JP4389712B2 - Article transfer device - Google Patents

Description

    The present invention relates to an article transfer device such as a stacker crane, and more particularly to an article transfer device that can suppress scattering of dust on an article being transferred.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an article transfer device such as a stacker crane includes a pair of support columns arranged in parallel to each other, an elevating body that can be moved up and down between the support columns, and an elevating unit for the elevating body. Often doing.
For example, a stacker crane 60 shown in FIG. 5 has a pair of masts 62 as support columns suspended from a traveling carriage 61, and a carriage 64 as an elevating body is provided between the masts 62. It is connected by.
The traveling carriage 61 can travel on a track L along the shelf T, and the carriage 64 is provided with a slide fork 65 that can move forward and backward with respect to the shelf T.
Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the lifting means for raising and lowering the carriage 64 includes chains 66 and 67 as lifting lifting members connected to the carriage 64 and a lifting motor 68 as a drive source. ing.
For this reason, the goods W on the carriage 64 can be received and the goods W to be delivered can be taken into the carriage 64.
In such an article transfer device 60, as shown in FIG. 6, when the carriage 64 moves up and down in accordance with the operation of the lifting and lowering means, dust such as metal powder and fine grease is generated from the sliding contact portions such as the chains 66 and 67. G may scatter and such dust may adhere to and accumulate on the article W on the carriage 64.

Since articles handled in a clean room or the like dislike adhesion and accumulation of dust, it is necessary to prevent dust generated from the article transfer device from being scattered.
Conventionally, for example, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 suppresses the diffusion of dust that tends to occur from the lifting means.
In patent document 1, the guide for raising / lowering a raising / lowering stand is provided in the inside of a mast, and it is aimed so that the roller of a raising / lowering stand may contact | abut to a guide.
A slit is formed along the height direction of the mast, and a drive belt connected to the lifting platform is disposed so as to substantially close the slit.
For this reason, even if the dust generated in the mast is scattered outside the mast through the slit, it is blocked by the drive belt that closes the slit, and the diffusion of the dust can be suppressed.

In Patent Document 2, the structure of the mast described in Patent Document 1 is basically the same. However, a suction duct is provided on the rear surface of the mast, and air in the mast is sucked into the suction duct. Diffusion of dust from the slit is suppressed.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-92292 (page 1-2, FIG. 5) Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-64105 (page 1-2, FIGS. 1-2)

However, the article transfer apparatus of Patent Document 1 has a problem that a belt having a width wider than the width of the slit must be employed.
For example, if the article handled by the article transfer device is heavy, it cannot be handled by a belt, and a chain or a wire must be used instead of the belt. It is impossible.
Moreover, in the article transfer apparatus in Patent Document 2, not only the suction duct but also a suction source for suction must be added, and there is a problem that the manufacturing cost of the article transfer apparatus increases remarkably.

    The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to transfer an article that can suppress dust generated by lifting and lowering of the lifting body from being scattered on the article with a relatively simple structure. In providing equipment.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is a pair of support columns arranged in parallel to each other, a liftable lift body capable of mounting an article between the support posts, and a lifting means for the lift body. The lifting / lowering means operates the lifting / lowering suspension member connected to the lifting / lowering body, the guide member for guiding the lifting / lowering suspension member, and the lifting / lowering suspension member. And the lifting suspension member is installed in the vicinity of the outer surface of the column so that the column is positioned between the lifting body and the lifting suspension member. A strut-side cover that covers the holding member from the outer side surface of the strut is provided along the strut, the lateral width of the strut-side cover is substantially the same as the lateral width of the strut, and the lifting body includes both lateral sides of the strut. A pair of opposing extension parts are provided, and both extension parts are formed by connecting plates. The connecting plate is disposed across the gap between the outer side surface of the column and the column cover, and the lifting plate is provided on the side of the connecting plate opposite to the side facing the column. The connecting member for connecting the to the lifting body is fixed .

