JP7380607B2 - Goods conveyance equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to article conveyance equipment that includes a conveyance vehicle that travels along a prescribed travel route to convey articles, and a control system that controls the conveyance vehicle.

An example of such article conveyance equipment is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-200190 (Patent Document 1). Hereinafter, in the description of this background technology, the symbols and names in Patent Document 1 will be cited in parentheses.

The article conveyance equipment of Patent Document 1 includes a travel route (2) divided into a plurality of areas (areas 22), a transport vehicle (1) that conveys articles along the travel route (2), and areas (22). Each area is equipped with a control device (controller 6) that controls the transport vehicle (1) in the area (22) via communication. When the transport vehicle (1) is located near the boundary of the area (22), the plurality of control devices (6) provided across the boundary of the area (22) control the area (22) that it manages. ) within which the same transport command is sent. Thereafter, when any of the control devices (6) receives a response to the transport command from the transport vehicle (1), based on the information that there is a response, the control device (6) other than the control device (6) that received this response The transport command 6) is canceled and the process of stopping waiting for a response from the transport vehicle (1) is performed.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-200190

However, in the article conveyance equipment of Patent Document 1, when the conveyance vehicle is located near the boundary of the area, multiple control devices need to send the same conveyance command redundantly to one conveyance vehicle. . In addition, when any control device receives a response to a transport command from a transport vehicle, the control device that received the response and the other control devices communicate with each other, and the control device that received the response It is necessary to cancel transport commands from other control devices and to stop waiting for responses from transport vehicles. Therefore, the amount of communication between the control device and the guided vehicle and the amount of communication between a plurality of control devices tends to increase, and the processing tends to become complicated.

In addition, when the progress of the transport process of goods by the transport vehicle is managed by a control device, if the control device that manages the transport vehicle is switched while the transport vehicle is transporting the goods, the progress of the transport process by the transport vehicle can be changed. Progress information needs to be handed over between the control devices before and after switching, which tends to increase communication volume and complicate processing. On the other hand, if the control device is not switched at all while the transport vehicle is transporting the article, the waiting time from when the transport vehicle completes the transport process to when the control device switching process is completed, etc. , which becomes a factor that reduces the transport efficiency of the article transport equipment.

Therefore, it is desired to realize article conveyance equipment that can suppress a decrease in conveyance efficiency, reduce the amount of communication between the conveyance vehicle and the control device, and simplify processing.

The article conveyance equipment according to the present disclosure includes a prescribed travel route, a conveyance vehicle that travels along the travel route and transports articles, and a vehicle that is set at a plurality of locations on the travel route to control the travel of the conveyance vehicle. An article conveyance facility comprising a station serving as a destination point, a loading area provided at a position corresponding to each of the plurality of stations and on which the article is placed, and a control system for controlling the conveyance vehicle. The conveyance vehicle includes a holding part that holds the article, and a movement mechanism that moves the holding part between a reference position and a placement position, and the reference position is the position where the conveyance vehicle is placed. The position of the holding part during travel, and the placement position is the position of the holding part when placing the article on the placement location, and the position is a position of the holding part when the article is placed on the placement location, and the position is a plurality of areas that divide the entire traveling route. is set, and each of the plurality of control devices included in the control system has jurisdiction over the different areas, and the control device controls the transport vehicle to start transporting the article within the area under its own jurisdiction. The control system performs travel control from a departure station, which is the station from which the article is conveyed, to a destination station, which is the station to which the article is conveyed; belong to different zones, at the destination station, the holding section holding the article is moved from the reference position to the placement position, and from the time when the holding section releases the holding of the article, the holding section holds the article. During the return period until the holding part is returned from the placement position to the reference position, the control device controlling the area to which the starting station belongs changes from the state in which the transport vehicle is controlled to the state to which the destination station belongs. The control device in charge of the area starts a process of switching to a state in which the transport vehicle is controlled.

According to this configuration, even if the transport vehicle travels beyond the boundary of the area, the switching process of the control device is not performed until the transport vehicle has placed the article at the destination station. , one control device can control the process from the start of conveyance of the article to the completion of placement on the placement location. Therefore, even when the control device manages the progress of the transport process of goods by the transport vehicle, there is no need to hand over the progress information of the transport process between the control devices before and after switching, which reduces the amount of communication. This can be kept to a minimum and the processing can be simplified. Further, according to this configuration, the switching process of the control device is performed during the return period after the conveyance vehicle places the article on the placement location of the destination station and until the holding section finishes returning from the placement position to the reference position. Start. Therefore, the waiting time until the switching process of the control device is completed and the guided vehicle starts traveling toward the next destination point can be kept short. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the transport efficiency of the article transport equipment. As described above, according to the present configuration, it is possible to suppress a decrease in transport efficiency, reduce the amount of communication between the transport vehicle and the control device, and simplify the processing.

Further features and advantages of the article conveying installation will become clear from the following description of an embodiment with reference to the drawings.

