurality of aspects will be described as means for solving the problem. These patterns can be combined arbitrarily as needed.

A traveling body system according to one aspect of the present invention includes a rail, a voltage applying device, and a traveling body. In the track, the first metal rail and the second metal rail are arranged parallel to each other. The voltage applying device applies an AC voltage to the first metal rail and the second metal rail. Furthermore, the AC voltage contains rectangular waves. The driving system travels on the track. The traveling body has a traveling drive motor, a first wheel and a second wheel, and a power receiving device. The first wheel and the second wheel include solid tires formed by coating the outer peripheral surface of the metal shaft body with a solid elastomer layer. The first wheel and the second wheel are in contact with the first metal rail and the second metal rail, respectively, whereby the first capacitor and the first wheel form a first capacitor, and the second metal rail and the second wheel form a second capacitor . The power receiving device extracts AC power from the first capacitor and the second capacitor through the metal shaft body, rectifies the extracted AC power, and directly or indirectly supplies it to the travel drive motor. In this system, the first wheel and the second wheel used for power supply are solid tires formed by covering the outer peripheral surface of the metal shaft body with a solid elastomer layer, whereby the air layer is not interposed, so the capacitive coupling becomes Powerful and efficient power transmission.

The elastomer layer may include a material having a relative dielectric constant (ε) higher than air. That is, the relative dielectric constant of the elastomer layer is greater than 1. In this system, capacitive coupling becomes stronger and power transmission is efficient.

The elastomer layer may also contain a material with a low dielectric loss tangent (tanδ). In this system, the power loss in the capacitor is reduced.

The elastomer layer may also contain urethane rubber. Urethane rubber is in the range of ε = 6.5 ~ 7.1 and tanδ = 0.015 ~ 0.017. In this system, capacitive coupling becomes stronger and power transmission is efficient.

The traveling body system may further include a third wheel that is in contact with one of the first metal rail and the second metal rail but is not used for power supply. In this case, the travel drive motor transmits power to the third wheel. In this system, the first wheel and the second wheel used for power transmission are driven wheels, so they can also be applied to traveling bodies traveling in a clean room (generally, a rotary connector is used without using a power brush).

The third wheel may be a carbon-containing tire. On the other hand, the third tire can realize the function of preventing static electricity from escaping from the traveling body to the metal rail.

The first wheel and the second wheel may be carbon-free tires. In this system, the first wheel and the second wheel do not contain carbon, so the dielectric loss tangent (tan δ) is reduced. As a result, the power loss in the capacitor is reduced.

In the tire-powered traveling body system of the present invention, the efficiency of power transmission is improved.

1‧‧‧Transport system

3‧‧‧overhead vehicle

5‧‧‧ regional trolley

7‧‧‧ Track 1

9‧‧‧ track 2

11A‧‧‧The first metal rail

11B‧‧‧The second metal guide

13‧‧‧ Loading port

15‧‧‧buffer

17‧‧‧Top wall

19‧‧‧Processing device

21‧‧‧ Pillar

23‧‧‧ Pillar

25‧‧‧ Pillar

27‧‧‧Regional Controller

29‧‧‧ Lifting platform

31‧‧‧ Optical Communication Department

33‧‧‧ Optical Communication Department

37‧‧‧Monitor

39‧‧‧Operation panel

43‧‧‧Gap

45‧‧‧Moving motor

49‧‧‧Crane

50‧‧‧lifting table

51‧‧‧Hanging materials

57‧‧‧ Optical Communication Department

61‧‧‧Regional trolley body

63‧‧‧The first powered tire

65‧‧‧The second powered tire

67‧‧‧ drive tire

68‧‧‧Elastomer layer

69‧‧‧Rim

69a‧‧‧Cylinder

69b‧‧‧Disc Department

69c‧‧‧axis

71‧‧‧bearing

73‧‧‧axis

75‧‧‧Encoder

77‧‧‧brake

81‧‧‧Voltage application device

83‧‧‧Signal generator

85‧‧‧Balance-unbalance converter

87‧‧‧ matching circuit

91‧‧‧Power receiving device

93‧‧‧ Matching circuit

95‧‧‧Rectifier circuit

101‧‧‧ Regional trolley driving system

103‧‧‧frame track

105‧‧‧Moving Department

107‧‧‧Vertical wall

109‧‧‧Link board

A‧‧‧Item

FIG. 1 is a side view of the main part of the transport system according to the first embodiment.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the main parts of the transport system.

