JP2001097695A - Location control system and manned working vehicle used for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To confirm the number of a shelf warehoused and shipped by a manned forklift and to confirm whether work is performed or not as specified by a carrier command. SOLUTION: A laser navigator 8 is provided at an arm top part 7 of a manned forklift 2 and a horizontal position of the forklift 2 is determined by using a reflector 16 adhered to a shelf 14. The height of a fork 4 is determined by an encoder connected with a guide roller 6, the height is combined with a position within a horizontal plane and the number of the shelf 14 for which a transfer is performed is determined. Every time a transfer is performed according to an instruction of an on-vehicle controller 10, the number of the transferred shelf and the shelf number in a carrier command are compared and whether work is performed or not as specified by the instruction is verified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a location management system and a manned work vehicle used therefor, and more particularly to an instruction and confirmation of a work position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a manned forklift, a controller mounted on a vehicle receives a transfer command from a host controller and displays work contents. The operator drives the forklift according to the display, performs transfer at the target position,
Input the completion of work to the controller. However, there is no means for confirming the work position, and the worker sometimes mistakes the work position. Therefore, if an article is taken out of the wrong shelf due to the illusion of the operator, or if an article is put in the shelf different from the instruction, there is no way to check. Such a problem,
The same applies to various work vehicles operated by the driver.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily confirm a working position on a manned working vehicle (claims 1 to 6). An additional object of the second aspect of the present invention is to make it possible to confirm a work position three-dimensionally, including a work height position. An additional object of the present invention is to make it possible to read the working position with a simple configuration. An additional object of the invention according to claim 5 is to make it possible to easily confirm whether the work is correct or not.

[0004]

According to the present invention, a manned work vehicle is provided with means for determining the position of the manned work vehicle in a horizontal plane in a location management system in which the work position is designated as a manned work vehicle. Thus, comparison with a designated work position is enabled (claim 1).

Preferably, the manned work vehicle is provided with a sensor for determining a work height position. The sensor is particularly preferably an encoder such as a rotary encoder or a resolver provided in an elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering a fork, a workbench, or the like, and encodes the amount of rotation accompanying the elevating.

Preferably, a plurality of marks indicating the work position are provided on the ceiling of the building per work position, and the means for determining the position in the horizontal plane is constituted by means for reading the mark. Item 3). Here, particularly preferably, the mark is a barcode and the reading means is a barcode reader.

More preferably, a work position is instructed to a manned work vehicle from a host controller of the location management system, and the manned work vehicle is provided with an on-board controller, and a work position designated by the host controller is provided.
The work position obtained by the means for obtaining the position in the horizontal plane is displayed, and the work position specified at the end of the work is compared with the calculated position in the horizontal plane. To the person (claim 5). Note that “upper” of the upper controller means a comparison with the onboard controller.

According to the present invention, in a manned work vehicle that performs work at a designated work position, means for determining the position of the manned work vehicle in a horizontal plane is provided on the manned work vehicle, and (Claim 6). The comparison with the work position is preferably performed by the work vehicle, but may be performed by a host controller or the like.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the manned work vehicle is provided with means for determining the position in the horizontal plane so that the manned work vehicle can be compared with the designated work position, so that the work position can be easily confirmed. Therefore, even when there are many work positions, the work can be easily performed at the correct position.
6).

[0010] Preferably, the manned work vehicle is capable of changing the working position in the height direction of a manned forklift or the like, and is provided with a sensor for measuring a driving amount of a lifting mechanism for changing the working position. The work height position. In this way, the work position in the horizontal plane and the height position of the work can be combined to determine the work position three-dimensionally.

Preferably, in order to determine the position of the manned work vehicle in the horizontal plane, a plurality of marks indicating the work position are provided on the ceiling of the building where the work is performed per work position, and these marks are read by the manned work vehicle. Find the current position. The mark is on the ceiling, so it won't get dirty or shaded. Further, it is difficult to read the mark on the ceiling while traveling, but since there are a plurality of marks per one work position, the mark can be read while traveling (claim 3).

If the mark is a bar code and the reading means is a bar code reader, the mark can be read easily and reliably.

Further, on the display screen of the onboard controller, etc.,
The work position and the calculated position in the horizontal plane are displayed. At the end of the work (at the time of completion), the specified work position and the position in the horizontal plane are compared by the on-board controller. Can be easily checked for correctness (claim 5).

According to the present invention, means for determining the position of the manned work vehicle in the horizontal plane is provided to enable comparison with the designated work position. For this reason, it can be easily confirmed whether the work position matches the designated position, and it is possible to prevent working at an incorrect position. As the manned work vehicle, for example, a manned forklift, a high-owned work vehicle for overhead wire work, or the like is used (claim 6).