Perspective view of transport vehicle Side view of transport vehicle Schematic diagram of control system Control block diagram Diagram showing an example of the traveling situation of the transport vehicle Diagram of switching process Diagram showing another example of the traveling situation of the transport vehicle A diagram showing yet another example of the traveling situation of the transport vehicle

Embodiments of article conveyance equipment will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the article conveyance equipment 100 includes a prescribed travel route 40, a conveyance vehicle 1 that travels along the travel route 40 to convey the article 2, and a plurality of locations on the travel route 40. A station 50 that is set to be the destination point PD of the traveling vehicle 1, a loading location 4 provided at a position corresponding to each of the plurality of stations 50 and on which the article 2 is placed, and a station 50 that is set as the destination point PD of the traveling vehicle 1; A control system 30 for controlling. The station 50 is a place where the loading location 4 is provided and where the transport vehicle 1 stops. Here, the longitudinal direction of the traveling route 40 (the direction in which the traveling route 40 extends) is defined as a route longitudinal direction X, and the width direction of the traveling route 40 is defined as a route width direction Y. The path width direction Y is a direction perpendicular to both the path longitudinal direction X and the up-down direction Z (vertical direction). In other words, the route width direction Y is a direction perpendicular to the traveling route 40 when viewed in the up-down direction (planar view) along the up-down direction Z. FIG. 3 shows an example of a planar layout of the driving route 40. The driving route 40 shown in FIG. includes a branching portion where the road branches into a plurality of travel routes 40.

The driving route 40 may be physically formed or virtually set. In this embodiment, the running route 40 is physically formed using running rails 41. Specifically, the article conveyance equipment 100 includes running rails 41 (here, a pair of running rails 41 spaced apart in the path width direction Y) arranged along the running route 40, The conveyance vehicle 1 travels along traveling rails 41. As shown in FIG. 2, the traveling rail 41 is suspended and supported from the ceiling 3, and the traveling path 40 is formed along the ceiling 3. That is, in this embodiment, the transport vehicle 1 is a ceiling transport vehicle that travels along a travel path 40 formed along the ceiling 3. Note that the transport vehicle 1 may be a transport vehicle other than the ceiling transport vehicle. An example of a transport vehicle other than the ceiling transport vehicle is a transport vehicle that travels along a travel route formed along the floor. The travel route in this case may be formed by travel rails or may be set virtually.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the transport vehicle 1 includes a traveling section 10 that travels along a traveling route 40. As shown in FIGS. The running section 10 runs along running rails 41 (here, a pair of running rails 41). The traveling section 10 includes wheels 11 that roll on the traveling surface of the traveling rail 41, and a traveling drive section M1 (for example, an electric motor such as a servo motor) that rotates the wheels 11. The running unit 10 runs along the running rail 41 by rotationally driving the wheels 11 by the running drive unit M1. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the guided vehicle 1 moves the traveling section 10 along the longitudinal direction There are a pair of them lined up in the same direction.

As shown in FIG. 2, the transport vehicle 1 includes a holding section 21 that holds the article 2. As shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the holding part 21 holds the article 2 from the upper side Z1. Although the type of the article 2 is not limited to this, in this embodiment, the article 2 is a container (specifically, a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod)) that accommodates a semiconductor wafer, and the holding unit 21 is a container for storing a semiconductor wafer. The article 2 is held by gripping the flange formed on the upper part of the article 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the carrier 1 (specifically, the holding part 21) is equipped with a holding drive part M3 (for example, a solenoid or an electric motor) that switches the state of the holding part 21. By driving the portion M3, the state of the holding portion 21 is switched between a holding state in which the article 2 is held and a holding release state in which the holding on the article 2 is released.

As shown in FIG. 2, the carrier 1 includes a moving mechanism 22 that moves the holding part 21 between the reference position H1 and the mounting position H2. As shown in FIG. 4, the carrier 1 (specifically, the moving mechanism 22) has a moving drive unit M2 (for example, an electric motor such as a servo motor) that moves the holding unit 21 with respect to the traveling unit 10. The holding part 21 is moved relative to the traveling part 10 by driving the moving drive part M2. As shown in FIG. 2, the transport vehicle 1 includes a main body 20 connected to a running section 10 (here, a pair of running sections 10). The main body part 20 is disposed on the lower side Z2 with respect to the traveling part 10, and the moving mechanism 22 is provided in the main body part 20. Therefore, in this embodiment, the moving mechanism 22 and the holding section 21 are arranged on the lower side Z2 with respect to the running section 10.

The reference position H1 is the position of the holding part 21 while the transport vehicle 1 is traveling. In this embodiment, the reference position H1 is a position that overlaps with the traveling section 10 in plan view. Moreover, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the reference position H1 is a position where the article 2 held by the holding part 21 is accommodated in the main body part 20. The article 2 held by the holding part 21 located at the reference position H1 is accommodated in the main body part 20 so as to be covered by the main body part 20 from both sides in the longitudinal direction X of the path. As shown in FIG. 2, the placement position H2 is the position of the holding portion 21 when placing the article 2 on the placement location 4. The placement position H2 is a position above the placement location 4 Z1 and overlaps with the placement location 4 in plan view. The placement position H2 is set according to the position of each placement location 4. As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the placement position H2 is a position Z2 below the reference position H1. The placement location 4 is, for example, a load port of a processing device that processes the article 2, or a storage shelf of a storage device that stores the article 2. FIG. 2 shows, as an example of the placement location 4, a support portion that supports the article 2 from the lower side Z2.

