JP7479625B2 - Automatic guided vehicle and automatic guided vehicle system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an automated vehicle transport vehicle and an automated vehicle transport system.

In recent years, the manufacturing industry has also been faced with an increasing need to take measures to make up for labor shortages in the coming aging society. For example, as a means of efficiently transporting finished vehicles such as automobiles mass-produced in factories to a specified location such as a shipping point, a commonly used method is to load multiple finished vehicles into a loading vessel such as a container, transport the loading vessel by land to a port near the destination in a transport vehicle such as a large truck, and then transfer the loading vessel to a transport vessel for water transport to the destination (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Patent Document 2 also proposes a system in which a transport vehicle that travels along a predetermined route within a limited area using an unmanned, autonomous towing vehicle towing multiple carts transports the completed vehicle to be transported, loaded onto the cart, to a destination.

JP 2004-123258 A JP 2019-36036 A

When transporting completed vehicles, it is necessary to transport the completed vehicles aligned in a factory yard to a designated transshipment yard, unload them for transshipment, and then realign them in the transshipment yard. In each yard, in order to efficiently hold a large number of completed vehicles, a large number of completed vehicles are densely packed together, and the intervals between adjacent completed vehicles in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body or the intervals between adjacent completed vehicles in the width direction of the vehicle body are very small. For example, in the case of the transportation means described in Patent Document 1, in order to unload within the yard, the yard requires a stopping space for the transport truck, a stopping space for the container, and an unloading space for the completed vehicle. However, since the transport trucks and containers are very large, if a stopping space for each is provided in addition to the unloading space, the number of completed vehicles that can wait must be reduced accordingly, making it difficult to unload within the yard in reality. In this case, the transport truck must be stopped at a location away from the yard, and workers must drive each of the completed vehicles placed in the yard to a container connected to the transport truck, and then the completed vehicles must be unloaded one by one from the location away from the yard and driven to a designated location within the yard by the workers, which is time consuming. This means that loading and unloading completed vehicles takes a lot of time.

For example, in the transportation method described in Patent Document 2, an unmanned guided vehicle tows and transports multiple carts that are connected to each other and carry completed vehicles, so in order to unload the vehicles within the yard, the yard needs a stopping space for each of the towing vehicles and multiple carts. However, even in this case, if stopping spaces for each vehicle are provided in addition to the unloading space, the number of completed vehicles that can wait must be reduced accordingly, making unloading within the yard difficult in reality. Also, in this case, the completed vehicles must be loaded and unloaded at a location away from each yard, which creates the trouble of having workers drive all the completed vehicles to the yard. This means that, as with Patent Document 1, it takes a lot of time to load and unload completed vehicles.

The problems mentioned above are not limited to completed vehicles, but can also occur when transporting pre-assembled vehicles that do not have an open cargo bed or a box-shaped cargo compartment, such as a light truck.

In light of the above, the technical problem to be solved in this specification is to enable vehicles to be loaded and unloaded within the yard, thereby enabling a large number of vehicles to be transported efficiently in a short period of time.

The above-mentioned problems are solved by the automated guided vehicle of the present invention. That is, this automated guided vehicle is characterized by having a drive unit that drives by contacting the ground, a power applying unit that applies power to the drive unit, and a mounting unit that can mount only one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels, and by controlling the drive unit and power applying unit, it is possible to perform automated driving with steering.

In this way, the automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention is provided with an automatic driving function with steering, so that the vehicle can be transported unmanned. In addition, the automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention is provided with a mounting unit capable of mounting only one of the front and rear wheels of the vehicle. With a mounting unit for a conventional transport means, a size is required to mount the entire vehicle, such as a container or a dolly, so the space required for unloading is inevitably very large. In contrast, with the automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention, a mounting unit large enough to mount only one of the front and rear wheels of the vehicle is sufficient, so the mounting unit can be made smaller than before. In addition, since the guided vehicle can be driven unmanned, the space of the guided vehicle can be saved by the amount of the cabin. As a result, the space required for unloading can be reduced at least by the amount of the mounting unit and cabin of the vehicle compared to the conventional method, and this makes it possible to smoothly load and unload the vehicle in the yard. In addition, the size of the automatic guided vehicle itself can be reduced, so that the freedom of the conductor of the automatic guided vehicle in the yard can be increased, which also makes it possible to smoothly load and unload the vehicle in the yard. As a result, the automated guided vehicle of the present invention makes it possible to transport vehicles efficiently.

