JP3226468U - Electric lift device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric lift device capable of arbitrarily setting a vertical movement stroke of an article. An electric lift device (10) includes a base (11) having a support plate (13) provided with guide rails (14), a table (12) having vertical moving plates (15) mounted on both sides to support an article, and a vertical moving plate (15). A slide block 16 slidably mounted on the guide rail 14, a connecting unit mounted on the support plate 13 and provided with a pinion that meshes with a rack mounted on the table 12, an electric motor, and a speed reducer are provided. The vertical movement stroke of the table 12 is controlled by the motor controller 42. [Selection diagram] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an electric lift device that vertically moves an article.

Examples of a device that can move an article in the vertical direction include, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, a rotating arm provided with a chuck at the tip thereof which is driven by an air cylinder to grip an article, and a traveling arm. There is a cargo handling device equipped with The base end of the rotating arm is connected to the tips of two parallel arms, and by driving the parallel arms by an air cylinder, the chuck rotates vertically on the tips of the rotating arms. To be done. An air tank and a compressor are mounted on the vehicle body, and the compressed air stored in the air tank is supplied to the air cylinder.

Patent Document 2 discloses an actuator including a base plate provided with traveling casters, a table for supporting articles, and an air cylinder for vertically driving the table. An air tank is attached in a loop shape along the periphery of the base plate, compressed air is supplied to the air tank by a compressor, and the air cylinder is driven by the compressed air in the air tank.

On the other hand, Patent Document 3 describes an electric lifter device that uses an electric motor as a power source. This device has a base-side frame body having two base frames and an up-and-down moving frame body having two guide forming frames to which article placement frames are attached, and is driven by an electric motor. Lifting and lowering operation arms are provided on the front, rear, left and right of the frame body on the base side, and idle rollers provided at the tips of the lifting and lowering arms are arranged in the guide grooves of the guide forming frame. When the raising/lowering operation arm is rotated by the electric motor, the guide forming frame and the article placing frame are driven in the vertical direction by the idle roller.

JP-A-7-125999 JP, 2005-117762, A JP, 2014-40306, A

As described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, when an air cylinder is used as a drive source for a rotating arm or a table, a compressor or an air tank must be mounted on a vehicle body or a base plate, which increases the size of a cargo handling device or an actuator. Inevitable. Moreover, it is difficult to accurately control the vertical movement speed or change the stop position of the article in the form in which the article is moved up and down by the air cylinder. Further, it is difficult to easily change the vertical movement stroke, and in order to change the stroke, it is necessary to rearrange parts or perform stroke adjustment operation. In addition, when the vertical position for loading and unloading articles differs depending on the stop position of the cargo handling device, it is necessary to prepare a plurality of cargo handling devices and actuators and replace the cargo handling device and actuators according to the stop position. There is.

Further, if the compressor and the air tank are provided, the size and weight of the device cannot be avoided, and the cargo handling device and the actuator cannot be swiftly moved. For this reason, it has been difficult to apply it as an automated guided vehicle (AGV) in an automated warehouse for storing articles, a factory for manufacturing industrial products, a distribution center for storing and shipping articles, and the like.

On the other hand, in the electric lift device described in Patent Document 3, the electric motor is used as a drive source, and although it is possible to accurately control the vertical movement speed, the vertical movement stroke of the article placement frame is for the lifting operation. It is set by the length of the arm and the stroke cannot be changed. Also in this electric lift device, when the vertical position for loading and unloading articles differs depending on the storage position of the articles, it is necessary to prepare a plurality of cargo handling devices and actuators. For this reason, this electric lift device cannot be applied to an automatic warehouse or the like having an article storage unit having a plurality of stages in the vertical direction.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electric lift device capable of arbitrarily setting a vertical movement stroke according to an article.

