JPH0674120B2 - Selective guidance system for unmanned vehicles - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an apparatus for guiding an unmanned transport vehicle.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, unmanned forklifts and automated guided vehicles for manpower saving have been developed for on-site transportation vehicles such as forklift trucks (hereinafter referred to as forklifts). As an induction device for such an unmanned transport vehicle, an indirect induction system represented by an electromagnetic induction wire that does not involve contact is generally known. This indirect guidance system,
Since there is no need to install large-scale guidance equipment on the ground, it has a high degree of freedom in designing the track and has the advantage of not hindering other equipment or vehicles, but the guidance accuracy regarding the straightness of vehicles is rough, especially Wheel-steering forklifts have the drawbacks that the vehicle body meanders and the load on the forks increases. In addition, the magnetic field induced by the guide wire is disturbed on a magnetic material such as an iron plate. In addition, when loading or unloading a truck, container, etc., it is necessary to lay the guide wire each time. It is not practical where guidance accuracy is required and guidance wires cannot be permanently installed.

On the other hand, the present applicant first contacts the guide surface (including the container wall surface) of the guide member installed on the ground with the guide surface detecting means provided on the vehicle, instead of the above-mentioned indirect guidance. In this way, we have developed a guide surface follow-up method, that is, a direct guide method, which allows a vehicle to run unmanned along the guide surface. This direct guidance type has very good straightness and positional accuracy, and is therefore advantageous for straightening to a truck, a container, or another place that requires high guidance accuracy. However, it is practically impossible to guide the guide members by crossing them vertically and horizontally, and since the guide members cannot be installed in places that obstruct other transportation facilities on the ground and the dedicated space, the flexibility of the track design is reduced. It has the drawbacks of being low and requiring a large dedicated space for its installation.

Thus, although there are advantages and disadvantages to both the indirect guidance method and the direct guidance method, since the applicant system has heretofore determined the guidance system including the unmanned guided vehicle as one of them, It was difficult to guide over a complex runway with different guidance conditions. For example, in an automated warehouse, an unmanned transport vehicle cannot directly connect a platform loading / unloading station (including trucks and containers) with a loading / unloading station for high-rise racks, and the transportation depends on various conveyors and manned forklifts. However, there is a problem that it is not possible to sufficiently save workers, space, transportation equipment, transportation time, and the like.

On the other hand, for example, in the case where a plurality of containers are attached to the platform afterwards, when loading the containers sequentially by an unmanned forklift, etc., guide members that are continuous with the container side walls are provided in the plurality of traveling lanes corresponding to the number of the containers. It is conceivable to provide an unmanned forklift with a contact method, but if one unmanned forklift is used to load the unmanned forklift, it will be necessary to carry out the loading work for the next container when the loading for one container is completed. , It is necessary to change the driving lane of the unmanned forklift.

It is not impossible to perform the switching by directly guiding the switching by providing a guide member for switching the lane, but the curvature and angle of the guide surface are severely restricted in terms of the detection means in contact with the guide surface and the followability of the vehicle. Therefore, a considerably long guide member is required for lane switching, and a complicated switching mechanism must be provided, which requires a considerable dedicated space and a large equipment cost. To avoid this, one unmanned forklift truck must be used for each of the plurality of traveling lanes, which is a considerable burden in terms of the required number of vehicles and thus the vehicle cost. Note that such a problem is not limited to the case of an unmanned forklift.

The following first invention and second invention have been made to solve the problems described above.

Means for Solving Problems ... First Invention A guidance device according to a first invention is a device for guiding an unmanned guided vehicle to travel on a first lane and a second lane continuous with the first lane. And (a) a first guide device for guiding the vehicle along a guide surface of a guide member installed along the first track, wherein (a) each is displaceable in the vehicle lateral direction. A displacement member provided on the guide member and a contact tool that is displaced integrally with the displacement member and is in contact with the guide surface at a plurality of positions separated in the vehicle front-rear direction, and outputs a signal according to the displacement amount of the displacement member. A guide surface detecting means is provided which is provided with two output lateral displacement sensors at two locations separated from each other in the vehicle front-rear direction, and (b) the vehicle is electrically driven based on a signal from the guide surface detecting means. Steering And a second guidance device that guides the vehicle in a non-contact manner on the second track, and (c) a first guidance device and a second guidance device. And a switching device for selectively switching the guidance corresponding to each of the first and second runs.

The non-contact type second induction device is represented by an electromagnetic induction type of a combination of an electromagnetic induction wire laid on the ground and an induction wire detection means provided on the vehicle. An optical reflection type that detects the reflection band with a projector and a light receiver provided in the vehicle, or a ground conductor does not form a continuous path like those,
Those that form an intermittent path such as a spot mark or a line mark, a ground assist type that does not have a dielectric on the ground and directs and guides laser light emitted toward the vehicle, or various gyroscopes installed in the vehicle It may be a non-route type such as a self-contained navigation type utilizing an encoder or an encoder.

