JP2702382B2 - Transfer system by automatic guided vehicle and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer system using an automatic guided vehicle and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a transfer system in which a station has an automatic transfer function, a required transfer (work) is realized by a small number of automatic guided vehicles. The present invention relates to a transport system and a control method capable of coping with the addition and abolition of stations without modifying the control unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of transport system control method has been used when assigning a plurality of transport instructions to one unmanned transport vehicle.
No. 5413.

In the transfer control method described in this publication, each time a transfer request occurs, the position, destination, and assignment status of other transfer instructions of each unmanned transfer vehicle are checked, and the FROM side station (transfer source) is checked. The automatic guided vehicle that is expected to arrive first is selected, and a transfer instruction is additionally assigned to the automatic guided vehicle. And one automatic guided vehicle is a TO
Every time the vehicle arrives at the side station (destination), all the second and subsequent transfer instruction assignments of all the automatic guided vehicles are reviewed and reassigned under the above-mentioned conditions.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a transport system in which the transport route is a single track, the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle is one direction, overtaking between the automatic guided vehicles cannot be performed, and the station has an automatic transfer function, When the above-described conventional transport system control method is used, the following problems occur.

[0005] First, when a transport request is issued, the FR
The automatic guided vehicle is selected on condition that it can arrive at the OM side station first, and the transfer instruction is additionally assigned to the automatic guided vehicle.
If you are going to pick up the goods at the M side station,
In a transfer system that automatically transfers goods between the station and the AGV, there is a risk that each AGV may mistakenly transfer the goods to be transferred. If they are different, it is a problem.

Second, every time one unmanned guided vehicle arrives at the TO side station, all of the second and subsequent unmanned guided vehicles of all the unmanned guided vehicles only need to arrive at the FROM station. Reviewing and reassigning the transfer instruction assignment may cause a station where the transfer wait (waiting for the arrival of the automatic guided vehicle) becomes long, or a FROM side station where the automatic guided vehicle does not come to the load. Further, as described above, when the station has the automatic transfer function, there is a possibility that the transfer destination of the conveyed article may be wrong in the conventional reassignment method.

Thirdly, in the conventional transport system control method, in order to select an unmanned transport vehicle that can arrive at the FROM side station at the earliest, the control unit uses an entire map (map) for grasping the position of the station on the transport route. ) Must be stored, and when a station is added, the control unit needs to be remodeled.

Fourth, in order to realize the conventional control method of the transport system, a dedicated device having a function of always recognizing the position of the automatic guided vehicle on the transport route and a transport instruction to the automatic guided vehicle are provided. There is a problem that a plurality of dedicated devices having functions are required on the transport route.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided an automatic guided vehicle transport system comprising: a plurality of automatic guided vehicles; each of the plurality of automated guided vehicles traveling in a predetermined direction from a home position and returning to the home position; A return transport route and an automatic transfer function provided along the transport route for the transported object, each of which has a forward position from the home position.
A plurality of stations sequentially numbered in the direction in which the automatic guided vehicle travels, a transfer request device for requesting transfer of a conveyed object from the transfer source station to the transfer destination station, A transfer request buffer for temporarily storing a transfer request generated from the transfer request device, a transfer instruction allocation request device for requesting a transfer instruction allocation when the automatic guided vehicle reaches the home position, and a transfer instruction allocation
When the transfer request is issued from the
Of the transport requests accumulated in the request buffer, the
What is generated from the transmission request device is stored in the composite transport buffer.
Move, and then the transfer request remaining in the transfer request buffer
In the request, the station number of the transport source is
The above-mentioned station of the transfer destination of the transfer request moved to the transfer buffer.
The minimum number that is greater than or equal to the
To the transfer request buffer
Repeat the composite transport buffer until there is no transport request
The transport requests moved to the home
One or more vehicles that can be carried out by the automated guided vehicle
Combined processing means for combining transmission requests .

[0010] The present invention provides a plurality of automatic guided vehicles, a transport route in which the plurality of automatic guided vehicles travel in a certain direction from a home position and return to the home position again,
In a method for controlling a transfer system by an automatic guided vehicle having a plurality of stations provided along the transport route and having an automatic transfer function for the articles transported by the automatic guided vehicle , each of the stations may be moved from a home position to a home position.
Numbering is sequentially performed in the direction in which the human guided vehicle travels, and the generated transfer requests are stored in a transfer request buffer, and among the transfer requests stored in the transfer request buffer when the automatic guided vehicle arrives at the home position, Which occurred first
To the composite transport buffer, and then
Of the transfer request remaining in the transfer source station
Of the transport request whose number has moved to the composite transport buffer.
The station with the lowest number greater than the number of the destination station
The transfer request buffer moves to the composite transfer buffer.
Repeat the above steps until there are no more
Combine transport requests moved to the combined transport buffer in the order of travel
The unmanned guided vehicle that has arrived at the home position is executable 1
Alternatively, a plurality of transport requests are combined .