In the electric lift device of the present invention, a horizontal base having a vertical support plate with a guide rail provided on the front surface and a vertical moving plate extending in the vertical direction along the support plate are attached to both sides, A table that supports the table, a slide block that is attached to the back surface of the vertical moving plate and is slidably attached to the guide rail, and a pinion that engages with a rack that is attached to the table and extends along the front surface of the support plate. A drive unit attached to the connection unit, the drive unit being provided with a connection unit attached to the front surface of the support plate, an electric motor, and a speed reducer for reducing the rotation speed of the electric motor and transmitting the rotation speed to the pinion. A motor controller for controlling the drive of the table and setting the vertical stroke of the table.

The table that supports the articles is vertically movably mounted on a support plate attached to the base, and a pinion that meshes with a rack attached to the table is provided in a connecting unit attached to the support plate, and the pinion is driven by an electric motor. The vertical stroke of the table can be arbitrarily set by the electric motor. Thereby, the article placed on the table can be moved up and down with an arbitrary stroke. Since the electric motor that drives the pinion is mounted horizontally with respect to the support plate, the table up-and-down stroke between the table and the electric motor can be secured without increasing the height of the support plate. The lift device can be downsized.

It is a perspective view showing an electric lift device which is one embodiment. 1. It is the front view of FIG. 1 seen from the arrow A direction in FIG. FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG. 2. It is a rear view of FIG. FIG. 3 is a left side view of FIG. 2. It is sectional drawing which shows the connection unit seen from the direction which follows the 6-6 line in FIG. FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 in FIG. 6. It is a perspective view showing an electric lift device applied to an automatic guided vehicle. It is a front view of FIG. It is a block diagram showing a control device in an electric lift device applied to an automatic guided vehicle.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the electric lift device 10 has a horizontal base 11 made of a rectangular plate material, and a rectangular table 12 arranged above the base 11 and supporting an article. A vertical support plate 13 is attached to the center of the base 11 in the longitudinal direction so as to extend in the width direction of the base 11. As shown in FIG. 14 are provided. The support plate 13 has one surface on which the guide rail 14 is attached as a front surface and the other surface on the opposite side as a back surface. The front surface of the support plate 13 is also the front surface of the electric lift device 10, and the opposite side is the back surface.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, on the lower surface of the table 12, vertical moving plates 15 are attached on both sides so as to extend in the vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5, a slide block 16 is attached to the back surface of each vertical moving plate 15 so as to be positioned at the lower end, and the slide block 16 is slidably attached to the guide rail 14. To be done. Therefore, the table 12 is vertically movable between the lower limit position where the slide block 16 is located at the lower end of the guide rail 14 and the upper limit position where the slide block 16 is located at the upper end of the guide rail 14. Is. When the table 12 reaches the lower limit position, the table 12 comes closest to the upper end surface of the support plate 13.

As shown in FIG. 2, a rack 17 is attached to the lower surface of the table 12 by a joint member 18, and the rack 17 is located in front of the support plate 13 and extends vertically along the support plate 13. There is.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a connecting unit 19 is attached to the center of the front surface of the support plate 13 in the width direction, and the rack 17 penetrates a through hole 20 formed in the connecting unit 19. .. The coupling unit 19 has a bearing block 21 fixed to the support plate 13 and a bearing case 22 fixed to the bearing block 21, and a rack guide 23 slidingly contacting the rack 17 is a bearing as shown in FIG. It is attached to the case 22. A drive shaft 26 is rotatably supported by a bearing 24 mounted on the bearing block 21 and a bearing 25 mounted on the bearing case 22, and a rotation center axis Od of the drive shaft 26 extends along the longitudinal direction of the base 11. It is a horizontal direction and a direction perpendicular to the support plate 13.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the pinion 27 is attached to the drive shaft 26, and the pinion 27 meshes with the rack 17. The rack 17 and the pinion 27 are arranged so as to be offset from each other in the width direction of the support plate 13, and the tooth portion of the rack 17 is provided on the side surface. In FIG. 6, two guide rails 14 attached to the front surface of the support plate 13 and a slide block 16 slidably attached to each of the guide rails 14 are shown, and the slide block 16 is attached. The vertical moving plate 15 is omitted. In FIG. 8, the vertical moving plate 15 fixed to the lower surface of the table 12 is shown.

