Article transport facility

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9944464-B2
Application number	US-201615054612-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 26, 2016
Priority date	Sep 2, 2014
Publication date	Apr 17, 2018
Grant date	Apr 17, 2018

Abstract

A stacker crane is provided with: a travelling carriage that is configured to be able to travel along the rack width direction; a first mast that is provided so as to stand on the travelling carriage; a second mast that is provided so as to stand on the same travelling carriage on which the first mast is provided; a first elevator body that is configured to be guided along the first mast; a second elevator body that is configured to be guided along the second mast so as to be able to move up/down independently of the first elevator body, and that is aligned with the first elevator body in the rack width direction in plan view; a first transferring device that is supported by the first elevator body; and a second transferring device that is supported by the second elevator body.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An article transport facility, comprising:
an article storage rack in which a plurality of storage sections are arranged in a plurality of rows in a vertical direction and a plurality of columns in a rack width direction; and
a stacker crane that is configured to travel in front of the article storage rack along the rack width direction,
wherein the stacker crane is provided with:
a travelling carriage that is configured to be able to travel along the rack width direction;
a first mast that is provided so as to stand on the travelling carriage;
a second mast that is provided so as to stand on the same travelling carriage on which the first mast is provided;
a first elevator body that is configured to be guided along the first mast;
a second elevator body that is configured to be guided along the second mast so as to be able to move up/down independently of the first elevator body, and that is aligned with the first elevator body in the rack width direction in plan view;
a first transferring device that is supported by the first elevator body and that is configured to transfer an article between the plurality of storage sections and the first transferring device; and
a second transferring device that is supported by the second elevator body and that is configured to transfer an article between the plurality of storage sections and the second transferring device,
the article transport facility further comprises a first sliding device that is supported by the first elevator body;
the first sliding device is configured to move the first transferring device along the rack width direction relative to the first elevator body; and
a maximum possible range of a movement of the first transferring device caused by the first sliding device is set to be smaller than a separation distance between a pair of storage sections that are adjacent to each other in the rack width direction.

2. The article transport facility according to claim 1 , further comprising
a second sliding device that is supported by the second elevator body, wherein
the second sliding device is configured to move the second transferring device along the rack width direction relative to the second elevator body.

3. The article transport facility according to claim 2 , wherein
the maximum possible range of a movement of the first transferring device caused by the first sliding device and a maximum possible range of a movement of the second transferring device caused by the second sliding device are set such that a sum of the ranges of movement is smaller than a separation distance between a pair of storage sections that are adjacent to each other in the rack width direction.

4. The article transport facility according to claim 1 , wherein
only one elevation guide mast is provided so as to stand on the travelling carriage,
the same elevation guide mast is configured by the first mast and the second mast, and
the first elevator body and the second elevator body are arranged on both sides of the elevation guide mast in the rack width direction, with the elevation guide mast being interposed therebetween.

5. The article transport facility according to claim 1 , wherein
a direction that is orthogonal to the rack width direction in plan view is defined as a rack front-rear direction,
the plurality of storage sections are each configured to be able to store two articles aligned in the rack front-rear direction,
the first transferring device and the second transferring device are each configured to be able to support two articles aligned in the rack front-rear direction,
a storage section to/from which the first transferring device transfers an article is defined as a first target storage section, and a storage section to/from which the second transferring device transfers an article is defined as a second target storage section, and
the article transport facility further comprises a control device that is configured to control operations of the stacker crane, and the control device is configured to perform a third movement control by which the travelling carriage is caused to travel and the first elevator body and the second elevator body are moved up/down so that: the first transferring device is moved to a first target stopping position at which the first transferring device is able to transfer an article to/from the first target storage section; and the second transferring device is moved to a second target stopping position at which the second transferring device is able to transfer an article to/from the second target storage section.

6. The article transport facility according to claim 5 , wherein
the control device is configured to perform a simultaneous transfer control by which a first transfer control and a second transfer control are simultaneously performed in a situation where the first transferring device is located at the first target stopping position and the second transferring device is located at the second target stopping position,
the first transfer control includes: a first storage transfer control by which the first transferring device is controlled so that one or two articles are transferred from the first transferring device to the first target storage section; and a first take-out transfer control by which the first transferring device is controlled so that one or two articles are transferred from the first target storage section to the first transferring device, and
the second transfer control includes: a second storage transfer control by which the second transferring device is controlled so that one or two articles are transferred from the second transferring device to the second target storage section; and a second take-out transfer control by which the second transferring device is controlled so that one or two articles are transferred from the second target storage section to the second transferring device.

7. The article transport facility according to claim 6 , wherein
the article storage rack is provided as a pair of article storage racks such that a travel path of the stacker crane is interposed therebetween and respective front faces thereof oppose each other,
in a case of sequentially performing a first simultaneous transfer control that serves as the simultaneous transfer control, the third movement control, and a second simultaneous transfer control that serves as the simultaneous transfer control, in the stated order, if the first take-out transfer control and the second storage transfer control have been performed in the first simultaneous transfer control, the control device performs the first storage transfer control and the second take-out transfer control in the second simultaneous transfer control, and if the first storage transfer control and the second take-out transfer control have been performed in the first simultaneous transfer control, the control device performs the first take-out transfer control and the second storage transfer control in the second simultaneous transfer control,
in the first take-out transfer control and the second take-out transfer control performed in the first simultaneous transfer control, if, out of two articles stored in a storage section that is a transfer target, a rear-side article is an unload target article and a front-side article is a non-unload target article, the control device transfers the two articles, namely the unload target article and the non-unload target article, from the storage section of one article storage rack out of the pair of article storage racks to the first transferring device or to the second transferring device, and
in the first storage transfer control and the second storage transfer control performed in the second simultaneous transfer control, if an unload target a

Assignees

• Daifuku Kk

Inventors

• Ueda Yuichi
• Iwata Masashige
• Makimura Kazunori

Classifications

• B65G1/0407 Primary

  using stacker cranes (constructional features of stacker cranes B66F9/06) · CPC title

• B65G1/0428

  Transfer means for the stacker crane between the alleys · CPC title

• B65G1/1373 Primary

  for fulfilling orders in warehouses · CPC title

• B65G1/1375

  the orders being assembled on a commissioning stacker-crane or truck · CPC title

• B65G1/0421 Primary

  with control for stacker crane operations · CPC title