Figure 3 is a side view of the regional trolley.

Figure 4 is a schematic top view of a regional trolley.

Figure 5 is a schematic front view of a regional trolley.

6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a powered tire.

    1. The first embodiment         (1) Overall transport system    

The transport system 1 of the first embodiment will be described using FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 1 is a side view of the main parts of the transport system 1 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main parts of the transport system 1. FIG. 3 is a side view of the regional trolley 5. The transport system 1 has an overhead traveling vehicle 3. The overhead traveling vehicle 3 performs inter-process transport and in-process transport in a semiconductor factory, for example.

The transport system 1 has a regional trolley 5. The area trolley 5 supplies and unloads items A, such as FOUP (front opening unified pod), to each processing device 19, or supplies and unloads items A to a plurality of adjacent processing devices 19. The transport system 1 has a first rail 7. The first rail 7 is a rail of the overhead traveling vehicle 3, and has a traveling rail and a metal rail.

The transport system 1 has a second rail 9. The second rail 9 is a rail of the regional trolley 5 and includes the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B shown in FIG. 2. Article A can pass up and down through the gap between the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B. The regional trolley 5 travels above the second rail 9, but it may also be suspended below the second rail 9. The processing device 19 includes one or a plurality of loading ports 13. The first track 7 and the second track 9 and the buffer zone 15 extend parallel to the front surface of the processing device 19. The top plate 17 is the top wall of a clean room or the like. The first rail 7 and the second rail 9 and the buffer zone 15 are supported by the pillars 21, 23, and 25.

The buffer zone 15 is where the article A is temporarily placed, and is arranged under the second track 9 in parallel with the first track 7 and the second track 9. The height level of the buffer zone 15 is such that the area trolley 5 for transporting the article A can be set by temporarily placing the upper part of the buffer zone 15 of the article A. The first rail 7 is located at the highest position, for example, there is a second rail 9 directly below it, and the first rail 7 and the second rail 9 are parallel and overlap with each other. Directly below the first track 7 and the second track 9, there is a buffer 15 parallel to these, and the loading port 13 is located directly under the first track 7 and the second track 9.

The transport system 1 has an area controller 27. The area controller 27 controls the area trolley 5 and communicates with the area trolley 5 by optical communication or the like. Furthermore, the area controller 27 can also be installed on the ground side.

The overhead traveling vehicle 3 has a lifting platform 29 and a crane (not shown) that lifts the lifting platform 29, and transfers the article A along the vertical direction. The overhead traveling vehicle 3 includes an optical communication unit 31. The optical communication section 31 performs interlocking before the delivery of the article A between the optical communication section 33 provided on the side of the loading port 13 by optical communication of the light with the optical axis facing up and down and passing through the traveling path of the regional trolley 5 . Furthermore, the overhead traveling vehicle 3 is provided with communication means (not shown) with the area controller 27. This communication means communicates with the area controller 27 when handing over the article A to the buffer zone 15. The processing device 19 is a processing device, an inspection device, and the like. A loading port 13 is provided on the front surface of the processing device 19. The overhead traveling vehicle 3, the regional trolley 5, and the person moving on the ground transfer the article A between the loading port 13. On the front surface of the processing device 19, in addition to the loading port 13, a display 37, an operation panel 39, and the like are also provided. The display 37 and the operation panel 39 are configured to monitor the operation status of the processing device 19 and manually control the processing device 19.

The width between the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B of the second rail 9 is greater than the depth of the article A. The article A can pass through the gap between the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B along with the lifting table 29 in the vertical direction. Furthermore, the buffer 15 is provided with a gap 43 above the loading port 13. The gap 43 is set so that the article A can pass through the buffer zone 15 in the vertical direction. Or, again, the buffer zone 15 is arranged so as to deviate directly above the loading port 13. For these reasons, even if the first rail 7 and the second rail 9 and the loading port 13 are arranged so as to overlap in the vertical direction, the overhead traveling vehicle 3 can also transfer the article A to the loading port 13 and the buffer zone 15. Similarly, the regional trolley 5 can transfer the item A to the buffer zone 15 and the loading port 13. Therefore, the floor area occupied by the transport system 1 can be minimized when viewed from above.

