JPH0433041B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention is directed to a light beam for guiding traveling members such as transportation vehicles by means of a light projecting member that projects a curtain-shaped irradiation light for forming a vehicle guideway. The present invention relates to a guided unmanned transportation system, and particularly to an optically guided unmanned transportation system that takes security measures such as preventing rear-end collisions of traveling members.

(Prior Art) This type of conventional light-guided unmanned conveyance system, in which a traveling member such as a conventional conveyance vehicle is guided by a curtain-shaped irradiation light projected from a light projector, etc., for preventing rear-end collisions, etc. As a security measure, transport vehicles, which are running members, are equipped with sensors such as television cameras, which are often referred to as eyes, to enable them to recognize and identify conditions in the outside world. This was done to prevent collisions, rear-end collisions, etc., or to avoid external objects that would impede driving.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) Therefore, a television camera for security measures is provided, which is linked to control each of the necessary members used for running each transportation vehicle itself as a running member. Because it also incorporates sensors such as, the structure of the momentum becomes complicated, it tends to induce mistakes in operating the traveling parts, and its maintenance is time-consuming and expensive, which is a considerable difficulty in practical use. There were some inconveniences.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, the present invention provides a light-guided unmanned transportation system including a light projecting member and a traveling member, wherein the light projecting member is installed discretely. It consists of a series of multiple light emitters, a slit plate provided below each of the emitters, a light receiver or light receiving element attached to each light emitter, and a controller, and the light receiver or light receiving element is It has a configuration connected to the controller, and further generates each curtain-shaped irradiation light by passing the emitted light of each floodlight through the slit of each slit plate, and generates each curtain-shaped irradiation light at both ends of each curtain-shaped irradiation light. A part of one side overlaps a part of one of both ends of the adjacent curtain-shaped irradiation light, and the interval between the two ends is approximately equal to the length of the traveling member. Thus, a continuous vehicle guideway is formed, and reflective plates are installed on the road surface of the vehicle guideway at intervals approximately equal to the length of the traveling member, and the reflected light from the reflectors is used to guide the vehicle. A controller connected to the light receiver or light receiving element configured to receive light at a light receiver or light receiving element connected to the next controller adjacent to the rear side with respect to the traveling direction of the road. Although the attached floodlight is emitted, the light irradiated to the reflector is blocked by the traveling member,
When reflection to a light emitter or a light receiving element connected to the next controller is blocked, the light emitter attached to the next controller stops emitting light; It has a large number of light receivers or light receiving elements and a wheel drive controller arranged in a direction substantially perpendicular to the curtain-shaped irradiation light, and each light receiver or light receiver other than the central light receiver or light receiving element A signal from the controller corresponding to the amount of light received from the element causes the separate motors for driving the traveling wheels on both sides to be activated so that the central light receiver or light receiving element is always at the receiving position of the irradiated light. A light-guided unmanned transportation system is constructed, which is characterized by being able to change its rotation and make the vehicle travel along the vehicle guideway, thereby eliminating the above-mentioned difficulties and inconveniences. It is something.

(Function) The light-guided unmanned transportation system according to the present invention, which is equipped with security measures to prevent a rear-end collision of a transportation vehicle or the like as a traveling member, has the above-mentioned configuration.
If a signal for emitting light from the projector is sent through the controller at the starting end of the projector member, each projector attached to each controller will emit light when a transport vehicle or the like is not present, and each emitted light will emit light. At the same time, the slit plate produces a curtain-shaped irradiation light, and at the same time, a portion of each curtain-shaped irradiation light is overlapped and connected in a linear manner, forming a series of vehicle guideways and A part of the curtain-shaped irradiated light is reflected by each reflecting plate, and each reflected light is received by a light receiver or light receiving element connected to the next controller. Become.

On the other hand, in a transport vehicle or the like as a traveling member, any one of several light receivers or light receiving elements arranged in a direction substantially perpendicular to the length direction of the irradiated light is mounted on the vehicle. The central light receiver or light receiving element receives the irradiated light for forming the vehicle guideway, and is constantly irradiated by a signal from the controller according to the amount of light received by the light receiver or light receiving element that receives the irradiated light. Since the rotation speed of each motor for driving the traveling wheels can be changed to match the light receiving position, the traveling members of the transport vehicle etc. can be guided by the vehicle guidance formed by each irradiated light as described above. They will be forced to drive along the road.

