JP6766698B2 - Automated guided vehicle for containers - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an automated guided vehicle for containers .

In recent years, it has been proposed to transport containers by an automatic guided vehicle dedicated to transporting containers at a container terminal as a port facility. The automatic guided vehicle on which the container can be mounted is a large automatic guided vehicle (for example, a total length of 15.0 m, a width of 3.0 m, and a height of 2.0 m or more). In this type of automatic guided vehicle, in order to improve the efficiency of container transportation, container transportation at high speed is required, so that the maximum speed may be improved to about 25 km / h.

On the other hand, emergency stop buttons as emergency stop means are provided on the front and rear of the vehicle body side of the automatic guided vehicle. When any of these emergency stop buttons is pressed by an operator, it is possible to directly shut off the power supply of the drive unit without going through the control unit that controls the drive unit of the automatic guided vehicle. This type of emergency stop means is a condition required for automatic guided vehicles by relevant laws and regulations and JIS standards.

As a conventional technique related to an emergency stop of an automatic guided vehicle, for example, an emergency stop device for a submerged automatic guided vehicle disclosed in Patent Document 1 can be mentioned. Patent Document 1 discloses a submerged automatic guided vehicle that is submerged under a wagon and transports the wagon in that state. Emergency stop buttons and bumpers are provided at the front and rear ends of the wagon. For example, when the emergency stop button is pressed, the stop control means provided in the automatic guided vehicle makes the automatic guided vehicle stop in an emergency.

JP-A-10-291798

However, the automatic guided vehicle that transports the container is significantly larger than the automatic guided vehicle disclosed in Patent Document 1, and the operator approaches the moving vehicle body due to the emergency stop of the automatic guided vehicle. It is difficult to touch the emergency stop button directly. Moreover, the higher the speed of a large automatic guided vehicle, the greater the difficulty of directly touching the emergency stop button.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, an object of the present invention, without touching the AGV container, allows the emergency stop of the unmanned transporting vehicle at the position away from the AGV containers It is in the provision of automatic guided vehicles for containers .

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes a vehicle body, a traveling drive unit provided on the vehicle body, a control unit mounted on the vehicle body and controlling the traveling drive unit, and the control unit. In an automatic guided vehicle for containers , which includes an emergency stop device that enables an emergency stop during traveling without intervention, the emergency stop device is provided on the side surface of the vehicle body, and is provided with a light projecting element and a light receiving light. The vehicle body includes a light-shielding type detector having an element and a switch that cuts off the power supply to the traveling drive unit based on the detection of light-shielding by the light-shielding type detector. A display unit is provided in which the position of the extending optical axis is displayed by a color scheme, and the optical axis is shielded from light by a locking tool gripped by an operator .

In the present invention, when an operator causes, for example, a long rod as an interfering object to interfere with the optical axis to block light at a position away from a moving container automatic guided vehicle, the light-shielding detector blocks light. Detect. When the light-shielding detector detects light-shielding, the switch cuts off the power supply to the traveling drive unit, so the container automatic guided vehicle stops in an emergency without going through the control unit. Therefore, the case of an emergency stop the AGV containers, by shielding by interference interfering object to the optical axis, thereby emergency stop AGV container at a position away without touching the AGV containers be able to. Further, since the position of the optical axis is displayed by the display unit, the operator can intuitively recognize the position where the light can be shielded on the vehicle body.

Further, in the above-mentioned automatic guided vehicle for containers , the optical axis may be configured to extend in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body.
In this case, since the optical axis extends in the front-rear direction, dust does not accumulate on the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion of the light-shielding detector. Therefore, the accumulated dust does not block light, and an emergency stop due to a malfunction caused by the accumulated dust does not occur.

Further, in the above-mentioned automatic guided vehicle for containers, the light-shielding type detector may be configured to be a multi-optical axis area sensor arranged so that a plurality of the optical axes extend in parallel.
In this case, by using the multi-optical axis area sensor, the side surface of the vehicle body can be covered with a wide range of light-shielding areas, and light-shielding by interference objects becomes easier.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide automatic guided vehicle to enable emergency stop AGV containers at without touching the AGV container, away from the AGV container position.

