JPH07329530A - Automated guided vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To connect a driving car and a carriage to each other property even when both are not aligned correctly, and perform attachment and detachment of their connection easily. CONSTITUTION:In either one of a front and a rear surface parts of a carriage 2, a connection guide part 22 having at least one up-directed or down-directed protruded member 22c formed at a forward end part is provided along the width of the carraige 2 for a specified width, and at a rear part of a driving car 1 to tract this carriage 2, a jointer 4 provided with a shaft part 41 protruded horizontally on the back the driving car 1, and an engagement part 42 protruded from a forward end part of the shaft part 41 in a crossing direction with the shaft part 41 is provided. The engagement part 42 of this jointer 4 is freely rotatable in such a way that mutual angule can be changed from a down- directed or up-directed angle at which it can be engaged with the protruded member 22c of the connection guide part 22 to a horizontal angle at which engagement with the protruded member 22c is avoided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automated guided vehicle used for unmanned transportation of desired packing materials such as products and raw materials at various work sites such as factories.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an automatic guided vehicle of this type, there is, for example, one shown in FIG. In this conventional vehicle, a trolley 2e on which a cargo N is loaded is connected to a drive vehicle 1e that can travel on the floor, and the trolley 2e is towed by the drive vehicle 1e. This drive vehicle 1e employs, for example, a battery-driven motor as a power source, and is configured to travel along an optical type mark provided on the floor while sensing the mark by a predetermined sensor. Has been done.

In such an automated guided vehicle, since it is not necessary to lay rails on the floor surface, the construction cost of the automated guided system can be reduced, and the traveling route of the guided vehicle can be easily changed. Furthermore, since the carriage 2e is towed by the drive vehicle 1e, the load amount of the load material can be increased and the carrying capacity is excellent as compared with the case where the load material is loaded on the drive vehicle 1e.

In an unmanned guided vehicle of the type in which the carriage 2e is towed as described above, it is necessary to reliably connect the carriage 2e to the drive vehicle 1e. Therefore, conventionally, as the connecting means, appropriate bracket pieces 50, 50 are provided on both the driving vehicle 1e and the trolley 2e, and the pins 52 are provided at each of the bracket pieces 50, 50 and both ends of the connecting rod 51. Was pierced through to achieve these connections. Also,
This pin 52 is provided with bracket pieces 50, 50 as needed.
It was welded to the vehicle so that the driving vehicle 1e and the trolley 2e would not accidentally fall out due to vibration during traveling.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the above conventional one,
Both ends of the connecting rod 51 are fixed to the drive vehicle 1e and the trolley 2e respectively, and the connecting rod 5 is connected to the drive vehicle 1e and the trolley 2e.
1 cannot be easily removed. Further, even if the connecting rod 51 can be removed, the work of re-connecting the drive vehicle 1e and the carriage 2e using the connecting rod 51 after that is considerably troublesome.

As a result, conventionally, the drive vehicle 1e and the trolley 2
It is practically difficult to change the combination with e to pull a plurality of trucks one after another by one driving vehicle 1e, and there is a problem that the flexibility of use is poor. Further, conventionally, the trolley 2e is stopped and the trolley 2e is stopped.
When the loading material N is being loaded / unloaded onto / from the vehicle e, it is not easy to separate the drive vehicle 1e from the vehicle 2e and use it for towing another vehicle. There was also the drawback of being inefficient.

As a means for solving the above-mentioned difficulties,
For example, it is conceivable to employ a mechanism similar to the coupling mechanism used for detachably connecting railway freight cars. However, such a connecting mechanism is designed to connect the vehicles unless the centers of the two vehicles are aligned with each other such that the vehicles are guided by rails and the connecting portions of the vehicles are accurately positioned. Cannot be used for connecting the drive vehicle 1e and the trolley 2e.