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the lifting suspension member that is the source of dust is installed in the vicinity of the outer surface of the support column, the support column is located between the lifting body and the lifting suspension member. It will be.
For this reason, the dust generated in the lifting suspension member is blocked by the support column even if it is scattered toward the article, and the scattering of dust on the article can be suppressed.
Further, the lifting member for lifting is only required to be installed in the vicinity of the outer side surface of the support column, and the article transfer device can have a relatively simple structure.
And since the support | pillar side cover covers the lifting / lowering suspension member from the outer side surface of the support | pillar, the spreading | diffusion of the dust which arises in the lifting / lowering suspension member is suppressed by the support | pillar side cover, and most of dust stays in the support | pillar side cover. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the article transfer apparatus according to the first aspect, a guide plate having a guide surface parallel to the inner side surface of the support column is provided near the inner side surface along the support column, The body includes a pair of first rolling rollers in contact with both lateral side surfaces of the support column, and a second rolling roller in contact with the guide plate in the vicinity of the first rolling roller. It is characterized by.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the pair of first rolling rollers included in the lifting / lowering body abuts on both lateral sides of the support so as to sandwich the support, and the first rolling roller is lifted when the lifting / lowering body is lifted / lowered. The moving roller is rolled.
Further, the second rolling roller provided in the lifting body contacts the guide surface of the guide plate against the guide plate provided near the inner side surface of the support column, and the second rolling roller rolls when the lifting body moves up and down. Moved.
Even when dust is generated by rolling of the first rolling roller with respect to the support column and when dust is generated by rolling of the second rolling roller with respect to the guide plate, the guide plate is connected to the lifting body and the first and second Since it is located between the two guide rollers, scattering of these dusts onto the article is suppressed by the guide plate.

    According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the article transfer device according to the first or second aspect, the lifting lifting member is installed for each of the columns, and the lifting lifting member is simultaneously operated by the drive source. It is characterized by that.

    According to invention of Claim 3, since the raising / lowering suspension member is installed for every support | pillar, a raising / lowering body can be raised / lowered more smoothly between support | pillars.

    According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the article transfer apparatus according to the third aspect, a connection body that connects the upper portions of the support columns is provided, and the lifting lifting member crosses the support columns along the connection body. And a connecting body side cover that covers the lifting suspension member is provided.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, one lifting suspension member crosses between the columns at the upper part of the column, and the other lifting lifting member crosses between the columns at the lower part, thereby lifting both lifting columns. The lengths of the holding members can be made the same, and the amount of extension of the lifting member due to the load when the article of the lifting body is mounted can be made the same.
Further, since the connecting body side cover covers the lifting suspension member, the scattering of dust generated in the lifting suspension member between the columns to the article is suppressed by the connection body cover.

    According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the article transfer device according to the third aspect, the drive source included in the elevating means is provided for each elevating lifting member.

    According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the drive source included in the elevating means is provided for each elevating lifting member, it is not necessary to cross the elevating lifting member between the columns, and the dust above the article It is possible to reduce occurrence points.

    A sixth aspect of the present invention is the article transfer device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the lifting member is one of a chain, a belt, and a wire.

    According to the invention described in claim 6, since the lifting member is any one of a chain, a belt, and a wire, the lifting means can be made relatively inexpensive, and the lifting is suitable for the conditions of the article to be handled. A suspension member can be selected.

    The invention according to claim 7 is the article transfer device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the column is a mast suspended from a traveling carriage of a stacker crane capable of traveling along a multi-stage shelf. In addition, the elevating body is a carriage having a fork that can move forward and backward with respect to the shelf.

    According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress scattering of dust generated from the lifting member in the stacker crane to the article on the carriage side.

    ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it can suppress that the dust which arises by raising / lowering of a raising / lowering body is scattered to articles | goods with a comparatively simple structure.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, an article transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The article transfer device of this embodiment is an example applied to a stacker crane in an automatic warehouse.
A stacker crane 10 shown in FIG. 1 is for loading and unloading articles W with respect to a multi-stage shelf (not shown). The stacker crane 10 is disposed on the traveling rail 16 laid on the floor F and on the ceiling side. The vehicle can reciprocate with respect to a track constituted by the installed traveling rails 17.
These tracks are laid along multi-stage shelves, and the stacker crane 10 can face each shelf.

The stacker crane 10 includes a traveling carriage 11 guided by a traveling rail 16. The traveling carriage 11 includes rolling wheels (not shown) and a traveling drive motor (not shown). ing.
Further, a pair of front and rear masts 12 having a substantially rectangular shape as a support are suspended from the upper surface of the traveling carriage 11, and a carriage 18 as a lifting body described later is provided between the masts 12 so as to be movable up and down. ing.
The top portions of the mast 12 are connected to each other by a connecting body 13, and the connecting body 13 is guided by a traveling rail 17 on the ceiling side.
The connecting body side cover 29 is covered with the lower surface of the connecting body 13, and the connecting body 13 provided with the connecting body side cover 29 has a substantially rectangular shape in cross section.
And the mast side cover 14 as a support | pillar side cover is each provided in the outer side of each mast 12 along a mast.

Here, for convenience of explanation, the surface on which the mast 12 faces is the inner side surface 12b (see FIG. 2), the surface opposite to the inner side surface 12b is the outer side surface 12a, and the surface between the outer side surface 12a and the inner side surface 12b is In FIG. 1, the left side of the stacker crane is the front and the right side is the rear.
As shown in FIG. 2, the mast side cover 14 has a substantially U-shaped cross section. The upper end of the mast side cover 14 is fixed to the connecting body 13, and the lower end is fixed to the traveling carriage 11. .
A gap S is provided between the outer surface 12 a of each mast 12 and each mast side cover 14.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a pair of guide plates 15 provided with a guide surface 15 a parallel to the inner side surface 12 b of the mast 12 are provided in parallel to each other along the mast 12.
These guide plates 15 are stretched from the inner side surface 12b of the mast 12 to both sides, and the end portions of the guide plates 15 are bent outward.
A similar pair of guide plates 15 are also provided on the rear mast 12.

Next, the carriage 18 as a lifting body will be described.
The carriage 18 includes a carriage main body 19 provided between the front and rear masts 12, and a slide fork 27 that can move forward and backward toward the shelf is provided on the central upper surface of the carriage main body 19.
The slide fork 27 is operated by an advancing / retracting motor 28 provided in the carriage body 19, and the operation of the slide fork 27 transfers the article W on the carriage 18 into the shelf, or the article W in the shelf is moved to the carriage. It is possible to transfer to the 18th side.
As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of extending portions 19 a facing the both lateral side surfaces 12 c of the front mast 12 are provided forward at the front portion of the carriage 18.

A roller support 20 that is substantially parallel to the side surface of the mast 12 is erected on the upper surface of each extending portion 19a.
The roller support 20 is provided with a pair of upper and lower first rolling rollers 21 that are in contact with the lateral side surface 12 c of the mast 12, and these first rolling rollers 21 are moved up and down by the carriage 18. It is rolled up and down.
Further, the roller support 20 is provided with a second rolling roller 22 different from the first rolling roller 21.
The second rolling roller 22 is positioned on the carriage main body 19 side in the vicinity of the first rolling roller 21, and abuts on the guide surface 15 a of the guide plate 15 extending from the inner side surface 12 b of the mast 12 to both sides. .
Since the second rolling roller 22 rolls up and down with respect to the guide surface 15a, the second rolling roller 22 is oriented in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the first rolling roller 21.

