JPH0313461Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field This invention relates to a carrier automatic stop device in a carrier self-propelled conveyor.

Conventional technology Conventionally, various carrier stopping devices have been proposed for self-propelled carrier conveyors to prevent collisions between self-propelled carriers, but these can be roughly divided into mechanical contact type and non-contact type. There is also a formula. In the former case, a contact such as a lever is required, and as the speed of carriers has increased in recent years, detection from a distance has become necessary, so the devices have become larger, and such large devices must be mounted on the carrier. There was a problem that I couldn't do it. In the latter case, for example, there are devices based on ultrasonic reflection and devices based on optical reflection, and optical reflection includes devices based on diffuse reflection and devices based on retrograde reflection. Here, devices based on ultrasonic reflection and devices based on optical diffuse reflection have malfunctions due to the detection range being too wide, due to the presence of background objects such as building walls, or due to the presence of opposing carriers in the curves of the conveyor line. There was a problem that it was easy to cause. Furthermore, devices based on optical retroreflection conventionally use a plane mirror as a reflector for the beam light, which results in a slow timing of detection of the preceding carrier, which may cause the carriers to collide with each other, and which reduces the carrier traveling speed. It is not possible to increase the speed, and it is necessary to reduce the curvature of the curved part of the conveyor line to make the curve gentler. This requires a large area to install the conveyor, making it difficult to use the space in the factory effectively. The problem was that I couldn't do it.

Purpose of the invention The purpose of this invention is to solve the above problems, detect the preceding carrier at an early stage, and reliably prevent collisions between the carriers.
Not only can the conveyor traveling speed be increased, but the curvature of the curved portion of the conveyor line can be increased, that is, the curve can be made relatively steep, and the installation space for the conveyor can be reduced as a whole. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic carrier stop device for a self-propelled carrier conveyor that can effectively utilize space within a factory.

Structure of the invention In order to achieve the above object, this invention is a conveyor equipped with a plurality of self-propelled carriers, and includes a light projecting section that irradiates a beam of light forward onto each carrier, and a light beam that returns by reflection. A leading carrier detection device having a light receiving part for detecting the beam light is provided, and a concave reflector plate is attached to the rear end of each carrier to reflect the beam light emitted from the light projecting part of the trailing carrier. The gist of this paper is a carrier automatic stop device in a carrier self-propelled conveyor, in which each carrier is equipped with a control mechanism that stops rotation of electric wheels based on a detection signal from a light receiving section.

Embodiment Next, an embodiment of this invention will be described based on the drawings.

In the drawing, 1 is a carrier self-propelled over-
A conveyor line of a head conveyor, which is made up of I-shaped rails. Reference numeral 2 denotes a self-propelled carrier running on the conveyor line 1, which is composed of one trolley 3 and a hanger (not shown) suspended from the trolley 3. 4 is a pair of vertical rollers provided on the trolley 3, one on the front and one on the front;
5 is the same horizontal rocking roller. Further, illustrations of the electric wheels provided on the trolley 3 of the self-propelled carrier 2 and their drive devices are omitted. The electric wheel drive device includes a general-purpose motor, a speed reducer, and a brake, and this is already known, for example, as described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-40739 by the present applicant.

Reference numeral 6 denotes an advance carrier detection device provided at the bottom of each carrier 2, which detects a beam of light L toward the front.
It has a light projecting section made of a phototube or the like that emits light, and a light receiving section that detects the beam L that returns by reflection. Reference numeral 7 denotes a concave reflecting plate attached to the rear end of each carrier 2, and is used to reflect back the beam L emitted from the light projecting section of the trailing carrier 2. Further, although not shown, each carrier 2 is provided with a control mechanism that stops the operation of the electric wheel drive motor and operates the brake based on the detection signal from the light receiving section.