In the present embodiment, the moving mechanism 22 is configured to move the holding section 21 in the vertical direction Z with respect to the traveling section 10 (that is, move it up and down). By lowering the holding part 21 by the moving mechanism 22, the mounting portion corresponding to the mounting location 4 located below the traveling path 40 and at a position overlapping with the traveling path 40 in plan view. The holding part 21 can be moved to the position H2. As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the moving mechanism 22 raises and lowers the holding part 21 in a state where the holding part 21 is suspended and supported. Specifically, the holding part 21 is connected to the tip of a transmission member 23 such as a belt or a wire. Then, the moving mechanism 22 rotates the rolled body around which the transmission member 23 is wound by driving the movement drive unit M2, and winds up or lets out the transmission member 23, thereby raising or lowering the holding part 21. .

The moving mechanism 22 may be configured to move the holding part 21 in the path width direction Y with respect to the running part 10. Further, the moving mechanism 22 may be configured to move the holding part 21 in the vertical direction Z and in the path width direction Y with respect to the traveling part 10. In this case, for example, by moving the holding part 21 in the path width direction Y by the movement mechanism 22 and then lowering it, the movement mechanism 22 moves the holding part 21 in the path width direction Y and then lowers the movement mechanism 22 to move the holding part 21 to the lower side Z2 than the driving path 40 and to reduce the path width with respect to the driving path 40 in plan view. The holding portion 21 can be moved to the placement position H2 corresponding to the placement location 4 that is disposed at a position shifted in the direction Y.

As shown in FIG. 4, the guided vehicle 1 includes a vehicle control device 33 (equipment controller) that controls the operation of the guided vehicle 1. Each of the vehicle control devices 33, a general control device 31 (described later), and a zone control device 32 (described later) is equipped with an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), peripheral circuits such as memory, etc. The functions of each control device are realized through cooperation between the hardware and a program executed on hardware such as an arithmetic processing device.

The vehicle control device 33 controls the operation of the guided vehicle 1 according to commands from the area control device 32. In this embodiment, the area control device 32 and the vehicle control device 33 are configured to be able to communicate via wireless communication. The vehicle control device 33 causes the traveling section 10 to perform a traveling operation of traveling along the traveling route 40 by controlling the driving of the traveling drive section M1. Furthermore, the vehicle control device 33 causes the moving mechanism 22 to perform a moving operation of moving the holding section 21 between the reference position H1 and the mounting position H2 by controlling the driving of the moving drive section M2. In addition, the vehicle control device 33 controls the drive of the holding drive unit M3 to cause the holding unit 21 to perform a holding state switching operation that switches the state of the holding unit 21 between the holding state and the holding release state. . As described below, the transfer operation of the article 2 between the transport vehicle 1 (specifically, the holding section 21) and the loading location 4 is performed by these moving operations and the holding state switching operation. .

When transferring the article 2 between the transport vehicle 1 (specifically, the holding unit 21) and the loading location 4, the vehicle control device 33 controls the position corresponding to the loading location 4 (here, the loading location 4). After causing the traveling unit 10 to perform a traveling operation of traveling the conveyance vehicle 1 to the same position in the longitudinal direction The mechanism 22 is made to do this. For example, by lowering the holding part 21 by the moving mechanism 22, or by moving the holding part 21 in the path width direction Y by the moving mechanism 22 and then lowering the holding part 21, the holding part 21 is moved to the reference position H1. to the mounting position H2. When the holding part 21 reaches the mounting position H2, the vehicle control device 33 causes the holding part 21 to perform a holding state switching operation. When transferring the article 2 from the carrier vehicle 1 to the loading location 4, a holding state switching operation is performed to switch the state of the holding section 21 from the retained state to the released state, and the article 2 is transferred from the carrier vehicle 1 to the loading location 4. 1, a holding state switching operation is performed to switch the state of the holding unit 21 from the holding release state to the holding state.

The vehicle control device 33 causes the holding portion 21 to perform a holding state switching operation, and then causes the moving mechanism 22 to perform a moving operation to move the holding portion 21 from the mounting position H2 to the reference position H1. For example, by raising the holding part 21 by the moving mechanism 22, or by raising the holding part 21 by the moving mechanism 22 and then moving it in the path width direction Y, the holding part 21 can be moved to the position for placing. It is moved from position H2 to reference position H1. By the vehicle control device 33 performing the above control, when transferring the article 2 from the transport vehicle 1 to the loading location 4, the article 2 held in the holding section 21 is transferred to the loading location 4. When the article 2 is unloaded and transferred from the loading location 4 to the carrier 1, the article 2 placed on the loading location 4 is held by the holding section 21 and taken out from the loading location 4.

