JPH01294101A - Automatic warehouse equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smoothen the flow of the main line by connecting a plurality of automatic warehouses consisting of each taking-in/out device arranged between the right and left shelves in pairs, in parallel with a main rail through a movable dividing rail and a freight assorting rail which are installed onto the main rail. CONSTITUTION:When warehousing into an automatic warehouse 18A, for instance, is performed, a dividing rail part 20a on a freight assorting rail 20 side is connected with a main rail 21 by contraction of a cylinder device 23. An automatically traveling vehicle 25 which is supported and guided by the main rail 21 is transferred onto the dividing rail part 20a, and the cylinder 23 is extended to connect the dividing rail 20a with the freight assorting rail 20. Then, the self traveling vehicle 25 is traveled to the edge part of a freight assorting rail 20, and the multistage taking-in/out tool 14 of a taking-in/out device 6 is operated to support the freight by a supporting arm 16, and then the taking-in/out device 6 is shifted to an aimed holding rod 4, and delivered onto the holding rod 4. The delivery operation is carried out in the reverse procedures. With such constitution, the flow of the main line is made smooth.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention is an automated system that is used to store and manage multiple types of cargo, take out the desired cargo in response to a command, and then transport it to the next process. This relates to warehouse equipment.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of automatic warehouse equipment has been provided, for example, in the structure disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 55-39984.

This conventional equipment constitutes an automated warehouse with a pair of left and right shelves and a cargo delivery device located between these shelves.
Multiple automated warehouses are installed side by side.

An inlet conveyor is disposed outside the end of one shelf, an unloading conveyor is disposed outside the end of the other shelf, and a common conveyor is provided that intersects between the outer ends of each conveyor. A load conveyor is installed. Loading is carried out by moving the load on the load conveyor to the loading conveyor, then receiving the load that has reached the end of the load using the load transfer device, and then transferring it to the desired compartment storage space between the two shelves. . In addition, unloading is performed by passing the cargo taken out from the target compartment storage space by the cargo delivery device to the cargo unloading conveyor, and passing the cargo that has reached the end to the cargo transport conveyor.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention According to the above conventional format, when looking at one automated warehouse,
Since the load-in conveyor and the load-out conveyor are arranged in an intersecting manner with respect to the load-carrying conveyor, the load-carrying conveyor is shifted to two locations.

Since the structure has two shift sections, in order to convey the load by passing through these shift sections, it is necessary to check the timing when both shift sections are inactive. It will not be possible to do it smoothly.

This also has a negative effect on the automated warehouse, making it impossible to carry out warehousing and unloading operations efficiently.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic warehouse facility that has only one shift section that interferes with the main line, thereby smoothing the flow on the main line.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the automatic warehouse equipment of the present invention is provided with an automatic warehouse consisting of a pair of left and right shelves and a loading/unloading device located between these transoms. A material handling section rail is provided over the area, and a main rail is provided outside of this material handling section rail, and a parallel section between these material handling section rails and the main rail is formed in a divided rail section. The divided rail section is configured to be movable in parallel directions,
A self-propelled vehicle is provided that can freely run while being guided by both rails and can freely support a load.

According to the configuration of the present invention, by operating the loading/unloading device, cargo can be received and transferred between the self-propelled vehicle located outside the end of the side fence and these shelves.

This self-propelled vehicle can transfer from the main rail to the dividing rail section by connecting the dividing rail section on the side of the material handling section to the main rail, and then moves both dividing rails in parallel directions to separate the section on the side of the material handling section. By connecting the rail section to the material handling section rail, it can be made to run outward from the end of the side fence. Also, by reverse actuation, a self-propelled vehicle located outside the end of the side rail can be returned to the main rail. This allows the self-propelled vehicle to be moved in and out of the side fence even though the shift section is provided at one location on the main line. When the divided rail section is connected to the material handling section rail, the other divided rail section can be connected to the main rail, so that the self-propelled vehicle can run on the main rail without any hindrance.

Example An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a pair of shelves arranged side by side with a passage 2 placed thereon, each of which is composed of a frame body 3 and a number of holding rods 4 connected from the frame body 3 toward the passage 2 side, and these holding rods 4 are cylindrical in shape. Loads 5A, 5B, and 5C shown in physical form.

Hold 5D within Fhj. The loading/unloading device 6 disposed in the passageway 2 includes a traveling machine body 8 supported and guided by a floor rail 7, a lifting platform 10 supported and guided by a post 9 erected from the traveling vehicle body 8, and this lifting platform 10. The loading and unloading tool 11 that can be moved left and right on the top and the traveling drive device! 12, a lifting drive device 13, etc., and can freely run along the front surface of the side fence 1. The loading/unloading tool 11 is a lifting platform 1
0, a vertical member 15 is erected from the center of the upper surface thereof, and a support arm 16 is connected to the left and right from the upper end of the vertical member 15. Automatic warehouses 18A, 18B, 18 configured in this way
A plurality of G and 18D (four in the embodiment) are arranged in parallel with the passage 2.

