IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,091,257
Granted Patent B2
US 12,091,257 · App. 17/328,111 · Granted Sep 17, 2024

Article transport facility

Inventors: Koichi Hagiwara (Komaki, JP); Shota Masamura (Komaki, JP)
Assignee: Daifuku Co., Ltd.
B65G43/02B65G1/0457B66C13/40B66C19/00H01L21/67724H01L21/67727B65G2203/0258B65G2203/0275B65G2203/0283B65G2203/0291B65G2203/042B65G2811/0678B65G2811/095
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,091,257
App. No.
17/328,111
Granted
Sep 17, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

A travel path of an article transport facility provided with a plurality of article transport vehicles that travel along the travel path and transport articles, and a control device that controls operation of the article transport vehicles includes a path set in an inspection area for causing a target transport vehicle designated as an inspection target from among the plurality of article transport vehicles to travel along. The target transport vehicle includes a sensor that detects behavior of the target transport vehicle during travel. The control device controls the plurality of article transport vehicles such that only the one target transport vehicle is present in the inspection area, and causes the target transport vehicle to travel in the inspection area in an inspection travel pattern prescribed in advance.

Claims (19)

1. An article transport facility comprising:

a plurality of article transport vehicles that travel along a prescribed travel path to transport an article; and

a control device that controls operation of the article transport vehicles,

wherein:

the travel path includes a path set in an inspection area, wherein for causing a target transport vehicle designated as an inspection target from among the plurality of article transport vehicles is caused to travel along the path set in the inspection area,

the target transport vehicle includes a sensor that detects the behavior of the target transport vehicle during travel,

the control device controls the plurality of article transport vehicles such that only the one target transport vehicle is present in the inspection area, and causes the target transport vehicle to travel in the inspection area in an inspection travel pattern prescribed in advance, and

the control device acquires inspection data that is based on a detection result of the sensor from the target transport vehicle during travel in the inspection travel pattern.

2. The article transport facility according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor detects at least one of torque of a motor that causes the target transport vehicle to travel, rotational speed of a wheel of the target transport vehicle or a rotational member that moves in tandem with the wheel, and vibration of the target transport vehicle.

3. The article transport facility according to claim 1 ,

wherein the inspection area includes a straight path, a curved path, a branching part where a path branch into a plurality of paths, and a merging part where a plurality of paths merge together, and

wherein the inspection travel pattern includes acceleration, deceleration, and constant speed travel.

4. The article transport facility according to claim 1 , wherein the inspection area is set to include one of two paths parallelly disposed and on which movement directions of the article transport vehicles are in a same direction.

5. The article transport facility according to claim 1 ,

wherein a weight of the article during transport by the article transport vehicles is taken as a transport weight, and

wherein the control device designates the article transport vehicles as the target transport vehicle based on a condition that the transport weight is a prescribed value.

6. The article transport facility according to claim 1 ,

wherein the target transport vehicle includes a detection result acquisition unit that acquires the inspection data, and an inspection data transmission unit that transmits the inspection data, and

wherein the inspection data transmission unit wirelessly transmits the inspection data to the control device.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 24, 2021
From: HAGIWARA, KOICHI; MASAMURA, SHOTA
To: DAIFUKU CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 056328/0792 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2020-090372 · May 25, 2020 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20210362957A1 · Nov 25, 2021