[0015]

1 to 5 show an embodiment and its modifications.
FIG. 1 shows a manned forklift 2 according to an embodiment. Reference numeral 4 denotes a fork of a carrier, which is moved up and down along an arm by a guide roller 6 and the like, and a laser navigator 8 is provided on an arm top 7.
Is provided. The laser navigator 8 scans a laser beam 360 ° in a horizontal plane, and detects the direction when the reflected light is received. Reference numeral 10 denotes an in-vehicle controller, which receives a transfer command through communication with the host controller 11 and reports a result of the transfer.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a traveling path of the manned forklift 2,
For example, it is provided in a warehouse or a building of a factory. Reference numeral 14 denotes a shelf, and a reflector 16 is provided at a height near the laser navigator 8. The reflective plate 16 has a property of returning reflected light in the incident direction, regardless of the direction from which light enters.

FIG. 2 shows the arrangement of the traveling path 12 and the shelves 14. For example, a plurality of shelves 14 are provided in contact with the traveling path 12, and each of the shelves 14 has a reflector 16 at a height of about the laser navigator 8. Is pasted. A flat warehouse 20 is provided in contact with the traveling path 12, and the articles 16 are stacked here, so that the reflector 16 is not provided.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the vehicle-mounted controller 10 of the embodiment. Reference numeral 22 denotes a control unit, which receives and stores a transfer command from the host controller 11, and reports an executed transfer command to the host controller 11.
2a, a display control unit 22b for controlling the display of the transfer command to be executed, a comparison unit 22c for comparing the shelf address where the work was actually performed with the shelf address in the transfer command, and a shelf where the work was performed It has a confirmation processing unit 22d for requesting confirmation of an address. Reference numeral 24 denotes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display for displaying the next transfer command and the like. Reference numeral 26 denotes an input unit which is an input unit to the control unit 22 from the driver.

Reference numeral 28 denotes a position recognizing unit for recognizing a current position in a horizontal plane by comparing an input signal from the detecting head with, for example, the position of the reflector 16 stored in a map. A laser navigator 8 provided on the arm top 7 is used as a detection head. The detection head is not limited to the laser navigator 8, but may be any as long as it can determine the position of the manned forklift 2 in a horizontal plane. Here, the position of the manned work vehicle 2 means a position related to the manned work vehicle 2, and in addition to the position of the manned work vehicle 2 itself, the fork 4
And the like. An encoder 30 is connected to, for example, the guide roller 6 of the fork 4 of the manned forklift 2 to determine the height position of the fork 4. Reference numeral 32 denotes a shelf address detection unit, which obtains a work address from the position in the horizontal plane obtained by the position recognition unit 28 and the height of the work position obtained by the encoder 30.

The recognition of the position in the horizontal plane is not limited to the laser navigator 8. FIGS. 4A and 4B show such an example. In FIG. 4A, reference numeral 40 denotes a CCD camera, and reference numeral 42 denotes a bar code attached to the traveling path 12 on the front of the shelf. Are listed. 44 is a barcode recognition unit,
A serial number is obtained from the barcode 42 imaged by the CCD camera 40, and the serial number is input to the shelf address detection unit 32.

In FIG. 4B, the traveling path 1 is detected by the CCD camera 40.
An image of the landscape near 2 is captured, and the landscape recognition unit 46 recognizes the current position in the horizontal plane. However, in the case of FIG. 4B, there is a problem that it is difficult to recognize the current position in a large warehouse or the like in which many similar shelves 14 are arranged. Further, in the case of the barcode 42 shown in FIG. 4A, there is a problem that the manned forklift 2 must be stopped at a position where the barcode 42 can be reliably recognized. For example, if the barcode 42 is pasted on the traveling path 12, the barcode 42 is easily stained and causes misrecognition. If the barcode 42 is pasted on the shelf 14, the barcode 42 must be recognized from a distance, or There is a problem that the manned forklift 2 has to be moved up to this point.

FIG. 5 shows a transfer destination verification algorithm in the embodiment. The transport command storage unit 22a stores the host controller 1
When a transfer command is input from 1, the transfer command is displayed on the display unit 24 via the display control unit 22b. The transfer command includes, for example, data indicating that the article is transferred from the transfer source (from) to the transfer destination (to). The driver operates the manned forklift 2 according to the display, and when the driver arrives at the loading point, the driver operates the fork 4. Operate and load. At this time, after the fork 4 once rises, the manned forklift 2 moves forward, then the manned forklift 2 retreats, and finally follows a characteristic pattern in which the fork 4 descends. From the operation of the fork 4, preferably from the operation in which the forward and backward movement of the manned forklift 2 is interposed between the lifting and lowering of the fork 4,
Upon detecting that the transfer has been performed, the encoder 30 detects the rotation of the guide roller 6 at this time and obtains and stores the maximum height of the fork 4. Note that a transfer operation completion button operated by the driver may be provided, and by operating this button, the height of the fork 4 and the position in the horizontal plane at that time may be obtained and stored.

