JPH02144306A - Shelf position detecting method for stacker crane - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate start of operation of a warehouse after a storing process in the automatic warehouse by detecting a shelf position based on the moving distance of a running truck and an elevating table when a rack pole and a cantilever are detected in the automatic warehouse. CONSTITUTION:Respective signals from a shelf position detecting means 13, an encoder 14 for detecting turning movement of an elevating drive motor 11 and an encoder 15 for detecting turning movement of a running drive motor 10 are inputted in a control device 17 including a computer 16. The control device 17 calculates the moving distances of a running truck and an elevating table when the shelf detecting means 13 detects a rack pole and a cantilever based on these inputted signals so as to detect the shelf position. The stop positions of the running truck and the elevating table are set by adding adequate offset and calculation to these values so as to memorize in the control device 17. By this constitution, the start of operation after storing process in an automatic warehouse can be made quick and easy.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an automated warehouse in which goods are transported in and out by automatically running a stacker crane. The present invention relates to a method for setting a control device to a control device.

(Prior Art) FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a conventional stacker crane and an automated warehouse.

In FIG. 4, the stacker crane 1 runs left and right along upper and lower rails 3.4 in front of the rack 2 in which articles are stored. The stacker crane 1 includes a lifting platform 5, a mast 6, a traveling truck 7, and the like. The lifting platform 5 is provided with a slide fork 9 for taking articles into and out of the catch 8.

The traveling trolley 7 travels by a traveling drive motor 10 rotating a drive wheel 10a, and the elevating platform 5 is driven by an elevating drive motor 11 using a sprocket lla around which a chain 12 is wound.
It goes up and down by rotating.

The shelf position of the automated warehouse is determined by installing baffles 21 on the floor between consecutive rack columns 2a when moving in the horizontal direction, and installing baffles 21 on the mast 6 according to the height of the catch 8 when raising and lowering the platform in the vertical direction. A baffle plate 22 is provided, and the baffle plate 21,22 is detected and determined by photoelectric switches 23,24 provided on the traveling carriage and the lifting platform.

The shielding plates 21 and 22 are placed at appropriate positions on the floor surface so that the carriage 7 can stop at the center of each rack column 2a, and on the mast 6 so that the lifting platform 5 can stop at an appropriate height. is attached to.

However, the mounting positions of the shielding plates 21 and 22 require fine adjustment after the automated warehouse is installed.

Hereinafter, an example of the process of position determination work for installing the shielding plates 21 and 22 will be schematically shown.

First, the stacker crane 1 is manually run and raised and lowered, and the height of the lifting platform 5 is matched to the height of the catch 8, and the position for attaching the shingle plate 22 to the mast 6 is determined. Next, the rack pillar 2a is stopped near the center of the frontage of the shelf that constitutes the shelf, the slide fork 9 provided on the lifting platform 5 is taken out, and the clearance to the left and right rack pillars 2a is measured. The mounting determines the position.

Note that, if necessary, a barrier board may be placed to indicate the position at which deceleration starts so that the traveling trolley 7 can operate smoothly at high speed. Further, when the lifting platform 5 unloads an article from the shelf, the slide fork 9 is inserted into the pallet on which the articles are loaded on the shelf, the lifting platform 5 is slightly raised to lift the article, and then the article is held. The slide fork 9 is returned to its original position, and the opposite process is used when placing items on the shelf, so the position of the sill board is determined by taking into account that two stopping positions are required. Needless to say, it will be decided.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) According to such a shelf position determination method, after the introduction of an automated warehouse, a considerable amount of time and personnel must be spent on setting work, which increases costs. there was.

In addition, it was extremely dangerous for a person to climb and adjust a rack that was over 10 meters high.

Furthermore, since the shielding plates 21 and 22 are attached, it is not easy to change the position of the shelves or the size of the frontage when the size of the items being handled changes, and the above adjustment work has to be repeated. I had to.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a stacker crane that can automatically detect the shelf position and create an operable state when introducing an automated warehouse or changing the shelf configuration without requiring time or manpower. An object of the present invention is to provide a position detection method.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides shelf detection means for detecting rack columns and catches that constitute shelves of an automated warehouse;
and a distance detection means for detecting the movement distance of the traveling cart and the lifting platform, and detects the shelf position based on the movement distance detected by the distance detection means when the shelf detection means detects the rack column and the catch. As a result, a stacker crane shelf position detection method was constructed.

(Function) Since the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, it exhibits the following function.

In the present invention, the rack columns and catches that make up the shelves of an automated warehouse are directly detected. After introducing an automated warehouse or changing the shelf configuration, test run the stacker crane and when the shelf detection means detects the rack pillars and catches, the shelf position is detected from the distance traveled by the traveling cart and lifting platform at that time. can do.

Appropriate offsets and calculations are added to the detected values to set the stop position of the stacker crane traveling cart and the stop position of the lifting platform, and are stored in the controller, thereby automatically starting the 1! The warehouse is ready for operation.

(Example) The illustrated embodiment will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a stacker crane in which the shelf position detection method for a stacker crane according to the present invention is implemented. The same parts as shown in FIG. 4 are given the same reference numerals.