Between the outer ends of the side fence works in each automatic warehouse 14 @ 18A, 18B, 18C, and 18D, a U-shaped load handling section rail 20 in plan view brings its end close to the fence 1. It is also arranged as a mid-level height.

Main rails 21 constituting a common conveyance device are disposed at the same level across the outer sides of the arcuate portions of the respective material handling section rails 20. The parallel portion between each material handling section rail 20 and the main rail 21 is a divided rail section 20a.

2ta, and these divided rail parts 20a, 21a
are integrated by a connecting member 22, and are movable in parallel directions by the operation of a cylinder device 23, which is an example of a drive device. Note that the connecting member 22 is supported and guided by a guide device 24. The self-propelled vehicle 25, which can freely travel while being guided by both the rails 20.21, has a main body 26 and a rail 20.2.
A plurality of l! #27, a traveling drive device 28 that is attached to the main body 26 to be interlocked with the wheel body 27 and can be driven in forward and reverse directions;
It consists of a guide roller 29 attached to the main body 26 to face the side surface of the rail 20.21, and a load support rod 30 provided at the bottom of the main body 26, and this load support rod 30 supports the load 5.
A to 5D are fitted and held inside.

Load sheltering parts 35 are provided at four parts of the conveyance path formed by the arrangement of the main rails 21. This cargo shelter part 3
5 has an annular rail 36, and the parallel part between the main rail 21 and the annular rail 36 is divided into rail parts 21b and 36.
b, and these divided rail parts 21b, 3
A cylinder device 38 is interlocked with a connecting member 37 in which the cylinder 6b is integrated.

Next, the warehousing work and the warehousing work in the above embodiment will be explained 6. When performing the warehousing work, the cylinder device 23 is By this, the divided rail portion 20a on the side of the material handling section rail 20 is connected to the main rail 21. The load is supported by the load support rod 30, and the self-propelled vehicle 25, which has traveled from the previous process while being supported and guided by the main rail 21, is transferred to this divided rail portion 20a and stopped. By extending 23, the divided rail section 20a supporting the self-propelled vehicle 25 can be seen as shown in the one corresponding to the automatic warehouse 18B at the lower end.
is connected to the material handling rail 20. Then, the self-propelled vehicle 25 is driven forward or backward, and the intermediate automatic warehouses 18B, 18
It is stopped at the end of the material handling section rail 20 as shown by C. At this time, when one of the two ends is set as the warehousing side and the rest as the exit a side, the self-propelled vehicle 25 is always driven to the warehousing side. If the vehicle is not set, the vehicle is caused to travel toward one of the ends, and when two self-propelled vehicles 25 are inserted one after the other, the vehicles are distributed to both ends and are caused to travel. After the self-propelled vehicle 25 is stopped at the end, the traveling body 8 is stopped, but this may be stopped in advance. After inserting the side support arm 16 backwards,
By raising the lifting table 10, the load supported by the load support rod 30 is lifted by the support arm 16. Next, the load is positioned above the lifting platform 10 by moving the multi-stage ejecting/extracting tool 14 in and out. Furthermore, when the self-propelled vehicle 25 is placed at both ends, the load is supported by the other support arm 16 by operating the multi-stage ejector 14 in the opposite direction. The loading/unloading device 6, which has supported one or two loads with the loading/unloading tool 11 in this manner, is stopped facing the target holding rod 4 by traveling of the traveling body 8 and raising/lowering of the lifting platform 10. The above-mentioned receiver is then operated in the opposite manner to the one used when taking the load, thereby fitting the load onto the holding rod 4 and holding it there. When there are two loads, the other load can be transferred by performing the same operation on the flN 1 on the opposite side at this location or at another location where the robot is traveling and moving up and down.

The self-propelled vehicle 25, which has become empty after receiving the load at the loading/unloading device 6, transfers to the divided rail section 20a by traveling in the opposite direction to that described above, and connects the divided rail section 20a to the main rail 21, thereby transferring the vehicle to the divided rail section 20a. main rail 21
will be returned to.

Note that the empty self-propelled vehicle 25 is not necessarily on the main rail 21.
There is no need to return to the cargo handling section rail 2 for the next delivery.
In this case, it is also possible to store a plurality of empty self-propelled vehicles 25 at either end, and in this case, one by one will be stored at the other end as they are taken out. All you have to do is run it towards the end of the line.

The unloading operation is similar to the warehousing operation described above. In this case, an empty self-propelled vehicle 25 is put from the main rail 21 onto the material handling rail 20, and an actual self-propelled vehicle 25 is transferred from the material handling rail 20 to the main material handling rail 20. It is returned to the rail 21.

When the dividing rail section 20a is connected to the material handling rail 20 during the above-mentioned loading and unloading, the remaining dividing rail section 21a is also connected to the main rail 21. Therefore, the empty or real self-propelled vehicle 25 on the main rail 21 can be made to sequentially travel downstream via the divided rail portion 21a. Furthermore, since each automated warehouse 18A to 18D has one shift section using the dividing rail 21a, etc., the distance between the shift sections of the main rail 21 can be increased, and this distance can be used to The self-propelled vehicle 25 can also be stored.

