JPH0725414A - Article transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate useless space from an article storage shelf so as to improve storage efficiency by providing a mounting member, which is provided with a freely and horizontally or vertically oscillational sucker, in a moving member arranged in a carriage freely movably in the longitudinal direction. CONSTITUTION:Multiple suckers 44 connected to a sucking device are arranged on a face, which dose not face the second oscillating arm 28 in a vertically oscillating member 41, in a slight area freely oscillationally in the optional direction, and plural pressing pieces 45, which are slightly retracted from the suckers 44, are arranged. After the sucker 44 is pressed onto an article so as to suck and adhere it, the oscillating arm 28 is extended/shrunk or a vertical holding member 29 moves a moving base at the same time as operation of the oscillating arm 28, so that the article can be mounted/ejected. A sucker mounting member 43 consists of a horizontally oscillating member 31, a vertically moving member 38, and a vertically oscillating member 41. No clearance, through which a slide fork or the like is passed, between the article stored in the article storage shelf and the article storage shelf above the article is required, so that storage efficiency can be improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article transfer device provided on a lifting platform of a stacker crane of an automatic warehouse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the following items are known as this type of article transfer device. That is, on the lifting platform (packing platform),
It is known that a slide fork is provided slidably in the front-rear direction. The slide fork carries out the operations of projecting the article downward, lifting the article by raising the elevating table, and retracting the article to the elevating table side to pull the article into the elevating table, and by the reverse operation, article storage shelves, etc. You can unload the goods.

[0003]

Disadvantages of the Prior Art The conventional article transfer device has the following drawbacks. Firstly, when exchanging an article with an article storage rack, it is necessary to raise and lower the elevating table with the slide fork protruding, and therefore the articles stored in the article storage rack and A space for raising and lowering the slide fork must be formed between the upper article storage shelf and the space becomes a dead space,
As a result, there is a drawback that the article storage efficiency is reduced by the space formed in each article storage shelf. Secondly, since the article storage rack needs a slide fork passage gap, there is a drawback that the conventional article transfer device cannot be used for a single-plate article storage rack.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Disadvantages] The present invention adopts the following means in order to eliminate the above disadvantages. According to the present invention, a moving member provided on a carrier so as to be movable back and forth, and horizontally movable on the moving member, and vertically movable.
And a suction plate mounting member having a suction plate.

[0005]

The present invention has the following functions. After sucking the side surface of the article by the suction board, by retracting the moving member and pulling the article onto the loading platform,
The article can be placed on the loading platform, while the article on the loading platform can be pushed out by the suction plate attachment member to unload the article from the loading platform to the article storage rack or the like.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. In this specification, the front means the lower side of FIG. 1, the rear means the upper side of FIG. 1, the left means the left side of FIG. 1, and the right means the right side of FIG.

A pair of front and rear rack devices 1 are erected on the floor so as to open the stacker crane passage 12. The rack device 1 includes a large number of front columns 2 arranged at right and left at predetermined intervals, a rear column 2 arranged behind the front columns 2 with a predetermined space between them, and a high column. It has a horizontal plate-shaped article storage shelf 3 provided at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction. The access ports 6 of the article storage shelves 3 of the front and rear rack devices 1 face each other. Article W
Is stored in the article storage shelf 3 in such a manner as to extend a predetermined amount to the stacker crane passage 12 side. That is, the article W is
The stacker crane passages 12 are stored in the article storage shelves 3 so that the vertical surfaces thereof are flush or nearly flush. The article W is a needle 5 described later such as a cardboard box.
4 has the softness to pierce.

On the left side of the rack device 1, there is provided a loading / unloading roller conveyor 8 whose carrying direction is left and right. A stopper 9 that comes into contact with the article W conveyed to the rack device 1 side by the loading / unloading roller conveyor 8 on the rack device 1 side of the loading / unloading roller conveyor 8.
However, the actuator 10 such as a fluid pressure cylinder is provided so as to be movable left and right. These stoppers 9 stop at the position where the articles W are received from the loading / unloading roller conveyor 8, and the left / right center of the lifting platform 19 (the loading platform 21) of the stacker crane 16 described later and the left / right of the articles W on the loading / unloading roller conveyor 8. The article W is moved left and right in accordance with the size of the article W (the size of the left and right width) so that the center of the direction coincides. Although not shown, a width detector that detects the left and right width of the article W is provided at a required portion of the loading / unloading roller conveyor 8.