The drive unit 31 is attached to the connection unit 19. The drive unit 31 includes an electric motor 32 and a speed reducer 33. A stepping motor with a brake is used as the electric motor 32, but other types of motors such as a servo motor can be used. The rotation of the motor shaft (not shown) of the electric motor 32 is reduced by the reduction gear 33 and transmitted to the output shaft 34. The output shaft 34 is connected to the drive shaft 26 by a coupling 35, and the pinion 27 is rotationally driven by the electric motor 32. The central axis Om of the motor shaft of the electric motor 32 is offset by an eccentric amount E in the width direction.

Since the electric motor 32 for vertically moving the table 12 as the top plate of the electric lift device 10 is attached to the support plate 13 at a right angle direction, that is, in the horizontal direction, the vertical direction of the drive unit 31 having the electric motor 32 The arrangement space can be reduced. Thereby, the vertical movement stroke of the table 12 can be increased as compared with the vertical dimension of the support plate 13. For example, if an electric motor is arranged vertically and attached to a support plate and the table is moved vertically with a ball screw, a sufficient vertical stroke should be secured unless the vertical size of the support plate is increased. I can't.

On the other hand, in the electric lift device 10, the electric motor 32 is arranged horizontally and the table 12 is moved up and down by the engagement between the rack 17 and the pinion 27. Therefore, the table 12 in the state where the table 12 is closest to the base 11 is used. By lowering the height of the table 12, the electric lift device 10 can be downsized, and the vertical stroke of the table 12 can be sufficiently secured without excessively increasing the height of the support plate 13. it can.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, a main reinforcing rib 36 as a first main reinforcing rib is arranged on the front side of each vertical moving plate 15. The main reinforcing ribs 36 extend horizontally in the front-rear direction of the table 12 and extend in the vertical direction, and are fixed to the lower surface of the table 12 and the front surface of the vertical moving plate 15, and the main reinforcing ribs 36 connect the vertical moving plate 15 and the table 12 to each other. Are firmly connected.

On the back side of the support plate 13, main reinforcing ribs 37 as second main reinforcing ribs are arranged on the left and right. The main reinforcing ribs 37 extend horizontally in the front-rear direction of the base 11 and extend in the vertical direction, and are fixed to the upper surface of the base 11 and the rear surface of the support plate 13, and the main reinforcing ribs 37 firmly support the support plate 13 and the base 11. It is fixed to.

Sub-reinforcing ribs 38 as first sub-reinforcing ribs are arranged on the back side of each vertical moving plate 15. The sub-reinforcing ribs 38 extend horizontally in the front-rear direction of the table 12 and extend in the up-and-down direction, and are fixed to the lower surface of the table 12 and the back surface of the up-and-down moving plate 15. Are firmly connected. As shown in FIG. 4, the sub-reinforcing ribs 38 are offset in the width direction with respect to the main reinforcing ribs 37, and are attached to the outside of the left and right side surfaces of the support plate 13. As a result, even when the table 12 moves downward, the auxiliary reinforcing rib 38 does not contact the support plate 13 and the main reinforcing rib 37.

Sub-reinforcing ribs 39 as second sub-reinforcing ribs are arranged on the left and right on the front side of the support plate 13. The sub-reinforcing ribs 39 extend horizontally in the front-rear direction of the base 11 and extend in the up-and-down direction, and are fixed to the upper surface of the base 11 and the front surface of the support plate 13, and the sub-reinforcing ribs 39 strengthen the support plate 13 and the base 11. It is fixed to. As shown in FIG. 2, the sub-reinforcing rib 39 is displaced in the width direction with respect to the vertical moving plate 15, and is attached inside the vertical moving plate 15. As a result, even if the table 12 moves downward, the auxiliary reinforcing rib 39 does not contact the vertical moving plate 15.

The main reinforcing rib 36 and the main reinforcing rib 37 have the same shape, and rib members of the same type can be used as both the main reinforcing ribs 36 and 37. The sub-reinforcing ribs 38 and the sub-reinforcing ribs 39 are smaller than the main reinforcing ribs 36 and 37, and the same kind of rib member can be used as both the sub-reinforcing ribs 38 and 39.