In the embodiment shown in the figure, I
T V (Industrial Television)
n) 13 is adopted and is installed on the lifting platform 5. Reference numeral 14 denotes an encoder (elevating distance detecting means) for detecting the rotation of the elevating drive motor 11, and numeral 15 represents an encoder (traveling distance detecting means) for detecting the rotation of the travel drive motor 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the signals from each detection means 13, 14, 15 are input to a control device 17 including a computer 16, and each drive motor 10.11 is controlled based on this value, and the stacker crane is be driven.

This process will be explained in more detail with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

After introducing an automated warehouse or changing the configuration of shelves, the stacker crane 1 is run on a trial basis. How to test drive
As mentioned above, it varies depending on the size of the warehouse and the type of goods handled, but here we will take an example in which a trial run is performed for one horizontal row and one vertical row.

(Step 1) First, the traveling carriage 7 is caused to travel, and the stop position of the traveling carriage 7 is detected.

From the reference position, move the travel drive motor 10 is activated to run the traveling trolley 7.

(Step 2) While the traveling cart 7 moves horizontally, the ITV 13 continues to send image signals to the computer 16.

(Step 3) Consecutive rack columns 2a are sequentially detected from the image signal output by the ITV 13, and the distances from the reference point are stored.

That is, the image signal is input to the computer 16 and subjected to image processing to determine the presence of the rack column 2a.

On the other hand, the encoder 15 indicates the rotational speed of the travel drive motor 10;
That is, the moving distance of the traveling trolley 7 from the reference position is continuously sent to the computer 16 as a pulse value.

Therefore, the total number of pulses from the encoder 15 at the moment when the ITV 13 crosses in front of the rack column 2a is
It represents the position of a. Store this value temporarily.

(Step 4) A predetermined calculation is applied to the value of the number of pulses representing the position of the rack column 2a in order for the stacker crane 1 to travel automatically.

That is, the stopping position of the traveling carriage 7 is determined so that the slide fork 9 is precisely located at the center of the rack column 2a.

For example, if the pulse values indicating the positions of the three rack columns 2a are a, b, and c, respectively, then the traveling bogie 7
Center sl, s2 of slide fork 9 when stopped
is offset so that sl = (a+b)/2 s2 = (b+c)/2. If b-a and c-b
Even if the sizes of the two frontages are different, sl.

s2 is the center between the rack columns 2a.

Store this as the number of pulses.

In addition, it is also possible to calculate the deceleration start position, which is required when the traveling trolley 7 is driven at high speed.

(Steps 5 to 8) Similar processing is performed by raising and lowering the lifting platform 5. ITV1
3 detects the continuous catch 8 and activates the lifting drive motor 11.
The encoder 14 outputs the rotational speed to the computer 16 to detect the height of the catch 8 from the reference position. The stopping position of the lifting platform 5 is determined by adding a calculation to that value.

Furthermore, the stopping position when lowering an article from the lifting platform 5 onto the shelf, and conversely the stopping position when lifting an article from the shelf, etc., are also calculated.

The stacker crane, which has been automatically initialized in a short time as described above, is controlled and operated by the control device 17.

In operation, two encoders 14. 15, how far does the trolley 7 travel from the reference point?
Since the computer 16 monitors whether or not the lifting platform 5 has moved, it is calculated by the above processing,
Using the stored values, move the traveling cart 7 and the lifting platform 5,
It is possible to stop and control the transfer work of goods.

On the other hand, since the ITV 13, which is a shelf detection means, is not required after the initial setting, it can be removed from the lifting platform 5 and used for adjusting other automated warehouses. Therefore, precise and expensive ITV
Even if 13 is used, it can be used repeatedly, resulting in cost savings.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

For example, in this embodiment, an ITV is used as the shelf detection means, but various other sensors such as a proximity switch, an ultrasonic sensor, a photoelectric switch, etc. are also applicable.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the shelf position of the stacker crane can be detected by simply moving and raising and lowering the stacker crane once, and after the introduction of an automated warehouse, the operation can be performed without spending time and effort. You can start.

In addition, since the rack pillars and gearboxes that make up the shelves are directly detected, no special position display means are required.
Therefore, it is possible to easily deal with cases where the distances between the rack columns and between the gears are not constant, and the configuration of the rack can be easily changed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an automatic TI in which an embodiment of the detection device according to the stacker crane shelf position detection method of the present invention is implemented, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the same embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the same embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a front view showing a stacker crane in which a detection device using a conventional shelf position detection method is implemented. 1...Stacker crane, 2...Rack, 2a...
・Rack column, 3.4...Rail, 5...Elevating platform, 7
... Traveling trolley, 8... Gear chain, 9... Slide fork, 10... Traveling drive motor, 11... Lifting drive motor, 13... ITV, 14.15... Encoder diagram Diagram

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Shelf detection means for detecting rack columns and catches constituting shelves of an automated warehouse, and distance detection means for detecting movement distances of traveling carts and lifting platforms, wherein said shelf detection means detects rack columns and catches constituting shelves of an automated warehouse. and a shelf position detection method for a stacker crane, characterized in that the shelf position is detected based on the moving distance detected by the distance detecting means when the catch is detected.