On the other hand, a connecting plate 23 that connects the extended portions 19a to each other is vertically attached near the end of the extended portion 19a.
Therefore, the connecting plate 23 is in a state of crossing the gap S between the outer surface 12a of the mast 12 and the mast side cover 14, and the connecting plate 23 moves up and down in the gap S by raising and lowering the carriage body 19.
A connecting member 24 for connecting elevating chains 34 and 35, which will be described later, is fixed to the front side of the connecting plate 23. Chain connecting portions 25 and 26 are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the connecting member 24. Yes.
For this reason, the raising / lowering chains 34 and 35 are arrange | positioned in the vicinity of the outer surface 12a of the mast 12. FIG.
The elevating chains 34 and 35 are installed in the vicinity of the outer surface 12a of the mast 12 so that the mast 12 is positioned between the carriage 18 and the elevating chains 34 and 35.
Therefore, when the article W on the carriage 18 is viewed from the elevating chains 34 and 35 that are dust generation sources, the mast 12 exists as a shield against the dust from the elevating chain.
Although the front portion of the carriage 18 has been described here, the rear portion of the carriage 18 is the same as the front portion, and the connection member 30 is fixed to the connecting plate 23 and the chain connection portions 31 and 32 are provided.

Next, a carriage lifting mechanism as a lifting means for lifting the carriage 18 will be described with reference to FIG.
The carriage elevating mechanism in this embodiment includes an elevating motor 33 as a drive source, elevating chains 34 and 35 as elevating suspension members, and a plurality of sprockets 36a as guide members for guiding the elevating chains 34 and 35. 36b, 37a, 37b, 38a, 38b, 39a, 39b, 40, 41.
One end of one lifting chain 34 is connected to the chain connecting portion 25 on the upper surface of the connecting member 24 on the front side of the carriage 18, and the other end is connected on the rear side of the carriage 18 as shown in FIG. The member 30 is connected to the chain connection portion 32 on the lower surface of the member 30.
The elevating chain 34 includes a sprocket 36 a located above the front mast 12, three sprockets 37 a, 38 a, 39 a provided on the front side of the traveling carriage 11, and an elevating motor 33. The sprocket 33a is hooked on one sprocket 41 provided on the rear side of the traveling carriage 11.

In the raising / lowering chain 34, the space between one end of the raising / lowering chain 34 and the sprocket 37a of the traveling carriage 11 is in the vicinity of the outer surface 12a of the front mast 12, and this portion of the raising / lowering chain 34 is covered with the mast side cover. 14 is covered.
Further, in the lifting chain 34, the portion between the rear sprocket 41 and the other end of the traveling carriage 11 is in the vicinity of the outer surface 12a of the rear mast 12, and this portion of the lifting chain 34 is also on the mast side. The cover 14 is covered.

One end of the other lifting / lowering chain 35 is connected to the chain connecting portion 26 on the lower surface of the connecting member 24 on the front side of the carriage 18, and the other end is connected to the chain on the upper surface of the connecting member 30 on the rear side of the carriage 18. Connected to the unit 31.
The lifting chain 35 includes sprockets 44 b and 40 positioned above the front and rear masts 12, three sprockets 37 b, 38 b and 39 b provided on the front side of the traveling carriage 11, and a lifting motor 33. It is hooked on the sprocket 33b.

In the raising / lowering chain 35, the portion between the one end of the raising / lowering chain 35 and the sprocket 39 b of the traveling carriage 11 is in the vicinity of the outer surface 12 a of the mast 12 on the front side, and this portion of the raising / lowering chain 35 is covered with the mast side cover. 14 is covered.
Further, in the lifting chain 35, the portion between the sprocket 40 above the rear mast 12 and the other end faces the outer surface 12a of the rear mast 12, and this portion of the lifting chain 35 is the mast. The side cover 14 is covered.
Further, the space between the sprockets 36 b and 40 above the front and rear masts 12 is covered by a connecting body side cover 29 provided along the connecting body 13.