In the automated guided vehicle according to the present invention, the drive unit may be one or more drive wheels. In this case, there may be two drive wheels, and the mounting unit may be provided between the two drive wheels. Alternatively, there may be one drive wheel, and two additional driven wheels may be provided at different positions in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle body from the drive wheel, and the mounting unit may be provided between the two driven wheels.

In this way, the drive unit can be one or more drive wheels. Also, by using two drive wheels and providing a mounting unit between the two drive wheels, each drive wheel can be positioned outside the width direction of the wheel on the side of the vehicle on which it is mounted. This allows the overall length (vehicle body longitudinal dimension) of the automated guided vehicle with the vehicle mounted thereon to be further reduced, making it possible to further reduce the space required for mounting and unloading. Note that when this configuration is adopted, the width direction dimension of the automated guided vehicle increases compared to when the drive unit is disposed at a position offset from the mounting unit in the vehicle body longitudinal direction. However, for example, at the unloading position in a yard, it is common for many vehicles to be aligned with a certain interval between them in the vehicle body longitudinal direction and width direction. Therefore, by arranging the drive unit (each drive wheel) in the empty space between adjacent vehicles in the width direction, it becomes possible for the automated guided vehicle to easily introduce the vehicle into the unloading space in the yard.

In addition, by providing one drive wheel and two additional driven wheels at different positions in the fore-aft direction of the vehicle body from the drive wheel, it is possible to minimize the number of drive wheels and further reduce costs while stabilizing the posture of the automated guided vehicle, particularly its posture when traveling, and ensuring stable vehicle transport. In addition, by providing a mounting section between the two driven wheels, each driven wheel can be positioned outside the width direction of the wheel on the side of the vehicle on which it is mounted, which also makes it possible to reduce the overall length of the automated guided vehicle with a vehicle mounted thereon and reduce the space required for loading and unloading.

The automated guided vehicle described above can also be provided as an automated guided vehicle system that includes, for example, the multiple automated guided vehicles described above, a receiving unit of a communication and positioning system that utilizes, for example, a satellite or base station attached to each automated guided vehicle, a detection unit that detects spatial information around each automated guided vehicle, and a control unit that controls the drive unit and power supply unit of each automated guided vehicle based on the position information of each automated guided vehicle obtained by the communication and positioning system via the receiving unit and the surrounding spatial information obtained by the detection unit.

In this way, by constructing an automated vehicle transport system, vehicles can be transported accurately and safely to their destination, even on public roads and over long distances. In addition, by controlling the drive (travel) of automated transport vehicles using the communication positioning system and a detection unit that detects surrounding spatial information as described above, multiple automated transport vehicles can be made to travel automatically and smoothly at the same time without interference, making it possible to transport multiple vehicles more efficiently.

In this case, the automated transport system according to the present invention may include one automated transport vehicle for each vehicle to be transported, and the control unit may automatically drive the automated transport vehicle along a predetermined route with one of the wheels of the vehicle mounted on the mounting unit of the automated transport vehicle and the other wheel of the vehicle in contact with the ground.

By controlling the automated guided vehicle in this way, for example, a two-wheel drive vehicle can be automatically transported with only the two drive wheels of the four wheels mounted and the two driven wheels on the ground. This makes it possible to transport the vehicle efficiently by utilizing the vehicle's wheels.

Alternatively, the automated transport system according to the present invention may include two automated transport vehicles for each vehicle to be transported, and the control unit may synchronize the two automated transport vehicles to automatically travel along a predetermined route with the front wheels of the vehicle mounted on the mounting part of one of the two automated transport vehicles and the rear wheels of the vehicle mounted on the mounting part of the other automated transport vehicle.

By using two automated guided vehicles per vehicle in this way, the vehicle can be automatically transported, for example with all wheels of a four-wheel drive vehicle mounted. This makes it possible to transport the vehicle safely without applying unnecessary resistance to the wheels. In addition, each automated guided vehicle can be moved independently of the other, for example in a direction away from or toward the vehicle's fore-and-aft direction, so loading and unloading can be done smoothly even when one vehicle is transported by two automated guided vehicles.