Advantageous Effects and Effects of the First Invention According to the above-mentioned first invention, the first guidance device of the direct guidance system using the guide surface tracking, and the second guidance device of the indirect guidance system using electromagnetic induction or light reflection are provided. By properly using the guide area according to the required guide accuracy in the traveling area, the first guide device can provide sufficient reliability for straight-ahead accuracy and position accuracy, while high guide accuracy is required. In places where there is no space, it is possible to enjoy the advantages that the flexibility of the runway is guaranteed by the second guidance device and that it does not cause other obstacles and is low cost. That is, by combining the first guidance device and the second guidance device, one of the disadvantages is covered by the other merit, and the advantages of both are utilized together, and the optimal guidance is optimized according to the required guidance accuracy. It can be done efficiently.

For example, at the entrance to the loading / unloading station of the platform (including the inside of trucks and containers) and the entrance to the loading / unloading station of the high-rise rack in the automated warehouse, the vehicle is guided by the first guiding device with excellent straightness. However, if you guide it with a low-cost and flexible second guidance device in the middle runway connecting them,
It is also possible to directly connect the loading and unloading station and the loading and unloading station by an unmanned forklift, etc., so that loading and unloading of trucks, containers, etc. can be directly and consistently performed with the loading and unloading station, and the automation / conveyance process is shortened. As a result, it is possible to reduce the number of people, loading and unloading time, reduce physical distribution costs, and improve the warehouse turnover rate. Further, since the consistent transportation becomes possible, the existing transportation equipment in the middle part becomes extremely simple or unnecessary, so that a large reduction in space and a reduction in equipment cost can be achieved. Moreover, since the above direct connection does not require a large-scale facility on the ground side,
Since no special equipment needs to be added or modified for trucks and containers, it is easy to apply to existing automated warehouses, truck terminals, container vanning stations, etc. and has the advantage of high versatility.

Further, the present invention is applied to the guidance of a general automatic guided vehicle which is not an unmanned forklift and does not include a cargo handling device, and the guidance is performed by the first guidance device at the transfer station and its vicinity, and by the second guidance device in other cases. By doing so, it is possible to perform highly accurate positioning at the transfer station, which is comparable to that of a track transfer vehicle.

Further, in the selective guidance device according to the present invention, the first guidance device electrically detects the position of the vehicle with respect to the guide surface by the guide surface detection means, and the vehicle is electrically operated by the electric steering device based on the detection result. Steering. The guide surface detection means is configured by providing two lateral displacement sensors at two locations separated in the vehicle front-rear direction of the vehicle, and each lateral displacement sensor uses a contact tool that displaces together with the displacement member as a guide surface. The displacement of the displacement member, that is, the distance between the vehicle and the guide surface is detected by making contact at a plurality of locations separated in the vehicle front-rear direction.
Therefore, according to the present invention, as compared with the case where the distance is detected by contacting the guide surface at one place, the influence of the unevenness existing on the guide surface does not significantly appear in the distance detection result, Detection accuracy, that is, the detection accuracy of the vehicle position is improved.

For example, when the guide surface is formed by a single guide member, the guide surface may have unevenness such as wavy or stepped unevenness, and the guide surface may have unevenness. When formed by connecting a plurality of guide members having different surfaces,
Furthermore, there may be irregularities on the guide surface due to the presence of gaps, steps, etc. at the connecting portion of the guide member,
In any case, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the detection result of the position of the vehicle, that is, the guiding accuracy of the vehicle from being deteriorated due to the unevenness of the guide surface.

Means for Solving Problems ... Second Invention A guiding device according to a second invention is an unmanned vehicle having a plurality of traveling lanes and a plurality of switching lanes that extend from the plurality of traveling lanes and join each other. A device for guiding the vehicle to travel, (a) a first guiding device for guiding the vehicle along guide surfaces of guide members respectively installed along the plurality of lanes, (i) each;
The displacement member includes a displacement member provided on the vehicle so as to be displaceable in the lateral direction of the vehicle, and a contact tool that is integrally displaced with the displacement member and that contacts the guide surface at a plurality of positions separated in the vehicle front-rear direction. From the guide surface detecting means, each of which is provided with two lateral displacement sensors that output a signal according to the amount of displacement of the vehicle at two positions separated in the vehicle front-rear direction, and (ii) the guide surface detecting means. A first induction device including an electric steering device that electrically steers the vehicle based on the signal of (1), (b) a derivative such as an electromagnetic induction wire or an optical reflection band laid on each of the plurality of switching paths, and A second guidance device provided on the vehicle for detecting the derivative in a non-contact state, the second guidance device guiding the vehicle along the derivative along the switching path; and (c) the second guidance device. A second switching device for switching the guidance by the guidance device and the second guidance device corresponding to each of the traveling lane and the switching lane, and (d) the second guidance device along one of the plurality of switching lanes. And a second switching device for switching from a state in which the vehicle is guided to a state in which the vehicle is guided along another switching path.

According to the second invention as described above, when the vehicle travels on any one of the plurality of traveling lanes, the vehicle is guided by the first guiding device of the direct guidance system that follows the guide surface, while the traveling lane. When it becomes necessary to switch the vehicle, first guide the vehicle along one of the switching lanes by the second guidance device of the indirect guidance system using an electromagnetic induction wire, and then switch to another switching lane leading to the target traveling lane. By guiding along the route, it is possible to easily switch lanes.
Therefore, the unmanned transport vehicle can be selectively driven in a plurality of lanes, and the loading and unloading work of containers and the like can be performed by one vehicle.