It is a side view of the automatic guided vehicle for a container which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a bottom view of the automatic guided vehicle for a container which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the automatic guided vehicle for a container which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a control block diagram of an automatic guided vehicle for a container. It is an enlarged side view which enlarged the main part of the automatic guided vehicle for a container. It is a circuit diagram which shows the main part of the electric power circuit of the automatic guided vehicle for a container. It is a perspective view of the locking tool as an interfering object. (A) is a plan view of an automatic guided vehicle for a container according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and (b) is a side view of the same. It is a side view of the automatic guided vehicle for a container which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

(First Embodiment)
Hereinafter, will be described with reference to the drawings engagement Turkey antenna for AGV to a first embodiment. The automatic guided vehicle for containers of the present embodiment receives the cargo handling of the container between the ship and the container yard at the container terminal as a port facility and transports the container.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle body 11 of the container automatic guided vehicle 10 is provided with a loading platform 12 that supports the container C as a load. A pair of left and right front wheels 13 are provided on the lower front side of the vehicle body 11, and a pair of left and right rear wheels 14 are provided on the lower rear side of the vehicle body 11.

The loading platform 12 can support a container (hereinafter referred to as "40ft container") C having a standard of 40ft (feet). Further, in the case of a container of a standard of 20 ft (feet) (not shown, hereinafter referred to as "20 ft container"), the loading platform 12 can support two 20 ft containers in the front and rear. The total length of the vehicle body 11 is a length that matches the total length of the 40ft container.

A plurality of stoppers 15 for regulating the displacement of the container C in the width direction with respect to the loading platform 12 are provided near the edge portion in the width direction of the vehicle body 11. Further, stoppers 16 for regulating the positional deviation of the container C mounted on the loading platform 12 in the length direction are provided on the front portion and the rear portion of the vehicle body 11, respectively. The stoppers 16 provided on the front portion and the rear portion of the vehicle body 11 can correspond to the 40ft container C, respectively.

Explaining the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 14, a turning support portion 17 that can turn horizontally with respect to the vehicle body 11 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a shaft case 18 for accommodating an axle (not shown) and a differential mechanism (not shown) is connected to the lower end of the turning support portion 17. Tires 19 are attached to both ends of the axle, and the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 14 have a double tire structure including two tires 19. The shaft case 18 is provided with an electric motor 20 for traveling. The electric motor 20 corresponds to a traveling drive unit. The electric motor 20 is fixed to the shaft case 18 so that the longitudinal direction of the electric motor 20 is substantially horizontal between the two tires 19. The rotational force of the electric motor 20 is transmitted to the axle via the differential mechanism. Therefore, the driving force for traveling is transmitted to all the wheels (front wheels 13 and rear wheels 14) from the corresponding electric motor 20. In this embodiment, a servomotor is used as the electric motor 20.

As shown in FIG. 3, a steering mechanism 21 is connected to the upper portion of each turning support portion 17. Although not shown, the steering mechanism 21 includes a steering electric motor and a speed reducer for turning the turning support portion 17. Therefore, the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 14 can be steered independently of each other by the operation of the steering mechanism 21. In the present embodiment, the maximum steering angles of the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 14 are set to 90 degrees or more to the right and 90 degrees or more to the left when the steering angle during straight running is 0 degrees. Therefore, the steerable steering angles of the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 14 are 0 to 90 degrees or more to the right and 0 to 90 degrees or more to the left. That is, the steerable steering angles of the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 14 are set to 90 degrees or more in the left-right direction with respect to the steering angle of 0 degrees when traveling straight ahead.

The vehicle body 11 is equipped with a controller 22 that controls each part of the automatic guided vehicle 10 for containers. As shown in FIG. 4, the controller 22 includes an arithmetic processing unit 23, a storage unit 24, and a communication unit 25. The arithmetic processing unit 23 executes various programs and performs various data processing. The storage unit 24 executes various programs and stores various data. The communication unit 25 communicates with a higher-level computer (not shown) installed on the ground side. In the present embodiment, the container automatic guided vehicle 10 travels at the container terminal or stops at a predetermined position based on a command from a higher-level computer. The upper computer grasps the operation status of the container automatic guided vehicle 10 at the container terminal and also grasps the cargo handling status of the container terminal.

