JPH0683450A - Transport equipment using mobile vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a transportation facility capable of reducing the size and weight of a moving vehicle by reducing the size of a battery mounted on the moving vehicle. [Configuration] A control means provided in a moving vehicle A equipped with a battery as a power source causes the moving vehicle A to travel from a station ST to a station ST on the basis of a transfer work command given at a home position HP to perform a transfer work. In the transfer equipment using a moving vehicle configured to execute and return the moving vehicle A to the home position HP when the transfer operation is completed, the charging station SB is provided at a position before the home position HP. Installed,
The control means is configured to, when returning the traveling vehicle A to the home position HP, travel the traveling vehicle A to the charging station SB to charge the battery, and then travel the traveling vehicle A to the home position HP. ing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control means provided in a moving vehicle equipped with a battery as a power source, which causes the moving vehicle to travel from station to station based on a transfer work command given at a home position. The present invention relates to a transport facility using a mobile vehicle configured to perform a transport operation by using the mobile vehicle and return the mobile vehicle to the home position when the transport operation ends.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in such a transportation facility, a moving vehicle is equipped with a battery having a large capacity as much as possible to enable long-time transportation work without charging. And
The control means provided in the mobile vehicle causes the mobile vehicle to travel to the battery exchange station to replace the battery when the need for charging is detected from the voltage drop of the battery, or to drive the battery to the battery charging station. Was configured to charge. That is, the moving vehicle repeats the carrying work and the standby at the home position unless it is detected that the battery needs to be charged.

[0003]

However, since increasing the capacity of the battery causes an increase in the total weight of the moving vehicle, much of the increase in the capacity of the battery is offset by the increase in the power consumption for traveling driving. I will end up. In addition, as the size of the moving vehicle increases, it is against the demand for space saving and facility cost reduction.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a transportation facility capable of reducing the size and weight of a moving vehicle by reducing the size of a battery mounted on the moving vehicle. To do.

[0005]

In the transportation equipment using a moving vehicle according to the present invention, the control means provided in the moving vehicle equipped with a battery as a power source is based on a transportation work command given at the home position. It is configured such that a moving vehicle is made to travel from station to station to perform a transfer operation, and at the end of the transfer operation, the movable vehicle is returned to the home position for travel. A configuration is such that a charging station is installed at a position before the home position, and when the control means causes the moving vehicle to return to the home position and travels, the moving vehicle is run to the charging station and the battery is used. Is configured to drive the moving vehicle to the home position after charging.

[0006]

According to the above characteristic structure, when the moving vehicle travels back to the home position at the end of the carrying work,
Be sure to drive to the charging station and receive the battery charge. That is, since the battery is charged every time one carrying operation is completed, the battery capacity is small. In order to operate the transportation facility efficiently, it is desirable to use a battery that can be rapidly charged.

[0007]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the battery capacity is small, the battery can be downsized, and the moving vehicle can be downsized and lightened.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a guide line L that forms a traveling route of the moving vehicle A is laid in a loop shape on a traveling road surface of a moving vehicle A that is an automatic guided vehicle, and the moving vehicle A stops to unload the luggage. A plurality of stations ST for performing the work are arranged along the guide line L. FIG. 1 is a simplified drawing of the layout of the actual transfer facility. As the moving vehicle A waiting at the home position HP is given a transfer work command, the loading area LE on the left side of the drawing is shown. It is assumed that luggage is loaded at any one of the stations ST arranged in line, is transported to the unloading area UE on the right side, and is unloaded at any station ST.

As shown in FIG. 2, the guide line L is formed by embedding a magnetic material, which has a rectangular cross section and is magnetized as an N pole on the front side and an S pole on the back side, on the road surface. A storage medium T is embedded in the curved portion of the guide line L, a branch portion, a front portion such as the station ST, and the like. The storage medium T stores travel control information necessary for traveling of the mobile vehicle A at each installation location. For example, it is information such as the traveling speed on a curve, the address of the station ST, the distance to the stop point, and the address of the guide line at the branch destination.

2 and 3 are block diagrams of the mobile vehicle A and schematic layout diagrams of the components in plan view. On the front side of the vehicle body is provided a traveling wheel 3 which is driven by a traveling motor 1 and is also steered by a steering motor 2. The traveling wheel 3 also serves as a steering wheel. A wheel 4 is provided. A follow-up sensor 5 for detecting the guide line L and obtaining information for steering control is attached so as to be steered integrally with the traveling wheels 3. Further, the traveling wheel 3 is provided with a rotary encoder 6 which generates a signal of a pulse number proportional to the rotation number of the traveling wheel 3.

A tag reader 7 for reading the stored information of the storage medium T embedded in the above-mentioned running road surface is provided at the front part on the right side of the vehicle body. An optical communication device 8 for exchanging information with the station ST is provided at the center of the left side surface of the vehicle body. Each station ST is connected to a central control device C that manages the operation of the entire transportation facility, and the moving vehicle A can also communicate with the central control device C via the station ST.

