JPH0329692B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a movable storage shelf that is capable of storing storage unit shelves storing articles at a high density and efficiently transporting articles into and out of the storage unit shelves. It is something.

Prior Art Conventionally, in this type of mobile shelf, a rail a is laid on the floor as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and unit shelves b are connected endlessly on the rail a. There was a rotating shelf c whose upper part was rotated and a suspension rail was provided on the upper part, and each unit shelf b was connected endlessly in the same manner as above, and there was a rotating shelf c which was rotated.

In the rotating shelf c, the shelf booth d from which items are taken out or stored moves to the work station e, so the worker does not have to walk around, and if the work station e is organized in advance. , you can work efficiently, and you can carry out retrieval work with minimal movement of shelves.

Problems to be solved However, this method (referred to as the carousel method)
In this case, the interior space f of the carousel c and the space g adjacent to each carousel c are almost dead spaces, and the space cannot be used effectively, resulting in poor storage efficiency.

Furthermore, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, each unit shelf A ₀ , A ₁ , A ₂ . In the movable shelf a in which a space h corresponding to a passage is formed between arbitrary adjacent unit shelves, space is utilized very efficiently, and the storage efficiency is better than in other systems.

However, in this method (referred to as the dense method), when taking out or storing articles, a person or a conveyor must enter the forming path h, making it impossible to efficiently carry out the retrieval work.

Furthermore, in the one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 51-72565,
A plurality of shelves 30 are arranged in a row and fitted in each of the shelf transfer units 31 which are arranged in parallel in close proximity to each other, and semicircular arc-shaped carts 32 are freely movable at both ends of each of the shelf transfer units 31. One end of the semicircular arc-shaped cart 32 is applied to both ends of the shelf transfer unit 31 where the shelf 30 to be carried in or out is located, and the shelf 30 to be carried in or out is placed in the shelf transfer unit 31. 30 and the shelves 30 in the second row shelf transfer unit 31 are transferred, and the required number of shelves 30 to be carried in and out is transferred to the semi-circular arc-shaped trolley 32. Articles were carried in and out from the required shelves 30.

In the circulating automatic shelving device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 51-72565, only one of the shelves 30 arranged in a row can be transferred from the shelf transfer unit 31 to the arc-shaped cart 32. Therefore, the rows of shelves 30 arranged in a row cannot be pulled out and exposed from the shelf transfer unit 31 at the same time, and a large number of articles cannot be loaded and unloaded from a large number of shelves 30 at the same time.

Moreover, in the circulation type automatic shelving device, the two semicircular arc-shaped carts 32 must be moved to the same position, making the loading/unloading work complicated and making it impossible to efficiently carry out the loading/unloading work within a short period of time. Furthermore, extra space is required to run the two semicircular arc-shaped carts 32, resulting in poor storage efficiency.

Means and Effects for Solving the Problems As described above, the present invention relates to an improvement of a movable storage shelf that overcomes the drawbacks of the conventional ones, and includes a large number of storage rails oriented in mutually parallel directions and spaced at predetermined intervals. forming a storage section; a loading/unloading rail oriented in a direction parallel to the storage rail is laid on at least one side of the storage rail to form a loading/unloading section;
Further, connection rails are laid on both sides of the storage rail and the carry-out rail at right angles thereto to form a connection part, and the storage rail and carry-in/out rail are connected to the connection rail through a switching means. A predetermined number of storage unit shelves each connected to each other in series and movably supported by the storage rail, loading/unloading rail, or connecting rail via wheels to form a row-shaped shelf group; The row-shaped shelf groups can be stored adjacent to each other on a plurality of storage rails in the storage section, and any one row of the row-shaped shelf groups can be stored in the plurality of row-shaped shelf groups on the loading/unloading rail. The device is characterized in that the container is pulled out, and the articles in the storage unit shelves of the row-shaped shelf group that have been pulled out can be carried in and out at the carrying-in/out section.

