Article transport facility

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11897698-B2
Application number	US-202117462440-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 31, 2021
Priority date	Sep 7, 2020
Publication date	Feb 13, 2024
Grant date	Feb 13, 2024

Abstract

A transport vehicle control system restricts a travel speed of an article transport vehicle to less than or equal to a restrictive speed prescribed in advance, in a case where a temperature sensor detects that the temperature of a regenerative resistor is greater than or equal to a first temperature set to a higher temperature than a steady temperature range which is a temperature range of a steady state prescribed in advance, and disconnects the connection between a power supply unit and a travel motor with a switch, in a case where the temperature sensor detects that the temperature of the regenerative resistor is greater than or equal to a second temperature set to a higher temperature than the first temperature.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An article transport facility provided with an article transport vehicle that travels along a travel path and transports an article, the article transport facility comprising:
a transport vehicle control system configured to control the article transport vehicle;
wherein the article transport vehicle comprises:
a travel motor to drive a wheel of the article transport vehicle;
a power supply unit to supply power to the travel motor;
a regenerative resistor to receive supply of regenerative power produced during regeneration of the travel motor;
a temperature sensor to detect a temperature of the regenerative resistor; and
a switch disposed on an electrical connection path between the power supply unit and the travel motor, and configured to shut off power supply from the power supply unit to the travel motor, and
wherein the transport vehicle control system, in a case where the temperature sensor detects that the temperature of the regenerative resistor is greater than or equal to a first temperature set to a higher temperature than a steady temperature range which is a temperature range of a steady state prescribed in advance, restricts a travel speed of the article transport vehicle to less than or equal to a restrictive speed prescribed in advance, and
wherein the transport vehicle control system, in a case where the temperature sensor detects that the temperature of the regenerative resistor is greater than or equal to a second temperature set to a higher temperature than the first temperature, disconnects the connection between the power supply unit and the travel motor with the switch.

2. The article transport facility according to claim 1 ,
wherein the transport vehicle control system, in a case where the temperature sensor detects that the temperature of the regenerative resistor is less than a third temperature set to a lower temperature than the steady temperature range, restricts the travel speed of the article transport vehicle to less than or equal to the restrictive speed.

3. The article transport facility according to claim 1 ,
wherein the travel path includes a transport area which is an area through which the article transport vehicle passes when transporting the article, and a maintenance area which is an area through which the article transport vehicle passes when maintenance of the article transport vehicle is performed, and
wherein the transport vehicle control system restricts the travel speed of the article transport vehicle to less than or equal to the restrictive speed based on a detection result of the temperature sensor,
wherein the transport vehicle control system, in a case where the article transport vehicle is transporting the article, directs the article transport vehicle to the maintenance area, after the article has been transported to a transport destination, and
wherein the transport vehicle control system, in a case where the article transport vehicle is not transporting the article, directs the article transport vehicle straight to the maintenance area.

4. The article transport facility according to claim 2 ,
wherein the travel path includes a transport area which is an area through which the article transport vehicle passes when transporting the article, and a maintenance area which is an area through which the article transport vehicle passes when maintenance of the article transport vehicle is performed, and
wherein the transport vehicle control system restricts the travel speed of the article transport vehicle to less than or equal to the restrictive speed based on a detection result of the temperature sensor,
where the transport vehicle control system, in a case where the article transport vehicle is transporting the article, directs the article transport vehicle to the maintenance area, after the article has been transported to a transport destination, and
wherein the transport vehicle control system, in a case where the article transport vehicle is not transporting the article, directs the article transport vehicle straight to the maintenance area.

5. The article transport facility according to claim 3 ,
wherein the transport vehicle control system comprises a transport control unit provided in a facility control device that controls transportation of the article by a plurality of the article transport vehicle, and a vehicle control unit provided in each of the article transport vehicles, with bidirectional communication being possible between the facility control device and each of the article transport vehicles,
wherein the vehicle control unit performs determination based on the detection result of the temperature sensor, transmission of regenerative resistor information that is based on at least one of the detection result and the determination result based on the detection result to the transport control unit, control of the travel speed of the article transport vehicle based on the determination result, and control of the switch based on the determination result, and
wherein the transport control unit receives the regenerative resistor information, and, in a case where it is determined that the travel speed of the article transport vehicle is restricted to less than or equal to the restrictive speed based on the regenerative resistor information, transmits a transport instruction specifying a point within the maintenance area as a destination of the article transport vehicle to the article transport vehicle.

6. The article transport facility according to claim 4 ,
wherein the transport vehicle control system comprises a transport control unit provided in a facility control device that controls transportation of the article by a plurality of the article transport vehicle, and a vehicle control unit provided in each of the article transport vehicles, with bidirectional communication being possible between the facility control device and each of the article transport vehicles,
wherein the vehicle control unit performs determination based on the detection result of the temperature sensor, transmission of regenerative resistor information that is based on at least one of the detection result and the determination result based on the detection result to the transport control unit, control of the travel speed of the article transport vehicle based on the determination result, and control of the switch based on the determination result, and
wherein the transport control unit receives the regenerative resistor information and, in a case where it is determined that the travel speed of the article transport vehicle is restricted to less than or equal to the restrictive speed based on the regenerative resistor information, transmits a transport instruction specifying a point within the maintenance area as a destination of the article transport vehicle to the article transport vehicle.

7. The article transport facility according to claim 5 ,
wherein the article transport vehicle comprises a position detection unit configured to detect a position on the travel path, and transmits detected position information to the transport control unit, and
wherein the transport control unit transmits the transport instruction generated based on the position information to the article transport vehicle.

8. The article transport facility according to claim 6 ,
wherein the article transport vehicle comprises a position detection unit configured to detect a position on the travel path, and transmits detected position information to the transport control unit, and
wherein the transport control unit transmits the transport instruction generated based on the position information to the article transport vehicle.

Assignees

• Daifuku Kk

Inventors

• Nobuta Seiya
• Nishikawa Tadashi

Classifications

• H10P72/0602

  Temperature monitoring · CPC title

• H10P72/3216

  using a general scheme of a conveying path within a factory · CPC title

• H10P72/3221 Primary

  Overhead conveying · CPC title

• H10P72/3202

  Mechanical details, e.g. rollers or belts · CPC title

• H10P72/0606

  Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection · CPC title