As mentioned above, the vehicles, etc. that are driven along the vehicle guideway successively block the irradiated light of the respective reflectors installed on the vehicle guideway surface formed by the respective irradiated lights, and emit light one after another. Since the light emitting device attached only to the next controller in the member stops emitting light, the following vehicles are stopped, and there is no possibility that the following vehicle will collide with the preceding vehicle. Therefore, in the event of a power outage, all vehicles etc. stop and even if something other than the vehicle blocks the irradiation light to the reflector, the next irradiation light will be extinguished.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, X is a light projecting member, and W is a transport vehicle serving as a traveling member Y.

By the way, in the light projecting member X,...
C ₁ , C ₂ , C ₃ , . . . are controllers for instructing light emission, only a part of which is shown in the diagram. These controllers …… , C ₁ ,
C ₂ , C ₃ , ..., etc. are the connection lines ..., c ₁ , etc. in this order.
connected by c ₂ , c ₃ , ..., from controller C ₁ to controller C ₂
For example, the forward controller sends _{the light projection signal 1 to} the following controller using the connection wire c ₁ , c 1 , c ₂ , c ₃ , etc. signal for light
c ₁ , ₂ , ₃ , ... are sent one after another, and ... , P ₁ , P ₂ , P ₃ , ..., etc. are sent as shown in the figure.
The corresponding controllers..., C ₁ , C ₂ , C ₃ ,...
..., and the respective controllers..., C ₁ , C ₂ ,
C ₃ , ..., S ₁ , S ₂ , S ₃ , ..., etc. are the projectors that are caused to emit light by signals from ..., P ₁ , P ₂ , P ₃ , etc. ……A slit plate arranged below, each slit plate……,
S ₁ , S ₂ , S ₃ , ... are each floodlight ..., P ₁ , P ₂ ,
Slits for making the emitted light of P ₃ , ... into a curtain-like irradiation light for forming a vehicle guideway ..., L ₁ , L ₂ , L ₃ , ..., s ₁ , s ₂ , s ₃ , ..., and a portion of one of both ends of the irradiation light ..., L ₁ , L ₂ , L ₃ , ... overlaps with a portion of one of both ends of the next irradiation light, respectively. The length of the vehicle taxiway forming portion..., l ₁ , l ₂ , l ₃ ,... is the vehicle W
The length is approximately equal to the length of.

Furthermore, each of the controllers..., C ₁ , C ₂ , C ₃ ,...
Each has a light receiver or light receiving element...,
R ₀ , R ₁ , R ₂ , R ₃ , ... are connection lines as shown in the diagram...
..., r ₀ , r ₁ , r ₂ , r ₃ , ..., and these light receivers or light receiving elements ..., R ₀ ,
R ₁ , R ₂ , R ₃ , ... are the curtain-shaped irradiation lights ..., L ₀ , L ₁ , L ₂ , L ₃ , ... (only a portion is shown)
Reflector plates installed on the guiding road surface of the vehicle W at intervals approximately equal to the length of the vehicle W to reflect a portion of the...
..., Q ₀ , Q ₁ , Q ₂ , Q ₃ , ... (only some of which are shown) are received, and the respective controllers ...,
Signal to C ₁ , C ₂ , C ₃ , ..., ₀ , ₁ , ₂ , ₃ ,
...is now being sent.

That is, signal ₀ from controller C ₀ (not shown)
The light emitter _{P 1 emits} light in response to a signal from the controller C ₁ , and the light emitter P ₂ emits light in response to a signal from the controller C ₂ in response to a signal ₁ from the controller C ₁ . Controller by signals ₂ , ₃ , ... from C ₃ , ... Light emitter by signals from C ₃ , C ₄ , ...
P ₃ , P ₄ , ... emits light, and each slit plate S ₀ , S ₁ ,
S ₂ , S ₃ , . . . (only a portion is shown), curtain-shaped irradiation lights L ₀ , L ₁ , L ₂ , L ₃ , ……
(only a portion shown) is formed. The reflected light from each reflecting plate..., Q ₀ , Q ₁ , Q ₂ , Q ₃ ,... (only a portion is shown) is transmitted to a light receiver or a light receiving element..., R ₀ , R ₁ , R ₂ , R ₃ , ..., each floodlight ..., P ₀ , P ₁ , P ₂ , P ₃ , ... (only a portion is shown)
However, if the vehicle continues to emit light, as shown in the diagram,
enters the irradiated light L ₃ and blocks the irradiated light L ₃ to the reflector Q ₃ , there is no reflected light to the light receiver or light receiving element R ₃ , so the controller _{C 4} signal ₃ from the receiver or light receiving element _R3 causes the emitter _R4 to stop emitting light, and _the irradiated light _L4 shown by the dotted line disappears, but the emitter _P5 receives the signal ₄ from the controller _C4 . It emits light in response to the received signal from the controller _C5 , forming irradiation light _L5 .