The structure of the regional trolley 5 will be described using FIG. 3. The regional trolley 5 has a travel motor 45 (an example of a travel drive motor). The regional trolley 5 has a first power-receiving tire 63, a second power-receiving tire 65, and a driving tire 67, and runs on the second rail 9 (described below). The regional trolley 5 has a crane 49. The crane 49 raises and lowers the article A supported by the lifting table 50 by winding or unwinding the holding material 51.

The regional trolley 5 has an optical communication unit 57. The optical communication unit 57 performs communication for interlocking with the optical communication unit 33 of the loading port 13 similarly to the optical communication unit 31 of the overhead traveling vehicle 3. The regional trolley 5 is a simple trolley that has a short travel distance, does not have a mechanism for horizontal conveyance of items, and does not have an information processing mechanism for selecting a driving route and avoiding interference with other trolleys. For example, one area trolley 5 is driven along the second track 9 and is controlled by the area controller 27 to make it travel between the front surface of the processing device 19 and a position slightly spaced from the front surface. In addition, the regional trolley 5 travels on the second rail 9 directly below the first rail 7 of the overhead traveling vehicle, so no additional floor area is required. In addition, since the gap between the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B on the second rail 9 is greater than the depth of the article A, the article A can be transferred in the vertical direction through the second rail 9.

The control of the overhead traveling vehicle 3 and the regional trolley 5 in this embodiment is shown. The overhead traveling vehicle 3 is controlled by an upper controller (not shown). The area controller 27 communicates with the host controller, the overhead traveling vehicle 3, and the area trolley 5. When the article A is transferred between the overhead traveling vehicle 3 and the regional trolley 5 and the loading port 13, the optical communication units 31, 33, and 57 are used for interlocking. If there is a regional trolley 5 directly above the loading port 13, the overhead traveling vehicle 3 cannot perform optical communication, and the interlock is not established. Therefore, the delivery of the article A is delayed until the regional trolley 5 moves to another position. The transfer of the article A between the buffer zone 15 and the overhead traveling vehicle 3 is achieved by the communication between the overhead traveling vehicle 3 and the area controller 27 to establish the interlock. In addition, the regional trolley 5 delivers the article A to the buffer zone 15 according to an instruction from the regional controller 27. At this time, interlocking before handover is not performed.

Through the above communication, the inventory data of which item exists in which position of the buffer zone 15 is obtained, and is memorized by the area controller 27. The items A in the buffer zone 15 are managed by the area controller 27. In addition, the interlock with the loading port 13 is established by direct communication with the overhead traveling vehicle 3 and the regional trolley 5 or communication via the regional controller 27.

    (2) Regional trolley driving system    

4 to 6, an area trolley driving system 101 (an example of a traveling body system) using the area trolley 5 and the first metal guide rail 11A and the second metal guide rail 11B will be described. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the regional trolley 5. FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of the regional trolley 5. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the power receiving tire 63. The regional trolley 5 has a regional trolley body 61, a first power receiving tire 63, a second power receiving tire 65, and a driving tire 67.

The first power-receiving tire 63 (an example of the first wheel) and the second power-receiving tire 65 (an example of the second wheel) are those who are in contact with the first metal guide rail 11A and the second metal guide rail 11B (an example of rail), respectively, and It is a tire for receiving electricity. As shown in FIG. 6, the first power receiving tire 63 has an elastomer layer 68 as a ground contact portion with respect to the road surface, and a rim 69 (an example of a metal shaft body) provided as an inner conductor of the tire provided therein. In other words, the first power receiving tire 63 is a solid tire formed by covering the outer peripheral surface of the rim 69 with a solid elastomer layer 68. Specifically, the elastomer layer 68 is an urethane rubber tire. As shown in FIG. 6, the rim 69 has a cylindrical portion 69a on the outer peripheral side, a disc portion 69b on the inner side thereof, and a shaft 69c extending from the disc portion. In addition, the structure of the second power receiving tire 65 is the same as that of the first power receiving tire 63.

When AC power is supplied to the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B, capacitive coupling occurs between the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B and each of the first power receiving tire 63 and the second power receiving tire 65 , Thereby supplying power to the regional trolley 5. Specifically, by contacting the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B, a first capacitor is formed between the first metal rail 11A and the rim 69 of the first power receiving tire 63, and the second metal rail 11B A second capacitor is formed between the rim 69 of the second power-receiving tire 65.

