TW202231552A - Article transport facility - Google Patents

Abstract

When the departure processing station and the target processing station 52 belong to different areas, the control system moves the holding portion 21 holding the article 2 from the reference position H1 to the placement position H2 in the target processing station 52. During the return period from the time of releasing the holding of the article 2 by the holding portion 21 till the end of the return of the holding portion 21 from the placement position H2 to the reference position H1, the control system starts the switching processing to switch from the state that the area control device overseeing the area to which the departure processing station belongs controls the transport vehicle 1, to the state that the area control device overseeing the area to which the target processing station 52 belongs controls the transport vehicle 1.

Description

Item handling equipment

Field of Invention

The present invention relates to an article transport facility including a transport vehicle that travels along a predetermined travel path to transport articles, and a control system for controlling the transport vehicle.

Background of the Invention

An example of such an article conveying apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-200190 (Patent Document 1). Hereinafter, in the description of this background art, the symbols and names in Patent Document 1 are cited in parentheses.

The article conveyance facility of Patent Document 1 includes a travel path (2) divided into a plurality of areas (regions 22), a transport vehicle (1) that conveys articles along the travel path (2), and each area (22) The control device (controller 6) of the transport vehicle (1) in the area (22) is controlled through communication. Furthermore, when the transport vehicle (1) is located near the boundary of the area (22), the plurality of control devices (6) arranged across the boundary of the area (22) will transmit the same transport to the area (22) managed by themselves instruction. After that, when any one of the control devices (6) receives an answer to the conveyance instruction from the conveying vehicle (1), it will cancel the control other than the control device (6) that has received the answer based on the information with the answer. The conveyance command of the device (6) will be stopped and the process of waiting for the reply from the conveyance vehicle (1) will be performed.

Summary of Invention

However, in the article conveyance facility of Patent Document 1, when the conveyance vehicle is located near the boundary of the area, a plurality of control devices may need to repeat and transmit the same conveyance command to one conveyance vehicle. Furthermore, when any one of the control devices receives an answer to the conveyance command from the transport vehicle, it is necessary to communicate the control device that has received the answer and the other control devices to cancel the control other than the control device that has received the answer. The conveyance command of the apparatus is performed, and the process of stopping and waiting for a reply from the conveyance vehicle is performed. Therefore, the traffic volume for communication between the control device and the transport vehicle, or the traffic volume for communication between a plurality of control devices tends to increase, and the processing tends to be complicated.

In addition, when the progress of the conveyance process of the articles by the conveyance vehicle is managed by the control device, when the control device that manages the conveyance vehicle is switched during the conveyance of the articles by the conveyance vehicle, a necessity arises. Since the progress information of the conveyance process performed by the conveyance vehicle is handed over between the control devices before and after the switching, it tends to be a major factor of an increase in the communication amount and a complication of the process. On the other hand, in the case where the switching of the control device is not performed at all in the transport of the articles by the transport vehicle, the waiting time after the completion of the transport of the articles by the transport vehicle until the completion of the switching processing of the control device becomes long. The increase in length, etc., is a major factor that reduces the conveying efficiency of the article conveying equipment.

Therefore, it is desired to realize a simplified article conveyance facility that can reduce the amount of communication between the conveyance vehicle and the control device while suppressing the reduction in conveyance efficiency.

The article conveying equipment of the present disclosure includes: a predetermined traveling path; a transfer vehicle, which travels along the traveling path to convey articles; and processing stations, which are set at a plurality of places on the traveling path and serve as the purpose of the traveling vehicle. a place; a placement place, which is provided at a position corresponding to each of the plurality of processing stations, where the articles can be placed; and a control system for controlling the conveying vehicle, the conveying vehicle is provided with: a holding part for holding the article; and a moving mechanism for moving the holding portion between a reference position and a placement position, the reference position being the position of the holding portion during the traveling of the transport vehicle, and the placement position being where the article is placed At the position of the holding portion at the time of the placement, the article conveying equipment is set with a plurality of areas that divide the entire travel path, and each of the plurality of control devices included in the control system manages the areas that are different from each other, The control device performs travel control from a departure processing station to a destination processing station for the transport vehicle that starts transporting the article within the area under its own jurisdiction, and the departure processing station is the processing station serving as the starting point for the transport of the article The target processing station is the processing station that is the destination of the article, and the control system keeps the article at the target processing station when the departure processing station and the target processing station belong to different areas. The holding portion is moved from the reference position to the placement position, and when the holding of the article by the holding portion is released, the holding portion is returned from the placement position to the reference position. During the return period of , the following switching processing is started: the state of the transfer vehicle is controlled from the control device that controls the area to which the departure processing station belongs, and the transfer vehicle is controlled to the control device that controls the area to which the destination processing station belongs. state switch.

According to this configuration, even if the transport vehicle travels beyond the boundary of the area, the switching process of the control device is not performed until the transport vehicle places the article on the loading position of the target processing station, and a single control device can be used. The device controls the time from the start of the conveyance of the article to the completion of the placement to the place of placement. Therefore, even when the progress of the conveying process of the articles by the conveying vehicle is managed by the control device, since there is no need to transfer the progress information of the conveying device between the control devices before and after the switching, the communication volume can be suppressed. Fewer and simplification of processing may be sought. Furthermore, according to this configuration, after the transport vehicle has placed the article on the placement position of the target processing station, the switching process of the control device is started during the return period until the end of returning the holding portion from the placement position to the reference position. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a short waiting time until the transfer vehicle starts traveling to the next destination after the switching process of the control device is completed. Therefore, the reduction of the conveyance efficiency of the article conveyance facility can be suppressed. As described above, according to the present configuration, it is possible to suppress a reduction in the conveyance efficiency, reduce the amount of communication between the conveyance vehicle and the control device, and simplify the process.

