JP2012101869A - Article conveying system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article conveying system which can make small and light a storage means, and can reduce power consumption in use.SOLUTION: In the article conveying system which includes: a traveling rail 3 arranged along a conveying route; and a truck unit 4 with traveling trucks 8 and 9 which can travel on the traveling rail 3 in a state that a liftable conveying object support member 12 is hung, and carries an article 2 on the liftable conveying object support member 12 to convey it along the conveying route, the truck unit 4 has: a travel drive means 17 for traveling the traveling trucks 8 and 9 on the traveling rail; a storage means 5 for supplying the travel drive means 17 with electric power; and a lift drive means 30 for lifting the liftable conveying object support member 12, and a charging means 6 for charging the storage means 5 and a charging means 6 for supplying the lift drive means 30 with electric power are disposed in part of the conveying route.

Description

  The present invention includes a travel rail disposed along a transport path, and a cart unit having a travel cart capable of traveling on the travel rail in a state where a transportable support member capable of moving up and down is suspended. The present invention relates to an article conveyance device that is loaded on the conveyance object support member and conveyed along the conveyance path.

  In a conventional article transport device, power is supplied from a trolley wire provided on a rail, and a cargo bed (transport object support member) is moved up and down (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). Further, recent article transport apparatuses have a ceiling-type transport vehicle (cart unit) driven by a built-in battery (power storage means), and charge the battery at a ground station (for example, (See Patent Document 3).

JP-A-7-267347 (page 6, FIG. 1) JP-A-8-53207 (page 3, Fig. 1) Japanese Patent No. 3674065 (page 5, FIG. 1)

  However, in the article conveying apparatus described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, if the conveyed object support member is moved up and down by the built-in power storage means without receiving power supply from the trolley wire, the power storage means A large amount of power is consumed. For this reason, in order to secure sufficient power, the power storage means must be increased in size, increasing the weight of the carriage unit and increasing the power consumption in operation.

  The present invention has been made by paying attention to such problems, and provides an article transport apparatus that can reduce the size and weight of the power storage means and can reduce power consumption in operation. With the goal.

In order to solve the above-described problem, an article transporting apparatus of the present invention includes:
A traveling rail disposed along the transportation path; and a carriage unit having a traveling carriage capable of traveling on the traveling rail in a state in which a transportable support member that can be moved up and down is suspended. In an article conveying apparatus that is loaded on a member and conveyed along the conveying path,
The carriage unit includes travel drive means for traveling the travel carriage on the travel rail, power storage means for supplying electric power to the travel drive means, and lift drive means for raising and lowering the conveyed product support member. In addition, a charging unit that charges the power storage unit and a power supply unit that supplies electric power to the elevating drive unit are arranged in a part of the transport path.
According to this feature, it is not necessary to use the power of the power storage means for the lifting drive means that consumes a large amount of power, and the power of the power storage means only needs to be used for the travel drive means. The power consumption in operation can be reduced. In addition, when the conveyed product support member is moved up and down, the power of the power storage means is not consumed, and the cart unit can be run for a long time with a single charge of the power storage means, thereby improving operational efficiency. it can.

The article conveying apparatus of the present invention is
The carriage unit is provided with a power-supplied part that is connected to the power supply unit of the charging unit and is supplied with power, and the power supply unit supplies power to the lifting drive unit via the power supply unit of the charging unit. It is a feature.
According to this feature, the power supply unit installed in the conveyance path and the power-supplied unit provided in the carriage unit can be used both as the charging unit and the power supply unit, and the installation cost of the article conveyance device can be reduced.

