Ceiling carrier

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12106992-B2
Application number	US-202017777404-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 15, 2020
Priority date	Nov 20, 2019
Publication date	Oct 1, 2024
Grant date	Oct 1, 2024

Abstract

An overhead transport vehicle includes: a winding drum configured to be driven by one driving motor, and to cause a holding unit to be lifted and lowered by winding and paying out a plurality of belts; at least one second idler roller around which the belt paid out from the winding drum is wound; a base provided on a traveling unit, and configured to support the winding drum and the second idler roller; and a linear motion mechanism configured to move a position of the at least one second idler roller so that a connecting portion of the belt to the holding unit moves in a lifting direction.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An overhead transport vehicle configured to cause a lifting unit including a gripping part configured to grasp an article to be lifted and lowered, by a plurality of suspending members, with respect to a traveling part configured to travel along a track, the overhead transport vehicle comprising:
a winding drum configured to be driven by a winding drive unit, and to cause the lifting unit to be lifted and lowered by winding and unwinding the suspending members;
at least one guide roller around which at least one of the suspending members is wound;
a body frame provided on the traveling part, and configured to support the winding drum and the at least one guide roller;
an actuator configured to move a position of the at least one guide roller so that a connecting portion of the at least one of the suspending members to the lifting unit moves in a lifting direction;
a storage unit configured to store an inclination of each transfer part which delivers or receives the article to or from the overhead transport vehicle; and
a third control unit configured to control the actuator so that an inclination of the lifting unit becomes substantially the same as the inclination of the transfer part on which the article is going to be placed.

2. The overhead transport vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a horizontal movement part configured to cause the lifting unit to move in a horizontal direction; and
a first control unit configured to control a movement amount of the at least one guide roller moved by the actuator based on a distortion amount of the horizontal movement part at the time when the lifting unit is moved by the horizontal movement part.

3. The overhead transport vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an inclination detection unit configured to acquire an inclination of the lifting unit with respect to a horizontal direction; and
a second control unit configured to control the actuator so that the inclination acquired by the inclination detection unit becomes a predetermined value.

4. The overhead transport vehicle according to claim 2 , further comprising:
an inclination detection unit configured to acquire an inclination of the lifting unit with respect to the horizontal direction; and
a second control unit configured to control the actuator so that the inclination acquired by the inclination detection unit becomes a predetermined value.

Assignees

• Murata Machinery Ltd

Inventors

• Kobayashi Makoto

Classifications

• H10P72/3221 Primary

  Overhead conveying · CPC title

• H10P72/3202

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

• H10P72/3218

  Conveying cassettes, containers or carriers · CPC title

• H10P72/0604

  Process monitoring, e.g. flow or thickness monitoring · CPC title

• H10P72/3222 Primary

  Loading to or unloading from a conveyor · CPC title