A pair of upper and lower guide rails 14 are arranged in the stacker crane passage 12 so that the longitudinal direction thereof is oriented in the left and right directions, and the stacker crane 16 is guided by these guide rails 14 so as to be movable left and right. , This stacker crane 16 has a traveling carriage 17
A lift 19 that can be lifted and lowered by a mast 18 provided on the traveling carriage 17, a loading platform 21 that is provided on the lifting platform 19 by a known horizontal turning device 20 so as to be horizontally rotatable, and a loading platform 21 A movable table 22 provided so as to be horizontally slidable, a main article transfer device 26 mounted on the movable table 22, which will be described in detail later, and an auxiliary article detailed after mounted on the movable table 22. And a transfer device 50.

The main article transfer device 26 includes a pair of first swing arms 27 provided on the moving base 22 so as to be swingable up and down by a pivot perpendicular to the moving direction, and the first swing arms. A pair of second swing arms 28 provided at the free ends of the first swing arms 27 so as to be vertically swingable in the same direction as the swing direction of the first swing arm 27, and a second end at the free ends of the second swing arms 28. The vertical holding member 29 is provided so as to be swingable in the same direction as the swinging direction of the swinging arm 28. With respect to the first swing arm 27, the second swing arm 28, and the vertical holding member 29, the first swing arm 27 has a predetermined angle θ by a swing control device known in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-17007.
When rocked, the second rocking arm 28 rocks in the opposite direction by 2θ with respect to the first rocking arm 27, and further the vertical holding member is tilted by θ in the opposite direction relative to the second rocking arm 28. Two
9 is designed to swing. The first swing arm 27, the second swing arm 28, and the vertical holding member 29 are
Swing control is performed by setting the vertical holding member 29 in a vertical state in a state where the first swing arm 27 and the second swing arm 28 form the same angle with respect to an imaginary vertical plane including the pivot points of the two. Since they are interlocked and connected by the device, the vertical holding member 29 always holds the vertical state.

A horizontal rocking member 31 is provided on the vertical holding member 29 via a vertical shaft 30 so as to be horizontally rockable. When it stops working, it automatically returns to the neutral position. A neutral retainer 33 that holds the horizontal swinging member 31 in the neutral position is provided unless a force of a predetermined magnitude that swings the horizontal swinging member 31 acts. The neutral retainer 33 has a recess 34 provided in the horizontal rocking member 31 and a ball 36 on the vertical holding member 29 side that is biased by a spring 35 in a direction to fit in the recess 34. ing. The horizontal rocking member 31 is provided with a pair of vertically moving members 38 which are urged upward by a spring 39 so as to be vertically movable. The vertical movement member 38
When a pair of upper and lower springs having the same spring force are applied from above and below to prevent an external force in the vertical direction from acting on the vertical moving member 38, the vertical moving member 38 has an intermediate height relative to the horizontal swinging member 31. You may make it located in a position. A vertical rocking member 41 is provided on these vertical moving members 38 so as to be vertically rockable, and the vertical rocking member 41 is biased by a spring 42 in a direction to lower the upper end thereof.