The article conveying apparatus of the present invention is
Travel control means for controlling the travel drive means is provided in the cart unit, the travel control means is supplied with electric power from the power storage means, and an elevation control means for controlling the elevation drive means is provided on the ground part. The elevating control means is supplied with electric power from the power supply of the ground part.
According to this feature, when the conveyed product support member is moved up and down, the power of the power storage means is not consumed, and the travel control means is simplified only to control the travel state of the carriage unit. Thus, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

The article conveying apparatus of the present invention is
A wireless communication device for performing communication between the lifting drive means and the lifting control means is provided.
According to this feature, the wiring for control communication in the cart unit is simplified, and the cart unit can be reduced in weight.

It is a top view which shows the whole image of the articles | goods conveying apparatus in an Example. It is a side view which shows a trolley | bogie unit. It is a rear view which shows a trolley | bogie unit. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the structure of an article conveyance apparatus. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the structure of the article conveyance apparatus as a modification.

  EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The form for implementing the goods conveying apparatus which concerns on this invention is demonstrated below based on an Example.

  An article conveying apparatus according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. Hereinafter, the left side of FIG. 2, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5 will be described as the front side (front side) of the article conveying apparatus. Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 denotes an article to which the present invention is applied for transporting a container 2 (see FIG. 2) as an article in the present invention in which automobile parts are housed, for example, in a factory for manufacturing automobiles and the like It is a transport device.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the article conveying apparatus 1, two traveling rails 3 arranged along the conveying path and a plurality of carriages that can travel the traveling rail 3 counterclockwise in plan view. The unit 4 is mainly composed of. The traveling rail 3 is stretched over a predetermined height near the ceiling in the factory. Further, the cart unit 4 is configured to transport the container 2 in which automobile parts are stored along the transport path.

  The two traveling rails 3 are formed of a metal material such as aluminum or steel, the upper surface of which is formed as a horizontal surface, and are provided suspended from the ceiling in the factory along the transport path in the factory. It has been. Further, the traveling rail 3 is formed endlessly by combining a plurality of straight roads and curved roads, and the traveling rail 3e branches and merges from the main rail 3d which is the traveling rail 3 that forms the outer peripheral conveyance path. , 3f, 3g.

  Here, the traveling rail 3 that branches inward from the main rail 3d on the upper side in FIG. 1 is referred to as a branch rail 3e, and the traveling rail 3 that branches inward from the main rail 3d in the center of the plane is referred to as a branch rail 3f. A traveling rail 3 that branches inward from the main rail 3d is referred to as a branch rail 3g.

  The branch rail 3e is provided with a loading station C1 for loading the container 2 onto the cart unit 4, and the branch rail 3g is provided with an unloading station C2 for unloading the container 2 from the cart unit 4. In 3f, a standby station C3 is provided for waiting the carriage unit 4.

  In addition to these stations C1 to C3, a branch station C4 is provided at a branch point from the main rail 3d to the branch rails 3e, 3f, 3g, and a branch point from the branch rails 3e, 3f, 3g to the main rail 3d is provided. A merging station C5 is provided. Each of the stations C1 to C5 has the same configuration, and is a charging station C for charging the traveling battery 5 (power storage means) provided in the cart unit 4. Further, the traveling battery 5 of the present embodiment is configured by a capacitor device that stores electric power as electrostatic energy.

  In addition, the article transport apparatus 1 is provided with a main controller 20 that manages and manages the cart unit 4 and the charging station C (see FIG. 4). The main controller 20 is provided on a ground portion such as a floor surface other than the traveling rail 3. The main control device 20 communicates information with the cart unit 4 and the charging station C, and controls a charging device 6 (charging means), a lifting motor 30 and the like which will be described later in the charging station C.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cart unit 4 includes two traveling carts 8 and 9 that travel on the traveling rail 3, a preceding cart 10 that travels in front of the front traveling cart 8, and a rear traveling cart. 9 and a succeeding carriage 11 traveling behind the vehicle 9.