[0011]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are an overall view and a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a transport system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:
A plurality of automatic guided vehicles 4, a transport route 2, and a transport route 2
The control unit 5 includes a plurality of stations 3 numbered in ascending order from the start point of the automatic guided vehicle, and controls the traveling of the automatic guided vehicle 4, a transfer request device 6, and a transfer instruction allocation request. The whole is controlled by the device 7.
Further, the control unit 5 includes a transport request buffer 51, a composite processing unit 52, and a transport instruction unit 53. here,
The transfer requesting device 6 can be provided in the station 3 and the transfer instruction allocation requesting device 7 can be provided in the automatic guided vehicle 4.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, a description will be given of the composite processing of the present embodiment.

FR generated by input to the transport request device 6
OM side station information (hereinafter abbreviated as FROM) and T
A transport request composed of a combination of O-side station information (hereinafter abbreviated as TO) is supplied to a transport request buffer 51. When the transport request buffer 51 recognizes that a transport request has occurred (steps 101 and 102), it assigns record numbers in the order in which the transport requests occurred, and stores the record numbers in the transport request buffer 51 (step 103). Next, when there is a transfer instruction allocation request to the automatic guided vehicle from the transfer instruction allocation request device 7 (step 105), the composite processing means 52 performs the following composite processing.

Here, by setting the request timing from the transfer instruction allocation requesting device 7 to the time when the automatic guided vehicle stops at a fixed position on the transfer route, a transfer system using a station having an automatic transfer function can be used. In addition, there is no case where the transport destination (TO side station) of the transported product is mistaken.

First, the transport request of the first record in the transport request buffer 51 (defined as FROM (n): TO (n)) is moved to the composite transport buffer provided in the composite processing means 52 (step 106). The record numbers of the transport requests left in the request buffer 51 are reassigned in the order in which the transport requests occurred (step 107). Next, among the transport request FROMs left in the transport request buffer 51, the station number is the T of the transport request selected as described above.
FR which is the same as or larger than that of O (n) and which is minimum
OM (defined as FROM (n + 1)) is selected (step 108). However, FROM with the same station number
If there is more than one, select the one with the smaller record number. Here, FROM (n +
It is determined whether or not 1) exists (step 109),
If FROM (n + 1) exists (step 11
4) Transport request (FROM (n + 1))
(N + 1): TO (n + 1)) is transferred to the composite transport buffer (step 111), and the record numbers of the transport requests remaining in the transport request buffer 51 are renumbered in the order in which the transport requests occurred (step 107). . Step 10
7, 108, 109, 111 and 114 are repeated. Here, in the transfer request buffer in the processing of step 109, the transfer request (FROM
(N): FR equal to or larger than TO (n) of TO (n))
If there is no OM, the selection ends (step 11).
0).

Next, the transport requests stored in the composite transport buffer are combined in ascending order of record number (step 11).
5) Finally, the transport instruction unit 53 transmits the combined transport request (FROM (1): TO (1): FROM (2): TO
(2): ...) is instructed to the automatic guided vehicle 4 as a composite transfer instruction.

The above processing will be described using a specific example. The transport route 2 is a single track, the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle 4 is one direction,
In the transport system shown in FIG. 1 in which the automatic guided vehicle 4 cannot simultaneously load a plurality of articles in different transport sections (FROM to TO), a case where a transport request occurs as shown in FIG. 4A will be described. . The position of the automatic guided vehicle 4a in FIG. 1 is set as the home position, and at the timing when the automatic guided vehicle 4 stops at the home position, the transfer instruction allocation requesting device 7 requests the transfer instruction allocation to the automatic guided vehicle 4.

In this case, the transport request from the transport request device 6 is supplied to the transport request buffer 51, for example, as shown in FIG.
Are stored in the transport request buffer 51 as shown in FIG. Here, when the automatic guided vehicle 4a stops at the home position and there is a request for a transfer instruction to the automatic guided vehicle 4a, the following combined processing is performed. First, from the transport request buffer 51, the first
The transport request for the record (the first station → the third station) is moved to the composite transport buffer 54, and the record numbers of the transport requests left in the transport request buffer 51 are renumbered in the order in which they were generated (FIG. 5B). Next, from the transfer requests left in the transfer request buffer 51, the FROM of the station having the same number as the third station (the above-mentioned selected transfer request TO side station) and the smallest number is checked, and the third is checked. The third station of the record is selected (FIG. 5 (b)), and the transport request (third station → fourth station) of this third record is moved to the composite transport buffer 54 and left in the transport request buffer 51. The record numbers of the transport requests that have been transferred are renumbered in the order in which they were generated (FIG. 5C). Equal to or greater and stations, and, although examined FROM station of the minimum number,
The selection is terminated because it does not exist (FIG. 5C). Finally, the transport requests stored in the composite transport buffer are combined in ascending order of record numbers, and a transport instruction is given to the automatic guided vehicle.