As described above, the present invention makes it possible to load and unload vehicles within the yard, thereby enabling a large number of vehicles to be transported efficiently in a short period of time.

1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an automatic transport system for a vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a plan view of the automated guided vehicle shown in FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the automatic guided vehicle taken along the line AA in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a side view of the automated guided vehicle shown in FIG. 1 with a vehicle mounted thereon. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of unloading a vehicle using the automatic guided vehicle system shown in FIG. 1, showing a state in which an automatic guided vehicle with a vehicle loaded thereon is moving toward a predetermined position within a yard. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of unloading a vehicle using the automatic guided vehicle system shown in FIG. 1, showing a state in which the automatic guided vehicle carrying the vehicle has stopped at a predetermined position in the yard. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of unloading a vehicle using the automatic guided vehicle system shown in FIG. 1, showing a state in which the vehicle has been unloaded from the automatic guided vehicle. 2 is a plan view showing the attitude of the drive wheels of the automatic guided vehicle shown in FIG. 1 after unloading. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of vehicle unloading using the automatic guided vehicle system shown in FIG. 1, and is a diagram for explaining the operation of the automatic guided vehicle after unloading. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an automatic vehicle transport system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an automatic vehicle transport system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

The following describes the automatic vehicle transport system according to the first embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 shows the overall configuration of an automated guided vehicle system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, an automated guided vehicle system 10 according to this embodiment includes an automated guided vehicle 11, a receiver unit 12 of a satellite positioning system, a detector unit 13 that detects spatial information around the automated guided vehicle 11, and a controller unit 14 that controls the drive of the automated guided vehicle 11. Below, the details of each element will be described, focusing on the configuration of the automated guided vehicle 11.

As shown in FIG. 2, the automated guided vehicle 11 has left and right drive wheels 15 as drive units, a power applying unit 16 that applies power to each drive wheel 15, and a mounting unit 17 that can mount only one of the front wheels 2 and rear wheels 3 (see FIG. 4 described later) of the vehicle 1 (here, the front wheels 2 that are the drive wheels). In this embodiment, each drive wheel 15 is housed in a casing 18. In addition, these two casings 18 are connected to each other by a connecting unit 19. In this case, the mounting units 17 are provided at predetermined widthwise positions on the connecting unit 19, that is, at two widthwise positions corresponding to the front wheels 2 of the vehicle 1 to be mounted. Therefore, in this case, the mounting unit 17 is disposed between the left and right drive wheels 15. In other words, the mounting unit 17 is disposed at a position that overlaps with the left and right drive wheels 15 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body (see FIG. 4 described later). The width direction here means the direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction of the vehicle body when the vehicle 1 is mounted, which corresponds to the direction in which the left and right drive wheels 15 of the automated guided vehicle 11 are separated from each other. The vehicle 1 here includes not only completed vehicles that are ultimately available for purchase by consumers, but also mass-produced vehicles that do not have an open cargo bed or a box-shaped cargo compartment like a light truck, in other words, vehicles that are not yet mounted (vehicles before mounting).

Next, the details of the drive wheels 15 will be described. In this embodiment, the left and right drive wheels 15 are each composed of left and right wheels 20 arranged in parallel to each other, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. Each wheel 20 is configured to be rotatable independently of each other, and is rotatably supported by a rotating shaft 21 arranged between the wheels 20. The rotating shaft 21 is arranged with its longitudinal direction aligned with the vertical direction when the automatic guided vehicle 11 is traveling, so that, for example, by rotating the left and right wheels 20 in opposite directions to each other, or by rotating only one of the wheels 20, the drive wheels 15 having the left and right wheels 20 rotate around the rotating shaft 21, making it possible to steer the automatic guided vehicle 11 (a steering angle can be given). In this embodiment, the left and right wheels 20 (drive wheels 15) are rotatable 360 degrees around the rotating shaft 21, so that the drive wheels 15 (left and right wheels 20) can be rotated 90 degrees and moved in the width direction, as shown in Figure 8 described later, for example.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the power applying unit 16 is provided in the same number as the wheels 20, and is composed of a plurality of in-wheel motors 22 that apply a rotational driving force to each wheel 20. Each in-wheel motor 22 has a stator 23 and a rotor 24. In this case, the stator 23 is fixed to the rotating shaft 21, and the rotor 24 is connected to the wheel 25 of the wheel 20. As a result, by driving the in-wheel motor 22 to rotate and rotate the rotor 24, the wheel 25 and the tire 26 connected to the rotor 24 can rotate together with the rotor 24. In addition, as described later, each in-wheel motor 22 can be electrically controlled independently, so that by configuring the power applying unit 16 as described above, the wheels 20 arranged in parallel on the left and right can be independently rotated and driven, and the drive wheels 15 can also be independently rotated about the vertical axis and about the horizontal axis.