  The preceding carriage 10 and the front traveling carriage 8 are connected by a connecting saddle member 13, and the rear traveling carriage 9 and the succeeding carriage 11 are connected by a connecting anchor member 14. These carriages 8, 9, 10 and 11 are arranged in series so as to travel on the upper surface of the traveling rail 3. In addition, the traveling unit 31 is suspended by suspension rods 15 attached to the front and rear traveling carriages 8 and 9, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cart unit 4 is provided with a carrier 12 (conveyed material support member) that holds the container 2 and an elevating unit 32 that raises and lowers the carrier 12. The elevating unit 32 is suspended below the traveling unit 31. The carrier 12 is suspended from the lifting unit 32 by a wire rope 33, and the carrier 12 is lifted and lowered by a lifting motor 30 (lifting drive means) and a pulley 34 provided inside the lifting unit 32. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the front traveling carriage 8 has a traveling motor 17 (traveling drive means) for traveling the carriage unit 4, and the carriage unit 4 is driven by driving the traveling motor 17. The vehicle travels on the traveling rail 3. Further, in the traveling unit 31, a traveling battery 5 for driving the traveling motor 17 of the traveling vehicle 8 on the front side, and a pedestrian control device 29 (running for controlling the rotational speed of the traveling motor 17 and brake control) Control means). The cart control device 29 is connected to the travel motor 17 of the travel cart 8 described above, and has a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) as a control circuit for performing sequence control of the travel motor 17.

  Note that the traveling motor 17 and the pedestrian control device 29 are supplied with electric power from the traveling battery 5, and in a plurality of charging stations C provided at predetermined locations (part of the conveyance path) on the traveling rail 3. The battery 5 for traveling is charged (see FIG. 1). Further, at the loading station C1 and the unloading station C2, the traveling of the cart unit 4 is stopped and the carrier 12 is moved up and down so that the worker can transfer the container 2.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the preceding carriage 10 is provided with a front detection sensor 48 that optically detects the presence of another carriage unit 4 in front. In addition, a reflection plate 35 that reflects light emitted from the front detection sensor 48 is attached to the rear end of the subsequent carriage 11 of the carriage unit 4. The front detection sensor 48 is a reflective photoelectric sensor provided with a light emitting element (not shown) and a light receiving element (not shown), and light (infrared rays or the like) irradiated forward from the light emitting element is a front object. The light receiving element receives the light reflected by the (detected object), so that a front object can be detected.

  In this way, the cart unit 4 can detect the presence of another cart unit 4 in front by the front detection sensor 48, and based on this detection, the pedestrian control device 29 performs speed control and the like. ing.

  A plate-shaped dog 44 protrudes from the rear end of the succeeding carriage 11 of the carriage unit 4, and a stop detection sensor detects the dog 44 ′ of the other carriage unit 4 at the tip of the preceding carriage 10. 51 is provided. The stop detection sensor 51 is a magnet switch in which a built-in magnet detects the proximity and contact of a dog 44 formed of a magnetic material such as iron by a magnetic force.

  When the dog 44 ′ of another cart unit 4 comes close to the stop detection sensor 51, the pedestrian control device 29 performs control to stop the travel of the cart unit 4. The stop detection sensor 51 includes a dog (not shown) included in a stopper device (not shown) provided in the charging station C and the like to stop the cart unit 4 as well as the dog 44 ′ of the other cart unit 4. ) Is also detected.

  Each charging station C <b> 1 to C <b> 5 is provided with a charging device 6 for charging the traveling battery 5 of the cart unit 4. The charging device 6 has a charging plug 52 (power feeding unit). The charging device 6 supplies electric power of a commercial power source supplied to the factory via the power network to the cart unit 4.

  Furthermore, a connector 24 (power-supplied part) to which the charging plug 52 is connected is provided in the traveling cart 9 on the rear side of the cart unit 4. In each of the charging stations C1 to C5, the charging plug 52 of the charging device 6 is connected (contacted) to the connector 24 of the cart unit 4 that is stopped (or decelerated) to supply power to the traveling battery 5. .