In short, the floodlight located next to the point where the vehicle W blocks the light irradiated to the reflector is based on the following logic: C _o = (C _o-1・r _o-1 ) ( _o-1・_o-1 ) As shown in the formula, it is designed not to emit light.

In addition, as particularly shown in FIG. 2, the transport vehicle W as the traveling member Y includes a power source I, a wheel drive controller A (hereinafter abbreviated as controller A), the irradiation light..., L ₀ , L ₁ , L _{2 ,} L _{3 ,} . . . and are arranged in a direction perpendicular to _{. t2} ,
t' ₂ ,..., said irradiation light..., L ₀ , L ₁ , L ₂ ,...
It rotates at the same speed depending on the signal from the controller A according to the signal from the light receiver or light receiving element t ₀ that received the light, and receives the irradiation light ..., L ₀ , L ₁ , L ₂ , ... Photoreceiver or photodetector element other than t _{0 ,} t ₁ , t′ ₁ ,
Depending on the signals from controller A based on the signals from t ₂ , t' ₂ , ..., the motor can change its rotational speed so that the light receiver or light receiving element t ₀ is at the light receiving position.
M ₁ , M ₂ , wheels w ₁ , w ₂ directly connected to the motors M ₁ , M ₂ via a reducer etc., driven wheels w′ ₁ , w′ ₂
(one not shown), etc., so that the vehicle W can have its light receiver or light receiving element _t0 constantly receive the irradiated light..., _L0 , _L1 , _L2 , _L3 ,... The vehicle W is guided to a position where the vehicle W can be guided along a vehicle guidance path formed by the irradiated light..., L ₀ , L ₁ , L ₂ , ... , each light receiver or light receiving element t ₀ ,
When signals from t ₁ , t' ₁ , t ₂ , t' ₂ , . . . are not sent to the controller A, the vehicle W is maintained in a stopped state.

Conveyance vehicle W as traveling member Y according to the present invention
The optically guided unmanned _{transportation} system, _which has security measures in _place to prevent rear-end collisions, is configured as described above _. As I said, the signals came one after another.
Send c ₀ , ₁ , ₂ , ... to each projector P ₁ , P ₂ , P ₃ ,
... is made to emit light, and the slits s ₁ , s ₂ , s ₃ , ... of the slit plates S ₁ , S ₂ , S ₃ , ... cause a portion of both ends to overlap and connect linearly. Curtain-shaped irradiation light L ₁ for forming a vine-shaped vehicle taxiway,
If _{L 2 , L 3} , . . . irradiation light
One of L ₁ , L ₂ , L ₃ , ... (two irradiation lights in the overlapping part) is received, the signal is sent to controller A, and the signal from controller A is used to control the motor. M ₁ , M ₂ are activated, wheels w ₁ , w ₂
, the vehicle W emits irradiated light L ₀ , L ₁ , L ₂ ,...
The vehicle will be guided along the vehicle guideway formed by the following.

And now, the vehicle W loaded with luggage etc. is pointing at the arrow Z.
_{As shown in FIG . 3} , the controller C ₄ stops the light emission of the projector P ₄ in response to the signal ₃ from the light receiver or light receiving element R ₃ and extinguishes the irradiated light L ₄ . Even if the following vehicle W is illuminated by light L ₅ , the preceding vehicle W moves forward and the illumination light reaches L5.
It will be shut down until L ₄ irradiates again.

Therefore, there were no accidents where the following vehicle W collided with the preceding vehicle W.

