Transport facility

Abstract

To provide a technology that can properly restore the state of transport vehicles after power supply is resumed in a transport facility equipped with multiple transport vehicles that transport goods, when the power supply to the transport vehicles is cut off, and can reduce the occurrence of new malfunctions.SOLUTION: A transport facility comprises multiple transport vehicles for transporting goods and a control system for controlling the transport vehicles. The transport vehicles are equipped with transport operation units. The control system executes a shutdown information acquisition process for acquiring operating status information of each transport vehicle as pre-operating status information when power supply to the transport vehicles is cut off, a post-restart information acquisition process for acquiring operating status information of each transport vehicle as post-restart operating status information after power supply is resumed, and an automatic recovery target determination process for determining whether each of the multiple transport vehicles is to be subject to automatic recovery based on the results of comparing the pre-operating status information with the post-restart operating status information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-111716 (Patent Document 1) discloses a technology relating to a conveyance facility. In the following description of the background art, the reference numerals in parentheses refer to those in Patent Document 1.

[0003] The conveyance facility of Patent Document 1 includes a plurality of transport vehicles (transportation devices 4) traveling along a travel route 1, a plurality of stations (ST) provided along the travel route 1, and an operation management device (5) that controls the plurality of transport vehicles. Each of the plurality of transport vehicles travels using an external power supply and transports articles between the plurality of stations (ST). The transport vehicles are equipped with a control device (controller 13) that controls the travel of the vehicle itself, a travel encoder (19) for detecting the travel position of the vehicle itself, and an emergency battery (34). When the external power supply is interrupted due to a power outage or the like, the transport vehicle loses the driving force for travel and stops. Meanwhile, when the external power supply is interrupted, the emergency battery (34) supplies power to the control device and the travel encoder (19) for a certain period of time. This allows the transport vehicle to store its stopping position in a non-volatile memory (21) provided in the control device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-111716 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the conveying equipment of Patent Document 1, when the external power supply is interrupted, each of the multiple transport vehicles memorizes its own stopping position, allowing each transport vehicle to immediately resume transporting items 7 after the power supply is resumed, thereby improving the availability of the equipment. However, depending on the condition of the transport vehicles, immediately resuming the transport of items 7 after the power supply is resumed may cause further problems. For example, if transport of items is immediately resumed for a transport vehicle whose stopping position was manually changed after the external power supply was interrupted and before the power supply was resumed, or for a transport vehicle that has detected some kind of abnormality, new abnormalities or problems may occur, which may actually reduce the availability of the equipment.

[0006] Therefore, in a transport facility equipped with multiple transport vehicles for transporting goods, if the power supply to the transport vehicles is cut off, a technology is desired that can properly restore the state of the transport vehicles after power supply is resumed and reduce the occurrence of new malfunctions. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A conveying facility according to the present disclosure includes a plurality of conveying vehicles for conveying articles, a control system for controlling the conveying vehicles, and a power supply facility for supplying power to the conveying vehicles and the control system, the transport vehicle includes a transport operation unit that performs an operation for transporting the article, the control system is configured to acquire operation status information indicating an operation status of the transport operation unit; The control system includes: a cutoff information acquisition process for acquiring, when the power supply to the transport vehicles is cut off, the operation state information of each transport vehicle as preliminary operation state information during the period from the cutoff of the power supply to the time before the transport operation unit becomes unable to operate, and storing the acquired preliminary operation state information; a post-restart information acquisition process for acquiring the operation status information of each of the transportation vehicles as post-restart operation status information after the power supply is resumed; an automatic recovery target determination process that determines whether each of the plurality of transporting vehicles is to be a target for automatic recovery based on a result of comparing the pre-operation state information with the post-restart operation state information; The transport vehicle determined to be the target of the automatic restoration by the automatic restoration target determination process is controlled, and an automatic restoration process is executed to cause the transport vehicle to resume the operation before the power supply was cut off.

[0008] According to this configuration, for example, when the power supply to each of the plurality of transport vehicles is cut off due to a power outage or the like and then the power supply is resumed, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not each of the plurality of transport vehicles is to be subject to automatic recovery. Therefore, the automatic recovery process can be performed only on transport vehicles that are in a state suitable for automatic recovery, and the automatic recovery process can be not performed on transport vehicles that are in a state unsuitable for automatic recovery. Therefore, compared to when an operator manually performs recovery processing for all transport vehicles, the operator's workload can be reduced, and the possibility of further abnormalities or problems occurring due to performing automatic recovery processing on transport vehicles that are not in a state suitable for automatic recovery can be reduced. Furthermore, with this configuration, the transport vehicle determined to be the target of automatic recovery is allowed to resume the operation before the power supply was cut off, so that the transport vehicle can be appropriately restored to the state before the power supply was cut off. Therefore, automatic recovery can be easily performed for multiple transport vehicles. According to this configuration, if the power supply to the transport vehicle is cut off, the state of the transport vehicle can be properly restored after the power supply is resumed, and the possibility of new malfunctions occurring can be reduced.

[0009] Further features and advantages of the transport installation will become apparent from the following description of exemplary, non-limiting embodiments, which are given with reference to the drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] Control Block Diagram [Figure 2] Overall schematic diagram of the transport equipment [Figure 3] Side view of the transport vehicle [Figure 4] Front view of the transport vehicle [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a side view schematically illustrating the article transfer operation. [Figure 6] Control Flow Diagram [Figure 7] Control Flow Diagram [Figure 8] Control Flow Diagram [Figure 9] Control Flow Diagram [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a plan view schematically illustrating the travel of the transport vehicle during automatic recovery processing. [Figure 11] Control flow diagram of another embodiment DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] [First embodiment] A first embodiment of a conveying facility will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the conveying facility 100 includes a plurality of guided vehicles 3 that convey articles 7, a control system H that controls the guided vehicles 3, and a power supply facility 15 that supplies power to the guided vehicles 3 and the control system H. In this embodiment, the power supply facility 15 includes a power receiving facility 4 that receives power from outside the conveying facility 100, an AC power source 52 and a power supply line 51 that supply power to the plurality of guided vehicles 3, and an uninterruptible power supply 53. The power supply facility 15 also includes a power transmission network other than the above that is disposed within the conveying facility 100. The control system H includes a first control device H1 that controls the plurality of guided vehicles 3, and a second control device H2 that is provided on each of the guided vehicles 3.

[0012] The power receiving equipment 4 is equipment that receives power supply from a system power supply (commercial power supply). The power receiving equipment 4 supplies power to both the first control device H1 and the AC power supply 52. Here, the uninterruptible power supply 53 is a device that supplies power to the first control device H1 for a certain period of time when the power supply from the power receiving equipment 4 is cut off.

[0013] 2, each of the multiple transport vehicles 3 travels along a preset travel route 1 to transport an article 7. A power supply line 51 is connected to an AC power source 52 and is arranged along the travel route 1. Each of the multiple transport vehicles 3 receives driving power from the power supply line 51 while traveling along the travel route 1.

