JP3552441B2 - Carriage steering control device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a control apparatus for steering direction of a transport vehicle, and more particularly, automatically lowers a direction of a tire which cannot be directly viewed from a driver's seat of the transport vehicle when the liftable platform is lowered. The present invention relates to a steering control device for a transport trolley that can be aligned uniformly.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A large-sized transport trolley that transports loads by mounting a pallet on the upper loading platform has been put into practical use. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show an example of the transporting cart and the portal pallet.
As shown in FIG. 4, the transport vehicle 0 is a traveling tire unit whose height can be adjusted by a portal pallet 1 and a loading platform 2 for loading loads placed thereon, and a hydraulic cylinder (not shown). 3, a driver's seat 4 provided at the front and rear of the transport vehicle 0;
FIG. 5 shows a state in which the transport trolley 0 whose vehicle height has been adjusted has entered the lower side of the portal pallet 1 on which the load is placed.
When transporting a load placed on the portal pallet 1 using the transport trolley 0, first, the height of the transport trolley 0 is adjusted. The transport trolley 0 can set the vehicle height in a plurality of stages by the hydraulic cylinder attached to the traveling tire unit 3, and lowers the vehicle height to the lower limit, for example, and enters the space below the portal pallet 1. . Here, FIG. 6 shows an example of an operation panel provided in the driver's seat 4 of the transport vehicle 0.
[0003]
The driver of the transport trolley 0 lowers the vehicle height of the transport trolley 0 by, for example, turning on / off the operation button 11a of the loading height setting unit provided on the operation panel 60 shown in FIG. It can be switched to a running state or a normal running state.
Next, when the driver operates the operation button 11a of the bed height setting unit to raise the vehicle height in a state in which the transport vehicle 0 has sunk into the portal pallet 1, the vehicle is placed on the portal pallet 1 and placed thereon. The loaded luggage is lifted off the ground while being placed on the luggage carrier 2 of the transport vehicle 0. When the legs of the portal pallet 1 completely float from the ground, the carrier 0 can move. Note that the adjustment of the vehicle height may be performed by raising or lowering the entire bogie, or by raising and lowering the carrier 2 on the bogie main body with respect to the bogie main body.
Next, the transport trolley 0 is moved to transport the portal pallet 1 and the load placed thereon to a predetermined position. When the transport trolley 0 arrives at the predetermined position, the height of the transport trolley 0 is lowered again by operating the operation button 11a, and the portal pallet 1 and the luggage placed thereon are lowered to the ground. After that, if the transport trolley 0 is withdrawn from the portal pallet 1, the transport of the load is completed.
In this way, by using the transport trolley 0 and the portal pallet 1 whose vehicle height can be changed, a large number of loads are loaded on the loading platform 2 of the transport trolley 0, and the above-mentioned loads are respectively unloaded. In particular, when the weight of the cargo to be transported is large, the combination of the transport trolley 0 and the portal pallet 1 is useful.
[0004]
The transport vehicle 0 has traveling modes such as a straight traveling mode, a skew traveling mode, a traversing traveling mode, and a spin turn mode as shown in FIGS. 7 (a), (b), (c) and (d). The driver can easily designate the above four driving modes by selecting the selection buttons 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d of the driving mode setting device provided on the operation panel 60 provided in the driver's seat 4 respectively. it can.
Here, the straight running mode is used in ordinary running, and corresponds to 4WS or the like of the vehicle, that is, the vehicle travels while the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body is directed to the operation direction of the steering 61. It can be performed.
In the skew mode, the transport vehicle 0 moves in the operating direction of the steering wheel 61 without changing the direction of the vehicle body, that is, moves the vehicle body in parallel. In the traversing mode, the vehicle moves on a predetermined circumference according to the amount of operation of the steering 61, and the vehicle body always faces the center of a fixed circle. In the spin turn mode, the vehicle turns at the same point. By traveling in a combination of these traveling modes, the transport vehicle 0 is provided with excellent mobility.
[0005]
However, when the transport vehicle 0 is retracted from the portal pallet 1 or when the transport vehicle 0 is sunk into the portal pallet 1 as described above, the side surface of the transport vehicle 0 and the portal The gap D (shown in FIG. 5) between the leg of the pallet 1 and the pallet 1 is extremely small as compared with the length of the carrier 0 in the longitudinal direction.