That is, the trolley 2e is easily displaced if it comes into contact with a forklift or a worker when loading or unloading a load, and the amount of displacement is very large. Further, in the drive vehicle 1e that travels while sensing the mark on the floor surface, the displacement amount in the width direction of the drive vehicle 1e may be larger than that of the vehicle that travels along the rails. Therefore, the drive vehicle 1e and the trolley 2
In the case of connecting with e, the centers of these two vehicles are largely displaced from each other,
From this point as well, it has been difficult in the past to easily connect and disconnect the drive vehicle 1e and the carriage 2e.

The present invention was devised under such circumstances, and even when the drive vehicle and the carriage cannot be accurately aligned, the carriage is appropriately connected to the drive vehicle. It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to easily attach and detach the connection, and to easily and appropriately use a single drive vehicle to pull a plurality of vehicles sequentially.

[0010]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical means.

That is, the present invention is an automatic guided vehicle comprising a self-propelled drive vehicle that can travel on a floor surface and a truck for loading material that is towed by the drive vehicle. At least one of the front and rear both sides of the bogie is provided with a connecting guide part having at least one upward or downward projecting piece formed at the tip end over a certain width in the width direction of the bogie. In the rear portion of the drive vehicle, there is provided a jointer that includes a shaft portion that horizontally protrudes rearward of the drive vehicle and an engaging portion that protrudes from a tip end portion of the shaft portion in a direction intersecting with the shaft portion. The engagement portion of the joint is provided, and the engagement portion of the joint is disposed at a downward or upward angle capable of engaging with the projecting piece of the connecting guide portion of the carriage from a horizontal angle at which engagement with the projecting piece is avoided. Make the angle changeable It is characterized in that a freely rolling.

[0012]

In the automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention, the engaging portion of the joint provided on the rear portion of the drive vehicle is set to the horizontal angle, and the engaging portion of the joint is fixed to the trolley. By bringing the engaging portion close to the connecting guide portion and then rotating the engaging portion to set the downward or upward angle, the engaging portion is engaged with the upward or downward protruding piece of the connecting guide portion of the carriage. Can be combined.
And by these engagement, a drive vehicle and a trolley | bogie can be connected appropriately.

Further, since the guide portion for connecting the carriage is provided over a certain width in the width direction of the carriage, the center of the drive vehicle and the center of the carriage are slightly displaced when the drive vehicle and the carriage are connected. However, the joint of the drive vehicle can be brought close to and engaged with the connecting guide portion of the bogie, and the drive vehicle and the bogie can be properly connected.
Further, when the driving vehicle and the bogie are connected to each other, the engaging state of the joint is released by rotating the engaging portion of the joint to restore the original horizontal angle. However, the connection between the driving vehicle and the dolly can be released.

As described above, according to the present invention, even when the drive vehicle and the carriage are displaced and the centers thereof are not aligned, the drive vehicle and the carriage can be properly connected, and Connection and disconnection can be performed by rotating the engagement part of the joint and engaging and disengaging this engagement part with the connection guide part of the truck, so these operations can be mechanized or automated, and it can be connected to the drive vehicle. It can be easily and quickly attached to and detached from the dolly.

As a result, it is possible to easily change the combination of the drive vehicle and the trolley, and for example, one drive vehicle can be used to pull a plurality of trolleys one after another, and the flexibility of use can be increased. It is also possible to use it so that when the dolly is stopped and loading and unloading materials is being done, the drive car can be separated from the dolly and used to tow other dolly, improving the operating efficiency of the drive car. To help.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
A specific description will be given with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the automatic guided vehicle of the present invention. This automatic guided vehicle is configured to include a drive vehicle 1 that can travel on a floor surface and one or a plurality of vehicles 2 that are connected to the drive vehicle 1 and towed.

