Conveyance facility

Abstract

To provide a technology that can appropriately manage a period of maintenance-related processing for a conveyance vehicle in a conveyance facility that includes the conveyance vehicle that moves across a plurality of areas to convey an article and a control device that manages each of the plurality of areas.SOLUTION: A conveyance facility 1 includes a conveyance vehicle 2, a processing device 3 for performing maintenance-related processing, and a plurality of control devices H. Each of the plurality of control devices H stores execution time information D1 indicating an execution period of previous maintenance-related processing of the conveyance vehicle 2 present in a coverage area 10a in association with conveyance vehicle identification information, and manages a period of performing the maintenance-related processing based on the execution time information. When the conveyance vehicle 2 moves to another area 10, the control device H, which is responsible for the coverage area 10a of the area 10 of a moving destination, is notified of execution period information D1 of the conveyance vehicle itself, and the control device H stores the notified execution period information D1 in association with conveyance vehicle specific information of the conveyance vehicle 2 that issued the notification.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a conveying facility.

Background Art

[0002] For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2015-158813 (Patent Document 1) discloses a technology related to a conveying facility. Hereinafter, the reference numerals shown in parentheses in the description of the background art are those of Patent Document 1.

[0003] The conveying facility of Patent Document 1 includes a conveyance vehicle (conveyance trolley 1) that conveys an article (3) and a control device (ground panel 50) that controls the conveyance vehicle. The conveyance vehicle includes a storage unit. Information related to maintenance processing of the own vehicle (information indicating a maintenance history or the like) is stored in this storage unit. The control device stores the information related to maintenance processing notified from the conveyance vehicle in association with the ID of the conveyance vehicle. Therefore, since the information related to the maintenance processing of the conveyance vehicle can be centrally managed by the control device, it becomes easier to plan the maintenance of the conveyance vehicle.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In the conveying facility of Patent Document 1, the area where the conveyance vehicle moves is managed by one control device. On the other hand, in a conveying facility where the conveyance vehicle moves across a plurality of floors or buildings, each of the plurality of such areas may be managed by a different control device. In such a case, there is a problem that it is difficult to appropriately manage the cycle of maintenance-related processing of the conveyance vehicle.

[0006] Therefore, in a conveying facility including a carrier that moves across a plurality of areas to convey an article and a control device that manages each of the plurality of areas, it is desired to provide a technology capable of appropriately managing the cycle of maintenance-related processing of the carrier.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The conveying facility according to the present disclosure is a conveying facility including a carrier that moves across a plurality of areas to convey an article, a processing device that performs maintenance-related processing which is processing related to maintenance of the carrier, and a control device that manages each of the plurality of areas, each of the plurality of control devices controls the carrier present in the assigned area which is the area managed by itself, and stores execution time information indicating the execution time of the previous maintenance-related processing of the carrier present in the assigned area in association with carrier identification information for identifying the carrier, and is configured to manage the cycle of performing the maintenance-related processing on the carrier based on the execution time information, the carrier includes a storage unit that stores the execution time information of the own vehicle, and when moving from one of the plurality of areas to another area, notifies the control device having the destination area as the assigned area of the execution time information of the own vehicle stored in the storage unit, the control device stores the received execution time information in association with the carrier identification information of the carrier that sent the notification.

[0008] According to this configuration, in each of the plurality of areas, the cycle of performing maintenance-related processing of the carrier can be managed, so that the maintenance-related processing on the carrier can be appropriately performed by the processing device. Also according to this configuration, for example, even when the carrier moves from one of the plurality of areas to another area managed by a different control device, the control device that manages the destination area can easily acquire the execution time information of the carrier by the notification from the carrier, and can manage the cycle of maintenance-related processing with a relatively simple configuration by storing the acquired execution time information in association with the carrier identification information. According to this configuration, the cycle of maintenance-related processing of the transport vehicle can be appropriately managed.

[0009] Further features and advantages of the transport facility will become apparent from the following description of exemplary and non-limiting embodiments with reference to the drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, the transport facility 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the transport facility 1 includes a transport vehicle 2 that moves across a plurality of areas 10 to transport articles, a processing device 3 that performs maintenance-related processing, which is processing related to the maintenance of the transport vehicle 2, and a plurality of control devices H that manage each of the areas 10. In the present embodiment, the transport facility 1 includes a plurality of transport vehicles 2. Further, the plurality of areas 10 are arranged side by side in the vertical direction. In the example of FIG. 1, as the plurality of areas 10, a first area 11 and a second area 12 above (upper floor) the first area 11 are arranged.