When the loading is completed, the driver enters the input section 26
And that the processing is completed.
In step 2d, a command for confirming the position in the horizontal plane is sent to the detection head, and the laser navigator 8 of the detection head scans around 360 ° to determine the azimuth of the reflection plate 16. Then, based on the direction of the reflected light from the reflector 16, the position recognizer 28 refers to a map in which the position of the reflector 16 with respect to the traveling path 12 is stored, and obtains the current position of the manned forklift 2 in the horizontal plane. The shelf address detecting unit 32 obtains the loaded shelf address from the work height obtained by the encoder 30 and the current position obtained by the position recognizing unit 28, and the comparing unit 22c stores the transfer command stored in the transfer command storage unit 22a. Compare with the loading point inside. If these shelf addresses match, for example, the host controller 1 indicates that the loading during the transfer command has been completed.
1 and the display unit 24 displays the next destination (unloading point).

If the determined shelf address does not match the shelf address in the transfer command, this is displayed on the display unit 24, and the driver returns the loaded luggage to the original shelf, for example. Then, according to the display on the display unit 24, the vehicle travels to the designated loading point and performs the loading operation again.

When loading, which is the first half of the transfer command, is completed in this way, the driver follows the display on the display unit 24
Travel to the unloading point and perform the unloading work in the same way. Then, the unloading shelf address is similarly recognized, and similarly compared with the destination shelf address in the transfer instruction to verify whether or not the transfer operation has been performed as instructed.

In the embodiment, the transfer to and from the shelf 14 has been described. However, the transfer to and from the flat warehouse 20 can be similarly performed. Returning to FIG. 2 and showing this fact, when the manned forklift 2 transfers to or from the flat warehouse 20, the laser navigator 8 scans 360 °, so that the reflector 16 behind the manned forklift 2 can be recognized. You can now recognize your current location. Therefore, the current position can be recognized even if there is no mark such as a reflector on the object to be transferred.

In the embodiment, the manned forklift 2 is taken as an example. However, the present invention may be applied to an aerial work vehicle or the like which performs an aerial work by raising and lowering a work table with a crane. In many of these operations, both the operation height and the operation position in the horizontal plane are problematic, and it is preferable that the operation height is obtained by an encoder from the amount of elevation of a fork, a work table, or the like. The current position in the horizontal plane is preferably obtained by a laser navigator, but is not limited to this.

The effects of the embodiment can be easily verified each time the transfer command is executed, whether or not the transfer has been performed to the position coinciding with the transfer command. This verification can be performed in the in-vehicle controller 10, and the progress status of the transport operation can be reported to the host controller 11.

[0029]

Embodiment 2 FIGS. 6 to 10 show a second embodiment in which lane numbers in a flat warehouse are read by a bar code reader. 1 to 5 indicate the same components. 6 to 10, reference numeral 50 denotes a new manned forklift, 52 denotes a bar code reader provided on the arm top 7 or the like, which recognizes a bar code 58 attached to the ceiling of a building such as the traveling path 12 and recognizes a lane number. Etc. are read. 54 is an antenna, 56 is a new in-vehicle controller,
59 is a pallet of articles.

As shown in FIG. 7, the flat warehouse is provided with a number of zones 60-1 to 60-6 and the like, and each zone is provided with a plurality of lanes. For example, in FIG.
10-1-13, etc., the leading 1 is a floor number, and the latter half, such as 10-13, are lane numbers on the floor. For example, the pallets 59 are arranged in two rows in one lane, and the manned forklift 50 conveys the pallets 59 by two pallets. One lane accommodates only articles of the same product number.

The bar code indicates the lane number.
A bar code with the same lane number is provided on the ceiling of one lane, and a bar code with the same lane number is also provided on the running path in front of the lane. Make it understandable. For example, FIG.
Then, there is a bar code for the right lane on the ceiling on the right side of the running path, and a bar code for the lane on the left side on the ceiling on the left side.

FIG. 8 shows the structure of the barcode 58. The barcode data is 1-87, 1-87-3, etc.
-87 indicates the 87th lane of 1F, and 1-87-3
Is the 87th lane on the 1st floor, showing the third barcode counted from the back or front. Barcode 58
May be data that can specify a work position (location) such as a lane number. Instead of directly specifying a lane number, coordinates on a floor are designated, and the coordinates are designated by the vehicle controller 56 or the like. May be converted to Further, the type of the barcode 58 may be changed to a two-dimensional barcode or the like.

As shown in FIG. 9, the manned forklift reads the barcode 58 on the ceiling with the barcode reader 52 while traveling on the traveling path, and obtains the current position (lane number). Reading a barcode while driving may fail, but since multiple barcodes showing the same lane number are affixed on that lane and on the lane or on the travel path, read the barcode multiple times Thereby, reading can be performed stably.