Each automated warehouse 18A to 18D has different types of cargo 5.
A to 5D are stored, and each automated warehouse 18A to 1
There are times when the loads 5A to 5D taken out one by one from 8D are conveyed as one group to the next process.

In this case, each automated warehouse 18A to 18D is connected to the main rail 2.
Main rail 2
1 group to be transported is indicated by the imaginary line (A) or (
As shown in B), the front f& rankings of the loads 5A to 5D are scattered. In the next process, for example, 5A-5B from the beginning as shown by the solid line (C) as one group of loads.
- If you want items in the order 5C-5D, and a group of cargo is transported in row 111 of 5D-5B-5A-5C as shown by the imaginary line (A), change the order as follows. Reassembly is performed. Note that although the movement of the loads 5A to 5D is explained below, all of this is performed via the self-propelled vehicle 25. That is, in the load shunting section 35, the leading load 5D is first transferred to the dividing rail section 36b, and then the load 5D is transferred to the annular rail 36. In the same manner, the second load 5B is also transferred to the annular rail 36 to be in the state shown by the solid line in FIG.

Then, as shown in the imaginary line in FIG. 3, the third load 5A is passed through using the dividing rail 21b, and the third load 5A is then stopped at the dividing rail portion 36b by circulating the annular rail 36. After that, it is returned to the main rail 21 and moved to the next process.

Then, after passing the last load 5C using the divided rail section 21b, the load 5D remaining on the annular rail 36 is returned to the main rail 21 in the same manner as described above, as shown by the solid line (C) in FIG. They can be rearranged into one group with the desired permutation as shown in .

Note that if the order of one group before reaching the cargo sheltering section 35 is as requested from the next process, the loading time 'i! Part 1 3
In step 5, no reassembly is performed and the sheets are passed through as is.

In the above embodiment, one load 5A to 5D is taken out from each automated warehouse 18A to 18D to form one group.
This may be done by grouping items without taking them out of some of the automated warehouses 18A-18D, for example, or by taking out two or more items from some or all of the automated warehouses 18A-18D and grouping them. Sometimes.

Note that the order (A) and (B) at the time of take-out and the order (C) after reassembly shown in Fig. 1 are just examples, and as mentioned above, the order (A) and (B) are always random, and Ranking (C) is based on the requirements of the next process. Each automatic warehouse fi18A
- 18D are centrally controlled by one control section, and the reassembly control of the load sheltering section 35 is performed based on this control.

In the above embodiment, the loads 5A to 5D made of cylindrical objects are handled by a suspended transport type self-propelled vehicle 25, but this is a format in which a rectangular load is handled by a trolley type self-propelled vehicle for loading and conveying. etc.

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention having the above configuration, by operating the loading/unloading device, cargo can be transferred between the self-propelled vehicle located outside the end of the side fence and these shelves. . This self-propelled vehicle can be transferred from the main rail to the divided rail section by connecting the divided rail section on the cargo handling section side to the main rail.
Then, by moving both divided rails in parallel directions and connecting the divided rail portion on the load handling section side to the load handling section rail, it is possible to travel to the outside of the end of the side fence. The reverse action also allows self-propelled vehicles located outside the edge of the side fence to return to the main rail. This allows the self-propelled vehicle to be moved in and out of the side fence even though the shift portion is provided at one location on the main line. When the divided rail section is connected to the material handling section rail, the other divided rail section can be connected to the main rail, thereby allowing self-propelled vehicles to run on the main rail without any problems. .

In this way, by having only one shift section that interferes with the main line from the automated warehouse side, the flow on this main line can be carried out smoothly, and the loading and unloading operations of the automated warehouse can be carried out efficiently.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, with FIG. 1 being a plan view and FIG.
The figure is a longitudinal sectional side view of the main parts, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the main parts for explaining the reassembly work. 1... Shelf, 2... Passage, 4... Holding rod, 5A, 5
B. 5C, 5D... Cargo, 6... Loading/unloading device, 8...
Traveling aircraft, 1. Getting off the platform, 11... Loading/unloading tool, 16...
・Support arms, 18A, 18B, 18C, 18D...
Automatic warehouse, 20... Material handling section rail, 20a... Dividing rail section, 21... Main rail (m feeding device)
, 21a, 21b-divided rail portion, 22... connecting member, 23... cylinder device, 25... self-propelled vehicle, 3
0...Load supporting rod, 35...Load retracting part. Agent Yoshihiro Morimoto

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic warehouse consisting of a pair of left and right shelves and a loading/unloading device located between these shelves is provided, and a cargo handling section rail is arranged between the outer ends of both shelves, and this cargo handling section rail is provided. A main rail is arranged on the outside of the main rail, and a parallel part between the material handling section rail and the main rail is formed as a divided rail part, and these divided rail parts are configured to be movable in the parallel direction, and are guided by both rails. An automatic warehouse facility characterized by being equipped with a self-propelled vehicle that can move freely and support loads.