Since the table 12 and the vertical moving plate 15 are connected by the total of four vertical reinforcing ribs 36 and auxiliary reinforcing ribs 38 in total, the table 12 and the vertical moving plate 15 are connected to each other without securing a large area in plan view. Can be connected. Similarly, since the base 11 and the support plate 13 are connected by the total of four vertical reinforcing ribs 37 and sub-reinforcing ribs 39 in total, the base 11 and the support plate 13 can be secured without securing a large area in plan view. And can be connected. Accordingly, the electric lift device 10 can be made light and small.

In order to supply electric power to the electric motor 32, the base 11 is provided with a battery 41, and the electric motor 32 is driven by the electric power supplied from the battery 41. As the battery 41, for example, a DC 24V power source is used. A motor controller 42 is provided on the base 11 in order to rotationally drive the motor shaft of the electric motor 32 in the forward rotation direction and the reverse rotation direction and to control the rotation speed. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the battery 41 is attached to the base 11 below the electric motor 32 and between the two auxiliary reinforcing ribs 39.

The electric lift device 10 has an encoder (not shown) in order to detect that the table 12 has moved upward with a predetermined stroke. As the encoder, a rotary encoder that detects the rotation speed of the motor shaft or the pinion 27, or a linear encoder that detects the vertical movement stroke of the rack 17 is used. The detection signal of the encoder is sent to the motor controller 42. The motor controller 42 includes a memory that stores a control program, a calculation formula, map data, and the like, and an MPU or the like as a calculation unit that calculates a control signal. Rotational speed data is stored in memory. By changing the set value of the motor controller 42, the vertical movement speed, the vertical movement range, and the stop position of the table 12 can be arbitrarily and easily changed within a range in which the rack 17 and the pinion 27 can operate.

A lift controller 43 is attached to the base 11, and an antenna 44 is provided on the lift controller 43 in order to command the operation of the electric lift device 10 by remote control from the outside. A command signal is wirelessly transmitted from the external host computer to the lift controller 43, and command signals such as the vertical movement timing and the vertical movement stroke of the table 12 are transmitted from the lift controller 43 to the motor controller 42. The lift controller 43 also includes a memory and a calculation unit.

The electric lift device 10 can also be used by being fixedly installed on a base. In that case, the article mounted on the table 12 can be vertically moved to an arbitrary position. On the other hand, by using the electric lift device 10 as an automatic guided vehicle, the electric lift device 10 can be used even when a workpiece is to be transferred to any one of a plurality of article carry-in/out sections. it can. Further, the electric lift device 10 can be used even when goods are transported in an automated warehouse.

9 is a perspective view showing a case where the electric lift device 10 is applied to an automatic guided vehicle, and FIG. 10 is a front view of FIG.

The electric lift device 10 is mounted on a traveling carriage 46 that is movable on wheels by wheels 45, and the traveling carriage 46 and the electric lift device 10 constitute an automated guided vehicle (AGV) 47. A bellows-type cover 28 is mounted between the outer periphery of the table 12 and the base 11 in order to prevent dust from lifting components such as the electric motor 32.

In FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the unmanned transfer is performed in order to receive the workpiece W conveyed from the respective upstream sides to the article carrying-in/out section by the conveyors 48 and 49 and carry it to another article carrying-in/out section not shown. The state where the car 47 is used is shown. As shown in FIG. 10, the height Ha of the article loading/unloading section of the conveyor 48 and the height Hb of the article loading/unloading section of the conveyor 49 are different. When the automated guided vehicle 47 moves closer to the article loading/unloading portions of the respective conveyors 48, 49, the height of the table 12 is adjusted in advance by the electric motor 32 according to the respective heights.

On the other hand, the unmanned transport vehicle 47 can also be used when the articles mounted in the article loading/unloading section (not shown) are transported toward the article loading/unloading sections of the respective conveyors 48, 49. In that case, the height of the table 12 is adjusted in advance according to the height of the article carry-in/out section of the conveyors 48, 49. In this way, the electric lift device 10 is used as an article carrying-in/carrying-out section as a section applied as an article carrying-out section or a carrying-in section, and as an automated guided vehicle 47 moving between the first article carrying-in/carrying section and the second article carrying-in/carrying-out section. Can be applied.