In addition, in this embodiment, a driven wheel 27 is disposed on the vehicle body front side of the connecting part 19. In detail, a plate-shaped support part 28 is extended from the connecting part 19 on the vehicle body front side, and two driven wheels 27 are disposed at predetermined positions of the support part 28. In this case, the driven wheel 27 is capable of touching the ground on the vehicle body front side of the automated guided vehicle 11 further forward than each drive wheel 15, and rotates (rolls on the ground) passively in association with the rotational drive of the drive wheel 15 in the grounded state. Alternatively, as described below, when the automated guided vehicle 11 travels with the front wheels 2 of the vehicle 1 mounted on the mounting part 17, the driven wheel 27 rotates passively in association with the rotational drive of the drive wheel 15 in the grounded state.

The mounting unit 17 can have any configuration as long as it can hold the wheels (here, the front wheels 2) of the vehicle 1 to be mounted. For example, in the illustrated example, a wheel stopper 29 is provided on the front side of the mounting unit 17 to restrict the movement of the front wheels 2 of the vehicle 1 mounted from the rear side of the vehicle body of the automatic guided vehicle 11 toward the front side of the vehicle body and to position the vehicle in the fore-and-aft direction. Although not illustrated, a movable restricting unit may be provided that is located downward when the front wheels 2 are not mounted so as to allow the front wheels 2 to move onto the mounting unit 17, and is relatively located upward when the front wheels 2 are mounted at a predetermined position on the mounting unit 17 to restrict the movement of the front wheels 2 toward the rear side of the vehicle body. Of course, when the front wheels 2 are mounted at a predetermined position on the mounting unit 17, an operator may place a wheel stopper on the rear side of the front wheels 2.

The receiver 12 of the communication positioning system should be installed at an appropriate height, taking into consideration the effect on communication of the vehicle 1 on which it is mounted, such as at the tip of a pole 30, for smooth communication with satellites (positioning satellites) for a satellite positioning system such as GPS and base stations.

The detection unit 13 has an object detection device 31, such as an optical sensor, and a camera 32. In this embodiment, two object detection devices 31 and cameras 32 are provided on the left and right sides of the front side of the automated guided vehicle 11. Note that the configuration of the detection unit 13 is merely an example, and the type and number of elements constituting the detection unit 13 can be set arbitrarily as necessary.

The control unit 14 controls the left and right drive wheels 15 and the power supply unit 16 to enable the automatic guided vehicle 11 to automatically travel with steering. In this embodiment, the control unit 14 controls the drive wheels 15 and power supply unit 16 of multiple automatic guided vehicles 11 (only one automatic guided vehicle 11 is shown in FIG. 1), respectively, to enable each automatic guided vehicle 11 to automatically travel with steering. In this case, the control unit 14 is composed of a general control unit 33 and a terminal control unit 34 that is provided in each automatic guided vehicle 11 and controls the drive wheels 15 and power supply unit 16 of each automatic guided vehicle 11 based on the contents of communication with the general control unit 33. Each terminal control unit 34 controls the drive wheels 15 and power supply unit 16 of the corresponding automated guided vehicle 11 based on commands from the overall control unit 33, the position information of the corresponding automated guided vehicle 11 obtained by the communication positioning system via the receiving unit 12, and the spatial information around the corresponding automated guided vehicle 11 obtained by the detecting unit 13, thereby enabling each automated guided vehicle 11 to drive automatically with steering.

Next, an example of the operation of an automated transport system 10 equipped with an automated transport vehicle 11 having the above configuration will be described mainly with reference to Figures 5 to 8.