Moreover, in each traveling lane, the first guidance device ensures a high guidance accuracy such as straightness accuracy,
Since the switching of the traveling lane is performed by the guidance of the second guidance device, it is not necessary to provide a long guide member for lane switching or a complicated switching mechanism on the switching lane, and the degree of freedom in setting the switching lane is large. The dedicated space for switching can be kept small, and the driving lanes can be switched in a short time and at low cost.

Further, according to the second invention, as in the case of the first invention, the position of the vehicle with respect to the guide surface is electrically detected by the first guiding device, and the vehicle is electrically steered based on the result. In addition, since the distance, that is, the position of the vehicle with respect to the guide surface is detected by contacting the guide surface at a plurality of points separated in the vehicle front-rear direction, the influence of the unevenness present on the guide surface is noticeable in the distance detection result. It does not appear, and the detection accuracy of the distance, that is, the detection accuracy of the vehicle position is improved.

Examples Hereinafter, some examples of the present invention (the above two inventions) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a counterbalance type forklift truck which is an example of the guidance object of the present invention.
In the figure, reference numeral 2 is a vehicle body, and the front wheels are drive wheels 4 and the rear wheels are steering wheels 6. The body 2 is provided with a balance weight 8 behind it and a head guard 10 above it. In front of the vehicle body 2, as is well known, a fork 12, an outer mast 14 and an inner mast 16 are provided.
There are provided cargo handling devices such as. Inner Mast
The outer mast 14 is guided in the vertical direction via rollers, and the inner mast 16 further guides the lift bracket 18. A finger bar 20 is attached to the lift bracket 18 via a side shift attachment 19, and a pair of forks 12 is attached to the finger bar 20. Then, when the inner mast 16 is lifted by the operation of the lift cylinder 22, a lift bracket 18,
The finger bar 20 and the fork 12 are lifted together. The lower end of the outer mast 14 is attached to the vehicle body 2 so as to be rotatable about one axis, and the tilt cylinder 24 operates to tilt the cargo handling device including the outer mast 14 forward or backward. Also, side shift cylinder
By the operation of 26, the finger bar 20 and the fork 12 are side-shifted with respect to the lift bracket 18 in the left-right direction of the vehicle body 2.

This forklift 28 can be manned by the driver's control, but first, it can be unmanned by direct guidance using a guide wall 30 as shown in FIG. 1. 30 serves as a guide member.

Lateral displacement sensors 32 and 34, which come into contact with the guide wall 30 to detect the distance and the running posture of the vehicle body 2 with respect to the guide wall 30, are attached to the side portions of the vehicle body 2 so as to function as guide surface detecting means. There is. The lateral displacement sensor 32 is the third
As shown in the figure, the box 36 fixed to the vehicle body 2 is provided,
An entrance / exit member 38 as a displacement member is provided in the box 36. The entrance / exit member 38 is fixed to the longitudinal main body 40, the crossbars 42 and 43 fixed at right angles to one end and the upper surface of the intermediate portion of the main body 40, and the lower surface of the intermediate portion of the main body 40. Equipped with a slider 44,
44 is supported by a guide rail 45 fixed to the box 36 so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to a wall surface 46 of the guide wall 30 (hereinafter, this wall surface 46 functions as a guide surface, and therefore is referred to as a guide wall surface 46). . The entrance / exit member 38 is constantly urged toward the guide wall surface 46 by the two springs 47, and the entrance / exit amount from the box 36 is detected by the linear potentiometer 48. In / out member
A contact plate 52 having a U-shaped cross section is attached to the tip of the body 40 of the unit 38 so as to be rotatable around the axis of the vertical shaft 50 in the middle. The contact plate 52 is held in a neutral position, usually perpendicular to the body 40, by two symmetrically arranged springs 54. Both ends of the contact plate 52 are each curved in a round shape in a direction away from the guide wall surface 46, and as shown in FIG. 4, each of the rollers is located at a position slightly exposed to the outside through a notch. 56 is rotatably mounted, and when there is an obstacle such as a convex portion on the guide wall surface 46, the contact plate 52 rotates around the axis of the shaft 50 and helps to get over it. That is, in this embodiment, the contact plate 52 constitutes a contact tool.
A crawler belt (circling belt) made of a flexible material is wound around both rollers 56 as a contact tool, and the crawler belt is attached to the guide wall surface 46.
If it is moved around in contact with, the friction with the guide wall surface 46 is avoided, and the followability and durability are improved.

The other lateral displacement sensor 34 has a similar configuration, and the linear potentiometer 48 of both lateral displacement sensors 32 and 34 is used.
The output signal of the distance between the vehicle body 2 and the guide wall surface 46,
As a result, the distance between the load W supported by the pair of forks 12 and the guide wall surface 46 is detected. In addition, the guide wall surface 46 of the vehicle body 2 is affected by the output difference of both linear potentiometers 48.
An inclination (running posture) about a vertical line with respect to is detected.

