JP3324233B2 - Storage and retrieval equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a loading / unloading device used in a warehouse or a distribution center.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a warehouse, a distribution center, etc., racks are arranged at a predetermined site at appropriate intervals, and one stacker crane is arranged between the racks so as to be able to travel by using this as a traveling path. 2. Description of the Related Art There is used an apparatus for installing a loading / unloading table for temporarily storing a load at a loading / unloading port.

[0003] In this kind of loading / unloading device, a stacker crane is moved in front of the loading / unloading table, a fork is slidably moved to the loading / unloading table side, and this is sunk under the load. Raise and raise the fork to load the loading / unloading table onto the fork, return the fork to the home position of the cage, run the stacker crane in front of the specified shelf and stop, deliver the cage to the specified shelf Position, move the fork from the cage into the shelf, lower the cage appropriately, lower the fork and place the fork load on the shelf receiving part, return the fork to the home position of the cage, and enter and exit the fork If you repeat the process of lowering the cage to a height above the ground that can be sunk under the load of the table, it is possible to load the goods at high speed Also, move the stacker crane in front of the designated shelf of the rack, move the fork slidably to the loading / unloading table side, squeeze it under the load, raise the cage appropriately and raise the fork to lift the shelf. Put the load on the fork, return the fork to the home position of the cage, lower the cage to the ground level where the fork can sink under the load of the loading and unloading table, and move the stacker crane to the front of the loading and unloading table. The process of stopping, sliding the fork to the loading / unloading table side, lowering the cage appropriately, lowering the fork to load the fork on the loading / unloading table, and returning the fork to the home position of the cage can be repeated. If this is the case, the cargo can be unloaded at high speed.

[0004]

However, in the case where one stacker crane is dedicated to one shelf,
If one of the stacker cranes that take care of each shelf fails, or if maintenance is required for one of these stacker cranes, the stacker cranes must be repaired and maintained until the stacker cranes are repaired or maintained. There is a problem that storage and retrieval cannot be performed.

Therefore, as a countermeasure, a method is conceivable in which the forks of a stacker crane are multi-tiered, the forks are extended over shelves into adjacent shelves, and cargo is loaded and unloaded. However, when viewed from the side of the stacker crane, the front shelf is often blocked by cargo, and unless the cargo is once dispensed, it is not possible to enter or leave the shelves over the shelf, so the entire cargo can be loaded and unloaded. There is a problem that efficiency is reduced.

From another point of view, a layout in which one stacker crane is arranged between racks requires a sufficient width on the site, so that there is a problem that it cannot be applied to a narrow site. .

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to back up a stacker crane without significantly lowering the loading / unloading efficiency of a load in a loading / unloading device including a plurality of stacker cranes and a plurality of racks.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides two stacker cranes in parallel and close to each other in the longitudinal direction, and the stacker cranes are provided on both outer sides of the stacker cranes. A rack for storing loads is arranged along the traveling track, and the shelves of both outer racks are transferred from the cage to the cage of the stacker crane in order to transfer loads between the cage and the shelves of both outer racks. A control device that attaches a fork device configured in multiple stages so that it can extend to the back, controls the traveling of these stacker cranes, elevating of the cage, and expansion and contraction of the fork device based on the loading and unloading data of the load. Each stacker crane is given an entry / exit command to load / unload cargo to / from the rack immediately outside the stacker crane. When a number is input or when a maintenance signal is input from the outside, an entry / exit prohibition command is given to the stacker crane, and all entry / exit commands for the stacker crane are added to the entry / exit command of the other stacker crane, and the other Is provided with a control device configured to cause only the stacker crane to enter and exit the racks on both outer sides.

[0009]

According to the above construction, the control device normally operates two stacker cranes to increase the loading / unloading efficiency, and when an abnormal signal is input from one of the stacker cranes, When performing maintenance on one of the cranes, the other stacker crane is used for loading and unloading racks on both outer sides.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the storage and retrieval device.