Further features and advantages of the article conveying facility will become clear from the following description about the embodiment described with reference to the drawings.

The embodiment of the article conveying facility will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 , the article conveyance facility 100 includes a predetermined travel path 40 , a transport vehicle 1 that travels along the travel path 40 to convey the article 2 , and is set at a plurality of places on the travel path 40 to be conveyed. The processing station 50 at the destination point PD where the vehicle 1 travels, the placing station 4 on which the article 2 is placed, and the control system 30 for controlling the transport vehicle 1 are provided at positions corresponding to each of the plurality of processing stations 50 . The processing station 50 is provided with the placement place 4, and is a place where the transport vehicle 1 stops. Here, the longitudinal direction of the traveling path 40 (the direction in which the traveling path 40 extends) is referred to as the path length direction X, and the width direction of the traveling path 40 is referred to as the path width direction Y. The path width direction Y is a direction orthogonal to both the path length direction X and the vertical direction Z (vertical direction). In other words, the path width direction Y is a direction perpendicular to the travel path 40 in the vertical direction viewing angle (plan view) along the vertical direction Z. FIG. 3 shows an example of the layout of the traveling path 40. The traveling path 40 shown in FIG. 3 includes a merging portion where a plurality of traveling paths 40 merge into one traveling path 40, and one traveling path 40 branches into a plurality of A branch of the travel path 40 .

The walking path 40 may be formed physically or may be set imaginatively. In the present embodiment, the travel path 40 is formed physically using the travel rail 41 . Specifically, the article conveyance facility 100 includes a travel rail 41 (here, a pair of travel rails 41 arranged at intervals in the path width direction Y) along the travel path 40 , and the transport vehicle 1 follows the travel rail 41 walk. As shown in FIG. 2 , the travel rail 41 is supported by being suspended from the ceiling 3 , and the travel path 40 is formed along the ceiling 3 . That is, in the present embodiment, the transport vehicle 1 is a ceiling transport vehicle that travels along the travel path 40 formed along the ceiling 3 . Further, the transport vehicle 1 may be a transport vehicle other than the ceiling transport vehicle. As a transport vehicle other than the ceiling transport vehicle, a transport vehicle that travels along a travel path formed along a floor can be exemplified. The travel path at this time may be formed by the travel path, or may be set imaginatively.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the transport vehicle 1 includes a traveling portion 10 that travels along a traveling path 40 . The traveling portion 10 travels along traveling rails 41 (here, a pair of traveling rails 41 ). The traveling portion 10 includes the wheels 11 that rotate on the traveling surface of the traveling rail 41 , and the traveling drive portion M1 (eg, an electric motor such as a servo motor) for rotating the wheels 11 . The wheels 11 are rotationally driven by the traveling drive portion M1 , so that the traveling portion 10 travels along the traveling rail 41 . In the example shown in FIG. 1 , the transport vehicle 1 is in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body (a direction defined on the basis of the transport vehicle 1 , and is arranged along the path length direction X in the state of being arranged on the travel path 40 ). A pair of running parts 10 are provided in the form of an arrangement.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the transport vehicle 1 includes a holding portion 21 for holding the article 2 . In this embodiment, the holding part 21 holds the article 2 from the upper side Z1. The type of the article 2 is not limited to this, but in the present embodiment, the article 2 is a container (specifically, a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod)) for accommodating semiconductor wafers, and the holding portion 21 holds and is formed in a The flange part of the upper part of the article 2 is used to hold the article 2 . As shown in FIG. 4 , the transport vehicle 1 (specifically, the holding portion 21 ) is provided with a holding driving portion M3 (for example, an electromagnetic coil or an electric motor) for switching the state of the holding portion 21 , and the holding driving portion M3 The state of the holding portion 21 is switched between the holding state in which the article 2 is held, and the holding release state in which the holding of the article 2 is released.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the transport vehicle 1 includes a moving mechanism 22 that moves the holding portion 21 between the reference position H1 and the placement position H2. As shown in FIG. 4 , the transport vehicle 1 (specifically, the moving mechanism 22 ) is provided with a moving drive portion M2 (for example, an electric motor such as a servo motor) that moves the holding portion 21 to the traveling portion 10 . The driving of the part M2 moves the holding part 21 with respect to the traveling part 10 . As shown in FIG. 2 , the transport vehicle 1 includes a main body portion 20 coupled to the traveling portion 10 (here, a pair of traveling portions 10 ). The main body portion 20 is disposed on the lower side Z2 with respect to the traveling portion 10 , and the moving mechanism 22 is provided in the main body portion 20 . Therefore, in the present embodiment, the moving mechanism 22 and the holding portion 21 are arranged on the lower side Z2 of the traveling portion 10 .

The reference position H1 is the position of the holding portion 21 while the transport vehicle 1 is traveling. In the present embodiment, the reference position H1 is a position overlapping the traveling portion 10 in a plan view. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2 , the reference position H1 is a position where the article 2 held by the holding portion 21 is housed in the main body portion 20 . The article 2 held by the holding portion 21 at the reference position H1 is accommodated in the main body portion 20 so as to be covered by the main body portion 20 from both sides in the path length direction X. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2 , the placement position H2 is the position of the holding portion 21 when the article 2 is placed on the placement place 4 . The placement position H2 is a position higher than the placement place 4 on the upper side Z1 and overlapping the placement place 4 in a plan view. The placement position H2 is set according to the position of each placement place 4 . As shown in FIG. 2 , in the present embodiment, the placement position H2 is a position on the lower side Z2 from the reference position H1. The loading place 4 is, for example, a loading port for a processing device that treats the article 2 as a processing object, or a storage shed for a storage device for storing the article 2 . In FIG. 2, the support part which supports the article 2 from the lower side Z2 is shown as an example of the placement place 4. As shown in FIG.