First, the general control unit 33 sends a command to a specific automated guided vehicle 11, and the automated guided vehicle 11 starts to mount the vehicle 1. The automated guided vehicle 11 that receives the command controls the drive wheels 15 and the power supply unit 16 by the terminal control unit 34 to move toward the vehicle 1 aligned in a source area (e.g., a factory yard) not shown, and stops at a position adjacent to the front side of the vehicle body of either one of the front wheels 2 and the rear wheels 3 (here, the front wheels 2). Thereafter, the front wheels 2 of the vehicle 1 are mounted on the mounting unit 17 of the automated guided vehicle 11. In this embodiment, the vehicle 1 moves forward, and the front wheels 2 are moved onto the connecting unit 19 of the automated guided vehicle 11. As a result, the front wheels 2 of the vehicle 1 are mounted on the mounting unit 17 arranged at a predetermined position in the width direction on the connecting unit 19, and the rear wheels 3 of the vehicle 1 are in a grounded state (see FIG. 4).

Next, the automated guided vehicle 11 starts moving toward the destination (e.g., a port transshipment yard) with part of the vehicle 1 (front wheels 2) loaded. During this time, the automated guided vehicle 11 travels automatically by controlling the drive wheels 15 and power supply unit 16 of the automated guided vehicle 11 using the terminal control unit 34 based on the position information of the automated guided vehicle 11 obtained by the communication positioning system via the receiving unit 12 and the spatial information around the automated guided vehicle 11 obtained by the detection unit 13 (object detection device 31, camera 32).

When the automated guided vehicle 11 carrying the vehicle 1 arrives at the destination, the vehicle 1 is then transported to a predetermined position within the destination, here, as shown in FIG. 5, a predetermined position within the yard 35 (unloading space P1 for the vehicle 1 being transported). Here, a part of the vehicle 1 overlaps with the automated guided vehicle 11 in a plan view. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, the vehicle 1 is stopped forward of the vehicle body by the overlapping amount from the original unloading position (position completely overlapping with the unloading space P1). Then, from this state, the vehicle 1 is moved backward, and the front wheels 2 of the vehicle 1 are lowered from the mounting portion 17 to the ground (state shown in FIG. 7). This completes unloading of the vehicle 1 into the unloading space P1.

After the unloading is completed in this manner, the automated guided vehicle 11 starts to move out of the yard 35 upon receiving an instruction from the operator (some operation using a switch, etc.) or upon detecting a decrease in the load acting on the loading unit 17. When there are multiple vehicles 1' that have already been unloaded in the yard 35 as in this embodiment, these multiple vehicles 1' are aligned with a predetermined interval between them in the vehicle body longitudinal direction and width direction (see FIG. 5, etc.). Therefore, when the automated guided vehicle 11 has completed unloading, it rotates the drive wheels 15 90 degrees around the rotation axis 21 (see FIG. 8). Thereafter, it rotates the drive wheels 15 to start moving in the width direction while maintaining the posture of the automated guided vehicle 11 at the time of unloading (see FIG. 9). At this time, it is essential that the vehicle body longitudinal dimension (maximum value) W1 of the automated guided vehicle 11 is smaller than the vehicle body longitudinal distance (minimum value) W2 of the unloaded vehicle 1'. Of course, this does not apply when the position where the dimension W1 is maximum and the position where the distance W2 is minimum are different in the height direction.

When each wheel 20 is independently driven by an in-wheel motor 22 as in this embodiment, the rotation of the drive wheels 15 described above can be achieved by rotating them in opposite directions or by driving only one of the wheels 20 to rotate.

In this manner, the automated guided vehicles 11 are evacuated from the yard 35. The evacuated automated guided vehicles 11 perform automatic driving with steering in an empty state (a state in which no vehicles 1 are loaded) and return to the original location. By repeating the above-described series of operations, the number of vehicles 1 that are repeated is automatically transported toward the destination. In addition, by having other automated guided vehicles 11 perform the above-described series of operations simultaneously or sequentially, the same number of vehicles 1 as the number of automated guided vehicles 11 used are automatically transported sequentially toward the destination. In this case, the multiple automated guided vehicles 11 are controlled by (wireless) communication between the terminal control unit 34 provided in each automated guided vehicle 11 and the overall control unit 33.