[0014] The transport vehicle 3 transports the article 7 to a plurality of transfer target locations 10a arranged along the travel path 1. In this example, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of processing devices 10 are provided along the travel path 1. Here, the transfer target locations 10a for the article 7 are load ports (receiving portions where the article 7 is placed) of the processing devices 10. The transport vehicle 3 stops at positions on the travel path 1 corresponding to the transfer target locations 10a to transfer the article 7. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a traveling rail 2 is provided along the travel path 1. The transport vehicle 3 travels along the travel path 1 while being guided by the traveling rail 2. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 10, a detectable object T is provided at each of a plurality of predetermined locations on the travel path 1. Here, the detectable object T is provided on the traveling rail 2. The detectable object T includes position information (address information) on the travel path 1. The detectable object T is detected by the transport vehicle 3 traveling on the traveling rail 2.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 2, the travel path 1 includes a circular main path 11 and a circular sub-path 12 that passes through multiple processing devices 10. The travel path 1 is divided into a straight section 1A, which is a linear section, and a curved section 1B, which is a curved section. The main path 11 and the sub-path 12 are connected by a branching path 13 that branches off from the main path 11 to the sub-path 12 and a merging path 14 that merges from the sub-path 12 to the main path 11. In the illustrated example, the sub-path 12 also includes a branching path 13 that branches off from the straight section 1A to the curved section 1B and a merging path 14 that merges from the curved section 1B to the straight section 1A. The guided vehicle 3 travels in the same circular direction (counterclockwise in the example of FIG. 2) on the main path 11 and the multiple sub-paths 12. As shown in FIG. 10, the detectable object T is placed in a section (here, the straight section 1A) surrounding the branching path 13 and the merging path 14. Further, the test objects T are also arranged at positions on the travel path 1 corresponding to the transfer target locations 10a (load ports) of the respective processing devices 10.

[0016] In this embodiment, the travel path 1 is arranged along the ceiling of the transport equipment 100. Therefore, the travel rails 2 are also arranged along the ceiling. Specifically, the travel rails 2 are suspended from the ceiling. That is, the transport vehicle 3 is a ceiling transport vehicle. Here, an example of the article 7 transported by the transport vehicle 3 is a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) that accommodates semiconductor substrates, but is not limited to this. In the examples of FIGS. 2 and 5, the processing device 10 is a device that performs a predetermined process on the contents (here, semiconductor substrates) accommodated in the article 7.

[0017] In this specification, a so-called ceiling transport vehicle has been exemplified as the transport vehicle 3, but it goes without saying that the transport vehicle 3 may also be an article transport vehicle that travels on the ground (including an article transport vehicle that travels along each storage section in a storage shelf having multiple storage sections arranged in a vertical direction), or may be a traveling carriage of a stacker crane, etc. The transport vehicle 3 may be in any form as long as it operates by receiving power from the power supply line 51. Of course, the transport vehicle 3 is not limited to an article transport vehicle.

[0018] In the following description, the direction along the travel path 1 is referred to as a travel direction X, and the direction perpendicular to the travel direction X when viewed from the up-down direction is referred to as a width direction Y.

[0019] 1 and 3 to 5, the transport vehicle 3 is equipped with a transport operation unit 31 that performs an operation for transporting an article 7. In this embodiment, the transport operation unit 31 is equipped with a traveling device 30 that travels along a travel path 1. The transport operation unit 31 also is equipped with a holding device 33 that holds the article 7, and a moving device 5 that moves the holding device 33 to transfer the article 7 between the transfer target location 10a.

[0020] As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the traveling device 30 includes a drive wheel 30a, a drive unit 30b that drives the drive wheel 30a, and a rotational position detection device 29 that detects the position of the drive wheel 30a in the rotational direction. In this example, the traveling device 30 includes multiple drive wheels 30a. These drive wheels 30a roll on the traveling rail 2 by being driven by the drive unit 30b (including an electric motor and a power transmission mechanism from the electric motor to the drive wheel 30a). In this example, the traveling rail 2 is provided in pairs separated in the width direction Y, and multiple drive wheels 30a (here, a pair of drive wheels 30a) roll on each traveling rail 2. The traveling device 30 also includes multiple guide wheels 30c. The guide wheels 30c are configured to roll on the inner side surface of the traveling rail 2 in the width direction Y.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 3, the holding device 33 is configured to suspend and support the article 7. The holding device 33 has a pair of gripping claws 33a. The pair of gripping claws 33a are arranged separately in the traveling direction X. The holding device 33 also has an electric gripping drive motor (not shown) that moves the pair of gripping claws 33a toward and away from each other. The pair of gripping claws 33a are configured to be able to change their position between a gripping position in which they approach each other in the traveling direction X to grip the article 7, and a grip release position in which they move away from each other in the traveling direction X to release their grip on the article 7. The article 7 has a main body 71 in which contents are stored, and a flange 72 provided on the top of the main body 71. The pair of gripping claws 33a grip the flange 72.

[0022] As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the moving device 5 is suspended and supported by the traveling device 30. The moving device 5 is also disposed below the traveling rail 2. In this embodiment, the moving device 5 is configured to move the holding device 33 between a reference position T1, which is a position when the transport vehicle 3 travels, and a transfer position T2, which is a position when the article 7 is transferred between the transport vehicle 3 and the transfer target location 10a. In this example, the transport vehicle 3 is equipped with, as the moving device 5, an elevating device 34 that raises and lowers the holding device 33, a sliding device 36 that slides the holding device 33 in the horizontal direction, and a rotating device 37 that rotates the holding device 33 around an axis along the vertical direction.

[0023] The lifting device 34 includes a drum, a belt wound around the drum and connected to the holding device 33 at its tip, and a lifting motor that rotates the drum to drive the belt. The lifting device 34 lifts and lowers the holding device 33 by rotating the drum using the lifting motor. For example, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, if the transfer target location 10a (here, the load port of the processing device 10) is located directly below the traveling rail 2, the lifting device 34 can lift and lower the holding device 33 between the reference position T1 and the transfer position T2.

[0024] The slide device 36 slides the holding device 33 in the width direction Y. The slide device 36 includes a slide mechanism that moves the holding device 33 in the width direction Y, and a slide motor that drives the slide mechanism. For example, when the transfer target location 10a is provided at a position spaced apart from the traveling rail 2 in the width direction Y, the slide device 36 slides the holding device 33 between a reference position T1 and a position that protrudes in the width direction Y from the reference position T1. Here, the reference position T1 is set above the transfer position T2.

[0025] The turning device 37 includes a turning mechanism that turns the holding device 33 and the lifting device 34, and a turning motor that drives the turning mechanism. For example, if the posture of the article 7 held by the holding device 33 at the reference position T1 differs from the posture of the article 7 placed at the transfer target location 10a, the turning device 37 turns the holding device 33 and the lifting device 34 together to change the posture of the held article 7 to a posture suitable for transfer.

[0026] In this embodiment, the transport vehicle 3 is equipped with a storage case 32. The storage case 32 is suspended from the traveling device 30 and is disposed below the traveling rail 2. The storage case 32 stores a holding device 33 at a reference position T1 and an article 7 held by the holding device 33. The storage case 32 also stores a moving device 5 (lifting device 34, sliding device 36, and swivel device 37). The storage case 32 is formed to cover the article 7 held by the holding device 33 at the reference position T1 from both outer sides in the traveling direction X and from above.

[0027] In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 , the transporting operation unit 31 includes an obstacle detection device 38 that detects obstacles on the travel path 1 along which the transporting vehicle 3 travels. The obstacle detection device 38 (here, an optical sensor) forms a detection area E so as to detect obstacles ahead of the transporting vehicle 3 in the travel direction X. This allows the transporting vehicle 3 to avoid colliding with an obstacle while traveling. In this example, as shown in FIG. 10 , the dimension of the detection area E in the width direction Y is formed larger than the dimension of the transporting vehicle 3 in the width direction Y. Note that the shape and size of the detection area E can be changed as appropriate depending on the scale of the facility, etc. In the example of FIG. 3 , the obstacle detection device 38 is provided in the storage case 32. Note that the obstacle detection device 38 may be a camera sensor or the like instead of an optical sensor. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 1 , 3 , and 4 , the transporting operation unit 31 includes a detection device 28 that detects the object T to be detected. Here, the object to be detected T is a one-dimensional code or a two-dimensional code, and the detection device 28 is a reader capable of reading these codes (FIG. 4).