Although details are omitted, the vehicle control device 33 derives an estimated current position that is the current estimated position of the guided vehicle 1 and controls the traveling operation of the traveling section 10. For example, the conveyance vehicle 1 includes a reading device that reads address information of information holding bodies provided at a plurality of positions along the traveling route 40 (information indicating the positions where the information holding bodies are provided), and a reading device for reading address information of information holding bodies provided at a plurality of positions along the traveling route 40, and A measuring device that measures the traveling distance, and the vehicle control device 33 reads the address information read by the reading device and the traveling distance of the traveling section 10 measured by the measuring device (specifically, the reading device reads the address information The estimated current position of the guided vehicle 1 can be derived based on the distance traveled since the reading of . For example, a one-dimensional code or a two-dimensional code can be used as the information carrier, and a one-dimensional code reader or a two-dimensional code reader can be used as the reading device. Further, for example, a rotary encoder can be used as the measuring device. Note that the configuration is not limited to this, and for example, the guided vehicle 1 includes a GPS receiver that receives GPS signals from GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites, and the vehicle control device 33 controls the guided vehicle 1 based on the GPS signal. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the estimated current position of is derived.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control system 30 includes a plurality of area control devices 32. In this article conveyance facility 100, a plurality of zones A are set to divide the entire traveling route 40, and each of the plurality of zone control devices 32 has jurisdiction over a mutually different zone A. The area control device 32 is configured to be able to communicate with the guided vehicle 1 that exists in the area A that it has jurisdiction over, and manages and controls the guided vehicle 1 that exists in the area A that it has jurisdiction over. The area control device 32 is configured to be able to communicate with the guided vehicle 1 existing in another area A different from the area A under its own jurisdiction, and is configured to be able to communicate with the guided vehicle 1 existing in the other area A (for example, In some cases, a conveyance vehicle 1) that has entered another area A from an area A where the vehicle 1) is to be controlled is controlled. Here, the other areas A include at least areas A adjacent to the area A under its own jurisdiction, and may include, for example, all areas A other than the area A under its own jurisdiction. Although FIG. 3 shows two areas A and two area control devices 32, the number of areas A and the number of area control devices 32 are not limited to this. The control system 30 further includes a general control device 31 that manages the entire facility. The overall control device 31 is configured to be able to communicate with each of the plurality of area control devices 32. In this embodiment, the area control device 32 corresponds to a "control device."

The technical features of the control system 30 disclosed in this specification are also applicable to the control method for the article conveyance equipment 100, and the control method for the article conveyance equipment 100 is also disclosed in this specification. This control method includes a process in which the area control device 32 performs travel control, which will be described later, and a process in which the control system 30 performs a switching process, which will be described later. It includes a process of performing prohibition processing.

The overall control device 31 issues a transportation request (transportation command) for the article 2 to the area control device 32 based on, for example, a transportation schedule. The transport request includes information about the departure station 51 which is the station 50 from which the article 2 is to be transported, and information about the destination station 52 which is the station 50 to which the article 2 is to be transported. A request for transporting the article 2 is sent to the area control device 32 which has jurisdiction over the area A to which the departure station 51 belongs. When the zone control device 32 receives a transport request for the article 2 from the central control device 31, it assigns the transport request for the article 2 to one of the transport vehicles 1, and assigns the transport request to the transport vehicle 1 (specifically, It instructs the vehicle control device 33) to perform an operation according to the transport request for the article 2. The operations of the conveyance vehicle 1 in response to a request for conveyance of the article 2 include a transfer operation of the article 2 from the loading location 4 at the departure station 51 to the conveyance vehicle 1, and a travel operation from the departure station 51 to the destination station 52. and a transfer operation of the article 2 from the conveyance vehicle 1 to the loading location 4 at the destination station 52. The area control device 32 transmits information on the progress status of the transport operation of the article 2 by the transport vehicle 1 to the general control device 31.

As described above, the operation in response to the transport request for the article 2 includes the traveling operation from the departure station 51 to the destination station 52. That is, the area control device 32 controls the travel of the transport vehicle 1 that starts transporting the article 2 within the area A under its jurisdiction from the departure station 51 to the destination station 52. The zone control device 32 performs this traveling control via the vehicle control device 33 included in the transport vehicle 1 . Note that the departure station 51 belongs to the area A under the jurisdiction of the area control device 32 that performs this travel control. On the other hand, the destination station 52 may or may not belong to the area A under the jurisdiction of the area control device 32 that performs this travel control. The area control device 32 controls the travel of the transport vehicle 1 from the departure station 51 to the destination station 52, regardless of whether the destination station 52 belongs to the area A under its jurisdiction.

In FIG. 5, one of the plurality of areas A is a first area A1, an area A adjacent to the first area A1 is a second area A2, and the area control device 32 that has jurisdiction over the first area A1 is the first area A1. A control device 32A is used, and the area control device 32 that has jurisdiction over the second area A2 is called a second area control device 32B. The same applies to FIGS. 7 and 8, which will be referred to later. FIG. 5 shows a situation in which the article 2 is transported from the departure station 51 belonging to the first area A1 to the destination station 52 belonging to the second area A2. Therefore, in the situation shown in FIG. 5, the first area control device 32A controls the travel of the transport vehicle 1 from the departure station 51 to the destination station 52.