Such a forklift 28 is used for sequentially loading a load W from the platform 60 shown in FIG. 5 into a container 62 (including a truck equipped with a container-type carrier). A container 62 is retrofitted to each of the container stations (receipt / shipment stations) A, BA and C of the platform 60 via a transfer plate 64. The transfer plate 64 is rotated by the cylinder 63 shown in FIG. 6 to a horizontal position where it is flush with the floor surface of the platform 60, and the container 62 is moved by a position regulating device 65 equipped with a jack-up mechanism. Despite this, the floor of the container is kept at the same level as the floor of the bridge plate 64 and the platform 60.

Corresponding to these three containers 62, three traveling lanes a, b and c are formed on the platform 60 so as to extend in each container 62, and the guide wall 30 is the rear end of the side wall 66 of each container 62. Are installed on the platform 60 so as to extend continuously from the
It is arranged along a, b, c. Each of the guide walls 30 is a strip-shaped plate member, has a posture at a side of the forklift 28 at a right angle to the platform 60, and has the lateral displacement sensor 32.
At the height of 34 and 34, they extend long in the front-rear direction. The forklift 28 is allowed to run unmanned along any of those guide walls 30, but after entering the container 62, the lateral displacement sensors 32 and 34 are brought into contact with the container side wall 66, so that the container side wall 66 is The wall surface of 66 will function as a guide surface.

A chain conveyor 68 is provided on the platform 60 in a direction orthogonal to the three guide walls 30, and the load W to be loaded into the container 62 by the chain conveyor 68.
Are conveyed to the respective receiving stations ST ₁ of the respective traveling lanes a, b, c. Chain conveyor 68, platform 60
The chain is buried in the floor surface of the chain and the chain is slightly exposed from the floor surface.
It is possible to travel across the cargo, and until the load W is carried to the load receiving station ST ₁ , it is made to wait at the waiting station ST ₀ behind it.
Further, an intermediate portion of each guide wall 30 provided on the traveling lanes b and c, which is located above the chain conveyor 68, is a turning wall portion 72 which is turnable around a vertical turning fulcrum 70. The load W is allowed to move by retracting the rotating wall 72 to an open position where it does not interfere with the movement path of the load W on the chain conveyor 68, either manually or by driving means such as a motor. It has become.

From the vicinity of each rear end of the traveling lanes a, b, and c, guide wires (tow path wires) 74, 76, and 78, which are electromagnetic induction wires, are laid on the platform 60 in a pattern that extends backward and merges, and functions as a derivative. It is supposed to do. These guide wires 74, 76, 78 are all used for traveling lanes a, b,
A straight line portion that overlaps with the running center line of the forklift 28 at c, that is, a straight line portion that overlaps with the rear end side portion of each guide wall 30 substantially by the length of the vehicle body 2 is provided. After being bent 90 ° in the direction, it is extended along a common straight line. The guide wire 74 is connected to the middle portion of the guide wire 76, and the guide wire 76 is connected to the middle portion of the guide wire 78.
Is connected to the platform 60 or the ground controller 80 provided in the ground control station. Here, the runways on which the guide wires 74, 76, 78 are laid correspond to three switching runs.

The forklift 28 reaches the connecting portion (branching portion) near the connecting portion between the guide wire 76 reaching the traveling lane a and the guide wire 76 reaching the traveling lane b. Is also provided with a reflection type optical sensor 82 for detecting that it has reached a position where the guide wire 76 can be followed selectively, and in the vicinity of the connection portion between the guide wire 76 and the guide wire 78 leading to the traveling lane c. A similar optical sensor 84 for detecting that the forklift 28 has reached its connecting portion is provided, and these optical sensors 82 and 84 are both connected to the ground controller 80.

The ground controller 80 includes a microprocessor 86 (CPU: central processing unit) as is clear from FIG.
Is connected to the I / O interface 90 together with the memory 88, and the power supply control circuit 92 is connected to the I / O interface 90 together with the optical sensors 82 and 84 described above. Although not shown in detail in FIG. 5, the guide wire 74 corresponds to the guide wire 76 and the guide wire 76 to the power supply control circuit 92.
The guide wire 76 is connected through a part (common wire portion) of 78, the guide wire 76 is connected through a part of the guide wire 78, and the guide wire 78 is directly connected so as to draw a closed loop. Power supply control circuit 92 for each guide wire
It is possible to selectively supply a constant frequency current to 74, 76 and 78. Then, the CPU 86 processes the detection signals of the optical sensors 82 and 84 according to a predetermined program in the memory 88, and controls the power supply control circuit 92.

On the other hand, as is apparent from FIG. 5, the forklift 28 has a front end and a rear end of the vehicle body 2 as derivative detecting means.
Pickup coils (antenna coils) 94,95
Are provided at positions where they can respectively straddle the guide wire 74 and the like. These pickup coils 94 and 95 are shown only in their approximate positions in FIG. 5, but are paired with the lower ends of the left and right outer masts 14 and the steering link (not shown) of the steering wheel 6, respectively. As shown in the well-known principle attached in FIG. 8, induced electromotive force is induced based on the magnetic field generated by the current passed through the guide wire 74, and the induced electromotive force causes the guide wire 74, etc. And the deviation with respect to the guide wire 74 and the like based on the deviation between the electromotive forces of the two, the forklift 28 is steered in the direction in which the deviation decreases. Such a pickup coil
94 and 95 constitute the main body of the second guiding device together with the guide wires 74, 76 and 78, and are connected to the vehicle-mounted controller 96 provided on the forklift 28.