In the drive vehicle 1, the left and right drive wheels 10 and 10 connected to the servomotors M and M, which use a battery (not shown) mounted inside the vehicle body as a drive power source, are driven and rotated. It can run freely in either the front or back direction. Sensors 11a and 11b for detecting the line-shaped marks 3 provided in series on the floor are attached to the front and rear of the vehicle body of the driving vehicle 1. These sensors 11a and 11b are selected according to the type of the mark 3, and an optical sensor for optically detecting the mark 3 or a magnetic sensor for detecting the mark 3 using magnetic force is used.

In this drive vehicle 1, the sensors 11a, 1
The rotation speeds of the left and right drive wheels 10 and 10 are individually controlled according to the detection state of the mark 3 by the 1b. The traveling direction of the driving vehicle 1 is controlled by controlling the rotational speeds of the driving wheels 10 and 10, and the driving vehicle 1 always travels along the mark 3. The traveling of the driving vehicle 1 is performed based on a traveling program stored in the memory of the drive control unit of the driving vehicle 1 or a remote operation by a wireless signal such as radio waves or infrared rays.

At the rear part of the drive vehicle 1, a jointer 4 used for connecting the carriage 2 is provided. The jointer 4 is configured to include a shaft portion 41 that horizontally projects rearward of the drive vehicle 1 and two engaging portions 42 and 42 attached to a tip end portion of the shaft portion 41. .
These two engaging portions 42, 42 are, as shown in FIG.
Two roller shafts 42b and 42b that rotatably support the rollers 42a and 42a are attached to the outer peripheral surface of the tip end portion of the shaft portion 41 so as to be orthogonal to the shaft portion 41. The two rollers 42a, 42a
Are symmetrically arranged about the shaft portion 41.

The shaft portion 41 of the jointer 4 is supported by being guided by a guide portion 40 provided at the rear portion of the drive wheel 1. One end portion of the shaft portion 41 (the left end portion in FIG. 2). ) Is connected to a predetermined motor drive mechanism (not shown) provided separately in the drive vehicle 1. As an example of this motor drive mechanism, a linear motor mechanism that slides the shaft portion 41 in the front-rear direction of the arrow a to expand and contract the dimension of the shaft portion 41 protruding from the guide portion 40, and a straight motor mechanism that moves the shaft portion 41 along the arrow b. A structure in which a motor drive mechanism that rotates in opposite directions is combined is adopted.

Further, at the tip of the shaft portion 41 of the jointer 4, there is provided a detecting portion 5 constituted by a limit switch or the like for detecting that the shaft portion 41 comes into contact with a predetermined portion of the carriage 2. Has been. The jointer 4 detects the contact of the shaft portion 41 with the carriage 2 by the detecting portion 5 in a state where the engaging portions 42, 42 are set at the horizontal angle, and at that time, the arrow b 2 along the direction, and as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG.
Is controlled so as to be in an upright posture along the vertical direction.

In FIG. 1, the trolley 2 is provided with casters 24 on the lower surface of the trolley body 20 for loading cargo materials.
a to 24c are attached, and guards 21a and 21b for preventing falling of cargo are appropriately attached to the upper portion of the trolley body 20. Of the six casters 24a to 24c, the casters 24a and 24b located at the front and rear ends are of the type in which the direction of the wheels can be freely changed, while the caster 24c located in the center of them is the direction of the wheels. It is a fixed type that is impossible.

On the front and rear both sides of the dolly 2, connecting guide portions 22, 22 for connecting with the driving vehicle 1 via the joint 4 are provided. As shown in FIG. 3, each of the connecting guide portions 22 has a vertical back plate portion 22a.
Horizontal plate portions 22b, 22b are formed so as to project from various places in the upper and lower portions of the upper and lower portions, and a pair of downward and upward protruding pieces 22c, 2c are provided at the tip of each of the horizontal plate portions 22b, 22b.
2c are provided so as to face each other with a predetermined space S1.