Since the present invention is configured as described above,
If you pull out the row-shaped shelf group containing the storage unit shelves you want to carry in and out from the storage section through the connection part to the carry-in/out section, there is no need to move all the storage shelves like in conventional carousel type movable storage shelves. In addition, there is no need to move a semi-circular cart outside the shelf as in the above-mentioned circulating automatic shelving device, and articles can be carried in and out of a predetermined storage unit shelf more easily.

In addition, in the present invention, since a predetermined number of storage unit shelves are connected in series to form a group of row shelves, one row of row shelves can be pulled out or pushed in all at once, allowing for loading and unloading. It is possible to easily move related storage unit shelves.

Furthermore, in the present invention, all the storage unit shelves of the row of shelves pulled out to the loading/unloading section are exposed to the outside and can be carried in and out. Articles can be carried in and out of storage unit shelves at the same time, and the work of carrying articles in and out can be carried out efficiently in a short time.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the storage section is formed by a large number of storage rails that are oriented in parallel directions and are laid at predetermined intervals, so that a large number of storage unit shelves can be stored densely on the storage rails. Moreover, since the loading/unloading section is also formed by the loading/unloading rail that is oriented in a direction parallel to the storage rail and laid on at least one side of the storage rail, the entire mobile storage shelf can be compacted and the space can be saved. can be used effectively.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 9 will be described below.

A mobile shelf 1 corresponding to a storage unit (hereinafter referred to as a mobile shelf) is a plurality of storage unit shelves 2 corresponding to a storage unit.
(hereinafter referred to as storage unit shelves) are connected by a pair of upper and lower links 3, and the movable shelves 1 are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval to form a movable shelf row.

Further, a rail support member 4 is laid on the floor, a storage rail 5 is laid on the rail support member 4, and a drive shaft 6 is rotatably supported by a bearing 7 parallel to the storage rail 5. There is. The drive shaft 6 is connected to a V-belt 9 by a drive electric motor 8.
It is designed to be rotationally driven through.

The storage rails 5 are laid at predetermined intervals in a direction parallel to the opening surface of the movable shelf 1, and a loading/unloading rail 10 is laid on one side of the storage rail 5 in parallel with the storage rail 5. Further, a drive shaft 6 is similarly installed on the loading/unloading rail 10.

Furthermore, connection rails 11 are provided on both sides of the storage rail 5 and the loading/unloading rail 10 at right angles thereto, and the drive shaft 6
has been installed.

Each of the storage rails 5 and the connection rails 11 are connected via a travel direction switching guide 12. That is, in FIG. 6, on the sending side A,
Magnetic catches 13 for attracting the switching guide 12 are attached to both sides of the connecting rail 11, and the guide rollers 20 of the movable shelf 1 pull the switching guide 12 together.
When is pressed, the magnetic catch 13 is released and held by the opposite magnetic catch 13. A torque actuator 14 for driving the switching guide 12 is attached to the return side B, and a row position stop detection switch St ₁ detects whether or not the movable shelf 1 is placed on the storage rail 5. If the switching guide 12 is not placed on the movable shelf 1, the switching guide 12 is always tilted to the side a (shown in FIG. 6) opposite to the side on which the movable shelf 1 is placed, and the movable shelf 1 is When the movable shelf 1 is returned, it always falls to the side b on which the movable shelf 1 is placed. The operation of the torque actuator 14 causes the position confirmation limit switch LS ₁ or LS ₂ to be brought into contact.

Further, a column 15 is erected from the rail support member 4, and a guide rail support member 16 is attached to the column 15.
are joined together, and a guide rail 17 is attached to the guide rail support member 16 with the concave portion facing downward.

The guide rail 17 is the storage rail 5,
It is disposed so as to face the loading/unloading rail 10 and the connecting rail 11, respectively.

Therefore, a bearing 1 is provided at the bottom of the unit shelf 2 so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis perpendicular to the running direction.
A running wheel 19 is rotatably supported on the same bearing 18, and a guide roller 20 is rotatably supported on the front and rear of the running wheel 19, and the movable shelf 1 is connected to the storage rail 5. , loading/unloading rail 1
0 and the connecting rail 11. Further, adjacent to the bearing 18, a driven wheel 21 is pivotally supported by a bearing 22 at a predetermined angle (θ) with respect to a direction perpendicular to the opening direction of the movable shelf 1.