[0028] Electric power is supplied to various actuators provided on the transport vehicle 3 from power feeder lines 51 via a power receiving device 35 ( FIG. 1 ) provided on the transport vehicle 3. In this example, a power feeder line 51 is provided on each of the pair of traveling rails 2. Specifically, the pair of power feeder lines 51 are arranged so as to sandwich the power receiving device 35. When a high-frequency current flows through the power feeder line 51, the power receiving device 35 generates a magnetic field around the power feeder line 51. The power receiving device 35 includes a pickup coil, a magnetic core, and the like, and the pickup coil is induced by electromagnetic induction from the magnetic field. The induced AC power is converted to DC by a rectifier circuit such as a full-wave rectifier circuit and a power receiving circuit including a smoothing capacitor, and is then supplied to various actuators and drive circuits.

[0029] 1, the transport vehicle 3 further includes a power storage device 41 that temporarily stores power. When the power supply from the AC power supply 52 to the transport vehicle 3 is cut off, the power storage device 41 supplies power to the second control device H2, the transport operation unit 31, the obstacle detection device 38, and the detection device 28 for a certain period of time.

[0030] As described above, the second control device H2 is provided on the transport vehicle 3 (FIG. 1). The second control device H2 controls the traveling device 30, the holding device 33, the moving device 5, the detection device 28, the obstacle detection device 38, the power receiving device 35, etc. The second control device H2 is also configured to be able to communicate with the first control device H1. Here, the second control device H2 is also configured to be able to communicate with the operation terminal 8. The operation terminal 8 is an external terminal for operating the transport vehicle 3, and is operated by the manager of the transport facility 100 (including a worker who performs some kind of work on the transport facility 100). Here, the operation terminal 8 is assumed to be a handheld terminal, but is not limited to this.

[0031] Furthermore, the first control device H1 is provided within the facility and has the function of controlling the entire transport facility 100 (for example, AC power supply 52, etc.) in addition to controlling the travel of the multiple transport vehicles 3. The first control device H1 is provided with an acquisition unit 112 that acquires information from the multiple transport vehicles 3, a memory unit 111 that stores the acquired information, and a determination unit 113 that makes a determination based on the acquired information. Here, the first control device H1 is capable of communicating with the second control device H2 mounted on each transport vehicle 3 as described above, and is also capable of communicating with the operation terminal 8.

[0032] The first control device H1 and the second control device H2 each include a processor such as a microcomputer, peripheral circuits such as a memory, etc. Each function is realized by the cooperation of this hardware and a program executed on the processor of a computer or the like.

[0033] The control system H can execute two modes of the transport vehicle 3: an automatic mode in which the traveling device 30 travels toward a set destination point and stops traveling while the obstacle detection device 38 detects an obstacle, and a manual mode in which the traveling device 30 travels according to commands from the operation terminal 8 operated by the administrator. In this example, the second control device H2 switches the traveling device 30 to either the automatic mode or the manual mode according to commands from the first control device H1.

[0034] In the automatic mode, when the second control device H2 receives a transport command from the first control device H1, it controls the traveling device 30 to transport the article 7 to the transfer target location 10a, which is the destination. Specifically, the second control device H2 causes the transport vehicle 3 to travel along the travel path 1 and stops the transport vehicle 3 at a position corresponding to the transfer target location 10a. The second control device H2 controls the holding device 33 and the lifting device 34 to transfer the article 7 held by the holding device 33 to the transfer target location 10a. The second control device H2 may also control the sliding device 36 and the turning device 37 to transfer the article 7 depending on the position of the transfer target location 10a. Furthermore, if an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection device 38 while the transport vehicle 3 is traveling, the second control device H2 controls the traveling device 30 to stop the transport vehicle 3 at a position just before the obstacle.

[0035] In the manual mode, the second control device H2 controls the transport vehicle 3 according to commands received from the operation terminal 8. For example, when an administrator operates the operation terminal 8, the second control device H2 causes the transport vehicle 3 to travel toward a maintenance zone (not shown). Similarly, when an administrator operates the operation terminal 8, the second control device H2 can move the holding device 33 and change the posture of the pair of gripping claws 33a.

[0036] Here, the control system H is configured to acquire operating status information indicating the operating status of the transport operation unit 31. In this embodiment, the first control device H1 acquires operating status information of the transport vehicle 3 from the second control device H2. In this embodiment, the operating status information includes holding position information indicating the position of the holding device 33, traveling mode information indicating the mode of the transport vehicle 3, obstacle detection information indicating the detection status of the obstacle detection device 38, and traveling position information indicating the position of the transport vehicle 3 on the traveling route 1. In this example, the control system H acquires the operating status information at regular intervals (for example, every 1 second, etc.).

[0037] The holding position information includes information indicating whether the holding device 33 is at the reference position T1, information indicating whether the pair of gripping claws 33a are in a gripping posture or a grip-release posture, and information indicating whether the pair of gripping claws 33a are gripping an article 7. The holding position information also includes information indicating the vertical and horizontal positions (here, the position in the width direction Y) of the holding device 33. The transport operation unit 31 can be provided with a sensor that detects the position of the holding device 33 in this way. The traveling mode information includes information indicating whether the transport vehicle 3 is in an automatic mode or a manual mode. The obstacle detection information includes information indicating whether an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection device 38. The traveling position information includes address information included in the detectable object T detected by the detection device 28 and information indicating the detection result by the rotational position detection device 29. Here, the rotational position detection device 29 is an encoder configured to detect the amount of rotation (rotation angle) of the drive wheel 30a from a reference position (here, the position of the detectable object T). The position of the guided vehicle 3 can be identified, for example, based on the address information of the most recently detected object T and the amount of rotation (rotation angle) of the drive wheel 30a from the object T. The acquisition unit 112 of the first control device H1 acquires holding position information, traveling mode information, obstacle detection information, traveling position information, etc. from each guided vehicle 3 on the traveling route 1, and stores this information in the memory unit 111 as operating state information (FIG. 1).

[0038] If the power supply from the outside is interrupted due to a power outage or the like (i.e., if the power supply from the commercial power source to the power-receiving equipment 4 is interrupted), the power supply from the AC power source 52 to the guided vehicles 3 is also interrupted. Therefore, each guided vehicle 3 on the travel route 1 loses the driving force to travel and eventually stops. Thereafter, when the power supply from the commercial power source to the power-receiving equipment 4 is restored and the power transmission from the AC power source 52 to the guided vehicles 3 is resumed, each guided vehicle 3 can obtain the driving force to resume traveling. At that time, if the control system H can resume the traveling of multiple guided vehicles 3 collectively based on the operating status information of each guided vehicle 3, the time required for the recovery work can be significantly reduced compared to when an administrator manually resumes the traveling of each guided vehicle 3 (e.g., by operating the operation terminal 8). In addition to the above, the interruption of the power supply from the AC power source 52 to the guided vehicles 3 can also be caused by the AC power source 52 failing or being temporarily turned off (powered down) for some reason.

[0039] On the other hand, there are some transport vehicles 3 that should be manually resumed by an administrator rather than being controlled by the control system H. For example, if a transport vehicle 3 that is currently performing a transfer operation or a transport vehicle 3 that has notified the operator of some abnormality is allowed to resume its travel together with other transport vehicles 3, new abnormalities or problems may occur. Therefore, it is considered that such transport vehicles 3 should not be targeted for resumption of travel by the control system H.