[0012] The transfer vehicle 2 transfers articles along a preset travel route 4. Here, the article is a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) that houses semiconductor wafers, but it is not limited to this. The travel route 4 is arranged across a plurality of areas 10. The travel route 4 includes a main route 4a arranged in each of the first area 11 and the second area 12, a connection route 4b connecting the first area 11 and the second area 12, and a sub-route 4c connected to the main route 4a. Here, the sub-route 4c is connected to the main route 4a in the first area 11. In this example, a travel rail (not shown) is provided along the travel route 4. The travel rail is suspended and supported from the ceiling. The connection route 4b may be a route along which the transfer vehicle 2 moves by being lifted and lowered by a lifting device. Here, the transfer vehicle 2 is a ceiling transfer vehicle. The transfer vehicle 2 is guided by the travel rail and moves along the travel route 4. Also, the transfer vehicle 2 is configured to suspend and support the article. In the transfer facility 1, various devices such as semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses and storage shelves for articles can be arranged along the main route 4a, for example. The transfer vehicle 2 is configured to be able to transfer the article to such devices. Note that the transfer vehicle 2 can also be a transfer vehicle 2 other than the ceiling transfer vehicle, such as an automated guided vehicle that travels on the floor surface, for example.

[0013] The processing device 3 is provided along the sub-path 4c of the first area 11. In this example, the processing device 3 is a car washing device that automatically washes the carrier vehicle 2. The carrier vehicle 2 moves from the main path 4a to the sub-path 4c and arrives at the processing device 3. Further, when the maintenance-related processing (here, the car washing processing) is completed in the processing device 3, the carrier vehicle 2 moves from the sub-path 4c to the main path 4a. Note that the processing device 3 may be other than a car washing device as long as it is a device that performs maintenance-related processing on the carrier vehicle 2. For example, it may be a device that inspects or maintains the carrier vehicle 2, or a device that replaces some of the parts of the carrier vehicle 2. Further, the processing device 3 may be a device in which some of the maintenance-related processing is performed by an operator or the like. Here, the processing device 3 includes a third control device H3. The third control device H3 controls the processing device 3 and the carrier vehicle 2 existing in the sub-path 4c. The third control device H3 notifies the control device H (here, the first control device H1 that manages the area 10 where the sub-path 4c is arranged) that the carrier vehicle 2 has entered or exited the sub-path 4c. Note that the processing device 3 may be arranged in each of the areas 10.

[0014] The carrier vehicle 2 includes a second storage unit 22 that stores the execution time information D1 of the own vehicle. The carrier vehicle 2 also includes a traveling unit that moves guided by the traveling rail, a transfer unit that holds an article and can transfer the article to a transfer target location (here, various devices that can be arranged along the main path 4a), and a control unit 23 that controls the traveling unit and the transfer unit. The control unit 23 is capable of communicating with the control device H. The execution time information D1 is information indicating the execution time (here, the time when the maintenance-related processing is completed) when the maintenance-related processing is executed in the processing device 3. The second storage unit 22 stores the completion time (time) when the previous (that is, the latest) maintenance-related processing was performed. Note that the second storage unit 22 may store all the completion times from the first time to the previous time, or may store only the previous completion time. Further, in the present embodiment, the execution time information D1 is information indicating the time when the maintenance-related processing is completed, but it is not limited to this. For example, the execution time information D1 may be information indicating the time when the maintenance-related processing is started. In this case, the second storage unit 22 stores the start time (time) when the previous maintenance-related processing was performed.

[0015] Each of the plurality of control devices H controls the carrier vehicle 2 present in the area of responsibility 10a, which is the area 10 managed by itself. In the present embodiment, the first control device H1 designates the first area 11 as the area of responsibility 10a, and the second control device H2 designates the second area 12 as the area of responsibility 10a. In the illustrated example, the plurality of control devices H are provided in their respective areas of responsibility 10a. The first control device H1 transmits command information D2 to all the carrier vehicles 2 present in the first area 11. The second control device H2 transmits command information D2 to all the carrier vehicles 2 present in the second area 12. The command information D2 includes the content of the conveyance instruction for the destination carrier vehicle 2. The carrier vehicle 2 conveys the article according to the conveyance instruction. In the present embodiment, the control device H can command the carrier vehicle 2 to move to another area 10 and convey the article. Therefore, the control device H can control not only the carrier vehicles 2 present in the area of responsibility 10a but also the carrier vehicles 2 present on the connection path 4b. Further, the control device H commands each carrier vehicle 2 in the area of responsibility 10a to move toward the processing device 3 (here, the sub-path 4c) at a set cycle. For this reason, the command information D2 also includes moving to the processing device 3 as the content of the instruction for the destination carrier vehicle 2. Note that instead of the third control device H3, the first control device H1 may control the carrier vehicles 2 present on the sub-path 4c.

[0016] Each of the plurality of control devices H stores execution time information D1 indicating the execution time of the previous maintenance-related process of the carrier vehicle 2 existing in the assigned area 10a in association with the carrier vehicle identification information for identifying the carrier vehicle 2, and is configured to manage the cycle for performing the maintenance-related process on the carrier vehicle 2 based on the execution time information D1. In the present embodiment, the control device H includes a first storage unit 14 and a cycle management unit 15 that manages the cycle for performing the maintenance-related process of each carrier vehicle 2 in the assigned area 10a. In the first storage unit 14, the execution time information D1 of each carrier vehicle 2 currently existing in the assigned area 10a is stored in association with the carrier vehicle identification information (such as the ID assigned to each carrier vehicle 2). Even when the carrier vehicle 2 moves from the assigned area 10a, the execution time information D1 of the carrier vehicle 2 already stored in the first storage unit 14 is stored in association with the carrier vehicle identification information without being deleted from the first storage unit 14. Note that the first control device H1, the second control device H2, the third control device H3, and the control unit 23 of the carrier vehicle 2 include a processor such as a microcomputer and peripheral circuits such as a memory. Then, each function is realized by the cooperation of these hardware and a program executed on a processor such as a computer.