In the present embodiment, the controller 22 is connected to a motor driver 26 that controls the drive of each electric motor 20, and has a function of instructing the motor driver 26. The motor driver 26 supplies electric power according to the command of the controller 22 to the electric motor 20. Therefore, the controller 22 can control the vehicle speed by driving the electric motor 20 by instructing the motor driver 26. For example, the controller 22 gives a command to the motor driver 26 for high-speed running (25 km / h), a command for running at low speed (0.5 km / h), and a command for acceleration or deceleration to the motor driver 26. Can be communicated to. The controller 22 corresponds to a control unit.

Further, in the present embodiment, the controller 22 is connected to each steering mechanism 21, and each steering mechanism 21 steers the corresponding wheel based on the command of the controller 22. The wheels are steered independently of each other by the corresponding steering mechanism 21. The controller 22 controls each steering mechanism 21 so that the steering angles of the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 14 become 0 degrees when traveling straight. Further, when passing through a curved path, the controller 22 controls each steering mechanism 21 so as to have a steering angle required to correspond to the curved path of the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 14. Further, in the present embodiment, each steering mechanism 21 is controlled so as to travel diagonally without changing the direction of the vehicle body 11 or to travel in the width direction of the vehicle body 11 without changing the direction of the vehicle body 11. ..

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, position detection sensors 27 for reading the marker M embedded in the road surface are provided at the front and rear portions at the bottom of the vehicle body 11. The position detection sensor 27 detects the position by reading the marker M. The markers M of the present embodiment are magnetic markers, and ID information (position information of X and Y coordinates) for each marker is held in these markers M. By embedding the plurality of markers M in the road surface, for example, a traveling route of the container automatic guided vehicle 10 is formed at the container terminal. The position detection sensor 27 is connected to the controller 22. The controller 22 recognizes the position of the automatic guided vehicle 10 for containers based on the detection signal of the position detection sensor 27.

By the way, the container automatic guided vehicle 10 of the present embodiment is provided with an emergency stop device for making an emergency stop of the running container automatic guided vehicle 10. The emergency stop device includes an optical axis sensor 31 as a light-shielding detector provided on the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle body 11, and an electromagnetic switch 35 that cuts off the power supply to the electric motor 20 based on the detection of light-shielding by the optical axis sensor 31. And have. By operating the emergency stop device, the container automatic guided vehicle 10 is emergency stopped without going through the controller 22.

The optical axis sensor 31 of the present embodiment is a transmission type optical axis sensor, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a light projecting unit 32 and a light projecting unit having a light projecting element 32A that emits laser light L are projected. It includes a light receiving unit 33 having a light receiving element 33A that receives the laser light L from 32. The light projecting unit 32 is provided near the rear end on the side surface of the vehicle body 11. The light receiving portion 33 is provided near the front end on the side surface of the vehicle body 11. Therefore, the laser beam L as the optical axis extends in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 11. When the laser beam L is blocked between the light emitting unit 32 and the light receiving unit 33, the optical axis sensor 31 detects the light blocking. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the optical axis sensors 31 are provided on the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle body 11, respectively.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the vehicle body 11 includes a display unit 34 that displays the position of the laser beam L extending by the optical axis sensor 31. As shown in FIG. 5, the display unit 34 has a red arrow 34A, a yellow region portion 34B, and a red line portion 34C. Further, "EMAERGENCY STOP" meaning "emergency stop" is written in characters near the center of the display unit 34. The display unit 34 has a well-conspicuous color scheme in combination with red and yellow in order to allow the operator who makes an emergency stop to intuitively recognize the position where the optical axis sensor 31 can block light. The display unit 34 may be made of a cutting sheet material that can be painted or attached to the vehicle body 11. In FIG. 5, the laser beam L is not shown.