[0040] As shown in Figures 6 to 9, the control system H executes a shutdown information acquisition process, a post-restart information acquisition process, an automatic restoration target determination process, and an automatic restoration process. Each process will be described in detail below. In this embodiment, when the power supply from the power receiving equipment 4 is interrupted, the first control device H1 receives power supply from an uninterruptible power supply 53 as a backup power source for a certain period of time. The first control device H1 controls the entire equipment including the guided vehicle 3 using the power supply from the uninterruptible power supply 53. In addition, the second control device H2 receives power supply from the power storage device 41 (here, a capacitor) of the guided vehicle 3 and controls its own vehicle.

[0041] The interruption information acquisition process is a process in which, when the power supply to the transport vehicles 3 is interrupted, operation state information of each transport vehicle 3 is acquired as preliminary operation state information during the period from the interruption of the power supply to the transport operation unit 31 until the transport operation unit 31 becomes inoperable, and the acquired preliminary operation state information is stored. As shown in FIG. 6, when the power supply from the power receiving equipment 4 is interrupted (S01: Yes), the first control device H1 executes a stop process to stop the traveling of the multiple transport vehicles 3 (S02). When the second control device H2 receives a stop command from the first control device H1, it controls the traveling device 30 to start decelerating the host vehicle. When the power supply is interrupted, the control system H (here, the second control device H2) controls the drive device 30b to stop the drive wheel 30a before the drive device 30b becomes inoperable. When the drive wheel 30a stops, i.e., when the transport vehicle 3 stops, the control system H executes the interruption information acquisition process (S03). The first control device H1 commands the second control device H2 mounted on each transport vehicle 3 to transmit operating state information (preliminary operating state information) of the transport vehicle 3. The second control device H2 transmits the operating state information acquired from the transport operation unit 31 to the first control device H1 as preliminary operating state information. In this example, the second control device H2 acquires the operating state information after the transport vehicle 3 stops and transmits it to the first control device H1. Here, the power supply of the transport vehicle 3 is turned off before all the power in the power storage device 41 is consumed. Note that the timing at which the second control device H2 acquires and transmits the preliminary operating state information of the transport vehicle can be changed as appropriate. For example, the control system H may execute the shutdown information acquisition process immediately before stopping the drive wheels 30a of the transport vehicle 3. In this case, the second control device H2 can also transmit the operating state information acquired immediately before the transport vehicle stops to the first control device H1 as preliminary operating state information. One example of changing the timing is when the second control unit H2 is unable to acquire or transmit the vehicle's pre-operation state information for some reason after stopping the drive wheels 30a.

[0042] The post-restart information acquisition process is a process of acquiring the operation status information of each guided vehicle 3 as post-restart operation status information after the power supply is resumed. In this embodiment, when the power supply from the power receiving equipment 4 is resumed, the first control device H1 instructs the second control device H2 to transmit the operation status information of the vehicle as post-restart operation status information. More specifically, when the power supply from the power receiving equipment 4 is resumed, the first control device H1 starts up the multiple guided vehicles 3 and makes them capable of communicating with the second control device H2. After a predetermined period has elapsed since the start of the guided vehicles 3, the first control device H1 instructs the second control device H2 to transmit the operation status information as post-restart operation status information. The first control device H1 stores the acquired post-restart operation status information in the memory unit 111. The first control device H1 can also instruct the second control device H2 to transmit the operation status information of the guided vehicles 3 immediately after they are started up as post-restart operation status information.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 8, the automatic restoration target determination process is a process for determining whether each of a plurality of guided vehicles 3 is to be a target for automatic restoration based on the result of comparing the preliminary operating state information with the post-restart operating state information. The control system H (here, the determination unit 113 of the first control device H1) compares the preliminary operating state information stored in the memory unit 111 with the newly acquired post-restart operating state information for each guided vehicle 3. In addition, in this example, for each guided vehicle 3, the second control device H2 can compare the preliminary operating state information of the vehicle with the post-restart operating state information after power supply is resumed. In this case, the second control device H2 acquires the preliminary operating state information of the vehicle from the first control device H1.

[0044] In the automatic recovery target determination process, the control system H determines that the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic recovery when at least one of the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information includes holding position information indicating that the holding device 33 is located outside a predetermined allowable range including the reference position T1. In this example, if at least one of the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information includes holding position information indicating that the holding device 33 is located outside the allowable range including the reference position T1 (here, the holding device 33 is located outside the allowable range including the reference position T1 in the horizontal direction (width direction Y) and the up-down direction) (S51: Yes), the first control device H1 determines that the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic recovery (S58). On the other hand, if both the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information include holding position information indicating that the holding device 33 is located within the allowable range including the reference position T1, the first control device H1 can target the guided vehicle 3 for automatic recovery. In contrast to this configuration, the first control device H1 may be configured to automatically restore the transport vehicle 3 if the post-restart operating state information includes information that the holding device 33 is located within an acceptable range including the reference position T1 as holding position information, regardless of the content of the holding position information included in the pre-operating state information.

[0045] Furthermore, in the automatic recovery target determination process, the control system H determines that the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic recovery if at least one of the preliminary operating state information and the post-restart operating state information includes driving mode information indicating that the mode of the guided vehicle 3 is manual mode. The first control device H1 determines that the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic recovery (S58) if at least one of the preliminary operating state information and the post-restart operating state information includes driving mode information indicating manual mode (S52: Yes). On the other hand, the first control device H1 can target the guided vehicle 3 for automatic recovery if both the preliminary operating state information and the post-restart operating state information include driving mode information indicating automatic mode. Alternatively, the first control device H1 may be configured to target the guided vehicle 3 for automatic recovery if the post-restart operating state information includes driving mode information indicating automatic mode, regardless of the content of the driving mode information included in the preliminary operating state information.

[0046] Furthermore, in the automatic recovery target determination process, the control system H determines that the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic recovery when at least one of the preliminary operating state information and the post-restart operating state information includes operation command information indicating that an operation command has been received from the operation terminal 8. The first control device H1 determines that the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic recovery (S56) when at least one of the preliminary operating state information and the post-restart operating state information includes operation command information indicating that an operation command has been received from the operation terminal 8 (S53: Yes). On the other hand, the first control device H1 can determine that the guided vehicle 3 is a target for automatic recovery when neither the preliminary operating state information nor the post-restart operating state information includes operation command information indicating that an operation command has been received from the operation terminal 8. Alternatively, the first control device H1 may be configured to determine that the guided vehicle 3 is a target for automatic recovery regardless of whether the preliminary operating state information includes operation command information indicating that an operation command has been received from the operation terminal 8, if the post-restart operating state information does not include operation command information indicating that an operation command has been received from the operation terminal 8.

[0047] Here, the first control device H1 can also determine that the guided vehicle 3 is a target for automatic restoration even if the post-restart operation state information includes operation command information indicating that an operation command has been received from the operation terminal 8 (here, information indicating that the guided vehicle 3 has actually moved based on the operation command is also included). For example, the control system H can determine in the automatic restoration target determination process that the difference between the position indicated in the pre-operation state information and the position indicated in the post-restart operation state information (here, the difference in position in the traveling direction X) is equal to or greater than a predetermined determination threshold, with the travel position information included in the pre-operation state information being the pre-travel position information and the travel position information included in the post-restart operation state information being the post-restart travel position information. In other words, the control system H can determine that the guided vehicle 3 is a target for automatic restoration if the difference between the position indicated in the pre-travel position information and the position indicated in the post-restart travel position information is less than the determination threshold. Specifically, after the power supply is resumed, the first control device H1 starts up the multiple guided vehicles 3. Thereafter, if the administrator operates the operation terminal 8 to move the guided vehicle 3 within a predetermined period, the second control device H2 transmits the position of the vehicle after the movement as post-resumption traveling position information to the first control device H1. The first control device H1 may determine that the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic restoration if the amount of movement of the guided vehicle 3 due to the administrator's operation is equal to or greater than a determination threshold. For example, such a determination threshold may be set based on the distance between the detected object T detected before the power supply is resumed and the detected object T located ahead of it in the traveling direction X. The control system H may determine that the guided vehicle 3 is a target for automatic restoration even if the difference between the position indicated in the pre-travel position information and the position indicated in the post-resumption traveling position information is equal to or greater than a predetermined determination threshold. The control system H may also determine that the guided vehicle 3 is a target for automatic restoration even if it is unable to acquire post-resumption traveling position information for some reason. In this case, the control system H may acquire post-resumption traveling position information by having the guided vehicle 3 travel at a low speed to the nearest detected object T ahead in the traveling direction.