The in-vehicle controller 96 includes a microprocessor (CPU) 120 as is apparent from FIG. 9, and the CPU 120 is connected to the I / O interface 124 together with the memory 122. The I / O interface 124 is connected to the pickup coils 94 and 95, the linear potentiometer 48 of the lateral displacement sensors 32 and 34, and various sensors necessary for unmanned control of the forklift 28.

A drive control circuit 140, a steering control circuit 142, a brake control circuit 144, and a cargo handling control circuit 146 are further connected to the I / O interface 124. The drive control circuit 140 has a drive motor 148 for driving the drive wheels 4. A steering motor 150 for steering the steering wheel 6 is connected to the steering control circuit 142. Further, the brake control circuit 144 is connected to an electromagnetic brake 152 that brakes the motor shaft of the drive motor 148, and is connected to each drive shaft 4
An electromagnetic valve 156 is connected to control a hydraulic pressure to a hydraulic brake 154 for braking. An electromagnetic valve 158 for controlling the supply of hydraulic pressure to the lift cylinder 22, the tilt cylinder 24, the side shift cylinder 26, etc. is connected to the cargo handling control circuit 146, and by controlling the operation of the electromagnetic valve 158, The operation of the cargo handling device 160 including the fork 12 and the lift bracket 18 is controlled.
Further, the CPU 120 processes the operation signals of various sensors such as the lateral displacement sensors 32 and 34 and the pickup coils 94 and 95, and switches according to a program stored in advance in the memory 122 to steer the forklift 28, Automatically controls acceleration / deceleration, stop, temporary standby, automatic transfer, etc.

Next, the operation of the guiding device configured as above will be described.

Now, when the load W is carried to the load receiving station ST ₁ by the chain conveyor 68 while the forklift 28 is waiting at the standby station ST ₀ of the traveling lane a shown in FIG. 5, the forklift 28 moves to the load receiving station ST ₁ .
Move forward along the guide wall 30 to ST _1, and insert the fork 12 into the fork insertion groove or pallet of the load W. Completion of this insertion is detected by a touch switch provided on the fork 12 or the finger bar 20 at the rear of the load W (not shown), and the fork 12 is then detected.
The forklift 28 supporting the load W on the upper side has a guide wall 30,
Furthermore, it runs unmanned along the container side wall 66. That is, the detection signals from the lateral displacement sensors 32 and 34 are I / O.
It is sent to the CPU 120 via the interface 124, and the CPU 120 keeps the distance between the vehicle body 2 and the guide wall 30 or the container side wall 66 within a predetermined range, and the traveling posture of the vehicle body 2 is the guide wall 30 or the like. The steering motor 150 is controlled via the steering control circuit 142 so as to be parallel to
Since the unmanned guidance is performed along the guide wall 30 and the container side wall 66, a high guidance accuracy such as a straight traveling accuracy is guaranteed. That is, in the present embodiment, the steering control circuit 142, the steering motor 150, and the part that controls the steering control circuit 142 of the in-vehicle controller 96 cooperate with each other to form an electric steering device. The guide surface detecting means cooperates with each other to form the first guiding device. After the forklift 28 unloads the load W at the unloading position in the container 62, it is retracted along the container side wall 66 and the guide wall 30 and returns to the standby station ST ₀ again, and thereafter into the container 62 in the same manner. The loads W are sequentially loaded.

Then, when the loading of the container 62 of the container station A is completed, the forklift 28 is moved to the traveling lane b for the loading of the container 62 of the container station B. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the program for lane switching (change) from the traveling lane a to the traveling lane b.

First, when the loading work in the traveling lane a is completed in step S1, a signal indicating the completion of the work is supplied to the CPU 86 of the ground controller 80, and the CPU 86 operates the power feeding control circuit 92 to execute step S2. A current having a constant frequency is supplied to the guide wire 74 through a part of the guide wires 76 and 78 to be turned on. Then, step S3 is executed, and the forklift 28 stopped at the waiting station ST ₀ moves backward along the guide wire 74. That is, the pickup coils 94, 95 start detection operation by the current of the guide wire 74, and the output signals of the pickup coils 94, 95 are sent to the CPU 120 of the vehicle-mounted controller 96, so that the CPU 120 causes the pickup coils 94, 95 to operate. The steering motor 150 is operated via the steering control circuit 142 so as to reduce each deviation of the output signal, and the forklift 28 is retracted along the guide wire 74.

Then, the forklift 28 moves to a portion of the guide wire 76 that is continuous with the guide wire 74 in a straight line,
When it is determined in S4 that the optical sensor 82 is in the ON state, the power supply to the guide wire 74 is stopped based on the detection signal, and the optical sensor 82 is in the OFF state. Subsequently, step S6 is executed, and the CPU 120 of the vehicle-mounted controller 96 stops the drive motor 148 via the traveling control circuit 140 and the brake control circuit 144 based on the fact that the output signals of the pickup coils 94 and 95 are reduced. The electromagnetic brake 152 and the hydraulic brake 154 are operated to stop the vehicle.