As described above, according to the automatic guided vehicle 11 according to the present embodiment and the automatic guided vehicle system 10 using this automatic guided vehicle 11, the automatic guided vehicle 11 is provided with an automatic driving function involving steering, so that the vehicle 1 can be transported unmanned. In addition, since the automatic guided vehicle 11 is provided with a mounting unit 17 capable of mounting only one of the front wheels 2 and the rear wheels 3 of the vehicle 1, the mounting unit 17 can be made smaller than a conventional mounting unit that mounts the entire vehicle 1, such as a container or a dolly. In addition, since the automatic guided vehicle 11 can be driven unmanned, a cabin is not required, and the automatic guided vehicle 11 can be made space-saving by the amount of the cabin. As a result, the space required for loading and unloading can be reduced compared to the conventional system by at least the amount of the mounting unit 17 and the cabin of the vehicle 1, and thus the loading and unloading of the vehicle 1 can be performed smoothly. In addition, the size of the automatic guided vehicle 11 itself can increase the degree of freedom of the conductor of the automatic guided vehicle 11 within the yard 35 (since it can move relatively freely within the yard 35), which also allows for smooth unloading within the yard 35. As described above, the automated guided vehicle 11 according to the present invention makes it possible to efficiently transport the vehicle 1, including loading and unloading.

In addition, as in this embodiment, by using the left and right drive wheels 15 as the drive unit and providing a mounting portion 17 between the left and right drive wheels 15, each drive wheel 15 can be arranged on the outside of the front wheel 2 of the vehicle 1 in the width direction (see FIG. 5, etc.). This allows the overall length (vehicle body longitudinal dimension) of the automated guided vehicle 11 with the vehicle 1 mounted thereon to be further reduced, making it possible to further reduce the space required for mounting and unloading. Note that when this configuration is adopted, the width direction dimension of the automated guided vehicle 11 increases compared to when the drive wheels 15 are arranged at a position shifted from the mounting portion 17 in the vehicle body longitudinal direction. However, for example, around the unloading space P1 in the yard 35, a large number of vehicles 1' are aligned with a certain interval in the vehicle body longitudinal direction and width direction. Therefore, each drive wheel 15 can be arranged in the empty space between adjacent vehicles 1' in the width direction, and the automated guided vehicle 11 can easily introduce the vehicle 1 into the unloading space P1 in the yard 35.

In addition, in this embodiment, the drive wheels 15 are rotated 90 degrees around the rotation axis 21 to allow the automated guided vehicle 11 to move in the width direction while maintaining the posture at the time of unloading, so that the automated guided vehicle 11 can smoothly retreat from the yard 35 through the space between other vehicles 1' already unloaded in the yard 35 while maintaining the posture immediately after unloading. In addition, by providing the mounting portion 17 between the left and right drive wheels 15 as described above, the vehicle body front-rear direction dimension W1 of the automated guided vehicle 11 can be easily made smaller than the interval W2 between the unloaded vehicles 1', so that the automated guided vehicle 11 can be smoothly retreated from the yard 35. Therefore, without separately securing a conductor for the retreat of the automated guided vehicle 11 after unloading, the vehicle 1 can be introduced from the front side of the vehicle body toward the unloading space P1 in the yard 35 with the front wheels 2 of the vehicle 1 mounted as in the illustrated example. If the vehicle 1 can be introduced and unloaded in this way, the unloaded position and posture will be the position and posture of the vehicle 1 when it is aligned and arranged, so there is no need to change the direction of the vehicle 1 after unloading. As a result, the above configuration allows vehicles 1 to be unloaded and aligned extremely efficiently.

The above describes the first embodiment of the present invention, but the automated guided vehicle and automated guided vehicle system according to the present invention can have configurations other than those described above without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Figure 10 shows the overall configuration of an automatic transport system 40 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The automatic transport system 40 according to this embodiment has two automatic transport vehicles 11a and 11b for one vehicle 1 to be transported. In this case, the vehicle 1 is automatically transported with the front wheels 2 of the vehicle 1 mounted on the mounting part 17 of one of the two automatic transport vehicles 11a and 11b, and the rear wheels 3 of the vehicle 1 mounted on the mounting part 17 of the other automatic transport vehicle 11b. In this case, the control unit 14 controls the drive wheels 15 and the power imparting unit 16 of each automatic transport vehicle 11a and 11b so that each automatic transport vehicle 11a and 11b synchronizes with each other and automatically travels along a predetermined route with the front wheels 2 and rear wheels 3 mounted on the automatic transport vehicles 11a and 11b according to the present invention, as described above. Therefore, the automatic transport system 40 according to this embodiment is suitable for a case in which the vehicle 1 is a four-wheel drive vehicle.

