Article transport facility

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9896283-B2
Application number	US-201615352916-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2016
Priority date	Nov 17, 2015
Publication date	Feb 20, 2018
Grant date	Feb 20, 2018

Abstract

An article transport facility includes a support member capable of supporting a second support component from below while allowing a vertical movement of a first support component with respect to the second support component, in a projected state in which the second support component is located in a projected position. The support member is supported directly or indirectly by a ceiling.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An article transport facility comprising:
a transport device capable of traveling along a travel path formed on a ceiling side to transport an article; and
a transport target location which functions as a transport origin or a transport destination for an article for a transporting operation by the transport device;
wherein the transport target location is located at a position that is lower than the travel path and that is outside the travel path along a path width direction which is a lateral width direction of the travel path,
wherein the transport device includes a travel portion capable of traveling in and along the travel path, a first support component capable of supporting an article, a second support component which suspends and supports the first support component, a first actuator capable of vertically moving the first support component with respect to the second support component, and a second actuator capable of moving the second support component along the path width direction with respect to the travel portion between a retracted position in which the second support component is in the travel path and a projected position in which the second support component overlaps with the transport target location as seen along a vertical direction,
wherein a support member is provided which is capable of supporting the second support component from below while allowing a vertical movement of the first support component with respect to the second support component, in a projected state which is a state in which the second support component is located in the projected position, and
wherein the support member is supported directly or indirectly by a ceiling.

2. The article transport facility as defined in claim 1 , wherein the travel portion is configured to travel along the travel path with the travel portion supported by a travel rail suspended from the ceiling,
wherein the support member is attached to the travel rail such that at least a part of a load that acts on the support member is supported by the ceiling through the travel rail.

3. The article transport facility as defined in claim 1 , wherein the support member has a support portion located at a position at which, as seen along the vertical direction, the support portion overlaps, from below, with a supported portion provided to the second support component, in the projected state,
wherein the first actuator is configured to vertically move the first support component, with the second support component in the retracted position, between a first height at which the first support component is located in the travel path, and a second height which is lower than the first height and which is a height for transferring an article between the transport target location and the first support component, and
wherein a vertical distance between the support portion and the supported portion in the projected state is set such as to be greater than zero when the first support component is at the first height.

4. The article transport facility as defined in claim 1 , wherein the support member has a support portion located at a position at which, as seen along the vertical direction, the support portion overlaps, from below, with a supported portion provided to the second support component, in the projected state,
wherein the second support component is supported by the support member from below when the supported portion and the support portion are in contact with each other,
wherein the supported portion is a rotatable roller which is rotatable about an axis extending along the travel path, and
wherein the support portion has, on an upper side thereof, a flat supporting surface which extends along the path width direction.

5. The article transport facility as defined in claim 1 , wherein the second support component has a first supported portion and a second supported portion which are two supported portions with one located on one side and the other located on the other side, of a central portion of the second support component along a direction along the travel path,
wherein the support member has a first support portion which is a support portion located at a position at which the first support portion overlaps, from below, with the first supported portion, in the projected state, as seen along the vertical direction, and a second support portion which is a support portion located at a position at which the second support portion overlaps, from below, with the second supported portion, in the projected state, as seen along the vertical direction, and
wherein the second support component is supported by the support member from below, when the first supported portion and the first support portion are in contact with each other and when the second supported portion and the second support portion are in contact with each other.

6. The article transport facility as defined in claim 1 , wherein a first transport target location is provided as the transport target location, wherein a second transport target location is provided separately from the first transport target location to function as a transport origin or a transport destination for an article for a transporting operation by the transport device, wherein a controller for controlling operation of the transport device is provided,
wherein the second transport target location is located at a position that is higher than the first transport target location and that is outside the travel path along the path width direction,
wherein, when the first transport target location is a transport origin or a transport destination for an article for a transporting operation by the transport device, the controller performs a control for causing the transport device to travel to a position along the travel path that corresponds to the first transport target location and subsequently causing the second support component to be accelerated at a first acceleration and then decelerated at a first deceleration, to cause the second support component to be moved from the retracted position to the projected position,
wherein, when the second transport target location is a transport origin or a transport destination for an article for a transporting operation by the transport device, the controller performs a control for causing the transport device to travel to a position along the travel path that corresponds to the second transport target location and subsequently causing the second support component to be accelerated at a second acceleration and then decelerated at a second deceleration, to cause the second support component to be moved from the retracted position to a position which overlaps with the second transport target location as seen along a vertical direction, and
wherein the first acceleration, the first deceleration, the second acceleration, and the second deceleration are set so as to satisfy at least one of;
a condition that an absolute value of the first acceleration is smaller than an absolute value of the second acceleration;
and a condition that an absolute value of the first deceleration is smaller than an absolute value of the second deceleration.

Assignees

• Daifuku Kk

Inventors

• Tsuji Tomohiko
• Asahi Kazuya

Classifications

• H10P72/7602

  the wafers being placed on a robot blade or gripped by a gripper for conveyance · CPC title

• H10P72/3222

  Loading to or unloading from a conveyor · CPC title

• H10P72/3221

  Overhead conveying · CPC title

• H10P72/3218 Primary

  Conveying cassettes, containers or carriers · CPC title

• B65G2201/0297

  Wafer cassette · CPC title