Racks 1 and 2 provided with a large number of shelves for storing loads at the top, bottom, left and right are respectively installed on both sides of a partition site 3 such as a factory or a distribution center. Path 6 between the rack 2
, Two units are arranged in parallel and close to each other. These stacker cranes 4 and 5 are provided with a crane body 7 which is framed in a rectangular shape as shown in FIG. 2, a cage 8 which can be raised and lowered in a height direction, and a multi-stage fork device 9 which is provided in the cage 8. It is.

The crane body 7 has a lower frame 10
Are engaged with the ground rails 13 laid along the racks 1 and 2 on the floor 12 of the traveling path 6, and the guide wheels 15 of the upper frame 14 are moved in parallel with the ground rails 13 on the ceiling side. As shown in FIG. 1, by being engaged with the ceiling rail 16 disposed in the storage area, it is possible to freely move between the entrance / exit port 17 at the partitioning land end and the rack end 18 on the opposite side without rolling. It has become. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the cage 8 is horizontally hung up and down on the left and right vertical frames 19, 19, and the lowest shelf 2 of the racks 1, 2 is provided.
It can freely move up and down from 0 to the top shelf 21. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the multi-stage fork device 9 is configured in multiple stages so as to extend to the left and right shelves, so that the load 22 can be freely transferred between the cage 8 and the left and right shelves. It has become.

Therefore, the loading / unloading table 23 of the loading / unloading port 17
The crane body 7 is reciprocated between the designated shelves and
If the vertical movement of the cage 8 and the expansion and contraction of the multi-stage fork device 9 toward the shelf (or the entrance / exit table 23 side) are alternately repeated in front of the shelf and the entrance / exit table 23, respectively, The load can be scooped and placed on the loading / unloading table 23, and the load 22 can be scooped from the loading / unloading table 23 and placed on the shelf.

FIG. 5 shows the structure of the multi-stage fork device 9.

The fork device 9 mainly includes the fixed fork 2
4. The first to fourth movable forks 25 to 28, and the fixed fork 24 is integrally fixed to the floor of the cage 8 by bolts or welding with both ends thereof facing left and right shelves. Each of the H-shaped fixed fork 24, the second movable fork 26, and the fourth movable fork 28 has a roller floor 30 constituted by a large number of rollers 29 on the left and right inner side surfaces (the roller floor 30 of the fixed fork). The number of steps is 1, the number of steps of the roller floor 30 of the second movable fork 26 and the fourth movable fork 28 is both 2), and the first movable fork 25 and the third movable fork 27 are provided with the fixed fork 24, the second movable fork Each of the movable fork 26 and the fourth movable fork 28 has a U-shaped groove 31 that engages with the roller floor 30. Therefore, the first moving fork 25
Is movable with respect to the fixed fork 24, the second movable fork 26 is movable with respect to the first movable fork 25, the third movable fork 27 is movable with respect to the second movable fork 26, The fourth moving fork 28 is movable with respect to the third moving fork 27 (the fixed fork 24 and the first to fourth moving forks 25 to 28).
Is provided with a stopper (not shown) for preventing the fork from coming off due to the movement between the upper and lower forks. ).

As shown in FIG. 4, the fork driving mechanism includes a main shaft 33 driven by a fork driving motor 32 and a main shaft 3 at both ends of the fixed fork 24, respectively.
3 is provided with a driven shaft 34 that is rotated by receiving power from
The driven shafts 35 to 40 are provided at both ends of the first to third moving forks 25 to 27, the driven sprocket 41 is mounted on the main shaft 33, and the driven sprockets 42 to 48 are mounted on the driven shafts 34 to 40, respectively. , Driving chain 4
9 and the driven chains 50 to 55 are wound around as shown in FIG.
Can be simultaneously moved by the same stroke toward the inside of the left and right shelves of the traveling path 6.

That is, in FIG.
Is suspended below the driven sprocket 41 of the fixed fork 24 and the driven sprocket 42 of the driven shaft 34 so that the first
One end of the driving chain 49, which is crossed in an X-shape on the moving fork 25 side and goes to the left side, is connected to the first moving fork 2
5 is fixed to the left end of the drive chain 4 and moves to the right.
9 is fixed to the right end of the first moving fork 25, so that when the main shaft 33 rotates clockwise, the main shaft 33 rotates counterclockwise so that the first moving fork 25 slides to the right. Is adapted to slide the first moving fork 25 to the left.