Next, in step S7, power is supplied to the guide wire 76 to turn it on, and in the following step S8, the pickup coils 94 and 95 detect the guide wire 76, so that the forklift 28 follows the guide wire 76 and travels to the traveling lane. Move forward toward b. Then, when the pickup coil 94 located at the front portion is disengaged forward from the tip of the guide wire 76 and the output signal is ablated, step S9 is executed and the forklift 28 is stopped at the waiting station ST ₀ of the traveling lane b. At this time, the lateral displacement sensors 32 and 34 of the forklift 28 are in contact with the rear end portion of the guide wall 34 installed in the traveling lane b. Subsequently, in step S10, the power supply to the guide wire 76 is stopped and the guide wire 76 is turned off, whereby the lane switching from the traveling lane a to the traveling lane is completed. After that, the forklift 28 has its guide wall 30.
The load W is loaded at the load receiving station ST ₁ in the traveling lane b, and the load W is sequentially loaded into the container 62 located at the container station B.

When the guide wire 74 is first turned on and the pickup coils 94 and 95 start outputting, the CPU 120 of the vehicle-mounted controller 96 invalidates the output signals from the lateral displacement sensors 32 and 34, and the pickup coils 94 and 95 The steering control circuit 142 is controlled based only on the output signal of 95, and
The forklift 28 is guided to the traveling lane b by being guided by the guide wire 76 in the N state, and the front pickup coil
When the output signal of 94 is deleted, CPU1 of in-vehicle controller 96
20 becomes a state in which the steering control circuit 142 is controlled by the output signals of the lateral displacement sensors 32, 34, and in this embodiment, the in-vehicle controller 96 together with the ground controller 80 including the power feeding control circuit 92 together with the guide surface following type induction and electromagnetic. A first switching device for switching between induction type induction is configured. Further, the power supply control circuit 92 of the ground controller, by selectively energizing the guide wires 74, 76, etc.,
A second switching device is configured to switch the state of guiding the forklift 28 along the guide wire 74 to the state of guiding along the guide wire 76 and the like.

When the loading work on the traveling lane b is completed, the guide wire
When 76 is turned on, the forklift 28 retracts along the guide wire 76, and when the optical sensor 84 is turned on, the forklift 28 is once stopped and then the guide wire 76 is turned off.
In this state, when the guide wire 78 is turned on, the vehicle advances along the guide wire 78, and lane switching from the traveling lane b to the traveling lane is performed in the same manner.

In addition, when changing the lane from traveling lane c to a,
Forklift along the guide wire 78 turned on
28 is retracted until it is detected by the optical sensor 84, and then, instead of the guide wire 78, the guide wire 74 and a part of the guide wire 76 leading to the guide wire 74 are turned on,
The forklift 28 can be guided along a part of the guide wire 76 and the guide wire 74 to return to the traveling lane a.

As described above, the lane switching (change) among the traveling lanes a, b, and c can be freely performed by the induction device of the electromagnetic induction system, so that one forklift 28 can be used in a plurality of traveling lanes. Loading is possible. From another point of view, another container 62 can be attached to the platform 60 during the loading, so that the number of containers can be increased. Further, since the lane switching is performed by the electromagnetic induction method, the lane switching can be performed in a small space, at low cost and in a short time, as compared with the case where a guide member for lane switching or a switching mechanism is installed. This means that containers 62
This is also the case when the loads W are unloaded sequentially.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the guide wires 74, 76, 78 are selectively activated by turning the current ON / OFF, the conduction frequency is only one kind, and the oscillator in the power feeding control circuit 92 of the ground controller 80 is sufficient. One is enough. By providing a plurality of oscillators and setting the energization frequencies for the guide wires to be different from each other, it is possible to form a lane switching program, but the cost is lower than that.

The number of traveling lanes can be increased or decreased as needed, and the guide wire laying pattern is, for example, three branch wires from the tip of the base wire laid on the backward extension line of the traveling lane b. Various selections are possible, including the laying pattern in which the lanes a, b, and c are branched at a right angle in the shape of a hand and branched and merged based on ON / OFF of a constant frequency current.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 11. The same parts as those in the above embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the forklift 28 does not receive the load W in the middle of the traveling lane along the guide wall 30, but receives the load W at another load receiving position, and the forklift 28 carrying the load W is laid on the platform 60. The guide wire 200 is guided to the traveling lane where the guide wall 30 is installed, and thereafter, the guide wall 30 and the container side wall.
The load W is loaded into the container 62 by being guided by 66. In this case, the travel lane on which the guide wall 30 is installed corresponds to the first runway, and the runway on which the guide wire 200 is laid corresponds to the second runway, and on the first runway, the lateral displacement sensors 32 and 34 are the guide walls 30. Alternatively, it is guided by the first guiding device by contacting the container side wall 66, and in the second track, the pickup coils 94, 95 are guided by the second guiding device by detecting the guide wire 200. The guide surface follow-up system and the electromagnetic induction system are not described in detail because they are substantially the same as those in the above-described embodiment, but the guide wire 200 is not included in the guide wall 30.
Is curved in front of the guide wall 30 and extends linearly to overlap the rear end portion of the guide wall 30, and the rear end portion of the guide wall 30 is curved corresponding to the curved portion of the guide wire 200. The approach portion 202 is formed. When the forklift 28 transfers from the guide wire 200 to the guide wall 30 or vice versa, the guidance is switched to the guidance by the corresponding guidance device, and the switching is based on the command of the ground controller 80 and the in-vehicle controller 96 as described above. Done, they constitute a switching device.