Next, the electromagnetic switch 35 as the switch will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the electromagnetic switch 35 is a contactor including a contact 41 that can be opened and closed and an exciting coil 42 for opening and closing the contact 41. The electromagnetic switch 35 of the present embodiment is provided between the vehicle-mounted battery 43 and the motor driver 26 in the power circuit. When the exciting coil 42 is excited by energization, the electromagnetic switch 35 closes the contact 41 and energizes the electric motor 20 from the vehicle-mounted battery 43. When the excitation of the exciting coil 42 is released, the electromagnetic switch 35 opens the contact 41 to cut off the energization from the vehicle-mounted battery 43 to the electric motor 20. In the present embodiment, two optical axis sensors 31 are provided on the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle body 11, the two light emitting units 32 are connected in series, and the two light receiving units 33 are connected in series and 2 The light projecting units 32 are connected in parallel. Further, the two light receiving portions 33 are connected in series with the exciting coil 42. When the laser beam L is blocked by any of the two optical axis sensors 31 and light shielding is detected, the excitation of the exciting coil 42 is canceled.

The power circuit shown in FIG. 6 includes switches 44 and 45 connected in parallel between the exciting coil 42 and the light receiving unit 33. An exciting coil 46 for opening and closing the switch 44 is connected in series with the light receiving unit 33. The switch 44 is closed by the excitation of the exciting coil 46. Therefore, the switch 44 and the exciting coil 46 form a relay. The switch 44 keeps the closed state unless the excitation coil 46 is released, but once the excitation coil 46 is released, it keeps the open state. That is, once the optical axis sensor 31 detects light blocking, the switch 44 does not close even if the optical axis sensor 31 returns to the state in which light blocking is not detected. That is, the switch 44 and the exciting coil 46 form a self-holding circuit.

The switch 45 is a switch that is normally open, and is a switch for returning the container automatic guided vehicle 10 from an emergency stop state to a state in which it can travel. In the state where the excitation coil 46 is de-excited, the switch 44 is open, but by operating and closing the switch 45, the exciting coil 46 is excited, and the switch 44 is closed to be in an energized state. Further, since the exciting coil 42 is also excited by energization, the contact 41 is closed, the electromagnetic switch 35 is energized, and the container automatic guided vehicle 10 is returned to the runnable state. The switch 45 is a button provided on the vehicle body 11 and can be directly operated by the operator.

Next, the locking tool 47 shown in FIG. 7 will be described. The locking tool 47 is a boat hook used to attract a small vessel. In this embodiment, it is used as an interfering object for making an emergency stop of the container automatic guided vehicle 10. The locking tool 47 includes a telescopic pole portion 48 and a hook portion 49 attached to the tip end portion of the pole portion 48. The locking tool 47 has a length of 2 m or more when the pole portion 48 is extended. The hook portion 49 is formed in a hook shape. The end portion of the locking tool 47 opposite to the tip portion provided with the hook portion 49 is a portion to be gripped by the operator.

Next, an emergency stop of the automatic guided vehicle 10 for containers will be described. The automatic guided vehicle 10 for containers travels on the traveling route while checking the current position while reading the marker M on the traveling route. When the container automatic guided vehicle 10 is traveling, the exciting coil 42 is excited and the electromagnetic switch 35 is in an energized state. At this time, the exciting coil 46 is excited and the switch 44 is closed and energized. Therefore, the electric power of the vehicle-mounted battery 43 is supplied to the electric motor 20 via the electromagnetic switch 35 and the motor driver 26.

When the operator intentionally stops the automatic guided vehicle 10 for containers, which is normally running, for some reason, the operator causes the hook portion 49 of the extended locking tool 47 to interfere with the laser beam L. To block the laser beam L. The optical axis sensor 31 detects light blocking due to the interference of the locking tool 47 with the laser beam L.

When the optical axis sensor 31 detects light blocking, the excitation of the exciting coils 42 and 46 is canceled. When the excitation of the exciting coil 42 is canceled, the contact 41 of the electromagnetic switch 35 is opened, the energization is cut off, and the electric motor 20 is stopped. When the electric motor 20 is stopped, the container automatic guided vehicle 10 is stopped in an emergency. The switch 44 opens when the excitation of the exciting coil 46 is canceled. Therefore, even if the light shielding by the locking tool 47 is eliminated in the optical axis sensor 31, the exciting coils 42 and 46 are not excited. By operating the emergency stop device using the locking tool 47 in this way, the energization of the electric motor 20 is directly cut off without going through the controller 22, and the automatic guided vehicle 10 for the container is stopped in an emergency. Therefore, even if the controller 22 breaks down or the program executed by the controller 22 malfunctions, the optical axis sensor 31 can detect the shading to ensure a reliable and prompt emergency stop.