In the automated transport system 40 shown in FIG. 10, the automated transport vehicles 11a, 11b are controlled to automatically travel in synchronization along a predetermined route by communicating between the terminal control units 34a, 34b provided in each automated transport vehicle 11a, 11b and the general control unit 33, but this is not necessarily limited to the above. For example, the drive wheels 15 and power supply units 16 of each automated transport vehicle 11a, 11b may be controlled to automatically travel in synchronization with each other by communicating between the terminal control units 34a, 34b.

In addition, in the automated transport system 10 shown in FIG. 1, the general control unit 33 may be omitted, and the automated driving of the automated transport vehicle 11 may be controlled only by the terminal control unit 34. In this case, for example, a program related to the automated transport involving loading and unloading may be stored in advance in the terminal control unit 34, and the drive wheels 15 and the power applying unit 16 may be driven and controlled based on the program by a predetermined operation by an operator.

In addition, the automated transport system 10 shown in FIG. 1 illustrates a case in which only the front wheels 2 of the vehicle 1 can be mounted on the mounting unit 17, but of course this is not limited to this. For example, although not shown in the drawings, it is also possible to configure the vehicle 1 so that, of the front wheels 2 and rear wheels 3, only the rear wheels 3 can be mounted on the mounting unit 17.

In the above description, the drive unit of the automatic transport vehicle 11 is illustrated as two drive wheels 15, but of course this is not limited to this. FIG. 11 shows the overall configuration of an automatic transport system 50 for vehicles according to one example (third embodiment of the present invention). As shown in FIG. 11, the automatic transport system 50 according to this embodiment differs from the automatic transport system 10 according to the first embodiment in the configuration of the automatic transport vehicle 51. That is, the automatic transport vehicle 51 according to this embodiment has one drive wheel 15 as a drive unit, and has left and right driven wheels 52 at different positions in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body from the drive wheel 15. In addition, in terms of the relationship with the mounting unit 17, one drive wheel 15 is arranged on the front side of the vehicle body of the automatic transport vehicle 51 from the mounting unit 17 and in the center in the width direction. In addition, two driven wheels 52 are arranged on the rear side of the vehicle body of the automatic transport vehicle 51 from the mounting unit 17 and on the outside of the front wheel 2 in the width direction. The configuration of the drive wheels 15 and the configuration for driving the drive wheels 15 are the same as in the first embodiment, so the same reference numerals are used and the description is omitted.

In this way, by using a single drive wheel 15 and providing left and right driven wheels 52 at different positions in the fore-aft direction of the vehicle body from the drive wheel 15, it is possible to minimize the number of drive wheels 15 and further reduce costs while stabilizing the posture of the automated guided vehicle 51, particularly its posture while driving, and ensuring stable transport of the vehicle 1. In addition, by providing a mounting portion 17 between the left and right driven wheels 52, each driven wheel 52 can be positioned outside the width direction of the wheel (front wheel 2) on the side of the vehicle 1 on which it is mounted, which also makes it possible to reduce the overall length of the automated guided vehicle 51 with the vehicle 1 mounted thereon and reduce the space required for loading and unloading.

In the automated guided vehicle 51 shown in FIG. 11, the left and right driven wheels 52 may be arranged so that they are closer to one driving wheel 15 in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle body, and further so that the mounting unit 17 is located between the left and right driven wheels 52. By arranging the driven wheels 52 in this way, the fore-and-aft dimension of the automated guided vehicle 51 can be made smaller, which is advantageous, for example, when retreating from the transfer yard after unloading.

Alternatively, although not shown in the figures, the drive unit may be three or four or more drive wheels 15. Similarly, in the above explanation, an example was given in which each drive wheel 15 is configured with left and right wheels 20 arranged in parallel, but of course other configurations are also possible. Depending on the number of drive wheels 15, the drive wheel 15 may be configured with a single wheel 20. Furthermore, the drive unit does not necessarily have to be a drive wheel 15, and may be a shape other than a wheel as long as it can be grounded and driven.