[0048] Furthermore, in the automatic restoration target determination process, the control system H determines that the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic restoration when at least one of the preliminary operation state information and the post-restart operation state information includes obstacle detection information indicating that an obstacle has been detected. The first control device H1 determines that the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic restoration when at least one of the preliminary operation state information and the post-restart operation state information includes obstacle detection information indicating that an obstacle has been detected (S54: Yes). On the other hand, the first control device H1 can determine that the guided vehicle 3 is a target for automatic restoration when neither the preliminary operation state information nor the post-restart operation state information includes obstacle detection information indicating that an obstacle has been detected. Alternatively, the first control device H1 may be configured to determine that the guided vehicle 3 is a target for automatic restoration when the post-restart operation state information does not include obstacle detection information indicating that an obstacle has been detected, even if the preliminary operation state information includes obstacle detection information indicating that an obstacle has been detected.

[0049] In this example, as shown in Figure 8, the first control device H1 determines that the transport vehicle 3 is subject to automatic recovery (S55) when both the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information do not include holding position information indicating that the holding device 33 is not at the reference position T1 (S51: No), both the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information do not include driving mode information indicating that the mode of the transport vehicle 3 is manual mode (S52: No), both the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information do not include information indicating that an operation command has been received from the operation terminal 8 (S53: No), and both the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information do not include obstacle detection information indicating that an obstacle has been detected (S54: No).

[0050] The automatic recovery process is a process of controlling a guided vehicle 3 determined to be a target for automatic recovery in the automatic recovery target determination process, and causing the guided vehicle 3 to resume operation prior to the interruption of power supply. In this embodiment, the control system H designates the guided vehicle 3 determined to be a target for automatic recovery in the automatic recovery target determination process as the target guided vehicle 3A, and in the automatic recovery process, transmits a restoration command to the target guided vehicle 3A to restore the preliminary operating state information (S61). In the restoration command, the first control device H1 transmits the preliminary operating state information stored in the memory unit 111 to the second control device H2 of the target guided vehicle 3A. This allows the target guided vehicle 3A to recognize (restore) the position where it automatically stopped before power supply was resumed (i.e., the address information of the most recently detected object T and the rotation amount of the drive wheel 30a) and the holding state of the article 7 (whether or not the article 7 is being held). The second control device H2 transmits a response to the first control device H1 indicating that the preliminary operating state information has been restored. The first control device H1 recognizes that an abnormality has occurred in the target guided vehicle 3A that does not respond to the restoration command, and excludes the target vehicle 3A from the automatic restoration.

[0051] In this example, the second control device H2 is configured to be able to compare the pre-operational state information of its own vehicle with the post-resumption operation state information after the power supply is resumed. If the result of the comparison corresponds to the determination result made by the first control device H1 (here, the determination unit 113) on its own vehicle in the automatic recovery target determination process, the second control device H2 can transmit permission information indicating this to the first control device H1. The first control device H1 can execute the automatic recovery process on the guided vehicle 3 for which it has received the permission information. Furthermore, the first control device H1 can exclude the guided vehicle 3 for which it has not received the permission information from the automatic recovery process.

[0052] The control system H starts traveling of the target guided vehicle 3A whose preliminary operating state information has been restored, and controls the target guided vehicle 3A so that, after starting traveling, the target guided vehicle 3A travels at a speed slower than the normal traveling speed when the power supply is not interrupted until the target guided vehicle 3A first detects a detectable object T. Here, the "normal traveling speed" refers to the speed at which the target guided vehicle 3 travels on the straight section 1A and the curved section 1B when transporting the article 7. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the first control device H1 transmits a low-speed traveling command to the second control device H2 to cause the target guided vehicle 3A whose preliminary operating state information has been restored (solid line in FIG. 10) to start traveling at a speed slower than the normal traveling speed (S62). The second control device H2 controls the traveling device 30 to travel the target vehicle at a low speed. Furthermore, when the second control device H2 detects a detectable object T ahead in the traveling direction (two-dot chain line in FIG. 10) (S63: Yes), it transmits detection information to the first control device H1. Upon receiving the detection information, the first control device H1 transmits a normal travel command to the second control device H2 (S64). The normal travel command is a command for controlling the target guided vehicle 3A to travel at a normal travel speed. Alternatively, the first control device H1 may transmit a normal travel command to the second control device H2 of each target guided vehicle 3A when the percentage of target guided vehicles 3A that have detected the object T exceeds a predetermined threshold. In this case, the target guided vehicle 3A is controlled to travel at a low speed even after detecting the object T until the percentage of target guided vehicles 3A that have detected the object T reaches the threshold. The target guided vehicle 3A traveling at a normal travel speed resumes transporting the article 7 based on the order information. The order information may be included in the preliminary operating state information, or may be transmitted from the first control device H1 to the second control device H2 after the preliminary operating state information is restored. Furthermore, when the target guided vehicle 3A traveling at a low speed detects an obstacle, the first control device H1 can also exclude the target guided vehicle 3A from the targets of automatic recovery.

[0053] Second Embodiment A second embodiment of the conveying equipment will be described with reference to the drawings. The following description of the conveying equipment of this embodiment will focus on the differences from the first embodiment. Points that are not specifically mentioned are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals will be used to omit detailed descriptions.

[0054] In this embodiment, the second control device H2 includes a voltage monitoring unit (not shown) that monitors the value of the voltage supplied to the drive device 30b. When the voltage supplied to the drive device 30b falls below a preset voltage value, the second control device H2 controls the drive device 30b to decelerate and stop the traveling device 30. The preset voltage value is set to a value greater than the lower limit voltage value at which the guided vehicle 3 can travel.

[0055] Thereafter, the control system H (here, the second control device H2) identifies the stop position of the drive wheel 30a based on the detection result of the detection device 28 and the detection result of the rotational position detection device 29, and stores the identified stop position of the drive wheel 30a and the detection result of the rotational position detection device 29 as pre-travel position information. The stop position of the drive wheel 30a can be identified based on the position (address information) of the most recently detected object T and the detection result of the rotational position detection device 29 (here, the amount of rotation (rotation angle) of the drive wheel 30a from the object T). In this example, an absolute encoder is used as the rotational position detection device 29. The second control device H2 stores the stop position of the drive wheel 30a and the most recently detected amount of rotation of the drive wheel 30a from the object T in a non-volatile memory (not shown). The stop position of the drive wheel 30a included in the preliminary traveling position information may be the stop position itself or an indicator that can identify the stop position (specifically, the detection result of the detection device 28 and the detection result of the rotational position detection device 29).

