JPH0329689B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a technology for retrieving stored items in an automated warehouse.

<Prior Art> An automatic warehouse is a device that can align a retrieval arm with the position of a shelf at a target address in response to an input signal, and can retrieve stored items from the shelf.

These automated warehouses can be roughly divided into types with movable shelves and types with fixed shelves and movable arms.

Currently, when a lightweight stored item is taken out at high speed, the stored item may be thrown up when the arm is moved in various directions at high speed.

When the stored item is thrown up, the arm performs a carry-out operation before the stored item returns to a predetermined position, so there is a problem that the stored item cannot be taken out.

Also, a take-out device with a roller provided at the free end of this arm is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 53-136779 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 47-1989.
It is disclosed in Publication No. 44774.

However, in this type of device, the rollers only function as locking members when loading and unloading the stored items, and there is an inconvenience in that the stored items cannot be floated and transferred while maintaining the horizontality of the stored items.

<Object of the present invention> The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
To provide a device for taking out stored items in an automated warehouse, which has a simple structure, is suitable for high-speed operation, and can safely and reliably take out stored items.

<Structure of the present invention> An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<A> Product shelf (Fig. 1) The product shelf 1 is a fixed shelf fixed on the floor.

The interior of the goods shelf 1 is divided into a plurality of storage chambers by vertical and horizontal partitions, and containers K, which are stored objects, as shown in FIG. 3 are stored inside each storage chamber.

<B> Container (Figure 3) Container K is a box with only the top open, for storing articles.

A handle K1 is attached to the front side of the container K, with only the bottom side open.

<C> Elevating rail (FIG. 1) The article shelf 1 is provided with an elevating rail 2 that is raised and lowered while maintaining horizontality in front of the article shelf 1.

In order to raise and lower this elevating rail 2, two parallel vertical guides 11 are provided at both ends of the article shelf 1.

And rollers 12 are placed above and below each vertical guide 11.
is attached, and a circular vertical belt 13 is wound between the rollers 12.

Vertical feed belt 1 wound vertically around article shelf 1
3, both ends of a horizontally arranged elevating rail 2 are connected, and the elevating rail 2 is configured to be movable up and down using one of the upper or lower rollers 12 as a drive source.

In this embodiment, a servo motor M1 for lifting and lowering is arranged between the lower rollers 12, and the rotational force of this servo motor M1 is used as a rotational drive source for both vertical feed belts 13.

Currently manufactured servo motors are capable of rotation control over extremely small angles, so by inputting a signal to this servo motor M1, it is possible to accurately control the elevation and stop position of the elevating rail 2. can.

<D> Sliding Cart The sliding cart 3 is a carry-out machine for carrying out the containers K in the article shelf 1, and is configured so that it can run on the lifting rail 2 in the left-right direction via running wheels 31.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pulley truck 3 runs by winding an annular transverse belt 22 between rollers 21 provided at both ends of the elevating rail 2. At the same time, a servo motor M2 for horizontal travel is installed in one roller 21, and the servo motor
Transverse feed belt 22 by forward or reverse rotation of M2.
By rotating the sliding carriage 3 in an arbitrary direction, the sliding carriage 3 is configured to be able to travel accurately on the elevating rail 2.

<E> Rotating frame The sliding carriage 3 is equipped with a rotating frame 4 and a sliding carriage 5.

The rotating platform 4 is fixed to the upper part of a rotating support shaft 41 installed on the sliding truck 3, and rotates by an arbitrary angle on the sliding truck 3 in response to rotation from a turning servo motor M3 attached to the sliding truck 3. Configure it so that it can be done.

Furthermore, a belt 44 for forward and backward feeding wound between rollers 43 and a servo motor M4 for rotating this belt 44 are installed inside the rotating frame 4.

<F> Sliding Cart (FIGS. 2 and 3) The rotating pedestal 4 is equipped with a sliding cart 5 that travels in the front-rear direction on the rotating pedestal 4.

An arm 51 extending in the horizontal direction is attached to the front surface of the slide truck 5, and an upward hook 52 and a roller 53 are attached to the tip of the arm 51.

Further, an engagement wheel 54 is provided at the bottom of the slide cart 5.
is attached, and the slide cart 5 is placed on the rotating pedestal 4 via this engagement ring 54, and the slide cart 5 is
A member extending downwardly from the belt 44 is connected to the belt 44 .

Therefore, the sliding carriage 5 is moved forward or backward by rotating the servo motor M4, which rotates the belt 44, in the forward or reverse direction.

<G> Arm Structure (FIG. 3) The structure of the arm 51 described above will be described in detail. A disc-shaped or spherical roller 53 is rotatably attached to the lower part of the hook 52 at the tip of the arm 51.

Further, a vertical piece 55 is provided protruding from the lower surface of the arm 51, and a locking piece 56 is formed at the rear end of the arm 51.

A rod 57 passes through this vertical piece 55 and the main body of the slide truck 5, and a spring material 58 is attached to the rod 57.
Attach.

This spring material 58 functions as a buffer material when carrying out the container K.

As will be described later, when carrying out the container K, the container K is lifted by moving the arm 51 forward and then upward.

In the present invention, a hook 5 is provided at the tip of the arm 51.
A roller 53 slightly protruding outward from 2 is also provided.

The reason why the roller 53 is provided is as follows.

That is, if the user simply wants to lift the handle K1 of the container K, it is sufficient to attach the hook 52 to the tip of the arm 51.

However, when the arm 51 is raised at high speed in order to insert the hook 52 into the handle K1 of the container K, the frictional resistance between the contact surfaces of the container K and the hook 52 increases, and the container K may be thrown up. .