The dimension S1 between the projecting pieces 22c and 22c is larger than the diameter d1 of the shaft portion 41 of the joint 4 and the diameters d2 of the rollers 42a and 42a shown in FIG. . Therefore, the roller 42
When a and 42a are set in a horizontal angle posture, these rollers 42a and 42a are connected to the pair of protruding pieces 22c,
It can be inserted into the inside of the coupling guide part 22 from between 22c. Further, the dimension S2 between the upper and lower horizontal plate portions 22b, 22b of the connecting guide portion 22 is formed to be slightly larger than the total length L1 of the rollers 42a, 42a of the jointer 4 shown in FIG. . Therefore, with the rollers 42a, 42a of the jointer 4 inserted in the connecting guide portion 22, the rollers 42a, 42a
It is also possible to arbitrarily rotate 42a along the vertical direction.

The above-mentioned connecting guide portions 22 are
As shown in FIG. 4, the width L of the carriage 2 in the width direction of the carriage 2
Is formed so as to have substantially the same width, and in its plan view, the entire shape is curved with a predetermined radius R.

That is, the connecting guide portion 22 is formed in an arc shape so that the central portion in the width direction of the carriage 2 projects toward the front side of the carriage 2. Each of the connecting guide portions 22 having such a configuration can be easily formed, for example, by bending a groove-shaped steel material having the above-described predetermined cross-sectional shape. The connecting guide portion 22 in this embodiment is
The groove-shaped steel material thus bent is welded to the carriage 2. In addition, in such a mounting structure of the connecting guide portion 22, the curved connecting guide portion 2
Since a gap is formed between the central portion of 2 and the carriage main body 20, a reinforcing rib 23 is appropriately provided at the position of this gap.

In the automatic guided vehicle having the above structure, the driving vehicle 1
In order to connect the carriage 2 with the carriage 2, first, as shown in FIG. 1, the shaft portion 41 of the joint 4 of the driving vehicle 1 is projected to the rear of the driving vehicle 1 and the engaging portions 42, 42 thereof are made horizontal. The drive vehicle 1 may be brought close to the trolley 2 in a state in which the vehicle is set in a different angle posture. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the rollers 42a, 42a at the tip of the jointer 4 can be inserted into the connecting guide portion 22.

When the drive vehicle 1 approaches the trolley 2 as described above, as shown in FIG. 7A, the trolley 2 faces obliquely and its center C2 is the center C1 of the drive vehicle 1. It may not match. However, since the connecting guide portion 22 is provided wide in the width direction of the carriage 2, even when the carriage 2 is slightly inclined as described above, the roller 42a of the jointer 4 is provided. ,
42a can be appropriately inserted into any part of the wide connecting guide portion 22.

Then, the jointer 4 is operated as described above.
When is inserted into the connecting guide portion 22, the detecting portion 5 at the tip of the joint 4 comes into contact with the back plate portion 22 a of the connecting guide portion 22. Then, the shaft portion 41 of the jointer 4 rotates by 90 degrees, and the rollers 42a, 42a of the jointer 4 are connected by the coupling guide portion 22 as shown in FIG.
It is an angle that stands inside.

In such an upright angular state of the rollers 42a, 42a, the rollers 42a, 42a are engaged with the projecting pieces 22c, 22c of the connecting guide portion 22 to connect the jointer 4 and the connecting guide portion 22. Can be prevented from coming off. Therefore, the drive vehicle 1 and the trolley 2 can be reliably connected.

As described above, in order to connect the drive vehicle 1 and the trolley 2 to each other, in the end, it is sufficient to bring the drive vehicle 1 close to the trolley 2 and rotate the jointer 4. Can be performed easily and quickly. In particular, in the present embodiment, the detection unit 5 detects the time when the tip of the jointer 4 is inserted into the coupling guide portion 22, so that the jointer 4 can be rotated at an appropriate timing. Therefore, a series of connecting works can be automated, and the connecting works can be unmanned.