The information given from the moving vehicle A to the station ST includes information that informs arrival and cargo information.
As the information given from the station ST to the moving vehicle A,
There is information, etc. that informs the completion of the transfer of luggage. Further, the home position HP is also equipped with the same optical communication device as the station ST, and the moving vehicle A on standby is provided with a central control device C.
A transfer work instruction is given from the.

As shown in FIG. 2, the moving vehicle A is provided with a control means 9 using a microcomputer, and information is input from the magnetic sensor 5, the rotary encoder 6, the tag reader 7, the optical communication device 8 and the like. It Control means 9
Controls the traveling of the moving vehicle A based on these input information. That is, the driving / stopping of the traveling motor 1 and the speed control are performed via the traveling motor drive circuit 10 to start, stop, and control the speed of the moving vehicle A, and the steering motor drive circuit 11 is used. By controlling the forward / reverse drive / stop of the steering motor 2, steering control along the guide line L of the moving vehicle A is performed.

As shown in the drawing, the follow-up sensor 5 is composed of four magnetic sensing elements arranged in parallel in the left-right direction of the vehicle body. In the state where the position of the moving vehicle A in the left-right direction is at an appropriate position with respect to the guide line L, that is, the center of the follow-up sensor 5 in the left-right direction is located in the center of the guide line L, four magnetic sensors are detected. Two inside elements are configured to be in an ON state by sensing the magnetism of the guide line L, and two outside elements are configured in an OFF state in which the magnetism is not sensed. When the moving vehicle A shifts to the left or right with respect to the guide line L,
Since one of the two outer magnetic sensing elements is in a state of sensing the magnetism of the guide line L, the control means 9 should return the vehicle body to the proper position with respect to the guide line L based on the detection information. Performs steering control.

The tag reader 7 performs a close proximity wireless communication with the storage medium T by electromagnetic induction to read the stored information in the storage medium T and pass it to the control means 9. Storage medium T
Is a rewritable semiconductor memory (EEPROM), a loop antenna for performing close proximity wireless communication with an external device by electromagnetic induction, a signal processing circuit, a control circuit, and the like, which are integrally casing. With such a configuration, the traveling control information as described above can be written and read in the storage medium T in a non-contact manner.

While the moving vehicle A is traveling, the tag reader 7 sends a response request signal to the unspecified storage medium T at a constant cycle. On the other hand, the storage medium T is maintained in a state capable of receiving the response request signal from the tag reader 7.
Therefore, the moving vehicle A approaches the installation location of the storage medium T,
When the distance between the storage medium T and the tag reader 7 approaches the communicable distance, the storage medium T receives a response request signal from the tag reader 7 and returns a response. Storage medium T and tag reader 7
When the communication between them is established, the stored information in the storage medium T is read by the tag reader 7.

In this way, the moving vehicle A is guided by the guide line L.
The stored information is read by the tag reader 7 as it approaches the storage medium T installed along the line, and is given to the control means 9 that controls traveling. Based on this information, the control means 9 controls the subsequent stop and branch. Although illustration is omitted, a mark which is a magnet plate is installed at a stop position of the moving vehicle A in the station ST, and the moving vehicle A is provided with a mark sensor (magnetic sensor) for detecting the mark.

Further, the moving vehicle A is provided with an ultrasonic sensor, a light reflection sensor or the like (not shown) for detecting an obstacle such as a preceding moving vehicle, and the control means 9 detects information from these sensors. Based on the above, control is also performed to avoid collision between moving vehicles at the merging portion of the guide line.

By the traveling control as described above, the control means 9
On the basis of the transfer work command given via the optical communication device 8 at the home position HP, the moving vehicle A travels from the station ST to the station ST to execute the transfer work, and moves with the end of the transfer work. Car A is returned to the home position HP and travels. Loading and unloading of cargo at the station ST is performed by operating a roller conveyor or a stopper of a mounting table (not shown) via the transfer actuator drive circuit 12.

The above-described transportation work is performed by using the battery 13 mounted on the moving vehicle A as a power source. A small battery having a small capacity is mounted on the battery 13, and the battery 13 is charged every time one carrying operation is completed and the vehicle returns to the home position HP. That is, as shown in FIG.
The charging station SB is installed in front of the home position HP, and the control means 9 of the moving vehicle A runs the moving vehicle A to the charging station SB to charge the battery 13 and then to the home position HP.

However, as will be described later, even when the need to charge the battery 13 is detected during the transportation work, the moving vehicle A is moved to the charging station SB and the battery 1 is moved.
Charge 3 In this case, a bypass path L1 is provided for allowing the moving vehicle A to bypass the home position HP and return to the normal transport travel path. Moreover, although it is rare in the layout of FIG. 1, by the end of one carrying operation,
In some cases, it may be necessary to bypass the charging station SB and the home position HP, so a bypass path L2 for that purpose is also provided.