Further, the guide wall 30 is not an integral one as a whole,
It is composed of a fixed wall portion 204 on the side where the approach portion 202 is formed and a movable wall portion 206 on the side of the container 62, and the base end portion of the movable wall portion 206 is provided around one end of the fixed wall portion 204 around the vertical axis 208. It is rotatably connected, and the free end of the movable wall 206 is located on the container side wall 6.
It is designed to be connected flush with the rear end of 6. Therefore, even if there is a deviation in the position where the container 62 is attached later, the deviation is absorbed by the rotation of the movable wall portion 206. Here, in order to detect the rotation angle of the movable wall portion 206 with respect to the fixed wall portion 204, an angle detecting means such as a rotary potentiometer is provided at the connection portion between the two, and the load of the side shift attachment 19 or the like is provided according to the detected angle. It is also possible to change the position of the load W in the left-right direction by the position control means so that contact between the load W and the movable wall portion 206 or the like can be reliably avoided.

Regardless of the configuration of the guide wall 30 as described above, the above-described embodiment in which the entrance portion to the container 62 is a guide surface following method and the entrance portion is selectively guided by an electromagnetic induction method is shown in FIG. 12, for example. It can be suitably applied to a guide device of an unmanned transfer system in the automatic warehouse 220 as shown.

In FIG. 12, 222 is a high-rise shelf, and a plurality of loading / unloading stations 224 are provided corresponding to the entrance / exit of the high-rise shelf 222.
Is provided. A crane space is secured in the high-rise shelf 222 corresponding to each of the loading / unloading stations 224, and a stacker crane 226 is placed on standby in each of them. On the other hand, a plurality of receiving / shipping stations 228 (also referred to as container stations) are set on the platform 60 corresponding to the above-mentioned loading / unloading station 224, and the containers 6 are transferred to the receiving / shipping stations 228 via the transfer board 64.
2 (including self-propelled container vehicles) is the position control device 65
It is designed to be positioned by.

The guide walls 30 are installed in each of the loading / unloading stations 228 to form a travel lane leading to each container 62, and the platform 60 further includes an electromagnetic induction line connecting the loading / unloading station 228 and the loading / unloading station 224. A barrel guide wire 230 is laid. The guide wire 230 not only vertically connects the corresponding input / output stations 224 and the input / shipment station 228, but is also laid horizontally to have a vertical and horizontal laying pattern.

Then, the unmanned forklift 28 that has received the load W at a certain loading / unloading station 224 is appropriately guided by the guide wires 230 laid vertically and horizontally, and then the loading / unloading station 228.
The designated traveling lane can be reached, and from there, it is guided by the guide wall 30 and enters into the container 62 to unload the load W. On the contrary, when unloading the load W from inside the container 62, the forklift 28 on which the load W is placed is guided by the container side wall and the guide wall 30 and exits from the container 62, and then the guide wire 230 is guided.
It travels to the designated entry / exit station 224.

By the way, in the past, for example, the automated warehouse shown in Fig. 13 was used.
As is clear from 240, the load discharged from the loading / unloading station 224 is first placed on the car truck conveyor 242 (or the automatic guided vehicle), and then once the car truck conveyor 242 is placed on one of the plurality of storage conveyors 244. Stored and container 62 from its storage conveyor 244
Up to be transported by a manned forklift 248. Therefore, even if it is called an automated warehouse, it requires a lot of work by humans and requires a large-scale transportation facility in the middle part.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, the loading / unloading station 224 and the loading / unloading station 228 and, by extension, the container 62 are directly connected to each other, and the unmanned forklift 28 enables a consistent unmanned transportation between them. People, equipment, and time are saved significantly, and an automated warehouse of a level close to full automation can be achieved.

It should be noted that guide members such as the guide wall 30 are installed not only in the loading / unloading station 228 but also in each of the loading / unloading stations 224.
By connecting the running path between and with the guide wire 230, high guidance accuracy is ensured even in the loading / unloading station 224 by the guidance of the guide surface following method. In addition, the storage conveyor 244 may be provided depending on the loading / unloading mode, but even in that case, a very short length is sufficient because efficient linked transportation can be performed.