Further, the connection between the drive vehicle 1 and the trolley 2 as described above can be performed even when the trolley 2 is slightly inclined, as described with reference to FIG. In this case, the drive vehicle 1 is moved forward (arrow d
Direction), due to the curved guide portion 22 for connection, the rollers 42a of the jointer 4,
The direction of the carriage 2 changes so that the guide 42a is relatively moved toward the center of the connecting guide 22. That is, when the drive vehicle 1 travels forward, as shown in FIG. 7B, the center C2 of the carriage 2 is changed to the center C1 of the drive vehicle 1.
The direction of the dolly 2 changes so as to coincide with.

In particular, in the present embodiment, since the rollers 42a, 42a are used as the engaging portions 42 of the joint 4, the rollers 42a, 42a are connected to the guide portion 2 for connection.
The two protruding pieces 22c, 22c can be smoothly brought into contact with each other to roll, and the direction of the carriage 2 can be smoothly changed. Further, among the six casters 24a to 24c of the trolley 2, the two casters 24c in the central portion are fixed type casters that cannot be turned, so the casters 24a and 24b at the other ends are located in the central portion. It becomes easy to rotate in the horizontal direction around the casters 24c, and the direction of the carriage 2 is changed more smoothly.

Therefore, in this embodiment, even when the carriage 2 is obliquely connected to the drive vehicle 1,
After that, when the traveling of the drive vehicle 1 is started, the direction of the carriage 2 can be corrected and the carriage 2 can be appropriately towed. When connecting the drive vehicle 1 to the dolly 2, it is not necessary for the worker to change the direction of the dolly 2 one by one.

There is a case where it is desired to release the connection between the drive vehicle 1 and the bogie 2 which are connected as described above, but this can be easily performed by the operation procedure opposite to the above-described connection operation. it can. That is, specifically, the shaft portion 41 of the jointer 4 is rotated by 90 degrees from the state where the rollers 42a, 42a of the jointer 4 shown in FIG.
As shown in, the rollers 42a, 42a may be returned to their original horizontal angular postures. As a result, the engagement between the jointer 4 and the connecting guide portion 22 can be released, and the drive vehicle 1 can be separated from the carriage 2 and run independently.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of an essential part showing an example of an unmanned transportation system constructed by using the driving vehicle 1 and the dolly 2 as described above. In this unmanned transportation system, a plurality of marks Ta for guiding the traveling of the drive vehicle 1 are provided in parallel so that a plurality of stations Ta to Td for keeping the cart 2 in standby are provided. .

In such a system, for example, the trolley 2 pulled by the drive vehicle 1 can be stopped in any of the vacant spaces of the stations Ta to Td, and then the drive vehicle 1 can be separated from the trolley 2. Then, by connecting the drive vehicle 1 to the trolley 2a installed at another station (station Td in the figure), the trolley 2
It is possible to pull and drive a to a desired work position.

As described above, the drive vehicle 1 and the trolley 2 can be connected and disconnected freely, and the work can be performed unmanned, which is optimal for the unmanned transfer system as described above. It is possible to improve the operating efficiency of the vehicle 1.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, since the connecting guide portions 22, 22 are provided on both front and rear surface portions of the carriage 2, the drive vehicle 1 can be connected from both the front and rear directions of the carriage 2. The advantage is obtained. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and the point is that the guide portion 2 for connection is connected to at least one of the front and rear both sides of the carriage 2.
2 may be provided. If the connecting guide portion 22 is provided on one of the two sides, the side on which the connecting guide portion 22 is provided faces the drive vehicle 1,
The drive vehicle 1 and the carriage 2 can be connected.

Further, in the above embodiment, the connecting guide portion 2 is used.
2 a pair of upward and downward protruding pieces 22c, 22c
6, the engagement portion 42 (rollers 42a, 42a) of the joint 4 with respect to the projecting pieces 22c, 22c of the connecting guide portion 22 should be securely prevented from coming off as described in FIG. The advantage that can be obtained is obtained.

