US-12623850-B2 - Traveling vehicle and transfer system

Abstract

Provided is a ceiling traveling vehicle that travels on a track including a pair of travel rails and including an upper guide rail in a branching portion, the traveling vehicle including: a body portion; a pair of travel wheels each configured to roll on a corresponding one of the travel rails; an upper guide roller configured to roll in contact with the upper guide rail; and a cam configured to adjust a position of the upper guide roller in a right-and-left direction in the body portion, depending on the branching portion.

Inventors

• Yasushi Morikawa

Assignees

• DAIFUKU CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20230905

Priority Date

20221014

Claims (5)

1. 1 . A traveling vehicle that travels on a track including a pair of travel rails and including a guide rail in a branching portion, the traveling vehicle comprising: a body portion; a pair of wheels each configured to roll on a corresponding one of the pair of travel rails; a guide roller configured to roll in contact with the guide rail; an adjusting mechanism configured to adjust a position of the guide roller in a right-and-left direction in the body portion; a driven member movable in the right-and-left directions and configured to retain the guide roller in a selected position; and a mechanism configured to, together with the driven member configured to retain the guide roller, move the guide roller in the right-and-left direction, wherein the guide roller is configured to be positioned, by the mechanism configured to move the guide roller in the right-and-left direction, at either a first position for bringing the traveling vehicle to run on a right branch track in the branching portion or a second position for bringing the traveling vehicle to run on a left branch track in the branching portion, the first position and the second position being separated from each other in the right-to-left direction in the body portion, and the adjusting mechanism is a mechanism configured to (i) change a position at which the driven member, configured to retain the guide roller, comes into and out of contact with the adjusting mechanism and (ii) thereby further adjust, in the right-to-left direction and depending on each of a plurality of the branching portions of the track, the position of the guide roller at the first position and at the second position at which the guide roller is positioned by the mechanism configured to move the guide roller in the right-and-left direction.
2. 2 . The traveling vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein, in the track, the guide rail is installed above the travel rails.
3. 3 . The traveling vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the adjusting mechanism is a mechanism for performing positioning by using a cam.
4. 4 . The traveling vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein when the guide roller is positioned at the first position, the guide rail is located to the left of the guide roller, and when the guide roller is positioned at the second position, the guide rail is located to the right of the guide roller.
5. 5 . The traveling vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising a control section, wherein the control section comprises: an acquiring section configured to acquire, for each travel location, an appropriate position of the guide roller based on which the adjusting mechanism is operated; and a manipulating section configured to manipulate the adjusting mechanism by driving the driven member in right and left directions to position the guide roller at the appropriate position.

Description

This Nonprovisional application claims priority under U.S.C. § 119 on Patent Application No. 2022-165842 filed in Japan on Oct. 14, 2022, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to traveling vehicles. BACKGROUND ART Traveling vehicles have been used in clean rooms, factories, hospitals, libraries, and the like. Such a traveling vehicle, such as a ceiling traveling vehicle, transfers an article along a track. A traveling vehicle can transfer an article to various locations inside a building through a track network formed with tracks branching and joining. At a point where a track branches, either the right or left of a pair of travel rails is interrupted depending on the travel direction, and only one of the right and left wheels runs on the travel rail. It is difficult to keep the posture of the traveling vehicle only with a single wheel. Therefore, at such a branching point, the traveling vehicle runs while being supported by an upper guide rail, which is separated from the travel rail. That is, the traveling vehicle may run such that one of the wheels is in contact with the travel rail and an upper guide roller is in contact with the upper guide rail. CITATION LIST Patent Literature [Patent Literature 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication Tokukai No. 2005-186843 SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem There is a concern that the ceiling traveling vehicle cannot run smoothly at the branching portion of the track, because there is a limit on the extent to which the construction accuracy of the travel rail and the upper guide rail can increase. An object of an aspect of the present invention is to provide a traveling vehicle capable of accurately maintaining the traveling posture and smoothly traveling even in a branching portion of a track. Solution to Problem To achieve the object, a traveling vehicle in accordance with an aspect of the present invention is a traveling vehicle that travels on a track including a pair of travel rails and including a guide rail in a branching portion, the traveling vehicle including: a body portion; a pair of wheels each configured to roll on a corresponding one of the pair of travel rails; a guide roller configured to roll in contact with the guide rail; and an adjusting mechanism configured to adjust a position of the guide roller in a right-and-left direction in the body portion, depending on a plurality of the branching portions of the track. Advantageous Effects of Invention According to an aspect of the present invention, the traveling vehicle can travel while maintaining its posture at a branching portion of the track. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective external view of a ceiling traveling vehicle. FIG. 2 is a perspective external view of a travel unit. FIG. 3 is a top view of a track on which the ceiling traveling vehicle runs. FIG. 4 is a front view of the travel unit in a branching portion during traveling. FIG. 5 is a front view of the travel unit, illustrating the operation of cams under a circumstance. FIG. 6 is a front view of the travel unit, illustrating the operation of the cams under another circumstance. FIG. 7 is a side view of the travel unit. FIG. 8 is a top view of the travel unit. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a main part of a control section of the ceiling traveling vehicle. FIG. 10 is an example of a flowchart for the ceiling traveling vehicle. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiment The following description will discuss in detail an embodiment of the present invention. (Configuration of Ceiling Traveling Vehicle 1) FIG. 1 is a perspective external view of a ceiling traveling vehicle 1. The ceiling traveling vehicle 1 includes a travel unit 2 configured to run on a track such as a travel rail, and a carriage unit 3 configured to transfer an article. FIG. 2 is a perspective external view of the travel unit 2. The travel unit 2 is divided into front and rear parts. Each part includes a body portion 21, a pair of travel wheels 22, an upper guide roller (guide roller) 23, a pair of cams (adjusting mechanism) 24, a rotary solenoid 25, and a branch guide sensor 26. The body portion 21 is a body on which each component of the travel unit 2 are secured. In the travel unit 2, the body portions 21 are arranged in the front-and-rear direction and are fastened with a pin. This enables the travel unit 2 to easily run even on a curved track. The travel wheels 22 are wheels each configured to run on the travel rail, and are for use in traveling of the ceiling traveling vehicle 1. In each of the front and rear parts of the travel unit 2, the travel wheels 22 are a pair of wheels. The travel wheels 22 are driven to rotate by rotational motion of the travel motor 22a having the rotational speed reduced by a speed reducer 22b. The upper guide roller 23 has a function of maintaining the posture of the ceiling traveling vehicle 1 by rotating in co