The outer periphery of the driven wheel 21 is made of a highly elastic material such as rubber, so that rotational force caused by friction with the drive shaft 6 can be sufficiently transmitted.

Therefore, when the drive shaft 6 is rotationally driven,
The driven wheels 21 are rotated, and the movable shelf 1 is moved in the axial direction of the drive shaft 6.

On the other hand, a guide roller 23 is also placed on the upper part of the unit shelf 2.
is rotatably supported and guided by the guide rail 17.

Since the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 to 9 is constructed as described above, the storage rail 5
To move the predetermined movable shelf 1 above to the loading/unloading rail 10 and store the goods in the shelf booth (
Hereinafter, the place where the loading and unloading rails 10 are laid is referred to as the picking station),
Do it in the following order: First, when the drive shaft 6 for moving a predetermined movable shelf 1 is driven by the drive electric motor 8, the driven wheels 21 are rotationally driven, and the driven wheels 21 are rotated at a predetermined angle with respect to the drive shaft 6. (θ), the movable shelf 1 is on the delivery side A.
will be moved to. In FIG. 6, the travel direction switching guide 12 is pushed by a guide roller 20 attached to the lower surface of the movable shelf 1, and is attracted to the magnetic catch 13 on the opposite side.

Each unit shelf 2 is connected by a link 3, and the movable shelf 1
Since each unit shelf 2 is smoothly moved from the storage rail 5 to the connection rail 11, the driven wheels 21 are also moved onto the connection rail 11.
When all the unit shelves 2 are moved onto the drive shaft 6 provided in parallel with the storage rail 5, the row position stop detection switch _St1 turns OFF, and at the same time the torque actuator 14 is operated, the switching guide 12 falls to the side b where the constantly movable shelf 1 is placed, and is further driven by the drive shaft 6 and runs toward the loading/unloading rail 10. Moved up 10. And this time, the drive shaft 6 parallel to the loading/unloading rail 10
The entire movable shelf 1 reaches the picking station, the picking position stop detection switch _St2 is operated, and the movable shelf 1 is stopped at the picking station.

Next, in order to return the movable shelf 1 to its original position from the picking station, move the movable shelf 1 to the loading/unloading rail 1.
0 and is moved to the connection rail 11 on the return side B, and further driven by the drive shaft 6 parallel to the connection rail 11, the running direction switching guide 12 is moved so that the constantly movable shelf 1 is If it has fallen to the side a opposite to the side on which it is placed, the movable shelf 1 is on the storage rail 5 at the place where the constantly moving side 1 has fallen to the side a opposite to the side on which it is placed. Since it is not placed, the movable shelf 1 moves onto the storage rail 5. Then, the tip of the movable shelf 1 collides with the row position stop detection switch St ₁ ,
The movable shelf 1 stops and the switching guide 1
2 always falls to the side b where the movable shelf 1 is placed. In this way, one transaction operation is completed.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 to 9, the movable shelves 1 are moved to the picking station, so the worker does not have to walk around when picking up and taking out articles, and the work can be carried out efficiently. can be done.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the rows of movable shelves 1 can be placed close enough to each other to be able to collide, space can be used effectively and storage efficiency is high.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 to 9, the running direction switching guide 12 is actuated by driving the torque actuator 14 to appropriately switch between the storage rail 5 and the connection rail 11. However, switching may be achieved using sliding rails as shown in FIGS. 10-12.

That is, the storage rail 5a, the connection rail 11a, and the loading/unloading rail 10a are laid as shown in FIG. 10 in the same manner as in FIGS. 5 to 9,
As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the support stand 2
4 is fixed to the rail support member 4, a slide support member 25 is attached to the support base 24, a slide member 26 is slidably fitted to the slide support member 25, and a linear direction contact rail is attached to the slide member 26. 27 and the curved direction contact rail 28, and the actuator 29 is attached to one side of the slide member 26 with the pin 3.
0, and the actuator 29 is connected by hydraulic pressure,
The sliding movement may be performed by a cylinder 31 driven by pneumatic pressure or an electric motor. Additionally, there is a limit switch for position confirmation.
LS ₃ and LS ₄ are brought into contact by a slide member 26.