In the present embodiment, the moving mechanism 22 is configured to move the holding portion 21 in the vertical direction Z with respect to the traveling portion 10 (that is, to move up and down). The holding portion 21 is lowered by the moving mechanism 22, whereby the holding portion 21 can be moved to the lower side Z2 than the travel path 40 and corresponding to the placement portion 4 arranged at a position overlapping the travel path 40 in a plan view. Position H2 for placement. As shown in FIG. 2 , in the present embodiment, the moving mechanism 22 lifts and lowers the holding portion 21 in a state where the holding portion 21 is suspended and supported. Specifically, the holding portion 21 is connected to a front end portion of a transmission member 23 such as a belt or a wire. Then, the moving mechanism 22 rotates the winding body on which the transmission member 23 is wound by the driving of the movement driving portion M2 to wind up or pull out the transmission member 23 , thereby raising or lowering the holding portion 21 .

The moving mechanism 22 may be configured to move the holding portion 21 in the path width direction Y with respect to the traveling portion 10 . In addition, the moving mechanism 22 may be configured to move the holding portion 21 in each of the vertical direction Z and the path width direction Y with respect to the traveling portion 10 . At this time, for example, the moving mechanism 22 moves the holding portion 21 in the path width direction Y and then lowers the holding portion 21, whereby the holding portion 21 can be moved to the lower side Z2 than the traveling path 40 and is opposite to the traveling path in a plan view. 40 is arranged at the placement position H2 corresponding to the placement position 4 at the position offset in the path width direction Y.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the transport vehicle 1 includes a vehicle control device 33 (machine controller) for controlling the operation of the transport vehicle 1 . Each control device of the vehicle control device 33 , the integrated control device 31 described later, and the regional control device 32 described later is provided with a calculation processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and peripheral circuits such as a memory. The functions of each control device are realized by cooperation between the hardware and a program executed on the hardware such as a computing processing device.

The vehicle control device 33 controls the operation of the transport vehicle 1 in accordance with the command from the area control device 32 . In the present embodiment, the area control device 32 and the vehicle control device 33 are configured to be communicable by wireless communication. The vehicle control device 33 controls the driving of the traveling drive unit M1 to cause the traveling unit 10 to perform a traveling operation of traveling along the traveling path 40 . In addition, the vehicle control device 33 controls the driving of the moving drive portion M2, thereby causing the moving mechanism 22 to perform a moving operation of moving the holding portion 21 between the reference position H1 and the placement position H2. In addition, the vehicle control device 33 controls the driving of the holding drive unit M3 so that the holding unit 21 performs the holding state switching operation of switching the state of the holding unit 21 between the holding state and the holding release state. As described below, by these moving operations and holding state switching operations, the transfer operation of the article 2 between the transport vehicle 1 (specifically, the holding portion 21 ) and the placement place 4 is performed.

When the article 2 is transferred between the transport vehicle 1 (specifically, the holding portion 21 ) and the placement place 4 , the vehicle control device 33 causes the traveling unit 10 to run the transport vehicle 1 to a position corresponding to the placement place 4 . (Here, the mounting position 4 and the same position in the path length direction X) are moved, and then the moving mechanism 22 is moved to move the holding portion 21 from the reference position H1 to the mounting position H2. For example, the moving mechanism 22 lowers the holding portion 21, or the moving mechanism 22 moves the holding portion 21 in the path width direction Y and then lowers the holding portion 21, thereby moving the holding portion 21 from the reference position H1 to the mounting position Use position H2. When the holding portion 21 reaches the placement position H2, the vehicle control device 33 causes the holding portion 21 to perform the holding state switching operation. When the article 2 is transferred from the transport vehicle 1 to the placing place 4 , the holding state switching operation is performed to switch the state of the holding portion 21 from the holding state to the holding release state, and when the article 2 is transferred from the placing place 4 When the transport vehicle 1 is reached, the holding state switching operation is performed to switch the state of the holding portion 21 from the holding release state to the holding state.

The vehicle control device 33 causes the moving mechanism 22 to perform a moving operation of moving the holding portion 21 from the placement position H2 to the reference position H1 after the holding portion 21 performs the holding state switching operation. For example, the holding portion 21 is moved from the placement position H2 to the position H2 by moving the holding portion 21 in the path width direction Y by raising the holding portion 21 by the moving mechanism 22, or by moving the holding portion 21 in the path width direction Y after the holding portion 21 is raised by the moving mechanism 22. Reference position H1. The vehicle control device 33 performs the above-mentioned control so that when the article 2 is transferred from the transport vehicle 1 to the placing place 4, the article 2 held in the holding portion 21 is lowered to the placing place 4, and the article 2 is released from the place 4. When the place 4 is transferred to the transport vehicle 1 , the article 2 placed in the place 4 is held in the holding part 21 and taken out from the place 4 .