When the departure station 51 and the destination station 52 belong to different areas A, the control system 30 changes the state in which the area control device 32 that has jurisdiction over the area A to which the departure station 51 belongs controls the transport vehicle 1 to the destination station 52. The area control device 32 that has jurisdiction over the area A to which the transport vehicle 1 belongs is configured to perform switching processing to a state in which the guided vehicle 1 is controlled. At the destination station 52, the control system 30 moves the holding part 21 holding the article 2 from the reference position H1 to the mounting position H2, and starts loading the holding part 21 from the time when the holding part 21 releases the holding of the article 2. The switching process is configured to start during the return period until the return from the installation position H2 to the reference position H1 is completed. It is preferable that the switching process is started at the timing when the switching process is completed during the recovery period. The control system 30 starts the switching process, for example, at the beginning of the return period (that is, immediately after the holding unit 21 releases the article 2). Note that if the departure station 51 and the destination station 52 belong to the same area A, the control system 30 does not perform the switching process.

The entity that performs the above-described switching process (the control device that is the core of the switching process) is, for example, the area control device 32 that has jurisdiction over the area A to which the departure station 51 belongs. In this case, the area control device 32 that has jurisdiction over area A to which the departure station 51 belongs determines the start timing of the switching process and whether or not the switching process is to be executed. When executing the switching process, the switching process is started in response to a command from the area control device 32 that has jurisdiction over area A to which the departure station 51 belongs.

FIG. 6 shows in chronological order how the switching process is performed at the destination station 52 in the situation shown in FIG. FIG. 6A shows how the holding section 21 holding the article 2 moves from the reference position H1 to the placement position H2 at the destination station 52. As shown in FIG. 6(a), until the article 2 is placed on the placement location 4 of the destination station 52, the first area control device 32A, which has jurisdiction over the area A to which the departure station 51 belongs, controls the transport vehicle 1. is under control. FIG. 6B shows the timing at which the holding of the article 2 by the holding unit 21 is released (that is, the beginning of the return period), and in this example, the switching process is performed at this timing. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6(c), the holding part 21 is returned from the mounting position H2 to the reference position H1 by controlling the transport vehicle 1 by the second area control device 32B.

In the present embodiment, the control system 30 controls the transport vehicle 1 to travel with a station 50 different from the destination station 52 as the destination point PD by the time the carrier 1 releases the holding of the article 2 by the holding unit 21 at the destination station 52. When the command is set for the guided vehicle 1, the switching process is started during the return period. On the other hand, the control system 30 determines that, by the time the conveyance vehicle 1 releases the holding of the article 2 by the holding unit 21 at the destination station 52, a travel command that sets a station 50 different from the destination station 52 as the destination point PD is transmitted. If the vehicle 1 is not set, the switching process is not started during the return period, but is started after the holding part 21 has been returned from the mounting position H2 to the reference position H1. Note that a travel command with a station 50 different from the destination station 52 as the destination point PD is issued to the transport vehicle 1, for example, when a transport request for the article 2 with the other station 50 as the departure station 51 is assigned. Set.

The area control device 32 controls the traveling of the empty guided vehicle 1A within the area A under its jurisdiction, with the guided vehicle 1 not transporting the article 2 being the empty guided vehicle 1A. Then, one of the plurality of areas A is set as a first area A1, and an area A adjacent to the first area A1 is set as a second area A2, and the control system 30 controls the empty carrier 1A in the first area A1. enters the second area A2 while traveling with the station 50 in the second area A2 as the destination point PD, the area control device that has jurisdiction over the first area A1 continues to run the air carrier 1A. 32 controls the empty guided vehicle 1A to a state in which the area control device 32 having jurisdiction over the second area A2 controls the empty guided vehicle 1A. This switching process is started within the section from the approach point PE, which is the point at which the empty guided vehicle 1A enters the second area A2, until it reaches the station 50 closest to the approach point PE along the travel route 40. suitable. Here, the term "section" refers to a travel section of the guided vehicle 1 along the travel route 40. Note that the first area A1 is not limited to the area A to which the starting point of the air carrier 1A belongs, but may be an area A that the air carrier 1A passes through on the way.

FIG. 7 shows a situation in which the empty carrier vehicle 1A in the first area A1 travels with the station 50 in the second area A2 as the destination point PD. In the situation shown in FIG. 7, the switching process is started after the empty guided vehicle 1A enters the second area A2 from the first point P1, while the empty guided vehicle 1A continues to travel. In FIG. 7, the target station 53 is the station 50 closest to the approach point PE along the travel route 40 from the approach point PE (first point P1), and the empty guided vehicle 1A reaches the target station 53 from the approach point PE. It is preferable to start the switching process within the interval up to this point.

The area control device 32 indicates, for the guided vehicle 1 that it controls, a traffic route R (see FIGS. 5, 7, and 8), which is the route that the guided vehicle 1 takes to reach the destination PD. It holds traffic route information 91 and task information 92 indicating the task of the carrier vehicle 1 (see FIG. 3). In this embodiment, the traffic route information 91 is information indicating the traffic route R set by the area control device 32. That is, in this embodiment, the area control device 32 controls the travel of the guided vehicle 1 so that it passes through the travel route R that it has set. Further, the task of the transport vehicle 1 shown in the task information 92 is, for example, a task included in the transport request for the article 2 assigned to the transport vehicle 1. When performing the switching process, the control system 30 uses the traffic route information 91 and task information 92 held by the area control device 32 that was controlling the guided vehicle 1 before the execution of the switching process. It is configured to be shared by the area control device 32 that later controls the transport vehicle 1. For example, the area control device 32 that controls the guided vehicle 1 before executing the switching process uses the traffic route information 91 and task information 92 that it owns as the area control device that controls the guided vehicle 1 after executing the switching process. 32 directly or via the overall control device 31, the above-mentioned sharing is realized.