In the embodiment described above, the second induction device is based on the electromagnetic induction system, but may be based on the light reflection system (photoelectric induction system) as shown in principle in FIG. This is a reflection band 252 laid on the floor (ground) 250 (for example, a route tape attached to the floor) and a floodlight provided on the vehicle.
The projector 254 and the light receiver 256 are mainly configured.
A pair of light receivers 256 (for example, a light amount detector using a phototransistor) receives the light emitted from a (for example, a straight tube type fluorescent lamp) and reflected by the reflection band 252, so that the reflection band 252 is received.
Is detected, the in-vehicle controller 96 controls the steering motor 150 so as to reduce the deviation between the two light receivers 256. As described above, other than this, the one that forms an intermittent path such as a spot mark or the non-path that uses various gyros or lasers may be used.

Further, the guide surface of the guide member is not limited to the wall surface as in the above-mentioned embodiment except for loading and unloading on a container, and for example, when guiding while making roller contact with a guide rail having an arc-shaped cross section, a curved surface is formed. Good as a guide surface.

Further, in addition, the present invention is suitable for a guide device for an unmanned forklift, but is similarly applicable to a guide device for another unmanned transport vehicle that does not include a cargo handling device.

Although not described in detail one by one, it is needless to say that the present invention can be implemented in variously modified and improved modes based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view mainly showing a forklift as a part of a guide device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the forklift. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing a part of FIG. 1 taken out, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically showing the entire guide device of the forklift truck, and FIG. 6 is a side view showing a part thereof. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a control circuit for controlling the operation of the ground equipment of the induction device shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the induction principle by the electromagnetic induction method. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a control circuit for controlling the operation of the vehicle-mounted part of the guiding device shown in FIG. 5 and the operation of the forklift as a whole. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the program for lane switching from the traveling lane a to the traveling lane b in FIG. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing another embodiment, and FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing another embodiment. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the guiding principle by the light reflection method. 2: Vehicle body, 12: Fork 14: Outer mast, 16: Inner mast 18: Lift bracket, 20: Finger bar 30: Guide wall (guide member) 32, 34: Lateral displacement sensor (guide surface detection means) 46: Guide wall surface (guide Surface: 48: Linear potentiometer 60: Platform 62: Container 66: Container side wall (guide member) 68: Chain conveyor 74,76,78,200,230: Guide wire (derivative) 80: Ground controller 82,84: Optical sensor 86,120: Microprocessor ( CPU: Central processing unit) 90,124: I / O interface 94,95: Pick-up coil (derivative detection means) 96: In-vehicle controller 220: Automatic warehouse, 222: High-rise shelf 224: Loading / unloading station 226: Stacker crane 228: Loading / unloading station

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kenichi Shinno 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akira Okura 1 Toyota Town, Aichi Prefecture, Toyota City, Ltd. ( 56) References Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-52710 (JP, A) Actually opened 59-146304 (JP, U) Actually opened 60-153309 (JP, U)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A device for guiding an unmanned transport vehicle to travel on a first runway and a second runway continuous to the first runway, the guide surface of a guide member installed along the first runway. A first guidance device for guiding the vehicle along
(A) Each has a displacement member provided on the vehicle so as to be displaceable in the lateral direction of the vehicle, and a contact tool that is integrally displaced with the displacement member and that contacts the guide surface at a plurality of locations separated in the vehicle front-rear direction. And (b) a guide surface detecting means that is provided with two lateral displacement sensors that output a signal corresponding to the amount of displacement of the displacement member and that are respectively provided at two locations separated in the vehicle longitudinal direction of the vehicle. A first guidance device including an electric steering device that electrically steers the vehicle based on a signal from the guide surface detection means; and a second guidance device that guides the vehicle in a non-contact manner on the second track. And a switching device for selectively switching the guidance by the first guidance device and the second guidance device in correspondence with each of the first track and the second track. Electrical apparatus. 2. The derivative detecting means, wherein the second guiding device is provided in the vehicle and a derivative such as an electromagnetic induction wire or an optical reflection band laid on the second track, and the derivative is detected in a non-contact state. 2. The selective guidance device according to claim 1, further comprising: and driving the vehicle along the derivative thereof. 3. An apparatus for guiding an unmanned guided vehicle to travel in a plurality of traveling lanes and a plurality of switching lanes that respectively extend from the plurality of traveling lanes and merge with each other, the guideways being provided along the plurality of traveling lanes. A first guide device for guiding the vehicle along a guide surface of each installed guide member, wherein (a) each is a displacement member provided to the vehicle so as to be displaceable in a vehicle lateral direction, and the displacement member is integrated with the displacement member. Two lateral displacement sensors, which have a contacting tool that is displaced dynamically and is in contact with the guide surface at a plurality of positions separated in the vehicle front-rear direction, and which outputs a signal according to the amount of displacement of the displacement member, are the vehicle of the vehicle. Guide surface detection means provided respectively at two locations separated in the front-rear direction,
(B) a first induction device including an electric steering device that electrically steers the vehicle based on a signal from the guide surface detection means, and electromagnetic induction wires laid on the plurality of switching paths, respectively.
A second guiding device that includes a derivative such as an optical reflection band, and a derivative detecting unit that is provided in the vehicle and detects the derivative in a non-contact state, and guides the vehicle along the derivative, and the first guiding device. And a second guidance device, a first switching device for selectively switching between the traveling lane and the switching lane, and the second guidance device along one of the plurality of switching lanes. And a second switching device for switching the vehicle guiding state to a guiding state along another switching path.