Then, both the raising and lowering chains 34 and 35 are simultaneously operated by the forward and reverse rotations of the raising and lowering motor 33, and the raising and lowering of the carriage 18 is realized by the operation of the raising and lowering chains 34 and 35.
In this embodiment, the sprockets 36 a, 36 b, 37 a, 37 b, 38 a, 38 b, 39 a, 39 b, 40, and 41 are arranged so that the lengths of the lifting chains 34 and 35 are the same.
There is an intention to make the lifting chains 34 and 35 extend in the same amount when the article W is mounted on the carriage 18 by setting both the lifting chains 34 and 35 to the same length.
Note that the sprockets 36a and 36b located above the front mast 12 are coaxial, and the front sprockets 37a and 37b of the traveling carriage 11, the sprockets 38a and 38b, and the sprockets 39a and 39b. The relationship is also coaxial.

Next, the operation of the stacker crane 10 of this embodiment will be described.
The stacker crane 10 mounts an article W to be stored or unloaded on the carriage 18. However, in both cases of receiving and unloading the article W, the carriage 18 is highly likely to be moved up and down.
When the carriage 18 is raised and lowered, the raising and lowering chains 34 and 35 are actuated by the raising and lowering motor 33, and the raising and lowering chains 34 and 35 raise and lower the carriage 18 in response to the rotation of the raising and lowering motor 33.
At the time of raising and lowering, the first rolling roller 21 rolls on the lateral side surface 12 c of the mast 12, and the second rolling roller 22 rolls on the guide surface 15 a of the guide plate 15.
When the first rolling roller 21 rolls on the lateral side surface 12c of the mast 12, the carriage 18 is prevented from moving in the width direction of the stacker crane 10, and the second rolling roller 22 moves the guide plate 15 over. By rolling, the carriage 18 is prevented from moving back and forth in the front-rear direction, and the carriage 18 is raised and lowered smoothly while maintaining a stable state.

In this embodiment, when the sprockets 33a and 33b of the lifting motor 33 in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 rotate counterclockwise, the carriage 18 rises, and when the sprockets 33a and 33b rotate clockwise, the carriage 18 descends.
When the carriage 18 moves up and down, dust is generated due to sliding contact between the lifting chains 34 and 35 and the sprockets 36a to 41.
In particular, when dust is generated above the carriage 18, dust scattered on the article W on the carriage 18 is likely to adhere and accumulate, but the lifting chains 34 and 35 are located near the outer surface 12 a of the mast 12, and Since 12 is located between the raising and lowering chains 34 and 35 and the carriage 18, the mast 12 serves as a shield to prevent dust from being scattered on the article W.
Further, since the mast side cover 14 covers the elevating chains 34 and 35, the diffusion of dust around the mast side cover 14 is suppressed.
Further, in the portion along the connecting body 13, the scattering to the article W is prevented by the connecting body side cover 29.
Although the gaps S are respectively provided between the mast 12 and the mast side cover 14, the leakage of dust from the gaps S is suppressed by reducing the thickness of the connecting plate 23.

The stacker crane 10 according to this embodiment has the following effects.
(1) Dust generated in the raising and lowering chains 34 and 35 when the carriage 18 is raised and lowered is blocked by the mast 12 even if it is about to fly toward the article W on the carriage 18, and scattering of dust on the article W can be suppressed. . Further, the lifting chains 34 and 35 need only be installed near the outer surface 12a of the mast 12, and the structure of the stacker crane 10 can be made relatively simple.
.
(2) Since the mast side cover 14 covers the elevating chains 34 and 35 from the outer surface 12a of the mast 12, diffusion of dust in the elevating chains 34 and 35 to the surroundings is suppressed by the mast side cover 14 and dust. Most of it can be retained in the mast side cover 14. Further, since the lifting chains 34 and 35 cross between the masts 12 along the connecting body 13 and the connecting body side cover 29 covers the lifting chain 35, dust generated in the lifting chain 35 between the masts 13 and 14 is generated. The scattering to the article W is suppressed by the connecting body side cover 29.