By the way, the empty guided vehicle 1A in the first area A1 may enter the second area A2 while traveling with the station 50 in the first area A1 as the destination point PD. In this embodiment, when the empty guided vehicle 1A in the first area A1 enters the second area A2 while traveling with the station 50 in the first area A1 as the destination point PD, the control system 30 A switching prohibition process is performed in which the area control device 32 having jurisdiction over the first area A1 continues to control the air guided vehicle 1A even while the air guided vehicle 1A is traveling in the second area A2 without performing the switching process. configured to run.

FIG. 8 shows a situation where the empty carrier vehicle 1A in the first area A1 enters the second area A2 while traveling with the station 50 in the first area A1 as the destination point PD. In the situation shown in FIG. 8, the empty carrier vehicle 1A enters the second area A2 from the first point P1, returns to the first area A1 from the second point P2, and reaches the destination point PD. In this embodiment, since the control system 30 executes the switching prohibition process, the switching process is not performed after the air guided vehicle 1A enters the second area A2, and the air guided vehicle 1A is controlled by the first area control device 32A. After traveling in the second area A2 under the controlled state, the vehicle returns to the first area A1.

Note that in the situation shown in FIG. 7 described above, the air carrier 1A enters the second area A2 from the first point P1, returns to the first area A1 from the second point P2, and then returns to the third point P3. From there, the vehicle re-enters the second area A2. The behavior of the empty guided vehicle 1A from the state where the empty guided vehicle 1A enters the second area A2 from the first point P1 and is in the second area A2 under the control of the second area control device 32B is as follows. , while the air carrier vehicle 1A in the second area A2 (corresponding to the "first area" here) is traveling with the station 50 in the second area A2 as the destination point PD, In this case, the behavior is to enter the "second area"). In this embodiment, since the control system 30 executes the switching prohibition process as described above, in the situation shown in FIG. The switching process is not performed, and after traveling in the first area A1 while being controlled by the second area control device 32B, the empty carrier vehicle 1A enters the second area A2 again from the third point P3.

As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the control system 30 includes a reception unit 34 that receives instructions from a person (such as an operator). The reception unit 34 includes an interface that accepts input operations by a person. For example, a command to travel to a specific destination for maintenance or the like is input to the reception unit 34 . The vehicle control device 33 controls the traveling operation of the traveling section 10 according to the command (driving command) received by the receiving section 34 . Note that in FIG. 3, the information on the command received by the reception unit 34 is input to the central control device 31, but the information on the command received by the reception unit 34 is input to the vehicle control device 33 or the area control device 32. You can. That is, the vehicle control device 33 acquires information on the command received by the reception unit 34 directly from the reception unit 34 or via another device. In the present embodiment, the control system 30 controls the control system 30 when the guided vehicle 1 travels across a plurality of areas A in a state where the guided vehicle 1 is controlled based on the command received by the reception unit 34. is also configured not to perform switching processing.

[Other embodiments]
Next, other embodiments of the article conveyance equipment will be described.

(1) In the above embodiment, by the time the conveyance vehicle 1 releases the holding of the article 2 by the holding unit 21 at the destination station 52, a travel command is issued to set the destination point PD to a station 50 different from the destination station 52. is not set for the transport vehicle 1, the control system 30 does not start the switching process during the return period, and starts the switching process after returning the holding part 21 from the mounting position H2 to the reference position H1. The starting configuration was explained as an example. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a configuration, and even in the above case, the control system 30 may start the switching process during the recovery period.

(2) In the above embodiment, when the air carrier 1A in the first area A1 enters the second area A2 while traveling with the station 50 in the first area A1 as the destination point PD, A configuration in which the control system 30 executes the switching prohibition process without performing the switching process has been described as an example. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a configuration, and if the air carrier vehicle 1A in the first area A1 is traveling with the station 50 in the first area A1 as the destination point PD, it may arrive at the second area A2. It is also possible to configure the control system 30 to perform the switching process even when the vehicle enters the vehicle.

(3) In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the moving mechanism 22 and the holding part 21 are arranged on the lower side Z2 with respect to the traveling part 10 has been described as an example. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a configuration, and a configuration may also be adopted in which the moving mechanism 22 and the holding section 21 are arranged on the upper side Z1 with respect to the traveling section 10. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the configuration in which the holding section 21 holds the article 2 from the upper side Z1 has been described as an example. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a configuration, and the holding unit 21 holds the article 2 from the lower side Z2 (for example, a configuration that holds the article 2 by supporting the lower surface of the article 2). You can also do that.

(4) Note that the configurations disclosed in each of the embodiments described above may be applied in combination with configurations disclosed in other embodiments unless there is a conflict. combinations) are also possible. Regarding other configurations, the embodiments disclosed herein are merely illustrative in all respects. Therefore, various modifications can be made as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

[Summary of the above embodiment]
Hereinafter, an overview of the article conveyance equipment described above will be explained.