The elastomer layer 68 contains urethane rubber. That is, the elastomer layer 68 is in the range of ε = 6.5 to 7.1 and tan δ = 0.015 to 0.017, for example. In this case, the capacitive coupling becomes stronger, and power transmission is efficient. The elastomer layer 68 may also contain materials other than urethane rubber. For example, it may be vinyl chloride resin, nylon resin, other resin, or natural rubber. Hereinafter, two preferable conditions in this case will be described. First, the elastomer layer 68 preferably includes a material having a relative dielectric constant (ε) higher than air. That is, the relative dielectric constant of the elastomer layer 68 is preferably greater than 1. In this case, the capacitive coupling becomes stronger, and power transmission is efficient.

Second, the elastomer layer preferably contains a material with a low dielectric loss tangent (tan δ). In this case, the power loss in the capacitor is reduced. The shaft 69c of the rim 69 of the first power receiving tire 63 and the second power receiving tire 65 is rotatably supported by the regional trolley body by a metal bearing 71 covered with an insulating cover as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively. 61. Further, an encoder 75 is connected to the insulating shaft 73 connected to the shaft 69c.

The driving tire 67 (an example of the third wheel) is a tire that is used to generate a driving force for driving by a person who is in contact with the first metal rail 11A and traveling. As shown in FIG. 4, the driving tires 67 are rotatably supported by the regional trolley body 61 by bearings 71. Furthermore, a brake 77 and a travel motor 45 are connected to the shaft 73. The first power receiving tire 63 and the second power receiving tire 65 are carbon-free tires containing no carbon particles in the urethane rubber, and the driving tire 67 is a carbon tire having carbon particles in the urethane rubber. In this case, since the first power receiving tire 63 and the second power receiving tire 65 do not contain carbon, the dielectric loss tangent (tan δ) decreases, and as a result, the electrical energy loss in the capacitor decreases. On the other hand, the driving tire 67 realizes a function of preventing static electricity from escaping from the regional trolley body 61 to the first metal rail 11A.

As shown in FIG. 5, the first metal guide rail 11A and the second metal guide rail 11B are L-shaped in cross section that are laid out parallel to each other. The first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B include a traveling portion 105 having a horizontal traveling surface, and a vertical wall 107 extending upward from the traveling portion 105. The upper ends of the vertical walls 107 are connected by a connecting plate 109. The frame rail 103 is composed of the first metal rail 11A, the second metal rail 11B, and the connecting plate 109 described above. In addition, in FIGS. 1 to 3, the entirety of the frame rail 103 is not shown for simplicity.

The connection plate 109 includes an insulator. That is, the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B are insulated from each other. The connecting plate 109 covers the upper surface of the vertical wall 107 of the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B. In this way, since the connecting plate 109 is disposed above the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B, and covers the top of the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B, it is difficult for the operator to interact with the first metal rail 11A and the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B. 2 The metal guide 11B contacts. Therefore, the possibility of the operator getting an electric shock is low. Furthermore, the connecting plate 109 does not need to be provided over the entire traveling direction. The connecting plate 109 may be partially provided at one site or a plurality of sites. Furthermore, the connecting plate 109 may cover part or all of the side surface of the vertical wall 107 in addition to the upper portion of the vertical wall 107.

The regional trolley traveling system 101 has a voltage applying device 81 for supplying power to the vehicle. The voltage applying device 81 is connected to the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B, and applies an AC voltage to the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B. Furthermore, the AC voltage contains rectangular waves. The voltage applying device 81 has a signal generator 83, a balun 85, and a matching circuit 87. The balun 85 can transmit high-frequency signals up to 5 GHz. The matching circuit 87 uses impedance integration. The matched AC power is supplied to the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B. In addition, the configuration of the voltage application device is not particularly limited.

The regional trolley 5 has a power receiving device 91. The power receiving device 91 extracts AC power from the first capacitor and the second capacitor via the rim 69, rectifies the extracted AC power, and supplies it to the travel motor 45 directly or indirectly via the battery. The power receiving device 91 has a matching circuit 93 and a rectifier circuit 95. The matching circuit 93 performs impedance matching. The rectifier circuit 95 rectifies the received AC power into DC. The rim 69 of the first power receiving tire 63 and the second power receiving tire 65 are connected to the matching circuit 93, and the rectifier circuit 95 is connected to the travel motor 45. In addition, the configuration of the power receiving device is not particularly limited.