In this way, the operation of the row position stop detection switch St ₁ causes the linear direction contact rail 2 to
7 and the curved direction tangent rail 28 can be switched, and the same effects as in FIGS. 5 to 9 can be obtained.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 to 12, a drive shaft 6 is provided parallel to the traveling rail, and the drive shaft 6 drives the driven wheels 21 to move the movable shelf 1. As shown in FIGS. 13 to 16, a drive motor 35 is provided directly on the movable shelf 1, power is supplied to the motor 35 through the trolley bus duct 38, and the drive motor 35 is switched to the guide rail 17 at the top of the movable shelf 1. A means may be provided.

That is, a traveling rail 32 made of a hollow pipe or a round bar is laid on the rail support member 4, and a bearing 33 is laid on the bottom surface of the storage unit shelf 2 so as to be able to freely rotate around a vertical axis perpendicular to the traveling direction. ,
A geared drive wheel 34 is rotatably supported on the same bearing 33, and the geared drive wheel 34 is connected to the electric motor 3 with a reduction gear.
5.

A bearing 36 having the same function as the bearing 33 is attached to the unit shelf 2 at a predetermined distance from the driving wheel 34, and a driven wheel 37 is rotatably supported by the bearing 36.

The road surfaces of the driving wheels 34 and the driven wheels 37 have a predetermined R shape and engage with the running rails 32, thereby also serving as a guide.

Further, a trolley bus duct 38 is provided inside the guide rail 17 to supply power to the electric motor 35, and a power feeding conductor 39 is provided inside the trolley bus duct 38. At the same time, the trolley shoe 40 is adapted to be in contact with and electrically conductive with the power supply conductive piece 39. Power is then supplied from the trolley shoe 40 to the electric motor 35 via a connection chain 41.

Furthermore, the means for switching the guide rail 17 will be explained in detail below.

As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, a support base 43 with a slide support member 42 attached thereto is fixed to the support member 16, and a rail support member 44 is integrally slidably attached to the slide support member 42. The fixed slide member 45 is fitted, and the linear contact rail 46 and the curved contact rail 47 are attached to the rail support member 44, and the trolleybus duct 38 and the power supply conductive piece 39 are attached inside the rails 46, 47. .

The slide member 45 has a structure shown in FIGS.
As in FIG. 2, an actuator 29 is attached, and the actuator 29 is driven by a cylinder 31.

In this way, the linear contact rail 46 and the curved contact rail 47 can be switched as appropriate, and when feeding power, the trolleybus duct 38 and the power feeding conductor 39 provided in the guide rail 17 and the sliding side straight line can be switched as appropriate. This can be done by bringing the directional rails 46 and the curved directional rails 47 into contact with each other.

In this way, the embodiments shown in FIGS. 13 to 16 also provide the same effects as those in FIGS. 5 to 12. Note that the signal for stopping at a fixed position may be obtained by attaching a detector to the main body of the movable shelf 1 and activating the detector from the ground side. Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the light receiver 48 of the photoelectric switch may be started or stopped at a fixed position by a light projector 49 on the ground side provided in the main body of the movable shelf 1.

Furthermore, in the embodiment shown in Figs. 5 to 16, a mounting member 51 provided with a reflector 50 is attached to the movable shelf 1 as shown in Figs. Photoelectric switch 52 for reflection detection
may be provided. The photoelectric switch 52 is attached to the front end of the picking station. Then, n photoelectric switches 52 are attached, and a predetermined number of corresponding reflectors 50 are attached. For example, in FIG. 5, only the reflector 50 at the position corresponding to the top photoelectric switch 52 is attached to the movable shelf 1 closest to the picking station, and similarly, the movable shelf 1 in the fifth row from the picking station is attached. For example, if a reflector 50 is attached to the top stage and the next stage, the photoelectric switch 52 that captures the reflected light from the reflector 50 is turned on, and the number of rows from the picking station is determined. It can be determined whether the movable shelf 1 is

If the number of photoelectric switches 52 is n, the number of movable shelves 1 that can be determined is Σnck (where n: number of photoelectric switches, k: variable, c: combination, Σ: sum).

