JPH04345570A - Automatic guided vehicle transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a roller conveyor type transfer device for an automatic guided vehicle.

0002

[Prior Art] As a transfer device that is installed on the loading platform of an automatic guided vehicle and loads and unloads a load between it and a station,
Roller conveyor type transfer devices are well known. 4 and 5 show an automatic guided vehicle equipped with a conventional roller conveyor type transfer device. In the figures, 1 is a trolley, and 2 is a trolley 1.
3 is a roller conveyor installed on the top surface of the loading platform 2, 4 is a pallet guide provided along the transfer direction on both the left and right sides of the roller conveyor 3, 5 is a pallet, and 6 is a roller conveyor placed on the pallet 5. It is the load (work). Note that the arrow P indicates the transfer direction.

When the roller conveyor 3 is driven with this configuration, the pallet 5 mounted on the roller conveyor 3 moves in the direction of arrow P. Thereby, the cargo 6 placed on the pallet 5 can be loaded to or unloaded from the station. Further, if the posture of the pallet 5 tends to tilt to the left or right during transfer, the side wall 5a of the pallet 5 hits the pallet guide 4 on the cart side, and the posture is corrected. As a result, the pallet 5 always moves while maintaining a posture parallel to the transfer direction P.

0004

However, in the conventional roller conveyor type transfer device described above, the size of the pallet 5 is subject to the following usage restrictions. That is, in the transfer apparatus shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the pallet 5 is guided in the transfer direction P by sandwiching the entire pallet between the pallet guides 4 provided at both left and right ends of the roller conveyor 3. There is. Therefore, the pallet 5 is restricted to a width W that is approximately close to the distance L between the pallet guides 4 at both left and right ends. If the width dimension W
If a pallet with an irregular shape is used, which is smaller than the above-mentioned spacing L, in this case, the pallet guide 4 may not function sufficiently and the pallet may be tilted while moving on the roller conveyor. be. Moreover, if the posture of the pallet is tilted during transfer, the loading and unloading positions of the pallet will also deviate from the normal positions, which will cause problems when handling the workpieces with, for example, an autoloader.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is directed to the above-mentioned roller conveyor type transfer device.
To provide a transfer device for an automatic guided vehicle capable of holding pallets in a correct posture and guiding them in the transfer direction even when pallets of various sizes are used in the same transfer device.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the transfer device of the present invention has a groove on the side edge of the roller conveyor that fits into one side wall of the pallet in parallel to the transfer direction. It shall be constructed by laying a shaped guide rail.

[0007] Furthermore, the guide rail having the above structure can be installed on either the left or right side edge of the roller conveyor. Further, in order to make it easier for the side walls of the pallet to enter the grooves of the guide rail during loading, it is preferable to widen the rail groove width in a tapered manner at the front and rear ends of the guide rail.

[0008]

[Function] According to the above configuration, the grooved guide rails are mounted on the pallet on the roller conveyor (the base plate has an inverted U-shaped cross section and has low side walls that also serve as legs on the left and right side edges). One of the side walls is fitted into the groove and guided in the transfer direction. Therefore, it is not necessary to match the size of the pallet used to the width of the roller conveyor; as long as it fits within the width of the roller conveyor, one side wall of the pallet can be fitted between the guide rails to accommodate various sizes of large and small pallets. Even small pallets can be guided in the transfer direction while always maintaining the correct posture.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 to 3 show the structure of an embodiment of the present invention, and the same members corresponding to FIGS. 4 and 5 are given the same reference numerals. That is, with respect to the roller conveyor 3 installed on the loading platform 2 of the trolley 1, either the left or right side (
In the illustrated example, a groove-shaped guide rail 7 is laid in parallel to the transfer direction P on the side edge (left side in the illustrated example). This groove-shaped guide rail 7 has a pallet 5 (an inverted U-shaped base plate with short side walls 5a that also serve as legs on both left and right edges) between two rail pieces 7a and 7b arranged in parallel on the left and right. ) is formed with a guide groove 7c having a groove width G that is slightly wider than the plate thickness of the side wall 5a of It is fixedly supported on the truck side via a support 8 so that it does not move. Further, as clearly shown in FIG. 3, tapered portions 7d are formed in the rail pieces 7a and 7b at both front and rear ends of the guide rail 7 to enlarge the groove width of the guide groove 7c, so that the side wall 5a of the pallet 5 It makes it easy to enter.

With the above configuration, the pallet 5 mounted on the roller conveyor 3 has one of its left and right side walls 5a aligned with the guide groove 7c of the groove-shaped guide rail 7, as shown in FIG.
and is guided in the transfer direction P. Here, a large pallet with a wide width (width: W1) is represented by a solid line, and a small pallet with a narrow width (width: W2) is represented by a chain line. As is clear from this figure, even when pallets of various sizes are used, one side wall 5a of the pallet 5 is fitted into the guide groove 7c and guided using the grooved guide rail 7 as a reference. The other side wall is simply carried on the roller conveyor 3. As a result, the pallet 5 to be used is not limited by its width as long as it can be mounted on the roller conveyor 3, and the pallet 5 can be moved in the transfer direction P along the groove-shaped guide rail 7 while maintaining the correct posture. Can be guided in parallel.

[0011]

Effects of the Invention Since the transfer device of the present invention is constructed as described above, it achieves the following effects. In other words, it is possible to eliminate pallet size restrictions applied to roller conveyor-type transfer devices of automatic guided vehicles, and to hold pallets of various sizes in the correct posture and guide them in the transfer direction. The versatility of the system can be expanded.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

[Fig. 1] Overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention

[Figure 2] Enlarged front view of main parts in Figure 1

[Figure 3] Plan view of Figure 2

[Figure 4] Overall configuration diagram of an automated guided vehicle equipped with a conventional transfer device

[Figure 5] Plan view of Figure 4

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Trolley 2 Loading platform 3 Roller conveyor 5 Palette 5a Side wall 6 Loading material 7 Groove guide rail 7c Guide groove

Claims (3)

[Claims] [Claim 1] Equipped with a roller conveyor on the loading platform of the cart,
Loading the pallet onto the roller conveyor,
A transfer device for an automatic guided vehicle that performs unloading, characterized in that a groove-shaped guide rail that fits into one side wall of the pallet in parallel to the transfer direction is installed on the side edge of the roller conveyor. Transport vehicle transfer device. 2. The transfer device for an automatic guided vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a guide rail is provided on either the left or right side edge of the roller conveyor. 3. The transfer device for an automatic guided vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the rail groove width is expanded in a tapered manner at the front and rear ends of the guide rail.