[0056] Furthermore, after the power supply is resumed, if the pre-traveling position information is stored, the control system H (here, the second control device H2) acquires the detection result of the rotational position detection device 29 as the post-restart traveling position information. Then, in the automatic recovery target determination process, if the difference between the detection result of the rotational position detection device 29 included in the pre-traveling position information and the detection result of the rotational position detection device 29 included in the post-restart traveling position information is equal to or greater than a predetermined set value, the control system H determines that the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic recovery. In this example, as shown in FIG. 11, if the second control device H2 does not have pre-traveling position information in its non-volatile memory (S71: No), it determines that its own vehicle (the guided vehicle 3) is not a target for automatic recovery (S74). On the other hand, if the second control device H2 has pre-traveling position information in its non-volatile memory (S71: Yes), it acquires the detection result of the rotational position detection device 29 after the power supply is resumed (the rotation amount of the drive wheel 30a) as the post-restart traveling position information. As described above, an absolute encoder is used as the rotational position detection device 29. Therefore, even if the drive wheel 30a rotates for some reason while the power supply is interrupted, the amount of rotation of the drive wheel 30a can be detected after the power supply is resumed. If the difference between the amount of rotation of the drive wheel 30a included in the preliminary traveling position information and the amount of rotation of the drive wheel 30a included in the post-restart traveling position information is equal to or greater than a predetermined set value (S72: Yes), the second control device H2 determines that the host vehicle is not eligible for automatic restoration (S74). On the other hand, if the difference in the amount of rotation is less than the set value (S72; No), the second control device H2 determines that the host vehicle is eligible for automatic restoration (S73). If the host vehicle is not eligible for automatic restoration, the second control device H2 transmits error information to the first control device H1. The set value can be set as the difference in the amount of rotation, for example, to 60° (1 / 6 rotation). That is, if the difference in the amount of rotation is 60° or more, it is determined that the drive wheel 30a has been moved manually, and the transport vehicle 3 is excluded from the automatic recovery. Such a set value can be changed as appropriate. That is, the set value can be changed to 30°, 90°, 120°, etc.In addition, a device other than the rotational position detection device 29 (for example, a magnetic tape provided along the traveling rail 2 and a reader that reads the magnetic tape) may be used to acquire the pre-traveling position information and the post-resumption traveling position information.

[0057] The control system H determines the stop position of the drive wheels 30a after the power supply is resumed for the guided vehicle 3 determined to be a target for automatic restoration by the automatic restoration target determination process, based on the stop position of the drive wheels 30a included in the preliminary travel position information and the difference between the detection result of the rotational position detection device 29 included in the preliminary travel position information and the detection result of the rotational position detection device 29 included in the post-restart travel position information. The stop position of the drive wheels 30a after the power supply is resumed is determined by the position information (address information) of the most recently detected object T and the rotation amount of the drive wheels 30a included in the preliminary travel position information, and the deviation amount of the rotation amount of the drive wheels 30a included in the post-restart travel position information from the rotation amount of the drive wheels 30a included in the preliminary travel position information (i.e., the difference between these two rotation amounts). After determining the stop position of the drive wheels 30a after the power supply is resumed, the second control device H2 transmits the stop position to the first control device H1 as travel position information. Upon receiving the travel position information, the first control device H1 commands the second control device H2 to resume transport of the article 7.

[0058] Other Embodiments Next, other embodiments of the conveying equipment will be described.

[0059] (1) In the first embodiment, each of the multiple guided vehicles 3 includes the power storage device 41, and the second control device H2 controls the traveling devices 30 using the power of the power storage device 41 when the power supply is interrupted. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the power supply to the guided vehicles 3 is interrupted, the second control device H2 can also control the traveling devices 30 using power supplied from an uninterruptible power supply 53. Specifically, when the power supply is interrupted, the AC power supply 52 can supply the power received from the uninterruptible power supply 53 to the second control device H2. Furthermore, the second control device H2 may use power obtained from regenerative braking of the drive wheels 30a.

[0060] (2) In the first embodiment, the control system H determines that the guided vehicle 3 is not subject to automatic recovery when at least one of the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information includes holding position information indicating that the holding device 33 is not at the reference position T1. However, this is not limiting. For example, the control system H may determine that the guided vehicle 3 is not subject to automatic recovery when at least one of the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information includes holding position information indicating that the holding device 33 is located outside the range of the storage case 32 that includes the reference position T1. In this way, a predetermined allowable range including the reference position T1 can be defined within the storage case 32. The allowable range can also be defined as a range within a specified distance in the width direction Y and the up-down direction based on the reference position T1.

[0061] (3) In the first embodiment described above, the control system H is configured to determine that the guided vehicle 3 is not subject to automatic recovery when at least one of the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information includes driving mode information indicating that the mode of the guided vehicle 3 is manual mode, but this is not limited to this. The control system H may also determine that the guided vehicle 3 is subject to automatic recovery even if both the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information include driving mode information indicating that the mode is manual mode.

[0062] (4) In the first embodiment, the control system H determines that the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic recovery when at least one of the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information includes obstacle detection information indicating that an obstacle has been detected. However, this is not limited to this. Even if at least one of the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information includes obstacle detection information indicating that an obstacle has been detected, the control system H can also target the guided vehicle 3 for automatic recovery if there is no risk of interference with the detected obstacle when the guided vehicle 3 is allowed to travel. For example, the control system H can target a guided vehicle 3 for automatic recovery even if the post-restart operation state information includes obstacle detection information. In this case, it is preferable to execute automatic recovery processing on the guided vehicle 3 after acquiring information indicating that no obstacle has been detected as operation information for the guided vehicle 3.

[0063] (5) In the first embodiment, the control system H determines that the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic recovery when the difference between the position indicated in the preliminary traveling position information and the position indicated in the post-resumption traveling position information is equal to or greater than a predetermined determination threshold in the automatic recovery target determination process. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the control system H does not necessarily have to determine whether the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic recovery based on the difference between the position indicated in the preliminary traveling position information and the position indicated in the post-resumption traveling position information.

[0064] (6) In the second embodiment, the second control device H2 determines that the guided vehicle 3 is not a target for automatic restoration when the difference between the detection result of the rotational position detection device 29 included in the preliminary travel position information and the detection result of the rotational position detection device 29 included in the post-restart travel position information is equal to or greater than a predetermined set value in the automatic restoration target determination process. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the first control device H1 may perform the automatic restoration target determination process.

[0065] (7) In the first embodiment, the control system H starts the travel of the target guided vehicle 3A whose preliminary operating state information has been restored, and controls the target guided vehicle 3A so that, after the target guided vehicle 3A starts traveling, the target guided vehicle 3A travels at a speed slower than the normal traveling speed in the case where the power supply is not interrupted until the target guided vehicle 3A first detects the object T. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The control system H may continue the state in which the target guided vehicle 3A travels at a speed slower than the normal traveling speed in the case where the power supply is not interrupted for a certain period after the target guided vehicle 3A first detects the object T. Furthermore, the control system H does not necessarily have to cause the target guided vehicle 3A to travel at a slow speed if the inter-vehicle distance is such that there is no risk of a collision at the normal speed.

[0066] (8) 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, the embodiments disclosed in this specification are examples in all respects and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0067] Summary of the above embodiment The above-described transport equipment will be summarized below.

[0068] A conveying facility according to the present disclosure includes a plurality of conveying vehicles for conveying articles, a control system for controlling the conveying vehicles, and a power supply facility for supplying power to the conveying vehicles and the control system, the transport vehicle includes a transport operation unit that performs an operation for transporting the article, the control system is configured to acquire operation status information indicating an operation status of the transport operation unit; The control system includes: a cutoff information acquisition process for acquiring, when the power supply to the transporting vehicles is cut off, the operation state information of each transporting vehicle as preliminary operation state information during the period from the cutoff of the power supply to the time when the transporting operation unit becomes unable to operate, and storing the acquired preliminary operation state information; a post-restart information acquisition process for acquiring the operation status information of each of the transportation vehicles as post-restart operation status information after the power supply is resumed; an automatic recovery target determination process that determines whether each of the plurality of transporting vehicles is to be a target for automatic recovery based on a result of comparing the pre-operation state information with the post-restart operation state information; The transport vehicle determined to be the target of the automatic restoration by the automatic restoration target determination process is controlled, and an automatic restoration process is executed to cause the transport vehicle to resume the operation before the power supply was cut off.