On the surface of the vertical swinging member 41 not facing the second swing arm 28, a large number of suction plates 44 are provided so as to freely swing in any direction within a small range. Reference numeral 44 is connected to a suction device (not shown).
Further, a plurality of pushing pieces 45 are provided on the surface of the vertical swinging member 41 that does not face the second swinging arm 28, in a state of being slightly retracted from the suction plate 44. These push pieces 4
Reference numeral 5 is to prevent the suction plate 44 from being burdened when pushing the article W. In addition, the vertical swing member 4
On the surface of No. 1 that does not face the second swing arm 28, the suction plate 4
4, article sensors 46 are provided in a state of slightly projecting from 4, and tip ends of these article sensors 46 are urged by a spring (not shown) having a loose force so as to retreat when hitting the article W. It is possible to know that the suction cup 44 has hit the article W by retracting the tip portion.
With the above-described structure, the suction plate 44 is pressed against the article W to be sucked / sucked, and then the first swing arm 27 and the second swing arm 28 are expanded / contracted or the movable table 22 is moved at the same time. The article W can be placed on the rail-shaped carrier 21a of the carrier 21 or pushed out from the rail-shaped carrier 21a. The rail-shaped carrier 21
When pushing out the article W from a, as described above,
The article W is pushed by the pushing piece 45.

As is clear from the above description, the horizontal swing member 31, the vertical movement member 38, and the vertical swing member 41 constitute the suction plate mounting member 43. The up-and-down swing member 41 may be fixed to the up-and-down moving member 38 so as not to swing up and down.

As shown in FIG. 8, an auxiliary article transfer device 50.
The elevating plate 53 of the moving plate 22 is attached to the projecting portion 51 of the moving base 22 which projects toward the vertical swinging member 41, and the operating device 52 such as a fluid pressure cylinder.
A plurality of needles 54 are provided on the upper surface of the elevating plate 53 so as to project upward. In the normal state, the needle 54 is lower than the upper surface of the rail-shaped carrier 21a, and in this state, it does not collide with or interfere with the main article transfer device 26. On the other hand, the first swing arm 27 and the second swing arm 2 of the main article transfer device 26.
When 8 is in the most bent state, the lifting plate 53 projects from the virtual envelope surface of the tip of the suction plate 44. With such a configuration, the main article transfer device 2
When the article W cannot be taken out from the article storage shelf 3 by 6, the stacker of the article W stuck by the needle 54 such as the cardboard box stored in the article storage shelf 3 in a state of protruding from the article storage shelf 3 to the stacker crane passage 12 side After the needle 54 is positioned below the bottom surface of the portion projecting to the crane passage 12 side, the elevating plate 53 is raised to pierce the needle 54 into the bottom surface of the article W, and then the moving table 22 is separated from the article storage shelf 3. To move the article W to the rail-shaped loading platform 21a.
Can be placed on.

If there is only one rack device 1,
The movable table 22 is provided directly on the elevating table 19 so as to be movable back and forth without the horizontal turning device 20.

[0016]

The present invention has the following effects due to the above-mentioned configuration. After adsorbing the side surface of the article by the suction cup, the moving member can be retracted to pull the article onto the loading platform, so that the article can be placed on the loading platform, while the suction cup mounting member pushes out the article on the loading platform. By doing so, it is possible to unload the articles from the loading platform to the article storage shelves and the like. Since a space for storing is not required, it is possible to increase the article storage efficiency by that amount. Further, since the article storage rack does not require a passage gap for the slide fork, the article transfer device of the present invention can be used for a single-plate article storage rack. Since the suction plate mounting member is horizontally swingable,
Even if the orientation of the article is slightly distorted when viewed from the plane, the suction cup correctly faces the side surface of the article, and the side surface of the article can be reliably sucked by the suction board. Since the suction cup mounting member is vertically movable, that is, the suction cup mounting member has a vertical degree of freedom, when the article is pulled into the cargo bed or pushed out to the article storage rack, Even if there is a step between the article storage shelf and the load receiving surface, the step can be absorbed by the suction plate mounting member moving up and down, and the article can be smoothly placed on the luggage carrier or the article storage shelf.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view with an intermediate omitted, showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view along the line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG.

4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG.

5 is an enlarged view of part A of FIG.

6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG.

7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a side view for explaining the operation of the auxiliary article transfer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 cargo bed 26 main article transfer device 29 vertical holding member (moving member) 43 suction plate mounting member 44 suction plate

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An article transfer having a moving member provided on a carrier so as to be movable back and forth, and a suction plate mounting member having a suction plate provided on the moving member so as to be horizontally swingable and vertically movable. Mounting device.