JPH07120205B2 - Unmanned transport system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to an unmanned transport system.

(Prior Art) A carrier system using an automated guided vehicle travels along a travel path defined by an automated guided vehicle that can carry, for example, luggage,
Stopping at a station (working place) provided on the way of the traveling path, loading and unloading work for unmanned vehicles was performed by a working device provided at the station.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the transport system using the unmanned transport vehicle described above, a power source for individually driving the working devices provided in each station is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide an unmanned conveyance system that can eliminate the need for a power source of a work device for each station without changing the configuration of the unmanned conveyance vehicle.

Structure of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a station along a traveling path of an automatic guided vehicle, and a working device for performing a predetermined work is provided at the station. In an unmanned conveyance system that performs a predetermined work with a work device when the unmanned conveyance vehicle stops at a stop position corresponding to a station, the unmanned conveyance vehicle is provided on a traveling path corresponding to the drive wheels of the unmanned conveyance vehicle at the stop position, A power transmission device that is rotatably provided following the drive of the drive wheels and that transmits power to the work device based on the rotation, and a brake that is attached to the power transmission device and that blocks rotation of the power transmission device. A brake device to be applied and a brake device for releasing the brake applied to the power transmission device by the brake device based on the fact that the automatic guided vehicle is stopped at the stop position. It is obtained by a key release means.

(Operation) Therefore, when the rotation of the power transmission device is blocked by the brake device, the drive wheels (or driven wheels) of the automatic guided vehicle
Can travel without slipping on the power transmission device. When the drive wheels of the automatic guided vehicle reach the stop position, the drive wheels are arranged on the power transmission device, and the brake release means releases the brake applied to the power transmission device. In this state, the power transmission device is rotated following the drive of the drive wheels, power is supplied to the work device based on the rotation, and various work is performed by the work device.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the automated guided vehicle 1
Motor 2 as a power supply source driven by a battery
Is installed. The rotation of the motor 2 is transmitted to the rear wheels 3a by the drive of the motor 2, and the rear wheels 3a are rotationally driven to drive the vehicle. The automated guided vehicle 1 of this embodiment has two rear wheels 3a rotationally driven and one front wheel as a driven wheel.
Steered at 3b. Further, the unmanned guided vehicle 1 can carry and carry the luggage B on the luggage loading table 1a on the upper surface of the vehicle, and can be guided by the traveling path formed by the guide line 4 laid on the road surface. It has become.

On the way of the automated guided vehicle 1, the luggage B of the automated guided vehicle 1
A station (working place) 5 for loading or unloading the sheets is properly provided. Hereinafter, in this embodiment, the station 5 for loading and unloading the luggage B will be described.

At the station 5, a pusher table 6 and a store table 7 having the same height as the luggage loading table 1a of the automated guided vehicle 1 are arranged across the traveling path. The pusher base 6 is provided with a pusher 8 as a working device driven by hydraulic pressure. This pusher 8 is a hydraulic pump, hydraulic cylinder, rod 8
a, push-out plate 8b, oil passage switching controller, and the like, and by pushing the push-out plate 8b at the tip of the rod 8a toward the store base 7 by reciprocating the rod 8a by driving a hydraulic pump, it is possible to restore the original. You can do it. Further, a power conversion device 9 is provided inside the pusher base 6, and the device 9 uses its rotational force to drive a hydraulic pump or the like of the pusher 8 when the input side sprocket 9a is rotationally driven from the outside. It is converted to power and transmitted to the pusher 8.

A pit 10 is provided on the running path between the pusher table 6 and the store table 7 in the station 5. A belt device 11 as a power transmission device is provided in the pit 10 along the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle 1. That is, a pair of front and rear belt rollers 12 and 13 are respectively provided with belts 14 on both left and right sides thereof, and further, both rollers 12 and 13 are attached.
Five auxiliary rollers 14 are arranged between them. And
Both belts 14 are arranged so as to be flush with the traveling road surface from a pit opening 10a provided on the road surface at the passage position of the left and right rear wheels 3a of the automated guided vehicle 1.

Further, the belt roller 13 on the rear side is provided with an electromagnetic brake device 16 as a brake device as shown in FIG. When the electromagnetic solenoid 17 is in a non-excited state, the electromagnetic brake device 16 is braked to stop the rotation of the belt roller 13, and when the electromagnetic solenoid 17 is excited, the brake is released so that the belt roller 13 can freely rotate. To be done.