Although details are omitted, the vehicle control device 33 derives the current estimated position of the transport vehicle 1 , that is, the estimated current position, and controls the traveling operation of the traveling portion 10 . For example, the transport vehicle 1 may be provided with a reading device for reading address information (information showing the position where the information holder is provided) of information holders provided at a plurality of positions along the travel path 40, and A measuring device for measuring the traveling distance of the traveling part 10, the vehicle control device 33 is based on the address information read by the reading device and the traveling distance of the traveling part 10 (specifically, the reading device) measured by the measuring device. The configuration of the estimated current position of the transport vehicle 1 is derived by taking the travel distance after the device has read the address information). For example, a one-dimensional code or a two-dimensional code can be used as the information holder, and a one-dimensional code reader or a two-dimensional code reader can be used as the reading device. Moreover, for example, a rotary encoder can be used as a measuring device. In addition, it is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the transport vehicle 1 may be provided with a GPS receiver that receives GPS signals from GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites, and the vehicle control device 33 may derive an estimation of the transport vehicle 1 based on the GPS signals. The composition of the location, etc.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the control system 30 includes a plurality of zone control apparatuses 32 . In this article conveyance facility 100, a plurality of areas A for distinguishing the entire travel path 40 are set, and each of the plurality of area control devices 32 manages mutually different areas A. The area control device 32 is configured to be able to communicate with the conveyance vehicle 1 existing in the area A under its own control, and to manage and control the conveyance vehicle 1 existing in the area A under its own control. The area control device 32 is configured to be able to communicate with the transport vehicle 1 existing in another area A different from the area A under its own control, and to control the transport vehicle 1 existing in the other area A (for example, it has been under its own jurisdiction). When the area A of the other area A enters the transport vehicle 1) of the other area A. Here, the other area A includes at least the area A adjacent to the area A under the self-administration, for example, may include all the areas A except the area A under the self-administration. Furthermore, in FIG. 3 , although two areas A and two area control devices 32 are shown, the number of areas A and the number of area control devices 32 are not limited to this. The control system 30 further includes an integrated control device 31 for managing the entire equipment. The integrated control device 31 is configured to be able to communicate with each of the plurality of area control devices 32 . In the present embodiment, the area control device 32 corresponds to a "control device".

The technical features of the control system 30 disclosed in this specification can also be applied to the control method of the article conveyance apparatus 100, and the control method of the article conveyance apparatus 100 is also disclosed in this specification. The control method includes a step in which the area control device 32 performs a running control described later, and a step in which the control system 30 performs a switching process described later. In this embodiment, it further includes a step in which the control system 30 executes a switching prohibition process described later. step.

The total control apparatus 31 transmits the conveyance request (conveyance command) of the article 2 to the area control apparatus 32 based on the conveyance schedule, for example. The transfer request includes information on the processing station 50 serving as the transfer origin of the article 2 , that is, the departure processing station 51 , and information on the processing station 50 serving as the transfer destination of the article 2 , that is, the target processing station 52 . The transport request for the article 2 is sent to the area control device 32 that has jurisdiction over the area A to which the departure processing station 51 belongs. When the area control device 32 receives the conveyance request of the article 2 from the overall control device 31, it will assign the conveyance request of the article 2 to any one of the conveyance vehicles 1, and the conveyance vehicle 1 (specifically, the vehicle of the conveyance vehicle 1) The control device 33) instructs the operation to be performed in response to the conveyance request of the article 2. The movement of the transport vehicle 1 in response to the transport request of the article 2 includes: the movement of the article 2 from the place 4 placed at the departure processing station 51 to the transport vehicle 1 , and the running movement from the departure processing station 51 to the destination processing station 52 . , and the transfer operation of the article 2 from the transfer vehicle 1 at the target processing station 52 to the placement location 4 . The area control device 32 transmits information on the progress of the conveyance operation of the article 2 by the conveyance vehicle 1 to the total control device 31 .

As described above, the operation in response to the conveyance request of the article 2 includes the walking operation from the departure processing station 51 to the destination processing station 52 . That is, the area control device 32 controls the traveling from the departure processing station 51 to the destination processing station 52 with respect to the transport vehicle 1 that has started the transport of the article 2 in the area A under its own control. The area control device 32 performs this travel control through the vehicle control device 33 included in the transport vehicle 1 . Then, the departure processing station 51 belongs to the area A under the jurisdiction of the area control device 32 that performs the travel control. On the other hand, the target processing station 52 may or may not belong to the area A under the jurisdiction of the area control device 32 that performs the running control. The area control device 32 controls the travel of the transport vehicle 1 from the departure processing station 51 to the target processing station 52 regardless of whether the target processing station 52 belongs to the area A under its own jurisdiction.

In FIG. 5 , one of the plurality of areas A is designated as the first area A1, the area A adjacent to the first area A1 is designated as the second area A2, and the area control device 32 that controls the first area A1 is designated as the first area A1. As for the area control device 32A, the area control device 32 governing the second area A2 is regarded as the second area control device 32B. The same applies to FIGS. 7 and 8 to be referred to later. Furthermore, FIG. 5 shows the state in which the article 2 is conveyed from the departure processing station 51 belonging to the first area A1 to the destination processing station 52 belonging to the second area A2. Therefore, in the situation shown in FIG. 5, 32 A of 1st area control apparatuses control the traveling of the conveyance vehicle 1 from the departure processing station 51 to the destination processing station 52.

The control system 30 is configured so that when the departure processing station 51 and the destination processing station 52 belong to different areas A, the area control device 32 that has jurisdiction over the area A to which the departure processing station 51 belongs is configured to control the state of the transport vehicle 1 to control the destination. The area control device 32 of the area A to which the processing station 52 belongs controls the switching process of the state of the transport vehicle 1 . The control system 30 is configured to move the holding unit 21 holding the article 2 from the reference position H1 to the placement position H2 in the target processing station 52, and when the holding of the article 2 by the holding unit 21 is released The switching process is started during the return period until the return of the holding unit 21 from the placement position H2 to the reference position H1 ends. The switching process is preferably started at a time point when the switching process is completed in the reset period. The control system 30 starts the switching process, for example, at the start of the return period (that is, immediately after the holding of the article 2 by the holding unit 21 is released). Furthermore, when the departure processing station 51 and the destination processing station 52 are in the same area A, the control system 30 does not perform switching processing.