In order to switch the container automatic guided vehicle 10 from the emergency stopped state to the state in which normal traveling is possible, the switch 45 may be closed by the operation of the operator. By closing the switch 45, the exciting coils 42 and 46 are excited, the contact 41 of the electromagnetic switch 35 is closed, and the switch 44 is closed. By closing the switch 44, it is possible to continue the excitation of the exciting coils 42 and 46 even if the switch 45 is opened. Therefore, the electric power of the vehicle-mounted battery 43 can be supplied to the electric motor 20 via the electromagnetic switch 35 and the motor driver 26.

The automatic guided vehicle for containers 10 according to the present embodiment has the following effects.
(1) At a position away from the moving container automatic guided vehicle 10, for example, when the operator interferes with the laser beam L of the optical axis sensor 31 with the locking tool 47 as an interfering object to block light. The optical axis sensor 31 detects shading. When the optical axis sensor 31 detects light shielding, the electromagnetic switch 35 cuts off the power supply to the electric motor 20, so that the container automatic guided vehicle 10 makes an emergency stop without going through the controller 22. Therefore, when the automatic guided vehicle 10 for a container is stopped in an emergency, an interfering object interferes with the laser beam L of the optical axis sensor 31 to block light, so that the container is placed at a remote position without touching the automatic guided vehicle 10 for a container. The automatic guided vehicle 10 can be stopped in an emergency. Further, since the position of the laser beam L on the side surface of the vehicle body 11 is conspicuously displayed by the display unit 34, the operator can intuitively recognize the position where the light shielding is possible on the vehicle body 11.

(2) Since the laser light L in the optical axis sensor 31 extends in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 11, dust is collected on the light emitting element 32A in the light emitting unit 32 and the light receiving element 33A in the light receiving unit 33 in the optical axis sensor 31. It does not accumulate. Therefore, the dust accumulated on the optical axis sensor 31 does not block light, and an emergency stop due to a malfunction caused by the accumulated dust does not occur.

(3) Since the self-holding circuit is included in the power circuit, even if the optical axis sensor 31 returns to the non-light-shielded state after detecting the light-shielding, the electromagnetic switch 35 cuts off the energization and the electric power is supplied to the electric motor. It is not supplied to 20, and the state of emergency stop can be maintained.

(4) Since the emergency stop of the automatic guided vehicle 10 for containers may be shielded from light by interference with the laser light L in the optical axis sensor 31, it interferes with the laser light L by using an interfering object other than the locking tool 47. Can be done. For example, it is possible to block the laser beam L by throwing an interfering object using a ball or the like as an interfering object, and to make an emergency stop of the container automatic guided vehicle 10.

(5) Since the laser beam L is projected from the vicinity of the rear end to the vicinity of the front end on the side surface of the vehicle body 11, it is possible to set a range in which interference is possible in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 11. Therefore, the operator can interfere with the laser beam L over a long range in the front-rear direction on the side surface of the vehicle body 11, and it is easy to block light. Further, only two optical axis sensors 31 are required for the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle body 11, and the manufacturing cost can be suppressed.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, the automatic guided vehicle for containers according to the second embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the configuration of the optical axis sensor is different from that of the first embodiment. For the configuration common to the first embodiment, the description of the first embodiment is incorporated and the same reference numerals are used.

As shown in FIG. 8A, in the container automatic guided vehicle 50 of the present embodiment, two optical axis sensors 31 are arranged on the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle body 11, respectively. One optical axis sensor 31 is provided near the front end of the side surface of the vehicle body 11, and the other optical axis sensor 31 is provided near the rear end of the side surface of the vehicle body 11. The optical axis sensors 31 provided on the front and rear of the vehicle body 11 include a light projecting unit 32 and a light receiving unit 33, and the light projecting unit 32 and the light receiving unit 33 project the laser light L toward the front. It is provided on the side. The optical axis sensor 31 of the present embodiment has the same configuration as the optical axis sensor 31 of the first embodiment except for the projection distance of the laser beam L.