In the above embodiment, the following operational effects are obtained. First, the power transmission through the first power receiving tire 63 and the second power receiving tire 65 enables efficient power transmission. Second, in the regional trolley driving system 101, the first power receiving tire 63 and the second power receiving tire 65 for power supply are solid tires formed by covering the outer surface of the rim 69 with a solid elastomer layer 68, thereby Without the interposition of the air layer, the capacitive coupling becomes stronger and the power transmission is efficient.

Furthermore, in the regional trolley 5, the power supply structure of the flexible power supply line and the flexible protective cover can be discarded. As a result, the risk of disconnection of the power supply line due to repeated round-trip travel of the intermediate transfer trolley disappears, and no installation space for a protective cover (Cableveyor (registered trademark)) is required. In addition, in the regional trolley 5, the battery can also be discarded, thereby reducing the weight of the regional trolley. As a result, it is not necessary to set the motor of the driving drive source to a larger rated current.

    2. Features of the implementation form    

The above embodiment can be expressed in the following manner. The regional trolley traveling system 101 (an example of a traveling body system) includes a second rail 9, a voltage applying device 81, and a regional trolley 5. In the second rail 9 (an example of a rail), the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B are arranged parallel to each other. The voltage applying device 81 (an example of a voltage applying device) applies an alternating voltage to the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B. Furthermore, the AC voltage contains rectangular waves. The regional trolley 5 (an example of a traveling body) travels on the track. The regional trolley 5 includes a travel motor 45 (an example of a travel drive motor), a first power receiving tire 63 and a second power receiving tire 65, and a power receiving device 91. The first power receiving tire 63 (an example of the first wheel) and the second power receiving tire 65 (an example of the second wheel) include a rim 69 (an example of a metal shaft body) covered with a solid elastomer layer 68 (an example of an elastomer layer) A solid tire made from the outer surface. The first power receiving tire 63 and the second power receiving tire 65 are in contact with the first metal rail 11A and the second metal rail 11B, respectively, whereby the first metal rail 11A and the first power receiving tire 63 form a first capacitor, and the second capacitor The metal rail 11B and the second power receiving tire 65 form a second capacitor. The power receiving device 91 (an example of a power receiving device) extracts AC power from the first capacitor and the second capacitor via the rim 69, and rectifies the extracted AC power to directly or indirectly supply it to the travel motor 45.

    3. Other implementation forms    

In the above, a plurality of embodiments of the present invention have been described, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, the plurality of embodiments and modifications described in this specification can be combined arbitrarily as needed. The powered tires may not be one pair but plural pairs. The connecting plate can also be a conductor.

As an example, the traveling body system of the embodiment is preferably applied to the field of material handling systems (MHS) such as semiconductor transportation or general logistics. The reason is that since the traveling trolley is driven on a track without bumps, there is no problem even if solid solid tires are used for the wheels. However, the traveling body system of the embodiment can also be widely applied to fields other than the above-mentioned fields. The driving system of the embodiment can be preferably applied to a device that reciprocates within a predetermined straight range, such as a carrier of a reciprocating trolley or a lathe.

    (Industry availability)    

The invention can be widely applied to a traveling body system that extracts AC power from a capacitor between a metal guide rail and a wheel to drive a traveling motor.

Claims (7)

    A traveling body system comprising: a track formed by arranging a first metal rail and a second metal rail parallel to each other; a voltage applying device which applies an AC voltage to the first metal rail and the second metal rail ; And a traveling body that travels on the track; the traveling body includes: a travel drive motor; the first wheel and the second wheel, etc., include solid tires formed by covering the outer surface of the metal shaft body with a solid elastomer layer Alternatively, by contacting the first metal rail and the second metal rail, the first metal rail and the first wheel form a first capacitor, and the second metal rail and the second wheel form a first 2 a capacitor; and a power receiving device that extracts AC power from the first capacitor and the second capacitor through the metal shaft body, rectifies the extracted AC power and directly or indirectly supplies it to the travel drive motor.         The traveling body system according to claim 1, wherein the above-mentioned elastomer layer contains a material having a relative dielectric constant (ε) higher than air.         The traveling body system according to claim 2, wherein the above-mentioned elastomer layer contains a material having a low dielectric loss tangent (tan δ).         The traveling body system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the above-mentioned elastomer layer contains urethane rubber.         The traveling body system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a third wheel that is in contact with one of the first metal rail and the second metal rail but is not used for power supply, The travel drive motor transmits power to the third wheel.         The traveling body system according to claim 5, wherein the third wheel is a carbon-containing tire.         The traveling body system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the first wheel and the second wheel are carbon-free tires.