The subject that performs the above-mentioned switching process (the control device that becomes the core of the switching process) is, for example, the area control device 32 that controls the area A to which the departure processing station 51 belongs. At this time, the area control device 32 that has jurisdiction over the area A to which the departure processing station 51 belongs determines the start time of the switching process and whether the switching process has been executed. Furthermore, when the switching process is executed, the switching process is started in response to an instruction from the area control device 32 that controls the area A to which the departure processing station 51 belongs.

In FIG. 6 , the situation shown in FIG. 5 is shown in chronological order, and the switching process is performed in the target processing station 52 . FIG. 6( a ) shows that in the target processing station 52 , the holding portion 21 holding the article 2 is moved from the reference position H1 to the placement position H2 . As shown in FIG. 6( a ), the first area control device 32A that has jurisdiction over the area A to which the departure processing station 51 belongs controls the transport vehicle 1 until the article 2 is placed on the placement place 4 of the destination processing station 52 . FIG. 6(b) shows the time point at which the holding of the article 2 by the holding unit 21 is released (that is, the start time of the return period), and in this example, the switching process is performed at this time point. Therefore, as shown in FIG.6(c), by the control of the conveyance vehicle 1 by the 2nd area control apparatus 32B, the holding|maintenance part 21 is returned to the reference position H1 from the position H2 for placement.

In the present embodiment, the control system 30 treats the target processing station 52 as another processing station 50 until the transport vehicle 1 releases the holding of the article 2 by the holding unit 21 at the target processing station 52. When the travel command of the destination point PD is set to the transport vehicle 1, the switching process is started during the return period. On the other hand, the control system 30 uses the processing station 50 other than the target processing station 52 as the destination point PD until the transport vehicle 1 releases the holding of the article 2 by the holding unit 21 at the target processing station 52. If the travel command of the 1 is not set to the transport vehicle 1, the switching process is not started during the return period, and the switching process is started after the return of the holding unit 21 from the placement position H2 to the reference position H1 is completed. Furthermore, a travel command that takes another processing station 50 as the destination processing station 52 as the destination point PD is set, for example, when a transport request for the article 2 of the other processing station 50 as the departure processing station 51 is assigned. to the truck 1.

The area control device 32 controls the running of the empty conveyance vehicle 1A in the area A under its own control by making the conveyance vehicle 1 in the state where the article 2 is not conveyed as the empty conveyance vehicle 1A. Then, let one of the plurality of areas A be the first area A1, and the area A adjacent to the first area A1 is the second area A2, and the control system 30 is configured to transport an empty vehicle in the first area A1. When the 1A enters the second area A2 while traveling with the processing station 50 in the second area A2 as the destination point PD, the travel of the empty transport vehicle 1A is continued, and the area control device that controls the first area A1 is started. 32 controls the state of the empty conveyance vehicle 1A, and controls the switching process of the state of the empty conveyance vehicle 1A to the area control device 32 in charge of the second area A2. This switching process is preferably started within a section from the point where the empty transport vehicle 1A has entered the second area A2, that is, the entry point PE, along the travel path 40 until reaching the processing station 50 closest to the entry point PE. Here, the "section" means a travel section of the transport vehicle 1 along the travel path 40 . In addition, the first area A1 is not limited to the area A to which the departure point of the empty transport vehicle 1A belongs, and may be the area A that passes through on the way.

FIG. 7 shows a situation in which the empty transport vehicle 1A located in the first area A1 travels with the processing station 50 in the second area A2 as the destination point PD. In the situation shown in FIG. 7 , after the time when the empty transport vehicle 1A enters the second area A2 from the first point P1, the switching process is started after the running of the empty transport vehicle 1A is continued. In FIG. 7 , the object processing station 53 is the processing station 50 closest to the entry point PE along the travel path 40 from the entry point PE (first point P1 ), and arrives at the object processing station from the entry point PE by the empty transport vehicle 1A It is preferable to start switching processors within the interval up to 53.

The area control device 32 holds the travel route information 91 indicating the travel route R (see FIGS. 5 , 7 and 8 ) and the task information 92 indicating the task of the transport vehicle 1 (see FIG. 5 , FIG. 7 , and FIG. 8 ) for the transport vehicle 1 controlled by itself. 3 ), the travel route R is a route through which the transport vehicle 1 travels to reach the destination point PD. In the present embodiment, the travel route information 91 is information indicating the travel route R set by the area control device 32 . That is, in the present embodiment, the area control device 32 controls the traveling of the transport vehicle 1 so as to pass the traveling route R set by itself. In addition, the task of the transport vehicle 1 displayed on the task information 92 is, for example, a task included in the transport request of the article 2 assigned to the transport vehicle 1 . In addition, the control system 30 is configured so that when switching is performed, the travel route information 91 and the task information 92 held by the area control device 32 that has controlled the transport vehicle 1 before the switching process is executed, and the control system 30 is configured after the switching process is executed. The area control device 32 of the transport vehicle 1 is shared. For example, the area control device 32 that controls the transport vehicle 1 before the execution of the switching process transmits the travel route information 91 and task information 92 held by itself to the control device 31 that controls the transport vehicle 1 after the execution of the switching process, directly or through the total control device 31 The area control device 32 can realize the above-mentioned sharing.

However, the empty transport vehicle 1A located in the first area A1 may enter the second area A2 while traveling with the processing station 50 in the first area A1 as the destination point PD. In the present embodiment, when the empty transport vehicle 1A located in the first area A1 enters the second area A2 while traveling with the processing station 50 in the first area A1 as the destination point PD, the control system 30 is configured as follows: In order not to perform the switching process, the switching prohibition process of continuing the control of the empty transport vehicle 1A by the area control device 32 overseeing the first area A1 is also executed while the empty transport vehicle 1A is traveling in the second area A2.