For example, when the portal pallet 1 and the load placed thereon are transported to a predetermined installation position by traveling in the straight traveling mode, and then the loading platform 2 is lowered to attempt to exit the portal pallet 1, the driver must It is necessary to accurately align the direction of the tire with the longitudinal direction of the portal pallet 1 in consideration of the narrowness of the gap D. If the direction of the tire is shifted from the longitudinal direction of the portal pallet 1, the transport vehicle 0 moves obliquely in the portal pallet 1 with respect to the longitudinal direction. It collides with the legs of the mold pallet 1.
Similarly, when the transport trolley 0 arrives at an appropriate position for entering the portal pallet 1 by traveling in the straight traveling mode, the carrier 2 is lowered, and then the entrance to the portal pallet 1 is attempted, similarly. If the direction of the tire is not exactly aligned with the longitudinal direction of the portal pallet 1, there is a high possibility that the tire will collide with the legs of the portal pallet 1.
However, since the driver who drives the transport vehicle 0 in the driver's seat 4 cannot directly see the direction of the tires, he or she must perform steering by relying on experience and intuition, or, for example, if the driver The collision between the transport trolley 0 and the portal pallet 1 was avoided by checking once after getting off the vehicle or following instructions of an assistant outside the vehicle.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When steering is performed based on the experience and intuition of the driver as described above, it is difficult to always orient the tire accurately in the longitudinal direction of the portal pallet 1. In particular, when exiting from the portal pallet 1, since the portal pallet 1 itself to be determined cannot be visually observed, the direction of the tire must be predicted based on the traveling state in advance, and it is difficult to determine the direction of the tire. . In addition, when the driver once gets off the transfer cart 0 to check, the smoothness of the transfer operation is impaired, and even when checking by an assistant outside the vehicle, extra labor is required.
In order to solve the problems in the prior art, the present invention has improved a steering control device of a transport vehicle, and lowered the carrier of the transport vehicle in a state where the traveling mode is set to the straight traveling mode. To provide a steering control device for a transport trolley that can automatically align a tire with a longitudinal direction of a vehicle body and prevent a collision with, for example, a portal pallet without relying on the driver's visual and intuition. The purpose is.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a steering control device for a transport trolley for loading and transporting a portal pallet on a carrier, wherein the trolley moves while directing the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body of the transport trolley in a steering operation direction. a straight travel mode setting means, the steering control apparatus comprising a loading platform lifting means, the lifting and lowering the loading platform is provided on top of the transport vehicle, the loading platform height detecting means for detecting the height of the loading platform, A tire turning actuator for turning the tires of the carrier, a tire angle detecting means for detecting a turning angle of the tires, and a condition in which the traveling mode of the carrier is set to the straight traveling mode by the straight traveling mode setting means. When the lowering of the loading platform by the loading platform elevating means is detected by the loading platform height detecting device, the tie detected by the tire angle detecting device is detected. Based on the angle, it is determined whether or not the tire is facing the front of the carrier, and if it is determined that the tire is not facing the front of the carrier, the direction of the tire of the carrier is changed. A controller for driving the tire turning actuator to change the turning angle of the tire so as to align with the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body of the transfer truck. ing. For this reason, for example, when the transport trolley traveling in the straight traveling mode exits from the narrow portal pallet, the portal pallet and the transport trolley are in a state that is quite accurately parallel in that state. On the other hand, it is appropriate that the direction of the tire is different from the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. In this case, according to the present invention, the direction of the tire can be automatically aligned with the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, so that it is not necessary for the driver to visually confirm the vehicle, and it is ensured that the transport vehicle collides with the portal pallet or the like. Can be prevented. Further, in order to determine the lowering of the carrier, the carrier height detecting means for detecting the height of the carrier may be provided in, for example, the carrier elevating means. Further, the loading platform may be lifted and lowered by moving the entire vehicle body up and down, or may be performed by lifting and lowering the loading platform itself with respect to the vehicle body.
[0008]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to provide an understanding of the present invention. The following embodiments are examples embodying the present invention, and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.
Here, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a steering control device for a transport vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart relating to control of the steering control device for the transport vehicle.
