US-12623861-B2 - Transport vehicle with grip drive section

US12623861B2US 12623861 B2US12623861 B2US 12623861B2US-12623861-B2

Abstract

A first guide body includes a pair of first guide surfaces and corrects the position in a second direction of a gripping body section relative to a first grip section by at least one of the pair of first guide surfaces coming into contact with the first grip section during a lowering operation for gripping. A second guide body includes a pair of second guide surfaces and corrects the position in the second direction of the gripping body section relative to a target grip section by at least one of the pair of second guide surfaces coming into contact with the target grip section during the lowering operation for gripping. The first guide body and the second guide body are spaced apart from each other in at least either a first direction or the second direction.

Inventors

Yoshinari Wada

Assignees

DAIFUKU CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20231207
Priority Date: 20221208

Claims (6)

1 . A transport vehicle configured to travel along a travel route and transport a container having a predetermined shape, the transport vehicle comprising: a gripping device configured to grip the container; and an elevation device configured to raise and lower the gripping device, wherein: the container comprises: a container body; and a first grip section and a second grip section that protrude upward from a body upper surface, which is an upper surface of the container body, and are configured to be gripped by the gripping device, the first grip section and the second grip section extend along a first direction, which is a specified direction parallel with the body upper surface, and are spaced apart from each other in a second direction, which is a direction parallel with the body upper surface and orthogonal to the first direction, the gripping device comprises: a gripping body section suspended from the elevation device; a pair of grippers supported by the gripping body section; a grip drive section configured to move the pair of grippers toward each other and away from each other in the second direction, the grip drive section including a linear motion mechanism; a first guide body supported by the gripping body section independent of the pair of grippers, and configured to guide the gripping body section relative to the first grip section; and a second guide body supported by the gripping body section independent of the pair of grippers, and configured to guide the gripping body section relative to a target grip section, which is either the first grip section or the second grip section, the first guide body comprises a pair of first guide surfaces configured to be respectively located on opposite sides of the first grip section in the second direction after completion of a lowering operation for gripping, which is an operation in which the gripping device is lowered by the elevation device in order to grip the first grip section and the second grip section with the pair of grippers, the first guide body is further configured to correct a position in the second direction of the gripping body section relative to the first grip section by at least one of the pair of first guide surfaces coming into contact with the first grip section during the lowering operation for gripping, the second guide body comprises a pair of second guide surfaces configured to be respectively located on opposite sides of the target grip section in the second direction after completion of the lowering operation for gripping, the second guide body is further configured to correct a position in the second direction of the gripping body section relative to the target grip section by at least one of the pair of second guide surfaces coming into contact with the target grip section during the lowering operation for gripping, and the first guide body and the second guide body are spaced apart from each other in at least either the first direction or the second direction, wherein: the first grip section and the second grip section each comprise: a grip body section spaced upward from the body upper surface and shaped as a narrow plate extending along the first direction; and a connecting section connecting the grip body section and the body upper surface, the pair of first guide surfaces are shaped as flat surfaces inclined so as to approach each other while extending upward, extend along the first direction during the lowering operation for gripping, and are located to surround a first portion of an outer edge of the grip body section after completion of the lowering operation for gripping, the pair of second guide surfaces are shaped as flat surfaces inclined so as to approach each other while extending upward, extend along the first direction during the lowering operation for gripping, and are located to surround a second portion of the outer edge of the grip body section after completion of the lowering operation for gripping.
2 . The transport vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein: the gripping device further comprises: a first support mechanism supporting the first guide body; and a second support mechanism supporting the second guide body, the first support mechanism is configured to restrict movement of the first guide body relative to the gripping body section in the first direction and the second direction, and allow movement of the first guide body relative to the gripping body section in an up-down direction within a predetermined first range, and the second support mechanism is configured to restrict movement of the second guide body relative to the gripping body section in the first direction and the second direction, and allow movement of the second guide body relative to the gripping body section in the up-down direction within a predetermined second range.
3 . The transport vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the target grip section is the second grip section.
4 . The transport vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein: a first side in the first direction is one side in the first direction, and a second side in the first direction is another side in the first direction, the first guide body further comprises a third guide surface configured to be located on the first side in the first direction of the first grip section after completion of the lowering operation for gripping, the second guide body further comprises a fourth guide surface configured to be located on the second side in the first direction of the target grip section after completion of the lowering operation for gripping, and correction of a position in the first direction of the gripping body section relative to the first grip section and the target grip section is performed by at least either the third guide surface coming into contact with the first grip section or the fourth guide surface coming into contact with the target grip section.