A predetermined travel route, a transport vehicle that travels along the travel route to transport goods, a plurality of stations that are set at multiple locations on the travel route and serve as destination points for the travel of the transport vehicle; An article conveyance facility comprising: a loading area provided at a position corresponding to each of the stations, on which the article is placed; and a control system for controlling the conveyance vehicle; and a moving mechanism that moves the holding part between a reference position and a placement position, the reference position being a position of the holding part while the transport vehicle is traveling. , the placement position is a position of the holding part when placing the article at the placement location, and a plurality of zones are set for dividing the entire traveling route, and the control system Each of the plurality of control devices provided with the control device has jurisdiction over the different areas, and the control device controls the transport vehicle that starts transporting the article within the area under its jurisdiction, and controls the transport vehicle that is the transport source of the article. The control system performs travel control from a departure station, which is a station, to a destination station, which is the station, to which the article is to be transported, and when the departure station and the destination station belong to different areas, the control system At the destination station, the holding section holding the article is moved from the reference position to the placement position, and from when the holding section releases the holding of the article, the holding section is moved from the placement position to the placement position. During the return period until the return to the reference position is completed, the control device controlling the area to which the starting station belongs changes from the state in which the control device controlling the area to which the destination station belongs changes to the state in which the control device controlling the area to which the destination station belongs changes to Start the process of switching to a state where the transport vehicle is controlled.

According to this configuration, even if the transport vehicle travels beyond the boundary of the area, the switching process of the control device is not performed until the transport vehicle has placed the article at the destination station. , one control device can control the process from the start of conveyance of the article to the completion of placement on the placement location. Therefore, even when the control device manages the progress of the transport process of goods by the transport vehicle, there is no need to hand over the progress information of the transport process between the control devices before and after switching, which reduces the amount of communication. This can be kept to a minimum and the processing can be simplified. Further, according to this configuration, the switching process of the control device is performed during the return period after the conveyance vehicle places the article on the placement location of the destination station and until the holding section finishes returning from the placement position to the reference position. Start. Therefore, the waiting time until the switching process of the control device is completed and the guided vehicle starts traveling toward the next destination point can be kept short. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the transport efficiency of the article transport equipment. As described above, according to the present configuration, it is possible to suppress a decrease in transport efficiency, reduce the amount of communication between the transport vehicle and the control device, and simplify the processing.

Here, the conveyance vehicle in a state where the article is not being transported is an empty conveyance vehicle, and the control device controls the travel of the empty conveyance vehicle within an area under its own jurisdiction, and controls one of the plurality of areas. is defined as a first area, and the area adjacent to the first area is defined as a second area, and the control system controls the air transport vehicle located in the first area to visit the station in the second area. When the second area is entered while traveling as the destination point, within the section from the approach point at which the destination point is entered until reaching the station closest to the approach point along the travel route. A state in which the control device in charge of the first area controls the empty guided vehicle while the guided vehicle continues to travel, and a state in which the control device in charge of the second area controls the empty guided vehicle. It is preferable to start the switching process.

According to this configuration, when an empty carrier vehicle that is not transporting goods travels beyond the boundary of an area, the time required for an empty carrier vehicle to reach the next station after entering a new area is Within the section, switching processing can be performed to the control device that has jurisdiction over the new area. Therefore, the occurrence of waiting time for switching processing of the control device can be suppressed. Further, according to this configuration, since this process is performed for an empty guided vehicle that does not require the control device to manage the progress of the article conveyance process, the progress information of the conveyance process is inherited between the control devices before and after switching. No need arises. Therefore, problems such as an increase in communication volume and complication of processing are less likely to occur.

In the above configuration, when the empty carrier vehicle in the first area enters the second area while traveling with the station in the first area as the destination point, the control system: A switching prohibition process is performed in which the control device having jurisdiction over the first area continues to control the empty guided vehicle even while the empty guided vehicle is traveling in the second area without performing the switching process. It is preferable to do so.

According to this configuration, even if the control device is switched as described above when the empty guided vehicle travels beyond the boundary of the area, the empty guided vehicle is If the destination is a station within the area, control device switching processing is prohibited. This makes it possible to avoid the occurrence of a process in which the control device is once switched and then switched again to the same control device. Therefore, the frequency of occurrence of the control device switching process can be suppressed, and the process can be simplified.

In the article conveyance equipment having each of the above configurations, the control device stores traffic route information for the conveyance vehicle that it controls, indicating a travel route that is a route that the conveyance vehicle takes to reach the destination point. , and task information indicating the task of the guided vehicle, and when the control system performs the switching process, the control system holds task information that is held by the control device that was controlling the guided vehicle before executing the switching process. Preferably, the traffic route information and the task information to be shared with the control device that controls the guided vehicle after the switching process is executed.

According to this configuration, when switching the control device for a guided vehicle including an empty guided vehicle, the traffic route information and task information held by the control device before switching are transferred to the control device after switching. can be shared. Therefore, even if the control device is switched, the transport vehicle can be appropriately controlled.