As shown in FIG. 8B, a display unit 51 for displaying the position of the laser beam L extended by the optical axis sensor 31 is provided on the side surface of the vehicle body 11. The display unit 51 has the same configuration as the display unit 34 of the first embodiment except for a dimensional difference. Although not shown, the display unit 51 has a red arrow, a yellow region portion, and a red line portion, similarly to the display unit 34 of the first embodiment.

According to the present embodiment, the effects equivalent to those of the first embodiment (1) to (4) are exhibited. Further, according to the present embodiment, even when the laser beam cannot be projected over the front and rear of the side surface of the vehicle body 11, the laser beam can be projected near the front end and the rear end on the side surface of the vehicle body 11.

(Third Embodiment)
Next, a description will be given of a container for automatic guided vehicle according to the third embodiment. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a multi-optical axis area sensor arranged so that a plurality of optical axes extend in parallel is used. For the configuration common to the first embodiment, the description of the first embodiment is incorporated and the same reference numerals are used.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the container automatic guided vehicle 60 of the present embodiment, the multi-optical axis area sensor 61 is arranged on the side surface of the vehicle body 11. In the multi-optical axis area sensor 61, a light projecting unit 62 in which a plurality of light projecting elements 62A are arranged at equal intervals and a plurality of light receiving elements 63A paired with the plurality of light projecting elements 62A are arranged at equal intervals. It is provided with a light receiving unit 63. The light emitting element 62A has the same configuration as the light emitting element 32A of the first embodiment, and the light receiving element 63A has the same configuration as the light receiving element 33A of the first embodiment.

The light emitting unit 62 is provided on the side surface of the vehicle body 11 in the vicinity of the loading platform 12, and the light receiving unit 63 is provided on the side surface of the vehicle body 11 so as to be located below the light emitting unit 62. Therefore, the plurality of laser beams L in the multi-optical axis area sensor 61 are arranged so as to extend in parallel, and are directed downward in the vertical direction. The multi-optical axis area sensor 61 sets a wide range of light-shielding areas on the side surface of the vehicle body 11 in the front-rear direction.

In the present embodiment, the vehicle body 11 includes a display unit 64 that displays the position of the laser beam L extending by the multi-optical axis area sensor 61. As shown in FIG. 9, the display unit 64 has a red arrow 64A, a yellow region portion 64B, and a red line portion 64C. Further, "EMAERGENCY STOP" is written in characters near the center of the display unit 64. The color scheme of the display unit 64 is the same as that of the display unit 34 of the first embodiment.

According to the present embodiment, the effects equivalent to those of the first embodiment (1), (3), and (4) are exhibited. Further, in the present embodiment, by using the multi-optical axis area sensor 61, the side surface of the vehicle body 11 can be set to a wide range where light can be shielded, and light shielding by an interfering object becomes easier.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the invention. For example, the present invention may be modified as follows.