In the above explanation, a case where multiple in-wheel motors 22 are provided as the power supply unit 16 has been exemplified, but of course this is not limited to this. As long as a predetermined power (rotational driving force) can be provided to the drive wheels 15, any type of driving source can be provided as the power supply unit 16 in the automated guided vehicle 11.

In the above description, the left and right driven wheels 27 are arranged side by side in the width direction on the front side of the vehicle body of the automated guided vehicle 11 from the mounting unit 17 (see FIG. 1), and the left and right driven wheels 52 are arranged on the rear side of the vehicle body of the automated guided vehicle 51 from the mounting unit 17 and on the outside in the width direction (see FIG. 11), but the configuration of the driven wheels 27 is arbitrary. That is, although not shown in the figures, the automated guided vehicles 11, 51 may have one or three or more driven wheels 27, 52. In addition, one or more driven wheels 27, 52 may be arranged on both sides of the vehicle body in the front-rear direction of the automated guided vehicles 11, 51. Alternatively, depending on the form of the drive wheel 15 (drive unit), the driven wheels 27, 52 may be omitted. In addition, as described above, the outer diameter dimension of the driven wheels 27, 52 may be appropriately adjusted according to the required performance.

In the above description, the automated guided vehicles 11 and 51 are described as being capable of carrying only the front wheels 2 or the rear wheels 3 of the vehicle 1, but the present invention is not limited to a form in which the vehicle 1 is carried in a state in which the parts other than the front wheels 2 and the rear wheels 3 are not in contact with the automated guided vehicles 11. If necessary, for example, when the automated guided vehicles 11 and 51 are provided with a lift-up mechanism for lifting a part of the vehicle 1, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the parts other than the front wheels 2 and the rear wheels 3 of the vehicle 1 can be supported from below and raised by this lift-up mechanism. Of course, when the automated guided vehicles 11 and 51 are provided with a lift-down mechanism, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the parts other than the front wheels 2 and the rear wheels 3 of the vehicle 1 can be lowered while being supported from below by this lift-down mechanism. In this case, the lift-up mechanism may also serve as the lift-down mechanism.

The main role of the automated guided vehicles 11, 51 described above is to automatically transport the vehicle 1 with the front wheels 2 or rear wheels 3 of the vehicle 1 mounted on the mounting section 17, but this does not necessarily deny the use of the automated guided vehicles 11, 15 in other ways than those described above. For example, although not shown in the figures, it is possible to use the automated guided vehicles 11, 51's automatic driving function to couple a trailer capable of carrying one or more vehicles 1 to the rear side of the body of the automated guided vehicles 11, 51, and to tow the trailer to automatically transport one or more vehicles 1.

Reference Signs List 1 Vehicle 2 Front wheel 3 Rear wheel 10, 40, 50 Automatic guided vehicle system 11, 11a, 11b, 51 Automatic guided vehicle 12 Receiving unit 13 Detection unit 14 Control unit 15 Drive wheel 16 Power supply unit 17 Mounting unit 19 Connection unit 20 Wheel 21 Rotating shaft 22 In-wheel motor 25 Wheel 26 Tire 27, 52 Driven wheel 28 Support unit 29 Wheel stopper 30 Pole 31 Object detection device 32 Camera 33 General control unit 34, 34a, 34b Terminal control unit 35 Yard P1 Unloading space

Claims (2)

A driving unit that drives the device while being grounded;
A power applying unit that applies power to the driving unit;
a mounting unit capable of mounting only one of the front wheels and the rear wheels of a vehicle;
By controlling the drive unit and the power applying unit, automatic driving with steering is enabled ;
The drive unit is two drive wheels,
The vehicle automated guided vehicle, wherein the mounting portion is provided between the two drive wheels . The automated guided vehicle according to claim 1 ;
a receiving unit of a communication and positioning system attached to the automated guided vehicle;
A detection unit that detects spatial information around the automated guided vehicle;
An automatic transport system for completed vehicles, comprising a control unit that controls the drive unit and the power application unit of the automatic transport vehicle based on position information of the automatic transport vehicle obtained by the communication positioning system via the receiving unit and the surrounding space information obtained by the detection unit.

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