In the second moving fork 26 and the third moving fork 27, driven chains 50 and 52 are wound around driven sprockets 43 and 45 at their left ends, respectively. 52 is connected to the right end of the lower moving fork (for the second moving fork 26, the right end of the first moving fork 25; for the third moving fork 27, the right end of the second moving fork 26). ), And the other end is the right end of the upper moving fork (the right end of the third moving fork 27 for the second moving fork 26, and the fourth moving fork 28 for the third moving fork 27). And the second moving fork 2
6. The driven chains 51 and 53 are wound around the driven sprockets 44 and 46 at the right end of the third moving fork 27, respectively, and one ends of the driven chains 51 and 53 on the lower side are
Left end of lower moving fork (left end of first moving fork 25 for second moving fork 26, left end of second moving fork 26 for third moving fork 27)
To the left end of the upper moving fork (second
The main shaft 33 is fixed to the movable fork 26 at the left end of the third movable fork 27 and to the third movable fork 27 at the left end of the fourth movable fork 28.
Is rotated right, the second to fourth moving forks 26 to
When the main shaft 33 is rotated to the left, the second to fourth moving forks 26 to 28 are simultaneously slid to the left in the same stroke. .

Of course, the first to fourth moving forks 2
The maximum stroke of 6 to 28 is
5, the tip of the fourth fork 28 is determined so as to penetrate deep into the left or right rack shelf to enable proper delivery of the load (the strength of the moving fork is unreasonable with respect to the bending load). In such cases, measures are taken to increase the section modulus or increase the number of steps of the fork.) Note that the ends of the driving chain 49 and each driven chain are fixed via a chain tensioner.

The mechanism for raising and lowering the cage 8 up and down is, as shown in FIG.
A lifting splot 56 is provided on each of the lifting parts 8a and 8b so as to protrude right and left from the lifting parts 8a and 8b, and is rotatable around a horizontal axis. Unloading chain 5
7 and a driving device for operating the unloading chain 57 up and down.

Specifically, one end of the unloading chain 57 is fixed to the upper frame 14 of the crane main body 7, and the other end of the unloading chain 57 is first folded downward by a folding sprocket 58 of the upper frame 14. After being turned up again by the turning sprocket 59 at the lower part of the vertical frame 8b, it is further wound around the sprocket 61 of the reduction gear 60, and the other end is integrally connected to the lower end of the vertical frame 8b. I have. Therefore, only by changing the rotation direction of the unloading motor 62 that drives the reduction gear 60, the cage 8 moves up and down without difficulty.

A traveling motor 63 with a reduction gear for traveling the stacker cranes 4 and 5 is mounted on the lower frame 10 and has a traveling motor sprocket (not shown) and an axle driving sprocket (not shown). The stacker cranes 4 and 5 can be moved to any position and stopped by driving a traveling chain (not shown) wound endlessly around the stacker.

Next, the control device 64 and its related configuration will be described.

The control device 64 controls each stacker crane 4,
5 is electrically configured so as to give a loading / unloading command for loading / unloading the load 22 to / from the rack immediately outside thereof, and is basically configured to execute the following control.

(1) Normal control (a) Storage control Before scooping the load 22 from the loading / unloading table 23, first, the fork driving motor 32 is rotated to move the first to fourth moving forks 25 to 28 to the home position. (First to fourth forks 25 to 28 with respect to the fixed fork 24 as shown in FIG.
Are not at positions where they extend stepwise,
5 to 28 are pulled into the cage 8, and the first to fourth forks 25 to 28 and the fixed forks 24 are positions where the forks overlap in a box shape. ).

The traveling motor 63 is activated to move the stacker cranes 4 and 5 in front of the loading / unloading table 23 and stop. The control device 64 stops the traveling motor 63 when the sensors (not shown) of the stacker cranes 4 and 5 detect the detected member (not shown) of the loading / unloading base 23.

The unloading motor 62 is operated to lower the cage 8, and the unloading is performed at a height such that the upper surface of the fourth moving fork 28 is appropriately positioned below the lower surface of the load 22 placed on the loading / unloading table 23. The motor 62 is stopped.