  As shown in FIG. 4, a ground optical communication device 36 (wireless communication device) that performs communication using light such as infrared rays is installed in the vicinity of the traveling rail 3 of the loading station C1 and the unloading station C2. Yes. The terrestrial optical communication device 36 is connected to the main control device 20 on the ground via a wired line. The lift unit 32 is provided with a cart optical communication device 37 (wireless communication device) that communicates with the ground optical communication device 36.

  Further, the lifting unit 32 is provided with a rotary encoder 38 for detecting the number of rotations of the lifting motor 30 and an upper limit switch 39 for detecting that the raised carrier 12 is at the upper limit position. The cart optical communication device 37 is connected to the lift motor 30, the rotary encoder 38, and the upper limit switch 39. The main controller 20 and the lifting / lowering unit 32 communicate with each other through the optical communication devices 36 and 37, and the operation signal of the main controller 20, the detection signal of the rotary encoder 38, and the detection signal of the upper limit switch 39 are transmitted and received. It is like that.

  The loading station C1 and the unloading station C2 are provided with a mounting table 21 on which the lowered carrier 12 is mounted. The mounting table 21 is provided with a lower limit switch 40 for detecting that the lowered carrier 12 is at the lower limit position. The lower limit switch 40 is connected to the main controller 20 by a wired line. The main controller 20 includes a PLC as a control circuit that performs sequence control of the lifting motor 30 of the lifting unit 32. That is, the elevating motor 30 of the elevating unit 32 is not connected to the cart control device 29 but is controlled by the main control device 20 via the optical communication devices 36 and 37. This is the elevation control means in this embodiment.

  The connector 24 to which the charging plug 52 of the charging device 6 is connected is connected to the traveling battery 5 and also to the lifting motor 30. In the present embodiment, the connection 24 is connected to the traveling battery 5 and the lifting motor 30 by two lines of wiring provided in the suspension bar 15. And when raising / lowering the carrier 12 in the loading station C1 and the unloading station C2, the raising / lowering motor 30 is supplied with electric power from the charging device 6 through the connector 24. That is, the elevating motor 30 of the elevating unit 32 is not connected to the traveling battery 5, and the charging device 6 also serves as a power supply unit that supplies power to the elevating motor 30. The elevating motor 30 receives power from the charging device 6. Is supplied to raise and lower the carrier 12.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, in the modified example, the connection 24, the traveling battery 5 and the lifting motor 30 are connected by a single line of wiring provided in the hanging rod 15. The wiring connected to the traveling battery 5 is provided with a rectifier 53 that prevents the electric power of the traveling battery 5 from flowing to the lifting motor 30. The one-system wiring is branched in the traveling unit 31 and connected to the traveling battery 5 and the lifting motor 30. Therefore, the number of wirings provided in the hanging bar 15 can be reduced, and wiring can be easily performed even if the wiring space in the hanging bar 15 is narrow.

  As described above, in the article transport apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, the carriage unit 4 includes the traveling motor 17 that causes the traveling carriages 8 and 9 to travel on the traveling rail 3, the traveling battery 5 that supplies power to the traveling motor 17, and the carrier. And a charging device 6 that also serves as a charging means for charging the traveling battery 5 and a power feeding means for supplying power to the lifting motor 30 is disposed in a part of the transport path. Thus, it is not necessary to use the electric power of the traveling battery 5 for the lifting motor 30 that consumes a large amount of electric power, and the electric power of the traveling battery 5 may be used only for the traveling motor 17. Can be reduced in size and weight, and power consumption in operation can be reduced. Further, when the carrier 12 is moved up and down, the electric power of the traveling battery 5 is not consumed, and the cart unit can be traveled for a long time by charging the traveling battery 5 once, thereby improving the operation efficiency. be able to.

  Further, the cart unit 4 is provided with a connector 24 that is connected to the charging plug 52 of the charging device 6 and is supplied with power, and the electric power is supplied to the lifting motor 30 through the charging plug 52 of the charging device 6. In addition, the charging plug 52 installed in the conveyance path and the connector 24 provided in the carriage unit can be shared by the charging device 6 and the power supply means, and the installation cost of the article conveyance device 1 can be reduced.