As shown in FIG. 1, the steering control device for a transport vehicle according to the present embodiment includes a traveling mode setting device 10 () that sets a traveling mode selected by selection buttons 10a, 10b, 10c, and 10d on operation panel 60. A carriage traveling mode setting means), a carriage height setting unit 11 for setting the height of the carriage according to the traveling state selected by the operation button 11a on the operation panel 60, a carriage controller 12 for controlling the entire transport carriage, And a bed height detector 13 (corresponding to a bed height detecting means) provided on the traveling tire section 3 and detecting the height of the bed 2; a tire angle detector 14 such as a tachometer for detecting a tire angle ( for example, a tachometer); And a tire direction control means including a tire turning actuator 15 for turning the tire. In this embodiment, the height of the loading platform is adjusted by adjusting the entire vehicle height. However, only the loading platform 2 may be moved up and down with respect to the vehicle body.
[0009]
Also, as shown in FIG. 1, the transporting trolley 0 has a loading platform elevating means including support legs 16 a and 16 b and a hydraulic cylinder 17 on the traveling tire unit 3. The carrier 0 can adjust the height of the carrier 2 by changing the angle between the support legs 16a and the support legs 16b by the hydraulic cylinder 17. The bed height detector 13 is, for example, an angle detector such as an encoder, and detects the angle between the support legs 16a and 16b to determine the height of the bed.
Further, information from the traveling mode setting device 10, the loading platform height setting unit 11, the loading platform height detector 13, and the tire angle detector 14 are all collected by the truck controller 12, and based on these information, the truck controller 12 The tire turning actuator 15 is operated to change the tire angle.
[0010]
Next, the operation of the steering control device for the transport vehicle according to the present embodiment will be described based on the flowcharts shown in FIGS.
First, the transport of the portal pallet 1 and the load placed on the portal pallet 1 to the predetermined installation position by traveling in the straight traveling mode is completed (at this time, the direction of the tires of the transport trolley 0 varies depending on the situation at the time of arrival. ), The driver operates the operation button 11a on the operation panel 60 to instruct the lowering of the carrier 2 to exit the portal pallet 1, and the lowering of the carrier height is started (S1). ). The bogie controller 12, which has received the instruction from the driver, operates the hydraulic cylinder 17 to reduce the angle between the support legs 16a and 16b and adjust the vehicle height. When the angle detected by the platform height detector 13 reaches a predetermined angle, the controller 12 stops the lowering assuming that the platform height has reached the lower limit position.
When the carrier 2 has been lowered to the lower limit position, the traveling mode is confirmed by the carriage controller 12 (S2). The carriage controller 12 confirms the traveling mode setting device 10 by inquiring about the selection states of the selection buttons 10a, 10b, 10c, and 10d on the operation panel 60.
When the traveling mode confirmed in step S2 is the straight traveling mode, the tire angle is determined based on the output of the tire angle detector 14 (S3). The tire angle output from the tire angle detector 14 is output to the bogie controller 11, and based on the output tire angle, the bogie controller 12 determines whether the tire is facing the front of the transport vehicle 0, and A tire angle is commanded to the turning actuator 15 (S4).
If the tire is not facing the front of the transport vehicle 0, the tire turning actuator 15 sets the tire angle to 0 °, that is, the direction of the tire is aligned with the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body (S5).
Next, the tire angle is confirmed again by the bogie controller 12 and the tire angle detector 14 (S6), and if the tire direction is aligned with the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, the control of the tire direction is terminated.
As described above, the steering control device for the transport vehicle according to the present embodiment detects the direction of the tire by the tire angle detector 14 at the time of exit from the portal pallet 1 and automatically controls the tire by the tire turning actuator 15. Since the direction is aligned with the longitudinal direction of the transport trolley 0, it is possible to prevent the transport trolley from colliding with the portal pallet 1 without checking the direction of the tire each time.
[0011]
【Example】
In the above-described embodiment, the direction of the tire is automatically controlled when leaving the portal pallet 1. However, the direction of the tire may be controlled when entering the portal pallet 1. The directions of the tires when the transport vehicle 0 arrives at an appropriate position for entering the portal pallet 1 by traveling in the straight traveling mode are various directions depending on the situation at the time of arrival. Therefore, when the carriage 2 descends and the carriage 0 enters the portal pallet 1, if the direction of the tire is not substantially in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, the length of the carriage is smaller than the length of the carriage 0. Since the gap D between the side surface of the portal pallet 1 and the portal pallet 1 is extremely small, there is a high possibility that the vehicle body will collide while approaching the portal pallet 1. Even in the above case, the present invention can automatically align the tire direction with the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body to avoid collision with the portal pallet 1.