[0069] According to this configuration, for example, when the power supply to each of the plurality of transport vehicles is cut off due to a power outage or the like and then the power supply is resumed, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not each of the plurality of transport vehicles is to be subject to automatic recovery. Therefore, the automatic recovery process can be performed only on transport vehicles that are in a state suitable for automatic recovery, and the automatic recovery process can be not performed on transport vehicles that are in a state unsuitable for automatic recovery. Therefore, compared to when an operator manually performs recovery processing for all transport vehicles, the operator's workload can be reduced, and the possibility of further abnormalities or problems occurring due to performing automatic recovery processing on transport vehicles that are not in a state suitable for automatic recovery can be reduced. Furthermore, with this configuration, the transport vehicle determined to be the target of automatic recovery is allowed to resume the operation before the power supply was cut off, so that the transport vehicle can be appropriately restored to the state before the power supply was cut off. Therefore, automatic recovery can be easily performed for multiple transport vehicles. According to this configuration, if the power supply to the transport vehicle is cut off, the state of the transport vehicle can be properly restored after the power supply is resumed, and the possibility of new malfunctions occurring can be reduced.

[0070] Here, the transport operation unit includes a holding device that holds the item, and a moving device that moves the holding device to transfer the item between a transfer target location, The moving device is configured to move the holding device between a reference position, which is a position when the transport vehicle is traveling, and a transfer position, which is a position when the item is transferred between the transfer target location, the operating state information includes holding position information indicating a position of the holding device, In the automatic recovery target determination process, the control system preferably determines that the transport vehicle is not eligible for automatic recovery when at least one of the pre-operation status information and the post-restart operation status information includes the holding position information indicating that the holding device is located outside a predetermined tolerance range including the reference position.

[0071] According to this configuration, a transport vehicle whose holding device is not positioned within an allowable range including the reference position can be excluded from automatic recovery. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the transport vehicle from automatically recovering and starting to travel when the holding device is positioned away from the reference position. Therefore, by performing automatic recovery, it is possible to reduce the possibility of damage or malfunction to the transport vehicle or the items being transported by the transport vehicle.

[0072] The transport operation unit further includes a traveling device that travels along a traveling path, and an obstacle detection device that detects an obstacle on the traveling path, the control system is capable of executing, as modes of the transport vehicle, an automatic mode in which the travel device travels toward a set destination point and stops the travel of the travel device while the obstacle detection device detects the obstacle, and a manual mode in which the travel device travels in accordance with commands from an operation terminal operated by an administrator, the operating state information includes travel mode information indicating a mode of the guided vehicle; In the automatic recovery target determination process, the control system preferably determines that the transport vehicle is not eligible for automatic recovery if at least one of the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information includes the driving mode information indicating that the mode of the transport vehicle is the manual mode.

[0073] According to this configuration, guided vehicles whose automatic driving mode has been cancelled can be excluded from the automatic recovery process. Therefore, for example, guided vehicles other than the original maintenance target vehicle or guided vehicles other than those scheduled for manual recovery can be automatically recovered appropriately. Furthermore, in the automatic mode, the travel of the guided vehicle stops while an obstacle is detected, thereby reducing the possibility of an incident occurring during automatic recovery, such as the guided vehicle coming into contact with an obstacle.

[0074] The transport operation unit further includes an obstacle detection device that detects obstacles on a travel route along which the transport vehicle travels, the operating status information includes obstacle detection information indicating a detection status of the obstacle detection device, Preferably, in the automatic recovery target determination process, the control system determines that the transport vehicle is not eligible for automatic recovery if at least one of the pre-operation status information and the post-restart operation status information includes obstacle detection information indicating that the obstacle has been detected.

[0075] According to this configuration, a transport vehicle that detects an obstacle can be excluded from automatic recovery, thereby reducing the possibility of damage to the transport vehicle or the items it is carrying due to the transport vehicle coming into contact with an obstacle during automatic recovery.

[0076] The transport operation unit includes a traveling device that travels along a travel path, the operating state information includes travel position information indicating a position of the guided vehicle on the travel route, The traveling position information included in the pre-operation state information is set as pre-operation position information, and the traveling position information included in the post-restart operation state information is set as post-restart traveling position information, Preferably, in the automatic recovery target determination process, the control system determines that the transport vehicle is not eligible for automatic recovery if the difference between the position indicated in the pre-travel position information and the position indicated in the post-resumption travel position information is greater than or equal to a predetermined determination threshold.

[0077] According to this configuration, when the difference between the position of the transport vehicle whose power supply has been cut off and the position of the transport vehicle after the power supply is resumed is equal to or greater than the judgment threshold, the transport vehicle can be excluded from the automatic restoration. As a result, for example, a transport vehicle that has been manually moved after the power supply from the power supply facility has been cut off can be excluded from the automatic restoration.

[0078] Further, a detection object is installed at each of a plurality of predetermined locations on the travel route, the transport operation unit includes a traveling device that travels along the traveling path and a detection device that detects the detection target object; the traveling device includes a drive wheel, a drive device that drives the drive wheel, and a rotational position detection device that detects the position of the drive wheel in a rotational direction; the operating state information includes travel position information indicating a position of the guided vehicle on the travel route, The traveling position information included in the pre-operation state information is set as pre-operation position information, and the traveling position information included in the post-restart operation state information is set as post-restart traveling position information, The control system includes: When the power supply is interrupted, the drive device is controlled to stop the drive wheels before the drive device becomes unable to operate; identifying a stop position of the drive wheel based on the detection result of the detection device and the detection result of the rotational position detection device, and storing the identified stop position of the drive wheel and the detection result of the rotational position detection device as the pre-travel position information; After the power supply is resumed, if the pre-travel position information is stored, the detection result of the rotational position detection device is acquired as the post-restart travel position information, and in the automatic recovery target determination process, if a difference between the detection result of the rotational position detection device included in the pre-travel position information and the detection result of the rotational position detection device included in the post-restart travel position information is equal to or greater than a predetermined set value, the transport vehicle is determined to be ineligible for the automatic recovery, For the transport vehicle determined to be a target for automatic recovery by the automatic recovery target determination process, it is preferable to identify the stop position of the drive wheel after the power supply is resumed based on the stop position of the drive wheel included in the pre-travel position information and the difference between the detection result of the rotational position detection device included in the pre-travel position information and the detection result of the rotational position detection device included in the post-resumption travel position information.

[0079] According to this configuration, when the power supply from the power supply equipment is interrupted, the transport vehicle can be controlled to automatically stop before the drive device becomes inoperable. Furthermore, the stop position of the transport vehicle can be identified and stored as preliminary travel position information based on the position information of the detected object and the detection result of the rotation detection device. Furthermore, based on the thus-stored preliminary travel position information, the stop position of the drive wheels of the transport vehicle determined to be subject to automatic recovery after the power supply is resumed can be identified. Therefore, when automatically recovering a transport vehicle that is subject to automatic recovery, the position of the transport vehicle can be appropriately recognized. Furthermore, with this configuration, a guided vehicle for which the difference between the detection result of the rotational position detection device included in the pre-travel position information and the detection result of the rotational position detection device included in the post-restart travel position information is equal to or greater than a predetermined set value can be excluded from the automatic recovery process. Therefore, for example, a guided vehicle whose stopping position has been manually changed before the automatic recovery process can be excluded from the automatic recovery process.