When the electric lift device 10 is applied as the automated guided vehicle 47, as shown in FIG. 11, the electric lift device 10 is based on a control signal from an AGV controller 51 as a host computer provided in an external control room. Is controlled. The AGV controller 51 acquires the position information of the automated guided vehicle 47, and the position information is transmitted from the antenna 54 to the lift controller 43 by the computer 52 and displayed on the monitor 53 in the control room. The table height data corresponding to the position of the article loading/unloading section is stored in the memory of the lift controller 43. When the automatic guided vehicle reaches a predetermined article loading/unloading section, the table height data corresponding to the position is read. Then, the rotation direction, rotation speed and rotation time of the electric motor 32 are controlled to set the height of the table 12.

Electric power is supplied from the battery 41 to the electric motor 32, the motor controller 42, and the like. However, when the electric lift device 10 is mounted on the traveling carriage 46, the electric motor 32 is supplied from the battery provided in the traveling carriage 46. May be supplied with electric power, and further, electric power may be supplied to an electric motor or the like by a non-contact type power supply device.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, FIGS. 9 and 10 show an automated guided vehicle 47 used for unloading or loading an article from a conveyor for transporting a workpiece, but when unloading an article from an article storage shelf of an automated warehouse, The electric lift device 10 can also be applied to an automated guided vehicle that carries articles into the article storage rack.

10 Electric Lift Device 11 Base 12 Table 13 Support Plate 14 Guide Rail 15 Vertical Moving Plate 16 Slide Block 17 Rack 18 Joint Member 19 Connection Unit 26 Drive Shaft 27 Pinion 31 Drive Unit 32 Electric Motor 33 Reducer 34 Output Shaft 35 Coupling 36 , 37 Main reinforcing ribs 38, 39 Secondary reinforcing ribs 41 Battery 42 Motor controller 43 Lift controller 46 Traveling vehicle 47 Automated guided vehicle (AGV)
48, 49 conveyor

Claims (5)

A horizontal base including a vertical support plate provided with a guide rail on the front surface,
Vertical moving plates extending in the vertical direction along the support plate are attached to both sides, respectively, a table for supporting the article,
A slide block mounted on the back surface of the vertical moving plate and slidably mounted on the guide rail;
A connecting unit that is attached to the table, is provided with a pinion that meshes with a rack that extends along the front surface of the support plate, and is attached to the front surface of the support plate;
An electric motor and a speed reducer that reduces the rotational speed of the electric motor and transmits the electric motor to the pinion, and a drive unit attached to the coupling unit;
A motor controller that controls the drive of the electric motor and sets the vertical stroke of the table;
Electric lift device having. The electric lift device according to claim 1,
The connection unit is attached to a central portion in the width direction of the support plate, the rack and the pinion are arranged so as to be offset from each other in the width direction of the support plate, and the drive unit horizontally moves a motor shaft of the electric motor. An electric lift device attached to the connection unit. The electric lift device according to claim 1 or 2,
A first main reinforcing rib for fixing the table and the vertical moving plate is arranged on the front side of the vertical moving plate, and a second main reinforcing rib for fixing the base and the supporting plate is provided on the supporting plate. A second sub-reinforcing rib, which is arranged on the back side and fixes the table and the vertical moving plate, is arranged on the back side of the vertical moving plate, and fixes the base and the supporting plate. An electric lift device in which a rib is arranged on the front side of the support plate. The electric lift device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An electric lift device in which the base is mounted on a traveling carriage that moves between a first article loading/unloading section and a second article loading/unloading section, and the table is driven by a vertical stroke according to the height of the article loading/unloading section. .. The electric lift device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The motor controller is an electric lift device having a memory in which data of a table height corresponding to a position of an article carrying-in/out section is stored, and a computing section which reads out the table height data and controls a rotation speed of a motor.

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