(3) Since the raising and lowering chains 34 and 35 are installed for each mast 12, the carriage 18 can be smoothly raised and lowered by operating the raising and lowering chains 34 and 35 simultaneously. In addition, one lifting chain 35 traverses at the upper part of the mast 12 and the other lifting chain 34 traverses at the lower part of the mast 12 so that both the lifting chains 34 and 35 have the same length. Thus, the amount of extension of the elevating chains 34 and 35 caused by the load when the article W is mounted on the carriage 18 can be made the same, and the carriage 18 can be moved up and down stably.
(4) Even when the carriage 18 moves up and down, dust due to rolling of the first rolling roller 21 with respect to the lateral surface 12c of the mast 12 and dust due to rolling of the second rolling roller 22 with respect to the guide plate 15 are generated. Since the guide plate 15 is located between the carriage 18 and the first and second rolling rollers 21 and 22, scattering of these dusts onto the article W is suppressed by the guide plate 15.
(5) Since the elevating chains 34 and 35 and the respective rolling rollers 21 and 22 are not housed in the mast 12, the elevating chains 34 and 35 can be mounted relatively easily. Assembly work and maintenance work become easy.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, the stacker crane 50 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
In this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, a part of the reference numerals used in the first embodiment is used in common, description of common or similar configurations is omitted, and description of the previous embodiment is cited.
As shown in FIG. 4, the stacker crane 50 according to the second embodiment is operated by elevating motors 53, 54 provided for each elevating chain 51, 52 facing the outer surface 12 a of each mast 12.
A pair of front and rear masts 12 are erected on the upper surface of the traveling carriage 11, and a mast side cover 14 is provided for each mast 12.

An elevating chain 51 is provided in the vicinity of the outer side surface 12 a of the front mast 12. The elevating chain 51 is provided on the front side surface of the sprocket 55 and the traveling carriage 11 positioned above the front mast 12. It is hung on the sprocket 53a of the lifting motor 53.
One end of the raising / lowering chain 51 is connected to the chain connection portion 25 on the upper surface of the connection member 24 in the front portion of the carriage body 21, and the other end is connected to the connection portion 26 on the lower surface.
On the other hand, an elevating chain 52 is similarly provided so as to face the outer side surface 12 a of the rear mast 12, and the elevating chain 52 is for elevating provided on the sprocket 56 on the rear mast 12 and the rear side surface of the traveling carriage 11. It is hung on the sprocket 54a of the motor 54.
One end of the raising / lowering chain 52 is connected to the chain connecting portion 31 on the upper surface of the connecting member 30 in the rear portion of the carriage body 19, and the other end is connected to the chain connecting portion 32 on the lower surface.

Then, another sprocket (not shown) coaxial with the sprockets 53a and 54a of the elevating motors 53 and 54 is provided, and an interlocking chain 57 is hung on the sprocket.
The interlocking chain 57 is a chain for interlocking the operations of the elevating chains 51 and 52 with each other.
The portion between the sprockets 56 and 54a of the lifting chain 52 in the vicinity of the rear mast 12 is supposed to be inserted through the mast 12, but this means that the sprockets 53a and 54a can be operated so that the interlocking chain 57 can be operated. This is for making the rotation directions coincide.