○ In the above embodiment, a transmissive optical axis sensor is used as the light-shielding detector, but this is not the case. As the light-shielding detector, for example, a retroreflective optical axis sensor including a light-emitting unit in which a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element are integrated and a reflector that reflects laser light may be used. In the case of a retroreflective optical axis sensor, when the laser beam emitted from the light emitting / receiving unit and returned from the reflector is blocked by an interfering object, light blocking is detected. Further, a diffuse reflection type optical axis sensor having a light emitting / receiving unit and not having a reflector may be used. In the case of a diffuse reflection type optical axis sensor, when the laser beam is blocked by an interfering object, the light reflected by the interfering object is received by the light emitting / receiving unit, so that light blocking is detected.
○ In the above embodiment, the optical axis extends in the front-rear direction or the up-down direction of the vehicle body, but the direction in which the optical axis extends is not limited to the front-rear direction and the up-down direction. The optical axis may extend in a direction inclined with respect to the front-rear direction, for example.
○ In the above embodiment, an example in which the operator uses a boat hook as an interfering object has been described, but the interfering object is not limited to the boat hook. The interferer can be freely used as long as it can block the optical axis of the light-shielding detector.
○ In the above embodiment, a switch is provided between the in-vehicle battery and the motor driver as a means for supplying / cutting power to the electric motor in the power circuit, but the position of the switch is not limited to this. For example, it may be provided between an electric motor as a traveling drive unit and a motor driver in a power circuit. In this case, a switch capable of blocking the three-phase wiring is used.
○ In the above embodiment, the display unit is provided on the vehicle body, but a part of the display unit may be provided on the light-shielding detector in addition to the vehicle body. Further, the color scheme of the display unit may be other than the combination of yellow and red. The display unit may be designed to stand out compared to other parts so that it can be grasped as an area where emergency stop can be shielded in the vehicle body. For example, not only the color scheme but also the combination of figures, characters, and patterns It may be.
-In the above embodiment, an example of an electric motor as a traveling drive unit has been described, but the traveling drive unit is not limited to the electric motor. The traveling drive unit may have, for example, a configuration in which a hydraulic motor and an electric element for driving the hydraulic motor are combined. The electrical elements include, for example, an electric motor that drives a hydraulic pump that supplies hydraulic oil to the hydraulic motor and a hydraulic solenoid valve as a braking means. In this case, the electric motor is driven by supplying electric power to the electric motor during traveling, and the hydraulic pump driven by the electric motor supplies hydraulic oil to the hydraulic motor. The hydraulic motor is driven by the supply of hydraulic oil, and the automatic guided vehicle runs. During traveling, the hydraulic solenoid valve maintains the brake release state in which the hydraulic oil in the hydraulic piping flows freely by supplying power to the hydraulic solenoid valve as a braking means. On the other hand, when the automatic guided vehicle is stopped in an emergency, the emergency stop device is operated to cut off the power supply to the electric motor that drives the hydraulic pump, and cut off the power supply to the hydraulic solenoid valve. By cutting off the power supply to the electric motor, the supply of hydraulic oil to the hydraulic motor is stopped, and by cutting off the power supply to the hydraulic solenoid valve, the hydraulic solenoid valve stops the flow of hydraulic oil to the hydraulic brake. It becomes a braking state to brake. As a result, the automatic guided vehicle stops in an emergency. In addition, a traveling drive unit having a pneumatic motor using pneumatic pressure instead of hydraulic pressure may be used .

10, 50, 60 Automated guided vehicle 11 Body 13 Front wheel 14 Rear wheel 20 Electric motor (as a driving unit for traveling)
22 Controller (as a control unit)
31 Optical axis sensor (as a light-shielding detector)
32, 62 Floodlight 32A, 62A Floodlight
33, 63 Light receiving part 33A, 63A Light receiving element 34, 51, 64 Display part 34A, 64A Red arrow 34B, 64B Yellow area part 34C, 64C Red line part 35 Electromagnetic switch (as a switch)
47 Locker 61 Multi-optical axis area sensor C 40ft container M marker

Claims (3)

With the car body
The traveling drive unit provided on the vehicle body and
A control unit mounted on the vehicle body and controlling the traveling drive unit,
In an automatic guided vehicle for containers , which is provided with an emergency stop device that enables an emergency stop during traveling without going through the control unit.
The emergency stop device is
A light-shielding detector provided on the side surface of the vehicle body and having a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element,
A switch that cuts off the power supply to the traveling drive unit based on the detection of shading by the light-shielding detector is provided.
The vehicle body includes a display unit in which the position of the optical axis extended by the light-shielding detector is displayed by a color scheme .
An automatic guided vehicle for containers , characterized in that the optical axis is shielded from light by a locking tool gripped by an operator . The automatic guided vehicle for a container according to claim 1, wherein the optical axis extends in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body. The light blocking detector, a plurality of the optical axis claim 1 Symbol AGV for mounting the container characterized in that it is a multi-optical axis area sensor disposed so as to extend in parallel.

Images