FIG. 8 shows a situation in which the empty transport vehicle 1A located in the first area A1 enters the second area A2 while traveling with the processing station 50 in the first area A1 as the destination point PD. In the situation shown in FIG. 8 , after entering the second area A2 from the first point P1, the empty transport vehicle 1A returns to the first area A1 from the second point P2 and arrives at the destination point PD. In the present embodiment, in order to execute the switching prohibition process, the control system 30 does not perform the switching process after the entry time of the empty transport vehicle 1A to the second area A2, and the empty transport vehicle 1A is controlled by the first area control device 32A. After walking in the second area A2 in the state of , it returns to the first area A1.

Furthermore, in the situation shown in FIG. 7 described above, after entering the second area A2 from the first point P1, the empty transport vehicle 1A returns to the first area A1 from the second point P2, and then again from the third point P3 Enter the second area A2. The behavior of the empty transport vehicle 1A starting from the state in which the empty transport vehicle 1A enters the second area A2 from the first point P1 and is located in the second area A2 under the control of the second area control device 32B will be located in the empty transport vehicle 1A. The empty transport vehicle 1A in the second area A2 (here, equivalent to "first area") enters the first area A1 while traveling with the processing station 50 in the second area A2 as the destination point PD (here, the It is equivalent to the behavior of "Second Area"). In the present embodiment, since the control device 30 executes the switching prohibition process as described above, in the situation shown in FIG. 7 , it is not performed after the entry time of the empty transport vehicle 1A from the second point P2 to the first area A1 In the switching process, the empty transport vehicle 1A travels in the first area A1 while being controlled by the second area control device 32B, and then re-enters the second area A2 from the third point P3.

As shown in FIG. 3 , in the present embodiment, the control system 30 includes a receiving unit 34 that receives an instruction from a human (operator or the like). The accepting unit 34 includes an interface that accepts an input operation by a person. The receiving unit 34 is input with a command to travel to a specific destination for maintenance or the like, for example. The vehicle control device 33 controls the traveling operation of the traveling unit 10 in accordance with the command (travel command) received by the receiving unit 34 . In addition, in FIG. 3 , although the information of the command received by the receiving unit 34 is input to the overall control device 31 , the information of the command received by the receiving unit 34 may be input to the vehicle control device 33 . or zone control device 32. That is, the vehicle control device 33 acquires the information of the command received by the receiving unit 34 from the receiving unit 34 directly or through another device. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the control system 30 is configured to not control the transport vehicle 1 even when the transport vehicle 1 travels across a plurality of areas A in a state where the transport vehicle 1 is controlled based on the command received by the receiving unit 34 . Switch processing is performed.

[Other implementations] Next, another embodiment of the article conveying facility will be described.

(1) In the above-described embodiment, the target processing station 52 and the target processing station 52 are treated as other processing stations 50 until the transport vehicle 1 is in the target processing station 52 until the holding of the article 2 by the holding unit 21 is released. When the travel command as the destination point PD is not set to the transport vehicle 1, the control system 30 does not start the switching process during the return period, and starts the switching after the holding unit 21 is returned from the mounting position H2 to the reference set H1. The configuration of the processing will be described as an example. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a configuration, and even with the above-described configuration, the control system 30 may be configured to start the switching process during the return period.

(2) In the above-described embodiment, when the empty transport vehicle 1A located in the first area A1 enters the second area A2 while traveling with the processing station 50 in the first area A1 as the destination point PD, A configuration in which the control system 30 does not perform the switching process but executes the switching prohibition process will be described as an example. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a configuration, and even the empty transport vehicle 1A located in the first area A1 may enter the second area while traveling with the processing station 50 in the first area A1 as the destination point PD. In the area A2, the control system 30 is also configured to perform switching processing.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the moving mechanism 22 and the holding portion 21 are arranged on the lower side Z2 with respect to the traveling portion 10 has been described as an example. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a configuration, and a configuration in which the moving mechanism 22 and the holding portion 21 are arranged on the upper side Z1 with respect to the traveling portion 10 may be employed. In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the structure in which the holding|maintenance part 21 holds the article 2 from the upper side Z1 was demonstrated as an example. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a configuration, and the holding portion 21 may hold the article 2 from the lower side Z2 (for example, a configuration in which the article 2 is held by supporting the lower surface of the article 2).

(4) Furthermore, the configurations disclosed in the above-mentioned embodiments may be applied in combination with the configurations disclosed in other embodiments (including the embodiments described as other embodiments), as long as there is no conflict. combinations of states). Also about other structures, the embodiment disclosed in this specification is merely an illustration in all points. Therefore, various changes can be suitably made in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this disclosure.

[Outline of the above-mentioned embodiment] Hereinafter, the outline of the article conveyance facility described above will be described.

An article conveying facility comprising: a predetermined travel path; a conveyance vehicle, which travels along the travel path to convey articles; and a processing station set at a plurality of places on the travel path and serving as a destination point for the conveyance vehicle to travel; a placing place is provided at a position corresponding to each of the plurality of processing stations, and the articles can be placed; and a control system is used to control the conveying vehicle, and the conveying vehicle is provided with a holding part for holding the articles and a moving mechanism for moving the holding portion between a reference position and a placement position, wherein the reference position is the position of the holding portion during the traveling of the transport vehicle, and the placement position is for placing the article on the aforementioned The position of the holding portion at the time of placement, the article conveying equipment is set with a plurality of areas that divide the entire travel path, and each of the plurality of control devices included in the control system controls the areas that are different from each other, and the control The device controls the traveling from the departure processing station to the destination processing station for the transport vehicle that starts the transport of the article in the area under its own jurisdiction, and the departure processing station is the processing station that becomes the starting point of the transport of the article, The target processing station is the processing station to which the article is to be transported, and the control system, when the departure processing station and the target processing station belong to different areas, makes the target processing station hold the article. The holding portion is moved from the reference position to the placement position, from when the holding of the article by the holding portion is released to the time when the holding portion is returned from the placement position to the reference position. During the return period, a switching process is started in which the state of the transfer vehicle is controlled from the control device that controls the area to which the departure processing station belongs, and the control device that controls the area to which the destination processing station belongs is controlled to control the state of the transfer vehicle. state switch.