Therefore, if a roller 53 is provided at the tip of the arm 51 that protrudes outward from the hook 52, the roller 53 will come into line contact or point contact with the container K, thereby reducing the frictional resistance that causes the container K to bounce up. It's for a reason.

<H> Control device The control device sets the rotation angle and gives start and stop signals to the above four types of servo motors M1 to M4.

A known commercially available computer is used as this control device.

In order to control each of the servo motors M1 to M4 with the control device, it is necessary to convert the position of each storage chamber of the article shelf 1 into coordinates and input the coordinates to the control device.

Next, a method for transporting the stored items will be explained.

<1> Preparation for carrying out
As a method, determine the coordinates.

The relationship between the items in each storage room and the coordinates is then clarified.

Further, the elevating rail 2 and the pulley truck 3 are returned to predetermined positions and left on standby.

Of course, it may be stopped at the last position it moved to last time.

<2> Moving the sliding cart to a designated position When the coordinates of a specific storage room are input and commanded to the control device, the control device calculates the rotation direction and rotation angle of servo motors M1 and M2 and moves each servo motor.
Output to M1 and M2.

[Movement of the lifting rail] The servo motor is activated based on the signal from the control device.
When M1 rotates, the elevating rail 2 rises or descends by a predetermined distance and stops at a predetermined horizontal position.

[Movement of sliding cart] At the same time as input to servo motor M1 for lifting and lowering,
When a running signal for the sliding carriage 3 is input from the control device to the servo motor M2, the sliding carriage 3 travels a predetermined distance on the elevating rail 2 and then stops.

Since the vertical movement of the elevating rail 2 and the horizontal movement of the sliding carriage 3 can proceed simultaneously, the sliding carriage 3 can be moved in the shortest straight line from the position before starting traveling to the target storage room. You can also.

The stop position of the elevating rail 2 is set so that the tip of the arm 51 mounted on the sliding carriage 3 is positioned below the handle K1 of the container K.

<3> Rotation of the rotating frame When the sliding carriage 3 stops at the predetermined coordinate position,
Next, a signal for rotating the rotating frame 4 is input from the control device to the servo motor M3, and the arm 51 rotates perpendicularly to the article shelf 1 and then stops.

<4> Forward movement of the slide cart When the rotation of the rotating platform 4 is completed, a forward movement signal for the slide cart 5 is input to the servo motor M4, and
The slide cart 5 carries containers K in the partitions of the goods shelf 1.
move forward towards.

When the roller 53 contacts the circumferential surface of the container K, the roller 53 moves forward slightly at a lower speed and then stops.

As a result, the spring material 58 contracts, and the roller 53 comes into pressure contact with the container K.

<5> Lifting the elevator rail Once the slide cart 5 moves forward and stops, next
A rising signal for the lifting rail 2 is input to the servo motor M1, and the lifting rail 2 rises at high speed and then stops.

When the elevating rail 2 rises, the hook 52 located below the handle K1 enters the handle K1 of the container K from the lower opening side and engages with it.

When the hook 52 engages with the handle K1, the roller 53 rises while being pressed against the circumferential surface of the container K due to the elasticity of the spring material 58.
Due to rolling friction, the frictional resistance between the rollers 53 and the container K becomes extremely small.

Therefore, even if the arm 51 is raised at high speed, there is no fear that the container K will be thrown up.

<6> Retreating the slide cart Immediately after this, a reverse rotation signal is input to the servo motor M4, and the slide cart 5 retreats to its original position at high speed.

A predetermined container K is pulled out from the storage chamber by the retreat of the slide cart 5, and the container K that has been pulled out
is placed on the upper surface of the slide truck 5.

<7> To the exit Once the container K has been pulled out, an actuation signal in the reverse order of the above process is sent from the control device, and the sliding carriage 3 moves to the exit 6 position.

That is, each of the servo motors M1 to M3 rotates simultaneously so that the sliding carriage 3 moves toward the exit 6, and each process of rotating the rotating platform 4, raising or lowering the elevating rail 2, and horizontally moving the sliding carriage 3 is performed. proceed in parallel.

When the sliding cart 3 arrives at the exit 6, the container K is delivered to the exit 6 and the unloading is completed.

<Effects of the Present Invention> Since the present invention is configured as described above, the following effects can be expected.

<A> A roller protruding from the tip of the arm is provided at the tip of the arm that engages and takes out stored items.

Therefore, the frictional resistance between the arm and the stored object is reduced.

Therefore, even if the arm is advanced and raised at high speed, the stored items can be prevented from falling and can be reliably transported.

<B> The product shelf does not rotate horizontally or vertically.

The goods shelf is fixed on the floor, and only a lightweight arm moves to retrieve the goods.

Therefore, items can be ordered extremely quickly compared to a device that rotates an item shelf.

<C> All movements and rotations of the sliding cart in the X and Y directions, as well as forward and backward movement of the sliding cart, can be performed using only a small number of servo motors.

Since servo motors are capable of extremely accurate angle settings, complex motion settings can be easily performed simply by exchanging signals from the control device to the servo motor.

<D> Since the stored items are supported at two points, the hook and the rollers, the stored items can be transported while maintaining their horizontality.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1: A perspective view of an embodiment of the warehouse of the present invention, FIG. 2: An explanatory view of a rotating arm, and FIG. 3: An explanatory view of a sliding cart and containers.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an automated warehouse that uses a retrieval arm that moves to a desired position on a shelf based on an input signal, and that lifts and retrieves stored items with the retrieval arm, the free end of the arm faces upward. What is claimed is: 1. A retrieval device for stored items in an automated warehouse, characterized in that a hook is formed, and an idling roller protruding from the front of the hook is attached to the bottom of the hook.