In addition, the control system is configured such that, by the time the conveyance vehicle releases the holding of the article by the holding unit at the destination station, a travel command that sets the destination point to the station different from the destination station is transmitted to the conveyance vehicle. In the case where the switching process is started during the return period, and by the time the conveyance vehicle releases the holding of the article by the holding unit at the destination station, If a travel command with the station as the destination point is not set for the transport vehicle, the switching process is not started during the return period, and the holding unit is moved from the placement position to the reference position. It is preferable to start the switching process after the return is completed.

According to this configuration, if the next travel command for the conveyance vehicle is set by the time the conveyance vehicle releases the holding of the article by the holding unit at the destination station, the switching process is started during the return period. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the waiting time until the switching process of the control device is completed and the guided vehicle starts traveling toward the next destination point. On the other hand, if the next travel command for the conveyance vehicle has not been set by the time the conveyance vehicle releases the holding part of the article at the destination station, there is no need to hurry the conveyance vehicle to start traveling. After the holding part is returned to the reference position, the switching process is started. As a result, it is possible to avoid performing the switching process of the control device in parallel with other operations of the transport vehicle, thereby increasing the reliability of the switching process.

The control system further includes a reception unit that receives commands from a person, and when the transport vehicle is controlled based on the commands received by the reception unit, the transport vehicle is controlled over the plurality of areas. It is preferable not to perform the above-mentioned switching process even when the vehicle is traveling.

According to this configuration, the state in which the guided vehicle is controlled based on the command received by the reception unit is, for example, when a worker or the like directs the guided vehicle to a specific destination for maintenance of the guided vehicle. This occurs when moving the machine. If the control device is switched during control of such a guided vehicle, there is a possibility that the switched control device will set a new travel command, causing the guided vehicle to start running unintentionally by the operator, etc. There is. According to this configuration, occurrence of such a situation can be avoided.

The article conveyance equipment according to the present disclosure only needs to be able to achieve at least one of the above-mentioned effects.

1: Transport vehicle 1A: Empty transport vehicle 2: Article 4: Placement location 21: Holding section 22: Movement mechanism 30: Control system 32: Area control device (control device)
34: Reception section 40: Travel route 50: Station 51: Departure station 52: Destination station 91: Traffic route information 92: Task information 100: Article transport equipment A: Area A1: First area A2: Second area PD: Destination point PE: Entry point R: Traffic route H1: Reference position H2: Placement position

Claims (5)

A prescribed driving route,
a conveyance vehicle that travels along the travel route to convey articles;
stations that are set at a plurality of locations on the travel route and serve as destination points for travel of the transport vehicle;
a placement location on which the article is placed, which is provided at a position corresponding to each of the plurality of stations;
An article conveyance facility comprising: a control system for controlling the conveyance vehicle;
The transport vehicle includes a holding part that holds the article, and a movement mechanism that moves the holding part between a reference position and a placement position,
The reference position is a position of the holding part while the conveyance vehicle is traveling,
The placement position is the position of the holding part when placing the article at the placement location,
A plurality of areas are set to divide the entire travel route, and each of the plurality of control devices included in the control system has jurisdiction over a different area,
The control device is configured to control, with respect to the conveyance vehicle that starts conveying the article within the area under its jurisdiction, from the departure station which is the station from which the article is conveyed to the station where the article is to be conveyed. Controls travel to a certain destination station,
When the departure station and the destination station belong to different areas, the control system moves the holding unit holding the article from the reference position to the placement position at the destination station, and During the return period from when the holding part releases the holding of the article until the holding part is returned from the placement position to the reference position, the control device that has jurisdiction over the area to which the starting station belongs Article transport equipment that starts a process of switching from a state in which the transport vehicle is controlled to a state in which the control device that has jurisdiction over the area to which the destination station belongs controls the transport vehicle. The conveyance vehicle in a state where the article is not conveyed is an empty conveyance vehicle,
The control device controls the travel of the air carrier vehicle within the area under its jurisdiction,
One of the plurality of areas is defined as a first area, and the area adjacent to the first area is defined as a second area,
The control system is configured to control, when the air carrier vehicle in the first area enters the second area while traveling with the station in the second area as the destination point, to The control device that has jurisdiction over the first area continues to run the air carrier within a section from a certain approach point to the station closest to the approach point along the travel route. The article conveyance facility according to claim 1, wherein a switching process is started from a state in which the empty carrier is controlled to a state in which the control device controlling the second area controls the empty carrier. When the empty guided vehicle in the first area enters the second area while traveling with the station in the first area as the destination point, the control system performs the switching process. First, while the empty guided vehicle is traveling in the second area, the control device controlling the first area executes a switching prohibition process to continue controlling the empty guided vehicle. 2. Article conveyance equipment according to item 2. For the guided vehicle that it controls, the control device includes traffic route information indicating a travel route that the guided vehicle takes to reach the destination point, and task information indicating the task of the guided vehicle. and holds,
When performing the switching process, the control system transfers the traffic route information and the task information held by the control device that was controlling the guided vehicle before executing the switching process to the traffic route information and the task information after executing the switching process. The article conveyance equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is shared by the control device that controls a conveyance vehicle. The control system further includes a reception unit that receives instructions from a person,
In a state where the guided vehicle is controlled based on a command received by the reception unit, the switching process is not performed even if the guided vehicle travels across a plurality of the areas. The article conveyance equipment according to any one of (4 ) to (4).

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