After lowering the cage 8, the fork driving motor 32 is operated to the fork feeding side, and the first to fourth moving forks 25 to 28 are extended to the shelf side.
At this time, the fork driving motor 32 is stopped at a position where the tip of the fourth moving fork 28 slips under the load 22 and protrudes forward as appropriate.

After that, the unloading motor 62 is driven to adjust the ground height of the cage 8 to a height suitable for the movement of the stacker cranes 4 and 5, and then the fork driving motor 32 is moved in the fork retraction direction. Drive to the first
To return the fourth moving forks 25 to 28 to the home position.

The running motor 63 is restarted in accordance with a command input from the outside to the control device 64, and the stacker cranes 4, 5 are moved to the designated address in front of the shelf. Then, the unloading motor 62 is operated to load the load 22 on the designated shelf.
The height of the cage 8 is adjusted to a height at which can be transferred.

Next, the first to fourth moving forks 2 are operated by operating the fork driving motor 32 to the fork feeding side.
5 to 28 are extended toward the back of the shelves of the racks 1 and 2, and the fork driving motor 32 is stopped at a position where the tip of the fourth moving fork 28 reaches the back of the shelf.

The unloading motor 62 is operated to lower the cage 8, and the load 22 on the fourth moving fork 28 is placed on the pallet receiver 65 on the designated shelf (see FIG. 3).
Thereafter, the chain drive motor 32 is driven in the fork retraction direction to return the first to fourth moving forks 25 to 28 to the home position, and then the unloading motor 62 is driven to travel over the ground height of the cage 8. Adjust to a suitable height.

The above steps are repeated to sequentially store the loads 22 on designated shelves.

(B) Outgoing control Before scooping the load 22 from the designated shelf, first, the fork driving motor 32 is activated to return the first to fourth moving forks 25 to 28 to the home position.

The running motor 63 is started in accordance with a command input to the control device 64 to move the stacker cranes 4 and 5 to the designated address in front of the shelf.

Next, the unloading motor 62 is operated to adjust the height of the cage 8 to a height at which the load 22 can be scooped from the designated shelf.

The first to fourth moving forks 25 to 2 are operated by operating the fork driving motor 32 to the fork feeding side.
The fork driving motor 32 is stopped at a position where the tip of the fourth moving fork 28 reaches the back of the shelf, and then the unloading motor 62 is operated to raise the cage 8 to a predetermined height. The load 22 is placed on the fourth moving fork 28.

The fork driving motor 32 is driven in the fork retraction direction to drive the first to fourth moving forks 25.
After returning to the home position, the unloading motor 62 is driven to adjust the ground height of the cage 8 to a height suitable for traveling.

The traveling motor 63 is started to move the stacker cranes 4 and 5 in front of the loading / unloading table 23 and stop.

The fork driving motor 32 is operated to the fork unwinding side, and the first to fourth moving forks 25 to 2
8 is extended toward the loading / unloading table 23, and the fork driving motor 32 is stopped at a position where the tip of the fourth moving fork 28 reaches the inside of the shelf.

The unloading motor 62 is operated to lower the cage 8 by a predetermined height, and the load 22 is placed on the loading / unloading table 23.
Return the fourth moving forks 25 to 28 to the home position.

The above steps are repeated to unload the load 22 from the designated shelf.

(2) Backup control The above-described control is basically performed on the left stacker crane 5
Causes the left rack 2 to carry in and out of the load 22 exclusively, and the right stacker crane 4 causes the right rack 1 to carry in and out of the load 22 exclusively, thereby improving the storage and retrieval efficiency. However, with this control alone, if any one of the stacker cranes 4 and 5 on the right side or the left side causes a trouble that hinders the operation, Can not respond to the input of a signal requesting maintenance to one of them.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, first, in order to know the abnormality related to the operation of each of the stacker cranes 4 and 5,
Anomaly detection circuit for important parts (including those using sensors)
Is attached.