However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 9, for example, only one of the upward projecting piece 22c and the downward projecting piece 22c is formed at the tip ( In FIG. 9, the upward protruding piece 22c
Only the connecting guide portion 22a may be configured. Even in this case, by rotating the engaging portion 42 of the joint 4 of the driving vehicle 1, the engaging portion 42 can be engaged with and disengaged from the projecting piece 22c, and the driving vehicle 1 and the carriage It is possible to freely connect and disconnect the two. In this case, the engaging portion 42 of the joint 4 is
Can be one.

Further, in the present invention, the connecting guide portion 2 is used.
It is not necessary to form 2 in the same width as that of the carriage 2.
The specific width of the connecting guide portion 22 may be appropriately determined in consideration of how much the carriage 2 is displaced when it is actually used.

Further, in the present invention, the specific structure of the joint 4 of the driving vehicle 1 is not limited to that in the above embodiment. For example, instead of providing the roller 42a at the tip portion of the shaft portion 41, a simple shaft-like member may be attached to the tip portion of the shaft portion 41 such that the member serves as the engaging portion 42. Further, the tip end of the shaft portion 41 may be bent into an L-shape, and the bent portion may be the engaging portion 42. The engagement portion 42 of the joint 4 of the present invention need only have a form protruding from the tip end portion of the shaft portion 41 in a direction intersecting with the shaft portion 41.

However, in the present invention, if the engaging portion 42 is formed by the roller 42a as in the above-described embodiment, when the engaging portion 42 is engaged with the protruding piece 22c of the connecting guide portion 22, The contact property becomes good, and the effect of preventing damage to these engaging portions can be obtained. In addition, the effect that the direction change of the carriage 2 described in FIG. 7 can be achieved smoothly is obtained, which is preferable.

Further, in the present invention, the engaging portion 42 of the jointer 4 does not necessarily have to be rotated by the rotating operation of the shaft portion 41. For example, only the engagement portion 42 may rotate along the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 41 while the shaft portion 41 is fixed.

In addition, in the present invention, the specific configurations of the respective portions of the drive vehicle 1 and the trolley 2 can be changed in design in various ways. Further, in the present invention, it goes without saying that the concrete usage mode of the automated guided vehicle does not matter, and, for example, by connecting a plurality of carriages 2 to each other, the plurality of carriages 1
It is also optional to pull by a single driving vehicle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a drive vehicle and a trolley constituting an automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an essential part showing an example of a joint of the driving vehicle shown in FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional side view of essential parts of the trolley shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partially omitted plan view of the truck shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a side view of essential parts showing an intermediate operation when connecting the drive vehicle and the dolly.

FIG. 6 is a side view of an essential part showing a state in which a driving vehicle and a dolly are connected to each other.

7 (a) and 7 (b) are schematic plan views showing the operation in the case where the drive vehicle is connected to the cart that is inclined.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of an unmanned transportation system configured using the unmanned transportation vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a side view of essential parts showing another example of the automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a conventional automated guided vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Drive vehicle 2 Bogie 4 Joiner 5 Detection part 22, 22a Connection guide part 22c Projecting piece 41 Shaft part 42 Engagement part 42a Roller

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A self-propelled drive vehicle capable of freely traveling on a floor surface,
An unmanned guided vehicle comprising a truck for loading material pulled by the driving vehicle, wherein at least one of the front and rear both sides of the truck has at least one upward or downward direction. A connecting guide portion having a projecting piece formed at the tip is provided over a certain width in the width direction of the carriage, and a shaft portion that horizontally projects rearward of the drive vehicle is provided at the rear portion of the drive vehicle. A jointer having an engaging portion that projects from a tip portion of the shaft portion in a direction intersecting with the shaft portion is provided, and the engaging portion of the jointer is a protruding piece of the connecting guide portion of the truck. An unmanned guided vehicle, which is rotatable so as to be mutually changeable from a downward or upward angle capable of being engaged with a horizontal angle to avoid engagement with a protruding piece.