Further, an optical sensor 19 provided on a traveling path in front of the belt device 1 is connected to a controller 18 as a brake releasing means for controlling the electromagnetic solenoid 17 of the electromagnetic brake device 16. The optical sensor 19 is the unmanned guided vehicle 1. When the rear wheels 3a of the unmanned guided vehicle 1 are placed on the belt device 11, the passage of the front end of the vehicle is detected while sandwiching the traveling path of the vehicle. That is, the optical sensor 19 is
The light receiving section 19b receives the light output by a, and the passage of the front end of the automatic guided vehicle 1 is detected based on the interruption of the light.

Then, the controller 18 uses the optical sensor 19 to drive the automated guided vehicle 1
When a detection signal at the time of passing through the front end portion of is input, the electromagnetic solenoid 17 of the electromagnetic brake device 16 is excited. Further, the controller 18 starts the timer operation when the passage detection signal is inputted from the optical sensor 19, and once the predetermined time for loading and unloading the luggage B of the automatic guided vehicle 1 elapses, the electromagnetic brake is resumed. The electromagnetic solenoid 17 of the device 16 is adapted to be in a non-excited state.

The time until the electromagnetic solenoid 17 is put into the non-excited state after the passage detection signal is input from the optical sensor 19 can be appropriately changed and set.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a roller side sprocket 20 is provided at one end of the belt roller 12 on the front side of the belt device 11, and the sprocket 20 is connected to the input side sprocket 9a and the chain 21 of the power conversion device 9. Drive connected. Therefore, when the belt roller 12 on the front side of the belt device 11 rotates, the rotation is transmitted to the conversion power unit 9 via the roller side sprocket 20, the chain 21, and the input side sprocket 9a of the power conversion unit 9.

Next, the operation of the thus-configured automated guided vehicle 1 at the time of luggage transportation will be described.

Now, the automated guided vehicle 1 is traveling at a constant speed with the rear wheel 3a being rotated by the drive of the motor 2 with the luggage B mounted on the luggage loading table 1a. At this time, the light receiving portion 19b of the optical sensor 19 receives the light from the light emitting portion 19a, and the controller 18 of the belt device 11 deactivates the electromagnetic solenoid 17 of the electromagnetic brake device 16 to apply the brake by the brake device 16. The belt roller 13 on the rear side cannot be rotated, that is, the belt 14 is fixed so as not to move.

Then, when the unmanned guided vehicle 1 travels toward the station 5, the rear wheel 3a is on the belt device 11, and the optical sensor 19 detects the passage of the vehicle front end by blocking the light from the light emitting portion 19a. Reference numeral 18 energizes the electromagnetic solenoid 17 to turn off the brake of the electromagnetic brake device 16.

Then, the belt roller 13 on the rear side of the belt device 11 becomes rotatable, and even if the rear wheel 3a of the unmanned guided vehicle 1 rotates, the belt 14 simply moves to idle, and the vehicle is stopped at the current position. At the same time, the belt roller 12 on the front side of the belt device 11 is rotated by the movement of the belt 14, and the rotation is transmitted to the power conversion device 9 via the roller side sprocket 20, the chain 21, and the input side sprocket 9a of the power conversion device 9. It

Furthermore, the rotational force of the power converter 9 is pushed by the pusher 8.
Is converted into power for driving the hydraulic pump, etc., and the pusher 8 is driven. Then, the rod 8a of the pusher 8 is reciprocally moved, that is, the movement of the pushing plate 8b pushes the load B loaded on the automatic guided vehicle 1 to the store stand 7, and the load B is pushed.
Is unloaded from the vehicle.

When a predetermined time for loading and unloading the cargo B by the pusher 8 has passed, the controller 18 deenergizes the electromagnetic solenoid 17 to re-engage the brake, and again deactivates the belt roller 13. . Therefore, the belt 14 becomes immovable, the stopped state of the vehicle is released, the normal traveling state is restored, and the vehicle passes through the station 5.

When transmitting power to the station 5 side, the vehicle uses a signal from the station 5 side to stop the rotation of the front side 3b, and a brake is used to prevent the vehicle from moving forward due to the power transmission.