In the above, the fast-speed trailing carrier 2B approaches the leading carrier 2A which is stopped or moving slowly on the conveyor line 1 while irradiating the beam light L from its light projection part, and this trailing carrier 2B When it approaches within a predetermined distance from the preceding carrier 2A, the beam L of this approaches the preceding carrier 2A.
Although the beam L is reflected by the concave reflecting plate 7 at the rear end of A, the beam L that is initially reflected backward by the reflecting plate 7 does not enter the light receiving section of the trailing carrier 2B. As shown in FIG.
When the trailing carrier 2B approaches a certain distance,
The beam L reflected by the reflection plate 7 enters the light receiving section. The distance at this time is determined by the curvature of the concave reflector 7 and the curvature of the curved portion of the conveyor line 1. Of course, since the reflector 7 has a concave shape, it is not necessary for the trailing carrier 2B to approach directly behind the leading carrier 2A at the curved portion, and the light beam L is early on the basis of the curvature of the concave reflector 7. It can enter the light receiving section of the trailing carrier 2B. When the beam L enters the light receiving section in this way, the control mechanism based on the detection signal from the light receiving section immediately turns off the switch of the electric wheel drive motor of the trailing carrier 2B and stops the motor. and brake,
The electric wheels stop rotating. The trailing carrier 2B moves slightly due to its elliptical nature and then stops. Here, as shown by the two-dot chain line in the same figure, if the reflecting plate 17 provided at the rear end of the leading carrier 2A is, for example, a planar reflecting plate, the trailing carrier 2B approaches directly behind the leading carrier 2A. If not, the beam L that returns due to reflection will not enter the light receiving section, so the curvature of the curved portion of the conveyor line 11 must be reduced to create a gentle curve, which will reduce the installation space of the conveyor line 11. In addition to this, if the traveling speed of the carriers 2 is not slowed down, there is a risk that the carriers 2 will collide with each other. On the other hand, according to this invention, since the reflecting plate 7 has a concave shape, the more the curvature of the reflecting plate 7 is increased, the more the curvature of the curved portion of the conveyor line 1 is increased, the reflection will return. The light beam L can enter the light receiving section of the trailing carrier 2B at an early stage, so the installation space of the conveyor line 1 can be narrowed down, and the traveling speed of the carrier 2 can be increased.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the self-propelled carrier 2
Although the carrier 2 is shown as having one trolley 3 with electric wheels, if the object to be conveyed is long, the carrier 2 may be equipped with a plurality of interconnected trolleys 3. In this case, the leading carrier detection device 6 having a light emitting part and a light receiving part is placed at the front end of the first trolley 3, and the concave reflector 7 is placed at the rear end of the last trolley 3. It is preferable to install them separately. In addition, by appropriately setting the curvature of the concave reflector 7, the conveyor line 1
The stopping position of the trailing carrier 2B at the curved portion can be freely set.

Furthermore, although the illustrated conveyor is an overhead conveyor, the invention can also be applied to other floor conveyors.

Effects of the invention As described above, this invention is applicable to a conveyor equipped with a plurality of self-propelled carriers 2.
is equipped with a preceding carrier detection device 6 having a light projecting section that irradiates the beam light L toward the front and a light receiving section that detects the beam light L that returns by reflection. A concave reflector plate 7 is attached to the rear carrier 2 to reflect the beam L irradiated from the light projecting section of the trailing carrier 2, and a control mechanism is provided for stopping the rotation of the electric wheels based on a detection signal from the light receiving section of each carrier 2. Since the preceding carrier 2 can be detected at an early stage, it is possible to reliably prevent collisions between the carriers 2, thereby increasing the traveling speed of the carriers 2. At the same time, the curvature of the curved portion of the conveyor line can be increased, that is, the curve can be made relatively steep, and the overall installation area of the conveyor can be narrowed, making effective use of space within the factory. It has the effect of being able to

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of this invention; Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view of the conveyor line, Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, and Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the automatic carrier stop device. . 1... Conveyor rail, 2, 2A, 2B...
Self-propelled carrier, 3... Trolley, 6... Advance carrier detection device, 7... Concave reflector, L... Beam light.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a conveyor equipped with a plurality of self-propelled carriers 2, each carrier 2 has a light projecting part that irradiates the beam light L toward the front, and a light receiving part that detects the beam light L that returns by reflection. A detection device 6 is provided, and a concave reflector 7 is attached to the rear end of each carrier 2 to reflect the beam L emitted from the light projecting section of the trailing carrier 2. Each carrier 2 is provided with a light receiving section. A carrier automatic stop device for a carrier self-propelled conveyor is equipped with a control mechanism that stops the rotation of electric wheels based on a detection signal from the carrier.