By knowing the row number of the shelf row using the above means, it is possible to control the switching means for stopping and branching the shelf row at a fixed position, and continuously call up the movable shelf 1 and return it to a predetermined position. becomes possible. Above, in Figures 4 to 18, we have explained ground traveling type movable shelves, but the application can also be applied to ceiling-suspended type movable shelves, or not to movable shelves, but also to carts on which items are placed. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a conventional rotating shelf, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 3 is a side view of another embodiment of a conventional movable shelf, and FIG. A plan view thereof, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the mobile storage device according to the present invention, FIG. 6 is a plan view of the traveling rail, and FIG. 7 is a side view of one movable shelf in the same embodiment. FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the main part, FIG. 9 is an enlarged explanatory view of the main part, FIG. 10 is a plan view of a running rail in another embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a main part of the switching rail. FIG. 12 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 13 is a side view illustrating a movable shelf in still another embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is its front view, Figure 15 is an enlarged plan view of the main part of the switching rail, Figure 16 is its side view, and Figure 17 is
The figure is a side view of a movable shelf according to the present invention with a photoelectric switch attached, and FIG. 18 is an enlarged explanatory view of the main part thereof. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Moving shelf, 2... Storage unit shelf, 3... Link, 4... Rail support member, 5... Storage rail, 6... Drive shaft, 7... Bearing, 8... Drive electric motor, 9...V belt, 10...Rail for loading/unloading, 11...Rail for connection, 12...Road direction switching guide, 13...Magnetic catch, 14...
...Torque actuator, 15...Strut, 16...
... Guide rail support member, 17 ... Guide rail, 18 ... Bearing, 19 ... Travel wheel, 20 ...
Guide roller, 21... Driven wheel, 22... Bearing, 23... Guide roller, 24... Support stand, 2
5...Slide support material, 26...Slide member,
27... Linear direction tangent rail, 28... Curved direction tangent rail. , 29...actuator, 30...pin, 31...cylinder, 32...traveling rail, 3
3... Bearing, 34... Drive wheel with gear, 35...
Electric motor with reducer, 36... Bearing, 37... Driven wheel, 38... Trolley bus duct, 39... Power feeding conductor, 40... Trolley shoe, 41... Connection chain, 42... Slide support member, 43... …
Support stand, 44... Rail support material, 45... Slide member, 46... Linear direction tangent rail, 47... Curved direction tangent rail, 48... Light receiver of photoelectric switch, 49... Light emitter of photoelectric switch, 50 ... Reflector plate, 51 ... Mounting material, 52 ... Photoelectric switch,
St ₁ ...Detection switch for row position stop, LS ₁ , LS ₂ ...
...Limit switch for position confirmation, St ₂ ...Detection switch for picking position stop, LS ₃ , LS ₄ ...Limit switch for position confirmation.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A storage section is formed by laying a large number of storage rails at predetermined intervals oriented in directions parallel to each other, and a loading/unloading section oriented in a direction parallel to the storage rails is provided on at least one side of the storage rails. A loading/unloading section is formed by laying a storage rail and a loading/unloading section, and connecting rails are laid on both sides of the storage rail and loading/unloading rail at right angles thereto to form a connecting section. A rail and the connecting rail are connected to each other via a switching means, and a predetermined number of storage unit shelves movably supported by the storage rail, loading/unloading rail, or connecting rail via wheels are arranged in series. are connected to form a row-like shelf group, and the row-like shelf groups can be stored adjacent to each other on a plurality of storage rails in the storage section, and any one of the plurality of row-like shelf groups A mobile storage shelf characterized in that a group of rows of shelves is pulled out to the loading/unloading rail, and articles in the storage unit shelves of the pulled-out row of shelves can be carried in and out at the loading/unloading section. .