JP-7856714-B2 - Alert systems and industrial vehicles

JP7856714B2JP 7856714 B2JP7856714 B2JP 7856714B2JP-7856714-B2

Inventors

白井雅之

Assignees

三菱ロジスネクスト株式会社

Dates

Publication Date: 20260511
Application Date: 20240911

Claims (6)

Industrial vehicles that perform loading and unloading operations within a designated work area, Sensor unit, A voice alert unit that provides voice warnings to the operator of the industrial vehicle, An alert system that includes, The aforementioned industrial vehicle is The vehicle body, which is equipped with a steering wheel, The vehicle body is provided with a mast and forks, A handle for rotating the steering wheel, A first control unit that controls the cargo handling and travel operation, including the aforementioned turning motion, The system includes a second control unit that identifies dangerous behavior based on detection information from the sensor unit, The aforementioned sensor unit is A first sensor for detecting the sharp turn of the aforementioned industrial vehicle, A second sensor detects that the load loaded on the fork is a load of a height above a predetermined height, Includes a third sensor for detecting the aforementioned turning motion, The second control unit is, An input unit into which the aforementioned detection information is input, A storage unit that stores first dangerous behavior data linking a sharp right turn, the criteria for determining the sharp right turn, and the dangerous behavior ID for the sharp right turn; second dangerous behavior data linking a sharp left turn, the criteria for determining the sharp left turn, and the dangerous behavior ID for the sharp left turn; and third dangerous behavior data linking a high load turn, the criteria for determining the high load turn, and the dangerous behavior ID for the high load turn. A processing unit that identifies the dangerous actions of the sharp right turn, the sharp left turn, and the high load turn from the detection information, The system includes an output unit that outputs a first signal relating to the dangerous act ID of the dangerous act identified by the processing unit, The aforementioned voice alert unit is The audio data storage unit stores, as warning audio data, a first warning audio data linked to the dangerous act ID for sharp right turns, a second warning audio data linked to the dangerous act ID for sharp left turns, and a third warning audio data linked to the dangerous act ID for high-load turns. A voice data processing unit receives the first signal, identifies the warning voice data from the first signal, and plays the warning voice data; The system includes a speaker that outputs the audio of the warning audio data being played, The second sensor is an area sensor provided on the upper part of the mast, and is configured such that, in a plan view, the left end of the detection range extends to the left of the left side of the fork, and the right end of the detection range extends to the right of the right side of the fork, and when it detects the heavy load loaded on the fork in a low lifting height state, it outputs a detection signal to the second control unit. The alert system is characterized in that the conditions for determining high-load turning are that the second sensor outputs the detection signal and the third sensor detects the turning motion.
The first dangerous act data, the second dangerous act data, and the third dangerous act data are further linked to the actions that restrict the cargo handling driving operation. The output unit outputs a second signal relating to the restrictive action to the first control unit. The alert system according to claim 1, characterized in that when the first control unit receives the second signal, it decelerates or limits the speed of the vehicle body as the restricting action.
The aforementioned sensor unit is The third sensor detects the turning angle of the steering wheel, The fork includes a load sensor that detects the weight of the load held by the fork, The alert system according to claim 2, characterized in that the first control unit initiates the limiting action when the turning angle reaches a predetermined threshold, and the threshold is reduced as the weight increases.
The aforementioned industrial vehicle is A pair of left and right turn signals are provided on the vehicle body, The system further includes a turn signal switch that selects and illuminates one of the pair of left and right turn signals, The alert system according to claim 1, characterized in that when the turn signal switch is operated by the operator, the first control unit decelerates or limits the speed of the vehicle before the second control unit identifies the sharp right turn or the sharp left turn.
The first sensor measures the lateral acceleration of the vehicle body, The alert system according to claim 1, characterized in that the conditions for determining a sharp right turn and the conditions for determining a sharp left turn are that the measured value of the first sensor is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold.
A server that is communicatively connected to the aforementioned industrial vehicle, Includes a management device that is communicably connected to the server, The industrial vehicle includes a camera unit that, at least while the warning audio data is being played back, captures images of the surroundings to generate video data and saves the video data to the server. The alert system according to claim 1, characterized in that the management device is capable of acquiring the video data from the server.