  Further, a pedestrian control device 29 for controlling the traveling motor 17 is provided in the cart unit 4, and the pedestrian control device 29 is supplied with electric power from the traveling battery 5 and controls the lifting motor 30. 20 is provided on the ground, and the main controller 20 is supplied with power from the power supply of the ground, so that the power of the traveling battery 5 is not consumed when the carrier 12 is raised and lowered, And the main control apparatus 20 becomes the simplified aspect which only controls the driving | running | working state of the trolley | bogie unit 4, and can reduce manufacturing cost.

  In addition, by providing optical communication devices 36 and 37 that perform communication between the lifting motor 30 and the main control device 20, wiring for control communication in the cart unit 4 is simplified, and the cart unit 4 is reduced in weight. can do.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and modifications and additions within the scope of the present invention are included in the present invention. It is.

  For example, in the said Example, although this invention is applied to the article conveyance apparatus 1 provided with the trolley | bogie unit 4 which can drive | work along the traveling rail 3 in the state which suspended the carrier 12, this invention is based on another form. The present invention can also be applied to a transport cart.

  Moreover, in the said Example, although the charging station C which charges the trolley | bogie unit 4, and the loading station C1 which performs the transfer operation | work of the container 2, and the unloading station C2 are combined, a charging station, The loading station and the unloading station may be provided at different locations on the conveyance path.

  Moreover, in the said Example, although electric power is supplied to the battery 5 for a drive and the raising / lowering motor 30 via the connector 24 (power-supplied part) to which the charge plug 52 is connected, A connector (powered part) to which the battery 5 is connected and a connector (powered part) to which the lifting motor 30 is connected may be provided at different parts of the carriage unit 4.

  In the above embodiment, the main controller 20 and the lifting unit 32 communicate with each other via the optical communication devices 36 and 37 that perform communication using light such as infrared rays. It may be a wireless communication apparatus using radio waves, sound waves, or the like.

1 article transport device 2 container (article)
3 traveling rail 4 cart unit 5 traveling battery (power storage means)
6 Charging device (charging means, power supply means)
8,9 Traveling cart 12 Carrier (Transported object support member)
17 Traveling motor (traveling drive means)
20 Main control device (lift control means)
24 connector (powered part)
29. Control device for bogie (running control means)
30 Lifting motor (lifting drive means)
36 Terrestrial optical communication equipment (wireless communication equipment)
37 Optical Communication Device for Bogie (Wireless Communication Device)
52 Charging plug (power supply unit)

Claims (4)

A traveling rail disposed along the transportation path; and a carriage unit having a traveling carriage capable of traveling on the traveling rail in a state in which a transportable support member that can be moved up and down is suspended. In an article conveying apparatus that is loaded on a member and conveyed along the conveying path,
The carriage unit includes travel drive means for traveling the travel carriage on the travel rail, power storage means for supplying electric power to the travel drive means, and lift drive means for raising and lowering the conveyed product support member. And the goods conveyance apparatus characterized by the charging means which charges the said electrical storage means, and the electric power feeding means which supplies electric power to the said raising / lowering drive means in a part of said conveyance path | route.   The carriage unit is provided with a power-supplied part that is connected to the power supply unit of the charging unit and is supplied with power, and the power supply unit supplies power to the lifting drive unit via the power supply unit of the charging unit. The article conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein   Travel control means for controlling the travel drive means is provided in the cart unit, the travel control means is supplied with electric power from the power storage means, and an elevation control means for controlling the elevation drive means is provided on the ground part. 3. The article conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elevating control means is supplied with electric power from a power supply of the ground part.   The article conveying apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a wireless communication device that performs communication between the elevating drive unit and the elevating control unit.

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