Article conveyance apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12304532-B2
Application number	US-201917440412-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 6, 2019
Priority date	Mar 20, 2019
Publication date	May 20, 2025
Grant date	May 20, 2025

Abstract

An article conveyance apparatus couples a plurality of conveyor carriages for conveying articles and enables the coupled conveyor carriages to travel along a conveyance path K. The conveyor carriage is coupled by a coupling part to another conveyor carriage placed in the longitudinal direction with respect to a traveling direction H of the conveyor carriage. The conveyor carriage includes a load cell that is provided in the coupling part and measures a force applied between the conveyor carriages, and a controller that calculates a force F applied to wheels of the conveyor carriage, based on a tension T between the conveyor carriages calculated according to the force applied between the conveyor carriages and measured by the load cell.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An article conveyance apparatus, comprising:
a plurality of conveyor carriages coupled for conveying articles, the coupled conveyor carriages being enabled to travel along a conveyance path, each of the conveyor carriages being coupled by a coupling part to another one of the conveyor carriages placed in a longitudinal direction with respect to a traveling direction of the conveyor carriages, the conveyor carriages comprising a measuring unit that is provided in the coupling part and measures a force applied between the conveyor carriages coupled by the coupling part;
a tension calculation unit that calculates a tension between the conveyor carriages based on the force applied between the conveyor carriages measured by the measuring units;
a calculation unit that calculates a force applied to wheels provided in a gap between adjacent ones of the conveyor carriages, based on the tension between the conveyor carriages calculated by the tension calculation unit; and
a controller that determines whether the wheels are floating based on the force applied to the wheels calculated by the calculation unit, the controller stopping the travel of the conveyor carriages or providing a warning if the controller determined the wheels are floating,
wherein the wheels are possible to float by a compressive force between the adjacent ones of the conveyor carriages.

2. The article conveyance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the measuring unit is provided in at least two of the coupling parts provided for respective gaps between the conveyor carriages.

3. The article conveyance apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the measuring unit includes a load cell.

4. The article conveyance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the measuring unit is provided in the conveyor carriage, and
the tension calculation unit and the calculation unit are provided on a ground side where the conveyor carriages travel.

Assignees

• Daifuku Kk

Inventors

• Ueda Yuichi
• Matsui Osamu
• Koide Hiroyuki
• Ishikura Atsushi

Classifications

• B65G2203/042

  Sensors · CPC title

• B65G17/38

  Chains or like traction elements (drive chains F16G13/00); Connections between traction elements and load-carriers · CPC title

• B65G47/96 Primary

  Devices for tilting links or platform {(releasing load-carriers B65G47/38)} · CPC title

• B65G2203/04

  Detection means · CPC title

• B65G17/12

  comprising a series of individual load-carriers fixed, or normally fixed, relative to traction element · CPC title