As described above, in this embodiment, the power for traveling the unmanned guided vehicle 1 is transmitted to the belt device 11 and further transmitted to the pusher 8 via the power conversion device 9 to drive the pusher 8 to load the luggage B. As loading and unloading work is done,
Station 5 does not need the power source of pusher 8,
Furthermore, it is possible to eliminate the power supply equipment for that purpose.

In this embodiment, the rotational force of the belt roller 12 on the front side of the belt device 11 is mechanically converted and transmitted to the driving force of the pusher 8 by the power conversion device 9. The rotating force may reach each generator provided on the station 5 side, and the generator may convert the generator into an electric force to drive the working device such as the pusher 8.

Further, the control of the electromagnetic solenoid 17 of the electromagnetic brake device 16 immediately stops the vehicle (starts the transmission of power to the station 5 side) by shutting off the light by the optical sensor 19, but the vehicle is in front of the stopped position of the vehicle. The vehicle may be stopped when it is determined that the vehicle has reached the target stop position after a predetermined time has elapsed. Further, in addition to the optical sensor 19, the weight detection sensor 9 is stopped at the stop position based on the detection of the weight of the embedded vehicle to stop the vehicle (start the transmission of power to the station 5 side), and based on the weight detection, the load B is loaded. The vehicle may be started (power transmission to the station 5 side is completed) after determining that the vehicle has finished descending. Similarly, the vehicle stop operation may be performed based on a proximity switch for detecting the approach of the vehicle, an image sensor, or a control signal from a computer or the like for controlling the traveling of the automated guided vehicle 1 from the outside.

A clutch device is installed between the front belt roller 12 and the roller sprocket 20 of the belt device 11 to control the clutch device so that power transmission to the station 5 side is cut off or started when the vehicle is stopped. Good.

Further, the present invention may be implemented as follows.

(A) As shown in FIG. 5, the belt device 11 of the above embodiment
Instead of the above, a roller device 23 as a power transmission device having a pair of wheel rollers 22 is used. That is, a pair of front and rear wheel rollers 22 are arranged at regular intervals in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction, and the roller 22 is rotatably operated, or the electromagnetic brake device 16 is operated to stop the rotation. Then, the rotation of the roller 22 is transmitted to the power conversion device 9.

Therefore, in this embodiment, since the belt 14 is not used as compared with the above-mentioned device including the belt device 11, the structure is simple and the size can be reduced.

(B) The working device provided at the station 5 is a hydraulically operated pusher 8 for loading and unloading the load, as well as a device driven by a motor or a device for loading the load and the like. May be

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the need for a power source for the work device for each station without changing the configuration of the automatic guided vehicle, and to realize the entire system. The cost can be reduced. In addition, by prohibiting the rotation of the power transmission device for that purpose with a brake, the automated guided vehicle can perform smooth running, and by allowing the rotation of the power transmission device when the brake is released, the unmanned transportation can be easily performed. Power from the drive wheels of the vehicle can be supplied to the work equipment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the vicinity of an automated guided vehicle and a station embodying the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same automated guided vehicle and the vicinity of a station, and FIG. 3 is XX in FIG.
A sectional view, FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a drive system of the belt device, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing another example of an automatic guided vehicle. The automated guided vehicle 1, the motor 2, the rear wheel 3a as the driving wheel, the pusher 8 as the working device, the belt device 11 as the power transmission device, the electromagnetic brake device 16 as the brake device, the controller 18 as the brake release means, and the power transmission. Roller device 23 as a device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A station is provided along a traveling path of an automated guided vehicle, and a working device for performing a predetermined work is provided at the station. When the automated guided vehicle is stopped at a stop position corresponding to the station, the working device is provided. In an unmanned conveyance system that performs a predetermined work in, in addition to being provided on the traveling path corresponding to the drive wheels of the unmanned conveyance vehicle at the stop position, rotatably provided by following the drive of the drive wheels, Based on the power transmission device that transmits power to the work device based on the above, a brake device that is attached to the power transmission device and that applies a brake to prevent rotation of the power transmission device, and that the automated guided vehicle has stopped at the stop position. An unmanned conveyance system comprising: a brake releasing means for releasing the brake applied to the power transmission device by the brake device.