Description

This invention relates to an alert system and an industrial vehicle. Forklift operation management systems have been known for managing the operating status of forklifts. A forklift operation management system typically consists of a forklift equipped with a data logger unit (DLU), a server communicatively connected to the DLU, and a management device communicatively connected to the server. The DLU (Data Logistics Unit) can store not only the operating status of forklifts but also records of dangerous forklift operations on its server. Therefore, administrators of the forklift operation management system can access the server from the management device to check the operating status and dangerous forklift operations. On the other hand, when a dangerous situation occurs, the forklift will warn the operator with a buzzer or warning light. For example, if there is a step in the road surface, the forklift described in Patent Document 1 will illuminate a warning light on the instrument panel in the driver's seat or sound a buzzer to inform the operator that a step is nearby. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-272700 This figure shows a forklift according to the first embodiment.This figure shows the forward/reverse switch and turn signal switch of a forklift according to the first embodiment.This is a block diagram of the first control unit of the forklift according to the first embodiment.This is a block diagram of the second control unit and the voice alert unit of the forklift according to the first embodiment.This figure shows the detection range of a high load sensor for a forklift according to the first embodiment, where (A) is a side view and (B) is a top view.This diagram shows the relationship between the forklift, server, and management device in the first embodiment.This figure shows a forklift according to the second embodiment.This is a block diagram of the first control unit of the forklift according to the second embodiment. The following describes embodiments of the alert system and industrial vehicle according to the present invention, with reference to the attached drawings. [First Embodiment] As shown in Figure 1, the alert system according to the first embodiment of the present invention consists of at least one forklift 1A. The forklift 1A corresponds to the "industrial vehicle" of the present invention and performs cargo handling and driving operations within a predetermined work area. The cargo handling and driving operations include cargo handling operations and driving operations, and the driving operations include turning operations. The work area is, for example, an area within any building such as a factory or warehouse. The work area has multiple shelves, on which cargo W, etc., is stored. Above the work area are obstacles (upper obstacles) such as a ceiling, gate, or protrusions. Forklift 1A is a counterbalanced type battery-powered forklift comprising a vehicle body 10, a cargo handling device 20, an acceleration sensor 30 included in the "sensor unit" of the present invention, a first control unit 40, a second control unit 50, an audio alert unit 60, and a battery (not shown). The lower part of the vehicle body 10 is provided with a pair of front wheels 11 and rear wheels 12. In the forklift 1A, the front wheels 11 are drive wheels driven by a travel motor, and the rear wheels 12 are steering wheels steered (turned) by a steering motor. The vehicle body 10 is equipped with an operator's seat 13. An accelerator 14 and a brake 15 are located at the front lower part of the driver's seat 13, and a steering wheel 16 and control panel 17 are provided on the dashboard in front of the driver's seat 13. The accelerator pedal 14 is configured to be operated by the operator in the driver's seat 13 by pressing it with their foot. When the accelerator pedal 14 is in the "on" state (pedal pressed), it accelerates the vehicle body 10 according to the amount of pedal depression (accelerator opening). Conversely, when switching from the "on" state to the "off" state (pedal not pressed), it generates a weak regenerative brake to decelerate the vehicle body 10. The brake 15 is a brake pedal configured to be operated by the operator in the driver's seat 13 by pressing it with their foot. When the brake 15 is in the "on" state (pedal pressed), it generates stronger regenerative braking than the regenerative braking of the accelerator 14, decelerating the vehicle body 10. When it is in the "off" state, it does not generate regenerative braking. The steering wheel 16 is connected to the rear wheel 12 via a steering control mechanism 42, which will be described later. The operator can change the direction (turning angle) of the rear wheel 12 by rotating the steering wheel 16. When the steering wheel 16 is not rotated (straight-line driving), the turning angle of the rear wheel 12 is 0°. As shown in Figure 2, the operating unit 17 includes cargo handling levers (lift lever 17a and tilt lever 17