As a safety measure to prevent rear-end collisions,
A reflector plate is simply placed on the guiding road surface for the vehicle W, which is formed in the same way as in the conventional optically guided unmanned transportation system of this kind, and placed at approximately the same distance as the vehicle W..., Q ₀ ,
Q ₁ , Q ₂ , ... are installed, and this reflector ......, Q ₀ ,
Depending on the presence or absence of reflected light from Q ₁ , Q ₂ , ..., the next controllers ..., C ₁ , C ₂ , C ₃ , ... are controlled, and based on this, each floodlight... ...,
It only controls the light emission of P ₁ , P ₂ , P ₃ , ...
In addition, the vehicle W does not require the installation of special sensors such as television cameras for security measures, and only requires the installation of the minimum number of necessary parts for driving. Compared to conventional systems, its configuration is extremely simplified, maintenance etc. are also extremely easy, and it has become possible to provide an inexpensive optically guided unmanned transportation system.

Furthermore, if the shapes of the slit plates..., S ₁ , S ₂ , S ₃ , etc., s ₁ , s ₂ , s ₃ , etc. are curved, the vehicle W can be curved. When the reflected light from any one of the reflectors..., Q ₁ , Q ₂ , Q ₃ ,... is blocked by some event, as well as when the vehicle is running or during a power outage, ,
Since the vehicle W is forced to stop, the safety effect is further enhanced.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, as in this kind of conventional light-guided unmanned transportation system, each transportation vehicle itself has various necessary members for traveling. Unlike safety measures that incorporate sensors such as TV cameras that are linked to control this and prevent rear-end collisions and collisions, this system has an extremely simple configuration, eliminates operational errors, and It has now become possible to provide a light-guided unmanned transportation system that has safety measures in place to completely eliminate accidents such as those caused by a rear-end collision between a preceding vehicle and a following vehicle.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the optically guided unmanned transportation system according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining its configuration, and FIG. This is a system diagram for Note that the dotted lines in the figure indicate virtual parts. X: Light projecting member, C ₁ , C ₂ , ...; Controller, c ₀ ,
c ₁ , c ₂ , ...; connection line, P ₁ , P ₂ , ...; floodlight,
S ₁ , S ₂ , ...; slit plate, s ₁ , s ₂ , ...: slit, L ₁ , L ₂ , ...; curtain-shaped irradiation light, R ₁ , R ₂ ,
...; Photoreceiver or photodetector, r ₀ , r ₁ , r ₂ , ...;
Connection line, Q ₁ , Q ₂ , ...; Reflector, Y: Running member,
W: Transportation vehicle, Z: Traveling direction, I: Power source, A;
Wheel drive controller, t ₀ , t ₁ , ..., t _o ; Light receiver or light receiving element, M ₁ , M ₂ ; Motor, w ₁ , w ₂ ;
Wheel, w′ ₂ ; driven wheel.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A light-guided unmanned transportation system comprising a light projecting member and a traveling member, wherein the light projecting member includes a series of discretely installed plurality of projectors; It is composed of a slit plate provided below each projector, a light receiver or light receiving element attached to each projector, and a controller, and the light receiver or light receiving element is connected to the controller. Furthermore, each curtain-shaped irradiation light is generated by passing the emitted light of each floodlight through the slit of each slit plate, and a part of one of both ends of each curtain-shaped irradiation light is transmitted to the adjacent curtain. Vehicle guidance is connected in a series by the curtain-shaped irradiation light, which overlaps a part of one of both ends of the curtain-shaped irradiation light, and the distance between the two ends is approximately equal to the length of the traveling member. At the same time, reflective plates are installed on the road surface of the vehicle guideway at intervals approximately equal to the length of the traveling member, and the reflected light from the reflectors is directed to the rear side with respect to the traveling direction of the vehicle guideway. A light receiver or a light receiving element connected to an adjacent next controller is configured to receive light, and a light projector attached to the controller connected to the light receiver or light receiving element that receives the light emits light. Also, the light irradiated to the reflecting plate is blocked by the traveling member,
When reflection to a light receiver or light receiving element connected to the next controller is blocked, a light projector attached to the next controller stops emitting light, and the traveling member , a large number of light receivers or light receiving elements and a wheel drive controller arranged in a direction substantially orthogonal to the curtain-shaped irradiation light, and each light receiver or light receiving element other than the central light receiver or light receiving element. Depending on the signal from the controller according to the amount of light received from the light receiving element, separate motors for driving the traveling wheels on both sides are operated so that the central light receiver or light receiving element is always at the receiving position of the irradiated light. change the rotation of
A light-guided unmanned transportation system, characterized in that it is made to travel along the vehicle guideway.