[0080] Further, a detection object is installed at each of a plurality of predetermined locations on the travel route, the transport operation unit includes a travel device that includes drive wheels and a drive device that drives the drive wheels and travels along the travel path, and a detection device that detects the object to be detected; The transport vehicle determined to be the target of the automatic recovery by the automatic recovery target determination process is set as a target transport vehicle, The control system includes: In the automatic recovery process, a recovery command is sent to the target guided vehicle to recover the preliminary operating state information; It is preferable to start the target transport vehicle whose pre-operation state information has been restored, and to control the target transport vehicle so that after starting to travel, it travels at a speed slower than its normal traveling speed if the power supply is not interrupted, until the target transport vehicle first detects the object to be detected.

[0081] According to this configuration, the target guided vehicle can recognize, for example, information related to its own traveling position before the cutoff and information related to the item holding status (whether or not an item is being held, etc.) by restoring the previous operating state information in the automatic recovery process. Therefore, the target guided vehicle can be automatically recovered appropriately and the transport of items can be resumed appropriately. Furthermore, with this configuration, the target guided vehicle travels at a speed slower than the normal travel speed after starting to travel until it first detects the object to be detected, thereby reducing the possibility of a collision with another target guided vehicle that has not yet completed automatic recovery or a guided vehicle that is not a target for automatic recovery.

[0082] The conveying equipment according to the present disclosure may have at least one of the above-described effects. [Explanation of symbols]

[0083] 1: Driving route 3: Transport vehicle 3A: Target transport vehicle 5: Mobile device 7: Goods 8: Operation terminal 10a: Transfer location 15: Power supply equipment 28:Detection device 29: Rotational position detection device 30: Running gear 30a: Drive wheel 30b: Drive unit 31: Transport operation section 33: Holding device 38: Obstacle detection device 100:Transportation equipment H: Control System T: Object to be detected T1: Reference position T2:Transfer position

Claims

1. A conveyance facility including a plurality of conveyance vehicles for conveying articles, a control system for controlling the conveyance vehicles, and a power supply facility for supplying power to the conveyance vehicles and the control system, the transport vehicle includes a transport operation unit that performs an operation for transporting the article, the control system is configured to acquire operation status information indicating an operation status of the transport operation unit; The control system includes: a cutoff information acquisition process for acquiring, when the power supply to the transporting vehicles is cut off, the operation state information of each transporting vehicle as preliminary operation state information during the period from the cutoff of the power supply to the time when the transporting operation unit becomes unable to operate, and storing the acquired preliminary operation state information; a post-restart information acquisition process for acquiring the operation status information of each of the transportation vehicles as post-restart operation status information after the power supply is resumed; an automatic recovery target determination process that determines whether each of the plurality of transporting vehicles is to be a target for automatic recovery based on a result of comparing the pre-operation state information with the post-restart operation state information; The transportation facility controls the transportation vehicle determined to be a target for automatic recovery by the automatic recovery target determination process, and executes an automatic recovery process to cause the transportation vehicle to resume operation prior to the power supply being cut off.

2. The transport operation unit includes a holding device that holds the item, and a moving device that moves the holding device to transfer the item between a transfer target location, The moving device is configured to move the holding device between a reference position, which is a position when the transport vehicle is traveling, and a transfer position, which is a position when the item is transferred between the transfer target location, the operating state information includes holding position information indicating a position of the holding device, The conveying equipment of claim 1, wherein the control system determines in the automatic recovery target determination process that the conveying vehicle is not eligible for automatic recovery if at least one of the pre-operation status information and the post-restart operation status information includes holding position information indicating that the holding device is located outside a predetermined tolerance range including the reference position.

3. the transport operation unit includes a traveling device that travels along a traveling path, and an obstacle detection device that detects an obstacle on the traveling path; the control system is capable of executing, as modes of the transport vehicle, an automatic mode in which the travel device travels toward a set destination point and stops the travel of the travel device while the obstacle detection device detects the obstacle, and a manual mode in which the travel device travels in accordance with commands from an operation terminal operated by an administrator, the operating state information includes travel mode information indicating a mode of the guided vehicle; The conveying equipment of claim 1, wherein the control system determines in the automatic recovery target determination process that the conveying vehicle is not eligible for automatic recovery if at least one of the pre-operation state information and the post-restart operation state information includes the driving mode information indicating that the mode of the conveying vehicle is the manual mode.

4. the transport operation unit includes an obstacle detection device that detects obstacles on a travel route along which the transport vehicle travels; the operating status information includes obstacle detection information indicating a detection status of the obstacle detection device, The conveying equipment of claim 1, wherein the control system determines in the automatic recovery target determination process that the conveying vehicle is not eligible for automatic recovery if at least one of the pre-operation status information and the post-restart operation status information includes obstacle detection information indicating that the obstacle has been detected.

5. the transport operation unit includes a traveling device that travels along a travel path; the operating state information includes travel position information indicating a position of the guided vehicle on the travel route, The traveling position information included in the pre-operation state information is set as pre-operation position information, and the traveling position information included in the post-restart operation state information is set as post-restart traveling position information, The conveying equipment of claim 1, wherein the control system determines in the automatic recovery target determination process that the conveying vehicle is not eligible for automatic recovery if the difference between the position indicated in the pre-travel position information and the position indicated in the post-resumption travel position information is greater than or equal to a predetermined determination threshold.

6. a detection object is installed at each of a plurality of predetermined locations on the travel route; the transport operation unit includes a traveling device that travels along the traveling path and a detection device that detects the detection target object; the traveling device includes a drive wheel, a drive device that drives the drive wheel, and a rotational position detection device that detects the position of the drive wheel in a rotational direction; the operating state information includes travel position information indicating a position of the guided vehicle on the travel route, The traveling position information included in the pre-operation state information is set as pre-operation position information, and the traveling position information included in the post-restart operation state information is set as post-restart traveling position information, The control system includes: When the power supply is interrupted, the drive device is controlled to stop the drive wheels before the drive device becomes unable to operate; identifying a stop position of the drive wheel based on the detection result of the detection device and the detection result of the rotational position detection device, and storing the identified stop position of the drive wheel and the detection result of the rotational position detection device as the pre-travel position information; After the power supply is resumed, if the pre-travel position information is stored, the detection result of the rotational position detection device is acquired as the post-restart travel position information, and in the automatic recovery target determination process, if a difference between the detection result of the rotational position detection device included in the pre-travel position information and the detection result of the rotational position detection device included in the post-restart travel position information is equal to or greater than a predetermined set value, the transport vehicle is determined to be ineligible for the automatic recovery, The conveying facility described in claim 1, wherein for the conveying vehicle determined to be a target for automatic recovery by the automatic recovery target determination process, the stop position of the drive wheel after the power supply is resumed is determined based on the stop position of the drive wheel included in the pre-travel position information and the difference between the detection result of the rotational position detection device included in the pre-travel position information and the detection result of the rotational position detection device included in the post-resumption travel position information.

7. a detection object is installed at each of a plurality of predetermined locations on the travel route; the transport operation unit includes a travel device that includes drive wheels and a drive device that drives the drive wheels and travels along the travel path, and a detection device that detects the object to be detected; The transport vehicle determined to be the target of the automatic recovery by the automatic recovery target determination process is set as a target transport vehicle, The control system includes: In the automatic recovery process, a recovery command is sent to the target guided vehicle to recover the preliminary operating state information; A conveying facility as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the target conveying vehicle whose pre-operating state information has been restored starts to move, and after starting to move, the target conveying vehicle is controlled to move at a speed slower than its normal speed if the power supply is not interrupted until the target conveying vehicle first detects the object to be detected.

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