[0017] When the transport vehicle 2 moves from one of the plurality of areas 10 to another area 10, it notifies the control device H that designates the destination area 10 as the responsible area 10a of the execution timing information D1 of the own vehicle stored in the second storage unit 22. In the present embodiment, when the transport vehicle 2 moves from the main path 4a of the second area 12 to the connection path 4b and enters the main path 4a of the first area 11, it notifies the first control device H1 of the execution timing information D1. Similarly, when the transport vehicle 2 moves from the main path 4a of the first area 11 to the connection path 4b and enters the main path 4a of the second area 12, it notifies the second control device H2 of the execution timing information D1. Each time the transport vehicle 2 moves between the plurality of areas 10, it performs the above notification to the control device H. Here, even a transport vehicle 2 in which no maintenance-related process has been performed notifies the control device H at the destination of the execution timing information D1. This execution timing information D1 includes not the time (moment) when the maintenance-related process was completed, but the time (moment) when the transport vehicle 2 started traveling on the travel route 4. The control device H stores the received execution timing information D1 in association with the transport vehicle identification information of the transport vehicle 2 that made the notification. In the responsible area 10a of the control device H, for the execution timing information D1 of the transport vehicle 2 that has existed at least once, it stores it in association with the transport vehicle identification information so as to add it to the past execution timing information D1 that has already been stored. Further, for the execution timing information D1 of the transport vehicle 2 that has first entered the responsible area 10a of the control device H, it stores it in association with the transport vehicle identification information as information on a new transport vehicle 2.

[0018] The cycle management unit 15 of the control device H determines, for each carrier vehicle 2 in the assigned area 10a, whether or not a set period has elapsed since the completion time of the previous maintenance-related process (for a carrier vehicle 2 for which no maintenance-related process has been performed, the time when it first started traveling on the travel route 4). Then, the control device H directs the carrier vehicle 2 for which the set period has elapsed toward the processing device 3. The set period can be, for example, every few minutes, every few hours, every few days, every few weeks, etc. Also, the said period can be changed as appropriate. Also, the set period can be made different for each carrier vehicle 2. The control device H may monitor the state of the carrier vehicle 2 (for example, the operating state of the traveling unit and the transfer unit), and direct the carrier vehicle 2 in which a predetermined change in the operating state has occurred toward the processing device 3. Note that if the carrier vehicle 2 for which it is determined that the set period has elapsed does not exist in its assigned area 10a, the control device H does not transmit the command information D2 to the said carrier vehicle 2. Also, the control device H does not have to make the above determination for a carrier vehicle 2 that does not exist in the assigned area 10a in the first place.

[0019] 〔Other Embodiments〕 Next, other embodiments of the conveying facility 1 will be described.

[0020] (1) In the above-described embodiment, a configuration in which a plurality of areas 10 are arranged side by side in the vertical direction has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. The plurality of areas 10 may be arranged side by side in the horizontal direction. Also, the plurality of areas 10 may be such that one floor is divided into a plurality of regions. Also, the conveying facility 1 may include a plurality of buildings, and each of the plurality of areas 10 may be set in a different building.

[0021] (2) Note that the configurations disclosed in the above-described embodiments can be applied in combination with the configurations disclosed in other embodiments as long as no contradiction occurs. Regarding other configurations as well, all the embodiments disclosed in this specification are merely examples in all respects. Therefore, various modifications can be made as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

Description of Symbols

[0022] 1: Conveying equipment 2: Conveying vehicle 3: Processing device 10: Area 10a: Responsible area 22: Second storage unit (storage unit) D1: Execution time information H: Control device

Claims

【Claim 1】 A conveying facility comprising a carrier that moves across a plurality of areas to convey an article, a processing device that performs maintenance-related processing which is processing related to maintenance of the carrier, and a control device that manages each of the plurality of areas, Each of the plurality of control devices controls the carrier present in the area of responsibility which is the area managed by itself, and stores execution time information indicating the execution time of the previous maintenance-related processing of the carrier present in the area of responsibility in association with carrier identification information for identifying the carrier, and is configured to manage the cycle for performing the maintenance-related processing on the carrier based on the execution time information, The carrier includes a storage unit that stores the execution time information of the vehicle itself, and when moving from one of the plurality of areas to another area, notifies the control device that sets the area of destination as the area of responsibility of the execution time information of the vehicle itself stored in the storage unit, The control device stores the received execution time information in association with the carrier identification information of the carrier that sent the notification, a conveying facility.

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