In the case of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the first unmanned transport vehicle 4a sends a first station (FROM) → third station (TO) → third station ( FROM) 4th station (T
O). Similarly, when the unmanned guided vehicle 4b stops at the home position, a transfer instruction allocation request is issued, and the second unmanned guided vehicle 4b sends the first station (F) as a transfer instruction.
ROM) → second station (TO) → second station (FROM) → fourth station (TO).

[0021]

As described above, the transfer system and the control method using the automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention provide a transfer request buffer when the control unit for controlling the automatic guided vehicle gives a transfer instruction to the automatic guided vehicle. A plurality of transport requests accumulated in the vehicle are combined so that the AGV can transport them according to the positional relationship of the stations on the transport route, and a plurality of transport requests are assigned by a single transport instruction to the AGV. In addition, the required transport is realized by a small number of unmanned transport vehicles. Further, there is an effect that it is possible to cope with the addition and abolition of stations without modifying the control unit, and it is not necessary to always recognize the position of the automatic guided vehicle on the transport route.
Further, the transfer instruction allocation requesting device requests the allocation of the transfer instruction to the automatic guided vehicle at a timing when the automatic guided vehicle is located at the home position determined in the transfer route, so that the station has the automatic transfer function. Even if it has, there is an effect of being able to convey a conveyed article without making a mistake in a convey destination.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing one embodiment of a transport system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the embodiment shown in FIG.

4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining a specific operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in which FIG.
It is a figure showing transfer instruction allocation to an automatic guided vehicle in case of (a).

5 is a diagram illustrating a process of extracting a transfer request from the transfer request buffer 51 and moving the transfer request to the composite transfer buffer 54 in the transfer request occurrence situation illustrated in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transport system 2 Transport route 3a-3d Station 4a-4b Unmanned transport vehicle 5 Control part 51 Transport request buffer 52 Complex processing means 53 Transport instruction means 6 Transport request device 7 Transport instruction allocation request device

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of automatic guided vehicles, a transport route in which each of the automatic guided vehicles travels in a certain direction from a home position and returns to the home position again,
An automatic transfer function is provided along the transport route for the transported object, and each of the automatic transfer functions is provided from the home position.
A plurality of stations sequentially numbered in the direction in which the human carrier travels, a transfer request device for requesting transfer of a conveyed object from the transfer source station to the transfer destination station, and a transfer request device generated by the transfer request device. A transfer request buffer for temporarily storing transfer requests, a transfer instruction allocation request device for requesting transfer instruction allocation when the automatic guided vehicle reaches the home position, and a transfer instruction allocation request
The transfer request when the transfer assignment is requested from the requesting device.
Among the transport requests accumulated in the buffer,
Object generated from the transfer device to the composite transport buffer
Then, the transfer request remaining in the transfer request buffer is
Of these, the station number of the transfer source is
The transfer destination of the transfer request moved to the transfer station
The smallest number that is greater than or equal to the number
To the transport that conforms to the transport request buffer
Repeatedly move to the composite transport buffer until there are no more requests.
The moved transport requests are combined in the moving order and the home position
One or more transport vehicles that can be performed by an automated guided vehicle
And a compound processing means for combining the request . 2. A plurality of automatic guided vehicles and a plurality of unmanned vehicles
The carrier travels in a certain direction from the home position and
Transport route to return to the home position and the transport route
It is provided along the route for the goods transported by the automatic guided vehicle.
With multiple stations with automatic transfer function
In a method for controlling a transport system using a human transport vehicle,
Unmanned carrier from home position to each of the stations
Are sequentially numbered in the direction in which the
The request is stored in the transfer request buffer, and the automatic guided vehicle
When it comes to the home position,
Combines the earliest occurrence of pending transport requests
Move to the transport buffer, and then leave the
Of the transfer source station in the transfer request
The destination of the transfer request moved to the composite transfer buffer
The minimum number that is greater than or equal to the station number
Moving to the transfer buffer is applied to the transfer request buffer.
Repeatedly move the composite
The transfer requests that have been transferred to the
One or more of the unmanned guided vehicles
Unmanned guided vehicles characterized by combining multiple transport requests
Control method of the transfer system.