For example, with respect to the traveling of the stacker cranes 4 and 5, a traveling abnormality detecting device (not shown) configured to electrically detect an abnormality (malfunction, overload, etc.) in the traveling motor 63. The lifting motor 62 is attached with a lifting / lowering abnormality detecting device (not shown) configured to electrically detect the abnormality (malfunction, overload, etc.) of the unloading motor 62, Regarding the operation of the fork device 9, the fork driving motor 32
In addition, a fork operation abnormality detection device (not shown) configured to electrically detect the abnormality (malfunction, overload, etc.) is attached.

Further, a chain abnormality detecting device (not shown) configured to electrically detect whether the chain is cut or over-tensioned also in various chain / sprocket systems to which power can be transmitted from various motors. Z) is attached. Of course, these various abnormality detection devices input an abnormality signal to the control device 64 when the operation must be stopped.

The control unit 64 issues an entry / exit prohibition command to the stacker crane when an abnormal operation signal is input from one of the stacker cranes 4 and 5 or when a maintenance signal is input from the outside. When the fork driving motor 32 and the traveling motor 63 can be moved normally, first, the fork driving motor 32 is operated in the fork retraction direction to move the first to fourth moving forks 25 to 28 into the cage 8. Then, a command is issued to drive the traveling motor 63 to move the stacker crane to an evacuation area of the sectioned land or an area that does not obstruct entry and exit. Here, if the stacker crane that has issued the abnormal signal cannot be completely retracted to the maintenance area or if it is not necessary, the stacker crane is left as it is.

Then, all the loading / unloading commands for the stacker crane to which the abnormal signal is input are added to the loading / unloading command of the other stacker crane, and the racks on both outer sides are loaded and unloaded by the other stacker crane alone.

In this case, the control unit 64 sorts out all the incoming / outgoing commands except the interrupt and the unprocessed incoming / outgoing commands by calculation to determine the most efficient incoming / outgoing order. Load 2 according to the calculation result.
Carry in and out of 2. In addition, when the stacker crane that has issued the abnormal signal has not been retreated to the maintenance area and has to be left in the middle of the traveling path 6, the addition to the shelf in the area where the stacker crane has stopped is performed. Entry and exit instructions are excluded from the target of the addition.

When the stacker crane is recovered by the repair or the maintenance is completed, the control device 64 has previously prohibited the returning stacker crane from the loading / unloading order of the stacker crane which had been moving independently until then. The entry / exit instruction is deleted, and the entry / exit prohibition instruction of the returning stacker crane is released, and the entry / exit instruction processed from the entry / exit instruction to the return is deleted.

Here, the difference between the normal control and the stocking process is that the first to fourth forks 25 to 28 of the fork device of the other stacker crane extend to the back of the rack on the opposite side for stocking. Also, only the step of pulling back the cage 8 to the home position from the back of the rack on the opposite side. All other steps are the same as the normal control described above.

Therefore, even when a failure occurs in one of the stacker cranes or when maintenance is performed on either one of the stacker cranes, it is possible to continue loading and unloading without greatly reducing the loading and unloading efficiency of the load. it can.

[0054]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention exerts the following excellent effects.

(1) Even if a failure occurs in one of the stacker cranes or when performing maintenance on one of the stacker cranes, the loading and unloading of the load is continued without greatly reducing the loading and unloading efficiency. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the stacker crane according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrows AA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a drive mechanism of the multi-stage fork device.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the structure of a multi-stage fork device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 rack 4, 5 stacker crane 8 cage 9 fork device 22 load 64 control device

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 1/04 B65G 1/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. Two stacker cranes are installed in parallel and close to each other along the longitudinal direction, and racks for storing loads along both sides of the stacker cranes are provided on both outer sides of the stacker cranes. In order to transfer loads between the cage and the shelves of the outer racks, a fork device having a multi-stage structure that can extend from the cage to the inner shelves of the outer racks is provided on the stacker crane cage. A control device that controls mounting, running of these stacker cranes, raising and lowering of cages, and expansion and contraction of fork devices based on the load / unload data of the load. When an abnormal operation signal is input from one of these stacker cranes or when an external maintenance When a number is input, a command to prohibit entry / exit is given to the stacker crane, all entry / exit instructions for the stacker crane are added to the entry / exit order for the other stacker crane, and only the other stacker crane is used to control the outer racks. An entry / exit device comprising a control device configured to perform entry / exit.