According to this configuration, even if the transport vehicle travels beyond the boundary of the area, the switching process of the control device is not performed until the transport vehicle places the article on the loading position of the target processing station, and a single control device can be used. The device controls the time from the start of the conveyance of the article to the completion of the placement to the place of placement. Therefore, even when the progress of the conveying process of the articles by the conveying vehicle is managed by the control device, there is no need to hand over the progress information of the conveying device between the control devices before and after the switching, so that the amount of communication can be suppressed. Fewer and simplification of processing may be sought. Furthermore, according to this configuration, after the transport vehicle has placed the article on the placement position of the target processing station, the switching process of the control device is started during the return period until the end of returning the holding portion from the placement position to the reference position. Therefore, the waiting time until the transport vehicle starts traveling to the next destination point after the switching process of the control device is completed can be kept short. Therefore, the reduction of the conveyance efficiency of the article conveyance facility can be suppressed. As described above, according to the present configuration, it is possible to suppress a reduction in the conveyance efficiency, reduce the amount of communication between the conveyance vehicle and the control device, and simplify the process.

The following is preferable: Here, the aforementioned transport vehicle in the state of not transporting the aforementioned article is regarded as an empty transport vehicle, and the aforementioned control device controls the running of the aforementioned empty transport vehicle in the area under its own jurisdiction, and the plurality of aforementioned areas are used for running control. 1 as the first area, the area adjacent to the first area as the second area, and the control system uses the processing station in the second area as the object of the empty transport vehicle located in the first area When entering the second area while traveling, the empty transport vehicle is used in a section from the entry point, that is, the entry point, along the travel path until reaching the processing station closest to the entry point. After the traveling is continued, a switching process is started from the control device controlling the empty transport vehicle in the first area to the control device controlling the empty transport vehicle in the second area.

According to this configuration, when an empty transport vehicle that has not transported articles travels beyond the boundary of the area, after entering the new area, it is possible to proceed to the next processing station. The switching process of the control device of the area. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of less waiting time for the switching process of the control device. In addition, according to this configuration, since the processing is performed on an empty transport vehicle that does not require the control device to manage the progress of the conveying process of the article, there is no need to perform the progress information of the conveying process between the control devices before and after the switching process. transfer. Therefore, problems such as an increase in the amount of communication and complication of processing are also less likely to occur.

Preferably, in the above configuration, when the empty transport vehicle located in the first area enters the second area while traveling with the processing station in the first area as the destination point, the The control system does not perform the switching process, and also executes switching prohibition processing for continuing the state of the control device overseeing the first area controlling the empty conveyance vehicle while the empty conveyance vehicle is traveling in the second area.

According to this configuration, even in the configuration in which the switching process of the control device is performed when the empty transport vehicle is traveling beyond the boundary of the area as described above, the processing station in the original area before the empty transport vehicle enters the new area is set as the destination point. In the case of , the switching process of the control device is prohibited. In this way, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of processing such as once switching the control device and then switching to the same control device again. Therefore, the frequency of occurrence of the switching process of the control device can be suppressed, and the simplification of the process can be achieved.

Preferably, in the article conveying equipment of each of the above-mentioned configurations, the control device holds, with respect to the conveying vehicle controlled by the control device, travel route information indicating a travel route, and task information indicating a task of the conveying vehicle, the aforementioned The passing route is a route that the transport vehicle passes through in order to reach the destination point, and when the control system performs the switching process, the traffic route information held by the control device that has controlled the transport vehicle before the switching process is executed and The job information is shared with the control device that controls the transport vehicle after the switching process is executed.

According to this configuration, when the switching process of the control device of the transport vehicle including the empty transport vehicle is performed, the travel route information and task information held by the control device before the switching can be shared with the control device after the switching. Therefore, even when the switching process of the control device is performed, the transport vehicle can be appropriately controlled.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the control system is a separate one from the target processing station until the transfer vehicle at the target processing station cancels the holding of the article by the holding portion. When the processing station is set to the transport vehicle as the travel command of the destination point, the switching process is started during the return period, and when the transport vehicle reaches the destination processing station, the object is held by the holding unit. When the travel command that uses the processing station different from the target processing station as the destination point has not been set to the transport vehicle until the time of cancellation, the switching process is not started during the return period, and the After the return of the holding unit from the placement position to the reference position is completed, the switching process starts.

According to this configuration, when the transport vehicle is set at the target processing station until the holding of the article by the holding unit is released, the next travel command for the transport vehicle is set, and the switching process can be started during the return period. When the switching process of the control device is completed, the waiting time until the transport vehicle starts to travel to the next destination is kept short. On the other hand, until the transport vehicle cancels the holding of the article by the holding unit at the target processing station, the next travel command for the transport vehicle is not set, so there is no need to start the transport vehicle in a hurry. , the switching process starts after returning the holding unit to the reference position. Thereby, since the switching process of the control device can be avoided and performed in parallel with other operations of the transport vehicle, the certainty of the switching process can be improved.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the control system further includes a receiving unit that receives an instruction from a person, and in a state where the conveying vehicle is controlled according to the command received by the receiving unit, even if the conveying vehicle straddles a plurality of In the case of walking in the above-mentioned areas, the above-mentioned switching processing is also not performed.