The stacker crane 50 of this embodiment has the following effects.
Since the elevating motors 53 and 54 are provided for the elevating chains 51 and 52, it is not necessary to cross the elevating chains 51 and 52 between the masts 12 above the mast 12, and dust is generated above the carriage 18. Can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the invention. For example, the following modifications may be made.
In the first and second embodiments, the stacker crane is described as the article transfer device. However, the article transfer device here is not intended to be limited to the stacker crane. For example, an elevator-type article transfer device to which a support column is fixed may be used as long as it is provided with at least a pair of support columns and a lifting body that is lifted and lowered by a lifting lifting body between the support columns.
In the first and second embodiments described above, the lifting chain as the lifting suspension is provided for each mast as the support, but for example, only the lifting support has the lifting suspension, You may make it provide the guide member which guides raising / lowering of a raising / lowering body in the other support | pillar. In this case, it is necessary to consider the smooth raising and lowering of the lifting body, but it is possible to greatly reduce the locations where dust is generated.
In the first and second embodiments described above, a chain is used as the lifting member. However, the lifting member may be a wire or a belt in addition to the chain. What is necessary is just to select suitably according to conditions, such as a scale of a transfer apparatus.
In the first and second embodiments described above, a gap is provided between the mast as the column and the mast side cover as the column side cover. However, in order to prevent leakage of dust from the gap, the column A suction source may be provided in the vicinity of the base, and dust in the support-side cover may be collected under the floor by the negative pressure action of the suction source.
In the first and second embodiments described above, the elevating motor as the drive source is provided in the traveling carriage. However, the drive source location is not particularly limited, and may be provided in the column or the elevating body.

It is a side view of the stacker crane concerning a 1st embodiment. It is an enlarged plan view of the principal part in the stacker crane concerning a 1st embodiment. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the hanging state of the raising / lowering chain which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a side view of the stacker crane concerning a 2nd embodiment. It is a schematic side view which shows the stacker crane in an automatic warehouse. It is a side view of a prior art stacker crane.

Explanation of symbols

10, 50, 60 Stacker crane 12, 62 Mast 13 Connecting body 14 Mast side cover 15 Guide plate 18, 64 Carriage 20 Roller support 21 First rolling roller 22 Second rolling roller 23 Connecting plate 24, 30 Connection Member 27, 65 Slide fork 33, 53, 54 Elevating motor 34, 35, 51, 52 Elevating chain 33a, 33a, 36a, 36b, 37a, 37b, 38a, 38b, 39a, 39b, 40, 41, 53a, 54a, 55, 56 Sprocket 57 Interlocking chain

Claims (7)

In an article transfer apparatus comprising a pair of support columns arranged in parallel to each other, an elevating / lowering body capable of mounting an article between the support columns, and an elevating means for the elevating body,
The elevating means includes an elevating suspension member connected to the elevating body, a guide member for guiding the elevating suspension member, and a drive source for operating the elevating suspension member,
The lifting member is installed in the vicinity of the outer surface of the column such that the column is positioned between the lifting body and the lifting member.
A column-side cover that covers the lifting member for lifting from the outer surface of the column is provided along the column.
The width of the support side cover is substantially the same as the width of the support,
The lifting body includes a pair of extending portions facing both lateral side surfaces of the support column, and both extending portions are connected by a connecting plate,
The connecting plate is disposed across a gap between the outer side surface of the column and the column cover,
A connecting member for connecting the lifting member for lifting to the lifting body is fixed to the connecting plate on the side opposite to the side facing the support column . A guide plate having a guide surface parallel to the inner side surface of the support column is provided near the inner side surface along the support column, and the lifting body is a pair of first rolling elements that abut both lateral side surfaces of the support column. 2. The article transfer apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a roller, and a second rolling roller in contact with the guide plate in the vicinity of the first rolling roller .   3. The article transfer device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lifting suspension member is installed for each of the columns, and the lifting suspension member is simultaneously operated by the drive source.   A connecting body that connects the upper portions of the columns is provided, the lifting suspension member is installed so as to cross between the columns along the connection body, and a connecting body side cover that covers the lifting suspension member is provided. The article transfer apparatus according to claim 3.   4. The article transfer apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the driving source included in the lifting means is provided for each lifting lifting member.   6. The article transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the lifting member is any one of a chain, a belt, and a wire.   The support column is a mast suspended from a traveling carriage of a stacker crane that can travel along a multi-stage shelf, and the lifting body is a carriage having a fork that can be moved back and forth with respect to the shelf. The article transfer apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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