5 . The transport vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein: at least either the first grip section or the second grip section comprises a positioning recession in an upper surface, the gripping device further comprises a positioning body configured to position the gripping device relative to the positioning recession by engaging with the positioning recession, and the first guide body and the second guide body are formed such that a first allowable deviation amount and a second allowable deviation amount are greater than an allowable positioning deviation amount, where the first allowable deviation amount is a maximum amount of deviation in the second direction between the first guide body and the first grip section according to which at least one of the pair of first guide surfaces can come into contact with the first grip section, the second allowable deviation amount is a maximum amount of deviation in the second direction between the second guide body and the target grip section according to which at least one of the pair of second guide surfaces can come into contact with the target grip section, and the allowable positioning deviation amount is a maximum amount of deviation in the second direction between the positioning body and the positioning recession according to which the positioning body can engage with the positioning recession.
6 . The transport vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein: a reference range in an up-down direction is a range of relative positions in the up-down direction of the gripping device relative to the container at which the first grip section and the second grip section can be gripped by the pair of grippers, and a reference range in the second direction is a range of relative positions in the second direction of the gripping device relative to the container at which the first grip section and the second grip section can be gripped by the pair of grippers, the first guide body is configured to start to guide the first grip section while the gripping device is located higher than the reference range in the up-down direction, and guide the gripping body section relative to the first grip section in the second direction in such a manner that the gripping device is arranged in the reference range in the second direction while the gripping device is located in the reference range in the up-down direction, and the second guide body is configured to start to guide the target grip section while the gripping device is located higher than the reference range in the up-down direction, and guide the gripping body section relative to the target grip section in the second direction in such a manner that the gripping device is arranged in the reference range in the second direction while the gripping device is located in the reference range in the up-down direction.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-196564 filed Dec. 8, 2023, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transport vehicle that travels along a travel route and transports a container having a predetermined shape. 2. Description of Related Art For example, in a semiconductor manufacturing factory or the like, a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate is housed in a dedicated container and transported in that state by a transport vehicle. The shape of the container is determined in advance in accordance with a standard. The transport vehicle is configured to grip the container using a gripping method that conforms to the shape of the container. One example of such a transport vehicle is disclosed in JP 2005-064130A (Patent Document 1). In the following description of the related art, the reference numbers shown in parentheses are those used in Patent Document 1. The transport vehicle (1) disclosed in Patent Document 1 transfers a container (51) by using a gripping device (32) to grip a grip section (53) of the container (51). The gripping device (32) approaches the container (51) at a target transfer location from above, and stops at an appropriate position for gripping. At the stop position, the gripping device (32) starts a gripping operation and grips the grip section (53) of the container (51). In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the container (51) that is to be gripped includes one grip section (53). However, in this type of field, there are containers that include a plurality of grip sections. In order to grip such a container that includes a plurality of grip sections, it is sometimes necessary for the gripping device to be more accurately arranged at an appropriate position relative to the container before starting the gripping operation. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, there is desire for the realization of a transport vehicle that can appropriately grip a container that includes a plurality of grip sections. The following is technology for solving the above-described problems. One aspect of the present invention is a transport vehicle configured to travel along a travel route and transport a container having a predetermined shape, the transport vehicle including: a gripping device configured to grip the container; andan elevation device configured to raise and lower the gripping device,wherein the container includes: a container body; anda first grip section and a second grip section that protrude upward from a body upper surface, which is an upper surface of the container body, and are configured to be gripped by the gripping device, the first grip section and the second grip section extend along a first direction, which is a specified direction parallel with the body upper surface, and are spaced apart from each other in a second direction, which is a direction parallel with the body upper surface and orthogonal to the first direction,the gripping device includes: a gripping body section suspended from the elevation device;a pair of grippers supported by the gripping body section;a grip drive section configured to move the pair of grippers toward each other and away from each other in the second direction;a first guide body supported by the gripping body section independent of the pair of grippers, and configured to guide the gripping body section relative to the first grip section; anda second guide body supported by the gripping body section independent of the pair of grippers, and configured to guide the gripping body section relative to a target grip section, which is either the first grip section or the second grip section, the first guide body includes a pair of first guide surfaces configured to be respectively located on opposite sides of the first grip section in the second direction after completion of a lowering operation for gripping, which is an operation in which the gripping device is lowered by the elevation device in order to grip the first grip section and the second grip section with the pair of grippers,the first guide body is further configured to correct a position in the second direction of the gripping body section relative to the first grip section by at least one of the pair of first guide surfaces coming into contact with the first grip section during the lowering operation for gripping,the second guide body includes a pair of second guide surfaces configured to be respectively located on opposite sides of the target grip section in the second direction after completion of the lowering operation for gripping,the second guide body is further configured to correct a position in the second direction of the gripping body section relative to the target grip section by at least one of the pair of second gu