[0012]
The carrier 2 may be moved up and down by moving the entire vehicle body up and down, or of course, as shown in FIG. 3, the carrier 2 is moved up and down with respect to the vehicle body 32 by a carrier elevating unit 31 (corresponding to a carrier elevating means). The present invention may be applied to such a case. In this case, the bed height detector 13 is provided in the bed lifting unit 31. Such a transport vehicle steering control device is also an example of the transport vehicle steering control device of the present invention.
Further, in the above embodiments and examples, the control of the tire direction is performed when entering or exiting the portal pallet 1, but it is of course possible to align the tire direction with the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body when the driver desires. It is. Such a transport vehicle steering control device is also an example of the transport vehicle steering control device of the present invention.
[0013]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the present invention relates to a steering control device for a transport trolley that transports a portal pallet mounted on a carrier, wherein the linear traverse mode moves while directing the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body of the transport trolley in the steering operation direction. and setting means, in the steering control apparatus comprising a loading platform lifting means, the lifting and lowering the loading platform is provided on top of the transport vehicle, the loading platform height detecting means for detecting the height of the loading platform, the transport carriage A tire turning actuator for turning the tire, a tire angle detecting means for detecting a turning angle of the tire, and the loading platform in a state where the traveling mode of the carrier is set to the straight traveling mode by the straight traveling mode setting means. When the lowering of the carrier by the carrier elevating means is detected by the height detecting means, the tire angle is detected based on the tire angle detected by the tire angle detecting means. It is determined whether or not the tire is facing in the front direction of the carrier, and if it is determined that the tire is not facing in front of the carrier, the tire direction of the carrier is changed to the direction of the carrier. And a controller that drives the tire turning actuator to change the turning angle of the tire so as to align the tire with the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body . For this reason, for example, when the transport trolley traveling in the straight traveling mode exits from the narrow portal pallet, the portal pallet and the transport trolley are in a state that is quite accurately parallel in that state. On the other hand, it is appropriate that the direction of the tire is different from the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. In this case, according to the present invention, the direction of the tire can be automatically aligned with the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, so that it is not necessary for the driver to visually confirm the vehicle, and it is ensured that the transport vehicle collides with the portal pallet or the like. Can be prevented. Further, in order to determine the lowering of the carrier, the carrier height detecting means for detecting the height of the carrier may be provided in, for example, the carrier elevating means . Further, the loading platform may be lifted and lowered by raising and lowering the entire vehicle body, or may be performed by lifting and lowering the loading platform itself with respect to the vehicle body.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a transport vehicle steering control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the steering control device for the transport vehicle.
FIG. 3 is a view showing a transport vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a transport vehicle 0 and a portal pallet 1;
FIG. 5 is a view showing the transport cart 0 in a state of being sunk into the portal pallet 1;
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an operation panel of the transport vehicle 0.
FIG. 7 is a view for explaining a traveling mode of the transport vehicle 0.
[Explanation of symbols]
0 ... Transportation cart 1 ... Gate type pallet 2 ... Packing bed 3 ... Travel tire unit 4 ... Driver's seat 10 ... Running mode setting unit 11 ... Packing height setting unit 12 ... Truck controller 13 ... Packing height detector 14 ... Tire angle detection Device 15: Tire turning actuators 16, 16a, 16b: Support legs 17: Hydraulic cylinder 60: Operation panel

Claims (3)

A steering control device for a transport trolley that transports a portal pallet mounted on a carrier,
Straight traveling mode setting means for moving while moving the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body of the carrier in the steering operation direction;
In steering control apparatus comprising a loading platform elevating means for elevating the loading floor is provided on top of the transport carriage, and
A bed height detecting means for detecting the height of the bed;
A tire turning actuator for turning the tire of the transport trolley,
Tire angle detecting means for detecting a turning angle of the tire,
In a state where the traveling mode of the carrier is set to the straight traveling mode by the straight traveling mode setting means, when the lowering of the carrier by the carrier elevating means is detected by the carrier height detecting means, the tire angle is adjusted. Based on the tire angle detected by the detecting means, it is determined whether or not the tire is facing in the front direction of the carrier, and if it is determined that the tire is not facing in front of the carrier, A controller for driving the tire turning actuator to change the turning angle of the tire so that the direction of the tires of the transfer cart is aligned with the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body of the transfer cart. Steering control device. The steering control device for a transport trolley according to claim 1, wherein the lifting and lowering of the carrier is performed by raising and lowering the entire vehicle body. The steering control device for a transport vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the lifting and lowering of the carrier is performed by moving the carrier itself up and down with respect to a vehicle body.

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