In the operation of a flat warehouse, one lane has one
Only the type of goods should be placed, and if the lane is decided, the kind of goods should be decided. In a warehouse having dozens of lanes, one or more lanes can be assigned to one article, except for articles that are handled in a small amount. Then, a measure such as changing the operation may be performed only on the lane in which the articles handled in a small amount are placed.

Data such as the type of work (here, flat storage), location number (lane number for performing work such as storage), product number, lot number, quantity, etc. of the work target are sent from the upper controller 11. This is displayed on the display screen of the in-vehicle controller 56. The current position read by the barcode reader 52 is displayed. The driver looks at these, drives the forklift, and performs loading / unloading at a position where the designated location matches the current position, and touches a completion switch on the screen when the work is completed. The in-vehicle controller 56 compares the current position with the specified location, and if they match, reports that the specified work has been performed to the upper controller 12. If they do not match, the driver is warned by voice or on-screen display and re-worked. Here, the input of the completion may be automatically performed from the operation of the fork 4 or the like.

The method of displaying the location number and the current position is arbitrary, and may be displayed graphically, for example, as in the screen of the vehicle-mounted controller shown in FIG. In the figure, the lanes are shown geometrically, and the lanes with hatching are target lanes.
The location of the manned forklift is shown below the lane. In this example, the contents of the work are shown at the bottom of the screen, and an icon to be touched when the work is completed is provided. Then, by touching the icon, the current position is compared with the designated location, and when the two match, the completion of the work is reported to the upper controller, and when the two do not match, the driver is notified of the fact.

In the second embodiment, since a bar code is attached to the ceiling without using expensive equipment such as a laser navigator, there is no possibility that the bar code is stained or obstructed by obstacles. Since the barcode data is the lane number, it may be simply pasted on the ceiling or the like above the lane. In addition, since a plurality of barcodes are attached to one lane, the reading does not fail even when reading while traveling. In the second embodiment, entry and exit from a flat warehouse are taken as an example, but shelves, conveyors, and the like may be used as objects for determining the location.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a manned forklift of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an arrangement of reflectors in the manned forklift of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a vehicle-mounted controller in the manned forklift according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows recognition of a position in a horizontal plane in a modified example,
(a) is a diagram showing recognition using a barcode, and (b) is a diagram showing recognition using shooting of a landscape with a CCD camera.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an algorithm for confirming a transfer position in the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a manned forklift according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an example of barcode arrangement on the ceiling of a building in the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a barcode in the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a display system of an in-vehicle controller according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a modification of the screen display of the onboard controller in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Manned forklift 4 Fork 6 Guide roller 7 Arm top 8 Laser navigator 10 In-vehicle controller 11 Host controller 12 Running path 14 Shelf 16 Reflector 20 Flat warehouse 22 Control unit 24 Display unit 26 Input unit 28 Position recognition unit 30 Encoder 32 Shelf address Detection unit 40 CCD camera 42 Barcode 44 Barcode recognition unit 46 Scenery recognition unit 50 Manned forklift 52 Barcode reader 54 Antenna 56 In-vehicle controller 58 Barcode 59 Palette 60-1 to 60-6 Zones 1 to 10 to 13 Lane 62, 63 conveyor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3F022 EE02 FF01 JJ12 MM35 MM44 NN05 PP04 PP06 QQ03 QQ13 QQ17 3F333 AA02 AB13 FA01 FA17 FA26 FA36 FD13 FE05 FE07 FE09

Claims (6)

[Claims] In a location management system wherein a work position is designated as a manned work vehicle, means for determining the position of the manned work vehicle in a horizontal plane is provided in the manned work vehicle, and the manned work is provided. A location management system characterized in that it can be compared with a work position specified on a vehicle. 2. The location management system according to claim 1, wherein the manned work vehicle is provided with a sensor for obtaining a work height position. 3. A plurality of marks indicating a work position are provided on a ceiling of a building per work position, and means for obtaining the position in the horizontal plane is constituted by means for reading the mark. The location management system according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The location management system according to claim 3, wherein said mark is a barcode, and said reading means is a barcode reader. 5. A work location is instructed to a manned work vehicle from a host controller of the location management system,
The manned work vehicle is provided with a controller mounted on the vehicle, and displays the work position specified by the host controller and the work position obtained by the means for obtaining the position in the horizontal plane, and the work position specified at the end of the work The location management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising means for comparing the calculated position in the horizontal plane with the calculated position in the horizontal plane, and notifying the operator when the difference is different. 6. In a manned work vehicle that performs work at a designated work position, means for determining the position of the manned work vehicle in a horizontal plane is provided on the manned work vehicle, and comparison with the designated work position is performed. A manned work vehicle, characterized by being made possible.