The charging of the battery 13 is performed by the control means 9 via the terminal voltage detection circuit 14 as shown in FIG. That is, the terminal voltage of the battery 13 is checked by the terminal voltage detection circuit 14, and if the terminal voltage is lower than the threshold value, it is determined that charging is necessary.

The control executed by the control means 9 regarding the carrying work and the battery charging will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The control means 9 starts the traveling of the moving vehicle A when a transfer work command is given at the home position HP (process (a)), and as described above, the traveling control information read from the storage medium T and the tracking sensor. The moving vehicle A is caused to travel along the guide line L based on the information and the like in FIG.

Eventually, the moving vehicle A arrives at the destination station ST in the loading area LE. Here, the control means 9
Checks the presence or absence of the above battery voltage drop, as shown in process (b). If the low battery voltage, that is, the need for charging is detected, the information is sent to the station ST.
After transmitting to the (central control unit C), the moving vehicle A is run to the charging station SB and the battery 13 is charged.

As shown in FIG. 1, the charging station S
B includes a charger 15, a connecting mechanism 16 for connecting to the moving vehicle A, an optical communication device (not shown) for communicating with the moving vehicle A, and the like. When the vehicle 9 arrives at the charging station SB and arrival information is given from the control means 9 to the charging station SB, the charging station SB electrically extends the connection mechanism 16 to electrically connect with the moving vehicle A. And the control means 9 connects to the charging station SB.
The charging circuit from the battery charger 15 to the battery 13 of the moving vehicle A is closed to start charging.

The control means 9 terminates charging when the voltage of the battery 13 monitored by the terminal voltage detection circuit 14 becomes equal to or higher than the set voltage, and gives charging completion information to the charging station SB. Then, the suspended transportation work of the moving vehicle A is restarted (return to processing (a)). In this case, the moving vehicle A is driven to the target station ST through the bypass L1.

When the battery voltage drop is not detected in the process (a), the transfer operation (loading of luggage in this case) is executed. At this point in time, since the transfer work is not completed, the process returns to the process (a) through the determination of the process (c), and travels to the next target station, that is, the predetermined station ST in the unloading area UE, The process of is repeated.

However, when the transfer operation in this case, that is, the unloading is completed, the carrying work is completed, and therefore the process of (d) is followed by the process of (d). That is, the moving vehicle A is caused to travel to the charging station SB, the battery 13 is charged as described above, and then the vehicle is moved to the home position HP. Then, it waits for the next transfer work command.

Other examples will be listed below. Although only one charging station SB is provided in FIG. 1 of the above-described embodiment, a plurality of charging stations SB are arranged side by side and a plurality of mobile vehicles
The batteries may be charged at the same time. As a result, it is possible to deal with the case where the timings of the return travels of the plurality of moving vehicles A to the home position HP overlap.
In this case, for example, the central control device C may manage the availability of a plurality of charging stations SB and guide the moving vehicle A to the vacant charging station SB.

In the above-described embodiment, when the moving vehicle arrives at the target station and the low battery is detected, the transportation work is interrupted and the vehicle is moved to the charging station. When the carrying work is completed by unloading, the carrying work may be completed and then the vehicle may be moved to the charging station. However, only when the power consumed by the unloading operation is small.

The present invention is not limited to the simple transfer work of loading a package at one station and unloading at another station as shown in the above-described embodiment, and a new package at the station where the package is unloaded can be used. It can also be applied to a case where a complicated transfer work command is given, such as loading and transferring to another station. Moreover, FIG.
It can be applied not only to the above layout, but also to conveyance equipment with a more complicated layout.

In the above-described embodiment, the charging station SB is provided with the connection mechanism for charging.
A connection mechanism may be provided on the side. In addition, the charging completion detecting device may be provided in the charging station SB instead of being provided on the moving vehicle side, and the completion of charging may be detected by detecting the current instead of detecting the voltage. May be.

It should be noted that reference numerals are given in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the structures of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a layout of a transfer facility using a moving vehicle according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing information exchange between a moving vehicle and its surroundings.

FIG. 3 is a plan perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a moving vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of control relating to carrying work and battery charging.

[Explanation of Codes] 9 Control Means 13 Battery A Mobile Vehicle HP Home Position SB Charging Station ST Station

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location B62D 1/28 9142-3D

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A control means (9) provided in a moving vehicle (A) equipped with a battery (13) as a power source, said moving vehicle (9) based on a transfer work command given at a home position (HP). A) is run from the station (ST) to the station (ST) to carry out the carrying work, and at the end of the carrying work, the moving vehicle (A) is run to return to the home position (HP). In the transfer equipment using a moving vehicle, the charging station (SB) is installed at a position before the home position (HP), and the control means (9) is
When the moving vehicle (A) is returned to the home position (HP), the moving vehicle (A) is moved to the charging station (SB) and the battery (13) is moved.
After the vehicle is charged, a transportation facility using a mobile vehicle configured to drive the mobile vehicle (A) to the home position (HP).