Moving body, station, movement system, moving method, and program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11509243-B2
Application number	US-202016951482-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2020
Priority date	Dec 23, 2019
Publication date	Nov 22, 2022
Grant date	Nov 22, 2022

Abstract

To make it possible to freely move a moving body between level surfaces located at different heights that are not connected by a vertical member. A moving body includes a movable moving part, an expansion/contraction part disposed in the moving part and configured to expand and contract in a vertical direction, a first engagement part disposed at a tip of the expansion/contraction part and configured to engage with a member located in a surrounding environment, and a control unit configured to control the moving part and the expansion/contraction part. The control unit moves the moving part to a target height position by engaging the first engagement part with a member located at the target height position and then expanding or contracting the expansion/contraction part.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A moving body comprising:
a movable moving part;
an expansion/contraction part disposed in the moving part and configured to expand and contract in a vertical direction;
a first engagement part disposed at a tip of the expansion/contraction part and configured to engage with a member located in a surrounding environment; and
a control unit configured to control the moving part and the expansion/contraction part, wherein
the control unit moves the moving part to a target height position by engaging the first engagement part with a member located at the target height position and then expanding or contracting the expansion/contraction part.

2. The moving body according to claim 1 , further comprising a fixing part configured to fix the moving part when the expansion/contraction part is expanded or contracted.

3. The moving body according to claim 1 , wherein when the control unit determines that the first engagement part has engaged with the member located at the target height position, the control unit performs control so as to move the moving part to the target height position by expanding or contracting the expansion/contraction part.

4. The moving body according to claim 1 , wherein
the expansion/contraction part comprises a first belt comprising a first engagement mechanism and a second belt comprising a second engagement mechanism capable of engaging with and being disengaged from the first engagement mechanism, and
the expansion/contraction part forms a columnar structure by spirally winding the first and second engagement mechanisms of the first and second belts around one and the same axis in a mutually overlapping state.

5. A station comprising:
at least one second engagement part configured to engage with the first engagement part of the moving body according to claim 1 ; and
at least one opening/closing floor disposed below the second engagement part and configured to open or close a through hole formed in a floor surface, the through hole being formed to enable the moving body to pass through the floor surface when the moving body moves up or down.

6. A movement system comprising the station according to claim 5 , and the moving body configured to move up and down in the station.

7. The movement system according to claim 6 , further comprising an object detection unit configured to detect an object located at a predetermined position below the through hole, wherein
the control unit moves the moving part to the predetermined position and expands the expansion/contraction part when the object detection unit does not detect any object.

8. The movement system according to claim 6 , wherein the control unit performs control so as to expand or contract the expansion/contraction part, to thereby engage the first engagement part with the second engagement part located at the target height position.

9. The movement system according to claim 8 , wherein the control unit performs control so as to, after engaging the first engagement part with the second engagement part, move the moving part to the target height position through the through hole by expanding or contracting the expansion/contraction part, close the opening/closing floor, and lower the moving part onto the opening/closing floor.

10. A method for moving a moving body,
the moving body comprising:
a movable moving part;
an expansion/contraction part disposed in the moving part and configured to expand and contract in a vertical direction; and
a first engagement part disposed at a tip of the expansion/contraction part and configured to engage with a member located in a surrounding environment,
the method comprising:
moving the moving part to a target height position by engaging the first engagement part with a member located at the target height position and then expanding or contracting the expansion/contraction part.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program for moving a moving body,
the moving body comprising:
a movable moving part;
an expansion/contraction part disposed in the moving part and configured to expand and contract in a vertical direction; and
a first engagement part disposed at a tip of the expansion/contraction part and configured to engage with a member located in a surrounding environment,
for causing a computer to perform:
a step of moving the moving part to a target height position by engaging the first engagement part with a member located at the target height position and then expanding or contracting the expansion/contraction part.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Iwamoto Kunihiro
• Itozawa Yuta
• Komura Hirotaka

Classifications

• H02N2/101 Primary

  using intermittent driving, e.g. step motors · CPC title

• B66B1/06

  electric · CPC title

• B65G1/0492

  with cars adapted to travel in storage aisles · CPC title

• B62D63/02 Primary

  Motor vehicles · CPC title

• B25J9/0009

  Constructional details, e.g. manipulator supports, bases · CPC title