According to this configuration, the state of the transport vehicle is controlled based on the command received by the accepting unit, for example, when an operator or the like moves the transport vehicle to a specific destination for maintenance or the like of the transport vehicle. In the control of such a transport vehicle, once the control device switching process is performed, a new travel command is set by the switched control device, and the operator or the like may start the transport vehicle unintentionally. According to this configuration, such a situation can be avoided.

The article transporting device in the present disclosure may achieve at least one of the above-mentioned effects.

1: Transporter 1A: Empty carrier 2: Items 3: Ceiling 4: Mounting place 10: Walking Department 11: Wheels 20: Main body 21: Keeping Department 22: Moving Mechanisms 23: Transmission components 30: Control system 31: Total control device 32: Area control device (control device) 32A: Zone 1 Control Unit 32B: 2nd zone control device 33: Vehicle Controls 34: Receiving Department 40: Walking Path 41: Walking track 50: Processing Station 51: Departure Processing Station 52: Target Processing Station 53: Object Processing Station 91: Access route information 92: Mission Information 100: Item handling equipment A: area A1: Area 1 A2: Area 2 H1: Reference position H2: Place for placement M1: Driving part for traveling M2: Drive for moving M3: Holding drive unit P1: 1st place P2: 2nd location P3: 3rd place PD: destination point PE: entry point R: pass path X: Path length direction Y: Path width direction Z: up and down direction Z1: upper side Z2: lower side

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a transfer vehicle. Fig. 2 is a side view of the transport vehicle. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a control system. FIG. 4 is a control block diagram. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the traveling state of the transport vehicle. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of switching processing. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the traveling state of the transport vehicle. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of the traveling state of the transport vehicle.

1: Transporter

2: Items

4: Mounting place

21: Keeping Department

32A: Zone 1 Control Unit

32B: 2nd zone control device

52: Target Processing Station

H1: Reference position

H2: Place for placement

Z: up and down direction

Z1: upper side

Z2: lower side

Claims (6)

An article handling equipment, comprising: prescribed walking paths; A transport vehicle, which travels along the aforementioned walking path to transport articles; Processing stations are set at plural places on the travel path and become the destination points for the transport vehicle to travel; a placing place, located at a position corresponding to each of the plurality of the aforementioned processing stations, where the aforementioned articles can be placed; and a control system for controlling the aforementioned transport vehicle, The aforementioned article handling equipment has the following characteristics: The aforementioned transport vehicle has: a holding portion for holding the aforementioned articles; and a moving mechanism for moving the holding portion between the reference position and the placement position, The reference position is the position of the holding portion during the traveling of the transport vehicle, The placement position is the position of the holding portion when the article is placed on the placement portion, The article transporting equipment is provided with a plurality of areas that divide the entire travel path, and each of the plurality of control devices included in the control system manages the areas that are different from each other, The control device controls the movement of the transport vehicle that starts the transport of the article within the area under its own control from a departure processing station to a destination processing station, the departure processing station being the processing starting point for the transport of the article The above-mentioned target processing station is the above-mentioned processing station that becomes the conveying destination of the above-mentioned articles, When the departure processing station and the target processing station belong to the different areas, the control system moves the holding part holding the article from the reference position to the placement position at the target processing station, and when the control system is released from When the holding of the article by the holding unit is performed, the following switching process is started during the return period when the holding unit is returned from the mounting position to the reference position. The control device in the area controls the state of the conveyance vehicle, and controls the state switching of the conveyance vehicle to the control device in charge of the area to which the target processing station belongs. The article conveying equipment according to claim 1, wherein the conveying vehicle in the state in which the article is not conveyed is regarded as an empty conveying vehicle, The control device controls the running of the empty transport vehicle in the area under its own jurisdiction, Let one of the plurality of the above-mentioned areas be the first area, and let the above-mentioned area adjacent to the first area be the second area, The control system, when the empty transport vehicle located in the first area enters the second area while traveling with the processing station in the second area as the destination point, it enters the second area from the entry point, that is, the control system. In a section along the travel path until reaching the processing station closest to the entry point, the following switching process is started after the travel of the empty transport vehicle is continued: the control device controlling the first area is started. The state of the empty transport vehicle is switched to the control device that controls the second area to control the state of the empty transport vehicle. The article conveying equipment according to claim 2, wherein when the empty transport vehicle located in the first area enters the second area while traveling with the processing station in the first area as the destination point, the control The system does not perform the switching process, and executes the switching prohibition process of continuing the control of the empty transport vehicle by the control device overseeing the first area while the empty transport vehicle is traveling in the second area. The article conveying equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control device holds, for the conveying vehicle controlled by itself, the passing route information showing the passing route, and the task information showing the task of the conveying vehicle, the aforementioned The passing route is a route that the transport vehicle passes through in order to reach the aforementioned destination point, When the control system performs the switching process, the traffic route information and the task information held by the control device that has controlled the transport vehicle before the switching process is executed, and the transport vehicle that controls the transport vehicle after the switching process is executed. The aforementioned control devices are common. The article conveying equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control system is to communicate with the target until the conveying vehicle at the target processing station releases the holding of the article by the holding unit. When the travel command that is different from the processing station and is the destination point of the other processing station is set to the transport vehicle, the switching process will be started during the return period, and if the transport vehicle is at the destination processing station, the hold will be used. When the holding of the above-mentioned article by the part is released, if the travel command that uses the above-mentioned processing station different from the target processing station as the destination point has not been set to the transport vehicle, it will not be started during the return period. In the switching process, the switching process is started after the holding portion is returned from the placement position to the reference position. The article conveying equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control system further includes a receiving unit that accepts an instruction from a person, In a state where the transport vehicle is controlled according to the command received by the receiving unit, even when the transport vehicle travels across a plurality of the areas, the switching process is not performed.

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